《Mutagen》


 Chapter 1 The Arrival, Starting The End Of The Peaceful Era

    <strong>Day 1 - 5:22 AM - South Triangle, Diliman, Quezon City, Metro Man, Philippines</strong>


    A busy ce whether it was the time of the day or the night. Buildings small andrge should be seen everywhere along with the people minding their own business.


    Unfortunately this day, everyone''s peaceful morning was severely disturbed. Different sounds of sirens echoed across therge area of the city. Some might find it more eptable if a crime happened and the noise was caused by the police chasing after the criminal.


    However, that was not the case.


    The media, the police, rescue workers, firefighters, and many other people with the same field of work gathered. They made their way to this ce as fast as possible even it was this early.


    Still, even in their field of work, everyone felt devastated by the scene in front of them.


    Buildings, whether business or residential establishments, copsed. mes spread almost everywhere mixed with the debris scattered around the area. Several streets were blocked and inessible because of the destruction.


    The number of deaths could not be estimated just by looking at the scene in front of them.


    And the cause, it was not an earthquake as anyone would have expected. A huge passenger ne, an Airbus A350, crashed in the middle of the city. Its huge body crashed unto the buildings causing the copse of many while the ne itself was dismembered into pieces.


    As the buildings cushioned the crash of the ne,rge parts of its body still managed to retain its shape. Some of the airne''s fusge was still intact andy there motionless among the debris. The people around hoped that there would be survivors among the passengers of the ne.


    They would have never thought that they would have changed their mindster.


    Rescue immediately started as they tried to address the disaster. Looking for survivors on both the copsed buildings and the ne, extinguishing the fire, carrying the injured to the ambnces, and record the situation for media coverage.


    As fast as they started, as fast the next disaster ensued.


    People emerged, stumbling from the intact parts of the airne. Rescuers rushed to their aid. Everyone eximed for the miracle that they witnessed. It was like a dream.


    The dream, however, became a nightmare in the blink of an eye.


    "AAHHHHH!!!"


    Blood-curling screams from the rescuers were heard. The people that they were supposed to help from the crashed airne lunged at them. The supposed survivors of the airne started biting and tearing the rescuers and everyone else at the surroundings.


    As if that was not enough, an eight-foot-tall abomination burst out from one of the airne''s remains with its festering skin and ear-piercing roars.


    Gunshots ensued as the police finally took action.


    However, they were not enough to deal with the current situation.


    Everyone that ran away for their lives could only think of one thing.


    ''Why did that airne not explode into pieces instead.''


    ***


    <strong>Day 1 - 9:27 AM - Emilio Aguinaldo Highway, Bacoor City, Cavite, Philippines</strong>


    "Haaa¡­.."


    Mark sighed as he climbed up the stairs of the overpass. His sigh did not contain any feelings of disappointment or gloominess but was filled with annoyance. He was too annoyed that he could just punch the person walking in front of him, and his annoyance would still not dissipate.


    He was not the type of person to leave his house too often. And even if he had gone out, he was not going too far from home. Yet today, he was forced to do a whole hour of travel, just to reach his initial destination.


    His electricity bill was due by today. Beingzy to go out of the house, it ended up like this.


    Since he needed to pay the bill, he woke up by 6:00 AM and left to go to the distribution office before 7:00 AM. He wanted to finish his task as early as possible and go home afterward.


    Due to the unexpected heavy traffic, it was already past 8:00 AM when he arrived. Mark felt lucky that when he arrived, only four people were waiting in line. He arrivedte so he expected that there would be more people. Lining up at the back, he thought that he would be able to go home early.


    However, those thoughts shattered when he noticed that none of the customers lined up before him, were called for quite a while.


    Time passed by and more people arrived. Still, not a single transaction was made since the time the office opened this morning.


    Mark started feeling impatient, but he could not just leave the payment for another day. If he did, he should expect that his house would not have electricity by tomorrow. It was not just Mark, but the other customers also felt the same. Many of them already startedining and started to ask the office staff that passed by every now and then.


    Soon, Mark noticed the staff of the office getting flustered over something. They were going back and forth while doing their work with unnerved expressions.


    At 9:27 AM, the problem was finally disclosed to the customers.<sub> </sub>


    "Our apologies but there seemed to be problems with our system. Transactions will get dyed until we fix the issues."


    The branch manager exined.


    Many of the customers asked questions. They learned that the current problem rooted in the side of the Main Office, and no one can tell when the transactions would be continued.


    As they have no other choices left, the annoyed customers left the office while grumbling about the amount of time they wasted by waiting.


    Mark felt frustrated as he needed to pay the bill badly. He left while thinking of checking the office again in the afternoon. He really can''t dy the payment for another day. If things did not go well, he will surely spend some days without electricity at home and would also need to pay a reconnection fee.


    "How troublesome¡­"


    He grumbled under his breath while walking on the overpass.


    Since he needed to pass time, he decided to spend it at the city mall a few blocks away. He might as well y some arcade while waiting. It would be a good way to cool down his head.


    Still, he needed to wait for some time as the mall opens at 10:00 AM.


    Mark walked down the stairs on the other end of the overpass and left towards the direction of the mall.


    Maybe, because he felt too frustrated, or because he did not go to this ce too much, he failed to notice the strange happenings in the area.


    p Before he walked up the stairs of the overpass, there are too many people walking in the same direction. When he was walking across the overpass, he should have been able to see that the flow of traffic, was rather way heavier than usual. Numerous annoying sounds of car horns echoed across the highway as the drivers of the cars stuck in the heavy traffic expressed their frustration.</anda>


    Even stranger was that the heavy traffic only affected the northboundne of the highway while the southboundne had far too few cars than usual.


    No one noticed. Almost all of the cars moving southbound did note from the northern end but from the branching roads on the western side of the highway. Moreover, the cars that actually came from the northern side of the highway are driving over the speed limit. The cars are moving that fast as if they are trying to escape from something.


    ***


    <strong>Day 1 - 10:04 AM - Emilio Aguinaldo Highway Cr. Tirona Highway, Panapaan IV</strong>


    A heavily frustrated jeepney driver can''t wait for the frozen flow of traffic anymore. He slowly drove his jeepney towards the southboundne of the highway in an attempt to counter-flow and overtake the vehicles in front of him.


    It was then that a city bus from the northern side of the highway appeared moving at a very high speed. As the traffic in thisne was going rather smoothly, the bus managed to avoid idents despite how dangerous it is speeding up.


    By a twist of fate, the jeepney driver failed to notice the bus and drove out from hisne at the exact moment that the bus came.


    When half of the jeepney already left itsne, the bus that did not even try to avoid, crashed against the jeepney with great force.


    The jeepney with its totally crushed front half was thrown and crashed again at the vehicles behind it.


    The bus, on the other hand, was sent flying due to the impact. It rolled several times obliterating everything on its path whether it was other smaller vehicles or people. Its onught only stopped after crashing into anotherrge bus.


    The whole event was horrifying to all who witnessed it. The dozens of vehicles involved in the ident now became mangled metal coffins with blood dripping from what remained of them. Broken and mangled parts of the vehicles littered the road alongside the bodies of the unfortunate people that were rolled over and crushed by the bus.


    Severed, crushed, caved in and mangled were just a few of the words that could describe the gruesome appearance of the dead bodies that were lying in the middle of the highway.


    Many witnesses felt their knees go weak and some pulled their eyes away from the nauseating appearance of the dead bodies. The shock and fear they felt when they saw everything that happened could not be exined with just a few words.


    Those with clearer minds immediately took out their phones to frantically call for help. However, for some strange reason that no one here knew about, all that they heard from their phones are beeping sounds. No one was able to connect their calls on the emergency hotlines they knew.


    The flow of cars totally stopped and the people started gathering around the site of the ident. Those who took out their phones to call for help continued trying while others started taking pictures and videos.


    It was then that¡­


    "Hey look!"


    No one knew who shouted but everyone''s attention was called unto the wreckage that couldn''t even be recognized as a bus anymore. It was because¡­


    Even if they were crawling, staggering and moving slowly, even wounded and had broken bones protruding out of their bodies, the supposed to be dead passengers slowly emerged from that bus.


    The good Samaritans immediately ran towards the bus to help the injured people. Nevertheless, the first thing the "injured" people did was to jump towards the nearest person trying to help. It was then that blood-curdling screams echoed across the highway for everyone to hear.


    What everyone saw was the person trying to help getting bitten to death by the "injured" people. The other people around tried to help the bitten person just to suffer the same fate.


    The people who saw the scene of the ident had not even able to get over their shock when arge number of people could be seen running away from the northern side of the highway. Panic was apparent in everyone''s faces as they ran away. Behind them, more blood-curdling screams could be heard.

 Chapter 2 Zombies?

    <strong>Day 1 - 10:06 AM - Bacoor City Mall 2nd Floor, Central Area</strong>


    A man sat on a bench that was ced around the circr terrace at the center of the mall. He wore a set of ck clothes. ck shirt, cks, jacket and rubber shoes, everything was ck colored. Even the loose beanie he wore over his unkempt almost shoulder length hair was ck. His face was average looking. He had uneven sized eyes which would give other people a different impression of him depending on which side they of his face they were looking at. His right eye looked a little sleepy while the other looked quite sharp. His nose was quite tall and was slightly wider than average but itplimented his long slightly pointed face.


    Most people won''t notice or even pay attention to him due to his average looks but some people could not help but nce at him. It was because aside from the way he clothed himself, he was emanating a dark aura as if he was telling people not to bother him.


    In one way or the other, he looked like a person that who was about tomit a crime.


    ***


    Mark slumped on the bench while fiddling with his phone. While listening to the Japanese song he yed on his phone, he thought of how his day started too badly. Getting stuck in a heavy traffic, waiting in line for hours and not being able to pay his electricity bill, his bad luck did not end there. When the mall opened, he decided to visit the arcade center at the third floor of the mall to pass time and cool down his head. When he finally saw the arcade, he pped his head in frustration. The door of the arcade was blocked with metal shutters and the shutters were padlocked from the outside.


    To his dismay, the arcade center was closed. Furthermore, there was not even a single notice pasted on the metal shutters to tell why they were closed. It seemed to be an unintended closure.


    However, he could not help but notice that the arcade center was not the only one but rather, about half of the stores he passed by earlier were closed while some were barely open.


    Many of the employees and staff of the mall he saw had anxious expressions. Some of them held their phones while trying to make calls when they should not be as it was against the protocols during their working hours.


    Mark took a deep breath as he tried to calm himself down. There really was nothing he could do about these circumstances. He could only me his luck.


    Still, he could feel the heavy atmosphere enveloping everyone which was really surprising. It was as if something devastating was happening and was affecting everything.


    "I just hope that it''s nothing too troublesome."


    Discarding the negative thoughts in his mind, he stood up and made his way towards the stall selling drinks and snacks nearby.


    BAM!!!


    Mark had just paid and received the bottle of soda from the clerk when a loud explosion-like sound that came from the floor below disturbed everyone''s minds. Most people might not be familiar with that sound but Mark knew exactly what that was.


    That was the sound of a gunshot. To be precise, it was the sound of a shotgun being fired.


    Then, the gunshot was followed by a number of loud terrified screams.


    Many people from the upper floors heard the uncanny noises and grew curious as to what was currently happening. Those people moved and started peeking over the terrace while trying to have a clear view of situation below.


    What they saw left them speechless.


    Mark also watched the scene as he took a sip of the bottle of soda he held in his hand.


    Several gunshots echoed across the mall while arge number of people were running below. They were running towards the western part of the mall, away from where the gunshots wereing from. Most of them ran away while screaming in fear. Some people even pushed the ones in front of them in hope to get away faster while some pulled away theirpanions who ran slower together with them.


    The people below scrambled in panic and fear and the people above watched the scene with disturbed expressions. The sounds of gunshots in the background continued in different intervals.


    Sounds of yelling, screams, curses and gunshots¡­ There were a lot of noises that could be heard but what was the cause of all thesemotion?


    "Just what in the world is going on?"


    A man that stood near Mark voiced the sole question inside everyone''s mind at this very moment.


    At first, what was all they could see were the people running away from the eastern side of the mall. As the people running below got fewer and fewer, the sounds of gunshots came closer and closer. Mark also noticed that the people on the East Wing of the mall on the same floor as his started to panic and ran away.<sub> </sub>


    Soon enough, the security guards of the mall who were firing their guns entered their view. The guards continued retreating backwards as fast as they can while shooting at something.


    Even though the people watching at the higher floors were terrified by the gunshots, their curiosity got them better as many stayed and watched themotion below. They even ignored the people that were already panicking who had already seen what was going on below. The few people who were cautious and those who noticed the iing danger already left to escape.


    "Sh*t! What the hell are they?!"


    Mark heard one of the guards below him curse in a very loud voice. This just showed overwhelmed the guard was under his own emotions.


    It was then that another guard who was reloading his gun fell down while screaming. No, rather that falling down, the guard was pounced on as another person covered in blood was currently above his helpless body.


    "F*ck! George!"


    CLANK!


    The guard who was cursing out loud saw what happened to hispanion shouted. He immediately aimed his shotgun at the attacker to shoot but there was no sound of gunshot, rather, all he heard was a nking sounding from his gun. He was also out of ammo!


    Panicked, he shakily reached for his pocket to take out more shotgun shells for his shotgun. Some shells fell on the ground as he took out his hand from his pocket. He then attempted to reload his shotgun with the ammunition in his hand.


    Unfortunately, he waste.


    Before he could even close the chamber of his shotgun, the loudest and final scream of hispanion entered his ears. He froze as he slowly raised his head looking at the bloody corpse of hispanion. Fountain of blood gushed out onto the floor as attacker mercilessly tore the other guard''s neck with a ferocious bite and chewed the flesh in his mouth hungrily.


    Filled with rage, the remaining guard held his weapon tight as he ran towards his fallenpanion and shot the attacker on the head without mercy. Bits and pieces of brain matter and blood scattered as the body of the attacker fell into the floor.


    It was then that he felt severe pain on his back as he saw the floor get closer and closer in his eyes. Only the unknown pain from behind his neck and confusion filled the guard''s mind as his sight slowly faded to ck.


    By the moment that the first guard died, the remaining people watching were now truly terrified. Like bats disturbed from sleeping in their caves, the people ran away in every direction finding ways to escape. Those who had weaker stomach ran away with pale faces leaving traces of vomit on their initial spot.


    While the people around him scattered in fear, Mark remained standing in his spot near the terrace as he watched the second guard being bitten brutally. He then saw the body of the other guard that died first twitch for several seconds before standing up once more while staggering. The guard''s head hung to the side revealing the bitten part of his neck dripping blood and staining his prided uniform.


    Mark furrowed his brows when he saw that scene but the glint of twinkle in his eyes betrayed his expression. Inside, he felt excited as his lips unconsciously curved into a refreshing smile he never showed to others before.


    "Zombies?"


    He asked but of course, there is not a single soul to hear or reply to him.


    If anyone were to hear his voice as he said that, they would likely notice that his voice was not filled with fear but rather, was filled with anticipation.


    Taking his sight away from the scene below, he looked at the people who were making their way down the esctors and stairs in panic. All the esctors and stairs were filled with people.


    He spotted several college students within the crowd. The males wore dirty-yellow colored uniforms and ck cks while the females more the same colored blouses and dark-green cks. Their uniforms slight caught Mark''s attention as he looked at them for a few seconds as they ran down the esctor. He saw a female with wavy chestnut colored and shoulder length hair among the students. She looked against running down the lower floors but she was pulled away by her friends.


    Trying to measure the situation onest time, he turned his sight back towards the scene below. The staggering zombie guard is already gone while the body of the other guard lying on the floor started twitching.


    Around the body of the guard were figures of people ran either staggering or ferociously. Some of the figures were even running at the speed faster than what their physiques were capable of.


    Mark then started to move, but not following the waves of people escaping towards the lower floors and out of the mall. He rushed towards the stall where he bought the bottle of soda he was currently holding.


    Seeing that the clerk of the stall was already gone, he picked up a stic bag from behind the counter and started filling it with drinks and food. It was afterwards that he started running towards the opposite direction of the fleeing people. He countered the flow of people and climbed up the esctor going to the third floor with great difficulty.

 Chapter 3 The Third Floor

    Mark had a really difficult time climbing up the esctor. The reason was the people escaping down to the lower floors also upied the esctor that was going up. Mark had to hold on to the railing of the esctor tightly or he would be swept away.


    When he looked around, there barely anyone left that wanted to go down in panic. The panicking people aside, there were other people standing here and there with confused expressions on their faces as they watched the wholemotion. Most of these people wore uniforms bearing logos of stores located here in this floor.


    Being the only person who went up the esctor, the confused people around immediately saw him when he arrived. The ones closer to Mark immediately approached him.


    "Excuse me. Do you know what is going on?"


    The person who asked him was wearing a polo-shirt with a logo of a phone brand.


    Actually, many of them who were left here tried asking the people who were frantically running away when they heard themotion outside their stores. However, no one even bothered to answer their questions and seemed to not even hear them.


    As he looked at the man asking him, Mark just answered one word in an unconcerned manner.


    "Zombies."


    His answer immediately befuddled those who heard him.


    "Hey! You''re joking right?"


    Of course, no one would immediately believe him. What was more was the way he answered unbefitting the subject he told them. The other people who just approached that also heard the exchange between Mark and the man and surely, they were inclined not to believe him.


    With an irritated tone in his voice, Mark answered the man''s second question.


    "Everyone else is already running away. Do you think I have the time to joke with you?"


    Just as he finished saying that sentence, he immediately turned his head and looked behind him. He could hear the screams getting louder and louder in his ears.


    "Tsk!"


    Mark did not bother with these ignorant people anymore as he immediately ran past them after turning around.


    During the short moment that he was held up to answer the man''s questions, the situation turned worse. The people who were scrambling in panic to go down and escape out of the mall were now running back up the esctors and stairs with the zombies on their tail!


    Furthermore, not all the zombies chasing behind the people below were the typical andmon zombies that were slow and walks sluggishly. Some of the zombies were like rabid beasts that could ran fast and lunge towards their victims at any given chance!


    The people whogged behind as everyone tried to flee had easily fallen victim to these fast moving zombies! The blood of people that were caught sshed unto the surroundings as mouthfuls of their flesh was torn off their bodies. Bloodcurdling screams escaped their mouths as they frantically resist their attackers but they could only sumb to their fates as they failed.


    The people on the third floor finally saw what was happening. They revealed the looks of shock and horror as their faces were drained of color. Many felt nauseated while some actually vomited the contents of their stomach after looking away from the gruesome situation below. They soon remembered the person who just climbed up earlier and what he answered to the man''s questions.


    They looked around to find Mark just to see him on the side fiddling with a mop. He twisted off the aluminum segment of the mop and took the long wooden handle waving it like a staff. As they saw what he was doing, the thought popped up on their nked and panicked minds.


    "Weapons! Find weapons!"


    A man in the crowd shouted. Everyone snapped out of their stupors and many scrambled away looking for anything they can use as a weapon.


    Only those who were weaker, especially women and children, were left with their legs shaking. They did not know what to do. Were they really going to fight? The scene of carnage at the floor below them reyed on their minds as their bodies shook in fear. The children already started crying as they heard the chilling screams from below.


    Mark saw these people who were frozen in their ce. Shaking his head, he approached them in a cold demeanor. They could only stare at him as he walked closer and closer. He then looked towards a woman on the verge of tears who was wearing a uniform with a logo of aputer brand.


    Seeing Mark looking at the woman, a man with a short build immediately ran and blocked him from approaching the woman.


    "What do you want to do?"<sub> </sub>


    The man spoke warily. Mark looked at the man and saw that he was also wearing a uniform with the same logo as the woman. When he saw the logo, Mark did not bother with the woman anymore.


    Pointing at the entrance of the mall''s TechZone behind him with his right thumb over his shoulder, Mark spoke.


    "Those metal shutters there. You know how to close those?"


    The man saw Mark looking at the logo of the store he was working at on his uniform. He sighed in relief that Mark did not have any ill intentions. Being in this type of work for a long time, he had gone sharp at observing people. He realized that Mark tried to approach his co-employee because their store was located at the very corner of the TechZone''s entrance.


    And in response to Mark''s question, he nodded.


    "Then, bring these people inside the TechZone."


    Mark pointed at the group of people and children behind the man.


    "After that, close the shutters at the other entrance. Hmm¡­ Just pull this one halfway down for now. We can use the TechZone as refuge once the zombies reach this floor."


    Hearing what he said, the eyes of the man and the weaker people and the children behind him lit up. Without further ado, they hurried towards the TechZone and followed Mark''s instructions.


    While the other people were watching the scene below with horror in their eyes, Mark was already thinking of a way to deal with the situation. When he saw the entrance to the TechZone, he remembered that the whole TechZone was built with arge hall inwards lining the shops within the sides of the hall. As a separate area of the mall, it had its own dividing shutters. Unfortunately, he had no idea how to operate those shutters or he had done it by himself.


    The other people that scattered around to find weapons saw what happened as they looked at Mark in a new light. Though this person looked cold and exudes an aura that deterred people away from him, he had a calm and rational thought as he tried to find ways and options that they, who panicked, won''t be able to immediately think of.


    p When they went and looked around for weapons in a hurry, they could only think of fighting to fend themselves despite the fact they also felt afraid to do so. They saw what happened below. Once those human shaped man-eating monsters below reach this floor, if they could not fight or hide, it was likely that they would get eaten. Now, Mark opened another option that they would not need to fight to survive.</anda>


    Many of them immediately hurried to follow the people who entered the TechZone, only to hear Mark shouting at them.


    "You people! Where do you think you are going?!"


    Hearing him shout, they could not help but stop, confused.


    "What do you mean?! We also want to get in there and hide! Why are you stopping us?"


    A man voiced his discontent.


    "These idiots."


    Mark murmured, then, he looked above the terrace and nced at the situation below before replying.


    "There is still time left! Go inside the other stores and get anything you guys think we can use before going in there to hide! Especially food and water! Those are needed unless you people wanted to starve to death in there! Who knows how much time will pass while hiding in there!"


    Mark voiced his concerns with amanding tone which made all these people feel conflicted but they could not refute any of what he said which were rational. Abandoning the thought of running away and hiding immediately, they entered the shops and went out carrying boxes containing assortment of things.


    Unfortunately though, the third floor mostly had stores for tech stuff, sports, clothing and entertainment. There were very few ces here to find food and drinks unlike the floors below.


    A clever employee of the mall took a few of his co-workers and ran towards the southern wing of the mall as fast as possible. In a few minutes, they came back with several boxes of food and snacks and cases of cold drinks along with a several more people in tow.


    Mark who ran into the sports gear store saw them and his eyes lit up. It seemed that these guys went to raid the snack bar at the cinema area.


    When Mark went out of the store, there was arge sports duffel bag strapped on his shoulder and he was holding a metal baseball bat in his right hand. The handle of the mop he took earlier was left inside the store as the metal bat was more convenient to use in this situation.


    But as he stepped out of the store, his eyes caught movement by his right side and he turned to the right by reflex. What he saw made him broke into cold sweat.

 Chapter 4 The Neck To Neck Encounters

    To his right, there was a man wearing a white uniform running towards him like where was no tomorrow with a shotgun swaying by his waist. If he looked normal, it would have been fine but the problem was this person''s clothes almost turned red because of blood and there was a bite sized chunk of flesh missing on his neck. Another step was all it took and the man lunged at Mark like a hungry beast.


    Even though Mark broke into cold sweat that moment, his reflexes did not betray him. His blood boiled up as he stepped sideways dodging the zombie''s pounce. While it was still in mid-air in front of him, he gave it a heavy swing of his bating from above. The swing totally missed the zombie''s head but it directly smashed unto the nape of its neck.


    Cracking sounds of bones creepily entered his ears when the heavy metal bat made contact. The impact halted the momentum of its pounce and the zombie fell on the floor with its neck bent backwards more than normally it would be able to.


    Giving out a few twitches, it almost stopped moving. Why almost? Because its head was still moving! Mark''s counter attack broke its neck and severed all its ability to move its body but still, its brain remained intact. And thus, it was still "alive". Still, he can''t help but notice that it was weaker. Probably because of his attack but he did not know for sure.


    The head red at mark like it was looking at its prey while growling with its mouth that puked out blood.


    Mark on the other hand red back at the zombie but he was actually trying to get used to the sensation he felt just now. Even if Mark did not hesitate to give it a killing blow, it was still the very first time he tried to kill a person in real life even if it was a zombie. In the video games he yed every day, killing was a normal matter as arge variety of games work by the system of killing enemies, whether it would be humans, monsters or something else.


    Also, the feeling of being close to death was suffocating. After all, it truly was a close one. If his instincts did not kick in, just getting pounced on was not the end of it.


    The sensation of being near death and killing in real life was totally different. Mark was actually shivering and his heart was pounding loudly as he tried to hold his metal bat tighter. After getting a few mouthfuls of air, he started to make himself calm down.


    He stared at the familiar zombie that was lying on the floor in front of him. It was familiar since he saw this person just a while ago. Failing to reload his gun on time, he got bitten on his neck by a zombie that pounced on him. It was the guard on the first floor earlier who vanished when Mark was not looking. As evidence, the unloaded shotgun that still had its chamber openedy beside the zombie as it was strapped around his body.


    This zombie guard had no other injury aside from the bite he got earlier and the broken neck inflicted by Mark. This way, Mark was able to assure himself that how it was like in the movies. A single bite from a zombie can turn a person into one. He had the idea that there might be other factors for transmission like blood and excrement but Mark had no time or way of knowing for now.


    As time was very important, Mark decided to continue mulling over these thingster. Steeling his heart, he raised his baseball bat once more and mercilessly swung it on the head of the former guard. An iron like smell scattered in the air as the of the guard blood sshed on the floor.


    Mark gave the bat another swing to the side to get rid of the blood sshed on it and kicked the dead zombie to make ity on its back. Covering his hand with a handkerchief, he carefully removed one end of the strap connected to the shotgun and pulled the gun off the zombie''s body. He then detached the buckle of the guard''s security belt kit and gave it a pull taking the belt with belt bags and pockets away.


    Giving the contents of therger bag behind the belt a short peek, he smiled. He took out several shotgun shells from the bag and filled the shotgun''s chamber fully reloading it. He then buckled the belt around his waist as everything inside the pockets connected to the belt contain necessary stuff like a small shlight on the first pocket and the two-way radio at the pocket next to it. The radio looked broken though as he can''t hear any crackling noise from it even if it was turned on.


    Without further ado, not even giving the dead zombie guard another nce, he ran towards the central area. It was because he started to hear several screams here on this floor!<sub> </sub>


    Three people gathering supplies in the east wing of the mall were now running away as they are being chased by a fast moving zombie. Further behind them are several more zombies but were slower and staggering while trying to catch up.


    Mark saw the three and could not help butmend them in his mind. They did not want to fight as they were afraid. Still, as they ran away, they did not have the impulse to throw away and leave the supplies they found.


    The three men were actually running away pushing two carts filled with severalrge boxes of food in it!


    Since the sports gear store he just left was located southern wing near the central area of the mall, he was not that far from the three. As the three were pushing carts of precious food, he did not hesitate and ran towards them to help. Another reason was because he was eager to try out the gun he just took from the zombie guard he had just killed.


    Seeing Mark who held a gun in his hand was running towards them, the three men felt ted. They feared to fight the running zombie chasing them and there are more zombiesing from behind. Still, they did not want to leave the food they found with great effort. It was lucky that their job was to restock food at stalls so they knew where to find these carts. They found the carts and also emptied the stall that they should be delivering the supply to but before they can take everything, they saw the zombies unsteadily climbing the esctor with a fast moving one leading in front.


    "Continue running!"


    Mark ran past the three and shouted. Of course, the three men would not dare to stop even if he did not shout.


    He then stopped running and stood not far from the zombie rushing towards his direction. As he saw the zombie, Mark thought how lucky those three was. If it was a normal fast running zombie, they would not make it without leaving the carts of food. However, the zombie chasing them had only one foot! Only its right foot was intact and the other was left with a stump just above the ankle. Trails made of blood that dripped from its bleeding leg could be seen at the path it ran before. There was no doubt that this zombie was in the same standard as the guard Mark killed earlier but it was greatly hindered by its disability.


    As the zombie tried its beast rushing at him, Mark held the metal bat on his left and the pulled shotgun from his left side with his right hand. When he got his hand on this gun, he was actually itching to try and shoot it. This shotgun may be short bodied but it still did notck a good punch. A gun was just one in the list of an Otaku''s most wanted items.


    He stepped his left foot backwards turning his body to the side as his right hand aimed the shotgun forward. He could only aim like this as he did not want to make the mistake of putting down his baseball bat and the shotgun was a model without a stock. As a gamer and an Otaku, he had quite a good amount of knowledge about guns. Even if he wanted to hit the zombie''s head, he aimed the gun a little lower as he minded the recoil.


    BANG!


    Mark felt his right hand go numb after pulling the trigger while blood of the zombie sshed everywhere. The zombie''s head flew off the terrace and its body was pushed back by a stem back because of the impact before it slumped to the floor. Despite it was shot with a shotgun, the body did not receive enough impact as it should as the zombie was not hit in the center of its body. Still, the head did not explode like a watermelon being smashed on the floor either. It was because the zombie was hit by the gunshot¡­


    On its neck¡­

 Chapter 5 Panic And Confusion

    "Damn! Why is it the neck again?!"


    Markmented as the shot missed his intended target. Still, he managed to do what he needed to do anyway. Furthermore, the stray slugs from the shot flew off passed through the zombie riddling the other zombies behind with holes.


    He did not have any actual experience or training in using guns prior to this event and the things he knew are knowledge that he picked up in the inte and video games. Since that was the case, he was not that confident with his arm strength to endure the recoil. Mark aimed the gun a bit lower so as the recoil kicked in and raised the barrel due to the force behind the shot, he would still be able tond the shot on the head of the zombie.


    However, it went differently from what he thought. The recoil was weaker than he thought and maybe, he braced for the recoil too much that the recoil became restricted. It looked like his arm was not that weak after all.


    The three men who was quite a distance away already stopped when they heard the gunshot, they looked at Mark in awe. Though, the scene of him who stood in front of a headless bleeding corpse was quite unsettling.


    Then, they saw him retreat towards them quickly so they also continued running away.


    Mark did not dare linger any longer and shot off towards the three. The zombies already the third floor in the east wing. From his position, he could also see survivors screaming as they climbed up the esctors and stairs in the central area.


    As the three men were pushing heavy carts of food, Mark easily managed to catch up to them quickly. They arrived near by the central area and saw what the situation was.


    People from the lower floors who managed to survive came flocking up to this floor like a deranged swarm of rats. They were screaming and pushing each other while some could not help but fall down from being pushed aside. Some of the survivors who wore light colored clothes were particrly eye-catching as they escaped clutching their pained bodies riddled with dirty shoe prints.


    Still, the numbers were considerably lowerpared to the number of people Mark saw running away to escape to the lower floors. It was easy to specte what happened to those who did not make it here.


    The people that never left the confines of the third floor tried their best to direct the people but there were only few of the panicked survivors paid attention to them. Most of them did not even try to listen as they scattered like flies trying to find refuge on their own.


    The woman who Mark tried to approach earlier was the most proactive in helping the survivors who were carrying children and was pointing towards the TechZone.


    It was then that a fat man who had unruly and cunning face appeared. He was perspiring and panting heavily as he ran in panic and even knocked down the woman.


    "Get out of the way!"


    The fat man shouted and continued running after leaving a few curses. Behind him, a man with burly stature wearing a suit and sunsses followed.


    Seeing how these idiots run around like mice being chased away from their nests, Mark frowned.


    "AHHHHH!!! HELP ME!!!"


    The man who was thest to climb the esctor screamed as a zombie managed to catch up to him. He saw caught and dragged from behind down the esctor. His scream did notst long and became muffled as he fell down the esctor while struggling to free himself. Together with the zombie that caught him and the ones following behind, they all fell down like dominos.


    This might be a depressing sight but it could only be said that the person was unfortunate as he met his end before anyone could even react to help him. Though by the looks of it, no one really bothered to help as everyone who was around him before were frantically trying to escape.


    Still, the man''s death brought more time for the people on the floor.


    As Mark and the three men reached the central area, several more screams soundeding from the western wing of the third floor.


    Everyone stopped as they saw about a dozen people running away from that direction and behind them, there are several fast zombies running after them.


    The survivors who just reached the floor grimaced seeing that they were surrounded and the ones who were giving their efforts did not know what to do either.


    At this moment, Mark looked around him. Shaking his head, he proceeded and took the liberty ofmanding the three behind him.<sub> </sub>


    "You two, bring those carts inside. And you¡­"


    He looked at the most fit looking of the three and pointed at a wall several meters away.


    "Get that fire extinguisher and follow behind me."


    Drawing this gun from his side once more, Mark took off towards the direction of the survivors from the west wing while the three followed his orders without hesitation.


    The two who was left in charge of the carts switched to pulling the carts behind from pushing the carts. They carefully waved through the confused people. Seeing the amount of food on the cart the two was pulling, the people who stayed in this floor was pulled from their stupor. The others who searched for supplies only managed to get a few stic bags or small boxes of food but the carts the two had was carrying severalrge boxes.


    Mark also waved through the people while the man carrying the fire extinguisher followed closely behind him. As he passed along the woman who fell down, he stopped for a bit.


    "Get inside already and only take those who are listening. As for the others, leave them if they wanted to continue with their stupidity."


    "But-"


    "No buts, hurry up. We are losing time here. I don''t really care about you guys but if the zombies arrive before you people managed to enter the TechZone, then don''t bother surviving. You guys will sure die when that happens to it''s up to you."


    Without waiting for another reply, he continued on his way. The man following behind him also heard what Mark said but he said nothing. Right now, he was only following Mark''s orders.


    The woman who was left behind hesitated for a bit as she looked at the back of the two. In the end, she looked at the survivors who were in despair. She bit her lip and shouted. Though she still held the notion of helping these people, what Mark said to her also had sense. As she shouted, her previous concerned tone as she tried to help these people was now changed into amanding voice.


    "Those who wanted to live, follow us quick! OR ESLE! Be food of those monsters right now!"


    Then, she left as she pulled her co-employees with her. Her co-employees were also surprised by her change in attitude and only took another look at the people who watched her leave before following behind her in a hurry.


    The survivors looked dumfounded for a short moment before what the woman shouted sunk into their minds. Everyone immediately scrambled as they followed after the employees. Among the people, the fat man bulldozed himself through the people in front of him and shamelessly followed the woman who he just pushed away and cursed at earlier.


    After everyone entered, the employees remained beside the entrance and only closed the shutters half-way as they wait for Mark, the man he brought with him and the survivors they went to help.


    It was then¡­


    "What are you bastards doing? Close that door already!"


    The fat man shouted as he panted with spittle flying out of his mouth.


    "What are you saying?! We still have people outside! And who are you to tell us what to do?!"


    One of the employees guarding the entrance shouted back.


    "I don''t care about them! Hurry up and close that damn f*cking door before those demons get in!"


    Infuriated, the employees guarding the entrance prepared to teach this fat bastard a lesson but they could only step back with pale faces before they could even move a step forward.


    In front of the fat man, the man wearing a suit and sunsses stood pointing a pistol at the employees.

 Chapter 6 The Survivors From The West Wing

    From the west wing of the third floor, a group of people was filled with despair as they ran away from the ferocious chase of the fast zombies behind them.


    Among the group, two college girls who wore their school uniforms, a set of dirty-yellow blouse and dark green cks. The girl in front had a small face, lively looking eyes and wavy chestnut colored shoulder length hair. The girl behind had a strict looking face, serious eyes and her ck mid back length hair was tied into a braided ponytail.


    Though their eyes could easily make them described as such, those traits were nowhere to be found at this moment. The two grasped each other''s hands tightly. Desperation was visible on the face of the girl in front as she pulled the other girl who seemed to have almost given up. The girl behind seemed to be in a bit of stupor while being pulled away,rge splotches of blood were visible on her clothes.


    They desperately tried their best not tog behind.


    It was because¡­


    Those whogged behind were the first to be eaten.


    When they managed to finally climb up to this floor after a lot of hardships, there were about a dozen of them running away. But now, due to the relentless pursuit of the zombies behind, they were picked and eaten, one by one.


    Right at this moment, there was only seven people left running away. They could only bit their lips, close their ears and steel their hearts as they hear the cries of help, fear and pain of those who caught and eaten.


    The girls'' hearts had already grown cold to this. They held each other''s hands without letting go and assuring each other of their existence. They felt that once one of them let go, they would totally fell into despair.


    Just this morning, they were happily chatting with their friends in school,ining about their schedule for today which are all math rted subjects except for the first period and all those subjects was handled by a single grumpy instructor.


    That was then that they learned that their instructor for the whole day was absent and none of the other instructors present knew why. Their whole ss thought that they were fortunate to not undergo such torturous sses for the whole day. With a few of their ssmates and friends, they decided to go to the City Mall to y and pass time.


    It was all fun and games even though many shops are closed for unknown reasons. They bought and ate fast food,ughed as they chatted while eating.


    But who would think that¡­


    It was thest time that they wouldugh and eat together.


    Things fell into chaos as they heard the gunshots and screams. After they saw what was happening below, they decided to escape out of the mall without even finishing their food.


    Together with their friends, all of them ran along the waves of people escaping. However, their escape failed horribly when the exit they were supposed to go through was actually the entrance to hell. Fast running zombies entered in frenzy past through that very door trapping everyone who wanted to go out and escape.


    Then, a sequence of horrible, sad, infuriating, and disappointing and unfortunate events happened. In the end, out of all the people in their group, only the two of them are left and managed to reach this hopeless point in their lives.


    They could only run along with these people who were in the same circumstances.


    It was then that the group was shined with a little bit of hope as they saw a quiterger group of people further away on the direction they were running towards. They heard them shouting and seemed to be directed by some people. Even though the group was far away, they knew, all of those people ran into the same direction like they found salvation.


    Why did they know that? The answer was because it was the only thing they hope to find at this moment that they were being chased by death itself.


    Now, in the minds of every single person in this small group of survivors, a simr goal sprouted. It was to follow thatrge group of people into safety.


    The only question left now was if their pursuers would allow them to.<sub> </sub>


    And of course, that would not happen in the slightest. Not only that it would not happen but for some reason, the pursuit of the zombies behind them became more and more aggressive.


    "Ahhhhh! Help! Help ME!! No! NO!! NO!!! STOP!!! AHHHHH!!!! "


    Another man who was in the tail of the group was caught. Several zombies pounced on him and tore his skin with their mouths and tore his stomach with their nails creating a bloody scene of human flesh and guts while the man screamed to his death.


    Unfortunately, even with the man''s death, the pressure that the group was feeling did not lessen. Not all zombies stopped to take a bit at the man and continued their relentless chase of the remaining people.


    They ran and ran with the fastest that they could, none of them even have the slightest intent to look behind them as they feared to do so. Still, they could hear the hungry growls that crave for their flesh draw closer and closer.


    They looked forward, towards the people escaping from afar. It was then that they noticed two figures separating from the group going towards their direction.


    "Help! Please! Help Us!


    The man running in front of the group could not help but call out as they saw the two figures.


    The two figures, the two men ran towards them carrying something in their hands. As the two came closer, they finally saw what they were carrying. The person running in front held a shotgun with his right hand and a baseball bat with his left while the other person in the back held a fire extinguisher.


    They felt ted as the thought of iing help entered their minds.


    "AHHHHHHHHHHH!!!"


    However, before they could raise their hopes up, another anguished shout echoed into their ears. The fastest one of the zombies managed to catch up and pounced on the back of the man running behind the group.


    The remaining people did not try to help of course but the two girls could not help but stop when two more voices of panic sounded from behind them.


    "AHHH! What are you doing?! Let go!"


    "Ouch! Mommy! Wahh!"


    The two girls looked behind them and saw the man who just shouted in fear as he was pounced on. He did not cry in pain as the zombie over his back bit the flesh on his shoulder and instead, with a crazed expression in his face and bloodshot eyes, his right hand clutched tightly on the left foot of the woman who was running in front of him.


    "Help me or I won''t let go!"


    The man''s voice started to go hoarse as all his sanity left his mind. He would die if no one helped him, and if so, then he would not let himself die alone!


    The woman tried pulling her leg out of the man''s hand but it was like a mp that tightly clenched her foot without letting go.


    A step away in front of a woman, a girl about three to four years old sat as she stared crying because of both pain and fear.


    The woman carried her daughter as she ran away but when she fell down because of the man behind her grabbing her foot, she lost grip on her daughter and the little girl was thrown away to the floor in front of her.

 Chapter 7 The Shot He Wanted To Make

    As the woman continued to struggle and tug her leg off the man''s grasp, she saw the man''s head slowly slump down the puddle of his own blood on the floor. She thought that it was the chance for her to escape but to her horror, the man''s actually tightened even more.


    After the man had totally gone quiet, the zombie chomping on his neck stopped and shot a sudden fierce re towards the trapped woman apanied by the snapping sounds of its bones in its neck due to the quick turn of its head. It started adjusting its body getting ready to pounce on the woman who now already burst into tears due to her fear.


    "Pa! Take the girl!"


    One of the college girls, the girl with the chestnut colored hair, shouted as she burst into a sprint at the zombie. The other college girl who was called Pa hesitated a little before running after her friend.


    As it saw the college girl sprinting closer, the zombie changed its target and quickly lunged towards the neer when she was about toe into its range.


    After two uncontrolled lunges, the zombie sped past the woman and the child before jumping strongly as it pounced towards the college girl.


    The girl stopped running for a moment as she saw the zombie jump at her. She brought her right foot behind to gain momentum and then mercilessly swung her right leg upwards with the force she can release. Her shoe made a vicious contact with the neck and chin of the zombie. As it was in the midst if its attack, the kick made it spin backwards in the air and it flew back for about three meters and had an unsightlynding on the floor.


    Two more zombies running from behind fell down as one got its feet swiped by the flying zombie while the other stepped unstably one the bodied of the two zombies that fell down before it.


    With that little time she managed to get, she immediately pried the dead man''s hand away. Unfortunately, to her surprise, she failed to remove the hand and man''s grasp was actually getting tighter and tighter that the woman started to wail in pain.


    The dead man''s body then started twitching violently but still not letting go of the woman''s leg.


    "Ange! Quick! They areing!"


    Pa who already secured the child in her embrace shouted at her friend as she saw the three zombies that fell down were getting up.


    "Shit!"


    The chestnut haired girl who was called Ange cursed unbing of ady and gritted her teeth as she heard her friend''s shout. She then looked at the twitching man.


    "Don''t me me for this!"


    Their situation was getting grim. Ange then removed herst ounce of hesitation. She then raised her right foot and brought it down with heavy force.


    SNAP!


    The eerie sound of bones breaking entered their ears. Ange violently stomped at the man''s arm breaking his bones. Some of the bones were broken but strangely, the man''s grip did not loosen. As she saw this, she made several more stomps breaking more bones in the arm of the dead man.


    Stomp after stomp, the grasp of the dead man finally loosened.


    However, the time Ange needed to release the woman was also enough for the three zombies to recover. Furthermore, the other zombies that were left behind were also catching up. Ange''s pupils constricted as she saw the three zombies that had fallen earlier jump at her side by side almost at the same time.


    "Ange!"


    Pa shouted as she watched the plight of her friend.


    BANG!


    A deafening sound echoed into their ears. At the same time, the three zombies pouncing towards Ange are blown several meters away riddled with bloody holes on their bodies. Two of the zombies tried to get up immediately after but the injuries the two received gave them a lot of difficulty and zombies even started to twist their bodies in pain and growled. As for thest one, it just slumped to the floor and stopped moving.


    The four females covered their ears due to pain because of the sudden gunshot but still looked towards the source of the shot by reflex. What they saw was the back of a man wearing a set of ck clothes and hooded jacket who already stood between them and the zombies. The man stared at the iing zombies and muttered.<sub> </sub>


    "Finally got a headshot."


    The girls heard the man''s soft whisper.


    ***


    Mark ran towards the group and saw them being picked down by the fast running zombies one by one. Seeing the dire state of their situation, he urged himself to run faster.


    "Help! Please! Help us!"


    A man who was running in front of the group shouted at him.


    He then saw a zombie caught up to another mangging behind the group and lunged at the man. He did not have much reaction to the man being caught but he could only frown as he saw what the man did.


    "What a bastard."


    ''Only at the worst possible times can a man''s true nature be revealed.''


    It was something he always believed.


    Mark heard the little girl who was thrown to the floor cry in pain and of course, the other people in front of the group also did. However, they only stole a nce behind their backs and continued running towards Mark.


    Instead, the two college girls stopped and went to help the mother and child despite the danger they were facing.


    The survivors who continued running was about to reach Mark and stop him to ask for help but did not manage to do as he shot them with a cold look and continued running past them.


    When Mark ran past them, the ones who wanted to stop him gnashed their teeth in anger and left onest nce at him before they continued running.


    The employee behind Mark saw what happened and also ignored the group of men fleeing as he followed behind him.


    While running, Mark''s uneven eyes grewrge in surprise as he saw one of the college girls charge at the zombie that caught the man that was holding the mother''s leg and sent it flying. He could not help but grin as he saw the girl''s movements and the method she did to free the woman.


    Unfortunately for the girl, she time she had was not enough for the time she needed and the zombies already jumped towards her by the time she freed the mother from the bastard''s grasp.


    Luckily enough, Mark also arrived by their side at this point without the girls noticing.


    BANG!


    Mark fired his shotgun towards the lunging zombies making them fly back several meters.


    The three zombies disregarded each other and tried to lunge at the college girl almost at the same time sticking them together in a single line. As Mark shot the zombie in front, most of the shotgun pellets blew its head off into mush and the remaining pellets riddled the other zombies with holes.


    He then shot a look behind him and shouted.


    "What are you women staring at me for, hurry up and run!"

 Chapter 8 The First Time He Cursed Out Loud

    Hearing his shout, the females started to take action. Pa lifted the child in her arms while Ange helped the mother stand up. As the mother tried to walk though, she almost fell down again. She did not fall and managed to stabilize herself. The mother tried to walk but she could only drag her left foot as she grimaced in pain. As Ange saw this, she immediately pulled the mother''s left arm and put in on her shoulder.


    BANG! BANG!


    Mark continued to shoot the iing fast zombies with better uracy as he got used to the recoil of his shotgun. His gun then ran out of ammo. After opening the chamber of the shotgun, he immediately fetched several 12 gauge shells from his belt bag and reloaded the gun calmly while retreating step by step. Still, he could notice that their retreat was too slow and he saw Ange assisting the woman in order to move.


    "What happened?"


    Mark asked as he nced behind him while not taking his attention away from the zombies.


    "She sprained her leg."


    Ange answered as she furrowed her eyebrows.


    Grimacing in pain, the mother then spoke with tears on her eyes.


    "I can''t run anymore, please just take my daughter and leave."


    The two girls and the man following Mark was surprised when they heard what the woman said and her child on Pa''s arms started to cry.


    "Mommy! NO!"


    The child violently squirmed trying to escape out of Pa''s arms and almost fell. Pa had no choice but to crouch down for the child to avoid falling off her arms identally. Still, the child did not stop trying to reach out to her mother.


    "Not a chance! We''re not leaving you behind!"


    Ange heightened her voice in determination.


    "But-"


    "No buts!"


    Ange then continued to assist the woman not letting go even a tiny bit.


    Seeing Ange''s determination to help her, tears started flowing out of the mother''s eyes. She did not want to die, she was totally scared of dying of on the fangs of these rabid beasts and she did not want to leave her daughter behind even more. But in this case that she injured her leg, she would just drag her daughter and these good people to their demise. She did not want to be like that man who made the already dangerous situation even worse for her.


    The employee who followed Mark also had tears at the corner of his eyes as he watched this scene.


    Then a snort came from the direction behind them.


    "What are you people being dramatic for?! This isn''t a drama series and we don''t have time for you all to make a scene!"


    Ange wanted to say something in retort as she thought that he wanted to abandon the woman but Mark did not let her and turned his eyes towards the employee behind him. Seeing Mark looking at him, he gulped his own saliva for some reason.


    "You think you can carry her?"


    Mark gestured towards the mother. The employee  looked at the woman who had quite a short build which was about several inches less of five feet and reluctantly nodded.<sub> </sub>


    Seeing that the man was quite reluctant, Mark was confused. The man''s build showed that he was used to carrying heavy stuff but he actually showed such expression towards carrying the woman.


    Still, following what Mark said, the man put the fire extinguisher on the floor and took the woman from Ange lifting her on his arms in the position Mark knew as princess carry. The mother also showed a little bit of hesitation and embarrassment being carried like this but she also knows the urgency of the situation and did not resist.


    As she thought wrongly, Ange also had a bit of embarrassment on her face as she looked at Mark who was now holding a bat which was not dripping with blood. It seemed that they are too engrossed with the situation of the woman and they did not notice that their savior already took down several zombies. In front of him, there are several bodies that either had sted heads or smashed skulls.


    The scene of blood and gore in front of him is totally sickening and scary but his face did not show any of such emotion. Among the bodies, the man who grabbed the woman''s leg can also be seen with a deep dent on his head and his orifices bleeding.


    "Shouldn''t it be easier if you carry her on your back?"


    Mark asked as he swung his bat at the face of another zombie who lunged at him.


    The man did not answer but only looked at Mark with a pleading expression on his face. Seeing this, Mark finally came to a conclusion and did not urge the man anymore.


    TAM! TAM! TAM! BLAM!


    It is then a sickening loud sequence of metal sounds shing with a final sound of heavy metal falling on the floor sounded.


    "Shit!"


    Mark''s expression changed as he cursed out loud for the first time in his life when he heard that sound.


    He was not a person who was fond of cursing. Even people who knew him never heard him curse even once. Mark view cursing as something hical and makes a person look uneducated and thus he never did. But now, he could help but do so.


    The females together with Mark are confused to his reaction towards that sound but the face of the employee who just lifted the woman also paled.


    "What happened?"


    Ange noticed the ugly expression of the two and asked.


    "Hold this for a little bit."


    The employee seemed not to hear her question and Mark did not answer either. Instead, Mark held his bat towards her.


    Ange did pursue the question anymore and received the metal bat. Mark then took the fire extinguisher and bashed its bottom on an iing zombie which caused it to stagger backward. At that opening, Mark pulled the safety pin of the fire extinguisher and squeezed the trigger aiming at the bashed zombie''s face.


    The zombie who had its face covered with sticky white foam started to ran towards its target once more without even trying to remove the foam covering its eyes. Trying to attack, it pounced, but not towards Mark but towards the terrace. The zombie''s shoulder hit the railing but the rest of its body passed over the terrace. With the momentum of its jump and the railing stopping the force on its shoulder, the zombie kept rotating midair as it plunged to its death. With a loud stting sound, it hit the ground two floors below.


    Mark''s eyes shined a bit as he then proceeded to spray the contents of the fire extinguished across the floor. And the result, the iing fast zombies that already had bad sense of bnce slipped on the foam sliding on the floor covering their bodies with even more of the foam especially the zombies'' hands and feet as they try to stand up again. The sliding zombies spread the foam even more and the started having a hard time to stand up as their hands and feet slipped on the floor every time they did.


    Still, even if they slipped repeatedly on the floor at this moment, they are still advancing forward and this situation would notst too long.


    "Okay! Run!"


    As Mark gained more leeway for them to run, they all rushed back to the TechZone leaving the struggling zombies behind.

 Chapter 9 A Problem That Arose Because Of Something That Closed Down

    As their group ran away, Mark sprayed the contents of the fire extinguisher on the floor every now and then. Even though the foam spread on the floor isn''t as thick and more spreadpared to the first patch he made, it should be enough to hinder the zombies'' pursuit even a little bit. Still, he did not intend on using up all the contents of the fire extinguisher. When he heard the sound of metal shing and that loud bang on the floor, he is sure that he would need the contents of the fire extinguisher somewhere else.


    "Hey open this up! Please let us in!"


    Before they can get to the TechZone, they heard the voice of a man with his angry and helpless shouting as he hit the metal shutter blocking the entrance of the TechZone together with three more people behind him. These people were the ones running if front of the two schoolgirls before, the ones Mark ignored earlier. But that is not the pressing matter at this moment but the metal shutter in front of them right now.


    That''s right! The TechZone is already closed abandoning the Mark and the employee that followed him along with other people that are still outside!


    Other people like the students, the mother and the child and even most customers might not realize but Mark who conscious of it and most of the employees working at this mall knew what it is if they heard that loud sound of metal shing before banging on the floor. It is the steel shutter at the entrance of the TechZone being closed down! This is also the reason the employee that mark brought with him had his face drained of color!


    Seeing the closed entrance from afar, the two schoolgirls and the mother being princess carried felt dispirited. They thought that they would be saved if they managed to follow thatrge group of people but they were shut out before they could even start doing so.


    As the people outside the entrance where shouting and hitting the shutter with hands, voicesing from inside answered arguing with the people outside.


    Although they can hear the voices, what the voices were saying where iprehensible to Mark and the people with him as they were still far away.


    Then, as they got closer...


    BANG!


    A gunshoting from inside the TechZone echoed making the people outside the entrance jump back in fright while the people with Mark froze on their steps. Several frightened screams are heard from the inside by the screams are masked by an angry shout of a man with irritating voice simr to squealing of a pig.


    "Get the f*ck away! We already said that we are not letting anyone in! Who knows if you bastards are one of those man-eating monsters! Go away or the next shot will, bore f*cking holes on your bodies!"


    The men who were in front of the entrance could only step back in fright.


    "You f*ucking bunch of animals!"


    Knowing that it would be impossible for the people inside to let them in, they left cursing as they scatter like flies towards different directions where they don''t see any zombies.


    As the situation isn''t good, Mark frowned as he carefully make his way towards the closed entrance together with people with him despite hurrying as much as possible.


    But when he is about a few steps away, he heard several thumping sounds just to his right. When he looked, he saw two people knocking on the ss of a store beside him. This part of the store is connected to store at the just beside the entrance unfortunately, it is still not possible to enter the TechZone through this part unless they break the reinforced ss which ruins the point of going into the area in the first ce.


    Inside the store, two familiar employees are knocked on the ss in attempt to get his attention which luckily seeded. These two employees were the woman who Mark talked to earlier and the other is the shorter member of the cart pushing trio.<sub> </sub>


    Seeing the two waiting for them with both scared and apologetic expressions, Mark started to have clearer thought about the vague ideas he had before.


    The two inside tried telling them who were outside about the situation. Unfortunately, it was a futile attempt because the reinforced ss prevented their voices from going through clearly. Unless the two shouted, Mark and the others outside might hear them but the two did not dare due to their situation.


    BAM!


    Mark swung his baseball bat at an iing zombie smashing its face into a pulp. Seeing this, two inside the store shuddered. After looking around, Mark handed the fire extinguisher to Ange after seeing that there are no apparent zombies in the vicinity that can be deemed as immediate threat.


    "You know how to use this?"


    Mark asked.


    Ange who was confused being asked such a question nodded.


    "Spray the contents on the floor on the directions where the zombies areing from. I know you can do that. We need buy a little time."


    Being ordered like that, Ange pouted but still followed. If it were other girls like her friend, Pa, they might have declined due to fear but Ange who knew how to defend herself had more guts to do so. Mark also noticed this and thus, he did not hesitate to ask the girl do it.


    Pa who was worried about her brave friend just watched as she also knew that she''ll be fine.


    As Ange started spraying the fire extinguisher on the floor, Mark took out his phone from his bag and pressed the power button revealing the cute anime custom screensaver. Upon unlocking the phone with a swipe, the next thing that showed is the high-tech looking theme with a wallpaper of a cute blue haired anime girl holding a high-tech sma sword at her right hand and a double-barreled ray pistol on her left.


    Pa who was just behind him saw this and was surprised and smiled wryly. Just who would think that this fierce and scary looking man that did not even bat an eyelid as he shoot his gun and smash the zombies'' bloody faces actually had such hobby?


    Mark opened a note app on his phone and turned around just to notice at the side of his view, as Pa smiled wryly with her gaze on his phone. He felt a little embarrassed but did not try to show even a little bit of it.


    She also saw that Mark noticed her looking at his phone and also felt embarrassed and turned her face somewhere else with slightly red cheeks.


    Continuing the strong fa?ade, he typed a few words on his phone and showed it on the two who were inside the store.


    "What happened?"


    Mark asked using his phone.

 Chapter 10 To The South Wing

    As they saw the method Mark used tomunicate with them, the two employees inside the store scrambled to take out their phones forgetting that it is still their work time and they are not allowed to carry their own.


    Seeing their predicament, Mark knocked the ss and pointed on the stack of papers and motioned his left hand like he is holding a pen and writing over his phone. The two immediately understood and immediately ran to the counter picking up a pen and a sheet of letter sized paper and the man wrote on it in a hurry.


    After writing what seemed to be an essay with several sentences long, the short man stered his rushed and almost illegible writing.


    Summarizing what the employee wrote, they were forced to close the entrance due that fat guy and his guard holding them at gunpoint. The fat man also instigated the others to support him leaving the employees with no leeway to resist.


    "Those ungrateful bastards!"


    This sentence was thest line the man wrote on the paper.


    After reading the "essay" written by the man, Mark immediately typed on his phone and replied with another question.


    "Is there any other way to go inside there?"


    "What about the other entrance?" The man replied.


    Mark turned his head towards the direction of the TechZone entrance at the west wing and shook his head. Though that entrance is quite far away, it isn''t hard to see the number of zombies that are now around that area. Furthermore, those zombies are already making their way towards their direction. The gunshot should have attracted them.


    It seemed that the woman had an idea as she just snatched the pen on the man''s hand and wrote on another paper. Behind her, the man is reading what she was writing and his eyes lit up.


    "Use the service corridors! I don''t think you would be able to use the back doors on other stores but you should be able to enter the corridors using the fire exits in the cinema."


    As he saw the woman''s idea, he nodded. He also knew about the corridors found at the back ofrge malls that connects the shops and are used to transport supplies without going through the front doors of the store. It is the only choice they have right now though it will be quite a detour.


    They have a goal now and it was literally roundabout one.


    Mark looked at the closed entrance of the TechZone with a look that as if he was looking at the people inside. Then he typed quite a number of words in his phone and showed it to the two which made the two confused because rather than a suggestion, it seemed more like amand for them to follow.


    Seeing the confused and hesitant look of the two, he typed another sentence and showed his phone once more.


    "I doesn''t really matter to me but just do what I said if you guys want to live."


    This sentence made the two quite afraid. Even if they don''t understand why, they chose to do what Mark said to them.


    Mark nodded to them onest time as he prepared to depart. When he turned around, he saw Ange as she just threw the fire extinguisher with a baseball pitch using all her might at a zombie that just climbed up the esctor nearby. The fire extinguisher hit the zombie square in its face as it stagger and fell backwards.  The fire extinguisher bounced off due to the impact and made a loud nging sound as it hit the ground floor while the zombie fell on the other zombies behind it creating a domino effect of fallen zombies on the esctor.


    After throwing the fire extinguisher, Ange immediately ran back towards the group and asked.<sub> </sub>


    "Finished?"


    "Yeah let''s go."


    Mark looked at the people behind him and nodded at them. Everyone felt nervous knowing that they had to go another round of zombie encounters but it''s not like they do have any other choice.


    With Mark in the lead, their group started running. He pushed his senses to his limits as he tried to perceive any uing danger. Looking around, everyone could notice how the situation is worsening, if they didn''t move any faster, they would be surrounded in no time as the number of zombies in this floor is constantly increasing.


    But in Mark''s view, their increase is just reasonable, just earlier, he released several shots of his shotgun killing several zombies in the process while the unreasonable people inside the TechZone wasted another. There are also other noises like the shouting and hard knocking of steel shutter the people outside the TechZone had done earlier and the high-pitched screams after the gunshot. Just all thesemotion is bound to attract the zombies from the floors below.


    Leaving the central are of the mall, they turned right at the corner towards the south wing of the wall. Their target is the furthest end of the south wing where the cinemas are located.


    "Why did you throw the fire extinguisher away?"


    While running, Mark can''t help but ask Ange.


    "It''s already empty so I did."


    Ange snappily replied.


    Hearing her answer, he shook his head. It might be empty but the canister could still be used to smash someone''s head! Mark looked at her and handed her his baseball bat.


    She looked at Mark confused as she absentmindedly epted the baseball bat.


    "Lead the way for a bit, I''ll just deal with the nuisance at the back. Remember! Aim for the head."


    Ange looked behind their group surprised and then nodded with a serious expression. They might not have noticed it due to their tension and also the growl of zombiesing from every direction but behind them, there is about half a dozen zombies running after like madmen with distorted faces!


    In front of them, it is lucky enough that the number of zombies on the way is rtively fewer and there are no fast moving zombies in sight but if they let the ones chasing from behind get close onto them, things would be nasty.


    "Just continue running! Don''t look behind!"


    Mark shouted as he aimed his gun behind the group.


    BANG!


    He shot the closest zombie that is already about to lunge at him without hesitation blowing up its head. Ammunition is precious and he wanted to save ammo as much as possible. But with the number of fast moving zombies in close proximity, he can''t skimp on bullets. Not right now.

 Chapter 11 Dealing With Zombies Chasing Behind

    BANG! BANG!


    Several gunshots were released in session. Mark prioritized shooting those who moved very close to each other before dealing with the single ones. Sometimes he would need to dodge as the zombies pounced on him while he was reloading, after all, the shotgun''s chamber can only hold five shells at maximum at the same time. There are also times that he needed to dodge as he attempted to shoot making his uracy suffer in the process.


    Dodging the zombies attack is hard but not impossible. From what he observed, their attack patterns are linear, like pouncing or grabbing. One only needed to calm down and catch the movements of their feet and hands and one would be able to dodge their attacks. Unless he is totally outnumbered, forced into a corner or be careless, he can deal with this much.


    If a zombie pounced from his right or left, he would jump backwards. If the zombie lunged in front, he would do arge sidestep to the left or right. That is how he dealt with the attacks.


    BANG!


    ''Hmm?''


    Mark was forced to jump back two zombies attacked from his right and in front almost at the same time. He shot the one in front as it was the second one to attack but the shot did not manage to hit its head and instead, the zombie''s right shoulder was blown off. Its right arm flew to the back creating a bloody mess on the floor.


    Then he saw it.


    ''So it''s really like this huh?''


    This isn''t the first time he noticed it, he saw the simr situation when he shot the three zombies in order to save the college girls earlier.


    The zombie that had its shoulder blown off staggered backwards howling before falling down on its back and started trashing on the floor sttering his blood everywhere.


    This zombie can still feel pain!


    In curiosity, he did not hesitate and shot the zombie that just lunged at him at its chest creating a bloody mess of broken ribs, pieces of it lungs, arteries and heart sttered on the floor. The zombie then fell with its body twitching for a bit before slumping down with devoid of any movements.


    ''It died?''


    Mark looked at it incredulously before jumping back once more evading another attack.


    BANG!


    He blew up the zombie''s head away. Then he saw the zombie that is trashing on floor due to its missing shoulder stop moving.


    ''The other one died of blood loss?''


    Anyone would think of that if they saw the amount of blood on the floor soaking the zombie without its arm.<sub> </sub>


    Seeing that the two died due to their sever injuries, Mark stopped on solely targeting the zombies'' heads which was a harder target to aim at and included the zombies'' chests or abdomens. Of course, when there is a good chance of blowing the zombies'' heads off, then he would do so.


    BANG!


    "Three left!"


    He muttered as he shot another zombie on its stomach and left it trashing on the floor like an earthworm poured with a pinch of salt.


    BANG! BANG!


    Two more zombies with burst chests fell to the floor and started thrashing around creating more coges of thorn flesh and blood. It was a very disgusting scene.


    CLANK!


    Mark tried shooting thest approaching zombie but he was met a metallic sound as thest shell was already shot from his shotgun. The zombie lunged at him and he can only dodge as he tried to reach for a shell in his belt bag.


    His evasion was sessful and the zombie fell with force on the floor hitting a green colored stic trashcan spilling all the garbage on the floor. When Mark saw this, an idea hit him and he quickly picked up the trashcan.


    As the zombie tried to stand up, it felt some force squeezing its face and its view suddenly turned ck. It felt its prey is still around but it can''t see anything and thus, it started to dash forward while swinging its arms madly.


    While the zombie ran away, Mark looked at the zombie incredulously. A zombie with a trashcan covering this head while running fast and crazily swinging its arms trying to catch air really looked ridiculous. Still, he was quite surprised at first. When he put the trashcan on its head Mark was standing in front of it but instead of turning passive like he thought it would be, it actually dashed towards him making him dodge in panic. After he dodged though, the zombie did not stop and continued running away back to the direction where it came from.


    Thest zombie ran away and Mark did not have any notion of chasing it as it is going the opposite direction they are going to. He turned around and saw the others are already several stores away from him. He looked at the bodies zombies with smashed faces and heads on the floor left behind by them and he can help butmend the ability of that girl.


    CRASH!


    With that loud sound of ss crashing down, anyone would turn to look by reflex and so does Mark. When he saw what caused the sound, he had aplicated expression on his face. Several stores away, a shop selling perfumes had its ss walls broken and buried under the pieces of broken ss, a zombie with a trashcan on its head was trashing on the floor trying to get up. Funny enough, the trashcan was still on its head and did not fall of after crashing on the ss wall. Well, it would be really hard to remove the trashcan that it was forced to wear as it can barely fit its head.


    Then, Mark was stupefied, not because of the trashcan zombie but because the bodies of some of the zombies he just killed started twitching and slowly stood up. And he realized that those who stood up once more are those whose heads, no, rather, the brains are still intact.


    "I messed up."


    When he saw that zombie who died because of the fatal injury it had on its chest, he thought that these zombies might be simr to the green flu infected in some video game series. Fast, strong and can be killed by normal means of killing. To think he that was mistaken. It was a good lesson for him. Don''t treat real life as some kind of game though he still thinks that the crappiest game of all is reality.


    Then he noticed something else with gave him a clearer idea of what is happening making his eyes light up. He immediately shot back to rejoin the group and left the zombies that just stood up.

 Chapter 12 Taking A Short Break

    Mark easily managed catch up with the rest as evading the slow moving and the most normal of zombies is too easy. Unless he got surrounded by overwhelming numbers, caught in a surprise attack or immobilized, getting away from this kind of zombies was a piece of cake. It wasn''t like these zombies would teleport towards people like zombies from some American zombie apocalypse series.


    With only a few zombies on the way, their group arrived at the entrance of cinema area. In here, there are several cinema halls that can be essed by customers who had tickets. Right now though, the dark cinema area looked like some haunted part of the mall.


    As they arrived, Mark cautiously looked around and noticed the retractable gate sticking out from the ceiling. He tapped the shoulder of the employee carrying the mother and pointed at the gate.


    "You know how to close this one?"


    Everyone looked up to what Mark is pointing at above them and saw the metal gate on the ceiling. They thought that it could serve as another assurance for their safety and also looked that the man. The expectant gazes that turned to him made him somewhat ufortable so he immediately shook his head.


    "I don''t know how to pull that down."


    When the man saw their downcast eyes, he hurriedly exined.


    "My work here is to deliver cargo from the warehouse. Most are boxes delivered to stalls, so I never had the opportunity to enter other workces for utility staff. And, it hasn''t been long since I started working here."


    The others immediately understood when he exined.


    "It''s a pity. Can''t we look around? Maybe we can find how to close this. If we can hole up here then we don''t need to go there? There should also food here right?"


    Without minding their expression, Ange started blurting her own opinion. But only to be rebuked by Mark who shook his head.


    "We don''t have much time to look around. There are just too many rooms here. And it is a totally bad idea to hole up here."


    He then walked away, put his duffle bag on the food counter and jumped over it. He then opened a refrigerator and took some c and drinks and put the beverages on top of the counter urging the others to take one before looking at the entrance of the cinema.


    Outside, he can still see the zombies that are still chasing after them though these guys are the typical slow moving ones. They should arrive in a few minutes. They still have time to take a breather.


    The employee let the mother down and Pa sat the child on the counter. The mother picked up a bottle of fruit juice while she helped her daughter punch a straw on her kiddie drink. The employee and Pa both picked up a can of c while Ange stared at Mark for some reason.


    "What are you staring at?"


    Of course Mark would ask that.


    "I want the same drink as yours."


    What Mark is drinking is a bottle of energy drink. He didn''t put the same drink on the table since it very rare to see females consume this kind of drink and the employee is looking at the can of c. Still, since she requested, he just picked up another bottle and threw it at her which she agilely caught.


    Ange immediately downed a few mouthfuls from the bottle without any regard on how she looked like. After releasing a satisfied breath, she turned to Mark and is about to ask something what he said earlier but he disappeared. She leaned over the counter and saw him crouching under the counter looking for something.


    "What are you looking for?"


    "We should pack up some of the food here so I''m looking for a bag or something we can use. They only have small paper bags and carton boxes here."


    "Bags huh? We left ours in the fast food on the second floor when we escaped." Ange reminisced as she looked at Pa who also felt downhearted.<sub> </sub>


    Mark then forcefully opened a cab door on the adjacent counter. Inside were two knapsacks and a small strap bag. He then immediately poured out the contents inside the cab only pulling the bags out. He put the bags in front of Ange.


    "You guys fill these with food."


    Mark looked at the counter and other containers filled with food though there are parts of the snack bar that are definitely ransacked. He then remembered the group of employees earlier that he sawing from this direction carrying stic bags and boxes of food.


    Taking the gbaseball bat that Ange leaned in front of the counter since it was dripping with blood, he took off to the Cinema''s entrance. Several zombies already closed in and needed to be dealt with.


    Ange pouted while Pa frowned a little. Mark''s attitude is a little overbearing but they can''t really say anything. It is him who saved them and now is not really the right time to argue about it. On contrary, the employee and the mother did not really care about his attitude. The employee sees Mark as someone capable of leading them to safety while the mother views everyone in this group as her and her child''s saviors. If they did note to her, then she would already be dead or even worse.


    As for the child, nothing can be said. She only knew that something scary is happening and those frightening monsters will eat them if they are caught. She just sipped her kiddie drink as she watched her mother silently. It is already a good thing that she isn''t crying anymore.


    By the time Mark returned, his metal bat is dripping of blood and his ck jacket had slightly reddish liquid stters. If the zombies where not existent at this moment his appearance is enough to give weak hearted people a good scare.


    The bags are already filled with food and several bottles of drinks. The two bags are knapsacks are already being worn by the employee and Pa while the smaller strap bag is being carried by the mother.


    Mark looked at the mother who was standing in front of her child. He noticed the mother''s sprained ankle is now stered with a cooling pad.


    He then looked at Ange with a questioning look.


    Ange on the other hand also saw him look at the others and the backpacks they are carrying before he looked at her with that look. Of course, she immediately understood what his stare meant.


    "I can''t fight properly if I carry something heavy you know?"


    Mark walked past her as if ignoring her righteous sentence. He then picked up the duffle bag on top of the counter and donned it on his shoulder before replying.


    "I''m not really asking anything though."


    This time, Ange''s face turned red. Even though what Mark said isn''t really offensive, she took a hard blow along with Mark donning a heavy duffle bag on his shoulder which made her feel a little shameful.


    In her head, she heard Mark said something like "I''m also fighting and I''m carrying this.", even though he never said anything like that.


    As she was lingering in her own space, a hand patted her shoulder making her sober up.


    "Hey Ange, what are thinking about?"


    Pa asked as she patted Ange''s shoulder.


    Ange who just snapped out of her daze saw Mark and the others already walking away, she swallowed up her emotions and replied to her best friend beside her.


    "No-nothing, let''s go."


    She then pulled her confused friend and followed the rest of the group.

 Chapter 13 The Situation Behind The Cinema Doors

    11:15 AM City Mall Bacoor South Wing ¨C Cinema Lobby


    Mark stood in front of a double door leading to one of the cinema halls. This hall is the closest to the cinema entrance. He approached this hall not because it is the closest but this hall was the only hall that had its doors tightly shut.


    The others were confused seeing him standing and not opening the door but no one said anything¡­ except for one person.


    "Hey, why don''t you open that already? Also, can I borrow the bat? I need a weapon."


    Mark looked at Ange who just hopped beside him without warning with incredulity. He was wondering how this girl''s head works. Still, he did not question her antics and just sighed before he replied.


    "Later. I''ll be the vanguard this time and I just can''t shoot the gun every time unless we want to die by attracting every single one of those zombies. Also I don''t have infinite shells for this."


    The shotgun shells he managed to get isn''t that many, the ones he used when they escaped already depleted more than half of what he had. After replying, he then proceeded to nt his ear on the door trying to listen to the sounds inside if there is any.


    Hearing his reply, Ange pouted but did not say anything else and just mimicked Mark also sticking her right ear on the door. She then heard sounds inside. The sounds are a little faint but when she heard the sounds, she was petrified for a second before her face turned red and quickly backed off like a cat whose tail was stepped on.


    At first, she did not recognize the faint sounds but then when she poured her concentration on listening, what she heard made her heart pound and her face became red in embarrassment. Through the door, she heard moans and panting of a man along with a fain voice of a woman. It was not hard for anyone of age to imagine what was happening inside.


    "What''s wrong?"


    "There are¡­"


    Pa asked Ange in confusion seeing her back off like that. Of course, the flustered girl didn''t know how to borate what she just heard to her friend who is also a female.


    Ange looked at Mark who was still listening to the sounds beyond the door.


    ''Men are really perverts.''


    That is what she thought at first but was forced to dispel it when she saw Mark''s stern face. He then stopped listening inside but his expression is graver that before.


    Mark then approached Ange and stretched his hand holding the bat towards her.


    "Take this for now."


    "You just said that you need it right?"


    "Well, you can just say that I changed my mind."


    Mark smiled as he said that but the smile really looked sinister.


    "You guys hide back at the snack bar. Don''te out unless I called out."


    He turned around without waiting for replies. The rest looked at each other and nodded among themselves before going back behind the snack bar and hid there.


    "What is going on?"


    The mother asked while everyone else is looking at Ange.


    "There are people inside. They are¡­ having sex... probably..."


    Ange hesitated to say what she just heard but she still said it though her face is crimson red. This courageous girl who can bash zombies'' faces with a steel baseball bat and did not falter to the scene of blood is actually weak at topics like this.


    The mother and the employee''s faces also turned red especially the employee as he is an adult man at the age of twenty-nine. Of course, hearing a girl several years younger talk about something like this in front of him, he would feel embarrassed. Furthermore, he is the only male in the group right now since Mark is away!


    Surprisingly, Pa did not react that way and just stared at Ange before saying.


    "It shouldn''t be just that simple right?"<sub> </sub>


    She then looked at Mark who is quite a distance away and was now sticking and adjusting a knife between the locks of the double door.


    Ange also looked at Mark with her embarrassment slightly lessened.


    "Looks like it."


    ''KACHA''


    Mark made a slow but forced push on the knife followed by the sound of the door lock loosening.


    Before he could even pull the knife, the door opened slightly. Luckily, it seemed that the door was maintained properly and it made no sound when it opened. Well, it is doable that the people inside won''t hear anything from what Mark is doing because of their ''passionate'' session inside.


    Unfortunately, that ''passionate'' part is one sided. That is why Mark sneaked inside with a stern face.


    Upon entering, he sneaked towards the hall with the lustful sounds and vileughter getting louder in his ears. What he saw conformed to his thoughts.


    Three males sat on the armrest of some chairs next to the pathway watching another male who was thrusting on female on the floor. Clothes riddled the floor and by the looks of it, all the clothes belong to the female, some of the clothes are even ripped like the school blouse that is closest to Mark''s current position.


    Mark looked at theughing perpetrators for a second and saw their loose clothes, baseball caps and even silver chains dangling on their necks. Belts with metal decors can be seen under half-tucked shirts. Though they looked stereotypical, appearance of these men made Mark remember of gangsters around the area.


    Yes, gangsters. Mark also found his conjecture usible as there are a lot of squatterpounds nearby. Though it didn''t really mean that gangsters can only originate from those kinds of areas but sadly, most of these kinds of people did in this country. Gangsters, criminals, drug addicts and such people can easily be located if one were to thoroughly search those areas.


    Estimating the dangers and other things, Mark then readied his shotgun which he fully loaded with shells and stealthily walked towards the criminals. As the bastards were facing the opposite way, Mark can easily approach them without them noticing in this kind of dark cinema.


    As he stepped forward out from the wall he is hiding, he paused. He looked to his side and began to reevaluate his thoughts slightly. To his side, a body of a boy, probably in hisst years in high school, was lying on the floor between the chairs. His uniform dyed red with a single hole on his chest. The smell of blood irritated his nose as the body was just a foot away from him as he crouched. Of course, he did not fail to notice the bloody bite mark on the boy''s wrist.


    Leaving the body behind, Mark made his way towards the gangsters.


    "Seriously boss, hurry up, just how long do we have to wait for our turn to f*ck this bitch?"


    One of the gangsters sitting on the armrest said with boredom as watched the so called boss humping on their trophy.


    Hearing that, the Boss gave that gangster a dirty finger as he continued on his business.


    "You shits should wait until I had enough! I''m the one who saw her first!"


    "Hahaha alright Boss! We have all the time we need to y with this bitch. Just who do you think woulde with all the mess outside? I doubt anyone else is alive in this mall, we even lost some of our brothers."


    Another gangster said in a tone licking his boss'' boots.


    "Yeah, but who thought that this bitch and his idiot boyfriend would really follow us and think that we are saving them?


    "So, that''s what happened huh?"


    "Yeah! That''s what happened! Hahaha¡­"


    As the four gangsters are narrating their vile deeds of taking advantage of the ughter outside and get the girl into this situation, a voiceing from behind them sounded with a question like realization.


    The unsuspecting gangster actually replied to the voice until his own voice trailed off as he realized that the voice did note from anyone of them.


    The gangsters froze and even the boss stopped thrusting as he felt his genital slowly soften. As the three gangsters slowly turned their heads around with cold sweat on their backs, the Boss already froze in horror. What the Boss saw first is the muzzle of a shotgun pointed at them and then the man wearing a jacket standing holding the gun.


    Mark on the other hand was also surprised as he looked at the gangsters.


    The damn bastards were actually minors!

 Chapter 14 The Tainted Masterpiece

    He did not notice at a distance since the cinema is slightly dark. Cinemas are built like this after all. Now that Mark got a close look at the gangsters, he can confirm that these guys'' ages ranged from about 14 to 16 years-old.


    "You three raise your hands and don''t dare move unless you guys want your heads blew off."


    He coldly said towards the three idlers before staring at thest one and said.


    "And you there, get away from her."


    "You! Who are you? We don''t think we offended you! You shouldn''t y hero, there is four of us here and we outnumber you!"


    One of the three made a tough front for some reason while the boss and the other two were remaining quiet. The member who tried to intimidate actually moved towards the front of the barrel as if he was not afraid of the gun.


    The other two gangsters though were snickering inside. They used this tactics several times before when they arepromised in their gang activities, so they knew what would happen to this idiot who took the initiative to y hero before their group. They noticed that the person did not answer and thought that he is taking the bait as his eyes darted towards every single one of them. They also thought that he was actually afraid to shoot.


    Unfortunate for them, they are the once ying the role of idiots here. Mark did not take the bait obviously darting his eyes towards the gang members because he is looking for something. Though he already had a hunch on who had it, he just had to make sure so he wouldn''t need to waste ammo.


    p Yes! He just didn''t want to waste ammo!</anda>


    The gangsters were all smiles inside but unfortunately for them, their hopes were dashed when the man actually smiled. A smile filled with disdain towards them. He then spoke.


    "Nice teamwork but¡­"


    Mark threw a kick to the crotch of the gangster in front of him making him suddenly bend down then¡­


    BANG!


    "I won''t fall for that."


    The gang leader lost his right arm as the shotgun obliterated his arm up to his elbow and a revolver pistol flew along with the severed right hand.


    Mark already knew that the leader had a gun due to various reasons. First, the dead guy near the entrance was killed by a gunshot. Second is that by the nature of these rapists, they should have already ganged up on the girl on the floor, yet, she was served on a tter before the boss and three did not make any move and that is not by respect but actually because they were afraid. Third is that the member who he just kicked actually tried to move in front of his gun not to intimidate him but cover the gang leader''s movements.


    As Mark already knew who had a gun, his eyes darted on the members and became sure that these kids only had one gun. It is because when he showed himself, the reflex action the three members made was actually to try and grab their weapons which are all melee types and they did not even try to let go of those despite being pointed with a shotgun.


    Just as the leader was about to raise his gun, Mark delivered a sinister ball-crushing kick and shot the leader''s arm when the he one kicked bent down in pain. Actually, he wanted to shoot down the leader dead but he made apromise due to various reasons.


    The leader stood up in shock of the pain and clutched what remained of his arm but immediately. His hard sword already fell soft and dangled unsightly as he rolled about the floor spreading blood on the cinema wall and floor. Screams of pain echoed throughout the cinema hall. The one Mark kicked already fell unconscious on the floor and is actually foaming in his mouth.


    The other two seeing what happened to their leader and their friend, did not sumb to fear and surrendered but actually fled as fast as they can. Leaving their weapons behind, the two ran separate ways inside the cinema before passing through the emergency door near the big screen one after another.


    They ran in frantically in fear that they will get shot and end up like theirrades but their grim reaper in their minds is actually just watching them like looking at cockroaches running away from being stomped to death.


    Mark just watched the two in disdain without any notion to chase. They are not worth the ammo needed to subdue them he also thought of a n for them. He then approached the severed arm and took a harshly folded handkerchief from his pocket and used it to pick up the blood covered revolver before wiping the blood off.


    "A .38?"


    Mark asked himself as he observed the gun, looking at every angle, amidst the painful screaming in the background.<sub> </sub>


    He opened the chamber and took out the contents revealing two empty casings and four .38 live bullets. Mark removed the empty casings and stored them in his pocket and returned the remaining ammo back to the chamber loading the gun and pulled the firing pin back.


    Holding the newly acquired revolver, he approached the groaning gang leader. The leader''s voice is already hoarse due to his violent expression of his pain through his mouth and weakened due to severe loss of his life sustaining liquid. He clutched the stump that remained of his arm trying to lessen the blood flow to no avail. He stared at Mark who is approaching with severe fear in his eyes.


    He then remembered the faint gunshots they heard earlier which they chose to ignore. Those gunshots and the shot that was aimed at him is actually the same. They shouldn''t have ignored it if he knew that this will be his oue. To think the girl he coveted as he saw her earlier in this mall would be his unlucky star.


    "Don''t kill me¡­ You can have the girl, just don''t kill me¡­"


    He was afraid that this guy who is akin to demons in his eyes would directly kill him.


    Mark on the other side did not pay attention to the leader''s hoarse begging. He heard his begging but who would beg someone with their pants down? His dangling eggnt is pointed straight at him! He can''t help but feel the urge to shoot it. In the end, he bent down and reached for the leader''s pants, not to help him put it on of course but to feel the contents of the pockets.


    He found eight .38 rounds inside the back pocket. No wonder the pocket looked heavy. He then left the leader shivering in both pain and fear. The leader stayed still and silent as he started feeling weaker and weaker.


    Mark then turned facing the victim who is sitting silently on the floor. The girl''s round baby face was beautiful. Her long below shoulder length hair looked soft and straight. The length of her body, arms and legs were all in proportion. Even her breast was neither big nor small for her stature. He thought that if an agency put her into the showbiz industry, this girl would sure go big in no time.


    She is like a beautiful masterpiece.


    Unfortunately, this perfect looking suffered harshly in this incident. White sticky liquid stained her fair colored legs, body, her face and also dripping from her mouth. It showed how many times the bastard gang leader reached his climax in doing her in. Also, there is the blood of the gang leader sttered on her as he is shot just over her body. Bruises can be found on her left cheek and arms.


    Ignoring the remains of her unfortunate situation, Mark can''t help but admire her appearance. No wonder the gang targeted her.


    Then Mark frowned.


    The girl was also looking at him but she had neither action to hide nor cover either her breasts or herher regions. Her eyes are listless and even though she is staring at him, it looked like she wasn''t either.


    Mark then sighed.


    ''This girl already gave up in life didn''t she?''


    He thought as he scratched his head over the matter.


    "Just what should I do here?"


    Mark muttered.


    He is an Otaku and to some people like him who were never meant to be someone attractive, saving a beautiful damsel in distress might be a good dream to happen. But now that he experienced it, he had no idea what to do afterwards. After all, his interpersonal skills, though not non-existent, it is very low.


    He tried of remembering if there is any anime or novel references he can use but there is nothing he could remember that could fit his situation at the moment.


    "Argh, dammit, whatever."


    ''I''ll just do what I can, I guess?''

 Chapter 15 Her Life, Her Experience And Her Hate

    9:30 AM - Tirona Highway


    More than thirty minutes earlier.


    A group of high school students are eating at eating at a restaurant by the road. The group consisted of seven people, four girls and three boys. They were merrily chatting as they ate the high ss food they ordered though a girl among them wasn''t really thrilled by the asion.


    She is Xiao Mei, the one that can be said as the number one beauty at their school these days. Many admired her looks and were very popr among the students. Others might be emboldened with confidence under these circumstances but in contrary, she hated it.


    Though she had this good looks, she is a quite a shy person so all these unwanted attention is quite irritating to her. Although she had the ability to deal with people with smiles and such, she would prefer not to, especially dealing with boys both young and old. Every time she saw their eyes, it looked like the eyes of a beast wanting to eat his prey whole. She hated those eyes.


    At her school, she knew she had many admirers, in the first days, she would receive confessions, letters and such troublesome things butter on, these kinds of things disappeared in a strange fashion. Though there are still the admirers around, none of them would ever try what the others tried before.


    She then looked at the boy sitting across her table with a frown. This boy is the reason of it all. But she wasn''t even a little grateful.


    He is handsome, carefree looking and smiling at every asion but she knew that these are all pretenses. He is possessive, scheming and lusty bastard who see every one as tools and always using money to get everything he wanted.


    This boy is the son of one of her family''s business partners. He had been chasing her for some time now but it''s not like she didn''t know what is happening. She is a smart girl and of course she knew what they really wanted.


    It is that time at a certain gathering that both their families participated that all of it started. It is also the time she realized the true meaning of her existence to her family, except her mother, that is.


    It also the same with most of the daughters of business and politically oriented families, they are treated as tools for the expansion of their families'' power. And she really hated it.


    Although it hasn''t been official, this boy in front of her is technically her fianc¨¦ that she hated. This person made too many advances towards her and of course, she always declined. It is because she hated him to the core.


    Then, she looked at her so called "friends".


    Though a part of her wanted to think of them as her true friends but for the most part, she only mingled with them for the sake of appearances. It is because from time to time, these girls, her "friends" would give away praises about the boy in front of her. About his looks, his kindness, his smiles, etc. It''s disgusting.


    It''s not like she did not know that they had been paid to do so.


    But she can only smile. She needed to keep up with the pretenses. She can''t say or do anything that will degrade the face of their family. It is because she is still a part of that family. Still, she hated it.


    Other people envied the rich. They had money, they can do anything they wanted and they had power. But to her, these things are all useless. All she wanted is her freedom.


    Finally, they went out of the restaurant. Ignoring everything else, she took out her phone to call her driver. She just wanted to go home at this moment. Though staying at her home is also suffocating to her, it is still way better that this fake atmosphere around her at this moment.


    But as she held her phone beside her ear, she became confused, there is no ringing, no beeps and no automated voice reply either. She then looked at the screen just to see the message "Network Busy" at the center.


    BEEP! BEEP!


    The noise of hundreds of cars beeping entered her ears as she noticed the heavy congestion of vehicles on the main road.


    BAM!!! CRASH!!!


    That very loud noise startled everyone who heard it. Their group followed the stream of people going after that sound out of curiosity. What they saw is horrifying. Arge city bus that almost turned into scrap metal, broken cars, scraped road, an overturned jeep and the worst of all, dead bodies that littered the road spreading pools of blood.


    Xiao Mei can''t help but turned around. Some of her "friends" ran to a nearby sidewalk nter and vomited the high ss food that they just ate. Even the boys in their group are shivering.


    This is a total disaster.


    They then heard screams from the spectators as they pointed at the almost scrapped bus. Xiao Mei looked and saw silhouettes, rather people emerging from the bus.


    Many people eximed as they felt it was a miracle that there are still people alive from that mangled vehicle. But Xiao Mei felt weird.<sub> </sub>


    She looked that the peopleing out of the bus and felt that it is impossible for these people to be still alive. Some had missing limbs, some hadrge chunks of flesh missing from their bodies, some had parts of their bodies bent at an impossible angle and everyone is dripping blood from their bodies.


    It is not possible for them to be alive.


    Xiao Mei started stepping back as she feared that something not right is going on. She saw the "good Samaritans" approached the people from the bus trying to help.


    "AAAHHHHHH!"


    What she feared happened.


    Blood sshed, not from the people from the bus but from a man which is one of the people who approached. He approached a woman covered in blood that came shambling out of the bus. Disregarding the blood, he grabbed her arms in order to help her move.


    That became the worst decision he made in his life.


    The woman he tried to help grabbed his shoulders and savagely bit into his neck pulling out a mouthful of flesh. The others who tried to help the "injured" people froze in their tracks as they were filled with shock.  Then¡­


    "AAHHH!"


    "HELP!!"


    It''s their screams that followed to fill the ears of all the people around.


    "What is going on?"


    Xiao Mei''s ssmate beside her asked that question.


    "WAAAHHHH!!! RUN!!!"


    "HELP!!!!"


    More screams entered their ears but it did note from the ce of ident but from further away. Then they saw people running on the northern side of the highway. Their faces filled with horror. Among the people running, there are others covered in blood and others running after others catching them in the process¡­ Then¡­


    "AAAHHHH!"


    The people caught screamed in pain as their flesh was torn away from their bodies.


    Xiao Mei wanted to run away and is about to but a hand caught her arm and pulled her.


    "What are you doing?! Let go!"


    She red at her unofficial fianc¨¦ that started pulling her.


    "Where are you going? Do you think you can outrun those guys? It is better to find somewhere to hide!"


    Xiao Mei looked at him. She didn''t want to go but she knew he was right. She didn''t think that she''ll be able to outrun those people either.


    In the end, she could only let him pull her as she can''t even resist away from his grasp. And even if she tried to resist, the people covered in blood would be able to get them first before she would be able to break free.


    During themotion, her group is forced to scattered because of the number of people filled with panic already causing a stampede.


    She then locked eyes with one of the girls from her group of "friends".

 Chapter 16 Her Suffering, Her Resentment And The Words She Wanted To Hear

    Amidst the sea of panicked people, she saw one of her "friends" that is also staring at her. Tears built up at the corner of her eyes.


    Even though wasn''t pure friendship, the two of them still spent time together. While she was being pulled away, that "friend" of hers wasn''t running but lying down on her front on the pavement. The girl tried to say something but nothing came out of her mouth but blood and she can only stretch out her right arm towards Mei. But that stretched arm only made her suffer more as the running people stepped on her outstretched arm.


    Mei wanted to help and tried resisting over her fianc¨¦''s grasp but a frail girl like her did not have the strength to do so and was pulled away with even more force.


    She heard her fianc¨¦ shout at her but his words did not enter her ear as she watched her "friend" grimace in pain for every stomp she received from the people running for their lives. The scene continued until Mei''s view was drowned with people.


    Being pulled away, the two reached the mall and ran inside along with the other people. She saw the guards ignore the people running inside and concentrated talking at their radios with stern expressions.


    It wasn''t long after they entered the mall when they started hearing gunshots.


    Mei looked behind and saw the people running away, the "people" chasing after and those who already made a bloody pool on the floor. She then saw a pair of guards as she was being pulled inside the mall.


    One of the guards was caught and fell down while being bitten on his neck. Thought the other guard managed to shoot the assant but he also fell after another one jumped over his back.


    She then saw the guards who fell first stood up sluggishly. Surprised she stared at the guard as she ran. As if he felt her gaze, the guard suddenly turned his head like a scene taken from a horror movie and faced her stare.


    Mei would never forget that scene, those bloodshot eyes, that bloody face and that nightmarish expression. The guard then dashed, ignoring everything else, towards her. Like a beast wanting to devour her whole¡­ in a literal manner.


    She felt afraid and she was shivering inside.


    "F*CK!"


    She heard her fianc¨¦ curse. She looked at her fianc¨¦ and then back at the guard running after her and she was filled with horror.


    The guard was already close and was on the verge of lunging towards her.


    Then, a train, no a column of stacked shopping carts came creaking blocking the lunge of the guard. The guard lunged and crashed on the shopping carts causing a loud crashing sound and toppled shopping carts scattered around him.


    "HEY! OVER HERE!"


    The two was stunned by the sudden situation before hearing several shouts towards them. When they looked at the source of the shouts, they a group of oddly dressed youths who looked younger that them holding weapons and are calling them over.


    As if he saw light within the darkness, Mei''s fianc¨¦ started pulling her towards the group''s direction with haste as the event with the carts gave them a small leeway to escape.


    She did not want to go but can''t resist against the boy pulling her. She also felt weak feeling fear from the encounter just now. But, it isn''t the end.


    ttering noises echoed behind her as the guard charged through the scattered shopping carts blocking its way. He restarted his pursuit towards her.


    Scared, Mei stopped resisting and ran towards the odd group. The odd youths waited by the esctor, when the Mei and her fianc¨¦ arrived, they started leading the way up.


    With the guard on their tail, they ran up until they reached the cinema on the third floor. They can''t see the guard behind them. It seemed that they lost him somehow.


    The group then led them inside the cinema whichcked any employee.


    Mei had a bad premonition.


    Actually, she felt it odd when the group specifically called for her and her unwanted fianc¨¦. When they arrived, the odd group did not call for anyone else. Then, when they were running, despite her fear, she can''t help but notice the odd youths stealing nces at her.


    The look in their eyes as they nced at her¡­ she knew those kinds of eyes¡­ her hated fianc¨¦ looked at her with those eyes from time to time. Many other males she encountered before would eye her like that.


    Then, one of the odd youths locked the cinema doors.


    And hell started for her.


    Her hated fianc¨¦ was shot. Not because he tried to defend her but because of his arrogant attitude as he tried to sell her off after being threatened.<sub> </sub>


    Then the one who held the gun who were called boss by the other three forced his body unto her. She tried resisting but she lost all her strength as she was punched on her stomach. Even so, she still tried resisting with what is left of her strength but a merciless p came hitting her face.


    Tears welled up on her eyes as she felt the pain and humiliation.


    Her clothes were torn off her body and she became a toy for the pleasure of boy in front of her. As shey naked on the cold floor of the cinema, feeling the pain in various parts of her body, her sight grew dimmer and dimmer.


    She felt helpless and powerless and she just wished she would die as soon as possible.


    Laughter and jeering echoed around her but for her¡­


    For Mei¡­


    It doesn''t matter anymore¡­


    Everything is already ck in her eyes¡­


    BANG!


    She heard a loud sound but she did not react but still, she could feel the warm liquid that sshed unto her body after the sound. She also felt the weight on her crotch lightened.


    She heard loud wails of pain but she did not react.


    Soon she lifted her body. She saw a man standing in front of her with his back facing her. She stared but did not do anything else. She saw the boy called boss by his group crying in fear and pain just by the man''s foot. She did not react but felt that he deserved this.


    She saw the blood that scattered on the floor but did not notice it.


    Mei looked back at the man and the man looked at her. She felt his stare as if scanning her body. Though, she did not react to it.


    He just might be the same she thought.


    She felt her sight going dimmer. This might really be my fate, she thought.


    Then, she saw the man taking off his jacket.


    Her emotions started to vanish as she dropped her sight to the cold floor¡­


    And then¡­


    She felt warm¡­


    Her sight somehow grew a little brighter and saw a ck jacket draped on her body. It smelled a little sweaty yet it felt warm.


    Then something soft touched her face. She looked up and saw the man half-kneeling in front of her and wiping her face with a warm handkerchief.


    Unknowingly, she reached out and slowly grabbed the hand that held the handkerchief with her both hands. The man looked surprised. He let out a deep sigh and smiled gently. Using his free hand, he reached out to her head and patted it disregarding how dirty or sticky her hair was.


    He then said as gently as possible.


    "It''s alright. Everything is fine now."


    To the man, it seemed that those were nothing but simpleforting words but to her¡­


    Her tears started to fall and her wails of resentment are all let out.


    Those words are the words she wanted to hear all her life.

 Chapter 17 Why He Let Them Go

    In the dimly lit cinema hall, Mark was half-kneeling on the floor, in front of him, a half-naked girl with only a jacket draped over her back covering her body is crying. Mark, who was still pokerfaced, is quite baffled by the girl''s cry. For some reason, the girl''s tears did not only stem from what happened to her just earlier, it felt that it rooted from somewhere deeper.


    He felt how heavy the weight that this girl''s tears carry but can''t do anything about it. He can only gently pat her head trying to provide somefort.


    As Mark pat her head, he is thinking about what to do next. The girl needed to clean herself but she is clearly not in the condition to do it. He thought of calling the girls outside to help but quite reluctant to do so. The girl''s body is stained by a man''s fluid so other girls might find it disgusting. He can do it himself and it would be a lie if he said that he didn''t want to but it is really felt inappropriate.


    In the end, he decided in calling the girls outside.


    As he was about to stand, the girl hastily grabbed his right hand.


    "You need to get cleaned up quick so I''ll call some help. Don''t worry, they are girls."


    ''Well, there is also a man but¡­ I''ll just lead him to the other side I guess?'' he thought.


    It wouldn''t be surprising if this girl would be wary of males after those bad things happened.


    Mark patted her head one more time after she let go of his hand. But before he calls the others outside¡­ He looked around him. The boy he kicked is still unconscious and the leader is silent. No. Rather, the leader is¡­


    ''He already died huh.''


    <o>,m Being soaked with his blood, the gang leader already stopped breathing.</o>


    ''And another change of ns.'' He sighed.


    Mark can''t leave her if the ce looked like this. He approached the unconscious boy and removed the chains tied on his belt, then used the chains to tie the boy''s hands behind his back. The gangster''s unnecessary bling came handy at this moment.


    Then, he stuffed the weapons left by the gangsters into his duffle bag. A three feet long iron pipe, a machete and an ice pick. These weapons woulde in handy.


    He looked back at the armless dead body.


    ''I. AM. NOT. TOUCHING. THAT.''


    Mark approached the girl again just to find her staring at him. Though she already stopped crying at some point and she tried wiping her tears with her hands leaving dirty marks on her face. Her face stained by tears, semen and blood made her look rather pitiful.


    He picked up his handkerchief once more and folded it in reverse before wiping the grime off her face.


    "Can you stand?"


    The girl weakly nodded. She tried to stand but fell down almost immediately. Luckily, Mark is just there to catch her fall. He then helped her as she try stand straight up.


    With his help, she tried walking but her steps were very unstable but she would knit her thin brows from time to time due to pain. Tears umted at the corner of her eyes but she held it in.


    "Xi-Xiao Mei."


    She suddenly spoke. Mark looked at her confused but it''s not like he don''t have any idea what she is talking about.


    "Y-Your-"


    "Mark."


    Mark did not let her finish.


    "Well, the introduction came out of nowhere but you can call me Mark. Just Mark is fine I think. Also don''t try to open your mouth if it''s painful. Your cheek is bruised and you have cuts on your lips."


    He led her towards the other side of the cinema and helped her sit down on a chair at the end of the middle row.


    "Wait here a bit."


    He then walked towards the double door on this side of the cinema. The doors were also locked but were easier to open from this side. After unlocking the door, he opened it slowly.


    BAM!<sub> </sub>


    A blood covered person fell just in front of him. No, it''s not a person, it was.


    Ange was just outside the door and felled the zombie just by his feet. Mark then opened the door wide at normal speed.


    He saw Ange aiming the metal bat at him but immediately lowered the bat after seeing who opened the doors.


    Mark looked around and saw several bodies on the floor and zombies that are closing outside the cinema area. He ignored the bodies and faced Ange.


    "You alright?"


    As Ange is still panting, she just raised Mark a thumbs up.


    ''You don''t look fine at all though.''


    The others also went out of hiding after seeing hime out. Pa filled him in.


    "Several running ones came due to the gunshot earlier."


    "It''s my fault I guess." He scratched his head.


    BANG!


    Everyone, not just Mark''s group but including the iing zombies outside turned their heads towards the central area of the mall where the gunshot seemed toe from.


    BANG! BANG!


    More shots echoed across the mall.


    The slow moving zombies outside turned around following the source of the gunshots.


    "The show started without us huh. Well, it would buy us some more time I think."


    Mark said taking back his group''s attention.


    "Anyways, let''s go, I need some help."


    He turned his back without waiting for reply took a box from a nearby food counter and entered the cinema hall once more. The others hastily followed. They seemed to start getting used to Mark''s unnerving attitude.


    After entering, he told the employee to stay near the door to guard for a bit before leading the girls to Xiao Mei. What they saw was the pitiful appearance of the beautiful girl and the unpleasant stench that lingered around her.


    It seemed that Xiao Mei was still uneasy as she immediately grabbed the hem of Mark''s shirt when he got close. He patted her head to assure her that it is fine making her settle down a bit. This might just a simple gesture but the girls Mark brought was filled with a plethora of emotions, such as ''it seemed that he really is a good person'', ''we just saw a pleasant side of him'' or ''something fishy is going on''.


    Then the girls received a re from Mark.


    He told them the circumstances and ask them to help Xiao Mei clean up her body and handed them the box he just took from the counter outside which turned out to be a box of tissue paper. He also took out a small spray bottle that contained rubbing alcohol for them to use.


    Mark was surprised as the seemingly conservative Pa did not show any disgust as she helped Xiao Mei wipe her body. The same goes for the mother who let her child sit down on a nearby chair as she cleaned Xiao Mei''s hair. And he was bbergasted by the fact that the boyish mannered Ange who looked unfazed by blood was really reluctant to deal with the disgustingly white liquid though she still ended helping after being scolded by her friend.


    Xiao Mei was also proactive in cleaning herself but as she felt weak and her hands shivering, she was of no help at all.


    Mark on the other hand left the girls on their work as it was improper for him to watch and went towards the fire exit near the big screen. He opened a gap on the door and took a peek outside. There are no zombies that can be seen even though there are blood marks left on many parts of the corridor.


    "Looked like the n worked somehow."


    That is right, he nned this. It is the reason he let the two gangsters run away. He thought of the possibility that there would be zombies inside the back corridors which he concluded to be right seeing the marks left behind. He let the two go in hopes that they would lure away the zombies away.


    Though he also expected it to not work or the two would run back luring the zombies in, he prepared some backup ns but the ns he thought of was wasted in a good way.

 Chapter 18 Battle Ready

    Mark cautiously went out stepping into the back corridors of the mall. The corridors are about three meters wide, more than enough for two trolleys to pass side by side and still leaving a wide margin. There are a lot of doors varying in sizes and colors for some reason.


    He did not find any zombies for now. The corridors ran along the outline of the mall and thus, it had many corners. Even though he can''t see anything of danger in the straight corridor he was in, he can''t say what the corners had in store.


    Still, traces of devastation are present. Several trolleys blocked some parts of the corridor and many wrecked and overturned boxes that spilled its contents out littered the floor. Blood marks stained the floor and walls and there is even arge puddle of blood not far from him.


    He looked to his left which goes towards the south. He saw the fire exit sign hanging from the ceiling at the mid-point of the corridor with the arrow pointing to a single door at right side. Just beside a door he saw a blood covered corpse sat on the floor with its back leaning on the wall. Blood continued to drip from exposed wounds on the arms, neck and legs creating a blood puddle on the floor.


    He moved closer to fire exit and noticed that the body is quite familiar which he immediately recognized. It is one of the gangsters he let go.


    "It looked like the other one managed to get away."


    He noticed the red footprints on the floor. All of the footprints led towards the door inrge strides. It seemed that all the zombies present here earlier are fast moving ones which he found usible.


    As he inched towards the door, he noticed how badly mangled the gangster''s body was and wondered why he was left there and did not turn.


    Then¡­


    BAM!


    He swung his metal baseball towards the supposed to be dead gangster''s face at it sprung up to attack him.


    "I won''t fall for that."


    Mark said as the gangster zombie who was pushed several steps away finally ending up dead, without any more chance of standing up again.


    Probably¡­


    Ensuring that the gangster totally stopped moving, he peeked through the ss window on the door. Seeing that there is nothing outside, he opened it and cautiously stepped outside. What greeted him is the stale warm air blowing strongly unbefitting the current season. He took a quick look around him disregarding the devastating scene he can see from afar.


    What he focused looking for are the possible threats, escape routes and things that can be used.


    Where he stood now is a flight of stairs hugging the walls at the back of the mall facing arge parking lot. The stairs continued down below ending about two meters above the ground. At the end of the stairs, there is a retractabledder which is still suspended upward.


    Mark noticed themotion just below thedder. There is a group of zombies crouching on the concrete encircling something. The zombies are eating something which is not hard to imagine what. Just behind the group, he noticed baseball cap that started to roll away getting carried by the strong wind.


    To his right, he found another set ofdders attached to the wall. He looked up and saw that thedder ends up at the edge of the mall''s rooftop.


    He then looked at towards the west wing and saw another flight of stairs simr to what he is currently standing on.


    Confirming that there are no dangers at this part and finding a good route to take, he decided to go back.  But as he entered the mall once more, screams echoed from the northern side of the corridor. Hearing the screams, he not making any noise anymore and immediately dashed towards the northern side past the cinema entrance not to check on the screams but to overturn the trolleys that littered the corridor.


    He arranged the overturned trolleys and together with the heavy boxes, he managed to quickly build a waist tall barricade blocking the corridor. The barricade isn''t likely to stop anything going above it but its purpose is not to stop but to hinder.


    "AHH!!! HELP! STOP BITING ME!!! AHHH!!"


    The screams are getting closer along with loud running footsteps of more than ten people.


    Mark turned around and ran back to the cinema with haste. He opened the doors loudly immediately getting the attention of the people inside. As they looked at Mark, thought he still looked calm, they can feel the urgency of the situation.


    "What happened?"


    Ange immediately asked as Mark came close. Mark looked at the girls then towards the male employee quite a distance away and the cinema door that is now barricaded with different kinds of furniture. He also saw the unconscious gangster which is now being guarded by the employee. He signaled the employee toe closer and turned back to the girls specifically looking at Mei who looked better that earlier.


    "Zombies areing soon, we need to leave. Is she good to go?"


    Hearing that there are zombiesing, the atmosphere tensed up. Then Pa answered his question.


    "We managed to help her clean up her body to some extent but she needs to take a bath, badly."<sub> </sub>


    Mark nodded at her reply.


    "Can''t we fight them?"


    The boyish Ange asked.


    "We can but¡­" Mark purposely cut his sentence.


    "But what?"


    "Well end up as zombie food." Mark smiled.


    Ange felt she was being yed with.


    "The fast zombies should be at least a dozen, if we are lucky, about more than thirty I think? Anyways, get ready, we''re leaving."


    Even though he just said that nonchntly along with a little joke, Mark managed to shake them to the core. That''s just too many after all. And just how is he sure that there would be that many?


    Everyone stood up and picked up their things. Mei, though still having a hard time moving also stood up. She did not have anything to carry with her, not even clothes so she is ready to go somehow. She is only wearing the jacket Mark lent her which turned into one-piece clothing due to their difference in stature.


    The employee also arrived close by carrying the unconscious gangster on his shoulder.


    "What should we do with him?"


    It''s not the employee but Ange who asked the question while pointing at the unconscious guy.


    Mark then turned towards Mei who stepped back in a hurry and hid behind him when the employee came closer. On the other hand, the employee also did not daree close for some reason that baffled the other girls.


    Then they heard Mark mutter and they saw him do a troubled face palm.


    "Andro and Gyno, what a badbination."


    Everyone is confused.


    "Mei''er, what do you want to with him?"


    Mark asked Mei.


    But she looked surprised and stared at him for some reason.  She then looked down contemting on his question. Though she is not aware of it, she started grasping the hem of Mark''s shirt and started to shiver a little.


    Then Mark''s voice cut off her line of thought as she felt his hand patting her head starting to calm her down.


    "Just remove the chains and leave him here."


    Hearing what he said, everyone except Mark and Mei changed expressions. Leaving the guy, his death would sure be inevitable. Still no one said anything in opposition.


    Mark took of the chains while frowning.


    ''Just how long would this guy spend sleeping?''


    He brought the chains with him and left the unconscious gangster sitting in the middle of the cinema.


    He then distributed the weapons he gathered from the gangsters. He gave the bat to Ange, and the iron pipe to the employee. He wanted to give the others a weapon but Pa is in charge of helping Mei move while the mother is carrying her daughter and of course, Mei is in no condition to fight but he also doubts that she had the ability to. Then, both the icepick and the machete fell in his hands for his use. He slid the icepick through his belt and held the machete in his right hand while his left hand held a revolver. The shotgun hanged over his side and therge duffle bag hung on his back.


    He looked really battle ready while being under Ange''s envious gaze.


    The group then moved towards the emergency exit of the cinema.

 Chapter 19 The Back Corridor Encounter

    "F-!!!"


    Mark almost cursed as he sprang into action.


    With him leading the group, he slowly opened the double doors just to find several distorted faces staring his way.


    As there is no other choice but to fight, he took advantage of the seemingly confused state of the zombies staring at him. He jumped forward and hacked the neck of the nearest zombie making its head fly and kicked another zombie to his right away. Though he want tomend the sharpness of the machete on his hand as it managed to hack through the zombie''s neck with little resistance, he found the feeling of cutting through human flesh a little unpleasant.


    "QUICK! RUN! TOWARDS THE EMERGENCY EXIT!"


    Mark shouted at the bewildered people behind him and pointed towards the other side of the corridor. They all immediately moved as fast as they can after hismand.


    He is just as baffled as them. He made a small barricade back there with the goal of hindering them somehow. So how are these guys already here?!


    ''Don''t tell me that these guys can teleport like zombies in that American zombie series?''


    Then he saw the state of the corridor in front of him as he hacked his machete to the head of the zombie on his left and his uneven eyes grew wide.


    Four, Seven, Fifteen, Twenty-six¡­ The corridor is filled with zombies. There is about forty or more in his estimate as he didn''t have the luxury to count them all. Then he saw the barricade he made that is already overturned and not like the barricade was pushed to the side but rather, the barricade was struck with overwhelming force. Even some of the heavy boxes are scattered several meters away from where he built the barricade.


    The zombies also noticed themotion and saw Mark and his group. And of course, like hungry beasts that hadn''t eaten for a century, the zombies started moving towards the direction of the prey they found.


    The fast zombies immediately overtook the slower ones as they ran. Since the running speed of the zombies also differ, their beastly actions also created idents on their side. Some of the slower zombies would be hit by the ones overtaking them making some fall down to the floor and¡­


    SPLAT!


    Their bodies became mashed zombie meat under feet of the stampeding zombies behind them.


    Mark continued dealing with the zombies that came closer. A female zombie jumped at him aiming for his arm holding the machete. As he didn''t have the time to pull back his right arm that he just used to hack another zombie, he crossed his arms and pointed his revolver towards the zombie''s face.


    BANG!


    The bullet entered the female zombie''s widely opened mouth piercing through her brain and her body flew back due to the impact.


    Another zombie lunged towards Mark from his left but he didn''t need to take action this time. A metal baseball bat mercilessly mmed unto the zombie''s face. The force in that swing would have probably made a home run in the professional baseball stage since the zombie hit by it literally flew back mming at the other zombie behind it with excellent force.


    Mark and Ange looked at each other for a split second and nodded. The otaku shut-in wielding a revolver in his left and a machete on his right took care of the zombies on the right side while the more experienced fighter holding the baseball bat took care of the zombies on the left. With their somehow rough teamwork, they managed to hold the zombies back as they retreated.


    It is lucky that the corridor''s width is rather limited or else who knows what would have happened. The bodies zombies that they managed to kill that was left on the floor also worked to their advantage as the zombies from behind would step on the bodies would slow for a bit while the clumsier ones would actually fall down.


    Their group is moving at a steady pace. Though it could be faster, there is no helping it. They had two injured people with them after all.


    Just as they reached the emergency exit that Mark checked earlier, a loudermotion broke out from the zombie''s side. Several zombiesgging from behind were struck by heavy force literally flying to the sides hitting the wall with loud thuds.


    Then Mark and Ange saw it. Mark was also sure it was the one behind the quick breakdown of the barricade he made.


    What caused themotion was a bulldozer, no, arge pig, wait¡­


    It wasrge fat zombie running at about 20km/h, bulldozing its way through the group of zombies!


    Mark recognized the guy. He was the rude fat guy who was apanied by his guard wearing a suit earlier. He was the person who was responsible for them getting locked out of the TechZone. Earlier, he bulldozed himself through the group of survivors, now, as a zombie, he is still bulldozing hisrades away.<sub> </sub>


    Bad habits never change do they?


    He already turned and is still causing a lot of problems. Where is his bodyguard? Mark did not see any zombie wearing a suit since earlier. He also noticed that the fat guy was literally bigger than how he remembered. Waaaay bigger. He was seemed to be more than a head taller and his fat body literally upied more than a third of the corridor. And just what is with his speed and strength?


    Did he mutate or something?


    "Hey."


    Mark called Ange.


    BANG!


    He shot another zombie with his pistol as he removed his duffle bag from his shoulder.


    "Help me carry this and exit the door. After you guys exit the door close it. There is adder behind the-"


    BANG!


    Mark fire another shot.


    "Behind the door. Climb thedder to the rooftop."


    Ange was bewildered as she took his duffle bag from him.


    "What are you sa¡ª?"


    "Quick! Just do what I say! We don''t have much time!"


    Mark started holding his spot and stopped retreating. Fighting the zombies hacking and shooting the zombies that came his way.


    Although she was very reluctant, Ange quickened her retreat and followed the other who already exited the door. She then mmed the door shut under the surprised eyes of the others people.


    Seeing the door that had been just mmed shut, he fired thest bullet from the chamber of his revolver. He still had some of the bullets for the revolver in his pocket but he is sure that he won''t have any time to reload.


    Instead, he slid the empty revolver into the empty holster on his belt and held the machete with his left hand. He then pulled the shotgun from his side and shot directly at the fat zombie who is already at point nk range.


    BANG!


    The fat zombie staggered and fell sideways as Mark shot its right leg. His big body blocked arge part of the corridor but sure did not stop the zombies froming after him from the unblocked side.


    BANG!


    He shot the zombie running by the feet of the fat guy adding another body to the blockade. This gave him time to retreat and he ran away though he ran straight south not following the others through the door. As he passed by the door, he saw the teary eyed Mei peeking at the door window. He then shouted.


    "Hide! Wait for me at the roof top!"


    He then sped off and the zombies came running after him at a distance.

 Chapter 20 Slipping Competition

    Most of the zombies already ran past the door chasing Mark. Mei was tightly being held by Ange as she watched what is happening inside the door. When Ange mmed the door shut with Mark being left inside, Mei immediately sprung to open the door once more and let him in. Fortunately, Ange managed to hold her back in time. She tried to struggle out of Ange''s grasp but then¡­


    Mark ran past the door and shouted at her.


    "Hide! Wait for me at the roof top!" He said.


    Mei then stopped struggling and obediently hid though she still watched by the side of the door until she can''t see Mark anymore.


    The others felt guilty as they try to settle down hiding behind the door. Except for Ange, they can''t do anything but keep being protected to the extent that someone needed to lure away the dangers to keep them safe. They felt how powerless they are.


    Ange let go of Mei who calmed down. Also she also felt down because of what Mark did as he stayed behind to lure the zombies away, a part of her knew that if he did not do so, then everyone of them are likely to fall.


    She raised herposure up and looked around. Then, she saw thedder that Mark told her about just by her head. She then silently told everyone to climb up thedder.


    With the male employee in the lead and Ange in the tail of the group, they climbed up thedder. Both Mei and the mother had difficulty climbing up due to the conditions of their bodies. The employee also carried the child with him lessening the mother''s burden somehow.


    As they climbed up thedder, all of then somehow agreed on an unspoken rule.


    "DO. NOT. LOOK. DOWN!"


    That sentence echoed in everyone''s minds.


    It is really reasonable that it would enter their minds considering that they are climbing adder up to the roof top of a three story high mall. Just think how high they are from the ground at this moment.


    Just one slip up and then, st. What is better? Falling to death at that height or getting eaten alive by zombies? Of course, none of them would want to know.


    After a minute or two, the group finally reached the safe confines of the mall''s roof top. Still, none of them looked happy. Mark who brought them all up to this point is not with them after all.


    They remembered what Mark shouted as he passed by the door earlier and they decided to wait for him.


    ***


    Rewinding time for a little bit back after Mark passed by the door. After he shouted those words at Mei, he did a sudden short jump. He jumped over the dead body of the gangster he left earlier in the middle of the corridor submerged in his own pool of blood.


    The zombies running after Mark started slipping after stepping over the gangster''s body and the sticky pool of blood around it. The zombies in front that slipped on the floor became the catalyst for another domino effect to happen among the zombies. Many of the zombies fell down but none of them are visibly damaged. Though there is quite a number that did not get affected and continued running after Mark.


    The gangster''s body became another tool for Mark onest time before being stomped into an unrecognizable mush of flesh.


    Mark saw what happened and was visibly ted. Like how zombies are in the movies, they are dumb and have a really bad sense of bnce. One good move is enough to send them lying on the floor. If he can keep up on it, he should be able to shake them off his tail.


    He ran away across the long straight corridors. The next corner is still quite a distance away but the distance between him and his pursuers are getting shorter by the minute. The zombies obviously ran faster than Mark.


    He then saw a blood stained trolley parked on the side of the corridor. On the trolley are cleaning equipment like mops, rags and brooms. There is also a bucket containing murky water on the trolley.


    The zombie behind him is already within arm''s reach when he reached the trolley. He picked up the bucket while running overturning the trolley in the process. The cleaning tools fell in front of the zombie behind him causing a wooden mop to get stuck between its legs. The zombie obviously tripped hard as its face hit the floor t and its head got stomped by the one running behind it.


    Mark turned around and threw the contents of the bucket on the floor before throwing the empty bucket towards the nearest zombie. He then sped off once more.<sub> </sub>


    The results of what he did is too obvious that he did not feel the need to look back to see what would happen. The dirty water in the bucket was certainly mixed with cleaning soap which immediately spread across the floor.


    Anotherpetition on who would look the worst after slipping on the floor ensued between the zombies.


    This is why janitors always put the ''slippery when wet'' sign whenever they are cleaning the mall premises.


    The floor slipping tactic he is using is rather bing a ssic for him but it is the only thing he can do right now. Rather, he is lucky that somehow, he can do something besides running.


    He can fight but he would surely die the moment he stops running. He can also shoot the zombies behind to thin their numbers but that would alsoe with dire consequences. His ammo is limited, he would need to slow down in order to reload and he would draw more attention. Who knows where zombies would start popping up from if he starts creating moremotion. Exchanging a few zombies for his life isn''t worth the exchange.


    Running away like this being chased by man-eating carnivores, he can now understand the feeling of the father character at the beginning of the second ''28'' zombie movie.


    Still, the extensive "exercise" he is experiencing right now is already taking arge toll on his body. He is now sweating profusely as his legs started to grow heavy. In terms, of stamina, he knew that he can''t win against Ange, what more of these seemingly tireless zombies?


    He panted as fast as he was running.


    "What should I do now?"


    Now, there are no zombies at close proximity behind him.  The zombies were considerably dyed by the soapy water that spread out widely across the corridor.


    He then reached the end of the corridor, he probably reached the southern end of the mall and the only way avable is turning at the corner to his left. But as he turned left¡­


    Mark immediately jumped to the right and lost bnce. He managed not to fall down but he still toppled a set of segregated trash bins.


    In front of him is a single zombie who seemed to be attracted to the noiseing from this side of the corridors.


    He immediately hacked the zombie''s neck. Since he is using his left hand to hold the machete, he did not manage to fully separate the head from its body but he managed to cut off its spinal column. The zombie fell to the ground with its head dangling from what remained of its neck.


    He looked at the corridor and saw that there no other zombies aside from the one killed just now.


    Then his eyes lit up.


    He saw a sign hanging from the ceiling showing a flight of stairs pointing at the double door to the right. In front of the double door on the left side of the corridor, Mark saw a door with metallic sheen having a button pad installed on the right side of the door.


    "To think that there is an elevator here."


    But that is not his way out but the door pointed out by the sign. He threw a final gaze at the zombies chasing him and ran towards the doors. He then cautiously went through the doors afterwards. Behind the doors was a stairwell leading both up and down the mall floors. Fortunately, the same as the corridor outside, the stairwell is empty.


    The double doors had vertical door handles with quite narrow space which came to his advantage. Mark took the ice pick out and slid it through the narrow space between the door frame and the handle. The handle of the ice pick went in perfect fit.


    He then left and climbed up the stairs.


    The zombies arrived soon and turned into the corner to find nothing of their prey. What they only saw is a dead body with a dangling head staring at them.

 Chapter 21 On The Mall Rooftop

    11:33 AM ¨C City Mall Bacoor, Rooftop


    The girls sat on some monoblock chairs forming a circle nearby thedder they just climbed before. On the other side quite a distance away, the male employee was talking with three men of varying ages wearing blue long sleeved uniforms and overalls on top of their clothes.


    When they climbed the rooftop earlier, they encountered these three men. Both parties were cautious about each other but it is the employee who seemed to be acquainted with them who broke the ice. From their talk, it seemed that these three were here to clean the rooftop when the disaster broke out.


    They saw the situation inside the mall through the skylight windows installed on the roof top and became afraid to go back inside the mall. When they saw some people climb up the rooftop, they thought that those savages below managed to get up here. The three were ted to know that the ones who just climbed up was people who managed to escape and approached to greet them but it somehow ended up in failure.


    As the three approached to give a short greeting to the girls, the mother and her child, Ange and Pa were fine and are also ted to see other people but Mei started shivering and slowly backed away in fright. The three men became troubled with her reaction.


    Pa told Ange to take Mei to rest a little further away and apologized to the men about what happened. She exined her circumstances while omitting arge amount of details basically telling the three that Mei is severely Androphobic.


    The men understood and did not pursue the issue. Still, the youngest of the three can''t help throw an admiring gaze at Mei. Both Ange and Pa had good looks as college girls but Mei is on a way different level.


    p Then, the staring man was hit on the head by the older man beside him making him avert his gaze and clutch his head in pain. The older man apologized for the inappropriate behavior of the younger man and dragged him away.</anda>


    The employee found several monoblock chairs for the girls and went to talk with the three cleaners. This now led to the current situation.


    The girls took out snacks and drinks from their bags as it was already nearing lunch time. The mother opened an airtight sealed sandwich and fed her daughter who was sitting on a chair beside her. Ange and Pa also opened their own sandwiches. Mei who already calmed down on the other hand is only drinking juice rather she can only consume juice at the moment because of the painful cuts on her lips.


    Pa also went and offered sandwiches and drinks to the men on the other side. The employee took the offered food and drinks while the other men only took the drinks and told her that they still had their own packed lunch. The younger cleaner actually wanted to take the sandwich but he was receiving fierce stares from the older man.


    Even though they are eating and feeling safe for now, the girls and the employee are visibly tensed, stressed and worried, even ncing at thedder climbed before from time to time.


    This piqued curiosity of the middle-aged cleaner.


    "Why the long face? What happened?"


    The employee sighed.


    "The person who has helped us get this far still down there."


    The employee then pointed at the floor near his feet. He then recounted a summarized version of what happened starting from the time he and his cousins found boxes of food and being chased by a zombie, the time they had been locked out of the TechZonem and to the time Mark went and lured the zombies away for them to escape safely only omitting what really happened to Mei like what Pa did.


    The three cleaners were surprised and also understood the feeling of this group that managed to survive with great difficulty. As they were here at the rooftop, they saw how severe the situation is inside and outside the mall. They saw people die. They saw people get chased and eaten. Those scenes churned their stomach heavily and they became afraid to get away from the safe confines of  this rooftop.


    And this group managed to cheat death several times due so a certain person. Yet, while they are all here, that person is not.


    The atmosphere had gotten heavy. The cleaners are also worried about their families and the story they just heard added some weight to their feelings. This group only managed to survive due to the help of the person they are waiting for. If not for him, it is likely that they would have never met this group of young people, alive or probably, they would be able to see them, as flesh eaters that is.


    How about their families? Are they safe? If they are in danger, would someone help them like what happened to this group in front of them? They are getting increasingly worried.<sub> </sub>


    "I wonder if my family is safe." The middle aged cleaner said.


    Hearing what the man said, the same feeling also rose in the hearts of Mark''s group. Now that they are free from the threats of the floors below, their near death experiences shed in their minds. Are their families experiencing the same situation? Who knows? They stopped eating their food without noticing.


    There two people on the rooftop that didn''t seem to worry about their families though. Ange continued eating her sandwich with relish. She spent quite arge amount of calories in order to fight back earlier and now she is feeling really hungry. She also seemed that she is not worried about her family facing dangers. The same goes for Mei. She came from a rich business family. They had a lot of contacts and connections that can take them to safety along with their assets.


    Mei is more worried about her savior who is still inside the mall. If she can, she would really rush back to look for him.


    It is the that Mei felt a tugging feeling. She looked behind her and stood up. She then unsteadily walked towards the southern side of the rooftop under the confused gazes of the other girls.


    Ange wanted to follow Mei but Pa stopped her from doing so. Pa understood that she just had a very traumatic experience and many people who also did would have times that they would want to be alone for a while. As long as she did not look suicidal, it should be fine.


    Mei walked slowly but it was actually the fastest she could go at this moment. There was a familiar structure built by the south side of the rooftop. There are doors on the structure and she was being drawn double doors on the right side for some reason.


    As she was just several meters away from the double doors, the doors swung open.


    ***


    Mark dragged his tired body up the flights of stairs reached thest few steps with difficulty. He saw a double door at the top and was sure that it leads to the rooftop.


    He pulled the doors open and stepped out before closing the door immediately. Feeling weak, he then leaned on the wall beside the door and started a coughing fits.


    Now that he started to feel safe, he began to feel the pain on his legs. His lungs felt constricted and feeling pain on his right side just below the ribs.


    Feeling his drained energy, he entrusted his body on the wall behind him.


    He then heard faint footsteps in front making him raise his drooped head.


    When he raised his head, he saw the teary eyed Mei dragging her weakened body as she walked unsteadily towards him.


    He tried to smile at her but the smile did not even manage to form as he coughed several more times.


    Mei is already in front of him when he raised his head again, with both arms as if she was about to hug him but she didn''t and just froze like that. Mei on the other hand did the motion unconsciously and ended up frozen when she realized what she is doing.


    The atmosphere became awkward.


    Mark saw that the others are already noticed arrive and are running towards him. He wiped his right hand on his shirt, raised it and patted her head easing the awkward atmosphere. Mei then continued to raise her arms and held on Mark''s left arm with both her hands.


    It looked like a good reunion scene from a corny drama series until Mark felt light headed and fell unto his knees as he started wincing in pain.

 Chapter 22 Idle Talk And Introductions

    Ange and the others finally felt relieved when they saw Mark who looked very exhausted, safely reached the rooftop. They can''t help but approach him to wee him and thank him for what he did. But then panic came over them as they saw Mark fell down to his knees while shivering in pain before they could even get close.


    They ran faster and it was Ange who was first to reach the pained Mark and the worried Mei.


    "Are you okay?"


    She asked Mark and like that, she received a sarcastic reply.


    "Well, ''cough'', yeah, do I look okay to you?"


    Ange realized that she asked a stupid question.


    Pa also arrived while with the mother behind her carrying her daughter. The cleaners and the employee reached them soon after.


    "What happened?"


    Pa asked as she crouched in front of Mark.


    Mark looked at her but did not answer her question, and instead¡­


    "Get my bag for¡ªNo, open the duffel bag and get the smaller bag inside. Also bring me something to drink." He said.


    Pa and Ange heard him. Pa nodded at Ange telling her to get what he needed.


    Ange dashed back to where they sit before as the bag was ced by the nearby wall. She immediately opened Mark''s bag to search but then she froze in surprise.


    Noticing that Ange is not moving in front of the opened bag, Pa yelled.


    "Ange! Hurry up!"


    "O-okay!"


    Hearing her friend''s shout, Ange searched for the smaller bag inside. She immediately found a small strap bag inside. As there''s no other things inside that resembled a bag, except for a stic bag filled with snacks and drinks, she took the strap bag out before picking up a bottle of water and brought the things to Mark.


    Under the worried eyes of the girls and the employee and the curious gaze of three people he wasn''t familiar with, Mark took out two blister packs containing medicine, one containing tablets and the other had capsules, from the bag. The tablets already had several empty spaces while the capsules are visibly untouched. He popped out one of each and swallowed the medicine before drinking several mouthfuls of water. The water bottle was almost empty when he put it down.


    Mark felt a little better after drinking water but he can''t still move too much due to pain and his spasms haven''t ceased since the medicine had yet to take effect.


    "Just let, hah, me rest for a bit."


    He leaned his back on the wall and sat at a morefortable position. He then shut his eyes and started breathing calmly and deeply.


    Seeing that he shut his eyes, the people around him decided to give him some space and left though they relocated their resting areas closer to his position.


    The only one left was Mei who kept on holding his right hand as she sat worriedly beside him.


    Ange and Pa would look at him from time to time as they were worried that he was already bitten would turn into a zombie but abandoned the thoughtter on. They saw their ssmates and friends turn after several seconds of being bitten, but several minutes already passed and Mark still stayed silent.


    As they were talking, the cleaners and the employee also joined the girls. After all, none of them had any bad intentions and the only reason the males separated was because of Mei, who now sat beside Mark.


    As they just managed to have the time to talk, everyone started with their introductions.


    As a courtesy, the older cleaner was the first to introduce his name as he was obviously the oldest here.


    "I''m Bernard, Bernard Macaraeg, you young''uns can just call me Uncle, and most people here do call me that. This one is Joseph, he might look like this but he is my son." Bernard pointed at the younger cleaner.


    "What do you mean by that?!" Joseph tried to intercept.


    "And this is." The ignored Joseph and looked at the middle aged cleaner who then introduced himself.


    "Calvin Roxas." He doesn''t seem to be the talkative type as he kept his introduction short.


    "Mine''s Angeline. Angeline Perez. My friend here is Pa Mae rence." Ange introduced herself and Pa. Pa bowed her head a little as a greeting.


    Next was the employee who was visibly nervous introducing himself in front of the girls.


    "Um, I''m Fernan, yeah, Fernan Enaje."


    "I''m Reyah Ismail." It was the mother who then said her name. And thest one to introduce herself of course was.


    "Come on baby, tell them your name." Reyah told her daughter.


    "Sariya!" The daughter said her name loudly.


    "Muslim?" Ange asked in surprise.


    "Well, yes. I am. Is there something wrong?" Reyah seemed troubled.


    "Ah, no." Ange realized the blunder she made and continued.


    "It''s just I rarely see female Muslims not wearing that veil something."


    "It''s called hijab Ange." Pa filled her in.<sub> </sub>


    "Ah, right, that hijab veil thing."


    Pa had the urge to heavily smack her friend''s head.


    Reyah became somehow gloomy and replied.


    "I''m wearing one earlier but I had abandon it. One of those zombies below somehow managed to clutch unto mine if I did not let it go who knows what would have happened. Also it''s not I like wear it because I wanted to but rather I had to. It''s because of tradition."


    As the introductions are getting strayed off, Bernard cut in.


    "What about them?" He pointed at Mark and Mei.


    Ange looked at the two before replying and she realized something making her scratch her head.


    "Uhm, the girl is called Mei''er, I think. He called her that right?" As she wasn''t sure, she turned to the others and they consented.


    "As for him."


    Ange didn''t know how to continue. They all now realized that they followed him and they are saved by him. Yet, they know nothing about him. Not even his name. They did not ask and he did not tell them either. He also did not ask for their names. He just went and did everything he had done.


    They exchanged a few topics about this and that. Afterwards, Bernard asked the youngsters.


    "He is the one who saved you guys, right? You guys think he would be fine?"


    "He should be." Pa replied and Ange nodded.


    "I mean, he''s not bitten isn''t he? From here, we saw the people below got bitten then turn into one of those."


    Of course everyone in Mark''s group knew what Bernard is talking about. They saw it happen with their very own eyes.


    "We don''t think he is. We saw it happen several times and they all became zombies after a few seconds. He is taking too long to be one if he is really bitten."


    "Zombies? Are you sure about it?" It was Calvin''s turn to ask.


    "That is what he called them." Pa answered as he nced at Mark once more.


    "I see."


    "Ah! Do you have a phone we can borrow?"


    Ange suddenly interjected as if she just realized something and asked the three men.


    "What do you want to do with it? If you want to call the police or some emergency hotline then forget it."


    "Why?"


    Bernard did not reply and just urged Joseph to take out his phone. He took his son''s phone under his protest and dialed some numbers before showing the screen to Ange.


    At the screen of the phone, a rectangr prompt popped up with the message "Network Busy".


    "We already tried calling several times and different numbers using different phones but we got the same result." Bernard added.


    Ange and the others felt dejected to this.


    "I want to ask something." Joseph said meekly as he faced Pa.


    "You said she is Androphobic right? Then why is she-- Ouch!"


    He pointed at Mei as he try to ask his question but he wasn''t able to finish what he wanted to say as he received a hard smack on his head.


    "What would you do that for?!" He snarled at his father.


    "There are things you can ask, you should ask and things that you shouldn''t!"


    On the side, Calvin just shook his head. He seemed to be used to the father and son''s banter.


    "It''s fine." Pa said stopping the two.


    "See!" Joseph wanted to refute his father some more but flinched when his father posed another smack for him.


    "About his question..."


    The father and son duo waited for her answer. Bernard might have scolded his son, but its is just because he know how to control himself. In reality, he was just as curious as him.


    "You can say that he is the only male she trust, or maybe, the only person she trust in the whole world right now."


    Pa decided to say what she thought about Mei''s behavior.


    The talk went for about another 10 minutes before they stopped. They stopped because they saw Mark weakly stood up and walked towards them with Mei following behind him.

 Chapter 23 Self-Induced Adrenaline Rush

    Mark sat down still for about 20 minutes as he endured the pain and lightheadedness while waiting for the medicine to take effect.


    He took deep breaths while calming himself. The pain in his body, he didn''t really care about it too much since he is quite used to it, though it really kicked hard this time.


    ''I really overexerted myself.'' He thought.


    ''When was thest time it felt like this? I don''t even remember.''


    Only his family knew how much of a shut-in Mark is. He onlyes out of the premises of their home when buying things from the stores or when something really important should be done like paying bills. Due to this, hecked exercise and his stamina and strength are quite below average.


    Yet, all this time, since the outbreak started, he was moving beyond his capabilities.


    How? It all started when he was in grade four during his elementary years. He was diagnosed with kidney infection though it was found out really early and was cured within a week of being checked-in in a hospital.


    After he was cured of his kidney infection, he noticed that his heart would start beating strongly until it starts to get painful every time he gets excited or agitated. He thought that it was a reemerging heart problem since he had one when he was a baby but when he was tested in a hospital, the results were negative.


    It then went like that for years making him get used to the situation and he learned that he only need to calm down, take deep breaths and control his emotions to make his heartbeat go back to normal. He also stopped feeling heart pains during the change in his heartbeat during that long period. Though, it also caused him to stop showing too much emotion on his face.


    In college, however, he realized it.


    He was not a sporty person and the only kind of sport that interested him is martial arts, ser and baseball. Yet, he was never given the opportunity to experience all those until college where a ser club started. He joined and managed to get a good progress and ys during practice though we wasn''t able to actually join any official matches due to various reasons.


    During practice, there are times that he would get too much into the game and his heartbeat would go faster and stronger more often.


    Though one day.


    During one of the practice games, when his heartbeat changed while he was focused too much on following the ball with his eyes, a teammate of his kicked the ball wrongly and the ball made a sharp beeline in front of him.


    By the strength that the ball was kicked, the direction it flew and the speed it was flying, it was reasonable that the ball would just flew by and pass by him with him not being able to react or do anything.


    Yet, it happened.


    As his heart beat faster, his focus on the ball became sharper as the ball moved slower and slower in his eyes until it looked like that it almost stopped in front of him. His blood seemed to boil and he felt an unknown source of energy in his body urging him to kick the ball. His foot touched the ball in great momentum and it flew fairly far. He remembered that kick as his best record in terms of speed and distance. It felt like it happened in several seconds but in reality, not even single second passed.


    After he kicked the ball he stood in the middle of the field surprised. The club members were also surprised but what he did was dismissed as a lucky kick. But to him, there was more to it.


    He then started practicing, trying to stimte his heartbeat by purposely controlling his emotion and impulses. Mark managed to get a few results though he was far from being able to do it with control. Soon enough, due to needing time to finish his thesis and concentrate on his studies, he quit the club.


    After a few years of practice, even after he graduated, he reached the point that he can finally do it, control its activation and use it whenever he wanted. Though at this point, he would just use it when ying games when things get difficult or when he is on the losing side.


    Mark also learned about what is happening to him.


    It was Adrenaline Rush and due to years of practice, he was able to self-induce it.


    Though, it doesn''te without limit or side effects. He would feel fine during the duration it is activated but depending on how long, how much activity or which part of his body he focused on, he would receive a bacsh at the same intensity after the duration was over.


    From being lightheaded, sleepiness or headaches to muscle pain and severe muscle spasms, he would experience those depending on how he used this ability.


    When he actually raise his adrenaline levels while ying games, his eyes would feel fatigued and his arms would go numb afterwards.


    And that is what happened to him. Ever since he saw the zombies below when he was on the second floor of the mall, he grew really excited and subconsciously activated his ability and it remained activated as his subconscious and senses continued on detecting danger around him.


    Now that he managed to reach a safe area, his adrenaline levels started to drop on its own.


    Then the bacsh triggered.


    Fortunately, he would always bring medicine for muscle pain and headaches ever since he managed to get this ability.


    Even though it came with quite a heavy bacsh, and would surely be worse in the long run, it is one of his few ''abnormal'' abilities he could boast about.


    ***


    The pain lessened though far from actually ceasing and Mark finally opened his eyes as the medicine reached the peak of its effect.


    He looked at Mei who beside him and he don''t know what to do with her. Mark had never experience receiving this much of concern from another person, so, he was not used to it. Mei really looked like the sky would fall on her as she watched him writhing in pain.


    The two locked their gazes making him raise his lips into a weak smile.


    ''I really can''t abandon such a weak rabbit, can I?''


    His right hand is still clutched so this time, with his left hand, he patted Mei''s head.<sub> </sub>


    "I''m fine now. We should join them, alright?"


    Mei nodded and helped the pained Mark stand up and the two walked towards the group.


    The group watched Mark approach them. Even though his exhaustion, pain and weakness are visible, he walked calmly towards them like it was nothing.


    But before Mark and Mei can even reach the encircled chairs, Ange already jumped off her seat and approached the two.


    "Hey! What happened to you? We''re really worried you know that?"


    "You''re too close."


    Mark grabbed Ange''s forehead and pushed her away.


    "Wah! Your hand is dirty!"


    "What are you talking about? I properly wiped my hand on my shirt."


    "Grrrr!"


    Even though Ange wasining, she was smiling.


    Then, aside from Bernard, Joseph and Calvin who were unfamiliar with Mark, the rest followed Ange''s lead and circled around him.


    Fernan happily clutched his neck but then retreated in quickly after Markined in pain.


    Reyah, carrying her daughter, Sariya, just stood to the side also smiling.


    Then, Pa went in front of him.


    "Wee back." She said.


    Mark froze.


    He never expected to hear something like that. Even in his family, no one says something like this to him no matter how long he left before returning home.


    Feeling warm inside, he decided to reply.


    "Yeah, I''m back."


    Mark then looked at the three men behind the group.


    "Who are they?"


    And as it he knew that it was the cue for them, Bernard approached.


    "Bernard Macaraeg. It''s nice to meet you. We heard a lot of what you did from them."


    He then held his old right hand towards Mark. Mark epted his introduction and shook the old man''s hand.


    Then, another round of introductions followed, though it''s just the group introducing themselves to Mei and Mark.


    "We already introduced ourselves! It''s you two''s turn now!"


    The always impatient Ange urged the two to tell their names.


    Mark nced at Mei who is hiding behind him before looking back at the people in front of him.


    "This girl, she''s Xiao Mei. No, it should be Mei Xiao. As for me, it''s Mark, just Mark."


    "You''re not gonna tell us your family name?" Ange is being nosy.


    "I don''t really need to, right? Not like it''s important."


    "Wah, it''s unfair!"


    "Just what are you being noisy about?"

 Chapter 24 Marks Conjecture And The Fate Of The Survivors Inside The TechZone

    12:03PM ¨C City Mall Bacoor Rooftop


    Everyone formed a circle to discuss what they should do next. As the chairs avable isn''t enough, the each of the girls had sat on one while the males except Markid some ttened empty boxes on the floor and sat on those. Mark on the other hand was also given a chair due to his condition. His chair was previously used by Sariya who now sat on her mother''sp.


    "What are your ns now?"


    Bernard asked the young people in front of him and what happened surprised him. Except for his son, Joseph, Calvin, who was with him here in the rooftop and the innocent Sariya, everyone looked at Mark as if they all nned it together.


    "Hah, why are you all looking at me?" Mark sighed.


    "Hahaha, I don''t know, I just¡­"


    Ange let out a dryugh as her voice trailed off. They all slowly averted their gazes from him. Except Mei, that is.


    Though none of them want to admit but they are very clueless of what to do and Mark, who seemed unfazed as he dealt with the zombies and managed to get them this far might have an idea of what they should do next.


    The only person who seemed to want to do something was Fernan but he knew that he might not be capable of actually doing it.


    Bernard and Mark looked at Fernan at the same time as he looked disturbed and thinking of something deeply. Then, as he steeled himself, Fernan raised his hand.


    "I want to go back inside. I want to get to the TechZone."


    Everyone understood why. Bernard and the rest already heard of their story so they also understood his reasons.


    But Mark spoke.


    "That would be hard."


    Everyone agreed as they all nodded. The only way they can use to get there right now is the back corridors which are now teeming with zombies.


    As if he managed to read their minds, Mark continued.


    "Don''t misunderstand me. I''m not talking about the zombies in the back corridors. I already had a good idea on how to deal with those."


    "Then what do you mean?"


    Fernan had a bad premonition about the way Mark is talking.


    "The TechZone, it should be filled with zombies right now."Mark said calmly.


    Everyone was shocked and Fernan felt as he had been struck with lightning. He asked Mark shivering.


    "H-How?"


    "Are you sure about this?" Bernard was also worried.


    "A hundred percent. Actually, the zombies we encountered when we exited the cinema came from the TechZone. As for proof¡­"


    He looked at Ange.


    "Remember thatrge fat zombie?"


    "Yeah, it looked gross. All that fat jiggling as he ran. Ugh."


    Ange looked disgusted as she remembered that zombie''s appearance.


    "He should be the person that caused us to be locked out. It is hard to recognize him since his clothes are in tatters and his body ''changed'', but I''m quite sure that it is him. The fat man followed by a body guard."


    "That''s--"


    Fernan grimaced. He also remembered him though he did not see what he turned out to be as a zombie since they did not try to look back as they escaped to the emergency exit.


    Strange enough, when Mark said that the guy was a ''fat man followed by a body guard'', both Ange and Pa jolted on their seats.


    Mark looked at the two college girls with eyes like he was cleared of confusion. He watched their expressions and if this was anime, he was sure that there should be ck aura enveloping the two. The males were surprised by their reaction but Reyah looked at the two as if she had some understanding and also pity is obvious in her eyes.


    Realizing their inappropriate reaction, the two apologized and sat properly on their chairs but the dark atmosphere around the two did not lessen a little bit.


    Then to their surprise, Mark spoke to the two.


    "He is the reason right?"


    "The reason of what?" Joseph can''t help but butt in.


    Ange and Pa looked at Mark but stayed silent. As Joseph asked, Mark looked at him and continued.


    "That fat man is the reason why only these two girls remained of their group."


    The two girls trembled when Mark said that while Reyah shook her head. Seeing the confusion of the others, Mark decided to say more.


    "When the zombies entered the Mall and everyone started running down the esctors. I already saw these two." He pointed that the girls who now hung their heads down.


    "I think¡­ There should be another six or seven students with them. I saw their group among the people escaping."


    The whole group looked at the two. They don''t know what to say. They want to know the whole story but it would be unlikely for the two to tell. Furthermore, it would just make these two remember their bad experience.


    The atmosphere turned sour again.


    Then, without minding the drop in mood, Mark spoke.


    "Pa looked fine but this gloomy face doesn''t suit you Angeline."


    The two looked at Mark confused why would he say something like that. The others were the same.


    "What do you mean?" Ange replied weakly.


    "You look UGLY." Mark smiled sinisterly.


    Then she snapped. She even stood up from her seat.


    "WHO ARE CALLING UGLY!!!"


    Then there was silence and Mark stayed smiling.


    "Pfft. Hihihihi."<sub> </sub>


    Someone''s giggling entered their ears. They followed where the sounding from and saw Pa trembling on her seat.


    "Pa? WHAT are youughing at?!"


    "Sorry. I can''t help it." Pa answered wiping the tears on the corner of her eyes.


    Mark watched the spectacle with a snicker.


    While the others were confused where the dark atmosphere just now had gone to, Bernard was looking at Mark.


    ''Amazing.'' He thought as he looked at Mark in a new light.


    With just a simple sentence, Mark recovered the mood of the two girls and the dark atmosphere was blown away.


    The two girls realized what happened as they grew quiet once more though this time, it is normal silence. Still, Ange is pouting due to Mark''s remark.


    "Then back to the issue about the TechZone." Everyone grew serious once more.


    Mark looked at Fernan.


    "You are worried about those two, right? They were your cousins correct?"


    Fernan, nodded.


    "There is a chance that they should be fine if they followed my instructions correctly."


    "Instructions? Don''t tell me you expected this to happen? Also how did the TechZone got filled with zombies in the first ce?" Bernard barraged Mark with questions.


    "Please, one question at a time. Well, I''ll answer them all anyway." Mark fixed his seating position.


    "About the instructions, they might have told you already about how we got locked out and how Imunicated with his cousin and that sales clerk, right?"


    Bernard nodded.


    "Myst message to them was some instructions they must follow."


    "Take all the people originally here in this floor, find a secure ce to hide and don''te out no matter what. Strictly remember not to bring anyone who came from the lower floors." Pa interjected.


    "So, you remembered it?"


    "Yeah, I was behind you that time and I saw it. So that is why you told them that they might die if they did not follow what you said?"


    "That''s right. This also answered the second question. However, I wasn''t a hundred percent sure back then." He stared at Bernard.


    "Then what happened? Did you expect that the zombies would be able to get in?" Joseph is the one who asked this time. He was visibly agitated.


    "No, you are wrong. Though I expected that the zombies would get to them, it''s not from the outside."


    Mark dragged his sentence a little and revealed a sinister smile.


    "It came from the inside."


    All of them were shocked.


    "How did that happen?"


    "Well, though I didn''t really manage to confirm it, with that amount of people from the lower floors that managed to enter the TechZone, I thought of the possibility that one or more of them were already bitten."


    "Wait."


    Mark looked at Ange.


    "We saw people who got bitten turned into a zombie almost immediately. Our¡­ Our friends were also the same."


    Ange seemed to hesitate continuing her sentence but it seemed she steeled herself.


    "Then, tell me which part of their body were they bitten."


    "Hmm¡­ Neck, shoulder, Face, arms¡­" Ange trailed off and shivered.


    "Seriously¡­ Don''t try to remember how their bites looked like, I only asked you where they were bitten."


    "Well, I think that''s it."


    "There are also ones who were bitten on their legs and body." Pa added.


    "I bet those who had bites on their arms and legs had been bitten multiple times or got bitten in other parts of their bodies."


    The two girls nodded.


    "Well, my reasoning really came from some video game but, what if the time needed for a person to turn into a zombie might vary and one of the reason they vary is because of where they were bitten."


    Everyone started listening to him intently.


    "From what you two said, they immediately turned but their bites were near their head or they are bitten several times. However, what if they were bitten on their hands or maybe, their foot or even the tip of their fingers and managed to get away with just those bites? Would they immediately turn?"


    "Is that possible?" Bernard asked.


    "I think, what he said is possible."


    Reyah interjected.


    "I saw someone earlier, a woman. She was grabbed by a zombie and got bitten just above her left ankle. She managed to get away with just that bite because someone helped her and did not turn into a zombie until I lost track of her."


    Hearing what Reyah said, everyone was now inclined to believe Mark''s conjecture.


    Then, Joseph asked a question.


    "Say¡­ If you knew all that, why did you not just tell them that there might be people inside who was bitten and might turn anytime?"


    It was a question that will determine Mark''s standpoint in this situation.

 Chapter 25 Marks Standpoint

    "If you are sure that the TechZone is now filled with zombies, then what happened to those people who weren''t bitten? If you told them what you knew then¡­ Then¡­"


    "Joseph, stop it."


    Bernard patted his son''s shoulder.


    Still, no one med him for asking such a question as everyone here understood his point. From what Pa said, Mark instructed the two employees to save a few people without telling why. It just meant that he had no n of helping them. He abandoned them to die.


    Everyone looked at Mark though it''s not like that he would actually answer it.


    But to their surprise, Mark answered frankly and nonchntly.


    "Why should I?"


    "You! Don''t you even care about the lives of other people?"


    Joseph was agitated, especially with how Mark behaved when he answered. They are talking about lives of people here and not just one but many. Joseph was so agitated that he almost stood up but he was held down by his father.


    "Could you say you''re reasons? I don''t question what you did or your decisions but I want to know why."


    Surprisingly, it was the silent Calvin who asked that. It seemed that Marks attitude and stance here made him curious.


    "Fine."


    Mark sighed.


    "First things first¡­" Mark seriously looked at Joseph.


    "You are mistaking who is the victim here... It is not them who are abandoned but we are."


    Joseph was shaken and Mark continued.


    "Those people, no, idiots was helped by those employees. They were directed to a safer ce. They, who only knew how to run, scream like crazies and ask for help even though they never even tried to help themselves. They even had the guts to turn on the people who helped them. Because of them, we were locked out, we needed to fight, we were constantly in danger and we made it here alive with great difficulty.


    Though, I don''t mean it a bad way, think about it. What would have happened to these people if I wasn''t there with them?"


    Mark looked to his left and right, the group people he helped and saved.


    He pushed everyone into thinking. What would have happened if he was not there?


    Fernan and his cousins might have been able to escape but they would need to leave the precious food they found. Then, they might have been able to enter the TechZone before it closed but with what happened inside, their ending would be unknown.


    Pa and Ange might have been able to save Sariya but Reyah, her mother, would be the sacrifice for their escape. And even if the two managed to run away, they wouldn''t be able to enter the TechZone at all and that is a hundred percent sure to happen. Then, their future is bleak from that point. During their escape, they relied on Mark and his weapons. If he was not there, it is likely that they would not be able to reach the cinema on their own.


    Everything was because he was there. If he wasn''t there then¡­


    They shivered as they thought of the possibilities left for them.


    Looking at their bitter reactions, Mark continued.


    "Those people inside abandoned those who were outside for dead. So tell me. Why should I save them? Are they worth it? Actually, if not for those two who waited for us despite the threat they are facing, I won''t really bother giving them those instructions at all."


    "After all¡­ I''m not a Saint.


    And I''m not a hero either. Though you guys can say I had a screw loose, I''m an average person for the most part.


    One of the things I am good at is remembering and repaying favors. The way I treated them would just be my repayment the favor they gave us. They pushed us to danger that can potentially kill us so paying with their lives for their unreasonable actions, is a good trade-off don''t you think?"


    Joseph already grew silent.


    "Also¡­ What if they did not locked us out? Do you think I won''t tell them the potential danger? Of course I will tell them because we would also be in danger but that isn''t what happened. They just paid for their own actions.


    It''s that simple."


    Everyone is silent and Joseph can''t counter any of what he said. Everyone is contemting about what Mark said.


    Though what he did is morally wrong in a human standpoint, what those people did isn''t morally right either. No one can be med rightfully. The first person to me would be the wrong one.


    They looked at Joseph who now hung his head down.


    "Though, frankly, we should thank those people."


    Mark patted Mei''s head who is now hatefully ring at Joseph, making her calm down. Joseph even felt her piercing stare. Though her fear of them is still visible as she hid behind Mark, her anger can''t be concealed either.


    At first, they were confused why they should thank those people but they immediately realized what he meant as Mark patted Mei''s head.


    If those people did not lock them out, what would have happened to Mei then?


    Thought the three cleaners don''t totally know what exactly happened to Mei but they knew that she was saved after their group was locked out so they also understood what Mark meant.


    Joseph felt down. He knew he wasn''t thinking carefully when he blurted those all out. He also wasn''t in the position to question him in the first ce. While Mark was fighting for survival below, he was here shivering in fear not even wanting to step and face those scary creatures.


    On the contrary, Calvin now had a refreshing smirk as he looked at Mark. He found Mark''s reasoning interesting.


    Bernard patted his son''s backforting him before he looked back at Mark and spoke.<sub> </sub>


    "I understood your reasoning but there is something that is inconsistent with what you said."


    "What is?"


    "You said that you''re not a saint and not a hero either. Why did you save them? I doubt that they have anything to do with you."


    The others beside Mark also looked at him. They he also wanted to know why he saved them.


    "Hah, I did not save them. They saved themselves."


    Everyone was confused again. Still, their ears perked up.


    Knowing what is in their minds, Mark continued.


    He looked at Fernan.


    "If you and your cousins abandoned those food carts, do you think I would help you guys? Those food are really essential to survive this mess though I won''t be surprised if you guys abandoned it and ran away. Yet, you guys didn''t so I helped you guys that time."


    He then looked at the girls.


    "I''m sure that time you two were running from the west wing. Pa was on the verge of giving up."


    Pa''s eyes grew wide. ''How did you know that?'' She thought.


    "Yet, Ange continued pulling you away and not willing to give you up."


    Ange blushed.


    "Also, When Mrs. Ismail fell that time, while the other people ignored her. It''s you two who stopped disregarding your escape and tried to help her. If that time, you two abandoned her you two would have more time to escape if you ask me."


    "And Mrs. Ismail, you went quite far to ask these two to take your daughter and sacrifice yourself. Actually, it won''t be surprising if you actually throw your daughter to the zombies so you can escape."


    "What are you saying?! How could I do that to my own daughter?!"


    "Then, about Mei¡­"


    Mark ignored Reyah.


    "Hers is quiteplicated so I''ll skip it."


    Mei pouted her lips in displeasure just to wince in pain as the cuts on her lips that just started to dry up opened.


    "Well, I''m just talking about the possibilities. But if those possibilities really happened, do you guys think I would help any of you?"


    He faced Bernard.


    "I''m not a morally good person but I admire people to can keep their humanity in a situation where their lives are at stake. That is why I helped them."


    The people he saved felt embarrassed.


    He turned his head and looked at the opening on the wall above thedder the others climbed up before and looked at the sky.


    "I''ll tell you, guys. In a time like this which is possibly the end of the world. Humanism is the rarest treasure."


    He looked like an old man who experienced a lot in his lifetime as he continued.


    "Treachery, theft, selfishness, ****, murder and other awful things that human can do. There won''t be ack of those things at times like this. Just take those guys that you said I abandoned as example."


    He sighed and turned his face back to Bernard and smiled.


    "Did you like my answer?"


    Bernard bitterly nodded. He did not expect it to be so deep.


    Then¡­


    "HAHAHAHAHA!!"


    They looked at Calvin who isughing loudly.


    "Is something wrong?" Mark asked.


    "No, nothing is wrong. Rather I liked what you said. It is amusing to hear that from someone so young."


    "I''m not young anymore though, I''m already 27."


    "No, you''re age is still young to have that kind of mindset. That is a mindset you can only see from people who experienced war and devastating disasters."


    "Is there wrong with that?"


    "Nothing is wrong. I''m just amused and curious."


    Bernard and Joseph looked at the always silent and loner Calvin who is now talking, like a machine gun, with incredulous expressions.

 Chapter 26 Their Next Move

    Calvin''s strange behavior somehow washed away most of the awkward atmosphere that Joseph and Mark created.


    After he stoppedughing, he then said to Mark.


    "I''m starting to like youd, If you need something I''ll do my best to help."


    But he was met with Mark''s reply using a monotone voice.


    "I don''t swing that way."


    "YOU!! I didn''t mean it that way!!!"


    Unable to hold back anymore, Bernard and Joseph who knew Calvin the most startedughing and everyone followed suit. Even the little Sariyaughed merrily imitating the adults around her.


    Calvin sat embarrassed and turned his body away.


    Mark watched spectacle grinning as if he controlled the whole situation but he actually had cold sweat dripping on his back due to two reasons. First is because of what Calvin said. Even though he knew what he really meant and took the opportunity to turn it into a joke, it still sent shivers on his spine. The other reason is¡­


    He can feel Mei''s stare behind him. Mark is sure her eyes are filled with stars right now.


    Bernard nced at Mark.


    ''He really had the knack in controlling the atmosphere.''


    The awkward atmosphere before was totally dispelled now.


    ***


    After the situation calmed down¡­


    "Anyways, I also wanted to go inside the TechZone so I''m with Fernan''s idea."


    Mark said which made Fernan really happy.


    "Why would you want to, didn''t you already said that it is dangerous?"


    Bernard wasn''t opposed but he wanted to know the reason.


    "You said that the cellrworks are busy right? It is just busy and not disconnected. It means that thework is still online. I want to try if the wireless broadband inte is the same. What we need the most now is information and we need to know what really is happening. The inte is a good source for those information. I know that we can''t count on DSL now but there might be hope with the Broadband. Inside the TechZone, there should be plenty of Inte connections we can use."


    Bernard and Calvin nodded, what Mark said is usible.


    "Also, if Fernan''s cousin followed my instructions strictly, then they should still be alive. Fernan''s cousins are not bad, also that clerk with them, if they survived then its good."


    They understood what Mark is saying as he already exined himself earlier.


    "Then, what do we need to do?"


    "I already have a n. I just need some strong boards, hmm¡­ Metal sheets would also work and something to make noise, possibly something loud."


    Mark said with his hand on his chin.


    "Hmm, we can probably find something like that." Bernard said.


    "You need something to make noise right?" Calvin interjected.


    "Yeah, I need those to attract the zombies."


    "Attract is it? Then those should be fine I think."


    Calvin pointed behind Mark.


    "Right, those should be good." Bernard nodded.


    Mark followed what Calvin pointed at and saw several ubeled wooden crates which are only printed with the explosive hazard sign.


    "What are those? Explosives?"


    "Though you aren''t wrong, that''s not it either. Those are fireworks."


    "Fireworks? Why would¡­ Oh right, it''s that time of the year isn''t it. Are they nning to use those for the New Year?"


    "You catch on really quickly huh? Anyways, are those good?"


    Mark smiled.


    "That''s more than enough if you ask me."


    "Then, we''ll look for the boards you wanted."


    "Ah, also some wires and I see that you had tools with you. Do you have some pliers and drills?"


    Calvin grinned and pointed behind him with his thumb.


    What Mark saw are several metal tool boxes quite a distance away.


    "We have everything you needed."


    "Then things would be easier then."<sub> </sub>


    As almost everything is ready, Mark told the males of the group what he is nning.


    Mark also asked them to barricade all the entrances to the rooftop.


    "I know what we can use the emergency stairs behind the Mall but what if some survivors managed to climb the stairwell and we barricaded it, wont they get trapped there?" Joseph asked.


    Though Mark didn''t really care about that but he knew that these people won''t ignore such circumstances.


    He sighed.


    "Say, does all the doors that lead here open inwards?"


    " Hmm¡­ I think they do. There are three."


    "Then, create a small space outside the door and make the barricade climbable by people."


    "Would that work? Wouldn''t those zombies be able to climb that?"


    "Though the possibility isn''t zero but so far, we haven''t encountered even a single one that could. The zombies even have a hard time climbing the stairs so it should work for now. If a zombie managed to climb then let''s just deal with it."


    The men nodded at what Mark said.


    Then, the other men went to work while Mark was left to recuperate. Though his condition seemed better, he is still far from his normal shape.


    Pa and Ange went to tour the rooftop. Though it looked like that it isn''t the appropriate time for them to y, Mark knew that the two girls are just trying to distract their selves.


    Reyah ced some ttened cardboard boxes on the floor at the elevated part of the rooftop and brought Sariya to sleep.


    Mark decided to walk around at his pace and observe the area.


    As for Mei, there is no need to say too much, she behind Mark, like a puppy following her owner.


    Mark finally had the time to observe the odd rooftop. This mall''s rooftop is actually way different from what he imagined.


    If someone would think about a mall or even other establishment''s rooftops, what would enter their minds first are bare concrete rooftops surrounded by short walls or fences with barely anything at all.


    Yet¡­


    What Mark sees right now is very different.


    Almost the whole rooftop is covered with metal roofing withrge metal foundations! Then, the walls surrounding the rooftop are as high as his forehead! Those walls should be more than five feet tall.


    What the heck is this?


    That aside, the rooftop is far from being bare. Though it is reasonable that one can find exhaust vents, cooling machines and those firework crates since it is already past mid-December, why are there boxes and crates that looked too out of ce?


    There is also the heliport at the southern side of the mall just beside the door he entered before. When he leaned back at that time, he thought he was leaning on a wall, but to think that he was leaning on an elevated heliport.


    Still, even though it is far from what he imagined, this rooftop more suitable for inhabitation than the one in his mind.


    And who knows what kinds of things he could find here?


    With all those in mind, he turned around.


    "Mei''er, you don''t really need to follow me around too much. You need to rest."


    Mei opened her mouth a few times. She seemed to be gauging the pain in her lips.


    "Y-you''re not resting either."


    "You''re really giving me that reason huh?"


    Mei nodded.


    "So, you won''t rest if I don''t rest?"


    She nodded again.


    "Seriously?"


    "¡­"


    Mei firmly stared at him.


    "Geez¡­ Alright, you win."


    To think that he can''t do anything about her, no, actually he can do something. But that would probably break her.


    For some reason, he can''t bear to do that to this fragile rabbit.


    Mark peered through the space between the roof and the tall wall and decided as he looked at the sky. The weather is quite cloudy and it isn''t that hot due to the season so he decided to climb the roof and rest there. The roof isn''t that steep and is actually built almost t so falling from it won''t be an issue unless someone is idiotic enough to roll over the edge of the roof. He also saw adder leading to the roof above the central area of the mall and it is a good spot.


    There, he can rest and Mei would also rest. At the same time, he can observe the situation below as the front side of the mall along the Tirona Highway is visible from that side of the roof. Though the air is quite warm and stale but don''t really felt that bad as cold wind still blew from time to time.


    He is hitting four birds with one stone here, or rather, three birds and one rabbit.

 Chapter 27 Can I Call You...

    12:16 PM - City Mall Bacoor Rooftop, Central Area


    Markfortably sat on the metal roof eating sandwiches for lunch. At first, he thought of bring cardboard boxes to sit on thinking that the roof would be hot since it''s just a little bit past noon. To his surprise it was the opposite. He thought of the reason and he looked at the sky by reflex. He thought that it''s just a bit cloudy but now that he can see a wider view of the sky, the clouds are very far from being just a bit. Thick clouds covered the sky.


    It won''t be surprising if rain would fall anytime this afternoon.


    Mei sat beside him hugging her knees that she inserted inside the jacket that she is wearing. Luckily, the jacket Mark lent her is too long and wide for her that the jacket covered even her toes as she sat like that. If not, her thin grasnd would be exposed for Mark to see as she was practically naked. The clothes she had before, there is not a single piece is salvageable. It looked like that gangster took his time ripping her clothes apart, piece by piece.


    Mark ate his food with great relish while watching the situation below which is very far from making his food appetizing. At the highway, blood covered zombies are moving at their own pace chasing after the few people who are still struggling as they try to escape. Blood sshed around as the people escaping are caught, bitten and eaten. Puddles of blood can be seen in different ces and different sizes. The screams of frightened people can be faintly heard.


    Seeing all those things, most people might have already thrown up what they ate before.


    Yet¡­


    Mark ate and watched like he was inside a movie theater.


    Mark suddenly looked at the overpass to his left. Someone just jumped off. It seemed that that man unknowingly climbed up the overpass just to get cornered. Without any other way of escape, he jumped off over the walls at the side. Not the brightest idea.


    The man sessfully jumped andnded on his feet just to cry out loud. There is no need to guess, with that height, his legs would sure be broken. The man, not giving up, tried to crawl away dragging his broken legs.  Well, of course, he can''t even outrun the zombies with his fine legs, would he be able with those broken?


    The man''s cries echoed across the highway as he was caught and eaten by several slow moving zombies that are shambling below the overpass.


    Mark calmly watched the scene while analyzing things. He concluded that the man''s mind was clouded in fear. If he tried to carefully maneuver through the zombiesing from the southern side of the overpass and jumped a few meters south of where the man did, then he would havended on the roof a bus parked, no, its abandoned, under the overpass with no particr injuries. Well, of course, none of what Mark is thinking happened.


    He finished eating while watching all the things happening below.


    That time, he opened his bag and took out a small ck colored leather covered notebook and a gel ink pen. He always bring this notebook every single time he go out of the house and scribbling and writing things on it when he felt bored, though now, he decided to use it to record his theories, ns and findings about this zombie apocalypse. There''s no particr reason why he decided to record those things, other than because he might forget as there are quite plenty of things to remember. As for the pen, it''s just his preference.


    While he was writing, he nced at Mei who seemed to be a little fidgety. She seems to be trying to decide on something.


    As she remained indecisive, Mark decided to ignore her and continued writing. It remained like that after a minute or two. He then heard her speak.


    "Thank you."


    Mark looked at her and saw her staring at him.


    "Thank you for saving me."


    She looked away from Mark and looked at the gloomy looking sky.


    "I''m sure¡­ It was the end for me that time. I already gave up on everything. I already thought that I''ll just be a doll they would toy with and probably discarded like trash after they are tired ying with my body."


    She hugged her knees tighter while Mark continued listening and not interrupting her.


    "At that time¡­ At that time, I only wished that they would kill me sooner. I felt humiliated, dirty¡­ I- I¡­"


    Mei is already crying.


    She then felt a gentle hand patting her head.


    "Seriously¡­ If you want to thank me, do it properly. I won''t ept your thanks if you will just end up crying like that."


    "But¡­"


    "Just forget everything. Everything that happened there, those things was just a nightmare."


    "T-Then, won''t you also be part of that nightmare?"


    Mark froze as Mei doesn''t look like the type to joke like that. And that joke, how she delivered that is really familiar. He sighed.


    "That joke¡­ You shouldn''t really try to imitate me. It doesn''t suit you."


    "Is that so? You looked amazing when you saved the situation several times earlier. I- I made the atmosphere gloomy so I thought..."


    "Also it won''t really work the right way when you are the one that made the mood worse."


    "Is that so¡­"


    "That''s right."


    "Uuuhhh."


    She felt embarrassed. Mei also realized that she felt better, no, with just a few words, he changed her self-pity to embarrassment. Though feeling embarrassed don''t really feel good, it''s way better that the sad and dark feeling she had earlier.


    "I want to ask something."


    Throwing away her embarrassment, she looked at Mark curiously.


    "Sure, what is it?"


    "Are you familiar with Chinese naming customs?"


    "Chinese naming customs? Why do you ask?"<sub> </sub>


    Mark felt confused.


    "The way you call me, Mei''er. Only my grandparents called me that before¡­"


    "I see. Well, I just did it on a whim. If you don''t like it then I''ll just call you whatever you like."


    Mei shook her head.


    "It''s fine. Rather, I want you to continue calling me that... I''m just curious¡­"


    "Well, I do know such customs. Actually, I liked reading novels. Japanese, Korean or Chinese, as long as it interests me, I''ll read them. So I just learned those things in the process. Actually, it started when you introduced yourself surname first so I just did that without thinking."


    "Is that so¡­ Then¡­"


    She looked away from Mark blushing.


    "Can I call you Gege?"


    Mark looked at her.


    "That came out of nowhere."


    She looked back at him.


    "Is it bad?"


    "Not really. You can call me what you want."


    "Really?"


    "Really. Actually, I don''t care much about what everyone wants to call me. In the past, when I was a kid, there are two boys who kept calling me Weirdo. They kept shouting ''Weirdo this'' and ''Weirdo that'' in the middle of the street. I didn''t really care."


    "That''s¡­ Shouldn''t you feel angry?"


    "Why should I? They kept shouting this and that but if you heard the adults around us who saw those two. They are whispering ''what a pair of weird kids.'' or ''what kind of parents raised such weirdos?'', so, why should I get angry?"


    "Pfftt. Hahahaha."


    Mei felt angry at first but can''t help but burst intoughter afterwards.


    Mark looked at Mei. Her happy face really looked refreshing and herugh sounded soothing. It is more suitable than the gloomy face she always wore since the first time he saw her.


    ''Gege, huh¡­''


    If it was another man who knew this custom, then, they might have misunderstood. They would mistake that Mei liked them.


    But Mark is different. This girl seemed to be mistaking her feelings. What she is feeling right now is not love or like, but dependence and looking for a hand to hold onto. And the person she found is Mark who saved her.


    ''Well, I''m not really bothered. As long she is happy.''


    But then Mei''sugh was cut short¡­ She covered her mouth with both her hands and looked at Mark teary eyed.


    Mark patted her head.


    "I will look for a lip balmter alright?"


    Mei nodded.


    "And so? What''s your business for eavesdropping?"


    Mark raised his voice and looked behind Mei, straight at thedder they climbed on to get on the roof. Mei also looked at thedder but she didn''t see anyone.


    Mark kept on staring.


    Then, knowing that she had been found out, Ange raised her head above the roofughing awkwardly.


    "Sorry for interrupting your date but Uncle Bernard said that the materials were ready."


    "Alright. Mei''er, let''s go."


    Mark cleaned up his things and stood up before extending his hand to Mei to help her stand without bothering to correct Ange''s misconception. Still, while Mei epted her Gege''s help, she hung her head low with her face red like a tomato.


    ================================================================


    For those who don''t know about the ''er suffix  that Mark added in Mei''s name and "Gege" that she decided to call him.


    ''er is pretty much used as suffix for nicknames of children and can also be used by couples and close people. Mark mainly used it because Mei is quite younger than he is.


    Gege on the other hand is used as salutation to an older male. Simr to Da''ge, both indicate older brothers specially to blood rted people. It can also be used as an intimate salutation when a younger female used it to call an older male who isn''t blood rted.


    I could be wrong but that is pretty much what I know. :P

 Chapter 28 Preparations Done!

    Mark, followed by Mei went down thedder while Ange waited from them below. Afterwards, the three returned to their meeting area.


    They saw Reyah sitting at the same spot when they left. It seemed that Sariya is sleeping peacefully while using her mother''sp as a pillow.


    Mark could hear a faint sound of a drill boring on a something made of metal. The soundes from the Western Wing of the Rooftop.


    "Why are they working there?"


    Mark asked Ange as he looked where the equipment and toolboxes are ced before. Those things aren''t there anymore. They probably relocated their working area.


    "They said that there is a child sleeping so they changed ces so they won''t disturb her. It''s also closer where you wanted to use those things."


    Hearing her reply, he nodded and walked towards the west wing while the two girls followed behind him.


    With Mark''s current appearance, a ck shirt with splotches of blood, ck gloves on both hands, a security belt on his waist, a revolver on the belt''s right holster, a machete hung on his belt behind him, a shotgun hung to his left side and his average but unconcerned looking face while wearing a ck loose beanie on his head, it might look badass and cool looking, especially since there are two good looking girls following behind him.


    Still, there is no such scene. Mark just doesn''t want to y the part and looked quite troubled. Furthermore, the two girls following him had an awkward atmosphere between them.


    Pa, who is nearby, noticed it and approached Mark to ask.


    "What happened?"


    "Ask your friend about it."


    Mark replied raising his closed left hand and pointed at Ange who is behind him with his thumb.


    Pa understood that her friend did something stupid AGAIN. She grabbed Ange and pulled her away.


    As there are no more distractions, Mark wanted to check the materials the men gathered when he realized something. The turned around and walked towards the mother and daughter''s direction with Mei.


    "Do you need something?"


    Reyah asked with a lowered voice as she didn''t want to identally wake up her child.


    Mark didn''t immediately reply and gently pulled Mei to his front and held her on her shoulders.


    "Can I leave her in your care for a bit?"


    It is a no brainer why, so, Reyah immediately agreed. Mark pushed Mei forward and made her sit down beside Reyah.


    "Gege¡­"


    Mei didn''t really want to leave Mark''s side as she looked at him with puppy eyes. Mark caressed her head.


    "Mei''er, just stay here alright? I can''t have you suffering from panic attacks just because you want to follow me there."


    "But¡­"


    "Continue resting. Don''t make your Gege worry too much. Mrs. Ismail will be here with you. I will ask herter if you behaved or not."


    With that, Mei reluctantly nodded.


    Reyah was watching at the side confused. Gege? What is that? Isn''t her name Mei? Why does he call her Mei''er? Are those nicknames?


    Themon people of this country wouldn''t understand those things.


    Then she snapped out of her confusion when she heard what Mark called her.


    "Uhm¡­ Mark, It''s Mark right?"


    "What is it?"


    "Can you do something about how you call me?"


    Reyah looked quite troubled.


    "Is that so? Hmmm¡­ How about¡­ Mrs. Reyah?"


    She sighed.


    "That''s much better. I had several bad experiences where people around me would look at me like I''m a terrorist every time someone calls me by my husband''s surname."


    She smiled wryly.


    Mark nodded. He understood since also had struggles because of his name that is way toomon.


    ***


    "What do you think?"


    Mark arrived and saw that the things he needed are ready. Right now, he is looking at the several opened crates containing different kinds of fireworks.


    In his hand right now is a small rocket type firework with a stic body and tip about the size of his pinkie finger.


    There are other fireworks other than this. Some are those colorful Spider, Chrysanthemum and Peony Rockets. There are even cylinder shells of who knows what kind of firework it contains. The one most suitable to attract zombies this time though, are the small rockets in front of him, whistling rockets.


    Its explosion is not too powerful but it is quite noisy when it is ignited.


    "This one is good. I don''t think this will activate the fire rms even if I light it inside."


    Mark replied to Bernard who is beside him who agreed on what he said.


    Joseph is on the other side looping some Man ropes on his arm.


    As for Fernan and Calvin, they stood by the wall near thedder above the emergency stairs on this wing, for a cigarette break.


    Mark nced to the wall to his left. There are the two rectangr metal sheets they prepared leaning on the wall standing on the shorter sides. There are drilled holes on the corners of the sheets and two more holes at the sides, slightly above the midline of the sheets.


    Everything is ready¡­ They only needed to tie up the metal sheets and lower the sheets to the stairs below.


    "I''ll start preparing. Please, put some of these rockets in here."


    Mark handed a small ecobag to Bernard. He then shouted.


    "Fernan! I need to borrow that Pipe I gave you earlier!"


    "No problem! I left pipe is beside the bag I carried earlier!"


    Fernan shouted back.


    Mark remembered that the bags were left near Reyah.


    ''What is he doing leaving his weapon behind at a time like this?''


    With that, he went back to the south wing of the rooftop to prepare.<sub> </sub>


    ***


    When Mark went back, he saw Pa and Ange talking to Mei. When Mei saw that Mark already came back, she said a few words to the two and briskly walked towards him while the two college girls followed behind her.


    "Is something wrong?"


    "Gege, they said they wanted to apologize."


    "For Ange''s eavesdropping?"


    "Yes." It is Pa who replied.


    "You see, this friend of mine do stupid things now and then so I would like to apologize in her behalf."


    "What''s with this overly formal apology¡­"


    "Well, you saved us before but she did something disrespectful."


    "Nah, its fine."


    "Really?"


    "It is. Right Mei''er?"


    Mei nodded.


    Seeing that her friend''s apology seeded, Ange spoke smiling widely.


    "Pa, I told you. It''s not a big deal. I didn''t even understand what they are talking about."


    Before Pa could even reply¡­


    "Of course you won''t. You think I would let you listen for that long if you will understand all of what we are saying."


    "Wah¡­ "


    Ange froze. She thought that he just noticed her when he shouted like that but to think that¡­ It looked like he knew when she arrived!


    "Gege, wh-just how long is she listening?"


    "Since the time you said thatme joke."


    "Uuuuhhh."


    The rabbit hung her head low in embarrassment while her face turned red like a boiled octopus.


    Pa red at her friend, Ange, who can only let out a stifledugh.


    "Anyways, I need to get ready. We''ll start the n."


    "It''s not dangerous is it?"


    "Not really, I just need to lure the zombies out and make them st."


    Mark suddenly held his chin as something entered his mind.


    "I guess¡­ I''ll wear those to be safe."


    "Wear what, Gege?"


    "Ahh!" Ange shouted.


    "You''re talking about those things inside your bag right!" Her eyes were sparkling.


    "You saw it? Don''t tell me you rummaged the bags without permission."


    "I didn''t! I saw it when you asked for the small bag when you fell down!"


    She replied like a cat whose tail was stepped on.


    "Stop shouting. It''s not like I can''t hear you."


    Mark scratched his head.


    "Gege¡­"


    "Ange¡­"


    Mei and Pa felt left out. Well, not for long.


    Mark looked at the two.


    "Follow me, I''ll show you two what she is too excited about."


    <o>,m Mark went and opened his duffel bag.</o>


    One by one, he took out the reason why his bag looked too bulky.


    What he took out is a set of sci-fi looking sports armor.


    The two girls who saw the armor for the first time were also amazed.


    The ck armor consisted of a sleeved vest, a chest and a back piece, shoulder, elbow and arm pads, and a face covered helmet. Each part had a streamline design with silver colored reflectorized outlines.


    Overall, the armor really looked good.


    "Where did you get this and why you didn''t wear it earlier?" Ange asked curiously.


    "I saw these in a sport store earlier when I was going to the arcade. When the zombies appeared, I went back and took it. Though, I never really had time to wear it. And also¡­"


    He pointed at the numerous buckles and zippers.


    "It can''t be worn easily with all these stuff. It looked allplicated. So I just looked for a bag and stuffed it all in."


    "Actually, after I stuffed it all in the bag, the zombies reached the third floor. Then, you girls know the story after."


    They all nodded.


    "Well, I''ll need you help me figure out how to wear this."


    The girls agreed without hesitation. Ange was enthusiastic about the armor. Pa and Mei on the other hand wanted to help since helping in things like this is the most that they can do.

 Chapter 29 Luring The Zombies Out

    1:02 PM ¨C City Mall Bacoor, West Wing, Emergency Exit ess


    A sci-fi agent, uh no, Mark, who is now wearing his cool looking ck colored sports armor that took him more than half an hour wear, is cautiously descending thedder towards the emergency stairs below. Just following above him, two tied up metal sheets dangled while being carefully lowered by Bernard and the rest of the men.


    Somehow, it looked like a scene of an infiltration agent scaling the wall of the mall with how he looked like but two things ruined the image. Hooped on his shoulder is a roll of construction wire and hanging on his side is a small green ecobag with the message "Save Mother Earth" designed on it. On the mouth of the ecobag, the ends of different colored sticks can be seen along with a metal pipe wrapped in electrical tape. If this was ced as a scene in a movie, the audience would surelyugh on the supposed to be suspenseful part.


    As the metal sheets were lowered, Mark would assist below so the metal sheets won''t identally hit thedder he is descending on and create unnecessary noise. At first, Mark only nned to go down to the stairs and wait there until the metal sheets are lowered down. Unfortunately, the weather is not on their side. By the time they are all ready, the wind blowing is already unstable and strong gales woulde from time to time.


    Under their cautious actions, Mark sessfully reached the top tform of the emergency staircase together with the metal sheets.


    Without making any noise, he leaned the metal sheets on the wall beside the emergency door and decided to peer through the door window. When he can finally see the corridor inside, he sighed in relief as there are no zombies inside in the close proximity.


    Then he proceeded with the n.


    He removed the rope tied to the metal sheets and signaled the men above to pull the ropes. He then inclined the two metal sheets on opposite ends of the top tform. One end of the metal sheets rest on the waist-high railings while the other end remained on the floor of the tform.


    Mark took out a pair of pliers and cut portion of the wire he brought and pushed one end of the wire through the holes drilled on the metal sheets. With several twist of the wires, he firmly affixed the metal sheet on the staircase.


    He tried to move the metal sheet several times to check it would easilye loose but it didn''t making him satisfied with his work.


    Now, the next part is to lure the zombies out.


    Mark took out a number of whistle rockets from the ecobag and lined the rockets in his left hand in a way that the fuse of the rockets can be ignited all at once. With his right hand, he twisted emergency door''s knob and opened it slightly. He took out a metal lighter, which he borrowed from Calvin, and pushed the igniter with a clink.


    The fire of the lighter danced along with the wind as he breathed deeply.


    Whishhhhh!


    BAM!!!


    Two sounds suddenly echoed across the corridor as he wildly kicked the door open and lit the rockets at the same time. Without waiting for anything else, he threw the ignited rockets inside the corridor and immediately ran back up to thedder and climbed it.


    He threw the rockets inside since he didn''t need to aim the rockets anywhere. He only needed to make as much noise as possible to attract the zombies inside.


    WHEEEEEEEEUT!!!


    Despite the small size, one whistle rocket flying in an open field is already noisy. Then how about several whistle rockets ignited at the same time and put in a closed space like this corridor?


    The whistling sounds were deafening. Even Mark who already climbed about two and a half meters on thedder can''t help but cringe by the loud noise that escaped the opened door. He still reacted that way despite the fact that he is wearing a helmet and his ears were blocked by his earphones.


    He also noticed that even the zombies on the car park below were startled trying to find where the loud noise ising from.


    The rockets inside that had been thrown flew erratically in random directions, several rockets managed to fly out of the door and one even whistled past Mark and flew diagonally upward.


    It did not take long and Mark started hearing popping sounds as the rockets started exploding.


    The whistling and popping sounds soon stopped.


    "It didn''t work?"


    Of course, he had to chant those magical words for further guarantee. When people say the magical chant, "Did it work?" on uncertain but important events, what they did failed to do what they intended. So, why doesn''t he chant the opposite?


    And as if responding to his magic spell, growling voices and multiple sounds of heavy and fast footsteps escaped from the door.


    Hearing those sounds, he went to the next phase.


    He knew that the sounds the rockets made inside alone is not enough no matter how loud it is. He still needed to bring the zombies out of the door.


    Mark hooked his left arm on a horizontal bar on thedder and used his left hand to hold the metal pipe he borrowed. The pipe he took out now looked different. One end of the pipe is covered with electrical tape which where he grasped the pipe. The remaining part of the pipe is covered with whistle rockets loosely taped on the pipe. The tape is loose enough that the rockets will fly off once ignited.


    Mark pointed the rocket covered pipe at the door and started lighting up the rockets at fixed intervals. One by one, the rockets whistled past the door. Some of the rockets flew through the spaces on the tform''s floor while some bounced off and flew somewhere else. There are a few rockets that bounced and flew into the door. He did not intend to do so but it works in his favor as he can''t make the rockets fly into the door on purpose. Thedder he is hanging from and the door he is firing at is built on the same wall after all.


    The growls soon became louder and louder and so as the steps.<sub> </sub>


    Following the whistling sound outside, a zombie stepped out of the door. After that, Mark just needed to fly onest rocket.


    ***


    The zombie looked up and saw the source of the whistling sound. Thest rocket flew past its face but it did not move and continued looking at the person hanging from above.


    It saw the person above wave his right hand at it. Then, the person started bashing a long thin thing on what the person is hanging on making a sharp nging sound.


    ***


    Mark continued hitting thedder with the metal pipe and also shouted from time to time until more zombies came out of the door.


    The first zombie started growling more aggressively. It ran up the inclined metal sheet below Mark and raised its hands trying to reach him. Of course, it is just a wishful thinking for the zombie, not like they can think in the first ce, as Mark is more than a meter beyond its reach.


    It seemed that its aggressive growling is more effective than the fireworks and noises Mark made as it immediately alerted the zombies inside the door. Afterwards, aggressive zombies flooded the top tform of the staircase some are even pushed to the stairs below.


    The numbers grew and they are all trying to reach Mark.


    And¡­


    The zombies pushed one another and what Mark anticipated happened. It was just one at first, and then was followed by another. As the zombies flood out of the door, the zombies outside started to get pushed over the inclined metal sheets. One by one, they fell to the hard cement below at the height of three mall floors, around ten meters.


    Mark stayed like that hanging on thedder but he already stopped bashing the pipe on thedder. The noises these zombies are making are enough to make a person deaf!


    He decided to use this precious chance to observe the zombies up close while being safe.


    SPLAT! SPLAT!


    Mark looked below where the zombiesnded after falling. He can see some zombies below who are visibly crippled and zombies who are dead. At this height, even a normal average human can still survive, albeit having serious injuries, so he isn''t expecting that all the zombies that fall will die.


    Another zombie fell under his watch. The zombie''s back and the concrete ground below made a sweet contact. It was sweet enough that its spine might have melted into several hundreds of pieces upon impact. The zombie justid there over a growing pool of blood.


    More and more zombies fell and Mark can see that those who fellter had lesser injuries. It''s not like Mark can''t understand. Those zombies fell unto the bodies of theirrades that stopped moving below.


    Mark started to get numb and bored. Just how many zombies are inside? Counting the zombies that fell below and the zombies crammed on the tform, there are approximately 50 zombies already and they are still flooding out.


    Five minutester¡­


    His arms are already numb hanging on thedder so he shouted at the men above to lower a rope. After getting the rope, he tied his waist to thedder. Afterwards, he took out his phone and took pictures of the zombies for reference.


    He already lost count of how many zombies came out but he think it haven''t reached a hundred. They already stopped flooding out of the door and the only ones left are pushing each other trying to reach him.


    Mark thought that the number is toorgepared to the number of people who entered the TechZone so he is sure that most of these zombies came from somewhere else. Maybe, there is a breach somewhere or worse, the idiots in the TechZone opened the metal shutters while trying to escape. Well, no matter what is the reason, they just have to deal with itter.


    He looked down. Below him, just eight zombies remained raising their bloody ws not giving up on their target.


    ''This much is fine I guess?''


    He signaled at Bernard who was watching above to lower the rope he prepared earlier.


    Mark caught the rope which was lowered to him. The end of the rope he caught is tied into arge hoop simr to what cowboys used.


    He threw the rope down towards the zombies several times until he managed to put all the zombies inside the hoop. Then he shouted.


    "Okay! Release it now!"


    Immediately afterward, a heavy broken cooling machine was tossed over the wall not far from Mark. There was a thick Man Rope tied on the machine and the other end of that rope...


    Is the hoop that currently encircled the zombies below Mark.

 Chapter 30 Marks Notes

    1:13PM ¨C City Mall Bacoor Rooftop, South Wing


    Ange and Mei are watching the whole process of Mark''s n which sessfully lured out arge number of zombies. Though the two can be described as watching, their attention is fully focused on Mark as the two don''t have the guts to watch the gruesome scene below.


    Mei worriedly waved her hand when she saw Mark looking at them. Mark waved in reply before cautiously entering the door. Just before Mark fully disappears into the door, the two girls can see him swing his machete at something.


    "Why does he have to go alone? It won''t be dangerous right? He could at least bring me with him."


    Ange grumbled as she saw him enter the door.


    Mei on the other hand said nothing but stare at the door with a worried face. If she was left like this, she would probably stay there staring at the door until Mark goes out.


    "He said that you''re our guard right? Look at Mei, there is no one here that can protect her except you."


    Pa who was sitting on a chair just behind the two replied at Ange''s grumbles.


    "But, aren''t we pretty much safe here?"


    "He said that it''s just in case that something happens."


    "Yeah, yeah."


    Ange replied while stretching her back and her hands behind her head. She turned around maintaining that position and noticed what Pa is doing.


    "What are you reading there?"


    She asked while approaching Pa.


    Pa sat on a chair seriously reading something. On her hands, a small ck colored, leather covered notebook is opened.


    "Mark lent this to me earlier. He said that we should read what is written in this."


    Hearing that the notebook is from Mark, Ange''s interest was pricked and Mei who was staring nkly at the emergency door at the west wing also turned her head and looked at Pa.


    "What''s written in it?"


    The Ange asked as she approached Pa. Mei also stood up and followed. The two girls moved chairs beside Pa trying to see the contents of the notebook.


    "You can say that what is written is some sort of a zombie survival guide."


    "Really? Did he just write those things earlier? I saw him writing on that notebook."


    "Probably not. The ink used is too dry and some parts are already peeled off. And look at this."


    She pointed at the date written on top of the page she is reading.


    "He wrote these things more than a year ago."


    "Then, is he simr to those zombie enthusiasts that we see in the inte often? No wonder the can adapt easily. What did it say?"


    "Well, he wrote a list of potential base locations, necessary supplies and some precautionary measures. Like how a rooftop like where we are now is not a very good ce for a prolonged time of inhabitation. There are others that are quite the same as we saw in the inte before."


    "What''s the point of reading that then?"


    Ange shrugged.


    "No, it''s not really what he wanted us to read. I''m just curious so I''m reading this part."


    "Turn it to that part he wanted us to read then."


    "Sheesh, you''re really as impatient as a kid. Still, I wonder why he said that don''t let you read that part alone."


    "He said that?"


    Pa then opened the middle part of the notebook where a page is folded as a marker and started reading the contents that were visibly written not too long ago.


    The three girls were surprised.


    What is written is vital information. The findings of Mark''s observation on the zombies are stated. Mark even started naming the different kinds of zombies in his notes. Currently there are three kinds of zombies in the list, namely, Eaters, Biters, and Fat Mutant (Tentative). They started reading the reading Mark''s notes, his findings and his descriptions of the zombies that were listed but¡­


    When they neared the end of how he described the biters, Pa''s expression is already grave while Ange is already red eyed and would cry in a slight push.


    "No way."


    Ange muttered as she started staring at her hands. Pa, who was beside her, nudged her closer and put her in a tight embrace. Tears started to fall from her eyes.


    "Pa¡­ I-I¡­"


    "It''s fine Ange. It''s not your fault alright? It''s necessary if you did not do it, then what would have happened to us?"


    Pa now understood why Mark didn''t want Ange to read it alone.<sub> </sub>


    Mei took the notebook from Pa and carefully read the descriptions written by her Gege.


    =====================================================================================


    Eater


    -Slow but strong.


    -Brutally eats its victims.


    -The remains of the eaten victims would also turn into an eater


    -Their numbers are higherpared to other zombies


    -Attracted to human skin and flesh


    -More attracted to human voices than artificially created sounds


    -Don''t react to any kind of pain


    -Easy to outrun


    -A good example of a living dead


    -To turn into an eater, the infected person should die of other reasons other than destruction of head and brain (unconfirmed)


    -Bodies that are turning into eaters don''t twitch like biters


    -Biters can turn into eaters when killed by other means except destroying the head and brain


    Biter


    -Fast but really clumsy.


    -Strong but weaker than an Eater


    -They don''t eat their victims. They only bite their target and switches target afterwards. It''s likely that their only purpose is to infect.


    -Highly sensitive to any form of loud sounds


    -Highly sensitive to human skin and primarily targets their victims at the parts of their bodies that had exposed skin.


    -Can feel pain


    -Can die in any way possible and turn into an eater in the brain is not destroyed in its death


    -It is likely that they are still alive as there are still signs and habits simr to humans like breathing


    =====================================================================================


    Reading to that part, Mei understood why Ange started behaving that way. ording to what her Gege observed, the biters, although infected, are still living people. If that really is the case¡­ Mei looked at the crying Ange.


    Ange was killing living people with her own hands.


    Anyone with a good heart that only wanted to survive and killed the zombies without knowing any of these would feel extremely repulsive after learning these things.


    Ange is a good example of this. She might be skilled in fighting but she never intended and would never want to kill living people.


    Yes, the biters she killed might have attacked them first but it''s likely that they are sick and they don''t know what they were doing.


    "What happened?"


    Reyah noticed themotion and approached to ask and Mei handed her the notebook. Her expression changed when she reached the part that tells that the biters are possibly still living people.


    "Is this true?"


    "We don''t know."


    Pa replied and patted Ange''s back before continuing.


    "But even if it''s true, I don''t think Mark had a bad reason to tell that to us."


    Soon enough, the men also learned about it and are left in deep contemtion.


    Later on, Ange managed to calm down but she still felt upset. She can''t help it. The main reason she felt repulsive about this is because¡­


    Earlier, at the lower floors, while trying to escape together with Pa, she killed several of her friends that turned into what Mark called Biters thinking that they already died before turning. Like how it happened in some movies she watched before.

 Chapter 31 The West Wing Corridors

    p 1:14PM - City Mall Bacoor, Service Corridors, West Wing</anda>


    Mark stood inside the eerie corridor and keenly observing the area. Just by his foot, there is a corpse with a decapitated head. When he entered the emergency door earlier, this Eater just happened to pass by. He preemptively hacked the Eater''s neck to avoid more disturbances.


    The corridor is almost empty except for a few straggling Eaters and the scattered debris. It looked like most of the zombies inside the corridor had been lured out by the racket he nned. Still, he did not think of letting his guard down. Not even a little bit. He knew that even if managed to deal with most of the zombies here, it''s just ''most'' and not ''all''.


    Looking at the eastern side of the corridor, multitudes of bloody footprints littered the floor while dragged hand and arm prints which are also made from blood decorated the walls. All the footprints came from a single direction and all ended up going through the door behind him. There''s no other need to think who these footprints belonged to.


    At the other side of the corridor, there is almost nothing but three Eaters that already walking his way. No, another one just appeared. It seemed that there is an open door at that side though, he can''t see the door due the angle he is looking at.


    The zombie that just entered is a female Biter. This Biter is probably a student from a Japanese themed college nearby as it is wearing a set of white blouse and white knee length skirt. Well, her clothes are white previously but right now, it''s already dyed in red. It looked like she took a literal ''bloodbath''.


    Upon seeing Mark that stood openly on the way, it immediately sprinted towards his direction.


    Mark saw the Biter sprinting at him and is about to counter by decapitating its head but he held himself back at thest second. He thought of confirming something and it is the best time to do so since there is only one Biter and the Eaters are nowhere close from his position.


    The Biter immediately lunged at Mark after running close but it noticed that its target vanished. Without anything to cushion its fall, the Biternded harshly of the floor.


    When the Biter lunged at him, Mark side-stepped and hid behind the opened door letting the Biter fall on the floor in front of him.


    When the Biter looked up, it saw Mark standing by its side. The Biter immediately propped its arms trying to stand up but before it could even lift its body, its body sunk back on the floor due to a sudden weight on its back. It then lost its bnce as its arms were pulled towards its back.


    Mark is currently stepping with his right foot on the Biter''s back while tying its arms with the leftover wires he had. Tying its arms wasn''t easy as it struggled to pull its arms free but he still managed to so with a bit of difficulty. After tying the Biter''s arms on its back, he proceeded on tying its feet. The Biter continued on struggling even after being tied up but is seemed that it had no notion of ripping off its limbs just to escape.


    The Biter was rolled by Mark towards the wall and he moved to deal with the three Eaters that are already nearby. Mark decided to only kill two of the Eaters and went to decapitate the their heads. He decided to kill those two since their chests are already a mangled mass of flesh. It looked disgusting and is not suitable to what Mark had in his mind.


    The other Eater that he decided to keep, though unintended, seemed to be another female in her teens. It wore a spaghetti strap and short jeans. The Eater had several bites on its body revealing its mangled flesh and its left arm is only hanging by a thread of skin and flesh. The most important part for him, the chest, is mostly intact.


    The eater fell on the floor with only its torso and head remaining. Mark amputated its arms and legs preventing it from moving. The Eater''s blood gushed from the stumps where its limbs are previously attached. Still, despite the amount of blood leaving its body, it doesn''t seem to get weaker. Not even a tiny bit.


    Mark left the two disable zombies and went towards the direction where the female Biter came from. He spotted an open door leading into a storage room of a shop. Stepping into the storage room, he found nothing but tall storage stands filled with stacks of shoeboxes and another opened door that seemed to lead towards the storefront.<sub> </sub>


    Cautious and silent are the two things that can describe Mark as he approached the door. He slowly prodded his head out of the door but he immediately retreated backwards. Just a few steps to the right of the door, a zombie stood idly with its back facing him. Past the zombie is the storefront of a shoe store and the scene outside the ss walls of the store is not something he can deal with.


    With that, he slowly closed and locked the door. He also closed the door leading to the corridor but did not lock it.


    Since he was already close to the corner of the corridor that leads to the westernmost shops of the mall, he decided to check the area just in case that there are straggling zombies. Fortunately, the only things he found are the stairwell that connects all the floors in this wing up to the rooftop and the cargo elevator. Mark looked around and found a mop and several rags. He jammed the mop between the handle of the double doors leading to the stairwell and picked up the rags to useter.


    Before going back the way he came from, he stopped and stared on arge door nearby. If he is right, this door should lead to the arcade center that he wanted to go to earlier. The arcade is totally closed when he saw itst time. Even the steel shutters of the arcade are pulled down and are secured with padlocks. He grabbed the doorknob and tried opening the door but it won''t budge. It was locked.


    He went back to the zombies he left behind. The Eater remained in ce but the Biter is already on the other side of the wall. More filth is sticking on the Biter''s clothes as it kept on growling and rolling on the floor. It wanted to escape but it really had no n to decapitate its arms by itself.


    ''Maybe I can use this one as a mopter.''


    Mark looked at the part of the floor the Biter rolled over and it looked cleaner. Even the puddle of blood that was left after Mark decapitated the limbs of the Eater is mostly cleaned.


    He then grabbed the wire that tied the Biter''s arms and pulled it back to the other side. When he put down the Biter, he gagged the two zombies with rags. Naturally, he did not put the rags using his hands. He prodded the rags on the end of the metal pipe and shoved the rags into the mouth of the zombies.


    It is now time to find out if one of his theories can be confirmed.


    Mark removed a part of his gloves on his right hand and covered his hand with the ecobag he is carrying. Afterwards, he kneeled and extended his hand towards the Eater''s chest. Not in a lewd way that what most with dirty minds think of but with just a straight palm.  His palmnded on the Eater''s left chest, not on the breast, above the Eater''s heart.


    He felt nothing.


    He did the same towards the Biter. Because the Biter is livelier than the Eater, it can''t be helped that his hand touched something soft several times but he still managed tond his hand at the Biter''s chest.


    THUMP¡­ THUMP¡­


    There is a heartbeat.

 Chapter 32 Corridor Cleaning

    Mark confirmed finally confirmed the fact that Biters were still living infected.


    "No wonder why they are too "lively"."


    The scene of him, mercilessly killing those Biters entered his mind. But he felt nothing. Even though they are still alive, he felt nothing. There may be some good people among them, he still felt nothing.


    The issue now was not them being alive or being a good person before. The most important thing was those people, were now Biters. It was just a matter of survival, nothing more than that.


    p Looking at the two squirming zombies in front of him, numerous questions entered his mind. Those questions were fueled with both curiosity and thirst for knowledge. He wanted an answer for those questions, thus¡­</anda>


    Mark decided to keep these zombies for further studies.


    Afterwards, he left the two zombies and continued scouting the area. Mark looked at the bloody footprints on the floor and decided to follow where the footprints came from. He was very sure that these footprints would lead him towards the TechZone.


    After killing the Eaters that are on the way, the footprints led him to an open door. Learning from his mistake inside the shoe store earlier, he did not prop his head on the door anymore and went for a new method.


    Mark took out his smartphone from his belt and unplugged the earphone from the jack.  He pushed the power button, opened the camera app and switched the camera to its front lens.  He then saw a cool sci-fi looking helmet on the screen.


    Mark could really rte to Mr. Unique when he said something about looking handsome when your face was covered.


    While sitting beside the door, he propped his phone in a position that the front lens could view the situation inside.


    What he saw worse than he anticipated. The floor was painted with blood and guts. Broken ss, gadgets that were supposed to be on disy and unrecognizable debris are scattered everywhere.


    From his position, he could see nine zombies. The likelihood that these zombies are all Eaters was high. He could only see nine but he was sure that there were more at the parts that he can see. The TechZone was a wide area dedicated to house quite arge number of gadget and electronics oriented shops and stalls. What could he see from this door was not even a fifth of the whole TechZone.


    ''If there are only Eaters inside, it will be easy even if there are several dozens of them.''


    Several ns were created in his mind. What he found the most suitable was "kiting" the Eaters one by one and eliminating them.


    Mark moved his phone closer to the door for a wider view but found out that he could not see anything else but a wall of a store beside the door.


    Still, he noticed a shop on the opposite side of the TechZone. The shop was closed by steel shutters. Mark immediately understood that there are people inside that shop. It was likely that the people inside that were the people who followed his instructions.


    How can he be sure? There are two reasons.


    There are no padlocks attached to the bottom of the shutter indicating that it was not a closed store. All of the stores he saw that was closed even after the mall opened had padlocks on the metal shutters securing the store.


    The other reason was that, he just knew and nothing else. Some may say that it was just blind confidence but he was sure that he was right.


    Those people inside the store could be saved but now was not the time yet. He must secure the perimeters of the service corridors first. Mark did not want for some unforeseen circumstances to happen while dealing with the zombies inside.<sub> </sub>


    With that, he made sure that there were no zombies to see him and carefully closed the door.


    Mark walked past the door and silently dealt with the straggling Eaters. The path he traversed was literally covered with blood along with dead bodies and severed heads.


    One by one, he checked every door he can see. If the door is locked, he would just leave it like that but if the door was not, he would carefully check what the door would lead to.


    During that process, he found several unlocked doors leading to storage areas of different stores. It is unfortunate that most of the stores he managed to ess were those that were open before the zombies appeared which made the storefront dangerous to enter.  There were also storage areas that had Biters or Eaters inside. He made sure not to disturb the Biters but dealt with the Eaters properly.


    Still, he found a few stores that are actually closed and had the steel shutters down at the storefront. It made him wonder why the storage door was unlocked when the store was closed.


    It did not take too long until he reached the end of the corridors within the west wing. In front of him right now was an intersection where the corridor he is standing at, the one that goes towards the central area and south wing of the mall was connected.


    He looked at the corridor to his left which led to the Central Area. The corridor going that direction was not long and was just connected to a few stores and led to a dead end.  There are several Eaters idling in the area but it was not a threat for him.


    On the other side to his right was the corridor which brought him much hardship. It was the corridors that were connected to the cinema. The corridor was stained with blood and was littered with quite a number of dead bodies. The long corridor that led to the southernmost end of the mall had more straggling Eaters. But it was not the Eaters who were the most eye-catching. In the middle of the corridor, there was arge lump of flesh squirming about.


    It was the zombie that he tentativelybeled as "Fat Mutant". From this distance, it really looked like arge lump of moving flesh. It is really disgusting. When that fat bastard turned into this, it really gave justice to how disgusting he was inside.


    The Fat Mutant seemed to be trying to crawl but because of its heavy and unnecessarilyrge body, it could not do anything but squirm disgustingly. It looked like the Mark dealt it a fatal blow when he shot its leg before making it unable to stand up anymore.


    Mark swung his machete and hacked the neck of the Eater that approached him.


    He stood there thinking if he should also secure or at least scout the south wing. There''s barely anything there that was of importance. The southern end of the corridors only led to a series ofrge cinema halls and also led towards the east wing. Thinking about it, he was not interested with anything on the east wing either.


    With that, he decided to just cover a few stores on the south wing and clear up the straggling Eaters.  If it cameter that they needed to secure those parts of the mall, he would make other people do it.


    Another killing spree began as Mark beheaded all the Eaters in the vicinity. These slow and stiff zombies are really strong but their strength was nothing if they couldn''t even catch their prey.


    Mark built a makeshift barricade to stop the zombies past the cinema area from entering the areas he secured. He used trolleys, furniture and items he found in the storage areas of the stores he checked before. Most of the furniture was just storage stands and folding tables though. The other furniture he found like cabs are too heavy for him to carry. The barricade was tied with power cables. He tried to make it as sturdy as he can.


    However, he was not content with the barricade he managed to build and wanted a stronger and sturdier one. But, he would need more people to achieve building a barricade he thought of.


    Like the two zombies he caught, Mark decided to leave the Fat Zombie for observation. It was already disabled anyway and it could not move by itself. Mark shoved some rags in its mouth to gag it but it surprised him afterwards.


    This guy swallowed the rags whole and in single second! No wonder this guy was so FAT!


    Because of that, the gave up on gagging the  Fat Zombie and made a mental note to tell others not to carelessly approach this guyter. He wanted to relocate this fat guy but also gave up on doing so. He would not to ever touch this guy and it also looked too heavy to move away.


    Leaving the disgusting lump of flesh, he decided to check the remaining doors before going back up to the rooftop.

 Chapter 33 General Miguel Perez

    1:33 PM ¨C Central Business Park, Pasay City, Roxas Blvd.


    BRRRRRR!!!


    TATATA!!!


    Sounds of heavy machinery and assault rifles being fired echoed across the area.


    Arge scale construction was ongoing as the government ordered to secure the ce. The workers did their tasks with hurried and unnerved expressions but still worked as serious as possible. Several military squads were dispatched to guard the area and the workers.


    When the outbreak started, the government already began considering numerous ns as things were going awry. The police, army and marines joined forces in trying to control the situation and it made them loose a lot of equipment and manpower. Still, they severely failed to contain the outbreak. With their failure, the government was forced to forward their ns.


    One of those ns was for evacuating survivors and the location of the evacuation area. The government had a number of ces suitable for this n and one of the ces they chose was the reimed areas in Man Bay, the Bay City, specifically, the Central Business Park and Marina District.


    These ces were chosen because of numerous reasons but the main reason was both areas would be easier to secure. The majority of both areas were surrounded by high ditches and moats and the ces that were not were surrounded by strong concrete fences. Another important reason was that the area wasrge enough to amodate arge number of people.


    This moment, the workers were working on building walls on the areas surrounded by fences.


    The military heavily barricaded all the roads that were directly connected to the reimed areas and prioritized building the walls on those barricaded areas.


    The government also issued the order to destroy a segment on all the bridges going over the moats and ditches. Afterwards, they started to build a drawbridge over the destroyed segment. It was a countermeasure for the possibility of zombies congesting outside the entrance and exits rendering the facilities inessible.


    ***


    A certain building in the Central Business Area was taken over by the military. The building was now used as themand center for the military''s operations.


    In a room within themand center, several people gathered around a rectangr table. At the far end of the table, a stern looking man with a slightly square face stood. His mustache, beard and hair had an unevenbination of ck and white colors due to his age or maybe, due to the stress he received every single day. The man wore military fatigues and on the sleeves of his fatigues, an insignia with four stars lined vertically with the word "PILIPINAS" under the stars.


    The man''s name was Gen. Miguel Perez. He was an army general and the person in charge of the Central Business Area.


    ? "What is the status of the walls?"


    Gen. Perez asked the man to his right who was assigned to oversee the construction process.


    "General! The construction of the walls should be finished in approximately two hours."


    "Is that the limit?"


    "Unfortunately, yes. The workers had already been pushing their best in the past four hours. We can only shorten it further if we can increase the manpower."


    The general sighed.


    "The higher ups from the government divided the manpower to build other shelters. The people here currently are the only ones we have."


    The people inside the room hung their heads low. That was the biggest issue they are facing right now, other than the zombies.


    "Still, try to shorten the time as much as possible. The lesser time spent on building the walls, we can save more of the supplies we have."


    "Yes Sir!"


    "Jordan, what is the progress in clearing the area?"


    The general asked the middle-aged soldier by his left.


    "General, we already cleared all of the infected. My men are now checking the perimeter if there is any remaining infected that we might have missed."


    "Good. Check it properly. We can''t have even a single one wandering about without us knowing."


    "Yes Sir!"


    "How about the evacuees?"


    "Sir! The evacuees and the survivors we found are already brought to the designated areas. Still, the situation is bad."


    It was a woman further in his right side that answered.


    "What do you mean?"


    "Most of them are mentally disturbed and emotionally unstable. Some are even causing disturbances."


    "That is really bad isn''t it? Send specialists to attend them. It is already hell outside so we can''t have anything happen inside here."<sub> </sub>


    "Yes Sir!"


    "Is there any news from our men in the Marina district?"


    ...


    ***


    The meeting ended after a while after the General''s trusted aides finished their reports and went back to their duties.


    As there was not a single soul left in the room aside from him, Gen. Perez took out a stick of cigarette and lit it with abat knife shaped lighter. He slumped on his chair as his stern expression vanished and was reced by a look of worry.


    TOK TOK


    He looked at the entrance as he heard the gentle knocking noise. A woman in herte twenty''s wearing military fatigues, with a medical belt pouch was swaying by her left side and a holstered pistol hung on her waist stood by the door. On her hand, she was holding a cup of ck coffee.


    The woman walked into the room and ced the cup in front of the general.


    "General, Raf will scold you again if he saw you smoking."


    "Don''t tattle on me alright? Just let me this once. And you can call me father since there''s no one around."


    "I can''t General. I''m still on working hours."


    "Haha, no wonder my son chose you."


    Then, an awkward silence pervaded the room.


    "Teresa, did Raf contact you already?"


    "Yes. He already found Gabby and also rescued a number of survivors."


    "What about their sister?"


    "They already reached and searched her school. The school is already overrun and they did not find any survivors."


    Teresa''s voice became softer and softer as she spoke.


    "I''m sure she is fine. She is a brave girl, even braver than I do. I''m sure that she can hold out by herself."


    "What you said is true but the problem is that girl is still too na?ve. If she thinks that the infected are dead people, then she will be fine to some extent."


    Teresa nodded at what the general said.


    "But, it''s not those infected that worries me."


    "It''s those isn''t it?"


    "That''s right. I''m worried about those things that caused the containment to fail. I don''t even know if we can still call those as just infected anymore. Those are more like monsters. If she encounters something like that¡­"


    The general looked at Teresa.


    "The next time Raf contact us, tell him to hasten the search for her. Also, about her childhood friend, we already secured her family so we only need to find her. My daughter should be with her friend right now. Those two are really inseparable since they were little."


    "Yes, those twoplemented each other. The two of them are both courageous but one is strong while the other is smart."


    "If those two were together, it''s more likely for them to be alive."


    The general bitterly smiled as he tried to assure himself. He then extinguished his half-unfinished cigarette inside the tray and drunk the cup of coffee in front of him.


    PUH!


    But he immediately pulled the cup away from his lips.


    "HOT! Teresa, you know that I''m bad with too hot drinks . You should have made it a little bit lukewarm."


    "It should be lukewarm General. I just did not expect you to throw away your cigarette without finishing it."


    The General raised his eyebrows at this woman who was the fianc¨¦e of his eldest son.

 Chapter 34 Cheer Up

    1:51 PM ¨C City Mall Bacoor Rooftop, South Wing


    Ange was feeling better as the members of the group try to pacify her. However, she was still far from her unruly self. It did not take long for the others to realize that no matter if the Biters were alive or not, they would need to fight and kill them to survive. Like how it was in the movies, no one knew if there would be a cure or not and for heck''s sake, they did not even know if it really was a sickness or not.


    Still, it did not change the fact the Ange had to kill her friends that turned and she was feeling down because of that. Pa sat beside Ange just stroking her back without saying anything else. There was very little to say anymore and Pa could understand her friend''s feelings. She just needed time to recover from it.


    The men were on standby. They already finished securing the ces in the rooftop that needed barricading. Now, they are only having their guards up in case something unexpected happened. These men even prepared makeshift weapons with the things they can find here. With iron pipes as base, they attached and welded des cut out from smaller metal sheets they found. They then sharpened the edges and pointed parts using an angle grinder.


    Calvin was holding to a spear, Fernan and Joseph both had a machete and Bernard had an axe. They also made weapons for the girls which are all smaller machetes. It was not because they are females or because of gender discrimination but because they ran out of materials. Even Ange was not given a makeshift weapon and had to keep the baseball bat Mark lent her.


    It wasn''t really the best weapons but at least better that having nothing.


    While everyone was minding their own business, Mei suddenly stood up and walked towards the central area of the rooftop for unknown reasons. They all watched her in wonder. Pa had the idea why she suddenly went that way though. It was like what happened earlier.


    Before Mei could even reach the central area, a man in a sci-fi looking sports armor appeared. The man seemed to be surprised to see Mei walking towards his direction. The man took off his helmet revealing his unkempt hair and average looking face. The man smiled at Mei.


    "Mei''er, how do you even know that I''ming?"


    "I don''t know, Gege. I just feel it somehow."


    Mark did not know how to reply to that. It was not like that he did not know that she was walking towards him already.


    "Alright, let''s go back."


    "Un."


    The two went back to the group but of course, Mei remained hiding behind Mark as the men were also nearby.


    The group stared at Mark who just returned. The clean pieces of sports armor that he wore earlier were now stained with blood. His face looked drained, as it seemed that he spent a lot of energy. He had another sports duffel bag that hung on his back and aside from his machete that was in his left hand, his right hand carried a fire axe.


    When he arrived, Mark saw Ange who was slumped on her chair and Pa who was patting her back.


    ''It really happened huh?''


    Bernard went in front of Mark and handed him his notebook. Mark received the notebook and looked at the old man.


    "You have questions right?"


    "Not just me, we all do. But first, I''ll say I learned a lot reading your notes there. It looked like that you''ve preparing for a zombie apocalypse to happen for a long time."


    Mark bitterly smiled.


    "Not really. It''s just a hobby of mine. Who knows that something like this would actually happen?"


    "That''s true."


    Mark then moved to one of the vacant seats and Mei handed him a bottle of soda.


    "Thank you."


    He put the things he was carrying down beside the chair he sat on before receiving the bottle of soda and gulped half of the soda in the bottle in one go.


    Mark then face the people in front of him who wore inquisitive expressions.


    "Go ahead and ask your questions. Geez, why do I always have to be the one on the hot seat?"


    He grumbled making the rest of the group besides Ange wore bitter smiles. They could not help it. After all, this was the second time that this happened.


    Going straight to the topic, Bernard asked.


    "It''s about what you had written about the Biters."


    "Well, I knew it would be that. You guys want to know if they are really alive. Right?"


    Everyone nodded. Ange also raised her face and looked at Mark.


    "Unfortunately, they really are alive."


    "Do you have any proof?"


    It was Joseph who asked. Mark was starting to think that this guy really liked to cut in between conversations of other people. Still, he answered.


    "I do. I caught a Biter and an Eater and checked it myself. It was after I entered the emergency exit there in the west wing earlier."


    "What did you find out?"


    "Simple. The Biter I caught, her heart is still beating. I also checked the Eater but it doesn''t have one, it''s not even breathing. I don''t understand how the bodies of the Eaters work. Anyways, the Biter I caught is still alive so the others should also be."


    The members of the group started contemting after hearing what Mark said. He also saw Ange droop her head. She really looked sad.


    "Anyways, what''s with those weapons?"


    Mark asked as he noticed the makeshift weapons everyone had. If he had to say, he was impressed by the idea.  The weapons they made did not look bad either.


    "It was Calvin''s idea."


    Bernard answered his question.


    "You?"<sub> </sub>


    Mark turned at Calvin, surprised.


    "What? Even I look like this I worked in a metal works several years ago. I had a fair share of things I learned from there."


    The middle aged man looked at the sky as he puffed his chest in confidence. Again, it was far from his usual silent attitude. And it would only happen when he was talking to Mark.


    Then, Calvin was startled when he looked back at Mark. He was not listening to him at all! And Mark was staring at Ange the whole time he was talking!


    The veins on Calvin''s forehead were about to pop out but he held it in and sat down returning to his usual attitude.  The father and son due could not help but scratch their heads as they watched him.


    Under the stares of everyone, Mark stood up and approached Ange. Pa did not know what he would do but she somehow knew that he could bring her friend back to normal. Just like how he did several times more than an hour ago.


    Mark squatted in front of Ange who was staring nkly towards her hands ced over her knees. It was then that she noticed that there was someone in front of her. She raised her head and¡­


    "WAHHH!"


    Ange was startled and pulled her face back with haste. She retreated too fast that she almost fell on her back!


    "W-What are you doing!!!"


    She shouted with her face turned red.


    Everyone smiled. Pa almost failed to hold back herughter at her friend''s reaction. Well, Mei pouted a little though.


    They all saw it. When Mark squatted in front of her, he closely stared at her. At the time Ange raised her head, his face was just an inch away from hers.


    "Well, it''s good that you''re back."


    Mark snickered.


    Ange looked at him and looked around her. Now that her mind was clearer, she could not help but notice how much worry she brought them. She then heard Mark spoke.


    "Don''t think too much about whatever you are being mncholic about. Just think that what you did is right."


    "But! I¡­"


    "Killed living people? What is wrong about that? You did not kill anyone just because you wanted. You killed because you wanted to protect yourself and protect someone important to you."


    "But¡­"


    "Still arguing huh?"


    Mark started to feel exasperated and he raised his voice a little bit.


    "Then, I''ll give you a question with two choices. Just choose one! Hear me?!"


    "O-okay."


    Ange was startled by his sudden attitude.


    "I and Pa were surrounded by a group of Biters. Which one of us will you help?"


    "Of course it''s Pa!"


    "Then good! I don''t need your help either! Biters? Eaters? Alive? Dead? Those things don''t matter as long as you needed to protect someone. Just think of protecting yourself and the people important to you. Nothing else matter."


    "I know! But-"


    "Then, you will let yourself and Pa gets eaten because you can''t kill them?"


    "That''s¡­"


    "If you''re ying like that then¡­ Don''t kill unless it''s necessary. Then, continue living. Live for those you needed to kill and already killed. Live the life that they are supposed to spend."


    Ange became silent as she contemted about what Mark just said.


    "Also I''ll tell you this. I don''t want to say that we needed to purposely kill all those zombies but for every zombie that is killed, there would be less of those who can potentially kill other people."


    Her eyes opened wide. That thought slipped past her mind.


    "Well, you still have a lot of time to think about what I said so there''s no need to rush."


    Mark stood up, took the new duffel bag he put down beside his chair. He then went back to Ange and put the duffel bag at herp.


    "Also this. So cheer up."


    Mark then returned to his seat. Everyone was looking at him, amazed.


    They did not know just how he ransacked his bank of references in his brain just to deliver all those words properly!


    "This is!!!"


    Ange''s excited voice entered their ears. They all looked at her and saw her taking out the contents of the duffel bag. In the bag was another set of sports armor identical to what Mark was wearing. The only difference was the sports armor in front of Ange was designed for females and was white in color with red colored outlines.


    Pa looked at Mark. Her heart was filled with gratitude towards him for cheering up her precious friend. Though his methods were rather unusual, it was effective, totally effective.

 Chapter 35 Blunder

    2:01 PM - City Mall Bacoor West Wing, Service Corridors.


    Mark led the way as they walked across the corridor. With the exception of Ange, Mei, Reyah and her daughter, Sariya, everyone was following behind Mark.


    After leaving Ange who was fiddling with the sports armor Mark gave her. He told the others about the situation in the TechZone and what he did inside the corridor.


    At first, they thought that he came back to ask for help in killing the zombies inside but the thought was dismissed when he said.


    "I should be able to deal with all those zombies alone."


    Actually, Mark went back to make at least Bernard and Fernan to follow him back not to help him kill the zombies but to attend the survivors after clearing the TechZone.


    But then, Calvin made a suggestion. It was to let them help in dealing with the zombies inside the TechZone. By the results of Mark''s scouting, he said that the possibility of having Biters inside was very low or at least there would only be a very small number. If it was just Eaters, they it would be a good way for them to get some training.


    Hearing what Calvin said, Mark could not help but agree. They would really need to get some practice and experience in dealing with the zombies and it would be a good chance and there would be very little danger. If there are Biters inside, then they could apply some strategies if the number was more that he could handle. Well, he could handle a group of Biters consisting of half-dozen of individuals alone, so, it should be fine.


    All the males agreed with what Calvin said and they agreed with great determination. To their surprise, Pa also wanted toe with them and experience fighting herself. Ange seemed to be reluctant to let her go but Pa told her friend that she could not stand it anymore that she could not do anything but let Ange protect her.


    With that, the ones who were going and who would stay were decided. Reyah could not leave her sleeping daughter and she could not just wake her up. Mark forced Mei to stay as her body had not fully recovered yet and the bruises she received were starting to swell giving her more pain. Ange who was not in the mood to do more killing was the one who became in charge of protecting those who are staying on the rooftop.


    Using thedders on the west wing, they entered the corridors through the emergency exit. When they entered the corridor, they were surprised. Their surprise was not because of the gruesome scene inside the corridor as beheaded bodies, severed heads and limbs and blood scattered on the floor across the corridor. It was because there was a moving human sized roll of red colored cloth, which looked like a red sushi made with cloth that was bound with extension cables, rolling about on the floor. The thing kept on rolling and the filth on the floor started sticking on the cloth it was wrapped in.


    "Uh¡­ Mark? What is that?"


    Pa could not help but ask Mark who should be the one responsible for that.


    "That? She''s the Biter I caught. The one I told you guys about. She doesn''t stop rolling around when I tied her up so I rolled her up with floor mats and rags."


    "To clean up the floor?"


    "Yep. Quite convenient isn''t it? Well, she doesn''t clean the floor properly though."


    Mark looked at the floor that had an odd division of slightly cleaned and dirty portions.


    ''Of course she won''t!!!''


    They all screamed at Mark in their minds.


    Mark led them past the rolling Biter and put his index finger in front of his lips signaling them to keep quiet.


    As they traversed the corridor, Joseph''s face already turned pale. The blood and gore scattered across the floor was starting to churn his stomach. He could not even smell anything else but the smell of blood.


    Calvin and Bernard seemed to be doing fine but their eyebrows already curved into a frown.<sub> </sub>


    Pa on the other hand intently looked around. She seemed to be engraving the scene into her mind and was trying to stable her emotions. She had seen worse and she had to get used to this.


    Mark then held his right hand above his shoulder stopping them who were following behind. Mark pointed at the door in front of him. It was the unlocked door leading to the TechZone. Actually, there were several doors that led into the TechZone while some led into the stores but Mark chose this because it was the door at the very corner of the TechZone.


    Using this door would prevent would make the zombiese from a single direction. This was also the door where the zombies inside passed through to get out earlier. The bloody footprints on the floor leading out of the TechZone were the proof of this.


    Mark grasped the door knob and nodded at the people behind him. They all nodded back as they tightened their grip on their weapons. While they all had serious expressions, Mark happened to see Joseph gulping his saliva.


    The door was pushed slowly. When he confirmed that there was no one standing behind the door, Mark opened the door wider and went in. The people behind Mark immediately followed but they froze when they saw the scene inside. Mark already described it to them but seeing the situation with their own eyes brought a different level of shock. The scene inside the TechZone was in a higher level of gruesomenesspared to the scene on the corridors outside.


    Blood sttered on the floor, the body parts and human flesh that scattered on the floor. There are even half-eaten bodies lying lifeless on the floor. The bodies were torn open leaving their bones, organs and intestines for disy. There are also bodies with torn necks, eyes balls dangled out of their eye sockets and limbless bodies whose limbs were not sliced or cut but torn apart. The anguished expressions left on their faces showed how much fear and pain they felt before they died. What was worse was aside from adults and teens, there are quite a number of bodies of children and their bodies looked even more mangled than the rest.


    The thick smell of blood assaulted their noses.


    BLURG!!!


    They all looked behind them and so Joseph who was now facing the wall vomiting on the floor. Still, no one could me him. The others already had pale faces as they felt nauseated.


    Mark frowned and immediately sprang into action and lopped the head of an iing Biter. Yes a Biter! Mark then beheaded an Eater that was near them and went out as there was no need to bother hiding anymore. He stepped into the Main area of the TechZone and looked at all the iing zombies.


    All of them areing towards their direction! The sound Joseph created as he vomited was loud enough to be heard by the all the zombies in the TechZone due to the silence in the area!


    Mark shed another Eater and looked at the zombies that were approaching faster than the others. There were eight of them.


    Eight Biters!


    Mark coldly red at Joseph for a bit before turning his sight back at the zombies. He had a good n in mind before but that guy just had to ruin everything.


    Joseph did not see his re but the others did. They could feel the spite behind that re.


    He did not bother with the people behind him anymore. There were Eaters approaching their direction and they said that they wanted to train using those. They should have the ability and the courage to deal with those. He only needed to concentrate on the Biters.


    Retreating also entered his mind but with the wobbly legs of Joseph, he would still need to deal with the Biters if they want to escape.


    Frowning, Mark''s eyes turned sharp. His mind started to clear up as his concentration heightened. His blood started to boil and his heart began to beat faster and stronger.


    He then reached inside his cor and pressed the y button on the button control of his earphones.


    Mark dashed towards the Biters. He was not escaping this time. He needed to fight.


    His fighting spirit rose as an anime battle music started to y in his ears.

 Chapter 36 Dealing With The Predicament

    Mark looked around as he ran. Estimating the numbers of the zombies, there should be around twenty or more Eaters but the numbers would not exceed thirty. He ran past and dodged the Eaters attacking him charged towards the two nearest Biters who were also closing in.


    As he ran, crackling sounds can be heard from his feet as he stepped on the broken pieces of ss on the floor. The also side stepped and jump lightly a few times to avoid stepping on the bodies and pools of blood on the way.


    When both parties got into attacking range, the first Biter tried to pounce on him. Mark side stepped to his right dodging the pounce before he turned his body counter clockwise. He swung his machete as he turned around and shed diagonally towards the Biter''s nape. The body continued sliding on the floor due to the momentum of its charge before stopping and the Biter''s head rolled a distance further. The headless body and the severed head scattered more blood to the already blood stained floor.


    While lopping the head of the first Biter, he did not stop his body from turning around and even continued after the Biter died. His machete also continued to swing along with his body and Mark exerted more force during the second half of the swing. Using the momentum when he turned his body and the force he exerted on his swing, he shed the next zombie before it could even attack him. The swing came too fast that it took almost two seconds before the head detached from the body after being shed as it fell down.


    Mark then did a low sweep of his right foot and tripped an Eater who was about grab him. The Eater fell t on the floor before its neck suddenly snapped with a crunching sound.


    Lifting his right foot from the nape of the dead Eater, Mark stepped back and let a charging Biter run past him. The Biter immediately turned around as it missed its target but what all it was able to see before its sight cked out was a de of a machete approaching its neck.


    The third biter was dealt with. Mark saw another one that already lunged towards him wanting to take a bite out of his body... As there was no chance to dodge, he raised his left arm and shoved it between the Biter''s teeth. Unfortunately for the Biter, it could not bite through the armor covering Mark''s arm. He then pushed the Biter back and lopped its head before pushing the headless body and bashed the severed head away with his ankle.


    "Four down."


    He muttered as he kicked another Eater away.


    The problem now was the remaining four Biters were charging at him together. Mark then retreated. Not to run away but he started kiting the four.


    He ran around a disy case leaving the four Biters with no choice but to lineup as they followed Mark around the corner. Seeing that chance, he immediately hacked the neck of the Biter in front. He managed to kill the Biter leading the line but it also gave time for the other three to attack him at the same time.


    When the three Biters charged at him once more, Mark made a light jump backwards. Then, the three stepped on what Mark jumped over. Two of the Biters suddenly lost bnce as the stepped on a dead body that was soaked in a pool of blood.


    Mark immediately attacked the Biter that continued charging at him and shed its neck. He also lopped the heads of the two Biters that slipped on the floor before they could recover.


    He then started dealing with the Eaters around him while ncing at how the others were doing.


    ***


    The Eaters were approaching the group of pale faced people. Calvin stepped up in front of everyone and attacked. It looked like he was the least affected by the disgusting scene in front of him.


    Calvin stabbed his spear unto the forehead of the iing Eater. The spear pierced through the skull of the eater and it fell down on the floor. He was doing well but it looked like he was not satisfied. Even if he seeded in piercing through the forehead, the damage he dealt was too shallow.


    He then approached the second Eater. This time, he stabbed towards the right eye of the Eater. The spear went through smoothly and the Eater plopped on the floor before he could even pull his spear back.


    He then nced at Mark''s direction. They all saw how Mark killed the Biters attacking him and they could not help but feel inferior. While he was already sshed with the blood of the zombies, they were still pacifying their churning stomachs.


    Now, they could see Mark carefully going around the broken disy cases and counters. He was letting the Eaters follow him around as he picked them off one by one.


    ***<sub> </sub>


    Mark could feel the gazes set upon him but did not mind it. When he looked back, he could see that Fernan, Bernard and Pa had joined the fray.


    He looked at Calvin who stabbed his spear at another Eater. He aimed at the Eater''s mouth and stabbed the spear upwards. Mark could only say that Calvin knew his stuff.


    Bernard on the other hand had good arm strength. An axe like the weapon in his hands need much precision in order to sh a zombie''s head or neck but to Bernard, it does not matter too much. Even if he missed and the bit of the axe slipped behind the neck of the zombie, being struck by the handle of the axe he was using would still be fatal.


    Fernan was also doing fine with his makeshift machete. It looked like he was copying the moves he saw from Mark. It was not like Mark would mind it either.


    Pa was struggling a little. The smaller machete that they made for her had a good quality but was really not too suitable forbat. Because of this, Mark lent her the fire axe he found. It just weigh less than three kilograms so she should be able to swing it fine. But the problem was that she was missing her swings and there were times that it was the handle of the axe that struck the Eater in front of her. She was not missing because she had a bad uracy but because she could not grasp the erratic shambling of the Eater.


    Seeing her predicament, Mark shouted.


    "Pa! If you can''t hit it because it moves too much then knock it down first! Aim for the knee or the ankle and hit it however you want."


    Pa was surprised hearing him shout but she kept concentrating on the zombie in front of her. She followed what Mark said. She swung the fire axe in her hands towards the knee of the eater. The handle hit the side of the knee making the zombie loose bnce and fall. With the short moment that the zombie faced the floor, Pa raised her axe and swung it down with all her might.


    The axe almost split the zombie''s head into two. It looked like she shivered as the sensation from her first kill entered her body. Still, she did not falter. She steeled her heart and a hint of determination zed in her eyes.


    p Mark nodded at Pa''s reaction andmended her in his mind.</anda>


    The members who were fighting were doing a good job. They are even capable enough of to avoid being caught by the strong arms of the Eaters. They even started to adapt their movements to their attackers. If the zombies got too close, they would step back or to the side, they would even try to push back the zombies when retreating was not possible.


    He then coldly looked at Joseph and shook his head.


    The guy stood behind the group leaning on the wall. His face was pale and his legs were wobbly.  It even looked like that he will puke again at the slightest push.


    ''What did he evene here for?''


    Well, he was actually inclined to bringing him here where he could see him. This guy had been ncing at Mei from time to time. Even though Mark could tell that there was no malicious intent behind his gaze, Mei reacts to his gazes negatively.


    When he realized what he was thinking, he froze for a bit which almost got him grabbed by the Eater that was chasing him.


    ''Am I getting overprotective?''


    As he could not think of how to answer his own question, he decided to throw the thought away.


    His concentration weakened somehow as insignificant thoughts entered his mind. He then found out the reason. The battle song ying on his phone already ended and what was ying was a Japanese pop song about a whimsical princess.


    He could not help but be confused as to why this song was included in his "Battle Songs" ylist.

 Chapter 37 After The Battle

    3:30 PM ¨C City Mall Bacoor West Wing, TechZone


    Inside a store, Mark sat on a wheeled high-back chair. In front of him, it was a long counter table what was supposed to be used when attending the customers of the store. There were sixptops ced in a row on the table. Interconnected cables were lined on the floor. Some cables were plugged into extension sockets while the others were connecting the other fiveptops to the one he was currently using with a router.


    The screen on theptop he was using kept switching and every time he did something at the current screen, the screen of one of the otherptops would also change. Mark was using theptop in front of him as the server and controlled the otherptops by remote ess.


    What was he doing? Mark was downloading a lot of things with haste, Anime, Offline Games, Softcopies of Novels, Movies, and etc. using the other fiveptops. Other people who would see what he was doing would say that it was stupid and unnecessary but to him, these are the few things he would not let go.


    He knew that these things would be gone for who knows how long or might never even return as the apocalypse ensued. He was an Otaku after all.


    Satisfied with how much he did, he extended his hand upwards and stretched his back. He sat here for about an hour already so his body felt stiff.


    Mark looked outside the store. The people who survived the massacre that happened inside the TechZone were proactively cleaning the ce.


    ***


    When they finished killing all the zombies in this ce more than an hour ago, including the zombies stuck inside some stores, the people inside the closed store voluntarily went out of hiding. There were only twenty-three of them. They had been watching all what transpired inside the TechZone through the gaps and holes on the steel shutters that protected them.


    As the survivors stepped out of the store they hid at, many of them found their own ces and vomited while the rest had pale faces as they looked around. When they were hiding, what they could see outside was limited and that was why they had extreme reactions after seeing the whole scene. That was just how nauseating the aftermath of the event inside the TechZone was.


    It was then that the shutters in front of another closed store were pulled up and fifteen people came out. Surprisingly, the ones who came out were survivors that came from the floors below.


    Mark expected it that there were people hiding in that store but what startled him inside was the two people among that group. One was the man wearing a suit and sunsses before, though the sunsses were missing now. The other was a man in his twenty''s who had a shaggy short hair, raised nose and sharp eyes, wearing a dirty-yellow uniform and ck cks. He remembered that this guy was among the group of college students he saw before, together with Ange and Pa.


    When that student saw Pa, he ran towards her and gave her a tight hug. Pa was startled and she immediately pushed the man away. Pa''s face really looked bitter and sad. Still, the man did not stop on trying to talk to her. Even if he did not receive any reply.


    Seeing what was happening and since the ce was already cleared of zombies, he decided to fetch the girls left on the rooftop.


    As Mark walked back into the TechZone along with the girls, he could see some of the survivors crying beside some of the bodies while some of them were looking around checking the bodies one by one.


    When Reyah followed Mark and entered carrying her daughter, her face immediately paled and she covered her daughter''s eyes. She then saw the dead children inside. By reflex, she hugged her daughter tighter as negative thoughts entered her mind. Seeing her reaction, Mark led her to one of the clean stores to sit down and bring her daughter away from the gruesome scene.


    Ange also paled when she entered but the pale color of her face turned red when she saw Pa being pestered by the male student. She immediately stood between the two protecting Pa behind her. The male student did not immediately recognize Ange as she came wearing her armor and helmet so he protested and question who she is. When she removed her helmet, the male''s face turned pale but he still tried to argue back.


    He was then flung away by a single right straight from Ange to his face. If Pa did not stop her, she might have done more than just that.<sub> </sub>


    Mei on the other hand had no reaction on what she saw inside. She even stared at the mangled bodies a few times while following behind Mark.


    By this time, Mark already removed his helmet as he felt suffocated after wearing it for a long time. Because of this, they could see his face not showing any emotion as his gaze roamed at the dead bodies.


    Ange noticed that Mark and Mei who were walking around without changes in their faces while looking at the nauseating scene around them. She then said something, though not loud, was enough to be heard by Mark. He then coldly red at Ange making her hide behind Pa.


    Ange just dubbed the two as the "Broken Couple".


    Well, who would not think of that after seeing their unchanging expressions?


    Still, many of the males inside could not help but nce or even stare at Mei. She could only move closer to Mark and held his left arm as she tried to shrink away from those gazes.


    Feeling her insecurity, Mark immediately brought Mei out after bringing the mother and daughter into a store. He also called Pa and Ange who followed without a second thought. They only wished to find a reason to get away from this lecher. Still, the male student tried to follow the two.


    That time though, it was Mark who blocked him. Mark did not call him so there should be no reason for him to follow. The student tried to argue with him unting his rtion to the two girls. Apparently, this guy was Pa''s boyfriend.


    As Mark was already irritated with this guy as he also threw gazes at Mei before and his gaze was a very unpleasant one.  So, Mark went for a harsher move.


    He pulled his shotgun from his side and shoved the barrel at the guy''s forehead and said in a very cold voice.


    "I ONLY CALLED THE TWO OF THEM AND NOT YOU. SO, SCRAM."


    The male student paled and his back was drenched in cold sweat. He gulped before he nodded and backed off slowly.


    When the hindrance was gone, he brought the girls at a storage room of a certain store. Inside, there were a few round containers of mineral water, cosmetic products like soap and perfume, there was even a set of gel ster, and looking around, therge storage room had clothes, lots and lots of women''s clothes.


    Ange and Pa immediately understood what Mark wanted them to do. The two looked at Mei then to Mark and nodded. He did not have to say much about it. Mark told them what clothes they needed to choose using a zombie apocalypse perspective before he stepped out of the room. Outside, he leaned on the wall beside the door and stood there guarding the room.


    While waiting, Mark fiddled with his phone and checked if the mall''s free Wi-Fi was still working. There, though as slow like a snail as usual, he still managed to connect to the inte. Seeing this, he felt happy. He would be able to proceed through his ns and gather information at the same time.


    He then opened the social media ount that he rarely opened and logged in. While reading the posts of his friends online, it seemed many of them were trapped on their work ces or at home. Some were even calling for help. The desperation was present with a few of them that they even posted their addresses online despite the danger it could bring.


    At that time, Mark realized that he had to change some of his ns.

 Chapter 38 Change Of Clothes

    Mark stood there for a while browsing through the inte with his phone but as the mall''s Wi-Fi was too slow, he wasted most of that time waiting for the pages to load. Still, he found good information about the outbreak albeit little.


    As he got fed up with the slow loading time, and the girls were not done yet, he decided to go to the shoe store that he entered earlier. He rummaged around trying to find some kind of shoes in the storage and he was not disappointed.


    After looking around and opening boxes to boxes, he found the stack of boxes that had the kind of shoes he was looking for, a pairbat boots. He found one pair with the right size and immediately switched into it and set his ck chuck taylor aside. There were different styles and materials the pairs of boots had in that stack but the one he chose were a pair of syntheticbat boots that had straps instead of leather ones and those that had strings. He chose this pair as it would be easier to wear and clean.


    He then found another small pair when he felt someone approaching but he did not raise his guard up expecting who the person was.


    When Mark turned around, he saw Mei standing by the door and the two college girls behind her who wore bitter smiles for some reason.


    Looking at Mei, he could only feel two things, amazement andment. Mei was now wearing grey hooded long sleeves with a denim vest with several pockets over it, a ck above knee length ck denim shorts, ck stockings and ck below knee-high socks. As for her feet, she was now wearing strap sandals. There was also the gel ster on her cheek.  He felt amazed as her appearance really suit her despite being within what he advised them to choose. Hemented because she would likely face the greatest obstacles the most beautiful women in every story suffers in an apocalypse.


    Beautiful girls were beautiful no matter what they wear after all.


    The two college girls also changed girls also changed from their dirty blood stained uniforms. Pa was wearing a buttoned denim jacket with a crimson hood and a denim skirt that paired with the hood''s color. She wore ck tight leggings under her skirt and back cotton socks.


    Ange on the other hand wore a grey jacket draped over her ckdies tank top inside and a dark green cargo pants. Both college girls also looked good on their new clothes. The only thing that was out of ce was that the two were still wearing their school shoes.


    Mark thought that there would mostly be fashion shoes in a female oriented clothing store so he beckoned the three inside. He then gave the female styledbat boots he found to Mei and helped her wear it. Ange and Pa also rummaged at the stacks of shoeboxes and found the shoes they liked. Ange chose a brown leatherbat boots while Pa found a grey calf length leatherbat boots for her to wear.


    When the three girls were all dressed up, Mark could not help but ask himself if these girls were going to a fashion show and was not experiencing a zombie apocalypse.


    Mark wanted to return to the TechZone and prepare but Ange kept pestering him on bringing her to the sports store where he got the sports armor. He pointed at the bag she was now carrying as he knew that the contents of that bag were the armor she was wearing earlier. She then said that she wanted to get one for Pa and Mark could only bring them there reluctantly.


    Unfortunately for Ange, there are no other armors that were the same as they had. The only ones they found weremon motocross armors which did not seem to catch her attention.


    What they found though was something that got Pa''s interest. It was apound bow. From Ange, Mark learned that Pa took an archery ss during high school.


    Mark started to be suspicious about the background of these two girls. One was an experienced fighter while the other had taken archery sses before. Those were things that could not be found onmon college students who were attending a state university in this country.<sub> </sub>


    Before leaving the store, Pa took the bow and bagged several sets of arrows while Ange took a new bat and reced the one Mark gave her. Mark on the other hand found a metal javelin so he took it with interest.


    Mark looked at Mei, there seemed to be nothing here that would suit her to use as weapon. With a spark of idea in his mind, he remembered the tools and equipment at the rooftop. He then started bagging several things under the confused of gazes of the girls.


    As Mark already wasted too much time, he now wanted to proceed with his ns. He returned inside the TechZone with then girls in tow.


    When he entered, he saw that there was a distinct separation within the survivors. As he did not really think that it would affect him too much, he decided to ignore it. He was more concerned about the attention they were gathering. Almost all of the survivors were looking at their group. Amazement and lecherous gazes towards the girls and stares filled with envy and respect towards him.


    ''Just what are these people getting at?'' He thought that time.


    Proceeding with his ns, he told Ange and Pa to ask about the passwords of the avable Wi-Fi and inte connections his phone could detect which the two immediately followed.


    After sending off the two, Mark brought Mei into thergest PC Store in the TechZone and upied it as he saw no one within the surviving employees had the logo of this store on their uniforms.


    He gathered the bestptop units of the shop and set the units up for his use. Mei helped him with what he was doing, though it was not much, but at least Mark did not have to do what she already finished doing.


    Mark also gathered sh drives and external hardrives with thergest storage capacities and put the items over the table he was going to use. Then, he looked for the best model of phone, tablet and video camera he could find outside.


    Before he could even finish setting up, Ange and Pa entered the shop with Bernard following them. The girls gave the list of passwords and left leaving Bernard behind.


    Apparently, he was there to apologize about his son''s actions which almost brought them to danger. Mark epted the apology as there was no actual damage done and Bernard left afterwards. Still, Mark decided that he would not have anything to do with Joseph anymore. If Joseph did not adapt to the harsh changes around him, it was likely that he would drive someone to death and Mark did not want to be included in those.


    After setting up, he saw that Mei was dozing off as she sat on a chair behind the counter though she still tried her best to stay awake. He could not me her if she was tired as it was a very awful day for her. He stood and looked around the store for something she could sleep on and found a folding bed inside the storage of the shop.


    He had already seen some storage that had at least one folding bed inside before so it was not new to him and also understood why those are there. It was likely that employees use these beds to take a nap inside the storage rooms during their breaks. He then let Mei sleep behind the counter away from the sight of the people outside the store.


    Everything was set up and Mark could finally start doing what he wanted to do. He sat down on the chair in front of theptop he set as the server and started working. He sat there for a long time and only stood up a few times to check up on Mei as she slept and stretch his legs that were getting numb.

 Chapter 39 The Origin

    3:57 PM ¨C City Mall Bacoor West Wing, TechZone


    Mark sighed in relief as he finally finished adding most of the things he wanted to download in the queue.  He could now get on the other business.


    It was to gather information about the outbreak.


    Actually, he already opened a separate browser and searched for some information before he started downloading all those things. He just had not started checking his search results.


    He switched into the tab where a video sharing site was disyed. Of course, the current trending videos were about the outbreak. But there was a video that took his interest. The video was titled "The Sight on Doomsday" and the thumbnail of the video was a skyline view of a certain metropolitan city. He checked thements and found out that it was a certain area in New York.


    He then decided to watch the video.


    ***


    The quality of the video was not high but it was not bad either, it seemed that a smartphone was used in recording it.


    The video panned across the orange colored sky, it was almost sun down.


    A group of teenagers were on the rooftop of a certain tall building. They seemed to be recording for fun as they wereughing and shouting at the camera. They were also pointing at the amazing sight of the city skyline.


    Then, a bright light enveloped the area. The teenagers had a look of surprise and amazement on their faces as they looked at the sky. The camera then was shifted towards the sky and several circr bright masses of light shed.


    The shes of light were simr to something that happened in Russia years ago.


    Everyone in the know would realize that the shes of light were actually meteoroids exploding after entering the earth''s atmosphere.


    A single meteoroid exploding was already a spectacr sight but the sight in the video was several times more remarkable. The video focused on the sky until the shes of light disappeared. It was then that they started screaming.


    After the explosions, the shockwaves followed.


    The teenagers were knocked back as they were high from the ground and received the brunt of the shockwaves. Even the video rotated several times. It seemed that the person taking the video also fell and rolled on the floor.


    Sounds of ss breaking and rms of parked cars filled the background.


    The shockwave passed and the situation seemed to calm down. Even the teenagers who were screaming just a few seconds ago were nowughing at their antics.


    It was then that one of the teenagers pointed somewhere behind the person holding the camera. The video turned around and followed what that guy was pointing at. What they saw shocked them. Along the outline of the city, a passenger airne was flying at a dangerous angle. The airne was still high in the sky but it was no doubt that it would crash if it continued flying like that.


    Then, a zooming sound echoed from the background. The camera turned again and the backs of the teenagers who were looking at what the sound wasing from could be seen.


    The video panned above the teenagers and there was another passenger airne flying over them at a very low height. The camera followed the airne as it flew over their heads and headed towards the city.


    The airne flew lower and lower, until they saw the wings of the airne crash unto the high rise buildings in the area. In the background, the first ne could be seen already falling on a nosedive.


    After several seconds within the video, arge orange mushroom rose into the sky as the first ne crashed into the middle of the city.


    The second ne did not explode like the first one but it demolished several buildings before crashing onto the highway.


    Multitudes of screams and shouting could be heard in the background.<sub> </sub>


    The video suddenly panned across the horizon. Several nes could be seen at the same situation as the two passenger airnes just now.


    The teenagers started to panic. They all entered a door on the rooftop and thest scene from the video was the teenagers running down the stairs.


    ***


    Seeing the video, it gave Mark several theories and started searching using some keywords and clues. His hands danced on the keyboard as he typed several words and clicked several links.


    He opened the website of national astronomical space administration and looked for the astronomical events that happenedtely. He then saw the newly discovered meteor shower that happened around five in the morning. It should be the same time as the shes of light in the video happened in the New York time zone.


    Then, he searched for the local news and idents that happened after the meteor shower and found out that many nes crashed at several ces in the country. Then searching the further, the same thing happened around the world. Any kind of aircraft that was in the airspace during the time the meteor shower happened crashed.


    During his search, he stumbled into a video of a passenger airne that crashed while being almost intact in the middle of a city. The only damages the ne had was being split in the middle and its detached wings.


    He yed the video and found something wrong. It was not ambnces and rescue workers that were surrounding the ne but military soldiers.


    Then, zombies came out of the broken airne inciting the start of the attack from the soldiers. The soldiers had the upper hand in the first half of the video until something smashed its way out of the closed baggagepartment of the airne.


    Mark frowned as he saw the thing that came out.


    It was a cat. The breed of the cat should be a ragdoll. The problem was that it had a reddish ck fur covering its body and was standing about three meters tall and about seven meters in length.


    Therge ragdoll started attacking both zombies and the military. The soldiers did their best to take down the beast and even deployed RPGs and machine guns but the beast was very agile and they failed to kill it. Many of the soldiers and zombies were dismembered by its ws as it ran around the vicinity of the crashed airne.


    The ragdoll stopped for a bit and looked at the pilot''s cockpit on the ne. It then turned around and escaped the encirclement of the soldiers. Many of the soldiers went to chase the escaped beast but then¡­


    The pilot''s cockpit exploded startling everyone. Smoke filled the area but there was no fire. In the middle of the smoke, a silhouette of a humanoid could be seen.


    When the silhouette stepped out of the smoke, gasps could be heard in the background.


    The humanoid had an elongated and hunched body, an even more elongated limbs and its body was so thin that it could be described that it just had bones and skin. It stood about eight feet and on the end of its fingers on its hands were not nails but feet long ws.


    It then dashed towards the nearest soldier. It was fast, even faster than the ragdoll that escaped.


    The humanoid stood there where the soldier stood before. Now, the soldier dangled dead in front of the humanoid with the ws protruding on the back of the dead soldier despite the fact that the soldier was wearing a bulletproof vest.


    The person who was recording the video along with the spectators started running away and the video ended.


    Mark decided to download the video and then closed the browser tab it was in. He then moved to thest tab of the browser. The tab contained a government website where the evacuation ns and sites were posted.


    Browsing through the website, he found the nearest government managed evacuation center and it was surprisingly at the Bay City.


    If he remembered it correctly, it was just thirteen kilometers away from this mall.


    Clicking on a link within the page of the Bay City Evacuation Shelter, he essed a chat interface. Here, people could ask help and rescue.


    He looked at Mei who was sleeping on the folding bed beside him. Mark decided to contact the military for rescue.

 Chapter 40 Information, Relief And Rescue Department

    04:16 PM - Central Business Park, Pasay City, Relief and Rescue Center


    In the middle of the Central Business Park, there were a lot ofrgemercial establishments that was owned by privatepanies before the outbreak. As there were a lot of people working in the area and the people going to one of thergest malls in the Philippines, the Mall of Asia, the ce was lively and the business was booming. But now, there was almost not a single soul in sight in the vicinity of the establishments except for several patrolling soldiers dispatched by the military.


    There was a certain building there that was owned by a Telemarketing Company, it was widely known Call Center to many people in the same industry. When the reimed area was turned into a massive evacuation zone by the military, the very same building was converted to a service building of the Information, Relief and Rescue Department.


    Cubicles where call center agents were using in the previous days to answer calls and inquiries from customers were now upied by military personnel and volunteers who were in charge of epting rescue and information inquiries from survivors who were still able to ess the inte and calls fromndline and private cellr connections.


    In one of the cubicles at the corner of the room, a woman in her mid-twenties sat answering a call. She had a dyed brown hair that was tied in a ponytail whichplemented her energetic eyes, small nose, thin pink lips and her oval face. She could be described as good looking but still a bitcking to be called as beautiful generally.


    Right now, her eyebrows were twitching as she tried to control her temper as she "calmly" answered the person on the other line of the phone. Her voice raised a bit that it she even gathered the attention of the other volunteers around her.


    "Sir! The rescue should arrive as soon as possible so please wait at your current position, don''t make loud noise and keep safe. There are other calls that are needed to be epted so I will end this call."


    Fully red up, she did not wait for the person on the other line to talk anymore. She put down the phone which made a loud cking sound.


    She sighed and pinched her nose bridge as she found the work here being hard to deal with.


    She was a call center agent that works in this building before the outbreak.


    When the outbreak reached this ce, many of her teammates and co-employees fell into panic. Even though she was always a goofy person, she was calm when unexpected things happened. With her taking the leadership over her colleagues, they managed to secure the second floor of the building, but it was not without casualties.


    As the building had too many ss walls and windows, they could see what was happening outside. To describe it, it was a nightmare. They saw people eating other people, even worse, a father who literally ate his own daughter.


    Many of them could not help but cry. They tried calling for help with their phones but never managed to sessfully do so. For her though, she was not scared about what would happen to her, rather, she was thinking of what might happen to her family.


    The nightmare did not take too long though. The military came sweeping the ce of the man eaters and they were also saved. Medics attended to their issues as there were some of them who were wounded. There, she saw her close friend who was the leader of the medic squad.


    She told her friend about her worries about her family and her friend told her to volunteer into the military as they werecking in manpower. Furthermore, volunteers would get incentives such as their families being prioritized during rescue missions.


    With those incentives, she readily agreed and was assigned in this department due to being familiar with the ce.


    Her family was rescued soon as their house was not far from this ce but of course, she could not just ditch this work after achieving her motive.


    Still, she could not help but think that her friend pitted her into a stressful job.


    "Laura, you seemed to be stressed."


    Speaking of the devil, a woman''s voice was heard from behind her.


    "Just who do you think is the reason huh, Teresa?"


    Laura looked at the woman behind her who was wearing military fatigues.


    "You should just endure it a little more, your shift would end soon right?"


    "I know but these people calling are such stupid fools who think that they are the only people who needed to be rescued."


    "You can''t me them. Everyone is in panic after all."


    Teresa sighed.


    "Anyways, what are you doing here?"


    Laura asked while fixing her hair.


    "My shift just ended so I figured to check on you."


    "I see, so you came to boast about your free time?"


    "Is it bad if I want to watch your work?"


    "Seriously, you¡­"


    She did not finish her sentence as a chat notification appeared on theputer in front of her.


    "There is another one. I just wish that this one wouldn''t stress me out."


    "Go ahead and answer it."


    Laura gave a skeptic nce at her friend before sending message on the chat box.


    >> "This is the Information, Relief and Rescue Department, how may I help you?"


    << "I just want to confirm if you guys would be able to send rescue to us."


    Laura sighed in relief and looked at her friend who was watching behind her.


    "It looked like someone reasonable to talk with."


    Her friend said and she could only nod. She had some chat sessions before and all of them are demanding rescue at the first sentence. This was the first time she encountered a calm sounding reply.


    >> "Can I ask what should I call you?"


    << "Is it really important?"<sub> </sub>


    Laura''s lips twitched as she thought that the person she was talking to now was an entric one. However, it was still better that her previous sessions.


    >> "It''s not that important but I would still want to know how should I address you. A Sir or Ma''am would be fine."


    << "Then, Sir should be good."


    >> "Okay Sir, you said that you want to ask for rescue?"


    << "Yes."


    >> "Could you tell me where your location is right now? And how many people are needed to be rescued?"


    << "We are at the City Mall Bacoor right now. Please wait for a bit, I''ll send someone to count how many people are needed to be rescued."


    >> "Yes Sir, it is fine."


    Laura raised her eyebrows and looked at her friend again.


    "It looked like they managed to secure the mall, or at least a part of it. If he needed to count how many people there are, then they must have joined forces to secure the area."


    Then, the reply came.


    <<"There are 47 people. 4 are children."


    The two women were surprised. That was quite arge number after all. Laura started browsing the rescue distribution on herputer as well as the avable forces in charge of rescue operations. Now, it was the most crucial part for Laura.


    >> "Sir, I would like to apologize. The number of people in your group isrge and the avable personnel and transportation on standby aren''t enough. We needed to wait for the dispatched rescue squads to return before we can send rescue to your location."


    Laura was already prepared to receive rude words from the other side or even curses but then, she was surprised.


    << "Is that so? What is the estimated time it would take?"


    The reply remained calm. Since Laura was satisfied with this person''s attitude, she decided to be honest.


    >> "Sorry Sir, it would be impossible to estimate the time before we can send a rescue. First, the time for the rescue squads to return depends on the danger they could face on the road. There is also a queue for people who were asking for rescue and some of them are needed to be prioritized."


    "Do you really have to say all that?"


    Teresa reproached her friend for being too honest.


    "It''s not like I''m not allowed to right?"


    "What if he gets dispirited or something?"


    "I have a hunch that he won''t."


    "Are you sure?"


    Teresa was skeptic.


    "Look."


    Laura pointed at the screen.


    << "I understand. Then please send rescue as soon as it is possible."


    << "Also please make it possible within 3 days. Our food stock won''tst longer than that."


    Laura nodded when she saw thest message while looking at her friend with a smirk on her face.


    "He is not unreasonable right? I just wish all the people asking for rescue would be like this."


    "You''re the one who was being unreasonable. Quick! Reply to his message."


    >> "It will be noted. Just please stay away from the infected and stay safe."


    << "Alright thank you. If something unexpected happened, I will try to contact again."


    >> "Yes Sir, feel free to contact us. Our department is always on standby."


    There was no other reply after as person on the other side went offline.


    Laura stretched her arms and back as the session finished. She looked at the time and looked at her friend.


    "I still have another half hour before my shift ends. Are you sure you''re just going to wait there behind me?"


    "Sure!"


    "Haah. Alright."


    Laura always felt lost when talking to this friend of hers.

 Chapter 41 Blame Game

    4:32 PM City Mall Bacoor West Wing, TechZone


    Mark sighed as he looked at the screen of theptop in front of him. He managed to contact the rescue department and called for rescue but the time the rescue would arrive was indefinite. In that conversation with the agent, he noticed the crucial factor as to why the rescue would be dyed. The main reason was because of theirrge numbers. If it was smaller, then it was likely for the rescue to be sent sooner.


    He already checked the food and water the employees managed to gather and with the number of people here, the supply would really likely to run out after three days or might even be less.


    In a zombie apocalypse, it was true that there was strength in numbers. However, it would alsoe with implications and he just encountered two of those consequences.


    And there was the third one¡­


    Mark looked outside the store, he could hear people shouting.


    The third implication was conflict. The more people in the group, it was more likely for the members to have different views and ideals. As such, conflicts were likely to arise.


    He turned and watched the sleeping Mei beside him. Mark had to pat her head to calm her several times since she slept as she kept squirming around, frowning and even wailing in her sleep. The trauma she received was really severe to make her have nightmares several times in a short period of her sleep.


    The angry shouts were getting noisier which made Mark stood up from his seat and check what was happening.


    When Mark reached and stood by the door of the store, he could see the people being divided into two groups. Still, there were only several people who was arguing while the others were stopping them.


    "If not for you selfish pricks! My- My wife should still be alive! You people just hid there! You people should have known that this will happen and still abandoned us!"


    A man shouted while pointing at the dead body of a woman on the floor.


    "Now you are ming us? If I remember you are one of those bastards who stopped our friends from taking the food WE gathered. You think you are the only one who had a dead rtive? My cousin IS dead because of you bastards!"


    It was actually the shorter cousin of Fernan who was arguing with the man.


    These people were ying the me game.


    Hearing what Fernan''s cousin said, Mark looked around and finally noticed that the other cousin was not there. With what he heard, then the other cousin should be dead. No wonder Fernan looked down since earlier.


    Mark also noticed the two people who were not joining themotion. Pa''s boyfriend was standing nearby leaning on the wall watching the fray with a bad mood and the body guard who sat on the side, not talking nor watching the argument. His head was just hanging low as he sat on the floor.


    Speaking of Fernan, Mark noticed that he was not around. The three who they met in the roof top, even Ange and Pa were not here. Reyah was watching beside the door of the store where her daughter was resting. She looked worried for some reason.


    Seeing that no one would seem to be able to control the situation, Mark decided to step up. It was not like he really wanted to but these people were getting too noisy. Who knows what these people would attract from the outside with their noise.


    Mark approached the people and spoke in a very stern voice.


    "It''s better if you people stop. You''re making too much noise."


    They all looked at him. The employees and Fernan''s cousin seemed to sober up when they saw him but it was the opposite for the other group.


    "Who are you to speak to use like that!"


    It was the man whose wife died. Hearing his question, Mark sneered.


    "You''re being mistaken here. You guys are the ones who had no rights to behave that way. You people are nothing but freeloaders here."


    When Mark finished saying that, many of the people from that group was shaken. Some of them realized that they had no power here. But, there were still those who did not get the meaning.


    "I don''t care if we are freeloaders or not! My wife died! And these people are responsive for this!"


    "Wow, you are something aren''t you?"


    Mark replied with sarcasm before looking at Fernan''s cousin.


    "Say, did this entire group side with that fat guy?"<sub> </sub>


    He asked while pointing at the opposite group. The employees looked at the people on the other group, whispered to each other.


    "What are you people whispering about?!"


    The man kept on shouting loudly which made Mark look at him coldly. Mark looked calm but his stare could somehow make the man''s back drenched in cold sweat. From inside the store they were hiding before, they also saw how this man killed the zombies and sshed blood everywhere without batting an eyelid. That scene was etched into their minds and somehow became a discouragement as they faced Mark like this.


    "Shut up for a bit, will you?"


    After the employees'' group whispered for a bit, finally Fernan''s cousin replied and pointed at two people behind the other group, a man and a woman.


    "Except for those two, all of them all of them did."


    Hearing what he said, Mark nodded before facing the angry man again.


    "You are ming them for selfishly abandoning you guys outside right? You think they knew that this will happen?"


    The man gulped and nodded.


    "Well, you better stop that. They knew nothing about it and they only followed the orders I gave them."


    Mark shrugged.


    "You¡ª"


    The man pointed at Mark before asking.


    "Your orders? Why? You expected this to happen and abandoned us to die like that?"


    Mark stared at the man.


    "Don''t twist the facts you idiot."


    Mark''s stare now were filled with killing intent making the man shiver and his temper started to subside due to fear. The man stepped back but he still asked.


    "What are you talking about?!"


    "Except for the two at the back, you all sided with that pig in forcing these employees to close the shutters right? Then tell me, why didn''t these employees want to close the shutters? Think about it."


    The people went silent. They remembered what these employees said before and thought about what they did.


    And this person in front of them killed all the zombies and these employees seem to know him. Still, they never saw him in here when the shutters were closed. These people finally realized that this scary man was one of the people who was left outside when they forced the employees to close the shutters.


    As the people went silent, Mark was disinclined to stay with them. He turned around and decided to continue what he was doing but he stopped and nced at the people behind him over his shoulder. He decided to announce it.


    "Anyways, while you guys are doing unproductive things, I already contacted the military and asked for rescue. The time they arrive is still unknown so you people better stop making noise. Well, unless you guys want the rescuers to find nothing but zombies and dead people here when they arrive."


    With that he continued walking away. He knew that what he did and said would shut this people for a while.


    These people were not really bad but they were driven to desperation because of their fear and what they experienced on the lower floors. Still, they did something unreasonable and with that, they paid a lot, even the lives of their loved ones. They wanted to me someone but they could also be med for what they did.


    Then, some of them realized.


    If there was someone to be med, it was that pig. They looked at that person''s bodyguard who was sitting on the floor outside one of the stores. He did not say or do anything since the ce was cleared of zombies. They wanted to vent their anger at him and shout at him. Yet, they could not muster any energy to criticize the man. Not because they were afraid or because the man was scary.


    It was because the man looked really pitiful for some reason.

 Chapter 42 Makeshift Crossbows

    When Mark entered back into the store, he saw Mei looking at him while sitting on the folding bed. It seemed that she had just waked up as she was rubbing her eyes with her hands.


    "Did the noise wake you up?"


    Mark said as he approached her which she replied by shaking her head.


    "Well, I''m going to do something at the rooftop and I need your help. Want toe?"


    "Gege, what are you going to do?"


    Mei stood up and stretched her body.


    "I''m going to make some weapons for both of us."


    Hearing what he said, her eyes lit up. She knew that her Gege had been fighting a lot but she could not help him even a little bit. If he would make her a weapon, she might be able to help him. She was really looking forward to it.


    "Does your body feel alright now?"


    "Uhm!"


    Mei tried moving her body showing that she already recovered to some extent. However, Mark noticed that she was still wincing in pain if she tried to walk inrge strides.


    "Alright, help me carry this."


    Mark handed her a backpack with light items inside while he took arge backpack and the sports duffle bag with him.


    When the two walked out of the store, Mark called Fernan''s cousin.


    When he called, Fernan''s cousin who looked about 25 years old, had a crew cut hair, squinted eyes and about five and a half feet in height came at him smiling.


    "Boss! You need something?"


    "Boss? Me?"


    Mark said confused while he pointed with his left hand at his face.


    "Ah, we unanimously agreed to call you boss from now on. It''s because of what you did earlier."


    "Seriously¡­"


    Mark sighed.


    "Oh right, I haven''t asked your name yet."


    "It''s James Boss."


    "Anyways, condolence.  About your cousin."


    James bitterly smiled.


    "It''s fine boss. It''s not like he died in vain."


    "I see. Actually I called to ask you to guard the store. Just don''t let anyone do anything to theptops there. We needed to go to the rooftop for a bit."


    "Then, consider it done boss!"


    "Ah, you can use theptop in front of the chair if you want. Just don''t close those open application windows there."


    "Thanks boss!"


    Mark nodded. Still, he was not used to being call boss with such enthusiasm.


    "Ah, boss."


    "What is it?"


    James started to whisper.


    "It''s about that guy earlier, the one who I was arguing with. Please watch out for him. He looked like he was up to no good."


    "No worries, I already know about it."


    "Is that so? Then I won''t bother you anymore."


    Mark turned around and brought Mei out while James entered the store after talking to his colleagues for a bit.


    Using the emergency exit at the west wing, Mark and Mei climbed up to the rooftop. As the heavy equipment was already moved to the west wing, Mark already nned to make the weapons here. However, they heard soundsing from the south wing when they reached the rooftop.


    Following the source of the sound, they saw Ange who was watching Pa practice with the bow she found.


    Mark saw Pa pull the string and released the arrow of the bow. Posture, grace and the intent while shooting the arrow though was not perfect but was still way above your average archer. She shot the arrow at a wooden crate about ten meters away from her.


    Ange noticed that Mark and Mei arrived.


    "Why are you two here?"<sub> </sub>


    "Why can''t we? It''s not like you own the ce."


    Mark replied sneering.


    "Grrrr¡­"


    Mark ignored Ange and looked at Pa who put down her bow.


    "It seems you had good skills with that."


    "Actually, I feel stiff using this. Thest time I used a bow was three years ago, back in high school."


    Pa smiled.


    "Anyways, you can continue practicing. I''ll just get a few wooden crates and get to work."


    Mark took two empty wooden crates that were used to store some of the fireworks before and turned back.


    "Are you going to make something?"


    Ange could not control her curiosity.


    "I''m not giving you any."


    Mark and Mei then left the fuming Ange.


    When the broken couple left, Pa could not help butugh at Ange who was now fuming red.


    "You two really have a good rtionship."


    "Who? ME?! To HIM?! Pa, don''t joke around like that! It''s not funny!"


    "But you don''t hate him right?"


    "Well, he is like my brother. He''s always teasing me like this. Yet, he would also cheer me up every time I feel down."


    "I can understand why they like to tease you though. Every time you were being teased like that, your reaction was always epic."


    "PAULA!!!"


    On the west wing, Mark, together with Mei, was taking out the items and materials he gathered. As they were doing so, they could hear theughter of the two girls on the south wing. Mark could not help but smile. Those two were already adapting to the harsh world right now, enough that they couldugh and y despite the dangers that mighte anytime.


    Mark looked at the materials he gathered. With these, it should be enough for him to make a weapon for him and Mei. Mark had good weapons. He had a shotgun, a machete and a revolver pistol. However, only the machete could be used to kill silently while using the guns would result into a horde if he just shot recklessly. What he needed right now was a ranged weapon that could kill silently.


    When Pa picked up the bow in the sports store earlier, he had an idea. He did not know how to properly use a bow but a crossbow was another thing. But since there was no crossbow to be found, why not just make one. He saw a lot of tutorials in the inte and even downloaded some of those videos to his new phone. Furthermore, there was equipment and tools avable for him to use.


    Mark then started to move.


    Taking out his notebook and pen, he started drawing the design of the crossbow he wanted to make. His talent with drawings was disyed and even skills he learned during the time he was taking NCII and NCIII Animation sses came into y.


    Next, he dismantled the wooden crates. Mark started to make measurements on the wood and the metal sheets that he used to make the zombies fall down the staircase earlier.


    After drawing the outlines on the metal sheet, he reced the disc of the angle grinder into a metal saw and started cutting the metal sheet. It did not take long for him to finish cutting out the parts of the two crossbows he wanted to make. Even the mechanisms needed were meticulously cut out.


    Using a welding machine, he welded the parts that would make the body of the crossbow. He used the wood from the wooden crates for the handle and the stock of the crossbow.


    As for the bow, he cut out thin and long rectangr sheets. He grinded the parts needed to be grinded and hammered the middle parts to bend the small metal sheets into a bow. Mark did it several times while he experimented how thick and how bent the metal should be. As for the string, he got it from the sports store. These should be spare strings for the bow they had.


    Drilling, grinding, and hammering. Mei also helped him in several parts that were easy to do. The sun was almost setting when he finished the crossbow along with makeshift crossbow bolts from the leftover metal sheets. As for the shaft of the bolts, he could only make use of the feathers he tore off from badminton shuttlecocks.


    It was the first time he did something like this so he was careful in making it so he would not have to waste too much materials and he was satisfied with the results.


    Mark held his crossbow with both hands and aimed it. He also leaned a wooden nk on the far side of the wall and tried shooting it several times and the result was good. Mei also tried shooting hers but it looked like that she would need to practice a lot as he missed her shots a lot. She even broke some of the bolts as her shotsnded on the wall or the concrete floor.


    Mark looked at the crossbows. His crossbow was eighteen inches long and looked like a mixture of recurve andpound crossbows. He also designed the stock and the shape of the body toplement his Sci-Fi sports armor.


    As for Mei''s crossbow, it was smaller as he designed a pistol crossbow for her with a simr shape and style as his. Mark also tried shooting her crossbow and nodded. The power was lowerpared to his but still enough to pierce through a human skull.


    Both crossbows could be reloaded by just notching the bolt and pulling the string or by pulling the string using the reel like mechanism he put on the crossbows and notching the arrow afterwards.


    The only thing Mark just wished to have right now was a can of ck spray paint so he would be able to color the crossbows.


    Mark looked at Mei and she was all smiles as she held the crossbow her Gege made for her.


    While they were doing the final checks on the crossbows, a shout came from behind.


    "WAAAAHHHH!"


    It was Ange who saw the two holding onto their crossbows. Behind her was Pa who was looking at the weapons Mark made with an amazed expression. Pa then looked at Mark with a serious face.


    "Uhm, Mark, can we talk for a bit?"

 Chapter 43 Mark

    "What do you want to talk about now?"


    Mark asked looking at Pa who was sitting in front of him.


    The four of them was now back at the south wing of the rooftop sitting on the chairs they left there before. Mark and Pa faced each other while Ange sat beside her friend and Mei beside her Gege.


    "Pa, it was rare for you to look this serious."


    Ange said in confusion.


    Pa nced at Ange before looking back to Mark. She sighed and loosened her shoulders before finally saying her intention.


    "It''s not that serious. I just want to know and confirm a few things."


    She looked straight at Mark''s eyes in which thetter stared back.


    "But please, answer my questions without lying. I just want to know the truth."


    "You think I''m a liar?"


    "Yes."


    Pa answered Mark''s question frankly.


    "It''s back then when Uncle Bernard asked you about why you saved us. I know you that not all you said were the truth and parts of it are lies. And also, don''t try to feed us with things that only delusional patients would say."


    Hearing thest sentence, Mark felt an arrow piercing his back. Mark could only sigh.


    "You''re really an archer aren''t you? You can even shoot arrows with your words."


    "I don''t know where you got those references but please be serious in answering my questions."


    Ange felt really confused now. She did not realized or maybe, she did not think deeply about what Mark said that time. Mei did not seem to care about it but she looked at him curiously.


    Mark shrugged his shoulders and replied.


    "Alright, you got me. You can ask now. I promise to say the truth but don''t expect that I will answer everything."


    Pa nodded.


    "Actually, what I wanted to ask first was the true reason you saved us but I won''t. I will ask first about who you really are."


    "My background?"


    "Yes."


    "Isn''t that a little private? It''s not like I really mind but I will ask you the sameter."


    "It''s fine."


    "Alright. If I were to say, for the major part, I''m just a shut-in."


    The three girls were surprised. Looking at their surprised faces Mark continued.


    "It''s been three years that I started living this way alright? I don''t go out of the house too much and only go out if I needed to buy something or I have to do something important."


    "You don''t work?"


    Ange asked.


    "I do you idiot. I''m a shut in but I''m not a NEET. Well, most of the time. I''m a frence article writer and programmer and I also have a few online side jobs. When there are projects, I have work but there are also times that I don''t. The pay on the projects was good so I can get by when I don''t have work."


    When Mark finished, Pa sighed. She could see that Mark was not lying but this did not exin the things he was capable of.


    "I can tell that you''re saying the truth but that doesn''t exin several things."


    "What things?"


    "First was your fighting capabilities, another was your disposition and looking at that crossbow you made, you were also proficient in making weapons like that and also knew how to operate those power tools correctly."


    "Geez, you want to dig that deep?"


    "Yes. But if you don''t want to answer, its fine."


    "Well, I guess, she will keep on pestering me if I don''t answer.


    Mark pointed at Ange who was looking at him with a face that was asking him to answer. Pa sighed at the appearance of her friend but did not stop her either.


    "Alright Angeline, I''ll tell so stop making that face."


    Ange made a triumphant face like she won something.


    "About this crossbow, I''m used to making stuff like this. One of my side jobs is making weapon props for cosyers. I getmissions from time to time and the pay is good depending on what I make. Sometimes, I needed to make quite functional ones like guns that make sounds or shoots fake bullets. I got used to designing mechanisms and self-studied basic electronics.<sub> </sub>


    As for the reason I can use power tools and heavy equipment is because I had experience in using them. When I graduated from college, finding a job that would fit for me was hard and had to jump jobs now and then. From being a driver to construction work I tried all those. I also worked in a metal workshop for a month and did some heavy stuff there, that ce was where I learned to use power tools and welding machines."


    "Then how about your fighting abilities?"


    Pa asked but the answer did note from Mark. It was Ange who answered.


    "Pa, I think, he was self-taught. His style is unconventional and unrefined. You know that I have purple belt in karate and blue in taekwondo. I noticed him using some of the moves from both martial arts."


    To what Ange said, Mark nodded.


    "Angeline is right, I just taught myself using tutorials from the inte and copying moves in games I yed."


    "That''s¡­"


    "Unbelievable isn''t it? But it''s the truth. I was interested in martial arts since I was little but we''re poor to afford joining training clubs. When I was in elementary, one of the games I often y with my siblings was sword fighting. We make crude wooden swords from thick Kakawate branches and trunks and just wildly attack and defend from each other. As children, we couldn''t control our swings and there were times we hurt each other. I learned dodging and enduring pain the hard way."


    "That''s quite a dangerous game."


    Markughed.


    "I can''t deny that."


    Pa kept on staring at Mark during the time he was talking and sighed. Everything he said, there was no lie.


    "And for my character¡­ It was influenced by my Cluster A Personality Disorder before."


    Mark said seriously.


    "You said before? So is it cured now?"


    Pa asked in which Mark shook his head before replying.


    "For some part, I have my own method that oveps and counters the symptoms of the Paranoid disorder but the symptoms from Schizoid and Schizotypal disorders are still here. So I call it as an iplete Cluster A Personality Disorder now."


    Hearing what Mark said, Pa was in deep thought. She muttered the name of the three personality disorders under the Cluster A and was thinking about their symptoms. Then, she looked at Mark with a face that she realized and confirmed something.


    The Paranoid Personality Disorder was mainly about distrust and anxiety against other people and suspicions about what they were thinking. Pa already noticed something about Mark and this clue further reinforced her suspicion of him. Mark said that his personality disorder was still there but he had something to deal with his Paranoid Personality Disorder and that only meant one thing.


    "Gege, did you go to a doctor to cure it?"


    Mei who was silent since the start finally spoke. Mark looked at her and replied with a helpless tone.


    "I don''t have money for that. Also, if you girls ask me if I haven''t done anything about this, then, I can only say that it is just easy to say but hard to do. In my experience, I found my condition by myself and in a way, epted that I have it. If maybe someone else was the first to notice and told me, then there might be a subconscious denial and could help with rehabilitation and stuff. Unfortunately, I had no one like that."


    "How about your parents? Didn''t they realize what you are going through? You did not tell them?"


    Ange asked. To their surprise, his mood seemed to drop after she asked.


    "I did tell them at first but they paid no attention to it and thought that I was just beingzy and giving excuses. Hearing what you said, your parents must have treated you good. For me, though my parents can''t be described as bad, they are more inclined to the negative side."


    Ange did not know how to reply to that.


    "Gege, is this Personality disorder the reason why you were job hopping?"


    Mark nodded.


    "This is one of the reasons, though just the minor reason."


    This time, Pa snapped out of her deep thought and looked Mark to ask a crucial question.


    "I want to ask. How did you live with this condition?"


    It was a light question that required a heavy answer. It was also a question to determine what kind of person he was in the whole meaning.


    Mark shrugged his shoulders.


    "For the small part, I lived like a normal shut-in in the past years after I became tired of changing jobs. I admit, I''m one of those people who are called Otakus and I''m also a gamer. I spend most of my time watching anime, reading novels and ying video games when I don''t have any frence work."


    The three girls stared at him. They all felt that it was not all. And as they expected, Mark continued.


    "For the most part though, I''m living like a person that doesn''t have anywhere to belong to. I have a bad rtionship with my parents and the experiences I gathered in the past pushed me to the point of detaching myself to from the society.


    I was spending my days dreaming that the world will fall into chaos, gets destroyed or at least our country fall into war. Dreaming that when those timese, I can try and find a ce where I can belong to or at least, spend my life living freely until the day I die.


    So, in a way, what is happening to us now is a kind of blessing and a dream that came true for me."


    Mark bitterly smiled. He looked to his right and patted Mei who was already crying on her head. Mark knew that a part of what he said pulled a string in her heart.


    Pa and Ange felt a bit sour at what he said. The two girls then looked at Mei, confused to why she was crying. They knew that what he said was quite heavy but it should not be enough to make her cry.

 Chapter 44 Birds Of The Same Feather

    "Why is she crying?"


    Ange could not hold her curiosity and worry anymore and asked. Pa was rather confused too.


    "Pa, one of your questions should be why I saved her right?"


    Mark asked while stroking Mei''s hair.


    "Yes. You have been staying away from that topic. I don''t mean it in a bad way but even with what you said earlier, we did something worthy of being saved so you saved us but that reason does''t apply to her. Also, we knew that you two just met when you saved her but the affection you two are giving each other is rather unusual."


    Mark nodded understanding her question.


    "Normally, any man will have the reason to save her mainly because she is beautiful. I''m different though, the reason I saved her is because she is like me."


    "Like you?"


    The two girls was confused as they did not understand how he could say that.


    "Yep, we''re birds of the same feathers you see. I just said it right? I''m a person that had no ce to belong to before the outbreak. Mei''er is the same."


    "How can you be sure about that?"


    Pa asked and Ange had the same question.


    "You don''t believe me?"


    Mark raised an eyebrow towards the two girls.


    "If you don''t believe me, you can ask her."


    The two girls looked at Mei and asked.


    "Mei, is what he said true?"


    Mei did not immediately answer, she wiped her tears with her hands first before she nodded.


    Seeing her nod made the two girls surprised. This beautiful girl actually felt that she don''t have a ce to belong to? It was kind of hard for the two to ept.


    "Can you tell us the reason?"


    Pa tried to probe further. As Mark also wanted to know, he also asked her.


    "Mei''er, I also wanted to know your reason but if it''s not convenient for you, it''s also fine."


    Mei looked at her Gege then at Pa and Ange. She started speaking.


    "I was born in a business family. Have you heard of Xiao Industries? My family was the founder and the major shareholder of thatpany."


    The three was surprised. Xiao Industries was one of thergest engineering, construction andnd developmentpany in the country. It was the major general building contractor of the government before the outbreak.


    Thatpany was a veryrge one. They did not expect that the princess of thatpany was the beautiful girl in front of them.


    "If your family is that rich, shouldn''t you be happy living in riches."


    Ange asked with the shock in her face apparent. And to her question, Mei reacted negatively and looked down.


    "Yes, we are rich but I never had any good rtion with them. From the time I remember, it was the maids who took care of me the most. And for my family,  I''m just a tool for expanding their business."


    Hearing that, Mark and Pa immediately understood it was amon circumstance for nobles, rich and influential people. Mark then spoke.


    "So, your duty is to marry someone your family chose for you right?"


    Mei nodded in reply.


    "Gege, did you see Henry- the dead student in the cinema when you saved me?"


    "He is the one huh?"


    "What are you two talking about?"


    Pa interjected and Mark replied to her question.


    "You two did not see him but there is a dead student there in the cinema dumped in thest row of chairs. The gangsters should be the ones who killed him. What Mei is saying is that student was the fianc¨¦ arranged by her family."


    Mei nodded to confirm what Mark said and continued.


    "He is the son of one of our family''s richest business partners. Still, that person was a lecher. I knew that he had other women despite being arranged by our families. He also tried advances of me many times but he can''t force me to do what I don''t want because of my family. Furthermore, he bought all of my friends for them to push me to him."


    Dumbfounded, Ange and Pa looked at each other.


    "If I were to choose, I''d rather have my freedom than the riches of my family. Because I''m rich, I had no real friends. Those who tried to befriend me are those who were after the personal connections they can make and those who were paid by Henry. Most men were only after my looks, and their eyes were always looking at me like I''m naked."<sub> </sub>


    Right now, there was a tinge of resentment in her voice.


    "Then, that happened to me. It was Henry''s fault."


    She started crying again and her tears carried heavier weight.


    "Those boys¡­ Those gangsters had been eyeing me for some time already."


    Mark was surprised.


    "I had been seeing them for thest week hanging around the convenience store outside my school. Every time they saw me, they looked like drooling dogs. I just let them be since I had my guards and driver every time I go home from school. I did not expect I would encounter them in the mall when I and Henry were being chased by a Biter. I didn''t want to go with them but Henry pulled me and I can''t do anything. Then- Then¡ª"


    Mark pulled Mei into his embrace and let her cry on his shoulder. He patted her back before looking at the two girls who already stood up wanting to stop her from speaking anymore andfort her.


    "I did not expect that. I should have killed that other guy."


    Mark helplessly sighed but his eyes were filled with killing intent. Pa and Ange already approached Mei and patting her back and shoulder.


    "What do you two think? Is there a ce for her to belong?"


    The two girls could not say anything about it anymore.


    "I haven''t thought that she would have these circumstances."


    Pa droop her shoulders.


    "Still, I understand that her fear of men now was because of the trauma she received but it''s kind of strange how she is too attached to you. I don''t think Mei likes you or something within that. I also don''t think she will behave like that even if you was the one who saved her."


    "Maybe, it''s because of what I said to her."


    "What did you say?"


    "When I saved her, she was already in the estate that she did not care whether she will still live or die. She did not even respond to me when I approached her. So, told her that it''s fine already. Then she somehow recovered a little and started crying. I already thought about it but maybe, Mei''er felt that nothing is fine in her life and I was the one who said the opposite to her."


    Pa looked at Mei who calmed down a little while still in Mark''s embrace. She was listening to what her Gege was saying.


    "Mei, is he right?"


    Mei weakly nodded in reply before she slowly got out of Mark''s embrace red faced.


    "Geez, you''re really a crybaby."


    Mark took out a clean handkerchief from his pocket and wiped Mei''s face. It was lucky that he thought of getting new handkerchiefs from that clothing store.


    "So, that''s the reason you saved her?"


    Pa asked Mark.


    "That''s it, it was because I understand how being like that felt. I also knew the feelings of a person wanting to die you see. I was the same before. If you realized that there is no ce for you to belong in the world, you will start to see that there is no point in living. For me, I also stopped thinking too much about the importance of life be it be mine or others. I managed to thwart myself from the suicidal feelings on my own but not everyone in the same situation would be able to."


    Ange and Pa was dumbfounded, they did not think that it would be that severe. It would be really hard for people to fully understand their feelings and emotion unless they experienced it themselves.


    "Then, how did you take yourself away from wanting to die."


    "I became an Otaku and a gamer."


    "What?!"


    "You see, I immerse myself in the plot and eagerly wanting to finish the story be it be Anime, Light Novels or Video Games. There, most anime had stories that were not concluded easily and novels even more. I needed to wait for the stories to conclude or I won''t be satisfied before dying. Well, in summary, it''s just Escapism."


    Mark casually finished his sentence while shrugging his shoulders which made the two girls feel bitter. Still, Pa was satisfied with his answers and how honest he had been.


    "It should be time for your next question right?"


    Mark asked. Then, Pa turned serious once more as she asked her next question.


    "Yes. For the next question. This one, I really want you to answer."


    "I can''t back out?"


    "Please answer it since I''m really curious about it and it might affect our interactions in the future."


    "That''s kind of heavy isn''t it? Okay, I''ll try to answer."


    Pa breathed in and out deeply.


    "Are you a Psychic? Can you read minds of people?"


    Mark was surprised. He did not expect her to ask this question.

 Chapter 45 Empath

    Mark was surprised about the question Pa asked him. Nevertheless, his shock did not appear on his face.


    On the contrary, Mei had almost forgotten her sad feelings as she turned to Pa in shock while Ange looked at her friend incredulously.


    "Pa? You''re not sick right?"


    Ange could not help but ask as she put her hand on Pa''s forehead. However, Pa just let Ange did what she was doing and kept on staring at Mark seriously.


    "I didn''t expect you to ask something like that."


    Mark said with a bitter smile.


    "It may sound ridiculous but I noticed it since the time you saved us. You''ve been predicting things and even answering our questions before we could even say anything. Also when you told us why you saved us earlier, how do you know that I was about to give up that time? It bugged me too much. Just now, you knew that Mei is the same as you are but it''s obvious that she hasn''t told you about it before."


    Pa finally removed Ange''s hand on her forehead and continued.


    "You also said that you have something to deal with your Paranoia. The main symptoms of Paranoia are about distrust and anxiety towards other people. Major part of this is because no one could predict what is in the minds of other people. There, one of the possible ways you could deal with it is being able to read people''s minds."


    What she said made Mark scratch his head.


    "So, I made a blunder don''t I? Well, I didn''t think anyone would notice. So, will you three keep it a secret?"


    The three girls stared at him. Did Mark mean that what Pa said was true?


    "You really can read minds?!"


    Ange asked in shock.


    "Well¡­"


    Mark dragged his reply before smirking.


    "No."


    The three girls felt that they were being yed with, especially Pa. It was because she knew that he was not lying when he denied it!


    Then, how can he? She knew that what she observed of him was not wrong. However he did not lie when he answered.


    "Seriously, don''t be at such a loss. You''re even making that face."


    Pa heard Mark''s voice when she was thinking deeply. And there it was again. He just said out loud what she was feeling right now. Pa was making a sullen face as she looked at Mark. When she saw his face that looked like he just seeded with his prank, she felt angry.


    Knowing that Pa was feeling angry, Mark decided to stop ying.


    "Alright, alright. Since you are the very first person to take initiative to know and ask about me, consider it as your prize. But the three of you should promise first. It''s not like I''m really hiding it but there''s really no advantage for everyone to know. So, you girls have to keep it a secret."


    Seeing that he was finally serious, Pa nodded and promised to keep whatever he wanted to confess a secret. For Mei, she would unconditionally agree with him while Ange also nodded.


    "I don''t have such profound ability to read minds."


    "Then, how did you?"


    "Have you girls heard about emphatic people?"


    Ange and Mei had a nk looks on their faces while Pa came into a realization.


    "You''re an Empath?"


    "Yes, and a severe case of it. You can also say that this is both the reason for my personality disorder and a method to deal with my Paranoia."


    "I see."


    Pa nodded.


    "Hey Pa, Mei and I can''t catch up with you two. What does Empath mean?"


    Mei nodded as Ange asked that question to Pa.


    "It''s not really amon topic so it''s not surprising that you two can''t keep up. You see, Empaths or empathic people are people who are highly sensitive to emotions of people around them. There are other things but that''s the main idea."


    Pa turned back to Mark.


    "What do you mean by a severe case?"


    "You just said it, we are highly sensitive to emotions of people around us but how far does ''around'' mean? I don''t know about others but I mine can reach up to dozens of meters away. Remember how far you two are from the central area when I ran over to save you? Do you think that it can be described as just ''around''? I can even feel other people''s emotions through walls urately."


    Mark breathed deeply and closed his eyes a bit before continuing.<sub> </sub>


    "I can even distinguish people using the emotions absorb. Like now, there is something strange happening just below us. It should be Uncle Bernard and Calvin. It''s likely that they would be looking for us soon."


    "That makes sense doesn''t it? Just by urately knowing people''s emotions, what they are thinking can be predicted just going by intuition and clues."


    Pa voiced her assumption.


    "That''s right."


    Mark affirmed what she just said.


    "But, don''t Empaths get drained by negative emotions of people? Then you¡­"


    "You think I don''t? Just with how negative the emotions of the people inside give me the urge to kick them all out. If Mei''er did not wake up on her own earlier then I would have done it myself and pulled her up here."


    Mark looked helpless.


    "Gege, what do you mean by getting drained by negative emotions?"


    Mei asked in concern.


    "You see, when people around me are feeling negative, the examples are sadness, anxiety and anger, I get exhausted easily like my body was being drained with energy and mine is even faster thanmon empaths."


    "Then I¡­"


    Mei started to feel down as she felt that she was putting wood on the fire that was Mark''s concerns.


    "That''s right. So you better start to cheer up already or I really will have a hard time with you crying every time."


    Sensing her emotions, Mark patted Mei''s head gently.


    "Yes¡­"


    Then Mark looked at the Ange and Pa who looked like they had been forcefully fed with something sweet and told another fact of his life.


    "Actually, I being an Empath was one of the reasons for my job hopping back then. Every time I get used to my work, my co-workers would start to feel negative towards me and starts to alienate me. The feeling was just suffocating not to mention that I was already exhausted absorbing all the emotions of people around me while I ammuting to work."


    "But why would they alienate you?"


    Ange asked in confusion.


    "Well, one of my best qualities is that I''m a very fast learner. In every work I tried, I can grasp everything that I needed to learn in a very short time and start producing results that even my bosses praise me for."


    "But what is wrong with that?"


    Ange asked again but this time, it was Pa who answered her question.


    "If he learns fast and produced results in a short period of time, then the older workers would start feeling jealous of his achievements. They will start to resent him for taking up the limelight and thus, alienating him."


    "That''s right."


    Mark confirmed what Pa just said.


    "That''s just harsh."


    Mei muttered feeling aggrieved because of her Gege''s past experience.


    "Well, this ends that question right?"


    Mark asked making Pa nod. Mark then continued.


    "Well, I don''t understand why you said that it would affect our future interactions though."


    "It''s just I don''t know how would I face someone who would be able to read what I am thinking."


    "Hmm¡­ you don''t have to worry about me though. I have no interest in what people think as long as I''m not included in it."


    Pa smiled and replied.


    "That''s true I guess. Just with your Personality disorder, I don''t need to worry too much."


    "It''s quite strange that it''sing from you though considering that you''re a walking Lie Detector Test."


    Mark smirked.


    Pa did not reply anymore and just let out a bitter smile. She knew that she managed to observe and make guesses about his ability but that did not mean that he could not do the same to her. She just kept her silence to affirm what he said.

 Chapter 46 Sudden Situation

    "What''s the next one?"


    Mark urged Pa.


    "This should be thest. I just want to know the real reason you saved us."


    "Thest huh? Then after this one, you two should also answer my questions alright?"


    Pa nodded as response to his question.


    "Well, let me tell you something first. For me, there are three kinds of people who help others. First are the selfless ones. They just help people unconditionally just because the wanted to help. Second are those who wanted to be heroes. They help and save people to fulfill their ego and be revered by the people they saved. The third are those with other motives. That''s self-exnatory I think.


    Which of the three kinds do you think am I?"


    Mark asked which Pa replied without hesitation.


    "The third."


    Mark nodded.


    "That''s right. I saved you two because I had other motives."


    Mark then looked at Ange incredulously.


    "What are you doing?"


    Ange was now hugging her body while backing up on her seat and looked at Mark like she was looking at someone who would eat her.


    Her ear was then harshly pinched and pulled by Pa.


    "Ahhhh! That hurts!"


    "That''s for not taking things seriously."


    "But he had other motives for saving us!"


    "Yes, he had other motives but I don''t think he had that ''motive''!"


    Pa sighed at her airheaded friend. Ange on the other hand looked sullen. It was embarrassing for her to get her ear get pinched and pulled in front of other people.


    "Sorry about Ange. Can you say your motive now?"


    "Well, it''s nothing much really. I just want some people who could guard my back without stabbing me when I turn around."


    The two of them was surprised.


    "If you want some people to guard your back, why did you choose us?"


    "Because of all the people I saw in the mall, only you two had a different reaction towards the zombies. I just said that I''m an Empath and I never had felt the fear of zombies from the two of you."


    The two girls contemted as Mark continued.


    "Pa, you were giving up that time not because you were afraid of the zombies but because it was truly hopeless in that situation. As for Angeline, she was never afraid. She was running and pulling you that time because the two of you were outnumbered.


    At times like this, it was easy for people to turn their back on others even if they are their loved ones. The main root of it was fear and yet, you two only have a speck of it. And you two showed fear but not because you two were scared of the zombies but rather, you feared losing people and the danger that the zombies bring."


    When Mark finished, the two came to a realization. They did not really noticed much of their own emotions back then but now that Mark said it, they realized that what he was saying were true.


    It shows how true that there were times that other people knew you more than yourself.


    "Satisfied now? You know, I have my circumstances and prefer to be alone most of the time but I''m not an idiot. Even if I can move and deal with things myself, I can''t do everything on my own. And unlike the others below who could only cry and shiver from fear, I wouldn''t suffer too much mental exhaustion because of you two."


    Ange and Pa looked at each other with a bitter smile. They could not think of any reason to deny what he just said. There were times that they also felt sad and down earlier but unlike others who would dwell on it too much, the two of them could adapt and recover faster. Still, most of it was Mark''s efforts though.


    Then, the two girls nodded at each other and face Mark.


    "Since you trust us to watch your back, then we promise not to let you down."


    Pa said and Ange showed a resolute expression.


    "Alright, thanks. Then, can I ask my questions now?"


    Mark smiled but his smile now looked refreshed, different from his usual clouded and bitter smile.


    "Yes. You answered all my questions so you can also ask."


    "Hmm¡­ My questions are just about the backgrounds of you two since you two don''t seem to be simple people either. Another is about your own ability, Pa."


    "Nothing else?"


    "Nothing else. Just knowing your backgrounds should be enough for me to gauge the answers to some minor questions."


    "Okay. We''ll tell you about our families then."


    Pa was about to start but Mark turned his head towards the west wing of the mall.


    Mark sighed.


    "Just tell meter, they need us below."


    The three girls were surprised.


    "Did something happen?"


    Ange asked with worry.


    "I can''t read minds remember?"<sub> </sub>


    "I know! But you can at least guess a little right?"


    Mark stood up and prepared to go back. They readied their things and left together.


    "Do you have any idea?"


    Pa asked Mark as they walked.


    "Not much, it''s just about what I told you earlier, Uncle Bernard seemed to be confused and anxious right now. Calvin is the same and they are together with the other employees. The other is Mrs. Reyah. It should be about her daughter since she seemed restless."


    The countenance of the three girls changed. Did it mean that something happened to Sariya?


    Mark closed his eyes for a bit to concentrate and spoke after opening his eyes.


    "Sariya seemed to be¡­ In pain?"


    "Why are you not sure?!"


    "It''s harder for me to read and detect emotions of children. I don''t know why but I might be because their emotions are very much lighter than of adults. Anyways, let''s hurry."


    Mark and the three girls picked up the pace and left towards the west wing. For Mark, he might not care about other people but nicely raised children were different.


    ***


    They just entered the emergency door after going down thedder and they immediately bumped into Bernard who was about to go out. Worry was visible on the face of the old man along with a tinge of confusion.


    "Uncle Bernard, what''s wrong?"


    Pa asked and Bernard faced Mark immediately.


    "I was looking for you Mark. We already put the Biter and Eater you caught in a room but there are issues with the Fat Mutant."


    Mark was surprised.


    "What happened?"


    "It''s better for you to see."


    Bernard then led the four towards the corridor on the south wing.


    They reached the barricade Mark built before but now, the barricade was reinforced and looked stronger. Still, the appearance of the barricade did not register in their eyes as they were all focused on the view beyond the barricade.


    Calvin, Joseph and Fernan were also there along with several employees watching and guarding the ce. However, Joseph was less spirited and did not dare to look at Mark.


    Mark looked over the barricade and saw the disgusting Fat Mutant that looked even more horrifying now.


    The Fat Mutant looked half of its body bigger and the parts of its body that were filled with fat looked like swelling. Large blisters already appeared on some parts of its body. There was also a faint fume being released around it.


    Sniffing the air, there was also a tinge of disgusting smell. He was worried at first that it would dangerous but looking at the other people here, it should be fine. Mark then realized.


    Mark knew this smell.


    "What''s this smell?"


    It seemed that the girls also noticed the smell.


    Mark looked towards the men and said with all seriousness.


    "Don''t try to light anything mmable."


    "You also knew this smell? Don''t worry I already told the others about that. I also did not let anyone approach since the stench gets stronger when we''re closer to that guy there."


    Calvin spoke and Mark nodded at him.


    "Gege, what is this smell? It smells like rotten eggs."


    Mei who was beside Mark hiding from the men around them asked.


    "It should be methane isn''t it?"


    Pa said while pinching her nose. Mark nodded in confirmation.


    "It seems we can''t keep that guy anymore."


    Mark said and he readied his crossbow. The people around him saw his crossbow and could not help but feel amazed. Just where he found such a cool looking bow!


    "Everyone, get back. We don''t know what will happen after killing that pig there but we needed to be careful."


    Everyone did not question him and started retreating away from the barricade. Mark and the three girls did the same.


    Mark aimed his crossbow from afar calcting the angle he should shoot.


    He aimed for a bit and concentrated wanting to hit the head. He pulled the trigger and released the crossbow bolt.


    Unexpectedly, the Fat Zombie moved and the bolt that supposed to have hit its head hit its back. Then¡­


    BAM!!! SPLAT!


    A loud sound which sounded like a balloon made of flesh popping up echoed across the corridor as an explosion of blood, human flesh and guts ensued.


    Luckily, they retreated or else, they would have been showered with all those disgusting mess. The pieces of flesh from the Fat Mutant even flew over the barricade which was seven meters away from the body.


    Mark stared at the corridor. Though he expected that guy to explode, he did not expect it to be this devastating. Blood sprayed in arge radius and chunks of flesh scattered about. He was also sure that the sound made by its body exploding might have attracted zombies to this ce.

 Chapter 47 Emergency

    While everyone was looking at the aftermath of the Fat Mutant''s body explosion, a wave of stinky gas assaulted their noses. Everyone immediately retreated by reflex until they could barely smell the stench.


    "Everyone alright?"


    Bernard asked in concern while looking around.


    "I''m fine, just a little nauseous."


    One of the employees replied which was followed by the reply of others. Most of them felt nauseous and some coughed hard but overall everyone is fine.


    Pa who was also coughing said.


    "It looked simr to that Boomer in Left 4 Dead."


    "Yeah."


    Ange replied with a knitted face. Mark was surprised that these two girls knew something like that. It was very rare for girls in this country to y these kinds of game genres after all.


    "It''s only simr is the way its body exploded. Everything else is different. It was also releasing methane from its body, just think what will happen if someone were to shoot it with a gun."


    Everyone became serious when Mark said that. He then turned to the employees and ordered them.


    "Keep watch here and don''t let anyone light any kind of fire or spark nearby. Wait until the gas dissipates."


    After the employees nodded, Mark turned around to leave together with the girls. It was then that Bernard spoke to Mark.


    "Wait! Reyah is looking for you too. Her daughter had a fever and it''s kind of high."


    "We know."


    Mark then left the bewildered Bernard. They knew? Bernard could not make out how they would know that.


    The four immediately went back inside the TechZone and into the store there Reyah and her daughter was staying. What they saw Reyah inside looking very worried beside the table where her daughter was sleeping. They could also see Sariya with a wet cloth on her forehead while breathing heavily.


    When Mark arrived at the door of the store, Reyah immediately looked at the door and her worried face brightened a little bit. She stood up and approached the Mark in a hurry.


    "Thank goodness. You arrived."


    "How is her fever?"


    Mark asked making Reyah look at her sleeping daughter before turning back to Mark.


    "It''s high. When my daughter slept this afternoon, her temperature started to rise slightly. I didn''t think that her fever would re up after the sun set"


    "Is she your first child? I don''t think you would be worried like this if she''s not."


    Reyah nodded to Mark embarrassed. Mark then entered the store and touched Sariya''s neck with the back of his right hand.


    "It''s normal for fever to re up during the night. I think it should be the effect of her being thrown away from your arms earlier."


    "What do you think?"


    Ange asked while Pa also tried to feel the child''s temperature and it made her eyes turn wide. Pa then voiced her concern.


    "Isn''t this dangerous?"


    "It is. I think it''s too high for a child her age to endure."


    Mark replied and turned to Reyah.


    "You did not find medicine for her?"


    "I tried asking everyone but no one had any. I also don''t think that medication for adults can be suitable for my daughter''s age."


    Mark nodded. It seemed that Reyah studied a few things when she became a mother. At least, she really valued her daughter. Nowadays, it would not be surprising that there were mothers who knew nothing about raising a child and did not have the initiative to learn either despite the fact that there was the inte present to feed their knowledge. What most mother''s whock knowledge do was to cut off a part from a tablet for adult medication and feed it to their children. It was not suitable for most cases of sick children.


    Pa also looked solemn. Sariya''s temperature was too high. It could lead into severeplications if not addressed quickly. She looked at Mark appealing to do something.


    "Pa is it really bad?"


    Seeing her friend''s expression, Ange could not help but worry.


    "Yeah, it''s bad. If her temperature continues to rise, she might¡­"


    Pa replied to Ange but did not dareplete her sentence in front of Reyah.


    "Looks like we will need to visit the first floor."


    Mark said in all seriousness.  Mark then turned to Reyah.


    "What is your daughter''s exact age?"


    "Sariya is 4 years and about 5 months old."


    Reyah calcted for a bit and replied.


    "Alright, stay here and take care of your daughter. I''ll prepare for a bit and go to find medicine for her."<sub> </sub>


    Hearing what he said, Reyah''s desperate heart found some hope. She grabbed Marks arm and profusely thanked him.


    "Thank you! Thank you! I don''t really know what to do."


    Mark nodded and pulled her hands away from his arm gently.


    "I''ll get someone to bring clean water. Wipe Sariya''s body to keep her temperature as lower as possible."


    "Yes!"


    Mark, Mei, Ange and Pa went to the store where Mark set up his base and saw James who was using theptop in front of the chair. When James saw Mark, he immediately stood up and called.


    "Boss!"


    The way James called out to Mark made Ange and Pa stared at him with inconceivable expressions. Knowing what the two girls were feeling, he could only sigh.


    "I have something for you to do."


    "Just tell me what you need and I''ll do it."


    Seriously, this guy was behaving like he was Mark''s subordinate. Mark shook his head and sent him to bring water to Reyah and Sariya and also told him to ask the other survivors if there was anyone who had knowledge of what kind of medicine should be given to four year old children who had fever. James immediately ran off after receiving Mark''s orders.


    Mark knew that it was possible to find the medicine Sariya needed but having someone tell them what to get would make things easier.


    "Gege, you''re really going to the first floor? Isn''t it dangerous?"


    "We have no choice. The only store in this mall that sells medicine is on that floor."


    "Can I go with you?"


    Mark shook his head hearing Mei''s question. He was happy that she was willing to help but with her still having a hard time walking with wide strides, she would not be able to run.


    "No. You''re still not able to run right? Just stay here."


    Mei had a sad expression but obediently nodded.


    "Then I will go with you."


    Ange said with her hands clenched. But to her surprise, Mark still shook his head.


    "You also stay here, bring Mei and help Mrs. Reyah with taking care of her daughter."


    He then turned to Pa and looked at the bow tied to her back.


    "I''ll take you with me this time."


    Knowing what he was thinking as he looked at her bow, Pa nodded.


    "Why? Pa should be better at taking care of others than me!"


    Ange who did not get the meaning of Mark''s gestures started to throw a tantrum. It made Mark smirk.


    "At least you know that you can''t."


    Ange felt perplexed and mad.


    "Ange, we needed to be stealthy this time. He wanted me to apany him because I can use a bow."


    Pa who knew that her friend was being teased again said the reason why. Ange also settled down after knowing the reason.


    "Well, I''m leaving you here primarily to guard Mei so you don''t need to worry about your skills for taking care of people."


    "Why?"


    "You don''t have to bother about the reason. Just guard her and don''t leave her side alright?"


    Mark said it too seriously that he made Ange nod by reflex.


    "Also let Pa borrow your armor."


    Ange made a reluctant face for a bit before nodding.


    Even if she just showed that face for a bit, Mark felt the fluctuation of her emotions.


    "I see, that armor is more important that your friend huh?"


    "Wha--! No it''s not! I-! YOU!"


    Ange replied flustered but she realized it after seeing Mark''s smirk on his face.


    ''THIS GUY IS TEASING ME AGAIN!''


    Ange looked to the side and saw Pa who already turned her back to her shivering. Pa tried her best to hide it but Ange still saw that her friend was giggling at her antics.

 Chapter 48 Embarking Onto The Mission

    ? 6:42 PM ¨C City Mall Bacoor West Wing, TechZone


    Mark and the three girls strode back to the store Reyah was in to check on her daughter''s condition before going out. Mark and Pa were already wearing armors and fully equipped with weapons and a sports backpacks.


    When they entered the store, Bernard and Calvin were also there. The two men looked at Mark''s group with stern expressions and approached them. Bernard then asked.


    "You young''uns are going to find medicine for her?"


    "Just me and Pa, Mei and Ange are going to stay."


    "Just the two of you?  Isn''t it dangerous?"


    "No, well just sneak along the way and avoid attracting zombies too much. Its more easier to do that with fewer people."


    Bernard nodded hearing what he said. Then, Mark continued.


    "Still, we need two more people to guard the stairwell after we clear it of zombies."


    "Then, Fernan and James should be able to do that."


    "No, I need James to guard my things on that store so we should get another one."


    "Alright."


    "By the way, I want to ask you two for help."


    Calving raised his eyebrow and asked.


    "Help for what?"


    "Mei and Angeline will be staying here, if possible, immediately assist Angeline if something happens."


    The men''s brows knitted hearing what he said.


    "What do you mean?"


    "Nothing much, just what I said. Angeline already knows what she needs to do and you two just need to assist her."


    As Mark did not want to borate further, the two men did ask anymore and nodded.


    Mark approached Reyah who was wiping her daughter''s body with a wet handkerchief. Sariya''s fever was still high and her temperature was still rising but it was not as fast as before. It should give them enough time to go down, find the medicine and run back. Mark assured the mother once more and left.


    Mei and Ange would stay here in the TechZone but they still insisted on apanying Mark and Pa until they enter the stairwell on the west side of the mall. Bernard and Calvin already found Fernan and another employee, who was familiar with Mark. It was the woman who was together with James when they got shut out from the TechZone. Apparently she was also the one James found that knew about what kind of medicine they needed to find.They also followed together with Mark''s group.


    When they went out of the store, Mark saw James going their direction when he was just to look for him. He had two phone-like gadgets on his hands.


    "Boss!"


    "You have good timing. I''m just about to look for you."


    "Is that so? You need me to guard the store again?"


    "That''s right."


    "No worries Boss, I''ll guard it with my life!"


    Mark rolled his eyes at him.


    "Oh, right. Boss, here."


    James handed the phone-like gadgets to Mark. Mark and Ange''s eyes lit up after he received the gadgets. The gadgets were actually two-way radios!


    Mark knew this model. It should be the BF-F8HP radios made by Baofeng.


    "Boss, I figured out that you will need this so I brought it from the store that we just pried open. I already configured so it''s ready to use. The batteries aren''t fully charged though."


    "You know how to configure this?"


    James scratched his head.


    "No boss, I don''t. I just followed the manual."


    "Alright, thank you. I''ll leave the store to you again."


    Mark and his group parted with James who was going back to guard the shop. It did not take long for them to reach the double door leading to the stairwell which was nearby the backdoor of the arcade center. Along the way, they saw some employees cleaning the corridor and mopping the blood on the floor. They also tested the radios which made Mark satisfied.


    Mark gave one of the Radios to Ange making her beam with a lively smile.


    "Remember not to contact us using the Radio unless it''s an emergency."


    Mark strictly reminded her.<sub> </sub>


    "I already know! I don''t want Pa to fall into danger because of me!"


    "Well, your face tells me that you can''t wait to y with it."


    "Gah!"


    The others with smiled bitterly as they saw the two bickering.


    "Ange, you remember your duty right?"


    Pa interjected between the two.


    "Of course! It''s not like you don''t know me."


    "Alright."


    Pa nodded.


    "Be careful down there."


    "I will."


    The two friends hugged each other.


    On the other side, Mei was already embracing Mark. There were not many words between them but they knew what each other was thinking. Mark patted Mei''s head.


    "I just did it once and you''re already getting engrossed with it huh."


    Mei did not reply and just buried her head on his chest despite the armor he was wearing.


    "Gege, be careful."


    "Alright. You too."


    Mei nodded her head and reluctantly parted with Mark.


    Mark looked at the others. He then shook his head with a bitter smile. It was because with the exception of Ange, they all turned their head away in a synchronized manner.


    "You two should get a room."


    Ange teased¡­


    "What? You want to join?"


    Only to receive a counter attack.


    "I DON''T!"


    "Anyways, I gave you a task. Do it properly."


    Mark seriously said and Ange nodded.


    The employees were confused about the subject of their talk so they just watched them.


    Mark readied his machete on his right hand and held the crossbow on his left. Pa had also drawn her bow. The employees removed the things that jammed the door from opening and opened it slowly.


    Under the gazes of the people in the corridor, Mark and Pa silently walked through the door. The employees closed the door afterwards not making any noise.


    After the two entered the stairwell, Mark immediately peered over the railings and looked both up and down. He checked whether there were zombies lurking and found several lurking at the flight of stairs below. When he looked down in the middle of the stairwell, he could see a mangled body below which gender could not be recognized and arge stter of blood on the floor under it.


    That person must have fallen over the railings and fell to death. Who knows whether the person was still alive of not when he or she fell.


    Mark keenly observed the idling zombies. He then aimed his crossbow. He knew that he was not a professional sniper especially since the crossbow bolts and arrows were highly affected by gravity after a certain distance still, he was sure he could aim urately at this range.


    SWOOSH!


    He pulled the trigger. The bolt flew diagonally downwards and pierced a hole at the right side of the zombie''s parietal bone. The zombie slumped unto the wall and slowly fell down.


    Mark reloaded the crossbow and aimed at another one with high concentration and released the bolt. The second bolt pierced the other zombie''s forehead. The zombie was forced to step back and leaned on the wall before falling down.


    They then slowly moved down the stairs positioning themselves correctly before shooting several zombies. If a zombiees near, Mark will sh it with his machete.


    He did the same a few times more while Pa watched behind him with bright eyes. She could see what he was doing exactly. Mark was picking off the Biters and he timed his shots so that the force from the bolt would make the dying Biters stick to the wall before falling down. This way he was reducing the noise made by the falling bodies a lot.


    Mark looked around some more and then raised his hand and waved it forward twice. The two of them moved and Mark shed every zombie that was left on the way down.


    Pa followed behind Mark in amazement. All the zombies he used his machete on was all Eaters along will all the remaining zombies on the stairwell.

 Chapter 49 Stealth Chatting

    7:01 PM ¨C City Mall Bacoor, West Wing Service Corridors, First Floor


    After killing all the zombies within the stairwell, Mark called Fernan and the female employee who was apparently called E. They jammed the doors that led to the second floor and stayed to guard the doors at the first floor.


    Mark and Pa stealthily walked into the service corridors of the first floor. There were zombies within the corridor but as Mark expected, there were lesser numberpared to other parts of the mall. It was a given since only employees had ess to the service corridors and there were even more people in themon popce who did not know the existence of it. The main evidence to what he thought was that most of the zombies lurking in the corridor were wearing uniforms issued to employees of the stores in the mall.


    The two kept their distance from the zombies and silently felled them using their bows. Mark felt somehow d as he saw that Pa killing the zombies without hesitation. She was above Ange in this regard.


    As Mark could not make the zombies lean on the wall as they died in a straight corridor, it was expected by Mark that they would attract some zombies towards them albeit small in numbers. During the times like those, especially when the attracted ones were Biters, Mark would go in front and deal with the zombies in melee and Pa would support from behind. Mark could not help but admire Pa''s marksmanship as she urately shot the zombies on their heads without identally hitting him.


    While they were cleaning the ce and collecting the arrows and bolts from the dead bodies, Pa casually started a conversation though they kept their voices to a minimum.


    "Do you like Mei?"


    "Where did thate from so suddenly?"


    "You know, you two act like lovers."


    Mark sighed and shot an approaching Eater piercing the zombie in its right eye.


    "I can''t say that I do. It''s nothing more than knowing each other''s hardships and giving and taking what we needed from each other."


    "I think, she likes you though, and don''t you think she''s beautiful? You don''t seem to be attracted to her."


    Pa pulled the string of her bow and shot an idling Biter piercing its left temple.


    "Well, she does have feelings towards me, I can''t deny that but the most of those feelings contain dependence rather than liking me. And she''s really is beautiful. Anyone with the right eyesight would say so. Still, my tastes in a woman don''t rely on the outer appearance but inner appearance. I also want someone who can cook and do house chores properly. I''ll ask you, could a princess do those?"


    Pa choked and missed her next shot. Luckily, the noise made by the arrow hitting the wall drew the attention of the zombie away from them.


    "Be careful."


    "Just whose fault is it? Mei is going to have a hard time if she falls for you."


    "If that would really happen then it would also benefit her a lot if she learn those things at this situation we are in."


    Pa smiled bitterly behind her helmet as she could not refute what he said.


    "Well, I''m not really an attractive person so I think, I can''t be choosy. If she really falls in love with me, then I''ll just teach her what she needed to know."


    Pa looked at him incredulously. He actually called epting the love of a beautiful girl "not being choosy"?


    "By the way, how did you notice that I can tell whether the person is lying or not?"


    Mark looked at her and replied.


    "Well, I noticed it at the time I was telling those lies. Your emotions fluctuate every time I lied you know that? I racked my brains about it for a bit and concluded that you might have an ability to see through lies. So, you''re telling me about it now?"


    Pa nodded as she pulled the arrow out of the zombie''s head she shot earlier.


    "I inherited this ability from my mother. The only ability I have is to detect whether the person in front of me is lying or not. As you said earlier, I''m just a walking lie detector, same as my mother.  My mother work as a private investigator you see. And she is a sessful one."


    "Any investigator with that kind of ability will be sessful no?"


    "I guess you''re right about that."


    "Well, what I want to know the most is about Angeline. She knew martial arts and it''s obvious that she have great interest towards guns, weapons and anythingbat rted. That is not something you can see on a normal girl."


    "She got this hobby from her father. Her father works for the military you see."


    "Well, that exins it I guess. What''s her father''s position?"


    "A general."


    "Seriously?"


    Pa nodded.


    The two of them arrived at the end corner of the corridor. Mark looked at the situation while peeking through the corner using apact mirror. There were more zombies but the numbers were not threatening as long as they did not attract all of them in one go.


    Mark crouched at the corner and shot the head of the nearest zombie immediately killing it.<sub> </sub>


    "To think that she is a daughter of a general, maybe, we can call and make the military send rescue faster."


    "What do you mean?"


    To Pa''s question, Mark borated how he contacted the military and the situation for the rescue.


    "To think that you already did that, yet, did not tell us."


    "Well, my apologies. Many things are happening and I forgot."


    "If we could really contact Ange''s father then they would really rescue us sooner."


    When Mark heard her say "us", he became stiff and smiled wryly inside his helmet.


    Pa of course noticed the change in his actions and asked.


    "Is something wrong?"


    "Nothing."


    Pa furrowed her brows. He was lying again. Well, Mark noticed her emotion fluctuate.


    "You don''t have to be like that. It''s really nothing for now. Well, I might ask you and Angeline a favorter though."


    "You won''t tell me now?"


    "Later alright? Later."


    The two proceeded on killing the zombies and carefully walked through the corridor. The store that sells medicine should be found through one of the doors at the end of this corridor.


    They fell into a predicament once when a zombie Pa shot identally hit a trolley making a loud noise and attracting quite a number of Biters. Mark was almost bitten. However, he skillfully blocked the mouth of the Biter with his armguard.


    This made Pa profusely apologize for the blunder she made.


    But then, Mark signaled Pa to stop.


    "What''s wrong?"


    "I sense people. Two of them."


    "Wow, you could really work as a human detector don''t you? Did you ever think of being a volunteer on rescue missions like earthquakes andndslides?"


    "Nah. I will probably die of mental exhaustion if I stay at aggrieved ces like those."


    "Where are the people you found?"


    "At the next door."


    Pa looked at Mark.


    "You want to help them?"


    "You think I will want to?"


    Pa shook her head. She knew what was going in the mind of this guy. But she was surprised at his next question.


    "Well, what do you want to do, you want to help them?"


    "I do, but you have the call."


    "Hmm. I''ll ept helping them but you can''t deny the favor I will askter."


    "That''s¡­"


    "Don''t worry about it, I won''t ask something impossible. Also, if the two people you want to help attack us with ill intent, I''ll kill them alright?"


    Knowing that Mark could really do that, Pa nodded.


    Arriving in front of the door, Mark carefully knocked.

 Chapter 50 Arriving At The Destination

    7:23 PM ¨C City Mall Bacoor, West Wing Service Corridors, First Floor


    Mark carefully knocked on the door. He knocked only once and even though it was not loud to attract the zombies, it was loud enough to startle the people inside.


    After his knock, he could hear shuffling sounds and a surprised but muffled shriek. Using that knock, Mark gauged the emotional fluctuations of the two people inside. One of the two shrunk in fear while the other was also frightened but had steeled emotions and readied to fight.


    As he finished his assessment, Mark nodded at Pa urging her to call out.


    "Is anyone in there?"


    Pa called out with a slightly loud voice and knocked on the door twice.


    Hearing her shout, Mark detected the change in emotions on the other side of the door. The two inside were happy and excited as they heard a human voice which was different from what they expected.


    The two inside hurriedly shuffled towards the door and opened it with fast and they were surprised to see two people armed with weapons and wearing sci-fi looking armor and helmet of contrasting colors.


    Pa dragged Mark and backed several steps away from the door. Mark felt it was unnecessary but he just let her do so. When the door opened, they saw the two people peek from the side. It was a pair of male and female college students who both wore white uniforms, still the supposed to be clean and white uniforms were stained with splotches and drops of blood.


    The male student had an about over a foot long hatchet stained with blood in his hand as he stared at Mark and Pa vigntly. The female student looked really excited but the male student did not let her go out of the door.


    "Who are you two?"


    The male student asked in a low voice.


    Mark did not speak and just looked at Pa to do the introductions.


    ? "We''re survivors who came down to get medicine. We noticed that there are people inside so we checked it out."


    Hearing what she said, the male student''s vignce lessened. In his mind, he stressed out the clues ''came down'' and ''medicine''. He then asked.


    "Did you two check us out to help us?"


    "That depends, if you needed help, we''ll do and if not, then we''ll leave."


    It was Mark who replied to the student''s question with a detached attitude. Mark then shrugged his shoulders after he saw Pa ring at him.


    The two students that stood by the door did not seem to mind his attitude and a nodded. They walked out of the door. The female student''s vignce was almost none but the male student maintained his caution which made Mark nod.


    The male student looked at Pa and asked.


    "About you just said did the two of youe from the floors above? Are there other people?"


    Pa looked at Mark before replying.


    "He cleared the zombies in arge part of the third floor so we set out camp there along with a number of other people.


    She was not the person to steal someone''s achievement so he told a bit of truth to elevate Mark''s status. Mark felt it was unnecessary and sighed.


    The two students looked at Mark who was donned in ck armor and helmet and equipped with several weapons. With what the woman in white armor said, he was a strong person. Pa then continued.


    "What do you two want to do? We still need to find medicine so you cane with us or you two can just go first to our camp."


    "You two can also hide again inside there and wait for us toe back."


    Mark added.


    "Can''t you lead us to your camp first?"


    The female student asked with unease. The two people who found them were obviously ready and capable of fighting the zombies. She did not want to separate from them in an unsafe ce like this. The male student who seemed to get her meaning felt a little down but did not say anything and just waited for the reply.<sub> </sub>


    "We can''t, our business is urgent. We are already wasting time here talking with you."


    Mark replied and shot an Eater shambling towards them from a distance with his crossbow. The two saw the zombie fell and shuddered. It was then that the male student then spoke while gripping his hatchet.


    "Well follow you. I know that I won''t be too much of help but I can protect the two of us."


    Mark looked at Pa and nodded before turning towards their destination and walked away.


    "Follow us, closely."


    Pa said to the two before following Mark.


    "Are they okay?"


    Pa whispered to Mark.


    "They should be. Still, you owe me a favor now."


    She was worried what kind of favor Mark wanted but still nodded.


    As they passed through the corridor, the two students that were following behind were amazed by the actions of the two. There were almost no zombies that could get close as they were felled stealthily while those that managed toe close was decisively dealt by the man in ck armor.


    "What''s the name of you two?"


    Pa asked as she nced behind while pulling an arrow off the head of a dead Biter.


    "I''m Breandan and she''s Julie."


    "Mine''s Pa and that unsocial guy there is Mark."


    Mark who pulled a crossbow bolt from the head of a dead Eater turned his head at Pa. He did not say anything and just faced the opposite direction. He walked forward and hacked the legs of another Eater making it fall down of the floor and hacked its neck several times. Mark was not using his other ability right now so the power on his swings was a little weaker. He needed about two to three swings topletely hack off an Eaters neck.


    While it was just normal for him, his actions made the others feel that he was displeased somehow.


    Finally, after some struggle, the group arrived in front of a double door that was connected to the storage of the store that sells medicine. They were sure of it since the door was painted with the logo of the store.


    Mark tried to rotate the doorknob and open the doors but it was locked. Pa also frowned as they did not have any other ess to the store aside from these doors unless they wanted to scour towards the front of the store which was surely overrun by zombies since the storefront of this store was a wide open space.


    Under the gaze of the three, Mark flicked the cover of the belt bag on the back of his waist open and took two oddly shaped tools made with cut out metal sheets. One was a t and straight metal stick with a wavy end while the other was an ''L'' shaped tool.


    Pa was surprised when she saw the tools. She did not expect that Mark also knew how to do these things. When he opened the locked double door in the cinema, he hacked the lock open with a knife but this door had a different kind of lock and as such, he would not be able to use the same method.


    "You also know how to pick locks?"


    She asked Mark out of curiosity.


    "Though I''m d that you have an interest in asking things about myself, don''t you think you''re asking too much?"


    Hearing his reply, Pa did not pursue the topic but she still pouted behind her helmet. If anyone would saw her face right now, she looked like a child denied from buying a doll she wanted.


    Actually, the only reason Mark did not want to tell her was because he learned to pick locks due to an embarrassing reason. It was when he broke the doorknob of the main door of his house that he needed to pick the lock to open it. As he did not have money that time to rece the knob, he needed to pick the lock open every single time he went home after going out.


    CLICK!


    A clicking sound was heard and Mark silently pushed the doors open. After checking that there was no one inside, he signaled for the group to enter.

 Chapter 51 The Girl Stained With Blood

    7:23 PM ¨C City Mall Bacoor, Central Area, First Floor, Batsons Storage Area


    Mark and Pa started checking thebels printed at the boxes inside the storage one by one. There were a lot of boxes stacked over one another with all sorts of products from skincare cosmetics, baby necessities and nutrient supplement drinks to different kinds of medicines.


    "What kind of medicine are you looking for?"


    Breandan asked Pa.


    "Paracetamol for children, the syrup one. That''s the priority. Also other medicine formon diseases just in case."


    "Let us help look for those."


    "Alright."


    The two students also started searching the storage for medicine Pa spoke about.


    "Hey. Breandan right? Use this to store what you find."


    Mark threw his backpack to Breandan and thetter nodded.


    Though it just seemed normal, Pa noticed that Mark had a different reason why he passed his backpack to Breandan. Mark was standing in ce while looking towards the direction of the storefront.


    "Is something wrong?"


    Pa approached him and asked.


    She could not see Mark''s face because of his helmet but right now, his eyebrows were tightly knit.


    Mark did not immediately notice it but when he moved closer to that area near the storefront, he felt it. As he could detect emotions of the people around him, there were times that he could detect unusual emotional fluctuations. It was when the person he detected was dangerous like killers and people high of drugs whose emotions were highly unstable. But right now, he could not fathom what kind of person he was detecting.


    He was sure it was not a zombie as he never detected any emotional fluctuations from them. It was more like the zombies were moving by instinctual urges. The fluctuation he was detecting right now was faint. It made him sure that it was a child. But the strange thing was the emotion he detected from that child.


    Calm.


    The only emotion he could detect was calmness. There was no sadness, no happiness and no fear. It was really strange if it was just a child.


    Mark looked at Pa and spoke.


    "Continue searching for the medicine. I''m going to check something."


    He did not exin to Pa what he was going to check as he did not know how to exin it either. He walked away towards the door that led to the storefront.


    Pa felt strange as he did not exin why. She just followed what he said and continued searching for the medicine.


    Mark leaned his back towards the door and slightly opened it. Using thepact mirror, he looked at the situation outside. He was surprised.


    The storage room had two doors that led to the storefront. The door he opened led towards the enclosed counter where the clerks receive the payments for the products sold. It was also where clerks attend customers who had prescriptions from their doctors and give the medicine they needed like how it was in pharmacies. The only difference from pharmacies was that the area was just enclosed by a long counter table.


    What surprised him was the scene at the area behind the door. There were several mangled zombies of different sizes. He was sure that the bodies were from zombies as there were bites visible on some parts of the bodies along with the other changes of appearance that could only be seen on bodies of zombies.


    He could see some zombies lurking quite a distance outside the counter but the area within the counter had none but the mangled bodies.


    Seeing that the situation within the counter area was safe, Mark crouched down and slowly moved out.


    He then froze.


    Under one of the payment counters, he was a life size doll of a girl with ck wavy below shoulder length hair wearing a red frilled dress. Her pale-light skinned face was stained with red paint and the dress had tears in various ces. The doll sat on the floor with her legs stretched out and she was missing her right shoe.


    Then, the doll looked at him. She was not a doll but a child about five to six years old.


    Though he did not actually thought that she was a doll but her appearance would make anyone think so. If not for the emotional fluctuations he was feeling from her, he would think that he was looking at a ghost.


    Her dress was not red colored and it was not paint that stained her face. The girl looked like she just took a literal bloodbath.


    Mark slowly approached the girl and the girl just watched him calmly. There was no joy seeing a human or cautiousness seeing a stranger. She just calmly watcher him move closer.


    "Who are you?"


    The girl spoke. Her voice was calm and full of innocence.


    "Just someone passing by. Are you alone?"<sub> </sub>


    Mark replied and asked her as he crouched in front of her. He looked around and saw a disy case by the counter and took a packet of wet wipes.


    As he took the packet by the counter, he heard her reply.


    "Mom died. I''m alone now."


    He looked at her and did not know how to react. She just said that her mom died and she was alone but she was still mostly calm as she said those words. The only change was there was a thin thread of loneliness in her voice.


    He tore the pack open and started wiping her face and arms without her consent but the girl did not resist either and just watched him gently removing the blood stains on her body.


    "Did you get bit by the zombies?"


    Mark asked as he was confused with all the bloodstains on her body. To his surprise, the girl raised her right arm and looked at it.


    He wiped the blood on the girl''s arm but he saw no bite which made him really confused. He looked at the girl and he saw the same expression. She looked confused but strange enough that Mark could not detect any change from her emotional fluctuation. She looked confused in the outside but Mark was uncertain about her emotions inside.


    Strange¡­


    "Do you want toe with me? There are other people with me behind that door and in our camp on the floor above."


    The girl stared at Mark for a bit after he said that and nodded.


    "What''s your name?"


    "Abbygale"


    Mark then froze once more.


    It was not because of the girl but he was feeling danger. It was the simr feeling he got after detecting murderous intent from other people.


    If he were to describe the feeling using a video game, it was like hearing random boss fight music without actually seeing the boss!


    He immediately leaned at the counter and took out hispact mirror. He raised it up so he could see the situation at the storefront. Then he saw it.


    "What the hell?"


    Mark murmured.


    What he saw was a humanoid whose head and half of body were covered with ck charred looking thick substance. The substance had several cracks on it. In the cracks, Mark could see a glowing gel like liquid that had the same appearance as a lit charcoal. Its clothes looked melted and there were white patches visible on its skin that was not covered by the ck substance indicating that it was exposed to high temperatures before.


    Mark would have ignored it even if it just happened to pass by but the problem was it was moving towards their direction. He did not know why or how but he was sure that it knew that he and this girl was here. Lucky was that the humanoid was moving in very slow steps. It seemed that the ck substance covering its body was also hindering it from moving faster.


    Another thing was this guy had no eyes. The ce where the eyes were supposed to be was also covered by the thick ck substance!


    He then noticed that there were distortions in the air around that humanoid''s body.


    ''Heat distortions?''


    Then it indicates that this humanoid''s body was burning in high temperatures!


    Mark took out his phone and took few pictures as he aimed his crossbow at the humanoid.


    SWOOSH!


    The bolt swished and hit the forehead of the humanoid. As the bolt drilled into its head, it staggered backwards. And that''s it.


    It did not die as the crossbow bolt did not pierce deep enough due to the thick substance covering its head!


    It was not good. He saw the bolt made of metal on its forehead slowly bend as if being melted and the part of the bolt sticking out of its head fell on the floor with a loud metal sound.


    The zombies around were alerted.


    He looked at the girl under the counter.


    "Hold on tight!"


    Mark then quickly picked up Abbygale into his embrace and bolted towards the storage room.

 Chapter 52 Choked After Returning

    7:31 PM ¨C City Mall Bacoor, Central Area, First Floor, Batsons Storage Area


    Carrying Abbygale, Mark bolted inside the storage and immediately shut the door close.


    Pa and the two students were surprised after the suddenly entered. Pa wanted to ask him what happened first but she was not able to as Mark suddenly spoke with urgency.


    "Found the medicine?"


    "We did. What''s wrong?"


    "Then let''s leave. A new kind of mutant appeared and I didn''t manage to kill it."


    "What?!"


    Pa was surprised. She immediately packed everything and urged the two students who were clueless to help.


    "Mutant? What are those?"


    <o>,m Breandan asked Pa as he closed the bag Mark gave him before.</o>


    "More powerful zombies."


    Those three words shook the students to their core. Just the zombies they encountered before already cost them a lot just to survive and there were more powerful ones?


    "Who is that girl?"


    Pa asked Mark while looking at the girl he was carrying.


    "I found her under the counter outside."


    "Is she what yo-"


    THUMP! THUMP!


    Pa did not manage to finish her question as thumping sounds came from the door Mark just closed.


    "Let''s go!"


    Mark urged the three and bolted out of the storage into the service corridor. Then his eyes dted behind his helmet.


    "What the! Hurry up run!"


    Mark yelled at the three. They heard his shout and nced at the direction he was looking at and they saw arge female zombie running their way. Seeing the zombie, the two students immediately ran away. Pa and Mark also began to retreat.


    Another Fat Mutant!


    Mark did not hesitate anymore.


    "Hold this!"


    Mark threw his crossbow to Pa and pulled the shotgun hanging on his side.


    "Abbygale, cover your ears."


    Hearing what he said, the little girl covered her ears and burrowed her head on Mark''s left shoulder.


    BANG!


    After the Female Fat Mutant passed the door of the store they just exited, Mark shot the leg of the mutant zombie.


    Just like how he dealt with the zombified fat bastard before, he decided to use the body of this Fat Mutant to block the zombies that woulde from that store if they managed to break down the door.


    However, due to his gunshot, the zombies on the other side of the corridor started to flock towards them.


    As they ran away, Mark pulled out the radio James gave him.


    "Angeline are you there! Angeline!"


    [Gege?]


    "Mei''er? Why is the radio with you? Where is Angeline?"


    [Gege, she''s at the entrance of the store. She got wounded.]


    "So, he really attacked? Is she alright?"


    [Yes he attacked. Angeline is fine, she just received a papercut.]


    "Ok, I''ll deal with that guyter. We''re on our way back, tell Angeline to send people to the stairwell and bring things to barricade the door! We''re being chased by zombies right now!"


    [OK! Gege! Be careful!]


    "Alright! Go!"<sub> </sub>


    Mark stored the radio back in his belt with a dark countenance. He was releasing too much killing intent that even Pa and the two students felt shivers on their backs.


    As the radio was loud, Pa also heard what Mei said and she also looked grim.


    Mark wanted to vent his anger right now. If he was not carrying Abbygale, he might have stopped and kill all the zombies behind them.


    He then saw a water dispenser by the side of the corridor. Mark subconsciously activated his Adrenaline Rush and kicked the water dispenser. The dispenser was knocked back about two meters and the water container above it was toppled. The water from the container spread across the floor which made the Biter''s chasing them slip on the floor.


    The three was surprised not by the method Mark used to deter the zombies for some time but to how the slightly heavy dispenser was knocked back at that distance. Just how much strength was needed to do that?


    Feeling the pain in his foot, Mark calmed down a little. He could also feel Abbygale''s arms tightening on his neck the more he felt angry. Now that he calmed down somehow, the girl''s arms also loosened.


    He could not help but feel a little grateful to this girl.


    As Mark and Pa secured this area before, they did not encounter more danger as they ran away and arrived at the door leading to the stairwell.


    Fernan and E opened the door to let them in and Mark urged the two to jam the door shut. The two were surprised that Mark and Pa returned with three more people, still, when they heard the urgency in Mark''s voice, the two immediatelyplied.


    It was then that several employees came down from the third floor carrying heavy stuff to use and barricade the door as per Mark''s instructions.


    ***


    Returning back inside the TechZone, Pa directly went to find Reyah to give her the medicine Sariya needed while Mark carrying Abbygale went to find Ange and Mei. Breandan and Julie on the other hand hugged each other in joy as they managed to survive and find a safer ce to stay.


    Mark also found Mei and Ange at the store Reyah and her daughter was staying making the time separating with Pa worthless. What he saw inside the store where the two girls stayed previously was a tied up man being guarded by an employee. He did not feel dealing with that man right at that moment so he went and look for the two.


    When Mark entered the store, Reyah approached him with gratitude which Mark denied for now as Sariya was just fed with the medicine and it had not taken effect yet.


    Mark looked at Ange whose hand was bandaged. Yes, she got a papercut on her palm but it was quite long.


    Mei on the other hand wanted to hug Mark as he returned but became quite displeased as she was not able to. It was because Mark was still carrying Abbygale in his arms.


    Pa was confused and could not help but ask him.


    "Why don''t you put her down?"


    As he heard her question, Mark removed his helmet with his free hand and put it on a counter while sighing.


    "I wish I could."


    Everyone became confused.


    Ange had an idea and stood up going behind Mark and peered at Abbygale''s face. She then spoke.


    "The girl is sleeping."


    They all became bbergasted, especially Pa. She thought that the girl was just being silent while being carried by Mark. She did not expect that she was sleeping.


    "When did she fell asleep?"


    Pa asked.


    "After I kicked that water dispenser."


    "Aren''t we running at that time?"


    "Well, yeah."


    Mark looked troubled.


    "Then put her down so she can sleep in a better position."


    Ange suggested. Mark then looked at her.


    "Why don''t you try to peel off her arm?"


    Ange became more confused after hearing what he said. She then grabbed the hands of the girl that were locked on Mark''s neck and tried to peel it off. She was surprised.


    She could not remove her hands from him! Just how strong was this girl!


    The girl only looked five or six years old but the strong and battle experienced Ange could not remove the girl off Mark''s neck!


    Still, it looked like what she did had an effect. The girl woke up yawning under the surprised gazes of the women around Mark. Abbygale looked around and ignored their gazes. She then looked at Mark and spoke.


    "Papa, I''m hungry."


    Cough! Cough!


    Mark choked on his saliva.

 Chapter 53 Venting Anger

    ''Just where in the world did thate from?!''


    Mark did not know how to react to being called ''Papa'' by Abbygale.


    ? Everyone who heard Abbygale was surprised at first but as they looked at the rare and precious expression that appeared on Mark''s face, they understood what was happening¡­


    Except Ange¡­


    "She''s you''re daughter?!"


    Everyone looked at her with incredulous expressions. She immediately noticed that everyone was staring at her like she''s an idiot. She flinched.


    "I''m wrong aren''t I?"


    Pa nodded at her airheaded friend.


    Sighing, Mark spoke.


    "I''m not your Papa alright? Don''t you think your real Papa will be sad?"


    Abbygale wisely shook her head.


    "Mommy said that Daddy hate us and left Mommy before I was born. I don''t have a Papa."


    The girl looked straight at Mark''s eyes like piercing into his soul.


    "I want you to be my Papa."


    Mark started to have a headache. Everyone did not know what to think about this girl''s amazing logic. Furthermore, the girl''s brain did not seem to work her age at all!


    "Pfft."


    Ange wasughing at Mark''s predicament.


    They then all heard Abbygale repeat what she said before.


    "Papa, I''m hungry."


    Mark felt defeated.


    "Alright, you should wash up first. You literally bathed in blood."


    Abbygale looked at her clothes and nodded.


    ***


    7:50 PM ¨C City Mall Bacoor, West Wing, TechZone


    Mark stood inside the store where Mei and Ange stayed when he and Pa went to find medicine at the first floor. Behind him was some of the employees along with Bernard and Calvin who he asked to assist Ange earlier.


    After he sent Abbygale with Pa, Ange and Mei to wash up and get clothes and shoes for her at the stores they had been to before, he went to check back this store.


    In front of him was a man who was sitting on the floor gagged and tied up with extension cables. The man was ring at Mark with overwhelming hate that even made Mark feel a slight headache.


    This guy was the man who was arguing with James before. He was the man who lost his wife in the Zombie Massacre that happened here in the TechZone this past noon.


    Why was this man tied up?


    At the time where Mark and Pa were getting ready before finding the Medicine, Mark tasked Ange to protect Mei from this guy as he felt that this guy''s emotions were in turmoil. He was exuding faint killing intent even though this man held it back. As Mark was going away, he predicted the possibility of this guy making a dangerous move.


    And it really happened.


    As the only one left beside Mei was Ange, this guy thought that it was his chance. To most people who did not know Ange, she was just a frail looking girl. Unfortunately for him, he totally underestimated her and got defeated. However, Ange got wounded on her palm since she did not expect that this guy would suddenly take out a butterfly knife during their fight.


    "How is it? You think you can pull that idiotic and unreasonable revenge of yours?"


    Mark spoke and pulled the gag on his mouth away.


    "You f*cker!"


    "Me? Isn''t that you?"


    Mark stared at the man with eyes full of contempt.


    "I already exined what happened earlier right? If you want someone to me about what happened to your wife, me yourself."


    "What did I do wrong? You bastard did not tell us about what would happen! She died because of YOU!"


    "What an idiot."


    "WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!"


    Mark pulled the cor of the man up and dragged him out of the store. He threw him in the middle of the vacant area in front of the store that was already cleaned and looked at Calvin.


    "Remove the cables."


    Calvin looked confused and asked as he removed the cables tying the man.


    "What are going to do?"


    Mark shrugged and replied.


    "Giving him a chance for his revenge."


    Everyone who was watching was surprised.<sub> </sub>


    After the man was untied, he pushed Calvin away and immediately charged towards Mark and unleashed a heavy punch.


    The punch was strong and fast but to Mark who already activated his Adrenaline rush, it was quite slow. With a slight side step, Mark dodged the punch and unleashed a heavy kick on the Man''s stomach making him kneel on the floor in pain.


    "What? Is that the extent of your revenge? How funny, you''re wife died and you can only take revenge on a weak girl? I know you are afraid of me because I had weapons before but I don''t have any right now. You''re that weak and you actually had the guts?"


    Mark started throwing insults.


    The man heard Mark''s insults and was burning in anger inside but he could not say anything back as the kick he received was too painful that it started to churn his stomach.


    Seeing that the man was about to vomit out the contents of his stomach, Mark unleashed a merciless kick on the man''s face knocking his body several feet away.


    "Don''t try to dirty the floor."


    The people watching was dumbfounded at how ruthless Mark was and started to pity the man. Still, no one went up to stop Mark. Everyone who was watching here saw what happened before when the man attacked the two girls inside the store.


    The man felt pain on his face and stomach as he curled his body down on the floor.


    TING!


    The man heard a metal sound in front of him. Looking up, he saw the butterfly knife he had before.


    "Stand up and take that. Though after the moment you pick that up and attack, I''ll kill you."


    The man heard Mark''s chilling voice filled with killing intent. Even the people watching could not help but shudder.


    "Isn''t that a little overboard? Nothing happened to the girls after all."


    Bernard who was near Mark asked which made thetter nce at him. Still, Mark did not take his attention away from the man on the floor.


    "Well, yeah. He failed but that did not mean that he will not do it again. Also even if he did not pick up that knife, I won''t let him roam around freely."


    Bernard shook his head. He felt that Mark was really angry about what happened.


    Mark looked back at the man who was struggling to get up.


    "Oh, before I forget. I already asked these guys about you and your wife."


    Mark opened his arms indicating the people watching around them.


    "Your wife actually stopped you from being coaxed by that fat bastard but you just ignored her. Didn''t it mean that you are the one who actually killed your beloved wife?"


    Mark continued with a grim sneer filled with malice.


    As if a thunderp sounded in his ear, the man froze staring at Mark wide eyed.


    ''I was the one who killed my wife?!''


    Those words echoed in his mind as he started to lose his sanity. The man started screaming which made the gallery take a step back in fear. As if he forgot about the pain he was feeling, he speedily picked up the knife beside him and dashed towards Mark like a crazy man.


    Mark smiled as he readied himself to deal with the man. This insane attack was all he was waiting for.


    However, before the man could even reach a meter away from Mark, a red shadow shed towards the maning from the direction where the door that led to the service corridors was located.


    The red shadow shed with the man''s body and the man flew away like a kite without a string towards the wall. The man''s whose head hit the wall fainted immediately and his arm that was holding the butterfly knife was bent between the wrist and the elbow. The man''s arm was decimated and that was not the only injury he received from that impact.


    Everyone looked at the perpetrator of what happened to the man and saw a five to six year old girl wearing a red frilled dress with her wavy hair tied into low twin tails with red ribbons. Everyone was shocked along with Mei, Pa and Ange that just returned.


    Mark also felt astounded but it did not appear in his face. He already knew that this girl was peculiar so his shock was lesser than the people around him felt. From the calm emotion she exudes to the strength that was not suited for her age and physique, everything about this girl was strange. He approached Abbygale and sat down in front of her with a bitter smile.


    "Gale, why did you do that?"


    Gale, that was what he decided to call this little girl. To his surprise, it seemed that that was what her mommy also called her before.


    Abbygale looked at the man in dismay and then towards Mark with a disappointed look.


    "He was attacking Papa. I wanted to kill him. I failed."


    ''What in the world is this girl saying?!''


    That was what everyone who heard what the girl said was thinking, except Mark though. When she said that, Mark started to have a liking towards this girl aside from his interest to her peculiarities.


    Mark patted Abbygale''s head.


    "You don''t have to do that alright? Papa can handle himself from a trash like that. I wanted to kill him myself you know?"


    Abbygale nodded.


    ''Just what are you teaching your daughter!''


    Everyone dismayed.


    And the pair of father and daughter that had low value towards the life of others was born.


    "Papa, I''m hungry."


    "Alright, let''s get something to eat."


    Mark looked at Mei who was pouting by the side and signaled her to follow him which made her beam into a smile that dazzled the males watching.


    Mark picked up Abbygale and walked away followed by Mei leaving the people who did not know what to do anymore.

 Chapter 54 Marks Plans

    8:15 PM - City Mall Bacoor, West Wing, TechZone


    Inside the store where theptops were set, Mark sat on a chair with Abbygale on hisp. He gently blew on the soup inside the spoon he was holding in his right hand and fed it to Abbygale. In front of them, there were several steaming hot instant cup noodles and waffles along with several bottles of drinks.


    It was fortunate that one of the stores inside the TechZone actually sell assortments of USB essories and equipment. The water used for the cup noodles were heated using USB Thermos and the waffles were heated and cooked using a USB Instion Bento Box what was currently plugged into a phone charger and was being used to heat other food stuffs at the moment.


    Beside Mark, Mei was looking enviously at Abbygale while eating her own cup noodles.


    On the counter, Ange and Pa were fiddling with theptop. They were contacting the military while trying to get ahold with Ange''s father.


    James also passed by earlier informing Mark that the guy that he trashed already died. Mark was not surprised by it as it was the reason he left with Abbygale and Mei that time. Though the only visible injury was the broken arm, Mark detected the extent of pain the man felt before he fell unconscious. It was likely that the man''s ribs were broken and tore into his organs. The man''s head also hit the concrete wall too hard that it was probable for him to receive a severe head trauma that could lead to brain hemorrhage.


    Removing the unnecessary thoughts in his mind, he picked up a slice of cheese waffle from the table and let Mei beside him take a bite. Mei''s eyes gleamed with glee and hurriedly took a bite.


    Mark was having a headache. Since Abbygale appeared earlier, Mei started feeling envious of her as the little girl was being carried by him. Most people might not have noticed but for Mark who was an Empath, he could detect the rapid changes in Mei''s feelings towards him. All of it was because of Abbygale.


    Mark turned his head and looked at the two college girls seriously typing something at theptop.


    ***


    8:21 PM ¨C Central Business Park, Pasay City, Diosdado Macapagal Blvd.


    A convoy consisting of three military hummers was rushing along the road. Inside the Humvee in the middle of the convoy, Gen. Miguel Perez sat on the back seat with a gleam of excitement and relief on his aged face.


    He just received a call from the Rescue Department that his daughter contacted them. After he got the news, he immediately passed his orders to his aide to takemand for a while before leaving.


    The convoy stopped outside the former call center building. As the general walked out of the vehicle, another military jeep came and Teresa, his future daughter-inw, walked out of it.


    The two went in together and was received by the waiting personnel. The general started to inquire about the situation as they walk on the hallway.


    "What''s the news about my daughter?"


    "Sir! You''re daughter is still online and she said that they are currently out of danger. ording to her, there was a request for rescue that came earlier about survivors at the Bacoor City Mall and she was included in that report."


    The personnel replied.


    "Wait, that report?"


    Teresa interjected making the general and the personnel look at her.


    "You know about it?"


    The general asked.


    "I was there when that request came in. Remember my friend Laura that I rmended to this department to volunteer? She was the one who received the request."


    The general turned back to the personnel.


    "Was there a rescue squad dispatched to them?"


    "Not yet sir."


    Gen. Miguel was surprised.


    "What is the reason?"


    "Sir, ording to the previous report, they had 47 survivors with them, we needed to more squads to return to amodate the rescue for all those people."


    The General frowned but understood the situation. The three people hurried towards the Rescue Department office.


    ***


    Back at the TechZone, Ange who was just typing on theptop suddenly stood up and looked around making everyone in the store look at her.


    "What''s wrong?"


    Mark who was feeding Abbygale asked.


    "I need a phone. Dad just arrived and told me to find a phone with an active number."


    Hearing what she said, Mark took out his newly acquired phone and gave it to Ange.


    "Give me that backter. Is your father going to register the number to a privatework?"


    Ange nodded as she received the phone.


    "Just check the number in the settings."


    Ange fiddled with the phone while returning back to the chair in front of theptop before she continued typing.


    Soon, the phone rang which Ange immediately picked up.


    "Dad!"


    [Angeline! Thank goodness you''re fine!]


    "Well, yes. We almost died but we''re safe now!"


    Mark almost choked when he heard what she said. He concluded that Ange was daughter who was good at making her parents worried!


    "Dad, will you send us rescue?"<sub> </sub>


    [We will, we are just waiting for the rescue squads to return and we will immediately dispatch them to your location. In the meantime, I''ll ry your location to your eldest brother.]


    "Brother? Raf? Why?"


    [I sent him to search for you this morning. He should be nearby your location.]


    Ange''s eyes lit up.


    "Good!"


    [Angeline, how many people are with you now? Is the number different now?]


    Ange looked at the people sitting in front of her and asked.


    "How many are we here?"


    Pa was about to reply when Mark answered Ange''s question


    "48, 43 adults and 5 children."


    Ange immediately conveyed what Mark said on the phone. Pa on the other hand looked confused then looked at Mark with realization. Ange continued talking with her father on the phone telling what happened to her. Her father actually wanted to talk with Mark who saved her daughter but he declined as Mark was really notfortable speaking with others through a phone.


    Mark and the others already finished eating several minutes before Ange finished the call.


    Abbygale was already sleeping as she sat on Mark''sp and leaned on his body curled like a cat.  The little girl felt sleepy after her stomach was stuffed full.


    After she finished the call with her father, Ange really looked happy. She also told Pa about her family who was already rescued. Pa really looked relived but for some reason, she was ncing at Mark every now and then.


    Mark was getting irritated at her as she was ncing at him from time to time so he spoke.


    "If you have something to ask, then ask."


    Hearing his cue, Pa sat on the chair properly.


    "It''s about the number you told Ange earlier. It''s short by one person."


    She then looked straight at Mark''s eyes.


    "Why are you noting with us?"


    Ange and Mei''s eyes grew wide at Pa''s revtion. Mei immediately turned to her Gege and asked him followed by Ange.


    "Gege, it''s not true right?!"


    "Yeah! Why not?!"


    Mark sighed he stretched his hand towards Ange.


    "Give me my phone."


    Ange immediately returned his phone and he opened a social media app on it. He then browsed to some posts that he tagged and pinned and showed it the girls.


    "I have to look for these people. You three knew that I had a bad rtionship with my family right? During the heavy times, these people were there who stood as a pir for me when I needed someone to stand beside me. They were like brothers and sisters to me. Though a few things happened and I neglected them. Right now, they needed help. I have a veryrge debt to them and this time was the first and might be thest time I can repay them."


    The three girls grew silent.


    "I had many friends before but these few people were the only true friends I had. I may not care if it was people I did not know but these guys were like family to me."


    "Then, I''ll go with you, Gege."


    Mei spoke her intention but Mark shook his head.


    "Why?"


    Tears started to fall from Mei''s eyes. Mark grabbed her shoulder and pulled her making her lean towards his shoulder. He then gently caressed her hair.


    "Mei''er, it will be dangerous so I can''t bring you with me. I don''t even know if I will find a vehicle I can use. If I can''t then I will be forced to go on foot. I know I can handle myself but I won''t be able to protect you."


    "Can''t we just send them rescue after them? I can ask my Dad."


    Ange suggested.


    "Just how long will that take? Mutated zombies are already appearing and you haven''t seen what I saw in the videos uploaded in the inte. The more time it takes, it gets more dangerous. And also, even if your father was a general, he will suffer repercussions for abusing his authority if you force him to do what you want."


    Ange dismayed while Mark looked at Pa.


    "Can I get the favor you owe me?"


    "What is it?"


    "I want you and Angeline to take care of Mei''er and Abbygale after you guys arrive at the evacuation center."


    Pa was reluctant to agree. It was not because she did not want to take care of Mei and Abbygale but she felt that it was better if Mark was the one to take care of the two. She sighed as she saw the resolution in Mark''s eyes. During the short interaction with him since he saved her and Ange, she started to understand this scary guy''s personality.


    He was indifferent to people he did not know and was ruthless to his enemies and people who offended him. However, he was kind, caring and overprotective to people he liked, had interest and had close rtions with. The way he treated Ange, Mei and Abbygale was the best example. Especially Mei, he might not had noticed it but he was treating her like a treasure.


    "Alright, I agree."

 Chapter 55 The Plan For The Arrival Of Angelines Brother

    8:15 PM - City Mall Bacoor, West Wing, TechZone


    As Abbygale was deeply asleep, Mark put the little girl on the folding bed to make her sleepfortably. After he went back to his seat, he pulled the crying Mei into hisp and hugged her while patting her back. He thought of doing this since Mei was really envious of Abbygale all the while the little girl took this spot. And to his surprise, it did not take long before Mei stop crying.


    "Will you be fine going alone?"


    Pa asked.


    "Actually, I wanted to ask you and Angeline to apany me while I also bring Mei''er with me. I changed my n though because of you two. Angeline''s father was a general and your family was also rescued so I thought that Mei will be safer if she go with you two."


    He patted Mei''s head since she separated from his embrace and was listening to him. Mark looked at Mei gently and said.


    "Mei''er, I wanted you toe with me but I won''t be able to protect you. What I will encounter outside are not only zombies but also all kinds of people."


    Mark pinched her cheek.


    "Your face is too beautiful that it will me all the trouble you see."


    Hearing what Mark said, the three girls understood. Even if Mark was able to protect Mei from zombies, flocks of evil men would do all they could to get their hands on her. In the current world where the society started to fall apart, aside from a very few ces,ws and religion did not matter anymore.


    "How about your family? You maybe have a bad rtionship to them but they are still your family."


    Ange asked. It was quite unusual for her to ask something serious like this. To her question though, Mark shrugged his shoulders.


    "My family was on vacation in Catanduanes. Before the outbreak, it would take more than 8 hours in a bus and boat to get there but now, I''ll be dead before I could even get halfway there.


    Besides, Catanduanes is arge ind detached from the maind. It is likely that they are safe in that ce unless an airne filled with zombies crashnded there. Still, the chance is close to none since there are very few flight routes that pass over that ind."


    ~Yureta genjitsukan nakushita ma-~


    Mark''s phone rang. He then gave his phone to Ange without checking the number of the caller.


    "It should be for you."


    "Seriously, what''s with your ringtone."


    "That''s my phone alright? I can customize it however I wanted."


    Ange harrumphed before answering the phone.


    "Hello?"


    [Angeline?]


    A familiar voice spoke from the other side of the line.


    "Brother?"


    [Geez, I was looking allover for you. Just why are you and Pa there in the mall?]


    "I already told Dad! He didn''t tell you?"


    [He did! Still!]


    "Where are you now? Are youing here already?"


    [We''re here camping at your school. We''re already preparing. We had other survivors with us so it will take us about 30 minutes to get there.]


    While Ange was on the phone, Mark suddenly asked her.


    "Your brother ising?"


    Ange nodded.


    "How long? Are they just soldiers?"


    "About 30 minutes. They have survivors with them."


    "Alright, tell your brother to head to the basement parking of the mall."


    Ange was surprised.


    "Aren''t there zombies down there?"


    "There should be but far fewer than other ces. The only people who would go there are those who have cars. As for the other zombies, I have a n."


    "Alright."


    Ange nodded and turned back to the phone.


    [Angeline? Angeline!]


    "What?! Don''t shout!"


    [You''re also shouting! Who are you talking to?!]


    "I''m talking with Mark."


    [Who''s Mark?]


    Her brother sounded confused and dumbfounded.


    "The guy who saved me and Pa. He said that you and the people with you should head towards the basement parking when you arrive."


    [Why?]<sub> </sub>


    "He said that there should be fewer zombies there."


    When Ange said that, her brother had already thought of several reasons why and agreed to follow what Mark said.


    [Alright. I''ll hang up to prepare. Be careful there.]


    "You too, take care. Bye."


    Ange returned the phone to Mark. Mark stored the phone in his pocket and spoke to Mei.


    "Mei''er, can you stand up now? My legs already feel numb and we still have things to do."


    Mei nodded and reluctantly stood up.


    The other two girls saw her reluctance and started to get curious. There was something wrong here. If it was just Mei, then they would not notice but it was also happening with Abbygale. Just like Mei, Abbygale also preferred to be hugged and carried by Mark.


    "What''s wrong with you two?"


    Mark who was stretching his legs asked as the two college girls were staring at Mei and whispering at each other.


    "We just noticed something. Mei and Abbygale seemed to like being hugged by you for some reason. The envy on Mei''s face was obvious when you are carrying Abbygale too. We''re just wondering why?"


    Mark also looked confused. He could not detect Abbygale''s emotions but he could confirm that they were saying the truth about Mei.


    "Care to tell why?"


    Mark asked Mei.


    To their surprise, Mei looked away and was reluctant to speak. Mark detected a tinge of greed from Mei. Greed for what? It made Mark more confused as he detected Mei''s inner emotions.


    "Mei''er, I won''t hug you anymore if you don''t say anything."


    Mei panicked hearing her Gege say that. She then started to speak while ying with her fingers.


    "Uhm¡­ Gege, you see... I feel reallyfortable when you hug me. My body feels light and rxed. Gale should have felt the same. She easily falls asleep while hugging you. I also feel the same."


    Mei was twisting her body in embarrassment as she narrated her reason.


    Ange and Pa looked at Mark in inquiry.


    "What? I have no idea what she''s talking about."


    Mark proimed his innocence about the topic.


    "Anyways, we have to hurry. We have less than thirty minutes left before your brotheres, Ange."


    Mark decided to push the unnecessary topic for another time and move unto the more urgent one.


    "Pa, can you stay here to guard Gale? We can''t just wake her up since she just fell asleep."


    "Okay."


    "Mei''er, Ange follow me. Oh right, Ange call Uncle Bernard and Calvin and head to the rooftop. We could use their help."


    Pa sat in front of theptop while thinking about few things while Ange went to call the two men.


    Mark and Mei on the other hand went ahead towards the rooftop.


    ***


    Mark was checking the perimeter of the mall with Mei when Ange arrived with the several people. To his surprise, Fernan and James also came with Ange.


    "Why did you call us hered?"


    Bernard asked Mark.


    "You haven''t heard the reason from Angeline?"


    "She told us that her brother ising. Still, I''m surprised that she came from a family that had high standing in the military."


    "Yeah, me too."


    Calvin added.


    "Mark, tell us what we need to do, my brother will being soon."


    Ange urged Mark.


    Mark looked at the people around him and spoke.


    "Well, Angeline should have told you guys that I told her brother to go into the basement parking."


    Everyone agreed.


    "There should be just few zombies in the basement parking but the problem is that there are too many zombies outside the mall and on the street. It would be hard for them to pass through all these zombies for sure. So we need to lure the zombies away."


    Mark then nced at the crates nearby making everyone aside from James what they would do.


    "Boss, what do we need to do?"


    James asked.


    "Light some fireworks."

 Chapter 56 Operation Early New Year

    8:48 PM ¨C Emilio Aguinaldo Highway, Bacoor City


    Arge convoy of military vehicles was speeding southbound of the highway. The convoy consisted of three M35 Multi-Purpose Medium-ss Military Trucks, four Humvees, and a V150 Cadic Gage Commando Armor Car. The convoy moved with V150 leading it while the three trucks in the center and the four Humvees in a rectangr formation protecting the trucks. Inside two of the trucks, the anxious survivors who were rescued were restless as the asional firing of guns was heard around them.


    Inside the every vehicle, the unceasing sound of radio static could be heard as the soldiers on the other vehicles report their situation every now and then.


    1st Lieutenant Rafael Perez was sitting on top of V150 along with two more soldiers that were positioned on the two mounted machine guns on the vehicle. He was staring on the road in front of the convoy with happiness and excitement in his face.


    "Captain really looked happy isn''t he?"


    One soldier on the front seat of the Military Truck following the V150 said as he watched their captain sitting on top of the vehicle in front of them.


    "Why won''t he? We''re all ready to give up on finding his sister but he then received a call from the general about her location."


    The driver of the truck replied.


    Rafael''s face then lit up as he saw the overpass less than a kilometer away which leads directly on the covered area of the mall outside the east wing.


    BOOM! Prrsssht! BOOM! Prrsssht!


    All the people in the convoy were startled when they started to hear loud explosion like sounds along with glimpse of shes of light on their destination.


    "Fireworks? What are they doing?"


    Rafael murmured in surprise.


    ***


    On the roofing that covered the rooftop of the mall, several people were scattered. It was Mark''s group which were ready to start luring the zombies away.


    Mark positioned himself at the roof above the northern entrance of the mall, Ange and Mei on the northern-east corner of the east wing, Calvin and James on the north-eastern part of the west wing while James and Bernard on the north-west corner of the west wing. With the two girls who were in charge of spotting the iing convoy as exception, the men had crates of different fireworks behind them, a shaped wire fireworkuncher and were holding a USB lighter Mark handed them.


    Prsssht!


    The radio on Mark''s belt started to emit static sounds followed by Ange''s voice.


    [East Wing to Command! East Wing to Command! I had visuals on iing vehicles! The targets are approaching, ETA 5 minutes!]


    Mark took the radio out, held one of the buttons and replied.


    "Command to East Wing. Copy! Everyone Commence operation! West Wing 1! West Wing 2! Prepare tounch the fireworks on mymand"


    Mark''s voice could be heard following a static sound on the two pairs of men on the west wing.


    The four men on the west wing heard his and Ange''s voices through the radio James distributed to Calvin and Bernard who was acting as leaders among the employees. Aside from James who looked amazed, the other three felt exasperated.


    During their meeting, aside from telling them what they needed to do, Ange and Mark decided to add a little "y" and started acting like military soldiers while talking on the radio. The two even named the n that they were going to do.


    The name was "Operation Early New Year".


    After Mark dered the start of the operation, he lit up the fuse of the rocket firework that was already ced on the wireuncher and aimed it at the road below.


    SWOOOSH! BOOM! Prssssth!


    The firework flew towards the front of the mall and blew up with a loud explosion sound and a chrysanthemum of colorful lights. Numerous loud growls and moaning were heard below followed by arge number of zombiesing from all directions towards the spot where the firework exploded.


    SWOOOSH! BOOM! Prssssth!


    Mark release firework by firework leading to a plethora of lights and shapes luring almost all the zombies within the vicinity. There were even times that a zombie would get parts of their body explode as a firework hit them before exploding. When most of the zombies were gathered at the spot Mark was shooting the fireworks at¡­


    Mark shouted at the radio.


    "West Wing 1! Release the fireworks!"


    James and Calvin who were the West Wing 1 pairunched their fireworks towards the road in front of them luring away the zombies Mark gathered.<sub> </sub>


    Though they released their fireworks at the same timing and rhythm Mark did, the difference on their task was they needed to aim further to the west luring the zombies towards the northwest corner of the mall.


    It did not take them long before they finished their task and Mark shouted for thest team, West Wing 2, tounch their fireworks.


    Bernard and Fernan who were the pair Mark and Ange called West Wing 2 were tasked to lure the gathered zombies from that corner of the mall towards the back of the west wing of the mall and they did it the same way as James and Calvin did.


    When the two finally lured the most of the zombies towards that direction, Mark who already ran towards the end of the south wing prepared for thest phase.


    He was standing beside a cylinder fireworkuncher that was ced horizontally on the roof on the eastern side of the rooftop. The mouth of the cannon was facing towards the western side of the south wing.


    Mark then braced for the sound andunched the firework. Arge ball of light speedily skid several times on the t roof before it flew off and started falling on an arch towards the parking lot behind the mall.


    BOOOM!!!


    A loud quaking explosion echoed behind the mall followed by arge circr disy of scattering light as the ball of light exploded above the parking lot.


    WEEE! WEE! WOO! WOOO! WOOOT! WOOOT!


    p Before the sound of explosion faded, numerous sounds of car rms started to echo across the area. That was Mark''s goal on aiming the cylinder firework that direction, to use the explosion of the firework to activate the car rms of the cars parked in the parking lot.</anda>


    WEEE! WEE! WOO! WOOO! WOOOT! WOOOT!


    The continuous sounds of car rms started to draw the attention of not only the zombies outside lured by the fireworks but also the zombies inside the mall that was nearby the exits that facing the parking lot.


    Mark watched therge number horde of zombies flocking towards the parking lot with his scalp tingling. Just how many zombies were below? Hundreds? The quantity might not have reached a thousand but probably close to that number.


    Though he could not clearly see the appearance of the zombies below due to theck of lighting in the parking lot, he could make out several odd looking silhouettes like a seven foot tall muscr zombie and several fat mutants.


    Seeing that the n was a sess, Mark turned towards the west wing where he could see the four men watching the scene below on the parking lot.


    Prsssht!


    [West Wing to Command! West Wing to Command! We have a situation!]


    Ange''s anxious voice suddenly came out of the radio on his waist.


    [Command here, what happened they haven''t arrived yet?]


    Mark replied.


    [No, Lieutena- Ahem¡­ Let''s do thister! They already arrived! My brother is on the phone and said that the basement parking is closed and the metal parking shutters are locked down.]


    "What?!"


    Mark was surprised.


    "What about the employee entrance? It should be just by the right of the parking entrance."


    Bernard''s voice echoed in the radio.


    [Wait, I''ll ask!]


    A few seconds passed before Ange spoke again.


    [He said that they can''t open the door by force! It''s barricaded inside!]


    "What the hell!"


    Mark felt that heaven was sh*tting on them. He then shouted on the radio.


    "Angeline! Return to the TechZone and prepare! We''re going down! Mei! Follow her and stay with Gale and Pa. The rest, stay here and ry the situation to us and use the fireworks to keep the zombies away from the people below!"


    Mark then jumped off the roof towards the heliport and rushed towards the west wing.

 Chapter 57 The Strange Event In The Basement Parking

    8:56 PM ¨C City Mall, Bacoor, Front Mall Underpass, Basement Parking Entrance


    1st Lt. Rafael Perez and his men were getting ready to eliminate any approaching threats as the soldiers moved into formation.


    The two trucks that transported the survivors were put in the center of the formation while the other vehicles were used as barricade blocking the two avable entrances into the underpass.


    Back on the way here, Rafael and his men were surprised by the sounds of fireworks that the lieutenant had to call his sister to exin what was happening that time. Angeline properly exined what was happening and he felt grateful as he and his men would face lesser danger to get into the mall.


    They encountered a very low number infected when they arrived and those numbers were nothing to them as trained soldiers. They did not even opened fire and just dealt with the threat on close quarters.


    Then, they saw the closed parking entrance and the barricaded employee entrance. The soldiers had the notion of sting the metal door but the amount of explosives they had left would not even open a hole big enough for the vehicles to enter and might possibly break the mechanisms of the gate. The explosion would also attract the infected to this ce.


    Abandoning the vehicles outside was also a no go as they would need the vehicles in order to evacuate if something unexpected to arise.


    Before his sister ended the call, Rafael actually wanted to stop her from doing something dangerous but he did not in the end. With her stubborn personality, she would still go even if he told her not to.


    The lieutenant looked towards the entrance of the underpass. He could still hear the continuous sounds of fireworks keeping the infected at bay.


    ***


    Mark and Ange were currently rushing down the stairwell in the west wing.


    They dropped off Mei with Pa and the still sleeping Abbygale. Pa also wanted toe but as they needed to move fast, only Mark and Ange were suitable for the job.


    "Just why is the parking entrance closed?!"


    Ange felt angry and wereining as they jogged down the stairs.


    "Who knows? I expected it to be open too if you ask me. The employee entrance was barricaded and the entrance was closed. It''s likely that there are people that hide in there."


    Mark replied looked at Ange and continued.


    "Just which dumb people would stay in dark ce like that?"


    "I can''t be called dumb in this ce I think."


    "Why?"


    "The basement parking also serves as a cargo bay and had direct ess to the warehouse of the mall so if they managed to secure the parking area and the warehouse, then they will be able to live for a long time without worry for food and water, though I did not expect that there would be anyone who can do it since the outbreak came so sudden."


    Ange looked at Mark.


    "Why do you know a lot about this mall?"


    "Remember my job hopping? I also worked here before. The same work as Fernan and James. I also remember Uncle Bernard a little since that old man was already working here that time I was hired though I don''t think he remembers me since I looked younger that time and we never really interacted during the six months I worked here."


    "That''s¡­"


    Ange was surprised.


    Mark and Ange arrived at the lowest level of the stairwell and stood in front of the door. Mark then frowned while Ange reached for the door but it would not budge even an inch.


    "It''s no use it''s barred from the outside. Let''s hurry back up and use the elevator."


    Mark who was frowning said.


    "Is something wrong? You''re voice sounds serious."


    "Remember my ability?"


    "Yeah, Pa said that you found Abbygale and those two using that right?"


    Mark nodded.


    "There''s a problem, I don''t detect any human nearby inside the parking area."


    "What?!"


    "Anyways, let''s go. We just need to be extra careful."


    The two hurried back towards the third floor and waited for the elevator.<sub> </sub>


    ***


    TING!


    The elevator opened bringing Mark and Ange into the basement parking. The eerie feeling assaulted them.


    The basement parking was actually thergest parking space in the vicinity of the mall. The parking area upied the space under the Central Area, West Wing and the East Wing of the Mall while the area under the South Wing serves as the main warehouse.


    There were two entrances that led to this area. One was at the underpass under the City Mall''s main door while the other was a direct ess to the warehouse on at the western side of the south wing. The south wing entrance though was closed most of the time since it was only used as exit to cargo vehicles that already finished unloading their cargo.


    In order to open the main entrance, they needed to locate the guard post that had ess to controls of the main entrance.


    Mark and Ange carefully looked around. There were neither zombies nor humans in sight.


    ''If I knew that it would be like this, then I didn''t have to lead her brother here.''


    Mark thought.


    He expected that this ce would be brimming with zombies even if the numbers were fewer than most parts of the mall. Though it would be fewer, he was sure that they would still not be able to handle that number with just a few people with very low fire power. And thus, he decided to get some ''helping hands''.


    Eerie.


    That was Mark thought as he and Ange hurried across the parking area under the west wing. The ce was silent. Though Mark was fond of silent and peaceful ces, the silence in this area gave him a different vibe.


    There were a lot of cars parked along with several delivery vans but there was not a single soul in sight.


    When they were near the Central Area, they stopped in shock.


    The area was brimming¡­


    With dead bodies.


    Not bodies of dead zombies but humans. Decapitated, mutted and dismembered bodies of humans littered the floor. It may be children, men, women and elderly, no one was spared. Sshes of blood, bullet holes on the floor, pools of blood and scratches on the concrete made the scene too strange.


    Ange could not help bat gasp.


    Mark approached one of the bodies and picked up a few things. The body he approached was a man wearing a white security guard uniform. His eyes were still open and the horror in his face was visible. The guard''s upper body was cleanly separated from the lower part. Mark picked up a revolver in his hand and took the bloody belt bag that contained bullets from his waist.


    He then approached Ange who was still shocked at the scene and held the gun and belt bag he just took towards her.


    "You can use this right?"


    Ange snapped out of her stupor when he heard Mark''s voice. She nodded.


    "Then take it and be on guard."


    Mark''s voice was really stern as he continued.


    "You should only focus on letting your brother and his men inside. Don''t think about anything else."


    "What''s wrong?"


    Mark looked towards the central area.


    "Nothing, we just might die if you get distracted about other things."


    Ange looked at him wide eyed. Mark then looked at Ange.


    "Promise that you won''t look back no matter what and concentrate of getting them inside? I know I make fun of you every possible time but not now alright?"


    Ange noticed that things were really serious since Mark was acting like this.


    Actually, by the time they saw the bodies, Mark''s back started to get drenched in cold sweat.


    When he found Abbygale, she had faint and very calm emotional fluctuations that he did not notice her immediately. But right now, he was detecting theplete opposite. He was detecting an overpowering, wild and highly erratic emotional fluctuation that could even make an average Empath kneel down due to a head splitting headache.


    He then looked towards ceiling of the central area murmured under his breath that even made Ange dumbfounded.


    "It smells like a boss fight."

 Chapter 58 The Bone Armored Mutant

    9:06 PM ¨C City Mall, Bacoor, Central Area, Basement Parking


    Mark and Ange entered the part of the Basement Parking that was under the Central Area of the Mall with their guns in their hands, ready to shoot whatever was the cause of the Massacre. As they stepped into the area, there was an unknown pressure that enveloped their bodies. It was not a feeling of being watched or being stared down by a beast but rather, entering a territory of a terrifying monster.


    They were less than thirty meters away from the entrance of the basement parking but the pressure they were feeling made them feel that the distance was even further.


    Mark looked at the direction opposite of the entrance and spoke to Ange who was behind him with a low voice.


    "Angeline, go towards the entrance and find the control for the shutters. Tell them to not enter with the survivors they brought or they might be a hindrance."


    "How about you?"


    "I''ll stay here and lure whatever this thing away if it tries to attack."


    "Alright be careful."


    Ange looked one more time at Mark and hurried towards the entrance without making too much noise.


    Mark kept staring in front of him trying to detect any movements. The intense emotional fluctuation increased when they entered this area but Mark could not determine the exact location as there were dim areas inside the parking area. It seemed that several lights were busted or might even be deliberately destroyed as Mark could make out several broken pieces of LED bulbs on the ground.


    He then reached into the right side of his helmet and turned on a device he attached to it. It was a small Bluetooth Camera that was connected with his phone. He found it boxed in the shop he was made his base in. He started recorded for various reasons. One, for research purposes and another was for documentation of how he died if ever it happened.


    gam!


    A few seconds after Ange left, a dead body of a man was thrown away not far from Mark''s position. As Mark was already waiting for any movement, he did not flinch from the sudden appearance of the dead body. It also made him determine the position of the creature that he was looking for. He could see a silhouette of a woman walking on the dark side of the parking lot in the middle of two cars.


    The creature sluggishly walked out into the light and Mark finally saw it.


    It was a woman about several years older from his age only wearing her lingerie. She had a long ck hair and a good looking face. Well, the left half of her face was the only good looking part now though.


    On the right half of her body, from her foot to her face, a grey colored armor which had a texture simr to human bones enveloped her. There were several ck pointed bones protruding from some of her joints on the right side of her body like her right knee, right elbow and right shoulder. There were also several pointed bones on protruding from her chest and even pierced through her right breast which looked like parts of her rib cage. Her right eye was glowing yellow and staring straight at him as if was something insignificant. Her body and armor was stained with blood. At the end of her fingers, there was also ck colored ws growing where her nails was supposed to be.


    She walked while dragging her left foot and tilting her head to her left. Drops of blood fell from her chin and ws to the floor.


    On the uncovered part of her body, her ck colored upper and lower lingerie was exposed and her skin was stained and dripping with blood. Even the left half of her face was smeared with blood.


    Mark was dumbfounded, her face was not smeared with blood not only from other people but also from her own. Her left eye was still dripping with tears, red blood tears and there were also traces of blooding from her mouth.


    Mark reached for his cor and yed a song from his phone. He made sure that the volume as just enough to hear the song while still being able to hear the sounds around him so he would be able to hear when the entrance opened.


    The song started to y. Mark''s eyes then dted and he immediately jumped and rolled to his right.


    At the instant he rolled away, several ck shes appeared where he stood before.


    Fast!


    The instant he yed the song, the woman covered in bone armor traversed about 10 meters in an instant!


    Even though the woman''s speed was fast, Abbygale was still faster. Mark could only see a red shadow before but Mark could still somehow react to the movements of this woman.


    After rolling to the ground, Mark stood up and jumped back before firing his shotgun towards the woman.


    BANG!


    ''Dammit!''


    Mark cursed in his mind.


    This mutant woman had better instinctspared to the mutant zombies he encountered before! When Mark fired his gun, the woman immediately jumped up using her right armored foot and propelled herself towards the ceiling.


    That was about 7 meters distance from the ground!


    The woman pierced her ws towards the ceiling, spun her body forwards and kicked the ceiling propelling her body towards Mark.


    Mark wanted to fire at her once more when had to dodge towards his left as he did not dare meet her attack head on. If he did even once, he will be minced meat! His armor would not be able to protect him from something that could effortlessly pierce through the concrete ceiling like the ws of this woman!


    After he dodged, he was facing the woman''s armored side. The woman fell on the ground as she swiped her ws through the empty air.<sub> </sub>


    BANG!


    The mutant woman tried to jump again to dodge the shot that was aimed at her head but as she was in close range, she was not able to fully dodge it. The pellets from the gun hit the woman on her right shoulder making her flew back as she was not in contact with the ground.


    ''You got to be kidding me!''


    ? Mark stared in disbelief as he saw the spot that got hit. There were dents on the armor covering her shoulder but it was mostly intact!


    The woman turned towards him ring in rage with her glowing eyes and jumped towards Mark.


    The sudden explosion of emotion that came from the woman made Mark''s eyes blurred for a little less than a second. Still, that short time he lost focus made him lose his chance to dodge the woman fully.


    Mark jumped and rolled to his right but three of the woman''s ws managed to swipe across the ss covering of his helmet. His helmet now had three gashes in front of it. Fortunately, the ss cover of his helmet was made with Plexiss or else, his face would already be covered wounds from several thousand broken ss fragments if it was not.


    He almost died to that attack. He should brace himself from this woman''s wild fluctuations or his ability as an Empath would be the one to pull him into his grave.


    BANG! BANG!


    Mark shot twice in session. One hit the woman on her armored waist but managed to dodge the second shot as she jumped away. However, it was what Mark wanted. He did not want to kill her with those shots but he wanted her to get away.


    He jumped back after the second shot and ran behind a nearby Sedan. He decided to remove his helmet that was of no use at his current battle and was now a hindrance due to the slits on the ss cover.


    Mark removed the Bluetooth Camera on the helmet and stuck its hook unto his cor.


    He then ran away from the car as he heard the roof of the car dent after the woman jumped on its roof.


    BANG!


    Mark shot the woman on the roof of the car making her jump towards the ceiling. She then kicked the ceiling again and propelled herself towards Mark only to meet his unexpected attack.


    He threw the helmet towards the woman charging at him. The woman shed the helmet into pieces but lost the opportunity to attack the Mark who was waiting in front.


    BANG!


    The woman''s body spun backward as the shot hit her face. Mark did not rejoice however as the woman turned the unprotected half of her face away in thest moment making the shot hit her right armored cheek.


    The woman lied down on the concrete floor but Mark did not press the next attack. He ran away behind another car while his right hand reached into his belt bag.


    He needed to reload!


    Strange enough, he finished reloading and did not receive any form of attack.


    "AAAHHHHH!!!"


    Mark heard the mutant woman scream. It was not a scream to warn her enemies and not a scream to attract other zombies. It was a scream of pain.


    He peeked from behind the car and saw the woman standing unsteadily while iling her arms. She tried to move forward towards Mark''s direction but he noticed that the unarmored part of her body was holding her back.


    "Run¡­"


    Mark was surprised. The mutant woman spoke! Her voice was weak and unsteady.


    "Run!"


    She shouted as her left human eye stared at Mark.


    The light on the woman''s left eye started to dim once more and stopped speaking. The armor on her body started to grow leaving only a quarter of her body left. The ws grew longer and her mutant yellow eye grew brighter. Her left eye was now halved in color.


    She then moved in for another attack. A more ferocious, more powerful and faster attack.


    Mark jumped away from the car and the woman''s attack hit the vehicle making the 2.9 ton car skid towards the other car parked beside it.


    Mark now knew that time was the crux to survive this. It would be either Ange managed to let the military inside as fast as possible and to kill this mutant before her body was fully covered in armor.


    He knew that when that happened, this woman would be in her strongest form.

 Chapter 59 More Problems!

    While Mark was fighting with the Mutant, Ange was running towards the parking entrance trying her best not to turn around for another time.


    At that time Mark''s helmet was shed, Ange saw it happen. She had the urge to run back and help him but she firmly held to what Mark told her to do, to let her brother and men for reinforcements.


    She could hear the sounds of a shotgun being fired and the booming sounds every time the mutant woman hits the concrete floor and ceiling behind her. There were also sounds of metal being shed and car windows being smashed. Several car rms also began to sound. All those sounds gave her the urge to turn back but she managed to hold it in.


    Even if she managed to turn and head back, Ange knew that she wouldn''t be much of help right now. Even if she had trained in taekwondo and karate, it won''t be enough. At that attack that she saw, it was not beyond her cognition but she knew that she still would not be able to react to it. She even started to wonder how Mark was able to fight with that mutant without being killed easily. She also have a gun but she doubt that she could do any damage to it when Mark''s shotgun could not.


    When she arrived at the parking entrance, she saw the metal shutters that were blocking the way while she started hearing sounds of assault rifles from the other side.


    She took out Mark''s phone from her pocket and called her brother while she started running towards security booth in the middle of the entrance.


    The call connected.


    [Angeline!]


    "Brother! What''s the situation outside! I''m already on the other side of the entrance!"


    [What! Ho-! No. You got here too quick! Are there no infected or people inside?]


    "Answer me first!"


    Ange shouted at the phone while she tried to open the door of the security booth. It''s locked. She won''t be able to open it with force as it was made with metal. She started to look for another way in.


    [The infected are already surrounding us! The fireworks attracting the infected already stopped moments ago!]


    "What! Why! Wait! I''ll ask them!"


    Ange picked up the radio holstered on her waist and called while she made the phone and radio face each other.


    "Uncle Bernard! Uncle Calvin! Are you there!"


    There was static for a few seconds until someone replied.


    [We''re here!]


    She heard Bernard''s voice but it was noticeable that they were panting hard.


    "Did something happen?! The fireworks stopped!"


    [We had to run! There''s a mutant on the roof running on all fours and can climb walls! Fernan was scratched and Calvin hurt his leg since he had to jump halfway on thedder to escape!]


    "What! OK! Are you guys safe now?!"


    [We just managed to enter the stairwell in the west wing and jammed the door. We''re bringing Calvin and Fernan back first.]


    "Alright! I''ll end the call! I''m also in a hurry!"


    She holstered the radio once again and spoke on the phone.


    "Brother! You heard that?"


    [I did!]


    "Ok! I''ll hurry up and try to open this damn entrance!"


    [Don''t hang up and just let the call run. And stop cursing or father will scold youter!]


    "Now is not the time for that!"


    Ange put the phone in her pocket but did not end the call. She already ran around and found no other way in but through the window. Unfortunately, the window was equipped with a reinforced ss!


    Without any choice, she held her revolver pistol forward and shot towards the window.


    BANG! CRASH!


    The ear-piercing sound of ss shattering echoed after her pistol was shot as the tough reinforced ss shattered into pebble sized pieces.<sub> </sub>


    After jumping into the window, she immediately found a control panel on the table along several office supplies and coupon sized printed papers.


    There was a smile in her face as she pushed the buttons on the panel but her smile grew stiff and her face grew dark. After pushing the buttons, the only thing that moved was the security gates on both sides of the security booth and not the shutters at the main entrance!


    Ange started searching inside the security booth and found nothing that looked like something that controls the shutters at the main entrance!


    "Shit!"


    She was sure that her brother heard her say that as he started shouting on the phone.


    "BROTHER! NOW IS NOT THE TIME!"


    She picked up the phone after jumping out of the booth.


    [I know! I just want to hear the reason you are cursing!]


    "The control to open the entrance is not inside the security booth!"


    [Then it should be inside the main security room or the control room of the mall! It was there most of the time we had operations in other malls before!]


    "Just where in hell can I find that room! We don''t much time to search for it!"


    [What''s wrong? You''re very agitated!]


    "Mark is fighting against a powerful mutant right now! He might get killed if we take too much time!"


    [What?! Tsk. We have no choice! We''ll abandon the vehicles here outside first! Angeline! Go inside the employee entrance and remove the barricades behind the door! The entrance should be on the west side of the entrance.]


    "OK!"


    Ange saw that door immediately ran towards it. She readied her gun and busted in. There were several zombies inside the room. She was no hesitation in her eyes anymore. She immediately shot the zombies whether it was a Biter or an Eater.


    After dispatching the zombies, she immediately shut the opened door on the south west side of the room which led into a hallway that also had zombies running towards her.


    She then started to remove the chairs, tables and other heavy stuff that were cluttered into a barricade on the front door.


    ***


    Mark was panting as he ran in between cars. He already disregarded his state after this battle as he used his Adrenaline rush in full throttle. Still, his chances to attack were getting lesser and lesser. If not for this ability, he might have already turned into minced meat already.


    This parking lot was the mutant woman''s domain. She was like a fish in the water while he was shackled by his physical limits. The mutant woman could use the ceiling and the walls, could jump over and topple cars while he could do nothing but run and dodge with almost no time to counter attack!


    Several cars already started to make noises as the rms installed went off. Broken ss windows scattered on the ground while the smaller and lighter vehicles were already toppled.


    Mark was also pushing his mental abilities to his maximum capacity. He was trying to resist the pressure this mutant was inducing and detect her emotional fluctuations to monitor her attacks and when the woman''s conscious was able to resist for a moment.


    He already noticed that even if the mutant woman was fast and strong, it was not her full strength at all. As if she was holding back.


    Using the emotional fluctuation, knew that the woman was still there trying to resist but whatever the cause of what was happening to her was eating her inside slowly, physically and mentally.


    He started to understand that what was happening to this woman was different to the Eaters and Biters. Using his assumptions, Fat Mutants mutated after turning into a Biter while mutated Eaters changed after they became Eaters. The woman he was fighting right now started mutating while not turning into one of the two. He did not know the reason but he was sure that it was the case.


    BANG!


    Mark managed to make an opening by hiding behind a parked van near a wall. He jumped towards the wall and propelled himself unto the roof of the van. The mutant, who was not expecting what he did, as it tried to chase him, was caught off guard. He managed to shoot her open back.


    Blood gushed out of the woman''s unarmored back and she screamed in pain.


    The woman staggered as Mark detected her human consciousness tried to hold off her uncontroble body. She turned towards Mark while the remaining half of her human eye was tearing  up with blood.


    "Please, Kill me¡­ I can''t hold on anymore."


    The bone armor started to grow once more. Though it was visibly slower, it was still growing.

 Chapter 60 Just What Is Going On Here?

    "Kill me!"


    The woman shouted in remorse and pain. It was apanied by a huge outburst of emotions containing regret, guilt, anger and sorrow. Mark felt that his head was being smashed with a hammer.


    After hearing the woman shout once more, Mark endured the head-splitting pain he felt and jumped for the kill.


    BAM!


    Unfortunately, the growth of the bones suddenly stopped and the woman eyes grew dim with it. As Mark aimed his shotgun at the woman''s head a sudden force hit the gun sideward breaking the shotgun into pieces.


    The parts of the shotgun were blown away and the bent barrel of the gun was embedded unto the wall far away due to the force of the attack. He could feel the muscles of his hands and fingers being torn up due to the gun forcefully thrown away from his hand.


    Mark''s eyes grew wide at the unexpected attack.


    The attack was not a sh from the mutant woman''s ws but a side way kick that she never did even once since he started fighting the mutant. He then noticed that both the woman''s lower limbs were now covered with that grey colored bone armor. The only remaining part that was not covered by the armor was a quarter of her face, her left shoulder and her left arm.


    Shocked by the sudden unexpected attack and the sudden breakage of his shotgun, he was not able to see the next iing attack from the woman at the start. It was a front kick using her other foot. It was not that Mark was too shocked to see it but the kick came fast, even faster than the swipe of her ws!


    When he saw the front kick approaching, the foot was just several inches away from his chest. As his arms were thrown away sideways by the kick that broke his gun, he could only block the kick with his left arm.


    Mark could not think any more of what to do. Receiving this attack head on would surely cripple him or worse, could kill him. At thest moment, he jumped back. Mark jumped backwards as strong as he could. If he could not dodge, could at least mitigate a percentage of the impact.


    BAM! CRACK!


    The kick connected with his left arm breaking the bone on his arm. He was also sure that his ribs were also fractured. The kick threw him about a dozen meters away towards the east wing of the parking area and sent him rolling on the floor. It was fortunate that he jumped back and there was no walls or cars behind him when flew back or his body would had been smashed into meat paste.


    Still, it hurt like hell.


    His adrenaline could not suppress the pain in his body anymore while he umted more and more injuries as he battled against this mutant. His skin was bruised, his head was aching, his left arm was broken and his ribs were fractured. Even the ligaments of his legs and calves were almost torn up due to overexertion.  Even if he had all his abilities as an Empath and he was able to control the release of adrenaline in his body, his body was still of an average shut-in. His body was weaker than an average person, he had low stamina and his untrained muscles were mostly fragile.


    It was already a miracle that he was able tost this long fighting this mutant woman. It was also a miracle that he was still alive after receiving that kick that could probably topple a car.


    Phew!


    Mark spit on the floor. What he spit out was not saliva but blood. He could already savor the thick iron like taste from his throat.


    His eyes was blurring as he tried to stand up using hisst unbroken hand. Shivering in pain and the side effects of adrenaline kicking up, he could only sit on the floor.


    "Angeline¡­ Where the hell is that girl¡­ She''s really taking her time¡­"


    Cough! Cough!


    He coughed out a mouthful of blood from his throat.


    Looking up and forward, he could see the woman approaching while leisurely walking. It seemed that whatever the thing that was eating the woman''s consciousness had deemed him unable to fight anymore.


    Would he resign to this fate? A bad end?


    Of course not! He was not afraid of death but he would rather not die in the very first day the apocalypse started!


    And he already found people who unconditionally wanted to be with him¡­


    Unfortunately he was already losing his grip and was about to fall unconscious.


    While sitting on the ground, Mark looked up. The mutant woman was looking down on him while tilting her head like a child. She then raised her leg and not using her w. It seemed that she was trying to practice her kicks with Mark''s body as the target.


    Mark was not able to see the woman anymore as she swung her leg down like a hammer. He finally fell unconscious.


    BADUMP! BADUMP!


    Loud beating sounds echoed inside his entire body as his heart pumped stronger.


    A sudden wave of suppressing mental fluctuations came surging out across the parking area making the mutant woman stop her attack and jump back several meters away. She stood staring warily at Mark.


    At the center of the wave, Mark''s body sat unmoving. He slowly raised his head looking at the woman. His eyes looked fierce and the pupils of his eyes were glowing red. There was a smirk on his face. It was not a sinister smirk but full of amusement.


    Disregarding the mutant warily watching him, ''Mark'' stood up stretching his body like he just woke up. He then started speaking.<sub> </sub>


    "Damn! It''s been years since I came out just to find his body all beaten up!"


    He stood with a straight back filled with confidence different from before that he was a little hunched and lookingzy. ''Mark'' then observed his body and continued speaking.


    "Broken Ulna and Radius, torn Brachioradialis the other arm muscles were overexerted. The ligaments on the knees are scraped. The calf muscles are almost torn up. Several bruises and muscle pains on other parts of his body."


    He held his chin with his right hand and nodded.


    "Yeah, he''s all beat up."


    A shadow suddenly appeared in front of him. The mutant woman started to attack once more but with ws and not her foot. The mutant swiped her arm from above trying to cut her prey from his head downwards.


    The attack hit nothing but air.


    ''Mark'' already stepped his left leg behind and faced the mutant sideways dodging the attack by a hair''s breadth. He red at the mutant woman making her falter before sweeping her leg sideward towards his nk.


    The side kick hit nothing but air once more.


    The mutant woman looked around and did not see where ''Mark'' went to when she felt something heavy by her armored shoulder.


    Her face turned to her right and saw him as hended on her shoulder. Before she could react, she felt at strong force from behind her head. The mutant''s face heavily mmed on the concrete floor making a fist sized crack.


    ''Mark'' thennded several feet away from the woman after delivering an ruthless ankle kick towards the woman''s head.


    "Oops, I torn up several muscle strands on his right leg and fractured his ankle. I shouldn''t have done that. His body''s juice is also about to run out too!"


    He then tilted his head as he closed his eyes.


    "Why the hell is there a foreign substance in his body?"


    When he opened, ''Mark'' seemed to havee into realization as he looked at the empty space filled with air around him.


    "The foreign substance is also in the air huh? Looks like the world became f*cked up now. Hmm¡­ these substances don''t seem to be harmful. It''s slowly changing his body structure isn''t it?


    I see, it''s actually starting to fix his body huh? Then I could y for a little without worry then? Huh what''s this?"


    He noticed the Bluetooth camera on his cor.


    "A camera?"


    He pointed the lens on his face.


    "This is good! I can teach you how to properly use your abilities. It''s been years and you haven''t mastered them yet!"


    ''Mark'' waved at the camera before putting it back at his cor.


    The mutant woman who already recovered from her sudden facent attacked with a side swipe of her ws. ''Mark'' took one step back and turned his face upwards making the woman''s ws sweep through the space under his chin.


    "Seriously, can''t you wait a bit?"


    ''Mark'' grabbed the woman''s arm and did a sudden one handed shoulder throw mming the mutant''s back on the concrete creating another crater on the floor.


    "Guh, I snapped a few muscles again. This is why it is not good to turn off the brain''s limiters while concentrating the adrenaline one part of the body. Geez, you should really exercise a bit. Your body is much heavier than thest time."


    He then looked at the direction where Ange was busy removing the barricades.


    "There is still time to y a bit but¡­ His juice was about to run out so it''s a pity."


    Turning towards the mutant that stood up shaken, ''Mark'' contemted.


    "What should I do with you? Normally I would just kill you like he did but you can be useful to him.


    Do you want to be saved? I can save you but you need to swear loyalty to him. Be his servant!"


    A sudden pressure gushed out from ''Mark'' enveloping the mutant woman making her stagger backwards.

 Chapter 61 A Mutant Servant

    The mutant woman staggered backwards while holding her head screaming in a double toned voice, a woman''s voice and a voice that was not of a human.


    ''Mark'' started his narration about what he was doing. Anyone would think that he was crazy talking alone but he was actually talking to the camera that hung on his cor.


    "You always use your ability to sense and absorb emotions but you never tried to release the negative energies you absorbed. No wonder you get exhausted every time. Taking in all those negative energies and storing those without using a single bit. That is why you always possess an aura that makes people stay away!"


    He tilted his head.


    "Uhhhh. That''s not an issue isn''t it, you loner. Hah, Nevermind. Anyways you can also release it like this. Watch!"


    BAM! The mutant woman fell on her knees while holding her head screaming. She was feeling a piercing pain in her head as if her skull was being drilled into.


    "Ooops, I overdid it¡­"


    ''Mark'' approached the kneeling mutant without fear and grabbed her forehead.


    "It''s quite hard to pinpoint which consciousness to target if used in a distance isn''t it?"


    Then, the pressure entered the woman''s head but she did not scream anymore, instead, the dim eye of the woman brightened.


    "Can you speak now? I''m suppressing whatever this thing eating your consciousness. You heard what I said before right?"


    The mutant woman looked at ''Mark'' and looked down once more. She had a sad expression on what remained of her human face.


    "Please, just kill me¡­"


    "Why?"


    "I''m not even human anymore. I don''t know if I can go on like this. In the first ce¡­ I can''t ept it! I killed my family with my own hands!"


    Tears of blood came out of her eyes. Her heart must have been crushed.


    When the zombies started to appear, in order to protect her twin daughter and son, her ankle was bitten. With the help her husband, she managed to escape and they entered this parking area along with her family and other survivors.


    She was wary that she will turn as she was bitten. To her surprise, more than five minutes passed and she was still fine.


    But¡­


    Three hours after she was bitten, she started to lose control of her body and a bone like growth started to cover her body starting from the spot where the bite was.


    After finally losing control, the first people she attacked with her ws were her family. She was conscious and saw everything but she could not do anything to stop it. She stabbed her husband who protected her children. Her ws pierced through the back of her husband and towards her children he was protecting sttering the blood of her precious family.


    She then started to lose her control even more as she started to attack everyone. shes, stabs, her consciousness watched as her mutated body yed with the lives of the people she killed.


    "Hoh? Is that so? It''s a pity then. The children are still alive and their mother wanted to die already. Just how are they gonna live in this f*cked up world without a single parent?"


    She looked up at ''Mark'' confused until she realized what he meant by what he said. She tried to stand up in shock.


    "Hey! Hey! Wait! Don''t move or you''ll lose control again if I let go of you!"


    The woman was still agitated but she paid heed to what Mark said.


    "Are you saying the truth! M-My children are still alive?!"


    "What? Don''t believe me? Though I don''t know how, they are safe and sound, though both of them are unconscious."


    ''Mark'' looked at a certain direction at towards the east wing area.


    "So? You still want to die?"


    "No! But!"


    The woman who was kneeling on the floor used her human arm to touch the unsightly armor covering most of her body.


    "Say¡­"


    ''Mark'' spoke making the woman look at him.


    "Have you''ve been a good parent?"


    "I did! I love my children! I can trade my life for them!"


    ''Mark'' nodded confidently.


    "Then, what''s your answer to my proposition? I suppose that I can save you and you can take care of your children. But you have to be his loyal servant!"


    ''Mark'' smiled.


    "Do you agree?"


    The woman became excited and as she knew that even her husband sadly did not make it, she could at least atone for her sins as she take care and protect her children in this chaotic world. Even if she had to sell herself to a demon, she would still ept it.


    "I do!"


    "Alright!"


    ''Mark'' shouted while he discharged a huge mental energy drilling into the wild consciousness that tried to consume the woman.


    "Tsk. It''s like a wild horse dammit!"


    He was using the released energy to scatter and contain the foreign consciousness inside the woman''s head but was not able to do so due to it being wild and uncontroble. During the time he was doing that, the woman was shivering while trying to hold out the pain in her head.<sub> </sub>


    "It''s impossible this way huh? Then I''ll just use that ability that this idiot loner doesn''t even know he had!"


    The flow of energy changed. It became a calming andforting one, gently flowing into the woman''s body. It was like cold water flowing in her body during the summer heat.


    The woman stopped trembling and her body started to rx. The wild consciousness started to calm down. ''Mark'' then shouted.


    "Quick! Devour it!"


    "How!"


    "Just like how you tried to resist it earlier!"


    The woman closed her eyes as she started to struggle to gain full control of her mind. The wild foreign consciousness inside the woman''s body was getting devoured slowly.


    During the process, the bone armor covering her body started to retract. It retracted slowly and steadily back inside her body. Even though the grey bone armor entered her body, there were no wounds, holes or scars left on her skin as if her skin and muscles freely allowed the movement of her bones. It did not take long as all the armor covering her body was gone.


    The woman looked really weakened as she opened her eyes. Still, there was obvious happiness in it as she was given a second shot in life. She stood up and vowed.


    "Thank you."


    It was a gratitude that came from the bottom of her heart.


    "Nah, I don''t need your thanks. Your life is his property now, remember?"


    ''Mark'' shrugged her gratitude away.


    "Uhm. Who is this ''his'' you are talking about?"


    "Hah? Are you an idiot? You are conscious all the while you are being consumed by whatever that is. Do you think I''m the same person who was fighting you at the start?"


    ''Mark'' started smugly.


    ? "So, you are talking about the one before¡­ A D.I.D. isn''t it. Is the ''you'' before is the main personality?"


    "Hmm hmm. Not bad, that''s right! So you are now his servant!"


    "Yes. But, are you not afraid that I will renege against your condition?"


    "Hahaha, don''t make meugh! Rather, I''m more surprised that you epted it with all your heart."


    He tilted his head smiling at the woman.


    "It''s because it is a life debt I won''t be able to pay even with my whole life. I''m already a dead person the moment I got bitten and this chance was nothing else but something you gave me. And if I did notply, I''m sure that my children will be at stake."


    The mature woman let out a refreshing smile.


    "Nice, I like your personality! Then do your best and make your master ept you!"


    "Mas-Master?"


    "Yeps! That guy is tooooo much of a loner that he''ll sure be troubled when you introduce yourself as his servant when he wakes up. Kukuku, I want to see the look in his face when that happens. He will surely try to ditch you!"


    ''Mark'' raised his right arm and fixed his hair with his hand.


    "Anyway, even if he tries to push you away, you will still be his servant and obey what he says except when he dismisses you. I''m the only one who can do that. Understand?"


    The woman nodded with cold sweat on her back as ''Mark'' was ring at her sinisterly when he said thatst word.


    "Say, can you control that bone armor of yours?"


    "I could. Look."


    The woman stretched her right hand forward. Her skin on her hand split up while her grey bones enveloped the hand like a gauntlet.


    "Hmm, I really picked up a good thing."


    He nodded as he looked at the bone gauntlet the woman wore.  ''Mark'' then sighed. He took off the camera on his cor and took out the extra phone from the holster on his waist. She handed the two things to the woman.


    "This is?"


    "Hide these and don''t give these to anyone but him when he wakes up alright? Also are you not cold? I don''t think you''re an exhibitionist but maybe I''m wrong."


    ''Mark'' scanned her body.


    When she saw where he was looking at, she looked down and saw that her mature peaks and bushes below were all exposed to the man in front of her. Her face grew red and turned her body the other way in embarrassment. Normally, she would have pped the person in front of her but she did not feel that it would be right to do so towards her savior. And also, for one or more reason, she was afraid of offending him.


    "Anyways, find something to wear and take your children here. Remember, the mutant I was fighting earlier was injured and ran away. You are just a survivor who managed to survive the mutant. You got that?"


    He then turned around walking towards the nearest wall.


    "Where are you going?"


    The naked woman asked.


    "My time is up. Remember our deal and my instructions alright?"


    Under the watch of the woman, he sat on the floor and leaned on the wall. His head then drooped to the side.

 Chapter 62 Mutagen

    4:07 PM ¨C Central Business Park, Pasay City, Research Building


    At the far corner south west of the Central Business Park, there was a several story building that was converted into a researchboratory. Here, the elites of research that majorly focused on medicine and microbiology was gathered to research for the possible cure and to research the nature of whatever was causing the outbreak.


    In the lounge of the building there was a middle-aged man who was eating with his two young assistants. His name was Isaach Co, a half-Chinese biology professor in the University of the Philippines six years ago. He was known as the crazy professor due to his high immersion on his research back then when he was teaching.


    It was six years ago that he was taken in by the government to research a confidential and valuable specimen and thus, he worked under the government until now.


    Isaach was about to finish his food when someone he knew entered the building. He smiled and waved towards the visitor.


    "Hey! General, aren''t you too early? Don''t tell me you didn''t sleep."


    The person who entered was the highest officer in this evacuation area, Gen. Miguel Perez, who was followed by several of his men.


    The general ordered the people following him to wait at the entrance and walked towards the professor.


    "I already slept for a few hours Prof. Isaach. I think, it''s you who did not sleep at all."


    "Right! I did not sleep at all! See this?"


    The professor pointed at his unfinished food.


    "You think this is breakfast? I just had the time to eat dinner!"


    He grumbled. But towards his grumble the general justughed.


    "Well then professor, with that all-nighter I''m sure you gathered a lot of information right?"


    "Miguel, can we stop it?"


    "You started it, Isaach."


    The two menughed as they sped their right hands and bumped their shoulders.


    This showed the close brotherhood between the two. They were highschool ssmates who both did their best in their fields and rose to sess.


    "You want my report right? Just let me finish my food. By the way, these two are my assistants. The youngdy is Nia and the young man is Allen."


    The professor pointed at his assistants who were sitting at the opposite side of the table. The two assistants bowed their heads slightly in acknowledgement. There was no reason to introduce the general as they already knew who he was.


    ***


    After eating his veryte dinner, Prof. Isaach together with his assistants brought Gen. Miguel towards his office.


    "Nia, get the reports in the other room. Allen, turn on the monitors."


    As they stepped into the office, the General saw several t screen monitors hung on the wall beside the door, arge office desk and several cabs filled with cluttered files and books. These were Prof. Isaach insisted on bringing away from his privateboratory.


    The two assistants immediately followed the Professor''s instructions with high efficiency.


    Prof. Isaach then sat on the chair behind the desk and waved at the General toe in. Then, Nia, who went into a door opposite of the office entrance came back holding several file folders and neatly lined the folders on the desk.


    "Here are the reports you wanted."


    The Professor pointed his open palm towards the folders on the desk.


    "Why are the reports separated?"


    "Information about the pathogen, infected mutants, human mutants and misceneous stuff from left to right."


    The general then moved the folders into one stack and put it at the side of the desk. He looked at the Professor and seriously asked.


    "Isaach, I want to ask your opinion about what is happening right now."


    "You want my opinion?"


    He looked back at the general with a skeptical look.


    "The earth is doomed!"


    He stretched his arms diagonally upwards and yelled.<sub> </sub>


    "Can you borate?"


    "Can''t you just say that you want me to summarize the contents of those folders in front of you?"


    Hearing the question that was returned to him, the general nodded.


    "Alright, let me exin."


    The profession inhaled and exhaled deeply.


    "First, we are all infected. Me, you, everyone! Including animals and nts! Though there are no sudden negative side effects to us for now but who knows what will happen in the future."


    Before the professor could continue, he was interrupted.


    "Wait, wait! You said there are no negative but are you saying that there are positive effects?"


    "That''s right. The strain that initially infected all of us is not harmful but rather helpful. It is slow but it is changing our bodies into something better. It is slow that no one will realize it in a short while but probably in another month or year, the changes will be noticeable."


    The professor reached towards the stack of folders and pulled one folder opening in and pointed and information regarding a six year old boy. Then he pointed at one of the screens where a child ying was shown.


    "You did not do anything to this child right?"


    The general looked at the Professor in askance.


    "You know that other''s called me crazy but I''m not a monster, mind you. That child is only there for observation. He is there because that child almost died several hours ago due to a gun shot. The wound was not fatal so he was saved by a surgery. Look at him now. Do you think that a child running lively like that was someone who just undergone surgery.


    After the surgery, he was burning with fever and after ten hours, his wounds closed. During the time he was healing, we conducted tests and it showed that the pathogen in his body was actively mending his body and DNA structure.


    We tried the same to several of the notorious criminals you brought here to experiment on. Unfortunately, most of them remained normal except for one who was currently healing there."


    The professor pointed at the screen where an unconscious bald man was shown.


    "By the way, there are a few more children being observed having fevers right now. The analysis showed the same symptoms as the previous boy. The problem is that not all of them received a fatal injury. Some just fell burning with fever for unknown reasons. The pathogen in their bodies is active but we couldn''t still find out what is going on with their bodies."


    Looking away from the monitor, the general asked.


    "If we are all infected, why didn''t we turn into those flesh eaters outside?"


    "It''s because the strain that is inside us is different from the ones inside the bodies for that zombie like infected. I called this as the "Neutral Strain".


    The professor flipped over the papers in the folder again and pointed at a picture of clustered micro cells.


    "This is the strain inside our body. As you can see, it is neither a virus nor bacteria. Because of this, the research for the cure was stumped. It has some of the properties both bacteria and viruses had and some properties that it didn''t have.


    Anyway, the "Neutral Strain" in our bodies won''t make us turn unless we are bitten."


    The professor pointed at the next picture. It also had simr appearance to the first picture but had thick tentacles and was dark colored.


    "This is the reason why people turn. I call this the "Agitator Strain". This strain lives on the saliva of the people who turned and if the saliva entered our bodies, we will be one of them. It is due to this strain having arge influence and mutating the "Neutral Strain" to this one that I call the "Unstable Strain" or the "Mutation Strain"."


    Prof. Isaach pointed at a picture in the next page. A picture of clustered stter shaped cells was present.


    "This strain is highly unstable that it mutates the body and turning the host. Also, this strain reacts if there is a present catalyst inside or outside the body of the host and mutates into a new strain while mutating the body of the host further."


    While the General was seriously listening at what the Professor was saying he took another folder from the stack and flipped it open showing a page with a picture of a mutant man. The mutant man looked normal except for the thin fur covering its arms and legs and his teeth that had changed into fangs.


    "This person mutated in front of us all after he was bitten. Before the mutation, we determined that this person was bitten by a dog that was not vinated yet. Look at him, doesn''t he look like weredog? I tried using a sample of the "Unstable Strain" and mixed it with a sample of Rabies Lyssavirus and the result, the "Unstable Strain" mutated into a different one simr to what we found inside that mutant.


    Using that as basis, we tried mixing other things like viruses, bacterium, chemicals and everyday things you can find and each catalyst caused the "Unstable Strain" to mutate into a unique strain using a proper amount of the catalyst. It also showed us that there are endless possibilities that the infected can mutate.


    Be prepared that more powerful ones will appear sooner orter."


    Prof. Isaach''sst sentence ced an unquestionable pressure on the General''s shoulders.


    "There are different strains but what did you scientists named this pathogen?"


    "Isn''t it obvious? It is a mutagenic pathogen so for convenience sake, we called it "Mutagen".

 Chapter 63 Six Years Ago

    "Mutagen¡­"


    Gen. Miguel murmured as he roamed his eyes across the room. His gaze stopped at one corner of the room and approached before pulling the chair ced there towards the desk and sat on it.


    "What are you doing?"


    Prof. Isaach asked.


    "You did not invite me to sit down so I just helped myself."


    "Don''t you have more things to do?"


    "I do but I needed to know the details first before I pass the report to others."


    The professor looked at him with disbelieving eyes.


    "I alreadypiled every single findings we had so far in those reports! Seriously you¡­"


    "You know that I''m a person who doesn''t read too much. Can we get back to topic?"


    "I''m really surprised how did you get into that position given that attitude of yours. Now, where are we again?"


    "Don''t worry about that, I keep up my image good in the eyes of the public. Back to the topic, you stopped at the name of the pathogen. My next question for you is why the children are more susceptible to the mutation caused by the Neutral Strain?"


    Isaac nodded at the General''s question.


    "There are no clear causes but the most reasonable reason is because the children are still undergoing a period that we adults are already done with. We adults, our physiques change overtime due to different causes but we already stopped growing while the children are still in their growth period. Their growth is being influenced by the Neutral Strain in their bodies."


    "Then, what about the mutants?"


    "Which mutants? The mutated Z-types or the Mutators?"


    "Z-types? Mutators?"


    "The Z-types are those infected that turned. That was what webeled them. Those running pathogen spreaders were the Z-type 1 while those undead infected were the Z-type 2. Under them were the mutations we called Z-type 1a, Z-type 1b and so on. The Mutators on the other hand were the people who mutated after being bitten but they are different from the Z-types."


    "What is the difference between the two kinds of mutants?"


    "Even though both variants originated from people who were bitten, the mutated infected remained zombie like while Mutators retained their consciousness to some extent and gained superhuman abilities. And the mutant variants from thetter kind cannot infect others. The mutated strain in their bodies already merged with their DNA after they mutated."


    "Then the mutated people first. Did your team find out why they became like that? Most people bitten turned into those zombie like infected while these people are very rare aren''t they?"


    In response to that question, Prof. Isaach took out a remote from the drawer below his desk and changed the feed being shown by the monitors.


    There were two people who were staying in different rooms was shown in the monitors. One was a man in his thirty''s while the other was a woman in her teens.


    The man looked human. No, he''s definitely a human. He sat on his bed reading a book. On the other feed however, it showed the teenaged girl whose arms and neck was covered in snake scales. She was tied up with chains and was unconscious.


    "Yes, they are really rare. As you can see, these two are the only instances that we can observe. Well, there''s actually the other one."


    "The guy that was already killed, right?"


    "That''s right. We still haven''t found the reason why they did not turn into those Z-types since we can''t observe the pathogen that changed them but there is only one theory we''re looking into. It is thepatibility of the mutated strain to their DNA. Still, the proof we gathered is not enough to prove this conjecture.


    Also, there are two variants to that. First is that man who sessfully mutated without any issues who is a "Sessful Mutation". He looked like normal right now but his strength was higher than an average human and if he activated his ability as a Mutator, his muscles will bulge and his strength would be multiplied by several times. The second variant is that girl over there which are the "Failed Mutations"."


    Prof. Isaach pointed at the monitor showing the unconscious girl.


    "She is like that man we had to put down earlier.  During initial stages of their mutation, they retained their consciousness but as the mutation started to spread through their bodies, they started to lose control over their body. I personally asked this girl earlier how she felt during the initial stages of her mutation. Can you guess what she said?"


    Prof. Isaach paused waiting for the General''s answer.<sub> </sub>


    "Nothinges into mind."


    "She said that there was another consciousness, a more savage and uncontroble one eroding her own and wrestles over the control of her body. Once her mutation ends, she would be like that man who lost reason and behaved like a savage beast. You know, I suspected that those strong savage mutants that came out of the crashed nes are in the simr circumstances."


    The General nodded then looked at the professor.


    "I remember that those mutants were attacking the Z-types and vice-versa."


    "It''s true, we already observed it. The Z-types and Failed Mutators don''t acknowledge each other but don''t becent that they would kill each species. It''s just a mild theory but there is a possibility that Failed Mutators grow by defeating Z-types and Z-types will mutate further after eating the bodies of dead Mutators. Still, whoever wins will be a danger to our existence as humans."


    The general massaged his temple as he felt his headache getting stronger as he listened further. Still, he needed to know what he must know to properly guide the people in this camp to survival.


    "Actually, the circumstances with the Failed Mutators reminded me of the event six years ago."


    Prof. Isaach closed his eyes as he reminisced.


    "What event?"


    "Oh right. I forgot that you''re still a lower ranking soldier that time so it was no wonder that you didn''t know."


    The professor looked at his two assistants who sat on another table on the other side of the room.


    "It''s the event that caused me to be taken in by the government. Remember therge meteor that was about collide to Earth and was shot down using a missile by the American Aeronautics Institute six years ago? There was an event hidden to the public at that time. Before, I can''t tell you but who cares much about the confidential bull stuff the government enforces right now."


    The General listened intently as he really had no idea about what Prof. Isaach was saying aside from the things disclosed to the public.


    ? "Even if the meteor exploded, several fragments of the meteor still entered earth. What was hidden to the public was that the fragments that crashed into earth had a property that changed the bodies of the people who came in contact with it. Unfortunately, it seemed that the fallen fragments mysteriously disappear after being held by people so I never really saw the fragments myself.


    ording to description, the fragments looked like a crystal with a deep violet color about the size of a marble. And even though it just fell from outer space, it did not create any crater, did not discharge radiation and did not even release heat.


    There were two reported sightings of those fragments falling into our country. One was in an orphanage in Quezon province while another was in a rural area in Bacoor."


    Prof. Isaach spread his hands towards his assistants.


    "These two children were the orphans who came in contact of the fragment thatnded in Quezon. After the examination and experiments that I conducted on them, their bodies evolved and gained abilities like the Sessful Mutators. But you know, they had the same symptoms like the failed mutators back then. They had another consciousness in their minds trying to corrode them and wanted to take control of their bodies. Fortunately, the foreign consciousness was weak. The corrosion failed and they retained their minds after "devouring" the foreign consciousness."


    The two assistants nodded with a smile hearing what the professor.


    "That''s¡­"


    The general could not believe what he just heard as he started at the two. He looked back towards the Professor and questioned him.


    "Wait a minute. Aren''t they valuable pieces for research? Why did they be your assistants? If what you said is true, then they should already be taken away by those greedy pigs?"


    "HAHAHA"


    The Professorughed loudly.


    "I bluffed the results of my research back then. Their bodies might have evolved but the structure of their bodies did not change. Because of that, unless these two children showed their abilities, other people will only think that they are normal. Six years ago, just think how old these two are back then. As if I will give these good children to those corrupt people who only think for themselves. Using the pretense that these two children grew closer to me, I adopted them after they were released when the research ended."


    "I see. You''re lucky that you managed to pull that off."


    "Of course! Those pigs in the upper brass know nothing but fatten their pockets making them easier to fool when it came to terms regarding science."


    "By the way, you said that there was another fragment that fell in Bacoor. What happened to it?"


    Prof. Isaach shrugged his shoulders to that question.


    "No one knows what happened to that. The Special Forces dispatched there located the ground zero but found nothing. No witnesses, no fragments, no anything. It was likely that the fragment was found by someone but that person was not found until now."

 Chapter 64 A Mysterious Sight

    "Hmmm. Then that person should be alive somewhere doesn''t he?"


    "He might be but who knows?"


    The General entered a deep contemtion about the information he just heard. He subconsciously took out a packet of cigarettes and was about to light it when the Professor''s voice snapped him out of it.


    "I''ll kick you out if you light that. You said a while ago that you already stopped smoking, so what in the world are you doing right now?"


    Gen. Miguel froze and awkwardly returned the cigarette.


    "Sorry about that. I''ve been stressed out since this morning. The pressure is piling up."


    "I won''t really mind if that''s the reason but you better do that outside and not in this building."


    Prof. Isaach sternly reminded him.


    "By the way, there are also fragments thatnded in other countries right? Is there any other information given out by them?"


    To that question, The Professor snorted.


    "You think they would? With the pretense that it was their country''s private matter, you think us smaller countries get anything from them? Our country might not even have the ability to send spies to other countries so of course we got nothing but the initial reports and leaked news about a small outbreak in a vige in Arizona."


    "Outbreak?"


    "Yes, simr to what we are experiencing at the moment. I was also sent there to investigate with other scientists but everything was already cleaned up when we arrived. The only news we got there is that there was a fragment that fell there on a colony of termites. The colony mutated killing more than half of the people in that vige. We tried tomunicate about cooperating with their research but they were highly secretive about it."


    "I see. You really can''t do anything about that."


    The General looked at the two assistants writing things on their notebooks on the other table.


    "You said that these two evolved, did they gain superpowers?"


    "They did. Well, I don''t really mind telling you about them but it is easier if you see it."


    The Professor smiled mischievously.


    "Nia, Allen. Come here and show him your abilities. I want to see his surprised face!"


    The two assistants shook their heads when they saw the smile on the Professor''s face. The Professor was at it again. This crazy scientist not only immersed himself on his research but also loved to y pranks on people.


    The first to disy her ability was Nia. She half extended her arm with her palm open and facing upwards. Her palm then started to emit a faint white light. The General could feel a faint cold air from her direction. After about five seconds, two chopstick sized ice spikesnded on her palm.


    Next was Allen. He picked up the smallest needle from a cab in the room along with a short piece of thin nylon thread. Using a thumb flip using his left hand, heunched the needle in the air spinning vertically in a very fast pace simr to a propeller of a helicopter. His eyes then released a faint red glow and his right hand that was holding one of the ends of the nylon thread moved. The next thing that the General saw the needed hanging down from Allen''s hand with the nylon thread that passed through the eye of the needle.


    The General was ck jawed. He then heard the Professor''s smug voice behind him.


    "Amazing isn''t it? Nia''s ability is to conjure the moisture in the surroundings and form the collected moisture into ice in any shape she wanted. As for Allen, ocr senses were highly enhanced that he is even capable of clearly seeing things even as fast a fired sniper bullet. Paired with his enhanced body, he will be able to respond to anything as long as he can see iting.


    Actually, their abilities are very beneficial to my field of research as NIa can freeze the specimen gathered anywhere needed while Allen can do a lot like urately sewing wounds, catching fast moving parasites and other things that needed a fast reaction and reflex."


    Hearing his exnation, the General sighed.


    "You''re lucky to have such assistants."<sub> </sub>


    "What? Jealous?"


    "I''m not. It''s just that I will feel assured it at least a few of these Mutators can be drafted in the my ranks."


    "What you want to do is hard. It''s likely that these Mutators will have a high ego and hard to control unlike your fully trained men. Unless one of the people you trust the most became one, it would be a pipe dream."


    "What if I give them benefits? What do you think?"


    "The result will depend on the Mutators themselves. It is likely that many of them will aim for a higher position than being apdog in the military and following orders from the untrusted upper brass. But I guess, that method can work on the man we had now."


    <o>,m "The Mutator with super strength?"</o>


    "That''s right. That guy has his family waiting for him in the survivor area you see. If you can promise him a better treatment with his family, I''m sure that he willply."


    "Is he going to be released soon?"


    "Uhuh. We''re just doing the final tests so you can have him afterwards if you can convince him. If not, we''ll just release him.


    Well, we can only release him since I don''t think that we have the capability to restrain him. It''s better to build good rtions with these Mutators if possible since the safety of the people will be in danger if we are the ones to do the first move on them and not the other way around.


    You also needed to bolster the ranks of your men, Miguel. There are also the existence of Mutant Animals and nts. These mutated creatures will suree in flocks sooner before we humans are able to evolve naturally."


    ***


    Day 2 - 5:25 AM - City Mall Bacoor, Basement Parking, Central Area


    The military moved back and forth around the parked vehicles they already transported in after they found the security room of the mall. The soldiers who were left here in the parking was in charge of checking and fixing their vehicles while most of the soldiers already moved out and secured the essential parts of the mall like the Hardware and Electronics Store in the first floor and the whole of the service corridors of all the floors of the mall.


    The survivors brought by the military convoy were staying in the East Wing part of the Basement Parking where they arranged beddings and rationed food from the warehouse. The survivors who had almost nothing to eat since this morning were very happy eating the food rationed to them.


    The employees of the mall helped in securing the mall by serving as guides for the soldiers as they knew the mall structure more than anyone else in here.


    During the process of securing the mall, they managed to find several more survivors hiding inside stores. Most of them went out of hiding after hearing the sounds the soldiers were making.


    However, due to the increase in the survivors, another squad was needed to transport all the people in one go. ording to the report 1st Lt. Rafael received from the headquarters, the earliest arrival of the rescue squads will be in the afternoon and thetest was before midnight.


    Still, it seemed that no matter how long the rescue arrives, the survivors were fine with it as long that the rescue will surely arrive. It was due to the men 1st Lt. Rafael led showing their prowess and sessfully securing arge area in the mall. It was unfortunate that they would not be able to secure the main areas of the mall due to the overwhelming number of infected.


    Another thing was that the conflict between the survivors became almost none existent due the soldiers leading the people. The survivors put the soldiers as their pirs making the soldiers try to not let these people down.


    ***


    Day 2 - 6:00 AM ¨C Lakeville Subdivision, Taal Lake Street, Bacoor City, Cavite


    Inside one of the locked house in that street, a strong ray of violet light sheding from the closet in the only room of that house.


    Aside from clothes that were stacked very far from being neat inside the closet, there was a gallon sized circr wide-mouth jar buried deeply among the clothes.


    Inside the jar, there was a double terminated crystal of a vivid violet color. The crystal was one and a half inch in diameter and a little more than three inches in height. The crystal was floating vertically in the middle of the jar not being affected by Earth''s gravity. Around the crystal, there were six smaller sphere shaped crystals about the size of a marble with the same color. The smaller crystals were also floating and danced horizontally around the mid-level of therger crystal while slowly moving counterclockwise.


    The crystals shed a strong light for some time before settling down. Unfortunately, no one was able to see this amazing sight aside from the person that hid it there that was not even present in the house at the moment.

 Chapter 65 Waking Up

    Day 2 - 6:28 AM ¨C City Mall Bacoor, 3rd Floor, TechZone


    Mark, who fell unconscious even before his battle in the previous night was finished, slowly opened his eyes while lying on a soft mattress. While he stared at the ceiling, ''It''s an unfamiliar ceiling.'' was not what he first thought of but he calmly try to recollect all his memories before the copsed while ignoring the fact that he was now inside the storage room of his base store.


    He was not a person who was groggy when waking up in the morning even if the timing he woke up was bad. Rather, he was always clear headed even if he was still sleepy after waking up.


    After recollecting what happened, he tried to make several assumptions on how he ended up in this ce. He was a person who did not speak too much and as such, he learned to make assumptions and try to find the exact situation using clues he could find around him. Just like how he handled a lot of his questions that he liked to ask to Pa yesterday. He only asked about her ability and background and he could make conclusions using what he observed about her and what he detected using his ability.


    As he just woke up, the first thing he wanted to do was to lift his body up and sit down on whatever he was lying down on.


    ''Heavy.''


    That was what he felt when he tried to move. Mark looked around his body and he saw two girls sleeping by his sides. On his right was Mei who was kneeling down on the floor while her heady on the soft mattress he was lying on and her hands were holding his right hand. To his left was Abbygale who was tightly hugging his body.


    While most men might have felt lucky if they were in this situation, Mark was actually feeling difort.


    ''Just what are these girls doing with an injured pers¡­"


    He stopped his train of thought. As he tried to feel the condition of his body, he felt no injury. On the other hand, he actually felt that his body was slightly stronger than before specially his lower limbs.


    Mark gently pulled his hand from Mei''s grasp and slowly peeled off Abbygale from his body before he sat down.


    It was then that he saw a womane in through the door.


    "You¡­"


    He was surprised inside.


    Who entered was a maturedy who was wearing a ck tank top covered by a denim jacket, fitted pants and rubber shoes. He then stared at the woman''s face.


    The woman''s face was something he would not forget for a long time. He was sure that she was the woman who was covered in grey colored bone armorst night!


    The woman looked surprised as she saw him sitting on the mattress while staring at her. She then properly fixed her posture and smiled.


    "Master, you are finally awake."


    Mark heard what she called him but ignored it for now as he used his ability to find out what was the woman''s intention. But he frowned.


    Like Abbygale, there was something strange in her mental fluctuations. Even if her emotions could be seen in her face, her emotional fluctuations were filled with loyalty and indebtedness. It was unlike in the previous night. When he was fighting her before, her emotional fluctuations were normal aside from the overwhelming fluctuationsing from the consciousness that was corroding her own.


    "Is there something wrong with my face?"


    The woman said as Mark kept staring at her without saying anything.


    "Just what did you call me?"


    "I said Master did I not?"


    "Why?"


    Mark expected her to answer but what she did was show a troubled expression before she took out a small device and a phone from her pocket.


    His expression changed. It was his Bluetooth Camera and the phone he used to record what happened yesterday evening.


    While he received the gadgets, their voices caused Mei and Abbygale to wake up.


    Mei was a little out of it as she rubbed her eyes and stretched her arms while yawning. On the other hand, Abbygale stared at Mark for a bit and yelled.


    "Papa!"


    Like a rocket, sheunched her body towards Mark to hug him with joy. However, the strong girl forgot to control her strength.  Abbygale and her Papa fell onto the floor with a loud thud. Fortunately, Mei snapped out of her morning daze as she saw her Gege and Abbygale fall from the makeshift bed. Out of reflex, she backed away from her spot or else, Mark would have fallen unto her.


    Mark sat on the floor feeling the pain on his bottom. He wanted to smack this little girl cuddled on his body on her forehead but as he could see the innocent joy on her face, he wasn''t able to do so.


    "Gege!"


    Mei who finally reacted to the scene in front of her also jumped into action and embraced Mark.


    "My, my, you''re really loved are you not, Master?"


    The woman watching by the door said while giggling.


    Mark looked at her for a bit making her stop before turning to the two who were very joyful due to him waking up. The feeling was good. Knowing that there were people now who were worried for him, he was quite happy, still, he also felt a little repulsive as he was not used to this kind of affection.


    "Can you two let me move somewhere else. Sitting on the cold floor really feel unpleasant."


    The two girls reluctantly let him go while he sat back on the makeshift bed that he finally saw what it was made of. No wonder that the bed felt quite ufortable. It was made by stacked boxed topped with a thin mattress. He would rather sleep on the floor than here.


    As he sat back on the bed, the two happy girls stuck to his sides not wanting to part from him. Hearing the story from Mei, he learned that he was brought in by a stretcher carried by the soldiers. His body was stained with blood while his lower limbs and chest were showing symptoms of acute inmmation. He was also burning with high fever. It seemed that Mei took care of him during the time he was suffering until it settled down.


    "Thank you."


    Mark patted Mei''s head. Before the outbreak, he felt alienated by these two words but it seemed that he could say it naturally now.<sub> </sub>


    Seeing that her Papa patted Mei''s head, Abbygale started to sulk.


    "Papa, me too!"


    The little girl then received a light pinch on her nose.


    "You just pushed me out of the bed so this is your punishment."


    Mark then looked at the woman once more since she just stood there smiling while watching the three. He then sighed.


    "The answers to my questions to you are recorded in this phone right?"


    "It should be."


    Unlocking the phone and opening the galleries, he started watching the video. Beside him, he just let Mei and Abbygale watch as he did not feel the need to hide the things in the video from them. He knew that he could trust these two girls. He actually felt funny as he actually able to trust people.


    During the first quarter of the video, Mei looked at the woman in shock as she saw the state the woman was in. However, after two-thirds of the video passed, Mei and Abbygale started to re hatefully at the woman. They saw what happened when Mark was kicked away and they saw the amount of blood he coughed out in the video. If Mark was not holding Abbygale back, the little might have started tosh out at the woman.


    The woman guiltily epted the hateful res of the two girls. She knew that she had nothing she could say to defend herself. Actually, she had one but it did note to her to use that as reason.


    Then, after that part, it was Mark''s turn. His face started to darken. The change was not because of the sudden change of personality, movements and speech but because the ''him'' in the video was the one responsible for adding more injuries in his body. On the other hand, it seemed that he partially expected the chance of the other ''him''ing out as he was not surprised by it.


    On his sides though, Mei felt really surprised by what she just saw while Abbygale just looked confused. It seemed that she did not understood what was happening.


    Then, it reached the part where the deal between the ''him'' in the video and the woman in front of them came about along with the very little tutorial and the mysterious ability to help the woman that ''he'' used"


    "That Freed is causing me troubles again that bastard."


    "Gege, what is happened there? You also had D.I.D.?"


    Mei asked him in surprise which in turn, Mark sighed.


    "I can''t really tell if he''s really another personality of mine. That guy knew a lot of things that I didn''t. You just saw him use an ability that I don''t know of. Seriously, that guy is a headache causing me trouble every time hees out."


    Mark scratched his head not knowing what to do about this. He then looked at the woman.


    "You''re really going to fulfill the deal between you and Freed?"


    "So, he is called Freed?"


    "He is. That''s the name I gave him not because of goodwill but because he''s doing things as freely as he could causing me trouble every time. Let''s leave it at that. Answer my question first."


    Mark looked sternly at the woman.


    To his stare, the woman smiled and nodded.


    "You already saw my answer in the video, did you not? And I would not let you kick me away either. There are a lot of things I''m good at but my best trait is to pay debts and fulfilling my end of the deals I made. I was raised by my parents that way."


    "Given that response of yours, you will be my servant as long as Freed say that you can go right? I''m sure that bastard won''t let you go you know? Don''t tell me that you want to serve all your life? You also have your children with you."


    "It is fine Master. If you want me to go away because of my children, then it is fine if you also take my children under you."


    Mark stared at the woman.


    "There''s something wrong with your head. Why am I getting the vive that being a servant is just natural for you?"


    "About that."


    The woman scratched her cheek and let out a wry smile.


    "Actually, my mother worked as a maid while my father was a gardener at the same household. I grew up helping them as the bosses were a rich but kind family. It''s also them who took care of my schooling back then. So, Master can say that the blood of a servant run on my veins."


    Mark barely held himself from pping his forehead. The woman then continued.


    "Besides, I don''t think it will be bad serving you. It is not just that you have the ability to fight almost on par with the mutated me before. If not for the high defense my ability gave me, you might have even killed me. Furthermore, you are not a normal person yourself."


    The woman then looked at Abbygale.


    "You also have another one like me beside you. And you do not seem to treat her any different from a normal girl at all. Most people will treat us as monsters but you''re not one of them."


    The woman then vowed.


    "Well then, Master, let me introduce myself. I am Odelina Nadasia at your service. You can all me Odel if you wanted to."


    Mark rubbed his temples as his head started to ache.


    "You''re really forcing yourself under my wing aren''t you? It''s not like I have one."


    Odelina did not answer his question and just smiled.

 Chapter 66 Failed Negotiations

    While Mark was having a headache because of the unwanted circumstances pushed unto him. Several soldiers came into the room. The group was led by two people, a stern looking soldier, a male high school student, and two college girls they knew, Angeline and Pa.


    After the four entered, the remaining soldiers just stood by the door like bodyguards.


    Mark immediately realized that the man in military uniform was Ange''s brother but he did not know who the high school student was. But then, there were visible simrities between Ange''s face and on the high school boy''s. It was likely that he was Ange''s younger brother or a close family rtive.


    Odelina on the other hand retreated and stood beside the makeshift bed showing a behavior a trained maid would have. The only missing from her was the frilled maid clothes that weremon in many anime series.


    Mark looked at Ange and Pa. He knew that something was going on. Looking at their troubled faces, he did not even need to use his ability to guess.


    While sitting on the bed, Mark looked at the man in military uniform. Judging from his looks, he was like at the same age as Mark or probably older by one or two years. The insignia he had on his uniform showed his rank as a 1st Lieutenant.


    The man let out a domineering aura as he was about to start taking and opened his mouth. However, he was not able to let out a single word since Mark suddenly spoke interrupting him.


    "I refuse."


    Mark said making the man stare at him with wide eyes. It was obvious that he was not able to hide his surprise and confusion.


    "What?!"


    "I said, I refuse. Whatever you want to say, I refuse."


    The man gawked not being able to react to the sudden situation.


    "I''m sure, you''ll just babble about how humanity is on the brink of extinction, how we needed to cooperate, bing heroes of justice and showoff the might of the military. Then you will try to pull me into your ranks bribing me with incentives, threats and stuff right? Then, I refuse so you can go and not waste our time."


    The two college girls let out bitter smiles. Still. It was visible that Ange was trying to hold herself back herughter. Her shoulders were slightly trembling. On the other hand, Pa seemed to have expected his answer and was not bothered by.


    Ange then turned towards her older brother and patted his shoulder.


    "Brother, you failed miserable here. We already told you that this will happen and you did not listen to us at all."


    The domineering aura from the man vanished instantly as he droop his shoulders. His true personality went out while he looked at Ange with a bit of hate. He then turned and looked at Mark.


    "Why do you want to refuse? I know that you have the ability to fight those mutants and even a Failed Mutator, why don''t you want to put your skills into good use? If you need incentives, we can help you rescue your family or receive a high standing inside the Evacuation Zone along with many benefits thate with it! We really need people with abilities right now! It''s also obvious that you already evolved! With the injuries you received, you shouldn''t be able to move for at least weeks but look at you now? You''re perfectly fine!"


    The man yelled all those long string of words like a child.


    "Are you done now?"


    Mark looked at the man with disdain.


    "Those kinds of words won''t work at me. If you want my reason, it''s mostly because it is troublesome. It''s troublesome to try and be a hero, it''s troublesome to work under someone, it''s troublesome to work with a lot of people and it''s troublesome to work with the military who also work under the government. Furthermore, you guys have a lot of restricting rules to follow. I hate that. Also my family is in Catanduanes right now. Can your men go there and get them?"


    "You¡­"


    The man felt defeated. He could not argue with his as most of what he said was true, specially the thing about strict rules they were implementing right now. He then thought of something.


    "Right! I heard that you want to rescue your friends! We can help with that! And about these girls beside you, we can ensure their safety in the Evacuation Zone. Also this little girl, I heard that she is too strong for her age, I suspect that she is also Mutator so she is highly wee."


    There was a trace of anticipation on the man''s eyes.


    "As I said before, I refuse. In the first ce, you guys are already taking your good time to send rescue to the survivors here. I suspect that you guys are short with manpower. Then, just how long would it take for your men to mobilize soldiers for the sake of one person? I''m sure that my friends had already be zombies by the time you guys are ready. Besides, I already had a deal with Angeline and Pa to help me take care of these girls, so you don''t have to bother yourself with that. I also don''t allow you people to get your hands on them. If that happens, expect a zombie tide toe towards your precious Evacuation Zone."<sub> </sub>


    Mark sternly warned the man.


    "Still, you need the military''s help to shelter her."


    The man pointed at Mei.


    "I heard from Angeline and Pa that she is the daughter of the current CEO of Xiao Industries. If that is the case, she could be taken by force since her family held a high position there. It was with their help that we could establish and build the walls for the Evacuation Zone."


    Then the man scanned Mei''s face making her ufortable and she hid behind Mark. The man continued.


    "With her appearance, I''m sure that many officials there will try to have a deal with her family to¡ª"


    He was not able to finish his sentence as he staggered backward and held his head in pain. His nose also started to bleed.


    Aside from Abbygale and Odelina, the other people in the room and the soldiers that stood by the door clutched their head in pain while they started to hear a ringing sound in their ears.


    "Master, it is better if you calm down. The youngdy is also affected."


    Odelina''s voice was heard talking to Mark while everyone inside was in turmoil. The people who heard her voice looked at Mark with great difficulty. His eyes were glowing with a faint red light.


    Mark closed his eyes and took a deep breath and the uncanny sensation in the room vanished in that instant along with the glow in his eyes.


    Mark then looked at Mei who had just recovered and patted her head in apology. Mark felt the sudden sensation. It seemed that his Emphatic ability also improved that he failed to control and unleashed it without knowing due to a sudden surge of anger.


    When Mark turned back to look at the people in the room, he saw their shocked faces. He was already busted with his mental ability going out of control so he just ignored their faces. He also heard clicking sounds as the soldiers pointed their guns at him.


    Turning back to Ange''s brother who was wiping the blood off from his nose while warily staring at Mark, he spoke.


    "We''re done here. I already said before that you can leave but since you don''t want to¡­"


    Mark turned to Angeline and Pa. I''ll call off the favor you two owe me. I don''t need your help anymore.


    Ignoring the guns pointed at him, Mark lifted Abbygale into his arm and gently supported the still dizzy Mei out of the room while Odelina followed behind them. Mei received the brunt of Mark''s sudden outburst since she was the closest person around him with Abbygale as exception.


    While Mark was walking out, the soldier''s did not shoot without orders from their captain and just aimed their gun following him until he walked out.


    "I hate you."


    Angeline grunted on her brother before walking out pulling Pa who also felt hurt about what Mark said to them.


    "Bro, I know that you''re desperate but you really went overboard."


    The high school student who did not speak a single word since they entered said.


    "You''re right I guess."


    1st Lt. Rafael looked at his younger brother, Gabriel, as he knew that he was wrong this time. He really went and took the situation to his head.


    Beforeing here to draft Mark into their ranks, he received a call from his father. It was the information about the mutants along with some dreadful news. One of the squads that were dispatched to rescue survivors was attacked by a Failed Mutator. The squad was wiped out along with the over fifty survivors they managed to find. The captain of the squad that was wiped out was his sworn brother in the military. There was also a mutant Z-type that managed to scale the wall of the Evacuation Zone and killed several soldiers.


    He looked at the door Mark''s group and his sister just went through in regret.

 Chapter 67 Strange Infected

    Day 2 - 6:42 AM ¨C City Mall Bacoor, 3rd Floor, TechZone


    Mark brought everyone into another store that no one dared to use. It was because just one the other side of the door inside this store, the Biter Mark caught was kept. He actually wanted to tidy up his things like theptops and the stuff he prepared there but was quite apprehensive to do at this moment. After all, the soldiers he talked to were still there. Before he went out, he tried to look for the armor he wore before but felt down when he saw the state of the armor. It was stained with his blood, filled with cracks on the torso and the chest part of the armor was in pieces. Aside from the arm guards, everything else on the armor was practically useless now.


    While he was looking at his armor, Pa and Ange went out of the room. The two girls seemed to have something to say but with what just happened, they really looked awkward to do so.


    Under the gaze of the two girls and the military soldiers, Mark found his weapons and left.


    When he went out of the store, some of the people who saw him looked at him with shock. Mark was sure that they saw his state this evening and anyone would sure be shocked seeing a near death person recovered to perfect state in just one night. No, it was just a little less than nine hours.


    Mark also saw the guys who participated inunching the fireworks on the rooftop along the way. James and Bernard looked fine but Fernan had his arm bandaged while Calvin had his leg lied up while he walked around with the help of a makeshift crutch. The two injured men looked at Mark who had far more severe injuriesst night with envy. Mark was all healed up by now while they were still tied up with bandages.


    Looking at the men, Mark noticed that they were not surprised by it at all. He then decided to ask them why. Apparently, the military already briefed the people there about the situation, about how the Pathogen, how it was transmitted, about how the people started to evolve and about the Mutants and Mutators. As he also needed to know about those things, he thought of asking them when an idea hit him and he looked towards his self-proimed servant. Since everyone was briefed about it, then he could just ask this womanter. They parted with the employees and went to this store.


    Mark remembered about the Biter. He wanted to study the characteristics of the Biter but he was not able to because a lot of things happened.


    He made Mei who was still a little dizzy sit on a chair. Her mental stability was already low in the first ce and as such, Mark''s idental outburst affected her a bit too much.


    "Do you feel fine now?"


    "No¡­ Gege, I feel nauseous."


    She then raised her pale face towards Mark and requested something absurd.


    "Gege¡­ Hug."


    Mei opened her arms towards her Gege. Mark sighed as heplied. After all, it was his fault this time. He put down Abbygale and went embraced Mei in his arms.


    Like a melting ice cream, she slumped into his body and started to feel better.


    ''Just what the heck is this?''


    Mark thought. Before, he thought nothing about what Mei said about what she felt when hugging him but now, he could believe her.


    He was not doing anything else aside from hugging Mei but he could feel a thin stream of energying from him and entering her body in a gentle manner. He tried to strengthen the flow of energy a bit and under everyone''s gaze, his eyes started to glow a faint milky light but vanished suddenly as he lost control of it.


    As Mei felt fine now, she unwillingly let go of Mark who was in deep thought. Then, he heard Odelina''s voice.


    "Master, judging from the light that came from your eyes, it was the same energy as the ability Freed used to help me."


    Mark looked at her. He finally got it. The consciousness trying to devour Odelina''s before was full of rage and using this energy, Freed calmed that savage consciousness and helped her gain control of her body.


    Still, Mark was more interested in learning to control releasing his mental energy to affect the consciousness of other people. He felt that it was more useful for him to learn than this ability.


    As Mei was fine now, he decided to check the Biter inside the room. He learned from Odelina that the soldiers wanted to clear this store out and kill the infected he caught but the men earlier prevented them from doing so.


    When he entered, he saw the rolled up Biter on the floor. She was not rolling at the floor anymore but it was visible that she was alive as her head was still moving.


    Mark removed the cloths and rags that was now stained with blood and somehow also reeked of urine tied on her body leaving the wires that tied up the Biter''s wrists and legs. Still, she looked weak. She was not moving erratically unlike before.


    "What''s wrong with her?"


    Odelina asked in confusion. It was obvious that this was an infected but she was not behaving like one at all. The first thing that an infected would do upon seeing a human was try to attack but this one did not and just lied quietly on the floor.


    "Maybe it''s hungry?"


    Mark looked at the corner of the room where several severed limbs was piled. When the employees were cleaning the TechZone yesterday, Mark requested Bernard to take at least three limbs from different kinds of bodies. One was from a dead body that did not turn while the other two was from dead Biters and Eaters.


    He was thinking that how could a Biter, who had still working body functions could maintain their bodies if they were not eating and just biting their victims.


    He took a slice from each kind of limbs. He could differentiate the limbs due to the appearance distinct to the infected and not which made him sure about it. Mark then tried to feed the weakened Biter.


    The result made him surprised. She actually ate what he gave her and not only that. She ate all the same. She devoured it like no tomorrow. Odelina and Mei who was watching were also surprised. About Abbygale, she was calmly watching without any reaction at all.<sub> </sub>


    Mark then thought that there was something wrong here. It was unlikely for the infected to eat one another or else, they would be starting to fight one another and brought the end of the apocalypse by themselves. Furthermore, this Biter in front of them was just looking at them without any reaction at all. She was just nkly staring at looking like a docile animal.


    "It''s strange."


    Mark said while looking at the tied up Biter on the floor. He then picked up a limb and put the limb in front of her. She then started to munch on the limbs eating ravenously. She finished all the limbs leaving just bones in a few minute. However, she returned to her nk state after eating.


    What happened was very far from what they thought. Even after eating all those flesh, instead of bing lively again, the Biter continued behaving docile.


    An idea entered his mind. Mark tried baiting the Biter using his own hand. He was surprised once more. The Biter looked at the hand he was waving in front of her then looked at Mark before slumping on the floor again.


    "What the hell?"


    Mark gave up. He stood up and faced the girls.


    "There is something wrong with this one. What do you think?"


    "I also think so Master. Did it mutate in a docile variant of infected?"


    Odelina asked with her index finger on her chin. Mei also nodded with what Odelina said.


    "Though that is not impossible, what gives? It was really the opposite of what a zombie should behave. It''s not like we are on aedy horror movie."


    Mark turned to the Biter on the floor and touched her head. The Biter just looked at him and did nothing else. He then tried to channel his mental energy like how Freed did with Odelina in order to save her. He was not really sure if this would work as he could not really control the ability yet but it''s worth a try for an experiment.


    Like other zombies, Mark could not feel any mental or emotional fluctuation from this Biter making him sure that she was still a zombie but just what was going on with her?


    The stream of energy entered the Biters head. What happened next was unexpected. The Biter closed her eyes and stopped moving. He was startled. Did it die?


    Mark then hurriedly turned the Biter making hery down on her back and checked her heartbeat. It was still beating and even stronger. He then found out what was happening.


    She was sleeping!


    Mark then turned at the two women who were ring at him.


    "What''s wrong with you two?"


    "Gege, did you just touch her¡­"


    "Master, do you have that kind of fetish?"


    The two then received a re Mark making the two frozen.


    "Could you two clean your minds for a bit? I just checked her heartbeat and nothing else."


    "But Master, you could just use to check the pulse or her breathing."


    "What are you talking about? I may know many things but I''m not an expert. It is harder to check for the pulse than the heartbeat. About checking her breathing, why don''t you try to risk it. What if she suddenly bit me while I check?"


    With that, Odelina shut up.


    "Also, why would I go for an infected woman when there is a beautiful girl always following me?"


    Mark looked at Mei making her heart beat faster and her face turned beet red.


    "If you two have unhealthy thoughts, leave me out of it alright? Unless you want to make me angry."


    Mark then stood up. He decided to leave this sleeping zombie forter. It was strange but it just sparked up his gamer instinct. It felt like getting a rare character in a draw for a free character card.


    There were also other pressing things he needed to address. One of those was to find a vehicle. As he could not rely anymore on sending the girls to the Evacuation Zone, he might as well bring them with him. Odelina could also act as their guard since she was a Mutant. And for this, he needed a good vehicle to use.

 Chapter 68 Finding A Vehicle Like A Pie Falling From The Sky

    Day 2 ¨C 7:02 AM ¨C City Mall Bacoor, 3rd Floor, West Wing Stairwell


    Mark and the rest of the group were being led by Odelina this time as they went down to the Basement Parking while Mark was being briefed by her and Mei about the information they learned from the military.


    After leaving the matter about the strange behavior the Biter he caught forter, he told the girls about what they needed to do and Mark''s decision to bring Mei with him and not leave her anymore to the military.


    During the time when Ange''s brother blurted all those things earlier, he noted some vital information. It was that Mei''s family had a high standing within the Evacuation Zone. If that was the case, it would be hard for Mei to stay there peacefully.


    His body was strengthened and his ability was also getting stronger. Along with Abbygale and the new addition of Odelina, these Mutators, as called by the military, could also help in protecting her and Odelina''s children. As Odelina was now following him as his servant, of course, her children would alsoe with them.


    Mark just wished that her children were well mannered like Abbygale. He did not want an additional head ache during their travels. After all, in most zombie stories, children caused the most life threatening situations for their groups.


    As the group grewrger, everyone knew that finding a vehicle to use was a must. Not only for them but also for the people Mark wanted to find.


    Surprisingly, Odelina said that she saw a perfect vehicle for them to use in the Basement Parking. That led to the current situation.


    While they traversed the mall, they could see the soldiers moving around busily while doing their duties. The stronger men within the survivors also volunteered to do other jobs that they could.


    Still, Mark could not help but notice some of the soldiers ncing at him every now and then. It was not like Mark could sense any ill intent from them but it was quite disturbing for him as he was a person who hated too much attention from strangers.


    When they arrived at the Central area of the basement parking, they saw the soldiers that were busy fixing their vehicles. Ignoring the soldiers, Odelina led the group past them.


    They soon arrived at the East Wing where they saw the survivors being rationed with food for their breakfast. Each person was given a bowl of rice porridge with meat, vegetables and boiled eggs. Apparently, the military decided to secure as much food as possible and cooked the perishables for the survivors.


    Seeing the survivors eat the porridge, Abbygale and Mei''s stomachs growled. Thinking about it, they had not eaten breakfast yet. Mark who did not really eat early in the morning as he always woke up near noon every day was also feeling hungry at the moment. It was also the same for Odelina.


    And the self-proimed servant went towards the soldiers rationing the rice porridge and took several bowls for their group. Mark did not even needed to send her and she already did. Just how efficient was she?


    The other survivors were looking at their group as they took the bowls. Mark was quite bothered by their stares but decided to ignore them. They were also survivors here so they were eligible to receive rations. Well, Mark also noticed the men that were not looking at them because of the bowls but because of the girls with him.


    Holding their bowls of porridge, Odelina led them further towards the Eastern most part of the basement parking. There, they finally saw the vehicle Odelina wanted them to see.


    "This is the car."


    Odelina pointed at the vehicle.


    It was arge vehicle. It looked like a van but Mark was sure that it was not. He knew what this car was and was surprised to find one here.


    "An MB Sprinter? Why is something like this here? Not even mentioning that it is an armored model."


    Mark said in confusion.


    "So, you also knew this car Master?"


    "I do but this the first time I actually saw one. Well, I''m surprised that you seem to know what this car is."


    "My husband was in luxury car business so we deal with these kinds of cars every time."


    Hearing her reason, Mark nodded. It was really a valid reason since this kind of car was not much known in themon popce. Even him, he just managed to identally find a picture of this car in the inte while he was browsing some online articles.


    "Is this a good vehicle, Gege?"


    "Since it''s the armored model, it is good to use for use but I think, we need to gear it up a little bit more if we are going to use this one."


    Mark stared at the car and continued.


    "Still, we have a problem though. How are we going to open and drive this car? I don''t know much about hotwiring and I doubt that we can start this car through that."


    "Master, let''s mull over thatter. We should eat first before the food go cold."


    Mark decided to follow Odelina''s suggestion. They sat on the side walk and on the wheel stop on the empty parking slot beside the MB Sprinter and started eating.


    "It tastes good isn''t it?"


    Odelina said after swallowing a spoonful of the porridge and to that, the rest could only nod. Abbygale did not however as she was busy devouring her food. Her face was also getting messy.


    "They soldiers did not skimp on seasonings. It''s reasonable I think. They won''t be able to bring everything so it''s best to use anything they can."


    Mark said as he tried to find a handkerchief on him but did not find any. He then saw a hand giving him one. It was Odelina''s hand. Mark took the handkerchief from her and wiped Abbygale''s face.<sub> </sub>


    They continued eating their bowl while they talked about a few things. Also, Odelina went to get another bowl of porridge as Abbygale wanted another serving.


    While they were talking, an unexpected guest came walking towards them. The person appearing before them was more surprising than getting attacked by a new kind of infected.


    The person who came to them was the Bodyguard of the Fat Man yesterday.


    The downcast aura from him from yesterday did not diminish even just a little bit. When he arrived, he just stood before them. He seemed to want to say something but did not know how to start. A full grown bulky bodied man in a suit behaving like a high school girl who did not know how to strike a conversation with her crush.


    It looked really painful to the eyes so Mark decided to lend him a hand.


    "Do you want something with us?"


    When the Man heard his question, he finally eased up and answered.


    "I heard that you won''te with us to evacuate from the employees and soldiers in the third floor. I figured that you will need a vehicle to use."


    "You have a vehicle?"


    "Not really mine but my boss''."


    "And that car is?"


    "That."


    The man pointed at the Armored MB Sprinter beside Mark''s group.


    Now it made sense why this kind of car was here. Given the all-important attitude of that Fat Man, his way of gaudy clothing and having an armed bodyguard with him, it was not surprising if he own something like this vehicle.


    The man took out a key holder with several keys from his pocket and tossed it to Mark.


    "That''s all I wanted to say so I''ll take my leave."


    The man then turned around without waiting for another reply.


    Mark and the group looked at the sad back of the man until he was out of sight.


    "Gege, why did he give this to us?"


    "Atonement. That man was trying to atone for his sins. He seems like a good person but he served the wrong boss."


    Mark used his ability to ensure that there were no traps when the man was talking to him. Fortunately, there was none of sort. The man was really atoning for what he had done in following the orders of his boss.


    "Atonement for what?"


    As the neer, Odelina was in the dark about what happened yesterday morning. Mark did not skimp on the details and told her the story while they ate the rest of the meal.


    "Now that we had one problem solved. We just need to refit a few parts and some more armor to it specially the wheels."


    Mark was happy for the pie that fell in his hands out of nowhere. With this, a lot of the problems in his mind were given an answer.


    "Odelina, can I ask you to get Uncle Bernard to bring some power tools and metal sheets here? Actually, I know that you can do all those yourself but following what Freed did, we''re going to hide the fact that you''re a Mutator to the soldiers."


    Mark looked at Odelina as she nodded after hearing what he said. He then continued.


    "I''ll check this vehicle first and what it has inside."


    With that, Odelina collected the bowls and left. Mark then saw her get two more bowls of porridge before she continued to her duties. It made Mark smile. At least, she did not forget her children in order to blindly follow his orders.


    Mark looked at the bunch of keys in his hand. He cycled over the keys and used the remote where the key holder was tied to and sessfully opened the unfamiliar vehicle.


    <o>,m What they saw inside even made the rich girl Mei surprised. What a luxurious vehicle!</o>


    Comfortable seats, high-tech equipment, wide space and other very significant things. Furthermore, the base color used inside and outside the car was ck which made Mark like the vehicle more.


    Mark then looked at the side. He saw Abbygale who was already ying on the soft chair. He entered the vehicle and started to check everything and familiarize himself with the vehicle.

 Chapter 69 The Last Day In The Mall

    Mark started to look around the car and check everything. The car was surely customized for luxury. The car was 290 inches in length and 80 inches in width. The driver''s area and the passenger area were conjoined making either area essible from both sides.


    The passenger seats were lined along the sides of the vehicle. The chairs were more of a living room sofa than a normal car seat. At the back, there was an entertainment system and apact bar where wine sses were neatly hanging from the rack. There was also a small refrigerator that was as tall as thepact bar.


    The entertainment system consisted of arge monitor and severalrge speakers what were fixed on the upper back side of the vehicle. Behind the bar and refrigerator which was the area under the entertainment system, there was a space that could be used for storage. Looking at the back of the driver''s seat, there was a small cab and mounted on top of the cab was a touch screen device.


    Mark started checking the driver seat. He tried to start the car and it smoothly started. He immediately stopped it as the sudden start of the vehicle seemed to have caught the attention of the survivors resting on the other side of the east wing.


    Looking at the gauges, he saw the fuel was only half full. If he remembered correctly, the fuel capacity of this car model was around a hundred liters of diesel. He did not remember how far that amount of fuel would go so it was better for them to stock up on fuel if they could.


    Checking the GPS system, it was kind of useless now. It required a cellrwork which was not working anymore. It could also work with a wireless inte connection but there was not a single one avable right now and he was unable to check it.


    He then looked back at the passenger area. Mei was checking the contents of the refrigerator.  From his side, he could see several expensive wine bottles inside. He was not an alcohol drinker and was not interested in being one and as such, he did not recognize any of the brands indicated at thebels.


    When he looked at Abbygale, she was also rummaging on the cab just behind him. When he saw the contents of the cab, he immediately jumped over towards the little girl. He pushed the cab close and picked up Abbygale bringing her away,


    "Gege, is something wrong?"


    Mei noticed the strange behavior Mark disyed and asked.


    "Mei''er, take Gale and wait outside."


    Mark did not answer her question and just requested for the two girls to wait outside of the vehicle.  Abbygale looked confused as she was suddenly lifted up but did not resist while Mei obediently brought the little girl with her.


    The confused girls just stared at the car as Mark closed the door on them.


    Inside the vehicle, Mark opened the cab once more. The contents of the cab were toys. However, not the kind of toys that was meant for children. Pulling the cab below open, there was a small box where several foil packs were lined up neatly. The traces of circle shaped rings can be seen on the surface of the foil packs indicating what the contents were. Beside it was another box containing capsules of an ubeled medicine and tablets on a circr shaped blister pack.


    Mark could now guess the exact purpose of that fat man, for him to own a vehicle designed like this. To think that that hateful fat guy was a womanizer. He was sure that it was the power of money. Though not all, many women were attracted to rich men no matter how they looked like or their age was as long as they had a lot of money.


    He continued to scour the whole vehicle. The cabs under the seats, the storage area and thepartments above the passenger seats, even the smallpartments on the driver''s area were not spared. Mark also turned on the entertainment system using the touch screen on the cab behind the driver''s seat and browsed the contents of the database where he also found numerous premium "research material".


    Mark proceeded to delete all the "research material", packed up all the "toys" into a bag he found in the cargo area and went out of the vehicle while he decided to keep the contraceptives on the lower cab. It was of course, not for his use but for his friends. Some of them were already married and will surely bring their spouse with them. Who knows what they would decide to do when no one was around.


    When he went out, Odelina had already returned along with several people. Bernard and James was among the people she brought and they were carrying various tools.


    They all looked at Mark with confusion when he went out and also nced at the bag he was carrying.


    "Master, what is that?"


    Odelina asked which made the employees look at her. They still had not gotten over hearing someone actually call another person as "Master". It really sounded foreign to them. And even stranger that she popped out of nowhere calling Mark "Master".


    To her question, Mark only gave one word as his answer.


    "Garbage."


    Mark then looked around trying to remember where he had seen a garbage bin around and saw it near the entrance of the East Wing part of the basement parking.


    Without saying anything, he went through the group towards the garbage bin and dumped the whole bag into it. After returning, he told the rest to start with the modifications.


    Actually, Mark was confused as to why these people were eager to help him but he then learned that it was their way of thanking him. Even if he looked like a merciless and unsociable person to them, he was actually the person who did the most which led them to this point. Not mentioning securing the TechZone, he also went to find medicine for a sick child. There was also the eventst night where led the n to lure the infected away and he ended up half dead to stall time for the military toe in.


    ***


    Day 2 ¨C 4:59 AM ¨C City Mall Bacoor, Basement Parking, East Wing


    It took them almost the whole day to n the suitable modifications and refitted several parts of the vehicle. They also went far and painted the new instations ck.


    Everyone stood in front of the car they worked hard to make.


    The front bumper was installed with a V-shaped ram slightly wider than the actual width of the vehicle. It was necessary as the vehicle was too big. The ram could help the vehicle push other cars to the side in one go opening a path without needing to stop.


    The windows were covered with grid shaped metal railings. On the right side of the car, the railings covering the windows were made retractable using springs and could be pushed backwards when the door was opened.<sub> </sub>


    On the wheels, the outer part was covered with a circr metal cover almost the size of the wheels which was connected to the sides of the car and could be detached and attached anytime needed. The cover was slightly shorter having a good amount of allowance to make sure that the cover would not hit speed bumps on the road.


    As Mark was concerned for the electric supply of the car that was needed to make its features fully functional, they went further and installed several sr panels on the top of the vehicle and was also covered with grid shaped railings.


    They had no trouble finding the materials they needed as the warehouse was fully essible for them.


    While they were working, the survivors and soldiers around became interested and watched the whole process and were amazed when they saw the result. Unfortunately, this was not their car at all.


    As for the interior, there was not much to change. He just added a small kitchen cab containing tes and sses at the back beside the refrigerator and few appliances like a small rice cooker, an electric stove and an electric thermos. He actually wanted a microwave but he could not find apact one in the warehouse.


    It was now time for the test drive.


    Mark went on the driver''s seat while Odelina took the seat beside him under the envious stares of Mei and Abbygale. It was decided since she was the only person that could drive in their group except Mark. Because of that, the two unwillingly scrambled for the nearest seat behind Mark.


    Seeing the antics of the two, Mark frowned.


    "If you two don''t behave, I will kick you two out of the car."


    And with that, the two finally stopped and sat quietly.


    Under the gazes of the people outside the vehicle, it moved. Driving across Basement Parking, the East Wing, to the Central and returning to the initial spot.


    Mark had a few errors driving where he was reprimanded by Odelina. Still, he sessfully finished the round.


    "Master, you should practice some more."


    "It''s just minor errors."


    "Mistaking the brake for the gas was not a minor error."


    "I still finished thep without idents though. And this car was way lighter than the car I drove before so it was easier to drive."


    "What car did you drive before?"


    "A Passenger jeepney."


    "And when was that?"


    "Four years ago."


    Odelina red at him and sighed.


    "When we leave, I''ll be the one to drive. Is that fine Master?"


    Mark nodded. After all, that was one less trouble for him.


    After getting out, Mark thanked the employees for their help and all of them decided to celebrate.  The military was done packing the supply they was going to carry and the other stuff left was now free for everyone to take. They took some cold drinks and delicious food and went to party.


    The other survivors were also allowed to participate. Even if they tried to not make loud noises, it was a fun asion to the survivors who felt nothing but fear as the apocalypse ensued.


    Reyah and Sariya also joined in. It seemed that Sariya was all better now and to say, she became way stronger than your average four year old.


    It was also the first time Mark saw Odelina''s children. While the three happily spent the time of the party, Mark could detect the cautiousness the two children had towards their mother. It seemed that what happened yesterday left a crack in their rtionship. Odelina also seemed to notice it as he had a sad look on face at times she looked at her children.


    Ange and Pa was also there. Even though they were ncing at Mark''s direction every now and then, they did not manage to get the courage they needed to approach him.


    Mark on the other hand spent the time on a far corner away from the crowd. Even though the atmosphere was festive, he was notfortable participating in a gathering ofrge amount of people. Of course, Mei and Abbygale stayed beside him.


    They all went to celebrate this time for two reasons. First, it might be thest time to see Mark and his group. Another was because it was thest day they will spend in this mall. It was already confirmed that the rescue squads were already on the way and will arrive in a few hours.


    Some of the soldiers also joined in for the fun. Many people wanted to drink alcohol but they persevered. They were still not in the right time for them to pass out drunk. Maybe, they could do it after arriving at the Evacuation Zone.

 Chapter 70 The Night Before And The Departure

    Day 2 ¨C 6:07 PM ¨C City Mall Bacoor, Basement Parking, Central Area


    The party was still not over for the survivors and the soldiers when 1st Lt. Rafael came down to the parking and started ordering the soldiers. The soldiers immediately left the group and went back to their posts while some had gone running up the stairwell on the East Wing.


    Apparently, the rescue squads dispatched was arriving in ETA thirty minutes. The military nned to imitate what Mark and his group didst night to lure away the infected from the entrance of the Basement Parking. The only difference was they also nned on thinning the numbers by throwing explosives unto the lured infected. It was reasonable as it would be harder to leave the mall afterwards if the number of infected was not lessened even a little.


    The announced arrival of the rescue squads lifted the spirits of the survivors even more. They could finally go and leave this ce into a several times safer environment.


    As the rescue was arriving, Mark also started to move. He told Odelina to let her children wait inside the vehicle together with Abbygale as they went back to the TechZone to gather their things and other stuff. Abbygale actually wanted to follow but her Papa gave her the important duty of guarding Odellina''s children. Though she looked sullen, she did not want to disobey her Papa and patiently sat on the vehicle. Since she obediently followed his instructions, Mark promised to find her some sweets and toys when they return.


    ***


    Back in the TechZone, Mark tidied up thework of Laptops he set up yesterday. Still, he only nned on bringing threeptops with him. One was a smallpact Netbook that he could use for misceneous things, arger one which he could use to y games whenever he wanted to and another one for reserve in case that the otherptop broke and he could not find any recement. All of the three units he decided to bring was the most expensive and had the highest specs in the whole TechZone.


    When he checked theptops, he was quite disappointed. Not all the games he downloaded were finished in time. The inte was already down several hours before. Fortunately, the games that were not finished downloading could be found in game stores in some malls and he would be able to acquire a copy if he just gave it some effort.


    Mark also did not forget to bring some gadgets that would be useful for them especially the USB gadgets they used before. He also brought several expensive cellphone units, two-way radios and sr chargers.


    While Mark was scouring through the TechZone stores, Mei and Odelina were in charge of gathering clothes and other essentials like soap and medicine.


    Their group went back and forth to the vehicle using the cargo elevator and loaded the things into the back of the vehicle. As for the food, they just drove the vehicle to the entrance of the warehouse and get the supplies from there.


    Inside the warehouse, they happened toe across arge box about the size of aputer CPU in the electronics storage area. On the surfacerge box, there was a picture of a squre shaped quadcopter. It was actually a camera mounted remote controlled drone. Of course, Mark decided to grab it. It was a must. Then, Mark thought of it. When they went to the toys area to get some toys he promised Abbygale, they also grabbed some remote controlled cars and flying toys they could get. There a lot of possible ways to use these toys in the apocalypse other than just for fun.


    The car was filled with supplies even under the seats and thepartments. Estimating the amount of food they carried, it wouldst them at least two weeks if eaten moderately.


    The rescue squads had long arrived before they could even finish their preparations.  At the Central Area of the Basement Parking, severalrge trucks were parked along with more than a dozen military vehicles.


    Now, it was time for Mark to get thest thing to bring. It was the docile infected he kept in the storage in the TechZone. Mark went to get a pet cor, chains and a biker face mask. When Mark returned in the room, the Biter was already awake but like before, she just looked at them without any notion to attack. Mark put the mask to cover her mouth and tied the cor on her neck connected to the chains. They also reced the wires that tied her arms with a tie-down strap and fully removed the wires on her legs.


    Mark also asked to change the clothes and clean the Biter''s body as to not dirty the insides of the vehicle.  When Mark tugged the chains, the Biter quietly followed making the process much easier.


    When Mark brought out the Biter, he heard a familiar voice shouting in surprise.


    "Jate?!"


    It was Julie. One of the two college students Mark helped with Pa when they went to find medicine for Sariya. Breandan was also surprised but it seemed that he managed to control himself.


    "What are you doing to her?!"


    Julie shouted getting the attention of the people around. The employees knew who the tied girl was and did not question Mark and his group about what they were doing with her but the neers were starting amotion.


    Julie tried to rush and free the Biter she called Jate but he was pulled back by Breandan. It looked like she had not noticed yet.


    "You know her?"


    Mark ignored the hubbub of the gallery and questioned Julie.


    "She''s my best friend! Why did you tie her up! Release her!"


    As themotion grew loud, it also caught the attention of the soldiers. One of the soldiers came close and questioned Mark about the tied up girl.


    "What are you doing?! Do you that what you are doing against thew?!"


    Mark looked strangely at the soldier. It seemed that this soldier just arrived along with the rescue squad. He did not think that any of the soldiers that came with Ange''s brother not know him.


    Seeing that Mark was just staring at him like an idiot, the soldier was enraged. He was about to raise his gun at Mark when a voice interrupted him.


    "Jonas, stand down."


    There were several soldiers who just entered the TechZone being led by three people. The two was familiar with Mark''s group. They were Ange''s brother and the high school boy with them this morning. Mark could not recognize the other person though. It was that person who made the angry soldier stop. Looking at his insignia, he was also a rank higher than Ange''s brother.


    "What happened, Jonas? There was no need for you to raise your gun at people."


    "I''m sorry Captain Theo. It is just this group had a girl with her mouth covered and tied up like a dog."


    Hearing what Jonas said, Theo looked at Mark''s group and then at the tied up girl. His eyebrows then rose.


    "That''s a Z-type 1 is it not?"


    Hearing what his captain said, Jonas looked at the tied up girl. The captain then continued.


    "Strange, it doesn''t seem to be aggressive."


    Now, even Rafael, high school boy and the other soldiers was shocked. It was a non-aggressive Z-type? On the other side, Julie was embraced by Breandan crying. She also realized. Her best friend was no more. The one standing in front of her right now was nothing but a husk of her past self.


    "You''re Mark I presume? I''m Theodore Cruz, the Officer in charge at this rescue mission."


    "Don''t tell me that it''s another recruitment offer?"<sub> </sub>


    "No, I already heard about the details. We don''t n on forcing anyone as long as they do not be a threat to the order."


    "Then, what do you need from me?"


    "We are actually here to grant you a little reward from the general for saving his daughter and her friend. Pleasee with us."


    As Mark detected no ill intent on him, Mark nodded and they were brought back to the Central Area of the Basement Parking. Captain Theo led them to a Humvee and opened the backpartment of the vehicle. The contents inside was several assault rifles and boxes of ammunition.


    "Please get as much as you can. The general already heard about your ns from his daughter and as you said to Rafael, we had manpower to spare at the moment. We could not help you search for those people but we could at least provide you with weapons. We do notck any of it after all."


    "I see. Give my thanks to the general then."


    Without any ceremonies, Mark and his group went to take as much as the can stuffing their vehicle.


    When they left, Theo murmured.


    "Actually, this Humvee is theirs for the taking but it looks like they already have a better vehicle."


    Rafael then asked him.


    "You''re not asking him to hand over that Z-type?"


    "You think he will hand it over? Really, you should learn to read people Raf. If you and my sister married, you''ll be on for a beating because of that. "


    Looking at the back of Mark''s group from a distance, he continued, sternly.


    "Also don''t try to provoke that person. If I did not stop Jonas earlier, he would be a goner now.  Who knows what he could do. I don''t think he is a Mutator but probably much more dangerous than them. Anyway, we need to prepare and rest. We''ll leave at sunrise."


    ***


    When Mark was about to retire for the night, Pa and Ange came to talk to him.


    "What do you two want?"


    "We''re just here to say that we''ll be keeping the favor we owe you. We had nothing to do with your disagreement with Ange''s brother this morning. If there was a time in the future that we meet again, feel free to ask us what you need."


    Pa replied and Ange nodded to what her friend said.


    "You don''t have to be angry with us! It''s my stupid brother''s fault and we had nothing to do with it!"


    "Actually, Ange was really worried for youst night that she cried. However, when you woke up, you became angry with us and she is really sad."


    "PAULA!!!"


    Hearing the banter of the two, Mark sighed.


    "Alright, keep the favors you two owe me. I don''t actually have any ce to bring the people I want to find so I''ll be dropping them in the Bay City in the future. I''ll ask you two to take care of them then."


    The two girls nodded.


    "Also here."


    Ange returned Mark his phone she borrowed and also handed a weird looking phone arge antenna. Mark knew what kind of phone this was and he was surprised.


    "A Satellite Phone?"


    "Yes. I got this from my brother. With this, you can contact us anytime."


    "Alright, I''ll ept it."


    As the almost broken thread between them was mended, Mark chatted with two for a while before they went to rest. The two girls also said their goodbye to Mei and Abbygale who also spent some time with them since yesterday.


    ***


    Day 3 ¨C 5:13 AM ¨C City Mall Bacoor, Basement Parking, Central Area


    Therge convoyposed of almost two dozen military vehicles and several military trucks was lined up in front of the shutters at the entrance of the basement parking. The soldiers were all ready to fire their guns and drive through the infected.


    The shutters finally opened and the guns started firing at the infected as they waited for the soldiers that opened the shutters to board their vehicles.


    At 5:18 in the morning of the third day of the outbreak. The survivors left the mall while being escorted by the military. The route they nned to take was to the west following the Tirona highway and to enter the expressway at Kawit which directly led towards the Bay City. This route was also the one the rescue squad took to get to this mall and made them familiar with the road.


    When the convoy came out, the infected was attracted to the noise their vehicles made and the vehicles guarding the rear of the convoy continues firing at the infected chasing behind them.


    A few minutes after the convoy left with the horde behind them, a ck refitted Armored Van drove out of the basement parking going to the opposite direction the convoy went.


    It was unknown to every one of them. A silhouette of arge humanoid was watching the vehicles as they drove away from the rooftop of the mall. It watched the ck Van drive away before it jumped down the building creating a crater at the spot it fell. After that, the silhouette ran following the horde of infected to the west.

 Chapter 71 CHOOSE YOUR CATALYST

    As Exined by Professor Isaach Co. He said that this mutagenic pathogen, a.k.a. Mutagen, was highly unstable once the person was bitten and was infected by the Agitator strain of the virus.


    Mark and hispany finally went out of the mall and will surely encounter mutated Z-types. Now, what kind of Z-types are they?


    You guys would be able to choose what catalyst you want to use to mutate the infected. You can choose the catalyst whether it be a disease or something else. Well of course, the catalyst should not be something like fully solid material. Maybe some of you guys try to suggest stic bottles and stuff. Just how would that affect our pathogen? Did someone ate a whole stic bottle before they got bitten? The heck!


    Post your selected catalyst in thements and by order. Firste first serve. The infected mutated using your catalyst might appear before the characters in this novel.


    Now what was the fun there? You guys will be able to select the catalyst but you would never guess how the Mutagen would mutate the infected. Their abilities would also be decided by the pathogen. Who knows? The catalyst you guys chose might actually turn an infected into the strongest one?<sub> </sub>


    Also, how would those mutated Z-types would mess with the characters? It was something fun to see right?


    Anyways, I haven''t done or said this before but¡­


    "GIVE ME YOUR PRECIOUS STONES! MUAHAHAHAHA!!!"


    Geez... Please pardon me for being crazy this one time.


    asionally missing content, please report errors in time.

 Chapter 72 The Situation Around The Country

    Day 3 ¨C 6:23 AM ¨C Urda City, Pangasinan, Philippines


    Urda City, about 200km North of Bay City Evacuation Zone. It was the third day of the outbreak and this city had not been fully affected. There would be some skirmishes as the infected arrived but was still minimal. With the remains of the military, local government and local police, they were managing to hold the infected back until now. They blocked the main highways and destroyed the bridges to at least hinder the infected as much as possible.


    Still, they were just barely managing. Once the full brunt of the advance of the infected finally arrive this area, their defenses would surely crumble. Some mutated infected already reached their defenses. They managed to kill the mutants but their losses were also devastating.


    On the first day of the outbreak, the local authorities were warned about the passenger flights that crashed and the closest one to this city was actually beyond the mountain regions several kilometers north of the city. Fortunately, due to the uneven mountain terrain and other factors, the infected from the crashed ne had not made it out of the forested mountains.


    However, while the authorities were all bent on holding back the infected, the city they were protecting was in utter chaos. Most of the poption in the city was in panic. They already lost mediamunication since yesterday. There were no television broadcasts and no inte connection avable. The only thing they knew before the connections were cut off was that the whole world was being infested by zombie like creatures.


    At first, many of them dispatched the thought as a hoax or gimmick by the government as excuse to deploy marshalw but before the announcement was made, they never heard much from the Mca?ang Pce anymore.


    By this time, violence, theft, looting, murder and **** was happening in the whole city and the remaining police could not do about it. The situation was horrible and their manpower was not enough for this. They also had no reinforcements to call. They were all left to fend for themselves.


    Those who were smart enough went and left the city after collecting as much supplies as they could. They were betting on going to the north - The City of Pines, Baguio City. However, most of the popce remained on the city shelters or barricaded their homes betting on waiting out the outbreak. It was not that they did not want to leave but they had no capability of doing so.


    Unknown to the city, by this moment, the final defense of the local government copsed.


    ***


    Day 3 ¨C 6:23 AM ¨C Baguio City, Benguet, Philippines


    The City of Pines and was also called as the summer of the Philippines due to the high altitude of the area and its colder climatepared to other parts of the country all year long.


    The city was surrounded by mountain ranges and could only be essed by the long winding roads across the mountain sides and valleys. It was an ideal ce to secure as the mountains could act as a natural barrier against the infected.


    However¡­


    Compared to the chaos that was happening in Urda several kilometers south, the whole city was calm. It was calm but not in a good way. No people could be seen in the streets, no animals, and no military. Most people, be it be civilians or the military were holed up in shelters and the buildings around the city. No one dared toe out into the streets turning the whole city into a ghost city.


    While the southern areas of Luzon, thergest archipgo, was being invaded by the infected due to theck of geographical defenses, the natural defenses around Baguio City worked the opposite way they wanted it to be.


    As the mountains were highly forested, it would be a good source of food and other construction materials still, no one thought that these forested mountains was the cause of their fear.


    It was fine in the first two days of the outbreak and the government actually chose Baguio City as one of the potential settlement areas for survivors and refugees. The military was deployed around the city and was busy in building walls and other defenses. However, justst night, one of the military outposts was attacked. Not by the infected and not by humans either.


    Coming out from the mountains, a pack of cloud rats attacked the soldiers. The pack consisted by about 50 cloud rats. It was not a problem for the soldiers to put down such rats if it was before the outbreak but the problem they faced was cloud rats that was wayrger than normal. The sized varied with the smallest was the size of a dog while the bigger ones were the size of a cow. Furthermore, their bodies were highly impervious to bullets. A 9mm pistol bullet could only do a shallow wound on their skin.


    Normally, these nocturnal rodents were slow and were hunted almost to extinction as food. Now however, these rodents were the ones doing the hunting and in a very feral manner. Due to the surprise attacks, the soldiers lost the outpost with a devastating amount of casualties. It would be good if that was the end of it but the pack of rodents came into the city wreaking havoc and killing the residents.


    The pack was soon wiped out with great effort and casualties but then, a monkey-eating eagle about the size of a car flew down into the city to grab a body of a deceased cloud rat. The scene terrified the people. It would be just the body of therge cloud rat for now  but what if it started grabbing people to feed on them.


    ***


    Found on the other sides of the Cordillera Mountain Region that was surrounding Baguio City was several ethnic tribes were living in their ancestralnd. However, each tribes were now gone. What was left on their abodes were bloody mess and dead bodies of their tribesmen.


    It was because the tribe members failed to believe the lectures of their seer several days ago. The seer''s family evacuated and left the mountain along the other older families under the mocking gazes of other the tribesmen. This was just how much their culture was affected by the modern era. Now however, they paid the price. Just this morning, their tribe was attack by an infected. Not just a normal infected but a mutated one which came from the crashed airne just one mountain away from their tribe.


    As the whole tribe was killed, a loud excruciating scream was heard in the middle of the tribe settlement. It was the mutant spreading the vibrations of its voice across the surroundings searching for prey and would also disorient enemies nearby. It then looked towards the north and scurried off under the shades of the trees in the forest.<sub> </sub>


    ***


    Day 3 ¨C 6:57 AM ¨C Mandaue City, Cebu, Philippines


    The city was now a lost cause. It was one of the ces where a ne crashed in the middle of the city in the country. The Mactan-Cebu International Airport was just on the other ind south of the city and was surely the reason why a passenger ne would came crashing in this city.


    The survivors of the city fled to the mountains just west of the city. Whether they would leave the mountains alive would be another thing though.


    ***


    Day 3 ¨C 6:59 AM ¨C Zamboanga City, Zamboanga del Sur, Philippines


    It was another city that was already a lost cause. However,pared to other cities, the amount of survivors that managed to flee from this city was higherpared to others. It was due to the existence of armed militant groups, also known as terrorists, in the area. The normally threat causing groups was now fighting the infected as much as they could while they secured the survivors from the surrounding areas.


    Arge settlement was built by these armed groups in the nearby ind of Basn, directly south of Zamboanga City. This ind was said to be the main base of the terrorists in this area and was the ind where most skirmishes between the military and these groups happened.


    With the terrorists in the lead, theymanded over the survivors into creating their own region. A government where they were the voice and the popce could do nothing against them.


    <o>,m ***</o>


    Day 3 ¨C 7:05 AM ¨C San Andres, Catanduanes, Philippines


    It was one of thergest inds in Luzon and thergest one in the Bicol Region. As the ind was detached from the maind, it was one of the ces where the government nned to build an Evacuation Zone. The town of San Andres as the port area became the central area of the Evacuation Zone.


    Right now, the entrance and exit to the ind was strictly monitored by the coast guard and the military patrolling the areas to the west of the ind facing the maind.


    Here, as the area was safer, the survivors had more freedompared to other Evacuation Zones. However, that changedst night as an armed group came out of the mountains and a small skirmish happened between the group and the military.


    It was not a secret to the soldiers and the residents of the ind that there were several armed groups that was based within the mountains of the ind. Right now, it seemed that the armed group wanted to wrestle over the control of the residents of the ind.


    ***


    Day 3 ¨C 7:16 AM ¨C Bacoor City, Cavite, Philippines


    The outbreak had already sumbed the whole city into a dead zone. Aside from several groups who managed to secure their ces and those who sessfully managed to hid themselves, everywhere else was danger.


    The local armed forces secured schools as evacuation areas and were barely managing to defend the area of the infected. Attacks from mutated infected instilled fear to the survivors as breaches could not be helped. During these breach, it was up to every survivor to defend themselves and remain alive.


    The rich had the advantage in securing ces to live in. As they all lived in private subdivisions surrounded by tall concrete walls and sturdy metal gates, it was harder for most infected and even mutants to breach their defenses. The only downsides to these groups were that their manpower was toocking. It was barely enough to keep the infected at bay outside the gates and walls.


    ***


    On the other part of the country, of all the Evacuation Zones the government nned to build, less than half was cut off in the early stages.


    By now, the current poption of living people in the Philippines was reduced by seventy five percent.

 Chapter 73 The Situation Around The World

    Day 3 ¨C 6:11 AM ¨C New York City, New York, USA


    This city was the most populous city in America having half of the poption of the state itself. However, this was also the reason why the number of infected in this area was muchrger than other ces nearby.


    The military and armed forces failed all possible containment and quarantine of the infected. It would have been possible for the authorities to secure the Manhattan area as it was arge detachednd. To enter and leave the area, one has to travel through bridges which were connected to the other areas of the state. If the military was able to sessfully destroy the bridges, it might have been turned to the most popted ces in the world that would have been free of the infected for some time.


    Unfortunately, to the fact that New York had a veryrge poption, the armed forces failed their duty to secure the area and they failed ultimately. The armed forces were overwhelmed not by the infected but the panicking people in the initial phases of the outbreak.


    However, they had their back up ns. On this third day of the outbreak, the armed forces had already established three secure areas in the middle of the state. These were the Rikers Ind, the Randalls and Wards Ind and the Roosevelt Ind. The three Evacuation Zones were inds in the middle of the state in the middle of the east river and all were essible through bridges that were built across the inds with Rikers Ind as the exception.


    At first, the local government was apprehensive against using the Rikers ind as an Evacuation Zone as it was the home of one of the world''srgest correctional and mental facilities but unfortunately, they had no time to be picky. They just decided to use the prisoners as cannon fodder to sessfully secure the inds. It was an extreme method but was sessful and it would also lessen the risk of the prisoners starting to revolt against the government.


    ***


    Day 3 ¨C 6:26 AM ¨C Paris, France


    This ce might have been one of the most popr travel destinations in the world due its iconic spots before the outbreak. Now however, it was one of the deadliest ces in the world due to the overwhelming number of the infected. Therge number of tourists did not help as man power but just enforced the increase of the infected. The iconic spots were no more but an execution ground for the people who went this time to this city for their holidays.


    The number of mutated infected were also not small. This caused the government and armed forces to abandon the survivors of the city and evacuate using aerial means. They only issued an emergency evacuation once and did not n to return anymore. Any survivor that were not able to aboard the evacuation vehicles were left to fend themselves.


    ***


    Day 3 ¨C 7:02 AM ¨C Cairo, Egypt


    The city was a lost cause. The infected cause havoc in the city and immediately spread without warning. As there were very few advantageous terrains to exploit within the city to fend off the infected, the citizens were forced to flee into the deserts around the city.


    Still, even if they managed to escape the city into the desert, their future was still bleak. Several groups that evacuated had not only perish due to exhaustion and the infected catching up to them. At this moment,rger variants of the insects and animals found in the desert started to appear and became a bigger threat to the survivors rather than the infected.


    ***


    Day 3 ¨C 7:16 AM ¨C Sydney, New South Wales, Australia


    The survivors in the city were devastated. There wererge numbers of evacuees that fled across the city after the outbreak started and sessfully managed to leave the city alive. However, on the third day of the outbreak, they found more pressing issues.


    Most of the survivors that fled the city went north, west and south as there was only the ocean in the east. Those who fled to the ocean were only those who owned private boats and yachts whilerger passenger boats did not manage to leave the port before they were overwhelmed by the infected.


    Those to who went to the other directions, the people with vehicles were fine but those who did not could only flee through the forested areas of national parks that surrounded the city. They were fine in the first two days but just the past night, mutated animals started attacking the fleeing survivors. Still, many of them managed to flee but their conditions were the worst as they could have.


    Unfortunately for the survivors of this country, it was not the end of it. Just who did not know of the dangers one could encounter in the Australian deserts? Right at the moment though, many of those sources of dangers already mutated and were moving towards the popted areas of the country.


    ***


    Day 3 ¨C 7:30 AM ¨C Beijing, China


    As the most popted country in the world, China did not fare any better in the face of the apocalypse. The infected came inrge droves pushing the military back.


    In actuality, the military actually managed to contain the outbreak in the initial stages due to the overwhelming number of soldiers dispatched to control the area. Unfortunately, as they started to gain control of the situation, the soldiers grew more and morecent which made them caught off guard as the mutated infected appeared.<sub> </sub>


    Due to therge poption of the country, more varieties and more powerful mutated appeared. Furthermore, as the countries around China started to fall into the hands of the infected, the infected from those countries started toe in droves entering the border of the country.


    It was unknown what was happening but it was most like that therge poption of China was taking the attention of the infected from outside the borders.


    At the moment, the military started to fell through the chaos while the survivors within the city were starting to group up and build their ownmunities trying to fight back the infected.


    ***


    Day 3 ¨C 7:32 AM ¨C Jeju Ind, South Korea


    It was arge ind known for tourism in South Korea. However, it was now a ce for carnage. As there was no ce for the civilians to run to but the sea around the ind, they were trapped.


    Only those locals who had means of transportation through the sea were able to leave the ind. The smaller ind to the east of Jeju became a haven for fleeing survivors as the maind also started to fell apart.


    ***


    Day 3 ¨C 7:40 AM ¨C Tokyo, Japan


    The JSDF had already abandoned the city. There were underground shelters prepared by the government but the ones found in Tokyo already fell as the infected started to mutate.


    Chuobuhatei, two artificial inds built to be a breakwater and was used for waste disposal since it was built begrudgingly became one of the safest areas in Tokyo and Wakasu that was to the north east of Chuobuhatei became the outpost of the military and the government. Both areas were connected by a long bridge.


    In terms of safety, Chuobuhatei was safer than Wakasu that was closer to the maind but of course, the elites of the society would not allow themselves to stay in an ind used for waste disposal.


    Right at the moment, the JSDF nned to reim several artificial inds of Koto City to expand their area of operations. However, it would not be easy and no one was optimistic about the results.


    South of Tokyo, there were several more artificial inds that became Evacuation Zones like Ogishima, Daikokufuto and Minamihonmoku.


    ***


    Day 3 ¨C 7:40 AM ¨CPyongyang, North Korea


    The North Korean government also failed to sessfully contain the outbreak in their country despite their overwhelming fire power. It might be the heaven''s will but two of the airnes that fell in the city contained several powerful mutants that were able to stand against their military.


    Their military force took a heavy blow due to this. Out of desperation, the government officials started to hunker down inside their emergency shelters which were not known to the public. In a more direct saying, they abandoned their citizens.


    In the end, the citizens started to take arms and managed to secure Turu-som, Yanggakdo and Rungnado which were all inds along Taedong river.


    ***


    Three days into the apocalypse, many cities were almost destroyed. Still, the possibility of survivors hiding within these cities was high. There were countries where the government chose to abandon their people forcing the popce to stand up while there were countries where the authorities continued to stand over the masses and fulfill their duties.


    However, counting all the survivors in the world right at the moment, the world poption already lost its sixty percent and was still increasing. It was due to the fact that there were still ces that the infected had not invaded yet.


    After the infected had taken over the whole world, just how many people would be able to survive? No one knows.

 Chapter 74 Traveling To The First Stop

    Day 3 ¨C 5:40 AM ¨C Meadowwood Avenue, Panapaan VIII, Bacoor City, Cavite, Philippines


    SPLASH!


    The dirty red tinted puddle of rain water let out a sshing sound as the wheel of a Refitted MB Sprinter Armored Van ran over it. The attachments of the refitted vehicle had red splotches dripping on them especially the V-shaped ram in front.


    Inside the car, Mark sat behind the passenger''s seat while peering through the tinted window. He could see the remains of the outbreak from this side. Despite the fact that the rain water had already washed the majority of it, Mark could still make out the sshes of blood on the walls and the street.


    On the first day, Mark had already expected that it would rain. It seemed that the rain started to fall when Mark fell unconscious and did not notice it either as they holed up in the mall doing all the preparations yesterday. The rain continued to fall until past midnight the previous night. He only noticed the fact that it was raining when the military rescue squads entered the basement parking with wet attires and vehicles.


    At the time of their departure from the mall, it was easy since the number of infected blocking their vehicle was significantly lower as most of the infected that gathered around the mall went after the military rescue convoy that left before them.


    Still, it was not easy for them to go out of the vicinity of the highway. The traffic jam left during the start of the outbreak gave them a lot of headache. They had to slow down pushing the vehicles to the side as they had to traverse fournes of lined up cars of all sizes. Some of therger vehicles like buses and trucks were even left blocking other cars and they had to maneuver around these vehicles.


    During these times, they had to slow down and of course, they got surrounded by more than a dozen of infected. Even though it was a smaller number than it was supposed to be in the previous days, it was still arge number. That moment, Mark had a practice session with one of the M16 assault rifles given to them and a new partner of his, arger and sturdier machete he got from the mall storage. The machete he snatched from the gangsters already fulfilled its duty and abandoned back there in the mall as it was smaller and the des were already filled with nicks and cracks due to overuse.


    The guns they got from Capt. Theo were all paired with silencers, perfect for use during the apocalypse. Mark just wished that they had given them a little more variety of weapons or at least newer models. These M16 Assault Rifles were the standard issue in the military and was already overused in the past decades. While other countries were on the path of developing their own weapons and war vehicles, their country was still using these older models and were happy receiving hand overs fromrger countries. Mark really found this frustrating.


    Mark also hoped that those guys in uniform gave them other military equipment like night vision goggles and Ker vests. Even though the Ker vests would not really work much against the infected, it could at least lessen the threat they would receive from other survivors who held ill intent. The only things they got from the military were guns and ammunition after all. It looked like that the military were not onlycking in manpower but also equipment. The only thing they had more of was weapons.


    After a little bit of trouble and shooting session, they finally managed to get off the highway and entered the branching road just before the Electricity distribution office Mark had been to the other day. At that time, it was brimming with people but now, the front ss walls and doors of the office were smashed and blood and flesh from the edges of the broken ss were obvious.


    Back to the scenery the vehicle had driven past, the signs the outbreak left were plenty. There were a lot of abandoned houses and those houses that had windows without railings to cover were broken down. Dismantled body parts and decapitated corpses littered the street. There was also a lot of garbage scattered on the road.


    While Mark was peering by the window, there were times he could detect people of some of the houses as they drove through the street. Some of these people were even peering at their second floor windows as they heard a vehicle passing through. It looked like that some of them even had the notion to call for help but held back as to not gather the attention of the infected.


    There were also those who actually shouted to ask for help but the people inside the van would not hear their shouts due to sound proofing. Inside the car, only Mark could detect their intentions. Of course, he disregarded their pleas. He did not choose to venture this dangerous world for them but to find his friends. If he started to help one of these people he did not even knew, more and more woulde until they were overwhelmed and could not control the situation anymore


    That was just how people were after all.


    BAM!


    A face appeared in front of Mark before getting left by the vehicle. It was not a human or a purposely nned jump scare. It was an infected that got swept to the side by the V-shaped ram in front of the car. The infected was hit hard that its body bounced off the vehicle it hit that they just passed and sttered its face in front of Mark. Of course, the hard to scare Mark did not even put the event in his eyes. His eyelids did not even twitch.


    As the scenery of houses they passed by was redundant, Mark grew tired of watching through the window. When he turned back his thoughts into the vehicle, he saw that all of them with Odelina as the driver as the exception was staring at him.


    "What''s wrong with you all?"


    His eyes swept over them. Mei was sitting to his right while Abbygale would not give up her space which was over Mark''sp. Odelina''s children, Odette and Siegfried, were sitting on the sofa in front of them. The children were twins both 9 years old. It was also not hard where Odelina found the names for these two children.


    "Gege, it''s because you''re spacing out."


    "I''m not. I''m just watching the scenery outside."


    "Gege, that''s really not good scenery."


    Mei smiled wryly. What Mark was looking at was not good scenery but scenes of carnage.


    Mark dismissed what she said by patting her head making her stop speaking. This girl really liked being patted on her head other than hugging. He then looked at Odelina''s children. He could sense that they were hesitating about something.


    "What do you two want? Get on with it."


    Siegfried and Odette looked at each other and nodded. Siegfried then spoke.


    "We asked mom before why she was calling you "Master" and she said that it was you Uncle who saved her. We wanted to thank you but you''re not going to make mom do bad things right?"


    "Pfft."


    Mark almostughed. One was because he was actually called "Uncle".  But he gave it a sudden thought and actually found it reasonable. Most of his peers had already started to have families and children several years ago. Their children might have been around these children''s age already. It was just him who kept on staying single and was aiming to be a wizard.


    The other was that he did not even want to ept this self-proimed servant of his but she just kept pushing herself under him. Why would he make her do something bad other than killing the infected and humans who would be threat to their group in the future? In the end, he just told the two.


    "I won''t."<sub> </sub>


    "Then, you have our gratitude."


    The two children lowered their heads making Mark and Mei bewildered. Mark looked at Odelina who was driving and said.


    "Just how did you raise these two?"


    Odelina who was ncing at the rearview mirror saw the spectacle as she drove the vehicle just giggled.


    "I already told you before Master, it just run in our family."


    "Behaving like servants?"


    "Yes, behaving like servants."


    Mark and Mei did not know how to react to this. Odelina''s children were also confused. It was normal for them to behave like this and did not understand what Mark was talking about.


    Abbygale on the other hand was just quietly listening to their conversation snuggling on her Papa''s body. Mark looked at her, she looked really bored.


    With that, Mark lifted her and made her sit down on his seat.


    "Stay here for a bit."


    Mei and the children watched him as he made his way to the back of the vehicle and rummaged on the things he brought from the TechZone. Soon, he took out aptop and turned it on. He then copied several files on five of the phones he brought. After that, he plugged a wireless router on the socket where the refrigerator was plugged in put the router on top of the fridge.


    When he got back, he brought the five phones and handed four to Mei and the children. The phone had only one game installed and it was a game released in the 2009 and was kept on being updated even before the outbreak.


    Soon,ughter and panicked shouting was heard inside the vehicle as the group was immersed in ying the game where they needed to build things using blocky resources found with the game and battling monsters during the night.


    "Papa! Help!"


    Abbygale shouted as her character was being shot by blocky skeletons using bows and arrows. Laughing, Siegfried and Odette''s characters went to help the little girl while Mark was shooting the skeletons back on top base they just built.


    Odelina was ncing at the rearview mirror with envy. She wanted to join in but as the driver, she could not. Ever since the outbreak, she had not seen her childrenugh like this making her even more eager to join them.


    Mark who started the game knew that he seeded in his scheme. It was killing two birds, no, four birds with one stone. First was to relieve the boredom brought by the slow travel. Second was to remove the wariness of Odelina''s children towards them. For the third was to reduce the stress the apocalypse brought to everyone and thest one was to bring the group together.


    Just who said that ying games was just a waste of time?


    Still, if other saw them like this, they would think that they were looking at a group of lunatics. This group was actually having fun while others were doing their best to survive.


    ***


    Day 3 ¨C 6:30 AM ¨C Niog Road, Mambog IV, Bacoor City, Cavite


    Mark''s vehicle stopped by the street.


    Before the outbreak, getting this far from the City Mall would only take about fifteen minutes. Now however, it took them about an hour due to the flooded parts of the road, obstacles on the way and turning around to find other ways due to heavily blocked roads.


    Mark went down the vehicle and took care of the infected around. The number of infected in this part of the road was way smaller as the area was surrounded by vacant plots ofnd used for farming and rearing animals.


    After dealing with the infected, he finally looked around. He could see how much the world had changed after the outbreak. Like what the military disclosed, even nts were affected by the mutagen and were slowly evolving. The lush green nts at the vacant plots ofnd were strong evidence. Back then before the outbreak which was just two days ago, Mark saw this plot ofnd from the road on the other side of the plot since the public transport he rode to the Electricity Distribution Office passed on that road. Before, the nts in these plots had just been harvested. But now, the grass and wild nts were now about to reach his knee in height.


    Mark looked past the plot ofnd towards the wide road going to the east. Far past through that road, severalrge buildings were vaguely in sight. It was their first destination, The Bacoor City Hall. The nearest person to find in Mark''s list should be around here.


    However, Mark felt that it was dangerous to blindly enter the area. It was the reason they stopped here. The perimeter of the City Hall was covered in overgrowth of nts and right where the main building of the City hall was built, there were arge tree towering over the buildings. The roots and branches of the three even stuck out of the walls of the building.


    The City Hall was a four story building and the tree was one or two story higher.


    "This would be tricky. I just wish that she''s still alive in there."


    Mark muttered as he observed the ce using a pair of binocrs.

 Chapter 75 Found Her

    Day 3 ¨C 6:35 AM ¨C Niog Road, Mambog IV, Bacoor City, Cavite


    While Mark was observing the perimeters of the target location, Odelina and the others also went out of the vehicle.


    They were looking at the huge tree in the distance with amazement. Odelina though thought the same as Mark.


    "That looked dangerous is it not?"


    She stood beside him and asked Mark. It was not just the tree that she was talking about but also the number of infected in the area. As the City Hall, there were many people in this ce before the apocalypse. Among all those people, everyone knew that the Majority of these people already turned into Z-types. They could even see some of the infected wandering aimlessly at the entrance of thepound.


    "Just get back in the car first. I have a n."


    When everyone was back inside the car, Mark remained outside and opened the back of the car. He pulled out arge box and brought it inside.


    The box contained the camera mounted drone Mark brought. He immediately set up the drone with the help of the others and connected the video feed into therge monitor mounted on the back of the car along with the entertainment system.


    It took them about half an hour to set it up and Mark went out tounch the drone. He then went back in the car to see the feed while controlling the drone.


    ***


    Day 3 ¨C 7:10 AM ¨C Bacoor City Hall, Molino Boulevard, Bayanan, Bacoor City, Cavite


    A white quadcopter with a camera mounted beneath it was circling the perimeter of the tree while checking if there was any danger in approaching it.


    After the quadcopter finally figured that the tree did not seem to be dangerous, the drone went closer and went to check the city hall in a clearer view. As the quadcopter was creating noises, it could not be helped if that it attracted the Z-types around. To evade the pursuit of the infected, the drone flew up and descended in another area to continue the reconnaissance.


    The traces of devastating events that happened within the past two days were left in the open. Rows of vehicles were left in the parking lots while the ss walls of the mail building were broken into pieces. The government vehicles were left in the middle of the roads. It was obvious that they tried to escape but the traces of blood on the vehicles showed how they failed to do so.


    Around thepound, arge number of infected gathered. Many of which were wearing uniforms of government workers while there were also quite a number of infected in police uniforms. But what stood out among the infected were those odd looking ones. Their movements were very slow, even slower than the Z-Type b which was the Eaters. What made them very noticeable was their skin that looked like the bark of a tree. The eyes of these infected were also green coloredpared to the normal counterparts which had pure white pupils.


    ***


    Back inside the car, Mark and the gang were watching the monitor. Even the docile Biter they brought along and was tied in the veryst seat at the back was looking at the monitor. When they saw the infected that had tree bark skin, they all thought that the reason for this mutation was that huge tree in the middle of thepound.


    Mark controlled the drone and the scene at the back of the main building was revealed on their eyes. It was then that they saw it. It was an eight or nine foot humanoid that had a body made of a tree and was even shaped like a tree. It even had leaves on its head and hands and roots for its foot. Rather than a zombie, it more looked like a treant from fantasy stories. If not for the figure of a person stered on the center of its body, Mark would have really thought so.


    The figure looked the same as the tree bark skinned infected at the previous location. The person''s back was connected and was hanging on the wooden body and arms through root like veins. When the figure moved, the wooden body also moved mimicking the movements of the figure. As the wooden body was stiff, it walked like a penguin swaying side by side as it moved.


    The huge mutant then stopped and the person looked up to the drone monitoring it. Then it decided to ignore the drone and looked up to the huge tree as if it was waiting for something.


    The people inside the car gasped at the appearance of the mutant. It was fortunate that Mark decided to scout the area using the drone first rather than blindly driving into thepound.


    Looking at the figure, a sudden thought entered his mind and it even made him mutter.


    "A Level 2."


    "What did you say, Gege?"


    Even though he muttered the words softly, Mei who was always sticking close to him heard his voice.


    "Nothing."


    Mark decided to not say what had just entered his mind as it was not confirmed and he did not know where the thought came from either. It was as if someone whispered the idea to him.


    As the Mutant was behaving strangely, Mark decided to control the drone and look at what the mutant was looking at. There, he saw a single nut shaped fruit on a branch of the huge tree. The fruit seemed to be the same size as a baseball and was emitting a faint golden glow.


    Seeing the fruit on the monitor, Abbygale and Odelina gulped for some reason.


    "What''s wrong with you two?"


    Mark noticed the abrupt change in the mental fluctuation of the two and asked.


    "Papa, I want to eat that."


    Abbygale directly said without any thoughts. Odelina on the other hand exined what she felt briefly. She was red in the face though as she knew that she lost herposure in front of everyone.


    "Master, I don''t know why but something tells me that that fruit is edible and highly beneficial to us."


    Hearing what she said, Mark looked at the screen. He controlled the drone once more and looked at the huge mutant that continued to stare at the fruit.


    He then decided.


    "All right, we''ll try to get thatter."


    With what he said, Abbygale and Odelina felt delighted.


    While Mark was controlling the drone, he noticed somemotion on the highest floor of the City Hall.


    Mark made the drone fly closer to the windows and saw people inside. The people were also watching the drone with hopeful expressions. The drone flew across the row of windows and stopped at a certain spot.


    "Found her."<sub> </sub>


    Mark said.


    What was shown in the monitor was a twenty-four year old female. Her looks were above average and could be considered beautiful to certain standards. Now however, she looked really dispirited, thin and weak. She noticed the drone flying by the window and she only stared at the spot she was sitting and did not bother to stand up.


    Looking at her, Mark felt his heart being torn. Was it really the lively girl he treated as his little sister before? It was then Mark remembered. This girl had type-2 diabetes and she had been taking medicine ever since the time he knew her and her older sister. Since she was trapped here, it was likely that she had not been able to take her medicine in the past two days! It was also possible that she had not been eating well these previous days!


    "Is she who you were looking for, Master?"


    Odelina asked and Mei also had the same question. Their eyes were filled with pity. If that woman was who Mark was looking for, then, they should take her as soon as possible. Looking at her figure, her condition was not looking good.


    ''I need to contact her.''


    That was what filled his mind. Mark made the drone look around through the window once more. The number of people inside was about 30 or lesser. There were also a few men wearing police uniforms. Among the people, he saw someone familiar. It was the current congresswoman of the district-2 of Bacoor. Along with police and a few men that looked like her bodyguards, she tried to approach the window the drone was peering through.


    Mark felt that he should not be bothered with these people and made the drone fly away. He needed to scout the ce thoroughly and find the entrances and exits before going in for the rescue. He also nned to lure the infected away using the drone to make the rescue easier.


    He made the drone enter the Main building from the broken ss windows of the second floor. Luckily, the ceilings were high or else, the drone might have already been caught by the infected. The whole ce was a mess. The tables were overturned, papers and office wares littered the hallways and rooms and there were bloody mess in every ce.


    He soon found the stairs which was the main ess to the all the floors. He then found out the reason why the infected was not able to enter the higher floors leaving the third and the fourth floor fully intact. It was because therge roots of the huge tree were blocking the stairs going to the higher floors. This meant that they would also not be able to use the stairs to pick her up.


    Mark made the drone leave the building and find another way. The camera then panned towards the sides of the city hall. Both the northern and southern part of the third floor had a suspended pathway that connected the city hall to the Gymnasium at the north and the Bacoor Police Command Center at the south.


    These ces were the only ways they could find in order to enter the third floor of the City Hall. Mark made the drone fly to the entrances and saw the doors which were locked. It was no problem for Mark as he could just bust their way in as long as he manage to ess the buildings.


    Circling the City Hall once more, he finally found an entry to the into the building for the drone. It was arge open crack at the ceiling on top of the building where the huge three had grown.


    Mark made the drone enter the building. It was kind of tricky but Mark''s years of umted experience in ying games came in handy as he used the controller skillfully.


    Soon, he found the area where the survivors gathered.


    It seemed that the people inside were rmed as they heard the buzzing sounding from the propellers of the drone. The police and the bodyguards had even drawn their guns and were ready to shoot at any moment they notice something wrong.


    ***


    The people inside panicked as they heard the sounding from the hallway and was entering their resting area. Even if they said that it was their resting area, it was actually the waiting area in this floor and could be openly essed from the hallway.


    As they heard the buzzing sound, the nonbatants started to scurry away while the police and the congresswoman''s body guards were ready to fight.


    There was one exception though. It was the 20 something year old woman who was far too weak to move. She was just by the entrance and if any danger was really in the hallway, she would be the first to be implicated.


    The woman was also frightened when she heard the sound but she was really weak to move and it seemed that the people around did not even bother to help her. She was about to cry. She just came to this ce to renew some of her papers for employment when the outbreak happened. It was lucky that she was able to escape and survive until now. Right at the moment, she was feeling the full brunt of her illness as she was not able to take her insulin shots since the outbreak started. She actually brought some when she came to this ce. She always brought a bottle everywhere she goes. Unfortunately, she lost her bag along with all her belongings when the apocalypse came.


    Without any energy to move, she resigned herself to her fate. She heard the buzzing sound stop in front of her as she closed her eyes. However, she waited but nothing happened after a few seconds. She then heard a voice.


    "Geez, you already managed to survive this long. Don''t you dare give up on me."


    It was a familiar voice but she could not remember whose voice this belonged to anymore. She opened her eyes and looked up and saw the thing that was creating the buzzing sound and the voice. It was the drone she saw from the window. Underneath the drone, there was a camera which was obviously filming her. Just behind the camera, there was a small radio taped on the drone.


    "I''llnd the drone so take the radio underneath it."


    She heard the voice once more and the drone slowlynded in front of her. In her confusion, she followed the instructions and removed the radio from the drone.


    "Good."


    The voice saiding from the radio.


    "Uhm, who are you."


    She spoke on the radio. There was no answer.


    "I can''t hear what you are saying. Push the button at the side of the radio when talking."


    She followed the instruction and asked the same question. Then the answer came.


    "I''m hurt. Well, it''s been a long time. About seven years I think?"


    ''Seven years?''


    She thought. Then the image of a person entered her mind. He was the person who cherished her at those times. Due to some deep reasons, he avoided them and they lost connection with him.


    Tears welled up in her eyes, as she asked on the radio.


    "Big Brother?"


    Then a snicker came from the radio.


    "It''s good that you still remember me. Anyways, I came to pick you up, Charm."

 Chapter 76 Starting The Plan

    Day 3 ¨C 7:43 AM ¨C Bacoor City Hall 4th Floor, Molino Boulevard, Bayanan, Bacoor City, Cavite


    Charmaine looked at the radio in her hand, shocked.


    ''He came to pick me up? Why? How did he find me?''


    Those questions echoed in her mind but she did not have much thought to voice it. She also wanted to get out of this hellhole.


    But then she remembered why they were trapped in here in the first ce.


    "Big Brother! Don''te here, it''s dangerous!"


    She shouted her concern. What a good girl. She already felt weak and did not have the ability to escape this ce without the help of others but she still did not want to implicate anyone. Especially since this Big Brother of hers who did not have contact with them in the past years actually came to look for her.


    There was a lot of infected outside the building and around thepound. There were also those tree people and therger tree person roaming the street.


    Charmaine then heard his reply.


    "I already saw the situation and I already thought of a n to pick you up. I''ll be there in several minutes. Keep the radio with you alright?"


    The drone thatnded in front of her then started to fly up with buzzing soundsing from its four propellers.


    ***


    Mark controlled the drone to fly while he saw Charmaine watching the drone as it took off. However, the drone just managed to take flight to a certain height when someone snatched the radio out of Charmaine''s hand and even pushed her away.


    Mark frowned. He was furious.


    The person that snatched the radio was a man. The man stared at the camera on the drone and spoke at the radio.


    ***


    "Hey! What about us! You have to help us!"


    What a thick face. After what the man did to Charmaine, he was actually looking hopefully at the camera. Unfortunately, the reply he received was enough to give him chills in his spine.


    "When I arrive there, the first thing I will do is kill you."


    The voice was calm and detached but that just added to the threat factor of the reply.


    The man stepped back in fear but he soon regained hisposure. He actually got scared of a threat? He felt shame and then the shame turned to anger. He smashed the radio to the floor in front of the camera and ran off.


    Charmaine, teary eyed, crawled towards the broken radio. The tried to put the radio piece by piece but of course, it could not be fixed just like that.


    ***


    From the scene in the monitor, everyone in the vehicle looked furious. Even the always silent Abbbygale looked at Mark and ask.


    "Are we going to kill that bad man Papa?"


    Her Papa did not answer but the furious look on his face surely judged the fate of that manter.


    Looking at the pitiful appearance of Charmaine in the monitor, Mark could not hold back anymore and wanted to charge to that ce as soon as possible.


    It was then that a woman approached Charmaine in panic and pulled her back to spot where she was resting before. The woman looked like she was in herte twenty''s and was wearing a nurse uniform. Mark did not saw this woman from the window earlier.


    Looking at her panic at Charmaine''s pitiful appearance as she tried to fix the radio while ncing at the Drone warily, it looked like she did not know what happened just now.


    ***


    Under Charmaine''s stare and the nurse''s wary nces, the drone turned around while remaining in ce. It looked like whoever was controlling the drone was checking the ce. It then stopped while looking at the man who stood behind the congresswoman''s group.


    The congresswoman had aplicated look on her face. She also had the notion to ask for help from the person who was controlling the drone. She was waiting for the right timing and to politely ask the man on the radio for help. Since the weakened woman on the floor was still talking to the radio, the congresswoman patiently waited.


    However, before she could make a move, the man just now turned the situation awry.  Still, she could not do anything to the man.


    That man was the owner of a known private-owned enterprise here in Bacoor and hadrge dealings with the local government. Furthermore, the man had rtives within the government and their position was higher than what she had as a congresswoman.<sub> </sub>


    The congresswoman sighed. She knew that the chances of getting help now were very slim. Even the people around them hadplicated faces as they looked at the man. If he wanted to dig a grave for himself, why also drag them into it?


    The policemen and the bodyguards of the congresswoman were also boiling inside as they nced at the man by the side of their eyes. If the congresswoman were to order it, they would not hesitate to shoot this aggravating person.


    The drone then flew away back to where it came from under everyone''s gazes. They all knew that the person behind that drone woulde here sooner orter.


    The man who smashed the radio had a different opinion though. With the number of infected inside, the person behind that drone would surely die before he could even enter the building. He was hoping that it would happen. He did not want to admit or show it in his face but there was something that gave him fear when he heard the voice from that radio making him disoriented and act without thinking.


    ***


    Back inside the vehicle, Mark was getting ready. The others were also helping Abbygale ready herself.


    For this operation, Mark was going with Abbygale. For sure, he needed to carry Charmaine and his fighting capability would be hindered severely. In that case, he needed to bring someone and the only possible person to bring was Abbygale. Still, she might just be a little girl but her physical fighting prowess might even be higher than her Papa.


    Odelina was in charge of driving the vehicle of course and Mei was in charge of luring the infected away from the extraction point. How? She will be using the drone.


    Right now, Mei was the one controlling the drone back to the car. It was a form of practice for her as they needed someone to take on the role. Mei was also eager to do it as she wanted to help even just with a little thing. She did not want to be just a baggage for the group.


    Mark wore a ck jacket as always but the one he was wearing right now had several pockets on the chest, abdomen and the sides. He was still wearing the security belt and he put several things on the open pockets of the belt. On his arm, Mark wore a metal forearm guards locked with a buckle. These armguards was something he made using the same materials they used in refitting the vehicle.


    On his head, he wore a skate helmet and a pair of clear goggles for his eyes. He also had his mouth covered with a motorcycle face mask.


    Abbygale on the other hand was wearing a frilled dress. Even back in the mall, this girl did not really want to wear anything else other than this style of clothes. She said that her mommy always bought her clothes like this before. As the little girl would not relent about it, her Papa just decided to make her several kinds of equipment suitable for her.


    As Mark observed about Abbygale, she did not really use her arms when fighting. What she mainly used was her legs. He also saw that even if her physical strength was high, it was not her forte but her speed. With these traits, Mark modified a pair of shoes for her and added metal fittings around the sole with a rubber inner side lessen the force of impact received by her feet. He also made sure that she the fittings were sturdy but would not hinder the little girl''s movements. He also made a pair of metal fitted gloves and a pair of smaller metal armguards for the little girl.


    For her head, she wore a skate helmet designed for children. She did not want to wear anything on her face for some reason so Mark did not force her to do so.


    For the weapons, Mark was bringing his machete, a silenced assault rifle and a silenced pistol while Mark made Abbygale bring a pistol just in case. Even if the little girl was not trained for it, it would suree in handy.


    Mark also brought a backpack with ready to eat high calorie but low sugar food and drinks. He could at least feed Charmaine before bringing her out.


    He wanted to prepare some molotovs but he had no gasoline to use to fill the bottles. Diesel could not be used as it wasbustible rather than mmable. He could only bring two spray canisters of butane he brought that was supposed to be used to refill lighters.


    About the fruit that Odelina and Abbygale wanted, he decided to bring it up forter. Right now, getting Charmaine out of there was the priority.


    It was now time to move out.


    ***


    Around thepound, a quadcopter drone was flying low, about 8 feet from the ground, while slowly moving around the street. It started to gather the attention of the infected. Those who were attracted to the drone were mostly Biters while the slower Eaters did not seem to care. It was just like how Mark observed these infected. The Biters were sensitive to any kind of sound but the Eaters would only have reaction towards human voices. That was why¡­


    A radio was attached under the drone and was turned into full volume. Voices of two children were heard from the radio attracting the Eaters around the drone. The two voices came from Odelina''s children. They were in charge of making more noise around the drone.


    The pace of the drone was slow but it was effective to some extent as the Eaters were slow moving in the first ce.


    ***


    Inside the City Hall, the one of the survivors noticed themotion outside and called the attention of the other survivors. When the others looked at the road in front of the City Hall, they saw arge procession. No, it was not a procession but actually dozens of infected being led by a very familiar drone.


    They all watched as the drone led the dozens of infected away. As the crowd grewrger andrger, there would be stragglers. It was also obvious that some of the infected noticed that the drone was something that they could not bite and left the crowd.


    Still, most of the infected followed the drone and most of them were the fast running infected. They all watched the drone led the infected away until they could not see the drone anymore after it went behind the building through the northern side.


    Then, they saw a vehicleing from the direction of the boulevard. It was arge ck van with metal fittings around it. The sr panels on the roof of the vehicle and the wide V-shaped ram in front of it could also be seen. They could not see the inside of the vehicle though. It was not because they were high up but because the windows of the vehicle were heavily tinted.


    The remaining infected on the way rushed towards the vehicle but they were decimated as the vehicle mercilessly crashed on their frail bodies. The V-shaped ram pushed the zombies to the side with great force leaving their bodies with injuries worse than before.


    Under the gazes of the people watching by the windows, the vehicle followed the same route the drone took but stopped in front of the gymnasium.


    When it stopped, two people came out of the vehicle, a man and a small girl. The man was armed with an assault rifle and was urately shooting the infected rushing towards them.


    The two ran towards the office building attached to the gymnasium and entered it. When the two entered, the vehicle made a U-turn and went back the way it came from.

 Chapter 77 The Woodmen

    Day 3 ¨C 8:14 AM ¨C Molino Boulevard, Bayanan, Bacoor City, Cavite


    After getting ready, Mark sat beside the door of the vehicle with Abbygale beside him. Mei and the two kids were intently watching the monitor as Mei unskillfully maneuvered the Drone over the infected.


    About ten minutes after Mei and the children started luring the infected away, she finally managed to lure the majority of the infected in front of the city hall towards the back of the building. It was then that Odelina stepped on the gas pedal and drove the vehicle towards their destination.


    Along the road, Odelina mercilessly mowed down the infected that blocked the path of the car. The vehicle would rock every now and then but there were times that the shaking was unbearable. Those situations happened when Odelina ran over the infected with wood like skin. It felt like they were ramming the car on something very heavy, like a small tree.


    Adding these infected to his list, Mark decided to call them the "Woodmen".


    Arriving at the destination which was the office area of the gymnasium at the north of the City Hall, Mark quickly opened the door of bolted off. He started shooting the iing infected specifically, the Biters as they move closer than the other infected.


    Mark''s eyes became sharper and his movements became faster. He was using his adrenaline rush! He aimed at the heads of the infected as urate as he could. Also with the short distance between him and the infected, it was unlikely for him to miss his shots too much. It was not like he was aiming as several hundred meters away with his bare eyes. He would surely miss if that was the case.


    While Mark was shooting the infected, he and Abbygale entered the broken ss walls of the office reception. It was then that Odelina moved ording to the n. She made a U-turn with the vehicle and sped off out of thepound. It was to ensure that the vehicle would not get swarmed over by the infected just because they had to wait for Mark and Abbygale.


    ***


    Going back to the ce where they parked the vehicle earlier, Odelina started to do other things Mark ordered her to. It was to teach Mei and her children at least how to fire a pistol.


    When Mark asked her before if she could use a gun, she readily nodded. It was because one of herte husband''s hobbies was hanging out on a shooting clubs and practicing shooting with any kind of gun. Before they had their children, there were several times that he would bring her along with him and taught him how to.


    As they had just returned from thepound, it could not be helped that there were infected chasing after their vehicle.


    Using a pistol, Odelina unhesitatingly shot the Biters closing in without batting an eyelid. She left the slow moving ones for the training of the three. Looking at her skills when shooting the Biters, it was obvious that she had a higher level of gun skillspared to Mark.


    Odelina taught the three how to shoot the gun one by one. Of course, it could not be done in one session. Mei and her children were flinching for every shot they made with the pistol. There was another thing to Mei though. It seemed that she could use the pistol crossbow Mark made for her than the gun. She managed to kill several Eaters when she used the crossbow but she missed all her shots with the gun.


    The children also managed to shoot the gun at the zombies but the ratio of the shot hitting the infected was very low. In the end, the arm of the children had already be sore due to the recoil of the gun and Odelina had to finish the remaining infected by herself. As the Eaters were not really much of a threat, a grey gauntlet made of grey bone slowly emerged from Odelina''s hands and she started punching the infected. The punches looked clumsy but as a Mutator, her strength was not a joke.


    When they cleared all the infected around them, Mei rushed back to the vehicle to monitor the situation around the City Hall. Sheunched the drone she made tond on the rooftop of the gymnasium once more and patrolled the area.  When she saw the situation, she panicked as she immediately reached for the radio.


    ***


    While Odelina and the rest had good time learning how to use a pistol, the situation on Mark and Abbygale''s side was not that smooth sailing.


    The infected outside the office were flocking into the office without stop. The sounds created by the pieces of ss walls on the floor being stepped on by the infecteding in were attracting even more infected.


    The M16 Assault rifle he was using, even if equipped with a suppressor, was still making sounds enough to attract the infected nearby.


    Mark continuously shot the infected as they retreated further inside the office.


    p Even while he was shooting the infected, there were still times that one or two would still manage toe closer to them at directions he was not facing. At those situations, a red blurry shadow would charge at the iing infected. By the time Mark faced the infected that came closer, he saw Abbygale''s shoe nted on the infected''s face snapping its head backwards.</anda>


    However, it was not therge number of infected that gave them the worst headache. It was the Woodmen.


    As they were closer, Mark could see the features of the Woodmen clearly. Their skin totally turned into wood with a texture of a tree bark. They were slow, even slower than the Eaters. It looked like that their wood like bodies were hindering them from moving freely.


    It was fine since the Woodmen were slow but the problem here was their skin being too sturdy and thick, like a tree. Their bodies were also too heavy. Another thing was their mouths were non-existent. Mark could not think of where these mutated infected was able to get the energy to move. Photosynthesis? Mark, did not know they did not seem to have leaves on their bodies though.


    Two Woodmen blocked them from going further into the hallway. Mark shot a single burst onto one of the Woodmen''s head but the shot mutated infected only staggered backwards without even falling. It regained its bnce and continued moving towards Mark. He could see the bullets being stuck on its forehead and the white colored blood flowing out of its wounds. Rather than blood, it looked more like tree sap.


    A Biter came rushing from the reception area of the office making Mark turn back to deal with the Biter. As the Biter was too close, Mark did not use the long bodied rifle but shed the Biter decapitating its head.


    Mark turned back at the two woodmen and hacked the neck of the nearest one with the machete. It almost made him curse.


    "Tsk!"


    The sensation it gave him as the machete made contact with the Woodman''s neck was the same sensation he felt when he was chopping firewood! It did not only fail to hack its head off but the machete almost got stuck!


    At that moment, Abbygale charged with fast speed towards the Woodman. She jumped towards the wall and used it to propel herself to the side of the Woodman and kicked it on the part of its head where the ears should be located.


    The kicked Woodman was pushed back by the impact of the kick and staggered. However, it still did not fall down. What tenacity!


    Still, the impact by the kick still pushed it enough for Mark and Abbygale to slip past the hallway. It was a good thing though. With the heavy and sturdy Woodmen blocking the hallway, it would be harder for the infected outside to chase after them.


    Mark and Abbygale entered a wide corridor. He knew they were near the area behind the stage inside the gymnasium. The stairs going up should be just around the corner. Why did he know? He had entered this ce several times before! Most of the time it happened was before local elections in the past years!


    As they were about to continue running, the radio in Mark''s belt vibrated. He hacked an iing Eater''s neck and took out the radio.


    "Mei''er? Is something wrong?"


    He just finished his question when he immediately heard Mei''s panicked voice.


    "Gege! Hurry and escape, therge infected behind the City Hall ising your direction!"


    "What!"<sub> </sub>


    Mark was surprised. They had not even arrived at the stairs up to the second floor! Furthermore, the suspended pathway that connected this building to the City Hall was all the way to the third floor!


    "Gege! Hurry! It''s already nearby the corner of the City Hall!"


    "Mei''er! I won''t turn off the radio so update me with the situation!"


    "Ok!"


    Mark stored the radio back into his belt but did not turn it off or muted it. He then turned to the little girl.


    "Gale, you heard her. We''re going to speed up."


    The little girl nodded.


    Even if Mark said that to Abbygale, he knew that the only one who needed to speed up was him!


    The father and daughter duo ran towards the stairs and climbed it. As they were half way to the second floor, an Eater came shambling towards them from the second floor. Mark dodged sideways and kicked the Eater''s back making the infected tumble down to the end of the stairs below. The Eater''s head strongly mmed onto the floor creating a bloody mess.


    As they were in a hurry, Mark did not spend his time on killing the infected on the way. He would just kick their knees and legs making them fall unto the floor and continued running. Mei continued on rying the situation outside as they ran.


    When he reached the third floor, he heard Mei.


    "Gege! It''s already outside the building you are in! It''s trying to reach the pathway!"


    ''Well, sh*t.''


    Mark and Abbygale rushed across the hallway of the third floor. Luckily, as the third floor, there were almost no infected inside. They only encountered two Eaters before they found the door to the pathway.


    The door was locked but they could hear a banging sounding from the outside.


    "It''s smashing the foundation of the pathway! Gege, hurry up! There are cracks on the foundation already!"


    Time was the essence! Mark unleashed a burst of shots on the lock of the door and kicked it open. When the door opened, he could feel the floor shaking.


    BAM! BAM!


    "What the hell does it want from us?! It should go back on guarding that fruit!"


    Mark said as he could see some leaves sticking from the outside of the pathway. He was sure that it was the leafy head of the Level 2-Mutation Woodman.


    "Gale! We''re running!"


    Despite the shaking pathway and the loud banging sounds from below, they started running across the suspended pathway.


    As they ran across, Mark looked to his left and could see the Mutant Woodman staring at him from below.


    ''What the heck!''


    Mark was sure that it was staring at him. Its stare was even following him as ran across!


    However, the actions of the Mutant Woodman did not conform to the normal behavior of the infected. It saw Mark and Abbygale running but did not blindly chase them. It actually continued smashing on the foundation of the pathway! It even smashed harder as it saw the two!


    Mark almost lost bnce and had to grab the railing beside him due to the extreme shaking of the pathway. The cement on the floor even started to crack.


    "Not good!"


    Despite the loss of bnce, Mark continued to push on without looking back. He could hear the loud smashing behind him and even started to hear creaking sounds as the metal supports of the pathway started to lose its foundation.


    "Papa, hurry up!"


    "Gege!"


    Mark could hear the shouting of Abbygale who should have already run towards the other end of the pathway but ran back to him and Mei who was watching from the vehicle using the drone that came flying just a meter to his right.


    He looked at Abbygale for a bit and felt a little amazed and even envious. The little girl was not even a little bit affected by the shaking!


    By the time he managed to get to the end of the pathway, the foundation crumbled. The heavy remains of the foundation pulled the rest of the pathway down almost breaking its connection to the building beside the gymnasium. The cement floor on the pathway also crumbled as the metal supports started to twist.


    Mark looked at the destroyed pathway. He did not feel nervous but it was still a dangerous situation. This pathway could not be used anymore.


    Seeing that the prey sessfully traversed the pathway, the Mutant Woodman seemed to have lost interest for some reason.


    Mark and the Mutant Woodman stared at each other for a few seconds. He actually had the notion to give the aggravating infected with a few shots of his assault rifle but stopped as it did not seem to have interest to continue attacking.


    Leaving the staring contest, Mark entered the door behind him with Abbygale after bashing the lock open.

 Chapter 78 Extortion Attempt

    Day 3 ¨C 7:43 AM ¨C Bacoor City Hall 4th Floor, Molino Boulevard, Bayanan, Bacoor City, Cavite


    Mark and Abbygale entered the fourth floor of the City Hall. Even with the fact that the suspended pathway could be essed at the third floor of the gymnasium office building, it was directly connected to the highest floor of the City Hall. The reason for this was the difference in elevation of the two buildings. The City Hall was built about a floor lower than the gymnasium.


    Looking at the scene inside the building, it did not look like the building was implicated by the apocalypse. Rather, the scene inside the building looked like it just experienced a magnitude 7 earthquake. The floor and walls had cracks, the floor had risen and sunken parts. Even the back part of the floor was obviously nted. The ss dividers of the rooms were broken and the cabs and tables were toppled.


    And the culprit of what happened to the building was visible from Mark and Abbygale''s point of view. At the straight hallway, they could see therge tree trunk that even blocked half of the corridor. Not only that, the part of the trunk that they could see was just about a quarter of the whole trunk. The remaining part of the trunk was hidden behind the ruined walls.


    By the looks of it, the huge tree tore its way out almost at the center of the building. There were even the marks left behind by the tree''s branches as it tore its way through the ceiling.


    Before proceeding, Mark checked his equipment. He still had several clips of ammunition but he already used up a third of all the 5.56 mm caliber ammunition he brought. He drank a half bottle of cold water and gave the half to Abbygale which she calmly drank. It was good that he did not use pep bottles as water container but vacuum insted water bottles. He brought five of these bottles in his back pack, two for cold water, two for heated water and thest one for low sugar soda.


    Mark switched the half full clip of his M16 to a full one and started to move. He was sure that this floor was devoid of infected as he managed to navigate the drone here without problems and the survivors here were openly on this floor.


    When they arrived near the trunk of the tree, Mark started to be careful with his footing. The floor was too uneven and the parts of the floor that had cracks looked like it would crumble any moment. As the two passed by the trunk, they could not help but stop and look at the trunk with curiosity. Looking at it, just the visible part of the trunk already needed four people with outstretched hands to cover its width.


    Mark scaled the trunk with his eyes while frowning. He could feel a very faint fluctuation from the tree. As he felt that, he could not help but suspect that this tree had a little bit of sentience. There was also the strange behavior of the Mutant Woodman outside. He already noticed it when he was scouting the perimeter of thepound using the drone. The Mutant Woodman was moving slowly around the City Hall but did not seem to dare toe close or enter the building.


    Thinking about it deeper, his conjectures were usible. And if this tree really had sentience, it was not aggressive. Or else, how could the survivors stay here safely.


    Mark decided to ponder about these thingster. Right now, he needed to get to Charmaine as soon as possible.


    He looked up and saw the crack on the ceiling he used when he made the drone enter the building. They followed the path the drone took before and reached the corner of the hallway that would directly lead them to the reception area of this floor, the area where the survivors were staying.


    "Gale, just follow behind me alright?"


    The little girl nodded at Mark''s instruction but he had a feeling that he should keep this little girl on a leash or something.


    With Abbygale following behind him, Mark calmly walked towards the reception area. Actually, he could already see the people on the reception area and the people also saw him. However, no one went to approach him. Of course, who in the right mind would approach a fully armed person with his face fully covered.


    It looked like these people here were still in their right minds.


    When Mark and Abbygale reached the reception area, every one present was carefully watching him. The police and body guards were even standing in front of the congresswoman.


    Mark''s gaze swept through the people and stopped on a person. It was the man wearing a business suit that pushed Charm earlier and destroyed the radio. There were two bodyguards standing in front of him. It looked like that not all of the bodyguards here belonged to the congresswoman, different from what Mark thought.


    Abbygale saw the businessman and her eyes lit up. She was already in the posture to dash over and give the businessman a brutal kick. However, as she kicked her foot on the floor, her kick did not give her any force to move forward. She felt an armtch onto her waist and lifted her up.


    "You''re not going on kill-stealing again. Seriously..."


    She looked up at her Papa with displeasure.


    "Mu! Papa! I want to do it!"


    She threw a tantrum.


    "No. If you don''t listen to me, there''s no cuddleter."


    Her face became sullen as she crossed her arms while hanging on her Papa''s left arm. Still, she finally conceded and went silent.


    Mark noticed Abbygale as she moved into the posture to charge towards the businessman and lifted her up. This savage little girl was actually going to steal his kill again.


    The people around saw what the two was doing and looked at two without knowing how to react to their banter.


    ''These two were actually father and daughter?''


    That was what was running in the minds of the people around them.


    Even Charm was surprised. She knew that it was her Big Brother that came as she still remember his stature and his voice but she did not expect that he already had a daughter! Back then before he separated from them, he was the type of man who would not fall into any rtionship easily. Did a woman got interested and married her Big Brother? Looking at the beautiful doll like girl, it was impossible that the partner was not a good looking woman either.


    While most of the survivors saw it as a normal banter while disregarding the contents of what the father and daughter said, the businessman, his bodyguards and the congresswoman''s group totally understood what the two was talking about. The two intended on ending the man''s life!


    The businessman started sweating. Then he looked for a way as he looked at his two bodyguards.


    ''The man with the assault rifle was one thing but what could the little girl do?''


    The businessman''s confidence grew. They had more numbers. What was he afraid of?


    Mark then looked at the man. He was monitoring everyone''s emotional fluctuation so he could at least guess what the man was thinking. Using his free hand, he pointed the assault rifle towards the man''s group.


    The businessman''s eyes grew wide while the two bodyguards also pointed their pistols at Mark while blocking the man from Mark''s assault rifle.


    "Big Brother¡­"


    Charmaine who was just a few meters away from Mark called him. Mark replied without looking at her and kept staring at the businessman''s group.


    "Charm, just wait there a little bit. I''ll just deal with this guy first."


    "But¡­"


    "Just wait there."


    Mark''s voice was firmer this time making her stop. The nurse beside her also stopped her from talking as she was in a bad condition right now.<sub> </sub>


    It was a stand still between the bodyguards and Mark. Both parties were silent. The one who broke the silence was the little girl who was being lifted by her Papa.


    "Papa, too slow."


    It was not that Mark was being slow or he was trying to read the two bodyguards. He was waiting for something.


    Mark smirked behind his mas as he saw the businessman who was dripping with cold sweat.


    Then, it was then that the congresswoman made a move. She stepped in front of her guards despite their protests and spoke.


    "Excuse me but isn''t it better if you all stand down. It would be a problem if the infected outside get rmed if a shootout starts here right now. There are also other people here that might get implicated."


    It was what Mark was waiting for, for the congresswoman to stand up and mediate. From the video feed Mark saw from the drone, he was sure that this man he intended to kill was someone with high standing or else, this congresswoman might had already made a move on that man so they could get his approval to help them.


    "It''s not a problem to us if the infected gets rmed. We''re leaving after I get my sister out of here. The problem is yours, not mine. Besides, you all saw what happened. It''s not us who started it."


    When the people around heard him, they draw in a cold breath. This guy did not care about humanism at all! The congresswoman was right! He was also right! If a gunfight were to happen, not only they will get implicated but will also attract the monsters below. And none of it was his problem once they left!


    "What could we do for you to stop?"


    The congresswoman thought of the consequences. Whether the businessman or the man with the little girl won, everyone here would be in grave danger. She decided to relent and negotiate.


    "Then, give mepensation, for him pushing my sister and for destroying my radio. What can you give me?"


    The congresswoman was exasperated inside. She realized that this man was doing this on purpose! It was extortion! Still, she could not do anything about it! In the first ce, it was the businessman''s fault!


    "What do you want?"


    "Ehh¡­ Why are you asking me what I want? I doubt you have it. That''s why I''m asking WHAT you can give me."


    The congresswoman felt helpless. In her whole political career, she was never at a disadvantage like this! What could she give him?


    Food? Even she had not eaten a meal since yesterday night!


    Weapons? They even barely had anything left! All of his guards had guns but not all of them still had ammunition remaining. Even if she gave all the ammunition they had left, were those enough to satisfy him? Surely not!


    "Big Brother!"


    Charmaine called.


    "What?"


    "Please, don''t make it difficult for Madam Lanie. She did her best to help us all here. She even gave me herst crackerst night."


    Hearing what Charmaine said. Mark''s view about the congresswoman lightened a bit and decided topromise a little.


    "If you don''t have anything, then just give me information."


    Congresswoman Lanie''s face lightened as she looked at Charmaine with gratitude.


    "What information."


    "First, about the huge tree that grew through the building. Second, the information about the premises of the Police Command Center, especially the armory. I want the im of any weapon and equipment in there."


    "Alright."


    The congresswoman nodded.


    "But Madam! The weapons and equipment there are property of the police! It''s against thew to hand those over to anyone without proper authorization!"


    One of the policemen behind Madam Lanie voiced his concerns. The congresswoman looked at him with a helpless expression.


    "Law and order already copsed. Also, it''s better to make use of those weapons and equipment rather than making it rot there."


    She then looked towards Mark.


    "You said that you im of any weapon and equipment but I''m sure that you can''t take all of those. We can take the remains right?"


    What she said was reasonable. Mark nodded.


    "Then, can you please lower your gun already?"


    She turned towards businessman and his bodyguards.


    "You people, also. Put down your guns."


    Both parties lowered their weapons at the same time.


    As the conflict was somehow alleviated, everyone watching sighed in relief.


    Mark left ast nce at the businessman''s group and went towards Charmaine with the displeased Abbygale in tow.

 Chapter 79 Getting Information

    Day 3 ¨C 8:11 AM ¨C Bacoor City Hall 4th Floor, Molino Boulevard, Bayanan, Bacoor City, Cavite


    Mark, who had already removed his mask, sat in front of Charmaine. She narrated what happened to her while she ate the food her Big Brother brought for her.


    ording to her story, when the infected came, it was total chaos. The local government was actually waiting for the military evacuation team toe before the outbreak reached this area but the evacuation team never came. At thest moment, the police and the other government armed divisions tried to evacuate the people by themselves but failed miserably. Not only they lost people and failed to evacuate, all the people who tried to evacuate fell into the hands of the infected.


    "It''s good that you didn''t join them."


    Mark said as he put Abbygale in front of him and cuddled her to stop her tantrum. He channeled that calming energy to her and tried to control it little by little. It was effective as the little girl started curl into his embrace and slowly drifted into sleep. He was also managing to train his ability like this.


    "I actually wanted to join them but the people pushed me behind. They all rushed to the vehicles that I didn''t even had the chance to squeeze through."


    Charmaine said with a bitter smile. Still, her not being able to join those people saved her. She continued with her story.


    Without any choice left, the people who lost hope in evacuating went into the building and tried to barricade the higher floors. Then the massacre happened.


    "Then what about that huge tree?"


    Hearing what Mark asked about, Charmaine shook her head.


    "The tree started to grow yesterday. It took it about a whole day I think. No one was able to rest the whole time it was growing. The building was shaking too much that everyone was afraid that it would copse."


    The weariness was visible in Charmaine''s eyes while she narrated what happened yesterday.


    "Eat up and regain your strength. Well leave this ce after you recover."


    Charmaine looked at Mark for a bit while thinking about something. Seeing his resolute expression, she finally nodded.


    "Brother, can I share some of these?"


    She grabbed several packs of biscuits and asked Mark.


    Mark did not even have to look to other directions. He could feel the envy and the eagerness of the people around as they saw the food he brought for Charmaine. Even the guards, the policemen and the congresswoman was not an exception. However, no one dared to ask for food from her while Mark was there. By what he behaved earlier, everyone think of him as a ruthless andwless person who would kill for the slightest grievance.


    Mark sighed while looking at Charmaine. This girl had not changed at all. Like several years ago, she was not selfless but not selfish either. She would share things if she have some extra.


    "Alright, just be sure to leave enough for you to eat. There aren''t much of those."


    Hearing what he said, Charmaine was delighted. She immediately called the nurse and gave several packets for the people to share. It was not enough at all but at least, they had something to put into their stomachs.


    Mark caressed the head of the sleeping savage girl which took Charmaine''s attention.


    "Big Brother, you''re already married?"


    To her question, Mark did not know how to react.


    "I didn''t. You think, someone would fall for someone as worthless as me?"


    "You''re still harsh to your self aren''t you? If you haven''t married yet, then this girl is?"


    "A kitten I picked up."


    "Big Bro. I''m asking seriously here."


    "I really picked her up. I''m not joking."


    Charmaine had a lot of questions about the little girl but was forced to stop since Mark shoved a piece of packed bread into her mouth.


    "You''re asking too much. Just concentrate on eating."


    She looked at her Big Brother with eyes filled with grievance. He just needed to say it if he wanted her to stop talking. He did not need to shove that piece of bread to her mouth!


    Since Abbygale was asleep, Mark tried to peel her off and make the little girly down beside Charmaine but as he tried to do so, she immediately woke up.


    "Gale, just sleep for a bit would you?"


    The little girl rubbed her eyes and answered.


    "No. If Papa is leaving, I''ll go too."


    Mark looked at the little girl. She was not familiar with anyone here so she did not want to be left alone. He could not reprimand her either as she meant no harm¡­ At least, to him and his people.


    "Alright, but don''t do anything without my permission."


    Abbygale nodded.


    "Charm, I''ll just talk to them for a little. Finish your food alright."


    "Big Brother. Don''t fight with them."


    "Don''t worry, I won''t. Unless, they start first."


    Mark together with Abbygale left Charmaine with the nurse.


    Charmaine looked at his back as he left. She was really worried that Mark would fight with the congresswoman and her guards. It looked like her brother changed a lot in the past years. He was always silent and timid before but now, he was behaving unruly and brave.


    ***


    Mark approached the congresswoman''s group and was led into an office. Of course, as a congresswoman, her office was not in this ce. The office Mark was led to was actually the office of the mayor. It gave Mark a question in his mind.


    ''What happened to the mayor?"


    Still, Mark had no notion to voice this question. It was not hard to guess what could have happened to the Mayor if he was not here.


    When Mark entered, the congresswoman led him to seat in front of the mayor''s table and she sat behind it. The bodyguards stood by the door while only one of the policemen stood beside her. Mark sat on the chair and Abbygale sat on hisp.


    "I want to apologize about what happened earlier. We did not expect that he would push your sister away and snatch the radio. He even ended up breaking it."


    Madam Lanie put up an apologetic expression. Mark felt that she was really sorry but as if he''d just ept that apology.


    "I don''t care about your apology. The damage had already been done and I already reduced thepensation as much as possible. Actually, I want to at least have a recement for the radio but I don''t want those outdated models the government issued the police and the military."


    "You-!"


    The policeman was about to say something but the congresswoman stopped him by raising her hand.


    "I''m really grateful that you toned down thepensation you wanted. We really have nothing to give you if you didn''t."


    Mark looked at her directly.


    "Actually, you guys are not the ones to pay but that guy. Why are you even taking responsibility for him?"


    "You don''t understand. We politicians have to rely on connections to do a lot of things, not only for ourselves but also for the people. That man, he had rtives in the senate you see and they are in the same party as us."<sub> </sub>


    Mark nodded. He understood the context as it was not a new topic at all.


    "Back to what I''m here for, I want to ask what you know about the huge tree above us."


    The congresswoman had a bad premonition as Mark suddenly changed the topic but could not get hold of it. Since it was like that, she just proceeded to answer his question. But first¡­


    "Could you please introduce yourself first? I really have a bad time finding out how I should address you."


    Mark felt exasperated. Introducing himself was one of the things Mark hated to do.


    "Mark, just Mark is fine."


    "Mark is it?"


    Mark nodded.


    "Now, answer my question."


    Madam Lanie rested her hands on the table and replied.


    "Actually, we have no idea where the tree came from or why it grew from beneath this building. However, we knew that the infected outside seem to be affected by the tree."


    "Are you talking about the infected with wooden skin and thatrge one that frequent the back of the building?"


    "Yes. They started to appear while the tree was growing. Since we are upied trying to resist the tremors while the tree grew, none of us actually saw how the infected changed."


    Mark grew silent as one of his theories was proven. The huge tree really had a connection with the Woodmen.


    "If you knew nothing about the tree, I''m at a disadvantage with the deal don''t I?"


    Now that Mark brought it up, the congresswoman also felt troubled.


    "Nevermind. Just tell me the information I needed about the Police Command Center."


    "There''s no problem about that."


    Madam Lanie pointed her open palm to her left.


    "This is Chief Mari. As the chief of our local police branch, he knew the most about it."


    As he was introduced, Chief Mari gave Mark the information he wanted to know. He even showed Mark a rough sketch of how the floor n of the Command Center looked like. From the front desk to the armory, everything was showed to Mark.


    "Alright, this is enough."


    Mark took the sketch of the floor n and rolled it.


    Then, Madam Lanie asked a question.


    "I want to ask. Do you not have a single thought of helping the people here?"


    "Don''t bother about asking that. I don''t."


    "Why?"


    "Why should I? All of you guys had nothing to do with me at all. Furthermore, you guys will just end up as nuisance if I did help you."


    The chief, the policemen and the bodyguards who heard him felt incensed. What in the world are you saying?


    On the other hand, Madam Lanie remainedposed. Mark then continued.


    "First, I have to find several more people. Going in arge group with a very lowbat ability will end up with everyone dying. Arge group is eye catching and hard to hide. Second, I don''t have anywhere to put you all into. I can''t escort you to Bay City either. Third, are you guys able to provide your own necessities? The main battle strength would surely be my group. I don''t want to take on that responsibility. You might have your guards but the rest are total baggage."


    The men inside clenched their fists but did not have the reason to refute him. All what he said was true after all.


    Mark then stood up and put down Abbygale on the floor.


    "You''re leaving already?"


    "That''s right. I already have what I wanted. There''s no reason to stay."


    "Is that so?"


    The congresswoman had a bitter look on her face. There was really no way for cooperation.


    "Won''t you at least take my men with you to retrieve the weapons in the PCC? They can help you."


    "What kind of help? If they are willing to be a baggage carrier then I can bring them with me."


    The men were really enraged now. They were trainedbatants and police! What did he mean what he said?


    Knowing the minds of the people around, Mark snickered.


    "You guys shouldn''t try to inte your egos. I know that you guys haven''t eaten anything sincest night. Do you have the energy to spare and say that you guys could help? Don''t make meugh. Spend your energy to find your own food than bing baggage for me."


    With that, Mark stepped out of the room with Abbygale tugging behind him.


    The people inside was left incensed and speechless.


    The congresswoman plopped herself onto the table.


    "Madam, are you fine?"


    Chief Mari asked.


    "I''m fine. I just feel stressed and hungry. It is hard to talk to that man."


    "That''s right. He is full of air and even belittled us. It''s no wonder that you will have a hard time talking to him Madam."


    One of the bodyguards said.


    "All of you don''t seem to understand. What you said is true but that is not the reason. I just feel that, that man knew what I and you people are thinking. He''s not leaving holes for us to exploit at all."


    "That can''t be right? Madam, are you sure about that?"


    Another bodyguard asked. But the one that replied was the Chief.


    "I also noticed it. That guy sure can read us."


    With that, the men fell silent.

 Chapter 80 On The City Hall Rooftop

    Day 3 ¨C 8:31 AM ¨C Bacoor City Hall 4th Floor, Molino Boulevard, Bayanan, Bacoor City, Cavite


    Mark and Abbygale stood on the ruined rooftop of the City Hall observing the surroundings.


    After getting the information he could get from the congresswoman''s group, he told Charmaine that he would go out for a bit and check the situation around thepound. Wandering around the fourth floor for a few minutes, he found the ess to the rooftop.


    Mark wanted to get some fresh air. After he was not in sight of those people anymore, his confident looking face and scary stare crumbled. The domineering actions he showed those people were all an act! He felt drained. There was nothing scarier for him than talking to strangers! Especially with people of high standing! During the time he was talking with the congresswoman, his Empathic ability was fully activated. In his mind, getting surrounded by a horde of mutants was better!


    He was too anxious but he was still able to hold on and not blew the act off.


    The moment he stepped out to the rooftop, he squatted to the floor and leaned his back on the wall as he felt exhausted.


    Abbygale seemed to have noticed his condition and voluntarily gave him a hug. Mark felt a little better due to it. This girl was really something else. They stayed like that for a few minutes until Mark recovered hisposure.


    Mark really felt mentally exhausted. He was keeping this act for long and was now finally alone to vent it all out. In front of others, he did not want to show this weak side of himself. Acting all cool and stuff since the outbreak reached the mall and until now, he started to grow sick of it. He was a loner and a shut-in for damn sake.


    However, he could not, no, he should not show any sign of weakness to others. The first one to do so was the first one to lose the advantage they had.


    Mark patted the little girls head with a sincere smile. This time, he was really happy to have her by his side.


    "Thanks Gale. I''m fine now."


    Abbygale let go of her embrace and beamed an angelic smile at her Papa. If Mark did not know how savage this girl could be, he would really think that she looked like an angel.


    Mark started to do what he came here for.


    While the little girl was wandering around waving a three feet long branch she found, Mark was looking at the tree.  The tree was really huge. It was about twenty-three meters in height from the ground floor. Mark circled the tree several times and looked at the fruit that was about seven meters above him. He concluded that the tree was not only strange by its size but even the fluctuation he was feeling from the tree.


    It was faint when he was inside the building but the fluctuation was stronger here in the rooftop. He tried touching the tree and sending his mental energy to the tree but did not receive a response from it. From what he felt, it looked like it was sleeping or in the simr state if not.


    Abbygale was also ncing at the fruit from time to time. It really looked like she wanted to have that fruit. The golden glow of the fruit was more visible at this ce.


    As it was one of his goals, Mark started to think of ways to get the fruit. However, he stayed away from the thought of climbing the tree. As he felt that faint sentience from the tree, climbing the huge tree was a really bad idea.


    He would probably need a gaff to reach that. He looked around but saw nothing he could use. His eyesnded on the roof of the policemand center to the south. There were several tall poles used to elevate reception antennas. Maybe, he could use those poles. In the end, he needed to go to themand center before he was able to try and get the fruit.


    As he could not do it right now, he left the notion of getting the fruit forter. He focused more on the surroundings.


    Due the growth of the tree, the rooftop was in tatters. He was actually very careful of his steps during the time he was observing the tree. The rooftop was too uneven and had a lot of cracks. There was also therge crack he used to make the drone enter the building. If he made a misstep and fell into the crack, he would sure end up back to the floor below.


    He walked to the edge of the rooftop. The strong morning gale was ruffling his clothes. Mark was amazed at the sight. Behind thepound of the City hall was a wide plot ofnd used for farming. A small forest could even be seen on the further distance. During this time of the year, the farming plots should be left bare.


    Now however, the lush green grass that had newly sprouted had already covered the vacant farnd along with several nts that looked like leftover crops from the recent harvest. The leaves of the trees on the forest were also visibly greener that they supposed to be days before the apocalypse.


    As the wind brushed over his face, Mark felt quite a bit of calmness and satisfaction. It might sound bad but it was actually one of the few things he wanted to see in his life ever since he became a zombie apocalypse fan. To see what the world would end up look like after humans stopped affecting the environment negatively.


    The wind really felt good and the morning sun was not as harsh as before. He really felt satisfied. A little more time and the world would be covered with overgrowth of nts. That would surely be a good sight to witness.


    Mark looked at the scene below at the street. The sight of the infected did not really ruin the view but actually added a good vor to the view. The existence of the infected only bolstered the fact that the world was ending. Different from what most people would feel, he really felt happy than sad.


    A satisfied smile crept up in his face. Most people who would see him like this might think that he was mad but he did not mind it.


    Unknown to him, the drone thatnded on top of another building was watching him. All his expressions and actions were caught by the drone. From the time he went out to the rooftop to the time he was satisfyingly looking at the scenery were seen by Mei, Odelina and the two children inside the Van.


    Mei actually wanted to call unto the radio the time she saw his exhausted face but Odelina stopped her from doing so. Mark was trying his best not to show this side of his to them but they identally saw it. It was better for them to hide that they knew and just needed to support him with the best that they could.


    On the other hand, they did not mind the satisfied face Mark showed while looking at the effect the apocalypse brought. Rather, they felt that his mindset was better and more suitable in facing the crumbling world. A downhearted mindset of a leader would only make things more difficult for his people.


    Back to the rooftop, Mark started surveying the area around themand center. He could see that the two front entrance doors were wide open and the ss windows in the first and second floor were totally broken leaving only the frames of the window. Just with this, he could say that entering the first floor of themand center was highly dangerous.<sub> </sub>


    However, the armory was actually in the first floor of the central building of themand center ording to the information. The armory was locked with a number lock though making the process of retrieving the weapons much easier. The only problem was the danger to navigate to first floor to find the armory as the chief readily gave him the numberbinations to the locks.


    It looked like they needed to lure away the infected out of the building first before going. Would the drone work? Probably, it would not do. The ceiling of themand center was at the standard height and the passages were narrow. The drone might end up being broken down if used to enter the building.


    Thinking of the way, Mark walked along the edge of the rooftop. He ended up walking towards the back side of the building. Below, he could see the City Health Center. He actually knew about this and thought about getting Charm''s medicine from there. As the City Health Center, it should have medicine for a lot ofmon and umon illness. However, going to that building was total suicide. The building was separated to the City Hall and the only ess to the health center was to go down the street and the front door. It might have a back door but getting there was even more dangerous that entering through the front.


    The street was brimming with infected. Therge Woodman was also frequenting the front of the building while gazing at the fruit on the huge tree. The Woodman seemed to have noticed Mark as it turned its body facing him. It did not make any threatening movements though.


    ''Hmm?''


    Mark noticed something.


    There was a strange male infected came shambling out of the broken down doors of the Health Center. It had a bloated neck and chest and was walking strangely as if it was drunk. But the pace it walked was not slow either.


    ''It''s a mutated Biter isn''t it?''


    Mark thought. Then an idea hit him. Bloated chest and throat? Was it not the sign of a screaming infected in video games?


    Mark decided to experiment.


    He kneeled on the roof with one knee and carefully aimed his assault rifle. Seeing his stance, Abbygale ran over and looked at what he was aiming at.


    If it was a Biter, it should be vulnerable to pain. Mark did not n on killing it so he tried aiming at the infected''s foot. It was hard as the distance was far and the assault rifle was not equipped with a scope. However, while he had no confidence of shooting it urately, he was confident that he would not attract any of the infected below. Therge Woodman as an exception, of course.


    TSST!


    Mark fired the first shot.


    PANG!


    It missed. The bullet burrowed unto the concrete several inches from the infected with a loud sound. The mutant infected seemed alerted but did not do anything but look at the hole the bullet made on the concrete. The other infected nearby seemed to be alerted by the sound as they started to flock towards the source.


    Mark was not bothered by him missing the first shot and fired again after adjusting his aim.


    TSST!


    This time, there was no sound but a thud as Mark missed the shot again. What was hit was another infected that was attracted to the sound his first shot made. The innocent infected was hit at its forehead dying immediately with a stter of blood.


    TSST!


    Mark adjusted his aim once more. This time, he seeded.


    AAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!


    The mutated infected actually screamed just as he expected.


    A loud sharp scream echoed across the street as the mutated infected with bloated throat and chest was hit on its left shoulder. Mark was aiming at its feet but hitting the shoulder was not considered as a failure, right?


    Still, Mark almost burst outughing when he heard the scream. It was not the eerie and creepy sounding scream but a scream that sounded like the infected''s throat was being choked by something.


    Abbygale by his side already sat on the roof happilyughing out loud. Mei and Odelina who was watching what he did from the vehicle held back theirughter but also let out smiles while Siegfried and Odette were holding their stomachs as theyughed.


    The infected''s scream sounded like a person who inhaled a whole tank of helium! He sounded like Donald Duck screaming out loud while rolling on the pavement in pain!


    However, it really did what Mark expected it to do so. The scream might have sounded funny but it actually attracted the infected. Even the infected from the other sides of the building came flocking towards the back of the City Hall!


    Mark now had a way to keep the infected away from themand center for some time. He doubted that the infected would continuously scream. In that case, he would just make it scream once moreter.

 Chapter 81 Change Of Plans

    Day 3 ¨C 8:50 AM ¨C Bacoor City Hall Rooftop, Molino Boulevard, Bayanan, Bacoor City, Cavite


    After confirming the ability of the mutated Biter to scream and thought of the n to lure the infected away from the Police Command Center, he was getting ready to go back inside and prepare. However, there was another movement that caught his eye. It looked like the scream not only attracted the infected.


    Looking at the windows of second floor of the City Health Center, Mark saw the white coated silhouettes behind the windows. Mark closed his eyes and concentrated on expanding the area of his Empathic Ability. He could not turn the ability on and off and the area was several meters wide but his distance away from the City Health Center wasrger than his detection area.


    As his detection area finally reached the building, he felt the fearing from the silhouettes on the second floor. Mark confirmed it, those were living people. There were survivors trapped in the Health Center.


    Mark was about to release his ability and return it back to normal. Using this wide range for a long time was taking a huge toll on his energy. However, he froze. He could not control the shape of his detection area so he could only expand it. As he expanded it to reach the Health Center, the Police Command Center was also reached by his detection.


    Mark looked at the Command Center. There were also people inside. However, many of the people had a lingering killing intent and were giving him danger signals. These people could not be member of the police. Now that he thought of it, it was a police station. Looking at the infected below, he could see some of them wearing police uniforms. However, he never saw anyone wearing orange or yellow uniforms. A police station would neverck of those people.


    Mark was thinking about the convicted criminals.


    He never saw even one below. It meant that the people inside the Command Center that was giving him the threatening feeling were those prisoners.


    "Another change of n¡­ How troublesome."


    Whether he liked it or not, it looked like that he needed to agree with bringing some people with him.


    Mark counted the people he detected. There were eight inside the Health Center and twenty-three inside the Police Station.


    If not for the equipment inside the police station, he might not want to deal with this troublesome situation. However, he was reallycking of those. The police station should have Ker vests, riot shields and riot helmets. He wanted those more than the weapons.


    Still, was he afraid of those people? No. With his ability, he could create an ambush without them knowing. He only needed to bring people not to fight but to create a scene to at least intimidate the criminals. What was the bane of criminals? Of course, it was the police. Just seeing people in police uniforms was enough to make criminals feel some kind of repulsion and be intimidated, even if the person in front of them was not really a part of the police at all.


    "Gale, let''s go."


    Mark called unto the little girl who was sitting by the edge of the rooftop while watching the party of the infected below. She stood up and made ast look at the fruit above them before skipping towards her Papa.


    ***


    The father and daughter duo went back towards the reception area of the fourth floor of the City Hall. As they entered, Mark saw Charmaine happily chatting with the nurse. It looked like she regained some of her energy back. She should be able to move now.


    "Big Brother! How is it?"


    Charmaine called out after she saw Mark and Abbygale.


    "The area outside is still dangerous but we could leave anytime if you''re ready."


    Hearing his answer, Charmaine felt both happy and sad. She felt happy because she could leave this ce and sad because she could not do anything to help the people here.


    "Uhm¡­ You will really leave us here?"


    The nurse sitting beside Charmaine hesitated at first but still asked Mark. In the past two days, this nurse and Charmaine spent time together as they were around the same age and the nurse were taking care of Charmaine''s condition. Though she was happy that Charmaine''s brother was here to pick up her new friend but she also wished that they would be saved.


    "Tell me. What do I get if I saved you all?"


    Mark coldly replied with another question which made the nurse look down.


    He was right. There was really nothing in for him if he were to save them. Not only that. They would also be a burden to them.


    "Big Bro. Can we at least bring her with us?"


    Charmaine pleaded.


    "We''re going to look for Big Sis and other people right? Then what if they are injured? We need someone who can treat them."


    Her rationale was on point. Even if they could also give treatment to injuries, the treatment from someone with experience was different.


    Mark nodded at Charmaine''s proposition as she had a point. However¡­


    "If you really want to bring her, we can but the question here is¡­ Wasn''t she needed there?"


    Mark pointed at the room just behind him with his right thumb.


    Inside that room, there were several injured people. Mark noticed it when he arrived and also thought that it was the reason why Mark did not see the nurse before when he was controlling the drone from outside the window.


    The nurse was touched by Charmaine''s suggestion but hesitated as Mark said his piece. She really did not know what to do now.


    On contrary, Mark nodded at the nurse''s hesitation. If she readily agreed to abandon the injured people he just pointed out, then, she was not worth his time at all.


    "Alright, you cane with us."


    Mark said making the nurse dumfounded. Charmaine felt really happy.


    "But, what will happen to them?"


    "Don''t worry about it. I''ll just get some people to rece you in that case."


    Both Charmaine and the nurse were confused with what Mark said. He wanted to get some people to rece her?  Where was he going to get them?


    They wanted to ask but their conversation was cut short. It looked like the congresswoman was informed about Mark''s return and went out to meet him.


    As Madam Lanie approached, she smiled.


    "You''re back? Are you going inside the PCC now? I know you said that you don''t need any help but I think, you should really allow my men to go with you."


    Mark directly looked at her and answered.


    "Actually, my ns have changed. I want some of the policemen you have to apany me."


    When the congresswoman heard his reply, she felt happy. At least, there was a room for cooperation. The chance of making him help them would be higher. However, she felt that there was something wrong for this person to suddenly change his mind.


    "Did something happen?"


    She asked with a concerned tone and Mark nodded to her question.<sub> </sub>


    "It looks like the inmates in your police station escaped. Those guys are now upying the upper floors of the station. There are 23 of them."


    Chief Mari who was behind the congresswoman sucked a mouthful of air.


    "Those damn bastards escaped? How?"


    He voiced his concern.


    "Well, I don''t know about that. Don''t ask me."


    Mark answered the chief and turned back to Madam Lanie.


    "Also, I found survivors inside the second floor of the health center. There are 8 of them. They should be doctors, nurses and patients if I''m right."


    The congresswoman was surprised. Not because Mark found people on other buildings but because this man actually gave them precise numbers.


    "Are you sure? Also how did you know those numbers? Are they urate?"


    "Don''t doubt me about this. The figures I gave are urate. Just don''t ask me how I knew."


    Mark red at the congresswoman. The re did not hold any ill intent but just gave his message to her. It was that he knew what he was doing.


    Madam Lanie looked at him and nodded.


    "How many people do you need?"


    "Just three or four is enough. I don''t need them to act. I just need them to create some intimidation."


    "What do you mean?"


    To the congresswoman''s question, it was Chief Mari who answered her.


    "Madam, he should be thinking of using us to create a psychological deterrence. If those criminals saw that there are policemen approaching, even if they are not scared, they should still panic inside affecting their movements and thinking."


    The congresswoman was enlightened to his exnation.


    "It looks like you know your stuff."


    Mark said.


    "Please, don''t underestimate me. I didn''t get to this position for nothing. We also use this tactic in some of our operations."


    "What about the survivors in the Health Center?"


    Madam Lanie asked Mark. She was hoping that they could help those people but the key to this should be Mark. She did not know why but her intuition that she relied on for years was telling her that this person was not someone simple.


    "Actually, I want to get medicine for my sister. If they could bring medicine for me, then I will give some effort to save them."


    "Is that true?"


    Madam Lanie''s face lightened. They were really in need of medical personnel at this moment. The only person they have here was the only nurse that managed toe with them during their escape to this floor and no one else.


    "Well, that wille forter. We need to get the weapons in the police station first. Don''t expect that I will save those people alone. You''re men needed to help too and they will need weapons."


    "Then, are we going to build a n to deal with the people inside the PCC?"


    "There''s no need. As I said earlier, I only need them to act. As for the fighting, leave that to me. I need more practice with this you see."


    Mark pointed at his assault rifle. He did not even hide his bloodlust.


    While most people would not feel it, the veteran bodyguards and the policemen shivered. This man was itching to kill people!


    "After this, you will leave with your sister right?"


    Madam Lanie suddenly asked.


    "Yes."


    "Is there any way for you to agree in escorting us? After retrieving the weapons, we won''t be a baggage for your group right?"


    "This nurse here just asked me the same question before you came you know that? Furthermore, where are you people even going? I don''t think you guys will be able to go to any evacuation center. The nearest one should be in the Bay City."


    "No, we won''t be going to Bay City. We have beenmunicating through the radio with another police branch. They managed to secure a private subdivision along with quite a number of survivors. That ce should be nearer and better than this crumbling building."


    Hearing that, Mark became interested. The local police actually managed to secure a ce? He was surprised. It was not that he was ridiculing his country''s police forces but with what he saw and experienced in the past days, something like that would not be easy. Unless¡­


    Mark looked at Abbygale.


    "Say, did that police branch had someone who got bitten but did not turn? And even got a superhuman ability?"


    Chief Mari and Madam Lanie were shocked.


    "How did you know?"


    As Mark saw their shocked faces, it dawn to him. These people did not know about Mutators and anything about Mutagen. That was right. These people lost contact with the military. Still, Mark had no notion to tell these guys about it. It was too troublesome to exin.


    "Don''t ask me how. Where is this ce you are talking about?"


    Madam Lanie had her suspicions but did not press the issue. She answered.


    "Firenze."


    Hearing the name of the Subdivision, Mark choked. Even Charmaine who was sitting down almost stood up in shock.


    Mark''s next destination after getting out of this ce was Charmaine''s house. The reason to that was to pick up her younger sister. And Firenze, it was another private subdivision in front of the private subdivision where Charmaine''s house was located!

 Chapter 82 Charging Towards The Police Command Center

    Day 3 ¨C 9:10 AM ¨C Bacoor City Hall 4th Floor, Molino Boulevard, Bayanan, Bacoor City, Cavite


    The congresswoman did not see any change in Mark''s expression but she noticed the shock in Charmaine''s face after she said the name of the subdivision.


    "Is something wrong?"


    To her question, Mark decided to be frank. He also knew that Charmaine''s expression gave it away.


    "That ce is just in front of the subdivision where her house is."


    "Is that so? Wait, you two are siblings right?"


    The congresswoman asked which made Mark annoyed.


    "Why are you asking about something private?"


    "I apologize. I just grew curious. Though, I think I get the picture here."


    Madam Lanie looked at Mark and Charmaine alternately. As Mark felt what she was thinking about, he said.


    "You are thinking about it too much. Yes, we are not biological siblings. So what? You should stop thinking about unnecessary things."


    ''Seriously¡­ Women.'' Mark wanted to add but just voiced it in his mind.


    "What do you think? Will you escort us there? If there are people you need to find there, I can tell my men to find them."


    "Are you saying that you will just let the people under your jurisdiction suffer just because I declined?"


    "No. I did not say that. At least, if you agreed to help us, I can make taking care of those people a priority."


    Going back to the whole conversation, Mark could only think of one thing. Politicians were really cunning. However, he could not immediately decline this one. He looked at Charmaine and at her pleading look. He sighed.


    "Alright. If you people can find your own vehicles. Then, I can at least help you people out of this building."


    The eyes of everyone who heard him lightened. Mark swatted their expectations though as he said his piece to the congresswoman.


    "Don''t get your hopes up too much. I want you to help us find someone first and well talkter. We still have something else to do."


    And with that, Mark told Madam Lanie about Charmaine''s younger sister and her description before going towards the discussion about how to deal with the people in the Police Command Center and the City Health Center.


    ***


    Day 3 ¨C 9:30 AM ¨C Bacoor City Hall Rooftop, Molino Boulevard, Bayanan, Bacoor City, Cavite


    "Mei''er, do it."


    Mark said as he stared at the drone flying above the rooftop of the City Health Center. On the rooftop of the health center, there were several people wearing dirtyb coats and uniforms.


    After the discussion with the congresswoman, Mark spent another fifteen minutes to prepare and went back to the rooftop tomence the n. Now however, it was not just him and Abbygale who was on the rooftop. Behind him, there were three policemen. One of the policemen was actually Chief Mari who volunteered to participate. The chief participating was actually on the favor to the n. Out of all the members of the police, it was him who could create the most effect against the minds of the criminals.


    Using the drone, Mark told the people to go to the rooftop of the health center and used the same way he did to give the radio to Charmaine.


    One of the doctors just took the radio taped under the drone and let the drone fly away after Mark''s signal.


    "Hello? I''m Dr. Galvez. Is what you said before true? We will get rescued from here?"


    The doctor said towards the radio.


    Mark did not reply and handed his radio to the police chief to do the talking.


    "Dr. Galvez, this is Police Chief Mari. What this person said earlier is true. You people there just needed to wait a bit more since we needed to retrieve the weapons in the station first."


    What the police chief said was heard by all the people behind Dr. Galvez. The nurses hugged each other with the others were jumping in joy. Finally, they would get away from this ce!


    "Thank you, Chief Mari."


    Dr. Galvez voiced his gratitude.


    "Don''t thank me doctor. If not for this man beside me, it was all impossible to do. And this is a trade. You people are in the health center and you had all the medicine there. We can only proceed on helping you after you packed the medicine he needed."


    Hearing that, Dr. Galvez nodded. He already knew this fact. The drone, the radio, and that man that contacted them first did not belong to the government. That person would only help them with the proper payment.


    "Chief, we''ll gather everything we can get. What medicine does he want?"


    "Insulin, for those with type 2 diabetes. Do you have them in stock?"


    "There should be five bottles remaining."


    "Alright. I''ll cut this conversation short. We have other urgent things to do."


    "Then Chief, we''ll wait."


    The silhouettes of people at the City Hall rooftop retreated as Dr. Galvez put down the radio in his hand. He then shouted at the people behind him.


    "Everyone, you heard it. Gather up everything. Food, medicine and other necessary equipment we can carry. Pack up some injections and the insulin bottles in another container. We''ll wait until they contact us again. They are our only ticket out of here!"


    Everyone nodded and they all rushed back into the building.


    Back in the rooftop, Mark received the radio the Chief returned to him. Now, it was time to deal with the people at the Command Center.


    Mark and the policemen deduced some of the possibilities they might encounter. First, if the criminals were armed. If that was the case, then it was likely that these people already ransacked the armory inside out. Then there was no reason to go to the first floor anymore and the weapons and equipment might have been already stored in the higher floors. Second, it was the possibility of the criminals escaping. There were four ways for them to escape. Two of which could lead to the criminals infiltrating the city hall out of desperation while one would lead them escaping to the farnds behind thepound and thest one was more inclined to the policemen''s favor and it was if the criminals try to escape out to the front of the police station. Thest one would surely lead to the criminals being killed by the infected.


    Due to the two escape routes, there were actually six policemen participating in this n. Three was with Mark who would infiltrate the Command Center and three who would guard the suspended pathway to the fourth floor of the city hall. They only need to shoot the criminals that would pass on the pathway and there was no escape for them.


    As the start of the n, Mark picked up a golf ball sized debris from the rooftop.


    BADUMP! BADUMP!


    Mark''s eyes squinted as he activated his Adrenaline Rush and concentrated it on his right arm. Along with his slightly strengthened body, he threw the debris towards the window of the Command Center''s top floor.<sub> </sub>


    SWOOSH! CRASH!


    The pieces of windows scattered into the room and unto the pavement below. The stone Mark threw was to create an impact to the minds of the scouts watching them.


    This was not a stealth mission. The criminals had long seen their group and Mark was sure that these guys also saw him before. Earlier when he detected these criminals, there was only one person guarding the top floor but now, there were several of them. Mark was sure that these guys were alerted to his existence.


    If that was the case, then, just burst into the frontline and straightly deal with these people.


    After shattering the windows, Mark turned to the chief. It was his turn.


    "All of you convicts inside the Station! Surrender yourselves to the police!"


    The Chief shouted towards the building. Mark scanned the building and felt the people inside the Command Center being intimidated after Chief Mari shouted.


    However, there were a few people who did not seem to be affected. Mark could hear a faint shouting inside the building and the intimidation was alleviated to those people that were affected. It seemed that there was someone who was leading the bunch of society''s scums.


    Mark turned to Gale.


    "Gale, how about having a contest with Papa?"


    Abbygale looked at him confused. The three policemen beside them also felt the same and perked their ears at the conversation of the father and daughter.


    "Papa, what contest?"


    Abbygale tilted her head cutely.


    "Let''s see who will defeat more of those bad guys there."


    The policemen were floored after hearing that.


    "Mark, what are saying to your daughter?"


    The Chief could not help but ask. However, the two in question just nced and him and ignored his question.


    "Then Papa, if I win, I want a present."


    "What present do you want?"


    "I will tell Papater."


    "Alright. Then if I win?"


    "¡­"


    The little girl was seriously thinking. Mark ruffled her hair and smiled.


    "Just give Papa a hug if I win then."


    Gale nodded while smiling.


    The policemen did not know what to say about the conversation of the two. Of course the father would win. What could a little girl do in this situation anyway?


    Mark looked at the Command Center then at Chief Mari.


    "There are movements inside. We''re starting. You guys just need to provide cover."


    After saying that, Mark had drawn his pistol and jumped onto the roof of the suspended pathway with Abbygale following behind him. He reached into his cor and yed the music on his phone.


    Another battle song was yed. Mark''s heartbeat pumped faster as his Adrenaline level rose higher. His eyes turned sharper and concentration had risen by several levels!


    The Chief was shocked as Abbygale followed her father and tried to grab her. It was a dangerous situation after all and not a ce for a little girl to participate into. However, with Abbygale''s speed, would he be able to catch the little girl? Of course not.


    "Chief! What are we going to do?"


    One of the policemen asked.


    "Dammit. Stick to the n! Provide cover!"


    The policemen took out their pistols and aimed at the windows of the Command Center. If there were anyone who would try to peek out of the window, they would shoot. However, when the three looked at the Mark and Abbygale, they became ck jawed.


    Fast! The two was already just a few steps away from the building!


    TSST! TSST!


    Mark made two shots with his silenced pistol and two criminals who had guns that tried to peek out of the window were silenced forever.


    It seemed that not only the police failed to react to the father and daughter''s movements. Even the scouts at the front rooms of the Command Center were dumbfounded.


    Mark squinted as he felt movements on rooftop of the Command Center. It seemed that there were still others who could keep up with the situation.


    Several people went up to the rooftop. Some of them were even holding riot shields and wearing police helmets.


    Abbygale saw them. With a single kick on the roof of the pathway, the little girl turned into a red blur and jumped onto the rooftop before charging towards the bad men that just came out. Abbygale kicked the surface the riot shield one of the criminals were holding sting him away to the wall and directly fell unconscious.


    BANG! BANG!


    The shootout between the two groups started. The scouts finally reacted and tried to shoot Mark who was still running on the roof of the pathway but they were pushed back into hiding as the police started shooting them.


    Several of the scouts were even killed but not by the shots the policemen made but by Mark who was closer.


    "Chief! What in the world are they?!"


    The policemen were both amazed and dumbfounded. While they were providing cover, they saw everything. The little girl who they thought was just a distraction and needed to be protected actually jumped several meters away onto the rooftop of the Command Center and kicked one of the criminals unconscious. Furthermore, the criminal was actually a burly middle-aged man who was even equipped with a riot shield and a helmet!


    Mark on the other hand might not look too eye-catching but as the police who were experienced in this field, how could they not notice that Mark was already aiming at the criminals'' direction before they could even poke their head out! Although not all his shots were urate, half of the shots he made killed a single person per bullet!


    Seeing the performance of the two, the Chief remembered their contact with the police branch that secured Firenze. It dawned into him. This father and daughter might be the same as that person there! People who gained superhuman abilities!

 Chapter 83 Wiping Out The Escaped Criminals

    Day 3 ¨C 9:35 AM ¨C Bacoor City Police Command Center Rooftop, Molino Boulevard, Bayanan, Bacoor City, Cavite


    BANG! BANG! BANG!


    A group of seven inmates were scrambling around. Five of them were firing pistols while two held a riot shield and a police baton. The men with guns were firing indiscriminately in panic. In their front, a red blur could be seen agilely dodging a gun shots.


    Click! Click!


    One of them had the clip of his pistol empty as he heard the clicking sound twice while trying to fire his gun. That moment, the red blur charged straight at him. As the blur was charging straight, he could see the figure more clearer.


    It was a little girl!


    His eyes dted. What kind of monster was this? This was no little girl at all!


    After that split second that he realized what they were fighting with, inmate''s eyes went ck. He received a kick on his forehead without being able to react and his neck bent backwards.


    One of them died just like that!


    The remaining criminals became frenzied. What was happening! They had no idea at all!


    When the kick connected, there was a split second that they saw a little girl with a red frilled dress with her foot nted at the forehead of theirrade. The next thing they knew was that the neck of theirrade was bent at an unnatural angle before his body flew to the wall behind them!


    BANG! BANG!


    The little girl turned into a blur once more and retreated.


    TSST!


    One of the men who were shooting at the little girl fell down. There was a hole on his temple and was bleeding profusely.


    On the roof of the suspended pathway Mark immediately jumped back after shooting one of the inmates that was shooting his daughter.


    PANG!


    A shot bore a hole at the ce he was standing before he jumped.


    TSST!


    The person who shot him just now fell with a hole on his forehead.


    Mark was pissed. Those bunch of fools were actually ganging up on Abbygale! He holstered his pistol and pulled up the Assault Rifle on his side. He was using the pistol as the M16 was a gun not suitable for sprinting, harder to aim and not suitable for narrow spaces. However, he stopped caring anymore!


    TSTSTSTSTSTSTSST!!!


    He switched the M16 into full auto and rained half a clip of ammo at the group Abbygale was fighting with!


    The men with guns immediately fell and one with the shield soon followed. One guy managed to react in time and blocked the barrage of bullets with the riot shield. However, was he safe? NO!


    With a crack, his neck bent as a foot of a little girl made contact with the right side of his face!


    Abbygalended on the rooftop after giving that vicious kick. She looked at the dead men then looked at her Papa. She was displeased and shouted.


    "PAPA!! These bad guys are mine!"


    TSST!


    Mark shot another inmate that tried to shoot him from the window.


    He looked at Abbygale and said.


    "You took too long killing them."


    "Muu! Papa bad!"


    p "Pfft. Alright! Add those guys to your score."</anda>


    Hearing that, the little girl calmed down. It looked like she wanted the present more than actually doing the killing. Even if she was like this, she was still a little girl! Children always loved to receive presents from their parents!


    On the rooftop of the City Hall, the Chief and his two subordinates did not know what to say after hearing the conversation of the father and daughter. The two were more savage than those criminals!


    However, they also received a lingering fear from the two. They were not human at all! It was better for them to not offend these monsters or they would not even know how they died!


    "We need to report this to Madamter."


    Chief Mari said making his subordinates nod helplessly.


    The sounds of guns firing stopped. It was not because the criminals were already wiped out but because the remaining inmates retreated inside. By the looks of it, the one who was leading the criminals deemed the situation dangerous and started to focus on defense.


    The scouts were wiped out. The group on the rooftop was the same. Mark jumped onto the rooftop and joined Abbygale who was looking down while spreading her fingers one by one. Mark almostughed. The little girl was having a hard time counting her score.


    Mark looked down by his feet. He spread his detection area below and felt the remaining criminals gathering and preparing an ambush in several rooms.


    Counting how many was killed, the scouts were nine people while there were eight here. The total they killed was seventeen. There were still six inside along with the leader like figure of the criminals.


    Killing them was very easy to Mark since there was cover fire from behind provided by the three policemen. If not, it would be a lot harder and more dangerous. The scouts did not dare to poke their heads at the same time which gave him the leeway to pick on the limited number of heads poking out.


    Still, it was really unfair to these criminals. While they needed to aim at their target outside, the person outside was already anticipating their movements. It was like ying a shooting arcade to Mark where enemies who had shots that would hit him would be showing a red marker. To him however, there was a sudden surge of emotional fluctuations to those people who was nning to shoot making it easier for him to detect where the shot woulde from.


    It was real life hacking! A real life wall hack!


    Mark looked at Abbygale who finished counting her score. While he had a wall hack, this girl injected a speed hack into the game called Real Life!


    Dodging five people shooting pistols at her and she was left unscathed. That feat could not be replicated by anyone!


    Huh?


    Mark was confused and suddenly looked at a far direction. He detected two more people in the furthest room of the Command Center. Their emotional fluctuation was very weak. It should be the reason why he did not detect them earlier. However, Mark also felt pity on the two he just detected. The emotion that was enveloping the two was despair. Considering the possibilities, those two should be women. And they were here stuck with a group of animals in human skin. It was very easy to tell what happened to the two.


    As the gunfight died down, the three policemen caught up to the father and daughter standing on the rooftop. Chief Mari  and Abbygale noticed that there was something wrong as Mark was nkly looking at a certain direction.


    "Papa, what are you looking at?"


    "Nothing."


    Mark shook his head. As if he would narrate what he just deduced to a little girl.


    Chief Mari approached the two.


    "Mark, there should be some of those scums remaining inside right? What are your ns?"<sub> </sub>


    To the Chief''s view, blindly charging inside was a bad idea. There were too many rooms inside the Command Center. They would not know where these criminals would be hiding. Of course, he would never think that Mark already determined the locations of those guys.


    Mark heard his question but he did not reply and looked at the Chief in confusion.


    "I''m surprised. You''re not going to ask anything about us?"


    The Chief smiled bitterly.


    "I won''t bother. I don''t think that you will answer anyway."


    Markughed. At least this person knew what to ask and what was not.


    "About your question. We''ll just bust in."


    "What? It will be dangerous without a concrete n. Who knows where those bastards would be hiding."


    "You don''t have to worry about that. Just follow behind us."


    With that, Mark turned around and drew his pistol once more. The inside of the police station would be narrow and using an assault rifle in there was a foolish idea unless they arrive at the main hallways which would be unlikely. The criminals were hiding not far from them after all.


    He entered into then Command Center with Abbygale and the three policemen behind him. They were greeted with a flight of stairs leading to the third floor of the Command Center.


    Reaching the third floor, Mark led the group towards the western side of the hallway. He then stopped in front of one of the doors.


    The Chief knew that this was one of the offices histe subordinates used. He felt remorse as he knew that the subordinates he was mingling with in the past days was now gone. However, now was not the time to mourn about the dead. They were here to deal with the trash of the society.


    TSST!


    Mark shot the lock of the door and kicked the door open.


    BANG! BANG!


    Several gunshots echoed making the policemen step back and find cover. Mark also hid beside the wall but he was not as panicked as the policemen. Abbygale was remaining calm as ever and charged inside without waiting for her Papa''s instruction.


    The next thing they heard was a scream and sounds of things breaking before Abbygale walked out like it was nothing.


    Mark wanted to reprimand the little girl for charging in like that but decided to do itter. He turned around without checking the inside of the room and proceeded along the hallway.


    The three policemen could not help but be curious. Chief Mari sent one of his subordinates to check what happened inside while he followed Mark with the other policeman.


    The subordinate he sent to check soon returned and ryed the information to him. What the policeman saw was an inmate with a broken neck lying on a broken wooden table.


    The Chief shook his head. He knew that they were really not needed here. Since that was the case, he sent his two subordinates to go back and collect he guns and equipment that the dead inmates used. He was the only policeman that continued to follow Mark.


    Mark checked several rooms. It looked like he was just choosing random rooms but in every room he chose, there were someone hiding inside. It happened five times and only one person was left.


    Mark frowned though.


    Thest person was running into the furthest room where the two women he detected were detained.


    "Chief Mari, thest one is going to get hostages. What do you want to do?"


    The Chief was shocked.


    "Hostages?! Can you save them?"


    "You know that I always ask for payment if ites to saving lives right?"


    ''Damn! Could you be even just a bitpassionate?'' The Chief cursed in his heart.


    "Can we talk about thatter? It''s not like we can escape from you right?"


    "Alright."


    Mark rushed towards the end of the hallway and into thest room.


    The door was not locked and it looked like it was deliberately left open.


    Mark kicked the door open and the scene inside was revealed to them. Mark immediately pulled the little girl out of the view and prevented her from seeing the scene.


    "Gale. Stay here alright. Don''t peek inside. The bad guy there is mine."


    Seeing his serious eyes, the little girl nodded. This little girl was very sensiblepared to other children of her age. She knew that what was inside was not for her to see. She went to the side of the hallway and sat on the corner.


    Mark and Chief Mari entered the room. It was one of the resting rooms in the station. There were several bunker beds here. However, the nauseating smell of male''s juice was suffocating.


    At the end of the room, there was a fat man holding two naked women at gunpoint.


    "Wee Chief!"


    The fat man smiled sarcastically and sinisterly at the Chief before turning to Mark.


    "And you! What are you?! There''s also that little monster! What are you bastards! You ruined all my ns! Damn you f*ckers!"


    The fat man cursed while pointing his gun at Mark. However, the person in question did not even react and just stared at him. The fat man was dumbfounded as he saw Mark''s stare.


    Mark was looking at him like he was looking at a dead person.


    "Shit! Why are you looking at me like that?! You think you can shoot me without killing these two bitches?! Just try!"


    To his provocation, Mark did not answer but let out a sinister smile. He holstered his pistol under the shocked eyes of the fat man and the Chief.


    "What are you doing?!"


    The Chief asked in panic. Mark did not answer me.


    "Hahaha! You chose to surrender because of these whores? This will be your end!"


    However, Mark''s smile did not diminish. He raised his right open palm towards the fat man.


    "Are you crazy? What do you think you f*ucker is doing?"


    But then, he choked. He lost grip of his gun and the gun fell to the ground. He even let go of the two women he was holding. His body shook, his eyes, ears and nose started to bleed. He felt pain in his head as if it was going to split apart. At thest moment, he tried to look at Mark.


    Mark was still pointing his open palm at the fat man while letting out a sinister smile. However, his eyes were now glowing red.


    With thatst horrifying scene in his mind, the fat man fell unconscious.

 Chapter 84 Rescuing The Survivors In The City Health Center

    Day 3 ¨C 10:07 AM ¨C Bacoor City Hall 4th Floor, Mayor''s Office, Molino Boulevard, Bayanan, Bacoor City, Cavite


    Chief Mari sat in front of the mayor''s desk as he just finished reporting everything that happened at the Command Center.


    On the other end of the desk, the congresswoman of District 2 Bacoor, Madam Lanie Vi was massaging her temples with an exhausted look on her face. The report she just received was very hard to swallow.


    The escaped inmates were wiped out. That was a good thing as these people would only add fuel to the fire created by the apocalypse. The problem however was that the cause of it was just a pair of a father and a daughter. Furthermore, the daughter was just a five or six year old little girl.


    There were also the non-human abilities the two disyed during the confrontation with the inmates. Specifically, the abnormal speed the little girl had and that mysterious ability Mark used to deal with the most notorious man among the inmates.


    It was lucky that she did not push her chances too much in front of Mark.


    "Garcia would be in troubleter."


    Madam Lanie muttered and the police chief agreed to what she said.


    Garcia was the business man who offended Mark. Thinking about it, Mark did not say anything about forgiving the man. He just talked along the lines of not attracting the infected to avoid the innocent from getting implicated.


    "You should stop thinking about it Madam. If Mark really wanted to make a move against Garcia, we won''t be able to do anything but watch."


    The congresswoman sighed after she heard that.


    "About the weapons and equipment, how was it divided?"


    "Mark just took a third of the guns and ammunition. The grenades were divided in half. He took three riot shields and five helmets and the rest are left to us. About the radios, he really did not take even a single unit. It is the same with the batons."


    "I doubt that those batons would be of use even to us."


    The Chief smiled bitterly.


    "I think the same. I just brought those back just in case that there would be a need to it."


    "What need? Firewood?"


    Chief Mari did not answer and Madam Lanie continued.


    "Still, I''m surprised that he did not take majority of the guns and ammunition."


    "He probably had his reasons."


    ***


    Inside the reception area, Mark sat with his legs crossed beside Charmaine while hugging Abbygale. As an Empath, he could subconsciously absorb the energy emitted by the emotions of other people. And of course, he could also do it consciously. The reason he was hugging Abbygale at this moment was because she was emitting a faint bloodlust after wiping out the criminals in the Police Command Center. To describe the little girl''s situation, it was like an animal that was emitting a dangerous intent after ughtering their prey and witnessing blood.


    Since that was the case, Mark hugged her and was currently absorbing her bloodlust while channeling the calming energy he had.


    "Big Bro. Your nose."


    Charmaine noticed blood dripping from his nose again and wiped it.


    "Thanks."


    His nose started to bleed after using a mental pierce on that fat criminal a few minutes ago. Though the bleeding was not much, it was still it had not stopped even now. It seemed that he received a bacsh after using the ability and losing a bit of control. Even if he managed to practice it, fully controlling the ability was still far away.


    Still, the progress he had in training this ability was way smootherpared to learning to control his adrenaline whichsted several years.


    He looked at his hand. He found that it was easier to direct the energy by channeling it to his arms and hand and releasing the energy to where his hand was facing. He wished that he would master it sooner so that he would not look like some guy with a delusional syndrome every time he used it.


    Mark looked at the bag of weapons, ammunition and equipment tied up together beside him. He actually wanted more of these but it would not fit anymore inside the van. Furthermore, he only wanted to add some variety to his arsenal. After all, just like why he used the pistol instead of the assault rifle inside the Command Center, every situation had a suitable weapon to use.


    A person passed and stop in front of them. She was one of the survivors here that was tasked to cook rice porridge. She ce three bowls of porridge in front of Mark and Charmaine and retreated.


    On the other side of the reception hall, the other survivors were relishing their first meal in the past two days. The ingredients used to cook this porridge were actually of low quality as it was the ingredients used to cook food for the detained inmates of the police station. The Chief decided to also retrieve these ingredients from the Command Center along with some cooking tools and utensils.


    Despite the low quality and cheap ingredients, looking at the face of the survivors, it looked like that the nd porridge was on par with a restaurant cuisine.


    Mark tried to taste the porridge. I was not bad but quite salty. Charmaine on the side however started to devour the bowl of porridge.


    "Don''t eat too much."


    "I know, Bro."


    Mark started to feed Abbygale. The little girl ate the porridge without saying anything. She did not seem to be picky about food.


    He thought about their anti-climactic battle against the criminals. It seemed that he overestimated them. They did not even put up a proper fight. It was like those corny action movies where the enemies were blindlying for the protagonist just to be shot down. It slipped far from Mark''s mind that their wless victory was attributed to them and their superhuman abilities overpowering the group of criminals.<sub> </sub>


    ''At least, it did not be a troublesome matter.''


    Few minutes passed.


    At the moment, Mark was thinking of a way to rescue the people at the Health Center. It was lucky for those people that the Mutated Woodman seemed to have no interest in attacking them and was busy of looking up at the strange fruit on the huge tree.


    The only way Mark could think right now was to lure the infected towards the street and make those people slip through the back of the building into the outside of thepound. They could traverse the farnd behind thepound and use the emergency exit behind the Police Command Center.


    He tried to think of other ways but that was the only possible n. They also needed to get rid of the infected that came flocking towards the Police Command Center due to the noise the gunfight made. That funny screaming infected would be crucial to this. Mark just wished that that infected was still around.


    No, that infected should be around. Mark was sure of that. He had been noticing it but the infected seemed to be attracted around ces where survivors dwelled. The more survivors hiding in the ce, the more infected was wandering around. It was the same in the mall and was also the same here. Though, the infected did not seem to pinpoint were the survivors were staying.


    ***


    After eating, Mark met up with the Chief and the Congresswoman and discussed his ns with them. The two seemed to be apprehensive about his n. However, they could not think of another and better n either. And thus, they decided on how to execute and allocate the roles everyone should take on.


    This time, all the policemen and the bodyguards was decided to participate. Even the two bodyguards of the business man were not an exception. The business man was actually against his bodyguards participating but still conceded when he was warned for not contributing to the group and being a baggage to everyone.


    For this n, Mark, Abbygale and Chief Mari and his subordinates would be the one to fetch the people at the Health Center while the bodyguards would go to the northern side of the roof to create a distraction and attract the infected away from the rescue group.


    During the whole discussion, Mark could not help but notice. The two were very careful of their words to him. They were afraid that they would offend him in any way.


    ***


    Day 3 ¨C 10:42 AM ¨C Bacoor City Hall Roof Top, Molino Boulevard, Bayanan, Bacoor City, Cavite


    A group of people was wandering around the rooftop. Seven people were wearing suits, six were wearing police uniforms. With Mark, Abbygale and Madam Lanie added, there were sixteen people participating in his n.


    Actually, the Chief and the Congresswoman did not really need to participate in this but it seemed that they wanted to show Mark their "sincerity". Mark did not stop them and just let them do what they wanted.


    Mark looked at the long metal poles by his feet. It was the metal poles that were on the rooftop of the Command Center earlier. It looked like the Chief and his men did not ck when he asked for these. After rescuing those people in the Health Center, he would proceed and take that fruit up there.


    The other people were also interested in that fruit as they saw the golden glow it exudes but no one tried to make a move as Mark already dered his im for it.


    ***


    After a little more preparation, they started the n.


    The bodyguards at the north started shooting the infected on the street. They nned to make it like that to strike two birds with one stone. While they were killing the infected and thinning their numbers, they would also aplish luring the others away from the rescue group.


    When the shootout at the northern part of the rooftop started, the rescue group at the south also made their move. Mark and his group waited for most of the infected to leave and went down to the back of themand center.


    They went around the back of thepound and made their way towards the back of the Health Center. Along the way, Mark was the only person who shot the iing infected as the weapons the police had were not silenced.  It was not because their station was under equipped but because the inmates that took out the weapons from the armory did not seem to have the idea to also bring the gun suppressors and left the equipment at the armory that was brimming with the infected.


    It was still fine though as the number of straggling infected was notrge. The policemen were also trained for close quarterbat and was able to handle the infected without getting bitten. It was another issue if they got surrounded however.


    Abbygale also yed an important role on killing the remaining infected making the jaws of the policemen that did not participate in dealing with the criminals ck jawed. She was even more efficient that theserge bodied men. Well, not all of them wererge bodied since two of the policemen wererge-bellied.


    When they arrived behind the Health Center, the survivors inside that was informed through the radio beforehand was already waiting with excitement. They were carrying numerous bags and equipment. Some of the policemen went and carried the items.


    Everything was going smoothly and as nned. Everyone was in high spirits. Until¡­


    Chief Mari saw Mark staring nkly again. He had a bad premonition.


    "Mark, what''s wrong?"


    Mark looked at him.


    "Why don''t you listen?"


    Hearing what Mark said, the Chief strained his ears but what he could only hear were gunshots that were being fired indiscriminately. It should be the gunshotsing from the bodyguards that were luring the infected away¡­


    Then he froze as it registered into his brain.


    The gunshots were being fire indiscriminately. As if the people shooting were panicking.


    He then heard Mark once more.


    "We should hurry. Something is not right."


    The Chief nodded and ordered his men to hurry up. They all picked up their pace.

 Chapter 85 A Sudden Situation On The Rooftop

    Day 3 ¨C 10:42 AM ¨C Behind Bacoor City Hall Compound, Molino Boulevard, Bayanan, Bacoor City, Cavite


    Observing the sounds of the gunshots, Mark deemed that something dangerous was happening at the rooftop. Was it another mutated infected? The possibility was very high. He remembered the one that attacked Bernard''s group on the rooftop of the mall.


    ''Huh?''


    When the thought of Bernard and Calvin came into his mind, he felt some bad premonition. However, he had no time to dwell on this feeling at the moment. He hurriedly picked up the radio.


    "Mei''er! Check on what is happening on the rooftop!"


    "Yes!"


    Mei''s reply came in from the radio. The drone that was flying just above Mark flew up higher and made its way above the City Health Center.


    "Let''s go."


    Mark said to the Chief.


    The police went into formation. They positioned themselves around the survivors that came from the Health Center. All the members of the police all brought riot shields with them making them the perfect shield for the survivors at the current situation.


    They all moved in an orderly fashion. They wanted to hurry up even more but were not able to do so. Among the survivors they saved, two were heavily injured and was barely able to walk, to talk about running with them... Is impossible.


    Soon, Mark''s radio vibrated.


    "Gege! They are fighting something on the rooftop!"


    "What something? Another mutated infected?"


    "No! We can''t see it clearly but not an infected. It looked like an animal. Wait, I see it! It''s a¡­"


    ***


    Several minutes ago¡­


    Madam Lanie as in charge ofmand led the group of bodyguards to lure the infected towards their area of jurisdiction. The n was going smoothly and as trained professional bodyguards, their shots were even more urate than most low people in the police and the military.


    The street below them was being littered by numerous bodies of dead infected. They also found the screaming infected Mark saw ago and they followed his instructions upon seeing the infected. They did not kill it directly and just shot it at the non-vital parts of its body. The infected screamed and lured more infected around as they expected. However, it disrupted their momentum.


    The voice of the infected was too awful to the ears that even the always serious looking bodyguards were tickled to their bones. They only forced themselves not tough as the congresswoman was watching them. The corner of Madam Lanie''s lips also twitched when she heard the scream. She could see that the performance of the bodyguards where lessened.


    "Stop giggling like high school girls and concentrate on your work!"


    She yelled making the men all stiff. The congresswoman was a very nice person but it was the opposite when she got angry.


    After that, the continuation of the n went smoothly again. It was too smooth that if Mark was here, he would feel that something was amiss. However, the man in question was not here and was with the rescue team.


    By the time that the rescue team finished helping the survivors make their way out of the health center, the dilemma started on the group at the rooftop.


    The body guards saw a ck shadow running along the street agilely dodging the infected. One of the infected confronted the shadow but with a swipe of the shadow, the head of the infected flew away along with the ssh of blood.


    It was then that the people by the rooftop saw what the shadow was. The shadow was actually a cat, a house cat with striped ck, gray and white fur about the size of panther.


    Therge cat noticed them and its slit shaped eyes stared at them who were on the rooftop. Everyone felt the hair on their bodies raise up and their backs were covered in cold sweat. Two of the guards immediately retreated and went towards the congresswoman.


    "Madam, we need you to return. It won''t be simple this time."


    Madam Lanie who also felt the threat could only nod and follow her bodyguard''s request. However, before the two bodyguards was able to escort her away, another two bodyguards retreated and started to run away. The other people were dumbfounded. Madam Lanie saw the two and it was Garcia''s two bodyguards.


    BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG!


    Madam Lanie was about to order them to return to their post but she was disrupted by a sudden series of gun fires.


    "Madam! Quick! Go inside!"


    Another bodyguard who was shooting frantically shouted without regards to respect or superiority in ranks. It was because the situation suddenly became dangerous.


    The two cowards retreated because the huge cat on the street started to make its way towards them. How? It used the broken suspended pathway as a bridge! It agilely climbed up the dangling foundation and jumped unto the twisted roof of the pathway!


    "Roy! Andrew! Bring the Madam back inside! Leave this to us!"<sub> </sub>


    With that, the two bodyguards that warned the congresswoman first escorted her back inside in a hurry while the other three bodyguards stayed to confront the beast.


    Before the rooftop was out of the view of the congresswoman, she saw the Large Cat reach the rooftop unscathed despite the barrage of gunfire her bodyguards made.


    The three bodyguards that stayed put up a good fight. When the cat finally climbed up to the roof top with a huge leap, they immediately retreated.


    "You two, maintain your concentration! Keep support on each other or else, we''ll perish here!"


    "Alright!"


    "Good!"


    The three brave bodyguards confronted the beast. They kept on shooting the huge cat forcing it to dodge and retreat but still, there were chances that the cat would find a hole to charge into. During those moments, the bodyguard who was being attacked would try to dodge with all their might in order to keep up with the beast''s speed. The three bodyguards and the huge car were at a stalemate.


    However¡­


    That state did notst too long.


    Due to difference in strength, speed and stamina coupled with the fact that the bodyguards were undernourished these past two days, the first injury was received. The cat charged towards the leading guard and swiped its ws. The guard tried to jump back to dodge but the ws of the cat managed to reach his left arm. The sleeve of his suit was torn and three bleeding gashes appeared on his arm.


    The beast wanted to attack the bodyguard once more but it just became an opportunity to the injured guard as the cat stopped in front of him. Enduring the pain on his wounds, he suddenly pulled and pointed his gun forward and shot. The cat was caught off-guard and tried to dodge. The cat jumped away and was not hit by the shot directly but the shot still scraped some of its fur on its right front leg and also left a painful abrasion.


    The huge cat retreated and let out a painful howl. However, its fighting capability did not plummet but rose instead. It became angry due to receiving an injury from these puny humans.


    The cat attacked once more and the momentum of its attack was higher. Soon, the three bodyguards were all covered with wounds on their bodies.  One of them was even clutching his wounded eye and face while gritting his teeth in pain. They knew that this was it.


    One of the three was already blinded while another could not even stand anymore as arge wound just below his right knee was visible. Thest man was still standing but that was it. Both his arms were wounded and he was not able to attack or anymore. Even if he could still run, he was sure that this beast could catch up to him.


    The three were not in the condition to fight anymore and was only able to avoid not getting killed by supporting each other during dangerous times and forcing the beast to retreat.


    At this moment however, not only their bodies but their guns also gave up. They used up all their ammunition! This was the end for them.


    The huge cat charged once more. It was towards the bodyguard with injured leg. The man being attack felt helpless and could only close his eyes in despair while he waited for his death.


    ***


    Mark and Abbygale separated from the group after reaching the Police Command Center. The two directly went to the rooftop while the policemen and the survivors entered the third floor. However, the survivors from the Health Center would not be escorted to the City Hall anymore and would stay here in the Command Center. The policemen on the other hand would escort the people in the City Hall towards the Command Center. The City Hall was not safe anymore. No, even right at the moment that the huge tree sprouted, the City Hall was a dangerous ce already. With the state of the building where it looked like it had been devastated by a strong earthquake, it might copse at any moment. The survivors there only stayed because they had no other ce to go to. Now that the two upper floors of the Command Center were secured, the survivors there could now be relocated.


    The priority to be escorted out was the congresswoman and Charmaine while the other survivors were next on the line. The lowest on the priority however, was the businessman, Garcia and his bodyguards.


    He was furious. The policemen did not even bother about him. No, it was not that they did not bother about him. They were looking at him from time to time. However, their eyes were filled with disdain. The congresswoman and the two bodyguards with her were also the same. What happened? He was confused. Was it because he ordered his bodyguards to retreat once danger arose? No! None of them should have known anything about it! If there was to be med here, then it would just be his bodyguards since no one knew about his orders!


    He was left out in the dark but could not do anything. If he tried to go against the congresswoman and the police chief, he would be branded as an enemy. He could only follow their procedures while gritting his teeth in anger.


    Garcia did not know that his order to his men was not leaked. Even the congresswomen had suspicions but were still not proven. The policemen and the congresswoman were behaving like this due the actions his bodyguards made and also due to Mark. He offended him earlier and did not want to mingle with him anymore.


    His sin count was growing in numbers time and time again that he was starting to be the enemy of everyone here, especially the congresswoman. She received the news from the Chief when he arrived. However, she held her anger inside. Now was not the time to create more conflict with the group.


    ***


    The Father and Daughter duo arrived at the rooftop of the city hall. They saw the mutted bodies of the three bodyguards that stayed to fight the huge cat. Mark already expected this scene as Mei continuously ryed what was happening at the rooftop from the time that the congresswoman was escorted back inside to the time that the life of thest bodyguard was taken by the beast.


    The confrontation between the bodyguards and the huge cat onlysted for several minutes and there was no way for Mark and Abbygale to arrive here on time to aid them. Before the rescue team could even reach the Police Command Center, the three bodyguards had already died.


    And the culprit? It was now on a branch of the huge tree. It was no question what that beast was up to. It was also after the fruit on the tree. However, it seemed that it perceived the existence of Mark and Abbygale that it stopped moving while staring at the two.


    Staring at the huge house cat, Mark remembered the information disclosed by the military. Everyone had the chance to evolve but animals and nts would evolve faster. This huge cat and the huge tree in front of them right now was the prime examples of those circumstances.


    BAM! BAM! BAM!


    A loud sound could be heard from the northern side of the rooftop making everyone on the rooftop look over that direction. A few secondster, arge bushy tree could be seen emerging from the unseen part of the building. It was thatrge mutated Woodman. Just like how the huge cat climbed up to the rooftop, the Woodman followed.


    Mark found it troublesome in many ways. It seemed that the infected were starting to learn methods to hunt their prey. If this mutated infected was able to learn how to climb essible ces, then, how about the others?


    But that was not the problem at this situation. All the beings here right now on the rooftop was after a single thing. It was the golden fruit on the huge tree.

 Chapter 86 Against The Level 2-Mutation Woodman

    Day 3 ¨C 10:42 AM ¨C Bacoor City Hall Rooftop, Molino Boulevard, Bayanan, Bacoor City, Cavite


    While the Mutanted Woodman was struggling to climb up and Abbygale was having a staring contest with the Huge Cat on the branch of the huge tree, Mark was fiddling with his phone and could be heard murmuring.


    "Gund¡­ Swornd¡­ Ignite¡­ Storm and Fire¡­"


    Mark was organizing his music ylist!


    As everyone was at a standstill and the Mutant Woodman had not climbed to the roof top yet, he had enough time to select which songs would be suitable for the iing fight.


    Why did he not start the fight immediately? It was because the survivors at the floor below had not finished evacuating from the city hall yet. While he was fiddling with his phone, he was actually scanning the floor below. Once thest survivor inside left, he would start attacking. Once the fight started, he did not know how long the building would be able to handle it.


    It was not because of him, the huge cat nor Abbygale. One minor reason was the Woodman, its weight and strength but the major reason was the huge tree in front of them. It should be in a sleeping state but would it get disturbed once the battle between non-humans started? It was very likely that it would! Once that happened, it was likely for the building to copse!


    While Mark was arranging the songs on his phone, thest person inside the City Hall left and the Mutant Woodman finally climbed to the rooftop almost at the same time. Mark immediately yed the first song and stored his phone onto one of the pockets on his belt.


    After the Mutant Woodman climbed up, it disyed themon trait of every infected. It was to charge at their target. Every step of its heavy wooden feet created a mild tremor on the rooftop as it made its way as fast as it could. And the person it was charging towards was actually Mark!


    Mark looked at the approaching infected and then towards the huge cat that was not making any moves nor having the notion of snatching the fruit in front of it. It was strange but it was a situation to Mark''s favor.


    It was a cat and a bigger mutation of a house cat. Just the speed of a normal cat was already hard to predict and react to then how about this cat in front of them? It would have a speed that was several times faster.


    "Gale, guard that huge cat. Can you do it? Leave thatrge guy to me."


    Looking at her Papa, Abbygale nodded. This was the most reasonable tactics. Only her speed would be able to react to the speed that cat could disy.


    Actually, Mark could just abandon the intention to fight and just evacuate the area along with the survivors as nned. However, his Otaku instincts pushed him to not give up the fruit unless there was no other choice left. The fruit with golden color was very mysterious. From what Odelina said before, this fruit would benefit them. Then, it was a must to contest for it. There was also the feeling that it would not turn out to be a good situation if this huge cat or this Mutant Woodman was the ones to get the fruit.


    Leaving the little girl and the huge cat on their staring contest, Mark did not wait for the Woodman to arrive and charged towards it. Mark did not activate his adrenaline rush and decided to confront the Mutant Woodman in a normalbat. It was not because he did not want to but because there was no need to. The Woodman wasrge and strong but its weakness was its very stiff movements and very slow speed.


    If it was put in video games, this kind of creature was only suitable in attacking buildings of enemies. It was more of a tank than an attacker.


    As Mark arrived near it, the Woodman swung its huge wooden arm down in attempt to squish him. Mark dodged to the left but the tremor on the rooftop slightly affected his footing and almost fell down.


    ''I need to be careful with the shaking.''


    BANG!!


    Mark had drawn the weapon he brought for this encounter. It was a standard issue shotgun for the Philippine National Police, a Remington 870. From his experience with the woodmen when they arrived here, his M16 Assault Rifle and his Biretta 92 Pistol did not have enough fire power to prate the skin of a normal Woodman, what more to this Mutated one?


    After dodging, he shot the infected.


    CREAK!


    Creaking noises sounded the as pellets from the shotgun sprayed on the wooden body of the infected. As Mark expected, hitting therger wooden body would not affect the infected. Still, he tried shooting the bullet invulnerable body to test and also to attract it further.


    SWOOSH!


    The Woodman swung itsrge wooden arm to swipe Mark away. Mark on the other hand already retreated away from the area of the attack. As a gamer, it was easy for him to pinpoint where its attacks wereing from. Every time it attacks, it would pull its arms away before attacking giving him a leeway to anticipate the attack and dodge. He would be an idiot if he got hit by this unless some unexpected situation happened.


    BANG!


    Mark shot again but this time, the shot was aimed at the smaller humanoid figure dangling at the center of therge wooden body. It should be its true body!


    BAM! BAM!


    The body was hit and the pellets from the shotgun shell buffeted the body. However, that was it. The pellets only bore shallow holes on the tree bark skin of the Woodman. The only thing noticeable was it actually retreated two steps backwards making two loud banging sounds on the roof.


    CREAK!


    "Well, darn it."


    Mark immediately retreated backwards. Those two unexpected steps of the Woodman made the rooftop let out creaking noises! It would be dangerous if the roof suddenly copsed!


    Thinking of a n, Mark nced behind him. His eyes lit up. He began to retreat towards the eastern side of the rooftop. Why? It was the roof at the eastern part of the City Hall was barely affected by the growth of the tree. It was the roof directly above the reception area where the survivors stayed before and there were no noticeable cracks on this area of the roof.


    The infected that had just recovered from being shot charged more ferociously. Mark could not feel any emotional fluctuations from the infected but the way it behaved showed that it was angered somehow. Its speed and strength even rose visibly.


    SWOOSH! BAM!!!


    The Woodman mmed both its arms towards Mark that had already anticipated the attack. Mark agilely dodged but his back was feeling cold after that attack. It was good that he already lured the Woodman to this side. That attack just now should be able to demolish the area of the rooftop where they were fighting before!


    Mark ran towards the left of the Woodman trying to circle to its side. However, the Woodman swiped its right arm towards its right forcing Mark to retreat further and halting his intended attack.


    As it was not possible to circle it, Mark aimed his shotgun forward and shot the smaller body once more.


    "What!"


    The shot did not hit the intended target. The left wooden arm of the Woodman protected the true body from the shot!


    ''Dammit, this guy is learning things too fast!''<sub> </sub>


    This Woodman did not only learn how to climb! While fighting Mark, it was learning how to defend its self!


    As the fight was getting tougher, Mark remembered another video game where the yers fight humongous beasts and defeat them. Was not his situation the same?


    Mark started to smile. The madman was starting to enjoy the fight!


    BANG! KACHA! BANG! KACHA! BANG!


    Circling to the right this time, Mark emptied the ammo of his shotgun before retreating. Since this guy was using its left arm to cover its true body, it was not able to swipe that arm when Mark circled to the right.


    "Since you''re learning how to defend, then, remain on defending!"


    The true body was hit by two of the shots. Arge number of holes were created at the true body of the Woodman. It stumbled backwards several times causing mild tremors on the rooftop.


    Using the time that it was pushed away, Mark hurriedly reloaded the shotgun and charged once more. He was not going to give the Woodman another chance to attack!


    BANG! BANG!


    Mark shot twice. One was blocked while the other hit the true body once more. The Woodman retreated further.


    ''Good!''


    If it continued to retreat like that, Mark could push it to the edge of the rooftop and make it fall!


    Still, would that be easy?


    Mark suddenly looked at the area under the huge tree. The huge cat finally made a move. Mark could see two blurred shadows chasing each other around the trunk. He had a bad feeling as he saw their movements.


    ''Well shit.''


    By the looks of it, he was also the target of the huge cat and Abbygale was preventing it from moving towards him!


    He needed to deal with the Woodman fast!


    However, when he looked back towards the Woodman, he was stunned. The wooden body of the Woodman slowly opened up and the hole swallowed its true body and closed up immediately! Now, the Woodman looked totally like a Treant!


    "What am I going to shoot now?"


    Mark smiled bitterly. He reached out to his belt and took out a small cork sealed ss vase about the size of his palm. It contained clear liquid inside. Flipping his belt, he had five of these ss vases. It was one of the things he prepared earlier after he decided to take that fruit. These ss bottles were from the mayor''s office. These vases was put on a disy cab there as decoration. As for the contents inside the vases, he was the one who filled the bottles.


    These bottles was actually for saved for the huge tree in case that it woke up and sudden situations arose from it but he had not thought that he would need to use one on this wood man.


    After swallowing the true body inside itsrge wooden body, it charged at Mark once more.


    SHOOOSH!


    Mark immediately jumped back as the Woodman smashed its arms from above towards Mark again. The roof shook once more. After the attack, the Woodman raised its arms once more to attack. At that moment, Mark actually charged forward at an inhumane speed and had thrown the ss vase in his hand towards the part of the body of the Woodman where the true body was swallowed. The vase smashed spilling its contents on the body of the Woodman. After the vase was thrown, Mark used the same speed to retreat as the arms of the Woodman swung down once more.


    Full Adrenaline Rush concentrated on his feet!


    He finally decided to use this ability! Added with the fact that his legs were the most evolved part of his body, his speed could not bepared from the time he fought the berserk Odelina!


    At the moment that the arms of the hit the roof, Mark charged once more while he took out an electronic lighter. The lighter had a thick rubber band tied on its igniter to make the igniter stuck once the lighter was lit. Mark pushed the igniter and the lighter immediately let out a small me. The igniter was stuck by the rubber band and the fire was not extinguished even after Mark let go of the igniter. With that, the lighter was the next thing he threw towards the body of the Woodman.


    BLOOGH!


    A loud sound was heard as the part where the liquid from the vase was spilled immediately burst into mes! Since its body was made of wood, me was the bane of it!


    The Woodman started going berserk. It was struggling to put out the fire but since it did not have elbows like humans, it could not reach the burning part of its body! It started to wildly swing its arms while trying to put out a fire. Still, the fire soon became weaker since the body of the Woodman was not made of dried wood.


    If that was the case¡­


    Mark took out other vase and threw it adding fuel to the fire! The liquid inside the vase was actually butane! It was the contents of the two butane spray mark brought with him!


    He felt that it was a loss since these vases was for the huge tree and surely was not enough but he needed to use up two vases for this guy.


    While the Woodman was having a hard time putting out the fire, Mark gained the time to take a breather. But the situation did not let him to do so.


    His pupils dted and he suddenly looked behind him.


    "Papa!"


    "Gege!"


    Mark heard Abbygale shouting! He could also hear Mei shouting from the radio in shock!


    When Mark turned around, he could see the ws of the huge cat approaching his face!

 Chapter 87 Abbygale

    Day 3 ¨C 11:03 AM ¨C Bacoor City Hall Rooftop, Molino Boulevard, Bayanan, Bacoor City, Cavite


    Mark could see the ws of huge cating closer from his left. The huge cat seemed to have slipped out of Abbygale''s interception and rushed towards him when he was concentrated on trying to burn the Woodman despite its strong attacks. This feeling¡­


    It was simr to the time he encountered the first infected he killed in the mall. He was in the verge of death after a sudden ambush. His eyes dted but he did not panic but his concentration heightened in that millisecond. Everything slowed down in his eyes as he heard Abbygale and Mei''s screams.


    Reflex!


    His heightened reflexes that were cultivated in ying fast passed games kicked in once more.


    Mark made a step back with his left leg evading the initial contact. Without knowing and thinking about his movements, he bent his body backwards and did a fast back walkover with his left arm as support. Since the speed he did the tumble was too fast, he added another backflip to mitigate the impact his feet would receive upon stopping.


    He was surprised after the backflip. Mark did not know how he was able to do that move. His body moved subconsciously at thest second and he evaded the fatal attack. However, he did not get out of the situation unscathed. Since his right arm was holding the shotgun, the arm''s movements were slower that the other parts of his body. The huge cat''s ws managed to hit his arm.


    The sleeve of his jacket was torn and there was four bloody, centimeter deep slits on his skin. The flesh of his arm could be seen as the slits tore through all theyers of his skin. The flesh was immediately covered behind the flow of blood dying his ck jacket with a reddish hue and the blood started to drip on the roof.


    Mark saw the flow of blood on his arm but his face did not change at all. Yes, it was painful. But Mark was the kind of person that never disyed pain on his face for something like this. However, it would hard to use his arm like this.


    He looked at the assant that attacked him. He smiled. It seemed that the cat was confused on how he was able to dodge the attack it made. The huge cat recovered from its stupor and posed to charge at Mark once more but its movements were cut off. With dted eyes, it suddenly turned its head away from him and posed to dodge.


    Mark did not let it do what it wanted to. He did not need to look but he knew that someone got angry at the moment. His eyes glowed red and he raised his wounded arm.


    Mental Pierce!


    The energyposed of negative emotions flowed towards the unguarded mind of the cat. Its body froze and could only stare at the attack it was about to dodge that wasing towards it.


    ***


    Abbygale stood several meters away from the tree while intently watching the huge kitty that was not really paying attention to her. Her Papa already said it that this huge kitty was hers to guard.


    During the time her Papa was intensely battling the Mutated Woodman, the huge kitty was watching her Papa in confusion. As if it was thinking of something.


    After her Papa started to get the upper hand on his fight with the Woodman, the huge kitty started to make its way down of the tree. It its target was her Papa. Abbygale became sullen. This huge kitty must not disturb her Papa''s fight!


    BAM!


    Before the huge cat was able tond on the roof, the little girl already made her move. She anticipated where the cat wouldnd and charged towards the location. She tried to wee the huge cat with a fast kick and seeded since the huge cat was not paying attention to her. The cat was hit below its abdomen and panther sized cat was sent flying. It rolled in the air before the gravity pulled it down.


    Yet, as a cat, it regained its bnce before it fell. The arrogant cat became angry as this little human that it did not put into its eyes was able to send it flying. However, it did not change its intent and still tried to charge towards Mark. But it did not let down its guard anymore against the little girl.


    Noticing its intent, Abbygale immediately charged at the huge kitty once more. Since the cat was now aware of her speed and strength, it was not caught by her attack and agilely dodged.


    The chase between the huge cat and the little girlmenced. Still, it was just the Abbygale attacking the huge cat and preventing it to get on her Papa''s fight. On the other hand, the cat only dodged the little girl''s attacks and proceeded on trying to approach the fight between Mark and the Woodman.


    Two blurs, one ck and one red, chased around the southern half of the rooftop which even took several minutes while Mark was fighting the Mutated Woodman.


    The huge cat seemed to have realized that it could not shake off Abbygale from blocking its way and attacking it. It started to fight back. It made a huge and fast swipe towards the little girl which she easily dodged. Abbygale counter attacked but was also dodged by the huge cat.


    The huge cat charged with all its might towards Abbygale forcing her to retreat back. It was unknown to the limited knowledge of the little girl that the cunning cat was just baiting her into retreating. As the little girl retreated, the huge cat immediately turned around and charged towards Mark. The little girl who was caught off guard was not able to react in time. Even if she was able to react to it, it was alreadyte as the speed between her and the cat was not that far. If she chased the cat even at the moment it turned around, she would still not be able to block it.


    The poor Abbygale paled when she saw her Papa who was caught off guard. The huge kitty flexed its right paw making its sharp ws stuck out of its fingers. The huge kitty was aiming for the kill. It was aiming to kill her Papa.


    "Papa!"


    She shouted.


    Abbygale saw that her Papa managed to dodge but his arm was still struck on his arm. Four bloody slits was visible on his arm and her Papa''s blood overflowed from those wounds. The blood continuously flowed out and dripped on the white colored roof staining it with red spots.


    Her emotions red up as she remembered what happened to her before and during the outbreak.<sub> </sub>


    The night before the outbreak, she was bitten by the pet ragdoll of her grandma. It was because she identally stepped on the tail of the cat that it attacked her and bit her on her right arm. She cried because of the pain but her grandma was more worried about the cat than her. Her mommy on the other hand immediately took care of her wound wiping it clean and put her to sleep saying that the pain would be gone after she woke up next day.


    It looked fine for the whole night until the morning that her mommy found out that she was ring with high fever. Her mommy immediately panicked and decided to bring her for a checkup. On contrary, her grandma did not seem to be bothered by it and just said that it was just a fever for her mommy for panic.


    Her grandma did not really like her.


    ''Mommy said that it was because grandma hated Daddy.''


    From what she remembered, she never had a Daddy unlike other children she knew. Her mommy said that he left her after learning that she was pregnant.


    There were times that Abbygale could see her mommy looking at a picture on her phone with a sad look. She did not know why.


    After leaving the house, her Mommy drove their car and they made their way towards the nearest private hospital. However, they got stuck in the traffic. Her fever continued to rise inside the car making her mommy panic even more. The part of her arm that was bitten by the cat the night before was swelling already.


    It was then that they were struck by the sudden chaos. A huge ident happened on the intersection that they were supposed to go through. Then the infected appeared. Her mommy carried her on her arms and left the car stuck in the middle of traffic.


    Unfortunately, her mommy was swept away by the crowd of people trying to escape.


    While she and her mommy were in the middle of the panicked crowd, she felt a stinging pain on her arm. The pain was too sudden that she did not know what happened. She looked at her arm and saw an elementary school girl biting her arm. The eye of the girl was all white and her face was filled blood.


    Abbygale''s mommy saw what happened to her and pulled her away out of panic. Luckily, the bite was just shallow but her right arm was still filled with blood.


    The school girl that bit her arm lost its target looked at her mommy. It attacked her and tried to bite her. Her mommy tried to dodge and fight back but was still bitten by her leg since her mommy was protecting her.


    Abbygale''s mommy managed to shake off the infected school girl was both her and her mommy was injured and bitten. Her mommy carried her away to escape but stillgged behind since she was wearing heels. Not bother about it anymore, her mommy removed her shoes and started to run barefooted. Still, her mommy''s injuries made it hard for her to run fast.


    Along the way, they saw a lot of horrible scenes along with the fact that someone bitten would turn and attack other people. The little girl was still innocent about it but despair had already enveloped the heart of her mommy.


    Since there was no ce to hide, her mommy ran together with other people into the mall and tried to find a ce to hide. But that was just easy to say but hard to do. With the infected on their tail, just a little more time and it would be their death.


    At thest moment when her mommy started to get weaker, she saw the counter of therge store on the first floor of the mall. Her mommy put her under the counter and left. Abbygale could clearly remember what she said before she was gone.


    "Stay here and hide for mommy alright? Remember what I always told you. Don''t cry and keep calm at every situation like mommy. Mommy will pick you upter, alright?"


    She was an obedient little girl and tried to stay as quiet as possible. Still, when her mommy left, she poked out her head over the counter to see her mommy once more. And that once more was thest. She saw her being attacked by an infected and was ganged upon several of them. Her mommy did not cry for help nor screamed for pain. It seemed that she noticed Abbygale looking at her and she turned her head to look at her. Her mommy opened her lips and spoke but there was no voice that came out. Still, Abbygale recognized what she said. Her mommy always said it to her. In the morning and before her sleep, her mommy would say it to her.


    ''I love you sweetie.''


    Tears started to flow out of her eyes and decided to follow what her mommy told her. Abbygale hid under the counter. She tried to keep herself calm as her mother always told her. However, she started to feel her body getting weaker and she fell unconscious.


    When she woke up, she was lying on a pool of blood together with mangled bodies around her on the floor. She vaguely remembered what happened. It was her who did this when she was unconscious. With her body, face and clothes stained in blood, she hid under the counter once more.


    It was then that he came, a man with a scary aura. Strangely, she did not feel scared and just curiously stared at him. He then wiped off the blood on her face and arms in a gentle manner and brought her away when things got dangerous. The one thing that she liked about the man was that his embrace was really warm andfortable. It was like when she was being hugged by her mommy. She had even fallen asleep in his arms.


    She decided that time that he would be her Papa since she did not have one at all. She really longed for one. And fortunately, she had not chosen the wrong person. He really took care of her and doted on her for the past day.


    And now, her Papa was in danger.


    Her grandma hated her and she had no Daddy. Her mommy was also gone and the only one she had her chosen Papa.


    This huge kitty was trying to kill her Papa!


    The aura of the little girl erupted and charged at the huge kitty with all her might. While she was running, her wavy ck hair started to turn white. Her nails on her fingers grew and turned into curved sharp ws. A bushy white tail emerged from her back that could be seen under her skirt and two triangr ears sprouted on her head.


    With that new form of hers, Abbygale let out a full strength kick towards the huge cat in front of her Papa.

 Chapter 88 The Rampage Of The Mutated Tree

    Day 3 ¨C 11:04 AM ¨C Bacoor City Hall Rooftop, Molino Boulevard, Bayanan, Bacoor City, Cavite


    BAM!


    The huge house cat flew several meters away and rolled on the roof before stopping.  It was only about two to three meters away from the northern edge of the rooftop. Due to Mark''s action, it received the full brunt of Abbygale''s kick causing the scene.


    Mark looked at the little girl with white hair, fluffy tail and cat ears in front of him. The little girl turned to him and he could see her worried eyes and her pupil that also changed color into a red hue. Seeing this, he forgot about the pain in his arm. This surely was a stunning sight.


    He already expected something like this somehow. From the information the military disclosed, the Mutagen altered the mutators bodies. It was pretty much like Odelina''s condition before. Her body was covered with grey bone armor. He felt that it was strange that Abbygale did not seem to have that form. Still, when Odelina turned into her normal appearance, Mark then concluded the possibility of Abbygale being the same.


    However, he did not expect that her mutated form would be like this.


    As her Papa stood there staring at her, Abbygale grew more worried and even scared. She was worried about her Papa''s bleeding wound and was scared that her Papa would hate her since she looked like this. She remembered it vaguely. During the time she fell unconscious that time, she turned into this appearance and killed the infected around her without her knowing. Still, she did not know how she returned to normal. She did not know what other people would react to her looking like this. Like a monster. The eyes of her grandma who always looked at her with hate were deeply ingrained in her young mind. What if her Papa looked at her like that?


    Mark stared at her for a bit. He was confused why Abbygale was worried about him but was afraid toe over. He could sense it vaguely since the subconscious emotion of this little girl was still upied by calmness. The energy leaking out from her other emotions were too weak.


    His confusion cleared up as he thought about it. He approached the little girl who even stepped back subconsciously.


    Mark shook his head and continued approaching with a smile. His smile however was different to his usual bitter and indifferent smile. The distance between them was short, just about four meters which Mark easily traversed while his wounded arm dripped blood on the path.


    The first thing he did after arriving in front of the little girl was to kneel down to her eye level and caress her head gently. He could feel the triangr ears on her head. The sensation was simr to patting a cat''s ear. At this moment, his gentle movements erased the fear on the girl''s eyes.


    "What are you afraid about?"


    "Papa won''t hate me?"


    "Hate you for what?"


    "I look like this¡­"


    Abbygale showed her tail and waved her fingers that had two inch long ws.


    "Why will I hate you for this? It looked cute alright?"


    Markughed. In his mind, it was funny. The little girl actually asked an Otaku if he will hate her current appearance.


    "Don''t worry about your appearance. Even if the whole world will hate you for that, I will the only one who won''t."


    He gave the little girl a hug while being careful that he would not stain the little girl''s beautiful white hair with his blood.


    "Let''s go. The bad kitty is standing up."


    Mark let go of Abbygale and stared at the huge cat that was struggling to stand up. The little girl''s kick hit it on its shoulder. Now, it was visible that it was injured as it was having a hard time to stand up and could not use it left foreleg. After it finally stood up, it was limping and its left foreleg was raised every time it moved.


    To the north east side of the rooftop, the Mutant Woodman was still struggling to put out the fire but it was not able to. Rather, the fire had already spread to other areas of its body. The Woodman was not a threat anymore. Sooner orter, it would turn into ashes.


    Mark decided to concentrate on fighting the huge cat together with Abbygale. This time, he could not use his shotgun anymore and switched his weapon to the pistol on his belt.  As Mark was ready to continue the fight, Abbygale also got ready to charge towards the huge cat.


    However, when they were about to attack, the huge cat ran away from them. It was a wise decision as it knew that it could not fight the two people in front of it. Another round against Mark and Abbygale would make fall into its death! Still, it did not want to give up on the fruit. When it ran away, the direction it ran towards was the huge tree.


    Realizing its intention, Mark shouted.


    "Gale! Chase it! Don''t let it take the fruit!"


    Under her Papa''smand, she charged towards the cat. Her speed was about twice as before and her strength was also enhanced in this form of hers. However, the cat was closer to the tree. Before the little girl could reach the cat, it agilely climbed up the three using its remaining legs.


    Upon reaching the branch of the huge tree, it immediately lunged towards the fruit. It tried to bite it and eat it in one go. Luckily, because of its injuries, the strength of the huge cat was lessened severely and its jump was shorter than it intended. It failed to bite the fruit and started to fall. In thest moment before the gravity pulled it back down, it spun its body midair with its back facing down. It tried to use its remaining forelimb to reach the fruit which it seeded.


    Pierced by its w, the fruit was plucked off the branch of the tree and fell with the cat.


    RUMMBLE!!


    Mark and Abbygale stopped in ce. The huge cat was still in midair falling with the fruit so it did not notice. The whole building was shaking.


    CRASH! CRACK!<sub> </sub>


    The remaining ss windows and walls of the City Hall on the floors below shattered. The cracks on the walls and ceilings grewrger. The Mutated Woodman that was on fire went out of bnce and fell off the edge of the rooftop.


    Like normal cats would do, the huge catnded back on the roof upright while the fruitnded beside it. When the huge catnded, it became still. It did not try to get the fruit and jumped away like someone stepped on its tail. Just as the huge cat jumped, the roof where the catnded before burst in rubble as arge root bore a basketball sized hole upwards.


    The root started to destroy the roof as it chased the huge horrified cat to death.


    Mark looked at the huge tree. It was finally awakened. He could feel that it was really angry.


    "Gale! We''re going to leave!"


    Mark started to run towards the Police Command Center and it was not easy. The whole building was crumbling and more of those huge roots started to pierce through the floors and the roof. The rooftop was shaking wildly and Mark almost lost bnce several times.


    On the other hand, Abbygale who heard her Papa''s shout did not want to abandon the fruit especially since the fruit was rolling towards her position. It was swept away by the force the first root created when it appeared. The little girl rushed towards the fruit and grabbed it before running. It was then that the roots started to emerge under Abbygale''s feet forcing the little girl to jump every now and then while running to dodge.


    The huge cat that was first chased by the roots had already jumped off the building like a rat jumping into its hole while it was being chased by a cat. It looked ironic and its fate after jumping was unknown. By the height of the building, even if the huge cat did not die, it would receive at least another fractured leg. If it managed to escape, unless it had fast regeneration, its life would still end soon.


    ***


    On the rooftop of the Police Command Center, several people stood watching the situation in the rooftop of the City Hall since the start. Among the people, there was Chief Mari, Madam Lanie and Charmaine who was being assisted by the Nurse. Despite Charmaine''s weak condition, she wanted to know and watch what kind of fight her Big Brother was participating at. There were also the bodyguards and other policemen along with some of the survivors who were curious and brave enough to watch. At the back though, there was a terrified man and his two bodyguards. Their backs were covered in sweat as they watched what was happening.


    What the people were watching was akin to the scenes from those fantasy movies. Mark''s fearlessness as he confronted the nine foot Wooden Giant was shown in their eyes. The speed Abbygale disyed as she tried to block the path of the beast and the sudden change in her appearance was also witnessed by them. Now, the scene of a tidal wave made ofrge wooden roots chasing the little girl made them all shiver inside.


    ''This scene was Unearthly. Are we really still on Earth? If we are, then everyone is screwed!''


    Almost all these people alike had those thoughts. It was except for Garcia and his bodyguards. Their minds were filled with fear and panic. They actually offended such monsters! Garcia decided to hide. These monsters in human skin must not see him or he would be dead for sure!


    On the other hand, Charmaine was really worried for the two who were fighting on the rooftop. However, she could only clench her palm as she could not do anything but watch them. Also her Big Brother was injured. Just how deep were his wounds for blood to gush out and stain his sleeves?


    ***


    In the rooftop of the City Hall, the danger had not decreased, it had actually increased. Like how the people watching on the rooftop of the Command Center described it, it was like a tidal wave of roots.


    It was currently chasing Abbygale who was intensely dodging the iing roots. Mark watched the scene in a grave manner. The rooftop started to copse and Abbygale was being chased by countless roots of different sizes.


    "Abbygale! Drop that fruit!"


    Hearing his voice, the little girl was about to drop and leave the fruit. However¡­


    BOOM!!! RUMBLE!!!


    The part of the roof between Mark and the suspended pathway copsed.


    They were stranded on the rooftop!


    "Dammit! You''re forcing me!"


    Mark rushed back towards Abbygale and with a catching pose, he shouted at the little girl.


    "Throw it to me!"


    The little girl threw the fruit towards her Papa while continuously dodging the roots attacking her. On the other side, Mark hurriedly caught the fruit and rushed towards the west side of the roof.


    The roots charging towards Abbygale halted and changed their target. The roots made their way towards Mark with fast speed.


    BOOM! BOOM! RUMBLE!


    Several roots pierced their way up the roof under Mark''s feet but he managed to dodge by running on a zigzag. Once he felt a stronger shaking by his foot, he would immediately kick on the roof and push his body sideways. Mark retrieved a vase and another lighter from his belt. He lit the lighter first before smashing the vase on the roof. After the butane was spread, he threw the lit lighter creating a sudden fire halting some of the roots.


    Another root appeared from under the roof and Mark was not in the position to dodge. In that moment, he raised his wounded arm again and his eyes glowed red brightly. His nose started to bleed again though. It was another mental pierce and the target was the tree! Since the tree had some sort of sentience, then, it must work!


    Then, the root that was about to hit him halted and started to shiver. The other roots also behaved the same. It seemed that it was severely affected my Mark''s mental attack.  The huge trees soon recovered but Mark was already at the edge of the roof together with Abbygale. At that moment, the tree did not dare move.


    It was because Mark was holding the fruit over the edge of the roof.

 Chapter 89 Conclusion Of The Battle For The Golden Fruit

    Day 3 ¨C 11:09 AM ¨C Bacoor City Hall Rooftop, Molino Boulevard, Bayanan, Bacoor City, Cavite


    Mark kept holding the golden fruit over the edge while sighing in relief. What he just did was a risky gamble. A very huge and risky gamble. However, there nothing else for them to lose by counting on this gamble since they were already at risk. If did not work, then he would just find another way. There was no need to find another way though. Mark won the gamble.


    There were several reasons why he ended in taking up this gamble. First, he noticed that the tree was angry but had no killing intent at all. All it wanted was to take back the fruit and they would just be coteral damage. Another was because every single time that the fruit was flung into the air or falling down, Mark could feel anxiousnessing from the tree. It was as if the tree was worried about the fruit getting severely damaged or even destroyed when it falls down.


    Since that was the case, what if he threatened this tree? What if he showed it that he would throw the fruit away if it did not stop? Since it had sentience, it would realize his intention right?


    He was right and he seeded.


    The tree stopped moving and it was now exuding the feelings of fear. Mark could feel its emotions. It was faint but he was sure of it. The huge tree was afraid that he would throw the fruit off the edge.


    Mark looked at the huge tree. He now realized. It was not that the sentience of the tree was faint because it was not human nor animal. The emotional fluctuations were simr to what he felt from other children. The sentience was weak maybe because it was newly born.


    Looking towards the tree, Mark shouted.


    "Can you hear me?! Can you understand me?! Shake your roots if you do."


    Abbygale looked at her Papa? Who was he talking to?


    The people at the rooftop of the Command Center were also baffled by Mark''s actions. Was he talking to the tree? Did he also hit his head?


    But to everyone''s surprise, the roots that covered almost the whole of the rooftop started shaking as if it was responding to what Mark said.


    No¡­


    The tree was really responding to him! The roots of the tree shook for several seconds before stopping.


    "Do you want this back?"


    Mark shouted once more while waving the fruit on his hand. The roots shook once more in response. Mark could feel the emotion from the tree. It was pleading.


    The emotions the tree was showing were too pure and innocent. Mark sighed. It felt like he was bullying a child. He then looked at Abbygale.


    "Gale, sorry but we need to return it."


    Abbygale shook her head. It was not right for her Papa to apologize for this.


    Looking back at the tree, Mark shouted again.


    "Help us return back there first and you can have this fruit."


    Mark pointed at the suspended pathway.


    At that moment, as if taken from a scene in a fantasy movie, the wave of roots receded and slowly intertwined together creating a wooden bridge. The bridge connected the copsed parts of the rooftop and continued towards the suspended pathway.


    Seeing that, everyone was amazed. It looked like a scene from a fairytale and it onlycked the vines and flowers to look perfect.


    Since Mark did not feel any ill intent from the tree. He directly led Abbygale through the wooden bridge towards the suspended pathway. Doing this, Mark felt like he was transported to another world. He was walking on a fantasy like bridge with the huge tree to his left and he was leading a cat-eared girl on his side.


    The father and daughter soon reached the safety of the suspended pathway. Mark turned back. It was to fulfill his end of the deal. He felt that it was a pity that he would not be able to get the fruit for Abbygale and Odelina but it was better to return it unless they did not want to keep their lives anymore.


    Cheating the tree? That was more impossible. Even if he could escape with Abbygale right away, he would not be able to bring Charmaine.


    Mark stretched his left arm that was holding the fruit towards the tree. Soon, a smaller root approached Mark''s hand and coiled onto the fruit. It then took the fruit towards its trunk. As the root holding the fruit approached near its body, a small hole opened up on the trunk. The fruit was put inside the hole before it closed.


    Seeing that, Mark shrugged his shoulders. He just wasted his time and even got injured for nothing. Well, he was not worried about his injury since he was more worried on where to find a change of clothes now. His right sleeve was torn and his blood stained almost the entire right half of his clothes.


    He was about to turn around to return when something tapped on his shoulder. When he looked, it was another small root. Realizing the intention of the tree, Mark did not leave immediately. Soon enough, two roots, oneing from below the suspended pathway and othering from below the trunk approached him. Both roots were coiled into something.


    The root that tapped his shoulder pulled his uninjured arm up and ced the two items being coiled by the two other roots on his hand.


    The two items looked extraordinary. One was a shard shaped purple crystal. It looked beautiful but it was rough and unpolished. The crystal was about the size of his index finger. The other item was an odd looking seed. It was shaped like a watermelon seed but was red in color and was about the size of his thumb.


    "What are these?"


    Mark did not hesitate to ask even if he looked like someone crazy while talking to a tree.


    The root in front of Mark then pointed at the crystal and then below the suspended pathway. Mark followed what it was pointing at below and saw the body of the dead mutated cat being eaten by the infected.


    "This crystal is from that huge cat?"


    The root shook in confirmation.


    "Then this seed, is it yours?"


    Mark was confused with the seed. He did not think that the huge tree would give him something like its seed since it did not even want to let go of the fruit. And as if to confirm his thoughts, the root shook sideways.


    "This seed is not yours? Then what seed is this?"


    There was no response from the tree. It seemed that it also did not know.


    Mark''s face turned ck and decided to let his feelings go. If the tree did not know about it, then, there was nothing they could do about it. At least, it gave him something in return. Also since it was from that mysterious tree, it should be something rare.


    Since he was given something, Mark decided to say his gratitude. After all, even though the tree was threatening, it was like his initial thoughts before. It was not hostile to people. It just behaved dangerously due to the fruit suddenly being stolen.


    It was confusing though. What would this huge tree want to do with its own fruit? Well, it was not of his concern anymore.


    "Thanks for these."


    Mark said and shook the root with his hand like he was shaking another person''s. Mark stored the two items in one of the pockets on his jacket and left with Abbygale. After the two started walking away, the roots started to recede and the huge tree became dormant once more. However, the City Hall was left almost crumbling.


    When Mark and Abbygale returned, the very first person to approach them was Charmaine who was being assisted by the nurse.


    "Big Brother, are you ok?"


    Charmaine worriedly asked as she stared at Mark''s blood covered arm.


    "It''s a little painful but I''m fine. It''s just a scratch you see."


    "Big Bro. That pun isme."


    "It''s not a pun though. It''s really just a scratch."<sub> </sub>


    Mark then wiped the blood using the sleeve of his other arm. With Charmaine''s gasp, the wounds that had already started to heal were revealed. The wounds were not bleeding anymore as the wounds had already closed up.


    "See? It''ll be fine in a few hours."


    Not only Charmaine but the other people who were nearby were shocked. They saw how much blood was gushing out of his wounds and it was healing already?


    "Bro¡­ Really, what is happening? The zombies and those creatures. Then, you and Gale¡­"


    When Charmaine said that, she looked at the white haired girl with cat ears who was holding Mark''s hand.


    "You know something right?"


    Most of the people around also had the same question. However, unlike Charmaine, no one dared voice out their questions in fear of offending the mysterious father and daughter.


    The Congresswoman and the Police Chief also approached at this moment.


    "I also think the same. I had been suspecting that you knew something. Could you please make it clear to us? What is really happening?"


    Madam Lanie asked with an inquisitive but humble tone. She really wanted to know what she needed to know but she also wanted to maintain a good rtionship with these people.


    On the other hand, Mark''s face was turning dark. However, it was not Mark but the little girl who spoke.


    "Muu. Annoying people."


    Abbygale was also dissatisfied. Except for Charmaine and the nurse, the little girl started ring at everyone. Her red eyes really looked terrifying at this moment.


    Mark patted the little girl''s head and looked at the congresswoman.


    "Can we talk about itter? We''re tired you see?"


    Madam Lanie scratched her subconsciously. It was an act unbefitting her status.


    "Sorry about that, I got carried away because of everything we just saw."


    Mark then nodded. He looked at Charmaine and signaled her with his chin to follow. He then walked towards the door with Abbygale with Charmaine and the nurse behind. All the people in front of them hurriedly moved to the side to make way for their group.


    After entering, Mark nced behind and asked.


    "Charm, where are our things?"


    "It''s the room beside the Chief''s office I think?"


    "Why there?"


    "I don''t know? Madam Lanie brought me to that room."


    Walking down the stairs and out of the hallway, they immediately found the room.


    When they entered, Mark realized how much effort the Congresswoman''s group gave in order to make the room asfortable as possible. It was an office room but there was a bunker bed moved here. The cluttered mess left by the outbreak was also cleaned up and all the unnecessary things inside the room were removed.


    Mark plopped his body on one of the office chairs and yawned. He then reached out for the bag he brought and took one of the insted bottles that contained soda. Flipping the bag on his belt, he took out two medicines, a capsule and a tablet. It immediately consumed the medicine as he was already feeling the effects of excessive use of adrenaline.


    The nurse helped Charmaine unto the bed and went out of the room hurriedly. Mark noticed it.


    "Is she afraid of us?"


    "I don''t think so?"


    Charmaine replied.


    "Why did she hurry out then?"


    Charmaine did not answer anymore. She was also confused.


    Abbygale approached her Papa while staring at his wounds.


    "Papa. Does it hurt?"


    "Just a little."


    Mark patted the little girl''s head. In this form of hers, the texture of her hair was reallyfortable to touch. He then lifted the concerned girl up and made her sit on hisp. He then stared at the cat ears on her head then looked for her human ears.


    "It''s really not there huh?"


    "What is it Papa?"


    Abbygale was curious.


    "Your human ears, it''s not there anymore. Can you still turn back to normal?"


    "Ummm¡­"


    The little girl was seriously thinking.


    "I can? But don''t know how."


    She found her answer in her mind and was crestfallen.


    "Is that so? Then let me try."


    Mark then hugged Abbygale tightly. After about a minute or two, he features started going back to normal. The change was visible to his eyes. To describe her transformation, it was like her cat ears and tail was being absorbed by her body while her human ears sprouted like how her cat ears appeared before.


    "So, it was really the case."


    Mark murmured. Abbygale on the other hand touched her head checking if her cat ears were still there or not.


    "Papa¡­ how?"


    "You''re just too agitated."


    Mark smiled. The cause to Abbygale''s transformation seemed to be her emotions. Her calm emotion that Mark always felt from her was being shared with agitation while she was in that form. It also seemed to be the case why the shy girl managed to voice out her dissatisfaction towards the people earlier.

 Chapter 90 An Insidious Plan

    Day 3 ¨C 12:00 NN ¨C Bacoor City Police Command Center 3rd Floor, Molino Boulevard, Bayanan, Bacoor City, Cavite


    Madam Lanie and Chief Mari just went out of the room Mark and the three girls were staying. The two wore bitter face after learning everything from Mark.


    After Mark rested enough, he asked the nurse taking care of Charmaine to call the two and tell them the things the government disclosed back in the mall. He also summarized a bit of his encounter with the military and what happened at the mall. Still, he did not tell everything. He hid things like he had a Satellite Phone and he could contact the military based at the Bay City. There was no point in telling this to them right now.


    Actually, it was not that there was really no point but he just did not want to be pestered about when would the rescue arrive and stuff like that. More than that, this phone was personally given to him by Angeline. It was not a government property for them to demand its use.


    The two leaders would be the ones to inform the other survivors about the situation. They also told Mark that they were already preparing to leave this ce.


    At this moment, Mark could hear a lot of gunshots from outside the window. The bodyguards and the police along with other able people were moving to procure some of the government vehicles outside. Once enough vehicles were gathered, everyone would hurry up and leave this ce.


    Mark and Abbygale''s fight at the City Hall rooftop opened the eyes of the people here. This ce was not safe at all. Unless they had the ability and skills like the two disyed at the rooftop, they would not survive just by staying at this flimsy and small building.


    In the room, Mark was also preparing his things. Abbygale on the other hand was taking a nap using Charmaine''sp as a pillow. The full usage of her abilities at the rooftop drained the little girl a lot.


    TOK! TOK!


    Two knocks sounded at the door and it opened. It was the nurse who was taking care of Charmaine. Apparently, after the doctors and nurses were rescued, they divided to work on treating the injured survivors. On the other hand, this nurse was assigned to solely take care of Charmaine.


    The nurse was holding two small bags. He handed one of the bags to Mark.


    "Here are the medicines you wanted."


    "Alright."


    Mark took the bag and bundled it with the things he will bring back. In the bag were Charmaine''s insulin shots and other medicine ofmon illness like cold and fever. As for the painkillers and other stuff, he had a lot of stock back in the vehicle so he did not ask for more.


    After giving the bag of medicine to Mark, the nurse sat beside Charmaine and the two women started chatting with each other.


    "Mr. Mark¡­"


    The nurse called out to him.


    "Just Mark is fine. Adding mister to my name gives me cringes."


    "Okay then, Mark. Is Charm''s proposal for me before still valid? I know I did not give my answer earlier but."


    "You want toe with us?"


    Charmaine interjected with a happy face.


    "Yes. I decided toe with you if possible."


    The nurse answered Charmaine''s question before turning at Mark. After all, he was the one with the final say.


    "It''s fine if Charm wants you to go with us. Still, what changed your mind?"


    Mark was curious. The nurse inhaled and exhaled deeply before answering.


    "I''ll be frank. Your fight at the rooftop shook me. I know Madam Lanie said that we are going to a safer ce but I doubt that the ce is really safe. So I thought that going with your group would be safer."


    She looked straight at Mark and continued.


    "I know that I''m being presumptuous but in exchange for the protection I will get, I''ll work hard for anything I can do. Even if you wanted something like my body I won-"


    "WAIT! Wait. Stop. You''re going the wrong way."


    Mark stopped her with a darkened face. Charmaine also hurriedly spoke with a flushed face.


    "Yeah. What are you saying? Don''t tell me you fell in love with Big Brother¡­"


    Charmaine''s voice trailed off as she received a stern stare from her Big Brother.


    With a serious face, the nurse replied.


    "I didn''t. I''m not falling in love or something like that. I just know that I needed to give something as exchange and all I have is myself and nothing else."


    "Don''t tell me, you''re that kind of woman?"


    "I''M NOT!"


    Mark stared at the nurse and sensed her emotions. She was actually not that willing to say or do it but she was determined to give up everything she had as long as she could live.


    "Geez. Alright."


    He decided to ept the nurse''s determination or rather, desperation.


    "Big Brother?! Don''t tell me¡­"


    "What kind of dirty things are you thinking about? Can you use some bleach to cleanse your brain a bit?"


    "Guu¡­"


    With that, Charmaine became quiet.


    Looking back at the nurse, Mark spoke once more.


    "I''ll let youe with us and you will fulfill what you just said except thest one."


    Hearing that, the nurse felt relieved and somehow insulted at the same time. She was relieved that she did not need to resort to giving up her body but felt insulted since she seemed to not have any charm on Mark''s eyes. She was still a woman. Even if she was not beautiful, her looks was still above average. But to Mark, she seemed to be just an ugly woman.


    Then she came to a realization and she voiced it out subconsciously.


    "Are you impotent?"


    COUGH! COUGH!


    Mark choked on his saliva because of what he just heard.


    "Where the hell did thate from? I''m perfectly normal!"


    It seemed that Abbygale was disturbed from her nap because of the noise they were making. She slowly opened her eyes and rubbed it. The little girl then stood up and walked towards her Papa.


    "Papa is angry?"


    Mark patted her head.


    "I''m not."


    The little girl nodded and sat on hisp without asking him. Everyone was speechless after that though. It was because Abbygale started ring at the nurse without anyone knowing why. The little girl just sat on hisp while staring at the nurse without saying anything.


    Abbygale''s re made the nurse shiver inside. It was as if the little girl was telling her not to bully her Papa.


    Mark on the other hand sighed.


    ''Why is it harder to talk to women nowadays? It was even harder than killing a dozen infected.''


    With that, the room finally became quiet. Mark continued with his work while Abbygale sat on hisp staring at the nurse. The nurse on the other hand did not try to move or talk under the little girl''s watch. To the side, Charmaine could only smile bitterly.


    The little girl was actually scarier than the father¡­


    Fifteen minutester, Chief Mari came in to tell them that the vehicles were ready and they could leave anytime. It was faster than he anticipated. With that as the signal, Mark called on his radio.


    "Mei''er, are you there?"


    "Gege. Are we going to fetch you already?"


    It was an immediate reply and even the subject for the call was not needed to be discussed. Mei''s voice even sounded happy.


    "Yeah. Are you watching what is happening?"


    "We are."


    "Alright, tell Odel to drive here already. The evacuation will start."


    "Okay!"<sub> </sub>


    Mark then turned to the police chief.


    "Let''s get going. It''s better if we leave sooner. We need to get to Firenze before sunset."


    "Isn''t it too early? Firenze is just about half an hour from here on car right?"


    Charmaine interjected.


    "It was before the outbreak. Right now, even just going here from the City Mall took us more than an hour when it should be just about ten minutes normally."


    "Why?"


    "There are infected on the street and even cars blocking the roads. Maneuvering through those blockades and dealing with the infected would consume more time than travelling. There are even time we needed to drive back and forth since there are totally blocked and unusable roads."


    The Chief nodded with Mark''s exnation while the two women were also enlightened.


    With that, Mark carried the things he needed to bring while the nurse helped Charmaine walk out. Not wanted to be left out, Abbygale volunteered to carry one of the bags. The bag looked too big for her but she carried it without effort.


    As the first people to be informed, Mark and his group was the first to move. Strange enough, Mark did not get out and just stood by the entrance of the building while holding his assault rifle. Due to this behavior of his, the rest of the group did not dare walk away from him and just waited by his side.


    The gunshots continued outside as the armed men kept the infected at bay under the Chief''s leadership. Mark was watching the situation while leaning on the frame of the door. The vehicles procured were several vans and multi-cabs. There was also a ck car with a single 8 on the car te. Cars with these te numbers belong to congressmen so this car should belong to Madam Lanie. He was also sure that this was a bulletproof car.


    A minuteter, the survivors started walking out of the building in a hurry. They all ran into the vehicles. It was not because they were panicking but it was instructed by the congresswoman. Everyone needed to hurry since the infected were gathering towards this direction.


    Soon, arge ck modified van arrived. It was Mark''s vehicle. The armed men let the vehiclee close to the entrance since Mark had a lot of things he was carrying.


    The vehicle stopped just beside the entrance of the Command Center. Then, under the gazes of the people around, the door opened and a very beautiful girl came out of the vehicle. Everyone who saw her froze on their steps and inhaled a mouthful of air amazed. Even the men shooting the infected could not help but stare.


    And then, under their surprised eyes, the beautiful girl ran towards Mark and embraced him tightly.


    Everyone choked. The contrast between the appearances of the two was like heaven and earth. If one were to use a Chinese idiom, it was like a flower stuck in a cow''s dung!


    Disregarding the gazes she was gathering, Mei started examining Mark''s body. On the other hand, Mark''s face was very dark. Somehow, he was feeling irritated. He could not pinpoint why though since he could only detect the amazed and disappointed emotions of the people around him.


    "Gege, your wounds, is it fine?"


    "I''m fine. Look, it''s already scabbed. Anyway, why did you go out? You''re gathering attention you know that."


    "But, Gege. I''m worried."


    It was then, another woman''s voice was heard.


    "Master, just let her. She was too frantic when you got wounded that I had to snatch the radio away from her."


    Everyone looked at where the voice came from and saw someoneing out from the driver''s seat of the vehicle. It was a beautiful woman. Even though she was not as beautiful as the first girl, her mature appeal hit the eyes of the older on younger men alike.


    But still, they froze when they realized what this woman called Mark. It echoed into their ears and they were screaming inside.


    "You two¡­"


    Mark sighed. He then heard a murmur behind him.


    "No wonder my appeal did not work on him¡­"


    He decided to ignore that. However, Mei did not¡­


    She started ring at the nurse like a cat whose tail was stepped on. Mark started pushing Mei away and looked at Odelina.


    "Odel, help me load these on the vehicle."


    He pointed at the things he put beside the entrance.


    "Yes, Master."


    Odelina then patiently loaded the things at the back of the vehicle. Charmaine then asked while looking at Mei.


    "Big Brother¡­ You''re girlfriend?"


    "She''s not."


    "But¡­ Ok."


    Charmaine wanted to continue asking questions but could she not notice Mark''s bad mood while looking at the people staring at the beautiful girl hugging him.


    Soon enough, the survivors boarded the vehicles. The only people left outside were Mark''s group and Madam Lanie''s group.


    "Is everyone ready?"


    Madam Lanie asked Chief Mari.


    "We actually have three people missing."


    "Huh? Who?"


    "Garcia and his men."


    "What? Are they noting?"


    "Madam, I think they wanted toe but¡­"


    The Police Chief pointed at the entrance where Mark was. Mark was wiping blood from his nose when he noticed that the two people were looking at him, he called out.


    "You guys ready to leave yet?"


    Madam Lanie realized what Mark was doing. She shook her head.


    "We are ready."


    "Alright. Lead the way. We''ll guard the back when we leave since there are still the infecteding from behind the City Hall."


    Unexpectedly, an arm sized tree root came busting out of the ground near Mark. The other people except Mark were surprised. Then, the root slowly came in front of him.


    He raised his head and looked at the huge tree and then back to the root in front of him. He reached to it and shook it. Since the huge tree wanted to befriend him, Mark did not deny its intentions. To his eyes, it was better to befriend something like this sentient tree than actually befriending the unstable humans.


    After he shook the root with his hand, several more roots busted out from the ground in the middle of the street. The roots then started to block the iing infected.


    "There''s the cue, we''re leaving!"


    Mark shouted. They all boarded the vehicles and started to drive away. Strange enough, Mark sat beside the passenger door of his vehicle and the door remained opened. He then started to aim his M16 Assault Rifle at the entrance of the Command Center.


    "Odel, stop the vehicle for a bit."


    Mark said and without questioning why, Odelina obeyed. The vehicle stopped by the corner street beside the City Hall.


    Then three people came stumbling out of the entrance in a hurry. Their faces were covered with sweat and their expressions were filled with fear and panic. It was the businessman, Garcia and his bodyguards.


    "Wait!! Wait for us!!!"


    The three shouted in unison.


    It was then that the roots blocking the infected receded and the infected started running towards the three men who were shouting.


    TSST! TSST! TSST!


    Several silenced gunshots could be faintly heard. Then, the three men shouting fell down and started screaming in pain. Their legs were shot and were bleeding profusely.


    TSST! TSST! TSST! TSST! TSST! TSST!


    With their screams, the infected became more agitated. The bodyguards disregarded the pain on their legs and started to shoot the iing infected. However, they were surprised. The infected running after them started falling down on the road before them. There were bloody holes all over their bodies.


    They started to feel hope. They thought that someone was trying to help them. What they did not notice was that none of the shots were aimed at the head of the running infected. After several seconds, the infected that had fallen started to stand up once more.


    Then...


    Garcia and his men could only let out their painful screams as they were voraciously eaten the by the Biters that had turned into Eaters.

 Chapter 91 The Green Haired Girl And The Mysterious Tree

    The screams of the men did notst long but those who heard them could not help but shiver. Not far from Mark''s vehicle, the vehicles of the other survivors also stopped as none of them dared to stray away from Mark''s group. Since that was the case, the people on the other vehicles also saw what happened.


    "Big Brother, you just¡­ Is that really necessary to kill them?"


    Charmaine asked. It was not new to her to anyone dying since she already saw a lot of people fell drenched with their own blood when the infected appeared but it was a different issue when she saw her Big Brother killing another person without batting an eyelid.


    Mark looked at her shrugging his shoulders.


    "I did not kill them though."


    "You just did shot them."


    The nurse added.


    "Yeah, I shot them but I did not kill them. I only shot their legs you see?"


    Everyone in the vehicle was speechless. It was true that he did not kill them but he totally sent them to their deaths.


    They just did not know that Mark already nned to do this since he and Abbygale returned after that hair-raising fight. If the event on the rooftop where three of the congresswoman''s bodyguards died did not happen and Garcia came in front of him to apologize, Mark would have had let them go. However, that was not the case fueling Mark''s desire to eliminate them.


    After they returned, he noticed that the three were trying to hide away from him. As if they would be able to since it was Mark that we were talking about. Since they were hiding, Mark made they hide some more. At the time he was standing by the entrance, he was actually blocking the way making the three not dare to pass by.


    When the three could not hold it anymore and wanted to go out, Mark immediately sent a strand of energy to the three. Since Mark could still not control it perfectly and he was not using his hand as a targeting medium, the effect was weaker. However, that weak intensity of the energy was enough to give the three a strong splitting headache. If one was to see the three on the room they were hiding at, they would be able to see three men kneeling on the floor while clutching their heads. They were just normal people after all.


    Thest part of the n was to let them out after the vehicles left. He then shot their feet making them not able to escape. Mark shot the iing Biters afterwards. It was to ensure that the three would not have an easy way out. The Biters would only bite the three and go away. Since that was the case, why not turn the Biters into Eaters? Then, the Eaters savored every bite of the three men''s flesh.


    Mark nced at the clustered infected feasting on the bodies of the three onest time with indifferent eyes before looking away.


    "Odel, let''s go."


    With that cue, Odelina drove the vehicle away and it now led the other cars since it was the only vehicle in the convoy that could deal with the obstacles on the road.


    Charmaine and the nurse could not help but stare at the ruthless man in front of them. It was good that they were in his good side. When the thought of bing enemies with him entered their minds, they could only shiver. Still, the two could not help but be confused. None of the other people in the vehicle was bothered with what Mark had done. Rather, the beautiful girl and Abbygale were even sticking to him like glue.


    ''Hmm?''


    Mark suddenly sensed something and quickly turned his head towards the rooftop of the City Hall. His eyes widened but then, he let out a helpless smile.


    ''So, that really was the case.''


    ***


    On the City Hall rooftop, an eleven year old girl sat on the edge of the roof. Anyone who would look at her would know that she was not normal. She had a green colored hair and her pupils also had the same color. Her lips were rose pink and there were small pink flowers hanging on her hair¡­


    Wait... no...


    The pink flowers were actually growing out of her hair.


    As she sat by the edge, she was watching the vehicles leaving thepound while holding a golden fruit on her hand. She noticed someone looking at her from the ck van leading the other cars. She then waved her hand with a smile.


    The girl looked at the huge tree behind her. Her smile vanished and her face showed a worried expression.


    "Lil bro. How long would you stay like that?"


    To her question, the whole tree shook making slight tremors on the building.


    "You really can''t turn back into a human?"


    The tree shook again making her disappointed.


    The girl skipped towards the north side of the roof top and looked below with a sad face. Below, on the street, thick smoke started to rise into the air while the huge Mutated Woodman started to turn into ashes.


    "Dad turned into that monster, Mom is still unconscious and you turned into a huge tree. What should I do now?"


    The green haired girl said while on the verge of crying. She remembered what happened after the infected came and started the ughter.


    Her name was Emika and her little brother was named Mikio. They had these names since their father was a Japanese that married their mother who was a local. They had a family of four. Her, her Dad, her Mom, and her four years-old little brother. They came here since her Dad had to submit papers for the family business they were going to start. Then, the outbreak came.


    Emika, their dad and Mikio were all bitten and their mom hit her head on the edge of an office table when she fell by ident. She fell unconscious since then. The most severe bite was on her dad who was bitten on his shoulder. She was bitten on her foot and her little brother was bitten on his hand that he even lost three of his fingers due to the bite.


    With all the strength they could muster, they managed to found a ce in the first floor to hide. However, things had gone wrong after that. Her father started to turn into one of those who bit them. In order to not implicate his family, her father ran out of hiding in thest second. As the two children were also bitten, they knew that they would also turn.


    They then pulled their unconscious mother and hid her inside a smaller room that had cleaning tools.


    After that, both of them soon fell unconscious. When she woke up, her hair was differently colored and she did not find her brother anywhere. She then realized that the room was gone and she was trapped inside a huge tree. Surprisingly, she couldmunicate with the huge tree and was shocked that the huge tree was actually her missing little brother.


    With her little brother''s help, they found their unconscious mom and hid her inside Mikio''s huge body.


    Strangely, she could seem to grow small pink beautiful flowers on her hair. When plucking the flowers, it felt like she was pulling a hair strand out of her head. She could also recall abilities she had after she woke up. She could grow thorns on her skin and she could control her green hair. She could make her hair change length and even move her hair as if it was her arm.


    On the other side, her brother said that he could create a fruit that should be able to wake up their mom. However, none of them could understand how or why they turned into this and how they had those abilities. The siblings did not care about it anymore. They only wanted their mom to wake up and took this chance with the fruit.


    Back to the present, Emika looked away from the burning body of her Dad and approached the tree. The trunk of the tree opened up and let her in. Soon, she returned to where her mom was lying down.


    "How can we feed this to mom now?"


    Emika sat beside her mom murmuring. The tree then shook taking her attention.


    "Smash the fruit you say? Like how mom feed you vegetables?"


    The tree shook again.


    With that idea, Emika opened her mom''s mouth and squeezed the fruit above her mouth. Soon, the juice of the fruit along with its flesh fell into the mouth of their mom. Emika closed her mom''s mouth and helped her ingest the contents in her mouth.


    "I wonder if this would really work."


    ***


    "Gege, what are you looking at?"<sub> </sub>


    Mei beside Mark noticed him staring at the City Hall behind them. She also tried to look at what he was staring at but saw nothing.


    "I just thought of something."


    Mark replied with a smile. He then looked at the nurse who was watching his interaction with Mei.


    "Since you''re with us now, can you introduce yourself?"


    "Oh, right. I forgot."


    The nurse was surprised and then fixed her posture before continuing.


    "I''m Melissa Santos, 24, a Nursing Associate. My hobbies are¡ª"


    "Well, stop. You''re not in an interview for work or a beauty pageant. You don''t need to say too much. Geez."


    Mark did not let her finish talking and stopped her. Noticing her blunder, Melissa lowered her head in embarrassment.


    After that, everyone''s introduction came in order.


    "Big Brother, what about her? Why is she tied up?"


    Charmaine said pointed at the infected student tied up at the end of the seat.


    "You don''t have to worry about her. She''s Jate I think? She''s an infected."


    Melissa and Charmaine were shocked.


    "Big Brother? Why do you have one in here?"


    "Don''t worry about her, she won''t bite. She''s also not aggressive like those outside."


    "Really?"


    "Well, maybe?"


    "Big Brother! That''s not reliable at all!"


    "Hahaha!"


    Everyone startedughing as they noticed that Mark was ying with Charmaine. With a red face, she retorted.


    "Big Bro! I hate you!"


    She then turned her face away and crossed her arms in front of her. Charmaine really looked serious that it made the scene even funnier.


    Melissa on the other hand observed the group and the interior of the vehicle, she sighed inside. The vehicle wasfortable and even looked luxurious. It was equipped with a lot of things. Then, Mark''s group had a different atmospherepared to the other survivors she was with before. His group was lively and energeticpared to the people inside the other vehicles that were lifeless andcking energy. His group was enjoying the current situation of the world while others could only live in fear.


    She felt that she really made the right decision. Melissa became really confident about it. After theughter died down, she asked Mark.


    "Uhm. Can I ask a question?"


    "You can but whether I will answer depends on your question."


    Mark nodded indifferently.


    "Back there you told us about Mutators but you never told us what you and Abbygale are."


    "Hmm. I can answer that. Abbygale here, she should be a Mutator. As for me, I''m not."


    Melissa and Charmaine were surprised.


    "But Big Brother you¡­"


    Charmaine interjected.


    "I know what your next question is but I can''t answer that. The only thing I can say is that Mutators are people who were bitten by the infected but did not turn and mutated in to something else. As for me, I was never bitten by the infected so I''m not one."


    Mark''s answer to the two only made them more confused. However, Mark already told them that he won''t answer so even if they tried to press for any answer, the two would not receive one.


    "Odel, there is a convenience store near the area we stopped earlier right? Stop by that ce to get more supplies. We have more vehicles right now so we can carry more."


    "Alright Master, leave it to me."


    With that, Odelina led the convoy outside the convenience store. After stopping, Mark and Abbygale jumped off the van and started to clear the infected outside and inside the convenience store. They did not let the other group to help as their guns were not equipped with suppressors. With them participating, it would only bring more infected towards area.


    When the very few number of infected was wiped out. Madam Lanie and Chief Mari went out of their vehicles and approached Mark.


    "Are we here to get supplies?"


    Madam Lanie asked.


    "That''s right. You should get your people to take as much food and other necessities as possible. We might not find or stop at other ces on the way."


    Mark replied making the two nod in understanding. The only reason they could stop at this ce was because there were too few infected in the area. In the other ces however, no one knows what they would encounter.


    RUMBLE!


    As they were about to start, they all heard a rumbling sound. The sound seemed to havee from far away but it was too loud that they even managed to hear it. When they tried to find the direction where the sound wasing from, the all turned back towards the City Hallpound.


    What they saw surprised everyone.


    The huge tree started to wither. Itsrge leaves started to fall off from its branches and the branches snapped like brittle sticks. Soon, the tree started to fall and the building that lost the support from the tree finally copsed. It created a huge cloud of dust along with the crashing sounds.


    It was lucky that they had already left thepound or else, what had just happened was enough to bring them into another round of danger.

 Chapter 92 A Short Break

    Day 3 ¨C 12:50 PM ¨C Day and Night Convenience Store, Niog Road, Bayanan, Bacoor City, Cavite


    "Mei''er, can you get me a change of clothes from the back?"


    Mark peeked from outside the vehicle and asked Mei who was inside. Of course, she immediately went to the back of the vehicle and brought new clothes for Mark who was still all covered in blood.


    He received the clothes from Mei and went back inside the convenience store.


    "Gege, where are you going?"


    "I''m going to change clothes inside the store. I can''t change inside the car with all of you girls there."


    "Oh, okay."


    Mark walked away back inside the convenience store.


    On the way, Mark could see the survivors hurriedly emptying the store of its goods. Fortunately or unfortunately, the outbreak came so sudden that no one was able to loot this store and was left basically untouched aside from the scattered items, blood residues and disgusting smell of decaying body parts on the floor. The storage was also full. It seemed that the store had just restocked its supplied before the outbreak came. It was lucky that there would be no infecteding this way for a while. The sound of the City Hall copsing should have attracted the infected towards that direction.


    When the survivors saw him pass by, they stayed away from him like gue. They all saw what he did to Garcia''s group and were afraid to step into their graves if they offended him in any way. Also, his performance at the rooftop was also fresh in their minds. Mark could fearlessly fight a nine foot tall monster, to him, they were like ants.


    Mark could feel their emotions but he could care less about them. He took a bar of soap and one gallon of mineral water from the back shelf of the convenience store and went towards the toilet. He needed wash off the blood on his body as it was sticky and ufortable.


    Inside the toilet, Mark started washing his body while contemting on many things. One of those things was the abrupt change in his mindset. Before the outbreak, he was just a timid loner that shut his most of his connection to the outside world. He could act in front of other people but after the outbreak, his emotions were severely affected and were slowly changing.


    It was not just a matter of keeping his act. The bloodlust he was feeling was real. One thing was every time he was using the ability he learned from Freed. He was smiling sinisterly when he used that ability at that fat inmate before. That was very far from his character before the outbreak. He even started to smile during dangerous fights like what he did when fighting that huge Woodman.


    "Empath¡­ Mutagen¡­ Bloodlust¡­ Evolution¡­"


    Mark was enlightened. His evolution was faster than most people. The Mutagen evolves all creatures infected by it slowly. The changes in his body was abrupt and so as his emotions.


    "Does this Mutagen also affects the emotions of creatures infected by it and brings out their beastly instincts?"


    His mind turned towards the condition Odel was before, the savage attitude of Abbygale and even the aggressiveness the huge cat disyed despite the fact that it was obviously a well groomed house cat. All of it enforces his theory.


    "I guess, I could also work on this or else, I''ll end up bing a madman in the future. It''s a pity that I can''t use that calming energy for myself."


    Mark shook his head. He was slowly gaining some understanding towards his abilities. He could absorb other people''s emotions and use those emotions as energy and release it. The emotional energy he could release also seemed to vary into two kinds, positive and negative. The calming energy he could release was actually the positive emotions he could generate. It was just that he could not release it without getting into contact with the target.


    Along those thoughts, he just wished that the Mutagen in his body could make his fear of people vanish into thin air. It was because trying to keep his act all the time was too taxing for his heart and mind.


    Wiping his arm, he could bitterly smile. The wound that he received from that huge cat was almost healed already and it already felt itchy that he felt peeling off the scab covering it.


    Looking at his wounds enforced the thought of expecting the unexpected at this outbreak. The existence of that tree and that girl he saw sitting on the rooftop. The two had simr emotional pattern but also different. If that girl was a Mutator, then that tree should also be one. No wonder it had sentience. He thought at first that the huge tree had evolved too much that it gained sentience but that was not actually the case.


    "I wonder how I did not detect that girl before¡­"


    Mark murmured as he started to wear the new clothes he brought. If he detected her in the first ce, he might have gained another Mutator for his group. However, since the girl did not appear when he and Abbygale were on the rooftop, it was safe to say that the girl did not want to go with them.


    "Did she manage to escape the copse though?"


    He asked himself. It was not because of worry but curiosity.


    ***


    While Mark was inside the store, the giggles of the girls could be heard inside the vehicle. It seemed that women were really good at befriending each other. While the children were ying on their phones, the women were chatting about various things like how Mark met Mei and Odelina and about the past of Melissa and Charmaine.


    Charmaine looked at the women in front of her. These women along with her were around Mark and staying around him. It reminded her of the time in the college with her Big Brother.


    "Charm? Charm!"


    Immersed in her thoughts, Charmaine did not immediately hear that Melissa was calling her. When she finally heard her voice, she could see a hand waving in front of her. Charmaine immediately swatted the hand away from her face.


    "Charm, what are you thinking about? You just suddenly went nk and silent like that."


    Charmaine shook her head with a smile.


    "Nothing, I just remembered my college days with Big Brother."


    "Oh? Can we have more details?"


    Melissa pressed on. Mei and Odelina were obviously interested though they did not say anything.


    Looking at their interested eyes, Charmaine gave in.


    "Well, it''s nothing much in particr. It''s just like back in college. Big Brother was always surrounded by women."


    The three other women were surprised. Is he that popr before? Even Mei who blindly followed Mark almost everywhere could not believe it.


    Charmaine realized what was on their minds and hurriedly exined.


    "It''s not like what you three are thinking. Big Brother looked like a scary person but he was actually kind and even a bit childish back then. Though, he didn''t talk too much and was preferred to be always alone, he did not chase away anyone who wanted to stick around him.


    He was dragged into a newly formed group along with us after he participated in a cosy event in school. Fortunately or maybe not, the most popr girls in the school were also in that group. Not boasting but me and my older sister was included in those popr girls."


    Charmaine puffed up her chest with pride making the other women look at her with slit eyes. Still, none of them interrupted her story.


    "Then, the group started hanging out together more often until most of the girls often hangout with Big Brother around including me. You see, other men looked at us like we were eye candy and their stares were always ufortable and annoying. There were also times that they would try to make a move on us."


    When Charmaine said that, Mei nodded. She was always in that situation whenever she goes out.


    ? "There was one peculiar person back then though. It was Big Brother. He did not look at us like others. He did not even put his eyes on us. It made usfortable staying around him and he would also help us if we need some help. Also, no other men would bother us if Big Brother is around."


    "Then, did you girls just use Master like a shield?"<sub> </sub>


    Odelina interjected with an exasperated expression.


    "I don''t know about the others but I didn''t. I swear. Also, it did notst long. Things happened and the group disbanded soon after. Big Brother was the person who took the most impact at that event and started to stay away from the members of the group."


    Charmaine added with a sad expression.


    "What happened?"


    Mei asked. However, Charmaine just looked at Odelina and Mei and did not answer the question. Instead, she said.


    "It''s better for you two to not know, you''ll probably go on a rampage after knowing it."


    Charmaine spoke with a bitter smile.


    "If you won''t tell us, then I''ll just ask Gege."


    Mei said with a determined expression. Nevertheless, Charmaine added something that baffled them.


    "It''s better for you not to as Big Brother. As far as I know, he doesn''t remember those events anymore."


    "Amnesia?"


    Melissa asked.


    "I don''t know. I did not confirm it myself since I just heard it from the other members of the group. They said that Big Brother doesn''t remember the newer members of the group and everything that happened after the second semester that the group existed. It was his close ssmate who was also a member of the group that confirmed it."


    Charmaine replied while shaking her head. Odelina was in deep contemtion about what she just heard while Mei was feeling agitated. They were not stupid to not realize that something really bad happened back then that resulted to Mark losing his memories of that time.


    They were about to continue the conversation when Mei suddenly turned her head towards the convenience store making Melissa and Charmaine confused.


    "What wrong?"


    Melissa asked and it was Odelina who answered while shrugging her shoulders.


    "Master ising. She behaves like that every time Master returns after going somewhere."


    The two new members of the group were speechless. Several secondster, they could see Mark walk out of the convenience store carrying a few bags.


    The agitated Mei hurriedly walked out of the vehicle and fetched her Gege and even took one of the bags he was carrying to help. It could be seen that Mark was confused about her actions. He could feel that she was agitated but could not figure out why.


    When Mark loaded the bags in the vehicle, he saw the girls in inside just staring at him. It made him felt awkward.


    "What''s wrong with you all?"


    When he asked, they all averted their gazes at the same time making it even more peculiar. He wanted to do some more questioning but two people approached from behind. When he looked behind, he saw that they were Madam Lanie and Chief Mari.


    "Need something?"


    "We''re already done loading everything we can carry. We just want to ask which route we are going to take so it will be easier to follow."


    Madam Lanie replied to Mark''s question.


    Hearing what they needed, Mark nodded and asked Mei to get the tablet he brought. There, Mark showed opened the offline mapping app he downloaded and told the two what route they would take and the alternative routes if ever something went wrong and the first route could not be essed.


    The primary route he proposed might be the safest one which was going through arge private subdivision which was called Citta Italia. The main entrance of the subdivision was connected in Molino Boulevard and its back ess road was actually just a few blocks away to the main street that led to Firenze and Charmaine''s home subdivision. Then, he told two other routes they could take but those routes were more popted and even had more detours.


    While they were discussing the route, Charmaine made her way out of the vehicle with difficulty taking Mark''s attention.


    "Why did you go out?"


    "Big Brother, I just remembered. Are you going to find Carlo too?"


    "I do n to check his houseter since I don''t know where he is. Why?"


    "Then, its better if we check on him first. I met him in the WCRonalds branch his grandfather owned before the outbreak. Maybe, he''s still there."


    "Really?"


    Mark pped his forehead. He forgot about that detail.


    "Alright. Still, that ce is closer but actually more dangerous."


    He looked at Madam Lanie and Chief Mari.


    "We''ll be having another stop alright?"


    It was not a request. He was actually telling them that they could follow him whether they would like it or not making the two helpless. After all, without Mark''s group, their road towards Firenze would be a very dangerous one. There would also be a possibility of all of them not going to make it.


    In the end, the two helplessly nodded.


    Turning back to Charmaine, Mark asked.


    "Why did you just tell this now?"


    Charmaine scratched her head and replied with an apologetic expression.


    "I forgot."


    Mark sighed. It looked like that he was not the only person had forgotten about it. On the other hand, Charmaine only remembered it after she told that story to the other women in the vehicle. It was because in that group, there were three people who truly treated Mark as their older Brother. Charmaine aside, the other two were her older sister, Elsa and Carlo, who was also her ssmate that time.

 Chapter 93 Commercial Center

    Day 3 ¨C 1:32 PM ¨C Molino Boulevard, Bayanan, Bacoor City, Cavite


    Along the boulevard, a ck armored and apocalyptic styled van was leading a convoy consisting of six vehicles. There were three were Hi-Ace vans, two multi-cabs and a ck Armored Caddc. The convoy was following the boulevard going east, south-east.


    Inside the Armored MB Sprinter that led the convoy, everyone was watching a 3d action movie Mark downloaded in the mall before in therge monitor at the back of the vehicle. Mark actually had more horror, gore and zombie apocalypse moving stored in his Hard Drive but no one would have the mood to watch those movies at the moment.


    While the others were watching the movie and Odelina was driving the vehicle, Mark was busy looking outside the window. He was staring nkly outside while contemting about things. Right now, for him, there were a whole lot of things to analyze or at least create a theory.


    As he was deeply thinking about things, he could hear the voices of the girls who were watching the movie. It seemed that the movie had already reached the first fight scene.


    Inside the other vans in the convoy, almost no one dared look at outside the window. Every single time they attempted to do so, all that happened was them seeing the devastation the apocalypse had brought. All they could see were abandoned cars with broken and blood covered windows. Vehicles that collided into each other or even worse, busted through a wall or fence. There were even some overturned vehicles. They could also see the remaining rain water puddles that had not evaporated or sucked under the ground yet. The puddle were not clear colored but rather, blood colored as the rain yesterday washed the blood that scattered across the road. There were also decapitated body parts and decaying corpses left here and there.


    Not only on the road but the houses and establishments along the road were the same. The windows were broken, the walls were sshed with blood and there were some that had already turned into ruins.


    There was even the fact that there would be infected everywhere. Many of them were attracted and even chased their vehicles.


    Every time they looked outside, they were only reminded of things that could happen to them and things that happened to their families and friends. The morale of the survivors was very low. It would sure take some time for them to get used to the new state of the world right at now.


    Back inside the vehicle, it looked like that Charmaine was also paying attention to the scene outside the window from time to time. She noticed something and could not help but ask Mark.


    "Big Brother, I just noticed but why are there too few zombies on the road? Back in the City Hall there''s just too many."


    Her question also attracted the attention of the others inside the car. They all turned to Mark waiting for an answer.


    "Well, it''s just my theory but there should be a single reason to this. Though everyone became infected with Mutagen through the air, we actual infection started at a single point and not everywhere at the same time. The infection started to spread out from that point so thergest numbers of infected could only be found in three locations."


    Everyone nodded and waited for him to continue.


    "The first location should be at the ground zero. The second location was where the current infected was still spreading or the frontlines of the infection. Thest one should be at ces where people were gathering. Like you just said, there are more infected back in the City Hall. It is because there are people hiding inside. Now, we are nowhere near those locations so expect to encounter lesser infected."


    Mark had just finished what he wanted to say when he remembered to add another exnation that was easier to understand.


    <o>,m "Just think of it like this. These ces had less food and prey for the infected so where would they go?"</o>


    That was really easier to understand and perfectly exined the current number of infected. Since these ces had less food and prey for the infected, the infected should have gathered to ces where there were more people.


    Their several minutes of travel were smooth. The boulevard had fournes for vehicles for each direction making it easier to maneuver across abandoned and crashed vehicles. The number of infected also did not hinder the convoy and was easily decimated. If the road was blocked, Mark''s vehicle that led the convoy would easily push the cars blocking the road to the side allowing the convoy to move on.


    It was fine until they reached the first main intersections of the boulevard. Before the outbreak, the distance between this intersection and the City Hall was just three to five minutes on foot and even just a minute on a vehicle at full speed but now, they took about ten minutes to get here due to the obstacles on the road.


    However, that was not the problem here. The problem was because there was arge traffic blockade of about more than a hundred cars blocking the intersection. The convoy could not help but stop and look for a way around.


    Mark stepped out of the vehicle along with Abbygale and started to survey the area around them while eliminating the infected in the area. The police in the convoy along with Chief Mari also went out to protect the convoy using their riot shields and police batons. It was not the right time to go out and shoot after all.


    Mark climbed up on the roof of an abandoned van to see further and even tried looking at the fast food just to the right of the convoy. Seeing the situation, he could only shake his head in disappointment.


    It seemed that the people who created this mess were out of their minds while escaping. In the center of the intersection, the main cause of the blockade could be seen. About a dozen of cars crashed into each other and the other vehicles that tried to maneuver around the crashed vehicles ended up blocking each other''s ways. Even the drive thru and the parking area around the fast food was in the same situation.


    Mark returned to the vehicle and Odelina lowered the window on the driver''s seat.


    "Master, how is it?"


    "It''s impossible to get through this. Get me the tablet. I''ll try to find another route."


    Odelina looked behind her and told the girls to hand over the tablet and immediately gave it to Mark. While Mark was browsing the offline mapping app, Abbygale could be seen dashing and jumping around breaking the necks of each iing infected in the area with a single kick.


    The police on the other hand applied the block, push and hit strategy. They would block the infected with their shield, push the infected back and hit their necks with the batons. It was quite effective since the number of the infected where not big.


    Swiping and erging the map on the tablet, Mark soon found another route which would go around to the western side of this blockade.


    "Odel, drive inside thatmercial center. It will lead us behind that fast food and we can also stop on the gas station on the other side of the street."


    Odelina nodded and readied to reverse the vehicle. Mark signaled the police to return to their vehicles as they were leaving.


    The convoy made a U-turn and drove back for about 3 three lots. There they found the entrance of themercial center. It was amercial area that consisted of several separatedmercial buildings and a wet and dry market further inside. Vehicles could be driven inside the centerpound. One of the entrances of the center was connected to the boulevard while the other was on the street next to the fast food at the corner of the intersection.


    After entering themercialpound, they were greeted by the gory scene inside. The ss windows of the stores were smashed open and dried up blood could be seen inside almost every store. The only stores remaining intact were the stores that had steel shutters down.


    ***


    Inside one of the closed stores in the wet and dry market, five people were huddled on the floor. The group consisted of two women and three men. The store was small and these people were in no way rted to this store at all. Due to that, they could only ess the main area of the small retail store and the toilet. It was lucky that this store was selling sun dry goods making them able to eat for the past two days. The problem however was that their water supply had already ran outst night.


    "What are we going to do now? I''m thirsty."


    One of the women voiced out in a weak voice. The other people in the group had no way to answer her though and just kept quiet.


    Then, the ears of the woman who spoke just now perked up.<sub> </sub>


    "Do you hear what I''m hearing? I hear vehicles."


    "What are you saying? I don''t hear anything."


    One of the men said.


    "Yeah, maybe you''re hallucinating because of your thirst."


    The other woman in the group added.


    When she heard what they said, she could not help but agree. Maybe she was really hallucinating. After all, once a person started to get delirious, they could hear or see anything and that was the only word that could describe her state right now.


    Until¡­ she heard it again¡­


    "I''m not wrong! I really hear it!"


    "Yeah, I also heard it too!"


    One of the men who did not speak earlier said.


    Because of that, the others perked up their ears and started to hear the sound of vehicles passing by.


    "Should we ask for help?"


    The thirsty woman asked the others.


    "We have no choice do we? We''ll be stuck here and die if we don''t."


    The other woman said making the three men nod.


    "Alright, gather anything we could use as weapons and grab some bags of food. We have to hurry or we will miss them!"


    The man who was acting as their leader spoke and everyone moved immediately ording to his instructions. However, the only things they found that they could use as weapons were a pair of broom and dustpan. They were feeling aggrieved but they had no choice.


    "When we go out, ignore the zombies and run towards the vehicles as fast as possible. We only have one shot at this."


    ***


    While moving inside themercialpound, Mark and Abbygale had to go out and deal with the infected. The road was too narrow and was designed to only allow two vehicles to pass at the same time. However, the outbreak left a lot of cars abandoned in the middle of the road giving them the need to push every single car out of the way. Still, it was easierpared to the situation at the intersection.


    The only problem they had right now was the iing infected and the slow pace they were travelling.


    More and more infected were getting attracted by the sounds of the engine and the police also started to help to hinder the infected froming close to the vehicles.


    After another seven minutes, they were finally at thest corner of the road. It was the corner of the wet and dry market that led to the other entrance.


    At that time, Abbygale stopped beside her Papa and pulled his sleeves while looking at a certain direction.


    "Gale? Is something wrong?"


    "Papa, danger."


    Hearing what she said, Mark looked at that direction and saw nothing. However, four people entered his detection area at that time. They were running away from something.


    Soon the four people were on sight, two women and two men. They were all running shouting towards Mark''s direction. They all ran like there was no tomorrow despite their weary looking faces. They tried to avoid all the infected on their way and seeded but their panic did not lessen even just a little.


    "Help!"


    They all shouted in a chorus while panting. Their voices all sounded desperate and filled with fear.


    Crashing sounds could be heard just behind them. Then, after a louder crash, a two meter mutated infected could be seen running after the four while carrying a freshly mutted body. The features of the infected could not be any more familiar to Mark since he encountered this kind of mutant twice inside the mall. It was one of those that he previously called "Fat Mutant" which he now decided to call Dozer. It was because of these mutants'' tendency to ram on anything and everything that was on their way between them and their target.


    However, this Dozer chasing the group of survivors looked slightly different. Its body was all bloated as if like a balloon that was ready to burst open. Furthermore, there as a gas like effect near its mouth. Mark could not help but think of therge Woodman back in the City Hall. The Dozer in front of them should be another Level-2 Mutation.


    Hearing the shouts, the police started to get ready to confront the infected and save these survivors. It was their duty after all. However, an unexpected situation happened.


    "Well sh*t."


    Mark cursed. It was because when the Dozer saw him, it disregarded the survivors it was chasing before and started charging towards Mark''s direction.


    "Gale, stay here and guard the car. Papa will deal with this guy!"


    Mark did not wait for the little girl''s reply and ran off towards another direction, away from the convoy.

 Chapter 94 Unconventional Use Of The Dozer

    Day 3 ¨C 1:52 PM ¨C Commercial Center, Molino Boulevard, Bayanan, Bacoor City, Cavite


    After Mark noticed that this Mutated Infected changed its target and was actually running towards him, he did not hesitate to lure it away from the convoy. It was impossible for the vehicles to drive away because of their current location and the road towards the exit was still littered with several abandoned vehicles.


    He really did not expect that he would encounter another of these Dozers here and someone that had mutated further. Given the fact that the Dozer back in the mall exploded like a balloon and released methane gas, it could surely do the same. If the policemen started shooting this guy when it got near the vehicles, the result would be devastating.


    BAM! BAM! BAM!


    Loud sounds echoed across the Commercial Center as the Dozer bulldoze through all the obstacles just to reach Mark who was quickly fleeing. Abandoned stalls, metal signage posts and even vehicles did not manage to stop the charge of the Dozer and was pushed aside.


    Strong! This Mutated Infected was too strong! Furthermore, it was also too fast! With the speed it was running right now, it was not hard for it to catch up to Mark. It was a wonder how those four survivors managed to run away from his guy. He then realized. Maybe, the dead person it was carrying right now dyed it for a bit giving enough time for the other four to run away.


    Seeing that the cars were pushed aside, Mark''s eyes lit up. He started luring the Dozer towards the street.


    BAM! CRASH! BAM! BAM! CRASH! BAM!


    Multiple loud sounds echoed as the Dozer started mming its body on the vehicles that were blocking its way. The vehicles crashed towards one another after being pushed aside by the Dozer''s charge.


    On the convoy, the people tensely watched the scene unfold. They could see Mark agilely jumping over the roofs of the vehicles with the two meter fat infected chasing him from behind. They could not understand why he was not shooting the infected.


    The four survivors that were running away reached the convoy and were assisted by the police and the medical workers that went out of the vehicles. The four was assisted into one of the vehicles to tend to their needs.


    "Chief, what are you doing! Assist him! Shoot the infected!"


    Madam Lanie walked out of the vehicle and ordered the Chief as it seemed that the situation was not good.


    "Don''t!"


    However she was interrupted by a shouting from Mark''s vehicle. When she turned to look, it was the beautiful girl who walked out of their vehicle holding a cool looking crossbow. She seemed wary with the chief around but she was seriously looking at her.


    "Why?"


    Madam asked the question with a toned down voice. No matter what, this girl should be Mark''s woman. It was not good to offend her.


    "That infected could explode with fire if you shoot it with a gun!"


    Hearing what she said, the policemen who were getting ready to assist Mark shivered. They were already preparing their guns and move out upon receiving orders.


    "What do you mean?"


    The Chief stepped forward and asked but they were dumbfounded. When he stepped forward, the beautiful girl actually retreated. Everyone around looked at the Chief. Was he that scary?


    Seeing that the girl seemed to be afraid of Chief Mari, one of the policemen took the initiative to ask but before he could even ask he turned speechless. Because the beautiful girl also stepped back giving all the men a scared look.


    "Move away all of you men. Can''t you see she''s afraid of you all?"


    Madam Lanie pushed them all away. All the men around was crying inside. When the men retreated, the beautiful girl''s face looked better.


    "I''ll ask this time, what do you mean with what you just said?"


    Madam Lanie asked in a gentle manner.


    "Uhm. That infected can release and its body is full of methane. That is why it looked too bloated."


    Mei replied in a low voice.


    Hearing her reply, everyone around understood. Carelessly shooting that infected could lead to severe repercussions.


    "How did you know?"


    Madam Lanie asked again.


    "We encountered one of those back in the mall. When Gege shot it with this crossbow, it exploded and released a lot of methane."


    Mei''s reply enlightened the congresswoman. Still, she could not help but wonder why she was calling Mark, "Gege".


    "Madam Lanie, its better if we don''t get in Master''s way."


    Another voice interrupted Madam Lanie''s thoughts. It was Odelina who just went out of the vehicle to look at the situation.


    "What do you mean?"


    "Look, Master is paving the way for us."


    Odelina replied to Madam Lanie''s question while pointing at Mark who was already leading the Mutated Infected along the middle of the street.


    Then they saw it.


    All the vehicles blocking the way were being pushed aside and the space between the pushed vehicles was enough for the convoy to go through.


    BAM! BAM! SCREECH!


    Mark continued jumping over the roofs of the abandoned vehicles to lead the Dozer out through the street and even attracting more infected on the way. However, his n was still going smoothly. Even the regr infected that started to chase after him became coteral damages after the Dozer pushed their bodies aside and some even became mangled after getting squeezed between the Dozer and the vehicle in front of it.


    At thest jump, Mark did notnd on the roof of another car but in the concrete after he entered the vicinity of the gas station on the other corner of the intersection right in front of the fast food restaurant where they stopped earlier.


    Back at the convoy inside the Commercial Center, Odelina already started to push the remaining vehicles blocking the road aside. Around the convoy, the police and even the bodyguards of the congresswoman that started to help continued on keeping the infected at bay. So far, they did not incur any casualty which was a good thing.


    It was then that the radio Mei was holding rang.


    "Gege?"


    "Mei''er, tell Odel to follow the path I opened and head towards the gas station. Try to see if we can get gas from there."


    "Okay! I''ll tell her. Gege? Where are you now?"


    "I''m past the gas station now. I''ll just lure these guys chasing me away. Wait for me at the gas station."<sub> </sub>


    "Alright. Be careful."


    "Don''t worry. I can handle myself."


    With that, the convoy moved faster and out of the Commercial Center. The path Mark made using the Level-2 Mutation Dozer was proven useful. The opened path between the cars was still a little bit smallpared to the width of the MB Sprinter but it just took a second of push to widen the space between the abandoned vehicles.


    In about two minutes, the convoy reached the gas station.


    After arriving, Odel immediately jumped off the vehicle and searched for a possible way to get diesel for the vehicle. However, she was disappointed. Without electricity, the fuel pumps would not work. All she could do was gather necessities for maintaining the vehicle like motor oil and other stuff found in the gas station.


    The other people also went out of the convoy to help. It was also necessary for the other vehicles to be refueled. At their estimate, two of the vans they had could only be used one way and could only be discarded once they reached Firenze which would be a pity.


    The policemen and the bodyguards proceeded on guarding the group and kept the iing infected at bay. However, the noise was starting to get louder and more infected started to head towards the gas station. The number of the people dealing with the infected at the moment would not be enough. Luckily, a little girl kept on running and jumping everywhere killing all the infected she could deal with. It really helped the armed men a lot and to be frank, Abbygale was more efficient in killing the infected than all of the menbined.


    Swoosh! Swoosh!


    Mei also started to help in killing the infected. She was currently using the crossbow pistol Mark made for her. And to say, she was getting better at using the weapon.


    BOOM!!!


    While everyone was busy doing their tasks, a loud explosion apanied by a burst of mes upwards to the sky was seen not far from their location. They could not see the actual cause of the explosion because of the curved road but they were sure that it happened just beside the road.


    Mei could not help but worry since the explosion was toorge.


    Soon, they saw someoneing over from the direction where the explosion happened. It was Mark. He looked tired as he walked back and dealt with some of the infected on the way.


    When he finally returned to the group, she was greeted by another hug from Mei making the men around stare with envy.


    "Mei''er, do you really have to do this every time?"


    Mark asked Mei helplessly.


    "I do. Is it bad?"


    Mei answered his question with a pitiful expression. Mark could only sigh to this. He then hugged Mei tightly in return before letting her go.


    "Happy now?"


    To his next question however, Mei did not answer and immediately ran back into the vehicle with a reddened face.


    "Papa, me too."


    Mark looked beside him and saw Abbygale who already raised both her arms waiting for her Papa to lift her up. He could only sigh as he picked the little girl up. He did not even notice how this little girl got beside him. He then walked towards Odelina while carrying the little girl in his arms.


    "Master, is this really the time for that?"


    Odelina said with annoyance. She had been disappointed that she could not find a way to get diesel for the vehicle and her Master was flirting after he returned.


    "Sorry about that. I''m too tired running away. That fat guy is too fast. I had to give it my all just to run away. If I didn''t manage to make it stuck between two trees, I would still be running right now. I''m just refilling my energy."


    "What kind of energy are you even refilling?"


    Odelina felt helpless as she murmured that question.


    "We can''t get diesel?"


    Mark suddenly asked Odelina noticing that she looked down and disappointed.


    "Yes, the pumps won''t work without electricity. There are no generators either."


    "I see."


    Mark came understood the situation. This gas station was a small one after all. He looked around the gas station before giving Odelina some instructions.


    "Odel, remember that siphon pump I brought from the mall? Take it out and also get me a crowbar."


    Odelina was a bit confused what he was going to do but did not question him and took out the items he needed.


    "Papa, I''ll help the police fight the infected."


    "Alright, just be careful."


    Mark put Abbygale down. She then rushed towards the iing infected like she was just ying in a yground. He did not know what to say about this.


    Odelina brought the pump and the crowbar to Mark. After that, he moved towards one of the square metal covers that had yellow paint. Using the crowbar, he pulled off the cover which was luckily not locked.


    There, the smell of diesel escaped out of the hole under that removed cover. Odelina was surprised.


    "Master, you also knew about these things?"


    "Don''t underestimate the abilities of a Job Hopper alright?"


    "Master, I do not think that it should be something to be proud of."


    "Nah, forget about it. Drive the car here. Oh, wait. Find me an additional hose first. The hole is too deep for the pump."


    While Mark was doing all those stuff, everyone around was watching him. They could not help but be amazed on how versatile this man was.


    After that, it did not take too much time until they filled the fuel tank of their vehicle. They also got some extra gallons just in case they needed it. They even managed to get enough fuel for the other vehicles the survivors was riding on.


    The only struggle the experienced while getting gasoline was the number of the iing infected that was gettingrger overtime. Because of that, they did not fill the fuel tanks of all the vehicles and just filled it enough to be driven several more times. Mark also had to join the people who was keeping the infected at bay. With him and Abbygale joining forces together, everyone felt more at ease.


    After gathering the fuel, the convoy hurriedly drove off leaving the gas station overrun with infected.

 Chapter 95 The Splitting Of The... Large Horde

    Day 3 ¨C 2:35 PM ¨CMolino Boulevard, Bayanan, Bacoor City, Cavite


    The convoy had already left the gas station and at about fifty meters away from the gas station, every single person inside the cars was looking at the left side of the road. It was the location where the explosion urred several minutes ago. What they could see was arge number of burned bodies with two still burning trees in the middle. Everything within the ten meter radius around the trees were charred and burned.


    The police who remembered what Mei said to them could not help but swallow their own saliva. It was good that they had been warned or the consequences could have been grave. They did not even want to imagine what could have happened if they shot that fat mutant infected near the convoy.


    This scene was nothing to joke about and yet, the person who was the root of this scene went back to them like he just did some exercise.


    Inside the MB Sprinter that was leading the convoy. Melissa and Charmaine were staring at Mark with incredulous expression.


    "Big Brother, You did all this right?"


    To Charmaine''s question, Mark who was tuning one of his radios to the frequency the police behind them was using just nced at the scene outside and nodded while shrugging his shoulders.


    "There were too many infected chasing me that time. I had no choice."


    Charmaine felt irritated at his expression. She did not know that Mark was really feeling tired at the moment and was not in the mood to talk too much. Since this morning, too many things happened after all. If he could actually sleep at this time, he had already done so.


    Unexpectedly, it looked like someone noticed his umting fatigue.


    "Gege, you can rest if you want to."


    Mark faintly smiled hearing that and shook his head.


    "Maybe,ter."


    However, it seemed that Mei was not taking a ''no'' for an answer. She pulled Mark towards her and made himy down on the sofa and at herp as a pillow. Mark who was feeling tired was caught off guard and did not manage to resist. The two women in front of them were speechless at the scene. The two of them were there sitting but the couple in front of them kept on flirting.


    "Gege, you should rest."


    Mei said in a stern voice leaving Mark with no way to decline. Knowing that, Mark did not say anything and just let Mei do what she wanted. She them removed his helmet and started to gently caress his hair. As Mark was looking the opposite direction of Mei, he could not see what her expression looked like.


    It did not take long for Mark to slowly close his eyes and fell asleep. Mei did not know that she just found one of Mark''s weak points. This weak point was the reason he fell asleep easily. The proof of this was because it was hard for Mark to fell asleep easily even if he was tired since the emotions of other people that he was continuously absorbing was actually keeping him from sleeping deeply. Right now however, hefortable slept with Mei''s help.


    Melissa and Charmaine who witnessed the whole thing looked at each other and understood each other''s meaning. They both fell silent and did not disturb the two. It was because of the satisfied face Mei was making while watching Mark sleep on herp and caressing his hair.


    The rest of the way fortunately went smoothly. There were a few roundabouts and bumping on the way but it could still be considered as smooth since the numbers of danger they could encounter in the time of apocalypse were enormous.


    ***


    Everything was white and Mark could see two shadows waving at him. He could not see their faces but he could hear their voices saying gratitude and goodbye. The voices were familiar and he was sure he knew them. However, he could not remember for some reason.


    The shadows soon walked away after saying a few sentences to him. Strangely, he could not speak. He wanted to ask who they were.


    "Ge¡­"


    "Bi¡­"


    When he could not see the shadows anymore, he could hear two females'' voices.


    "Geg¡­"


    "Big Br¡­"


    He tried to listen closer,


    "Gege, wake up¡­"


    Mark opened his eyes. He could see Mei''s worried face looking above him.


    "Mei''er what''s wrong?"


    "Big Brother, you''re having a nightmare."


    It was Charmaine who answered his question. He looked towards her and saw his younger sister kneeling in front of him. She also looked worried. Behind her, he could see Melissa also watching his situation.


    He lifted his body up and sat beside Mei under their gazes. Mark noticed that he was actually drenched in sweat even though the air-conditioning of the car was on. Looking at their worried faces, he spoke.


    "Don''t worry, I''m fine."


    He patted the heads of the two girls. Their worry finally eased.


    "How long did I sleep?"


    "About 15 minutes I think."


    Melissa answered his question. Mark looked outside.


    "15 minutes, Charm, we''re not there yet?"


    "There are a lot of cars abandoned in the middle of the road. We''re already past Citta Italia now."


    "I see."


    Looking outside the window, Mark could see the familiar vacant lots used for farming. Their destination was already close by. The only problem he expected would be the possibility of encountering a huge number of infected since they would go to an area where four malls was actually located near each other. Before the apocalypse,petitions betweenpanies owning mall franchises were very high. This was the result that could be found in many ces in the Philippines.


    Unfortunately, the fast food branch owned by Carlo''s grandfather was actually built outside one of the mall which was the furthest one of the four from the direction they wereing from.<sub> </sub>


    Mark just wished that there would be no heavy traffic blockade on the road. The next intersection they would go through was frequently prone to heavy traffic.


    Fortunately, Mark''s wish was granted.


    When they arrived at the vicinity of the first mall before the intersection, they were greeted by arge number of infected. It was arge horde and enough to overturn everything into demise. The thankful thing was that there was still a traffic blockade but not blocking the direction they needed to go. The traffic blockade was on the southern side of the intersection and their destination was on the left turn which was the northern side.


    "Odel."


    Mark called while looking at the horde further away in front of the vehicle.


    "Yes, Master?"


    "Mow those guys down."


    "Yes. Everyone, please hold onto something."


    Odelina said before stepping on the gas deeper, shifted the gear and started to elerate the vehicle.


    On the vehicles following behind, the survivors'' faces were looking grim. They could see therge number of infected at further in the distance and for some reason¡­


    Their vehicles had no signs of stopping.


    Inside the Multi-cab which was the police were riding, Chief Mari''s radio started crackling.


    "Chief, keep up with us. We''re going to drive through this horde."


    Hearing that, Chief Mari''s eyes and the policemen around him dted.


    ''What a bunch of lunatics!''


    They could see the number of infected further on the road and it was nothing to joke at. Their cars will be overturned if they tried to charge through that!


    Chief Mari immediately replied.


    "Are you sure about this? Our cars can''t go through that unscathed. We could get stuck there or worse, overturned!"


    "Is that so?"


    The Police Chief felt helpless hearing the indifferent voice in the radio.


    "Let''s do this. We''ll stop and drive back. We''ll wait for your group back there near the farming lots."


    The chief suggested.


    "Hmmm¡­ Alright, that could also work."


    Hearing that reply, the Chief felt relief until¡­


    "You guys won''t be much of help even if you guys tried to go with us anyway."


    Chief Mari felt spitting out blood. However, he could not refute it either. There were two monsters riding that vehicle after all.


    Disregarding thatst remark, the Chief informed the other vehicles through the radio. The vehicles then stopped and then everyone watched the ck armored vehicle sped off unto the horde decimating every single infected blocking the way. They soon turned around and drove back to the vacant lots where they could easily see the perimeter of the area and watch out for iing threats.


    BAM! BAM! BAM! BAM!


    Back on the MB Sprinter that was driving through the horde, the wipers of the vehicle was already turned on. The wipers wiped out the blood on the front window as the bodies of the infected sttered blood on it. The V-shaped ram of the vehicle yed the huge role of decimating the infected, throwing everything aside due to the strong impact and the shape of the ram. The shape of the ram also lessened the shaking of the vehicle for every infected it hit.


    While the vehicle was decimating the infected outside, Melissa, Charmaine and Odelina''s two children looked pale as they hold onto their seats for the sake of living. Looking outside, just how many infected was flocking towards their vehicle? If not over a thousand, it should still be in several hundreds!


    Yet¡­ They looked at Mark, Abbygale and Mei''s faces. They actually looked fine! As if it was just nothing to them!


    Just like how Moses parted the red sea into two, the ck Armored MB Sprinter mowed down the infected splitting the horde into two and even kept going. The vehicle did not slow down even a little and even elerated further. The vehicle left a whole lot of gore and blood behind.


    This could be said a suicidal attempt but Mark decided on this approach after thinking deeply. One of the factors was the weight and speed of their vehicle. It would not be easy for the infected to overturn it and the V-shaped ram would keep the vehicle from decelerating too much. Another was that they would just check their destination and look if there was anyone living inside. For other people, it would take some time but for Mark, it would just take seconds.


    If luckily that Mark found a survivor in there, depending on who the survivor was, he would either save or abandon them. And they will do it as fast as possible. Mark was also confident that this horde would not be able to catch up with their vehicle. In his estimation, the number of Biters remaining was far lesser than Eaters and that was to his favor.


    Mark was right about that. Biters numbered more than Eaters and the ratio between the two was also very in favor of the Biters. It was just that most of the Biters went after the fleeing survivors like he said before leaving just a smaller fraction behind, that went for the hiding survivors.


    The blockade was just ahead and Odelina drove the vehicle towards the oppositene making their way out of the horde. Behind the vehicle, the Biters kept chasing on their tail but failed to get close too much due to the higher number of Eaters wandering around the area.


    The four nervous people inside the vehicle finally felt relieved. They actually made it through! Odelina who was looking at the dashboard mirror could not help but let out a bitter smile seeing the pale faces of her children. She decided to spoil them a bitter to make up for their fright.


    Finally, they arrived in front of the WCRonalds branch after pushing some vehicles aside. They parked the vehicle at the front parking.


    Upon entering the vicinity of the fast food restaurant, the scene that could tell everyone that there would be no survivors was present. Most of the ss walls of the restaurant both on the first and the second floor were decimated and broken ss pieces was scattered everywhere. The red blood sshed on walls and floors stands out on the while paint inside the restaurant premises.


    However, to Mark''s surprise, he actually detected living people. He looked at the left half of the second floor. The restaurant was designed with the second floor dining area only having half the size of the floor. The other half was where the airconditioning, venttion and other rooftop equipment were installed. And at that half was actually where he detected people. There were four of them and every fluctuation was weak. It seemed that all of them were not in the good condition.


    "Gale, let''s go. Odel, Mei, defend the vehicle. I found people on the second floor."


    Together with Abbygale, Mark jumped off the vehicle and ran into the restaurant with his weapons ready.

 Chapter 96 The Consequences Of Complacency In The Apocalypse

    Day 3 ¨C 2:46 PM ¨C Vacant Farming Lot, Molino Boulevard, Bayanan, Bacoor City, Cavite


    Several vehicles were parked beside the side walk of the curved boulevard in two rows. It was the survivors that decided to wait for Mark and his group''s return. The parked the vehicles in this way to reduce the area needed to be protected by the police, the bodyguards and the armed volunteers. Most of the survivors stayed inside the vehicle with only the armed men patrolling outside.


    It was fortunate for them that the location was a good spot to stop over. The wide road on the west and south area was the wide road while the northern and eastern area was the vast vacant farnd. There were no hiding spots and every movement from all directions could be observed except for some parts of the farnd were the grass had grown taller than two meters. The tall grasses however were quite far in the distance and could be considered insignificant.


    The group attracted quite a number of infected after stopping but was efficiently dealt by the police. If was fortunate for them that they did not attract the horde since the horde came after the armored van that tore through their horrifying numbers.


    At the north-eastern side of the convoy, two armed volunteers could be heard chatting. The man who was anxiously looking around while sitting on the sidewalk spoke to the other man who stood while leaning on the base of the concrete electric post.


    "Fred, how long do you think we''re going to wait here?"


    "How would I know huh, Luke? Why don''t you try asking them?"


    The man called Fred pointed towards the police with his thumb.


    "Nah, I would rather not. I know that they are protecting us but they still look scary."


    The man sitting on the side walk, Luke, shook his head. Both of the two were government office workers before the outbreak and it was obvious that Luke was a timid person.


    "Why are you scared with them? They are only scary because they have guns. But we also have ours now right?"


    Fred boastfully said while tapping on the gun he put on the belt of his pants. Luke only shook his head hearing Fred''s sentence. The guy was being toocent. Just because he had a gun now, he thought that he wasparable to the trained police? Luke had those thoughts but did not voice it since this guy in front of him was quite hard to deal with even back in the office.


    It was then that Fred turned around and walked towards the farnd leaving the convoy. Luke was about to ask him where he was going when another shout beat him to it.


    "Hey you there, where are you going?"


    Luke turned his head and saw that it was a police officer who asking Fred. To the question, Fred replied.


    "Boss, nature''s call. I can''t do it here since there are women inside the cars."


    "Is that so? Then do it quick and don''t go too far away."


    "Alright, boss!"


    Fred replied to the police officer with a smug face before turning around once more and continued to walk towards the middle of the farnd. The guy was really not afraid of the police especially since he had a gun himself. It was quitemon to see people who had this kind of attitude even in the ranks of the police. They felt superior and arrogant just because of the weapon holstered on their waists.


    He arrived at the middle of the farnd and saw that the people in the convoy would not see him anymore. Looking around, he saw the nearest tuft of tall grass. He decided to empty his tank there. After moving in front of the tall grass, he noticed that the grass was quite thin and there was an open space behind. As he was confident with himself and with his curiosity kicking in, he decided to look.


    What he found was a 3.5 meter by 2 meter rectangr hole. It was a hole dug by farmers to store water collected from the nearest creek and use the water for watering the crops manually. In fact, the hole was still filled with water because of the rain yesterday. Since there was water inside the hole, who knows what entered the man''s head and decided to take a leak there.


    The sound of flowing water could be heard behind the tall grass as Fred did his thing. Luke who was still sitting on the sidewalk back on the convoy was attentively looking around for danger. He also saw when Fred entered inside the tuft of tall grass but did not think too much about it since it was just a small tuft of grass in the middle of the vacant grasnd.


    It was then¡­


    "AAAAHHHHH!!! HELP!!"


    They all heard a loud scream. Luke immediately turned towards the group of tall grass. He was sure that it was Fred''s voice. Luke immediately flung himself up and sprinted towards the middle of the farnd. Several police officers also went towards the source of the scream.


    BANG!


    Midway their sprint, they heard a loud gunshoting from the same direction where the scream came from.


    BANG! BANG!


    As several more shots sounded, the men who went to aid froze. When the gunshots finally stopped, they all continued with extreme caution. But before they could reach the tuft of tall grass however, the tall grass in front swayed open and a silhouette of a person came out. It was Fred.


    However, his eyes were all red as if it was irritated and there was a white web like root on his face, neck and arms. Furthermore, there was a red mark on his pants. It was blood and by the shape of the mark, it looked like a bite.


    "Luke! Help me!"


    Fred staggered out of the tuft and called out to Luke who was already nearby. He then fell down on all fours sttering his arm and pants with mud. He then started wailing in pain and started to roll on the mud while clutching his head.


    "Fred!"


    Luke shouted and was about to run when a hand grabbed him on his right shoulder stopping him from doing so. When the turned around, it was one of the police officer who went to help.


    "What are you doing? I need to help him!"


    Luke had forgotten his fear of the police due to his panic. He tried to shake off the hand on his shoulder but he failed to do so. When he was about to retaliate, he heard the police officer speak.


    "Sir, calm down. It''s likely that he was bitten. If you came close to him carelessly, who might also get bitten by him if he suddenly turned."


    Hearing that, Luke calmed down a bit but he was still worried. Even though he and Fred were not too close to each other, they knew each other for several years now. Furthermore, he was the only person he knew within the survivors.<sub> </sub>


    While everyone was hesitating whether to approach Luke or not, the tuft started rustling and another person came out. It was an infected.


    The infected was slow and there were several bullet holes on its body. The bullet holes were probably done by Fred. The most noticeable thing however was that there were several odd looking fungi on the infected''s face and arms. There were also web like white roots all over its body. On one of its eyes, a clump of trumpet shaped white colored mushrooms were growing. There were also smaller mushrooms on other parts of its body.


    Looking back at the wailing Fred, he already had the same web like patterns on his body and was spreading fast. Soon, his actions started to became weaker and he started twitching with his back on the mud. He then stopped moving. After that, under the gazes of the witnesses, Fred''s right eye burst into a stream of blood and the same trumpet shaped mushroom that was stained with blood started growing at a fast pace. It was as if they were watching a growth of a mushroom in fast motion. The scene made all the witnesses fall back in fright and disgust.


    Fred then stood up and started to shamble towards the men who went for his aid.


    "Fred¡­"


    Luke was crestfallen. His friend just went off like that.


    "Snap out of it! Quickly deal with those two!"


    One of the police officers bellowed. The frightened police snapped out of their emotions. They needed to deal with the threat first before anything else. Since the two were just moving slowly, one of the police officers decided to deal with the two infected in melee. There were already several gunshots that were fired and they did not want to attract more danger.


    Under Luke''s eyes, the police officer went towards Fred and smashed his police baton towards Fred''s neck. That was then¡­


    With a puff, the mushroom that had just grown out of Fred''s eye released white smoke enveloping the police officer.


    "GAAHHHH!!!!"


    The police officer then subconsciously released the baton in his hand and staggered backwards while clutching his neck and face. The wind then carried the smoke away towards the other people. Everyone immediately retreated. However, the crestfallen Luke waste to react. He managed to inhale the white smoke.


    "Cough! GAH! UGH! Sh*t!"


    Luke fell down on his knees and clutched his neck as if he wanted to strangle himself.


    The other police officers stared wide eyed on the unexpected scene. They then saw the web like roots started growing on the two persons who inhaled the white smoke. They finally realized that it was not smoke. The smoke was actually mushroom spores!


    The two infected then went towards the two victims and bit them on their necks. The two then turned in a matter of seconds.


    "Damn it! Don''t get close! Shoot them! Don''t care about the noise anymore!"


    Given the signal, they started shooting the four infected and brought them down. Still, no one of them dared to go close at their bodies.


    Chief Mari and Madam Lanie who saw the scene from far away had their foreheads knitted. The other survivors inside the vehicles grimaced. Outside the vehicles, the armed men were crestfallen. They just lost tree capable men.


    It enlightened them to the meaning of not letting their guards down. Just one slip up and it could be the end.


    The armed men looked around, they now needed to deal with the iing infected that was drawn in by the gunshots.


    Everyone wished that Mark''s group return as fast as possible.


    ***


    Day 3 ¨C 2:47 PM ¨C WCRonalds, Molino Road, Molino II, Bacoor City, Cavite


    Mark hacked the neck of an Eater blocking his way inside the restaurant. Since the space inside the restaurant along with the overturned chairs and tables, Mark was having a hard time fighting. Abbygale had the same predicament. She could not bounce around and kick the necks of the infected inside the restaurant too much due to the mess and unstable footing.


    As the time was the essence, Mark stopped trying to conserve ammunition and took out his pistol.


    TSST! TSST!


    Two shots and two infected fell down and never to stand up again. At that moment, a Biter busted in from the northern side of the restaurant through the broken ss walls. However, the Biter was greeted by a kick from the little girl sending the Biter flying back outside the restaurant. Attracted by the noise below, several infected went down from the second floor through the stairs and window. Mark could see some infected falling outside the restaurant creating st sounds.


    "Huh?"


    Mark suddenly looked up. The number of people he detected decreased by one for some reason. It gave him a sense of crisis. After eliminating the infected on the first floor, Mark and Abbygale immediately went up. They were greeted by a dozen infected wandering the second floor. Seeing the neersing from the stairs, the infected immediately scrambled towards Mark and Abbygale. The little girl was ready to charge when her Papa spoke.


    "Gale, let me handle this."


    After holstering his pistol back into his belt, he pulled the M16 from his side and flicked the safety lever.


    TSST! TSST! TSST! TSST! TSST! TSST! TSST! TSST! TSST!


    After more than a dozen shots, all the infected on the second floor fell soaking into their pools of blood on the floor.


    Mark approached the only staff door at the second floor. It was the door that led to the rooftop outside. Mark could still feel the three weak fluctuations from the other side of the wall. He shot the lock of the door. It was a door that did not use a door knob and only had a door handle and a separate circr lock.


    After shooting the lock, he kicked the door open and readied his gun just in case. What he saw made him dumbfounded. He saw five people lying around the rooftop. Two of them were already dead. The other three however, a man and two women were lying down on the floor together hugging each other wearing only their underwear.

 Chapter 97 With The Horde Blocking The Way Back

    Day 3 ¨C 2:59 PM ¨C WCRonalds, Molino Road, Molino II, Bacoor City, Cavite


    Mark stared at the three people who were huddle together unconscious.


    "Gale, guard here inside. Make sure that no infected to climb up the stairs."


    Hearing what he said, the little girl nodded and attentively guarded the stairs.


    Actually, there was not much need to guard the stairs as the infected was not too adept on climbing up on higher floors. Mark just did not want to make his daughter see the scene outside the door. Even if they were unconscious, three full grown adults huddled and sleeping together in their underwear was not a sight for children to see.


    When went to her post, Mark approached the three unconscious people. He finally confirmed that the man who was in the middle was the person he was looking for, his younger brother, Carlo. The woman to his right was also familiar. If Mark was right, she was Carlo''s girlfriend Sundra. Mark did not recognize the other woman though.


    The faces of the three were reddish and their breaths were ragged. Kneeling down, Mark touched the foreheads of the three and confirmed that they were all in the same condition. They all had high fevers and their underwear was still wet. Mark found the clothes of the three hanged on one of the machines on the rooftop and the clothes had not yet fully dried up.


    Mark looked around and noticed that there was no ce to hide from the rain in this ce. The ce was filled with different machines that were bolted on the roof and the walls. If this was the case, these people might have been under the rain for the whole day yesterday. That situation would sure make anyone experience hypothermia. These three huddling closely might have been theirst resort to the situation and keep their bodies as warm as possible.


    These people surely have been stuck here in this ce with more than a dozen of infected on the second floor. Mark turned at the two dead bodies. One of them just died and the other might have been dead several hours ago. They did not manage to handle their illness and had probably given up resisting. It was peaceful death if they died while being unconscious.


    ***


    It seemed that touching their foreheads disturbed Sundra and she weakly opened her eyes. Turning her head slowly, she saw a man exuding a scary aura standing beside them. However, she did feel scared at all. She opened her mouth and said in a whisper like manner.


    "Please, help us."


    The weak woman stared at the man but he did not reply. It was then that she felt worried that the man who just arrived had ill intentions. However, the man then moved. He took out a radio from his belt and spoke.


    "Mei''er."


    "Gege! What is it?"


    Sundra heard a female voice from the radio. The voice sounded like an angel, as it she was about to fetch them into afterlife. The man who was called Gege by the female on the radio replied.


    "Tell Melissa to go inside the restaurant. I''ll get Gale to fetch her. Bring three towels, medicine for fever and water that isn''t cold. Also Mei''er, prepare some hot water and cook some porridge on the cooker. You can do that right?"


    "Alright!"


    Hearing the conversation, Sundra felt tearing up. How could she not realize that those things that the man requested were for them who were lying on the floor in sickness? Their hard days were finally over. Since the outbreak came too sudden, they were stuck in this roof without any preparation. There were actually eight people back then.


    Knowing that they would be stuck in here for some time, the three tried to go inside the restaurant to fetch some necessities but never came back. Among the remaining five of them, only Carlo, her boyfriend, had the courage to volunteer to get food but she did not let him go. After sunset on the first day, they were tired and hungry. However, they had no way of getting food and other things. Then, the ursed rain fell. At first, they thought that it was a blessing since they could at least drink the falling rain but the rain did not let up until midnightst night.


    After being drenched with rain and exposed to the cold for long, they all fell sick and their hunger further led them to fell unconscious. With thest resort, she and Carlo removed their rainwater drenched clothes and huddled together. With no choice left, the other female who was one of the staff in the restaurant huddled together with them. Still, the effect was not enough and they still lost consciousness after sometime.


    Sundra looked at her unconscious boyfriend. His condition was worse than her since he used his body to cover her up from the rain. She raised her weak hand and touched his cheek with a weak smile.


    ***


    On the parking area in front of WCRonalds, Mei who was helping Odelina to hold back the infected received Mark''s orders and immediatelyplied. Odelina also heard what Mark said and realized that something must have gone wrong. She let Mei do what she was asked to do and was left alone to deal with the iing infected.


    Soon, Abbygale went out of the restaurant and escorted Melissa who was now carrying arge bag back into the restaurant. However, Mei did not go back to help yet since there were other things she was asked to do.


    Unfortunately, Odelina was in a dilemma. The horde had finally caught up and the front of the horde was just a few blocks away. This was something she could not handle alone.


    However, she must not let down her master. She must think of a way to hold these infected back. Looking around, her gaze fell onto the parked and abandoned vehicles. It gave her a good idea.


    She punched a Bitering her way breaking its skull and then, she closed her eyes to concentrate. At that moment, the lower part of her jeans was torn a slit on both sides. Next, a grey bony growth started to cover her feet and legs while the bone armor covering her hands started to grow and cover her forearms up to her elbow.


    ***


    Back at the rooftop on the second floor, Mark waited at the side as Melissa administered medicine on the three people. Sundra was conscious but the other two was not, needing her help to ingest the medicine they needed.


    "It''s hypothermia, isn''t it?"


    Mark asked Melissa.


    "Yes, the symptoms clearly showed it. However, this man''s fever seemed to be something else. The temperature was too high and I could say that his high body temperature is the reason why these two women are still alive."


    "I see, so that''s the case."


    Mark smiled which made Melissa baffled at his expression.


    Sundra who was already helped to sit down and was given a dry towel to cover her body leaned on the wall behind her while drinking some water from the bottle given to her. Hearing the conversation of the two, she could not help but worriedly look at her boyfriend who was still unconscious and suffering.  She weakly stretched out her right hand and held Melissa''s arm getting her attention.


    "Please, save Carlo."


    She said in a muffled voice.


    To her plea, Melissa gently smiled and said while pointing at Mark with her thumb.


    "You don''t have to worry. Even if you don''t say it, my boss there won''t watch him die."


    Sundra looked at Mark who squatted beside Carlo and was checking his state.


    "Thank you."


    Sundra said filled with gratitude.


    <o>,m "By the way boss, why do you seem happy when he is burning with high fever?"</o>


    Melissa turned towards Mark and asked.


    "Just where did that "Boss"e from?"


    Mark replied with a question while looking at the nurse in confusion.


    "Because you''re the leader right? I''m not your servant so I won''t call you Master like Odel so boss is just fine. Right, Boss? Also answer my question first."


    Hearing her reasoning, Mark shook his head. Though, her reasoning was right on point, somehow, he was reluctant to admit it. Furthermore, as if Mark would not notice that she was paying back for the fright she received when they tore through the horde.


    "About his fever, it''s likely that it is connected to his evolution."


    "Evolution?"


    "Remember what I said about the Mutagen changing the bodies of the survivors? Abnormally high fever is one of the symptoms of that."<sub> </sub>


    Mark looked at the unconscious Carlo and continued.


    "In his case, maybe, what he will receive would be like stronger body and cold limation."


    "How are you sure about that?"


    Melissa looked confused.


    "Hmm¡­ I forgot to exin it earlier I think. You see, what the person who was undergoing before evolution experienced before falling into high fever would affect their evolution. Odel''s children for example, they were both mortally wounded before evolution so they received every high regeneration rate. If you try to would them now, it would be healed quickly."


    "Wait, wait. I didn''t about that?!You and Gale aside, Mrs. Odel''s children were also abnormal?"


    Melissa stared at Mark wide eyed.


    "We''ll yeah? Odel too."


    "Then Mei is¡­"


    "Nah, she''s normal, the only abnormal about her is her mental state right now."


    Mark shrugged his shoulders making the nurse speechless.


    Sundra who could not keep up and did not understand most of their conversation could only understand one thing. Carlo was not in danger and might even be in better state after he woke up. She could finally breathe in relief.


    BAM! BAM!


    While the people in the rooftop were immersed in their work, they heard loud soundsing from the front of the restaurant. Mark jumped onto a machine followed by Melissa to see the situation outside. The scene outside almost made Melissa fall back in shock.


    The horde was already in front of the restaurant and was trying to pass through the line of toppled cars that somehow appeared. However, that was not the most shocking part for her. At the parking lot, she saw Odelina whose arms and legs were covered with grey bones was kicking vehicles toppling them into a barricade in front of the restaurant.


    On Odelina''s every kick, one side of the vehicle in front of her would lift off the ground making the vehicle roll on its side scattering ss fragments and other metal parts around. Now, she understood what Mark had just told her.


    She then heard Mark''s voice asking her a question.


    "Melissa, can we move that other woman? We need to get out of here as soon as possible."


    Mark was frowning. The horde had already blocked the road in front of the restaurant. Since he was at a vantage point and higher than the ground, he could now make out several familiar silhouettes among the horde. There was a Level-1 Mutation Dozer and even another of that Charred looking infected. There were even some that he saw for the first time. Unfortunately he would not be able to examine the abilities of those guys due to the existence of the horde.


    To his question, Melissa replied.


    "We can but her body should be handled with care since her muscles are in pain due to her fever."


    "Alright, you two stay here and I''ll move them to the vehicle first."


    After Melissa nodded, Mark lifted the unconscious woman who was covered with a dry towel in a princess carry and brought her out. Before the apocalypse, Mark would have struggled to carry this woman but his evolution helped him do so. He effortlessly carried the woman to the first floor with Abbygale as guard.


    Upon arriving at the vehicle, Charmaine, Mei and Odelina''s children were surprised to see Mark carrying an unconscious almost naked woman. The two women wanted to ask questions but stopped themselves from doing so since it was not the time to do so. After making the unconscious womany down on the sofa, Mark immediately returned to the restaurant and picked up the fever stricken Carlo on his back with Melissa''s help.


    Charm was shocked to see Carlo who was also unconscious. However, she was relieved that he was still alive at the same time. For onest time, Mark went back inside the restaurant to pick up Sundra. Like the unconscious woman, Mark lifted her in a princess carry. Sundra was embarrassed but did not say anything. She knew that these people were their saviors and it was not right to be picky about things.


    Mark brought Sundra with Melissa and Abbygale beside him. With the little girl guarding Mark back and forth into the restaurant, the work went smoothly even if the infected managed to enter the restaurant from the northern side which was open and connected to the parking lot of the mall beside the restaurant.


    After settling Sundra inside the vehicle, Mark went together with Abbygale to meet Odelina. Melissa returned inside the vehicle since she knew that she was of no help even if she stayed outside.


    When Mark reached Odelina''s location, he could see the barricade of vehicles effectively holding the horde back. After all, the barricade was made with severalyers of vehicles toppled together.


    "What''s the situation?"


    "Master, we can''t use this road to go back. The horde becamerger after we attracted the infected from the malls on the side of the road and from other areas nearby."


    "But we can''t make a detour either."


    Mark said while frowning and continued.


    "The route to north is prone to traffic and there are several schools there. There should be a lot of infected there."


    "We''re in a dilemma aren''t we, Master?"


    "Let me try something first. If it didn''t work, we''ll try to find another way."


    What he said made both Odelina and Abbygale look at him.


    "Master? What do you want to do?"


    Mark tapped his chin with his right index finger and said.


    "You''ll know when you see it. What you two should do is get on the vehicle and get ready to leave."


    "But Master."


    "Do you two trust me?"


    Mark looked at his servant and his daughter. Both nodded without hesitation.


    "Then, do what I said and wait for my orders on the radio."


    The two agreed and hurried to back into the vehicle. Seeing the two enter the vehicle, Mark looked at the horde in front of him.


    "Well, what will you do at this situation Freed? As if you will answer."


    Mark fiddled with his phone.


    "What music is best for this scene I wonder? Alright, this one."


    He yed the song titled "The Wind is Blowing" sung by a Japanese Idol group from his phone and smiled while his eyes became sharper and his body exuding an unexinable aura.


    "Here it goes."


    After inhaling and exhaling deeply, Mark jumped into tallest vehicle in the barricade making sure that every infected in the horde saw him.

 Chapter 98 Engulfing Everything In Flames

    Day 3 ¨C 3:18 PM ¨C WCRonalds Front Parking, Molino Road, Molino II, Bacoor City, Cavite


    GUAAHHH!!! RAAAAU!!! GRAAAR!!!


    The noises created by the horde were deafening.


    On top of a van that was used as barricade to block the iing horde, Mark stood. His above neck long hair fluttered along with the pping sounds of his clothes. Like the title of the song that was ying in his ears, the wind was blowing. It was blowing beautifully.


    It smelled unpleasant though.


    Mark face could not help but turn unpleasant. With therge number of infected in front of him it was no wonder why the wind smelled so bad. Especially the Biters, their body organs were still functional and thus, their bodies would still excrete urine and feces. Their oddly colored lower body clothes was the evidence to this.


    ROAR!!! GRAAAAHHHHH!!!!


    However, that was the least of his concerns. Among the horde, there were several figures that started to cause havoc. There where figures of different sizes, all of them wanted to get close to Mark in frenzy. It was what he aimed to do though.


    Since the first time he encountered these mutated infected, they had been targeting him no matter how many people were on the other side. Back in the mall, the fat man caused his barricade to copse leading to the long chase he had to suffer through. There was also the Charred infected back when he found Abbygale and the female Dozer afterwards. Next were the Level-2 Mutation Woodman and the Level-2 Mutation Dozer. All of them wereing after him for some reason.


    If that was the case, Mark decided to use that to stir up the mutated infected among the horde. That was the reason he climbed up on the tallest vehicle and made sure that every single infected would see him. And he seeded.


    When he climbed up, themon infected which were the Biters and Eaters behaved normally but the mutated once started to get agitated. They were roaring and trashing everything on their way. He could make out several Dozers among the horde shoving away the other infected in front of them. There was also that hulking muscr infected that started lifting up the infected and throwing them out of the way. The hulking infected also killed other infected as it made its way towards Mark.


    Well, the scene reminded Mark of some people he saw in the inte back then. The mutated infected looked like Korean Pop fan girls that saw their idols out of the concert stage. They woulde rushing towards their idols despite how tight the security was.


    ***


    Back in the vehicle, with the exception of Mei, Abbygale and Odelina, everyone was worried. Even if they could not hear the roars and moans of the infected outside due to the sound proofing of the van, they could see all the scary figures beyond the barricade of vehicles. They all could see Mark who calmly stood on a vehicle looking at the horde as if the ones in front of him were just ants.


    If they were the ones who stood there in front of the horde, it was for sure that their legs would have turned into jelly. They would probably plop down on the roof of the vehicle not knowing what to do.


    Sundra who had just been rescued was not only worried about the infected outside but was also ncing at the woman tied up at the back of the vehicle. Even though she was told that the infected woman was different from those outside, she could not help but be rmed. It was good that Charmaine was there sitting beside her. Even if they were not close, they were familiar with each other. She could now understand why this group of people came here to find her boyfriend. However, she still felt pity. Among all of them who seek refuge at that rooftop, only the three of them made it.


    She looked at the beautiful girl sitting behind the driver''s seat. She was sure that it was her voice that she heard talking from the man''s radio. She could not help but feel inferior not only on her looks but also her current expression. There was not an ounce of fear on her face. As if she truly believed that the man outside would bring them away from this predicament.


    The crackling of the radio was then heard inside the vehicle followed by a man''s voice.


    "Mei''er, tell Odel to get ready.  We''re going to bust it out of here."


    It was Mark''s voice.


    "Gege, she already heard it."


    "Alright, wait for my signal. After that, don''t wait for me and drive through."


    "But Gege, how about you?"


    Mei became worried.


    "Don''t worry about it. I have no ns of getting left behind."


    ***


    Mark put his radio back in his belt while watching the situation in front of him. The mutated infected was still having the brawl of their lives trying to make their way towards him. It was just a pity that the number of themon infected outnumbered the mutated ones. However, they were getting good progress to get to him.


    He suddenly turned to his right, he noticed some abnormal movement. It did not take a second after he turned when an infected jumped over from the ranks of the horde towards him. When Mark, saw it, he was sure that it was another Level-2 Mutation. The body shape of the infected was odd though. It was a female infected and she was crawling on all fours however, rather than like an animal, the movements of her limbs resembled more like an insect. Furthermore, her eyes had a holographic looking texture aside from her pupils.


    The infected sprang off from vehicle to vehicle making her way towards him. She opened her mouth and Mark could see her tongue rolled up looking like proboscis which could be seen on butterflies. She sprang up from another vehicle but Mark did not let her closer.


    BANG!


    Mark had drawn his shotgun and urately shot the mutated infected''s head after she got close enough. He would not take any chances for sudden unexpected situations to ur, especially not at this moment that a horde was in front of him waiting for him to get ughtered.


    The female mutated infected with a sted head fell in between the overturned vehicles andid there motionless.


    Turning back his head at the horde, Mark knew that it was time for the first step tomence. He let go of the shotgun and kneeled on the roof of the vehicle with one knee. Pulling up the Assault Rifle from his back, he closed one of his eyes and aimed at the Dozers among the horde. He aimed at their bellies and not at their heads though.<sub> </sub>


    TSST! TSST! TSST! TSST! TSST! TSST! TSST! TSST!


    All eight Dozers he could see were shot on their bulging stomachs and started wailing in pain. It was the weakness that only Biters and their mutated variants had. However, after their pain subsided, their eyes slowly turned red and they behaved more violently.


    After Mark shot the stomach of the Dozers, the pungent smell of methane started to drift into the air and the density was getting thicker by the moment. Along the spread of methane, the bulging stomachs of the Dozers started to dete in a visible pace. Still, if Mark was closer to their bodies, he would notice that the holes on their stomachs were not only spewing blood but also a huge amount of methane.


    Soon enough, even Mark could not stand the smell anymore. This was the signal for the second step. He pulled up the backpack behind him and opened it. There, he took several grenades. This many grenades would not really help much against the horde but with the thick methane from the Dozers spread among the horde, the effect would be on another level.


    He pulled the pin of the first grenade and threw it as far as he could before being followed by another which was thrown much closer than the previous one. He ended up throwing four grenades on a fast pace before he jumped down the vehicle. Afternding on the ground, he pulled out onest grenade and threw it just behind the barricade before running away madly and lying prone on the ground.


    BOO-!!! BLAAGAAAAM!!!


    Before the sound of the first grenade exploding could enter their ears, it was reced by the loud sound of mes suddenly spreading in arge area.  It was as if there was a storm of fire behind the barricade. They did not even hear the sounds of the remaining grenades exploding as the sounds where overwhelmed by the sound that came from the me.


    It was a sudden inferno. Everyone who saw the scene was both amazed and scared. The scene looked like hell on earth. The explosion even pushed away some of the vehicles from the barricade destroying the line of cars in the process. Mark pressed himself to the ground letting the wave of heat pass by above him while the people in the vehicle could feel the shockwave created by the explosion.


    The whole scene only took about half a minute but if felt longer to everyone who witnessed it.


    As the wave of heat passed by, Mark kneeled on the ground and took out the radio.


    "Odel! Go!"


    VRROOOM!!!


    ***


    Odelina immediately drove the vehicle. The remains of the barricade were still there but some parts of it was broken down and thinned after the vehicles on the barricade were pushed away by the explosion.


    BAM!


    The vehicle rocked hard after hitting and pushing the vehicles blocking the way however, the armored vehicle was not stopped and rushed out of the barricade. When everyone looked around, they could see the aftermath of the explosion. Hundreds of charred bodies littered the narrow road. Most of the bodies were still burning and many of them were sted into pieces. The most noticeable thing was the middle of the road was almost clear of the bodies of the infected.  They did not know that the straightne void of bodies was the aftermath of the grenades exploding in a straight line pushing away the infected to the side before they got incinerated by the ignited methane.


    "Where''s Gege?"


    Mei suddenly voiced out making everyone look around outside the vehicle. The vehicle rushed out of the vehicle but they did not see where Mark had gone to. They suddenly became worried. However, their worry was unnecessary. After she voiced out that question, they heard a knocking from the window. They saw a hand outstretched from the roof of the vehicle and knocking on the window. The radio on Mei''s hand then crackled and they all heard Mark''s voice.


    "Don''t worry about me. I''m here on the roof."


    They all sighed in relief. That feeling almost took half of their lives.


    ***


    Mark sat holding unto the metal grid covering the sr panels on the roof of their armored vehicle. He could feel the lingering heat and smell the unpleasant odor in the air.


    When Odelina pushed away the remaining vehicles on the barricade, Mark used one of the vehicles as a tform and jumped into the roof of the moving vehicle. It was because there was no time for the vehicle to stop and let him in. The explosion might be huge but it could not kill every single infected on the road.


    He turned to his left while he was looking towards the back of the vehicle. There, he could see a lot of the surviving infected. There was even the hulking mutated one. Most of them was injured and burned but not dead yet. To most of these infected, these injuries were nothing and they would continue on chasing them.


    Mark aimed his gun towards the mutated infected.


    TSST! TSST! TSST! TSST!


    The hulking infected did not immediately die after being shot in the forehead. It was hit two more times before falling down.


    Looking at the devastating scene around the vehicle, Mark could not help but feel satisfied despite the fact that his face was all scrunched up. He was satisfied with the sess of his n but disgusted with the unpleasant smell in the surroundings. Who would like the smell of burnt hair, clothing and flesh mixed all together anyway?


    The vehicle sped past the area where the horde was earlier. As not all the infected was eliminated, the vehicle still ran over some of the surviving infected before leaving the area. Mark looked back at the scene while tightly holding onto the metal bars by his feet. There were dead infected everywhere, burning bodies and bits and pieces of their decapitated bodies. Making a way out would be hard and dealing with the whole horde was even harder. If not for the existence of the Dozers and their unreasonable rampage due to Mark''s existence, all these feats would be impossible to aplish.


    Not only that the mutated infected initiated chaos within the ranks of the infected, the Dozers wanting to catch him only spread the methane gas their bodies exude further.


    Mark looked forward, they were back on track. He was worrying about another matter though. His nose was stuffed with the pungent smell there so he could not tell. He just wished that the smell would permeate his clothes. He just changed these clothes about two hours ago and washing the clothes was not possible at the moment.

 Chapter 99 Citta Italia

    Day 3 ¨C 3:42 PM ¨C Molino Boulevard, Molino II, Bacoor City, Cavite


    Mark sat on the roof of the MB Sprinter while they drove on the way back. The seat was quite ufortable but he decided on not entering the vehicle to save time and for the wind to lessen the unpleasant smell that permeated on his clothes. Another thing was this ce allowed him to see a better view of the surroundings and he could eliminate any sudden and iing threat.


    Not long after, about a minute or so, they finally saw the ce where the convoy stopped. It was on the side walk between the road and the vacant farnds on the curved area of the boulevard. However, it seemed that the atmosphere in the group was not that good. After getting closer, Mark could tell that everyone''s morale was even lower than before.


    The area around the convoy was a total mess. There were about a hundred bodies of dead infected surrounding the convoy. It seemed that their battle had just ended as the pools of blood and the dead bodies were still fresh. Mark could also see the number of the policemen that were short by three people and they were currently encircled around a body covered in cloth.


    When they arrived, Mark could see the relief and amazement on their faces. While they were struggling with about a hundred infecteding after them, the group that was confronted by several hundred infected actually returned unscathed. Furthermore, there was barely any damage on their vehicle. The relief on the faces of the survivors could not be hidden that Odelina and the rest also noticed it.


    When their vehicle stopped, Mark jumped down and was immediately approached by Madam Lanie and Chief Mari.


    "What happened here?"


    Mark asked while looking around. He was not sure why there were a lot of infected here. Even though the number was nothingpared to the horde they encountered earlier, the number was still too manypared to the number of the infected in this area before when they passed by.


    "The infected got attracted here when one of the volunteers fired his gun. He was attacked by an infected covered with fungal roots and had a mushroom growing out of its eyes."


    Chief Mari narrated the situation along with what happened to the volunteer and the number of their losses.


    ording to the two, they lost two volunteers and a policeman because of the mushroom infected and another volunteer and another policeman because of the infected attracted to the noise. They lost a total of five men in the span Mark and his group was gone.


    "Have you found the person you are looking for?"


    Madam Lanie asked in curiosity.


    "We did. He''s unconscious but he should wake up sooner orter."


    ? Mark said indifferently. He then looked at the sky and the direction of the sun before continuing.


    "We should hit the road now. It''ll get dark soon."


    What Mark said put on more pressure on the shoulders of the two. It would be more dangerous for them if they got stuck on the road after nightfall. Before the outbreak, this distance away from the City Hall was just several minutes but they all spent a whole lot of time just to bypass the blockades on the road and deal with the dangers around.


    Actually, Mark wanted to see the mushroom infected they were talking about and take some pictures and videos. To say the truth, the Bluetooth camera on his cor showed that he was recording every single detail of their encounters. It was for documentation and future references if needed. However, their time constraints were getting tighter at the moment. In about two hours, the sun would set and it would be hard to continue on the road after that. They must reach Firenze or at least, find a ce to spend the night and hit the road tomorrow.


    With that said, everyone immediately prepared for departure. The police was dismayed about the loss of theirrades in arms and wanted to give them a proper burial but that was not possible at their current circumstances. The best that they could do was to ce their bodies away from the road and offer some prayers before departing. What made them dismayed even more was that they could not even approach the body of theirrade that had fallen victim to the mushroom spores and could only look at it from afar afraid that the body would release spores again.


    ***


    After a few minutes of preparation, the convoy was now, back on the road. Mark sat back inside the vehicle after changing into another jacket. It seemed that the smell was too strong that Abbygale did not even want to approach him before he changed his clothes once more. He looked at the two unconscious people with a little bit of annoyance. These two sure know how to sleep. The fever of the woman had already ceded and she was just sleeping peacefully, Carlo was another thing though. His fever was still as high as before. There was not much change in his condition.


    Even though she knew that Carlo was not in any danger, Sundra could not help but worry. Still, Mark and Melissa were sure that Carlo''s condition was due to evolution. If not, Carlo would have long been gone to the afterlife already, considering how high his temperature was.


    WAAAAHH!!!


    While contemting about Carlo''s condition, a sudden ear piercing scream sounded inside the vehicle making everyone flinch. It seemed that the woman had already awoken. Unfortunately, the first person she saw upon waking up was the female infected who was tied up at the end of the seat. Like a cat stepped on its tail, the woman tried to stand up and run away just to bump her head harshly on the roof of the vehicle waking her up fully and making her squat on the floor in pain.


    Everyone was surprised at her antics that they did not even manage to get the right expression to look at her. Melissa immediately approached her to calm her down. As a nurse, she experienced these kinds of thing from time to time making her the first person to react. There were times that patients would be delirious after waking up due to the trauma they received before falling unconscious. However, Mark knew at this moment that the woman was just being muddle headed from sleeping for too long.


    When the woman finally calmed down, she swept her eyes around and finally confirmed that she was safe however, her face turned red after realizing how embarrassing her actions have been. When she saw Sundra looking at her, she could not help but avert her gaze. She remembered what she did in desperation back there in the rooftop when they were all dying in cold. Even if it was for the sake of survival, huddling in her underwear with her superior at work in front of his girlfriend was still shameful.


    Every change in her emotions did not escape the Empath in the group. Mark could not help but sigh while shrugging his shoulders. It looked like they really picked up a baggage this time. Though she seemed to have the same temperament as Angeline, she was clumsier and more unreliable. He wondered how this woman could work in a fast food restaurant in that condition.


    Learning everything that happened while she was unconscious, the woman looked at everyone with gratitude. However, expressing it woulde in another time. The convoy had already reached their first stop before getting to Firenze, Citta Italia Private Subdivision. There was a problem though.


    The huge gates of the subdivision were closed.


    "Everyone, just stay here. I''ll check the gates."


    Everyone nodded except for the clueless woman and Abbygale that did not even ask for permission and just jumped off the vehicle after Mark. He could only shake his head to this but did not reprimand the little girl. She could handle herself after all. Together with Abbygale, Mark made his way towards the closed gates.


    The police men also went out of their vehicle to guard the perimeter. However, it was unnecessary. The infected at this area had already been killed by them after they attracted them by the sound of their guns firing.  Still, it was better to be on-guard rather than get caught off-guard.


    Fortunately, the gates were just closed and not really locked. After Mark entered through the pedestrian''s gate at the side, he immediately opened therge gates blocking the road. Nevertheless, Mark was not happy about the easy opening of the gates. It was not because there was no action but the ce was too silent. It was normal if they did not find any human but how could there be not a single infected to be found?


    Furthermore, he could see marks and dried up blood on the gates, the street and the walls but there were not a single corpse to be seen. It was really odd that it gave Mark a bad feeling, really bad feeling. However, this was the only road closest to their destination. He might be wrong about his intuition either.


    Still, it seemed that not only Mark felt something wrong. Abbygale was also looking around warily. Her eyes were dted like a cat sensing her enemy.


    When he opened the gate, the vehicles slowly drove into the subdivision. The MB Sprinter drove over towards Mark and Abbygales direction. After the convoy entered, Mark was contemting if he should leave the gates or open or not. In the end, he closed the gates. It was not to let the infected into the subdivision. Who knows? Maybe they would need to go through this route once more.


    "Master, is there something wrong?"


    Odelina pulled down the windows of the driver''s seat and asked Mark. She could see the unpleasant expression Mark had while he was observing the area. The other people inside the vehicle perked up their ears after hearing the question. It was not them being nosy but they also wanted to know the situation.


    "You don''t feel anything odd Odel?"


    Mark said while sizing up the surroundings. Realizing what her master said, Odelina looked around and replied.<sub> </sub>


    "Master, isn''t it too quiet?"


    Odelina also felt the oddness of the situation. Also, the ce was too clean, odd for a ce without people.


    "Should we go back?"


    Odelina asked.


    "We don''t have a better choice other than this road. You saw the situation back there where the horde came from. Our alternative route should be there but the road was blocked."


    "What should we do then?"


    "Let''s proceed. We''ll just be careful."


    Odelina nodded while the people inside the vehicle who were listening could not help but feel nervous. Would they really encounter danger here? The ce looked peaceful though.


    After conversing with Odelina, Mark approached the police vehicle making Chief Mari and Madam Lanie toe out of their vehicles.


    "Is something wrong?"


    The congresswoman asked.


    "Nothing much but I''ll just warn you guys to be wary of the surroundings."


    "What''s the matter?"


    Chief Mari asked sensing the uneasy atmosphere around Mark.


    "Look around you, doesn''t it look odd that you can see nothing but dried up blood. There wasn''t even decapitated body parts or extracted body organs around."


    Hearing what Mark said, the countenance of the two changed. This was really strange and odd. It was good that Mark mentioned it to them since they did not realize at all. They just thought that they did not see any infected since the gates were closed.


    "I''m just saying that we should be careful while we traverse this road. Be prepared for anything that can happen and act ordingly."


    The two agreed to his advice. They knew the other routes they nned as alternative was already inessible. This was thest road with the least danger and obstacles.


    Going back to his vehicle, Mark opened the door and let Abbygale inside but he did not enter.


    "Mei''er my bag."


    Mei immediately handed him his bag. Mark stretched his hand and took the bag from Mei''s hand.


    "Gege, where are you going?"


    "I''ll stay on the roof. I just don''t feel easy so it''s better if I could act without needing to stop the car."


    To what he said, Mei nodded.


    "Gege, be careful."


    Mei approached the door.


    "Alright."


    Mark patted her head before she retreated. Mark closed the door and propelled himself up to the rooftop of the vehicle.


    With a knock on the driver''s window, he signaled Odelina to move on. The vehicle started to move and drove through the private road with the other vehicles behind.


    Mark sat on the roof warily observing the surroundings. He would look here and there and look back and forth without stopping. It may cause him a bit of a stiff neckter but he could just not feel at ease at the moment, as if there was something tugging on his mind.


    Everything was fine after they left the gates and the drive went smoothly. However, after they exited the phase 1 area and passed by a vacant lot with a convenience store, Mark''s countenance changed. He felt a pressing pain in his head and his eyes turned bloodshot. He turned to his right and his bloodshot eyes dted.


    He immediately took out the two radios in his waist, one to contact Mei while the other to contact the radios within the convoy. Pressing the voice input buttons, he shouted.


    "Everyone prepare! Enemy at 3 o''clock!"


    After shouting, he immediately put back the radios and pulled the Assault Rifle by his side. He started to aim at the iing enemy.


    Everyone in the convoy who heard what he said turned their faces to the right side of the road. Seeing the iing danger, the survivors had the look of horror on their faces. Even the countenance of the policemen and the congresswoman''s group turned grave.


    "What is that?"


    Sundra voiced inside the MB Sprinter. However, the only person who could answer that question was sitting on the rooftop getting ready to shoot.


    And the target¡­


    It was a three meter tall dog, rushing towards their direction from the street to the north like a hungry beast with its blood covered mouth and ferocious golden stare.

 Chapter 100 The First Encounter With Three Meter Tall Dog

    Day 3 ¨C 4:02 PM ¨C Citta Italia Main Road, Citta Italia Pvt. Subd. , Molino III, Bacoor City, Cavite


    While everyone in the convoy was in panic, Mark on top of the MB Sprinter was waiting for the right timing to shoot. The oversized dog was still quite a distance away. Despite the distance of the threat away from them, Mark could clearly see its features.


    The three meter tall dog had a lean body structure with a broad and deep chest. Its fur was longerpared tomon dog breeds but not too long either. The fur was drooped over its body and not scattered in every direction. The ears of the dog was lopped but quite smallpared to its body proportions.


    Its size aside, it also had several strange features. Like the golden sheen on its cream colored coat and its golden eyes that was shining despite not being shined with direct light. Furthermore, there were several golden spikes in protruded on its body. There was even a horn in the middle of its forehead.


    Sad to say, Mark could not recognize the breed off this dog.


    As the dog was now clearly on sight, Mark finally fired his first shot.


    TSST!


    The first shot missed because of the distance and the speed the dog was running. However, it looked like it was rmed about Mark''s existence on the roof of the ck vehicle in front of the convoy. It stared at the man that was aiming an assault rifle on with a ferocious re.


    Mark saw the dog stare and snarled at him however, it did not continue on staring at him as it ran closer and closer. It was also observing the other vehicles behind. Then, as it decided on its target, the direction it was running shifted slightly.


    TSST! TSST! TSST! TSST! TSST!


    Five shots were fired by Mark forcing the dog to stop. Mark realized that it was wary of him, or rather, his assault rifle. He deliberately shot the area in front of it to gauge several things. He was also monitoring its overbearing emotions. When the dog forcibly stopped, Mark pulled out the two radios again.


    "Vehicles withoutbatants increase your speed and run on the leftne. Chief, your vehicle and the other multi-cab should follow directly behind ours. The vehicles on the rightne will serve as a wall. This huge dog is wary of guns."


    Mark said in a stern voice towards the radio connected to the police while making sure that the other radio could also hear his orders.


    "Odel, match the speed of the vehicles to the right."


    Following his orders, the vans and the armored Caddc drove towards the oppositene making the vehicles on the rightne as cover. Seven vehicles drove with full speed along the private main road in two columns. It was fortunate that it was a private subdivision and there was no vehicles abandoned on the main road. If not, this formation was impossible to pull off without facing idents.


    The huge dog was surprised due to the sudden change. Mark could detect its emotions and overwhelming anger.


    Of course, the huge dog would not stop there to capture its prey. Since its first target was hiding behind these small vehicles, it made its move, charging towards the multi-cabs. It could not wait to eat its prey.


    However, that would not happen so easily.


    Mark and the police started to shoot the huge dog. It was not a warning shot anymore but they were all shooting therge animal with intent to kill it.


    Sensing the danger, the huge dog started to jump side to side but it did not stop its charge. It continued snarling as it came closer and closer. The policemen and the armed volunteers started to panic inside their vehicles. Their shots became more and more inurate and disoriented.


    SPLURT!


    The huge dog was already just a dozen of meters away from the multi-cab at the end of the convoy when the dog was shot in its thigh. The three shot burst Mark made all drilled holes into its thigh forcing it to stop and wail in pain.


    It was then that the situation became more severe.


    The huge dog retreated and several steps and howled. The howl was ear-piercing and it even made two of the policemen to drop their pistols outside the window of the multi-cab involuntarily. Everyone who heard the howl felt dizzy and could not help but cover their ears with both hands.


    "STOP THE CARS!"


    SCREEEECH!


    All the vehicles except for the MB Sprinter forcibly stopped. It was because the Chief yelled on the radio at thest moment. His order was a good call or else, the disoriented drivers might have caused an ident and did more damage. Everyone on the convoy experienced an excruciating pain in their ear and head. The only exception was Mark''s group that was inside the MB Sprinter due to the tight soundproofing of the vehicle.


    Still, the vehicles stopping only gave the huge dog more time to catch up. Ignoring its wounds that were still spurting blood, the three meter tall dog charged towards the convoy once more.


    On top of the MB Sprinter, Mark forcibly endured the pain in his ear and aimed his gun once more.


    TSST! TSST! TSST!


    Mark emptied the remaining ammunition in the clip of his assault rifle.


    The huge dog did not expect that there would be someone who was able to endure its howl and was buffeted with the rain of bullets. Several holes appeared on its body spurting blood. The huge dog wailed in pain and looked angrily towards the man who shot it. It became dumbfounded. He saw the man stretching his hand towards it while his eyes were glowing red. The dog felt a bad feeling and immediately fled. It ran away and jumped over the roof of a two story house. It continued to flee until it could not be seen anymore behind the rows of houses.


    Mark who was ready tounch a mental attack almost cursed. The damn dog was too sensitive and immediately ran away after feeling danger. Still, he could sigh in relief that it retreated. If it did not, they would surely incur casualties because of that dog.


    "Is everyone alright?"


    Mark heard Madam Lanie speak through the radio. The replies came immediately and it seemed that several people within the multi-cab targeted by the dog fainted and their eardrums were ruptured. Except for those, everyone else was fine. Everyone was relieved that the huge dog retreated.


    It was good that Mark''s body was not the same as before the outbreak. If it was before, he doubted that he could endure that sound wave attack. As there was no time to check for everything, Mark spoke to the radio.


    "Everyone, we should hurry up and move on. The dog retreated for now but I don''t think that it will stop attacking just like that."


    What he said, poured water on the relieved faces of everyone. They all hurried to get back on the way.


    On the other hand, Mark was frowning while looking at the rows of houses to the north. The other people might not know but he could. The dog did not run away but was hiding behind that row of houses. Probably, it was healing its injuries. It was a pity that he would not be able to do a mental attack at this distance.<sub> </sub>


    ***


    The convoy continued on the road with even faster speed than before. Everyone only hoped that they could leave this ce as soon as possible.


    While above the roof of their vehicle, Mark kept on staring on a certain direction while aiming his gun. The people on the other vehicles could see him but could not understand his actions. However, the police chief and the policemen who participated back then when they dealt with the escaped criminals at the Police Command Center was sweating profusely. They think that Mark had the ability to sense enemies or danger around him. With Mark behaving like that, they knew that the huge dog should be nearby.


    While Mark was concentrating on monitoring the direction where he could feel the dog was, he heard Mei''s voice from his radio.


    "Gege, what kind of dog is that? It didn''t seem attracted to you."


    It made him almost spew out blood from his mouth. Mei''s wording made him feel that he was too ugly that only the infected was interested on him. Still, he did not push it. It was not the time for jokes right now.


    "That dog is not a mutated infected or an evolved animal like the huge cat back there in the City Hall."


    Everyone who knew the circumstances inside the vehicle was surprised. It was not an infected and not an evolved animal. Then what was it?


    He then heard Odel speaking.


    "Master, don''t tell me that it''s a Mutator."


    "It is. It had the same fluctuations that you have back then when I fought you."


    Melissa, Charmaine, Sundra and the other woman was surprised. Not because the dog was a Mutator but because Mark said that he fought Odelina before. However, they did not understand everything else in the conversation with those aside.


    Then, Mark heard Abbygale''s voice from the radio.


    "Papa, I want that doggie."


    The little girl''s request made everyone stare at her.


    "That doggie is not for children, Gale. I''ll find a dog for youter but not this one."


    Mark replied in a gentle voice but he was actually having a cold sweat. The request of his self-proimed daughter was getting more dangerous.


    Hearing that, Abbygale was visibly displeased.


    "Gale, that doggie is dangerous. Your Papa might get hurt."


    Mei followed up what Mark said. However, the little girl stared at Mei. She then spoke.


    "Mama, tell Papa to get me that doggie."


    Abbygale begged and hugged Mei. Everyone was struck speechless. However, it seemed that it was effective towards Mei. As if she had just lost her mind, she spoke on the radio.


    "Gege, is it possible to catch that dog?"


    Mark choked and started coughing hard.


    ''Just what the hell?''


    As Mei was holding the voice input button of the radio on her hand, Mark could hear everything they were saying. The little girl was being cunning!


    "Master, is it possible to subdue that huge dog? You can do it right?"


    Odelina asked making Mark even more dispirited.


    ''These women were surely going to kill me in the future.''


    He thought in his heart.


    But he could not lie to these girls and deny that it was not possible. Just as he said, the dog was in the simr situation as Odelina when she was being consumed by that consciousness that sprouted because of her mutation. That dog was also struggling mentally.


    If fact, if it was not dangerous, he also wanted to catch that dog and make it his pet. However, he was not sure if he would be able to. The one who saved Odelina was not him after all but Freed. Furthermore, the emotional fluctuations of this Mutator Dog were more berserk. If he encountered this dog before he evolved, just the emotional fluctuation the dog was releasing was enough to make him lose consciousness.


    The girls inside the vehicle were waiting for his answer but he was still contemting. Nevertheless, he detected some movements this time. He looked towards the direction the convoy was going and they were about to arrive at the other entrance of the subdivision. Fortunately or unfortunately, the gates were also closed. The closed gates prevented the infected froming in but now, it barred them froming out safely.


    He could detect that the huge dog was also starting to move. This damn cunning dog nned to attack them when they were busy opening the gates.


    Like a mouse cornered by a cat, they would have no choice but to fight it. Not to help these baggage they were escorting but for them to survive themselves. Since that was the case, he might as well get the chance to subdue this ferocious animal.


    For some reason, his blood started to boil with that thought. His eyes were glowing and he let out a ferocious smile simr to a madman''s. He knew that the mental effects the Mutagen brought to his body was kicking up again. But this time, he just let it go without restraining it. He felt that this time, he might as well go wild.


    He pressed the voice input on the radio and calmly spoke.


    "You girls win. We''re going to catch that dog. Gale! Odel! Both of you will help me with this! Go all out!"

 Chapter 101 Subduing The Mutator Dog

    Day 3 ¨C 4:07 PM ¨C Citta Italia Main Road, Citta Italia Pvt. Subd. , Molino III, Bacoor City, Cavite


    The cold wind blew while Mark sat on top of the MB Sprinter. His pupils were dted and his senses were all opened. He kept on staring at the row of houses to the north as if his sight prated through them. Huge movements could be detected by him along with the faint stomping sound of the concreteing from that direction.


    They were about to pass through thest branching street. After that street was a short bridge that goes over a creek and the closed gates could be seen even further. Mark knew that the Mutator Dog would appear at thatst corner as it was itsst vantage point to attack. Pulling out the radios once more, he ordered.


    "All vehicles! Overtake us and head for the gates first! That huge dog is going to attack at any moment!


    Odel! Reduce the speed and we''ll be on the tail of the group! We''ll counter attack after the other vehicles passed through that bridge!"


    After giving out his orders, the vehicles immediately went into formation. There was no hesitation aside from the neers as they all knew that only Mark''s group would be able to handle the situation.


    Still, all of the survivors on the other vehicles could not help but feel even more nervous. They could see the closed gates on the distance. Once they reached the gates, they would have no choice but to stop. And that situation would be grave for them with the threat of the huge dog behind their backs.


    Inside the MB Sprinter, Sundra and the clumsy woman could not help but feel the cold sweat on their backs. They knew nothing about Mark''s group aside from having a connection with Carlo and being their saviors. The two women could not understand how these people could think of making that three meter tall dog as a pet. To them confronting that monster was just suicide.


    Just as expected, when they passed through thest branching street, a three meter tall shadow jumped over a two story house. The huge dognded just behind the MB Sprinter with a loud stomping sound. Frightened yelps could be heard from the survivors inside the vehicles when they heard the sound when the Mutator dognded.


    It snarled as itnded behind the convoy. The loud snarls it made gave everyone chills on their backs. Unfortunately for the dog, Mark saw through its n and his vehicle was the one at the tail of the group. His simple order saved several lives since if the convoy continued on the same formation as before, the vehicle that should be behind would easily fall into the fangs of this animal without being able to fight back.


    TSST! TSST! TSST! TSST! TSST!


    The moment the Mutant Dog started to chase, Mark immediately unleashed several bullets. Unfortunately, it seemed that the huge dog could already distinguish the muffled soundsing from his assault rifle. Given how higher the senses of animalspared to humans, it could discern the sound even from a distance. The moment that the first shot was released, the dog immediately jumped to the side making the bullets hit nothing but air. Nevertheless, it made the dogte to start its chase. Mark also noticed that the wounds he inflicted this dog had already healed. There were still traces of blood on its fur but there were no wounds to be found.


    The convoy passed over the bridge and soon reached the closed gates at full speed. Without any other choice, the whole convoy stopped. Upon the stop of the convoy, the police immediately went out their vehicles except for those who were injured from the dog''s attack before. They immediately went into position to protect the other vehicles while two of them went to open the gates. However, the two people who were about to open the gates stopped abruptly. They could see several infected wandering on the other side of the gate. However, what worried them wore was that further in the distance, they could see nothing but silhouettes of the infected lurking around the area.


    Behind the convoy, the ck armored vehicle stopped horizontally blocking the road. After that, Mark jumped down from the roof while Abbygale and Odelina came out of the vehicle. The three immediately went to block the Mutator doggging behind due to Mark''s interference.


    As the survivors on the other vehicles were not informed, they were surprised that Mark''s group nned on confronting the huge dog. They were all confused to what they had to do so. Furthermore, they were baffled to why the female driver of their vehicle also went out to confront the dog. At that moment, under their watchful eyes, the female driver removed her jacket and the tank-top she was wearing revealing a ck tube swimsuit covering her chest. The woman then hurriedly threw the clothes she took off into the vehicle.


    "Odel, what are you doing?"


    Mark asked with a confused expression. He could admit that Odelina''s body shape looked good but it was not the time to disy that.


    "Master, you said that we will go all out. If I put on my armor while wearing those, the clothes will get ripped apart."


    Mark nodded. He remembered that time that she lost control, she was partially clothed and on the video, she was practically naked after Freed saved her. He then noticed several wounds on her lower back. It was the ce he managed to shoot her that night.


    "It hasn''t healed yet?"


    Mark frowned as he looked at the wounds he inflicted to his servant. Noticing where he was looking at, Odelina let out a helpless expression.


    "Master, I''m not like you whose broken bones could even get fixed after several hours of sleeping. Also, my recovery is already fast."


    "Papa! Papa! The doggie is already watching us!"


    Mark did not manage to reply to Odelina anymore as Abbygale was tugging forcefully at the hem of his jacket.


    Actually, even if he was looking at somewhere else, he was carefully monitoring the emotional intents of the dog in front of them. It did not dare toe over immediately as it was baffled for their existence. Even if the majority of the emotional fluctuations of the Mutator dog were upied by fierceness, Mark could still faintly discern its intents. However, he could not deny that his head felt heavy and was hurting too much.


    The huge dog was slowly stepping forward towards the three in all cautiousness. It was confused to why these puny humans had the guts to block its path but it was also feeling danger from the three for no known reason. Nevertheless, the dog''s bloodthirsty nature won and it started to attack despite the danger it felt.


    As the vehicles were now stopped and the dog was running straight towards their direction, the ferocious face of the dog was clearly seen by the survivors watching this time. The scene gave them a huge levels of fright specially the four survivors from themercial center and the two who were saved from WCRonalds. The neers really felt fear for the three who were facing the huge dog without a hint of fear.


    Facing the ferocious charge of the dog, Mark aimed his gun and unleashed a barrage of bullets making the dog jump back and forth. Mark carefully shot this time while estimating where the dog wouldnd after jumping making several bullets hit its body and made it retreat back while spurting blood.


    TSST! TSST! TSST! TSST!


    At the same moment that Mark shot, Odelina''s body started to get covered in her grey bone armor while Abbygale beside him shot off with inhuman speed. Her sudden burst of speed not only shocked the neers but also the huge dog. Before it could even wail in pain, Abbygale reached the spot below its head and jumped. The wail that it was about to let out was swallowed back as the little girl jumped over two meters high and unleashed a ferocious kick towards its chin.


    BAM!


    Abbygale''s attack caused the three meter tall dog to stagger backwards a step. The kick was powerful but was not enough to make the dog fall.


    Infuriated, the dog forcefully recovered and its head moved forward aiming to swallow the little girl that had yet to fall down back on the ground. Abbygale''s face turned sour as she could smell the unpleasant breath of the dog attempting to swallow her.<sub> </sub>


    TSST! TSST! TSST! TSST! TSST!


    At that moment, Mark had already charged forward. He unleashed another barrage of bullets towards the opened mouth of the dog. The dog''s mouth was buffeted with the rain of bullets making it whimper and stop its attack towards Abbygale. Uponnding, the little girl immediately retreated. Even if she was mostly fearless and calm, she still felt nervous when she saw the mouth of the dog nearing her.


    It seemed that the sudden feeling of fear agitated her and she immediately transformed without her knowing why. Abbygale''s hair turned white while her cat ears and tail sprouted once again. Her red colored pupils stared at the dog and she went for another attack.


    On the other hand, Odelina closed in. Her speed was also fast but Abbygale was still faster making herte in approaching the huge dog. After the dog recovered from Mark''s assault, it saw Odelina and immediately jumped towards her intending to gobble her whole.


    BAM!


    Odelina unleashed a punch towards the dog''s nose. The punch was strong making the dog stagger backward once more.


    The dog was dumbfounded. It was being toyed with by these three puny humans. It felt infuriated. It suddenly jumped back by instinct and a while blur pass by a few inches in front of its face. The dog then did anotherrge jump backwards and inhaled deeply. However, before it could unleash its sound wave attack, another barrage of bullets tore holes on its throat. Instead of its ear-piercing sound wave attack, it spewed out a mouthful of blood from its throat.


    Humiliated and infuriated. Mark could detect its feeling faintly. The new consciousness on the dogs mind wanted to rule over everything and humans was just food in its eyes. How however, it faced a setback facing a group of abnormal people. Then, its ferocity grew stronger while its golden eyes spew out a faint light.


    Mark suddenly fell down on one knee while he held his left hand on his head. The dog started to exude an astonishing amount of emotional fluctuation. He noticed that the original consciousness of the dog was growing fainter. That was when he realized what was happening.


    "Odel! Gale! Don''t stop attacking! It''s undergoing its final mutation!"


    RINNNNNNGGGG!


    Mark''s eyes glowed red and he started hearing a ringing sound in his ears. He stretched his left hand towards the dog. This time, he was unleashing as much mental energy he could unleash. He should not let the dog finish its mutation or it would be impossible for them to subdue it anymore. Furthermore, the situation might be dangerous once it mutated fully. Who knows what kind of ability would it be able to unleash?


    The mental attack abruptly stopped the howl of the dog and it lowered its head while shivering. It then red at Mark fiercely. The huge dog knew that the attack came from him.


    At this time, Odelina finally caught up to the dog and she hugged itsrge right foreleg. With a strong tug, the huge dog that was still affected by Mark''s mental attack did not manage to resist and fell down on the ground. It tried to stand up once more and Odelina was struggling to hold it down when a white shadow fell unto the dog''s forehead unleashing a ferocious front flip heel kick.


    BAAAAM!


    The concrete underneath the dog''s head cracked after the head of the dog mmed gravely on the ground.


    Abbygale jumped off from the dog''s forehead.


    SPURT!


    Mark spewed out a mouthful of blood. The bacsh on doing that mental attack and unleashing too much mental energy from what he could control was too severe. Added that he was affected by the mental fluctuations that the Mutator dog was exuding, he had a hard time to sessfully pulling that attack.


    Odelina let go of the dog''s foreleg and clutched on the dog''s neck preventing it from moving. Abbygale also guarded beside the dog to stop it from retaliating.


    At this time, Mark approached the huge head of the dog. It was still conscious but it was breathing heavily and it was obviously weakened. Mark was also in the same condition though. He looked pale and his breathing was also ragged. His nose and ears also had traces of bleeding.


    The two Mutators guarding the dog looked dumbfounded seeing Mark''s condition.


    "Master! You¡­"


    "Papa!"


    The two called out to Mark in worry but he just signaled them to continue guarding the dog.


    He then pressed his hand at the forehead of the snarling dog and tried to weaken the foreign consciousness. It took him several tries causing his nose and ears to bleed further. Even his eyes started to have traces of blood.


    The dog started to resist and wanted to escape but Odelina tightly mped on its neck not letting it go. Soon, the foreign consciousness calmed down and the original consciousness started to fight back once more. At this moment, Mark''s eyes glowed with white milky light as he attempted to increase the rate of recovery of the dog''s original consciousness.


    After a minute or two, the foreign consciousness was finally extinguished. The size of the dog started to shrink and the huge dog ended up about a few points less than a meter tall in height. However, the spikes, the golden sheen on its fur and the golden glow in its eyes remained. The dog that had just returned to its normal size was visibly weakened. Even though it was conscious, itid on the concrete road without moving.


    Knowing that they seeded, Odelina retracted her bone armor but Abbygale maintained her appearance since she still could not control her transformation. In front of the dog, Mark inhaled and exhaled deeply. He could finally rx.


    It was then that he felt a stinging pain on his head. His body became weakened and he started to lose his bnce. Finally, he fell down.


    Odelina hurriedly caught him and looked at him with worry. Abbygale felt the same as she hurriedly went to his side. Mark was still conscious and he saw the worried faces of the two. He felt something and looked towards the direction of their vehicle, he could see Mei running towards them with a worried face. That was thest thing he saw and everything went ck.


    When Mark lost his consciousness, Odelina started to feel difort while holding him. She reached towards Mark''s forehead. He was burning with a very high fever.

 Chapter 102 Several Events Behind The Scenes

    Day 3 ¨C 7:10 PM - Central Business Park, Pasay City, Research Building


    Nia stood inside a room with white metal walls. It was a room built to be used as a testing area for many of the Research Laboratory''s experiments. In front of her, there were three floating spears made of ice about the size and length of a throwing javelin. Her hands kept on moving while the floating spears of ice would move in the same direction of her hands. She circled around, jumped and gently moved her hands as if she was dancing and the spears of ice wound dance around her in the same manner.


    For anyone who would witness this sight, they would immediately think of how spectacr and fantastic the scene was. Along with her rare beauty, she looked like an ice fairy that came out of a fantasy novel.


    Outside the testing area, Prof. Isaach Co and Allen were watching Nia''s routine through a one-sided mirror. The professor nodded while watching the great improvement of his adopted daughter and assistant in satisfaction. To say, Nia''s ability to control and decrease the temperature of the moisture in the air reached new heights in the past two days.


    Inside the testing area, Nia finished her routine byunching the three spears of ice towards the wall. The spears flew fast at a speed of a javelin thrown by an Olympic athlete.


    DANG! DANG! DANG!


    Three loud sounds echoed inside the testing area as the three spears of ice were embedded into the thick white wall. Nia then released her ability from the spears of ice slowly turning the spears of ice into water that flowed down the surface of the wall and creating a puddle of cold water on the floor. She then proceeded to walk out of the door and entered the room where Prof. Isaach and Allen were watching.


    "How is it profe-, no, father?"


    Nia asked with a smile.


    "It''s brilliant Nia! Your ability had really grown strongerpared to several days ago."


    Prof. Isaach was smiling from ear to ear as he praised Nia''s improvement. Several days ago, the most that she could do was to conjure two chopstick sized ice spikes and to lower the temperature of moisture in the air in a small area while slowly turning the moisture in that small area into ice.


    Now however, she could already conjure three spears made of ice and even make the spears to float with precise control.


    To the side, Allen looked at Nia with both happiness and envy. His older sister''s ability had already started to improve while he was still the same as before. Nevertheless, Prof. Isaach looked at Allen with smiles. Now that some of his theories were proven, it was time to think of a way and a good training routine for Allen.


    The professor was in a very good mood. After all, several of his theories were finally given an answer. One of those theories was regarding the evolution of people who already had super-human abilities before the outbreak.


    As he thought, Mutagen could really enhance their super-human abilities. Not only the physical abilities of the living creatures could be enhanced but also improved their preexisting mental abilities.


    Another of his theories was about how to stimte the evolution process. Was only the growth potential and DNApatibility of the person with the Mutagen was the factors for evolution? The answer was fortunately or unfortunately, no. However, the third factor was not really easy to achieve. It was to stimte one''s potential by overpassing their limits. It was something very easy to say but hard to achieve.


    One way to achieve this required one to undergo constant arduous training and overpass their limits slowly. This method was the one Prof. Isaach used to make Nia''s ability to this extent. In the previous two days after he learned the possibility for human evolution, he had Nia train several times a day to the extent that she was not able to use her ability for a moment. Just this afternoon, she finally fell unconscious with high fever. After she woke up, her ability had evolved to this extent.


    There was another way to stimte thistent potential. It was to expose the person to extreme danger that required the person to exert actions beyond their current abilities. This method could be a faster and easier way to evolve but also came with grave consequences. Not all people would be able to exert actions beyond their abilities in the face of danger. It would even be more probable for the person fell into panic and fail. That situation could even cause death. No, it was highly likely for the person to die.


    ? If Prof. Isaach were to be asked about what he viewed Mutagen as, it was both disaster and opportunity. Disaster because of what had already happened, the apocalypse. It was an Opportunity because it opened the possibility for people to evolve. In the professor''s view, mankind had already reached the end of evolution. The reason for this was the way the modern society was living. Technological advancements always leaned towardsfort and entertainment and it cost the expense for mankind to evolve further.


    Now however, Mutagen could stimte the evolution not only of mankind but also the other creatures on earth. Furthermore, it would need for mankind to evolve further or else, mankind would sumb to the threat of the apocalypse and face extinction.


    "Come on you two, let''s rack our brains out and find a way for Allen to improve his ability."


    Prof. Isaach together with his two young assistants left the testing facility and back to their office after collecting the printed data into folders. The middle-aged professor wanted his two adopted children to improve. All his studies with the Mutagen showed that more powerful threats woulde in the near future. These two should improve their abilities so they would be able to protect themselves even if he himself was not included. Other people might view Prof. Isaach as a research madman but he was a kind person at heart.


    ***<sub> </sub>


    Day 3 ¨C 8:22 PM ¨C Saint Paul''s Monastery, La Paz, Iloilo City, Iloilo


    When the outbreak first struck, a single passenger ne fell in the center of the city. This caused the city to fall into chaos almost immediately. When the infected started to invade the people''s peaceful life, many of the survivors fled out of the city and into the sea surrounding the ind of Iloilo. As for those who werete to flee and were not able to leave, most of them gathered in this monastery.


    Due to the terrain around the monastery, which were mostly tnds, ntation and small forested sitios, the inhabitants of the monastery along with the survivors that gathered in this ce managed to safely fortify the preexisting walls and fences surrounding the monastery in safety.  Since the monastery was also built quite a distance from the city center and the area was surrounded by long blocked bridges, there were every few infected that wandered into the monastery before they finished the fortifications. It was lucky for them that there was a scrapyard just two wide blocks away to the northwest of the monastery allowing them to gather materials for the fortification. The existence of the police squads that were alsote to flee the city and stayed in the monastery managed further increased the security of the camp.


    At this moment, the nuns of the monastery were busy at handing out bowls of porridge to the survivors. The porridge was not toovish and each bowl only contained a small portion of meat. Unfortunately, this would be theirst meal with meat in it. It was because while the terrain around the monastery gave them the advantage of security, it also gave them theck of areas for gather food and other necessities.


    In response to these problems, several survivors started to form search and supply groups that would go out of the monastery to gather necessities further around the city. Due to the danger, the police allowed these people to be equipped with firearms. To say, the survivors in this monastery were one of the first people to implement this kind of approach to the outbreak.


    Quite a distance away to the south west of the monastery, a small group of survivors were rushing back to the monastery. The group was led by a person who evolved his arms during the initial outbreak. This man saw his loved ones being bitten off one by one by a single running infected in his own home. In his fit of rage, he bashed the infected to death with his bare fists. With tears dripping from his eyes, he continued punching the unmoving infected until his arms went numb.


    During this past afternoon, he went out to gather supplies with several survivors he knew but got dyed in returning due to a number of infected that passed by at the area they were searching supplies. After the horde passed by, it was already night time. As they could not stay the night in that unsafe ce, they hurried back to the monastery.


    BAM!


    The leader bashed the head of an infected blocking his way. Due to his evolution, he could exert a strong force from his arms enough to smash an infected''s head into smithereens with a single bash of his iron pipe.


    Luckily, there were not many obstructions on their way back and they reached the vacantnd just outside the monastery. It was because they went through the familiar forest and avoided the areas were the infected possibly wandered.


    CRACKLE!!! BOOM!!!


    All of them stopped on their tracks. They all turned to the north east and saw a bright light illuminating the night quite a distance away. Along with the bright light, there were several shes of electricity firing off to the sky from the source of light. As they witnessed this scene, the members of the group could not help but feel goosebumps. They decided to leave and rushed back to the monastery with faster speed.


    ***


    About one and a half kilometers away to the north east of the monastery, a power nt was located. The power nt had already shut down since yesterday and the ce was brimming with infected who were the employees of this facility before the outbreak.


    Inside one of the rooms that were previously used to store the electricity produced by the power nt, a two meter charred humanoid figure stood. The skin of the humanoid was full of cracks and was colored ck due to carbonization. The most noticeable thing though was the faint light emitted from the cracks. The humanoid opened its eyes and roared facing the ceiling of the room.


    CRACKLE!!! BOOM!!!


    Along with its roar, the roof of the room was sted off along with arge amount of electrical dischargeing from its body.


    ***


    Day 3 ¨C 09:50 PM ¨C Day and Night Convenience Store, Niog Road, Bayanan, Bacoor City, Cavite


    A TYT Vios stopped outside the convenience store at this time of the night. It was a family car enough to fit five people. It was strange however that the car was covered with tough vines.  After the vehicle stopped, three silhouettes came out of the vehicle. The oldest was a woman in her thirty''s while the other two silhouettes were children. The oldest child looked eleven years old while the younger was about four or five.


    They entered the convenience store in hopes of finding food and supplies however, they did not find any. All the stalls were empty and even the storage area had nothing but empty boxes in it. The three were disheartened. They were really feeling hungry. At this moment, the older one of the children went to the toilet to check if there was anything to find there though there was not much hope of finding anything.


    However, the child was surprised. Inside the cubicle, there was a bag filled with food and other sanitary needs. The child immediately called unto the woman and took the bag even though they knew that it might belong to someone else. Surprisingly, when they opened one of the pockets, they saw a note. After reading the note, they knew that this bag of supplies were actually for them. The child who found the bag was now brimming with a bright smile. She knew who left the bag for them.

 Chapter 103 Waking Up In The Middle Of The Night

    Day 4 ¨C 12:32 AM ¨C Firenze Townhouse Complex Subdivision, La Joya St., Buhay na Tubig, Imus Cavite


    It was in the middle of the night. All the survivors gathered in this subdivision were asleep with the exception of the people who were tasked to patrol and guard the ce throughout the evening. Those people could be seen patrolling the ce carryingmps while some were posted at essential vantage points around the subdivision and monitor the movements outside the walls.


    Inside the master''s bedroom of thergest townhouse in Firenze, located at the north west of the subdivision, Mark finally opened his eyes slowly after being unconscious for about eight hours. It took him this long, several hours longer than thest time.


    As he opened his eyes, he immediately reorganized his thoughts and it went smoothly for some reason. Looking at his surroundings, he knew that they arrived at their destination. Otherwise, it would not be too quiet outside. It seemed that there were no mishaps that happened after he fell unconscious.


    He roamed his eyes around the darkly lit room and saw the almost snuffed out candle illuminating the ce. At the exact time his eyesnded on the candle, it finally went off. Strange enough, despite the sudden darkness, he could still see his surroundings. Albeit not too clearly, he could at least see the surroundings in the darkness better than normal.


    When he turned to his right, he could see Mei sleeping beside him. He was not surprised as he detected her presence the moment he woke up. Still, he could not help but sigh. Instead of sleeping in another room, she would actually sleep beside him. She was too careless. However, he felt touched. Her face had a frown even while sleeping. Mark could feel her worry for him even in her sleep.


    He gently caressed the sleeping girl''s hair and channeled thatforting energy towards her. The frown on Mei''s eyebrow vanished in an instant. Mark then looked at his hand. He felt just now that his control of that energy was higher and more efficient. He stared at his hand and tried it once more, with that, he did not notice but his eyes were glowing white, the only thing he saw was the faint white light surrounding his hand at the moment.


    Mark decided to get off the bed. After he got off, he fixed the nket covering Mei''s body and went to the ss door on the southern side of the room. It was a door connected to the veranda on the second floor of the townhouse. He then opened the door and went out while trying not to disturb Mei from her sleep.


    After stepping outside, he felt the cold breeze blowing across the ce. The cold wind was not surprising considering that the area just behind the subdivision to the west was a huge farmnd. Furthermore, the cold breeze really felt good for him. The moon illuminating the ce also looked clearer than before.


    He noticed that it was not that the environment that had changed but actually his eyes. It was way clearer than before he fell unconscious. Mark also noticed that his body movements had some changes. The dy between his brainmand and his body action was now almost non-existent. He could also feel that his body was stronger.


    Concentrating on his environment, he could feel that the range of his detection of emotional fluctuations were evenrger. Before, the maximum area he could detect was a little bit below twenty meters, now however, his detection area had already reached thirty meters. Furthermore, the fluctuations he could detect were also clearer and more distinct. He could now recognize people from their familiar fluctuations without needing to concentrate on them.


    Mark suddenly looked at the house in front of him on the other side of the street. It looked like Carlo had also awakened. He sighed though after noticing what was happening at the room where Carlo was in. He was with his girlfriend Sundra and was engaged on a night activity. There was nothing wrong with it though. The two were on a rtionship for several years now and Carlo almost sacrificed himself for his girlfriend.


    As it felt that he was peeping at their session, Mark decided to divert his attention to somewhere else. He looked behind him then by his foot. It seemed that the children were all sleeping at another room in this floor while Odelina was still awake and was doing something at the garage.


    He then noticed something good at the room below. At the room on the first floor, Charmaine was sleeping with another person. The fluctuation of the person was quite simr to Charmaine making him conclude that the congresswoman managed to uphold her end of the deal. It seemed that they sessfully found Cielo, Charmaine''s younger sister. After monitoring Cielo''s mental fluctuations however, Mark frowned. Her emotions at the moment were even more unstable than Mei''s. Something might have happened to her before she was taken into the custody of Madam Lanie''s men.


    As for Melissa, she was sleeping at another room in the first floor. She was together with that woman then brought along with Carlo and Sundra. Mark then focused at the new addition to their group. The dog was sleeping in the living room it seemed.


    "Hmm?"


    Mark was surprised. The dog''s senses were really high. It seemed that it noticed that it was being monitored and abruptly woke up while looking around in confusion.


    Looking back at the sky, Mark decided. Since the moon was illuminating the ce beautifully, he might as well take a stroll and survey the ce. He might as well familiarize himself with the emotional fluctuations of the people inside the subdivision so he would know if there was an intruder in the future. It was not for the sake of the people of the subdivision but for the sake of hispanions.


    SWOOSH!


    Mark jumped off the veranda towards the roof of the neighboring house to the east. The distance between the veranda and the roof was actually four meters but he jumped over effortlessly. He never tried this before but something inside him told him that he could do it and he just tried. He knew that he would not be injured too much even if he fell due to the absurd regeneration capability of his body.


    Under the moonlight, Mark''s shadow shed from roof to roof. His movement speed was also enhancedpared from before. He was still not on par with Abbygale and Odelina''s speed but he was faster than a national athlete for sure. He roamed around the subdivision without anyone noticing. With his ability to detect people around, unless he deliberately showed himself, no one would find him.


    Going around, he found out the exact number of survivors staying in this subdivision. There were one hundred thirty-five people not including the men on patrol, the guards and his team. The patrols and guards numbered to twenty-five people. Mark wondered how the men in charge of this ce was handing the supplies for this many people.


    Arriving at the southeast of the subdivision, he noticed the houses on the same block of the gate but outside the walls of the subdivision. There was a wooden bridge going over the wall and into one of the houses outside. Inside the house, there were several people guarding the ce. It looked like they made another ce to go in and out of the subdivision aside from the gate. It was a good thing as there was the possibility that the gate would be blocked with a lot of infected. Using the house, they could use it to in and out or at least, they could use the house to lure the infected away from the gates.


    "Huh?"


    Mark noticed something not right. On the other side of the road outside the subdivision, there were houses that belonged to the subdivision where Charmaine was living before. There was a wall separating the subdivision from the road but the second floor of the houses could see over the wall since it was shorter. Inside the two houses in the opposite subdivision, he could detect people.


    There were two people in each house. Furthermore, Mark could not detect any good intent from them. Jumping onto one of the houses closer to the house where he detected one of the pairs, he noticed that there was a person with binocrs constantly viewing the perimeters of Firenze.


    ***


    Inside the house Mark was looking at, there were two men hiding. The one in histe twenty''s was monitoring the perimeter of Firenze using the binocrs on his hands while the other who was in his early thirty''s was taking a nap. Both men were armed with high caliber guns and their bodies were painted with menacing tattoos.


    While the man with the binocrs were looking around outside, he saw a silhouette of a person standing on the roof of one of the houses inside the subdivision they were observing. Shocked, he focused on that silhouette.


    "WAAHHH!!"


    He suddenly backed off and screamed waking up the man who was taking a nap.


    "What the f*ck?! Why are you screaming?!"


    The man who was awakened by the scream cursed. He had just taken a nap and he was abruptly woken up. He was in a bad mood.


    "I-I-I saw a ghost!"


    "Motherf*cker. You disturbed my sleep because of some nonsense? Ghosts aren''t real you dimwit!"


    "No! I''m f*cking sure! I saw a shadow standing on the roof of a house on the other side! Its eyes were glowing red!"<sub> </sub>


    Seeing how scared his partner was, the man snatched the binocrs from his partner and went to the window.


    "Now, tell me where it is."


    "It should be on that house."


    The younger man hurriedly pointed at the house where he saw the silhouette.


    BAM!


    He was hit on his head by the older man.


    "F*cking bastard, there''s nothing there!"


    "What?!"


    He took the binocrs from the older man and looked once more.


    "It''s gone! I f*cking swear I saw it!"


    ***


    The two people inside that house argued while the culprit had already jumped off the house to the street while chuckling.


    "I will call this [Emotional Induction] then."


    Mark tapped on his chin. It was his new ability that he knew by instinct after he woke up. He was now able to use different kinds of emotional energy to stimte and affect the inner emotions of his target. What he did to the man observing outside was send a strand of energy containing fear and stimte his inner fear. It was easy since everyone had fear nted in their subconscious since the apocalypse came.


    He knew that the effect would be lesser if the emotions the target was feeling were highly contradicting to the emotional energy he induced to that person. Mark thought that he could use this to his advantage at many circumstances. One of the examples was to stimte fear on his enemies or let despair sprout inside the subconscious of people going against him.


    With that, he decided to go back. It was not the right time to deal with the people observing outside. Besides, this ce was not his to begin with. He would leave by tomorrow and the job to deal with those people would fall on the hands of others. In that case, he might was well not involve himself in this.


    On his way back, he passed by the house near the gates. It was being used as the outpost by the police that secured this subdivision. It was because he felt a distinct fluctuation from this ce. If he was correct, that person was the police Madam Lanie was talking about, the Mutator of this ce. Nevertheless, Mark had no notion to show himself and would rather not involve himself with that person. It was because of the reigning emotions on that person''s subconscious was kind of disgusting.


    It was heroism.


    Mark left the outpost and made his way back to the townhouse where his team was staying. At thest corner however, he overheard two patrol guards who were both exudingsciviousness in their emotions.


    "That ck car looked amazing but the women riding the car was even more superb."


    "Yeah, the woman driving the car looked hot."


    "For me, the youngestdy looked like a fairy. The other women didn''t look bad either. It''s a pity, the Madam is protecting them."


    "Hah, even if they are not, they already belong to someone else. Remember how they looked like when they were transporting that blood covered man? How envying."


    "That''s right, if I can rece that man, I''ll be ying with all those girls every night."


    That was the end of their conversation. It was because the two fell unconscious in the middle of the street.


    In a fit of irritation, Mark''s eyes glowed blood red as he sent a sequence of different emotions using his Emotion Induction. The sudden changes in their subconscious emotions along with being caught off guard, their brains were not able to keep up and overloaded with the two ending up unconscious.


    Mark pulled the two unconscious men away and left the two at a vacant lot not far from where they fell. The arms and backs of the two men got scraped became filled with bruises after being pulled on their legs at that distance on the rough cemented road. Mark then left the two with their faces tucked between each other''s legs facing the crotch of the other.


    ''Since you two were in heat, spend your heat with each other you damn bastards.''


    The two were lucky as Mark did not want to cause much disturbance. Mark had ns in the future and this survivor camp became included in it. He might need a ce for his friends that he managed to find to stay while he searched of the others he had yet to find. This ce was a good candidate for that. If he did not have this n, the two perverts might have died without them knowing.


    When Mark arrived outside, he noticed the disturbance at the house. He shook his head. Mei probably woke up and became hysterical after finding out that he was missing. But before he could even step near the gates, the door of the house opened abruptly and Mei came out staring at him through the fence.


    Her eyes were a bit teary and she looked angry while being worried at the same time. Mark scratched the back of his head. He''ll probably get scolded this time. But, he would not mind it. After living alone for several years, he was quite happy to be scolded by someone out of pure concern.


    With that thought in mind, he strode into the gates and got weed home by Mei''s embrace. The other people who were woken up by the frantic Mei also went out and watched the scene with warm eyes.


    "Can you all stop staring like that? I''m hungry so get me food to eat."


    Mark looked at the gallery in annoyance. He then went into the house with Mei pulling him in.

 Chapter 104 Spending The Rest Of The Night

    Day 4 ¨C 1:42 AM ¨C Firenze Townhouse Complex Subdivision, La Joya St., Buhay na Tubig, Imus Cavite


    "Why don''t you girls go back to sleep already?"


    Mark said as he sat on the chair beside the dining table.


    He sat there with a bowl of steaming hot soup and a te of fries to the side on the table. Apparently, when Mei started to make a racket around the house trying to find him, Odelina moved to heat his share of soup and fries they had for dinner. She was a really convenient servant. There was no need to tell her what to do.


    Despite there was the food in front of him, Mark could not start eating. It was because except for Cielo, the dog and the children, everyone else was present watching him. He did not really care whatever they wanted to do but it was still ufortable being watched while eating.


    Still, no one left after he told them to go back to sleep. He decided to ignore them and started to eat.


    "Gege, where did you go?"


    "I just woke up and felt stiff so I decided to move around. I also surveyed the area along the way."


    Mark replied while waving his spoon in front of him.


    "You should have woken me up."


    "Why should I? You need to sleep or you won''t have energy tomorrow when we leave."


    "But¡­"


    Mei looked down. She looked angry but she did not want to scold him for some reason.


    *Flick!


    "Guuu."


    Mei suddenly held her forehead with both hands. She had just been flicked on her forehead.


    "If you want to say something, say it."


    "No. I¡­"


    Mark sighed and shook his head slightly. Mei really did not dare to scold him no matter what, even though he was waiting for it. In the end, he just ruffled her head.


    Around them, the other women were watching the scene with bitter smiles. The two had already created their own space ignoring the fact that they were still here.


    "Master."


    Mark looked at Odelina after she called him.


    "What?"


    "You looked different for some reason."


    "Different? How?"


    Mark looked confused.


    "I don''t know how to exin. It just felt like that."


    "Really? Maybe, it''s because of the changes in my body after evolving again."


    Hearing his reason, Odelina nodded. It was the only possible reason to exin what she felt.


    "By the way, did anything happen after I fell unconscious?"


    Mark suddenly asked.


    "Nothing much happened, Master, aside from attracting quite an amount of infected outside Citta Italia and Jte making a mess inside the car."


    "Making a mess¡­ Ah, I see. Is that why you''re inside the car earlier?"


    "Yes. I just finished cleaning."


    Mark nodded, he understood what Odelina meant by saying that Jte made a mess.


    "We should get an adult diaper for her."


    He said after swallowing a mouthful of the soup.


    On the side however, the faces of the other women changed. How could he keep on eating while talking about disgusting stuff? Since Mark was unconscious, he did not experience it but the smell of feces that Jte excreted smelled awful specially in a closed environment.


    Mark then looked at Charmaine.


    "How is Cielo?"


    Charmaine was surprised. She already knew that her Big Brother could detect people using their emotions but it was amazing experiencing it. No one had told him that Madam Lanie had already sent her younger sister to them and yet, he knew it. It also seemed that he knew that something happened to Cielo for him to ask that question.


    To Mark''s question, Charmaine looked downcast as she replied.


    "Cielo is fine now but she had bruises all over her body and she seemed to have received trauma from what happened to her."


    "What happened?"


    "Madam Lanie said that the inner area of the subdivision we live at was upied by a gang syndicate after the outbreak. Cielo was caught by them along with other women. The police under Madam raided the ce when most of them went out to get supplies and rescued the captured women."


    "No wonder¡­"


    Mark muttered while thinking deeply.


    "Is there something wrong?"


    Melissa interjected as she noticed his unnatural behavior.


    "Actually, when I went for a walk, I detected some men monitoring the area outside Firenze. If my guess is correct, it should be members of that gang syndicate."


    Everyone''s expression changed. It seemed that the infected aside, there were other dangers around this ce.


    "Anyways, what is she doing here?"


    Mark pointed at the short woman standing behind Melissa and Charmaine in silence.


    "Big bro, Anna doesn''t have anywhere to go so we let her stay with us."


    Mark looked at the woman who was apparently called Anna.


    "Is that so? But we''re leaving tomorrow, what are you going to do?"


    "I-I¡­ I don''t know."


    Anna stammered to reply after being questioned like that too suddenly. She could not help but look down as she really felt that she had no idea what she would do.


    "Big Bro, can''t we bring her with us too?"


    Charmaine interjected making Mark frown. Even if he wanted to fulfill his sister''s request, the space within the vehicle was not toorge. He also needed to find his other friends. If he just let anyone they encounter toe with them, the space in the vehicle would not be enough.


    Seeing Mark not replying and just frowned, Charmaine looked down. Actually, Cielo also wanted to stay at this ce. However, she knew that this ce would not be safe either. Considering what she witnessed in the past few days, things would only get worse every passing day. The only ce she could feel safe at the moment was beside her Big Brother. That is why she did not suggest anything about letting anyone stay behind.


    Mark then sighed. He could feel and understand what Charmaine was thinking. He decided to grant her request onest time. If there was not enough space in the vehicle, they will just find another one. Looking at the circumstances, it would also be possible that he would end up bringing away the family and rtives of his friends. Finding another vehicle might be inevitable.


    About Anna, he just needed to confirm something.


    "Alright, this would be thest one Charm."


    Charmaine was surprised.


    "Big Brother! Thank you!"


    She said her gratitude with a wide smile before looking behind her.


    "Quick! Thank my tolerant Big Brother!"


    Charmaine pulled Anna forward.


    "T-Thank you."


    Anna tensely thanked Mark.


    "Anna right?"


    Mark pointed his spoon at her.


    "Yes!"


    "What''s with that high pitched reply? Anyways, I will let youe with use because of Charm but what can you do? I don''t want any useless baggage with us so you should show your worth to the group."<sub> </sub>


    Mark sounded really strict making Anna even more nervous.


    "I-I don''t have any outstanding skills bu-but I can cook."


    Then she pointed at the soup Mark was eating.


    "I cooked that."


    Mark then looked at Odelina for confirmation and she nodded.


    "All right, you''ll be in charge of the food. Do your best."


    Mark decided on her role. He could say that the soup he was eating at the moment tasted good. Furthermore, the other members had their own roles but no one was ced to be in charge of cooking. Odelina would be able to but she was the main driver and one of theirbatants. She also had to do other things so removing the management and preparation of the food would be good for her. As for Charmaine cooking food...


    Mark did not dare think about it.


    While they were talking, a white shadow shed into the dining room.


    PAK!


    Mark caught a little girl with cat ears on her head with his left hand.


    Everyone was surprised. They only saw a shadow pass by and yet, Mark effortlessly caught that shadow with one hand without even looking.


    "You little girl, don''t always charge in like that."


    "Muuu¡­ Papa!"


    The white shadow was Abbygale who had just woke up. Noticing that her Papa had already woken up, she came charging into the dining room in attempt to hug him but she got caught like that.


    Mark then picked the little girl up and let her sit on hisp while he ate.


    "When the adults are talking, you shouldn''t do that alright?"


    He strictly said to Abbygale. He knew that he should work on building up her manners slowly.


    "Yes¡­"


    Mark was about to continue eating but¡­


    "Papa."


    Mark looked at Abbygale.


    "What is it?"


    "Sorry¡­ And thank you¡­ For the doggie."


    With that, Mark''s bad mood was washed away.


    He continued eating his food while they started to think of a name for the Dog who was silently curled up in the living room.


    They all suggested names like Goldie, Butterscotch, Bretagne and Biscuit but they all settled up with the name Mark suggested which was Laps. Laps was the golden hound from Greek mythology that was in charge with protecting the future king of Gods. It fit thoroughly with the dog''s fur color and also had those golden spikes around its body.


    With that, Mark finished his meal and they all turned in for the night. Unfortunately for Mark, Mei and Abbygale could only sleep in his room as the other rooms were already upied.


    ***


    Day 4 ¨C 6:01 AM ¨C Firenze Townhouse Complex Subdivision, La Joya St., Buhay na Tubig, Imus Cavite


    Following Mark''s ns, they were all awake already and were preparing for departure. Even the unreliable looking Anna was already awake and was helping with the preparations despite looking half-asleep.


    While they were preparing, Carlo and Sundra arrived.


    "Bro!"


    Like how he was several years ago, this guy ran towards Mark and greeted him with a bear hug. However¡­


    Mark agilely dodged and he ended up hugging an electric post.


    "Bro! What is that for?!"


    Carlo said while rubbing his forehead.


    "Seriously, look at your age already. You''re still doing that."


    "What''s wrong with that? It''s just a bro hug."


    "Yeah, yeah. A bro hug."


    The two men looked at each other silently before letting out a snicker. Mark stretched out his fist and Carlo bumped his own.


    "Bro, thank you saving us."


    "You should thank Charm. If she didn''t tell me where you are then, I''d still be looking for you now."


    "Yeah. I didn''t think that sheing over to ask for discount coupons ends up bing the reason for us getting saved."


    Hearing that, Mark suddenly turned behind him and looked at Charm whose face had already reddened in embarrassment.


    "Carlo! Do you really have to tell that to Big Brother?"


    Charmaine bellowed.


    "What''s wrong with it?"


    Carlo replied with innocent look making Mark and Charmaine shake their heads.


    It was because this guy really never changed at all.


    "Cielo!"


    Carlo suddenly shouted calling unto Cielo who had just came out of the house. He then ran towards her.


    "This guy¡­"


    Mark was speechless. They had not even finished talking yet.


    "Uhmm. Sorry about this."


    Sundra who came following behind Carlo apologized for her boyfriend''s behavior.


    "No worries. I''m used to this guy being like this."


    Mark said with a sigh.


    Mark approached Carlo and Cielo together with Sundra.


    "You three areing with us right?"


    "Of course!"


    Carlo answered without second thoughts.


    "And you Cielo?"


    "I don''t have a choice, do I? I don''t know why my sister trusts your group too much but at least, I can trust her words."


    "Well, that''s enough. You don''t really need to trust us if you didn''t want to. If your concern is about safety, I can at least say that it''s safer around us than staying here."


    Cielo nodded and Charmaine who was behind Mark took her into the vehicle. Sad to say, Cielo''s state of mind was on a bad condition. Even if she was talking to Mark, her eyes were empty and devoid of any ns for the future.


    BARK!


    "Alright, you too."


    Mark squatted on the ground and patted the golden horned dog in front of him. He was quite pleased with this dog. It was sensible and independent. If Mark was correct, this dog was an Irish Wolfhound. It was just hard to determine because of the changes on its body. Furthermore, for some reason, it always stayed around Mark while they were preparing even making Abbygale jealous since Laps did not want to y with her.


    Half hourter, they were finished with the preparations. Looking inside the vehicle, almost of the seats would sure be upied. The whole vehicle should amodate twenty people along with the driver and twelve was upied now making it quite crowded. It made Mark more determined to find another vehicle to use. He was not interested with any of the vehicles Madam Lanie brought with them so he had no choice to find one outside. At least, he would try to find a minibus or an armored van used by banks to transfer money. Another thing that made it more crowded was because none of them dared to sit beside Jte at the back end of the vehicle.


    When everyone outside was ready to board the vehicle¡­


    BANG! BANG! BANG!


    Several gunshots echoeding from the direction of the gates and those several gunshots were just the start of it.

 Chapter 105 Firenzes Crisis

    Day 4 ¨C 6:33 AM ¨C Firenze Townhouse Complex Subdivision, La Joya St., Buhay na Tubig, Imus Cavite


    "What''s going on?"


    Sundra could not help but ask with a worried face despite the fact that no one around her might be able to answer her question at all. Everyone in the group also had the same question in their minds.


    Nevertheless, hearing those gunshots seemed to have triggered some unpleasant memories Cielo had and her body started to shiver with her face turning fearful. Charmaine did not know what to do and could only hug her sister tightly inside the vehicle to ease her fear even just a little.


    Mark sighed.


    "Those guys did not even wait for us to leave before attacking."


    Hearing his words, they all stared at Mark who was still looking calm despite how intense the sounds of guns being fired at rapid session.


    It did not take long when an armored Cadic stopped in front of the house with Madam Lanie and her bodyguards aboard it. Seeing the people outside the garage of the townhouse, the congresswoman hurriedly went out of her vehicle to inform Mark''s group.


    However¡­


    "The members of the gang syndicate from the opposite subdivision are attacking right?"


    Mark asked before Madam Lanie could even say something making her swallow back the words she was about to say. As a politician, she immediately recovered herposure and replied.


    "Yes. I suppose, you already heard about the situation before my men managed to find the woman you told us to find. Their main force had already returned and they getting back on us for raiding their den and rescuing those women."


    Madam Lanie''s face looked grave as she narrated the situation.


    "I guess your men are on the losing side then for you toe here."


    "That''s¡­"


    "You don''t have to say anything. We''ll need to pass there anyway."


    With that, Mark turned around and did not let the congresswoman say another word. Though it might look rude, Madam Lanie could not say anything either since she was the one asking for help. Rather than feeling bad, the congresswoman felt more in debt to this unusual group.


    Mark went inside the vehicle and picked up his bag and weapons.


    "Master, it''s rare that you won''t ask for anything in return from them."


    Odelina who sat at the driver''s seat looked at him.


    "It could at least make them feel that they owe us. It''s in line with my ns if you ask me. Also, we can''t let this ce fall like this since we might need to return here in the future."


    Mark replied stating his intentions.


    "Bro, what are we going to do?"


    Carlo asked with enthusiasm.


    "Actually, you guys just stay behind first and let me scout the situation first."


    "But..."


    "We''re talking about armed men here and not the infected."


    "Alright."


    Carlo relented. It was true that they would not be much of help in this situation.


    "Still, I don''t understand. In movies and novels, people like those would attack in the middle of the night. Why are these gang members attacking early in the morning?"


    Melissa voiced out her concern.


    "Maybe, they just returned now?"


    Anna replied with her opinion with a confused expression.


    "No, it''s a well thought timing if you ask me."


    Mark interjected while he was preparing his weapons. They all looked at him waiting for him to borate.


    "You guys might not notice it since you people is in a different environmentpared to other people but most people haven''t adapted in the current state of the world yet. In that case, those people won''t be able to sleep peacefully at night and always feared that the infected might suddenly attack while they are sleeping. On the other hand, the guards for night ship are already tired while and the guards to rece them didn''t have the proper sleep either. This ends up with everyone tired and disoriented at this time of the day. This situation would lead to the advantage of those guys."


    "But aren''t they in the same situation?"


    Charm asked.


    "Don''t underestimate the people like them who live like criminals. They are not new to danger and this kind of environment suited them more than before. Rather than fearing the infected, they fear the government armed forces more."


    Mark''s exnation made things clearer. It was no wonder why the congresswoman needed to ask their help. Their disy of power when Mark, Abbygale and Odelina subdued the three meter dog chasing after them back in Citta Italia yesterday was rooted in the minds of those who witnessed the event and surely thought that only their group were the ones capable of overturning the situation.


    "Just stay here and wait for me to contact on the radio."


    Mark said as he finished preparing his things and walked out of the vehicle. He then felt a tug on his sleeve.


    "Papa, I''m going too."


    It was Abbygale who wanted toe with him.


    "Stay here for now alright? I''ll call if Papa can''t handle it. Also, someone needs to look after Laps. She''s your doggie right?"


    "Muu¡­ Alright."


    Abbygale nodded.


    "Gege, be careful."


    "Alright I will."<sub> </sub>


    Mark patted the head of the two gently before going out.


    After Mark had gone out of the vehicle, Carlo could not help but ask.


    "Mrs. Odel, why do they look like Bro is going to be in danger? He''s just going to scout right?"


    He did not dare ask Mei and Abbygale. The little girl was not a talker while the beautiful girl was afraid of all males with his Bro as exception. He knew those things after experiencing it before he could even be informed by others of the circumstances when he regained consciousness yesterday night.


    Hearing his question, Odelina, let out a bitter smile.


    "Master would not bring all his weapons if he''s just going to look at the situation. He probably nned on dealing with the situation himself."


    "What?!"


    Everyone was rmed except for Mei and Abbygale who had already guessed it.


    "Why is Big Brother going to do that?"


    Charm blurted with panic.


    "I don''t know the exact reason either. But probably, Master wanted to test his body after his second evolution."


    ***


    On the other hand, Madam Lanie was surprised to see that only Mark was walking out and nobody else.


    "Only you?"


    "Only me."


    "That''s¡­"


    Madam Lanie was dumbfounded.


    "You don''t have to think too much."


    Mark then left and walked past the Armored Cadic. It seemed that he did not even nned on taking a vehicle into the area of confrontation.


    Under that dumbfounded eyes of Madam Lanie''s group, Mark started to run and used the fences of the house on the opposite street as a foothold and then jumped up towards the roof of the house. The group stood there staring at him until Mark jumped behind the house and they could not see him anymore.


    After Mark left, the MB Sprinter then came out of the garage. The people in Mark''s team became worried hearing what he nned to do. They decided to watch how their leader would deal with the situation. They would also manage to help sooner if things go south if they were closer to the ce.


    "Madam Lanie, we need to go out so please move your car a bit."


    Odelina rolled down the window of the driver''s seat and called out to the congresswoman who still looked stunned. After all, they just saw a person scale over a two story house in seconds while jumping over two meters high in every jump. They were caught off guard since they saw that Mark was still not able to do those movements yesterday.


    "Are you all going to follow Mark?"


    Madam Lanie hurriedly asked.


    "We are only going to watch until Master calls for us."


    The congresswoman was dumbfounded once more. She did not know where this group of people got this attitude. It was as if they were not affected by the apocalypse at all and were all doing things at their leisure. While Madam Lanie was thinking that, she was also amazed at how these people managed to adapt at the current state of the society.


    After the Cadic moved out of the way, Odelina drove the off towards the gates of the subdivision. Madam Lanie and her bodyguards also followed after.


    ***


    Mark jumped over from roof to roof in a fast pace. Despite carrying an assault rifle, a shotgun, a machete and a pistol along with several clips and ammunition, his movement was not hindered in any way. While he was running on the roofs, he suddenly shook his head. It was because he detected his team following not far from his location. Even though he said that they have to wait back there at the house.


    However, he had no notion to make them return as long as they did not make any move. After all, there were several additions to the group. He must show them that at least, he have the ability to lead them. Furthermore, what Odelina said to Carlo and the girls was right. The main reason Mark decided to move alone this time was to test his current capabilities and the best way to do that was to fight, not only the infected but also other people.


    BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG!


    The soundsing from the intense shoot out grew louder and louder as he got closer to the gates. When he arrived, heid prone behind a roof of a house on the corner of the road leading to the gates. He was in the position where he could see everything happening on both camps.


    From his location, he could see the members of the police hiding behind cars and other blind spots to his right while to the left was the raiders, the members of the gang syndicate. Mark knew that he was right since from the camp of the attackers, he could detect the same people who were monitoring the vicinity of Firenzest night.


    While Mark was monitoring the area, he started to specte what happened.


    ''The gates are intact so these people did not charge into the gate by force. There are two people who don''t seem to be members of the gang on their side. I see, they probably disguised themselves as survivors to make the policemen open the gates. That is why there are several dead policemen in the middle of the road right by the gates.''


    Mark started to murmur while analyzing the situation. He also realized why these gang members gained the courage to attack. First, it was because they had more people. They had seventy while the police only had forty people at the moment. Second, The Mutator of the police seemed to be missing. The third and the main reason, the gang members also had a Mutator on their side.


    He noticed the overturned vehicles that the gang members were using as cover. There were no traces that the overturned vehicles had no traces of being pushed over. Also, the position of the overturned vehicles was organized. It led him to assume that the ability of the Mutator among the gang members had the ability that had to do with strengthening his body.


    However, Mark could not help but find the emotional fluctuation of the Mutator familiar. It was not a friendly familiarity however, rather, it was animosity.


    Mark focused on the person hiding behind one of the overturned vehicles.


    It was him¡­


    No wonder that he found that person familiar.


    While he was looking at that familiar person, Mark suddenly tilted his head to the right involuntarily.


    BANG!!! SWISH!


    A loud gunshot echoed followed by a loud swish passing by his ear. Someone just shot him and the bullet was aimed straight at his forehead. Mark looked at the gang member who shot him. The gang member was also staring at him like he had seen a ghost.


    Mark frowned. Despite how close he was to the gunfight, his location was not easy to see¡­ Unless that person who just shot him was an evolver who evolved his eye sight. That was the only reason he could think off as he could not detect any other Mutator from the gang members.


    Since he was already seen, he might as well make his move. He pulled the silenced assault rifle from his side and aimed. His first target was that person staring at him.

 Chapter 106 Emotion Induction

    Day 4 ¨C 6:42 AM ¨C Firenze Townhouse Complex Subdivision Main Gates, La Joya St., Buhay na Tubig, Imus Cavite


    "Herrera! Where are the reinforcements?!"


    One of the policemen hiding behind a police mobile shouted to the other policeman hiding behind a wall and was holding a radio.


    "They said that they were being held up by another group from this damned gang!"


    "Sh*t!"


    The policeman who asked cursed as he unleashed several shots with his pistol back at their enemies.


    They were currently in a dilemma. It was because not only they were outnumbered but also outgunned. The gang members were carrying firearms that were illegal to own in this country. Not even the army was issued with those kinds of guns. Furthermore, their leader was not in the settlement at the moment. They had just gone out half hour ago to look for survivors and bring them back. It had been their routine for the past two days after they managed to secure this ce.


    Who knew that these wretched people would take advantage of that?


    If their leader was here, they would not fall into this disadvantageous situation. After all, their current leader was a superhuman who could turn his skin into steel. He was impervious to bullets.


    However, they were nothing but sitting ducks right now under overwhelming fire power.


    "Argh!"


    One of the policemen almost fell down after his shoulder was hit by a bullet.


    "Molina!"


    "Don''t shout! I''m not dead! F*ck! It hurts!"


    The policemen were in despair. They already lost several brothers in arms and now, they were having a hard time to even shoot back.


    "Damn. Only god can help us now."


    One of the policemenmented making their morale plummet even more.


    ***


    On the line of the Gang Syndicate, everyone was on high spirits. Some of them were evenughing. It was obvious that those of them were under the influence of drugs. The weapons they had varied but it was sure that their firearms were on above the policemen in terms of firepower.


    Of course, there were also casualties on their side but very minimal. Furthermore, for every casualty they incur, the more frenzied some of them became.


    Behind the overturned vehicle on the center of the road was the current leader of this raiding operation. Despite the fact that he was a minor, he obtained his position due to him being a Mutator who gained the ability to strengthen his arm muscles to the degree that he could effortlessly overturn vehicles.


    Their operation was not to raid but secure this ce for themselves. They had been nning to do this even before the police rescued the women they gathered for pleasure. Thetter event only led to the operation happening earlier. They were actually waiting for the police to gather more supplies but since most of their brothers were angry about what happened, they made their move today. Despite the operation being hurried, they were sure that they would be able to seed.


    What they did not notice however¡­


    Their men behind them were being picked off one by one.


    ***


    TSST! TSST!


    On the roof of the house on the corner of the street, Mark killed another person after two shots of his assault rifle.


    "What idiots."


    Mark mocked.


    After he was discovered, he immediately shot that person before he was able to alert the others. With that, he began on picking the gang members behind the group.  He started from the furthest person and moved to others. Since the time he started picking them up one by one, he had already killed fifteen of their members without anyone noticing that the person shooting was from above.


    At his position, they were all sitting ducks since the cover they were hiding behind could not cover their heads.


    TSST!


    Another one fell down in one shot. Mark was getting better at using his gun for sure.


    Several of the gang members saw that person fall down but the idiots thought that the shot that killed him came from the front.


    Actually, it was because Mark was using the police as decoy. Even if the gang members had no covers on their heads, Mark did not shoot them while they were hiding. Once their head emerged over their covers to shoot, that was when he strikes to kill.


    His clearer eyesight really helped in this. There was no scope on his assault rifle yet, he could see his targets clearly.


    TSST!


    Mark continued killing the people behind until he managed to kill twenty-four people.


    "It looked like they noticed it already."


    Mark smiled. It was now time for the second stage.


    ***


    "F*ck! What is going on?!"


    The Mutator of the gang bellowed with a curse.


    Many of them noticed that their fire power started to diminish. It was then when they looked behind that they saw the rows of bodies of their dead brothers.


    Everyone immediately stopped shooting and lowered their bodies thinking that the shots that killed them came from the front.


    "Gahh!!"


    However, one of them fell down wounded.


    "Argh!"


    Followed by another one.


    "Ahhh!!"


    And another.


    "Dammit! It''s from above! GAH!"


    One of them shouted and stood up in shock only to fall down with a bloody hole on his forehead. He breathed hisst with his eyes opened wide.


    Hearing that shout, the gang members immediately looked on the roofs and second floors of the houses surrounding the ce when they saw a head poking out of the roof of the house on the corner of the street.


    "There! Quick! Shoot that bastard! Gah!"


    ***


    TSST!


    Mark shot the gang member who pointed at him.


    "Alright, time to go."


    Mark retreated before the volley of gunshots bore holes on the roof.


    Sliding down on the opposite side of the roof, Mark then jumped onto the roof of a storage room about three meters away. He then started to run fast and made his way not going away but closer to the gang members.


    His eyes then glowed red.


    [Emotion Induction: Panic]


    Mark''s existence that killed a lot of the gang members at the short period of time made panic sprout in their subconscious. He nned on increasing that panic to remove their ability to think clearly. The more panicked they were, the easier to pick them off one by one. Especially since many of them were under of drugs making their minds unstable and easy to influence.


    ***


    "Sh*t! The bastard escaped!"


    One of the gang members cursed but for some reason, their ferocious expressions vanished already and were reced by panic. They felt threat as there was someone out there that was able to kill their brothers like he was killing insects.


    "B-Boss! What are we going to do?"<sub> </sub>


    "What the f*ck are you asking me that for? Continue and kill those people! Just watch out in case that f*cking bastard appears again!"


    The Leader bellowed trying to pull his men together. However, he looked irritated. He could see that his men were panicking for some reason. He also started to feel that something was wrong.


    ***


    "It looks like this ability have less effect on Mutators."


    Mark frowned as he watched the gang members from a tree nearby their position.


    "Well, time to pick them up again."


    TSST! TSST!


    Mark unleashed another round of shots. Now that it was slightly from the side, the shots showered the gang from their right side.


    Four people fell down wailing in pain and yet, they did not see where the attack came from. It was because Mark had already slipped away after firing those shots.


    The gang member''s panic grew deeper and deeper.


    The situation continued until some of them started to run into their vehicle and retreat. They had already lost forty people and yet, they could not find where the culprit was.


    However, they found out that the wheels of their vehicles had been shot and those who came to check the vehicles fell down with bloody holes on their bodies.


    "F*ck! Show yourself!"


    The gang leader shouted loudly. However, the response he received was his men falling down on their own pools of blood.


    On the other side, the policemen were dumbfounded.


    They did not know what was happening as the gunshotsing from the other side stopped. Furthermore, they could see that the gang members were at disarray while some of them were falling down either dead or severely injured. They could not help but feel some hope. They understood that someone helped them.


    They did not even realize that they had already stopped shooting and only watched the situation with glee.


    TSST! TSST!


    The gang members continued to fall one by one. They tried to call for their reinforcements that came to deal with the group of policemen that went out but every time one of them tried to take out a radio, he would be the first to fall. Furthermore, the shots woulde from different direction every time. It made them feel that danger coulde in any direction. It was like they were being haunted by a ghost.


    "Get the f*cking hostages!"


    The Leader yelled to his subordinates. They pulled in the two women who they used to get entry to this ce.


    "Bastard! Show yourself or I''ll kill this b*tch!"


    "Hiiiii!!!"


    The woman who was grabbed by the leader could not help but cry as a pistol was pointed at her temple.


    However, the answer that came was the same.


    Several of his men fell down with bloody holes on their bodies.


    The current number of the gang members who were in good shape fell to twenty-seven people. It was aplete defeat and they could not even see the shadow of who did it.


    The leader''s back was filled with cold sweat. He gained super strength after being bitten and started to build up his prestige with their gang and yet, he was in danger at this moment. Thest time he felt like this was back in that forsaken cinema hall.


    At this moment, they heard steps. Calm stead stepsing from the unseen corner of the street.


    When the person emerged, the leader was dumbfounded.


    "It''s you!"


    Mark sinisterly smiled and replied.


    "Well, I did not expect that you''re still alive either."


    Mark stared at the leader of the gang. He did not expect that this guy would be able to leave the mall alive and even became a Mutator. The young leader of the gang in front of Mark was that same gangster Mark and hispanions left unconscious at the cinema. When he heard Mei''s circumstances back then, Mark regretted not killing this bastard. He did not expect that the he was still alive and the chance to kill him came too soon.


    "Boss, you know him?"


    One of the gang members behind the leader asked.


    "He''s that bastard that killed Owen, Lervil and Aries."


    "What?!"


    The member was shocked.


    "I did not think that I will see you f*cker again. You ruined our month long chance to taste that beauty and now, you f*cking ruined our ns again!"


    The Leader pointed his pistol at Mark and suddenly shot.


    BANG!


    However¡­


    "How cunning¡­ You tried to distract me with all that cursing just to shoot me right?"


    Mark was unscathed. He avoided the bullet by tilting his head.


    "You guys sure are easy to predict. You got too used to killing the infected that even dealing with people, you shoot the head first."


    Mark mocked.


    The way Mark avoided that bullet made everyone''s eyes grow wide. As if they where staring at a monster.


    It was then¡­


    Mark''s eyes glowed red, blood red. Along with his sinister smile, he looked like a devil.


    The gang members felt their knees grow weak as some of them fell on the ground shivering. Some of them even started to leak the contents of their dder.


    [Emotion Induction: Fear]


    Mark made the fear in their minds bloom after nting severe panic unto them.


    Even the leader could not help but back off seeing that Mark''s eyes were glowing.


    "RAAAAAAHHHH!!!!"


    In a final resistance along with his mind starting to lose his senses, the gang leader bellowed a loud shout and charged at Mark.


    His arm muscles bulged grotesquely and he threw a punch at Mark. The punch was strong and could likely topple a small bus.


    However¡­


    What was the use of his strength of the attack could not hit his target.


    Mark stepped to the side letting the leader pass by in front of him and whispered to his ear.


    "This is for Mei''er. So die."


    BANG!


    Arge hole was drilled on the chest of the gang leader as Mark shot his chest with a shotgun in point nk range.


    As a Mutator, he did not die immediately. He even managed to turn his body around after he fell and looked at Mark with the entire remaining grievance he had. He then spat out a mouthful of blood along with the pieces of the broken organs on his chest. He died miserably under the glowing red eyes of Mark.


    [Emotion Induction: Despair]


    Mark did not let him die peacefully.

 Chapter 107 Collecting The Spoils And The Reason For Marks Odd Behavior

    Day 4 ¨C 7:07 AM ¨C Firenze Townhouse Complex Subdivision Main Gates, La Joya St., Buhay na Tubig, Imus Cavite


    "Amazing! Bro really pulled it off."


    Carlo said as he stared at the monitor at the back of the vehicle.


    Everyone in the vehicle was watching what was happening at the gates of the subdivision on the monitor. Since they could not get close enough to watch the situation without getting involved with it identally, theyunched the same drone they used to recon the area around the City Hall yesterday. The drone was being controlled by Mei who dutifully kept the focus of the camera on Mark as he did everything.


    Since the start, from the time Mark was observing the situation to the time Mark killed the leader of the gang and even the current situation, they all saw it clearly. They watched the inhuman abilities Mark had as he jumped up and down the roofs of the houses and ran around like a specter haunting the despairing members of the gang. However, they could not understand why or how the mood around the members of the gang changed too sudden.


    At first, they were full of vigor as their faces told what their intents were. Nevertheless, they suddenly fell into disarray after Mark started attacking. Furthermore, they wanted to know how he was able to evade the sight of the enemies and whittle their numbers little by little. With that many people, it was impossible that none of them were able to see Mark as there were times that he shot on in sight.


    As no one of them could think of the possible answer, the only way to know was to ask Mark directly. With the situationing into closure, Odelina drove towards the gates.


    No one noticed however, Mei''s face looked worried while she stared at her Gege''s figure on the monitor.


    ***


    At the moment, they could see the police take the remaining members of the gang into custody. Among the gang members who were lying down on the street, not all of them were dead as Mark prioritized on killing those who saw him and the others were just secondary targets.


    Mark''s n involved the utilization of his new ability and worked sessfully. It was just he needed to create a seed of the needed emotion into their subconscious for his ability to work perfectly. He noticed that he could not nt a non-existent emotion on the minds of his target unconditionally. There should be at least a tiny sliver of the emotion he wanted and make it bloom. That led him to do all those troublesome things with acting like a specter for example.


    Furthermore, he might be able to just throw grenades at them but Mark got interested at the weapons of these guys. The person who saw him first and shot him when he was at the roof actually had a sniper rifle. It was fortunate that he had the ability to detect the killing intent targeting him and dodged or else, he might be a cold corpse already. Getting shot by a sniper rifle was something anyone should not joke about.


    One thing however was bugging him at the moment.


    It was because he felt nothing in the face of death. That shot almost killed him and yet, he felt that it was just like passing air.


    ''Maybe¡­ because of that isn''t it?''


    Mark thought as he picked up several of the weapons scattered in the middle of the street. There were several things bugging him at the moment and one of those was the reason he knew how to use this new ability on the get go. He might know it from instinct but that was not enough for him to understand this much even if it was his own ability. After all, he had just gotten it after he woke up.


    Mark approached the vehicle used by the gang members and pulled the trunk open. There, he found several bags of ammunition and other things. There was a lot. What he found were two HK PSG-1 sniper rifles, three USC Sub-machine guns, an SP5K machine pistol, three M4A1 Assault Rifles and a few more guns like AKs. There was even an M79 Grenade Launcher.


    While Mark was storing the firearms he picked up one of therge empty bag from the trunk, two Policemen approached him.


    "I''m Senior Inspector Tarongoy and this is SPO4 Herrera. We like to thank you for your help. If you didn''te, we''re probably still in a serious situation and more of our men would die."


    The older policeman spoke introducing himself and pointed at the younger policeman before saying their gratitude.


    "You guys don''t have to thank me about this. I''ll be taking some of these as payment."


    Mark replied without even looking at the two and raised a hunting rifle from a bag in front of him. The two frowned. Mark might have helped them but he should still show respect to them. None of the two voiced their annoyance however. Despite the fact that the gang members could not see anything when Mark attacked, the policemen managed to get some glimpse of his movements. And to say, they were nothing of a human''s. They would never think that a human could jump about three meters high unless, the person in front of them was the same of their Acting Leader.


    "Can you introduce yourself? I don''t recognize you among the survivors we gathered."


    "If you don''t know, just ask the congresswoman about it. I''m kinda busy here."


    Mark continued to check the contents of the bags not wanting to get disturbed. One of the things he hated to do was to introduce himself to other people. If it was not really necessary, he would rather not do it. Furthermore, he had no idea about the details of their entry since he was unconscious at that time. Another thing was that he wanted to leave the ce as early as possible and they already got dyed because of this situation. He did not want to spend more time for other things like chatting with these people he did not even know. He already helped them with their predicament and that was already enough.


    Still, what he said would sure be taken negatively by anyone. Like the two policemen who frowned even more.


    It was then that two ck armored vehicles drove towards the gates. The MB Sprinter stopped beside the sidewalk in front of Mark while the TYT Cadic stopped in front of the policemen.


    "Madam!"


    The policemen who were dealing with the dead bodies and the remaining gang members immediately saluted as Madam Lanie stepped out of her vehicle.


    "Don''t mind me. Go back to your work."


    Madam Lanie said as she signaled the policemen with her hand. Afterwards, she walked towards Mark.


    "Madam!"


    Senior Inspector Tarongoy and SP04 Herrera saluted as Madam Lanie approached.


    On the other hand, Abbygale, Carlo, Charm and Mei had already went out of their vehicle and encircled around Mark.


    "Bro, you''re amazing!"


    "Just so-so."


    Mark gave a short reply and handed severalrge bags towards the others.


    "Get these into the car. We''ll have to hurry and leave since it''s alreadyte."


    Carlo received the bag and almost fell down because he did not expect that the bag would be too heavy.


    There was someone behaving strange however. Mei just stood behind the group staring at Mark as if she was analyzing him with a slight frown.


    Looking at how lively Mark''s group was, the policemen around were speechless. There were a lot of dead bodies around but it looked like that the people around the person who helped them did not even care. Furthermore, their group looked like they were just going on an outing. There was no trace of fatigue and fear on their faces unlike most of the survivors they had seen before.


    "Mark. Thank you for helping us again."


    Madam Lanie said after she approached.


    "It''s fine. I already got my payment."


    Mark nced at Madam Lanie and pointed at the bags they were already loading into their vehicle.


    "You''re group is leaving already?"


    "We are. We need to find other people and their families if we are able to. We don''t have much time to rest until then."


    Hearing his reply, Madam Lanie nodded.


    "I was hoping that your group could at least stay for a day."


    "Why?"


    "We''re nning on a small banquet. It won''t be avish one but we wanted to at least raise the morale of the people here. It won''t be good if the current state of the people here remained like this in the long run."<sub> </sub>


    "Are you guys sure with that?"


    Mark asked and then looked at the dead bodies of the dead policemen. Seeing where he was looking at, Madam Lanie could only smile bitterly. That was right. The banquet they were nning to do would be likely to be cancelled because of what happened just now.


    "If that''s all, then we''re going."


    Mark then walked away. He really could not stand it. Talking to these people was too exhausting for him.


    "Madam, are we just letting them take those firearms and ammunition?"


    Senior Inspector Tarongoy asked the congresswoman with a frown as they watched Mark walked away.


    "You already heard him. Those are his fees for helping us."


    Madam Lanie shrugged her shoulders.


    "But Madam."


    "Then, what do you want to do? As if we could stand against their group if we tried to."


    With that, the Senior Inspector shut up. They had been oriented about the things happening and about Mark''s group when Madam Lanie''s group arrived yesterday. He just did not expect that the man who helped them was actually Mark. If they would talk about firepower, their men would have the advantage but Mutators were people who could not be gauged by normal means. Going against them without knowing anything was just suicide at the current state.


    ***


    When Mark walked towards the vehicle following Carlo and the others who loaded the bags into the car, Mei suddenly blocked his way.


    "Mei''er, is something wrong?"


    "Gege, can we talk for a minute?"


    Mei asked with a serious face making Mark nod involuntarily.


    Then, under everyone''s gaze, Mei pulled Mark quite a distance away.


    "What''s going on?"


    Carlo voiced his thoughts.


    "Who knows?"


    Charmaine replied.


    Abbygale on the other hand wanted to follow the two but the little girl was caught by Odelina.


    The people in the car could only watch the two who were talking quite a distance away. Unfortunately, they would not be able to hear what they were talking about.


    ***


    "Is there something going on?"


    Mark asked with a frown. He could feel that something was bugging Mei. He could not guess what it was though.


    "Gege¡­ Not me. You''re the one that had something going on right?"


    Mei said while looking straight at his eyes. She then continued.


    "Sincest night, you looked irritated. You also went out without telling us after you woke up. Then now, you went to deal with this on your own. I don''t think you will do all this without a deep reason."


    Mark looked at Mei incredulously. This was the first time he saw her too serious. However, he could not refute what she said. His guilt even made him avert his eyes and turn his face away. However¡­


    "Gege, just look at me."


    Mei held his face and made him look at her.


    Looking at her serious face, Mark gave up with a sigh.


    "I''m fine. I just had a bad dream yesterday. I''m just agitated because of it."


    "Really?"


    Mei seemed doubtful.


    "Yeah, really."


    Seeing that he did not seem to be lying, Mei finally felt relieved. She thought that it was something serious.


    Since Mei finally calmed down, Mark patted her head. The two then walked back.


    What Mark said to her was true. However, that was not all.


    Right at this moment, there was an intent brimming inside him.


    ''I need to get stronger.''


    Mark looked at Mei who was walking beside him. He needed to get stronger to protect her, no, not only her but also Abbygale and the other members of his group.


    It was because what he saw during the time he was unconscious was not just a simple dream.


    It was a premonition.


    That was one of the reasons Mark wanted to leave as soon as possible. It was to look for opportunities to make himself and the members of his group stronger, also, to find stronger and more reliable people to join them. The effects of the Mutagen that started to changed his body opened his path to be stronger. Mutators and Evolvers alike had the possibility to grow stronger.


    Yes, he preferred to be alone. He was a loner. However, that premonition told him what he needed in the future. It was reliablepanions.


    With all those thoughts, he arrived back at the vehicle. After saying a few more pleasantries to the congresswoman, she told him that they were wee to return anytime, Mark decided to leave.


    Nevertheless, it seemed that they would not be able to yet¡­

 Chapter 108 Eating The Gang Leader

    Day 4 ¨C 7:14 AM ¨C Firenze Townhouse Complex Subdivision Main Gates, La Joya St., Buhay na Tubig, Imus Cavite


    When Mark left the congresswoman with Mei and return to the vehicle but his face could not help but darken. After all, he already said that they were leaving and said goodbye to the congresswoman several times. Yet, aside from Abbygale, Odelina and Laps, everyone else came running out of their vehicle. They were even in panic.


    "Just what are you all doing?"


    Mark said in an irritated voice.


    Even the other people around them, Madam Lanie and the policemen, looked at them with confused expression. The congresswoman could not help but look at Mark with a bitter smile as she somehow understood Mark''s irritation at this situation.


    "Big Brother, Jte is¡­"


    Charmaine tried to tell Mark what was happening but her voice trailed off as she did not know how to exin the situation either.


    Still, that gave the information Mark needed. The situation was caused by the infected he was keeping.


    ''It didn''t look like she made another mess right?''


    Mark thought of that as he entered the vehicle.


    Inside, he saw Abbygale and Odelina watching the strange behavior of Jte while Laes curled at the back of the vehicle doing the same. Jte, the docile infected he was keeping was now struggling with her chains and the cloth gagged on her mouth. Her movements were quite violent so that should be the reason Charmaine and the others who were afraid of the infected was rmed and ran out of the vehicle.


    Nevertheless, Mark observed that the infected girl was not struggling to attack anyone as she did not even face him as she struggled with the chains tied on her body. Jte was really not trying to attack anyone. Rather, it looked more like she wanted to get out of the vehicle.


    Realizing her intent, Mark thought that there might be a reason to this as this infected did not try to resist even once since the time she became like this back in the mall. She would only stare at people or look around. Even when she was being fed, she would not act violently.


    "Papa, is she hungry?"


    Abbygale curiously asked making Mark look at Odelina.


    "Odel, she''s fed yesterday right?"


    "Yes, I fed her twice yesterday, once in the morning when you were inside the City Hall and another in the evening when you were unconscious. But I don''t think she''s hungry either. When she is hungry she will only look weak and slumped but she never acted violently like that."


    "I also thought so."


    Mark nodded at what Odelina said.


    "I guess I''ll let her out for a bit."


    Mark then proceeded to remove the lock of the chains tying Jte to her seat. Of course, he did not remove the part of the chains coiled to her body but removed the cloth blocking her mouth.


    Jte tried to hurriedly run out of the vehicle but her chain was being pulled by Mark making her unable to. She almost fell down so Mark had no choice but to hold unto the chains behind her and prevent her from moving too much. Still, it was obvious that she had really no notion to attack despite there was nothing blocking her mouth at the moment.


    When Mark stepped out of the vehicle with Jte, he could hear several metallic sounds echoing around the area. Looking around, he could see the policemen in the surrounding area had already pointed their guns at Jte.


    "Mark, what is the meaning of this?"


    Madam Lanie asked as she looked at Jte with a frown. She never expected that Mark''s group had an infected with them. Yesterday, they had just let their group in without checking their vehicle due to the fact that Mark and his group helped them a lot and the emergency situation they had. Mark had fallen unconscious after they fought and subdued the Mutant Dog with him spewing out blood. Due to that, their group was hurriedly given a house to stay.


    "You don''t have to ask, as you can see, I''m keeping an infected with us but I have no reason to tell everything to you."


    Mark nonchntly answered. He then looked around staring at the policemen before he continued with a serious face.


    "It''s better if you tell your men to lower their guns. I will tell you but a single idental shot will start a massacre here."


    Seeing the expression on his face, Madam Lanie slightly shivered. She looked at Senior Inspector Tarongoy beside her.


    "Tell your men to lower their guns."


    "But Madam! That''s an infected!"


    "I know but I don''t want your men to end up like those gang members."


    Madam Lanie spoke while turning her gaze unto the pile of dead bodies at the side of the road gathered by the policemen.


    Hearing what she said and looking at the dead bodies, Senior Inspector Tarongoy frowned but also relented.


    "Men, lower you weapons."


    "But sir!"


    One of the policemen tried to protest.


    "You heard me right?"


    Senior Inspector Tarongoy red at the policeman. He knew that many of these policemen hated the infected as their kind killed and ate their families, friends andrades. However, this was not the right situation to vent those grievances. The man in front of them had already showed them what he could do. Furthermore, there were another woman, a child and a dog that was on par or maybe stronger than their current acting leader ording to the information ryed to them by the Chief and Madam Lanie. It was not a good idea to act against these people just for a single infected.


    Moreover, anyone with the right mind and even without good observation skills would notice that there was something peculiar about that female infected. Despite the fact that there were too many people around that her, she did not even try to attack. She might be behaving violently but not towards the people around her.<sub> </sub>


    The policemen finally lowered their weapons but it could be seen in their faces that they were against it. It was also likely that these men would attack at a slightest threat the Jte would show.


    Seeing their actions, Mark''s group members who were tensed felt relived. Mark was the same. Although he did not fear falling out with these people, he would rather not fight without a good reason. Also he did not want to lose a good specimen like Jte. There might even be a possibility that Jte was one of a kind.


    As Jte was struggling violently on Mark''s grasp, he finally let her go where she wanted with him following behind her grasping the chains like a pet owner walking his dog in the morning.


    While Jte led the way and Mark followed, the people blocking their way could only step aside afraid that they would get attacked. To their surprise and amazement, the Jte just passed by them not even leaving a nce unlike the infected they encountered every day that would attack any human near them.


    Jte wanted to run but with Mark holding her chains, she could only walk unsteadily. Surprising enough, the direction she was going to was where the body of the gang leader that had yet to be collected by the policemen lie.


    Arriving beside the body, Jte kneeled down violently trashed her body side by side. Mark noticed her intention so he hurriedly loosened the chain restricting her arms. After her arms were loosened, Jte immediately grabbed the gang leader''s head and then¡­


    THUD! THUD! THUD! THUD! SPLAT!


    In front of everyone watching her, she bashed his head several times on the cement road.


    As the sounds of gun shots had already stopped for a while and nothing else happened, many survivors who hid inside the houses during the encounter between the gang members and the police started toe out of their hiding to see the current situation. However, what they saw was a female infected bashing the head of a man on the cement. Most of the survivors eximed in horror. If not for the policemen and other people surrounding the area, they might have thought that the subdivision had been invaded by the infected.


    One of the survivors who managed to get closer to the area bellowed.


    "What are you policemen doing? There''s a monster in front of you, why are you not killing it?"


    Nevertheless, what that survivor received was several res from the policemen. The survivor was taken aback. Some of the res he received were looking at him like he was an idiot. He did not want to just receive those res but he did not dare question them again. There must be some reason why the police were just standing around vigntly and watching.


    CRACK! SPLAT!


    The head of the gang leader was finally cracked open making blood and brain matter spill out into the cement.


    Many of those watching could not help but fell their stomach churn. The ones with weaker stomachs like those survivors that hade around immediately turned unto their backs and bent down releasing the very little contents of their stomachs.  Even the ones who had stronger tolerance to these kinds of scenes felt sour on their throats. Different reactions came out from the crowd. The members Mark''s group was not an exception.


    That was the difference in seeing just blood and dead bodies than seeing a dead body''s head being bashed open eaten raw.


    However, there were some people here with abnormal mentality.


    Jte had scooped the brain matter that spilled on the floor with her hands and put the contents of her hands that were dripping of blood into her mouth. As if it was not enough, she held the gang leader''s body on his shoulder with her left hand and held his head with her right hand.


    RIIPPP!!


    She pulled his head off even pulling out some of his spinal column. More blood spilled as the shape of the gang leader''s torso distorted.


    Even more people could not keep on watching anymore.


    Nevertheless, Mark squatted in front of Jte who was eating the brains of the gang leader while intently watching her. Mei also went closer and stood behind him. Abbygale also wanted to watch but she was being held off by Odelina along with her children as the scene was not good for kids.


    There were really abnormal people here.


    "Gege, Jte''s having a hard time is she?"


    "Yeah. It will consume more time if I didn''t help her."


    As Mei said, Jte was having a hard time extracting the contents of the gang leader''s skull. Even if some of the brain matter had already spilled out due to the force of her bashing, the remaining contents would not fit through the small hole she managed to open.


    Mark pulled out the machete tied unto his waist and stretched out his left hand towards the head Jte was holding. Unexpectedly to everyone, he did not snatch it. Rather, he motioned his had as if he was asking Jte for the head.


    "Give me that for a bit. I''ll open it."


    Mark spoke making everyone look at him incredulously. Not only that he was not affected by the scene and even volunteered to slice the head open. He even talked to the infected. They were all thinking if there was something wrong with his mind.


    However, they were managed to witness an absurd reality.


    Jte stopped what she was doing and stared at Mark''s outstretched hand, then to his face. After staring at him with her white pupils and without blinking, she slowly ced the head on Mark''s hand.


    Everyone was shocked to see this scene. Even Mei who stood behind him and their group members who managed to turn their sight back to the scene could not help but exim their shock.


    No one knew but Mark. After Jte consumed the mouthful of spilled brain matter, something was triggered inside that brain of hers. It was very faint but Mark managed to detect it as he was intently observing her. That was also the reason he tried to speak to her and ask for the head instead of snatching the head from her.


    Jte''s response was also a surprise to Mark but the shock was lesspared to others as he somehow anticipated it. With that, he put the head on the ground face down and split the back of the head open with his machete.


    Seeing that the back of the head was finally split open, Jte hurriedly picked up the head and pulled two halves apart creating more and more mess spilling more blood along with the parts of the brain and brain fluid dripped continuously. Using her hands, Jte scooped the brain from the skull and devoured it.


    As Jte was devouring her food, Mark observed several changes on her body. Her pale skin started to be rosy. The bloated veins that were one of the features the infected had that could be seen through their skin was now starting to fade. The more urate thing to describe her, it was as if she was returning back into human.


    However, that was not the case. Mark observed that faint consciousness that started to sprout but it did not grow too much. If he were to describe it, that consciousness was even weaker than a new born kitten. Nevertheless, Mark was in glee as if he found something very interesting. Well, what was happening to Jte was really something VERY interesting.


    At this moment that everyone was immersed in the gory but peculiar scene, sounds of cars sounded outside the gates. Several gunshots echoed from the outside rming everyone but the target of the gunshots was the infected that started to gather outside the gate. After the infected outside was eliminated, several patrol cars entered the gate together with a passenger van and a family car that was strangely covered with vines.

 Chapter 109 Gathering At The Gates

    Day 4 ¨C 7:02 AM ¨C Buhay na Tubig St., Buhay na Tubig, Imus, Cavite


    Back during the time that the gang was being eliminated by Mark, a group of vehicles consisting of several police patrol cars, a passenger van and family car covered with thin vines were rushing towards Firenze. With the family car and the passenger van as the exception, the patrol cars had the policemen who had gone out from Firenze.


    Every morning and dusk during these past days, it had been a routine for the policemen to go out and kill the infected that gathered outside the gates and if the number becamerge, they would lure them away. This was the reason why the private road outside Firenze was almost devoid of the infected. After luring away the infected, they would go some other ces to gather supplies and find survivors while waiting for the horde to scatter.


    This morning however, the number of infected outside the gates were several timesrger than the past instances leaving them without much choice but to lure the horde away while slowly whittling their numbers. However, who knew that the sudden immergence of therge horde was actually a plot to lure them away from the settlement. After they arrived quite a distance into the main street, they were ambushed by armed men who they confirmedter as members of the gang syndicate that had settled on the opposite subdivision. They also learned that while they were being held by the gang members, the settlement was being attacked by another group making the atmosphere on their side even tenser.


    With the horde they were luring away behind them and the ambush of the gang syndicate in front, the policemen were besieged in a dangerous situation. If not for Chief Mari''s instructions and prowess of the acting leader of the settlement, SP02 Agbayani, who was a Mutator, they would not have managed to persevere.


    SP02 Agbayani, even though had lower rank in the police hierarchy, was chosen as their acting leader due to the fact that his existence was giving hope to the survivors of the settlement due to his superhuman ability he obtained after getting bitten by the infected. Furthermore, his personality was very liked by those people. He was the ideal person to do the job and was also active on that post he was given.


    Every time that the policemen needed to go out, SP02 Abayani would always apany the others to ensure their safety and to also secure the survivors they could find.


    Chief Mari however just came this time to see their routine and supervise their work. Who knew however that the chiefing with them this time was a blessing due to his experience in this field? If not for the police chief being here, they might have fallen immediately despite having SP02 Agbayani with them.


    SP02 Agbayani''s ability could be called as [Steel Skin]. It was to turn his skin into metal. Even though his transformation when he was using his ability was slow and always took quite a bit of time, it would make him impervious to the bites of the infected, the bullets of lower caliber firearms and cold weapons. However, higher caliber weapons and impact type attacks could still affect him as only his skin was affected by his ability and not his muscles and organs. Furthermore, his body would be heavier and his movements would be slower during the time he was transformed.


    If chief Mari was not there to guide them, SP02 Agbayani could only protect himself and not others leading to their deaths.


    Still, they had been in a tight situation. Even if they did not immediately fell due to the chief, it was just a matter of time.


    However, a miracle happened¡­


    A strange looking family car covered with vines drove into the scene. The gang members also surrounded the family car and mocked the people inside for having such a tasteless and worthless car design. That was when their demise started. The green vines surrounding the vehicle moved and killed that gang members like ants. The vines whipped through the gang members and even pierced thought their bodies sttering blood and decimating the bodies of the gang members.


    They, who had been besieged by those same people, could only gape at the situation with dumbstruck expressions. Furthermore, the same vehicle started to decimate the horde following behind them.


    After that, a passenger van with survivors aboard arrived at the scene attracted by the sounds of guns. It looked like that the survivors were desperate and just gambled on the situation. Lucky for them, they arrived at the right time. If they arrived earlier, they might have joined an undesirable situation.


    When the situation came to an end, the woman driving the vine covered family car asked them about Firenze. As they knew that the woman or maybe someone inside the family car might be simr to SP02 Agbayani, they dly allowed the woman to go with them and hurry back at the settlement.


    It now came into the current situation.


    However, when they arrived back inside Firenze, with the exception of Chief Mari and the men who came with him from the City Hall yesterday, the rest wore both relieved and shocked expressions after seeing the current happenings. If not for the fact that they could see the several dozen dead bodies, the injured and captured gang members, they would think that it was a lie.


    To think that thatrge number of hoodlums was defeated by a single person and that very same person was that man who was intently watching a female infected eating in front of him. They did not know what to say about this.


    ***


    Mark kept observing the changes in Jte''splexion while she was eating and to say, she now looked more or less human. If not for her white colored pupils and nk expression on her face, no one would think that she was an infected.


    Mark knew that the policemen along with Chief Mari and his men had returned but he had no notion to even look at them as he was more interested at the peculiar bloody scene in front of him.


    Still, it looked like that it was destined for him to get disturbed.


    "It''s the kind uncle!"


    A lively voice echoed in the surroundings as an eleven year old girl jumped out of the vine covered vehicle after she saw Mark. Everyone could not help but look at the girl who had green colored hair with pink flowers on her head. The girl ran towards Mark without minding the stares she was gathering.


    Mark who heard the shout only sighed. He noticed the two familiar and unique fluctuations from the group that arrived so he knew that this girl and the person inside that huge tree at the City Hall had already arrived. He was even sure now that the tree was really a child due to how weak the fluctuations he was detecting. Nevertheless, he did not want to approach them nor expected that the girl would actually be the first one to move.


    "Nee! Scary looking oji-san! I mean uncle!"


    The girl yelled as she approached since Mark did not even look at her even after she called for him.


    Because of that shout, Mark could not help but turn his head and nce at her.


    "Stop shouting you Dryad Chibi!"


    Mark said while looking.


    "I''m not a chibi!"


    The little girl bellowed back before freezing as she realized that the scary uncle seemed to understand her father''s mothernguage, Japanese. When she subconsciously blurted ''Oji-san'' earlier, it was because their family spent their vacations at Japan causing her mixed vocabry at unexpected times. That was why she immediately corrected herself. She did not expect that the scary uncle could actually understand her.


    When she arrived in front of Mark, she stopped and stared at him from head to toe without fear. Mark on the other hand only nced at her before turning his head back to Jte as he was waiting if there would be more changes on her physique or her sprouting consciousness.


    The girl who was ignored pouted and looked at what the scary uncle was watching. As she was focused at the scary uncle, she did not notice the bloody scene in front of her. Now that she saw it¡­


    "Ugu-! Scary uncle, why are you watching something disgusting?"


    She covered her mouth but she did not look away. Rather she even looked interested. Then, she saw Jte.


    "Eh? Uncle, why are you feeding this zombie? Is she your pet?"


    She started circling around Jte in curiosity.


    "Uwaaa¡­ Amazing, she''s not attacking me."


    "You know, I''ll make her attack you if you keep on doing that."


    Mark felt dizzy with her circling around.<sub> </sub>


    "Gege, this girl is?"


    Mei who was standing behind Mark could not stop herself from asking. Mark nced at her.


    "Well, I don''t really know her. I only know that she was rted to that huge tree at the City Hall."


    Then, Mark looked at the middle-aged woman who was approaching while carrying a four year old boy on her arms. The little boy also had green hair but his hair had a darker tintpared to his older sister. Another noticeable thing about the little boy was the small part of his skin under his jaw and the back of his hands had tree bark like texture and color.


    Upon arriving, the woman tried not to look at the gruesome seen of Jte eating the brain of the dead man in front of her as she called unto the girl.


    "Stop doing that Emika. You''re disturbing everyone."


    "Hai~!


    The green haired girl answered and skipped towards her mother.


    The woman then looked at Mark.


    "I heard from my children that you helped us. That bag of food left at the convenience store was also from you right? Thank you very much."


    The woman vowed sincerely towards Mark.


    "You don''t have to worry about it. It''s just on a whim if you asked me. If I''m correct, that boy is that huge tree right?"


    "Apparently, yes. This is my youngest child, Mikio. I''m Rosamie, their mother. This mischievous girl here is Emika."


    "Sakurano Emika desu~!"


    Emika suddenly interjected by introducing herself in front of Mark even blocking her mother from his sight. Of course, she got pulled away and was scolded.


    "Sorry for that, my daughter is really naughty. Also, my children said that you helped Mikio turn back to human. I really can''t thank you enough for that."


    "Well, no need for formalities. You can say that your son is a friend of mine."


    Mark then faced Mikio.


    "Right?"


    The little boy hurriedly nodded while smiling widely.


    What Mark and Rosamie did was a simple exchange of gratitude and other things but to others who knew of the circumstances at the City Hall, they were all stunned. They looked at the little boy and they could not help but feel shocked that this little boy was that huge tree back then. Furthermore, didn''t that tree wither during the time the City Hall copsed?


    Likewise, they could not ignore one thing that Rosamie said. It was about Mark turning her son, Mikio, back into human.


    Just how many mysteries did this man have with him?


    The people who had lesser shock however were the people who watched Mark subdue that huge dog. If he could turn the dog back to something more ''normal'' looking, it was possible that he could also do that to people with the same circumstances.


    "Nee, nee~, uncle, you haven''t introduced yourself yet."


    Emika pestered Mark and pulled his sleeves several times.


    "Alright¡­ Just stop will you. It''s Mark, just call me Mark."


    "Heee? Why is it so short? Never mind, I''ll just call you Mark-Ojichan th- Ahhh!"


    Emika''s ear was pulled by her mother.


    Mark sighed with a bitter smile. This girl might be a little annoying but Mark could not hate her either. It was because he found this girl attracting. Not her looks but her mindset and the reigning emotion in her subconscious. It was actually, ''Happiness''.


    Negative emotions get absorbed by Mark and he gets exhausted because of it. On the contrary, he found positive emotions quite attracting and they somehow give him positive energy.


    With this girl''s inherent positive emotion, it would be hard for Mark to hate her.


    At this moment that Emika wasining to her mother, Mark turned his head back towards Jte. It seemed that she was already done eating and was now licking the blood off her palms. ncing behind him, Mark spoke.


    "Mei''er, can you get me the hand sanitizer and the water spray from the vehicle. Ah, also some tissue. We need to clean Jte before bringing her back inside the car"


    "Alright."


    Mei who was still having her time digesting the information she just heard snapped out of her thoughts and hurriedly replied before making her way towards the vehicle.


    Everyone was still immersed at the peculiar happenings in front of them. About Jte''s existence, about the mysteries around Mark, the truth about that huge tree back in the City Hall and also about the Emika''s appearance. It was quite a huge amount of information for the people''s tired minds to digest.


    The mysterious Mark in question however was waiting for the items he needed so they could clean Jte''s face and hands.


    "Mark?"


    It was then that he heard a familiar male voice from behind making him turn back in surprise. Seeing who spoke to him, he could not help but feel a bit ted. There was no way he would not recognize this person.

 Chapter 110 Reunion With A Friend

    Day 4 ¨C 7:24 AM ¨C Firenze Townhouse Complex Subdivision Main Gates, La Joya St., Buhay na Tubig, Imus, Cavite


    "Ron!"


    Mark smiled happily.


    "Dude, it''s really you!"


    Ron smiled and approached Mark trying to bro hug him.


    "Wait, you better not do that."


    Mark stopped Ron from doing so and stretched his hands dripping with blood. The blood came from that time Jte handed him the gang leader''s head for him to split it open.


    Ron was stopped from his intention but he could see how warm Mark was looking at him. It was a really good reunion for the two who was best friends since they were in their first year in high school.  That should be about thirteen years since the two men met each other.


    During the time Mark had closed himself from the outside world, they also barely interacted with each other as Ron was also busy with his work and other aspects of his life. Still, their connection was not broken just because of that.


    Now that the world had almost ended and was seething with flesh eating monsters, seeing each other alive was a very joyous asion. Furthermore, they saw each other in a very unlikely ce. It was because Firenze was way, way distant from the location of their houses. If it was to bepared, Bay City was even closer than their homes from this ce.


    "How did you get here?"


    Mark asked.


    "It''s a long story but I came here with them."


    Ron pointed at the passenger van that came with the police convoy. Fatigue could be seen on his face as he sighed.


    "What about Nikky?"


    When Mark asked that, Ron''s face soured.


    "Don''t tell me¡­"


    "No, it''s not that. It''s just I don''t know how she is now nor my family."


    "Did you get stranded somewhere after the outbreak?"


    "That''s right."


    "Well, this is not a good ce to catch up. Come with us."


    Mark said as he pointed at the MB Sprinter.


    "I really hate it when my ns get ruined but it can''t be helped now, can it?"


    "You nned on leaving?"


    "Well, yeah. I wanted to look for people including you but since you''re already here, you''ll surelye with us right?"


    "I surely would. You''ll help me find Nikky and my family right?"


    "You bet. But you can''t just follow like that. You looked like you''ll copse in any moment."


    Mark smiled. For people who were close to him, he would not deny what they wanted without deep reason. Since he was nning to look for people anyway, adding a few more would not bother him. Also, they could just look for them on the way while going to further areas.


    At what Mark had just said, Ron hung a bitter smile on his face. Mark was right after all. He had not received enough food and sleep during this past few days. Even if he wanted to rush and find the people he wanted to find, it was no good if he copsed before he could even step out into the street.


    "Gege, here."


    "Alright, help me pull out some of the tissue."


    While the two best friends were talking, Mei returned carrying the stuff Mark asked for. Seeing the beautiful girl approaching Mark, Ron''s eyes lit up. However, seeing that Ron was looking at her, Mei hurriedly hid behind Mark.


    "Dude, you finally got a girlfriend?"


    "What are you talking about? She''s not alright."


    Hearing that, Ron choked. He was a man with a loving girlfriend. She was Nikky who Mark asked him about. How could he not notice that the way that beautiful girl look at Mark was the same as how Nikky looked at him? He did not think that Mark was dense since he knew that this guy was a sensitive person.


    "Gege, who is he?"


    "I''ll introduce himter. Help me clean Jte first."


    "Yes."


    Mark then turned at Ron.


    "Lan, wait for a bit. I''ll just take care of a few things."


    "Alright, it''s not like I''m going anywhere."


    With that, Mark turned towards Jte who was still kneeling beside the beheaded body and had already licked her hand clean.


    Together with Mei, Mark washed Jte''s hands and wiped the blood off her face. Jte who was being cleaned only stared at Mark and Mei nkly and let the two do what they wanted. She was neither behaving violently nor behaving aggressive as it seemed that she only wanted to eat the gang leader''s brain. Now that she had fulfilled what she wanted, she returned to her nk state.


    Or maybe not.


    It was because she started following Mark''s hands as they moved.


    Then under everyone''s astonished gazes, Jte slowly reached towards Mark''s right hand.


    Mark was confused at what she wanted to do but he just let her grab his hand. Mei looked worried as there was still the possibility of Jte biting anyone but looking at Mark''s calm face, she managed to hold back.


    What Jte did however made the jaws of the people around them drop.


    After she held Mark''s right hand with both her hands, she slowly put his palm on her head and stared at Mark as if she was waiting for something.


    Mark remembered what he did back in the mall the first time he noticed her peculiarity. With those thought, he channeled the sameforting energy. No one noticed since it was early in the morning and the sun shined around them but Mark''s eyes were exuding a milky white glow.


    Then¡­


    Jte smiled.


    Mark was the only one who noticed but there was a faint smile on her lips and a faint fluctuation on her weak consciousness. After that, Jte''s body slumped. Mark hurriedly supported her body from falling. Like what happened before, she fell asleep. While everyone was still gawking at them, Mark slowly lifted Jte''s body in a princess carry. He intended to carry her back into the vehicle.


    "Lan, let''s go."


    Ron who was all confused at what he had just seen absentmindedly nodded and followed behind Mark. He had already taken several steps when he snapped at his stupor.


    "Dude, that''s a zombie right?"


    "Well, yeah what of it?"


    Mark nced over his shoulders and replied.


    "Why are you keeping her?"


    "Well, there were several circumstances that led to this but as you can see, she''s very different from those infected you see everywhere."


    "¡­"


    Ron went silent. There was no way to refute that after seeing what had just happened. Would any infected let a human touch them without trying to bite their hands? The infected Mark was carrying in his arms might be the only one.


    Mark and Mei led Ron towards their vehicle.


    "Everyone, get back in the car. We''ll postpone our departure for a bit. Odel, drive the car back to that house."


    "As you wish, Master."


    Odelina replied while the others were still wondering about his change of mind.


    "Bro, we won''t leave?"<sub> </sub>


    Carlo voiced what was in the minds of everyone.


    "We''ll leaveter. I actually wanted to leave already but you see right, a lot of things happening preventing us from doing so. We''ll just let it pass and leave a little bitter."


    "Well, you got the call."


    Carlo replied while shrugging his shoulders. He also wanted to leave too as he wanted to check on his family as soon as possible but as just what his Bro had said. It felt like something was preventing them from doing so. Is it destiny? Fate? Who knows?


    After that exchange, Mark put the sleeping Jte inside the vehicle but did not tie her anymore. Them everyone else entered the vehicle after Mark went out once more.


    "Dude, why do you have too many women with you?"


    Ron suddenly asked making Mark shrug his shoulders.


    "I want to ask that question myself, you know? But who can I ask? It''s good that you''re here. At least, there''s one more male in the group."


    "You''re not going to use me as a shield, are you?"


    "Nah, you''re the only one thinking that. Anyway, you can sit on the passenger seat in the front."


    "Why there?"


    "Because we have to women in the back who have problems with males you see."


    Ron was speechless. It was not like he could not see another male sitting there and also Mark.


    "Don''t say anything, just enter the car."


    Mark started to push him into the front passenger seat.


    Everyone was inside the vehicle now while Mark went back to the crowd and approached the congresswoman who was currently talking with Chief Mari and another person. The person that Mark was not familiar with was surely the Mutator from their ranks. Mark did not want to interact with this guy but it could not be helped at the moment.


    "Mark!"


    Madam Lanie called out as he approached and asked.


    "Is there something you need?"


    "We''ll postpone our departure forter so I''m just here to ask permission to use that house again."


    "There''s no problem with that. As I said before, your people are always wee here."


    "Alright."


    "Wait Mark."


    Mark was about to turn around and leave but Chief Mari called him.


    "What is it?"


    "Thank you for lending your aid to us once more."


    "Nah, I got my payment already."


    Chief Mari smiled bitterly at his response.


    To the side, hearing that Mark took some payment for helping, SP02 Agbayani frowned. He was about to speak when.


    "Don''t you dare try to open that mouth of yours. I don''t want to hear that nonsense you wanted to spew out of your mouth."


    Mark''s hostility was obvious.


    SP02 Agbayani froze because of that and Mark left immediately afterwards.


    Seeing Mark''s back from a distance, SP02 Agbayani turned his head towards Chief Mari and Madam Lanie.


    "Chief, Madam, did I do something wrong?"


    The two did not answer and just smiled bitterly at him making the young cop even more confused.


    After leaving the three, Mark then approached Rosamie and her children.


    "Can you three follow us? There are some questions I want to ask."


    "There''s no problem with that. We also have questions to ask you."


    Rosamie agreed to his intention.


    "Yeah, we have questions Mark-Ojichan!"


    Emika unnecessarily added.


    "Alright. Just follow behind our vehicle."


    Mark then returned to the vehicle.


    Rosamie on the other hand went to offer some pleasantries to the congresswoman and the police chief who led them here before boarding their vehicle.


    The two unique looking vehicles drove away under everyone''s eyes. Nevertheless, it would be hard for many people here to digest what they had just witnessed. Even if any of them were to tell what they saw to other people, no one would believe them and they might even be branded as liars.


    ***


    Mark''s group soon arrived back at the house they had just left not too long ago. Leaving this ce and returningter looked awkward but there was nothing that they could do due to the sudden circumstances.


    As time was the essence, Mark started giving orders.


    "Anna."


    "Yes?!"


    "Start to prepare lunch. If we are able to, we''ll have an early lunch and leave after noon."


    "Roger!"


    "Anyone want to help her?"


    Mark asked the rest of the group.


    "Master, how about I help?"


    Odelina asked.


    "I''m just about to ask you to change Jte''s clothes though. Its all stained with blood."


    "Then, I can do that after cooking."


    "Alright, if you say so."


    There, they would start their meeting inside the living room but now, with the old members aside, Ron was now included. Rosamie, Emika and Mikio were not members of the group but as Mark had questions to ask them, they also huddled on one of the sofas.


    ***


    Day 4 - 7:32 AM ¨C Central Business Park, Pasay City, Medical Building


    It was a building formerly used as an office. After the military upied Bay City and converted the ce into an evacuation zone, the several story offices was converted into a medical facility.


    Pa stood outside one of the rooms that were converted into an intensive care unit. She was looking worriedly through the ss window. Inside the room, a female could be seen with all the medical apparatus sticking on her body. The female Pa was worriedly looking at was no other than Angeline.


    Angeline had been unconscious for about a day now. Though she was not in danger anymore, she had yet to wake up. Furthermore, no one was allowed to enter her room as of yet as she had just received a surgery.


    Pa could not help but remember what happened. She stared back at the unconscious Angeline with a sad look.

 Chapter 111 The Mystery Behind The Golden Fruit

    Day 4 ¨C 7:52 AM ¨C Firenze Townhouse Complex Subdivision, La Joya St., Buhay na Tubig, Imus, Cavite


    "Well, now, where should we start?"


    Mark indifferently spoke while he while sitting down at the left side of the shorter sofa. Nevertheless, he could not help but sigh inside. It was because just after he sat down, Mei immediately took his right side while Abbygale jumped back on her territory which was her Papa''sp.


    Everyone else around was speechless to this scene. They were even more amazed that it Mark gave no reaction to the behavior of the two. They just did not know that he just already gave up on thinking of reprimanding the two as he had also grown getting used to it. Besides, it was not like the two meant any harm.


    Ron who sat on a single sofa on the opposite side was grinning at this scene. His best friend''s spring had alreadye in his eyes. Also he had already asked Mark about Abbygale back when they were inside the vehicle on the way here and of course, his answer was the usual even making Charmaine who received the same answer before feel helpless hearing her Big Brother''s answer one more time.


    "Bro, why don''t you introduce him first?"


    Carlo suggested while looking at Ron.


    Mark looked at his best friend and said.


    "Lan, you heard him."


    "What? I''m not doing it. They are your friends, right? YOU introduce me to them."


    Mark red at Ron but thetter just shrugged his shoulders, obviously that he would not relent on this. This guy knew that Mark hated to do introductions so he was purposely doing it. Since Ron also that the point in what he said, Mark swallowed this grievance for now, and will just get back at himter. Or maybe not.


    "Well, guys, you see, this is Ron Jaco, my best friend since high school."


    As Mark paused there, they were expecting that there would be a follow up, however¡­


    "Why are you guys looking at me like that? That''s it."


    "That''s it? Why don''t you add some more details?"


    Ron voiced his dissatisfaction.


    "What should I say then? Something like, despite your looks, you''re a womanizer or your peculiar taste on women?"


    "Stop! STOP! You''re ruining my image!"


    Ron almost stood up in panic trying to stop Mark from continuing. Now he regretted asking Mark to say more things.


    Still, the exchange between the two caused stifledughs from the others watching the scene.


    "These two uncles are really close, aren''t they?"


    Emika voiced her opinion making everyone agree inwardly.


    After that short but funny exchange between the best friends that just had their reunion, the introduction of the other members followed. And of course, they did their own introduction or they might have the same experience as Ron if they let Mark do it.


    After the introductions, the serious business started.


    The first one to speak was Rosamie.


    "Before everything else, I want to know what is happening to us. About the zombies and also why my children ended up like this. Going back to how my children described you, you knew something right?"


    Rosamie looked at Mark.


    At her question, Ron, Carlo, Sundra, Cielo and even Ann who was listening from the kitchen waited for the answer. They also wanted to know after all, they all knew nothing but vague ideas about the outbreak.


    "So, we have to start from there huh?"


    Mark muttered before rying the information the military disclosed before back in the mall. He actually did not want to go all over these things again as he just did the same yesterday in front of Chief Mari and Madam Lanie. Nevertheless, he had no choice. The conversation would not proceed correctly if they had no clue about the happenings within this outbreak.


    After a few minutes¡­


    "So, you are saying that my children were Mutators?"


    Rosamie asked while she looked at Emika beside her and Mikio in her arms.


    "There are no other exnations to that right?"


    "That''s true but. Why did my son turn into that tree?"


    "Well, now that you mention it, I have a guess about that."


    What Mark said made everyone turn towards him. Seeing that he had Rosamie''s attention, he continued.


    "You see. I wasn''t able to think of it at first but it''s probable that children that became Mutators can''t control their ability that well. Mikio might have lost control of his ability after mutating and you know the story afterwards."


    "Are you sure?"


    "As I said, it''s just a guess but we have another example here."


    Mark patted Abbygale''s head.


    "Gale, this would be ufortable so endure a little."


    Abbygale who looked confused just nodded even though she had no idea what her Papa was talking about. It was then that she suddenly felt agitated and afraid. Her hair turned white and she transformed back into her cat eared form.


    Everyone who had seen her transform for the first time was shocked. Still, since they were already briefed about Mutators and Evolvers, they managed to calm down almost immediately.


    Except for one person¡­


    "Uwa~! Kawaii~!"


    Emika shouted as she jumped off her seat and ran towards Abbygale before everyone could even react. She ran towards Abbygale and tried to hug her. Well, of course, the little Dryad was caught by the Cat Girl''s father failing her intention.


    "Mu~! Scary Uncle, let me hug her!"


    Emika said as she struggled to break free from the hand grasping her forehead. She even used her hair and controlled it to try and escape but she failed.


    "If you don''t stop, I''ll get angry. You''re scaring Gale, look."


    Emika looked at Abbygale who was now hugging her Papa while looking at her warily. Crestfallen, she finally gave up and went back to her seat.


    Since Emika finally settled down, Mark continued his previous exnation.


    "As you can see, Gale is also a Mutator but she can''t control this transformation at will yet."


    Mark patted the little girl''s head. It might really have been ufortable since he had just used his Emotion Induction to trigger her transformation.<sub> </sub>


    "But she had just transformed right?"


    Carlo interjected.


    "Well, I''m the one who triggered her transformation so she had nothing to do with it."


    Mark shrugged. However, what he had just said triggered another round of shock not only to the new people around but even to Mei and Odelina who was with him first.


    Analyzing the situation, Mei realized something.


    "Gege, is that ability something you gained after you fell unconscious yesterday?"


    "Hmm¡­ You can say that."


    Mark neither admitted nor denied what she said. It was just he could not go into specifics as Rosamie and her children were not part of their group.


    However, what he had just showed everyone that not only he could return the Mutators that had gone out of control back to at least what can be called normal and now also had the ability to trigger their abilities.


    "Now that I answered your questions, can I ask mine now?"


    Rosamie nodded in response to Mark''s question.


    "It''s about that fruit Mikio desperately took away from us up to the point of almost killing us. What happened to it?"


    Hearing his words, Mikio looked down. The four year old boy understood what he had done. It might be because he was smart or might be because his mind had been enhanced by his Mutation. He was desperate to take back the fruit he painstakingly created to the point of almost killing the person who helped him turn back into human form afterwards.


    Rosamie had already heard of the story so she also felt ashamed.


    "I''m really sorry about what happened. It was because the fruit was intended for me that my son did that."


    With those words, she started to narrate what happened back then and what happened to the golden fruit.


    "So you say that this Dryad Chibi fed you the fruit so you will wake up from youratose state?"


    "That''s right! So Scary Uncle shouldn''t me my little brother for that! Also I''m not a chibi!"


    Emika raged on her seat.


    "Emika, settle down."


    Rosamie reprimanded her noisy daughter.


    "I get the situation now. Still, what is that fruit if the first ce? Also, can Mikio create another one?"


    In response to Mark''s question, Mikio stretched out his both hands and spread his fingers in front of him.


    "What does that mean? Ten?"


    Mark looked as confused as everyone around them. Mikio then turned to her older sister. The two looked at each other like they were talking mentally. While the two children were staring at each other, Mark spoke to Rosamie realizing something about Mikio.


    "Mrs. Rosamie, is Mikio perhaps, mute?"


    Hearing that question, Rosamie could not help but let out a down cast expression. She patted Mikio''s head and replied.


    "It''s unfortunate but yes. He was born prematurely so he had some implications that he almost didn''t make it. It led to this but it''s lucky that he managed to live back then. Being a mute was nothingpared to dying."


    Those words of Rosamie turned the atmosphere a little down cast. Fortunately, the lively green haired girl cut off that atmosphere.


    "Nee~ Scary Uncle, my little brother told me the answer to your question."


    Emika puffed out her chest as she spoke.


    "My little brother said that he needed ten days to create that fruit but he also needed to be in his tree form during that duration. Also he did not know what really the fruit was but he said that it was a concentration of something he was gathering from the air."


    Emika spoke like a machine gun.


    "Gathering in the air¡­ Is he perhaps turning the Mutagen in the air into that fruit?"


    Mark blurted out his thoughts but of course, there was no one here who could answer that.


    "Wait, wait. How did your little brother told you all that?"


    Carlo interjected as he found the scene peculiar. Mikio was mute and the siblings just stared at each other for a minute or so. There was no way for the two tomunicate.


    "I don''t know? I could understand my little brother but I don''t know how."


    Emika tilted her head.


    Carlo was about to speak again but Mark called unto him.


    "Carlo, you also have an ability now right? I''m sure you know about it without knowing where you learned it from. It''s the same so don''t ask them about it since they won''t be able to give a concrete answer."


    Hearing that, Carlo calmed down. After he woke up yesterday evening, he knew what changes he had in his body but also did not know how he knew about it. Since it was the case, then it might be the same to others right?


    Looking back to Mikio, Mark asked another question.


    "The fruit before is just about two and a half days from forming right? You just said that you needed ten days."


    Mikio ryed his answer to his older sister and Emika spoke afterwards.


    "Little Brother said that the fruit before was still not mature. It managed to wake up mom but that''s it. It had no other effects. If the fruit matured, my little brother was sure that it will have other effects. He didn''t know what the effects are though."


    "If I''m correct, then a mature fruit could help both Evolvers and Mutators."


    Mark held his chin and continued since everyone was looking at him with eyes looking for further exnation.


    "The Mutagen can cause people to Evolve and for lucky ones to be Mutators. As long that a person is not bitten, the Mutagen can positively help the people infected with it like me and Carlo. The chances however were by luck. Still, if that fruit is really a concentration of Mutagen, then, it could make a person evolve for sure at a faster rate. It''s just a guess though."


    That exnation enlightened everyone here. Even though it was just his spection, the possibility for him to be correct was very high.


    The only demerit was Mikio needed to be in the form of a huge tree to create one. If that was the case, he needed to do it in a both fixed and secure ce.


    This also made Mark have the idea to recruit this family into his group no matter what. However, he did not know that these three already had notions to join their group given that the group had a greater ability on confronting the infectedpared to the police in this area.


    After that information exchange, the group went to n their new routes and approach in searching the people they wanted to find.

 Chapter 112 The Unknown

    Day 4 ¨C 7:52 AM ¨C Firenze Townhouse Complex Subdivision, La Joya St., Buhay na Tubig, Imus, Cavite


    Mark took out a notepad and prepared to write important details about their ns. Especially, it would be better to take note of the ces they needed to check and arrange those ces from nearest to furthest. In that way, they would be able to do a linear search instead of going back and forth when they did not need to do so.


    Unfortunately or fortunately, Mei, Abbygale, Odelina and Melissa were only here for the sake of discussion. Mei hand no ns to search for her family obviously and for Abbygale, she had no family to search anymore. Melissa on the other hand, both her parents were working abroad and there was no way for her to search for them. Moreover, her close friends live Man and other ces far away. As for Odelina, her parents were already dead and her husband''s parents and siblings were from abroad too. Odelina''s only sister was also living with her inws abroad.


    Their discussion went smooth. The other members wanted to search for their families if possible. It was good that Ann and Carlo were actually neighbors so going to their ce to search for their families could be done in one go. It was also the reason how the unreliable looking Ann was able to enter and work at Carlo''s family''s business.


    As for the two sisters, Charmaine and Cielo, their father, half-brother and step-mother also lived at Man making the search for them pretty much impossible at the moment or maybe, even in the future.


    "By the way, where is Elsa?"


    Mark asked while looking at the two women.


    Elsa was the oldest among them siblings. She was also one of the people closest to Mark like a sibling simr to Charmaine and Carlo. However, he had no idea where she was and his only lead was her younger sisters.


    "About that, Big Sis went to Mall of Asia for a date with Erwin."


    Cielo replied. Apparently, when Charmaine went to the City Hall early in the morning, Elsa was still at home so she did not know where their older sister was.


    "Hmm¡­"


    Mark tapped his chin hearing that. Mall of Asia was located within the Bay City which was now made into an evacuation settlement by the military. He then remembered something and subconsciously tapped on his belt. However, he did not find what he wanted to get.


    "Gege, the phone is inside the car. I charged it yesterday when you copsed."


    Mei said after seeing Mark''s actions.


    "I see, Mei''er can you get the phone. Maybe we can ask Angeline. They should have a list of their refugees, right?"


    "Yes."


    Mei stood up and made her way to the garage under everyone''s confused gazes. They were confused as to why the two suddenly mentioned about phones when the phone services were already down since the morning of the first day the apocalypsemenced. After all, the only ones who knew about the Satellite Phone Pa gave Mark were only Odelina and her two children.


    "Bro, why are you talking about phones? The service is already down."


    Carlo voiced out making everyone nod.


    "The phone I''m talking about is a Satellite Phone directly connected to the militarymunication line."


    "What?!"


    Everyone was surprised.


    "Then, Bro, you can contact the military?"


    "We can only contact the group in Bay City."


    Mark stated.


    "Then Big Brother, isn''t it possible to ask them for rescue? Especially for the people we needed to look for."


    Charmaine asked.


    "You better not count on them."


    Mark shook his head and continued.


    "If the military move out to evacuate people, they won''t be able to prioritize and end up saving every survivor theye in contact with. Unless the person they needed to search for is a famous scientist or someone with expertise or probably a high ranking politician, that case will happen. If we rely on them, we won''t know when they would be able to find your families. When ites to worse, they would not be able to. Furthermore, the military manpower in Bay City right now is severelycking. It even took them too long just to pick up the survivors at the City Mall we were in before because of theirck of people."


    Mark stated the facts he was able to think of which was highly likely to happen.


    With that, they finally understood the circumstances. Also if Mark did rely on the military before, then, all of them who are here right now would not be here in the first ce. If the worse situation even came, they would already be dead already and would have no chance to even sit here.


    Because of this fact, they all became thankful of Mark who went off away from the possibility of going to a safer ce just to find them. The same case also went for Sundra, Melissa and Ann who was not in Mark''s list in the first ce. Even though it could be said that they were here on the whim or because they wanted to stay, it was no lie to say that they were also saved by Mark.


    At this time, Mei finally returned with an odd looking phone, because of its overlyrge antenna, on her hand.


    "Gege, here."


    Mei sat back beside Mark and handed the phone.


    "Thanks."


    Mark then started browsing on the phone looking for the number Pa saved in it. After pressing the call button, Mark waited for the other line to answer.


    After about ten seconds, the line finally connected.


    "Hello? Mark?"


    A familiar female voice answered the phone. It was not Angeline however but Pa who answered.


    "Pa?"


    "Yes, it''s me. Why did you only call now?"


    Pa sounded aggrieved.


    "I had a lot going on at my side. By the way, where is Angeline, I have something to ask her."


    "That''s¡­"


    Pa paused with a sad tone.


    "Did something happen?"<sub> </sub>


    Mark asked with a frown noticing that something was wrong with Pa''s tone.


    "Ange is ina right now."


    "How?"


    ***


    Day 3 ¨C 5:57 AM ¨C Tirona Highway, Kawit, Cavite


    The convoy led by the military had just left the Bacoor City Mall just more than half hour ago. They took long despite the short distance they travelled due to the infected now blocking the streets despite the fact that the military rescue squad had just passed through this road the night before. Furthermore they also encountered several mutated infected further hindering their travel.


    Another thing that was putting pressure on them was the horde that kept on following them behind from the time they left the mall. The slower infected had already been left behind but the faster ones kept oning. Their numbers were endless making the sounds of guns being fired sounded continuously. The sounds of battle in all directions made all the survivors they were transporting restless all the way.


    "We''re finally hitting the expressway."


    1st Lieutenant Rafael said with relief. Inside his armored vehicle, Angeline and Pa were also aboard. It was their privilege considering their family connections. Together with them, Reyah and her daughter Sariya also were also aboard. As the little Sariya was an evolver, even if it was a mild evolution, was a precious existence to the military. Due to that, they were also given special treatment.


    As they arrived at the expressway, not only the 1st Lieutenant felt relived but also the other soldiers. It was because the expressway was a closed road and had already been mostly cleaned the rescue squad when they passed this ce by yesterday. Since the expressway could only be essed by the entrance and exit roads, it would be impossible for the infected to suddenly flood in like how it happened back in the highway. Furthermore, even if they just let the horde behind them follow behind them, they would be able to speed up through the expressway and leave the infected behind.


    However, that relief caused the soldiers to lower their guards at that moment.


    A huge bodied humanoid shadow lunged over the walls of the expressway directly towards their convoy in a very fast speed.


    The soldiers failed to react to it as no one would expect to something to jump over about three meters high going over the walls. Furthermore, the attacker came from a blind spot and came straight towards the military trucks middle of the convoy instead of confronting the exposed soldiers on top of their vehicles firing towards the infected behind.


    BAM! SHIINK!


    The humanoidnded loudly, directly beside the moving truck. It then immediately waved its hand causing a metallic slicing sound.


    That was when the horror struck.


    Half of that truck was sliced open including the bodies of the survivors sitting on the right side of the truck.


    "AHHHHHH!"


    Screams of horror were hearding from the truck as the survivors sitting on the opposite side of the truck saw how the bodies of the survivors in front of them was split horizontally through their stomachs.


    Among those screaming survivors¡­


    Was Joseph who watched the bodies of his father and their co-worker Calvin split in half, spattering blood all over his face.


    The metal supports of the roof of the truck on the right side was all sliced off making the tarpaulin roof to flutter through the wind as the truck had not stopped moving. Due to the sudden entry of air through the inside of the truck and the speed it was moving, the upper bodies of the victims immediately slid off from their lower bodies spreading the gruesome scene of intestines and blood on the floor of the truck. Some of the bodies at the end of the truck even fell out of the truck also scattering the blood and guts on the road.


    "Dad¡­"


    Joseph slowly slumped unto the floor not minding all the gore and blood on the floor. He held the decapitated torso of his father who was had yet to breathe hisst.


    "Joseph¡­"


    Bernard called out with a fading voice while stretching his hand towards his son''s face.


    "Dad!"


    Tears finally flowed out of his eyes. His grief was now able to ovee his shock. He held his father''s hands let his father touch his face onest time.


    "Be, strong¡­ Survive¡­"


    Bernard''s body finally slumped down. He died with his eyes open.


    There were other survivors who were in the same situation as Joseph. Inside the truck were people who knew each other. If the person in front or beside them were not their rtives, they could be their friends or close co-workers. Yet, they all saw their bodies sliced in half like that. While some grieved at their loss, some almost fell insane due to the sudden traumatic experience.


    To see people you love die because of sickness is one thing.  Seeing them die because of an ident was another. Seeing them killed by someone was further. However, to see your loved one getting split in half sttering blood and guts on your face and by your feet and watch them slowly die¡­


    Would make many people crazy¡­


    The truck then lost control and was toppled to the left side as the engines and other mechanisms of the truck got damaged in that attack. Due to the speed they were going, the truck slid quite a distance away painting the middle of the expressway with blood.


    Outside the truck, the military vehicles were entangled in a bloody battle.


    Their enemy could finally be described.


    It was a seven foot tall male humanoid with grey skin. His torso looked very thin with bones almost sticking out of its skin. On contrary to his torso, his limbs were firmly shaped with stacked muscles. The most noticeable however was not his body shape but his non-existent right wrist that was reced by a meter long w shaped de made of unknown material.


    RATATATATAT!!!


    The humanoid moved in a very fast speed that the soldiers firing at it could not even hit it with a single bullet despite the fact that all of them were using M16 Assault Rifles.


    "AAHHH!"


    A soldier screamed as his arm was sliced off by the humanoid. Another soldier went to aid the screaming soldier but before he could even do so, the head of the screaming soldier flew off with a trail of blood.


    Enraged, the remaining soldiers went into formation with their faces looking seriously distressed.


    "Captain! We need reinforcements here at the back! We have an unknown here! We''re losing men!"


    One of the soldiers shouted at the radio in rm. It was because another soldier was decapitated with his legs falling off.


    ''Unknown'', it was what they call existences who could not be confirmed whether they were a Mutated Infected or a Failed Mutator. It was even because there were abnormalities even among the mutated infected leading them to fail at differentiating these two kinds of existences apart from one another in a single nce. Furthermore, the unknown was on a way different levelpared to themon infected.


    And to confront an Unknown, even for the military, was a suicide mission.

 Chapter 113 Josephs Awakening

    Day 3 ¨C 6:21 AM ¨C E3, Cavite Expressway, Kawit, Cavite


    While the rear troops of the military convoy was entangled with the grey humanoid, the rest of the convoy brought the rest of the vehicles transporting the survivors quite a distance away before stopping. Since the front troops needed to aid the rear troops, they could not get the survivors in the fight with creature that was too dangerous.


    "Angeline, you all stay here. Archie! Drive off and leave us if the situation bes too dangerous."


    1st Lieutenant Rafael spoke to Angeline and the driver of their vehicle.


    "But Sir!"


    "This is an order."


    Hearing that, Archie who was in the driver''s seat could only nod reluctantly.


    "Bro, you can''t leave without me."


    Angeline sternly spoke.


    "This is a duty for us soldiers. You can''t participate in it."


    "No matter what, I''ming with you. Even if by force, I''ll follow you. Even if we can''t fight, we can at least retrieve the people in that truck. There are people we knew in there."


    Angeline pointed at the overturned truck a distance away.


    Rafael knew that his sister would not relent on this. Furthermore, he was aware that his fighting capability was way lowerpared to his sister. He knew that it was actually better if he had to send his sister to fight than he participating in it himself but he could not put his sister in danger because of that.


    "Alright. I''ll let you get the survivors on the truck while we fight that thing behind. Once the survivors are retrieved we''ll all retreat and escape if we can''t kill that guy."


    "Okay!"


    As her brother agreed, Angeline was in glee. It was the same for Pa who also wanted to check on the people inside the overturned truck praying that the people there they knew would survive.


    With that exchange, with the exception of three Humvees that was left to guard the remaining trucks, all of the other military vehicles went back to assist the rear while several vehicles would check on the overturned truck.


    At the rear, the soldiers were in a dilemma. It was because they were being picked off one by one. Not because they werecking in experience nor they werecking in fire power but because the creature they were fighting was too fast and cunning. It could even be said that it was toying with them.


    The grey humanoid would sometimes move erratically giving the soldiers a hard time to urately aim and shoot it while just blindly shooting it did not help either as its speed was enough to avoid the bullets and even grenade explosions was evaded. It would retreat and attack without pattern and sometimes would use arade of theirs as a shield before killing the caught soldier. Furthermore, there were a lot of times that it could actually kill several soldiers in one go, but for some reason, it was killing them one by one.


    The rear soldiers felt ted when they saw the other vehicles going back to aid them. Even if they could not manage to kill this creature, it would give everyone a better chance for escaping.


    They were not wrong in that. It was because when the reinforcements joined the fight, the situation became better. The soldiers were still not able to kill the grey humanoid but at least, it could not kill anyone from their ranks anymore. The only thing they needed to do was to dy this creature while the retrieval of the survivors was going on.


    At the overturned truck, the retrieval team was stunned at the bloody scene inside. Due to the truck suddenly overturning, most of the living survivors fell unconscious while being ced in a scramble of decapitated bodies, human organs and blood. Everyone was covered in blood making the retrieval even more time consuming.


    Angeline and Pa who went out of their vehicle gasped and became teary eyed after they saw the dead bodies of Bernard and Calvin among the dead people. They could not believe that the two people they mingled and fought along with were now dead in a brutal and gruesome way. They then remembered Joseph who they had to see yet.


    The two girls were about to search for him when¡­


    They heard a shout.


    "Sh*t! Angeline! Pa! Run!"


    It was the voice of Angeline''s brother who should be fighting along with his soldiers.


    When the two turned around, they saw a grey figure approaching towards Pa''s direction with a very fast speed ignoring all the other people around them.


    Pa could see the figureing closer towards her. She could not think of anything as her mind went nk with fear. She saw the figure raise its right arm overhead. It was going to slice her from head to toe.


    When she felt that death wasing closer, she saw a face block her sight. It was her precious friend, Angeline. Pa then felt a force push her body away.


    Angeline did not shout nor had the time to do anything but push her friend out of the grey figure''s reach. It was not because she lost her way to think but it was because there was no time to think of anything anymore. The enemy was approaching fast and they were caught off guard. Who would think that it would suddenly attack them who were further away when it was entangled with more than two dozens of soldiers.


    SWIIIRKK!


    She felt a stinging pain on her back for a little less than a second. It was very short because she immediately fell unconscious due to the sudden extreme pain. Her body fell unto the concrete bleeding from a huge sh wound on her back from her shoulder to her waist. The wound was too deep that her bones could be seen.


    Noticing that it was not his target that he managed to y, the grey humanoid tried to press on attacking Pa. Noticing its intention, one of the soldiers immediately pulled away the frozen Pa while the other soldiers in the retrieval team pressed on counter attacking.


    Due to its focus on Pa, the grey humanoid finally received damage. Its left arm and face were drilled with holes from assault rifle bullets.


    Feeling the pain from the injuries it received made the grey humanoid retreat back in its fours while howling.


    "Ange!"


    Pa finally snapped from her daze and shouted. She tried to approach Angeline but she was held back by the soldier who pulled her away because she was obviously the target of the grey humanoid.


    ***


    ''Where is this ce¡­''


    Joseph who unconscious and was buried under the dead bodies inside the truck finally woke up. Unfortunately, what he could all see were red. The dead bodies above his body, the human organs scattered around him and the pool of blood he was lying on. Everything was red.


    As if he was just dreaming¡­


    ''This is just a nightmare right?''


    But when he was about to conclude that, thest memories he had before falling unconscious came into ce. Tears flowed from his eyes as he remembered thest words of his Dad. He was feeling tired, sluggish, sleepy and feverish. Yet, he moved his body and removed the obstacles around him preventing him from standing up.<sub> </sub>


    Slowly¡­ he stood up. Slowly¡­ he made his way out of the truck.


    When he thought that he finally made out of that hell, he saw the scene outside. Several dead soldiers were lying around the truck with iplete bodies.


    RATATATATATAT!


    The sounds of gunfire continuously echoed across his ears but it looked like he could not even hear the noise anymore.


    He watched the scene were the soldiers fought the enemy to death with both parties enraged.


    Joseph looked around and saw the body of his dead father who had already been taken out of the truck. Unfortunately, it was just the upper body. It would be hard to distinguish whose lower body was whose after all of that happened. Further away hiding behind a vehicle, he could see two familiar figures. They were the two brave girls he met at the mall. One of them was unconscious however, while profusely bleeding on her back.


    He turned his head back to the body of his father and kneeled.


    "Dad, you said that I must be strong and survive. I''m sorry for being too weak and hard headed. I''m sure I gave you a lot of hard times since the time Mom died. Thank you for everything. I promise. I will be stronger. I will also live your share. However, I can''t do that if I don''t get revenge for you now."


    BADUMP! BADUMP! BADUMP!


    Joseph could not even realize if he was speaking out loud or said all those in his mind. It was because all that he could hear was his heart beating loudly. He did not realize that his eyes were literally red at the moment. The only thing he could see was his enemy, the creature that killed his only family in this world.


    "Kill."


    He muttered. There was a strong bloodlust sprouting from his heart and mind. He did not know where it wasing from but he just let it affect everything in him.


    He walked several steps and kneeled down beside a dead soldier''s body. He picked up a military knife and took a grenade from the soldier''s belt. He did not mind the blood that stained his hands as he took the weapons from the dead soldier''s decapitated body. There were other weapons on the soldier''s body but as a normal person, he had no knowledge on using these things. At least, he knew how to use this knife and how to pull the pin on the grenade.


    BADUMP! BADUMP!


    His heart pounded hard continuously as he walked towards the battlefield in a sluggish manner.


    "Hey! Where are you going?!"


    A soldier hurriedly grasped his shoulders. However, he just shrugged his shoulders and the hand grasping him was thrown away with force. The soldier tried to stop him once more but was suddenly frozen. It was because the soldier saw Joseph looking at him, exuding a huge amount of bloodlust. Joseph then continued walking leaving the frozen soldier in that spot.


    The humanoid figure saw him approaching. It immediately shot towards Joseph making the soldiers even more panicked. In their eyes, Joseph was only a civilian and would be another worthless casualty. However, they had no ability to stop the raging grey figure.


    The grey humanoid arrived shortly in front of Joseph swinging its de downwards if a very fast speed.


    ''Slow¡­''


    Joseph thought as he stared at the de swinging down towards him. He then stepped his left foot back facing his body sideways. In his eyes right now, the movements of the grey figure were slow.


    TING!


    A metallic sound echoed after the meter long de was swung hitting nothing but air and directlynded on the concrete ground. Pulling back the de that missed, the grey humanoid tried to attack again and swung the de diagonally upwards.


    Then¡­


    Blood sshed¡­


    It was not Joseph''s but the grey humanoid''s blood. The grey humanoid seeded in swinging the de but it missed once more as Joseph had already jumped back. Taking advantage that the inertia from the missed swing that brought the de upwards, Joseph jumped forwards lunging towards his enemy boring the knife towards the grey humanoid''s eyes. He twisted the knife inside the grey humanoid''s eye socket before pulling the knife and jumping back immediately.


    ROAAAAAA!!!


    The grey humanoid roared loudly as it unstably stepped back while wildly swinging the de on its right arm.


    Joseph who had already retreated back pulled the pin of the grenade on threw it straight on the defenseless body of the grey humanoid.


    BOOM!!!


    The grenade did notnd on the ground nor hit the body of the grey humanoid. The grey humanoid was wildly swinging its de and the de ended up hitting the grenade slicing it and causing it to explode, right in front of its body.


    The explosion stopped the roars of the grey humanoid as its body was severely damaged. Its arm connected to the de was now dangling with just a few muscle strands left to connect it from its body. Its throat and mouth had melted while its torso had a several holes and a huge scorched wound bleeding profusely. Its legs were also damaged making it kneel on the ground.


    "RAAAAAAHH!!!"


    Seeing that, Joseph did not give it time to recover. He ran forward roaring and and tackled that grey humanoid down to the ground. He then bore the knife in his hands into the grey humanoid''s remaining eye.


    The grey humanoid tried to resist but Joseph pulled out the knife and stabbed it as hard as he could at the center of the grey humanoid''s forehead stopping its body from moving.


    SHIRK! SHIRK! SHIRK! SHIRK! SHIRK!


    As it was not enough for him to vent his grievance, he repeatedly pulled and stabbed the knife unto the grey humanoid''s head sshing blood and brain matter everywhere. However, he still felt that it was not enough. Joseph''s eyes thennded at the de on the grey humanoid''s arm.


    Joseph stood up and cut the de remaining flesh connected to the de. He then held the end of the de not minding that his hands got wounded and was now bleeding. He raised the de up over his head.


    SHHIIIRKK!


    He decapitated the grey humanoid''s body horizontally in half. The same way it killed his father.


    However, he did not stop there.


    He repeatedly swung the de cutting off even more parts of the grey humanoid''s body. The grey humanoid''s internal organs, blood and limbs were scattered on the ground in front of him.


    Joseph continued shing the dead body until he was forcefully stopped by the soldiers who watched the scene with both shock and amazement. The moment Joseph let go of the meter long de from his hands however, he fell unconscious, burning with an absurdly high fever.

 Chapter 114 Before Leaving Firenze

    Day 4 ¨C 8:16 AM ¨C Firenze Townhouse Complex Subdivision, La Joya St., Buhay na Tubig, Imus, Cavite


    Mark was silently listening to Pa as she narrated what happened after their groups parted ways at the mall. The story took more than fifteen minutes but the people around Mark patiently waited why he listened on the phone. Looking at his solemn face, something serious might have happened. That was also the reason none of them tried to interrupt him either.


    The news of Bernard and Calvin dying helplessly like that made him felt sour for several reasons. It would be a lie if he did not feel sad about it. Despite the fact that he did not know the two for long, knowing that people you knew and fought with died would make anyone feel bad. The bigger reason for his mood being down however were the several essential pieces of information he received from her story.


    One of those was the existences the military called Unknown. He might be able to identify them whether they were Mutated Infected or Failed Mutator but the issue was not the kind of creature they were but the level of their strength and abilities. He could still remember the video he watched before where the military were fighting with a creature that came from the pilot cabin of a crashed airne. Considering the description Pa made on the appearance of the creature, the two might be the same type or level of creature. Moreover, these creatures could appear everywhere. Just like what happened to Pa''s group, they encountered that thing the moment they left the City Mall.


    Another thing he could confirm was that the creature they encountered should be a high level Mutation Infected. It was because it wasing obviously targeting Pa like how he was being targeted by Mutated Infected upon seeing him. He also realized the reason why he was being targeted every time and during the time that he and Pa were in the same location back in the City Mall, Mutated Infected would appear before them ande after them without apparent reason. No, not only the Mutated but there were even instances that the Biters had appeared before them that it even felt like that the infected were spawning or teleporting around them.


    What simrities did the two of them have? Both of them could be regarded as what many people called as Espers and both of them already had these abilities even before the outbreak. If that was really the case, then the Mutated Infected was aiming for them because of their abilities.


    One more thing he realized was that the evolution could not only be triggered by forcing someone to surpass his limits like he did when he subdued Laps and by luck. It looked like that the evolution could also be triggered because of a person''s intense emotions like what happened to Joseph. The idea of this gave some insights but it would need some confirmation to be done.


    "Mark? Mark! Are you still there? Why are you not talking anymore?"


    Mark heard Pa shouting from the other side of the line.


    "Sorry about that, I just got something on my mind at the moment."


    "Geez, please, seriously listen to me while I''m talking."


    Pa sounded exasperated.


    "Alright, alright. Anyway, is Angeline fine already?"


    "She''s out of danger but the doctors could not say when she will wake up. It''s good that the Mutagen helped in her recovery during the time she got wounded or else, she might not have made it."


    "It''s good then."


    Saying that, Mark''s eyesnded on Mikio for some reason before he continued talking on the phone.


    "By the way, is text messaging possible in thismunication line? I haven''t tried it yet."


    "I think it is. I saw Raf sending messages before."


    "Raf¡­ He''s Angeline''s brother right?"


    "He is."


    "Alright then, the reason I called is because I wanted to ask a favor."


    "What is it?"


    "I wanted to check if some people I know were there at Bay City taking refuge. Is it possible?"


    "It''s obviously possible. Do you want me to take them in?"


    Pa suggested.


    "Can you? Well, it''s not confirmed yet that there really are there but if it is the case then please. I''ll send a messageter with the names of people who are possibly there."


    "No problem."


    "Okay then, thanks. We''ll be going there after we end our search here. Also, since you''re going to do that, I''ll tell you a tip."


    "What tip?"


    Mark decided to warn Pa about their circumstances.


    "Even though it''s less likely to happen since you''re inside a safe zone, don''t try to show yourself in front of the Mutated Infected."


    "Why?"


    "You have that ability right? The one you inherited from your mother. It seems people like us are being targeted by Mutated Infected."


    "People like us¡­ Then are you too¡­"


    "That''s right."


    After that, Mark said a few more things to Pa before they ended the conversation.


    "How is it?"


    Charmaine asked as one of the reasons for the call was their older sister.


    "I''ll send a message first. But the person I talked to said that she will check if the names of the people I will send her are present there."


    Mark replied.


    "Alright."


    Charmaine and Cielo looked like they wanted to know the result as early as possible but they could only wait.


    Mark did not intend to say the bad news about Angeline, Bernard and Calvin to Odelina and Mei right now as he did not want to make the atmosphere even more down. Furthermore, with the two aside, the other people here did not know those three.


    He then looked towards the Rosamie and her children.


    "Mrs. Rosamie, what are your ns?"


    "Why do you ask?"


    Rosamie replied at his sudden question.


    "Actually, if possible I want you three to join us."


    "Alright, I agree."


    Rosamie answered straightforwardly that all of them were surprised.


    "Don''t you need to think about it more or ask for any reason?"


    "There''s no need to."


    Rosamie replied with a smile. She then continued.


    "Actually, if you did not ask, I''ll be the one asking you to let us join your group. You''re searching for people and I also wanted to search for my brother. Furthermore, it''s not good for us to stay here."


    Rosamie then narrated the situation where her daughter saved the police who were entangled with the gang members.


    "With what happened, I don''t think that they would be able to protect my children and it would be the other way around. I know it sound selfish but I don''t want to put the lives of other people on the hands of my children. They are just children and they don''t deserve such responsibility."<sub> </sub>


    "I don''t mind though¡­"


    Emika interjected while looking at her mother.


    Rosamie patted her daughter''s head.


    "You don''t mind but I do."


    Looking back to Mark she asked.


    "Is that reason usible?"


    "I might ask your children to do some things though?"


    Mark tried to affirm something.


    "It''s fine as long as my children aren''t put in any harm."


    Rosamie seriously replied.


    To her, her children, was her everything. She already lost her husband and she was trying to atone for it. Her mistake was the reason that all her family members got bitten and that mistake was because she tried to help someone else. She was lucky that her children managed to make it despite the changes in their bodies. Her husband on the other hand became a monster.


    Due to that reason, she did not want to make the same mistake and she did not want to put them in danger.


    Furthermore, the atmosphere in this group suited her children more and the carefree and positive attitude of their members showed how secure they felt within this group.


    With that, three more people were added to their group and their presence elevated theirbat capability even more.


    After finalizing their ns, they now have some free time. This free time was most essential to the four people who had just arrived this time especially Ron who was stranded in an unfamiliar ce prone of danger,cking food and sleep.


    The moment Ron slumped himself on the bed in one of the rooms, he fell asleep almost immediately. Without the feeling of threat and fear that an infected would suddenly broke down the doors of the ce he was staying, his fatigue kicked in severely.


    On the other hand, Rosamie''s family of three had it better. With Emika by their side, they managed to spend most of the night at the convenience store safely.


    Back in the master''s bedroom, Mark sat in front of a study table and was checking the contents he wrote in his notebook during their discussion. It was the locations they needed to check consecutively. However, Mark had another thing in mind while he did the checking.


    "Gege, what are you thinking about?"


    Mei approached behind him as she noticed that something was bothering him.


    "I''m thinking about how to do this efficiently. We needed to finish searching for people as soon as possible."


    Mark replied tapping on his chin.


    "That''s true. With the infected everywhere, we need to search for them fast."


    "No, that''s not the only reason."


    Mark said while looking serious. Mei looked at him asking for more exnation.


    "Tell, me. What happens after the waves in the ocean hit the shore?"


    "The wateres back to the ocean right?"


    Mei answered. Then she paused.


    "Gege, are you saying that the infected that chased after fleeing survivors you mentioned before will go back?"


    "Yes. If the infected managed to reach the ends of the country and had nothing to chase anymore, they will end up scattering and going back to where they came from while searching for prey. When that timees, the number of infected roaming the street will inte horribly. Not to mention, how many Mutated Infected among those numbers will exist."


    Mei''s face also turned grave hearing what he said. Mark then continued.


    "That''s why we needed to hurry and search for the people we need to find and look for a safe ce we can use as a base. If we can''t then, we will go and stay at the Bay City. I know you will not like it there since your family is there that is why I put it as thest choice."


    "Gege, its fine."


    Mei tried to smile but failed.


    Seeing that expression of hers, Mark sighed.


    "You want a hug?"


    "Gege, I¡­"


    "You don''t have to hold it in. I know you''re trying hard to hide it but you''re trauma ising back when you saw that guy earlier."


    Mark noticed it since earlier. Even though Mei tried very hard, her voice was wavering from time to time and her body would shiver without any reason. Her eyes also appeared distressed. Well, even without those clues, Mark could tell due to the fluctuation in her emotions that was too unstable. It was just a few days after that happened after all and her bad memories came back after she saw one of the culprits that caused what happened to her at the mall.


    "Gege, I just don''t want to be a burden."


    "You''re being more of a burden by trying to hold it in you know that."


    With that, Mark stood up and pulled her into his embrace.


    Feeling his warmth, she almost gave in. Tears formed at the corner of her eyes but she tried her best not to cry. However, Mark could only smile to that. At least he was trying her best in her own ways. Moreover, her unstable emotions started to calm down.


    Their free time passed peacefully and they ate their lunch early about two hourster.


    At noon, two vehicles went out of Firenze, a ck refitted MB Sprinter and a TYT Vios covered with green flowered vines. Mark''s group finally continued their journey leaving the disappointed Police Chief and Congresswoman behind.


    ***


    Day 4 ¨C 12:02 PM ¨C Patindig Araw Rd., Anabu I-G, Imus, Cavite


    In a certain warehouse a kilometer away northwest of Firenze, several men and women were watching a monitor with a video feeding from a drone. On the monitor, two vehicles could be seen driving out of Firenze.


    There were six men inside the room and each of them had a woman by their side. However, it could be seen that these women were brought here by force. They were dressed skimpily and their eyes were filled with despair.


    "I never thought that we would find those two together, Boss."


    One of the men sitting on the sofa said to the man in the center.


    "What I never thought that the person who caused us to fail and lose a lot of men three years ago would appear this way. Even our n to take over Firenze failed because of him."


    "What are we going to do Boss?"


    "Just let them go for now but continue on monitoring them. I''m sure that they will return here."


    In that room, a n against Mark''s group was being brewed.

 Chapter 115 The Road To Carlos House

    Day 4 ¨C 1:10 PM ¨C Pasong Buaya St., Barangay Pasong Buaya II, Imus, Cavite


    After leaving Firenze, Mark''s group nned to go to the nearest house in their list which was Carlo''s and Anna''s. Their neighborhood was exactly four kilometers away southeast of Firenze if it was a straight travel. However, since the area was filled with neighboring subdivisions and road branches, the distance Mark estimated an additional kilometer to this distance and that might only be the lowest estimate. It was expected for them to have detours as the possibility of encountering severely blocked roads and fence gated streets was high.


    Mark was not mistaken about that. Due to blocked roads, they had to change route several times. It was good that the roads they were traversing was subdivision roads where only the inhabitants of the subdivision pass through causing the lower quantity of infected wandering the roads. Moreover, thebination of the two vehicles worked out good. As long as the road only had few obstacles, the MB Sprinter that was equipped with the V-shape ram could push the obstacles aside while Emika on the other vehicle would keep the infected away from the vehicles using the vines she was controlling. Since the vines were actually made of her green flowery hair, there were times she could not handle all the infected. It was that time that Mark and Abbygale would go out and deal with the remaining infected if removing the obstacles took more time that the infected managed to block their way.


    It also helped that there were roads that the policemen from Firenze had already cleared of the obstacles during the times they were looking for survivors.


    p With the obstacles and the time consumed aside, their journey was smooth overall, until they reached this ursed main street. It was packed with abandoned vehicles. The issue however was there were no other roads that would lead out of this area for them to take without going back and using another exit several kilometers away. Another thing was that alternate exit was going through a lot of ces in habited by people like markets, churches and schools and also led to the main highway further away from their destination. In any case, there was no other road for them to take aside from this one that would lead them to a back road that was directly connected to Carlo and Anna''s neighborhood.</anda>


    As long as they reached that back road, they would have fewer problems as that road goes through a series of wide vacant plots ofnd. There would be fewer infected at that road and the possibilities of encountering obstacles was almost nil. If ever there would be obstacles on that road, they could stray into the vacant plots and go around the obstacles.


    At the moment, the two vehicles were moving very slow while pushing the abandoned vehicles to the side of the road. Outside the vehicles, Mark, Mei, Abbygale, Laps and Emika were dealing with the infected.


    Abbygale was now in her cat eared form due to her request. Along with Laps, the two were the vanguard of the group. Among them, only Mark could keep up with the little girl''s speed as he saw her give out strong kicks towards the infected. Laps on the other hand was biting and tearing the limbs of the infected and also would use her horn on her forehead to pierce the heads of the enemies. Mark was really pleased with this dog as it actually could understand humannguage as long as the words were not too deep orplicated. It could be said that this dog''s mentality was not an animal''s any longer and more of child''s.


    Mark on the other hand was the center of the group. He would shoot the infected further away while he would use his speed and machete on the infected that managed to get closer.


    Emika and Mei, who volunteered to help, were the supports of the group while atop the MB Sprinter. Emika would protect the two vehicles by blocking the infected with her vines. Mei on the other hand was using therger crossbow Mark made back at the Mall to kill the infected that was being blocked by Emika.


    To say, their coordination was good especially Mei who was able to observe the battlefield and only deal with the infected without disrupting the momentum of the others. It wasmon for team members who were participating in battle together to attack the same enemy at the same time which was often inefficient and had the possibility to disrupt the momentum of the other team member. Mei who was new to group fights however was able to keep away from those circumstances.


    "Nee~! Scary Uncle! The ugly guys are multiplying!"


    Emika who was on the roof of the vehicle shouted. As she had a higher vantage point, she could see that the numbers of infected was increasing exponentially.


    "From what direction?!"


    Mark looked at her and shouted.


    "From the front!"


    Hearing Emika''s reply, Mark jumped up. Using the square metal fence of a closed car wash, he propelled himself to the roof and to have a wider view of the situation.


    What he saw to the south which was the direction they were heading, was a small hordeing towards their direction. Furthermore, the leading infected looked kind of disgusting. It was no doubt that it was a mutated one.


    The skin of the infected was unnaturally and unevenly dark colored but it did not looked charred or anything of that sort. What made it look disgusting was the uneven texture of its skin that could bepared to the surface of the back of the moon due to the dents, unsightly growths and tumors on its skin. The infected''s clothes was in tatters disying the disgusting features it had even more. If it was to be described further, it was Skin Cancer given the shape of a human.


    As he saw this kind Mutated Infected for the first time, Mark adjusted the Bluetooth camera he always wore on his cor to focus on the new Infected. It might look gross even in the video but he needed to document it as much as possible including its abilities and strength.


    "All of you deal with the ones on the back! Leave the guys in front to me!"


    With that shout, Mark jumped off the roof and ran off towards the direction the horde wasing from.


    As usual, the gross looking mutated infected came after Mark the moment it spotted him. Upon closer look, Mark could tell that the appearance the infected had was caused by skin cancer. There was no doubt about it as all the symptoms of skin cancer Mark could think of was present of the infected''s skin.


    Mark started to deal with the infected within the horde. He would hack their heads and necks using his Machete on close quarters and would switch to his assault rifle to deal with the infected further away as he would not risk it to go closer to where the infected in the horde was concentrated. However, he did not immediately dispose of the Mutated Infected in front of him. While dealing with the other infected, he was intently observing the mutated one on how it would behave and attack.


    He was not able to do the same on the mutated infected he encountered before due to the perilous situations at that time but now, he had quite an amount of time to observe this one. After all, pushing the abandoned vehicles on the road could not be rushed or else, damaging the vehicle was apparent.


    After observing it, the Mutated Infected was not doubt a mutated Biter. Its movements were faster that Eaters but it was slower than normal Biters. It might be because of its skin structure hindering its movements slightly.


    TSST!


    Mark shot the Mutated Infected on its chest.


    As Mark expected, it could feel the pain as it wailed hoarsely while swing its body side by side. However, it did not die despite the fatal shot. While on Mark''s sight, the wound caused by the gunshot was covered by a tar looking liquid. The liquid solidified almost immediately recing the wound with a ck colored patch of skin.


    ''It regenerated? No, that''s not regeneration. It''s more like it was recing its damaged skin. What happened to the bullet then?''


    Mark tried to approach the Mutated Infected intending to hack its chest and check the bullet if possible. However, it swung the disgusting looking arm it had towards him releasing ck, yellow and green colored pus from the disgusting blisters on its skin. Seeing those clumps of sticky liquid flying towards him, Mark''splexion changed as he hurriedly dodged.


    ''Damn. That was close!''


    Shingg!


    Mark swung his Machete slicing off the arm that the infected swung. The arm plopped unto the ground along with the wail of the infected. Mark jumped back as the infected scattered the dark colored blood from its decapitated arm as it shook its body violently. However, like what happened to the gun wound it received before, the open wound from the decapitated arm was soon covered with ck tar that hardened after covering the wound.


    After that, the infected came running after him again like nothing happened.


    As Mark saw it, he concluded that the wound inside its body caused by the bullet might have also been blocked by this ck tar.<sub> </sub>


    The Mutated Infected then swung its remaining arm towards Mark causing the same mess flying away from its arm which Mark hurriedly dodged. Mark did not know if this liquid was harmful or not but he had no notion of trying to touch it. The pus being disgusting was enough to make anyone stay away. In the worst case, the pus could transmit its skin condition making Mark not want to touch it even more.


    As the attack pattern it disyed afterwards was the same, Mark decided to stop and killed the Mutated Infected with a head shot.


    The horde was eliminated by Mark alone using his abilities and the terrain to his advantage. He was jumping from vehicle to vehicle killing the infected one by one safely.


    Still, Mark found that their movement was too slow. There were a lot of abandoned vehicles on the small two way road. Looking at their current location, there should be another half kilometer before they could get out of this road. While trying to think of a way, his eyesnded on Laps who had just pierced another Biter with her horn.


    ''Right! I''m such an idiot. I forgot about her!"


    Mark though as he almost pped his forehead.


    "Laps! Come here!"


    Mark called.


    Laps who had just whipped her head to shake off the blood on her horn immediately turned around and ran towards her owner''s direction after hearing his shout.


    After Laps, stopped in front of him, Mark patted the dog''s head before voicing his intention.


    "Laps, can you erge yourself?"


    Laps tilted her head not understanding what Mark had just said. Noticing that the dog might not be able to understand the word ''erge'', he rephrased his words.


    "What I mean, is make your body bigger. Like how you looked like before we found you."


    "Arf!"


    Laps barked after hearing Mark affirming his inquiry.


    "Then, be bigger and help push these cars to the side."


    Mark said as he pointed at the vehicles blocking the road.


    With that, Laps'' golden eyes glowed brighter and her body slowly erged in front of Mark. Then, the dog started to gently push Mark with her snout.


    "What is it?"


    Mark asked noticing that Laps wanted to tell him something.


    Hearing his question, Laps lowered her body and moved her face side wards as if she was pointing at her back.


    "You want me to ride on your back?"


    "Arf!"


    Mark flinched as the bark facing him was too loud even with his earphones on.


    "Alright."


    Mark climbed unto Lap''s back and sat before he started to shoot the infected around. Laps on the other hand started to push the vehicles aside even faster than how the vehicle was able to clear the road.


    The people who knew of Laps'' form was ted about the method Mark thought off to clear the road while those who had just seen the three meter tall golden dog was bbergasted and amazed.


    On the other hand, there were Abbygale, Mei and Emika who looked at Mark with envy. The always lively Emika could not stand it and shouted.


    "SCARY UNCLE! Let me ride too!"


    "Stop shouting Dryad Chibi! Just your voice is enough to call arge horde!"


    Along with that bickering, Mark''s group moved forward faster than before. They soon reached the back road and traversed the road safely without too much obstacles aside from the uneven spots on the road due to the back road not being maintained.


    Mark did not return inside the vehicle and just rode on Laps'' back the rest of the way. He also brought Mei and Abbygale with him leaving the sulking Emika on their family car. Emika could not leave the vehicle since she was in charge of keeping away the infected with her vines.


    After another half hour, Carlo and Anna saw the familiar floodin which was being used as a ntation for a huge amount of Water Spinach. At this time, the nts on the water was shining with a lush green color different to the brownish color the nts had before the outbreak.


    This floodin was located just behind the block where Carlo''s house was located. After passing through this floodin, just a few meters around the corner and his house could be seen. Knowing this, Carlo''s heart could not help but pound stronger as he wondered if they could find his family here. And if they could, were they still alive?

 Chapter 116 Different Fates

    Day 4 ¨C 1:55 PM ¨C San Miguel I Subdivision, Molino IV, Imus, Cavite


    Mark, Mei and Abbygale who were on the back of Laps were leading the group. Due to the road not being maintained, the road had be cracked and eroded causing dents on the road here and there. Due to this, Laps could even run faster than the vehicles even if she did not run on her full speed.


    Atop Laps'' back, Mark was looking around not only to secure that their group would not suffer surprise attacks but he was also looking around the scenery. Since this part of the road was not that inhabited by people, the side of the road was filled with grass, bushes and trees. If it was before the outbreak, these nts would be looking unsightly. Now however, the vibrant lush green leaves that now covered the nts were giving the scenery a nice look.


    Arriving near the end of the back road, it was the corner that led to Carlo''s house. After turning on the corner however, everyone''s countenance changed. It was not because there were a lot of infected nor did they see hostile people. Rather, it was because there were quite a number of dead bodies scattered across the street. The bodies did not look like they were killed by people nor they were eaten by the infected. It more looked like that their bodies were smashed into pieces.


    Mark urged Laps to move forward as he looked around but he did not see any possible threats. The street was too quiet. Moving to next corner of the first block, there was a house that upied two lots. It was Carlo''s house. Mark however, sighed even before they arrived. It was because he knew that Carlo was bound to be disappointed. He could not detect any people inside his detection range. Meaning, Carlo''s family were either dead or had left.


    It would be good if they really left, at least, even though very small, there was a possibility for them to be alive. If not however, there was nothing that they could do.


    Mark, Mei and Abbygale went down from Laps back as the ce was confirmed to be safe. Laps on the other hand turned back into her normal size which was about the same height as Abbygale. Laps was a reallyrge dog corresponding to her breed.


    The people inside the vehicles went out after Mark told them that the area was safe. But of course, none of them went close to the mutted bodies that littered across the street. Not only that the bodies looked gross, they also had started to emit a foul smell. It was already too long since the bodies were left here, if it was not for the cold weather in this month of December, these bodies would have started to rot even earlier.


    "Carlo, you guys can carefully search inside. I''ll keep guard here outside."


    Mark spoke.


    "Alright."


    Carlo replied and was about to turn around when Mark tapped his shoulder making him look back.


    "Don''t expect too much. I can''t detect anyone inside your house."


    "I know."


    Mark was surprised by his response.


    As if Carlo knew what Mark was thinking, he continued with a bitter smile.


    "Our cars are not here so I think they left."


    Hearing what Carlo said, Mark understood. With their family''s vehicles not present, it was more likely that Carlo''s family left. Considering the location of their house which was on the furthest block from the entrance of their subdivision, the possibility of someone else taking the vehicles away aside from Carlo''s family members was close to none.


    "Bro, I''ll enter now. They must have left something for me."


    Mark nodded and let Carlo go to his house. It was obvious that Carlo was crestfallen after not finding his family here but at least there was a chance that they had gone to a safer ce. Though it might also be possible for the opposite to happen, it was better to be optimistic at these kinds of situations.


    Standing on the other side of the road, Mark watched Carlo who saw the front doors of their house locked. Carlo then went to the side of the house and lift up a potted nt revealing the spare key underneath. Together with Sundra, Carlo went inside after unlocking the door. Outside the house, the other members stretch out their legs that had gotten stiff due to sitting inside the rocking vehicles while looking around.


    Mark on the other hand kept on observing the surroundings together with Mei while Abbygale was riding on the back of the normal sized Laps. Even if the dog was in its normal size, it was still big for the little girl to ride on her back.


    "Nee~¡­ Scary Uncle, let me ride on the dog¡­"


    Emika made her way towards Mark and started nagging.


    Mark scratched his head. This girl was even looking at him with puppy eyes.


    "Later, alright? After we find a ce to stay for the night, I''ll let you y with Laps."


    "Promise?"


    Emika stretched out her pinky finger which Mark epted.


    "Okay, promise!"


    "Yey!"


    With that, Emika happily skipped back to her mom who was also looking around the ce with curiosity.


    Seeing the green haired girl skipping happily would be a nice scene to see if not for her skipping between the dead mutted bodies in the middle of the road.


    As if waiting for the right timing, Anna who was fidgety approached Mark while carefully choosing the ce to step on.


    "I know. You want to look at your house right?"


    Mark who saw through her intentions spoke before she could.


    As her thoughts was seen through, there was no need for her to fidget around and directly replied.


    "Yes."


    "Where is your house?"


    Mark asked since the even though Anna and Carlo was neighbors, the closest house from Carlo''s house was actually several lots away with the next house about two blocks away. Mark did not know why but this ce was actually devoid of inhabitants for the most part leaving arge part of the subdivision vacant. Maybe, the people who lived here did not want close neighbors at all.


    <o>,m At Mark''s question, Anna pointed at the house following the street. It was the fourth house closest to their position. It was about three blocks away in front of the subdivision''s multipurpose za that could be seen from their location.</o>


    "Alright, we''ll go with you. I also want to survey the area a bit."


    Mark said before facing the others around the vehicle.


    "You guys stay here. We''ll check Anna''s house."


    "Can I go?"


    Ron spoke. Actually, he wanted to get away for some time as it was kind of awkward for him to stay with people, mostly, women that he did not really know. Furthermore, Carlo who was only other male, with Siegfried and Mikio who were children as exception, was also not around.


    Mark noticed his best friend''s situation so he could only nod. With that, Mark, Mei, Abbygale, Laps and Ron would be going with Anna to check her house. Leaving the rest of the group, the five people and one dog walked away while keeping cautious of their surroundings.<sub> </sub>


    "I didn''t think that there would be a subdivision like this. It should be a private subdivision right? However, there''s barely any house around."


    Ron voiced his thoughts as he looked around.


    "Uhm. I don''t really know why this ce is like this. Our house was bought by my grandfather so I don''t know much of the details. It''s been like this since we moved here."


    Anna replied as she was the inhabitant of this subdivision in this group.


    It was not surprising that Ron brought that up. The first time Mark had been to this ce several years ago, he also had the same questions in his mind. Compared to the neighboring subdivisions which were brimming with houses and people, this ce looked like it was located in a rural area. The ce was brimming with fauna and directly to the south of the subdivision was a wide plot of vacantnd.


    Even though, the house was quite a distance away, the group arrived fast. It was because they had to match Anna''s walking speed that was elerating due to her nervousness and eagerness to go home.


    However, like Carlo''s house, Mark could not detect any human or animal inside the house. While looking at the house, Mark felt a tug on his jacket and turned towards it. He saw Laps pulling the end of his jacket. Seeing that Mark turned to look at her, Laps then looked at the window on the second floor of the house, as if she was pointing at it.


    Mark knew that Laps was telling him to look at the windows and as he did, he saw some movements inside. The movement was minute but with his eyesight that got stronger after his second evolution, he was able to detect that very small movement.


    "Anna, don''t get into the house immediately. Let me check the window above first."


    Hearing what he said, Anna felt very nervous. It was as if her heart was going to jump out of her throat. She forced out a reply with great difficulty.


    "Okay."


    Mark then stepped forward and jumped over the closed gates after affirming that there was no danger behind the walls.


    Observing around, the lot was about thirty-six square meters with the floor area of the actual house only upying a third of the lot area. The house was small but it was built with a second floor with a very small balcony that could only fit six people standing side by side.


    Under Anna''s gaze, Mark jumped towards the balcony and grabbed the railing before propelling himself unto the balcony. Afterwards, Mark stealthily peered through the windows beside the balcony door. There, he saw the scene that would surely be Anna''s nightmare.


    Inside the bedroom of the house, there were four people. One infected and three dead bodies. Furthermore, two of the dead bodies were young boys. One seemed to be at early high school age while the younger was probably not in his tens yet. The dead adult was a female who had close resemnce to Anna while the infected was a male who was wandering around the room aimlessly. After looking closely, Mark could see that the three dead bodies had the appearance of the infected. It was likely that the three had already turned before they were killed. The three were killed by a gunshot to their foreheads.  Mark could even see the revolver pistol that was lying on the blood stained bed.


    Mark had seen what he wanted to see and jumped back down from the balcony. He then made his way out through the gates since the gates were actually not locked at all. He felt that he should have checked the gates first before jumping over the wall like an idiot.


    "How is it?"


    Anna nervously asked as she saw the stern face Mark had after going out.


    "How many members does your family have?"


    Mark asked.


    "Including me, there are five, my father, mother, and two younger brothers. Why did you ask?"


    Mark looked straight at her. He then narrated what he saw inside the bedroom in detail along with the clothes that Anna''s family wore for confirmation.


    "No¡­ No. "


    Anna''s tears fell like an unbroken stream.


    She actually wanted to see the scene but Mark suggested her not to. If she saw the scene inside the bedroom where almost everything was sshed with blood of her loved ones, it would not be surprising if shemitted suicide.


    Because of that, she could only weep as her knees weakened crumbling her to the ground.


    The others around could only stare at Anna as there was no words could be said to her that would get her back in shape. Mei approached Anna and started to pat her back but she also did not voice any consoling words. From her experience, Anna needed to cry it all out first.


    However, it looked like Anna could not take the grief she had. She lost consciousness.


    Mei who was next to Anna hurriedly supported her body.


    "Gege, carry her."


    Mei said while looking at Mark.


    Mark shrugged his shoulders as he made Ron put Anna on his back. This was not because he did not want to carry her in front but as they still needed to make it back to Carlo''s house, it was better of he could use at least one of his hands in case that something suddenly happens. Ron on the other hand should not carry her or else, their speed would suffer as he was not an Evolver nor in the perfect condition to carry another person.


    However, it was just useless thinking. They made it back without any issue. Mark was just being cautious because no one knew if the cause of these mutted bodies on the road was still around.


    "What happened?"


    Charmaine asked the question everyone had after seeing the unconscious Anna on Mark''s back.


    Carlo and Sundra had just returned outside with a betterplexion but seeing the Anna''s state, they could not help but feel nervous once more.


    Mark made Anna lie inside the vehicle before he told them what happened turning everyone''s mood sour. After all, it happened to Anna. It could also happen to their families.


    "Carlo, how is it?"


    Mark asked as he saw Carlo holding a folded paper in his hand.


    "I''m right. My family left for evacuation."


    Carlo showed the letter.


    It seemed that on theter time during the initial outbreak, some areas were evacuated through various means and the locations for evacuation were broadcasted on television. ording to the letter, Carlo''s family along with several rtives made their way towards Tanza, Cavite where a small army base was located. It seemed that the evacuees going that way were transported through helicopters. The helicopters were going towards Corregidor Ind which was about twenty kilometers away northwest of the Cavite''s northwestern shore and about forty-five kilometers southwest of Bay City.


    Corregidor Ind was a tourism ind showcasing the remnants of World War II, now however, it looked like that the government turned the ind into an evacuation zone.


    The question now however was if Carlo''s family made it safely.


    After that, they packed up their things and decided to move towards the next location.

 Chapter 117 The Evacuation Settlement Area

    Day 4 ¨C 2:35 PM ¨C Evacuation Settlement Area, Central Business Park, Bay City, Pasay


    At the northwestern side of the southern division on Central Business Park, there was a wide plot of undevelopednd that was covered with tall grass and other kinds of unwanted nts before the outbreak. The ce was owned by a real estatepany nning to turn the ce into condominium buildings in theing years. Now however, four days after the outbreak, the same plot ofnd was covered with rows and rows of temporary housing tents.


    Before the southern reimed settlement of Central Business Park was fully secured, the refugees were ced inside the Asian Mall Arena causing a lot of problems due to the small spacepared to the number of people inside. After the southern settlement was secured, the plot ofnd was cleared of grass and the tent city was erected. During the morning of the second day of the outbreak, the densely packed refugees inside the Arena were finally relocated to a better environment.


    Even though it could be said that it was better, the situation still could not be described as good. It was because it was only the space the refugees changed and not their current living condition. As almost two-fifths of the people staying here were not evacuees but people who got trapped inside Bay City when the outbreak came, they had nothing they own but the things distributed by the military.


    It was good enough that families that managed to survive together was able to own a single tent for their family but for others, especially single individuals, they had to share due to the shortage of tents. Because of these arrangements, even with the soldiers constantly patrolling the ce, dispute among the survivors still happen every now and then.


    As for food and necessities, those who managed to bring their own food could at least eat better food but for most people, they could only feed themselves with the food rationed by the military. The food was mostly rice porridge with small cuts of vegetables and small bits of meat and there was a triangr sandwich during dinner. Along with the food was a bottle of mineral water. The food did not taste bad but for most of the survivors, was not enough. Before the outbreak, many people eat much morepared to the quantity of the food rationed causing such discontentment.


    Nevertheless, for those who wanted to eat more, they needed to work. As such, many people applied for work under the military. Some of the people applied to be drafted by the military and were being trained into shape while others applied as construction personnel and help with the renovation of Bay City into a secure survivor settlement. There were also other volunteer work that was avable like cooks and people to distribute the rations.


    The refugees working for the military in either field would be given coupons corresponding to their work. These coupons were used in exchange of money as it was now not valuable. The coupons could be exchanged with different things from food to clothes and even medicine. Even if medicine formon illness were given for free, medicine for more severe illnesses needed to be purchased due to theck of supply.


    Another apparent issue was the constant theft, not only for food but other things such as nkets and even used clothes. The soldiers tried to address such issues as much as possible but there was no shortage for people with itchy hands. After the previous theft was addressed, there would be another caseter on.


    There was also the issue of survivors starting to form groups. The worst thing about these groups, while not all of them, was that there were groups who started extort and oppress other survivors. If a survivor belonged to another group, they might not be subjected to such treatment. However, it was theplete opposite for the ones who were just trying to live on their own.


    The military was also trying to address this issue but there was no noticeable progress on it. It was because some of these groups were actually backed by people with high influence inside the Bay City. Some of them were even government officials or rich people that the military could not do much about them. Even if it was General Perez who was the leading figure in the military here in Bay City was to make the move, there would not be anyrge effect.


    Because of these circumstances, the survivors were forced to live in such undesirable environment.


    At this time¡­


    Several men were surrounding one of the tents located at the western side of the tent city. The leader of the men was inside the tentsciviously talking to a woman.


    If Mark was here, he would immediately recognize this woman, she was one of his younger sisters and Charmaine and Cielo''s blood rted older sister, Elsa Iveria. Elsa''s looks were above average. She was not overly good looking but she had a certain charm on her that was eye catching especially for males. Now however, it looked like her charm caught the eyes of thisscivious group.


    "Hey beauty, have you thought about it? Leave your boyfriend and be my woman. I''ll give you benefits and you won''t feel hungry any longer."


    The man spoke. This man was Mauriss Manolo who was currently known as Boss Mauriss. He was the leader of one of the most notorious groups here in tent city. Many other groups would not have the audacity to behave this way inside the Bay City but this group had a deep backing. Even deeperpared to the other groups with the simr circumstances.


    "Will you just leave me alone? I have no intention to be your woman and I don''t want to join your group of societal garbage!"


    Elsa was distressed as she bellowed.


    This group leader had been pestering her since yesterday and he would appear every time her boyfriend was not around. Her boyfriend, Erwin, was currently working as a construction worker under the military. It was to gain coupons that they could exchange for other necessities. They had no issue about the food being rationed but since the two of them came to this ce for a date, they had nothing else aside from their clothes. Elsa did not dare to tell Erwin what was happening to as she was afraid that he would charge towards these bastards'' base and get hurt.


    Hearing Elsa''s reply the Boss'' expression changed. He was losing patience to this woman. In his mind, it was an honor for her to take his fancy. He had his group, his backing was solid and he had a good amount of things unt. However, this woman kept on rejecting him since yesterday.


    Out for anger, he grabbed Elsa''s hair.


    "You know? You''re lucky that I took interest in you. There are women out there that will immediately heed upon my call and you kept on rejecting me!"


    "Let me go! If not, I will call the soldiers!"


    Elsa bellowed while looking straight at the eye of the man pulling her hair. She was not the type of woman who would show weakness at these kinds of situations.


    However, hearing what she said, Mauriss snickered.


    "You think the soldiers can do anything to me?"


    Elsa started to feel afraid but she tried hard not to show it on her face. She knew that she should not show any weakness or it would be easier for this detestable guy to have his advantage.


    At this time that Mauriss started to feel morecent however, one of his men hurriedly went into the tent.


    "Boss Mauriss!"


    "What is it?!"


    Mauriss bellowed at this henchman.


    "There are soldiers approaching!"


    "What?! Why are they here? It isn''t time yet for their next round! Sh*t!"


    With that, Mauriss let go of Elsa''s hair and hurriedly went out with together with his henchman .


    Seeing that he left, Elsa finally sighed in relief. However, she wished that her situation was not like this. This tent was not only upied by her and Erwin but they were also sharing this tent with other people. At this time however, she was the only one left here to guard the things in the tent as she easily received the trust of the other people that shared the tent with them. It was not like she could not do volunteer work but Erwin would not let her to. With all these things happening, she could only persevere. It was not like she wanted to, but she must.


    Outside the tent, the group of seven soldiers arrived but strangely, they had a young woman with them. The soldiers were looking at the tags pasted outside the tents as if they were looking for something.<sub> </sub>


    Seeing the group of men around one of the tents, the leader of the soldiers frowned. He made his way towards the group.


    "What are you all doing here?"


    Before any of the men could answer, Mauriss went out of the tent. It seemed that the leading soldier knew of him. The soldier frowned and spoke.


    "So, it''s you again. What are you now up to?"


    Hearing the question to him, he turned towards the soldier speaking and could not help but get stunned. The soldier speaking to him was not someone he could afford to offend at all! Because of that, he held his shock in and spoke while smiling bitterly.


    "Lieutenant Rafael! I''m not doing anything! Why are you here?"


    That was right. The leader of this group of soldiers was 1st Lieutenant Rafael Perez, the son of General Perez that was leading the military in this ce. He was apanying Pa who was looking for the people Mark asked her to find.


    "It''s none of your business. If you''re not doing anything, then scram! This is not a ce for you pieces of trash to linger around!"


    1st Lt. Rafael yelled at Mauriss. He knew what these guys had been doing around here this past two days and he did not like it. Unfortunately, he could not do anything about them without the orders from above. Even if his father was the general and was leading the military here, he was not the only person with authority here.


    Hearing the words that obviously disyed detest towards him, Mauriss was infuriated. Nevertheless, he could only keep it inside as he could not give this righteous guy a reason to shoot him on sight.


    "Raf, it''s the tent we are looking for. Look at the tag, it''s G-72."


    Pa who was watching the situation while frowning noticed the tag on the tent where the man Rafael was shouting at came out from.


    Hearing what Pa said, 1st Lt. Rafael saw the tag and looked at Mauriss that came out of the tent. However, he did not say anything.


    "Is there anyone here?"


    Pa did not bother with the men the soldiers were confronting and went towards the tent. She peered inside and saw Elsa who had yet to fully calm down.


    Seeing that there was a girl peering into the tent, Elsa was flustered for a bit before asking.


    "Is there anything you need?"


    Seeing Elsa, Pa frowned. The distressed look on Elsa''s face had not fully recovered yet and due to her emotions, she forgot to tidy up her hair that was pulled by Mauriss. However, Pa was here for another thing so she had to confirm that first.


    "Is there someone named Elsa Iveria living here?"


    Pa asked.


    The question made Elsa even more flustered as she did not expect that someone would be looking for her.


    "You''re looking for me?"


    Elsa replied.


    Confirming that the woman in front of Pa was the person she was looking for made her frown even more. It looked like Elsa had been bothered by that man outside. If it was like this, she would not be able to face Mark once his group arrived here. It looked like they luckily made it on time before anything really happened.


    "We''re looking for you. Please pack up your things and we will bring you somewhere else."


    "What? Why? And where?"


    Elsa was bewildered.


    "I''m with the soldiers so you don''t have to worry. I can assure you that we''ll bring you to a ce better than here."


    Pa smiled.


    "Ah, also bring your boyfriend''s things, we already sent someone to fetch him."


    Elsa was confused about what was happening but she could only agree after knowing that Erwin was also being brought together with her. It did not take long for Elsa to pack up everything as they really barely had anything here in the first ce. Pa helped Elsa carry her things and went out of the tent.


    Outside, Mauriss was also stunned. He did not expect that the soldiers were here to find the woman he was nning to make his. Furthermore, to be escorted like this, was she perhaps someone with status?


    Elsa who went out of the tent was also stunned as she saw the situation outside. It looked like that the girl looking for her was really with the soldiers. She then heard the girl speak towards the soldier staring at Mauriss.


    "Raf, it looks like that guy in front of you almost did something to her."


    Hearing that, Rafael''s stare changed. His previously detesting eyes were now staring daggers at Mauriss.

 Chapter 118 To Their New Dwelling

    Day 4 ¨C 2:40 PM ¨C Evacuation Settlement Area, Central Business Park, Bay City, Pasay


    "Mauriss, what is this about?"


    1st Lieutenant Rafael asked with a stern voice.


    "Lieutenant, I didn''t do anything."


    Mauriss waved his hands as he replied while smiling. Even if he did smile, he was now sweating profusely wishing that these soldiers would just go away. However, a voice almost broke his fa?ade.


    "Raf, he''s lying."


    Pa''s voice made Rafael''s face even sterner as he stared at Mauriss.


    ''Sh*t! Who is this woman? Why does this bastard lieutenant seem to believe her?''


    Mauriss was cursing inside but he did not dare to show his distress on his face.


    "The miss, over there, I didn''t really do anything."


    When Mauriss tried to defend himself, what he received was an even grimmer stare from Pa. Rafael on the other hand turned towards Elsa.


    "Tell us. What did he do?"


    Rafael asked Elsa which made Mauriss panic inside.


    Elsa hesitated to answer at first when Pa spoke to her.


    "Don''t worry about these men. Just tell us. We''re on your side."


    This made Elsa look at Pa as she nodded. She then recounted everything that happened since yesterday. Due to this, Mauriss and his men paled. They did not think that this woman would dare speak. Furthermore, it seemed that this woman was highly valued by the Lieutenant Rafael for some reason. If they knew that it would be like this, they would have stayed away from her no matter what.


    Looking back at Mauriss, Rafael and his men drew their guns pointing at the group.


    "Now what do you want to say?"


    Rafael was a bit ted due to this. One reason that these groups were not being eliminated was because no one dared to step out as witness for everything they did in fear of getting revenged on. Now however, Elsa spoke up. It was enough to make a move on this group of imbeciles.


    Mauriss could not say or do anything but curse inside as his men look at him waiting for his orders. He was still able to stare daggers at Elsa but that was it. After all, they were caught while his men were surrounding the tent and he got out of the tent the moment these soldiers arrived. He had nothing to say anymore in defense.


    At this moment, the confrontation between the soldiers and this group was gathering the attention of a lot of people around. Many of them were here just because of curiosity but some of them felt d upon seeing that Mauriss'' group was in a predicament. It was obvious that these people had been victims of their harassment.


    "What is happening here?"


    At this time, another group of soldiers came to oversee the situation. The one who spoke was the soldier leading the group. Looking at the insignia on his chest and shoulders, it was obvious that he was at the same rank as Rafael, a 1st Lieutenant. Still, it could be seen that this person was not here to actually check the situation but to aid Mauriss and his men.


    To that question however, Rafael frowned as he replied.


    "Even if you''re here now, you can''t help your brother anymore, 1st Lieutenant Manolo. He was caught in the act. We also have the victim here."


    1st Lieutenant Mephisto Manolo, who was leading the group of soldiers that just arrived, looked at Rafael with a stern face. He hurried into this ce after receiving a tip that his younger brother was in trouble. He was one of the reasons why Mauriss was able to do his vile acts without too much restraint. What he did not expect however that the one who was troubling his brother was actually 1st Lieutenant Rafael Perez out of all people.


    Thickening his face, Mephisto spoke.


    "If that is the case, then we will bring the victim to take their testimony. Where is victim?"


    However, the moment he ended his question, he was interrupted.


    "What a shameless liar."


    Mephisto looked at Pa with shock. He did not realize that she was here. If that was the case he would not dare to say that.


    ''Why is this demoness here?''


    Pa''s mother who was a private investigator and a close friend of General Perez had a good amount of influence in this ce. As such, almost everyone in their ranks knew of Pa. However, that was not all. It was also known that no one could lie in front of that pair of mother and daughter or else, their lies would be exposed. No one knows how they were able to do it and several rumors came about due to this. Still, there was one thing that could be confirmed, the two never failed at determining lies and truth apart.


    Mephisto was now dragged into the predicament his brother made. However, he should not waver.


    "That is the procedure! This ce is not under your jurisdiction but ours. If there are issues here, then our division is in charge of addressing it."


    "You''re really doesn''t have the dignity of a soldier working for the country aren''t you?"


    Rafael mocked and continued.


    "However, even if that is the case, we can''t hand over the victim. She is a VIP we are taking into our custody in order of someone important. It had also been approved by my father. So drop, whatever you are scheming."


    Hearing that, Mephisto''s countenance changed as he red at his brother. To think that Mauriss offended a VIP that was to be taken under the General''s protection. His brother was seeking death! Still, he could not just back down.


    "In any case, what you are doing is illegal. You can''t just arrest someone without proper procedures."


    Rafael could only agree to that. Even if they had the authority here, they still needed to follow the procedures. Still, he could not help but feel grim as these rules were being used to protect a criminal at the moment.


    In any case, even if he wanted to eliminate this bunch of human garbage, he could not start a gun fight at this ce or many people would be implicated. While Rafael was thinking, Elsa''s voice was heard.


    "Can we just drop this? There was nothing irreversible that happened anyway."


    Elsa decided topromise. Even though she wanted to address her grievances, she knew that the situation was getting out of hand. She did not want to implicate these people more.


    "Are you sure about that?"


    Pa asked Elsa with a frown.


    "Yes."


    Pa knew that Elsa was lying but she also knew that this was the best oue for now. If these two factions fell out here, not only she and Elsa would be dragged into it but also everyone around them who was oblivious to the situation.


    "Raf, it''s better if we go now. We still need to bring Elsa and the others to their new dwellings."


    Rafael was reluctant to leave it like this but he also nodded. He then looked at the Manolo brothers.


    "You two might be able to escape this time. But remember, it will be thest."


    1st Lieutenant Rafael and his group was about to leave when Pa turned towards the two and spoke.


    "By the way, you two better be prepared. The brother of the woman who you two just offended is a vengeful person."


    "And what can he do? You think we are afraid of a single person?"<sub> </sub>


    Mauriss who was pardoned was emboldened once more. Furthermore, just saying some words would not put him into a severe situation. Also the fact that he did not know who Pa was added to his boldness.


    "Shut up!"


    Mephisto bellowed at his brother before turning towards Pa.


    "Ms. rence, what my brother said may be bold but I also agree with him."


    To their reasoning, Pa chuckled.


    "Oh? Actually, you two really better prepare. The person I''m talking about is an Evolver that can fight on par with the Unknown and he also have a daughter though not confirmed but could be a Mutator."


    With that, Pa left with her group leaving the 1st Lieutenant Mephisto who was stunned and drenched in sweat.


    After 1st Lieutenant''s group disappeared from their sight, Mephisto dragged his brother and the rest of his group back into their base. His face looked too grim that no one dared to speak to him along the way.


    Mauriss who could not understand why his brother was behaving this way looked at Mephisto with confusion.


    "Big bro, what''s wrong?"


    Hearing his brother''s voice, Mephisto looked at his brother and pped him.


    "Big Bro! What is that for?"


    Mauriss bellowed back while holding his reddened cheek due to the force of the p.


    "You still dared to ask me what is wrong?! You piece of sh*t! Out of all the people you can target, you actually targeted someone rted to an Evolver and a Mutator?"


    "What is wrong with that? It''s just an evolver. What can he do? Furthermore, even if the daughter is a Mutator, given their age, she should be just a child right?"


    Mauriss felt wronged.


    "You dumb sh*t. Did you even listen to what that demoness said? An Evolver on par with an unknown! Do you know how many people we lose every time we encounter one face to face?! We always lose a least a dozen men in an unprepared confrontation in order to kill just one of those! In the worst situation, a whole squad could be wiped out! The only weakness of the unknown is that they only follow their instincts and could not scheme! The problem here is that, that is a person capable of thinking and has the strength on par of an unknown! How do you think we''ll be able to deal with that?"


    Mauriss had no idea what the unknown was so he still feltcent but his face paled hearing the exnation of his brother. To think that they were now in a dire situation due to his actions and lust. Not only Mauriss but also his men who was around had pale faces.


    "Big bro, what should we do?"


    "What should we do? The question here is what you should do! I''m on a different situation since I''m in the military but you are not! Furthermore, with your reputation, no one would mind it if an Evolver of that strength will wipe your whole group out."


    "Then, what should I do?!"


    Mauriss started to panic.


    Massaging his be, Mephisto thought of something.


    "You better seek shelter under Senator Estrada. He had been funding your group right? You should be able to hide or at least seek protection with his help."


    "Alright, I''ll follow your suggestion, Big Bro."


    The two nned the steps to be done to avoid this disaster. They did not think that Pa would be lying due to her and her mother''s reputation. It was true however, that Pa did not lie. Nevertheless, she did not say everything either, especially that, the person she was talking about was not present inside Bay City.


    ***


    Back to the time Pa and Rafael brought Elsa. They had just walked several rows of tents away.


    "Wait."


    Elsa suddenly stopped as she forgot about something.


    "Is something wrong?"


    Pa asked.


    "I''m the one looking after the things inside the tent. If I leave, the things there might get stolen."


    "But you already brought your and your boyfriend''s things right?"


    "What I''m talking about are the things of the others we are sharing the tent with."


    Elsa looked worried. After all, she was trusted to look after those things. She could not betray that trust.


    "Don''t worry, I''ll send one of my men back and guard the tent until the people living there return."


    Suggested Rafael making Elsa feel relieved.


    Rafael then ordered two of his trusted men to return and guard the tent.


    Soon, the rest of the group left the tent city under the curious gazes of the survivors on the way. It was very rare for someone to be escorted out of the tent city, furthermore, it was obvious that the person being escorted would be moved somewhere else seeing the things they were carrying.


    After they stepped out to the main road, Elsa saw several military vehicles parked on the side of the road. She was then led towards one of the vehicles.


    When the door of the vehicle was opened, Elsa''s eyes became wide in shock. There were other people inside the vehicle and upon seeing those people, she could not help but shout with surprise and glee.


    "Mommy Ren! Big Brother Markron!"


    "Elsa!"


    The people inside shouted back with happiness.


    Inside the vehicle, she saw several familiar faces but the most familiar to her was the two, Carren Tan and Markron Cuyo. Several years ago, when she was a member of the cosy group they formed at their college, the two were among the leading figures of the group and was close to her. She did not expect to see them here. Especially at this time that even your closest rtive could already be dead.


    This situation added more questions to everyone.


    Why are they being gathered by the military? It was obvious that they knew each other so there should be a specific reason. They were all living at the tent city without realizing that there were other people they knew also living there but now, they were all gathered by the military.


    Soon, Erwin was also brought from his work. It seemed that Erwin was thest person to be ushered away as the vehicles all left after he arrived.


    Following the main road to the northern section of Bay City, they all saw the surroundings and even passed the checkpoint without difficulty. Looking at how the other soldiers interacted to the young woman and the leading soldier of the group. They realized that these two had high standing or reputation here in the current Bay City.


    It did not take long before they reached their destination. It was a building more than a dozen floors high. It was one of the so called, Condo Hotels or Condotels built at the Central Business Park. Now however, these buildings were being used as dwelling for the most important people at the Bay City.


    The building wasposed with a unified seven floors and the floors above that were separated into four towers. The group of seven people was brought to the ninth floor on the northwest tower. There, they were given arge studio ss suite that had three smaller bedrooms, kitchen and a small living roomplete with brand new appliances and utensils. The ce was obviously a high ss suite. It was just unfortunate that they had no electricity to power these brand new appliances.


    After they all chose a room and put their things in, Rafael and Pa called them to the living room to finally exin their circumstances.

 Chapter 119 A Dilemma

    Day 4 ¨C 3:45 PM ¨C Daang Hari Rd., Molino IV, Bacoor City, Cavite


    More than an hour after they left Carlo''s house, the group reached their current location after going turn after turn on roads and streets that they none of them ever used before the outbreak. These circumstances could not be helped as they were trying to avoid the most popted main roads and areas as much as possible.


    Actually, the San Miguel I subdivision where Carlo and Anna lived could be essed by the back road and the main entrance that was directly connected to Molino-Paliparan Rd., one of the longest roads in Bacoor and was one of the most popted. As such, the moment their vehicles went out of the subdivision, it did not take them long to encounter a road block in front of a hospital. Without any choice, they went into a branching road that led into the subdivision where one of their close friends, Carren, lived.


    Mark did not n on going to that house as he knew that Carren did not live here anymore after she married. The current inhabitants of the house should be her parents. Since they were there already, they passed by the house but Mark detected no one inside the house. With that, they continued on their way.


    The streets they passed through were not densely popted. They would encounter small groups of infected every now and then with the asionalmon mutated infected like Dozers. Dealing with that small number of infected was not hard for them who had an Evolver and Mutators. Nevertheless, it was too annoying especially when they encounter fully bloated Dozers that could explode at the slightest ignition.


    Currently, the road they were traversing was wide and the abandoned and crashed vehicles in the middle of the road were almost non-existent. As such, they were able to elerate more freely leaving most of the chasing infected behind. They two vehicles sped up on the road and their next destination on the direction they were going was Mark''s house. It was not like there was anyone back in his house but he wanted to take to some things with him. Since his house was closer to this direction than the houses of anyone in the group, it was better to go there first.


    Mark was now inside the MB Sprinter with the rest of the group. They did not ride on Laps'' back since the next destination was far away. It was better for the dog to reserve her strength for more crucial circumstances.


    *Crunch.


    Abbygale who was sitting on hisp was eating some high calorie crackers. Not only the little girl but also Laps on the back and Emika on the other vehicle was having their snacks. It seemed that constantly using their abilities make them hungry faster than usual. It was obvious though since they needed nourishment or else, where would they get the energy to use their abilities.


    Anna who copsed earlier due to her emotions had already waked up about fifteen minutes ago. Even though she was not crying anymore, the grief she was feeling was apparent on her face. She was currently being consoled by Sundra and Charmaine who sat beside her.


    At the end seat, Jte, who was still tied up was staring at Anna for some reason. Mark noticed it since earlier but her weak conscious had some weak fluctuations but the fluctuations could not be called as emotion at all. If it was to be described, it was like a fetus that was yet to be fully formed.


    ***


    Day 4 ¨C 4:37 PM ¨C Gawaran Ave., Lakeville Subdivision, Molino VII, Bacoor City, Cavite


    About one more hourter, they reached the subdivision where Mark lived. It was actually at the end most of the clusters of subdivisions in the area. Just over the creek behind the subdivision, the territory did not belong to Bacoor City or to Cavite anymore as it belonged to another province.


    Every one of Mark''s friends could not help look around. It was because this was the first time any one of them would actually see the ce where Mark lived. And to say, for the most part, it was kind of simr to Carlo''s subdivision since several blocks of the subdivision were almost vacant. At several blocks however, were fully upied which made the difference.


    Along the way, Mark could not help but sigh in relief. There were very few infected roaming the streets due to the location of the subdivision. Even though it was obvious that almost all of the houses had been abandoned, there were still presences of people at very few houses. It looked like that the houses that had stronger defenses had managed to hold out. Those houses could be clearly identified even without Mark''s ability as an Empath. It was because there would always be infected wandering around them.


    At the fewst streets however where Mark''s house was located¡­


    "What the hell is this?"


    Mark voiced what was in everyone''s mind.


    They stopped the vehicle before they could even enter the area. It was because they saw signs of activity some blocks away. After Mark went out to check, what he saw was arge horde filling up the street where his house was located. Scratching his head in dismay, he returned to the vehicle.


    "Gege, what happened?"


    Mei immediately asked seeing his expression.


    "Just wait and you''ll see."


    Mark replied and looked at Odel.


    "Odel, let''s leave first and find a ce we can stay. It''s almost five already."


    "Alright, Master."


    With that the two vehicles retreated about two blocks away. They scoured the ce for a safe ce to stay for the night and ended up eliminating a lot of infected along the way.


    They searched a few streets. However, it became difficult to find a ce that had not been broken through near around the area. Mark thought of finding a house or building close by the area where he lived but far enough as not to alert the infected but the search was not going smoothly. The reason was because the blocks around the area only had less houses built and the houses were not secure at all.


    "How about that church there?"


    Charmaine pointed at the roof of the church that could be seen behind the clubhouse they just passed by. The church was on the same block as the clubhouse, just built further behind it as therge block was used and built with many things like a basketball court, a yground and a swimming pool. The main entrance of the church was located at the road behind the block.


    Normally, Mark would decide against it as churches were one of the most frequented ces by people in other locations. This one however, had the higher possibility to be an exception, though it was not a new church it was not that old either. Furthermore, because of the location of the subdivision, the devotees of this church were far lesser than other churches. This church was also always closed unless it was Sunday or at special asions when a mass should be held. It was very unlikely for people to gather at that ce.


    The two vehicles soon arrived at the church and Mark was right. The whole ce was locked and devoid of people. The only existences present were several wandering infected that were immediately attracted to the two vehicles that stopped by.


    The church was built with a three floor structure, the first floor where the mass was being held, the second floor which only consisted of an indoor veranda that oversees the entirety of the main hall and the basement rooms consisting of several dwelling rooms and a two-vehicle indoor parking. Behind the church, there was another small building attached where the religious officials, priests and other personnel of the church dwell and prepare for the masses and other events.


    Upon arriving, Mark was used to the scene but the others were disappointed. As a church, a normal person would think that it would look grand or at least, formal. This church however looked dpidated. The walls were not painted, therge openings at the side of the hall were only blocked with steel grated gates making anyone outside be able to see the insides of the church, and the basement parking was bare without cover. The building beside the church was not even finished in construction yet as wooden posts, scaffoldings and rebar were sticking out of the walls and the roof.


    "The ce was not secure at all¡­ I don''t know if we could even call this a church."<sub> </sub>


    Melissa blurted out her honest opinion after seeing the state of the church making almost everyone nod.


    "Well, we don''t really need to stay there. Look at the parking, we can just make the vehicles enter there and block the entrance with Emika''s vines. As for the sleeping area, there should be rooms there."


    Mark pointed at the room inside the basement that could be seen since there were no gates on the parking space.


    "You''re the boss. We''ll follow you then."


    Melissa replied. In any case, they could not find a good ce to stay.


    There were few secure looking houses that they passed by but Mark did not want those houses due to the fact that those houses were just one entrance buildings. In case that a sudden emergency came like a new mutant or a sudden horde of biters came, they would be trapped inside the house with very little space to fight in. With this church however, they could fully cover the parking doors and use the basement. If the parking door was blocked, they could use the main entrance of the church or the door at the building beside it to deal with the danger.


    With that, they cleared off the infected which was done in less than five minutes due the small number of infected around the church.


    They followed Mark''s arrangement and sealed off the parking entrance. However, the entrance was not only sealed with vines but also with tree roots making the defense much stronger. Mikio wanted to help and as such, he made his nails grew longer that it started to look like tree roots. Simr to his older sister, he could grow and control his root like nails. However, his control was way worse than Emika and he also gets weak after using the ability.


    Lighting up the ce with severalmps, they started to scour the area. As Mark said, there were really rooms at the basement. There were three rooms with bunk beds and two rooms for utility. At the building beside the church, there was a kitchen, a dining room, an office, and the preparation room connected to the main hall of the church.


    What Mark did first though after securing the ce was tounch the drone they were always using. He wanted to see the situation around his house and if he was able to, find the reason why there were arge number of infected gathered at that ce.


    Mark connected the video feed to hisptop using several devices and sat at the balcony of the church. He sat there so there would be a better reception between the remote and the drone and the same for the wireless video feed.


    The drone flew several blocks away and towards the direction Mark''s house was located. Mark watched the scene along with the others as everyone was interested on why Mark decided to find a ce to stay first. After the drone arrived, everyone was shocked.


    Thest three streets at the end of Lakeville were brimming with infected. The numbers probably exceeded thousands. Each of the three streets was stretched out for about three hundred and fifty meters but about seventy percent of the streets were upied by the infected. Furthermore, there were also a lot of mutated among them. It was hard to count due to the number of the infected but it should be around or more than a hundred.


    "Nee~ Uncle. Where is your house?"


    Emika asked.


    To the girl''s question, Mark pointed at house inside an alley with a Cotton Fruit tree on the front yard that was being focused on the video.


    "Eehh¡­ Your house is small. Mmmmf!!!"


    Emika said in disappointment and she was immediately grabbed by her mother stopping her from speaking further.


    "Sorry about that."


    Rosamie apologized about what her daughter said.


    "It''s fine. I live alone so it''s prettyrge if you ask me."


    Mark said indifferently. Looking back at the video, he continued while frowning.


    "This scene however¡­ It''s out of my expectations."


    "Gege, who would expect something like this?"


    Mei said on the side. She was right however. Who would really expect this when they barely encountered the infected since they entered the subdivision?


    "Actually, I thought that the reason that there were very few infected is because of the location. To think that we encountered too few because they are all gathered there."


    Mark was obviously distressed.


    As they were observing the scene, the sun started to set and the clock ticked at six o''clock.


    While they were watching the video, a bright sh of violet light further disturbed the chaotic scene. After the sh of light, the infected was visibly agitated that they all started running about but it seemed that they had no apparent direction and looked confused. They rammed at each other while the mutants started attacking the other infected blocking their way as if they were looking for something.


    Everyone in the group was surprised by that sh of light. Furthermore, one of the reasons for their surprise was that the sh of light came from¡­


    Mark''s house¡­


    "You got to be kidding me¡­"


    Mark pped his forehead with mixed emotions.

 Chapter 120 What He Encountered Six Years Ago

    Day 4 ¨C 6:07 PM ¨C Our Mother of Perpetual Help Church, Lakeville Subdivision, Molino VII, Bacoor City, Cavite


    Everyone saw that sh of purple light from Mark''s house and they were all bbergasted seeing how the infected around the area were agitated after that sh of light happened. They could not help but look at Mark with confusion.


    "Gege, what is that light?"


    Mei asked Mark, voicing the words in everyone''s mind at the moment.


    Mark on the other hand was having a hard time to answer that question. He recognized that sh of light since he had seen it several times before.


    It was six years ago when he experienced a very spectacr event that would surely not happen once again even if he reincarnated.


    At that day six years ago, he was walking home after college. He was runningte at that time because they had to chase of the deadline of their thesis. Because of the time they finished their work which was almost eleven in the evening, it was hard to find a passenger vehicle tomute and as such, he had to walk all the way home.


    In eagerness to reach his house faster, he strayed away from the main road and went towards several secluded streets for a shortcut. In the end, he saved a lot of time going through those dangerous streets. Even though those ces were dangerous due to being secluded and theck of people, he was not fazed. It he was to ask, with his face, he was the one who would look like a criminal. Some of the people walking at those streets even tried to stay away from him as he passed by.


    One of the areas he passed by that time was a wide undeveloped plot ofnd with a dirt path going through it. Aside from the dirt path, the ce was covered with grass and trees. Walking through that plot ofnd looked scary. Nevertheless, he walked through like it was nothing. He had several more frightening encounters when he was a child as such, walking through a ce like that would be nothing. He also did not expect that something would happen.


    Mark was wrong at that time however¡­


    There was a sh of light in the sky which he learnedter that it came from the explosion of therge meteorite after a missile from the United States hit it. That sh illuminated the dark sky as if it was day time for several seconds. That was not the issue however. After the meteorite exploded, he saw quite a number of balls of light shing across the sky like dragon balls scattering across the world. One of those balls of light and the biggest one were actually heading straight towards him.


    Thinking that it was a dangerous thing, he started to run away. He managed to get out of the plot and watched the falling ball of light. The ball of light fell into the plot ofnd but the explosion he expected however did not happen. Out of curiosity, he went back and saw the actual appearance of the ball of light exactly at the ce where he stood before while watching the sky.


    At that ce, he saw a double terminated crystal with a vivid violet color defying thews of physics and was floating about three feet in the air while shing a violet colored light. Around the double terminated crystal, there were three marble sized sphere crystals circling around.


    Fascinated by the sight, Mark subconsciously moved closer. He then saw that while one of the sphere crystals had the same appearance as the double terminated crystal, the other two did not. The two had the same vivid violet color outside but he could see a golden orb glowing inside one and while there was a red orb glowing inside the other.


    Mark went closer even more to inspect the odd crystals but he did not expect that the crystal with the golden orb would fly towards him. He tried to dodge but the crystal kept on following. Without any other choice, he caught the crystal with his bare hands. Managing to catch it, he felt relieved just to see the crystal crumble into golden wisps of light and entered his body.


    He panicked a bit as he was caught off guard by the event. Seeing something unknown enter your body was an experience anyone would panic to. Feeling that there was nothing wrong with his body, he felt a bit relieved but it still bothered him.


    He then approached the remaining floating crystals but none of them behaved the same way as the one that flew towards him. Mark then took off his jacket and wrapped the crystals with it bringing the crystals home. He did not understand why he did it but he just thought of bring it home for no apparent reason at that time.


    After arriving home, he removed the crystals from the jacket and all of it continued to behave the same way when he found them. The bigger crystal floated three feet from the ground while the smaller crystals flew around therger one in an orbit. He tried touching the two other sphere crystals but nothing happened. With that, he encased the crystal except for the one with a red glow in arge ss sealed jar. The crystals inside the jar continued to behave the same way hovering at the center of the jar.


    The bizarre crystals became one of his precious collections. However, due to the bizarreness of the crystals, he did not dare disy it or someone might see it identally and just hid the jar inside the closet.


    That night however, he fell ill. He had fever for the whole night. He was afraid that it was because of the crystal that entered his body but he recovered the next morning. Due to being fan of manga, anime and video games, he also thought that the crystal would give him some sort of ability. Nheless, the crystal did not seem so end he felt like an idiot for trying out several things like some spider dude before he learned to shoot webs.


    Thus, he continued his normal life then. A normal life staying as far away from ces with many people due to him feeling exhausted for staying at those ces for a long time.


    However, one thing that made him happy was that his exhausted mind would feel revitalized after going home ever since he found the crystals.


    Time passed and he felt that he was starting to develop a sort of dislike in overly popted ces and he would feel exhausted even faster. That was when he learned that he was an Empath and his ability in that field was growing.


    A yearter, another bizarre thing happened at the crystals at the jar. Mark saw a bright purple light seeping out of his closet shing several times. When he checked, he saw another marble sized crystal inside the jar aside from the previous one. And thus, six yearster, there were now six marble sized crystals floating around therger crystal.


    Back to the current time, Mark could not think of any reason for the crystals for sh that bright light at this moment in time. It was not the time for it to produce another marble sized crystal. Furthermore, that sh was obviously brighter than the previous circumstances even baffling him some more.


    Unless, those crystals had some rtion to the outbreak which Mark found hard to imagine.


    The crystals appeared six years ago and the outbreak started four days ago. The only thing that could link the two was that both circumstances originated from a meteoriteing from space.


    Mark suddenly woke up from his deep thinking as he saw a small hand waving in front of his face while he contemted.


    "Can you move your hand away from my face?"


    Mark looked at Emika who was gleefully making fun of him.


    "Hehe, I thought Scary Uncle was sleeping."


    Emika hurriedly pulled her hand back.


    "Gege, is something wrong?"


    Mei worriedly asked which made Mark shook his head.


    "I''m just thinking why that sh of light happened."


    "Then Boss, you don''t know what made that sh of light?"


    Melissa interjected.


    "Actually, I know what caused it. But it shouldn''t create a bright sh like that and not at this time of the year."


    Everyone stared at him with askance.


    "Are you rted with the outbreak, Boss?"<sub> </sub>


    Melissa asked. After all, they saw how the infected got agitated after that sh of light. It meant that whatever that caused that light was somehow rted to the infected. Mark knew of that cause and the ce it originated was his house. Anyone who could think would have that suspicion.


    "Pfft."


    Mark smirked.


    "If I''m rted to the outbreak, then I wouldn''t be trapped in a mall, you know that? And I will surely prepare for the outbreak if that was the case. However, if not for my wits and luck, I could already be dead now."


    Those words dispelled Melissa''s line of thought. She already saw a lot of things Mark did and to say, he was really not prepared for everything and he was just using any means he could think of.


    "But what is that sh of light."


    Carlo asked.


    Mark then rummaged in his bag for some reason making everyone confused. He then pulled out the small strap bag he was carrying even before the outbreak. From that strap bag, he pulled out a small bottle sealed with a metal cap. Inside the bottle was a marble sized sphere crystal with a vivid purple color and a red glowing orb at the center of the crystal.


    Mark showed the bottle to everyone making everyone amazed. It was because they could see that the bizarre crystal was floating inside the bottle like magic.


    "You see, the cause of that light was simr to this one. Just a little bitrger. Oh right, I have a picture and a video of that. Wait a minute."


    Mark rummaged inside the bag again and found his old phone. The one he also used before the outbreak. Browsing in the gallery, he found the picture and the video of the crystal in the jar and showed it to them.


    They were all stunned at the bizarre and amazing sight of a set of crystals floating in the air.


    "This is not edited?"


    Melissa asked once more.


    "There is this one and you ask if it''s edited¡­"


    Mark held the small bottle and shook it in his hand.


    He then told the summary of how he found the crystals to them after he made the dronend at the roof on one tall house nearby his home.


    "¡­Well, that''s how I found it. That should be the thing that created that sh of light."


    Mark finished story but hid the fact that one of the crystals entered his body and just changed that part telling everyone that the crystals would vanish after being touched.


    Everyone showed a different face towards his story. After all, it sounded some sort of fantasy story theme. Still, they could not deny it as the bottle on Mark''s hand was the evidence.


    "Then Master, if you found those six years ago, why does it seem that the infected were after it now?"


    Odelina spoke her thoughts.


    "Actually, that is also what I''m thinking about."


    Mark could also not make head or tails of the issue.


    "Well, those crystals were actually among the things I wanted to take away so we''ll probably learn the reasons in the future."


    Mark continued.


    "Bro, you still want to go home with all those infected around?"


    Carlo could not help but ask. After all, it would be a suicide mission. Everyone around also looked worried about what he wanted to do.


    "You all know that the infected wanted those crystals right? Then, that''s more the reason to not let them get it or else, who know what will happen."


    Mark voiced a reason no one in the group could refute. They all saw what happened on the scene captured through the drone. It was obvious now what was the reason why the infected gathered around this remote area.


    "Alright, who will prepare dinner?"


    Mark asked because of the state Anna was in.


    "That''s¡­ My work."


    Anna surprisingly spoke up. Her mood was still down but it seemed that she did not want to shirk her duty.


    "Are you sure?"


    Odelina asked. After all, she knew how it was hard to lose your family since she thought that aside from her husband, her children also did not make it before.


    "I''m fine. Help me a little though."


    After that exchange, Mark told the group to rest early after telling them his n on retrieving his things from his house.

 Chapter 121 Making His Way To His Lonely Home

    Day 4 ¨C 9:16 PM ¨C Our Mother of Perpetual Help Church, Lakeville Subdivision, Molino VII, Bacoor City, Cavite


    At the basement area of the church, almost everyone was asleep already. Because of theck of rooms, the two bedrooms beside the basement parking was upied by the females and children while one of the utility room was emptied and a bedding was ced for Carlo and Ron.


    After several days of just using wet cloth on their bodies to clean themselves, everyone finally managed to take a bath. It was not because there was running water on the church. Just several lots to the east on the other side of the street, the subdivision''s water tower was located. They managed to fetch water from the water tower and managed to take a bath.


    As the water line of the water tower was private, Mark was not worried about contamination. Though they would sure not try to use this water for cooking.


    For the look out, everyone would take shifts the whole night. At this moment, it was Carlo and Sundra''s shift and they were on the balcony of the church. It was not really necessary because of Laps'' existence but they still did so for the sake of feeling secure. It was also because Mark knew that Laps'' breed was not of a guard dog but of a hunting dog. It did not mean that Laps would be unreliable but her skill in this field was lower.


    Mark on the other hand was currently inside the vehicle with Mei, Abbygale and Odelina. If she could be considered as their member, Jte was also inside the vehicle. Strange enough, she was sleeping. Mark did not make her sleep and rather, she slept on her own volition. Abbygale was also asleep on the other sofa. It seemed that the long journey had worn her out.


    Sitting on the floor of the vehicle, Mei and Odelina was helping Mark prepare for the next morning. They were loading the assault rifle magazines with ammunition while Mark was arranging the things he would bring in his back pack.


    "You two should sleep already."


    Mark said to the two as he examined the M79 Grenadeuncher he would useter.


    "Gege, I''m fine. You''re the one who should sleep already."


    Mei replied as she put away a magazine she just filled.


    "That''s right master, you should be the one to sleep already since after you leaveter, we still have time to rest."


    Odelina agreed with Mei.


    "Well, I''m fine too if you two ask me."


    Mark looked at the time in his phone that was currently plugged and charging.


    "It''s just past 9PM. It is still early for me."


    "Early? Master, just what time do you sleep normally?"


    "Hmm¡­ Around 3 or 4 in the morning. My clients on my frence work were always from the US so my work time was usually at night. If I''m not working, then, I''m watching anime and ying video games."


    The two females were speechless. It was fine if it was work but to spend almost the whole night at unnecessary things.


    If Mark was to know what the two were thinking about, he would sure reprimand the two.


    In front of Mark, heid down the weapons he nned to use, the M16 Assault Rifle and the Machete. The usual shotgun was not present though as he reced it with the grenadeuncher. There was also the USC Sub-machinegun. He nned to do a stealth mission and did not n to confront the infected if possible. However, if thetter situation really happened, the shotgun would not help a lot. Even though the shotgun had a stronger punch than the assault rifle, its uracy, range and reload speed was too slow. Furthermore, the grenadeuncher was more suitable due to therge number of infected around. As for the sub-machinegun, he thought of using it recing his pistol. Though it was a little heavier than the pistol, the additional weight should not hinder his movements.


    For the n, Mark wanted to go alone and stealthily make his way towards his house. Confronting all those infected was surely suicide and as such he thought of going over the roofs of the houses as the infected could not climb up. His house was also not intruded by the infected yet as it was inside an alley and the gates was securely locked. Unless one could climb up the over two meter gates and walls, no one would be able to get inside.


    Finishing all the preparations they needed, Mark and the rest finally decided to sleep at past eleven in the evening.


    Mark did not manage to sleep peacefully though. While his mind was filled with thoughts keeping him away from sleep, he was also being gued by his premonition for some reason. It was the first time for him to have a lingering dream like this that would appear in two consecutive days.


    ***


    Day 5 ¨C 4:02 AM ¨C Binga Lake St., Lakeville Subdivision, Molino VII, Bacoor City, Cavite<sub> </sub>


    Early at this time, Mark had already reached the back streets of the subdivision approaching the street where his house was located several blocks away.


    Even though he slept quitete, he still woke out about three in the morning and prepared to depart. Even though the darkness of the night could impair his sight range, it should be the same for the infected as he observed back in the mall. Furthermore, with his all ck attire, it would be hard for anyone to make out his existence from a distance. It would be different for the Mutated infected though but the possibility of him encountering one at other locations aside from the area around his house would be close to none.


    As such, he was now three blocks away from his house. He was careful in his movements and was not making any noise despite the fact that he was moving fast. He was still not as fast as Odelina and Abbygale but still way faster than a normal person and even than a Biter.


    SWISH!


    Mark creeped behind a wandering Eater and beheaded it with his machete.


    He prioritized in eliminating Eaters than Biters at this point. It was because he started to realize that the Eaters were more adept at detecting people in the dark than Biters. While the Eater he beheaded had already fallen down. A Biter nearby could not even make out Mark who was standing beside the dead Eater because of the darkness of the night. It also helped a lot that the moon had already set at this time.


    Maintaining his pace, he reached the corner of the street before his home street, Mainit Lake St. Here, he could finally see therge number of infected. The number of the infected here was smallerpared on the street he intended to go but it was still too many for him to handle alone.


    Not wanting to get spotted, he jumped over the wall of the nearest house several lots away as the corner of the street was nothing but a vacant lot. Feeling that there was some that saw him, he immediately jumped off the top of the wall and unto the terrace just above the gates of the house. He then lied down on the floor of the terrace hiding from anyone''s sight below. There were several infected that noticed a shadow moving over the wall but and immediately ran towards the shadow''s direction but they did not see anyone and went back to their idle behavior.


    As he managed to shirk away from the sight of the infected, he felt relieved. It would be a problem if the infected started banging on the gates of the house he entered. Crouching, he saw the infected that saw him walk away. He immediately propelled himself towards the rooftop terrace of the house without anyone detecting him.


    High up the rooftop of the second floor, he could barely see the infected at the distance but he could make out therge number of infected at the close vicinity on the next street behind the house.


    Seeing his next stop, he slowly hung himself off the rooftop unto the roof of the one floor house beside. He did not jump off and slowly made his way as to not make any loud noise. Jumping unto roofs of houses was one of the noisiest things to do in a stealth mission due to the roofs being made of metal sheets. It was not like in some movies where the characters barely made any noise after even falling off unbnced unto a metal roof.


    Making his way over three more houses, he was getting closer and closer to his goal. The problem now was how he was going to cross the infected infested street. Looking around, could make out the van crashed unto one of the houses near the end of the street. He saw it before using the drone and was looking for the right ce to reach it. It seemed that whoever the owner of that van tried to flee but failed miserably. Mark then made his way several houses further away from his house.


    When he could finally see the van, he saw how the van was damaged. The door of the driver''s seat was flung into the street while every single window of the van was entirely broken. He could also make out severalrge dents on the body of the vehicle making it obvious that the one that attacked the van was a Mutated Infected with super strength.


    Luckily for Mark though as this vehicle would be his ticket to get on the block where his house was located. The van was after all crashed unto the wall of the house in front and its body was almost blocking the entire street. With a single jump from the roof of the closest house, he could make it onto the roof of the van and unto the house on the next block.


    TSST! TSST! TSST! TSST! TSST!


    Lying prone on the roof of the house, he waited for the right timing. He also took the opportunity to shoot several Dozers that were idling far away riddling their bodies with holes. The Dozers became agitated as they could not find where the attacks wereing from and due to the pain they were feeling in their bodies. The noises the Dozers made also attracted the attention of the infected around.


    Mark finally had the right timing.


    He stood up before making a running start and jumped onto the roof of the van in a swift manner. The jump was about three meters away but he made it safely. Afternding on the roof of the van, he did not stop and continued running until he jumped off to the wall of the house in front of the van before propelling himself to the roof. Many infected around saw him as a moving shadow but what could they do? They could only make noise as he strayed away from their sights.


    Mark started to feel a bit ted as he was going closer and closer to his house. With all the infected around, it would be unlikely that there would be any looter that managed to get into his house so, he was not worried about his things being stolen.


    With his house being at the innermost side of the alley, he managed to make his way without making his presence known to the infected at the main streets. Furthermore, the disturbance made by the Dozers he shot earlier strayed the attention of the infected further away from him.


    Finally, he reached his house. Stepping on the roof of his home, he checked the yard for any odd change but did not find any. The gates and walls were fully intact and the doors were the same. The house looked the same as he left it days before.


    Fetching he jumped down from the roof and unlocked the door. He then entered the loneliest home he could ever have. A home where there was no one to wee him back. He lived alone under this roof doing his best at everything he could do. But no one would praise him for anything that he had done right.


    It was because he was all alone.


    The only things he had with him were his hobbies. His collection of goods that was very few in number and his collection of soft copies that had umted over the years. He did not have a collection of manga or light novels disyed on a shelf and did not have arge disy of action figures. It was overly expensive for him to buy those things from overseas. What he had was a few robot models he painstakingly saved money for and a few anime figures that he won from several conventions before that he painstakingly attended and bought from surplus stores by luck.


    He wanted to bring them all with him or else, he would feel that his existence for the past several years was nothing but a lie.

 Chapter 122 The Odd Infected Around His Home

    Day 5 ¨C 4:32 AM ¨C Lake Ave., Lakeville Subdivision, Molino VII, Bacoor City, Cavite


    After Mark had left under everyone''s worried eyes, they started the task they were assigned with. It was to set up traps along their escape route in case the worst scenario happened. The traps were not thatplicated. Most of the traps only consisted of ropes that went across the street to trip the infected once they ran over.


    The onlyplicated and the most deadly one was the trap Mark prepared before and was to be set up at the exit of the subdivision. It was a nylon cord with both ends of the cord tied unto the pins of three pairs of grenades. The grenades were to be tightly stuck on posts at the side of the exit of the subdivision and once the nylon cord was pulled, the grenades would surely blow off along with everything near it.


    Once they were done with the traps, they would be ready to pick up Mark on call.


    While some of them were installing the traps, Odelina was training the others how to use weapons. It was obvious that they would attract unwanted attention during this activity and it was also the same chance for them to train fighting the infected. As most of them were just beginners in wielding weapons and fighting, Odelina, Mei and Abbygale would eliminate the Biters that were more dangerous in close quarters while Emika would regte the number of Eaters that would approach the trainees. Laps on the other hand was guarding the whole group alerting everyone where the infected would being from especially with the tall grasses around them.


    SHINNG!!


    Wielding a katana, Carlo begrudgingly beheaded the Eater he was confronting. It was obvious that he was not proficient in using the Japanese Sword as his clumsiness was showing in his attacks. He also looked squeamish as the blood of the infected in front of him sshed on the ground.


    The katana he was wielding was a sword that his grandfather received after killing a Japanese general during the world war two. The evidence that the katana belonged to a general was the ornamental gems embedded on the hilt of the katana. This sword was one of the things he retrieved from his abandoned house. The katana was left for him along with the letter as he would need a good weapon in order to survive.


    ***


    Day 5 ¨C 4:43 AM ¨C Taal Lake St., Lakeville Subdivision, Molino VII, Bacoor City, Cavite


    Mark was almost done with packing the things he wanted to bring while the important things he would leave behind were all put inside the bedroom. Even though the chances of it happening were very low, he would take back these things if the outbreak settled down in the future.


    He took all his "prized" possessions into a sports bag. What he brought with him was his favorite ck hooded jacket, three robot stic models, a nendoroid figure and four different sized stuffed toys. As for other things, he brought all thepact disks he had in his case, his several sh drives and the hard drive of hisptop andputer. He could not bring hisptop anymore as it was too bulky and it had lower specspared to theptops he took from the mall. It was the same for hisputer.


    Unfortunately, there was no way that he would be able to bring his only console. It was a bulky y station 3 that he luckily bought in a surplus shop at a veryrge discount along with several game disks. If the infected outside were not around, he might have a chance to bring this away but unfortunately now, he would not be able to.


    Now, thest and the most important thing¡­


    The jar with the crystals in it that was stored inside the closet. He removed everything he put above the jar to hide it before the item was revealed. This was why Mark was confused as to how that sh of light happened. The closet was tightly sealed and the jar was covered with clothes and thus, that light should not be able to escape out of the house.


    After Mark finally took out the jar from the closet, he froze. It was because he could see that the double terminated crystal was emitting a faint glow continuously. It was not like this before. Furthermore, there was an additional marble sized crystal floating around it. What was stranger was that the color of the newer crystal was a way lighterpared to the others.


    He was not that confused as he knew nothing about the crystals in the first ce but it still felt odd. However, he had no time to ponder about it now. He started to hear loud noises outside the house the moment he moved the ss jar.


    Mark hurriedly covered the jar with a thick nket and stuffed it inside his backpack and not together with the other things he brought. The things inside the sports bag could still be tossed about to some extent but not this one. He put the cloth covered jar unto the bottom of the bag moving away the grenadeuncher shells stored in the middle of several handkerchiefs to prevent the shells from making noise as he ran about.


    BAM!!! BAM!!! BAM!!! BAM!!! BAM!!!


    Mark subconsciously turned his head around towards the direction where the entrance to his house from the alley was located. It was because that loud sound was actually, the gates of his house. Someone was banging the gates of his house in a violent manner!


    He hurriedly finished everything and ran out locking his door once more. Using the hidden corner of his house, he tried to peek on the gates and there, he saw the whole width of the gates was blocked with infected that was trying to get in. He could even see the gates shaking and hear the hinges creaking. It looked like that his act of taking the jar containing the crystals made the infected aware of its location.


    ''I can''t stay here any longer!''


    Mark thought as he immediately propelled himself kicking on the corner of the walls simultaneously and jumped off onto the roof like a kung fu artist. He arrived on the roof of his house in an instant. However¡­


    BAM!!!


    He was not alone.


    A Biter suddenly appeared in a curve through the air falling onto the same roof he was standing on in an unsightly manner.


    "WHAT?!"


    Mark blurted in shock.


    SWISH! SWISH! BAM! BAM!


    It was followed by two morending on the roof in a random direction. Looking at the direction of the curve they fell, it seemed that these three were thrown up here.


    SWISH! SWISH! BAM! BAM!


    While the three were recovering from the fall and Mark was in his thought, two more infectednded in front of him with one infected even hitting the first one that appeared.<sub> </sub>


    Mark did not try to think anymore, he immediately bolted off. He knew that he had been discovered and the one that was throwing these guys should be a Mutated Infected with super strength. It must be the same infected that mutted the van he saw earlier.


    Jumping off from the roof of his house, he went towards the opposite direction he came from. Since he was now escaping, he needed to use the shortest route as he could. Furthermore, he was already discovered and would not be able to hide anymore. No¡­ Rather, he would not able to hide even if he wanted to.


    Running across the lot of the house behind his where he jumped off, he intended to climb unto the next roof.


    He then noticed some movements¡­


    Above the walls he just jumped over.


    To his horror, he saw more than half a dozen heads popping over the almost three meter wall followed by arms and then their torso. One by one, the infected fell off over the wall. The damn infected were actually climbing up the walls!!!


    PLOP! PLOP! PLOP! PLOP! PLOP! PLOP! PLOP! PLOP!


    Bodies continued to pour down from the wall just behind him.


    He did not try to dawdle and hurriedly jumped towards another wall, jumping over it and then unto the roof of a ss room inside a small private school located just one lot away from his house continuing towards the roof of his neighbor. As he was now in an open area, he could finally see what was happening nearby. The Biters on the vicinity was climbing over every obstacle they could climb over to reach him while the Eaters were behaving the same as normal but also following the direction the Biters were going.


    He also saw the creature that was throwing infected at him. It should be a Biter that mutated as it was moving fast. Its body was bulky. Different from therge hulking infected he saw before, this one was not tall but it had firm looking muscles and there was not a trace of fat that could be seen from its body. What Mark was surprised about this infected was because he knew the person. He was one of his neighbors that did not frequent gyms but still had a body filled of muscles for some reason.


    Mark thought before if that neighbor of his had a myostatin rted disorder and now, it really seemed to be the case. The Mutagen even strengthened that characteristic of his neighbor further.


    As it was almost five in the morning, the sky had started to brighten. As such, Mark was looking at the scene below while the infected was also looking at him.


    BAM! BAM!


    Two more infected was thrown onto the roof he was standing on. Furthermore, the Biters were also starting to climb unto the same roof. They were even making adder made of their own bodies like how it was in a blockbuster zombie movie that aired in theaters several years ago.


    "Well, the situation is just getting worse and worse."


    Mark helplessly muttered.


    TSST! TSST!


    Mark put down his sports bag and shot the two infected that had just been thrown onto the roof with his Assault Rifle. He then faced the muscle packed infected and shot it with several bullets.


    However, before the bullets could hit the Mutated Infected, it pulled an Eater beside it and used it as a shield avoiding getting hit by the bullets Mark fired. It then threw the infected towards the Mark making him dodge to the side and stop shooting.


    Mark frowned.


    The Mutant Infected he was facing right now was smart for sure. No, not just that Mutated Infected. The normal Biters in the area seemed to be smarter too. Furthermore, the Biters and Mutated Infected that were behaving strangely were only the ones in the close vicinity of his house. He could see that the infected further away were still behaving as usual.


    He then remembered the crystals inside his backpack. Every time he''s at home, he would feel his mind rxed ever since he found these crystals and it even aided him to be able to concentrate on his frence online work and with ying video games. The infected gathered here could have been affected by the crystals for sure. There was no doubt about it.


    Turning back to the Muscle Mutant, Mark''s eyes dted. He immediately picked up his sports bag on the roof ignoring everything else. It was because he saw the Muscle Mutant picking up a Dozer intending to throw it at his direction.


    Mark jumped off the roof onto the roof of another neighboring house.


    BLAAMMM!!!


    A loud sound echoed behind him as the two meter tall Dozer mmed onto the roof after being thrown. Mark nced behind and saw the roof where he stood before was dented with the Dozer sunk at the center of the dent struggling to get out. On the further side of that roof, he could see the Biters finally managed to climb up to the roof and started running towards him. Due to the roof Mark now stood on was about two meters away from the previous roof, he expected the Biters to fall off but he was gravely mistaken.


    The infected that reached the edge of that roof started jumping towards the roof he stood on. Most of them still fell off due to the wrong timing and being pushed by ones behind but there were several ones that made it and continued running towards him.


    Mark then shot the Biters that managed to jump over the gap between the roof of the two houses without panicking.


    But that was not the end of it¡­


    BAAAMMM!!!


    With a loud sound, he saw the Muscled Figurending on the roof of the neighboring roof he was previously on.

 Chapter 123 Fleeing On The Roofs

    Day 5 ¨C 4:55AM ¨C Taal Lake St., Lakeville Subdivision, Molino VII, Bacoor City, Cavite


    TSST! TSST! TSST! TSST! TSST! TSST! TSST! TSST! TSST!


    The moment Mark saw the Muscled Infected suddenly appear on the roof he did not dawdle and rained bullets towards the direction of the infected. Nevertheless, the shots failed to hit its target with the Muscled Infected immediately kicking the roof with a loud bam and disappearing into the interior of the house.


    Mark frowned as this was getting troublesome.


    Still, Mark did not n to leave yet. If he was not discovered, he would have continued moving undetected but with all the infected that was now climbing onto the roof and chasing him, it was impossible to do so. Thus, he nned to attract the attention of all the infected into this area before fleeing towards the main road. If he seeded, there would be no infected that would block his way as he flee and all the infected shoulde from behind.


    However, the existence of the Muscled Infected was posing a threat to him in addition to these abnormal infected. He could be even make out Dozers and other oddly looking infected trying to climb the walls but the shapes and weight of their bodies were preventing them from doing so.


    BAM!!! CRUSH!!!


    Mark heard a loud sound below making him look down and saw the wall of the house were the Muscled Infected enter crumble into debris. From that hole made on the wall, the threatening figure of the Muscled Infected appeared looking at him. He immediately shot but the target immediately ran off towards the area that Mark could not see.


    TSST! TSST! TSST! TSST! TSST! TSST! TSST!


    Knowing that he would not be able to shoot that cunning infected, Mark released a barrage of bullets towards the Biters that were now running towards his direction after climbing the roof.


    "Annoying!"


    Mark voiced his irritation.


    More and more infected started to climb up the roof. Mark estimated that the infected that was affected by the crystal should be around half a thousand with most of them being the Biters. The Eaters that were affected did not matter much as they were not able to move too fast. Still, the Eaters also started to climb up the roof at their own pace.


    Mark looked around the street and saw that the infected further away the direction he intended to run towards started to move towards this direction. Now, he just needed to wait a little bit more time while trying to evade the assault of the infected on the roof.


    Releasing the Assault Rifle from his hands, he readied the Grenade Launcher. It pained him to use this weapon due to the number of the ammunition he had being limited with just around fifty 40mm grenade shells and he could only bring twenty of the shells with him due to the bulky size of the shells. It was everything of what he retrieved from the gang back in Firenze. Still, it was no wonder that the number of ammunition they carried for the Grenade Launcher was limited. It was because it was not a gun to be used by beginners. The gang members did not even try to use it back then and relied on their semi-automatic and automatic guns.


    It also looked like that the gang members did not know that the grenade shells they were carrying were the highly explosive ones or else, they would have easily won against the police by using it.


    Mark retreated away as he aimed the Grenade Launcher on the part of the roof where the Biters were climbing. It was where the highest concentration of the climbing infected was gathered.


    THUMP! BOOM!


    Thenunched shell flew in a small parab and fell a little bit off to his target. Even if Mark was used to using this kind of gun in simtion games and FPS games, it was still different in using it in real life. Still, the explosion created on the roof blew away some infected climbing and heavily damaged the roof leaving arge hole.


    After shooting, he immediately opened the chamber and removed the empty shell and threw it away. Though the shell casings might be able to be reused, Mark did not have the capability to recycle them. Reloading the Grenade Launcher, he aimed once more on his target and adjusted his aim. However, he suddenly turned his aim down to the ground and fired.


    THUMP! BOOM!


    The grenade exploded just to the wall of the house in front of him.


    ROOOAAR!!!


    The explosion was immediately followed by a loud painful roar.


    It was the Muscled Infected that was about to attack once more but was met with the explosion of the grenade thatnded in front of it.


    Mark had been noticing that this Mutated Infected was dodging every single shot he made towards it. He also noticed that before he could even fire the first shot, this infected was already on the move to evade. What bothered him was that the infected obviously had no capability to think and was obviously all relying on their instincts. This meant that it should not be able to realize that he was going to shoot it. Yet, it was evading his attacks.


    Then it dawned to him while he was shooting the other infected.


    Animals and insects could recognize things that could threaten them and the Muscled Infected seemed to be disying the same behavior to his weapons. And for the Muscled Infected to predict when he was going to shoot, it was also simr to animals and insects. The moment that they feel threatened, they would immediately flee. When does that happen? Even though animals and insects would always flee no matter what most of the time, there was a time that they desperately do so. It was when they feel killing intent from the opposing party.


    <o>,m Noticing that the Muscled Infected could feel his killing intend towards it, Mark turned his attention to the Biters climbing on the roof redirecting his killing intent towards the new target. When he was about to shoot for the second time, he saw that the Muscled Infected below started to move and as such, he changed his target and shot before his killing intent was felt by the Muscled Infected. For the result, Mark finally injured the cunning guy.</o>


    BAM!!! CRUSH!!!


    Another sound of concrete crumbling down as the Muscled Infected destroyed another wall of the opposite house and entered the house in a hurry. As it ran into the house, Mark saw a glimpse of the Muscled Infected and saw its body riddled with bloody wounds and with its right arm charred and bleeding heavily.


    Since the threat lessened, Mark reloaded the Grenade Launcher once more and fired at the area where the infected were climbing.


    THUMP! BOOM!<sub> </sub>


    Several painful roars and screams echoed afterwards as thedder made of the bodies of the infected crumbled down with many Biters severely wounded.


    Mark looked back at the street and saw that most of the infected was now gathered around here with just Eatersgging behind. He then decided to move as the Muscled Infected had already retreated.


    He ran from roof to roof and jumped from gap to gap. He was now using his Sub-machinegun as it was inconvenient to run around while firing and reloading the Grenade Launcher. He continued to shoot the numerous infected behind that still managed to catch up due to their never ending stamina and speed.


    Even though Mark''s body had evolved and was enhanced due to the Mutagen in the air, his energy was not inexhaustible. As such, the continuous running and jumping was starting to take a toll on his body. Furthermore, he was carrying his things and his weapons adding the weight to his expended stamina.


    Reaching the roof of another house, Mark stopped. It was because the next area was a vacant lot being used as a pathway midway the block. The next house was two lots away and there was a lot of infected that was still wandering the vacant lots.


    TATATATATATATATATA!


    Mark rained all the remaining ammo in the clip of his Sub-machinegun towards the infected chasing him. With the infected closer behind him dying, he hung the Sub-machinegun back to his side after reloading it and pulled out the Grenade Launcher once more. He also took out two grenades stored in the pockets on his belt.


    He pulled the pins and threw the grenades on the vacant lot in different distances before taking cover.


    BOOOM! BOOOOM!


    The grenades exploded amidst the infected creating a gap in the center of the infected on the vacant lot.


    Mark then aimed the Grenade Launcher on the area further where the grenades exploded and fire it with the same time he jumped down from that roof.


    BOOM!


    The grenade shell exploded before he could evennd stretching the gap between the infected further. Mark could smell the gun powder and smoke and feel the heat that had yet to dissipate from the radius of the grenade explosion as hended. He then pulled his Sub-machinegun once more and started shooting the infected that were now trying to attack him around.


    Using the gap left by the three explosions, he managed to reach the end of the vacant lot almost immediately. He then jumped up onto another wall and towards the roof of the next house.


    Mark continued running on the roofs aiming for the end of the street towards the main avenue.


    While he was running halfway of the whole block, he noticed that the Biters on the street were starting to catch up. Even though Mark was faster, he had to avoid a lot of obstacles on the roof such as cables, too nted surfaces, antenna posts and the gaps between houses making him reduce his speed. The infected running on the street however only had some parked vehicles and the straggling Eaters blocking their way.


    Still, Mark could not jump down towards the street as he was still the area where a lot of infected was still wandering around. The area of the street that was already cleared of the infected was still further away.


    As he neared the final alley separating the inner and outer area of the block, he noticed something making him look up to the sky.


    He could feel an unusual fluctuation. An emotional fluctuation he had never felt before. Obviously it was not human and also was not an animal. As the sky had already started to brighten, he could make out a number of shadows flying in the sky about seven meters from the ground.


    There was one leading the shadows and behind it was several shadows following it.


    After Mark got closer, he heard buzzing sounds that immediately made the hair on his nape stood up. It made him conclude what are those shadows and he could not help but frown.


    However, something was not right. Mark could feel the fluctuation from the leading shadow in the sky but not on the shadows following it.


    Another roof closer, Mark could now make out the appearance of the shadows. The leading shadow was actually a beetle that was ckish red in color. Looking at the shape, Mark concluded that it was a Coconut Rhinoceros Beetlemon in this country. However, its size was huge, about the size of a full grown adult''s torso and it had four horns on its head and thorax.


    The ones following behind the beetle however, was something that could give anyone goosebumps and was the main source of the sound Mark was hearing at the moment. Mark could not help but aim his gun seeing that group. The group of shadows behind the beetle was actually human head sized cockroaches! There were about fifteen of them and they all could fly!


    Despite the disgust Mark was feeling towards the cockroaches, the beetle however made his eyes gleam. He wanted to catch that beetle! Now that he was closer, he could now make out the fluctuation from the beetle more clearly. The fluctuation was kind of bizarre maybe because it was an insect but what made Mark interested was the fact that it has the same pattern of subconscious thought to Abbygale and the Mutators in his group.


    It meant that the Rhinoceros Beetle was Mutator and a sessful one at that!


    However, Mark could not help but also feel a bit disappointed. It was because he could detect the reigning emotion in the subconscious of that beetle and it was no wonder why such an aggressive kind of insect seemed to be running away from a group of infected cockroaches. It was because it was actually afraid! The reigning emotion on the mind of the beetle was fear!


    Nevertheless, it would make it easier for Mark to tame that beetle. Despite the fact that Mark was being chased from behind by the infected, his gamer instinct still kicked in.


    He wanted to catch it. It was a pity that balls that could catch monsters did not exist in real life!


    Mark jumped off the roof across the alley reinforcing his feet with adrenaline to jump further and faster. He wanted to catch up to the flying insects and tame the beetle before he escape this ce.


    With that, Mark readied his Assault Rifle and aimed at the cockroaches as he ran on the roofs.

 Chapter 124 Escape From Lakeville

    Day 5 ¨C 5:08 AM ¨C Taal Lake St., Lakeville Subdivision, Molino VII, Bacoor City, Cavite


    It was already past five in the morning and the surroundings started to get brighter with the sunriseing closer.


    From the sky, hundreds of silhouettes could be seen chasing behind Mark who was still running from roof to roof. The sounds of the metal roofs being stepped on and the deafening hungry growls could be heard behind him. Yet, Mark was not bothered by them anymore as his attention was more focused at the insects flying in the sky. The fact that infected insects were still able to retain their ability to fly entered his mind but he decided to pass on the problem for now.


    What mattered to him at this moment was to catch up to the flying figures.


    As Mark started to circte the adrenaline in his body, he started to move faster and faster making the infected chasing behind himg too far behind. Still, it seemed that he was now not able to maintain this ability for too long. Since he had never used his self-induced adrenaline rush to this extent after he evolved for the second time, he did not realize this problem. Now however, he was made aware because of the situation. It was not that he was feeling the bacsh of using the adrenaline in his body but it was that, the amount of adrenaline was not enough anymore for his evolved body. It looked like he needed to increase his sugar intake in the future once he passed this danger.


    Nevertheless, with the short time of his adrenaline rush, he was able to make arge distance between him and the infected behind. With this, he had enough leeway to shoot the cockroaches.


    Finally closing in to a certain distance as the flying insects were also flying slightly parallel to the direction he was running towards, he started to aim his Assault Rifle. Given the distance of the insects from him and the distance of the insects from the ground, only his Assault Rifle could shoot the flying cockroaches with greater uracy.


    TSST! TSST! TSST! TSST! TSST! TSST! TSST! TSST! TSST!


    Bullets rained upwards to the sky with all the bullets soaring towards the cockroaches.


    TSHK! TSHK! TSHK! TSHK! TSHK!


    Not all the bullets hit the cockroaches but it was no doubt that most of the cockroaches in that group received damage. It was because Mark saw the cockroaches sway in the air before plummeting downwards. There were those who still remained in flight despite getting hit with the bullets. It was because their bodies were hit and not their wings. The first ones to fell actually did not receive many wounds on their bodies but their wings were damaged by the bullets and the fast pace of their pping wings further tore their wings into pieces causing their fall.


    PANG! PANG! PANG! PANG! PANG!


    Eight of the cockroaches created metal sounds as they fell onto the roof of a house further away before their bodies bounced off everywhere. Due to the speed of their flight, the height and direction of their fall, the cockroaches ended up bouncing off the roof and scattered towards to the street. Nevertheless, cockroaches were cockroaches. Even after falling like that and their bodies being drilled with holes, they were still alive.


    The cockroaches that fell upside down immediately propped their selves up by holding unto anything around them while some pped their wings wildly. The cockroaches that managed to recover from the fall immediately saw the numerous infected and Mark the infected were chasing on the roof. Obviously, the cockroaches immediately went towards Mark''s direction climbing over every obstacle in a very fast speed. Five of the fallen cockroaches went towards Mark while the three remaining cockroaches however went haywire in the middle of the street. It looked like their heads were damaged, if not by the bullets, it should be because of their fall.


    Mark saw the fallen cockroaches running his way and frowned as the direction they wereing from was the direction he was going to. The cockroaches were moving even faster than the infected behind him and were surely hard to shoot due to their sizes.


    BUZZ!


    Mark heard a loud buzzing sound making him look up. Even without looking up, Mark knew where that buzzing sound came from. The sound was from the wings of the Coconut Rhinoceros Beetle that was being pped in supersonic speeds. What was wrong however, the Beetle was now flying towards him madly.


    While Mark was dealing with the other things and running, he was racking his brains for any method to catch this oversized beetle. Who knew that it would turn out this way and the beetle would flew towards him on its own? Furthermore, it had no intent to harm him and instead, it seemed to have found its savior. Nevertheless, despite the fact that the beetle was flying towards him, he did not dare stood on its way.


    Mark side stepped and the beetle passed by swiftly where his body was before. The beetle was flying at a very fast speed. With its size and the horns on its front, if Mark tried to sh with it head on¡­


    TSHK!


    His body would turn out like the head of the Biter a few meters behind him on the previous roof he was on that tried to catch the flying beetle. Squashed like a watermelon.


    The beetle was not an infected and was surely be a target to the infected behind. Seeing that the infected started to chase it, the beetle came toical stop midair and flew back towards Mark''s direction.


    Now that its momentum was slower, Mark grabbed its longest and topmost horn without hesitation as it got near him. With its horn being grabbed like that, it tried to protest but Mark was not in the time to bother with it. The goosebumps inducing buzzing sounds was getting near making Mark grab his Sub-machinegun. He then emptied half of the clip to shoot the iing cockroaches that went flying after the beetle.


    TATATATATATATA!!!


    The loud sounds of the gun echoed once more as the Sub-machinegun was not equipped with a suppressor.


    The gunshots were soon followed by the cockroaches plummeting in an angle towards Mark''s direction.


    Mark ran with the beetle on his left hand while dodging the falling cockroaches. The beetle struggled to break free swinging its legs as wildly as possible but it could only give up with a pitiful look. The horn Mark grabbed was too long for it to reach with its legs and with Mark''s strengthened arms, it would not be able to break free. Not to mention that the beetle was already tired flying after getting chased by the cockroaches for who knows how long. If it was in its best condition, it would surely be able to escape from Mark''s grasp just by pping its wings. Still, it did gave up struggling not because it could not escape but because it did not feel any ill intent from Mark.


    TINK! SWWISHK!


    Mark swung his machete towards the cockroach that jumped in front of him. The de of the machete felt some resistance but it still managed to tear through the exoskeleton of the cockroach. White blood sttered as the cockroach was shed in half. At that moment, another cockroach jumped towards him and he attacked it the same way.


    As Mark swung his machete towards the second cockroach, another one suddenly jumped towards him at a faster speed. Without much choice and with his machete halfway swung, he could only smash what he was holding in his left hand towards the cockroach. Unfortunately, the thing in his left hand was the pitiful beetle and it was swung downwards with great momentum!


    PIGSHK!<sub> </sub>


    The infected cockroach was smashed into meat paste. It was too unexpected that Mark reflexively jumped away to avoid the white blood that sttered away from the body of the squashed cockroach. Mark also missed his attack towards the other one.


    Mark did not dawdle and continued running away but could not help but nce at the beetle on his hand with incredulity. It had such a strong exoskeleton but it was actually afraid of these cockroaches?


    On his hand, the Coconut Rhinoceros Beetle was on the verge of crying. It was a pet beetle and was not afraid of people. It had been a pet ever since it came out of its pupa. It got infected because it was swallowed whole by its owner that had already turned submerging it with saliva and stomach acid. It was too afraid after that happened. Nevertheless, it mutated almost immediately tearing the body of its owner apart due to its size.


    Due to its abrupt mutation, it gained a bit of sentience. It knew that something dangerous was happening and as such, it buried itself under the ground these past days. However,st night, it was found by a group ofrge cockroaches that dug the ce where it hid. Because it was afraid, it immediately flew away in the middle of the night but the cockroaches followed behind it.


    When it saw this person shooting the cockroaches behind it, it was ted and flew straight towards that human. But the human dodged and it impaled the head of the scary people making it rush back. When it was grab, it gave up soon as it felt no danger from the person holding its horn. But it never expected that the person would use its body as a weapon.


    The beetle was really about to cry. Another time and it really would.


    SQUEEEK!!!


    Mark was about to swing the beetle once more towards another cockroach when it squeaked in protest while wildly swinging its spiny legs.


    Due to its protest, Mark used his Machete against the iing cockroach. It was the first time that Mark actually felt an emotional fluctuationing from an insect so he could not guess what it was thinking aside from the faint simrity of its fear to how human and animal fear was. However, it was not hard to guess its protest from being used as a weapon.


    He was now approaching the end of the street. Mark tightly hung his sports bag around his shoulder and jumped off the roof. Now that he was running in the middle of the street, he pulled out the radio with his right hand.


    "Mei''er! Are you all ready?"


    Almost immediately, a reply came from the radio.


    "Gege! We are already waiting! Are you returning already?"


    "I am! Prepare the vehicle and I''ll be there soon! Therge horde are just behind be so we need to leave immediately!"


    "Should we fetch you?!"


    "No! I''ll still be able to make it there but if you guys fetch me, the car still needs to turn around so the infected will manage to catch up!"


    "Y-Yes!"


    Mei''er faltered. It seemed that she had the urge to fetch Mark as soon as he called but her idea was immediately denied.


    "Don''t worry about me! I also found something interesting to show everyone. Just be ready to leave, I''ll be there in a moment!"


    Mark ended the call and shed the remaining infected blocking his way along with the cockroaches that easily caught up to him due to their fast speed.


    ***


    With the exception of Cielo and Anna, every adult inside the two vehicles was kind of worn out. It was the first time they fought the infected making them tired both physically and mentally. Cielo did not participate due to her having panic attacks every time the infected closes unto her while Anna was still not in good shape emotionally. The children also did not participate with the exception of Abbygale and Emika who were Mutators.


    They all heard what Mark said in the radio and were now anticipating his return. Upon knowing about the crystals Mark spoke of yesterday, they were also interested to see the crystals. But they also heard that Mark was being chased by the horde and felt tense about it at the same time. What made them confused however was the happy tone Mark had when he said that he found something good to show them.


    Soon enough, they could see Mark running towards their direction in fast speed. He seemed tired and his speed was slower than before. Nevertheless, he was still faster than the infected. Everyone became wide eyed however seeing the infected chasing behind him several meters away.


    The whole street and sidewalk was filled with infected running at full speed!


    Due to the overwhelming number of infected that they did not notice the struggling oversized beetle on Mark''s hand.


    "Go!"


    Mark yelled after he jumped into the door of the MB Sprinter. The two vehicles immediately drove off in full speed. Everyone felt tremors inside their vehicles as the road had broken and uneven parts due to being unmaintained but they just ignored the tremors. What they needed to do now was leave the ce as soon as possible. If the infected behind them managed to catch up, they would sure be overwhelmed.


    In less than three minutes, they reached the entrance of the subdivision. The traps they set up became very useful. Even though the ropes only tripped the first few infected in front of the horde, it was enough to cause a chain reaction and made the ones behind fall.


    They continued to drive out of the subdivision and heard a loud explosion behind them. The final trap was triggered causing the grenades to explode. Dismembered bodies and blood flew into the air causing the horde an abrupt stop. The sound and smoke from the explosion impaired the hearing and sight of the infected making them lose track of the two vehicles. During that moment, the two vehicles made an abrupt turn to another street and sped off getting away from the horde that lost their targets.

 Chapter 125 The First Sign Of The Wave And The Strange Crystals

    Day 5 ¨C 5:19 AM ¨C Taal Lake St., Lakeville Subdivision, Molino VII, Bacoor City, Cavite


    Everyone in Mark''s group finally felt relived after crossing over the bridge that marked the boundary of the subdivision they had just exited and unto the next one. The feeling of being chased by hundreds or even thousands of infected was suffocating even with the fact that they were inside their vehicles. As they finally lost their pursuers, everyone started to calm down from their tenseness. Well, except for Mark, Abbygale and Mei that did not seem worried about the infected chasing behind in the first ce.


    Laps being not nervous was one thing since she was a dog, but these three¡­


    Even Mark who was the person that was initially being chased was not showing any fear at all and rather, he was even looking happy. The others did not know what to think of them anymore.


    "Papa, what is that?"


    Abbygale pointed at the huge insect now lying down in the floor. It obviously looked like arge beetle but why her Papa would bring this here and it was not moving at all. The little girl then crouched down beside the huge beetle poking it cautiously.


    Everyone inside the vehicle heard the little girl turning their attention to therge insect Mark brought into the vehicle. The beetle was toorge that it actually upied the width between the seats on both sides as ity on the floor horizontally.


    Mark who had just started to rx his tired legs also stared this Coconut Rhinoceros Beetle he luckily caught incredulously. The others might not know about it but this guy was too scared that it stopped moving and yed dead on the floor of the vehicle. It eveny on its back with its legs tightly crossed on its abdomen. It was scared due to the fact that there were many people inside the vehicle.


    The women felt a little uneasy with a very huge bug like that especially Anna who seemed to have forgotten about her grief trying to stay away the oversized beetle as much as possible. It looked really ridiculous as she could not back away too much either as she would push Sundra and Carlo that sat beside her towards the back of the vehicle were Jte was tied up.


    "Gege, this is?"


    Even though Mei seemed to be not afraid of the beetle at all, she also looked confused. Her Gege after all went home to get his things. Just where did this huge buge from?


    As everyone was looking at him asking for exnation, Mark could tell them.


    "Well, you guys probably won''t believe me but this beetle here is a Mutator."


    Hearing that, everyone was shocked.


    "Even bugs can be Mutators?"


    Charmaine voiced in askance.


    "It''s not really farfetched though since we had a Mutator Dog there."


    Mark pointed at the back where Laps was curled up. She was not really sleeping but it just seemed that she was uneasy riding inside the vehicle being the reason for her to behave this way most of the time.


    Now that Mark mentioned it, it was really not farfetched for a bug to be a Mutator since a dog could be one but it was just they had not thought of the possibility.


    "But how did you manage to catch it?"


    Melissa asked as she curiously looked at the bug that was not moving even a little bit. Its body was actually moving but the movements came from the vehicle and not made the bug itself.


    To her question Mark replied.


    "I don''t know if you can consider what happened as catching."


    Mark then narrated what happened before he caught the beetle. What Mark emphasized in his story was the behavior of the beetle but the people listening to him were more alerted by the fact of a group of human head sized infected cockroaches existing. Not only the females but Ron and Carlo also shivered to that thought.


    "By the way Master, since we are talking about it, why does it seem that we never see or encounter infected insects and animals before? I know that Laps was infected before bing a Mutator and the cat at the city hall is not an infected but an evolved one. But except those two, we never encountered infected ones or other evolved ones."


    Since it was already on topic, Odelina could not help but ask. Ever since they left the mall, they never encountered infected or evolved animals and insects with the exception of Laps and the huge cat. They saw carcass and bones on the road belonging to some animals but that was it.


    As Odelina asked, Mark sighed. With those infected cockroaches suddenly appearing, Mark thought that it was really a bad sign. It was already the fifth day of the outbreak and to say, the survivor chase should already be over on the third day in this part of the country.


    Mark leaned his body on the backrest of his seat and decided to talk about it.


    "Odel¡­ About your question, I have the answer. Though, it might be a little off, it is should not be that far away from what is happening."


    Everyone''s attention was now gathered at him. He was the most knowledgeable here about zombies and such due to his hobbies and intelligence. He would surely have a good exnation for this.


    "This should be what happened. Animals and insects if you put them on the same size as a human, they are far superior in strength and capabilities. No, not evenparing but animals and insects are still fasterpared to how fast people normally move. It is not impossible that they will retain those characteristics after being infected and as such, it was more likely for them to chase after therge number of fleeing people. That is why we, who are left here in the middle of the infested area, did not encounter them. It is also possible that most of them died due to the characteristics of Mutagen."


    "Then Gege, they are the same as the infected that came chasing after the feeling people?"


    Mei asked making Mark nod before continuing.


    "As for the evolved animals and insects, also the still normal ones, they should have fled already towards forests and mountains to seek shelter since the popted areas are already brimming with infected and danger. The huge cat we encountered back in the city hall maybe remained because of the fruit Mikio made. As the evolved animals and insects still had not turned or got bitten, they will surely be target for the infected."


    Everyone was enlightened to his conjecture. It was really possible for it to happen.


    Mei however seemed to have realized a pressing matter.


    "Gege, the cockroaches you said¡­ The wave is alreadying back?"


    "That''s right."<sub> </sub>


    Mark agreed with a serious expression.


    "What is this wave thing you two are talking about?"


    Melissa voiced in displeasure.


    They were talking about the animals and insects but suddenly, these two talked about something iprehensible to them like waves and stuff. Is there a high tide somewhere?


    To her displeasure, Mark turned to her and asked.


    "In the ocean, what happens to the wave after it hit the shore?"


    Melissa was confused about the question. Not only her but also the others but she could only answer due to Mark''s stare.


    "It goes back to the ocean right?"


    Melissa answered as it was the obvious answer.


    "Then, what if the country is the ocean and the infected chasing after the survivors are the waves, what will happen after they hit the shore now?"


    BOOM!


    As if a thunder struck the minds of everyone inside the vehicle, their thoughts crumbled and their emotions shook violently. Just now, Mei asked if the wave was alreadying back and Mark affirmed it. It was not hard for them to understand what was happening.


    Looking at everyone''s expressions, Mark sternly said.


    "That is why we needed to hurry up and finish everything. Actually, I wanted to find a few more people but we don''t have the time to look for them anymore. I don''t know where to look for them either. That is why we should finish everything today or until tomorrow at most and leave this ce."


    No one disagreed to what Mark said. Everyone here was already briefed why there are very few infectedpared to the actual poption in this area. Considering the numbers that was missing, the number of infected going back should be overwhelming. That was not something their small group of theirs could handle. Not to mention that the only ones who could effectively fight the infected was Mark, Abbygale, Odelina, Laps and Emika.


    While the others were slowly coping as they were being trained to fight, the very short time and experience they had was not enough.


    This was a very serious situation for them now.  Luckily, the only ones whose families they needed to find left were only Ron''s and Rosamie''s. As for Sundra''s family, they were out of town for vacation. She was left due to her work and would just follow for the holiday break that would never happen anymore. Furthermore, Mark already told them that they would pass by some houses of people he knew but was not sure if they were still there and if they did not find any clue about their whereabouts, they would not bother to look either.


    While everyone was contemting about the current circumstances, Mark took out something inside his backpack with a lot of care. Revealing the thing, everyone was fascinated and immediately forgot what they were currently thinking. What Mark took out was the jar containing the floating crystals. The scene was already amazing but the current glow the double terminated crystal was emitting further enhanced the fantastical scene.


    Initially, Mark was kind of worried that they would be target of the infected after he brought these crystals away but when he saw that not all the infected back around his home was attracted to him who was carrying the crystal, he felt relieved. He concluded that the only ones that could feel the crystals were those who were exposed to its energy being emitted. Furthermore, after closing the door of the vehicle when they were being chased, he saw that the aggressiveness of the infected that had been affected by the crystal lessened making him think that thick armor and soundproofing of the vehicle sealed the energy the crystals were emitting.


    "Gege, in the picture you showed us, it''s not glowing right?"


    "Yeah. I''m also confused with this. Also another crystal appeared but has a different color. It''s also purplish but a little fainter."


    Everyone looked at the crystals in the jar and immediately saw the odd one out of all the smaller crystal.


    "Papa."


    Abbygale called out while staring at the crystals.


    "What is it?"


    "The crystal from the huge cat. Same color."


    Abbygale pointed at the faint colored crystal.


    Actually, Mark also felt the color of the new marble sized crystal a little familiar but could not remember where he saw it. Now that his daughter mentioned it, he immediately took out the crystal from the huge cat that Mikio gave him before. He had been keeping in inside the small strap bag he had tightly covered inside a folded handkerchief. It was also the same for the strange looking seed.


    Holding the crystal in his hand, hepared it with the marble sized crystal inside the jar. There, everyone could see that aside from the shape, everything looked simr. The color, the turbidity and even the feeling Mark could feel from the crystals was the same.


    ''Don''t tell me this is what I think it is.''


    Mark thought in his mind as thepared the two crystals. If he was not mistaken, then these crystals were the crystallization of Mutagen. Pretty much simr to the fruit Mikio could create using the Mutagen in the air when he was in the form of a huge tree.


    This line of though made him think of several experiments. He also wanted to know if the double terminated crystal would continue of producing the original crystals yearly or would continue on producing the newer crystals, or maybe, both.


    Mark''s eyes suddenlynded on Jte who was fixatedly staring at the jar containing the crystals in his hands. The vividly colored crystals could affect the mind and the same circumstances also applied to the infected. In that case, what if he made Jte absorb one?


    This line of thought of his seemed to be a bit dangerous but nevertheless, he had the urge to try no matter what.


    While he was thinking all those things and everyone was looking at him with strange expressions, the group made their way towards their next destination, Barangay Queens Row Area A. This was where Ron''s and his family''s house was located. It was also home for several people Mark wanted to locate if possible.


    The sun started to rise and the warm sunlight started to dissipate the cold breeze of the night and illuminated the road Mark and his group was passing through. However, it seemed both grief and surprise was awaiting them in their destination. While the forgotten beetle however, was still ying dead while swaying on the floor of the moving vehicle.

 Chapter 126 Rollans Home

    Day 5 ¨C 6:07 AM ¨C Queen''s Main Ave., Queens Row Area A, Bacoor City, Cavite


    Two vehicles entered through the gates finally stepping into Barangay Queens Row Area A. Along the way, they encountered quite a number of infected but as there was no need to bother with these infected, they just drove past by them. Many parts of the main street were littered with abandoned cars but the two vehicles drove around them without any difficulty. Everyone was looking outside the vehicle watching the devastation left by the apocalypse.


    As Ron lived here and Mark, Carlo, Sundra, Charmaine and Ceilo attended college here, they were familiar with the ce. The college had been relocated somewhere else years ago and aside from Mark, the others also went there but their first college location was still in this Barangay. Their former campus though after the college moved was annexed by the elementary school beside it.


    In their memories, this ce was lively and while not filled with people, there were still a lot of people wandering around specially students as several schools were located nearby. Now however, while they were still seeing students, they were all infected already. The convenience store that just passed by seemed to be looted clean with its ss walls fully shattered. The gates of the houses almost everywhere were smeared with blood and rotting remains of decapitated dead bodies could be seen in the middle of the road.


    To say, this ce was one of the central areas in eastern Bacoor. As such, several elementary and secondary high schools,mercial establishments and other ces of interest could be found here especially along the main roads. Now however, almost everything was already bathed in blood and violence. It was one of the ces that took the most damage in this part of Bacoor.


    Turning at the first corner to the right of the main avenue, they traversed thest stretch of road before they the street where Ron''s house was located. The street where he lived was at thest branching street of this one. Obviously, Ron started to get nervous. Simr to Carlo and Anna''s situation before, he did not know what to expect. He wished that his family was still alive but he could not get the thought of the other possibility out of his mind. After all, Anna had experienced it. Though she did not see her family because Mark prevented her from doing so, the pain she felt was deep. What more if she saw her family''s current state?


    Ron however wanted to see no matter what. He was stranded at an Auto Repair Shop when the outbreak came several days ago along with several people. To find food and water to survive, they lost a few more. It was until they took the gamble and went towards the sounds of gunshot they heard around the area while riding the passenger van that was about to leave the garage before the outbreak came. They were fortunate to find the police and he was even luckier to find Mark. With what Ron experienced in the span of five days, he could not imagine what kinds of things his family had gone through.


    Making another turn right, they were greeted by a closed steel fence gate blocking the street. Still, it seemed that this fence gate was of no use at all as they could see traces of blood on the other side of the fence. There were also no signs of people around.


    Mark alighted from the vehicle along with Abbygale and Laps to check if they would be able to open the fence gate. Mark went and checked the bartched on the center and the gate and saw that it was actually not locked. Mark passed his arm through the narrow space next to thetch and opened the fence gate with a little twist and push.


    As Ron''s house was just a few blocks away, Mark and the two did not enter back into the vehicle. Ron who could not wait anymore also alighted from the vehicle. The two vehicles passed through the fence gates and Mark closed the gates afterwards. Observing the area, the two vehicles matched the pace the people outside the vehicle walked.


    After passing by six houses, they reached the house where Ron''s family lived. The next house further was the house where Ron and his girlfriend lived together. To say, it seemed that the houses did not escape the infected. The walls and gates were smeared with blood and the ss windows of the house of Ron''s family were all broken down.


    Standing outside the gates, Mark''s nose twitched. It was because he could smell the faint pungent odor in the air. Normal people might not be able to notice it immediately but he who was an Evolver with enhanced senses could. The odor smelled like something rotting mixed together with the smell of mud. Furthermore, the smell was actuallying from the house in front of them. It was not a good sign as Mark could not detect any people either.


    Mark looked at Ro who was also staring at him and nodded.


    While the others remained outside the two men carefully entered by climbing up the fenced walls since the gate was locked. Looking around the lot, traces of what happened before were still present. The dried up blood on the cement pavement, the scattered things at the garage and the pieces of ss littered around both outside and inside the house.


    The two silently walked around the house observing everything. It was then that they caught sight of something in the backyard that made Ron run forward and kneel on the ground.


    In the backyard, several graves were erected. Looking at the uneven patch of dirt that covered the graves, it was not fresh but might just be about a day or two after the graves were made. As for who these graves belonged to, there was no need to question. If it was just the wooden crosses erected on top of the graves, Ron might have thought of the possibility of his family being alive but with the wooden cards nailed unto the crosses bearing the names of his family members, he started feel remorse.


    Mark tapped the shoulders of Ron who kneeled in front of the graves while weeping. He did not say any words of condolence as he knew that no words would cate his best friend''s feelings right now.


    What Mark did afterwards was to search around for clues while waiting for his friend to weep everything out. It seemed that they were taking so long that Mei and Abbygale checked on them. When the two saw what was going on, the Mei did not daree closer and stopped the little girl from moving forward. Mark then approached them.


    "Gege, he¡­"


    "Just leave him alone for a little."


    "That''s not all his family right?"


    Mei asked.


    "Surely not. There are only eight graves there. Considering the numbers if I remember correctly, there are three people missing."


    Mark spoke as he tried to recall Ron''s family members that lived in this house.


    "You think, the missing people you said dug these graves?"


    "The two probably, one of the missing people is a little girl after all, Ron''s cousin. The other ones missing is his girlfriend and younger brother."


    Hearing Mark''s exnation, Mei nodded.


    How long had it been? Ten minutes? Fifteen minutes?


    When Ron stood up and wiped his tears, almost twenty minutes had already passed. Seeing that Mei and Abbygale were together with Mark now without him noticing, he felt a little awkward. It seemed that he showed them an embarrassing scene.


    <o>,m "Sorry for taking so long."</o>


    Ron apologized as he looked at the three. Still, what Mei deed made him snap out of his embarrassment and sadness. It was because she hid behind Mark before nodding to his apology.


    "Am I that scary?"


    Ron asked as he turned to Mark.


    "Don''t worry about her. You approached too closely triggering her fear of men."<sub> </sub>


    Mark replied helplessly.


    "Fear of men¡­"


    Ron looked at Mark with a doubtful expression.


    Mark who saw that look of his¡­


    "Do you want another grave to be added there?"


    Of course, he knew what was going on in his friend''s head. Still, though he felt a little angry, Mark also felt relived. At least it looked like that Ron would be able to recover from this with no problem.


    Mark then froze and suddenly faced north. Within the almost thirty meter radius of his detection, he detected a group of five people. He then turned to Ron with a smile.


    "Ron, it looks like you tears will be short lived."


    Hearing that, Ron looked at him with confusion.


    "What are you talking about?"


    "Enough questions. Let''s go."


    Mark and the rest made their way out of the ce.


    ***


    Day 5 ¨C 6:56 AM ¨C Paradise St., Queens Row Area A, Bacoor City, Cavite


    An owner type jeep was traversing the street. The jeep looked refitted with the windows and doors were welded with guard rails and the bumper being bent into a V shape.  Inside the vehicle was a group of five people consisting of three women and two men.


    "Boss, you should really stop going back to your house every morning and evening. Is there really a point to this?"


    The female driver asked the other female sitting on the front passenger seat.


    "Boss is still waiting for her boyfriend to go home. You shouldn''t ruin her business."


    Before the female called boss could answer the question, the other female behind interrupted.


    "Sis, you think, Big Brother will be able to return?"


    The younger man sitting in the middle of the back seats asked the Boss.


    "I''m sure he will. I don''t know when but I''ll keep on waiting."


    The female Boss replied with a resolute expression in her face. Actually, even though she had that expression, she does not have much hope either. It was already the fifth day. It could be a short time if it was before the outbreak but it was already too long at this moment.


    Looking at the scenery passing by, she could still clearly recall her experience during the time the infected flocked into this ce. And to describe it in one word¡­ Hell.


    While everyone outside the streets were panicking. Her boyfriend''s father came home in a hurry despite the fact that he was already bitten. When he turned, he immediately attacked his defenseless family members together with her who was there at that time. Everyone else aside from her, her boyfriend''s younger brother, Daniel and her boyfriend''s little cousin, Dorothy was bitten and turned.


    During themotion and when her future inws turned, she grabbed the remaining two to flee. Giving Dorothy to Daniel for safety, she forced their way against their infected family with brute force even forcing her strength to the limit. Luckily, they managed to lock up their turned family members on the first floor of the house and they managed to flee and hide at the second floor.


    Upon feeling safe, she was immediately assaulted with extreme pain in her body and fainted. Daniel and Dorothy panicked thinking that she was bitten but upon checking her body, the two learned that she was not. But after she fell unconscious, she started burning with high fever that kept the panic of the two from reducing. Her fever took about half day and one night before she woke up with an indescribable strength in her body.


    To say, her physical strength tripled during the time she was asleep. She was both happy and sad. She knew that she could make use of this strength to survive whatever was happening. Still, during the time that she woke up, both Dorothy and Daniel was feeling weak due tock of food and water and she was the only one who could address that issue. In the end, she managed to kill her boyfriend''s turned family members with remorse.


    Nevertheless, they were also a family to her and thus, she dug graves for them. It was fortunate that she gained the strength that she managed to dig the hard ground despite her thin appearance but she also felt sad that one of the first things she did with her strength was to kill and bury her boyfriend''s family members.


    The three of them cried afterwards watching the graves she finished. Among the people that died were Dorothy''s mother and father. The others were Daniel''s mother, father, older sister, his older sister''s husband, his older sister''s daughter and their little uncle.


    While she was recalling those memories, she heard the woman beside her speak to her. It looked that while she was dazed, they had already passed through the fence ate.


    "Boss, there are people."


    As the street was curved to the east, they could not see the scene further around the corner. When they passed around the corner, they saw two vehicles and several people outside the house of her boyfriend. However, she did not recognize any one of these people. Everyone in their group felt anxious and they grabbed their weapons. They felt that a battle would not happen considering that the people were mostly females and a few children but just in case.

 Chapter 127 The Couples Reunion

    Day 5 ¨C 7:03 AM ¨C Paradise St., Queens Row Area A, Bacoor City, Cavite


    While Mark, Ron, Mei and Abbygale were at backyard of Ron''s house, an owner type jeep arrived alerting everyone else outside of the potential danger. As the whole ce seemed to be devoid of the infected, all of them were cautiously wandering outside while not going too far from the car. When they were looking around, the whole ce was really empty. That was why they were shocked after hearing the sound of a vehicle approaching and immediately retreated back inside their vehicles.


    When the iing vehicle arrived, what they saw was the women and children scurrying towards the vehicles with only Odelina and Carlo left out to defend in case that the people that came were dangerous while Emika was also ready to assist from inside their family vehicle.


    Under their cautious actions, several individuals alighted from the jeep that stopped several meters away.


    "Who are you people, what are you doing at our house?"


    Woman that alighted from the front passenger seat bellowed.


    That question made Odelina and the others bewildered. If this was their house, does this mean that¡­?


    Before anyone was able to answer, a voice came was hearding from above the wall.


    "How rude, we came all the way here to bring home your boyfriend and not to get shouted at."


    Everyone immediately turned towards the wall next to the two groups and saw someone sitting over the wall. While Odelina and the others were able to feel relief, the people on the opposing side were shocked. After all, none of them managed to see how or when the person sitting on the wall got there.


    The most shocked however was the woman who just shouted before. Of course, she was able to recognize the person who she was looking at.


    "Mark!"


    The woman beamed in to a smile bewildering the members of her group. Nevertheless, it seemed that these people were not here to steal or do something against their group. Furthermore, it seemed that she was familiar with the person on top of the wall.


    To the woman''s call, Mark did not reply and just looked behind the wall.


    "Geez, can''t you hurry up?"


    "I''m not an abnormal like you!"


    Mark spoke to someone making the woman bewildered but hearing the voice that replied made her start to tear up. She then remembered what Mark said after she shouted. Then, there was no doubt that the familiar voice was her¡­


    "Dhie!"


    The woman bellowed seeing another head pop up over the wall.


    "Nhie!"


    Ron shouted seeing the face of her girlfriend. Then, he slipped while climbing and his head disappeared once more. "Nhie" was how Ron addressed her girlfriend Nikky while she addressed the former as "Dhie". These names were pep names the two always called each other.


    Mark hurriedly grabbed the arm of his best friend that was about to fall down and immediately pulled him up. After being pulled over the wall, Ron did not wait anymore and jumped down the wall and hurriedly embraced his beloved person. In the state of the world right now where the chance of meeting your beloved people was nil, the emotions of the two overflowed as they embraced each other.


    While the couple was doing their business, Mark proceeded to help Mei and Abbygale scale the wall. Mark even started to wonder how Mei was able to climb up this tall wall to get inside. Abbygale was one thing but Mei¡­


    As Mark and the two went down from the wall, the dramatic reunion of the two seemed to turn into aedy instead.


    "Ouch! AH! Nhie! Let go! My Back!"


    Ron bellowed as he tried to get out of his girlfriend''s embrace by reflex. The two hugged each other too tightly due to their emotions but Nikky forgot the current state of her body and exerted too much force than Ron''s body could handle. Their loving embrace turned into a spinal lock all of a sudden.


    Hearing the bellows of her boyfriend, Nikky paled as she hurriedly let go of Ron. Thetter, after being freed, fell down on the ground kneeling while clutching his back. Nikky who was the perpetrator squatted beside Ron and carefully patted his back with a sorry expression.


    Everyone who was watching the two became speechless. Just what was this couple up to? Was it to make them cry or make themugh?


    "Sorry Dhie¡­"


    Nikky earnestly apologized to Ron.


    "I''m fine Nhie. But how are you too strong?"


    Ron sat on the ground as he spoke. It seemed that his legs became jelly due to the pain that suddenly assaulted his back.


    "I, I don''t know how to exin this either."


    Nikky replied with a bitter smile. She only knew that she fell unconscious after getting into safety and she was already like this after she woke up.


    "Really Ron, you''re asking that question? What''s the point of me exining about it before if you''re going to forget?"


    Mark spoke while approaching the two with Mei and Abbygale beside him.


    When Mark spoke, the attention of the members of Nikky''s group was turned towards him. Their eyes lit up upon seeing Mei''s appearance which made her shrink back and hide behind him. Mark also saw that but since all of them were just looking at her with admiration, he had no reason to reprimand them.


    Ron on the other hand had his eyes staring at Nikky after hearing what Mark had just said. That strength she had just used was too abnormal. Remembering Mark''s exnations before, Nikky could either be a Mutator or an Evolver.


    RAAR! GRRR! GRRRAA!


    Ron was about to ask Nikky about it when they suddenly heard loud growling soundsing from the direction where the fence gate was located.


    "You two should continue your reunionter."


    Mark said to the couple while looking at the direction the growls wereing from. He then turned towards Nikky.


    "Is there a ce where you are staying?"


    "There is."


    Nikky nodded.


    "Then, bring us there."


    "What''s with the hurry? This ce is safe."


    The woman who was driving the jeep interjected.


    CLANK! TING! TAK!


    They then heard the sounds of metal snapping off.


    "Are you sure about it?"


    Mark asked her making her face red in embarrassment. She had just said that it was safe here and they heard those sounds. It was obvious that those sounds were produced due to the fence gate being torn down.<sub> </sub>


    "Odel, Carlo, get back inside the vehicle. Mei''er, Gale you two also get inside."


    Mark gave his orders making everyone immediately follow. He then turned towards the couple.


    "You two should separate for now. I''m sure, there''s no space for another person in that jeep."


    "But."


    Nikky tried to protest but was stopped by Ron.


    "It''s fine. We''re going in the same ce anyway."


    Nikky nodded.


    "Say, where are we going? We can make our vehicle lead the way."


    Mark suddenly ask making Nikky''s group look at the MB Sprinter. Seeing that it was fully equipped with protection measures and that V-shaped ram, they could only agree. The vehicle was surely better than theirs and it would be safer if it would be the one to lead the way.


    "We''re going at the elementary school."


    The unfamiliar man in Nikky''s group replied.


    "You mean the elementary school few blocks away?"


    Mark was surprised inside. If going by logic, then the elementary school was one of the most dangerous ces in an outbreak but this group actually made that ce as their base?


    ''No, there should be more to this.''


    Mark thought and nodded.


    Mark jumped at the roof of the MB Sprinter and readied his Assault Rifle while Nikky and her group returned to their jeep. Pulling out the radio, Mark spoke.


    "Mei''er."


    "Gege, I''m here."


    "Tell Odel to return take a U turn and we''ll lead the others. Go straight on the street. We''re going to the main road at the end."


    "Gege, she already heard."


    "Alright, let''s head out!"


    Mark said and the vehicle started to roar. It was the same for Rosamie''s vehicle as they could also hear the conversation through the radio Mark gave them.


    TANG! TANG!


    It seemed that the fence gate could not hold anymore. Before the three vehicles could make a U turn, several festered dogs ran towards them from the direction of the fence gate.


    Aiming his gun, Mark started to shoot.


    TSST! TSST! TSST! TSST! TSST! TSST!


    The fast moving infected dogs were riddled with holes before they could even reach the vehicles.


    Seeing the frightening infected animals, Nikky''s group felt their chest tighten. These past days, they encountered infected humans but this was the first time they saw a pack of rotting dogs. They thought that only humans could get infected as they spent the days without encountering even one infected animal but what in the world was this?


    Still, seeing Mark on the roof of the vehicle shooting down the fast moving dogs and killing them with great uracy, they felt relieved.


    BROOOM!!!


    The three vehicles drove away from the area and through the fence gates after Mark opened it for them as quick as possible before entering the vehicle this time. It was because aside from the dogs, themon infected also started to gather around the entrance of the street. It was actually expected as the jeep Nikky and her group was riding on was not a silent type of vehicle.


    On the other hand, it was actually the first time Nikky and her group went here with a vehicle. They had just acquired the jeep yesterday and managed to drive it after gathering fuel from abandoned vehicles on the streets. And such, it was the first time for them to encounter too many infected at this part after they cleared the street slowly.


    The three vehicles did not drive that far. After about two minutes, they reached the main road where the entrance of the elementary school was located.


    Seeing the state of the school, Mark''s group was surprised. The school walls and gates were thoroughly reinforced and there were guard towers now built on the other side of the school gates.


    The guards on the towers saw several vehicles approaching the gates and went alert. They were not familiar with the two vehicles after all, especially an odd looking and oddly sizedrge van. However, seeing the jeep where Nikky and her group were aboard, the guards rxed a bit.


    "Open the gates!"


    Nikky bellowed while popping out her head from the window of the jeep.


    Seeing her face, the guards turned respectful and immediately opened the gates and let the three vehicles in. While the jeep did not garner attention, many people were watching as the two foreign vehicles traversed the way inside the schoolpound. It was lucky that Mark made Emika retract her vines around their family vehicle to avoid more attention.


    Looking around as the jeep led the other vehicles to the parking Mark concluded that this ce was not a base but actually a smallmunity. Mark could detect around a thousand people inside the schoolpound. It also made Mark sure that the leading people of his ce were sure of high standing. It was because they could see some people wearing uniforms of military soldiers while some were wearing police attire.


    However, the respectful expression of the guards when they saw Nikky did not escape his eyes. Using that to deduct the circumstances, it was likely that Nikky''s standing in this ce was not low either. It should be a given because of the fact that Nikky was an Evolver. Others might not know but he could. Nikky did not have the same pattern of emotional fluctuation that Mutators had but she actually had that kind of strange strength.


    Now, Mark realized a pressing matter. Not only that his ability as an Empath was useless towards the infected but it seemed that he could also not discern the Evolvers from normal people unless they showed their abilities. Still, Mark was thankful that at least he could make use of these abilities against people now.


    Arriving at the parking area, Mark and Ron alighted from the vehicle but he did not let the others get out of the vehicle. After all, it was a foreign environment to them. Nikky and her group was one thing but others might not wee their existence in this ce.


    However, it seemed different for Emika as she happily went out of the vehicle. She ran towards Mark attracting the attention of everyone watching their arrival. Her green colored hair with small pink flowers was really conspicuous. Nikky and her group members also stared at the girl with shock.


    "Ne~! Scary Uncle, there''s too many people here!"


    Emika happily spoke to Mark making him p his forehead. He managed to make the others inside the MB Sprinter toy low he was not able to make it for Emika who loved to skip around.


    ''Forget it!''


    Mark sighed.


    While Mark was in that dilemma and Ron approached Nikky, several people came to them. Seeing the man and woman leading the group, Mark was able to pick up several pieces of the puzzle. It was because the two people were familiar to him and were a political couple. The man was a city councilor while the woman was the barangay captain of this area. It was no wonder they managed to use this ce as a settlement. However, Mark knew that there were still missing pieces.


    The power of these two was not enough to establish this settlement on their own. Furthermore, he doubted that these two was able tomand the soldiers lurking around even with their status.


    He then noticed another grouping toward them from another direction. The group wasposed of men and women in military uniform.


    Mark was perplexed now. They had just arrived here but why were all these people gathering here?

 Chapter 128 The Chains Of Fate

    Day 5 ¨C 7:12 AM ¨C Queens Row Elementary School, Queens Row Area A, Bacoor City, Cavite


    Suddenly seeing two groups of hard to deal peopleing their way the moment they parked their vehicles, Mark frowned. However, noticing that the groups did not seem to havee with ill intentions, his face remained impassive. On the other hand, the lively Emika shrunk back and behind Mark. As a child, she could not handle the natural pressure that people with position exudes. Given the fact that her senses were also enhanced at her mutation, this was not something that a child like her could handle.


    Rosamie who was still inside the vehicle wanted to also get out bet she saw that Mark was looking at her while shaking his head once, she refrained from doing so. She was also not worried about her daughter considering that Mark was there. Seeing his feats despite the fact that they had not really interacted for too long, she knew that he was not someone who would put his people into danger.


    Nikky and her group however were also bewildered as to why the soldiers were alsoing here. The barangay chairwoman and the city councilor was one thing since they had interacted several times before as they were the ones in charge of the welfare of the people in the settlement. The soldiers however were different. Due to the current affairs of the country, the status of the soldiers was elevated even above of the local officials and they were the people in charge of the security of the settlement and search of supplies and necessities. There were barely any interaction between the soldiers and the survivors either.


    On the other hand, the group led by the city councilor was also bewildered as to why the soldiers were here. After all, there was no reason for them toe out at this moment and go to this very location. The city councilor and his people were here tomunicate with the group of that frequently goes out of the settlement and were also participating in gathering the supplies from the establishments around the settlement but they could not think of a reason for the other party.


    "Ma''am Kat, why are all of you here?"


    Nikky asked the barangay chairwoman with bewildered expression.


    "Actually, we want to speak with your group since earlier but you''re group went out too early that we did not manage to inform you."


    "Is that so?"


    Nikky looked troubled. She wanted to catch up with Ron since they had just reunited with each other but for these people toe at the wrong time.


    "Nhie. What''s going on? Why would these people look for you?"


    Ron approached Nikky and asked while frowning.


    "It''s a long story Dhie."


    Nikky was really troubled.


    Seeing the unfamiliar man speaking to Nikky, the Barangay Chairwoman, Katherine Pbrica, could not help but ask.


    "Ms. Faja, who is this?"


    "Ma''am Kat, this is Ron, my boyfriend who I''m looking for these past days."


    Nikky said while putting her right hand around Ron''s arm.


    Hearing what Nikky said, Ma''am Kat was surprised, to think that Nikky would be fortunate to reunite with her partner. Then, she saw another man standing not behind them while seemingly on guard and the eleven year old girl with strange green colored hair and seemingly real flower hair essories.


    "They are?"


    "That guy is Mark, a friend of ours."


    Hearing the introduction, Mark nodded towards the barangay chairwoman without any notion to speak to her. The chairwoman did not seem to mind as she nodded back but it seemed that the subordinates behind did not take it positively and started to frown while looking at Mark.


    Mark on the other hand did not put their hostility into his mind. Seeing that the Barangay Chairwoman and her group were here for Nikky, he was relieved. However, it seemed that it was different from the goal of the other group. It was because as they approached, they were all looking towards the MB Sprinter beside Mark. It was as if they were examining the vehicle for some reason or another.


    As the group of soldiers approached, it was Councilor Reynald Pbrica who first greeted them.


    "Captain D Rosa, is there something you need toe out here at this time?"


    The councilor asked the about in histe thirties leading the group of soldiers.


    "It''s nothing much, I just received from my men that someone we are watching out for might have arrived."


    Captain D Rosa replied with a smile. The captain then looked at the woman in herte twenties also wearing a military uniform beside him.


    "Irene, what do you think?"


    The female soldier called Irene was intently observing Mark and his vehicle. Nodding, she turned back to the captain.


    "Captain, it''s no doubt positive. A luxury armored van with anti-infected essories and sr panels covering the roof along with a scary looking man. Everything matches."


    Councilor Pbrica who was speaking to Captain D Rosa was bewildered at the two''s conversation, no, not only him but everyone who heard them which included Mark.


    Actually, hearing the woman''s description, Mark''s face became dark. Nevertheless, he could only sigh. Just who wanted him to have this kind of face? What bewildered him more was that these soldiers were actually looking for him? He never encountered these people even before the outbreak for sure.


    While he was staring at the group, Captain D Rosa excused himself from the conversation with the city councilor and made his way towards Mark.


    "Do you need something from me?"


    Mark asked impassively. Even though he could not detect any ill intent from the leader of the soldiers, there was no need for him to be friendly either, especially with the fact that they seem to know him despite knowing anything about the other party.


    "I would like to ask if perhaps you are called Mark?"


    Captain D Rosa spoke in a humble tone which bewildered everyone including the group of the Chairwoman.


    Hearing the other party say his name further bewildered Mark.


    "Do I know you?"


    Mark asked while frowning.


    Fearing that Mark might misunderstand something, Captain D Rosa hurriedly introduced himself.


    "I''m Captain Edmundo D Rosa, leader of the 7th rescue squad under General Miguel Perez."


    When the captain finished his introduction with a salute, Mark was enlightened. Given that this person was actually under General Perez of Bay City Evacuation Zone, this might have to do with the feats he disyed back in the mall along with the fact that he saved the general''s daughter Angeline.<sub> </sub>


    "Did General Perez inform you guys about me?"


    "He did. Due to some circumstances, we are stranded here but we managed to keep contact with the Bay City. We heard about your actions about saving General Miguel''s daughter. Actually, Angeline is like a rtive to me so I also have to thank you about saving her."


    "I see. But why did he inform you about me."


    Mark asked in confusion. He never told anyone about his ns before at the mall. Except for the fact that he nned on looking for his friends, he never told anyone where he was going. He did not even tell Angeline or Pa.


    "It was Angeline''s friend Pa. It seemed that she informed the general about the possibility of us meeting you and your group so the general instructed us a few things."


    "Few things¡­"


    "It is in case that we met you and your group, we should offer our assistance."


    Captain D Rosa said with a sincere expression. It seemed that he was not reluctant to follow the general''s orders. It was the same for the men under the Captain.


    Mark was now smiling bitterly. He did not expect that saving Angeline and Pa that time would led to many things. Back then, he was just looking for potential teammates that he could trust to watch his back. He did not even know who the two girls were and knew nothing of their background.


    If he did not save the two, the people back in the mall would still be trapped there and probably rot in the mall. Because he saved them that the shutters in the TechZone closed before they could return leading him to meet Mei. If he did not meet the two helped Reyah and Sariya that the two girls tried to save, he would not meet Abbygale either.


    Due to the Angeline, he became an Evolver. He also received good weapons because of her father''s assistance. He would also have not met with Odelina if not for her.


    Now, because of Pa, this happened. Even though Mark could not think of anyway how Pa managed to deduce this, it still happened.


    It seemed that saving Angeline and Pa became the foundation of his strength at this moment and the two still continued to try and pay the favor of saving their lives back then.


    While Mark was conversing with the Captain, the men led by the Pbrica couple were bewildered seeing the Squad Captain speak with respect to the man they scorned for disrespecting the chairwoman.


    It was also the same for Nikky and her group. Since they were living in this ce for several days already, they knew how unapproachable this group of soldiers was. But this time, the soldiers were actually looking at the scary looking man with both respect and a bit of reverence. What was happening in from of them was really unfathomable.


    "This ce is not suitable for a talk. Can we invite you to our quarters? We wanted to ask you a few things."


    Captain D Rosa said as the group was gathering the attention of many people in the vicinity. It would not be good if the third faction appeared here at this moment.


    Even though Mark looked impassive at the moment, he also felt stiff as the piercing eyes of everyone were gathered at him.


    "In that case, lead the way. Is it possible to park our vehicle somewhere else? At least close to your quarters?"


    Hearing him agree, the Captain''s face lit up but he felt troubled about the question.


    "This ce is the only ce we could park vehicles. Look there, our trucks and vehicles were also park just by the other side."


    Captain D Rosa pointed at the za area several meters away where the military vehicles were parked.


    Mark actually knew about it since this school was the same school he attended when he was younger. Back then, this ce still have a wide square at the center but after several years of building additional ssroom buildings and renovations, the wide space became lesser and lesser. Mark was just trying his luck.


    "If you are worried about your vehicles, I can order some of my men to guard the vehicles in shifts so you don''t have to worry about your things."


    Captain D Rosa proposed a suggestion.


    That was one thing Mark was worried about but not the reason he was worried the most. One was because he would not be able to leave Laps, the huge beetle and Jte alone in the vehicle since they would probably take a bit of time. If that was the case, he could only bring them out exposing them to all the people here. Nevertheless, he had no other choice. He also wanted to take advantage of the fact that he could ask these soldiers for help. In that case, he could ask them to find his few friends that lived in Queens Row and sped up the search.


    "Ok then, let''s go with your arrangement."


    Mark epted the Captain''s proposal before making his way towards the vehicles and beckoned others toe out.


    One by one, the members of Mark''s group went out of their vehicles. Seeing Mei stepping out of the vehicle, everyone who was watching had their eyes dted in amazement of seeing a beautiful woman, Mark could even detect several eyes that contained lust making him frown. Due to the stares she was gathering, Mei immediatelytched on Mark''s arm as if she was hiding from everyone.


    Aside from Mei, the ceramic doll like Abbygale went out also garnering the attention of the others. The little girl also went towards Mark.


    "Papa, up!"


    Abbygale raised her arms wanting to be carried by Mark. Using his free arm, Mark lifted the little girl up.


    Everyone who heard the beautiful little girl call Mark ''Papa'' could not help but feel their chests tighten. Seeing the contrast between the appearance of the father and the daughter, then it was likely that the little girl took her looks from her mother. Their eyes then fell unto Mei who was hiding behind Mark and their imaginations started to jump around as the men cursed Mark for being too lucky.


    The others also went out and seeing the women stepping out of the vehicles, the eyes of the men around lit up. Despite the fact that none of them could bepared to Mei, they were still above most of the women here specially the sexy figured mature woman who came out of the driver''s seat.


    Then, everyone choked once more. It was because after everyone went out, a golden furred dog with a golden horn on its head and golden spikes on its body valiantly walked out of the vehicle while pulling arge beetle about the size of a human adult.


    "Odel, also get Jte, we can''t leave her here alone."


    "Alright Master."


    Master?! Everyone felt faint. What kind of y was this?


    Odelina then went back inside the vehicle and soon went out pulling a chain, when the other end of the chain was on sight, everyone choked on their saliva. It was because they could see another beautiful woman tied up with the chains. Still, everyone looking at her could feel that something was wrong but could not fathom what it was.


    Seeing Mark''s group, Captain D Rosa was about to faint. In the report he received before, Mark was an Evolver that could fight on par with an Unknown while he had an adopted daughter that could possibly be another Evolver or might even be a Mutator. Now however, seeing the green haired girl, a four year old boy whose skin was covered with three barks and therge golden dog, he was really about to pass out. It was obvious that all these people were Mutators.


    ''What in the hell are these people?''


    That question echoed inside the Captain''s mind along with the soldiers under hismand.

 Chapter 129 A Small World

    Day 5 ¨C 7:16 AM ¨C Queens Row Elementary School, Queens Row Area A, Bacoor City, Cavite


    Captain D Rosa and his subordinates found it hard to believe what they were seeing in front of them. As they were keeping in contact with the Bay City after they settled in this ce, they knew that within the ranks of the military at Bay City, they only had fifteen Evolvers that were strong enough to fight trained soldiers despite theck of training. Still, despite their current strength, the difference between those Evolvers and Mutators were vast with the exception of one Evolver that came from the people that was rescued from the City Mall.


    As for the number of Mutators that the military managed to recruit, there were only two. This was how rare for people to be Mutators. However, seeing the number of confirmed Mutators in Mark''s small group, these soldiers totally felt that it was inconceivable. Furthermore, Mark who was the leader of this group was an Evolver that was reported to have strength on par with the Unknown.


    While the soldiers were bewildered with the unfathomable group Mark led, the attention of the other people was on Jte who was chained and was obediently following behind Odelina who was pulling the other end of the chains. Most of the spectators were bewildered but there was someone who was looking at Jte with agitation.


    It was one of the women in Nikky''s group. The only female seated in the back of the jeep before.


    Feeling his agitation, Mark could not help but look at her. It was because the change in her emotions was too sudden from the bewildered expression she had before. When Mark saw that she was looking at Jte, several guesses immediately appeared in Mark''s mind.


    ''What a small world.''


    Mark thought as he assessed the appearance of the woman who seemed to be about neen or twenty that had a few simrities to Jte.


    "Sister¡­"


    The woman called out with a stifled voice confirming Mark''s thoughts.


    "Mara, what''s wrong?"


    Nikky also noticed her peculiar behavior.


    The woman called Mara could not hear Nikky anymore as she sluggishly walked towards the chained Jte while her eyes started to tear up.


    The spectators were also bewildered to her actions and they started specting while murmuring.


    While she was walking towards her sister, someone blocked her path. Looking at the person, it was the man who seemed to be the leader of this group, Mark. Realizing that this person should be the one responsible of chaining her sister, she red at him.


    Seeing the actions of Mara who was blindly walking towards Jte, Mark gave Abbygale to Mei and blocked the woman''s path.


    "She''s your sister?"


    "She is! What did she do? Why did you people chain her?!"


    Mara bellowed with tears in her eyes.


    The gallery that was watching looked at Mark and his group realizing that the chained woman was actually her sister.


    Learning about the fact, the other two members of Nikky''s group moved forward to mediate. They were not blind and they realized that there should be more to this. There were other women in Mark''s group so it would be unreasonable if Mara''s sister was the only one tied up. Despite the leader''s appearance being scary, the eyes of the beautiful woman and the little girl were giving him could not be faked.


    "Mara, calm down. There should be a reason why your sister is tied up."


    The woman who was driving the jeep earlier held Mara and gently pulled her back. The man on the other hand was also ring at Mark as he also seemed to recognize Jte and it looked like that he had a rtionship with Mara.


    "Please, answer her question."


    The man was ring but he was still rational and politely asked. Given how the soldiers treated this man, it was better for them to not get on his bad side.


    ? However, it was not Mark who spoke after but the female soldier who was always beside Captain D Rosa.


    "Mr. Mark, if I''m correct, this woman is that infected you was rearing."


    Hearing that, Mark turned to the female soldier with surprise.


    "I didn''t expect that you people even know that."


    "It was within the report we received about you."


    Mark was further bewildered. It seemed that the report they received about him and his group was very detailed prior to the time they separated with the people and soldiers at the mall. Still, he could not think of the reason why. After all, if it was just for gratitude, that much detail was not necessary.


    As if reading what was in his mind, Captain D Rosa spoke.


    "It had something to do with what we were going to ask of you. That is the reason we tried to procure as much information about you and your group."


    Hearing that, Mark nodded with realization. It was really not just for gratitude. There was sure something these soldiers needed from him.


    On the other hand, everyone around could not help but take a second look at Jte learning that she was an infected. Mara could also not believe it either. Looking at Jte''s current appearance, there could be no one that would be able to associate her from the infected.


    "All of you are lying! Look at my sister! There''s no way that she''s an infected!"


    Everyone could only nod at Mara''s ims. Even the soldiers were bewildered. If not for Mark confirming their thoughts and the report they received before, they would also question it.


    To everyone''s skeptical looks, Mark did not speak but walked in front of Jte and unbuttoned the buttons on her clothes.


    "What are you doing?!"


    Mara bellowed and charged towards Mark.


    "Odel, restrain her for a bit."


    Mark spoke while removing the second button.


    Odelina immediately went forward and restrained Mara locking her arms.


    "Let me go!"


    Mara tried to escape from Odelina''s grasp but like a mp, Odelina''s arms locked her in ce.


    Seeing that Mara was caught, the other two members of Nikky''s group also charged in.


    "Let go of her!"


    The man bellowed and charged in with his iron pipe. However, before he could attack, Nikky''s voice echoed into their ears.


    "Maverick! Delia! Stop! Mara! Look at your sister!"


    Nikky''s voice brought the three to their senses and looked at Jte. After Mark removed three buttons on Jte''s blouse, he pulled her left cor exposing her shoulder. On the shoulder, a bite sized wound that had yet to heal was revealed. A part of the flesh on her shoulder was even missing. Despite the fact that would was deep, it was not bleeding anymore. It was the bite that turned Jte into an infected. It had yet to heal or maybe, it would never heal at all without using any extraordinary means.


    Seeing the bite wound, Mara lost her energy and slumped on Odelina''s grasp. Odelina gently let her go and pushed her towards the man.


    "Take her."


    The man who was also shocked absentmindedly took Mara from Odelina before she walked away.


    Mark then fixed Jte''s blouse and gave the chain to Odelina once more. Actually, he did not want to show such scene but in respect to Jte''s sibling, he showed the proof. Now that he did, there was no reason to stay here and be everyone''s entertainment anymore.


    "Captain, let''s head off already."


    Mark said after picking up his bag and a few things from the vehicle.


    "Alright, follow us."<sub> </sub>


    The squad captain agreed.


    However before they could even turn around, Mara shouted.


    "Wait! If my sister is already infected why are you bringing her? Also, why is my sister not attacking anyone? And why does she look like no different from a human?"


    Mara suppressed her grief and asked.


    Mark looked at her with an expression that looked like an idiot.


    "I really have no reason to answer but let me tell you. When I caught her, she''s already like the others you see outside, someone who won''t live without infecting others. However, while in my captivity, she turned like this for some unknown reason. As for your third question, I can''t answer that here."


    After saying that he turned to the captain and nodded before the soldiers started to lead Mark''s group away.


    "Wait!"


    Mara bellowed again. The other people in Mark''s group nced at her but seeing that Mark did not look back anymore, they could only follow leaving everyone else.


    As for Ron, he would remain with his girlfriend for now as it seemed that the Barangay Chairwoman needed something from Nikky.


    Seeing that themotion had calmed down, the spectators around started to disperse leaving Nikky''s group and the Chairwoman''s group in the ce.


    The chairwoman then led Nikky and Ron towards their quarters while the members of Nikky''s group decided to return to their resting area.


    ***


    Day 5 ¨C 7:25 AM ¨C Queens Row Elementary School, Queens Row Area A, Bacoor City, Cavite


    At one of the buildings at the far eastern side of the school, a man was drinking wine in the topmost central room.


    It was then that an armed man barged into the room.


    "Leader!"


    The man bellowed.


    The person who was called ''Leader'' was a man in his thirties. He looked quite muscr but that was not his most noticeable feature. If one would see him for the first time, what they would first pay attention to was his limbs that were filled with thick fur simr to a monkey.


    "What are you yelling for?"


    The leader frowned as he reprimanded the man that barged in.


    "Sorry leader. It''s just there seemed to be a formidable group of people that had just arrived."


    "Formidable? What do you mean?"


    The leader asked with a skeptic expression.


    "Boss, you won''t believe me but Captain D Rosa was too polite with the leader of that group. Also it seemed that the captain knew of that person."


    "That stubborn captain was being polite? That indeed is strange. If that group is not formidable, that captain would surely not put them in his eye. Do you know where that group hade from?"


    "No leader. After they arrived, the soldiers escorted them away. It seems that they needed something from that group."


    "Need something, are they perhaps soldiers?"


    "I don''t think so. Their group was filled with beautiful females and strange looking people. Their man who seemed to be their leader looked like a criminal though."


    Hearing that reply, the leader was bewildered further.


    "What do you mean by strange looking?"


    "There is a girl with green hair, a boy with skin on his arms looking like a tree bark, a golden dog and they also seemed to be rearing a strange infected with them."


    "Strange infected?"


    The leader further asked making the armed man recount what happened.


    "It looks like I need to meet this group you''re talking about."


    The leader downed his ss of wine into his mouth and stood up heading out of the room with the armed man following behind him.


    ***


    Mark and the others who were following behind the soldiers were now walking across the pathway that led to one of the buildings at the southwestern end of the school.


    Along the way, they could see the unfortunate state the people living in this settlement had. The people looked famished and had not taken a bath or even wiped their bodies for some time. Even the children had no energy to y around like how it was before the outbreak.


    Sadness and fear were apparent in the eyes of most people they saw.


    "Even though we are rationing food to them, it''s not enough. We could only eat here twice a day. One in the morning and one in the evening. As for hygiene, we barely even have water to drink so no one could even think of taking a bath."


    The female soldier beside the captain took the initiative to exin as she saw that everyone was observing the state of the ce.


    As the soldier took the initiative to exin, Mark took the opportunity to ask something.


    "Are there different factions here? You soldiers seem to have a separate group from the chairwoman and the city councilor."


    "That''s right, there''s three factions here leading this settlement. First is the faction led by Ma''am Kat and Sir Reynald Pbrica. They were the ones who took the initiative to establish this settlement. They are also the ones in charge of the welfare of the survivors. As you can see, they are not doing a very good job at it.


    The second are us, the soldiers that came from Bay City. Due we actually came here to rescue people but we ended up being stuck here ourselves. We run the security in this ce and we also do supply runs everyday.


    Though ours and the first faction are not on bad terms, both factions don''t want to be under another. They wanted to rule this ce and we can''t be under them either since we have orders directly from the government. Still, it can be said that we are on allied terms.


    The third faction however is different. It is led by someone who calls himself Dominador. No one knows if it is really his name or an alias. He came to this ce and established his authority along with a huge group of armed men."


    Everyone was intently listening to the female soldier. Mark however frowned as he asked a question.


    "That Dominador is a Mutator, am I right?"


    The female soldier was shocked, no, not only her but also the other soldiers. They all froze in the spot.


    "How did you know?"


    Captain D Rosa asked.


    "I have my means. More importantly, that guy is on the way here right now with his men."


    Mark said as he draw his shotgun out and pulled the pump after releasing the safely of the gun.

 Chapter 130 Shunning The Third Faction Leader

    Day 5 ¨C 7:33 AM ¨C Queens Row Elementary School, Queens Row Area A, Bacoor City, Cavite


    Captain D Rosa and his subordinates were once more bewildered by what Mark had just said. One of the reasons were because he guessed correctly what Dominador was and another was because he said that the person in question was now heading to their location with his men. No matter how they tried to think of the reason or method how he did it, they were not able to imagine the current answer.


    Mark on the other hand was sure about his deduction. When he noticed a Mutator he did not know of in his area of detection, he immediately thought that this person was the leader of the third faction the female soldier was talking about, Dominador. There was no way this Mutator would be under someone. Using the emotional fluctuations of this Mutator, Mark deduced that this person could only be a leader and not a subordinate.


    While the soldiers were still skeptical about what Mark had just said about Dominadoring here, they saw a group of people moving towards their direction quite a distance away. As the pathway they were walking on was a straight path parallel to the school building to the south of the school, there was no way that they would not be able to see the approaching group.


    "Everyone, get behind me and the soldiers and stay alert. Odel, in case that something happens, take everyone away."


    "Yes master."


    Odelina replied while the others nodded and positioned themselves behind how Mark ordered them to.


    Hearing the orders Mark gave his group, the soldiers also moved in front of them. There was no doubt that Dominador and his men came to meet Mark''s group. Aside from that, there would be no other reason for these people toe near the building where their squad had settled.


    As for fleeing, it was out of question. Mark also knew that. Fleeing would surely inte the ego of the other group and the prestige of the soldiers would also take a huge blow. Though it would be dangerous, Mark also did not want to show weakness to the other party. If he did show a sign of weakness, the other party who were obviously noting with good intentions would try to exploit it.


    "It seems that this bastard is after your group. Do you know why?"


    Captain D Rosa stood beside Mark and asked. On the other hand, Mark looked at him with incredulous expression as if he was looking at an idiot. Seeing Mark''s expression, the captain was confused and asked another question.


    "Is there something wrong with my question?"


    Knowing that the captain really had no idea, Mark sighed.


    "You''re asking about why those guys are after us when you are the reason. Seriously."


    "Me?"


    To that question, Mark did not answer as Dominador and his men were already near them. Captain D Rosa also did not have the luxury to pursue the reason and stepped forward.


    On the other hand, Dominador stopped about two meters away from where the soldiers and Mark''s group stood.


    "It''s a very rare asion to see you all the way here Dominador. Do you need something?"


    Captain D Rosa greeted with a sarcastic smile.


    In response to the squad captain''s greeting however, Dominador confidently smiled not minding Captain D Rosa''s attitude.


    "I heard from my men that a new group of survivors arrived. I got curious as to why some like you seemed to respectful to the leader of that group. I can''t help but feel the urge to meet them."


    Dominador spoke with an amiable tone. Nevertheless, the soldiers did not seem to fall into it. The soldiers frowned even more due to this specially Captain D Rosa. He could now understand why Mark said that he was the reason why this abominable person came here.


    After Dominador spoke, the armed man beside him whispered something into his ear. After that whisper, his eyes fell on Mark who was standing slightly behind Captain D Rosa. Dominador ignored the captain and stepped forward towards Mark.


    "You must be the leader of the group that had just arrived am I correct? This gentleman is called Dominador. If you may, I would like to invite you and your group to our base for some weing gesture."


    Dominador introduced himself and stretched out his hand towards Mark inviting a handshake. While he was doing so, his eyes did not leave Mark and was measuring him.


    On the other hand, Mark was the same. There was no need to guess what was inside the mind of the person in front of him so he was looking at his appearance and deducing what kind of ability this person might have as a Mutator.


    Looking at Dominador who was wearing a loose striped formal suit, a fedora hat and a cigarette on his hand, he looked like the stereotypical criminal syndicate boss. Along with how he acted, there was no doubt about it. As Mark observed Dominador, the person was waiting for his answer to his invitation.


    Nevertheless, Mark''s expression betrayed the expectation of the other party.


    Mark looked towards Captain D Rosa and spoke.


    "Squad Captain, there''s no reason to stay here anymore, bring us to your quarters already."


    Mark decided to ignore the other party. Not because he wanted to shame the other person but because he had no interest in his invitation. Furthermore, as a person who hated doing introductions, answering to a handshake was out of question, especially to a person doing an act in front of him.


    To what Mark did, not only Dominador froze, also the soldiers and the members of his group found his action unbelievable.


    "What is¡­ You don''t have a sense of courtesy do you?"


    Dominador spoke with his cramped up smile.


    Finally, Mark turned to him and responded.


    "Yeah, I don''t, especially to people who like to fake their own courtesy in front of me."


    "Pfft!"


    No able to hold back anymore, the female soldier talking to Mark earlier let out a stifled giggle. She really seemed to hate this person for some reason and seeing Dominador fall into a setback, she could not help butugh.


    Knowing what his subordinate was doing was inappropriate, Captain D Rosa feigned a cough and red at the female soldier stopping her.


    However it seemed that herugh fueled emotions of the men Dominador brought with him.


    "You bastard, our leader are politely inviting you. It should be your honor to be personally invited by our leader!"


    One of the men stepped forward and bellowed.


    Unfortunately, his bellows were met with a disdainful stare by Mark.


    "Wha-what''s with that stare!"


    The man stammered as he tried to threaten Mark. Nevertheless, he did not receive any reply as the person who he was shouting at was not paying attention to him anymore.


    "Squad Captain, what are you waiting for? We don''t have much time to waste here."


    Mark urged the captain to leave once more.


    "Alright. Men! Let''s go."


    Captain D Rosa could only nod and order his subordinates to continue before he turned towards Dominador.


    "Dominador, it seems that you wasted your timeing here. Our guests have no interest to your invitation so you can go now."


    After the captain said that, he did not wait for the reply of the person and turned around ushering Mark''s group to move on.


    "I gave you a chance but you don''t want to cherish it."


    Dominador spoke as Mark was about to leave. To that however, Mark turned his head to look at him and smiled. His smile however was full with ridicule.<sub> </sub>


    "Why would I cherish a chance to be your subordinate? I don''t have time to y kingdoms with you."


    Mark then turned his back and left leaving the stunned Dominador.


    Dominador did not expect that everything in his ploy seen through. He politely addressed the other party as he was measuring why Captain D Rosa was respectful to him. If he was able to invite the aforementioned group, he would draft them into his faction while sounding out everything he wanted to know. If it did not work, he would y words with the other party to get what he needed and n their next actions afterwards. Nheless, not only he did not receive any answer, he was even ridiculed.


    Furthermore, it seemed that not only that person was able to see through his ploy and it looked like that he was even able to see through his personality and goals. That made him unable to react towards the other party incurring ridicule to himself further.


    No matter what, he found it inconceivable as his rage started to boil inside him.


    "Leader, what are we going to do?"


    One of his men asked.


    "You''re asking me what to do? What else can we do? Return to base! GO!"


    As he could not control his anger anymore, he started tosh it out on his men.


    ''You will pay for this!''


    Dominador bellowed in his mind as he thought of that person who ridiculed him.


    ***


    "That felt really good! The look in his face is satisfying to look at!"


    As they were further away now, the female soldier did not hold herself back anymore andughed. Still, no one reprimanded her now and even Captain D Rosa was smiling as he looked at Mark. His reactions and response were too out of the norm that he even managed to make the despicable Dominador to freeze.


    Mark on the other hand was observing the reactions of the soldiers to what happened. It seemed that these soldiers had a deep hatred towards that faction leader that they were in glee seeing him face a sudden setback.


    "Thank you for showing that to us!"


    The female soldier approached Mark and tapped his shoulder like a close friend.


    As the female soldier was feeling overly close, Mark frowned but he tolerated it she did not have any lingering motives. It was just her pure personality that she did that without knowing.


    "Mark, are you sure about that? Falling out with those people is a bad idea if you ask me."


    Captain D Rosa spoke.


    "It doesn''t really matter. We don''t have ns to stay here. As long as what we came here for is done, we''ll leave."


    Mark replied. Then, as he remembered something, he added.


    "Actually, it''s better if you also leave this ce as soon as possible."


    "Why is that?"


    The squad captain and his subordinates were all baffled as to why he suddenly warned them.


    "Sooner orter, this ce will be overwhelmed by the infected."


    "This ce is secure though. It shouldn''t fall unless an unknown appear. If that case happens, we also have several countermeasures to exploit."


    The female soldier interjected.


    "I''m not talking about that. It''s not good to talk about that here. I''ll tell the reasonter."


    With that conversation, the two groups made their way to their destination together under the watch of the curious refugees nearby.


    ***


    Day 5 ¨C 8:02 AM ¨C Firenze Townhouse Complex Subdivision, La Joya St., Buhay na Tubig, Imus, Cavite


    RATATATATATA!


    "Chief! We can''t hold on anymore!"


    A police officer bellowed on his radio while a top a roof of a house shooting his assault rifle.


    Not only that police officer was atop that roof but several more. They were all busy firing their guns on the infected in front of them.


    All of them were currently facing the west side of the subdivision where the farnds were located. And what they were looking at was hell. A part of the wall separating the subdivision and the farnds had already broken through. Among the rubble that came from the broken wall was a body of a five meter long infected scorpion that was killed using several grenades.


    Still, even though the infected scorpion was killed, the wall had already copsed.


    Now, not only that the police officers in Firenze was not able to rebuild the wall but with the number of infected currently charging towards their position, everyone knew that they would not be able to keep this ce safe anymore.


    If Mark was here, he would know what was happening. The police was facing the wave that was returning to the shore at the moment. Right now, they were trying to hold back thousands of infected. Not only was that but there were a lot of Mutated Infected among the ranks of the enemies.


    Right now, the police were not trying to eliminate the infected anymore but they were buying time for everyone to prepare and evacuate. Once the evacuation preparations were done, they would abandon this ce.


    "AAHHH!!!"


    A fearful scream was heard as a three meter wide infected spider managed to slip up the wall and lunged towards one of the police officers on the roof of the house.


    PANG!


    "Dammit!"


    SP02 Agbayani whose arms were now covered in metallic sheen immediately went to aid the police that had just screamed and punched a hole on the head the huge spider. Still, he was alreadyte. Half of the waist of the police that was caught was already missing from his body. He was already lifeless with his eyes wide open in horror.


    "The preparations are ready! Everyone retreat!"


    Chief Mari''s voice echoed in everyone''s ears through the radio. Hearing thatmand, everyone felt that they had been pardoned. Everyone immediately retreated while continuously firing towards the infected that were now flooding through the broken gap on the wall.


    It did not take long before a convoy made up of more than a dozen vehicles left Firenze. The people inside vehicles were all in remorse. They had only felt safer for several days and they had to face the infected world once again.


    As for the ranks of the police, they were despairing. Although they managed to leave and facilitate the escape, they lost more than half of their men due to the infected insects and Mutated Infected that were able to scale the roofs of the houses they stood on. As the infected were too many, they were not able to aid theirrades in time.


    Now that they left Firenze, none of them knew what kind of life they would face outside the safety of the walls.


    During the fifth day of the apocalypse, the Firenze Survivor Settlement had fallen into the hands of the infected.

 Chapter 131 Escort Mission Proposal

    Day 5 ¨C 7:45 AM ¨C 4th Grade Building, Queens Row Elementary School, Queens Row Area A, Bacoor City, Cavite


    Inside the ssroom that was now converted into a briefing room among the soldiers, Mark sat unto one of the chairs surrounding the table at the center of the room. Together with him were Mei and Abbygale who did not want to separate from him while the other party was Captain D Rosa, the female soldier and two other soldiers that seemed to hold a good position in the rescue squad.


    As for the other soldiers, they were dismissed and they all went back to their own duties while the other members of Mark''s group were brought to another ssroom to rest. For Mark''s group, it was really good for them to have a breather despite how early it was due to the stress they suffered during the time they were setting up traps, fending off the infected and their vehicle being chased by thousands of infected. As for Laps, Mark gave her the duty of watching the scaredy oversized beetle to ensure that it would not escape though by the looks of it, the beetle had no intention to do so either. The huge beetle was quietly lying down beside Laps at the corner of the room while watching everyone else in the room.


    "Now, can you tell what you soldiers need from me?"


    Mark asked as he swept his gaze to the soldiers that sat around the same table.


    Hearing his question, the squad captain seemed to feel relieved that Mark wanted to go straight to the point.


    "Before everything, I''ll introduce my subordinates first. This is Irine McCarran, this is Joey Cadunggan and this Alderick Renomeron."


    Captain D Rosa pointed at the female soldier, the male soldier beside her right and the other male soldier to the left of the squad captain respectively.


    Seeing that Captain D Rosa did not ask for Mei and Abbygale''s names, it was obvious that the information about them had already been ryed to this squad.


    "Actually, it''s like this. As you probably know, our squad shouldn''t be staying in this ce at all. Our squad was dispatched to rescue a government botanist that was went on vacation leave and went home a week ago. Along the way, we are allowed to rescue as many survivors as we can to our capacity which was what we did. However, during the way back, we encountered an unknown decimating our ranks and failing our rescue operation."


    The squad captain sighed and continued.


    "We managed to escape along with the survivors we brought and the botanist we rescued but we lost a dozen of on my men and several more were severely injured to the point that they won''t be able to fulfill their duties in the future as soldiers anymore. We still have enough man power to defend from normal and weaker Mutated Infected but we don''t have the capability to fight anything stronger than those anymore. Due to that, we are stuck at this ce."


    "So, you want us to help and escort the remaining of your squad back to Bay City?"


    Mark interjected.


    "That''s right."


    Captain D Rosa nodded.


    "You seemed to be putting too much trust to me and my group."


    "Do you think I''m not skeptical to this? When we called for backup at the headquarters they said that they won''t be able to send one in the short time period. The headquarters seems tock manpower right now and I also understand since we lost several squads due to the unknowns appearing in the in several ces. It is really fortunate that we managed to escape. When I asked for other alternatives from the HQ, the general suggested finding you and your group that are supposed to be roaming this area in search for people."


    "So, it''s the general that seemed to put that much trust in me huh?"


    Mark frowned. It was good that there was someone trusting him this much but if he was going to throw troublesome things to him because of this trust, Mark rather not have that.


    "It''s as you said. As I said before, I''m also skeptical to this suggestion but upon seeing your group now, it''s really a good thing for us to encounter you. There are several Mutators in your group am I correct? It that is the case, then escorting us is not that hard for your group. I also heard that your group n on going to Bay City after your goals here is fulfilled."


    Captain D Rosa said with expectation.


    "You had just mentioned it. I''m searching for a few people and I can''t leave without them."


    "I know. In that case, feel free to make use of our men to search for those people. It will be faster that way right?"


    Mark contemted for a bit. It was true that it would be faster and it was also true that they nned to go to Bay City afterwards. Probably, it was Pa who informed them about it. Furthermore, it would be safer if they had soldiers in theirpany.


    His eyes then dted as his mind jolted for a bit. He then looked towards the female soldier that sat beside the squad captain and observed her face.


    ''Darn¡­''


    Mark cursed in his mind.


    When he thought of soldiers apanying them on their journey, his mind jolted as the premonition he saw before in his dream appeared before his eyes. During one scene in his premonition, he saw the face of this woman but it was quite blurred as the person was someone he had not met yet. Now that he saw her face and linked her to his premonition, he knew now knew that his premonition was somehow linked with these people.


    "Is there something wrong with my face?"


    The Irene touched her face and asked. Seeing Mark staring at her intently, she could not help but feel embarrassed.


    "Gege?"


    Mei also asked. Although Mark was staring at Irene, she did not feel jealous but felt worried instead. It was because when she looked at Mark''s eyes, she saw the same glint she saw back then in Firenze. It was that glint that pushed her to confront him and asked him what the matter was.


    Hearing the voice of the two, Mark jolted back from his trance and shook his head.


    "It''s nothing, I just remembered something."


    He then looked back to Captain D Rosa who looked baffled about his behavior.


    "What will we get in exchange for escorting your squad?"


    To his question, the squad captain did not seem to be surprised. After all, they were not forcing them but hiring their group.


    "We already prepared for that. After we sessfully arrive at Bay City, you and your group will be rewarded with weapons, ammunition and supply. The most important ones are the Free Pass and Bay City Citizenship."


    Mark''s eyes shot up as he heard some unfamiliar terms.


    As if knowing what was in his mind once more, the female soldier that had already recovered from embarrassment interjected and exined.


    "The Free Pass allows your group to go in and out of Bay City freely. In Bay City, the refugees are confined inside the protected zone and are not allowed to go out of the zone unless there are special circumstances. With the Free Pass, your group will be marked as ''Capable'' and will be allowed to go in and out without any interruption from the soldiers and the government. The ''Capable'' I''m taking about are being able to fight the infected effectively. Currently, there are only two groups in Bay City that are unaffiliated with the government or the military owned these Free Passes. Both groups have Evolvers in their members.


    As for the citizenship, it will allow you and your group to own a house, private room or building in the Bay City. Those ces still came with a price but at least, your group will be allowed to buy one as long as you have the capital. If you don''t know, Bay City is separated into two settlements. One was for the refugees and soldiers while the other is where you can find the government officials and other people who have high standing or necessary expertise before the apocalypse came.


    Furthermore, the Refugee Settlement is also divided into several parts with one being a housing project. With the Citizenship one of the privileges is that you can own a house or building there. That is if you don''t want to live like the normal refugees that can only stay in their shared tents in the tent city in the Refugee Settlement."


    "There''s such distinction between people in Bay City?"


    Mark asked with a frown.


    "It can''t be helped. The current government and the remains of the military can''t amodate everyone. In this case, the refugees will not ck either. The refugees can work at the settlement and if they do a very good job or earn some reputation, they can also be rewarded with citizenship. In that case, they could also work harder and buy a house for their own."


    It was the Joey who replied to Mark''s question.


    That exnation of Joey made Mark understand. That policy was to make the refugees to not only rely on free rations they could get from the government. Not only that it would lighten the load of work the government had to do but would also push the refugees to a certain goal. It had always been a problem with the refugees in the past especially during disasters.


    After contemting for a bit and weighing the pros and cons of the deal, Mark spoke.<sub> </sub>


    "Alright, I agree."


    Mark decided to agree as the terms they gave was that hard to decline.


    The soldiers also felt relieved and happy hearing him agree to their request. However before they could thank him, Mark continued.


    "I have a few conditions though."


    "Is the payment not enough?"


    Alderick who was silent the whole time could not help but speak with the frown.


    "It''s not about the payment."


    Mark shook his head.


    "I want to be the one who will decide on what route we will take."


    The soldiers were baffled with the unexpected condition.


    "You want to be the leader for the whole way?"


    Captain D Rosa asked.


    "I don''t want to lead. You''re men will follow your orders and my group will follow mine. What I mean is just that. I will choose what route we will take. Which street to take, which road to pass through, which bridge to cross. Something around those."


    "Why? It''s kind of strange for you to ask a condition like that."


    Irene asked with a very confused expression.


    "I have my reasons but I can''t tell you all. In any case, my group will bring your squad back to Bay City without fail as long as I will choose the route."


    Mark insisted.


    The four soldiers discussed it for a minute or two. Considering the situation, his condition was not really overboard. Even though they were confused as to the reason why¡­


    "Alright, we agree with your terms."


    Captain D Rosa spoke as he stood and stretched his hand towards Mark over the table wanting to shake his hand. As they hade into an agreement, Mark had no reason to decline the outstretched hand so he shook it.


    "Anyway, you said that you will help find the people we''re looking for, right?"


    Mark asked.


    "That''s right."


    Captain D Rosa nodded.


    "Then in that case, I''ll give you several names and see if you can find them among the refugees here inside the school."


    Mark took out his small notebook and wrote the names of people he nned to look for along with Rosamie''s brother. After tearing the page of notebook that Mark wrote the names on, he passed the torn page to the squad Captain.


    After receiving the torn page of notebook, Captain D Rosa started to read the names with his eyes when his eyes dted.


    "Mark, this Chervil Sandoval¡­"


    "Why, is something wrong?"


    Mark asked with confusion.


    "The botanist we were dispatched to rescue has the same name."


    Hearing that, Mark found it inconceivable. It was because it was the name of Rosamie''s brother.


    "Can you bring us to him?"


    "It''s fine."


    The squad captain agreed.


    Mark then turned to Mei.


    "Mei''er, go with Gale and call Mrs. Rosamie, Emika and Mikio. Let''s see if this botanist is the one they are looking for."


    "Yes."


    Mei replied and looked at Abbygale.


    "Gale, let''s go."


    Mei and Abbygale held hands together as they made their way out of the room.


    "You''re lucky to have a wife and daughter like them."


    Seeing the two beautiful girls go out, Irene could not help but tell that to Mark. However, his reply choked not only her but the other three men with them.


    "I don''t even have a girlfriend yet, not to mention a wife."


    Mark shrugged his shoulders making the Joey and Alderick boil with jealousy.


    Both of them were single men and their looks were not bad either. Alderick was even pursuing Irene for some time now. The two single men seeing how intimate Mark was to the beautiful girl that always stuck beside him, they could not help but feel that this guy''s ancestors might have done something that was rewarded by the heavens and felt a bit jealous. It was just their training as military stopped them from having impure thoughts. Nevertheless, the beautiful girl Mark was intimate with was actually not his wife and not his girlfriend either.


    In that case, what would happen if the two enter into a rtionship¡­


    Just how intimate could they get?


    The soldiers could not help but ponder. They did not notice that Mark was looking at them like they were idiots and started to step back thinking that it might be contagious.

 Chapter 132 Rollans Dillema

    Day 5 ¨C 8:02 AM ¨C 4th Grade Building 2nd Floor, Queens Row Elementary School, Queens Row Area A, Bacoor City, Cavite


    After the conclusion of their meeting with Mark, Captain D Rosa sent Master Sergeant Joey Cadunggan to search for the people on the list Mark gave them. At this moment, Captain D Rosa and Staff Sergeant Irine McCarran were leading Mark and the three members of the Sakurano Family towards the dwelling of the botanist, Chervil Sandoval.


    Rosamie with her children were following behind Mark and the two soldiers with glee as they confirmed to Mark that Rosamie''s younger brother was indeed a botanist. There was no doubt that this botanist was the younger brother she was looking for.


    "Nee~ Scary Uncle. It''s really good that we came with you isn''t it? We found Oji without any trouble."


    Emika suddenly said while after they climb up the stairs.


    To her words, Mark nodded.


    "I won''t deny that."


    "This Scary Uncle is not humble at all."


    "Yeah I''m not. So stop talking."


    "Booo~!"


    Hearing the exchange of the two, the two soldiers leading them could not help but smile bitterly. Despite the difference in age of Mark and Emika, the two were talking to each other like close friends. Both will try to reprimand, joke and tease each other but none of them would get angry to the other at all. Even though Mark had been stopping Emika from talking several times already, the two of them did not stop their exchange at all until now.


    On the other hand, Rosamie agreed with what Emika had just said. If they decided against joining Mark''s group, they would probably be looking for her brother blindly without knowing where to find him. His address after all was actually further away from this ce. If not for following Mark and his group, they might not have found this ce at all. After all, they ended up in this ce after finding their way to Ron''s house and encountering his partner there.


    Reaching the endmost room to the right corridor, Captain D Rosa knocked on the door.


    "Wait a minute!"


    A male voice was heard and soon after, the door opened revealing a man who had resemnce to Rosamie. He looked haggard and it seemed topliment with the aura of a researcher he was exuding. His age was around a year younger than Mark as it looked like.


    "Captain, Staff Sergeant, do you need something?"


    Chervil asked as he knew that there were no ns for the military to leave yet and escort him away once more. However, when his eyes fell unto Rosamie that stood behind the two soldiers, his eyes widened in disbelief and glee.


    "Big Sis!"


    Chervil eximed.


    "Chervil¡­ Rosamie smiled with tears at the corner of her eyes."


    After the two soldiers opened the path between the two, the siblings hugged each other.


    Watching the reunion by the side, Mark started to walk away. There was no need for him to interrupt this family from their dramatic reunion.


    "Scary Uncle. Where are you going?"


    Mark tried to slip away without anyone noticing but it seems that he could not escape the senses of the two children.


    "I have no business here so I''ll be going for a walk."


    "But¡­"


    "Just spend your time with your family alright?"


    Mark patted the green flowered hair of Emika and Mikio''s head with both hands.


    "Yes."


    The two children smiled and nodded. The two turned around and joined the embrace of their mother and uncle.


    Chervil looked stunned seeing the appearance of his niece and nephew but it just took him a second to recover and happily embraced the children of his older sister. Though it seemed that he had some questions in his mind, it looked like what matters the most to him were the smiling faces of the two children upon seeing him.


    As Mark walked away, Captain D Rosa sent Irene to apany him and guide him around the settlement while they wait for the results from Joey who was sent to search for Mark''s friends.


    ***


    Inside the room being used as dwelling by Nikky and her group, Dorothy, Ron''s younger cousin was left alone. It was fine since the ce was the same building being used by the faction led by the Local Government Officials. No one would try to loiter around this ce without permission.


    "Dorothy,e, I''ll show you something."


    A familiar woman approached the ten year old Dorothy inside their dwelling. Holding the girl''s hand, the woman brought her out of the ce.


    "Where are we going?"


    Dorothy asked without suspecting the familiar woman.


    "Don''t say anything. It''s a surprise."


    ***


    Leaving the family reunion, Mark decided to walk around the school premises. This ce was where graduated his primary school years after all. After he graduated, aside from times hepulsory brought here to vote during elections, he had never stepped into this school to explore the ce. After he graduated, there were a lot of changes to the school, both good and bad. It was good that more ssrooms and buildings were built but the school looked cramped and out of proportion.


    Mark decided not to bring anyone as he looked around especially Mei since she would just gather around unnecessary attention. As for Abbygale, the scene of suffering refugees was not good for a child like her to see. For the others, with the threat of the faction Dominador led could bring, it was better for them to stay at the building where the military was based. If he was alone, he could handle himself better and could freely escape if something might get out of hand.


    "I told you that I want to be alone right?"


    Irene however, who was sent to guide him around just would not go away as it the order she received from her superior.


    "I received my orders. I can''t disobey that."


    Staff Sergeant Irene McCarren nonchntly replied while following behind him like a guard.


    "Seriously. I know that immoral soldiers are the worst but this is what is annoying about the upright ones."


    Mark muttered.


    "What''s wrong with that? It''s one of our duties to follow orders of the higher ups."


    "Every order?"


    Mark stopped walking and looked at her.


    "Not all orders. Only orders that won''t go against my morals."


    Irene said confidently puffing out her chest.


    "Seriously, you''re a woman so don''t do gestures like that. It doesn''t matter to me but that will be provoking to others. I''m advising you."


    Mark said as he nced at her before turned around and continued walking.


    Understanding the meaning of his nonchnt words, Irene felt dejected with her face red in embarrassment. She was a ''tough chick'' in her squad but somehow, she could not stand the eyes of this guy that seemed to prate into her mind. However, she did not feel repulsive to those eyes but rather, she felt more interested. Recovering from her embarrassment, she immediately caught up to him.


    "You really won''t leave me alone, will you?"


    Mark harrumphed.


    "I won''t, I''m just following orders."


    With that, Mark decided to ignore her as he walked around thepound.


    While walking around, Mark saw the dwellings of the refugees and their current state. Though the refugees were not in a bad situation yet, it seemed that it would not take long and these people would be desperate. Not only the children but the adults too were showing symptoms of malnutrition. Furthermore, the living spaces were far from sanitary. The smell was unbearable for Mark whose senses were enhanced by his Evolution. If not for his strong resilience, he would probably flee away from this ce already.


    Thinking that his friends could be living in this kind of ce, Mark shook his head. It was really pitiful.


    With the food and supplies they brought from the mall, they could stillst for about a week despite the number of people in his group. What would happen afterwards was not much of a concern since they had the capability to search for food themselves as Mutators and Evolvers. Their situation was inplete contrast against the situation of the normal people.


    "Mark?"


    Someone called him as he approached a certain room.


    It was not idental. Mark was really going to this part of the refugee building as he detected some familiar emotional fluctuations.<sub> </sub>


    The person who called upon Mark was a man around a year younger than him. His face was above average though it could not be said that he was handsome. However, his face was now stained with grime and the clothes he was wearing seemed like something that had not been washed for several weeks already.


    Mark fully recognized this person. He was one of the guys closest to Mark and Ron and was a part of Mark''s circle of friends from high school. Though themunication between them had lessened after graduating from high school, it was no doubt that he was a close friend of his. What Mark did not expect was to find him in this ce though since his house was quite away from here.


    Thinking about it, Mark though that it was possible. He probably fled here after the infected reached their ce.


    "Mark! It''s really you!"


    The man approached Mark who was just looking at him with a smile. Not able to stop his emotions, he held Mark''s shoulders and looked at his face.


    "Seriously Arvie, you don''t have to hold my shoulders like that. You''re hands are dirty."


    Mark said with contempt but it was obvious that he was teasing the man in front of him.


    Hearing what Mark said, the man frowned before stretching his hand towards Mark''s face trying to smear the dirt on his face. Mark of course dodged.


    "Don''t dodge dammit. It''s been long since we saw each other and you''re looking at me like that. You already learned how to look down on people huh!"


    Arvie spoke with an aggrieved tone but his mouth had a bright smile hung in his face.


    Looking at two full grown men chasing each other like children trying to smear dirt on one another, Irene was speechless.


    "Stop it already will you."


    Mark bellowed.


    Knowing that he probable reached the limit of Mark''s temper Arvie finally stopped. The two men bear hugged each other. Mark did not really mind Arvie''s dirty appearance. He just could not help but try to get back from all the teasing he received years before from this guy.


    "What are you doing here?"


    Arvie asked.


    "Well, some things happened and I''m here with my group. Anyways, how are you faring. I heard that you already married."


    "Well, yeah. You didn''te though."


    "It was alreadyte when I heard about it from Ron. By the way, I came here with him."


    "You came here with Ron? Really?"


    The two was about to continue their conversation when they saw the person in question walking anxiously while turning his head and gaze here and there as it he was looking for something.


    "Ron!"


    Arvie called out with glee.


    Seeing Arvie, Ron looked stunned but after he saw at Mark, he somehow looked like he saw the answer to his prayers.


    While looking at Ron, Mark was frowning. His mental state was quite erratic as if he was worrying about something. Not waiting for Arvie to speak again Mark approached Ron.


    "Is something wrong?"


    "Dorothy is missing."


    Ron replied with worried expression. He had already lost most of his family with only his younger brother and younger cousin remaining. He was too worried for his remaining family to be missing at this period of time.


    "Dorothy¡­ Your cousin?"


    "Yeah. She should be there where Nikky and her friends are staying but when we went there, she was gone."


    Hearing that, not only Mark frowned but also Irene and Arvie. Arvie knew that it was not the right time to catch up.


    "By what you said, that Dorothy should be the girl with Ms. Faja group right?"


    Irene interjected with a question.


    Seeing the female soldier, Ron was surprised for a bit but nodded.


    "That''s right."


    "All right, I''ll be going. I''ll ry this to my squad and mobilize them to help searching for her."


    Irene said with serious expression.


    "There''s more to this right?"


    Mark asked seeing her expression.


    "I don''t know if this is connected but there had been reports of women and children disappearing before. The main suspects we had been Dominador''s men but we don''t have sufficient evidence."


    "Dominador''s men right?"


    Mark propped up his chin. He then turned to everyone.


    "Arvie, is there anyone with you right now? Family or rtives?"


    "My wife and Jason. The others were gone."


    Arvie looked dejected.


    "Jason is here too? Where is he?"


    Mark was surprised. It was because he could not detect Jason, who was Arvie''s younger brother, around.


    "That guy went out with his own team earlier. Who knows what happened, he became stronger after he went berserk when our family was ughtered by the infected."


    "I see."


    Mark then turned to Irene.


    "Ms. McCarren, there''s no need to move your squad. I''ll just request you to bring this friend of mine and his wife into your quarters."


    "But."


    "It''ll be more efficient if I''ll be the one doing the search."


    Irene wanted to deny him but seeing the look in his eyes, she could only nod.


    Seeing the staff sergeant agree, Mark turned to Ron.


    "Ron, meet up with Nikky and her group. I''ll go and search for your cousin."


    "Can you really find her?"


    Ron asked worriedly.


    "Don''t underestimate me. We have our first lead so there is a ce to start the search."


    With that, Ron saw Mark''s eyes glow with a faint red color.


    "Alright, be careful."


    Ron did not know how Mark intended to look for Dorothy but knowing his friend''s current capabilities, he decided to trust him with this.


    Mark nodded to everyone and started to move.


    As time was of essence, he did not hold back. Activating his adrenaline, he jumped over the walls and roofs like a ninja under everyone''s bulging eyes. Not only Arvie and Irene, even the by-standers  and refugees that saw him were shocked. After all, every jumped he made was just a few inches below three meters. I was not a jump that a normal human could do.


    Jumping over the structures built around the school premises one after another, Mark moved towards the Eastern side of the school.

 Chapter 133 Rescuing Dorothy

    Day 5 ¨C 8:37 AM ¨C Central Pathway, Queens Row Elementary School, Queens Row Area A, Bacoor City Cavite


    Mark was currently running on the roof of the covered pathway they walked by earlier. Along the way, many soldiers were rmed seeing someone running and jumping in fast speeds. Some of them thought of stopping Mark but there were those soldiers who were with Captain D Rosa when he weed Mark and his group and thus the soldiers did not attempt to do so. Being weed by Captain D Rosa himself, his standing was not someone they should bother. Rather, it would be better for them to guard the ce tighter.


    It did not take him too long to arrive at the south eastern area of the elementary school. Mark jumped towards the second floor of a ssroom building where no one could see him and let his emotional perception to cover the whole area. Mark then noticed, it looked like that the faction Dominador led not only stayed here in the elementary school but also annexed the high school to the south east. There was the Eastern Bacoor High School next to the elementary school at the south eastern part. The high school had a small campus but it had several buildings enough to handle the number of students before the apocalypse.


    The high school campus was separated from the elementary school campus by tall walls but it seemed that Dominador and his men managed to secure the high school by creating a hole in the wall connecting the two campuses. Looking at this, it seemed that the area Dominador''s faction managed to annex wasrger than both the local government and the military factions had.


    Covering the area, Mark frowned. It seemed that the number of people under Dominador''s rule was alsorger. He could detect about two hundred people at the area with about a hundred and fifty being confirmed as Dominador''s men. He could assure that as their mental fluctuations were very stable. It would not be like that unless they had weapons, had confidence in their selves, or they had someone in their back like a group or a powerful leader. In this case, they all had that.


    As for the remaining people, there was no doubt about it that these people were the once Irene was talking about. There were faint fluctuations indicating children but all of the fluctuations had a negative vibe to them while most had despair in their minds. There were even those who seemed to want to die at the moment. These people were all gathered at the building to the south-easternmost building of the high school. Not only that building was in the most dangerous location, it was even sparsely fortified.


    Mark looked at the building inside the elementary that was annexed by this faction. It was because he detected several familiar fluctuations. He knew that it was Nikky and the fainter fluctuation should be Dorothy. However, he noticed that there was another one.


    "It looks like I''mte."


    Mark frowned as he muttered.


    He jumped off the building and unto the tree beside it before jumping on the roof of his former college campus. Though it was called a campus, it was just arge building with a dozen of rooms. His batch of students before was the pioneers of this school so they did not need too many rooms to amodate the very few students at that time. That was also the reason why the college changed location. It was to amodate the influx of the current students. Now, this building was annexed by the elementary school and was being upied by Dominador''s men.


    Using the roof of the former college building as a pathway, he managed to make his way towards the building where Nikky and Dorothy was undetected. It seemed that Nikky and Dorothy was in different rooms. However, while Dorothy was with another familiar fluctuation, Nikky seemed to be in the same room as Dominador and his men. It seemed that Nikky was shouting.


    Making his way closer and straining his ears, Mark tried to eavesdrop on their conversation.


    "...ere is Dorothy? You said that you''ll return her if I follow you all here!"


    Nikky bellowed.


    "I did make my men say that. I''m not one to break my promise but you need to do something for me."


    Mark heard the rough voice belonging to Dominador.


    "What do you mean?"


    "Don''t worry. It''s just a little favor. After you do it, I''ll return the little girl."


    "What do you want? Say it!"


    "I want you to bring that man here, the one who was weed by D Rosa. I want him here alone. That shouldn''t be hard to do right?"


    Dominador sounded smug.


    "Why do you think that I will do that?!"


    "You will do it. That is if you want to see the girl living. Or else, you know what will happen."


    Hearing that much, Mark knew that it was because of him. Shaking his head, Mark decided to move. He did not want to implicate people because of his actions. Even though he had reasons in his mind as to why he ignored this emperor wannabe, he did not think that this guy would make his moves too early. It was not even an hour since the thing happened.


    As the second floor of the building where Nikky was inside and the roof of the former college building was side by side, it would be easy to make his way towards the second floor of the building.


    TING!


    Drawing his machete, he tapped the metal railing of the second floor and hid behind the wall of the second floor. The metal sound soon had drawn the attention of the man on guard at the second floor. Seeing that there was nothing that could make that sound on the second floor he thought of ignoring the sound. However, he somehow got thought that there would be something behind the wall for no reason. Because of that, he tried to peer behind the wall over the railing. He then saw the de of a machete slicing down on his neck.


    The man did not manage to let out any scream as blood immediately entered his throat. All he could do was stare at the man wearing all ck with fear in his eyes as he saw the eyes of the man glowing red. The man pulled his body off the railing and made him lie down on the roof behind the wall with his neck bleeding painting the roof with blood. With the loss of blood and the blood blocking his lungs, it did not take him long before he died.


    Looking at the dead man, the glow in Mark''s eyes vanished. He had just used his emotion induction to reinforce the curiosity of the man and make him peer unto the back of the wall without alerting the man. Making two sounds in a row would sure make the man alert and such he resorted to this move which made it more sessful.


    Sensing the people on the second floor, he jumped towards the second floor after ensuring that no one would see him from below. He hurriedly made his way towards the stairs while crouching. Hiding behind the wall beside the staircase, Mark waited for a few seconds before swinging his machete once more.


    Another of Dominador''s men was making his way up to the second floor. When he reached the corner, he saw something ck swipe towards his neck. He tried to step back but ck thing was too fast. The next thing he knew was the pain in his neck as he saw the ck thing pass through his neck. With that, the man fell with his eyes open that remained until he stopped moving.


    Mark pulled the body of the next victim and ced the body next to the first man on the roof like fish being dried under the sun. Because of their bleeding necks, the blood started to flow down the roof and drop by drop, fell into the ground below.


    Returning back, Mark ignored the hallway that was stained by blood as he made his way towards thest room on the second floor. It was the room where Dorothy was being held up and the reason why there were guards on the second floor despite the fact that the ce supposed to be secure.


    As there was only two people in the room, Mark made his way in. There, he saw the familiar ten year old girl. He knew that it was Dorothy. There might be no interaction between Mark and this girl but as Ron''s friend, he saw her from time to time. Also with the fact that this girl share the same birthday as his, he would never forget her.


    However, the other person in the room was shocked seeing Mark enter the room. Mark also recognized this person. She was Mara who was Jte''s little sister and a member of Nikky''s group that he encountered earlier. Both Mara and Dorothy was tied up and gagged but Mark could not help but detect the guilt in Mara''s subconscious. Furthermore, it seemed that unlike before, she could not look at him eye to eye.


    Considering the possibilities, Mark though of something after seeing her like this.


    Mark made her way towards the two and removed Dorothy''s gag first.


    "Uncle, who are you? Are you here to help us?"


    Hearing that, Mark almost spurted out blood. It was fine with Emika calling him uncle but with Ron being his friend and Dorothy being thetter''s cousin, it should be just big brother or something along that. After all, this girl also addressed Ron as brother if Mark remembered it correctly.


    Ignoring what she had just addressed him, Mark spoke.


    "I''m your Big Brother, Ron''s friend. I''m here to take you out of here."<sub> </sub>


    Mark then proceeded to untie her.


    "Big Brother? Where is he?"


    "He''s back with our friends. If you don''t believe me you can ask that womanter."


    Mark pointed at the still tied up Mara.


    He then paused and looked below. It seemed that Nikky had left already. He felt that he needed to hurry even more.


    After making his way towards Mara, he removed her gag and untied her.


    "Just leave me here."


    Surprisingly Mara said that as guilt overwhelmed her.


    "So, it''s really you who brought this little girl here."


    Mark spoke under his breath making Mara tense up.


    "That Dominador probably proposed something to you and you fell for it didn''t you. It''s likely about your sister right?"


    He continued while Mara looked at him with wide eyes.


    "Don''t ask how I know."


    Mark proceeded to untie here.


    "If you knew about it, then just leave me here. I deserve it."


    "Nope. If there were people to judge you, then it will be Nikky and Ron."


    Mara stared at her, tears started to flow from her eyes.


    "Why? It''s because the girl behind me don''t want to leave you here or else she won''te with me."


    Mark said. There was no need to ask that to the little girl. As she did not know Mark even if he introduced himself, there was no way that the girl would just go with him after leaving Mara here. If Mark was to ask, it was likely that he would leave Mara here and escape with Dorothy but as Ron was within his group, incurring the ire of even just a single person that would join him in the future could potentially ruin the harmony within the group. In that case, it was better to prevent it from happening.


    "Follow closely behind me."


    After being untied, Mark led them out of the room. The three crouched on the hallway and stealthily made their way to the roof of the former college.


    "Hey! What are you people doing there?!"


    A bellow was heard while Mara was jumping over the railings of the second floor.


    ***


    One of Dominador''s men sleeping on the opposite building suddenly woke up and the first thing he saw was a woman jumping over the railing of the second floor. The man immediately picked up his assault rifle and tried to fire on the suspicious people but before he could do so, his body was already drilled with holes. His body slumped down bleeding profusely. Still, his bellow alerted everyone in the buildings around and even Dominador who was still at the first floor of the building where Mark rescued the two hurriedly walked out.


    Seeing what happened, Dominador looked up and saw shadows on the roof top of the former college running out of sight.


    His men had just died and it would be a blow to everyone''s confidence. Since that was inevitable, Dominador could not let the perpetrator get away.


    His body bulged and his business suit tore up. His arms covered in monkey fur were revealed and his muscles became more distinct. In his mouth, his first pair of cuspids grew longer like fangs of a beast while his neck and jaw started to be covered with long fur.


    "RAAAAAA!"


    Dominador bellowed as thumped his chest with both fists. He then jumped towards the second floor of the building and grabbed the railings with his nimble hands and propelled himself towards the roof of the former college.


    "So, you''re a weremonkey."


    Dominador heard a voice the moment hended on the dome shaped roof.


    There, he saw a person that could not be more than familiar to him standing on the middle of the roof waiting for him. He would not forget this person that confronted him earlier.


    "So, you are the culprit!"


    Dominador said with a rough and nasal voice.


    "I am. So, what are you going to do?"


    Mark said with a sneer.


    "What are you sneering for? Die!"


    Dominador charged towards Mark.

 Chapter 134 Evolver Versus Mutator

    Day 5 - 8:51 AM ¨C Former CVSU Campus Rooftop, Queens Row Elementary School, Queens Row Area A, Bacoor City, Cavite


    Dominador who was currently looking like a half human and half monkey with a bulky body and crimson colored fur was charging towards Mark in rage. However, before he could evene close to his target and pummel him to death, he halted as he was greeted with a rising nozzle of an assault rifle. His eyes dted. Due to his hate towards Mark, he neglected the fact that Mark was armed with a gun!


    TSST! TSST! TSST!


    Three muffled shots were released from the assault rifle as three bullets were sent flying towards Dominador''s direction. Nevertheless, none of the bullets hit the target as Dominador stopped his charge before the shots were fired and jumped to the right.


    Seeing that his sudden attack that he did the moment Dominador charged at him was evaded, Mark frowned. The perception of the Mutator in front of him was not something to joke at. He noticed that the slight movement of his gun despite how fast it was alerted his enemy and immediately did the maneuvers to evade the moment the shots were fired.


    Trying to gauge the abilities of the Mutator in front of him, Mark shot several more bullets towards his enemy.


    TSST! TSST! TSST! TSST! TSST! TSST!


    Yet, every shot missed.


    Dominador was able to evade and he started moving to dodge the moment the gun were fired. It was as if he had a keen grasp on the trajectory the bullet would fly. Mark could do the same thing like avoiding but the method and skill were different from what the Weremonkey in front of him was disying. With his empathic ability, he could deduce which person was going to pull the trigger and concentrating his adrenaline to his eyes and brain would make his perception faster and slowing the bullets to some extent enabling him to avoid the gunshots.


    The skill Dominador was disying was different. Mark was sure that this was not something Dominador acquired from his Mutation but something he built up from experience. During the times Dominador was evading, Mark could feel that Dominador''s emotional trigger towards the bullets were non-existent as if his mind were nk as he dodge. Watching his movements and detecting the emotional fluctuations Dominador had, Mark concluded that this person was dodging the bullets by instinct.


    TSST! TSST! TSST!


    Mark fired another burst of bullet which made him quite indignant to fire once more. It was because he started to feel that he was just wasting bullets.


    On the other hand, Dominador was getting vexed even more. The person in front of him was seemed to be predicting his movements and fire at the ce where he should be moving towards which made him jump back and forth without being able to advance. If not for his keen sense to danger engraved in his mind due to countless dangerous experiences, he would already be sieved with bloody holes already.


    Mark kept firing at Dominador without hitting while thetter was not able to advance further in order to avoid the iing bullets flying towards his direction. In simple words, the two were at a stalemate.


    "Hey! Fight with me fairly!"


    The angry Dominador bellowed. He admit himself that he was blinded by rage and neglected the fact that the enemy in front of him had a gun even if he did not, he would not be able to use guns while he was in his mutated form either. In this form, his hands and fingers were erged and as such, not to mention firing one when he could not even hold a gun.


    "Don''t wanna."


    TSST! TSST!


    Mark answered nonchntly and fired another two bullets towards Dominador.


    "You--"


    Dominador could not finish his words and jumped to his left to dodge. His mind was slowly being filled with anger.


    "It''s your fault making your way here alone and without weapons. Why should throw away my advantage?"


    Mark shot a smug look despite the fact that his heart was aching for needing to waste ammunition on this guy. It was really not worth it.


    During the time Mark met this guy earlier, he purposely provoked Dominador for two reasons. One was because he hated the farce this guy used to try and entice him to go to their base. The other was because Mark was looking for Mutators to feed Jte. As Dominador was known to be an evil person, he would not think twice of eliminating this guy at the right time. He just did not make his move earlier as Mei and the others were with him while Dominador had his men. Mei and the other members of his group might get caught in the middle of the crossfire.


    Now however, seeing what kind of Mutator Dominador was, Mark became indignant to feed him to Jte anymore. If he did, who knows if his precious specimen would also get covered in fur? He would never try to risk that.


    TSST!


    Mark shot another bullet making Dominador back up.


    "You should know that we have your friend''s cousin right?! That''s why you''re here for sure! I don''t think you will want anything to happen to her!"


    Dominador tried to make Markpromise. However, he saw his enemy shooting a stare at him as if he was looking at an idiot. This made him even more infuriated.


    ''Dammit!''


    Dominador cursed inside. He thought that this person did not care about that child at all. Then, Mark spoke.


    "What are you talking about? I already rescued your hostages. There''s two of them right?"


    "What?!"


    Dominador''s eyes dted. If that really happened, then it was too fast! He thought that this person had just arrived here to rescue them and the two hostages were not rescued yet! They had just informed Ms. Faja about their conditions and if this person was to initiate his rescue, he needed to scour the whole area which was filled with his men, unless, he was able to pinpoint the exact location where they hid the child. However, he just pinpointed that they had two hostages even when they also informed Ms. Faja of only one. It meant that he might have really rescued them already!


    "You don''t believe me? Look there. There are two of your men there with slit necks. "


    Mark said smugly as he lowered his gun while pointing towards the area of the roof behind the building.<sub> </sub>


    Clouded by his thoughts of disbelief and anger, he turned his head to see where he was pointing at by reflex. There he saw of his men, dead, bleeding from their necks and ced on the roof like fish being dried under the sun.


    ''Shit!''


    Dominador cursed in his mind.


    TSST! TSST! TSST! TSST! TSST! TSST! TSST! TSST! TSST! TSST!


    During thepse in Dominador''s mind, Mark fired ten of his remaining bullets in his clip.


    Realizing the he unknowingly fell to his enemie''s ploy, he immediately tried to dodge but it waste. The most he could do was to step his left foot back and make his right side face Mark''s iing bullets while covering his head.


    TSHK!


    Though four bullets missed, the rest riddled the right side of Dominador''s body spewing out blood from the wounds.


    "RAAHHH!! I''ll kill you!"


    Dominador''s mind became enveloped with rage faster due to the pain and the humiliation he felt from falling to his enemy''s ploy.


    Mark on the other hand felt ted. Not only some of his shots managed to hit the target, it managed to raise the opposite''s anger level. It was barely below tolerable range of what Dominador''s mind could handle before losing his rationality and going berserk.


    It was really good that Mark positioned himself to face the way a little bit against the sun. In this way, he could conceal the fact that his eyes were constantly glowing red ever since the time Dominador transformed to his Mutated form. For Mark, he felt that it was hard to influence the mind of Mutators even with his emotion induction. It was the reason he was looking smug and continuously taunted and created that ploy. He was slowly increasing Dominador''s anger.


    Nevertheless, what he was doing was really effective. The reigning though at Dominador''s subconscious was domination. He wanted to lead, be a king or an emperor. That was also why Mark said that he did not want to y kingdoms with him before. However, everything that Mark did was not only disrespectful but also insulting to the eyes of this aspiring ruler. And thus, Mark was sessful in building up this guy''s anger level.


    Seeing that Dominador was still able to charge despite his injuries, Mark could not help but curse this guy''s tenacity and toughness. But Mark also expected this as this guy was a Mutator. Common sense would not totally apply to their kind.


    TSST! TSST!


    Mark fired two more bullets and it did not miss but Dominador purposely made his arms hit by the bullets and did not stop his charge at all.


    TSST! TSST! TSST!


    The magazine of Mark''s assault rifle was finally emptied. The three remaining bullets also hit Dominador''s arm.


    Managing to close onto Mark, Dominador pulled his right bloody arm backward and swung it forward. The movement was fast and due to that, the wounds created by the bullets started to spew out blood profusely. However, due to Dominador''s anger, he was not affected by the pain anymore. He only wanted to pummel this disrespectful bastard to meat paste.


    Dominador''s charge was fast and so as his attack. A normal person would not be able to dodge it. Unfortunately, his current adversary was Mark. Concentrating his adrenaline to his eyes and brain, Dominador''s attacking towards him started to slow down.


    Mark took a single step back making the smash miss. Due to the force and speed of the attack, Dominador''s fist continued towards the roof they were standing on.


    BAM!!!


    A fifteen inches diameter hole was created on the roof with the surrounding two more inches around the hold dented inwards.


    Strong! Dominador''s arms were as strong as a bullet! If Mark was hit by a single punch by him, it would sure feel like he was hit by a cannonball!


    Seeing Mark dodge his attack without problem, Dominador''s eyes dted. Even though he was about to be consumed by his anger, he still had rationality left in him. He knew that his attack was not any random person could dodge. Yet, this person in front of him dodged it without batting an eyelid!


    Dominador followed his attack with a diagonal swing of his left arm upwards. But Mark then nted his body to the right dodging the attack by just two inches. Mark could even see the pores under the fur on Dominador''s arm due to the close distance. Seeing his second attack miss once more, Dominador followed it with a front kick using his right leg. This time, Mark stepped his left foot back and dodge the attack by a few centimeters.


    ''Dammit!''


    Dominador''s anger started to rise once more. He already unleashed three deadly attacks and all the attacks missed. Furthermore, there was not even a shred of panic on Mark''s face but he was still looking at him smugly.


    However, Dominador regained a part of his rationality after he noticed the eyes of Mark. As the two were already engaged in closebat, there were times that Dominador would block the rays of the sun and thus, he noticed the red glow on his enemy''s eyes. He could not help but regain a bit of rationality as he felt goosebumps and danger. Nevertheless, as a dominator, he had no thoughts of backing down. For someone aiming to rule, backing down would be a humiliation. Because of that he continued hisbat exchange with Mark. Still, none of his attacks hit Mark making him angrier for every second that passed.


    From thest attack, Mark found a leeway and jumped back. He then released the lock of the clip of his assault rifle making the clip fall unto the roof they were standing on. Mark then reached for his back.


    Seeing that, Dominador immediately closed in. He should not let this person reload his gun or he would be forced to separate. Due to desperation, he swiped his hand targeting the assault rifle. The assault rifle was hit and immediately broke into pieces leaving the strap on Mark''s body.


    Dominador felt ted seeing the assault rifle break but for some strange reason, Mark did not stop reaching for his back. It was then his eyes dted once more.


    Mark was not reaching for another clip for the assault rifle but reaching for his pistol. As Dominador had just attacked his assault rifle, he was totally open. Mark drew the pistol as fast as he could and fired towards Dominador''s chest where his heart was located. He did not try to aim at Dominador''s head because he would be able to dodge it with minimal movement but how about his erged torso?


    TSST! TSST! TSST!


    Mark managed to fire three shots but it seemed that it was not fatal. At thest moment, Dominador was able to pull his body back diverting the aim from his heart to his lower chest. The three shots were not fatal but severely injured his organs. Dominador jumped back several times clutching his bleeding chest with blood also trailing down the left corner of his lips. Pain was apparent to his face despite the huge amount of anger he was feeling inside.

 Chapter 135 The Real Fight Was Yet To Start

    Day 5 ¨C 9:01 AM ¨C Former CVSU Campus Rooftop, Queens Row Elementary School, Queens Row Area A, Bacoor City, Cavite


    "YOU-!!!"


    Dominador spoke clutching his bleeding chest with his eyes filled with indignation.


    He was a known leader of an underground mafia which based here in Bacoor. Drugs, firearms, prostitution, they deal with a lot of illegal business under the backing of select officials from the government. Due to that, they were able to maintain their freedom and even the police was not able to make a move on their group. Still for the sake of taking the eyes of the popce to their movements, they had to throw out sacrifices that led to shoot outs and capture of their insignificant members.


    When the outbreak came, he got caught in the middle of a crucial business transaction. Unable to find shelter immediately, he and some of his men were bitten due to the number of the infected despite their weapons and fighting prowess. Filled with remorse, he left his men at that ce and fled back to their base. Despite his body covered in blood and the calls of his men as he passed by, he hurried towards his office and locked the door. Before he passed out alone in his office, he remembered his goal of conquest. He knew from the start that there was no use to chase conquering the world but he at least wanted to conquer the underground business in this country.


    However, he woke up. Not as an infected but something else. His arms and legs were covered in fur but he had an overflowing strength in them.  Tapping unto that strength transforms his body into something that looked like a half-human and half-monkey. Still, he did not care about his appearance. With his new prowess and the eminent fall of the government, he could rise up and conquer everything.


    Since then, he built up his current group annexing the surviving small time gangs and illegal groups in the area and every single one of them was under hismand. With his current abilities and the number of men under him, no one ever tried to go against him with the exception of people who held the same firepower as his group which was the local government and the military. Despite that, he never fell into disadvantage ever since they managed to annex this part of the settlement.


    Even though they could not make a move against the two other factions, the other two were not able either. In case that a confrontation happened between the factions, not only the members of the factions would incur repercussions but the innocent refugees would also suffer.


    Thus, he was able to start his goal as someone who conquers, living luxuriously while not fearing of anyone going after his and his men despite their vile deeds.


    Now, what was happening to him was a total humiliation. The thing he was most indignant about was that he did not even know what was going on. Rage was starting to envelop his mind that he was about to explode! After all, it was the very first time he experienced a humiliating setback after the apocalypse came!


    "What are you?!"


    Dominador bellowed but his voice was not as confident as before and his eyes dted in shock.


    Not only that he did not gain advantage towards their fight but he was even severely injured. Furthermore, Mark was not following the by the books and even managed to use his past experiences he umted to trick him. Mark purposely let the magazine fall while reaching by his back like he was going to get another magazine and reload the assault rifle but he actually nned to draw another gun from the start!


    To his question however, Mark sneered. He stared at Dominador with the red glow on his eyes intensifying and answered.


    "Who do you think you are for me to answer you?"


    Dominador''s eyes dted even more from rage hearing that reply. To question him about his identity was aplete humiliation. As someone who viewed himself as a potential ruler, it was infuriating to be questioned about his authority.


    His anger was rising very quickly that his eyes started to be bloodshot.


    "Leader!"


    A shout was heard calling for Dominador.


    With his mind clouded by rage, he turned around by reflex and saw several men on the open hallway of the second floor of the building where Dorothy was supposed to be tied up. They were Dominador''s armed men and were there to assist their leader. Unfortunately, with Dominador''s current state of mind, their call made the injured Dominador give Mark a huge opening.


    TSST! TSST! TSST! TSST! TSST!


    Dominador''s body was riddled with several more holes in different parts of his body. Due to his anger and severe injuries, he was not able to put up a defense. All the five bullets Mark fired at that opening all hit Dominador''s body and four of the bullets drilled holes on Dominador''s abdomen.


    "PUH!"


    Dominador staggered backwards spewing blood from his mouth with his eyes filled with disbelief and frenzy.


    "Leader!"


    Dominador''s right hand man bellowed seeing the current state of their revered leader. Without wasting any more time, Dominador''s men aimed their guns at Mark and fired.


    RATATATATATA!!!


    Several dozens of bullets flew towards Mark''s direction making him retreat. Mark then raised his gun once more and fired parting shots at Dominador. He emptied the clip of his pistol riddling Dominador''s body with more bloody holes before jumping off from the roof.


    "F*CK!"


    Seeing that the assant jumped off to the other side of the building, Dominador''s right hand man cursed. They then started to make their way towards the roof and approach their leader that was currently kneeling due to his severe wounds.


    They thought of bringing away their injured leader. Unfortunately for them, it was not over yet. Mark did not escape. He just made his way towards their vehicle to get another set of weapons and nned toe back right away. With Dominador sumbing to his injuries, Mark would not make a mistake of not using it to his advantage.


    ***


    During time Mark started the fight with Dominador, Mara had already made her way down the roof using the same route Mark used to climb up there. Carrying Dorothy on her back, she was running as fast as an Olympic athlete.


    Mara was also an Evolver whose legs were enhanced. In terms of speed within Nikky''s group, she was the fastest and thus, her position with the group was a scout. Now however, she was using her fast legs to bring Dorothy to safety. She already did a mistake, she did not want to another. She was actually reluctant to leave Mark there alone but as Dorothy''s safety was essential, she could only obey Mark''s instructions. It was to bring Dorothy to the building the military used as their quarters.


    While running and ignoring the inquisitive stares of the people on the way, Mara saw a silhouette of a woman from the distance walking hurriedly towards the same direction.


    "Boss!"


    Mara called out to Nikky who was going towards the military quarters to find Ron and Mark.


    Hearing the call, Nikky turned around and her eyes dted not only because of shock but also glee.


    "Dorothy! Mara!"


    Nikky shouted as she ran back.


    In a few seconds, the two women and the girl stood in front of each other. Nikky immediately pulled Dorothy into her embrace. She was really worried. After she confronted Dominador, she agreed to his terms so that Dorothy would remain safe for a longer time even though she had no intention to follow the terms that hateful man gave. Nikky was actually going to find Mark to discuss what they should do. However, not long had passed and she actually saw Dorothy safe and sound being carried by Mara.


    "Mara, what happened? Why is Dorothy with you?"


    Nikky hurriedly asked. Though she was happy that Dorothy was now here, she did not think that Mara would be able to rescue the girl. Dominador''s area was filled with his armed men and it was basically suicide to go there and save Dorothy alone.


    Panting, Mara was about to answer but the girl beat her to it.


    "Sis Nikky, Sis Mara and that Unc- scary looking big brother saved me. Right?"


    At the end of her sentence, Dorothy turned to Mara.


    Hearing that, Mara looked at Dorothy with shock just to see the ten year old girl also looking at her. Dorothy then shook her head slightly preventing Mara to say what really happened.


    Understanding what Dorothy was trying to say, Mara felt touched. She did the girl wrong but the girl was still speaking up for her. This was a debt she needed to pay in the future. Now however, there was an urgent matter.


    "Th-that''s right! But now is not the time to ask questions! Your boyfriend''s friend.."


    Mara tried to recall his name.


    "Mark?"


    Nikky asked confused but thinking that Ron might have told Mark what happened, that could be the reason why. Though, she was still confused as to why Mara and Mark would be together.


    "Yes! Mark! He stayed behind to hold off Dominador and his men to let us escape!"<sub> </sub>


    Mara looked worried. She was also saved by Mark though thetter really had no intention to do so.


    "What?!"


    Nikky was shocked.


    RATATATATATA!!!


    They then heard the sounds of multiple guns firing which echoed across the whole settlement.


    "We need to help him!"


    Nikky was about to charge back but Mara held her arm.


    "Don''t! We won''t be much of help if it''s just us! M-Mark have connections with the military right? We should ask them first for help!"


    Hearing that, Nikky nodded. The three hurriedly made their way towards the military building.


    ***


    On the military building however, another scene was happening.


    Ron and Irene immediately reported what happened to the Captain who was currently with Joey and Alderick discussing a few things. Hearing that Mark went to rescue the missing cousin of Ron and the possible culprit, Captain D Rosa frowned. As their manpower was nowcking, it was not good to sh with that faction of criminals. However, if Mark was there, they should prepare to support. Though he was a little hesitant about it¡­


    "Alderick, gather up our men that are not in guard duty. The time for us to confront Dominador and his men came earlier than expected. Joey, contact Councilor and Chairwoman Pbrica. Tell them what was going on and ask them for support."


    "Yes Sir!"


    The two soldiers answered with a salute and hurriedly went to fulfill their tasks.


    ***


    Inside the room Botanist Chervil was staying, he shared his experiences with his older sister and her children. It was then that Emika and Mikio suddenly stood up from their seats while looking at the same direction.


    "Emika, Mikio. Is there something wrong?"


    Rosamie asked her children.


    The two children looked at each other and nodded before replying to their mother.


    "That scary uncle is fighting someone."


    Hearing that, Rosamie frowned while looking worried. Mark was their benefactor so she would at least be concerned about his business.


    "Are you two sure?"


    "We are!"


    The two children then looked at each othermunicating.


    "Mom, stay here with Lil Brother and Oji. I''m going to help that scary uncle."


    "But it can be dangerous."


    "Don''t worry Mom. If it''s dangerous, that scary uncle will sure protect me."


    Emika assured with a bright smile. Without waiting for her mother''s consent, she bolted off out of the room. Her green hair grew andtched onto the railing before she jumped down from the second floor hallway to the open space in front of the military building with the assistance of her hair.


    ***


    At the room where the rest of Mark''s group was currently staying, the girls were chatting and the group spending on different activities together. Abbygale, Odette and Siegfried were even ying on the phones Mark lent them before.


    As for Mei, she was standing by the window looking at a certain direction as if she was staring at something far away.


    "Gege, be careful."


    She muttered under her breath.


    It was then that the curled up Laps stood up looking at the same direction Mei was looking at. Under everyone''s confused gaze Laps faced therge beetle resting by her side.


    "ARF!"


    Laps barked at the beetle jolting it awake.


    "GWEEE!"


    "RARF!"


    As if conversing, the two let out sounds alternatively.


    Looking like the two came to an agreement, the beetle climbed up to Laps back and the Laps bolted out of the room with the beetle.


    "What''s going on? Where are those two going?"


    Melissa could not help but voice out because the two were behaving strangely. However, no one was able to answer that and Mei who seemed to know feigned that she did not hear the question.


    It was then, another strange thing happened.


    CLING!!!! TING! TING! TING!


    They heard a loud sound of metal breaking and falling unto the floor. Looking at the source of the sound, everyone''s eyes dted.


    They saw the always quiet Jte standing in front of the chair where she sat on before. By her foot were the broken chains that were supposed to bound her. Furthermore she was looking at the same direction Mei was looking at.


    Then, with a fast speed, she tried to run out of the room. Everyone else quickly retreated away while Odelina quickly caught Jte but shockingly, Jte was overpowering her. Unable to hold on, Jte pried Odelina''s grip open and pushed her away. Due to the strength of the push, Odelina was flung away towards the wall about three meters away.


    As she was freed from restrictions, Jte ran out in her fastest speed. Surprising enough, she was running the same direction Laps took.


    RATATATATATA!!!


    Everyone heard the loud noises caused by a number of guns being fired.

 Chapter 136 Surprise Slaughter

    Day 5 ¨C 9:04 AM ¨C 4th Grade Building 1st Floor, Queens Row Elementary School, Queens Row Area A, Bacoor City, Cavite


    The sounds of the gunshots echoing across the settlement early in the morning jolted everyone into a state of panic. The refugees outside their dwellings hurriedly ran back and closed their doors while those who were able to fight the infected prepared themselves in case. Furthermore, the scene of soldiers that were speaking on their radios while frowning as they all ran towards the direction of their headquarters did not do any help to quell their stirred minds.


    Everyone thought that the infected were attacking once more. After all, it was not the first time gunshots echoed across the settlement but the previous times, it was all because of the infected. Thus, the refugees though that the same circumstances were happening. None of them though that the cause was apletely different event.


    Back inside the ssroom where Mei and everyone were gathered, Odelina propped herself up while coughing. The force Jte used to push her towards the wall was no joke. If it was a normal person, their bones might have shattered already. The cracks on the wall left after Odelina crashed unto it was the evidence. What bewildered everyone was that no one knows the reason why the docile Jte suddenly erupted and rushed out.


    Furthermore, the moment they saw Jte running after Laps and the beetle through the window, they suddenly saw Emika jump off from the second floor of a different part of the building joining the dog and the beetle. The three went towards the same direction with Jte following behind them.


    Furthermore, the sudden sounds of gunshots made everyone unsettled. Knowing that it might get dangerous as Jte was still an infected, Odelina wanted to chase after her. Nevertheless, she was grabbed by her arm. Looking to the side, Odelina saw Mei who was shaking her head.


    "Young miss. Do you know what is happening?"


    Odelina asked with bewilderment. Everyone inside also turned towards Mei in askance.


    "I think, I know a little but please, just stay here and protect everyone. Things might get dangerous if not handled properly."


    What Mei said was a little cryptic to everyone but Odelina could only nod.


    "But what about Jte? I''m afraid she might attack someone. Also that strength¡­"


    "It should be fine. All of you might not know but Gege told mest night before sleeping that Jte was starting to develop her own consciousness. It''s less likely that she will attack anyone. Aside from special food, I think."


    Hearing that, everyone was shocked. An infected that was developing consciousness was something really surprising. However, they were lost as to what she meant for special food.


    Before they could continue their conversation, Irene arrived with Ron. Behind them were Arvie and his wife Jayne. Ron introduced Arvie and Jayne to everyone allowing the group to know Arvie''s rtionship to Mark who was the leader of the group. Then, Irene finally ryed what was going on making everyone perplexed as they looked at Ron who had one of his remaining rtive missing.


    It was then that Nikky arrived with Dorothy in tow. However, Mara was not with her anymore. Seeing Dorothy that was safe, Ron was very ted and he forcefully hugged the girl even lifting her up. Nikky then ryed what Dorothy and Mara told her updating everyone about what was happening.


    Knowing that what Mark did, everyone was perplexed specially Ron who was the one who asked him for help. Though he saw his best friend being able to jump up that high, in actuality, he never saw Mark fight ever since he knew him. If something were to happen to Mark just because he went to save Dorothy, he would not know what to do.


    Nevertheless, while Ron and the others who they had just met today were panicked, the rest only had troubled expressions on their faces.


    "We know now why Laps and Emika left. Jte also probably went to where Master is."


    Odelina nodded in realization.


    Seeing their troubled faces but calm reactions, Irene stared to them with wide eyes.


    "Are you people worried about him, your leader? He''s facing a Mutator and his armed men! What if he faced danger? He could die!"


    However, it seemed Mei took what she said as an insult, she looked at Irene while frowning.


    "Don''t underestimate Gege. He already faced thousands of infected before and remained alive. Such insignificant ants can''t harm him."


    Looking at Mei, Irene gulped. In her eyes, the shy looking beautiful girl vanished. What reced her was a beautiful woman that only had Mark in her eyes and everything else was insignificant. However, the next moment, it seemed that Mei lost interest in her and became impassive once more while staring towards a certain direction.


    ***


    At the vehicle, Markpleted his preparations and was about to head out under the watch of the two soldiers that were left to guard their vehicles. He was carrying the M79 grenadeuncher, a PSG-1 sniper rifle and a USC sub-machinegun. However, before he could hang the bag containing the magazines and ammunition on his back, he felt several fluctuationsing towards his direction. Knowing who wereing, Mark was surprised.


    "Scary Uncle~!"


    Mark heard a bright childish voice from the distance.


    Soon, the five reinforcements came in front of him. He saw Emika riding on the back of Laps while hugging therge beetle. Behind them, he could see Jte and Mara who was following behind her sister. Mark could not help but scratch his head.


    It was one thing for Laps and Emika toe to his aid. Laps as a dog had strong senses and thus, it was not surprising for her toe and the beetle probably came here due to this independent dog. As for Emika, she also had a strong enough ability to sense her surroundings. Mark first noticed it when they were leaving the city hall. Despite the fact that the MB Sprinter had a heavily tinted window, she still managed to find him and even waved at him as they left.


    However, why in the world was Jte in here. It was sure that Mara saw Jte out of her leash and hurriedly followed but Mark could not fathom why this strange infected came here.


    "Ne~ Scary Uncle, where''s the enemy?"


    Emika inquired as she looked around not even realizing that therge beetle was now struggling to get away from her embrace.


    "M-Mark! You''re fine! Thank goodness."


    Mara seeing that Mark was fine felt relieved but she could not help but feel perplexed seeing Mark fully armed. It was not hard for her to discern his current intention.


    While the Emika and Mara were in the midst of speaking to Mark, Jte walked towards him and started sniffing his body. With a darkenedplexion, Mark grabbed her head and gently pushed her away.


    "What are you doing?"


    Mark could not help but voice out but Jte suddenly grabbed his jacket and pulled it towards her mouth. She then licked that part of jacket. Seeing this, Mark hurriedly pulled his jacket away but he realized what was going on. It seemed that Jte was drawn by the sh between him and Dominador. The part of his jacket she licked was stained by Dominador''s blood when he shot his chest.


    Sighing Mark spoke.


    "Mara, right? Since you''re here, I have a task for you."


    "What is it?"


    Mara immediately approached him.


    "I''ll leave your sister under your care. We''ll deal with Dominador and his men."


    "But¡­"


    Mara was ted that she would have the time to spend with her sister but since her sister was an infected, she doubted that she would be able to rein her in. However, before her eyes, Mark turned to Jte and pushed her inside the vehicle and made her sit down on the sofa.


    "Stay here. Stay. No food if you move from here."


    Mark with red glowing eyes spoke like if he was training a dog.


    Mara wanted to spurt blood from her mouth seeing her sister being treated like a dog but remembering that she was supposed to be a mindless infected, Mara could only sigh. At least, her sister seemed to be different from the others. Furthermore, her sister was actually heeding Mark''smands as she remained on the spot while staring at Mark.


    Unknown to them, Mark was using his [Emotion Induction] to Jte which allowed her to perceive his intent as it was obvious that she could not understand everything he was saying. Though it was faint, Jte''s newborn consciousness reacted to his intent and he finally felt relieved as his intent seemed to be understood.


    Knowing that Jte would remain on the spot, he turned to the others.


    "Mara, keep an eye on her alright?"


    Mara nodded without hesitation.


    Looking at the golden dog, the four horned beetle, and the little dryad, Mark sighed and spoke.<sub> </sub>


    "Since you three are already here, I''ll give you tasks. We''re going to take down a bunch of criminals."


    "Then Scary Uncle~! I''ll help but give me and my lil bro a bar of chocte each~!"


    "Do you think I have those?"


    "Scary Uncle lying is bad~! Gale told me before that you have several packs being cooled inside the freezer~!"


    Mark could only p his forehead hearing that.


    ***


    Day 5 ¨C 9:14 AM ¨C South Building 1st Floor, Eastern Bacoor National High School, Queens Row Area A, Bacoor City, Cavite


    Dominador was being nursed by only medic on their group. Due to theck of medical supplies, Dominador could only grimace in pain as the bullets stuck in his arms and legs were being pulled out one by one. As for the ones in his torso, though he would not die from it, there was still the need to remove the bullets through surgery.


    Dominador''s mutation led to his body turning into something like a monkey''s which highly enhanced his arms and legs. His weakness however was his torso and head. Furthermore, it was likely that he would die if Mark managed to shoot him even once on his head which strange enough, he never did. Still, that action of Mark even made his anger rise as he felt that Mark was looking down on him.


    "Matias, gather everyone! We''ll deal with that bastard called Mark and his group! The women in his group are all for you to enjoy as long as we kill him! If the military interfere, we''ll also deal with them!"


    Amidst the pain, Dominador bellowed his orders to his right hand man.


    "Yes leader!"


    Matias replied but before he could go out of the room, one of their high ranking men barged into the room with a look of horror in his face.


    "Leader!"


    "What is going on?!"


    Matias, who was about to leave asked.


    "Sir Matias, Leader! We''re trapped!"


    Hearing that, Dominador jolted with a confused expression. Ignoring the pain, he asked.


    "What do you mean?"


    "Leader! Our exits were blocked with thick vines! Even the rooms where we are keeping the hostages were covered with vines!"


    "What are you saying? Vines? What is going on?"


    Dominador could not fathom what his subordinate was trying to say.


    However, as his subordinate stepped forward to answer.


    BANG! CRASH!


    His subordinate''s body then fell with a bloody hole behind his head after a loud sound of a gunshot and the ss on the window breaking.


    Shocked by what happened, the men inside the room tried to go out of the room.


    Then¡­


    THUMP! BOOM!


    An explosion urred by the door they were about to pass through. The people who werete to go out were flung away groaning in pain but those who were early. All perished on the spot with iplete bodies. Among the dead bodies was Matias who stood right beside the door. And now, only half of his head remained while staring at Dominador''s direction.


    Seeing what happened, Dominador, the medic and the few of Dominador''s guards were shocked.  But as if pouring salt to their wounds, they heard a mocking voice shouting from the outside.


    "Dominador! Surprised? You made the move first so you can only me yourself. Today, your kingdom will fall before you can even build its foundation!"


    THUMP! BOOM!


    "AHHH!"


    Another explosion urred outside the room which was followed by painful bellows of Dominador''s men.


    Now, all of Dominador''s anger dissipated. His face paled as he spurted blood. He was breathing too heavily that his wound on his chest and abdomen that had already stopped bleeding opened up once more.


    THUMP! BOOM!


    And another explosion echoed. Then, following the explosion, the sounds bullets raining from above sounded, drilling his men outside with holes.


    He then saw one of his close subordinates running outside the room through the window. However, before he could even seek shelter, his fell with a stter of blooding from his temple.


    Dominador''s guards could not help but swallow their own saliva as they watched what was happening outside. One of them took a peek beside the door and saw their men who wanted to escape but all of their escape routes were blocked with sturdy and thick vines.


    THUMP! BOOM!


    The armed men gathered by the blocked entrance were blown away by another explosion. Most of the ones closest to the explosion were dead with mangled bodies.


    The guard who saw that felt his knees weaken as he slumped to the floor. He looked at their leader, Dominador.


    "L-Leader our brothers were b-being ughtered¡­ Wh-what are we going to do?"


    The guard spoke with a quivering voice.


    BANG! CRASH!


    Through another window, another bullet passed through and drilled a hole on the head of the guard that had just spoken.


    Everyone was now quivering as they retreated away from the windows and closed the doors. But before all of them could do so, another bullet flew in through the broken window iming the life of another guard.


    Seeing his men being helplessly ughtered in front of him, Dominador''s eyes turned bloodshot with hisplexion very pale. Since the start his sessful career as an underground boss until now, this was the first time he made a mistake. He underestimated not only Mark''s prowess but also his viciousness.


    Propping himself up, Dominador stared at his men. Although he regretted his mistake, there was no taking it back. Still, he could not fall here. Dominador looked at the window facing the back side of the building. Using his uninjured left arm, he bashed the windows broken and started to remove the railings outside the window with his sheer strength.


    The moment he grasped the metal railing, a figure of a mannded on top of the wall in front of the window. The figure was looking at Dominador with a smile.


    However, looking at the man, Dominador felt as if he was looking at a devil. With eyes brightly glowing red and the vicious smile stered on his face, Mark stared at Dominador who froze in fear. This was the very first time Dominador felt that the reaper was grasping his neck.

 Chapter 137 The Fall Of Dominadors Faction

    Day ¨C 9:18 AM ¨C South Building 1st Floor, Eastern Bacoor National High School, Bacoor City, Cavite


    Looking at Mark standing outside the window, Dominador could not help but step back in fright. At that moment he stepped back, the red glow in Mark''s eyes intensified even more. Furthermore, since Mark was standing at the wall with the sun behind him, the red glow in his eyes was emphasized even more. Dominador and his men shuddered while watching that sight.


    "W-What do you want?! A-Are you really going to massacre all of us?"


    Gathering the remaining courage he had, Dominador bellowed.


    This bellow was then met with Mark tilting his head to the right with a look of confusion and disdain in his eyes.


    "Well, why not? In the first ce, it''s your fault alright? Imend that you''re too efficient in your moves. The moment that you heard about Captain D Rosa''s attitude towards me, you tried to meet and even invite me. If I''m correct, you want to try and get some hints and information from me. Of course, I will decline. You think, everyone is an idiot and will be scared the moment you show up with your armed men behind you? The moment I declined, if you just let it be and stopped there this wouldn''t have led to this right?"


    "You-!!"


    "What about me? There might be wrong with me but the mistake here is yours. Well, since you''re going to die anyway, let me tell you. I''m looking for a Mutator to feed my pet and you made your move. That''s really convenient for me since I don''t really make moves on people who didn''t offend me in anyway. Also, no one will open their mouths to defend you guys even if all of you criminals were to die. So, I guess, I''ll thank you for offering yourself as sacrifice."


    "PUH!"


    Dominador spewed a mouthful of blood. His injured innards quivered after hearing what Mark said. He already heard about Jte from his men and that was how they managed to trick Mara into bringing Dorothy to them and captured the two to ckmail their targets. He never thought that since the start, thetter only viewed him as nothing but food for his pet infected!


    "Dammit! Men! What are staring at him for?! SHOOT!"


    Dominador who staggered backwards saw his men who seemed to be in a trance as they stared at Mark. With his shout, he managed to snap his men from their stupor and immediately raised their guns firing at Mark outside the window.


    RATATATATATATATA!


    All of Dominador''s armed men inside the room shot several bullets to the window but the duration did not took too long. It was because at the moment they fired, they saw the man outside the window jumped back behind the wall. They could not fathom why the man did that. It was because outside that wall, was arge number of infected that always lingered the area due to their activities.


    Then¡­


    BUZZZZZZZ!


    The moment they stopped shooting, they heard a loud buzzing sound. The next thing they saw was Mark rising up above the wall with two dark brown wings moving in supersonic speed buzzing behind his back.


    To their horror, Mark aimed his sub-machinegun towards them. All of them immediately dived towards cover. Unfortunately for their injured leader¡­


    TSST! TSST! TSST! TSST! TSST! TSST!


    Dominador''s body was riddled with several new holes before falling backwards.


    With another buzz, they saw Mark flew up away from their sight.


    Seeing that the enemy left, some of them sighed in relief. Some of them along with their medic hurried towards Dominador who fell on the floor bleeding profusely. Dominador was still alive and was even conscious but his condition was too severe. He did not even have the energy to speak anymore. There was not a single movement could be observed from him while he stared at the ceiling.


    Soon, Dominador breathed hisst. Still, his eyes did not close even after his death as indignation, regret and sadness filled his mind. Several drops of tears could be seen from the corner of his eyes which dropped on the floor soon afterwards.


    Seeing the death of their leader, the men around him could not help but remorse. Dominador was their only backing and now that he was gone, even if they managed to survive their current ordeal, there was not much to expect about their future. For sure, if they did not die from being eaten by the infected, they would fell due to the wrath of the people in the settlement.


    ''Flee!''


    That word echoed in the mind of every single one of them.


    Nevertheless, it seemed that they would not even be able to choose their death.


    They were about to move out when they saw severalrge vines slithering into the doors making everyone step back in fright. The vines made their way towards Dominador''s dead body and slowly enveloped it like a mummy. The vines then dragged the body out of the room and then up to the roof of the building on the other side.


    Hearing that the gunshots had stopped and the vines did not do anything to them, everyone sighed in relief.


    PLOP! PLOP!


    They then heard several uncanny soundsing from outside. The moment they looked through the window, they saw bodiesnding in front of the building. It was as if the bodies were tossed into their ce. Some of the bodies twitched in pain afternding but soon stood up like nothing happened.


    "AHHHHHH!"


    They then heard several screamsing from their surviving brothers outside. After that, one of the bodies thrown in turned towards them and they could not help but feel goosebumps on their bodies. The people being thrown into the high schoolpound were actually infected!


    ***


    After gathering his subordinates, Captain D Rosa with his men marched towards the dwelling area of Dominador''s faction. Together with the soldiers, Ron, Nikky and the other members of Nikky''s group followed. Daniel and the other two were also looking around for Dorothy when they heard from the soldiers that the girl was safe. When they got back to join Nikky and Ron, they saw that the two were preparing to go with the soldiers to confront Dominador and his men and thus, the three tagged along.


    When they reached the entrance to the area where Dominador and his men were staying, they saw the troubled Barangay Chairwoman and City Councilor along with their men. It was because the entrance was being blocked byyers of thick vines and with the height of the vines that reached the second floor of the buildings beside the entrance, there was no way for them to pass through.


    "Ahhhh!"


    "Get away! Get away! Ahh!"


    RATATATATATA!


    "Help! I won''t do it anymore! I promise! Help me! AHHHH!"


    The soldiers and the others standing in front of the vines could not help but step back hearing loud screams, gunshots and pleas from the other side of the vines. The feelings of horror, pain and remorse infused within those screams even made the hair on their bodies stand on end.


    "Just what in the world is happening in there?"


    Councilor Reynald spoke with a grim face. They were called here by Captain D Rosa so they could finally deal with the thorn called Dominador but they could not fathom what was happening now.


    "Captain D Rosa, do you have any ideas?"


    The councilor asked.


    "I don''t have any idea either. I only know that Mark, the person we invited earlier, shed with Dominador and his men."


    "What? Then¡­"


    Though he had doubts, Councilor Reynald could not help but think that what was happening had to do with the person Captain D Rosa pointed out. If that was really the case and that person was able to do this much suffering to Dominador''s men, then no wonder that even the aloof Squad Captain looked respectful in front of him!


    Frowning, Captain D Rosa turned to his men.


    "Any of you, go climb to the second floor and see what is happening."


    The captain ordered. Nevertheless, a voice sounded from above the moment he finished his order.


    "There''s no need for that Captain."


    While everyone was searching where the voice came from, several thick vines appeared from the roof of the building making their way to the ground.


    As the scene was too surreal, everyone stepped back in fright with Ron as the exception. Given that he was together with Mark since yesterday, there was no way he would not realize who these vines came from.<sub> </sub>


    Soon, the vines formed adder on the face of the building leading towards the rooftop. Realizing that Mark wanted them to climb up, Ron went towards thedder and checked if it was safe to climb up. Since the vines were strong enough, Ron looked towards Nikky.


    "Nhie, let''s go."


    "Dhie, what''s going on?"


    Nikky approached but she still looked warily at the vines.


    "It''s not dangerous. Mark probably wanted us to climb up."


    "Mark?"


    "That''s right. Let''s go."


    Ron then climbed up thedder without hesitation.


    Seeing that her boyfriend was not even a little bit afraid of the vines, Nikky followed.


    Next were Nikky''s group mates followed by Captain D Rosa, Alderick, Joey and Irene while the rest of the soldiers were ordered to stand by. Out of curiosity, Barangay Chairwoman Kat and Councilor Reynald along with a few of their men also followed.


    Halfway thedder, they could finally see what was happening on the other side of the vines blocking the way. And to describe was they saw, was hell for the men of Dominador''s faction. There were dozens of infected inside running after the armed men. Though the men had guns with them, there was no way for them to kill all the infected chasing after them. After they killed one, another would rece it and the cycle repeated until they used up their ammunition and sumb to the grasp and bites of the infected.


    Despite the fact that the ones climbing on the vinedder was open for Dominador''s men to see, none of them spared a nce at them as everyone were busy fending off for themselves. A singlepse on their focus could easily end their struggle in the worst way.


    Reaching the rooftop, everyone was dumbfounded.


    There, the saw a man, a green haired girl, a golden dog and an oversized four horned rhinoceros beetle. They were all watching the scene below as if they were watching a movie. The two people and dog were even eating ready to eat popcorn! Looking at the four, they saw that the vines they had just climbed on were directly connected to the hair of the girl.


    To the side, they could see a roll of vines stained with blood that had the shape of a person. Nevertheless, they instinctively chose to ignore it at their main purpose there was the man eating popcorn, Mark.


    "Mark, Emika, what''s happening?"


    Ron immediately approached the two to ask what was happening.


    "You already saw while climbing right?"


    Mark said as he another piece of popcorn on his mouth.


    "We saw but¡­"


    Ron also looked troubled. Even though it was already the fifth day of the apocalypse, the scene below was just too much for him. Looking at the current Mark, it felt that he was ying with the lives of people below like it was nothing.


    It was then that the soldiers stepped forward.


    "Mark did you let those infected in?"


    Captain D Rosa asked with a frown. It could be said that it was still fine if Dominador''s men were all killed but if the infected managed to breach the settlement, it would not be a good scenario.


    "Don''t worry about that. We didn''t break any walls or opened gates to let those in. Also we just threw in enough to deal with the remaining people there. I''ll leave the cleaning of the bodies to you all but I''ll deal with the infected afterwards."


    Mark replied nonchntly making Captain D Rosa was speechless. It was then that Irene interjected.


    "Mark, what about the abducted women and children? Are they safe?"


    To her question, Mark did not speak since her was chewing on his food and just pointed to a certain direction.


    Everyone stepped closer to the edge of the roof to see what he was pointing at and saw several rooms which windows and doors were being sealed securely with thick vines. Swallowing his food, Mark spoke.


    "The women and children are there, they aren''t fine but they are alive. You soldiers can take them out after we''re done here."


    "What about Dominador?"


    Councilor Reynald could not help but ask with his usual tone to people around him. With everything that was happening below, there was no way that that monster would stay quiet.


    To his question however, Mark frowned. Though he knew this politician, there was no connection between them. To ask with a tone like Mark was one of his subordinates, who would not feel displeased.


    Hearing the councilor''s tone and seeing the displeasure on Mark''s face, Captain D Rosa could not help but speak.


    "Mark, just pardon his tone since he always speak like that."


    Captain D Rosa should mediate without fail. If not, with what happened to Dominador''s faction, it was hard to say that the faction of these couple of politicians would be able to handle him.


    On the other hand, the Chairwoman elbowed her husband''s side and urged him to apologize.


    "Right, I''m just shocked so I can''t help but raise my voice."


    Seeing that they chose topromise, Mark''s frown eased. He then spoke.


    "Emika release the vines on Dominador."


    "Hai~!"


    On Mark''smand, Emika started to move the vines away from the human shaped roll to the side. Soon enough, Dominador''s dead body was revealed for everyone to see.


    Everyone except for Ron found it inconceivable. Dominador had been a headache for their factions due to his prowess and manpower but to think that he would be done in like this. Not only that he died, even his men were still being ughtered likembs.


    After a few minutes, Mark then stood up.


    "Almost done. It''s time to eliminate the scraps."


    Under everyone''s confused eyes, Mark picked up his sniper rifle and aimed at a certain direction while crouching.


    They saw that he was aiming at a closed single room toilet beside the school building.


    BANG!


    The shot passed through the closed stic door. In a few seconds, blood seeped through the gap between the door and the floor indicating that he hit someone inside. Everyone''s eyes dted to that. This was cheating for sure! Then, it happened several times. Though there were times Mark shot a person in the open a few times, there were times that he made his shots pass through the wooden ssroom door, windows and toilets. And every time he did that, they would hear a scream filled with pain or blood seeping under the door or sshing out of the window.


    The soldiers and the people of the local government could not help but shudder to this. It just indicated that no one could hide from this man in front of them.


    Firing hisst shot, Mark stood up and stretched his body.


    "All right, time to clean up."


    Mark then made therge beetle climb on his back and without hesitation, leaped down the building making everyone gasp in fright.

 Chapter 138 The Aftermath

    Day 5 ¨C 9:27 AM ¨C 2nd Grade Building Rooftop, Queens Row Elementary School, Queens Row Area A, Bacoor City, Cavite


    Mark jumping off the roof like that made everyone tense up. Most of them hurried to the edge of the roof to what Mark wanted to do.


    BUZZZZ!!!!


    Halfway the fall, they heard a buzzing sound as the beetle tightly clutching Mark''s body pped its wings slowing his decent.


    TSST! TSST! TSST! TSST! TSST! TSST!


    As Mark descended, he started shooting the infected that were attracted to the sound of the beetle''s wings. As soon as hended, the beetle detached from his back and flew back to the roof leaving Mark to fend for himself alone facing several dozens of infected. Without a change in his expression, Mark drew his machete with his right hand and held the sub-machinegun on his left.


    Blood of the infected sshed into the air and spurted to the ground as Mark started to eliminate the infecteding to attack him. Body after body, the infected fell at a constant rate.


    CLICK! CLICK!


    Failing to keep count on his ammo, the sub-machinegun finally ran out. However, instead of retreating, he kept pacing forward as a smile started to bloom on his lips. He started running faster and faster hacking every single infected that came across him.


    During the time he killed Dominador, he made Laps throw in the infected from the outside. All in all, there should be at least thirty thrown in. Adding Dominador''s men that turned after being bitten after subtracting those he killed, there should be at least a hundred infected here now. Still, the number did not faze him but he even felt more and more exhrated as the battlested longer. The feeling was simr back then at the rooftop of the City Hall when he fought that huge woodman.


    On the roof, Captain D Rosa and the others were watching Mark with a stern expression. As he could not help it, the squad captain turned towards Nikky and Ron.


    "I heard that you two knew him before the apocalypse, am I right?"


    To the captain''s question, the two nodded.


    "I knew him since first year high school. Why do you ask?"


    p Ron said with a confused expression.</anda>


    "Can you tell me what kind of person he is before the outbreak?"


    "That''s¡­"


    Ron hesitated to answer.


    "If it''s inconvenient, then it''s fine if you don''t answer. I''m just curious because he can kill living people and the infected without batting an eyelid. I''m thinking if he had some criminal records involving killing people or at least, getting involved in fights often."


    Captain D Rosa said making the others listening nod in agreement. There was no way for a normal person to disy the behavior Mark was exhibiting.


    "Please, don''t judge our friend like that."


    Nikky interjected with a frown.


    "I didn''t mean it like that. I''m not judging him or anything. It''s just peculiar."


    Captain D Rosa tried to appease her.


    It was then that Ron spoke while shaking his head.


    "Mark¡­ He didn''t have any criminal records for sure. And for fights, it''s even more impossible. You won''t probably believe me but Mark is a timid person."


    "Timid?"


    Irene could not help but ask and then she looked at Mark below who was smiling while he ughtered the infected.


    "Yes, timid. He doesn''t like talking to people and would stay away from anyone as far as possible. Even to us, his friends, his vocabry is very limited. If he doesn''t even interact with people, how he would be involved into fights or even kill someone. For the past three years, he even shut himself away from the world only spending his time inside his house and barely going out."


    Ron replied while shrugging his shoulders.


    "That''s¡­"


    It was now time for Captain D Rosa to frown. It was because looking at Mark and his actions. How he killed the infected and wiped out Dominador''s men. There was not a tint of a timid person on him. Rather, there was only a silhouette of a blood thirsty person.


    It was then that Ron spoke once more while looking at Mark below.


    "Well, there are instances that he disys that sharp eyes and smile though."


    Hearing that, everyone looked at him urging Ron to continue.


    "Back then, I''m the one tending at my aunt''s inte caf¨¦ and Mark was a frequent customer there before he became a shut-in. When he is ying zombie survival games, war games and everything that involved killing monsters and other yers, he will start to let out that expression once he started to get too immersed in ying."


    Ron then sighed before continuing.


    "Looking at that expression of his, it makes you feel that he belong to the world of the game that he is ying than being just a yer in front of theputer. His current expression and the expression he had back then¡­ There is no doubt that it is simr. It''s as if he belongs to this chaotic world now."


    As Captain D Rosa heard Ron''s exnation, he came into a realization and pity could be seen in his face.


    "What''s wrong Captain?"


    Irene asked as she saw his expression.


    "I think, I know the answer to the question in my mind now and thought that it is a pity."


    "Pity?"


    Irene asked once more while everyone waited for his answer.


    Captain D Rosa then looked at Ron.


    "Your description of Mark coincides with what I have in mind. If I''m correct, he is simr to those people who were born for a chaotic world. They are mostly quiet people and tend to stay away from crowds. However, when chaoses that they needed to spring into action and fight for the benefit of themselves or the people around them, their potential is unleashed. Their prowess is higher thanmon people and even some of them despite living a normal life can rival a fully trained soldier. At the face of threat, instead of cowering, they can still let out a smile and the more they are cornered, the more their prowess increase."


    Looking at the bloody scene below, Captain D Rosa stared at Mark''s expression before continuing.


    "This is also why I asked if he had a record of killing someone or if he gets involved in fights often. It''s because people like those in the modern society can only be found in the military, private armed groups or criminals. People like them in the military can easily climb up ranks and criminals with the same traits tend to be slippery and notorious. By how you described Mark, it seemed that he managed to rein himself by immersing in video games. Nevertheless, the traits are simr. I heard from my son before that there are ranking in those kinds of games right? How did he fare when he started to behave like that?"


    Captain D Rosa turned towards Ron waiting for his answer.


    "When he smiled like that while ying, he''s like a rampaging madman. He starts to dominate the game room and if he was ying first person shooters, he tends to get kicked out of the room due to the very high level of skill he was disying."


    "It''s a pity right? If he''s in the military, he''ll probably have a very high rank now. Might even be higher than mine."


    Hearing that, everyone on the roof could only ept Captain D Rosa''s theory.


    While they were talking, they heard Mark shouting from below.


    "What are all of you talking about? Get down here already!"


    Jolted away from their thoughts, they saw that all the infected below were all killed already. They were too immersed about what Captain was saying that they neglected what was happening below.


    Hearing the shout, Emika started to cover her body along with Laps with vines and jumped off the edge. She and Laps slowly descended with the vines'' support. The beetle also followed suit flying towards the ground while the others were left dumbfounded on the roof. Since they were all normal people with the exception of a few Evolvers that still had no ability to descend off the rooftop like that, they could only use thedder once more.<sub> </sub>


    The vines then that blocked the entrance started moving making the soldiers and barangay police waiting below jump back in fright. When they saw that their leaders were finally going down, they all sighed in relief and watched the vines clear up the way.


    With the faction leaders on the lead, they entered the area that was once annexed by Dominador and his men. Now however, all that were left were lifeless bodies that littered the ce. Upon entering, the first thing they saw was Mark and Emika who were gathering the guns and other weapons used by the men under Dominador''s rule.


    While entering, Irene''s nose irritated due to the heavy smell of blood in the surroundings. She was a soldier in the military but the scene and smell was still too heavy for her. She then approached Mark who was putting the guns into arge basket made of green thick vines.


    "Hey, is it really necessary to wipe out all of them?"


    Irene asked while covering her nose. After all, it was not just the smell of blood, there was also the smell of rotting flesh in the air due to the number of infected. Though the infected were not really rotting, there was still the bad rot like smell being emanated from their exposed wounds.


    To Irene''s question, Mark nced at her and answered while pointing at the direction were the canteen building was located. The first floor of the building was still covered in vines however.


    "Once you enter those rooms behind the vines, you''ll sure regret that you didn''t have the opportunity to kill even a single one of these people."


    At the end of Mark''s sentence, he kicked one of the dead bodies that belonged to Dominador''s men.


    Irene was skeptical about what Mark said so she started to make her way towards the building Mark pointed at.


    "Emika, remove the vines there."


    "Hai~!"


    The vines around the canteen building receded while Irene was making her way with a few curious soldiers that followed behind her.


    However, the moment all the vines were removed and they stepped into the vicinity of the building, their eyes dted. They could smell an uncanny and disgusting smell emanating from the ce. For the male soldiers and the non-virgin female soldiers, this smell was something they knew and it sure was not a good sign as Mark already pointed out before that the missing women and children were kept into these rooms.


    Entering the room, they saw the abducted women and children. Most of them were naked while some only had dirty rags to cover their bodies. All of their eyes were dispirited and they all looked undernourished. Even worse, there were some of them that were obviously tortured while doing the act as purplish bruises and wounds were seen on their skin.


    Upon seeing that there were people entering the room, most of the women and children retreated in fright towards the furthest corner cowering in fear. They all tried to shrink their bodies as much as they could while wishing that they could not be seen. Some of the women immediately shielded the children on their backs. Still, not all were able to retreat. There are those who were conscious but could not move anymore due to the state of their bodies. And even worse, there were some who were unconscious.


    Some might think that those who were left lying on the floor were just sleeping but with all themotion that happened outside, it was impossible for them to continue sleeping.


    Captain D Rosa also stepped into the door and saw the situation inside. Clenching his fists in anger, he bellowed to his stunned subordinates.


    "All of you! Snap out of it! All the men! Get out! Call all the female personnel we had and also call for female volunteers! Get the medics and doctors here ASAP!"


    Ron, Nikky and her group also saw what was going on inside. The two women hurriedly drived the men away making them wait outside.


    Irene who was the first to enter could not help but tear up seeing the state these women and children were in. Furthermore, it was obvious that the trauma they received was too deep that they did not even realize that they were soldiers and help wasing.


    Unable to stomach what she had just saw, Irene stepped out of the room to calm herself when he heard a voice in front of her.


    "Believe me now?"


    Looking at the source of the voice, Irene shook her head.


    "It''s our fault isn''t it? As soldiers, we failed to fulfill our duties."


    Irenemented.


    "I can''t be helped."


    Captain D Rosa who had just finished ordering his subordinates interjected between Mark and Irene''s conversation. Fury was apparent on his face without a doubt.


    "Wecked both manpower and firepower to deal with these bastards. If it was even done wrongly, it''s more likely that we will find these people being used as a shield."


    Captain D Rosa then looked at Mark.


    "If it''s not for you, these people might have to suffer even longer. So we can only thank you."


    Captain D Rosa vowed his head.


    ''These two are really good soldiers.''


    Mark thought.


    "Anyway, I''m getting ammunition and guns from their armory alright?"


    "Feel free to do so. If it was within thew before the apocalypse, you can''t but f*ck thew now right?"


    Captain D Rosa cursed not being able to hold his anger any longer.


    Soon, the medics and doctors came. After realizing that they were finally saved, the women and children inside all released their emotions through tears.


    It was then that one of the doctors examining an eight year old unconscious girl shouted.


    "Captain!"


    "What''s wrong?"


    Captain D Rosa hurriedly approached.


    "This girl¡­ She''s on the verge of death."


    "That''s¡­"


    Captain D Rosa''s eyes dted.


    "She has several bone fractures on her ribcage. There were also signs of tearing in her cervix. Her sex organ was even bleeding at the moment. There are also swellings on her body indicating that she had been hit with something hard several times. Her breaths are already shallow and her temperature is already below normal. It won''t be long till she breathes herst."


    Everyone who heard the doctor could not help but feel down. The women and children were finally saved but they were veryte for this little girl.


    "Give me the records of these people. Let me check if she has rtives remaining. We should inform them."


    Captain D Rosa ordered and a stack of paper was soon given to him. There were no pictures on the papers but pencil sketches of the missing people. Still, he managed to find the urate record for the dying girl. Seeing the record, the captain shook his head.


    "What''s wrong captain?"


    Irene approached and looked at the record. She also had the same expression as the captain afterwards.


    The girl was one of the first children to have gone missing and she did not have a single rtive left. Her disappearance was only reported by the assigned caretaker of the orphaned children in the settlement.


    Then, while the twomented about the fate of the girl, someone took a peak at the paper from behind them and spoke.


    "No rtives huh¡­ In that case, can I have her?"


    Everyone who heard that looked at Mark who spoke those words.

 Chapter 139 The Evolution Experiment

    Day 5 ¨C 10:02 AM ¨C 1st Year Building, Eastern Bacoor National High School, Queens Row Area A, Bacoor City, Cavite


    "What are you saying?"


    Irene could not help but ask the moment he turned to Mark.


    "You didn''t hear me? I asked you guys if I can have her. That''s all clear, isn''t it?"


    Mark replied indifferently.


    "You-!"


    Irene felt too exasperated that she could not think of what to say anymore. They already felt guilty due to their ipetence as soldiers and even more down seeing the dying girl in front of them but all of a sudden, Mark voiced a very unreasonable request behind them.


    "Irene, calm down."


    Captain D Rosa patted Irene''s shoulder before turning to Mark.


    "Can you borate further? Though I understand that you want us to hand over this girl to you can you at least give your reason?"


    As Mark suddenly asked for a dying person, Captain D Rosa could not fathom what Mark''s goal in this was.


    Hearing the squad captain''s question, Mark held his chin between his right index finger and thumb for a moment before replying.


    "I can''t go into specifics but you can say that it''s my own research."


    "Research? Don''t tell me that you''re a scientist. I won''t believe it."


    Irene interjected.


    "I''m not a scientist alright? Anyways, I really can''t go into specifics. All I can say that I have an experiment that I want to try and that dying girl there is the first suitable subject I encountered so far."


    "Experiment?"


    Captain D Rosa frowned. It seemed that it would be hard for him to ept giving a person to be experimented upon.


    "Well, you can only say yes or no. In any case, that girl is already dying. If the experiment I wanted to tryes to a sess, there is a chance that she can keep her life and I will take her in. If it fails, there was no issue at all even if she died because of the experiment. Unless¡­ Any of you have the confidence, equipment or ability to save her."


    Mark said nonchntly making everyone listening ponder.


    Before Captain D Rosa and Irene was able to reply back to Mark, the doctor examining the girl spoke.


    "Captain, I think it''s better if you agree to this man."


    Everyone turned towards him and he continued speaking.


    "We don''t have any of the things he pointed out. We don''t have the equipment or enough medicine to keep her alive. At this rate, this girl will die. Instead of trying to ask that man about his reasons, just give him this girl and askter. Every second that you wasted reasoning with him is a second less for this girl to live. It''s not like I agree with him experimenting on another person but it''s not like we can do anything either other than watch her slowly die."


    The doctor exined.


    "I didn''t expect that there will be someone that open-minded here."


    Mark voiced.


    To his words however, the doctor shook his head.


    "It''s not being open-minded. It''s just having theck of choices to choose from."


    Hearing everything, Captain D Rosa sighed while Irene clenched her fists tightly.


    "Alright. I agree. Mark, you can do what you want with this girl. If you need something else, just say it."


    Captain D Rosa spoke with helplessness apparent in his face.


    "I don''t need anything. Just get a stretcher and bring the girl to our vehicle. I''ll do the work there. Just hurry up. I need her before she died since I have no use for a dead body. In any case that you are still reluctant to, I left quite an amount of weapons and ammunition in the armory and barely touched the food storage. You can consider those as exchange for this half dead girl."


    Hearing his indifferent voice, most of the people around tending the women and children frowned. Nevertheless, no one else questioned him.


    ***


    Carrying arge bag made of vines filled with guns and ammunition, Mark then went out soon after with two soldiers lifting a stretcher carrying the dying girl. They hurriedly made their way towards the vehicle. Behind them, Emika, Laps and the beetle followed closely. On Laps'' back was the body of Dominador that was still covered in thick vines.


    "Mark!"


    Going back to the vehicle, Mara shouted as she caught sight of Mark.


    "Nothing happened right?"


    "Yeah, nothing happened. My sister also stayed put not even moving from her seat."


    "Alright. You all of you wait here outside the car."<sub> </sub>


    Mark said to Mara and the others while beckoning the two soldiers to put the girl inside the vehicle. It seemed that these two soldiers were not aware of Jte''s circumstances they only nced at her before putting the stretcher with the girl at the floor of the vehicle.


    Hearing Mark shoo her out, Mara felt disappointed. Still, she could only turn around and leave. She had already epted that her sister was gone during the time Mark left her sister in her care. Mara tried talking to her but she only received a silent stare from her making her feel disappointed. Nevertheless, she still wanted to spend her time with her sister despite what she was now.


    While Mara had those thoughts in her mind, she heard Mark speak.


    "I''m not barring you from interacting with your sister. I just said before that you can''t take her away due to several reasons but I never said that you can''t meet her. Well, I''ll exin some of the reasons to youter since I have urgent business to do."


    Mark then turned to Emika.


    "Emika, wait here and look after Dominador''s body alright? Let''s return togetherter after I''m done."


    "Hai~! No problem!"


    Seeing that the soldiers were done, Mark then went into the vehicle and closed the door leaving the others outside.


    Mara went to sit on a concrete bench nearby. Hearing what Mark said made Mara happy. There, she realized that she had been over exaggerating things leading her to being tricked by Dominador. It even led her to betraying her friends, which made her feel ashamed.


    Emika on the other hand started ying with therge beetle happily. It was a really good trait of her to find something fun to do anywhere. Soon, Mara and Emika started talking to each other. Given the personality of the two, it was not hard for them to open up to each other.


    ***


    Inside the vehicle, after putting away the bag of weapons to the back, Mark looked at the girl whose consciousness were getting weaker for every second that passed by. He then started to take out several things from his bag and from the storage area of the vehicle. Soon, beside the girl, arge jar with floating crystals could be seen along with a pair of tongs. Beside the jar was a small bottle of yellowish thick liquid with reddish floating strands.


    Mark then kneeled beside the body of the girl. Raising his right hand with concentration, his eyes and hand started to glow with a milky white light. He then held the girl''s forehead and the white glow started to seep into her head like magic. What he was doing at the moment was trying to stabilize the waning consciousness of the girl. As the girl was unconscious, on the verge of death, both her conscious and subconscious were on the verge of dissipation.


    Since Mark could use this energy to calm down and stabilize Abbygale''s consciousness and emotions during the time she was agitated. He thought of trying it to someone on the verge of death or ona if it would work but never had the chance to do so. Though he had no expectation that it would work onatose patients, there might be possibilities on patients on the same state of the girl in front of him. Still, it he failed to stabilize her concious, there was no point to continue since even if he managed to treat her body, a living body without conciousness was no different from a dead person.


    There, he was right. Carefully monitoring the mental and emotional fluctuations of the girl, he found that the energy he was channeling was doing its work as he intended. Though the consciousness of the girl was still too weak, it was now stabilized. If he did not manage to do so, he might have jumped unto the other experiment he intended to do but since he seeded, he decided to continue with the current one.


    The girl''s breathing was still ragged and her body''s condition was still getting worse. Even if he managed to stall the dissipation of her conscious, she would still die.


    Without wasting time, he reached for the tongs and opened up the jar containing the floating crystals. He then carefully took out the newly formed pale colored crystal. During the six years he spent observing thergest crystal produce the smaller ones, he had several hypotheses and the most realistic was that the crystal was gathering some sort of substance or energy from the air and converts that energy into the smaller crystals. He came to that idea since every time the crystal produce a marble sized crystal, it would exude a bright purple light and he would start to feel some sort of strange energy entering his head and seeping into his skin. That energy might also be the reason why the infected around his house were attracted to the crystal in the first ce.


    Now that therge crystal suddenly produced an odd looking crystal, there would be no other reason for this but the outbreak and the substance present in the air at the moment should be the Mutagen. The simrities about the marble sized crystal with pale color and the crystal that was found on the huge cat back in the city hall further confirmed this theory of his. These crystals were likely to be a concentrated crystallization of Mutagen simr to the golden fruit Mikio gave his mother.


    Still, despite those ideas, theories were still theories and were needed to be proven or else, mishaps could happen if it was concluded just like that. Mark knew that therge crystal produce that deep purple crystal every year and considering the time, it was not far to conclude that therge crystal would be able to produce this pale crystal every four days since it was just four days since the apocalypse started when the crystal released that bright light.


    Considering that, he decided to try this crystal on this girl and see what effect it could bring. There were two conclusions he was expecting. One was that it could induce evolution abruptly while the other was to allow the body adapt to Mutagen and evolve in a quicker rate. If one of those two happened, it would likely be that this girl would be saved as her body would surely be able to handle her injuries after evolving. There was another thing he could think of happening but that was not the focus at the moment.


    There, Mark made the girl have contact with the pale colored crystal and see if it would get absorbed like the purple crystal with golden glow that entered his body six years ago but unfortunately, it did not. He was thinking that he could make the girl swallow the crystal but she was unconscious and there was the chance of her choking to death if this crystal was forced into her throat. Nevertheless, he had no choice but to try. He put the crystal on her mouth without making her swallow it and was about to get water. In the worst case, he would put effort to at least enforce her consciousness to make her swallow the crystal.


    However, while the crystal was inside her mouth, Mark''s eyes squinted as a pale purple bright light was emitted by the crystal. The crystal cracked several times before turning into smoke like particles that entered the girl''s throat through her breathing. Mark was surprised by it but also felt ted.


    "Now to think of it, the infected transfers their pathogen through saliva, don''t they?"


    Mark muttered as he watched the scene transpire in front of him. Thinking about it, it seemed that the crystal dematerialized aftering into contact with the girl''s saliva.


    As the crystal was now ingested, Mark decided to observe what was going to happen. However, several secondster, he started to feel that there was something missing. There was no reaction that could be seen from the girl''s body either. Observing the girl, he frowned. Though he did not know why, he could feel that there was really somethingcking.


    "Mutagen right? It affects the body reacting to circumstances and might be emotions, inducing evolution. The soldiers also said that it affects mostly children because of them being in their growth period. However not all were being affected immediately and the intensity of the effect also varies from person to person."


    Mark started to mull over what he knew as he started to feel that there was something missing at what he was doing.


    "Mutagen reacts to different things¡­ Chemicals, virus, bacteria¡­ A catalyst¡­ No¡­ Not only those¡­"


    Emika and Mikio came into his mind¡­


    "The siblings both have nt like abilities¡­ Then, the infected around the City Hall was affected by Mikio''s mutation¡­"


    Mark came to a realization and his eyes opened wide.


    "Genes! Right! Genes, DNA and the like could also be catalysts! Especially those who have special genes either foreign or not in their bodies¡­!"


    Thinking about it, it might also be the reason why there were people like him who evolved faster and stronger than the others. Everyone was infected with the Neutral Strain of Mutagen and of course, it was not only him who was doing their best to the extent of oveing their limits. Yet, why was the rate and strength of evolution different? It should be because of genes!


    Looking at the girl, the reason her body was not reacting to the crystal was likely because she did not have a strong enough gene in her body to induce her evolution!


    Thinking of that, an absurd idea hit him.


    He grabbed the clean small kitchen knife from his bag. He then, without hesitation, slit his left arm with the knife. It felt painful but not above what he could endure. Seeing the blood started to trickle, he aimed the drops of blood inside the girl''s mouth. It did not take long for his blood to stop dripping out however as his regeneration kicked in soon after. He was sure the blood that dripped into the girl''s mouth was not enough. It was the first time he felt frustrated about his absurd regeneration rate.


    One more time, he made slice on his arm. This time, the wound wasrger and more blood came out. He continued on making his blood drop into the girl''s mouth before his would closed once more. He was about to make the third slice on his arm but then, there was finally some reaction from the girl''s body. Her face started to flush red and her body temperature started to rise. It also looked like that her body was in even more pain. Still, Mark was ted. It was because that was the symptoms of someone was undergoing evolution!


    It meant that his experiment was a sess!


    At that moment however, someone jumped on him from his back pinning him down.

 Chapter 140 The Girls Recovery

    Day 5 ¨C 10:26 AM ¨C Parking Area, Queens Row Elementary School, Queens Row Area A, Bacoor City, Cavite


    Feeling the weight and the soft sensation that suddenly pressed on his back, Mark struggled hard not to fall towards the girl he had just finished experimenting on. Due to that, he had fallen side wards avoiding the little girl. When he fell, Mark felt a little pain on his right arm and right side as it hit the floor. It was then he felt a tight grasp on his left arm as it was pulled away.


    Following that, his back shivered and he felt the hair of his neck, back and arms stood on ends. He could also feel a soft and sticky sensation repeatedly touching his left arm that was pulled away.


    As he recovered from the sudden fall, he looked at his left arm that was voraciously being licked like an ice cream. And the culprit of course was no other than Jte who was left inside the vehicle all this time. Jte was tightly hugging his arm and licking the remaining blood away.


    Seeing this sight, Mark felt exasperated. It was not like he was too immersed in what he was doing but he felt no ill intent from Jte nor felt any danger in the surroundings. It just meant that Jte did not attack her but only wanted to lick off the blood that covered his arm after he sliced his skin twice. If there was really any danger, his enhanced senses should feel it but as there was none, he was caught off guard.


    Still, the feeling of your arm being licked by a woman was rather¡­


    As he started to feel somewhat weird and awkward, Mark started to pull his arm away but Jte''s grip was just too strong. He then hurriedly sat down and pushed Jte''s face away from his arm. Unlike her arm that did not budge even a centimeter, Mark easily peeled her face away. However, it seemed that she did not want to stop and struggled.


    "Jte! Stop! Bad!"


    Mark yelled with a slight red glow in his eyes.


    Hearing his voice and feeling the sudden jolt inside her mind, Jte froze and looked at Mark''s face. Seeing his angry face it seemed that Jte felt intimidated and slowly let go of Mark''s arm seemingly afraid that he would get angrier.


    Seeing her reaction, Mark was both confused and amazed. Confused because of her actions but amazed with the fact that Jte was starting to disy emotions though it was very faint. Still, though it was faint, it affected her actions too harshly as her mind was as nk as a brand new sheet of paper. Jte was mostly docile but if something ticked her consciousness off, she tended to act erratically pretty much like now. The same applied when Mark made her stay and she did, at least until she saw the remaining blood on Mark''s arm.


    Sighing, Mark looked at his arm covered with Jte''s saliva.


    "I won''t get infected like this right?"


    Thanks to his absurd regenerative ability, the cut he made on his arm left no mark at all and he was not able to cut himself for the third time as the girl''s body finally showed some reaction. As Jte''s saliva did not enter directly into his body, he was thinking if it would bring him bad repercussions.


    "Hmmm?"


    Mark noticed something and hurriedly picked up the small bottle that he prepared just in case that the first experiment failed. It was the bottle that contained a yellowish sticky liquid that had blood strands in it. The content of the bottle was actually saliva from one of the infected he killed earlier. He took a bottle of saliva as he wanted to experiment on it in the future. It was just that he did not expect for a good subject for the experiment toe too early.


    If he was not able to turn the girl into an Evolver like him, Mark might have resorted in trying to turn her into a Mutator or if that also failed, he would try to turn her into something like Jte. That was also the reason he let Jte remain inside the vehicle. He also intended to get saliva from Jte or maybe blood sample just in case.


    Comparing the contents of the bottle and the saliva on his arm, Mark frowned. The saliva on his arm obviously looked different from the content of the bottle. Jte''s saliva looked clearer and unlike the thick saliva in the bottle that almost looked like syrup, the viscosity of Jte''s saliva was thinner.


    Seeing theparison, Mark suddenly spit on his arm next to the thickest part of Jte''s saliva. It might look disgusting but Mark did not care even a tiny bit. Comparing his own saliva to Jte''s, there was not much difference aside from the reddish color on Jte''s saliva due to her licking his blood.


    "Does this mean she''s not one of the infected anymore?"


    Mark mulled as hepared the three kinds of saliva in front of him. Still, he was not that convinced with the thought. He wanted to at least confirm this but where could be find a microscope to check?


    "Wait, Emika''s uncle is a botanist so he should have some research equipment with right?"


    Thinking that, he decided to askter.


    Mark then wiped off the remaining blood and saliva on his arm with a rag before he helped Jte who was frozen beside him, not moving even an inch and made her sit back on the sofa.


    "Don''t move from there again or I''ll get angry."


    Mark said to her with a faint red glow in his eyes. Of course, he did not receive any response but the jolt on her faint consciousness was enough to tell him that she would stay put for a while.


    Turning back to the unconscious girl, Mark suddenly had a conflicting thought in his mind.


    It was true that that he only brought her because she was a perfect candidate for the experiment. Since there was a chance of failing and if any of the experiment that failed would result to the subject dying, someone who was on the verge of death was a perfect candidate. Not only that but this girl was within the effect of growth as a child which would also affect the chances of sess on the experiment. Furthermore, she had no rtives to im her which would make it easier for him to put her into his custody if the experiment was a sess.


    After all, he was not doing this for humanitarian prospects but to test how he would be able to enhance the capabilities of the people in his group and as countermeasure in case that the worst case scenarios happened. Just the value of the crystal could not be estimated and he would surely not waste it on someone he would not benefit from.


    Now however, he felt conflicted. As what he did, using his own blood as catalyst to induce the girl''s evolution, it was something he did on the spot without thinking too much about it. This was because the situation was grave and he could not bother to think about other things. Now however, the evolution was induced and using his blood as catalyst, it would sure fuse with the girl''s body.


    Now, the question here¡­


    Could this girl be considered as his kin now?


    Scratching his head, Mark started to examine the girl''s body. It might look hical seeing a fully grown unrted man intently observing an unconscious little girl''s naked body but he needed to do so. It was to see whether there were changes that could be observed that was happening on the girl''s body.


    Mark was right at this moment. There were some changes that could be observed and it was no doubt that it was something that came from his blood.


    The girl''s wounds and bruises started to heal in a rate that could be observed with the naked eye. Even the bleeding of her genitalia had already stopped. It was still bleeding before he started his experiment. The evidence of this was the red stain left on her bottom and on the stretcher.


    Touching the girl''s forehead, he found that her temperature was rather too high. Even higher that Carlo''s temperature when he was unconscious. As this could lead to the girl''s brain being fried by her fever, Mark took out some anti-fever syrup and made her ingest it with his assistance. He then proceeded to take out cold water from the refrigerator and started to wipe the girl''s body. It was not only to control her temperature but also to wipe off the filth on her body. If Mark was to be frank, the girl was rather quite smelly. He did not try to decrease the temperature of the air conditioning since it not only that it might led to a different effect but he and Jte would also get affected by the sudden drop in temperature.


    It was unfortunate that only Jte was here to watch Mark do his work. He might not have a good personality and his vocabry was limited most of the time. He also had a lot of bad aspects. One of his best qualities however was how he was meticulous in taking care of his people. As he already though in his mind that this girl was one of his people, he gently wiped her body caring not to hurt her in any way. It was simr to why he would not let the others fight too dangerous battles as long as he was around doing almost everything by himself. He did not want them to get hurt in any way.


    After cleaning her body and her temperature waned, Mark lifted the girl off from the dirty stretcher and made hery down on the nket covered sofa before covering her body with another nket. As the little girl''s condition stabilized, it was now time for Mark to get out of the vehicle. It was because he could detect some people waiting for him outside aside from Emika and Mara.


    Opening the door of the vehicle, who greeted his sight, was Captain D Rosa and Irene. Behind them were a few soldiers along with the Doctor that examined the girl. Even the Barangay Chairwoman was here but Mark could not see the City Councilor though. Ron, Nikky and her group was also missing. Probably, they already returned to where Dorothy was.


    As Mark went out, Irene immediately stepped forward.


    "How is it?"<sub> </sub>


    "You can check inside. Well, just you alright?"


    Mark nonchntly said while beckoning her to get inside the vehicle.


    Irene nodded and hurriedly went inside the vehicle while Mark stood by the side of the door.


    Captain D Rosa also wanted to follow but he restrained himself hearing what Mark said.


    Entering the vehicle, what Irene immediately though was how luxurious the vehicle was. She then turned to Jte warily since she was an infected by their intelligence report and Mark had already admitted it before. Seeing that Jte was only staring at her without moving, she proceeded to check on the girl.


    It did not take long before Irene went out of the vehicle and stared at Mark as if she wanted to dig something from his body. Her expression made everyone concerned about the girl tense up. Mark on the other hand stared back at her without backing up.


    "How did you do it?"


    Irene finally spoke.


    Mark just raised his shoulders as reply to her though. As if he was going to answer that question.


    "How is the patient?"


    The doctor who examined the girl before could not help but ask Irene. It seemed that the suspense started to kill him inside.


    Looking at the doctor and the others waiting for her answer, Irene spoke.


    "The girl is already safe. She had fever but it doesn''t seem to be something dangerous."


    Irene might not be a doctor but the girl''s condition did not need some expert to deduce.


    What she said made the people around feel relieved. But it was obvious that there were still lingering sadness inside them. Feeling the odd fluctuations, Mark could not help but ask.


    "The girl is safe now but why the long faces?"


    To his question, Captain D Rosa answered.


    "Not all the missing women and children were retrieved. When we asked the rescued women, it seems that the still missing ones had already died and were already disposed of."


    The dismayed face of the squad captain as he told that, revealed how much guilt he was feeling at this moment. It was the same for Irene and the other soldiers. Nevertheless, they could not do anything about the dead anymore.


    "By the way Captain, I want to ask something."


    Mark suddenly spoke diverting their thoughts away.


    "What is it?"


    "Do you think, I can sell or at least trade Dominador''s body to your scientists?"


    Mark said while looking at the body covered with vines in front of Emika. At first, he wanted to make Jte eat his body but considering Dominador''s transformation, Mark felt repulsed to do so. Eating that Mutator back in Firenze seemed to not only awaken a new consciousness on Jte but she also inherited his arm strength. If he made Jte eat Dominador''s brain, there would be a chance that Jte would turn into a monkey looking monster and he did not want that to happen.


    He wanted to observe Jte and wanted to see what she would end up as but he did not want to create a disgusting looking monster just because he feed her everything he could get.


    "Why did you ask?"


    Captain D Rosa voiced his question.


    "Well, I figured that your scientists might need a specimen of a sessful Mutator. As far as I know, your scientists only have those failed ones right?"


    What Mark said pushed the squad captain into thinking.


    "I''m not sure about it but I''ll ask."


    Their conversation was about to continue when a soldier came running towards them gathering their attention.


    "Captain! Captain!"


    The soldier stopped beside Captain D Rosa.


    "Calm down. What is going on? Did something happen on the radio?"


    "Yes captain."


    The soldier tried to catch his breath.


    "We were scanning for radio signals when we managed to intercept one. It came from a bandwidth being used by the local police. They said that they were from Firenze and were asking for assistance."


    The soldier then handed a small notebook to the squad captain.


    Hearing the word "Firenze", Emika suddenly stood up and Mark''s eyes squinted.

 Chapter 141 The Short Calm Before Another Storm

    Day 5 ¨C 10:48 AM ¨C Parking Area, Queens Row Elementary School, Queens Row Area A, Bacoor City, Cavite


    The sudden news sparked amotion among the people around while Captain D Rosa was reading the report passed to him by his subordinate. A tight frown could be seen on the squad captain''s forehead as he read further through the report. It was already surprising to hear about anotherrge group of people establishing their own settlement but to receive a request for assistance showed that the situation was not ideal in any way. The most pressing question however¡­


    Captain D Rosa turned towards his subordinates.


    "Who knows where this Firenze is?"


    However, none of the soldiers responded to his question and even looked towards the others waiting for an answer. Some even turned towards the Ma''am Kat, the Barangay Chairwoman who was a local and the Barangay Police with her but it seemed that they had no idea either.


    PAK!


    Mark pped his forehead as he looked at these people. Nevertheless, it was not surprising. These soldiers were not from this area in the first ce. They might know about the main routes but probably not some remote subdivision. It goes the same for the barangay chairwoman since it was unlikely for her to go on a ce out of her jurisdiction. As for the others, it could also be understood. Firenze was located at the innermost section of clusters of several private subdivisions. Furthermore, not everyone could enter that cluster without knowing anyone from the inside.


    His action immediately caught the attention of Captain D Rosa and Irene who was just in front and beside him.


    "Do you know where that ce is?"


    Irene asked.


    Looking at the two, Mark replied.


    "It''s a private townhouse subdivision in Imus, Cavite. It''s about more than a dozen kilometers from here following the roads. It''s not surprising that all of hadn''t heard about the ce since it''s a new subdivision and not really a well-known one."


    "I see. No wonder."


    Captain D Rosa propped his chin with his hand.


    "Anyway, what happened? Did the settlement there fell already?"


    Mark suddenly asked.


    "You know that there was a settlement there?"


    "Well, we do. We arrived there the other day escorting Congresswoman Lanie Vi and Police Chief Mari along with a number of survivors. The settlement was established by a Mutator within the police. We left that ce yesterday noon though. Hmmm¡­ You said, ''was''¡­ Then Firenze was overwhelmed by the infected already."


    Mark exined whileing into a realization.


    "Yes, the settlement there had already fallen. It seems that they had been attacked by thousands of infected along with gigantic insects. There were also arge number of infected animals within the horde."


    Captain D Rosa looked stern as he summarized the contents of the report.


    "You said that your group escorted Congresswoman Vi there?"


    Irene suddenly asked Mark.


    "Well yeah. What of it?"


    "I''m just surprised you did that."


    "I''m paid to do so and it''s only to escort them to that ce. It they requested to apany our group all the way here, I won''t agree. I''m searching for people and bringing arge group of people here in there is just attracting for unnecessary trouble."


    Mark shrugged his shoulders.


    "Captain, what are we going to do?"


    Irene then turned to Captain D Rosa and asked.


    "This is not a good ce to discuss that."


    Captain D Rosa did not dare to blindly decide and they needed to conduct a meeting for this.


    "By the way, where are the survivors from that ce now?"


    Mark curiously asked.


    Captain D Rosa nced at the report on his hand and replied.


    "It said that they are at Citta Italia now."


    Hearing that, Mark nodded.


    It was reasonable for them to stop by that area. As they left the gates of that ce closed, it was unlikely for it to be infested by the infected. Nevertheless, it was just a temporary stop. The wave of infected was alreadying back and it would not take long to reach that ce since Firenze was not that far from Citta Italia.


    "Then, it''s better for you and your soldiers to decide what to do as soon as possible. Also, is there any results to the people I asked for?"


    As Mark asked his question, Captain D Rosa turned to Alderick.


    "Where''s Joey?"


    "Sir, I think he''s still going around searching. Before we gathered here, I saw him and he said that the search became harder because of the gunshots. The refugees scurried around and closed the doors of the ssrooms they were using. But he said that he already found two people along with their families. They were already escorted to our building."


    "I see."


    Captain D Rosa then turned to Mark.


    "You heard him. Since the search isn''t finished yet, I''ll just inform you when it''s done. You should also check if he found the right people. In any case, we must not dy things so we have to get going."


    "Okay. By the way, I''m keeping the girl alright?"


    Hearing that, the squad captain nodded.


    "You can do what you want as long as it won''t be something against morals or we will be the ones to stop you."


    "But, experimenting on a person is already against morals right?"


    "You¡­"


    Captain D Rosa felt stifled as he could not find anything to refute that. Luckily, Irene came to back him up.


    "It might be against morals but it''s not like there''s any other choice. Most of all, you managed to save her."


    "Alright, alright. You all should go now."


    Mark started to shoo them away to Irene''s displeasure. But it was not like they had a reason to linger either.


    "Ma''am Katherine, what are your ns?"


    Captain D Rosa approached the Barangay Chairwoman and asked.<sub> </sub>


    "I''ll tell my husband about it first and then we''ll catch up with your meeting. Is that fine?"


    Chairwoman Katherine replied.


    "It''s fine. Just please, don''t take too much time."


    Captain D Rosa then turned to Mark.


    "Won''t you go together with us?"


    "I still have things to do here so all of you better go already."


    With that, the soldiers and the others finally dispersed leaving the people, who were initially here in the first ce, the two soldiers that were guarding the parking area, Mark, Emika and Mara. It was given that Laps and the beetle were also here but the two were not really people.


    "Then you Mara, what do you want to do?"


    "I¡­"


    "Well, it''s given that Ron, Nikky and Dorothy will be going with us. Since that will happen, your group will disband in case that you and the other two won''t go. So I''m giving you a choice now. You cane with us and join our group or not."


    Mara looked at Mark surprised.


    "Why?"


    "Hmm¡­ Actually, I''m a little awed to how much you tried just to be with your sister despite the fact that she''s not the sister you used to know. So, if you join us, then, I''ll give the task of taking care of J to you since we can''t really chain her now. Also Odelina, the person who was taking care of Jte already have a handful of work so it''s good to take that task from her. Well, actually, I''m also interested to what your intimate interaction with your infected sister would end up."


    Mark said while crossing his arms.


    "So what do you think?"


    "Uhmmm¡­ Can I ask my friends about this first?"


    Mara was delighted about Mark''s proposition. However, she wanted to ask the opinion of her friends first. She had already betrayed them and did not want tomit something that could be interpreted as such.


    "Well, if you say so. Actually, if you immediately epted it, I''ll probably give you a hard time even if you join us so it''s good that you didn''t."


    Hearing that, Mara''s back started to feel cold. It was good that she stuck to her conscience or else¡­


    "Just wait for us then and let''s return together. Your group should be in the military building right now."


    "They should be. I saw them hurrying back earlier."


    Mara nodded.


    Mark then went into the vehicle and searched for the bag where Odelina stored the change of clothes for Odette. He intended to borrow some clothes for the unconscious girl. As he could not just leave this girl, he would carry her back to the military quarters. Her condition was already stable anyway. Aside from her fever, there were no other things to worry about.


    Soon, he changed her clothes and lifted the girl with his left arm. He made her heady on his shoulder and her arms around his neck. With his free hand, he grabbed Jte''s arm and pulled her along out of the vehicle.


    "Mara, help me bring your sister back."


    "Is it fine?"


    "Just pull her by her arm or hand."


    Without hesitation, Mara grabbed unto Jte''s left hand. It seemed that she was really not bothered at all by the fact that her sister was already and infected.


    "Emika, let''s go. Your mother should be worried now."


    "Hai~! Oh, Scary Uncle, how about this guy?"


    Emika pointed at Dominador''s body.


    Mark pped his forehead. He should have made the soldiers bring it away with them since he was going to trade it anyway. He was surely not going to feed this guy to Jte. As he was thinking that, Mark froze. Jte seemed to be not reacting by the fact that there was a dead Mutator near her.


    "Emika, can you open a hole on the vines covering his body? A small one is fine. After making opening the hole, close it immediately alright?"


    Emika was confused by his request but still did it. He made an opening between the vinesrge enough to see Dominador''s closed eyes.


    Jte suddenly jolted. She hurriedly looked around but it seemed that the cause of that jolt suddenly vanished.


    Seeing that, Mark realized that Jte can locate dead bodies of Mutators. However, Dominador''s body was currently sealed inside the cocoon made of vines that was part of Emika''s hair. It seemed that it was blocking Jte from sensing the dead body for some unknown reason.


    Emika also saw that and realized what the Scary Uncle wanted to do. Because of that, she made the cocoon of vines even tighter but was not enough to crush Dominador''s body inside.


    "Laps, help Emika carry that. We''re going."


    "Rarf!"


    Laps energetically responded to his order.


    Soon the group returned to the ssroom where Mei and the others were waiting. Like usual, Mei was already waiting before he could be in their sight. She approached wanting a hug but seeing that he was carrying a little girl, Mei hesitated. However, Mark pulled her close with his open arm and gave her a light hug as she wanted.


    Seeing that, Arvie who was also inside the ssroom was ck jawed. During the time he entered this room, he was observing the other people inside since he knew none of them. Still, the wee was pleasant. Even though he and his wife looked dirtypared to these people who looked too clean as if they had just taken a bath earlier, it seemed that these people were not even bothered by it. Well, the couple still felt awkward though.


    The most noticeable within the group was the beautiful girl who was only staring out of the window without speaking. She was really beautiful that even his wife was in awe. He never ever thought that this beautiful girl actually had a rtionship with Mark!


    Even Nikky and the other two members of her group who were also inside the ssroom conversing with Arvie looked surprise because of the scene.


    On the other hand, Odelina and the others started to question him about the girl he was carrying. First, he told Odelina about the clothes he borrowed but the loyal servant of course had no issue with it. It was then that he started to tell them what happened from the start after Ron informed him about Dorothy''s disappearance.


    There were various emotions that rose within the crowd but the most apparent one was the little cat girl.


    "Uuuhh. Papa, you didn''t bring me with you."


    Abbygale started to sulk.


    Hearing the little girl call Mark ''Papa'' choked Arvie and Nikky even more making them look at Ron with askance. Thetter however just shrugged his shoulders to it.


    After appeasing the sulking Abbygale, Mark then continued his story towards to what happened to the girl but hid the fact about his experiment. Not everything should be told to everyone just like that. He made a lie about the girl managing to survive by bing an Evolver. It was not that hard to ept that as he also evolved in the same manner. He was on the verge of death that time after fighting the berserk Odelina when he evolved.


    The story about the girl was about to finish when they started to hear gunshotsing from the outside. The refugees that had just began to calm down due to the incident with Dominador and his men were screaming and running away once more.


    "Can''t I get even a little rest?"


    Mark sighed.

 Chapter 142 The Start Of The Storm After The Reunion Of Classmates

    Day 5 ¨C 11:09 AM ¨C 4th Grade Building, Queens Row Elementary School, Queens Row Area A, Bacoor City, Cavite


    As everyone inside the elementary school grounds and Mark started toin about taking a break himself, they heard several soldiers speaking on megaphones trying to appease the panic of the refugees.


    "Everyone! Please do not panic and calmly return to your current dwellings. There was an ongoing buildup with the number of infected outside the school premises and we are currently thinning their numbers. I repeat, please do not panic and¡­"


    The soldiers speaking on the megaphone patiently repeated what he said several times while moving around the school. That announcement eased the panic immediately but the refugees still went back to their dwellings as a precaution. After all, everything that happened these past days were unnerving for most people and the current sound of guns never did anything positive to their current state of mind.


    Mark then sighed in relief. Though the situation was not a false rm, at least it was not something that needed their help. It not like the military could not handle a few hundred infected and Mutated Infected while standing atop the walls.


    "Gege, you should rest."


    "Uhn! Papa, tired."


    Both Mei and Abbygale reprimanded Mark who suddenly reacted to the sounds of guns.


    Realizing his blunder, Mark sighed. He did not notice because of the sequence of events but his mental state was still in battle mode. Mark took a deep breath as he tried to make his mind calm down.


    "I''m fine."


    Mark patted the heads of the two.


    "Anyway, what''s the n for lunch?"


    Mark suddenly asked as he turned towards Odelina and Anna.


    "Master, we haven''t really thought of it."


    Odelina replied with an apologetic bow.


    Before Mark could ask why, Melissa spoke.


    "Everyone here was worried about you to worry about what we are going to eat for lunch you know that?"


    "I see."


    Mark nodded.


    "Then, start to prepare something light but filling. We have several new people after all. Also ready some extra."


    Odelina and Anna nodded.


    However, it seems that some people disagreed.


    "Wait, we can''t have your group handle everything alright?"


    Nikky suddenly spoke.


    "We also have our own supply so let us contribute."


    It seemed that Nikky interjected for a good reason.


    Everything then proceeded smoothly after that.


    It seemed that not only them was thinking about lunch. It was because as Odelina and the others who went out to procure the ingredients back in their vehicle and Nikky and her group''s dwelling, the people of the local government who were in charge of taking care of the refugees started to ration porridge to everyone despite the gunshots in the background.


    While waiting for the lunch to be prepared. Mark made his way with Mei and Abbygale towards another room while being led by a Joey. When they were talking about lunch, Joey, the soldier tasked with searching if the people in Mark''s list was among the refugees in the settlement stopped by to report that the search was done.


    "It''s unfortunate but among your list, we only found five people."


    Joey spoke while walking.


    "It''s fine. It''s already surprising that you found five. I won''t be surprised if you found no one at all."


    Mark replied.


    "Actually, it should be seven but it seems that you already took one and thest one was out scavenging."


    Hearing what Joey said, Mark nodded. He must be talking about Arvie. Arvie''s wife on the other hand was just a tag along. In the first ce, this was the first time he met Arvie''s wife since Mark was not informed of his wedding. Even if Mark was informed, it was less likely for him to go anyway. Just how many people would be present at that time? He would not be able to handle that for sure.


    Soon they reached the room. However, it seemed that the atmosphere inside the room was not that good. Looking through the window, Mark saw ten people, seven adults and three children. Mark shook his head as he saw the situation. It was no wonder. The present inside the ssroom were some of Mark''s closest ssmates in college and their partners. Still, the past could still affect the present after all. Not everyone had a good rtionship in the past especially when the other broke the heart of another.


    There was no confrontation happening but there were two families inside who seemed to not have any intention of interacting to the other. On the other hand, there were the other three adults who seemed to have no issues and were properly interacting with everyone. The effect of the tension was still apparent in their faces though. Among these people, Mark knew six of them and among the six, five were his former ssmates. He knew none of the children of course. After graduation, he had been too busy jumping jobs and became a shut-in making it unlikely for him to know the young ones inside.


    Mei also peeked through the window and her gaze locked at one of the females inside for some reason. Mark could not help but suddenly look at her. After all, Mei suddenly disyed cautiousness after she looked inside.


    Mark patted her head which caught her off guard.


    "Papa, papa. There are people outside."


    Mark heard a childish voice from the inside of the room. The girl was speaking to the man about the same age as Mark with tightly packed but thin looking curly hair. This girl was probably the daughter this ssmate of his.


    The girl''s voice immediately made everyone inside wary. After all, they were all brought here by the military without telling them anything specific. They were only told that was someone was looking for them and they were to bring their families along.


    Knowing that they had been found out, Mark slowily walked towards the door and showed himself.


    Seeing him, there was a bit of silence but when they looked to his face¡­


    "MARK!"


    A chorus of yells saying his name ensued.


    Scratching his head, Mark spoke.


    "Do you all have to shout that loud?"


    As it was confirmed that it was really Mark, they were surprised. The children and the mother of the girl who noticed Mark outside were in the lost though.


    Among the people inside, his former ssmates were Suzanne, a woman who was a year older than Mark but never looked old due to her short height and appearance and her husband, Loreto who was also a timid one but he had a lower levelpared to Mark''s behavior before the apocalypse. Next was Mar, the father of the girl who noticed Mark, who was close to Mark due to their hobby of ying FPS games. The other was Saime, it was her house that had been their base in their college days. Thest one was Joan, the woman Mei was being cautious of.


    As for Saime''s husband, Rodel, Mark also knew him of course. Mar''s wife, Julie Marie was lost seeing how these people and her husband was behaving after they saw the man with the scary aura around him. The children were the same. The children were Lexius, Suzanne and Loreto''s son, Prince, who were Saime and Rodel''s son, and Monique, Mar and Julie Marie''s daughter.


    Seeing that there were three families of three people here, he could not help but look at Joan. It seemed that this woman had not married yet the same as him despite the hobby this woman had. And her hobby? It was to change boyfriends like how she changed clothes. It was not like she was a slut either. It was because none of her past boyfriends were able to push her into their beds after all. That may also be the reason why she was left by them or why she left them.<sub> </sub>


    Still, why was Joan here anyway? Mark knew her since she was her ssmate but she was not in the list.


    Though the people in the room were obviously fatigued, the reunion of friends had gone smoothly. They all realized that it was Mark who gathered them here after he said that he made the soldiers look for them. Then, someone pouted.


    "Hey¡­ Why am I not included in the people you were looking for huh? If I didn''te with Suzanne, I''ll be left in the dark."


    Joan said as she approached coquettishly.


    Nevertheless, before she managed to close in to Mark, a beautiful girl blocked her path. Mei was told by Mark to stay put outside with Abbygale since she would be a distraction to the males inside for sure but it seemed that she was not able to hold herself back when she saw Joan approach Mark.


    Seeing the fairy like appearance of Mei, the people inside, with the exception of the children, froze. However, Mei was not caring about their gazes as she stared warily at Joan.


    Mark pped his forehead seeing Mei behave like this. Patting her head, Mark spoke.


    "Mei''er, calm down will you?"


    "But¡­ Gege¡­"


    "It''s fine alright?"


    "Un¡­"


    Mei retreated but did not leave anymore and stood beside Mark while grabbing Mark''s left arm with both her hands.


    Mark felt helpless to this but he did not shoo her away.


    The scene shocked everyone and even made Joan back up as she saw the hostility in Mei''s eyes.


    After that short intermission, another one started as Abbygale came in calling Mark ''Papa''. Following that, the exnation came forward stiffly. Mark told them why he searched for them as his close friends. However, it was not as smooth as his previous encounters. Since none of these people knew of Mark and his groups'' prowess, they were reluctant to leave the safety of the settlement. It seemed that it would still take them some time before they would be able to decide whether they would join Mark or not.


    At that moment that Mark was in the middle of convincing them, Mark suddenly jolted and turned towards a direction.


    "Gege, is something wrong?"


    Mei asked as Mark suddenly stopped in the middle of his sentence.


    "Mei''er, don''t you think, the gunshots are getting closer?"


    "I also think so. I was louder now."


    At that time, Joey who left Mark to speak with his friends barged in in a hurry.


    "What''s going on?"


    Mark turned towards Joey and asked,


    "It''s at the southeast side, within the high school campus."


    Joey caught his breath.


    "Hundreds of infected are climbing up the walls!"


    Hearing that, Mark''s eyes narrowed.


    "Everyone, close the doors and stay here."


    Mark then turned to Joey.


    "Let''s go."


    "Yes Sir."


    Together with Mei and Abbygale, Mark followed Joey without saying too much to the others inside the room.


    "Why does it look like that that soldier was following Mark''s orders?"


    Suzanne could not help but ask but of course, none of them coulde up with a good answer. It was different if Mark was following the orders of the soldier but it was theplete opposite.


    "No, more importantly, why does that beautiful girl hostile to me?"


    Joan spoke with doubt.


    "You know Joan, what you''re asking is not really important."


    Saime interjected.


    "But¡­"


    Joan did not want to put down the issue.


    "The question now is what we are going to do. Mark said that he want us to follow him. I know he won''t do us harm but it''s just too dangerous outside."


    Mar interjected in the conversation of the women. Due to Mark''s sudden appearance, the stagnant atmosphere inside the room was now gone. It was easier for everyone inside to converse now and they started to brainstorm about their decision.


    On the other hand, Mark brought Mei back into the room where the others were staying. They were currently cooking food using the utensils borrowed from the military and were using the broken wooden ssroom chairs and desks as firewood. It looked like that they were gathering attention though. Not only that the girls cooking were clean and above average in appearance, the smell of the food they were cooking was too appetizingpared to the porridge distributed by the volunteers.


    After bringing Mei back, Mark together with Abbygale, Laps, Nikky and her group with the exception of Ron''s younger brother, Daniel, made their way to the area were Dominador and his men annexed before. Mark never thought that he would go back here once more after annihting every single one of those criminals and it was even in a short period of time. The ce was not even fully cleaned up as many bodies from the previous encounter were still lying on the ground.


    Now however, the threat was not people but the infected that were climbing up the walls. It was good that the walls of the high school was higherpared to normal walls built around houses but it would not be long before these infected would be able to enter. No, considering the number of bodies near the wall, some of them had already made it inside. It was just the numbers were too small and the soldiers guarding the ce.


    Looking at the infected, Mark frowned. He was sure that these infected were the ones that surrounded his house before. He never thought that these guys would appear here several hours after they left them in disarray. Nevertheless, it was not the time to dawdle. If these infected made it here, it was impossible that the most dangerous one would not be here.


    PLOP! PLOP!


    As if answering his thoughts, two infected were thrown over the walls towards where the soldiers were firing from.


    Seeing that, Mark removed the sniper rifle from his shoulder and aimed.


    "I won''t let you escape again."


    Mark muttered.

 Chapter 143 The Cunning Muscled Infected

    Day 5 ¨C 11:42 AM ¨C Main Gates, Eastern Bacoor National High School, Bacoor City Cavite


    "Sh*t! What the f*ck are these infected!"


    One of the soldiers cursed as he shot the infected thatnded directly in front of him.


    "Migs! Mind yournguage!"


    The soldier who seemed to have higher rank than the soldier that cursed reprimanded.


    "I know sir but what in the world are these! They are climbing the walls and throwing infected at us!"


    "Don''t question it now! Just shoot!"


    The soldiers lined up on the elevated area in front of the guidance room and principal''s office. Some of the soldiers were positioned on the second floor ssrooms and were continuously shooting the infected outside especially the ones climbing up the walls.


    With the exception of Mark, the always calm Abbygale and the golden dog Laps, everyone else were surprised with the behavior that the infected were disying. It was then that they saw Mark hurriedly aim towards the metal railings on top of the wall.


    After Mark muttered his intention, Mark intended to shoot the only infected not trying to haphazardly climb up the wall. Rather, the infected was peeking inside looking at the position of the soldiers.


    BANG!


    The sudden deafening sound overwhelmed the sounds from the assault rifles that the soldiers were using and took their attention towards Mark who shot his sniper rifle towards the wall. The moment the soldiers turned their heads, they saw him click his tongue as his sudden shot missed with the Muscled Infected jumping back away from its previous position.


    It seemed that it detected his killing intent despite how sudden his shot was.


    The soldiers on the other hand that saw Mark felt relieved. They recognized him who was the person to wipe out Dominador''s faction that had been too much of a headache for them. Since he was here, they felt more assured. Furthermore, even the soldiers were in a state of panic right now. Even though they encountered Mutated Infected before and even nearly decimated by an Unknown, they never saw infected that were able to climb up walls. More than that, it was not only one but several hundreds.


    WOOSH! WOOSH!


    Another two infected were thrown inside. Both infected were thrown towards Mark''s direction. He prepared to dodge but before he could do so, a red shadow and a golden sh ran past his both sides towards the direction of the two bodies currently falling towards him.


    BAM! PGSHK!


    Abbygale and Laps jumped up towards the two infected. Abbygale kicked the infected to the right making it fly back towards the gates while Laps impaled the forehead of the infected to the left with her horn before throwing the body to the side.


    Seeing how the two coordinated to protect him, Mark smiled.


    However, everyone else was dumbfounded. It was a mystery for them for Mark to bring a little girl with him when he was going to a ce like these being attacked by the infected. Now however, seeing how the little girl was able to kick a full grown adult several meters away and run in fast speeds, it was no wonder he brought his daughter here!


    SWOOOSH! SWOOOSH! SWOOOSH! SWOOOSH! SWOOOSH! SWOOOSH!


    Still, it seemed that seeing Mark made the Muscled Infected go haywire as it started throwing the infected in like there was no tomorrow. Furthermore, it was throwing the infected in random directions that made everyone scatter their attention away from it.


    "Quick! Deal with the infected inside!"


    One of the soldiers shouted as one of infected that was thrown in ran towards him after it managed to stood up.


    Seeing what happened, Nikky and her group joined the fray. As their group did not have guns, they only dealt with the infected inside lessening the pressure on the soldiers. Until¡­


    SWOOOSH!


    Arge body was thrown in. Seeing that, Mark''s eyes dted. Because therge body was a body of a fully bloated Dozer!


    It was not a problem even if something was thrown in like that if it was just Mark was here but the soldiers were not in their clearest minds and were shooting everything moving that was thrown in!


    "Don''t shoot it!"


    Mark bellowed. He was notte and some soldiers heard him but of course, not everyone was able to. Several soldiers on the second floor aimed at the Dozer without thinking.


    "Gale! Everyone return! Laps! Pick up the others and retreat!"


    Mark bellowed as loud as he could and also went behind the building. The two he instructed immediately followed. Abbygale hurriedly ran towards her Papa while Laps turned her body bigger and picked up Nikky and Delia who were the nearest to the Dozer before retreating. As Mara and Maverick saw them retreating, they also followed despite not knowing the reason.


    Joey and several soldiers also retreated after they realized what that huge infected falling from the air was.


    The Dozernded on the ground and was immediately shot several times by the deranged soldiers.


    BOOM!!! CRASH!!!


    A sudden disgusting smell of methane and burnt flesh assaulted their noses as a loud explosion ensued breaking the ss of the rooms in front of the gate. Even the ss of the windows on the second floor was not spared. Several soldiers were caught in the sudden explosion. Some of them were flung away while some rolled on the floor groaning in pain.


    On the second floor, the soldiers next to the windows were also injured with the broken ss buffeting their bodies.


    The soldier nearest to the Dozer had the worst injury. His clothes and skin were burned especially on his back as he tried to run away from the sudden explosion. The others nearby also received burns on their bodies but their injuries were not as severe as the first one.


    As for Mark''s group, they were all fine due to Mark''s prompt orders.


    The remaining soldiers were dumbfounded. Hearing Mark shout made the soldiers on the first floor not shoot it meaning that the shot should havee from above!


    "Damn! What are these idiots doing! They are trying to kill their own people!"


    Maverick could not help but shout.<sub> </sub>


    SWOOSH! SWOOSH!


    It seemed that the Muscled infected outside was still not done. It continued to throw in infected over the walls and gates.


    Seeing that they did not have much leeway to idle, the remaining soldiers grouped themselves into two. The first group was to tend with the injured while the second would not stop dealing with the infected. As for the soldier who caused the catastrophe, their punishment would surely be in line after they finished dealing with this mess.


    The soldiers were barely hanging on. As the soldiers were scattered around the settlement to deal with the sudden buildup of the infected, the number of soldiers dealing with these strange infected was not enough at all. Moreover, the sneaky Muscled Infected outside kept on making the situation even worse!


    "Nikky, can your group stay here and help the soldiers? I don''t know if any of you know how to use guns but if any of you can, ask the soldiers for spare guns. They should be able to lend you guys some."


    Mark spoke as he shot another infected that was about to climb over the wall.


    "Is that fine?"


    Nikky asked.


    "It should be. If not, then tell them that it''s me who instructed you guys to."


    "Alright, but how about you? You said that my group will stay so you will leave?"


    "That''s right. We''ll deal with the sneaky bastard outside throwing the infected in. If we don''t go out, that guy will continue. If we go after that guy, we might be able to kill it or at least chase it away."


    Mark said in a serious tone. The infected neighbor of his was too troublesome to deal with. Furthermore, even though the normal infected it was throwing inside was not much of a deal, for it to throw Mutated Infected inside could be very dangerous. What happened just now was a great example of this.


    Seeing how Mark spoke like he was familiar with these strange infected, several questions popped up in their minds but none of them stepped up to ask questions. It was not the right time to do so and they could only nod to his instructions.


    As everyone came to a consensus, Mark turned towards the gate and took out a grenade. As he was holding his sniper rifle with his left hand, he held the grenade with his right and pulled the pin with his teeth. After spitting out the pin, he threw the grenade over the gate. He properly aimed a distance away as he was aware that damaging the gate or the walls would be a good idea.


    BOOM!


    The sudden explosion took the attention and raised the tension of the soldiers once more as they were afraid that another exploding infected was thrown in but when they saw Mark''s posture and where the explosion urred, they all felt relieved. They did not think that Mark would have grenades in his possession and their supply of grenades for their mission had all been used up. As for Dominador''s armory, it only contained guns and ammunition. It was not surprising since if they had explosives with them, they had already eliminated the opposing factions.


    Mark throwing the grenade fulfilled his two goals. One was to hinder the advance of the infected outside and to stop the soldiers from shooting even for a short time. If the sneaky bastard was also affected by the explosion, it would be good but it was not the case unfortunately as another body was once again thrown inside after the explosion died down.


    "Laps, full form! Gale, let''s go!"


    "Arf!"


    "Uhn!"


    Mark bellowed followed by the agreement of the two.


    With that, under the shocked eyes of everyone around, Laps'' size inted to three meters. She then lowered her body and let Mark and Abbygale climb unto her back with the golden spikes on her body as support.


    Mark readied his sniper rifle as he sat on Laps back with Abbygale sitting atop Laps'' head.


    "Lae-Lae! Go!"


    Looking excited, Abbygale shouted which was followed by the three meter dog running and jumping over the wall out into the streets.


    The moment Lapsnded, Mark aimed the sniper rifle while he looked for the Muscled Infected within the horde. The moment he saw it hiding behind another fully bloated Dozer, Mark fired.


    BANG! BOOOM!


    Mark did not fire with the Muscled Infected as target but the Dozer which immediately caused an explosion. The Muscled Infected got caught up with the explosion. Nevertheless, its injuries were too light with just a few burns and scorched marks on its body. It was because the moment Mark fired, it immediately backed up avoiding the brunt of the explosion. This mutated infected''s ability to sense threat was really top notch.


    It seemed that the appearance of Laps'' three meter form made the Muscled Infected feel threat as it stopped throwing the infected around it over the walls. It jumped back several meters away and grabbed unto a movable school zone sign and threw it towards the gigantic dog''s direction. Of course, Laps dodged the heavy sign thrown towards her. However, it seemed that the goal of the Muscled Infected was not to hit Laps but to distract her. The moment Laps jumped to dodge, the Muscled Infected started to run away.


    BANG!


    Mark tried to shoot the fleeing mutated infected but shooting from the back of the jumping Laps with a fleeing target was easier to be said than to be done.


    "Laps chase it!"


    Mark ordered.


    Laps then lunged over the infected in front of her and chased after the fleeing Muscled Infected. In the process, she knocked over dozens of infected further halting their advance into the settlement.


    Inside, Nikky''s group and the soldiers looked at the three meter golden dog as she and her two owners disappear from their sight. It was like a dream for them. They already thought that the golden horned dog was already strange but to see its body change into a three meter one was even more odd and unexpected. If not for their need to fend off the infected climbing up the walls, they would have stared at the dog with shocked expressions on their faces. Even the injured soldiers could not help but forget about the pain they were feeling due to the shock they felt.


    "Don''t waste time thinking about necessary things! The bastard that had been throwing the infected inside is being dealt with! Clear up your senses and shoot! The infected are still climbing up the walls!"


    Joey who led Mark and his group here shouted. His shout woke up the other soldiers that were overwhelmed by shock over what they had just witnessed.


    On the other hand, Nikky and her group approached Joey to borrow weapons which was immediately approved without hesitation. What they needed now was manpower and they would surely not shirk to amodate the help of a group of Evolvers.


    While Nikky''s group and the soldiers were dealing with the remaining infected outside the gates, Mark and Abbygale atop Laps'' back were intently chasing after the Muscled Infected. Nevertheless, it was hard for the big bodied Laps to catch up.


    The cunning infected jumped over walls and even roofs of houses unto the opposite street. It was hard for Laps to catch up because of herrge body. Even if she could jump over houses up to two story ones, she could not jump over anything higher. Also she could not jump unto roofs as her feet punches holes on the roofs making her paws stuck. Furthermore, unlike in private subdivisions where power lines were built higher, not only the power lines in this area were built lower, it was even poorly maintained. One careless jump and Laps could get entangled with the wires.


    However Mark could not let this infected escape. He needed to kill this infected. If possible, catch it. He needed to think of a way to do so.

 Chapter 144 The Black Cat

    Day 5 ¨C 12:01 PM ¨C Queens Joy St., Queens Row Area A, Bacoor City, Cavite


    Lapsnded in the middle of the street after jumping off the roof of another house. They were already three blocks away from the schoolpound. The current street was even the one after the street where Ron''s house was located. Still, they were still nowhere near to catching up with cunning fellow. Mark could not help but frown due to circumstances.


    In terms of speed, Laps was several times faster than the muscled infected but the current location prevented her from exhibiting her full potential. The lowered power lines, trees on the yards, uneven heights of houses, the badly maintained roofing and many more factors hindered herrge body from running faster. If this ce was the same as Citta Italia where Mark and the others first encountered Laps, there was a huge chance of catching up. Unfortunately, they were not.


    If Laps was to make her own size smaller, she could run with Abbygale and catch up but it increased the danger the two would face. In terms of running speed, both Laps and Abbygale were twice as faster and he would surelyg behind since the Muscled infected seemed to run about more than half faster than his speed. In that case, there was very little that Laps and Abbygale could do without Mark''s help andpared to the danger the two would face to confront a smart infected was not worth the risk.


    "Tsk!"


    Mark clicked his tongue as he watched the Muscled Infected run away towards the south east.


    They could still continue to run away after the muscled infected as the chance of catching up was still not zero but if it continued to run towards that direction, they would reach the former squatter''s area in this ce. If was former because thend was granted to the settlers years ago but before that, it was nothing but a ce for the penniless to build their homes. Once this infected reached that ce, there was no way for them to catch this fellow. Not only that that ce had very narrow pathways that only bicycles could enter, the ce would surely be brimming with infected.


    "Hmm?"


    Mark noticed something.


    "Laps, go to that building. Go around the building and hide on the back."


    Mark sternly said as he pointed at the four story concrete building to the southwest. It was a private school called Crest View Academy.


    Laps seemed to be confused to her owner''s order as that direction was not the direction their target was running towards. Still, she did not dally and ran towards the direction Mark pointed at. It seemed that not only Laps was confused but also the little girl who was steadily sitting on her head. Because of her Papa''s instruction, Abbygale turned her head to the back and asked.


    "Papa! We''re not going to chase that macho uncle anymore?"


    "Cough! Cough!"


    Hearing what his daughter called that Muscled Infected, he almost burst outughing. However, since he was sitting on the back of Laps who was currently running, hisugh turned into choking with his own saliva. Clearing his throat, he replied to Abbygale''s question.


    "We won''t make it even if we chase that guy. Let''s go on the roof of that building. I want to try something."


    Hearing that, Abbygale looked a bit disappointed but she did not voice anything. She knew that her Papa must be thinking of doing something.


    Laps changing course seemed to have startled the Muscled Infected. Its running speed slowed down as it watched the three meter golden dog run to a further direction. Its running became slower and slower until it came to a stop at the very entrance of the former squatter''spound. It stood unto the roof of a house at the corner of the entrance as it gazed at the golden dog that was chasing it before vanish behind the four story building.


    On the other hand, Laps did not take too long to reach the building. As per Mark''s instructions, Laps jumped onto the roof of the house behind the school building. There, Laps reduced her size back to normal as they made their way to the roof top. Even though Laps should be able to jump onto the roof in her erged form, it would surely reveal their current location to the Muscled Infected. No, not only to the Muscled Infected but also another person Mark had just detected.


    Mark noticed some faint but unusual fluctuation further ahead of the infected. As it could be something unexpected, Mark would not try to jump in without knowing anything. As that person was on the same area where the Muscled Infected was going, it would be likely for Mark''s group to be entangled with the two if they did not do the approach correctly.


    Making their way to the rooftop using the emergencydders of the school, Mark rushed into position. He looked around for a good ce to put his sniper rifle on while facing the direction where the Muscled Infected should be. Using the scope of the sniper rifle as a telescope, he immediately found the Muscled Infected. However, it was not rushing towards back the school and it did not continue on running either. Mark immediately found the Muscled Infected because he felt the mental fluctuation of the person he detected soar. That person was now entangled with the Muscled Infected in a dangerous fight.


    Mark was not surprised. The person he detected after all was not a normal person after all. Furthermore, the person''s faint mental fluctuation while having a savage emotional fluctuation gave the person''s identity right away. The person was a child who was another failed Mutator.


    In his sight, he could see the child and the muscled infected exchanging and dodging blows. Looking at the child he was surprised as he nced at Abbygale who had no clue what was happening.


    "Gale,e here. Look."


    As her Papa called her to show something that seemed to be interesting, Abbygale hurried and took a peek from the scope.


    "Wahh! A ck kitty!"


    Abbygale said while her eye was fixated at the scene several dozens of meters away.


    The child fighting with the Muscled Infected was a boy about the same age as Abbygale by his body structure. His appearance however, he looked like arge ck kitten wearing clothes. His arms and face was covered in ck fur while his hand that was bent like a w had fingernails that could truly be called ws. On his head, there was two triangr ears while on his bottom was a long bushy tail. All in all, he looked like a bipedal cat.


    The Mutator boy shed with the Muscled Infected without fear due to the savage consciousness taking over his body. He was moving fast though it could not bepared to Abbygale''s speed for sure. Looking at the fight it seemed that the Muscled Infected did not regard the boy as threat at all. The Muscled Infected was even overpowering the ck cat boy.


    The boy swiped his ws several times while charging and lunging towards the Muscled Infected but none of his attacks managed to connect. Rather, there were several times that the boy was punched rolling several times on the roof. Finally, the boy was defeated. The boy was unable to stand anymore. Though the savage consciousness was still active, the body seemed to have lost any energy to obey the will of that consciousness.


    The Muscled Infected seemed be gleeful for the delicious meal that suddenly appeared in front of it. It grabbed the boy''s right arm and pulled the boy up. The boy tried to struggle but he was not able to. The Muscled Infected moved the boy closer to its face and opened its mouth intending to bite the boy''s neck.


    BANG! SPLAT!


    The Muscle Infected''s head exploded scattering blood and brain matter in the immediate vicinity. Even the helpless child was showered with blood. As the body of the infected fell down, the grasp on the child was unfastened making him fell hard on the roof. The flowing blood started to flow down the slope roof before dripping unto the roof gutter.


    Due to the existence of the Mutator child, the Muscled Infectedpletely forgot about Mark''s existence. Furthermore, with the distance between the Muscled Infected and Mark, it was no surprised that it did not notice.<sub> </sub>


    However, that shot did note too easily. Mark had to wait for the Muscled Infected to stop moving and even moved his position several times to find an angle that would not harm the boy at all. The boy had not fully turned yet and could be a good asset. Still, he would admit it. He took advantage of the boy to take the attention of the cunning Muscled Infected. It was better for him to do so than have a macho stalker that could be lurking behind them without them knowing. Just the thought could make anyone shudder even if it was before the apocalypse.


    "Laps, full form again! Jump down the building and rush towards those two!"


    Hearing the order, Laps'' body inted once more before letting Mark and Abbygale on her back. Laps jumped several meters down denting the roof of the house where shended with a loud sound. Then she rushed towards the direction the two fell.


    Soon, Mark reached the roof and saw the weakened child and sat in front of the boy. The boy was weak and even shivering. sping his arm and pinching it a little, Mark now knew why the boy lost. It seemed that it was just recently that the boy was bitten but at the time he was bitten, he seemed to be malnourished. However, aside from the blood that sttered on the boy''s clothes, the clothes seemed to be clean too.


    Looking at another aspect, Mark sighed in relief. The boy had not fully turned yet. As a child, Mark had a hard time urately pinpointing the state of the boy''s original consciousness. Touching the boy''s head however made him sure that the main consciousness had not been fully snuffed yet. Still, it was close. Probably, if Mark did not see the boy in at least an hour or two, he would finally turn into an existence the military called Unknown.


    Unknowns were creatures that could not be determined whether they were high mutation infected or a failed Mutator. It was due to the simrities of the two turning into something else that could not be determined thus giving them the name. If this boy was to be left as it was, it would likely that he would turn into a beastman type of unknown. Still, he looked cute as a cat though.


    Mark then looked at Abbygale with a helpless smile.


    "Here, here. Don''t get angry. We won''t hurt you."


    Abbygale was gently patting the head of the boy who was savagely ring at her without any care. Furthermore, it looked like that the little girl found a wild pet on the street forgetting the fact that she was a kitten too.


    "Rarf!"


    Laps who already turned back to her normal size suddenly barked as she called Mark''s attention.


    "What is it Laps?"


    Mark approached. In front of Laps was the sttered brain of the Muscled Infected. Strangely however, there was nail shaped stone. It was not a crystal but really looked like a pebble. The peculiar thing about the pebble though was that Mark felt some sort of energying from it after Mark picked it up.


    "Is this simr to that violet crystal from the huge cat before?"


    Mark pondered.


    Suddenly, Mark looked towards the south east. He felt several peopleing. It seemed that they were riding a vehicle considering the speed they were traveling. Noticing the mental fluctuation of the two people among those iing people, Mark got aplicated look on his face.


    "Gale, time''s up for that. There are peopleing. We should wee them I think."


    Mark let out a bitter smile while he grabbed the body of the weakened feral boy.


    "Why Papa?"


    Abbygale asked in confusion. Considering the almost five days they spent together, she knew that her Papa was not the type of person to wee strangers.


    "We have to return something that is not ours after all."


    Mark answered but his answer just made Abbygale even more confused.


    With Mark in the lead, they passed over the gate that intersected the former squatter''spound, Queens Row Area A and the Came North Subdivision where they passed through before arriving at this area several hours earlier.


    The three waited for a bit while Mark tightly grasped the weakened boy dangling his short arms at his side.


    Soon, a ck van that had many dents on its exterior stopped not far away from them. Eight people went out of the vehicle but two of those people were intently staring at the cat boy on Mark''s arms. The two were a woman that looked younger than Mark and a man that seemed to be the same age. The people who came out of the car were staring warily at Mark.Some of them were holding guns while some were holding melee weapons.


    The woman tried to walk towards Mark but the man held her shoulder holding her back.


    "Harvey, let me go. I can handle myself!"


    The woman removed the man''s hand from her shoulder.


    "Monique, calm down."


    The man intently stopped her.


    "Jester is there! Why should I calm down?"


    Hearing the conversation of the two, Mark bitterly smiled.


    That was right. These pair of cautious man and worried woman was the parents of this feral cat boy.

 Chapter 145 A Fateful Meeting

    Day 5 ¨C 12:13 PM ¨C Silver St., Came Springville North, Molino III, Bacoor City, Cavite


    The sun was high up as it was just several minutes past noon but the temperature was not too hot. Strange enough, the number of infected in the area was small. There might be different reasons for this but it worked well to the advantage of everyone here. At this moment, Mark together with Abbygale and Laps stood in front of the parents of the boy weakly struggling on his side.


    While the husband and wife who seemed to be called Harvey and Monique respectively were arguing, Mark watched them with bewilderment. Not wanting to watch their drama, Mark decided to speak.


    "Ahem, can you two continue thatter? Not only we''re wasting time here but the voices of you two will alert the infected if there were some hiding around."


    Hearing that, the two stopped but the husband continued to look at Mark with caution while the wife had her eyes look at her son before turning to Mark with a bewildered gaze. Strange enough, when the husband was about to speak, the wife stopped him and stepped forward. It seemed that the wife wanted to handle things.


    On the other hand, Mark sighed as he watched the careful actions of the others. Was he really that scary? He came here to return their son who surely escaped but why were they so cautious?


    Surprisingly, it seemed that the woman saw through his actions.


    "You''re all waiting for us am I right?"


    Monique spoke with confidence though Mark did not know where her confidence wasing from. Still, since she asked, Mark decided to honestly answer.


    "We do."


    "Why?"


    Harvey interjected with bewilderment. Then, he saw Monique ring at him making him step back. As Harvey and the others behind were cautious towards the person holding her son, it would not be good to make them speak. What if due to their nervousness, they spoke something unnecessary? They were here to look for her escaped son and not to seek death.


    Seemingly reading the actions of the woman, Mark nodded. In this group, she was the most rational even though she was the most worried about her own son.


    However, before Monique could speak again, Mark started to step forward making the crowd with the exception of Monique, be on guard.


    "Monique, get behind me."


    Harvey spoke once more just to receive another re from his wife.


    "Shut up."


    Monique spoke and then, opposite to what the others did, she started to walk forward.


    Soon, Mark and Monique were facing each other.


    "Here."


    Mark handed the boy without hesitation under the bewildered gazes of everyone. The mother hurriedly took the weakened boy into her embrace. The boy struggled and even his ws partly dug into the arm of his mother. The mother did not seem to mind the pain. She was just happy to get her son back. She thought that they would lose him forever.


    "How did you know? And why?"


    Monique looked up to Mark and asked.


    "Just a hunch. As for why, you can say that I own that boy a little."


    Mark replied. Of course he could not tell her that he could make out the simrities of their mental fluctuation to the boy which allowed him to know that they were the boy''s parents. As for owing the boy, it was not wrong. If the boy was not around, the Muscled Infected would surely escape and there would be no one to distract the enemy while they made their way to a good ce to snipe the infected.


    "Owe?"


    Monique stared at him with bewilderment. Her son had already turned like this, an uncontrolled savage monster. How could this man owe his son?


    It was then that Mark spoke.


    "Are you sure that you''re keeping him even with that condition? He might be weak now but once he''s taken over by his mutation, he can''t be saved anymore. When that happens, all of you will die."


    Hearing that, he pupils of Monique shrunk. Though she did not know if what Mark said was true or not, it was not impossible for that to happen.


    Seeing that his wife and the man were properly conversing, Harvey finally rxed. The man in front of them felt somewhat eerie and dangerous but to think that he was just here to return their missing son. He felt ashamed but he decided to step forward to his wife''s side. He then took a handkerchief from his pocket and gently removed the ws that dug into his wife''s arm and wiped the blood off from her skin.


    After the ws and the blood were taken off, the small scratch marks that were visible started to close up and soon vanished. With the wounds gone, the only thing left was her smooth skin.


    Seeing the scene in front of him, Mark did not look surprised. He was not the only person who had regenerative abilities. Odelina''s children also had it. The only difference was that his ability to regenerate his wounds was more absurd. As for this woman, her ability should be a bit higher than Odelina''s children but way below him.


    "You don''t seem to be surprised."


    Monique looked at Mark with askance.


    "I''ve seen a lot if you ask me. Well, you should think about what I said first."


    Mark shrugged his shoulders. There was no reason for him to show his hands to strangers.


    "I don''t know if what you are saying is true but¡­"


    Monique replied as she looked at her struggling son with sadness.


    "About one hour or two, that boy will start killing you all."


    Mark said without emotions. He decided to inform them but of course, that resulted to the remorse of the woman intensifying.


    "Is what you said true?"


    With sadness apparent in his eyes, Harvey asked which Mark nodded to.


    At that moment, Monique realized something and she suddenly turned towards Mark.


    "Wait. You said that my son can''t be saved anymore if he fully mutated. It means that there is a way to save my son, right?!"


    Monique almost lunged towards Mark which made him step back. Harvey hurriedly pulled his wife from behind.


    "Monique calm down. Calm down!"


    Mark looked at Harvey with sympathy. Having a wife like this with intelligence but extremely sharp mood swings, his situation would probably be harder than surviving alone in this apocalypse.<sub> </sub>


    "But!-"


    Monique was about to retort her husband but she was interrupted.


    BANG!!!


    The men together with Monique and Harvey open fired towards the iing infected. The infected wereing from the direction were their vehicle came from. The infected probablygged behind but since they stopped here, the infected managed to catch up.


    "Harvey! Monique! Hurry up!"


    One of the men bellowed as he shot his revolver pistol.


    Seeing what was happening Monique turned towards Mark with hurry but he had already stepped several steps back calling for Abbygale and Laps toe over.


    "Wait! You know how to save my son right?"


    Monique shouted.


    "This is not a good ce to discuss that. Follow this dog. There''s a survivor settlement not far from here managed by the military and the local government officials."


    Mark replied.


    Hearing that there was a survivor settlement nearby, not only Harvey but also the other people with them looked ted. However, why the dog?


    "But my son¡­"


    Monique still wanted to plead but Mark shut her down.


    "Just bear with your son for now. There''s still more or less an hour or two before he fully mutates. As I said, hurry and follow this dog."


    Mark said to Monique before turning to Laps.


    "Laps, full form!"


    With that cue, the golden dog inted back to her three meter size under the shocked faces of everyone. Mark then helped Abbygale up her back but he did not ride on her back.


    He then turned towards everyone behind who was staring at the three meter tall dog with their mouths agape.


    "What are you all staring like that for? Are you all following or not?"


    Mark felt exasperated. With everything that happened after the apocalypse, Mark had seen an over twenty meter tall tree, a house cat asrge as a fully grown lion, several kinds of strange mutated infected and several kinds of Mutators. What was wrong with a three meter tall dog for everyone to have the same reaction?


    If the people behind knew what he was thinking, they would surely say that he was the weird one.


    After hearing his shout, the group below scurried towards their van. Monique tightly hugged her son to prevent him from iling around. Harvey jumped into the driver''s seat and started to drive the vehicle after everyone came aboard. Everyone was still shocked by the appearance of the three meter golden dog but they could only trust this stranger they met. He had an eerie and dangerous vibe but it seemed that he was not bad after all.


    While watching their actions, Mark noticed something. The van was big and it had three passenger entrances. Still, with the exception of the husband and wife that went to the front seats, all the others went into the back entrance as if they were avoiding the seats directly behind the front seats. It was strange because it was unlikely not only for this group but for everyone to put baggage in the middle seats of the vehicle. It just meant that they were carrying something that was enough for those capable people to avoid. Nevertheless, it was not the time to mull about those things.


    "Papa, you''re noting?"


    Abbygale asked.


    "Not yet. I have to get something first. You ride there on Laps and get back to the settlement. Is that clear?"


    "But, Papa¡­"


    "It''s fine. I''ll follow immediately. Papa is strong right?"


    "Um!"


    Abbygale finally consented.


    "Laps, you lead this people to the settlement safely."


    "RARF!"


    Laps replied with a deafening bark.


    It was now time to leave. More infected were alerted because of the gunshots and were now hurrying towards this ce. With Mark''s order, Laps started to run leading the van away towards the settlement with Abbygale waving towards her Papa.


    The people in the van seemed to be bewildered why Mark stayed behind but since Mark already instructed them, they drove following Laps.


    Mark waved at Abbygale for a bit before jumping towards the way where they came from. Actually, it was a shorter route if Laps used the same route they took to get here but the street here between Came Springville North and Queens Row Area A was blocked by a permanently closed gate that only allowed people to pass by and not vehicles.


    He stopped at one of the roofs and grabbed the radio on his waist. He should inform the others about Laps and Abbygale returning or they might be battered with holes if they return like that. After all, who would not get scared to see a three meter dog running towards the settlement? He immediately called unto Mei and informed her of what happened and where he was right now. While on the radio, Mark could hear Mei talking to Odelina. After saying goodbye, he went to start his current business.


    As he was now alone, it would be easier for him to do some disgusting work. He was familiar with the area since this was the ce where he spent more than fourteen school years of his life and thus, he was familiar where the grocery stores were located. Finding the nearest one that seemed to be ransacked already, he tried to find some jars no matter it were stic or ss.


    After eliminating several infected, he finally found an empty stic jar used for mint candies. He brought the jar and returned to the roof where the Muscled Infected had fallen.


    Then, using a spoon, he scooped that brain matter that sttered on the roof and even scooped the remaining brain matter and fluid in the Muscled Infected''s skull. This was really a disgusting work. If not for the need and thirst for knowledge about the infected, he would not bring this away. If there was a chance, he would try to experiment with it in the future.


    Mark was not sure whether it was just the brain that was important but he just took reference to what Jte did before. Back at Firenze, despite the ability of the gangster having superhuman strength in his arms, Jte only ate the brain and nothing else and yet, she seemed to have gained the same strength in her arms now. Still, he would not make Jte consume this brain. She was his very precious specimen. He did not want to turn her into a muscle-hypertrophic monster either.


    After storing everything he could recover from the Muscle Infected''s brain matter and brain juice, he closed the jar and decided to leave. He was really not interested with the headless macho body on the roof and also felt disgusted to carry it around.


    Soon he went back to the high school area and saw that the battle was over and the soldiers were already cleaning up. However, he did not stop by and alert the cleaning soldiers and hurriedly made his way towards the elementary school to meet up with Abbygale and Laps by jumping unto the roofs of the ssrooms and buildings. Considering the distance and speed of the travel, they should have arrived already.


    He soon arrived and it seemed that they were safely led inside. The van was already parked beside their vehicle but the people had not left he vehicle yet. It seemed that they were waiting for him. With them was not only Abbygale and Laps but also Mei, Odelina and for some reason, Captain D Rosa.


    ''What did he want now?''


    Mark mused as he jumped off the roof of the building, grabbing onto the railings on the second floor and jumped down to the ground.

 Chapter 146 A Sudden Twist

    Day ¨C 12:48 PM ¨C Parking Area, Queens Row Elementary School, Queens Row Area A, Bacoor City, Cavite


    While everyone else was waiting at the parking area, Odelina noticed that Mei was staring up at the roof of the building. Knowing the meaning of her behavior, Odelina imitated her and watched the area where Mei was staring at. What the two did bewildered the others and even made Captain D Rosa think how Mark''s group was filled with unfathomable people. Not long however, at the area of the roof where Mei and Odelina were staring at, the man they were waiting for, Mark, appeared.


    After Mark scaled down the building, Mei hurriedly approached him.


    "Gege, you took too long. We have a problem."


    Mei grumbled but worry was apparent on her eyes. She then whispered a few things to him making him frown as he swept his eyes at the people in front of him.


    Mark then patted her head.


    "It''s fine. I''ll handle it."


    Mei''s eyes squinted because of his patting but she also felt relieved at the same time. Even though her Gege called on the radio to tell what happened, he was stillte. After the call, more than half hour had already passed. She wanted to call Mark herself but decided not to. Mark also told her not to call when he was outside as it would be a distraction if he was in the middle of something dangerous. Furthermore, due to some circumstances, things had gottenplicated now.


    After that, it was Abbygale''s turn. The little girl went towards her Papa and demanded to be carried on his arms.


    Mark consented immediately to this as there was no issue with a small request like this. If Mark was dirty, he might not agree but he was careful not to dirty himself as he did his disgusting work earlier.


    The three approached the people waiting and Odelina immediately bowed like what most servants do. On the other hand, Laps sat beside Odelina like a loyal guard dog.


    Seeing this disy, Harvey and the men on his group were had their lips twitching. Monique on the other hand approached Mark carrying her son who was still struggling in her embrace. It could be seen that her arm was stained with blood as the ws of his son dug and scratched her skin bit it seemed that it did not matter to her. Despite the pain, she still kept her tight embrace on her son, not letting little boy go.


    Seeing her approach, Mark signaled her to wait stopping her from her tracks. Mark then faced Captain D Rosa.


    "Why are you here?"


    Mark asked with a frown. Though Mei had already informed him of what was happening, Mark wanted to hear it from the squad captain''s mouth.


    To Mark''s tone that was not even a little bit respectful, Captain D Rosa did not mind.


    "I know that my intention will be an uncouth one so I will apologize in advance. Still, I have to ask."


    Captain D Rosa looked at Mark with a stern face.


    "I heard from this woman that you have a way to save her son. If I''m correct, this little boy is a Failed Mutator. Do you really have a way to do so? I tried to ask thesedies but they won''t answer."


    When the ck van arrived led by a three meter dog and a five year old girl riding on the dogs back, he was alerted by the soldiers on guard. It was then that he was also informed that the women from Mark''s group went to let the neers in. He had already heard the report about the golden dog which gave him whole new level of shock and when he saw the three meter golden dog outside the gates, he could not help but rub his eyes even though he already received the report.


    Since the dog belonged to Mark''s group and his daughter was the one riding on the dog''s back, the two were let in with the ck van. After they arrived at the parking lot however, a woman who was tightly carrying a bipedal kitten about the size of a four year old took the squad captain''s attention. After asking intently about the kitten that was actually a boy, the mother''s tongue slipped their intention in this ce was revealed to the squad captain.


    After confirming that the boy was a Failed Mutator, he knew the severity of the situation. It was no doubt that these people met Mark to be led back by his daughter and pet dog. The most serious thing however was that it seemed that Mark imed to have a way to save this boy that turned feral.


    When Captain D Rosa heard that, he immediately looked around if anyone else heard what the woman said. Fortunately, he did not bring too many soldiers with him and they were told to wait further away. He then dismissed the soldiers back to their works and stayed to wait for Mark.


    He tried to inquire Odelina, Mei and Abbygale about the truth but he did not get any answer from them. Odelina only apologized and said that his question was inappropriate for her to answer. Abbygale would only stare at him without saying anything while he could not even approach Mei as she would step back for every step forward he made.


    Mark looked at the Captain with a frown before turning towards Monique. Monique''s countenance paled. Because of her excitement and worry along with the vehement questioning of the soldier in front of her, her tongue slipped. When Monique saw what happened afterwards, she and her husband knew that she made a grave blunder.


    She wanted to approach Mark first to apologize as soon as she could but Mark stopped her from being able to do so. Still, even though she knew that he made a wrong thing, Mark was her only hope for her child. Even if she had to kneel in apology and grovel on his feet for him to save her son, she would do it without hesitation.


    Mark''s eyes then fell on the boy. Though weakened, the boy was trying his best to struggle free. It was strange however that the boy was trying to flee rather than trying to kill his mother. To Mark however, it showed that there was still a part of the boy''s consciousness preventing himself to attack Monique.


    Mulling over those things, Mark nodded. It seemed that this boy was worth saving after all. But Mark would surely not do it for free though.


    Mark then turned back to Captain D Rosa who was staring at him waiting for an answer. With a cold face, Mark spoke.


    "That question could cost your life you know that?"


    "That means you really¡­"


    Captain D Rosa''s voice trailed off.


    "That''s right. If several conditions are met, I can."


    Mark admitted it.


    Hearing Mark''s reply, a sudden burst of agitation enveloped the squad captain''s mind that it even surprised Mark.


    Before Mark could say anything, Captain D Rosa plopped on his knees in front of Mark. Hope could be seen in his eyes as he stared at Mark.


    "I implore you. Save my son!"


    Captain D Rosa said as he bowed towards Mark''s foot.


    Everyone was dumbfounded due to the sudden twist. Luckily, no one was around to see what was happening aside from the people who really should be here. If the soldiers under the squad captain were to see this, their jaws would probably fall to the ground in shock.<sub> </sub>


    Mark however, frowned. As therge part of the school fell inside his detection range, he did not detect any Mutator aside from Dominador earlier and even now. So, where was this son that he was talking about?


    As if knowing what he was thinking, Captain D Rosa rose his body by he still knelt on the concrete parking. He then started to narrate what happened.


    "Another squad will be arriving sooner orter and my son was one of the soldiers assigned to the squad. We received a radio transmission just now that my son had been bitten on his hand. As we knew about the existence of Mutators, it was a protocol for us soldiers to not kill a person bitten immediately but observe first what changes would happen. If the soldier turned into an infected, they would be executed but if it turned out that the soldier turned into a Mutator, they will be sent back to Bay City. It would be fine for the Sessful Mutators but the Failed once would be tranquilized and sent back for scientific studies."


    It was not hard for Mark to imagine the situation. Captain D Rosa''s son became a Failed Mutator and if left alone, he would be nothing but a savage beast that attacks everything on sight.


    "So, if I could really save your son, what can you give me?"


    Mark asked. He was not a saint. Everything shoulde with a price. For the little boy in Monique''s embrace, he would not give them a too high price since he also owed the kid for what happened earlier but the squad captain was different. Mark owed him nothing and they were also the one who needed his group''s help.


    "That''s¡­"


    The squad captain was stumped. Mark and his group surely had no need for weapons at the moment and they also had no urgent need for supplies either. Well, it was not like they had much extra in their supply that he could take.


    Seeing this, Mark started to give suggestions.


    "If your son met the conditions, I can save him but I have several requests to you in exchange. I know that you don''t have anything to pay me so you can''t say no to these requests or else, not only that I won''t do anything to help your son, you will also die here."


    Mark spoke with his eyes that were coldly staring at the squad captain. Captain D Rosa on the other hand could not help but feel that his stare was peering into his heart for some reason he could not understand.


    The others who were watching with the exception of Mei, Abbygale, Odelina and Laps could not help but shiver at what he said apanied with that look in his eyes and the dangerous vibe he was exuding.


    ''I knew it! This guy is dangerous!''


    Harvey thought by the side.


    "What requests?"


    Captain D Rosa asked.


    "First, no one else should know that I have a way to save Failed Mutators. Not even your closest kin. What you know, you''ll carry it to your grave. That doesn''t only apply to you but also your son."


    Mark said sternly.


    Hearing that, Captain D Rosa could only nod. Even though he was an upright soldier, he was now begging for his son. Being upright did not apply when your only family was in the brink of danger. Even if what Mark could do could benefit mankind, if it was known to the trashes in the government and military, it was likely that trouble woulde to Mark and his group.


    Mark then turned towards Monique and her group.


    "That also applies to all of you."


    Seeing Mark turn to them and say those words, everyone on Monique''s group nodded like broken toys. The world was already ending and they survived the onught of the infected with great difficulty, they did not want to die just because of being a bbermouth.


    Turning back to the squad captain, Mark continued.


    "Second, I want you to pledge allegiance."


    "What?"


    Captain D Rosa was stumped once more.


    "Don''t worry, I won''t tell you to betray your duty or something. I just want you to be around when we need support especially once we arrive at Bay City."


    It was a way for Mark to gain more backing. Even though there was General Perez who was grateful for him, Mark was sure that he was tied up with his duties in the Bay City. Someone with a high rank but lower position that the general was a good candidate and Captain D Rosa was not a perfect one but a good example.


    "Is that all?"


    Captain D Rosa sighed in relief. He thought that Mark would make him betray the general or something simr to that.


    "There is a third one. This would be a disgusting thing but I want you to tell your subordinates to search for the brains of mutated infected they kill if they can find stones like this one."


    Mark showed the general the stone Laps found that still reeked of blood.


    It was strange stone and Mark''s third was also a strange one of if that was all, the squad captain could agree to it.


    "That''s all. Also, you should stand up now. If you failed to keep any of what I just said especially the first one, you can kiss goodbye to the world, I warn you."


    Mark said with an insidious stare. Though Mark did that, he knew that the soldier in front of him was not afraid at all. Why? It was because Captain D Rosa had no n to renege on this deal. Mark could feel how resolute his emotions was.


    He then turned towards Monique. It was now time to do what he needed to do and also ask forpensation. Even doctors from the government always ask for payment, how could not he?


    But then, when he turned around, he saw Harvey rummaging at the dashboardpartment of their vehicle. When Harvey walked out of their car once more, he was clutching a nail sized pebble simr to what Mark had just taken out.


    However, Mark also noticed one thing. As Harvey was searching on the dashboard, the door of the vehicle was widely open. At the passenger seat on the second row of the car, an infected girl was idly sitting.

 Chapter 147 Treating The Boy That Turned Into A Cat

    Day 5 ¨C 12:54 PM ¨C Parking Area, Queens Row Elementary School, Queens Row Area A, Bacoor City, Cavite


    "Is this the same as that one?"


    Harvey hurriedly showed the nail sized pebble that he had just taken to Mark. As Mark asked the soldier in front of them for something like this, it could be given to him in exchange for saving his son. He was still afraid of Mark but considering that he had given his conditions to the soldier in advance, it meant that he was really able to save his son that had gone feral.


    Mark took the pebble from Harvey and nodded. He could feel the same energying from the new pebble and it was no doubt that it was simr.


    "Where did you get this?"


    Mark asked the parents.


    "We got it from the zombie cat that bit our son and daughter. The cat looked normal except that it had a lot of metal sticks sticking out of his body. It managed to slip into our housest night and bit my children. Out of rage, my wife bashed the cat''s head too hard that the brain sttered and this stone flew towards to the wall. We thought that this stone is normal at first but Monique said that she can feel some sort of energy from it."


    Harvey narrated how they came to find this odd pebble while also revealing other things.


    Hearing the narration, Mark came to realize. It seemed that not only him but other Evolvers could feel this energy. Also Harvey had just mentioned that his son and daughter were bitten. If his son was here and became a Mutator, the sister could either be dead or the infected that was currently sitting inside their vehicle.


    "Your daughter is that infected inside the van am I right?"


    Mark asked once more causing the color on the face of the husband and wife fade. They did a lot of work using makeup and even putting sunsses on their daughter so no one would realize that she was infected but how did this man know? Looking at the others except from the people that belong to their group, they did not seem to realize even though the door was wide open when Harvey was searching for that strange pebble.


    Hearing Mark, the others were also shocked. What they saw there was a girl about nine or ten years old sitting quietly. It was strange that the girl was wearing sses but they never thought that the girl was actually infected!


    Harvey and Monique might be able to fool others but not Mark. Mark could detect mental and emotional fluctuations from people and he did not detect anyone inside the vehicle. Yet, there was someone sitting on the passenger seat. There were only two kinds of people that Mark could not detect those fluctuations from. First was dead people and the other was the infected. Since the girl was sitting there and was moving slightly, there was no doubt that she was not a corpse which could only mean that she was an infected.


    Under Mark''s scary stare, Harvey''s weak will copsed and he stammered as he admitted it.


    "Y-yes. She''s our daughter. I- We know that it''s not good to bring her after she became a zombie but please, spare her! She doesn''t attack people!"


    Mark''s eyes shone after Harvey admitted that their daughter turned out to be something like Jte. Though it was really not hard to see since the infected girl was not gagged or tied in any way but was not behaving like those blood-thirsty infected outside.


    Seeing how the two paled after their daughter''s condition was revealed, Mark shook his head.


    "You two shouldn''t worry about your daughter. I also have an infected in the simr conditions as your daughter. If you can let me examine herter and give me this stone, I''ll assure that I''ll save your son."


    Mark beamed with a smile. This was really a good thing. Mark was having a dilemma about how he would be able to research what happened to Jte since there was no one topare her to but this family came this time with a girl with the same conditions. His enthusiasm red inside as new knowledge about the infected could now be revealed.


    When Mark said that they should not worry about their daughter, the felt relived but also surprised that their daughter was not the only one who turned to be like this after turning into an infected. Still, they could not help but hesitate when Mark asked permission to examine their daughter.


    "What kind of examination are you talking about?"


    Monique asked.


    "Nothing much. I''ll justpare her conditions to the infected we had. Also I won''t hide it since you will see it anyway but the one we had started to lose the infected traits she had."


    Mark spoke deciding to reveal some facts that even Captain D Rosa''s eyes dted.


    The squad captain never thought that the infected Jte looked like that despite being an infected was actually her losing her infected traits. As he looked at Mark and his group, Captain D Rosa was being more and more mystified. He would probably believe it if Mark said that he had more knowledge about the infected that the scientists in Bay City had not discovered yet.


    "You mean¡­ Our daughter can also be saved?"


    Monique''s eyes shone with hope but she was bound to be disappointed as Mark shook his head.


    "You can''t say that it''s save. Once a person turned into an infected, there''s no going back."


    What Mark said disappointed the two but at least it seemed that Mark had no ideas to desecrate the body of their daughter. The husband and wife stared at each other before Harvey nodded.


    "Okay, we agree for you to examine our daughter. Just promise us that you won''t do anything uneptable to her."


    There was still a hint of hesitation but Monique spoke her agreement. But then, they almost fell down when Mark replied.


    "You two have to say many things but it''s not like you two can''t disagree. Or else, you two will lose your son you know that?"


    Mark shrugged his shoulders after informing that others that Monique and Harvey had no choice but to agree to his request. There was no other leeway to it. Even Captain D Rosa looked desperate after Mark admitted that he could do something about Failed Mutators which meant that even the military or the government had no way to help. Only Mark had the way to do it, and maybe, not only in this country but in the whole world.


    Mark then put Abbygale down beside him and spoke to Monique once more.


    "Alright, give me your son."


    On Mark''s cue, Monique carefully handed her son to Mark.


    RRRIIIIIPPPP!!!


    A ripping sound of clothes echoed followed by a ssh of blood.


    After Monique let go of her son, the boy immediately retaliated. Mark''s arm was sliced by the boy''s right hand w ripping the sleeve of Mark''s jacket and causing three gashes on his arm.<sub> </sub>


    Everyone was surprised to the sudden event making Harvey and Monique''s faces pale once more. Their benefactor was actually attacked by their son that he was about to treat. If this man suddenly back out because of this, they were doomed. However, the next line of the man made them ck jawed.


    "Ugh. My jacket is ruined again."


    Mark looked at the ripped left sleeve of his jacket as he grabbed both of the boy''s arms with his right hand preventing the boy from doing another attack.


    Looking at Mark who was worrying about the wrong thing, even Captain D Rosa could not find anything to say. The wound on Mark''s arm was about a centimeter deep and about half the circumference of his arm long with blood gushing out of it that several drops even fell on the ground. Yet, the person with the wound was even more worried about his ruined jacket.


    But then under their shocked eyes, the wounds gaping wounds closed at a fast rate. Looking at this, Monique realized why Mark was not surprised about her regenerative ability. It was actually because he also had the same ability and several times higher than hers in terms of speed.


    Ignoring the expression of the people around, Mark spoke.


    "Mei, Odel, help me with this one. Hmm. Gale you also get inside. Laps, guard outside the car and don''t let anyone disturb us."


    With those words, Mark brought the boy into the MB Sprinter before Mei, Odelina and Abbygale followed suit. After the door closed, Laps sat in front of the door like a guard while ncing at everyone around.


    Inside the vehicle, Mark made Odelina hold the boy down on the floor. Odelina covered her arms with her bone gauntlet to prevent the boy from swiping his ws toward her arms to escape.


    On the other hand, Mark put down his things and removed his jacket. It was quite ufortable as his sleeve was soaked with his blood. After he removed his jacket, Mei approached with a handkerchief and gently wiped the blood on his arm.


    "Odel, hold him for a bit longer, I''ll just remove a few things out of my bag."


    "Yes, master."


    Mark then took out the jar containing the broken pieces of brain matter. Seeing the jar, Odelina was a bit disgusted but she did not say anything. Mark then took out the bag where he stored the jar containing the crystals and intended to put the new jar into the same bag. It was not like that he was trying to do something with it but he was putting anything he had strange into the same bag. Actually, the strange seed and crystal he received from Mikio was in the same bag too in a different pocket being safely covered with a soft cloth.


    Taking out another soft cloth, he put the two strange pebbles into the folded cloth and put it beside the jar for now. He would arrange these thingster. Right now, it was urgent to deal with the savage consciousness of the boy first as his original consciousness was getting weaker and weaker.


    The boy struggled wanting to escape but with Odelina''s grasp, it was not able to. Using the same method he did with Laps, Mark started to work after nting his left palm on the boy''s fluffy head. Intense red glow exuded from his eyes suppressing the new consciousness. He then used his right hand that was now glowing white and nourished the original consciousness. Soon the boy stopped struggling while his thick cat fur started to regress into his body.


    Mark finally let go but his face was a little pale and there were drops of blooding out of his nose halfway the treatment. Dealing with a Failed Mutator was still taxing but at least, he could pull it off now more easily. It was just a bit time consuming. Mei hurriedly wiped the blooding out of his nose with worry on her face. Seeing her worry, Mark assured her that he was fine before looking at the boy who was about to wake up.


    Now, the boy lying on the floor was not covered with fur anymore. He really looked like a normal four or five year old boy. Well, if not for the two ck triangr ears on his head. It seemed that the boy also have the same side effect of mutation simr to Emika''s hair and Mikio''s bark like skin.


    After the bleeding of his nose stopped, he scooped the boy up and went out of the vehicle.


    The people outside were all worried about the result. They had been waiting for more than fifteen minutes already after Mark brought the boy inside the vehicle. Harvey was even pacing back and forth not being able to stay put. Monique could not tolerate Harvey''s pacing for too long and forced her husband to sit down inside their van.


    A few secondster, the door opened and Mark came out carrying the boy. Seeing boy in Mark''s arms, Monique''s eyes started tear up. The boy he was carrying pretty much look normal now and a lot different from how the boy looked like fifteen minutes earlier.


    Monique hurriedly took the boy from Mark''s arms and hugged her son lovingly with a joy filled smile. Due to her tight hug, the boy was woken up.


    "Mama it hurts."


    Hearing that, Monique panicked.


    "Where does it hurt?"


    "Mama, your hug. Too tight."


    "Ah!"


    Monique then loosened her hug on her son. Still she could not help but look at the triangr ears on and looked at Mark in askance. Then, as she stared at Mark, she also noticed how pale the color of his face was and became apologetic.


    Seeing her stare, Mark spoke.


    "I can''t do anything about the ears. That''s probably permanent now."


    Hearing that, Monique and Harvey that had just approached did not bother anymore. At least their son was back to them and was not some feral monster anymore.


    "Thank you very much."


    The husband and wife said almost at the same time. It was apparent how much they view this as a huge debt.


    epting their gratitude, Mark turned towards the squad captain who also waited for the result.


    "Captain, can you give these people some ce to stay, preferably, near the ssroom we are using now."


    "There''s no problem with that. I''ll have it arranged immediately."


    After that, Captain D Rosa personally escorted the new group towards the military quarters leaving Mark and the others who intended to stay for a bit.


    However, the moment Mark turned around to the car, a sh of bright light red making Mark hurriedly enter and close the door of the vehicle with the others. Inside they saw the jar containing the crystals shining brightly.

 Chapter 148 The Mysterious Crystals Strange Phenomena

    Day 5 ¨C 01:22 PM ¨C Parking Area, Queens Row Elementary School, Queens Row Area A, Bacoor City, Cavite


    Inside the vehicle, everyone''s eyes were staring at the double terminated crystal inside the jar that was exuding bright light for an unknown reason. Even the golden dog, Laps was not an exception and was also staring at the jar.


    After the several seconds the crystal exuded that bright light, the light started to wane and brighten at a constant interval as if it was arge bulb within a series of Christmas lights.


    Looking at the sight, Mark was truly confused. Along the six years that he had observed these crystals, this was the very first time he had seen it behave this way. There were times that thergest crystal would release a blinding ray of light and that was the time that it would produce a new marble sized crystal with a deep purple color. However, as he thought yesterday when he saw that bright lighting out of his house, this was not the time yet for another deep purple crystal to be formed. The current ray of light too was also way weaker than yesterday.


    Moreover, during the formation of a new crystal, the double terminated one would exude light continuously until the process of forming the new crystal was done. It never waned and glowed at a fix interval like what they were seeing now.


    Mark cautiously approached the part of the seat where the bag containing the jar of crystal was ced. During the past years, Mark knew that the crystal was harmless but he was now in doubt as the crystal seemed to reveal new and unknown traits after the apocalypsemenced.


    While Mark was approaching however, he froze. It was because he could hear a faint buzzing sound that was alsoing from the same bag. He hastened his approach and looked for the source of the buzzing sound and saw the cloth where he put the two nail sized pebbles he obtained. When he took out the cloth from the bag, he felt that the two pebbles were faintly vibrating.


    He opened the folded cloth and took out the two pebbles and he could feel the vibration much stronger. Furthermore, he could feel the strange energying from the pebbles were in disarray.


    "Gege, what is happening?"


    Mei asked in confusion.


    "I don''t know either but it seems that the crystal and these pebbles are¡­ How should I say it¡­ showing resonance."


    Mark said as he could feel the vibrationing from the pebbles stronger when the light on the double terminated crystal was brighter.


    Not only that. Mark could feel some attraction between the crystal and the pebbles. It was like the pebbles were being pulled towards the crystal albeit the force was weak.


    Mark set one of the pebbles down on the sofa. There everyone saw that the pebble was being moved towards the crystal''s direction due to the vibration. It was as if the double terminated crystal inside the jar was trying to pull the pebble towards it.


    Using what they had seen and what Mark felt, he drew an idea in his mind.


    He grabbed the pebble on the sofa once more together with the other pebble on his left hand and used his free hand to take the cover off the jar where the crystals reside in. After the jar was opened, the double terminated crystal flew out of the jar. Since the mouth of the jar was arge as the body, the other smaller crystals that were circling around therger one flew out together with it.


    The crystals floated in ce about three feet from the floor and stayed there but after Mark let the crystals out, he could feel the tugging on the pebbles grow stronger. Then, without hesitation, he made the pebbles on his hand touch thergest crystal.


    The two pebbles were absorbed by the double terminated crystal under their surprised faces.


    SHHIIINNNGG!!!!


    All of them heard a ringing sound in their ears as they all turned their faces away from the crystal. The crystal exuded a very bright blinding light. It was too bright that it felt that it would burn away their sense of sight. Mark also turned his face away and covered his eyes but an excited expression was apparent on his face. It was because this bright light was the sign that the double terminated crystal was forming a new crystal!


    One second, three seconds, ten seconds¡­


    Fifteen seconds passed and the bright light finally started to wane. It seemed that the duration was longer than the previous instances. Everyone looked at the floating crystals when they could finally endure the light and there, an additional marble sized crystal floating along with the already existing ones. The new one was obvious as it had the same appearance as the one Mark fed the dying girl earlier. Furthermore, the new crystal was also exuding a faint glow around it.


    When the light on the double terminated crystal finally dimmed, they saw the double terminated crystal eject the two pebbles. The two pebbles started to fall unto the floor but before hitting the floor of the vehicle, the two pebbles started to disintegrate into nothingness. Not even dust or pieces were left from the pebbles as if the two pebbles were erased from existence.


    Seeing the new crystal, Mark was excited. Now, they found a way to mass produce those crystals and it would surely lead to everyone in his group gaining abilities as Evolvers. Still, Mark doubt that it would be easy. He had not confirmed yet whether there would be pebbles inside the head of every mutated infected. It was more likely that these pebbles could only be found on infected with more advanced mutations like the Muscled Infected.


    The double terminated had already turned back to its normal state yet, Mark felt strange. It was because the new crystal was still glowing like a light bulb.


    CREAK! CREAK! CREAK!


    It was not over yet. They all heard creaking noises making everyone move back on their seats. They immediately found the source of the creaking sound and it wasing from that jar of brain matter that Mark had just collected earlier. The stic jar was shaking as if the contents wanted to escape from the jar. For every second that passed, the shaking started to get more and more intense.


    Seeing that, Mark hurriedly stepped forward and took the jar down to the floor. He then rotated the cover of the jar off. From there, the bloody smell permeated inside the vehicle but the shaking of the jar stopped. Surprisingly, the new crystal glowed brighter and flew towards the stic jar. The new crystal stopped above opening of the jar and stayed there without moving. What they saw next was the brain matter inside the stic jar started to dry up even though it was being soaked with both brain fluid and blood.


    The process was slow that everyone started to feel that it was safe. They then started to surround the crystal above the jar watching it with confusion. As they were closer, they could see that there was some sort of distortion in the air above the jar. The distortion wasing from the jar and was covering the glowing crystal.


    After about ten minutes, the brain matter inside the jar fully dried up looking like something charred despite the remaining brain juice and blood inside the jar. The glowing crystal started to dim and lost its ability to float. Mark hurriedly grabbed the crystal using the cloth on his hand not letting it plunge into the jar filled with filth.


    Mark held the crystal in his cloth covered hand in a manner that everyone was able to see it. The new marble sized crystal had the same color as the one he gave to the dying girl, a clear crystal with a pale shade of purple. The difference about it however, there was now a flesh colored glowing orb at the center of the crystal.


    "Master, it looks simr to the crystal with red glow you are keeping."


    Odelina could not help but remark.


    To the servant''s remark, Mark could only nod. He also noticed the simrities. The only difference was the color of the crystal and the color of the glow inside it.


    While observing the new crystal, several thoughts came into Mark''s mind. He remembered the purple crystal with a golden glow that entered his body six years ago. He never knew what the difference with it was and that was the reason he kept the remaining crystal with red glow separate and more secure. He put inside the ss bottle and put the bottle inside the bag that was always by his side.<sub> </sub>


    Still, he never managed to find out what the difference was even now and what the other deep purple crystals remaining could do.


    This however was different. The pale purple crystal could help with the evolution and he had already tested it. The question now however was what the difference was this crystal had now from the previous one.


    Mark looked at the marble sized crystal in his hand, then towards the several crystals floating by their side. A lot of questions filled his mind.


    What was thess crystals?


    What could these crystals really do?


    How was it linked to the Mutagen that caused the current apocalypse?


    Why was it able to create crystals that could help evolve people?


    How was it able to absorb the energy within those pebbles that were found inside the brain of the mutated infected?


    And there was a lot more questions in his mind. Nevertheless, more than half of these questions were something that was likely to be unanswered no matter what.


    Regarding the new crystal, Mark had a few hunches. Jte came after the brains of the Mutators and she gained the ability of the Mutator whose brain she had eaten. It meant that the ability or the core of the abilities the Mutators had was in their brains. That was why he thought of taking this brain matter from the remains of the Muscled Infected due to its peculiarities. Seeing that dried up brain matter inside the stic jar, there was no doubt that the crystal in his hand drew something from the brain matter which resulted to the changes on the new crystal and the brain matter.


    Mark''s head felt like it was going to explode due to his fatigue and due to too many thoughts he was having right at this moment. His already pale face that had yet to recover had started to loose even more color and his eyes started to look lethargic.


    "Gege."


    Mei beside him called unto him.


    "Hmm?"


    Mark turned to her and saw her eyes filled with worry.


    "Gege should stop thinking about it too much. You look too tired."


    Hearing that, Mark smiled and ruffled her hair. That was right, he felt tired. Since two o''clock in the morning, he was already awake, preparing before he started running about. Even though he was good at not sleeping for too long and was still fine, it was because he always sat in front of hisputer all day long before the apocalypse.


    Today however, the activities he had done since the early in the day until this moment could equal to his activities for two almost two weeks before the outbreak.


    Still, he could not help but feel the thirst to know what was going on with the crystals despite his fatigue.


    Seeing that he was being stubborn, Mei frowned. She grabbed the cloth with the new crystal on Mark''s hand and let moved the crystal in her hand in line with the older crystals. Mei felt relieved as she saw the new crystal float around with the others. She then lifted the ss jar on the sofa and caught the floating crystals into the jar with Odelina''s help. The two then put the jar containing the crystals back into the bag and zipped it closed.


    Looking at the two, Mark smiled bitterly but his smile also contained warmness. Although what she did was a little rude, he could not get angry as she did that due to worrying about him. With that, he gave up. He would just study the crystals at ater time and in a more suitable situation.


    When Mei looked back at her Gege, she saw that smile of his and her eyes lit up for some reason.


    "Master, how about this?"


    Odelina asked pointing at the stic jar on the floor.


    "Can you throw it away? I don''t think that it have any value anymore."


    Mark replied.


    "Yes, no problem, Master."


    Odelina then closed the stic jar and went out of the vehicle.


    When Odelina returned after throwing the jar out of the settlement, she opened the vehicle and spoke.


    "Master do you want to eat first¡­."


    Odelina''s voice trailed off.


    Inside the vehicle, she saw Mei looking at her with her index finger on her lips to signal Odelina to stay quiet.


    Odelina then retreated outside with a smile together with Laps and Abbygale and slowly closed the door.


    Mei was left inside the vehicle with Mark who was now deeply sleeping on the sofa with his head on herp.

 Chapter 149 The Events Happening Linked To The Person Currenly Sleeping

    Day 5 ¨C 2:11 PM ¨C 4th Grade Building, Queens Row Elementary School, Queens Row Area A, Bacoor City, Cavite


    Staff Sergeant Irene McCarran was currently in charge of supervising a certain area at the first floor of the building at the moment. The area consisted of three ssrooms that were now filled with people. Even though it was filled with people, the atmosphere was more of a funeral.


    Doctors came in and out to the ssrooms while the other soldiers were maintaining the order of the people.


    Inside the ssrooms were the women and children that were saved from Dominador''s faction. The families and rtives of the saved people were informed and were all invited here to check. Some of the people who came were happy that they finally received news about their missing rtives. However, after seeing the current state of the women and children, their happiness was doused with grief, anger and pity.


    Those emotions were already the lightest as those people who did not find their missing rtives among the women and children frantically asked the soldiers. After knowing what happened to those who were missing, some fell on their knees on the spot as if their soul was taken out of their bodies. The stronger willed ones managed to go out of the ssrooms before releasing theirment elsewhere. The worst case was the old mother whose youngest daughter was missing who went fell into cardiac arrest after knowing why her missing daughter was not among the saved women and children. These events caused more work for the doctors, nurses and medics.


    Furthermore, that was not all. Some of the women and children received trauma because of the incident rendering their minds unstable. A few of the women could not be talked to and were only staring at nothing while some of the children were even afraid of being around their own fathers.


    Unable endure the boiling feelings in her heart and mind, Irene stepped out of the ssroom leaving her assistant to deal with her work for a bit. She had her own worries at the moment as she had just received the news from Captain D Rosa that his son who was her childhood friend had been bitten and turned into a Failed Mutator. Every time that it came to her mind, her eyes started to fog. It was obvious that she had lost her childhood friend forever.


    As a soldier, it was expected for them to lose their close friends,rades and even their own life in battle. Nevertheless, it would still hurt no matter how much they expected it. They were human that had feelings and not mechanical robots after all.


    She walked on the hallway aimlessly, she saw Captain D Rosa whoseplexion had gotten better. After he received that news about his son, his face paled because of his loss. His current countenance made Irene somewhat surprised. Captain D Rosa also saw her and with that, a happy smile was stered in his face. The squad captain knew Irene since she was a child and she was very close to his son since childhood that they looked like siblings. He knew how much she felt after the news of what happened to his son was ryed to her.


    Now however, they had hope for his son. Though he would not tell how or who would be able to save his son, Captain D Rosa could at least tell Irene that his son could be saved. At first, even though he begged Mark when he admitted that he could save the Boy that became a Failed Mutator, he was still a bit skeptical. That ultimately changed after he saw how the boy turned out after the boy went under Mark''s hands.


    ***


    Day 5 ¨C 2:15 PM ¨C Main Gates, Queens Row Elementary School, Queens Row Area A, Bacoor City, Cavite


    A gray colored armored cash transport car entered the gates. The vehicle however, did not go towards the parking area but parked in front of the 5th grade building to the west side of the school that was being used as dwellings for the refugees. The doors opened and five armed men carrying guns and melee weapons went out of the vehicle.


    When the back doors of the vehicle opened, several boxes of food and beverages could be seen lined up inside. Several refugees saw that but none of them tried to approach the vehicle. Though they seem to know these people, no one wanted to try and take advantage of these armed men.


    One of the men separated from the others and went into one of the ssrooms. The man was average in height and had a fairplexion. His face was rather good looking. He entered the ssroom with a smile. After he entered however, his eyes dted. There, the two people who he was going to look for, his brother and sister inw, was not in the ssroom that they were supposed to stay in. Even their things were missing.


    He hurriedly left the ssroom and went towards another ssroom on the second floor fearing that his girlfriend was not there either. To his relief, he found her eating a in rice porridge that was rationed to the refugees. It was not surprising that she had not finished her food as she received itte. With therge number of refugees, not everyone could start eating at the same time.


    Seeing his poor girlfriend eating some low quality food, the man broke into bitter smile as he entered the room. When he stepped into the ssroom, the woman saw him immediately and cried out.


    "Jason!"


    The woman hurriedly stood up leaving her food on the floor and embraced the man.


    "Grace, is everything alright?"


    Jason asked his beloved girlfriend.


    "It''s fine. It''s just there were somemotion earlier and you returnedte, so I got worried."


    "Sorry about that. We ran into some trouble."


    Jason caressed the back of Grace.


    "By the way, where are Big Brother and Sister-inw?"


    "They were taken in by the soldiers?"


    Grace replied.


    "Taken in?"


    Jason could not help but frown.


    Seeing that frown, Grace hurriedly exined.


    "Don''t think too much. It''s like this. Big Brother said that several friends of his and yours came. It seemed that they have connections with the military. The female soldier that took them said that the living conditions here were too poor so they will be relocated to the military building."


    Hearing that exnation made Jason feel relieved. He though that it as something dangerous.


    "They left you here alone?"


    "Ah, no."


    Grace shook her head and continued.


    "I told them that I''ll stay to wait for you first because you might get worried if all of us suddenly disappeared from here."


    That made Jason smile as he tightened his embrace with his girlfriend before releasing her.


    "Want something better to eat?"


    Jason asked which made Grace subconsciously nod.


    From his backpack, Jason took out several cans of food. It might just be process food but it tasted way better than in salted porridge rationed by the local government volunteers.


    As the two ate, Jason asked.


    "Did they mention who asked brother and sister-inw to be relocated?"


    "Yes. Your brother said that it was Mark and Ron."


    Hearing those names, Jason was surprised.<sub> </sub>


    ***


    Day 5 ¨C 2:14 PM ¨C 6th Grade Building, Queens Row Elementary School, Queens Row Area A, Bacoor City, Cavite


    Councilor Reynald Pbrica and Barangay Chairwoman Katherine Pbrica were talking after they had finished their lunch.


    "Are we really leaving this ce?"


    Chairwoman Kat asked her husband.


    "It''s decided."


    City Councilor Reynald nodded.


    The councilor had just returned from his meeting with the military squad captain about half an hour ago. Since it was inappropriate to discuss these things over the meal, they had just started talking about what the result of the meeting was.


    "ording to the information they got from Madam Lanie''s group that is currently residing in Citta Italia, there was a veryrge horde of infected that was likely to reach this ce in a day or two at most. The numbers should be several thousands and there was no way for us to resist that number."


    Captain Pbrica narrated with a stern face.


    "What are the ns now?"


    "Captain D Rosa asked us to gather enough vehicles and gasoline to transport the refugees as soon as possible. His men would also do the same. After another military squad that would arrive here this afternoon reached this ce and we gathered enough vehicles, we would leave tomorrow morning in the earliest and tomorrow afternoon in thetest. After that, we will join up with the survivors and police with Madam Lanie in Citta Italia before continuing towards Bay City."


    Chairwoman Kat frowned.


    "Tomorrow¡­That early?"


    "Yes, we can''t dy since if that horde reaches this ce before we could leave, we could only pray for our survival that time."


    ***


    Day 5 ¨C 2:16 PM ¨C 4th Grade Building, Queens Row Elementary School, Queens Row Area A, Bacoor City, Cavite


    Odelina had just entered the ssroom with Abbygale and Laps garnering the attention of the people inside.


    "Where are boss and Mei?"


    Melissa could not help but ask as the two were not with the three who had just returned.


    "Master is resting back there in the car. The young miss is taking care of Master."


    Odelina replied. She then noticed that there were several unfamiliar people and children within the ssroom.


    "Who are they?"


    Hearing Odelina''s question, Charmaine answered.


    "They are big brother''s friends and ssmates."


    Charm was not unfamiliar with these people. They all attended the same school and it was Saime''s house where they always spent their idle time after sses. The school at that time had fewer students and Mark''s ss that only had sixteen people in their fourth year stood out.


    Right now, Carlo was even chatting with Saime''s husband, Rodel. On the other side, Ron and Nikky were sharing stories with Arvie and his wife.


    Because of the new people in the ssroom, it became a little noisier. Nevertheless, the atmosphere was good as if this ce was detached from the outside that was filled with danger and death.


    ***


    Day 5 ¨C 5:30 PM ¨C Fruto Santos Ave., Las Pi?as, Metro Man


    The ce was totally devoid of people and only the infected could be seen everywhere. On the road, vehicles that crashed into one another and unto the walls weremon along with the blockage of abandoned vehicles.


    STOMP! STOMP!


    Loud steps could be heard that even the infected aimlessly wandering the area were alerted.


    TAM! CRASH!


    The loud steps stopped for a bit before a passenger van that was blocking the road suddenly flew two meters in the air and several meters away crashing unto more vehicles before stopping. The loud sound of the impact that pushed the van away and the crash was deafening.


    There, the cause of the sudden crash was seen.


    A monster that was even taller than a single story house. It looked like a human if not for the metal junk like shell covering its skin. The width of its body was about two meters with an oversized head like shaped like a frogs.Its mouth was toorge that it probably made out one third of its body. Under the metal junk shell, its skin was very rough and had a lot of warts like a frogs but each wart was actually covered with metal. The color of its skin was reddish as if stating how much metal content it had in its body.


    The huge infected walked around seemingly looking for something. Soon, it stopped by a makeshift house made out of metal roofing. It grabbed one of the rusted metal sheets from the wall of the house.


    CREAK! CRUNCH!


    The infected tore the metal sheet into half before shoving the torn metal sheet into its mouth. It repeated the same action over and over until it consumed all of the rusted metal sheets thatposed the abandoned makeshift house.


    It left the remains of the house and continued walking looking for something.


    Without any reason, the infected monster looked far towards the south.


    Mark woke up gasping and covered in cold sweat.

 Chapter 150 The Premonition

    Day 5- 5:31 PM ¨C Parking Area, Queens Row Elementary School, Queens Row Area A, Bacoor City, Cavite


    ''This is the second time.''


    Mark inhaled deeply as he tried to slow down his fast beating heart.


    "Gege, are you ok?"


    Mei''s voice echoed from above him. Mark woke up gasping and covered in cold sweat that made Mei who was watching over him surprised and worried.


    As he was nkly staring at the air while trying to calm down, he did not realize that Mei was looking straight at him from above. Feeling her soft thighs beneath his head, he realized that he was still sleeping on herp. It was fortunate that he was not the type of person who suddenly sits up after waking from a nightmare or else, it would not be surprising if he identally bumped his head on Mei''s.


    "Gege?"


    Mei called out once more as Mark did not respond though she realized that he was now staring at her face. There was a faint blush on her cheeks but it was overwhelmed by the worry apparent on her face.


    "I''m fine."


    Mark finally responded as he slowly propped his body and sat beside Mei on the sofa. Still, he did not realize that his eyebrows were tightly creased.


    ''It looks like that we can''t escape it.''


    He thought as worry filled his mind.


    "Gege, you''re not fine."


    Mei spoke from beside him as her hand holding a handkerchief extended towards Mark''s forehead. She wiped the drops of sweat that formed on his forehead despite the fact that it was cold inside the vehicle.


    Her gentle touch seemed to clear Mark''s mind a bit. He nced at her with a thankful smile.


    "Did Gege have a nightmare?"


    Mei asked noticing his nce.


    "I wish, it''s just a nightmare."


    Mark answered with a troubled expression.


    His answer obviously caused confusion on Mei''s part. She could not help but stare at him with a questioning look.


    Mark saw her expression making smile bitterly. He took out his phone and seeing that it was already past five-thirty. At that moment, his stomach grumbled. He clutched his stomach as he realized that it was almost evening and he had not eaten lunch yet.


    Mei did not hear his stomach grumble but seeing him suddenly clutch his stomach, it was not hard to guess what he was thinking about. Without saying anything else, Mei moved towards the back of the car and unplugged a twoyered USB lunch box from the socket. After taking a stic spoon and fork from a bag, Mei made her way back to Mark''s side and opened the lunch box.


    Inside the topyer of the lunch box was pork and beans fried rice and on the bottomyer was chicken soup. It was obvious that the pork and beans on the fried rice and the chicken meat on the soup came from the canned goods they brought from the City Mall but it still looked and smelled good to Mark who was hungry.


    After Mei handed the food to Mark, he started to eat leaving his worries forter.


    "Did Odel bring this food earlier when I''m sleeping?"


    Mark asked as he remembered that there was no lunch box there before he slept under Mei''s coaxing.


    To his question, Mei nodded.


    "Gege is sleeping too deeply that you didn''t even wake up when she brought the food."


    Due to Mark''s hunger and increased appetite, it did take too long for him to finish his food. Mei then took the emptied lunchbox and moved the lunch box to the back of the vehicle and had it washedter.


    "Gege, what do you want to drink?"


    Mei asked as she opened the small refrigerator.


    "Hmm. Get me the iced coffee."


    Mark drunk the iced coffee Mei handed him while contemting. The premonition this time was way clearer than thest back when he woke up in Firenze after his second evolution. He did not know why but Mark was a little bit d that these premonitions appeared when he needed it the most.


    This premonition caused him to know the urgency of the situation and what danger they would encounter in the near future. Unfortunately, that future was too near that it would likely happen tomorrow or the day after tomorrow.


    And what the premonition showed him¡­


    ¡­was the total annihtion of his group and everyone with them.


    Military vehicles overturned, soldiers in panic, he even saw Irene who had her body split in half. This vehicle they had was overturned and crushed along with everyone inside. Captain D Rosa was being helped by a Mutator Mark did not recognize but both of them also perished under the hand of the huge monster.


    Hey on the pavement unable to move. He had been severely injured that his regeneration could not keep up anymore. His bones broken, his skin wascerated and parts of his body were bleeding profusely. He could only watch everything unfold in front of him.


    Odelina, Abbygale, Laps, that Four Horned Beetle, Emika, Mikio stood in front of him to protect him despite the fact that they also had several injuries inflicted on their bodies. Mei and the girl he had just saved earlier from death were crying tending to his wounds.


    One by one, they all perished and he could only watch.


    Finally, the huge monster stood in front of them with only Mei and the little girl left to block it. Of course, they also died and it was without aplete body.


    At that moment that he could only feel remorse and he only wanted to follow their steps to the afterlife, the crystal that was supposed to be crushed inside the vehicle flew out and shielded him. A sudden force suddenly pulled him away and that was the time he finally woke up.


    Everything that happened was too clear for him this time that it even made him feel that it was really happening. The pain in his body, the blood of hisrades that sttered on his face, everything felt so real and the smell of blood was also suffocating. Rather than feeling that that scene was a view of the future, he felt was waking up was him going back to the past.


    "Gege?"


    He was delved into that scene once more when Mei''s voice snapped his mind back. Mark looked at Mei''s worried face and shook his head awake. Rather than delving himself back in that horrible scene, he should rather think of a way to prevent it from happening.


    Seeing the worry in Mei''s face, Mark could not help but stroke her hair gently.


    "I''m fine. I just have something in mind. Let''s go out. I feel a little stiff after sleeping."<sub> </sub>


    Seeing that Mark did not want to talk about it, Mei decided not to pursue it further. Still, her worry did not diminish even a little bit. Following Mark, she went out of the vehicle.


    Getting out of the vehicle, Mark looked around. As it was almost time for the sun to set and due to theck of electricity, the people were forced to get ready to sleep earlier than before the apocalypse came. There were very few people roaming around.


    Since they were going to stay here for the night, it would be better if Mark and the others to prepare their dwelling.


    Just when Mark and Mei were about to reach the ssroom, there seemed to be amotion inside. Irene and Captain D Rosa were outside the ssroom with bitter expressions while watching what was happening inside through the windows.


    THUD!


    Someone was thrown out of the ssroom mercilessly. The throw was too strong that the man rolled several times before hitting the wall. Nevertheless, the man immediately stood up as if nothing happened and tried to enter once more just to be blocked by another two men.


    "If you''re not going to behave, do it somewhere else! Seriously!"


    "That''s right. We are the ones that feel embarrassed because of you."


    The two men reprimanded the one who was thrown out.


    The scene happening in front of him made Mark p his forehead. He obviously recognized the man thrown out mercilessly. It was one of his ssmates back in elementary and high school and one member of his circle of friends together with Ron and Arvie. The man was named Joseph. He was not bad but his biggest ws were his thick face, his urge to approach women with good looks and his head were always filled withscivious thoughts.


    The two who were blocking Joseph from entering once more was Arvie together with his younger brother Jason. Arvie had mentioned it before that Jason was out with his own group and it looked like that he returned earlier. Considering that Joseph was also here, it was likely that Joseph was among the members of that group.


    Nevertheless, Mark could not help but notice. Joseph was thrown out with quite a force and Arvie with his stature should not be capable of that. Considering what Arvie said about his brother before, it was likely that Jason who now possessed greater strength was the one who threw Joseph out. Another thing Mark noticed was despite the force used to thrown him out and how many times Joseph rolled on the rough floor, there was not a single bruise or scratch on his exposed skin and it even looked like that he did not feel any pain.


    ''It seemed that his skin got thicker than before.''


    Mark held his face as hemented.


    Considering that there were quite a number of rather good lookingdies in his group, this thick faced guy would be restless. Not only that, the women in his group were neater lookingpared to the women in the settlemen that had not taken a bath for several days.


    "Mark."


    Captain D Rosa and Irene saw Mark and Mei and approached. Looking at this, Mark could see that Captain D Rosa now had a bit of subservient attitude towards him. Nevertheless, it seemed that the two soldiers had something in mind this time.


    "Is there something wrong? You two looked bitter."


    Mark asked.


    "Ah, don''t worry about us. We just never thought that both the two groups of Evolvers here had a connection with you."


    Irene answered with a bitter smile.


    Of course, the two would feel bitter. The number of Evolvers and Mutators drafted into the side of the military was too scarce and they also tried to invite these two groups into their side but they were unsessful. It was not because the benefits the military was going to give werecking but it was just that these people were too reluctant to have connections with the government who were not too trustworthy. They were a little fine with cooperation but there was no way for them to work under the military. Because of those reasons, they could only give up.


    Yet, today, they were given several blows by Mark. When Mark arrived this morning, they saw that the numbers of Mutators in his group was even more than what the military in Bay City had. When they could only ept that, since they knew from the reports that there was no way for Mark to under the military, they were given another blow. To think that both the two groups of Evolvers in this settlement both had connections with Mark. Those connections were not subtle either.


    The leader of the first group, Nikky, was the live in partner of Mark''s best friend. Moreover, another member from that group was actually the younger sister of the infected Mark was rearing. On the second group, three of the members, with the leader included were actually Mark''s close friends.


    As Irene did not know another crucial thing, that was all she was thinking. Captain D Rosa on the other hand knew that Mark could save failed Mutators for who knows what method. Considering that, the number of Mutators in his group would only grow and not dwindle.


    All of that and not to mention that Mark was a powerful Evolver himself.


    On what Irene had said, Mark could only shrug his shoulders. He did not expect it either. Who knew that his friends would turn into Evolvers? Though, Mark could not say that he was unhappy about this. If his friends were stronger, then, they would be able to protect themselves from this world that had gone chaotic.


    Now, Mark only needed to gather more of those pebbles and turn everyone in his group into Evolvers. He did not want to lead an army or anything like that but only wanted to give the strength they needed to protect themselves.


    Mark exchanged a few words with the two soldiers and said goodbye before the two went back to their work. Apparently, most of the free soldiers were dispatched to search for suitable vehicles near the vicinity. Mark also noticed some private vehicles entering the settlement since the main gates were open for them to see from this area. The two soldiers needed to return to manage the vehicles that were being retrieved.


    After the two soldiers left, Mark made his way towards the ssroom once more where Joseph was still being banned from entering. The door now was even closed shut.


    When Joseph saw Mark walking towards him, his eyes lit up.


    "Mark! Long time no see!"


    Joseph had just said that and was about to approach when his eyesnded on Mei who was walking closely beside Mark. His eyes lit up.


    Those eyes though gave Mei shivers. She hurriedly hid behind Mark while holding unto her shoulders.


    Joseph at that time also felt some shivers. When he looked at Mark, he saw his eyes sharply staring at him. He could only look away from that scary stare.


    Seeing that, Mark sighed. Just how did he get involved with this person in the first ce? He could not remember anymore. Anyway, if he was going to use his thick face to approach Mei, he would not hold back and give him a hard trashing.


    Recovering from Mark''s stare, Joseph immediately looked helpless.


    "Hey Mark. Those two brothers aren''t letting me in. Can you talk to them?"


    Mark did not reply and continued to the door while keeping Mei out of Joseph''s sight. Mark knocked on the door and someone peeked from the window beside the door. Seeing that the one knocking was Mark and Mei, the door was opened by Odelina immediately.


    The two stepped inside and ssroom and Joseph tried to use that opening to slip inside once more. However, the door was bashed unto his face before he could do so making him stagger backwards.


    "You bastards! You guys are treating me like we''re not friends at all!"


    Joseph bellowed at the window with grievance. He only wanted to entertain the girls! What was wrong with that?


    He then saw Arvie facing him from the other side of the window.


    "Dude, don''t embarrass us further will you? Return to your wife already!"


    That was right. This shameless Joseph was already married and had three children who were all staying at the 5th grade building being used by refugees. Yet, he was here womanizing.

 Chapter 151 The Result Of His Experiment To The Girl

    Day 5 ¨C 5:40 PM ¨C 4th Grade Building, Queens Row Elementary School, Queens Row Area A, Bacoor City, Cavite


    Ignoring the guy outside who did not stop fromining, everything inside the ssroom was fine.


    Looking around, Mark was surprised and relieved that his close ssmates in college chose to join him. He could not help but raise an eyebrow though seeing how Mei was staring at Joan. Still, he could not just chase Joan out since she was very close with Suzanne. Compared to all of his ssmates before aside from two people who were the closest to him, Suzanne and Saime came following those two. As for men, he did not have close male friends in college aside from two people and Mar was one of the two.


    Why was that? It was because most males in college were unruly and fond of cursing. Mark was not fond of those traits at all and aside from the two who shared some hobbies with him and did not curse too much, he did not like interacting with the others.


    Due to his dislike in cursing and swearing people, he was inclined to spend time with females since most females were not as vulgar as males in many ways.


    "I didn''t expect that all of you wille."


    Mark said when he approached Suzanne and Mar who were sitting side by side talking before Mark entered. These two along with Suzanne''s husband, Loreto knew each other even before Mark knew them so it was not surprising to see them talkingfortably. All of it was because the three yed the same online RPG game before in high school.


    Hearing Mark said, Mar and Suzanne drew up bitter smiles.


    "What''s wrong?"


    Mark asked seeing the two did not immediately reply and only smiled bitterly.


    "We were told that it was better for us toe with you."


    Mar said before looking at the others on the other side of the room.


    "Looking at the people with you, it seems that what we were told were all true."


    Mar and Suzanne looked at Odelina and the others with a hint of jealousy. Looking at their ragged state after leaving the refugee building andparing their state to the members of Mark''s group, they felt bitter. They looked dirty and did not even take a bath for several days only relying on a bottle of water and a towel a day to clean their bodies. Mark''s group on the other hand looked clean as if they were just in an outing. The atmosphere around Mark''s group was also goodparing to them who were despairing at their current state.


    "By the way, you were told? By who?"


    Mark asked.


    "We don''t know her name. The one who told that to us is a female soldier."


    Suzanne replied.


    "Female soldier, it should be Irene I think."


    Mark murmured in contemtion.


    He then turned to Saime who was looking after her sleeping son.


    "Sai, where are your sisters and brother? Also, your cousin, mother and aunt?"


    Mark asked because he knew all of them. Saime''s mother was a kind person who let them intrude and spend time at their house even though they were quite a handful bunch.


    Saime who was just listening to Mark''s conversation with Mar and Suzanne was surprised when she was suddenly asked by him. Then, herplexion turned sad.


    "I don''t know where they are now. Sarah, Mari Jo and Lemuel went out to shop at PureGold Mall in Molino before the infected came. That''s all I know. Mama, Aunt and Yanyan, they''re all gone."


    Tears started to drop from Saime''s eyes. Rodel, her husband, who was sitting beside her started to console her.


    Looking at Saime, the other ssmates of Mark also felt sad. Not only Saime lost the member''s of her family. They were the same. It was already lucky that they were able to save their partners and children keeping their own family intact.


    Mark talked to his college ssmates a bit more before he left them. It was strange but Joan seemed to be silent all the while. Mark then noticed that Mei''s eyes were boring holes on her all this time. Pulling Mei away, Mark made his way to the men who were with Arvie and Ron.


    There were two men new here at the moment. They were Jason, Arvie''s brother and Kevin who was one of Mark''s male friends from high school. When Mark was with this group, he felt a little inferior. The faces of these guys were way better than his and yet, these guys hang out with him back in high school. It was only because they went to different colleges that they separated but they still hanged out from time to time until Mark stopped stepping out of his house.


    "You two going to join us?"


    Mark asked Jason and Kevin.


    "Why not?"


    Kevin replied. It looked like that these two were not against the idea at all.


    "It''s surprising though that you became a leader of your own group. Furthermore, it''s a groupposed mostly of women."


    Jason said while his eyes panned from Mark to the members of his group.


    To that, Mark sighed.


    "It just came this way."


    That was true. His group just got like this without his control.


    Asmen close with each other, there was not much to be talked about. Kevin and Jason also did not ask about Mei who was closely following behind Mark though she was hiding behind him when Mark approached his male friends. Furthermore, Arvie who came here first had already gathered a lot of things from Mark''s group and he had already ryed it to the two lessening the questions to be asked.


    When Mark approached the original members of his group, he immediately turned to Melissa who was taking care of the still unconscious girl.


    "How is she?"


    Mark asked. The state of this little girl was too crucial for him. If the girl did not wake up at all, it meant that his experiment failed miserably.


    "Boss, she''s fine. Her fever also went down about an hour ago.She''s just sleeping right now."


    Melissa replied.


    No one however noticed that every time Mark spoke, the little girl''s closed eyes would quiver for some reason.


    Odelina then ryed what the military nned to do. It was the reason Captain D Rosa and Irene were here before Jason and his gang came. As Mark was not here, the squad captain ryed everything to Odelina. ording to what he said, after the preparations were finished, everyone would abandon this settlement tomorrow afternoon. Even though they were gathering vehicles at the moment, there were not enough vehicles to transport all the people which had caused the preparations to get dyed. Another issue was that the other squad that was supposed to join them was runningte.


    ''I still have time to prepare then.''


    Mark thought as he heard the details.


    While Mark was speaking with Odelina, the unconscious girl''s eyes slowly opened.


    "Boss, she''s awake!"


    Melissa immediately called out getting everyone''s attention towards the poor girl.


    The girl opened her eyes and saw all the people she did not recognize looking at her. That was not the main issue however¡­


    "Are you okay? Does anywhere hurt?"


    Melissa gently asked the girl who she helped to sit down as the little girl continued to silently pan her sight to everyone. Her eyesnded on Melissa who asked her the question.


    "I''m¡­ Not hurt?"


    ''Why was that a question?''


    Everyonemented. It seemed that something was wrong with this girl.


    "What''s going on? I think, there''s something wrong with her."


    Carlo asked.


    "Everyone here can see that there''s something wrong."


    Sundra told her boyfriend.


    "Is it because of the trauma she received?"<sub> </sub>


    Anna said her thoughts. Considering what happened to the girl, it would not be surprising if this girl received a heavy mental trauma causing her to behave this way.


    Mark however, seemed to have an idea why.


    "Melissa, ask her name."


    Everyone was confused to Mark''s instruction. Why did he have to ask Melissa to do it and not ask himself? Not only that but what does the little girl''s name had to do with the situation? Nevertheless, Melissa could onlyply. It was the Boss'' order after all.


    "Little girl, what is your name?"


    Melissa asked the girl gently.


    "I don''t¡­ know?"


    The girl replied while tilting her head cutely as she tried to remember her name. Unfortunately nothing came up.


    Everyone watching the girl was bbergasted. Considering the age of the girl, she should already be a grade two student. For her to not know her name¡­


    "How about your mama? Papa? Brother or sisters?"


    Melissa suddenly asked as the girl''s condition suddenly dawned on her.


    "Mama? I don''t know?"


    The girl replied with another question which confirmed her condition.


    It was likely that the girl had amnesia and did not remember anything of her past anymore. For her to have this condition was also eptable. The girl was pushed to the door of death by the evil deeds of Dominador and his men. The cause of this could either be mental trauma or even physical trauma.


    However, her next actions and sentence bbergasted everyone that even Mark''s ssmates had their mouths open in shock.


    After saying that she did not know her mother, the little girl looked at Mark.


    "Papa?"


    Mark could not speak as his back started to sweat. He did not expect that it would turn out like this. Back in the vehicle, he questioned himself if this girl was his kin now that he used his blood to blend in her body and turn her into an Evolver. Since the girl received his regenerative ability, he was sure that his blood and genes fused with the girl''s body perfectly.


    Considering that the girl lost her memories bing a nk te, she was only answering using what she knew and feel. Since she looked at Mark and uttered those words, there was no doubt that the little girl felt that Mark was her Papa. She must have felt a sense of connection with him due to his blood.


    "Gege, what is going on?"


    Of course, Mei was the one to react first on this. For Mei, Abbygale was one thing since she saw it when Mark brought the strange little girl back from the first floor of the mall. This little girl however, suddenly appeared out of nowhere. Even though Mark said the story before, for the amnesiac little girl to call him Papa was too strange.


    Mark was contemting while everyone was looking at him with strange expressions. Not only the people in his group but also his ssmates and friends.


    "Hey Mark! You''re always silent but we never knew that you were spreading your seeds already!"


    Joseph shouted through the window making Mark frustrated. The idiot outside was making everything worse.


    He did not want to tell the others about the experiment he did to the girl but he did not want these people to think things that never happened! Even though he did not talk too much and did not care for his brutal reputation, he did not want this unnecessary kind ofscivious reputation at all!


    "Hey Mark! Did you hear me?!"


    Joseph continued to shout making Mark turn to him.


    "If you don''t stop being noisy out there, I''ll throw you not just out of the ssroom but out of the settlement! I''ll make sure that your wife and children wille with you out there!"


    Mark spoke making Joseph shiver. It was very rare for Mark to get angry like this so Joseph sped his mouth and hid below the window.


    "Papa, papa. Big sister?"


    Abbygale went towards her Papa and asked while pulling the hem of his new jacket and pointing at the girl that had just woke up.


    However, the little cat girl''s question only made the stare of the people around intensify.


    Mark then decided. With a deep breath, he spoke.


    "You all can say that she''s my daughter I think? I can''t say whether its biologically or not though."


    Mark decided to ept the girl as his daughter due to his experiment. It was not entirely wrong though. When a scientist created something whether it is a living creature or just bacteria, or even just a device, the scientist would treat it as his own.


    "Boss, what do you mean?"


    Melissa asked.


    Mark''s revtion confused everyone. His daughter but not biologically? Was the girl his adoptive daughter?


    "She did not be an Evolver naturally. I turned her into one and I used my genes from my blood as catalyst to turn her into an Evolver. If I''m correct, a part of my genes fused in her body now."


    What he said made everyone more confused. Mark''s ssmates already heard about Evolvers from the military but¡­ He actually turned this little girl into one?


    Without saying anymore, Mark took out a hand sized kitchen knife he always had in his pocket. He approached the girl and pulled out her right arm. Everyone one watched but no one tried to stop him. As Mark called this girl his daughter, with how protective he was to Mei and Abbygale, they were sure that he would not do harm to the little girl.


    The little girl on the other hand did not mind the knife nearing her skin. Rather, she felt at ease when Mark grabbed her arm.


    SLIT!


    Blood started to drip as Mark slit a two inches wound to the little girl''s arm.


    Everyone looked at the blood in horror. They did not know why Mark would do that! They looked at the girl. Strange enough, she did not cry in pain. The girl was only staring at the blood on her arm.


    Shortly after the knife left the girl''s skin, the gaping wound started to close with absurd speed. A few secondster, the wound was gone and what was left was the remaining blood on her skin.


    Mark then pulled the sleeve of his jacket up and slit the same size of wound on his skin. His blood also started to drip but his wounds also closed soon after.


    To everyone''s shock, the rate that the wounds of the two healed were exactly the same.


    "You can turn people into Evolvers now?"


    Melissa could not help but ask.


    "What? You also want to be my daughter?"


    Melissa choked. She did not mean it like that at all!


    Ignoring the nurse''s speechless expression, Mark spoke.


    "I experimented on her alright. I tried to turn her into an Evolver but her own genes could not help speed up her evolution so I used my blood as catalyst."


    "Experiment? That''s inhumane."


    Melissa could not help but berate him with a sharp look. After all, she was a medical practitioner and hical and unlicensed human experimentation were highly loathed by them. Mark did not mind though and looked at her.


    "I did not tell all of you but that girl was dying when I took her from Captain D Rosa. Whether I failed in my experiment or not do it at all, she will die. I seeded and you see her there, alive."


    Melissa stopped staring at him. He was right. What he did maybe inhumane but he did save a life.


    "Can you turn anyone into an Evolver now?"


    Carlo could not help but ask. He was an evolver himself but his ability was not ofbat type and he could not do anything about that. Still, it would be good if his girlfriend could turn into one.


    The question Carlo asked stirred everyone inside the ssroom as they stared at Mark waiting for an answer.

 Chapter 152 The Prerequisites To Become An Evolver

    <strong>Day 5 ¨C 6:03 PM ¨C 4th Grade Building, Queens Row Elementary School, Queens Row Area A, Bacoor City, Cavite</strong>


    At Carlo''s question, Mark did not answer immediately. He panned his eyes towards everyone and seeing their inquisitive gazes, especially the people originally in his group. Seeing those stares, Mark sighed as he decided to exin his findings and what he knew about the Mutators and Evolvers. This way, these few people he valued would have enough knowledge to get going in survive in this world that had turned for the worse.


    Mark turned to Odelina.


    "Odel, did you bring the USB Lamp?"


    He asked as the sun had started to set. None of them would be able to continue the conversation once the surroundings became encroached within the darkness of the night.


    To Mark''s question, Odelina pulled one the bags they brought and took out a smallmp. Thismp might be small in size but it could bring out a bright shade of light. It was the verymp they used these past nights.


    Mark took themp and put in on the teacher''s table in front of the ckboard on the front wall of the ssroom. Pulling out the drawer under the same table, she saw the ckboard eraser along with varying length of already used chalk. He took the longest one out before turning back to the people in the ssroom who were waiting for his answer.


    Outside the window, Mark saw Joseph that was peering through the gaps of the wooden shutters.


    "Let Joseph in. Just don''t let him run around. Also, close all the windows."


    Mark sighed. He was willing to divulge most of what he knew but it did not mean that he would let anyone see or hear what he would say. It was because he was sure that no matter how much equipment the scientists under the government had, he was certain that it was unlikely for them to find someone with Empathic abilities as strong as him and he was even more confident that they did not have the same crystal.


    Even though there were several balls of light that scattered six years ago, there was only one with thergest size and that was the crystal that he found. Considering the sizes of those lights, it was likely that those balls of light were just a few more marble sized crystals that scattered due to the explosion.


    Odelina immediately let the ted Joseph in and before the shameless guy was able to sit down near where the women seated, he was pulled by Kevin and Jason towards their side.


    Mark looked at Carlo and started to speak.


    "Am I able to turn anyone into an Evolver right?"


    Carlo nodded to the question.


    "Unfortunately, it''s not that easy."


    Mark shook his head and continued.


    "ording to the information the government disclosed, Evolver''s were people whose bodies received enhancement due to the existence of Mutagen in the air. They meant that everyone was infected but as long as we are not bitten by the others that had already turned feral, we are fine and the Mutagen will keep on slowly enhancing our bodies."


    He then looked at the children that were being held by their mothers and fathers.


    "They also said that children were more susceptible to the enhancing effects of Mutagen. Yet, have all of you noticed. Not every children and absolutely not every person were turning into one."


    Mark looked at his ssmates.


    "Any of your children turned into one? Or at least, got absurdly high fever in the past days after the apocalypse started?"


    To his question however, none of them nodded. Their children remained normal.


    Seeing that none of them responded, Mark continued with a nod.


    "What the government did not disclose or maybe what they did not confirm yet are the exact prerequisites to be an Evolver."


    "Prerequisites? Didn''t the government say that one was the growth period of children? Another is having fatal injuries but surviving it?"


    Arvie suddenly asked. As his younger brother turned into one, he was privy about the information the military had about Evolvers.


    Mark looked at him and nodded.


    "Those things are true and I already witnessed it those instances. Me for example. I''m an Evolver and my strongest ability as Evolver is my regeneration rate."


    Mark wrote his name on the ck board and followed his name with the word "Regeneration" beside it.


    "Before I received this ability, I''m on the verge of death."


    Hearing that, Mei remembered how severe Mark''s injuries back in the Mall when he was brought back by the soldiers. It was really a sight that would make most people shiver. His muscles were swelling, his clothes were soaked in blood, his chest had sunken and his skin was filled with bruises and wounds. Her eyes felt water as she remembered that scene.


    Odelina on the other hand hung her head low. After all, it was her who brought him into the brink of death at that time. Even though she was not in control of her body back then, she was still partly conscious and aware of what was happening.


    To sudden emotional change of the two, Mark felt bitter. However, it was not the time to be sentimental right now.


    "Carlo, what''s your ability? I guess that it had something to do with temperature but I can''t be sure what it is exactly."


    Mark turned to Carlo and asked. Thetter answered while scratching his cheek.


    "I can lower my body temperature."


    No one asked him to demonstrate but he did as his skin color paled. There was then a surge of cold air spreadinging from his direction.


    Looking at this, several ideas came into Mark''s mind. One was with proper training, Carlo could be a good assassin as with his ability, he could bypass even thermal detectors every armed forces used. Another was that they could lower their electricity consumption from maintaining the air conditioning in the vehicle.


    The other people on the other hand were surprised due to the unique kind of ability Carlo had.


    Mark then wrote Carlo''s name on the ckboard along with his ability. He did the same to the others as he asked every Evolver in the ssroom about their abilities.


    "I wonder why you are asking everyone."


    Melissa asked with confusion.


    "It had something to do with my exnationter. Mark answered patiently."


    Looking back at everyone Mark asked.


    "Among the people listed here on the board, who were on the brink of death before Evolving?"


    To his own question, Mark also raised his hand along with Carlo and Odelina''s children. Joseph also tried to raise his hand but Jason and Kevin who were sitting beside him immediately pulled his hand down mercilessly.


    "What''s going on with you three?"<sub> </sub>


    Mark asked.


    "I want to raise my hand but these two won''t let me. I''m also at the brink of death back then you know?"


    Joseph protested but only to have the back of his head pped by Jason.


    "What brink of death? You only had muscle swelling and sprain since you were ganged up and beaten by several men because you wanted to take liberty on a woman three days ago!"


    Hearing that, every woman inside the room looked at Joseph with a cold gaze. It looked like he deserved what he experienced that time but it looked like that experience turned him into an Evolver with great tenacity.


    On the ckboard, beside Joseph''s name, the word "TANK" was written. It was a term used for yers of Multiyer Online Battle Arena or MOBA games to determine characters with a high threshold to receive damage without dying. Joseph was the same as his skin and muscles was now hard to damage. If an infected was to bite him, their teeth would not sink in deep in his arm.


    Away from that topic, everyone realized what Mark wanted to say. It did not need for anyone to be on the brink of death to be and Evolver.


    Then, what were really the prerequisites?


    That question filled everyone''s mind as they looked at Mark who was waiting for the mor to die down.


    As if knowing what the question in their minds, Mark spoke while writing on the ckboard.


    "The conditions were¡­ First, limits. If you overcame the limits of your body, it was likely for that limit to be enhanced."


    Mark looked at Mara and Nikky. The two already shared a part of their story when Mark asked about their abilities. Nikky exhausted all her meager strength to save Daniel and Dorothy while Mara ran as fast and as far as she could to the point of copsing in order to escape the infected that were chasing her.


    "Second, mental state. Extreme emotions could trigger evolution too."


    Mark said and his eyes fell unto Jason who went berserk due to his rage after losing the members of their family giving him strength to punch a hole through the outer surface ofmon vehicles.


    "The third and most important I think¡­ Is genes."


    Mark took a deep breath and continued to clear the confusion in everyone''s minds.


    "As you remember, I used my genes, my blood to turn this girl into an Evolver. Even if any of you fit in the first two conditions, without the genespatible for evolution, it is likely that your evolution will be slow or you won''t evolve at all."


    "Wait, if Boss said genes, doesn''t that mean that rtives of existing Evolvers could also be one?"


    Melissa suddenly interjected with that question.


    Mark nodded to that question.


    "ording to what I observed, it''s highly likely. It doesn''t only apply on Evolvers but Mutators too. But remember that it doesn''t apply to every rtives but only to direct rtives."


    Mark then looked at Odelina and then her children.


    "As you can see, Odelina here is a Mutator. Odelina, show them."


    Under Mark''smand, a bone gauntlet grew on Odelina''s right arm to show everyone.


    "The mother is a Mutator and her children are Evolvers. You all got what I''m trying to say?"


    Everyone nodded. What he had just said and demonstrated were straightforward and clear.


    Arvie gripped his fists in expectation. ording to what Mark said, his younger brother, Jason, was an Evolver. As the older brother of an Evolver, he also had a great chance to be one.


    "Then, Boss also meant that direct rtives of Mutators could also be Mutators?"


    Melissa asked another question.


    However, Mark shook his head.


    "I don''t know the exact rule to that yet. I''m sure that genes are arge factor but I feel that that is not all of it. I only concluded the idea about genes because of Emika and Mikio. Those siblings both became Mutators and the two both have nt like abilities. Still, their abilities greatly differed in nature."


    The people originally in his group nodded but the others were confused. It was because they did not know who was that siblings Mark was talking about.


    "So, Big Bro is saying that if our genes are notpatible with the evolution, we won''t be an Evolver?"


    Carlo asked.


    "Well, there''s another thing with that but I haven''t confirmed it yet."


    Mark replied.


    "What is it?"


    "Thepatibility of the ability to the person."


    Mark looked at Carlo.


    "Remember that you''re not the only one in the same situation before you evolved right? Sundra and Anna are with you. Yet, the two of them did not evolve and received the same ability you have."


    "But you said that you turned this girl right?"


    "Not exactly wrong but not exactly right either."


    p Mark looked at the girl.</anda>


    "This girl also developed her own Evolver ability and that is why my blood worked on her body."


    Everyone looked the girl who seemed to have no idea what was happening.


    "This girl¡­ developed the "pain resistance" ability."

 Chapter 153 The First And Final Night At The Settlement - Before Midnight

    <strong>Day 5 ¨C 6:22 PM ¨C 4th Grade Building, Queens Row Elementary School, Bacoor City, Cavite</strong>


    As Mark''s pervious sentence entered everyone''s ears, everyone looking at the innocent girl who knew her story had awful expressions on their faces. Mark had just mentioned about one condition that allow people to be Evolvers and that was "Limits". Just how much pain did this girl suffered from to get this kind of ability? None of them could imagine.


    "Are you sure about that? Is it not just a case of Cognitive Insensitivity to Pain, Hypoalgesia or Pain Asymbolia?"


    Melissa asked as while mentioning several terms that all the others could not help but raise their eyebrows to.


    ''What in the world does those terms mean?''


    Asmon people, it was not surprising for them to not encounter these terms before.


    To Melissa''s question, Mark did not get stumped. Rather, Mark nodded to her show of intelligence in her field.


    "Actually, I can''t deny that."


    ? Mark admitted.


    "There''s a lot of examination needed to confirm that after all. Pain Asymbolia can be counted out however as cause since Pain Asymbolia is a condition that can be acquired after suffering a brain injury. However¡­"


    Mark tapped his chin.


    "Since she received my regeneration ability, won''t that injury also heal if she ever had one? The other two conditions can be the cause but it needed a lot of study to prove. However that it is odd if she had any of those conditions considering she started to show such ability after her Evolution. If you remember, the Mutagen can enhance our bodies and it was even the government that released that fact. It will be strange if she developed negative conditions when her body is supposed to be enhanced."


    Melissa started to contemte about Mark had just said. Although she had a point in her assumption, Mark also had his own points.


    In the end, there was a huge reason to study and observe the girl''s current condition.


    Seeing that Melissa turned quiet, he swept his head back to the others who seemed to have no idea what he and Melissa were talking about.


    "Well, though there is still a need to study it more, I think that using my blood on this girl only helped her elerate her own enhancement and acquire my ability. I already said it but the Evolution in each individual could vary in speed. Like these two."


    Mark pointed his open palm on Odelina''s children.


    "Even though they are siblings and also had the same ability, the time they overcame the symptoms of Evolution differed. If I remember correctly, Odette woke up about two hours before Siegfried followed. In that case, we don''t know if there really are people who would never evolve or it''s just that their Evolution are slower than others."


    He then turned to Carlo.


    "Also, even if I have the ability to turn anyone into Evolvers, I needed an item to stimte the Evolution."


    "What item?"


    Carlo asked.


    "This."


    Mark took out a soft handkerchief from his bag revealing the marble sized pale violet crystal with a flesh colored glow inside. After he finished eating and before he went out of the vehicle, he took this crystal out from the jar. As the only odd crystal and something that he knew that could help with evolving people, he brought it out in case that he would have the chance to use it.


    Seeing that crystal, the neers were confused once more but the others looked at the crystal with wide eyes.


    "Big Bro, that crystal, it looked like that pale colored one before right? It''s just this one had a glowing orb inside it."


    Charmaine who was quiet all this time spoke as she was the closest person to observe the crystal on Mark''s hand.


    "That''s right, this is a new one. The previous crystal without glow, I used it to try on this girl. It was the one used to trigger the Mutagen in her body."


    Mark rolled the crystal in his hand and continued.


    "This one is different though since I don''t know yet what effect this one could give. The crystal I used on that girl didn''t have this glow. I found a way to create crystals like these but I don''t think that it will be easy to gather the materials needed."


    "And the materials are?"


    Melissa who seemed to be enthusiastic about the topic since the beginning asked once more.


    "Some kind of pebbles that can be found inside the brain of mutated infected."


    ***


    The talk did not take too long after that and the talk about Mutators after the Evolvers did not take any longer than the first topic due to the limited amount of things he could divulge to them. It was not like he could mention about the traits and emotion that were ruling the Mutators'' consciousness affecting their habits, behavior and thinking. If he were to mention that, he would need to disclose his ability as an Empath to everyone.


    His abilities as an Empath right now was the most crucial secret he had due to the existence of Mutators and he could not allow just anyone to know about it. He would just let the others think that his glowing eyes at times were the effect of an ability he received for being an Evolver. It was the same for his ability to control his emotional impulses and adrenaline.


    However, he needed to talk to Mei and Odelina about somethingter. Something about his other ability and what could happen in the future.


    ***


    It did not take long and they started to eat after the discussion. The menu was some hot rice gruel topped with seasoning, canned meat and canned mushrooms.


    Mark''s ssmates who lived the life as refugees in the past days could not help but devour the first delicious food they had eaten after the apocalypse started. Jason''s girlfriend, Kevin''s family and Joseph''s family were also called and introduced to everyone to join their feast.<sub> </sub>


    Due to everyone''s urging that Mark was forced to feed the girl who had just woke up after her deadly experiences. It was to let the new daughter have a bonding with the "Father" that "created" her.


    While they were all eating in a circle, bonding and letting the new members to mingle with the others, Mark finally decided to give the Four Horned Rhinoceros beetle a name and also to give the unfortunate girl a new identity.


    If Mark remembered correctly, he saw from the record Irene and Captain D Rosa had that the girl''s name was Mallory. It was a unique and good sounding name but Mark did not know if he wouldugh or cry at this name. Her parents should have given her this name without knowing its meaning. The name Mallory meant unfortunate or luckless which exactly described what happened to her.


    As the experiment Mark did to her opened a new knowledge for him and the girl''s amnesia was a chance for her to have a new beginning, he decided to give her the name "I" (eye-yo). It was a name that meant either "violet dawn" which represent the beginning or "the girl valued by the lord" as it could be said that Mark valued her as she was his first creation.


    Yes, first. If Mark was given a chance, he would create a Mutator, a sentient infected or anything else that had to do with Mutagen.


    On the other hand, the beetle was named Fein. Hearing that name, the others could not help but ask what that name meant but Mark did not answer. If they knew why he gave that name, everyone wouldugh for sure. He derived the name Fein from the pronunciation of the word "Faint". It was because the cowardly beetle would y dead or faint every time it was showed with something unknown and scary.


    The bonding time went smoothly as the new members started to blend with the older members. Except for Joseph who was restricted from his shamelessness as his wife and children were present. The other females also did not bother to talk to him making him dispirited.


    Mark finally contacted Pa who questioned him for contacting toote. He then learned that Elsa, Markron and Carren were found in Bay City and were already taken in by Pa. Hearing that their older sister was safe, Cielo and Charmaine could finally quell the worry in their hearts. Saime, Mar, Suzanne and Joan who were Mark''s college ssmates were all surprised about the news on Markron and Carren who were also close to them.


    Not long after they finished their meal, Captain D Rosa appeared to bring Mark some news. The other squad, the 11th Rescue Squad, finally arrived with his son that experienced a failed mutation in tow.


    Captain D Rosa brought Mark together with Odelina towards an area devoid of guards. There, only Irene was present waiting for them outside a room.


    "Why is she here?"


    Mark asked.


    "Please don''t worry about it. Based on the conditions we agreed upon, I can''t handle it alone and I will need some assistance on backing your group inside Bay City. Irene is my most trusted aide and the childhood friend of my son. She will keep everything that happened here a secret."


    Hearing his reason, Mark nodded. Considering his condition, he knew that this squad captain would not be able to handle everything alone. Since he could see and feel the resolution Irene had, he did not question it anymore.


    The four entered the dimly lit room. In the center, a man with his top naked and tied with chains was kneeling. He should be out of control but the man was currently not moving, not even a shake.


    "Tranquilizer?"


    Mark asked as he saw a set of oddly shaped gun and darts on a table near the door.


    "Yes. Fortunately, it could stop Keene from rampaging."


    Irene voiced from his side.


    "If it''s like this, it will be easy. By why is he kneeling?"


    Mark could not help but ask about the scene in front of him.


    "We don''t know either. The other soldiers said that it felt like his muscles locked up after the tranquilizer took effect. Keene was also transported like that."


    Hearing that, Mark nodded. With how strange Mutagen was, no one would know what was happening.


    "You two go out first."


    Mark said as he eyed the two.


    "Alright."


    Captain D Rosa replied and the two left the room before closing the door.


    "Odel, guard the door. I can handle this."


    "Yes, master."


    Mark approached the unconscious man. He totally looked normal except for that he could see several spikes protruding from his body. The spikes looked like bones for sure but the bones had metallic sheen as the dim light from themp was being reflected on the surface of the spikes.


    On the man''s arms, two long de shaped bones about three inches on its widest sides could be seen.


    "So, this guy is likely a bone ability user like Odel but he''s more of an offensive type while Odel had a defensive type."


    Mark murmured as he observed the man. He was now sure that this man was the same person Mark saw protecting Captain D Rosa in his premonition.


    Now that the savage consciousness of the man was weakened, Mark decided to move.


    ***


    The time Mark spent inside the room was shorterpared to the time he spent with the cat boy before. He then left after his job was done.


    Soon, the man could be seen conscious and were assisted out of the room by his father and childhood friend.


    Captain D Rosa did not notice however that there was someone observing them from the shadows.

 Chapter 154 The Person Hiding In The Shadows

    <strong>Day 5 ¨C 9:32 PM ¨C 2nd Grade Building, Queens Row Elementary School, Queens Row Area A, Bacoor City, Cavite</strong>


    Under the shadows of the building, a person whose shock could not be concealed on his face, watched Captain D Rosa and Irene escort out Master Sergeant Keene D Rosa out of his confinement. He knew that Keene, Captain D Rosa''s son, had turned into those they called "Failed Mutators". That was a condition that was supposed to be irreversible to the current knowledge of the scientists currently studying Mutagen in Bay City.


    Yet, from what he saw, Keene was back to normal. Though the Master Sergeant seemed to be weak, he could see that he was conscious and his sanity had returned. The weakened Keene could even be seen weakly opening his mouth showing that he was able to converse and the two soldiers assisting him was also responding to him in an equal fashion.


    ''A Failed Mutator that supposed to be a goner managed to recover.''


    The man who was observing the scene thought as his eyes exuded a sharp glint showing both his shock to the unprecedented scene and his loss for an opportunity he lost. There was also a trace of viciousness in his expression. He was eying Irene for some time now and the loss of Keene as hispetition should have risen the odds of his sess in courting her. His recovery dumped these thoughts into a puddle of useless, sticky mud.


    ''The Senator should hear about this.''


    He thought and was about to leave. Since he left the shadows of the building, his face could finally be recognized. If Irene and Captain D Rosa were to see his face, it could not be any more familiar.


    The person spying on them was actually, Alderick, one of the three soldiers in the 7th rescue squad that held the highest rank below Captain D Rosa together with Irene and Joey.


    He was looking for Irene when he stumbled over a piece of news. Captain D Rosa dismissed the soldiers that were supposed to guard the containment of his son. The others might not think too much about this and just pass it as the father wanting to spend thest moments of his son but for someone who knew and was strict about military protocols, the strict face Captain would not do these actions. Even if he wanted to just spend time with his son, he would not chase the guards away specially with the fact that the tranquilizer could wear off anytime and his son would start another rampage.


    It was for sure that there was something strange going on.


    When he found the ce, he saw Captain D Rosa and Irene anxiously waiting outside the confinement room. By their expressions, the two were not only here to guard outside. By the arrangement, there should be two people guarding inside the room and another two outside the doors. Considering that the Captain D Rosa and Irene were outside, it was impossible that there was no one inside to monitor the feral soldier.


    It took about more than ten minutes and the people inside the room came out and to his shock, they were actually Mark and that hot servant of his.


    While thinking of the reason why Mark was here, Captain D Rosa and Irene exchanged words with him. Unfortunately, Aldrerick could not hear what they were saying. After Mark and his servant left, the scene of Keene recovering was witnessed by him.


    There was no need to think too much. Mark and his servant surely had a connection to this.


    A person who could treat Failed Mutators¡­ This news would surely give him quite an amount of merits.


    "You''re done watching?"


    Alderick had just stepped his first step to leave when that voice entered his ears.


    He froze and he turned to where voice came from and his eyes dted in shock.


    ''How?''


    His head was in turmoil as he racked his head for the cause as to how he was found out and a way to get out of this situation. Aldrerick knew that the person in front of his was not someone to trifle with. Out of all the people who would be able to discover him, the one who did was actually the person he wanted to report.


    ***


    Mark stood at the opposite corner of the building staring at Alderick. Since he was in contact with Captain D Rosa''s squad, he was never inclined to get in contact with this person. It was because he was way different from the other soldiers under the Captain''smand. The eyes of this person were always scrutinizing every single thing around him.


    When Mark was treating Captain D Rosa''s son, all his concentration and attention was focused on the treatment as a single mishap could trigger a damage on the supposed to be healed part. Because of that, he did not notice when this guy arrived. Mark was sure that this guy was not here when he arrived with the captain.


    After the treatment however, he noticed Alderick spying on them. He feigned to leave in order to nk this rat into a corner and prevent him from escaping.


    "What are you talking about? I''m just here on patrol."


    Alderick replied to his question. Under the lighting from the moon, Mark did not see any ripple of emotion on the face of the man that stood in front of him. Unfortunately, Mark could detect every single ripple of emotion in this guy''s mind. This kind of fa?ade would not work on him.


    "Stop beating around the bush. A patrol won''t stand hidden behind this building for more than fifteen minutes to watch Captain D Rosa''s activities especially when he dismissed everyone away from this area."


    Mark sneered. This guy was underestimating him. Before Alderick was able to retort, Mark continued.


    "I won''t hear your excuses. Don''t think that I won''t notice that you''re different from the other soldiers. You''re very observant, crafty, materialistic and full of intelligence. Yet, you try to step back, staying silent, not wanting to draw too much attention on you.


    Despite your qualities, the Captain did not give the more crucial tasks to you and only gave them to Irene and Joey. It''s not because he did not know about your abilities but because he did not trust you. If I''m correct, you''re not one of his usual entourage, am I right?"


    What Mark said did not make any obvious change in Alderick''s face but his eyes still dted and his mind was in turmoil. The soldier obviously knew that he was in deep trouble now.


    "So? What of it?"


    Alderick tried to maintain his fa?ade.<sub> </sub>


    "Nothing much. I''ll just tell you case that you don''t want to register it in your mind but all of what I said are qualities of a potential spy. So, I want to ask. Who are you working for and what is your mission here? Is it to monitor the movements of the squad? To poach Mutators and Evolvers or to poach the scientist that they were supposed to escort? Or maybe, all of it?"


    ? Mark spoke, his sneer deepened even more as Alderick''s mind became more chaotic. Nevertheless, this guy was still able to maintain his fa?ade. There was almost no ripple of emotion in his face.


    "What you are saying are all baseless usations. Since you''re being hired to help our squad, I won''t pursue it. I need to continue with my duties."


    Alderick started to leave.


    ''This idiot actually made it look like that I''m at his disposal.''


    Mark thought.


    "Odel."


    Mark spoke and almost immediately, Odelina appeared from the blind corner of the other side of the building blocking Alderick''s retreat. She was not wearing her usual attire but only a sports tube top to cover her chest despite the coldness of the night. The servant was already on her battle gear and was ready to cover her body with her bone armor anytime.


    "What''s the meaning of this?"


    Alderick asked. Although there was no intelligence report about this servant of Mark, for her to block his path, it was implying that this woman was not simple either.


    "I won''t say sorry or anything. Whether you''re a spy or not, you pried on our secrets."


    Mark said which immediately made Alderick grip his assault rifle getting ready to fight. It was no wonder, he knew what Mark implied and it was to eliminate him to keep his secret of being able to treat Failed Mutators from others.


    Odelina immediately covered her whole body with bone armor and was ready to start the confrontation.


    Aldrerick was shocked to see her transform and knew that he was no way out to escape. He thought that he could only deal with the woman but to think that she was actually a Mutator! Furthermore, even though he had specialized training, he was surely no match against Mark who could contend and eliminate a whole faction without getting a single scratch face-to-face!


    However, the cornered Alderick did not seem to be afraid of not being able to escape. Mark felt a sudden surge of energy around Alderick.


    Under Mark''s and Odelina''s eyes, the moonlight illuminating Alderick''s body bent. His body started to vanish as if he was being consumed by nothingness. In a blink of an eye, Alderick was nowhere to be found.


    Odelina was shocked seeing this scene. Just what kind of sorcery was this?


    Mark on the other hand also faltered a bit. As someone like him who was able to sense mental and emotional energies of people exist, although he had no way of detecting them, Mark knew that other people or creatures that were unexinable by the current science exist. Nevertheless, he never expected that he would encounter one here. It was now clear to him why he felt that Alderick was too different from the other soldiers. Not only because of his suspicious behavior but also because he was actually another mental or psychic ability user.


    Still, Mark did not let his surprise overwhelm him. After all, his enemy did not vanish into thin air, he was still here and they just could not see him.


    "You won''t fool me Alderick, I know you''re¡­ Here."


    Mark suddenly pointed his assault rifle to his side as thest word of his sentence entered their ears.


    ***


    Alderick was really cautious even though he wanted to eliminate the threat in front of him. He knew that Odelina might be impervious to attacks or even bullets with her armor so he went for Mark who seemed to be unprotected. Nevertheless, before he was able to attack, the assault rifle in Mark''s hand was already pointed at his invisible body. He did not know how Mark was able to find him but he thought that it was just a fluke. He tried to move changing the direction of his attack but Mark''s gun followed his movements with perfect precision.


    "I''m done ying."


    Mark''s voice entered his ears. It was then followed by several muffled sound of gunshots.


    The next thing he knew was the searing pain in his legs. He was unable to maintain his concealed state anymore and he appeared in Mark''s and Odelina''s eyes once more, crumpled to the floor with his legs bleeding profusely from several gunshot wounds.


    "You¡­ Just what are you?!"


    Mark heard Alderick''s voice that has no change in tone despite the fact that his mind was filled with shock and he was enduring the pain in his legs.


    To his question, Mark did not say anything. Suddenly, Alderick winced in pain clutching his head. His eyes that were staring at Mark in horror started to bleed.


    "You-! Your also an Esper!"


    Alderick could not keep his fa?ade anymore as his expression and voice finally crumbled.

 Chapter 155 The Cause For Espionage

    <strong>Day 5 ¨C 9:40 PM ¨C 2nd Grade Building, Queens Row Elementary School, Queens Row Area A, Bacoor City, Cavite</strong>


    Odelina watched in shock of what she had just witnessed. After the apocalypse, not only her but people with superhuman abilities appeared because of the effects the source of the outbreak, Mutagen, caused. When the soldier which her Master called Alderick vanished in front of them, she thought that it was an ability of another Mutator. However, she now knew that she was mistaken. She was also mistaken about that ability her master disyed and used when treating Failed Mutators like her.


    The two men in front of her were actually the beings they called Espers.


    Even in the olden times, topics, rumors and information about Espers existed. Still, this became mere spections and nonsense to the eyes of the popce due to various reasons.


    Espers were people who had supernatural abilities that revolve around extrasensory perception. Telepathy, irvoyance, Psychokinesis and Precognition were said to be the four types of extrasensory perception and were branching further to multitudes of abilities from pyrokinesis to psychometry.


    However, Odelina''s knowledge about these kinds of things was too little and she did not know what abilities her Master and Alderick had were called. After all, her Master did not mention anything about it to her.


    Since their enemy was already caught, Odelina approached though she did not dare remove her armor without her Master''s orders. Even though Alderick''s legs were injured and he could not stand anymore, who knew if he could do anything else with his ability.


    However, it seems that her worries were baseless. She could see that Alderick could do nothing but clutch his head while his eyes and nose continued to bleed.


    "Are you willing to answer my questions now?"


    Odelina heard her Master speak to Alderick while kicking the soldier''s assault rifle andbat knife away. He also removed the pistol on the soldier''s waist.


    However, as a response to her Master''s question, Alderick suddenly showed a regretful look for a short moment before biting something hidden inside his mouth. Blood spurted on his mouth and hey motionless on the concrete pavement behind this two floor ssroom building.


    ***


    Mark frowned while looking at the dead body in front of him. Actually, even though there was a huge chance that what he deduced was true, there was still an allowance of it to be a mistake. Yet, since Alderick decided to kill himself with poison hidden in his mouth, it showed that there was no doubt for his assumptions anymore. He never expected for Alderick to suicide though.


    However, there were a few things bugging him.


    "Odel, drag this guy into the room where I treated Captain D Rosa''s son. Wait for the captain to return. I''ll get something from the car. I''ll be back shortly."


    Mark ordered Odelina while contemting.


    "Yes, Master."


    Odelina replied and proceeded to pick up the dead body and made her way back to the secluded room.


    Mark on the other hand left and hurriedly returned to their vehicle.


    The area was not too far from the parking areapared to the building the military used as barracks. Due to this, it did not take long for him to arrive.


    The scene around the parking lot, the school square, the vacant area around the principal''s office and the open covered court of the school were different from the time they arrived this morning. Arge number of vehicles filled the ce from public utility vehicles like passenger vans, jeepneys and multi-purpose cabs torger vehicles like freezer vans, military trucks and even dump trucks.


    There also a lot of soldiers pacing back and forth while quite a number of people who seemed to be dressed with working clothes were working on modifying some of the vehicles.


    Sounds caused by gas powered electric generators and power tools overwhelmed the sounds of gunshots echoing at the borders of the settlement.


    Mark noticed that the soldiers and workers working on the vehicles had unfamiliar fluctuations. When he walked around the settlement this morning, one of the things he did was to familiarize himself with fluctuations of the people inside the settlement. It finally dawned to him why it seemed that it was nned for the 11th squad to join up with them. Likely, this squad was tasked of searching to surviving workers, might be construction and iron works workers from the industrial areas nearby.


    This way, not only that the soldiers could make up with theirck of man power, they would also be able to modify vehicles that would be used to transport the refugees.


    Ignoring the busy scene, Mark made his way to their vehicle. The soldier on shift to guard the vehicles under the order of Captain D Rosa saluted to him. Mark did not spend too long inside the MB Sprinter and left going back to the area where Odelina was waiting.


    Something has been bugging him when he felt the energy he felt from Alderick when he activated his ability. From what Mark knew, Alderick''s ability should be Photokinesis. It was the ability to control light around the user ording to his will. By controlling bending the light away from his body, Alderick was able to erase his body from the recognition of the sense of sight of his enemies. To the energy Alderick used to control the light around him, Mark could not help but feel a certain familiarity.


    When Mark entered the dimly lit room once more, Captain D Rosa was already there waiting. When Mark noticed Alderick spying on them, Mark told Captain D Rosa to return here immediately after escorting his son away before he feigned his leave. Surprisingly, it seemed that the squad captain was not bothered about the death of Alderick who supposed to be one of his men.


    "You already heard of what happened?"


    Mark asked the squad captain after he closed the door.


    "I did. To think that I''m also right."


    Captain D Rosa replied.


    "You already suspected it?"<sub> </sub>


    Mark asked once more and the captain nodded.


    "Alderick is not really part of my squad but supposed to be stationed in Bay City as one of the guard troops. Furthermore, he was part of another military faction that goes against General Perez. Another thing is that Alderick seemed to have connections with the upper brass which was said to have contributed to his sudden rise in military rank. Strange enough, he was relocated to our squad in thest minute after we received our mission order to search and escort Professor Chervil Sandoval safely to Bay City."


    "So, it''s likely that he works for one of the officials in the senate or even higher right?"


    "Yes, unfortunately, no one knew who he worked for. To think that he even went to court Irene when he''s actually working against us. It''s likely that he used it as excuse that to obtain information."


    Captain D Rosa said with displeasure.


    "You''re wrong with that."


    Mark interjected which called the attention of the other two inside the room.


    "What do you mean?"


    "This guy had really fallen for Irene so he''s filled with regret that he had to kill himself in order to not let the cat out the bag. Still, I''m caught off guard. I didn''t think that he actually had poison in his mouth like how I read about spies in novels."


    "Is that so? Nevertheless, I''m not fond of him pestering Irene. She''s like a daughter to me and it''s obvious that she had feelings for my son. It''s just Keene is as dense as a rock."


    Captain D Rosa mocked.


    "About spies carrying poison, it''s amon practice even in the modern days. It is one of the reasons why dealing with these kinds of people is the most troublesome thing for us soldiers to do."


    "But why would they want a spy to go infiltrate your squad?"


    Odelina asked from the side making the two men look at her.


    "There could be a lot of reasons but this time, it is surely because of Chervil."


    Mark said making the captain nod in agreement.


    "Right now, the government officials lost most of their power due to Martial Law and their current positions being unstable. That is why the people of the upper brass are looking ways to maintain or gain more authority even starting to back up militant groups.


    Right now, not only the people, the infected and the animals are changing. Even nts are affected by the Mutagen. Since that is the case, a botanist like Professor Chervil is very crucial for future agriculture and other fields that make use of nts. If they can rope in the Professor under their wing, they will get the monopoly in such field and fortifying their position in Bay City. Not to mention that there are several nts that already showed signs of mutation these past days.


    Unfortunately, Bay Cityck experts in such field since they prioritized Epidemiologists, Microbiologists and scientists in simr fields in hopes of looking for a cure and this is the reason why the study about the mutating nts was too slow. It is also likely to be the reason why the one behind Alderick sent him."


    What Captain D Rosa said gave crucial information about the current state of affairs in Bay City. It was really good that he managed to gain the favor of General Perez and gained the allegiance of Captain D Rosa. Right now, the most powerful faction not only in the Bay City but in other government established settlements was the military. Since they had the backing of the military, it was less likely for them to get disturbed by the other factions.


    "What are you going to do with this guy?"


    Mark asked pointing at the dead body in front of them.


    "Don''t worry about him. I''ll send some of my men to throw his body outter. If my subordinates were to learn that this guy is a spy, they will be d to do it. We can leave anytime."


    Captain D Rosa replied with his voice filled with contempt for Alderick.


    "In that case you can leave first. I want to check out something with the body. Send for your men to clean upter. Also clean up the blood behind the 2nd grade building in case that someone would be able to see it tomorrow."


    Mark said while signaling Captain D Rosa to leave already with his hand.


    "Alright then. Before I forget, here."


    Captain D Rosa seemed to want to ask what Mark wanted to do but decided not to. Instead, he handed Mark a small metal case about the size of a ying card and as thick as a pocket book.


    "While gathering gasoline and vehicles, my subordinates killed hundreds of Mutated Infected but they only found those. Alright I''m leaving. I''m sure the Keene and Irene are waiting for me."


    Captain D Rosa left not waiting for Mark to open the case. When Mark opened it, he saw seven nail sized pebbles exuding strange energy which made his eyes light up. If the ratio was fixed and two of these pebbles could create a single pale purple crystal, then he could create three for these with a single pebble as extra. However, it was not the right time to think about these pebbles.


    The confused Odelina watched by the side why her master wanted to stay but never voiced any question.


    Mark on the other hand stored the metal case in the pocket of his jacket before taking out a folded handkerchief. Opening the handkerchief, inside was a marble sized deep purple colored crystal that was now exuding a faint light across its surface.

 Chapter 156 Physical And Mind Crystals

    <strong>Day 5 ¨C 9:56 pm ¨C South Utility Room, Queens Row Elementary School, Queens Row Area A, Bacoor City, Cavite</strong>


    Mark held the deep purple crystal using the handkerchief that was used to cover it in his right hand. Just the glow it was exuding at the moment was enough to clear up several doubts in his mind.


    During these six years that he was in contact with these crystals, he only knew superficial things like therger crystal was able to create or maybe, give birth to a new crystal once a year and how the energy these crystals release seem to affect and rx his mind every time he went home especially in his most stressful days. It was also after the time he acquired these crystals that he noticed an exponential growth in his ability as an Empath.


    Yet, yesterday, he witnessed how the energy these crystals released could affect the minds of the infected opening the thought that these crystals might had some connection with the Mutagen that caused the outbreak. The thought was further reinforced due to the existence of the pale colored crystal and the reaction the crystals were disying after the outbreakmenced. Moreover, the pale crystal could really help elerate the evolution of the person that absorbed it.


    This afternoon, they witnessed how the strange pebbles found inside some of the mutated infected could be used to create these pale crystals while the crystal newly created exhibited a strange phenomenon and even seemed to absorb something from the brain matter he collected.


    At this moment, the crystal in his hand was exhibiting the same glow the pale colored crystal from earlier exuded before flying above the jar of brain matter.


    As if agreeing with his line of thought, the crystal in his hand shook and flew off a few feet away before stopping suspended above the head of the dead Alderick. Mark could then feel the same energy Alderick released after using his Photokinesis and the energy was getting sucked into the glowing crystal. Several seconds passed and a faint glow started to grow inside the floating crystal.


    "So, it''s really like this."


    Mark''s eyes glowed with excitement as he watched the scene.


    When the pale crystal earlier absorbed something unseen from the brain matter and showed a glowing flesh colored glowing orb inside it, he suspected that it was not just absorbing but actually storing something from the brain matter inside the jar. Following the line of thought of an otaku, he suspected that the pale purple crystal was storing the ability or characteristic of the infected the brain matter came from which was the Muscled Infected.


    That was what he thought considering that Jte was able to exhibit the strange arm strength of that Mutator he killed in Firenze after eating his brain.


    If he was right, then, the crystal floating in front of him right now was actually stealing and storing Alderick''s esper ability from his dead body!


    The pale purple crystal should havee from the existence of Mutagen and was possible that it was able to absorb abilities of Mutated Infected. No, it could also be possible for it to absorb the abilities of Mutators and Evolvers considering that all of those came from the same origin. The deep purple crystal on the other hand seemed to affect minds, not only people but also the infected. Furthermore, Esper abilities were always rted to their minds¡­


    The dots around these mysterious crystals were starting to connect¡­


    "Master, this¡­"


    While contemting, Mark heard Odelina''s voice as she seemed to be lost with what was currently happening. He could not help butugh a little. This loyal servant of his must have experienced the greatest shock of her life upon knowing the truth about the existence of Espers and now, she witnessed this strange and spectacr scene once more and on an unexpected target and a different medium.


    The process took longer than the previous circumstance. The deep purple crystal lost its glow on the surface before plummeting on the dead Alderick''s forehead before falling unto the floor. Inside the crystal, a clear white glowing orb was now present.


    Mark approached the crystal rolling on the floor and picked it up once more using the handkerchief.


    "Odel, let''s return."


    Mark said and the two left the room.


    "You want to ask something?"


    He asked Odelina who was walking closely behind him.


    "That''s¡­ Master, do Espers really exist? Are you really an Esper?"


    Odelina could not stop herself anymore from asking.


    Mark nced at her.


    "You clearly saw what happened earlier. Not only Espers, other paranormal beings also exist but of course, no one will easily reveal themselves due to risks. And yes I''m one of them I''m an Empath."


    "Empath¡­ Master, those are people that are sensitive to emotions of others right? But you¡­"


    "Empaths are not only sensitive but can also absorb those emotional energies where we like it or not. As for how I''m able to use those energies at my disposal now, you rather ask Freed about that. If I didn''t encounter you back then at the mall and Freed didn''te out at thest moment, I won''t even know that I can do something like that either."


    Mark shrugged his shoulders.


    "I never thought that Espers really exist. I thought, they are only found on stories, urban legends or even novels."


    Odelina spoke once more which made Mark snicker a bit.


    "If you ask me, our situation right now with all the infected, Mutation and stuff should only exist in the same manner."


    To that, Odelina could not say anything in reply. After all, what her Master had just said was also true. Before, a zombie apocalyptic outbreak was nothing but a thing that existed in different forms of media and yet, the world was now copsing because of the event that supposed to only exist in imaginations of people.


    Stepping to the central area of the schoolpound once more, Mark turned to Odelina.


    "I''m going back to the car, can you fetch Mei''er and bring her to the carter. I need to tell the two of you something."<sub> </sub>


    "Yes, Master."


    Odelina immediately left proceeding to the south western part of the schoolpound to heed his order.


    Mark on the other hand went straight to the central area of the school where the parking area was located.


    Time was starting to get tighter and tighter for him. Due to this, it was really good that he managed to get a crucial discovery about the crystals. If his assumption was really correct and these crystals could store abilities. Then, it should also be possible to give the stored abilities to others!


    Still, tests were still required to be done and he should not so the tests haphazardly. Even though he had these ideas, it was nothing but assumptions and if he did the test and experiment carelessly, he would lose a valuable material specially, the deep purple crystal that could only be produced once a year. Nevertheless, his mind was blooming with expectation.


    Inside his pocket at the moment, was the possibility to give someone or maybe, for him to obtain the ability to control light around him, more precisely, control the photons around him.


    However, he was not too optimistic about it. As he tried it several times before, aside from the crystal with golden orb inside that entered his body, the other crystals, even the one with the red orb in his bag, did not behave the same.


    On the other hand, he already tested and was sure about the capabilities of the pale purple crystals that did not have glowing orb inside. With the seven pebbles that Captain D Rosa handed him, he had three pale purple crystals to create.


    While walking, something dawned into his mind. Calling these crystals by color seemed to be tedious. He should give the crystals a general name to use and to make it not too confusing. The biggest crystal, the double terminated shaped one, could be namedter but the two kinds of marble sized crystal should bebeled.


    "Mutagen Crystal and Esper Crystal?"


    Mark mulled as he walked through the busy parking area.


    Considering the abilities Evolvers and Mutators were granted, he started to notice most of it was physical or abilities and enhancement that affect the physical aspect of the person. Even though he also experienced an enhancement with his empathic abilities when he woke up in Firenze, he felt that it was because the ability already existed. All the new abilities that were acquired however were physical abilities.


    His regeneration, Odelina''s bone armor, Abbygale''s cat transformation, Nikky and Arvie''s super strength, Mara''s running speed, Joseph''s physical tenacity, Carlo''s body cooling control and even Dominador''s Weremonkey transformation. All of them were physical enhancements and mutations.


    "Hmm¡­ It should be Physical Crystal and the other one¡­ Mind Crystal should do. As for the pebbles, Mutation Stones should suffice."


    He nodded since as finally decided while he entered the MB Sprinter.


    Without thinking about anything else, he proceeded to create new Physical Crystals using the Mutation Stones Captain D Rosa managed to gather. In about two minutes, three new Physical Crystals were circling in orbit around thergest crystal.


    Mark tried to sense the unfamiliar people outside thinking if someone was able to notice the bright light inside the vehicle. Nevertheless, it seemed that the heavily tinted windows did their work perfectly.


    It did not take long for Odelina to return along with Mei. However, it was not just the two of them. When Mark opened the door of the vehicle, two little girls were holding onto Mei''s both hands.


    "Why are these two here?"


    "Gege, they''re not able to sleep. It''s too noisy."


    Hearing that, Mark nodded and made the four enter the vehicle. He did not me the two little girls for not being able to sleep. Considering the noise created by the workers and soldiers who were busy with their work, not only these girls but there should be others that would have a hard time sleeping tonight. Not to mention that there were still gunshots echoing from time to time as the infected in the area were being attracted to the settlement.


    With the help of Odelina, Mark set up arge and thick nket on the floor at the back of the vehicle and let the two little girls sleep there. Even though their vehicle was in the middle of the working area, the sound proofing of the vehicle was enough to stop the noise from entering. Since Mark returned here in the vehicle to the time the four arrived, he did not hear any sound entering the vehicle from outside.


    Soon enough, along with Mark constantly caressing the head of the two girls, they fell asleep hugging each other. It seemed that the Abbygale and I had no problems with being siblings. Rather, it seemed that the two enjoyed each other''spany.


    "Gege, you have something to tell us right?"


    Mei asked as she noticed that Mark''s eyes had a meaningful aura as he stared at the two sleeping girls. Odelina on the other hand sat on the sofa waiting for Mark.


    "Mei''er, you sit beside Odel."


    Mark said to Mei while he sat on the opposite sofa.


    The two females that sat in front of him felt a little strange. There was something odd with Mark at this moment.


    "You two know that I''m an Empath right?"


    The two nodded simultaneously.


    "Actually, I have another ability. Something that I can''t control."


    Mark started at the two and continued.


    "When something major was about to happen around me that could led to catastrophe that involved myself and people I know, I get dreams that show me bits and pieces of what is about to happen in the future."


    Mei and Odelina were surprised at his sudden revtion.

 Chapter 157 Future Plans

    <strong>Day 5 ¨C 10:38 PM ¨C Parking Area, Queens Row Elementary School, Queens Row Area A, Bacoor City, Cavite</strong>


    Mark looked at the two''s surprised expressions with a little pint of confusion.


    "Rather than being surprised that I have this ability, you two seem to be surprised that I told you about this."


    Hearing that, the surprise in the two women''s expressions receded and Odelina showed a bit of embarrassment on her face.


    "Master, with what I just saw earlier, I don''t know if I should react to something like this anymore. I''m more surprised that you told us this. I''m sure that Master is a person who keeps things to yourself."


    Odelina replied which also made Mei nod in agreement. But Mei''s expression soon turned serious as she realized something.


    "Then, Gege, the way you woke up earlier¡­"


    Mei remembered what happened when he woke up this afternoon.


    Mark nodded before Mei could even finish her sentence.


    "I''m telling you two this since now since we are going to encounter danger before we arrive at Bay City."


    "Danger?"


    Mei asked.


    "Yes, danger. In the worst scenario, we''ll all die. Me, the two of you, all the members of our group, even the soldiers and the refugees."


    Mark decided to be straightforward which made the eyes of the two widen.


    "Why? How? Is it the wave of infected Master and young miss talked about?"


    Odelina asked in a hurry. She was not worried about herself but she was worried about her children.


    "It''s not too clear but it''s likely that we''ll encounter a Mutated Infected more powerful and way strongerpared to the ones we encountered so far. In my dream, there''s only one infected so it''s surely not rted to the wave."


    Mark shook his head.


    The two women were shocked. Just how strong was that infected to be able to wipe out everyone including the armed soldiers alone?


    "Then, if Gege had a premonition about it, we can avoid the disaster right?"


    Mei voiced her concern.


    "That''s right but we can''t deviate too much or we''ll encounter even worse danger than this one. You know. People with this kind of ability don''t always live too long. There are many reasons but one is that because they tried to bend the future and suffered the consequences. It''s like knowing that there is danger this way so you turned the other way and encountered even worse danger that what you predicted."


    Mark looked at the two with a more serious expression.


    "As we agreed with Captain D Rosa, I will choose the way to lead all of us to Bay City. In this case, I will deliberately lead us to encounter that infected. That way, we can predict where it will appear exactly and prepare some measures. If I did not do this, considering that all the roads that connect this ce going to Bay City, all of it was at the same direction. Meaning, in any of these routes, it is likely that we will encounter that infected. So it is better to directly follow the route in my premonition and anticipate where the infected will appear."


    He saw the two gulped with nervousness.


    "I already prepared some arrangements with Captain D Rosa in order to prepare for the encounter. I didn''t tell him why I needed him to prepare those things though."


    "Master, is that what you talked about with him before treating his son?"


    Odelina suddenly remembered. When the squad captain was bringing them to the room where his son was detained, Mark told him several things and handed a torn notebook page containing a list of things.


    "That''s right."


    Mark admitted.


    "What I wanted to tell you two now is that in case that the things I prepared didn''t work, I''ll go and lure that infected away."


    "WHAT!?"


    Mei and Odelina eximed as they almost stood up in shock.


    "Calm down you two. Gale and I are sleeping."


    Mark hushed the two.


    "But Gege. If it just needed to be lured away, then, anyone could suffice right?"


    Mei started to calm down and asked.


    Odelina on the other hand started to weigh the circumstances.


    "No one else can do it but Master."


    Mei also realized what was going on.


    "Gege, that infected ising after you?"


    Mark nodded.


    "I don''t know why but does the two of you remember? The infected, particrly the mutated ones, seem to target me whenever they see me. Sometimes, they didn''t even see me but will move towards my direction."


    The two did not respond but the realization was apparent in their eyes.


    "I''ll tell you two but it doesn''t only happen to me."


    The ears of the two perked up.


    "By the way it looked like. The infected are able to distinguish Espers."


    Mark turned to Mei.


    "Remember why Captain D Rosa and his squad are stuck here?"


    "They encountered an "Unknown" that almost wiped them out."


    Odelina looked at Mei as she was not there at the meeting for the escort proposal. She knew about the mission and rewards they were going to receive afterwards as Mark also borated it to them before but it was the first time she heard about the story behind it.


    "That Unknown should be a powerful Mutated Infected that attacked them because they had an Esper with them."


    Mark said which made Odelinae into another realization.


    "Alderick?"<sub> </sub>


    "Yes. The same happened to the group Pa and Angeline went with. I haven''t told you two yet but Angeline is currently in ama because their convoy was attacked by an Unknown I suspect to be another Mutated Infected. Pa was the target of the Infected and Angeline was injured in order to protect her."


    The news became a shock to the two. No wonder it was Pa who was answering the phone when the phone should have belonged to Angeline. They then realized what Mark said to them.


    "Pa is also an Esper?"


    Mei voiced. Even though she did not really interacted too much with the two, they left a good impression to her, especially Angeline who was na?ve minded but a strong fighter.


    "Pa had the ability to distinguish lies from truth. She said that she inherited it from her mother. I can say that she''s telling the truth. Actually, my ability to see pieces of the future is also inherited from my mother."


    Mark took a deep breath and decided to console the two.


    "In any way, I won''t go and lure the infected away if we can defeat it. If it really happened that I have to leave and lure it away¡­ Odel, I want you to take care of Mei and these two girls. I know that I''m dumping too much work to you this time when you also have your children to protect."


    "Master, you worry too much. I will do my best to protect them even if you don''t order me to."


    Odelina said with resolution.


    "Gege¡­ you will return safely right?"


    Mei asked. Her expression looked sad.


    "I will. Though I''m not optimistic that it will be easy, at least I know that I will be able to survive that. At most, my arrival at Bay City will just get dyed and nothing more."


    Mark patted Mei''s head.


    "Another thing... Odel, what do you want to do after reaching Bay City?"


    "What do you mean Master?"


    "Actually, after I escorted everyone to Bay City, I will leave with Mei and these two girls, probably, along with Laps and Fein too."


    Odelina was surprised once more.


    "Leave? Why?"


    Unexpectedly, Mei was the one who answered Odelina''s question.


    "It''s because Gege already paid his debt."


    Hearing that, Mark smiled.


    "You actually remembered that?"


    Mei nodded.


    "Back at the mall, Gege said that you have a debt to your friends. You also said before that we are the same. Then, Gege already severed connections to them before right? In the case you brought them to safety of Bay City, you already paid the debt and had no lingering connection to them anymore."


    Hearing that, Odelina held her head with her right hand.


    It was no wonder this two Masters of hers were limiting their interactions with the other members too much. They actually n on leaving everyone afterwards.


    Seeing the servant''s dilemma, Mark spoke.


    "As an Empath, ces like this settlement and even Bay City don''t suit me. I prefer to create my own base somewhere else with a few people. The others however, were not too suited for something like that. The Evolvers in our group now have their families with them so I can''t bring them either. That''s why I''m asking you. If you don''t want to go with us, you can forget the deal Freed gave you and live freely."


    Surprisingly, Odelina did not want to leave.


    "Can we bring my children with us?"


    "There''s no problem with that. You have the ability to protect them."


    Mark agreed.


    "Well, about the n to leave, that won''t happen immediately since we needed to prepare for that. We''ll probably stay at Bay City for some time before leaving."


    ***


    The talk did not take too long after that and Mark told Odelina to return to her children back in the building used by the military.


    "Gege, there won''t be any problems right?"


    Mei sat beside Mark.


    "Don''t jinx it."


    Mark rubbed his handhard on her head before handing a folded cloth to her. Inside the cloth was one of the newly created Physical Crystals.


    "Since we don''t know other things that will happen, you better consume this."


    Mei did not say anything and epted the crystal, holding it on her hand. Her eyes were also filled with anticipation. If she evolved, she would be able to fight and help her Gege further. She did not want to be just a baggage and wanted to be able to fight beside him.


    "Lay down on the sofa. It will be quite painful for sure and you will have fever after you lose consciousness. Don''t worry, I''ll assist you. If it didn''t work, then I''ll give you a drop of my blood."


    Meiy downfortably on the sofa and propped the crystal into her mouth.


    CRACK! CRACK!


    Upon contact with her saliva, the crystal glowed with bright light before it cracked and broke into pieces the same way during Mark''s experiment. The smoke particles left of the crystal entered her throat. Almost immediately, her face started to flush and her body started to shiver. It seemed that the crystal worked immediately on her without her needing to consume Mark''s blood.


    "Gege¡­"


    Mei spoke weakly trying to suppress the pain. As her voice was too soft, Mark leaned his face towards her to hear her more clearly.


    At that moment, before he could react, Mei lifted her head and nted a soft kiss on his right cheek. She then lost consciousness ring with fever with her head falling back unto the sofa.


    Mark was surprised and then he shook his head. This girl was getting braver and braver. It was not like he did not know what this girl felt towards him. It was just that he did not feel that importance of having rtionships at the moment when there was danger in every corner.


    He caressed her head with his hand covered with white milky light.


    When her condition became stable, Mark was in a dilemma. He had no way of sleeping now. With Mei unconscious, the emotions of everyone in the settlement came flooding his mind like a broken dam.


    Throwing the thought of having sleep away, he took out his phone, a USB cable and hisptop before sitting beside the sofa Mei was sleeping at. He was not ying a game. Clicking sounds of the keys of the keyboard echoed inside the vehicle as Mark started to create one of his trump cards to exchange with the government.

 Chapter 158 The First And Final Night At The Settlement - After Midnight

    <strong>Day 6 ¨C 12:27 AM ¨C 2nd Floor ssroom, 4th Grade Building, Queens Row Elementary School, Queens Row Area A, Bacoor City, Cavite</strong>


    "Father, why don''t you take a rest first? It''s already past midnight, right? It will be bad for your body."


    Keene said as he sat on a makeshift beddingid on the floor of the ssroom his father and childhood friend brought him into. He stared at his father who nned to go out once more in the middle of the night to supervise the activities inside the settlement.


    "I''m fine Keene. I''ll just issue some urgent orders and return to get rest. You rest first since your body is still weak. You have to recover your strength first."


    Captain D Rosa said with a smile before walking out of the ssroom.


    Keene stared at the departing figure of his father who closed the door. He could not help but feel like he was dreaming.


    His name was Keene D Rosa, son of the captain of the 7th Rescue Squad, Simeon D Rosa and the childhood friend of Irene McCarran.


    Back in Bay City, he was supposed to be one of the members of the 7th Rescue Squad under his father but for some reason, he was switched with someone else at thest moment and he was put in the detestable 15th Squad who were a bunch of soldiers under the opposing faction. Due to that, General Perez could not help but y his hand and Keen was again relocated to the 11th Squad who were also under the General.


    They were tasked of gathering surviving workers in the industrial area in Bacoor Cavite. The location was chosen not because it was the nearest but because it was in a location with lesser danger. However, it seemed that he had his stroke of bad luck.


    They were clearing one of the construction sites were a building that was yet to be finished stood to rescue several construction workers trapped in the highest finished floor of the building. While they were making their way into the unfinished building however, something fell from above. It fell on him out of all the soldiers in their team. What bad luck he had.


    Due to the thing falling on his head, he was disoriented. It was when he felt a searing pain on his left wrist and heard the sudden gunshots that he managed to recover himself. However, it was toote. He was already bitten.


    What actually fell on him was a small infected boy who seemed to be able to climb on vertical surfaces. When they examined the body of the child, the child''s hand had several pointed boney growth. Looking at the wall where the child fell from, they could see holes on the concrete where the child''s hand might have drilled using those bone growth on his hands.


    He was immediately quarantined. Fortunately, unlike in the movies and television drama where people who were bitten were immediately disposed of, there was still hope for him. As long as a person who was bitten did not turn into an infected immediately, there was a chance for them to be a Mutator. Due to that, he did not fall into despair and held unto that little hope.


    He did be a Mutator, unfortunately, a failed one.


    Keene turned at Irene who was sleeping beside him after being tired of crying. He smiled and he could not help but feel likeughing when he saw her childish crying face and her nose even dripping with snot. Still, he preferred that she stay like this. It was because a life of a soldier could often turn anyone''s personality upside down.


    He then stared at his left hand letting a white bone de grow and retract at his fingertips. Remembering how it felt like his bones were being ground into powder before being reconstructed, he could not help but feel remorse. It felt like a torture going on for hours.


    However, he could not let his consciousness wane even with the excruciating pain he felt. It was because he could feel that something would immediately take over his mind at the time he gave up. He started to lose control of his body but he was still conscious waiting for something.


    He knew that even Sessful Mutators had an episode that they would go berserk shortly before recovering so he still did not give up. Yet, reality betrayed him. He did not recover from his berserk state and he felt like his consciousness was being snuffed out like a candle fire being blown by the wind.


    At that time, he knew that there was no going back.


    Yet, it seemed that God had not forsaken him yet. Who thought that his father was able to find someone to save him before his consciousness was fully erased? When he heard the condition his father agreed to in order to save him, he could not help but feel confused.


    If that person could save Failed Mutators like him, why would he want to hide it? However, with further thought, he started to bend that idea. He was not blind and he knew the current power struggle happening in Bay City. An ability to save Failed Mutators was very precious that those greedy pigs would want to monopolize it. Since there was only one person with that ability, only one would be able to monopolize him.


    Then, since the others would not be able to make use of that person, his life would be in danger. If they were not able to make use of him, what was the use of keeping that person alive?


    He started to agree with his father on epting the deal. Furthermore, his life now was a debt to that person and he would not want his benefactor to fall into danger. Moreover that person already thought of an excuse if others were to question his sudden recovery.<sub> </sub>


    "There are a lot of things unknown to us right now regarding Mutagen. Just say that his berserk period took longer than usual due to unknown reasons."


    His father ryed those sentences to him from the mouth of his benefactor. It sounded like that person knew a lot.


    Still, he was surprised and felt lucky that his benefactor actually knew the younger demoness in Bay City, Pa Mae rence. This way, there was no need for him to lie in front of that living lie detector.


    Keene did not feel like sleeping. He wanted to practice a little with his ability. Whether he was able to recover all his strength or not, he would need to know and think of ways to use his ability as he would surely be needed tomorrow when they left this ce.


    ***


    <strong>Day 6 ¨C 3:32 AM ¨C Main Gates Vacant Area, Queens Row Elementary School, Queens Row Area A, Bacoor City, Cavite</strong>


    The workers and soldiers working on the preparations of the vehicles had changed shifts already.


    Those vehicles that were already done with the modifications and checking were being lined up on the order the convoy would leave tomorrow.


    The vehicles closest to the main gates were threerge ten-wheeler dump trucks with V-shaped rams affixed on the front bumpers while a shield modification was equipped at the rear bumper. These three would be boarded by several soldiers and volunteers from the refugees. As the roads they would traverse towards Bay City was not empty, these three trucks would drive at an arrow head shape to push the vehicles blocking the way to the side paving a way for the rest of the vehicles to go through. Among all the vehicles here, these three dump trucks where the best for that work due to these vehicles having enough horsepower and weight to push evenrger vehicles aside.


    Following behind the three dump trucks where the assortment of vehicles to transport the refugees and the supplies. There were noplicated modifications on these vehicles aside from the windows and doors being secured with welded rebar to prevent the infected from entering the vehicles easily even if the infected managed to punch through the defense of the military during the journey.


    The military vehicles would be ced around the vehicles carrying refugees at fixed intervals, specifically, the military trucks that could help with both offense and defense of the soldiers. For the remaining Military vehicles such as gun mounted Humvees and Jeepney, these vehicles were put on roving duty. These vehicles have no fixed position within the convoy and would go around assisting which ever part of the convoy was under heavy attack.


    At the end of the convoy was another two dump trucks to serve as rear guard. These two trucks also had both modified front and rear bumpers. The rear bumpers could help protecting the rear of the convoy while the front V-rams were also equipped to these two dump trucks. These two dump trucks did not only serve as rear defense but also as reserve in case that either of the three dump trucks leading the convoy would suffer damages and mechanical issues and could not carry on with the assigned duty.


    In case that there was damage on the V-shaped rams of the leading trucks, the damaged leading truck would go to the rear to rece the reserve truck that would be relocated to the front. That was also the reason why the rear bumpers of the three trucks in leading the convoy were also modified.


    Oddly enough, a Carry Multicab containing a dozen of Liquefied Petroleum Gas Tanks was within the groups of vehicles. Another was a motocross bike that was the only motorcycle within the convoy. Both vehicles were thest of the vehicles to be driven into the settlement and the two vehicles were also being guarded by the soldiers as if it was more important than the other vehicles. The soldiers even mounted a machinegun at the back of the Carry Multicab and a modified rotatable and lockable Assault rifle slot on the handle of the motorcycle.


    That sight could not help but get the attention of the workers working on modifying the other important vehicles. Even the other soldiers not in the know went to ask about it only to hear that it were under the orders of Captain D Rosa. No one else knew about the reason.


    ***


    <strong>Day 6 ¨C 5:03 AM ¨C Came ess Road, Came Springville North, Molino III, Bacoor City, Cavite</strong>


    This ce was nearly a kilometer away from the nearest corner of the Queens Row Elementary School following the streets, there was a small group of soldiers stationed here. The soldiers were all members of the 7th Rescue Squad led by Captain D Rosa. They secured a two floor house that had the overview of the long canal that were going across and around to the south of the North Springville Subdivision.


    The mission of this small group of soldiers was to find ways to dy and monitor the ce in case that therge horde of infected that was reported by the policemen from Firenze neared the area. Due to the lighting from the moon, it was easier for them to observe the area.


    Looking at the main road of the subdivision connected to the ess Road beside the canal, dozens of vehicles with various sizes were parked side by side and bumper to bumper blocking the road. This was not only done here but in various parts of the subdivision.


    The sleepy soldier on lookout noticed something far away to the south west waking him up. He immediately took out his binocrs. To his horror, he saw countless shadows moving towards their direction with eyes glowing like savage beasts. He immediately called unto hisrades and using the radio, informed the settlement.


    The wave was finally on sight.

 Chapter 159 Discoveries In The Morning

    <strong>Day 6 ¨C 8:06 AM ¨C Parking Area, Queens Row Elementary School, Queens Row Area A, Bacoor City, Cavite</strong>


    The sun had already risen more than two hours ago. The preparations of the vehicles to use were nearing the final phase but despite that fact, the soldiers were tenser and were obviously under heavier pressure. About three hours ago, they received the bad news. Therge horde they were anticipating was nearing the settlement.


    It was very fortunate that the direction the horde wasing from were surrounded by creeks, water canals and branching rivers or else, the horde would have reached this ce in less than an hour. However, those natural defenses would notst too long and were only effective to the infected that were not able to climb which were majorly, human infected.


    Most of the infected fauna on the other hand, retained their predatory instincts and physical advantages. This allowed some of the infected insects to be able to climb over walls like spiders and run a faster speed that human infected like cats, dogs and rats. Not to mention that there even insects that retained the ability to fly. Furthermore, the infected insects had grown in absurd sizes. Not only one or two but all insects that turned into infected had grownrger that some were evenrger than smaller vehicles.


    There were also the threat of the mutated infected and there was arge number of them among the horde. Each kind of the mutated had varying characteristics and abilities. Those abilities ranged from physical enhancements to being able to release chemicals and acids from their bodies. Seeing all those, none of the soldiers dispatched to observe the horde were optimistic that the fortifications and road blockades they made wouldst long.


    While everyone here in the settlement was not done preparing yet, several teams of military personnel which consisted of five to ten people per group were already dispatched to dy the horde and aid the scouting groups. They were dispatched to specifically deal with the infected animals and insects from reaching the settlement until the preparations were done.


    p ***</anda>


    While everyone was busy and were in rush to finish modifying the remaining vehicles, a girl who was walking with a middle aged woman caught the attention of the workers and the soldiers of the 11th Rescue Squad manning the preparations. The girl had green hair riddled with pink blossoming flowers and the ends of her hair had grown into vines that were rolled into a shape of a person.


    The girl was obviously Emika who came to the Parking Area with her mother, Rosamie. They were here to look for their group leader who seemed to have forgotten something.


    Among the vehicles in the parking area, there was an eye catchingrge van that was even modified so much better than what the workers and soldiers had done with the new vehicles. Even though the front of the vehicle and the V-shaped ram attached to the front had worn out paint and dents already, it was no doubt a luxury car modified to be a zombie apocalypse vehicle.


    The pair soldiers in shift to guard the vehicles saw Emika and Rosamieing and immediately saluted. The guards looking out for the vehicles were obviously from the 7th Squad and knew Emika who helped in eliminating the threat of Dominador''s faction and rescued all those poor women and children.


    This behavior of the soldiers also caught the attention of the other people at the scene which led them to question the identities of the two in their minds. Nevertheless, none of those people went to ask or approach the strange looking girl. To most of the people, not only the refugees but even to quite a number of soldiers, Mutators were apletely unknown existence.


    People might easily ept Evolvers since they were basically enhanced humans but Mutators were different. In the views ofmon refugees, Mutators were nothing but intelligent infected. This became a deterrent for these people to ept the existence of Mutators even though the soldiers had already briefed the popce about their existence.


    TOK. TOK.


    Rosamie knocked on the window of the ck armored van.


    Soon, the door slid to the side revealing Mark who was holding a cup of hot coffee while yawning.


    Rosamie was confused and forgot about herins immediately. Looking at Mark''s reddish eyes, fatigued face and slightly pale countenance, it was obvious that Mark was deprived of sleep.


    "Is something¡­ wroooong?"


    Mark asked as he yawned once more.


    "You didn''t sleepst night?"


    Rosamie could not help but ask.


    "I wasn''t able to. Anyway, why are you two here?"


    "Ohayou~!"


    Emika cheerfully greeted.


    "Yeah, yeah. Good Morning to you too."


    Mark replied before looking back to Rosamie.


    "This. You forgot to take it away. My daughter had to keep it outside the door for the whole night."


    Rosamie pointed at the human shaped clump of vines being pulled by the little dryad. Though she seemed dissatisfied, her mood was better than before she saw the fatigued Mark.


    "Oh, right."


    Mark scratched his head. He totally forgot to tell Captain D Rosa to take Dominador''s body. Since it''s already here anyway, he might as well do an experiment.


    "Wait a minute, I''ll just take something, then follow me to where we can leave that body."


    Seeing his apologetic expression, Rosamie nodded. However, Emika on the other hand hopped into the vehicle. Aside from the smell of coffee from the cup Mark was holding, there was a smell of hot milking from inside the vehicle.


    "Scary Uncle, I want to drink milk too!"


    Mark shook his head with a smile.


    "Alright, there''s still hot water anyway. Mrs. Rosamie, want a cup of coffee? Consider this as apology for the burden."


    With that invitation, the mother and daughter entered the vehicle leaving the human shaped clump of vines outside the vehicle.<sub> </sub>


    Inside, the two saw Abbygale and I drinking a ss of milk each and Mei who was still sleeping.


    "What happened?"


    Rosamie could not help but ask since seeing Mei still sleeping while Abbygale was already awake seemed strange. If it was normal, Mark would have already woken her up.


    Since Rosamie and her children were not present yesterday afternoon when Mark talked to the others, he summarized the content of the topic yesterday and told the two while drinking coffee. He also introduced I to the two. Even though the two knew about the girl yesterday afternoon, they did not know what happened and it was really strange to see the dying girl yesterday up and about the next morning.


    "By the way, what are you doing yesterday? We called for you three but none of you came for dinner."


    Mark asked as Rosamie''s family was absent yesterday. Then, Rosamie''s face darkened.


    "It''s my brother''s fault. As a botanist, he became crazy studying my children''s nt like abilities and it went like that till midnight."


    Though Rosamie''s expression soured, it seemed that she was used to that behavior of her brother. Well, most scientists had a unique personality in one way or another. It was not new.


    "What''s the result?"


    "Chervil said that there are existing nts with simr properties that Emika''s vines and Mikio''s tree roots had but he''s totally sure that their abilities created a totally new genus of flora. He could not remember any nt cell structure that had the same structure as my children''s abilities."


    "That''spletely expected. Just how would it have the same structure as normal nts when the vines and roots came from Mutated children?"


    ***


    They all finished drinking the contents of their cups and ate some crackers and cookie sandwiches. Mark left the duty of guarding the still sleeping Mei to the trustworthy and calm cat girl. It was not like the Abbygale would let anything happen to the woman she called "Mama" from time to time.


    Rosamie and Emika followed Mark bringing Dominador''s body back to the utility room where Mark and Odelina left Alderick''s bodyst night. There were soldiers now at the vicinity but none of them blocked Mark''s path. He knew that these soldiers belonged to the 7th Rescue Squad considering their behavior towards him and their familiar mental fluctuations.


    Entering the room, it was totally empty. It seemed that the dead body had already been disposed of and even the blood on the floor was cleaned up.


    Mark and the two entered the door and closed it immediately. No one must witness what they were about to do here.


    "Emika, retract the vines."


    As Mark''s instruction entered her ear, Emika removed the vines around Dominador''s body. The vines moved like whips striking the floor to remove the blood on the vines before turning back into fine green hair strands.


    Mark on the other hand felt ted once more even forgetting his fatigue from theck of sleep. It seemed that Emika''s vines really had a sealing property not only able to stop Jte from detecting Dominador''s body but also the crystals. Yes, even the crystals. Why? It was because the moment the dead body of Dominador was exposed, Mark could feel a strong vibration on his pocket, surely,ing from the Physical Crystal he brought.


    Taking out the crystal from his pocket, Mark had not even removed the handkerchief around it when the Physical Crystal excitedly flew out of his hand before stopping above the forehead of Dominador.


    With a breathtaking disy of light even brighter than the Physical Crystal yesterday that absorbed an unknown ability from the brain of the Muscled Infected, the crystal made its intended work.


    Unlike with how Alderick''s ability was stored into the Mind Crystal and how the Muscle Infected''s ability was stored into the Physical Crystal yesterday, Mark and the other two could observe a different scene in front of them.


    While the Physical Crystal was absorbing Dominador''s ability, they could see Dominador''s body emit a higher temperature that a dead body was not supposed to emit. Then, the red fur that covered his arms and legs started to retract into his skin and his limbs started to return to normal.


    Witnessing that scene, Mark could not help but think that the dead body would turn into amon corpse after the Physical Crystal was done with its work. However it seemed that he was mistaken.


    When the crystal started to dim and was about to fall, Mark immediately grabbed it using the handkerchief that had fallen into the ground. After that, he retreated without hesitation.


    It was because Dominador''s body started twitching.


    Soon, the supposed to be dead corpse stood up and started to shamble towards them.


    Dominador''s body without the effects and ability of a Mutator, turned into an infected, specifically, an Eater. Maybe, it was because due to the gunshots wounds destroying the organs of the body, the dead Dominador could only turn into a dead bodied Eater.


    Rosamie immediately backed off and Emika readily pierced the head of Dominador with her vine bringing the deceased body back to where it shouldy.


    "Well, that''s surprising."


    Mark said with eyes gleaming due to this discovery.


    The Physical Crystals could really absorb the abilities of Mutators and it was really the abilities that the Crystals absorb from the dead bodies of unusual people. The way Dominador''s body reverted back into being a normal infected was the proof of that.


    In that case, he could collect and store abilities of both Mutated Infected and enemy Mutators if he could create more of those crystals in the future. Aside from the crystals he could use, he knew that his collection of rare items would grow exponentially.


    However, it really came with a risk. If evil people were to get hold of this news, he and his entourage would surely be chased to the end of the world. It was good that he was an Empath. He could tell who could be trusted and who were not in keeping this secret.

 Chapter 160 Meis Ability

    Day 6 ¨C 8:57 AM ¨C Parking Area, Queens Row Elementary School, Queens Row Area A, Bacoor City, Cavite


    Mark said goodbye to the mother and daughter who wanted to return to Chervil''s quarters after making the two promise to not to tell anyone about what they had just seen which the two readily agreed. Apparently, the botanist was still on going with his study like a madman so they sneaked out to ask Mark about Dominador''s body. They also needed to get breakfast for Chervil from the soldiers. It seemed that Rosamie''s family was lucky with Chervil around even though Rosamie found her brother''s passion for Botany frustrating.


    As family members of Chervil, they were entitled to privileges given to the families of scientists in Bay City. It included daily necessities as food and water, clothing, medicine and even personal housing. It also seemed that the family of three would be forced to separate from the group after arriving at Bay City. Rosamie and her two children would be put into the most secure housing area in Bay City which was a privilege for important people of the settlement.


    Rosamie did not know what the purpose was for that but Mark was clear about it. If they lived at temporary or normal housing areas, they could subjected to many things as kidnapping and ckmails which would all be due to being rtives of a scientist. Last night, Captain D Rosa gave a few hints about the current power struggle in Bay City. In that case, the families of the scientists were one of the people that could be targeted.


    When Mark returned to the parking area, there was amotion. It was not a bad one but seemed more of a celebration from the members of the 11th Rescue Squad members. When he saw who was in the center of themotion, he could not be any clear of what was happening. The handsome face, fit looking body and resolute eyes showing experience. The person was Keene D Rosa who he treatedst night under the deal he had with the 7th squad captain. Looking at how he was weed with both shock and glee to his sudden recovery, it seemed that Keene was popr to hisrades. There was not distinction whether it was male or female.


    It was not like he was envious but he still felt like¡­


    ''Riajuus should just explode.''


    Just outside themotion of soldiers, there stood Captain D Rosa and Irene who were both looking helpless to stop what was happening. They know that their time was running out but it was also bad to suddenly dampen the mood since it would surely impact the morale the soldiers needed in order to fightter on.


    When 7th squad captain saw Mark walking not far from them, he immediately approached him with Irene to his side. Their helpless expressions suddenly turned serious. Mark signaled the two to talk near his vehicle away from the crowd.


    "What''s wrong?"


    Mark asked.


    "Therge horde from the southwest is already at the outskirts of Springville North. The estimated number is about thirty thousand."


    Captain D Rosa sternly replied.


    "That''s a lot."


    Mark replied. Even in the Left4Dead game, a single one and a half hour campaign would only have around a thousand and five hundred infected in average and it was already a tedious. Thirty-thousand infected at the same time¡­


    ''My PC can''t handle that¡­ Wait what the hell am I thinking?''


    "Are you okay?"


    Irene asked seeing Mark suddenly nk out.


    "I''m fine, I justck a little more sleep."


    Mark replied before turning to the captain once more.


    "You already did some countermeasures to dy them right? How long before we leave?"


    "My men I sent estimated that they could hold on for about two to three hours at most. It''s lucky that the canals and creeks were helping in slowing down the horde. We n to leave before that time was up whether weplete installing defenses on all vehicles or not."


    "Are the things I asked you ready?"


    "LPG Tanks, molotovs, a motorbike and an extra vehicle for your friends. I''ll have one of my men drive that vehicle. Everything is ready. Still, I don''t know why you requested for those though."


    "You will knowter, alright. We''ll also prepare. Let''s meetter. Move the extra vehicle beside ours so our group can move together."


    The two soldiers then left. Actually, Keene wanted to thank Mark personally but with themotion that happened, it seemed that they would be exposed if he still did talk to Mark.


    Mark also decided against telling the squad captain about Dominador''s body at the utility room. If he did, he would probably be suspected about what happened. Since they were leaving soon, it was likely that no one would go there anymore.


    He then turned around. It was because he felt that Odelina wasing.


    "Master."


    Odelina bowed as she approached.


    "You need something?"


    "I just want to ask if you want to have breakfast. We made some oatmeal and canned fruit cereal."


    Odelina showed the fouryered circr lunchbox she had in her hand.


    "Okay, just bring it inside."


    Mark and Odelina entered the vehicle and like how Rosamie did, Odelina also asked about Mei. Of course, Mark answered her question.


    The two girls on the other hand seemed to have taken two of his phones from the drawer. The two were ying and Abbygale was the one teaching I how to y the game. What carefree children these girls were.


    After Mark gave the two each ayer of the lunch box, they put down the phone and ate once more. Sure enough, just a few biscuits were not enough to fill the stomach of these two. Mark then told the situation and asked Odelina to tell the others to get ready as they will be leaving in less than three hours. With that order, Odelina immediately left.


    It was not long after Odelina left when Mei''s eyes quivered. Mark noticed that and put the remaining lunchbox on the sofa.


    A few secondster, Mei finally woke up.


    "Gege¡­"


    Mei looked at Mark but she looked rather strange. Her eyes seemed unfocused. Mark knew that she was looking at him yet it felt that she was not. Furthermore, she was blinking her eyes rapidly while squinting as if trying to adjust her eyesight.


    Mark helped her up and she tried to stand but like a drunken person, she looked dizzy and almost fell down.


    "Mei''er, are you okay?"<sub> </sub>


    He could not help but ask.


    "I feel fine. My body also feels stronger but¡­"


    "But?"


    "My eyes looked like it were zoomed in, I feel dizzy. Also, using my eyes, it looked like I''m moving slowly but my body tells me that I''m moving normally. It feels really strange."


    Hearing that, Mark frowned. It seemed that Mei developed a rather strange ability.


    "Sit straight and let me look at your eyes."


    Mark said and Mei immediatelyplied.


    He then moved his face closer meticulously examining the appearance of her eye. There was only one and obvious change however. It seemed that her pupils were more dted than usual and it was stuck like that.


    "Try closing your eyes and breathe deeply. Rx your body specially your eyes."


    Mei immediately followed what Mark said and after several breaths, she opened her eyes and the size of her pupils went back to normal. Her dizziness also disappeared at the same time.


    "Gege, what happened to me?"


    Mei asked seemingly confused. It seemed that her eye sight turned back to normal as she looked at Mark.


    "It looks like you developed some kind of eagle eye ability. It could also have enhanced your eye reflexes since you said that it looked like you''re moving slowly when you feel like you''re moving normally."


    "Is that so?"


    Mei looked a little disappointed.


    "What''s wrong?"


    "I want an ability that can help me fight beside you."


    Mark shook his head and patted hers.


    "If you ask me, that ability is perfectly suited for you."


    "Why?"


    Mei tilted her head.


    "You don''t look like the type to fight in the frontlines. You''re not bloodthirsty enough and rather have a mixture of mncholic and phlegmatic temperaments. You''re more of an observer than a fighter. You observe a lot and meticulous about details. Also, among the others in our group, you improved the fastest in using range weapons right? You even started to endure the sound of the guns, it''s just you preferred to use the crossbow I made."


    Hearing thest sentence, Mei''s cheeks could not help but redden. It seemed that she was caught. Back then when her Gege was retrieving the crystals from his house, she managed to use the pistol under Odelina''s guidance and managed to kill more infected with itpared to the other members of the group. It was just as her Gege said. She preferred to use the crossbow he made back in the mall while keeping the one he made for her like a treasure.


    "With that ability, what do you think you can do if you learn to shoot sniper rifles?"


    Mark suddenly asked.


    "Uhmmm¡­ I can shoot enemies even without the scope?"


    "That''s right and that''s not all. Since what you see on your eyes slows down, your uracy even with fast moving targets will be high. Maybe, you can''t fight beside me but you can guard my back with that."


    What Mark said made the Mei''s eyes lit up. However, her eyes also dted once more due to her excitement pulling her back to her dizzy state.


    Mark could not help butugh seeing that.


    "You better practice controlling that. It''s not like super strength or super speed that can be controlled just by limiting movements. It''s a moreplicated ability."


    "Yes."


    Mei was embarrassed as she calmed herself down but she did not look disappointed anymore.


    "You also need to train your body. It won''t be good if your body can''t move as fast as your eye reflex. Alright, that''s all. Here, Odel brought breakfast. Let''s eat."


    Mark handed her one of the lunch boxyers and the two ate together.


    Meanwhile, the settlement started to get noisy once more. The evacuation was finally announced and the refugees were started to be ushered to the vehicles they needed to board. The soldiers however, did not dare disclose the actual situation. Once they did that, it would be likely to start chaos within the settlement. That was why the buzzing noises from the crowd contained more questions than the actual answers.


    The only people who knew of the current situation within the settlement were the soldiers, the higher members of the city councilor and barangay chairwoman''s faction, the volunteer groups and the people from Mark''s group.


    Soon, a knock came and it was Captain D Rosa once more.He came to tell Mark toe to the principal''s office. Of course it was not for detention but because the office was currently being used as the meeting area for the important people within the settlement.


    As Mark was tasked to choose the route they would take, he should be present there to tell the reasons. It was not to change the route but to appease the other leading people.


    Mark epted the squad captain''s invitation and he decided to go with Mei and the two girls who would rathere with them than continue staying inside the vehicle.


    Before they could leave, the other members of his group arrived. Under Mark''s instructions, they all entered the respective vehicles to use. Even Nikky''s jeep and Jason''s Armored Transport Car were driven nearby. Jason''s other two group mates who were named Dalton and Byron also joined the fray.


    While the others were still preparing, Mark and the three girls followed Captain D Rosa towards the principal office.

 Chapter 161 The Hordes Frontline

    <strong>Day 6 - 9:05 AM ¨C Blue Ave., Came Springville North, Molino III, Bacoor City, Cavite</strong>


    Technical Sergeant Joey Cadunggan led several teamsposing of both members from 7th and 11th Rescue Squads as the on-sitemander. The order they received was of course, not to make a direct sh with the horde but to aid the scouting groups sent before in dying the horde as much as possible.


    When the Queens Row settlement received the news about the sightings of the horde and the estimated number and time before they arrive at the settlement, the military immediately organized these small groups to be sent out.


    They arrived two and a half hours ago and entered the modern styled house at the very southwest corner of the subdivision which was also the house being used as the front outpost of the scouting groups sent yesterday. Standing at the third floor of the house at that time, he felt that his heart stopped for a second as he stared at the both amazing and horrifying sight.


    About thirty-thousand infected? The scouting groups were not overestimating things, rather, that seemed to even be the lowest estimation. Why? The number that was reported was the only part of the horde that seemed to be headed their way. Further down the horizon, to the south and the west, there was countless number of infected going towards different directions. That number of thirty thousand was only those that had the possibility of going through the ess Road and enter the subdivision.


    Four million eight hundred thousand, that was the lowest estimation of all human poptionst year here in the province of Cavite and Bacoor City having six hundred thousand or twelve percent of it. With Bacoor being at the Northeastern border of the province, it was not wrong to say that they could be facing an attack of infected from the cities and municipalities of Cavite to the south and to the west of Bacoor. Not to mention that there were also a few provinces beyond those directions.


    Among those numbers, the animals and insects were not even included.


    A horde of thirty thousand infected was just a small fraction to the entirety of the real number. Even if there were survivors that managed to survive, just how many would they be?


    Remembering all those things, Joey could not help but feel that they were fighting a losing game here.


    It was lucky that there were creeks, canals and ditches surrounding the southwest area outside the subdivision only leaving small roads and bridges limiting the advance of the infected. When Joey and his men arrived, all they could see was the horde of infected behaving like water in a waterfall. Majority of them were falling unto the canals and creeks without control filling the canals and creeks with rabid beasts hunting for flesh.


    To the southern edge of the ess Road, a canal ran through the side along the whole length of the road. At the edge next to the canal, several cars with blinking lights inside the dashboards were parked at fixed intervals. Apparently, this was the idea of two younger cadets who had just graduated from the Philippine Military Academyst February. Both these men were new to the military and needed more training but had been dispatched to theck of personnel.


    Unlike older soldiers, these two, due to their age had more interaction with the new trends and pop culture, specifically, video games and zombie genre media. The two suggested putting vehicles with car rms with shock or vibration sensors on the edge of the canal. The n was for the horde reached the vehicles, the rms were likely to activate and attract the infected at the vicinity luring most of them towards the vehicle. As the infected crowd the vehicle, it would be likely for a number of infected to fall into the canal.


    This n was not too optimistic for others but it was worth a try since they werecking options. If the n worked, not only it would dy the horde a little but would also reduce the number. The time the vehicles could dy the horde might be short and the number of infected to fall would be small but no matter how short or small it were, it was arge help.


    Half an hour after they arrived until now, their defensive against the infected was still ongoing.


    RATATATATATA!


    Joey heard another round of gunshots. From his position, he could see that severalrge cockroaches and spiders climbed up the ditch to the western side. The bodies of the cockroaches and spiders had broken parts especially on their legs and backs making their advance slow. Yet, these insects had really grown huge. The cockroaches had sizes that ranged from the size of a human head to the size of a human torso. The spiders also had simr sizes but looked a lotrger due to their long limbs.


    WEW! WEW! WEW! WEW! WEW! WEW! WEW! WEW!


    Loud rhythmic sounds suddenly went off on the far side of the ess Road. Joey could hear the two young soldiers behind him who were also observing their suggestion make a high five with each other.


    He took out a pair of binocrs and looked at the direction the sound wasing from. There, a red sedan was releasing the sound of the rm attracting the infected around it. Lured by the sound, the infected crowded around the vehicle trying to find out where the sound wasing from. The infected pushed each other with some tumbling in the middle of the road and some actually falling unto the canal.


    To think that it would actually work!


    Then, the sound was suddenly cut off causing Joey to immediately focus on the front part of the car. The windshield and the insides of the dashboard seemed to be melted and were still emitting smoke causing the rm to stop. On the hood of the vehicle, a lean bodied hunched man stood. The thing that called Joey''s attention however was the bulging stomach of the man and there was also a bulging sack on the man''s neck.


    The man opened his mouth that seemed to be melted causing arge clump of white liquid to spill out onto the hood of the car. The color of the vehicle''s hood was immediately scraped by the liquid leaving it smoking. The metal making up the hood seemed damaged but it did not seem to be melted.


    Joey immediately picked up the radio. Since the vehicle rms were working, they should eliminate that infected first. There was no doubt that it was an acid spitting kind of Mutated Infected.


    "Team Alpha! Get your snipers to aim at the red sedan southwest! Eliminate the Mutated Infected with bulging neck and stomach!"


    He bellowed on the radio calling for the team on the western outpost which had snipers with them.


    BANG!


    A loud sound of a gunshot echoed, however, it seemed that the shot missed. Joey who was observing the mutated infected with great attention saw that anotherrger infected identally blocked bullet with its face.


    BANG!


    Another gunshot echoed and it finally killed the target. The mutated infected that could release that white acid fell down with its exploded head. Also, it seemed that the hunched body of the infected caused the bullet to also hit the bulging sack on its neck. The sack burst like a balloon sttering the white liquid on its body and on the infected around it. It was followed by anotherrger burst after its bulging stomach also exploded after getting in contact with the white acid.<sub> </sub>


    All the infected that were covered with the white acid started to fall down as their bodies deformed and melted due to the strong acid. It was as if the acid were eating their bodies and turning it into a pile of disfigured flesh.


    Joey''s eyes lit up seeing that and tried to look around. To his disappointment, he did not see any other infected with the simr appearance.


    WEW! WEW! WEW! WEW! WEW! WEW! WEW! WEW!


    Another car rm sounded breaking the sounds of continuous gunshots.


    p The car rm of the second vehicle also worked as intended. Itsted longer than the first one but still did notst too long. The vehicle was smaller than the first one and due to the number of infected crowding the vehicle that it was slowly pushed to the edge of the road until it fell unto the canal. The car was damaged falling front first and the rm stopped.</anda>


    Soon, another car rm sounded and the rm slowed the advance of the infected once more. Still, Joey was not happy about what was happening. Not because the car rm method was not a good strategy, it was because for every rm that sounded, it just meant that the horde was closer to them.


    "TEAM DELTA TO COMMAND! TEAM DELTA TO COMMAND!"


    The radio in front of Joey sounded with a soldier screaming along with sounds of gunshots at the background. Joey frowned.


    ''It didn''t sound good.''


    The Team Delta should be guarding at the eastern side of the subdivision away from the horde. They were there to monitor the area once the horde was directed to the east side of the subdivision. It was one of their ns to dy the horde once they breached the blockades at the southwestern side. At this moment, there should be few dangers that team could face there aside from the infected roaming the ce.


    ''Did they encounter a strong Mutated Infected?


    Picking up the radio, he spoke as calm as possible.


    "Command speaking. What is your status?"


    "Sir! We''ve lost three men! We need back up!"


    Joey was shocked. For the soldier to not report the situation first, it was obvious that he was panicking.


    "I repeat, report your status."


    Joey said. His voice and expression turned stern.


    "Sir! Thousands of infected appeared at the southeast roads! There were a lot of gigantic insects with them! Many of them could fly! There were no tall buildings here and our vision was blocked by the tall walls on the other side of the canal. The infected came from behind the walls, probably from the road leading to the south!"


    Hearing that, Joey could not help but shiver. It seemed that the there was also a portion of therge hordeing from the southeast. This was not good news and it was the worst news they could have right now.


    "Command to Team Delta, take all your men and retreat to second point. I''ll send Team Echo to your next position."


    Joey threw his instructions.


    "Yes Sir!"


    The voice of the soldier on the other side of the radio sounded relieved.


    Joey took out another radio. This one was connected to a different waveband that was directly connected to the radio on Captain D Rosa''s possession. The settlement should hear about this as soon as possible.


    BOOM!!!


    A loud explosion sounded at the ess Road. It was thest blockade they set up in the middle of the ess Road using propane tanks and highly mmable materials. His men needed to ignite the cans of gasoline set up at that barricade to light up the mmable materials with fire and heat up the contents of the propane tanks and cause a boiling liquid expanding vapor explosion.


    BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!


    After the first propane tank exploded, the second, third and fourth explosions sounded. The sudden rise of temperature and damage to the remaining propane tanks caused by the first explosion and the fire made the chain reaction happen. The explosion sounds did not stop until all the propane tanks set up in the barricade exploded and flew towards many directions in great speeds where most of the flying pieces of propane tanks decimated the infected blocking their way.

 Chapter 162 The Route To Take To Bay City

    <strong>Day 6 ¨C 9:15 AM ¨C School Courtyard, Queens Row Elementary School, Queens Row Area A, Bacoor City, Cavite</strong>


    Captain D Rosa was leading Mark, Mei and the two little girls, Abbygale and I towards the principal''s office near the main gates.


    Along the way, Captain D Rosa could not help but ask about I who seemed to havepletely recovered from her near death state yesterday. As someone who was there and the person in charge at that time, Mark told him about the little girl''s current circumstances, except for confidential things, and what he nned for her which highly surprised the squad captain.


    ''This man actually wanted to adopt the girl?''


    Captain D Rosa thought but did not try to refute it. For the girl to be adopted by someone capable as Mark was her fortune to some extent. Seeing the state of the people in Mark''s group, he seemed to be cold and detached from others, would not hesitate to kill enemies and had a scary vibe around him but he was surely not an evil person. His group was filled with cheery people who werepletely different to the majority of the people in the settlement. An evil leader could surely not create such wonderful scene in the middle of the apocalypse.


    Considering how his performance against the men under Dominador, his violent nature did not harm any of the captured women and children. It seemed that he was a person who would not implicate innocent people as much as possible.


    Besides, by right, he had the say on the girl''s fate now that she should have died if not for his help. She had no rtives anymore either and no one would contradict Mark for what he wanted. Unfortunately, or maybe, fortunately, the girl had amnesia helping her forget her past. Though she might not remember her real family anymore, she was also able to forget the things she experienced in the past days.


    Still, looking at the two girls that held hands together walking between Mark and Mei, it seemed that the younger one was behaving as the older sister as she led the other.


    While walking, the captain could not help but realize that most of the attention of the people around was gathered on them. No, he was not included. Rather, the attention was gathered on the four people he was leading. It was not surprising though. Not only that the woman beside Mark was eye catching, the four was actually behaving like they were walking on a park despite the current situation.


    He could clearly hear what the children were asking from behind. They were pointing at things they did not know and ask questions and the two adults would answer the two girls.


    With that atmosphere behind him, the captain could only sigh and chose to ignore it. He could just wish in his mind if he could be as carefree as these people.


    ***


    Mark and the three girls were led into the principal''s office under the amazed gazes on the road. With the intense gaze the men were giving Mei, she could not help but hide behind him.


    Actually, he wanted to make Mei stay back in the vehicle with the two girls but considering the current state of the settlement, he decided to bring her with him. He was already bombarded with the intense emotional fluctuation for the almost whole night. Any further would be intolerable for him no matter how much he endure.


    Since back at the mall, he started to notice it. Whenever Mei was by his side, his mind state was less affected with the emotional fluctuations, specially, intense ones entering his mind. Though the emotional energies were still getting absorbed by him without control, it was milder and not too intense. It was as if something was preventing the energies from their usual momentum.


    Last night however, he finally confirmed it when Mei finally fell unconscious. The intense emotional energies came in like flood, even stronger than before due to the number of depressed people in the settlement. Most of the refugees were in sorrow, anger, despair and anxious about the future. All those negative emotional energies entered his mind without control. He was only able to limit it to some extent by putting his whole concentration into something else and that was he let all his attention on working on hisptop for the rest of the night.


    When Mei''s fever finally subsided and her unconscious state switched to a sleeping state, the surge of emotional energies was contained once more. Mark was then sure that Mei was not normal either though it seemed that she was not an esper, there was something odd going on with her body.


    Mei seemed to be able to dispel the unnecessary and excess unknown energies around her without her knowing. A further evidence of this was how he was able to sleepfortably when he was in direct contact with her body.


    Her existence was bing more and more indispensable to him over time in many ways.


    After they entered the main room of the principal''s office, there Mark saw Irene with two other soldiers, City Councilor Pbrica and a few of his men and another soldier that seemed to be about the same age as or maybe older than Captain D Rosa by a year or two.


    When they entered, the unfamiliar soldier and the city councilor''s entourage looked at Mark and his group with raised eyebrows. He knew what they were thinking and it was obvious.


    It was like why he brought women and children in this important meeting.


    As if he would care about their opinions.


    He looked at the members of the 11th squad. They did not seem to mind it.


    Mark made the two little girls sit on the waiting bench nearby and told them to stay quiet. Mark then stood on the open space beside Captain D Rosa with Mei standing behind him. All of them surrounded a table where a map was ced open.


    "Before we start, let me introduce this person first. This is Major Alfred Lopez, the person who led the 11th Rescue Squad."


    Captain D Rosa introduced the unfamiliar soldier with a respective tone. It was no wonder. This Alfred Lopez was the highest ranking soldier in the settlement at the moment. However, due to being a neer here, Captain D Rosa held more authority than him during this time.


    The captain then introduced the city councilor andstly, Mark.


    "So, you''re the person going to decide our route?"


    The atmosphere turned stiff and heavy.


    Major Lopez looked at Mark and asked the moment Captain D Rosa finished the introductions. To Mark however, he felt that the eyes of this Major wanted to gauge him and it was releasing some pressure on him, a pressure that coulde from a veteran of the battlefield. It was a different pressure he could feel from experienced politicians like Congresswoman Lanie before.


    Mark however, did not feel like sumbing to this pressure. He looked at the Major straight to his eye and replied.


    "By the deal, I am. Is there a problem?"<sub> </sub>


    Seeing hisposed answer, Major Lopez finally rxed.


    ? "No there is no problem. I just want to see if you have the confidence in this task or not. You passed. Let''s get unto business."


    Everyone finally rxed.


    Under Captain D Rosa''s cue, Mark then picked up the pencil on the table and used it to write the route he wanted to take on the map while adding the few of the things the military intended to do such as joining with the people currently residing in Citta Italia and stopping by at gas stations and stores to get gas and other supplies as much as possible.


    Following the route Mark nned, they would go north of this settlement through Queens Row Area B and past the next subdivision named Gardenia Valley. Using the main road, GSIS Road, of Gardenia Valley to the west, they would ess the short road behind Molino Wet and Dry Market to bypass most of the heavy traffic blocking the two T-junctions at the end of GSIS Road where it connected to Molino Road.


    They would then end up at the very entrance of Molino Blvd. where the east entrance of the Citta Italia was located.


    "How are you sure that there were heavy traffic blocking the T-junctions here?"


    Major Lopez asked while pointing at the map where those T-junctions were located.


    "My group passed that area the day before yesterday."


    Mark impassively replied.


    "Major, he should be right. Those junctions are the most traffic prone ces in that area."


    The city councilor who was familiar with the state of affairs of the city added in support.


    With that said, the Major nodded and continued to listen.


    Continuing the route, after joining with the survivors at Citta Italia, they had two options. One was to ess the western area of Citta Italia which was closer to the highway or continue at Molino Blvd. Both ways end up at the same points but also had pros and cons.


    The first one would give them faster ess to Emilio Aguinaldo Highway but with higher risk of encountering a part of therge horde and if not, they would still encounter arge number of infected as the highway was highly popted. Thetter option however would bring them to the almost infected free road due to lesser people and establishments around the majority of the boulevard. The problem however was, at the end of the boulevard was a traffic prone area and the traffic buildup at that ce was several times more than the previous T-junctions.


    From there, they had to rely on the three modified dump trucks at the front to remove the road blockades and reach the entrance of R-1 Cavite Expressway at the western coastal area of Man. This expressway would directly lead them to Bay City if no problems arise.


    ''No problems would arise huh.''


    Mark contradicted what he said in his mind. It was because he knew that there would be a problem that would surely happen while they were in the travelling on the expressway. Of course, he could not say that and even if he did, it was less likely for these people to believe him.


    While they were in the middle of the discussion, Captain D Rosa''s private radio rmed them. This radio should not receive any transmission unless there was sudden important news or a grave emergency from his men.


    "Please, excuse me."


    Captain said to the others as he answered the radio. Nevertheless, he did not leave his position as there was no need to. If there was an emergency, the people here should better hear it.


    "Captain D Rosa, Captain D Rosa¡­ This is Dy Team Command TS Cadunggan... Over."


    "This is Captain D Rosa, over."


    "Captain, we have an emergency. Another horde of the simr sizeing from the southwest appeared at the southeast. They appeared at the blind area we least expected them to appear. Came Subdivision is not being sieged by the infected on both sides!"


    Hearing that, everyone in the room frowned, specially the soldiers.


    "Can you still hold on?"


    "We already lost several men but we can still hold on. The canals and creeks on the western side are impeding the advance of the infected there for now. We can concentrate most of our firepower to the east side but at the estimate, we can onlyst about an hour now or maybe even less."


    "Alright, dy the infected as much as all you can but stay alive. We wish for the rest of you to return to our side."


    "Roger Sir! Over and Out."


    Captain D Rosa ended the transmission with a grave face and turned to the others around the table.


    They should finish the preparations, double-time.

 Chapter 163 From Evacuation Into Desperation

    <strong>Day 6 ¨C 9:28 AM ¨C Parking Area, Queens Row Elementary School, Queens Row Area A, Bacoor City, Cavite</strong>


    Due to the emergency situation, the meeting was cut short and Mark''s choice of route was epted without much contradiction aside from a few questions.


    After that, Mark was handed a radio that was set up for the bandwidth Captain D Rosa directly used and another radio what would be given to each vehicle driver. The second radio would be used to issuemand to each of the vehicle in the convoy.


    This time, the people in the settlement were even more restless. Though, it seemed that the soldiers still did not fully disclose the situation to the refugees as Mark could feel that most of the restlessness came from the soldiers. They were under pressure as they hurried the refugees into boarding their respective vehicles.


    Mark at the moment was chaining the motorbike he asked Captain D Rosa to prepare unto the back of their vehicle. It was not the time for him to use this vehicle yet. He would likely switch to this one after they joined with the survivors in Citta Italia.


    Around him, everyone was busy. Nikky''s group was also moving their things into their jeep. The same were for Jason''s group and the group led by the parents of the cat boy he treated yesterday. Mark really wanted to take away their infected daughter and observe her together with Jte but it seemed he would not be able to do so in the meantime. The only thing he could do now was to tell the Captain to do some arrangements to this and request some support from General Perez.


    Emika''s family on the other hand was already escorted into a military vehicle for their security and their vehicle would be escorted with two military Humvees to guard them all the way.


    As for the rest of his group, they were already inside the vehicle. Even Mara was inside sitting beside Jte.


    "Bro! There seem to be something wrong with Fein."


    <o>,m Carlo peeked out of the open side door to call unto Mark who was working at the back of the vehicle.</o>


    After affirming the stability of the chains on the motorbike, Mark went to take a look at Fein. There really seemed to be something wrong. Fein was timid and easy to scare but that was when there was something scary, now however, the weak-hearted beetle was hiding inside one of the few vacant spaces under the sofa while weakly shivering. Mark could also feel that it was scared of something.


    At that moment, Mark noticed that Mei who sat at the front passenger seat beside Odelina opened the window and was staring upwards. He followed where she was looking at and found that she seem to be looking at something at the sky beyond the gaps of the two buildings to the south east. Her pupils were dting unstably as if she was trying to control her new ability.


    There was also something wrong with the way she was behaving.


    "Mei''er, what''s wrong?"


    Mark asked from outside the window.


    "Gege, I see a lot of spots in the sky that direction. The spots were still far away and were blocked by the buildings so I can''t see clearly but they look like insects. It looks like they are flying our direction."


    Mei replied making Mark frown.


    "Mei''er, close the window and don''t go out. Everyone! Stay inside the vehicle!"


    Mark told everyone before looking at the gap between the buildings once more. He could not see anything but with what Mei said, and when he remembered the cockroaches back then near his house, there was a high possibility. Those were likely to be oversized infected insects.


    He then approached Ron and Nikky preparing the jeep.


    "All of you, abandon, the jeep quick! Get inside ours!"


    "What''s wrong?"


    Ron asked.


    "Infected flying insects areing!"


    "What?"


    Everyone in Nikky''s group was shocked.


    Not wanting to waste time on unessential bber, he started to push Ron and Nikky towards their vehicle making Maverick and Delia follow. As there was not enough space in the vehicle anymore, Carlo and Maverick were forced to sit on the floor.


    "All of you too, get inside your car! Quick! Close the windows and hide!"


    Mark bellowed at Harvey and Monique who was watching his actions since their van was just a few meters away.


    It seemed that themotion he created took the attention of the people around.


    "What''s happening?"


    A soldier approached, he was Oscar, the soldier tasked to drive the multi-cab containing the LPG tanks. Behind him were Irene and Keene who seemed to be helping with handing the radios to the drivers.


    However, Mark just shoved them into the multi-cab without exining too much aside from making them close the windows.


    It was then some people started to notice small shadows on the eastern sky. First, it was confusion as they could not make a clear picture of what those shadows were but as the shadows grewrger, their confusion were reced with fear and panic.


    Mark could now make out what those insects were. On the sky was a swarm of flies. Human head sized flies. Furthermore, there were some odd looking andrger sized flies among the swarm.


    Without hesitation, Mark entered their vehicle and closed the door. He could hear the radio issued by the military being noisy issuing emergency orders but he could care less about it.


    A few secondster, the swarm started to descend. The people Mark forced into the vehicles now knew why he did so.


    Under their eyes, they saw the people remaining outside get attacked by therge number of flies.<sub> </sub>


    The soldiers tried to fight back shooting the flies but even if they could hit and kill some of therge flies, more and more would just flock towards them. It did not take long for casualties to ur.


    In front of their vehicle, a flynded on the back of a defenseless worker that was working on one of the vehicles earlier. The legs of the fly drilled on the unfortunate worker''s back before the fly''s pointed tongue shot towards and pierced through the worker''s neck. The tip of the fly''s tongue that drilled into the worker''s nape could be seen on where his Adam''s apple should have been. The worker looked shocked as the pain permeated his mind before he fell on the pavement profusely bleeding from the hole on his neck and back.


    Not far from them, a soldier shooting the flies was ganged by several flies. Not only that his body was pierced by the legs and tongues of the flies, one of the flies shot its tongue unto his left eye. Before the soldier fell, the tongue retracted pulling the pierced eye along with it.


    The scene was worse at the side of the refugees. About half of the refugees had not boarded the vehicles yet. Due to the sudden emergence of the swarm of the infected flies, the queue of refugees fell into disarray. They started running and pushing each other. The weaker, older and younger ones were pushed around with some of them ending up trampled under the feet of other people.


    Some of the refugees made it into their vehicles while some managed to squeeze into vehicles that should have been full already. Unfortunately, there were those who became muddle headed due to panic and ended up running back into the rooms and buildings they should have abandoned already. Furthermore, there were also those who forced open some of the vehicles with weaker refugees wanting to enter the vehicle but just ended up letting the flies enter the vehicle before they could.


    It was a disaster.


    In the short moment, a lot of people, with the majority being the refugees died due to the flies. Screams of despair and pain echoed across the settlement along with the deafening sounds of gunshots and buzzing of the wings of the flies.


    It did not take long and outside the vehicles were filled not only with swarming flies but also infected. Those people who died due to the tongue of flies piercing their body immediately turned into infected.


    Those who Mark pushed into the vehicles were all frightened. Even the soldiers Keene, Irene and Oscar were not an exception as they tried to shrink their bodies hiding from the flies.


    "Keene! Irene! Where are you?!"


    Captain D Rosa''s worried voice echoed from the radio. He did not even try to abide the military protocol on radiomunications anymore. The sounds of gunshots could also be heard in the background.


    "Father, I''m fine, Irene is with me. Luckily, we''ve been "violently" pushed to safety inside a multi-cab."


    Keene replied. The sigh of relief could be heard from the other side.


    "The multi-cab with the LPG tanks? Is Pvt. Oscar there?"


    "Yes, he''s here."


    "Good."


    Next was Mark.


    "Mark? Are you there?"


    "I am."


    "Alright, prepare for departure."


    Several more radio confirmations followed but not everyone mentioned was able to answer back.


    Then, the radios that were issued to the drivers sounded all over the convoy.


    "To everyone who is still alive, we''ll be departing from this settlement. Carefully follow the vehicles in front of yours. Godspeed!"


    Then, the roaring engines of the vehicles sounded one after another.


    BRRROOOOR! BAM!!!


    The main gates were smashed open by the leading dump truck. The V-shaped ram of the dump truck parted the infected that started to congregate outside the gates allowing the vehicles behind to go out safely.


    As they exited the settlement, the vehicles would ram unto the flies and infected but the modifications on the vehicles kept the vehicles from falling apart. While the vehicles of the remaining survivors and soldiers moved, about less than half of the vehicles remained in ce. Majority of the vehicles that remained in ce were vehicles that were supposed to transport he refugees.


    Under the wheels of the leaving vehicles, many bodies were crushed into pieces. Those were bodies of those who supposed to be leaving the settlement with everyone else.


    The people inside the moving vehicles could also see several refugees that ran back into the ssrooms who seemed to be pleading not to get left behind. Unfortunately, there was nothing the soldiers could do anymore. They suffered a huge blow themselves. This swarm of flies was not something that everyone here could handle. Those who were left could only fend by themselves.


    Some of them could not ept being left behind making them run out trying to catch up to the vehicles only to get swarmed by the flies and infected.


    When they left, the sounds of the vehicles attracted some of the flies but as several screams echoed inside the settlement, the flies started to lose interest on the vehicles that they could not see the people inside and continued ravaging the both the living and dead bodies of people that remained inside the settlement.


    Many soldiers felt downhearted due to what happened. They know that it was not their fault but they still felt the guilt trying to overwhelm them. Dead bodies were one thing but they had to abandon people that they were supposed to protect.


    Driving on the intended route, the remaining soldiers that were dispatched to scout and dy the horde managed to catch up. Their numbers also dwindled significantly but they felt more remorse seeing what remained of the supposed to berge convoy heading to Bay City.


    Whether they want to ept it or now, they suffered an aggrieving defeat this time. They lost miserably.


    They could not help but think.


    "If it was like this, would there be any chance for them to survive in the future?"


    Still, that thought was for tomorrow. What they needed to think about now was to not let the horde catch up to them.

 Chapter 164 The Road Back To Cita Italia

    <strong>Day 6 ¨C 10:11 AM ¨C GSIS Road, Gardenia Valley Subdivision, Molino III, Bacoor City, Cavite</strong>


    An asymmetrical convoyposing of different vehicles went travelling on this downward road. The arrangement of the vehicles was too unorganized that anyone apulsive disorder would berate. Unfortunately, none of the people in the convoy wanted this either. When the acquisition of needed vehicles and supplies were finished, the leading military officers nned an arrangement that was symmetrical as possible to evenly distribute the firepower of the soldiers around the convoy. Another thing was to let the roving military vehicles have an easier way to respond to where their support was needed.


    Unfortunately, the swarm of flies that came at a very crucial time destroyed everything. Many were killed and they lost a lot. Even the efforts and the sacrifice of the soldiers participated in the scouting and dy troops had gone in vain. They even had to abandon people behind and escape with their tails between their legs. Despite how lucky they were that the swarm of infected flies did not follow the escaped convoy and concentrated on the people left behind in the settlement, none of the people wanted to stop the vehicles until they reached the next destination.


    Mark could hear the conversations in the radio and could not help but shake his head. The morale of the soldiers was too low. If it continued like this, they were even likely to die easily not to mention being able to protect the whole convoy. Losing a lot of theirrades in a swift and grotesque way gave them a blow that was hard to recover from. The only thing that was keeping everyone up was the hope that they would still reach the Bay City despite the setback they suffered.


    After the convoy turned right behind the Wet and Dry Market, a constant metallic banging sound and the loud ssh of water could be heard at the front. Looking at the creek filled with greenish water that ran at the right side of the road, they could see the broken fence and barriers along with vehicles and bodies that had just been thrown on the water. Apparently, the dump trucks at the front were pushing the vehicles and infected blocking the road unto the water.


    Constant gunshots could still be heard as there were infected everywhere. When the refugees looked at the creek, they could even see infected that were exposed too long to the dirty water that their skin started to show different disgusting appearances. There was even an infected with simr appearance to a Dozer but its bloated body looked sagged and was spewing murky water on its mouth instead of methane gas. These infected on the water tried to approach the vehicles but the creek was deep enough to deter them from doing so.


    Leaving the small road behind the market, they finally reached the intersection of Molino Road and Molino Boulevard. It was the same road Mark and his group took before when they looked for Carlo. The fast food restaurant Carlo''s family owned was on the north of the intersection just two blocks away.


    With Mark said before that the intersection was blocked with a lot of vehicles, the two squad captains expected arge number of infected too. As they had seen a lot of congregation of infected due to the blocked roads, it was something for them to expect and considering that it was an intersection of two main roads, the number of infected should also be rming. A thousand infected would still be within the expected range and as such, they readied all their highest caliber weapons.


    Nevertheless, the soldiers that were prepared to battle a thousand infected and break through the blockades of vehicles were bewildered. What they only saw wandering around the blockade of vehicles were estimated at most, a hundred. What shocked them further was the number of skeletons and burned bodies that littered the middle of the road along with the scorched marks on the walls, windows and melted stic residue on the structures on the road side. Even the vehicles at the northern part of the blockade had scorched marks on their bodies.


    ''Just what happened here?''


    Everyone asked in their minds and even the refugees that witnessed the scene was not an exception.


    The radio crackled with the sounds of confusion and doubt. The culprit of this scene however was disinclined to bother telling them and was busy in his vehicle teaching Mei how to operate a sniper rifle. After all, the road was already cleared with most of the infected, what did these people still want for asking those questions?


    If it continued like this, they would get to Citta Italia without problems.


    Unfortunately, an ident happened. Mark was also rmed as he stared at the right side of the road with an incredulous expression.


    The former farnd deprived of everything aside from the tall grass and shrubs was now a mushroom wondend. The grass before had already wilted brown and the majority of the surface of the farnd was covered with Mycorrhiza. At the center of the farnd was a cluster of white agaricus mushrooms of unknown species about as tall as three meters. That was not the most horrifying thing however.Dangling under the wide caps of the mushrooms were finger thick webs. Trapped on the webs were bodies of different kinds of infected that had already started to rot.


    Around the farmnd, several infected was sluggishly roaming the area. These infected were the same as the ones the people of the city hall encountered before. The holes of their bodies sprouted white mushrooms especially their eyes, mouth, ears and nose while their skin was entwined with white web like roots.


    One of these infected was by the roadside and rushed unto the closest van containing the refugees. The infected was immediately shot down by the soldiers and fell on the road. That van was lucky but not the passenger jeepney behind it. Shocked by the surreal sight beside the road, the driver did not manage to avoid the dead body that had fallen and ran over it. The body suddenly released a cloud of white spores that immediately surrounded the jeepney outside and inside due to jeepney being an open vehicle not sealed by tight windows.


    The metal modifications done on the vehicle to secure the windows and doors might be able to stop the infected and the oversized flies but not the dust sized spores. The refugees at the back of the jeepney were not covered with the spores immediately and tried to open the door at the back but they were not able to in time. The vehicle that was supposed to keep them safe became their final prison.


    Affected by the spores, the driver stepped on the gas without knowing and lost control of the jeepney. The vehicle crashed unto the power post at the roadside and due to the impact, the concrete power post cracked with the threat of crumbling and falling unto jeepney.


    The white spores continued to spread out for a few seconds and the other vehicles avoided the white deadly spores. Luckily, the vehicles around the jeepney were sealed vans and the spores were not able to enter the tightly covered windows.


    "Stop the vehicles. We''ll check the jeepney that crashed."


    The Major''s voice sounded from the radio issued to the drivers. The vehicles started to slow down but before they could stop, Mark who remained silent all the time finally spoke.


    "There''s no need for that. Continue driving unless you all wanted to die here."


    Mark''s threat confused everyone.


    "Alright, continue driving! You are¡­ Mark right? What do you mean?"


    The Major did not force his order anymore and asked for the reason.


    "That white spore is not just some kind of normal spore. It seems to be aparasitic one. It turns people in contact with it into something like the infected but slightly different. Look at the people inside the jeep, they already turned."<sub> </sub>


    Those whose vehicles were still nearby and heard the radio transmission could not help but turn their heads towards the crashed jeepney. Inside, the people were growling and sticking their faces hard on the windows. White web like roots could be seen spreading on their bodies. The driver who was exposed to most of the spores had already grown a small mushroom sprouting out of his ear.


    Everyone who witnessed that shuddered with cold sweat on their backs.


    "Mark, how do you know of this?"


    The Major''s voice sounded from the radio once more.


    "I already said before that we passed here the day before yesterday."


    Mark then told as summary of what happened and what the people from the city hall witnessed here.


    "I didn''t expect that it will spread like this though."


    He continued.


    The Major turned silent and did not ask anything anymore.


    Normally, they would try to address this kind of issue and threat but with theirck of manpower and necessary equipment, it was too risky.


    Leaving the unfortunate jeepney behind, they finally left the area of the corrupted farnd.


    It did not take them long and they finally reached Citta Italia.


    By what it looked like, the soldiers from the settlement and the people in Citta Italia continuously maintained contact. Before the convoy arrived at the gates of the private subdivision, gunfire could be heard as the sentry above the gates started to eliminate the infected that congested in front. With the help of the soldiers on the convoy, the infected were all killed faster and the convoy was able to safely enter the subdivision.


    The convoy did not stop after entering the gates but were led towards the central area of the subdivision where the Multi-purpose Clubhouse was located.


    The subdivision still looked like how they pass through it before. The only differences were that there were police patrols guarding the perimeters of the subdivision and there was no three meter tall dog chasing them this time.


    Looking at this scene, Mark was surprised. Considering that the wave of infected hit Firenze first, this ce should have been reached earlier than the settlement. Strange enough, it seemed that this ce had not been hit yet. Furthermore, the people on the roadside seemed to be on the calm side despite their inner anxiety.


    Mark took out his phone and looked at the time. They actually travelled more than two hours. It was almost two in the afternoon already. However, Mark knew that aside from the road blockades that prevented them from driving faster, the constant attacks from the infected hindered them further. Not to mention that the soldiers behind would stop from time to time to pull the pushed aside vehicles once more to hinder the horde from catching up as much as possible.


    Since the ce was deemed to be safe, the soldiers alighted from their vehicles after the convoy parked on the curved road beside the Multi-Purpose Clubhouse. The refugees however did not immediately leave their vehicles. With how it looked like, it seemed that the refugees took trauma from the sudden attack of the swarm of flies.


    "All of you remain inside. I''ll go out for a little."


    Mark said to the others inside the vehicle. He knew that these people were already feeling stiff due to the cramped space but he did not let them run about for now. It was because there were people around that did not feel right. Compared to the people he saw and felt at Firenze, these new people seemed to have experienced bloodshed more than the members of the police.


    Using the radio he handed to the Jason who was in the armored carrier behind them, Mark also told them to stay put for now. He also approached the van driven by Monique and told them the same.


    Soon, two groups went out of the Clubhouse to wee them. The people who came to receive the wee were the two squad leaders, Captain D Rosa and Major Lopez and the two government officials, Councilor Pbrica and Barangay Chairwoman Pbrica along with their respective entourage.


    On the other side was the group led by Congresswoman Lanie and Police Chief Mari while the other group wasposed of some unfamiliar men.


    Looking at the man at the center of the group, he could not help but fell like he was looking at Dominador but several times more bloodthirsty.


    In his mind, danger rms sounded. He was sure that this person and his men was were enemies.

 Chapter 165 A Deep Seated Hostility

    <strong>Day 6 ¨C 2:01 PM ¨C Multi-Purpose Clubhouse, Citta Italia Subdivision, Molino III, Bacoor City, Cavite</strong>


    While the representatives of the convoy met with the ones from this ce, the other soldiers started to go around the convoy checking on what they lost in order to escape. It was because aside from people and vehicles that were supposed to carry refugees, there were several supply carrying vehicles that were left back in the settlement. It was because the people assigned to drive those vehicles were among those who fell after the swarm of flies attacked.


    The soldiers also started a body count of all people that managed to escape and the number of vehicles. Of course, Mark''s group was not an exception to this check and the members had to go out of their vehicles for a bit. Nevertheless, following Mark''s instructions, the time they spent outside was short as they immediately returned inside the vehicles after the checking was done.


    All of those things were happening as Mark stood while leaning on one of the parked covered military trucks. He was also eating a chocte bar he took from the freezer inside the vehicle. The truck he leaned on looked dpidated as many holes could be seen on the tarpaulin cover of the truck. These holes were probably done by the flies back in the settlement. Mark''s eyes did not leave the group of strange people. He was silently observing them specially the man in the middle.


    The man had a high nose, pointy chin and sharp jawline. He had a slick hairstyle and was wearing a pair ofrge sunsses on his eyes. The clothes he wore were a set of loose gray business suit, gray cks and ck shoes. If Mark was to be asked, this was surely not an ideal attire in a zombie apocalypse. Looking at Madam Lanie, she was even wearing a bulletproof vest.


    For that person to wear something like this, it was either he was an idiot or just truly confident going out like that. Mark could tell that it was thetter. He was sure because aside from having a lot of armed and trained subordinates, including that man, they had three Mutators in their ranks. The man and two of his bodyguards were certainly Mutators from the fluctuations Mark could feel from them.


    It seemed that the man felt Mark''s stare as he suddenly looked towards his direction despite that the two military officers were already in front of him. Strange enough, despite the man maintaining his calm face, Mark felt that the person was rather surprised seeing him. There was even a tinge of glee in it with the majority being hostility.


    This confused Mark. The man looked at him as if the man knew him. Mark was sure that it was the first time he had seen this person.


    The man whispered something to one of his Mutator guards and the guard looked at Mark with the same feelings. From this bodyguard, Mark felt deep seated grudge that seemed to be umted over the years. The bodyguard was exuding too much bloodlust that even the other people around him could not help but frown. The bodyguard only calmed down after getting reprimanded by their leader.


    Mark frowned and he was thoroughly confused now. He had a hunch that these people might be involved with the gang syndicate that attacked Firenze but since that attack happened just two days ago, it was not enough for that person to umte that amount of bloodlust towards him. It was not like he killed that person''s whole family, right?


    "Is something wrong?"


    Mark heard a voice beside him. He knew that there were two people approaching him but did not mind them. Looking to his right, he saw Irene and Keene who seemed to be puzzled from his current expression.


    "It''s nothing."


    Mark replied. The two was about to speak once more but Mark continued before they could do so.


    "If you two are here to thank me, then there''s no need. Just keep the other end of the deal and its fine."


    He did not want to ept the gratitude of these two. He only helped them because they had a deal and he needed their influence inside Bay City. If not, these two could only die along with the other soldiers back in the settlement.


    What Mark said made the two extremely troubled. They wanted to convey their gratitude for saving them but they were shut down before they could even say a single word. Now, what could they still say?


    Seeing the bitter expression of the two, Mark had an idea.


    "If you two still want to thank me then I''ll just make you two do something."


    What Mark wanted was simple. He needed the two to ask about those unfamiliar people. It would not be too suspicious if these two who were both soldiers and had a close connection with Captain D Rosa were the ones to the do the gathering of information. Hearing that, the two readily agreed. If it was a normal thing, the two would not agree easily but the two also felt that these men were dangerous people.


    Before the two joined Captain D Rosa, Keene still introduced himself and thanked Mark for helping him recover. Still, Mark shooed him away as the reason he helped Keene was because of the deal he had with the squad captain.


    The meeting and agreement between the groups did not take too long. Several vehicles drove out of the inner street behind the clubhouse joining the ranks of the convoy. Among these vehicles, Mark could feel the familiar fluctuations of the people that came from Firenze. There were several vehicles containing unfamiliar people with dangerous feel though.


    Soon, Irene came back with the information the she and Keene gathered.


    Mark confirmed that these people were really the ones behind the attack in Firenze. They were upper brass of a crime syndicate that used smaller gangs as goons for their illegal business. The man in the lead was the boss and the two bodyguards beside him were actually his right and left hand men.


    The congresswoman and the officials in Firenze especially the justice freak, SP02 Agbayani, the Mutator of Firenze, did not want to join hands with these criminals but the circumstances pushed them the other way. Not only that these criminals had more firepower, they also had Mutators with them. It was not good for the people of Firenze to sh with these people.


    However, it seemed that they only knew that the two men beside the leader were the Mutators and they had no idea that the leader was also one.


    As for the names, it seemed that they did not call each other with any name aside from their aliases. The leader call himself Chameleon while the two men beside him were called Jumper, a man with lean body and ck Devil, the burly man who was also the one who stared at Mark with hostility.


    Aside from the information about the group, he also learned that the horde had already reached this ce beforest night. However, with the help of the weapons of the syndicate, they managed to bomb the bridge at the west entrance of Citta Italia. Normally, even though the river that ran under that bridge was high, it should only be able to hinder the infected that were not able to climb but they found out that the river underneath was now filled with carnivorous nts that fed on the infected that fell down the river.


    The flying insects on the other hand were dealt with by the men of the crime syndicate. They were not attacked by arge swarm however and that was why they managed to overwhelm the insects with firepower.


    Digesting the information he received, Mark could still not deduce why these people seem to target him with their hatred. It was not only the leaders of the syndicate but also their subordinates roaming around looking at him with hostility.


    ''This is not good.''


    Mark felt danger around him.<sub> </sub>


    If he was alone, he was sure that these people would jump on him wanting to tear his flesh. The military and the police were being the deterrent for them to make their move.


    It was better if these people were not allowed to join them or it will be a disaster. Unfortunately, if did not seem to be the case. Who knows what these people made as bargain to make the military and government officials agree with allowing these criminals to join their convoy. The reason for that was not among the information Irene gave him. It seemed that the condition was confidential.


    While thinking about all those things, Mark suddenly frowned as he stared at one of the vehicles, a white van that had just passed by the other street and parked at the front of the clubhouse. It was not because the vehicle was being heavily guarded but because of something else.


    Mark hurriedly returned towards his vehicle.


    "What''s happening?"


    Ron who sat on the floor of the vehicle asked seeing the darkplexion Mark had on his face.


    "Anyone here who can drive?"


    Mark did not answer Ron and asked the others that question.


    Delia immediately raised her hand. In Nikky''s group, she was the driver.


    "Then take over Odel''s position. Then, follow my instructions."


    Mark gave instructions unto Delia as he readied himself taking out the weapons he mainly used.


    He then went out of the vehicle together with Odelina, Fein and Abbygale who did not want to be left out. It seemed that the little girl knew that some action was going to happen. If Mark did not know of her capability that even enabled her to dodge bullets, he would surely not let here.


    Going towards the other vehicles, even the Multi-cab, he issued instructions. Even Oscar who was a soldier of the 7th rescue squad could only follow as he was tasked to follow Mark''s orders.


    Under the confused gazes of the soldiers and the people around the convoy, the vehicles among Mark''s group suddenly drove off following one another towards the other side of the street making a U-turn. The vehicles then stopped quite far away but still within sight of everyone.


    What they did caused somemotion that even the leaders were rmed.


    Everyone''s attention was gathered at Mark''s small group that were left and the group''s unusual members.


    "Master, what are we going to do?"


    Odelina who was also holding unto an assault rifle with a small single strap backpack on her back asked Mark that was equipped with an assault rifle and grenadeuncher.


    "Saving someone''s sibling."


    Mark replied while a click sounded from his rifle as he removed the safety.


    "Sibling? Whose?"


    "If I''m correct, she''s Carlo''s."


    "She? Carlo''s¡­ Right, Carlo had a sister didn''t he? Didn''t his family flee¡­ Wait, Master, is it what I''m thinking."


    Odelina''s confusion was suddenly reced with a grim expression.


    "I think we have the same idea. His family didn''t make it. The possibility of them getting caught by this people isn''t low either. Still, I can only detect his sister and not his other rtives."


    Mark grimly said while looking at the soldiers that started to approach them wanting to ask what their actions were about.


    Nevertheless, he ignored these soldiers. He made Feintch on his back once more and with wide strides, he started to move towards the heavily guarded white van parked in front of the clubhouse.


    These people were looking at him with undisguised hostility anyway. And such, he did not need to worry about falling out with such people.


    If needed, he did not mind causing a bloodbath in a straithforward manner.


    These kinds of people were shrewed ones or else, they would have been eradicated by the gvernment long ago. They would only make a move if they had theplete advantage With their hostility towards him, they would surely scheme things behind them. Being schemed at was not a good feeling at all. Instead of getting on the recieving end, he would rather take the initiative.

 Chapter 166 The Source Of Hostility

    <strong>Day 6 ¨C 2:15 PM ¨C Multi-Purpose Clubhouse, Citta Italia, Molino III, Bacoor City, Cavite</strong>


    The sudden sounds of several vehicles leaving the convoy and themotion outside also rmed the military and government officials. They all entered the clubhouse with just a few of their subordinates to discuss things that the refugees should not hear. Apparently, it was about conditions and deal Congresswoman Lanie and Chief Mari had with this group of criminals.


    Apparently, aside from the given threats, this armed group also had hostages with them. Because of that, even if the people from the City Hall had enough firepower, they would still not be able to make a move against these criminals without sacrificing those hostages. Because of this, even the stern faced major could only agree despite how much he loathed doing so. They already lost too much people back at the settlement and they could afford to lose more if they could retrieve them peacefully.


    Besides, would a gunfight suddenly start, they would just end up incurring casualties. The people of the syndicate were all positioned around the area and at the vantage points while their men were all located in the same area. Inyman''s term, they were surrounded.


    In the least, these criminals would not sh with them since they also had their goals to achieve. If a fight between the groups happened, it would be detrimental to both sides.


    Remembering how they voiced that this was cooperation, the Major shook his head. Rather than willing to cooperate, they werepelled to do so.


    After the rming sounds outside, Irene hurriedly entered the clubhouse and whispered something on Captain D Rosa''s ear which made thetter frown. Another person entered and he was one of Chameleon''s men and same as Irene, he whispered something on his superior''s ear.


    Chameleon seemed surprised at the news he received but it was soon followed with glee. He then spoke to the other leaders.


    "It seemed that someone wanted to challenge our capability. Since it was the case, why don''t I invite you all to a show?"


    Major Lopez frowned. He really found the way this shrewd person speak irritating. It was as if this person viewed everyone aside from himself lower in status. It was then Captain D Rosa passed him the news about what was happening outside. Rather than being surprised, the Major looked rather exited.


    Since the time he arrived at the settlement yesterday night, he had only seen Mark once but it was not the first time he heard of his name. Same as Captain D Rosa, he also received the same information about Mark from the general. He also heard several tales from the mouth of Captain D Rosa about him.


    Still, he could not fathom how such small group was able to safely traverse the apocalyptic world when they who were part of the military were struggling hard. Due to this, he really wanted to see the capabilities of Mark and his group. Yet he was surprised. From what Captain D Rosa said, there were only three people in Mark''s group to confront this group of armed men. Furthermore, aside from Mark, the two other members were actually a five year old girl and a woman.


    Chameleon did not wait for their answer and walked out of the clubhouse making them follow immediately afterward.


    What they saw outside was Mark and his two members being surrounded by more than a dozen men in a circle. All of them pointed their guns at Mark. On the other hand, Mark was looking at the van behind some of the men. The van outside was just to showcase some of the hostages. It seemed that for some reason, Mark wanted to approach the van and it ended up in this situation.


    Seeing the situation, Madam Lanie and Chief Mari were also surprised. The people surrounded by these men after all could not be any more familiar to them. The Major on the other hand seemed to notice something unfathomable. Despite the fact that they were surrounded by men with guns, none of the people, even the child, looked frightened. It was as if nothing was happening to them.


    ***


    Standing in the middle of the armed men, Mark could feel nothing but calmness. For some reason, he was not feeling afraid of the weapons being pointed at him. After all, it was part of his scheme. The more people to surround them, it would be easier for him to take them down.


    Actually, it was not surprising that they would be surrounded. Considering how they heavily guarded the van, the people should be very important. For example, bargaining chips to get the military''s approval to cooperate with them. If it was just for that, he would not make this move but Carlo''s sister was surely inside that van and these people was hostile towards him since the start. Once he made a move like approaching that van, they would surely try to take that as a chance to eliminate him.


    Their current actions did not disappoint him. He just wished that more people surround his group. Still, these people had no notion to immediately shoot. It seemed that they were still waiting for their leader.


    ''Speak of the devil.''


    Chameleon, ck Devil, Jumper and two more of the guards walked out of the clubhouse followed by the military and government officials.


    That smug looking face of Chameleon, Mark wanted to punch it.


    "Mark, Mark, Mark¡­ You''re quite hasty aren''t you? I nned to take care of you a little bitter but you actually came to court death too early. Aren''t you afraid of death?"


    Chameleon spoke with his eyes looking like he was watching a dead person.


    On the other hand, Mark sighed. Like a typical viin, Chameleon started to make his speech. However, it was perfect. He wanted to get answers from him after all. No matter he rack his brain, he could note up of an answer why the two of the three leaders of this syndicate was bearing too much hostility towards him.


    With an indifferent face, Mark looked straight at Chameleon who stood on the stairs of the clubhouse.


    "To even know my name, you guys really did your research huh. Still, I''m confused. Except for your failed attempt to conquer Firenze, I don''t think I remember anything that could incur that much anger from you and that bald guy beside you."


    Mark fearlessly pointed at Chameleon and the man who was called ck Devil.


    "You!"


    That attitude of Mark seemed to have infuriated ck Devil and wanted to rush forward but he was stopped by Chameleon''s outstretched right hand.


    "Quite perceptive aren''t you?"


    Chameleon spoke looking amazed.


    "I think it''s not bad telling a story to a dead person."


    "Boss, is it really fine to do that?"<sub> </sub>


    The lean man, Jumper, asked.


    "What are you afraid of? Even the soldiers can''t do anything to us now. Most of the government had already copsed and they don''t have much power to muster."


    Chameleon replied while sneaking a mocking nce and the military and government officials not far from him.


    The people who he directed that nce also saw it. Almost all of them except for the Major who did not have a change on his expression, seemed at a loss and were ashamed but what Chameleon had said was true.


    The leader of the syndicate then walked forward and started to tell his story. No, their story that failed due to an unforeseen factor.


    Their syndicate had been running for years dealing with illegal businesses. There was no need to borate what these businesses were. Using connections, rats in the government and police and careful nning, they were able to avoid being caught by the government.


    Three years ago however, the crime cracking operation led by the president himself incurred a heavy loss on their organization. As the operation was led by the highest person with authority, their backings did not matter anymore and their rats had been weeded out. Several branches of their illegal operations got frozen and many of their men were executed under the reason of resisting arrest despite the fact that the allegation never happened.


    It caused them to suffer setback after setback. In the end, they lost their funds, men and territory. The loss caused them to look for an alternative source for a while after the cracking ended. They started to n on abducting people with rich backgrounds and ask for ransom. Using their most elite men to do the job, there would be no trace that would be left that will lead back to their organization.


    "However, at our very first operation, an unexpected variable appeared. And it''s you."


    Chameleon stared at Mark without concealing his hatred. ck Devil and most of the men were the same. Jumper seemed different though, it seemed that he was not having the same hostility towards Mark for some reason.


    Hearing their side of the story, Mark finally realized.


    ''Three years ago¡­ Kidnapping¡­''


    He remembered witnessing something like that. It was his usual routine when going homete. It was walking through non-popted shortcuts which were usually unlit roads mostly filled with grassy vacant lots and abandoned buildings. One day however, he saw a ck van escorted by armed men forcing an about fourteen or fifteen years old girl who were tied up and gagged into an abandoned house.


    Not wanting to get tangled with danger, he decided to go back the way he came from but unfortunately, he was spotted by one of the armed men and yelled at him to stop. However, he did not. He knew what kind of people those men were and his fate would be uncertain if he let them catch him. He tried to escape but four of the men were too adamant on chasing him.


    Without any choice, he decided to fight back utilizing his abilities as an Empath. He hid behind another abandoned house and used the tall grass as a decoy since there was a path between those tall grasses that people usually use during the day. Using surprise attacks, he managed to take down three of his pursuers but thest one open fired on him.


    After that¡­


    He did not remember anything anymore. It might be because he lost consciousness or something like that. The next thing he knew after that was¡­


    He was already at home, alone, riddled with injuries. It even took him several weeks before he was able to move without feeling pain in his body.


    In any case, he did not have any recollection of what in the world that happened that night.


    It seemed confusion in his face seemed to have given Chameleon a different impression. ck Devil looked even more enraged.


    "Don''t tell me, you still don''t remember?"


    "Yeah, I don''t."


    Mark answered. It was half-truth.


    Hearing his answer, Chameleon was shocked inside. He knew how to read people''s faces and Mark was not lying. Were they mistaken? He looked at ck Devil. The face of his right hand man was now red like a tomato because of rage. It was no doubt that they were not mistaken.


    ck Devil was the only survivor of that night. Everyone else that participated in that operation died.


    "You can''t fool us by feigning ignorance. After all, that girl, no, she''s nothing but a used toy now, is together with you. Who else aside from her savior could recover a broken doll like her after being ravaged by one of my men?"


    Mark''s pupils shrunk.


    "Ohh, I like that expression."


    Chameleon seemed delighted.


    "That night, you killed almost all of my men and saved that girl. You might be able to hide from our eyes but not her. So instead of abducting that doll once more, I sent my men to keep an eye on her since there''s still a possibility that you will have a contact with her. Apparently, those new young men I sent did not manage to hold themselves back after catching her, such a beautiful girl. But to think she''ll be saved by you once more."


    Chameleon released a very revolting smile.


    "That broken doll is still with you right? My men saw her earlier. The princess of Xiao Industries, Mei Xiao."

 Chapter 167 Overturning The Situation With A Few Moves

    Day 6 ¨C 2:20 PM ¨C Multi-Purpose Clubhouse, Citta Italia, Molino III, Bacoor City, Cavite


    "Don''t worry, after you die here, my men will take good care of her, along with the other women you have in your little group."


    Chameleon''s eyes turned to slits mocking everyone who was against him.


    Hearing all those things, Captain D Rosa wanted to order his subordinates to step up but he was held back. He looked to his side and saw Irene shaking her head.


    "Mark said that we shouldn''t interfere."


    Captain D Rosa calmed down his mind after hearing that. Major Lopez also heard what Irene said and became more enthusiastic about wanting to know how Mark would handle this.


    Mark on the other hand calmed down. He was more determined to eliminate the threat as everything dawned unto everyone.


    "Take care of my group? Don''t dream too high."


    Mark started to sneer.


    That sneer made Chameleon choke. Infuriated, he bellowed.


    "You think you can still do anything? Don''t you see that you three are already surrounded? You think that making your vehicles drive away will stop us? Do-"


    "Stop! Darn, why the hell do viins like you do long boring speeches most of the time?"


    Mark was disinclined to listen to anymore nonsense.


    "You! Tsk! You all! Take them down!"


    Chameleon yelled at his subordinates.


    "Odel, Gale, get ready."


    Mark calmly said as the men surrounding them aimed their guns at their faces.


    However, they were not able to fire anything.


    Mark extended his hand swiping it once around his body. With a bright red glow in his eyes, every single man of those more than a dozen thugs fell down with bleeding orifices. This caused gasps in the area as they saw an unfathomable scene in front of them.


    Even Chameleon, ck Devil and Jumper were shocked at this event. The men that surrounded Mark and the two fell down just like that? What in the world happened?


    Odelina was also surprised but seeing the bleeding orifices of the men made her remember of what Mark did to Alderickst night which alleviated her emotions. Abbygale on the other hand was calm as usual. Rather, the little girl was staring at the remaining enemies, looking eager to fight.


    "Uwah~ Conqueror''s Haki!"


    A girl''s voice from behind made the corner of Mark''s lips twitch.


    Ignoring that voice from behind, Mark pointed his assault rifle at the unconscious thugs and¡­


    TSST! TSST! TSST! TSST! TSST! TSST! TSST! TSST!


    The massacre ensued.


    Bullet by bullet tore holes on the heads of the unconscious men as Mark mercilessly opened fire on their defenseless bodies. Seeing what her Master was doing, Odelina followed suit.


    "Sh*t! ck Devil! Jumper! Stop them!"


    Chameleon bellowed. He could not care anymore about how Mark did it. He could not let his men die just like this!


    ck Devil charged forth. His body started to grow a ck sheen covering his whole body. His movements then became faster as his body was covered with that ck metallic sheen. ck Devil, no wonder that was his alias. When he activated his transformation as a Mutator, his already tall and sturdy bodybined with that ck skin cover really made him look like a ck devil.


    Mark tried to shoot ck Devil but the bullets were blocked off by his ck armor. ck Devil then threw a downward punch at Mark.


    Mark jumped back while Abbygale and Odelina jumped to the sides avoiding the punch. The blow from the punch was not retracted and went straight to the ground. Dirt, dust and grass flew around as a half meter wide crater was dug instantly on the ground.


    "Wai~! Armament Haki!"


    Mark almost staggered backwards afternding when he heard that voice once more. He wanted to reprimand the owner of that voice from behind but another punch from ck Devil wasing. Landing his right foot behind, he lowered his body and jumped forward letting the second punch pass above his back.


    The other members of the syndicate started gathering within the covers around the clubhouse. Gunfire was about to start and Mark did not want to dawdle around.


    "Gale! Odel! Transform and don''t hold back! Get rid of the men with guns!"


    With thatmand, Abbygale rushed towards a group of men before they could aim their guns. Because of her ck hair and red dress, she turned into a reddish ck shadow, midway her dash, the ck color was reced with white and her speed became even faster. The moment the first man was able to aim his assault rifle, a small shoe made contact with his face revealing a girl with white hair, triangr ears and fluffy white tail. The man flew backwards with his neck bent back in an impossible angle. The other armed thugs beside that man immediately fell into disarray.


    On the other hand, Odelina did not have the time to remove her outer clothing anymore and such, her outer clothes ripped into pieces while her body was started to get covered with her grey colored bone armor. Compared to the previous times she used this armor however, she covered her left hand with the usual gauntlet while her right hand was only covered partially. It was to enable her to continue firing her assault rifle. If she covered her whole right hand with the bone armor, her index finger would not fit through the trigger guard.


    Odelina was not as fast as Abbygale. Because of that, the armed men on her side were able to fire their guns at her. Nevertheless, it was useless. Even a shotgun was not able to leave a scratch on her bone armor at pointnk range, what could their assault rifles and pistols do?


    Before the men was able to realize that their guns were not doing damage on her, Odelina already rained her own barrage of bullets towards them immediately taking the lives of several men. Those remaining who managed to hide before Odelina could shoot had their backs covered with sweat. This was not the first time they saw someone impervious to bullets. Chameleon''s right hand and who was also their vice-leader ck Devil was the same. Still, it did not mean that they had enough experience to deal with these kinds of mutated humans.<sub> </sub>


    In front of the clubhouse, the people who witnessed the shocking disy of power and ability of Mark group could not help but feel awe. Of course they could not deny the fear they felt. The soldiers, while not being able to help as they did not receive orders, still had their immediate duties. They started to evacuate the convoy away from the clubhouse in case that they and the refugees got hit with stray bullets from the gunfire.


    As for the leaders and their entourage, they were safe in their current position and were entitled to the first ss seat of the show. As the armed men of the crime syndicate had their backs on them and Mark and Odelina were being careful not to fire towards their direction, there was no threat of stray bullets hitting them.


    While Mark was concentrated on the close fight with ck Devil, he noticed that someone was actually not making his move. It was Jumper. Like his alias meant, he was able to jump high and swift. In two short jumps, he was able to reach the highest roof of the clubhouse. He had a sniper rifle in his hands and was aiming from that roof since the start of the battle. Yet, he never fired a single shot for some reason.


    ***


    Chameleon could not believe what he was currently seeing. The hopeless situation of Mark''s group had before was overturned just like that. It was like a dream. He then noticed Jumper who was seemed to be just watching on the roof top. The syndicate leader could not help but bellow while looking at up at the roof.


    "Jumper! What are you doing?! Shoot the enemies!"


    "Boss! I can''t! The little girl is too fast and the woman is impervious to bullets! I can only shoot that Mark but ck Devil entangled with him! If I shoot, I might identally hit ck Devil! My specialties lie in scouting not sniping!"


    Jumper shouted his reasoning from above.


    Hearing that reply, Chameleon gritted his teeth. It sounded like Jumper was just making an excuse but what he said was also reasonable.


    The situation was not good, Chameleon signaled his two remaining guards toe forward.


    "Adder, call all our men on the other areas to gather here. Target those vehicles that left first. Cobra, call our men guarding the remaining hostages tell them to wait for my orders."


    "Yes Boss!"


    The two guards, Adder and Cobra answered in unison.


    "I also have to make my move."


    Chameleon muttered.


    ***


    In the center of the battlefield, ck Devil looked very furious. His punches and kicks that could even topple small vehicles were not hitting his opponent. Mark was too slippery with his movements. Even though Mark was not attacking and just dodging every single attack he made, Mark did not fall into a disadvantage at all. He was getting more and more furious.


    He remembered that night when all of his brothers in arms were killed by this man. ck Devil was on the lookout at that time quite a distance away in another building and he was actually the one who spotted Mark. He sent the others to silence the witness but it turned out that the witness that wanted to slip away was actually a bloodthirsty killer.


    Looking at his current opponent, the killer of that night ovepped their appearance. His rage reached its peak as he threw another punch at Mark.


    It was then he heard a voice by his hear.


    "Continue attacking, I''ll nk him."


    There was no one that could be seen beside him but he knew who it was. ck Devil nodded and threw more ferocious attacks at Mark who was dodging.


    ***


    Mark continued to dodge even though ck Devil''s attacks grew ferocious within the previous seconds. It was not because he had no way of attacking but he was waiting for something. Finally, what he waited for arrived.


    A whistling sound shed through the air behind him despite the fact that no one could be seen in that ce. Still Mark positioned himself in the middle of that attack and the punching from ck Devil. At thest moment that both attacks were about to collide with his body, Adrenaline filled his body and he jumped up summersaulting two meters in the air towards the back.


    BAM!


    ck Devil hit something with his punch but it was not Mark. The grass in front of him could be seen moving as if someone was rolling of the short grass. There was even blood that could be seen on some parts of the grass where the invisible person rolled on. There could even be a muffled sound of heavy coughing and more spurt of blood sttered on the grass.


    The enemy who threw that punch was stunned and froze on the spot. He could not fathom how this happened. Others may not know what he hit with his punch but he was sure what it was!


    Mark then pointed his assault rifle at the empty space in front of him and spoke.


    "Isn''t it too harsh for the right hand man to severely injure his boss?"


    Everyone who was confused to what happened and heard what Mark said immediately looked at where Chameleon stood before but he was nowhere to be found. Did it mean that what Mark was pointing at was actually Chameleon?


    "Woh~! Observation Haki!"


    Mark was about to speak once more when he choke on his saliva and coughed several times.


    When his throat cleared, what he did first was shout behind him.


    "EMIKA! Can you shut up?!"


    Emika who was watching behind the ornamental nts in the street ind and was pretending to be one of the nts immediately scurried away shouting.


    "UWAH~!The pirate king is angry!"


    Mark now regretted allowing Emika to burrow one of his phones with the copy of the newest arcs of that anime.

 Chapter 168 The Fall Of The Syndicate

    <strong>Day 6 ¨C 2:24 PM ¨C Multi-purpose Clubhouse, Citta Italia, Molino III, Bacoor City, Cavite</strong>


    "What is that about?"


    Seeing Emika who should be one of their protection targets being able to freely wander around in a dangerous area, both Major Lopez and Captain D Rosa had their eyes narrowed. They felt like reproaching their subordinates. Even if the vehicles in the convoy were not moved as soon as possible, they should make her remain inside the military vehicle they were in since those vehicles were bullet proof.


    "Our men seem to need some talking."


    Captain D Rosa said making the major beside him nod.


    "Uhm, sirs, calm down a bit."


    Irene interrupted taking the attention of the two.


    "Look."


    Irene pointed at the two trees near where Emika hid. There were vines wound across the trunks of the trees. Several soldiers hurriedly went towards the trees and removed the vines. Apparently, those vines bound two soldiers on those trees.


    The two military officers were speechless. It was not that the soldiers allowed the girl to go out but the she tied her guards on those trees unable to pull her back.


    On the other hand, the green haired girl in question did not run far away and hid behind another tree. She was already sulking because that scary uncle did not inform her that there would be a fight happening. Still, she could not help but exim in excitement every time she saw some abilities that coincide with what she watched from the phone she borrowed. Since it would be surely boring along the way, she asked that scary uncle for something to relieve boredom before the final preparations of the evacuation happened and that was what she received from him.


    She enjoyed watching the anime but the actual fight in front of her was what she enjoyed more for some reason.


    ***


    "You want to say something? Chameleon right? To have an ability like this, no wonder you call yourself that."


    Mark pressed his assault rifle towards Chameleon''s head despite the fact that he could not see his figure. For others, it might look impossible but since the main source of emotional energies Mark could detect was the head of the person, it was easy for him to point out where the target''s head was.


    Chameleon was surely did not have the strength to fight anymore. Mark was sure of it after observing ck Devil''s attacks. Even Odelina with her armor would not be able to withstand a punch from him. That was how strong the bald man''s body was after he transformed himself. To know that Chameleon was still alive after receiving a direct enraged punch from ck Devil was already surprising.


    On the patch of sunken grass in front of Mark, aside from feeling the pain in his body, Chameleon''s mind was in turmoil. He could not understand what was happening. His strength lie on his schemes but he was also proficient in assassination, stealth attacks and ambushes and the ability he acquired after mutating fullyplemented his fighting style. Yet, it was used against him.


    It was not hard to realize what Mark did. Mark pretended not to notice him but was actually lining ck Devil''s punch for him to receive. Mark only dodged at thest moment so that there was no way for them to stop their attacks.


    While on his shocked state, he suddenly heard Mark''s muttering.


    "Too shocked to talk? This will surely wake you up."


    TSST! TSST! TSST! TSST!


    Four muffled shots sounded as Mark aimed his gun on where Chameleon''s feet should be and fired.


    "GAAAAH!!!"


    A painful scream sounded as Chameleon''s body started to appear in front of them unable to maintain his invisibility.


    A practically naked man thaty on the grass with his front was disyed in front of them. His body covered with multitudes of greenish scales from head to toe and even his hair had a greenish color and scaly textureplementing his body. His wide eyes because of pain were actually shaped differently from what human''s had. The eyelid of both his eyes were not a slit but covered his eyes only leaving a circr hole where his pupils that were looking at different directions could be seen.


    There was no doubt. His mutation really had something to do with chameleons though his invisibility was not just something like color changing. It was something more advanced.


    Saliva and blood poured out of his widely opened mouth. It seemed to be the first time that he was subjected to this kind of pain.


    "Boss!"


    Many of Chameleon''s followers that had just arrived shouted after seeing the current state of their boss. They had just received the call from Adder and Cobra and started to gather in this ce. Still, even if they arrived, what could they do if their boss was already taken as a hostage?


    Finally, Chameleon spoke with difficulty.


    "Don''t feel smug just because you got me. You might be able to fight but what about those that drove away? My men will capture them first!"


    Chameleon still had somecency left.


    "Oh, you don''t have to bother. You think, I never thought of that possibility?"


    Mark said as he stepped and ground his foot on the gunshot wound of Chameleon''s leg making him scream once more.


    Gunshots then echoed making Chameleon smile despite the pain. It looked like his men that came from the other side of the subdivision had already shed with Mark''s group.


    However, the gunshots did not evenst a minute before stopping. Next, dead mangled bodies started to flew towards the direction of the clubhouse crashing everywhere that both the soldiers and thugs had to vacate the area. The already mangled bodies that crashed were even more disfigured due to the impact.


    "Laps should really learn how to urately throw things."


    Mark muttered.


    He expected that something like this would happen. That was why he did not allow the golden dog to participate in the main part but to help and guard the other members of his group. He know what the Evolvers there had no experience fighting a battle like this and thus, Laps would be a good helper for them.


    On the other hand, all the remaining members of the syndicate had their eyes opened wide and Chameleon was not exception despite the fact that his eyes were only two holes now. It could not be any clearer that the bodies crashing down were dead bodies of their members!


    At the background, Chameleon''s men started to fall one by one because of Odelina and Abbygale''s assault. Furthermore, Chameleon''s sudden capture gave the two more leeway for their movements.<sub> </sub>


    Mark suddenly looked at ck Devil frowning.


    "Well, I guess it won''t work after all."


    Mark muttered.


    TSST! TSST!


    He suddenly left who more shots on Chameleon''s both arms before he jumped back avoiding another punch from ck Devil.


    It seemed that holding the leader as hostage did not matter anymore. Even though ck Devil was shocked at first, his mindset changed afterwards. Furthermore, his previous attack was swung downwards which hit Chameleon''s left wrist thaty on the ground bleeding after Mark jumped away to dodge.


    It seemed that Chameleon''s body was really resilient. That punch should have pulverized his wrist but he had just gotten away with an arm bent at the wrong part and direction.


    Chameleon screamed once more. His scream had both the pain and shock he felt after receiving another punch from ck Devil.


    "ck Devil! What are you doing?!"


    Chameleon hoarsely bellowed. ck Devil''s reply however shocked him further.


    "Tsk! Out of the way you useless piece of sh*t!"


    ck Devil then kicked Chameleon''s defenseless body before charging towards Mark once more. The syndicate leader flew several meters away before hitting the wall of the clubhouse creating arge crack on the smoothly painted wall.


    Chameleon''s lower rib sunk after that kick and he spewed a mouthful of blood afternding on the concrete pathway beside the clubhouse.


    Adder and Cobra who did not participate on the fight since the start immediately went towards their boss to aid him.


    "Boss! Are you alright?"


    Adder asked as he checked on his body and he could not help but feel mortified. If Chameleon was a normal person or even if he was one of what the military called Evolvers, the injuries their boss had was already enough to kill him. Fortunately, he was a Mutator and he was still able to hold on.


    What was unfathomable to them now was why ck Devil, who should be the boss'' right hand man, would do this.


    "Adder, contact¡­ our men guarding the remaining¡­ hostages. Kill everyone."


    Chameleon tried to say out loud but the sound he could let out was only a whisper due to his injuries. He could not even lift his body up anymore as he inhaled and exhaled deeply. Aside from the broken arm and ribs he received from the traitor, ck Devil, his organs were also shaken.


    "Are you sure boss? Once we do that, we won''t have anything to hold against the soldiers anymore."


    Adder told his thoughts.


    "I don''t care sh*t anymore!"


    Chameleon coughed.


    "The f*cking situation is¡­ against us already! Since¡­ they wanted the hostages, I won''t let these damn¡­ soldiers have those people!"


    "Yes boss!"


    Adder immediately used his radio¡­ Only to receive not a single reply. His eyes dted.


    "Boss! None of our men guarding the hostages are responding!"


    "What?!"


    Chameleon was too shocked that he coughed several times spewing more blood from his mouth. He looked that the military officers and soldiers that were just watching earlier starting to surround him and his men. It finally dawned to him.


    "Damn it! We''ve¡­ been had!"


    Themotion in front was nothing but a distraction and took away their attention from the possibility of the soldiers searching and retrieving the hostages.


    "Drop your weapons and surrender. Kneel and raise your hands!"


    The soldiers led by Captain D Rosa and Major Lopez surrounded Chameleon, Adder and Cobra making thetter two to drop their weapons and kneel on the ground.


    ***


    The two leading military officers could not think that it would turn out like this. Just before ck Devil attacked Mark once more and ignored the circumstances of Chameleon, Irene received a call from a radio model they were sure that was not issued to the military. The more surprising fact was that the call came from Keene who was missing since the battle in front of the clubhouse started.


    After questioning Irene for a little, they learned that the radios came from Mark and was given to them before he took action. It seemed that Mark had some idea what was happening and why they epted the revolting cooperation with these criminals. When Mark made his move, Irene made her way into the clubhouse to tell them the surface of what was happening but not the underlying events.


    While Irene brought the news and prevented the two officers to issue orders, Keene had already slipped by using his new abilities and searched for the ce where the hostages were being held. Still, both the captain and the major felt conflicted to this. Even though what the Irene and Keene did seem to have ended up in a sess, they, who were the superiors, were kept in the dark.


    Captain D Rosa looked at Mark who was currently dodging that ck Devil''s attacks. Amazingly, none of those attacks hit him. Not a single one.


    The soldiers had a notion to help but to be sure, they would be just a hindrance. That ck devil was impervious to bullets and using explosives were also not usible with Mark nearby.


    Dealing with this ck devil could only be handled by Mark and his group.

 Chapter 169 The End The Two Syndicate Leaders

    <strong>Day 5 ¨C 2:27 PM ¨C Multi-Purpose Clubhouse, Citta Italia, Molino III, Bacoor City, Cavite</strong>


    Mark dodged every single attack ck Devil was throwing him with great concentration. It was good that he had an about two hour rest on the way after leaving the settlement and he managed to release the unwanted energy he collected overnight to overload the brains of the thugs that surrounded them in almost an instant.


    ording to his experience, most of the fatigue that he suffered from being an Empath came from the undesired absorption of foreign emotional energies and storing those gathered energies somewhere in his subconscious. When he saw what Freed did before and started to practice it, he did not only learn that he could use the unwanted emotional energies and release it. The only restriction was that, there needed to be a recipient for the released energy for it to work.


    For Empaths like him, fatigue was the worst side effect of receiving these foreign energies. As for normal people however, the sudden invasion of foreign energies containing condensed emotions could leave different repercussions. The mildest of those side effects was nosebleeds due to emotional stress but the worst was for them was that they were likely to receive psychological trauma.


    Even if he did manage to rest along the way, if he was unable to release the pent up energies fromst night, his movements would be likely to be too sluggish and he would be unable to avoid these ferocious attacks. Unfortunately for ck Devil, his mind was clearer now. Not only that he could see the attacks but he could also feel when his enemy would release the attack.


    The worst thing Mark was experiencing right now however was that his Emotion Induction was not working on ck Devil at his current state. The ck skinned man was filled with rage in his mind that it was blocking even the energy Mark was releasing on his opponent.


    Still, none of the two was having the advantage against the other in this fight in the eyes of the spectators around them. ck Devil kept on attacking while Mark kept on avoiding the attacks. It seemed that there was no leeway for Mark to attack. Many of the soldiers and the police around wanted to help but they had no idea how to. None of them were Mutators or even just Evolvers. It was unknown why it seemed that it was too rare for soldiers like them to be one.


    Not known to anyone, Mark was still not using his most trained ability in the previous years. It was not because he did not want to but he was reserving it as his trump card. He just needed to measure ck Devil''s capabilities so that he could immediately give a death blow the moment he used it. After all, he could not prolong its use anymore especially when hecked sleep himself.


    Mark looked at his opponent who had just missed another punch. The man was wearing a white thin tank top and jeans with torn parts. His clothes further emphasized that ck Devil''s whole body was covered in this ck coloring. The only parts Mark could see that was not covered in ck was his eyes and inside his mouth. Due to this, Mark deduced that the only part covered was his skin and his internal parts like the mouth and eyes were still normal.


    The only way to kill this guy was to shoot his eyes and mouth. That was easier said than done. Mark was sure that if this person was to see where he was aiming his gun, he would either dodge or break his gun. If thetter situation happened, it would be even harder to defeat this self-proimed devil.


    In the least, if he would aim at his opponent''s eyes and mouth, he needed to make him in the least, take ck Devil''s sight away from his attack. Mark suddenly smiled with a bright glint in his red glowing eyes. He had an idea to try. If it was sessful, not only that ck Devil would take his sight away but could also confuse him for a moment.


    Another kick came making Mark step to the side. On ck Devil''s ckened face, aside from rage, there was a tinge of impatience. Since the start, none of his attacks were able to connect. With his fury reaching its peak, his attacks became faster and stronger.


    "Don''t f*cking move! Is this all you can do? Dodge and f*ucking run away?!"


    ck Devil cursed as he punched the air.


    "It''s no use taunting me. Are you an idiot? If you really wanted to kill me then hit me first."


    Mark calmly replied making ck Devil even more furious.


    To everyone''s confusion, Mark suddenly grasped the suppressor of his assault rifle. Even ck Devil was confused but he continued his assault of punch and kicks. There was no pattern or style to the attacks but the might and speed was really astonishing. Still, Mark kept on dodging the attacks and even started to remove the suppressor of his gun.


    ck Devil then unleashed a kick from the side which Mark dodged by jumping backwards. Finally, the suppressor was removed. Mark raised his head looking straight at ck Devil. For some reason, there was a change in Mark''s countenance.


    At that moment, Mark threw the suppressor towards ck Devil''s face incurring a ridiculous expression on almost everyone in the vicinity.


    ''That''s it? That is why you removed the suppressor of your gun?''


    That ridiculous question suddenly entered the minds of the people around.


    No matter what, there was nothing that the thrown suppressor could do against the enemy!


    As if to support that assumption, ck Devil caught the thrown suppressor and crumpled it with one hand.


    Mark then started to move ignoring what was in everyone''s minds. Kicking his foot backwards, he moved in a faster speed than before that even ck Devil was surprised. In thest moment, he unleashed a downward punch towards Mark but thetter only circled on the trajectory of that punch. At the moment the punch hit the ground, Mark kicked the outstretched armunching him towards ck Devil''s behind away from his sight.


    Of course, ck Devil turned around to his left while he withdrawn his left arm that he used in the previous punch.


    Unexpectedly, he felt a sudden weight on his right shoulder making him look at it by reflex and stop his turning movement thinking that Mark had already turned to the other side. What he saw however was a muzzle an assault rifle. His mind nked. It was because he could not fathom what this was for. The muzzle was not pointed at him but towards the ground in front of him.


    RATATATATATATA!


    A torrent of gunshots echoed firing towards the ground causing several shes at the corner of his right eye. The shes did not do anything however but he suddenly felt disoriented and closed his eyes by reflex. He then held his ear and staggered backwards in shock. The bullets did not hit and the shes were not enough to blind him but the sound of the multiple shots from the assault rifle ced directly beside his ear shook his brain. It made him close his eyes by reflex and some of his muscles stiffened.


    The next thing he knew, there was a hot metal intruding the insides of his mouth. He tried to open his eyes immediately but he was not able to anymore. ck Devil felt searing burning pain in his mouth together with several mortifying impacts in his head and everything when ck in that instant.


    Mark pulled the gun away from ck Devil''s mouth and let his lifeless body fall to the ground. This guy''s skin was really too thick. Mark was sure that with the number of shots he made inside his mouth, his skull must have been broken. However, there were only bump marks on the upper back side of his head. Slowly, the color of ck Devil''s body started to return to normal as a sign of his ability unable to support its activation anymore.


    "Acoustic Startle Reflex¡­ It''s really effective when the target least expected it."<sub> </sub>


    Mark muttered as he kicked the dead body. He was sure that it was dead since he was not detecting any consciousness from ck Devil anymore. If this guy was still alive after Mark wrecked his brain with the remaining half of his bullets, this guy would surely be a monster.


    The people burst into cheers as the realization hit them. The seemingly unstoppable ck Devil was finally brought down. While the side of the soldiers and survivors were in a celebration, the remaining members of the syndicate that were caught by the soldiers were devastated. ck Devil was theirst hope and he was still defeated.


    Mark then left the dead body of ck Devil as he was not interested in it. He turned around and approached the encirclement of soldiers around Chameleon and his two thugs.


    "Hey! What are you going to do?!"


    One of the soldiers shouted when he saw Mark raise his assault rifle after bypassing the encirclement. He aimed his gun towards the heavily injured Chameleon.


    The syndicate leader was mortified at this.


    "Wha-what are you doing?! We already surrendered! It''s a-against thew to kill me!"


    Chameleon stuttered as he felt death loom on him. On the other hand, the soldiers had disgusted expression on their faces hearing that. A criminal talking about thew¡­ The hair on their nape stood up as they felt a cold shiver on their backs.


    Even the soldier that tried to stop Mark lost his interest in stopping thetter.


    On the other hand, Major Lopez who was still within the circle of soldiers had his eyes lit up as he looked at Mark. He was anticipating what he would do next.


    The next thing that happened was a not a sight for the light hearted. Mark shot different parts of Chameleon''s body making thetter scream for every wound he received. Starting from the left foot to the left leg and then the right foot to his right leg, bleeding holes created by bullets appeared on his body in fixed intervals. Chameleon''s tenacity worked against him this way.


    When Chameleon''s left arm was drilled with holes, his cries of pain started to get muffled. Mark on the other hand grabbed Chameleon''s scaly head with his glowing hands not carrying about the soldiers around him. This way, Mark kept his consciousness awake until Mark was done shooting several holes on the syndicate leader''s stomach.


    Mark then took out a knife from his pocket, the usual ten peso knife and pierced the syndicate leader''s right eye making him scream hisst energetic one.


    At the time Chameleon could not be kept awake anymore, Mark stopped. He only channeled that milky white light in his head prolonging his suffering. Chameleon''s horrified left eye stared at Mark who had his eyes glowing red all this time. Mark''s devilish grin was the entire thing that he saw in hisst breath.


    It was a grotesque sight that the least experienced soldiers could not help but look away. Those who remained watching could feel the cold sweat on their backs. On the other hand, the two thugs, Adder and Cobra tried to shrink their bodies and much as possible slowly away from Mark. They were afraid that they would be the next one in line to experience that horror.


    To everyone''s surprise, Mark only looked at the two after letting go of Chameleon''s head. Mark then turned around to leave the encirclement.


    On the whole process, Mark did not speak but everything he did was already enough to show how he felt.


    Mark then shouted towards the tree nted at the street ind.


    "Emika! Take the two bodies!"


    Emika who was intently watching behind the tree immediately ran out towards Mark''s direction. There was a wide smile on her face for some reason.


    "Nee~ Scary Uncle, the bodies of the ugly scaly guy and the guy with armament haki?"


    Mark gently knocked on the green haired girl''s head.


    "Right, those two, I''ll need them. Also, stop using that haki terms will you. I''ll take back that phone if you don''t stop."


    "Guh¡­"


    Emika had aining look but still nodded.


    Then, under everyone''s gaze, Emika''s hair grew longer and thicker turning most of it into thick vine growth that made their way towards the bodies of Chameleon and ck Devil. The vines coiled around the bodies and pulled the bodies away.


    "Alright."


    Mark looked at the leaders.


    "I''ll take these two bodies with me. You all handle the rest."


    He then called unto Abbygale and Odelina. Together with Emika, they made their way where their vehicles were parked.

 Chapter 170 The Aftermath Of The Sydicates Fall

    <strong>Day 6 ¨C 2:47 PM ¨C Multi-Purpose Clubhouse, Citta Italia, Molino III, Bacoor City, Cavite</strong>


    "Sir, is it really fine to let him do that?"


    One of the younger soldiers asked Major Lopez after Mark and his group left leaving two trails of blood on their path from the two bodies Emika bound in her vines.


    The Major on the other hand replied another question.


    "What do you think Rael?"


    "It''s against thew?"


    Private Rael replied.


    To the young soldier''s reply however, Major Lopez shook his head.


    "If it was six days ago, you''re right. Now however, the country''sw could only apply inside the settlements the government founded. Here outside, we are all equals. Only those who have strength can dictate the rules here."


    Not only Rael heard that but other soldiers too making them fall into contemtion. Major Lopez patted the young soldier''s shoulder.


    "You all needed to adjust. Besides, you all heard what happened. None of these people are innocent. That Chameleon only received what he deserved. It''s an issue between their groups and we don''t have the right to interfere as long as our side was not implicated in any way. Actually, I won''t have any qualms if he killed all these trash. We''ll have less useless people to feed that way."


    The nonchnt attitude the Major had in his voice when he sentenced the members of the syndicate to death made everyone around that heard him reveal troubled expressions. Even though he had a point, many of them still felt that it was unnecessary.


    The Major then pped his hands taking everyone''s attention.


    "Stop thinking about unnecessary things! We still have things to do! We need to leave this ce before dark or none of us will see the sun tomorrow!"


    Major urged everyone to efficiently use the time they had to prepare. Furthermore, there was still the need to bring the hostages here and prepare to leave. Those people held by the syndicate might not be in good shape for travelling but none of them had the choice if they wanted to survive. Probably, just hiding in some ce as therge horde passed by might possibly save some people but the opposite could also be possible.


    Another thing they needed to do was¡­


    Think of what to do about Jumper who did nothing in the whole fight and surrendered without qualms afterwards. None of them knew what was going on in the mind of this man.


    ***


    "Odel, you tell Carlo to fetch his sister."


    Mark said as they watched the vehicles that left before return. With what happened earlier, it was impossible that the people inside that van in front of the clubhouse did not see everything. Given that, Carlos''s sister would surely not go with them even if they said that they knew her brother. It would be better if Carlo was the one to face his sister.


    "Emika, cover the bodies tightly, we don''t want Jte and the other one to go crazy."


    Mark turned towards the little dryad.


    "Okay~!"


    "By the way, you slipped out didn''t you? Your mother is angry."


    Emika did not reply but her face paled. She looked at Mark and noticed something.


    "Nee~ Uncle. Isn''t that heavy?"


    She pointed at Mark''s back. There, the oversized beetle was stilltched on his back.


    "Not really. It''s kind of itchy though."


    Mark replied before knocking on one of Fein''s legs and made the beetle go down from his back. At the beginning, he wanted Fein to be as a means of escape if he was suddenly besieged by the three Mutators at the same time while Abbygale and Odelina were not able to aid him. However, the third Mutator did not attack at all while the other even severely injured their leader. Even though he said all those words when Chameleon berated him, Mark knew that Jumper had no n to join the fight at all.


    The only thing the beetle had been a help for was directing the sneak attack Chameleon tried to make. Though it was not impossible to do even without Fein, it became easier since more than half of his back was blocked by the beetle making the areas Chameleon could attack very limited.


    Finally, the other vehicles arrived and stopped in front of them. Mark nodded to Odelina to tell Carlo the news. Hearing that his sister was actually here, Carlo did not waste any time and set off with Sundra to check. Carlo''s face did not look happy though. He would rather not see his sister here. It was not because he did not want to see her but finding any of his family members here could simply mean a bad news afterwards.


    While Carlo went to look for his sister, Mark was thinking of what he should do with the bodies of these two Mutators. He could either store the ability of one since he only had one empty Physical Crystal left and feed the other one to either Jte or...<sub> </sub>


    ''What''s her name again? Ah, right I never asked them.''


    Mark realized that he had forgotten to ask about the name of Harvey and Monique''s infected daughter.


    In the end, he concluded that Chameleon''s body was useless.


    His advanced camouge might be good sounding but it was an ability that could only be used while naked. Chameleon''s body that was bound by Emika''s vines was fully naked. It was just that Emika never needed to see everything her vines could bind or it would be inappropriate to let the girl do so.


    Chameleon''s ability could only hide his body and the clothes and weapons were excluded. This ability could not be used while bringing anything whether it be clothes or weapons. Doing so renders the ability useless. Without weapons and without protection, this ability could only hide the user while being prone to danger.


    Mark could not feed Chameleon''s brain to the infected girls too. As the nature of these girls was all a mystery to him, the chance of them bing out of control and attacking people was not zero. If by any chance that they acquired an invisibility or camouge ability, it could spell disaster in many ways.


    ck Devil''s ability however was very precious. Since it could render his body impervious to bullets and give tremendous strength, he would rather keep it for useter.


    The only thing he needed to do now was to find a ce to extract ck Devil''s ability¡­ Or, maybe not.


    Mark took the bag containing the jar of crystals from inside the vehicle and looked at Emika.


    "Emika, can you make something like a room or a dome using your vines?"


    "Hmmm~ let me try!"


    With great enthusiasm, Emika made her hair grow longer and longer before creating a small yurt shaped structure about two and a half meters in diameter. At the center inside the yurt was Emika who could not move. Even though her vines could support it, it seemed that it would be hard for her to walk around while maintaining the structure. Looking at the beads of sweat on her forehead, it looked like she was doing her best to do it for the first time.


    He''ll surely reward this girl for her effort to help. A frozen chocte bar should do it.


    "Emika, this is enough. Move Chameleon''s body outside."


    "Okay~!"


    It did not take long for Mark toplete the procedure. The yurt made of vines however seemed to have attracted the attention of everyone around that they started to gather.


    After making Emika remove the yurt, the only thing revealed was ck Devil''s dead body on the ground in front of Mark and Emika. Unexpectedly, among the people around them was Jte who Mara was trying to pull back without avail. Jte saw the dead body and kneeled beside it and started sniffing the body but she did nothing else. She looked at Mark with a sad expression on her face.


    Mark was surprise to see her make that expression but also felt helpless at the same time. Jte really saw him as her source of food for some reason and because she was his precious specimen, he was obligated to do so. There was still Chameleon''s body hidden by Emika but it was a no go.


    ''How about I kill jumper and feed him to Jte?''


    That sinister thought suddenly popped out of his mind.


    However, it was alreadyte. Jumper did not make a move on him and fully surrendered to the soldiers. During that time Chameleon was narrating all his deeds and history, Jumper had no reaction to it and did not look him with hostility. Rather, it felt like everything that Chameleon said had nothing to do with him.


    At the moment, Jumper was being asked questions by the soldiers and it seemed that he readily answered everything he knew.


    Mark patted Jte''s head.


    "Next time alright?"


    The weak disappointment on Jte''s consciousness finally reced with agreement. She even rubbed her head on his hand on her own. It somehow felt like he was raising a kitten. He was also amazed how fast her consciousness was developing. By the looks of it, making Mara take care of her affected her a lot since Mara did not alienate her for being an infected and still treated her as her sister and as a human.


    After that, Mark dumped Chameleon''s body back to the soldiers. He did not mind what they would do with the body as long as they did not leave it in the open. In the end, Chameleon''s body was put inside a body bag and put inside the front most dump truck as that vehicle had the most space left to use. Compared to the other bodies, Chameleon''s body was still a good specimen no matter how battered his body became after Mark''s torture.


    The other dead bodies were burned in a dug hole and Mark dumped ck Devil''s body in the same fire despite the protests of the soldiers. He could not let them know that ck Devil''s body was nothing but a dead infected now. Since ck Devil''s brain was damaged before his Mutation was extracted, he did not turn but considering what happened to Dominador, ck Devil would likely turn into one if his brain was not damaged by the bullets.


    Everything else went smoothly after the threat was eliminated. Mark also managed to take a nap while the survivors in Citta Italia finished their dyed preparations. It was the same for the people that became hostages. The injured received the best treatment the medics and doctors of the military could give. Among those injured people was SP02 Agbayani who was the Mutator from Firenze. Apparently he had a sh with ck Devil before and ended up being beaten badly. No wonder why the righteous policeman was not around.


    Carlo''s sister, Carm confirmed his fear. Aside from her who was treated terribly by the members of the syndicate along with the other women they captured, all their family members ended up being killed by the heartless thugs or by the mindless infected. Even though that the siblings had a reunion after the apocalypse started, their reunion was very far from being festive. Carlo''s mind was in turmoil from both sadness and anger.


    The soldiers, the police and the government officials also heard the stories of the women and the people taken as hostage. Enraged, they all ended up in a consensus. With the exception of Jumper who was a Mutator and agreed toply with the soldiers, the other members of the syndicate were brought into an execution. The execution was more brutal. Not wanting to waste ammunition on these people, they were all tied with disposable ropes and were thrown to the fire alive along with the dead bodies.


    More than two more hours passed and the preparations ended. Before anything like another swarm of flies or mosquitos appeared, the leaders decided to set off. If everything went smoothly on the way and ording to the initial n, they convoy would likely reach Bay City a few hours before midnight.

 Chapter 171 The Road Difficult To Traverse

    <strong>Day 6 ¨C 5:03 PM ¨C Molino Boulevard, Ligas, Bacoor City, Cavite</strong>


    The sounds of gunfire continued along the way. The convoy had already driven past thepound of the ruined City Hall several minutes ago. They were closing into the most popted area of Bacoor. Because of that, the number of infected they were encountering started to increase but in the least, not too many and were too scattered to called a horde.


    Irene sat at the back carrier of one of the Humvees while hugging her assault rifle. As there was not much danger after the syndicate was eliminated in Citta Italia, things that she did not have time to think of before started entering her mind that she could not concentrate too much on shooting even after they left. Every single one of the soldiers and police were obligated to participate in defending the convoy but with all the thoughts in her mind, she could not effectively.


    "What are you thinking?"


    Keene who was paired with her finally asked. The guy was really dense that he did not notice that there were something weighing her thoughts. If not for her suddenly sitting back after firing a round of gunshots at the infected charging at them, he would not have noticed.


    "A lot of things¡­"


    Irene sighed. She know that the thoughts she had right now was unnecessary but it was really bugging her.


    What was right and what was wrong? How evil could a person get?


    Back at the settlement when Mark suddenly shoved them into the Multi-cab, she felt annoyed but after witnessing the horror the swarm of flies brought to them, she was shaken. She was shaken not only because of fear but because she actually felt relief that she was not among the people who died outside. She saw several soldiers and people stung by the flies and turned into infected. At that scene, she somehow felt happy that she was not in their shoe. It made her feel conflicted.


    She was a soldier and she should be one of the people protecting them but was it really alright to feel happy that she survived and the people she was supposed to protect died?


    The next thought came to her when the soldiers started to burn the remaining members of the syndicate alive. At that scene, was it really alright that she saw those men not as human but animals? She could not help but ask herself how those people were able tomit such devilish acts.


    ording to the hostages and what Jumper confessed, aside from Jumper, every single one of them was a devil in human skin.


    The hostages came from two sources. The first were those who were caught while they were evacuating while the second ones were those who were found during the supply runs of the syndicate. Nevertheless, both face the same kind of torment. The able ones mainlyposed of men were forced to work on their base building defenses and fighting the infected. For the women, they became a means of entertainment for the members of the syndicate.


    The main problem and the cause for the soldiers to burn those animals alive were due to the point that the syndicate did not share their supplies to their hostages. On the head count, there were one hundred twenty-three hostages and even more than that before for sure. With thatrge number of people, how were they fed? The hostages did not know it and only knew that they were fed with boiled salted meat. On Jumper''s confession however¡­


    The source of that meat was not something that humans in the right mind should consume. It was fortunate that the meat did note from the infected but it just made the whole thing even darker.


    The hostages would likely lose their mind if they learn about the source of that meat.


    Jumper on the other hand seemed to be appreciated by the hostages. It seemed that he did not touch any of the women and even incurred the ridicule of the other members for taking in the children saying that he had a weird fetish. The children however were all fine and by the looks of it, Jumper rather took good care of them. Now that the threat of the syndicate, Jumper let the children return to their rtives. It was unfortunate that some of those children had no rtives to return to anymore.


    When Jumper was asked why he did that when he was a member of that syndicate¡­


    "Do all of you really believe that I wanted to join them? I just had no choice."


    That was how he answered.


    Irene told her thoughts to her childhood friend. Unexpectedly, Keeneughed.


    "What''s funny? I''m serious here."


    "Just don''t think too much. What those thugs did was wrong but what''s wrong with surviving? Don''t think too much. Just follow what you believe in just like before."


    "What I believe¡­"


    "That''s right! As long what you believe isn''t wrong, it''s fine. If you really care for those who died, then live for their sake and perform what they could not anymore. That simple."


    Irene lifted her head and looked at Keene incredulously. What she received from him was a straightforward and brainless answer but she could not refute him at all.


    Irene sighed, she should think over this once moreter and ask someone else more experienced.


    ***


    Day 6 ¨C 6:23 PM ¨C Emilio Aguinaldo Highway, Tba, Bacoor City, Cavite


    About another two hours passed once more after they left Citta Italia. They had already left Molino Boulevard and entered the highway but their speed horribly suffered. If it was before the outbreak, the distance they traversed from Citta Italia till their current location would just take about half an hour with the normal rate of heavy traffic considered.


    Now however, the blockade of vehicles at the exit of the boulevard started their current headache. Even though the dump trucks still managed to get them out of the boulevard, it was because the vehicles blocking the boulevard exit were smaller vehicles with freezer vans as thergest ones. After entering the highway however, it became harder for them to move that even the military trucks started to help in pushing the smaller vehicles aside.


    Another problem was the increasing number of infected they needed to defend the convoy from. This area was too close to arge street market, several malls, fast food chains and more enclosed markets. These establishments caused the poption influx in this area. Even though the infected that was left here was a smaller portionpared to the whole poption that frequented this area, it was still enough to give everyone a huge headache.


    If the infected attacking was not handled effectively, it could spell disaster. It was more apparent with the constant appearance of Mutated Infected. The rather mostmon among the Mutated Infected were the Dozers. There were also infected animals from time to time and some new kinds of Mutated Infected appearing in the area.<sub> </sub>


    RATATATATA!


    Mark jumped unto an abandoned vehicle and killed several infected charging towards him. He was hired to escort the convoy and he had to participate in thinning the number of infected. Together with him, he could see Abbygale running about fast like the wind. In terms of kill count, she could notpare to those who had guns but with physical kills, she had the highest number.


    From time to time, Mark would also use his machete to save a few bullets but the kill speed was rather insufficient to keep up with the stream of iing infected. He had no choice but to use his gun. His presence on the battlefield however caused to lighten the load on the soldiers in one way or another.


    Not only that the number of infected the soldiers had to kill lessened but also the pressure the on everyone fighting the infected decreased significantly. It was due to the Mutated Infected charging towards him every single time despite how close they were to another person.


    The other members of his group also joined the fray since earlier due to the slow movement of the convoy through this heavy blockade. Nikky and her other group members defended the southern side while Jason and his group defended the northern side. Mark and Abbygale on the other hand move from ce to ce helping where the highest congregation of infected were located near their position.


    Not only Mark and his group but the other soldiers had already moved out of their vehicles to help. Captain D Rosa and Major Lopez could also be seen fighting the infected near the front of the convoy. It was the same for Chief Mari and his police force.


    Mark looked at the passenger seat of their vehicle where Mei sat. He told both Abbygale and Odelina not to tell anything about what Chameleon said. It was not because she should not learn about it but it was better for her to not know. Besides, he himself could not remember what happened that night. If what Chameleon and ck Devil said was true, then it was not him who did the killing. For all he remembered, the first human or at least, looked like human, he killed in real life was the infected security guard at the mall.


    As for who did it, it could not be any more obvious. He also suspected it when he woke up at home after all those things happened at that time. He would also not forget that time. It was because of those injuries that he started topletely disregarded the outside world and stay within the confines of his house as much as possible.


    He was sure that it was Freed who did it.


    What for? Why did he save Mei that time?


    Mark had no way of asking Freed for answers. Even though the two of them may be sharing the same body, it was impossible for the two to meet face to face and clear everything.


    Sighing, he shot the head of another infected he was facing.


    Mark looked at the road ahead. Seeing the scene in front, he could not help but shake his head.


    It seemed that this parade of abandoned cars wouldst till the exit of the highway. Furthermore, it looked like that the convoy would still move at its current speed till the end due to therge number of city and provincial busses that blocked the road.


    Mark took out his phone. Seeing the current time, he frowned.


    They were runningte.


    It was already almost seven and they were still stuck here.


    ''Did anything went wrong?''


    Mark started to contemte.


    As Mark did not know anything about what would happen before the scene in his premonition started, he just followed every circumstance in a normal way.


    ''Then, why?''


    Mark started to have a bad feeling about this.


    ***


    Day 6 ¨C 7:58 PM ¨C Cavite Expressway Toll Gate, Para?aque, Metro Man


    They spent some more time on the highway and even lost several soldiers and policemen in the process. Mark could not deny that the constant fighting within about four hours was tiring.


    After they entered the expressway however, the convoy started to move faster as the number of vehicles in the expressway decreased in numbers.


    It did not take too long though and the convoy had no choice but to stop.


    The dump trucks could push smaller cars effortlessly and pushrger vehicles like busses and trucks with quite a difficulty. Nevertheless, there was no way for it to push a whole copsed building blocking the expressway.


    Blocking the middle of the road¡­


    It was the whole toll ticketing booths structure that fell to the ground.


    The whole heavy roof of the structure was still intact and it looked like that the metal supports were bent to the ground.


    Everyone was in a dilemma.


    Mark however, started to get ready for another life and death encounter.

 Chapter 172 Incoming Danger

    <strong>Day 6 ¨C 8:04 PM ¨C E3 Expressway, Para?aque, Metro Man</strong>


    One meter thick, sixteen meters wide and a hundred meters long¡­


    That was howrge the structure was in front of them blocking the entirety of the less than a hundred meter expressway. The whole structure was made of pure concrete along with its metal foundations. Aside from that structure that used to shelter that actual toll ticketing booths underneath it, there were also arge number of abandoned vehicles that littered the ce. Even under therge structure, there were a lot of remains vehicles that were crushed by its weight.


    There were threenes of the toll area that was free of vehicles and the vehicles outside those threenes were seemingly pushed aside. It had just meant that before the structure copsed, there were people that passed this ce. After shortly investigating the area, they concluded that the people that passed by should be the convoy led by General Perez'' son 1st Lieutenant Rafael.


    They were sure about that because they also received that report and the bullet casings that were left scattered in the area had serials belonging to the military. The soldiers were also sure that the copse of this structure happened just recently considering how much dust could be seen in the surroundings. There was even a lingering smell of concrete in the air despite not closing in towards the copsed structure.


    "Should we call unto Bay City for assistance?"


    Captain D Rosa suggested to Major Lopez who was beside him. They looked at the structure and around the area to see if there would be any alternative routes they could take. To the east side of the expressway, there was a small emergency road that should only be essed if there were emergencies at the expressway. That same road now was filled with abandoned vehicles. The dump trucks had no way to push those vehicles aside as there was no extra space to push the vehicles to. That was how narrow that road was. They could remove the vehicles one by one but it would surely take a lot of time to do so.


    Past the safety barriers of the expressway, the west side was a forested slope directly connected to Man Bay while the east side was a highly forested block. Breaking the safely barriers on either side was not usible either. Going back and finding another route was not possible either. The nearest roads going the same direction were all twone streets. Those narrow roads would disrupt the formation of the vehicles and a lot of areas on the convoy would be vulnerable to attacks. It was because the narrow roads would prevent the military vehicles from moving freely.


    Calling for assistance from Bay City was all that they could do.


    Bay City was still more than four kilometers away from this ce. If they could hold their ground till the assistance arrived, they should be able to find a way to deal with the copsed toll za.


    ***


    Mark wore a backpack filled with magazines that had just been filled by everyone inside the vehicle. While Mark and the others were fighting outside, the work of everyone inside was to fill in the empty magazines with the right ammunition. After they left the heavy traffic area near Zapote, Mark started to pack up the filled magazines into his backpack and took out several guns from the back of the vehicle.


    When the convoy stopped, Mark finally stood up with three guns hanging on his body. None of them could understand what their leader was going to do with all that weapons and ammunition. Thest time some of they saw him do that was back then when he retrieved his things from his house facing thousands of infected alone.


    Melissa looked outside, Anna and the others who thought the same also looked out of the window. The ce was rather empty and the soldiers and police were already dealing with the infected around the ce. Why was Mark preparing this much?


    Not saying anything to them, Mark walked out of the vehicle. Mei followed behind him and Odelina on the driver''s seat did the same. As if sensing something ominous, the two little girls did not want to get left behind.


    Stepping outside the vehicle, what Mark did first was to look at the sky and unto the southboundnes of the expressway. The moon was already shining above them illuminating the whole ce. However, this only made Mark frown even more. He them made his way to the back to unchain the motorbike from the back of the vehicle.


    "Gege, is this the ce?"


    Mei asked while looking around. Odelina was doing the same. Remembering what Mark told themst night, their hearts were pounding with nervousness. He told them that everyone would die once that monster he saw in his dreams appeared. If it was before, Mei would not be afraid of dying but she felt that it was different now. She did not want to die anymore.


    To their dismay, Mark did not speak but nodded in agreement.


    He had no way of seeing the whole environment in his dream due to the circumstances and the mes that surrounded the ce. One thing he was sure however, was the red bus on the right mostne of the southbound half of the expressway. It was the same red painted bus that he leaned his back on as he watched everyone being ughtered one by one.


    Nevertheless, Mark kept on feeling that something was not right that he had to nce at the moon every now and then.


    The moon was already shining at the center of the sky. In his premonition, by this time, he should be already in his life and death struggle. Before he was almost squashed to death, thest thing he saw was the moon at the center of the sky.


    "It''ste."


    Mark muttered. Actually, if it was like this, most people would already rejoice that the disaster seemed to have passed already and nothing happened. Still, he could not shake off the foreboding feeling.


    He looked at Odelina and took out a phone and told him abination of numbers.


    "Master, what is this for?"


    "Open it. There is only one non-system default application installed there. Every two hours, that application will request for a password and you have to input the numbers I told you. While the password is not inputted, the application will lock up and if the password is not given for another hour, the application will delete its data. Remember that unless something happened to that phone, you have to keep it from deleting the saved data."


    "Why?"


    Odelina was confused.


    "The content of that data is something the scientists in Bay City will surely want. I''m sure you can use that to exchange for something important from them. Keep that phone and if something unexpected happens and all of you need the aid from General Perez or from Captain D Rosa, you can use that phone in exchange for their help."


    Odelina remembered what her Master said with great importance.


    "Master, are you sure this will work?"<sub> </sub>


    To that question, Mark shrugged his shoulders while he pulled down the motorbike.


    "Who knows? Maybe it could, maybe not. At least, there''s more possibility that it will than it won''t."


    RUMBLE!!!!


    A loud rumbling sound echoed across the ce taking everyone''s attention. The sound seemed to havee from the buildings quite a distance away to the east from their position. The sound of rumbling metal and concrete filled their ears even louder than the sound of the gunshots.


    DRAAA!!!


    KROOOAR!!!


    Two roars of unidentified origin followed the rumbling sounds. Those coarse, ferocious and loud roars made everyone''s hair stood up on ends.


    BAM!!!


    RUMBLE!!!


    The roars were followed by a loud sound of something big crushing unto a building and by the sounds of a copsing structure.


    The sources of the sounds were still far away and they could not see anything but it made the soldiers clutch their guns ready to fight anytime. Roars and sounds of copse continued and was getting louder and louder. It was as if the sources were closing in towards them slowly.


    "Master, I thought, you say that there should only be one?"


    Odelina frowned facing the direction were the loud sounds wereing from.


    Mark was also frowning. There should only be one and he was sure of that. One of the roars they were hearing was familiar to him. It should be the one that supposed to appear here and annihte them.


    Hearing the frightening roars, Mei could not help but clutch Mark''s arm. Not because she was afraid but she suddenly felt that Mark should not follow his initial n anymore. The things happening now were far from what he told her and Odelina.


    Seconds and minutes passed and the sounds became louder and louder. With uncertain event that was about to happen, the soldiers instructed everyone to move the vehicles into the furthernes and assume a defensive formation. For some random coincidence, Mark''s vehicle, the MB sprinter, was actually ced just in front of the red bus.


    Without the lightsing from the houses and the streets, the moon fully illuminated the ce.


    Everyone''s hearts was pounding as they all faced the same direction.


    Finally, the first building just on the other side of the forested block copsed in a loud rumble. They finally had a glimpse of the source of those roars.


    Two terrifying monsters were in a struggle fighting each other.


    The first one was what caused the copse of the building. It threw the other monster towards the building showing its unfathomable strength. It was humanoid at a shape of a female but it stood on its fours, no, rather than its fours, it did not have its hind legs. She was using her stone d hands to drag her body forward. However, even though she was crawling, her height on that position was already staggering three meters. Her skin was covered in rough stone. Due to her massive size she was not too fast moving but her body structure was enough to make people looking at her freeze.


    RUMBLE!!!


    The second monster stood up from the copsed building scattering dust and debris around. The monster was actuallyrger and taller that the first one. It was about as tall as a two story house which should be about five to six meters. Its head was toorge and was shaped like a frog with its gapingrge mouth. The monster''s stomach was bulging and its arms and legs were all obese looking. However, what was more noticeable was its rough skin with a metallic luster.


    After standing up, the frog headed monster charged towards the stone woman. It was fast moving despite its size and weight. It opened its mouthshing out its long tongue towards the face of the stone woman. The de covered tongue hit the stone face causing a disy of bright sparks but the stone woman was rather unscathed. The stone woman countered with a punch but the frog headed monster jumped up agilely dodging the attack.


    "We''re not watching a movie right?"


    A question from one of the soldiers slipped through the loud sounds of the fight between therge monsters.


    They all wished that they were just watching a movie right now.


    The two monsters in front of them were fighting but no matter which one win¡­


    They had no way to fight it.


    Turning back where they came from? It was even more impossible. Surely by this time, that horde of millions of infected should have already reached the entrance of the expressway.


    They were all stuck here waiting for their deaths unless they could find a way to survive this horrifying event.

 Chapter 173 The Stone Clad Woman

    <strong>Day 6 ¨C 8:17 PM ¨C Southbound E3 Expressway, Para?aque, Metro Man</strong>


    Using the dump trucks and the military trucks as the outer defensive cover, the smaller vehicles managed to hide in the inner rows. The soldiers and policemen hid behind the trucks observing the tworge monsters fighting just two hundred meters away from them. Not a single one of them wanted to shoot even a single shot at the monsters. The same was for the refugees and other personnel. Everyone felt nervous but all they could do was cover their own mouths trying not to make any sound.


    Just a single loud sound they made could lead to everyone''s demise at this moment.


    Mark, hiding behind the MB Sprinter was tightly frowning. Everything deviated too much from what should have happened.


    The scene in his dream, the crushed vehicles, the disembodied Irene, the killed Captain D Rosa and Keene, the death of Odelina, Abbygale and I¡­ Mei''s body that was punched with a hole on her chest¡­


    All was done by that woman in d in stone.


    He could never forget that¡­


    Yet, what in the world was that frog head?


    Mark was gravely mistaken¡­


    The future changed in a horrible way. Futhremore, he judged the enemy from his premonition wrongly. The stone d woman was not an infected but was actually a Failed Mutator¡­


    No wonder¡­


    Mark feltughing.


    It was no wonder why that stone woman killed everyone first before trying to kill him. Not different from normal Mutators, the savage consciousness of Failed Mutators also had a dominating emotion or trait on their minds. That consciousness also had intelligence and mindset different from the ones the original consciousness had. Like Odelina''s who was "Bloodthirsty" and Laps'' who was "Ferocious". When the two were saved before their consciousness was fully consumed, Odelina changed into "Loyalty" and Laps with "Independence".


    What the stone d on her subconscious was¡­


    "Torment¡­"


    She wanted to torment her enemies as much as possible before killing them.


    Irene was killed before Keene and Captain D Rosa to torment the two. He was thest one to be killed because that stone d woman wanted to torment him the same way.


    However, how could that stone d woman knew the torment that the others were feeling? Unless¡­


    That woman was also an Empath! It was also the reason that the frog headed infected was attacking her!


    "Sh*t!"


    Mark''s eyes dted in that realization and he suddenly looked at that stone d woman from behind the vehicle.


    The woman threw arge debris towards the frog headed infected and was facing her enemy. Yet, Mark could feel that most of her attention was actually targeted towards them! He now noticed. Their fight was closing in towards them not by chance but because the stone d woman was actually approaching their direction despite being hindered by her enemy.


    She knew that there were people here!


    Mark''s grave expression did not escape Mei who was beside him.


    "Gege, what''s wrong?"


    Mei''s voice snapped him back.


    Mark looked beside him and saw Mei, Odelina, Abbygale and I staring at him with worried and scared expressions. He patted the head of the two girls and gave a tight hug at Mei who did not feel happy at that hug at all. That hug however, was not just to try and cheer up Mei but to also calm him mind.


    The people around them who saw Mark did that were not confused at all. Rather, they thought that Mark had already given up and were saying final words to his loved ones. They felt the same. Those two monsters in front of them was not something they could survive.


    Mark released Mei and did not speak and just patted her head. Mei on the other hand stared at him as he took out a radio.


    "Captain D Rosa, are you there?"


    Mark spoke at the radio. During the time they were lining up the vehicles into formation, he heard from the radio that the soldiers had already called for reinforcements from Bay City. They also made another contact after they finally had visuals of the two Unknowns in front.


    "This voice¡­ Mark?"


    Captain D Rosa''s voice sounded from the radio along with the noisy background.


    "How long will it take till the reinforcements from Bay City arrive here?"


    "They said that it would take about fifteen to twenty minutes."


    Dismay filled Captain D Rosa''s voice.


    "That''s too long."


    "We know but we have no choice but to wait."


    Mark did not speak anymore. He knew far more than the soldiers knew about what was happening.


    The road was blocked and returning was not possible. To escape on foot? The stone d woman was an Empath. It was very likely that she could also detect people like how he did. Thest option was to fight and it would surely lead to everyone''s death. Even escaping while a few people stay behind to defend was also not usible. It would be easy for the enemy to annihte the people that stayed before pursuing the ones that escaped.


    The only option left was for him to distract the two away from this ce and there was no other person that would be able to do that aside from him. If it was a normal person that would do that, the frog headed infected might follow but not the stone d woman since there were more people here. If Mark was the one to do it, he could make that woman detect that he was also an Empath and it was likely for her to chase after him. For the same reason, the frog headed infected would surelye after him.<sub> </sub>


    DRAAAAAAA!!!


    A shriek like roar was released out of the stone d woman''s mouth. That scream made Mark tense up as he suddenly jumped into action. He hurriedly grabbed Mei and the two girls along with Odelina. He pulled them down crouching to the ground behind the MB Sprinter.


    BAM! BAM! CRASH! BAM! TAM!


    A plethora of sounds echoed everywhere which caught everyone off guard. Even the soldiers who were attentively watching the fight between the two monsters were not able to react.


    Soon, the people were greeted to a devastating sight along with shocked and frightened shrieks to painful screams and moans.


    After he was sure that the sounds had stopped with only the screams and shouts left, Mark let the four stand up. What greeted them now around them was the horrifying sight.


    Broken windows andrge gaping holes on the vehicles and cracks on the asphalt road were already mild. For the unlucky ones, quite arge number of soldiers, policemen and the refugees died on the spot while arger number of people were injured. Most of them even died inside their vehicles letting their blood drip out of the doors and ssh on the windows.


    "Master, what happened?"


    Odelina was too shocked. Everything was fine just now but her master only pulled them down for several seconds and the things made a horrible turn. They then saw Mark pick up something on the ground not far from them. It was a pointed rock about the size of an eight hundrem mililiter soda bottle. Simr looking stones also littered the road. Seeing the rock made Odelina look towards the stone d woman and she saw that the silhouette of the woman was somehow thinner. It was as if she cast off a fewyers of her stone armor.


    It was then that the people inside the MB Sprinter went out one by one in panic.


    "Why are you all going out? It''s dangerous!"


    Odelina hurriedly intercepted them since her two children also ran out.


    "Mom! Something hit the roof of the car!"


    The scared Odette hurriedly hugged her mother andined. What the girl said however made Odelina feel cold sweat on her back. The other vehicles were damaged and people even died. What ever happened, everyone was within the range of attack. She frantically wanted to check the damage on the vehicle.


    Mark''s voice suddenly cut her off.


    "Don''t worry. Our vehicles are right behind the dump truck, that attack won''t directly hit our cars. All you have to be worried about are stones falling from above."


    It was part of Mark''s arrangement and not only the MB Sprinter but also the vehicles of his friends along with Monique and Harvey''s were all hidden behind the thick ted dump trucks.


    He was expecting that and it was not a one-time attack either. It was the AOE attack of that stone d woman which caused most of the casualties and damage in his dream. It was a rain of stones. Her body would tense up along with a shriek like roar and her stone armor would spit up into pointed pieces like a hedgehog. Those pointed stones would then shot away from her body at fast speeds. The each stone projectile was fast and strong enough to prate even armored vehicles in a direct hit but in the least, the falling stones would not. It was likely that she used that attack to deal damage to both the frog headed infected and to them who were watching.


    "Boss, are you hiding something from us?"


    Melissa who also ran out of the vehicle asked. Her question immediately stirred up the crowed. After all, that previous attack also hit their vehicle and the result to the others was devastating. They could even see the frantic refugees asking for help dragging their heavily injured loved ones, the soldiers that were hurriedly running here and there and there were even dead people around withrge gaping holes on their bodies.


    Mark''s actions since earlier were too odd especially when he suddenly pulled Mei and the others down to take cover. That action was too timely to the sudden attack despite the fact that he was not facing the battle at that time. Along with that attitude and exnation... It was as if he knew what was going to happen.


    After shaking his head, Mark stared at Melissa.


    "It''s better for all of you to not know. You all should return inside the car. It might be too dangerous to others but our vehicles are armored."


    "But Boss¡­"


    Melissa hesitated.


    "Just return inside, I need to find the military officers first."


    Mark did not speak anymore to her. After making Mei and the two girls stay inside the vehicle, he left towards the northern side of the convoy where the vehicles of the leaders and the Humvee Emika''s family boarded were located.


    Along the way, she saw the dead bodies being hurriedly moved out of the pierced vehicles but both soldiers and refugees. The ones who were injured were being tended by the medics and were applied first aid despite the danger.


    Among the injured soldiers, Mark saw Irene. She sat on the ground behind one of the Humvees with Keene beside him clutching her left hand. On her right was the same doctor who checked I back then when the little girl was near death. Irene''s neck and right shoulder were bleeding profusely. Looking at it, the skin on her neck and shoulder were scraped off even revealing her white shoulder bone.


    It seemed that she was almost beheaded like how she ended up in Mark''s dream. Irene was lucky that she was still alive and conscious.


    Mark did not disturb the childhood couple and walked towards the group of soldiers and policemen nearby. There, he saw the leaders in a heated discussion.


    ***


    "We should leave this ce already! Just abandon the vehicles and let''s go on foot! We are nothing but sitting ducks here!"


    "I have the same idea. Those two, whatever creatures they are, are still in their heated battle yet we are already receiving damage."


    "I understand what you two wanted to say but we won''t have any way of protecting everyone on foot! If you all think that all of you can fight the infected on the way, I won''t stop you. Furthermore, we had no way of moving on foot without being detected by those two Unknowns! There are too many people with us!"


    Councilor Pbrica, Congresswoman Lanie and Captain D Rosa voiced their opinions respectively. Chief Mari was only listening at the side and it seemed that he would go with whatever decision the others woulde up with. Major Lopez on the other hand was on a deep contemtion. He was likely to be weighing all the advantage and disadvantages of the suggestions they gave.


    "Don''t bother with those rubbish ideas. No matter what all of youe up with, it will end up with everyone dying. It''s all false hope."


    A man''s voice suddenly joined the discussion. His voice was full of mockery for their suggestions. The voice was too confident that they would die that it made them look at the direction the voice came from. There, a man stood with a heavy bag and several weapons hanging on his body.


    "Mark!"


    Both Captain D Rosa and Madam Lanie called out the man''s name at the same time.

 Chapter 174 Incompetence

    <strong>Day 6 ¨C 8:23 PM ¨C Southbound E3 Expressway, Para?aque, Metro Man</strong>


    "What do you mean?"


    Major Lopez ignored the two that called out to Mark and asked with his eyebrows knitted tightly. His expression told how much pressure the military officer felt towards their current situation. What Mark had just said was damping water on their confused heads without even exining his side at all.


    Mark turned towards the Major.


    "That stone woman there knew that there are people here and anyone that will try to escape will be targeted by that woman first. It''s not a coincidence that those two were getting closer and closer unto us when they are fighting each other. Look closely¡­"


    He gestured the people to look at the two. That moment, the stone d woman whipped away the frog headed infected with a swipe of her right hand. Before the infected could recover and attack once more, the stone d woman had already taken three steps back towards the direction where the convoy was.


    "See? She''s going our direction."


    The expression of everyone that heard him turned grave. They did not notice at first but now that Mark mentioned it, those small movements would not escape their eyes anymore.


    "What do you suggest that we should do?"


    Major Lopez asked after turning back to Mark once more.


    "Major! Why are you asking a civilian for-"


    An unfamiliar soldier tried to interrupt but he was stopped by the Major.


    "We can''t fight and we can''t escape. Either way, all of us will get killed. Even if half of us fight while the others escape, how long can we hold those monsters out? We are also under equipped for this. Unless the reinforcements from Bay City arrive, we have no way surviving this and no one knows if we are still alive by the time they reach this ce."


    "But Major¡­"


    "Enough, Julian. If you''re not convinced, then think of a good n yourself."


    The soldier finally stopped. It may be degrading as soldiers that they needed to consult a civilian for a n but he could really not think of a way.


    "Now, say your piece. I doubt you''re here just to ridicule us right?"


    Major could not help but ask when he saw Mark sneering.


    "There''s no time so I''ll get straight to the point and make it simple. You all stay here and don''t leave. I will lure those two away as far as I can. When the people from Bay City arrived and I''m not here yet, you all should escape. Just wait for me at Bay City."


    What Mark said was really simple but to do it was not simple at all.


    "Isn''t that dangerous for you to lure those two?"


    Captain D Rosa worriedly asked.


    "If you can name someone who can rece me andst long enough till the people from Bay City arrive, then, I''ll dly give the task."


    None of them speak after that. The cue here was not to defeat those two but tost long as much as possible. Back in Citta Italia, Mark already showed that he had enough skill to react and dodge fast attacks.


    "Besides¡­"


    Mark continued.


    "I''m not going to fight them. I''m just luring them away. You all needed to stay here to make sure that that stone woman won''t he attracted to all of you suddenly escaping. As I said, the people to escape first will be targeted."


    "What if you fail to bide for time? How are you sure that those that will escape will get attack first? Also, how are you sure that those two monsters will follow you in the first ce?"


    Councilor Pbrica posed several questions in session.


    "If I fail, then you can do whatever you want. For the second question, why don''t you try to do it yourself? As for how I am sure that they will follow me, I already said it. Those who flee will be the first targets."


    ***


    When Mark returned to where his group was positioned, almost everyone was nervously watching the fight between the tworge monsters. The fight had already reached the forested area just on the other side of the expressway. The trees and buildings were already toppled and the fight between the two was getting more and more intense. Loud sounds were more audible to everyone every time the jumping frog headed monsternded on the ground or every time the stone woman stomp her stone covered hands.


    He did not watch any of those scenes and started to prepare. Now, he started to feel thankful that the frog headed infected was there trying to kill the stone d woman. If not, despite knowing what would happen he would lose the chance to think of what to do and prepare. Around him, Odelina and Mei waited for his instructions.


    "Mei''er, Odel, mount this on the bike. Also get several M16 magazines and fill that box on the handle bar."


    Mark said as he handed his M16 and bag to the two.


    The box he was talking about was a metal box made of thin metal sheets and small metal bars. The gun mount he made the military install in front of the motorbike was something he designed. Following the design, that box there could be attached, slide and detached from the mount and the use of it was to make it easier for the M16 to be reloaded even if he was driving the motorbike. Mounting a machine gun at the motorbike could also do the same but the weight would surely hinder the maneuvering and that was why he came up with this.


    While the two were following his instructions, he began to work on the multi-cab carrying the LPG tanks. Checking the now metal covered and tightly sealed back carrier of the multi-cab he noticed a smell of petroleum faintly escaping from the carrier. When he opened that door behind, he smelled the pungent smell of leaking gas and noticed that the metal roofing had a hole. Looking on the LPG tanks under the hole, one tank was pierced by a pointed rock.


    "Odel, can you get me the duct tape from the car?"


    Mark called out which Odelina immediately replied to.


    Using the duct tape, he sealed the hole on the roof from the inside. The next thing he did was to open the valve of every single tank inside the sealed carrier. Upon closing the door, he also covered the spaces around the door with duct tapepletely sealing the leaking gas inside.


    "Oscar right?"


    Mark called unto the soldier that had driven the multi-cab.


    "Yes sir!"


    "Your task here is done. Call your captain here and you can go back to your unit."<sub> </sub>


    With a salute, the soldier went and called Captain D Rosa. While waiting, he chained that prepared motorbike unto the side of the multi-cab. The captain came with the other leaders in tow not long after he was finished.


    "You''re ready?"


    Captain D Rosa asked.


    "That''s right. I will leave my group on your care. Don''t forget our deal."


    Mark said disregarding the others present. The word "deal" however raised an eyebrow on the other leaders especially Major Lopez, as they looked at the captain. Captain D Rosa shivered with cold sweat on his back knowing that it was likely for him to be questioned about this dealter.


    Unexpectedly, before the other leaders could speak, a familiar person that came with them spoke. His arms were bandaged but his eyes sparkling for some reason. It was SP02 Agbayani.


    "Mark, right? For you to sacrifice yourself for everyone here, I''m sure you''ll be deemed by the people here-"


    "STOP!"


    Mark interrupted with a tight frown. He really could not stomach to let this person here to finish what he wanted to say. Just the tone and how this person spoke were giving him shivers.


    "Police Chief, can you take this guy here away?"


    Mark said to Chief Mari.


    "Wh-what? Why?"


    SP02 Agbayani was bbergasted. The first time he met Mark, the person did not even let him speak. Now he was being interrupted once more and was even requested to take away. While his eyes were widened with shock, Mark spoke.


    "I''m not doing this to be view what you wanted me to be viewed alright? If there are others who can do this without failing, then exchange with me. I''m just doing this because all of you people are freaking too ipetent!"


    Odelina pped her forehead hearing that. Her master had really said it. She looked around and the expression of everyone around changed dramatically. Furthermore, what he said not only impacted the soldiers and the other people but also the members of his group who had just learned what was happening from the mouths of the other people.


    But of course, no one here could refute him despite how what he said pped their faces.


    Mei on the other hand knew that he said that out of irritation. Her Gege had already done too much this past days and he was also tired. Very tired. He was just doing this for the sake of the people in their group and to finish what he started. She was sure that if it was just her, the two little girls and Odelina and her children, even with Laps and Fein, they could escape this without any problem. But he was keen on paying his debt to them and it led to him doing everything by himself. It was very easy to tick him off now that he was tried and things had deviated from what he prepared for.


    Mark suddenly felt someone hugging him from behind.


    "Gege, don''t mind them. Don''t be angry anymore."


    Despite the piercing stares around him, he did not care and took a deep breath.


    "Sorry, I lost my self."


    Mark said calmly facing the two military officers.


    Unexpectedly, it was Major Lopez who replied first and even with a smile unbefitting his stern old face. However, it did not look bad at all. Rather, his smile was filled with both amazement and amusement.


    "Don''t worry. What you said is true. All of us here are ipetent in terms of dealing with either that syndicate or those two monsters. Well, I never thought that someone would say that straight to our faces."


    As their highest officer admitted, the soldiers felt crestfallen. That was right. They were now relying on a civilian that they were supposed to protect. What could they be called now other than being ipetent?


    "I''m going already."


    Mark said with a serious face and looked at the major. That statement the major saidpletely made him fit enough to be one of his groups support once they enter Bay City.


    "I asked Captain D Rosa for some arrangements, you can ask him about the details. I wish you can help with that."


    "If it''s nothing harmful or illegal, as long as your n worked and we made it to Bay City, I''ll help with all I can."


    Major Lopez promised and he was sincere with that.


    "Actually, you don''t have to promise me that. I''ll tell you all. If something happened to anyone in my group¡­ If I can make those two monsters follow me, think about what else I can bring towards Bay City."


    Mark said with a sneer before he turned around and faced his Odel, Mei and the two girls that hopped off the vehicle after hearing that their father would be leaving. He hugged the two girls assuring them that he woulde back with presents.


    "Odel, I''ll leave them to you alright?"


    "Yes, Master. By the way, if possible, bring Fein with you."


    Hearing that, Mark nodded. It would be another assurance for him to bring the oversized beetle with him.


    Thest one was Mei.


    With a tight embrace Mark whispered.


    "Take care of yourself alright? Don''t leave Odel''s side."


    "Yes. We''ll¡­ I''ll be waiting."


    Mei replied before leaving Mark''s arms.


    Under everyone''s eyes, Mark who took Fein with him boarded the multi-cab and started the engine.


    "Time to get those two monsters away from this ce."


    Mark murmured while he shifted the gear and started to move the vehicle out of the defensive area. He looked at the two creatures on the vacant lot on the other side of the expressway. His eyes were glowingbrightly with red light.

 Chapter 175 Expressway Chase

    <strong>Day 6 ¨C 8:30 PM ¨C E3 Expressway, Para?aque, Metro Man</strong>


    Tremors after tremors echoed as the two heavyrge monsters continued to battle each other destroying everything around them. Buildings crumbled along with trees uprooted and even things that should be out of their reach were impacted by the thrown stones and debris. Yet, no matter how intense the battle between the two, their bodies remained almost unscathed as their attacks did little to damage the other.


    At that moment, a small vehicle drove out in the middle of the expressway pointing the rays of its head lights towards the two giants. The stone d woman was startled to the sudden change of lighting but did not manage to stop and look due to the frog headed infected ignoring the light and continuing its barrage of attacks.


    That was when the two suddenly felt an undtion of energying from the vehicle. The two froze and both looked at the vehicle at the same time. At that moment, the vehicle moved forward and made a sharp turn driving away towards the south. The stone d woman was frozen as she felt the energy that felt both attractive and dangerous at the same time. She was like a predator animal that suddenly found something unknown and curiously wanted approach with all cautiousness.


    The behavior the stone d woman disyed however did notst long. It was due to seeing the frog headed infected running after the vehicle without hesitation. Unlike the stone d woman who was a Failed Mutator and having her own consciousnessparable to a predatory animal, the frog headed infected relied purely on impulses and instincts. The moment it felt something that attracted it more than what was in front of it, the only thing it would do was to chase after that thing. Not wanting to lose against enemy, the stone d woman immediately followed.


    The previous fight to death of the two monsters became apetition on which one of the two would catch the source of that energy. However, the stone d woman was obviously slower than the frog headed infected. Due to that, the Failed Mutator started attacking the mutated infected trying to stop it from reaching her prey.


    Despite that situation however, the stone d woman still had the thought to turn her head back checking on the movements of the humans hiding behind therge group of vehicles until the vehicles were out of its sight.


    ***


    Seeing the two behemoths be shadows in the veil of the night being led away by the vehicle driven by Mark, the people left behind finally sighed with relief. Even though they were still far from truly escaping, it was already a huge step towards survival.


    Actually, most people had no confidence about what Mark said. After all, there was truly no basis for what he said. It was just fear of annihtion and hope for survival that theyplied. However, with the two monsters chasing after Mark just like how he assumed, their doubts towards him turned into belief. Due to that, none of them really thought of escaping even though the monsters were already far away. They feared that what Mark said would be true and the monsters would return to kill them all the moment they tried to leave. In the least, they should wait for the reinforcements from Bay City as they nned.


    ? CLAP! CLAP!


    Major Lopez pped to get everyone''s attention.


    "Alright, all of you ipetents! It''s time to work! We can''t rely on that person for everything of it will prove how ipetent all of you are!"


    He bellowed to the soldiers. Being called ipetents really ticked them off especially when it was their superior who was calling them that. They could not help but stare at Major Lopez within in their eyes. Their superior however sneered at their expressions.


    "What is with all that looks? If you are not ipetent, then prove it with effort! We are called ipetent because he had both skill and guts to do what we can''t! If you don''t want to be called that again, then do what you can do! I don''t want to be called ipetent by that person again once he returned! What about you people?"


    A chorus of agreement not only among the soldiers but also other people echoed across the ce.


    "Good! Then move! Others check on which vehicles can still run! Those who are able to, hurry up and remove the vehicles blocking the maintenance road! We just can''t wait here doing nothing!"


    Not only the soldiers but also some of the refugees helped with the instructions given by Major Lopez. One good quality a leader should have was to turn a setback into a drive to keep the team on moving forward. It was what Major Lopez had just disyed as he used Mark''s contempt for their ipetence as a fuel to raise their determination. But of course, there were two who were quite unhappy with what he said.


    "Major Lopez right? Do you think my master will fail in luring those monsters away?"


    Odelina asked with a stern face. Even Mei was ring at him.


    The wrinkled face of the major suddenly looked troubled. That woman who questioned him was just as scary as those two monsters in terms of capability. Letting out a single cough to clear his throat, he replied.


    "Ladies, we are soldiers, we don''t rely on a single n and expect it to seed. There are always backup ns to be prepared. Besides, it''s not only those two Unknowns are the threat here. With all the noise that they made, it''s likely that the infected wille here sooner orter. At that time, we should at least have a way to escape."


    The two did not pursue the issue anymore. It was just the way the Major said it sounded like he was sentencing that Mark would fail.


    Among the people around, there were people who were still grumbling however. Those people were members of Mark''s group who knew nothing about Mark''s ns while the other one was Emika who slipped out again even dragging her little brother out. Looking at Mark''s vehicle driving further away as they hid behind a truck, she pouted.


    "That scary uncle did not even say goodbye."


    ***


    Driving down the expressway dodging the vehicles abandoned in the middle of the road, Mark continued to observe the tworge monsters following behind him through the side mirrors the Multi-cab. The loud tremors behind the vehicle were even louder than the engine. Mark was also amazed how fast the frog headed infected on chasing after him. If not for the stone d woman who kept on attacking the mutated infected, things would be harder in more than one reason.


    Mark sniffed the air around him and smelled the smell of gas. It seemed that the gas leaked inside the sealed carrier was already thick enough that it started to leak out from the carrier.


    "Just a bit more¡­"<sub> </sub>


    His eyes glowed redder and redder urging the two giants behind to keep up with him. Not only that he needed to keep the two on following him but also avoid the infected now wandering across the expressway.


    DRAAAA!!!


    "Well, sh*t!"


    Markined as he heard that shriek like roar. On his side mirror, he could see the stone d woman stop stretching one of her stone covered hands pointing forward. The stone armor on her palm emitted cracking sounds as it split into pointed stone shards. She was trying tounch her pointed stones forward with both the frog headed infected and the multi-cab as target!


    He was not surprised that she could do a targeted ranged attack as it was the same move she used to kill Mei in his dream. Still, whether he was surprised or not, it would be dangerous!


    Pulling the steering wheel to the right, he lined the multi-cab in front of the frog headed infected using it to block the woman''s attack.


    SWOOSH! SWOOSH! SWOOSH!


    TANG! TINK! TAK!


    KRAAAA!!!


    Several sounds of projectiles slicing the wind as they flew in fast speed sounded from behind. There was no way for Mark to count the number of the flying stones. It was then followed by a plethora of metallic sounds followed by the painful roar of the frog headed infected that he used as a shield.


    However, his vehicle was not unscathed either. He was sure that he heard a sound of impact on the carrier behind and even the side mirror on the passenger''s side was broken by one of the stone projectiles. Some of the projectiles even whooshed past the vehicle he was driving andnded on the road in front leaving cracks on the asphalt road. He also had to maneuver away from the projectiles left on the road since those could potentially break any of the wheels.


    Mark looked forward and he could see his target area. It was the circr upward curve at the intersection of the expressway. The curve was not only high but also stuck out towards the waters of the Man Bay. Upon driving up that curve, he would abandon this multi-cab and go for the next step.


    Just a little more¡­ He was just about five hundred meters now from the entrance of the curve.


    SPLASH!!!


    Mark froze¡­


    "Fein, can I curse really hard right now?"


    He spoke to the cowering beetle beside him with a bitter smile.


    That sound of sshing water was too loud that he knew that something else wasing. Of course he expected that he might attract other infected wandering around or even other Failed Mutators but he never expected it toe from the sea.


    Mark looked towards his right where he detected the new enemy. All that he could see was something big swimming under the water as it sshed arge amount of water up in the air.


    "TSK!"


    He just saw the head and saw that it was a veryrge turtle. An infected sea turtle which was likely to be the same size as the vehicle he was driving or even a littlerger.


    Even though it added to the danger once this turtle tried to leave the water, he also saw this as an opportunity. Once he lost these gigantic threats, it would be likely that the two giant infected would gang up on the stone d woman who was a Failed Mutator.


    Saving her? It did not enter Mark''s mind. He was solely here to lure all of them away. Unlike Odelina, Laps, Jester and Keene that he helped to ovee the alien consciousness eating their minds, the original consciousness of the stone d woman had already been snuffed out. In any case, she was already a lost case and was needed to be eliminated. The infected was one thing since they could not think and their movements could be predicted. The Failed Mutators was another thing as no one could predict what their new consciousness could do.


    DRAAAA!!!


    Another shriek like roar echoed from behind. Mark smiled bitterly. He knew that the stone d woman was frustrated as she saw the newpetitor for her prey. She did not even stop running as she faced the direction where the turtle was swimming and the stone armor on her forehead cracked before shooting off towards the swimming turtle.


    Unfortunately, it was a futile attempt for her. The stone projectiles were fully blocked by the turtle''s shell. Still, the impact of the projectiles pushed the turtle away since it had no ground to channel the impact to.


    Finally, before the turtle managed toe ashore, Mark entered the branch of the road where the inclined curve was. He elerated as fast as he could not even thinking whether he ones chasing from behind could follow.

 Chapter 176 An Unexpected Stroke Of Bad Luck

    <strong>Day 6 ¨C 8:37PM ¨C E3 Expressway Junction, Zapote V, Bacoor City, Cavite</strong>


    Reaching the highest part of the curve which was the flyover that led back to the entrance of the expressway which they passed before, Mark stopped the multi-cab after assuring that the pursuers were not on the immediate distance behind. Looking over the metal barrier at the side of the road he saw what was happening below. As he expected, the three gigantic monsters did not lost him but were engaged in a two on one fight at the entrance of the curve. Since the curved road was made only for those vehicles entering Bacoor City, the width of the road was way smaller.


    With the time allowance, Mark hurriedly unchained motorbike hanging at the side of the multi-cab. Inspecting the motorbike, he saw that the tail and the seat seemed to be hit by the stone projectiles earlier. Fortunately, everything else were still intact especially the engine and the wheels. It could still be driven. Nevertheless, he needed to get rid of the three first or he would not be able to return at all.


    Mark then looked at the exit of the flyover. It seemed that the infected spotted him due to the lights from the multi-cab and were now running towards him. He did not have much time. With a tick of his mind, the glow on his eyes red once more stopping the fight below. They all looked at him and hurriedly tried to find a way to reach his position.


    The infected really had no brains at all¡­


    Seeing that he was above, the two infected rushed towards him even jumping unto the manmadeke at the center of the curve. On the other hand, the stone d woman circled following the road rushing up towards his position.


    "Time to move."


    Mark pushed the motorbike away from the multi-cab that was already leaking of gas fumes. He then wore his backpack on his front.


    "Fein! On my back!"


    On thatmand, the fearful beetletched on his back before he sat on the motorbike and started the engine.


    He then pulled out the grenadeuncher he brought and aimed at the multi-cab.


    BAM!


    The frog headed infected jumped unto the flyover scaling the height of more than three meters instantly. It jumped even neared to him than the multi-cab. However, it was not time yet to make the multi-cab explode. He shifted his aim towards the approaching mutated infected and shot.


    THUMP! BAM!


    KRAAAAA!!!


    The frog headed infected staggered backwards with a roar after theunched grenade shell exploded on its face. If it was like other infected, that explosion was already enough to smash its brain into thousands of pieces but its steel body prevented that from happening. There were dents on its face as the proof that it was hit but that was it.


    Mark did notze around and immediately loaded another shell into the grenadeuncher and fired once more making the frog headed infected stagger backwards even more.


    The stone d woman and the frog headed infected were both near the multi-cab now. As for the gigantic turtle, he could not do anything about it and could only let it pace around below the flyover.


    THUMP! BAM!


    Markunched his next shell and it was towards the abandoned multi-cab.


    BOOOOOM!!!


    Following the sound of the exploding shell, the gas fumes leaking from the multi-cab caught fire and the whole multi-cab exploded afterwards. The tremor from the explosion was too much that it felt like an earthquake from where Mark positioned himself. The lighting from the explosion lit up the dark night due to the mes that suddenly rose up in the air. Metal debris from the stored LPG tanks flew away in random directions and even Mark had to dodge some as he retreated.


    Due to being too close to the multi-cab, the two monsters were heavily impacted. Both were not dead yet but they were visibly injured. The frog headed infected plopped to the asphalt with its metal skin turning red hot due to the temperature of the mes. The stone d woman on the other hand had cracks all over her body.


    "Was it over?"


    Mark murmured but was then stunned.


    He just cursed himself. Both of the enemies were not dead yet. As the frog headed infected could not move, it switched its target towards the stone d woman who was near it. It shot its barbed and ded tongue towards the Failed Mutator wrapping her cracked body. The stone d woman was also barely moving at all. When it saw that its body was wrapped with the disgusting tongue, it did something inconceivable.


    She curled her body into a ball while she was being pulled towards therge mouth of the mutated infected. The cracked stones on her body stood up like a rolled hedgehog.


    Mark was shocked seeing that scene. It totally felt like the stone d woman was going to self-destruct! He hurriedly pulled the gas handle of the motorbike and immediately left the vicinity.


    CRAAAACK! CREAK!


    Those creepy sounds echoed from behind but Mark did not look back. He started firing the assault rifle mounted on the motorbike killing the infected blocking the way.


    BLAGAM!!!


    The uncanny sound of stones exploding entered his ear and stones rained from behind him.


    GWEEE!!!


    Fein suddenly cried out. Mark saw that a pointed stone whizzed by his side and tore off one of the poor beetle''s legs thattched on him. Mark felt bitter as he saw the torn off tarsus part of its right rear leg flew off to the side.


    Another stoned whizzed to his left, it tore off his jacket and Mark felt that his skin was scraped by that stone. That same stone broke the left side mirror of the motorbike.


    Mark wanted toin. He was good at and liked ying Danmaku kinds of games where he control the character destroying every enemy while dodging a hell rain of bullets. However, using a mouse and a controller to dodge bullets was way differentpared to controlling your whole body to dodge a barrage of bullets from behind! Not to mention that he also needed to pay attention to the iing infected from the direction he was facing!<sub> </sub>


    BAM!


    A sound of his rear wheel exploding entered his ears and his motorbike started to lose bnce. Due to the speed he was driving at, his body was thrown off the moment the motorbike was knocked to the ground. He could only curl his body to lessen the impact as he fell and rolled in the middle of the road. Fein who was in pain due to its broken leg was not able to react either and was separated from Mark when they fell.


    A short fall and strong impact on Mark''s back that shook his organs stopped his roll. He swallowed the iron taste in his mouth and looked at his surroundings. It seemed that he had fallen off the flyover. Luckily, he was already away from the highest part of the ramp or things might have gotten worse. The decision he made to wear his backpack on his front also removed the chance of him receiving more pain when he fell.


    When he looked up, he hurriedly pulled his shotgun and fired in front of him. The infected shambling towards him immediately fell with a smashed head. Luckily, it was an Eater. If it was a Biter, it would have lunged at him already and he would not be able to resist due to his weakened body.


    "Fein!"


    Mark called out from above after he sluggishly stood up. He could ignore the pain but the weakness brought by the pain was not something that could be removed instantly. After he called, he saw the huge beetle drop from the side and buzzed its wings mid fall. The beetlended in front of him crestfallen. Beetles had no ability to regenerate their legs, he hoped that its mutation made it able to or it would be a permanent disability.


    Looking around, Mark found that the infected around was already gathering towards him. He looked further trying to find a building to stop by and saw a three floored unfinished building on a squatters'' area just to the south.


    "Fein, can you still fly?"


    "GWEEE."


    Fein weakly responded but Mark knew that it could. He made the beetletch onto his back once more and with the beetle''s help, they flew towards that building he saw. He could not care anymore about the aftermath or whatever happened to the frog headed infected and the stone d woman. He should wait first for the weakness of his body and his injuries to heal before checking.


    After reaching the unfinished third floor, Mark found that the building was heavily barricaded but it seemed that the two people that barricaded themselves here had already passed away. He saw two bodies on the second floor bedroom lying on the bed as if they were asleep. If not for the almost empty bottle and tablets of sleeping pills on the floor, Mark would not know what happened to the two.


    Picking up an empty bedroom, Mark plopped his body to the floor as a sudden weakness enveloped his body. It was opposite of what he had expected. With his regeneration rate, he should be recovering already but what was happening was theplete opposite.


    "GWEEE."


    Fein seemed to be worried about his condition. It seemed that it also felt that something was not right. The beetle paced around Mark as if checking his body.


    When it suddenly cried out loud.


    "GWEEEE!!! GWEEE!"


    It was looking at his left arm where the sleeve of the jacket had been torn open.


    Fighting the weakness he felt, he raised his left arm¡­


    His eyes dted.


    There was an open wound about an inch long on the back of his wrist. The problem was not only the wound that was not healing but the skin around the wound was tainted with ck color. The veins around the wound also became prominent through the skin and around the ck colored skin was the skin that had already started to turn pale.


    It was the sign of infection¡­


    But how? He was only hit by a stone from a Failed Mutator. Mark questioned himself and suddenly recalled several things.


    Before the stone d woman released that barrage of stones, her body was partly wrapped with the tongue of the frog headed infected.


    <o>,m It enlightened him of his bad luck. It was likely that the stone that hit his arm either tore through or was smeared with saliva from the tongue that wrapped around her body.</o>


    Mark sighed as he took out his favorite notebook and wrote a letter despite his shivering hand. He then took out all his important things especially his phone and the camera he always had on his cor. Putting everything in the bag, even that guns that were small in size, he handed the bag to Fein with the notebook separated.


    "Fein, you should return and carry these for me."


    "GWEEE¡­"


    The beetle sounded sad and even nudged Mark with its horns.


    "Just go. I promised that I will follow all of you to Bay City remember?"


    With that, Mark forced himself to see Fein fly off from the unfinished third floor. When he could not see the beetle anymore, he went back inside and sat beside the empty bed.


    He was not dispirited at all. Would he turn into an infected or be a Mutator? Mark wanted to listen to some anime music but he already sent his phone back. He could only hum the song on his own.


    "Puhah!"


    Blood spurted from his mouth.


    Mark did not know what would happen but he was sure of something. Someone would not let him die.


    "Right? Freed?"

 Chapter 177 Mysteries

    <strong>Day 6 ¨C 8:40 PM ¨C E3 Expressway, Para?aque, Metro Man</strong>


    <o>,m The soldiers, the police and the volunteers were not even halfway on removing the vehicles that blocked the maintenance road when the infected starteding inrge numbers. The infected came from the east side where the walls, buildings and trees were toppled and destroyed because of the fight between the tworge monsters. It was also likely that these infected came here due to the loud sounds from the battle.</o>


    After establishing a defensive formation on the other side of the safety railings, the soldiers and police started to fight back. The remaining people on the other hand continued to work on removing the abandoned vehicles. Removing the vehicles was not easy due to some that had already crashed unto others and were left in hard to remove positions. Furthermore, they only have on dump truck to use for pulling out the stuck vehicles since the wheels of the others were torn with holes at the time the stone d woman released her first barrage of stone projectiles.


    Among the people helping in removing the vehicles and tending to the injured people were the members of Mark''s group. What Mark said about ipetence earlier also impacted them heavily. They should not rely solely of their leader and should also improve themselves.


    In the middle of their respective duties¡­


    BOOOM!


    A sh of bright light and the smoked light from mes could be seen more than a kilometer away from the southern part of the expressway. The loud sound of explosion followed afterwards.Those who saw Mark fiddle within the multi-cab and smelled the leaking gas before immediately remembered the scene. There could be no other source of that explosion aside from Mark.


    Mei and Odelina felt nervous seeing that explosion. The two could only wish that Mark was fine.


    Despite what everyone felt seeing that explosion, they continued their current work.


    Several minutes after the explosion urred, there was still no sign of Mark returning. Instead, they saw a car sized shadow moving along the expressway from the south which rmed everyone. It was because the shadow did not look like a vehicle at all but a creature. Another defensive formation was made to defend against that iing creature. When it finally got closer, they saw that it was arge sea turtle with bloody wounds and festered skin and scales.


    An infected sea turtle!


    The soldiers opened fire boring holes on the turtle''s skin causing blood to stter around. The shell on the other handpletely deflected the bullets that hit it. Furthermore, the turtle continued to charge towards telling everyone that their guns were insignificant.


    "Shoot the eyes! Shoot the eyes!"


    One of the soldiers bellowed causing everyone to aim at the eyes of the turtle. With the concentrated gunfire its eyes received, the eyes of the turtle bled profusely as the eyes were almost crushed.Deprived of its sight, the turtle slowed down for a second before charging once more. The shocked soldiers started to scatter as therge turtle trashed their defensive line.


    The turtle trashed around even hitting some vehicles away as it could not see. One of the soldiers had his left leg hit by one of the smaller vehicles that was flung away.


    Odelina and Keene joined thebat against the turtle. Odelina caught the head of the turtle and mmed it on the asphalt while Keene pierced its eyes with a half meter bone spike sticking out of his palm. Finally the turtle stopped moving.


    It was then that they heard soundsing from the northern side of the expressway and saw several pairs of lights approaching. Finally, the reinforcements from Bay City arrived.


    ***


    As the situation was getting dangerous with the infected from the areas east of the expressway starting toe inrger numbers, the n to remove the vehicles on the maintenance road was stopped. Everyone decided to abandon the vehicles here and the vehicles, specially the armored and military vehicles to be retrievedter. The most important thing now was to get everyone, especially the injured, to safety.


    Seeing two of the people that led the reinforcements, Odelina was surprised. They were familiar since she met the two before. Angeline''s brothers, Rafael and Gabriel. Apparently, the two came here to give them preferential treatment which became the source of envy for the other refugees but with how their group performed all this time, no one voiced their dissatisfaction.


    While Odelina led their group on relocating their things unto the vehicles designated to them, something unexpected urred.


    A bright violet light started to shine from inside the vehicle and the light was too bright that it even shined through the heavily tinted windows.


    "What is happening?"


    Major Lopez asked Odelina but seeing the surprise not only on Odelina but also on the faces of the other members of the group, it seemed that they also had no idea.


    No one was inside the vehicle since they were outside doing things and moving some of the items and none of them saw what happened. They only knew what could possibly be the source of the light. It was the crystals that Mark owned.


    The curious soldiers cautiously closed in to investigate but then, the light reached its peak that it started to be painful to the eyes. At that moment, some sort of force field became visible covering the whole vehicle. If it was during the day, the force field could not be seen but since it was dark and only the moon from the sky illuminating almost everything, the force field became faintly visible.


    One of the soldiers touched the force field and immediately pulled back his finger in pain. His finger was singed. There was no appearance of electricity but the soldier said that it felt like he was electrocuted.


    Unexpectedly, a child walked past everyone closing in towards the vehicle.


    "I!"


    Mei hurriedly caught up to her in panic and pulled her into her embrace. She saw what happened to that soldier and it could be dangerous to approach the vehicle. When Mei looked at I''s face however, she looked dazed and her eyes were glowing with two colors. I''s left eye was glowing red while her right eye was glowing purple.


    "I, wake up!"


    Mei shook the little girl. The others also approached to check what was happening. When they all saw the little girl''s glowing eyes, gasps could be heard around them.


    It seemed that the girl snapped from her daze and looked at Mei.


    "They wanted to go to Papa¡­ Papa needs them¡­"


    I spoke with a sleepy voice. There was no need for those in the know to guess what the little girl was talking about when they look at the vehicle and see that bright purple light.


    ''Did something happen to Gege?''


    Mei''s mind was in turmoil.


    BUUZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ!


    A loud buzzing sound was heard which made the soldiers aim their guns at the sky.


    "Don''t shoot! Don''t shoot!"


    Captain D Rosa stopped the soldiers.


    Soon, arge red colored beetlended next to Mei and Odelina carrying Mark''s bag. Everyone''s expressions sunk. However, Mei did not lose hope. With what I just said, it was likely that her Gege was still alive.


    Fein then nudged Mei with his horn calling her attention and pointed at the pocket of the backpack. Inside the pocket was a notebook. The notebook was the one Mark always used. Mei took out the notebook flipped on it looking for something. There, she found it on thetest page.<sub> </sub>


    Mark''s message was written on that page. The message was short and it seemed that he was having a hard control on writing it since the lines were inconsistentpared to his other writings but the message had a solid meaning.


    "Wait for me. I think, I''ll bete but I''ll return. I promise. Take care of yourselves. Also take care of my things. I can''t live without those."


    Mei felt sad but she smiled.


    ''Like usual, Gege worries about unnecessary things.''


    She turned to I who was still in her embrace. The light on the little girl''s eyes had grown stronger.


    "I, Gege needs the crystals right?"


    I absentmindedly nodded.


    "Let''s go together."


    Mei held the little girl''s right hand and they walked together into the force field.


    Abbygale also wanted to follow but Mei stopped her. She had a feeling that she and I could enter but not others.


    It was dangerous and the soldiers tried to stop the two but with Odelina''s help, the two managed to ignore the obstructions.


    When the two entered the force field, a scene unexpected to everyone unfolded. I was not affected by the force field and entered safely. On the other hand, Mei was different. It was as if the energy within the force field was avoiding her body. There was even an allowance around her skin that the light avoided to touch.


    The two entered the vehicle and went out carrying a jar emitting light. Inside the jar was an otherworldly scene. Despite the light being painful to the eyes, none of them were able to stop staring at the scene seemed toe out of a fantasy story. A double terminated crystal suspended in the air inside the jar and several more marble sized crystals floating while circling around therger crystal in a horizontal orbit. Some of the marble sized crystals even had different colored orbs inside.


    "What is that?"


    One of the soldiers around muttered but no one could answer his question.


    I held the jar with both hands. Mei could not hold the jar for some reason and it could be seen that some of her pale smooth fingers were singed.


    ROAAAA!!! GRROOOOO!!!


    The infected started to go berserk as they charged towards their direction. The soldiers on the defensive line started to call for assistance.


    CRASH!


    The jar exploded causing I''s arms and face to bleed due to the ss fragments that hit her but she did not react to it. She did not feel any pain. In front of her, the crystals were suspended in the air.


    "Go."


    I whispered.


    The crystals protected by the force field started to rise up in the air under everyone''s watch. The light from the crystal lit up the whole area once more before it started flying to the south. Along with the leaving crystal, the attacks of the infected weakened.


    The scene looked like something that came out of a movie and everyone was attracted to it. They watched the glowing crystals fly away until the crystals were out of sight.


    The light on I''s eyes flickered and started to dim. The moment the light vanished, the little girl''s dazed eyes closed and she started to fall backwards. Mei who was behind I hurriedly caught her and lifted her up. Holding the unconscious girl in her embrace, Mei called Abbygale and they made their way towards the vehicle they were supposed to ride on ignoring the inquisitive stares of the people around.


    Before Mei entered the new vehicle, she turned her head towards the direction the crystals flew.


    ''We''ll be waiting. Please,e back safely.''


    ***


    It was pitch ck¡­


    Mark did not know if he had already opened his eyes or not¡­ He could not see anything around him. Strange enough, he could see his arms, his hands, his clothes. Despite the darkness, he could see his body as he sat on the ground.


    ''What is happening?''


    Mark thought as he tried to remember what happened.


    He was infected and his strength was escaping his body. He felt pain as if his blood vessels were swelling and his heart was pounding too loud that he could hear it in his ears. His head felt like it was being split into two and his flesh felt like it was being seared over strong fire.


    Then, a bright purple light blinded his eyes and he felt a searing pain in his right arm before everything turned into darkness¡­


    Plop¡­ Plop¡­


    While he was thinking deeply, he heard sounds behind him¡­ it sounded like steps on the puddle of water.


    Mark turned his head towards the sound and saw a young man, probably about twenty years old walking towards him. He could be younger or older around that. What caught his attention was not the man''s handsome but cute face that was simr to Korean stars but his bright golden hair that seemed to glow through the darkness.


    The young man smiled with a refreshing friendly smile and stretched his arms wide as if he was pointing at the whole ce surrounding them. He then spoke.


    "It would be the first time for us to meet like this. Let me introduce myself. I''m Freodelius Arishtalia. You can also call me Freed as usual. Wee to your subconscious world."


    ***


    End of Volume III

 Chapter 178 The Last King Of Eriellis

    ¨ƒ¨ƒ¨ƒ¨ƒ - ¨ƒ¨ƒ:¨ƒ¨ƒ¨ƒ¨ƒ - ¨ƒ¨ƒ¨ƒ¨ƒ¨ƒ¨ƒ¨ƒ¨ƒ¨ƒ, ¨ƒ¨ƒ¨ƒ¨ƒ¨ƒ¨ƒ¨ƒ¨ƒ¨ƒ¨ƒ¨ƒ¨ƒ, ¨ƒ¨ƒ¨ƒ¨ƒ¨ƒ¨ƒ¨ƒ¨ƒ¨ƒ¨ƒ¨ƒ¨ƒ¨ƒ¨ƒ


    Freodelius Arishtalia, no, Freed¡­


    He stood there in front of Mark with his friendly smile. Weing him in this dark world¡­.


    And he was greeted with silence¡­


    Mark stared at him silently, without any expression or even any urge to reply.


    His lips started to twitch and his smile started to crumble.


    "Damn it! Can''t you even follow the norm even for a short time? You should ask questions like where this ce is or what is going on, right?"


    Freed started to feel depressed. Mark was still staring at him nkly.


    "You''re too boring you know that."


    "Well, thank you."


    Mark finally replied.


    "It''s not aplement!"


    "I know."


    Freed stared at Mark who was calmly looking at him.


    "I give up."


    He said as he walked towards Mark and sat in front of him.


    The two men stared at each other for some time without talking. In the end, it was still Freed who broke the silence.


    "You''re not going to ask me something? You have questions right?"


    "I have a lot of questions but I don''t know where should I start."


    Mark shrugged his shoulders.


    Freed stared at him.


    "If you''re looking for something to start from, you better start working on you own emotions and showing it on your face genuinely. Really¡­ Seeing you having a straight poker face since the start is reeaaallllly irritating."


    He said to Mark with all seriousness which made Mark start to touch his face.


    "Hmm? Why isn''t it working?"


    Mark said with all confusion as he judged his current expression with his hands.


    "Of course, it won''t work." Freed felt helpless facing the poor guy in front of him. "As I said, we are in your subconscious right now and it will only show your genuine emotions on your face. You don''t have the ability to show your fake expressions that you always do in here."


    Hearing that, Mark finally stopped touching his face revealing his nk look once more. That face made Freed sigh once more.


    Freed knew the reason of this. This was the true face of Mark, a nk one without emotions. The expressions he always showed outside was all his practiced reflex and voluntary expressions in order to react to the circumstances around him. His smiles, his shock, his bitter expressions and the other expressions he showed outside were all fake. His true face was nothing but a nk te.


    The only times he showed his true expressions was when he was truly overwhelmed with a particr emotion and his expression at that time was truly different from his rehearsed ones. This was one of the reasons there were many times that he was reacting about something else less crucial when he had to react to something more important in front of him.


    It was all due to him being an extraordinary Empath.


    Since the time he started to absorb the emotions of others without rest and control, he started to confuse which emotion he was having. Both his emotions and the emotions of other people scrambled inside his head started to overwhelm his own. The manifestation of his emotions started to weaken and the expressions on his face started to stop showing. In order to cope with things, he started to practice his expressions in order to at least show a reaction to others when he needed to.


    Now that Mark did not have a body to control, his real expressions were revealed bare. Rather, there was no expression on his face at all.


    Freed sighed again.


    "You should really work on that. Mei really liked it when you show your true smile."


    He said while looking at Mark with a bitter smile.


    "You even know that huh. I don''t know how she found about it though."


    Mark replied remembering how Mei''s eyes lit up when his true expressions came out and how she looked sad when he showed his fake ones.


    Finally, Mark looked straight at Freed.


    "Just what are you anyway? I don''t think that you''re just some alter ego I created in my mind right? Well, I think, you''re not someone to take over my body and rece me. Even though you took control of my body several times in the past and gave me a lot of head ache, you never harmed me intentionally and even saved me several times from death."


    Hearing that question, Freed finally smiled with excitement. It was as if he was waiting for it for a long time.


    "Then, what do you think am I?"


    "Probably, a transcendent consciousness or a foreign soul residing inside my body like a parasite-"


    "HEY!" Freed shouted interrupting Mark and stood up. "That''s rude you know that?!"


    Mark just shrugged Freed''s retort and waited for his answer.


    Seeing Mark stare at him nkly again, Freed felt as if his energy was draining faster. His emotions scattered in the non-existent floor.


    "I should answer your question right?"


    Freed asked weakly which Mark nodded to.<sub> </sub>


    "Alright! Behold!"


    Freed picked up him emotions that scattered in the floor and yelled with a smile.


    PLOP! PLOP!


    He then tapped his shoes on the ground creating that water drop like sound.


    Mark then felt dizzy as the darkened surroundings started to distort. A sudden bright light momentarily blinded him making him close his eyes. When he opened his eyes¡­


    The dark surroundings were gone. What reced it was the blue sky filled with white clouds. Below him wererge green forest and afar were tall stone covered mountains.


    He realized that he was sitting suspended in the air but he never felt like he was going to fall. Finally, he turned to Freed who was looking at the scenery with a nostalgic expression. It was as if he longed for this scene, this ce. He looked like someone who had long gone far from his home and could nevere back anymore.


    Seeing Freed''s expression, Mark did not try to disturb his reminiscence and started to observe the magnificent scene further. On the forest below were oddly shaped trees with reddish smooth bark and circr leaves along with other trees that never existed on earth. He then saw a bird about the size of a sea gull flying above the forest. It had an elongated beak shaped like a mingo''s but had wings that looked like an eagle''s. The body of the bird was shaped like a pigeon''s and its tail was like a rooster''s. Furthermore, its feathers wereposed of ck and white alternating colors with a red crown on its head.


    He realized that this scene in front of him was not from Earth at all.


    When he looked around, Mark saw a city from afar. The city looked like something that came from sci-fi movies with circr buildings and ss covered highways. At the center of the city was arge stronghold like building with several tall towers around it. Atop the tallest building was a holographic emblem looking like a royal family''s from fantasy novels.


    He looked at the sky and there were actually two small suns and two moons despite that it was during the day.


    Mark looked back at Freed. Thetter was already looking at him taking pride with the scene around them.


    "Let me introduce myself again."


    Freed said as the blue polo, ck cks pants and red shirt he was wearing started to distort. His clothes became a robe armor with elegant royal style but it had a right shoulder armor extending to his arms and into a glove. The glove had a marble sized crystal at the center and the light from the crystal extended towards the crystal tubes on the armor giving a sci-fi vibe on it.


    The marble sized crystal looked familiar¡­


    "I''m Freodelius Arishtalia. The young king of the former Kingdom of Arishtal in the we call Eriellis." Freed bowed. "You''re right. I''m not an alter ego you created. I''m a consciousness that drifted thousands of years in space before finding you when we arrived here in Earth."


    Freed raised his right hand to his chest.


    "You must be thinking how and when?"


    "I''m not." Mark looked at the crystal on Freeds glove. "You entered my body six years ago from that crystal with a golden orb inside right? The one on your glove looked identical, just different in color."


    "Seriously, you''re no fun at all." Freed smiled bitterly. "Well, that shortens the need to exin I guess."


    "Say¡­ This called Eriellis. It''s not some world from a parallel universe right? Since you said that you have been drifting in space, then, this is somewhere within the same universe. Probably in another gxy, am I right? So, you''re an alien."


    Mark examined Freed as if trying to unravel what he really looked like.


    "Hah¡­" Freed sighed. "This is my true appearance you know that. I''m not some grayling or reptilian in disguise."


    Overwhelmed by confusion and curiosity, Mark finally let out an uncertain expression. Freed felt satisfied seeing that Mark showed that kind of face.


    "I''m also human, no the people from our are also humans. It''s just we were raised in a different. In fact our ancestors came from here, Earth."


    Freed started to tell his origins.


    Their ancestors came from the older civilizations of humans on Earth. Probably, it was even a civilization that was not recorded in history of any of the current countries. It was a lost civilization.


    It was not that they managed to build a ship or any vessel that could traverse space. Their civilization was coerced by the creatures they acknowledged as gods to ascend to another ne, another world. It was because a disaster was about to happen on Earth. They did not know that those gods they acknowledged were actually extraterrestrial beings that guided the civilizations to develop at that time. The disaster then came. Earth was submerged in water through endless days of rainfall.


    At that time, the people of their civilization had already left using a veryrge vessel that could traverse through the sky and through space. Their ancestors were made to sleep inside coffins made of metal and ss. The moment they woke up, they were already at another blue called Eriellis.


    Through the guidance of their gods, their civilization developed quickly and even way faster than the civilizations left in Earth developed. Even in the modern times, Earth was still struggling with the development ofnd vehicles but Eriellis was already exploring thes around them without any problems.


    One of the reasons of their fast development was because the whole Eriellis was managed by a single monarchial government. Even though there were still internal disputes over power, country destroying wars did not happen to hinder their development.


    Freed was thetest, the youngest and the veryst king in the history of Eriellis. He was also thest member of the Royal Family of Arishtal in existence.


    It was because the they called home, the they called Eriellis, was nothing but a speck of debris floating in space now.


    "So, your was destroyed?"


    Mark asked.


    "Unfortunately, yes."


    Freed sounded sad and emphasized the current scene around them.


    "This scene you see here is actually thest scene of peace in our before it fell into chaos. It was the day before the fall of our started."


    Freed suddenly looked at the sky.


    "Look, it ising."


    Mark traced the direction Freed was looking at and also stared at the blue sky.


    BOOOM!!!


    A scene of several bright lights exploding in the atmosphere following a sound of explosion and the shockwave that blew away the birds, trees and even buildings.


    "Familiar right?"


    Mark nkly nodded.


    The scene currently unfolding in front of them was simr to the video he saw in the inte several days ago.

 Chapter 179 Differences And Similarities, A Journey From Eriellis To Earth

    <strong>¨ƒ¨ƒ¨ƒ¨ƒ - ¨ƒ¨ƒ:¨ƒ¨ƒ¨ƒ¨ƒ - ¨ƒ¨ƒ¨ƒ¨ƒ¨ƒ¨ƒ¨ƒ¨ƒ¨ƒ, ¨ƒ¨ƒ¨ƒ¨ƒ¨ƒ¨ƒ¨ƒ¨ƒ¨ƒ¨ƒ¨ƒ¨ƒ, ¨ƒ¨ƒ¨ƒ¨ƒ¨ƒ¨ƒ¨ƒ¨ƒ¨ƒ¨ƒ¨ƒ¨ƒ¨ƒ¨ƒ</strong>


    "Did your get infected with Mutagen?"


    Seeing the scene in front of them, Mark could not help but ask. Now he was frowning. He was truly feeling the threat Earth could possibly face in the future. If it was really Mutagen, it would not be long before Earth followed the path Eriellis took.


    Surprisingly, Freed shook his head.


    "Just watch."


    Freed urged Mark to watch the scene around them.


    Like a fast forwarded scene, the birds that were flying high before they were blown away started to grow in size and started to grow features way different from their initial appearance. The mutated birds of different species started to fight. Then, the unexpected scene happened and the expected physical fight did not happen.


    Instead¡­


    One bird threw fire balls to another bird while another released electricity around its wings. Icicle spikes were conjured in front of one bird and the icicle spikes flew like a bullet and skewered the bodies of the enemy birds around it. It looked like a scene from an anime adaptation of a certain monster battling and hunting game.


    <o>,m The scene shed and they were suddenly in the middle of the city. The fascinating city before became a scene of destruction. People wearing odd looking clothes were running away while many people had turned into zombie like creatures. There were different looking ones which had simrities to a Mutated Infected but they were actually hurling magic like attacks on the soldiers defending the civilians.</o>


    Even though the soldiers were wieldingser and sma rifles, it did not have effect on some of the magical zombies since some of them conjured wind barriers and energy barriers around them. Some of them could even fly.


    This was not Mutagen. Even though the transformation and the symptoms were simr, it was way more dangerous than Mutagen. It was no wonder that despite being an advanced civilization, Eriellis lost this war.


    The scene shed and fast forwarded. A woman bitten by the zombies in front of Mark and Freed did not turn. Instead, the bite wound started to heal and her hair started to change color. Her hair turned crimson as if her hair was colored with mes. She recovered from her pained and weakened state and started conjuring mes on her hand. She started to fight the zombies with her new power and protected the innocent people.


    Mark watched the woman and he could link her to the Mutators infected by Mutagen.


    "Get it now?" Freed spoke. "That is why I did not recognize it first when I woke up few days ago when you fought with Odelina. Mutagen seemed simr but also different to the infection we experienced in our. The main difference I can see is that Mutagen affected creatures more on physical aspect while PsyPathogen affected creatures on a mental aspect."


    "You call it PsyPathogen?"


    Mark questioned.


    "That''s right. It is because it turns almost everyone infected by it into Psychics or in another term, Espers." Freed affirmed. "Our scientists found out that PsyPathogen could either change or enhance the human brain enough for us to be sensitive and able to control forces and energies around us. It was never understood how the change or enhancement were chosen for every ability but it was confirmed that people with the same bloodline as those that became Psychics first had a higher chance to be one."


    "That''s the same as what I assumed."


    Mark said.


    "You''re right. There are a lot of simrities between Mutagen and PsyPathogen. Even though the effects to those who were infected were different, I''m sure that both pathogens came from the same source."


    Freed agreed once more.


    "Or maybe, the other was a mutated pathogen of another."


    Mark thought making Freed nod.


    "So, you''re also a Psychic from that pathogen, right?"


    "I am. I''m sure, my hair gave it away."


    The scene shed once more and they were transported in a room where Freed about a year or two younger was lying in arge regal bed. He was obviously in pain and his arm was bleeding. Around him were his officials and two beautiful girls sat to the right of his bed worriedly looking at him. Behind the two girls was a man about the same age as Freed looking all serious.


    Before Mark could ask, Freed started to talk.


    "A levitating infected managed to sneak into the castle and killed almost everyone. My father who was the king, the queen, my mother, the crowned prince, the soldiers and even maids and other officials, a lot of people died." Freed looked at Mark with a helpless smile. "I''m not really the crowned prince. I''m the second prince, the first son of the king on the first concubine who was my mother. In that attack, in order to protect the first princess who was my sister from the second concubine, I was bitten. Luckily, I did not die and became a Psychic and also inherited the throne that way."


    Freed looked at the younger girl and approached, he tried to touch her head. Unfortunately, everything around them was not real and his hand only passed through her.


    "This is my beloved sister, ilia. We''ve been too close since we were kids and she was even closer to me than my mother." Freed nced at the other girl but he did not introduce her to Mark.


    Mark noticed the mixed emotions freed had for that girl. He was sad, lost, angry and happy at the same time.


    Seeing that Mark noticed his emotions, Freed inhaled deeply and spoke.<sub> </sub>


    "This one here is Amecia. My childhood friend and supposed to be my Fianc¨¦. The one I loved."


    "You two did not end up with each other? I don''t think the reason is that she died."


    Mark voiced his assumptions making Freed shake his head with a bitter smile.


    "When I became the king, I can''t participate anymore in the front of the defense. I''m the final pir holding the kingdom. Once I die, our civilization would have crumbled faster." Freed looked at Amecia and the man standing behind her withplex emotions. "Amecia¡­ along with my best friend Orulian led the battle together since both of them became Psychics too. In the middle of the long defense against the zombies, they helped each other, protected each other¡­"


    "And fell in love to each other."


    Freed squatted on the side of the bed watching the unconscious younger version of him.


    "They told me what happened and apologized. I was angry at that time. I called them traitors and wanted to banish them out of what remained of the kingdom. But I held it in. I just wished them to be happy since both of them were important people to me. You can say that it was the magnanimity of a king."


    "So, you''ve been NTRed and you epted it like that."


    Mark said expressionlessly with his arms crossed.


    "DAMN! YOU! Do you really have to ruin the atmosphere that way?!"


    Freed shouted, his nose was blowing smoke.


    "What happened then?"


    Mark shrugged Freed''s angry shout.


    Calming down, Freed continued.


    "They vowed to protect me, the king to theirst breath as atonement to their sins. That however caused them to be nothing but puppets to my control. If I wanted to do something to them, they would not be able to refuse since their former status was stripped from them with that vow. Well, they really fulfilled that promise. They really died protecting me so I can''t say too much."


    The scene shed.


    The city was gone. Bodies over bodies of dead people littered the former city that was nothing but a wastnd now.


    Freed along with fifty Psychics were fighting on their own and the young ilia was even among them. There were no soldiers anymore and there were no other people to help them. Aside from the zombies that they were fighting, a creature as tall as a mountain was moving from afar. For sure, that creature was evenrger than Mount Everest. It was a creature with millions of eyes and thousands of more than kilometer long tentacles.


    A bright light shed and arge ray of red hot beam seared across the battlefield from that gigantic creature. The target was none other than Freed who was at the center of the battlefield. Orulian who had the best reflex managed to react and pushed Freed away and ended up being hit by the beam of light. He died with his body split nted from his armpit to his waist. However, before everyone could react to his death, another beam shed towards Freed and Amecia was the one to block it. Her forehead was pierced by that light and she fell beside the decapitated body of Orulian.


    It was a losing fight. Everyone was dying one by one. Even ilia died soon after. It did not take long and only two people were left. They were Freed and a woman wearing a hood he was protecting.


    In thest moment, Freed helplessly nodded to the hooded woman behind him. Mark could not make out her face due to the hood but he could see that she had a bright glow on her eyes. Her left eye was glowing red while her right was glowing purple. She took out a crystal that could not be any more familiar to Mark. It was the double terminated crystal with marble sized crystal orbiting around it.


    The marble sized crystals flew towards every dead body of Psychics and started glowing. Soon, each crystal had a glowing orb inside them. With a flick of her hand, the crystals returned and orbited around therger crystal one more. Then, the woman sped the crystal above and below causing it to glow brighter and brighter. A force field was erected preventing anything from entering aside from Freed and the woman.


    With the force field enveloping the two, the crystal shed and their bodies fell down to the ground lifeless. What reced them were two more crystals with glowing orbs inside that started orbiting around thergest one.


    The crystal immediately flew away out of the leaving everything behind.


    The scene shed once more and they were already outside the Eriellis. The blue had already changed its color. As if a balloon filled with air, it suddenly exploded. The crystal that was escaping was swept away by the explosion and its force field dimmed despite the fact that it was already several hundred thousands of kilometers away. The crystal then drilled itself entering arge stone debris from Eriellis hiding from every danger.


    More than a thousand years passed, the stone debris found its destination, the blue and the mother of their ancestors. However, before the debris could enter the, it was shot down and exploded. Most of the crystals were lost around the world while only three remained around therge crystal.


    The next that happened was what Mark knew.


    "So, you really travelled using those crystals huh."


    "We did. I and the woman you saw behind me. We call her Keeper. The crystal was a manifestation of her ability and it can be used in many ways and not only to store abilities of Psychics, Mutators and Infected. It could do a lot more."


    "Then? Why did you choose me and what do you need from me? If you ask me to save the world, then I''ll totally decline."


    "Don''t worry, I won''t ask for something stupid as that." Freed smiled. "Though, I won''t force you to do it, what I want is for you to find out what was the source of this mess. That''s only if it''s possible. I''m sure, whether it was PsyPathogen or Mutagen, there should be somece they came from right?"

 Chapter 180 Revelations, The Goal And The Starting Line

    ¨ƒ¨ƒ¨ƒ¨ƒ - ¨ƒ¨ƒ:¨ƒ¨ƒ¨ƒ¨ƒ - ¨ƒ¨ƒ¨ƒ¨ƒ¨ƒ¨ƒ¨ƒ¨ƒ¨ƒ, ¨ƒ¨ƒ¨ƒ¨ƒ¨ƒ¨ƒ¨ƒ¨ƒ¨ƒ¨ƒ¨ƒ¨ƒ, ¨ƒ¨ƒ¨ƒ¨ƒ¨ƒ¨ƒ¨ƒ¨ƒ¨ƒ¨ƒ¨ƒ¨ƒ¨ƒ¨ƒ


    "Wait." Mark interrupted. "I know what you wanted is something crucial to everyone but don''t you think that its way overboard to ask me that? You traveled more than a thousand years in space and space is way vast. How do you expect me or even anyone here on earth to be able to aplish that?"


    What Freed wanted was way harder than saving the world in Mark''s opinion. Saving the world would just take the whole world as a scope but searching for the source of PsyPathogen and Mutagen had the whole universe as target. Furthermore, even with thetest space technology on Earth, it was still impossible.


    To what Mark said, Freed let out an understanding smile.


    "That''s why I''m not forcing you to do it. Just do it if you''re able to. Besides, if it was back before those meteoroids collided with Earth''s atmosphere, it would really be impossible. But with how your body reacted to both the crystals and the Mutagen, it really isn''t impossible now. Even though the chances are small, there''s a possibility."


    "What do you mean?"


    Mark tilted his head.


    "One word, COMPATIBILITY. Thepatibility of your body to both PsyPathogen and Mutagen is at unprecedented levels. If you ask me now, Mutagen is not changing your body but your body is absorbing and using Mutagen to change. If you''re a citizen of Eriellis, I''m sure that you''ll be the strongest Psychic in no time at all. There are also other factors. So, the possibility for you to gain abilties to traverse space it not zero at all."


    Mark felt surprised. That fact was really surprising. It was no wonder now how he was on the level of Mutators even though he''s just an Evolver. Even though he relied on his Empathic abilities and Self-induced adrenaline rush, there was no doubt that he was on par with some of the Mutators he encountered before in terms of physical prowess.


    He noticed something from what Freed had just said.


    "You say that my body is alsopatible to PsyPathogen. It is the crystals?"


    "That''s right. Therge crystal that keeper materialized is made out of the essence of PsyPathogen. It emits small amount energy constantly that came from the PsyPathogen itself. Normally, that small amount could barely affect anything since even if people were to absorb it, the amount will be reduced to almost nothing. You however, absorbed that minuscule amount of energy without any hindrance and even enhanced your Empathic abilities slowly in the past few years. Even though it was not enough to induce an upgrade to your ability, Mutagen that came from the same origin made up for it."


    Mark nodded. So that was why.


    "Back to topic, I won''t force you to do it. I won''t hear the answer in the future anyways. I just want to let you know what I wanted. After all, PsyPathogen caused me a lot of grievance."


    Freed said with a mncholic smile.


    As the second prince and the son of a concubine, his life wasx and his duties were minimal. He could live freely as long as he did not sully their Royal name. What he dreamed was to have a free and stable life, marry and if possible, manage a small territory under him.


    Everything changed when that peace was ruined when PsyPathogen arrived in Eriellis. He lost most of his family. He lost the girl he was supposed to marry. The unwanted responsibility of being a king was dumped unto him. Now, he was nothing but a lost consciousness that could not exist on his own. He wanted to know where the cause all of what happened to him came from.


    Unfortunately, he did not have the luxury to wait for the answer.


    "You''re going to disappear soon."


    Mark realized and Freed nodded with affirmation.


    "A thousand years is already too long even for a ghost to exist not to mention a consciousness like me without a body. I could not even take control of your body anymore even when you''re unconscious. Actually¡­ I used up most of myst energy to make this meeting happen. It was lucky that a third consciousness appeared to make this possible."


    Freed looked at Mark.


    "Normally, only one consciousness is allowed to exist in the conscious part of the mind. When the main personality is ina, the other coulde out like how took over your body several times before. Now that there is a new consciousness, it made it possible for me to pull you in here since there was a consciousness to take over outside."


    "So, I''m a Mutator now?"


    Mark asked.


    "No, not yet. Your body is still in the process of changing and the change was taking too much time. Your body was way toopatible with Mutagen that an overall change was happening and there was even three at the same time." Freed tapped the air with his foot and the scene turned ck once more. Evolution, Mutation and Fusion. Those three are happening at the same time."


    It made Mark confused. He understood the evolution and mutation but what was fusion? Something was fusing with his body?


    "That''s right. Something is currently fusing with your body."


    Freed held out his hand in front and a replica of the double terminated crystal appeared.


    "We call this PsyCrystal. It can absorb energies around it and produce different crystals depending on the energy in abundance. As you know, the smaller sphere crystals can store abilities of both Espers and Mutators or even Mutated Infected if the infected mutated enough to a certain degree. Unfortunately, it also causes the infected to flock towards it due to the energy it emits. It also holds several more uses but to be able to use it, you needed to fuse it with your body."


    "But didn''t I leave those crystals in the vehicle¡­"


    "Keeper, she sent the crystals to your body. No, she''s not Keeper anymore I guess. That little girl had already inherited her soul and abilities. Keeper disappeared already."


    Freed looked sad once more. He then tapped his foot and arge screen appeared in front of them.<sub> </sub>


    What was shown on the screen however looked like a video where the camera was moving erratically. It was like an amateur video just taken with a very high quality camera. Mark realized that the video was on first person view.


    The ce seemed to be in the middle of the city. The person whose sight was connected to the screen was currently rampaging fighting the infected around him. The person controlled several red gtin whip-like tentacles from his palms. Mark noticed when the person waved his arms in front of him. On the back of his right wrist, a double terminated purple crystal was embedded on his skin.


    "It''s my body isn''t it?"


    Mark asked as he turned to Freed.


    "That''s right. Quite an amazing ability you developed."


    The emotionless Mark was suddenly filled with different emotions. Abbygale was a cute cat girl, Odelina was a bone armored woman, Emika was a little dryad while Mikio could be considered as something like a spriggan or a tree sprite. Laps was a golden dog and Fein was a four horned crimson beetle. On the other hand, Keene was a bone de warrior and Jester was ck cat boy. He however¡­


    He somehow resembled a¡­ Like a¡­


    "A hentai tentacle monster right?"


    Freed continued his thoughts with a wink. Mark wanted to hit this guy.


    "Actually, it''s expected. You''re body had already mutated way before Mutagen infected everyone. You think your ability is only to control the generation of Adrenaline and allocate which part of your body to receive it? You''re wrong. It''s true that you can control the release of adrenaline but anyone can do that with enough psychological training. Allocating the adrenaline to a specific part of the body however isn''t."


    Freed turned back to the scene on the screen.


    "You have the ability control your blood. What nutrients should be allocated to where and evenmand your blood cells to prioritize which chemical and where the chemical in your blood should be carried. It is a mutation far from what science could exin. Mutagen however took that ability of yours into another level and even evolved further."


    Watching the scene on the screen, Mark noticed that the tips of the blood whips actually had metal spikes on them making the whips able to pierce through the bodies of the infected. Unexpectedly, after one of the whips pierced the infected''s body, its body started to thin as if it was being dried up of blood.


    "I can absorb blood of others?"


    Mark looked at Freed in askance.


    "Probably." Freed shrugged his shoulders. "I also don''t know up to what extent your body will change to. You better savor this scene since other Mutators had no chance to observe a demonstration of their abilities without struggling in pain."


    ***


    Time passed after that and Freed made Mark wait for the changes in his body to finish. The scene in the screen became more and more redundant as the savage consciousness that took over Mark''s body had no intellect due to not being able to absorb Mark consciousness that was inside his subconscious. Freed also felt bored and closed the screen.


    The two started to talk about many things, about the usage of PsyCrystal, about the history of Eriellis and about many more things.


    "By the way, I have to apologize. Not only to you but also Mei."


    Freed scratched his head.


    "Where did that came from?"


    "The sufferings of you two and being detached from the world was because of my actions. Three years ago before you became a shut-in. The time you witnessed Mei''s kidnapping. You two should have died there."


    Freed smiled.


    "Do you believe in fate? Our gods at that time said that fate exist for everyone. However, it''s different from what most people thought of it. Fate is not a just a name to tell that something was destined to happen. They said that fate is some sort of energy in the universe that could influence and could be influenced by everyone. Like how you just waved your hand without knowing and the dust from your hand flew several miles away just to make someone else sneeze. Following the energy of fate around you two at that time, you two should have died already. However, I interfered."


    When someone died, his connection to life should have been severed and what were left were only the memories of people that knew him. Mark and Mei were both destined to die at that time and the connection to the world had been severed. Their connections to people started to drift away since they had no foothold in the world anymore as people who were supposed to be dead.


    Due to that, they started to be neglected by destiny itself and were treated as pests. Since they should be dead, their effect to the fate of others should have been minimal. However, the two remained alive. Since they had did not have much connection to fate anymore, they could affect the fate of others tremendously.


    "You''re talking something like a preacher from some religion you know that?"


    Mark shrugged.


    "But you believe me right?"


    "I can''t deny it since I''m able to see parts of the possible future itself. Besides, it''s not like science deny these things in theory. Experts only tell that there were no scientific exnations for these kinds of things, YET. Those who say that the world is exactly what they knew were nothing but a bunch of narrow minded idiots."


    Freed could not help butugh because of Mark''s logic.

 Chapter 181 A Permanent Farewell, The Start Of The New Adventure

    ¨ƒ¨ƒ¨ƒ¨ƒ - ¨ƒ¨ƒ:¨ƒ¨ƒ¨ƒ¨ƒ - ¨ƒ¨ƒ¨ƒ¨ƒ¨ƒ¨ƒ¨ƒ¨ƒ¨ƒ, ¨ƒ¨ƒ¨ƒ¨ƒ¨ƒ¨ƒ¨ƒ¨ƒ¨ƒ¨ƒ¨ƒ¨ƒ, ¨ƒ¨ƒ¨ƒ¨ƒ¨ƒ¨ƒ¨ƒ¨ƒ¨ƒ¨ƒ¨ƒ¨ƒ¨ƒ¨ƒ


    Mark nkly stared at theughing Freed. Even though he was mostly smiling all this time, this was the first time he actuallyughed. Although it felt like Freed was making fun of what he had just said, he just let himugh out loud. This person who was more than a thousand years old already, he only lived seventeen years of happiness and the rest were all suffering and looking for sce.


    "You don''t have to apologize. Yeah, it was kind of hard living like everything had forsaken me. But, I''m not alone now. Also¡­ If I did die back then, I won''t be able to enjoy myself in an apocalyptic world like this."


    Those words made Freedugh even more.


    "Yeah right. You''re a zombie survival fan after all. That''s where the two of us are different. I longed for peace and you longed for chaos."


    "Yet, you chose me out of all people in the world."


    "Yep."


    Freed closed his eyes, he now had a peaceful expression in your face.


    "You should cherish Mei. I saved her just because she was someone you perfectly needed."


    Mark turned to Freed, confused, to see Freed looking at him with serious eyes.


    "You need a stopper for that Empathic ability of yours. You already realized right? Her body rejects foreign energies unless the energy was channeled to her through direct contact. Even though being an Empath is something awesome or cool sounding to most people, it''s a dangerous ability to the wielder. You already experienced the mildest and the moderate side effect of this ability. Headaches, fevers and nose and eye bleeding, those are just mild side effects. You confusing the emotions of others to yours and the weakening of your own emotions are just moderate ones." Freed''s tone changed into a serious one. "If that is not regted especially since the apocalypse is filled with negative and extreme emotions of people suffering, you will totally lose your emotions. In the worst case, you''ll go crazy from being overwhelmed by the emotions of other people."


    "That can''t be helped isn''t it?"


    Mark replied as he did not care at all.


    "Actually, there''s a method to dy that from happening."


    Freed said making Mark pay more attention.


    "Channel the excess energies into the PsyCrystal and turn into the smaller crystals. That way, you can reduce the burden in your mind. You can consume the crystalized energies when you needed to. Well, that method is not as effective as keeping Mei on your side though."


    Mark nodded seriously taking his advice.


    "Besides¡­" Freed continued. "You should already ept her feelings. Don''t be like me."


    "A Cuckold?"


    "Seriously you¡­ Why do you always find chances to call me things like that?"


    Freed felt infuriated but could not do anything.


    "As payback. You think I already forgot about how you took over my body several times years ago just to court and flirt with several women on the street?"


    "What? You looked so lonely so I thought of finding you a girlfriend."


    "I don''t need you to do it."


    "But you never had one."


    "At least, no one will leave me for another man."


    "You¡­"


    Freed sighed¡­ He gave up first. There was no point on arguing with Mark who was not showing any expression at all. He then realized¡­


    "Are you angry that I did not do anything when Amecia left me?"


    Mark froze. He turned his head away.


    "I remember now. You hated stories where the woman left the protagonist for another man, especially the ones where the protagonist did not take revenge at all being all nice and wishing the best for the woman no matter how he felt hurt inside. Right? Also, those protagonists who fell into despair instead of fighting for their feelings."


    Mark did not speak. However, Freed smiled.


    "To think that you will actually get angry for my sake¡­ Thank you."


    Mark looked at Freed. He was smiling but there was water dripping at the corner of his eyes.


    The dam has been broken. The hundreds of years of pent up emotions finally overflowed. It was because there was someone now who he could finally share his thoughts even though it was just a one-time instance.


    Strong men did not cry they said¡­ But Freed was not strong. He was just forced to be one.


    ***


    It had been a while now. Since they were inside the subconscious, the two did not know how much time had already passed by. It was because unlike Mark who owned this small dark world, the consciousness outside was not connected to the subconscious. Just like how it was with Freed. While Freed could read and know what Mark was thinking, Mark could not do the same to thetter since he was a foreign consciousness.


    "It''s time."


    Freed stood up and spoke.


    "You''re going already?"<sub> </sub>


    Mark asked.


    "That''s right. Your mutation is almost done already. The only thing left is to ce the fourth key into ce."


    The fourth key, it was the Psychic ability Freed had. It was why Mark gained no additional ability from the Mental Crystal that entered his body six years ago. It was because Freed withheld the inheritance. Now that Freed did not have much time left, it was the right timing for Mark to receive his inheritance.


    "The moment I disappear, I''ll take the guy outside with me and we''ll both fuse with your consciousness. You''ll inherit my psychic ability as I said before and also gain full control of your abilities as a Mutator."


    Freed started to walk slowly towards the darkness.


    "Don''t forget about my other request. The first one my take a long time but the second one is easier."


    "I have to search of the inheritors of the other 47 people right?"


    "Yeah. If the ability is being used for good, then let it be. If not, spare nothing to take it back. Those are the abilities are from my preciousrades. I''d rather not let them get sullied."


    "Don''t worry, I''ll remember that. Besides, I will also get your memories right? It will be difficult for me to forget that."


    "Hahaha, that''s right. Next is that you won''t be able to use your Empathic abilities and the ability you will get from for a while. You need to wait for both abilities to consolidate in your mind or you will suffer a bacsh."


    "You don''t have to repeat that. I know that already."


    "Lastly, don''t make Mei wait too long even if the life expectancy of humans increased to an unprecedented length."


    "Just go already. You sound like a mom going out of the house leaving a kid at home."


    "Alright. And... thank you for listening to my story and the fun I experienced in the past six years¡­"


    Freed finally vanished, being swallowed by the darkness.


    Mark let out a smile on his expressionless face.


    Everything that happened since he entered this ce was like a fantasy story. Not all people had the chance to experience something like this.


    While reminiscing the time he had in this dark ce, Mark''s eyes dted as he clutched his head in pain.


    Even though Freed had already warned him of this, he never expected it to be this painful. If not for his perseverance, he might have screamedout loud already. The pain was as if his head was being drilled with a hole.


    It then flooded. Freed''s memories along with two unknown energies he never felt before. The first felt like crackling electricity while the other felt like pumping blood. He could only close his eyes and endure the pain until it subsided.


    How long did he clutch his head? He did not know. The pain was enough to make him forget about everything.


    The moment he finally opened his eyes¡­ The dark world was nowhere to be found.


    What greeted his wake were lush green surroundings. He was currently sitting on the ground with his back leaned on arge tree. He looked around and everything he could see was nothing but flora. Around him were trees, bushes, grass, flowers and rocks. It was a scene that could only be found inside forests.


    Mark looked at his body stained with blood. He was perfectly fine making it impossible to determine if the stains of blood on his body were his or not. More importantly, he was currently naked. It seemed that the savage consciousness created by the Mutagen tore off his clothes for some reason. Making Fein bring away his things back then was a really good idea.


    "Where¡­ am I¡­ anyway?"


    Mark spoke. His voice was really hoarse. His throat felt too dry that it seemed like he had not drunk any liquid for a very long time. It even hurt a bit when he spoke.


    He was in the middle of a forest he never knew. There were a lot of forested areas in the Philippines but Mark could not remember any forest near Bacoor, especially something that resembled a mountainous terrain. The nearest ones from the ce he fell unconscious should be more than forty kilometers away either east or southwest. In that case, did that savage conscious traveled that far?


    To even go hiking¡­


    Mark looked at the sky. It was almost evening. He scratched the back of his right wrist. It was not his skin that his fingers touched however but something hard. Looking at his wrist, he saw the PsyCrystal embedded on his arm. He had the urge to try the things he learned from Freed but it was not a good time to do so.


    He needed to find shelter. More importantly, clothes.


    CLICK! CLICK! CLICK! CLICK! CLICK! CLICK!


    Clicking sounds started to be hearding from behind the trees. Mark somehow left frustrated. Like Freed said, his Empathic ability was currently repressed. He could not tell whether the source of the sound was something living or not.


    Although his head felt really light, he was not used to it.


    The source of the sound finally showed itself. It was actually a millipede about the same size as his arm walking around the trees. Looking at how it behaved, it was not an infected but an insect that had already evolved. These kinds were usually docile and posed no threat to him at all. In fact, the millipede even changed its route after sensing him standing in the open.


    Still, seeing howrge the millipede had grownpared to its actual size before the apocalypse, it would remind everyone that the world had already changed.


    Since he could not or rather, should not, walk naked in the open as he searched for shelter. He started to gather vines andrge leaves to cover his body. It felt itchy but it was better than nothing.


    Mark looked at the sky once more and used the colors of the sunset to determine the direction he should take. Thinking that he was in the mountains at the southwest area of Cavite, he started to walk towards the northeast.


    He wished that he could find shelter before the nightfall even if he was not afraid that he would encounter danger. With what he had seen before in his subconscious, he knew what he was currently capable of. Even the huge cat at the city hall a few days ago was nothing but a kitten to him now. Still, who knows what danger he might encounter during the night? A sudden sneak attack could be dangerous.


    In the middle of the mountains, he did not find anyndmarks or pathways at all. Because of that, he could only walk between the trees.


    He did not know that he was actually walking towards the totally wrong direction.

 Chapter 182 Lost, Finding The Way Back Is Not As Easy As It Seems

    Day ¨ƒ¨ƒ - 2 Hours after Sunrise ¨C Unknown Mountain Peak


    Mark basked in sunlight as he stood at the highest peak of the mountain he found himself in. For hikers and hobbyists, this could be a satisfying achievement especially to see the sceneries from the peak but to Mark, it was a great dilemma.


    After he woke up yesterday before dusk, the moved northeast while he tried to find any possible shelter. The most ideal was a precipice with a cave or at least a narrow hole on the face of the cliff. The cave or hole did not have to be toorge but just enough for a single person to sit inside. It was to make sure that even if danger came, it could onlye from a single direction. If there was a river nearby that shelter he thought of, it would be perfect.


    Unfortunately, he did not find any. After observing the terrain as he walked, he concluded that the shape of the mountain was rather on the smooth side than a steep one. If he wanted to find something like a precipice, it would be likely that he needed to go to the peak. The time constraint would not let him do so.


    In the end, he had to be content on arge tree that fell down with its roots hanging like a dome. In order to make the shelter more inconspicuous, he gathered leaves, branches and even uprooted bushes to cover the roots and block most of the entrance tying almost everything securely using vines.


    He also felt hungry but as he did not find any river nearby, he had to make do with the wild berries he found. By the appearance of the berries, he was sure that it was wild raspberries so he did not hesitate to eat them. Even so, the berries he found was not enough to fully satiate his hunger but the juice from the berries made his throat feel better.


    That night, he tried to get sleep but was unsessful. It was not because there were insects biting him because there were strangely none at all. The reason was that the shelter was really ufortable to sleep at. Furthermore, with his Empathic ability being repressed, he could not detect whether there was danger and he was not used to it. In a sense, he was feeling a bit paranoid. Due to all that, he ended up practicing his blood control. Although he could not see without light, in the least, he could familiarize himself with the sensation.


    Another thing that made him dismayst night was¡­The current moon phase.


    He clearly remembered that during the night he parted with everyone, the moon was past full moon. Even though the moon was not full, it had not reached third quarter yet. However, the moonst night was clearly past new moon. In three to four days, it would surely reach first quarter. Due to that, he was able to determine that he was out for ten days in the least or maybe two or three days more.


    Just why did it take that long? He tried to recall some of Freed''s memories to look for an answer but the only answer he found was that it took time due to three changes happening at the same time and even the Mutation being enhanced by his Evolution. If that was the case, there was nothing to think about it at all. He just wondered if Mei and his two daughters were worried that he was missing for too long.


    When the sun had finally risen, he did not feel too tired even though hecked sleep. It was likely to be the effect brought by the changes in his body. He wanted to find his way out of this mountain and observe the areas around him. Also, he needed to know where in the country he was right now. The best way to do that was to climb up to the highest peak and look at the areas around the mountain.


    Even if his body was strengthened, it was not at an absurd level since most of the changes his Mutation affected were mostly his blood, blood vessels and chemical producing nds. Due to this, it took him more than an hour to actually reach the peak despite his speed.


    Along the way, he also encountered erged insects and animals. There were those that attacked him and those that avoided him. The attacks became a way for him to practice his ability he called [Blood Whips]. He called it this name because calling them tentacles was quite disturbing in ways more than one. Actually, he could control his blood outside his body to change into different shapes and size to some extent but due to the liquid jelly state of his blood outside his body, shaping his blood like whips was more convenient except when using the other ability of his blood.


    The second ability was what he called [Blood Metallization]. His blood could turn into metal. That was why there were metal spikes on the tips of the [Blood Whips] when he first saw it before on thatrge screen. However, his blood could not turn back into liquid state once metallized onmand. His metallized blood would cut off connection to his mind and be like an extraordinary metal which he called [Blood Metal]. He could return it to liquid state but it was a lengthy process since he needed his [Blood Whips] to cover the [Blood Metal] and slowly dissolve it turning into blood once more.


    One deficit of turning his blood into metal was that it actually consumed a volume of his blood. That was understandable since that blood would be detached from his body but it made him understand that the blood production of his body turned slow due to his Mutation. Mark did not question it though. He did not think that a type of blood that could move through brainmands and turn into metal was easy to produce.


    That was where [Blood Absorption] came in. He could absorb blood of others converting the blood to refill the blood he lost or used up. The conversion was rather in the low side though since a liter of normal blood could only refill about a quarter of a liter. Furthermore, he could only absorb blood from animals and humans, whether it was infected or not, while his blood rejected others like insects which were also understandable. He really had not actually tried to do it on humans but it seemed that he could from what he had seen before.


    Another discovery was it seemed that he could convert the blood of his victims without needing to absorb it. He just needed to control his blood to invade the blood vessels of the victim and slowly convert it. It was a more lengthy process depending on the size of the target but it gave him several more ideas. Once the conversion was ongoing, the victim would start dying because of two reasons. Not being able to cope with the new blood and blood loss due to the lessening volume of actual blood they had in their body.


    One of the ideas was converting all the blood of his target and turning it to metal inside the target''s body. That was like pouring molten aluminum to an ant or termite mound to create art. Quite a brutal to make art, he admitted it in his mind. He also wanted to try to see if he could prolong his victim''s life by making the converted blood to act as actual blood to distribute the nutrients the victim''s body needed but that woulde in the future.


    After thatrge distance he hiked and the battles he won, he finally reached the top of the mountains¡­ Just to feel frustrated.<sub> </sub>


    He thought that he could find the right direction to exit the mountain once he reached the peak but what he saw around the mountain¡­


    ¡­Were several more mountains in all directions.


    It seemed that he was in the middle of the mountain range somewhere and not the ce he initially thought of. As he did not leave the vicinity of Cavite and only sometimes had gone to Metro Man, he was not that interested in the overall topography of the Philippines and as such, he had no idea where this ce could be. Why he was not interested? He was poor. There was no need to mention abouting to ces like this hiking and having fun, he was even struggling to secure his future expenses.


    What made his frustration lighter was because he saw a small vige at the foot of the mountain. The vige was built in the middle of the in grasnd between the current mountain he was on and the mountain range to the east.


    In the least, he found somendmark that could determine where in the world he was now.


    ***


    It took him about four hours and finally reached the outskirts of the vige before noon.


    He had already expected it by the time he saw the vige from the mountaintop. There was not a single soul that could be seen in the vige. The vige was abandoned. No, the people here seemed to be annihted. There might be people that were able to escape but there was no doubt that many people died here even if there were no corpses that could be seen.


    There were stains left by dried blood not only on the ground and the nts but also the walls and floors of the poorly made houses. Mark could even see a worn out machete beside one of therger splotch of dried up blood at the entrance of the vige. The nts and smaller trees around the vige had been toppled and broken. w marks could be seen onrger trees, the ground and walls of some of the houses.


    ''This vige was attacked by arge Evolved Animal.''


    Mark thought as he stroked the length of the w marks left on the wooden wall of the house he approached.


    ''A feline animal about the size of a human.''


    He concluded as he observed the size and length of the w marks. Walking at the dirt stained with blood, he picked up the machete on its wooden handle. It seemed that it had been long since the ce was attacked considering the thick rust on the de of the machete.


    Mark walked around the perimeter of the vige containing less than twenty small huts and houses to ensure that there was no immediate danger before actually starting to search the houses. What he needed to find first was clothes that he could wear. This ce might be a ce where a certain tribe lived before since there was tapestry with tribal designs hanging on some of the huts but considering the houses made up of plywood and metal roofing, it was a vige in contact with the modern civilization. Well, most mountain tribes in the Philippines were already tainted with the modern culture making it not that surprising.


    The vige was not bad at all. If he could find enough food and other necessities in this ce, he might stay for a day or two or until his mental abilities finally consolidate. He did not feel like returning into the civilization like this at all. Just thinking how he would not be able to judge or feel the emotions of people he might needed to talk to would surely kick his anxiety towards trusting others on high levels.


    Mark scratched his shoulders.


    Nodding, he really needed to set finding clothes as his priority. The leaves and vines covering his body were really ufortable to wear.


    With those thoughts in his mind, he started to make his way to the closest house that was made with plywood and metal roofing.

 Chapter 183 Anticipation, The People Waiting For His Return

    <strong>Day 18 ¨C 12:02 PM ¨C Northwest Tower Rooftop, Silver Dragon Hotel Man, Central Business Park, Bay City</strong>


    Two women were currently entangled on a fight on the wider area of the rooftop. No, rather than a fight, despite how intense their movements, there was no killing or ill intent behind their attacks. In a closer look, it was nothing but a friendly spar.


    Both women wore fitting clothes and tight pants and their hair both tied up in a ponytail. The older woman who should past her thirties had a good looking face and attractively mature aura while the younger woman was only eighteen at most with a beautiful face and pale white skin.


    Obviously, these two women were Odelina and Mei. Training in this rooftop had been their routine in the morning till noon since three days after they arrived here in Bay City.


    It had been twelve days already since Mark separated from them due the extreme circumstances that night. At that time, Mei felt afraid of the thought that something bad happened to Mark and that was why Fein flew back alone with his things and that letter. If not for the certain feeling she had, a connection she felt towards him, she would have been devastated.


    Another thing that made her worry was that after I copsed that night, she did not wake up. A military doctor here in Bay City examined the little girl and found that there was nothing wrong in her body and the problem might have been in her psychological state. It made Mei even more worried. Since Mark was not here, she took responsibility of taking care of Abbygale and I. If I did not wake up, she did not know what she would do.


    Fortunately, the worst did not happen and I woke up three days after. There was a very noticeable change on her however. I''s dark brown eyes before turned into different colors. Her left eye turned dark red while her right eye turned deep violet. It was a really strange case of heterochromia especially since those kinds of eye colors did not exist before. Now, even though different eyes and colors could exist on people, it was only avable to Mutators.


    I was not one which made it very strange.


    Furthermore, when she woke up and saw Mei''s sad face, what the little girl said was not confusion nor to ask for something she wanted. She touched Mei''s cheeks and weakly said.


    "Papa¡­ is alive¡­"


    I then let out a bright smile as if assuring Mei.


    No one knows why the girl said that or how she was sure about what she had said but the more important thing was Mei knew that she was not the only one who could feel Mark''s existence even from far away. Furthermore, with how I reacted to the crystals that night and sent the crystals away towards Mark, it gave her ount more credibility due to its mysteriousness.


    Mei changed her mind and set it to training herself and the ability Mark gave her. She wanted that by the time Mark returned, she could fight by his side. Whether it was being able to use the sniper rifle, physical fitness or closebat, she took it with all her heart and effort. And of course, her trainer was the all-around servant, Odelina.


    To the side watching the two in their current spar were the four children that were sitting around a circr table and were forced to study. To others, it might not be necessary anymore to study but Odelina did not want these children to shirk their studies. Other specific subjects such as advanced math could be neglected but not general knowledge that would be of use in the long run. Furthermore, it was really easy to procure the books due to the fact that most people find these things as nothing but junk after the outbreak.


    Siegfried and Odette were diligently studying the sixth grade books they had while I was practicing to read. On the other hand, the five year old Abbygale who could not read yet was only coloring a coloring book this time.


    CREAK¡­


    The door to the rooftop opened. It was Anna who was carrying two towels and bottles of water.


    "Lunch is ready!"


    Anna called out to the two women and four children. She then handed the towels to bottles of water to the two women who had just stopped from their spar. Anna''s countenance now had already improved as she gradually recovered from the loss of her family. Even though she still felt sad every time it came into her mind, in the least, she would not cry anymore.


    "It''s lunch time already?"


    Odelina asked as he looked at the sky. It seemed that she was too focused on training Mei that she did not realized that it was already noon.


    After calling the children, the group of women went back to their designated dwelling. Their room was thergest room on the ninth floor in the same tower. It was a room at the northwest corner of the floor which gave them a good view of the ces to the northwest and west side of Bay City.


    Their current life was not bad as the military upheld their deal when they asked Mark for cooperation. More than cooperation, a lot of bad things might have happened if not for him and as such, both Major Lopez and Captain D Rosa appealed for an additional reward. Along with Keene who was a Mutator supporting the request, it was approved and the entire half of the ninth floor of the northwest tower and its facilities had been given to them.<sub> </sub>


    The additional reward might have sounded excessive to others but the entire half of the ninth floor only consisted of sevenrge hotel suites and two facility rooms. Considering the number of people in their group, they still had to share the rooms with a few members that what the room should amodate.


    When they arrived at the facility room that was turned into a kitchen and dining room, there were only a few people. Mark''s ssmates, Suzanne, Saime, and Carren along with their children, the wives and children of Mark''s friends, Mara, Dorothy and Jte along with Monique, Jester and the docile infected girl, Ellie.


    Not everyone was here because they started to have their own work and duties in the settlement. Melissa, Elsa, Charm and Ceilo started to work as helpers at the medical facility while Carlo and Sundra along with Grace and on the food management and relief distribution. Ron, Nikky, Daniel, Maverick and Delia teamed up with Arvie, Jason and his team doing supply runs and helping the soldiers in clearing operations. On the other hand, Harvey and the men that came with them started to work on the construction of new buildings and maintaining and enhancing the wall around the settlement.


    Everyone was working within their capabilities. Mei and Odelina and even Abbygale were not an exception to this. The next day after the night they arrived here, the wave of infected finally caught up and it became a huge battle for the soldiers. Despite the moats and the high walls, they still lost a lot of soldiers and people due to the insects that were either flying or climbing on vertical surfaces.


    The wave were not annihted but somehow dispersed for some unknown reason after more than half of the infected were killed. Due to that, there would be attacks happening at the eastern wall from time to time. The most dangerous ones were when flying insects were attacking. It was the time where Mei, Odelina and Abbygale would start to help.


    Even though the experienced soldiers wanted did not want to admit, they could not deny that Mei was a great help at those times. With the help of her ability, she could urately shoot even fast moving targets. Even though her shoots still misses from time to time, her margin of error were very lowpared to the normal soldiers.


    The soldiers that witnessed her abilities even started to call her as the "Fairy Sniper" due to her beauty. Many men wanted to approach her and introduce themselves specially those who knew her connection to Xiao Industries but they were stopped by the "Bone Armored Demon" and "Violent Cat Girl" that spared no mercy to those who tried to.


    Rosamie, Emika and Mikio along with Professor Chervil were staying at a secure facility on the northwest of Bay City. It was the ECom buildings converted to be researchboratories and dwellings for the scientist and their families. From time to time, Emika and Mikio apanied by their guards woulde to visit and y.


    When they arrived, the reunion between Charmaine, Cielo and their eldest sister, Elsa was quite dramatic. After all, the possibility of them not seeing each other alive was not low at all. Saime on the other hand felt sad at that reunion, she remembered that her two younger sisters and younger brother was still missing.


    There were many good things but there were also bad things.


    Angeline was still in aa and Mark who mentioned that he might have a way to wake her up was still not in Bay City. Her current condition was a really stressing thing for both her best friend, Pa and her father, General Miguel.


    Mei was also invited and visited by her both her father and brother. It was obvious what they wanted. They wanted for Mei to return to their family. Mei declined without hesitation and even started to bar them from trying to contact her. To Mei who knew how the minds of her family worked, she knew that they were working too hard right now to make her return to the extent of promising her to be one of the executives of theirpany was because of the existence of Mutators and Evolvers around her. If not for the powerful members of their group, Mei was sure that her family would just force her to return and marry her to someone else with power here in Bay City.


    Even though she tried to stop her family, she was sure that they would not give up.


    There were also those invitations that came from the senators and groups that started to form in Bay City, of course they did not have any notion to ept. Mei was only waiting for Mark to return and together with the two little girls along with Odelina and her children, they would leave this ce.


    TOK! TOK!


    Someone knocked on the door while they were eating.


    Anna hurriedly opened the door. There, a woman stood which could not be any familiar to them, Pa. Mei had a good rtionship with her and Angeline and that was the reason Pa woulde to see her every now and then when she was free. Now however, Pa was not alone, there was a middle-aged man wearing ab gown along with a beautiful woman with bluish eyes with her.


    Seeing the man, Odelina sighed. It was not the first time this scientist hade to see them. Professor Isaach Co, he was the main scientist researching Mutagen. For sure, he was here to convince them to allow him to study Jte and Ellie again. Of course, they would decline if that was the case. Jte was Mara''s sister and Ellie was Monique''s daughter. Even though studying them might lead to the breakthrough on Mutagen research, it was impossible for them to agree. Not to mention that if the infected were treated as things, Jte was owned by Mark due to various solid reasons. There was no way for them to agree without his consent.


    Due to encounters like this, Mei was starting to get tired of living here. She looked outside the window and to the blue sky.


    ''Gege, return soon and get us out of here.''


    She wished with moist eyes. Mei was always waiting for his return.

 Chapter 184 Moutain Life, Not As Normal As It Should Be

    <strong>Day 20 ¨C 9:32 AM ¨C Unknown Mountains</strong>


    Two shadows of different sizes were running between the trees, jumping over the rocks and around the tall grasses.The one running in front was obviously a human while the one running behind was a two and a half meter bipedal animal.


    The person in front was no other than Mark. This was his third day since he woke up here in the mountains and the second day since he arrived at the vige. He was now wearing clothes he found in the vige but that was not all. Around his body, several reddish ck armor covered parts of it. His chest was covered with a metal chest piece secured by a leather strap on his shoulders and back. A pair of vambrace covered his forearms and shins were covered with greaves of the same color.


    In fantasy settings, what he was wearing could be considered as an iplete light armor set since the thickness and weight of the armor was only enough to protect against attacks without hindering his movements. Where did he find the armor? He made it using his [Blood Metallization] ability. It was one of the perks his blood abilities gave him. Not only that he could create armor and weapons, but he did not need heat or any cksmithing skills for this.


    Mark only needed to visualize and shape his blood before he slowly turned the blood to metal retaining the shape. It was also possible to make the whole thing altogether but the visualization of suchplex things was hard. Due to that, he made things part by part and attached the parts together using the same method. The only problem was that the blood supply he had was not enough to make aplete armor and thus, he had to hunt animals and harvest their blood toplete it.


    Attached to his right arm was some sort of foldable crossbow while his left hand held unto a reddish ck katana sheathed in a metallic sheath. On his back was a backpack sewn with various metal parts and was currently filled with the things he found on the way like berries, edible nts and even carapace ofrge evolved insects. These things were what he spent time on yesterday aside from searching things on the vige.


    At this moment, he was running away not because he came into danger but the animal running behind him was too cunning to fight directly. By the appearance of the evolved animal behind him, it should be a Philippine Long-Tailed Macaque. Its body changed too much that it looked more like a gori with a tail though. Looking at its behavior, it seemed that it evolved to a feral type of animal that would attack anything that it saw.


    These kinds of near threatened monkeys weremonly found in Pwan in South-western Luzon, arge part of Visayas and the forests in Mindanao. Seeing this monkey made Mark think of the possibility that he actually travelled over the sea to get to a mountain area in those regions. That would be a huge problem if it was really the case. Mark wished that he was totally mistaken.


    This morning, he started to survey the areas around the vige up to two or three kilometers away. He was currently in the north of the vige where he found one of the now grass covered pathways going out of the vige. At about two kilometers away and about an hour of treacherous walk though, he encountered thisrge beast.


    He tried fighting it at close quarters and trying to sh it with the katana he made but even though the animal had gone feral, it seemed that it did not totally lose its danger perception. Despite itsrge body, it moved agilely avoiding his shes and even his [Blood Whips] that he used to sneak attack. As an animal that lived in the forest, it was too efficient in using the forested terrain to its advantage. That was why Mark was running at this moment.


    Mark was not trying to escape but he was luring it to the vige. Since the monkey was adamant on chasing after him, Mark was sure that he would seed. Once they arrived at the vige clearing, the monkey would surely lose its terrain advantage and it would also lessen the effort Mark needed to make in order to bring its dead body back to the vige. It was hitting two birds with one stone.


    The monkey''s body was quiterge and should contain a good amount of meat. Aside from that, it could also give arge hide he could use after tanning. Mark might not have thought of making leather from its hide if not for the fact that he found tanning equipment in one of the houses in the vige.


    As for how he knew about this, he was a zombie apocalypse enthusiast. One thing most enthusiasts rmend to do at a zombie apocalypse was to flee to the mountains. At that time, those survivors could only rely on the things they could find in the forest for their needs like food and water and those things also include leather to make things such as clothes or even leather water pouches.


    After a long time of running and enduring the deafening growls from his back, Mark finally arrived at the ins near the vige.


    When Mark stepped out into the clearing, therge monkey stopped chasing and hesitated to follow. That was then Mark attacked it once more to provoke it and once it was angered, Mark started running again.


    At a distance away from the forest, the battle ensued. Without the help of the forested terrain, the money lost its advantage. It was still able to dodge Mark''s shes and the attacks from the [Blood Whips] but then, the folded crossbow on Mark''s right arm made clicking noises while its body was pulled backwards and its limbs opened up as if being pulled by springs. The thin metal string then stretched tightly.


    Mark let his back face the monkey for a moment till the crossbow was ready. This made the monkey think of charging forward. At its charge, Mark then spun clockwise with his outstretched right arm pointed at the monkey''s face. The monkey''s eyes dted as it saw the unfamiliar object at its opponent''s arm but it was toote for it to dodge.


    Mark clenched the fingers of his right hand pulling the metal strings connected to the rings on his fingers.


    SWOOSH! SWOOSH! SWOOSH!


    Three reddish ck bolts were released heading straight for the monkey''s forehead. The monkey still tried to dodge causing the bolt to the left miss but the other two bolts still hit the monkey. The two bolts immediately took the monkey''s life and with a loud thud, itsrge body fell down like a marite without strings.


    After that, he dragged therge body back to the vige to process it.<sub> </sub>


    The vige was as the same as before aside from a few changes. Around the vige, there were several pairs of wooden posts with strings tied low between the posts. The strings were then connected to another string that extended into the house Mark was staying at. At the end of the strings, there were several empty cans hanging at the window of the house.


    It was the rm system Mark made yesterday using the colorful threads he found at some of the houses. There was even some that were still attached a loom with unfinished tribal tapestry.


    Aside from those, Mark also moved everything that could be of use from the other houses into the house he was using.


    After returning, he left the monkey outside and entered the house to segregate the contents of his backpack. He put the edible nts and wild berries in different baskets while he put the bag with the other things inside the bedroom. Well, there was only three rooms inside the house anyway, a small living/dining room, a small kitchen with a fire ce used for cooking and a small bedroom only enough for a family bed and a single cab to store clothes. The cab and bed were even hand made with just wood and bamboo. There was no soft mattress but only feather filled pillows and rough nket.


    Mark then found a ce to hang the body of the monkey. He knew that a body of a deer was needed to be hanged for some time for the meat to tenderize and before butchering. Since the temperature in the mountains was not too high, he was not worried about the body to spoil even though he was not too sure that deer tanning methods would apply to an erged monkey.


    He then proceeded to stab his [Blood Whips] on the monkey''s body to absorb its blood.


    Mark could only do this at a maximum of one and a half meters. That was the best length he could efficiently control the maximum number of blood whips he could use which was six. He could make one of the whips longer by reducing the number of whips but it was also harder to control. If Mark was to describe how it felt like at those times, it felt like having one of his arms elongated unreasonably making it hard to use. The sensation he also had when he was controlling the [Blood Whips] was as if he had several more arms. After all, the [Blood Whips] were not a sentient being following hismands but rather, a part of his body.


    When he finished with things, it was already in the afternoon and he prepared to make lunch with the meat of arge Rice Field Rat he hunted yesterday. It was to say, the meat of evolved animals were far tastier than their normal counterparts. The existence of this rat also made him think that there was a rice field nearby, probably, on the other side of the eastern mountains. It was just that those mountains were too farther than the ones in other directions.


    ''Hmm?''


    Mark noticed something when he entered the kitchen once more.


    The basket of wild berries was missing. It was strange since he was sure that he was the only person in the vige. If the culprit was an animal, it would not take the whole basket with it unless it was an evolved animal with some intelligence. Still, it was impossible for Mark to not notice it if that was the case since there was several strings scattered around house specially the back.


    Mark picked up a berry on the earthen floor.


    Unfortunately for the culprit, the basket had a hole in it. It was fine if the basket was left on the surface since the hole was on the bottom but if it was lifted up, the berries would start to fall one by one. He was not mistaken. The culprit left a trail of berries when it escaped. Unexpectedly, the trail went over several of the strings he set up without triggering it.


    ''Was it flying?''


    Mark followed the trail of berries that was on the ground. Even though the distance between the berries was around one to four meters away, it was easy for Mark to follow it. The trail took quite a distance into the forest.


    Soon, he heard a voice. It sounded like a young girl on the verge of crying.


    "Uwahh!!! Open up!!! Why can''t I enter anymore!!! Where am I going to sleep!!! You stupid tree! Open up! I promise I won''t leave anymore!!! Waahhhh!!!"


    Mark moved stealthily towards the source of the sound and he saw the basket of berries thrown on the ground in front of arge tree scattering the wild berries on the ground.


    Several feet above the basket, there was a small humanoid girl about seven inches in height flying using her pair of fluttering see-through wings. Her dress was made of flowers and leaves. She was currently hitting the trunk of therge tree with all her strength while shouting and crying.

 Chapter 185 Amihan, The Encounter With A Wind Elemental

    <strong>Day 20 ¨C 4:24 PM ¨C Unknown Mountains</strong>


    Looking at the scene of the small girl with wings flying, despite the fact that there was no emotion on Mark''s face, he rather felt amazed inside. Even though the existence of such creature belonged to the paranormal, he was not surprised at all. As an Empath, he belonged to the same category. The same applied even to Mutators, the Mutagen and the Evolvers either.


    Beingbeled as something Paranormal did not mean that they did not exist. Rather, it meant that their existence were not defined by the current scope science had researched. Those were things, events, abilities and creatures that were beyond what current science could exin. Or maybe, science could already exin some of them but chose to withhold the information the scientists knew.


    He was an Empath and the main ability he had was to detect and absorb emotions. Unfortunately, that did not stop at the emotions of the people and animals. It also included things that could not be seen by the naked eye. Furthermore, he also had his own experience with these kinds of things when he was younger which became one of the main causes of his Cluster A Personality Disorder.


    Back to the scene in front of him, it seemed that something had gone wrong with the little creature. She kept on screaming about not being able to return and the tree was not opening up for her. Considering how panicked she looked, it was likely to be the first time that this kind of thing happened to her.


    As it was going to be dark soon and Mark only came for the basket of berries, he would rather not get entangled with her current problems. Even though this little creature stole from him, her current predicament was already enough as a punishment. Actually, he was rather curious about her but considering the things in folklore, it was better not to mess with these kinds of creatures that were akin to spirits and elementals. It could be fatal if they began to retaliate.


    Mark stepped out of hiding and started to approach. Unfortunately for the little winged girl, she was too panicked hitting the tree while crying out loud and did not notice Mark approaching from behind.


    SNAP!


    A sound echoed as Mark identally stepped on a twig hidden by the patch of grass around the tree. The little winged girl froze and like a rusted gear, she turned her head to look behind her. Looking at Mark who was just a few steps away from her, her teary eyes widened.


    "HUMAN!!!"


    She cried out loud and tried to fly away as fast as she could. Then, with a loud thud, she hit her head on the trunk of the tree as she flew straight to it. The sound of the impact even made Mark shiver since it sounded like as if the tree was hit by a hammer. The winged girl''s body went limp as she started to fall to the ground.


    With agile movements, Mark caught girl before she fell. Even though the proportion of her body was akin to a teen aged girl, her stature was too small that it could even fit on Mark''s palms ced side by side.


    ''She''s not dead right?''


    Mark thought as she examined the little critter. It seemed that she fell unconscious but there was no fatal injury on her body. She only received a bruise on her forehead but she was breathing.


    ''What should I do with this?''


    He thought before deciding to bring her back to the vige after he retrieved the berries that scattered on the ground.


    As he was helping her, it should not be considered as messing with this creature. If possible, Mark would also like to ask her if she knew what this ce was though he was not really confident that she would knew. After all, their kind lived always detached to humanity which was disyed at how she reacted when she saw Mark. What the people called this ce might be different what these creatures did.


    The sun had already set when Mark returned to the vige. He held the little girl in his right hand while the basket of berries in his left. He put arge leaf at the bottom of the basket to stop the berries from falling out once more. He thenid down the unconscious creature on a pillow at the living room and set up a mosquito around her to prevent her from suddenly escaping. He then lit up a kerosenemp and proceeded to cook dinner.


    He lightly washed the wild asparagus, wood ear mushrooms and a few wild nts he found in the forest since he was saving up the limited supply of water he had. It was better if the little critter could point him to a river nearby. There was a well in the middle of the vige but he would rather not use the water in there. Not because the water was murky and muddy but because there was a rotting corpse inside it.


    Using a knife he made using his [Blood Control] and [Blood Metallization], he started removing the rather inedible and dirty parts of the wild nts and mushrooms along with garlic and onion he found in the vige. He lit up a fire in the cooking area using firewood and started heating up the charcoal colored skillet before putting a third of the bar of butter. He then started to fry the smoked rat meat before mixing the other ingredients. As for the spices however, he only had wild chili and salt since these were the only ones he could find in and outside the vige.


    It did not take long for the improvised mountain stir fry to be cooked. The taste was good and the taste from the meat of the evolved rat made it better but it was nowhere to be called something delicious. If he was to give these ingredients to Anna, he was sure that she would be able to do a better tasting dish. It was the difference between people who know how to cook, could cook and had passion for cooking and the reason he allowed Anna toe with them.


    It was because in the middle of the apocalypse with everyone was in fear and despair, a te of delicious tasting meal was enough to lift people''s spirits and raise morale.


    Well, if Anna tried to lie and say something else in order to appeal to join, he might have declined. Other people who would try to join a survivor team would always say the best skill they had and she actually had the guts to say that she could cook. Anyone could cook but the difference was that someone who was confident in her cooking could do better than others.


    While he was eating, the unconscious critter finally woke up.


    "Ummm¡­ Where is this?"


    She stretched her arms and looked around. It was then she saw Mark''s face that was half covered with the shadow from themp.


    "UWAAAA!!! HUMAN!!!"


    Her face paled as she panicked and tried to fly away just to get blocked by the mosquito around her.<sub> </sub>


    After falling down once more, she finally realized that she had been caught.


    She started to cry out loud up to an irritating degree while shouting about how she was going to be sold, getting eaten or how she would not be able to marry anymore.


    Mark understood the first one but he was confused how the other two things came about.


    "If you don''t keep silent, I will cook you."


    Hearing that, the little critter hurriedly covered her mouth with both hands but her eyes were filled with fear and still dripping with tears. Her current expression made Mark sigh. The fear in her eyes looked as if it was the end of line for her.


    He stood up and walked into the kitchen to take a few wild berries from the basket while observing what the winged girl would do without him around. To his surprise, she did not move away from her ce looking afraid that something bad would happen to her if she did.


    ''Too innocent.''


    Mark thought. Even most animals would try to escape after their guards were not around but this little creature did not even thought of it. Rather, she let herself get overwhelmed with fear.


    "Here. Eat up if you''re hungry." Mark put the several berries unto the pillow. "Don''t worry, I won''t sell or eat you. I just want to ask several questions. Even though you tried to steal from me, I''ll let you go after you answer my questions."


    The little girl stared at Mark still in tears.


    "You will let me free?"


    "I will if you behave and stop being too noisy."


    "¡­Alright¡­"


    She calmed down a little. As Mark thought, she was really innocent. If it was others who had bad motives, she had already fallen into their grasps.


    The little winged girl stared at Mark while she cautiously moved near the wild berries. After she grabbed one, she hurriedly flew towards the furthest end of the mosquito before biting unto the berry. Tasting the sweet juice from the berry, her face started to recover from her fear.


    However, Mark suddenly spoke making her tense up once more.


    "First, what is your name and what creature are you?"


    Mark asked as he picked up a stick of asparagus using a reddish ck fork and ate it.


    <o>,m "My name¡­ Amihan. Our race, we are called¡­ Sylphs by you humans I think."</o>


    Amihan said in a low scared voice while munching on the berry on her hands.


    Mark then asked several more questions and gained quite an amount of information from her who did not even try to hide too much things. Unfortunately, she did not know what the people call this ce. The good thing was that she knew about the terrain around the vige and pointed him to where the nearest river was and where the nearest human town was.


    ording to her, there was a huge river quite a distance to the south while the nearest town was actually on the other side of the mountain to the east. Amihan however did not know what kind of town that was since she only saw that town from the top of the mountain before and never approached it.


    The only information he held back on telling was about her kind and where they dwell which Mark only asked due to his curiosity. The only things she disclosed about herself were that she was a sylph who was an offspring of her parents who were both vagabond sylphs. She started living in this area after her parents perished due to an attack of evil spirits. Every month, she goes out of her home to procure food and this time, she came out and found the vige empty aside from Mark. Seeing the basket of wild berries, she was tempted to take it away and after that, it was what Mark saw.


    After getting the information he wanted, Mark packed a dozen of wild berries into a small cloth sack and gave it to her before removing the mosquito. She was surprised that Mark actually let her go and hurriedly scurried away leaving before he changed his mind.


    That encounter made Mark satisfied as he turned in for the day early to save on kerosene. There was a single disturbance during the night when a normal wild boar wandered into the vige but it was nothing rming. He let the wild boar go however since it would be wasteful to gather too much meat. He went back to sleep after dealing with it.


    The next morning however¡­ There was a littledy with wings sleeping on his pillow right next to his face.

 Chapter 186 River Searching, Another Encounter But With An Unknown Creature

    <strong>Day 21 ¨C 7:17 AM ¨C Vige, Unknown Mountains</strong>


    Mark opened his eyes not because he naturally woke up but he felt something brushing against his left cheek several times. When he opened his eyes, he saw Amihan sleeping on his pillow with her back facing him causing her right wing to hit his cheek every time she breathes. He could not help but stare at her thinking why she was here after he let her gost night. In his conclusion, it should have something to do with what he had been crying about yesterday in front of that huge tree.


    ''She could not return home right?''


    He wondered if it had something to do with Mutagen. Considering that thest time she went out to get food wasst month and there was no problem then, the possibility for Mutagen being the cause was rather too high. It was the only thing that changed the world and it was less than a month since it started.


    Amihan''s body started to quiver. It seemed that she could perceive his stare even though she was asleep. She turned her body facing Mark ufortably.


    As she was too close to his face, he could now observe her appearance clearly. Amihan''s hair was ck with a greenish sheen when shined with light. Her face was shaped nicely like a heart, her eyshes were rather long and her ears were pointed. The nose was on the small side and her lips was the same.


    While Mark was observing her, she slowly opened her eyes.


    "UWAAA!!! HUMAN!!!"


    She cried out and flew away in panic. Unfortunately for her, the bedroom was too small that she immediately hit the wall the moment she tried to fly away. Dizzy, she started to float back down to the bed clutching her head. Luckily, the wall was made of plywood making it not too hard for her or else, she might have received another bruise on her forehead.


    Amihan then froze.


    "Awake now? Crying out loud like that when you''re the one who slept on my pillow without permission."


    Her shoulders drooped remembering that she was the one who slept there on her own. What she did was just rude. Although she was afraid of humans and she was a little mischievous, she was rather a honest sylph. She slept on his pillow and even though he woke up first, he did not do anything to her. Yet, she actually cried out as if he was going to do something bad to her and escape the moment she woke up.


    Seeing her behavior and how her shoulders drooped while facing the wall, Mark stood up from the bed and went out. It was not like his rtion to her was deep to care about everything. He then wet a small cut cloth and started to wipe his face with it before eating the left over stir fry fromst night for breakfast.


    This morning, he nned to find the river Amihan told him about.


    He then removed the contents of his bag into a corner of the living room and prepared to go out. He wore his armor over his clothes and the backpack on his back before equipping his weapons. This time however, he also brought a rough cloth, a change of clothes and even a bar of old soap. Since he already had the information about the river, he could also have the opportunity to take a good bath. When he arrived at the vige, the most that he could do was to clean his body with a wet cloth. He smelled bad now to be honest.


    Along with those things, he also brought a clear one gallon stic bottle so he could bring back water that he could at least boil for drinking and cooking.


    After his preparations, he walked out door leaving the rather regrettable Sylph at home. He was not afraid that she would steal anything there considering that she herself even returned when he had already freed her. Though it was still a mystery that she chose to return to him rather than going somewhere else, there was not much reason to be worried. The worst that she could do was grabbing the basket of wild berries anyway.


    Mark left the vige using the southern path. About ten minutes while he was walking along the path though, he heard a scream behind him. No, rather than a scream, it was a cry.


    "Waaah! Why did you leave me alone?! I''m sorry if I''m rude when I woke up but please don''t leave me!!!"


    When he turned around, Amihan was already flying towards him at a very fast speed that did not seem to be possible from someone of her size. Mark hurriedly blocked her head with his right palm to mitigate the impact and caught her. If he did not she would hit his armor and would surely faint again. Even so, it seemed that her body hitting his palm was still painful.


    "Do you really like hitting your head everywhere?"


    Mark asked with a little irritation.


    "I don''t. I''m sorry. Please, don''t leave me alone."


    She replied with tears at the corner of her eyes. Mark noticed that there should be more to this since this Sylph was obviously afraid of humans especially yesterday, yet, she did not want him to leave her alone.


    After asking what happened, it became clear as she narrated her experiencest night in tears. When she left, she returned to her tree but as before, she could not enter it anymore. Tired, she went up the tree to sleep on a branch and try againter but she saw eight glowing lights at one of the branches. The source of lights then lunged at her and it was actually a spider twice her size. Terrified, she flew up high only to be attacked by a batrger than the spider.


    She encountered several more nocturnal insects and animals wanting to eat her before escaping back to the vige. Scared and tired, she could only think of Mark who not only did not try to harm her but even gave her food. When she returned to the house through the gap on the ceiling and roof, she saw Mark sleeping. Seeing the soft pillow under his head, her exhaustion kicked up and could onlynd on the pillow and sleep.


    "I even lost the berries you gave me. *Sniff* Why are thererge insects and animals now? I don''t remember insects and animals thatrgest time I went out."


    She cried as she sat on Mark''s shoulder.


    Since her story was rather long, Mark decided to hear it on the way to the river. It was now clear why she seemed to have received a trauma. He wanted to tell her what happened since the apocalypse started but it could be der. It was because he could hear the sound of water now. The river did not seem to be as far as Amihan had said. Maybe, she said that it was quite a distance away since she was small.<sub> </sub>


    Arriving at the river, it was just about two meters in width. What made Mark rather happy was that the river was actually a spring water river flowing to the south. The water source was actually a rock fracture where the water seeps from continuously. This way, Mark was sure that he could get uncontaminated water for consumption.


    Since it was still early, he decided to follow where the small river flowed towards to see if he could find fish to catch. The small river seemed to have small fishes but it was something notrge enough to eat. After a two hours walk following the winding river and Amihan''s ceaseless chatter, he finally arrived at the lower part of the mountain range and found an about forty meter wide river flowing in a curve.


    Seeing the fish swimming lively in the river Mark felt delighted for the first time in a while. There were fishes that were oddlyrge though. It was obvious that those were the evolved ones.


    Still, Mark was rather rmed. He could see traces of human habitation across the river. There were tents that seemed to be left there in a hurry. The camp seemed to be overturned as several tents looked like shredded to pieces.


    He looked around the huge river. To the west, he found a small waterfall withrge rocks to step on. Using the rocks, he crossed the river without getting wet. Seeing Mark jump long distances that was impossible for a human to do, Amihan was rather amazed.


    "Are you really human?"


    She asked but Mark did not answer. His focus was on the ruined camp in front of them.


    Looking around the camp, Mark found that the camp had not been abandoned for too long. Likely, was set up here either yesterday or the other day. Some of the rocks had blood sttered on the surface. Even though the blood had already dried up, it still had the lingering smell.


    Mark was sure that this camp was attacked by evolved animals and not the infected. Not only the marks left behind gave out a bestial feel but also Mark did not think that the infected would be able to enter the mountains this deep easily.


    The mountain range was like a natural wall against the infected. If Mark was correct that the animals from the cities fled to the mountains to escape, there would be more animals at the outer areas of the mountains and there would be more evolved animals to hunt the infected that wandered into the mountains.


    While investigating the remains of the camp, something caught Mark''s attention. There was a red blob of mass floating down the river. The speed it traveled as it was being carried by the water should not be enough to call his attention but he suddenly felt a tingling sensation in his blood when the blob passed nearby.


    The blob then got stuck along the branches floating on the river before the branches was blocked by the rocks.


    Mark took out his katana and approached the blob, poking it with the sheath.


    "What is that?"


    Amihan flew away from his shoulder and fluttered around the blob on the water.


    Unexpectedly, the blob moved and shot a tentacle towards Amihan.


    "Uwaaa!!!"


    She cried and flew away hiding behind Mark.


    Mark however was surprised not because it was alive. The tentacle it shot was totally the same as his [Blood Whip]!


    ''What is this? Did it have a connection to me or something?''


    He thought as he felt his blood tingling. Holding out his hand, he shot a [Blood Whip] towards the blob. On the other hand, the blob seemed to have noticed the [Blood Whip] approaching and shot its own but Mark did not feel any danger at all. The two blood tentacles hit each other but did not sh but rather, connected each other.


    Unexpectedly, he felt the same sensation as if he was touching someone''s blood. He tried to absorb it but to his surprise, he could not. Mark then felt as if his blood was invading the blob and its color started to change to a ckish red color. The color reminded Mark of the color of the Blood Metal he could create.


    Mark then froze. He felt a connection in his mind. It was different from the energy he get from his Empathic Abilities but it rather felt like he was sharing his thougths with someone else. He then disconnected the [Blood Whip] from the blob and raised his hand and sending his intent to the connection he was feeling in his mind.


    To his surprise, the blob raised its tentacle the same way Mark raised his right hand.


    Amihan on the other hand who was peeking over his shoulder had her eyes sparkling.


    Mark then sent his intent to the blob to hang onto the sheath of his katana which it really did coiling its jelly like body on the sheath to be lifted off the water without falling.


    Looking at the reddish ck blob hanging on the sheath of his katana, Mark only had one question in his mind.


    ''To any freaking god out there, what in the damn world is this thing?''

 Chapter 187 Unexpected Things, When Coincidence Became A Serious Matter

    <strong>Day 21 ¨C 11:49 AM ¨C Abandoned Campsite, Unknown Riverside</strong>


    This creature looking like a blob made of red jelly was something really unprecedented. To observe it further, Mark looked around the ruined campsite and found a rectangr microwavable stic container to put the blob inside. The blob was notrge and could likely fit even in a small bowl. Mark started poking it with a finger and even Amihan joined in flying around the container while being cautious that it might attack her again.


    Fortunately, it did attack not anymore. Although it was moving, it did not make anyrge movement after it was converted by Mark''s blood and changed in color. Thergest movement it made was when it coiled its tentacle around Mark''s finger when he was poking it. There was no danger and any ill intent at the action of the blob. Rather, Mark felt that it was somehow looking for affection.


    It was a really strange creature and Mark could not think of anything what it might have been. The only things he could assure were that the blob was alive, its body was made of jelly like blood and it had its own consciousness akin to a domesticated animal. That third assumption made Mark think if this blob was something like a dog or cat that became like this due to unknown reasons. This was due to him considering where the animals in the city might have gone to when the outbreak struck.


    The third assumptions had holes though. After all, it only behaved docile when it absorbed Mark''s [Blood Whip] and it actually tried to attack Amihan when she tried to approach it before. Mark tried to look around the river if there were other blobs like this. Since there was one, there could be others. Unfortunately, he did not find any.


    "Amihan, can you fly following the flow of the river and see if there are others like this stuck somewhere?"


    Mark asked the little Sylph while pointing at the blob in front of them.


    "Heh?! But¡­"


    She hesitated. Mark knew what she was worrying about.


    "Just fly in the middle of the river and not too close to the water so you can see if there are dangers around. Fly back to me immediately if you encounter danger or if you see any of these things."


    "Uuuuhhh. Yes."


    She dejectedly fluttered away following the river flow.


    Mark saw her fly away and prepared to catch fish for lunch. Since there was already firewood gathered around the campfire in the middle of the ruined campsite, it would be easier to cook it here.


    He looked around and found arge rock to sit on while overseeing a deep part of the river where the fish would swim by from time to time.


    While he sat there waiting, a ratherrge fish more than a foot in length swam near him. He sneakily outstretched his right arm and a [Blood Whip] protruded out of his palm. The tip of the whip turned into an icepick shape with two small backward hooks before turning into metal. Only the tip of the icepick and the surface of the handle were metal. The insides of the handle were rather rough and hollow with a few inside protruding hooks making it possible for the [Blood Whip] to hold unto it. If he turned the whole tip into metal after it took that shape, it would end up detaching from the whip and fall down into the river.


    After taking shape, the whip wasunched like a spear plunging into the river water. Mark was not worried that the blood whip would get washed off since it was sturdy enough to be able to be used to constrict his targets. This blood when outside his body was in semi-solid state with a rather tough outeryer after all.


    The metal icepick pierced through the body of the fish and the hooks locked it on ce. Mark then retracted the [Blood Whip] taking the caught fish out of the water. Looking at the appearance of the fish, Mark was sure that it was Lobed River Mullet, also known as ''The President''s fish. He had never tasted a fish like this before because it was rather too expensive.


    It was a luxury food before the outbreak and he never thought of having the chance to eat something like this now. He was only looking for fish to eat but to think that what he caught first was an expensive one. Considering the size and weight, it should be around three kilograms. A single kilogram of this fish back in the old times was around five thousand pesos. That price could already buy two hundred fifty packs of instant ramen.


    The only pity was that he could only roast this luxury fish over a campfire¡­


    Mark caught two morerge fishes before returning to the camp. The fishes were not mullets though but milkfishes.


    "Uwaaaaa!!! HELP!!!"


    He then heard Amihan crying for help. She was flying towards him at fast speed while there was arge duck, no, a Grebe chasing after her. The sylph hurriedly circled around Mark before hiding behind him while Mark raised his arm towards the Grebe.


    Despite seeing Mark, the Grebe did not look afraid and continued to charge over. It seemed that it was enraged for some reason. Opening his palm, Mark released three [Blood Whips] towards the Grebe. Seeing the whips closing in, the bird panicked and tried to fly back but the force behind its charge did not let it do so.


    The whips coiled around the Grebe and turned into metal almost instantly. The Grebe fell down on the rocky riverside not being able to move a muscle. It was still alive but it was greatly terrified quacking continuously. In the end, Mark also coiled a whip around its beak and turned it into metal muffling the Grebe''s cries.


    Looking at the Grebe that was afraid, Mark was sure that it was not a bird that turned feral after Evolution.


    "What happened? I don''t think that it''s something that will attack like that."


    Mark asked Amihan who still have tears on her face. It seemed that her trauma about getting chased by erged animals and insects deepened even more.<sub> </sub>


    "Um¡­ I saw a nest by the river and saw several eggs. I thought that you will want some but that huge bird suddenly chased me."


    Amihan replied in a soft tone making Mark shake his head.


    No wonder why the Grebe looked angry. This regrettable sylph invaded its nest.


    "Ah!" Amihan seemed to remember something and eximed. "I saw many red things down the river. They seemed a little different though."


    That made Mark''s eyes light up.


    "Let''s check thatter. I''ll cook fish first. Do you eat fish?"


    Amihan shook her head.


    "We sylphs only eat fruits, edible leaves and flowers. We''re also fine with flower nectar and honey."


    "Then, let''s find honeyter. I saw honey bees at the west side of the vige so there should be a bee hive nearby."


    Mark said as he took out several berries out of his bag for Amihan to snack on while he cooked the fish over the fire. The red blob on the other hand was sealed covered inside the microwavable stic box.


    It did not take too long to cook the fish. He left the mullet forter though as there were salt he could use in the vige to cook it.


    While he ate, Mark was rather perturbed. Not because of the red blob or because of Amihan. It was because of the Employee ID cards on his hand. While he waited for the fish to be cooked, he looked around the campsite and wanting to gather anything that could be used and he would be able to carry. Among the things he found however, were these ID cards. If it was just some ID card of a person, he would not be affected but the person on the ID cards were people he actually knew!


    "Nicole Alberts, Hallie Reynes."


    Mark murmured.


    These two were a pair of girls he met when he worked at an animation studio years before. The two were best friends and was at the same batch of interns as his that time. At theter times, he was rather close to Nicole. Close enough that their co-workers thought that he had an interest on her. In actuality, he just got closer to her than others since the others were kind of annoying people while she was also as timid as him when it came to others. Furthermore, she had a boyfriend at that time for him to make a move even if he had interest in her which he did not.


    He never ever expected that he would see their employee identification cards here in the middle of nowhere. It was likely that they fled the city.


    It also made Mark felt relieved. If these two were here, then, the possibility of him traveling across the sea had be lower. It became more likely that he was in some mountain range nearby central Luzon. The mystery however was that how his savage ego was able to cross the highly infested cities to reach this ce.


    Even though Mark had a rtion with the former owners of this camp, he did not have any notion to look for them. In the first ce, it had been long since he had a contact with them and they might have forgotten about him already. He could only wish them luck. It would be good if he could see them though since they would surely know where in the world this ce was.


    In the end, he decided to leave the things back in this camp. If he did not know them, he might take the things but there was a chance that they would still go back here since there were a lot of important things left behind. There was even a family picture of Hallie''s family in one of the bags.


    After eating, Mark put out the fire and left with Amihan to check the red things she saw down the river. He shaped his blood into a basket and turned it into metal to have way to carry therge mullet and the struggling Grebe. When they arrived at the ce where Amihan led him to, there were about a dozen red blobs stuck on the rocks, floating branches and a tree that fell down unto the river.


    Strangely, Mark did not feel any tingling sensation from his blood when he arrived. He started poking the blobs with his katana and even with his finger but he did not get any movement from the blobs.


    "These blobs were dead."


    He concluded.


    In any case, he started scooping the blobs out of the water unto the riverbank. There were several sizes with the smallest about the size of an infant''s fist while thergest was slightlyrger from the blob the he saw earlier. The bodies of the blobs were still intact but there was really no movement. Mark stabbed one of his [Blood Whips] unto the blobs but there were still no changes and he could not absorb them either.


    Unexpectedly, Mark felt some agitation with the connection he had with the first blob inside his backpack. Taking it out and opening the stic case, the blob suddenly jumped out of the case falling unto the riverbank with a st. It then moved its body towards the ''dead'' blobs and started fusing the dead blobs unto its body.


    Mark and Amihan watched the scene with curiosity. The first blob''s body started to growrger as it fused with the others and his connection with it was getting stronger overtime.

 Chapter 188 Lost History, The Connection Of Humans And Spirits In The Past

    <strong>Day 21 ¨C 2:47 PM ¨C Unknown River</strong>


    While Mark and Amihan watched the red blob fuse with the ''dead'' blobs, he saw another blob floating along the middle of the river. Unfortunately, it was another ''dead'' blob and it was far from what Mark could reach. Amihan would not be able to get it either since not only because the flow of the water at the deeper parts of the river strong but also because she would have no way of scooping a nearly deformed blob out of the water. The two could only watch as the other blob got washed away by the torrent.


    Seeing the blob drift away, it became more apparent that the source of these blobs should be somewhere upstream and was still producing these blobs. The hardest question however was what these blobs were considering that one was actually alive.


    Mark looked at the sky, it was already afternoon and the sunlight was starting to wane. It was likely that it was past two or maybe almost three.


    "It''s gettingte."


    Amihan said noticing his gaze at the sky.


    The little sylph was right. Despite how much Mark wanted to know about the source of these blobs, it could be set up for tomorrow. Right now, what they should do was to return to the vige and cook the next meal. Well, after he took a bath of course.


    They waited for the red blob to finish before taking it off the ground. The small bowl sized blob earlier now had the size of arge bowl. It was smallerpared to the total size of the blobsbined but Mark considered it to be simr how the blood he could convert to his own was smallerpared to the original volume.


    Since the blob could not fit in the stic box anymore, Mark was forced to create a thin container using his blood once more. Due to this, he started to feel a bit of symptoms of anemia. He had been using his blood since earlier and both the basket and the container needed quite an amount. Furthermore, he had no source to replenish his blood aside from the Grebe inside the basket.


    Finally, Mark made Amihan lead him to the nest of the Grebe. Inside the nest, there were sevenrge eggs. The Grebe in the basket tried to protest when Mark took the eggs but it could not do anything. It would soon be turned into food and blood recement after all.


    At this time, Mark decided to go home early and cook a good filling meal for dinner for the first time in a while. Due to these blobs, it seemed that honey hunting he wanted to do should be rescheduled.


    "Ei, my Lord, are you really human?"


    Amihan suddenly asked as Mark traced back his steps going along the smaller river.


    "Lord? Just where did thate from."


    Mark could not help but ask because Amihan suddenly addressed him as such.


    "Uhmm¡­" She tapped her temple while swinging her feet. "Mother and Father said before that if I decided to apany a human, I should call them as such. And you never told me your name. Also, please, answer my question first¡­ please, don''t dodge it again."


    "My name''s Mark. I''m human, probably."


    Mark finally replied. When he said that he''s human, he had quite an unsure tone. After all, he had no idea whether Mutators could still be called humans. Rather than humans with superhuman abilities, Mutators were basically infected people that maintained rationality and gained abilities far from what modern science could exin.


    "Really? Human?" Amihan flew off from his shoulder and started flying in front of his face scrutinizing it closely along with his body. "You really look human but those tentacles¡­ Those look simr to those of some evil spirits though¡­"


    As it would be troublesome to prolong it, Mark started to summarize what happened to earth in the previous days and also that it could be connected to why she could not return to her home anymore.


    "Waahhh¡­ That happened? So that''s why the animals and insects grewrger? Also you got those tentacles when you got infected while most humans became simr to Amnhig right?"


    "You don''t seem upset that you can''t go home."


    "I do but¡­ There''s really nothing at home but my bed." Amihan looked rather dejected now. "I already said it before right? My parents were vagabond sylphs before they died. I don''t have anywhere else to go especially now that I can''t even hide from other creatures anymore and could not even enter my home."


    "No wonder you came back running to me."


    "Yes¡­"


    "Even though you seemed afraid of humans when you first saw me."


    "It''s the fault of you humans¡­"


    Amihan then narrated their history with humans before. ording to her, Sylphs and even other nature spirits interacted with the human tribes before and even helped each races in many ways. Even the human tribes back then would offer tributes to the spirits.


    Hearing up to that, Mark nodded. He also heard about such customs in folklores where native tribes before put their game and harvest to altars offering them to the spirits of nature. Even television dramas and movies pertaining such eras would show such customs.


    "It''s until those people with exploding weapons that shoot projectiles and those bald men wearing ck robes withrge metal crosses came and started capturing and killing our kind. They even went so far to persecute us as spawns of demons or evil beings."


    Amihan grumbled.


    It was then that their connection with humans was severed and those who still mingled with humans werebeled as outcasts by their kind due to the hatred and fear they felt from humans. Amihan''s parents were the same and followed thest Datu of a certain tribe before the tribe was eliminated by the odd-looking people. When the Datu died, her parents started to wander into the mountains without a proper dwelling due to most of the mountains had already became a territory of other spirits.


    Amihan only managed to stay here after her parents perished due to the fact that there was a human vige nearby that most spirits try to stay away from.


    She was lonely all this while with nowhere to go aside from that tree of hers.


    "You want toe with me from now on?"


    Mark asked. Hepletely understood her emotions.


    "Really?"


    Amihan''s eyes lit up and the joy on her face could not be faked.


    "As long as you don''t be a nuisance and follow my orders."


    Mark expected her to hesitate when he said thest three words. Unexpectedly, Amihan was nodding her head furiously in agreement.


    "I will! I will!"


    She started flying around his face in joy.<sub> </sub>


    "I already said about not bing a nuisance right?"


    Mark said with his eyes half closed making Amihan freeze and lose bnce in the air. She almost fell and Mark hurriedly caught her before putting her back on his shoulder.


    "Sorry¡­"


    Reaching the spring once more while talking, Mark decided to end his unfinished business.


    It was to take a bath.


    When Mark started to undress, Amihan had gone hysterical before flying off behind a nearby tree. He was not perturbed for some reason, or maybe, because he did not think about the little sylph as human which she was not. Still, even though she flew to hide, Mark could feel her stare despite the fact that he kept his back facing her.


    This regrettable sylph was not so innocent after all.


    "By the way, how old are you already."


    Mark suddenly asked making the peeping sylph panic.


    "Awawawa!!! I''m not telling!"


    She said as she hid once more.


    Mark did not ask anymore. He was just curious and wanted to know the exact number. Following her story and how she talked like she witnessed the death of the Datu her parents followed, it was likely that she was already over a hundred years old.


    After taking a bath and changing into new clothes, Mark finally felt refreshed for the first time since he woke up here in the mountains. Finally, they continued their walk going home.


    "Your face is red."


    Mark tapped her head.


    "It''s your fault." She murmured in a very soft voice. "Don''t you feel embarrassed at all? There''s a maiden with you."


    "Says the one who was peeking."


    She finally fell silent.


    Mark also thought about it while he was taking a bath. It should have been embarrassing normally but he felt that something was wrong. It was like that his emotions were being sucked away into nothingness. It was as if his emotions were rather weak, it would not take long for him to feel empty.


    His face froze as he finally realized. Mutators, both failed and sessful ones had a leading trait in their subconscious. It could be an emotion, ideal, desire or ambition as what he had observed before. Each trait could affect their personality and conduct to an extent that they behaved too differently from their past selves.


    On the other hand, he could not feel any urge inside him. Rather, it felt empty. His emotions did notst too long either now unless the emotion was rather strong. If it was just a sudden thought, the emotion brought by it would likely to vanish in an instant.


    "Is it possible that my subconscious is empty?"


    Mark murmured as he tilted his head.


    While thinking about that, he finally reached the outside of the forest into the ins with lesser time consumedpared to the time he took to find the river earlier.


    However, he stopped walking the moment the vige was on sight.


    "Amihan, hide inside the bag."


    Mark pulled the zipper of his bag open.


    "Hmm? Why?"


    Amihan was confused and started to look around.


    "There are people in the vige."


    "Heh?"


    Hearing what Mark said, she froze before scurrying behind him stuffing her body through the opening of his bag.


    When the little sylph was totally hidden, Mark started to walk towards the vige once more as he readied his katana. He then put down the bag and the basket hidden near the entrance of the vige.


    "Stay here."


    Mark said to Amihan hiding inside the bag making her nod silently.


    Using the thickets around the vige and the outer houses, he stealthily circled around the vige locating the intruders. His Empathic ability had not recovered yet so he felt that it was quite painstaking and troublesome that he had to blindly look for the people.


    If he was not observant, it was likely that he did not know that there were intruders. He only knew it when he saw the grass outside the vige toppled where the grass should not be toppled. It might just be animals but animals would surely not walk around the rms he made around the vige the other day. He was also sure that they were intruders and not the natives of the vige due to the fact that they did not use the pathways into the vige which was more devoid of grass and should be familiar to the natives.


    Finally, he saw the intruders. They were actually gathered around the house he was using.


    Seeing them however, veins immediately popped up his temple. He did not care how much exhausted they looked like or that they have injured people with them. What he cared about was that one man was wielding the knife he made for cooking and was stabbing the body of the gori sized monkey he hanged there yesterday. The man looked amazed at how the knife was too sharp while testing its sharpness on the body of the monkey.


    Mark was really annoyed now that his emotionless face turned cold. The hide of the monkey was ruined. He would not let these people go unscathed.

 Chapter 189 Survivors, How Hard It Was For Common People In A Zombie Apocalypse

    <strong>Day 21 ¨C 2:11 PM ¨C Mount Daraitan, General Nakar, Quezon</strong>


    Exhausted, hungry, injured. These words were just three of the things that could describe a group of people hiking in the mountains with improper hiking equipment. Rather than hiking though, it was more likely that they were escaping. They were trying to survive with all they could.


    There were eleven people in the group. Seven were males and four were females. Among the group, three were obviously injured and two of the injured were males. On the other hand, two of the men were somewhat in good conditionpared to the others.


    Within the number of females, there was Nicole Alberts who was currently helping her best friend, Hallie who injured her leg walk. On the other side of Hallie was another female who was called Trisha also helping. It was not like the males did not want to help but the two males who was injured was also being helped by the others while those who were free was the ones to protect them if danger came.


    Leading the group up the mountain was Jefferson Alba who was someone that got bitten by the zombies. At that time he was bit, he left but only to return the next day and actually gained superpowers. The other male beside Jefferson was Sherwyn Ferer who somehow gained higher agility after escaping a horde and sumbing to fever.


    Except for two people among the group, the rest of them here were employees from the same animationpany. When the outbreak struck, they were in a hotel resort in Antipolo, Rizal. It was because of a three-daypanywide team building camp. They checked out early even before daybreak and wait for their ride back to the city. Unfortunately, what greeted them that morning were not the rented vehicles that should bring them home but a ne crash at a nearby barangay.


    Sirens of fire trucks, police cars and ambnces echoed all over in that cold morning and it made their whole group of more than a hundred employees rather restless as they waited in the hotel lobby. The hotel staffs were also troubled with a lot of people in the lobby but as there were no guestsing at that time, the employees with higher positions managed to convince the staff to let them stay as they waited for their ride. For some reason, their phone calls were not connecting.


    Three hours past the scheduled time however, their ride still did not arrive. What arrived was sudden chaos with people outside the hotel running away and screaming.


    It was the start of the zombie outbreak and all of them were caught unprepared.


    Among the over a hundred employees in the team-building camp, only fifty-one managed to get the safety of the upper floors of the hotel. They had ess to the food supply of the hotel through the employee and service hallways but along with the hotel staff and the hotel guests with them, the supply did notst long and the capable ones started to gather up and do supply runs in the following days.


    Unfortunately, in almost every run, one or two of the members that went out would not be able to return.


    About two weeks after, a helicopter flew throwing leaflets. They tried to signal the helicopter but it did not respond. The helicopter was attacked by flying insects at that time but the people aboard the helicopter were capable and equipped enough to thwart the danger.


    On the leaflet, they were enthusing survivors to gather at their base in Ungos, Real Quezon.


    Considering their current condition in the hotel and their dwindling suppliespared to the hope of finding a safer ce to stay, two factions came about. The first faction was adamant of staying at the hotel while the other was the ones who wanted to find a safer ce.


    There were thirty people on the second faction and they all left the hotel the next day after arguing with the other faction on splitting the supply even resulting to a murder of two people. That was how bad their condition in the hotel was.


    The hardest obstacle they encountered when they left was that even the roads going through the mountains were filled with zombies. The scary part was that there were a lot of animals and mutated among the zombies. Because of the zombies along the road, they lost a lot of people due to their group being toorge especially when they had no way of finding good transportation in the area.


    They were forced to stray away from the roads going into the mountains. They thought that there would be fewer zombies here due to the terrain.


    What they did not expect was that it was even worse. They just entered another hell. The only difference was that the ones attacking them were not zombies but absurdlyrge animals and insects. At times, there were even nts. Their numbers started to dwindle.


    They had been wandering through the forest and mountains since then.


    When only fifteen of them were left, they found a good ce to stay near arge river. The area was wide and the vantage point was good with the forest being quite a distance away. There was also unused camping equipment left in the ce that they managed to use. Unfortunately, they were attacked by another monster.


    For sure, it was a tiger. The only difference was its fangs were protruding out of its mouth and its ws were as sharp as swords. When they flee, they saw how the tiger cleanly shed the bodies of their team-members that tried to stall the tiger. They had two guns with them but they only have a few bullets left and looking at how the tiger attacked, there was no other choice but to run away.


    That brought them to their current predicament. Without rest, sleep and food, they were forced to scale the mountains after even soaking themselves across the river just to escape.


    Nicole felt her body was starting to feel hot and her face flushed red due to illness but she could not stop until they get to safety. The only thing she could do was to bite her lips and endure while she dragged her best friend along with them.


    It was then that they found a vige in the middle of the mountains. They were overjoyed at the unexpected findings.


    ''Maybe, they could stay here. Are there people in the vige?''


    These thoughts entered her mind as they approached. They noticed the cans and metal scraps dangling on strings around the vige.


    "Be careful everyone. These cans should be some sort of rms. There should be people living in the vige."


    One of the males who was wearing sses said. He was called Huey Wang, a Filipino-Chinese who was working as a supervisor back in the animationpany. He was rather young to be a supervisor but apparently, his father was one of the top executives of thepany. There were no negative rumors about him however due to him being rather good at his work and showing intelligence not only in their field but also in other things. When they left the hotel, he was the person leading the group.


    After saying that, Huey pulled one of the strings creating as much sound as it could.


    "What are you doing?!"


    Jefferson hurriedly stopped Huey.


    "We''re here to find shelter. If we suddenly intrude into the vige and there are people there, it won''t be surprising if we suddenly get attacked. If we sound the rm in this distance, even if the vigers are hostile, in the least we can still escape."


    "What are you afraid of? There''s me and Sherwyn here."<sub> </sub>


    "Don''t be too conceited." Huey fixed his sses. "You two may have gotten superhuman abilities but it doesn''t mean that only the two of you received one."


    "Alright, alright. It''s really hard to argue with smart*sses like you."


    Jefferson stopped talking and waited as Huey instructed. A minute passed however, no one came out from the vige. They finally went to see if the vige was abandoned.


    Searching around, they found out that most houses where devoid of things that could be used especially food, spices and water.


    "Hey! We found something here!"


    Everyone heard Sherwyn''s voice and started to gather at the rather sturdy looking house near the center of the vige. When they arrived, they saw Jefferson brandishing a reddish-ck knife and hitting a body of a rather huge monkey hanged beside the house.


    "Look! This knife is amazing! It''s even sharper than my ws!"


    Jefferson said as he shed the ribcage of the monkey. The ribcage nted and the skin opened up but they did not hear any resistance from the bones on the ribs of the monkey.


    "Oi! Stop that!"


    Thest female, Jollene Rodriguez bellowed. The scene was rather disgusting especially when the loose skin of the monkey opened up showing them its flesh and internal organs.


    "That''s right. Stop doing that. These things aren''t ours and that monkey there should be hanged there for about a day or two. It should belong to the person that set up those rm traps."


    Huey added.


    "Don''t be such a KJ. It''s not like I''m destroying anything right?"


    Sherwyn then went out of the house nibbling on something.


    "Hey everyone! There''s meat inside and even fruits!" Sherwyn then handed some slices of smoked meat to them. "I wonder what meat is this. It''s too tasty!"


    Seeing the satisfied face of Sherwyn, the other men could not help but ept the meat and started to eat. On the side, Huey pped his forehead. He could not help but wonder where these people did left their brains in despair. Food was too precious to them, not to mention others. Yet, these idiots were nibbling on the food they did not even pay for. He could not help but say¡­


    "We''re done for."


    "Yeah, you people are done for."


    An unfamiliar voice entered their ears making everyone pause.


    Since the voice came from somewhere close, they immediately pinpointed where the voice came from. They all turned to the empty house behind them that they were not paying attention to. There was a man sitting at the ledge of the roof looking down on them.


    He was wearing a reddish-ck light armor with style that could mostly be seen in role-ying games. On his left hand, he was holding a sheathed thin sword. They could not see his face as most part of his face was covered with his neck long hair. The only things they could make out were the pale color of his skin and his eyes.


    Due to the fright they experienced, everyone took out their weapons. Even Huey and Sherwyn were not exceptions as the two people who still had their pistols. Jefferson on the other hand clenched his fists and six w-shaped des came out protruding from the back of his hands.


    To Huey''s surprise, he saw the eyes of the man dart alternating at everyone holding weapons. He came to a realization.


    ''Sh*t! We''ve been had!''


    The man on the roof surely surprised them on purpose so that they would involuntarily take out their weapons! That way, they revealed their cards without them knowing! Now that the man on the roof knew what weapons they wield, there was no way for them to do surprise attacks anymore and he would able to judge which one was a threat and which one was not!


    ''Damn it! This person is not simple! We shouldn''t fight him!''


    Those words was about to blurt out from his mouth but he waste.


    BANG!


    To Huey''s horror, Sherwyn did the first shot with his gun.


    The man on the roof however did not dodge.


    In a fast motion that they could not even follow, the man pulled out the katana out of its sheath slicing the bullet into two in the process.

 Chapter 190 One Sided Fight, Both Helplessness And Hope Of The Survivors

    <strong>Day 21 ¨C 5:12 PM ¨C Mountain Vige, Mount Mbito, General Nakar, Quezon</strong>


    When the man shed the bullet, Huey felt devastated. There was no saving them now. The zombies and the strange beasts could be escaped with a few sacrifices due to their very limited intellect. Hostile humans however, were very different. Even if they tried to escape while others distract them, they could still chase after the ones that escaped after they dealt with the people left behind.


    Huey was sure that this man was the person that owned this ce. It was obvious due to the fact that the strange colored knife made of unknown material Jefferson was ying with before seemed to be simr to the armor and katana the man was using. They just stole from him and messed with his things. It was not surprising that he became hostile.


    Even though the first bullet was already shot, Huey still wanted to stop the fight. A single shot like that due to surprise could still be negotiated. However, Sherwyn was no normal person. As the speed and metabolism of his body was rather fast, he already pulled the trigger two more times before Huey was able to say anything. Furthermore, the other men also started to move to surround the man despite how afraid they were. They had high confidence to the two that it turned to a rather unfortunate situation.


    None of the bullets shot was able to hit since the man on the roof already jumped spinning his body vertically and keeping eye on his enemies. With a three hundred sixty degree vertical spin, he alreadynded between the three men that were yet to position themselves. The man flipped the metal sheath of his katana upwards hitting chin of the taller man of the three wielding a nailed baseball bat. The tall man, Ed Damon, staggered backwards due to the force of the hit before falling unto his butt. Ed obviously suffered a concussion since he obviously fell due to loss of bnce than the force of the attack.


    The man attacking Ed had given the other two an opportunity to attack which they did. The man with the makeshift spear, Pierce Roxas, charged in with his weapon. His spear stab should have hit but the man seemed to have expected his attack and spun his body counterclockwise letting the spear pass by two inches beside his waist. With two shes of a ck shadow, the spear was divided into three parts. When Pierce pass beside his body, the man made another spin with his left foot sweeping in front of Pierce''s shin. He immediately fell forwards with his face almost hitting the cut off de of his spear.


    At the same time Pierce fell down, thest of the three who was wielding a butcher''s knife, Arnolds Mejia, tried to hack the man''s head. But of course, he did not manage to do anything. Arnold obviously had no experience fighting and his attack was full of openings. The man did not even dodge his attack from above or even blocked it with his sword. He just threw Arnolds a simple front kick and he tumbled several times backwards.


    Seeing the man''s movements, even the always confident Jefferson could not help but take a step backwards. It was the same for Sherwyn. However, the man did not attack when they took that step but rather, he stared at the two with obvious ridicule in his eyes. Jefferson could not take it as it was a blow to his confidence and charged forward not knowing that it was a deliberate provocation.


    Jefferson shed his ws towards the man but the man just let him dodging the sh by a hair''s breadth. The man did not counter attack but let Jefferson attack continuously and he just dodged the attacks in the same manner.


    "Huey! What are you doing?! Help them!"


    Jollene bellowed at Huey who was only watching the predicament of the five men. However, Huey just looked at her with a rather strange expression as if he was looking at an idiot. At that expression, there was also a mix of despair and helplessness. He then replied.


    "Why don''t you try to help? Don''t you see that he''s just attacking those who attack first? Or else, he would go first after you girls or after Foss and Jonas. After all, all of you could not fight. He also doesn''t seem to have killing intent on him. Remember how those animals attacked us? The pressure we feel when that tiger stared at us? That man is not exuding that. It''s those idiots who made a move first so let them suffer. In the first ce, we are here to find shelter not mess with other people''s things. They deserved that beating."


    After saying all those, Huey stored his gun, dragged his leg, and sat beside the other injured man while waiting for the beating to be finished. He was watching the fight and realized all those things making him feel a bit of hope. In the least, aside from the idiots around the man, he, the two injured men, and the women did not touch the man''s things and did not taste the food Sherwyn unceremoniously took out from the house. He also did not attack at all.


    Looking at the current situation where the man kept on dodging Jefferson''s attacks with the ridiculing expression in his eyes, it was obvious that the man was trying to crush Jefferson''s confidence.


    "What now? After messing with someone else''s property, this is all of you can do?"


    The man spoke with obvious ridicule. Despite the movements he was making, his breathing was not even ragged and there was no sweat on his face either. On the other hand, Jefferson was already panting.


    At that moment, Sherwyn made his move. Using his fast movement speed, he rushed towards the man aiming his gun. It was a rather good move since the man was busy dodging Jefferson''s attacks and with a point nk shot, the chance of the man being able to dodge or the shot missing was very low. Unfortunately, Huey could see that the man was aware of Sherwyn''s attack and could counter at any time.


    Sherwyn raised his gun and was about to pull the trigger when they heard a small worried female voice shouting.


    "NO!"


    With a strong gust of wind, Sherwyn flew five meters in the air before falling on his back onto the roof of a nipa hut about twenty meters away. When he fell, the nipa roof broke and Sherwin fell further inside the hut.


    Everyone was bbergasted. Even the man stopped while looking at that scene after swinging the sheath of his katana at Jefferson''s nape making him faint directly and kicked the unconscious man away in a merciless manner.


    While Huey, Nicole, and the others watching had not recovered at that scene of Sherwyn flying away, a small creature with wings flew towards the man which bbergasted them even further. In a closer look, the creature was human-shaped but just about a little more than half of a ruler in height and it had wings while wearing a dress made of leaves and flowers.


    "My Lord! Are you fine? You have no injuries right?"


    The fairy-like creature flew around the man obviously worried.


    "I told you to hide right?"


    The man replied.


    "But I heard the sound from that exploding weapon¡­ I got worried."


    "Hah¡­" The man sighed. "I already said that you should follow my orders right?"


    "Sorry¡­"<sub> </sub>


    The man then let the fairynd on his palm and put her to sit on his shoulder. He then sheathed his katana and approached Huey and the others.


    "You''re quite smart aren''t you?"


    The man looked at Huey and spokeplimenting him before he swept his gaze unto everyone making them back away specially Jolleen and Trisha.


    "The moment you shed that bullet, I know that we''re no match for you. It''s better to just concede that to pointlessly get hurt. Besides, it''s our fault in the first ce. As long as you don''t kill us, we''ll be fine with anypensation as long as we can do it. This vige looked defenseless. I''m sure you need people to help in reinforcing this ce."


    Huey spoke in a helpless manner while suggesting a work that the person in front of him would surely need. That way, they would be able to secure their lives in the least. While he spoke however, he could not help but look at the fairy-like creature sitting at the man''s shoulder. The fairy rather looked afraid as she looked at them but she resolutely tried to hide it even though the way she hid her fear was rather clumsy.


    Unexpectedly, when everyone was resigned to their fate and even backing away in fear, Nicole was staring at the man''s face with a strange expression. It was as if she was trying to remember something. While in daze, she stood up unsteadily and approached the man.


    "Nicole, what are you¡­"


    Hallie tried to stop her but the injury on her foot aching prevented her to. While they others had confused expressions on their faces at the strange behavior of Nicole, they heard her speak.


    "Have¡­ Have we met before?"


    The eyes of everyone still conscious became wide as a retort came into their minds.


    ''It''s not the time for you to do a reverse pickup!''


    They were starting to doubt whether this timid girl was really a timid one. Looking at Nicole''s reddish face even enhanced that thought further.


    On the other hand, the man seemed to have been taken aback by her question. The man then shrugged his shoulders that almost made the little fairy fall off. He then pulled the hair blocking his face aside.


    Nicole stared at that face with surprise. Huey noticed that even Halley had shock on her face.


    "M-Mark? You-you''re Mark right?"


    Hallie spoke with a stutter due to her surprise when she recognized the man''s face.


    Nicole on the other hand had a relieved expression on her face and started to fall forward. The man called Mark hurriedly caught her. Seeing that she was unconscious, he tapped her flushed face before cing his palm on her forehead. Considering how ragged Nicole''s breathing was, it was obvious that she was very ill.


    Mark did not care about everyone else anymore and carried Nicole into the house. Well, he kicked the unconscious Jefferson once more in a merciless manner making him roll on the ground several times towards the spilled guts of the huge monkey before entering the door though.


    "Do you know him?"


    Trisha who was sitting beside Hallie asked in a soft voice. Still, her voice was audible to them who did not participate in the fight.


    "We worked in the same animationpany before. Uhh, that''s before Nicole and I were hired in thest one before the zombie outbreak. Nicole was rather close to him and always helped each other at work. I wonder why he''s here."


    "Maybe, he also fled to the mountains?"


    Jolene interjected but Hallie shook her head.


    "If I remember correctly, he came from Cavite so if he fled into the mountains, he should have gone to the ones in Cavite, Laguna, or Batangas."


    While the others were talking about the man, Huey finally felt relieved. Since that man knew Nicole and Hallie, the chance of them dying was very low. However, they should stay put as the offenders. He could tell that Mark would not let them go and once they tried to escape, he would surely not hesitate to kill them. Even though he was rather emotionless, Huey could tell using Mark''s eyes. That was the eyes of a person that had killed before, a person that did not only kill zombies andrge animals but also living humans.


    A person that was bad to provoke in any way or the person that provoked him would suffer.


    Huey looked at the four men lying on the ground. Although three of them were still conscious, none of them was left unscathed. Even Pierce who just received a sweep kick was still clutching his shin in pain. Not to mention the unconscious Jefferson who was bathing on the guts of the hanged monkey and Sherwyn whose fate was unknown.

 Chapter 191 Poor Fate, Requesting Compensation Several Times Compared To The Damage

    <strong>Day 21 ¨C 5:20 PM ¨C Mountain Vige, Mount Mbito, General Nakar, Quezon</strong>


    After bringing Nicole inside the house, Mark let her lie on the bedfortably despite the fact that the bed made of wood was really not thatfortable. This time, the emotionless Mark felt a bit strange while looking at the unconscious girl. Before he revealed his face to her, he could see how much she struggled despite being ill. The moment she recognized him however, she let go of her struggle and left herselfpletely defenseless in front of him. Just how much trust did it take? Or was it just because she had no other choice?


    No, her relieved expression told that it was the first one or else, why would she let out that expression. Why though?


    "My L-¡­"


    Did she not trust her group at all?


    "My Lor-¡­"


    Maybe, she did not really know the members of their group at all aside from Hallie.


    "MY LORD!!!"


    "What is it?"


    Mark turned his head towards Amihan who was already screaming on his ear.


    "Why are you spaced out? Do you know this female human?"


    Amihan asked pointing at Nicole.


    "I''m not spaced out. I''m just thinking about something and I do know her. Why?"


    "Uhmm¡­ Nothing, it just looked strange that you''re nkly staring at her."


    Mark then picked up the sylph from his shoulder and stared at her.


    "Wha-what are you doing?"


    He ignored her opposition and put her down on another pillow.


    "You''re tired yourself so rest up."


    What Amihan did to the other man with a gun was unexpected but it was not surprising since she was a spirit of the wind. However, it seemed that it had taken quite a toll on her since her already light colored skin looked even paler. It was very likely that even if she could do that, controlling the wind to the extent of making a full grown man fly at that distance, it was not something she could do as she willed. If she could, then there was no reason for her to receive too much fright even from the erged animals and insects in the forest.


    The little sylph did not want to rest since there were other humans around but her resistance was futile. After Mark used his finger to push her head unto the pillow and caressed her headfortably, she fell asleep almost immediately. She sumbed to her own fatigue from overexerting herself not to mention that she must not have enough restst night. When the wild boar wandered into the vige in the previous evening, Amihan was still not around. It was likely that she returned already past that time.


    Looking back at Nicole who was ring up with fever, Mark''s eyes became resolute. Since she trusted him that much, then he should return it in kind. Mark rather had bad rtionship with his family so he valued friendship too much. It was just that he find it hard to mingle with others no matter how he tried causing him to stray away from almost everyone.


    There was also that case he experienced in college that caused Freed to seal most of his memories at that time. Unfortunately, the method Freed used to bring him in his subconscious also opened his subconscious memories freely for him. Even the memories he did not want to remember anymore started to haunt him from time to time since he woke up. He remembered that what happened in college almost driven him tomit suicide. It was just lucky that Freed already existed inside him at that time and prevented it.


    That kidnapping incident with Mei was not the first time Freed saved his life.


    The unconscious Nicole made him feel something that he never felt for a long time from a friend.


    Still, this would be a huge problem. Nicole''s fever was not caused by Evolution so she needed proper medication. Unfortunately, the whole vige was devoid of any kind of modern drugs for illnesses. Just how did the people in this vige treat their ill people? Maybe, because it was a forested mountain, they might be using herbal medicines. He remembered that he saw some dried up leaves in one of the nipa huts in the vige. If those leaves were the medicine, then it was no wonder since the vige seemed abandoned for a long time now.


    After shuffling around the house for a bit, Mark went out.


    ***


    Since the time Mark brought Nicole into the house, the people outside were talking in whispers.


    "Is it really fine to leave Nicole to that guy? What if he did something to her? She fainted you know?"


    Trisha asked Hallie but it was Huey who answered.


    "What about that? Even if he wanted to do to any of us, we won''t be able to resist at all."


    "Says someone who chickened out."


    Jollene looked at Huey with dissatisfaction but thetter just shrugged at her.


    "I know what you want to say but I''m just being rational. Someone who can sh a bullet into two is not your average person so from the beginning, we have no way of winning. Besides, since you have a liking with Jefferson, then why don''t you help him? I''m sure he''d appreciate that."


    Huey looked at Jefferson who was unconscious covered in organs of therge dead monkey. That also made Jollene look at Jefferson only to turn her head away in disgust. It was no secret that she had a crush at Jefferson even back in thepany but even though she had already experience encountering zombies and such, disgusting things was still disgusting. Even if she wanted to help Jefferson, there was no way that she would touch him right now.


    While they were talking, Mark went out of the house making them silent. The three men who were taken down first had already recovered to some degree but none of them had the courage to look at Mark and just sat behind the group that did not participate in the fight. None of them tried to help Jefferson or Sherwyn due to an obvious fact. The two were the main offenders and looking at how Mark treated the unconscious Jefferson, it was likely that the person who would help him would be subjected to ill treatment.<sub> </sub>


    They were not mistaken about that. The moment Mark went out, he only swept his eyes at the others sitting on the grass in front of the house and went toward Jefferson.


    "Tsk."


    Mark clicked his tongue as he observed the state of the hanged monkey. His eyes turned colder as he looked at the unconscious man beneath it. There was no saving the hide of the monkey as it was stabbed and cut all around. Even the back was not spared. It seemed that this unconscious guy yed around with his knife too much. Since the hide was cut and the flesh and organs were exposed, it would sure take lesser time for the meat to go bad.


    Unfortunately, he had no time to process it as it was alreadyte and considering howrge monkey was, it would take too much time. In easier words, the monkey he painstakingly lured back here became nothing but a worthless carcass.


    Taking the knife that this guy even tried to hide in his pocket, Mark started cutting the ropes that tied the monkey making it fall on the unconscious man. He then lifted his right foot and stepped on the back of the monkey and started squishing it with his foot. This caused the unconscious Jefferson to be covered in disgusting stuff even further.


    "Hey, isn''t that enough?!"


    Jollene could not endure watching that scene anymore and bellowed after she stood up. However, when Mark turned his head towards her, the way he moved his foot above the carcass intensified even more.


    "You¡­ Why are you doing this? We know we''re wrong intruding like this but that''s not enough to torment us like this right?"


    She asked emotionally.


    On the other side, Mark tilted his head without emotion on his face and spoke.


    "I''m not tormenting you though."


    Jollene was stunned and did not know how to reply. What he said was true since he was only doing that disgusting thing on Jefferson but no matter what, it gave them a tormenting feeling.


    On the other hand Huey seemed to have an idea why.


    "Is it because of that monkey? Perchance, you have something in n for that?"


    Huey noticed that only Jefferson was receiving the worst treatment and it was as if Mark was venting his anger on him for something he did. The only thing he did however was to take that knife out of the house and yed with it using the dead monkey.


    Mark looked at Huey and did not have any notion to deny it.


    "I nned to process the both meat and the hide of this monkey. It''s all worthless now."


    "It''s just a dead monkey!"


    Jollene shouted.


    Her shout however turned Mark''s eyes colder making her step back in fright. Mark then spoke in a very cold tone as if sentencing them to the worst thing possible.


    "So, it''s just a dead monkey right?" Mark kicked some of the spilled guts making Jefferson''s face covered with it. "Since it''s just a monkey, you can give me another one then? It should have the same pristine condition that both meat and hide can be processed."


    Jollene started to regret what she had just said. What he said was not requesting her topensate him another simr animal. He basically asked her to die. There was no need to mention about exchanging one with the simr condition, there was no way for her to even escape from one alone without dying.


    Fortunately, Hallie and Huey did not want to have pointless deaths on their group anymore. They already lost a lot just to get this far. With Mark around, this ce was rather safe since it was obvious that he could live in this ce alone. Dying here was nothing but a pointless matter.


    "We''re going topensate with anything else we can do so please, don''t send us to death just like that."


    "Yeah. Be a little lenient, just for Nicole''s sake alright?"


    Huey and Hallie interjected respectively while both of them stared at Jollene signaling her to not make things worse.


    "Tsk." Mark clicked his tongue which made it look like that he was looking forward to Jollene dying. He then continued. "Remember what you two said, I''m going to work you people like ves."


    "ves¡­ That''s¡­"


    Trisha could not help but voice out her hesitation making Mark look at her.


    "I don''t mind if any of you can''t ept that. Those who can''t ept can step out of the vige now."


    Mark thenshed another kick on Jefferson''s head before he turned around and left. He went to take his things back at the entrance of the vige. As for the others, he did not really mind if they left. When he went back, none of the people moved from their positions though. Even if they did not what to ept what Mark had just said they could only stay. It was almost night time and given that most of them were injured now, it was aplete suicide for any of them to leave this ce.


    While everyone was debating their ns, Mark passed by carrying a metal basket, his bag and a gallon of spring water as he entered the house. It did not take long though and he went out once more. This time, he was carrying a shovel and the ck cooking knife. He then threw the two tools towards the group.


    "This is your first task. Go and dig a hole and bury the monkey outside the vige. You all can also get meat from that monkey if you want to cook and eat something. After that, you all can pick any house to rest in aside from that one." Mark pointed at the nearest nipa hut. "Hallie, follow me inside."


    Mark then turned around without waiting for their reply. The way he spoke was saying that they had no choice but to follow his orders.

 Chapter 192 Forked Roads, Taking Different Paths And Decisions

    <strong>Day 21 ¨C 6:03 PM ¨C Mountain Vige, Mount Mbito, General Nakar, Quezon</strong>


    The sun already started to set on the horizon though the horizon could not be seen due to the ce being surrounded by mountains. When Mark turned around and entered the house after giving the group their first task, it seemed that they gathered for a short meeting first since he could hear soft whispers outside the house.


    Mark was already preparing the fish in the kitchen when Hallie followed him. She was not alone however. Since only the bedroom was enclosed with both the kitchen and living room being in the same segment of the house, Mark saw Hallie the moment she stepped through the only door of the house. She came into the door being apanied by the girl who sat beside her outside. Mark did not mind however since it was obvious that Hallie could not walk on her own.


    "You can sit there. As for the other I did not call, you can go out."


    Mark said while pointing at the bamboo sofa in the living room. Since Mark did not ask for the other woman, he shooed her away. The woman wanted toply but Hallie held her arm preventing her from leaving.


    "Trisha, don''t worry about him. Stay here."


    "But¡­"


    Trisha hesitated but Hallie insisted on making her stay. It was not because she was afraid of Mark but because she needed someone to help her walk. During the time Mark fought the other men, Hallie felt a bit of dread from Mark but it all vanished when he revealed himself in front of Nicole.


    "Can Trisha stay? I need someone to help me walk."


    Hallied told Mark and pulled down the already worn down knee high socks she was wearing revealing an open gash at the side of her left shin. The wound started about two inches below her knee and stopped about an inch above her ankle. It even looked infected and needed to be cleaned. It was no wonder she could not walk on her own.


    Mark looked at the woman called Trisha and nodded. Since he was busy himself, it was better if someone else needed to help Hallie move around especially because he needed assistance in taking care of Nicole. Though he did not really feel anything at all even if he did the other things like changing her still wet clothes, it would still be inappropriate.


    "Did you get that from the animal that attacked your camp?"


    He suddenly asked making the two females surprised.


    "How did you know?"


    "I saw your abandoned camp on the other side of the river. I found your employee ids there. I didn''t take your things since there''s a chance that your group might return there. I didn''t expect to find you people here though."


    While he was cooking, Mark proceeded to ask what they were doing in this ce and learned their struggles. Hallie also did not hide their experience when the outbreak struck since she knew Mark. If it was other people, she might not have said anything.


    Looking at Hallie who was telling their story, Mark could not help but think that this short statured girl did not change at all. Despite how ragged she looked now, she was still exuding that aura that only Otakus could detect. Normies would not be able to sense it but the way Hallie spoke, behaved, her clothes and even her expressions basically tells that she was an anime character in real life. Even though her appearance was rather average, she exudes the aura filled with yfulness and confidence that somehow made her look cute and pleasing to the eye.


    Even though it was already the apocalypse, Hallie was still wearing her already scrached red sses with arge frame, a rabbit hairpin that already lost one of its ears, a pair of worn out ck knee-high socks, a thick skirt with tears and an already torn open sweater bigger than her body that had sleeves even longer than her arms. Mark could not help but think how she was able to survive till now. Well, remembering that she was another Otaku, she could not be judged by her cover. Who knows how many infected had already been yed by her hands or else, she would not have a good standing on her group. As Mark observed, aside from the Mutator and the Evolver, her standing in the group was just a step lower to that smart Chinese looking man.


    "How about you? How did you end up here?"


    Hallie asked after she finished her story.


    "I got some circumstances going on."


    Mark replied without even looking at her concentrated on cooking. Hearing his reply, Hallie did not ask anymore.


    Even though he looked like he was concentrating on his work, Mark was actually thinking about another thing. Now, he knew where in the world he was. He did not really expect that he was currently in the eastern part of Luzonpletely the opposite direction of Bay City. If he wanted to return, he needed to travel westward going through a lot of ces and even severely popted cities. It was such a pain.


    ''Just how in the world did I get into this ce?''


    Even the memories he received from Freed had no answer to this question unfortunately which meant that it was the savage consciousness that was totally at fault.


    At this time, the smell of cooked fish started to scatter inside and outside the house. Using the fish, he cooked two dishes. One was a boiled fish head soup with wild vegetables while the meat of the fish was fried with thest bottle of cooking oil he had found in this vige. It was kind of unfortunate that such luxury fish only had wild chili and salt as seasoning.


    Mark suddenly looked at the two women at the living room who had flushed faces. It was because the smell from the fried fish caused the empty stomach of the two to roar in hunger.


    Picking up one slice of the fried fish fillet and let the two see him as he swallowed it. The two could not help but gulp their saliva before noticing that they were staring at Mark too much that they both turned their heads away almost at the same time.


    "You two. There''s extra clothes inside the room, go and change Nicole''s clothes. After that, I''ll give you two some."


    Trisha seemed to hesitate a little but Hallie on the other hand pulled her without thinking twice. The two entered the room and went to their work. At that time however, Hallie started to be noisy.


    "Mark!" Hallie called out. "I''ve been holding myself back but what is this fairy?! No, she''s a sylph right? Are you a sorcerer now?"


    Her Otaku mode switched on at a horrible time. When Mark peeked into the room, even Trisha was retreating away from her due to her enthusiasm.


    "If you keep making noise, you can get your food from the monkey outside."<sub> </sub>


    Mark said coldly making her shut her mouth. Luckily, both Nicole and Amihan did not get disturbed by her voice.


    ***


    "Say¡­ where did you get this fish?"


    While Trisha was timidly eating her food, Hallie asked as she unceremoniously munched like a hungry beast on her share. She looked at Mark who was also eating in front of her with Amihan who already woke up on his shoulder.


    When the little sylph woke up, Hallie tried to approach her but got denied horribly. Amihan immediately flew away from her while shouting in fear and hid behind Mark. Even now, Amihan was warily looking at Hallie while eating the wild berry on her hands.


    "I caught the fish in the river."


    "The one near the camp?"


    "Yeah. Why?"


    Hearing that, both Trisha and Hallie froze.


    "It''s not a contaminated fish isn''t it? We saw small barrio upstream and it''s full of zombies. There''s also a small airne that crasndednded outside the barrio it seems. Since the barrio upstream was full of zombies, then, the fish downstream could be contaminated right?"


    Hearing that, Mark looked at the two.


    "Your group doesn''t know anything about the outbreak?" Mark then realized. "Right, your group did not get in contact with the military."


    ***


    While Mark and the two females were exchanging information, the other members of the group of survivors were already grilling the meat of the monkey over a campfire. Even though it was just grilled and the meat was not fresh, it did not taste bad which made the group get their fill. However, the smelling out of the house Mark was in was still more stimting than what they were eating.


    The group picked one of therger houses to gather in though they would still split up in various houses once it was time to sleep since a single house could not amodate them all. Both Sherwyn and Jefferson were already helped and since they were both men with abilities, their bodies were sturdier. Even though they both fainted, they only received muscle pains and bruises.


    Still, Jefferson was gravely incensed. He could not help but think of how Mark toyed with him. The disgusting smell on his body was even more infuriating but he could not do anything about it since they needed to save on water as much as possible.


    "Are all of you really fine with this?!"


    Jefferson said with a quite loud voice as he could not ept the treatment that would expect to receive. What was more uneptable was that the other members already did on of the things Mark ordered them to do and that was to burrow the dead monkey.


    Even Sherwyn whose body was still aching nodded.


    At the two''s opposition, Huey looked at him with a disappointed expression though it could not be seen clearly since the only source of light they had was the swaying campfire.


    "You have the most toin about when it''s actually all your fault. If you did not mess with that hanged dead monkey, then, there was no reason for that person to make a move on us. Not to mention that all you five took the initiative to attack him in his own turf."


    Huey spoke.


    "So, you''re taking that mountain man''s side?"


    Jefferson said not wanting to shoulder the me.


    "I''m not taking any sides. I''m stating the facts and it''s obvious that he''s not a mountain man so don''t degrade people unprofessionally. Besides, if any of you did not do anything, we could leave here anytime. You all gave him the reason to attack which made it all worse. It''s unlikely that we can make it through these mountains when all of us are not injured not to mention now."


    The argument between Sherwyn and Jefferson against Huey did not end in a consensus even after they all decided to sleep. Huey knew that their group now was bound to split up. Looking at the attitude of the two, it was likely that they would leave this ce while everyone was asleep. However, he could not care anymore. He himself was already done dealing with Jefferson''s blind confidence.


    Jefferson was someone with a good ability being able to conjure metal des on any part of his hands. He just preferred the three pairs of ws because of a popr movie character. The downside however, Jefferson was not someone to use his brain at all and was very bad at teamwork. Five of their group members died because of him and it was just that no one wanted to voice it. Even Hallie''s wound was due to him dodging the tiger''s ws and the ce he dodged was towards Hallie''s direction.


    As for their current situation, Huey did not mind as long that they remained living. He was apassionate person and during their journey chasing unto blind hope until now, they lost a lot of people and some who was close to him. Zombies, animals and even people, everywhere were filled with danger. He was already tired. Even though he came from a quite rich family, he did not mind if he became a ve himself as long as he and his group could survive.


    Huey fell asleep with all those thoughts in his mind.


    ***


    Under the faint moonlight past midnight, five shadows rushed out of the vige escaping into the woods.

 Chapter 193 Regret, Falling For A False Promise

    <strong>Day 22 ¨C 12:34 AM ¨C Mountain Vige, Mount Mbito, General Nakar, Quezon</strong>


    Four men were waiting outside the house where Trisha and Jollene were staying. Soon, Jollene slowly opened the door trying not to make any noise as she walked out. When she closed the door, she faced the four men who were Jefferson, Sherwyn, Arnolds and Pierce.


    "Ready?"


    Jefferson asked Jollene who slung a small bag on her shoulder.


    "Are we really leaving? How about the other girls? About Huey, Ed and Ron?"


    Jollene asked while ncing at the door she just came out from.


    "Don''t worry about them. I''m sure those three girls had already be whores for that mountain man. You don''t want to be one of them right? About Huey and those two, they already chickened out."


    Jefferson said not hiding his displeasure. Being humiliated by that man, he would never be able to stomach staying in this ce.


    "Won''t it be dangerous?"


    Jollene still had her doubts.


    At that moment, Jefferson reached for her chin and said.


    "Don''t worry, I''m here and also Sherwyn. We''re only held back because they are injured. If it''s just us, we''ll be fine. If something happens, I promise I''ll protect you."


    Due to Jefferson''s actions, the smitten Jollene nodded with flushed face.


    "Alright, let''s go."


    Under the moonlight, their shadows rushed out of the vige into the forest.


    They did not know that when they left, Huey stepped out of the house. Even though he already fell asleep, he was disturbed when Arnolds and Pierce walked out of the house they were staying together. He was looking at the direction the five went withplicated expression. He expected that Jefferson and Sherwyn would leave but he did not expect that even Arnolds, Pierce and Jollene would go. Although Arnolds was not that injured, he was basically useless in fighting while Pierce for sure had not fully recovered yet. As for Jollene, it a little expected even though Huey did not want to acknowledge it. The reason for her to leave was obvious.


    Still, he could not do anything about it and could only watch as their silhouettes vanish into the forest.


    But then, Huey saw someone elseing out. It was Mark. He was afraid that this man would go after them so he dragged his injured leg and walked towards his direction. Huey''s injury was not as severe as Hallie''s so he could still walk on his own but there was no way for him to run.


    It seemed that Mark noticed that he wasing and waited.


    "Are you going to kill them?"


    Huey tried to ask in a respectful tone but it turned out a little off sounding due to him not being proficient in speaking like this.


    "Not really¡­"


    Mark replied in a nonchnt tone. He had no ns to kill those people at all.


    "Really?"


    Huey sounded happy. Even though those five left, Huey did not want something to happen to them. They might have bad points but their whole group still experienced life and death together.


    "You''re a good person." Markplemented Huey but his next words made thetter''s eyes dte with a horrible expression in his face. "Did that guy with ws managed to wash his body thoroughly? I guess not."


    Even though he could not see Mark''s face clearly, Huey saw an illusion of Mark sneering though his face had no emotion at all.


    Huey was smart as Markplemented him before so he understood what thetter meant with his question. He was thinking about too many things that it passed his mind. What Mark spilled at Jefferson before was guts of a dead animal and its smell was not something that could be easily removed.


    Right now, Jefferson was a beacon for the savage animals in the middle of the night and all the people around him was destined to die because of him. No, probably, except for Sherwyn.


    ''Dammit!''


    Huey clenched his fists. He should have stopped them!


    ''What should I do? Jollene¡­ At least Jollene!!!''


    As his emotions swirled inside him, Huey raised his head and looked at Mark with resolute eyes.


    ***


    Fifteen minutes after Jefferson and the other four left the vige, they had not gotten too far. Even though they could follow the general direction, it was very hard to traverse a mountainous terrain in the middle of the night especially for this group of people that had no experience in hiking. Their pace was the same as the time they escaped from the camp a day ago despite the fact that there was no one too injured to drag them down.


    At this moment, they were feeling shivers as they traversed the forest. They ignored it as a passing cold due to the low temperatures in the mountains but for some reason, it did not go away.


    Pierce held his weapon tightly, the weapons he was currently using was actually the shovel Mark made them use to burrow the dead monkey. On the other hand, the ck colored knife was currently in the hands of Sherwyn. These people not only left the vige to escape but also stole Mark''s things.


    "I feel like we''re being watched."


    Shivering, Pierce could not hold back anymore and spoke in a whisper.


    "What are you talking about? Don''t scare us like that."


    Arnolds said as he tightened his grip on his butcher''s knife.


    "But¡­"


    Pierce wanted to speak again but Jefferson interjected.


    "What are you guys afraid of? We already lost the tiger yesterday and I''m here."


    On the other hand, Sherwyn was not speaking and was just being cautious with the surroundings while Jollene was sticking closely behind Jefferson.


    It was then when¡­


    A shadow pounced towards Jefferson.


    Jefferson managed to react and pierced the shadow with his ws and it was a human head sized Portia Spider. Jollene almost screamed at the sudden attack but she managed to cover her mouth. Unfortunately, that was just the start.<sub> </sub>


    Along the way, they were constantly attacked byrge insects and thergest one was a four year old toddler sized mantis.


    In another ten minutes, the attacks suddenly stopped. The confident Jefferson thought that it was over but everyone suddenly felt some pressure locked unto them. It was as if being stared by a predator. The pressure caused them to feel dread.


    The source of the pressure did not hide too long and appeared in front of them. It was the thing they did not want to see the most. It was the Tiger that attacked their camp a day ago. It caused everyone to freeze as they watched the Tiger walk slowly towards them.


    "RUN!"


    Sherwyn shouted making everyone snap from their stupor and run towards another direction. The others immediately followed but of course, the tiger would not let them to escape easily.


    As the person who was behind the group, Arnolds'' head flew off as the ws of the tiger swept across his neck. Arnolds totally showed hisck of experience before his death. It was not to leave his back open facing his enemy. If he was able to see the attack or at least paying attention to the enemy, there was a lot of leeway for him to dodge that one.


    Jollene saw what happened to Arnolds when she looked back and her eyes started to tear up in fear. However, the way she looked back was also something not ideal to do when running away. Because of that, she failed to see arge tree root Jefferson and Sherwyn jumped over and tripped on it.


    She did not manage to react fully to her fall causing her face to fall t on the forest floor. When she realized that she fell, she could only shout.


    "HELP!"


    However, the tree men only nced at her and continued running away.


    Shock, fear, despair and regret. Those feelings overwhelmed her as she saw the three leave her behind.


    ''Why? Jeff! You said you will protect me!''


    She wanted to shout but she could only shout those words in her mind as she could not speak anymore due to the shock she experienced.


    ''It was a lie right? It''s all a lie!''


    As the silhouettes of the three men vanished into the night, she heard heavy footsteps from behind her. She knew that she her end finally came. Even though she was not resigned to do so¡­ Even though she was filled with regrets about falling for Jefferson''s empty words¡­ Even though she regretted leaving everyone else in that vige¡­ It was all her choice¡­ And thus, she could only close her eyes and wait.


    SWOOSH! SWOOSH! SWOOSH!


    Three swishing sounds could be heard which made the tiger jump back. The source of the sound was three ck metal bolts that pierced the ground in front of the tiger. The tiger looked around to find the source of the attack but it could not find it.


    While Jollene was waiting for her death with closed eyes, an emotionless voice echoed in the forest.


    "Giving up already?"


    Surprised, Jollene opened her eyes looked around. She saw the tiger about three meters behind her doing the same thing.


    ''The voice sounds familiar.''


    That was what entered her mind as she felt some hope.


    "Where are you? Please help me!"


    Jollene shouted with all the tears and snot on her face which made it unsightly. Luckily, there was no one here to see her aside from the source of the voice.


    "You all left the vige and I have no obligation to help you though?"


    The voice echoed again making her realize that the familiar voice was from the man called Mark that they met in the vige. What he said made her fall into despair once more. She left the vige with the other four men and they were deserters. There was no reason for that person which they abandoned their responsibilities from to help her. Still, she did not want to die. Even if she had to promise about being a toy for his carnal desires, she would do it.


    When she was about to beg, the tiger was about to pounce on her making her freeze in fright. However, another three ck metal boltsnded in front of the tiger making it back up once more.


    ''He said that he wouldn''t help me¡­ Why?''


    "As I said, I have no obligation but someone begged for your life so I''ll give you a chance." Mark''s voice echoed once more. "Let''s y a game."


    Another boltnded in front of the tiger making it dodge again.


    "The rules are simple. I will give you a leeway to run away. About ten seconds I think. If you manage to run back and reach the vige before the tiger could kill you, then, you will live. If not, of course, you know what will happen."


    "But-!"


    "No buts. If you really wanted to live, then prove it yourself instead of giving up or relying on others. Now, let the game begin!"


    "Wait!"


    "Ten¡­ Nine¡­ Are you sure you not going to run? Seven¡­"


    Hearing the count down, Jollene tightly held unto her knife, propped herself up and started running back the direction where the vige was supposed to be. She did not know if she was really running towards the right direction but she could only run.


    The tiger tried to chase when it saw Jollene run away but it was interrupted by another set of ck metal bolts. It tried to find the source through smell but it failed.


    When the voice counting vanished, the tiger finally started to chase Jollene.


    Mark watched all those scenes happen with the sleepy Amihan on his shoulder. He was currently atop a nearby stone crevice. The tiger did not manage to find him due to Amihan not letting the wind carry Mark''s smell towards the tiger. She also prevented the tiger from smelling Jefferson making it chase Jollene as the only target.


    "Yawn~¡­ My Lord, is this really necessary?"


    "Hmmm¡­ Not really. I''m just bored. Besides, she needed to experience the consequences of her decisions and not to mention that it will be pointless if she easily received the salvation she wanted."


    "But you won''t let her die right?"


    "Yep, a good person bailed for her life after all."


    ''And also because of Freed''s memories.''


    Mark said in his mind.


    When Jollene and the tiger was already quite a distance away, Mark started to scale down the crevice. He needed to collect the [Blood Metal Bolts] first or it would be a waste.

 Chapter 194 Huey And Jollene, A Rather Odd Love Story

    <strong>Day 22 ¨C 1:07 AM ¨C Mount Mbito, General Nakar, Quezon</strong>


    ROAR!!!


    Despite her muffled cries of fear and her rapid panting as she ran away, Jollene could clearly hear the roar of the beast chasing behind her. She was in fear, in panic, and in despair but as she ran away, fleeting thoughts shed in her mind every now and then.


    ''Am I going to die?''


    ''Why did they leave me behind?''


    ''Why did I believe his empty promise?''


    ''What did he mean by ying a game?''


    ''Why doesn''t he just save me?''


    ''Why is he doing this?''


    A ringing sound entered her ear. She did not know where that sound came from. Following that sound however, was her realization. Even though she was a victim, she was also a perpetrator. Before the three men left her, she already left the others in the vige. She was no different from them. None of the people left in the vige had the responsibility to help her when she was one of those who abandoned them.


    Tears flowed from her eyes but it was not because of fear but regret. She deserved what was happening to her. Still, she did not want to die. Despite her wobbly legs shaking in fear, she could only run. Run and run as fast as she could. She remembered what Mark said. If she wanted to live, reach the vige as fast as she could.


    At this moment, her mind became a bit clearer with mostly her goal left in her mind. She did not know how or why but she felt her head bing lighter.


    Suddenly, she felt a somehow imaginary pain on her nape. She was confused but for some reason as her body started to move on its own. Losing her bnce due to her resistance, her body fell forward.


    It was then that three shes of shiny ws passed through where he neck should be before. The tiger had already caught up behind her and pounced. It swiped its right w towards her neck like how it killed Arnolds but her awkward fall made her evade the attack with only a few strands of her hair cut off. With nothing to block its pounce, the tiger flew forward due to the inertia of its fast pounce.


    Jollene saw therge body of the tiger pass over her fallen body in shock. With a muffled cry, she hurriedly propped her body up and crawled on fours away before managing to stand once more. She then ran towards another direction trying to go around the tiger.


    She knew that she was lost now as she could not remember the right way anymore. However, she could not stop running. No, rather, her body was running on its own.


    Then another imaginary pain was felt. This time, it was on her right waist. Unexpectedly, she kicked her right leg and jumped sideward to her left circling on a quiterge tree. The tiger that was attacking and was about to bisect her body into two from her waist was blocked by the tree and the ws got stuck for a few seconds that gave her a little breathing time to run further.


    ***


    While Jollene was fleeing for her life, Mark was also silently running at her pace watching her predicament. Amihan on his shoulder was still masking their smell and shuffling the noise they create as they observed the situation. Both of them were rather surprised when Jollene dodged the attack aiming for her neck. Mark was about to interfere that time when he noticed a strange movement on Jollene''s body. The expression of her face and the movements of her body did not match at all.


    Even though her expression was still filled with fear, her body was doing otherwise. The movements of her body were not panicked at all and her movements even became efficient in some way. She was not dragging her feet as she ran anymore but was actually kicking the ground before her hind foot lift off for another step.


    ''It seems this girl gained some unexpected benefits.''


    Mark felt that there was no need to interfere anymore. If she kept running on the direction she was taking and keep up with those unusual movements, she would safely reach the vige. He suddenly remembered what Huey did when he realized that these people would die.


    That rich looking guy suddenly kneeled in front of him. Unexpectedly he was only begging for this woman to be saved.


    "Why should I? I won''t get anything from it."


    That was his reply to that guy but unexpectedly¡­


    "I''m willing to trade my life for hers. If you want me to be your ve for the rest of my life, I''ll do it as long as you save Jollene."


    "A verbal promise isn''t something I can agree for."


    At that time, Huey took out his pistol and pointed it at his temple.


    "I can exchange my life in this spot."


    Huey stared at Mark. Under the faint light of the moon, his eyes were filled with begging and resoluteness.


    "Do you like her? But you looked cold to her."


    Mark asked as a faint tint of interest finally sprouted on his face. Huey had a bit of hesitation when lost strength on holding his gun and answered.


    "I do like her. You can say that it''s funny but it''s a love at first sight. However, she liked that Jefferson like many other women in thepany. You probably heard about it already about what happened when we left he hotel. I heard from Trisha that Hallie talked to you about it. Jollene did not want to leave the hotel originally but she still followed because of Jefferson. As for why I''m cold to her, you can say that it''s like a childish tantrum and a step to try and take distance away from her."


    "But you can''t."<sub> </sub>


    Mark interjected making Huey''s expression change with helplessness.


    That expression¡­ Mark was reminded of Freed''s expression when he was telling about his beloved fianc¨¦, Amecia.


    ''Damn Freed.''


    Mark was affected. He and Freed was basically one person now and even though not all, most of Freed''s important memories was inside him. Due to that, he could not help but get affected at this kind of story.


    "You two¡­" Mark said making Huey look up at him with confusion. "I''ll help her my way but both your lives belong to me from now on."


    At that moment, Huey''s eyes lit up. He started to kowtow as he faced Mark.


    "Thank you! Thank you!"


    Mark never though that he would be able to see a man able to lower himself to that extent for another person.


    Well, if he could obtain the loyalty of these two people, then it would be good for his future ns.


    He was not up thiste because he was expecting them to escape but because he was ying with the red blob while nning his future steps. Now that he knew where he was, he had two options to choose. One, to return to Bay City and take Mei, Odelina, the children along with Laps, Fein and Jte out of there and establish their own base somewhere. Or two, create a base first so everything, food source, water source, dwelling and protection, was all set before he pick them up from Bay City.


    Since the mutation of the infected was rather too uncertain, the second option sounded better. However, he needed people in order to do that. And not only just people but loyal people. Also, people who were not dead weight and could at least be of help to the base.


    As for the ce to build the base, this mountain was a good location. Not at the vige though but somewhere closer to water source and not prone to natural disasters. In that case, the ce around the water spring was a good ce. There were evolved animals and insects here but they were not as dangerous as the infected in Mark''s view. Beasts, no matter how big or fast they were, they were still beasts. The infected on the other hand, no one knew what they would end up in the future.


    The mountains was also a natural barrier against the infected and since there were twomunities nearby, the town behind the mountain to the east and the barrio upstream of Ungos River, finding things they needed would not be too tedious to do so.


    Mark continued to stalk Jollene and the tiger as their chase got nearer and nearer to the vige. Considering how Jollene was now, Mark was sure that she would improve from being a dead weight to one of the best fighters in the future. Even though she was still afraid of the tiger, ever since her movements changed, she only received a few scratches on her arms and feet as she dodged the tiger''s attacks.


    Watching her awkward movements but still managing to dodge the tiger''s attacks, Mark was sure that what she had awakened had nothing to do with her reflexes. She was not even looking at the attacks when she dodged them.


    ''Danger perception and instinctual movements?''


    Those were his initial assumptions but Mark could not be sure unless enough tests were done.


    ***


    Finally, Jollene saw the forest started to thin. When she saw the clearing, she knew that she was already close to the vige. She managed to step out into the clearing but the vige was till about dozens of meters away. She was tired and about to copse. Her breathing was ragged and even under the faint moonlight, her flushed face was noticeable. Even though her body was already shivering, she still needed to continue.


    Jollene dragged her body towards the vige as her sight started to blur. She did not even realize that the tiger was not chasing her anymore. The moment she stepped inside the vicinity of the broken fences of the vige, her body finally lost its strength. She started to fall down and expected the pain she would feel when her head hit the ground.


    Unexpectedly, her falling body was gently caught by someone. She tried to open her eyes and saw Huey''s face staring at her with worry. She did not expect that the person who treated her coldly would be the first person to catch her and even hold her like this. Feeling his strange but warm embrace, she could not help but feel rxed. Finally, she fainted.


    ***


    When Mark went out of the forest into the clearing, he saw several silhouettes waiting at the outskirts of the vige. Upon closer look, aside from Huey who initially waiting and was now holding the unconscious Jollene, the others were also here with the sick Nicole as exception.


    When he arrived, the other two men stepped back. It seemed that they were still afraid of him. Trisha was also the same though she could not step back since she was helping Hallie move around.


    They were probably awakened by the loud roars in the middle of the night.


    As for the tiger? None of them would ask where it was. They only needed to look at the dead animal Mark was now dragging on the ground.


    "All of you should sleep already. I''m going to make you all work early tomorrow."


    Mark said and was about to drag the dead tiger past the group when Huey stopped him.


    "Jollene¡­ she have fever¡­"


    "She''s evolving so just let her rest. When she wakes up tomorrow, expect it that she''s stronger than all of you."


    Ignoring the confused and shocked expressions of the group of survivors, Mark left dragging the body of the tiger that almost annihted this group a day ago.


    As for the three men, Mark did not bother chasing them. He already scouted the area those three ran towards when they encountered the tiger. Even if that Jefferson did not reek of animal guts, running to that area was suicide.


    At that area, there was a gigantic nest of huge hos. Even he had no confidence in blindly storming that ce. It was one of the reasons why he wanted to build the base somewhere else further from here.

 Chapter 195 The Barrio, A Place That Was Not As What He Had Expected

    <strong>Day 22 ¨C 5:38 AM ¨C Mountain Vige, Mount Mbito, General Nakar, Quezon</strong>


    The sun was far from rising but the sky had already brightened to some degree. Mark stepped out of his house ready to go and do his explorations. After killing the tigerst night and storing it at one of the houses, he thought of making these people work early. At least for dismantling the unused houses to scavenge usable materials for the base he nned to build.


    Looking at the sky at northeastern forest however, it was better if the newly arrived people avoid going out of the houses for today. It looked like that the three menst night made a mess at the hive of the hos. Even though it was several hours already, he could see a lot of human head sized hos flying around the forest looking for the intruders or possible intruders. Considering that these oversized insects had developed higher intelligence than their normal counterparts, it would be likely for these hos that the intrudersst night were humans.


    In that case, if they spotted these people here, it would be a disaster. If he could, he should find a way to deal with those oversized hos as soon as possible.


    Walking in front of the house where he saw Huey came fromst night, he pushed the door open. There, he saw the five people who seemed to have decided to stay in one house due to the incidentst night. They had no idea whether the vige was really safe or not making it better if they stuck together.


    Looking at these people, it seemed that Huey and Trisha did not rest properly since they were worried about Jollene who was still unconscious. On the other hand, the other two men were sleeping with their back on the wall while holding unto their weapons.


    ''That''s dangerous.''


    Mark thought. If they were holding guns, it would be better since guns nowadays had safety levers but holding onto melee weapons was not really something to be rmended. If they got surprised and agitated after waking up, it would not be strange if they suddenly swung those weapons at the nearest person to them.


    "Boss." Huey greeted with respect. "Are you going out?"


    This guy noticed that Mark was fully equipped with his armor, backpack and weapons. It seemed that Huey was worried that they would be prone to danger if he left.


    "Nicole''s condition is different from your sweetheart so I have to search for medicine. I''m just here to tell you all not to go out of the houses too much and if you''re going out, be fast and discreet. The giant hos in the forest are agitated." Mark said to Huey and the first sentence made him blush slightly. Mark then looked at the other woman. "Trisha, right? I''ll leave the pot of fish soup at my house. Just heat it and fill your stomachs."


    He then looked around the room. It seemed that his voice also woke up the two men.


    "Any of you know how to dismantle animal bodies?"


    Mark asked though he did not really have any expectations. Unexpectedly, the tall man who was called Ed raised his hands with a bit of hesitation.


    "My family owns a dairy farm back at our hometown. Before I went out to Man to study, I help in processing the body of male calves to make beef."


    "Good. I''ll leave the body of the tiger to you. It''s on the house I told you people not to use. The tools are also there. Dismantle it and be careful of not damage the hide. Is that clear?"


    "Uhh, yes B-Boss."


    After telling them what to do, he went back to his house to pick up the still sleepy sylph. He told the same to Hallie who also did not sleep due to her taking care of Nicole despite the fact that she needed rest herself due to her wound. He left the vige then afterwards.


    His goal now was to investigate both the source of the red blobs and the barrio upstream while looking for medicine.


    "Say, you don''t know about the barrio upstream?"


    Mark asked Amihan on his shoulder. After all, the little sylph knew about the town past the mountain but did not mention the barrio that seemed to be closer.


    "I haven''t been there. Also, the forest that way is a territory of an annoying person. If not for you my Lord, I won''t even try to go near there."


    Amihan grumbled.


    "Annoying person?"


    "Yes! He''s very annoying duende! He keeps calling me wife every time he saw me and always told me that he wanted a baby from me! Pwe! That''s why I don''t go into his territory and run away every time I saw him!"


    Looking at her aggrieved face, it seemed that she was really annoyed with the guy. Mark on the other hand felt amused. He did not know if they would encounter that guy but the possibility was high. If Amihan''s ability to hide herself from the eyes of mortals was affected by Mutagen, it was likely that other creatures with the same ability were also affected.


    Anyway, he had no ns to deal with that guy. If he gets on the way and disturb him, killing him would be easy. In folklore, one of the things that made it hard to get rid of spiritual creatures was because they could not be seen. But if even these creatures were affected by Mutagen, that advantage was taken away from them.


    ***


    It took almost three hours of walk and Mark finally had a glimpse of the barrio from the riverside. He saw another pathway before with what seemed to be a ntation up the mountains but Mark was sure that it was not the ce he wanted to go and passed by it. ording to Hallie''s description, the barrio was beside the river and the crashed ne was suspended over the river like a bridge.<sub> </sub>


    That brought him to the current ce which fitted the description. He saw what seemed to be wide dirt road with rows of houses beside it. Further away, he could see the body of therge passenger airne that crashnded. It seemed that the body of the ne was mostly intact with only the wings broken. He could not see the tail part of the ne from his position though due to the trees blocking his view.


    "Amihan, hide the sounds and the smell in the area."


    "Yes."


    Mark whispered to Amihan on his shoulder. It was because he could see some infected wandering the dirt road. It was quite unexpected for him since the barrio was basically beside the forest. These infected should have been attacked by the feral animals and insects already. Unless¡­


    There were dangerous existences in the barrio that deters the evolved animals to wander in the area.


    This was something Mark noticed after he spent time in the vige. Evolved animals, specially, non-feral ones seemed to have be wary of approaching the vige even by mistake. Most animals that wandered into the vige were normal animals that had yet to evolve. Even the huge monkey the other day hesitated to approach the vige in not for his provocation.


    Another proof of this was why did the tiger did not attack the vige waited until people left the vige before attacking. It was obvious that the tiger had been stalking their group after they escaped from the initial attack on their camp but it did not wander into the vige to search for its prey.


    And the reason for this, it could not be any clearer. He came to that realization when he dealt with the tigerst night after Jollene managed to step into the clearing. When he appeared, instead of attacking, the tiger actually tried to run away. The reason why evolved animals did not wander into the vige was because they were feeling the danger Mark could bring unto them.


    To think about it, most of the evolved creatures attacking him on the way were erged insects and feral animals. As for the others especially the non-feral evolved animals, they would stay away. Like how the grebe panicked yesterday after it realized the threat it was facing.


    If the animals deemed that this ce was dangerous for them, then Mark should be careful.


    Drawing his katana, Mark used the thickets and sneakily attacked the two infected close by before retreating. He did this so he could have a better view of the barrio without getting detected. The two headless bodies along with the decapitated heads plopped down onto the ground spurting blood. Mark looked at the blood and felt that it was a waste but he dide here to gather blood but for other things.


    ''Wait¡­ Blood right?"


    Mark realized something and took out a metal enclosed bowl from his backpack. Opening the lid, it was the red blob he had a mental connection with. He threw the blob beside the two bodies andmanded it to extract the blood using his mind. After he felt some response that seemed to be delight, the blob dragged itself to the bloody neck of one of the dead infected. Two tentacles sprouted from its gel like body and pierced the necks of the dead infected.


    It was way slower that how he saw his savage consciousness squeeze out blood from his enemies but it was better than nothing. At least not all the blood was wasted. Furthermore, ying with the blobst night gave him some interesting discoveries.


    Another infected man seemed to have noticed the blob moving and approached. Mark was already ready to jump out of hiding if the blob was attacked but unexpectedly, the infected man really attacked! It tried to lunge at the blob but before it could, the infected''s neck had already been severed with its head flying away. Its bloody neck coincidentallynded next to the blob and the blob let out a delighted jiggle as the blood of the third infected sshed unto its jelly like body.


    Mark on the other hand frowned. It seemed that the infected could tell that the blob was alive.


    Peeking over the corner of the nearest house, he counted the number of the infected.


    ''About twenty I think.''


    "Amihan, stay here and guard the red blob. I''ll clear up the infected quickly."


    "Huh? Ah! Yes!"


    Amihan shakily replied. It seemed that this little sylph was afraid of the infected since it was the first time she saw them. Her reaction was not surprising since even normal people would feel afraid not to mention someone like her who was a recluse. Also, the scene in front of her was very bloody and not for the faint of heart of someone na?ve like her.


    "Hah¡­" Mark sighed. "Never mind, just hide. I''ll just take care of the infected faster."


    "No! No! I''ll guard! I''ll guard it!"


    The little sylph realized that she was too shaken and shook her head to clear her it up. Since Mark asked her to guard the red blob, she should do it.


    Her attitude made Markmend her in his mind. He then went to deal with the infected at this part of the barrio as fast as he could. This was just the outskirts but there was already this number. He did not know how big or how many people in this barrio were so it was better if he did not attract all the infected in a single area.


    Headless bodies littered the short dirt road three minutes after. Since he was doing the clearing quickly, he also used his [Blood Whips] to some extent. With the infected out of the way, he finally managed to see the main area. The dirt road he saw first was actually a branching road out into the river.


    However, seeing the main area, he had mixed feelings in his eyes. This ce was not just a barrio¡­


    It was a freaking tourist stop.

 Chapter 196 With A Tiny Shout, Entering The Most Infested Place In The Mountains

    <strong>Day 22 ¨C 8:15 AM ¨C Barangay Daraitan, Tanay, Rizal</strong>


    Under Amihan''s wind control in the area preventing the smell and sound from scattering outside as much as possible, Mark hurriedly removed the dead bodies throwing them into a house he randomly picked. He then made the red blob clean up the scattered blood on the dirt road. Fortunately, it was one of the qualities of the blob. It could absorb the blood even on the dirt while rejecting the non-blood rted things out of its body.


    Actually, cleaning the area was not really necessary if he was only going here for a short while but considering that the state of the ce was different from what he expected, he must observe the ce and n first before making a move. A tourist spot in a zombie apocalypse that started during the holidays was not something to joke about. Especially here that most people could only flee into the forest and mountains. Mark was sure that events like the wave of infected in Cavite would not happen here. Instead, the infected would group up in this area which was noisier and filled with carnage.


    After cleaning up and retrieving the red blob, Mark jumped with Amihan onto the roof of a house that was slightly hidden by arge mango tree to observe the area.


    Undeveloped dirt roads, wooden houses, old styled concrete houses, fruit trees everywhere and even the clothes of most of the infected were rather out of style. It wasrger than a vige but smaller than a town. There was no doubt that it should be your typical countryside barrio¡­


    Well, at least several years ago.


    From the roof Mark stood on, the lodging houses, restaurants and other tourist aimed buildings were too noticeable. Not only the buildings seemed newer but were styled differently from themon houses. Brightly painted tourist sign posts and sign boards could be seen here and there. Looking at some of the closer sign boards, Mark could tell that this ce had been developing into a lodging and recreation area for the hikers and tourists that wanted to climb up the mountain.


    Looking at the north western side near the center of the barrio, he could see the remains of right wing of the airne along with the burnt out engine on that wing. From the northwestern side to the southwestern side, he could see the trail of copsed houses and tourist buildings. Not only the houses but the trees were also toppled to the side. Following the trail of destruction was the tail of the airne that crashnded.


    It seemed that the body of the airne remained mostly intact because it slid down the mountain and brought destruction to this ce before stopping over the river.


    As for the number of infected, Mark did not want to count. He could see the infected at the outskirts and the streets close by but the coverage of what he could see on this roof was very limited. However, he could tell that it would be arge number. It was because in the limited area he could see, there were nearly a hundred infected.


    Furthermore, another rming thing was that arge number of those infected seemed to be mutated ones. There were those who were moving on all fours, some that had elongated body parts and there was even a woman with a bloated belly.


    ''Wait¡­ That woman should be a normal one, she''s just pregnant.''


    Mark scratched his head. He already saw a lot of bloated looking infected before which made him think that this pregnant infected was one of them.


    "My Lord, these people you call infected¡­ they really looked scary¡­"


    Amihan could not help but whisper with fear apparent on her face. The appearance of the infected looked even worse and scarierpared to most evil spirits.


    "You better get used to it."


    "Yes¡­"


    The little sylph took a deep breath trying to calm her mind. Seeing how this na?ve little critter was trying hard, Mark could not help but pat her little head with his finger.


    Looking back at the scene, Mark started to think which ce he needed to go to search for medicine. Looking at the northern side of the barrio, he saw arge structure that seemed to be an open covered basketball court. The design of the structure was something generic to covered courts built by the local government and public schools. There was also one of these kinds of covered court in Queens Row and inside the Queens Row Elementary School. Aside from those two, there was also one beside the Molino III barangay hall which he saw long before the outbreak. Since it was with the same design, it was likely that it was built beside the barangay hall of this ce.


    If there was a barangay hall, there should be a health center near it or at least inside the barangay hall, there should be an area or room dedicated for the ill. If not, this ce would fail to be a tourist stop at all.


    The other candidates were the lodging restaurants and inns. Since they were offering lodging services, those ces should have medicine in them.


    As for the best ce that would surely have medicine¡­


    It was the airne.


    Any passenger airne would surely have medicine stored for their passengers especially since any kind of medical emergencies could happen during every flight. Still, the ne was the most dangerous ce to search in Mark''s view. He still remembered the videos of crashed nes he downloaded in the mall before. For every video, there would be something that seemed to havee from the world of nightmares popping out of the airnes.


    It crashed at the time the outbreak started. Since the airne''s body was mostly intact, the nightmarish thing on that ne would most likely be still inside. Who knows what he would encounter if he tried to intrude into that airne.


    The airne was thest ce he would search. For the first target, it should be the covered court. It was slightly near the northern outskirts of the barrio and would be easy to ess once he managed to get rid of the infected. As for the way to lure the infected to the further side of this ce, he looked at Amihan on his shoulder.


    "M-my Lord¡­ You want me to do something dangerous aren''t you¡­?"


    Amihan flinched noticing his emotionless gaze.


    "I shouldn''t be dangerous. You just need to fly to the other side, that way, away from that building." Mark pointed at the north east first then at the very noticeable roof of the covered court. "Then lure the infected away. You don''t need to do anything else. Just do a single shout then fly away."


    The little sylph sighed in relief that she only needed to shout. She thought that she needed to show herself to those scary creatures to lure them away. Then, she realized¡­


    "My Lord, I don''t think my shout will be heard by all these i-infected."


    That was right. Her voice might be louder than her size could tell but it would be impossible for her shout to cover a veryrge area.<sub> </sub>


    Mark on the other hand remembered that aside from blowing stuff away, including her own body, Amihan did not know any use of her wind control ability. Even the way to mask smell and noises was taught to her by him on the spot when they chased after the escapeesst night.


    "Remember how I taught you to mask the sound?"


    "Yes. You said that I needed to make the wind around the ce blow towards us right?"


    Amihan had no knowledge pertaining to science so Mark had to word it as simple as possible.


    "That''s right." Mark replied. "When you shout, do the opposite. Make the wind blowing from your direction then scatter the wind around the ce. It''s easy right?"


    "Yes!"


    Though she still seemed afraid, Mark watched at Amihan flew up into the sky towards the north east direction. After the infected was lured away and Amihan came back, he would immediately make his move.


    "WAAAA!"


    A tiny but loud shout carried by the wind entered his ear. Soon enough, the infected around the area turned their heads towards that direction. The normal and mutated Biters started running while the normal and mutated Eatersgged behind. Still, the method worked well. Soon enough, he saw Amihan return with a pale face.


    "What happened?"


    "Scary¡­ those infected are scary¡­"


    "I told you to return right away after shouting right?"


    "I did! But there''s a person with several arms and legs running fast like a huge spider! It almost saw me¡­"


    Amihan was really scared. She was shaking.


    "Alright¡­" Mark caressed her head. "I''ll leave the red blob inside the house with the bodies to absorb the blood. You stay here to guard."


    "Umm¡­ Is that really okay? Will you be fine?"


    "I''ll be fine alone. I can''t have you screaming in my ear while I fight the remaining infected, can I?"


    "Uuuuuuh¡­ Yes¡­"


    Amihan felt a little ashamed about what Mark said. Still, even though she wanted to apany him, she was not confident that she would be able to keep her mouth shut while facing the scary infected.


    Leaving the delighted blob and Amihan, Mark cautiously stepped into the clearing.


    Even though most infected were lured unto the opposite side of the barrio, there was still quite a number of infected left. Most of themgged behind either because they moved too slowly due to being Eaters or having injuries on their lower limbs.


    It seemed that these infected were too hungry, the moment they noticed Mark, they started to move towards him at their fastest pace.


    Drawing his katana once more, Mark started to run toward the iing infected. With a swing of his blood metal katana, the closest infected had its head flying. Mark did not stop and continued running while the ck de of his katana shed around him. For every ck colored sh, a head would fly and a headless body would fall down.


    At this moment, Mark stopped. He saw a female infected moving on fours on the roof of the closest house. The infected was a mutated one and reminded him of the infected that climbed up the wall of cars back then before. It was at that time he burned the horde outside Carlo''s fast-food restaurant using the leaking gas from Dozers. While crawling on fours, it could climb up and down vertical surfaces. It also had the very noticeablepound eyes and thatrge rolled tongue that was simr to a butterfly''s proboscis.


    This one however looked quite different from the previous one. It made Mark think for a second that it could be either a higher level mutation or a different mutation. One thing was for sure though. The cause of this mutation had something to do with butterflies or moths. In fact, the mutated infected on the roof in front of Mark had a colorful tint and patterns on its skin and every time it moved, there was some dust like particles on its trail.


    ''Butterfly scales.''


    Mark thought as the particles scatter around at the infected''s every movement. The appearance of the skin looked rather beautiful due to the color and pattern but the fact that it was a mutated infected with unknown abilities overcame its beauty.


    The mutated infected jumped off from the roof using its four limbs making Mark retreat. As itnded, a cloud of miniscule scales scattered around. Mark did not dare get close and retreated further as he did not know what those scales could do. It could be harmless but he would not try it on its body. There were variants of butterflies or moths that could cause allergies or even irritate the eyes. The scales of this mutated infected however, it could be really able to cause blindness or might even be poisonous.


    As Mark took his steps back, clicking sounds was heard on his right arm as the folded crossbow took its attacking shape. Before the mutated infected could even charge at him, three ck crossbow bolts flew towards its head in a very fast speed. The right most bolt missed the target and prated the wooden wall of the house behind the mutated infected but the other two bolts managed to hit its forehead above its left eye while the other prated through its right eye.


    The mutated infected fell down without moving scattering even more scales. It made Mark lose interest in retrieving the crossbow bolts and continued on his way while avoiding the cloud of scales. In this mind however¡­


    ''What should I call that mutated infected¡­''

 Chapter 197 From An Angel To A Parasite, When The Unborn Lifes "Life" Was Non-Existent

    <strong>Day 22 ¨C 9:11 AM ¨C Barangay Daraitan, Tanay, Rizal</strong>


    While the cracking noises sounded from under his foot and loud thuds from the falling bodies from every swing of his sword, Mark started to notice that the road he was running on was basically a graveyard for both human and beasts. The cracking sound did note from the stones or gravel on the road but from the bones of both animals and humans that scattered on the area. Aside from the bones, there were also a lot of abandoned bags and equipment left by the tourists everywhere. The road also started to be cemented as he left the outskirts into the central area.


    During his run, Mark could not help check one of therger bags and saw the several neatly folded clothes inside along with equipment necessary for travel. Seeing the contents of the bag, Mark hurriedly put it to the side and made a mental reminder to pick it upter. The clothes were musty and bag was dirty but the other items inside could surely be of use in the mountains.


    After leaving the bag and encountering more infected, both humans and animals, he started to take notice of the untouched street side general merchandise stores. He stopped for a bit and peered through the window and saw the rows and rows of canned goods, packed junk food and other thingsmonly found in small stores. This untouched store made him sure that no survivors managed to scavenge from this ce since the outbreak. There might be others that tried but likely failed. It also confirmed that this ce was one of the ground zeros of the outbreak due to the crashed airne.


    This ce was too dangerous for normal people. To Mark on the other hand, this was a treasure trove.


    As long as all the infected in this ce did not gang up on him, he was sure that he coulde and go as much as he could. Besides, he had Amihan who could lure away the infected safer with more efficiency. It seemed that this would not be hisst trip here. He was even sure that he would frequent this ce until everything that could be scavenged was looted by him.


    The thought of cleaning up the infected in this ce slowly and making the base here since there was already structures also came into his mind. Thinking about the pros and cons however, the scrapped the idea. The biggest and most important reason was that the only water source in this area was the Ungos River which the water could be contaminated for the most part. Not only for sure that this river flows along severalmunities and the longer the river was, the more likely for stray infected to get dragged by the water especially during floods.


    Right now, he did not see any washed away infected maybe due to the fact that the river around this ce was on the shallow side but he could nor risk it further. He was not afraid of the unstable strain on the saliva of the infected to contaminate the river though. He noticed it before when he tried to store the saliva inside a jar. Though it managed to stay the way it was inside the sealed jar, being exposed to the air and being diluted in water disperses the saliva out of existence.


    Though, since it had been long since the outbreak started, Mark just wished that it did not change. Well, it was very unlikely or else, he would not be able to see Hallie and Nicole''s group of survivors after they crossed the river.


    Finally, Mark found the barangay hall. Obviously, it was deserted. After he cleared the infected outside, he made his way inside the barangay hall before closing the gate. There were several infected inside but they were only Biters and Eaters which did not take long to eliminate. The people here probably experienced a bitter struggle. There were a lot of dried up blood stains on the walls and the concrete covered yard. The ss main door and the windows were all broken into pieces while a lot of stuff around was overturned.


    There seemed that the ce had no separate building for the health center making him enter the main building. There, he saw what he was looking for. It was the room which looked like a clinic. Still, he did not immediately enter the ce but looked around the building while carefully illuminating the infected inside. After killing all the infected inside the barangay hall, he finally entered the consultation room and started to open the cabs one by one and checked for the medicine he could find.


    For sure, there was not too much but he was able to find several blister packs of paracetamol tablets, loperamide capsules and amoxicillin capsules. There were also a few bottles vitamin supplements. Luckily, none of the items were past its expiration date. He put all the medicine in his bag including several rolls of gauze, small bottles of iodine solution and two bottles of hydrogen peroxide. The assortment of medicine was very few but he got what he needed which was very good.


    If he tried to look inside lounging areas first though, he might have to spend more time searching.


    When he walked out the main door with a good mood, the eaters had already started to clog the area outside gate. Some even started to climb up the fences. It seemed that even though not all, some infected started to develop the ability to climb lower walls and obstacles. Unexpectedly, the first one to managed climbing up the fence was the same pregnant infected he saw earlier. It seemed that itgged behind due to the heavy baggage she was carrying.


    Looking at how big the woman''s belly was, it was likely that she was already due this month. When the woman managed to climb over the fence, he plopped unto the ground squishing her belly in the process. Mark who was always emotionless shivered at the thought of an infected baby suddenly spurting out of the woman like a rocket. His imagination was really good at kicking up in uncanny times. What he thought however did not happen and the infected pregnant woman stood up with a bit of difficulty.


    Several infected soon followed over the fence. Counting the number, there was seven and several more trying to climb up. Mark then started to face the iing infected shing the pregnant woman first. Her head rolled away and her body slid on the already bloody ground squishing her bloated belly once more. Ignoring the first body, Mark started to clear the other infected before he escape the ce.


    He could have escaped already but he was eying the mountain bike parked at the side of the barangay hall. Its wheels were slightly out of air but there was an air pump tied up on its body. If he wanted to take it out safely, it was better if he reduce the number of the infected outside.


    In the midst of eliminating the infected that managed to climb up the fence, he noticed a fast moving shadow moving on fours at the corner of his eyes. He hurriedly jumped back to dodge letting the shadow pass in front of him. Seeing the body of the fast moving shadow, his eyes dted for the first time in a while.<sub> </sub>


    It was not a new infected or even an infected animal. The one moving fast in all fours was the headless body of the pregnant woman. Her body was facing up and her limbs bent like spider legs towards her back like some possessed child in an exorcism movie. The only difference was that her body was headless and the one facing him was her sensitive part. As her maternity clothes were all torn up, her underwear was all exposed for him to see because of her strange position.


    With a burst of blood which made him dodge once more, a bloody hole appeared on her bloated belly with a deformed face of an infant sticking out of the hole. The head was squished on its left side causing its right eye to almost pop out of its skull while its other eye was basically nothing but a bloody socket. Normally, even a newly born baby had bad eyesight but this one was able to turn its popped out eye towards him looking at him with a bloodthirsty stare.


    If Amihan was here, not mention about screaming, she might have already fainted. This scene was basically stuff from a grotesque nightmare.


    As normal to the infected, the baby that took over her mother''s body started to charge again towards him with a small but bloodthirsty cry. It seemed that the cry agitated the other infected and they attacked more aggressively.


    "That infected pregnant woman was not normal infected after all."


    Mark muttered as he fought off the agitated infected. It seems that he needed to abandon the mountain bike for now. The infected outside the gate started to let out agitated cries and would surely attract the lured away infected if it had gone for too long. He had already found and taken his main purpose in this ce anyway. He just needed to stop by the street store to get some seasoning and food along with the bag he left on the street side and leave. But first, he should take care of the mutated baby though. Mark was sure that he would not be able to lose it if he just ran to escape.


    ''A baby inside a mother''s womb could be considered as an unborn angel but if the baby turned out to be an infected, it was nothing but a parasite.''


    He thought as he faced another charge from that grotesque infant.


    With a wave of his left hand, his palm split open and three [Blood Whips] burst out charging towards the mutated baby''s head. As the tips of the whips was done solidifying into pointed stingers, three more holes was added to the baby''s face and its mother''s headless body rolled several times to the ground before it stopped moving.


    The infected around was still agitated and Mark hurriedly jumped over the fence further away from the congestion of the infected.


    Unexpectedly, even the supposed to be Eaters started running towards him like Biters. It seemed that their agitation did not only apply on their attacks but also on their movements. It would be hard to escape without eliminating every single agitated infected.


    ''Time to try that move huh?''


    Mark was not fazed facing the agitated infected despite their number that was more than two dozen.


    His eyes turned sharper as the three [Blood Whips] on his palm retracted. Then, six [Blood Whips] burst out from his back even creating holes on his clothes. Each whip was one and a half meter in length and three centimeters thick. This was the highest number and the best length and size he could control. Then, the shapes of the whip started to distort and solidify creating segmented armor on each of the whip. Each segment had a single short de on it making each whip look like a sword whip that could be seen being used by some anime characters.


    As the whips moved, the metallic clicking could be heard. He then charged towards the infected. Though using this attack style seemed to make his movement a little slower due to the loss of blood inside his body, he was not worried about it. With the armored ded whips moving around his body, he was nothing short of a meat grinder right now.


    The whips wouldsh on the infected and due to the multiple des, not only the necks of the infected were getting decapitated but also their limbs and other body parts. Not only blood sttered on the ground but also a lot of grinded off flesh from the infected along with the decapitated heads and limbs.


    As soon as he killed off thest agitated infected, he immediately fled the area. Now that the infected around was all ellimnated, he wanted to take the mountain bike with him, however, he could feel his sense of danger tingling fiercely. It was likely that a lot mutated infected was attracted due to the disturbance just now. If he wanted to get more supplies and carry the tourist bag away, he needed to run away as soon as possible and move discreetly.

 Chapter 198 Red Blobs, The Foundation Of The Future Base

    Day 22 ¨C 9:30 AM ¨C Barangay Daraitan, Tanay, Rizal


    After Mark fled the area of the previous bloody battle filled with decapitated corpses, he went straight towards the street side store and entered it. The door only had a hinge lock making it easy for him to break. After entering the door, he did not immediately pack up the items but hid under the window instead. He was rather curious why he was feeling too much danger so he tried to peek at the window looking at the area he left before while being hidden.


    Soon, an eight foot tall creature went out of the street corner outside the barangay hall. Mark knew that it was the one Amihan saw earlier as it had multiple pairs of limbs. However, it seemed that the little sylph was too scared and failed to clearly look at its appearance. The mutated creature did not really look like a spider.


    It had three pairs of hands and legs. Furthermore, the limbs that did not belong to the same pair had different length and size. Not only that, but the positioning of some of the limbs rather odd. One of the shorter arms which looked like a child''s right arm was protruded on its chest while the pair of it was on the back. It was also using just four of its six legs to walk while the other two hang on its waist.


    It also had two bulging tumor like bumps, one on its right shoulder while the other was located where the tailbone was supposed to be.


    ''Wait¡­''


    The mutated infected scurried too fast that he had a hard time seeing its body clearly but he had a glimpse of the tumor on its tailbone when it turned around. It was not a tumor but a woman''s distorted head that had its hair removed. He also saw two sets of buttocks behind it but on a closer look, one set was not actually buttocks but pair of a woman''s healthy mountains.


    After it stopped moving, Mark saw it body was distorted and it actually had several body parts that more that the supposed number a normal person had. It gave him the grotesque idea that the infected''s body was actually made of several infected bodies fused together.


    While looking at the mutated infected, Mark held his right arm. It was not because he was scared but because the PsyCrystal embedded on his arm and hidden by his bracer was vibrating fiercely. Since it happened while he was looking at the mutated infected, it was likely that it had at least one pebble on its head. Considering how the crystal reacted, there should be more than one and that was possible due to the fact that the infected had more than one head.


    However, Mark felt that the fused infected was not the only reason he was feeling danger and was not the only creature causing the reaction of the PsyCrystal. Soon, his suspicion was answered. Before the fused infected turned away and leave, another strange looking infected went out in the middle of the street. It was rather average in size but the aura around it told Mark that it was a predator.


    The new infected looked too skinny as if there was only bones and no flesh it is body. Even the shape of its skull was obvious on its head. However, its hands were non-existent and instead, it had a pair of scythe shaped bones about half meter in length. As it walked with its hunched body, it uses its ded arms as its fore limbs and was running fast on all fours. That aside, even though it moved fast, Mark could not hear even the faintest sound as it ran on the concrete road.


    ''There''s probably more kinds of mutated infected here.''


    Mark thought as his excitement started to rise. As a zombie outbreak enthusiast, aside from learning things about survival one of the things that could give him both enjoyment and security was to discover and study these new kinds infected. Not only his curiosity would be satisfied but he would also discover how to fight and locate the weaknesses of these creatures.


    However, not now¡­


    He was here for another goal so he needed to restrain himself.


    Seeing that the mutated infected had left, he started to pack everything he could into his bag and even took an empty standard sized box that he saw and filled it with canned food. Even though it would make him a bit slower when he return, it would still be fine even if he needed to battle evolved animals and insects on the way.


    After packing everything he that could fit in the box and his bag, he used the [Blood Whips] on his back to secure the box behind him. He then went out to the back of the house and went behind the houses as he made his way back. He still sneakily went to take the hiking bag and then ran even faster. There was no way he would use the street he took previously now that it was likely for the two mutated infected or even other kinds to see him in the open. Not to mention that the other infected already gathered on the street to feast on the bodies of their deadrades.


    By the time he returned, Amihan immediately flew towards him with a worried face along with all the worried questions she could ask. This little sylph being a worrywart was kind of annoying but it was one of her good qualities in a way. In the least, this showed how important Mark''s existence to her.


    Still, even though Mark escaped a tough or might even be a life threatening fight, he was currently facing quite of a problem.


    He had already found what he needed and it was already more than he could normally carry, he wanted to return. The moment he opened the door of the house he left the red blob however¡­


    "My Lord¡­ I think it ate too much¡­"


    Amihan on his shoulder said as they stared at the red blob that was now evenrger than a five gallon bucket.


    Mark could feel that the red blob seemed happy he returned but he did not really know how he would be able to carry it now considering how many things he was already carrying.<sub> </sub>


    That was when his eyesnded on his [Blood Whip] when he nced at the bags he was carrying on his back.


    He remembered that his blood and the body of the red blob was basically the same and it could even absorb the blood of others like how he did. Then¡­


    Could it also turn into metal?


    It seemed that his thought was properly received by the red blob and it extended a tentacle towards him. In a few seconds, the tentacle made of blood solidified into metal and got disconnected from the blob''s body making a nging sound on the floor.


    "My Lord, this¡­"


    Amihan was surprised at the scene and turned to Mark who had his eyes shining with expectations. With the existence of the red blob, a lot this problems was given an answer. Especially questions pertaining to the base he wanted to build.


    He could turn his blood into metal but it had some limitations. First, even though he could manipte any shape and size of his blood outside his body, it was only within the scope of the amount of blood in his body. After turning it to metal, the size and shape was limited and it would surely take a long time for it to be used as walls or even foundations of structures. Second, he would suffer from symptoms of anemia if he overdid it. Third, he could only store a limited amount of blood in his body. Lastly, even though he could turn the blood of others into metal without absorbing it, it would still require him to melt the metal and absorb it before it could be shaped and used.


    With the red blob however, all of these limitations had been lifted. The blob which had its whole body made of blood could store as much as it could for sure and would just grow in size. It would not feel anemia for sure and since the blood in its body could be bloated inrge amounts, the size limit for the [Blood Meta] had lesser limitations.


    Mark sent his thoughts to the red blob and it changed its shape into a wheelbarrow without wheels. After the blood metallized and the metal wheel was created, the red blob finally returned to its initial size. Still, its liveliness and the strength of Mark''s mental connection to it remained the same like when it was still big.


    Amihan looked both amazed and jealous. It seemed like she also wanted such a useful ability since she could only control the wind around her. If Mark knew of her thoughts, he would surelyugh. After all, even though Amihan''s ability right now might be weak, it had a fair amount of uses. Not to mention¡­


    It was not like her ability could not be enhanced further. The [Mental Crystals] should be able to help with that. Mark just needed to wait for his mental ability toe back after both psychic abilities consolidated fully in his mind. It was also the reason he could not tap with the uses of the PsyCrystal on his wrist. He needed mental energy to use it.


    Finally, he could now remove the heavy things from his back. He also proceeded to loot the houses in this empty area gathering clothes, soap and other daily necessities.


    Finally, he could leave. The next goal he had was to investigate where the red blobs came from. As he found a very important use for this unknown creature simr to a fantasy monster called slime, he wanted to find as many as he could. He also wanted to think of a name for this creature after investigating its origin.


    And after that was to secure a consistent source of blood to be used for building the base.


    He had many options but he thought of something that was very unlikely for most people to do¡­


    ***


    It took him for a while and his arms felt numb but he managed to return to the vige about three hours before sunset. Even though he managed to create a wheelbarrow with the help of the red blob, his hand and arms became numb due to the rocky riverside and the uneven mountain terrain which became one of the reason he spent more time returning.


    When he returned, he was dly given a warm reception by Hallie especially when she saw the medicine that everyone could use. They really needed this medicine after all since most of the people in her group were either sick or injured.


    Mark stared at Hallie with a bit of confusion. In terms of injury, she had it worse than the others. Just how was she able to maintain her lively attitude when the others could not even move properly?


    Looking at the sky, it seemed that the hos had already calmed down. Mark felt that it was a waste that it was unlikely for him to find the overly confident guy''s body since the oversized hos were carnivorous. He would not be able to store his ability. Well, it was not like he could anyway since his mental abilities could not be used yet. It was the same for the already existing [Physical Crystals] and [Mental Crystals] which were currently stored inside the PsyCrystal.


    Mark was thinking a lot of things and it was also the same for the members of Hallie''s group. When Mark returned with the supplies he scavenged in the infected filledmunity, even though it did not belong to them, they became assured that staying here would not be bad as long as they work properly. Mark had the ability to find supplies in dangerous ces and had the ability to protect them. They just needed to show that they were worthy of being fed and protected

 Chapter 199 Their Plans, The First Steps For The Future Base

    <strong>Day 22 ¨C 7:32 PM ¨C Mountain Vige, Mount Mbito, General Nakar, Quezon</strong>


    Due to the medical supplies Mark brought back, Nicole''s fever had already stabilized while the injuries of the others were dressed properly. On the other hand, Jollene had already woken up it was not wrong to say that the state of her body was way better thanst night. Not only herplexion was better but her strength also rose significantly.


    When she woke up, she was rather in a stupor. It was because at the time she tried to recall what happenedst night, what entered her mind first was Huey''s worried face as she lost strength in his embrace. She did not realize that it left a strong mark on her memories since his face was the first thing she saw when she needed someone the most.


    Right now, with the exception of Nicole who was still unconscious, all members of their group were gathered around a campfire as they grilled some of the meat from the tiger Ed processed. Mark was rather satisfied with his work that he even gave him a can of tuna from the food he brought home. The skin of the tiger was hanged and left at the drying rack beside Mark''s house while most of the meat was going to be made into jerky. As for the leftover meat, they were free to cook it in any way they wanted while the fat of the tiger was collected by Mark saying that he would process it asmp oil.


    This time, their members gathered here to talk about their future ns. Mark on the other hand was already resting as he said that he would go out early tomorrow.


    "Is that really true?"


    Ron, the one of the men aside from Huey asked as Trisha and Hallie finish narrating the information Mark told them yesterday.


    Huey already had a little idea about it since he talked to Trishast night but the others knew nothing about it. It was the information about Mutagen, the Mutators and Evolvers, and even the difference about Eaters and Biters. The information he got from the government was included. Of course, Mark did not tell them everything and Hallie knew that. There was a lot of anime that tell the value of information in this kind of situation. As a fellow Otaku, she knew that Mark would not reveal every card in his hand.


    Still, it was a lot of information for them to hear and swallow. It was also the reason Hallie decided to tell them now since they were all gathered in one ce.


    "It''s true. There''s no need for Mark to lie about those since it''s easy to determine whether that information is true or not."


    Hallie said confidently.


    They all became silent as they slowly digested the information. Along with that silence, they sometimes turn to nce at Jollene who should be an Evolver now. Although there was a tint of envy on Ed and Ron''s eyes, they were also sure that it would not be easy to be one. Jollene almost lost her life after all.


    "Now, what are your ns? Although Mark said that well need topensate him for what that idiot did, we are free after that."


    Hallie said.


    That question made them even more silent.


    What were they going to do? Leave? That was asking for trouble. They could not even keep their lives when they were a whole group of people, what could they do now? The forested mountains were filled with those evolved animals while the towns and cities were filled with infected. Actually, this day was the most peaceful day they had since the apocalypse started.


    "We''re going to stay, me and Nicole." Hallie answered her question herself. "Actually, we''re not confident at finding that ce in the leaflet since the start. The only reason why the two of us came with this group was because Nicole is being targeted by the lechers in the hotel. Comparing this hopeless journey to being their toys, we picked the previous one. Now that we found a ce to stay, we have no reason to leave anymore."


    The expression on her face that was lit by the mes was resolute and way different from her usual behavior.


    "We won''t leave too. Right Huey?"


    Jollene calmly said as she turned to Huey who was not speaking. Huey had already briefed her about what happenedst night and he even confessed to her when the others were not around. She was rather surprised to the extent that she wanted to me him for not saying it sooner but considering how blinded she was in her delusions with Jefferson, she had withdrawn the thought. Now, she rather hated herself for falling for that person.


    Unfortunately for Huey, she had just received her first heartbreak so she was still not ready for a rtionship with anyone. Still, she could not deny that she would readily ept Huey in the future when she was ready. After all, he was not even ashamed to narrate how he begged Mark for her life. Still, she felt helpless when Huey said that the lives of the two of them belonged to Mark now.


    "Right." Huey bitterly smiled. "I already sold our souls to the demon after all."


    "Pfft. That''s quite an analogy."


    Hallie could not help butugh.


    "But it''s also true." Jollene smiled. "I''m supposed to be dead now. If Huey did not beg for my life, I won''t even be sitting here."


    Not known to others, Jollene had another reason. She wanted to grow stronger and it was only possible if there was someone already strong enough to guide her. Besides, Huey said that it seemed that Mark had the idea what happened to her after she woke up. The sensation she hadst night, she could not exin it. However, Mark was very likely to have the answer.


    In the end, none of them wanted to leave anymore especially when Hallie told them Mark''s n to build his own base here in the mountains.


    "If we''re the first people in the base and also the ones who help build it. Even though it was Mark''s base, we''ll have a better treatment when other people arrivester right?" Hallie said before turning to Jollene. "Is something wrong with what I said?"


    Jollene was thinking something with a rather confused expression.<sub> </sub>


    "No, not with what you said. I''m just thinking why that¡­ Um¡­ Boss, did not just save me directly and made me run away letting the tiger chase me all the way back."


    On that question, the others also did not have an answer. However, Hallie spoke.


    "He''s probably wanted to prevent a "Damsel in Distress" trope from happening."


    "What do you mean?"


    "You see¡­ If a man saved a woman in danger, it''s likely for her to develop feelings for him right?" Hallie fixed her sses. "In that case, since he was saving you due to Huey''s feelings, then he can''t save you directly. Well, I didn''t expect Huey to kowtow in front of him though."


    "I-I see." Jollene was still confused but at least, Hallie''s answer lightened her confusion a bit. "Wait, what do you mean by kowtow?"


    "Last nig-"


    "Stop! Don''t tell her that. And how do you even know that?!"


    Huey stopped Hallie from answering with a rare flustered expression. It looked like even though he told Jollene that he begged Mark, he did not say anything about how he kowtowed to beg him.


    ***


    While the Hallie''s group was talking outside, Mark had not actually fallen asleep yet. He was thinking about how he should work with building the base.


    First was to clear up the area for sure. Removing the trees and wild nts around the spring and with the help of the red blob that was currently jiggling on hisp as he yed with it, he would be able toy the foundations efficiently. As for the consistent source of blood for the materials, he had two options.


    First was to get the blood from the other people. After all, humans could replenish the blood they lost with proper nutrition and it was not like they needed to die just for him to get some blood. However, this option had arge downside to this now. After their blood was "donated" to him, they would surely feel lethargic and that was not good since the manpower he had now to build the base was too small. If he could get to loot a blood bank, it would be good. To normal survivors, a blood bank was nothing but a worthless ce to loot but to him, it was a treasure trove to be looted.


    Due to those limitations, he could only go for the next option¡­


    After securing the blood source, he needed more people. In that case, he would try to pay a visit at the ce written on the leaflet Hallie had. Even though he did not know what kind of survivor camp it was, one thing was for sure, not everyone there had a good state of living. His recruitment requirements would be high but it did not mean that there would be no one to fit the criteria.


    Mark wanted to finish building the base as fast as he could. He wanted to see his new family as soon as possible.


    ***


    Day 23 ¨C 6:20 AM ¨C Mountain Vige, Mount Mbito, General Nakar, Quezon


    The next morning, Mark could smell the aroma of hot coffee. As he slept in the living room, he could see Hallie making coffee in the kitchen. It seemed that Hallie could move better now that her wound was properly dressed and cleaned though she was still having a hard time moving her feet. Now, that he smelled the coffee, he remembered that it had been a long while since he had one.


    While having their breakfast, Mark told Hallie what her group had to do while he was away. Well, it was just what Ed needed to do as he was the only one able to move properly and do heavy work. The woman called Trisha who always assisted Hallie on walking was more of a clerk so he did not have much expectation for her to properly help in dismantling the unused houses. ording to Hallie, Trisha and Ron did not belong to theirpany and were strangers when the apocalypse started. They just started to bond together after they left the hotel.


    In terms of work, Ed could do the heavy things due to being someone from a dairy farm and hisrge stature. Trisha could be left with cooking since she was actually an assistant cook at the hotel. As for Ron who was a guest of the hotel at that time, he could be left with other menial jobs after he recovered from his injury. His injury after all was the lightest of them having his ankle sprained when they escaped from the tiger.


    p As for Huey and Jollene, Mark had ns for them. Hallie told him that everyone decided to stay under his leadership while Huey and Jollene was the most convinced in their decision. In that case, Mark wanted the two to be included in the fighting force of his base once he was assured that the two would be loyal to him. Huey could be a strategist while Jollene who had awakened a very good ability could be the main fighter.</anda>


    The others were still asleep when Mark left together with Amihan and the red blob inside his bag. It seemed that they stayed uptest night. Hallie who was used to watching anime all night looked fine though.


    His goal today was to find the source of these red blobs while following the riverside. If there were other red blobs on the way, he would dly collect them. He just wished that he could find another one that was alive.


    Along the way, he found some red blobs stuck at the rocks on the side of the river but all of them were dead. Following the river upstream, he did not expect¡­


    He came back to the same Barrio and under the huge airne suspended over the river was a dried up pile of red blobs. Looking at this, there was no doubt.


    The red blobs came from this airne.

 Chapter 200 The Crashed Airbus, Entering The Most Disgusting Place He Had Ever Seen

    <strong>Day 23 ¨C 8:11 AM ¨C Ungos River, Barangay Daraitan, Tanay, Rizal</strong>


    Reaching the riverside near the barrio took him lesser time than yesterday since he was familiar with the way already. Mark totally did not expect that the red blobs woulde from the airne but thinking about it, it was not really strange at all. Even though there was no evidence, it was not hard to assume that the airnes, no, not only the airnes but probably all of the air transport vehicles or might even be birds and the like, were suddenly exposed to absurd amounts of Mutagen when the meteoroids struck the atmosphere.


    Due to Mutagen being a cause of mutation, a sudden exposure to high amounts of it might have led to the extreme transformations to the exposed people and animals. With this thought, Mark started to suspect that the dangerous looking infected inside the barrio actually came from this airne. The possibility of that being the case was very high.


    "Amihan, you stay here and hide."


    "Yes¡­"


    Mark made the little sylph hide further away as he investigated the vicinity of the airne. This time, Amihan did not say anything and agreed immediately. It seemed that she also felt something wrong about the airne. He was also the same. Although the airne looked normal outside with the exception of its damaged parts, he could feel a swelling disgust in his stomach as he moved closer. It was a very strange feeling but he could not exin where it wasing from.


    Amihan flew away hiding behind a tree in the furthest corner of the orchard at the riverside. This orchard was just next to the area or the barrio where he cleaned up the infected yesterday. The orchard was the ce separating that area from the crashed ne.


    Since the little sylph had already hidden herself, Mark started to approach the airne closer. He lowered himself as he cautiously observed the area around the huge airne.


    There was the dried up pile of blobs under the suspended airne. The pile could not really be called blobs anymore as they all looked like deformed agar-agar bars with brownish red color.Furthermore, there was not only this pile but there were a lot of scattered dried blobs around the area. How many blobs were here? Mark could not estimate the exact number but it was likely that it was over a hundred.


    Maybe due to the number of the red blobs here, the riverside, mostly the stones and soil, was covered in reddish colored mycorrhiza like webs. With the exception of the running river water, the area at the approximate vicinity beneath the airne was transformed into something else. The ce was really eye-catching but he did not manage to see it yesterday when he searched for the Barrio due to the difference in elevation of the terrain. Although he could see the airne yesterday, he could not see the terrain below it as he did not try to approach.


    Not only that, but the ce reeked with the smell of iron. Even though Mark uses blood as his main ability as a Mutator, even he could not help but frown as he smelled the thick unpleasant odor. The stench of blood was nauseating and too strong that it did not smell like blood anymore but smelled more like metal that started to get corroded with acid.


    As he approached even closer, he tested stepping on the red mycorrhiza that covered the riverside with caution. He did not feel anything strange as he stepped on it aside from the rocks covered with it being slightly sticky and slippery. As he felt no danger yet, he continued to approach the ne through the red colored riverside.


    Looking around, it seemed that the state of the dried up blobs were different. Some were totally dried and wrinkled while there were those that were still wet. There were also blobs that looked new but very little in number.


    Mark''s eyes then lit up. He felt two tugging sensations in his blood as he continued to move closer to the airne. One wasing from under the airne while the other unfortunately, seemed to havee from the airne.


    ''So¡­ These blobs came from inside the airne?''


    He thought as he felt the second source.


    These sensations was simr to what he felt when he saw the first blob getting washed up by the river current. For sure, these two sensations came from two living blobs. He hurried towards the one under the airne as he could feel that it was rather weak. While approaching, he kept on monitoring the airne in case that something suddenly popped out while he was distracted.


    As he approached, he could not help but notice that almost all windows of the airne facing his side was actually broken. Strange enough, each window was blocked with something like a film of disgusting and pulsing flesh. He could even see the blood stains on the flesh that covered the windows.


    It was then that the flesh covering one of the windows moved and a hole was opened. This sudden movement made Mark freeze in ce and heighten his alertness. What he did not expect was that it was not an attack. From the hole, a red blob came out and sttered unto the rocky riverside. Fortunately, it was not a living blob or it might have been a waste. After dumping out the dead blob, the hole on the flesh that covered the window closed once more in a disgusting manner.


    This made Mark sure that these blobs came from the airne and it just showed why there were blobs getting carried downstream and why a lot of blobs piled up in the riverside under the airne.


    Mark found the living blob under the ne without danger. When he approached, the blob was not moving and he could feel that it was very weak. It was dying. Without hesitation, a [Blood Whip] extended out of his palm and he pierced that blob as it did not even try to extend a tentacle towards him.


    As the [Blood Whip] pierced it, the color of the blob started to change like how the first blob reacted to his. He could feel that it was getting stronger and started to recover from its dying state. When he carefully picked it up with both hands, it actively extended two tentacles which it curled on his hands and it started to rub its jelly like body in his palms.


    ''It seemed like these blobs also had different personalities.''<sub> </sub>


    His current connection with this one was way weakerpared to the first blob but it seemed that it had a sweeter personality that thetter. After all, Mark could tell the faint emotions of these blobs through their connection with him.


    While holding the newly acquired blob, Mark hurriedly ran away from underneath the airne. It was because he could feel some tremorsing from the inside and the airne was creating creaking and squishing sounds. After he ran a few meters away, the movements and sounds stopped but along with those disappearing, the tugging feeling he felting from inside the airne also vanished.


    It was very likely that the blob inside that was alive died.


    ''Is there something inside killing the living blobs?''


    He thought as the sensation vanished. If that was really the case, then, it was no wonder there was only two living blobs among the dozens of blobs he saw before and considering the weak state of both blobs, it was likely that they only escaped by ident.


    As he suspected that something was killing the blobs inside the airne, he went back to Amihan to leave his backpack where he kept the two blobs. The two blobs seemed to have acknowledged the existence of each other and did not try to devour one another. Rather, Mark felt that the two blobs seemed to have found ymates and started to poke each other with their tentacles.


    Leaving the backpack behind being hung on the tree and under Amihan''s guard, Mark went back to the airne. This time, he was going to the part where the tail was supposed to be. Since the tail of the airne was detached when it crashed, there should be an opening there for Mark to enter as there was no way for him to stealthily enter the airne through the door that was suspended over the river.


    When he arrived by the broken part of the airne, the disgusting rotten smell of flesh and blood became several times thicker. As he looked at where the opening of the airne should be, he saw a wall. It was a wall of bloodstained and pulsating flesh.


    It was like a hive from an infection video game where disgusting formation of flesh covered a building along with several pods on it. Just in the airne''s case, there were no pods. One the wall of flesh stained with blood, the bulging dark colored blood vessels and its rather unnerving continuous pulsing.


    He had not seen anything like this from the videos he downloaded from the inte that contained the footage of the airnes that crashed. For sure, a unique mutation happened in this airne for it to look like this.


    Should he enter or not?


    Mark started to contemte. He was not really affected by the stench or scared by this scene but if he entered the in, it felt like he would be entering apletely different territory. If the windows and the tail part of the airne was covered with these flesh walls, for sure, the inside would be dark, damp, and would likely look like a scene from the point of view of a schizophrenic protagonist in a psychological visual novel.


    However, he needed to know about the source of the blobs. If he could exploit it, then he would as he needed more blobs to increase the production of [Blood Metal] and start on his base already.


    Confirming his goal in his mind once more, he pulled his katana out of its sheath.


    Trying to not make noise as much as possible, he slowly pierced the tip of the katana into the wall of flesh causing a faint squishing sound as if he was scraping on a wet rubber. From the hole made by his katana, blood started to flow out. The wall of flesh was bleeding as if he wounded it.


    Slowly, he pushed the katana downwards diagonally to the left making arge nted slit and causing more blood to flow out of the wall made of flesh. From the top of the slit, he made another nted slit on the opposite direction creating an upward pointing arrow. Without the support from the upper part, the flesh inside the arrow slowly fell down with a squishy sound making a triangr opening which Mark could get through.


    He took a peek into the opening. Aside from the suffocating stench or rotten flesh and something that faintly smelled like ammonia, it was very dark inside. However, due to the lighting in from the opening he made, he could see that the floor, the walls and even the surface of the seats were all covered with this disgusting flesh like membrane.


    Seeing that there was no immediate danger, Mark proceeded to seal the corners of the opening he made with [Blood Metal]. Even though it he was just overthinking it, he would not risk entering without securing the opening. After all, it was a flesh wall. Who knows if it would not regenerate and seal the opening on its own?


    After securing the entrance, he stepped in. It seemed that this should be where the galley at the back of the economy ss seats as he could see the flesh covered seats for the staff and the doors leading to the toilet at the back.


    While his steps made the squishing sounds on the flesh covered floor, he passed by between the pair of toilets and entered the back of economy ss seating area. Finally, he could see that traces of the passengers of the airne before it crashed.


    Still¡­


    Why did he feel that it was like a scene from those tentacle based hentai dojinshis?

 Chapter 201 The Meat Plane, The True Nature Of The Red Blobs

    <strong>Day 23 ¨C 8:47 AM ¨C Ungos River Crashed Airbus, Barangay Daraitan, Tanay, Rizal</strong>


    The smell inside the airne was really revolting. It was abination of rotten flesh, blood, urine, ammonia and feces. If it was other people whether normal or even Mutators, as long as they did not have any gasmask or ability to mask the smell, no one would be able to endure the smell. As for Mark, the repulsion he was feeling was just a fleeting one. It was one of the advantages as a Mutator with a nk subconscious.


    The ce was dark but not to the extent that Mark would not be able to see. After all, even though there was the flesh wall covering the windows, the faint sunlight from the outside could still go in coloring the flesh wall with red circr patterns.


    As Mark stepped into the Economy ss Area, he was not only weed by the revolting scene of flesh covered walls, floor and seats but also dozens of naked bodies hanged on the fleshy walls and ceilings. The ones on the walls had their arms outreached sideward and their legs opened wide while their wrists and feet were embedded unto the flesh covered walls. The ones hanging on the ceiling were all hanging because their arms were embedded to the flesh covered ceiling.


    There was almost no distinction on age and gender on the bodies except that he could not see any children and elderly. The most disturbing thing was that there were flesh tubes or tentacles extending from the flesh walls and was connected to the genitals and mouths of the bodies.


    This ce was a meat house in both meanings both literal and roundabout meaning. No, rather, should it be a meat ne?


    ''All these people are infected.''


    Mark thought as he observed the bodies. Even though all of them were seemingly unconscious, every single one of them was alive and some were even mutated. In short, they were all Biters. He could not help but notice that all the females had their bellies bulging with different sizes. It was not hard to say that these female Biters were pregnant.


    The interior of the airne seemed to be a breeding ground. However, Mark doubted that thought immediately. All of the female Biters had traces that they all had given birth already as their legs were all covered in blood which could be traced from their genitals. Still, despite those traces, he could not see any infant infected and even children of any age.


    He approached one of the female Biter that had smaller stomach and crouched at the floor right underneath her. There were traces of feces and urine but the thing that took his attention was the traces of red gtinous blood. It looked simr to the red blob.


    ''Don''t tell me.''


    Mark had a horrible assumption. He wanted to confirm it. To do that, he just needed to kill one of the unconscious female Biters to prevent it from making any noise and then, slit their stomach open. However, as he did not encounter the thing that caused the airne to shake earlier, he would rather not try it now. It was likely that it would get attracted to the smell of fresh blood or might even be able to detect the sudden disturbance.


    ''Where is that creature though?''


    He thought as his sight turned towards the front of the cabin. Maybe, the creature was at the Business ss Area.


    Making only the squishing sounds on his feet, he proceeded walked between the seats towards the front of the cabin. He had to carefully dodge some of the bodies but as they were on the way but there was no problem. The only worry he had was if all of these unconscious infected suddenly gained consciousness and all sprang to attack him. That would be a horrible situation.


    As he observed the area and ignoring the revolting feeling, he noticed the traces of red gtinous blood everywhere. Either it be on the flesh covered floor or even at the seats and even on the bodies of the infected.


    When he passed near the door of the airne, he noticed a different female infected. Simr to others, her body was embedded to the wall. However, even her back was simrly stuck at the wall of flesh. The most different thing however on her appearance was that her skin and flesh was semitransparent. Mark could see through her flesh and watch her organs as they worked. Like the other females, she was also pregnant and Mark could totally see the contents of her bulging belly.


    As Mark had thought.


    Inside her womb were three growing red blobs.


    The most horrendous thing however¡­


    Two of the blobs had body parts of infants on their gtinous body.


    One had an infant''s underdeveloped hand sticking out of its red body while the other had an undeveloped ear.


    Mark wanted to touch her belly to see if it the red blobs inside would react but he would rather not. Not only that he could not feel any tugging sensation on the red blobs on her belly but it might wake her up if he touched her carelessly.


    When he took his eyes from her womb and raised his head however, he almost jumped in fright despite his empty emotions.


    The semi-transparent bodied woman was staring at him. It seemed that she was awake all this while.


    Strange enough, she did not make any noise nor try to attack him. She was staring at him with her lifeless eyes. Those eyes¡­


    ''She isn''t an infected. A Mutator?''


    Mark did not notice at all since his attention was on the red blobs inside her womb and her body was semi-transparent to see the traces of infection. The only way to see that she was not infected was her eyes that Mark paid little attention to. After all, who would expect for someone like her to exist in an airne that was supposed to be filled with Mutated infected?


    "Who¡­"


    She asked in a very weak voice that it did not sound like she was asking a question. It did not sound like she was trying to whisper either but she was just too weak.


    "I''m someone from the outside." Mark whispered. "What happened here?"<sub> </sub>


    However, she did not answer. Instead, she weakly nced towards the front of the cabin before turning back to Mark.


    "You¡­ Leave¡­She¡­Coming¡­"


    The way she said it was rather hard to understand in words but Mark understood the meaning immediately. This woman wanted him to leave because someone wasing. That "She" must be the one that caused the tremors of the airne earlier.


    It was then that he heard some muffled growling from the back of the cabin. That "She" should being from the front so what was themotion at the back?


    Mark then felt that someone wasing from the front as he heard a loud squishing sound of the flooring from that direction. As there was no time to escape, he jumped over one of the seats and hid behind one of the hanging bodies. Still, he was able to see the creature that was approaching from the front of the cabin by carefully peeking over the seat in front of him.


    The creature was a woman with a height that was enough for her head to bump over the fleshy ceiling despite the fact that she was walking with her back curved downward like a humped back witch. Her arms were elongated having more than one and a half meter long that it was just two or three inches from touching the floor as she walked with fingers long enough to grab the whole waist of an average sized human. Her legs and feet were still normal sized though except for how skinny her whole body was. It was too skinny that her skin had turned saggy. Her face looked like someone sshed acid on her. It was also the same for the most of her body. Her hair on the other hand was too long at it almost covered her whole torso.


    While he was observing the creature that somehow resembled an old witch, he felt a tugging feeling from the back of the cabin. It should be a living red blob and it wasing from the direction of the growling infected.


    The witch like creature passed by where Mark was hiding and went towards the growling infected. With her long fingers, she grabbed the body of the pregnant infected and lifted it up. Then, the witch pulled out the flesh tentacle inserted on the infected''s genitalia without mercy causing the Biter to wail out in pain. Following the removal of the tentacle, the witch creature squeezed the belly of the Biter causing the contents of her womb to be flushed out.


    With the spread of the bloody smell, two red blobs plopped unto the floor. Of the two, only one was alive. At that moment, the witch picked up the living one and stuffed it into her mouth. The tugging sensation Mark felt vanished totally. After eating the living blob, the witch grabbed the tentacle she pulled out before and shoved it back into the genitalia of the Biter.


    She then picked up the dead blob and went to the nearest window shoving the unconscious infected away. Unexpectedly, the infected she pushed away did not wake up.


    Reaching the window, the witch tore through the wall of flesh and tossed the dead blob out and left back to the front into the Business ss cabin disappearing from Mark''s sight. The torn part of the wall of flesh by the window slowly fixed itself like Mark thought before.


    Now, he knew why there was very little number of living blobs outside. As for the two he found, they might have survived because the two were rather on the weak side and almost dying or maybe because those two were rejected by the witch woman.


    Now, he finally confirmed what these red blobs made of blood were. They were deformed result of some sort of mutational infected breeding. Something that was done for that witch woman to eat or maybe, there was more reason to this. The only person that could answer him was the semi-transparent woman.


    [Mission had been updated.]


    Mark started to imagine a quest like notification on his mind. Well, his goal had been updated, really. To other people, this ce might be a disgusting one but for him, it was a great source of building resources.


    He did not care if their process of creation was horrible or what kind of beings these red blobs were supposed to be. To him, they were valuable resource and loyal subordinates.


    Now, his mission was to eliminate that old witch and take this treasure trove for himself. The optional mission was to get the details from the semi-transparent woman that was stuck by the flesh wall on the door.


    ''Now, what should he do?''


    That creature was surely not a Failed Mutator. It clearly had intelligence. Did it somehow keep its mind after mutating, probably not? Mark remembered how her eyes looked savage as she swallowed that red blob. Even though she maintained her consciousness, she had gone crazy and not only that, it seemed that she had hate for all these people inside the airne.


    As he went out of his hiding ce, he saw that the semi-transparent woman was staring at him with her lifeless eyes.


    "Do you want to leave this ce? If you can tell me what happened here, I''ll help you."


    Mark asked.


    Unexpectedly, he got a different answer.


    "If¡­ I¡­ Tell¡­ Kill¡­ Me¡­? Please¡­?"


    The semi-transparent woman replied. Mark could see how her tears started to build up even before it fell from her eyes.


    It seemed that she had suffered enough and just wanted to end it.


    "As you wish." Mark agreed. "But first, I''ll kill that creature."


    Mark said those as the six [Blood Whips] burst out from his back before turning into armored ded whips. He unsheathed his katana once more and even readied his folded crossbow.


    He looked at the semi-transparent woman whose lifeless eyes contained a bit of surprise before his eyes fell onto the red blobs on her semi-transparent womb. No, they were not just red blobs or even blood slimes.


    They should be called as the [Blood Children].

 Chapter 202 Blood V.S. Flesh, The Battle By The Rocky Riverside

    <strong>Day 23 ¨C 9:14 AM ¨C Ungos River Crashed Airbus, Barangay Daraitan, Tanay, Rizal</strong>


    SQUISH¡­ SWIRK¡­


    Sounds of squishing flesh and spurting blood could be faintly heard as Mark slowly prepared to fight that old witch looking creature. Mark stealthily sliced the wall of flesh blocking one of the doors on the left side of the airne using his katana and two of his [Blood Whips]. While the katana sliced off the wall of flesh, one [Blood Whip] was draining the blood from the wall while the other was blocking the sliced parts with [Blood Metal] to prevent it from regenerating.


    The situation was quite tense since he needed to make the opening without alerting the enemy. Moreover, he needed to finish the opening before the witch returned. Fortunately, Mark would be able to tell whether the creature wasing by paying attention on the unconscious Biters and with the semi-transparent woman''s warning. It seemed that she was able to detect the witch for reasons unknown to him.


    Actually, he was quite vexed that he had to do this slowly but he should not let the ce get ruined because of her. He could only bring the battle outside.


    It did not take too long, about fifteen minutes or so, he finished removing the thick flesh wall and uncovered the whole door. Luckily, the witch did note back during the process. The unfortunate thing was that the door mechanisms were all corroded and broken. Probably, due to being in contact with the enzymes on the flesh wall all this time.


    Mark could only open this the hard way and it would surely alert the enemy. However, he had no choice at all.


    He did not want to do it like this since there were several possibilities that could ruin his ns. First, what if the one maintaining the ce was that witch and killing her would immediately destroy this ce. If that was case, he wanted to wait until he felt another living blob so he would at least had another [Blood Child] before he kill the witch. However, that could only happen if he could open the door without making any noise that was too loud.


    ''Whatever. No choice.''


    With a ck sh, he brandished his katana and shed the side of the door breaking all the connecting parts of the door to the body of the airne. That already created a loud metallic sound but another loud bam sounded as he kicked the door off making it plunge at the river outside.


    The sudden intrusion of bright light hurt not only his eyes but also the semi-transparent woman and she could not help but let out a muffled cry of pain. Looking at the woman, it seemed that not only her eyes were affected to the light but also her semi-transparent body. Mark hurriedly looked around and found a rather wet and stinky nket on one of the flesh covered seats. He took it and draped in over the woman''s naked body before he went to hide as he was sure that the noise would surely attract that creature.


    Soon, the witch who rather looked angry came back to the Economy ss Cabin and let out an enraged roar when she saw the opened door. She ran towards the door in a violent manner. Even though her body looked weak, it contradicted her running speed which was even faster than an average man running a hundred meter dash. When she ran, Mark could feel the whole airne shaking which also showed her immense strength on her thin body. After reaching the door, she flinched for a second due to the sudden change of lighting but it did not take long and she squeezed her tall body through the door to look.


    Seeing half of her body and her right arm were suspended outside the door and over the broken segments of the wing, Mark who was hiding behind the row of seat just beside the semi-transparent woman made his move.


    The witch was too distracted about the door that was open and did not notice the movements behind her. It that then that the rage that filled the witch''s eyes turned into surprise when she felt a painful grinding feeling on her left arm and both legs before she lost her sensation on those limbs. When she started to lose bnce, she felt a strong force from behind her back which suddenly pushed her off the door. Herrge frame plunged into the river dying the water in red as the blood from her dismembered limbs scattered.


    As the part of the river under the suspended airne was shallow, she was not washed away. She managed to bnce herself properly and used her remaining arm to pull herself ashore. Looking up from the door of the airne she fell from, her eyes became filled with rage once more. At the door, someone stood pointing a bow like weapon at her.


    Mark aimed started to aim his folding bow at the witch that had juste ashore. When he jumped off the row of seats, he immediately shed his katana down on the witch''s left arm which was holding onto the side of the door to prevent her from falling identally. At the same time, four of his de armored [Blood Whips] hacked towards the witch''s legs which grinded her lower limbs before getting dismembered. Finally, he gave her his strongest front kick on her back and pushed her off the door that way.


    He wanted to attack her neck and head but it was impossible since her whole torso was blocking the way due to her hunched body. It he did attack her spine and she did a suicide attack causing the destruction of this ce, then his efforts would be for naught. He could not risk another suicide instance to happen like what the stone d woman did before.


    When she fell, Mark hurriedly pulled the dismembered legs and arm inside. If the witch was the reason for the flesh membrane that filled the whole airne, there was no way that he would do the mistake of throwing her limbs back. If the witch''s ability had something to do with flesh or meat, it was very likely for her to be able to reattach her dismembered limbs.


    SWISH! SWISH! SWISH!


    Mark clenched his fist which pulled the trigger of the folding crossbow. Three blood metal crossbow bolts flew towards the supposed defenseless Mutator which arrived in front of her almost instantly. At that moment however, the witch raised the stump of her dismemberedleft arm and a sudden explosion of flesh appeared blocking the three blood metal bolts. No, it was not an explosion but a sudden burst of a ball of fleshing out of her dismembered limb.


    After blocking the blood metal bolts, the disgusting deformed ball of flesh pulsed and wiggled horrendously before forming several flesh tentacles. The appearance of the flesh tentacles were strikingly simr to those that were shoved into the genitals of the Biters inside the airne. After three two meter long and wrist sized tentacles formed on her missing arm. It was then followed by another burst of flesh on her dismembered legs.<sub> </sub>


    The flesh on her legs started to wriggle and take shape but it was not legs or tentacles but arge sludge of flesh which made the witch look like a half-man half-slug flesh beast. She stared at Mark without concealing her killing intent.


    Looking at this, Mark finally ascertained that this woman was really a full Mutator. However, there was no chance for any negotiation even if that was the case. From the first time Mark saw her, he knew that she was already broken. She was insane from her skin to her bone. She was not even talking but just growling.


    Using one of his [Blood Whip], he reloaded his crossbow and fired three more blood metal bolts. Of course, it did not hit as the witch pped the iing blood metal bolts away using her flesh tentacles.


    As the long ranged attacks were not effective, Mark jumped off the door towards the direction of the rocky riverside.


    Mark knew that both of them were currently disadvantaged fighting here. Since the witch lost her legs and was only standing on her slug like lower body, she would not be able to move from her current position as fast as before. He on the other hand would have a hard time maneuvering around due to the rocks that covered the riverside.


    ''Whoops.''


    He was mistaken. The witch did not need to move at all. Her flesh tentacles shot off from her extending towards Mark in fast speeds. It was not as fast as his blood metal bolts but it was still fast.


    That attack made Mark kick his right foot to the side propelling his body to the left. Using that momentum, he started to run circling the witch while closing his distance. The witch reacted to his dodge by continuously stretching her tentacles chasing Mark from behind. At the moment Mark stopped even for an instant, he was likely to get caught and restricted by these flesh tentacles.


    Slip!


    <o>,m Mark stopped and hurriedly bnced himself. The rocks on the riverside around the airne were covered with the red mycorrhiza which made the rocks even more slippery. At that moment, the eyes of the insane witch lit up and the flesh tentacles shot off faster towards him. However, to her raged surprise, the de armored [Blood Whips] on Mark''s back moved grinding the iing tentacles slicing them like cucumbers.</o>


    She looked at Mark who was now looking at her with a stern face. The [Blood Whips] continued to defend against the flesh tentacles as Mark shot off running directly towards her.


    He should not prolong this any longer as he was actually the only one disadvantaged by the terrain. Remembering how the airne looked like inside, he should have expected that this witch could extend her ability in arge area. Well, it also made him realize how it was better that he kicked her off the airne. If they fought inside, it was very likely that she would be able to control the whole airne to her advantage.


    Four [Blood Whips] were moving at his back while one started to reload his crossbow once more. Since the flesh tentacles was chasing behind, he aimed the crossbow towards her once more and shot. Sure enough, it was blocked as her slug like body sprouted several more tentacles. Although it was a good block, it also blocked her line of sight.


    The flesh tentacles behind him stopped for a moment and he took that opportunity to move closer. The moment the witch removed the tentacles in front of her, Mark was already just three meters away from her. Shocked, she screeched. Hundreds of flesh tentacles burst out of her body drowning the area including Mark.


    ''It was smelly and disgusting.''


    That was what Mark thought as the flesh tentacles coiled around his waist lifting him up. He was caught for sure and only his right arm was not restricted by the flesh tentacles. The [Blood Whips] on his back and the one reloading his crossbow were all restricted. However, the witch did not make the final blow. She was intending to add him to her victims inside the airne for sure.


    The flesh tentacles that covered the area moved aside and Mark was brought in front of the witch. Mark tried to reach her with his right arm but she kept him about two meters away from her as she observed him with a savagely disgusting smile.


    While she was smiling however, Mark also smiled which puzzled her. His hand was trying to reach on her face but of course he could not reach her. At that moment, a hole appeared on his palm which took her attention. The next thing she knew was her sight that started to fade to ck.


    Mark shot the final [Blood Whip] he could control towards her forehead which instantly killed her. The sneak attack was very effective since she finally let down her guard.

 Chapter 203 Miracles, Though It Came In A Different Form

    <strong>Day 23 ¨C 9:32 AM ¨C Ungos River, Barangay Daraitan, Tanay, Rizal</strong>


    "Guh."


    Mark groaned while enduring the sticky and disgusting feeling as he removed the flesh tentacles that coiled on his body. With the exception of his head and right arm, his whole body was covered in sticky and rotten smelling fluid that covered the flesh tentacles of the dead witch. No wonder the flesh membrane that covered the interior of the airne made too much squishing sounds. It seemed that the flesh matter the witch created wasposed with a higher percentage of this sticky sma like liquid than the actual flesh content.


    Luckily, the stinky liquid was not corrosive or it would have been worse.


    "Well, that''s a close one right? Yep. It is, I think."


    Mark murmured as he looked around the area.


    The ten meter radius from the body of the dead Mutator was carpeted with disgusting flesh tentacles. About thirty percent of the tentacles were even scattered into the river.


    As he expected, she had something like an all-area attack when she was in a pinch or maybe, her ability was just activated like that due to her panic. It seemed that even though the witch was insane, she was still able to feel emotions and think to some extent. However, that also made an opening for Mark to attack. To release all those tentacles, she must have expended a lot of her energy or she would still be able to dodge his surprise attack even just by reflex. After all, she was able to react to the crossbow bolts flying towards her, why would she not able to dodge the slower [Blood Whip] if she had not expended her energy?


    While Mark was looking at the dead body, he noticed that the tentacles started to shrivel producing an even more disgusting smell. The smell was like a rotting dead body. As he hurriedly took distance, he saw that the tentacles started to rot at a visible rate leaving only her dead body with dismembered limbs.


    It made Mark panic and ran towards the opening at the broken tail of the airne. He ignored the sticky and disgusting feeling on his body and ran inside. If the tentacles shriveled and rotted like that, would the interior of the airne be affected in a simr way?


    When Mark entered the airne once more, he was relieved a little. It seemed that he flesh membrane and tentacles in the interior of the airne was also affected by her death but not as drastic as the flesh tentacles outside. The flesh membrane was still pulsing but it was weakening at every pulse. It was good that he still had some time to spare.


    As he wondered why the change was different, Mark got an idea. It must be because of the sunlight. Looking how the exterior of the airne was free of this flesh membrane and the tentacles that shriveled was also outside which told that it could have really been the case.


    "Is¡­ She¡­ Dead¡­?"


    The semi-transparent woman asked when Mark returned.


    After Mark nodded to her question, he saw that she had a mixed expression on her face. It contained both relief and sadness.


    "Can you tell me what happened now? Or should I remove you from that wall first?"


    Mark asked. He knew that if he wanted a living [Blood Child] he should wait if an infected would gave birth to one first. As he did not know if he slitting their wombs open would affect it negatively, waiting was the only safe choice until the flesh wall totally shriveled and rot. Well, once that happened, he would just adopt to the circumstances. While waiting, he could inquire the woman about the events that happened in this airne.


    At his question however, the woman shook her head.


    "I''ll¡­ Tell¡­ Don''t¡­ Re¡­move¡­ I''ll¡­ Die¡­ Imme¡­diately¡­"


    Her breathing was ragged and her words were separated by short pauses. There were even times that her sentences were iplete which made it hard to understand what she was saying exactly.


    However, it was not that hard to understand what she meant.


    It seemed that the flesh membrane was not only there to restrict her and the Biters but also maintained their lives. Now that she mentioned it, Biters were living infected and like Jte, they would still eat when they were hungry. The Biters here however were constricted and there was no way for them to hunt for food. In this case, the witch might have provided them the nutrients their bodies needed to keep living.


    The semi-transparent woman started to tell¡­ Unexpectedly, it was not only hers but also the witch''s story.


    Her name was Mnie and the witch was surprisingly her twin older sister Melinda. They were in this flight returning from America when the Outbreak started. The reason they came to America was because of the gic mutation of females in their family which caused them to be unable to be pregnant and bear children. Unexpectedly, Melinda miraculously bore a child and that was one of the reasons they went to America.


    The girl who was named Miracle was a blessing to their family. Not only that the girl was born from a Melinda who was supposed to be unable to be pregnant but the baby girl was also normal and free from their family''s gic mutation. Due to that, Melinda cherished her about one year old baby more than her own life.


    Unfortunately, when the outbreak struck, the people in their ne did not turn into infected immediately but the first once were those from the front seats of airne, namely, the pilots, attendants and the people in the Business ss cabin.


    Some grew ws on their fingers, one had his hands dismembered and a pair of ws made of bones reced it, there was a family of three that got their bodies fused together and there were also others. There were also does that looked disgusting due to their stretched bodies, melted skin and growing tumors on their bodies.


    Their sudden mutation caused the people in the economy ss to panic and caused a stampede as everyone tried to run away from the turned passengers and airne attendants. At that time, Mnie and Melinda who was seated at the middle of the economy ss did not manage to evacuate in time and was trapped in the stampede of people.<sub> </sub>


    Not only that, but the people near the front started to turn despite not being bitten which caused the chaos inside to escte. Later on, the ne started to lose altitude and started to plunge into the mountain range.


    Mnie and her sister were not able to escape immediately, and they were pushed aside by the panicked people as if they did not matter at all. Because of that, Melinda was pounced on by one of the infected causing her to lose grasp of her precious Miracle. The less than a year baby was thrown onto the floor and¡­


    She was stomped into meat paste by the panicking people.


    Mnie even forgot to help her older sister as she saw what happened to her niece.


    She stared in shock for seconds before she managed to turn her head towards her older sister. Looking at Melinda''s face, it seemed that she did not even feel that her neck was being torn off by the man that pounced on her. But then, the man left Melinda after a single bite and pounced next at Mnie. She tried to defend herself and managed to shake the man off by stabbing his eyes with a pen but she was still bitten on her wrist.


    Mnie approached her sister and tried to help her up just to see that she was turning. Her arms elongated along with her skin turning into something that looked like sshed with acid. During Melinda''s struggle with the pain she was feeling, her long arm pushed Mnie away with inhuman strength. Mnie hit her head somewhere and she fainted.


    The next thing she knew was that her body turned into something like this and she was embedded into that wall with almost all passengers hanging on the ceiling and the walls. She never thought that the person who made this was her sister who made the females as seedbeds in revenge for what happened to her poor daughter.


    In the first few days, it was still fine and even though Mnie could not move even if she was removed from the wall, she was still fine. Her body was too weak and she could not even lift her own head. Melinda kept her there and conversed with her just fine. Even though she did not want to stop this despite the protests of Mnie, she was still able to converse.


    However, that change overtime when she started to be insane and it was triggered when the first baby came out to be a living blob of gtinous blood. As she lost herself, Melinda even started to treat her own sister the same way.


    As for the next thing¡­


    There was no next.


    The flesh wall continued to weaken and so as Mnie. She was right about it being the thing that was maintaining her life. She could not talk anymore and was just holding into a thread of life left in her.


    While she told the story, some of the infected started to give birth. Unfortunately, among the twenty [Blood Children], only two were alive.


    Mnie saw what Mark did and how he treated the two [Blood Children] as something important. At that time, she squeezed herst words.


    "Please¡­ Take¡­ Care¡­ Them¡­ Mir¡­ acle¡­ too¡­"


    She stopped moving after that.


    Mark removed her from the flesh wall that started to wither andid her semi-transparent body on the floor. Unexpectedly, when he removed the tentacle from her genitalia, one of the [Blood Children] inside her womb slipped out. The [Blood Child] was alive and healthy.


    ''It can also be called a miracle, isn''t it?''


    Someone like her who should not be able to give birth at all gave birth to a healthy living being.


    The flesh membrane inside the airne started to die out and the infected being bound fell on the floor one by one. Unexpectedly, the mutated ones immediately died while the normal looking biters fell on the floor weakened. Still, these infected gave Mark a different vibepared to themon Biters outside. He then decided.


    He picked up four younger looking females and a male among the Biters while he killed off the rest. Each of them had a good body state except for being weakened. He bound their arms and legs using shackles made of [Blood Metal] from the blood he harvested from the other infected. Using these five infected, he would try to see if they could birth for more blood children.


    When the tentacles were removed from the genitals of the pregnant infected, the contents of their wombs were flushed out. Among the almost a hundred remains, he found three more living [Blood Children]. It looked like that the ratio for the living [Blood Children] was too low after all.


    Mark then proceeded to smash the heads of the mutated infected that the [PsyCrystal] on his arm reacted to. In the end, he found five pebbles which allowed him to create two [Physical Crystals] on the spot. With the two crystals, one goes for Mnie while the other goes for her sister Melinda. During the process, it was very ufortable. The crystal heated up too much although not hot enough to burn his skin and flesh.


    He picked up Mnie''s body and carried it along with the six [Blood Children] he found and made his way towards the Business ss Cabin. Mnie''sst words gave him a clue about the supposed to be dead baby.


    In the Business ss Cabin, the flesh wall was still not withered for some strange reason. Looking at the middle of the cabin, there was an aquarium like structure made of thin film of see through flesh being supported by flesh membrane that was stronger than the ones found inside the other parts of the airne. It looked like an organic pod that could be seen in alien abduction movies. The pod was filled with slightly reddish sticky liquid.


    Inside the center of the pod, was a [Blood Child]. Different from the others however, the body was not shaped like a formless blob but it looked more like a human baby made of blood. One thing Mark was sure though, it was alive.


    Looking at Mnie''s dead body, Mark asked.


    "So, this is Miracle right?"

 Chapter 204 Going Back With His Loot, A Peaceful Ending To This Disgusting Event

    <strong>Day 23 ¨C 3:24 PM ¨C Mountain Vige, Mount Mbito, General Nakar, Quezon</strong>


    It was already past lunch when Mark managed to go back to the vige.


    Mnie''s story might be short but the time consumed as she told that was rather long as she had her difficulties talking. Not only that but the whole process of dealing with the things inside the airne took more than two hours and that included waiting for the [Blood Children] to be born and killing the Biters inside the airne. Another thing was that he also waited for the flesh pod to wither before he retrieved Miracle inside. It was not like he could not destroy it but he thought that it was better for the human baby shaped [Blood Child] to stay inside longer.


    Another thing was dealing with the aftermath. Melinda''s flesh tentacles on the riverside were already reduced to a dried flesh and thus, he proceeded to store her ability into the newly created [Physical Crystal] and Melinda''s body also started to disintegrate like her flesh tentacles after her mutation had been removed. It seemed that without the root of mutation, her body also could not stand the sunlight.


    After that, he needed a way to transport the five infected he secured, the new blood children and the other usable things he found in thepartments of the airne. It would need him to go back and forth because of that and it was not efficient. To return faster and in one go, he needed some kind of transportation. In this case, his eyes fell on the river. He needed a boat.


    As that ce was near a tourist spot, there should be a boat by the river and he really found several boats docked beyond the area where the ne crashed which was at the east side of the barrio. Unfortunately, all of the boats were rather unreliable enough to be ridden as rust already started to umte without the proper maintenance those boats needed. In the end, he pulled thergest one of those boats towards the area where the ne was and intended to coat the exterior of the boat with [Blood Metal]. It was good that he had quite an amount of bodies to harvest blood from.


    ? While he tried to remove the stinky smell by washing his body on the river, he made the [Blood Children], except for Miracle, gather the blood of the infected inside the airne. However, while the smell on his armor was removed, the smell stuck to his clothes. Because of that, he would have to endure until he could change his clothes. There were clothes inside the bags on thepartments in the airne but those clothes were rather unsuitable to be worn without being washed. With almost a month that the interior of the airne was covered in that smell flesh membrane, it was not surprising that the bags also smelled like a rotting corpse.


    When he called onto Amihan, the little sylph did not want to get close to him for obvious reasons. She even keptining as she could not breathe near Mark.


    On the other hand, unlike the other [Blood Children], Miracle was not active at all. Although he already proceeded to convert her blood body and already had a connection with him in his mind, she was not responding. There was no doubt that she was alive, rather, it felt like she was sleeping.


    The ride home was rather rough. Even though Mark knew how to ride a paddle boat, it was only in theory. This time was really the first time he even ride one that he could remember clearly. He had vague memories of riding a boat when he was small but of course, he was not the one operating it. The boat had a motor and had gas but the motor was not working anymore.


    As he rode the paddle boat downstream, it was like kayaking with arge vessel with heavy cargo. Not only his hands hurt but also his legs and bottom. The strange thing however was that the [Blood Children] rather liked the shaking of the boat as they rode it downstream. Mark could not understand why but maybe, they felt like it was a fun ride or because babies liked to be rocked to sleep.


    The ride on the boat was much faster but it was too fast that Mark almost missed his stop. The boat hit somerge rocks several times but the [Blood Metal] was too tough to be broken by just those rocks. The boat beingrge also became a disadvantage as it made the boat harder to control by hand. If Mark was not an Evolver that became a Mutator, he would surely fail to control it.


    Climbing up the mountain was not hard. The only thing he carried were the bag that stored the [Blood Children], Miracle in his left arm and Mnie''s body that was covered in cloth on his shoulder. As for the five Biters, they recovered some of their strength already and Mark removed the shackles on their feet while he gagged them to prevent them from being able to bite anything. He also put a cor and chain using [Blood Metal] and pulled them up the mountain. Pulling them was not hard as they would also try to follow after Mark and try to attack him from time to time. It was just that their bodies were still weak that they could not pounce, attack or run continuously.


    When he returned, the Hallie was fine seeing the infected but the others looked afraid and confused. Well, he had no reason to tell them everything and thus, picked a house that was yet to be dismantled by Ed and kept the infected there. He only told them that he needed these infected for an experiment.


    As for Mnie''s body, Mark would give her a proper burial. He was not that heartless to just leave her body there to rot along with the Biters. Besides, Mark was rather interested in her body because it did not turn back to normal even when he already used the [Physical Crystal] on her.


    When Mark entered the house to get some change of clothes, he saw that Nicole was already awake. Even though she was still weak to get up from the bed, it was good that she already gained consciousness.


    After changing clothes at another house, he went back and chatted with Nicole for a bit.


    "Thank you. Really." Nicole said. "We''re really lucky to see you here. If not, I don''t..."


    Nicole did not manage to finish what she wanted to say as she started to sob. They really had a hard time after the apocalypse started and she herself almost lost her life several times. If not for Hallie protecting her most of the time, she would not be here at all. Not to mention when she fell ill. If Mark was not here, there would be no safe ce for them to stay, there would be no medicine for her illness and there would be no food for them to eat.


    Mark only patted her head and did not say too much.


    "It''s fine. When you recover, expect to do work though."


    "Sniff¡­ No problem. Hallie already told me."


    At that time, Mark felt some call in his head.


    Right¡­ he forgot to take out the [Blood Children] from the bag.


    "Uwah! They''re multiplying!" Hallie eximed as the living room became a den for eight red slimes and a baby shaped slime that looked asleep. "Hey Mark! Give me one! Give me one please!"


    She was not surprised at its existence as she saw Mark ying with one already but having more was a different issue. Hallie tried to beg for one but she was shut down by a single firm¡­


    "NO."


    It was not like because he did not want to since he knew how it should be for an Otaku to see something that only exist in anime, manga and RPG games in real life. The thing however was because these [Blood Children] were too important to the building of the base. Furthermore, he had both mental and blood connection with all of them which made it harder to give them away. Well, it was fine borrowing them which made Hallie a little appeased.


    "They''re warm."


    Nicole said as Hallie handed her one.


    Mark also noticed that since the first [Blood Child] he found and was sleeping with it since the temperature here in the mountains during the night was cold. He did not know why but maybe because they were made of blood that was supposed to be warm? These little blobs of blood was something out of the norm anyway that Mark stopped thinking about it.


    "What''s with that one?"<sub> </sub>


    Hallie asked while pointing at the baby shaped slime.


    "Oh, she''s different from the others. You can say that the eight was born like that while this one was a human baby that turned into this."


    Mark then told the two about the story behind the [Blood Children] which made the two concerned and looked at the little blood creatures with pity. He also told the two about the importance of the blood children to building the base.


    "Isn''t that childbor?"


    Hallie asked in a joking manner.


    Still, Mark could not deny that. The [Blood Children] after all were just newborn babies that could follow hismands as long as it was within their capabilities.


    He watched the six [Blood Children] on the bamboo table which were poking each other and ying. Even though they were just newborn children, their mentality was close to a one or two year old baby. That was his estimate as he felt the emotions of these blood critters in his mind.


    On the other hand, Miracle was truly different. Mark was confused as to how she was able to keep her form like that or how she turned into one. While examining the sleeping baby, he noticed that she actually had bones in her body which became the foundation of her shape. It was just the bones had also mutated and changed into a semi-transparent one which made him remember Mnie''s semi-transparent body. In the end, it seemed that they were really rted by blood.


    The day did not end just like that. Jolene bravely met him at the house.


    "Please, train me!"


    She squeezed out her thoughts. Even though she bravely met him, she was still nervous. Even Nicole and Hallie found her behavior really funny. On the other hand, Hallie''s eyes darted back and forth on Mark and Jollene and spoke.


    "Fufufu¡­ ve-san wanting to be trained by her master... GAH!"


    She received a head chop making her crouch while holding her head in pain.


    Jollene also realized that the words she said had another meaning which made her blush.


    "Ah-No! I mean teach me how to fight!"


    She hurriedly eximed flustered which made Nicoleugh as she sat on the bed.


    Mark did not mind as he knew what she meant. He was a proper man after all. A proper man. That was important. It was just Hallie giving it an alternate meaning.


    "Hah¡­" Mark sighed. "Alright. I guess it''s a master''s duty to teach the ve how to fight."


    Hearing that, Jollene''s eyes brightened. She was happy that he agreed and did not mind how he said it. However, she shivered at the same time. She was too focused on asking Mark that she did not notice the [Blood Children] that was now poking her legs from the table.


    "Wha-what! What are these things?!"


    Jollene seemed to have weakness against these kinds of creatures. She hurriedly stepped back almost knocking to the body of Mnie covered in cloth which Marky on the wooden sofa.


    Mark scratched his head to her reaction while Hallie''s eyes lit up. She hurriedly took one of the [Blood Children] and shoved it on Jollene''s face making her body freeze in fear that she could only shriek.


    "By the way, what''s for lunch?"


    He asked as he wanted to eat after he buried Mnie''s remains.


    "Trisha cooked some Tiger Meat Stew!"


    Hallie replied before she went out of the house chasing Jollene out while holding a [Blood Child] with both hands.


    Mark scratched his head once more.


    "Meat huh¡­ No thanks. I''d rather go with canned beans and peas today."


    He murmured before absentmindedly taking Mnie''s body out of the house without saying anything to Nicole who was left confused.


    "Just what are those three doing?"


    She murmured in confusion.

 Chapter 205 Mutated Creatures, The Looming Threat Of Bay City

    <strong>Day 25 ¨C 9:20 AM ¨C Southern Gates, Central Business Park, Bay City</strong>


    Twenty-five days after the outbreak started. The life within the Bay City was not really as luxuriouspared to the days in the past butparing the life inside and outside the settlement, the difference was heaven and earth for the survivors. Even the weaker people, even though they could not work, they could at least receive a bowl of porridge twice a day, one in the morning and one in the evening. For those capable, they had better. As long as they work within the settlement as much as they could, they could exchange their efforts for better food that they could share with their friends and families.


    As for the soldiers and the people that were being dispatched outside to deal with missions, they had better treatment. Their lives were always at one foot to their graves every time they embarked on their missions and almost every mission would cost them one or more lives in order toplete. In the worst case, their failure would cost the lives of the whole group.


    The new survivorsing into the settlement either on their own or being rescued by the soldiers and volunteer groups, still had not stopped though they drastically declined in quantity. These people were those who were extremely lucky to survive or those who were capable enough. Many of them were Evolvers while some were Mutators. The existence of these people slowly strengthened and bolstered the defense of the settlement.


    Unfortunately, many of these capable people were being enticed to join the ranks of the government factions rather than the military. Even though all these factions had equal responsibility to defend the settlement, the government factions worked more to their benefit rather than the benefit of the whole settlement which worked against the intention of the military.


    Constant attacks of infected hordes were stilling from time to time but none were asrge as the wave that happened seven days after the apocalypse started. The only problem that the military faced now was that the research for cure was not going smoothly and the infected were getting stronger for every day that passed.


    Fortunately, the research of mutated nts led by Prof. Chervil Sandoval made a breakthrough and he managed to discover a Mutagen enhanced variant of edible grains. It was simr to rice but had a grayish color and a corn like tastepared to the normal rice before. The best thing however was that the new variant of edible grain could be grown faster than normal rice that took four to five months to grow and to be harvested while the new grain was estimated to fully mature in two months only. Furthermore, it could supply more nutrients and energy to peoplepared to the past variants ofb researched grains. This trait of the new grain meant that only a smaller portion of it equaled to more than a single meal to normal people.


    The new grain was named as E-rice or Energy Rice.


    Due to the discovery of the grain, several green houses and in-house ntations were built. They high expectations that this new variant of grain would bolster their dwindling food supply in the next two or three months.


    Aside from those events, the life in the settlement was rather mundane and boring. In the past, Philippines has been dubbed as the social media capital of the world as majority of Philippine poption made social media and inte as a medium to pass time. Now however, there was no inte and even other kinds of entertainment. People could only work for survival and fear as they waited for the next attack of the infected.


    Yes, life was really boring and most of the things inside the settlement were repetitive.


    This morning however, about two hundred peopleposed of several squads of the military along with a portion of the government officials''"private personnel", some of the survivor groups inside the settlement were gathered at the southern gates of Central Business Park. Along with these people and their vehicles, a luxurious MB Sprinter parked away was too eye-catching along with the people gathered around the vehicle.


    After all, this was the first time most of the people here saw the [Fairy Sniper] who was taking with the [Little Demoness]. Mei was outside talking with Pa. Together with her of course were Odelina, Abbygale and even I. Among the people around them were Nikky''s group with the exception of Ron and Daniel and Jason''s group with the exception of Arvie. All of them here were both the Mutators and Evolvers with connection to Mark.


    Something horrendous was spotted north of Bay City and everyone here was called to participate in attacking it. In the past week, it had been noticeable that the settlement were attacked by hordes of infected creatures that did not look human at all but rather, looked like bunch of flesh with arms and legs sttered all together in one body. Each horde was being led by a creature without skin and only with pure muscles and monstrous strength.


    The attacks were alling from the north that it rmed the higher ups and sent men to investigate their tracts. Unexpectedly, it led them not far but just about three kilometers north from Bay City. The ce was one of the most known hospitals in the Philippines, the Philippine General Hospital mostly called by themon popce as the PGH.


    The hospital was not the same as before as it was one of the ces most devastated by the outbreak. As a hospital, many infected and injured patients were brought here when the outbreakmenced. Due to that, the patients that became mutated infected along with Failed Mutators almost destroyed the ce. The greatest victim there however were the normal patients admitted in the hospital at that time.


    ording to the reports of the investigation team which wasposed of Evolvers and Mutators that specialized in stealth and speed, the hospital was now a breeding ground. When the photos, illustrations, videos and testimonies from the investigation team came out, the scientists said that more than just a breeding ground, it was rather a [Mutation Hive].


    On the photos, the hospital was covered with web like flesh membrane along with pod like protrusions on the walls. One video even caught one of the pods exploding and a monster like infected with disgusting pus filled tumors on its body came out. A bacteriologist in theboratory even stated that the mutated monster could have been a patient of MRSA or Methicillin-resistant Staphylocus Aureus due to its appearance.


    With the threat that the [Mutation Hive] could bring to the settlement, the people gathered at the southern gate was gathered to deal with it. Of course, it was not without a price. Those that did not belong to the military and the government were promised ofpensation whether the mission was a sess or not. After all, the threat around the hospital was nothing to joke at.


    The people here would move out at ten-thirty but was gathered here for the final briefing of the mission. Now, the leaders of the groups were called unto a room where General Miguel Perez and other military officers sat on the chairs to the side. A female soldier, who was one of the secretaries of General Perez, stood at the front while everyone else sat at the rows of chairs in the middle of the room. In front was a projector where the ns, illustrations and the pictures regarding the mission were being shown.


    "That is brief summary of the n." The secretary, 1st Lieutenant Zanna D Cruz, said. "Is there any questions?"<sub> </sub>


    "PGH is to the north right? Why are going out from the southern gate?"


    One of the survivor leaders asked when he was called after raising his hand.


    "You people might not know but the northern gate is currently on a lockdown." 1st Lieutenant D Cruz replied. "There is also quite a number of those mutated infected from the hospital straggling at the north and ording to the scientists, it is likely that they are mentally connected or have some means tomunicate with their leaders. If that is really the case, it will be likely that we will receive a great resistance from those infected if we use the north gate. In this mission, we will try to avoid being detected and we will attack from the east of the hospital as I briefed earlier."


    Questions and answers flew back and forth and the discussion was informative. That was until one of the Mutators that led a group and was under one of the "Private Personnel" of a senator.


    "I want to ask why there are women here." The man was obviously talking about Mei, Odelina, Nikky and Pa who were grouped together. "Isn''t it fine to leave this work to men like us and leave the house sitting to the women? They even brought children with them."


    Unexpectedly, Mei''s group did not react to him. The secretary on the other hand hearing his question ignored him and proceeded to call another person who wanted to ask a question before. It made him lose face as he could hear some of the group leaders snickering behind him.


    "Hey! I''m still asking my question!"


    He bellowed which finally made the secretary look at him.


    Sighing, Zanna replied.


    "To be frank, you''re the one not needed here. Your ability and even the members of your group had been evaluated by us already. No, all people that was requested for help was already evaluated which in fact, all of you here. In terms of ability, experience andbat capability, your group was much lower than the "women" you are talking about. Just where did you get the confidence to ask your question?"


    Zanna''s reply wasbined with her cold looking eyes which obviously stated her contempt for the man.


    "What?! I don''t believe it. What''s your basis for that?!" He shouted. "Then what about the children they brought? We don''t need baggage in this mission right?!"


    "It''s not your concern isn''t it?" Zanna crossed her arms. She was starting to feel annoyed. "You can also bring children if you want but of course, their wellbeing in this mission is your responsibility."


    At this time, Zanna stepped back as General Perez stood up and walked in front. When the General steeped in the center of the room, the people became quiet. His imposing aura was not something that could easily be disregarded even by Mutators and Evolvers that were justmon people before the outbreak.


    "As you all know, we called unto your groups for this mission and it included all of your members as long as they could fight and have to ability to. It was not age restricted but in the least, we only reminded that it was better for normal people to stay behind and did not restrict it. As long as anyone would not drag the whole mission to fail, it was fine to join this mission. It included children that have the ability to fight."


    General Perez roamed his eyes on everyone before stopping on the man who asked which made the man gulp his saliva.


    "I''ll confirm what my secretary said. In terms of ability, your group cannot match the group of women and children you are talking about. In truth, one of those two children could wipe your whole group single handedly." At that moment, General Perez'' eyes turned stern. "I know your group is under Senator D Vega. Don''t think that we don''t know that he had been harassing people from a group under our protection which is the same as what you are doing. If you don''t stop this, then, it''s better if you pack up with your group now and leave. Don''t participate in this mission anymore."


    With that, the man became as quiet as a mute and sat down. Almost everyone around him was now looking at him with contempt hearing what the General said. The man wanted to leave already but the merits in this mission was too good to pass by and was also the reason why many people participated.


    On time, the people gathered at the south gate left to deal with the threat looming at the Philippine General Hospital.

 Chapter 206 Up The Building, Preparations For Attacking The Hospital

    <strong>Day 25 ¨C 1:20 PM ¨C Taft Avenue, Ermita, Metro Man</strong>


    Taft Avenue which was originally known as "Calle Rizal" was a major road in Metro Man that passes through three cities. Along the entirety of the avenue ran the railroad of LRT or Light Rail Transit which was one of the few railroad systems in Man. Its railroads ran above the center of the avenue with the foundations of the railroad separating the northbound and southboundnes in almost the whole length of avenue with the exceptions of straight crossing roads and turn slots for vehicles.


    Due to the length of Taft Avenue, many known establishments could be bound on the road side. Government offices, markets, malls, parks, apartment condominiums and also the current target of the operation of the forces from Bay City, the Philippine General Hospital.


    Although the main entrance of the avenue was nearby Bay City, the evaded to use the majority of the Taft Avenue due to the fact that this avenue also ran across several of the most popted areas in Man. Since their target was the Philippine General Hospital, they could not waste their firepower and manpower to deal with the number of infected there. In fact, those ces were the supplies were most abundant near the Bay City but their manpower was not enough to wipe out all the infected and safely retrieve those supplies.


    After their vehicles passed through numerous smaller and safer roads that could easily be defended and had lower poption, they finally entered the Taft Avenue already nearby their destination.


    Now, there were more than a dozen vehicles parked outside the vicinity of the hospitalpound right in front of the main entrance. There were forty-three people currently setting up defenses for themand post around the parked vehicles while sixty-eight people was currently dealing with the infected that was attacking their groups. As for the remaining people, they were the support groups that were supposed to assist the ground troops from elevated areas like the railroad and themercial buildings around the hospitalpound.


    One of the support groups included Mei''s group that was currently storming into the building in front of hospitalpound and behind the temporary camp being set up. It was due to her Evolver Ability that their group which included Odelina, Abbygale, I, Laps and Fein. Together with their group was a small squad of soldiers and snipers and a small group of Evolvers and Mutators with most of them having the ability to see over long distances.


    This group of Evolvers and Mutators did not actually belong in a single group but had been picked from several groups to participate as scouts for this mission. They were tasked for monitoring the situation from the top of the building together with the sniper team. This group was not the only one but there were several more small groups that were dispatched to other tall buildings for the same purpose.


    The order to gather these people to form the monitoring groups caused some conflicts due to the fact that any group would hesitate to leave the life of their teammates to the hands of others and caused three groups to almost back out but it hand been resolved by allowing one of their group members to apany the person to join the monitoring teams.


    Even though they were called the support teams, they were actually the first people to embark on their missions and fight the infected. The ground troops would storm the hospital at exact two o''clock and should end at three whether it was sessful or not. The mission should only consume this much time since it would be bad for them if they stayed too long in a ce with very less defenses. It was very likely that they would surely attract the attention of the infected not only within the hospital but also the surrounding areas.


    There would be a grace period of fifteen minutes after the allotted time for the returning groups but after that, the people that still had not returned would be on their own. Everyone that participated in this mission had been briefed and had already agreed at this condition. After all, the military and even the other groups would not sacrifice their own just to wait for a few people that could not even return on time if they were not dead yet.


    By the time that the ground troops would storm the hospital, the sniper and monitoring team should already be on position. Thus, they would move earlier entering the buildings they were assigned to. Unfortunately, due tock of manpower, those buildings were not empty. That was why a small group of soldiers that were more proficient in close to mid-rangebat were dispatched to apany the support teams. They needed to deal with the infected inside the buildings on their own.


    ***


    <strong>Day 25 ¨C 1:24 PM ¨C 2nd Floor Joshua Center, Taft Avenue, Ermita, Metro Man</strong>


    TSST! TSST! TSST!


    Three muffled sounds of assault rifles could be faintly heard as Mei''s group being led by the soldiers went up the stairs. Looking at the corridor, three bodies of infected bleeding on their heads could be seen. Along with the bodies, several more infected could be seen further which were alerted by their existence. The soldiers hurriedly dealt with the infected and they all silently climb up the stairs up to the next floor.


    The building they were currently climbing had six floors with the first floor being amercial space while the higher floors were either offices or training centers aimed for student nurses. The building was expected to have less infected inside which was whypared to other groups they had lesser members. Also with the noise outside since the building was just separated to the temporary camp by a railroad, the infected inside should have been alerted already but there was very few that came out.


    This made it a little obvious that the higher officers of the military were rather biased towards Mark''s group. Not only that the building they were assigned supposed to have lesser infected than the others but it was also the nearest to the camp. If an ident happened, it would be easy for them to call for support. However, other people would not be able to deny that the building was a strategic point and had a wide view of the hospitalpound from the rooftop. Since Mei was one of the best snipers in Bay City, it was understandable why her group was given this position.


    "Sorry if you girls had to undergo those harassments. If it was just me who could order all our forces, I want to kill that senator and hisckeys already."


    Staff Sergeant Irene McCarran sighed as she spoke to Mei and Odelina.


    As coordination was very essential in this mission, Irene was sent to lead the soldiers with Mei''s group since she knew the members of their group already. While they climbed up the stairs, Irene was even chatting with Odelina and Mei though Mei rarely replied to her at all. On Irene''s neck, the bandage that wrapped it could be seen slightly hidden by her cor. It was the wound she received during the attack of the Stone d Woman. The wound had yet to fully heal but as a soldier, she could not shirk her duties for a superficial wound.


    "It''s fine." Odelina replied with a smile. "All they could do is run their mouths. It''s not like we don''t know that they are only instigating us to attack first. Once we did that, I''m sure that they will use it against us."


    "Don''t worry. General already ordered us to help every time we can. I''m also getting pissed about those people."


    Irene said with contempt on her eyes.


    "Squad Leader, you should pay attention to the mission."<sub> </sub>


    A male soldier behind Irene sighed looking at his carefree squad leader.


    "I know. I know."


    Irene shrugged her member''s words which made the soldier sigh even more.


    It was at this moment that the soldier that went to scout the upper floors went back with a solemn expression.


    "Ernesto, what''s wrong?"


    Irene''s expression became serious.


    "There''s quite a lot of infected on the fourth floor, about thirty or more."


    "What? How did that happen? Those infected should have been lured out by the noise. Why are they still there?"


    Irene was surprised. Even the people that were tasked for monitoring were rmed. After all, even though they were Mutators and Evolvers and had experience fighting the infected, it was another thing if they were not with their actual group members but with this ragtag band of soldiers and civilians. They could not help but feel nervous.


    "I took a peek. The windows and the hallway of the floor were barricaded. It''s likely that the infected there were supposed to be survivors that took refuge there."


    "But it''s likely that an infected managed to get through and turned them all."


    Irene continued the soldier''s words making him nod. She then looked at the people behind her.


    "Everyone. Get ready.We have to deal with all those infected or we will have a dangerous time returning if these infected got rmed during the mission."


    The others were nervous while the soldiers nodded. Unexpectedly, those people did not see any negative reaction from Mei and Odelina. Even the two children were fine.


    The soldiers first moved up the stairs and eliminated the infected near the staircase and prevent any infected from the higher floors from going down.Since the hallway was notrge, it became inefficient to use the guns after therge number of infected were attracted to their group. Not only that they needed to reload their guns but assault rifles were not that effective in a team fight on a narrow space. Their pistols would be good but the number of bullets for every magazine was limited and they would reload more often.


    At that moment, Odelina and Abbygale went forward. With her bone gauntlets, Odelina started to punch through the heads of the iing infected while Abbygale that transformed to her cat girl form leaped from wall to wall targeting the heads of the infected that looked faster than the others. With the opening given by the two, the soldiers gained a little time to breathe. It was hard to aim at the heads when the infected were too close especially when the ones in the front were blocking those at the back. They could not just spray their bullets everywhere because not only they would waste the limited number of ammunition they had but also the sounds of the bullets hitting walls and breaking things would like make things worse.


    The other people also started to help as they could not just watch as the woman and child fought the infected in front of them alone. One man who seemed to have just apanied hispanion in the monitoring team used his short spear and stabbed at the head of an infected at the opening beside Odelina. On the other hand, Mei sneaked to the other side with a ck crossbow on her hand shooting the infected further away with her arrows slipping through between the infected in front.


    Abbygale kicked on the wall once more and targeted a rather tall infected at the back. It was then that a Biter with skinny arms and legs jumped towards her like a frog from her blind stop. The people could not help but exim as the little girl got attacked but before the infected could even get near her a semi-transparent barrier appeared behind her blocking the attackpletely. The Biter even wailed in pain as his arms and legs were burned by the barrier.


    Before the Biter could fall back to the crowd of infected, a metal arrow flew towards its head with a swish. It fell back to the crowd of infected not alive but dead. Abbygale on the other hand retreated after snapping the neck of her target with a sinister kick.


    The little girl went back and high fived her older sister, I, that had her red colored eye glowing.


    "Be careful alright?"


    Mei caressed Abbygale''s white hair making the little girl squint and nod.


    It was a good teamwork by the three. Abbygale as a child had the tendency to rampage around that was why I who awakened her ability was in charge of protecting her. Mei on the other hand would deal with the aftermath like how she shot the Biter with high precision.


    It did not take long and they eliminated all the infected in the building and get to the rooftop in time. The attack on the hospital was about to happen.

 Chapter 207 Storming The Hospital Compound, The Emergence Of The Advanced Mutated Infected

    <strong>Day 25 ¨C 1:55 PM ¨C Philippine General Hospital, Ermita, Metro Man</strong>


    Major Lopez stepped out of the opened Mobile Command Vehicle and looked around the temporary outpost they made. The teams that were supposed to enter the hospital were ready to go atmand but the nervousness in their faces, especially the civilian groups, were apparent. Just several minutes ago, the outpost was attacked by several mutants from the hospital and the appearance of those mutants was too repulsive even if they werepared to the usual mutated infected.


    Strangely, even though the outpost was just outside the front gate of the hospital, there were no leader types among the attackers. This made the Major feel that something bad would likely happen making him remind the people to be careful repeatedly through themand post.


    After taking a peek at his watch on his left wrist, Major turned back and called unto the personnel in themand vehicle.


    "Lieutenant Herrera, confirm the status of the sniper and monitoring groups."


    "Yes sir!"


    The man who was sitting in front of the transceiver immediately replied before speaking on the mouthpiece in his hand.


    "Command to Support Teams. Command to Support Teams. Ground operations willmence in ETA five minutes. State your status. I repeat. Ground operations willmence in ETA five minutes. State your status."


    After his voice faded, a series of replies came in one after another.


    "This is Team Albatross. We''re already in position."


    "Team Barbet. Also in position."


    "This is Team Cockatiel, we''re we just arrive at the roof top."


    "Team Dove. Already in position.


    "Team Eagle. We''re still two floors before our destination. There''s a lot of infected in our building."


    "Team Fairy." Irene''s voice was heard. "We''ve been here for ten minutes already."


    "Team Goshawk here! We''re still in the middle floors. Our building had a lot of barricades blocking our advance. Wait. We found three survivors!"


    Hearing the replies of the seven support teams that were tasked to position themselves on the roof top of buildings around the hospitalpound, Lieutenant Herrera looked at Major Lopez.


    Major Lopez entered themand vehicle and took the mouthpiece.


    "This is Major Lopez. Team Eagle, double speed. If your team needs reinforcements, say it. Team Goshawk, we''ll send a retrieval group to take away the survivors. Continue on the mission and say if your team needs tools to remove the barricades. As for the others, wait in position. We''ll start on time."


    "ROGER!"


    "Team Eagle here. We could still manage. We''ll get in position as soon as possible."


    "Team Goshawk. Please send some tools. Some of the barricades blocking the way are nailed to the floor and the walls."


    After contacting the support teams and the retrieval team to get the survivors found by Team Goshawk, the operationmenced.


    ***


    Sounds of gunshots echoed across the wholepound as the teams of soldiers, Mutators and Evolvers stormed the three entrances of the hospitalpound.


    At that time however, as if waiting for their attack, thergest pods on the walls of the buildings within thepound burst open at the same time. It caused the gross smelling greenish liquid to stter around thepound even covering the web like membrane that covered the grounds of thepound. In each pod, a mutated infected emerged.


    The mutated infected were different from each pod. The monitoring personnel from Team Barbet that was positioned at the northern part of the hospital reported a mutated infected with bloated chest and moving in a strange manner came out of the pod in the northern side of thepound. Team Dove also reported a mutated infected that had bloated muscles in its whole body that was contracting and rxing like a beating heart.


    Upon spotting the irregr looking mutated infected, a plethora of loud gunshots echoed from six buildings around the hospitalpound. It was the six teamsposed of the sniper and monitoring groups. Their duty was to provide fire support and monitoring after all. Since the sudden threat appeared, they had to deal with it as soon as possible.


    Unfortunately, not all of the mutated infected from the pods were killed. There were those that moved too fast, some had some imprable armor on their bodies and heads while the most rming were those that moved to dodge the bullets. The fast moving ones were hard to aim at while the ones with armor had been blown away or were injured due to the high caliber sniper rifles. Those who dodged the bullets however¡­


    Continuously dodged the shots fired at them.


    These infected were those they called the [Leader Types]. They were the higher leveled mutated infected like those that led the horde of disfigured mutant infected to constantly attack Bay City in the past several days. It was still not known whether they developed intelligence since it was almost impossible to catch one and observe in captivity but the sure thing was that the [Leader Types] possessed high sense of danger and mentality simr to leaders of a pack of ferocious animals. Another troublesome thing was that they knew when to advance and retreat which made it several more times harder to kill them.


    "Team Eagle to South Storm Team!" The voice of the leader of Team Eagle that managed to get in position in time could be heard. "We spotted a [Predator Type] towards your direction! Proceed with caution! We lost visuals of the target on Sector 9-4!"


    [Predator Types], they were those infected that were not only fast moving but specialized in sneak attacks. It was unknown if they could sense if there was anyone looking at them but they were able to move away from the sights of people. When the target rxed their guards, these kinds of infected were more likely to attack. Aside from being too agile, most of this kind of mutated infected had ws or des on their upper limbs and had either too lean bodies or muscr limbs.<sub> </sub>


    "Team Albatross to Main Storm Team!" The leader of Team Albatross that were positioned at a high building at the north east shouted at the radio sending his message to the teams at the main entrance. "We lost visuals of an infected we suspect as [Armor Type] and [Suicide Type] hybrid in Sector 2-2! Proceed with caution!"


    [Armor Type], as the name implied, they were the infected that had hard skin or worse, had armors on their body. It was not a manmade armor but made of hardened biological matter. Most of the time, they were hard to damage even with hot weapons. Their obvious traits were their stiff movements due to hardened skin surface and most of them had ratherrger body builds.


    [Suicide Type], it was also the same as its name implied. They would behave the same as other infected, running towards people, biting and infecting. However, the problemes when they were killed. Every single time one was killed, their bodies would explode into pieces. The worst thing however was that the damage their exploding bodies could do especially if their bodies contained concentrated acid or poison.


    Normally, a mutated infected would have just one type to mutation. However, there were very rare times that the infected would mutate in a unique way which gave them characteristics of two or more types.


    Major Lopez inside themand vehicle listened to the continuous exchange of voices on the radio. His expression was solemn. It was good that the people participating in this mission were briefed about the sectioning of the hospitalpound making it easier to alert where the danger coulde from. The map of the hospital had been divided into ten by five sections and each section had around fifty meter square area.


    He did not expect however, that they would encounter a lot of advanced mutated infected inside the hospitalpound. It seemed that the ones that attacked when they arrived and during the preparation of the temporary outpost were just the stragglers and not the main forces of the infected inside thepound. Looking at it, Major Lopez could not help but feel like the infected here were gathered as a hierarchal group where the lowest members were those disgusting looking mutated infected.


    ***


    The leader of the ground troop soldiers which were the main attackers was the newly promoted Master Sergeant Keene D Rosa. After they arrived at Bay City back then, he participated in a lot of missions as a Mutator in the military and caused him to be promoted in rank. Like before, he was always the lead of the main attack force due to his ability being more suitable for closebat and killing.


    With a M16 assault rifle in his left hand and two feet long de made of bone on the other, he continuously killed the infected that came near him. Right at his moment, he was contending with an [Armor Type] and [Leader Type] Hybrid Mutated Infected.


    The infected was a burly man without skin. The outlines of his muscles were too weighty in a literal manner. Although it had no skin or armor on its body, it was still defined as an [Armor Type] due to its bulky muscles being able to receive the impact of the bullets without being injured. Keene''s bone de however was another matter.


    Compared to the impact and strength of a gunshot from an M16 assault rifle to Keene''s strongest stab, thetter was way stronger. This was why he presented himself to deal with this hybrid infected. If not, it would be likely that this infected would go and rampage towards the other people killing them all in the process. The only thing that could damage this guy would be an explosion from inside its body or a high caliber sniper bullet.


    However, it was a [Leader Type]. With its high sense of danger, it was able to avoid the shotsing from sniper rifles of the support teams up the rooftop of their respective buildings.


    BAM!


    Keene jumped back as the hybrid attacked him with a strong smash. After the smash missed and hit the ground, he jumped forward once more stabbing the outreached arm of the infected. The stab connected creating a bloody hole on the arm of the infected and caused blood to gush out of it. The infected wailed in pain for a bit before attacking Keene again.


    With a single sidestep of Keene, the wide downward swing of the infected missed its target and its fist smashed unto the ground once more. This time however, the attack was stronger causing the ground to tremor a bit and destroyed the reddish membrane on the ground. It also caused dust and small rocks to fly which irritated Keene''s eyes.


    While Keene got disoriented, the infected attacked once more and Keene already expected himself to get it by the attack.


    BANG!!!


    A loud sound of a gunshot was hearding from the building right in front of the hospital. The next thing Keene saw was the stter of blood on his body and in front of him along the dead body of the infected that now had his head almost crushed by the impact of the high caliber bullet that entered its forehead.


    Keene was surprised and the people around him, both soldiers and hired participants of this mission, were also the same. It was because they all knew that it was near impossible for a sniper to hit [Leader Type] infected due to their high sense of danger. This time however, it was obvious that the infected Keene was fighting was killed by a sniper.


    This time, the radio in his belt sounded.


    "Keene! Are you alright?"


    It was Irene''s voice.


    "I am but it''s a close call. Is it you?"


    "No, it''s Miss Mei. We can leave the [Leader Types] to her. Just distract them as much as possible and bring them to the open."


    BANG!!!


    Another [Leader Type] infected in the front yard of the hospital near Keene got killed with a head shot. Seeing that, he could not help but feel amazed. He was sure that even distracting the [Leader Types] would not work for other snipers.


    "Okay thanks!"


    While the two were talking on the radio, a voice suddenly interjected.


    "Hey! You two love birds!" It was the voice of Major Lopez. "Don''t use our emergency frequency to flirt! All of us can hear you two! Expect punishment when we return!"


    "Sorry Major."


    The two both apologized but Irene''s voice was not really apologetic at all.

 Chapter 208 Aerial Threat, The Crazed Infected Animals Of The Sky

    <strong>Day 25 ¨C 2:15 PM ¨C Philippine General Hospital, Ermita, Metro Man</strong>


    "You heard the idiot leader of Team Fairy! If any of you can''t deal with the [Leader Types], lure them to the front of the hospital!"


    Major Lopez rubbed his temple after he spoke at the radio.


    While majority of the people participating in this mission were issued with the main radio, the squad and team leaders, whether the soldiers or the private groups, were given another smaller radio that should only be used in emergency. He did not expect that the idiot granddaughter of one of the previous American Major that participated in World War II would be able to think of using the radio to contact Keene who was also a leader of his own team. The major just wished that it would not set as a bad example that the other leaders would follow.


    Still, the information Irene said was vital. He also did not expect that the silent princess of Xiao Industries was capable of eliminating the [Leader Types] without problem. It was really good that General Perez asked them to participate in this mission. However, the condition that they asked in order to agree was rather hard to aplish and it was to make greedy pigs from the upper brass to leave their group in peace. It was rather hard because even in Bay City, the standing of these politicians and businessmen were just a little below to the General and thetter did not have much authority over those people.


    Well, it was not the major''s problem.


    ***


    "Leader, why is our team called "Team Fairy" while the other teams were all named after birds?"


    Irene''s spotter and the vice leader of Team Fairy, Sergeant Jennifer Atman asked with confusion. She had been thinking of it since they were briefed about the mission but did not have the opportunity to ask.


    "I requested it. Isn''t it good?"


    BANG!


    Irene replied before shooting her MSSR. Her target was a mutated infected that had just came out of its pod. On her observation, it was a [Suicide Type] as it had a rather disgustingly bloated body and slow movements.


    "It hit." Jennifer said as she watched the bloated target explode with a fog of green smoke in her scope. "There''s another target at Sector 2-2, [Armored Type]. Fairy seemed good but it sounded odd when the other groups were named after birds and we''re not."


    BANG!


    Irene shot her sniper rifle towards the next target and hit the head but it only staggered backwards and did not die and ran off away from their sight.


    "We''ll, our team is originally named as Team mingo. What do you think?"


    "Lost visuals of the target. Um. I guess Team Fairy is good."


    mingos were cute but a military team with a name like that was more likely to be taken less seriously than the others.


    BANG! BANG!


    Another gunshot echoed not far from them. They nced at that direction and saw Mei who was using her PSG-1 sniper rifle while picking the [Leader Types] in front of the hospital one by one. Furthermore, not only that she had no need for a spotter but the interval of shots from her sniper rifle was rather too short. The recoil of the sniper rifle had not totally subsided but she was able to aim it once the recoil started to weaken.


    They felt amazed that the almost invincible [Leader Types] were easy pickings for her with the exception of [Armor Type] hybrids which she could only injure or kill in several shots.


    However, as soldiers, they knew why the [Leader Types] were able to dodge their attacks. In theory made by the scientists in Bay City, the [Leader Types] were likely to be able to sense danger through killing intent and that was why they were able to dodge bullets even from sniper rifles and sneak attacks. It was simr to how insects and animals were able to avoid dangers around them.


    [Leader Types] were too agile even for most Mutators and Evolvers not to mention to them who were just normal soldiers. Due to that, they needed time to aim towards the target and there were the issue lies. The more time they consumed to aim at the target before shooting, the more killing intent they release. Unless it was those people who were professionally and intensely trained to conceal their killing intent like international mercenaries and assassins, it was almost impossible to kill [Leader Types] in one shot.


    Yet, Mei was able to do it.


    The reason to this was Mei''s eye ability, [Optical Zoom] and [Bullet Time].She was not even relying on her scope too much and was aiming with her bare eyes. She was using both abilities especially against the [Leader Type], [Predator Type] and [Agility Type] infected. It was because those three types of infected were the fastest kinds. She was not using the scope too much when dealing with the fast infected due to the fact that the scope was inhibiting her field of view.


    [Agility Type] infected, as their name implied were those that could move the fastestpared to other infected types. They had no redeeming physical features aside from their agility but their attack patterns were rather erratic and random. They could move too fast and the muscle springs of their limbs were too strong that they could sometimes use walls, ceilings and other structures to propel their bodies towards their prey.


    Due to [Bullet Time] the movements of the enemies were slower and it gave her less time to aim at her targets. Due to the very short aim time, the killing intent and danger she could release was too negligible to the [Leader Types] making them unable to detect her shots. If it was before when she had just received this ability from Mark, she would not be able to do it but her daily training made her able to respond to her [Bullet Time] ability ordingly.<sub> </sub>


    At this moment, one of the members monitoring the surroundings shouted while observing the east side which was the back of the building shouted.


    "Everyone! We gotpany! There arerge birdsing from the east!"


    Everyone suddenly turned their heads towards the direction the back of the building was facing.


    It was in the middle of the day and due to the outbreak, the ominous grey sky caused by too much pollution in the past was all gone. Due to those, the normal people could faintly see ck dots in the sky on that direction. The snipers and those with abilities to see further could verify that those were really birds. However, looking at their ferocious appearances, beaks dripping of blood, pale eyes and extraordinarily abnormal size, these birds were surely infected.


    There was a lot of them and was being led by arger mutated infected bird. For sure, therger bird was a [Leader Type].


    "Team Fairy to all units! Team Fairy to all units!" Irene bellowed on her emergency radio. "We spotted infected birdsing from the east! Approximately a thousand meters away! There are about a hundred or more of them!"


    That message riled up everyone that heard it. Everyone was busy dealing with the infected inside and outside the hospital and now, the rare non-insect flying infected came with more than a hundred in quantity. This was no doubt a huge threat if not dealt with immediately.


    "Sniper Teams deal with the birds first!" Major Lopez'' voice was heard from the radio. "Team Fairy! Keep Miss Xiao on support to deal with the [Leader Types] in the hospital grounds! Everyone else should deal with the birds and don''t let them into the hospital grounds!"


    "ROGER!"


    BANG! BANG! BANG!


    Several dozens of gunshots sounded once more from the rooftop of buildings around the hospital but now, the target was the iing threat of infected birds from the east. As the infected birds were able to fly, their speed was also fast and was not hindered since there were no obstacles on the way. The members of the support groups that were not in the sniper squads also got their guns ready. The civilians had already started shooting but of course, they were just wasting bullets since at this wide distance, hitting a target using their assault rifles and pistols could only rely on luck.


    The first volley of gunshots managed to hit about a dozen of infected birds causing them to plummet down to the ground. It was unknown whether all the birds that were hit died but it was enough to take these flying infected out of the airspace. Unfortunately, none of the mutated birds, especially, the [Leader Type] fell. Instead, the [Leader Type] sensed the danger and started tomand its horde of infected birds.


    This was the most annoying trait of [Leader Types]. Normal infected did not have even a small sign of intellect and would blindly charge at their prey but with a [Leader Type] on the lead, their movements would change. Like now, with the [Leader Type] Mutated Infected Bird, the flock of infected birds started to fly in different directions following the flight path of their leader. It goes without saying that it became much harder to hit the flock even though there was too many of them.


    The flock flew erratically as they came closer and closer. The number of the infected birds also started to decrease as they became easier to target the closer they came. Still, the pressure on the people atop the buildings became stronger and stronger and the [Leader Type] bird was still alive and pping its wings.


    As expected, even though there was three buildings to the east of the hospitalpound upied by the support groups, the flock of infected birds were targeting the building upied by Team Fairy.


    The flock of birds came closer and closer that even Laps and Fein that were on standby moved to protect Mei, I and Abbygale. Unfortunately, they were on a rooftop, it was not rmended here for Laps to show her full form. She was here in case that they needed to escape. In her full form, it would not be hard to scale the buildings and escape while carrying several people on her back. Fein was also here for the same reason as it could assist if an unexpected event of someone falling from the building happened.


    As for why the flock of birds targeted their building, it was obviously because of I who was a psychic and was in the open. Unfortunately, they could not abandon the rooftop and cut off the support fireing from Mei as she was the only one that could efficiently deal with the [Leader Types] on the ground.


    At the time that the flock of birds reached less than five hundred meters away, Mei suddenly turned behind aiming her sniper rifle. Her eyes dted and her concentration was at maximum. The movements of the birds slowed in her eyespared and even slower than how she did from the [Leader Types] on the ground.


    BANG!


    The [Leader Type] Bird''s head exploded and immediately plummeted to the ground. However, it seemed that the [Leader Type] bird was a hybrid. The moment it died, the coordination between the infected crumbled but at the same time, their movements, cries and speed became even more erratic. It was the trait of [Instigator Type] infected.


    <o>,m The [Instigator Type] infected were those that were able to influence other infected in a certain range. The medium of influence differed from screams, blood or even the death of the infected. Their influence ranged from being able to call the infected into a certain area to the worst that were able to increase the abilities of the infected influenced by it.</o>


    The flock of infected birds, like crazed predators, flew towards Team Fairy with even more speed and blood curling screeches!


    "Everyone! Gather around us quick!" Odelina bellowed and called everyone''s attention as she moved towards Mei and the two children. "I get ready! Protect everyone!"


    "Yes!"


    I replied with a serious expression unbefitting a cute child. A chilling red re on her red colored pupil appeared as the infected birds continuously flew towards them.

 Chapter 209 Reaching The Climax, The Emergence Of The Final Boss

    <strong>Day 25 ¨C 2:38 PM ¨C Rooftop, Joshua Center, Taft Avenue, Ermita, Metro Man</strong>


    The members of the monitoring group in Team Fairy became more and more nervous as the crazed infected birds closed unto them. Many of them had no ability to fight at closebat and their physical prowess was rather on the low side. It was due to their abilities being only suited for scouting and monitoring. They could be able to avoid danger from afar but not deal with the danger directly.


    Some of them wanted to enter the building once more and avoid the danger but as normal civilians before the outbreak, there was the inherent fear of the military on their minds. They participated in this mission in their own consent and they were told to strictly follow orders lest the mission failed because of them. Now, there were no orders being issued to retreat which made them confused and unable to think properly. Instead of running or getting ready to fight, a number of them were rooted on the spot instead.


    Those who apanied the members of the monitoring group immediately went forward. It was their duty to protect the people they apanied after all. It was the same for the soldiers and their actions became fiercer and fiercer the closer the infected birds came.


    While they were lost, Odelina''s voice entered their ears.


    When people were lost and did not know what to do, they would likely follow the first instruction they would hear even though they did not know whether it was reasonable or not. Sometimes, it caused bad decisions and would often lead to a worse situation just because they were not able to process the possible consequences of the action. Fortunately, that was not the case this time.


    As everyone gathered around Odelina''s team shooting the birds that were already just several feet away from them, a dome shaped barrier appeared encasing everyone inside.


    The crazed infected birds mmed unto the semi-transparent barrier with high speeds. Some mmed head first while others sttered their whole body unto the barrier. With an audible sizzling sound, the bodies of the infected birds that stuck themselves unto the barrier started to emit smoke as their feathers and skin started to be charred.


    Some of the weaker birds that dived head-first unto the barrier immediately died after their heads became charred after prating the barrier for a bit. The stronger ones had their heads stuck inside the barrier and those who were still clear headed among the people immediately tried to attack those head to end the infected birds. Before they could do so however, the barrier burned the necks of the birds before closing the holes which decapitated those infected birds almost instantly.


    Seeing the situation, the people inside the barrier could not help but feel relieved. They did not know where this barrier came from but it was likely that it was an ability of someone here. The man with the spear remembered that this same barrier appeared before when the little cat girl was in danger. He looked at the center of the barrier and saw I whose left eye was glowing red with her hand outstretched to the direction where the birds wereing from.


    All the birds mmed unto the barrier which took arge toll on the little girl. Fortunately, the infected birds lost the ability to fight after they mmed unto the barrier. Some birds that hit the barrier with their bodies were still alive but with their feathers burned and limbs charred, theybat capabilities became next to zero. With all the remaining birds now lying on the rooftop, the barrier vanished and I slumped to the floor. She was immediately abandoned her sniper rifle and lifted by Mei and let her sit beside her position.


    "Mama, did I do well?"


    I asked as she sat beside Mei.


    "Yes, you did well. Leave the rest to us and rest."


    Mei replied and caressed I''s head making the little girl smile with satisfaction.


    I lost her memories of the past including her real family, friends and the bad things that happened to her. In exchange, she remembered something else. During the time the crystals activated back then when Mark disappeared, the little girl felt the crystal calling to her. Upon contact, she remembered fragments of memories of abilities that formerly belonged to someone called Keeper.


    She felt that she had met the woman called Keeper before but she could not remember. However, her abilities were ingrained in the little girl''s mind. It included about the existence of the PsyCrystal that had already chosen Mark as the bearer. It also allowed her to be able to tell that her current father was still alive somewhere. Actually, as the inheritor of the creator of the [PsyCrystal], she should be able to sense where it was once it found a bearer but it needed to be supplied by the bearer with mental or psychic energy in order for her to sense where it was. It made her unable to understand why she could not sense where her Papa was now.


    Keeper was a rare person who had two psychic abilities and the second one was called [Heat Wither Barrier]. It was being able to conjure an energy barrier. The surface of the barrier was extremely hot but that was not the lethal thing about it. Heat should not be able to injure someone instantly and lethally in the slightest touch but because of the wither trait of the barrier, it would inflict some corrosive effect on the surface and causes more lethal damage than the heat was supposed to do.It was just because the heat the barrier emit on the surface, it was misunderstood as being burned or charred rather than being corroded.


    Seeing the weakened state of the girl, the other people around of course would be able to rte the barrier that appeared to her. The men could only send a thankful nce while the women were able to say thanks directly. Why was that the case for the men? It was because Mei''s group of women and children were known because of rumors for trashing men that came near them. It ignored the fact however that those men that were trashed were those that came with ulterior motives.


    "Team Fairy,e in! Team Fairy! Report your status!"


    The voice of Lieutenant Herrera who was the transceiver operator was heard from Irene''s radio.


    "Ah! We''re fine! We''re fine! The situation is under control! All the infected birds had been eliminated! No casualties to report either."


    Irene replied in a fluster.


    "Good! Please proceed to give assistance to the ground troops. More infected wereing out of the hospital."


    "Roger!"


    The team went back to their duties while the other soldiers and members that were not snipers and had no monitoring abilities went to remove the dead bodies of the birds. While Mei started shooting on the infected at the hospital grounds once more, I who now sat beside Mei with Abbygale called unto Odelina.


    "Auntie, that head, that one and that."


    The little girl pointed at a decapitated head of a mutated bird and two other bodies.


    Odelina on the other hand knew what she meant and crushed the heads of the bodies the little girl pointed to. On the remains of the heads, there were small ck pebbles among their brain matter.


    They had been collecting these pebbles since then and right now, they already had fifty two including the three pebbles Odelina had just taken. This was also the first time they found three in one go. Unfortunately, I had no ability to turn these pebbles into [Physical Crystals] without the help of the [PsyCrystal].


    This number of pebbles from the mutated infected however would surely make Mark happy when he return.


    ***<sub> </sub>


    Forty-Five minutes after the storming of the hospital started. More than two thousand infected had already been eliminated inside and outside the premises of the hospital. In two hundred people that participated in the mission, fifteen had unfortunately died or turned while thirty had been injured. The climax of the battle was starting.


    ROOOOOAAARRR!!!


    With a loud roar and a rumbling sound inside the hospital, everything went silent. It was not only the soldiers and survivors participating in the mission but also the infected.


    CRASH!


    The front of the main hospital building crumbled and a huge figure leapt out of the crumbling building.


    The figure looked like someone that overdosed in steroids. It was an infected man that stood three and a half meters tall with rock like muscles on its body. Itnded and moved on all fours like a gori. The most noticeable thing was that its skin on its bulging muscles lookedcerated and spewing ck corrosive blood that sizzled after dripping on the cemented ground.


    The moment itnded, it grabbed a parked sedan near it and threw it to the people in front. Unable to react immediately, the people should have been crushed by the vehicle thrown unto them. Fortunately, a Mutator near them transformed his body into a muscr one as if contending with the new infected and caught the thrown vehicle before throwing the vehicle back.


    BAM! CRASH!


    The infected had no intellect to catch the vehicle thrown back to it and the vehicle crashed on its body. The vehicle became a mangled mess but the infected was unscathed. It lifted the mangled vehicle and pulled its body apart and threw the parts it was holding randomly. One of the thrown half of the vehicle almost hit Nikky and her group that was with the main storming team but managed to evade it. The other half however was thrown unto the infected to the side crushing and injuring many of them.


    ROOOOAARRR!!!


    The huge infected roared once more and the actions of the infected around even the [Leader Types] became more ferocious. Their pale eyes started to turn reddish and their already scary expressions became worse. The infected started screaming ferociously as they all attacked with rage.


    At the same time, therge infected also charged forward. Each move it made caused weak tremors around it and sttered its corrosive blood around.


    The sounds of guns became fiercer in response to the change with the infected''s behavior. The soldiers also started to take out their grenadeunchers and rocketunchers that they were saving. The number of infected that constantly ran out of the hospital was more than what the number the hospital should be able to amodate with was rather strange.


    Several explosions urred after the grenadesnded on therge infected but it was still unscathed. It did not take long for everyone to understand that they were just wasting ammunition and explosives if their target was therge infected that stormed out of the hospital.


    With their blood boiling, several Mutators along with Keene confronted therge infected. It was a risky attempt but they had no choice. While they stall this big guy, it would allow the others to deal with the scattered infected with less risk involved.


    Keen had already run out of ammunition as someone in the front of the battle and the current situation did not allow him to replenish his bullets. In this case, several ded bones protruded out of his palms and wrist and dealt with the threat in closebat.


    Therge infected tried to punch one of the Mutators fighting it after losing bnce. If this punch connected, the man would surely turn into meat paste.


    BANG!


    A gunshot echoed and the fist that was raised up did not tall down but was pushed even more backwards.


    BANG!


    The same fist was hit once more with the sniper bullet and the man finally managed to escape while the infected staggered backwards. It could not help but roar in anger which caused even more disturbance among both the infected and the people.


    BANG!


    The mouth of therge infected bled as a hole opened up inside its mouth and breaking its jaw. Its mouth could only remain opened.


    BANG!


    Another bullet entered its mouth making stagger backwards and its head pushed facing upwards.


    BANG!


    The final bullet tore through its pte and into its brain. The bullet did not managed to pierce out of its skin and the infected could only bleed in its mouth as it fell down.


    The Mutators around could not fathom what happened. Still, they were grateful that this scary creature was done for.


    CRYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!


    It was then that a loud shriek was heard from the interior of the main hospital building followed by the rumbling of the wholepound. The main hospital building started to copse making the people inside thepound retreat as quickly as possible.


    The dust soon dissipated and it could be seen that the whole building crumbled. In its ce, a seven meter tall mound of flesh with half of a woman''s body protruding out of the mound. With her enraged shriek, several dozens of human sized tentacles surged out sweeping everything on its path.

 Chapter 211 The Mountain Base, A Smooth Start In The Past Days

    <strong>Day 28 ¨C 10:31 AM - Barangay Daraitan, Tanay, Rizal</strong>


    Mark sat at the roof of an empty house while watching Jollene fight off several infected below in the middle of the earthen street. They were at the detached area near the river, this was the area Mark cleared up of infected the first time he came here at this ce. The area was quite a distance away from the center of the barrio and was separated by vacant lots and mango orchards making Mark quite confident that the dangerous infected in the barrio would not wander here aimlessly. Furthermore, Amihan who was yawning on his shoulder was masking the smell and noise in this area.


    SHWING!


    Jollene swung her weapon decapitating the head of the infected in front of her. Her weapon was a short Japanese sword with a reddish ck color which Mark made for her. The sword was called a Wakizahi which simrly shaped to a katana but shorter since her build, strength and skills was not yet suitable for arger and longer one.


    The decapitated head flew to the side sttering blood to the ground and the body fell down. She then staggered a little before retreating away as one of the Biters tried to pounce at her.


    "I told you. Don''t resist when your body moves on its own. Justpliment the movements with your own after the feeling stops. If you continue that, it will bring more danger to you."


    Mark said after he saw Jollene stagger.


    "Yes! Sorry!"


    Jollene replied with a lively voice. Her forehead was sweating and she was panting faintly but her eyes were shining as she fought. The pampered aura she had before had been long gone and was reced with an aura of a real survivor of the apocalypse. Well, at least, if there was no [Blood Child] around her.


    Mark watched her move and entangled with infected once more. This was their daily routine these past days. At first, Mark tried to spar with her to test her ability and he was kind of amazed. It was really [Danger Sense] and her body would automatically move to avoid the danger she could feel. Even if she could not see the source of the attack as long as the attack was going to hit her body, her body would respond on its own. Her ability could even perceive feints and would not move on fake attacks.


    Her ability however was something she had a hard time to get used to. After all, it felt like her body was being controlled by someone else making her resist it on reflex creating her awkward looking movements. However, she had already started to get used to it though there were stillpses where she was still resisting the danger avoiding movements.


    Now, her movements were better and Mark brought her to fight with a few infected since yesterday. At her first try, she was still afraid but when she killed the first one easily, her confidence was boosted and even wanted to fight more after she eliminated the first batch.


    It did not take long for the fight to be concluded and Mark jumped down from the roof while Amihan fluttered down before returning on his shoulder.


    After the fight however, she would run away and hide. It was because Mark took out Crimson, the very first [Blood Child] he found by the riverside several days ago. With Crimson''s help, Mark drained the blood of the infected before stuffing itself back into Mark''s backpack with a wobbly bounce. As the training was over, Mark and Jollene carried their backpacks filled with things from the houses in the vicinity and went back home.


    Mark had given each of the [Blood Children] names. Aside from Miracle and her cousin he named Oracle, the others been given the names Crimson, Cherry, Rose, Red, Ruby, Merlot and Currant in the order he found them. Of all the eight slime bodied [Blood Child], their genders were equally divided. How could Mark tell? There were no physical traits to tell but he knew because of the connection he had with them. It was the same principle as how he could differentiate the emotional fluctuations of people.


    As for Crimson now being able to bounce from ce to ce to move different from before where it moved like a slug, it was because of Mark''s training. He found it inconvenient that the [Blood Children] moved too slow and thus trained them to propel their bodies by force upwards to move like how it was for slimes in fantasy anime and stories. Mark expected it to be hard to train them but the little critters actually grasped it in several hours.


    Unfortunately, Miracle had not woken up yet. Mark was wondering why. He was not worried however since his connection to her was rather strong telling him that the sleeping blood bodied girl was healthy.


    After a trekking up the mountain, Mark and Jollene arrived at the vicinity of the spring. They did not return to the vige but to this ce.


    Before, there were only a tall crevice, tall trees, thick bushes and stones in the area around the spring. Five days after the event inside the airne, the area had already changed. Around the spring, there was a three meter tall wall erected made with stones and wood while being supported by reddish ck metal foundations and frames.


    The whole area enclosed by the wall was about two thousand five hundred square meters with each of the three existing walls measuring about fifty meters while thest wall was the tall crevice at the east of the base. Of course, the walls were not fully finished with only the frames and foundations made of [Blood Metal]. After all the quantity of blood Mark could collect in this past days from the infected at the barrio was still not enough. Instead, many parts were affixed with rocks and tree trunks.


    With Mark and Jollene''s arrival, the metal grated gates facing the path near the small river opened. The person who opened the gates was Huey who was waiting for the two to return.<sub> </sub>


    "Boss! Jollene, wee back."


    Huey respectfully greeted before turning to Jollene with a gentle smile. Seeing his smile, she also let out a smile. She really liked how Huey treated her and was gradually recovering from her heart break because of it. Furthermore, Huey was a man who did not try to force any intimate physical contact on her which made her feel that he was giving her too much respect, space and freedom.


    The gates closed and the area was in view. Several huts were already made but each of it was still small and not sturdy enough after being made from the materials they got after deconstructing the houses and huts there. That was these huts were here to store things that they used for construction. As for the sleeping quarters, there were two houses made of [Blood Metal] and wood built at the base of the crevice. One was made for the men while the other was for the women.


    Mark took the other bag from Jollene and told her to clean up her blood stained body. She bowed and left while he continued on his way deeper into the base. Along the way, he could see the several improvised drying racks where pelts from different erged animals was being stretched out by ropes and was being dried under the sun.


    These past days while they were building up the foundations of the base, they experienced attacks from different animals which sometimes tore through the improvised walls they made. The most dangerous one was when they encountered a huge rat about the size of a tiger. It was agile and strong which gave Mark some trouble.


    They area of the base had not been fully cleared of trees to provide shade and protection. Amihan also preferred a ce with trees after all. Under the shade of one of therger trees, Mark saw Hallie and Nicole ying with the other [Blood Children]. The two became the caretakers of the little critters and who knows how it happened but Hallie was able to give simple orders to them. She even asked her favorite, Merlot, to make her a crudely shaped sword simr to a scimitar.


    On the other hand, Nicole could only interact with Ruby in the same way as Hallie. She had no way to make Ruby make her anything though and also could not understand how Hallie was able to do it.


    ? Even though the [Blood Children] really liked to hang out with the two, he was still their master and he could call unto them. It was just every time he did that while Hallie and Nicole were ying, they would re at him and pout which made Mark feel funny. Well, it was break time anyway so he just let them. After all, these two helped with a lot of things that they could do in the base.


    The main work force in the base, Ed and Ron were still working on one of the huts. When Jollene asked to be trained on how to fight several days ago, Ed also came to apologize for joining in to attack Mark. After that, he became diligent in being the mainbor force and it was rather amazing that he had a lot of knowledge in carpentry and hunting.


    Ron on the other hand was a person with rather too thin presence. He had no remarkable abilities but he was doing his best to assist Ed in his work. After all, his sprain had already started to heal and was able to help with lighter tasks.


    Trisha was nowhere to be seen but Mark could smell the strong aroma of lunch being cookeding from the house being used as the storage area for food. It seemed that she was cooking lunch.


    Mark went straight to the crevice in the space between the men''s and women''s quarters. On the face of the crevice, there was a locked door which only Mark had the key. Inside the door was a smallwork of rooms and hallways dug inside the stone covered crevice. Like a mine, there were supports on the walls and ceiling. The only difference was that the supports were made of [Blood Metal].


    This ce was dug by him alone. He did it by slipping his blood into the spaces and the miniscule holes between the rocks and carefully controlled his blood to tear the face of the crevice intorge pieces or rocks. Those rocks were the same ones currently being used as temporary walls.


    Lighting up a gasmp, Mark made his way further inside.


    This ce was Mark''s private space where he kept most of his stuff along with the stored [Blood Metal]. His bedroom and even the materials storage room was here.


    He took out Crimson from the back pack and made the blood it absorbed metalize into metal pipes. While Crimson was doing its work that it was already used to repeatedly do, Mark walked inside further and checked the furthest pair of rooms.


    In the innermost rooms was the most dangerous part of the base, the infected farms. One room contained the five infected he brought back to the ne. As what he wanted to do with these five, he had not started with it yet and only fed them with scraps from the animals that tried to invade the base. As he did not have the ability to transfer the male infected''s seeds without doing something repulsive, he had no motivation to do it.


    On the other room was filled with a dozen of tied up normal Biters he retrieved from the Barrio these past days. As the poption of the base was low, he could not get blood from them and thus, he created an infected farm where he fed the infected and take their blood after they recover. This way, he got a constant source of blood to be used around the base. The process of luring these infected here was tedious but it was worth it.


    After going out of the dimly lit rooms with Crimson and Amihan, he looked around the base once more. Even though slow, it was going rather smoothly. It was a very good start. However, they stillcked a lot of things. Once a speck of his empathic ability returned, he would make his way towards the east where the initial ce where Hallie''s group wanted to go. He would try to find people, seeds to nt and other important things. If the ce was run by the military, depending on the situation, there would be a chance for him to contact Bay City.


    The day passed quickly but around midnight, he was jolted awake by a splitting pain on his head while the [PsyCrystal] on his wrist vibrated fiercely. It was the sign that his empathic ability started to recover.

 Chapter 211 The Mountain Base, A Smooth Start In The Past Days

    <strong>Day 28 ¨C 10:31 AM - Barangay Daraitan, Tanay, Rizal</strong>


    Mark sat at the roof of an empty house while watching Jollene fight off several infected below in the middle of the earthen street. They were at the detached area near the river, this was the area Mark cleared up of infected the first time he came here at this ce. The area was quite a distance away from the center of the barrio and was separated by vacant lots and mango orchards making Mark quite confident that the dangerous infected in the barrio would not wander here aimlessly. Furthermore, Amihan who was yawning on his shoulder was masking the smell and noise in this area.


    SHWING!


    Jollene swung her weapon decapitating the head of the infected in front of her. Her weapon was a short Japanese sword with a reddish ck color which Mark made for her. The sword was called a Wakizahi which simrly shaped to a katana but shorter since her build, strength and skills was not yet suitable for arger and longer one.


    The decapitated head flew to the side sttering blood to the ground and the body fell down. She then staggered a little before retreating away as one of the Biters tried to pounce at her.


    "I told you. Don''t resist when your body moves on its own. Justpliment the movements with your own after the feeling stops. If you continue that, it will bring more danger to you."


    Mark said after he saw Jollene stagger.


    "Yes! Sorry!"


    Jollene replied with a lively voice. Her forehead was sweating and she was panting faintly but her eyes were shining as she fought. The pampered aura she had before had been long gone and was reced with an aura of a real survivor of the apocalypse. Well, at least, if there was no [Blood Child] around her.


    Mark watched her move and entangled with infected once more. This was their daily routine these past days. At first, Mark tried to spar with her to test her ability and he was kind of amazed. It was really [Danger Sense] and her body would automatically move to avoid the danger she could feel. Even if she could not see the source of the attack as long as the attack was going to hit her body, her body would respond on its own. Her ability could even perceive feints and would not move on fake attacks.


    Her ability however was something she had a hard time to get used to. After all, it felt like her body was being controlled by someone else making her resist it on reflex creating her awkward looking movements. However, she had already started to get used to it though there were stillpses where she was still resisting the danger avoiding movements.


    Now, her movements were better and Mark brought her to fight with a few infected since yesterday. At her first try, she was still afraid but when she killed the first one easily, her confidence was boosted and even wanted to fight more after she eliminated the first batch.


    It did not take long for the fight to be concluded and Mark jumped down from the roof while Amihan fluttered down before returning on his shoulder.


    After the fight however, she would run away and hide. It was because Mark took out Crimson, the very first [Blood Child] he found by the riverside several days ago. With Crimson''s help, Mark drained the blood of the infected before stuffing itself back into Mark''s backpack with a wobbly bounce. As the training was over, Mark and Jollene carried their backpacks filled with things from the houses in the vicinity and went back home.


    Mark had given each of the [Blood Children] names. Aside from Miracle and her cousin he named Oracle, the others been given the names Crimson, Cherry, Rose, Red, Ruby, Merlot and Currant in the order he found them. Of all the eight slime bodied [Blood Child], their genders were equally divided. How could Mark tell? There were no physical traits to tell but he knew because of the connection he had with them. It was the same principle as how he could differentiate the emotional fluctuations of people.


    As for Crimson now being able to bounce from ce to ce to move different from before where it moved like a slug, it was because of Mark''s training. He found it inconvenient that the [Blood Children] moved too slow and thus trained them to propel their bodies by force upwards to move like how it was for slimes in fantasy anime and stories. Mark expected it to be hard to train them but the little critters actually grasped it in several hours.


    Unfortunately, Miracle had not woken up yet. Mark was wondering why. He was not worried however since his connection to her was rather strong telling him that the sleeping blood bodied girl was healthy.


    After a trekking up the mountain, Mark and Jollene arrived at the vicinity of the spring. They did not return to the vige but to this ce.


    Before, there were only a tall crevice, tall trees, thick bushes and stones in the area around the spring. Five days after the event inside the airne, the area had already changed. Around the spring, there was a three meter tall wall erected made with stones and wood while being supported by reddish ck metal foundations and frames.


    The whole area enclosed by the wall was about two thousand five hundred square meters with each of the three existing walls measuring about fifty meters while thest wall was the tall crevice at the east of the base. Of course, the walls were not fully finished with only the frames and foundations made of [Blood Metal]. After all the quantity of blood Mark could collect in this past days from the infected at the barrio was still not enough. Instead, many parts were affixed with rocks and tree trunks.


    With Mark and Jollene''s arrival, the metal grated gates facing the path near the small river opened. The person who opened the gates was Huey who was waiting for the two to return.<sub> </sub>


    "Boss! Jollene, wee back."


    Huey respectfully greeted before turning to Jollene with a gentle smile. Seeing his smile, she also let out a smile. She really liked how Huey treated her and was gradually recovering from her heart break because of it. Furthermore, Huey was a man who did not try to force any intimate physical contact on her which made her feel that he was giving her too much respect, space and freedom.


    The gates closed and the area was in view. Several huts were already made but each of it was still small and not sturdy enough after being made from the materials they got after deconstructing the houses and huts there. That was these huts were here to store things that they used for construction. As for the sleeping quarters, there were two houses made of [Blood Metal] and wood built at the base of the crevice. One was made for the men while the other was for the women.


    Mark took the other bag from Jollene and told her to clean up her blood stained body. She bowed and left while he continued on his way deeper into the base. Along the way, he could see the several improvised drying racks where pelts from different erged animals was being stretched out by ropes and was being dried under the sun.


    These past days while they were building up the foundations of the base, they experienced attacks from different animals which sometimes tore through the improvised walls they made. The most dangerous one was when they encountered a huge rat about the size of a tiger. It was agile and strong which gave Mark some trouble.


    They area of the base had not been fully cleared of trees to provide shade and protection. Amihan also preferred a ce with trees after all. Under the shade of one of therger trees, Mark saw Hallie and Nicole ying with the other [Blood Children]. The two became the caretakers of the little critters and who knows how it happened but Hallie was able to give simple orders to them. She even asked her favorite, Merlot, to make her a crudely shaped sword simr to a scimitar.


    On the other hand, Nicole could only interact with Ruby in the same way as Hallie. She had no way to make Ruby make her anything though and also could not understand how Hallie was able to do it.


    ? Even though the [Blood Children] really liked to hang out with the two, he was still their master and he could call unto them. It was just every time he did that while Hallie and Nicole were ying, they would re at him and pout which made Mark feel funny. Well, it was break time anyway so he just let them. After all, these two helped with a lot of things that they could do in the base.


    The main work force in the base, Ed and Ron were still working on one of the huts. When Jollene asked to be trained on how to fight several days ago, Ed also came to apologize for joining in to attack Mark. After that, he became diligent in being the mainbor force and it was rather amazing that he had a lot of knowledge in carpentry and hunting.


    Ron on the other hand was a person with rather too thin presence. He had no remarkable abilities but he was doing his best to assist Ed in his work. After all, his sprain had already started to heal and was able to help with lighter tasks.


    Trisha was nowhere to be seen but Mark could smell the strong aroma of lunch being cookeding from the house being used as the storage area for food. It seemed that she was cooking lunch.


    Mark went straight to the crevice in the space between the men''s and women''s quarters. On the face of the crevice, there was a locked door which only Mark had the key. Inside the door was a smallwork of rooms and hallways dug inside the stone covered crevice. Like a mine, there were supports on the walls and ceiling. The only difference was that the supports were made of [Blood Metal].


    This ce was dug by him alone. He did it by slipping his blood into the spaces and the miniscule holes between the rocks and carefully controlled his blood to tear the face of the crevice intorge pieces or rocks. Those rocks were the same ones currently being used as temporary walls.


    Lighting up a gasmp, Mark made his way further inside.


    This ce was Mark''s private space where he kept most of his stuff along with the stored [Blood Metal]. His bedroom and even the materials storage room was here.


    He took out Crimson from the back pack and made the blood it absorbed metalize into metal pipes. While Crimson was doing its work that it was already used to repeatedly do, Mark walked inside further and checked the furthest pair of rooms.


    In the innermost rooms was the most dangerous part of the base, the infected farms. One room contained the five infected he brought back to the ne. As what he wanted to do with these five, he had not started with it yet and only fed them with scraps from the animals that tried to invade the base. As he did not have the ability to transfer the male infected''s seeds without doing something repulsive, he had no motivation to do it.


    On the other room was filled with a dozen of tied up normal Biters he retrieved from the Barrio these past days. As the poption of the base was low, he could not get blood from them and thus, he created an infected farm where he fed the infected and take their blood after they recover. This way, he got a constant source of blood to be used around the base. The process of luring these infected here was tedious but it was worth it.


    After going out of the dimly lit rooms with Crimson and Amihan, he looked around the base once more. Even though slow, it was going rather smoothly. It was a very good start. However, they stillcked a lot of things. Once a speck of his empathic ability returned, he would make his way towards the east where the initial ce where Hallie''s group wanted to go. He would try to find people, seeds to nt and other important things. If the ce was run by the military, depending on the situation, there would be a chance for him to contact Bay City.


    The day passed quickly but around midnight, he was jolted awake by a splitting pain on his head while the [PsyCrystal] on his wrist vibrated fiercely. It was the sign that his empathic ability started to recover.

 Chapter 212 Consolidation Of Psychic Abilities, The Disturbance Witnessed By The Whole World

    <strong>Day 29 ¨C 12:00 AM ¨C Mountain Base, Mount Mbito, General Nakar, Quezon</strong>


    Mark''s room within the crevice of the mountain was not thatrge. It was just a three meters by three meters and only had a stone bed covered with a thin mattress, a table made of cut stone wit [Blood Meta] frame, a small side table cab and a crib. On the table, an unlit gasp could be seen along with the messy pieces of papers drawn with weapon designs and other stuff. Inside the crib was the sleeping Miracle together with the other [Blood Children] except for Merlot and Ruby that was with Nicole and Hallie.


    Amihan on the other hand was sleeping on a pillow ced on the side table cab that was ced beside the crib. It was her specified sleeping space. Beside her pillow, there was a smaller soft cushion where the two [Physical Crystals] he created from the airne incident containing Mnie''s and Melinda''s mutation abilities. Both crystals were ce there safely and in sight since the [PsyCrystal] in Mark''s wrist could not be used yet to store them.


    After scribbling on those papers, he slept early and tomorrow, he nned to make those weapons he designed. Before he would leave to the eastern areas, he needed to ensure that the base was fully defended. At least, against evolved beasts andmon mutated infected. That was why he racked his brains with all his experience in designing and making working cosy props in his sideline job.


    He did not expect that at this moment, he would be jolted awake with a head splitting pain. Mark held his head with both hands while his body started to drip sweat. In terms of pain resistance, his body had quite of a high level and still, the pain he felt even made him sweat and was totally on a different level. Back in Mall, he felt the bacsh of the prolonged usage of adrenaline and felt pain all over his body. This time, take all those pain and concentrate it in his brain. That was how painful he felt.


    Yet, he just gritted his teeth and did not scream. He must endure while his eyes had a tint of expectation. Back in his subconscious world when he was talking with Freed, thetter already warned him about this happening. It was due to the fact that Mark was inheriting a rather powerful ability while already having another and also a strong one at that. In another term, it could be said as stuffing tworge steamed buns in the mouth of an infant yet to celebrate his first birthday.


    Differently, both psychic abilities were not hindered in physical aspects and thus, after the abilities consolidate with his mind, it would be fine. However, as there was a third uncontrolled ability, even though it would not affect the consolidation, it would heighten the level of pain during the initial phase.


    As for why it happened a long time after he woke up in this mountain range, it was because of the thin psychic energy in the air in most parts of the Earth. In eastern fantasy ideologies, Earth was not a good ce to cultivate in. Even though there were spots and ces in the world where this energy was abundant, Mark was currently away from them. In fact, for the consolidation to happen this time was already too short and Freed said that in normal circumstances, it would take several months and in the slowest, several years.


    Fortunately, the [Mutagen] and the [PsyPathogen] had too much of simrities and could be said that came from the same origin. Due to that, [Mutagen] helped hasten the consolidation to just more than a weak. However, his psychic abilities would still be in a weakened state after this and needed to some time to recover. During the recovery, it would also give him time to train his new abilities.


    The pain in his head and the consolidation of the two abilities however did not only affect him. The [Blood Children] in the crib and even Miracle who was sleeping were all shivering. For sure, even Merlot and Ruby that was not here were the same. They all had mental connections with Mark and could sense the pain he was feeling and was sharing a tint of it from him. Even though it was just a small part, it should be enough to make these infants cry in pain if they were able to.


    "GAH!"


    Mark suddenly spat an audible gasp as the pain suddenly intensified. It made him stood up from his bed and tried to find his way out to get painkillers. However, he was already disoriented. Aside from the ce being dark, even if there was light, he would only see blurry images. He could not even think clearly and made his way to the first source of light he saw and tried to grab them. Unfortunately, he lost bnce and instead of grabbing the source of light, he identally pushed it off and fell somewhere before the source of light vanished.


    Amihan was also jolted awake from themotion. Since it was dark, she could not see anything but she could feel that disturbance in the air. She hurriedly flew towards the direction of the table and tried to light up the gasmp even though it was rather hard for her to do so because of her small body. However, before she could even do so, she saw small shes of lighting from the floor making her turn her head.


    She became shocked. The shes of light looked like small threads of lightning and those threads of lightning was shing around Mark''s body sprawled on the floor and was still clutching his head in pain.


    "My Lord! Are you ok? My Lord!"


    Amihan shouted and tried to approach but the threads of lightning prevented her from doing so. She could even feel the painful and tingling sensation on her skin even though she was not that close from Mark.


    "Haa¡­ I''m¡­ Fine." Mark forced a few words while enduring the pain. "It¡­ won''t¡­st¡­ long¡­"


    Mark said that he was fine but Amihan did not believe it. The pain was obvious in his face that could now be seen due to the constant shing light. However, she could not do anything but watch. She wanted to call for the others but Mark stopped her with a single no.


    On the other hand, the females in the women''s quarters were awakened due to Hallie and Nicole who worried for the state of the [Blood Children] with them. They really liked the little critters and took special care of them considering the fact that these creatures were in fact, poor infants with non-human bodies. For Merlot and Ruby to show this strange state, Hallie and Nicole could not help but panic.


    "Boss should know what to do with it right?"


    Jollene suggested. Even though she was afraid and could not stand slimy things, she was still worried since these little critters were important to everyone.


    "If these two are like these, the others could be the same right?"


    Trisha also spoke.


    "All right, let''s go."


    Hallie said while Nicole nodded. The two picked up the shivering [Blood Children] in their arms and ran outside with Jollene and Trisha following behind.


    BAM! ROAR! CRACKLE!


    The group of women had just stepped out of their quarters when they heard loud soundsing from the sky. Together with it were the sounds of panicked animals in the forest as they all scattered away.<sub> </sub>


    Looking up, the four women saw the spiraling clouds in the darkened sky. Constant shes of lightning appear moving from cloud to cloud while the roaring thunder followed shortly. They felt terrified as the center of the spiral was actually suspended above their base.


    The roaring of thunder woke up the men from the other house and also saw the state of the sky. The men could not help but freeze in shock and awe at that spectacr scene. Huey saw the group of women also outside.


    "Everyone get back inside!"


    Huey''s shout awakened everyone from their stupor and they all ran back inside the houses.


    It was a spectacr scene but also dangerous. Who knows when the lighting would strike down to the ground? Standing outside in the open was suicide.


    BAM!


    As they thought of it, the impact something hitting the ground along with a bright sh of light was seen from their windows.


    "Is anyone here experiencing a lightning tribtion?"


    Hallie voiced out as the watched the scene from the window.


    As she said that, she turned to Nicole and thetter did the same. They all saw everyone out aside from one person and that person had all the mysteries around him from the legendary Sylph to these [Blood Children]. Who knows if he was also a cultivator that only existed in Wuxia and Xianxia novels? A lot of things that did not exist in the past norm were happening anyway. The two girls that knew a lot would not be surprised if other things out of the norm appeared. Still, the two were worried about Merlot and Ruby that they embraced in their arms.


    ***


    In Bay City, four people were jolted into going out in the middle of the night. The first two was Mei and I. Mei had a subtle connection with Mark and could feel a disturbance in it. I on the other hand felt the fluctuations of the [PsyCrystal] awakening while she was also disturbed but the strong psychic fluctuationsing from the east.


    At the Bay City Laboratories, Professor Issach Co stared confusedly at Nia and Allen as his two adoptive children and assistants ran out of theboratory to stare at the night sky with disturbed expressions.


    BAM!


    Several shes of lightning travelled across the world in a fast speed apanied by a loud roar of thunder.


    Many witnessed the strange phenomenon. The survivors, the infected, the evolved animals and even the races that supposed to only exist in legends, stories, folklore and mythologies, they all witness that strange phenomenon before the shes converged in the eastern part of the globe.


    Some viewed it as a bad omen while some thought nothing of it but a strange phenomenon that happened. There were also some that said that it was the wrath of the creator and everyone should repent. There was one group however that saw it as a sign and hurriedly followed the direction where the lightning went to. And to the infected, they became attracted to the energy that converged to the east and followed with fervor until they lost its direction.


    ***


    If Freed was able to see this, he would have cursed a lot. It was very far from what he expected. Back in his world, a poor girl was bitten by and infected and gained ability she did not know how to use. Using that ability, she captured a psychic ability from a psychic mutant and identaly absorbed the ability causing her too much pain. She almost died from pain but she overcame it and became one of the rare dual ability psychics. She became the right hand of the King and called herself with the name Keeper.


    There was no world shaking disturbance like this at all. But Mark''s existence was not normal by any means. He was someone who was not bound by destiny anymore and someone that could affect other''s destiny severely. He was both an Evolver and a Mutator and also a Psychic with two abilities. Not to mention that he was already a mutated entity even before the outbreak started. With both [Mutagen] and [PsyPathogen] beingpatible with his body, his future endeavors would not just be few.


    Mark gaining the Psychic King''s ability might have angered or gained the heaven''s approval.


    No, this time, it was an approval. The lightning that flew around the world formed a ball of electricity in the center of the spiraling clouds.


    The [PsyCrystal] on Mark''s wrist glowed with bright light that enveloped the whole dark room. At the same time, the ball of lightning flew down striking the top of the crevice before vanishing in between the minute spaces in the rocks and made their way inside Mark''s room.


    Amihan could not help but fly backwards in fear while covering her eyes. She faintly saw the streaks of electricity seeping from the walls and ceiling got absorbed by the crystal on Mark''s wrist before turning into a crystal ball about the size of a marble.


    At that time, the pressure vanished along with the streaks of light. Following that, the [Psycrystal] dimmed along with darkness and silence pervaded the room once more. The spiraling clouds at the sky stopped and became a normal nket of clouds in the night sky.


    Outside the base however, tworge creatures came. Attracted by the energy, these two creatures ran ferociously through the epassing mountains. These two were the two mutated infected that led the horde in the Barrio of Barangay Daraitan and they were here as predators.

 Chapter 213 [Shadow Mist Movement], Testing His New Abilities Against The Predator Infected

    <strong>Day 29 ¨C 1:04 AM ¨C Mountain Base, Mount Mbito, General Nakar, Quezon</strong>


    Mark gasped and breathed deeply as the extreme pain in his head vanished like it never existed in the first ce. His clothes had been drenched with sweat which made him look like he dumped himself in a pool of water. Even though he suffered and endured the pain for who knows long, it actually took about an hour for the whole earthshaking event to happen. Still, he felt that it was longer. After all, he was the one who suffered.


    "My Lord, are you alright?!"


    Amihan hurriedly flew towards him and hugged his head with worry. She did not know what happened but everything looked too frightening for her. The little sylph started to cry. A lot of uncanny things entered her head when she saw him in pain and the following events shook her to the core but she was d that none of those uncanny thoughts happened.


    "I''m, fine. I worried you didn''t I?"


    Mark let the Amihan rub her face unto his right cheek and caressed her head gently. He knew that Amihan was genuinely worried. Like Freed said to him, a part of his original ability would recover after this.


    Unfortunately or maybe, fortunately, he could still not detect emotions of people around. He expected that he would be able to detect emotions of Nicole and the others outside because even though he was in pain, as he undergone that painful process, he was able to detect the strong pressure and energy that was attracted to his recovery. The lightning strikes and thunder was also heard by him and was sure that a veryrgemotion happened outside. However, when Amihan hugged him, he was able to affirm that his empathic ability started to recover. It was just very weak and needed physical contact to be used.


    The ability he got from Freed however¡­


    PUFF!


    A ck mist appeared in his palm which made Mark frown.


    From Freed''s memories, his ability was called [Lightspeed]. Apanied by a sh of light, he could travel several meters away in a blink. It was different from teleportation as he could only go towards the ces he could see. The coloration of his golden hair was also due to this ability. In memories Mark inherited, it was something like[Ground Shrinker] where the user shortens the distance he needed to move to and move at the target location instantly. The difference however was that unlike [Ground Shrinker], [Lightspeed] only allow him to move with the speed of light at certain distances.


    That should have been what Mark inherited but¡­


    Instead of his palm glowing with faint light simr to Freed''s hair. It actually released pitch ck puff of mist when he tested it the ability.


    He racked his brains for a bit and looked for the possible cause from Freed''s memories and found it almost immediately. Inherited psychic abilities from the [PsyCrystal] or to be exact, from the [Mental Crystal] tend to have changes. It was due to the fact that not every person was the same and had different constitution, physical skills, mentality and other aspects. Since the abilities of Psychics in Freed''s came from the [PsyPathogen] and were developed depending on their body constitution, it would likely have changes after being transferred to another person.


    The changes in the ability varied. Sometimes, the ability weakened while at other times, it became stronger. For rare urrences, the psychic ability would change properties which were more apparent for energy maniption abilities while at even rarer instances, the ability evolves.


    Keeper was also the example of this. When she became a psychic, she was only able to conjure crystals from the energy around her and had no offensive ability and yet, she was able to capture a mutated psychic infected and take away its ability. It was because the infected at that time only had a normal energy barrier and did not have a too strong offensive ability either. When she absorbed the ability, it changed into her current barrier that had corrosive properties.


    In Mark''s instance, it was likely that the psychic ability evolved while its property changed. It was also the cause of the sudden disturbance that even attracted the energies around him to form that unnatural lightning phenomenon.


    As for the ability Mark had now, he perfectly knew it. It was how the [Mental Crystals] work after all. It allowed people to grasp their abilities though it still required practice for normal people. For him however that had Freed''s memories and was already a Psychic or Esper from the start, he would be able to use the ability to some extent.


    "Let''s call it [Shadow Mist Movement]."


    Mark murmured.


    CRASH!


    A loud sound of crashing wood sounded from the outside. It was likely that a part of the wall made of wood was being attacked or might have been broken through already. He suddenly felt a sense of danger and recognized it. It was surely those two infected from the barrio that came from the airne. Themotion he caused surely had lured the two mutated infected here.


    "My Lord."


    Amihan fearfully muttered as she turned her head to the direction where the sound should havee from.


    "Stay here. I''ll deal with the trouble outside."


    Mark said but Amihan jumped and sat on his shoulder instead.


    "I-I will go with you!"


    "Hah. Alright. When we go out, protect the others while I deal with the intruders."


    "YES!"


    Mark picked up the glowing crystal on the floor and went out with Amihan.


    ***


    The wooden parts of the base had been broken through and an eight-foot tall creature with several pairs of limbs entered the walls. It was surely the same infected with fused bodies in the Barrio.<sub> </sub>


    It looked around after it entered the broken walls as it could not detect the source of energy anymore. It looked at the nket of oddly shaped clouds in the sky to the huts that were temporarily built inside the base. It could not find anyone.


    Hallie and the others had already gone into hiding by routine. If it was just animals that came to attack, they would deal with it depending on what kind of animal it was but with infected that was able to tear through the walls, they should go into hiding. Inside each of the two houses, there was a chamber where people could fit through. In the house was broken into, they should be able to hide in there. In the future, Mark also nned to build a tunnel which would lead somewhere else instead of just these chambers.


    The group of people in the houses already knew that there was an attacker before the wall was broken into. After all, there were a lot of traps outside the base that would rm them who were inside but it was just that the lightning strikes outside earlier prevented them from being able to act and defend the base.


    The metal door at the face of the crevice opened and Mark came out with Amihan on his shoulder. Amihan immediately flew upwards to monitor the area and alert Mark if there were other attackers in the vicinity. She was also ready to control the wind to blow away any enemy.


    Mark saw that fused mutated infected and thetter also saw him. Without wasting time, the infected charged towards him with its four lower limbs in a ferocious manner. He responded in kind and also charged towards it. Right now, he was not wearing any armor and his foldable crossbow was also not equipped on his arm and the purple crystal on his wrist could be seen clearly. He was only holding his [Blood Metal Katana] which he had drawn from its sheath.


    The infected swung two of its right arms towards Mark. The attack was very fast and even Jollene that had the ability to detect pain in advance would not be able to dodge it with her current physical abilities. Mark however, could see that attack clearly and prepared to intercept the attack with his own sh of his katana.


    Unexpectedly, the infected seemed to have perceived his attack and stopped before it jumped backwards. The sh of Mark''s ck katana could be seen in the darkness of the night but there was no ssh of blood and dismembered limbs afterwards.


    "Behind!"


    Amihan''s shouting voice was heard making Mark turn his head. There, he saw the infected that was already hacking both its scythe shaped bones towards him. Who knows how this infected managed to get near him and attack but it also affirmed his first impression of this infected. It was surely a predator.


    The two des were hacking down towards him in a very fast momentum. Normally, those des would have already decapitated its prey but with Mark''s brown eyes turning pitch ck, ck mist covered his body instantly. The des tore through the mist and the mist dispersed with a puff with a faint trail of it moved fast behind the infected.


    There, Mark appeared with another puff of the ck mist and was already swinging his katana towards the neck of the predator infected.


    Feeling the threat, the infected did not look back but actually moved its right scythe around its neck which stopped the ck katana from decapitating it.


    His attack was blocked which made Mark surprised. ck mist covered his body once more and puff, he appeared several meters away watching the two infected in front of him.


    These two were surely different from other infected. Not only that they had an ability perceive danger and his attacks but they also had a sense of preservation. To pull back their attacks and protect their bodies, it was the first time Mark saw something like this.


    Mark smiled. Somehow, he felt a faint thrill in his heart. He charged towards the two infected without any shred of fear or hesitation. With a puff, he vanished in the middle of his charge leaving a trail of mist in his movements before appearing behind the two infected. He shed the fused infected from behind but it leaped off to dodge his attack which made him surprised. He repeated the attack once more but it was dodged again but this time, he was able to know the reason how it knew.


    It was because of the three heads on the fused infected''s body. Each of them was alive and functioning with equal rights to control the body. As he appeared behind, the bald woman''s head behind the fused infected could see him which allowed it to dodge the attack.


    Switching to the predator infected, Mark vanished only to appear behind it and attacking its shoulder. He then repeated the attack at a different part and angle. The attacks were blocked of course but Mark vanished after every attack.


    "Faster! Faster!"


    Mark murmured as his attacks grew more and more ferocious that the predator infected started to feel fear. It could not see Mark anymore. All around it was only the ck mist.


    CLANG! TINK! TANGK!


    The sh of bones and metal echoed several times as the infected desperately tried to protect its body from Mark''s relentless attacks but¡­


    It started to lose tracks of the attacks. Mark could not be seen and even the swings of his katana could not be seen anymore due to the mist.


    SHWIRK!


    The katana materialized and which swung through its left arm dismembering it.


    A chilling shrill scream was let out by the predator infected with its rough scratchy voice. Its arm felt to the ground with a stter of blood. Knowing that it was in danger, the predator infected jumped off running through the mist to escape. I ran too fast like how it arrived behind Mark but of course, Mark would not let it.


    The faint trail off ck mist followed behind it in a wavy pattern before Mark appeared to its left.


    SHWIRK!


    The katana cut of its legs as it could not protect its left side anymore without its left arm. As its body fell down, Mark followed with another swing of his katana and decapitated the predator infected''s head. Both the body and head fell at the same time in different directions.


    The crystal in Mark''s arm suddenly let out a sh of light and the head of the predator infected burst out blood as a hole in its head appeared. A ck pebble flew out of its head and entered the [PsyCrystal]. With another sh of light, a [Physical Crystal] appeared and Mark tossed it towards the head of the infected.


    While the crystal suspended in the air absorbed the ability of the predator infected, Mark turned his head towards the other infected. This one was a pain in the behind to deal with.

 Chapter 214 Burrowed Abilities, Using The Psychic Abilities That He Did Not Own To Fight

    <strong>Day 29 ¨C 1:15 AM ¨C Mountain Base, Mount Mbito, General Nakar, Quezon</strong>


    "Can you three see what is happening?"


    Hallie asked.


    Inside the women''s quarters, Hallie, Nicole, Trisha and Jollene carefully peeked out of the window to see the situation outside their house. It was mostly Jollene and Hallie''s idea though after hearing the sound of fighting from outside. After all, it was the routine told to them by Mark. In the case that the walls were broken through especially in a surprise attack, he would be the one to deal with it while they all hide. Unless that Mark was defeated, only then they would fight as they would have no other choice left.


    It was because even though the walls were still unfinished, it was still sturdy enough to block weaker kinds of evolved animals andmon infected. The ones able to break it or even scale the walls in a very short period of time were those enemies that could not be handled by a group of a single evolver, three injured people and three normal people. It would be better for Mark to handle those kinds of threat.


    Now that they could hear sounds of fighting, Mark was surely out there dealing with the threat. It pushed their curiosity to the limit because they never seen Mark fight seriously before. They wanted to know the abilities of the leader of this base and watch him fight.


    However, after the lightning strikes stopped and the clouds nketed the sky, the surroundings became darker and harder for them to see. It was due to the fact that they did not put constant lighting at the vicinity of the base to prevent more animals, especially insects, from being attracted to the base in the middle of the night. They nned to continue this until the walls were done building.


    "I can see a little."


    Jollene said with a slight twinkle in her eyes.


    Even though she could not see clearly, she could see the faint silhouette of Mark wielding his katana and was dealing with the only shaped humanoid silhouettes. She managed to see Mark vanishing and turning into mist before appearing somewhere else. Jollene also managed to catch a glimpse of the fight between Mark and the predator infected before the surroundings of the infected was covered with dark mist.


    Even though she did not see what happened in the middle of the mist, she saw when the infected turned to escape only to get killed by Mark.


    "OH! There''s light! It''s still blurry though."


    Hallie eximed in disappointment when a source of light appeared after Mark created a [Physical Crystal] and made it absorb the ability of the predator infected.


    "Hallie, it''s blurry because you forgot to wear your sses."


    Nicole reprimanded her airheaded friend.


    "Ah! Right! Where did I put it again?"


    Hallie hurriedly went to find her sses. She did not want to miss the next scenes.


    The same was happening in the male''s quarters and the three men also tried to watch what was happening outside but were not able to see anything clear.


    Now that there was some source of light, they became more excited.


    Amihan on the other hand saw everything and could not help but feel amazed by her Lord''s prowess. She could not help but think if this was the reason why that phenomenon happened. After all, she never saw Mark use that kind of ability before and this time, he was fully relying on that ability making it feel that he was testing it.


    ***


    Mark stood starting at the fused infected with the [Physical Crystal] behind him illuminating the surroundings as it absorbed the ability of the killed predator infected. This time, he was going to try something else as direct attacks was ineffective as this infected was not only agile with its fused body but its eyesight could cover three different directions at the same time due to its three heads.


    Clenching his right fist, Mark concentrated on the [PsyCrystal] embedded on his wrist. It shed with a glow and two purple colored crystals with glowing orbs inside flew out and rotated around his arm. One crystal had white glowing orb inside while the other had a bright bluish while orb inside with traces of electricity. The first one was the [Mental Crystal] with the military spy, Alderick''s ability stored. Thetter was the newly formed crystal which contained traces of lightning energy.


    The arm, now with a faintly glowing crystal and two marble crystals rotating around it, was outstretched forward. With a flick of his mind, the [Mental Crystal] containing the [Photokinesis] ability flew and stopped as it suspended in front of Mark''s arm before emitting a sh of blinding light.


    The next thing that happened¡­


    There was nothing.


    Mark vanished from his position without any traces left.


    The fused infected felt the threat and hurriedly exerted all its three heads in searching where the enemy was but found nothing. It could hear faint footsteps and the dirt, stone and the grasses rustling around but could not pinpoint were the source of sound was. It could hear in with its three heads and each head was facing a different direction. Its three pair of ears now became a disability as it could not find where the sounds were trulying from.<sub> </sub>


    As the three heads hear the sounding from different directions, its body froze. Each of the head tried to control the body to respond to where the sounds wasing from but instead shed with themands of the other heads causing the body to unable to respond correctly. Instead, it caused it to twist its body parts in different directions.


    CRACKLE!!! THOOM!!!


    A loud crackling sound followed by a loud roar sounded as a rough jagged streak of bluish white light shed heading towards the body of the infected. The light came from several meters away from the infected''s right side. The infected managed to react and turn to face the attack but it was stillte. That streak of high-voltage electricity hit the infected at the center of its body.


    It let out an ear-piercing shriek as its body convulsed in pain. However, it did not die. The part of its body hit by the strike was severely burned but it was not fatal. Still, the attack depraved the infected of its movement. The infected fell on the ground convulsing while repeatedly letting out that painful shrieks using its three heads.


    After the infected fell down, Mark appeared where the attack came from as if the veil that hid his body was uncovered. [Optical Camouge], it was the one of the abilities a [Photokic] psychic could learn. It was the same ability Alderick used in order to deal with Mark and Odelina in the elementary school but failed miserably. He managed to use it by tapping in the ability stored in the [Mental Crystal] that stored the psychic ability.


    The attack on the other hand was could be said as a [Lightning Bolt] Mark referenced in one of his favorite online games. Even though he was not sure about it, the energy that was stored inside a [Mental Crystal] should be a psychic ability. It made him think that he was given a freebie by evolving his ability and now, he had a [Mental Crystal] with [Electrokinesis] ability stored.


    However, the lightning attack was surely hard to control. Mark nned to hit the two heads of the infected but hit its torso instead. It was not surprising though. Lightning strikes were always random and it was not his ability to begin with making the difficulty to control it several times harder. It was no wonder a certain [Electrokic] was using a coin to direct her long ranged attacks.


    This was one of the few abilities of the [PsyCrystal]. As long as he had [Mental Crystals] that had psychic abilities stored, he could tap on the abilities of the crystals to use it. However, there were a lot of deficits in this.


    First, he could only use a psychic ability for a limited amount of time. The time varied depending on how the ability was used. Each [Mental Crystal] could store psychic energy and all of them were at the same levels. How the ability stored was used could drain this energy faster or slower.


    Second, the [Mental Crystals], once ran out of psychic energy, would need time to recharge and the charging time would also vary depending on the kind of energy it used. The charging time could be hastened if the needed energy was supplied. If left alone, a [Mental Crystal] would be fully charged for one and a half day up to two days. If it was in Eriellis, Freed''s, however, the charging time would only take for about six hours due to the fact that their was filled with psychic energy after their had been devastated by the apocalypse.


    Third, the psychic abilities were rather hard to control depending on the technique being used and the characteristic of the ability. Like how the [Lightning Bolt] missed his intended target.


    Lastly, it the ability was not used correctly, it could damage the user which this time, was him. Actually, even though he was not too affected, his arm felt a little numb after releasing that [Lightning Bolt].


    However, Mark was still optimistic of the result. After all, using an ability that was not his in the first ce was already good. In the best case, he could just give these abilities to his most trusted people now that he could tap into the [PsyCrystal].


    Unfortunately, he could not use the [Physical Crystals] in the same manner. Unlike the psychic abilities in the [Mental Crystals] that concerned more on energies and thinks without physical disturbance, the abilities in the [Physical Crystals] affect the body physically. Even if he tried to, it would not work as it needed mental energy to tap into the [Mental Crystals] but the [Physical Crystals] would not activate in that manner.


    Mark looked at the two [Mental Crystals] floating and rotating around his arm. The glows had dimmed significantly but he could still use it in one round. Now, he needed to deal with the infected in front of him that unexpectedly had strong tenacity. Directly getting hit by that attack did not kill it and its charred torso had started to recover already.


    If Mark waited for a bit more time, this infected would get back into shape.


    "Now then¡­ Let''s try something like this."


    He held his katana in his right hand pointing at the enemy that had already started to stand back up while staggering. Both crystals floating around his arm glowed at the same time as thest of the energy of both crystals were consumed.


    PUFF!


    His body vanished into thin dark mist. The wavy mist instantly arrived in front of the infected but Mark only materialized for a near split second before vanishing twice in front and above the infected before fully appearing at the back of the infected.


    All that happened almost instantly and three puffs of dark mist exploded around the infected. The first puff suddenly released a beam of light while the second released a streak of electricity. Mark that appeared on the third puff of mist threw his katana forward.


    BAM!!!


    Three different attacks hit the infected. Each of the attack was aimed at its three heads. The beam of light pierced through its main head, the lightning strike hit the young child''s head on its shoulder while the thrown katana pierced through the forehead of the woman''s head at the back of the infected.


    The three different attacks finally killed the infected that should have been able to contest Mark in a direct fight. Unfortunately, the [Lightning Bolt] Mark did while in [Optical Camouge] deprived the infected of its ability to move making it a sitting duck waiting to be ughtered.


    Along with a loud thud, the infected fell on the ground.


    The [PsyCrystal] shed a light and stored the two drained [Mental Crystals] before three pebbles tore through the three heads of the infected. All of the pebbles flew into the crystal and created another [Physical Crystal] with another extra pebble.

 Chapter 215 Accident, A Sudden Twist Of Fate

    <strong>Day 29 ¨C 1:25 AM ¨C Mountain Base, Mount Mbito, General Nakar, Quezon</strong>


    Despite the limitations that the [Mental Crystals] had, Mark felt satisfied. At his will, the dimmed crystals entered the [PsyCrystal] embedded on his wrist once more. Inside, the two crystals would recharge to be used next time or until Mark chose someone to inherit the psychic abilities inside those crystals.


    As Mark pulled out the katana from the dead infected''s body, Hallie and the others had gone out of hiding and ran towards his location. After all, the danger has passed and they could not hold themselves back from their urges and curiosity at the aftermath of the fight. Not to mention that they all saw the final part of the battle albeit the scene was still rather dark with only the [Physical Crystal] in the background, the [Lightning Bolt] and the [Light Beam] being the unstable sources of light.


    Still, aside from Hallie and Nicole, the others still held themselves back from moring around Mark. After all, aside from the two girls, the rtionship of the others from Mark was ratherplicated. In the best words, it was like employer and employee but at worst terms, master and ves. It was already fortunate that Mark was not the type of person to work them to death just because they offended him at the start.


    In thetter members of the group, only Jollene was in closer terms next to Hallie and Nicole since Mark was personally teaching her how to fight and make use of her acquired ability.


    "Hey Mark. You''re not some kind of returnee right? Tell us the truth!"


    Those were the first sentence that came out of Hallie''s mouth as she stood in front of Mark. She came here while holding Merlot with her left arm while her right hand held her scimitar shaped sword.


    "Don''t suddenly spout nonsense. If I had really gone to another world, I''d rather not return here."


    Mark said while ring at Hallie.


    Beside Hallie was Nicole holding Ruby with both arms. She did not speak but was looking at Mark with glimmering eyes. It was very likely that she was both amazed and envious about Mark''s abilities.


    Jollene who was holding her wakizashi also came forward and spoke while staring at the dead fused infected.


    "Boss, its dead already, right?"


    The moment her question ended, Mark, Hallie and Nicole was jolted by her words while the supposed to be dead body of the fused infected suddenly twitched.


    With a puff of ck mist, Mark disappeared and appeared beside the fused infected and stabbed his katana several times like a madman. On the other hand, Hallie also approached the body in a panicked manner and helped Mark by dismembering all the limbs of the infected with her sword. Nicole also wanted to help but she had no weapons with her and could only watch by the side.


    When the corpse twitched while Mark and Hallie jumped into action, the others hurriedly retreated in fear that the infected was still alive. If that was the case, they would be in grave danger of they stayed in their ce. They could only watch Mark and Hallie decimate the body even though it finally stopped moving.


    After confirming that the body was really dead, Mark, Nicole and Hallie red at Jollene making her step back in fright.


    "Just what are you doing chanting that cursed magic spell, huh?!"


    Hallie bellowed.


    "Wha-? I-¡­ Whhaatt?!"


    Being suddenly bellowed at, Jollene was confused and did not know how to react. She did not even understand what Hallie had just said. After all, she just asked a question, right? What cursed magic spell?


    Seeing the confusion in her face, Huey filled her in.


    "Jollene, you know. In movies and other stories, if someone asked if the supposed to be dead enemy was already dead, it turned out the opposite most of the time and it ends up with the protagonists undergoing a perilous situation."


    "That''s¡­"


    Jollene felt troubled. After all, the moment she finished her question, the supposed to be dead body made some minute movements.


    Mark did not say anything. Instead, he kicked therge torso of the infected making ity on its back and cut off the middle of the fused chest. He felt some sensation when he stabbed there just a moment ago before the infected really died.


    After cutting off the section where the three bodies fused, he found another body. It was of an infant and its body was securely covered by the three bodies outside. Looking at it, Mark''s attacks paralyzed the body but did not kill infant inside which made the body twitch as it tried to control the supposed to be dead body. Luckily, he jumped into action as fast as possible or it would been dangerous.


    Double tapping? It did not enter Mark''s mind. He already destroyed three heads at the same time. Who knew that there would be a fourth body inside? Besides, in a fight against bosses, there was only the <strong>rule of three</strong>, not four!


    The chapter of testing his abilities came to an end and while he dumped the cleanup to the other men, he made his way to the broken part of the wall. As he thought, it was the wooden part of the temporary wall that was broken through. Since it was stillte in the night, he made some temporary repairs while he nned to finish fixing the wall tomorrow.


    For the temporary repairs, he tied up dozens of thin wires made of [Blood Metal] to block the broken part of the wall. Furthermore, the wires were not circr ones but t with one side made rather sharp. He tied up the wires while the sharp edges faced outwards. The wires would not do any damage if someone touched form inside the base but there was no need to mention what would happen if someone tried to force through from outside the base.


    After he fixed the wall and the cleanup was done, everyone returned to rest. It was questionable if the others would still be able to sleep because of what had happened in the middle of the night but Mark really wanted to rest. Due to the usage of his blood to fix the wall, he felt rather sluggish and even though it seemed nothing from the outside, there were still the side effects of excessive use of the ability he received from Freed. It was due to the fact that his body was still not familiar to the movements of the psychic movement ability.


    Another reason why he was hurrying to return was because of the [Blood Children]. For some reason, they were calling unto him. With the exception of Merlot and Ruby that was with Hallie and Nicole and Miracle who should be sleeping and Oracle who was behaving differently right now, the other [Blood Children] were moring about something and were calling unto him.<sub> </sub>


    "My Lord, is something wrong?"


    Amihan could not help but ask as she noticed Mark''s hurried actions.


    "The kids are calling me for some reason. Though it confuse me a little why they feel rather excited and envious. Oracle felt happy for some reason though."


    Mark replied with a rare confused expression on his face.


    Amihan also did not know what to say. Her Lord did not know what was happening not to mention her whocked a lot of knowledge due to being a little sylph in the mountains.


    When they returned inside the room, it was rather noisy. They could hear squishing sounds echoing across the room as every single [Blood Children] with the exception of Miracle were jumping up and down inside their crib.


    The gasmp that Mark lit up before they left to deal with the intruders still lit up the room.


    Mark and Amihan hurriedly peered inside the crib and both of them froze.


    Inside the crib, there should be six slime shaped [Blood Children] and Miracle who was shaped like a baby. Each of them had the same clear bloody color on their bodies. Now however, there were five red [Blood Children] moring while surrounding a single clear almost transparent colored [Blood Child].


    Determining his connections to the [Blood Children], Mark felt that the transparent [Blood Child] was surely Oracle. However, that was not the most shocking part. At the side of Oracle, was a sleeping baby girl. Not a gtinous blood colored one but a normal looking baby.


    Ignoring the mor of the [Blood Children], Mark hurriedly picked up the baby. She felt soft to touch and the sensation of skin was real. Nevertheless, Mark was sure that the baby he was holding in his hands was actually Miracle.


    He could not fathom how this happened.


    ? It was then that he noticed something. There were two things missing in the room. The two [Physical Crystals] Mark acquired from the airne incident which contained the Mutator abilities and characteristics of the twin sisters, Melinda and Mnie, were missing. The two marble sized crystals that were supposed to be carefully ced on the small soft cushion by the table beside Amihan''s pillow.


    He then froze once more as he tried to recall. When he was disoriented from pain, he tried to reach out towards a blurry source of light but that source he tried to grab fell somewhere instead. Was that source of light perchance¡­


    Mark felt a headache and looked once more at the two [Blood Children] that had their appearances changed.


    As a [Blood Child], they had bodies made of gtinous blood. Even Miracle that had bones and the shape of an infant was no exception. Yet now, Miracle had a body made of flesh. He remembered that Melinda''s ability had something to do with flesh either. Was this perhaps a certain miracle had happened? For the odd chance that the [Physical Crystal] that came from the mother fell unto the sleeping child and gave the little baby the body that her mother was not able to give her.


    Another was Oracle. With her body that was now clear semi-transparent body, it reminded Mark of Mnie''s body whose skin, flesh, organs and bones were all see through and semi-transparent like a ghost. Now, those characteristics of the mother were acquired by her child by ident.


    And that ident was caused by himself¡­


    Mark shook his head.


    Although it might have been an ident, Mark was sure that it could also be a twist of fate for the two. There were a lot of coincidences that happened this time and the abilities and characteristics from the mothers were acquired by their children.


    Mark started to wonder if what characteristics on the bodies of the two changed.


    He picked up Oracle from the crib and gently put Miracle on the bed. When Mark took Oracle from the crib, it caused more mor from the other [Blood Children] for some reason and Mark could feel envy from them while Oracle was emitting an aura of smugness.


    These little critters were having a drama of their own. Mark could not help but smile.


    Using his connection with Oracle, he urged her to turn a small portion of its body to metal. There, she extended a transparent tentacle which fell down on the bed after it metallized. Picking up the metal, Mark was amazed.


    CLANK! CLANK!


    Mark flicked on the metal with his finger creating the clinking sounds and even tried to bend it which made him sure that it was metal. However, it was as semi-transparent as ss. Amihan flew towards it and looked at the opposite side and Mark could see through it. It was like ss but as sturdy as [Blood Metal]. No, that was wrong. It was a [Transparent Blood Metal].


    The appearance of this metal made Mark''s heart throb and he fervently looked at Oracle. This was a really rare expression for him. He knew that a lot of possibilities opened up because of this kind of metal from Oracle.


    He almostughed like a madman but he held himself back. The excitement he felt was rather uncanny that he even forgot that he was feeling sluggish and nauseous.


    His mind flicked into work mode and took out some paper and pencil. Under the dim light of the gasmp, he started designing things. It was despite the fact that Amihan was already pulling his hair and yelling at him to sleep.


    Tomorrow, a lot of things would be in store for him to work on.

 Chapter 216 The Next Day, The Morning After The Incident And The Accident

    <strong>Day 29 ¨C 8:23 AM ¨C Mountain Base, Mount Mbito, General Nakar, Quezon</strong>


    The people in the base became busy early in the morning. They had been moving about since two hours ago even before the sun was barely up. Even though to say that Mark handled the situation magnificentlyst night, it still rmed the other that they should work faster in at least finishing the walls. Right now, they even started on digging moats outside the walls. Even though it would not be very effective against the likes of the mutated infected that invadedst night, it would still be able to slow and hinder them to some extent.


    The duties of designing the structures of the base, from determining the right foundations of the walls to the structural designs of the houses fell on Huey''s hands. Even though Huey was working at a high position in the animationpany, it was not without basis. He was an architecture graduate. It was also due to this fact that most architectural work in the background designing in the animationpany was led by him.


    In this base, most these things were also managed by him while some parts were handled by Mark and Hallie who had more knowledge in terms of base building that they learned from various sources. In turn, most of thebor was done by Ed and Ron. Still, it could not be denied that they reallyck manpower. However, where were they going to get people? It was really impossible for most people to leave their bases and they were in the middle of the mountain range.


    Compared to the city and other ces, the mountain base was secure but itcked two of the most important things in building structures. There was no source of manpower and construction equipment. The only thing they had was enough construction materials but it was hard to utilize everything with the twocking.


    While the others were busied themselves about the things in the base, Mark was inside the hut being used as their workshop. The tanning equipment for the animal skins being dried outside was also in this ce. Mark could not keep working inside his hole when there was a lot of light outside needed for making things. His room inside the crevice was rather dark and he would surely need a light source inside aside from the gasmp he was currently using there. He needed something brighter and easier to use.


    "Hey, how did Oracle turn to that? Change Merlot too!"


    Hallie pestered Mark seeing him coordinate with the now transparent colored Oracle wobbling on the table. She felt rather envious though Merlot did not belong to her at all.


    When the morning came, Mark gave the females a shock when he knocked on their door carrying a sleeping baby in his arms. They were even more perturbed when Mark told them that it was actually Miracle. The girls could not believe their eyes. After all this time, they only saw Miracle as a blood creature that was shaped like a baby. This time however, the sleeping angel gained her body back which could really be said, a miracle.


    It seemed that Trisha''s maternal instincts kicked in and she actively volunteered to take care of the child. Miracle was not just a [Blood Child] anymore in theory with her body beingposed of flesh and not gtinous blood. Even Mark who examined the baby earlier was surprised that it was not just fake skin and flesh like how her mother''s flesh tentacles worked but her other organs like her heart and eyes were reconstructed.


    It seemed that Melinda''s abilities as a Mutator did not only revolve at those disgusting flesh tentacles but far more than that. It was just she became insane with what happened to her child, shecked the right knowledge or that the sudden mutation affected her brain that she did not realize the worth of her ability. It might need more investigation and it could only be done after the little angel woke up. Right now, they were worried that she needed milk now but it was not the case fortunately.


    Even though the [Blood Children]''s bodies wereposed of blood, they still feel hungry though at a slower ratepared to normal human infants. They only needed to satiate their hunger once a day or even once every two days if they did not do anything strenuous and what they would consume of course was blood.


    Using his connection with them Mark could tell when they were hungry and it was the same for the sleeping Miracle. In her case, Mark would infuse his blood to her in any part of her body. Now however, she could only consume his blood through her mouth and her body would consume it without fail. Still, it was good for a reason. It was due to the fact that an unconscious baby would be hard to feed.


    Mark concentrated on his work, this time he was creating a sword with the help of Crimson and Oracle. At the same time, he was experimenting on Oracle''s body structure. He had already found out that Oracle could absorb blood normally but like how it happened in his body when he consumed blood, the blood consumed by Oracle would fuse to her body and be transparent. The blood would be converted to the properties of her body.


    Even though her appearance changed, there was still no doubt that her body was still made of blood. The only difference was the appearance. That mentioned, Mark could not remember any capability in Mnie''s mutation back then. No wonder she became weaker.


    "Done!"


    Mark said as he finished the sword with the two blood children while ignoring Hallie''s annoying pleas. It was a short sword with reddish ck handle and a transparent de with an ornamental style. Amihan flew andnded on the table with glimmering eyes while looking at the beautifully crafted sword.


    "Good work you two."


    The two [Blood Children] on the table wobbled as he patted their jelly like bodies. He then turned to look at Hallie.


    "Stop being noisy. Seriously¡­"


    "Hmph."


    "You know that Merlot is not yours right? Of course, his turn willeter but you should know that the change will be irreversible and we need to think which will be a good mutation for it, alright?"


    "Uu. Okay."


    Hallie finally went quiet though there was a tint of expectation in her eyes. With Mark said, he basically said that she could choose the change for Merlot in the future.<sub> </sub>


    Mark on the other hand shook his head. Hallie was quite of a lively girl but she was also annoying at times. Like typical female anime characters. It was also the same trait that made others unable to hate her after knowing her. As what she was thinking, Mark knew about it while looking at her face. However, he was fine for this. It could be treated as her privilege for actively taking care of the [Blood Children].


    About what Mark said, he was also filled with expectations. The idental change in Miracle and Oracle opened a whole lot of doors for him. It also made him feel some regrets. If he took Chameleon''s ability back then, he might be able to make camouge equipment with the help of the [Blood Children]. Well, who would have thought that it woulde to this anyway? Who knew that the blood children would exist in the first ce? Who knew that he would have this kind of ability?


    Mark looked at the [PsyCrystal] embedded on his arm. Everything was because of this and he was thankful.


    Hallie and the others had already seen that crystal on Mark''s arm but none of them was asking about it since he did not say anything himself. Still, every time the crystal was exposed, they would still nce at it with curiosity.


    The crystal shed light for a split second and an empty [Physical Crystal] appeared on his palm.


    "Hallie, open your mouth."


    "What? Why a-?"


    Hallie was dumbfounded. As she opened her mouth to ask why, a crystal was tossed into her mouth. She immediately tried to spit it out but the crystal suddenly crumbled to a puff of smoke that entered her body. She looked a Mark with her eyes filled with confusion. She looked rather teary as her body started to heat up.


    She started to fall down after her face started to flush reddish. Even with her body falling weaker, she tried to struggle to maintain standing up but her body still gave way. When she fell down, Mark hurriedly caught her. She could only weakly stare at him hatefully before she fell unconscious.


    "My Lord, what did you do?"


    Amihan flew to his shoulder and asked while she stared at Hallie warily. Even though Hallie was already unconscious, the little sylph was still afraid of her. It was not because she was mean but every time Hallie was able to, she would approach Amihan with fervent eyes which made Amihan remember the duende from the other side of the mountain. Because of that, she would rather stay away from her.


    "Just a little upgrade. She''ll be fine and feel even better after she wakes upter. She''ll be a little angry though. Well, finally some peace and quiet."


    Mark replied as heid Hallie down to the side of the hut where a nket wasid down. It was where heid down when he was searching his head for ideas. This time, Hallie wouldy down here while her body undergo her evolution.


    Sincest night after the battle and while he was designing things, he had this idea. After all, he could now ess that [PsyCrystal] and the crystals being stored inside it. Right now, he had an umted number of seventy plus crystals which was quite a lot. Just how many mutated infected did his savage alter consciousness at that time killed to umte this number of [Physical Crystals]? Still, he was thankful about this.


    Using these crystals, he could cultivate his own army of evolvers and would have no problem in gathering abilities of Mutators. His most important goal right now was to elevate the strength of the people here especially those who were truly loyal to him, especially Hallie and Nicole. Jollene had already evolved naturally so Huey would be next and then Trisha. About Ed and Ron, he was still not decided about them. After all, he had no tight grasp on those two aside from being something like employees.


    Jollene had already regarded him as herbat teacher and master while Huey was her lover and Trisha was her closest friend. This would ensure that these three would less likely to go against him in the future and made them worth nurturing.


    After he elevated their strengths in the next few days, he would go to the settlements on the other side of the mountains to the east. It was to deal with the problem with manpower in the base while he also try to find if there was a way for him to contact his group at Bay City.


    Because of the barrio being a tourist stop, he found maps there which gave him the information he needed about the ce and even the terrain around the area. Behind the mountains at the east and past the northward flow of Ungos River, there should be the municipality of Infanta, Quezon. It was not a very advanced ce and could even be considered a rural area for the most part but that ce still had its malls andmercial areas. It was likely for him to be able to find other ways formunication and if lucky, he might be able to find another satellite phone.


    Mark stretched his arms and back. Even though he was able to thwart some of his urges away, some still lingered. He really wanted to y some video games now but there was no way for him to be able to. Maybe, he could find something to deal with this emptiness when he get to the townter on.


    As for the manpower, he had some ideas. He just had to prepare a few things and he would surely find people that would loyally follow him.


    "Hmm, is that Nicole?"


    Mark peeked out of the window and saw Nicole from afaring towards his direction. She had something on her hands. It seemed to be a young animal that looked like a wolf cub and a fox at the same time. He wondered where she found it.

 Chapter 217 Nicoles Fun Predicament, A Funny Situation Once In A While

    <strong>Day 29 ¨C 8:59 AM ¨C Mountain Base, Mount Mbito, General Nakar, Quezon</strong>


    Nicole entered the workshop with the strange looking animal between her arms. The first thing she saw however was not Mark but Hallie whose face was flushed red and was writhing in pain while sheid on the nket to the side of the workshop. Seeing her friend''s state, she panicked and almost let go of the animal in her hand. Fortunately, she heard Mark''s voice calming her down a bit.


    "She''s fine. Remember Jollene back then? It''s the same situation."


    When Nicole looked at Mark, she saw him sitting in front of the table while inspecting the state of his newly crafted sword. The sword looked more like a crystal than a metal or ss sword and it had ornamental design that made it look like something that princesses in fantasy stories would use. The appearance made it look like a toy in most people''s perspective but right now, Mark took a two-by-two block of wood and hacked the sword towards it.


    The block of wood was splendidly split into two making him nod in satisfaction.


    Nicole shook her head removing herself from the trance from the sword and spoke.


    "You said that Hallie''s the same as Jollene that time. How? I mean, Jollene almost died back then and if I recall correctly, that Sherwin had the same experience before they¡­''Evolved'' wasn''t it? Then why is Hallie¡­"


    She lowered her body and touched Hallie''s forehead. It was burning with high fever that it almost made it look like that it was going to be fatal. What Mark said had really confused her since there was no danger here for this to happen.


    ''Wait¡­ Danger¡­''


    Nicole, like an unoiled gear, turned her head towards Mark. There was no danger in this ce except for something and that was called Mark.


    "Seriously, don''t look at me like that." Mark returned a nonchnt look at Nicole. "Hallie''s being annoying but I didn''t do anything bad to her alright. Well, aside from forcing her Evolution."


    Mark wanted some peace and quiet but Hallie was being too annoying. This way, she would shut up for a while and Evolve at the same time. It was hitting two birds with one [Physical Crystal]. Furthermore, it would not be detrimental to Hallie. She would gain enhancement in physical aspects after all. He was not worried at all about the randomness of the abilities she might be able to acquire as it was always a positive ability with the help of the crystals.


    Still, it felt like drawing an expensive gacha in the mall. You had to buy an expensive token to draw a random item and might still get duplicates. Who knows what ability she would get? It was great gamble though there was not catch or demerit.


    "By the way, what is that thing in your arms?"


    Mark asked while Nicole worriedly watched her unconscious friend.


    Even though he worded it as something good, the process was still something to worry at with the perspective of normal people. However, her worry lessened drastically when Jollene''s current state came into her mind. Right now, she was way stronger than before because of her ability. Just before she came here with the animal on her arms, she saw how Jollene fought.


    "This guy? We''re helping in digging some traps when it came running being chased by arge lizard. We don''t know what kind of animal this is and got curious. Jollene fought the lizard and we saved it. It looks harmless so¡­ Can we keep it?"


    Staring at the animal, Mark really felt that this animal was way too oddpared to otherrge evolved animals he saw before. When Mark looked at those erged cats, spiders and even monkeys, the feeling he got was that those animals were forcedly evolved by the Mutagen in the air. This animal however was different.


    It gave him the feeling that this animal was born with its changes. The possibility that it mutated before being born was highly possible. Looking at the size, the cub was likely about two to three weeks old. Most animals back before the outbreak would still be weak at that period. With Mutagen being active in everywhere right now however, it was not surprising how this young animal was able to run away from an Evolved Lizard.


    "It''s fine. Keep it. Just be sure to take care of it and not let it wander around and trouble others."


    Mark had no qualms about keeping animals. The problem about keeping animals in a zombie outbreak was beacuse of theck of food and their noises might attract danger but those kinds of problems did not exist in this ce. There was plenty of food in the mountain whether it would be wild fruits and vegetables, meat from animals and fish from ther river. The noise the animals might make would not matter either since the construction of the base was already noisy.


    Actually, he wanted as many as possible, especially livestock. Right now, there was a lucky bird being kept as pet near the spring. It was the grebe that chased Amihan several days ago. With the tiger''s appearance that day, they managed to get several days of food supply which kept the grebe alive.


    After that day, the grebe behaved as it had higher intelligencepared to other normal animals. It knew that if it angered these humans, she would likely end up in a tter. Due to that, Mark spared the bird and kept it as their first livestock. Mark even spared some of its eggs and let her hatch them in the future. That way, they would have more sources of food for the base after the eggs hatched and the chicks matured.


    He also wanted some chickens and cows. Chickens might still be fine but cows would likely be dangerous now. There was a huge possibility that even female cows evolved into bull like animals after the outbreak.


    Hearing Mark agree, Nicole was d. After all, having a pet in this god forsaken world now was bliss. With everything trying to attack you, having an animalpanion was very hard to happen. Although she got to take care of the [Blood Children] they were not pets and she treated them like babies due to the actual fact and reasons. Furthermore, none of them belonged to her even if Ruby stayed with her most of the time.


    Nicole looked at Hallie once more. Her face turned worried from her previous expression.


    "I told you not to worry about her. If you''re really worried, get some cold water from the spring and wipe her face to reduce her temperature."


    "Ah! Right! Please hold this!"


    Nicole jolted and ced the little cub on Mark''s hands. She then bolted off to get some water making Mark shake his head as he closed the door. Even though Nicole valued her friends too much, she was bad at situations like this one and did not know what to do.


    He took a look at the animal on his hand that did not even resist when being handed at him. Its body was shaped like a fox but its fur and face was like a wolf. Even the ears were shaped like a wolf''s but asrge as a fox''s. Even though dirty, the cub had a gray colored fur with thickness simr to ragdoll cats. Overall, the cub was cute due to its mixed appearance.


    The cub on the other hand stared at Mark with curiosity. Especially when Amihan flew from Mark''s back towards the cub.


    "Amihan, why do always hide when there''s people around?"


    Mark asked. It was always like this. In terms of this behavior, it was rather better with Hallie even though Amihan rejected her the most but to others, she would always hide.


    "My Lord, you know¡­ I don''t know either. Maybe, it''s because I always hid from people. Before, the ones that saw me, with my lord as exception, tried to catch me."


    "So, it became a habit?"


    "Yes¡­ Maybe¡­"<sub> </sub>


    "What about Hallie?"


    "Um¡­ I don''t know either. It just feels like you and her have some simrities I can''t fathom."


    Mark sighed. This little sylph did not even know her own feelings. Well, it was better to keep her innocent like this.


    About the simrities she said however, Mark was sure about it. It was because he and Hallie were both Otakus. That was for sure. Rather than being afraid or persecute Amihan as a non-human creature, they were more interested in befriending their kind.


    Although not all, many people were afraid of the unknown while others view them as a source of profit. Even though it was not happening in the eyes of themon people, for sure since the existence of Amihan and her race was confirmed by Mark personally, it was likely that many of her kind had been caught before and turned into profit for those hunters.


    It might be one of the worst reasons why spirits and elementals that mingled with people ording to myths and folklore started to stay away from humans.


    "UWAWAWA!"


    Amihan suddenly yelled and flew back.


    She was rather curious of the animal Mark was holding and tried to pat it but she got licked instead.


    "Sticky! And Smells BAD!"


    Amihan yelled removing the saliva on her face before flying away going out of the window. She would surely go to the spring and wash herself. There was one thing that she was sensitive the most against and that was bad odors and smells. The reason might be because she was a spirit of the wind.


    Mark inspected the cub and its features when he got an idea.


    He took a small pouch out from the backpack he always carried everywhere he go after the airne incident. It was a bag he got from the airne. The backpack was sturdy and light which was perfect to move in even when he needed to fight.


    Opening the pouch, the contents were revealed. Since the time he woke up here in the mountains, he encountered sorts of different evolved animals like the panther sized house cat at the roof of the city hall in Bacoor, Cavite. From the body of the cat, Mikio in his tree form handed him a rough crystal from the carcass of the cat. It was the same for the animals here in the mountain although it was just that the ratio of finding this crystals were the same as finding pebbles in the heads of the mutated infected. Furthermore, the [PsyCrystal] could not detect whether the animal had one for some reason or maybe because these rough crystals were for animals rather than people.


    That was his initial assumption but it could also be wrong since Laps and Fein existed, animals that were Mutators.


    Unexpectedly, the cub''s attention perked up when Mark took out one of the rough crystals. Mark remembered the one he had taken out was the crystal that came from the tiger. He managed to differentiate it since he noticed that animals with stronger and stranger evolutions tend to have smoother looking crystals than weaker ones. The crystal he took out was still rough but more of a spherical shape than a shard shaped one.


    "Want this?"


    Mark asked the cub as the moved his hand holding the crystal side to side. Like a dog that saw a delicious treat, the cub followed Mark''s hand. Its mouth was opened with its tongue was hanging and panting excitedly.


    "GURAWRU!"


    The cub let out a strange sounding sound which surprised Mark a little. He expected it to sound like a wolf, a fox or worst, a dog. However¡­


    "What the hell are you?"


    Mark suddenly asked. After all, the cub''s voice had a cute young pitch but the sound was out of this world and outright disturbing.


    Of course, there was no answer aside from several more strange sounds. Still, Mark knew that it was practically begging.


    Since the cub wanted it, it should be fine to give one. Mark ced the cub on the table which immediately became afraid after being suddenly surrounded by the curious [Blood Children] but even though it was afraid, it was still staring at the crystal on Mark''s hand.


    Mark ced the crystal on his palm and moved it towards the snout of the cub. The cub took the crystal slowly as if afraid that Mark would suddenly hit it or Mark pulls his hand back. It bit the crystal and took it away from Mark''s hand. After taking the crystal, it faced its head up and opened its mouth letting the crystal get swallowed whole.


    "GURRAAAAWR!"


    Suddenly, the cub roared with its cute voice and all its thick dirty fur fell on the table. Now, there was a bald unknown cub on the table which not only bbergasted Mark but also made him worried. Nicole would not me him right?


    CREAK!


    Someone opened the door. For sure, it was Nicole who brought back water.


    PUFF!


    The door opened and Nicole came in. Mark was not here anymore. Thinking that Mark went somewhere, Nicole proceeded to nurse Hallie who was left suffering. Her eyes neglected the little hairless cub on the table staring at her excitedly.


    "GURAWR!"


    The cub roared to call her. When she looked back on the table, her eyes went wide. She lost the grip on the pail and it fell on the floor. The pail tipped to the side as it fell and most of the water sshed on the unconscious Hallie.


    Nicole panicked and did not know what to do. Hallie was soaked wet while the cub she wanted as pet became bald.


    Seeing her situation and expression, Mark who escaped outside using his new ability and was watching outside the window did not know whether he should help her or justugh out loud.

 Chapter 218 Decision, Their Loyalty As Exchange In Order To Become Stronger

    <strong>Day 29 ¨C 2:36 PM ¨C Mountain Base, Mount Mbito, General Nakar, Quezon</strong>


    Mark had just finished creating some source of natural light in his room during the day time. The rooms and halls inside the crevice were always dark and that was also the reason the workshop was built outside. Even though he wanted to make the workshop here, it would waste resources like gas and oil to maintain the workce lit every time he wanted to make something.


    This time, he extended the room further near the entrance and created some high windows on the face of the crevice. He blocked the holes a frame made of [Blood Metal] and ss made of [Transparent Metal] with the help of Oracle.


    Rather than beingrge, the one foot window ran through almost the whole side of the room. The long window provided the necessary light needed near the window which made him a bit satisfied. There was also no need to sweep the dust on the floor since Amihan was already blowing the dust away.


    CLANG! CLANG!


    The bell hanged above his working table inside the room made some sounds. It was a bell tied to a thin metal thread with a chain at the end. The chain was hanging at the side of the main door of on the face of the crevice.


    With the bell making those sounds, Hallie should have woken up already.


    When the disaster happened this morning where Mark decided to run away with Oracle and Crimson in his arms, he told Jollene and Trisha to help Nicole with her predicament. Another thing he made the two take note of was to meet him together with Nicole, Hallie and Huey once Hallie had woken up.


    PUFF!


    Mark vanished from his ce inside the room and appeared on the other side of the door at the main entrance. He was really satisfied with how convenient this ability he got from Freed was. [Lightspeed] Freed had before was already a powerful movement ability but after it evolved in his hands, it became even stronger and more versatile.


    [Lightspeed] had a lot of limitations. One was that the target area to move in was needed to be in sight. Another was that he could only move in a straight line. Thest thing was that he could not bring any living thing to move with him. The good thing about the ability was that it was easy to control despite how the movement ability was godly.


    How was it godly? Even though it was movement ability, it was different from distorting space or teleportation. [Lightspeed] was not just being fast or being able to move from ce to ce instantaneously. This ability was actually abination of both capabilities to elerate time and tinker with space.


    During the time the ability was used, it did not make Freed fast but it opens a distortion in space which looked like a tunnel towards the target location. The opening of that space tunnel was the cause of the bright sh of light before Freed vanished in ce and appearing on the other side. Inside the tunnel, time was elerated. Although the change in time did not affect the body negatively, it allowed him to move at a faster rate inside the tunnel and appear on the other side almost instantaneously in the perception of the people outside that tunnel.


    On the other hand, Mark''s [Shadow Mist Movement] that evolved from Freed''s [Lightspeed] was way stronger and had some limitations lifted. Unlike [Lightspeed] that creates a straight tunnel. [Shadow Mist Movement] creates an alternate space or a domain within a certain radius around the initial point where he activated the ability. Inside that space, he could see still see the outside, move everywhere even at ces he could not see and activate the ability as long as he could manage. The deficit however was that even though he could move very fast inside the alternate space, itcked the ability to elerate time inside which meant that time inside the space moved side by side with reality.


    Even though he could move anywhere inside that space, he could not touch or alter anything inside either. If he tried to move something, he would not be able to as if he was devoid of strength to do it. Furthermore, he could not touch anything that contained even a trace of living energy. For the most part, like humans, animals, insects and even nts. There was a barrier separating them from the created space giving Mark the unnecessary need to appear a bit away from his enemies.


    While using the ability, walls might hinder him but as long as there was a hole or opening, he could phase through it as long as the hole was at least a size of a baseball. Even though outside the space, it would just appear like mist entering the hole, inside, Mark was actually moving through a space distortion where the hole was erged for him to go through like a portal.


    Another upside was that the space was at the shape of a sphere. If he wanted to and activated the ability while moving upwards, he would be able to move in the air at the expense of higher energy consumption. Different from the ground where he could propel himself forward to elerate before entering the space, the only force he could get while flying was to fall down after exiting the space.


    One more thing was that he could bring anyone inside just how he brought Oracle and Crimson outside the workshop. However, he needed to maintain physical contact with them. He did not know what would happen if he let go of them while inside the space but he would rather not try blindly.


    Mark felt that there was more to explore to this ability but for now, he was using the ability for convenience. Like how he used the ability to appear behind the door through the wall in his room.


    Opening the door, everyone with the exception of Ed and Ron was here. Hallie and Nicole however was visibly sulking which made the others smile bitterly while ncing at the two. However, Nicole seemed to be in better mood than before. Right now, she was holding the cub which had already grown new fur which was still gray colored but had streaks of ragged shaped white fur on its neck and paws.


    Hallie was about toin but before she could let out any word, Mark cut her off.


    "Get inside first. I have a proposition."


    The group was confused about what Mark said and could only follow inside. They were brought to a small room which was designed to be the lobby near the entrance. There were furniture inside, tables, cabs and even a firece but all were made of either stone or reddish-ck metal. The new addition was a table made of ss and metal that was not before in the past days. Unlike Mark''s room which was further inside and was dark, this room had its skylight since the start since the room was the nearest to the face of the crevice.


    "Say Hallie, how do you feel now?"


    Mark asked after everyone sat down.


    "I''m angry!"


    "Why? You gained something good right?"


    "That''s¡­" Hallie hesitated and her temper lowered. "You should have informed me beforehand! I-I thought¡­ I¡­"


    "You thought what?"


    "HMPF!"


    Hallie crossed her arms in front of her and turned her head back away from him.


    "Nicole, how''s the little guy?"


    Mark turned to Nicole and stared at the cub on her hands. Compared to Hallie, Nicole''s mood was way better but she was still bitter about the shock she received this morning.


    "What did you do earlier? I was so shocked that I spilled the bucket of water on Hallie! I thought little Wargy became bald."


    Nicoleined.<sub> </sub>


    "Wargy huh¡­ I just thought of something and gave it some treats."


    Mark replied making Nicole look at him with a disbelieving expression. Still, it was not wrong either. The little cub was really given a treat it wanted. Looking at the changes on its fur, it was likely that it was upgraded somehow.


    He then spanned his eyes towards everyone.


    "Do you all have any idea why I called all of you here?"


    "I don''t."


    Jollene respectfully replied while the others nodded with the exception of Hallie who seemed to have an idea. After all, she experienced it herself.


    "Let say, I have the ability to make you all stronger. However, it required your loyalty. In other terms, you can''t leave this ce on your own volition or without my permission. Always follow my orders and keep the safety of this ce. Would you all agree?"


    Unexpectedly, none of them hesitated. They all nodded with agreement. Even Trisha was not an exception.


    "I really don''t have anywhere to return to. I''ve been living alone for years now since my father and mother passed away. My other rtives are either in northern Luzon or in Visayas. Even if the thought came to me and want to leave this ce, I''ll surely die without anywhere to go. Besides,pared to the life back in the hotel, this ce is like heaven."


    Trisha answered after she was asked.


    "How about you guys?"


    "We are the same. We don''t have anywhere to go. If we leave, it''s more likely that we''ll die even before the half of our intended destination. In this ce, there''s water and food so none of us would surely want to leave. In the first ce, the main reason we all left the hotel and took the gamble was because of the dwindling supplies. Here, we don''t have that problem."


    Huey voiced the thoughts of the group. However, it could be seen in his eyes that he was rather expectant about what Mark said before.


    "Boss, can you really make us stronger?"


    To his question, Mark nodded without hesitation.


    "I do. Jollene was an exception though. She''s already an Evolver. You all know what that meant right? I can help normal people be Evolvers. I can also turn people into Mutators in theory but I haven''t really tried that one yet."


    Mark then turned to Hallie under everyone''s expectant gazes.


    "Hallie, show us what you got."


    On cue, Hallie became excited. She then outstretched right hand with her palm facing upwards. Mark and the others could see her palm be reddish and even started to glow like some hot metal. Hallie then jerked her hand a little causing the gasses in the air to create a smallbustion. Her palm was too hot that it started to affect the temperature and gasses in the air.


    Seeing the ability, everyone was shocked. Mark was not an exception. In his view, he could tell that Hallie''s ability was already within the scope of an ability of a Mutator. It was not just a simple enhancement. Even though thebustion was not too strong, it was already enough to cause irreversible damage. If she became a Mutator, Mark was expecting that she would be a literally fiery girl.


    "Boss, why is Ed and Ron excluded?"


    Trisha suddenly asked with confusion despite the expectation in her eyes.


    "They are different in terms of standingpared to you all."


    Mark replied.


    "Is any of us here close to those two?" Huey asked Trisha who seemed to be confused with Mark''s answer making her shake her head with realization. "That''s right. Those two is more on the side of Jefferson and Sherwyn. It was just they were abandoned. Ron was injured while Ed had a rather na?ve personality but he was also hard to manipte. Those guys only wanted somepdogs that would follow them."


    Huey seemed to bore a deep grudge against those dead people because of Jollene.


    "So, I''m also apdog?"


    Jollene suddenly asked which made Huey flustered.


    "No! I don''t mean that I¡­"


    "Stop with all those nonsense." Mark interjected. "Ed and Ron. You all can say that those two are still doesn''t deserve it. You all here on the other hand, had already proven yourselves, at least, in my eyes. All of you just need to say yes or no and after any of you agreed, there''s no backing out."


    Mark''s eyes then turned cold making them gulp. They could feel Mark''s animosity even though he had not recovered enough to be able to release his empathic aura.


    "Only death wille for those who betray. Remember that."


    All of them still agreed. As none of them would be able to survive the apocalypse on their own, they needed Mark''s help.


    One by one, with the exception of Hallie and Jollene, everyone consumed a crystal and fell unconscious with high fever. Mark went back to his work and called unto Amihan who was hiding behind the door while the two remaining girls worked on taking care of the three unconscious people.

 Chapter 219 The Awakened Abilities, The Prelude To Marks Departure

    <strong>Day 30 ¨C 10:52 AM ¨C Mount Mbito, General Nakar, Quezon</strong>


    The night had passed and now, Mark was watching everyone test their newly acquired abilities as Evolvers. Fortunately, none of them needed Mark''s, Hallie''s or even Jollene''s intervention in order to seed like how Mark helped I back then. Everyone made it smoothly though they suffered from pain and fever for almost half of the day.


    During their period of suffering, Mark was able to observe more things about how human evolution with Mutagen being the catalyst proceeded.


    Like he theorized before, the span of time a person needed to finish the enhancements of their bodies varied but it was not all. Even the pain and temperature of fever also varied depending on the abilities they were developing at that time. Back then, he only observed the changes of Mei and I which evolved at different times creating the deficit of information. Now however, he was able to observe three people ongoing with their evolution inside one confined space.


    During their changes, Trisha unexpectedly had the worst time. Her whole body was shivering and she was even moaning horribly of pain. From time to time, she even trashed her body around. This caused him to get off from his intended work and go back to help with the situation. Even though his empathic ability was not fully recovered yet, in the least, he could alleviate the pain she was feeling by channeling that white positive energy he could emit and transfer by direct contact.


    Nicole also had a rather painful one. Her legs were shivering as shey down. Even though her forehead was dripping of sweat, her condition was way better than Trisha.


    Huey on the other hand was rather too peaceful. If not for Huey''s fever, Mark would have thought that he failed. It was rather strange but it seemed that he was only asionally moving his head in pain as he undergone his evolution.


    Now, they were conducting tests on their abilities just about a distance away from the mountain base.


    Hallie''s ability had already been seen but was still not tested in action. This time, she was nting her palm on the surface of a dead tree. The process took time as her palm umted enough heat but it could be seen that during the process, the part of the tree she was touching started to emit smoke. At the end of the process, that part she was touching burst into mes.


    At what Mark had seen, her ability was not that useful inbat since she needed to charge her ability for a bit but in terms of livelihood and survival, it was excellent. She could control the heat of her palms to from a warm fever temperature to a degree were she could burst the oxygen in the air. If the temperature was maintained to a tolerable degree, she might be able to handle shortening the process needed in drying food, meat and even the hides. One more important thing was that she would be able to remove moisture inside needed materials with her ability making Mark able to produce more weapon and equipment that was not only made of [Blood Metal].


    Turning towards Nicole, her body especially her lower limbs was strengthened. Her mobility, strength, jumping height, flexibility and impact absorption of her legs and feet was fully enhanced. In terms of jumping height, she could even jump higher than Mark even if he supplemented his body with adrenaline. Furthermore, she couldnd either hardly or softly if she wanted to.


    If trained properly, she would be a good scout. Along with her new pet, she could ss up from a normal Evolver into a Beast Tamer in one go! There was a huge problem though. She was rather bad at falling and jumping down at great heights. The first thing the she needed to improve on was enduring not to shout in fear as she fall down since her body knew how tond properly by reflexafter all.


    Huey who had undergone a peaceful time Evolving actually had an amazing change. In his physical aspect, he improved a bit but his changes did not lie on strength or speed. It was with his five senses. Taste, Smell, Touch, Sight and Hearing, all of these five was enhanced. [Heightened Sensory Perception], it sounded like a side effect of an illegal drug but it was the best words that could describe Huey''s ability.


    Because of this, Mark could leave the guarding of the base to him as his perception, especially his hearing and sight, could cover up to a hundred diameter area around him. With the base having about fifty by fifty meters area, he could basically cover the whole base under his perception and still have another fifty meters outside the base to detect intruders and enemies.


    Andst was Trisha, who unexpectedly received an overall increase in physical aspects. Although the increase did not reach the level of Nicole''s ability, Trisha''s lower limbs had about half of Nicole''s strength, jumping ability and speed. Trisha''s physical strength, speed and metabolism were fully enhanced overall at the same level. The most important part however was how her senses perception around her was also enhanced. Not at Huey''s level and was way weaker but it would be able to help at most situations.


    In terms of fighting aspects, she was an all-rounder and would be effective in position in a group whether she needed to fight in closebat or fight in the rear.


    In Mark''s eyes, these guys were good seedling to be nurtured. It could be said that the members of this group were characters in a very efficient and well bnced RPG party.


    Nicole as scout, Jollene as the main fighter, Huey as the Support, Trisha as the all-rounder and Hallie as the magician, that was the structure of their party.


    Amihan on his shoulder watched the results of her Lord''s activities with gleaming eyes. Although she did not voice it, she also wanted one but Mark did not want to give her a [Physical Crystal]. The reason was because it was a high concentration of Mutagen and was suited for human use. Amihan on the other hand was not human and her body was too small.


    Unexpectedly, Mark had not told her about the [Mental Crystals] yet. It was not because he was being secretive but rather, he was being stingy.


    The number of [Mental Crystals] was too few and only one crystal could be created once a year. Even though he had ideas he wanted to experiment in order to have more [Mental Crystals] he was not able to try it yet. However, if he seeded, Mark would not hesitate even if he needed to give Amihan two.


    He never told anyone but he had suspected that Psychic Infected would appear in the future, no, not only infected but also humans. Because of that, he needed a few extra [Mental Crystals] in order to "harvest" their abilities especially the psychic abilities the hostile humans had.


    As for Freed''s request to find the inheritors and retrieve the psychic abilities when being used in evil ways, he was not worried aboutcking [Mental Crystals] from them. He only needed to kill them to make the ability lose its host and use the [Psycrystal] to turn the ability back into its crystal vessel. After all, it came from the crystal. It was the same for him. If he died, the [Psycrystal] would retrieve the ability he inherited from Freed before the [Psycrystal] would fly off to find the inheritor of Keeper who was I ording to Freed.


    ***


    While Hallie''s group was happy about the bounty they received, the two men back at the mountain base felt rather left out.


    "We''re alone together again aren''t we?"


    Ron could not help but sigh looking around the base that was devoid of people except for him and Ed.


    Yesterday, for some reason, Mark called unto everyone excluding these two men.


    "You''re at it again?"


    Ed asked since this was not the first time Ron was moping around about being lonely and left out.


    Ron looked at Ed with an awkward expression. Although he was aware of it, he could not stop and would asionally remark about these things.<sub> </sub>


    He was a person with a thin presence and was always left out by other people. It was not like they did not see or avoided him but they just tend to forget him most of the time. With a life like that, it was already a miracle that he was able to marry and have a child. His little girl was seven this year and he took them to a vacation but ended up being caught up in this mess of a zombie apocalypse.


    In the end after the outbreak first struck the hotel, he lost his wife and child. They were about to check out in the lobby that morning when they saw a lot of people who seemed to be waiting for their busses and at the same time, themotion started. Bloody, shocked and afraid, they were able to escape back into their room in the first floor of the hotel. However, it was alreadyte. His beloved wife and child were bleeding with bites on their arms and shoulder.


    The moment he closed the door of the room, his wife attacked him and her child soon after. At that time, he could not kill his wife and child that had already turned and thus, escaped and trapped her turned family inside that same room they spent their nights during this vacation trip.


    His family did not make it but Ron was still alive. He decided to live and keep the memories of his family alive in his mind.


    "Escape. Don''t die."


    "Daddy, it''s painful."


    Those two sentences were thest words they said to him. Thinking about it made him feel lonelier.


    "Stop making that face alright?" Ed tried to cheer Ron up. "We''re on the same boat here. Unlike those five, we''re on a different standing. The only thing we can do is to work wholeheartedly and gain their trust. That way, they won''t leave us out like this anymore."


    "How na?ve."


    Ron smiled at Ed.


    "Yeah, I get that a lot." Ed let out a singleugh. "Well, at least it''s likely to work. Besides, I don''t think that you''re a bad person so it will work out."


    Then, Ed''s expression turned serious.


    "Actually, I wanted to stay here not because I have nowhere to go or afraid of dying. Dying while fighting¡­ I think that it''s better than living a dog''s life. However, my guts tell me that I will earn more staying here than leaving."


    Ed then turned his head towards the direction where the others were supposed to be training while Ron earnestly listened to him.


    "Boss Mark¡­ He''s a strange but a strong existence don''t you think?"


    "Yeah. He got that fairy, those slime children, he''s not just strong physically but also had superpowers. He''s really strange but strong."


    Ron replied while Ed nodded.


    "He''s strange while he had the strength but he never forced us on unreasonable things. He also did not force himself to the girls unlike how Jefferson behaved. If you ask me, he''s a rather good person. He had the ability to dominate but he never misused his powers. Still, he''s a scary person but it did not mean that it''s bad to stay here. If we go to other ces, I don''t think that well have a good time and encounter someone like him."


    Ed stood up and picked up his shovel.


    "Come on. We still have to dig more holes."


    "Alright."


    Unknown to the two¡­ Everything they talked about was heard by Huey. Huey suddenly smiled. If this was the case, it was good that the people in the base wanted everything to work out.


    Mark already told them that he would be leaving in about two or three days and that was why they put importance in their training under him. His boss was going to the settlement where they initially wanted to go to see the situation and find more people to work at the base if he was able to. During that time, the security and management of the base would fall in his hands. He should not disappoint his benefactor.


    "Jollene, let''s spar!"


    Huey enthusiastically called unto Jollene. Since his perception was enhanced, he should at least be able to keep up to her movements.


    "Are you sure?"


    Jollene asked with both worry and enthusiasm.


    "Sure! I''m ready to go."


    The two sparred for a bit and Huey was defeated miserably after moves.

 Chapter 220 Departure, Towards The Eastern Mountains Across The River

    <strong>Day 35 ¨C 7:32 AM ¨C Mountain Base, Mount Mbito, General Nakar, Quezon</strong>


    A three meter reddish ck wall stood surrounding the whole base. No, rather than a wall, it was a defensive rampart. The outer wall was as thick as a hollow concrete block while atop the wall was a meter wide scaffold that would allow the people inside the base to move around the top of the walls. Under the scaffold was an empty space which enabled them to open and ess hidden windows on the walls. This way they were able to attack both above and on the ground levels of the wall.


    The wall might be just that thick but it was made with threeyers. The outeryers were made of pure [Blood Metal] while the inneryers were made of stone bound with [Blood Metal] as cement. [Blood Metal], even though stronger than most preexisting metals, was still metal. Under strong impact, pressure and constant stress, it would still deform due to its malleability. The stoneyer of the wall however strengthened the wall and would prevent the wall from deforming too easily.


    However, a wall, no matter how strong, was still just a wall. It could not kill any intruder on its own.


    Atop the walls at fixed intervals, there were meter longrge crossbows. Different from normal crossbows, these ones looked more like a small ballista. Furthermore, these ones were spring powered than the bolts being propelled just by the strings. For the bolts, they were still the normal size but what made it more powerful was that the bolts did not need to be reloaded manually.


    The premade crossbow bolts were ced inrge metal boxes designed simr to magazines used with guns. The bolt magazines only needed to be affixed under therge crossbows and the shooter only needed to rotate the wheel at the back of the crossbow and it would be ready to shoot after a clicking sound. After the crossbow was shot, the next bolt inside therge magazine would be fed into the crossbow and the shooter only needed to repeat the process and shoot.


    Furthermore, the crossbow had two kinds of crossbow bolts as ammunition. The first was the ones made with normal [Blood Metal] while the second one was made of [Transparent Blood Metal]. The first kind was enough for most enemies and threats but for more danger sensitive enemies, the second kind was more appropriate. The transparent crossbow bolts was hard to see especially when being shot at very high speeds.


    This mechanism in these mini-siege weapons had been painstaking thought of with both Mark and Huey and brought the creation of theserge crossbows. The outward design however was made by both Mark and Hallie following their urges to make the weapons look like they popped up from a sci-fi anime.


    Aside from those weapons, the outside of walls had a lot of spikes, barbs and even hidden sharp edges. Some of these sharp edges and spikes were even hard to see due to the fact that these were made with Oracle''s help.


    Outside the walls, different sorts of traps were installed. From pitfalls to arrow traps, there was arge variety.


    With all these prepared, even the likes of the two mutated infected from several days ago would have a hard time infiltrating. Not to mention normal infected and even animals. There would still be the threat from aerial evolved animals but there had been no attack that happened from those birds so far. Actually, even the attacks from evolved ground animals became fewer and fewer as the days passed. It felt like that most of the evolved animals started to avoid this ce with the exception of the feral ones.


    While the walls were fully finished, the insides of the base still had a lot to work on. Most structures were still temporary ones with the exception of Mark''s base inside the crevice and the two sleeping quarters. These past days after Mark induced the Evolution of the others, they spent most of their time to finish two things, the walls and the emergency exit. As for the other things inside, these could be slowly worked on after the walls were done and even without Mark''s help. After all, Mark was the only person who could uratelymand and instruct the [Blood Children] but he had to leave to settle several matters as soon as possible.


    This morning, everyone in the base gathered outside the main gate at the southern part of the base. They were here to send off Mark who finally had the confidence to leave the base in the hands of these people.


    "Boss, be careful."


    "Leave this ce to us, Boss."


    "Yeah, we''ll take care of this ce since we''ll have nowhere to go afterwards if we don''t, Boss."


    Trisha, Huey and Jollene said respectively.


    "Don''t forget to bring back souvenirs!"


    Hallie said without shame.


    "Mark, about our request¡­"


    On the other hand, Nicole hesitated a bit on her words. She wanted to continue but Mark cut her off.


    <o>,m "I remember. Just don''t count on it too much."</o>


    "Okay. It''s not like we''re expecting it. The chances were too small after all. Also, we know you''re strong but you should still be careful outside."


    Nicole said with a smile.


    "Boss, expect it that when you get back, the workshop is brand new."


    "Yeah. You can leave the physical work to us. The walls are done so we can work on the buildings inside."


    Ed and Ron said side by side.


    Mark looked at the two and was satisfied. These two already noticed the changes with the others but they did not voice anything about unfairness and bias but just worked more diligently.


    Ed was as he was described, na?ve. As long as he was given enough recognition with his work, he was fine. Ron on the other hand was simr. He was already fine that he was still alive. Although he had a hint of envious feeling, he voiced it rather frankly and did not hide it from others. Furthermore, his words were direct and without sarcasm. It exhibited his open-mindedness and being able to manage his own thinking and emotions. He might have been someone who had good intrapersonal skills but his extremely thin presence dampened this in a very negative way making him unable to show this side of him in normal circumstances. Fortunately, everyone in this base did not neglect him despite his thin presence and he started to grow closer to them. His self-esteem had started to rise and his hidden qualities started to show.


    In the middle of their farewell to Mark, thetter approached the two.<sub> </sub>


    "Give me your hands."


    The two were confused and could only extend their hands towards Mark. Unexpectedly, Mark stuffed a crystal in their hands. While the two was confused, the others smiled at this scene. Seeing the smile of the others, Ron was stupefied.


    "Boss¡­ Is this perhaps¡­"


    Seeing the unbelieving and happy expression in Ron''s face, Ed also started to realize what was happening.


    "Ask the others how to use it. I''ll be testing the abilities of you two when I get back. Don''t disappoint me."


    Mark said with a rather stern face.


    "Yes Boss!"


    "Boss, thank you!"


    Ed and Ron shouted with excitement. What Mark said had confirmed their assumption and they were truly gratified and thankful.


    Mark then panned his eyes towards everyone.


    "I''ll leave this ce to you all. I know that weck manpower with just the few of you here so don''t push yourselves too hard just to finish everything. I''ll be back in a few days and I''ll try to bring some people back before leaving once more. What I expect is that this ce will still be standing when I get back." Mark turned to the base and continued. "If there''s no choice, I expect you all to leave and use the emergency exit. At that point, follow that emergency n. Am I clear?"


    "Yes!"


    Everyone answered in unison.


    With that goodbye, Mark walked away into the forest. On his shoulder, Amihannded. The little pixie did not want to leave the forest but she did not want to be alone without Mark either. In the end, she decided to apany him.


    Hallie, Nicole and the others waved their hands till Mark was out of their sight. All their eyes were filled with determination. Since Mark left this ce intact, he should return with this ce still here. And that responsibilityy on their hands.


    ***


    <strong>Day 35 ¨C 9:21 AM ¨C Ungos River, General Nakar, Quezon</strong>


    Mark walked using the usual path they always took to reach Ungos River. Upon reaching the river, they would always go westward when they went to train in the Barrio of Barangay Daraitan or when they went to do some supply runs. This time, Mark was going the opposite way. He was moving eastwards. His goal for now was to find the settlement at the east end of Quezon Province.


    He had various reasons. The most important ones however was to gather manpower and to find a working vehicle. The mountain base was suffering theck of people both inbor and expertise. The only experts in the base they could count on right now was Huey, Trisha and Ed. Huey''s expertisey on Architecture, Ed on Hunting and Processing the hunted game while Trisha for cooking and preservation of food.


    If possible, he wanted Farmers, Doctors and Fighters. In case he was not able to, some helping hands were also fine. As for the method to select and recruit people, it would depend on the current situation on the settlement.


    For the vehicle, he needed it in order to return to Bay City and meet up with Mei, his daughters, Abbygale and I, and the others. The initial phases of the base were already finished and he wanted to see them too. That was why he took importance in finding a working vehicle.


    Surely, there would be a lot of vehicles abandoned in the roads but it was questionable whether those vehicles wouldst him without proper maintenance in the past month.


    With his goals in mind, he elerated and with a puff of ck mist, he vanished. He crossed the river that was more than forty meter wide by using his ability simultaneously. It was really convenientpared to looking around and finding a way to cross without getting wet.


    ording to the map he found in the Barrio, he needed to follow the river to the east and then, climb the next smaller mountain range. There, he would find a highway that ran along the side and across that mountain range. After finding that highway, he needed to follow it north east and he would find the ce the leaflet Hallie had stated.


    Mark pulled the strap of his backpack and tightened it. Inside his backpack, there were several canned goods and arge bottle of water. Aside from necessities there were two bow-sized containers inside which took more space than the food he carried. The two containers contained Oracle and Crimson. After all, he needed the help of these two after he acquired a vehicle.


    The two [Blood Children] had no problems being put inside such containers, rather, they like the wobbly feeling as the bag rocked around while Mark walked towards his destination.


    Even though Mark had the ability to move without hindrance, he tried not to use it as much as possible. He was going on a dangerous journey right now and he needed to preserve his mental energy as much as possible. In case that he encountered danger, he would be able to fight properly or in the worst case, escape.


    Walking for around another two hours, he started to grow frustrated. He was not lost of being depraved of his direction but the other mountain range was rather on the steep side. In order to properly traverse the terrain, he would either go around or use his movement ability. Even Amihan was getting annoyed of the terrain that she volunteered to find a good way up the mountain since she could fly.


    Another hour passed after that and after a short encounter against an evolved dragonfly about the size of a dog, he reached the deste highway.

 Chapter 221 Road Chase, An Unexpected Encounter With A Strange Looking Biker Outlaws

    <strong>Day 35 ¨C 01:58 PM ¨C Marikina-Infanta Highway, Real, Quezon</strong>


    It had already been past noon when Mark arrived at the vicinity of the highway. This mountain road was called Marikina-Infanta Highway but was also known with the names Marcos Highway and MARILAQUE Highway. It was a one-hundred and ten kilometer long scenic highway that connected Metro-Man and Infanta Quezon in the Philippines.


    This highway passes through several cities, municipalities, mountains and other areas. At the ce Mark reached however, was the deste mountainous part of the highway. This part was of the highway that was built along this mountain range run across the mountains from the south west to the north east.


    As one of the main highways in Luzon, Mark expected it to be a little more popted but he was greeted to theplete opposite reality. He was not thinking about the structures such as houses and pit stops and expected them to be scarce since this was a mountain area but he expected more vehicles along the highway.


    However¡­


    The highway as almost empty.


    There were a few abandoned vehicles that already looked run down by the weather. As for the infected and dangerous animals, there was none.


    Looking around, Mark could see some structures here and there. All of the structures were decrepit houses that were dozens of meters apart from each other. The things that took his attention on those houses however was that he noticed that there were houses that were surrounded by overgrown crops.


    Mark approached one of the houses nearby. He had no ns to intrude into the house but he wanted to check the nts growing outside. There, he found a supposed to be small garden of Sweet Potato but after a month of being exposed to Mutagen and not being under care and management, the vines had overgrown and even covered the exterior of the house.


    Thergest leaves of the vines were a little bitrger than his palm and the vines were as thick as his pinkie finger. There no doubt that it was a mutated or evolved nt. Mark approached with caution since there it would not be surprising if he was suddenly attacked by the vines. However, it seemed that he was just thinking too much. Nothing dangerous happened. It seemed that only the growth of the nt was affected but it did not turn into something dangerous.


    Waving through the thick foliage with Amihan flying beside him, both of them were amazed. The quality of the vines was superb. Mark also stumbled upon a lump of dirt bulging from the ground and found that the root of the vine was here. He pulled out the roots and dug an almost volleyball sized sweet potato.


    "It''s too BIG!" Amihan eximed. "I saw something like this before but those are smallpared to this!"


    "Yeah. With normal sized ones, a size of a human fist is already big."


    Mark nodded as he held the dirt covered sweet potato that he could barely hold with one hand.


    Due to this discovery, he made a mental note to stop by this ce once more before he return to the base. He could at least take some vines and nt them back at the base. As for the extraordinarilyrge sweet potato, he cleaned off the dirt and put it inside his backpack. It would be something good to eat in the next few days.


    Before continuing on his way, Mark peered through the broken windows of the house and it made him decided against entering it even more. Aside from the house being dark inside due to the vines covering its exterior, there was an unpleasant stenching from the inside. It was a mix of human waste and rotting flesh. If it was others, they might have vomited already from the smell. Even Amihan did not try toe close to the house and stayed several meters away as Mark checked it.


    Walking towards the north east route of the highway, he still did not find any trace of the infected or the animals. The only things he saw was the dried up blood stains on the road and at times, crumbling skeletal remains that could not be recognized whether it belonged to a human or an animal.


    Along the highway, Mark saw several abandoned vehicles and checked the vehicles one by one. It was not because he was searching for supplies but he wanted to see some clues if there had been any human activities in the area.


    Most vehicles had their windows broken into pieces with varying causes. Some were because the vehicle crashed onto something while the others were obviously broken in by force. There were also vehicles where the windows looked like it was broken by some animal.


    The inside reeked of mold as anything made of cloth inside the vehicles was exposed the humidity of the mountains for too long. Some vehicles even reeked of blood inside. However, he found traces of human activity at on all of the vehicles as he saw that all the vehicles had their trunks pried open and the locks were broken.


    Furthermore, he noticed that the state of the some vehicles did not match up to the majority. Those vehicles looked newer and the smell of blood in those vehicles were thicker than the others indicating that these vehicles were left here muchter after the outbreak. The worst thing however was that these vehicles had traces of bullets on them.


    Mark closed his eyes and heightened his sensitivity over emotions. He then touched the dried traces of blood inside the vehicle he was currently investigating. This vehicle seemed to be abandoned here not too long agopared to others. He started to feel the lingering emotional energies on the vehicle. This was the benefit he received after his empathic ability started to recover. Even though it was still by touch, his sensitivity towards emotions became higher that he was now able to detect lingering emotional energies in the environment.


    He noticed it identally when they were doing a supply run and he picked up the gun of a person whomitted suicide in the barrio. The person shot himself on his temple while sitting on his bed. Mark managed to feel the despair and helplessness of the person before he died. It was rather unsettling since he felt it too suddenly. However, it only applied when the emotion was too strong to linger on things the person used before while having that emotion.


    This time, he was trying it on the vehicle to see if he could deduce what had happened.


    Suddenly, several emotions came into his mind. Despair, fear, anger¡­ There was danger everywhere¡­ It was suffocating that it felt that they were surrounded. The lingering emotional energy inside the vehicle was too strong as it came from several people. This kind of feeling even made Mark''s hands shiver.


    p The people in this vehicle were not attacked by the infected or the animals since there were no traces of confusion in the emotion which signified that they were dealing with something unknown. Unknown things like the infected and evolved animals. It became more likely that they were attacked and surrounded by people.</anda>


    VRRROOOOOMMM!!!<sub> </sub>


    The sounds of several vehicles were heard. It wasing from the direction Mark intended to go.


    "Amihan, let''s hide."


    Mark said before he ran towards the higher side of the mountain where he could hide while watching themotion on the highway. Amihan hurriedly followed behind him.


    The vehicles were still far but with the mountain being quiet, the roaring vehicles were too conspicuous. The sounds were echoing across the mountain range.


    Soon, a refitted owner-type jeep appeared in their sight from the blind curve of the highway. The vehicle was driving too fast that its side hit the safety railings of the highway and created sparks but it managed to get through the curve safely. Looking at the frantic expressions of the four people inside the jeep, they seemed to be being chased.


    Following the jeep, the cause came into sight. Two men riding arge quad bike together with more than a dozen men riding on different motorcycles appeared from the same curve. This group was obviously chasing the jeep for unpleasant reasons. Their faces looked ferocious and even though they were riding on some stylish motorcycles, their outfits looked barbaric. Their clothes were made of processed pelt from evolved animals and insects while wearing animal skulls and essories which was in high contrast to their vehicles and weapons.


    The ferocious looking group had guns but they were not shooting at the vehicle they were chasing. Looking at their expressions, Mark knew that they were enjoying the feeling of tormenting their victims as they frantically tried to escape. For sure, these guys had something in store for their victims at the end of this chase and that was why these barbaric people looked rather confident and rxed.


    With the situation at the highway, it seemed that Mark entered the hunting grounds of this group. For sure, they were also the ones responsible for the newer abandoned vehicles in the highway.


    "My Lord¡­ Those guys are scary¡­"


    Amihan said as she watched the barbaric biker group.


    She was not wrong. The group could be considered as scary even in most people''s point of view.


    Mark on the other hand was contemting. He was thinking if he should help those people or not. Those people came from the north-east which could mean that they came from the settlement there. He could use some information and if possible, a guide there. Not to mention, there was a lot of vehicle in front of him now. Just by helping those people, he could possibly get three things at the same time. Even though the motorcycles would not be able to bring him to Bay City, it should be enough to get him to the settlement here in Quezon Province.


    If he could get information from those people, it would save Mark more time. After all, he knew nothing about the state of the settlement here. If it was a military settlement, it could be better but what if it was awless settlement ran by some people proiming to be the leader? Things might be troublesome if it was thetter case.


    However, before Mark could even make a move and before the vehicle of the victims could pass by, he faintly heard one of the bikers shouting. Looking at the Biker, Mark frowned. The biker shouted at hisrades while pointing at the ce where Mark was hiding.


    Mark could only sigh. Things had be troublesome. It would be easier if he couldunch a sneak attack but who knew that there would be someone in the biker group with the ability to detect him. How far was he from them? From Mark''s view, they were still about two hundred meters from him. That was some formidable detecting ability.


    "Amihan, stay hidden."


    "Yes!"


    With Amihan staying behind, Mark ran back towards the highway and jumped over the safety railings. Afternding, Mark calmly walked into the open. His emotionless eyes stared at the iing vehicles.


    The people at the escaping vehicles were shocked to see someonee out of the woods in front of them and became afraid that he was with the bikers. It was when they noticed that the person was not looking at them at all but at the direction of the bikers.


    "RUN AWAY!"


    A woman at the back of the jeep stuck out her head through the window and shouted at Mark. Even though they were the ones in the worst situation, she actually risked getting hurt just to warn Mark. This made Mark''s first impression with this group rather good.


    BANG!!! POOM!!! SCREEEEECH!!!! BAM! BAM! BAM! TAM!


    A loud sound of a gunshot echoed which was followed by an exploding sound of a wheel and the jeep getting out of control. The jeep then tried to break and stop but due to that, the speeding jeep on the highway ended up tilting to the side and rolled three times before it was stopped by the safety railing on the outerne of the highway.


    One of the two men riding on the quad bike took had made that shot with a sniper rifle and urately shot the rear wheel of the jeepney.


    Mark looked at the jeepney. The woman was still shouting with worry about hisrades but it seemed that herrades in question were in a bad condition. He on the other hand just stood there looking at the situation.


    With Mark not moving at all and the jeep forcefully stopped, the bikers divided their group into two and surrounded their targets.

 Chapter 222 Exasperated, When Being Forced To Do Something Troublesome

    <strong>Day 35 ¨C 3:15 PM ¨C Marikina-Infanta Highway, Real, Quezon</strong>


    Mark stood by the side of the highway surrounded by some biker ouws with conflicted thoughts.


    It was just the first day that he left the base and he got caught in some troublesome matters which made him left like sighing. However, it also gave him the things he needed. Transportation and people that could possibly guide him and give him information about the settlement he wanted to go to.


    There was another troublesome matter though¡­


    He looked at the other side of the highway more than a dozen meters away. The owner type jeep was overturned and even rolled several times. He did not care if the people inside the vehicle died but at least, he needed one of those alive. He''d rather pick those guys in the jeep rather than these generic mobs surrounding him.


    ''Oh, good.''


    Mark thought as he saw the woman that shouted at him being dragged out of the jeep. She seemed conscious but she had bruises all over her body. The other people were also dragged mercilessly but the other three did not seem to be in a good condition. There was another woman and two men. One of the men was barely conscious while the other two waspletely out cold. All of them were bleeding on different parts of their bodies.


    "F*ck! Are you deaf!"


    "Oh right."


    Mark indifferently muttered as he turned his eyes back towards the unsightly pests surrounding him. He turned his attention towards what was happening around the vehicle neglecting the fact that the guy who seemed to have high standing within this group of ouws had been shouting at him from the start.


    "What did you say again?"


    He indifferently asked.


    "F*CK!"


    The guy was truly infuriated.


    Another guy who had piercings and an unsightly Mohawk styled hair interjected.


    "Sir Fang, why are you wasting time with that guy? Let''s just kill him and take the loot. Those woman on the other side looks good. I can''t wait to yter. Thest toy we had died yesterday."


    The Mohawk guy said to the man called Sir Fang while pointing at the other guys who were dealing with the people in the jeep with an envious andscivious expression. After all, those guys that pulled out the woman out was already touching her in different parts of her body as she tried her best to resist. What''s more for the unconscious woman, she had no ability to resist at all.


    Mark nced at the scene on the other side. He felt rather exasperated. The wild men could not wait at all before they even return to their hideout to do these kinds of things. They were worse than animals. He sighed. He needed those people so it was better not to expose them further in this torment.


    To the Mohawk guy''s words, the man called Sir Fang and the other man beside him who had nose piercings was the same. If Mark remembered correctly, it was this guy who managed to find him. For some reason, this guy was still ncing at the direction where Amihan should be hiding with a confused expression.


    "You, if you don''t want trouble, leave and don''t get in our way."


    That sir Fang said which made the others dumbfounded.


    Mark smiled grimly. This guy called Fang was rather cautious of him. His instincts weremendable but his instincts were wasted in this group of garbage.


    "Sir Fang! What are you saying? We''re letting this one go? Have you gone mad? Don''t tell me that you chickened out?"


    One of the men shouted while pping his arms like chicken wings which made the othersugh horrendously.


    BAM!


    Sir Fang punched the guy without holding back. The punched man fell on the ground spatting blood from his mouth. Among the blood were a few of his teeth.


    "Say¡­" While the wild men were in their internal conflict, Mark''s voice sounded. "Is anyone of you a Mutator?"


    Mark asked. Although he could know by touching them one by one or during the fight, he would rather not. These guys stink horribly. Their skin had dark patches which was the result of not even wiping their bodies for a very long time. Furthermore, it was better if he could make his Mutator enemies spit out their abilities in their mouth so he would have a good grasp of their ability before snatching it from their dead bodies.


    His question was clear but all of them only looked at him with a confused expression.


    "So, it''s no use huh."


    Mark sighed. It seemed that these guys did not even know what a Mutator was. He had no reason to exin it to them either. The woman on the other side was already shouting for mercy while tears flowed out of her eyes. It was a pitiful sight. The unconscious woman was already left with her undergarments.


    "I already wasted enough time with you guys. Hmmm..." Mark looked straight at Sir Fang. "Acutally, its better if you all go away. Leave those people alone and get lost."


    "WHAT?! Don''t you realize the situation you''re in?"


    The Mohawk guy shouted and everyoneughed. That Sir Fang frowned though.


    "What a waste of time."


    Mark indifferently muttered. He really did not want to fight with these guys if not needed to. Since these people did not attack on sight, he would not have much reason to kill them. Also, the leader of this group did not want to have a conflict with him.


    For sure, these people were not the only ones in their group or the leader would be called like master or boss, something around those names and not this Sir Fang who they did not even fully respect. It would be troublesome if the remaining people of these ouws go after him when his empathic abilities had not fully recovered yet.


    "How troublesome. Hah, whatever... I''ll just leave no one alive and hope for the best."<sub> </sub>


    He sighed befoer he held out a reddish ck coin from who knows where it came from and flipped it upwards. The coin took everyone''s attention for a split second but at that short time, Mark vanished from his spot. The ouws panicked before¡­


    "GAH!"


    "UGH!"


    "AHHH!"


    They heard several blood-curling screams from behind.


    By the moment they turned around, all their members that were surrounding their victims were already lying in their own pool of blood. Each of them had decapitated heads rolling in the middle of the highway.


    The men that surrounded Mark before could not help but shiver as they stepped back. They had neen men in this hunting session but in the short span of several seconds, they lost eleven men. The culprit stood in the middle of the massacre with indifferent eyes as he whipped off the blood from his thin sword.


    Not only the ouws were dumbfounded but also the woman who struggled to fend her body from these beasts was the same. Some of the blood from these dirty viins sshed onto her face and almost ripped clothes but she did not care. She could only stare at the back of the man who killed the men who wanted to defile her.


    Mark nced at the woman over his shoulder and spoke.


    "Just sit tight there. I have a few questions to askter after I deal with these guys."


    The woman was still in her stupor and could only nod absentmindedly. She watched as Mark walked away from her in an unhurried pace. He was not moving forwards the enemies but rather sideward making his back face the edge of the highway.


    Mark then smirked with a provocative smile.


    "F*CK! Shoot! Shoot him!"


    Sir Fang roared. He was still in confusion about what happened but one thing was for sure. His instincts were correct and they kicked a steel te this time. Furthermore, the steel te they kicked was toorge and thick built with spikes and could crush them without any effort.


    BANG! BANG! RATATATA!


    A plethora of soundsing from different kinds, calibers and sizes of guns that the ouws wielded sounded across the mountain highway.


    On the other hand, the body of the man called Sir Fang bloated like a balloon. His muscles became emphasized. His canine teeth erged and protruded out of his mouth while hair, no, fur grew and covered his neck like a lion. The ouw turned into a saber tooth werelion in a few seconds. Looking at his saber tooth, it was no wonder he was called Sir Fang.


    The man on the quad bike however retreated back together with the man that detected Mark. Looking at their movements and strategy, the abilities of the two was not suited for closebat. One was a sniper while the other was their scout it seemed.


    ***


    Karlene weakly wiped the tears and blood on her face. Although the scene around her was bloody and horrifying, she did not care. She had seen even more brutal, violent and gory thingspared this. What she did not expect was that they would encounter a disaster today.


    They left the settlement to search for supplies. Since there was very few thate to the outskirts of the highway due to the ce being far from the settlement, they decided to search there. Who knew that they would encounter these ouws, no, rather than encountering them, they were ambushed and was forced to flee into the highway.


    When she saw someone by the side of the road while being chased, she could not help but feel a little bad. This man might be trying to survive around here but they might have brought him disaster today because they fled to this highway. That was why she shouted at him to run away. She did not expect that her decision to shout and warn the person out of pure concern became one of the things thatpelled that person to save them.


    When the woman saw that the ouws aimed their guns at their benefactor she was afraid of his wellbeing. However she could not do anything. Her body was still aching from the ident they had. It was already her final strength and adrenaline that she was able resist so far. The scene where the man that saved her being buffeted with multitudes of bullets¡­


    Did not happen in her amazed and dumbfounded eyes.


    Faint ck mist emitted around the man as his body turned blurry. The bullets whizzed through the mist making her able to see the paths the bullets took. However, none of the multitudes of bullets hit the man that was walking unhurriedly forward. She could see that the bullets were phasing through his body like magic.


    She could not help but look at the man''s face. He was not good looking and even a little below average but that was not what mattered. His expression¡­ It was filled with interest. It made her feel like he was testing something she could not fathom.


    Looking how their benefactor dealt with the rain of bullets, she felt relieved. She looked at her friends and saw that they were in a bad condition. Joash, the one driving, was bleeding on his forehead. Tyson who was their main fighter was also unconscious and his arm was dislocated. Fortunately, it did not seem broken. na on the other hand, he close friend, was also unconscious and was already practically naked. Her clothes were ripped and her underwear was already half taken off. She could even see her friend''s bushes below.


    She moved her weak body towards her friend and slowly fixed her remaining clothes to at least, cover her sensitive parts. She then checked on na and frowned. Her friend''s condition was even more serious that it appeared to be. Her breathing was ragged, her face was pale and her pulse was slowing down. If na was not given medical attention in a short period of time, she would likely die.


    This moment, Karlene dragged her body and took out a case from the overturned jeep with great difficulty. Inside the case was a sealed vial with ckish red thick liquid. She removed the cap and made na drink a third of the contents of the vial. It only took seconds and na''s pale skin turned better which allowed Karlene to sigh in relief.


    She turned towards the ongoing fight. It seemed that the man that saved them was done with what he was testing. With a puff of ck mist, he vanished from the spot. Karlene could faintly see a thick strand of ck mist waving as it moved towards the group of ouws. The ouws retreated away from the mist but it was very fast.


    PUFF!


    The man appeared from the mist and waved his sword horizontally before vanishing into mist once more. Two of the ouws nearby where he appeared fell down with their heads detached. The ouw that became a werelion tried to intercept the mist but he was not able to and the mist passed beside him in a waved path.


    PUFF!


    The man appeared once more and pierced his sword forward. Another ouw died with his head skewered like a barbeque. The sword was pulled out immediately causing a sudden spurt of blood but the man was not soaked with it as he had already vanished into ck mist once more.


    "Amazing¡­"


    Karlene muttered as she watched the scene. Her bitter experienced just earlier was totally thrown away at the back of her mind.


    It did not take long and only three of the ouws were left, the werelion, the sniper and the scout.

 Chapter 223 Strong Outlaws, Their Bitter Fight Against A Monster

    <strong>Day 35 ¨C 3:19 PM ¨C Marikina-Infanta Highway, Real, Quezon</strong>


    When Mark walked in an unhurried fashion away from the woman and her group, it was because he expected that these ouws would start indiscriminately shoot at him. If he kept standing in front of the woman, the troublesome matter he expected to expose himself into would be for naught. Furthermore, he had something in mind and wanted to try it.


    His [Shadow Mist Movement] creates a subspace where he could move to without hindrance and it enabled him to even move through small spaces that he was not supposed to be able to in reality through the distortion of space. In that case, he wanted to try if he could use that distortion in order to dodge the bullets. The fastest bullet of a high-caliber rifle might travel in more than two-thousand six-hundred feet per second but he was not worried about that speed since inside the subspace, his movement, perception and reflex were heightened into an unprecedented degree.


    This time however, he only wanted to test the spatial distortion and only partially activated his ability. That was why even though there was ck mist appearing around him, he did not vanish. On the other hand, the distortion in space made his figure rather blurry as the spaces contracted and retracted in very fast speeds in order to allow him to wave through the barrage of bullets.


    To say, the experiment was a sess and he was rather satisfied with the result. Still, it would only apply when he could see the source of the iing bullets and the mental drain and strain was rather higherpared to fully activating the ability.


    As for the experiment failing, he was not afraid of getting hit by one or two bullets. In case that the experiment failed, he could still dodge it anyway through fully activating [Shadow Mist Movement]. If he got hit by the bullets, he would still be fine. He could use his blood to remove the bullets inside his body and his body would heal in an unbelievable rate afterwards. Unless he was hit fatally and was killed on the spot, he would not die. It would still be a bit painful though. Besides, aside from his head, his other vital parts were all covered with his armor.


    After the experiment was done, he started the ughter.


    He vanished from his spot turning into a wavy trail of mist that travelled faster that the eyes of most people could see. In every attack, he killed one or two of the ouws that was already little in number. Even though there were obvious Evolvers with their group which were stronger or able to move faster than others, they were still killed. Well, except for these three.


    The Mutator that looked like a saber tooth werelion could follow his trail of mist while the scout could amazingly pinpoint where Mark would appear and attack which enabled him to dodge. On the other hand, the sniper not only had a sharp eye but also a high leveled Evolver. For sure, he was not a Mutator as his speed was not as fast as the werelion but the difference were too little. Not to mention that the sniper was able to follow his trail of mist and run away before Mark could get into ce and attack him. In case that the sniper was not able to outrun Mark, he would point his sniper rifle the instant that Mark appeared making Mark cancel the attack and retreat.


    These three were surely on a different level. Sure enough, no all the ouws here were generic Mobs and three boss and mini-boss levels were mixed among the flock of emaciated wolves.


    "You already all of our men, can''t you let us go? Either way, we can''t kill you and you weren''t able to kill us. Let''s just call it quits."


    The sniper yelled a proposition. What he said was true. Mark was not able to kill them and they were not able to kill Mark.


    On the other hand, Sir Fang frowned at the proposition but he did not say anything while the scout was just waiting for something.


    Hearing the proposition, Mark smirked. Yes, he was not able to kill them¡­


    ¡­it was because he was not really seriously fighting with them. He had other equipment and abilities in his body and he did not use any of those yet.


    The three were confused because of Mark''s infuriating smirk but then, they saw him put his right arm horizontally in front of his chest. They had noticed that there was something embedded on his strange colored bracer and it was a rectangr mechanism of some sort with two horns but they did not mind it. Now however, Mark pushed a button on the mechanism.


    The rectangr mechanism spun one-hundred and eighty degrees making the small "horns" face backwards. Then, clicking sounds sounded in session after the rectangr mechanism locked in ce. The rectangr body extended forward and backward making it double in size and finally, the two "horns" clicked open like wings. Mark then pulled out what seemed to be a rectangr curved metal from under his bracer and pushed one end in into the mechanism.


    Seeing the true form of the mechanism, Sir Fang and the Sniper frowned. The mechanism on the arm of their enemy right now was actually a miniature crossbow! They were able to avoid Mark''s attacks because he was using his sword but now, they were not confident anymore. They were not sure if the weapon on their enemy''s arm was strong or really working but they could not take risks anymore.


    The sniper nced at the scout and nodded. In tacit understanding, the scout ran away while Sir Fang and the sniper got in position to fight once more.


    Seeing the scout run away, Mark shook his head. Even if the guy tried to run away to escape, he would not be escape from Mark if he chased. However, the guy was running up the mountain slope towards the direction where Amihan was hiding and where he left his backpack. It seemed that the guy was really able to detect living beings and probably thought that Amihan and the two [Blood Children] were just normal people or children maybe. Now, that guy was off to his death.


    After all, even though Amihan was afraid of humans, she was not afraid to kill. She had experienced a lot worse in her more than a hundred years of living despite her childish countenance.


    Mark vanished into ck mist and moved towards the two enemies in front of him. This time, he appeared several meters away from the werelion and in a blind spot. Two dart sized needles shot in session. The werelion was able to react when Mark appeared but he was not able to fully dodge the needles that were shot faster than bullets. He was able to evade being hit on his neck and forehead but in turn, his pointy right ear at the side and right shoulder were pierced by the needles.


    "AHAG!"


    The werelion could not help but feel wail in pain. The needle that hit his shoulder pierced through his shoulder bone and got painfully stuck. The needle might have even damaged his nerve as he seemed to have difficulty to move his right arm as he retreated.


    Mark then vanished going towards the blind spot of the werelion once more. This time, he appeared longer and shot three needles in session. The third needle flew towards the werelion''s forehead while the first two were aiming for his legs. The werelion still managed to dodge the third one even though he sacrificed getting hit by the other two. The werelion could only kneel in pain but the longer time Mark appeared made the sniper shot a single bullet.<sub> </sub>


    His aim and precision was good and really fast but if he wanted to hit Mark, he needed to be faster. As the bullet entered Mark''s subspace, his figure blurred and the hope of the two ouws shattered when the bullet passed through the blurry figure.


    Mark then vanished several more times raining the dart sized needles towards the werelion ignoring the sniper that could not shoot anymore due to Mark correcting his mistake. The sniper nced towards the upper section of the mountain where their scout, DeathEye, ran towards. His ability was to detect life force of living beings including trees and animals and was able to differentiate them. If DeathEye was correct, then, this monster in front of him had three children in tow. If they could use them as hostage, there would be a chance that they would be able to leave this ce alive.


    Then, a blood curling scream shattered the sniper, EagleEye and the werelion, Sir Fang''s expectations. EagleEye and the already disabled Sir Fang could only look up by reflex as they felt a strong gust of wind entering the forested slope of the mountain. There, they saw DeathEye who was thrown in the air for about five story building high. When he reached the reached the final point of his ent, DeathEye plunged back down into the middle of the highway amidst his horrifying screams.


    Head first, DeathEye hit the road. His head sttered like a watermelon.


    Sir Fang and EagleEye were in a stupor and despair looking at DeathEye''s fate. At the moment they took their attention away from Mark, a needle pierced through Sir Fang''s forehead. His body fell down with his eyes wide open in shock.


    EagleEye was thest living one. Unexpectedly, the guy bit something in his mouth and his mouth burst into uncanny bubbles and his body convulsed severely before he fell down.


    "Suicide?"


    Mark murmured in askance. He cautiously approached EagleEye and checked his pulse even though he did not want to touch the dirty ouw. There was no pulse but Mark smirked with a cunning expression.


    He then stepped back and said.


    "Dead huh."


    Mark turned around seeming to leave. Unexpectedly, he suddenly turned around and shot a needle towards EagleEye''s heart. EagleEye''s eyes suddenly opened in horror as he felt the pain entering his heart. He could only nce at Mark''s armored back as he left. The eyes of EagleEye were filled with heightened confusion.


    Leaving the area of battle, Mark made his way towards the pitiful group. It seemed that one of the two men, the driver, was already conscious and was sitting with his back leaning on their overturned jeep. Even though the man was already awake, Mark could not help but notice that the woman was staring at his face without tomorrow.


    "Is there something on my face?"


    Mark asked. Probably, his face was stained with blood. However, even though he asked that, he knew that it was not the case. After all, the eyes of the woman were filled with reverence towards the strong which made Mark feel rather conflicted. It was the same eyes Jollene was giving him when he was showing her how to fight effectively against the infected.


    "Ah! No. No. Sorry if I stared too much."


    The woman bashfully turned her gaze away.


    "I want to ask some questions." Mark said but when he said that, the two conscious people in front of him looked at their unconsciousrades withplicated expressions. "Hahhh, I already saved you all to gather information, those two being unconscious had nothing to do with me. Besides, your group already brought me trouble."


    The two came to realization but they could not just ignore their unconscious friends. There was no way for them to transport them either since by looking their jeep, it was surely out ofmission. The front wheels were bent in uncanny angle and the main body was severely bent.


    Then, the man spoke weakly as he reached for the metal case on the woman''s hand.


    "How about we trade something for your help? Is one of these enough?"


    He showed the content metal case which contained three vials of ckish red liquid. One had lesser content than the two which was surely been used before.


    "What is that?"


    "The newest product of theboratory in the military settlement in Infanta." The man said in a weak but proud manner. "Regeneration Medicine."

 Chapter 224 Information Gathering, Recieving An Unexpected Information From The People He Saved

    <strong>Day 35 ¨C 3:25 PM ¨C Marikina-Infanta Highway, Real, Quezon</strong>


    Mark looked at the vials inside the case. While he was fighting¡­ No, ughtering the ouws, he noticed that the woman in front of him take out the same looking vial and made their unconscious teammate drink it. He did not know why but using the name that the man called the contents of the vials just now, it should be something that could heal or at least, alleviate injuries.


    It seemed that the military research of Mutagen finally brought fruit to something useful. Still, the first thing that came to his mind when he saw the vials and heard the name was HP potions but that would be a secret. He was an Otaku after all. Well, it was not totally wrong since the effect was the same and after apocalypse started and Mutagen came about, a lot of fantasy like aspects hade into life.


    Beast people, nt dryad, bone wielders, tentacle monsters, slimes, sylphs and now, potions. What kind of surprises would this apocalypse had in store for him?


    Still, Mark was kind of confused why there was pride in the tone of the man when he introduced the vials to him. It was as if he was among the people that developed it. However, there was also a little pain in his face when he said that he would trade one of these vials for his help indicating that these potions could be too precious in value.


    Then, it would be fine if he got one of these.


    "Alright, I''ll help if you give me one of those." Mark said which made the two sigh in relief. "What do you two n to do now?"


    To Mark''s question, it was the woman that replied.


    "Do live around here? I wonder if you have any ce to stay nearby."


    "Do you really think that I live nearby the hunting grounds of those hounds? Why don''t you look around and see what is this ce."


    Hearing what he said, the two looked around and noticed the things they did not pay attention to before. There were abandoned vehicles that were filled with bullet holes, dried blood in different parts of the road and many more signs. For sure, this ce was where those ouws operate. It looked like they really drove into their trap. The two could not help but feel dejected.


    "Do you guys have any way to contact anyone for rescue like a radio or something?"


    "I just checked. Our radio inside the jeep got broken from the impact."


    The woman replied.


    "There''s no choice huh. We need to find a ce to stay until those friends of you two wake up. Then, you can use the motorcycles to go back. It''s not safe to stay here. The blood will surely draw the animals to this location. Alright, wait here for a bit, I have to get my things."


    Hearing that, the two nodded. The two then watched Mark go back up the mountain slope to get his things but their eyes almost flew out of their sockets when they saw Mark return with a little humanoid creature sitting on his shoulder.


    "What¡­ what is that?"


    Mark faintly heard the woman whisper to her friend but thetter just shook his head in utter disbelief. After all, they had just seen something totally out of the norm. In their eyes, it was an existence out of stories and fantasy, a fairy.


    "Did you two see any houses or stores on the way where you are escaping earlier?"


    Upon returning, Mark asked. Amihan on the other hand, stuck closely to his neck trying to hide from the stares of the two. However, there was no response.


    "Hey¡­ Done staring?"


    Mark asked with annoyance which woke up the two. He then repeated his question.


    "We didn''t really pay attention. Sorry."


    That was the reply Mark received. Their group was so panicked to escape that they did not pay attention to their surroundings anymore aside from the routes they could take.


    "You heard them."


    Mark said to Amihan making her nod and she flew away to search for a ce to stay. As she flew away, Mark looked at her with a bit of satisfaction. The force she used this time to blow away that ouw that came to her direction was way stronger than what she used in the vige before and yet, she was still fine. Surely, Mark did not give her a [Mental Crystal] to enhance her abilities in one go but as she always stuck to Mark, she was always exposed to the energy that the [PsyCrystal] was emitting and was slowly enhancing her magical ability to control wind.<sub> </sub>


    As for the reaction of the two towards the little sylph, he expected it to some extent. However, Mark had no ns to hide Amihan. There was only one reason. It was troublesome to hide her. Besides, she could help him more when exposed rather than being hidden. Her existence might still invite some trouble but Mark was more prepared for those than the ouws.


    When Amihan left, Mark made his way towards the bloody area of the road where most of the dead bodies were left. Mark then took out a [Physical Crystal] and absorbed the ability of Sir Fang. The two survivors could clearly see what he was doing but for sure, they could not fathom what it was. They could only see a marble shining like the sun and they could not stare straight towards it.


    While that was happening, Mark proceeded to check the motorcycles and unexpectedly, the motorcycles were in very good condition. It seemed that these vehicles were thoroughly maintained which made it strange since the ouws were too gross looking.


    Suddenly, Mark turned his head towards the northern slope of the mountain. He felt like being watched by someone. For sure it was not Amihan since even if she stared at him, her stare would never harbor even a little bit of killing intent. The gaze he felt however was filled with anger and desire to kill. Unfortunately, he could only pinpoint the general direction but not the exact location where the stare wasing from.


    "Hahh. How troublesome."


    It seemed that there was really someone observing the operation of the ouws. However, it seemed that the person camete and only saw the current situation. After all, Mark finished the battle rather too fast.


    Now, Mark could expect that these trashes of the society woulde after him.


    Mark shrugged his shoulders as he felt the gaze vanish. The person probably went to report to his bosses now.


    Amihan soon returned. She found a rather decent looking house quite a distance away from the highway and below the mountain. The little sylph was rewarded some praise as she actually bravely scouted the perimeter of the house to ensure that it was empty before she came back.


    The house seemed to be owned by an orchard owner as there were fruit bearing trees enclosed by a fence west of the house. There was also a dirt road that connected the house to the highway.


    Using the quad bike, Mark transported the group by going back and forth twice and having two people ride behind him every time. The first pair was the conscious woman, Karlene and the unconscious woman, na. The second pair was the man with bleeding forehead, Joash and the unconscious man, Tyson. They paired that way so the conscious ones could assist their unconscious friends on the way. They also preemptively introduced themselves to Mark since he did not stop calling them, ''you'', ''you people'' and ''you guys'' which was quite irritating to their ears.


    After that, Mark left the preparation of the house to the two and went back several times to fetch the three motorcycles and find a way to hide the rest of the motorcycles. In any case, these motorcycles were in good condition and were a waste to abandon. In the end, he drove the remaining motorcycles off the highway and ced them in a shack he found nearby. The shack looked like it was made by the hunters in the area and was quite hidden. Of course, there was no oneing to this dpidated shack anymore.


    Going back to the house, Mark questioned the two about the things he wanted to know. The two did not hesitate to answer as the questions were not private at all. Furthermore, Mark would also learn of the truth after arriving at the area.


    Mark''s first question was about the settlement in the east. However, he got an unexpected answer.


    There were actually three settlements in the area. One was here in Real at the eastern coast. The second was in the easternmost coast of Infanta and the third was at the south-eastern coast of General Nakar.


    However, even though all of them were all settlements, they all varied in nature. Among the three, only the one here in Real, Quezon was ran by the military. The settlement in Infanta was run by the local political and powerful families while the settlement in General Nakar was the most unwanted one. It could be considered as a crime district where most criminals and evil people in this area gathered.


    ''All the settlements are built by the coast.''


    Mark thought but he was not surprised. That was a strategy where they would only expose three or in the best case, one side of their settlement against the threat of the infected and evolved animals. Still, it was a risky move if done in this country. After all, this country, the Philippines, was always hit by an average of twenty typhoons per year. It would be fatal for the settlement if they did not prepare some measures for natural disasters.


    These four unlucky people came from the military settlement at the Port of Real. Unlike the military settlement in Bay City that was focusing in gathering survivors and researching the infected, the settlement here at the Port of Real was aimed more to fauna. Allnd, air and aquatic animals in the area were subjects to their research. There was also research in flora ongoing but even though there were a good amount of farmnds in the area, the variety of crops were too small and as such, the research was not proceeding as intended.


    These four had also made it several times into the Infanta settlement in amissioned assignment with the military. The situation there was not as optimal as the military settlement towards the normal people. Evolvers and Mutators had higher standing in that settlement. The only favorable thing was that the leading families strictly forbid crimes such as theft, rape and murder in the settlement. Criminals that were caught were publicly shamed and were executed by hanging.


    Unexpectedly, prostitution was allowed in this settlement. Since there were many women who were incapable of fighting, working and scavenging outside the settlement, they could gain livelihood as a prostitute. This way, they had a source of food while it also lowered the chances of rape in the settlement.


    As for the third settlement, these people had not visited the ce before and would never want to. ording to rumors, it was a ce where the strong eats the weak. If you had no capability, it would be very likely that you would be robbed or worse, killed. There were also rumors that actual ve trading happened in that settlement. Survivors that were caught outside were being traded there as ves.


    The information Mark received from a single question was really unexpected. While Bay City was struggling to maintain its settlement, there was actually three here. However, considering that the poption in this area was way lower than Metro Man, it would be easier to maintain these survivor settlements.


    As for why a crime prone settlement would be able to exist not too far from the military settlement, there was no need to ask. That ce would surely be brimming with criminal Evolvers and Mutators while the military was actually suffering from theck of manpower. The military would surely make a move if the operations of that criminal settlement entered the area of their jurisdiction but they would surely not go and try eliminating these criminals in their own turf.


    Still, since that ce traded people as ves, it was perfect for him to find loyal people to bring back. After all, these people being treated as ves already lost hope of living a good life. If he unexpectedly gave them that, they would surely be grateful and loyal to a great degree.

 Chapter 225 Lingering Threat, The Incoming Ambush In The Darkness Of The Night

    <strong>Day 35 ¨C 5:23 PM ¨C Barangay Pocion I, Real, Quezon</strong>


    Just the information Mark got about the settlements gave him a lot of things to think of. It was really good that he took the initiative to gather information first when he could before actually trying to find the settlement in the east. If he did not know that there were three, it would not be surprising if he ended up in that criminal district. Although he was not worried about getting in harm''s way, it was better if he was prepared.


    The next thing he asked was how trading goes in the military settlement. Fortunately, it was the same as how it worked in Bay City. Money had been reced with coupons for payment forbor and employment. For private groups however like these four people, they could enlist themselves for assignments and directly receive their wanted supplies with value equivalent to the payment they should have received. The military also posts what they wanted in the trading area like electronic parts, medicine and other misceneous goods and receive either coupons or directly trade the goods for items they needed as long as the item was avable for trade.


    After getting the answer for his previous questions, Mark wanted to ask a few more but there were more pressing matters than asking for information. The sun was about to set and they needed to prepare for the night. They also needed to eat dinner.


    "Did you bring food with you?"


    Mark asked the two who were tending to their unconscious friends.


    Unexpectedly, both of them could only wear bitter and shameful smiles on their faces as they lowered their heads.


    "We didn''t really expect that we will spend the night outside the settlement. Each of us only brought a sandwich and a bottle of water for each of us. We only nned to snack on these before we return to the settlement."


    Hearing that, Mark nodded. It seemed that the lives of people that relied on military settlements had it better than those who were not. Even though he had not really encountered one, for sure, the survivors relying on themselves probably did not even have water to drink, yet, this group even had the guts for a snack.


    Still, it seemed that his question was misinterpreted. After all, he was alone even if the sylph on his shoulder was counted, as a human, he was still alone. His question about food made the two think that Mark was asking for some as they were worriedly staring at him.


    "Seriously, don''t stare at me like that. I''m just asking if you have yours since I have mine. I''m not begging for food."


    Hearing that, the two was able to sigh in relief. A single sandwich was not enough for them to eat for dinner. If Mark really asked for some, they would not be able to disagree and they would have less food to eat.


    "Okay, I''ll take the vial first, and then you can rest and eat your food if you two want. I will ask more questionster after I eat outside."


    Mark said.


    Karlene immediately took out one of the vials and handed it to Mark despite the pained expression on the face of Joash.


    Mark then left the two by themselves. The two of them still needed to take care of their unconscious friends. He walked around the house especially the kitchen area. The house was a two story one with the main rooms had been made of concrete. The outer areas and furniture however were all made of wood. Looking at the appliances, there was no refrigerator even though there was a broken television in the living room. There were no power outlets on the walls indicating that the house had no electricity even before the outbreak. He also remembered seeing a pair of crocodile clips near the television but he did not see a car battery which should be the power source they used to power the television.


    The house seemed to have been looted of almost everything. The ones left at the house were things less or unnecessary for survival. It was quite unexpected but Mark found a half jar of brown sugar which was spilled on the sink. The surface of the sugar was moldy for being left open for too long but the granules beneath was still fine to use. It was fortunate that Mutagen and already killed or turned ants into bigger ones or else, this jar of sugar had long been gone. He also found salt, half bottle of cooking oil and packets of umami seasonings that were left untouched inside a cab.


    There were blood stains at different parts of the house which meant that the people that lived here before did not receive a good ending. The perpetrator should be an evolved animal considering the w marks on the walls and bite marks on the dirty clothing left on the floor. The blood stains on the floor stretched out of the doors which meant that the dead bodies were dragged out somewhere before they were eaten.


    The seasonings he found were already enough for him to be able to cook a good meal for dinner. Some Sugar Roasted Sweet Potato would be fine right? After all, he found a really big one earlier. As for the utensils, he made his rather than using the rusty and dusty ones in the house that would require some hardbor and arge amount of water to clean. In that case, a frying pan made of his fresh blood was way cleaner.


    It was one of the benefits he got after mutating his blood. He could flush out any impurities in it which meant that if the virus, bacteria or even poison had to enter his blood stream, he could eliminate the threat. Due to that, he could expect that he would not get ill easily.


    After preparing, the sounds of knife cutting and sizzling cooking oil could be heard outside the house. Soon, the natural aroma of fried roasted sugar and sweet potato enveloped the area which even made Karlene and Joash inside the house gulp their saliva. Mark said that he would eat outside but he never said that he would cook and that took the two by surprise.


    The two was already eating their sandwich that barely had any filling in between. Compared to the aroma the food Mark was cooking and their sandwich, thetter was not as enticing as the other.<sub> </sub>


    Still, the two did not want to just waltz to Mark''s position and ask for food. In the least, they still wanted to maintain their dignity especially Karlene who almost lost hers earlier. The most they could do was to peek out of the window and see what Mark was cooking which was what Karlene did.


    There, she could see Mark sitting on an old stool in front of a campfire while frying his food. Beside him was half of therge sweet potato he found. What shocked her was to see two slimes moving around Mark. One which was clear colored sat on hisp while he was cooking while the other bounced around behind him as if ying while rustling the pile of leaves that seemed to be what Mark piled there while cleaning the spot to create a campfire.


    Karlene could not believe what her eyes were seeing. Mark was not only strong but there were a lot of mysterious things around him. It made her feel that Mark came from another world. After all, not only he was wearing some strange light armor, he also had those strange weapons and he even had non-humanpanions that seemed to pop out of fantasy genre. Even the ability he used while fighting the ouws never gave her the feeling that it was an ability of a Mutator.


    Fully aware of Karlene spying on him, Mark ate his dinner. Even though her staring like that was rather disturbing, he just let her. It was troublesome if he had to reprimand everyone who would do that. Sure enough, his travelpanions right now were really eye catching and he was rather proud of them.


    Mark also took out a honeyed berry from a jar in his backpack and gave it to Amihan. It was one of her favorites and she ate it with great relish. As for the [Blood Children], they did not really need to eat but it was better if they consume blood from time to time. Right now however, there would be no suitable sources. There were those bodies of ouws before but he would rather not let these two suck the blood of those disgusting roaches.


    While eating, Mark froze and abruptly turned his head towards the highway. He felt that gaze filled with killing intent once more but it also vanished as sudden as it appeared. It looked like that the ouws would not stop but they would not attack right at this moment. At thetest, the most suitable time would be¡­


    ¡­ At night.


    There was still time. Mark continued to eat and pondered what steps he should do tomorrow. One thing he had already decided was to apany these four people to the Port of Real Military Settlement. His priority was to find a way to contact his beloved ones first. He would also try to procure a suitable vehicle there that could transport people but for sure, it would be hard. If that was the case, it would be likely that he would try to find one in the other settlements.


    As for the manpower he needed for the base, there was no need to think of where to find them. Just kill all the scum and get the loyalty and trust of ves there. Of course, he would still screen the people he acquired one by one. He was not fond of getting rats into his hard work.


    After eating, he prepared measures for the attack that woulde this night.


    He scouted the perimeter of the house to see if there were advantageous spots he could use. Unfortunately, the only good spot was the orchard that was filled with trees but that ce was the most less likely that the attackers woulde from. The forest was several meters away from the vicinity of the house and it would really be hard to create hard to distinguish traps around the house due to the ground being bare.


    The enemies could ambush them but they could only retaliate in a directbat. Mark could not help but massage his temples for this troublesome matter.


    The sun had already set and the surroundings started to darken. They had no time to change ces. There were also no structures nearby that could be as defendable as this ce. There were other shacks and huts nearby but of course, all those structures were made of wood.


    In the end, Mark told the two inside the house of the possible attack at night which made the two nervous. The two was in no condition to fight and who knows when their two unconscious friends would wake up.


    "Leave the enemies to me." Mark said indifferently. "What I want you two to do bring your friends and hide inside the toilet. It might be a little smelly in there but you should be able to hold on right?"


    Mark''s suggestion was rather unappealing but they also had no choice. He also made some modifications on the door using all the metal he could find around the house and reinforced it. Now, the toilet turned into a real panic room despite how pungent the bad odor inside was.


    Soon, it was almost midnight.


    Several shadows of people could be seen rushing down from the highway and a pair of head lights from a pickup truck could also be seen. When all the men on foot were on position, the vehicle drove down the dirt road in a rowdy manner. The vehicle stopped in front of the house.


    Around the house, there were more than fifty people. All of them were armed with assault rifles and shotguns. They were all ready to fire and were only waiting for the order of the man standing at the back of the pickup truck.


    Their faces were all ferocious and their bodies were itching for bloodshed.

 Chapter 226 [Slicer] And [Divider], The Night When The Outlaws Were Sliced, Divided And Diced

    <strong>Day 35 ¨C 11:43 PM ¨C Barangay Pocion I, Real, Quezon</strong>


    Mark sighed as he watched the shadows moving outside the house from the second floor bedroom. He was quite troubled as to why these ouws picked the attack to be close to midnight when these hounds did not even bother hiding their activities outside. Even if everyone inside the house was asleep, the noise these ouws made as they surrounded the house was enough to wake everyone up.


    It was unless these people were not aiming for a surprise attack but waited for more reinforcements. If that was the case, these guys were too cautious even though they were ouws.


    Since Mark did not rest at all and was waiting for these people, he was already rmed when he heard vehicle soundsing from the highway. After the apocalypsemenced, the noises of insects in the mountains during the night had already vanished and the only natural noise that could be heard was the rustling leaves of nts and trees every time the wind blew. That was why the sound of vehicle from the highway further away was totally audible to them who were inside the house.


    Karlene and Joash had already brought Tyson and na into the toilet. Luckily, the space inside was more than enough for four people since the toilet had allocated space for a pair of industrial drums being used as water container. The rusted drums had already been removed by Mark and that made the space inside the toiletrger.


    Mark opened the only wardrobe inside the bedroom and put his bag inside. He also made his treepanions hide inside since this battle was not something for them to partake. The wardrobe was ced at a blind spot from the windows so Mark was not afraid that it would get identally shot.


    Preparing for battle, Mark took off his jacket. He was wearing his armor underneath his jacket but since the front zipper was left open, the others could see his front armor. On his back however, no one had seen yet aside from Nicole and Hallie that helped him in designing it.


    On his back was not just a part of his armor. There was a sci-fi like shield. The shape was like a spade with three pointed protrusions above. The most eye-catching thing about the shield was that it had severalyers which were oveid by the topmostyer which was also the middle piece. Another thing was that there were several protrusions that did not seem to belong to a shield at all behind it.


    This weapon was one of Mark''s designed masterpieces even before the outbreak. He designed it along with hismissioned cosy props but never made into an actual item due to theplexity and time needed to make it. Not to mention that as it was intended to be made with metal, it also needed some cksmithing methods to make. That was why this weapon only stayed in Mark''s mind but he never ever forgot about it. After all, he made this design in inspiration from the [Fusion Sword] and [Kogan Anki].


    The shield on his back was actuallyposed of seven different weapons and each weapon had at least three forms. Furthermore, he modified the design he had before into something that would also work with his [Blood Whips] and added another form to the weapons.


    How long did he manage to finish the design? It was about a whole year due to the fact that he spent more time ying games and working at home. Now that he had his [Blood Metal], he was finally able to materialize the item.


    He called the weapon set with the name [Darkness Shade].


    Mark raised his folded arms over his shoulders and pushed theyer of the shield that he could touch. Several clicking sounds were heard and two sword handles sprang from the back of the shield. He immediately grabbed the handles and with a twist, the handles and the des were pulled off from the sheath within the shield.


    "This two is fine for those guys outside, I think."


    The pair of des was two of the seven weapons in [Darkness Shade]. The right one was called [Slicer] and the left was called [Divider]. The current appearance of the des was rather odd. The des were as wide and as short as a cleaver but the handle was made straight in the middle of the des indicating that it was more like a wide shaped dagger than a cleaver. Another thing was that the de looked like it was divided into eight smaller sections.


    However, it was just the first form of the two des. For the second and the real form of the two des, Mark whipped the two des splitting the air at the same time.


    CLANG! CLANG! CLANG!


    Three nging sounds echoed from each de that was now almost a meter long and was now just three fingers wide. The whole de was divided into four major segments while each major segment was also divided into eight minor segments. On the handle, a hole could be seen and that hole extended not only through the handle but also through the des.


    In each hand, Mark conjured a [Blood Whip] which entered the holes. The segments then detached from one another. The two des were not just des anymore but turned into almost two-meter ded whips that could move on Mark''smand.


    Mark was ready to attack and so as the ouws outside. Even though it was dark, Mark could tell that each of them was itching for bloodshed. Unfortunately, it was their blood that would be spilled tonight.


    He would do the preemptive attack since he would not let them rain bullets into the house. Although everyone inside the house was hiding except him, he would not take chances. Even the miniscule chance that a bullet bounced somewhere and hit what it should could still happen.


    Mark vanished from the room in a puff of ck mist. The darkness of the night hid the mist that moved over the ranks of the ouws andnded right behind them.


    The man on the back of the pickup truck was about to shout and signal the attack but he was not able to as he heard themotion among his men. When he was about to question what was happening, he heard a shout.


    "Enemy attack! Enemy attack!"


    The ouws nearby the guy that shouted came to their aid but they did not see anything, not even the person that shouted. The night was dark and they could not see their surroundings clearly as their only source of light in hand were torches but they could smell the pungent odor of blood. One of them who held a torch crouched and lit up the ground. All of them around could not help but step back at what they saw.<sub> </sub>


    There were several bodies of theirrades. All of them were dead with their heads, torsos and limbs scattered everywhere. They were not even sure whether they would be able to identify which body part was whose.


    "AHHH!!! Enemy at-!!!"


    Another shout came from a different direction but the words that were about to be said was not even finished and was cut off. Those who responded to the shout also saw the same scene of theirrades being chopped to pieces.


    Those who witnessed the scene could not help but feel fear creep up to their bodies. They came here to avenge theirrades that were killed and ughter the perpetrators and not for them to be the ones to be ughtered. Furthermore, they were really being ughtered in a literal manner, chopped to pieces. Not to mention that none of them knew what was happening, it was as if they were being attacked by a ghost.


    While the ouws started to panic, Mark who had just killed nine ouws in session had already turned into mist that was waving across the ground. He was doing this not only to attack in different ces but because he was also looking for the person that was spying on him twice today. If he could get rid of that person, he would be able to at least, stop the ouws from tracking him.


    His first attack was on the western side and the second was on the northern side. Now, Mark appeared on the southern side. The moment he appeared, he had already shot the two whip des forward and whip des coiled on the unlucky ouw''s neck and limbs. With a sudden strong pull, the limbs and head of the ouw separated from his torso. Everything fell on the ground sttering blood everywhere.


    He then waved his whip des in two different directions which dismembered the lower limbs and decapitated the necks of the two ouws that was about to turn around after hearing the sounds behind them. Before the other ouws were able to see Mark, he had already disappeared and was again aiming for the western side where the orchard was located.


    However this time, someone jumped unto Mark the moment he appeared. A huge machete was hacking towards him. Mark''s body then blurred and the machete phased through his body and hit the ground leaving a deep dent on the soil.


    The attacker was obviously taken aback and he even let go of his machete before he leaped backwards. He started to fumble around and pull up his assault rifle.


    Mark turned at the attacker. Since it was dark, he could only see the silhouette of a burly man but the most noticeable was the red glowing eyes of the man. Those eyes reminded Mark of animals that could see in the dark. No wonder this man managed to notice him and find his trail. Unfortunately, this man was surely not the one he was looking for.


    Still, this person was going to be troublesome and needed to be dealt with first. The other ouws that were looking for the attacker were alsoing.


    Mark leaped back and behind the trunk of a fruit tree before he vanished into mist. His disappearance made the ouw with night vision perplexed and he hurriedly aimed his assault rifle anywhere he was able to here rustling sounds.


    "Be careful! The enemy is around!"


    He shouted to hisrades that were around the orchard making them all vignt on their surroundings.


    They did not notice however that there was a misty shadow moving over the trees ready to dive down towards them.


    Mark straightened his whip des and ced the backsides of the des side by side. He was going for the fourth form of [Slicer] and [Divider], the [Fourth Form- Fusion: Dicer].


    After a few inaudible soundsing from the des, he pulled the whip des apart revealing a of sharp metal thread.


    With a puff of mist, he dived down and smashed both whip des downward letting the almost invisible between the des envelop the ouw. The ouw noticed the two whip des going down but he was confused as to why the two des were ways off from him. It was until the two whip des smashed on the ground that he noticed that his sight started to tilt in different directions.


    Mark then pulled the [Slicer] up and waved the two whip des towards opposite direction inwards. Before the body of ouw with night vision fell on the ground, his body was already diced into bloody pieces like what the name of the form of Mark''s weapon had.


    Without wasting time, the retracted and the two whip des fused once more. Mark pulled the two handle backwards and folded it in a split second. [Sixth Form-Fusion: Bastard Whip de], the two des docked together into one sword with cleaver wide double edged whip de.


    Mark dashed towards the other ouws and spun his body causing the huge whip de to follow suit. Before the ouws could fire their guns, their waists had already been cleanly sliced off. Six bodies fell with their upper and lower bodies separated spilling their organs and blood on the ground.


    Neen had already fallen and it was just the start. Unfortunately for the ouws, they behaved what Mark wanted to when he attacked several ces in session. Before, they surrounded the house and were ced around the house side by side which was the reason Mark was only able to pick a few to killin his previous attacks. After his attacks however, the ouws left their positions and grouped up on several ces to look for him. Their actions made it easier for him to hunt them down.


    Mark smiled with a satisfied expression. With another puff, he vanished into ck mist. The wavy trail he left behind moved towards the next group of prey.


    The ouws were used to hunting other people. This time however, it was the opposite.

 Chapter 227 [Defier], The Shield That Was Made To Attack

    <strong>Day 35 ¨C 11:54 PM ¨C Barangay Pocion I, Real, Quezon</strong>


    The man standing on the back of the pickup truck had his face filled with impatience. He was already crossing his arms in front of his chest and he was tapping the floor of the truck bed with his foot in a fast rhythm. There were ten ouws circled around the pickup truck and protecting their leader. These ouws looked better looking than the others and they exude a different aura indicating that they were elites. Still, these guys could not help but feel the impatience of their leader.


    They came here to take revenge on his men that died, especially his higher henchmen, Fang and EagleEye. Even among their whole organization, those two were rare talents especially EagleEye who was a professional sniper. He was irreceable due to the fact that very urate snipers needed years to train even with Evolvers and Mutators that gained sight abilities.


    EagleEye was strong enough to be able to shoot the wheels of a speeding vehicle in one shot and in terms of sniping ability, he could even contend with the best snipers in the military of this country.


    Fang on the other hand was also irreceable. It was because he was one of those who were called [Full Body Mutators]. This information had already circted nowadays after being disclosed by the military. Many mutations and abilities sprung upon Mutators. Some of them were simr abilities while some were unique but the most unique ones were those who were able to transform their whole bodies.


    Those valuable henchmen of his however were killed today which made him furious. Normally, they would capture their victims but now, they were only here to kill.


    Yet¡­


    They were not even able to start the attack when their ranks had been broken by an attack that who knew where it came from. The worst part was that none of him men was able to see the figure of the enemy at all even though the enemy managed to kill several people already.


    "Boss Drake!"


    Three ouws came running from the direction of the house and called unto the man on the back of the pickup truck. The torches they were holding were already enough to light up the grave expressions on their faces.


    "What''s the situation?"


    Drake asked as calmly as possible to exercise his position as his leader that would not loseposure but the impatience was still present in his voice.


    "Boss, we already separated into groups but we could not find even the shadow of the enemy." The ouw that led the three reported. "We think, night eye saw the enemy. But¡­"


    "Where is NightEye now?"


    Drake asked in a stern voice. NightEye was also one of their precious assets as he was not only able to see clearly in the dark but he was also physically strong. However, his men in front of him cutting his sentence gave him a grave premonition.


    "Boss, NightEye and our men with him are all dead. By this time, we already lost twenty-three men."


    "DAMN IT!"


    Drake roared which made his men around him flinch. He was not the boss for nothing. Among these ouws here, he was the strongest despite his lean build. However, he was not the strongest within their organization. He was just a division leader.


    "Wait, you said that you all separated into several groups, right?"


    The ouw boss took a deep breath and realized something.


    "Yes, Boss."


    "Sh*t! The enemy should be taking advantage of you all separating from each other to hunt them!"


    Drake then turned to the man to the side of the vehicle guarding him.


    "Liucer, go and make those idiotse back. Make them regroup here."


    "Yes, Boss."


    The man called Liucer replied and bolted off in a speed that was hard to see in the dark.


    Liucer, the ShadowFeet. That was his alias. He was a Mutator that specialized in assassination due to his noiseless movements and very light steps. In terms of physical speed, he was the fastest among these ouws. Even before the outbreak, Liucer was a notorious assassin for hire. There should be no problem for Liucer to just ry his orders.


    "Boss, why don''t you just call for retreat?"


    One of the three ouws asked. It was obvious that they were afraid. They had seen what happened to those who died and they did not want to have that kind of horrible death. However, he could not help but flinch when he received the re of his boss.


    Drake did not say anything but his displeasure towards his idiotic men was apparent. To call for retreat, they just needed to sound the horn of the pickup truck. That method however would surely alert even the enemies. It was what he least wanted to do.


    Soon, all the remaining men under him retreated around the pickup truck totally abandoning the attack on the house. Still, the remaining number of his men made Drake''s countenance turn several times darker. Right now, there were only twenty-one men left of those that encircled the house. Added his remaining men on guard around the pickup truck, they only had thirty-two people remaining out of all the sixty-seven people that came here.


    "Huh?" Drake noticed something. "Where''s Liucer?"


    ***<sub> </sub>


    Going around and attacking the smaller groups of ouws searching for him, Mark had already ughtered thirty-five people. All of them died in a gruesome manner where not one of them had their corpse left intact. From being bisected, dismembered and decapitated to being diced and sliced vertically, their bloody corpses littered the surroundings of the house.


    Actually, even though it was really not that much, but dismembering the ouws was an inefficient way of killing them. Mark understood that fact. However, he was not doing this brutal ways of killing just for style but for the mental impact it could bring to the minds of the ouws that witnessed the brutally killed corpses of their formerrades.


    It would affect them to the point of fear. They would be more and more on guard towards their surroundings until it reached the level of paranoia that they would react to almost anything in an uncanny way. These ouws might be hungry beasts lusting for blood but for them, their lives were still precious. To see theirrades in pieces was a nightmare that would make them think that "What if I''m next?"


    Still, the time to stealthily kill these ouws came to an end. Someone must have realized that they became easy pickings after they split up and they started to join back together and left towards where their boss was.


    Mark was about to seize thest chance to kill a few more but he was blocked by someone.


    The face of the person was hard to see not due to the darkness of the night but because he was wearing a facial mask. That aside, he was also wearing a whole set of ck clothes different from the other ouws that were wearing an assortment of barbaric clothing. The man was wielding two weapons, a silenced handgun on his left and a triple ded Hdie on his right. The Hdie was a strange looking dagger but it was a good weapon for assassination.


    "So, you''re the oneing after us huh?"


    The man said while looking at Mark with vignce.


    "Isn''t it the way around?" Mark said while pulling the de whips and caused the des to retract into a whole de once more. "You trashes are the ones who first came to kill us here if you don''t remember."


    The assassin frowned because of the way Mark spoke. He was a professional assassin trained in many fields. One of the things he specialized on was to determine the stance of the enemy in front of him through voice, gestures and expression. However, he had never ever encountered anyone that could give him such sense of emptiness. Still, he was also away that these kinds of people were the most dangerous. They would not get affected by their surroundings and they would not get affected by the killing they made.


    Most people, even normal ones, would get affected mentally after the killing they made. Some would lose their selves to bloodlust while others would deny what they had just done. In Mark''s case however, no matter how many he killed tonight, it was just to fulfill his goal and nothing else.


    "I want to ask something." Mark suddenly spoke. "The guy that found our location, did that guye with you here?"


    The assassin did not say anything but Mark found the answer from his gesture.


    "That guy is not here huh? I''ll just kill all of you then to lessen the troubles in the future."


    Mark said before he vanished in a puff of ck mist.


    The assassin was taken aback and stood on guard. He noticed some movements from above and quickly rolled to the side. On where he stood before, two square shaped desnded with Mark appearing from above.


    Liucer quickly aimed his handgun and made several shots but with a blur of Mark''s body, the bullets all phased through his body.


    Mark vanished once more and appeared to the side of Liucer and was already hacking the two swords to his side.


    CLANG! CLANG!


    Liucer warded off the attack by blocking and changing the direction of the des using his Hdie. With the two des changing its direction of attack, it should have been an opening. He charged towards Mark trying to stab him with the third de of his Hdie.


    At the time the Hdie was about to stab Mark, he suddenly turned his body around and let the Hdie hit the shield on his back.


    Liucer was already surprised that Mark had a shield on his back but he was even more stupefied when the centerpiece of the shield that was hit by the Hdie was pushed inwards.


    Hidden from Liucer, Mark let out a slight sinister smile. The shield of the [Darkness Shade] set, the [Defier]. It was named as such since this shield defied the true reason a shied was made which was to defend and protect. [Defier] however, had several forms that could attack and counter attack.


    The centerpiece of the [Defier] was not easily pushed in. Unless it was pushed heavily on purpose or received an attack from the enemy that it would be pushed in.


    With the center of [Defier] pushed inward, its second form was activated, [Defier Second Form: Counter Attack ¨C Hundred Needle Rain]. Severalyers of [Defier] around the centerpiece snapped open in an instant revealing a hundred needle sized holes.


    Liucer had a bad and dangerous feeling about this and tried to retract his de and retreat. Unfortunately, the mechanism of the [Defier] activates the moment it received an attack. Before Liucer was able to pull his hand back, a hundred needles shot off from the holes which the majority of the needles pierced through Liucer in different parts of his body including the eyes and skull.


    Dozens of needle sized holes could be seen on Liucer''s arm, face and torso and all of the holes were bleeding lightly. However, even though each wound looked small, the needles that pierced through his vital parts had already killed him. The assassin fell on the ground. Although his body was intact, his death was not any less painful.


    Mark picked up the handgun from Liucer''s hand. This was the first gun with a silencer he saw in the hands of the ouws. All of them had guns but for who knows what reason, none of them had silencers so far aside from this gun. That was also the reason Mark did not pick up the guns and use them since it would reveal his location through the noise.


    Clicking and snapping sounds was heard from Mark''s back as the [Defier] closed up and the centerpiece returned to its normal position. A hundred needles had already been shot and he still had two volleys of needles left. It had the same reloading mechanism to the crossbow but the space inside the shield was smaller and could only fit that amount of needles.


    Mark looked at the corpse of the assassin by his feet. This guy was a tough one. Fortunately, he had several things up in his sleeves or else, it would be hard to defeat this guy that had both ability and experience.


    Still, this guy died in his hands, no, his back. It was time to ughter the remaining people in the open. Unfortunately, the person that could end the trouble was not here for some reason. It should have been a good opportunity to end this troublesome matter.

 Chapter 228 The Losing Outlaws, Combining Three Weapons To Block Their Intended Retreat

    <strong>Day 36 ¨C 12:02 AM ¨C Barangay Pocion I, Real, Quezon</strong>


    A trail of ck mist waved through the air andnded on the roof of the house. Mark appeared while looking at the direction of the pickup truck that was now surrounded by the remaining ouws. For sure, they were all ready to confront him the moment he appeared. Unfortunately for them, not every ouw remaining were still in shape, both mentally and physically, to stay and fight. It would have been better for them to have retreated already but it looked like that the ego of their leader would not ept it.


    As preparation for the final fight, Mark controlled three [Blood Whips] and opened the locks that kept the [Defier] on ce at the back of his armor and brought the shield on his hands. At the back of the shield, the four remaining weapons were stored and could be seen clearly. Two of the weapons were a pair of gauntlets with different designs and shapes. One of thest two was a pole with a diamond shaped de that was attached at the middle of the back of the shield and the other was a foot long dagger.


    He removed the two gauntlets which he called [Defender], the left gauntlet, and [Attacker], the right gauntlet. The gauntlets even though made as a pair, was made differently for specific functions. [Defender] had a thicker body than [Attacker] and would not lose in terms of toughness and defensive ability to [Defier] except that it was smaller than the shield. This gauntlet also had the slot to attach [Defier] which increased its defensive ability several times more.


    The [Attacker] on the other hand was made lighter and was equipped with more attacking functions. Not to mention that it could perfectly dock on the bracer Mark was already wearing on his right arm where the needle crossbow and the needle case were attached.


    Mark fused the [Slicer] and [Divider] into a great sword with a rectangr shaped double-edged de and held it in his right hand while he raised the [Defier] on his left. If it were just the normal mobs, Mark would not prepare this way but there was no mistake for being cautious especially when he could sense the difference of some of the ouws that were close to the vehicle, not to mention the guy arrogantly standing at the back of the pickup truck.


    Even though it would surely be a frontal confrontation in the end, Mark would not just show himself in the open. Mark tapped the crossbow on his arm and let it transform into its attack form. He then aimed for the man on the pickup truck and went for the shot. That guy was surely the leader of this bunch and it would be over easier if the guy was to go down first. Still, he had no absolute expectations that the man would go down easily.


    As he thought, the man did not go down. He did not even dodge though it was obvious that he noticed the iing projectile despite the darkness of the night.


    TING!


    A metallic sound echoed as the needle Mark shot hit the man''s forehead. With the torches and the reflecting lighting from the vehicle, Mark could see that the man''s forehead was covered with reddish colored scales that blocked the needle and caused it to bounce away. The ouw leader turned towards the roof where the attack came from but he did not see anything as Mark had already vanished into a puff of mist. Not even seeing the attacker as he received the sneak attack made him more furious.


    ***


    "BOSS! Are you fine?"


    The elite ouw nearest to him saw what happened and hurriedly asked for his condition.


    "Freize, you think that''s enough to hurt me?" Drake red at the man called Freize with displeasure before he bellowed to all his men. "All of you! Peel your eyes open! The enemies are attacking!"


    Drake was totally displeased. Not to mention that Lieucer that he sent as a messenger did not return. For sure, that guy had been done in.


    "Yes Bo-GUAH!!!"


    His men had not even finished affirming his orders when their reply was cut short by a painful scream. One of the ouws at the outer part of the protective encirclement fell with a bloody needle sticking out of his right eye. However, he was not thest.


    "GAH!"


    "AHHH!!!"


    "GAHA!!"


    Several screams followed suit. The ouws, one after another, fell down either dead or wailing in pain. All of them had dart sized needles sticking out of their faces, foreheads or eyes.


    The ouws immediately searched for the attacker but the greatest problem they had was that the attacks wereing from different directions. Furthermore, they were in the open with nowhere to hide but they could not even see the shadow of their assant.


    "Ogre, how many enemies do we have?"


    Drake asked another elite ouw by the side of the pickup truck. This guy with a tall nose, tall height and finely shaped muscles was the most experienced here in terms ofbat due to him being an overseas mercenary. This person was in this country due to his contracted work but got caught in the middle of the outbreak. Through Drake''s influence and money, he was able to hire this man as his guard and join the organization under him.


    "There''s only one." Ogre replied with his deep voice. "It may look like several people since the attacks wereing from a different or opposite direction in an instant after the previous attack but each attack still had a short interval. If it was an attack from several people, there would be several attacks in the same moment but this is not the case. It could be either our enemy could move really fast or¡­ not human at all. Or maybe¡­"


    "What do you have in mind?" Drake asked while he suddenly waved his arm that was already covered in reddish scales deflecting another needleing for him.


    "Do you believe in superpowers?"


    Ogre sternly asked his employer.


    "Superpowers? Like those Kryptoman and Incredible Mutant have?"


    Drake asked in disbelief.


    "Not quite boss. What I''m saying are those with psychic abilities, Espers." Ogre replied. "I had heard a lot of rumors about them in my line of work and even encountered one before with the ability to manipte objects. These people are dangerous. If the enemy right before us is the same, it''s better if you call for retreat now or we''ll be annihted here."


    "Can''t we fight them? It''s not like they are immortal."


    "We can fight them if we knew their powers. Given that we can''t even see the shadow of our enemy, what are we going to fight?"<sub> </sub>


    Drake felt being poured with water by what Ogre had just said. He let his anger get into his head that he let his men get obliterated one by one. Biting his lip that could not even bleed due to the reddish scale that automatically appeared to protect his skin from his own bite, he decided to call for retreat. However¡­


    "You seem to know a lot don''t you?"


    All of the ouws froze and all looked towards the source of the voice. Drake and Ogre was not an exception.


    Atop the roof of the pickup truck, just a step away from Drake, a man d in strange armor squatted. On his back was a strange shaped meter long sword while on his arms was a mini-sized crossbow and a shield that was just a little bit smaller than his torso.


    ***


    Mark was still waving around the ughter field as a ck mist when he heard the leader and one of his men talking about Espers. He could not help but stop to join them a little. Even though this guys were enemies, talks about Espers, not just the rumors, but talks about actual Espers were too rare to pass by.


    Well, it looked like they were only talking about reasons to retreat so Mark became disappointed. In any case, he would leave the burly man forst to get some information. That was if the man could survive the next attack.


    As everyone was taken aback, those who were already ovee by fear aimed at Mark and indiscriminately fired not minding that their boss was just a step away from him.


    RATATATATAT!!!


    Several dozens of bullets were fired at Mark.


    The situation was even dangerous to Drake that he also jumped off the pickup truck.


    The pickup truck was filled with holes and the windows were all sted into pieces. Luckily, no one was inside the vehicle or else, those people would have be a coteral death.


    The most unfortunate thing however, the remaining ouws surrounded the vehicle in all directions and the gunfire came in the same way. Aside from Drake and his elites that jumped back into safety, the ouws whose minds were already engulfed by fear ended up killing one another in that situation.


    And the worst thing¡­ None of the bullets hit their enemy at all as he had already vanished out of their sight.


    "WHAT THE F*CK ARE YOU IMBECILES DOING! YOU ALL F*CKING USELESS MAGGOTS!!!"


    Drake could not help but shout swear after swear on top of his lungs. However, there was no one to answer him anymore as all the response he heard were some painful wailing.


    Only Drake and his nine elites were left standing. Even though not all of the remaining other ouws died, all of them were injured lying on the ground and some were already dying after being hit on their vital areas.


    However, Mark was not giving them any breather anymore. He appeared to the furthest elite, a man who had a rather lean body. Obviously, this one was an agile kind of Mutator and his sword would not work on this guy.


    SHING!


    A metallic swiping sound was made when the [Attacker] on Mark''s hand changed its form. The semi-circr part under the gauntlet rotated forwards before locking in front of his fist revealing four ded ws. Mark swiped the ws towards the lean ouw''s neck.


    Unfortunately, the man had a good reflex. The ws hit his neck leaving four scratches but it was not deep as the man made his body fall backwards in thest second. The man rolled back ignoring the wound on his neck and jumped forwards in a decisive manner wanting to stab Mark with his dagger since the distance was too short for him to be able to aim his assault rifle.


    Mark smiled and let the dagger approach him while he stepped sideward lining the lean man and the other ouws behind him. He then pulled the [Defier] to block the attack. The centerpiece of the shield was pushed once more and the inneryers snapped open releasing another volley of a hundred needles.


    Not only the lean man was taken aback but also the other elites that was already on the way to help. The lean man was buffeted with holes and slumped down on the ground while the other needles flew straight towards his supposed reinforcements.


    Out of the remaining elites, three were directly buffeted with the needles and one of those three also died after several needles drilled holes on his face. The other two was less injured but they were bleeding on different parts of their bodies.


    There were supposed to be two more that were hit by their needles but one was able to move his hands too fast and caught the remaining needlesing unto him while the other totally ignored the needles that bounced off his gray colored skin akin to a rock.


    All these elites along with the boss were not only Mutators but were also veteran fighters. Even the lean man, if not for the surprise attack on his shield, he would not be so easy to take down.


    "Boss, it''s better if we retreat now."


    Mark heard the man called Ogre spoke to their boss which the boss could not help but nod.


    Of course, Mark would not let them. He vanished once more and blocked the path of retreat of the remaining ouws. He had already taken out the fused [Slicer] and [Divider] from his back and inserted the de of the one handed great sword on top of the [Defier]. He pulled the handle of the sword causing it to extend and be a two handed sword, he then drove the de further into the shield causing several clicking sounds.


    The [Defier] detached from the [Defender] gauntlet leaving a single tyer on it where thepartment of all the weapons was connected. The shield on the other hand was already attached to the de of great sword.


    With a huge wave of his sword, the whole de turned into a whip de while the shield released more clicking sounds as a ded outeryer extended at the edges of the shield. [Slicer-Divider-Defier: Fusion Form ¨C de Star], a long ranged il but its main function was not to smash but to utilize the other hidden weapons of the [Defier].

 Chapter 229 Wiped Out, The Ending Of The Outlaws Of Marikina-Infanta Highway

    <strong>Day 36 ¨C 12:09 AM ¨C Barangay Pocion I, Real, Quezon</strong>


    Mark wielded the odd looking weapon with both his hands. This was not the first time he used this weapons, all these weapons had been tested back before he left the base while doing a supply run alone. Still, he had not used these weapons in an all-out battle with other humans. This was why he took out weapon after weapon. After this battle, he would storm his brain for issues and work of modifying the [Darkness Shade] set further.


    Still, it was obvious that the veteran mercenary, Ogre, was taken aback and was confused as to why their enemy would use such an inconvenient to use weapon. The torso sized shield after being attached to the almost two-meter long whip de looked totally like an oversized il. In terms of pure power, this kind of weapon was strong but in terms of speed, convenience and effort needed to swing it, it lost to all other cold weapons he had seen before even abroad.


    On the other hand, Drake felt even more furious. He also realized the deficiency of such weapon but if felt like their enemy was underestimating them too much to use that odd and hard to use weapon.


    Mark also knew of those deficiencies and would not be able to actually use this as such. However, he had his own methods to eliminate such deficiencies.


    Holding the [de Star] behind him through his right side, Mark kicked forward his left foot that was on front of the other.


    PUFF!


    Mark vanished into the ck mist that sent the remaining ouws into extreme vignce. He then appeared in front of stone skinned man. The [de Star] was already on full swing. Using the eleration he could get from the subspace created from his ability, he swung the weapon inside the subspace and appeared at the moment the swing was about to finish.


    Without any chance to dodge and also due to his stone skin ability hindering his movements, the ouw was hit squarely on his waist by the edge of the shield. The stone skin ability of the ouw prevented his body from being bisected by the des at the edge of the shield but the impact of the hit obviously churned his organs.


    Despite the looks of the [Defier], its actual weight was around six kilos even without the other weapons. It was all due to the mechanisms in the shield that it umted that much weight in its small looking body.


    The ouw''s body was hit straight with a lump of metal that heavy at the speed of a racecar. The ouw slumped on his knees and started to vomit all what he had eaten earlier together with clumps of thick blood.


    "Big Brother!"


    The man with fast hands immediately came to rescue the stone skinned man. However, the shield already appeared in front of him making him jump back by reflex. He managed to dodge the attack and the shield swung past by his side. At the moment he jumped back, two of the other elites rushed forwards taking advantage that the shield had already been swung away.


    With the shield and the whip de at the center, the fast handed ouw together with the other two ran along the sides of the whip de as they aimed for Mark.


    At that moment, Mark suddenly twisted the whip de and pulled it back mid swing. The swing of the shield stopped midair but it would not easilyeback even if pulled that way and that reason bolstered the courage of the three to hasten their charge. Still, they underestimated the shield that they ran past through.


    The whip de retracted causing several clicking sounds inside the [Defier]. Before the three ouws charging at Mark could know what happened, they lost the feelings of their bodies and fell down on the ground at the same time. Not only them fell but another elite ouw that was about to follow the attack of the three. Behind them, shield had already lost the des on its edge. As for the des, some of them were embedded on the ground while some were embedded on the bodies of the ouws that had just fallen down.


    The moment Mark pulled back the whip de, the mechanism of the shield tounch the des on its edge activated which hit the bodies of the ouws without them knowing. Then, Mark pulled the shield back to him and also caused des to return to the shield. Each of the des had two almost invisible metallic tread attached to them and the shield. The mechanism was like a grappling hook and the hook this time which were the des would be pulled back to theuncher due to the threads.


    "DIE!!!"


    Drake shouted as he bolted off towards Mark before he was able to fully retrieve his weapon.


    There were only three of them left. If he, the boss, still did not make his move, they would surely be annihted here without a fight. Who knows how a dangerous monster appeared here and his men had gotten into conflict with this monster but it was already toote to retreat. If there was someone to me, it was that Observer that did not give them urate information about the enemy.


    Not only that he did not manage to get revenge, he was even at the risk of dying right now.


    As he charged towards Mark, Drake''s body grewrger and became covered with reddish scales, his eyes turned golden in color and his pupils became slits like a snake. His tongue elongated and split into two and red scaly wings burst forth from his back. His nails turned into ws and the temperature of his throat became higher and higher that when he opened his mouth, it had a sort of glow. From his running stance, he started to glide towards Mark in a very fast manner.


    Living up to his name, Drake, his ability was [Dragonification]. He turned into half-man and half-dragon in almost an instant.


    Drake tried to punch Mark with his right fist but Mark had already vanished once more. Without the target, his punch swept through Mark''s previous position down to the ground. His red scaled fist hit the ground a creating a loud boom with a half-foot deep and a foot wide crater left on the ground.


    Mark was a bit surprised to the ouw leader''s transformation. He was not just some [Lizardman] like Chameleon but an actual [Dragonewt]. Still, the stronger the enemy, the faster he needed to deal with him. Not to mention that this guy had wings and could escape by flying. After his weapon was retrieved inside the subspace, he appeared once more but further away from Drake in his [Dragonewt] form.


    This time that Mark appeared, his weapon had a different form once more. The whip des retracted to its original shape while the [Defier] was not on the tip of the de anymore but actually just above the handle of the sword. The de was pierced through the shield where the shield looked more like an overlyrge hand guard.


    Before Drake managed to see his figure, Mark pulled the sword to the back of his neck and did a very wide and every strong wave of his sword. As he waved the sword, the shield shifted positions from the guard of the sword to the tip. The moment he stopped the sh midair in front of him, a whirling sound was already presenting from the [Defier] it then detached and flew forwards Drake. As it detached and flew forwards, it started to spin horizontally and the speed of the shield''s spin started to pick up.


    Midway, the shield released another plethora of clicking sounds as it all released its des along with the almost invisible threads. The des and threads followed the momentum of the spin and started to create a top like effect as it spun on the air.<sub> </sub>


    By the time that the shield connected with Drake''s body, the shield was already spinning as fast as a chainsaw. The impact and the speed of the spin caused arge opening on the scales of Drake''s side despite how his scales should have been able to block bullets. Following the pain, Drake felt constricted and was not able to move. His body fell down from being out of bnce. When he realized that he fell, he sawyers uponyers of thread and des tying up his body. He tried to move but he ended up letting the des and sharp thread to slice up his scales.


    Mark was surprised as to how sturdy Drake''s scales were and how these scales saved Drake from turning into grinded meat. Still, he was caught by the threads and was for sure, not going to live through the night.


    The moment Mark caught Drake, he heard a sighing from the side. He turned his head and saw Ogre already snapping the neck of the remaining ouw. Ogre then turned to Mark, his stern but helpless face was apparent. It was as if he was going to deal with a troublesome matterter on.


    "What''s your agenda for that?"


    Mark paused and asked Ogre while pointing at the ouw with a broken neck lying on the ground. Since the start, even though Ogre was emitting a dangerous feeling on him, he never took a hostile stance against Mark. In fact, this whole time, all he did was advice Drake to retreat.


    Ogre did not reply but took out a card, then a handkerchief and wiped his face. After wiping his face, his countenance changed. His burly and tall body was still the same but he had a younger looking Caucasian face about just two or three years older than Mark.


    He approached Mark and handed the card without any hostility and even in a friendly manner. Mark took the card with a calm face. If it was just a farce, he could just disappear in a puff of smoke.


    The card was an ID of a US soldier.


    "I''m Jones Galley. I''m a mercenary but I''m always working for the US military that they gave me that identification."


    Jones extended his hand for a handshake but of course, there was no way Mark would extend his. The guy that had just introduced himself as a US mercenary could not help but awkwardly retract his hand.


    "OGRE! YOU TRAITOR!"


    Drake shouted with difficulty since the threads around his mouth and jaw would cut his scales and lips.


    To that shout, Jones just sneered.


    "I''m not with you people since the start. You had to use your connections to hire me but that is within the plot. I''ve been sent to a mission to monitor you people from the Death Coast Settlement and I have been sending reports regrly to the Port of Real Military settlement. Actually, this time, I''m instructed to dy you people. The soldiers will being soon after all. I received that a group of four was missing and you criminals were the suspect. And then, you organized this operation which coincides with the details about the missing group. How do you think that your operation got too dyed up to thiste? Remember how I insisted that the ten trusted men of yours to stay behind and let theckeys do the job?"


    Drake''s eyes turned wide to the realization that came into him. The ouw leader coughed up blood due to his anger and fainted.


    Jones then turned at Mark.


    "Still, I don''t expect to find someone as strong as you here. Is that missing group under your care? If that is the case, then thank you. Your country''s military assets are sorelycking. Even the current manpower was too weak that they every group they could ask for assistance was too precious. Also, what are those weapons you are using? Are those made by you? How are they working?"


    "Can I have a question?"


    Mark interjected with a frown.


    "What is it?"


    "Can you shut up?"


    Mark then walked towards Drake. In a swift movement of his arm, the unconscious ouw was beheaded.


    "Hey! What are you doing?!"


    Mark ignored the shouting of the self-proimed mercenary. He still did not totally believe him but ording to what Jones said, the military would being soon. If that happened, then, he was speaking the truth.


    One by one, Mark beheaded the corpses of the elite ouws after he retrieved the [Defier]. He then left the vicinity carrying nine, tied up heads under the bbergasted gaze of Jones.


    Five minutes or soter, military vehicles arrived and stopped near the highway. The iing soldiers were received and guided by Jones.

 Chapter 230 Another Reason, An Unexpected Encounter On A Poor [BloodChild] Near The River

    <strong>Day 36 ¨C 12:20 AM ¨C Barangay Pocion I, Real, Quezon</strong>


    Like what Jones had stated before, the military had appeared. As usual, the authorities camete though. It had been the clich¨¦ of the military and police both in written literature and real life.


    At this time, Karlene and Joash had gotten out of the smelly toilet and the two unconscious teammates of them were brought out on stretchers the soldiers had. As the soldiers escorted away their target group, they used shlights to light up the way but they were trying too hard not to move the light outside of the path they needed to take outside the house.


    Mark had already finished with his business with the heads of the ouws. He retrieved their abilities at the same time at the second floor of the house. Jones surely saw the blinding lighting from the second floor but even if the soldiers asked, he had no reason to exin.


    This time, Mark watched the whole process the military dealt with the aftermath of his battle with the ouws while sitting on the roof of the house. Amihan sat on his shoulder as she looked at the soldiers below with interest. Even Mark found it funny that the military brought handheld searchlights and used it to light the area initially but the soldiers stopped using those lights when they saw the vicinity of the house.


    The soldiers that were used to fighting and killing especially the infected this past month, could not even stomach the scene where the bodies of the ouws were brutally mangled and killed in a gruesomely inhumane way. Mark even saw a few that ran away and vomited the moment they lit up their searchlights around the house.


    "Dad!"


    Mark suddenly heard Karlene''s voice and could not help but turn towards her direction.


    There, at the clearing of the dirt path north of the house, Mark saw Karlene hug a man in his forty''s wearing a military uniform. Looking at the patched symbol on his shoulder, the man should a major in the military. No wonder the military would dispatch their soldiers for a private group. One of the members was actually a major''s daughter.


    "Well, it''s none of my business really."


    Mark muttered andid his back on the roof. Since the military was here, he had already bagged his weapons. He wanted to rest and it would be inconvenient if the heavy weapons were still on his body. His fight for tonight was already over and everything else had nothing to do with him¡­ Or it should have been¡­


    "Mr. Mark!"


    His back had not even able toy t on the roof when Karlene who knows how she knew where Mark was called unto him.


    "Please, go down from there! I''ll introduce my father!"


    With Karlene''s enthusiasm, Mark could not help but hesitate. Because of her tone and way of speaking, rather than introducing their savior to her father, it felt more like she was introducing her boyfriend.


    "Should I go down there Amihan?"


    Mark turned his head to his left and looked at Amihan who was sitting on his backpack and stretching her body while yawning.


    "Why are you asking me, My Lord? Well, isn''t it better if you go down there? You said before that you need something from those soldiers, right?"


    Amihan replied which made Mark sigh and nod. It was then that Amihan added a few more unnecessary words.


    "Let''s go down! If something happens, I''m right on your shoulder! You can rely on me!"


    Mark only looked at her with his eyes half closed. As if he could rely on what she was saying. He then pulled the backpack so suddenly that Amihan fell from it before he jumped off the roof.


    "What is that for?!"


    Afternding on the yard, Amihan alsonded on his shoulder painfully caressing her bottom.


    "Mr. Mark, this is my father."


    Karlene said while pointing at the major.


    "Major Alfonso Bautista."


    Karlene''s father introduced himself with a salute and extended his right hand towards Mark.


    Mark sighed. This gesture again¡­ He was about to reluctantly ept the gesture when his hand was pulled forward and was sped by the Major''s hand. Mark turned his head to the culprit who was obviously Karlene.


    "You can''t leave my Dad awkwardly hanging, can you?


    Ignoring Karlene who was rather behaving spoiled, he looked at the face of the Major who had his eyebrows twitching as he looked at Karlene.


    With a sigh, Major Alfonso spoke.


    "Sorry about my daughter''s behavior. I heard the circumstances, thank you for saving my daughter and her friends."


    "You don''t have to thank me. They''re just lucky that I needed some information. That''s all."


    "No, even if that''s the case, you still save them, so, you still have my gratitude. If you needed something, I''ll try to help if possible."


    Hearing that, Mark''s eyes lit up.


    "Actually, I needed something."


    "What is it?"


    Major Alfonso asked while taken aback. He did not expect that Mark would want something immediately.


    "You soldiers have a way tomunicate with other military settlements, right? I wonder if you can help me contact Bay City."


    "Bay City? That''s pretty far isn''t it? Fortunately, if that''s all, I can allow you to use ourmunication line once we return at the settlement."


    Mark became confused this time.


    "Don''t you soldiers use that Satellite Phone?"<sub> </sub>


    "You even know about that?"


    "I do. General Perez in Bay City, his daughter gave me one before but it''s with my group in Bay City."


    This time, not only Major Alfonso but also Karlene was taken aback. Mark had his group back in Bay City which was at the west while he was on the totally opposite side of the country. The father and daughter could not help but wonder what happened.


    "The satellite connection stopped working a week ago. Right now, we are using a specialized transceiver connection to keep onmunicating to other military settlements. The transceiver is nowherepact and can only be used in the settlement."


    "Is that so? Alright."


    This time, Mark felt a little down. He thought that he would be able tomunicate with Mei and the others already but he still had to wait some more.


    Mark felt a tiny hand caressing his face. It looked like Amihan perceived the slight change in his thoughts.


    The father and daughter could not help but look at the little fairy on Mark''s shoulder. This was the first time they were able to see a creature like this up close in their whole life.


    "Mark, that fairy."


    Major Alfoso could not help but voice. Mark only raised his head straight and replied.


    "A closepanion."


    The conversation did not take long and the father and daughter did not ask any more about Amihan as Mark tried to shut down the topic.


    Soon, the cleanup was done although the cleanup only applied to the bodies of the Mutators that would be taken tob studies. They even took the heads Mark abandoned at the second floor of the house. Unexpectedly, no one questioned him for his gruesome way of killing the ouws which made him confused. While he was thinking of the reason, Jones came around and started pestering him once more.


    Mark did not have many interactions with foreigners even before the outbreak but he was sure that not all Americans were as annoying as Jones. It even made him question the authenticity of his proimed line of work as he more visualized mercenaries as stern people. Jones on the other hand behaved like your typical overly friendly neighborhood guy. For Mark, his work attitude during then fight as Ogre was more suitable as he did not talk too much like this time.


    The military convoy left as early as possible due to many factors. It was already toote in the evening, the smell of blood in the area might attract strong evolved animals and Tyson was in dire need of medical care.


    While everyone rode on their armored vehicles, Mark took a K-Ninja ck motorcycle from the vehicles of the ouws and rode it. One of the reasons why he did so was to get away from Jones while the other was because he was not a soldier. Riding inside a military vehicle when you were not a soldier made him feel more like he was being escorted somewhere than actually apanying them.


    Besides, he enjoyed the cold breeze while driving outside more than the cold by damp air from the air conditioner inside their vehicles. Furthermore, the insides of Military vehicles smelled more like metal and dusty which was not good for Amihan.


    The convoy moved through the highway in the middle of the night, though it was the middle of the night, it was more like almost dawn already.


    Fifteen minutes after they left the area of battle, Mark suddenly felt a jolt in his blood and mind. Even Oracle and Crimson inside his backpack felt that jolt. He looked to the left of the highway and saw that the Agos River was running side by side the highway in this area.


    Without further ado, he stopped his vehicle at the side of the road and jumped off from the highway. Amihan was also surprised to his sudden action and held tightly on his face as Mark vanished together with her in a puff of ck mist.


    Oracle and Crimson was feeling restless. It was as if they were receiving a distress signal from somewhere.


    Hurrying, Mark found the source of the tugging feeling. There was a stray [Blood Child] in this area and was about to be squashed by a monkey holding arge log.


    Mark did not need to do anything as Mark''s sudden appearance shocked the monkey to the bone. It ran away while releasing the contents of its dder in fear.


    Approaching the slow-moving and weakened [Blood Child], Mark felt even more surprised. For sure, it was a wild [Blood Child] but it rather than the clear reddish blood color, it had a greenish-violet color which somehow told Mark that it was poisonous.


    Mark injected his blood first and it was delightfully received. The color of the wild [Blood Child] became darker and the violet color was eliminated as it turned into more of a greenish dark red color. Unlike the trained [Blood Children] under Mark, this one obviously could only drag its body to move which made it look even more pitiful.


    He picked up the new addition to his loyal entourage with great care. The number of the [Blood Children] was already low in the first ce and finding one here unexpectedly was a great thing itself. Still, Mark could not help but wonder how it was able to live this long and turn into a different color.


    The little critter was still weak and was rather a shy one but it was really happy that it was not alone anymore and was clinging on Mark''s arm like glue.


    While Mark was appeasing the new child he immediately decided to name as Ivy which meant both green and poisonous, several shadows came down the slope from the highway to his position.


    "Another one?"


    Mark heard Karlene''s voice who was unexpectedly leading the group. Behind her was Jones who had some sort of unexpected shock on his face when he saw Mark holding Ivy. He turned to Karlene as he heard her question.


    "You said, another one?"


    "Uhm, yes. I saw him earlier. He had two more with different colors."


    Hearing that, Jones approached Mark which made thetter frown. Jones suddenly approaching caused Ivy in his hands to flinch.


    "What do you want now?"


    Mark said in displeasure.


    "Do you know what these are?"


    Hearing Jones'' question, Mark stared at him waiting for him to borate further.


    "A lot of these slimes had been washed downstream. Though it stopped several days ago and most slimes appear to be dead, there were quite a few that were caught alive by the people in Death Valley Settlement thinking that they are some sort of new creatures and were kept as pets."


    Mark frowned hearing that. Since the crime district was in Barangay Pamplona, he knew that Agos River passed by that Barangay before the river connected to the ocean. He did not expect though that there were [Blood Children] that made it there alive.


    In any case, due to his blood connection to these poor souls, he felt that these [Blood Children] were his kin. Not to mention the innocent affection they gave after he retrieved them which were not faked.


    Jones had just given him another reason to visit that dangerous settlement brimming with criminals.

 Chapter 234 Entering The Lab, Karlenes Story And A Sudden Burst Of Desire

    <strong>Day 36 ¨C 6:01 AM ¨C Port of Real Settlement, Barangay Ungos, Real, Quezon</strong>


    It was very early in the morning and the sun had barely left the horizon but the military section in the Port of Real Settlement was already bustling with activity. With Karlene losing sanity and breaking out of theboratory once more during in the middle of herboratory examinations, the rm was sounded and the soldiers were gathered to catch her.


    This was not the first time it happened. The current situation had been repeatedly happening since two weeks after the outbreakmenced and this was the third time it happened just this recent week. Every time this happened, there would be people injured and precious property damaged. It was the worst during the first time where two scientists and a dozen soldiers were severely injured and the outer wall separating the settlement from the maind was broken by her.


    However, even if the damage was done by her, she should not be killed due to her being the daughter of a Major and a very important subject of research.


    The current situation in the Port right now however was unprecedented. An unfamiliar person stopped Karlene in her mindless rampage and was obviously tamed by him. She was crying like a child on his embrace even though it more looked like a demon possessed woman was being appeased by this man.


    "Mark¡­ What? How?"


    It was not only the soldiers in the area were in a stupor but even the father of the woman in question. He could not even think of what to say or ask correctly in this situation.


    While everyone was watching the strange and surprising scene, a group of scientists came out of theboratory and a minuteter, several vehicles came into the area. After the people from the vehicle alighted, everyone around saluted to the man in a formal military uniform that came out of the vehicle.


    "General!"


    The soldiers around the vehicles shouted with their salute.


    "What is the situation? Why is everything quiet? Don''t tell me that Karlene managed to escape?"


    The General asked with a frown. After all, they received the report of Karlene breaking out of theboratory once more but what he saw here was his soldiers standing nkly around something.


    "Sir! It is not what you think."


    The soldier the general asked replied in a panic.


    "General, look there first. That man is really something isn''t he?"


    Jones tapped the General''s shoulder and pointed at a certain direction. The general had a height of an average Filipino so his view was obstructed by most of the soldiers but Jones being a foreigner had a taller height. He could see more from their position.


    The General and his entourage waved through the encirclement of the soldiers and onlookers and saw the situation. Of course, he was also surprised to see Mark who was one of the subjects of their adjourned meeting and Karlene who was in her berserk state on his embrace.


    "General!" A scientist in his whiteb coat stained with a bit of blood approached the General Faustino. "Who is that person? I don''t think I saw him here before?"


    "That person¡­" General Faustino massaged the bridge of his nose once more. It should have been several times already just in the span of this morning. "Let''s talk about himter. Do you know what is happening, Professor Suzuki?"


    "That''s the HUGE question here general!" Professor Suzuki answered with an exaggerated action of his arms. "No one knows what is happening. I already asked the soldiers that were here to catch Karlene. Their answers were clear but none exactly exins it. We can only ask that man there. Look, even Alfonso is at a loss."


    "This is not the ce to talk. Her examinations today are not over yet, right?"


    "That is the case General."


    "Alright." General Faustino then turned to Jones and Captain Garcia that came with him. "Jones, invite Mark to theb. Since it looks like she had control over Karlene, we should ask him for cooperation. Garcia, do the clean up here. If needed, give the injured some of the medicine."


    "Yes Boss.""Yes Sir!"


    Jones replied with ax andzy manner while Captain Garcia promptly replied.


    With the general''s order, everyone started to disperse while Jones approached Joash and Major Bautista who was in front of Mark and Karlene. It looked like there was also a situation between the four since Karlene was hiding behind Mark like a scared child from her concerned father and friend. Just who was Karlene''s real family here and friends here?


    ***


    Being invited to meet with the General and get a tour of the Military Laboratory, Mark really had no reason to refuse. Rather, it was one of the things he wanted to do the most this time.


    At the entrance of theboratory building, Mark was met with an old man wearing his formal military uniform who was unnecessarily surrounded by armed soldiers and a number of white coated scientists. Since the old man''s insignia was open for him to see, Mark knew that he should be the general in charge of this settlement.


    "I''m Zackaria Faustino, the Officer-in-Charge of this settlement. Mark, right? I heard a lot about you."<sub> </sub>


    General Faustino extended his right hand for a handshake which obviously made Mark troubled. Not only that he hated this custom due to various reasons, he was also holding "Karlene''s" hand right now. Since this "Karlene" was afraid of everyone and obviously did not want to enter theboratory, Mark had to hold her hand to make her feel secure. Once he did so however, her hand was mped on his and did not want to let go. She even retracted the w shaped armors on her fingers so she would not hurt Mark''s hand. More than that, she was even stronger than Mark physically. Just pulling his hand away would be impossible.


    Seeing the situation, the people around had strange expressions on their faces. On the other hand, the general read the situation and retracted his right hand and extended the other.


    Without any other choice, Mark epted the handshake and asked.


    "What do you mean by hearing a lot about me?"


    The General nodded in understanding and replied.


    "Let''s talk as we enter theboratory."


    With the general in the lead and Mark and Karlene walking beside him, they entered the building while being surrounded by the soldiers. Of course, these soldiers was not only here to escort them. Mark could tell that they were on guard against him. Among the people, Jones and Joash were also present. It seemed that the status of Joash was also not low within this settlement.


    Mark thought that they would need to wear some protective suits as they entered theboratory but it did not seem to be the case. As long as they only stayed within the main corridors and some specific areas, it was fine with their current attire. They only needed to wear protective suits andb gears when entering testing and experimentation areas specially the ones that handles gic samples and chemicals.


    About Mark''s question, the general answered it. He was surprised that Bay City actually sent out a notice to every settlement to have an eye to look out for him.


    Inside theboratory, rooms after rooms separated the parts of the building. The outer windows had been sealed while the interior of the rooms could be seen through a window from essible in the hallway.


    On the first floor, theboratory handled the evolved and strange animals they captured in the wild and at the sea. These animals appeared after the outbreak. Some animals looked like a mutated variant of animals before the outbreak while some were totally new species. This reminded Mark of the wolf like fox Nicole brought back as her pet.


    "By the way. What happened to her?"


    Mark took the opportunity to ask about Karlene.


    Hearing the question, General Faustino turned his head first towards Major Bautista. Seeing that thetter nodded in consent, the general narrated Karlene''s circumstances and introduced the professor and head scientist in theb, Masaki Suzuki in the process.


    It all started with the fact that the soldiers that established this settlement came from Metro Man and not from any closer areas. They were only designated in this area after the emergency measures were taken.


    Back in Metro Man, Major Bautista lost his wife and son, Karlene''s mother and older brother, in the initial burst of the outbreak. It was because their home was near one of the ground zeros. Even with that fact, the poor major still proceeded to perform his duties.


    Fortunately, Karlene was out of the city that time and was around here in Quezon to shoot a drama series. Yes, unexpectedly, Karlene was a popr rising actress. Mark had no idea at all since he was more interested in Japanese actors and actresses than local ones. The TV in his home was not even used for more than two years before the outbreak.


    In order to find Karlene, Major Bautista requested to be designated in this settlement which was approved with the help of General Faustino and Professor Suzuki who was actually a close friend of the Major. Luckily, he found Karlene safe and sound. Although she was found stranded and surrounded by the infected, the military made it before it waste.


    Unexpectedly, four people among the drama crew became Evolvers on the first few days of the outbreak and they were Karlene and her three friends which were also actors and actresses in the drama crew. They established a group that helped in a lot of things in the settlement.


    Unfortunately, Karlene was involved in a breach that happened while the wall at the south of the settlement was being built. In order to save a child from a mutated infected, Karlene fought the infected. She managed to save the child and killed the infected but in exchange, she was bitten.


    She was turning and since she was the only family left of Major Bautista, he did not want to lose her. Not to mention that the breach caused a dozen of soldiers to be bitten by the infected. They resorted to drastic measures, Human experimentation. It was hical in the field of medicine but they had no choice.


    Since it was found out early that the [Unstable Strain] of Mutagen alters the people bitten gically, they focused on the gic experimentation of the victims of the breach. Cutting the gic strands, altering the genes and even nting a foreign gene on their gic makeup, they conducted different methods and even methods that had never been tested before to each of the victims.


    Both fortunately and unfortunately, only Karlene survived the experimentation. As for the other subjects, it was already lucky if they died. Most of them turned into hideous monsters that needed to be put down for the greater good. However, Karlene''s case was not a total sess either. Her personality drastically changed that she almost felt like a different person. Not to mention that she had episodes where she transforms and loses control of herself like what happened earlier.


    At this point, everyone nced at Karlene who was silently and timidly walking beside Mark while tightly holding his hand. Although she was still armored, her purple hair was still waving as if unaffected by gravity and her eyes glowing with purple light, the fierce expression she had as she tried to escape every time was nowhere to be found. All this was done by the person in front of them right now.


    All of them were curious as to how he did it but no one dared to voice it. The general had already instructed them not to say anything and try to offend Mark.


    While everyone was thinking that, Mark suddenly stopped in front of the window of a room which enclosed a certain animal in a cage. It looked like a hybrid of a snake and a lizard while having a size of an adult alligator. Its head looked like a snake''s and it had a longer neck than normal proportions while its body was shaped like a monitor lizard. The scales of the lizard were likerge stones embedded on its body.


    Seeing the animal, a though hit Mark''s mind as he remembered the ability he acquired from the boss of the ouws.


    ''I want to make a dragon. I want a dragon mount.''


    His eyes shone with desire.

 Chapter 232 The Closed Door Meeting, A Supposed Planning To Deal With The Aftermath

    <strong>Day 36 ¨C 5:20 AM ¨C Meeting Room, Port of Real Settlement Headquarters, Barangay Ungos, Real Quezon</strong>


    It was early in the morning and the sun had not even peeked on the eastern sea yet, but the settlement was already busy. Most of the activities involved the military while some were the private groups going to start their day early. As for the refugees, many of them woke up early to work on the tasks given by the military within the settlement. It was to ensure that they would have better food for the day.


    The Port of Real Settlement was divided into two sectors. The first was the residential area sector which was the majority of the settlement and the second was the military sector which upied to entirety of themercial port area at the northeast of the settlement.


    Since the roads inside the settlement were narrow, the vehicles owned by private groups could not be driven inside unless they were leaving the settlement or going back to their dwellings after returning. It was to prevent road blockage during emergencies where the soldiers needed to use the roads to respond to the area location of the emergency.


    As for the higher-ups of the settlement, they had their own duties to fulfill and most of them should have been resting this early but this time, everyone was informed to report at the Headquarters for a sudden meeting. It was to address several issues that rose because of the incident that involved the daughter of a Major.


    There were ten people currently in the room sitting around a rectangr table. Five people were from the military, one from the US forces and four from the local politicians. Among these people was Major Alfonso and the US Mercenary, Jones Galley.


    "Sorry for gathering everyone even if all of you were supposed to be still resting or was about to rest for the day."


    The man past his fifty''s wearing his formal military uniform and was seated at the innermost end of the table. He was Major General Zackaria Faustino, the leading person of this settlement.


    As for his apology for calling a meeting at this hour, none of the people voiced any dissatisfaction. It was not because everyone here had a good rtion with one another but they had already been used to this routine since the apocalypse came. They needed to address issues that came up as soon as possible or else, them, the management, was the ones to suffer the bacsh.


    Major General Faustino panned his sight on everyone and continued.


    "This time, our preparations on the iing entrapment operations had been cancelled. As you all know, we''ve been preparing to capture the ones behind the hunting of survivors and enving them which happened mostly at the Marikina-Infanta Highway. Yesterday however, Major Bautista''s daughter had been involved with those ouws by ident and the operation had been moved unreasonably early in order to rescue her."


    The general turned his eyes at Major Alfonso Bautista which made thetter lower his head.


    "Unfortunately, not only that our resources and manpower were moved but we received nothing in return. Not to mention that we also did not manage to get our hands on the leading person of the ve traders alive. This time, the ones at fault are Major Bautista and our hired mercenary here Jones Galley."


    "But General, I can''t be at fault right?"


    Jones could not help but protest.


    "And why is that?"


    General Faustino turned to Jones with a stern eye.


    "General, I''m not the one who killed or caught Drake right? I already filed my report."


    "I already saw the report. But why did you not do something to stop that person called Mark?"


    "General, don''t be unreasonable. Do you think I''ll risk my life that way? You already received the report from Major Bautista right? That group of ouws were decimated and ughtered into pieces. I don''t want to end up like them."


    The general''s eyes were still skeptical towards Jones'' statement but at least, he epted the statement a bit. He then turned to Major Bautista.


    "And you Major, what do you have to say in defense?"


    "Nothing General. I''ll ept any punishment."


    "I won''t punish you but please learn your lesson since it is better for you to work for the settlement than to be detained. Just please, rein in your daughter so that you won''t have to move our resources and manpower for personal reasons again."


    "But my daughter is also precious to the settlement, right?"


    Major Alfonso tried to reason.


    "I know that she''s a valuable subject to theb but if you ask me, she''s causing more damage than good. This is the third time this week already and every time, there would be people injured. This time, it was already lucky that the ones injured were only her teammates. Actually, there are people already voting against letting your daughter remain in this settlement."


    "But General!"


    Major Bautista could not help but raise his voice and stand up hearing the general''s previous statement.


    "Major Bautista, you are also a precious asset to this settlement and that is why we let your troublemaker daughter stay but the damage that was umting because of her was about to exceed your contributions. If more and more people vote to evict her out, even I have no choice but to acquiescence to the desires of the majority. That is why I''m asking you to rein her if you want her to stay."


    "Yes, General."


    Major Bautista slumped on his chair obviously depressed.


    The general sighed as he looked at the expression of his subordinate. He was also a father and of course, there was no father who would want to get his only living family to get evicted from the settlement. If that happened, for sure, he would also lose a loyal subordinate.


    "General, is that all what you want us to see? To let us watch as you punish your subordinates?"


    The seventy-eight year old politician at the right side of the table said which made the other three politicians nod in agreement. He was the incumbent governor of Quezon, Daniel Suero.


    Even in this settlement, the military side and the political side had frictions.


    "No, it''s just to address the first matters."<sub> </sub>


    The general ignored the snide remark and signaled his secretary to distribute a folder each to everyone.


    "Please open the folders." The general said after the folders were distributed. "On the first page is the sketch of the leader of the ouws that was killed just past this midnight, Elliezer "Drake" Volkov. The reason why we wanted to catch this person alive was to give a bit of rein against Death Valley Settlement and their people. Elliezer is the first son of the founder and the leading figure of the Death Valley Settlement, Adrik Volkov. Now that his son was dead, we should expect that he''lle for us suspecting that we are the ones that killed his son. As you know, they had eyes and ears everywhere. The news of his son being killed should have reached him by now."


    "But we are not the ones that did it right? Can''t we just handover the person that did it?"


    One of the politicians with a lean body said with fear in his face. He was Congressman Wilf Everga. It was obvious that he already had confronted the criminals and suffered. The one to contradict the politician however was obviously Major Bautista.


    "What are you saying? Are you siding with those beasts to save your own hide?"


    "I''m just stating the facts! Those crazy bastards from that crime settlement will do everything to get their hands on what they wanted. I''m sure that they will do a lot of underhanded methods to make us suffer!"


    "YOU! This is why you politicians are such greedy bastard!"


    A heated argument between Major Bautista and the politicians came about but was immediately stopped by General Faustino. The general red at the politician as his suggestion was out of military ethics. Although not everything was good in the military, they could not just do it arbitrarily like that. Especially that¡­


    "Before suggesting something like that, please look at the next page."


    Everyone turned onto the next page and unexpectedly, there was Mark''s detailed sketch on the paper along with the information that was only known in Bay City and the report from Jones and the estatements from the other soldiers and Joash who had direct interactions with Mark before.


    "This is the person in question. The person that singlehandedly killed over fifty ouws along with their leader. Among those ouws, ten are Mutators and more than thirty are evolvers."


    After the general spoke and let the others read the information, Jones spoke with a sneering face while staring at the politician that suggested to hand Mark over to the criminal settlement. It was obvious that Jones had already read the information in advance.


    "If you want to hand that guy over, you better prepare battalions of soldiers, some tanks and helicopters. Even with those, don''t expect that you will be able to catch that guy without dying."


    While everyone was reading the information, everyone could that read the papers for the first time, even Major Bautista, could not help but widen their eyes.


    Saving General Perez''s daughter and aiding the rescue mission by fighting an unknown even before he became an Evolver, rescuing over forty survivors in the mall they were trapped in, eliminating a group of armed escaped convicts just with him with his adoptive daughter and eliminating the leaders and men of two underground syndicates with just his one or two members of his group. Not to mention that he and his group epted a mission from the military and sessfully escorted a group of almost five hundred people to Bay City.


    However he was gone and missing since then due to the dangerous task he took and it was to lure away two gigantic unknowns away from the people they were escorting.


    After he was gone missing, his group became one of the pirs in Bay City and the higher ups of Bay City was still in the look out for him even though he was missing for more than three weeks already.


    A person with achievements like this appeared in their settlement and in a grand fashion of annihting a dangerous group of ouws, singlehandedly and brutally. Not to mention, the information in the paper was already outdated. Along with the report from Jones, it was obvious that the person in question was way stronger than before.


    Congressman Everga lowered his shaking hands after he read the information and report. It was the same for the other people. They were more inclined to believe that the report was a work of fiction than being real but unfortunately, it was within the records of Bay City and the report about what happened yesterday and this evening.


    They would not be able to hand over someone this strong without dying first.


    This time, one of the military officers spoke. He was Captain Edalgo Garcia and was one of the officers in charge of security in this settlement.


    "If there is someone this strong, can''t we rope him in to our side?"


    "That is a good suggestion but how are we going to?"


    The General asked.


    "How about a honey-trap?" Jones suggested and looked at Major Bautista. "Major''s daughter is a good candidate. She seemed to have some interests on the guy and the guy don''t seem to view her negatively."


    "What are you talking about?!"


    Major Bautista stood up once more and shouted. Of course, his daughter being used in this kind of thing would infuriate the father.


    "Chix Major. It''s a bargain for your daughter, really." Jones waved his hand and the others were intently listening to him. "Since she''s about to be exiled, if she managed to rope Mark in, then no one will try to evict her anymore. NO ONE would DARE TRY. You get me? Even this old guy here can only listen to you."


    Jones suddenly pointed his thumb at the general which was obviously infuriated the old man. He was about to reprimand Jones but sudden panicked knocks on the door interrupted the meeting.


    "Ahem. Come in."


    p General Faustino cleared his throat and anwered the knocking. A soldier came in and saluted in a hurried fashion.</anda>


    "What''s the matter?"


    The soldier looked at Major Bautista first before facing the General and reported.


    "It''s Major''s daughter, Karlene. She escaped theb again in her berserk state and is on the loose. Three scientists and ten soldiers were injured in her escape."


    As if orchestrated¡­ General Faustino, the general''s secretary, Captain Garcia and even Major Bautista pped their foreheads with a dismayed expression.

 Chapter 237 Mark Joining The Fight, The Strange Group Of Infected Among The Horde

    <strong>Day 36 ¨C 12:34 PM ¨C First Defense Line, Barangay Ungos, Real, Quezon</strong>


    The battle between the soldiers started to get more and more intense. The main forces of the infected finally arrived putting more pressure on the soldiers and Mutators that were participating on the defense.


    In terms of quantity, the forces of the settlement were totally outnumbered against the horde of infected. In the settlement, the total poption was around seven thousand people. Among thatrge number, only around two thousand were the soldiers and the Mutators and Evolvers numbered around five hundred. The remaining poption however and the majority were the nonbatants. Although this part of the poption was mostlyposed of the normal popce, it also included a portion of the government officials and the scientists.


    In the true sense, this attack right now was a very threatening one. A single slip up could end up severely endangering the whole settlement. Due to that, eighty percent of the settlement''s forces were deployed while the remaining percentage was sent to prepare for emergency measures.


    A plethora of deafening sounds echoed in the battlefield as the forces of the settlement tried their best to resist the iing infected. On the background, explosions could be seen as grenades, rockets,nd mines and even vehicles exploded in the middle of the horde. Unfortunately, although those explosions damaged and killed a lot of infected, the number was still negligible. Not to mention that unlike injured humans that would stop after being wounded, the infected would not even if their wounds were supposed to be fatal. Despite their injuries and those who even had their intestines dangling out of their abdomen, the infected would still press forward as long as their heads and necks were intact.


    At the area of the experiment, the battle also intensified. Although Ka was still able to hold her ground, the soldiers that were assisting the experiment no longer had any choice but to join the defense line.


    "Sir Mark, please take this."


    A soldier from the top of the wall came out of the gates and handed a wirelesspel and earphone to Mark.


    "You guys should have given me this earlier."


    Mark said with a side nce.


    "Please, inquire the details after wearing it. I have to return to my post."


    The soldier saluted to Mark and retreated back into the gate. While Mark finished wearing thepel, he saw the same soldier on top of the wall behind a mounted gun firing at the infected at the distance.


    "Mark, Mark. Can you hear me?"


    As Mark turned on thepel, he heard a voice. Without mistake, the voice belonged to General Faustino.


    "I can hear you clearly. You guys should have given me this earlier."


    "I apologize but we nned to do the test in a short period and there should have been no need for this. However, maybe, you can''t see the situation in your position but the frontline is in a bad situation."


    "And what do you want me to do. Don''t expect me to be able to kill all these infected. In any case, won''t work for free either."


    Mark could hear a groan on the other side. The general should be rubbing his temples right now.


    "General, please let me." Another voice could be heard. "Mark, this is Professor Suzuki. Can we do the negotiationster? As we can see here, you''re just watching behind. Can you please join the defense? In any case, we will calcte thepensation depending on your contribution. It is the same with the other non-military forces."


    Hearing that, Mark shrugged his shoulder.


    "Just say it frankly. You just want to see me fight, right? Also, telling me that information at this point, you people just want me to contribute to the battle as much as possible. I''ll tell you, you guys won''t be able to pay me if I contribute as much as I can."


    The other side became silent. It seemed that they were discussing something since Mark could hear faint murmurs away from the microphone. Soon, General Faustino spoke once more.


    "Well, then. Please do what you can. In any case, if the situation continues, we might be able to defend the settlement but the sacrifices will be massive. We used a drone to observe the horde and we saw a group of strange infected among the horde. If those infected arrive, we expect the front lines to crumble. Unfortunately, we can''t shrink the defense towards the wall."


    "And the experiment? I''m sure you can''t handle Ka at all."


    "It shouldn''t be a problem right now. Although we are also surprised, Karlene can handle her ground. Alsopared to other positions, the infected in running towards the area is minimal. With our soldiers assisting her, she should be fine. In any case, her father and friend together with our other soldiers wille to assist her."


    "All right. I''ll handle the group you are talking about."


    Mark decided to help. In any case, he would milk this settlement as much as he could.


    Due to Mark''s decision, the people on top of the wall sighed because of various reasons. First, they had been anticipating Mark to participate from the start and see his strength since among the people here, only Jones had seen it. Although a lot had been stated on papers, there was still skepticism with their minds. It would only be cleared if they witnessed it before their eyes or they would not be able to rest. Another reason was how Mark voiced his decision. Even though it was just through thepel, his replycked the hesitation and fear of jumping in the middle of the horde. Normal and unconfident people would not be able to do that at all.


    "Ka!"<sub> </sub>


    Mark called out but she did not respond. He then turned to Amihan on his shoulder.


    "Amihan, stay here and help Ka if she''s in trouble. I''ll trust you for her safety but if it bes dangerous, escape first alright?"


    Amihan turned to Mark and towards Ka who was still wildly decimating every infected that came her direction. Hearing the word trust, her expression became resolute as she nodded.


    "Don''t worry My Lord. You can count on me. I''ll blow away any dangerous enemy towards the other people there."


    Mark looked at Amihan with a strange expression. She was pointing at the soldiers fighting on the other side. However, what she said was not wrong either. That was the only kind of protection she could give out since there was no way for her to kill the infected even with her wind control.


    This thought gave Mark a sudden idea. Maybe, he could try and teach this little sylph if she would be able to do some attacks with her wind control ability. Simr to the ones used in RPGs, [Wind des] and the like.


    After Amihan flew off from his shoulder, he vanished in a puff of ck mist. With several appearances and disappearances, he finally arrived on a roof of a two story house in the middle of the battlefield. This house was literally in the middle of the horde, about two hundred meters away from the wall of the settlement.


    Even though he was in the middle of the horde, Mark could not feel anything at all. It was a perk of being a Mutator and this way, he was able to concentrate on his fights since he would not panic even if he wanted to. He would not get scared either no matter what.


    Ignoring the horde below and the drones that were hurrying to chase after him, Mark started to prepare. This time, he wore the pair of gauntlets, [Attacker] and [Defender] but he rotated the bracer cing the needle case on the back and the needleuncher under his wrist.


    Using his [Blood Whips] he activated a mechanism on the [Defier] on his back and the outeryers of the shield separated into two parts before the two parts detached from the centerpiece and the inneryers. Leaving the centerpiece and inneryers on his back, Mark attached the two parts of the shield on the back side of both his gauntlets while he held the [Slicer] and [Divider] whip swords on both hands.


    With the two parts of the shield on his both arms, he could defend himself just by putting his arms together while the swords on his hands would do the offensive.


    Since he was going in the middle of the horde this time, he took another precaution. His [Blood Whips] seeped from his neck and unto his face before it formed a mask and metallized. And for just a bit of style, the remaining [Blood Whips] formed several loose metal threads and turned into something like a short metallic scarf.


    Mark looked above and the drones had already had him on the camera. Although he hated being captured in pictures and videos, it could not be helped this time. It was also one of the reasons he made a mask to conceal his face.


    "Since you guys wanted to see me fight. Then watch."


    He murmured with a glint in his eyes.


    Looking around the vicinity, he saw his first target, a mutated infected that was behaving oddly. It had a lean body and sharp ws. Unlike other infected that was charging towards the defensive line of the settlement, it was lurking behind buildings and blending with the normal Biters and Eaters was it closed unto the soldiers.


    He chose this target not because it stood out on his view but because he could feel the [PsyCrystal] on his arm vibrating as he stared on the infected.


    ''This should be the [Predator Type] they said.''


    He thought as it reminded him of the infected with w arms that attacked his base before.


    Looking like a certain ninja from a mobile game, he vanished in the mist and waved through the air before appearing behind the [Predator Type] infected.


    The mutated infected seemed to have noticed the use of his Psychic ability and tried to turn around. However, it was alreadyte. A de was already hacking towards its head.


    As he appeared, Mark swung the [Divider] from above which totally split the infected''s head into two. Since the infected tried to turn towards him, the face of the infected was totally removed from its head and fell first before its body did. The ck pebble flew out of its head which Mark hurriedly grabbed and hid from the drone above.


    It was a quick kill but his appearance halted the advance of the infected in the area. All the infected that saw Mark growled fiercely as they all turned away from the initial direction of their charge. Instead, they all ran towards Mark as if they all agreed to swarm him.


    Ignoring the seemingly dangerous situation he was in, Mark rotated the des on his hands and held the des in a reverse grip. With a flick of his [Blood Whip], the connected des turned into whip des before he swung the des on the iing infected. The first ones to run towards Mark stopped on their tracks as their heads fell on the ground. Avoiding the blood that spurted out of the infecteds'' necks, Mark jumped towards the nearest wall and propelled himself upwards before kicking the wall.


    Mark spun his body and hacked at the infected that jumped at him at the same time. Obviously, this one was another mutated infected which should be an [Agility Type] as it was able to jump over the other infected in order to attack.


    The two des hacked the arms and the neck of the mutated infected and fell from its lunge. Mark thennded his foot on another infected smashing its teeth in the process. He then kicked downwards which broke the infected''s neck before he vanished from the sight of the infected charging towards him.


    Mark then appeared elsewhere hacking towards another mutated infected with strange features. While he fought in this area, his main target finally arrived. As the general said, it was a strange group of mutated infected. Unlike the others, these mutated infected always moved together. Not only that but each of the infected looked strong. Seeing this group, Mark started to wonder what the catch with these guys was.

 Chapter 234 Entering The Lab, Karlenes Story And A Sudden Burst Of Desire

    <strong>Day 36 ¨C 6:01 AM ¨C Port of Real Settlement, Barangay Ungos, Real, Quezon</strong>


    It was very early in the morning and the sun had barely left the horizon but the military section in the Port of Real Settlement was already bustling with activity. With Karlene losing sanity and breaking out of theboratory once more during in the middle of herboratory examinations, the rm was sounded and the soldiers were gathered to catch her.


    This was not the first time it happened. The current situation had been repeatedly happening since two weeks after the outbreakmenced and this was the third time it happened just this recent week. Every time this happened, there would be people injured and precious property damaged. It was the worst during the first time where two scientists and a dozen soldiers were severely injured and the outer wall separating the settlement from the maind was broken by her.


    However, even if the damage was done by her, she should not be killed due to her being the daughter of a Major and a very important subject of research.


    The current situation in the Port right now however was unprecedented. An unfamiliar person stopped Karlene in her mindless rampage and was obviously tamed by him. She was crying like a child on his embrace even though it more looked like a demon possessed woman was being appeased by this man.


    "Mark¡­ What? How?"


    It was not only the soldiers in the area were in a stupor but even the father of the woman in question. He could not even think of what to say or ask correctly in this situation.


    While everyone was watching the strange and surprising scene, a group of scientists came out of theboratory and a minuteter, several vehicles came into the area. After the people from the vehicle alighted, everyone around saluted to the man in a formal military uniform that came out of the vehicle.


    "General!"


    The soldiers around the vehicles shouted with their salute.


    "What is the situation? Why is everything quiet? Don''t tell me that Karlene managed to escape?"


    The General asked with a frown. After all, they received the report of Karlene breaking out of theboratory once more but what he saw here was his soldiers standing nkly around something.


    "Sir! It is not what you think."


    The soldier the general asked replied in a panic.


    "General, look there first. That man is really something isn''t he?"


    Jones tapped the General''s shoulder and pointed at a certain direction. The general had a height of an average Filipino so his view was obstructed by most of the soldiers but Jones being a foreigner had a taller height. He could see more from their position.


    The General and his entourage waved through the encirclement of the soldiers and onlookers and saw the situation. Of course, he was also surprised to see Mark who was one of the subjects of their adjourned meeting and Karlene who was in her berserk state on his embrace.


    "General!" A scientist in his whiteb coat stained with a bit of blood approached the General Faustino. "Who is that person? I don''t think I saw him here before?"


    "That person¡­" General Faustino massaged the bridge of his nose once more. It should have been several times already just in the span of this morning. "Let''s talk about himter. Do you know what is happening, Professor Suzuki?"


    "That''s the HUGE question here general!" Professor Suzuki answered with an exaggerated action of his arms. "No one knows what is happening. I already asked the soldiers that were here to catch Karlene. Their answers were clear but none exactly exins it. We can only ask that man there. Look, even Alfonso is at a loss."


    "This is not the ce to talk. Her examinations today are not over yet, right?"


    "That is the case General."


    "Alright." General Faustino then turned to Jones and Captain Garcia that came with him. "Jones, invite Mark to theb. Since it looks like she had control over Karlene, we should ask him for cooperation. Garcia, do the clean up here. If needed, give the injured some of the medicine."


    "Yes Boss.""Yes Sir!"


    Jones replied with ax andzy manner while Captain Garcia promptly replied.


    With the general''s order, everyone started to disperse while Jones approached Joash and Major Bautista who was in front of Mark and Karlene. It looked like there was also a situation between the four since Karlene was hiding behind Mark like a scared child from her concerned father and friend. Just who was Karlene''s real family here and friends here?


    ***


    Being invited to meet with the General and get a tour of the Military Laboratory, Mark really had no reason to refuse. Rather, it was one of the things he wanted to do the most this time.


    At the entrance of theboratory building, Mark was met with an old man wearing his formal military uniform who was unnecessarily surrounded by armed soldiers and a number of white coated scientists. Since the old man''s insignia was open for him to see, Mark knew that he should be the general in charge of this settlement.


    "I''m Zackaria Faustino, the Officer-in-Charge of this settlement. Mark, right? I heard a lot about you."<sub> </sub>


    General Faustino extended his right hand for a handshake which obviously made Mark troubled. Not only that he hated this custom due to various reasons, he was also holding "Karlene''s" hand right now. Since this "Karlene" was afraid of everyone and obviously did not want to enter theboratory, Mark had to hold her hand to make her feel secure. Once he did so however, her hand was mped on his and did not want to let go. She even retracted the w shaped armors on her fingers so she would not hurt Mark''s hand. More than that, she was even stronger than Mark physically. Just pulling his hand away would be impossible.


    Seeing the situation, the people around had strange expressions on their faces. On the other hand, the general read the situation and retracted his right hand and extended the other.


    Without any other choice, Mark epted the handshake and asked.


    "What do you mean by hearing a lot about me?"


    The General nodded in understanding and replied.


    "Let''s talk as we enter theboratory."


    With the general in the lead and Mark and Karlene walking beside him, they entered the building while being surrounded by the soldiers. Of course, these soldiers was not only here to escort them. Mark could tell that they were on guard against him. Among the people, Jones and Joash were also present. It seemed that the status of Joash was also not low within this settlement.


    Mark thought that they would need to wear some protective suits as they entered theboratory but it did not seem to be the case. As long as they only stayed within the main corridors and some specific areas, it was fine with their current attire. They only needed to wear protective suits andb gears when entering testing and experimentation areas specially the ones that handles gic samples and chemicals.


    About Mark''s question, the general answered it. He was surprised that Bay City actually sent out a notice to every settlement to have an eye to look out for him.


    Inside theboratory, rooms after rooms separated the parts of the building. The outer windows had been sealed while the interior of the rooms could be seen through a window from essible in the hallway.


    On the first floor, theboratory handled the evolved and strange animals they captured in the wild and at the sea. These animals appeared after the outbreak. Some animals looked like a mutated variant of animals before the outbreak while some were totally new species. This reminded Mark of the wolf like fox Nicole brought back as her pet.


    "By the way. What happened to her?"


    Mark took the opportunity to ask about Karlene.


    Hearing the question, General Faustino turned his head first towards Major Bautista. Seeing that thetter nodded in consent, the general narrated Karlene''s circumstances and introduced the professor and head scientist in theb, Masaki Suzuki in the process.


    It all started with the fact that the soldiers that established this settlement came from Metro Man and not from any closer areas. They were only designated in this area after the emergency measures were taken.


    Back in Metro Man, Major Bautista lost his wife and son, Karlene''s mother and older brother, in the initial burst of the outbreak. It was because their home was near one of the ground zeros. Even with that fact, the poor major still proceeded to perform his duties.


    Fortunately, Karlene was out of the city that time and was around here in Quezon to shoot a drama series. Yes, unexpectedly, Karlene was a popr rising actress. Mark had no idea at all since he was more interested in Japanese actors and actresses than local ones. The TV in his home was not even used for more than two years before the outbreak.


    In order to find Karlene, Major Bautista requested to be designated in this settlement which was approved with the help of General Faustino and Professor Suzuki who was actually a close friend of the Major. Luckily, he found Karlene safe and sound. Although she was found stranded and surrounded by the infected, the military made it before it waste.


    Unexpectedly, four people among the drama crew became Evolvers on the first few days of the outbreak and they were Karlene and her three friends which were also actors and actresses in the drama crew. They established a group that helped in a lot of things in the settlement.


    Unfortunately, Karlene was involved in a breach that happened while the wall at the south of the settlement was being built. In order to save a child from a mutated infected, Karlene fought the infected. She managed to save the child and killed the infected but in exchange, she was bitten.


    She was turning and since she was the only family left of Major Bautista, he did not want to lose her. Not to mention that the breach caused a dozen of soldiers to be bitten by the infected. They resorted to drastic measures, Human experimentation. It was hical in the field of medicine but they had no choice.


    Since it was found out early that the [Unstable Strain] of Mutagen alters the people bitten gically, they focused on the gic experimentation of the victims of the breach. Cutting the gic strands, altering the genes and even nting a foreign gene on their gic makeup, they conducted different methods and even methods that had never been tested before to each of the victims.


    Both fortunately and unfortunately, only Karlene survived the experimentation. As for the other subjects, it was already lucky if they died. Most of them turned into hideous monsters that needed to be put down for the greater good. However, Karlene''s case was not a total sess either. Her personality drastically changed that she almost felt like a different person. Not to mention that she had episodes where she transforms and loses control of herself like what happened earlier.


    At this point, everyone nced at Karlene who was silently and timidly walking beside Mark while tightly holding his hand. Although she was still armored, her purple hair was still waving as if unaffected by gravity and her eyes glowing with purple light, the fierce expression she had as she tried to escape every time was nowhere to be found. All this was done by the person in front of them right now.


    All of them were curious as to how he did it but no one dared to voice it. The general had already instructed them not to say anything and try to offend Mark.


    While everyone was thinking that, Mark suddenly stopped in front of the window of a room which enclosed a certain animal in a cage. It looked like a hybrid of a snake and a lizard while having a size of an adult alligator. Its head looked like a snake''s and it had a longer neck than normal proportions while its body was shaped like a monitor lizard. The scales of the lizard were likerge stones embedded on its body.


    Seeing the animal, a though hit Mark''s mind as he remembered the ability he acquired from the boss of the ouws.


    ''I want to make a dragon. I want a dragon mount.''


    His eyes shone with desire.

 Chapter 235 Inside The Lab, Acquiring The [BloodChildren] And "Karlenes" Physical Tests

    <strong>Day 36 ¨C 6:28 AM ¨C Military Laboratory 1st Floor, Port of Real Settlement, Barangay Ungos, Real, Quezon</strong>


    "Mark, is something wrong?"


    General Faustino could not help but ask since Mark suddenly stopped in front of the window.


    Even though a strange thought suddenly sprouted in Mark''s mind as he saw the strange lizard, he was not spaced out and was aware of what was happening in his surroundings. He turned to the General and asked.


    "So, what is the reason for you to invite me to this ce? I doubt that it''s just for a tour right?"


    As Mark went straight to the point, General Faustino nodded to Professor Suzuki. The professor stepped forward and stated the situation.


    "It is about Karlene. As you can see, her abilities differed during her normal and berserk states. We already managed to do physical and psychological tests on her when she''s normal and we already did medical tests during her berserk state when we managed to calm her down with tranquilizers. However, as she always managed to break out in her berserk state and would not cooperate, we could not conduct the other tests we wanted to do. Since seem to be able to calm her andmunicate with her, we want you to help with the tests. As you see, we still needed to do the tests as to why she loses control and awareness of herself so we also wanted to do some psychological tests."


    "I see."


    Mark had already expected this when he saw the effort the military did to catch her. However, their foresight on her situation was totally wrong. She was not going berserk or losing control of herself. The one before them was a totally different consciousness from the original. Of course, Mark had no reason to tell them what he knew. What he needed to do was to make the most of the situation. Besides, if the tests were not harmful to "Karlene" she most likely would not try to escape since he was here.


    Mark looked at the scientist and back to General Faustino.


    "What can I get for cooperating on this?"


    At that question, the General became troubled and murmurs came from the people around them.


    "Normally, we can give out weapons and supplies but I don''t think that you have any need for those."


    That was true. The military had firearms and supplies but Mark had no use for those. He could find supplies on his own with his abilities. The firearms on the other hand had stronger firepower but were just consumables. Firearms needed bullets and it would be troublesome to go back and forth to military settlements to trade for ammunition since they were the only ones that could provide them. Not to mention that most firearms were loud and would draw a lot of attention in many ways. Mark preferred his crossbows and needleunchers more.


    "I have a proposition then." Mark interrupted the murmurs of the people around and took their attention. "Give me the three slimes you have here in yourboratory."


    The scientists and the general became wide eyed at his proposition. Most of the things inside theboratory were top secret and the slimes were one of those since they were creatures that had their existences very close to absurdity. The slimes were living creatures despite the fact that their bodies were onlyposed of blood. There should have been no way for Mark to know the exact number of the slimes in theirboratory.


    "I don''t know how you knew the exact number of what we had here but I don''t think that we can agree to that."


    That was what the general said but Professor Suzuki seemed to have a different thought.


    "General, wait a second. Don''t disagree too fast." Professor Suzuki said and turned to Mark. "I heard that you have two and found another one hours ago. I''m very interested of how you managed to tame them and I also want to know the reason why you requested those out of all things. Actually, I won''t be surprised if you asked for that lizard there."


    Mark looked straight at Professor Suzuki. As expected of a scientist, he was more interested in the information and data than immediately declining the proposition. It also showed that this person was very observant and saw Mark''s reaction when he saw the lizard inside the room.


    "You already said it. I have three with me. You can say that they have a connection to me and that is why I can tame them. In any case, the method can''t be replicated by just anybody. Besides, I''m sure that you all have no use to them at all aside from keeping them as specimen, am I right?"


    Mark then panned his eyes to everyone.


    "I''ll be frank. Aside from asking to use the transceiver and finding a vehicle which I already had, one of the reasons I''m here is to retrieve those three. Even if you all wanted it or not, I''ll take them back. I don''t think that anyone of you can stop me."


    It was a frank and tant threat but they could not deny it. With Mark''s prowess, none of them would be able to stop him from taking them.


    Professor Suzuki shrugged his shoulders with a bitter smile and turned to General Faustino. It seemed that there would be no way for them to get the information they wanted from Mark easily.


    "Just agree to it General."


    "Are you sure?"


    "Actually, we''re already done with all the tests and experiments we can do with those three. There is no need to dissect them either since the insides of their bodies were in to see. If we can move our stagnated research with Karlene, giving out those three is already a bargain. Even I can''t see any advantage into keeping those three. In every day that passed, those three are growing weaker, it won''t be long before those three died."


    With the consent from the head scientist, the General also agreed. Mark also found this scientist in front of him as someone interesting.


    Mark was brought into a wide room at the second floor of theboratory. Here, the tests necessary to be done by "Karlene" was conducted with his help. Amazingly, "Karlene" obeyed Mark''s instructions as long as he patiently exined to her what she needed to do. It was quite of a slow process because of themunication barrier but the tests were done in several hours.


    During the physical tests, Karlene in her transformed form even surprised Mark. Although she wascking in move speed, her physical strength and reflexes were top notch and several times higher than normal humans. ording to Professor Suzuki, she even had the highest physical evaluationpared to all the Mutators in the settlement they had tested before.<sub> </sub>


    In the middle of the tests, Mark had a sudden intermission when he felt that Oracle and Crimson was calling onto him. As "Karlene" would not behave without Mark, he brought her along and vanished in a puff of ck mist that surprised everyone that had not seen it before. They were afraid that Mark would take Karlene away but Jones and Professor Suzuki knew that he would not run away. After all, the three slimes were not handed to him yet.


    About five minutester, Mark returned inside the Laboratory with Karlene. This time however, he had a sulking fairy on his shoulder and he had his bag on. The eyes of the scientists shone seeing a creature of fairy tales in front of them but of course, Mark would not let them touch Amihan in any way.


    While Karlene undergone the next set of tests, Mark requested the three [BloodChildren] to be brought to him which was immediately granted.


    The three [BloodChildren] given to him were surely in good condition and were encased in clean aquariums. Still, they were weak. This was one of the problems why most [BloodChildren] died. It was not only because they had no way to find food on their own and they had a very inefficient way of consuming blood. Even Crimson that he found first in the river was only able to recover after being changed by Mark''s blood.


    ''Poor Children.''


    That was what Mark thought when he saw the [BloodChildren] in their aquariums shrink back in fear when he extended his hands on them. They even attacked by extending tentacles on his hand but Mark was not afraid of it. Since there were people around, he stealthily extended a [Blood Whip] on his palm and secretly turned the [BloodChildren] when no one was looking. He also gave the three a bit more of his blood to help them recover a little.


    Everyone around were all watching the test Karlene was doing as she shed her ws on different materials prepared. When they turned back to Mark, they were all surprised when they saw five slimes ying on the table in front of him while one was clinging to his arm.


    Mark had brought Oracle, Crimson and Ivy inside his bag but the three were all excited about the existence of their new brothers and sister. The new [BloodChildren] were still shy as this was a new experience for them but they looked better with their deep red color like what Crimson had.


    Oracle and Crimson were bouncing around the three extending tentacles on the three as if patting their heads to assure them. The two was obviously copying what Mark was doing to them when he patted their jelly like bodies. Ivy on the other hand was just clinging onto Mark''s arm while paying attention to the situation on the table.


    A deep sense of curiosity could be detected from Professor Suzuki when he saw the changes on the [BloodChildren] especially when he saw Oracle and Ivy that had a very different color than the others. However, it was out of question. These children belonged to Mark now and there was no way that he would return them.


    When "Karlene" returned from the test where she ran towards Mark as if escaping from the scientists, Mark gave her a pat on her head which she seemed to like a lot. On the side however, both Joash and Major Bautista hadplicated expressions on their faces. They both felt like they were being neglected here. However, the two could not do anything. While Karlene was in this form, she could not recognize the two.


    As for turning back to normal, it would happen eventually as it had always been. It had been like this since she became like this.


    "Karlene" seemed to be interested at the [BloodChildren] on the table but it seemed that her existence overpowered the three new ones and they shrunk back in fear. On the other hand, "Karlene" also had a trace of fear on her despite her interest.


    "We''re done for now."


    Professor Suzuki approached Mark and said. His eyes were glued at the [BloodChildren] though.


    "Shouldn''t you finish all the tests already?"


    Mark asked but his question was met with a shake of the professor''s head.


    "Look at her eyes. The glow is already starting to disappear. It''s an indication that she''s about to return to normal."


    Mark looked at her eye and saw that the glow was really lesser than before.


    "She can''t control this transformation right?"


    "Unfortunately, yes. This only happens randomly and who knows when she will break out again."


    While Mark and Professor Suzuki were talking, the emergency rm of the settlement sounded. The sound was different to the rm used when Karlene broke out of theboratory.


    "Another attack, huh. This should be the infected again. It''s a pity they camete. I wanted to test and see how Karlene would cope with fighting the infected."


    Professor Suzuki looked at "Karlene" who was grasping Mark''s hand once more. The glow on her eyes was growing dimmer and dimmer.


    Hearing what the Professor said, Mark also became interested. Sure enough, this Karlene could fight. However, she only used her kicks before when she tried to escape and never her ws and other abilities.


    Mark''s eyes and right hand suddenly glowed with milky white light as he tried to enforce this "Karlene''s" consciousness like how he did with Mutators he helped before. Luckily, it was sessful. Her purple eyes glowed brighter which made the Professor taken aback.


    The Professor could not help but turn to Mark as his interest in thetter grew. He was really an arsenal of mysteries.


    Mark on the other hand turned to "Karlene".


    "Karlene¡­ No, let''s just call you Ka. Want to y a bit? We have ymates outside."

 Chapter 240 The Aftermath Of The Battle, Suddenly Meeting A Person He Knew Before

    <strong>Day 36 ¨C 2:15 PM ¨C Port of Real Settlement, Barangay Ungos, Real, Quezon</strong>


    The looming danger on the settlement had passed and the joint forces of the military and the private survivor groups of the settlement seeded in defending the settlement. There were casualties but this was inevitable. Everyone was aware of the danger every time they confronted the infected and deaths were expected. Due to the circumstances this time, the military would awardpensation to the families, rtives or teammates of the people that died. After all, they died to protect the settlement.


    However, there would be no funeral wake or burial for the deceased. That thing was a total luxury at this time of chaos. The dead bodies will be cremated either joined or separately and the most that the people the dead left could do was to gather together as they spread the ashes over the sea. As for keeping the ashes, only a few would do so. Most people here had no permanent houses and only lived at the ces designated for refugees. They did not even have anywhere to store their food securely not to mention the ashes of the dead. In the time of crisis, just keeping a small memento from the dead would do.


    Even if the settlement was already out of danger and the intense battle against the horde was finished, the work of the joint forces still had not ended. Most of them moved around the area of battle securing that there were not a single infected from the horde that managed to escape and loiter around the area. Different from the previous circumstances however, the people were more cautious this time. It was because of the existence of the parasites that appeared and the possibility of the parasites taking humans as hosts.


    Not known to them, Mark had already taken thest parasite from the horde and the rest were all dead from the battle. Most of them died from thebination attack of needles and electricity while the remaining sacrificed themselves to enable their queen to escape.


    While there were people searching for the parasites and possibly remaining infected in the area, there were those that were bashing the heads of the bodies of the mutated infected open and searching their brains for something. Most of the people searching were from the groups of Evolvers and Mutators. If Mark was still here, he would surely know what they were searching for, the ck pebbles on the heads of some of the mutated infected.


    Normally, no one would do such grotesque work of rummaging around brains of former human beings but they had to. After all, the pebbles that the scientists called [Mutagen Stone] were highly sought by the military and could fetch a good price due to its rarity. No one knew why the military wanted these stones but no one cared too much for the reason as long as they could exchange the stones for a good amount of weapons, food or credits.


    Unfortunately, the people searching in this horde were bound to be frustratedter on. It was because among the more than five hundred mutated infected among the thousands of infected, they would only be able to find a very little amount of the [Mutagen Stone].


    There were several reasons to this. One was because most of the infected with stones belonged to the mutated infected that hosted the parasites and were already taken away by Mark. The second reason was since the leader of this horde was parasites rather than a highly advanced mutated infected, they were not able tomand too many infected with [Mutagen Stones]. It was because most of those that had one were advanced mutated infected. Unfortunately for these parasites, their number was small to be able to host every single advanced mutated infected they encountered.


    ***


    Mark was currently eating his lunch with Amihan inside a room in theboratory. This room was not his room but a private room Karlene always used during her recovery from her berserk periods. While Mark and Amihan ate, Karlene was sleeping on the bed patient''s bed inside the room. Even though there was a bunch of monitoring apparatus inside the room, they were not turned on since Karlene was just asleep.


    Yes, this time, it was Karlene and not Ka.


    After the battle, Ka fell into a sleep state after consuming all her energy fighting the infected. Her appearance reverted into normal which was Karlene although she would not wake up for some time. The reason was still unknown to the scientists. Even though Ka could wake up instantly, it was different if the one toe out was Karlene.


    The scientists could not tell the reason but Mark perfectly knew why. One reason was because Ka''s existence could drain the energy in Karlene''s body every time she manifests which Karlene needed to recover before she could wake up. The other reason was because the shifting dominance with the two consciousness. Even though Karlene was the original consciousness, her consciousness was weakerpared to Ka and it was harder for her to gain dominance over her body. It was quite ironic but considering that she was a normal human consciousness and the other was a consciousness of a Mutator, it was reasonable.


    It would be a different case if it was just an issue of dual identity with a single consciousness but the two of them were different consciousness in a single body which caused the friction about the dominance with the body.


    And the reason Mark knew all of this was because he was a host of another consciousness before and because of Freed''s memories he inherited. It was just in Mark and Freed''s case, Mark remained dominant due to the fact that he was an empath. If not, Freed would be able to take over his body anytime without consequences.


    At the floor of the room, six [BloodChildren] were ying. The three he had just received had already recovered at the same state as crimson although they still could not move like Crimson and Oracle. It was also the same for Ivy and the four could only move around by dragging their bodies on the floor. Still, their slow movements did not stop them from ying around like normal children although if their ages were considered, all of them were total infants.


    As for the caught parasite queen, it was still in the cage beside Mark. Although it was not crashing its body on the screen of the cage anymore, it was still circling around the cage finding a way to escape. If not for the fact that Mark could not sense a consciousness on the parasite queen, he would likely think that it was an evolved insect rather than an infected one due to its disy of intelligence.


    Professor Suzuki tried to ask Mark for the infected queen but of course, Mark shut it down. He was the one who caught this and he was also interested in this one not to mention that it was not the first time he kept an infected with him. There was also Jte who was with Mei and the others right now.


    Suddenly, there seemed to be amotion outside the door and the door was opened. Mark nced at the opened door and saw Joash along with two people. Of course, Mark knew them, na and Tyson. They were the two injured friends of Karlene and Joash. While the battle against the horde was ongoing, these two had already gained consciousness. Still, their injuries were not fully healed. na had her head bandaged while Tyson had and orthopedic cast on his arm and obviously needed time to fully heal his dislocated arm.


    ? Mark ignored them and continued eating, obviously, these people came for Karlene. Furthermore, Mark was not really interested in them especially as people that worked in local showbiz. A shut-in Otaku like him would likely not mix in with Riajuus.


    However, although Joash was somehow getting used to him, the two could not ignore the things inside the room. A stranger, a fairy, an oversized insect and six slimes, of course, no one would be able to ignore a scene like that inside the recuperating room of your friend.


    Furthermore, na and Tyson had already been informed that his person was the one who saved them from the ouws. Aside from wanting to thank him, they also were a little interested in the person that helped them. When the two saw that Karlene was still asleep, the two turned to Mark.


    "Excuse me."


    na was the first to speak.<sub> </sub>


    "What is it?"


    Mark turned his head slightly to see na and asked.


    However, na suddenly had a strange expression after seeing Mark''s face. Although she immediately hid it before she spoke once more, Mark still noticed it.


    "We heard that you helped us at the highway. Thank you."


    "Bro, thanks for helping us."


    Tyson added.


    "Don''t thank me. You guys are just lucky that I needed information."


    It was his usual reply and turned back to eating. Seeing na''s expression and being addressed as bro gave Mark a bad impression on the two. The woman seemed to have an issue with his below average face while the man was rather feeling close to call him Bro.


    Seeing that he did not want to talk, the two left him alone with strange expressions but did not voice anything negative. They went beside Karlene''s bed and surrounded her. Still, for some reason, na was ncing at Mark while thinking about something. It was like as if she was trying to remember something.


    "AHHH!!!"


    SLAM!


    na''s shout surprised everyone inside the room aside from Mark that did not even react at all. Furthermore, she suddenly stood up making her chair m down on the floor.


    Ignoring the surprised faces of Joash and Tyson, na suddenly approached Mark.


    "I remember now! You''re Mark, right! We''ve met several times before!"


    This time, not only Joash and Tyson was dumbfounded, even Mark was the same. He started to think if this woman was right in the head or needed to be sent to some mental institution. After being a shut-in, Mark rarely came out without reason. In a month, he would onlye out to pay his house bills or if he needed to urgently buy something. The only exceptions were when he was givenmissions for making cosy props which gave him a good amount of ie for his expenses.


    It was even more impossible for Mark to meet an actress like her. Mark was not that much familiar with local actors and actresses but as he was already informed, he finally remembered seeing Karlene, Joash, na and Tyson in some passing online articles and local video rmendations given to him by the mainstream video hosting site. He knew that he never met her before with her appearance.


    Seeing the confusion in Mark''s face, na went back beside Karlene''s bed and rummaged on the bag she had brought. Joash and Tyson watched in confusion about what in the world was na doing when she took out a worn out baseball cap, a pair of sunsses and a white face mask and wore them while letting her waist length hair dangle out of the cap. She had a difficulty wearing the cap due to her head wound and bandage and seemed that it hurt a bit but she still insisted.


    Wearing those things on her head, she turned at Mark.


    "Remember me now?"


    "HAH?"


    Mark stared at her appearance wide eyed and let out an uncharacteristically odd voice. His surprise had even overridden his nk emotions due to his trait of being a Mutator.


    Seeing Mark''s reaction, na smiled with glee. It seemed that she also never thought that she would meet someone she knew too suddenly. Her reaction upon seeing Mark''s face was not because she had issues with his appearance but rather, he looked too familiar to her.


    It was really a twist of fate. To think that the two actually knew each other and that they would meet this way after more than a year of not seeing each other.

 Chapter 237 Mark Joining The Fight, The Strange Group Of Infected Among The Horde

    <strong>Day 36 ¨C 12:34 PM ¨C First Defense Line, Barangay Ungos, Real, Quezon</strong>


    The battle between the soldiers started to get more and more intense. The main forces of the infected finally arrived putting more pressure on the soldiers and Mutators that were participating on the defense.


    In terms of quantity, the forces of the settlement were totally outnumbered against the horde of infected. In the settlement, the total poption was around seven thousand people. Among thatrge number, only around two thousand were the soldiers and the Mutators and Evolvers numbered around five hundred. The remaining poption however and the majority were the nonbatants. Although this part of the poption was mostlyposed of the normal popce, it also included a portion of the government officials and the scientists.


    In the true sense, this attack right now was a very threatening one. A single slip up could end up severely endangering the whole settlement. Due to that, eighty percent of the settlement''s forces were deployed while the remaining percentage was sent to prepare for emergency measures.


    A plethora of deafening sounds echoed in the battlefield as the forces of the settlement tried their best to resist the iing infected. On the background, explosions could be seen as grenades, rockets,nd mines and even vehicles exploded in the middle of the horde. Unfortunately, although those explosions damaged and killed a lot of infected, the number was still negligible. Not to mention that unlike injured humans that would stop after being wounded, the infected would not even if their wounds were supposed to be fatal. Despite their injuries and those who even had their intestines dangling out of their abdomen, the infected would still press forward as long as their heads and necks were intact.


    At the area of the experiment, the battle also intensified. Although Ka was still able to hold her ground, the soldiers that were assisting the experiment no longer had any choice but to join the defense line.


    "Sir Mark, please take this."


    A soldier from the top of the wall came out of the gates and handed a wirelesspel and earphone to Mark.


    "You guys should have given me this earlier."


    Mark said with a side nce.


    "Please, inquire the details after wearing it. I have to return to my post."


    The soldier saluted to Mark and retreated back into the gate. While Mark finished wearing thepel, he saw the same soldier on top of the wall behind a mounted gun firing at the infected at the distance.


    "Mark, Mark. Can you hear me?"


    As Mark turned on thepel, he heard a voice. Without mistake, the voice belonged to General Faustino.


    "I can hear you clearly. You guys should have given me this earlier."


    "I apologize but we nned to do the test in a short period and there should have been no need for this. However, maybe, you can''t see the situation in your position but the frontline is in a bad situation."


    "And what do you want me to do. Don''t expect me to be able to kill all these infected. In any case, won''t work for free either."


    Mark could hear a groan on the other side. The general should be rubbing his temples right now.


    "General, please let me." Another voice could be heard. "Mark, this is Professor Suzuki. Can we do the negotiationster? As we can see here, you''re just watching behind. Can you please join the defense? In any case, we will calcte thepensation depending on your contribution. It is the same with the other non-military forces."


    Hearing that, Mark shrugged his shoulder.


    "Just say it frankly. You just want to see me fight, right? Also, telling me that information at this point, you people just want me to contribute to the battle as much as possible. I''ll tell you, you guys won''t be able to pay me if I contribute as much as I can."


    The other side became silent. It seemed that they were discussing something since Mark could hear faint murmurs away from the microphone. Soon, General Faustino spoke once more.


    "Well, then. Please do what you can. In any case, if the situation continues, we might be able to defend the settlement but the sacrifices will be massive. We used a drone to observe the horde and we saw a group of strange infected among the horde. If those infected arrive, we expect the front lines to crumble. Unfortunately, we can''t shrink the defense towards the wall."


    "And the experiment? I''m sure you can''t handle Ka at all."


    "It shouldn''t be a problem right now. Although we are also surprised, Karlene can handle her ground. Alsopared to other positions, the infected in running towards the area is minimal. With our soldiers assisting her, she should be fine. In any case, her father and friend together with our other soldiers wille to assist her."


    "All right. I''ll handle the group you are talking about."


    Mark decided to help. In any case, he would milk this settlement as much as he could.


    Due to Mark''s decision, the people on top of the wall sighed because of various reasons. First, they had been anticipating Mark to participate from the start and see his strength since among the people here, only Jones had seen it. Although a lot had been stated on papers, there was still skepticism with their minds. It would only be cleared if they witnessed it before their eyes or they would not be able to rest. Another reason was how Mark voiced his decision. Even though it was just through thepel, his replycked the hesitation and fear of jumping in the middle of the horde. Normal and unconfident people would not be able to do that at all.


    "Ka!"<sub> </sub>


    Mark called out but she did not respond. He then turned to Amihan on his shoulder.


    "Amihan, stay here and help Ka if she''s in trouble. I''ll trust you for her safety but if it bes dangerous, escape first alright?"


    Amihan turned to Mark and towards Ka who was still wildly decimating every infected that came her direction. Hearing the word trust, her expression became resolute as she nodded.


    "Don''t worry My Lord. You can count on me. I''ll blow away any dangerous enemy towards the other people there."


    Mark looked at Amihan with a strange expression. She was pointing at the soldiers fighting on the other side. However, what she said was not wrong either. That was the only kind of protection she could give out since there was no way for her to kill the infected even with her wind control.


    This thought gave Mark a sudden idea. Maybe, he could try and teach this little sylph if she would be able to do some attacks with her wind control ability. Simr to the ones used in RPGs, [Wind des] and the like.


    After Amihan flew off from his shoulder, he vanished in a puff of ck mist. With several appearances and disappearances, he finally arrived on a roof of a two story house in the middle of the battlefield. This house was literally in the middle of the horde, about two hundred meters away from the wall of the settlement.


    Even though he was in the middle of the horde, Mark could not feel anything at all. It was a perk of being a Mutator and this way, he was able to concentrate on his fights since he would not panic even if he wanted to. He would not get scared either no matter what.


    Ignoring the horde below and the drones that were hurrying to chase after him, Mark started to prepare. This time, he wore the pair of gauntlets, [Attacker] and [Defender] but he rotated the bracer cing the needle case on the back and the needleuncher under his wrist.


    Using his [Blood Whips] he activated a mechanism on the [Defier] on his back and the outeryers of the shield separated into two parts before the two parts detached from the centerpiece and the inneryers. Leaving the centerpiece and inneryers on his back, Mark attached the two parts of the shield on the back side of both his gauntlets while he held the [Slicer] and [Divider] whip swords on both hands.


    With the two parts of the shield on his both arms, he could defend himself just by putting his arms together while the swords on his hands would do the offensive.


    Since he was going in the middle of the horde this time, he took another precaution. His [Blood Whips] seeped from his neck and unto his face before it formed a mask and metallized. And for just a bit of style, the remaining [Blood Whips] formed several loose metal threads and turned into something like a short metallic scarf.


    Mark looked above and the drones had already had him on the camera. Although he hated being captured in pictures and videos, it could not be helped this time. It was also one of the reasons he made a mask to conceal his face.


    "Since you guys wanted to see me fight. Then watch."


    He murmured with a glint in his eyes.


    Looking around the vicinity, he saw his first target, a mutated infected that was behaving oddly. It had a lean body and sharp ws. Unlike other infected that was charging towards the defensive line of the settlement, it was lurking behind buildings and blending with the normal Biters and Eaters was it closed unto the soldiers.


    He chose this target not because it stood out on his view but because he could feel the [PsyCrystal] on his arm vibrating as he stared on the infected.


    ''This should be the [Predator Type] they said.''


    He thought as it reminded him of the infected with w arms that attacked his base before.


    Looking like a certain ninja from a mobile game, he vanished in the mist and waved through the air before appearing behind the [Predator Type] infected.


    The mutated infected seemed to have noticed the use of his Psychic ability and tried to turn around. However, it was alreadyte. A de was already hacking towards its head.


    As he appeared, Mark swung the [Divider] from above which totally split the infected''s head into two. Since the infected tried to turn towards him, the face of the infected was totally removed from its head and fell first before its body did. The ck pebble flew out of its head which Mark hurriedly grabbed and hid from the drone above.


    It was a quick kill but his appearance halted the advance of the infected in the area. All the infected that saw Mark growled fiercely as they all turned away from the initial direction of their charge. Instead, they all ran towards Mark as if they all agreed to swarm him.


    Ignoring the seemingly dangerous situation he was in, Mark rotated the des on his hands and held the des in a reverse grip. With a flick of his [Blood Whip], the connected des turned into whip des before he swung the des on the iing infected. The first ones to run towards Mark stopped on their tracks as their heads fell on the ground. Avoiding the blood that spurted out of the infecteds'' necks, Mark jumped towards the nearest wall and propelled himself upwards before kicking the wall.


    Mark spun his body and hacked at the infected that jumped at him at the same time. Obviously, this one was another mutated infected which should be an [Agility Type] as it was able to jump over the other infected in order to attack.


    The two des hacked the arms and the neck of the mutated infected and fell from its lunge. Mark thennded his foot on another infected smashing its teeth in the process. He then kicked downwards which broke the infected''s neck before he vanished from the sight of the infected charging towards him.


    Mark then appeared elsewhere hacking towards another mutated infected with strange features. While he fought in this area, his main target finally arrived. As the general said, it was a strange group of mutated infected. Unlike the others, these mutated infected always moved together. Not only that but each of the infected looked strong. Seeing this group, Mark started to wonder what the catch with these guys was.

 Chapter 238 The Mastermind Behind The Horde, The Situation Shifting Against The Settlement Forces

    <strong>Day 36 ¨C 12:42 PM ¨C Settlement Defensive Wall, Port of Real Settlement, Barangay Ungos, Real, Quezon</strong>


    At the time Mark vanished from the experiment site, General Faustino atop the wall could not help but shake his head. Even if Mark was a strong individual ording to the reports he received, it seemed that he was an impatient person. For the second time, he left without waiting for the assistance to arrive. Furthermore, with him vanishing like that, it would be hard for them to use the drones and capture his abilities on camera.


    On the back of the tform, the scientists and personnel controlling the drones and monitoring the video feed were frantically searching for Mark.


    "Where is he? Quick, search around!"


    "He''s not by the main road!"


    "He is not at the western side either!"


    Those kinds of conversation could be heard among them.


    "There! Found him!"


    One of the monitoring personnel shouted after seeing Mark appear above the room using the zoomed camera of the drone he was controlling. Even though Mark was not really part of the experiment, the general ordered them to monitor his movements. After all, it was not good to know nothing but the things in the written report. They needed to see his exact abilities. Even though they did not have any ill motives, having someone strong like him around and not under control could be dangerous even if he was not hostile to the settlement.


    "That ability is really something."


    Professor Suzuki said as he viewed one of the videos that caught Mark''s disappearance.


    "Have you discovered something?"


    General Faustino made his way towards his side and asked while also peering at the monitor.


    "I''m not really an expert in this field but I can say that his vanishing ability is not an ability a Mutator can have, or at least, not an ability that a Mutator can use without transforming first."


    Professor Suzuki rewound the video and paused at the scene at the exact time Mark turned into mist and vanished.


    "Look at this." The professor pointed at the effect where Mark was enveloped in ck mist. "There is a blur at this part behind him while he turned into that mist. I can''t say for sure but it looked like a tear in space fabric. At first, I thought his ability is something like teleportation but I guess it''s more like a warp ability. Furthermore, there is a trail of mist here as he moves. To me it''s not just a special effect but a residue effect of him tearing through space while traveling through a portal or a subspace. I wish I can study his ability more but what we can analyze with just these videos is limited."


    Professor Suzuki then yed the video once more in slow motion and continued.


    "Travelling through a space tear or a subspace should not be possible for a human body to do. A human body will not be able to withstand it. There is a possibility for transformed Mutators since during their transformation, their cells, gic makeup and even constitution changes to something that deviated from the theories of science severely. Although we don''t have one around, there might be a Mutator that can travel through a tear in space after transforming. Mark however did not transform at all. It was as if there is a certain invisible energy around his body negating the side effects of traversing space in nothing but pure human flesh."


    "Then Professor. Is what Jones said about his ability, true?"


    "I really can''t say for sure but the possibility is very high. Since it is not a Mutator Ability, this Mark is very likely to be one of those rare people with superhuman psychic abilities. An Esper."


    ***


    While the spections about him was being discussed atop the wall, Mark was already observing the strange group of infected in the middle of the horde. Even more strange was that the group was not moving like the other infected that was blindly charging towards the defense line. It was as if they were observing the situation first. It was a very strange behavior for the infected.


    Mark counted the number while hiding on one of the roofs, the group was not veryrge, they only consisted of thirty mutated infected but each of them looked nothing that could bepared to normal infected. The outer line of the group wasposed with infected that had armors, bulky bodies and were evenrger than a tank. The inner parts of the group wereposed if infected with various appearances and for sure, these mutated were different types.


    BOOM!


    A stray rocket flew near the group. Unexpectedly, the [Armor Types] in front immediately moved to try and block the rocket. Unfortunately, the rocket did not reach the group but fell about a dozen meters before them. Still the [Armor Types] stood their ground and caught the full brunt of the impact from the explosion.


    "They are protecting something."


    Mark said and immediately searched the inner parts of the group for an infected that would stand out or even the centermost of the group but did not find one. There did not seem to be a leader among the group either which made Mark confused. Of course, there were [Leader Types] among these infected but what Mark was searching was the true leader of this whole horde.<sub> </sub>


    Since he could not find what he was looking for, the only thing he could do was fight. Mark vanished from his position appeared several meters above the group.


    Mark smiled. There were infected among the group that noticed him appear but they all could not see him clearly as the sun was literally above Mark. While the infected were blinded by the sun, Mark vanished once more and appeared already charging downwards with both his swords hacking down.


    His body spun midair as he shed down aiming for mutated infected with a lean body. With the same strategy as multiyer online battle arena games, he aimed first at the ones that should be easy to kill but dangerous to leave forst. Simr to the formation of this group of mutated infected, those with higher defense were outside protecting the killing force inside. This time, he aimed for the infected that seemed to have a ranged attack due to therge boil on its neck and spilling fluid from its mouth.


    ? Mark did notpletely hack the whole head but only sliced from the infected''s forehead to the nape of its neck leaving the boil and the mouth intact. It was to avoid the risk of the seemingly strong acid from suddenly exploding on him. Unlike his previous attacks however, he did not linger around to hack the others. It was because when the de on his hand was midway on slicing the head of the acid infected, the other infected around were already attacking him. The moment the de reached the nape of the acid infected, he vanished into ck mist and retreated to the roof of the nearby house.


    Strange, it was really strange.


    The speed of Mark''s attack was very fast but the infected around was still able to react in the middle of his attack. It was as if when the acid infected felt the de touching its forehead, the other infected knew that it was being attacked and they all retaliated. That reaction immediately game him the feeling that these mutated infected were not only moving as a group but were all connected somehow.


    Mark disappeared once more and this time, he appeared in front of an electrical post and kicked it to give him momentum before he vanished in ck mist. He then appeared in the middle of the group and swept both his des ending the life of three mutated infected. However, he needed to vanish once more as several [Agility Types] jumped at him at the same time and with the same manner as the first counter attack he received.


    Evading the lunge of the [Agility Types], Mark appeared in front of an [Armor Type] that had arge body and slow movements. With the momentum he had since he was still midair, he would collide with the [Armor Type]. However, he spun his body and kicked the face of the mutated infected that was unable to react and Mark propelled himself back at the [Agility Types] that were still midair after failing their attack on him.


    Using the momentum of the kick to spin his body like a top, he disappeared evading several more attacks from below and appeared in the middle of the [Agility Types] that had yet tond back on the ground. With his spinning attack, the bodies of the [Agility Types] fell down on the ground in pieces.


    At the corner of his eye as he cut the [Agility Types], she saw a strange activity at the center of the group. A female infected seemed to be inhaling arge amount of air. Feeling the danger, Mark vanished with only dismembering the arm of thest [Agility Type] and retreated. After he vanished, the attack came. No, it was not just a simple attack.


    RAAAAAAAAA!!!!


    An ear piercing roar like screech echoed across the battlefield. If Mark did not vanish in time, that screech should have been able to rupture his eardrums and disorient him. However, that was not the only effect that the screech had.


    ROOOAAAARRR!!!


    Every infected in the area of five hundred meters roared at the same time which shook the whole battlefield. The eyes of the infected turned red and started to glow despite the light of the sun in the noon time. At the same time, the bodies of the Biters and Eaters in the area seemed to have a physical boost as their muscles bloated slightly. After their earthshaking scream, the infected rushed ones more towards the defense line in a more aggressive fashion.


    The change in the battlefield severely affected the defensive forces of the settlement. It was a simr effect of being a foot soldier in a medieval war and seeing a whole battalion of a cavalry forces charging towards their troops. The momentum of the defensive forces shrunk to an rming degree and the first line of defense was starting to get pushed back.


    Worried about Amihan and Ka, Mark who escaped the brunt of the screech propelled himself up the sky to see the situation in the experiment site. Fortunately, they were still able to handle their area since a lot of buildings prevented the infected from swarming their location. He could also see that Amihan had started to help. Since the soldiers already had more than they could handle, it seemed that Amihan became more considerate and started hurling some of the lighter bodied infected towards the sea in exchange for more effort due to the distance.


    Mark felt that it was not the time to be concealing everything and decided to show a bit more. He remaining part of the [Defier] from his back and held it in his left hand and returned the [Slicer] for a bit. He then activated the [PsyCrystal] and released the [Lightning Mental Crystal] and put the crystal on an indent at the centerpiece of the [Defier].


    Vanishing from the sky, Mark charged back at the strange group of infected and aimed the centerpiece on his hand. With a click, the inneryers opened and the hundred holes of the needleunchers were exposed. At the same time, the [Lightning Mental Crystal] started to glow with hismand.


    Mark fired all three volleys of the needles consecutively and at the third volley, lightning sparks apanied the needles.


    CRACK! CRACK!


    Electricity at the voltage on a lightning strike waved through the needles and nketed the infected. A lot of the infected whether they belonged to the group or not were electrified and their bodies shook severely. The horrid smell of burning hair and flesh was sickening but Mark could not care about it. He wanted to kill these infected as soon as possible.


    Many were affected by his attack but there seemed to be those that had resistance to electricity and managed to survive. Still, Mark''s eyes became affixed on a certain infected that was exposed after most of the infected in the group died and fell down. It was a girl about ten years old and she was exactly at the very center of the group. She did not seem to be a mutated infected which made it even stranger for her to be in this group.


    The infected girl saw him falling from the sky and screamed. It was not an attack but a scream of pain. Soon, the reason why these infected were very well coordinated came out. A maggot burst out of the girl''s right eye. At the same time, maggots burst out of different parts of the bodies of the remaining mutated infected among the group.


    "To think that it''s because of parasites."


    Mark murmured.

 Chapter 239 End Of Battle, Repelling The Horde From The Port Of Real Settlement

    <strong>Day 36 ¨C 12:51 PM ¨C Settlement Defensive Wall, Port of Real Settlement, Barangay Ungos, Real, Quezon</strong>


    "General! The center of the first defense line is copsing! Lieutenant Vargas is requesting to fall back to the second defense line!"


    "General! The northern side and the southern side of the first defense line can still hold on! If the center falls back, there will be a hole on the defense of the both sides!"


    Reports came in one by one. Due the sudden change with the behavior of the infected after that deafening roar, the main defense line started to copse. However, once the central defense retreated, the other defensive lines that were able to hold on would be prone to danger from the opening the central defense abandoned.


    General Faustino came into a quick decision.


    "Retreat the whole defense line to the second point. Although it will likely implicate those that were still able to hold their positions, we can''t just make one side retreat and leave the others. Understand!"


    "Sir! Yes, Sir!"


    After giving his orders, General Faustino turned to the monitoring personnel.


    "Had anyone found out the reason the infected became stronger and more aggressive?"


    Unexpectedly, the reply came from the side of the scientists.


    "Sir, the cause was within the strange group of mutated infected that Mr. Mark is fighting."


    "That''s¡­ How is Mark?"


    "Sir, he''s safe. Rather, he almost annihted the group already. But there seem to be something strange going on."


    The words of the scientist in front of the monitor took the attention of everyone and they all crowed behind him to see the situation. They were all surprised when they saw the site of the battle were a lot of mutated infectedid down in the middle of the road with scorched bodies. However, the most surprising thing was that the remaining mutated infected in the group had disgusting wriggling maggot like worms about the size of a child''s arm wriggling on different parts of their bodies.


    ***


    "Parasites."


    Mark frowned. Their existence made how the infected were able to coordinate with each other rather reasonable but the method these parasitesmunicated was still a huge wonder.


    Furthermore, these were not normal infected parasites but parasites that were never seen before the outbreak. In other words, these were new species of parasites.


    The parasites looked like oversized maggots to some extent but their bodies were longer in proportion and hadrge red heads like arva of a beetle. And the strangest one was the parasite on the infected girl. It had a red crown like a rooster''s on its head. Without a doubt, it was the queen of these parasites.


    Mark vanished from the top of the electric post he stood on and charged towards the infected girl intending to kill her. Since this girl was able to survive the electric attack he used to kill the others, he did not bother to use it again. Rather, it was better not to use it on the girl since even though her tattered clothes were burnt at many parts revealing her childish body, her skin was not damaged at all. Even though she looked like a normal Biter, for sure, she was not either.


    Mark appeared in front of the girl already in a shing motion. Unexpectedly, the girl jumped back evading the attack. As she evade Mark''s attack, the remaining mutated infected on the group also jumped in to attack Mark.


    Different attacksnded on Mark''s position. There were acid spits, a flying spike, a punch and even an infected swiping its ws. Unfortunately for them, Mark had already vanished from the spot.


    Mark appeared behind the girl and shed her once more but she still managed to dodge. The other infected that already managed to recover from their first attacks attacked Mark once more but as usual, he vanished before any of their attacks hit.


    He appeared in the air frowning. For sure, the movements and coordination of these infected became faster and stronger. Not only that, but the infected girl was able to react to his appearance and attacks. It the same circumstances with the fused infected when he recovered his empathic ability.


    While the fused infected entered his mind, he came to a realization. The fused infected was able to react to his attacks due to the fact that it had six pairs of eyes on its body not including the baby inside the fused infected. This time, who knew how many eyes, did these parasites had including the eyes of their hosts. Not to mention that they seem to have a certain method ofmunication and if one of them were able to see Mark, all of them would immediately know and react ordingly.


    Troublesome¡­


    Mark did not want to reveal this one but he had no choice. He had already put the centerpiece of the [Defier] back and made the [Lightning Mental Crystal] return before taking out the [Photokinesis Mental Crystal] this time.


    Then, the crystal glowed and Mark vanished from everyone''s sight as he fell. Different from his movements before, there was no ck mist this time which made not only the infected but the watching drones unable to react.


    [Optical Camouge], by bending the light around and preventing it from hitting his body, his figure was not reflected towards the lens of both the eyes of the infected and the camera mounted on the drone. It was the technique Alderick used to try and kill Mark back at the temporary settlement in Queens Row Elementary School, an ability that those with high level Photokinesis could use.<sub> </sub>


    Mark expected the infected to be lost as their target vanished from their sight but he was mistaken. When Mark vanished, all the remaining mutated infected of the group encircled the infected girl and protected her. Even though these parasites seemed to be infected, they were smart. Or rather, the queen was smart and was able tomand her subordinates with great efficiency.


    The infected girl was defended and it was like a turtle shell. Some of the infected climbed over the others and created a mound of mutated infected with the infected girl in the very bottom. Since he was not able to attack the infected girl with the defense they were disying, Mark started attacking the other infected trying to whittle their formation


    Both the camera on the drone and the infected could not see anyone attacking but they could see some of the infected had their heads decapitated and flying off while spurting blood. Since there were parts that the heads and necks of the infected could not be attacked, arms and legs also started flying off from the group sttering blood everywhere.


    They could not see the enemy but they were dying one by one. The mutated infected made their defense even tighter trying to protect their queen. Although it might not be the case, their movements disyed the queen''s anxiousness.


    Mark on the other hand did something else while he killed the mutated infected one by one and it was to kill the escaping maggots on the ground. It would not be good if these parasites escaped and found another host and create disturbance once more.


    Soon, the queen was already in a state of danger and they still could not see the enemy. It was then that all of the remaining parasites spit out spider web like threads which immediately covered their mound and bolstered their defense.


    Mark tried to cut threads and managed to do so but he could feel that if he did this on the thicker parts, his des would likely get stuck due to the stickiness of the threads.


    It seemed that these infected were ying a game of attrition, or what Mark had thought but he was mistaken. About a minuteter as he repeatedly tried to cut the threads, the mound shook and the thread split up by itself. It revealed the infected girl that now had three pairs of fly like wings on its back and the queen parasite could not be seen anymore and only the hollow eye socket of the girl was left.


    Creating a loud buzz with her wings, the infected girl flew up in fast speed. She looked at the mound for a second and turned away. There was no doubt, she was trying to escape.


    Even if no one could see, Mark frowned and he activated his [Shadow Mist Movement] and tried to chase. However, just like how a fly moved fast while flying, she flew in a very fast speed that even Mark''s ability could not chase.


    Without any other choice, Mark cancelled his [Optical Camouge] and appeared midair with his hands outstretched forward and his palms ced side by side facing the direction the queen was escaping. He could not let that infected escape. It was unfortunate that only one abililty could be used from the [Mental Crystals] in every instance and he needed to cancel the first one to use the other.


    The [Photokinesis Mental Crystal] floated in front of his palm and started glowing with a blinding light that everyone in the settlement could see from the distance. The striking sunlight in the middle of noon further enhanced the light converging on Mark''s hands.


    Ignoring everything, the infected girl continued to fly away oblivious to what was happening about a hundred meters behind her.


    SHOOOOOM!!!


    With a shockwave like sound that echoed across the battlefield, a beam of light about a foot in diameter fired off from Mark''s palms. With a speed of light, it immediately caught up behind the girl. The girl managed to hear the sudden sound and reacted and managed to survive but all her wings were destroyed and even her skin was severely burned.


    Without the support of her wings to fly, she fell from the sky.


    After Mark fired off his [Photon Cannon], he vanished into ck mist and chased the already falling infected girl. Even though he needed to activate his movement ability several times due to the short distance of the subspace he could travel at a time, he still managed to reach the ce where the infected girl fell.


    Falling from that height, Mark was not surprised that her body was a mangled mess. Her head was split open and her arms and legs were bent on unsightly angles. Even her spine seemed to be dislocated. The infected girl''s stomach was bulging however.


    SPLAT!


    The bulge burst open revealing a beautiful red colored insect with two pairs of fly wings, a pair of yellowpound eyes, a butterfly''s proboscis and a dragonfly''s tail about the size of a new born baby appeared and flew trying to escape.


    However, it was not able to. Mark had already sent out his [Blood Whips] and constricted the parasite. The [Blood Whip] then formed a screen cage and metalized imprisoning the parasite within. The infected parasite bumped at the metal screen several times in attempt to escape but it was impossible.


    With the caught parasite queen on his hand, he returned to the remaining infected of the group but was surprised. The mound covered with sticky thread was still there with the mutated infected inside. He entered the opening without fear and found that all the parasites inside were dead along with their hosts. Looking at the queen that changed its appearance rather fast, it was likely that the parasites sacrificed themselves to give the queen a chance to escape.


    Without the leaders of the horde, the coordination of the horde crumbled. They were nothing but arge group of overly aggressive infected now. With the firepower of the settlement, they soon managed to whittle away their numbers and maintain their remaining defense line.


    With his job done, Mark returned to the experiment site and found that Ka was already moving slower than before and the glow on her eyes were weaker. It seemed that she had already consumed her energy due to her relentless fighting.


    Amihan was also tired, the quantity of infected she blew away was a considerablyrge number.


    With her being weakened, Mark managed to drag Ka out of the battlefield and the experiment finally ended. Leaving the assistance troops to continue on defense against the remaining infected, Mark decided to walk back into the settlement with Major Bautista and Joash who also looked considerably tired.


    Mark on the other hand that did the dangerous battle in the middle of the horde did not even have a single drop of sweat on his body.


    Another hour passed on a continuous gunfire and bloodshed, the horde was repelled and the settlement was safe once more. There were casualties both among the soldiers and the hired troops of Mutators and Evolvers but that could not be helped. It was a part of their duties and theirrades could not nothing but mourn for their lost lives.

 Chapter 240 The Aftermath Of The Battle, Suddenly Meeting A Person He Knew Before

    <strong>Day 36 ¨C 2:15 PM ¨C Port of Real Settlement, Barangay Ungos, Real, Quezon</strong>


    The looming danger on the settlement had passed and the joint forces of the military and the private survivor groups of the settlement seeded in defending the settlement. There were casualties but this was inevitable. Everyone was aware of the danger every time they confronted the infected and deaths were expected. Due to the circumstances this time, the military would awardpensation to the families, rtives or teammates of the people that died. After all, they died to protect the settlement.


    However, there would be no funeral wake or burial for the deceased. That thing was a total luxury at this time of chaos. The dead bodies will be cremated either joined or separately and the most that the people the dead left could do was to gather together as they spread the ashes over the sea. As for keeping the ashes, only a few would do so. Most people here had no permanent houses and only lived at the ces designated for refugees. They did not even have anywhere to store their food securely not to mention the ashes of the dead. In the time of crisis, just keeping a small memento from the dead would do.


    Even if the settlement was already out of danger and the intense battle against the horde was finished, the work of the joint forces still had not ended. Most of them moved around the area of battle securing that there were not a single infected from the horde that managed to escape and loiter around the area. Different from the previous circumstances however, the people were more cautious this time. It was because of the existence of the parasites that appeared and the possibility of the parasites taking humans as hosts.


    Not known to them, Mark had already taken thest parasite from the horde and the rest were all dead from the battle. Most of them died from thebination attack of needles and electricity while the remaining sacrificed themselves to enable their queen to escape.


    While there were people searching for the parasites and possibly remaining infected in the area, there were those that were bashing the heads of the bodies of the mutated infected open and searching their brains for something. Most of the people searching were from the groups of Evolvers and Mutators. If Mark was still here, he would surely know what they were searching for, the ck pebbles on the heads of some of the mutated infected.


    Normally, no one would do such grotesque work of rummaging around brains of former human beings but they had to. After all, the pebbles that the scientists called [Mutagen Stone] were highly sought by the military and could fetch a good price due to its rarity. No one knew why the military wanted these stones but no one cared too much for the reason as long as they could exchange the stones for a good amount of weapons, food or credits.


    Unfortunately, the people searching in this horde were bound to be frustratedter on. It was because among the more than five hundred mutated infected among the thousands of infected, they would only be able to find a very little amount of the [Mutagen Stone].


    There were several reasons to this. One was because most of the infected with stones belonged to the mutated infected that hosted the parasites and were already taken away by Mark. The second reason was since the leader of this horde was parasites rather than a highly advanced mutated infected, they were not able tomand too many infected with [Mutagen Stones]. It was because most of those that had one were advanced mutated infected. Unfortunately for these parasites, their number was small to be able to host every single advanced mutated infected they encountered.


    ***


    Mark was currently eating his lunch with Amihan inside a room in theboratory. This room was not his room but a private room Karlene always used during her recovery from her berserk periods. While Mark and Amihan ate, Karlene was sleeping on the bed patient''s bed inside the room. Even though there was a bunch of monitoring apparatus inside the room, they were not turned on since Karlene was just asleep.


    Yes, this time, it was Karlene and not Ka.


    After the battle, Ka fell into a sleep state after consuming all her energy fighting the infected. Her appearance reverted into normal which was Karlene although she would not wake up for some time. The reason was still unknown to the scientists. Even though Ka could wake up instantly, it was different if the one toe out was Karlene.


    The scientists could not tell the reason but Mark perfectly knew why. One reason was because Ka''s existence could drain the energy in Karlene''s body every time she manifests which Karlene needed to recover before she could wake up. The other reason was because the shifting dominance with the two consciousness. Even though Karlene was the original consciousness, her consciousness was weakerpared to Ka and it was harder for her to gain dominance over her body. It was quite ironic but considering that she was a normal human consciousness and the other was a consciousness of a Mutator, it was reasonable.


    It would be a different case if it was just an issue of dual identity with a single consciousness but the two of them were different consciousness in a single body which caused the friction about the dominance with the body.


    And the reason Mark knew all of this was because he was a host of another consciousness before and because of Freed''s memories he inherited. It was just in Mark and Freed''s case, Mark remained dominant due to the fact that he was an empath. If not, Freed would be able to take over his body anytime without consequences.


    At the floor of the room, six [BloodChildren] were ying. The three he had just received had already recovered at the same state as crimson although they still could not move like Crimson and Oracle. It was also the same for Ivy and the four could only move around by dragging their bodies on the floor. Still, their slow movements did not stop them from ying around like normal children although if their ages were considered, all of them were total infants.


    As for the caught parasite queen, it was still in the cage beside Mark. Although it was not crashing its body on the screen of the cage anymore, it was still circling around the cage finding a way to escape. If not for the fact that Mark could not sense a consciousness on the parasite queen, he would likely think that it was an evolved insect rather than an infected one due to its disy of intelligence.


    Professor Suzuki tried to ask Mark for the infected queen but of course, Mark shut it down. He was the one who caught this and he was also interested in this one not to mention that it was not the first time he kept an infected with him. There was also Jte who was with Mei and the others right now.


    Suddenly, there seemed to be amotion outside the door and the door was opened. Mark nced at the opened door and saw Joash along with two people. Of course, Mark knew them, na and Tyson. They were the two injured friends of Karlene and Joash. While the battle against the horde was ongoing, these two had already gained consciousness. Still, their injuries were not fully healed. na had her head bandaged while Tyson had and orthopedic cast on his arm and obviously needed time to fully heal his dislocated arm.


    ? Mark ignored them and continued eating, obviously, these people came for Karlene. Furthermore, Mark was not really interested in them especially as people that worked in local showbiz. A shut-in Otaku like him would likely not mix in with Riajuus.


    However, although Joash was somehow getting used to him, the two could not ignore the things inside the room. A stranger, a fairy, an oversized insect and six slimes, of course, no one would be able to ignore a scene like that inside the recuperating room of your friend.


    Furthermore, na and Tyson had already been informed that his person was the one who saved them from the ouws. Aside from wanting to thank him, they also were a little interested in the person that helped them. When the two saw that Karlene was still asleep, the two turned to Mark.


    "Excuse me."


    na was the first to speak.<sub> </sub>


    "What is it?"


    Mark turned his head slightly to see na and asked.


    However, na suddenly had a strange expression after seeing Mark''s face. Although she immediately hid it before she spoke once more, Mark still noticed it.


    "We heard that you helped us at the highway. Thank you."


    "Bro, thanks for helping us."


    Tyson added.


    "Don''t thank me. You guys are just lucky that I needed information."


    It was his usual reply and turned back to eating. Seeing na''s expression and being addressed as bro gave Mark a bad impression on the two. The woman seemed to have an issue with his below average face while the man was rather feeling close to call him Bro.


    Seeing that he did not want to talk, the two left him alone with strange expressions but did not voice anything negative. They went beside Karlene''s bed and surrounded her. Still, for some reason, na was ncing at Mark while thinking about something. It was like as if she was trying to remember something.


    "AHHH!!!"


    SLAM!


    na''s shout surprised everyone inside the room aside from Mark that did not even react at all. Furthermore, she suddenly stood up making her chair m down on the floor.


    Ignoring the surprised faces of Joash and Tyson, na suddenly approached Mark.


    "I remember now! You''re Mark, right! We''ve met several times before!"


    This time, not only Joash and Tyson was dumbfounded, even Mark was the same. He started to think if this woman was right in the head or needed to be sent to some mental institution. After being a shut-in, Mark rarely came out without reason. In a month, he would onlye out to pay his house bills or if he needed to urgently buy something. The only exceptions were when he was givenmissions for making cosy props which gave him a good amount of ie for his expenses.


    It was even more impossible for Mark to meet an actress like her. Mark was not that much familiar with local actors and actresses but as he was already informed, he finally remembered seeing Karlene, Joash, na and Tyson in some passing online articles and local video rmendations given to him by the mainstream video hosting site. He knew that he never met her before with her appearance.


    Seeing the confusion in Mark''s face, na went back beside Karlene''s bed and rummaged on the bag she had brought. Joash and Tyson watched in confusion about what in the world was na doing when she took out a worn out baseball cap, a pair of sunsses and a white face mask and wore them while letting her waist length hair dangle out of the cap. She had a difficulty wearing the cap due to her head wound and bandage and seemed that it hurt a bit but she still insisted.


    Wearing those things on her head, she turned at Mark.


    "Remember me now?"


    "HAH?"


    Mark stared at her appearance wide eyed and let out an uncharacteristically odd voice. His surprise had even overridden his nk emotions due to his trait of being a Mutator.


    Seeing Mark''s reaction, na smiled with glee. It seemed that she also never thought that she would meet someone she knew too suddenly. Her reaction upon seeing Mark''s face was not because she had issues with his appearance but rather, he looked too familiar to her.


    It was really a twist of fate. To think that the two actually knew each other and that they would meet this way after more than a year of not seeing each other.

 Chapter 241 Contact, Alanas Background And Finally Hearing The Voices He Longed To Hear

    <strong>Day 36 ¨C 2:30 PM ¨C Laboratory, Port of Real Settlement, Barangay Ungos, Real, Quezon</strong>


    Seeing an acquaintance for the first time after the outbreak started, na was in glee. Ignoring the confused reactions of Joash and Tyson, she pulled her chair away from Karlene''s bed and sat beside the table Mark was using as he ate his lunch. She started asking about things but she was also careful not to ask overly personal things. Although she knew Mark and thetter also knew her, they were not really that close. Still, their rtion was more than just acquaintances either due to several reasons.


    Although Mark did not really want to talk too much, he could not ignore na and answered her questions patiently as long as he could answer the question without issues.


    ***


    Back when Mark was still in college, the otaku industry in the Philippines was still in its infancy. Otaku and cosy conventions were rarely happened with an interval of several months. The best thing about this was that the conventions were only filled with true Otakus. People who had passion for this culture and some of them expressed themselves through cosying.


    In terms of essence, role ying, quality and creativity, cosyers back then could be called "genuine".


    ? After years however, the culture flourished and conventions happened almost every month. More and more people attended the events that it became too crowded. Yes, it flourished. However, the culture also deteriorated in terms of its soul.


    Among all the people attending the events, even less than a quarter were true Otakus at heart. The majority were those that came for different reasons. Posers, weaboos and even perverts started attending conventions. Weaboos were still eptable but the attitude of most of them was a turn off. They behaved and treated themselves as true Otakus even in front of the true veterans.


    There was also the deterioration among the new cosyers. The essence of cosying was gone. There was no role ying and it was as if they just wore costumes to empress others. In a sense, fast food mascots were better than them in his regard. Not to mention the circumstances where several cosyers stepped to stardom and appeared on television and other media, a lot of aspirators flocked in conventions to try their luck and raise their fame through social media.


    Many of the true Otakus and veteran cosyers stoppeding to conventions due to these reasons and only participated in the events if there was something special going on.


    Fortunately, there were still those that kept the essence of cosying from the new cosyers and a certain girl was among them. Her cosying was top notch. Not only her hand made costume was high quality and her weapon props being functional but she could carry herself well while wearing her costume. She also acted well in portraying the character she was cosying.


    Strangely however, she only wore costumes of characters wearing masks and never showed her face. It made her stand out from the others that gathered fame by showing their faces. Not to mention that even though she had a social media page, she still never showed her face. All the people that saw her cosys only knew her by the name Mizuki but never knew her real identity.


    Unknown to everyone, aside from the clothes, the weapons she had were made by Mark.


    It all started when Mark decided to be a shut in after the kidnapping incident with Mei. Without work to do and as he waited for the replies on the online applications he made, Mark decided to create a few things to pass the boring days when he was not watching anime, reading novels and manga and not ying video games. Since his father had power tools left at home, he only procured the materials cheaply from a junk shop.


    Since Mark was a rather creative person and inspired by being an Otaku, his work ended up better than he thought. Who knows what had gotten into his mind but he took pictures of the functional weapon he made using metal pipes, rubber sheets and metal scraps and posted it in a Otaku group online that he was a member of. He was mostly a lurker in that group and rarely posted so the other members were also not that familiar with him. Fortunately, his creation gained a positive feedback.


    Unexpectedly, he received a personal message and it was from Mizuki who asked if he could make her a prop for her next cosy and she would pay for it. Who knew that Mizuki was also a lurker in that group he was in. Since Mark had no work and needed money, he epted it. After a month, he met Mizuki in a mall to hand over the weapon prop and she was wearing a baseball cap, a pair of sunsses and a face mask. Mark was not surprised with it as Mizuki was a known cosyer for not showing her face.


    Mizuki was very satisfied with Mark''s work and even gave more than the amount they agreed on. After that, she became a constant client for Mark''s work and they would meet every two months for themission. Other requests for the prop work came from other cosyers and apparently, Mizuki referred Mark to them for his props.


    In a sense, Mizuki was a lifesaver. Even after Marknded on his online frence work, the work was unstable and such, Mark needed to scrape by and save as much as possible. What Mizuki did gave him enough earnings to manage his monthly bills. Although their transactions stopped about a year before due to Mizuki being busy, she would still contact from time to time asking formissions for her friends.


    Who would expect that the masked cosyer, Mizuki, was actually the popr actress, na Garces? She really hid herself very well. No wonder why Mizuki was very good at acting in character. Still, her passion for cosying was real for sure. If she revealed that she was a cosyer, na would have gained more poprity in both fields for sure but she never did.


    ***


    "I really want to watch anime right now but I left my copies at home and I lost myptop when we escaped. I tried finding even pirated copies before but I really can''t find any in this ce."


    na said with drooping shoulders. Mark did not reply to this however. If she knew that Mark managed to secure a lot of anime series before the inte went down, she would surely pester him.


    While na talked to Mark one-sidedly, a knock was heard from the door and it slowly opened. There was a female soldier outside and she was looking at Mark. She entered and saluted at Mark with respect. For sure, she saw what happened at the battlefield before. Mark also remembered her. She was Master Sergeant Meia Delina, one of General Faustino''s guards.


    "Sir Mark, the transceiver is ready. The other side is also informed and you can contact them anytime. General is stillmanding our forces at the wall so he sent me to escort you to the headquarters."


    Mark turned to na.


    "You heard her. I have to go."


    "Yeah. You''re going to return here right?"


    At that question, Mark nced at Karlene before he replied.


    "I guess so."


    After returning the [BloodChildren] in their containers and putting them inside the bag, Mark picked up the cage and followed the Master Sergeant out of the room.


    When Mark was finally gone, Joash could not maintain his silence anymore.


    "na, you really know that guy?"


    "Of course I do! He''s really someone amazing!"


    Joash and Tyson were taken aback from na''s enthusiasm that they had not witnessed before.


    "Look at this!"


    na rummaged in her bag once more and took out a pistol shaped item but it also looked like a card holder. It was a weapon of a certain rider that was travelling around different worlds. The one in na''s hand looked no different from the real one. She then pulled the handle and a part of the card holder sprung up and extended. The gun turned into a sword.


    After waving the sword, na turned it into a gun once more and aimed at the wall.


    PANG!


    A stic pellet hit the wall and rolled on the floor.


    "He made this!"


    ***<sub> </sub>


    Mark went out of theboratory and entered the Humvee prepared to bring him to the headquarters which was on the other side of the port nearer to the entrance of the military section of the settlement.


    Normally, Mark would feel nothing but now, he was somehow troubled. He was also slightly nervous. It was a feeling he felt for the first time in a very long time. Before, he did not really think of anything but now that the opportunity to contact Mei and his daughters, he did not know what to say to them.


    Looking outside the window, Mark sighed. In this case, he would just speak like normal and respond to their questions.


    Arriving at the headquarters, he was brought into a private room. It seemed to be an office used in meetings. This time however, the transceiver directly in contact with the Bay City was set up on a table. It was one of Mark''s requests which were granted by the general. Mark did not really like to talk on phones as much as possible and he looked awkward due to that. It would not be good if he was seen like that by other people.


    After Meia taught him how to operate the transceiver, she excused herself and went out of the room.


    "My Lord, you''re nervous?"


    Amihan suddenly asked and Mark did not deny it.


    "A little."


    "Then it means you really care for them! It will be fine!"


    Amihan smiled and assured Mark. Somehow, that lightened his feelings a bit.


    He wore the headset on the table and picked up the mouthpiece. Finally, he turned on the connection.


    "Hello? Anyone there?"


    What an awkward greeting. Mark also knew but it could not be helped. He expected that there would be soldiers on the other side. Unexpectedly, what he heard was a gentle soothing voice of someone on the verge of crying.


    "Gege?"


    There was only one girl who would call him like this. Unknowingly, Mark rxed and he let out a gentle smile that even Amihan was surprised to see.


    "Mei''er."


    "Gege, it''s really you right?"


    Mei''s voice was a little shaky.


    "Is there any other me around?"


    The other side went silent. Mark also did not speak. He could hear faint sobbing on his ears but he just patiently waited.


    "Master?"


    It was Odelina''s voice this time.


    "Odel, is Mei''er fine?"


    "Master, thank god you''re safe. We are really worried. The young miss is fine but she crying right now, so, she can''t speak. Please don''t worry. She is just happy and relieved."


    Odelina''s voice was also a bit shaky, however, her state was much better than Mei and she was still able to hold herself back.


    "I want to talk to Papa. Aunt Odel, let me!"


    Mark could hear a childish voice trying to interrupt Odelina.


    "Uhm, Master, here is Gale."


    "Papa, hello?!"


    As usual, her voice was rather calm although there was a tint of emotions this time.


    "Gale, how are you, your Mama and your sister?"


    "Papa! We''re good! Uhm¡­ We''re Okay! Papa, when are youing back? We really miss you¡­"


    CLICK!


    Who knows where that click exactly came from, but Mark was sure that it was inside him.


    ''We really miss you.''


    It was a sentence that no one had ever said to Mark before. The little girl''s innocent feelings clicked something inside Mark and his body shivered.


    Amihan stared wide eyed at her Lord as he forced his reply.


    "I miss all of you too."


    Water drops fell on the floor of the meeting room. It seemed like the roof of the headquarters was leaking.

 Chapter 242 A Public Meeting, Problems That Popped Up Due To Marks Display Of His Abilties

    <strong>Day 36 ¨C 2:47 PM ¨C Meeting Room, Military Headquarters, Port of Real Settlement, Barangay Ungos, Real, Quezon</strong>


    Amihan flew beside Mark''s face and patted his head gently. Although she was surprised, since it was the first time that she saw Mark actually showed such expressions on his face, she was also relieved. At least, she knew that she did not choose the wrong person to apany. This was how he valued the people important to him and for sure, she was among them.


    Family, a word very important to Mark especially since his real family could be described as a wreck. His family was a not expressive one. To say, there were no morning greetings, night greetings and even apologies and words of gratitude were rare in his family. Not to mention the words of affection and love. Furthermore, each of the members had a fatal trait which was something that pushed him further and further away from them.


    His father was close minded and self-centered, his mother was not working on her duties as a mother and a parent, his younger brother who waszy and was like a cat that would snarl and scratch at the slightest misstep and his youngest brother was a spoiled brat. If there was better in his family, it was his younger sister who also had ws but was still within an eptable range.


    Thus, he really never felt the warmth of a family even though he had one. Although it was bad to say, his life even became peaceful after they left.


    He now had a family of his own. With what it was going, it seemed that it would end up as his ideal one. Because of that, he could not help but feel the desire to meet them as soon as possible. Still, he had things to do. For now, just being able to hear their voices gave him the joy and motivation he needed.


    Ignoring the time, the Mark and Mei started to talk and narrated their experiences after Mark separated from them. Still, even though Mark had nothing to hide from Mei and Odelina, he hid a lot of details and it seemed that Mei and Odelina also understood the reason. They were currently using a military frequency tomunicate and the possibility of being wiretapped was very high.


    Still, it did not hinder both sides from enjoying the talk but Mark was scolded when he narrated the events that happened after he lured away the stone d woman and the frog headed infected. Mei said that he was too careless but Mark dly epted her scolding.


    When Mei told their experiences in the settlement, he felt proud that they were also getting stronger and a bit sad that he was not there to watch them improve. Hearing that they were experiencing some harassment and annoying people were repeatedly trying to recruit them, Mark felt angry. Still, he was d that General Perez and his entourage did not shirk their promise and took care of Mei and the others.


    It was a nice time but a problem came up however.


    "By the way, where''s I."


    Mark asked. The time Mark spent with her was not even a whole day so he understood if she was not as enthusiastic as Mei and Gale but it was bad if he neglected to talk to her.


    "Gege, wait, she''s here."


    When the little girl spoke however¡­


    "Uhm, You Majest-¡­ Uhm, not that¡­ Papa?"


    Mark sighed hearing that. For sure, I was suffering from identity problems. Her first address even though she immediately cut it off was for sure, the address Keeper used when greeting Freed.


    It was not new to him that I was the inheritor of Keeper since Freed mentioned it before. I inheriting Keeper''s powers and part of her memories was not the problem. The problem was the timing that she woke up the memories and it was when she lost her own. Without I''s past memories, it was as if she received Keeper''s memories as a recement. Although she knew that she was not Keeper, it would still cause confusion like what happened just now.


    "I, are you having trouble with your memories?"


    Mark asked and I on the other side seemed to hesitate before she replied.


    "Uhm, yes."


    "Then, just wait a little more. When I return, I''ll try to fix that."


    "Yes¡­"


    ***


    Half hour, one hour, one and a half hour¡­


    This was the longest time Mark had spoken with someone on amunication device. Normally, he stayed away from this since he could not judge what the other side was exactly feeling and thinking but this was different this time. Mei would not hide anything from him and he was sure of that even if he had to bet his life.


    Still, the good times had to end soon. Not only that they were using a military frequency and equipment but both sides had things to do. Even if they wanted to spend more time talking, they could not. At least, the farewell this time was not a bad one.


    "Gege, we''ll be waiting for your return."


    "Papa, bye bye!"


    "Uhm, Papa, bye."


    "Master, rest assured. I''ll take care of everyone."


    "All of you take care of yourselves. Wait for me, it won''t be long."


    ***


    Mark tidied up the equipment and stood up to leave the room. This time, he felt lighter not just his body but also his mind.


    "You really took your time, huh."


    Someone spoke after Mark went out of the room. He already knew that there was someone waiting for him outside but he still ignored it, after all, the guy outside was someone really annoying, the Mercenary, Jones Galley.


    "It''s not like I''m given a time limit right?"


    Jones scratched his head. Although that was true, it was very unlikely for someone else other than Mark to think of hogging a militarymunication line for almost two hours for private use.


    "By the way, why are you here in the first ce?"


    "Hah, do you really hate me that much? It sounds like you don''t want to see me."


    Jones droop his shoulders as if he was crestfallen. However Mark just stared at him with a cold gaze. It was just an act. Mark would not fell for it.


    Seeing Mark''s gaze, Jones stopped acting.


    "Alright, alright. The Old man told me to fetch you since there''s going to be a meeting. The military officers and the private groups that joined the defense against the horde earlier are invited. Of course, you''re included."<sub> </sub>


    "Then, count me out."


    Mark started walking tracing back the way he took when he arrived here. Of course, Jones hurried to catch up.


    "Wait! You really need to attend this."


    "And why?"


    Mark asked but he did not stop walking.


    "The general needs you at the meeting. Since many people saw your disy in the middle of the horde, they are thinking that we are hiding someone powerful but we neglected to help the people fighting in the front lines. They are saying that due to that, many died."


    "That''s not really my problem. I''m just hired to do help with Karlene and do something about the strange group of mutated infected, not to babysit people."


    "We know that but most of them won''t believe if you''re not at the meeting. At least, we need you to confirm our statement."


    "Still not my problem."


    Jones became troubled. He decided to draw his trump card.


    "That red lizard in theboratory. The old man thinks that you might want it since you seemed to have interests in strange creatures and animals. If you attend the meeting, along with your contribution in the horde, the old man will agree if you want it."


    Mark finally stopped walking and turned to Jones.


    "That''s still not enough."


    Jones became troubled once more.


    "What else do you want?"


    "That Regeneration Medicine. As many vials as possible."


    Scratching his head, Jones sighed.


    "I can''t decide that one. Let''s go to the meeting and ask the old man."


    Finally, Mark nodded. With Jones in the lead, Mark went out of the headquarters and entered the Humvee prepared outside.


    ***


    <strong>Day 36 ¨C 4:39 PM ¨C Ungos National High School, Port of Real Settlement, Barangay Ungos, Real, Quezon</strong>


    It was one of thergestndmarks in this settlement, the Ungos National Highschool.


    Although most of the rooms in the school were being used as dwellings for the refugees, there were several areas dedicated to different activities. One of such areas was the trade post where survivors and refugees could trade things not only to the military but to other people. There was also the request boards were the people could post things from looking for an item to searching for people. Still, most of them were free requests for people with big hearts as most refugees would not be able to pay anything with their miniscule amount of belongings. This was one of the ces the people who earn credits in the settlement could spend theirs.


    Right at this moment, the school''s open multipurpose hall was filled with people who had also drawn the attention of the refugees living in the school. There were a lot of soldiers so the refugees did not create much ruckus but it was different from those inside the hall. The people seemed to have a very impatient mood at this moment for some reason.


    The refugees outside the hall could recognize some of the people inside. After all, being stronger and being able to fight the infected would surely attract such poprity and impression from themon popce in the time of the apocalypse. To say, many refugees knew about the Mutators and Evolvers in this settlement.


    The general and the officers of the military together with Professor Suzuki and his assistants sat in front of the hall with troubled faces. Since the start of the meeting had been dyed already for almost an hour, it was normal for these people to be impatient. However, they could not do anything since they were waiting for someone.


    "General, shouldn''t we start already?"


    Captain Garcia whispered to General Faustino.


    The general looked at the captain before he panned his eyes towards the people who were getting impatient and could not help sigh. Although these people were still behaving since the leading figures of the military were here, it was still bad in a sense if this continued.


    He had already sent Jones to fetch Mark who should be currentlymunicating with his group in Bay City. Since he saw Mark''s behavior, it was not hard for him judge that Mark was not the type of person that would attend this kinds of troublesome matters. As such, he prepared a few conditions that Mark would likely ept. Still, he could not believe that Mark was taking too long in that room. Jones had already contacted him through the radio and Mark was still not done.


    However, they could not dy the meeting anymore.


    "Captain, you start the meeting."


    "Yes sir."


    Captain Garcia stood up and went to the front.


    Seeing that someone finally stood up, the people realized that the meeting finally started. Some of them finally felt relieved but there were still those that were giving the soldiers and officers in front some hard looks. Still, everyone went silent. If they did not, the meeting would get dyed even more.


    "Everyone, good afternoon." Captain Garcia spoke on the prepared microphone. "I apologize if the start of the meeting was dyed since we were waiting for someone but the person was still in the middle of his personal matters so we will proceed with other matters first."


    Hearing the starting lines of Captain Garcia, General Faustino nodded. Although it might give some bad reactions, they needed a legitimate reason for the dy. Furthermore, it was the truth in the first ce.


    The meeting started and the information about the horde was disclosed. The parasites which were the cause of therge number of infected in that horde became a hot debate not only among the Mutators and Evolvers but also among the refugees watching.


    Following the information about the horde, the military disclosed the measures they thought of against the possible attacks in the future and received the feedback of the people in the meeting.


    The meeting proceeded as normal and half hour after the meeting started, Mark finally arrived with Jones in the lead.

 Chapter 243 Standing In Front, Uncovering The Hidden Plot In The Event

    <strong>Day 36 ¨C 5:13 PM ¨C Ungos National High School, Port of Real Settlement, Barangay Ungos, Real, Quezon</strong>


    A Humvee stopped in front of the school. Mark and Jones stepped out of the Humvee and the soldier driving the Humvee drove the vehicle towards the parking area. Even though outside, Mark could already hear the loud noisesing from the people inside the school.


    "The meeting started already. Let''s go."


    Jones urged Mark to enter the school.


    Mark on the other hand shrugged his shoulders and followed Jones'' lead.


    "And that''s it for our nned countermeasures about the parasites. Please be careful when exploring outside since we don''t know if there are still parasites hiding anywhere waiting for a suitable host to control."


    The moment Mark entered the backstage of the multi-purpose hall Mark heard the closing remark for the previous topic that was discussed. It seemed that the captain on the stage wanted to move to a new topic since he called for another soldier to exchange the folder on the stand. However, a voicecking in respect and manners interrupted the flow of the meeting.


    "Hey! We didn''te here to listen to military bbers and bullsh*t nonsense! We wanted an exnation about that beam of light! We never saw anything like that before! If the military have something like that, use it in the first ce! If that was used at the start, we might have not lost our friends and families in that horde! More people could have survived!"


    A man with a fit looking body and beard shaved with style shouted from the crowd which immediately led to a chorus ofins especially from those whoserades died in the previous battle with the horde.


    Mark was already near the stage with Jones and the man that shouted was not far from him. When the man spoke, Mark suddenly turned at him while tiling his head to the side.


    "I''m called here for this kind of crap?"


    Mark muttered under his breath.


    "Did you say something?"


    Jones heard his mutter but was not able to understand his muffled voice.


    To Jones'' question, Mark shrugged his shoulders.


    "Nothing."


    On the stage, Captain Garcia turned his head at General Faustino waiting for the next action. The general turned to the back entrance and saw that Jones had already arrived with Mark. Seeing that, he nodded to the captain indicating that the question from the crowd could be addressed already.


    Getting the approval from the general, Captain Garcia faced the crowd and started his rehearsed lines to speak.


    "We have already heard of your concerns. That is why this meeting is held here in the first ce." Captain Garcia cleared his throat with a cough. "First and foremost, I am sure that many of you had seen that beam of light and even the bolts of electricity that was fired in the middle of the horde, those phenomenon were created by one man. Unfortunately he did not belong to us or any forces here. Since the circumstances with the horde turned out to be severe, we were forced to hire that person to help for a great price¡­"


    The captain narrated the circumstances at that time while of course, not disclosing the private matters.


    While listening to the narration, Mark could only shake his head. Although all of the things said were true, he would end up being the target of these people.


    "General, don''t forget about the deal, that lizard and the vials of [Regeneration Medicine] in exchange for being your scapegoat this time."


    Mark said as he sat at the chair that was reserved for him. Unexpectedly, his seat was just next to the general. Jones on the other hand just stood behind the general like a bodyguard.


    "I know. You should understand our circumstances here and that is why we needed you this time to vouch the credibility of our statements. However, we can only give you ten vials at most. We used the majority of our produced [Regeneration Medicine] on the people that were severely wounded earlier. That medicine is not that easy to make."


    General Faustino replied. Jones had already informed the general about Mark''s demands through the radio while on the way. It was unfortunate that the stock of the new medicine was very low at this moment due to the attack of the horde.


    Mark could only ept the deal. That amount should be enough for what he was nning to do next. The most important thing was that he was able to get his hands on the lizard he wanted. He also knew one thing, the amount of [Regeneration Medicine] produced was little not because it was very hard to make but because of the materials needed to make the medicine.


    [Regeneration Medicine], it was a medicine that could be used to activate and enhance the emergency and healing ability of the one that was going to drink it. If the wounds were shallow, although the medicine could not heal the wound instantly, at least, the bleeding would be stopped and it would heal in no time. In case of emergency, it could save lives like how Karlene did when na was in danger due to her injuries. Unfortunately, the amount of the medicine that could be consumed in every twenty-four hours should be a vial at most. Consuming more than that could cause side effects which the mildest was body pains while the worst was loss of consciousness that couldst up to several days. After all, the medicine was too potent to be consumed inrge amounts.


    Although theponents of the medicine were a secret to others aside from the military officers and theboratory scientists, Mark knew the two most important ingredients of the medicine. The first ingredient was the blood of an evolver or Mutator with regeneration as main ability. As for the second, it was the [Mutagen Stone]. Mark knew this because his main ability as a Mutator was his blood and he could detect the energy of the [Mutagen Stone] in the medicine.


    Due to the rarity of [Mutagen Stone] the production of the [Regeneration Medicine] was very low.


    Mark turned his sight towards the crowd. It seemed that they were starting to get more and more unruly.


    "Excuses! I''m sure that all of the bullsh*t you said are excuses."


    The same man from before shouted causing the chorus of curses andins from the crowd once more.


    Captain Garcia did his best to talk against the usations but it was not working. Rather, it was gathering the ire of the crowd even more.


    "Time for me to stand up right?"


    Mark asked the general.


    "Please."


    Shrugging his shoulders, Mark stood up and walked beside the captain. He really hated to stand in front of crowds but he needed to end this farce. Luckily, he was not even feeling nervous right now. His trait as a Mutator came in handy at times like this.


    "Thanks for the hard work. Leave this to me."


    Mark said to the Captain which struck thetter speechless. Still, he stepped back letting Mark take the spotlight. The people were too noisy however which made it hard for Mark to speak clearly. In that case...


    "Hey you imbeciles. Did all of youe here just to make noises?"<sub> </sub>


    Mark spoke in a high and mighty tone that was surely looking down on all these people here. Of course, many of the people were infuriated and started cursing.


    "Just who the f*ck are you?!"


    A man shouted.


    "All of you are here toin about me but you''re actually going to ask who am I?"


    Mark replied and to stop the doubts of the people and avoid further questioning, he fired a smallser beam on the floor. He had already hid the [Photokinesis Mental Crystal] on his palm before he stood up and made it look like that he fired the beam from his right index finger.


    Seeing what he did, the crowd finally fell silent.


    "Good."


    Mark said with arrogance.


    "I''m here to say that what this guy¡­" He pointed at the captain behind him with his thumb over his shoulder. "¡­said are all true."


    A woman then stepped out from the crowd.


    "If you have that power, why didn''t you help out fighting the horde from the start to finish? Did you know what many died? If you helped, then there are many people who should be alive if you did!"


    "Why should I?"


    Mark replied which caused surprise within the crowd. He then continued.


    "Let me ask a few questions. Do all of you live here? Do all of you have family or friends here?"


    Those questions caused quite a plethora of emotions from the crowd which did not escape Mark''s perception.


    "In that case, guarding this ce even to your death is the duty of all you people since you live in this ce. When this ce is gone, what will happen? The deaths of your friends andrades are justified and it is to protect the ce you needed to protect. Don''t tell me that their deaths are in vain."


    "That didn''t answer her question at all!"


    The man from earlier stood beside the woman and shouted.


    "What? I don''t even live in this ce. I don''t have a family here or even friends. If there''s nothing in for me, why should I help? I''ll tell but the price to hire me is steep."


    Hearing thest sentence, the officers behind that knew the circumstances bitterly smiled.


    Mark''s words struck quite an amount of people. It was the ce they were living and they needed to protect it for various reasons. Mark who had nothing to do with this ce have no reason to help at all unless he wanted to be viewed as a hero but with what Mark was acting right now, that was very unlikely.


    Murmurs from the crowd could be heard and the determination of these people was wavering. Unknown to them, there was a faint red light on Mark''s eyes that was being hidden by the bright light in the hall.


    [Emotion Induction], Mark was not holding back at all. While he was speaking, he was already concentrating on expanding the range of his empathic ability and was influencing the emotions of the people around.


    At this moment, Mark was satisfied as he was getting the result he wanted. It was then that he turned towards the two people that were most active in this farce. Those two were also havingplicated expressions right now due to the unexpected wavering of the crowd.


    "Hey, you two." Mark spoke in quite a louder volume which took the attention of everyone as he called the woman and the man. "You two had been active since earlier."


    "What of it?"


    The man spoke bravely.


    "No, it''s just strange." Mark scratched his head. "If the reason for this farce is because many died, the people who had their teammates, family or even friends that died should be the ones leading this mess. Why are the two of you who had nothing to do with those dead people leading this and instigating everyone?"


    BOOM!


    A plethora of reactions appeared on everyone''s faces including the officers.


    The two people in question wanted to retort but Mark cut them to the chase.


    "Spies from Death Valley sure are courageous to stand out in front of the crowd aren''t they?"


    The expression of the two changed.


    With tacit understanding, the man transformed into a werepanther while bat wings sprouted behind the woman, the two then rushed out of the hall trying to escape.


    "Catch them! Don''t let them escape!"


    The General bellowed and moved the soldiers. However, they were already a stepte.


    Mark had already vanished from his spot and appeared in front of the flying woman. The woman was shocked to see Mark appear and did not able to react. She was struck unconscious by Mark and fell to the floor. Mark then turned towards the escaping man and pointed his finger.


    Aser beam about the size of a pencil fired and struck the man on his right thigh. With a hole on his thigh, the man still did not give up and used his arms to run with three limbs. However, in the middle of his run, his body was struck by a high voltage of electricity and his body was paralyzed. He fell unconscious soon after.


    With Mark''s help, the farce was ended peacefully and the instigators that were spies from Death Valley were caught alive.

 Chapter 244 Unexpected Taming Method, The Taming Method That Made Everyone Slack Jawed

    <strong>Day 36 ¨C 6:02 PM ¨C Laboratory, Port of Real Settlement, Barangay Ungos, Real, Quezon</strong>


    Mark returned from the meeting even though it still continued even after the spies were caught. After all, there were other issues that were needed to be settled among the people of the settlement. Still, since they knew that they had been instigated and their disturbed minds were taken advantage off, the Mutators and the Evolvers became more behaved in the meeting. On the other hand, Mark left because he did not have any reason to stay and he was not interested in the affairs of the settlement.


    He was not staying here for too long anyway. In the earliest, he would leave tomorrow.


    As for the two spies that were caught, they were brought into custody and would surely be interrogated. Even being exposed to torture was very likely. After all, the two tried to create a rift between the rtionships of the inhabitants of the settlement. If they seeded, it would cause a lot of severe consequences for the settlement.


    Still, the Death Valley Settlement moved faster than expected. For sure, the news about the horde had already reached them and a n was devised as soon as possible to take advantage of the aftermath of the event. They even utilized two of their nted spies here in the settlement.


    "How did you know that those two were spies?"


    That question was raised by Jones before Mark left the meeting. This question was also inside the minds of the officers and the soldiers in the meeting. And the answer to that¡­


    "I don''t." That was his answer that took the people around by surprise which made Mark exin further. "Don''t you think that it''s odd that those two kept on instigating the crowd? That''s why I started probing. If I''m wrong, then I am. However, I hit the bull''s-eye there."


    Mark''s point was reasonable to some extent and the people hesitantly epted his exnation since he did not talk further. However, while Mark''s statement was half true, the other half was pure nonsense.


    It was true that he was not sure about the two being spies but that was not the reason he probed them. While Mark was talking about the duties of the people to defend their current home, families and friends and about those who died, the majority felt hesitation, eptance and sadness to the truth about their deadrades. However, the two spies felt anxiety as they saw the determination of the crowd waver, a kind of anxiety when the happenings around them started to stray away from their ns.


    Still, the two revealed themselves too quickly after Mark pointed out his assumption. It led to Jones speaking with ridicule.


    "Amateurs."


    That was right, the two behaved amateurish after Mark said that they were spies. It was the very likely reason why the big guys in Death Valley sent the two for this mission.


    Jones as a mercenary did espionage missions from time to time and knew the routine of spies. Professional spies would not reveal themselves unless they were cornered which was not the case for the two this time. Furthermore, professional spies would not do such missions that would reveal themselves unless they were tasked to bide time for other things which was also not the case this time.


    In other words, the two were disposable pawns and the two did not even suspect it.


    Bringing Mark at the meeting despite the steep price was the best thing the officers had done in a while. With Mark revealing the two spies, the troublesome events with the horde finally came to a close and the settlement were saved from the worst oue. After all, even if Mark''s statements closed the issue, there would still be a rift in everyone''s hearts that would be hard to mend if the spies were not discovered.


    ***


    At the first floor of theboratory, Mark stood in front of the roombeled as Containment Room A-10, the room where the evolved lizard was contained. No, to tell the truth, it looked more like a snake that grew legs. Still, there was no doubt that it was a lizard due to its body shape. However, what caught Mark''s attention about this lizard was not its appearance or just because the idea of creating a dragon came into his mind. It was because he was able to feel that this lizard actually had a high level of intelligence. Compared to other animals in theboratory, its emotions was more concentrated even at a higher levelpared to the Grebe he caught with Amihan.


    In this case, taming it was not impossible. The question however was how. Mark already had several methods to try, he was just waiting for the things he needed.


    Beside Mark was the same female soldier that escorted him to the headquarters earlier. She was the one in charge of escorting him once more since the General made Jones stay in the meeting. The other person that apanied him back was Professor Suzuki who had the authority in theboratory for the things he needed.


    Right now, Professor Suzuki personally went off to get the payment for Mark which was the [Regeneration Medicine] which was what Mark also needed to tame the lizard.


    It did not take long and Professor Suzuki came back, however, he had more people in tow. Some all of them were scientists and soldiers except for four people.


    "Mark!"


    na shouted while waving. Her enthusiasm was really something.


    Karlene who had already woken up looked fine but she seemed to have things troubling her as she looked at Mark. On the other hand, Joash and Tyson looked like tagalongs with the two men walking behind the girls with awkward expressions.


    "Just why are all of you here?"


    Mark asked.


    "We heard that something interesting is going to happen so we came along."


    na answered which made Mark turn to Professor Suzuki. It seemed that they deduced that Mark was going to try and tame the lizard. Considering the facts, it was not surprising either. Mark had the [BloodChildren] with him that was obviously tamed while he wanted the lizard despite the fact that there was no way for him to transport or contain a lizard about the size of an alligator.


    Unless, Mark tamed it and it was willing to follow him like how it was with the [BloodChildren].


    "They are saying that you''re going to tame it, is that true?"


    Mark shrugged.


    "I don''t know. Let''s see what will happen first."


    With the professor in the lead, Mark entered the room with everyone. Inside, the room was divided into two parts. The smaller part had devices and apparatus used by the scientists in studying the lizard while therger part contained therge metal cage. Looking at the cage that was not painted but had a dark shiny color, it seemed to be not just some ordinary metal.


    "Here are the [Regeneration Medicine]. I wonder what you will use these for."


    Professor Suzuki handed a metal case and asked.


    "You''ll see."


    Mark replied and opened the case. Seeing the ten vials inside, he nodded.


    "Open the cage."


    With Mark''s cue, a scientist carefully opened the cage and Mark entered. The others stayed in the safe area of the room. Looking at the four that was able to join the scientists without problem and was able to tour theb on their own, Mark started to wonder.


    Inside the cage, therge lizard that was also shackled raised its head after seeing that someone entered its cage. Despite being held into this cage and unable to get out on its own, the lizard was still filled with arrogance in its eyes and mind. It seemed to not regard humans highly.


    "Hey, can you understand me?"


    Mark said and he was surprised inside. Of course, the lizard could not talk but he detected a sort of response. It made Mark turn towards the scientists and shouted.


    "Professor Suzuki, do all of you talk in this room often?"


    "Well, we spend a lot of time here studying that lizard. If we don''t talk, we won''t be able to finish you know that?"


    Professor Suzuki replied.


    Turning to the lizard once more, Mark felt relieved. This guy really seemed to be intelligent and managed to understand some humannguage just by observing the scientists. In this case, it would be easier.<sub> </sub>


    Mark looked at the lizard arrogantly as if challenging its own arrogance.


    "I''ll go straight to the point. Submit to me. In exchange, I will make you stronger."


    "Pffft!"


    na was almost unable to hold herself back. It was very much unexpected that she would hear some demon lord dialogue here.


    ROOAR!!!


    However, it would just be a wishful thinking if the lizard would really ept that. Although it could not understand all of Mark''s words, the essence was transmitter sessfully. Despite its shackles, it trashed around wanting to attack Mark.


    "It can''t be helped huh."


    <o>,m Mark murmured and his eyes glowed red.</o>


    The lizard trembled as if it was enveloped in a very heavy and strong pressure.


    Mark activated a mechanism on the [Darkness Shade] set on his back and a short ded batonunched upwards which Mark caught without difficulty. Pulling the end of the baton, the baton extended became a one and a half meter spear.


    BAM!


    The spear [der], one of the [Darkness Shade] weapons, was mercilessly swung on the face of the lizard. Mark did not hold anything back and swung the spear with all his might.


    After being hit by the body of the spear, the head of the lizard was blown backwards. Its skin was thick and its scale was strong so it was not injured in the surface but inside, its muscles were damaged by the impact.


    BAM!


    BAM!


    BAM!


    Mark did not stop with just one attack. He repeatedly swung with the same amount of strength at different parts of the body of the lizard. The lizard tried to roar and resist many times but when it tried, its face was struck mercilessly.


    Outside the cage, the scientists were ck jawed along with Karlene, Joash and Tyson. This was not taming. He was going to kill the lizard if he continued bashing it like that. They could even see that the skin of the lizard started to crack and bleed. Fortunately, its scales were still intact.


    On the other hand na seemed to have a different idea about what Mark was doing. However, she could not remember and was trying hard to.


    The lizard fell on the floor writhing in pain.


    "Do you submit now?"


    Mark asked and he was targeted with a resolute and prideful stared which made him shake his head. He then took out one vial of [Regeneration Medicine] and forcefully poured a quarter of it on the mouth of therge lizard.


    After a minute or two, the lizard started to heal. And then¡­


    BAM!


    BAM!


    BAM!


    The pummeling continued.


    "AHHH! I remember now!"


    na shouted outside which caused everyone around her to almost stagger.


    "[Beast Pummeling Method]! I read it before!"


    "Where did you even read that?"


    Joash asked.


    "In a Chinese novel!"


    Finally, everyone around her really staggered on their ces.


    Inside the cage, Mark continued pummeling the lizard that could only let out painful roars while ignoring the antics outside caused by na. Every time that the lizard could not handle the pain anymore and started to bleed heavily, Mark would make it drink a part of the [Regeneration Medicine].


    Soon, the painful roars of resistance started to be softer and turned into cries of pain and despair.


    The repeated actions continued until one and a half vials of [Regeneration Medicine] were used.


    "So, do you submit now?"


    Finally, the lizard lost all its arrogance and lowered its head in front of Mark. Its mouth was bleeding, its body felt very painful and its skin was cracked. The lizard did not want to undergo the painful beating once more and just wanted to end its suffering by giving up.


    However¡­


    "I see¡­ Let''s continue then."


    Mark smiled sinisterly which made everyone inside the room shiver. He continued healing and pummeling the lizard until three vials was used. He was not afraid that it would feel the side effects of the medicine due to overdose since its body was way bigger than a humans and its body structure was different too.


    What Mark wanted was full obedience of the lizard and not just the lizard giving up because of the pain. This could get the ire of the lizard but he was not afraid of that either as he was putting pressure in its consciousness at the same time while also using [Emotion Induction] to gain its obedience.


    After the three vials, any shred of resistance from the lizard disappeared and it lowered its head in fear.


    "I see. Even without the [Heaven''s Path Zhenqi], the [Beast Pummeling Method] could still work somehow."


    na muttered with all seriousness.

 Chapter 245 Inside The Warehouse, His First Full Night In The Port Of Real Settlement

    <strong>Day 36 ¨C 8:02 PM ¨C Unused Warehouse, Port of Real Settlement, Barangay Ungos, Real, Quezon</strong>


    The red snake necked lizard about the size of an adult crocodile had totally submitted to Mark which caused quite a stir in the hearts of the people watching, well, except for na. It was out of the norm but not totally unexinable by science, that is, if they knew the whole method Mark used. To them, the only visible thing was that Mark pummeled the lizard into obedience while Mark had his eyes glowing.


    The glowing eyes of Mark were not new to the scientists since there were also other Mutators that exhibit such characteristics when using their abilities. A great example was Karlene in her berserk state. Due to that, they seemed to have thought that Mark''s glowed to enhance his strength since the lizard should not be hurt with normal attacks due to its strong body and hard scales.


    It would be unknown to them for quite an amount of time that they were totally mistaken. They were right that even Mark would have a hard time damaging the lizard if he attacked it normally but Mark did not. He aimed at the roots of the scales where the defense was weakest. That were why he was able to hurt the lizard as much as possible.


    As for the obedience of the Lizard, it was all thanks to thebination of pummeling the lizard and his [Emotion Induction]. Simple creatures, animals were like that. Animals even if they were smart relied on their instincts in most situations and most of their instinctual reactions came from their experiences. This time, Mark filled the subconscious of the Lizard to obey while ingraining an unforgettable experience that it would remember for a very, very long time.


    After the lizard submitted, Mark asked the scientists to release the shackles on the lizard but of course, no one would try to. In the end, Mark took the key and personally let the lizard go. Since it was time to go out, Mark made the lizard follow behind which it obediently did. It looked at the people around since it usually attacked humans and infected before but with a single nce from Mark, it behaved.


    Since the lizard was his already, it should not stay inside theboratory and thus, he asked his current escort if there was somewhere he could make the lizard stay. Aftermunicating with the higher-ups, he was directed at the current ce, an unused warehouse that was nned to be renovated in the near future.


    Before leaving theboratory, he took back his things and Amihan who was waiting in another room with the [BloodChildren]. He made them stay here since the time he left for the meeting since things could go awry with the activities he did previously. Now that he was done with almost everything, he only needed a secluded ce to stay with the lizard and he nned to leave for tomorrow.


    The only thing left was the problem about Ka but that was for Karlene to decide.


    When Mark left heboratory with Sergeant Delina who guided him towards the warehouse and the crocodile sized lizard following behind them, they became the center of attention. Although all of the soldiers and personnel in the military section tried to stay away due to the fear of the huge lizard, it did not stop them from looking. If the sergeant did not chase some of them away, quite an amount of people would have followed.


    Reaching the warehouse which was actually at the easternmost of the military section, Mark was satisfied and told his escort that she was free to go. She was reluctant to leave Mark in such a ce since it was dusty and untidy. It would be a failure for her as his escort if she left him in a ce like this but Mark told her to not bother. Finally, she left after Mark told Amihan to blow away all the dust into one corner.


    Karlene and na also wanted to follow him but he insisted to be alone. Besides, the two still needed to undergo a medical checkup ording to Professor Suzuki.


    Inside the warehouse, Mark was finally alone with his entourage. Mark securely closed the doors and checked if there were other ces that could expose what was going to happen but it was a needless action. The ce seemed to be a small warehouse for frozen goods and as such, it only had two entrances and no windows.


    ? "Amihan, stay at here for a bit."


    "Okay."


    Mark ce his backpack at a table near the entrance and released the [BloodChildren] and made the six behave and watch with Amihan. This time, they were to witness history. Well, sort of. It was because not because a dragon would finally exist in flesh but because it was actually the first time Mark was going to do this.


    It was to turn something into a Mutator using a [Physical Crystal] housing someone''s Mutator ability.


    With a flick of his hand, a pale purple crystal floated in front of Mark. There was a glowing orb inside the crystal that had a fiery red color. After grabbing the crystal, he approached the lizard that was at the center of the room watching Mark''s every movement. It was obvious that it was afraid that Mark would beat it once more.


    Mark extended his right hand making the lizard flinch but it opened its eyes when it felt that his master was only tapping its head like he was petting a pet. Although being treated as a pet should have infuriated it, it was more afraid of not being treated as one by Mark.


    "I said that I will make you stronger if you submit to me right?"


    The lizard was confused. Although it understood the words since most of them had been used by the scientists a lot of times when studying it, it could not fathom how his master was going to do it.


    "Open your mouth."


    Confused, the lizard absentmindedly followed Mark''s instruction. It was alreadyte when it noticed that Mark threw something into its throat.


    Hot, painful, weak, these were what the lizard felt after it swallowed the crystal Mark put into its mouth. It stared at its master with askance. It already submitted to him but what did it do to undergo this kind of torment.


    Unexpectedly, it felt a little lighter. When it looked at Mark once more, it saw his eyes and hands was glowing white and he was pressing his hands on its head.


    ''Master''s hands feltfortable.''


    The lizard thought as his askance vanished. It thought that its master was torturing him but when he tried to make it feel better, the misunderstanding was cleared. Finally, unable to bear the feeling in its body, the lizard fainted.


    Even after the lizard fainted, Mark continued to channel the white energy into the mind and consciousness of the lizard.


    He already expected this oue. Even with just the empty crystals, the process of turning a person into an Evolver was already painful. For sure, turning one into a Mutator was way more severe than that. After all, bing an Evolver was just getting their current body enhanced while turning into a Mutator was changing one''s body from its roots and genes.


    It took more than an hour before the condition of the lizard became stable. However, Mark was drained of his mental energy since he continuously aided the lizard all since the start. Since the lizard was finally stable, Mark could finally stop the aid and returned to the side.


    "My Lord, are you okay."


    Amihan immediately flew towards Mark when he returned. Although Mark looked fine physically, his countenance looked pale.


    "I''m fine, don''t worry. I just need to rest a little since I used too much mental energy."<sub> </sub>


    Mark replied and caressed the head of the worried sylph gently.


    He then looked at the unconscious lizard curled in the middle of the warehouse. It seemed that it would take a while. In the worst case, he would spend another day here. Since turning a person into an evolver took several hours, it would not be surprising if turning a huge animal into a Mutator would take longer.


    In that case, he decided to rest since he had free time to spare now. He found an empty cardboard and folded it inside out to serve as his bedding. Fixing the cardboard next to the table, he removed the [Darkness Shade] set from his back and lied down using his bag as a pillow.


    Unexpectedly, not only Amihan flew to join him rest but the [BloodChildren] left the table and fell off one by one next to him with noisy sts. It did not seem to be painful for them but it was still kind of worrying. Knowing the intention of the six, Mark took all of them to his side while Amihannded on the unupied part of his bag andy down to sleep. Soon, no noises could be heard from inside the warehouse with everyone resting.


    Of course, it was not a total deep sleep for Mark anymore. When he recovered more of his ability today, he knew that he had to say good bye to his refreshing sleep once more. After all, even if the range was small his Empathic ability was still absorbing emotional energies nearby especially since people working at the military section and the soldiers pass by outside the warehouse from time to time.


    However, it was to his advantage right now since he was in a ce that only very few people he could trust existed. Since that was the case, he needed to be alert at all times. Not to mention that even if he had beaten the lizard into obedience, there was still the miniscule chance of it retaliating. He could never let his guard down.


    ***


    <strong>Day 37 ¨C 6:15 AM ¨C Unused Warehouse, Port of Real Settlement, Barangay Ungos, Real, Quezon</strong>


    Fortunately, the night passed peacefully. It seemed that also the officers took Mark''s rest time into consideration and no one came to knock on the warehouse during the night.


    Early in the morning however, there was a pair that stealthily broke into the warehouse.


    "He''s really sleeping."


    One of the two whispered.


    "Uuuu¡­ I''m kind of envious in this scene."


    The other had a strange thing in mind making the other look with a bitter expression.


    "It''s early in the morning, just what are you two doing?"


    Mark suddenly spoke which made the two people jump back in surprise. They almost screamed but they were forced to hold their screams back when Mark put his index finger in front of his mouth with a shush.


    These two were really a troublesome pair. Who would think that these two girls would sneak in here this early?


    "So, Mizuki, Karlene, just what are you two doing here and how did you twoe in?"


    Mark asked with a stern expression after he stood up.


    To his question, na took out and dangled a key in front of Mark.


    "I used the master key of this warehouse. We came here since Karlene have something to talk to you"


    Karlene seriously nodded hearing what na said. Her eyes now were clearerpared to her expressionst night at theboratory. It seemed that she finally decided.


    However, before Karlene''s business was concluded, Mark posed a question to na. It had been bothering him since yesterday.


    "Wait Mizuki. Just how did you get hold of that key anyway? Also, Karlene might be an exception but just why are you able to wonder around a military facility on your own?"


    "Ah, no one told you?"


    na seemed surprised.


    "Told me what?"


    "Professor Suzuki, the head scientist in theboratory. He''s my uncle on my mother''s side."


    "Huh?"


    That was a surprising fact. It cleared a lot of questions in Mark''s mind about na, her passion for Otaku Culture, her passion for Cosying and her freedom here in the military section. To think that she was actually the niece of one of the most important people here in this settlement.


    It was also no wonder Professor Suzuki had been lenient about Mark''s requests even if it included his precious specimens. After all, he saved his precious niece from the hands of the ouws.

 Chapter 246 Morning Ruckus, Karlenes Decision And Causing A Huge Commotion In The Settlement

    <strong>Day 37 ¨C 6:18 AM ¨C Unused Warehouse, Port of Real Settlement, Barangay Ungos, Real, Quezon</strong>


    The revtion about na''s familial rtions with the Japanese biologist, Professor Masaki Suzuki, cleared up a lot of things about her. Especially about her facial features that was a mix of races.


    After hearing that exnation from na, Mark turned to Karlene.


    "So, you decided tag along with me, right?"


    Hearing those words from Mark totally surprised the two.


    "How did you know?"


    Karlene hesitantly asked.


    To her question, Mark also posed his question while ncing at na.


    "Have you told her already about Ka?"


    "No. Not yet. I don''t know if she will believe me either."


    Mark and Karlene''s conversation caused na to be confused.


    "Hey, you two. What are you talking about?"


    "Mizuki."


    Mark turned with a serious expression.


    "Uhm¡­ Yes?"


    "Everything you will hear here. Do not tell it to anyone. Not even to your uncle."


    "What''s with all these seriousness? It''s creeping me out."


    Since na was the one that apanied Karlene, Mark decided to fill her with some of the information about Karlene''s circumstances. After all, Mark knew that na was a trustworthy person even before the outbreak. Still, she needed to keep it secret to everyone since the things she was going to hear were the circumstances of her best friend and if it spread, it could lead to various consequences not only to Karlene but also to Mark.


    Contrary to Mark and Karlene''s expectations, na epted the circumstances without problem.


    "After all, it''s not really surprising." na said after being questioned. "Bessie did not feel like Bessie when she goes berserk. She doesn''t even respond to everyone even her Dad. Not even a twitch."


    "Still, it''s amazing that she have to consciousness in her body, also for you to be able to know all that."


    na added as she looked at Mark. She seemed to be jealous that he knew more about Karlene''s circumstances even though Karlene was already like a sister to her.


    "Uhm¡­ Mr. Mark¡­ You knew that I woke up while, K-Ka is out right?"


    Karlene asked with a surprised expression.


    "Of course, I knew. I caused that after all as a side effect when I tried to calm Ka for the first time."


    Mark confirmed which made Karlene a little bashful.


    When Mark patted Ka''s head yesterday and channeled his white mental energy to calm her, the sleeping consciousness of Karlene was also subjected to the energy and woke up. Although Ka was still controlling the body, Karlene who was awake managed to see and watch everything that happened afterwards until she fell unconscious once more when she switched with Ka after the battle with the horde. Normally, she would be in a sleep state until her and Ka''s consciousness switched back causing her to know nothing about Ka''s actions.


    Hugging Mark and crying on his chest, holding his hand for a long time and acting like a total child in front of him, Karlene saw all that and that was all enough to turn her face red, even though she was ying seductively the other night behind Mark while riding on the motorcycle and she felt nothing.


    Inhaling deeply, Karlene looked at Mark.


    "I want to learn how to fight and how I can use Ka''s power. I don''t want to be a burden to dad all this time. Also, I know you already heard about my circumstances here. Due to Ka''s rampages before and getting caught up with the ouws, I''m on the verge of getting exiled from here. If that happened, I don''t want Dad to leave this settlement with me and wander around without any fixed destination. Even going to other settlements, out future won''t be clear. Also¡­ You are the only person who can handle Ka. I will just trouble other people, even Dad if this continued."


    "Actually, there''s a faster method for you to be able to control Ka''s ability."


    Mark suddenly said which took the two by surprise.


    "How?"


    na asked for her best friend.


    "Erasing Ka from Karlene''s body and devouring her consciousness."


    "NO!" Karlene shouted. "I know, this is my body and I want to be able to use her ability but I don''t was to do it like that! I saw everything, even heard what you said about her. She''s innocent right? Even though it''s kind of troublesome, I don''t want to do something that cruel. She''s just afraid. If possible, I want to consider her as my little sister since I don''t have one."


    Hearing all those, Mark suddenly smiled.


    "You''re testing Bessie aren''t you?"


    na asked which also surprised Karlene.


    "Well, she passed. I don''t mind if you want to go with me but remember that wherever I go, it will be dangerous so I will beat you into shape. Also, it''s better if you get your father''s permission."


    Karlene stared at Mark wide eyed but the smile on her face could not be hidden anymore. na hugged her in glee. Unfortunately, na also wanted to apany Karlene but she would not be able to leave his uncle who would surely turn out to be worse if left alone. Scientists had different lifestyle frommon people after all.


    The three talked for about half an hour about things when...


    THROB!


    THROB!


    Throbbing sounds suddenly echoed inside the warehouse. It was too loud that it could be heard outside. The two happy girls froze and Mark also turned to the source of the sound.


    "What is that?"


    na said staring at the contraption in the center of the warehouse. They did not notice it since the two focused on Mark that was near the entrance since they entered.


    "Is that the lizard yesterday?"


    Karlene said with a gulp.


    In the center of the warehouse, the lizard that had grown twice its size before was curled into a spiral. In Mark, na and Karlene''s view, it looked like a wall of scales.


    THROB!


    THROB!


    The throbbing sound continued. It sounded like a beating heart.


    "The final phase is starting."


    Mark said in amazement.


    The skin of the lizard started to emit a fain glow likeva and its body started to emit heat. Then, its red rock like scales started to turn into a shade of reddish ck starting from the roots of the scales. It was the same color of Mark''s [Blood Metal].<sub> </sub>


    Mark was not surprised by the change of color. He would also not be surprised if the rock like scales turned out to be as strong as his [Blood Metal]. After all, Mark also made the lizard ingest a fistful of his blood when he threw the crystal into its mouth. Since Mark''s body and blood was highlypatible with Mutagen, it would surely cause a reaction like what happened to I when he treated her. It was one of what Freed told him back then when he spent time inside his subconscious.


    A dragon flying in the sky would surely be vulnerable to attacks. With Mark''s blood, superficial wounds would not be a problem anymore. Although it should not be as fast as Mark''s since his blood had already changed from when he was an Evolver, it should still be fast.


    Mark suddenly froze, something unexpected happened.


    The lizard was about to wake up and he felt a connection with its mind. It had the same feeling as what he had with the [BloodChildren]. He really did not expect this to happen but this was a good thing.


    Behind Mark, Amihan who was awakened by the throbbing sound stared at the lizard that had undergone changes while keeping silent. As for the [BloodChildren] they were awake all this time since Mark stood up, they were just staying put due to Mark''s order.


    THROB!


    The loudest heartbeat echoed and the eyes of the lizard, no, dragon opened immediately.


    Inside the warehouse, the dragon with a bodyrger than a saltwater crocodile slowly stood up on all fours. The reddish ck scales looked majestic and its body was more muscled than before. Tworge bat like wings opened widely causing a gust of wind inside the warehouse. It raised its head and faced upwards.


    ROOOOAAAARRR!!!


    A roar reverberating across the whole settlement sounded early in the morning.


    ***


    "What is happening?!"


    Professor Suzuki rushed out of theboratory hearing that loud roar. Not only him but everyone in the settlement rushed out of their ces while those outside started to run in panic.


    No one knew what was happening but that roar would likely mean bad news for everyone.


    The soldiers immediately readied themselves forbat.


    "Where did that roare from?"


    Professor Suzuki asked a soldier guarding outside theboratory who seemed to be getting ready for the worst situation.


    "Professor, we don''t know yet but it seems toe from the east."


    "At the ocean?"


    "Most probably Professor."


    But then¡­


    BOOOM!!!


    A loud sound of roofing and concrete that copsed echoed at the eastern side of the military section.


    Everyone froze and stared at therge figure that flew at the sky.


    A lizard with reddish ck scales almost twice the size of a salt water crocodile flew up to the sky with its pair of bat like wings that spanned about the same length of its body.


    "I-i-is that a dragon?!"


    "Run away! Run away!"


    "Escape the area! Quick! Soldier''s ready for sortie!"


    Several screams echoed in the whole settlement after they saw the figure flying in the sky.


    There was no doubt that it looked like a dragon, no, it was really a dragon. No one would have expected that a creature in folklore, mythology and fantasy would suddenly appear in this settlement.


    On contrary to the people running away, Professor Suzuki followed the soldiers that were already running towards the ce that the dragon originated. There was no doubt that these soldiers were ready to defend against the dragon even if they had to sacrifice themselves.


    The dragon on the other hand flew in circles roaring and even breathing fire for who knows what reason.


    Reaching the eastern part of the port, the soldiers lined up in formation wielding their guns and even rocketunchers.


    "Men! Aim!"


    The officer on site shouted at the soldiers with rockets.


    "Stop! Stop! Don''t shoot!"


    When two girls filled with dust on their bodies came running and frantically shouting at the soldiers.


    Seeing that one of the girls was na, Professor Suzuki also tookmand to stop the soldiers from shooting. As the head scientist in the settlement, he had the authority tomand the soldiers to some extent.


    However, idents happen at times.


    One of the running people tripped bumped unto one of the soldiers aiming his RPG at the dragon in the sky. Since the soldier was quite nervous and was already waiting for themand to fire, his index finger was on the trigger. The soldier being bumped caused him to fire his rocket identally.


    Seeing the rocket that wasunched prematurely, everyone paled. na and Karlene paled since they knew what that dragon was while the soldiers paled because that preemptive rocket revealed which soldiers were the most dangerous. With some of the animals that evolved and gained intelligence that they encountered, a mishap like this caused the animals to pay attention to the most dangerous groups which made it harder to kill the animals.


    As the rocket flew however, it flew straight toward the dragon that seemed to be oblivious to it. It was every likely that it would hit.


    At that moment, ck wavy mist flew up towards the trajectory of the rocket and a human figure appeared before it. The figure that was wielding a katana shed the rocket into two and vanished leaving the me and smoke of the explosion. The soldiers dismayed at the oue of the rocket and thought that the person was also an enemy since they could not recognize him due to the distance.


    But then¡­


    The man appeared in front of the dragon and unleashed a downwards rolling kick on its face.


    Due to the force of the kick and to an unknown factor, the dragon fell down on a nose dive. The dragon fell in front of the soldiers and the man that turned into mist followed after. A dragon falling unto the concrete caused quite an impact and dust flew everywhere.


    Everyone then heard an angry voice in the midst of the dust.


    "Just who told you to show off?! Huh?!"


    BAM!


    "Look at the ruckus you made!"


    BAM!


    "You need to learn to behave!"


    BAM!


    The dust subsided and everyone was dumbfounded.


    In front of them, they saw Mark who was also covered in dust beating the dragon that was afraid to move with his spear.

 Chapter 247 Different Farewells, Leaving The Settlement On The Back Of A Dragon

    <strong>Day 37 ¨C 6:59 AM ¨C Military Section, Port of Real Settlement, Barangay Ungos, Real, Quezon</strong>


    Ignoring the gallery and the dust all over his body, Mark''s chest heaved heavily as he finally stopped hitting the oversized lizard that had already turned into a dragon. This had been the first time that he felt really angry in years.


    Mark was satisfied with the result and the dragon''s appearance turned out something good. Encountering the ouws and getting hold of Drake''s ability as a Mutator gave him quite the expectations to look forward to. With the dragon finally finishing its mutation, the only thing left was for Karlene to settle her business here in the settlement and they could leave with the dragon while concealing themselves with [Optical Camouge] using the [Photokinesis Mental Crystal]. Although since he needed to cover quite arge area with the camouge due to therge size of the dragon and it would deplete the energy faster, it should be enough to leave the settlement undetected.


    However, the moment the dragon woke up and it felt the changes in its body, its growth, its new strength, its ability to fly and its ability to breathe fire, the first thing that came into its mind was to show off to the pesky humans that caught it before and make them feel fear. Mark wanted to stop it but he was not able to since the dragon let out that loud roar and flew up even destroying arge portion of the concrete roof of the warehouse.


    The falling concrete caused the whole warehouse to be filled with dust and debris. No one inside was injured since the roof near the entrance remained intact. Amihan managed to protect herself from the cloud of dust in thest second along with the [BloodChildren] but the three humans inside were not able to and was covered in dust from head to toe.


    While Mark was checking everyone inside the warehouse if they were fine and themotion with the people was happening, the dragon flew in circles practicing its ability to fly and started to release mes to try out it new form of attack.


    After that, things went in order and the source of themotion was subdued.


    In front of Mark, the dragon just lowered its head looking at with upturned eyes. Although it was filled with gratitude to Mark for giving it more strength, it was still afraid of him. Rather, the fear of Mark became its reigning subconscious trait after it became a Mutator. Although it might not fear others due to its inborn arrogance, it would never ever raise its fangs against Mark because of these reasons. Even though it did not think that what it did was wrong it could only lower its head while epting its Master''s anger.


    That was also one of the reasons Mark was satisfied with having a loyal pet even if it was ruled by fear, but its arrogance and boastfulness needed to be subdued.


    Now that the dragon had been exposed to everyone in the settlement, it would not be hard for them to deduce many things even if Mark did not say anything. Well, Mark had no ns of revealing anything more than what was already revealed no matter what.


    Soon, the general and his entourage came at the scene. Hearing about what happened from the soldiers on the scene, General Faustino could only pinch the bridge of his nose as he ordered everyone unneeded at the scene to disperse. On the other hand, he also sent some of his trusted subordinates to lead some of the soldiers and calm the people in the settlement that witnessed the dragon flying in the sky.


    "Mark, can you tell us what is going on?"


    General Faustino asked. Of course, everyone was wary about the dragon in front and as such, the general asked quite a distance away.


    "I''m sorry for the ruckus. It''s just this guy is still not trained enough."


    Mark replied and tapped the end of his spear above the nose of the dragon.


    Of course that was not what the General wanted to know but for sure, Mark would not tell them anything and they would not be able to make him talk either.


    "Is-is this perhaps?"


    Someone muttered as the person started to approach Mark and the dragon with great fervor on his face.


    "Professor, it''s dangerous!"


    One of the soldiers tried to stop Professor Suzuki from approaching but the soldier was also afraid to get near the dragon and did not manage to catch the professor.


    "Don''t try to touch it. If you suddenly be a roasted human, don''t me anything to me."


    Mark said with nonchnce which made the professor snap out of his fervor.


    "Mark, tell me the truth. This is the lizard we gave youst night, am I right? I won''t be able to mistake it. I''m sure."


    Hearing those words shocked the general once more because of several reasons. He already learned about how Mark tamed the lizard from the report he received which was already unbelievable but in one night, the lizard became a ferocious dragon from the legends. That lizard had been in theboratory for already two weeks and nothing of this sort happened. It was obvious that Mark had a hand on it and with how the dragon was behaving in front of Mark, there was no doubt that even if the dragon lost control for a bit and caused quite amotion, it was tamed by him.


    However, they would not be able to get their hands on the information and there was no way for them to tie Mark into their settlement. There was a lot to regret about this.


    At the side, na could only p her forehead seeing her uncle like that in front of Mark. It was obvious in Professor Suzuki''s face that he would not be able to hold back and wanted to touch the dragon. Fortunately, Mark stopped him.


    Mark on the other hand was satisfied with the actions and emotions that he could feel from the general. Although his existence was a very valuable asset, they did not want to offend him in any way. Being strong and being capable of doing things that others were not able to do have its merits in the time of the apocalypse.


    Fortunately, the situation was settled peacefully. Mark wanted topensate for the half demolished warehouse as a formality but General Faustino denied it. The warehouse was going to be destroyed anyway and a new facility was going to be erected in its ce which made it more convenient for them that it was already partly demolished. The work they needed to do was lessened somehow.


    It took time to calm the popce but they settled down after being informed that it was an experiment from theboratory and it was a tamed animal. That exnation brought two benefits to the settlement and Mark. Since that was the information the military circted, people would think that the settlement had a card in hand and the actions of the enemies would be limited while the information circted did not include Mark''s name hiding the fact in his involvement in this.


    Of course, the general issued an information lockdown on every witness to what happened in the military section that morning.


    ***


    <strong>Day 37 ¨C 9:03 AM ¨C Military Section, Port of Real Settlement, Barangay Ungos, Real, Quezon</strong>


    "What do you want to talk about?"


    Major Alfonso Bautista asked Karlene as the two sat on the table eating their breakfast.


    "Dad, I want to ask for permission. I want to follow Mr. Mark when he leaves."


    Karlene said and she then told her reasons while hiding the fact that she had two different consciousness residing in her body.


    To Karlene''s words, her father sighed but there was no surprise or anger about her decision which in turn, surprised her.


    "It''s fine."<sub> </sub>


    Major Bautista said to his daughter with a bitter smile.


    "Dad, you''re okay with this? You will not stop me?"


    Karlene asked in surprise.


    "You think I didn''t notice that you have something in your mindst night? I already expected it to be something like this. If you already decided, I''ll support you. I''m not some evil father that will restrict my daughter just because I wanted to keep you by my side. Besides, I''m really not worried that that Mark will mistreat you unless you do something really bad."


    "Dad!"


    Karlene left her seat and gave her father a sweet hug with tears on the corner of her eyes.


    Major Bautista returned the embrace. His daughter wanted to improve herself and it was a better decision not only for her but for a lot of people in the settlement. Even if he did not want to admit it, many people had been injured during Karlene''s berserk periods and if Mark left, there would be no one to contain her anymore and the time that she would be exiled would be nearer.


    Besides, he already observed Mark since he met him. At the time Karlene rode behind him, how he treated his fairypanion, the affection he gave those slimes and how he treated Karlene in her berserk state. The treatment of the dragon seemed to be different since it also had its faults. However, with the wiretapped conversation of Mark and his family in Bay City, there was no doubt that Mark valued hisrades deeply.


    It would be a good choice if his daughter was able to learn things from a strong person.


    ***


    <strong>Day 37 ¨C 9:29 AM ¨C Laboratory, Port of Real Settlement, Barangay Ungos, Real, Quezon</strong>


    After cleaning herself of the dust on her body, na was called into Professor Suzuki''s office.


    "Uncle, do you need something?"


    na asked her uncle who was reading a couple of papers containing the data they gathered about the lizard.


    "You and Karlene are with Mark before the dragon flew up in the sky right? Do you have any idea how the lizard changed into something like that?"


    "Hah¡­" na sighed. "We don''t know anything. It''s already like that when we arrived there."


    "You are close with Mark right?"


    "A little¡­ why?"


    "You think, he will tell you if you asked?"


    "Of course not."


    na started to frown.


    "Do you want to follow him?"


    This time, na hesitated to answer. Karlene was going to follow Mark and because of that, she also wanted to but she could not just leave this unreliable uncle of hers.


    "I want you to follow him. Get his secrets especially how he turned that lizard into a dragon. Even if you needed to pay with your bod-GAH!"


    Professor Suzuki did was not able to finish his words since a thick biology book came flying towards his face causing him to fall backwards on his seat. na''s face threw the book with a beet red face. Who would think that her uncle would have those kinds of ideas? na was already fed up with this uncle of hers.


    "Alright! I''ll leave and follow him! However, don''t expect to learn anything from me!"


    na said and left the room before Professor Suzuki was able to stand up.


    However, na went back a bit and peeked through the door. When she saw that her uncle already stood up, she shouted.


    "No wonder Aunt Marina left you! You die hard OTAKU! I hate you!"


    SLAM!


    The door mmed shut leaving the professor that was struck straight with three imaginary arrows on his back.


    ***


    <strong>Day 37 ¨C 3:05 PM ¨C Military Section, Port of Real Settlement, Barangay Ungos, Real, Quezon</strong>


    Mark and Karlene were surprised with na''s sudden decision but Karlene was more than happy to have her and Mark had no issues with it either. Besides, with the dragon as transport, he could leave them anywhere safely of even bring them back to his base without trouble.


    Joash was informedte by Karlene and tried to persuade her to stay but she had already decided. With the little time left, Joash had no chance to prepare even if he wanted toe. Besides, Karlene really wanted to have some space away from Joash. Although they were teamed up as a couple in several dramas they starred in, Karlene really did not have romantic feelings for him so his actions was kind of annoying for her even though she was keeping face and did not tell it directly.


    Soon, with the military officers, the scientists and the onlookers, Mark, Karlene and na sat at the back of the dragon and vanished from everyone''s sight. Mark concealed themselves when leaving in order to not cause anothermotion in the settlement and to maintain the effect of the false information the military spread.


    With several newpanions, Mark decided to go back to the mountain base first.

 Chapter 253 The Municipality Of Infanta, Entering The East Port Settlement

    <strong>Day 40 - 10:05 PM ¨C Barangay Dinahican, Infanta, Quezon</strong>


    The Municipality of Infanta, it was a first ss municipality in the province of Quezon. It was located at the east of the Municipality of General Nakar and to the northeast of the Municipality of Real that belonged to the same province. Infanta was thergest manufacturer ofmbanog, the only native alcohol traditionally distilled in the Philippines. However, that was only before the apocalypse came. Now, Infanta was nothing but an easily defensible ce against the infected and feral evolved animals.


    Infanta, Quezon was filled with branching rivers of various sizes and there was only one way to make it to the easternmost part of the municipality due to these rivers. However, also due to these rivers, arge number of farms and fisheries could also be found in this ce. While these facilities and businesses relied on water, anotherrger part of the municipality was covered with ntations of coconut trees which were the main ingredient to makembanog.


    At the easternmost part of Infanta, at the Barangay of Dinahican, the Infanta Settlement, also known as the East Port Settlement was located. It was because the core area of the settlement was built at the past Infanta Municipal Fishport. It was the most secure area in the settlement and the newly built manors of the three leading families of the settlement lived near the port.


    The settlement was being led by the three main families. First was the Ruanto family which was the family of a local politician in Infanta. The second was the Cristobal Family which monopolized arge share in the fisheries in the municipality. Third was the Salvador family which was a rich family that owned thergest coconut ntations in the area before the outbreak.


    With the effort of the three families, the East Port Settlement was built even before both the Port of Real Settlement and Death Valley Settlement was finished. Due to that, they managed to avoid the full brunt of the attacks of the infected and the evolved animals and managed to keep the majority of the poption in the area near the settlement. In addition to that, the other two settlements were nearer to the city than this settlement. Because of its location, most that East Port Settlement needed to fend off against was evolved animals from the forests and the sea. Of course, there were still times that Mutated infected would be able to wander near the settlement due to their erratic behaviors.


    This time, four people were walking at the northern entrance of the East Port Settlement, an average looking man, two beautiful women and a three year old cute girl. The three adults were wearing jackets with strange ornaments and armors on different parts of their bodies while the child was wearing a simple dress.


    Of course, it was Mark, Miracle, na and Karlene. On Mark''s shoulder was Amihan while on a clear divided tube that was hanging beside his backpack was Oracle, Crimson and Ivy.


    Mark was wearing his usual clothes and weapons but na and Karlene looked quite different. Inside their jackets, the two girls were wearing the armor Mark made for them. It was a different design and was made lighter due to their bodies. Karlene and na both had pistols on their waists and an assault rifle hanged on their backs but that was not the most eye catching thing.


    On na''s hands, a pair of different sized gauntlets was equipped. The gauntlet on her right hand was normal sized but the one on the left was slightly bigger. Not to mention that it had arge and thick disk around the wrist and the back of the gauntlet had a rectangr protrusion.


    Karlene on the other hand had her pistol on her right waste but a strangely shaped long dagger sheathed on the left. If it was unsheathed, it looked like a double edged long dagger with a wide de but the cement of the handle was odd as it leaned to the one side of the de than the center. It looked like a double edged cleaver shaped dagger that was should be held the wrong way. She was also wearing bracers on her arms but the bracers were normal defensive armor unlike na''s.


    Their group was walking towards the gates after leaving Char quite a distance away from the settlement. The ce Char was left was a secluded part of the forest where it was free to hunt other animals as long as it would not burn the forest. It was fine to leave it there as Mark was connected to it and he prepared a sort of signal to make ite when needed.


    "Stop!"


    Their group was stopped by the guard atop the gates. Soon, the gate opened and people to check the neers came out.


    "Who are you people?"


    A man in his thirties led the group of eight people. They were all armed with guns and cold weapons. However, it did not matter to Mark that they all had weapons but¡­


    ''They are all Mutators.'' Mark thought as he looked at every one of the guards. ''Low level Mutators.''


    Out of the eight guards, seven of them had obvious mutations on their bodies like arms covered with animal fur, strange colored eyes or fangs. Only the leader that spoke did not and looked like a normal human.


    Mark nced at the two girls and they nodded. The two had been here before and with their poprity as actresses, it would be impossible that no one noticed the two before. It was just that the two were wearing the hoods of their jackets now that their faces could not be seen clearly.


    "We came from the Military Settlement. The two of us had been here before with the army on a mission."


    na spoke as she and Karlene removed their hoods. The men, seeing two beautiful women froze. It was just the leader who kept hisposure but it was obvious that he was also surprised.


    "So, it was Ms. Bautista and Ms. Garces."


    The guard leader smiled respectfully. It seemed that rather the two''s status as actresses, he knew their other status as the Major''s daughter and the niece of the leading scientist of the Military Settlement.


    "You know us?"


    na asked.


    "I am Epifanio Mejia, I was there at the previous trade. I belong to the house of Cristobal family so I was there to help with the matters that time. If you two misses did not notice, I was one of the guards of Mr. Cristobal when Major Bautista introduced the two of you."


    Mark nodded when he heard those words. It seemed that there would be no problems for their entry here.


    "Miss Garces, who are these two and why did youe from this direction? Normally, we would wee military delegations at the port."


    The Guard Leader, Epifanio asked.


    "We are here for personal matters this time so we can''t use the military boats for transport. As for our vehicle, we decided to abandon it quite a distance away since it broke down after we were attacked by arge animal."


    na bitterly smiled and told the answer Mark prepared.


    During Military missions like hiring Mutators or trades, the military would use boats to go to this settlement due to the fact that the only road that led to Eastport Settlement was close to the Death Valley settlement and the possibility of encountering the ruffians was very high. However, the sea was not without a threat and as such, the boats only traveled nearnd and where the waters were shallow.


    "What is that?"


    One of the guards asked while looking at Mark, no, he was looking at his shoulder where Amihan was sitting. His question took the attention of the other guards away from na and Karlene towards Amihan who could not help but flinch and hug the side of Mark''s face.


    Feeling her anxiety, Mark spoke with an indifferent tone but the fierce glint in his eyes could not be concealed.


    "Don''t stare too much. You all are scaring mypanion."


    His indifferent tone caused a change of expressions on the faces of the guards.<sub> </sub>


    The Guard leader noticed that glint and signaled his subordinates to stand down.


    "Please, pardon my men. It is just anyone would be attracted to the little girl with wings on your shoulder."


    Epifanio then turned back to na and Karlene.


    "You''re group are free to enter but we needed to list your names first in our ledger and everyone needed to sign the ledger. Please follow me."


    Led by Epifanio, Mark''s group entered the gates surrounded by the guards. The names were listed in their ledger and were signed. Of course, Miracle and Amihan were exceptions to signing with just their names being listed.


    "Please take these cards." Epifanio handed three silver colored cards to Mark, na and Karlene. "It will allow you to ess the middle district. I would not borate about the rules and regtions here since Ms. Garces and Ms. Bautista had already visited before. Just please, follow the rules to avoid trouble. We won''t be consuming more of your time."


    After epting the cards, Mark and his entourage left being led by na and Karlene who had been here before.


    ***


    Epifanio and the guards watched the strange group as they walked away.


    "Captain, we really don''t like how that guy stared at us. Also his tone¡­"


    One of the guards said which made Epifanio sigh and reply.


    "You all needed to learn to read the atmosphere and people. You all stared at hispanion without respect. Of course, anyone would be angry at that. It''s also better that you all won''t mess with that man. I may be just being paranoid but my intuition tells me that that person had killed people that cannot be counted by your fingers on your hands and feet. The bloodlust around him is thick."


    The guards were surprised. They knew that their captain''s intuition was right most of the time. If it was really the case, it was good that their captain stopped them from making any rash moves.


    "But all of us here in guarding the gates are all Mutators. Why would we be afraid?"


    At that point, Epifanio shook his head.


    "All of you don''t have direct connections to the family so all of you might not know. Remember the news about the four-thousand-infected horde that attacked the Military Settlement four days ago?"


    "We do. They said that a powerful Mutator jumped in the middle of the horde and decimated the [Leader Types] to weaken the horde. He killed over a hundred infected while being surrounded by thousands of infected and still came out unscathed."


    One of the guards said the exaggerated rumor he heard from the other people and the other guards nodded as they heard the same rumor.


    The guards then froze.


    "Captain, are you saying that the Mutator in the rumors could be that man?"


    "I can''t tell for sure but the possibility is very high. It was impossible for just anyone to be apanied by the daughter and niece of the two of the most important people in the Military Settlement. Also, didn''t all of you notice? Ms. Garces and Ms. Bautista seem to be his guides here."


    Hearing those assumptions, the guards shivered.


    "Captain, if someone like that is here, shouldn''t we inform the house?"


    "Alright. All of you stay here and continue guarding. I''ll go inform the house head."


    With that, the Guard Captain, Epifanio Mejia, left to inform the House of Cristobal about the arrival of Mark''s group.


    ***


    "Hey Mark, we came here peacefully. Why would you do that?"


    "Yeah. That re was just looking for trouble."


    na and Karleneined to Mark about his actions.


    "Well, there''s no problem right? I just want to test things."


    Mark replied with a shrug.


    "Test what?"


    na asked.


    "Test if they have information about me. You saw how respectful the leader of the guards. For sure, what happened in the Military Settlement several days ago had already made it here. That guard leader sure is fast to catch things around him."


    Hearing that, the two finally realized. It was very possible for that to happen since there was a constant trade happening between the Port of Real Settlement and the East Port Settlement. In that case, Mark''s arrival here would surely stir things up in this settlement.

 Chapter 249 The Circumstances In The Base, Uncovering Miracles Secret

    <strong>Day 37 ¨C 4:01 PM ¨C Mountain Base, Mount Mbito, General Nakar, Quezon</strong>


    About an hour before Mark arrived back in the base¡­


    Nicole and Hallie who were left in charge of the settlement stood on top of the walls overseeing the situation outside.


    This was the third day after Mark left and two important events happened that could not be handled carelessly by the two of them. Move over, both events happened the day that Mark left. First was the strange event with Miracle who fortunately had woken up while the second was the arrival of a group of people who gambled to traverse the mountains to escape away from the city.


    When noon arrived after Mark left the base, Nicole was ying with the [BloodChildren] when she found out that Miracle was already. She did not know when she exactly woke up because she did not make any sound or movements. Nicole even freaked a little bit when she saw the supposed to be one year old baby quietly staring at her while she was talking with the mischievous little critters.


    Nicole carefully approached and lifted the baby up and she did not make any movements but just stared at Nicole in a manner that should not be present in an infant. Considering that Mark already told them that even though the [BloodChildren] where newly born, their mentality was close to two year old children which was why Nicole ignored the strange behavior of the baby girl and carried her out to show her to the others with the exception of Ed and Ron that was unconscious after taking in the crystals that Mark gave them.


    When everyone was happy that the sleeping cutie had already woken up, the baby in question was just staring at everyone, obviously observing them. Afterwards, the normal routine was made for the [BloodChildren]. They did not need to eat and only needed to absorb blood at least once a day with the exception of Miracle that was asleep. Miracle was not drinking the milk they prepared so they thought that she was still a [BloodChild] and brought her too at the chambers where Mark kept the Biters he captured from the barrio.


    They were correct and Miracle extended several flesh tentacles towards the Biters to absorb their blood.


    Unexpectedly, they lost control of the situation and Miracle totally dried up three Biters of their blood. The Biters ended up turning them into Eaters after they died of literal blood loss. Since eaters were dead and would not replenish their blood, Jollene had no choice but the kill them. Since it already happened, all that they could do was to capture other infected to rece the three that died. After that event, Miracle fell asleep for the whole night and the next day.


    That night was a sleepless night and a worrisome day for the girls. A strange thing happened to Miracle and her body started growing. Her growth was witnessed by the four girls and her growth only stopped near sunset yesterday. At that time, she already looked like a three year old girl. The most surprising thing was that¡­ She started to speak. The first words she said was a question.


    "Where is father?"


    It dumbfounded the four girls whocked sleep and rest. They did not know what to do with the strange child anymore. Still, it seemed hat she still needed blood and fortunately, the incedent perviously did not repeat anymore and Miracle did not grow incredulously once more.


    As for the survivors, they arrived about two and a half hours before sunset yesterday. It was really not surprising since Hallie and everyone in their group managed to get here and luckily meet Mark. If they were able to, it could be the same to other people. The surprising thing however was that four of the people in the group that arrived were among the people that they left in the hotel.


    It became harder to not let them into the base because of that and one of those four was a close acquaintance of Huey. However, this was Mark''s base and they had no reason to let other people in without his consent. In that case, they lent the survivors some tents they looted at the barrio. Luckily, many tourists that came there was nning to camp in the mountains. They only needed to wait a day or two. After all, Mark said that he would likely return after three days.


    However, it seemed that everyone did not need to wait that long.


    "What is that?"


    Huey suddenly went out in the open as his sensitive hearing managed to pick up faint strange sounds. It was like sounds of huge wings in flight.


    That was when everyone saw the silhouette of arge creature flying above the mountain top to the north east.


    "Everyone! Prepare for battle! Warn the people outside and make them hide!"


    Huey tookmand in preparations for a defensive battle. Everyone inside the base went up the walls and stood behind their wall mounted needleunchers and was ready to fire while the people outside the walls scrambled away in fear.


    When they could finally see what the creature was, everyone knew that they would not be able to win. Who would think that the one approaching was something like a dragon? It seemed like the base would fall before Mark was even able to return.


    While everyone was losing hope, a small figure jumped up the wall and ran towards the direction the dragon wasing from. Everyone was dumbfounded. It was because Miracle was waving and shouting at the dragon¡­


    "Father!"


    That gave them hope. There was only one person that could be the one Miracle was calling father and that was Mark. If she was shouting at the dragon like a child weing her father that had gone home from work, it was likely that the dragon was an ally.


    They were not mistaken with that. The dragon did not initiate any battle andnded outside the gates of the base. At the back of the dragon was three people and the one leading the three was Mark.


    ***


    Mark made Charnd outside the gates south of the base. Although there was still enough space for the dragon tond inside the base, the wind that its wings would create as itnded would surely wreck the things inside. Another reason was to intimidate the people outside which made Char rather satisfied.


    The moment Mark stepped down from the back of Char, he saw Miracle jump off the wall despite its height and bolted towards him like a bullet. Mark did his best to catch her but he still had to make several steps back to fully mitigate the impact. It was not just a childish tackle but more like a weakened cannonball. And there, an about three year old little girl was effortlessly hanging on his body sticking like glue.


    "Father¡­ Father..."


    This clinginess, there was no doubt that she was a [BloodChild]. Every single one of them behaved like that towards Mark who changed their bodies using his blood.


    "Your blood daughter?"<sub> </sub>


    Karlene asked Mark with a surprised expression. She had never seen a small girl like this jump down a three meter wall and even managed to push Mark several steps back. Not even in the settlement.


    "What are you asking Bessie? Remember the information about Mark''s lover? I don''t think that Mark is married already. I also think that he don''t have anyone before either."


    na voiced her assumptions.


    Mark on the other hand only stared at the two and shrugged his shoulders while he lifted Miracle on his arms and let her head on his shoulder. Although he was also confused on what was happening since Miracle was still asleep when he left. It was only three days and she had grown like this. He only thought that the consciousness and intelligence of the [BloodChildren] were one or two years more advanced than their actual age but to think that Miracle''s body would follow suit.


    Soon, the gates opened. Everyone from the base came out to wee Mark.


    However, everyone aside from Hallie froze when they saw the two girls that apanied Mark. They were even more surprised than seeing therge dragon.


    "Those are na and Karlene Bautista right?"


    Ed whispered to Ron which made thetter nod. As expected of their boss to bring two superstars back to the base.


    "What''s wrong with you people?"


    Hallie asked which in turn made the others look at her like they were looking at a mountain girl.


    In any case, it was a pleasant wee. Together with everyone, Mark walked towards the base with Char following behind him. Hallie and Nicole however were ncing at Char with great interest while the males were ncing at the two actresses. A few secondster, Huey yelped in pain after his ear was pinched by Jollene.


    The people outside was obviously surprised when the dragonnded and three people went down from its back. They were more surprised when the gates that did not open for them finally opened for the people that arrived. Some people understood that these people might belong to the base. However, there were those that were looking for trouble for being idiotic.


    "Wait! Huey! When can we enter? We have been waiting for a whole night and day already!"


    It seemed to be one of workmates of Huey and the others from the animation studio.


    "Laurence, be patient. Our boss already arrived so it won''t be long."


    Huey stopped to reply. However, Mark seemed to have another idea and also stopped.


    "The others can wait but you don''t have to." Mark said as he nced back. "I don''t want ascivious person in my base."


    He then led everyone inside and the gates closed which left the man frozen in surprise. The others outside could only stare at him incredulously while three women in the group was looking at him as if he deserved it.


    After all, Mark had noticed that this guy was scanning na and Karlene when they arrived. Unlike the reactions of Ed and Ron which was the result of the two girls being famous before the outbreak, the looks that person was giving was he could not wait to taste the two.


    Mei would also live here in the future. There was no need for a pest like that in the base.


    Trisha left to prepare for dinner with an excited expression, after all, their savior and benefactor hade back from his journey bringing a legendary monster which would totally strengthen the base. On the other hand, everyone else gathered at the center of the base to for the introduction and to exchange information. The night was already setting and it was a great time to start a campfire.


    Learning about the circumstances, Mark started at Miracle who was cuddling on him while he was surrounded by the other [BloodChildren]. The scene was different from usual which even made everyone smile. The other [BloodChildren] were also greeting their new brothers and sisters and the four seemed to be overwhelmed by the wee and started hiding behind Mark''s feet.


    Since everyone still had things to do like keeping watch for the night and the night also got a bitte, everyone decided to continue everything. na and Karlene were decided to sleep at the women''s quarters. Mark on the other hand brought Amihan together with the [BloodChildren] that were all clinging on his body. Right now, he looked like he was wearing some slime armor which made the others giggle every time they looked at him.


    Mark was not disturbed however. It was the way that these children were showing their affection.


    After he entered his room that was kept clean however, Mark put Miracle down as he sat on his bed. He also let the other [BloodChildren] on the bed.


    Miracle looked at him cutely while tilting her head.


    Mark then sighed.


    "Aephelia, you cane out now."


    At thatmand, Miracle''s countenance changed. She stopped tilting her head and stood up straight. Looking at Mark, she then kneeled.


    "Your Majesty."

 Chapter 250 The Loyal Aephelia, The Reasons For Her Existence

    <strong>Day 37 ¨C 7:52 PM ¨C Mountain Base, Mount Mbito, General Nakar, Quezon</strong>


    Mark stared at Miracle who was now being controlled by Aephelia.


    "Stop with that address. I''m not Freodelius."


    "I apologize but that order is not something the lowly me can ept. I pledged myself to serve His Majesty, The Last King of Eriellis, King Freodelius Arishtalia. As the inheritor of the Late King, you were the rightful heir and our new King."


    Mark shook his head with a bitter smile. Aephelia was still as stubborn as before in Freed''s memories.


    Aephelia Miferiel, she was a maid in the royal pce and Freed''s personal servant. At the attack that killed all of the royal family except for the second prince, Freodelius and the first princess, ilia, along with a lot of servants and soldiers from the pce, Aephelia was one of those that managed to survive and became a Psychic after a bite at the same incident. After that, she continued to stay and serve the new king along with Keeper.


    It was a mystery however that she was able to exist as a living consciousness. Furthermore, ording to Freed, the others were already dead at that time when the crystals were created and as such, most of their consciousness should have snuffed out even if some of their memories remained. Another thing was that Miracle was only a year old baby, it was impossible for her to encounter the event six years ago and inherit the consciousness and abilities of Aephelia. One more mystery was that Mark was not able to detect Aephelia''s consciousness at all even after he recovered a bit of his empathic ability.


    Mark posed his questions to Aephelia.


    "Your Majesty, at the final battle in our home, Eriellis, even if my body died, my consciousness would not be easily extinguished. If you would kindly remember my ability as a Psychic, Your Majesty."


    Hearing that, Mark dug Freed''s memories and immediately found it. Her ability was to control the psychic zombies that lost their soul and consciousness. Although the number of zombies she could control was limited to three, the strength of the infected was not inhibited as long as her consciousness could handle it. Due to that, in order to be able to manipte stronger zombies, she trained her mind and ability to the point of copsing every day, all in order to be of service to her King.


    As a result, the strength of her mind consciousness was strengthened and it was very likely that after dying physically, her consciousness only fell into a state of sleep and was preserved after their abilities and remaining consciousness were absorbed by the crystals. And since she was in a sleep state, Mark was not able to detect her simrly to how he was not able to detect Ka who was also asleep until she woke up and took over Karlene''s body. With Aephelia waking up from her slumber, Miracle was also affected and woke up from hera.


    For the reason that she was in Miracle''s body however, it also exined the loss of sanity of Melinda. Even though Aephelia was asleep until the other day, there were still things that she was aware of.


    Six years ago when Melinda was in America for the check-ups of their gic disorder, a marble sized crystal fell from the sky and entered her body. However, due to the fact that Aephelia''s consciousness was intact and asleep, Melinda was not able to inherit her ability and Aephelia remained inside her body. Until five yearster when she miraculously gave birth to Miracle. Aephelia''s sleeping consciousness was transferred to the innocent baby due to her body being morepatible as bearer of Aephelia''s ability than the mother.


    Talking more with Aephelia, Mark learned that she had nothing to do with the sudden growth of Miracle but it was because her body needed to grow to cope up with the abilities she had. Fortunately, it would likely never happen once more unless there was a huge unnatural leap in the strength of her abilities. After all, her body was not a normal one but was created artificially using the unknown methods Mnie used and the [Physical Crystal] that identally absorbed by her. This was close to Mark''s assumptions.


    "It was really good that this servant was able to witness His Late Majesty''s inheritor."


    Aephelia said with a sad smile.


    "You sounded like you won''tst long."


    "Unfortunately, yes. Even if this servant''s consciousness was stronger than others, more than a thousand years was too much. At most, this servant''s consciousness could onlyst a few months more."


    "Is that so?"


    Mark sighed. As he inherited Freed''s memories, Aephelia did not feel like some stranger to him. However, like Freed, she was a person that was supposed to be dead and was remaining as a consciousness near to being snuffed out.


    He then froze, he had an idea.


    "Aephelia, sit beside me."


    Aephelia was confused but followed without questioning anything.


    After she sat on the bed, Mark then released a white glow on his hand and it was the same with his eyes. He then gently held his right hand of her head.


    Aephelia''s eyes dted in shock and turned to Mark with reverence in her eyes. After several minutes that Mark also felt a little dizzy, he removed his hands and asked.


    "How is it?"


    However, Aephelia jumped down from the bed and kneeled ones more.


    "This servant, thank Your Majesty for your grace! With this, this servant had no problem to exist even a year more!"


    Her voice was a little waving. It was obvious that she was in tears. However, with her using Miracle''s body, it looked more like a father that made his daughter cry and kneel on the floor.


    "Get up. Miracle is still small so I will need your help to protect her."


    "Yes, Your Majesty."


    Mark nodded hearing her reply. As for Miracle calling him father, he decided to ept. It was not like he could make her go to others. He could not just abandon her either.


    After the talk, Aephelia returned to sleep and Miracle came back. That night, he slept with every single [BloodChildren] around him and Miracle was the most clingy of them all.


    As for Amihan, she was hiding all the duration of Mark''s talk with Aephelia. After all, what happened with Miracle looked like some evil possession. She was afraid that she would also get possessed. Along with her fear of humans, she also had the fear of evil spirits which took her parent''s lives.


    ***


    Day 38 ¨C 8:03 AM ¨C Mountain Base, Mount Mbito, General Nakar, Quezon


    GRWARU


    GRWAAA


    Cute strange noises could be heard inside the base. Looking at it, it was the fox like wolf, Wargy, ying around Char who was trying its hardest to ignore the annoying critter. After three days of feeding Wargy one crystal, which Mark decided to call [Beast Crystal], a day, it had grown a little bigger and its fur was shinier. However, it was still a cub. Its tendency to y was so high that it was not even afraid of Char even though its size was even smaller than the dragon''s feet.


    GRAAA!


    Fed up, Char roared a bit.<sub> </sub>


    GRUUU!!!


    Wargy let out a scared wail and sped off. However, it still came back about fifteen minutester to annoy the big guy once more making Char even more annoyed.


    Everyone was working on their chores around the base. Near the area where Char was resting, a new building was being prioritized and it was the dragon''s stable. Ed and Ron could be seen working on it diligently with smiles on their faces.


    After their evolution, Ed gained [Super Strength] which was very useful to him as he was doing hardbor. In the base, he was the strongest physically. As for Ron, he gained [Super uracy]. He able to move his hands with high dexterity and he were able to hit targets far away urately with ranged weapons he could use. It was a very versatile ability that could be used in many fields.


    "Huey, what do you think about them."


    Mark asked Huey about the people outside as they stood atop the walls. After all, he was the one in charge of the surveince around the base because of his abilities as an Evolver. Since the people outside came, Huey had been spying on them and was listening to their conversations.


    "To tell the truth, half is unsuitable." Huey sighed. "In that group, they were being led by a group of men. Three of them were our former co-workers including the guy you reprimanded yesterday. Those guys are scheming people and not good to let them in. Furthermore, it seemed that there are three families in that group along with several girls of different ages. The families and the girls seem fine. To be exact, they wanted to get away from the men leading their group. Boss should know why."


    "Alright. I''m in a hurry and just came back to check. It''s good if we can let some of them enter. I''ll check them personally."


    "Okay, Boss. We still need manpower. The things you brought back yesterday are good so we will need people to work on farming."


    Soon, Mark who was holding Miracle''s hand and Huey went out of the gates and gathered the people outside.


    There were a family consisting of the parents and a girl, a family with just a couple and a family of three siblings. There were also four girls with no blood rtion to any of the group members and three men who looked like underdogs. Another was two children, a boy and a girl that seemed to be taken care of by the couple without children.


    Lastly, the eight men that seemed to be the ones Huey was talking about. They all looked unruly and arrogant. Furthermore, they positioned themselves scattered around the group.


    It was a total of twenty-five people.


    Mark really hated standing in front of crowds but¡­


    ''Here we go again.''


    He shrugged his shoulders and faced the people.


    "I heard that you all wanted to join my base. However, I don''t let people just enter and leave freely so I prepared some questions and conditions."


    Hearing that, some of the people gulped.


    "First, how did you all found this base? It''s more reasonable if all of you followed the river. If I''m correct, you all came from the west right?"


    One of the women raised her hand. Mark let her speak.


    "It''s because of him." She pointed at one of the three underdogs. "He said that he noticed a trail that seemed to be used by people so we took his suggestion."


    "Is that true?"


    Mark asked the man.


    "Y-yes Sir. My father''s hobby was hunting in the mountains so I learned a bit."


    "Alright."


    Mark nodded.


    "Now, I wonder how all of you lived after the apocalypse. Anyone of you killed people before?"


    Everyone became silent. However, Mark could tell that some of them wanted to speak but were very reluctant to. It was because of the men that scattered in their group.


    Mark then looked at the bald man with muscles. He looked strong and Mark was sure that he was one of the two Mutators in this group.


    "How about you?"


    "Sir, why would you ask me? If you don''t count the zombies, then I haven''t killed anyone."


    He answered with a straight face. It might look normal but everyone that did not belong to that group of men had bitter expressions on their faces even though they tried hard not to show it. Even the children seemed to be afraid of the man.


    Of course, Mark knew that it was a straight faced lie. Just how thick was this man''s face?


    "That''s a lie!"


    One of the four women shouted but she was immediately grabbed by the man beside her and her mouth was covered.


    "Sir, don''t worry about her. My sister here just liked to joke."


    The woman red at the man and tried to resist but that man was the other Mutator of the group. There was no way for her to resist.


    Mark smiled sinisterly.


    ''Good. The Biters I''m raising needed some fresh meat after all.''

 Chapter 251 A Bloody Request, For A Place To Start Anew

    <strong>Day 38 ¨C 8:11 AM - Moutain Base, Mount Mbito, General Nakar, Quezon</strong>


    Mark panned his eyes at the people in front of him.


    Killing people, he was not new to it. At the very start of the apocalypse, the government copsed and thews of the country lost its importance. Lives of people became cheap due to various reasons and a person killing another was not new.


    He did not mind if these people killed others. What he minded was for what reason they killed.


    When Mark asked that question, he immediately knew who among them had their hands stained with blood. It was also not hard to distinguish who were those that killed for their desires and those who killed for self-defense. He was an Empath after all. He did not need overly troublesome measures like psychological tests or lie detector tests.


    Unexpectedly, one of the fluctuations indicating that he killed someone came from one of the children, the boy from the two siblings.


    ''Interesting¡­''


    Looking at the boy, it seemed that he was just nine or ten and his sister seemed to be just seven. The sister was currently hiding behind the brother while the brother was looking at Mark without any shred of fear. Rather, his fear was all suppressed by his resolve to protect his sibling.


    Even though he was just a child, his resolve already gained him and his sister the entry to his base.


    "You two,e here."


    Mark called the two.


    The couple that was taking care of the two children seemed to panic since they could not fathom what Mark called the two children for.


    After being called, the sister seemed to hesitate but the brother gently pulled her and walked towards Mark.


    "Your names?"


    "Marcus."


    "C-Chesa."


    Mark asked their names and the two answered with contradicting expressions. He then looked at Marcus and asked.


    "Who did you kill before?"


    Both children were surprised. Chesa could not help but tighten her grip on her brother''s clothes. Marcus however inhaled and calmed himself.


    "Our father."


    This answered surprised everyone. Who would have thought that his young child had killed someone before? It seemed that even the people in the group knew nothing about this.


    "Why?"


    "To protect Chesa and mother."


    "And your mother?"


    "We don''t need her."


    Marcus showed hate in his eyes. Chesa then hesitatingly interjected with a very small voice.


    "Mother abandoned us."


    It was a story even before the outbreak for sure.


    "What if something happens to your sister?"


    Mark asked with a stern voice.


    Hearing that, Marcus'' countenance changed and his eyes became fierce. As if he was tearing the person he was looking at from the inside. It was the eye of a predator.


    Then, the two children felt a hand on their heads. Both of them were surprised that Mark was patting them.


    "Huey."


    "Boss."


    "Take these two inside first."


    "No." Marcus interjected. "Aunt Martha and Uncle Joaquin are still here. We can''t just leave them."


    "Alright. Let''s just make the others enter in one go."


    Hearing that, everyone from the group outside sighed in relief. However, Mark suddenly spoke.


    "Don''t be relieved yet. Not all of you are going to enter."


    "Why?!"


    A man spoke but Mark ignored him. Mark then pointed at the three families, the four women and the three weak hearted men.


    "All of you I called. Wait in front of the gate."


    They all did not say anything and just walked. The girls however were looking at eight men that were left behind with eyes filled with grudge.


    "What is the meaning of this?! Why are we left out?!"


    It was the bald man that asked. He was furious but the confusion in his face was apparent. His men was scattered among their group but all of them were separated from the others by Mark.


    "Well, I don''t need criminals in my base after all."


    "What do you mean? If you are mentioning criminals, then what is that boy?"


    One of the men yelled and pointed at Marcus.


    "And all of you! After we protected all of you all this time, we will be left out here?"


    The man also yelled at the others. However, the same woman that tried to speak earlier when Mark asked the bald man the first time yelled back.


    "Protected? You say that you protected us?! What kind of joke is that?"


    Tears started to flow in her eyes.


    "You animals treated us as cannon fodder! You all used us like toys! Phillip¡­ You bastards killed Phillip¡­"


    Mark looked at the girl.


    "What''s your name?"


    "A-Althea."<sub> </sub>


    "What do you want to do with these animals?"


    "Ki-kill them! I will do anything! Please kill them!"


    "Anything? That''s something you shouldn''t say to a man you know."


    "I don''t mind! Please, I want to see them dead!"


    Althea then kneeled in front of Mark. The others tried to stop her while their eyes were also at the verge of tears due to sympathy but she did not relent. She looked at Mark with hope of fulfilling her revenge.


    The others seeing this sighed with remorse. They were all present when those events happened. Those men were a bunch of animals that would not even spare the children. In order to protect the young girls from theirsciviousness, the older girls presented themselves. Even the wives were the same and their husbands were not able to do anything.


    As for Phillip, he was Althea''s fianc¨¦ before the outbreak. He resisted when the beasts tried to take away Althea. Due to that, he was beaten to death. It all happened in front of Althea who was tied up that time.


    Mark smiled and looked at the eight men.


    "Shit! Run!"


    The bald man yelled and the eight men turned around and tried to run away. However, when they turned around, they saw a ck mist passed between them and exploded at the direction they were about to run to. The mist then materialized and their eyes became wide in horror. The one blocking their way was Mark. Some of them turned their head back and saw that Mark actually vanished from his initial spot and they were not just seeing illusions.


    "There''s actually no need to say so but¡­" Mark smiled sinisterly. "I apologize but you already saw my base. I can''t leave any of you alive even if she did not request for it."


    Mark then released the spear, [der] then, theyered de of the spear elongated and curved before it rotated to one side. The spear turned into a reddish ck scythe, the symbol of a grim reaper.


    BANG!


    The bald man drew his pistol and fired. However¡­


    PANG!


    Mark blocked the bullet with the de of the scythe in his hands.


    Like a ghost, Mark appeared and disappeared and instantly beheaded two of the men that were close to him.


    The bald man knew that they were cornered. Even if they were able to fight Mark, there was still the dragon that they saw yesterday. Since it was a fight to death, he decided to bring other people with him. His eyesnded on Miracle who was left beside Huey.


    He then pulled back his arm and punched as hard as he could. Normally, he would only hit air but he was a Mutator. His arm stretched forward and even reached a dozen meters. The punch he released instantly arrived in front of Miracle.


    He smirked but it did notst long. He felt his body got pulled forwards and flew towards the little girl. In an instant, he saw a small hand in front of his face. He did not remember anything else. A hole was bored into his head and Miracle''s had got stuck in his skull. With a wriggle, the little hand was deformed and was retracted freely.


    Every one near Miracle, except Huey and Althea, stepped back when they saw the dead body of the bald man.


    At Mark''s part, the battle already ended. More than fifty ouws with ten Mutators could not even hold a candle against Mark. A group of eight beasts in human flesh and two Mutators would only need a few seconds to deal with.


    Mark''s and Miracle''s disy of prowess was very surprising to these new people. Different expressions were apparent on their faces but one thing reigned in their minds. With a powerful person like them in this base, this ce was safer that any other.


    "Baby, are you okay?"


    Mark said to Miracle and patted her head.


    "Un!" Miracle nodded with a smile but frowned as she tried to remove the blood on her hand. "Father¡­ Blood taste bad."


    "Give me that."


    Mark took out a cloth from his pocket and wiped Miracle''s hand. It seemed that the little [BloodChild] was actually disgusted with the bald man''s blood.


    "Boss, sorry I wasn''t able to react."


    Huey apologized for his ipetence.


    "It''s fine. You don''t specialize in battles but reconnaissance. Still, you better work on that."


    "Yes Boss."


    Althea then approached. Her expression seemed refreshed.


    "Sir¡­ No, Boss. Thank you."


    It was a heartfelt gratitude.


    Mark turned to her and everyone behind her.


    "I allow you all to join my base but there are rules you should all follow."


    Mark stated the rules he had thought beforehand.


    First was to contribute within the base. There were a lot of things to be done and more hands were needed, whether it was construction, farming or gathering supplies.


    Second was that once a person deserted or betrayed the base and had gone against its interest, the person would be sentenced to death.


    Third, no one was to divulge the base and its location outside without proper reason. This was a mountain base, not a refugee camp. And as such, its existence must remain a secret as much as possible.


    Fourth, it was fine to leave the base in the future but the second and third rule still applied.


    Fifth, within the base, any form of crime would be a move against the base and proper punishment would be practiced.


    "As long that as all of you can follow those rules, all of you can freely live in this base and be protected in its walls."


    Everyone nodded and exhaled in relief. There were no rules restricting them at all. Atst, they escaped from the hands of their oppressors. Some of them never though that this day woulde so suddenly.


    The city was a mess and the forest was also filled with danger. If this ce was really safe, there was no reason for them to not contribute to everyone''s wellbeing.


    ? "Huey, gather the bodiester. Leave those two in the inner chambers while give two bodies to Char."


    Mark pointed at the bodies of the two Mutators. One was the bald man who had stretching arms while the other was a guy


    "Yes Boss. I will send for Ed and Ron to gather them."


    "Alright, everyone follow us inside."


    Mark led the group of people inside the gates. Most of them looked timid as they looked around.


    The people were brought at the northwest side of the base where several houses were built. These houses had [Blood Metal] as foundations with wood and y as walls, a kind of survival housemonly seen in videos in the inte. Although it was just made with those materials, the house was built sturdy and was looking good with an architecture graduate like Huey around.


    Althea looked around her. It was a new environment, a new home for them. Furthermore, the people in the base they saw were all in good shape, clean clothing and happy smiles in their face as they greeted them.


    It was the ce to start anew. Although the past would not be forgotten that easily, at least, they have a future to look forward to now. They endured a lot in the past month. Although the struggle for survival was still not over, they were now in a better start.


    Volume 4 END

 Chapter 252 Taking A Break, A Peacful Day At The Mountain Base

    <strong>Day 39 ¨C 9:32 AM ¨C Mountain Base, Mount Mbito, General Nakar, Quezon</strong>


    Mark stretched his back as he went out of the crevice chambers with Amihan and Miracle.


    It was already quitete in the morning and he had just woken up. He stayed uptest night doing something and caused him to oversleep. The atmosphere in the base and the current mindset of people around helped him a lot to recover theck of sleep in the past days he was not here.


    He looked around. It was strange that no one came to greet him. That was when he saw what seemed to be everyone in the base gathered at the northeast part of the base. It was the most vacant part of the base since most of the current shacks and houses built was more concentrated at the center and the south area of the base.


    Mark stealthily approached and no one even noticed him, not even Huey. All of them were concentrated on what was happening in front of them.


    In front of the crowd, there was Jolene and na. The two were entangled in a battle. Both were seriously exchanging attacks but looking at their faces, it seemed that they were both enjoying the battle.


    "Boss!"


    Huey finally noticed and yelled.


    Everybody was quite surprised that the leader of the base was already here without anyone noticing. However, none of them neglected to greet him or at least, slightly bow at him. Apparently, this kind of greeting was being poprized here by Hallie. Although it was quite strange, it was not really bad so he let it be. It was better rather than something like a new kind of salute.


    Actually, it was better if they just did the usual since he was not really used to it but if he did that, Aephelia would surely reprimand himter on. That servant of Freed was a stubborn one about these kinds of things. She would probably say things about maintaining image and such.


    Looking at the new people, they all look several times better than yesterday. Now, they were wearing clean clothes, able to eat enough food to fill their stomachs and slept properly without worrying that someone or the infected mighte after them on their sleep. Although the marks of the hardships they had been through could still be seen on their faces and their bodies, at least, they were able to smile now.


    However, they should really stop their strange nces at Amihan who was already feeling creeped out.


    "What is happening with those two?"


    Mark asked and he was immediately answered by Nicole and Karlene.


    Apparently, the girls learned that na knew martial arts from Karlene''s slip of tongue and Jolene asked for a spar. It all led to the current situation. Jolene''s desire for strength and skill was gettingrger. Fortunately, it was in a good way. After all, what she wanted was the strength to be able to protect herself and the people around her.


    The two who was entangled in their fight did not even notice Mark. Watching the two, Mark knew that both of them were in a stalemate. Jolene wascking in experience and her movements were more or less an amateur but her ability as an Evolver made up for what shecked and she was able to dodge na''s sharp attacks.


    On the other hand, na''s movements was not a total expert, but at least, she seemed to have years of experience. She was able to dodge Jolene''s attacks without problem but she was struggling to make a good hit on Jolene. Their battle would surely not get anywhere and the two would only stop after the two of them were tired.


    He then looked at everyone who was watching. Although there were still a lot to be done in the base, a short break and entertainment like this once in a while was not bad at all.


    Mark decided to stop watching and made his way to where Char was staying to check.


    GRUAWR!


    It seemed that Wargy was pestering Char again. If Mark did not have control over therge dragon, it might have already eaten the brave little fe.


    Yesterday, Mark told Huey to bring two of the corpse of the men to Char for food. It was not the first time it ate after it became a dragon. Mark traded some meat back in the military settlement to feed it before they left and also fed it more when they arrived the other day. Since it was fond of meat, Mark thought that it would like human meat but who would have thought that it actually ignored the bodies as if it was looking at disgusting insects.


    It was like a rich youngdy who was tried to be fed with fried coconut worms for the first time. However, Mark immediately realized why.


    Before the outbreak, human meat might be the tastiest meat animals could find but now that the animals evolved, their meat became superior and human meat became inferior. It was not only in quantity but also in nutrients. In the end, he told Huey to feed the bodies to the infected inside the chambers.


    The bodies of the two Mutators also ended up as infected food after Mark harvested their mutations. He managed to get some weird abilities this time. First was an ability to stretch arms in about several meters while the second one was to be able to release mes from the pores in the body.


    Both were rather troublesome abilities but they were easily dealt with due to theirck of skill.


    After checking on Char, Mark vanished together with Miracle and Amihan in a puff of ck mist and appeared at the top of the crevice overlooking the whole base.


    "My Lord, the base is developing nicely isn''t it?"


    Amihan said as she watched the base below.


    Although it looked more crowded for her, it still looked better than before. The mostly reddish ck colored structures gave a good sense of formality although it also made the base more look like air for evil spirits. Fortunately, for Amihan''s sake, Mark forbid to clear up some of the trees in the base unless necessary since a sylph like her should still live side by side with nature.<sub> </sub>


    Looking back at the base, Mark could also say that it was developing nicely. The west side where the crevice was located was the area where the living quarters and temporary houses were built. The southwest area was where the animals were being raised and was where Char was also staying.


    The northeast was still vacant while the north side was where the pelts from hunted animals were being dried along with some of the fishes caught in the river and some meat. The shacks for crafting stuff was also located nearby.


    To the south east was the spring where the bath was also built. It was just a single structure but big enough to allow several people inside. The outhouses were also nearby but far enough to not affect the water in the spring.


    To the eastern side was also vacant but it was nned that the ce would be reserved for arge joint housing in case that more people came in this ce.


    As for the central area of the base, it was currently being used as the meeting area with the camp fire and some chairs made of tree trunks.


    It was good that Huey was here. The design for the base was made nicely.


    To the north outside the walls, Mark could see the clearednd with a small part already tilled. This was where they nned to nt the crops and the area would still be expanded in the future.


    Mark sat on the edge of the crevice swinging his feet below.


    It was really good to take a break from time to time. He just wished that there was something he could watch anime on, y some video games or at least, read some Chinese, Korean or Japanese Novels.


    Today, he was going to rx. Since tomorrow, he was going to go leave this ce once more. This time, he was going to bring Miracle, Amihan, na and Karlene with him and Char were going to be their form of transport. He also nned to take the parasite queen along just in case.


    His first target was the Infanta Settlement. The settlement ruled by Mutators and Evolvers.


    It was because it would be harder to go to that ce after he did his business in the Death Valley Settlement first, since he wanted to get ves from that settlement. The transport would be troublesome if he had more people around. Besides, his only goal in the Infanta Settlement was to gather the [BloodChildren] there and nothing else.


    He decided to bring Karlene and na since the two were more experience in the outside world. Furthermore, he would need trustworthy people to leave the management of ves as he did other things.


    The preparations for departure were already done yesterday andst night. The protective gear and weapons that would be given to na and Karlene were also done. That was also the reason why na had the time to ept Jolene''s challenge since today was the rest day for them too.


    "Father, I''m hungry."


    Miracle said while Mark was still looking around the area below.


    Mark sighed and held out his left hand. Without hesitation, Miracle bit on his hand and a wound opened. She then started to suck the blood from the wound. Although Miracle was able to suck blood from the infected, the spoiled girl rather preferred her father''s blood. Furthermore, if it was Mark''s blood, she did not need to drink too much and she would be full faster than absorbing the blood of the infected or even other human''s blood.


    "She''s really like a vampire."


    Amihan could not help but voice.


    "You have seen one before?"


    Mark asked in curiosity.


    "I did. They appeared almost at the same time when those people humans called priests came."


    That was some nice information. Who would have thought that the vampires from the west appeared here along with the Spanish upation? However, the stories about them in local folklore seemed to becking. Something might have happened before which caused them toy low.


    Mark looked below once more. It seemed that the show was done and everyone dispersed. He could see Ed walking with Althea for some reason. It was not surprising however. Yesterday, Ed seemed to be struck by something as she saw Althea for the first time. Unfortunately for him, he still needed to ovee the hurdle called Phillip even if the hurdle was not alive anymore.


    Behind them was the couple without children, Randolph and Editha Vargas. Both of them were already in their forties. The two were farmers in Tanay, Rizal and owned a rather decent ntation. Due to that, the two would be in charge with the farming in the base and the two dly epted as it was the thing they were best at. Still, they were surprised to see the oversized leaves and fruit of the sweet potato Mark took back.


    It was quite peaceful in this ce. If Mark did not have important things to do outside, he would rather not leave this base. However, he could not rest yet.


    The [BloodChildren], he needed to gather them to his base. He also needed to fetch Mei and his adopted children in Bay City. Furthermore, he was feeling restless for some reason though the effect was rather weak but he could still feel that something was going to happen.


    Unfortunately, he could not control his future visions. Freed also told him that these kinds of visions and premonitionse at random since Mark was not directly linked to the destiny of the living anymore. That was why he was able to peek at times when the barrier was weakened or if something connected to people close to him would happen.


    He just wished that this restlessness would pass by like air.

 Chapter 253 The Municipality Of Infanta, Entering The East Port Settlement

    <strong>Day 40 - 10:05 PM ¨C Barangay Dinahican, Infanta, Quezon</strong>


    The Municipality of Infanta, it was a first ss municipality in the province of Quezon. It was located at the east of the Municipality of General Nakar and to the northeast of the Municipality of Real that belonged to the same province. Infanta was thergest manufacturer ofmbanog, the only native alcohol traditionally distilled in the Philippines. However, that was only before the apocalypse came. Now, Infanta was nothing but an easily defensible ce against the infected and feral evolved animals.


    Infanta, Quezon was filled with branching rivers of various sizes and there was only one way to make it to the easternmost part of the municipality due to these rivers. However, also due to these rivers, arge number of farms and fisheries could also be found in this ce. While these facilities and businesses relied on water, anotherrger part of the municipality was covered with ntations of coconut trees which were the main ingredient to makembanog.


    At the easternmost part of Infanta, at the Barangay of Dinahican, the Infanta Settlement, also known as the East Port Settlement was located. It was because the core area of the settlement was built at the past Infanta Municipal Fishport. It was the most secure area in the settlement and the newly built manors of the three leading families of the settlement lived near the port.


    The settlement was being led by the three main families. First was the Ruanto family which was the family of a local politician in Infanta. The second was the Cristobal Family which monopolized arge share in the fisheries in the municipality. Third was the Salvador family which was a rich family that owned thergest coconut ntations in the area before the outbreak.


    With the effort of the three families, the East Port Settlement was built even before both the Port of Real Settlement and Death Valley Settlement was finished. Due to that, they managed to avoid the full brunt of the attacks of the infected and the evolved animals and managed to keep the majority of the poption in the area near the settlement. In addition to that, the other two settlements were nearer to the city than this settlement. Because of its location, most that East Port Settlement needed to fend off against was evolved animals from the forests and the sea. Of course, there were still times that Mutated infected would be able to wander near the settlement due to their erratic behaviors.


    This time, four people were walking at the northern entrance of the East Port Settlement, an average looking man, two beautiful women and a three year old cute girl. The three adults were wearing jackets with strange ornaments and armors on different parts of their bodies while the child was wearing a simple dress.


    Of course, it was Mark, Miracle, na and Karlene. On Mark''s shoulder was Amihan while on a clear divided tube that was hanging beside his backpack was Oracle, Crimson and Ivy.


    Mark was wearing his usual clothes and weapons but na and Karlene looked quite different. Inside their jackets, the two girls were wearing the armor Mark made for them. It was a different design and was made lighter due to their bodies. Karlene and na both had pistols on their waists and an assault rifle hanged on their backs but that was not the most eye catching thing.


    On na''s hands, a pair of different sized gauntlets was equipped. The gauntlet on her right hand was normal sized but the one on the left was slightly bigger. Not to mention that it had arge and thick disk around the wrist and the back of the gauntlet had a rectangr protrusion.


    Karlene on the other hand had her pistol on her right waste but a strangely shaped long dagger sheathed on the left. If it was unsheathed, it looked like a double edged long dagger with a wide de but the cement of the handle was odd as it leaned to the one side of the de than the center. It looked like a double edged cleaver shaped dagger that was should be held the wrong way. She was also wearing bracers on her arms but the bracers were normal defensive armor unlike na''s.


    Their group was walking towards the gates after leaving Char quite a distance away from the settlement. The ce Char was left was a secluded part of the forest where it was free to hunt other animals as long as it would not burn the forest. It was fine to leave it there as Mark was connected to it and he prepared a sort of signal to make ite when needed.


    "Stop!"


    Their group was stopped by the guard atop the gates. Soon, the gate opened and people to check the neers came out.


    "Who are you people?"


    A man in his thirties led the group of eight people. They were all armed with guns and cold weapons. However, it did not matter to Mark that they all had weapons but¡­


    ''They are all Mutators.'' Mark thought as he looked at every one of the guards. ''Low level Mutators.''


    Out of the eight guards, seven of them had obvious mutations on their bodies like arms covered with animal fur, strange colored eyes or fangs. Only the leader that spoke did not and looked like a normal human.


    Mark nced at the two girls and they nodded. The two had been here before and with their poprity as actresses, it would be impossible that no one noticed the two before. It was just that the two were wearing the hoods of their jackets now that their faces could not be seen clearly.


    "We came from the Military Settlement. The two of us had been here before with the army on a mission."


    na spoke as she and Karlene removed their hoods. The men, seeing two beautiful women froze. It was just the leader who kept hisposure but it was obvious that he was also surprised.


    "So, it was Ms. Bautista and Ms. Garces."


    The guard leader smiled respectfully. It seemed that rather the two''s status as actresses, he knew their other status as the Major''s daughter and the niece of the leading scientist of the Military Settlement.


    "You know us?"


    na asked.


    "I am Epifanio Mejia, I was there at the previous trade. I belong to the house of Cristobal family so I was there to help with the matters that time. If you two misses did not notice, I was one of the guards of Mr. Cristobal when Major Bautista introduced the two of you."


    Mark nodded when he heard those words. It seemed that there would be no problems for their entry here.


    "Miss Garces, who are these two and why did youe from this direction? Normally, we would wee military delegations at the port."


    The Guard Leader, Epifanio asked.


    "We are here for personal matters this time so we can''t use the military boats for transport. As for our vehicle, we decided to abandon it quite a distance away since it broke down after we were attacked by arge animal."


    na bitterly smiled and told the answer Mark prepared.


    During Military missions like hiring Mutators or trades, the military would use boats to go to this settlement due to the fact that the only road that led to Eastport Settlement was close to the Death Valley settlement and the possibility of encountering the ruffians was very high. However, the sea was not without a threat and as such, the boats only traveled nearnd and where the waters were shallow.


    "What is that?"


    One of the guards asked while looking at Mark, no, he was looking at his shoulder where Amihan was sitting. His question took the attention of the other guards away from na and Karlene towards Amihan who could not help but flinch and hug the side of Mark''s face.


    Feeling her anxiety, Mark spoke with an indifferent tone but the fierce glint in his eyes could not be concealed.


    "Don''t stare too much. You all are scaring mypanion."


    His indifferent tone caused a change of expressions on the faces of the guards.<sub> </sub>


    The Guard leader noticed that glint and signaled his subordinates to stand down.


    "Please, pardon my men. It is just anyone would be attracted to the little girl with wings on your shoulder."


    Epifanio then turned back to na and Karlene.


    "You''re group are free to enter but we needed to list your names first in our ledger and everyone needed to sign the ledger. Please follow me."


    Led by Epifanio, Mark''s group entered the gates surrounded by the guards. The names were listed in their ledger and were signed. Of course, Miracle and Amihan were exceptions to signing with just their names being listed.


    "Please take these cards." Epifanio handed three silver colored cards to Mark, na and Karlene. "It will allow you to ess the middle district. I would not borate about the rules and regtions here since Ms. Garces and Ms. Bautista had already visited before. Just please, follow the rules to avoid trouble. We won''t be consuming more of your time."


    After epting the cards, Mark and his entourage left being led by na and Karlene who had been here before.


    ***


    Epifanio and the guards watched the strange group as they walked away.


    "Captain, we really don''t like how that guy stared at us. Also his tone¡­"


    One of the guards said which made Epifanio sigh and reply.


    "You all needed to learn to read the atmosphere and people. You all stared at hispanion without respect. Of course, anyone would be angry at that. It''s also better that you all won''t mess with that man. I may be just being paranoid but my intuition tells me that that person had killed people that cannot be counted by your fingers on your hands and feet. The bloodlust around him is thick."


    The guards were surprised. They knew that their captain''s intuition was right most of the time. If it was really the case, it was good that their captain stopped them from making any rash moves.


    "But all of us here in guarding the gates are all Mutators. Why would we be afraid?"


    At that point, Epifanio shook his head.


    "All of you don''t have direct connections to the family so all of you might not know. Remember the news about the four-thousand-infected horde that attacked the Military Settlement four days ago?"


    "We do. They said that a powerful Mutator jumped in the middle of the horde and decimated the [Leader Types] to weaken the horde. He killed over a hundred infected while being surrounded by thousands of infected and still came out unscathed."


    One of the guards said the exaggerated rumor he heard from the other people and the other guards nodded as they heard the same rumor.


    The guards then froze.


    "Captain, are you saying that the Mutator in the rumors could be that man?"


    "I can''t tell for sure but the possibility is very high. It was impossible for just anyone to be apanied by the daughter and niece of the two of the most important people in the Military Settlement. Also, didn''t all of you notice? Ms. Garces and Ms. Bautista seem to be his guides here."


    Hearing those assumptions, the guards shivered.


    "Captain, if someone like that is here, shouldn''t we inform the house?"


    "Alright. All of you stay here and continue guarding. I''ll go inform the house head."


    With that, the Guard Captain, Epifanio Mejia, left to inform the House of Cristobal about the arrival of Mark''s group.


    ***


    "Hey Mark, we came here peacefully. Why would you do that?"


    "Yeah. That re was just looking for trouble."


    na and Karleneined to Mark about his actions.


    "Well, there''s no problem right? I just want to test things."


    Mark replied with a shrug.


    "Test what?"


    na asked.


    "Test if they have information about me. You saw how respectful the leader of the guards. For sure, what happened in the Military Settlement several days ago had already made it here. That guard leader sure is fast to catch things around him."


    Hearing that, the two finally realized. It was very possible for that to happen since there was a constant trade happening between the Port of Real Settlement and the East Port Settlement. In that case, Mark''s arrival here would surely stir things up in this settlement.

 Chapter 260 The Tamawo, A Conversation With Edzels Father And Peering Into The Future Once More

    <strong>Day 41 ¨C 1:52 AM ¨C Sabang River, Barangay Dinahican, Infanta, Quezon</strong>


    The Tamawo, an Elemental that could be found in Philippine Folklore and Mythology. The stories about them mostly came from Visayas or the Visayan Inds, one of the three principal geographical divisions of the Philippines along with Luzon and Mindanao.


    In terms of appearance, they could be described simr to elves of western culture. They simrly lived deep inside forests in tribes. Differently to the elves of western culture, the Tamawo only had males in their tribes and needed to abduct human females they took interest in with the use of their magical abilities. However, even their children were males and after their children were fully integrated into their tribe as a Tamawo, the same cycle was repeated.


    Women who fell in love or had been targeted by a Tamawo would be mesmerized. They were gentle and loving and what a woman would want to see as a man. Unfortunately, it was not without consequences.


    A woman that fell in love with a Tamawo would gradually weaken, fall sick and die. Her body would be then dug and reced with a banana heart. The Tamawo that the woman fell in love with would take her body back to his kingdom and would be lost from human history forever.


    There were also stories that the Tamawo would drag women that polluted rivers near their inhabited forests and would be drowned to death.


    Mark looked at the man in front of him. He looked no different to what the stories he knew had told. The existence of this man who seemed to be the father of Edzel fit his interests on the poor boy.


    Back then when he was watching the event where Edzel was left by Pearl, the raging feelings of Edzel stirred the energy inside him making Mark feel it. It was a kind of energy simr to what Amihan possessed. Yet, Edzel was surely a human, or at least half of him.


    When Mark whispered to Edzel before, he also noticed that Edzel''s ck hair did not look natural, it was the same for his eyes. Edzel''s hair was dyed ck while his eyes had a bit of grayish tint. Looking at the roots of his hair, it a tint of pale color that looked natural. There were only two possibilities for this. Either he was a person with albinism or he was one of those rumored children that were born with an Elemental as a parent.


    Since he did not look like the first, it could only be the second. Especially since it was not new for Mark to see creatures from Mythology and things about Psychics and Espers, Mark believed the second possibility even more.


    And he was right with his assumption. Since the time he saw Edzel here in the forest, he already felt the presence of this person who had a simr mental wavelength as Edzel but had a higher psychic energy simr to Amihan. He deduced that this person could be the father of Edzel since he was obviously releasing familial affection towards the boy.


    "You knew that the boy''s father is here and yet, you have that courage to behave like an evil spirit and persuade my son using empty promises. What are you really after?"


    The man spoke while looking at Mark not hiding his hostility.


    Mark however was not fazed and stared directly at the man.


    "What I''m after is a good subordinate that will be loyal to me. It just happened to be your son. Besides, it''s not bad to have someone with a blood of an Elemental like you under me."


    "You-!"


    The man pointed his finger at Mark as his white teeth grew into fangs and his nails grew into golden ws. It seemed that he wanted to attack.


    Seeing this, Mark was truly convinced that this Elemental was a Tamawo. Even his appearance to attack was the same as how it was from the stories.


    "Can you calm down? You''re angry at me for giving your son a reason to live when you are doing nothing but watch in the shadows while your son suffered alone?"


    The Tamawo froze and his eyes wavered. He heard Mark continue.


    "Besides, I''m not giving any empty promises. If he really showed his loyalty¡­" Mark smiled and looked at the south east direction. "It won''t be hard for him to destroy that settlement. The only issue here is that if he is loyal, lucky and had enough will to move on."


    The Tamawo inhaled deeply as his appearance returned to normal.


    "Brat, what is your name?"


    The Tamawo asked as he stared at Mark.


    "Shouldn''t introduce yourself first? Old man?"


    Mark returned the stare and replied.


    The man frowned but with a sigh, he spoke.


    "My name can''t be pronounced correctly by humans. You can just call me Pefile. Now, tell me yours."


    "Mark."


    "Alright. I will leave my son in your care for now. Let me see how you will fulfill your promise to my son. Otherwise, don''t me me for going after your life."


    Pefile then turned around to leave. It was then that Mark spoke.


    "Why don''t you just stay? That way, you can openly watch over your son. You can be with him. Isn''t it hard to live in the forest these days? Especially since your kind already lost the ability to hide from the eyes of Mortals."


    Pefile stopped for a bit. Mark could feel theplicated emotions of the man over his suggestion. It seemed that he wanted to ept but something was holding him back.


    In a low voice, Pefile spoke with his back facing Mark.


    "I like your suggestion. I really wanted to be with my son. However¡­ Not now. I still have a promise fulfill."


    Stopping at that, Pefile left. However, Mark was sure that he would appear whenever Edzel was around the forest. There might be deeper circumstances here. Like the reason why a son of a Tamawo was living in the world of humans instead of the kingdom of the Tamawo. Furthermore, why was a Tamawo like him here in Luzon when the said ce where they lived in Folklores were in Visayas.


    His affection for his son was also genuine but he could not interact with Edzel. Mark also noticed that when Pefile mentioned the word "promise", there was a hint of loneliness and regret in his mind.


    Being left alone, Mark returned to his work. After securing water from the river, Mark returned to the Middle District at themercial space they rented for the night.


    Knocking on the door using a rhythm Mark, na and Karlene decided on, the door opened to let Mark enter. The one that opened the door was na.


    "You took too long outside! Don''t tell me you picked up women outside?"


    na immediately asked while blocking the door.


    Mark shook his head and flicked her forehead to get her away.


    "I already finished what I wanted to do here. Tomorrow afternoon, we will leave this ce."


    "You already collected those¡­ What are they again¡­ Ah, [BloodChildren]. You got them all? You didn''t really pick up a woman?"


    na spoke while covering her forehead and sniffed the air.


    "Where did that question evene from?"<sub> </sub>


    "It''s because you smell like a girl''s perfume."


    "Are you a dog?" Mark immediately turned his head at na with a helpless expression. "I won''t go for something like that. Probably, I got this smell since I entered someone''s room to retrieve the [BloodChildren]."


    "Is that so? You actually entered a girl''s room in the middle of the night¡­"


    na did not dare try to finish her words. Mark was already aiming another flick at her forehead.


    "Stop messing around. Here''s the water you wanted. You should sleep already since we will go check the Free Port tomorrow if we can trade something."


    "Okay~!"


    Mark stared at na''s back who replied like a certain little girl with green hair he met before as she walked to her room.


    "Hey, go to the other room."


    "No!"


    na ran towards the room and closed the door.


    Mark shrugged his shoulders. She would not be able to me him if he took revenge on herter. After all, he could not sleep in his room either in this situation where Karlene was sleeping on his bed beside Miracle.


    Anyway, someone needed to stand guard. With that, he sat on the floor near the door with his back on the wall. He then let out the newly retrieved [BloodChildren] and let them sit beside him. As his head drooped down, he entered the state of light sleep.


    In the middle of his sleep, he felt some movements and his body got a bit heavy, however, he ignored it. After all, they were not enemies.


    ***


    <strong>Day 41 ¨C 6:32 AM ¨C Dwelling Complex, Middle District, East Port Settlement, Barangay Dinahican, Infanta, Quezon</strong>


    SWISH!


    CREAK!


    It was a normal morning, or it should have been. However, the dark clouds that covered the skyst night never went away and were even thicker today. Furthermore, the cold wind started to blow. It was not a good sign.


    Mark woke up unable to move his body. Opening his eyes, the first thing he saw was Miracle who was clinging to his body as she slept. On his shoulder, Amihan was also asleep while sitting and leaning to his face. Around him, except for the five [BloodChildren] he let outst night, the other three he left to guard Miracle and Amihan were also here. All of them noticed that Mark did not sleep in the room and looked for him. When they saw him near the door, they all apanied him to sleep despite the ce that was very unsuitable to.


    This morning''s temperature was rather abnormally cold. Luckily, he had these little creatures to give him warmth. He closed his eyes again. Since Miracle and Amihan was still asleep, he would not mind spending more time like this.


    However, a sudden pain in his head made him flinch and the scene around him distorted.


    Thick Clouds¡­


    Rain¡­


    Thunder¡­


    Wind¡­


    Mark stood by the shore watching everything got destroyed. By the coast, a quadruped monster about sixty feet in length was causing chaos. It seemed to be a Humpback Whale with limbs instead of fins. Its body was covered with thick armor made ofyers andyers of Barnacles.


    The ce was submerged in sea water that had already be muddy. Wreckage after wreckage could be seen around him as structures had already been washed away from the coast.


    It seemed to be far from a tsunami, there was no doubt that it was a storm surge.


    Looking down at the knee high water below him, three dead bodies passed by his front as it was washed away by the water. It was an old man and two children that could not be any familiar to him.


    It was Hamlin, Alois and Layan.


    "¡­her?"


    "¡­ather?"


    "Father?"


    Mark opened his eyes and saw Miracle''s face close to his. She looked worried. Beside her, Amihan who was flying also had the same expression.


    "My Lord, are you okay? You look pale."


    Mark then pulled the two in a hug and caressed their heads.


    "I''m fine. I just had a nightmare."


    As he caressed their heads, Mark was thinking about what he saw. For sure, it was not just a dream but another premonition. Unfortunately, he was not able to finish it but he would not me Miracle and Amihan for waking him up.


    With the coast and Hamlin''s family as clues, he was sure that what he saw would happen in this ce.


    The question was when¡­ Would it happen if Hamlin''s family did not want toe to his base? Or would it happen before they decide¡­


    While he was thinking, time passed and both the girls in the rooms also woke up.


    Knowing what had happenedst night, Karlene apologized. She was just watching Miracle and Amihan while ying with Oracle, Crimson and Ivy. She did not mean to fall asleep in his room.


    And for what na didst night, for the first time, Mark saw Karlene angry. She made na kneel on the floor as she preached angrily. As Mark watched the spectacle, his mood lightened. He then turned towards the door, it seemed that they had visitors.

 Chapter 255 Continuing The Search, The Short Love Drama And Finding The First [BloodChild]

    <strong>Day 40 ¨C 10:42 PM ¨C Northwest Side, Outer District, East Port Settlement, Barangay Dinahican, Infanta, Quezon</strong>


    Mark walked around the crowd to find a good position to watch the show. Looking at it, the show would finish soon since he could feel that the girl was already determined to end her current life and hope for a better one.


    Even though it was already deep in the night, themotion created by the two still managed to gather quite an amount of people. Since there was a severeck of entertainment after the apocalypse started, a real life drama such as this would surely attract people.


    Since Mark could not find a good spot, he jumped onto a nearby tree and sat on a thick branch. The ce he found was overlooking the crowd and he was able to see the couple with ill-fated rtionship.


    The boy was a rather lean one but he was not thin. He looked like about seventeen or eighteen and even though it was not too obvious, his body had muscles that umted due to daily hardbor. His looks were not bad and were slightly above average. Along with his poorly shaped haircut thatplimented his face and slightly tan skin, he could have been a looker if he wore some decent clothing. Unfortunately, what he was currently wearing was some tattered clothes that was obviously not changed for days.


    As for the girl who looked like about a year younger than the boy, her face was rather good looking and was on the cute side with her small oval face. Unlike the boy who was wearing tatters, she was currently wearing a rather decent pair of blouse and skirt. She was light skinned and seemed to have a good upbringing at home. Unfortunately, this would also be the one of the worst things to have in the apocalypse. The things she acquired in her good life in before was what hindered the rtionship of the two now that the world had fallen into ruin.


    "Pearl! Are you really leaving me just like this?!"


    The boy grabbed the right wrist of the girl that was about to leave with barely anything in tow. Even though they had a small house to stay which made their lives better than those that were sleeping in the streets, they still barely had any personal items they owned. For the girl, it was likely that everything they had now could already fit that small backpack on her back.


    "Edzel, I already said this right?" Pearl shrugged his hands. "I can''t stand this life anymore! This past month, we''ve been enduring. There''s barely any food to eat. It is dangerous to get water in the river. Even when we needed to fish, it is hard to get a catch and if unlucky, the one we catch might even be the one to try and eat us. I always feel sticky and dirty since we can''t even get enough water to drink not to mention wiping our bodies. I''m already fed up with this!"


    "Then where are you going after you leave?!"


    "Someone from the Cristobal family offered me a good deal! Even being just a servant there is way better than staying here! I don''t want to keep staying here in poverty and end up like those women waiting at the main street in the future!"


    The grasp of Edzel on Pearl''s wrist loosened and soon let go. His teary eyes stared at Pearl''s face. He started to loose heart after he saw her determined gaze.


    "How about the past years we spent together?"


    "I''m sorry. We can''t be together from now on."


    With thatst line, Edzel looked down in self-pity. His shoulders drooped down. Pearl made ast look at Edzel. There was still a bit of hesitation in her eyes but the determination to leave their current state of living overwhelmed it. She then turned around and left with that group of Mutators waiting quite a distance away. The male leading the group even coiled his arms on her waist and she did not resist it.


    Seeing that, Edzel was even more disheartened.


    ''I wish¡­ You a good life¡­"


    Edzel stared at Pearl''s back until she vanished from his sight.


    With the end of the drama, the gallery started to disperse. Some of them looked at Edzel with sympathy while some looked indifferent. However, no one came to cheer him up or talk to him.


    Even after the gallery dispersed, he remained standing in the ce where Pearl left him with his eyes looking on the ground. His heart and mind was in turmoil as he med himself for this entire event. Although there was also the fault on Pearl, he would not and could not deny that he was not able to give the life she wanted.


    "It''s because you are weak."


    He heard a passing whisper in his ear. Even though he clearly heard the voice, he did not know whether someone whispered it to him or he was hearing things due to his emotions. Nevertheless, the voice was right. He was weak. They could only live in the Outer District because he was weak. There was not enough water and food because he was weak. Even washing and bathing was impossible because he was weak.


    "I am weak."


    He muttered in a very low voice. Turning around, he walked back to his small house swaying like an emaciated person. It looked like all the energy in his body was drained in one go.


    ***


    "It looks like I found someone interesting."


    Mark muttered with a smile as he vanished in a puff of ck mist and left the area to continue his search. However, he nned to go back here to recruit that personter. It was easier to make a loyal subordinate from a person backed into a corner with nothing left after all.


    Still, the boy needed to wallow in despair, sadness and helplessness for a bit. He needed to reflect on what he had and what he did not have. However, his desires were severelycking. As such¡­


    Mark used whisper. It was super effective.


    Edzel''s current circumstances were quite simr to Freed''s and that was why Mark felt a bit of sympathy for the boy. However, that was not the reason why Mark was interested in recruiting the boy who was abandoned by his beloved person. The reason was entirely a different story though.


    Leaving the west side of the Outer District, Mark removed his [Optical Camouge] in a hidden corner of the street. The eastern side of the Outer District was more popted than the west side that was closer to the dangerous forest area outside the walls. Because of that, it was questionable if Mark would be able to keep his [Optical Camouge] without identally bumping into someone. His [Shadow Mist Movement] could also be seen either.


    Furthermore, with the number of people around, no one would likely stop someone like him and he would also not attract that much gazes since he was alone. Still, he stayed away from the obvious hookers as much as possible.


    Looking at the state of themon people in the Outer District, there seemed to be quite a number of homeless children. All of them looked emaciated and some obviously formed groups to survive this mess together. Still, they were all children. There was very little that they could do.


    However, Mark felt that they were good candidates to groom. After all, he could see and feel how mature these children were. Compared to most children that could only think of inte and video games in the past, the children that made it through the past month and struggle to survive were better. Furthermore, nting loyalty on children was way easier than adults.


    In the middle of the east side of the Outer District, Mark''s eyes lit up. He finally felt the first [BloodChild] nearby and it was actually here in the poverty stricken district.


    It did not take long Mark found the house where he could feel the [BloodChild]. He was quite surprised though even if he had not knocked on the door yet. Inside the small house made of tattered wood boards and rusty metal roofing, he could feel a family of three. Two had weaker fluctuations which were obviously children while thest one who had a ratherplex mental fluctuation was surely an elderly. However, the elderly was unexpectedly a Mutator.


    A Mutator was currently living in the outer district with two children. Furthermore, Mark could feel that the [BloodChild] inside the house was rather in a good condition. Even better that the ones he got from theboratory in the Military Settlement.


    TANG!<sub> </sub>


    TANG!


    Mark knocked on the door made of rusty metal than being made of wood.


    It seemed that the sound inside echoed badly and everyone inside was awakened by the knocks.


    Mark then frowned. He could tell that the two children were afraid while the elderly was cautious for some reason. The fluctuations inside moved and the two children noiselessly moved to the furthest corner of their house while the elderly moved suspiciously at another corner, stopped for a bit like the person picked up something and slowly moved towards the door.


    ''Just what is happening here?''


    He could not help but frown even deeper.


    A Mutator living in the Outer District was already suspicious but their actions after he knocked on the door were rather disturbing for Mark who came here peacefully. It seemed that there seemed to be a deeper story to this.


    The door slowly opened a bit and Mark could see a stern face of a man about past fifty in age peeking on the small opening of the door.


    Seeing Mark who was an unfamiliar face to them, the elderly seemed to have rxed a little.


    "Who are you?"


    The old man cautiously asked.


    "I''m someone who just came here in the East Port to look for something. I''m just asking around."


    Mark replied with a lie.


    "That didn''t answer my question."


    Hearing that, Mark shrugged his shoulders, just the elderly being the elderly.


    "You can call me Shade."


    Mark''s answer made the old man look at Mark''s face since it was obvious that it was an alias but since many people used aliases nowadays, it was not really new.


    "What can I do for you?"


    "I just want to confirm but do you have a blood colored slime with you?"


    The elderly''s countenance changed and immediately tried to close the door. However, Mark was faster and blocked the door with his foot preventing it from getting closed.


    "Dammit! Go away! Return to your boss! We already said that we will have no business with the Cristobal Family!"


    Mark''s countenance turned dark.


    ''Just what did the Cristobal Family have to do with me? Furthermore, return to my boss? If this was a joke, it was not funny.''


    The old man tried to push the door close but it would not budge. Without a choice, he pulled his weapon and pointed it out through the gap on the door. It was a double barreled shotgun.


    "Don''t push me! Go away or I''ll shoot!"


    Seeing that, Mark smiled grimly.


    "Fine, shoot. Let''s see whose grandchildren would wander the streets tomorrow."


    The old man wavered and was shocked. His eyes were saying that out of all the people that the Cristobal Family sent here, Mark was the only one that was not fazed even if the shotgun was pointed at his face.


    "It''s better if you put that down."


    Mark sternly looked at the old man and his glowing red eyes suddenly brought out a heavy pressure.


    "I don''t know what''s going on with your family and the Cristobals but I have nothing to do with whatever feud you have. I just came here to collect what don''t belong here in this settlement."


    "Y-You really don''t belong to the Cristobal Family?"


    The old man tried to confirm once more.


    "Cristobal Family? What kind of animals are they?"


    Hearing that, the old man finally believed Mark. After all, what he had said was a total defamation against the Cristobal Family and no one that belonged to that family would say something like that. It was because if what they said reached the family, a severe punishment and torture awaited for them. Furthermore, the man outside the door was not even afraid to say those words even when there were people behind that were attracted to the old man''s shouting.


    "P-Please,e in."


    The old man opened the door and let Mark inside.

 Chapter 256 Salacia, The [BloodChild] Of The Sea

    Day 40 ¨C 11:22 PM ¨C Northeast Side, Outer District, East Port Settlement, Barangay Dinahican, Infanta, Quezon


    Even though he was still cautious, the old man invited Mark inside their humble home.


    Since he was invited to enter, Mark would not hesitate to. But first¡­


    Mark turned his head towards the bystanders that heard what he had just said about the Cristobal Family. His glowing red eyes stared at the people in a threatening manner. Not only that but they were able to feel a sort of heavy pressure in their minds as his eyesnded on their bodies. The people could not help but turn away as they felt the danger. It seemed that these people were really used to being under such threatening manner and were sensible enough to know what they had to do. This time, they only need to shut up about what they had heard or their lives might face peril.


    Nodding at their reactions, Mark entered the house casually and the old man closed the door.


    Looking around, the house was really small. The living room in Mark''s house was even bigger. There was only one single bed with a mattress while a cardboard slightly covered with a tattered nket was on the floor beside the bed. Obviously, the two children slept on the bed while the old man slept on the floor. On one corner of the house, a makeshift stove made of three pieces of charcoal stained hollow blocks was made. There was only one stool and a small table in the house due to theck of space. As for their source of light, an old tallowmp could be seen on the small table.


    The whole house seemed to be cleaned as much as possible but since they were cooking using firewood inside the house, the underside of the roof and other ces in the house had traces of thick soot.


    "Sorry if our house is small and I can''t offer anything. Please sit here."


    Pulling the only stool in the house to give to their guest, the old man cautiously and respectfully spoke. The old man then sat on the bed and called over his grandchildren. Still, the old man was keeping the shotgun to his side but it was a reasonable thing to do. Although he invited Mark into his house, his intentions was still vague.


    It was not like it mattered to Mark though.


    Mark turned at the two children. The older one was a girl about nine years old and the younger child was a boy about seven. Strangely, the boy had scars on his arms and face.


    Unexpectedly, the older sister was holding the [BloodChild] with bare hands without any kind of protection. Normally, it was rather impossible since the [BloodChildren] had a high tendency to attack.


    This made Mark smile a bit. The [BloodChild] was surely treated good to open up like this to these people. Still, Mark was surprised inside for another time. The color of the [BloodChild] was not red like the normal ones. Grayish white, it was the color that the [BloodChild] had.


    Seeing Mark looking at the slime on his granddaughter''s hands, the old man spoke as his grandchildren sat to his side.


    "Can I confirm one more time? Are you really not one of the men from the Cristobal Family? If not, what are your intentions to visit us thiste."


    Looking back at the old man, Mark replied.


    "I have no connection to them or anyone living within this settlement. I''ll be frank. I came to this settlement to take that back."


    Mark pointed at the [BloodChild].


    That made the faces of the two children bitter. The older sister then spoke.


    "Take it back? Did it perhaps belong to mister? We identally found it by the shore near the port when we apanied grandpa to fish."


    That was another surprising thing. From the site of the ne crash to the shore of East Port Settlement, it should be more than fifty kilometers following the Ungos River and the shallow coast line. If what the girl said was true, then, this [BloodChild] probably travelled more than that distance to arrive there randomly. The experiences that this [BloodChild] had might be the reason that it turned into this color.


    To the girl''s question, Mark shook his head.


    "She doesn''t belong to me. She belongs to her home where her brothers and sisters are waiting."


    "Home¡­ Brothers and sisters¡­" The girl muttered and nced at her little brother before turning back to Mark. "If that''s why, I''ll return it¡­ no, her. She''s a girl right? Mister said so."


    "Are you sure Layan? You really like it right? Rather than a pet, you treated it like your sibling. Alois even got jealous about it one time."


    The old man asked the girl, Layan. Hearing his grandfather, Alois who was not talking since the start blushed.


    "It''s fine grandpa. Alois and I know how hard it is to not be with Father, Mother and Older Brother anymore. Scia might also feel the same."


    The girl smiled but the loneliness in her eyes could not be masked at all even in the dim light of themp.


    Mark''s eyes lit up this time. The girl had a mature mindpared to her age and a kind personality, it was no wonder she was able to tame the [BloodChild] on her hands who was apparently named as Scia.


    "Scia, huh¡­ The Roman Goddess of Salt Water is it? It''s good choice for a name. Did you give it to her?"


    Mark looked at Layan who looked surprised.


    "Mister knew about it? Mother always told us stories about mythologies around the world. That is where I got the name."


    Layan stood up in an enthusiastic manner. Alois had a helpless expression while their grandfather shook his head with a bitter smile. It seemed that this was not a new thing.


    Realizing that she had made a blunder in front of their guest, Layan timidly sat down. However, it seemed that her fear of Mark who was a stranger was totally gone now.


    "Alright. I decided."


    Mark spoke which made the three suddenly look at him. Ignoring their stares, Mark faced Layan.


    "I''ll take Scia back. However, I''ll ask you something."


    "W-what is it?"


    Layan was flustered.


    "Do you want to continue taking care of Scia?"<sub> </sub>


    This time, the old man interjected.


    "Please wait a minute. If you are taking it back, how will my granddaughter take care of it?"


    "Simple. I''m inviting you three to my base."


    "But¡­"


    The old man hesitated. It was the same for the two children.


    "I won''t force you three. But, with the state you three are living here, it''s better to live somewhere else. If I''m correct, you three are also experiencing harassment from the Cristobal Family, right? I''m telling you, the people in my base live better than most people here in this ce."


    Mark''s words turned the man''s expression into a veryplex one.


    "I''m sorry. We can''t just decide this immediately. We don''t even know you."


    "Alright, I''lle back here next time before I leave the settlement to hear your decision. Also, forget the alias I told you earlier, the name''s Mark. In any case, can you tell me the reason you all seem to hate the Cristobal Family?"


    Hearing that they still have time to decide, the old man felt relieved. With his experience, he found that even though the man in front of them barely had any change in his facial expressions, he was saying the truth about Scia and his invitation.


    Then, the old man, Hamlin, told Mark what had happened. It all started when they were still living in the Middle District.


    In the Middle District, a normal person was able to live there if they had a rtive, friend or teammate that would live together with them. However, the Mutators whose superiorityplex had reached high levels would still scorn these people. That was why the normal people living in that district always felt that their necks were tied up. They had to be careful about their movements and it was better if they stayed inside their dwellings.


    One day however, when Hamlin was not around, Alois identally bumped on the young master of the Cristobal family and was heavily beaten. Layan could only watch to the side in tears. Since the rules inside the settlement about murder could not be broken, the poor boy was spared with his life but the beating he received left scars on his body.


    It was fine after that and since Hamlin was a Mutator, he receivedpensation for what happened to keep quiet. However, another issue came when they found Scia.


    Since it was impossible to hide Scia the first time they found her near the port, many people witnessed it. It reached that same young master and offered to buy Scia. However, who would want to do business with the person that hurt andleft inerasable scars on his precious grandson? That was when the men from the Cristobal family started harassing them.


    His Silver Card was also revoked and he was reissued with a White Card. They could only leave the Middle District and live in this poverty stricken Outer District. Since there was ack of houses and dwellings, Hamlin built one for whatever material he could get his hands on and it was this small tattered home.


    Of course, the harassment did not stop. Rumors that ndered Hamlin and his grandchildren started to spread. All of the rumors were about the reasons why a Mutator like Hamlin and his family was thrown out of the Middle District. Even though none of the rumors were true, no one would believe Hamlin even if he defended his family.


    Furthermore, there were times that they would be disturbed in the middle of the night because of a rock hitting the walls of their house and roof. Sometimes, a person from the Cristobal Family would also send their men to ask for Scia but of course, Hamlin declined them at gun point. Even though they were under orders of someone, no one in the right mind would gamble with the gun pointed at them and they all left cursing. It was until Mark came who was not even faced while a gun was pointed at him.


    "Why is that young master too persistent about Scia?"


    Mark asked and the old man sighed.


    "Because of a woman."


    "A woman?"


    "You see, the youngdy of Salvador family had a hobby of collecting strange things, animals and creatures that appeared. I heard that they even bought a few slimes simr to what we have from the people of Death Valley and those were her favorite. She also heard about ours and offered a trade but since Layan had already taken a liking to it, I declined. They peacefully epted my rejection unlike that young bastard of Cristobal Family. I bet that he wanted to get ours to gift it to the youngdy to gain favor."


    The old man told the story while clenching his fists.


    "That young master, what did he look like?"


    "He''s handsome man who is twenty five years old. His hair that is about as long as his nape is dyed blond. He always wears an expensive looking leather jacket¡­"


    Hamlin described the young master''s appearance and Mark immediately realized that he already saw the person. In any case, his view of the Cristobal Family was getting worse.


    "Give me Scia."


    Mark told Layan and she immediately followed.


    "Be careful, she might attack."


    "Don''t worry."


    Before Layan could even hand Scia to Mark, the [BloodChild] was already on the verge of jumping towards Mark''s hands. When shended on his hands, Mark stealthily made Scia absorb his blood. Its grayish white color then changed and its color was mixed with a tint or red and ck.


    Layan was surprised. She wanted to ask what happened but before she could even speak¡­


    TANG!


    TANG!


    TANG!


    "Hamlin! Come out!"


    Trouble came knocking on the doors¡­ Literally¡­

 Chapter 257 Dealing With The Trouble, The Leads For The Remaining [BloodChildren]

    Day 41 ¨C 12:10 AM ¨C Hamlin''s House, Northeast Side, Outer District, East Port Settlement, Barangay Dinahican, Real, Quezon


    The family of three had already settled down from their fear and cautiousness before and was already able to lower their guard as they properly talked with Mark. Unfortunately, the already lightened atmosphere inside the humble home turned heavy once more.


    Mark already noticed that there were people approaching outside. That was why he suddenly asked Layan to give Scia and made the [BloodChild] absorb his blood.


    As Hamlin said, the men from the Cristobal Family always came at a very uncanny time. It would still be reasonable if they came during the day but a frequent visit in the middle of the night when the people in the house were supposed to be sleeping was totally outrageous.


    The faces of the old man and his grandchildren in front of Mark reflected the distress they felt because of the harassment they had been going through. In any case, this family took good care of Scia so he would not mind helping them this time.


    Ignoring the loud knocking and the shouting outside the door, Mark took out a wristwatch he was keeping on the pocket of his jacket to check the time. Seeing that it was already past midnight, he decided to depart already.


    "It''s alreadyte, I need to go."


    Hearing Mark, the three was surprised but considering that it was true, they could only make bitter faces. Furthermore, Mark had nothing to do with the current trouble and they could not bother him.


    Then, the three were surprised once more as Mark took out three small cans of corned beef and a t rectangr clear container that obviously contained several pieces of perfectly dried meat. Since what the three ate all this time was river fish, sea food and rarely, fruits from the forest, they had not eaten any kind of meat of quite a while. The mouth of the two children looked like they were about to drool and they even forgot their anxiety about the shouting outside.


    "I leave these for you three. It''s for taking good care of Scia. I''ll also take care of the trouble outside. Hopefully, they will leave you three alone after this but don''t count on it too much. I wille back here tomorrow afternoon for the decision of you three. If you three decide to move to my base, then pack up your things before I return."


    Mark stood up without waiting for the three to respond. But then, he turned around making Scia face the three. Under the grandfather and the two grand children''s dumbfounded eyes, a short tentacle stretched out of Scia''s body and waved as if saying goodbye. In return, Layan and Alois also waved at it.


    Outside the door, the shouting started to get louder and the knocking became faster and stronger. After all, even though Mark toned down his voice to speak, the thin walls of the house still made his voice audible outside though it would be hard to understand what exactly he was saying.


    There were three men outside they were already getting impatient. Normally, the old man had already opened the door after several knocks and shouts. This time however, even though it was obvious that they were awake inside the house and a light source could be seen from the small holes of the walls, no one was opening the door for them.


    The man by the door was about to knock on the door once more with a stronger force. His posture was not even knocking but looked more like punching. It seemed that the man would not care even if the door would break. However, the door opened the moment he released his fist causing him to almost loose his bnce. When the door opened, he was in a very awkward pose since he tried very hard to maintain his bnce. The two other men behind him even let out muffled snickers.


    He wanted to vent out his embarrassing moment and shouted.


    "Hamlin! Why didn''t you¡­"


    The man was not able to finish his sentence at all. When he looked at the person that opened that door, it was not Hamlin but Mark. However, what the man noticed first was not Mark''s face but Scia who was on his hand. After all, Scia was the reason these people were here.


    With a stern stare, Mark spoke.


    "Can you cut it out? Knocking like a mental patient on someone''s door in the middle of the night, just how did your parents raise you? Are you a person without proper breeding?"


    The man stared at Mark wide eyed due to his barrage of insults.


    "F*ck, who are you to insult me, huh?!"


    "Don''t turn it around will you? I''m a guest here and you''re just someone who seems to be an intruder. Just where did you find the right to ask who am I?"


    Mark spoke with a tone full of scorn.


    The man wanted to retort but Mark continued as he gently closed the door behind him.


    "Also, can you get out of the way? Only someone retarded would block someone else''s doorway."


    He then pushed the man backward making him step back.


    Ignoring the three, Mark turned around and started to leave.


    "Please, wait." One of the two men behind the one that knocked on the door spoke politely. "We came here for that creature on your hand. Why is it with you?"


    "Oh this?" Mark pointed at Scia. "It''s mine so why can''t I bring it with me?"


    The three men were dumbfounded.


    "Wait. Sir, Hamlin did not want to trade it with our Young Master. How did you get it?"


    "What are you talking about? It''s mine in the first ce. Even before whomever young master you had tried to trade for it. I''m just busy that I let Hamlin take care of it until I can get it back."<sub> </sub>


    Mark feigned to walk away but paused and turned again facing the three. His rather carefree manner but scornful eyes glowed red and became filled with killing intent that not only the three men but also the bystanders and the homeless around them could not help but feel cold.


    "About this¡­ I heard from Hamlin that you idiots have been harassing them while coveting something that is mine. It''s better if you people stop. Otherwise, you people might not be able toe back to that bastard of a young master of yours."


    After that, Mark turned around and left the people that were frozen.


    ***


    It took about a minute before the three men who was directly assaulted by the feeling of death managed to recover.


    "You two, chase him! We need to get that slime no matter what this time or Young Master will kill us!"


    The one that did not talk to Mark hurriedly shouted as he saw Mark turned around the corner of the street. However¡­ All the people around seemed to look at the three in horror and tried to stay away as much as possible.


    "Eldest Bro, are you sure about that?"


    The polite one, the youngest among the three, spoke which made the two look at him. Then, their faces paled.


    His face was horrifying. Both his eyes, both ears and nose were bleeding for some unknown reason.


    "Bros, don''t look at me like that. Both of you are the same."


    Hearing that, the chill in their bodies intensified as they touched their faces. Looking at their hands filled with blood, their bodies started shaking. Then, they started to feel the dyed pain in their heads and the three crumbled down to the ground wailing in pain.


    In the unforeseen future, the horrifying wails of three men from the Cristobal Family as their eyes, ears and noses bled were told as a story of the cursed men.


    ***


    Seeing what happened to the three, curious people chased after the street that Mark when to but his traces were not found. Not even a shadow. Some passing Mutators with a good sense of smell also tried to find him but even his smell vanished. It was as if the man vanished like a ghost.


    ***


    Leaving themotion he created, Mark vanished from a blind spot in the street and moved at the sky using any strong structure to propel him to his desired direction.


    What he did to the three as a warning should give the poor grandfather and grandchildren some peaceful time. It was a good thing he had his Empathic ability that did the work. Also this time, the used something that he never used before and it was to dy the pain they would feel after their subconscious were filled with chaotic emotions. That was why the eyes, ears and noses of the three were already bleeding before they were able to feel the pain.


    It was done by stimting their subconscious to trigger the flight or fight response of their body and causing the adrenal nds to release adrenaline and numb their heads from pain. After the adrenaline that was released in small amount started to lose effect, they finally felt the pain in their heads after they felt the horror of having their face bleed like they had been cursed.


    Unfortunately, he could not just kill them. If he did, it was very likely that Hamlin and his grandchildren would get dragged into the mess. He really wanted to separate the heads of those three from their bodies. Also, they were justckeys, killing them would not matter and the cause of these things would just send another nuisance.


    Going from roof to roof, Mark was headed towards a particr direction. It was towards the Inner District.


    From Hamlin''s story, the Young Lady of Salvador Family was collecting strange creatures that appeared after the apocalypse started. It meant that the possibility of finding a [BloodChild] there was a hundred percent.


    Also from what he deduced, there was no other [BloodChild] in the settlement that was not bought by the Salvador Family or the other two families. If there was, that Young Master of Cristobal Family would not be patient enough to stage his harassments to Hamlin''s family just in order to get Scia. Since it would just be given as a gift, he could just get another from other people if there were still others.


    While he was moving towards the Inner District, he was also observing Scia who was overly curious about what was happening around her. Unlike the others, Scia was not as clingy. She was more mature and to say, independent,pared to the other [BloodChildren]. Well, there was a very high chance that Scia was the oldest among them.


    It did not take long with Mark''s speed and he reached the walls of the Inner district.


    To say, the state of the Inner District was way morevishpared to the other Districts with the exception of the Free Port District. Furthermore, the District was divided into three blocks and each block had its walls and mansion. Each blocks had a high number of guards, even a higher numberpared to the number of people guarding the walls of the settlement.


    Another thing was that the guards were all Mutators and Evolvers. Mark was not sure if he would be able to enter the ce undetected with just his [Optical Camouge]. For sure, the traces his [Shadow Mist Movement] could also be detected. The only way he would be able to search was to traverse the sky although it would tire him more easily.


    Without any choice, Mark and Scia flew over the district. It was lucky that the night was rather cloudy and the darkness hid the waving mist in the air as he used his movement ability.


    Finally, he found the ce. It was the block nearest the Free Port District and the main street. For sure, the mansion belonged to the Salvador Family since it was thergestpared to the other two.


    At the southwest side of the mansion on the third floor, Mark felt four signalsing from the [BloodChildren]. Mark was rather happy feeling the signals. He could tell that the [BloodChildren] were rather taken care of properly. It seemed that the Young Lady of the Salvador Family did not collect the strange creatures for fun but to actually care for them.

 Chapter 258 Inflitration And Retrieval, Securing The Remaining [BloodChildren]

    <strong>Day 41 ¨C 12:59 AM ¨C Cristobal Mansion, Inner District, East Port Settlement, Barangay Dinahican, Infanta, Quezon</strong>


    In the block of the Cristobal Family, a ratherrge mansion was built. It was a modern mansion that had three floors and an essible rooftop. Although the rooftop was essible, unlike before the outbreak where the rooftops were used for leisure and entertainment, this rooftop was made in order for the people here to be able to defend against the enemies attacking from the air like birds and insects.


    Unlike the block of the Salvador Family where the number of guards was lower, guards were patrolling around the block of Cristobal Family twenty-four seven in groups of three or four. All of them guards were equipped with assault rifles and pistols. The security was too tight that it felt very stifling to anyone that saw it.


    At a rathervishly decorated room at the third floor, seductive moans could be heard even outside. It was the room of the Young Master of the Cristobal Family, Ace Bryant Cristobal. Inside, Ace was indulging in the pleasure with a woman. If Mark was to see this, he would immediately recognize the girl that he witnessed earlier that left her loyal lover for riches.


    In the middle of their private session, a rather loud and panicked knock on the door disturbed their passionate mood. Ace could not help it and his temper red up. He had already told his men to not disturb him and yet, someone knocked on the door.


    Covering his lower body with a towel, Ace stood up with a dissatisfied face leaving Pearl on the bed who also covered her thin body with a nket.


    Opening the door, Ace looked at the man who was one of the leaders of the guards in their family, Epifanio Mejia. Since this man was a direct subordinate of his father, he could not openly shout and curse him but he still showed his dissatisfied expression. If he remembered correctly, this man should be leading the guards at the gates of the settlement tonight. If there was a problem, this man would directly report to his father. This made him confused as to why the captain of the guards was here knocking on his door.


    "Young Master."


    Epifanio saluted.


    "What''s the problem?"


    "Three Mutators were attacked and fell unconscious at the outer district. If we are not mistaken they should be your men. I remember seeing them with Young Master several times before. They should be the Himenez brothers under you."


    "What?!"


    Ace was shocked. He sent those three tonight to take the slime that the poor family in that district was keeping. Unlike the previous times where he sent people that only needed to harass and threaten that family, the three tonight were tasked this time to make a move and forcefully take the slime. He wanted to give that slime as a gift to the Young Lady of the Salvador Family and her birthdate should being in a few days.


    "What happened? Who would dare mess with my men?!"


    "Young Master, it was ratherplicated. It is better if you see them for yourself. The Master is alsoing to check."


    Epifanio replied in a humble tone but there seemed to be something that he hid.


    "Father is already there? Alright, wait for me. I''ll just wear my clothes."


    ***


    Day 41 ¨C 1:05 AM ¨C Salvador Family Block, Inner District, East Port Settlement, Barangay Dinahican, Infanta, Quezon


    On another block not far away from the Cristobal Family, Mark prepared to infiltrate the mansion of the Salvador Family. Mark knew that making a trade with this family in exchange for the [BloodChildren] was too slim. In that case, he would enter the mansion secretly and take them without rming anyone.


    Still, it would not be easy. From Mark''s position, he could see the guards around the block and the mansion. Although the security here was not as tight as the other two Families, he could tell that the Mutators here were on another level. They looked strong and alert as if they were trained as soldiers. It seemed that rather than quantity, the Salvador family made up for quality and strength.


    "Well then. Scia, are you ready for a sky dive?"


    Mark spoke making Scia wiggle in confusion.


    Without wasting any more time, Mark jumped up as high as he could before he vanished into a puff of ck mist. nketed by the cloudy night, Mark waved diagonally upwards from outside the block to the direction of the room he was feeling the four [BloodChildren].


    Since there was quite a distance from his starting point to the mansion, there was a high chance that he would be detected by the people below and that was why he was advancing upwards at a steep angle and he would sky dive from above the mansion and enter that room.


    It did not take long and Marknded on the roof of the second floor balcony that was directly outside the target ce. The fall was quick but he managed to decrease the speed with his [Shadow Mist Movement] without problems. Scia was shaking in his hands though. Although it was a still a mystery as to how the [BloodChildren] were able to perceive their surroundings, Mark could tell that his sky dive just now scared Scia.


    As hended on the roof and the ratherrge room was now within the span of his emphatic detection, he was quite surprised. Outside the block, he could only detect the [BloodChildren] but now, he could detect about a dozen more creatures inside the room. Most likely, these were all among the animals and creatures that the Young Lady of the Salvador Family was collected. Furthermore, Mark could also detect someone sleeping inside.


    Mark looked around to see if someone spotted him from below but it seemed that he was still in the clear. There were guards below and around the walls of the block but none of them seemed to be behaving strangely.


    There was only one window in the room even though it was arge one and it was locked. Mark then let out a [Blood Whip] and made it liquefy a little, enough to make the [BloodWhip] to be controlled as it seeped at the small spaces around the window to unlock it.


    CREAK!


    The window creaked as Mark opened it slightly from inside. Even though the window had metal railings, Mark used the space distortion of his [Shadow Mist Movement] to enter the small space between the railings and the small opening of the window.


    TAP! TAP!


    Mark''s feetnded inside the room with two faint tapping sounds. It was really big. The size of the room already had the same floor area as his house in Bacoor. It was notvishly decorated but the furniture around the room wasplete. The ben inside the room looked like a princess bed that could be seen in movies and dramas. There was the Young Lady of Salvador Family sleeping on it.


    He then looked around the room. It was because he felt several pairs of eyes staring at him. Aside from the furniture, there were several cages and aquariums of different sizes inside the room. Each cage and aquarium contained at least on animal or insect. Since it was very dark in the room, he could only make out the shapes of some of the animals but could not see them clearly. However, that was not the disturbing thing. He was sure that there was something strange going on.<sub> </sub>


    Immediately, he noticed some strange fluctuationsing from some of the animals.


    Mark then turned his stern gaze at the princess bed in a defensive stance.


    KACHA!


    "Who are you and what are you doing in my room? How did you manage to enter?"


    The woman who was supposed to be sleeping sat up with a forty five caliber pistol pointed at Mark. She spoke in an imposing manner. However, she then froze as she looked at Mark for some reason. She was even shivering as her imposing manner vanished and was filled with both fascination and fear.


    It made Mark feel rather strange. However, he did note here for trouble but just to retrieve the four [BloodChildren].


    "T-that c-creature on your hand, it should belong to that family at the Outer District. Why is it with you? Did you do something to that family?"


    The girl spoke in a rather inconsistent tone. However, Mark could tell that her feelings was not because he had Scia but because of him. Nevertheless, Mark could feel a bit of genuine worry from the thought that Mark did something to Hamlin and his grandchildren. It was enough for Mark to judge the personality of this girl.


    "Don''t worry about Hamlin and the children. I ask them for this and they willingly gave it. It doesn''t belong to them after all."


    Mark spoke.


    "What do you mean that it don''t belong to them?"


    "What you heard is what it meant, simple. I came here to do the same. I came for the four you had with you. I want to take them back."


    "Take them back you say¡­ You didn''te here to abduct me or do something to me?"


    Mark was dumbfounded. Just how was this girl raised by her parents? That question was filled with innocence. However, Mark could detect shrewdness from her emotions.


    "Stop with that innocent act. Seriously, you''re really a daughter of a business oriented family. Anyways, as long as you don''t do anything dangerous, I won''ty my hand on you."


    "TCH!" The girl clicked her tongue. "You think an intruder like you can do what you want in here? Everyone! Get ready."


    The girl''s voice turned stern at hermanding voice.


    Mark then sighed. His intuition was correct. Some of the animals inside this room were really strange. The moment that the girl let out hermand, the animals with strange fluctuations opened their cages on their own and went out. They were all ready to fight Mark.


    Looking back at the girl on the bed, Mark spoke.


    "It''s better to stop what you want to do. I know that you really care for your pets. They will get hurt if you make them attack me."


    "Hmpf! Let''s see what you can do! Attack!"


    With hermand, ten different animals were about to attack as several different animal sounds echoed inside the room. However¡­


    They all froze. Then, the snake the size of an adult leg started wriggling on the floor, the mastiff like cat rolled on the floor, the hawk sized sparrow fell on the floor and the other animals were the same. Those that were weaker immediately fainted while those that were stronger wailed in pain.


    The Young Lady was dumbfounded. She looked at the intruder in her room whose eyes were frighteningly glowing with red glow. Her shivering body became even worse.


    Mark smiled bitterly in the dark and stopped the release of negative emotions towards the animals that were all lying on the floor.


    "I told, you. They will get hurt. Don''t worry, they won''t die. Just make them rest until tomorrow."


    Ignoring the animals on the floor and the girl on the bed, Mark made his way towards the cab on the further side of the room. Although the girl still had the gun pointed at Mark, he was not worried about it. She already had lost the will to fight and would only retaliate further if he came closer to her.


    On top of the cab, four covered fishbowls were ced. Inside each fishbowl was a [BloodChild]. Two of them had the normal color while one was silver colored and thest one was bright red with a faint glow in its body.


    Mark opened each fishbowl and touched the [BloodChildren] one by one.


    Under the eyes of the girl that was dumbfounded even further, the four slimes affectionately responded to Mark and were even rubbing their gtinous bodies on his hand.


    "Alright, I''ll be taking them."


    Mark hugged the five [BloodChildren] in his arms and vanished in a puff of ck mist and fled out of the room through the window. He really wanted to put the little critters inside his bag but he had no time left. The wails of the animals were surely heard by the people within the mansion and he detected several people approaching the room from the hallway. Since he had no ns to fight here, he could only flee.


    Retrieving the [BloodChildren], his most important business in this settlement was finished. Getting them out of the Salvador Family Mansion was rather easy. Or is it?

 Chapter 259 Recruitment, The Mystery As To Why Mark Chose To Recruit The Poor Edzel

    <strong>Day 41 ¨C 1:15 AM ¨C Salvador Mansion, Inner District, East Port Settlement, Baranagay Dinahican, Infanta, Quezon</strong>


    "Annica! Are you fine?!"


    The current head of the Svador Family, Darren Bryce Salvador rushed into through the door of his daughter. A sudden report came in so he was at the first floor of the mansion even though it was thiste. Due to that, he needed to rush up to the third floor and had just arrived after the guards, his wife and his two sons were already inside the room of his daughter.


    Darren was a rather fit looking man who was already in histe forties. Like other rich businessmen, he inherited their family business from his parents but also different from them, he was born even before their business family started. In a simple description, he was a sessful business man of humble birth. Because of his background, he did not look down on the weak and the poor.


    Still, while he was a serious and stern man outside their home, he was a strict, loving and protective husband and father to his family. The news of his daughter''s room being infiltrated made his heart pound fiercely. He even left the office and his reporting subordinates without hearing the whole report.


    "Dear, don''t shout." Maitea, Darren''s wife who was a kind looking woman in her mid-forties reprimanded Darren for shouting as he entered the room. "Your daughter is fine. Nothing happened to her, see?"


    Darren looked at his daughter, Annica, who was sitting on her bed surrounded by his wife and two sons. He then scanned the room and saw the guards that responded first who were checking the animals that was not moving around the room.


    "Annica, what happened here? You''re really not hurt? Are your pets dead?"


    Darren approached his daughter''s bed and caressed her heard gently as he asked. Annica then shook her head.


    "Dad, I''m fine. The person that entered my room did not do anything to me. My pets are also not dead, I think they fainted."


    "Thank goodness. Why would someone infiltrate your room if that person did note for you?"


    "Dad." The eldest son, Raybert spoke. "That person took the slimes we bought from the traders that came from Death Valley."


    "What? Why would someone¡­ Wait¡­"


    Darren stopped talking and tapped his chin while thinking.


    "Did you realize something, Dad?"


    The second son, Riley, asked.


    "The reason I waste was because two personnel we had in the Outer District gave two different reports. First was they saw Miss Karlene Bautista and Miss na Garces enter the settlement with a man that was suspected to be the person in the rumors that came from Military."


    "Dad! Is he the man that fought with the horde and had a dragon as pet?"


    Annica suddenly moved closer to her father with eyes filled with anticipation.


    "Dear, what does that man in the rumors had to do with this? Is her perhaps the man that stole our daughter''s pets?"


    "It is very likely. Remember the family in the Outer District that was also keeping a slime as a pet?" Darren asked which made the others nod. "Although it was not confirmed fully, it seemed that the same man came to take the slime from that family."


    "Did he also steal it?"


    Maitea asked.


    "It doesn''t seem so. It seemed like the family gave it willingly and the man dealt with the harassers that had been pestering that family for a while now."


    "Since Dad know who entered Annica''s room, should we go after and catch him?"


    Raybert suggested. Unexpectedly¡­


    "No! Don''t!"


    Annica shouted in protest.


    "Why? I think the rumors are just fabricated lies. I don''t believe that with our forces, we can''t subdue that guy. We can''t just let him go after entering your room."


    Raybert insisted with a stern voice.


    However, the father did not consider Raybert''s idea and looked at Annica who was panicking at her eldest brother''s suggestion.


    "Annica, what did you see?"


    Darren asked in a stern voice.


    Annica looked at her father and spoke.


    "We can''t win. He''s the strongest Mutator I saw. Also, aside from the same energy from Mutators he have, he also have several energies in his body that I saw for the first time. All those energies are circting peacefully in his body that it looked beautiful."


    Elise Annica Salvador, the fourteen year old youngdy of the Salvador Family. Her ability as a Mutator was to be able to see the energies circting inside the bodies of the person or animal she was looking at. However, she also had another ability as a Psychic and it was to form mental links with animals that recognized her as their owner or master.


    "Then, we''ll just let this go?"


    Riley asked making everyone silent aside from Annica.


    "Dad, I want to see that person." She requested earnestly. "If he let me see the dragon, I will give him the slimes since I really can''t tame them no matter what I do. Also I haven''t seen big sister Karlene and big sister na for several weeks already. I want to meet them."


    ***


    <strong>Day 41 ¨C 1:20 AM ¨C Sabang River, Baranagay Dinahican, Infanta, Quezon</strong>


    Mark sat beside the river inside a forest quite a distance away outside the settlement.


    After fleeing the Salvador Mansion, Mark went straight to this ce for two reasons. One was to fetch water before returning and another was to create a temporary container for the five [BloodChildren] he had just retrieved and put them inside his bag.


    He searched for an animal nearby and found a feral evolved dog easily after he let the smell of his blood scatter around the area. The poor dog became materials for the container of the little critters and a ratherrge gallon for the water he came to fetch.


    After he had just finished the containers and was about to start making the gallon, he heard noises not far from him. Obviously, it was a person. Who woulde to a dangerous forest in the middle of the night? Of course, it was either people who had no choice to traverse the forest or those people who had a deathwish.


    Unexpectedly, it was actually thetter. Furthermore, Mark knew who it was.


    He stealthily approached the area where the noise wasing from and saw the person. It was Edzel who currently punching a tree like a character from a blocky game. Unfortunately, the atmosphere around him was not light and his face was filled with remorse. Furthermore, he was ncing at the river nearby from time to time as if thinking of something and hesitating at the same time.


    Mark felt what he was thinking though.<sub> </sub>


    ''What a weak person.''


    He thought.


    With his loved one betraying him, he was thinking of killing himself in that deep river with a strong current. However, he could not make himself determined enough to do so. The poor fellow could only release his frustrations on the tree that would never be able to fight back.


    Seeing this, Mark could not help but felt amazed at his coincidence. He thought recruiting this person due to some reasons but to think that he woulde to this forest to attempt suicide nearby the area where he was working. If it was not like this, it was likely that he would not be able to find this person again.


    Since he nned on recruiting this person, it was quite convenient to do so this time.


    "You can punch that tree till it breaks but what you''re frustrations won''t decrease at all, you know that?"


    Mark went out of hiding and spoke. Still, the boy was surprised at the sudden appearance of a person in the middle of the forest and staggered backwards.


    "Wh-who?!"


    Without thinking about what he should say, Mark spoke.


    "Don''t be scared, I''m not someone suspicious."


    And, he almost smacked himself. Anyone who said that line was people who were rather suspicious. In fact, Edzel became even more guarded against him.


    Sighing for his mistake, he said.


    "What are you afraid of? Didn''t you already think of killing yourself after your lover left you?"


    Edzel then realized what Mark was talking about and could only let out a bitter smile as tears umted at the corner of his eyes.


    "You''re a man right? A real man shouldn''t cry when you are not the one in the wrong. You are not the one in the wrong."


    "No, I''m also wrong in this. My mistake is that I could not provide what Pearl needed and wanted."


    Mark then smiled.


    "Because you are weak?"


    "You-!"


    Edzel stared at Mark wide eyed. He was thinking how he found Mark''s voice familiar but when he said that reason, he finally remembered. The whisper he heard before came from the person in front of him.


    Ignoring the surprised expression of Edzel, Mark continued.


    "Really, you''re not the one with the fault in your rtionship. Tell me. Didn''t you do all what you can for her? Even if you are weak as a normal person, you did things no matter hard to satisfy her am I right?"


    Mark enumerated his assumptions from the emotions that he could detect and absorb from Edzel.


    The boy in question could only look down in refection of his actions in the past. What he had just heard from the person in front of him was true. He did a lot of things for her and to satisfy her, even dangerous things in order to get what she wanted and what she needed. And yet, wanting an easy way out, she left him.


    "Because I am weakpared to them¡­"


    Edzel muttered.


    "Yep." Mark nodded. "You''re a normal person so you are weak. Compared to Evolvers and Mutators, you are nothing but a child. You can''t evenpare what you can do to what they can do."


    The boy even felt more helpless as he leaned his back to the tree he was punching just now and slid down to the ground. But then¡­ He heard a sentence that made everything in his mind freeze.


    "But it didn''t mean that you will stay weak forever, right? You are still young and what you can do right now is way better than other normal people with the same age as you. Tell me¡­"


    Mark smiled as his eyes turned red with a chilling glow.


    "Do you want to be stronger?"


    He let out a line that demons always say to entice desperate people.


    "If you follow me and give me your loyalty, I promise that you can make that ungrateful girl regret her decision today. I promise you that you won''t need to punch a helpless tree anymore and punch the people that made you suffer directly."


    Edzel looked up and saw Mark''s devilish glowing eyes. And yet, he was not afraid but felt more like the fiendish glow was his way for salvation.


    "C-Can you really do that?"


    "I''m someone who doesn''t break my promises. Follow me and leave this ce. By the time that you return here, you won''t need to ask for people''s favor and it will be the other way around."


    Mark then stretched his right hand towards Edzel and the boy epted the opportunity given to him.


    "Return to the settlement first and pack up your things. I will find you before we leave."


    "Yes¡­ What should I call you?"


    "Mark. But since you will follow me from now on, you can just call me Boss like the others."


    "Yes, Boss!"


    Edzel felt gratified. He did not know if what Mark said was true or why Mark chose him but he wanted this opportunity. Inside his heart, he still loved Pearl but he also wanted her to regret her decision to leave him. Remembering how that man walked with Pearl away, his love for her started to die.


    After Edzel left the forest safely with Mark''s guidance, Mark who was left sighed.


    "Can youe out now? He''s your son right? Why aren''t you doing anything and just watch while hiding?"


    Mark spoke as he gazed at a tree nearby.


    Knowing that he was exposed, a tall handsome non-muscr man with golden hair, pale skin, pale colored eyes and leaf shaped ears came out of hiding. He was wearing a golden tribal crown and was wearing nothing but a tribal designed loincloth to cover his private parts.


    Looking at the man, Mark knew. He was not a human. The person was an Elemental people in the Philippines called Tamawo.

 Chapter 260 The Tamawo, A Conversation With Edzels Father And Peering Into The Future Once More

    <strong>Day 41 ¨C 1:52 AM ¨C Sabang River, Barangay Dinahican, Infanta, Quezon</strong>


    The Tamawo, an Elemental that could be found in Philippine Folklore and Mythology. The stories about them mostly came from Visayas or the Visayan Inds, one of the three principal geographical divisions of the Philippines along with Luzon and Mindanao.


    In terms of appearance, they could be described simr to elves of western culture. They simrly lived deep inside forests in tribes. Differently to the elves of western culture, the Tamawo only had males in their tribes and needed to abduct human females they took interest in with the use of their magical abilities. However, even their children were males and after their children were fully integrated into their tribe as a Tamawo, the same cycle was repeated.


    Women who fell in love or had been targeted by a Tamawo would be mesmerized. They were gentle and loving and what a woman would want to see as a man. Unfortunately, it was not without consequences.


    A woman that fell in love with a Tamawo would gradually weaken, fall sick and die. Her body would be then dug and reced with a banana heart. The Tamawo that the woman fell in love with would take her body back to his kingdom and would be lost from human history forever.


    There were also stories that the Tamawo would drag women that polluted rivers near their inhabited forests and would be drowned to death.


    Mark looked at the man in front of him. He looked no different to what the stories he knew had told. The existence of this man who seemed to be the father of Edzel fit his interests on the poor boy.


    Back then when he was watching the event where Edzel was left by Pearl, the raging feelings of Edzel stirred the energy inside him making Mark feel it. It was a kind of energy simr to what Amihan possessed. Yet, Edzel was surely a human, or at least half of him.


    When Mark whispered to Edzel before, he also noticed that Edzel''s ck hair did not look natural, it was the same for his eyes. Edzel''s hair was dyed ck while his eyes had a bit of grayish tint. Looking at the roots of his hair, it a tint of pale color that looked natural. There were only two possibilities for this. Either he was a person with albinism or he was one of those rumored children that were born with an Elemental as a parent.


    Since he did not look like the first, it could only be the second. Especially since it was not new for Mark to see creatures from Mythology and things about Psychics and Espers, Mark believed the second possibility even more.


    And he was right with his assumption. Since the time he saw Edzel here in the forest, he already felt the presence of this person who had a simr mental wavelength as Edzel but had a higher psychic energy simr to Amihan. He deduced that this person could be the father of Edzel since he was obviously releasing familial affection towards the boy.


    "You knew that the boy''s father is here and yet, you have that courage to behave like an evil spirit and persuade my son using empty promises. What are you really after?"


    The man spoke while looking at Mark not hiding his hostility.


    Mark however was not fazed and stared directly at the man.


    "What I''m after is a good subordinate that will be loyal to me. It just happened to be your son. Besides, it''s not bad to have someone with a blood of an Elemental like you under me."


    "You-!"


    The man pointed his finger at Mark as his white teeth grew into fangs and his nails grew into golden ws. It seemed that he wanted to attack.


    Seeing this, Mark was truly convinced that this Elemental was a Tamawo. Even his appearance to attack was the same as how it was from the stories.


    "Can you calm down? You''re angry at me for giving your son a reason to live when you are doing nothing but watch in the shadows while your son suffered alone?"


    The Tamawo froze and his eyes wavered. He heard Mark continue.


    "Besides, I''m not giving any empty promises. If he really showed his loyalty¡­" Mark smiled and looked at the south east direction. "It won''t be hard for him to destroy that settlement. The only issue here is that if he is loyal, lucky and had enough will to move on."


    The Tamawo inhaled deeply as his appearance returned to normal.


    "Brat, what is your name?"


    The Tamawo asked as he stared at Mark.


    "Shouldn''t introduce yourself first? Old man?"


    Mark returned the stare and replied.


    The man frowned but with a sigh, he spoke.


    "My name can''t be pronounced correctly by humans. You can just call me Pefile. Now, tell me yours."


    "Mark."


    "Alright. I will leave my son in your care for now. Let me see how you will fulfill your promise to my son. Otherwise, don''t me me for going after your life."


    Pefile then turned around to leave. It was then that Mark spoke.


    "Why don''t you just stay? That way, you can openly watch over your son. You can be with him. Isn''t it hard to live in the forest these days? Especially since your kind already lost the ability to hide from the eyes of Mortals."


    Pefile stopped for a bit. Mark could feel theplicated emotions of the man over his suggestion. It seemed that he wanted to ept but something was holding him back.


    In a low voice, Pefile spoke with his back facing Mark.


    "I like your suggestion. I really wanted to be with my son. However¡­ Not now. I still have a promise fulfill."


    Stopping at that, Pefile left. However, Mark was sure that he would appear whenever Edzel was around the forest. There might be deeper circumstances here. Like the reason why a son of a Tamawo was living in the world of humans instead of the kingdom of the Tamawo. Furthermore, why was a Tamawo like him here in Luzon when the said ce where they lived in Folklores were in Visayas.


    His affection for his son was also genuine but he could not interact with Edzel. Mark also noticed that when Pefile mentioned the word "promise", there was a hint of loneliness and regret in his mind.


    Being left alone, Mark returned to his work. After securing water from the river, Mark returned to the Middle District at themercial space they rented for the night.


    Knocking on the door using a rhythm Mark, na and Karlene decided on, the door opened to let Mark enter. The one that opened the door was na.


    "You took too long outside! Don''t tell me you picked up women outside?"


    na immediately asked while blocking the door.


    Mark shook his head and flicked her forehead to get her away.


    "I already finished what I wanted to do here. Tomorrow afternoon, we will leave this ce."


    "You already collected those¡­ What are they again¡­ Ah, [BloodChildren]. You got them all? You didn''t really pick up a woman?"


    na spoke while covering her forehead and sniffed the air.


    "Where did that question evene from?"<sub> </sub>


    "It''s because you smell like a girl''s perfume."


    "Are you a dog?" Mark immediately turned his head at na with a helpless expression. "I won''t go for something like that. Probably, I got this smell since I entered someone''s room to retrieve the [BloodChildren]."


    "Is that so? You actually entered a girl''s room in the middle of the night¡­"


    na did not dare try to finish her words. Mark was already aiming another flick at her forehead.


    "Stop messing around. Here''s the water you wanted. You should sleep already since we will go check the Free Port tomorrow if we can trade something."


    "Okay~!"


    Mark stared at na''s back who replied like a certain little girl with green hair he met before as she walked to her room.


    "Hey, go to the other room."


    "No!"


    na ran towards the room and closed the door.


    Mark shrugged his shoulders. She would not be able to me him if he took revenge on herter. After all, he could not sleep in his room either in this situation where Karlene was sleeping on his bed beside Miracle.


    Anyway, someone needed to stand guard. With that, he sat on the floor near the door with his back on the wall. He then let out the newly retrieved [BloodChildren] and let them sit beside him. As his head drooped down, he entered the state of light sleep.


    In the middle of his sleep, he felt some movements and his body got a bit heavy, however, he ignored it. After all, they were not enemies.


    ***


    <strong>Day 41 ¨C 6:32 AM ¨C Dwelling Complex, Middle District, East Port Settlement, Barangay Dinahican, Infanta, Quezon</strong>


    SWISH!


    CREAK!


    It was a normal morning, or it should have been. However, the dark clouds that covered the skyst night never went away and were even thicker today. Furthermore, the cold wind started to blow. It was not a good sign.


    Mark woke up unable to move his body. Opening his eyes, the first thing he saw was Miracle who was clinging to his body as she slept. On his shoulder, Amihan was also asleep while sitting and leaning to his face. Around him, except for the five [BloodChildren] he let outst night, the other three he left to guard Miracle and Amihan were also here. All of them noticed that Mark did not sleep in the room and looked for him. When they saw him near the door, they all apanied him to sleep despite the ce that was very unsuitable to.


    This morning''s temperature was rather abnormally cold. Luckily, he had these little creatures to give him warmth. He closed his eyes again. Since Miracle and Amihan was still asleep, he would not mind spending more time like this.


    However, a sudden pain in his head made him flinch and the scene around him distorted.


    Thick Clouds¡­


    Rain¡­


    Thunder¡­


    Wind¡­


    Mark stood by the shore watching everything got destroyed. By the coast, a quadruped monster about sixty feet in length was causing chaos. It seemed to be a Humpback Whale with limbs instead of fins. Its body was covered with thick armor made ofyers andyers of Barnacles.


    The ce was submerged in sea water that had already be muddy. Wreckage after wreckage could be seen around him as structures had already been washed away from the coast.


    It seemed to be far from a tsunami, there was no doubt that it was a storm surge.


    Looking down at the knee high water below him, three dead bodies passed by his front as it was washed away by the water. It was an old man and two children that could not be any familiar to him.


    It was Hamlin, Alois and Layan.


    "¡­her?"


    "¡­ather?"


    "Father?"


    Mark opened his eyes and saw Miracle''s face close to his. She looked worried. Beside her, Amihan who was flying also had the same expression.


    "My Lord, are you okay? You look pale."


    Mark then pulled the two in a hug and caressed their heads.


    "I''m fine. I just had a nightmare."


    As he caressed their heads, Mark was thinking about what he saw. For sure, it was not just a dream but another premonition. Unfortunately, he was not able to finish it but he would not me Miracle and Amihan for waking him up.


    With the coast and Hamlin''s family as clues, he was sure that what he saw would happen in this ce.


    The question was when¡­ Would it happen if Hamlin''s family did not want toe to his base? Or would it happen before they decide¡­


    While he was thinking, time passed and both the girls in the rooms also woke up.


    Knowing what had happenedst night, Karlene apologized. She was just watching Miracle and Amihan while ying with Oracle, Crimson and Ivy. She did not mean to fall asleep in his room.


    And for what na didst night, for the first time, Mark saw Karlene angry. She made na kneel on the floor as she preached angrily. As Mark watched the spectacle, his mood lightened. He then turned towards the door, it seemed that they had visitors.

 Chapter 261 Invitations, Rejecting The Enemies And Accepting The Potential Allies

    <strong>Day 41 ¨C 7:52 AM ¨C Dwelling Complex, Middle District, East Port Settlement, Barangay Dinahican, Infanta, Quezon</strong>


    TOK!


    TOK!


    Two knocks broke Karlene''s momentum on her preaching. She thought that they might have disturbed the neighbors due to their noise. Before na and Karlene could say anything, Mark had beaten them to it.


    "I''ll open it."


    Mark stood up leaving Miracle and Amihan on their breakfast and made his way to the door. The two girls immediately fixed themselves but Karlene was still ring at her best friend while thetter had a bitter smile on her face. It seemed right now, Karlene''s anger was kind of strange. As if it was not onlying from her but from another source.


    Opening the door, Mark saw an unfamiliar man outside.


    "Do you need something?"


    Mark said in an unfriendly tone.


    "Is this perhaps where Ms. Garces and Ms. Bautista are staying? I''m sent here to give something to them."


    The man replied while trying to maintain his humble tone. It was obvious that this Mutator in front of the door was not used to it.


    "Hand the thing to me. I''ll give it to them."


    "I''m sorry but my boss said to give it directly."


    "You can give it to me and I''ll give it to them or you can just keep it and leave. Your choice."


    Mark did not even try to give the man face.


    "Well¡­"


    The man looked troubled but Mark''s eyes started to release a hidden fierce glint. After all, even though this man had been acting humbly, Mark could tell that the man was cursing inside. His words about giving the item directly were lies too. It was obvious that this man only wanted to get a close contact to the two girls. Mark would not really bother about this but the two girls were under him now. As their leader, one of his duties was to protect them from lechers like this man.


    Since Mark would not relent, the man was forced to give Mark the item and left. It was a letter.


    "What does it say?"


    Karlene asked.


    "The Cristobal Family is inviting us to their Mansion."


    Mark replied with a frown. From the start, he had no positive impression on this family. Added the circumstances of Edzel and Hamlin''s family, it was already enough for him to regard this family as his enemies.


    "We won''t go."


    na said with a frown containing disgust. Karlene was also the same.


    "I don''t want to go either."


    Mark said and tore the invitation into pieces. He then looked at the two girls.


    "You seem to hate that family."


    "The son of the head of their family is a perverted bastard. That trash targeted us before. All thates out of the mouth of that garbage are flowery tteries and lies. That arrogant prick should rot in hell already."


    na replied.


    "How about you? You seem to dislike them either."


    "The new and potential people that I recruitedst night all had grudges with that family. Especially that trash you are talking about."


    "I see¡­ Wait. You recruited people? You didn''t mention thatst night. Are they trustworthy?"


    na asked in worry. Karlene also had the same expression.


    "Don''t worry about that." Mark assured the two. "I won''t recruit them if I didn''t find their personalities pleasing."


    Suddenly, Mark turned facing the direction of the wall. Outside that wall was the street in front of the Dwelling Complex. He felt several people but fortunately, they did note from the same group as the man that had just left.


    Still, Mark could not help but sigh. Among the new visitors, there was someone familiar.


    TOK!


    TOK!


    TOK!


    The door was knocked once more.


    This time, Mark made na and Karlene open the doors. It was because for sure, the two knew the people outside.


    Opening the door, na and Karlene were surprised.


    "Annica!"


    The two girls shouted in unison. Their voices were filled with both surprise and glee.


    "Big Sisters!"


    The girl that knocked on the door, Elise Annica Salvador, entered the door and hugged na and Karlene.


    The people with Annica, her two brothers and their guards smiled at that scene.<sub> </sub>


    "Annica, we know that our grouping here would reach you but what are you doing here?"


    na could not help but ask.


    "It''s because someone sneaked into my roomst night and stole my pets!"


    Annica replied while curiously staring at Mark. Her golden colored eyes were exuding a faint glow.


    Hearing that, na and Karlene could not help but also look at Mark. Although he came here to retrieve the [BloodChildren], to sneak into a girl''s room in the middle of the night still sounded inappropriate. Especially since the owner of the room was a girl close to them.


    Under the stare of the three girls, Mark spoke.


    "Are you sure that the person is me?"


    "A hundred percent! You are the only person I saw with a lot of energies beautifully circting inside your body! I won''t mistake it! Also, Hellhound led us here after following the smell of the person that entered my roomst night!"


    Hearing its name being called, a dog more than three feet tall peeked into the door. It was a ck furred German Shepherd with a pair of horns simr to a ram. The joints on its limbs and its tail had protruding spikes.


    Mark could not help but shiver when he heard that the brat could see the energies inside him. It made him feel like he was naked in front of her. Luckily, it seemed that she had no way of identifying what kind of energies they were.


    He then looked at the door peeking outside the door. That dog was not one of the pets he encounteredst night. Probably, it was kept somewhere else. Still, he could not help butmend inside that the dog looked cool.


    Since he was already found out, Mark could only shrug his shoulders. Still, it was quite strange that even though the girl called Annica wasining about Mark stealing her pets, there seemed to be no notion from her to make him return them.


    With a smug look, Annica smiled when she realized that Mark epted her im. She then looked at the others but her eyes could not help but be confused.


    "Big Sister Karlene, why is there three energies in your body now? Also, two of them are life energies¡­ Are you pregnant?"


    "What are talking about?! I''m not!" Karlene retorted with a red face. Just what was this brat thinking? "Also, what is this about energies here and energies there? We can''t understand."


    Hearing that, Annica looked confused but did not say anything else about the two life energies inside Karlene. She then looked around Mark and her eyes lit up.


    "Fairy!"


    Obviously, Amihan flew away hiding behind Mark hearing that shout.


    Seeing the fairy hide, Annica felt dejected and pouted. Her eyesnded on Miracle and her eyes widened.


    She was about to speak when her mouth was blocked. No one noticed but Mark appeared behind her.


    "Stop peering on private matters you brat. Just tell us what you wanted foring here."


    Mark said with a frown.


    "Mmmmfw!"


    Of course, Annica could not talk with Mark''s hand blocking her mouth.


    "I apologize if my sister did something unreasonable. Can you please let her go? Annica, don''t say anything more. You are blurting out people''s private secrets you know that?"


    The one of the men outside the door entered and apologized while reprimanded Annica with a stern expression.


    After Annica nodded, Mark let her go. The others could only watch at the side with bitter smiles. Especially na and Karlene who knew that the mouth of this girl was like an open zipper. She would blurt out things without thinking unless someone closed her mouth.


    As the peace returned to the room, na took the initiative to introduce the Salvador siblings to Mark.


    "Actually, we want to invite to you our house. Our father wanted to meet your group, especially the rumored [Dragon Rider]."


    Raybert, the eldest of the three siblings spoke. Hearing the rare job ss from RPGs, na and Karlene turned their heads towards Mark. Mark on the other hand sighed with the cool but embarrassing title being attached to him.


    However, Mark had no reason to decline the invitation. Not only that the three never mentioned about taking back the [BloodChildren] but the Salvador Family personally invited their group.


    This was the difference between the Cristobal Family and the Salvador Family. The Cristobal Family viewed themselves as high and mighty and thought that a simple letter could represent their sincerity on inviting Mark''s group. However, that letter only showed how self-important they were for people who knew how to read others.


    The Salvador Family on the other hand was more sincere and knew how to behave. Furthermore, among the three families in the settlement, the Salvador Family was the most upright and the family that contributed the most to the settlement.


    ***


    Leaving the Dwelling Complex, the group of four guards, the three Salvador siblings and Mark''s group walked out towards the inner district.


    Along the way, there were more people on the streets since it was daytime. Of course, more eyes were attracted to their group especially since there were two beautiful actresses and a cute brat among them. Not to mention that Mark had Amihan on his shoulder and Annica was riding on the back of Hellhound.


    At the streets, Prostitutes still lurk even during the day. After all, they needed to get food as much as possible and this was the only thing they could do.


    Mark then noticed a line of children and elderly at the main street in between the Outer District. Noticing Mark''s gaze, Raybert spoke proudly.


    "That is our feeding program. We give soup to children elderly who can''t work anymore twice a day. Even though we don''t have the ability to give them all a permanent shelter in the present, at least, we can let them have their fill. Of course, the meal is not nutritious enough and the ingredients are limited. Even though we are the rich, money don''t really have value nowadays. We are also struggling to keep our supply."


    Hearing that, Mark''s impression of this family was getting better. He thought that the three families abandoned their citizens already but it seemed that it was only the two other families. His impression of the guards following them was not bad either as some of the children passing by with their food was greeting them. It was the same for the men that seemed to be working at the Free Port District that was passing by with their tools and equipment.


    Among the people of Salvador Family that invited them, although all of them were proud, none of them were arrogant. Rather, aside from the hard headed Annica, her two brothers were sincerely humble.


    If this was the case, it might not be bad to inform this family of the iing disaster. He would not convince them to believe him but in the least, he told them.


    Mark also had to prepare. Looking at the sky that was quite dark despite the time of the day, the disaster woulde too soon. He was quite frustrated with the visioning in toote but considering whose death was seen by him, it was reasonable. It was likely that the three decided to follow him and they got bound with his unrestrained fate. Due to that, only this time that he met the three gave him the vision of their death.


    He just wished that he would get more information of what would happen. It was because he wanted to be prepared not only on the situation that he saw but also the worst case scenario where the difficulty of the event from his vision rose several times higher.


    While thinking all those, Mark''s group being led by the Annica, her brothers and their guards arrived outside the block of the Salvador Compound in the Inner District.

 Chapter 262 Cooperation, A Secret Of Annicas Psychic Ability

    <strong>Day 41 ¨C 8:38 AM ¨C Salvador Compound, Inner District, East Port Settlement, Barangay Dinahican, Infanta, Quezon</strong>


    Arriving at thepound, Mark could not help but see many people hurriedly moving things around. It seemed that there was a situation they were urgently preparing for. There were even some that were hurrying outside thepound carrying megaphones as they rushed towards the main street.


    Mark looked at the three siblings that guided their group here but it looked like that they were also surprised at the current situation.


    As they entered thepound, they could see a small group of peopleing out of the mansion towards their direction. With na whispering beside him, Mark learned that the man in the center of that group was the head of the Salvador Family, Darren Bryce Salvador.


    """Dad!"""


    The three siblings called out as the group neared.


    Darren scanned the group escorted by his children and without hesitation, approached Mark. He did not even divert his eyes away from Mark despite the two distractions on Mark''s body. The bearing of someone leading a rich family was truly on another level.


    "I''m Darren Bryce Salvador. Thank you for epting our invitation."


    He then stretched his right hand for a handshake.


    Shrugging his shoulders, Mark epted the handshake.


    "Mark. You can call me that."


    "Then, it''s fine to call you Sir Mark?"


    "Do as you wish."


    Mark did not know why Darren was giving him a polite address but he did not care anyway.


    After receiving Mark''s introduction, that was only when he averted his gaze and


    Looked at the child Mark was carrying and the fairy on Mark''s shoulder.


    "And these two are?"


    Urged by Mark, the two introduced themselves.


    "Miracle."


    "Uhm, I''m Amihan."


    Miracle ndly said her name while Amihan hesitated to do so.


    "Alright, nice to meet you two."


    Finally, Darren turned to na and Karlene.


    "Karlene, na, it''s good to see you two once more."


    "It''s good to see you too Uncle Darren."


    The two replied with smiles on their faces. It was obvious how good the rtionship of the two girls to this family.


    "Well then, this is not a good ce to talk. Let''s go inside."


    The whole group walked across thepound with the people from the Salvador Family in the lead.


    "Dad, what is happening? Why does everyone look busy?"


    The others also had the same question but as Darren said that it was not good to talk outside, everyone kept their silence. However, Annica really could not keep her mouth shut.


    However, since it was not bad to answer that question, Darren spoke.


    "About half hour earlier after you and your brothers left the house, we received a message from the Military Settlement. Apparently, the thick cloud formation at the sky this time isn''t just the normal ones like the previous days. The weather apparatus in the Military Settlement detected a weather anomaly in the Pacific Ocean, possibly, a super typhoon. The time ofndfall is still unidentified however. Due to that, I mobilized all our forces to prepare and inform everyone in the settlement."


    Darren then turned to na and Karlene.


    "You two aren''t informed yet?"


    "Uncle Darren, if you had just received the news, then my father would still be in the meeting to n their moves in the settlement. He''ll probably contact meter."


    Karlene said. na on the other hand remained quiet.


    Both the two of them had radios that was paired with their rtives. They received it before they left the Military Settlement with Mark. However, since the reception in the mountains was poor, they could not use the radios at the mountain base. The only time Karlene managed to contact her father was before they arrived here in East Port Settlement. As for na, she was still angry with her uncle and she did not even bother contacting that nerd scientist uncle of hers.


    Mark frowned hearing the news. Although he already knew that it would happen, he was still rmed. After all, the people in this settlement were going to be informed of the iing storm and preparations were ongoing already. The people here should have been prepared for the storm surge since it would not be the first time that it would happen.


    And yet¡­


    The whole settlement was flooded in his vision earlier.


    Things were getting eerie for some reason.


    ***


    Entering the mansion, Mark''s group was led to the dining room for breakfast and met Darren''s wife, Maitea. The breakfast was simple, a small bowl of soup, four cuts of fish cutlets and a small cup of rice. Those who wanted coffee were even given a cup. This was a simple breakfast before the outbreak but it was a luxurious one in the current times.


    As for Amihan, Mark gave her a honeyed wild berry he had in his backpack while Miracle was not given anything as she was not hungry yet. In any case, the little girl would not eat human food anyway.


    Still, the members of the Salvador Family looked confused as to why Mark was not giving Miracle food.


    "So, can you tell us why we are invited here? Is it because ofst night?"


    Mark asked as he looked at Darren.


    Coughing, Darren spoke.


    "Surely, what happenedst night is something we''re kind of vexed but it''s only part of the reason."


    "Then, you won''t demand for me to return what I took right? However, I stole from your family. Isn''t that against the regtions of the settlement?"


    na and Karlene looked at Mark worryingly. Did someone put gunpowder on his food?


    At those questions, Raybert and Riley looked at their father. Thetter howeverughed unexpectedly.<sub> </sub>


    "Sir Mark, you don''t have to test us like that."


    As Mark thought, the head could see through his fa?ade.


    "Then, what do you really want?"


    "About the slimes, my daughter decided not to demand them back in exchange for a small request."


    "What is it?"


    "Let me see your dragon!"


    Annica interjected.


    Pfft!


    Someone almost spit out her food. na coughed as she choked trying to hold back herughter with a red face.


    "Water¡­"


    na struggled to ask. Immediately, a ss of water was given to her to relieve her.


    "That is what happens to a green minded person."


    Mark let out a snide remark while looking at her with his half-closed eyes. Karlene was also looking at her in the same manner.


    Annica looked as na in confusion but her other family members already had their hands on their foreheads.


    Ignoring the awkward atmosphere, Mark turned to Darren and spoke.


    "I don''t mind that. However, I want some confirmation about her psychic ability. After all, I won''t just let anyone who could possibly brainwash my pet."


    Mark frankly spoke as he turned his eyes to Annica.


    Hearing that, the family was quite surprised. Even though it was not a secret that their daughter was collecting strange pets, her ability to tame them was a total secret. It was because it was not new to have evolved animals as pets. Although it was very rare, there were people who managed to tame one. Both the Cristobal and the Ruanto Families had one or two evolved animals in their arsenal. Due to that, the other people were just thinking that their Family was trying to tame the animals they collected.


    "Hey! How did you know?"


    Annica bluntly asked.


    "Because I can sense several energy threadsing from you connected to those animals that surrounded mest night and that pet dog you have earlier."


    "What?! You can also see energies like me?"


    "Are you even listening? I just said that ''I can sense'', didn''t I?"


    Hearing that, Annica was quite dejected. She thought that she found someone else that had the same ability as her.


    Since Mark already knew, there was no need to hide it and they stated the conditions in order for Annica''s ability to work on the animals.


    After learning the conditions and confirmed that none of them were lying, Mark agreed to make her see Char. Since it would surely cause amotion to make a dragon fly to the settlement, they decided to meet Char outside the western part of the settlement and make it walk into thepound of the Salvador Family. Mark had no problems with this since it would also be advantageous to him if Char was somewhere nearby.


    Finishing the issue about the [BloodChildren], Darren told his other goal in this meeting.


    "I want a cooperation deal between you and our family."


    He stated with a stern expression. Seeing that Mark was showing an expression asking why, Darren continued.


    "As everyone knows, there is a rather bad rtionship between the three families running this settlement. It don''t look like it in the surface but the other two families always plot something behind our backs and their primary target is our family that are being sided by themon people.


    The Cristobal Family supports Mutators as higher in hierarchy while who know what the Ruantos are nning in the dark. In case that the two families made a move, I wanted you to support us."


    "And what would I get for supporting your family?"


    Hearing that, Darren nodded to a guard standing behind him and the guard left. It did not take long and the guard came back carrying a folder.


    "Please, take a look at this and don''t show it to anyone else."


    "Even to Karlene and na?"


    "Yes. I think it''s fine letting Ms. Amihan and Little Ms. Miracle to see it though."


    As they heard that, na and Karlene felt dejected. It was as if they were being left out.


    Hiding the contents of the folder to the two girls, Mark looked at the papers. It was a contract.


    It stated that Mark would have a share in the fish and ntation harvest of the family. Since they were by the port and next to the sea, with the Mutators as their personnel, their first source of food was fishing. As for the ntation, even though it was quite dangerous to most people toe out of the settlement, the coconut ntation to the north of the settlement as still theirs and they still nned to harvest them in the next harvest season. Not to mention that their ntations did not only have coconuts but other products.


    Furthermore, a secret of the family about Annica''s ability was also on the contract. Mark could bring any animal that was docile or that could be tamed by Annica and she would pass the master rtionship to Mark or any other person Mark wanted to. Apparently, Annica could create a connection between an animal and another person but the connection was limited to one animal per person. This way, the master could efficientlymand the pet as it would understand the words and intentions of the master and the master would also be able to understand the thoughts of the pet.


    Mark then turned to Darren.


    "Are you sure that you should be revealing this thing to me?"


    Darren let out a bitter smile.


    "You can say that it''s a sign of sincerity from us."


    "Aren''t you afraid that I might leak this out? She''ll be in a huge trouble if this happened."


    "Although I can''t say that I fully trust you, I can say that I can trust her father''s decision." Darren looked at Karlene. "I knew his father for years now and I know that he would not let his daughter to apany you if he didn''t find you worthy of trust. As for why we ask you of this¡­"


    "It''s about what I did in the Military Settlement right?"


    "Yes."


    Mark nodded. In any case, there were no demerits for him in this. He decided to agree. However he still mentioned that his base was hard to receive transmission signals incase that they needed to contact him when he returned to his base but his worry was not needed. It seemed that they managed to scavenge long distancemunication modules from fishing vessels abandoned in the port and there was no problem to give Mark one. The only thing Mark needed to do was to set up a ry antenna near his base for better reception.


    Now that the cooperation with Mark and the Salvador Family was finalized, Mark should inform them of the matter that could possibly destroy this settlement.

 Chapter 263 Warning, The First Sign Of The Devastating Storm

    <strong>Day 41 ¨C 9:24 AM ¨C Dining Room, Salvador Mansion, Inner District, East Port Settlement, Barangay Dinahican, Infanta, Quezon</strong>


    The situation in the dining room was quite peaceful and as Mark could observe, the Salvador Family was truly an amiable one. Despite the traits of a rich family that could be seen from them, they were humble and straightforward but of course, as a business family, they had a hidden cunningness behind. However, that cunning trait of them seemed to only be targeted at their enemies and other things than their own people and allies.


    In fact, Darren, the head of Salvador Family, was quite tense that Mark would not agree to cooperate with them despite the generous offer their family gave. When Mark agreed, Darren sighed in relief inwardly.


    Mark could say that the head of the family was quite desperate for him to offer those terms. There should be some hidden circumstances only known to him and not the rest of his beloved family. He was desperate enough to put her daughter in jeopardy for a gamble. The gamble was whether he could trust the actions that a friend of his made. It seemed that his trust towards Major Bautista was not low at all.


    Luckily for him, he made the right gamble and won the cooperation of Mark.


    To tell the truth, Mark did not think much about the percentage of the produce since he was nning to create his own ntation and farm near his base since it was quite a tnd in the middle of the mountain range but what made Mark agree was the ability of Annica.


    It would not matter much since he had his own methods to bind another creature to him like what he did with Char and how the dragon''s mind was connected to his. However, Annica''s ability could benefit anyone despite the limit it had.


    Finally, they finished eating their breakfast and everyone had to do what they needed to.


    "Hey, Big Bro, can you call the dragon here? I want to see it now."


    Annica stood up from her chair and leaned forward on the table. It seemed that her family was already used to her behavior but they could still not help but had wry smiles on their faces. Not only that she leaned on the table without manners but she even called Mark in a way like they had known each other for a long time.


    Mark only shrugged to this and looked at Darren.


    "Is something wrong?"


    His gaze made Darren feel stifled. Only after that question that Mark spoke.


    "Since we have entered into cooperation or should I say, an alliance, I think, I have to warn you all about something."


    Mark spoke in a serene tone that even na and Karlene could not help but keep silent and listen. They did not know why Mark''s tone had changed but there should be something important about what he was going to say.


    "It''s better if your family and men evacuate this settlement before the storm arrives."


    His words brought confusion to everyone. It seemed that they thought that Mark was worrying about the flood.


    In terms of elevation, thend in Infanta was lowerpared to others and it was prone to flood. It was due to Infanta having a lot of rivers that could overflow and the whole municipality was half surrounded by the ocean. A lot of measures to prevent the municipality from being flood had been in progress over the years and in some parts of Infanta, the measures had been proven useful.


    After the outbreak however, even more measures became avable due to the abilities of Mutators and the enhanced strength of Evolvers. It became easier to create dikes and even create walls to block the floods. Not only the Salvador family but all the people inside were confident to some extent that their flood prevention measures would work.


    "Is Sir Mark worried about the flood? If that is the case, we already have dozens of preventive measures against it."


    Raybert spoke confidently about the flood control measures but unexpectedly, Mark shook his head.


    "The iing storm is not your typical one." Mark spoke in a serious tone. "It''s not a naturally urring storm. Not only that it is stronger than a super typhoon but there are more to it."


    They all looked at Mark with askance. It was obvious that Karlene and na were still not informed about the storm until Darren mentioned it. Even his family had just been informed earlier about this. Considering Mark''s reaction that time however, he was not surprised at all. Unfortunately, they only noticed now.


    "How did you know that? What is that more you are talking about. Also, if it is not a naturally urring storm, you meant that something caused it?"


    Karlene asked a barrage of questions regarding what Mark had just said.


    "Yep, something caused that storm to ur and that something ising along with the storm. The measly walls of this settlement will not be able to withstand that thing. After the walls fall down, the floodes after and that creature wille to shore. It is a triple disaster."


    Although what Mark was saying was quite unbelievable, his expression was saying otherwise.


    "Are you sure about this?"


    Darren sat on his chair with a stern expression.


    "A hundred percent." Mark replied. "I don''t know why that thing is going this way but I''m sure that it will. Also, what I said is the softest estimate, it could only be worse."


    "Evacuate..." Darren muttered. "I can''t only evacuate my family but also the residents of the settlement. However we can''t just move all the people like this without proof. Do you have any?"


    Mark sighed. He had not though that the head of the Salvador Family would include the residents in the evacuation since the situation was really urgent. However, it was also a trait of a good leader that managed the whole settlement. Even to Mark, if something like this happened to his base, he would surely try to evacuate everyone unless he had no choice but to abandon them.


    Everyone looked at Mark waiting if he had proof for his. Unexpectedly, he pointed at Annica.


    "She''s the proof."


    "Wha-What?! What? Me?"


    Annica panicked as she suddenly became the center of attention.


    To her panic, Mark spoke.


    <o>,m "You can see the energies that can''t be seen with the naked eye right?"</o>


    "W-well, yeah. I could. But I can only see it inside a person''s or an animal''s body or at least a few seconds after the energy left their body."


    Annica affirmed.


    "Then, can you see the energy inside her?"


    Mark pointed at the surprised Amihan on Mark''s shoulder.


    "M-my lord? Why me?"<sub> </sub>


    Amihan stuttered as she asked.


    "I need you to prove what I said. Is it fine?"


    "If My Lord says so."


    Looking back at Annica, she confirmed that she could see Amihan''s energies, her life energy, emotional energies and magical energy.


    After it was confirmed, Mark told everyone to go out for a bit.


    He then made Amihan float in the middle of the open space in front of the mansion where the wind was not hindered by the buildings. After that, he made Annica observe the energy within Amihan.


    Being the center of attention, the shy sylph felt afraid. Mark could not help but stand near her to at least ease her nervousness.


    After everything was set up, Mark made Amihan release the magical energy in her body. It was the same energy that could affect the wind around her and allow her to control it. This time however, she had to release it without form. Since Amihan had been using her ability for more than a hundred years already, just releasing that energy in raw form was as easy as eating cake.


    On the other side, Annica stared at Amihan with all concentration. Her golden pupils started to radiate a faint glow and she saw the almost transparent energy that Amihan was releasing. Like the wind, it was transparent. If not for the hazy and foggy appearance of the energy, it would be hard to see it.


    Since Amihan was only releasing the energy around her and was not moving, the energy released should only scatter of follow the direction of the wind to flow into the surroundings. If Amihan was moving, she would likely leave a trail of that magical energy before it scattered. Observing Amihan however, Annica was shocked.


    The magical energy around her was not scattering evenly or being blown away by the wind, it was actually moving towards a certain direction. Following the movements of the energy, it was towards the East.


    "Amihan, you can stop now. Thanks for the work."


    With Mark''smand, Amihan flew back to Mark''s shoulder panting.


    "My Lord, something is wrong¡­ I released more energy than I should and I can''t control it until I forcefully stopped."


    Hearing that, Mark frowned as he caressed Amihan''s head.


    "Hey, Big Bro, what is going on?"


    Annica asked with panic. Seeing what she had just seen surely made her realize that there was something wrong.


    As the demonstration finished, everyone gathered inside the mansion but this time, at Darren''s office in the first floor.


    Annica narrated what she had seen with her ability and how strange it was. Since Annica was also confused and could not exin it, they all turned to Mark.


    "I already said it before but even though I can''t see the energies Annica could see, I can sense it. Since early this morning, there had been a disturbance and the magical energies around was rather thick. If you all noticed, it is too cold now and even colder than how it is supposed to be before a storm came. It is because of what I assume to be Water and Wind element energies in the air being syphoned too fast.


    I don''t know what the cause is but the energies rted to the elements a storm had are being syphoned towards the east where the storm wille from. That is why Annica saw the energy from Amihan flowing towards that direction."


    "Do we really need to evacuate?"


    Darren asked in a serious but worried expression.


    "Evacuate as soon as possible. It is better if you all go away from this settlement and find a ce away from the sea and with higher elevation."


    Darren nodded. He was about to reply when¡­


    TING!


    Amihan, Mark and even Annica froze.


    Without looking at everyone, Mark abruptly stood up from his chair as he carried Amihan and Miracle out of the mansion.


    Before he went out, Mark shouted.


    "Evacuate as soon as possible!"


    Following Mark, Annica also stood up and her yful expression most of the time was gone. She looked both serious and afraid at the same time and she hurriedly chased after Mark.


    Karlene and na wanted to follow but suddenly, both the radios the two had made noise.


    ***


    At the northwest side of the Outer District, someone was packing up his things. He wanted to forget about the things that happened here in this settlement as he found a person to follow. To be stronger and be able to protect what he needed to protect.


    As he finished packing however¡­


    TING!


    A ringing sound echoed by his ear and he felt shivers he never felt before. Feeling both the danger and curiosity, Edzel ran out of his house with the few things he packed up and ran towards the Free Port District.


    Edzel ran out of the Outer District and followed the main street. Along the way, he could see that the people doing their daily routine but he could hear a few shouts to prepare for an iing storm.


    When he reached the Free Port District, he saw the person that promised to make him stronger. Unexpectedly, beside him was the youngdy of the Salvador Family. Including the two, everyone at the port was staring towards the East and he did the same.


    His eyes then grew wide at the unbelievable scene.


    Far away on the horizon, almost ck colored clouds swirled as the strong rain blurred the sky and the sea. Branches and branches of lightning continuously crackled.


    It was as if the end of the world wasing.

 Chapter 264 Conflict, The Feud Between The Three Families And The Arrival Of The First Threat

    <strong>Day 41 ¨C 10:02 AM ¨C Free Port District, East Port Settlement, Barangay Dinahican, Infanta, Quezon</strong>


    Everyone in the port had already stopped what they were doing in shock at the scene they could see by the horizon. Most of the people here in the Free Port District right now were those that were already informed of the iing storm and were preparing the anti-flood measures they nned. Seeing the storm that appeared ahead of time however, they all lost confidence that the measures they were preparing would be able to stand against the iing storm.


    In fact, they want to retort who ever said that a storm wasing. It was very far from being a storm and also far to be called a super typhoon. The storm on the horizon was obviously way stronger than those.


    Strange enough however, although the clouds started to thicken and move faster towards the storm, not a single drop of rain had fallen anywhere outside the dark-gray clouds.


    Since Mark and Annica suddenly went out of thepound, Raybert and Riley along with several of their guards came running after them. Annica''s two brothers wanted to reprimand her for suddenly running off like that but both of them were also frozen by the scene that everyone here was watching. Later, even Darren and his wife, Maitea, came out of thepound after receiving the news about the abnormal scene at the sea.


    "Is this what you said before?"


    Darren stood beside Mark who was observing something at the terrifying storm and asked.


    "It is." Mark turned his head to Darren and replied. "Rather than watching here, it''s better if you already announce the evacuation and prepare to abandon this ce. I''ve been observing the storm since we noticed it but even though we can see it already from here, it sure is still far away and the speed it is moving is very slow. My estimate is that we still have a few hours before it can directly affect the settlement."


    With a grave expression, Darren nodded. Evacuating and abandoning this settlement was the thing they did not want to do the most as they spent a lot to build this settlement. After they leave, not only them but the residents of the settlement would have nowhere to go. For sure, the Military Settlement would not reject them but the sudden influx of people would surely affect them severely. Not to mention the dangers that everyone could experience on the way.


    The worst thing was that the protection of the nonbatants would be the sole responsibility of his family and their personnel. After all, there was a very small number of Mutators that fully maintained their humanity while many had viewed themselves as superior. It was very less likely for thetter to protect themon people as everyone evacuate.


    However, there was nothing Darren could do but his best.


    "What is this evacuation I''m hearing about?"


    Someone suddenly interjected between Mark and Darren''s conversation.


    Looking at the person that spoke, Mark frowned. It was a man in his forties that had a very sly look on his face especially because of his narrow shaped eyes behind his small rectangr sses. The man was on the lean side and was wearing a form coat. Around him was his own group of guards.


    Beside the sly looking man, there was another man about two or three years younger than Mark. He also looked unfamiliar and looking at the simrities between the appearances of the two men, it was very likely that they were father and son.


    Darren looked at the man with a frown.


    "What does it have to do with you Jacob?"


    "Of course it had something to do with us." Jacob emphasized the word "us" by waving his hands outwards indicating everyone and every people around them. "You didn''t even consult the other two families about this when us three families built and made the rules in this ce."


    "But there is no rule that stated that anyone is restricted from leaving this ce, am I right? If anyone wanted to leave, what does it got to do with you and your family?"


    "Oh, really?"


    Gunpowder was everywhere in between the two people.


    "That is the head of the Ruanto Family, the former Mayor Jacob Ruanto and his son Devon."


    Annica whispered beside Mark. No wonder Darren was showing a hostile attitude.


    In this settlement, although the Cristobal Family unted their status more than the two, the most dangerous was the Ruanto Family that was mostly quiet and not participating in too much hubbub in the settlement. However, they were always scheming and no one could predict their moves.


    At the first days of the settlement, Mutators, Evolvers andmon people retained the normal rtionship until the campaign of this family about the Mutators and Evolvers being superior over themon people who had no abilities started the chaotic hierarchy between the three kinds of people. That campaign rallied those Mutators with the same ideals and reigning traits towards their camp. It was a very effective recruitment scheme.


    In fact, both Jacob and Devon were Mutators and the arrogant looking guards around them were the same. Apparently, all the remaining family members of the Ruanto were all Mutators.


    While Annica was filling Mark with the information he needed while whispering, Mark felt a hostile intention towards him. He turned his head and saw another group of people surrounded by guards. At the center of the group, Mark saw the familiar lecher fromst night. With that man there, that group was surely the leaders of the Cristobal Family. The guard captain that let Mark''s group into the settlement was also with the group.


    To say, the stout man and the young master of the Cristobal Family were looking at Mark with pure ill will. The stout man was looking at Mark with displeasure while the younger was angry and jealous.


    Mark could not help but frown. It seemed that the young master of Cristobal Family was a pedophile. For him to not only target women for his lecherous intentions but even a brat like Annica could not escape his interests.


    "Mark! Uncle Darren!"


    While the interaction between the two heads of the families was getting fiercer, na and Karlene finally appeared. na immediately called towards Mark and Darren.


    "The Military Settlement already started their evacuation! They are heading ind and towards the mountains to setup a temporary camp. They said that we are fine rendezvous with them. The meeting point is at the entrance of Marcos Highway."


    Hearing that, Darren''s eyes lit up. While he was arguing with Jacob Ruanto, he was thinking of where he should direct the evacuees but to think that the Military Settlement would give them such offer. It was like sending them coal in the middle of winter.


    Even though the road to traverse between the East Port Settlement and the Marcos Highway was quite dangerous, it was way better to have a destination point than none. More than that, the military could provide support and protection to the evacuees afterwards.


    The goals had been set. Ignoring the members of the other families, Darren urged his children and men to start preparing.


    "Can we use the boats to travel to the Military Settlement? The sea is still calm."


    Riley asked as he looked at the sea that was strangely normal.<sub> </sub>


    "We better not." Darren shook his head. "With a strange storm like that, no one can predict what will happen at the sea."


    Darren and his children returned topound and started to issue orders. Preparing any vehicle they could gather, transporting supplies and informing the people was the priority. For sure, not all the people would be able to ride the vehicles and as such, everyone needed to leave as soon as possible.


    "Edzel."


    Mark called Edzel without even looking at the boy who wanted to approach him but was not able to since he was surrounded by the members of the Cristobal Family.


    "Boss?"


    Surprised, Edzel replied in a question like tone as he approached.


    "Are you done packing?"


    "Yes!"


    "I have a task for you."


    Hearing that, Edzel looked at Mark to listen.


    "Do you know Hamlin and his grandchildren?"


    "Yes Boss! Actually, we work together sometimes to fish at the coast."


    Hearing that, Mark felt relieved. It should be easier this way.


    "Go find them and bring them to thepound of the Salvador Family. These girls will be waiting for you. Hurry up."


    Mark ordered and pointed at na and Karlene.


    "Yes, Boss!"


    Hearing his first task, Edzel hurriedly ran off. Seeing how Mark could interact with the head of the Salvador Family like equal, Edzel had forgotten his hesitations over following Mark. Even the tone the head of Salvador Family used to talk to Mark was quite polite meaning that his status might be higher. His decisionst night to follow him as the right thing he did this time.


    "Mizuki, Karlene, take Miracle and Amihan and wait within thepound. Also wait for the boy I just sent to fetch the others I recruitedst night."


    "Alright." na replied. "Still, I can''t believe that you really recruited people."


    Mark turned to na with a reproachful stare.


    "Mark, what about you?"


    Karlene asked.


    "I''ll stay here for a bit and also call Char. You all hurry up. Also take my bag. The [BloodChildren] and some important things are inside."


    Handing Miracle, Amihan and his bag to the two girls, they then returned to thepound of the Salvador Family. This time, the cards the proved their ess in the settlement was useless as they were in a state of emergency.


    Being left at the Free Port District, Mark red at the backs of the members of the other two families that were also returning to their bases after being ignored by the members of the Salvador Family. However, Mark frowned as he looked at the backs of the Head of Ruanto Family. He could feel that the guy was nning something sinister.


    As for the Cristobal Family, Mark could not bother about them. They were just a group of garbage in more ways than one.


    Ignoring everyone that was already panicking as they ran back to their dwellings, Mark removed his jacket revealing his armor and the [Darkness Shade Set] behind him. The gauntlets, [Attacker] and [Defender], the whip des [Slicer] and [Divider] and the two parts of the shield, [Defier] were thenunched from the [Darkness Shade Set]. Mark then turned the bracer on his right hand putting the needleuncher under his wrist and like a docking robot, he caught both gauntlets with wore it in his both hands. The two parts of the [Defier] came after and thest was the two short des that stretched into longer des after Mark waved the two des to his side.


    Some people saw Mark''s sudden disy and were amazed. They were even more amazed that his weapons couldbine and change forms like that. Still, there were those that were confused as to why Mark would bring out weapons this time.


    Then, Mark took out a small whistle rocket which the stick of firework was made of [Blood Metal] that could fit the needleuncher on his right wrist. Lighting the fuse, he shot the whistling rocket towards the sky diagonally to the west. As it was a modified firework, the whistling sound was rather loud and many were rmed by the sudden whistling sound followed by a loud explosion at the sky.


    That was the method Mark prepared to contact Char who was staying at the forest not far from the settlement. For sure, the dragon heard that and woulde shortly.


    Before Char would arrive however, Mark prepared to fight.


    "AHH! RUN! MONSTERS!"


    Screams came from the people that were taking things from their boats docked at the port and by the shore. The people started running away from the shore with shocked and frightened expressions.


    Mark moved. Vanishing in a puff of mist, Mark appeared above the port overseeing the coast.


    Different kinds of evolved sea animals started toe ashore. They were attacking everyone and destroying everything on the way. Not because they were here to attack but these sea creatures were fleeing from the ocean, specifically, from the storm and the cause of it.

 Chapter 265 The Horde Of Sea Creatures, Dealing With The First Wave Of Danger

    <strong>Day 41 ¨C 10:21 AM ¨C Free Port District, East Port Settlement, Barangay Dinahican, Infanta, Quezon</strong>


    Screams of people who were on the shore working on different things further bolstered the already boisterous situation. The people who were working on the sand bags for flood prevention and those who only came to the shore to secure their boats all started to run back inside the safe confines of settlement. Those Mutators capable ofbat aided those who could not and fought with the iing animals.


    Everyone had been too focused on the raging storm beyond the horizon and failed to notice the iing danger. The time they only noticed it was when the sea animals came out of the water.


    It was not different from Mark but he had been observing things that he noticed a bit of the current situation. Furthermore, even though he did not manage to fully see the situation in his premonition, Mark believed that not only the gigantic whale came to the settlement and caused its destruction.


    On the three floating dead bodies of Hamlin and his grandchildren in his vision, the injuries on their bodies did not match the attacks he saw from the whale. He saw the whale trash around with itsrge body destroying everything just with its weight and size but the injuries he saw included Hamlin''s arm being cut off with a sharp object and Layan''s stomach being punched through by arge pointed object. Alois'' body on the other hand had turned bluish, grayish and even violet which should be because of a lethal poison.


    In his premonition however, he did not see any of the possible causes of the injuries which made him think that the sources either did note with the whale. They would either had already died or left to escape the rampage of the whale. If it was thetter, then, the current scene was not really surprising. Not to mention that animals had their inherent nature to escape from natural disasters.


    Still, the situation was not good for the settlement. If the escaping animals continued on their way, the settlement would already be destroyed before the storm could even reach the shore.


    Nevertheless, Mark did not have any notion to inform the others about this since he was not a hundred percent sure that it would happen. Also, Mark also had a n in mind and having more people wandering around would just make things worse and harder for him. Anyways, he would not really bother to save people on the shore since jumping in to fight at the shore this early was not included in his ns.


    As he watched the shore, Mark saw arge number of different crustaceans, gastropods, amphibians and even fishes. There was a huge variety among each kind of aquatic animals. It could be quite a sight if it was back in the pre-outbreak period but this time, it was a catastrophe with some of the animals having the size of awnmower and a few with the size of a motorbike.


    Still, Mark could not help but have a wry smile seeing that not only those fishes that evolved to be able to traversende ashore but also those that had not. Those fishes ended up kicking up a huge fuss in the middle of the horde of animals and ended up being killed by the stampede or by the other animals that attacked them. That was how desperate these animals to flee from the iing disaster.


    The line of the animals was not neat either and there was infighting everywhere. Their species were different and some were feral animals causing the strife within their lines.


    RROOAAR!


    Mark who was falling midair turned his head to the west. Char finally arrived causing more chaos in the settlement. Some of people had gotten ready to fight and fire their guns in case that the dragon flew down to attack but they were all mistaken. Char did not have any need to fly down inside the settlement since the one that called it was already at the air waiting.


    With his mental connection with Char, there was no need to shout what it needed to do. The dragon hastily swept towards Mark and thetternded on its back.


    Then, the n to deal with the crazed animals began.


    With all the people at the shore fleeing and only a few remaining to at least dy the animals, things became easier. Mark made Char fly lower inline with the coastline and it released a deafening roar as it flew past. Mark on the other hand released a full area [Emotion Induction]. The emotions he had just absorbed from the people in the settlement became handy as fresh energy filled with terror.


    Thebination Char''s presence, intimidation and pride in its roar and the emphatic ability Mark released to nt fear to others caused a strong effect to the people and animals alike. The bodies of the people fighting on the shore trembled as their instincts told them to stop fighting and run away while the sea animals finding another strong adversary they could not fight stopped and ran towards random directions.


    With the sea animals at the front stopped and turned tail to escape the new danger, the animals became momentarily stuck at the shore. There were still those that ran towards other directions but most of them blocked the advance of those were further away and only got affected by Char''s roar and not Mark''s [Emotion Induction]. Not to mention those that had just gone out of the sea were not affected with both attacks. The neers caused those in the middle to be sandwiched and stuck.


    All the sea animals scrambled at the southeastern coast of the East Port Settlement was quite a hrious sight to see. However, it was not over yet.


    Like a jet fighter on an air show, Char flew upwards and U-turned vertically and spun its body upright with Mark on its back. They then started to fly lower once more for another round of attack. Reaching a lower point of flight, Char opened its mouth once more. This time however, it was not a roar but zing mes burst out of its mouth like a huge methrower. It blew mes behind the animals that ran away creating another line of fear for them to run away from even more.


    They were creatures of the sea and they were surely weak to fire and heat. Not to mention that the chemical from Char''s body that enabled it to breathe fire seeped on the loose sand causing the fire to evenst longer. The very high temperature of the mes even changed the color of the sand and the parts directly hit by the mes even turned red or molten.


    After the second attack, a one meter wide wall of fire was erected blocking the sea creatures from reaching the settlement. Since it was not enough and both Mark and Char had no way of killing all these creatures, the best thing that they could do was to redirect the wave of the creatures away from the settlement.


    And thus, several low passes was made by Char and breathed walls of mes blocking all but one direction to the west. With the only way they could take without being harmed, all the sea creatures ran towards that opening with the ones afflicted by fear in the lead. That direction not only directed the sea creatures away from the settlement but also away from the only possible route the people from the settlement could take to evacuate.


    The mes that blocked the sea creatures from advancing towards the settlement started to weaken but the sea creatures still continued towards the direction they the first ones took to run away. One reason was the pile of burnt corpses created a secondary wall, the second was because of the scorching sand left by the mes and the third was because the ones that had just emerged from the sea followed behind those that safely ran away.<sub> </sub>


    These animals were a disorganized bunch. They had different species, sizes and were even fighting each other as they ran away. Still, all of them had one goal and it was to run away safely and survive the iing catastrophe. Since they saw that the others were running towards another direction safely, the ones behind would follow. It was all for the sake of survival and nothing else.


    At the port, Mark and Char had alreadynded. Mark was currently fighting the creatures that managed to avoid the initial attack and reached the walls of the settlement. Char wanted to help but with itsrge frame, it was very likely that it would end up destroying the walls than being able to help.


    After fighting, Mark joined Char by the port and watched the horde of creatures passing by in front of them. Char''s presence at the port was one of the things preventing the sea creatures from approaching further.


    The people at the port saw everything and cheered loudly. Not known to them, those boisterous cheers caused further mental damage to the already scared sea creatures. Some of them wanted to approach thank Mark as they belong to those that were at the shore being besieged by the creatures but with Char being at his side, no one dared to¡­


    At least until¡­


    "Wahhaa!!"


    A certain brat rushed towards Char and hugged one of its legs like nothing else mattered. Behind the brat was her eldest brother and her worried guards chasing after her.


    "You don''t fear anything don''t you?"


    Mark asked with an exasperated sigh. Annica was really scared when he appeared inside her room but towards the more scary looking Char, she was more delighted than scared.


    "Why should I? It''s a good dragon right?"


    Annica answered with a very pleased and enthusiastic expression. Char could not even handle her enthusiasm and looked at Mark asking for help but as if there was anything Mark could do about it.


    Mark then smelled something and turned to towards the shore once more. The wind started to be a bit chaotic and brought the smell of he burnt sea creatures towards his nose.


    Two ideas entered his mind because of the smell and because of Annica''s existence nearby.


    One issue within the settlement was food and this evacuation would surely impact their supply. Another thing was that their catch of fish was limited since it was very dangerous at the sea and they could only fish at the shallow parts but the edible fish was very few.


    Now however, there was a huge pile of food in front of them. Not to mention that most of these were very rare to catch these days and the sizes of each sea animal could feed more than a single person.


    Another idea was that Mark could try to find interesting looking creatures that could be tamed. Especially those with higher intelligencepared to normal. Also those that were young since it would be easier to train and teach those ones.


    Unfortunately however, he had not detected any creature from the ones before that fit the criteria.


    Still, Mark could do the search while he tried to catch some of those that wererge and looked tasty. He could also transport some of the sea food back to his base with Char''s help.


    As he made up his mind, Mark with the help of Raybert peeled Annica away from Char. Mark and Char then started to work within their interests.


    Starting with a gray colored Shore Crab about the size of a bull and had a spiky exoskeleton, the capture of food and possible tamed creatures started. The poor Shore Crab was lifted off by Char. To avoid being counterattacked, Char grabbed the crab on both of its pincers.


    BAM!


    The Shore Crab was thrown at the port making the people back away. Mark then pierced the shell of the crab stealing it of its precious life. It would not be too long before it turned into a huge crab delicacy.


    The hunt continued and precious food piled up by the port under everyone''s dumbfounded eyes. Some wanted to join the hunt but not only that they had things to do for the evacuation but the horde of animals was also dangerous.


    Finally, Mark''s eyes glinted. He detected the first target for taming. He immediately vanished into a puff of ck mist since the poor young creature was too small to keep following the others.

 Chapter 266 Idling, A Lonely Wait At The Port Under The Siege Of The Storm

    <strong>Day 41 ¨C 11:32 AM ¨C Free Port District, East Port Settlement, Barangay Dinahican, Infanta, Quezon</strong>


    After disappearing from the port, Mark waved through the running animals to get to the part that close to the edge of the shore near where the waves could barely reach. The target Mark found did not swim ashore but was swept by the waves due to it being too smallpared to the other animals fleeing.


    The animals running on the shore were surprised seeing a line of ck mist waving across their path but they could not stop running after being pushed by the ones behind them. Those who were unlucky ended up being killed in different ways after they forcefully stopped.


    As Mark saw the poor animal, it was about to be kicked away by a dog sized Clown Frogfish with golden metallic spiky scales. Mark appeared at thest moment andshed the [Slicer] on the fish. The sh rang a metallic sound. Unexpectedly, Mark was not able to cut the armored fish but only forced it to stumble and roll towards the other animals.


    The Frogfish having scales that were too sturdy and dangerous ended up causing injuries on the animals that it hit and stepped on it. However, after being stepped on too many times, the metallic body of the fish did not manage to hold out long and its body was smashed like scrap metal sttering its flesh and organs out of every hole in its body.


    Mark picked up the little creature that was lying on its back and unable to stand right back and returned to the port.


    "Hey, you returned empty handed?"


    Annica trotted like a child towards Mark expecting him to return with something interesting. The others behind her were still surprised seeing Mark vanishing and appearing with their eyes andgged behind. On the other hand, Annica had already seen it before and even though she was still not used to it, she was not surprised anymore.


    Mark shrugged his shoulders at the brat in front of him that did not notice that he was holding something in his hands.


    Opening his hand, the little critter was exposed at Annica''s eyes. Seeing the animal, both Mark and Annica hadplicated expressions on their faces.


    Atop Mark''s hands, a palm sized Sea Turtle was present. Obviously, it was something that hatched from its egg not too long before this event. It terms of shape and size, it was normal. However, its appearance said otherwise.


    "A toy?"


    Annica asked and Mark could not say any word to retort that.


    The baby Sea Turtle on his hand really looked like it was made of stic. Its brown and green body along its red colored shell with a yellow rim looked like it was painted with artificial coloring. If not for the fact that it was moving, anyone would think that it was a toy.


    Mark knocked his nail on the shell and the sound it made was simr to a stic gallon being knocked with the same manner.


    He remembered that Mutagen reacts to any catalyst and environment specially the unstable strain. The evolution of animals was also simr. Unfortunately for this little guy, it seemed that it was a victim of water pollution and the change of its body and genes might had been affected by the garbage and stic around its habitat or the ce where its egg wasid.


    Now that he thought of it, he remembered that some of the animals that fled from the ocean looked hideous and some had garbage sticking on their bodies. Although it those did not evolve in the simr way like this turtle, there was no doubt that the changes in their bodies were affected by the pollution at the ocean.


    Mark wanted to find something interesting like a sea smander but since there was no known endemic species of smanders around the Philippines, it was very less likely that one would end up here.


    He wanted to catch more but it the ones he detected so far was not up to his standard aside from this Toy Sea Turtle. Considering the circumstances, this small creature was smart enough to survive till now following therge animals fleeing to the shore.


    "Here, keep this for me."


    "Okay!"


    Mark handed the turtle that hid inside its shell to Annica. It could bite her but since it chose to hide itself on initiative, it would not bite. However¡­


    Annica poked the hidden head of the baby turtle in a yful manner. Rather than biting her, the turtle stuck out its head in a curious manner. The brat patted its tiny head and the baby turtle seemed to be pleased with it.


    Mark shrugged his shoulders. The brat really had a knack when it came to animals. She looked like a good child and pleasing to look at if not for her strange enthusiasm towards Mark. Still, even though Mark found it annoying, he could understand why. It was the trait she acquired after bing a Mutator, the fascination and enthusiasm for strange things. Unfortunately, Mark was among those strange things she was showing fascination towards. After all, Mark was really a strange being and he would not be able toe up with any retort regarding that.


    Mark returned to guiding Char on which animals to grab and bring back to the port. To say, he had quite a haul already.


    "Hey, can you send people to transport these? Keep a third of it for me including therge crab. As for the others, you guys can do whatever you want with them."


    Mark turned to the group of Annica and Raybert along with their guards. These people had been here for some reason, probably because of Annica. Their father and his associates should already been preparing for the evacuation but these people here were just idling and watching him.


    "Are you sure?"


    Raybert was surprised at Mark''s statement.


    "You guys think that I can eat all those?"


    Scratching his head, Raybert let out a wry smile. He then sent one of the guards they had to inform his father about the matter. They had just been worrying about the supply for the evacuation and here, Mark addressed arge part of it. Allying their family with Mark was sure a smart move their father thought of.


    As Mark continued to catch those fishes that was familiar with him despite having web feet or fins that could traversend, a ratherrge freezer van came to store the ones he had already caught and loaded the sea food in Raybert''s instructions. Mark was monitoring the shore for more taming candidates but he was crestfallen for a bit. The sea creatures started to disperse but he did not detect any other than the baby sea turtle that he had already caught.


    How long had Mark been waiting? It was probably more than an hour already. In the least he was not bored as he could observe the evolution line that the sea creatures took due the influence of the Mutagen while he caught more of them to turn into food.


    As time passed, the storm started to affect the surroundings of the settlement even more. The wind was already blowing harder and the clouds at the sky were moving fast. At the sea, the waves became more ferocious.


    Finally, the evacuation started. Aside from Mark and the group from the Salvador Family, the Free Port District had already been vacated.


    "Sir Mark!" Riley finally came back to the port. "The evacuation already started and the people started to leave the settlement using the North Gate."


    "What about mypanions?"<sub> </sub>


    Mark asked.


    "They already boarded one of our vehicles. They are outside the settlement already."


    Riley replied and then turned to his siblings.


    "Dad is already calling for everyone. We need to leave already."


    The rest nodded and started to move. However, Mark on the other hand looked for a sheltered spot and sat down while Char moved near him and lied down on the pavement.


    "Sir Mark! What are you doing?! We need to leave!"


    Raybert was surprised and shouted in a hurry. Both Annica and Riley had confused and worried expressions.


    "You guys go already. I''ll stay for a bit and ensure that nothing will follow us behind. Tell mypanions that I will catch upter."


    <o>,m "But¡­"</o>


    Riley hesitated.


    "I have the best transport here you know that?" Mark pointed at Char. "Also I still have things to do here. You guys need to leave already."


    Hearing that, the three siblings nodded at each other.


    "Big Bro! Catch up fast or I''ll steal this stic turtle, okay!"


    Annica shouted.


    "Okay, okay. Just go already."


    Mark waved the brat away.


    ***


    UUUWOOOOOOOOUUUUUUU!


    Two hours passed and the rolling ck clouds already nketed the sky above the settlement. The wind was really fierce even causing roofs to fly away. Heavy rainfall caused the whole scene to be blurred. The cold temperature could probably cool soft drinks just by leaving the bottles at the street.


    UUWWWOOOOOOUUUUU!


    Mark had already changed locations and was currently sitting inside a building overseeing the shore. Char was the same. In order to let Char in, they even broke arge part of the door of the building. Even though Char could breathe out fire, Char was still a cold blooded lizard. A cold weather had a rather bad effect on it and made it feel rather lethargic.


    UUUUUWWWWWOOOU!


    Loud cries echoed repeatedly. A cry simr to what sonar detects at the sea. It was the obvious cry of the whale. It mixed together with the sound of the wind, the rainfall and the rumbling thunder at the sky.


    UWWWOOOOU!


    Looking at the ripples of the raindrops on the puddles of water at the street, Mark could not help but think of how lonely the situation was.


    The settlement had been vacated already and it was very likely that he was the only person left here alone. Char was not included since it was not really a person. It seemed that he had already abandoned his lonely life back before the outbreak and had gotten used to having someone beside him whether it be Mei, Abbygale, Amihan, Miracle or even the other [BloodChildren].


    Now however, none of them were here aside from Char. Char was not of a huggable size and hugging the cold blooded lizard would make him feel even colder.


    UWOOOOU!!


    The cry of the whale was getting closer and closer. Unexpectedly, it was very slow. Mark started to think that since it had grown feet, it had a harder time traversing the sea since it might have lost a lot of its ability to swim.


    Mark sighed. He might not have stayed here if not for several reasons.


    First was because of his curiosity. He wanted to know why the whale came here in the first ce and if it was an evolved animal or an infected. However, his curiosity was not the most important thing but the second and third. The second was because killing the whale would enable him to take whatever ability it had which he suspected to be a psychic ability rted to weather or water.


    And the third reason¡­


    Mark looked at the two crystals he was ying with in his left hand. These were two [Mental Crystals] that had just been created in the past two hours. Yes, a crystal that supposed to be created once a year was created within an hour. In fact, the [PsyCrystal] in his wrist was glowing brightly right now that he had to secure his bracers so that the light would not escape and be noticeable from outside the building.


    In order to create a single [Mental Crystal], the [PsyCrystal] needed to absorb psychic or magical energy from the air. However, that energy was very thin in most parts of earth causing a very long time needed to create one.


    This time however, that energy was very thick and that same energy made the current disaster. Since that energy was very abundant, Mark could take advantage of it to increase his number of [Mental Crystals] that he would need in a lot of things.

 Chapter 267 The Evacuation, The Mishaps That Happened And The Arrival Of The Cause Of The Storm

    <strong>Day 41 ¨C 12:42 PM ¨C Gen. Luna Street, Barangay Dinahican, Infanta Quezon</strong>


    At the only road that connected the eastern part of Infanta, Quezon not only to the rest of the Municipality but to the rest of Luzon, more than three thousand people filled the streets under the stormy weather. Of course it was not a festival but the people of East Port Settlement that left the settlement to evacuate.


    With the lead of Salvador Family, the people were informed about the storm early and the evacuation proceeded faster after it was announced. Those that witnessed the approaching storm at the horizon ryed what they saw to the others and sure enough, it pushed the people to prepare even faster. Although there were those that had conflicted thoughts on leaving the confines of the settlement, they still went with the evacuation since they had not survive the apocalypse this long to die because of a strange storm.


    Everyone could fight the infected and the evolved animals. Even the less capable could struggle with the slim chance for survival. A strange storm like this however, they could only flee.


    However, the evacuations might have started as early as possible but it did not go without any mishaps.


    It was obvious that the vehicles avable were limited and only a few hundred people could be transported using the vehicles. Due to this, the first thing the Salvador Family did was to let the children and elderly aboard the vehicles.


    The first issue was with the Cristobal and Ruanto Families. As the two leading families had their private army and riches, they had more than enough vehicles for their people. However, the two greedy families did not have any notion to lend their vehicles and filled the extra vehicles with either their useless properties or used to rope in more Mutators and Evolvers to their camps. This gained not only the dissatisfaction of the Salvador Family but also of the majority of the people from the settlement.


    Still, there was nothing that they could do with this and just ept their selfishness. It was not like could start a war between the three families right now because of those vehicles that they rightfully owned. Some private groups and survivors that had vehicles were way better in this aspect for letting other evacuees ride on theirs. epting the circumstances, they marched out of the settlement and the second issue with the two other families happened.


    The two families had vehicles and as such, it was better for them to lead the march. It was not expected for these greedy people to help protect the others but at least apany the people but instead, the two families drove off on their own leaving solely the Salvador Family and the rest of Mutators and Evolvers to protect the people during the evacuation. With theck of capable people, even the nonbatants expected that they would need to fight this time for survival.


    Fight what? Unfortunately, the only evolved animals Mark dealt with were the onesing from the east and the south of the settlement. Although not as many due to therge inds off the coast directly at the east of Infanta like Polillo Ind, it was still many. Since Gen. Luna Street was just about five hundred meters away from the northern and northeastern coasts, the whole evacuation was met with dangers encountering not only the local animals from the forest but also these sea creatures. It looked like that therge number of people marching the street did not deter these animals from the march but saw them as arge group of food instead.


    Furthermore, even though they left the settlement as early as possible, they were still caught by the rain and winds of the storm. It seemed that the storm moved faster than their speed. Not only that it decreased the fighting efficiency of the people and lowered their morale but also made the rampaging sea creatures even further.


    "There is no end to this!"


    na grumbled as she punched a dog sized Beach Flea that was hopping around. She managed to hit it but the exoskeleton of the Beach Flea was rather hard and it managed to survive the heavy hit and was only pushed away. Enraged, it charged toward na once more. As she felt how hard the body of her opponent was, na grabbed the protruding part of her left gauntlet and pulled it back revealing some springs and pistons on her gauntlet. She then rotated the strange thick disc on the wrist of the gauntlet and locked it on the part that was colored gray with a click.


    Immediately finding the right timing, na punched once more and the front of her fistnded squarely on the body of the Beach Flea once more. With the front of her four fingersnding on the body, the four buttons on each finger clicked and the protrusion she pulled back was fired forward. The protrusion hit the thick disk hard causing her arm to tremble and four green, finger-sized short, pointed stakes was shot forward from the disk and retracted back afterwards. The stakes drilled four holes on the exoskeleton of the Beach Flea and the oversized insect trembled before it fell down on the ground while its wounds overflowed with sizzling sound due to poison.


    Karlene on the other hand used her strange shaped dagger and fought off other animals and insectsing towards the vehicle that they were riding on while Amihan assisted the two using the attack Mark had taught her in a few days. With the wave of her hands, wind blew in a strange manner as if forming a thin line as it shot forward. The streak of wind hit a cat sized Sea Worm and bisected its body. In the past days, Mark had been teaching her this but it was kind of hard to learn for her who did not know the principle behind it. With her current proficiency, she could use this move against smaller and soft bodied animals but she could not make a good scratch on harder bodied ones.


    The three had no choice but the join the fight due to theck of manpower not to mention that the sea creatures already managed to close in to the vehicle lent to them by the Salvador Family. Inside the vehicle was Miracle, Hamlin''s grandchildren, Edzel who was guarding the children and Hamlin who was driving it. Although na could probably drive it better than Hamlin, she was also better at fighting than the old man and thus, it came to the current situation.


    It was the same at the other parts of the group. Mutators and Evolvers joined up with themon people to deal with the sea animals and escape the current predicament. Along with the sounds rumbling thunder, strong wind and rain, the sounds of gun fire echoed without pause.


    Even Annica''s precious pets already joined the fray. Hellhound, that Mark and the other met before was rampaging as it fought with another dog that came out of the forest. Her pet sparrow was distracting enemies while it flew around while her dog sized cat with blue fur would hop around wounding the limbs of the enemies depriving them of their ability to move. With Annica''s instructions, the teamwork of the three animals was rather good not to mention her other pets.


    UUUWWWWOOOOOOUUU!!!


    They were a few kilometers away from the settlement already when they suddenly heard that eerie sound simr to a whale''s. If not for their current situation, most of them would have stopped and turn their heads finding where that loud sound came from. Furthermore, the sound repeated further and louder each time.


    Pinpointing the direction that the sound came from, Amihan, Karlene and na felt rather worried. It was the same for the others inside their vehicle. The sound came from the direction of the settlement and their leader was still there for who knew what reason. With how loud the sound was, for sure, the size of its source was surely terrifying. They wished that they coulde back and drag Mark out of the settlement but it was alreadyte. After all, who knew that he would stay behind? He just pushed them to return and cooperate with the Salvador Family after all.


    ***<sub> </sub>


    <strong>Day 41 ¨C 2:51 PM ¨C Free Port District, East Port Settlement, Barangay Dinahican, Infanta Quezon</strong>


    After another hour at the settlement, arge part of the ce had been swallowed by the sea water already. The tall walls did not manage to hold too long and fell down as the storm surge continued to push against it and washed almost everything on its path. The boats left at the shore were now drifting inside the settlement along with the debris of destroyed establishments and houses. Even trees and hardly nted posts leaned to one side after a prolonged exposure to the force of the storm surge.


    As the storm closed in, the lightning strikes also became fiercer and even hitting the ground at certain times. Electricity ran on the flood water killing a lot of those sea animals that was swept away by the surge of sea water. The sea creatures swept by the current was scattered within the settlement and caused even further destruction.


    The strong wind started to sway even heavy structures and caused lighter debris to fly around. That debris hit other things and windows breaking them. Some of the debris like wide wooden boards and broken metal roofing flew off away from the settlement to who knows where. The wind was too strong, fortunately, it was still not enough to create a tropical storm sized tornado or it would be a huge disaster.


    Mark watched all these happen with his very own eyes. Even the second floor of the building he was currently on was subjected to these happenings. Most of the windows in the office area he was sitting at overseeing the sea was already broken allowing the rain water in and soak everything wet. Char already felt like sleeping. If the temperature grew any colder, it would not be surprising if it started to rain balls of ice already.


    Another two hours passed¡­


    SWOOOOOSHHH!!!


    With thest surge of wind, everything became calm.


    Mark was ying with the seven new [Mental Crystals] on a table as it happened. With a flick of his hands, the crystals vanished and were stored back inside the [PsyCrystal]. He then walked towards the already shattered window after being hit by a crumbling electrical post and looked at the situation.


    The sea was still chaotic and it was still raining hard. The rumbling thunder could still be heard. However, none of those was happening near Mark''s location. No, it was happening in a ratherrge area. Looking at the sky, the clouds were rather thinpared to the other directions. For sure, the settlement had already been covered by the eye of the storm.


    UWWWOOOOU!!!


    The cries of the whale were even louder and more deafeningpared to the rumbling of thunder.


    SPLASH!


    Finally, the cause of it all emerged slowly from the water. As Mark thought, the storm was too slow if the cause of it was swimming on the water but it was really not. It was walking under the water due to the loss of its fins. Although its speed was still fast, it was too slowpared to swimming.


    As the sea it traversed became even shallower, the body of therge whale emerged. It was the same whale what Mark saw in his vision but as Mark fiddled with the future, something was obviously wrong.


    The whale was still covered in its thick barnacle armor but some of the barnacles had a ck eerie color that for some strange reason, Mark found dangerous.


    Mark frown even further as he looked at therge enemy in front of him. No wonder it was attacking everything and the storm happened. The creature had no control over the psychic ability it had and had gone berserk.


    The ground rumbled as it stepped onto the shore. Mark came into a realization as he smiled. The whale was actually a failed Mutator. If this was the case, his next move had be easier. His eyes started to release its red glow.


    "Char let''s go. Time to lead it away."


    "RRRAR."


    A Mutator and a Dragon burst out of the crumbling building and flew away as the man riding the flying lizard released a thick energy enthusing the enemy. Finding its target, the whale that had became more skilled in running than swimming chased after with speed faster than before.

 Chapter 268 Evacuation Blockade, The Sure Death Situation And The Betrayal

    <strong>Day 41 ¨C 3:00 PM ¨C Barangay Dinahican, Infanta, Quezon</strong>


    Mark rode on the back of Char as hemanded it to fly up to the sky. The two flew high up but not too high that they would end up being struck by a random lightning strike. It was just enough to oversee the situation below while the whale with four limbs chased behind them like a mad creature.


    As they flew, Mark watched the whale from behind and observed it. The whale was really covered with barnacles of different sizes all over its body, even its underbelly and the insides of its mouth. Even though most whales were not known to chew their food, being swallowed by this guy would surely tear anyone apart.


    All of its feet looked simr to a frog''s but without webs and the limbs were shaped like an Axolotl, a member of the tiger smander family. The way it moved its body made it look like a tadpole with limbs that had yet to lose its tail while the way it ran was simr to a certain cat bus in a popr anime movie.


    Everything crumbled in the face of the whale. Without minding anything, it tore through everything in its path as it chased after Mark and Char.


    As Mark thought, the whale was the very center of the storm. The eye of the storm moved at the same phase as the whale and the storm also changed its direction.


    Mark made Char control its flying speed or else, it would be no sweat for Char to lose the whale. They current goal was to make it chase after them and Mark kept Char from flying through the eye wall.


    Flying like this, Mark could clearly see the difference in the situation between the eye of the storm where it was calmer and outside the eye wall where the strongest winds and rain was located.


    To say, the storm was really a small one as it was not a naturally urring one. Normal tropical cyclones had could have a span of one hundred to two thousand kilometers and its eye could have a thirty to sixty-five kilometer diameter. The storm caused by the whale however did not even managed to cover the whole Quezon Province and was just roughly fifty to sixty kilometer span. As for the eye, it was just between ten to thirteen kilometers in diameter.


    Small as it may be, what it packed was its wind strength, rainfall count and its speed as it moved at the same speed that the whale that was at the center of it. The most unfortunate thing was that since the whale was the very center of the storm, it could stay in one ce in an indefinite amount of time and the storm would cause way more damage in the affected areas than what a normal storm could do.


    As Mark and Char led the whale away to the north, they eventually reached the northern shore. Mark saw a lot of dead bodies both humans and animals along the way which made him sure that the evacuation experienced quite an amount of struggles.


    Mark was sure that his group was fine though. After all, not only that they were capable themselves but they had his strongest trump card with them. If things where pushed to a shove, that trump card would surely make the move.


    Since time had already passed, the evacuation should have reached the rendezvous point with the military already, or worst, they were already close. It was unless they were caught up in something that it was hard to escape.


    Mark and Char continued to fly off to the sea towards the Polillo Strait and turned northwest following the shallow part of the sea north of Infanta. He was sure that the brunt of the storm would surely reach the people that evacuated along with the people from the military but they should be able to endure it. The most dangerous thing about the storm was the flood and storm surge after all. They should be able to ovee some heavy rainfall and strong winds.


    With the whale on their tail, Mark and Char continued to fly northwest. Their target destination and the ce to fight the whale was¡­


    ¡­the Death Valley Settlement.


    ***


    <strong>Day 41 ¨C 3:42 PM ¨C Barangay Pocion 38, Infanta, Quezon</strong>


    Unknown to Mark that was leading the whale at the north, the Evacuation March of the people from the East Port Settlement came to a roadblock.


    They entered the central conjoined area of several Barangays in Infanta and were the most popted area in Infanta. This was also the ce where Mark and his group spent time testing things before they arrived at the East Port Settlementst night.


    Along the way to this ce, the encounter with both the infected and Evolved Sea Creatures caused a lot of casualties to their ranks. More than two hundred people died in the estimated count and most of them were normal people who joined the fight to at least defend their loved ones.


    Even with the loss of these people, there were still a lot of them and they were all ready to deal with the infected once they entered the most urban town in Infata.


    However, they were not blocked by the infected. In fact, they barely encountered them. Instead, they were blocked by ranks of hundreds of people armed with guns. The new assants wore dangerously looking expressions of their faces as they watched the evacuees like prey than being people. Among the ranks of the new enemies, were the men of the Ruanto Family.


    "Jacob, what is the meaning of this?!"


    Darren shouted after he came out of his vehicle not minding the rain that immediately soaked him wet.


    Jacob that stood under the cover of a roof of a certainmercial building only sneered at Darren''s inquiry.


    "Darren, Darren. Do you really have to ask? I know that you recognize these men."


    "You damn devil! You allied yourself with the Death Valley!"


    At Darren''s words, Jacob pped his hands.


    "Correct! We''ve been allied for quite a while now. They really liked my presents after all."


    Hearing that, Darren''s eyes glinted.


    Presents, it might sound innocent but if the Death Valley was mentioned, those presents could only mean people. That was right. It seemed that the Ruanto Family had been sending the Death Valley some of the people from the East Port Settlement as ves to be traded. There had been reports that people, mostly good looking women, were missing inside the settlement. However, the investigation Darren led personally found no leads about what happened. The culprit was too slippery for them.


    Who knew that it was actually the Ruanto Family that stooped too low and allied themselves with the criminals? It seemed that the words saying that politicians and criminals go side-by-side were not all false. They had just witnessed a literal one with their very own eyes.


    Darren panned his eyes on the people that surrounded them. He did not want to start a fight in this condition since sure enough, hundreds or even a thousand or more would die in this if not handled correctly. In those casualties, not only the people from the settlement but also his family could possibly be included.<sub> </sub>


    "Jacob, what do you n to do?!"


    "As for the ns, you should ask me."


    The heavily build man standing beside Jacob stepped forward. With a prompt, Jacob spoke after that man.


    "Darren, let me introduce this man to you. He is Adrik Volkov also known by the name "Emperor"."


    Hearing that, Darren''s eyes turned wide.


    Adrik Volkov who was known as "Emperor" of Death Valley Settlement, was the leading figure and founder of that settlement build for criminals and those that turned into ravaging beasts after the outbreak started. To think that the man that founded that cursed settlement would appear here in person.


    After the introduction, Adrik Volkov spoke.


    "We''ve been itching to swallow your settlement since the start but who knew that an opportunity like this would appear. Thanks to ourrade here, the former Mayor Jacob Ruanto, we were able to organize this event. Jacob had informed us about the evacuation and actually, informed us about every single move of you people until you all walked into this stage."


    Those words made everyone that heard it turned to look at the people around them. The Ruanto Family escaped the situation first and left them behind. For them to be able to ry information there should have been a spy within the people of the East Port Settlement.


    Taking those words into their worried hearts, a seed of distrust was nted to everyone.


    "Jacob, you animal!"


    Darren cursed in exasperation.


    "No, no." Jacob shook his head. "Rather than being an animal, I''m just being wise."


    Jacob then panned his eyes to the people in front of him before turning back to Darren.


    "Darren, Darren. You know what? You have been a thorn in my throat since the start. You''re business had been flourishing but you are not epting any investments and distribute shares to others. You''ve been flourishing and even after the outbreak, the good things appeared in your family. However¡­"


    Jacob sneered.


    "You severelyck ambition. If you allied with me before and epted my offer, your family business should already have dominated the market in arge part of the country. You gain profit, I gain profit. It''s a win-win situation for us. However, you being an honest hypocrite declined my offer and continued with the same routine. If you epted that offer, I might have already said goodbye to being just a Mayor of the boonies but moved to a higher position already! I justcked funds! Funds I say!"


    Darren frowned.


    "It''s my family business and what does it have to do anything with you and your twisted mind? You crazy-ass bastard."


    "Well, it might have been that way before but now¡­ Heh."


    Jacob sneered with a twisted expression.


    That time, Adrik spoke.


    "Darren Bryce Salvador, you reallycked ambition. Even your face tells it right now." Adrik then turned to Jacob. "You however, had too much."


    "URK!"


    Jacob released a strange cry as his eyes widened in disbelief. He turned his eyes down in pain and saw a hand covered in scales that pierced through his chest from his back. On the hand was his heart that was still beating. Jacob''s disbelief turned into horror. The hand was pulled out of his chest causing blood to stter as his body crumbled to the ground.


    "Why¡­"


    Jacob uttered hisst word and died.


    Adrik, who held Jacob''s heart threw it on the floor and squished it with his right foot.


    "You have too much ambition¡­" Adrik said in a cold tone as he looked at the dead body. "¡­even more than mine. I''m a criminal and you''re a politician. If the politician''s ambition exceeded a criminal''s it would not take long for someone like you to try and usurp my throne. It''s better to cut the weeds early then."


    Adrik raised his hands and his hundreds of armed men aimed at the people from the East Port Settlement.


    "Now, just surrender without a fight. A least, I could promise that your deaths won''t be painful. We just need to get a lot of merchandise and manpower while the rest will be killed after all. Also I heard that the daughter of a Military Major and the niece of the crazy scientist in the Military Settlement are with you people. Bring them out."


    Those words caused a feeling of dread and despair to spread among the people. After all, the people that were not chosen would die and those that were chosen would live a life that was worse than death. They would rather die all together but unfortunately, they did not have the courage to kill themselves.


    It was a life and death situation for everyone. Everyone did not even notice that the rain buffeting their bodies had gotten stronger for some reason.

 Chapter 269 Reversing The Situation, A Strange And Surprising Counterattack

    <strong>Day 41 ¨C 3:57 PM ¨C Barangay Pocion 38, Infanta, Quezon</strong>


    The people of the East Port Settlement were in a grave situation. They might have more people but with the majority being nonbatants, there was no way for them to win against the enemies without sacrificing a lot. Not only that the enemies had already surrounded and trapped them in ce but also among the enemies, some were carrying heavy firearms like machine guns and mini-guns. Some were even aiming rocketunchers at them. Just one of these things could fell dozens of people from the settlement.


    While everyone wasmenting their possible fate, it still became a huge surprise as to how the traitor from the Ruanto Family fell. After Jacob betrayed them, he was betrayed afterwards. Karma hit back rather too early. It would be a lie if the people said that they did not fell happy at the way Jacob met his end.


    Inside one of the vehicles in the lead of the evacuees, Ka, na and everyone in Mark''s team heard the demands of Adrik Volkov. It was not surprising that they would be mentioned directly because of the status of their rtives in the Military Settlement. They detested the dead Jacob even more for disclosing their existence to the beasts from the Death Valley Settlement.


    Still, they had no choice, maybe, if they did note out, these animals would surely start to torture people to death one by one until they came out. These people were known for doing that after all. They would try all despicable means to get their hands on something they wanted.


    While the two thought of going out, their arms had been pulled back. The force of the pull was rather strong that both of them that already stood up from their seats were forced to sit down once more. The two could not help but look at the culprit, but unexpectedly, the one that pulled them back was the strange little girl, Miracle. She was even ring at the two in a manner that did not fit a little girl like her. Before na and Karlene could speak, Miracle had beaten them to it.


    "Can''t let big sisters go. Father said that I need to protect big sisters."


    na and Karlene became troubled. They needed toe out before the worse happened but it seemed that the little girl would not let go of them if they did not agree. With worried faces, na and Karlene nodded at each other and sat back down. That was when Miracle finally let go of the two with a satisfied nod.


    Since the two sat down once more, Miracle moved to the seat next to her and rummaged at the bag of her Father. While she did that, everyone inside the vehicle could hear her talking to herself.


    "Uhn. Stall for time¡­ Yes, Aunt Aephi. Duel? Uhn. Switch? Okay~¡­ Also get everyone''s help!"


    Everyone inside the vehicle was rmed at Miracle''s odd behavior. The little girl then took out a set of small sized armor and dagger from the bag along with eight clear canisters with gtin-like liquid of different colors inside. Miracle struggled to wear the simple armor and had to ask for help before she proceeded to open the canisters.


    Opening the canisters one by one, the contents were revealed to be the [BloodChildren] Mark had. All of them were released inside the vehicle by Miracle for some reason. Seeing Scia, Layan could not help but want to pick it up but a tentacle emerged from Scia''s body and moved in a way that was signaling Layan to stop.


    Unexpectedly, all the [BloodChildren] circled around Miracle as if soldiers waiting for her orders.


    "Everyone! Get ready to fight! Father asked us to protect the big sisters, the big brothers and grandpa. We can''t let Father down!"


    Miracle dered as she raised her hand cutely. Following her short speech, the [BloodChildren] bobbed their bodies in agreement. It was a really strange sight inside the vehicle and everyone inside felt like they were starting to lose their minds. After all, what could a three year-old girl and some small critters would be able to do in the face of hundreds of armed enemies?


    Not minding the reactions of everyone inside the vehicle, Miracle jumped off her seat and proceeded to the door. However, she did not know how to open it being the first time she actually rode a vehicle.


    "Big Sis Karlene, open?"


    Miracle asked Karlene who was sitting beside the door of the van.


    "No! We can''t let you out!"


    Waking up from their stupor, everyone rejected Miracle''s request.


    Still, the girl ignored them and started muttering to herself once more.


    "Here? Like this?"


    Unexpectedly, she quickly reached for the handle of the door and pulled it opening the side door rather forcefully.


    "You can''t!"


    Karlene hugged Miracle to stop her but the little girl''s strength was too much for her to bear alone. She still managed to slip and jump out of the vehicle. na also jumped out of the vehicle to chase after Miracle but they were alreadyte. It seemed that the little girl dashed to the front the moment she went out.


    "What is this, a little girling to challenge us?"


    Adrik sneered and the men around themughed out loud in ridicule.


    At the front of the people, Miracle stood under the torrential rain pointing her dagger at Adrik.


    "Fight me! Scared?"


    There was not a shred of fear from the little girl. She stared directly at the ringleader without flinching.


    Adrik frowned. It may be a little girl but he did not like being looked down on. As he stepped forward to deal with the little girl who did not know any better, the little girl also charged forward avoiding everyone from the people of the East Port Settlement that wanted to stop her recklessness.


    The founder of Death Valley settlement signaled his men to let him do this alone since it was just a brat.


    The flood water sshed on her little steps as Miracle charged towards Adrik. With her speed, she reached the man immediately and she unleashed a fist towards her enemy.


    Adrik on the other hand also unleashed a half-hearted punch with a sneer. He did not even activate his Mutator ability and just met the little girl''s punch. It became his greatest mistake in his whole life. He underestimated the girl''s prowess too much.


    The two punches met each other under the eyes of the observers. The evacuees could not help but turn their eyes away not wanting to see the girl''s fate while the men from Death Valley sneered.


    CRACK!


    "GAH!"


    A sound of bones breaking sounded along with the sound of the rain. If was followed by a scream of pain. However, it was not a girl''s voice but a man''s. When everyone who turned their eyes away looked back, their eyes widened to see that the right hand to the wrist of Adrik looked twisted and was dangling in an odd angle. The heavily built man stepped back as he panicked. Receiving such heavy injury from a little girl was a total shock to him. Not only him but everyone was shocked.


    Not contented with her attack, Miracle charged once more at the disoriented Adrik to unleash a stab from her dagger.


    Knowing the predicament that their leader was into, some of the men nearby stepped in to join the fray. However, the little girl immediately switched target to the nearest enemy in an unexpected manner. The first person to help their leader fell down with a bloody slit on his throat. Before the next enemy was able to react, Miracle kicked the ground causing the muddy water to ssh towards the next enemy''s face. The next thing that the enemy remembered was his body falling down unto the muddy water and the severe pain on his neck.


    Seeing what happened, a heavily built bald man with tattoos all over his arms shouted.<sub> </sub>


    "Shoot her! Shoot!"


    With thatmand, several armed men surrounded Miracle and immediately unleashed a rain of bullets on her. They underestimated the girl too much. Who would have thought that she was a little demon that a little girl.


    "NO!"


    na and Karlene shouted. This was the worst thing that could happen. If she died,


    The people that was afraid to fight felt remorse in their hearts. At least, the little girl died valiantly.


    With emptied magazines, the men surrounding Miracle stopped shooting. However, they were all shocked.


    The little girl''s body was filled holes and the shape of her body had been disfigured due to the barrage of bullets. Yet, she was still standing. She was even moving. The horrifying scene immediately made the men that surrounded her step back in horror.


    "Haha."


    A creepyugh from the girl was heard as her disfigured body twitched. Then¡­


    Her body burst into streaks and streaks of flesh tentacles. All the men that surrounded her along with the men a dozen meters away were all drilled with bloody holes on their bodies. The tentacles started pulsating and the bodies started to dry up like mummies.


    Adrik was lucky as the bald man managed to get him away. Or else, he would also be included among those men that dried up just now.


    "AAHHH!!"


    "GGAAHHH!"


    "AARG!"


    Several screams then echoed from different directions. The men from Death Valley fell one by one with different injuries in their bodies. Near their bodies, slime could be seen bobbing about.


    While Miracle was fighting and took the attention of everyone, the [BloodChildren] slipped out towards different directions. With the help of the flowing rain water on the street, it became easier for them to scatter about. They slowly made their ways behind the enemies and started to kill them by piercing their bodies with tentacles that had tips made of [Blood Metal].


    The men from Death Valley panicked at the sudden situation and shot the assants. However, as their bodies were liquid and did not have a permanent figure, the bullets drilled through their bodies but did not damage them in the least. The [BloodChildren] continued their rampage causing the enemies to fall into disarray.


    Miracle started to run around in her disgusting form and attacking any nearby enemy. The poor enemies that she caught with her speed turned into dried corpses in a short period of time.


    ''Little Miss. Everything is ready.''


    The voice Miracle had been waiting for echoed inside her head.


    "Uhn!"


    Miracle''s childish voice was heard by those near her. It was then followed by more blood curling screams. Furthermore, this time, the number was rather rming.


    "AHHH! Infected! Too many infected!"


    A scream filled with horror came from one of the evacuees that witnessed what was happening.


    While the criminals surrounded their victims, they were unknowingly surrounded by the infected. Furthermore, the infected were led by several [Leader Types] which made their attacks more coordinated and ferocious.


    "What the f*ck is happening?!"


    Adrik endured the pain on his arm and cursed as he saw the current situation.


    "Attack! Attack!"


    This was a good opportunity to fight back. Darren immediately issued his orders to counter attack. The gunfight under the rain immediately started and the enemies immediately fell into disadvantage. They were being besieged by four forces after all.


    "Retreat! Retreat!"


    It might be a disgrace but Adrik could only issue themand to retreat. This was very hateful. Who would think that he would get done in by a little girl? Not to mention those slimes that should be weak creatures and appeared out of nowhere in a stance that was helping the people from East Port Settlement. As for the infected, they did not think too much. Since they surrounded the evacuees, it was easier for the infected to stab them on their backs.


    With the order to flee, Adrik made their way towards their vehicles parked just at the other side of the street.


    RRNNNNGGGGG!


    It was then that the radio Adrik had rang. The sudden contact made Adrik feel even worse.


    "Emperor!"


    The moment Adrik opened themunication line, a panicked voice greeted him.


    "Why did you contact? We are in the middle of something right now!"


    "Emperor! This is an emergency! A gigantic whale with feet is rampaging at our settlement! A lot of buildings are destroyed and many of our people died already!"


    Adrik''s eyes grew wide in shock and he even forgot the pain in his arm.

 Chapter 270 Turnaround, The Start Of Destruction Of The Filthy Settlement

    <strong>Day 41 ¨C 4:23 PM ¨C Barangay Pocion 38, Infanta, Quezon</strong>


    Adrik was besieged by a sudden dread when what should have swelled inside him was anger. They were already basking in their sess as they finally managed to cast their towards the people of the East Port Settlement. It should have been a wless n, a n to catch these people in one go.


    They had been aiming to usurp the settlement and capture the people to replenish their dwindling supply of ves. After all, the people in Death Valley Settlement sometimes get rough with their ves and would "identally" kill them. There were also some other activities that involved ves killing other ves and using them as bait for hunting animals in the mountains near their settlement.


    Furthermore, because of the location of Death Valley Settlement and as more and more days passed after the apocalypse started, they started to have a hard time capturing more people.


    Since it would be hard to target the Military Settlement, they chose to deal with the East Port Settlement first. Even though there were many Mutators in that settlement, most of them were not well versed in killing and fighting. Compared to normal soldiers, the Mutators of East Port Settlement mostlycked the skill.


    In order toy out this opportunity, he took the Ruanto Family as allies despite the fact the he hated the government and their people. It was all to use Jacob and kill the bastard when there was nothing left to use him for. After all, just being beside an arrogant government official like him was already revolting not to mention the overwhelming ambition Jacob had.


    With Jacob and his spies serving as their informant, the had been cast and only needed to be pulled back into the boat. Their easy sess however fell apart abruptly. It was too abrupt that it was like a nightmare.


    Where did it start? Where did the we from? Adrik thought these questions while he clutched his wrecked arm as he was escorted to their vehicles.


    The first thing that came into his mind was when he underestimated the little girl. Not only him but everyone thought that it was just a little girl. She was a weak and fragile child that would not be able to do anything. Yet, the same weak and fragile girl wrecked his arm in one punch. She was able to break his bones even though his bones should have been sturdier due to being a Mutator. Furthermore, the little monster did not die after she was buffeted by countless bullets and even caused more casualties in their ranks.


    Another thing was those slimes. He remembered those creatures being popr pets in the auctions that happened between the high ranking people in their settlement. However, none of those slimes were capable of killing people or even being tamed. It became a huge wonder as to while the slimes seemed to help the people from the East Port Settlement.


    There was also the infected. They suddenly appeared and attacked his men when they all lowered their guards.


    Adrik froze in the middle of running away.


    He finally noticed and turned to one of his men.


    "Did we encounter the infected before we surrounded those bastards?"


    "Emperor, no. It''s strange but we did not even encounter a single one."


    Adrik finally came into a conclusion.


    They were bound to lose since the start. Even though they noticed that they did not encounter the infected, they all failed to realize the peculiarities of the situation. If it was just the little girl and those slimes, they would still be able to handle the situation but the appearance of the Infected turned everything around instantly. The infected ambushed them from behind and no one was able toprehend how. It caused their ranks to fall into sudden disarray.


    "F*ck. The operation was a failure from the start."


    Adrik murmured.


    With the sudden appearance of the infected in a coordinated manner, he could not help but feel that they were being controlled.


    Arriving at their vehicles after being blocked by the infected, Adrik mmed his fist on the door of the vehicle in frustration.


    ***


    While Adrik and his entourage fled, the remaining men from Death Valley fought for their lives desperately. However, they fell one by one because of both the infected and the people that they besieged. Among the evacuating people, many also died but in the least, their deaths now was something more valiant and not because of cowardice.


    The situation reversed too suddenly but the people of East Port Settlement felt relieved as the men from the Death Valley died one by one because of the onught of the infected. However, the people also felt stifled. After all, there was too many infected surrounding them now. The numbers amounted to a thousand or more.


    Unexpectedly, the infected ignored the people from the East Port Settlement as they tore apart the bodies of the enemies. There were times that one or two infected would move to confront the evacuees but with a growl from a Mutated infected that jumped into the room of the house nearby, the infected stopped and changed their targets.


    Miracle who still looked like a lump of flesh tentacles walked back to the people making some of the step back. The current appearance of then little girl was revolting to the eyes of many. Fortunately, na and Karlene thought differently.


    "Miracle! Are you alright? Your appearance¡­"


    The two approached Miracle with worried expressions ignoring disgusting felling from her current appearance.


    Miracle turned her body around seemingly looking at the situation around them. Seeing that the fight was almost over especially since the retreat of themander made the enemies fall into panic, the tentacles on Miracle''s body wriggled and started to retract.


    Soon, the little girl whose clothes were filled with holes appeared once more. Her looks was too pitiful. Her clothes were torn, bloody and the armor she was wearing was filled with dents.


    Seeing that she returned to normal, na and Karlene immediately hugged her.


    "You made us worried you little brat!"


    "Right! Who told you to do that?"


    Miracle received some scolding but she did not mind.


    Then¡­


    BUZZ!


    A single buzzing sound was heard and a huge and beautiful red insectnded beside Miracle. Both na and Karlene were shocked. This insect was very familiar to them. It was the parasite queen that caused the attack of the four-thousand infected horde at the Military Settlement.<sub> </sub>


    "Miracle! Get away from that!"


    The two panicked. They did not know why this was here. The two immediately pulled their guns out.


    "No!" Miracle stood in front of the insect with her hands stretched out. "Queenie is a friend!"


    Hearing that, the two was shocked even further. Now that they looked at it, it was really not attacking. In fact, it was hiding behind Miracle like an aggrieved child.


    "Miracle, what is happening here?"


    na asked after she calmed down.


    "Secret! Father said not to tell anyone!"


    The little girl replied. She did not say much but it revealed that it had something to do with Mark. They were right about this.


    When they left the Mountain Base to go to the East Port Settlement, they tested their weapons in this ce. However, it was not the testing of weapons that took too much time but because Mark and Miracle ran off to who knows where.


    What Mark did was to get Aephelia out and control the Parasite Queen and a few [Leader Type] infected in the town. Unexpectedly, Aephelia''s ability to control the infected worked better against the infected affected by Mutagen rather than the PsyPathogen. The number of infected she was able to control tripled and she managed to control even more mutated infected.


    Next thing that happened was for the Parasite Queen toy eggs on the infected that was not controlled by Aephelia. Was a male parasite needed? Fortunately, Aephelia confirmed that a male was not needed after she controlled the Parasite Queen Miracle'' called Queenie. The Parasite Queen could produce its eggs and fertilize the eggs on its own it seemed. The eggying was rather on the slow side but it allowed Aephelia to add a control ry on the infected.


    Why did Mark do something like this? He was preparing this new horde to deal with the Death Valley Settlement. The n he had before was to make this horde invade that cursed settlement. That was until the whale came.


    Still, who would have thought that the horde still yed a role against the ns of the people of Death Valley Settlement?


    ***


    <strong>Day 41 ¨C 4:25 PM ¨C Death Valley Settlement, Barangay Pocion, General Nakar, Quezon</strong>


    While the people of East Port Settlement managed to avert the disaster they faced, Mark currently brought a disaster somewhere else.


    Riding on the back of Char, Mark took some painstaking effort and lured the whale towards the direction of Death Valley Settlement.


    Upon arriving, Mark cut off the release of his energy and used the [Photokinesis Mental Crystal] to hide from the sight of the whale.


    Losing its target, the whale was infuriated. It started stomping in an erratic manner causing tremors and the buildings copsed by its feet. The walls of the settlement immediately crumbled.


    Armed people from the Death Valley swarmed towards the walls to deal with situation. However, they found out to their horror that their guns and even rockets brought very small damage towards the armor of the whale. Instead, their shooting took the whales attention and crushed the walls even further.


    WOOSH!


    WHOOS!


    BOOM!


    BOOM!


    Two rockets were fired almost simultaneously, and hit the same spot of the whale. A scratch was made finally. At that time however, the whale did something iprehensible. It curled its body like a hedgehog. Then¡­


    The shells of the barnacles opened revealing thousands and thousands of eerie looking thorns.


    Then the thorns wereunched everywhere.


    The speed of the thorns was way scary. Many of the thorns even reached Mark''s cover. To avoid, Mark grabbed Char and transitioned the dragon with his [Shadow Mist Movement. It was quite taxing for him but it was better if they moved to where the thorns would not hit.


    That time, a problem appeared.


    Several thorns bypassed the [Shadow Mist Movement]. Mark was quite surprised that his subspace had been prated as he heard the nging soundsing from the body of Char.


    One of the thorns grazed Mark''s cheek and it left a rather long wound. Although it healed quickly, it was still painful. He did not expect that this huge whale had that sort of ability. Mark them made Char keep distance from the whale and made Chalfar fly around Death Valley Settlement.


    It was because of two important reasons. First was to check were the [BloodChildren] in the settlement was kept while the second was to look for good candidates among the ves below.


    The rampaging whale caused a ruckus and after it destroyed a lot of things, the people in Death Valley Settlement fell into disarray almost immediately. Why? It was because the majority of the people capable of fighting were brought out by their leader to catch some people. Without the people needed and capable, the Whale managed to enter the settlement almost without hindrance.


    With the whole settlement in disarray, the ves finally had the opportunity to escape. However, many fell after the area attack the whale unleashed earlier, not only the criminals but also the fleeing ves. However, that was not Mark''s concern right now. With his empathic ability, he was searching for ves with good nature.


    Because of the whale''s rampage, the desperation of the ves was obvious. As they panicked, it was easier to spot those who only think for themselves and those that helped others. He would surely ignore those that ran alone but he would stop and pick up those that passed his assessment.


    With his arrangement, the destruction of the detestable settlement finally started.

 Chapter 271 Landing Inside The Hellish Settlement, A Few Events Leading To An Unexpected Encounter

    <strong>Day 41 ¨C 4:35 PM ¨C Death Valley Settlement, Barangay Pocion, General Nakar, Quezon</strong>


    The four-legged whale rampaged at the eastern side of Death Valley Settlement just right past the Ungos River. The Mutators of the settlement desperately stood in front of the whale to fight but their attacks bared did any damage to the whale. Furthermore, the rain of thorns from the whale injured many of the defenders of the settlement along with a lot of people inside.


    As they flew around the Death Valley Settlement, Mark observed the ce. The settlement was situated in a rural town beside the Ungos River and the settlement took the southern half of the town which was the closest part to the river. That southern half was also divided into two areas. The eastern area consisted of several blocks of residential houses while the western part that was smaller was upied by the General Nakar Central School.


    The whole settlement was crudely maintained and unlike the Military Settlement and East Port Settlement that built some sturdy and reliable looking walls, the walls around the Death Valley Settlement was mostly made of the already existing walls before the outbreakbined with scrap materials put together.


    Trash could be seen being drifted around by the flowing rain water and most houses were barricaded with various materials. The only different ones were the buildings within the school grounds which seemed to be maintained properly.


    The school grounds were wide specially the multipurpose oval at the front of the school. Unfortunately, the former ce for learning became the central area of the inhumane acts of the criminals of this settlement. At the school grounds, various facilities could be seen such as a small fighting area, trading stalls, and even cages of different sizes. These cages were surely used to detain their "merchandise". The smallest could fit a child while thergest ones could fit about a dozen people.


    Even right now, Mark could see ves locked inside cages screaming to be freed. A lot of them were screaming in fear while some were curling their bodies in cold. It seemed that even though it was raining, they were not even removed from their cages and were left under the rain. The appearance of the whale destroying everything at the eastern side of the settlement added further fear and stress to the minds of these poor people.


    Why did they seem to be overwhelmed by fear? It was because some of the unlucky ves were hit by the stray thorns that the whale released in its previous attack. With the thorns about the size of a finger, getting hit with the speed that the whale released those thorns could spell death. In fact, some of the ves hit by the thorns died almost immediately after the thorns pierced through the vital parts of their bodies.


    Mark then felt a very weak tugging feeling inside him. He finally detected a [BloodChild]. The poor [BloodChild] was actually at the school grounds and its state was rather dangerous. The life of the poor critter was too weak that Mark almost did not detect it. Without further ado, Mark made Charnd unto the school grounds.


    Without removing their [Optical Camouge], Char swept down towards the multipurpose oval. Even though they could not be seen, the strong wind that blew because of Char''s wings was felt by the people and the ves. They however did not find it strange because the storm was still ongoing.


    Charnded in front of the ce Mark felt the [BloodChild] was at. In front of Mark was a stall in front of arge tarpaulin tent. Looking at the cages and containers outside and inside the tent, it seemed to be a ce where they traded various kinds of strange animals. In fact, although most of the cages and containers were empty, Mark could see that some still had some animals inside.


    A cat with two horns, a worm asrge as a house cat, a dog with red fur and a few more other animals with strange features could be seen. Unfortunately, none of these animals had intelligence developed enough for Mark to be interested in them. The only thing that caught Mark''s eyes was the aquarium on the stall that was already filled with rain water due to being exposed to the rain.


    The already dying [BloodChild] was in that container. Its condition was even worse that when he found Crimson and Cherry, the first and second [BloodChildren] he found. Mark left Char who was covered with the [Optical Camouge] and appeared like a ghost after conjuring a mask on his face. However, no one was there to witness his sudden appearance. When Mark scooped the poor thing from the aquarium, it did not even manage to protect itself and just slumped on his palms almost dripping out.


    Mark looked around to see if there was someone around or inside the tent. If this [BloodChild] was here, the owner might know if there were others and where they could be found. While he fed the [BloodChild] with his blood, Mark entered the tent not fearing the growls and threat of the animals inside the cages.


    Inside the tent, he found the owner. He was lying in the pool of his own blood while being soaked in the rain and with a few animals in their cages with the same state. Mark looked up at the roof of the tent and on the ground. The roof that dozens of holes while a lot of thorns could be seen sticking out of the cement and on the body of the dead owner. Now to think of it, this stall was at the eastern most part of the school grounds and close to where the battle with the whale was ongoing.


    After absorbing Mark''s blood, the [BloodChild] recovered a bit and clung to his hand like how the other [BloodChildren] did before. After the connection between Mark and the new [BloodChild] formed, he could feel its fear of people. It seemed that it had been treated too badly. It was really good that it managed to stay alive until Mark found it. He patted its gtin like body gently and assured it that it was over.


    As Mark went out of the tent, Mark heard some shouting. He turned his head and saw a girl on her early twenties wearing a dog cor and ragged clothes that almost revealed her private parts shouting at a naked girl a few years younger inside a cage. The girl shouting was injured as blood trickled out of her wound on her left arm while she desperately bashed the lock of the cage with the knife she held on her right hand. Looking at the wound, a finger sized thorn was still stuck.


    "Naomi¡­ Just leave. I already gave up."


    The naked girl spoke with an emotionless tone.


    "Why should I?! We finally had the opportunity to escape! There''s no chance that I will leave you here!"


    Mark looked at the naked girl curled up inside the cage. The poor girl must have been tormented until the point of mental breakdown. Her eyes were empty and she was curled there only because she felt cold. She was not even covering her modest-sized chest and her shaved below. There was no care about her own left inside her mind. Her eyes looked nk after all. In her state, it was already good that she was still able to converse with the other girl properly.


    A girl that would not leave her friend and a girl that had already given up on life. It was quite abination.


    "Naomi, what are you doing? Let''s go!"


    Another ve came and shouted at the injured girl with the knife. This time, it was a boy about the same age as her.


    "But Tullia is still inside! We''ll escape this hell together no matter what!"


    The boy sighed and approached the cage.


    "Give me the knife."


    The boy said and the girl called Naomi reluctantly gave him the knife. With the knife on his hand, he reced Naomi in trying to break the lock. However, it would surely be difficult for them to break the lock because of their weakened and emaciated bodies.


    PAKIN!


    The de of the knife broke to their dismay.


    "Sh*t!"


    The boy cursed. Still, the two outside did not give up. They tried to look around for anything they could use to break the lock and open the cage Tullia was in.


    Mark turned away from the three and looked in a different direction. He saw several peopleing towards the three being led by a fat man with an umbre and a monocle.


    "You f*cking ves! What do you think you are doing?!"


    The fat man screamed with a voice close to a pig''s squeal.


    The armed men beside the fat man immediately pointed their guns at Naomi and the boy.


    With the threat in front of them, the boy moved in front of Naomi to protect her.


    "Aaron¡­ What are we going to do?"<sub> </sub>


    Naomi said with a worried expression.


    "Just stay behind me."


    Aaron said as he grasped the broken knife in his hand. Tullia on the other hand only nced at the threat before returning to her previous position.


    "Just give up you heaps of trash. You two think that you''ll be able to escape?"


    The fat man spoke as he fixed the monocle in front of his red colored eye.


    While Naomi and Aaron were in a dilemma, a voice entered their ear.


    "Need some help?"


    The two turned their heads to the side and the other group also did the same.


    There, they saw Mark who stood there all along and no one noticed him. It was not because he did not show himself but because of his attire. The ves in this ce mostly wore ragged clothing or things that their owner''s preferred. As for those who did not, they should be residents of this settlement which meant that they were criminals. Not to mention that he wore a suspicious mask on his face. The three ves did not see them while the criminals thought of him as their people and thus, they did not bother to look at him.


    Now that he spoke however, it became an issue.


    "Don''t poke your nose into our business! Don''t you know who I am?"


    The fat man spoke with a threatening attitude. With the fat man''s behavior, he was surely one of the pirs in this settlement. Furthermore, Mark could tell that he was a strong Mutator.


    Without minding the threat, Mark walked forward between the two groups and faced the criminals.


    "Of course I don''t know you. I''m not from this garbage dump after all."


    Mark spoke with a nonchnt voice but what he said froze everyone that heard him. He was not from this garbage dump he said. This person was not from this hellish settlement. It only meant that he was¡­


    "Are you an intruder? Just how did you manage to get in here?"


    The fat man spoke in a cold tone.


    "Well, yeap. In your terms, I can be called as an intruder. As for how..."


    Mark pointed his thumb to his back towards the direction where the whale was rampaging.


    The fat man did not speak anymore and signaled his men with his eyes. The men started to cautiously spread out to surround Mark. Unlike the other enemies he encountered before, these people were not reckless.


    "Hey you three, wanna join my base? I you do, I''ll help you leave this ce."


    Mark ignored the men and spoke to the three behind him.


    "We do! Please help us!"


    "Yes! Please!"


    The two immediately grasped thest straw given to them while Tullia did not answer.


    "How about you?"


    Mark nced at the girl inside the cage.


    "She will also join! Please help her too!"


    It was Naomi who answered for Tullia.


    "Well then¡­"


    Mark turned around and swung the [Slicer] in his hand a few times.


    CLANG! CLANG!


    The cage was dismantled into pieces which made everyone froze once more.


    It was then that Mark felt a malicious stare. The same stare that he felt when he helped Karlene''s group at the highway before.


    Soon, he saw the source of the stare approaching together with several men.


    "To think that you''re still alive." Mark spoke and stared at the leader of the new group. He was not too familiar with the guy but Mark knew him. "Sherwin Ferrer¡­"

 Chapter 272 Sherwins Plans And Fall, When All The Preparations Made Were For Naught

    <strong>Day 41 ¨C 4:58 PM ¨C Death Valley Settlement, Barangay Pocion, General Nakar, Quezon</strong>


    Hearing Mark say his name, Sherwin frowned.


    "I''m surprised that you know my full name. I bet those dolts told you."


    "What a high and mighty attitude for someone who escaped from his responsibilities. Don''t forget, for me, you''re nothing but a fugitive."


    Mark spoke in a condescending manner. Among the people in Hallie''s group that time, it was Jefferson and Sherwin that messed with his things the most and yet, they were the ones with the guts to escape and not pay back the damages they did.


    Hearing that, Sherwin''s frown grew deeper.


    "As if I would care about what you think."


    "Sir Ferrer, do you know this person?"


    The fat man spoke not minding that Mark and Sherwin were still talking. Sherwin looked at the fat man.


    "A bastard who messed up my ns before."


    Sherwin replied.


    Mark observed Sherwin and the fat man.


    As the two conversed, the fat man was obviously showing respect to the other. It seemed that Sherwin was not just someone simple in this settlement. Furthermore, even though Mark did not converse with Sherwin before, he saw his conduct towards Hallie and the others. His personality was way different from before. Some people might think that his experiences changed him but Mark would not think so. The way he carried himself right now looked more natural than before.


    It meant that his previous personality was a fa?ade, a huge act. Unfortunately, Mark had no way to detect that fa?ade at that time since his ability as an Empath had not recovered yet.


    "I don''t remember ruining anything you know that, especially a n of yours. If there was someone who messed up with another''s property, it''s you and your friends, right?"


    Hearing that, Sherwin sneered.


    "Friends you say? Who is a friend of those imbeciles who can''t even do things properly? The best thing that they can do is to serve as bait so I can escape."


    He then red at Mark.


    "You know what? If not for you, Nicole, Trisha and Jolleen should have been my toys already. However, Nicole and Trisha stayed back and unfortunately I had to give up on Jolleen. That damn tiger sure is lucky to have her as dinner."


    ***


    Sherwin stared at the man that ruined his ns with a smirk and remembered the things that happened.


    Back at the Hotel where they got stuck when the apocalypse started, things were going awry. Fortunately, an armed helicopter scattered leaflets about the settlement at the east. When he saw the leaflet however, he could not help but smile.


    That leaflet was not a ticket for salvation but both a way to message the remaining members of their organization and to lure others into their trap. After that event, he started manipting things within the shadows. He caused the group to split up between those that wanted to leave and those that would stay.


    Through coercion, he made the men that stayed behind the hotel to force those Nicole and Trisha out while he convinced Jefferson to leave the hotel and make Jolleen and a few more good looking women toe with them. Although there were unexpected circumstances like the appearance of the tiger, he made sure that his primary targets would stay safe while he caused others some of the unwanted people to die.


    In fact, he was also behind that wound that Hallie received from the attack of the tiger. He pushed one of the useless men to bump unto Hallie causing her to fall down as she was attacked by the tiger. Unfortunately, Hallie managed to get away with just the deep wound on her leg.


    To those people who knew him before, he was just a happy go lucky person who was a good friend of Jefferson. They did not know that it was just all an act and Jefferson was his puppet that was easy to manipte and was useful in many things, especially in luring women to their demise.


    Jefferson was popr with women and Sherwin took advantage of that. He used the name of his friend to call those women with good looks to ces. There, he would do various things to knock them out and have his way with them. After that, the women would vanish from the society.


    Sherwin''s other identity was an illegal human trafficker. He was a member of an international organization that was involved with ve trading in the deep web. It was a huge criminal organization that had its hands on various illegal acts. Illegal Drugs, Human Trafficking, Guns for Hire and even Arms Trade, any criminal business could be linked to that organization.


    That very same organization founded the Death Valley Settlement. The international Drug Lord, Adrik Volkov was also a member of the organization and was someone with a high standing. At the surface, everyone knew that Adrik founded this settlement but of course, the organization was always behind him.


    To Sherwin, this settlement was a paradise. Due to the organization, he was given a good position in the settlement and he was able to indulge himself in his desires.


    Sherwin looked at the fat man. He was Fmeno Alcantara, one of his business partners in selling ves along with Elliezer Volkov who was the son of Adrik. Unfortunately, Elliezer was already dead and the one who caused that was the very same person as the one standing in front of him right now.


    He witnessed it since he was there observing everything. Sherwin recognized him because of his Mutator ability.


    That was right. Sherwin was a Mutator since the start. Unlike most people however, he became an Evolver first before he was bitten and thus, he gained two abilities. First was his Evolver ability which was the fast movements and metabolism he showed everyone while the second was his Mutator ability, an ability that allowed him to see in a different manner. It enables him to see using temperatures as if his eyes were an organic thermal scanner.


    While this enabled him to see hot and cold temperatures alike, it did not allow him to recognize people through that manner. However, he was able to recognize Mark due to the fact that the temperature in Mark''s body was rather strangepared to normal people.


    Sherwin''s eye contact with Fmeno was a signal and it was to deal with Mark immediately.


    While they were exchanging signals, Mark spoke.


    "Too bad for you then. Those girls chose me over you." Mark spoke with lines that could easily be misunderstood. "By the way, don''t curse someone to death. Jolleen is still alive and kicking, you know that? If I were topare you to her, you''re much weaker. No kidding."


    ***


    Mark watched Sherwin''s face twist in the insult he received. It was rather effective since thetter viewed women as toys and merchandise. For him to bepared to a lowly merchandise and was already an insult not to mention that he was told that he was weaker.


    Sherwin then spoke.<sub> </sub>


    "Don''t get too cocky. You think that you''ll be able leave this ce especially since you lured that monster here? I don''t know how you concealed yourself and your pet but don''t think that you escaped my eyes. The moment that younded here, my men already surrounded the ce. Don''t think that the pet you have there hiding at the side could help you. No matter what, it''s just a huge lizard."


    Mark did not doubt what Sherwin said. It was very likely that Sherwin could see him even with his [Optical Camouge] on since his appearance was very timely.


    He then released an exaggerated sigh as he shrugged his shoulders at the same time.


    "Are you sure that you have time for this? That big guy there will destroy this ce if you guys don''t stop it. Anyway¡­" Mark smirked. "You guys think that you can kill me?"


    After saying that, Mark vanished in a puff of ck mist.


    He should have appeared behind Sherwin intending to end his life immediately. However¡­


    BANG!


    Mark retreated as a sniper bullet passed through where he intended to appear. Instead, he appeared several meters back.


    "That''s surprising. You have capable people with you."


    "As I said, you won''t leave this ce alive." Sherwin faced Mark calmly. "We already gathered enough information about your abilities. You thought I will appear here without preparing?"


    Mark let out a deep breath. What a troublesome situation. In this case¡­


    "Sorry but I think¡­ Your preparations are still not enough."


    His eyes turned red and red at the nearest people.


    The armed men targeted by his re immediately clutched their heads and screamed in pain. Following their screams, their eyes, nose and ears started to bleed and they even started coughing up blood.


    Fmino and the others could not help but step back as they witnessed the situation that suddenly happened.


    "F*ck! Shoot!"


    Sherwin shouted.


    Following that orders, the armed men started shooting their guns.


    Mark nned to receive the brunt of the gunshots by phasing through them and his body blurred as he started running. The first bullets passed through his body until. Seeing that, Sherwin smiled with confidence.


    "DIE!"


    SPLAT!


    CLANG!


    Several sounds were heard as bullets started to hit Mark''s body and armor. Forced by the sudden situation, Mark disappeared from the line of fire and appeared somewhere else. This time however, he looked tattered as his jacket was drilled with several holes and his arms and legs that were not protected by the armor had wounds.


    Sherwin was delighted when he saw Mark got hit by their bullets but his delight turned to shock to see that Mark was still calmly standing despite his fatal wounds. Now to think of it, there was no blood gushing out of his wounds.


    "H-How are you still alive?!"


    Sherwin shouted which made Mark frown.


    "You really like cursing people to death aren''t you? I''m surprised though. To think that your bullets managed to hit me. It hurts I tell you. I haven''t even dealt with the thorns yet."


    While Mark said that, an amazing sight ensued. From the wounds Mark received, the bullets that drilled into his body started to resurface and fell on the floor. Afterwards, all his wounds closed up and his body returned to normal as if nothing happened. If not for the holes on his clothes, they might have thought that Mark being hit was just an illusion.


    "Damn it! Just what the hell are you?!"


    Sherwin''s face twisted in anger. That ability to make people bleed and feel pain and that insane body recovery. It was the very first time he heard of it even from the spies that was present during the attack of the horde at the military settlement. Also when he observed his fights back at the highway, he never saw this.


    Everyone present started to think that the person currently at the center of attention was not human.


    "Well then¡­" Mark red and the light in his eyes intensified. "My turn."


    Mark kicked the ground and charged. The force of the kick was too strong that itunched him forward that his body almost blurred. A second after his foot left the ground, he vanished. This time, the trail of mist left by his movement moved in a straight line. Before everyone was able to react, Mark appeared behind Sherwin and he sped the back of his neck.


    Sherwin''s eyes widened as he felt a piercing pain in his neck as if something entered his body and that pain travelled through his body to his limbs.


    SPLASH!


    Everyone froze as blood sttered on the ground mixing with the rain water.


    Sherwin''s limbs were suddenly severed and fell onto the ground painting the rainwater even redder.


    Mark stood there sping the screaming Sherwin. His limbless body trashed around while in Mark''s grasp. However, he would not die any soon. It was because Mark prevented his limbless body from bleeding to death.

 Chapter 273 Playing With Lives, Making Enemies Obey Due To An Empty Threat

    <strong>Day 41 ¨C 5:06 PM ¨C General Nakar Central Elementary School Multi-purpose Oval, Death Valley Settlement, Barangay Pocion, General Nakar, Quezon</strong>


    The gigantic whale continued to rampage at the eastern side of the Death Valley Settlement. Dozens upon dozens of dead bodies were scattered all over the settlement because of its might. However, the Mutators of Death Valley Settlement were also not just pushovers. They already managed to destroy a bit of the whale''s almost imprable armor.


    At the western side of the settlement, another batter had already started. Under the cover of the eye of the storm, the sounds of rain and blowing wind were overwhelmed by the blood curling screams of Sherwin. The pain he was currently feeling was not a joke. It was already admirable that he had not fainted yet from the shock.


    Everyone that witnessed the scene was all in the dark as to what really happened. All they saw was Mark vanishing and appearing behind Sherwin faster than before and clutched the nape of his neck. None of them could fathom how Sherwyn''s limbs were severed like magic. After all, no one saw that Mark did anything else.


    Unknown to them, what Mark did was to control his blood and enter Sherwyn''s body through his blood vessels. As his blood reached the limbs, he metallized his blood and severed the limbs from the inside while sealing the wound at the same time. It might take a while before the pain would subside but Sherwin would surely not die just because his limbs were severed.


    In the first ce, the leading cause of death in these kinds of scenario was because of blood loss. With the loss of blood prevented, Sherwyn would suffer longer, a suffering in both physical and mental aspect.


    BANG!


    A sniper shot was made once more aiming to make Mark let go of Sherwyn. Unfortunately, Mark had already pinpointed the direction where the sniper was hiding from the very first shot. The moment Mark felt the killing intent from somewhere he could not see, he moved the limbless Sherwyn to face the bullet of his subordinate.


    "GAHAH!"


    Another painful sound was let out by Sherwyn as the sniper''s bullet prated his stomach and even pierced through his back. The wound caused by the bullet was immediately patched by Mark with his metalized blood but of course, that made the limbless man suffer even further.


    Finally, Sherwyn could not handle it anymore and fainted with saliva dripping out of his mouth along with the tears on his eyes and the snot on his nose. No one would have thought that one of the leaders within the Death Valley Settlement would suffer like this.


    "It''s no fun at all."


    Mark said as he patched up the hole he made of Sherwyn''s neck and threw the limbless body as if he was a kid already bored ying with a toy. Sherwyn''s body slid and rolled on the muddy school ground. After seeing Sherwyn got covered in mud, Mark turned his eyes on the other enemies.


    "It''s you guys next."


    He let out a menacing smile.


    "F*ck! Shoot! SHOOT! I don''t care what you all do! Kill this monster!"


    Fmeno shouted while stepping back in fear. He made not only his men but the men brought by Sherwyn fight with his order. Mark knew however that why his men fight, the fat man would surely use that opportunity to escape.


    As if Mark would let that happen. After all, one of the best tactics in fighting a group of mobs was to take out the leaders first. And then, Mark vanished from his ce with a stomp on the ground.


    The people around, both enemies and the ves, could only see a blurry ck mist that appeared in a split second and Mark appeared beside the fat man. He did not have any grudge with the fat man but since he was an enemy, it was better for Mark to not spare any of them.


    Mark grabbed Fmeno''s wrist and blood burst out once more. The fat man''s other arm and two legs suddenly separated from his body and the arm Mark grabbed followed after. The first three limbs had the wounds blocked by the blood metal but thest one was left open causing blood to gush out of the stump.


    "GHAAAAH!!!! It HURTS! It HURTS! I''m going to DIE! AHHHH!"


    Irritated by the screams that had the same tone as a pig''s squeal, Mark kicked the fat limbless body away making it roll. He then threw away the arm he was currently holding with an obvious disgust in his face.


    "The blood is too fatty."


    Mark murmured.


    BANG!


    RATATATATA!


    Gunshots then echoed.


    Although their reaction was dyed, the criminals shot Mark with the guns they had. Some even transformed using their abilities as Mutators and charged towards Mark.


    Mark looked around, there was about thirty men surrounding him. Fortunately, these men were too focused on him that the three ves he recruited managed to slip away and hide.


    UUUUUWWWWWWOAAAAAUUUUU!!!


    SWOOS! SWOOSH!


    However, Mark was forced to disappear and appear at the ce where the three was hiding. It was because another volley, not the bullets but the thorns from the whale, scattered once more across the ce.


    As the ces that those thorns would hit was entirely random, it possibility that someone would be hit by one from the thousands of thorns the whale released. Mark was right with that.


    CLANG! CLANG!


    <o>,m After Mark appeared, he blocked two thorns that was about to hit Naomi and Aaron.</o>


    The two ves were surprised to suddenly hear soundsing from their back and were surprised seeing Mark there. After they notice that Mark blocked two thorns that almost hit them, the face of the two were will with gratitude. However, Mark was not interested in their expressions. Rather, he turned his head at Tullia who was just nkly staring at him.<sub> </sub>


    Under that emotionless gaze, Mark slightly shook his head and vanished once more.


    Back at the battlefield, several men were wailing in pain while some fell down on the muddy ground, dead. These men were too focused on Mark that they failed to perceive the random attack headed their way.


    Inside some of the cages of the school grounds, more vesy over the pool of their own blood. As there was no way for them to run, hide or dodge inside those small cages, they could only ept their miserable fate.


    "Well then. Let''s y with these guys. I got a good idea."


    Mark started running. He appeared and disappeared tapping every one of the men that managed to survive. With his every tap, the men would scream in pain as something drilled into their bodies the moment Mark tapped them. Even though they could not tell what, they were sure that something entered their bodies.


    At thest of the men that surrounded him, Mark remained grabbing him.


    "Hiii!!!"


    The man was too scared that a warm yellowish liquid sullied his pants. Same to what happened to Sherwyn and Fmeno, the man''s limbs separated and the weak willed man immediately passed out.


    However, Mark did not let go of the man as he needed him to demonstrate something.


    "Hey you lot!" Mark spoke as if he was looking at things worse than garbage. His eyes were glowing red as he panned his eyes upon his enemies. "You all should have felt that I made something enter your bodies. That something will devour your bodies slowly until you die in excruciating pain, something like this."


    Mark showed them the man he was holding as his body started to dete. Even though he was unconscious, it was surely painful as his body started shaking in pain. Soon, the man looked like a balloon empty of air. Although he was not a dried mummy, his appearance was surely close to one. With what happened to the man, he immediately stopped breathing and died.


    "You all would turn into something like this soon."


    He threw that dead body in front of the men that were shaking in fear. Their ferocious faces and haughty attitudes from before vanished in this instant. After all, these men were just normal criminals that indulged themselves inwless pleasure. They were not those that were trained to face death without fear. Seeing what happened to the man Mark used as demonstration, they were all filled with despair. Towards that despair however, Mark spoke.


    "However, if you don''t want to die¡­ I want you all to do something."


    The men''s ears perked up at the possible salvation.


    Under those ufortable stares, Mark brought out the [BloodChild] he had just found.


    "Find me more of these. I don''t care how you all do it but if you bring me one of this, a living one. Anyone who can bring me one can exchange his life."


    Mark panned his red glowing eyes towards the men.


    "Got it?!"


    The men gulped and nodded unconsciously.


    "Now go or else, you all might die before long."


    Mark shooed the men away and watched their pathetic backs with a smirk. Learning that they could trade their lives win one of that strange creature, they would surely do anything. They were criminals after all. Probably, they would end up killing each other. That would be quite a sight to see.


    As the men on the school ground scrambled away leaving the dead bodies, Mark vanished heading towards one of the school buildings. He was quite annoyed with the sniper that was able to react to the normal speed of his [Shadow Mist Movement]. In any case, he would deal with the dangerous guy.


    It seemed that the sniper managed to gauge the situation. Mark did not find the sniper in his initial position. He even left the sniper rifle and the bag of bullets in this ce. However, Mark could still detect the man who was currently running down the building.


    Turning into mist, Mark entered the small space between one of the windows. The man who was running away turned into a corner. After that¡­ No, there was no after. The moment he turned into the corner, his body slumped on the floor while his wide eyed head flew forwards a distance away.


    Mark who now had a sniper rifle hanging on his body appeared behind the corner with his de on his hand. As the man died, he vanished and returned to the rainy school grounds.


    He just had to wait a bit and window shop at the abandoned school ground.


    This time, even though there were still people of the settlement around, none blocked his path. Even the ves suffering inside the cages were too reluctant to call to him to ask help.


    "Bos-no, Master, thank you for helping us!"


    Aaron and Naomi appeared dragging Tullia with them. It seemed that being ves were ingrained to their minds that they even changed the address they supposed to say and changed it. It did not really bother Mark though. In any case, he already recruited these three although only two truly epted his invitation.


    Mark then brought the three to therge tent behind the stall where Mark found the [BloodChild]. The tent might look filthy and smelled bad due to urine and feces and of animals but it was way better than staying outside. Besides, Char was also waiting here since the cold weather outside was already affecting therge lizard badly.


    Leaving the ves and Dragon inside, Mark went out to look for the men that were currently scrambling around to look for the [BloodChildren]. Seeing their frightened faces, Mark wanted tough.


    While it was true that he made his blood enter their bloodstream, it was a lie that they would die like that man he used as example. Although there were chances that they would still die due to his blood blocking their blood vessels, the chances where too slim. They could only feel his blood inside their bodies because theposition of his blood was way different than normal.


    Besides, he could not control that blood from far away and without a direct contact. Those men ran away searching for the [BloodChildren] for their lives due to an empty threat.

 Chapter 282 After The Storm, The Events And Circumstances Of The Eastern Settlements

    <strong>Day 42 ¨C 11:23 AM ¨C Tongohin National Highschol, Barangay Gumian, Infanta, Quezon</strong>


    Inside one of the ssrooms that was supposed to be upied by students before the outbreak, the chairs with armrests were put in a circle and a temporary meeting room was made. It might look odd and awkward but it could not be helped as there was no way for the military to bring furniture with them during the evacuation. Instead of loading furniture into the vehicles, they would rather use the vehicles to transport people.


    Right now, those wooden chairs were upied by the same people that govern over the Port of Real Settlement. Both the military officers led by General Faustino were present along with a few scientists let by Professor Suzuki. On one side were the politicians and sitting beside the general was Joash who somehow looked like in a bad mood. Aside from the usual members, the head of Salvador Family from East Port Settlement, Darren Salvador, and his eldest son, Raybert were also present.


    "Darren, if the two settlements merge, I doubt that your family will remain in its current position."


    General Faustino spoke.


    They were currently discussing issues they were facing now after that strange storm finally vanished. The East Port Settlement was ruined and with the loss of the Ruanto Family and the missing Cristobal Family, the Salvador Family alone would not be able to manage such arge poption on their own. In fact, they only maintained being one of the three families in order to hinder the other two families from their evil acts but now that the two other families were gone, there was no reason for them to remain either. Because of those reasons, it was better if their settlement merged with the military that had the manpower and weapons to secure their bases.


    "It''s really fine with us. We also want to step down soon so we can concentrate on managing our family rather than others."


    Darren smiled. If the merge was approved and he was able to step down, things would be lighter for him. Managing a business before the outbreak was hard not to mention managing a whole settlement.


    "I see." General Faustino nodded and panned his eyes to others who also nodded in consent. "Alright, everyone seems to be in agreement. This will be announcedter to the people. Let us move to the next topic and the most important one."


    Hearing this, the faces of everyone inside turned serious.


    "This early morning, our scouts returned to Port of Real to check the situation. Regrettably, it is bad."


    "General, what do you mean?"


    The incumbent governor of Quezon, Daniel Suero asked.


    To that question, General Faustino looked at his secretary to speak.


    Apparently, the residential area of the settlement was ruined. Many buildings and structures were destroyed and some were even missing. The likeliness that those missing buildings were washed away to the sea after the water from the storm surge subsided was very high. It was also the same for the military section. Although the buildings were reinforced to some extent, the damages incurred could not be ignored. With the damage inflicted to the settlement by the storm, it would be better to rebuild the whole settlement from scratch rather than repairing what was destroyed. Unfortunately, it might be different if the outbreak had just started but they did not have enough resource and equipment to do that now.


    However, that was not the main issue. Many died in that storm whether it was humans, animals and even infected. Especially for the fleeing sea creatures that hade ashore, many of them died because of various reasons. The problemy with the corpses left. There were too many and a lot of them looked inedible. Still, due to those corpses, the infected, evolved carnivore birds and even carnivorous sea creatures came in droves to feast on the corpses.


    With all those gathering at the coasts, it would be dangerous for people to approach those areas. Among the areas affected however were the Port of Real Settlement and East Port Settlement that were both built by the coastline.


    "So, we have no other choice but to relocate am I right?"


    The incumbent governor asked.


    "Unfortunately, yes. However, we still need to decide where. Since we still can stay here for another day or two, I expect suggestions from everyone here."


    The general replied.


    "Including us?"


    Darren Salvador asked.


    "If possible, yes." General Faustino replied with a nod. "It is better if more people could give a suggestion to this. It is better to have more options not to mention that your family is among the people here that know this area well."


    "I see. Then, I''ll also give my suggestionster."


    Soon, the meeting was done and the government officials left first as usual. As for the others, they did not leave, especially since they still had something to discuss.


    "Professor Suzuki, what are your findings?"


    General Faustino asked which made the others look serious once more.


    "Those heads and bodies, they were in the simr condition as Drake''s and his men''s corpses. This is why I totally think that our first assumptions about Mark were true. Well, at least not all of the heads lost their mutations though. For some reasons, Mark did not take all of them."


    "I see."


    General Faustino nodded in understanding.


    After the eventsst night, the soldiers found the headless bodies everywhere around the ruined Death Valley Settlement. Furthermore, they found the house where Mark housed the severed heads after Mark left with the people he intended to take away.<sub> </sub>


    Some of the heads inside that house were known to be Mutators especially because of their unique abilities. Since that was the case, the concentration of Mutagen in their bodies should be rather high but ording to Professor Suzuki, their bodies were the same as Drake''s which meant that their Mutator abilities had been removed.


    "In any case, it is better if we keep on his good side. If he was really able to grant those abilities he had taken to others, it won''t be long before he strengthen his people."


    The people inside the room nodded in clear seriousness. Right now, not only that Mark helped them in many things but also their settlement had a debt with him. It was good that a person with these powers was at least in good impression with them. If he suddenly turned hostile, they would be in great trouble. They might follow the steps of Death Valley Settlement if they made him an enemy.


    Because of this, it seemed that they had to agree about what Mark wanted. He asked general to give him the female spy that was caught by him back then due to some unknown reasons. However, they already had suspicions that Mark wanted that woman''s ability to fly. After all, abilities that granted aerial movements were very rare even now.


    Well, they really had no reason to refuse. In any case, they had arge debt to him and the woman could be served as another way of paying. Also they had no ability to deal with prisoners right now as they did not even have a settlement to stay at.


    The meeting among them soon finished. Unexpectedly, Joash did not say anything all this time.


    "What is wrong with him?"


    The always curious Professor Suzuki asked Major Bautista. To that question, the Major sighed and let out a bitter smile.


    "My daughter rejected him again before they left."


    "Ahh, no wonder he looked so grim."


    ***


    <strong>Day 42 ¨C 12:02 PM ¨C Mountain Base, Mount Mbito, General Nakar, Quezon</strong>


    Inside the chambers dug inside the crevice, Mark stood in front of a metal cab he had just made. Together with him were Amihan, Miracle, Oracle and the other [BloodChildren] who helped with making this cab.


    It was a multiple leveled disy cab with ss frame and metal walls. Inside, rows upon rows of glowing crystals could be seen in a nted slotted disy rack.


    There were eighty two crystals inside the cab neatly lined in several rows. All of these were [Physical Crystals] containing abilities of Mutators he took along with some that came from powerful infected he managed to get their mutations. As for the [Mental Crystal] he was still keeping those inside the [PsyCrystal] since he was able to borrow the abilities stored in those crystals to some extent.


    Still, even though he had this many, he was still unsatisfied. After all, he had no choice but to abandon quite a number of heads due to theck of [Physical Crystals]. The [Mutagen Stones] were quite rare to find after all. In the least, he managed to get those stronger abilities he saw when he was watching the Mutators fight the whale and the infected. Even the ability that created that corrosive liquid was among those.


    "Father, it looks beautiful."


    "Right! My Lord, this look amazing."


    Miracle and Amihan could not help but say as they watched the shining crystals inside the metal cab.


    Hearing that, Mark nodded. It was really a fascinating sight.


    After the eventsst night and getting Miracle, Amihan and the [BloodChildren] that were left in the evacuation site, Mark brought the people he gathered towards the base in the middle of the night. Since it was impossible for Char to carry that many people, he came back several times to bring everyone.


    To say, Edzel, Hamlin and his grandchildren and even the ves that already lost their good outlook in life were amazed when they arrived at the base for the first time. They never imagined that there would be a very secure looking base in the middle of the dangerous mountains.


    Even though it was in the middle of the night, Mark was weed back by Huey and Jolleen. It seemed that these two really took their jobs in this base seriously. Even Nicole, Trisha, Ed and Ron who were the first inhabitants came out and helped with settling the neers. Some of the others like Althea that cameter than Huey''s group also came out to help especially Althea who looked way better than before and was able to smile now.


    Hallie however¡­ she was sleeping like a log at the female quarters.


    Many were surprised seeing the unconscious mermaid that Mark brought home. It was also the reason why Mark just let Hallie sleep or it would be a big ruckus.


    The mermaid was ced inside arge basin made of [Blood Metal] and was filled with spring water. Although they were not sure if the spring water was suitable since mermaids live in the sea, it was better than nothing.


    Surprisingly, the mermaid''s wounds started to heal faster after her body was submerged by the crystal clear spring water. It seemed that the clean water had effects on a creature of water like her. However, she still had not gained consciousness. Mark knew the reason and it was not her physiology that brought that issue but her psychology.


    The mermaid was even uttering iprehensible mumblings as she slept but her expression was awful. It seemed that she was in a loop of agony. Due to that, Mark had to channel the milky white energy to her to at least help her sleep at ease. It would not be good if something happened to a rare creature like her. That would be a big loss for Mark.


    Another thing was about Tullia''s sister that was caught for initiating chaos in the Military Settlement. Since they had a debt to him, Mark asked to give Audrey under his wing. In any case, he was also interested in her Mutator ability which was flight with her wings. She could serve as aerial support in his base and that woman did not have a bad personality at all but was just forced by the circumstances. Since Tullia was already here, Mark would have a better grasp at Audrey and be able to use her for the sake of his base. Mark would stop by the evacuation siteter to fetch her.


    Aside from those things, Mark was already preparing.


    In one or two days, he would leave again. This time, he was going west instead of east. It was rather very far but it did not matter at all. All he wanted now was meet Mei, Abbygale and I and bring them here. As for the missions left unto him by Freed, all those would be der on. He would do those things together with the people he wanted to be with.

 Chapter 275 Ambush, An Impromptu Plot To Against The Person They Would Not Be Able To Deal With

    <strong>Day 41 ¨C 5:42 PM ¨C Residential Area, Death Valley Settlement, Barangay Pocion, General Nakar, Quezon</strong>


    Mark appeared inside a barely intact house quite a distance away from the main area of the battle outside the settlement. In his hands, a sack which bottom was red and dripping blood could be seen. Inside the sack were severed heads of the Mutators. Since the sack was already full, he needed to find a secluded ce to dump the heads and chose this ce.


    He could have chosen a room at the elementary school but that ce was still filled with people. Whether it was the ves or the men of this settlement, someone could stumble at the heads if he was to choose that ce. It was because among all the ces in this settlement, the school buildings were the safest since there was still the constant rain of thornsing from the whale. Another reason was that this ce was way closer to the battlefield and it would be easier for him to go back and forth as he filled the sack with heads. For sure, this ce had nock for Mutators although the normal criminals and Evolvers were still the majority.


    Since the walls of the house looked dpidated, no one would surely think that there was something kept here. Furthermore, one of the rooms was seemed to be in good condition. The room was disguised perfectly because of the outside appearance of the house.


    Mark dumped the heads inside the room and immediately left. After all, he still had quite an amount of whea-, heads to harvest. He was really like a farmer during harvest season reaping wheat using a scythe. The only difference was that he was reaping necks and harvesting heads of Mutators.


    As for the scene where all the dead bodies were missing heads, it was a trick he did. Since not all people were dumb especially in this settlement which had scheming criminals, if the only the heads of the Mutators were missing, it would easily be noticed and the Mutators would tighten their backs even more. However, since all the heads were missing, they would not be able to suspect too much and they would all think that whatever was happening was targeting everyone.


    Well, not everyone¡­


    After all, Mark did not kill all of the people behind the ranks but dragged some of them somewhere hidden. It was because Mark found them different from the actual people living in this settlement. One thing he confirmed, some of them were the spies nted by the military to monitor the movements of the people here, specifically, the criminals, while the others were people forced to fight the whale from the ves and people used as manpower.


    How did he find them? It was because while everyone that really belonged to this settlement fighting the whale felt furious, these people felt rather d at the predicament that this forsaken settlement was undergoing. Not to mention that even though they seemed to contribute in the fight, they were actually ckingpared to others.


    Mark knocked those people he did not need to kill and brought them into some ce hidden. Since the time he had was short, he only ced the unconscious people in a building next to the current area of the fight.


    ***


    While Mark harvested the heads of the enemies, the spies sent by the military woke up one by one. Some of the spies recognized each other while some did not and thus, they used a code that was spread among the spies sent here and confirmed their identities. Since some of them here were experienced spies, they did not know what was happening and immediately restrained those that did not belong to their group. Although the men restrained imed to be forced to fight for this hellish settlement, the spies could not take chances.


    One of the spies who had a higher rank among others took out a smallmunication device that onlyposed of a pair of earpiece and mouthpiece.


    "Shadow 1 to Specter. Shadow 1 to Specter."


    Soon, a man''s voice could be heard with the sounds of gunshots and fighting much louder in the background. The man spoke in a stern voice as if he was thinking about something serious. However, it was obvious in his voice that he was relieved that Shadow 1 contacted him. Still, since it was an urgent transmission, he only spoke important things.


    "This is Specter. What is happening behind? They said that everyone is killed. Over."


    "Sir, it seems that only the criminals are being targeted. Not only me but our brothers are alive along with people that imed to be innocent. We should be in a building south of the current battle. Any instructions, Sir? Over."


    A sigh of relief could be heard from Specter.


    "No, stay put. There are a lot of the criminals dead missing their heads. If you all suddenly appear alive, you all will be in trouble. Any idea who is the one behind this? Over."


    "Sorry sir but no. The only thing we noticed is the trail of ck mist before we passed out. Although we expect that the person will appear again. Some of our people are still not here. Over."


    "ck mist? It can''t be¡­" Specter''s voice could be heard murmuring over themunicator. "I think I have an idea who that person is. If he appears again, tell him this¡­"


    Specter spoke a set of instructions to Shadow 1. Thetter was confused but he epted the orders with professionalism.


    ***


    Soon, Mark appeared in the room bringing another unconscious person. Shadow 1 recognized the unconscious person and knew that the person that appeared should be what their superior was talking about.


    Mark saw that the people he brought before were all conscious already. However, he was not inclined to talk to them. They were trained spies and smart people. Looking at them staying put, they should already have an idea what was happening.


    "Sir! Please wait!"


    One of the spies called out to Mark when he was about to leave.


    "Sir, I received an order from our superior that is still outside through themunication device."


    ***


    Mark appeared above the battlefield with a streak of wavy mist.


    There, he saw several smaller groups of Mutators detaching from the main force that was battling against the Mutator Whale.


    From what Mark heard from the spy called Shadow 1, their superior who was currently one of themanders left here in the settlement and the one who was leading the defensive against the whale.


    Under the guise of investigating what happened at the ranks behind, the spy captain with the call sign Specter, would send several groups to search the area in different directions.


    It was quite a n to whittle away the forces of Death Valley Settlement little by little. For some reason however, Mark felt a bit uneasy.


    p Currently, there were three groups that were sent in three directions. Since it was still convenient, Mark followed the n. He followed the closest group until they were detached from the main force.<sub> </sub></anda>


    The first group became easy prey to Mark''s ambush. The chain ofmand in their group crumbled the moment Mark appeared behind the leader and the strongest among them and reaped his head off. With the sudden dead of the leader and appearance of the assant, the members of the group that were already nervous to begin with either started shouting. With too many voices trying tomand, confusion rose and their coordination was broken. Even though they saw Mark and tried to counter attack, it became easier of Mark to reap their lives.


    It was the same for the second and third groups. The members that were mentally affected by the scene of many headless bodies of theirrades left under the rain. That nervousness they had was taken advantage my Mark who intensified their emotions before attacking. Due to that, some of them mistakenly shot theirrades the moment Mark darted back and forth while killing them one by one.


    However, a situation risen when the fourth group was dispatched.


    "It is an ambush."


    Mark smirked.


    The fourth group stood in the open like they were doing their business but the atmosphere on this group was way different from the previous three. They were all strong Mutators and experienced criminals. It was obvious from their eyes and movements.


    Not only that but hidden among the houses and buildings around that group, about fifty people was waiting in ambush. Not only that they were at the same caliber as the members of the fourth group but some of them were actually equipped with explosiveunchers that they were supposed to use against the whale.


    Did the n get leaked? Of course, it was not.


    Since the start, it was the n to try and trick their assant into this ambush. As for the first three groups, they were just disposable pawns to make their assantcent with cooperating and lower his guard.


    Unfortunately for them, the assant was Mark who could detect people despite the fact that he could not see them. Their n fell the moment their ambushers were found.


    As for the leader of the spies who crafted this n, Mark was already suspicious from the start. It was because if the leader of the spies were currentlymanding the battle against the whale, he would be surrounded by the men of the settlement and would have no way ofmunicating with his subordinates. The fact that he was able to despite no leaving his post became one of the keys.


    "A double agent¡­"


    Mark''s eyes glinted.


    That was when Mark started dealing with the men hidden in the dark while the impatient faces of the people in the group became apparent.


    ***


    "Are all of you sure that the bastard that killed my men will appear?"


    One of the members of the group, a short figured man, spoke.


    "Just be f*cking patient or the n will be busted. From what we know, that f*cker should be the cause of death of Drake. If we handled it carelessly, we''ll be the ones that get f*cked."


    A foul mouthed man beside the short man replied.


    That was when they heard a voice from behind.


    "You people waiting for me?"


    The impatience and sloppy attitude vanished from the members of the group as they all jumped back and readied themselves to fight. It was something that could be expected from professionals.


    "You really appeared huh. Well then die f*cker!"


    That moment, the foul mouthed man waved his hand as signal for their men hidden around the area to make their move.


    However, that wave of his hand amounted to nothing.


    "Huh?"


    All of them were dumbfounded.


    "If you are calling those people hiding everywhere, then don''t bother. They are all dead already." Mark smiled. "I''m surprised though how you people could scatter your manpower like this even though you all should use this manpower to deal with that whale over the other side. Wait, probably it''s because it''s unexpected¡­ I see."


    Mark spoke his question but he realized the answer by himself. Nevertheless, the members of the group did not bother listening and attacked. Even though they lost the backup from those that supposed to do the ambush, they were still strong people. All of them activated their Mutator abilities and attacked at the same time whether it was ranged or close quartersbat.


    Unfortunately, none of them survived.


    Although they were strong physically due to their Mutations, they did not stand a chance against the strongest kinds of people and creatures these days. Even if they ganged up, the chance of winning were very low.


    Mark became aware of that recently. The strongest beings in this outbreak were people and creatures with the simr circumstances as him.


    Like the whale that he lured in to destroy this settlement, a person like him and a person like Annica. The stone d woman was also the same. Mei and I was also in the same circumstances.


    Everyone was Psychics that were severely affected by Mutagen.

 Chapter 284 A Mermaids Experience, The Nightmare She Had To Remember Forever

    <strong>Day ¨ƒ¨ƒ - ¨ƒ¨ƒ:¨ƒ¨ƒ¨ƒ¨ƒ- Pacific Undersea Kingdom, Pacific Ocean</strong>


    Not known to man, several civilizations existed under the wide oceans of Earth. Kingdoms upied not by human but by creatures man deemed to exist only in fantasies. These kingdoms were inhabited not only by beings half-human and half fish but also by other fantastical and scary creatures of the sea. Still, for the most part, these kingdoms were upied and ruled by the beings called the Mer.


    The Merfolk,monly called as Mermaids and Mermen, lived under the sea for generations. It might even be possible that they existed before men even walked the earth. Hiding from the conflict thirsty and greedynd dwellers, the Mer Kingdoms lived peacefully under the oceans of Earth.


    That was until¡­


    The infected and Evolved Animals appeared under these peaceful waters.


    As the meteoroids exploded at the Earth''s atmosphere, airnes flying in the sky crashed due to its passengers and crew being suddenly exposed to Mutagen their bodies could not endure. Turning into savage monsters, they spread across Earth infecting and changing every living thing. Even the oceans were not spared.


    With how much percentage water upied Earth, it was not wrong to say that more of those airnes crashed into these oceans that actually crashing onnd. Due to that, the infected in the oceans were more powerful and advancedpared to those in spreading terror innd. In fact, due to the waters being contaminated with Mutagen, some sea creatures grew limbs that enabled them to go onnd.


    The most affected ce however was the Kingdoms of the Merfolk.


    Under the Southern Pacific Ocean near the Philippine Sea, one of these kingdoms was located. Beautiful structures made of colorful corals and stones that more looked like they were shaped by time than the hands of the Mer. Strange looking corals that were not discovered by man yet could be seen illuminating the whole ce. The most prominent structure was therge castle at the center of kingdom.


    The city under the sea was not that big, it could be saidpared to a small housing subdivision mankind had on theirnds. Covering this small but beautiful kingdom was a transparent dome, a barrier made of magical energy. This barrier kept the kingdom from being seen by the eyes of the unworthy and kept the peace and quiet of this kingdom.


    However, that peace could not be seen at this moment.


    "Father, is what I heard true?"


    A beautiful mermaid with colorful stones and shells adorned on her head asked the king who sat on his coral throne and wore his coral crown adorned with gems. This beautiful mermaid was the princess of this kingdom, Milliel. She had a tail with orange scales and a wave tail like a goldfish.


    Her father, Farlierl, the king, sat on his throne with a stern face. His long beard that danced along with the water could not hide this expression.


    "My Princess, it is better not to interrupt his majesty while he is thinking."


    A handsome merman reprimanded the princess. He was the general under the king and was reporting the dreadful circumstances they were facing.


    While they were here talking, their brave warriors were currently fighting outside their barrier. Their barrier that was supposed to hide their precious kingdom was still working and yet, their kingdom was being besieged by monsters.


    "Rumiel, Are you sure that what we are against were not evil creatures?"


    The king spoke with a very stern voice.


    "Yes, Your Majesty. By their appearance, they were supposed to be human but at the same time, they were not. I can assure that they were human since they all came out from that human vessel capable of traversing the sky that fell at the eastern reefs."


    "Those, ursed humans."


    King Farlierl cursed in a furious tone as he stood up from his throne. With his curse and expression, it was obvious that he had a deep grudge against humans.


    "Father, please appease yourself. What General Rumiel is saying is that the enemies should be human before but they are not anymore."


    "Yes, I agree with the princess, Your Majesty. There seemed to be another factor at y in this situation. In the first ce, humans should not be able to traverse our ocean this deep without those equipment they call diving gears. Not to mention that our current enemies were able to move over water with speedparable to us."


    Hearing that, the king calmed down to some extent and sat once again.


    "What about the casualties?"


    "Your Majesty, there was a lot unfortunately. Some were injured by scratches and uncanny tricks of our enemies but most were injured by bites. For some reason, those that were bitten were unable to continue the fight and we had no choice but to send them away and they were brought to the healing area."


    While the three were inside the throne room of the castle along with a few soldiers guarding the king and the princess, shouts were suddenly heard outside.


    "Your Majesty! Your Majesty!"


    A mermaid with greenish hair and wearing a shell circlet barged into the throne room. Of course she was intercepted by the soldiers with their spears made of stone and sharp shells.


    "Let her through."


    The kingmanded making the soldiers step back to their initial positions while the mermaid that had just entered rushed in front of the king.


    "Erithiel, what is happening?"


    "Your majesty, the city is in chaos!"


    "What?!"


    Everyone in the throne room eximed in both shock and confusion.


    "Did the enemies made it through? It can''t be. I swear in Poseidon''s name that we should be able to block the enemies at least for days."


    Erithiel turned to the general.


    "General, it is not the enemies outside the barrier. Those soldiers sent to the healing area, those that were bitten. They had gone mad. They left the healing area and started attacking and biting our people. Those that were bitten also started to behave simrly and the situation was spreading."


    The atmosphere in the throne room had frozen. General Rumiel broke the ice with a resolute expression.


    "Your Majesty, Princess. If Erithiel''s statement is true, even Your Majesty and Princess Milliel is in danger. It is better for Your Majesty to take the Princess and escape. Take refuge in other kingdoms we are friends with. If the situation calmed down, I will personally search for your Majesty."<sub> </sub>


    The King and the Princess did not agree to that and without a choice, the general retracted his suggestion. After all, whether it was the humans or the merfolk, the duty of the leaders should be to oversee their people.


    However, the situation never got any better. It had even gotten worse several dayster.


    They identified the condition of the mermaids that had turned mad as an incurable disease and had spread all over the kingdom. The survivors of the kingdom led by the royal family which only had two remaining members, King Farlierl and Princess Milliel, they set off to abandon their kingdom. Following General Rumiel''s suggestion, they their school set off towards the direction of the nearest kingdom in the Philippine Sea.


    The journey was fretted withrge danger as many of the unsightly enemies chased after them. Although they still managed to escape, their numbers dwindled severely. In order for them to escape, General Rumiel stayed behind and dyed the enemies with his troops. That was thest time they heard of the brave young general.


    While hiding in the rock formations, corals and crevices near the bottom of the ocean, it took days for their poor group to reach the next kingdom that could be reached by several hours before. Not only that they were dyed by hiding but they also encountered strange sea creatures trying to eat everyone.


    Their numbers dwindled even more and when they finally reached the next kingdom, their numbers was even less than half from what they had when they left their kingdom.


    Reaching the next kingdom however, they were subjected to a harsh reality.


    The Merfolk Kingdom they were trying to reach had already been long destroyed. Their arrival turned the cause of the destruction to aim at them.


    A gigantic whale with fins shaped webbed feet with fingers.


    Despite itsrge body, it could swim very fast. Along with the others, they fled without any ces to go. The next kingdom nearby should be days to reach now and there was no assurance that that kingdom would still be there.


    It did not take long and they were cornered.


    "Milliel, my precious daughter, you have to live."


    "But father!"


    "After your mother died because of humans, you''re the most precious thing I had. Can you at least agree to myst wish?"


    Milky drops left Milliel''s eye and turned into pearls that drifted down the bottom of the sea. Her pure sorrow as she nodded turned into precious stones.


    With several guards and the remaining survivors, Milliel fled from the opening her father made. She was not supposed to look back but she could not help it. That was her biggest mistake that etched a painful memory that she would remember forever, the scene of her father being swallowed whole by that whale.


    Then, the catastrophe started.


    She saw it all when the whale suddenly grew limbs and started to walk on the bottom of the ocean. While that happened, the seawater started to grow turbulent and chaotic. Their group was not able to escape and was swept by the strong current. They all got separated.


    Unable to control her body, she was thrown unto rocks, corals and even other sea creatures swept by the current. She umted wounds on her body which kept her awake as she reminisced the final moments she had with her father.


    Finally, when her mind could not take it anymore, she finally lost consciousness.


    ***


    <strong>Day 42 ¨C 6:33 PM ¨C Mountain Base, Mount Mbito, General Nakar, Quezon</strong>


    "FATHER!"


    Milliel screamed as she woke up. It seemed that she had a nightmare.


    She was in a daze for some time when, she finally realized. Pearls dropped into the water she was submerged in as her tears turned into these precious gems.


    With a sad smile, she muttered.


    "I am alive. Father, I fulfilled your wish, right?"


    It took quite some time before she managed to calm down. That was when she noticed that she was not in the ocean but was actually in a strange ce. Her body was half submerged in water inside arge basin. She did not know what happened, where this ce was and why she was here.


    The only thing she could tell was that the water she was submerged in felt really good in her body.


    She looked around, what she could see were walls made of stone and a door made of metal. Even the ceiling were made of stones.


    "A¡­ dungeon?"


    She started to feel scared with the thought. What if she was captured? She was about to cry for a different reason when the door opened.


    Her eyes grew wide. Outside the door, a man wearing strange clothing stood. Yes, stood. It was because he had feet.


    "HUMAN!"


    Milliel tried to escape. However, since she was inside a basin, she ended up being thrown unto the dry ground. Nevertheless, she used her arms to try to get away. She crawled on the ground causing her yet to heal wounds to open once more. The ground was dyed with her blood as she tried to escape. Unfortunately, the furthest she could go was the farthest corner of the room.


    There, she curled herself while leaning on the wall and hanging her head down. She was even scared to look at the human that entered the room. Despite the pain her body was feeling due to her wounds, her fear overwhelmed her mind.


    "*%##^? #!% &^# *#!( $%?"


    Milliel could hear the human spoke but of course, there was no way for her to understand it. She did not know, the human was currently scratching his head not knowing what to do realizing thenguage barrier between them.


    Then, she felt two hands wrap around her body which made her flinch. She tried to struggle but the human was strong. When she though that she was in danger, she felt herself being submerged in water once more. She was gently ced inside the basin causing the water to be a bit dirty but being submerged in water made her feel better.


    The arms let go of her without doing anything harmful to her. Rather, she even felt a strange feeling of warmth andfort while she was wrapped by those arms. She was finally able to look at the human in front of her. It seemed that he looked really troubled and was currently talking to a strange creature on his shoulder.

 Chapter 277 Stuck, The Elites And Fighters Of Death Valley Settlement In A Huge Predicament

    <strong>Day 41 ¨C 6:40 PM ¨C Main Road, Barangay Anoling, General Nakar, Quezon</strong>


    The sun had already set and because of the thick clouds that loomed over the sky and the heavy rain around the eye of the storm, the surroundings were even darker than usual. Because of the darkness, the shes of lightning between the clouds and the lightsing from the vehicles traveling at the main road were more prominent.


    This road that was located at the south of the Death Valley Settlement was mostly surrounded by rice fields and vacantnds which made it easier for the people of the Death Valley Settlement to monitor the road not to mention that they actually made the effort to uproot the trees at the roadside to widen their view. That was how paranoid the people of this settlement against the possible iing attacks especially from the military.


    After all, this was a paradise for them, people who had already forsaken morality and humanity to indulge themselves with their immoral desires and mindsets. None of them wanted to lose this ce.


    However, an existence named Mark became a huge threat to them and had already destroyed more than half of the settlement with his schemes. Needless to say that but more than half of the defensive forces of the settlement had already been annihted.


    Right now, the person that caused all this was running along the main road while keeping a fixed distance from the gigantic creature chasing behind him. Due to therger size of the whale, it was easy for it to catch up to Mark but every time that happened, he would vanish into a trail of ck mist and appear further in front constantly maintaining the safe distance.


    It did not take long and the three sides met. Of course, Mark was not included in those three as he was the fourth side after all.


    ***


    Adrik and his convoy travelled along the road. Due to the rain, the off roads became muddy and the main roads became flooded. It took them a lot of time to return despite the fact that they hurried as much as possible. Fortunately, it was not only them that were affected by those obstacles but also the infected that relentlessly followed behind. The unfortunate thing however, those same obstacles prevented them from losing the infected from their tail.


    Now, they were in a severe predicament. Adrik''s men had just received some fatal information through the radio from his men left at the settlement. Because of the weather, the transmission was rather choppy but the person managed to convey the serious situation.


    The whale that had devastated the majority of their settlement finally left. It was a good thing if not for the fact that the whale was heading towards their convoy. With the horde of more Mutated Infected behind and the gigantic whale in front, they were in to be sandwiched between the enemies.


    Changing their route was impossible as the branching roads nearby would either lead them away from the settlement or would just go around the corner and back to the main road. They could not go off road either because all that they could see by the roadside where the rice fields that had nothing but thick mud. It was a ce that could not be traversed by vehicles and it was also hard for them to traverse the muddy fields on foot.


    Without any other choice, they elerated their convoy in order to reach the nearest residential block by the roadside. The block consisted of several residential houses along with a small monastery. Since both going forward and backwards posed a huge threat, they Adrik and his men decided to use the area as defense at least, against the infected. They already called for reinforcements but for sure it would not be easy for them toe.


    BANG! BANG!


    RATATATAT!!!


    The gunners riding on the back of their vehicles started to fire their guns in order to dy the infected even just a bit. Even just a second was precious to them. It was unfortunate that the horde of infected chasing after them looked too smart to be true. They were not able to gun down the horde because the ones running in front were [Armor Types] that were almost invincible even against bullets.


    As for the other vehicles, they all stormed into thepound of the monastery and were aligned by the in a circle as barricades.


    "Emperor, shouldn''t we enter the monastery and not stop here?"


    One of Adrik''s men asked seeing that he ordered them to create a barricade using the vehicles rather than entering the building.


    "We can''t. There is too many of us to be able to freely move inside the building. Also that damn whale ising. The building will sure crumble once that thing arrives. I''d rather fight than get buried alive."


    Adrik clutched his aching arm and spoke with a voice filled with resentment. Well of course, not all he said were true but just some words to make the people around him believe what he said.


    The emperor then turned to a rather round bodied man who was resting inside one of the vehicles.


    "Corrosion, how long till you are ready?"


    Hearing his question, the fat man called Corrosion closed his eyes and probed his body.


    "Sir, about five minutes."


    "Good! Get yourself ready, well need you to deal with the [Armor Types]."


    "Yes, Sir!"


    Corrosion replied with a stern face though his eyes looked troubled. Corrosion''s ability after he became a Mutator was to be able to spit corrosive bile. It was a rather disgusting ability but Corrosion was not bothered by it at all. Rather, it helped him to digest things inside his stomach even food that was supposed to be inedible. In this apocalypse, getting enough food for a fat man like him was hard. With his ability however, he could eat anything and be satisfied since he would not suffer from food poisoning and diarrhea.


    The only setback of his ability was that he needed to recharge his body after using everything in his stomach. To be able to escape the horde earlier, he had already emptied his reserves and had to refill it.


    Corrosion took out his current food which made the others look at him with disgust. What he was eating was an arm of a child. Yes, a human child. This fat man was a cannibal and his favorite food was children. The taste of a child''s meat would always raise his spirits. The one he was eating now was actually one of the children that came with the evacuation from East Port Settlement. Although the others were not able to get anything, he managed to secure food for himself before he retreated and escaped. In fact, the child was still alive inside the vehicle and was unconscious due to the pain from the child''s arm being ripped off.


    The fat cannibal munched on his treat mumbling about how he would finish the rest of the childter on.


    ***


    Unknown to everyone in the convoy, someone had already slipped into their ranks and heard every single they said.<sub> </sub>


    Mark left the whale into the dust and ran off first to see what the people in the convoy were up to. After he stealthily snatched one of the men from their convoy and took his undamaged jacket and guns, he walked around as if he was among their group. After all, with therge number of people here, it would be hard to say if they were all familiar with each other''s faces. Not to mention that he was wearing a mask right now. Different from before however, it only covered his nose and mouth and was covered in cloth to avoid suspicion. Wearing a mask was not new to them. In fact, there were some that were wearing makeshift masks like a modified welding mask and even a hockey mask.


    When no one was looking, Mark slipped into the vehicle where he detected the child. The poor girl was near death with her arm ripped violently. Her pale skin showed her loss of blood. Her arm that was ripped off was burned to seal the wound in order to keep her alive and probably, fresh.


    Well, she was lucky.


    With a puff of ck mist, both Mark and the unconscious girl vanished. Mark then appeared atop the monastery building with the girl on his arms.


    Looking at the criminals below, Mark feltughing. They were wasting their effort. With him here, none of them would leave this ce alive.


    Mark looked at the man leading these people. His fluctuation was quite simr to the leader of the ouws he killed before, the man called Drake, with dragonification ability which he gave to Char. This leader should be that man called Adrik and the father of Drake.


    Looking at the man however, Mark''s eyes were filled with incredulity that almost made himugh out loud. There was no doubt that the man was also a Mutator and his robust body told that Adrik was rather strong. However, out of all traits that could manifest inside a Mutator''s conscious and subconscious, this man who was supposed to be the leader of Death Valley Settlement had¡­


    "Cowardice? Seriously?"


    Mark muttered with ridicule.


    However, the trait was really well hidden in Adrik''s case. If one as not to look at him and observe him, Adrike was actually talking and instructing their group while being in the safest ce which was the back of the group. Mark could tell that this guy was ready to abandon everyone here in order to escape. Surely, he was a coward. A person who would only fight in battle''s he could win while running away at things he could not handle.


    "Anyway¡­ All of you can die now."


    Mark spoke as his eyes glowed red.


    GRRRUUUAAARR!!!


    UUWWWOOOOOUUUUU!!!


    Both the iing whale and the horde of the infected roared almost at the same time. The infected became more and more aggressive as they detected a psychic nearby releasing arge amount of energy. Even though these infected were still maintaining their formation, they were already away from Aephelia''s control and as such, led to the infected bing berserk.


    Soon, the defenders started to get overwhelmed by the sudden rampage of the horde. At the same time, tremors could be heard as the whale finally arrived and kicked the wall of the monastery crumbling it to pieces. Even the monastery building was shaking as the whale brushed off its exterior.


    "AAAHHHH! HELP!!!"


    Yells started to echo around their barricade as the infected started to run forward in frenzy.


    The bodies of the criminals were ripped into pieces as the infected caught and ate them alive. Those that confronted the [Armor Types] turned into disfigured people in a few moments.


    Finally, Corrosion seemed to be ready. His stomach was way bloated than before.


    SPURT!


    Corrosion spit a mouthful of bile towards an [Armor Type]. The armor of the infected started to melt along with its flesh. It did not take long and the [Armor Type] infected crumbled to the ground with melted body parts.


    The fat man was about to attack once but¡­


    "GAHUH?"


    He let out a confused expression but then, he saw that his throat had been pierced by a ratherrge needle. No, it was better to say that it was a small stake than arge needle.


    From the roof of the Monastery, Mark shot Corrosion creating a hole on his throat. The ck corrosive liquid started to spill from the hole. He tried to block the wound to stop the spill but Mark shot another needle and the target was his stomach. Simrly, the corrosive liquid tore through the organs and ended up spilling as he screamed. With the fatal injury, Corrosion started to drift away from reality and entered a deep sleep.


    BAM!


    Debris flew around as the whale hit the monastery building with its tail. It seemed that Adrik and his close men were putting up a good fight against the whale.


    As Mark thought, Drake and Adrik both had simr abilities. In front of the whale, Adrik was flying with his bat like wings while his body was covered in ck scales. He looked like a ck dragonewt.


    "Found another interesting ability to take."


    Mark murmured with great interest.

 Chapter 278 Loss And Death, The Fall Of The Death Valleys Emperor

    <strong>Day 41 ¨C 7:00 PM ¨C Apostles of Contemporary Times Monastery, Barangay Anoling, General Nakar, Quezon</strong>


    Mark jumped down from the roof of the monastery and entered the intact part of the monastery away from the battle. Staying on the roof started to feel ufortable due to the rain. Although he could maintain his body temperature due to being able to control his blood, it was not the case for the unconscious girl he brought away from the battlefield.


    Heid the girl down on a bed inside one of the rooms in the second floor and went back to the already decimated side of the monastery building. After finding a rather good area where he could see the whole fight to death of the criminals of Death Valley Settlement, he sat down casually. He did not even bother hiding and was really sitting in the open. However, no one was able to notice him as he watched the show. They were all busy fending for themselves and trying their best to survive the dangerous situation.


    With the unnatural darkness of the night, it was quite hard to see. If not for the fact that his sight was enhanced before, Mark would find it hard to see the current situation. As for the people below, they used the headlights of their vehicles to light up the front and see their enemies. If they did not do that, not only that they would look like blind people but the shes from their guns would disorient their vision.


    Adrik steeled his mind and flew towards the whale to distract it while the others try to damage the already injured whale.


    Mark watched the transformed Adrik. He noticed that even though the father and son had the simr abilities, they also had differences. The Dragonified Drake was red in color while Adrik''s was ck. The differences were not only in color but also characteristics and abilities.


    In Drake''s case, the scales in his body wererge and looked like pointed metal or gravel. The most apparent thing in Drake''s transformation was his glowing mouth which indicated his ability to breathe fire. Drake was also more oriented with strength and defense.


    On the other hand, the Emperor''s scales were small and lined neatly. Unlike Drake, Adrik''s transformation was more oriented with speed. The shape of his scales seemed to aid him to be able to fly with less air resistance. It seemed to be the reason he personally went to distract the whale. With this speed, the whale would have no way to catch him at all. If it came to worse, this speed could also help him escape.


    If Drake had this speed, Mark was sure he would have a harder time to catch him and he might even have been able to escape. Still, Mark wondered what happened to him though. It was because the twisted arm he had was too obvious even after he transformed. That arm was dangling oddly and was bent in the wrong direction and ce.


    BAM!


    "Grah!"


    One of the fighters in front let out a painful yell as a Mutated Infected with stone like muscles bashed both its robust arms onto his body. It was too sudden that he was unable to dodge. Normally, although the infected would attack in different patterns, their main priority was to bite others. This Mutated Infected however was behaving differently from others and was attacking everything like a madman.


    The Mutator that was hit by the rock like muscles of the Mutated Infected was pushed back a few meters and hit other people behind him. Those people behind soon stood back up but the man that was directly hit did not as his chest was severely caved in. It seemed that he already breathe hisst.


    Their line of defense was being pushed back. Almost everyone was already out of their wits and their hearts were being slowly filled with fear. Despite their guns and abilities as a either a Mutator or an Evolver, they were not able to push the threat back and rather, they were the ones being pushed into a corner.


    "GAHAH!!! AHHH! HELP!"


    Another man yelled for help as he was pulled by the infected and became a living feast for them. He struggled to escape and because of that, the fingers of the infected that grabbed on his body pierced his stomach and tore his flesh. Feeling the pain, the man fell down spilling blood on the muddy ground.


    Then, a scene that grabbed Mark''s attention happened.


    A Mutator holding a machete in his right hand hacked one of the infected without any shred of mercy. Mark knew that the man was a Mutator since he was using his other hand that had long nails to pierce the eyes and destroy the brain of the infected. Due to the muddy ground and the dark environment however, he slipped. The moment he felt down, an infected jumped towards him and managed to take a bite on his neck.


    He managed to kill the infected but it was already toote.


    Following the routine, he would be an infected with that bite. However, this was the first time Mark was able to see what would happen to a Mutator after being bitten.


    Finally, the sight unfolded. Screaming loud, the man really started to turn. However, unlike normal infected, some changes happened to his body. His already long nails became longer, stronger and even sharper. Not only that but his hair also started to grow and started to look like sharp metal.


    Even with the changes, the man obviously became a high tiered Mutated Infected.


    The Mutator that became infected lunged towards the middle of the battlefield. Carnage ensued as he mowed down his formerrades with his inhumane strength and speed.


    "I see, so that is what happens."


    Mark murmured. It seemed that the abilities of the Mutator would improve almost instantly after being bitten by the infected once more. However, they would really turn into a true infected.


    He had a question in his mind though. Mark was wondering if a Mutator still had a chance to retain bing a Mutator after the second bite. If that was the case, it would be a good way to improve once abilities further though it would be quite a life and death gamble.


    The men below fell in a bitter struggle even further as more and more of theirrades joined the ranks of the infected. Furthermore, each of the Mutators that were bitten became stronger Mutated Infected which was difficult to fight due to various reasons.


    Mark''s sight left the people below and faced the direction where the whale was. He noticed some people running from the north. It seemed that the reinforcements came already. They took too long however since they were on foot. As for the vehicles they should have used, all of those had been crushed by the whale already during the time it rampaged inside the settlement.


    Ignoring the reinforcements, Mark turned to the sky.


    "Time''s up, I guess."


    He murmured.


    With those words, Mark vanished from the second floor of the Monastery building.


    Unexpectedly, Mark appeared about a meter away above the back of the whale.


    He then started at Adrik who was dumbfounded to his sudden appearance. Adrik then heard his voice.


    "Fall."


    Mark''s eyes glowed brightly as he stared at Adrik. With those glowing eyes as cue, Adrik froze mid-air as he felt a sudden burst of pain in his head. The pain burst forth from the inside which only not made him unable to react and endure but also disabled his senses immediately.<sub> </sub>


    Adrik felt warm liquid came of his orifices. Still, he did not know what was happening. All he could do was to scream in pain as he fell from the height he was flying.


    SPLASH!


    The Emperor of Death Valley Settlement suddenly plunged onto the ground caused a huge shock to his men and their morale was severely hit by the scene. Their hearts were already wavering and this scene caused their hearts to fall into turmoil.


    As result, some of them started to retreat. The ignored everything and deserted to escape.


    "Hey! What are you bastards doing! Shit!"


    One of Adrik''s henchmen shouted towards the men that ran away. He surely had killing intent in those shout but he was not able to do anything more than to shout since he was also upied in fighting the horde.


    Due to those running away, their line of defense became filled with holes and even more people became prey to the infected. Then¡­


    Hell came¡­


    Without anyone distracting the whale, it started to charge towards the horde. Even with the whale''s berserk state, it seemed that it still viewed the infected as mortal enemies like other Failed Mutator did. The problem however was that¡­


    The whole defense lineposed of the people from Death Valley Settlement stood between the two forces.


    "AHHH!!"


    "RUN! F*CK! RUN!"


    "SH*T!"


    The whale trampled the defense line they made. It caused a plethora of screams from the men that should be fighting the infected. Some were hit by the rampaging whale and were thrown away by force, some were kicked away and received injuries, while others were trampled to death and turned into meat paste. The majority however, after receiving the whale''s attacks, became bitten by the infected in their vulnerable state.


    ***


    Trying his hardest to endure, Adrik pushed himself up from the ground. However, the scene that he saw was the ughter of the people he ruled over.


    He lost. Everything was lost.


    Since that was the case, he should abandon the settlement and this ce already and escape.


    However¡­


    "I can''t let you do that under my watch."


    Adrik heard a voice from behind him. Trying his best to endure the pain that increased once again, he turned his head and saw a man wearing tattered clothing and strange armor on his body. The man stared at him with glowing eyes that sent chills into his spine.


    "W-who are you!"


    Adrik started to stutter in fear. His subconscious trait was already surfacing due to the loss in this battle.


    To his question, the man tilted his head a bit and answered.


    "I guess, Sherwyn should have already told you about me though?"


    Adrik''s eyes went wide¡­


    Sherwyn and his father was one of his good clients in business and were also members of the organization. Adrik was already surprised when Sherwyn managed to reach this settlement and immediately gave the man a good post and position in the settlement. One thing made him unsettled from Sherwin though. It was the news he gave when he arrived about survivors living in the mountain led by a powerful person. He said that the person could be a threat in the future.


    The man wanted to send men to capture them but since the loss and gain could bring them into deficit, Adrik declined. After all, these forested mountains were home to ferocious evolved animals and they could not risk many people just because of a few survivors. Due to that, Sherwyn was dissatisfied but as he also knew the risk involved, he did not insist on what he wanted. They were all businessmen after all.


    Who would have known that the man Sherwyn talked about that time would appear here? It seemed that Sherwyn was right but it was already toote.


    "Yep, it''s toote. You can follow Sherwin to hell now."


    The man smiled as he directed his palm towards Adrik''s face. His glowing red eyes intensified further.


    BAM!


    Adrik''s eyes rolled over due to extreme mental pain and fainted. Once more, he fell onto the muddy ground. Due to his loss of consciousness, his ability deactivated. The moment it happened, the man with glowing eyes pulled Adrik''s hair up lifting his body and raised his arm holding a strange shaped de.


    SHIRK!


    The head of the Emperor of Death Valley Settlement separated from his body. Blood sttered as the headless body of Adrik fell back to the ground. The man on the other hand, vanished into ck mist that was barely discernable in this dark night.

 Chapter 279 The Sword Of Judgment Fell, Finally Achieving His Goals In This Fight

    <strong>Day 41 ¨C 8:32 PM ¨C Apostles of Contemporary Times Monastery, Barangay Anoling, General Nakar, Quezon</strong>


    With the precious head of Adrik on his hand, Mark returned at the second floor of the Monastery building. He immediately took out a [Physical Crystal] and let it absorb the mutation the leader of Death Valley Settlement had gained from bing a Mutator. It was the ability to dragonify himself and transform to a creature that resembled a dragonewt with ck scales.


    Adrik''s ability was simr to his son''s and thus proved Mark''s theory of rtives having simr abilities after bing a Mutator. It was the same for Emika and Mikio that he met before. The father of the two kids also turned into Mutated Infected that looked like a moving tree.


    Mark immediately decided to take Adrik''s ability and secure it. It was because unlike most Mutators he saw before, it could be said that the [Dragonification] ability of the Volkov father and son were high leveled.


    After observing and taking abilities of Mutators for some time now, he started to differentiate the mutated abilities in different tiers.


    The first tier was those with partial mutations outside their bodies. The Mutators with abilities that only involved a part of their body was in this tier. People like SP02 Agbayani back in Firenze Subdivision with his ability to harden his arms from his hands to his elbows were obviously just a mutation that only involved a small part or few parts of his body. However, there were exceptions to this that belonged to another tier.


    For the second tier, it involved those with mutations that covered a huge part of their bodies especially inside. Examples were those that had body strengthening, agility mutation or those that were able to spit corrosive liquid. Mark could also be considered to belong to this tier as his mutation involved his blood.


    In the third tier, those with full body mutations belonged. A good example of this was one of the Mutators among the survivors that arrived at his base before. That person was able to release fire from his whole body. Chameleon, the leader of the crime syndicate in Cavite also belonged to this tier. However, although Mark thought that Mutators with full body mutations belonged to this tier, only those that could not transform into something else were included.


    The fourth tier on the other hand included those that were able to transform. Abbygale, Karlene and the Volkov father and son belonged to this tier. In a sense, these were the strongest tier but it did not mean that there was any weak tier among the four tiers. It was just that Mutators with transformation ability usually had more than one abilities granted by their mutation making them quite stronger.


    For the fifth and final tier, those with permanent transformations belonged here. For now, only Laps, Fein and Char were the ones Mark knew of that could be listed under this tier. In his theory, it was more apparent in animals but he was not sure if it would not be applicable to humans at all.


    In any case, differentiating the Mutator abilities in these tiers made it easier for Mark which ones to prioritize in taking their abilities. Like Adrik''s ability, he had many options of how to use it. He could either give it to anyone trustworthy under him or find another animal that he could tame and turn it into an existence simr to a dragon like Char. However finding a suitable animal would surely be hard. The chances that Char was a unique creature even before it became a dragon was not zero and was actually rather high.


    Furthermore, Mark really needed to prioritize which abilities to take. It was because despite that amount of heads of Mutators he collected, not all of their abilities could be harvested. It was due to the fact that the [Physical Crystals] in his hands were not enough. [Mutagen Stone] was quite a rare item after all and he needed two stones for every [Physical Crystal] he could create. Counting the [Physical Crystals] he had now, it was around fifty excluding those that were already upied. That was already a lot but was still not enough to take the abilities of several hundred Mutators.


    The only reason he collected all the heads of every Mutator he killed was for him to be able to choose which ones were good after this fight.


    In fact, there was a lot of those heads that would be rejected just for the fact that Mark did not know their abilities. It was the reason why Mark was watching the Mutators as they fought before taking action. Although he was the type that wanted to end things as fast as possible, he needed to make the Mutators use their abilities in front of him so that he would be able know their abilities. Mark had no way of knowing what kind of abilities they had after all if he did not saw it.


    As for the abilities he had already put into the crystals without knowing what they were, Mark just kept them for future purposes, like giving a gacha reward to people in his base that was able to give enough contribution. In the best case, he could give the crystals with unknown abilities to animals and kill them after learning what ability they received. However, it would cost double the amount of [Physical Crystals] since he would need another crystal to retrieve those mutations. They were not like psychic abilities after all.


    With all thoseplicated things in mind, Mark retrieved the [ck Dragonification Physical Crystal] and returned outside. He needed to finish up the work although most of the people from Adrik''s entourage had already escaped due to the very unfavorable situation. Even though they did not want to lose the paradise they had, they would rather escape that keep struggling in a fight that could push them to death.


    In any case, if they really escaped, they would not be of concern to Mark anymore as long as they did not appear in front of him anymore.


    After all, Mark had bigger things to think of now, literally.


    The moment Mark got out of the building, the Mutator Whale and the horde of infected were entangled in a battle simr to a scene in a series where the protagonist was a normal person that travelled by boat while the attackers were dwarf sized humans.


    With their huge numbers, the infected tried to swarm the whale but they were severely shaken off by the agitated whale. On the other hand, the whale used its huge body to trample over its enemies.


    Then, a fat infected tumbled towards the whale. Mark found the infected familiar. It was actually the fat man he had killed a moment ago. Since he did not know the fat man''s ability and also found the man disgusting beyond measure, he left his body intact after killing him. It seemed that leaving his body was a good decision though.


    The fat man which now became a huge bellied mutated infected ran with awkward looking movements due to his severely bloated stomach. It looked like his body was about to burst as it slowly kept on expanding.


    With a huge strange looking infected, it was impossible that the whale would not notice it. It raised its right front foot and smashed it towards the infected. That was a huge mistake the whale made.


    As the whale''s foot made contact with the mutated fat man, his body burst into a disgusting explosion. ck smelly liquid scattered over arge area and arge part of the body of the whale was sttered with the liquid.<sub> </sub>


    UWWWWWOOOOOOOUUUUUU!!!!!


    The whale started to trash around while loudly wailing in pain. It trashed around too much that everything around was trampled and buildings around the monastery got smashed into pieces. Mark even had to rush back into the building to retrieve the unconscious girl and left the building just before it fell into smithereens due to the whale''s struggle.


    That ck smelly liquid started to release smoke as it corroded everything it touched. The flesh of the infected, the grass, the concrete, the vehicles, and even the whale''s body was being melted by the liquid. Although the amount of that ck liquid slowly reduced as it corroded things, the damage in the surroundings was still severe. Not to mention that the whale started to roll around and lose bnce as its right front foot and arge portion of its underbelly slowly melted.


    With such a good chance, Mark did not want to miss it. Mark went down to the ground with the girl in his arms and released quite an amount of the mental energy to attract the Mutator Whale once more. As he wanted to, the whale struggled up despite it already one of its feet and was still in pain just to get to Mark. The other infected were also the same as they detected and saw Mark.


    However, that was another mistake everyone, the whale and the horde of the infected made.


    In front of Mark was the area where most of the ck liquid sttered and arge hole was already visible on the ground. Once the infected and the whale entered that hole, they submerged parts of their bodies on the highly corrosive liquid and their bodies started to dissolve once more.


    The whale trashed around once more and rolled in pain but since it was already inside therge hole filled with the ck liquid, it ended up smearing more of the liquid on its body.


    Soon, the whale was already dying even without Mark doing anything.


    Because of its actions, arge amount of the ck corrosive liquid melted arge part of its body. Not only its armor but arge chunk of its body was melted. The only part left intact was its head and its tail. However that tail was already detached from its body after the part before the tail had already melted.


    Now, it was time for the finishing blow.


    Mark took out the [Lightning Mental Crystal] and prepared. Due to the weather, it was the most suitable one to use but also the most dangerous since it could also affect Mark and the girl. As such, he made his way to a dry covered area nearby which was a small tool shed that managed to survive the onught.


    Then, Mark activated the crystal.


    Due to the storm, not only that there was quite an amount of electric charge in the clouds but the amount of psychic energy in the air was rather thick. As Mark activated the crystal, the clouds in the sky began to swirl which also surprised Mark.


    Then¡­


    THHOOOOM!!!


    CRACKLE!!!


    The sword of judgment fell from the sky tearing everything into burnt pieces. A several meter wide lightning fell from the sky and hit the whale. Not only that it decimated arge part of the body of the whale but a huge amount of electricity scattered on the wet surroundings. The horde was heavily struck by the current and the whole horde fell after their brains were fried.


    Another damage that happened was that the already escaped and already managed to get quite a distance away were struck by the numbing wave of electricity that travelled through the rain drops and rain water on the ground. Many fainted while most of them felt numb on their bodies and were not able to move properly.


    Finally, the coast was clear and Mark stepped out of the shed. He started to move his body strangely as he shook off the numbness he felt. There was no way for him to expect that what he did would have that much strength. In any case, his goals were achieved now. The Death Valley Settlement was already gone while the whale was also killed.


    Being the reason for the existence of the storm, the rain started to cease with the whale''s death.


    Taking out a [Mental Crystal] Mark started to take the psychic ability of the whale which allowed it to call forth a storm.


    It did not take long and the glowing [Mental Crystal] finally had a glowing grayish-blue colored orb inside it.


    However, as Mark was about to take the crystal back, it suddenly flew away to his surprise.

 Chapter 280 The Fleeing Crystal, An Unusual And Very Unexpected Encounter

    <strong>Day 41 ¨C 9:40 PM ¨C Barangay Gumian, Infanta, Quezon</strong>


    Situated beside the main road, the Famy-Real-Infanta Road, that connected several municipalities in the Quezon Provice were the threepounds of South Luzon State University ¨C Infanta Campus, Tohongin National High School and ro M. Recto Memorial Hospital. Before the apocalypse, this area was highly popted especially with high school, college students and the families of the patients confined at the hospital. When the outbreak came, it became one of the most dangerous parts in the province.


    Fortunately, the situation was contained due to the fact that the main road was frequently used by the military. Thus, the area was mostly cleared of danger although the infected and evolved animals would still wander around this area from time to time. Previously, this ce had been used as an ambush point by the ouws but with their defeat several days ago, the ce returned to being an empty dpidated area.


    Now however, almost all the rooms that could be found in the buildings of the threepounds were upied with people, as for those that were not, those rooms were being used for other important things. The facilities of the buildings in the threepounds were not even enough and tents and temporary dwellings were built at the grounds.


    Soldiers from the military consistently patrol the openpounds to provide security and protection. It was despite the bad weather and the time. The temperature was cold and the ground was muddy but that did not stop the upright soldiers from performing their duties.


    These threepounds beside the main road and near the entrance of Marcos Highway were where the people from Port of Real Settlement evacuated due to the threat of the storm. This ce was about six kilometers away from the settlement and was further away from the sea. Although the ce was still within the area affected by the storm, they were away from the threat of the storm surge and the emerging sea creatures.


    In thepound of South Luzon State University ¨C Infanta Campus, people from East Port Settlement temporarily settled. Still, most of them were still confused because of the ups and downs they suffered and the strange events they experienced. After all, they were almost caught by the people of Death Valley Settlement and were surrounded by a veryrge number of infected. And yet, they were still alive and intact. They even managed to reach this ce and finally able to rest.


    They fought the people of Death Valley Settlement and even Karlene and na joined the fray after securing the safely of Miracle and the [BloodChildren]. However, when they prepared the bloody fight against the infected after the men of Death Valley Settlement started to retreat, a miraculous sight awaited them. The infected ignored them and went after the escaping criminals leaving them all with dumbfounded expressions.


    After that event, more people were injured and the march became harder. Due to that, Karlene tried to contact her father for assistance and luckily made contact despite the choppymunication. Soon, the military vehicles came and transported the injured, children, women and elderly first while the others continued to march the rest of the way but with the assistance of the soldiers that stayed behind to help.


    Inside the main building of the college campus, Karlene was currently spending time with her father that she had not seen since she left with Mark several days ago. Together with them were na and her uncle who was pestering her for her finds when both girls spend the past days with Mark. Of course, both the girls did not say anything unnecessary. Well, even if they wanted to talk, there was really nothing to say. After all, Mark did not reveal his vital secrets to them and the two were not privy about it either.


    All they could talk about was Mark''s amazing base. Although Mark forbid the others to mention anything about the base, that did not include na and Karlene. It was along with the fact that the military should already have an idea that Mark had somewhere to settle about, a base of his own. As long as it was not about things that could potentially harm the base, they could speak about it.


    Still, the faces of the two looked anxious. Not only them but majority of the people in the evacuation site saw that huge lightning strike. The brightness that overturned day and night in less than a second was really bad for the faint of heart. Not to mention the deafening roar of the heavens that followed after the strike.


    TOK! TOK!


    A knock was heard from outside.


    "Come in."


    Major Bautista let the person from outside the door to enter. The person was a soldier who looked hurried. That expression made the atmosphere inside the room rather tense. They did not know whether it would be a good or bad news.


    "Major. The General was calling for you."


    The soldier saluted and told his business.


    Hearing that, Major Bautista was confused. The Major had been busy running about because of the evacuation and was finally able to rest with the permission from the general. Yet, the general was calling for him in his free time. It could only happen if something very urgent urred.


    "Did General Faustino tell you why?"


    "Yes¡­"


    The soldier seemed to hesitate.


    "Say it."


    Major Bautista urged.


    "Actually Sir, it might sound unbelievable but we just received a report." The soldier took in a deep breathe. "Death Valley Settlement is destroyed. Apparently, the person with Miss Bautista and Miss Garces, Sir Mark, appeared there and was likely involved in its destruction. This news was received from our spies there."


    "HAH!"


    Hearing that, all the four people inside the room stood up at the same time with incredulous expressions.<sub> </sub>


    ***


    <strong>Day 41 ¨C 9:44 PM ¨C General Nakar Central Elementary School, Barangay Pocion, Infanta, Quezon</strong>


    At the main building of the school, the ves Mark collected stayed. There were only twenty people before when Mark left, but now, there was about a hundred ves gathered inside the building.


    After Mark left the ves under the protection of Char, several criminals went into the building. Seeing the escaped ves, they obviously wanted to either y with them or take them back into captivity. However, Char turned all those imbeciles into charred corpses that were currently left outside the building. Seeing that the twenty ves were being protected, the other ves that managed to take advantage of the situation and escaped their owners but had no ability to protect their selves took refuge here. Although they wanted to escape as soon as possible, their weakened bodies would not be able to handle it under the storm. It would be more likely that they would die due to cold if they did so which would contradict the whole reason they wanted to escape and that was to live a free life. Although it would be impossible to return to the life they had before the outbreak, in the least, they wanted a life free of torment and suffering from those who viewed themselves to be superior. They were already fed off from their life without a shred of self-respect.


    To their dismay, the dragon that served as their protector suddenly flew off several minutes after that huge lightning strike happened. Furthermore, arge group of armed men appeared outside the building which caused them even more disappointment and regret for not escaping beforehand.


    No one noticed that while all these things were happening, a glowing crystal passed by above the ruined settlement.


    ***


    <strong>Day 41 ¨C 9:45 PM ¨C Agos River, Barangay Pamplona, General Nakar, Quezon</strong>


    At the sky north east of Death Valley Settlement, Mark rode at Char''s back as they chased for the crystal that flew away. It was unknown why the crystal that should have just fallen to the ground after absorbing the psychic ability of the whale suddenly flew off. However, the manner it flew reminded Mark when the crystal containing Freed flew towards him six years ago. Still, that was due to Freed choosing him. As for this crystal, it was impossible that a sentient soul was controlling it. Even if the consciousness of the whale had survived and was identally absorbed into the crystal, it surely would not be able of doing this.


    When the crystal suddenly flew off, Mark tried to chase it immediately but he was hindered when a [Mental Crystal] suddenly popped up from the [PsyCrystal] on his arm. After all, the thick psychic energy in the air was still there and was being absorbed continuously. In fact, it was already the twenty-first crystal since the storm started. While Mark was doing many things such as killing the Mutators and destroying the settlement, the [PsyCrystal] did not stop absorbing the psychic energy in the air.


    After storing the new crystal, Mark jumped off to chase but the crystal he called [Stormcaller Mental Crystal] flew rather too fast that he even needed to call for Char to be able to maintain the distance. Although his [Shadow Mist Movement] was fast, he would gradually slowdown in the air due to theck of propelling force and would not be able to maintain the distance with the fleeing crystal.


    Luckily, the crystal continuously glowed which made it impossible for Mark to lose it due to the dark sky. However, it also made him feel that it was actually leading him somewhere than actually fleeing.


    After flying for several minutes, they reached the estuary that connected Agos River and the sea. There, the crystal that was flying at the same altitude all this time started to make its descent.


    The estuary below was ratherrge and there were several inds could be seen with therges one being about more or less four hundred meters in length. However, due to the rain that made the river overflow, the inds that could be seen were lesser in number while the visible ones looked smaller than normal.


    Mark saw the crystal descend on thergest ind in the middle of the estuary. It was rather dangerous since the rain made the river rather wild. If the crystal suddenly fell unto the water, everything he did was for naught. Fortunately, it seemed that the crystal was actually moving towards the ind and not anywhere else.


    Then, Mark noticed something. There was a figure lying slightly near the center of the ind. The figure seemed to be human¡­


    ¡­to be precise, human¡­ at least, the upper body.


    It was a woman, lying on her back without moving. As the crystal closed in to her, Mark had no choice but to rush down. Due to the sudden descent, Mark and Char managed to catch up to some extent. After reaching a close distance, Mark kicked off from Char''s body and vanished into ck mist. Just before the crystal could touch the woman''s body, Mark had already grabbed the crystal.


    The crystal did not struggle or flee however but settled on his hand as if it already fulfilled its responsibility. Somehow, Mark could feel that the crystal was pleading for something.


    Mark looked at the woman whose upper body was literally naked. Her face, body proportion and hair looked beautiful. She even looked enchanting. The ornaments on her hair which were made of colorful shells and stones further enhanced her beauty. However, her body had a lot of wounds and she was breathing weakly.


    Storm, Whale, this woman¡­


    Everything clicked unto ce and Mark understood what had happened and where the Mutator whale had stolen its ability to call forth a strong storm.


    There was a myth that if you caught one if this woman''s race, the king of the sea would call forth a never ending storm until the captive was released back to the sea. It was very likely that their kingdom under the sea had already been destroyed and it would not be surprising if the whale was the culprit. Another possible thing was this woman could be thest member of their kingdom.


    Still, Mark would not have thought that he would encounter someone like her this time.


    After all, Mermaids were very elusive creatures.

 Chapter 281 The Aftermath, The Final Moments At The Death Valley Settlement

    <strong>Day 41 ¨C 10:12 PM ¨C Barangay Pamplona, General Nakar, Quezon</strong>


    While riding on Char''s back, Mark returned to the monastery to pick up the unconscious girl she left there. Of course, he was not alone this time. The [BloodChildren] that was left under Char''s care inside [Blood Metal] containers Mark hanged on the dragon''s neck was released and was frolicking around Mark.


    As for the mermaid he found, Mark also brought her along. Seeing a creature of legends of the sea for the first time, there was no way that he would leave her there to die. If possible, he wanted to keep her together with Amihan who was also a denizen of the mystical part of earth. Not to mention that there was also Pefile, the Tamawo who was Edzel''s father, who could possibly be recruited in the future.


    "Still, a mermaid, huh."


    Mark muttered as he nced at the unconscious mermaid.


    Their legends could be heard in almost any part of earth. A lot of countries had them in their mythologies, stories that even started way before science and religion was poprized. Many skeptics and fake ounts about them but there were also those that seemed to be true. Of course, as their existence was way far from norm, stories about them were often deemed as hoax.


    Unfortunately, the Mutagen''s arrival on earth slowly broke the barrier that separated the norm everyone knew and the mystical face of earth. It was not surprising though that they were really existing. After all, no matter how people deny things, the fact that no one in the world truly knew everything in earth remained true. Although their existence was always renounced, there was never evidence found that they really did not exist.


    In fact, there was a huge load of things that humans were yet to understand about earth. Yet, people always behaved as if they knew everything.


    Looking back at the mermaid by his side, she looked beautiful and she had the looks of a western beauty. However, her beauty was just not in Mark''s taste. If he was asked, he would surely say that he preferred eastern faces as an Otaku. In fact, Mei totally fit that criterion.


    Mark did not know why he suddenly brought this out of his mind. Probably, the possibility of this mermaid being thest of her kind or at least, thest of her tribe triggered something inside him. What if he was left alone once more like how he lived the past four years? Mark felt ratherplicated thinking that. It was very rare that he would feel something like this.


    He raised his head and looked at the sky. Stars and the moon started to peek out from the clouds as the dark clouds started to disperse. The rain had already stopped and the lightning in the sky was nowhere to be seen. Without the whale, the storm finally stopped.


    "I wonder if they are also looking at the sky right now."


    Mark muttered. As some quotes in dramas, anime and manga, they might be separated for now but they were always under one sky.


    He suddenly smiled with a hint of self-ridicule. The base was established, the danger in the surrounding area was dealt with, and the remaining [BloodChildren] were also retrieved. With all the things he wanted to do finally finished, it seemed that he became a bit sentimental. It was because finally, he could meet them.


    Just a little more and he could meet them¡­


    As he flew in the sky towards the monastery, he noticed a huge convoy of vehicles that arrived in the ruined settlement. Mark was quite surprised. He did not expect that they woulde too fast. It was just more or less half hour after the battle finished and the military had already appeared to deal with the aftermath. However, it was not really that surprising that he remembered the spies left in the settlement. They should have contacted the military as soon as they were able to. As for the spy captain, Mark was not able to deal with him, that guy probably escaped already.


    Mark sighed in relief finding the unconscious girl safe when he returned to the monastery. After all, he left in a hurry because of the crystal that suddenly flew off. Well, with every living thing and infected around dying due to the lightning strike he triggered, it would be surprising if the girl was suddenly in danger in the short time he was gone.


    Soon, he returned to the Death Valley Settlement. The appearance of a huge creature suddenlynding in the middle of the school grounds alerted the soldiers that already upied the ce. Char was immediately surrounded but seeing the familiar dragon and Mark riding on its back, those that recognized him immediately put their guns down.


    The area was illuminated by spot lights and the noisy sounds of generators could be heard from several ces. People who looked like ves wearing tattered clothing and had wounds and scars on their bodies were being carefully escorted by the military into their vehicles. It seemed that the arrival of the military lightened the load in their hearts and hope could be seen in their eyes.


    When Mark jumped down, two girls hurriedly approached him.


    "MARK!"


    Karlene and na came running with worried faces.


    Back at East Port Settlement, Mark stayed behind for an unknown reason and they were already worried because of that. Hearing that Mark suddenly appeared and participated in the destruction of the dangerous settlement further bolstered their worries. Not to mention Mark''s tattered appearance right now.


    Remembering how Miracle fearlessly confronted Adrik back then and how Mark fearlessly participated in the destruction of this settlement, it really seemed like they were father and daughter. They were alike in some ways.


    The two were about toin to Mark but before they could utter a single word, Mark raised his hand to stop them.


    "I know you two want toin but can you two save that forter? I''m tired. Look at me, I''m all tattered and soaking wet."


    Hearing that, the two swallowed the words they were about to say. What Mark said was reasonable. The two already heard from the soldiers about what they saw Mark did and of course, he would be tired after that. He seeded in destroying this forsaken ce after all.


    While the two girls looked at each other with bitter smile and shrugging shoulders, Mark spoke once more.


    "Also I want you two to help me a bit."


    Mark then took the girl from Char''s back.


    The first thing they saw the girl''s missing arm.


    "This is cruel, what happened to her?"


    Karlene approached and touched the burnt stump of the girl''s missing arm.


    "Some cannibal snacked on her arm. I think she belong to East Port. Apparently, she was abducted when you encountered them."<sub> </sub>


    "WHAT?!"


    The two girls eximed in horror. Without any of them knowing, this poor girl was abducted and was turned into this. Although the two should not feel anything but pity on the girl, the two still felt rather responsible for this. After all, they all evacuated together and struggled the dangerous way together with those people. A slight sense of camaraderie was born among all of them which helped the Mutators who thought highly of themselves slowly ept their wrongdoings.


    Then, na''s eyesnded on the other thing on Char''s back. Her eyes turned wide and¡­


    "In the name of Freaking Gaia! What is in the world is that?!"


    Her voice was too loud that even the soldiers around were shocked and looked at her.


    "You''re too loud you know that? And where did you even get that phrase?"


    Markined with an annoyed look.


    "I made it myself!" na replied with a satisfied expression. "WAIT! What is that, really?"


    "Do you really have to ask that?"


    "I know, but¡­ She''s a Mutator right?"


    "No, she''s not. She''s an authentic one."


    "No way¡­"


    na seemed to be rather shaken by the fact that another fantasy creature appeared before her eyes. As an Otaku, she knew that fantasy and reality was separate but now¡­ She did not know anymore. In any case, she was joyful at her heart. She was really lucky that she came to know Mark and see these strange but fascinating things.


    On the other hand, Karlene hadpletely frozen. Her depiction of reality andmonsense was shattering. It was apletely different one from the shattering that was caused by the apocalypse.


    With all themotion happening, General Faustino also arrived and conversed with Mark about his deed. Hearing things from the general, it seemed that they were going to ask Mark to get a share of the loot from this settlement such as weapons and supplies. Because of the evacuation, they were in a pinch right now. Although it might be called as being shameless, they needed everything they could receive to support their people.


    In any case, the general and his officers had drawn a contract where it stated that they the transaction here would be a debt of the military to Mark and was to be repaid in the future. Mark had no qualms about it and epted. Actually, rather than having all those guns, he just wanted to keep about two or three of each kind and a supply of ammunition for collection. As for the food, he just wanted those things that could be hard to procure nowadays and would not bother about sharing themon ones.


    Mark returned to the main building leaving the unconscious girl and the mermaid in the care of Karlene and na. Seeing the mermaid, the soldiers also caused quite a ruckus especially those who were entranced to the sleeping beauty.


    When he arrived at the building, he was immediately weed by four people. Among them were Aaron and Naomi. However, although they were d that Mark came back alive, there was also the expression of helplessness in their faces.


    Looking around, Mark found that the twenty people he decided to recruit had reduced to nine. Out of the nine, five people were still sitting down at the side while only looking at Mark with nk faces. They were the once who totally had no desire about things and only wanted to at least fulfill their words of joining Mark. Unexpectedly, Tullia also remained despite the fact that she did not answer Mark when he asked them for following him back to his base.


    "Only you nine remained?"


    Mark asked making Naomi and Aaron hung their faces.


    "Sorry Master." Naomi lowered her shoulders. "We''re not able to stop them when the military wanted to take us. Those that left wanted to leave together with the military."


    "Well, I''m surprised that you nine remained."


    "Please, don''t ridicule us." This time Aaron was the one who answered. "We may look like this but we know how to fulfill the words we said. It was sad that the others were not the same though."


    Hearing that, Mark was satisfied with this Aaron.


    "Um¡­ Master." Naomi spoke with hesitation which Mark looked at her and nodded for her to continue. "It seems that you are quite known by the military. Have you ever heard of a woman, a Mutator with wings? Her name supposed to be Audrey."


    Hearing the name, Tullia who was keeping silent till now looked at Naomi with shock. Without noticing her stare, Naomi continued.


    "Master, you see, Audrey is Tullia''s sister. Her captors said that her sister was already caught for being a spy and was executed. That is why she was behaving like this. I just want to confirm if it''s true."


    Naomi''s reason for this request made Mark look at her with a warm expression. He felt lucky to find these good people. Recruiting them to his base would only give him benefits.


    "Alright. I''ll ask them." Mark replied. "In any case, all of you here that remained are lucky. Those that left, for sure, will look at you all with envy and regret in the future."


    Mark then turned around.


    "All of you follow me."


    With all the things done, Mark finally had the chance to return to his base. This time, not only the original members of his group was with him. There were ten new people, a mermaid and eight new [BloodChildren].

 Chapter 282 After The Storm, The Events And Circumstances Of The Eastern Settlements

    <strong>Day 42 ¨C 11:23 AM ¨C Tongohin National Highschol, Barangay Gumian, Infanta, Quezon</strong>


    Inside one of the ssrooms that was supposed to be upied by students before the outbreak, the chairs with armrests were put in a circle and a temporary meeting room was made. It might look odd and awkward but it could not be helped as there was no way for the military to bring furniture with them during the evacuation. Instead of loading furniture into the vehicles, they would rather use the vehicles to transport people.


    Right now, those wooden chairs were upied by the same people that govern over the Port of Real Settlement. Both the military officers led by General Faustino were present along with a few scientists let by Professor Suzuki. On one side were the politicians and sitting beside the general was Joash who somehow looked like in a bad mood. Aside from the usual members, the head of Salvador Family from East Port Settlement, Darren Salvador, and his eldest son, Raybert were also present.


    "Darren, if the two settlements merge, I doubt that your family will remain in its current position."


    General Faustino spoke.


    They were currently discussing issues they were facing now after that strange storm finally vanished. The East Port Settlement was ruined and with the loss of the Ruanto Family and the missing Cristobal Family, the Salvador Family alone would not be able to manage such arge poption on their own. In fact, they only maintained being one of the three families in order to hinder the other two families from their evil acts but now that the two other families were gone, there was no reason for them to remain either. Because of those reasons, it was better if their settlement merged with the military that had the manpower and weapons to secure their bases.


    "It''s really fine with us. We also want to step down soon so we can concentrate on managing our family rather than others."


    Darren smiled. If the merge was approved and he was able to step down, things would be lighter for him. Managing a business before the outbreak was hard not to mention managing a whole settlement.


    "I see." General Faustino nodded and panned his eyes to others who also nodded in consent. "Alright, everyone seems to be in agreement. This will be announcedter to the people. Let us move to the next topic and the most important one."


    Hearing this, the faces of everyone inside turned serious.


    "This early morning, our scouts returned to Port of Real to check the situation. Regrettably, it is bad."


    "General, what do you mean?"


    The incumbent governor of Quezon, Daniel Suero asked.


    To that question, General Faustino looked at his secretary to speak.


    Apparently, the residential area of the settlement was ruined. Many buildings and structures were destroyed and some were even missing. The likeliness that those missing buildings were washed away to the sea after the water from the storm surge subsided was very high. It was also the same for the military section. Although the buildings were reinforced to some extent, the damages incurred could not be ignored. With the damage inflicted to the settlement by the storm, it would be better to rebuild the whole settlement from scratch rather than repairing what was destroyed. Unfortunately, it might be different if the outbreak had just started but they did not have enough resource and equipment to do that now.


    However, that was not the main issue. Many died in that storm whether it was humans, animals and even infected. Especially for the fleeing sea creatures that hade ashore, many of them died because of various reasons. The problemy with the corpses left. There were too many and a lot of them looked inedible. Still, due to those corpses, the infected, evolved carnivore birds and even carnivorous sea creatures came in droves to feast on the corpses.


    With all those gathering at the coasts, it would be dangerous for people to approach those areas. Among the areas affected however were the Port of Real Settlement and East Port Settlement that were both built by the coastline.


    "So, we have no other choice but to relocate am I right?"


    The incumbent governor asked.


    "Unfortunately, yes. However, we still need to decide where. Since we still can stay here for another day or two, I expect suggestions from everyone here."


    The general replied.


    "Including us?"


    Darren Salvador asked.


    "If possible, yes." General Faustino replied with a nod. "It is better if more people could give a suggestion to this. It is better to have more options not to mention that your family is among the people here that know this area well."


    "I see. Then, I''ll also give my suggestionster."


    Soon, the meeting was done and the government officials left first as usual. As for the others, they did not leave, especially since they still had something to discuss.


    "Professor Suzuki, what are your findings?"


    General Faustino asked which made the others look serious once more.


    "Those heads and bodies, they were in the simr condition as Drake''s and his men''s corpses. This is why I totally think that our first assumptions about Mark were true. Well, at least not all of the heads lost their mutations though. For some reasons, Mark did not take all of them."


    "I see."


    General Faustino nodded in understanding.


    After the eventsst night, the soldiers found the headless bodies everywhere around the ruined Death Valley Settlement. Furthermore, they found the house where Mark housed the severed heads after Mark left with the people he intended to take away.<sub> </sub>


    Some of the heads inside that house were known to be Mutators especially because of their unique abilities. Since that was the case, the concentration of Mutagen in their bodies should be rather high but ording to Professor Suzuki, their bodies were the same as Drake''s which meant that their Mutator abilities had been removed.


    "In any case, it is better if we keep on his good side. If he was really able to grant those abilities he had taken to others, it won''t be long before he strengthen his people."


    The people inside the room nodded in clear seriousness. Right now, not only that Mark helped them in many things but also their settlement had a debt with him. It was good that a person with these powers was at least in good impression with them. If he suddenly turned hostile, they would be in great trouble. They might follow the steps of Death Valley Settlement if they made him an enemy.


    Because of this, it seemed that they had to agree about what Mark wanted. He asked general to give him the female spy that was caught by him back then due to some unknown reasons. However, they already had suspicions that Mark wanted that woman''s ability to fly. After all, abilities that granted aerial movements were very rare even now.


    Well, they really had no reason to refuse. In any case, they had arge debt to him and the woman could be served as another way of paying. Also they had no ability to deal with prisoners right now as they did not even have a settlement to stay at.


    The meeting among them soon finished. Unexpectedly, Joash did not say anything all this time.


    "What is wrong with him?"


    The always curious Professor Suzuki asked Major Bautista. To that question, the Major sighed and let out a bitter smile.


    "My daughter rejected him again before they left."


    "Ahh, no wonder he looked so grim."


    ***


    <strong>Day 42 ¨C 12:02 PM ¨C Mountain Base, Mount Mbito, General Nakar, Quezon</strong>


    Inside the chambers dug inside the crevice, Mark stood in front of a metal cab he had just made. Together with him were Amihan, Miracle, Oracle and the other [BloodChildren] who helped with making this cab.


    It was a multiple leveled disy cab with ss frame and metal walls. Inside, rows upon rows of glowing crystals could be seen in a nted slotted disy rack.


    There were eighty two crystals inside the cab neatly lined in several rows. All of these were [Physical Crystals] containing abilities of Mutators he took along with some that came from powerful infected he managed to get their mutations. As for the [Mental Crystal] he was still keeping those inside the [PsyCrystal] since he was able to borrow the abilities stored in those crystals to some extent.


    Still, even though he had this many, he was still unsatisfied. After all, he had no choice but to abandon quite a number of heads due to theck of [Physical Crystals]. The [Mutagen Stones] were quite rare to find after all. In the least, he managed to get those stronger abilities he saw when he was watching the Mutators fight the whale and the infected. Even the ability that created that corrosive liquid was among those.


    "Father, it looks beautiful."


    "Right! My Lord, this look amazing."


    Miracle and Amihan could not help but say as they watched the shining crystals inside the metal cab.


    Hearing that, Mark nodded. It was really a fascinating sight.


    After the eventsst night and getting Miracle, Amihan and the [BloodChildren] that were left in the evacuation site, Mark brought the people he gathered towards the base in the middle of the night. Since it was impossible for Char to carry that many people, he came back several times to bring everyone.


    To say, Edzel, Hamlin and his grandchildren and even the ves that already lost their good outlook in life were amazed when they arrived at the base for the first time. They never imagined that there would be a very secure looking base in the middle of the dangerous mountains.


    Even though it was in the middle of the night, Mark was weed back by Huey and Jolleen. It seemed that these two really took their jobs in this base seriously. Even Nicole, Trisha, Ed and Ron who were the first inhabitants came out and helped with settling the neers. Some of the others like Althea that cameter than Huey''s group also came out to help especially Althea who looked way better than before and was able to smile now.


    Hallie however¡­ she was sleeping like a log at the female quarters.


    Many were surprised seeing the unconscious mermaid that Mark brought home. It was also the reason why Mark just let Hallie sleep or it would be a big ruckus.


    The mermaid was ced inside arge basin made of [Blood Metal] and was filled with spring water. Although they were not sure if the spring water was suitable since mermaids live in the sea, it was better than nothing.


    Surprisingly, the mermaid''s wounds started to heal faster after her body was submerged by the crystal clear spring water. It seemed that the clean water had effects on a creature of water like her. However, she still had not gained consciousness. Mark knew the reason and it was not her physiology that brought that issue but her psychology.


    The mermaid was even uttering iprehensible mumblings as she slept but her expression was awful. It seemed that she was in a loop of agony. Due to that, Mark had to channel the milky white energy to her to at least help her sleep at ease. It would not be good if something happened to a rare creature like her. That would be a big loss for Mark.


    Another thing was about Tullia''s sister that was caught for initiating chaos in the Military Settlement. Since they had a debt to him, Mark asked to give Audrey under his wing. In any case, he was also interested in her Mutator ability which was flight with her wings. She could serve as aerial support in his base and that woman did not have a bad personality at all but was just forced by the circumstances. Since Tullia was already here, Mark would have a better grasp at Audrey and be able to use her for the sake of his base. Mark would stop by the evacuation siteter to fetch her.


    Aside from those things, Mark was already preparing.


    In one or two days, he would leave again. This time, he was going west instead of east. It was rather very far but it did not matter at all. All he wanted now was meet Mei, Abbygale and I and bring them here. As for the missions left unto him by Freed, all those would be der on. He would do those things together with the people he wanted to be with.

 Chapter 283 A Slaves Thoughts, Her Past And The New Life She Could Look Forward To

    <strong>Day 42 ¨C 2:03 PM ¨C Mountain Base, Mount Mbito, General Nakar, Quezon</strong>


    Everyone had just finished eating lunch and spending some free time before continuing their work. Near the small river where clean water was flowing from the spring, one of the new inhabitants that arrivedst night sat alone. She was one of the ves Mark brought here from Death Valley Settlement and one of those that had already forsaken trying to witness the future.


    Tullia Ocampo. That was her name. One of the three ves Mark had helped first after he arrived at the settlement under that storm. Her curly hair was waist long and she had a lean body with traces of malnutrition. She had a small cute face and she had intelligent looking eyes. Unfortunately, those eyes showed the extent of suffering she had before.


    She was nkly looking at her reflection on the flowing water while her experiences in the past weeks yed in her mind.


    Two weeks after the outbreak, her sister, Audrey, was injured after thest time their group scavenged outside. Due to that, Audrey had to stay behind the next time their group had gone out. That was thest time she had seen her. Not because Audrey had gone missing but it was actually the opposite. Their group that had gone out to scavenge in the areas near the settlement was ambushed by the denizens of Death Valley Settlement.


    On the spot where she was caught, her chastity had been sullied by a dozen men. Due to that experience, she did not even remember how they were brought back to that forsaken settlement. If not for Naomi and Aaron that was there with her and was also members of her group, she might have taken her life already. That was what she was envious of Naomi, despite them having the same horrific experience they had gone through, she was able to stay positive for the future.


    In that settlement, they had gone through "training" to be ves. Rather than actual training, it was a session to nt fear and despair in their minds. Although she was aware of that, she could say that those demons seeded. In fact, even Naomi and Aaron had values ingrained in their minds even now. Example of this was about calling their savior Master than Sir or Boss. For some reason, they felt that addressing him who was the leader of this base with names other than "Master" felt off. That was how being a ve was ingrained into their minds.


    Just this fact could justify that their minds were broken.


    Tullia was the same. If fact, even if Naomi and Aaron was there, she would havemitted suicide long ago. However, the thought of meeting Audrey once more despite the slim chance kept her going. That was until she was informed that she was being used to ckmail her sister into being a spy.


    How did they know that? There was no need to ask. For sure, they had ears and eyes in the Military Settlement.


    She could not ept the fact that her existence was being used to torment her sister into doing things she did not want to do. Because of that, she had another reason to end her life. However, there was no way for her sister to know that she was dead and would still serve as a material to ckmail Audrey. Dying at that time was pointless.


    Being a young girl barely eighteen and having a rather above average face, she became one of the favorites of the person who bought her from the ve hunters. Day by day, she became a woman to satisfy that man''s desires and at times, being used as a reward to his subordinates. She started to feel that her existence only served to satisfy the desires of those people. Because of that, she started to ept that there was no future for her.


    And then, that person grew tired of her. It was because she was not struggling anymore every time she was being used. Apparently, the more she struggled and rejected them pleased them even more. As she became that, a toy that did not even satisfy their desires anymore, she was set aside and the despairing truth was conveyed to her.


    "Your sister was caught. You don''t have any value now that she''ll likely be executed for espionage."


    That man grinned when he saw her despairing face. Then, she was returned to the ve hunters to be sold again. That was the time the storm came. It felt like it had been a long time but that was actually just yesterday. Hearing that her sister could be dead, her reason to live dwindled. However, it would not be anytime soon. She was so tired that she had no energy to even kill herself. Tullia never ever felt so weak even when she was being tormented by several men in bed.


    The criminals gathered together and as she overheard things, it seemed that they would be catching quite arge number of people this time. They surely wanted to replenish the dwindling number of ves in that settlement. After all, the way they handled people killed them most of the times.


    Who would have thought that it would also be the day that the hellish settlement would be destroyed. When themotion broke out, many of the ves saw that as an opportunity to escape. Tullia on the other hand along with a few ves, felt that it was meaningless. Emaciated and weak, there was no way for them to escape without being caught. Not to mention that there would be nowhere for them to go.


    Returning to the military settlement? There was no way that she would do that. Spies were everywhere and the government could not be trusted either. After all, the man that owned her all this time was a former government official. He even had ties to people in that supposed to be safe settlement.


    Thus, she just sat there in her cage under the rain. She wished that the cold would kill her soon. However, Naomi and Aaron did not give up on her and tried to help her even to the extent that they were almost caught. Fortunately, their new Master, Mark, came at that time.


    They were saved but she did not feel that it would be different anywhere. Looking at his face that looked even worsepared to some of the criminals in Death Valley Settlement, he would probably treat them the same. She would not be surprised if he asked her to satisfy him in bed soon.


    To her shame, she was mistaken.


    When they were brought to his base, they were amazed. They thought that it would like be a barbarian vige since it was in the middle of the mountain but they were gravely mistaken. Sturdy tall walls mounted with weapons, huts that were being used to manufacture things, houses that could protect them from cold, clean water to drink and delicious food to eat. Anything they wanted and things they struggled to have after the outbreak could be found here. Not to mention that everyone they met had those happy smiles in their faces.


    Tullia wanted to apologize to their new master for thinking about bad things about him.


    Strange enough, their new master, Mark was being surrounded by strange things. A dragon was already amazing but to think that he also had a fairy and those slimes with him. He even brought back a mermaid together with them. He was really a man of mysteries.


    "Tullia, what are you doing here?"


    While she was in daze, a familiar voice was heard behind her. There was no need to look back. Tullia knew that it was here friend, Naomi.


    "Nothing."


    Tullia replied emotionlessly. It was not like she wanted to but she did not really feel like replying anything else. Then, she felt some soft sensation on her back as Naomi hugged her from behind.


    "Seriously, stop sulking like this. We''re already saved from that ce. This ce is really good there is enough food for everyone. We have to work to be able to eat though but its fine! We can eat until we are full! They even gave us meat, unlike those bastards that only gave us salted water!"


    Naomi spoke with her usual energetic style.


    ''She never really changed.''


    Unconsciously, Tullia let out a hidden smile that Naomi was unable to see. Realizing that she smiled, she was rather surprised. She never knew that she would be able to smile again.


    ''I guess, I''m starting to see hope for the future once more. I just wish that Audrey is with me¡­''


    Tullia feltplicated.<sub> </sub>


    "Are you thinking about Audrey? Be positive, she''ll be fine. Master left earlier, maybe, he will take her here."


    "Maybe¡­ right?"


    "Hey! I said! Be positive!"


    Naomi released Tullia from her embrace and sat beside her.


    "You think Master will make use warm his bed?"


    With a curious tone, Naomi asked.


    "What made you think that?"


    "Because there are many girls here. I just thought that he might be collecting us or something like those bastards back in that ce."


    "Don''t think too much." Tullia admonished her friend. "I don''t think master is like that."


    "Right, I also think so. That thought just passed my mind. I doubt he even view us as the opposite sex at all. Miss Karlene and Miss na are really beautiful and popr stars back then. They had good bodies even but I don''t see Master''s eyes going at unnecessary ces."


    Tullia looked at Naomi. This friend of hers was always this observant. She then looked down on the water once more and spoke.


    "It''s understandable that there will be more women than men inside bases. Compared to men, women are more meticulous in doing things needed in the base like managing food and cleaning things. Also the fact that men go out to gather food and protect others, it is easier for them to die leaving more women alive. It is the same for me and my sister. Our father protected us and died leaving the two of us alive. We had no one to rely to and thus, we go out to scavenge in order to have something to eat and drink. It''s also the same for you right?"


    "Yeah¡­ I guess, I never thought of that."


    Then, Tullia stood up.


    "Let''s go."


    "Huh? Where?"


    Naomi asked with confusion.


    "You forgot already? Miss Trisha asked us to help with the seafood Master brought back remember? We need to help with processing and drying the fish or the food will rot."


    "Ah! Right!" Naomi scratched her head. "I really forgot."


    Tullia then started to walk away just to stop and turn back once more when she realized that Naomi did not follow. There, she saw her friend staring at her with a gentle smile.


    "What''s wrong?"


    "Nothing. I''m just d that you looked better now."


    Hearing that, Tullia turned her back towards Naomi and spoke.


    "I said it before. Don''t think too much."


    Tullia then walked away making Naomi hurry to catch up.


    That was when arge shadow appeared above the settlement. Looking up, it was the same dragon that transported them here. The dragonnded outside the base in order to avoid destroying anything inside because of the wind from the dragon''s wings. Huey and Jolleen could be seen hurrying to open the main gates to the south of the base.


    Once the gates opened, their new Master entered with the dragon following behind while carrying a lot of stuff on its back. Beside Mark, a woman could be seen walking with hesitation in her eyes and actions.


    Seeing that woman, water started to flow from Tullia''s eyes as she froze in ce. Naomi realized what was happening with her friend and smiled as she took her hand and pulled her towards the gate.


    ***


    Unknown to anyone but their new Master, he added a new chapter in Tullia and Audrey''s stories. The two were supposed to be dead already but both of them were affected by Mark who was not bound by destiny anymore.


    At the destruction of Death Valley Settlement, Tullia was supposed to die during the time Naomi and Aaron tried to help her escape. They were supposed to be caught and tortured for trying to escape. Naomi and Aaron were able to survive with broken minds and souls but Tullia should have died. However, Mark interfered and Sherwyn who was also affected by Mark appeared when he was supposed to be not there.


    As for Audrey, even without Mark, she would have been caught by Jones after the incident. That time, there was no way for the people of the Military Settlement to catch since she was able to fly. Because of that, her escape was met with bullets that were supposed to cause her death. That however, never happened as Mark caught her the moment she tried her escape.


    Both those times, Mark realized the aura of death looming on them and wanted to experiment what would happen if he interfered. He also knew that both were rted to one another using their emotional energies. Now, their futures were nk after being liberated from the book of destiny. It would be good to see whaty on their path for their tomorrow.

 Chapter 284 A Mermaids Experience, The Nightmare She Had To Remember Forever

    <strong>Day ¨ƒ¨ƒ - ¨ƒ¨ƒ:¨ƒ¨ƒ¨ƒ¨ƒ- Pacific Undersea Kingdom, Pacific Ocean</strong>


    Not known to man, several civilizations existed under the wide oceans of Earth. Kingdoms upied not by human but by creatures man deemed to exist only in fantasies. These kingdoms were inhabited not only by beings half-human and half fish but also by other fantastical and scary creatures of the sea. Still, for the most part, these kingdoms were upied and ruled by the beings called the Mer.


    The Merfolk,monly called as Mermaids and Mermen, lived under the sea for generations. It might even be possible that they existed before men even walked the earth. Hiding from the conflict thirsty and greedynd dwellers, the Mer Kingdoms lived peacefully under the oceans of Earth.


    That was until¡­


    The infected and Evolved Animals appeared under these peaceful waters.


    As the meteoroids exploded at the Earth''s atmosphere, airnes flying in the sky crashed due to its passengers and crew being suddenly exposed to Mutagen their bodies could not endure. Turning into savage monsters, they spread across Earth infecting and changing every living thing. Even the oceans were not spared.


    With how much percentage water upied Earth, it was not wrong to say that more of those airnes crashed into these oceans that actually crashing onnd. Due to that, the infected in the oceans were more powerful and advancedpared to those in spreading terror innd. In fact, due to the waters being contaminated with Mutagen, some sea creatures grew limbs that enabled them to go onnd.


    The most affected ce however was the Kingdoms of the Merfolk.


    Under the Southern Pacific Ocean near the Philippine Sea, one of these kingdoms was located. Beautiful structures made of colorful corals and stones that more looked like they were shaped by time than the hands of the Mer. Strange looking corals that were not discovered by man yet could be seen illuminating the whole ce. The most prominent structure was therge castle at the center of kingdom.


    The city under the sea was not that big, it could be saidpared to a small housing subdivision mankind had on theirnds. Covering this small but beautiful kingdom was a transparent dome, a barrier made of magical energy. This barrier kept the kingdom from being seen by the eyes of the unworthy and kept the peace and quiet of this kingdom.


    However, that peace could not be seen at this moment.


    "Father, is what I heard true?"


    A beautiful mermaid with colorful stones and shells adorned on her head asked the king who sat on his coral throne and wore his coral crown adorned with gems. This beautiful mermaid was the princess of this kingdom, Milliel. She had a tail with orange scales and a wave tail like a goldfish.


    Her father, Farlierl, the king, sat on his throne with a stern face. His long beard that danced along with the water could not hide this expression.


    "My Princess, it is better not to interrupt his majesty while he is thinking."


    A handsome merman reprimanded the princess. He was the general under the king and was reporting the dreadful circumstances they were facing.


    While they were here talking, their brave warriors were currently fighting outside their barrier. Their barrier that was supposed to hide their precious kingdom was still working and yet, their kingdom was being besieged by monsters.


    "Rumiel, Are you sure that what we are against were not evil creatures?"


    The king spoke with a very stern voice.


    "Yes, Your Majesty. By their appearance, they were supposed to be human but at the same time, they were not. I can assure that they were human since they all came out from that human vessel capable of traversing the sky that fell at the eastern reefs."


    "Those, ursed humans."


    King Farlierl cursed in a furious tone as he stood up from his throne. With his curse and expression, it was obvious that he had a deep grudge against humans.


    "Father, please appease yourself. What General Rumiel is saying is that the enemies should be human before but they are not anymore."


    "Yes, I agree with the princess, Your Majesty. There seemed to be another factor at y in this situation. In the first ce, humans should not be able to traverse our ocean this deep without those equipment they call diving gears. Not to mention that our current enemies were able to move over water with speedparable to us."


    Hearing that, the king calmed down to some extent and sat once again.


    "What about the casualties?"


    "Your Majesty, there was a lot unfortunately. Some were injured by scratches and uncanny tricks of our enemies but most were injured by bites. For some reason, those that were bitten were unable to continue the fight and we had no choice but to send them away and they were brought to the healing area."


    While the three were inside the throne room of the castle along with a few soldiers guarding the king and the princess, shouts were suddenly heard outside.


    "Your Majesty! Your Majesty!"


    A mermaid with greenish hair and wearing a shell circlet barged into the throne room. Of course she was intercepted by the soldiers with their spears made of stone and sharp shells.


    "Let her through."


    The kingmanded making the soldiers step back to their initial positions while the mermaid that had just entered rushed in front of the king.


    "Erithiel, what is happening?"


    "Your majesty, the city is in chaos!"


    "What?!"


    Everyone in the throne room eximed in both shock and confusion.


    "Did the enemies made it through? It can''t be. I swear in Poseidon''s name that we should be able to block the enemies at least for days."


    Erithiel turned to the general.


    "General, it is not the enemies outside the barrier. Those soldiers sent to the healing area, those that were bitten. They had gone mad. They left the healing area and started attacking and biting our people. Those that were bitten also started to behave simrly and the situation was spreading."


    The atmosphere in the throne room had frozen. General Rumiel broke the ice with a resolute expression.


    "Your Majesty, Princess. If Erithiel''s statement is true, even Your Majesty and Princess Milliel is in danger. It is better for Your Majesty to take the Princess and escape. Take refuge in other kingdoms we are friends with. If the situation calmed down, I will personally search for your Majesty."<sub> </sub>


    The King and the Princess did not agree to that and without a choice, the general retracted his suggestion. After all, whether it was the humans or the merfolk, the duty of the leaders should be to oversee their people.


    However, the situation never got any better. It had even gotten worse several dayster.


    They identified the condition of the mermaids that had turned mad as an incurable disease and had spread all over the kingdom. The survivors of the kingdom led by the royal family which only had two remaining members, King Farlierl and Princess Milliel, they set off to abandon their kingdom. Following General Rumiel''s suggestion, they their school set off towards the direction of the nearest kingdom in the Philippine Sea.


    The journey was fretted withrge danger as many of the unsightly enemies chased after them. Although they still managed to escape, their numbers dwindled severely. In order for them to escape, General Rumiel stayed behind and dyed the enemies with his troops. That was thest time they heard of the brave young general.


    While hiding in the rock formations, corals and crevices near the bottom of the ocean, it took days for their poor group to reach the next kingdom that could be reached by several hours before. Not only that they were dyed by hiding but they also encountered strange sea creatures trying to eat everyone.


    Their numbers dwindled even more and when they finally reached the next kingdom, their numbers was even less than half from what they had when they left their kingdom.


    Reaching the next kingdom however, they were subjected to a harsh reality.


    The Merfolk Kingdom they were trying to reach had already been long destroyed. Their arrival turned the cause of the destruction to aim at them.


    A gigantic whale with fins shaped webbed feet with fingers.


    Despite itsrge body, it could swim very fast. Along with the others, they fled without any ces to go. The next kingdom nearby should be days to reach now and there was no assurance that that kingdom would still be there.


    It did not take long and they were cornered.


    "Milliel, my precious daughter, you have to live."


    "But father!"


    "After your mother died because of humans, you''re the most precious thing I had. Can you at least agree to myst wish?"


    Milky drops left Milliel''s eye and turned into pearls that drifted down the bottom of the sea. Her pure sorrow as she nodded turned into precious stones.


    With several guards and the remaining survivors, Milliel fled from the opening her father made. She was not supposed to look back but she could not help it. That was her biggest mistake that etched a painful memory that she would remember forever, the scene of her father being swallowed whole by that whale.


    Then, the catastrophe started.


    She saw it all when the whale suddenly grew limbs and started to walk on the bottom of the ocean. While that happened, the seawater started to grow turbulent and chaotic. Their group was not able to escape and was swept by the strong current. They all got separated.


    Unable to control her body, she was thrown unto rocks, corals and even other sea creatures swept by the current. She umted wounds on her body which kept her awake as she reminisced the final moments she had with her father.


    Finally, when her mind could not take it anymore, she finally lost consciousness.


    ***


    <strong>Day 42 ¨C 6:33 PM ¨C Mountain Base, Mount Mbito, General Nakar, Quezon</strong>


    "FATHER!"


    Milliel screamed as she woke up. It seemed that she had a nightmare.


    She was in a daze for some time when, she finally realized. Pearls dropped into the water she was submerged in as her tears turned into these precious gems.


    With a sad smile, she muttered.


    "I am alive. Father, I fulfilled your wish, right?"


    It took quite some time before she managed to calm down. That was when she noticed that she was not in the ocean but was actually in a strange ce. Her body was half submerged in water inside arge basin. She did not know what happened, where this ce was and why she was here.


    The only thing she could tell was that the water she was submerged in felt really good in her body.


    She looked around, what she could see were walls made of stone and a door made of metal. Even the ceiling were made of stones.


    "A¡­ dungeon?"


    She started to feel scared with the thought. What if she was captured? She was about to cry for a different reason when the door opened.


    Her eyes grew wide. Outside the door, a man wearing strange clothing stood. Yes, stood. It was because he had feet.


    "HUMAN!"


    Milliel tried to escape. However, since she was inside a basin, she ended up being thrown unto the dry ground. Nevertheless, she used her arms to try to get away. She crawled on the ground causing her yet to heal wounds to open once more. The ground was dyed with her blood as she tried to escape. Unfortunately, the furthest she could go was the farthest corner of the room.


    There, she curled herself while leaning on the wall and hanging her head down. She was even scared to look at the human that entered the room. Despite the pain her body was feeling due to her wounds, her fear overwhelmed her mind.


    "*%##^? #!% &^# *#!( $%?"


    Milliel could hear the human spoke but of course, there was no way for her to understand it. She did not know, the human was currently scratching his head not knowing what to do realizing thenguage barrier between them.


    Then, she felt two hands wrap around her body which made her flinch. She tried to struggle but the human was strong. When she though that she was in danger, she felt herself being submerged in water once more. She was gently ced inside the basin causing the water to be a bit dirty but being submerged in water made her feel better.


    The arms let go of her without doing anything harmful to her. Rather, she even felt a strange feeling of warmth andfort while she was wrapped by those arms. She was finally able to look at the human in front of her. It seemed that he looked really troubled and was currently talking to a strange creature on his shoulder.

 Chapter 285 New Experiment, Treating The Unconcious Girl That Lost Her Arm

    <strong>Day 43 ¨C 8:42 PM ¨C Mountain Base, Mount Mbito, General Nakar, Quezon</strong>


    "Yawn~¡­"


    na yawned while stretching her body which somehow emphasized her beautifully shaped body.


    "Do we really have to be this early?"


    Hallie asked while she rubbed her sleepy eyes.


    "What early? Look at the sun and tell me that it''s still early. Aside from you two, everyone is already out working."


    Mark reprimanded the two.


    "Yawn~¡­"


    Another yawn followed suit which came from Amihan on Mark''s shoulder.


    To that minute yawn, Mark only nced a bit and did not say anything.


    "Wah, you''re too biased you know that."


    Hallie protested making na nod in agreement.


    "Seriously, cut it you two. We still have things to do."


    They were currently inside one of Mark''s newly made chambers inside the rocky crevice. Together with them were Miracle who was being carried on Mark''s arms and the group of blood children consisting of Oracle, Crimson, Ivy, Scia and the newest, , the glowing [BloodChild].


    This new chamber was made further inside the crevice which sunlight could not reach and that was also the reason why Mark had not built these new chambers before aside from the ones where the infected were being kept. How, fortunately, the issue about light was finally solved because of .


    The [Blood Metal] created from  was also glowing and the intensity of light could be adjusted ordingly by changing the density and thickness of the metal. Finding the best adjustment was what Mark had spent his time yesterday afternoon until sunset, well, until the mermaid had waked up.


    After experimenting, he was able to get the right density, thickness and cement and was able to make this room lit up as if he was using a fluorescent light. It was quite dimmer than the actual one but way better than an oilmp. He arranged the glowing bars of metal on the ceiling creating a lighting grid above which lit the whole chamber. It was not very space efficient but at least, it functioned well.


    This morning, they were here to work on a few things like improving their weapons and making some designs. But first, they had to deal with the poor child currently lying down on the work table. She was the one Mark managed to retrieve from the cannibalistic Mutator the other day. She had not woke up until now.


    Mark could force her to wake up but it was better if they did something about her missing arm first. In other words, Mark would do some experiment.


    Looking at the side, the situation was like a surgery. The only problem was there were no doctors and what the "surgeons" were handling was very unlikely to be used to treat the little girl.


    "By the way, how is the Sleeping Mermaid? She woke up already, right? We heard from Trishast night. She said that you asked her to prepare food for her."


    na asked in curiosity while they prepared the materials. Ever since Mark took the mermaid into the chambers, he had not talked about it. Mark also left yesterday to visit the evacuation center because of several things and when he returned, he immediately went back to his work.


    "She woke upst night."


    Mark spoke nonchntly.


    "Really? Can we see her?"


    "Yeah! Let us see her! Unless you di- OW¡­ Do you really have to hit my head? I''ll go stupid if you keep doing this¡­"


    Hearing that the mermaid was awake, the enthusiasm of the two Otakus red up. However, one was thinking something improper which made Mark shut her up.


    Ignoring her protest, Mark spoke.


    "You two better not, at least not now. She is very afraid of humans and there''s also thenguage barrier. Just getting her name and making her eat is already a handful. You two can ask Amihan here about how hard it was."


    "Right! We had to speak like cavemen just to ask her name! And she also doesn''t eat meat and fish!"


    Amihan spoke with a bit of grumble. The little sylph was still afraid of humans but it was quite better if it was na and Hallie for some reason. Aside from these two, she could not speak to others at all without flinching.


    "I think¡­ There is someone else who is also afraid of humans and also only eats fruits here, right?"


    na teased which made Amihan freeze and blush. She realized that she was also referring to herself when said those words. Afraid of humans and not able to eat meat and fish, she was totally the same.


    "Hmm¡­" Hallie nodded withprehension. "It''s understandable that she won''t eat fish. It''s cannibalism."


    "Anyway, what is her name?"


    na asked.


    "Milliel."


    Mark replied as he made Miracle sit on the table beside the unconscious girl.


    "Her name sounds like an angel. She had fish tail instead of wings though."


    "True."


    na and Hallie spoke respectively. Both of them had serious expressions on their faces.


    Mark looked at the two with stern eyes.


    "Really, cut it off you two. Everything is ready. Let''s get to work."


    "Are we really doing it?"


    "Yeah, shouldn''t we get her consent first?"<sub> </sub>


    na and Hallie seemed to have some hesitation about what they were going to do.


    "You can''t ask an unconscious person. Also if she sees her missing arm, she''ll probably suffer a mental breakdown after she remembers what happened to her. After this, at least she will have something as recement."


    "Well, that''s true."


    The two girls finally agreed.


    In front of them, parts Mark prepared beforehandy on the table along with the design. It was also the reason why the two had some hesitation.


    The metal parts thaty on the table were parts to be used to rece the girl''s missing arm. It was an experiment if they would be able to build something like this.


    A semi-organic Automail.


    Here, the role of the [BloodChildren], especially Miracle, was very essential.


    Miracle was not human and that was clear for everyone here in this room. It was hard to hide it from na and Karlene when they saw her body behave like that when the little girl fought the criminals from Death Valley Settlement.


    Her body was supposed to be made of blood. However, that blood became flesh when she identally fused with the [Physical Crystal] containing her mother''s Mutator ability. Still, her body was not the same of a human''s but just emting the structure. In any time she wanted, she could change her shape and appearance as long as her bones allowed her to. And of course, she had the ability all the [BloodChildren] had after Mark fed them his blood. The ability to create [Blood Metal] and separated the metal from their body.


    In Miracle''s case, the supposed [Blood Metal] could have the property and structure simr to flesh. That flesh could be shaped and emte the desired cells, organs and even nerves.


    In easier words, she was capable of creating artificial body parts from her body. It was just she was too young to be able to understand how to. Because of that, Aephelia''s help who was inside Miracle was also necessary. At this moment, Miracle was totally silent. It was because Aephelia was mostly in control of the little girl''s body.


    Following the design, Hallie and na helped Mark put the parts together. Soon it formed a sci-fi looking full arm armor with a lot of open parts to allow more flexible movements. The surface of the armor was reddish ck in color with lining that emitted a faint glow.


    At the core of the armor were artificial bones that were directly connected to the armor. The bones wereplete from the humerus to the distal phnges. It was aplete replica of the bones found in a human''s arm.


    With the armor being finished, the next step was to remove the burned part of the stump left of the girl''s arm. It was Mark who did it on his own. In order to prevent bleeding, Mark stealthily made his [Blood Whip] enter the little girl''s body while he was holding her shoulder. He then scraped the unnecessary parts revealing the little girl''s flesh soon after.


    Seeing that, Amihan, Hallie and na turned their heads away. Although they were used to seeing more grotesque things because of the infected, they still felt repulsive seeing the girl''s flesh in the open.


    "Uhhhhmmm¡­"


    The unconscious girl released a painful hum. They did not have any anesthetics suitable for this and could only give her pain killers. Still, the medication was not able to fully numb the pain she felt. To ease her pain even just a bit, Mark released the milky white energy from his hands and made it enter the girl''s body.


    After cleaning the wound, the final step finally came.


    Hallie and na held the empty armor towards the stump of the girl''s missing arm and locking it in ce next to the girl''s shoulder. Then, it was Miracle''s turn.


    Her small right arm wiggled out of shape and entered the empty armor like a tentacle. There, the flesh slowly came into shape while emting muscles, nerves and blood vessels necessary to be able to control the new arm. The process was tough as connecting the girl''s nerves and the artificial one took a huge toll on the girl''s body. Mark had to hold her tight as she convulsed violently.


    Miracle''s flesh filled the armor and the connection with the nerves was established. With that, the little girl removed her hands from the armor and her misshapen hands formed back. The other [Blood Children] then started to work on some adjustments on the arm with Mark''s mental instructions.


    The girl still looked in pain even though the procedure was already finished. It was because the painful sensation was till left. There was also the chance of her body rejecting the new arm and to prevent that, Mark made the little girl drink a whole vial of [Regeneration Medicine] he procured from the Military Settlement.


    After a while and undder everyone''s nervous stares, the girl''s body calmed down which made them sigh in relief. Her breathing was still quite ragged so Mark did not stop on channeling the energy until she became stable.


    The procedure was finally finished and the girl was given a new arm. Still, it was just an experiment and there was still the possibility that it might not work well or even not work at all. In any case, at least, they tried.


    While the girl was still unconscious and looked like that she would still not wake up any time soon, the three Otakus started to work on the designs of weapons and equipment they wanted. Of course, most of it ended up being referenced from anime and manga. Some even looked like they were taken from sci-fi movies. Nevertheless, the three were enjoying this work.


    On the side, Miracle was surrounded by the [BloodChildren] while she drew something on her own. Of course, since Aephelia retreated already, it was just a childish drawing.


    "Uhm, My Lord."


    Amihan spoke as something seemed to upy her mind while looking at the unconscious girl''s new arm.


    "What is it?"


    "I just noticed but¡­ The arm Miracle created inside the armor is made of flesh so, can''t you just make a whole flesh arm with metal bones inside? I don''t think that the armor is necessary¡­"


    <o>,m She then froze. Three pairs of eyes were looking at her coldly without any shred of emotion.</o>


    Amihan could not help but retreat while saying¡­


    "Uhm¡­ Please forget it¡­ I didn''t say anything¡­"


    In her mind¡­


    ''SCARYYYY!!!"


    After she said that, the eyes that looked at her turned back to normal and the owners of the eyes went back to their work.


    Before noon, the girl finally woke up.


    Apparently, her name was Elona, an orphan who lived in the streets of East Port Settlement.


    She was too hungry and thirsty that the first thing she asked for was food and water.


    Remembering what happened to her, she suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder. Fortunately, her new arm worked well which lightened the symptoms. As Mark made the armor light enough, the only issue was that Elona was still not used to it.


    na and Hallie presented themselves to look after Elona, especially na who said that they had simr sounding names. In truth, the two just wanted to watch after the first creation they made.


    To the side, the small sylph watched everything.


    "Is this what it meant to be an Otaku? It''s scary though."

 Chapter 286 Relocation And Development, The New Settlement And The Growth Of The Base

    <strong>Day 43 ¨C 10:46 AM ¨C Barangay Banugao, Infanta, Quezon</strong>


    Banugao was a barangay situated at the west-northwest of Infanta and was directly south of the eastern side of General Nakar. The north and western part of the barangay was surrounded by Agos River which also separated it from the territories of General Nakar, Quezon.


    It was a rural barangay where most houses were rather aged and themercial facilities were kind ofcking. If there was something abundant here, those were the tree ntations and farmnds.


    After the outbreak started, this ce was abandoned. Scavengers did not view this ce highly either due to it being a rural area. The only ones that frequented this area were the people from Death Valley Settlement due to the main road going in and out of General Nakar passing through this barangay.


    Now, thousands of people could be seen around and were currently working on a lot of things.


    The Military could be seen upying the only school in this barangay, the Banugao Elementary School. On the other hand, the other people started to upy the surrounding houses by the arrangement of the military.


    This ce was the area the military chose to build the new settlement after both Port of Real Settlement and East Port Settlement became nests of dangerous animals and the infected.


    The ce was chosen due to the fact that Agos River ran to the north and west of this barangay making a natural barrier against the evolved animalsing from the mountains of General Nakar. On the other hand, the south and east side of the barangay were filled with farnds making it easier to spot iing danger.


    Because of the loss of the two settlements due to the strange storm that passed by and suddenly vanished, they had to relocate. The process was very tedious especially arranging the people to their new dwellings. There were also the additional people that came from East Port Settlement that gave the military quite a headache and heavier load to worry about. However, it was their duty to protect them as the military. It was also good that they got more capable people, especially the Evolvers and Mutators.


    There were no walls to protect them and that was why they needed more people to guard the area while they slowly built the new walls. The military also had to prepare new facilities they would need especially to continue their research. A lot of materials were needed but fortunately, they would be able to gather some good stuff to use from the remains of the ruined Death Valley Settlement that was just about fifteen minutes away north of Banugao. It was quite dangerous but the military was also nning to retrieve materials and equipment from the previous settlements in the future while employing manpower from the civilians.


    Since there were no walls yet, there were attacks happening from time to time but due to the new Evolvers and Mutators in the settlement, these attacks were dealt with even before they could harm anyone. Aside from that, they were fortunate that the attacks were lesser than before. It was because most of the possible threats in the area were more drawn to the coasts at this moment. They still had time to secure the perimeter of the new settlement before everything returned to normal.


    In the new settlement, things had been going well on the side of military development. On the side of the civilians however, there were some scruples happening. Due to the difference in status of Mutators herepared to East Port Settlement, there some Mutators that were having a hard time to adjust. Their haughty attitude was causing troubles here and there. It was also the same for the normal people from East Port Settlement which mostly tried to stay away from Mutators even the ones from the Military Settlement. This caused the normally behaved Mutators to have problems with these people.


    There also the problem with discrimination. Although there were not many voices that frankly discriminated them, it was obvious that the female ves and the prostitutes were being looked down upon. After all, the former lost their chastity in an unsightly manner while thetter gave up on theirs. In the least, it was good that no one tried to trouble them in a front confrontation because the Military highly forbid it.


    "Social rtions are such a handful."


    General Faustino sighed as he finished reading the current issues they were facing. He was currently in the former principal''s office in the elementary school. This office became his official working office here in this ce.


    "Say Old man, why don''t we legalize prostitution here?"


    Jones asked the general. This guy had just returned after the general made him run around these past days.


    "Are you itching for a woman that much?"


    The general looked at the mercenary with a scornful look.


    "Well General, don''t look at me like that. Think about it, there were more merits than demerits here."


    Jones replied which made the General sigh.


    What Jones had said was true. Back in the days before the outbreak, it might have been a disgraceful thing to the eyes of many if a woman was a prostitute but now, aside from being looked down upon, there was not really much demerit. In fact, there were still cases of rape in the settlement from time to time. Although they ced proper punishment on the perpetrators, it was still happening.


    If there were prostitutes, the rate of these cases would be reduced drastically and the prostitutes would also be able to gain a living. After all, not all people were capable of working in the fields needed by the military. In fact, there were more women in the settlement that was suffering from hunger since all they could rely on food was the rations distributed by the military.


    Still, allowing that would be against the constitutionalw.


    This issue alone was giving the General quite a headache.


    "Enough with that. Let''s just see the issue in the future." General Faustino then turned to Jones. "How are the things I told you to retrieve?"


    Upon hearing that, Jones ced two steel cases on top of the table in front of the general. Upon opening the cases, one contained papers while the other contained vials with murky liquid inside.


    "Is this the thing?"


    General Faustino picked up one of the vials and examined it.


    These vials contained the fruits of the research the people in Death Valley Settlement conducted.


    "[Berserk Liquid]." Jones spoke. "That is what they called it. It is already stated in those papers along with their findings and how they managed to create this."


    General Faustino returned the vial back into the metal case and turned to the papers on the other. He then started to skim through the documents.


    "So, it is an ongoing research to create Super Humans and taking advantage of Mutagen."


    "That is right. However Old Man, the research is yet to be finished. [Berserk Liquid] is just a byproduct unintentionally discovered and far from being perfected."


    The General skimmed through the documents with a stern look.


    "Jones, duplicate these documents. Create two more copies. We also need to set aside a few vials. As for the rest, we will send it to Bay City so they could study it."


    "Alright. But Old Man, why do you need two more copies. Also how are we going to send these? It is already hard to traverse the highway due to Evolved Animals not to mention the infected cities just to get to the other side of the country. I don''t think that our few helicopters will work too."


    Hearing that, the General sighed.<sub> </sub>


    "You don''t have to worry about that. We already have someone to deliver that. One of the copies of the research and a few samples will also go to him."


    "Him¡­ that guy?"


    Jones asked with realization.


    "Yes, that guy." General Faustino sighed once more. "He mentioned that he was going to BayCity yesterday when he asked if we can stillmunicate with Bay City. However, we still had to relocate our ry antennas so we don''t have any avablemunication line right now. That is why he only left after we allowed that woman named Audrey to leave with him."


    "Is that really okay? This settlement''s debt to him is getting deeper and deeper you know?"


    "You are right. Our debt is too deep that I won''t even be able to disagree if he asked for my granddaughter. However, we don''t have any choice but to rely on him once more."


    "Hey, Old man, aren''t you thinking too much. I don''t think, he will have an interest on your granddaughter. She''s just eight, right?"


    "Who knows? If you ask me, he''s in the same wavelength as Professor Suzuki and his niece."


    "Well, I guess that''s also true. Those weapons he had are solid proof of this."


    Jones scratched his head.


    "In any case, we will just have to prepare for his demands in the future."


    General Faustino rubbed his temple.


    "I guess, there will be no demerit in being prepared."


    ***


    <strong>Day 43 ¨C 11:03 AM ¨C Mountain Base, Mount Mbito, General Nakar, Quezon</strong>


    "Achoo!"


    Mark rubbed his nose.


    "Father, are you sick?"


    Miracle asked with worry.


    "I''m not. Rather, it is quite impossible for me to get sick."


    Mark replied while rubbing Miracle''s head.


    What he said was true. Since controlling his blood was his ability, paired with his absurd regenerative ability, he could expel any foreign and harmful substances in his body. It even included poison.


    There was also the fact that one of the mostmon and fatal issue on zombie apocalypse novels and dramas, diseases, would less likely happen due to Mutagen. Not only that Mutagen enhanced the bodies of everyone on Earth but somemon diseases likemon cold received a rather negative effect from Mutagen. ording to research na heard from her uncle, most viruses and bacteria could not handle the potency of Mutagen and died out. In fact, the causes of most of themon diseases on Earth started to go extinct.


    Currently Mark was standing outside while looking at the crevice where he made his house. He was thinking of making this whole crevice a part of his house and he would create a high balcony above and a second floor inside.


    "A basement could also be good."


    Mark murmured. Somehow, he started feeling like he was ying a game.


    Digging caves, building houses and decorating it was what he always did in a certain game about mining and crafting.


    POOF!


    Mark vanished with Miracle on his hands. They then appeared atop the crevice. One of Mark''s favorite spot in his base since here, he could oversee the fruits of his work. Of course, he was not the one who built the new houses or dug the farnds to the north. However, without him, all of these would not exist either.


    Tomorrow, he would stop by to the relocation site of the Military Settlement to get some things. He had to bring a few things back to Bay City. It was not free of course but another debt that settlement had to payter on.


    It would look like as if he would be running some errands for the Military but he did not really mind it as he was in a good mood.


    Things were getting better in his base. The ves he brought started to feel living once more and they were all looking at him with reverence and gratitude. Especially the case of Tullia and Audrey, he could feel that the two would likelyy their lives for this base which was a good thing.


    He looked down and saw the children starting to line up. It was good that these children were learning proper manners and were not unruly while lining up. In front of the line was Trisha and Althea who prepared the food for lunch and were distributing it already.


    As for Elona, she was also in that line and she was already getting used to her new arm. The other children that saw her told her that it looked cool which reduced her trauma even further.


    The farnds to the north of the base were also being developed nicely under the leadership of the old couple. Inside the base, the houses were being built uniformly by Huey, Ed and Ron. At the northwest inside the walls, a lot of cut meat was being dried neatly.


    His base was developing nicely. He could not wait to let his beloved ones see this sight.

 Chapter 287 Greed For Power, The Brewing Danger Behind The Scenes

    <strong>Day 43 ¨C 01:36 PM ¨C Central Business Park, Bay City, Para?aque, Metro Man</strong>


    More than a month had passed since the apocalypse came. There were twenty thousand people gathered in Bay City with about forty percent being able to fight. In that percentage, more than half belonged to the Military though it would be hard to tell the exact number.


    Due to thisrge number of forces, the Bay City still managed to scrape by. Although the majority of the popce could not eat and drink as much as they want, in the least, they were able to have their fill even though there were not able to work. Dealing with the threat that came from nearby Cities also became easier due to manymon people that had undergone military training. Although many of them were still not able to go out to scavenge while confronting the infected, in the least, they were able to help to bolster the settlement''s defenses.


    The only threat that did most damage to Bay City was flying infected animals and insects. Especially the mutated ones, they were giving the residents and the military a whole ton of headache. Although they were still being dealt with, casualties would appear from time to time. It was the worst when these flying infected targeted the tent city in the south were most civilians were gathered.


    During those attacks, the snipers from the military and the only survivor team specialized in dealing with the flying infected shined, especially the survivor team that wasposed of beautiful women, cute children and strange animals. It might sound odd to everyone that would hear about it the first time but here in Bay City, this odd group was highly renowned. Although the group itself had not been named, many people call them by the name "Team Fairy" due to their show of prowess in the previous incident in Philippine General Hospital.


    There were also some groups that were popr among the people and two of those groups had close ties with Team Fairy. Furthermore, those three groups lived in a single floor in one of the most prestigious dwellings in the settlement.


    Aside from those groups, there were also individuals that left their names in the memories of the people here. One of those was someone called "Mad Berserker" who would go at any length to annihte any infected he would encounter. His most renowned deed was when he lost himself in ughtering the infected that he cleared a whole nest consisting of about half a thousand infected on his own. It might sound like a fantasy story but the military bore witness to that event.


    The only problem with this person was like his title, he would lose himself from time to time while killing. At those moments, he could not differentiate between foes or allies that would approach him. In the least, he would go after the infected as priority as long as no one approached during those moments. That was also the reason he mostly moved on his own unless it was a mission that came from the military.


    Aside from those, there were also rumors about the "Scientist Ninja" and the "Ice Mage" that was hidden in the dark. It was rumored that these two were secret weapons of the military but no one could prove it. The only cases that the abilities of the two were witness were during a massive attack of a horde of "Z-Type 1- I03: Musca Skulle" or in literal sense, Skull Flies. Although no one was able to see the actual persons, many corpses of Skull Flies hadrge needles made of ice and metal stuck onto them causing their death. There were some people who told that the metal needles were shot by a person wearing a scientist uniform but those were only rumors.


    With the loss of mainstream source of entertainment, these stories circted to the people rather fast. It was also a way for these people to ease their hearts and forget the dangers waiting outside the walls even for just a short amount of time.


    At the military headquarters¡­


    "We haven''t heard anything from the Port of Real Settlement for days already."


    General Miguel Perez sat on his chair inside his office. Inside the room were several military officers including Major Lopez and Captain D Rosa. They were currently in a meeting to try to address various issues in the settlement. At this moment, the sudden cut off with themunication with the Port of Real Settlement was currently being discussed.


    "Thest report we heard from them is that a very strong storm was detected and the settlement is within its path pushing them to evacuate."


    The general''s secretary spoke.


    "It can''t be that their settlement is destroyed right?"


    One of the officers chimed in.


    "If their report is true, the possibility is very high. ording to thest transmission, the iing storm is several times stronger than the Category 5 Super Typhoon Ynda that passed back in 2013. They also said that it was apanied by thunder strikes."


    The secretary narrated the report.


    "But, is that storm really true? It had already been two days and we did not even experience as single drop of rain. Even if we are not in the route of that storm, we should still experience some drizzles, right?"


    Another officer spoke his suspicions.


    "It is better if all of you don''t waste your time on those kinds of assumptions. There would be no reason for them to make those up. Also Sir Faustino is the one managing that settlement. I had no idea for others but Sir Faustino is one of the most upright Generals we have in the military."


    General Perez spoke with a stern expression. It was obvious in his eyes how he respected General Faustino both as a soldier and as a person.


    "I''m with General Perez. I personally know General Faustino and I know that he won''t let any falsehood in that report. Many strange things had been happening since Day Zero. That storm could be one of those strange things."


    Major Lopez also spoke.


    "Day Zero", that was what they called the very day that Mutagen conquered the world. It was the day that the life of many overturned. The people became infected and killed. Those that killed came back to life and infected others. It was a cycle that caused remorse and despair to a lot of people.


    "We don''t know what is going on but we should wait for several days. Maybe they were just having some problems with the ry antennas. A storm that strong can take down those antennas in an instant. It will take a while before they can repair those."


    General Perez spoke ending the topic. Fifteen minutes passed and their meeting had to end yet. It was then that a soldier acting as a messenger came in and made his way towards the general to whisper something.


    To the contents of the whisper, General Perez frowned.


    "What are those pigs up to now?"


    He murmured in an exasperated voice.


    But then¡­


    WHHEEEEEEEEOOOOO!!!


    An rm sounded interrupting their meeting.


    ***


    <strong>Day 43 ¨C 02:17 PM ¨C Central Business Park, Bay City, Para?aque, Metro Man</strong>


    "Hurry up! Get in position on top of the walls!"


    A squad leader bellowed to his men urging them to move faster.


    p While the soldiers were preparing, several armored vehicles arrived. General Perez and the other officers moved out from the vehicles which alerted the soldiers and other people nearby.</anda>


    "General, Sirs, why did you alle here?"


    The squad leader saluted and asked.


    "We are also soldiers. We can''t only stay at the back." The general joked to lighten the mood. "I need a report."


    "Sir!"


    Another soldier came and reported the situation.<sub> </sub>


    About a kilometer away from the perimeters of Bay City, either camera mounted drones or scouts were being sent round the clock to ensure the safety of the settlement. This time, a drone discovered a horde of infecteding from the east traversing Epifanio Delos Santos Avenue. It was a horde of humanoids.


    "Why are the snipers being dispatched?"


    Major Lopez could not help but ask as he saw the sniper team also moving out.


    "Hearing that question, the soldier that was reporting had a worried expression in his face."


    "Sir, the snipers are for precautions. Although it was not confirmed yet but these infected were facing right now had the possibility of being capable of flight."


    Those words made the officers frown.


    ***


    <strong>Day 43 ¨C 02:25 PM ¨C Government Officials'' Residences, Central Business Park, Bay City, Para?aque, Metro Man</strong>


    "Are you all sure that we should be doing this right now? The rm is still going."


    A lean man in his mid-twenties spoke as he sat on his chair. To his question, a man with a stout build answered.


    "Just let those dogs deal with those things. That is what guard dogs are for."


    The stout man''s tone was filled with contempt towards the military.


    "Settle down you two. We''re not here for to fight with ourselves."


    A man with sses interrupted the two.


    This was inside one of the private offices in this hotel that became residence to Government Officials with high status and highly regarded businessmen.


    Inside the office, seven men sat on their chairs and each of them had guards standing behind them.


    The leading man in this group was a man with a rounded face and a mustache, Senator Gong Estrada.


    With silence of the two, Senator Estrada finally spoke.


    "I know us all here had some scruples of our own but that is not what we are here for. Set those aside for now. As you six know, the authority of the military is starting to overshadow us."


    That statement made the eyes of the six people seated sharp.


    "Most of the new Evolvers and Mutators emerging from the popce are being recruited by the military while those thate to us are lessening as time goes."


    "In other words, we should deal with this, right?"


    A man with a sly looking face spoke.


    "That is right. But the question here is why this happened in the first ce."


    The other six went silent. When Bay City was established as a settlement, they still had power over the military even though it was General Perez that was governing the settlement. Because of that, they were still able to gather support from the popce and were able to recruit people that were being added to their private forces. As time had gone however, that power started to diminish. Now, all the new recruits and survivor groups were going to the military for both support and alliance.


    "It all started because of that group."


    The man in mid-twenties, Raver Guevarra, spoke. He was a young businessman who could be said as a business prodigy in the current era of the Philippines. Back before the apocalypse, he was a young person owning several five-star restaurants and hotels. In the building of this settlement, he also contributed arge amount of money.


    To what Raver said, the stout man, Congressman Diosdado Escobar squinted his eyes.


    "I heard that you fancy that "Fairy Sniper"."


    "Who wouldn''t? Those face and body sure looks irresistible to anyone. Unless you''re impotent."


    Rave looked at the congressman with a smug look.


    "Just what are you trying to say you narcissistic lizard?!"


    "What? Is there something wrong with what I said?!"


    Both Congressman Escobar and Raven stood up from their seats. Even their guards behind them were ready to draw their weapons.


    "Here we go again¡­"


    The man with sses, Senator Emilio Asucena scratched his head.


    BAM!


    A loud banging sound interrupted the two. They could not help but look at Senator Estrada who was ring at them. The two could only sit back down on their seats. They were not afraid of the senator and rather they were afraid of the guard behind the senator.


    "I told you all that set aside those scuffles here!"


    Senator Estrada took in a deep breath and calmed himself.


    "Most of the military''s current merits are because of that group, especially the woman you two are talking about."


    The senator looked at Raver.


    "Sad to say but you can''t have that woman. In order to cut off the military''s current advance, that group should disappear."

 Chapter 288 Up Front And Within The Shadows, The Two Different Form Of Dangers

    <strong>Day 43 ¨C 1:45 PM ¨C Government Official''s Residences, Central Business Park, Bay City, Para?aque, Metro Man</strong>


    When Senator Estrada spoke those words, every person in the room looked at him in silence. The expression and aura the senator was exuding was more than enough to make them shudder. Behind the senator, there was also his bodyguard who was continuously releasing a strong air of blood. Even though they were all here forming an alliance, they could still feel that these two people were the most dangerous in this settlement.


    Raver seemed to have disagreement with those words however but he could not speak his will right now. He totally took fancy with the girl named Mei Xiao. Not only was she beautiful and skilled but also the princess of the renowned Xiao Industries. The only problem was that it seemed that her family neglected her and only valued her as a bargaining chip before. Even before the outbreak, he had already known her through business events and parties but even though he was a business prodigy, he was still far from the eyes of the president of Xiao Industries. There was no way for him to pursue her.


    Now however, he had all the chance he wanted and as such, met with her several times. Just to be rejected. He had all his influence and even people but his existence did not even enter her eyes. She did not even face her, not even once.


    "What are you going to do with Xiao Industries? That "Fairy Sniper" is their princess. Everyone knows that."


    Congressman Escobar spoke.


    "There''s no need to bother with them. They might have some private forces but there''s nothing they can do if we made our move. Besides, their family mostly moves inside the settlement, they don''t make too many movements outside. They don''t even participate in militarymissioned missions. They are just a bunch of cowards. There is also that issue, their princess didn''t want to have anything to do with them now. The amount of things they could do to interfere is very minimal."


    Senator Estrada spoke with a grin befitting a schemer. Even his arms were bent over the table and his fingers on both hands were crossed.


    "Movements outside¡­ Are you perhaps¡­"


    Senator Asucena voiced his realization.


    "There will be a mission in a few days. Of course, the military has yet to announce it. Another infected nest is found in the NAIA Airport. As all of you know, that is not far from here."


    Senator Estrada spoke with confidence.


    Then, he revealed information that no one else knew aside from the higher-ups of the military. It was an obvious disy of how deep his connections within the military despite the scuffles between the government officials and the military that already started toe to light to the public.


    "Are you confident about this?"


    One of the men who kept silent until now spoke. He was a lean man with strict looking eyes. He was the retired Senator Osme?a.


    "You all don''t have to worry about this. In a day or two, this wille in public. With the information we have, we can prepare and take advantage of the situation."


    "Wait, are you all sure about this. There is a rumor that that group is somehow rted to an Evolver that have prowess on Par with the Unknown."


    The other silent person also spoke. He was Congressman Montesoro. Of all the people here, he was the one known for being cautious.


    To those words however, Senator Estrada frowned.


    "As you said, those are nothing but rumors. Those rumors included that the person you are talking about is a vengeful person. However, nothing happened to those that harassed their group until now. Think about it. Those baseless rumors could be deliberately spread by the military to get people away from that group."


    That made Congressman Montesoro silent. While the rumors were there but there was also the fact that nothing happened to those that supposed to be suffering due to that person''s revenge. In fact, not a shadow of that person was seen for the whole month that group stayed here.


    "What do you want to do?"


    Thest person spoke. He was the youngest among the politicians here, Congressman Anders Santiago.


    "It''s like this¡­"


    Their meeting took more than an hour before it finished. Everyone else moved out of the room before Senator Estrada since this was his residence.


    "Are you really sure about teaming up with those useless people?"


    The man standing behind Senator Estrada spoke. His voice was deep and had a chilling vibe. It would make anyone with the faint heart feel fear. Although his appearance was simr to those bouncers that could be seen in clich¨¦ nightclubs, the faint bloodlust he was emanating was too thick. Even those that had no experience in these fields would be able to tell that he had killed many people before.


    This person was not just some body guard Senator Estrada hired. He was a mercenary from an international criminal organization.


    "Devon, although they might look useless, they still have some uses."


    "I really like your line of thought."


    Devon smiled. He and this Senator had been working together for a long time now. The mercenary could tell that those useless idiots would be scapegoats if things get awry. Still, those six idiots seemed to have no idea, no, there seemed to be two who were able to catch up to some extent.


    "What are you going to do with those two? They might bite you back."


    Devon asked. He was talking about Raver and Congressman Montesoro.


    "What''s the use of your men if they could?"


    Senator Estrada replied with a smirk.


    To those words, Devon moved his hands as a signal. There, six people appeared as if they left from the shadows of the room. These were surely not normal people.


    "You six go and observe those people."


    With Devon''s words, the six melded into the shadows once more and vanished.<sub> </sub>


    "You''re men are really convenient. No one would have thought that such people exist in the modern world. But are you sure that they won''t fail like that Alderick?"


    "You don''t have to worry about that. Alderick is just a rookie and someone who was picked up from the road side. Those six are different. They were trained assassins from the organization. We have all sorts of people there from real witches to actual cryptids."


    ***


    <strong>Day 43 ¨C 2:12 PM ¨C East Walls, Central Business Park, Bay City, Para?aque, Metro Man</strong>


    "We have visuals on the horde, requesting permission to fire!"


    The voice of the captain of the soldiers that positioned themselves on the buildings outside the walls could be heard on the radio.


    While the meeting of the schemers was on going, the soldiers and other survivor groups were waiting upon the arrival of the horde of infected.


    "Wait for orders. There is still the possibility of that horde being capable of flight. We can''t stir the nest just to get stung by the bees."


    The officer calmly replied on the radio. Since the situation was still not urgent, they were still able tomunicate with roundabout words. Of course, everyone that heard that understood what he wanted to say. If these infected were really capable of flight, it would be better to sweep them in one go than let them scatter around like flies.


    Soon, everyone on the walls could see the infected horde.


    The horde was small, just more or less a hundred individuals. They all looked like normal infected. However, there was a feature prominent to each of the members of the horde. On their backs, bat like wings were present. Since the horde was seen traversing the road on foot, they still had not confirmed whether those wings were just for decoration or not.


    While the horde advanced towards the walls on their own pace, the soldiers and the survivors waited on their positions with their hearts pounding.


    Hundred meters, fifty meters, twenty meters¡­


    The horde closed into the ambush point.


    However¡­


    The horde stopped ten meters before the ambush point.


    At the ambush point, there were explosives installed to deal massive damage to the horde and the people only needed to deal with the remaining infected. With the horde stopping more than ten meters before the ambush point, the traps were rendered useless.


    Still, the permission to fire was not given. There was still the possibility that the horde would continue. That was just a wishful thinking though.


    "SHOOT! QUICK! SHOOT!"


    One of the survivors bellowed and his group shot before everyone else were able to. It was because the Mutator they had who was able to see far managed to witness a horrifying sight.


    The male infected leading the group¡­


    He was smiling.


    At the same time, every single infected opened their wings and flew off. The group who fired first was able to hit a few but the rest flew up in fast speeds that the naked eye could have a hard time to see.


    The military also fired when they witnessed the movements of the wings of the infected but they only got several infected.


    "Shit! They are fast!"


    A survivor said with his eyes wide. He was trying to shoot the infected but his aim was alwayste. The way these infected flew was simr to flies that were disturbed from their food. They were hard to see and it was hard to predict which direction they would fly.


    "WAAAHHH!!!"


    A soldier positioned atop one of the buildings outside was grabbed and was pulled off from the building. Due to the sudden situation, the sniper rifle he had was left on the building. The soldier was experienced and only screamed due to surprise. While he was hanging on the air, he waited before he saw a ce he would be able tond on and used his pistol with great difficulty to shoot the infected that grabbed him.


    BANG! BANG! BANG!


    Three shots were given and the infected started to fall. The soldier tried to grab on the railings of one of the windows of the building leaving the infected to fall on its own. However, he was grabbed by another infected. He tried the same tactic as his shoulders were grabbed by the strong hands but before he was able to, he felt a tugging sensation on his waist.


    The next thing he knew was the feeling of pain as his body was torn apart. He was still alive and saw the lower half of his body from his waist was taken away by another infected that flew off to another direction.


    He was the first casualty in this confrontation.


    Because of the sudden unprecedented situation, the people that were supposed to eliminate the horde fell into disarray. Although they made their best to shoot the flying infected, it was easier said than done. The flight movements of the infected were too erratic. Even though there were just less than a hundred of them now, it was harder that fighting a thousand normal and mutated infected onnd.


    There was also another thing. These infected were not behaving like normal. Unlike those that would only charge towards their prey, these infected seemed to be baiting them and attack at unexpected angles. They were disying a great level of teamwork.


    Due to the sudden turn of events, the General Perez and the officers that were initially among the people atop the walls were advised to take shelter. The situation this time was dangerous and the people managing the settlement should not fall here.


    Even though General Perez did not want to abandon his men alone in this fight, it was also his duty to stay alive. And thus, he could only follow together with his entourage.


    The rms continued to sound and announcements inside Bay City for everyone to take shelter were released. Due to that, the people frantically ran towards any structure they could hide. After all, the flying infected mostly attacked by sight and those who were spotted outside were more likely to be attacked. They all learned this the hard way.

 Chapter 289 Eliminating The Flying Horde, The Intensifying Intent To Kill

    <strong>Day 43 ¨C 2:27 PM ¨C East Walls, Central Business Park, Bay City, Para?aque, Metro Man</strong>


    The remaining members of the horde flew and scattered like flies. This was the worst case scenario during attacks of any infected capable of flight. Still, it was worse this time around. Unlike previous attacks were the attackers were either flies, mosquitos or birds, this time were humanoids. They were bigger but unexpectedly faster. Not to mention that they all behaved unnaturally.


    It seemed that the horde found the people atop the walls the most dangerous but the easiest to target. After all, they had no cover of ce to hide up there. The military was already nning a project to create bunkers atop the walls but the materials gathered were still not enough for constructing everything. Most of the materials they managed to collect had been used for the walls, other defense structures and housing for the people after all. The construction of the bunkers was already ongoing but the finished ones were nowhere near the area where the current attack was happening.


    Normally, the flying infected would attack the settlement from the sky. This was the first time that they closed in on the ground before attacking.


    A plethora of gunshots echoed across the settlement from the ce of the battle. Atop the walls, the defense forces formed groups where they had their backs towards another forming a circle. It was to ensure that there would be no blindsides for them to be attacked by surprise. The tactic was quite effective. Although there were still casualties, it became harder for the infected to pick them up.


    "We got the ropes and harness!"


    Several soldiers came up the walls from the stairs while other soldiers protected them. They brought ropes and harness that one of the survivors thought of using when they saw the victims being picked up from the walls and other buildings.


    "Everyone, tie yourselves! Hurry up!"


    The group of soldiers carrying the ropes and harness ran across the wall distributing the items to everyone. Those that received the items tied their waists to the railings of the wall. With this, the infected would have a hard time picking them up. Aside from that, the infected that would try to pull away their victims would be in a defenseless state instead enabling other people to shoot them.


    Despite the countermeasures however, it was still hard to kill all of the infected. There were some lucky shots that made quite a number fall. Still, the infected were learning and became more cunning. Seeing theirrades being killed after trying to pull those who tied their bodies to the wall, the infected focused on those that had yet to do so. Even the soldiers distributing the items became targets.


    "UWAAA!"


    One of the soldiers that had yet to tie himself to the railings yelled as he felt two arms grab his shoulders and was about to lift him up.


    BANG!


    The head of the infected burst like a watermelon and its body fell on the soldier''s back dyeing his clothes in blood.


    BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG!


    Four consecutive shots were heard after that and four infected fell from the sky.


    The people on the walls were surprised at the sudden development. The infected they tried hard to kill but were not able to fell one by one with a single shot each. Some could not help but get distracted as they tried to see where the shots came from. They then saw the source they could not help but rejoice.


    It was the familiar MB-Sprinter that was parked at the road not far below the wall. Beside the vehicle were several people that had already set up a defense perimeter to guard their sniper. Everyone recognized the vehicle and the people. They were the popr "Team Fairy", the current ace of the military in terms of anti-airbat.


    Mei, Odelina, Abbygale and I had set up a defense formation with Mei in the center. I was beside Mei as the creator of the barrier while Abbygale and Odelina would deal with the infected that fall to the ground but did not die.


    A group of women and children, still, no one belittled them due to their achievements. This time for sure, they would still dominate the battle.


    At the air, a roar sounded. Everyone saw the male infected leading the horde making that roar. The soldiers immediately shot the infected but before the bullets hit, the infected already moved away from his initial position. Following that roar, the infected flying in every direction changed their target. It seemed that they deemed that the "Team Fairy" was the most dangerous among the people and prioritized to attack them.


    There was no doubt about that. The whole horde started flying erratically but all of them were obviously closing in to "Team Fairy" that was on the ground.


    The soldiers and survivors atop the walls tried to shoot the infected that flew past them but with "Team Fairy" being inside the walls and the difference in elevation, the attacks they could do was limited. If they insisted on deliberately shooting the infected while facing the inward direction of the settlement, not only that they could damage the structures and kill civilians with stray bullets but there was also the possibility of identally shooting the "Team Fairy" on the ground.


    Nevertheless, there was really no need for them to shoot.


    "Young Miss, how many is there?"


    Odelina asked as her arms and fists started to get covered with her bone armor. Behind her, Mei''s eyes were moving rapidly counting the moving infected in slow-motion.


    "Hard to count. About sixty-two or so."


    Mei replied as she continuously shot and emptied the magazine of her sniper rifle.


    Out of ten bullets consumed, she managed to hit six. It was not a bad ratiopared to the people at the walls. However, it was all thanks to her ability to slow-down everything in her vision. Many call this ability as [Bullet Time] but in science, it was called [Tachypsychia].


    [Tachypsychia], it was the neurological condition where the brain distorts the person''s perception of time. For someone affected, the time that was perceived lengthens making things appear to slow down or sometimes, making things appear faster and blurry. In Mei''s case, it was the former and it was one of the two abilities Mark gave her and was able to control it at will.


    It was something that changed her life.


    BANG!


    After changing the magazine, Mei started to shoot once more. Unfortunately, what she could handle were only ten round magazines and anyrger would hinder her movements to some extent. Still, it should be enough, she was not alone.


    The infected started to fall one by one. Of course, not all of them were hit on their head and died. Those that were hit on their bodies writhed in pain as they fell while some were hit on their wings disabling their capability to fly.


    On the ground, Odelina and Abbygale moved.


    With each punch and stomp, Odelina smashed a head of an infected open. Abbygale on the other hand transformed and dealt with the fallen ones with her little but overwhelming kicks.


    Because the two were in the open, they were also subjected to the attacks of the infected. However, those that came for Odelina were instead mmed down on the concrete and were killed. Those that came towards Abbygale caught nothing but air as the little girl could move faster than them.


    BAM! TSSSSS!


    BANG!


    Of course, there were some that were some that managed to close in towards Mei and I. However, every time that they did, an invisible barrier would appear in front of them not only stopping their attack but burning them as they made contact.<sub> </sub>


    ? During the time the infected reacted to the barrier, they would fall down to the ground with a hole in the head.


    The horde was killed one by one and Odelina managed to restrain two of the infected alive. It was a request from theboratory and the military and that was why they came inte. Although it was notpulsory, they could get more rewards for the living infected caught.


    Seeing that disadvantageous fight however, one of the infected immediately fled faster than lightning. It was the leader of the horde.


    When Mei and Odelina saw that infected escaping, they could not help but remember the muscled infected Mark encountered before, an infected with a higher level of intelligence.


    It did not take long and the horde was cleared. It was another victory for the settlement but still, quite a number of people died. Every time that there was an attack, it was always like this which made the mood cloudy. This time, most of the deaths came from the soldiers and a few from the survivor groups. The only fortunate thing was that there were no deaths from the civilians inside the settlement. The horde was stopped just near the walls after all.


    Another victory where "Team Fairy" earned another achievement¡­


    Not all were happy about this though.


    ***


    <strong>Day 43 ¨C 3:15 PM ¨C Government Officials'' Residences, Central Business Park, Bay City, Para?aque, Metro Man</strong>


    "It''s them again?"


    Senator Estrada rubbed the bridge of his nose as he received the report of a fully clothed person in front of him.


    "Yes, Senator."


    "How about the groups we had that participated there?"


    "From the three groups, four people died. Seven received injuries from the ws of the infected."


    "And that Team Fairy?"


    "Only the four main members participated this time. No casualties and no injuries."


    Hearing that, Senator Estrada stood up and faced the window with a stern expression.


    "That groups¡­ Especially those four are really strong. They also have those two beasts. Unfortunately, they are on the side of the military. That is why we need to deal with them of the military''s influence will grow even stronger. The n to deal with those should not fail."


    The senator looked down from his window. He was currently at the seventh floor of the hotel where the most luxurious rooms were located.


    "Go back and continue on observing that group."


    "Yes sir."


    With those words, the fully clothed man melded into the shadows and vanished.


    "You know, we can just kill them straight with my men."


    Devon who was sitting on the sofa took a sip on his wine ss and spoke.


    "We can''t. That will be too obvious. Although I hate the military dogs, I don''t want an upfront confrontation with them. They have a lot of uses and it will be bad to severely shave their manpower. All I want is power over the people. There will be no point if the people are dead."


    Power, that was what he wanted. Money? Connections? Influence? All those were important but all of those could be attained by having power.


    Many politicians aspired to be one to serve but as they experience how it was being on the top, many would get drunk on that power. That was why a lot of politicians would not surrender their position easily.


    Being on the top, they could manipte the lives of then people in the country. Receive respect, priority and tteries as people tried to connect with them. There were a lot of things that they could take advantage of being in the position.


    Due to the outbreak however, all those things they worked hard for vanished. Senator Estrada could not ept it. Furthermore, the handling of the settlement was given to the military due to the effects of Marshall Law.


    It was totally uneptable.


    To climb up to his position, he did dirty things. Now that thews were gone, his restraints lessened. Still, he would not show it to the public. He still needed to show a fa?ade to them. Or else, there would be no one to follow him at all.


    That was why. He needed to make their deaths look like an ident.


    ***


    <strong>Day 44 ¨C 3:22 AM ¨C Mountain Base, Mount Mbito, General Nakar, Quezon</strong>


    A man panted as he sat on his bed. The shirt he wore was soaked in sweat and he held his throbbing head. On his arm, the crystal was shining. And his eyes were glowing¡­


    ¡­With a light purple color.


    "You bastards think I will let you seed?"


    He murmured as his lips let out a bloodthirsty grin.

 Chapter 290 A New Ability, The Sudden Gift Before His Departure

    <strong>Day 44 ¨C 3:25 AM ¨C Mountain Base, Mount Mbito, General Nakar, Quezon</strong>


    Mark sat on the edge of his bed as he tried to recover him calm. Around him were Amihan, all the [Blood Children] and Miracle who was currently switched consciousness with Aephelia.


    "Your Majesty, breathe deeply. It is better for Your Majesty to calm down."


    Aephelia spoke. Fortunately, Miracle''s cute voice that came out as she spoke had better effect in this. On the other hand, Amihan was flying beside Mark''s head silently while patting his hair. The [Blood Children] that surrounded Mark were also worried.


    Mark had just experience another episode of painful suffering. It was because of his Empathic Abilities recovering. This time however, it was not just like the previous one. The pain he felt in his head was about twice or trice stronger ifpared. Even the very first one that happened and even called that phenomenon was not as painful as this one. More than that, he suffered for three whole hours.


    All that while, everyone here had been watching him with worry. Since they could not ask anyone for help as this was one of Mark''s secrets, all Aephelia and Amihan could do was to wipe the sweat on his face and neck.


    Just before Mark woke up however, he started to release a thick bloodlust from his body. It was too thick that everyone in this room felt it despite the fact that the bloodlust was not targeted to them. If they were just normal people, they might have felt suffocated.


    Despite the thick bloodlust however, none of them left or even stepped back. They all knew that Mark would not harm them in the slightest. Instead, they felt worry about what was happening.


    None of them even realized that outside, the clouds were moving oddly. A kilometer wide ring of clouds could be seen with the moon at the center. The inner parts of the ring of clouds swayed and vanished as if being sucked at the center. The moment that Mark woke up, the ring of clouds vanished at the same time.


    Only Mark knew what really happened.


    This time, Mark had fully recovered his Empathic Ability. Not only that it recovered but was even stronger to a certain degree. Right now, his ability to detect and absorb emotions of people could cover the whole base that there were still extra areas outside. However, the thing that Freed warned him about started happening.


    As his Empathic Abilities were strengthened, so as the concentration of emotions he could absorb. If this was not regted properly, it would start to affect his mental state. Luckily, his subconscious trait was Emptiness and most of these emotions were sucked into nothingness. It would be harder to for these concentrated energies to fully consume him. The only thing he needed to mind was that the thicker the emotion and mental energy affecting his mind, the longer it took to be cleared and sucked away.


    However, what was the reason he released that amount of bloodlust?


    It was because while he was suffering in pain and his mental abilities recovering, his [irvoyance] kicked in. However, it was different this time. Not only that he saw the future, he was even given the scene of the past. He was there¡­


    ¡­At the meeting, watching.


    Every single word they said, he heard it clearly. Rather than seeing the past, it was more urate that his soul traveled into the past to actually witness what happened several hours before.


    Unfortunately, he had no control towards what he was going to see. If he could, he would have tried to find Mei and the others to see how they were doing.


    After witnessing the whole meeting, he was subjected to the scene where he failed to arrive on time or did not arrive at all.


    He saw where all of them¡­


    ¡­Died.


    It was all due to the machinations done behind the scenes.


    There was no way that he would let that sort of thing happen. It will be the total opposite.


    "Your Majesty, here is the towel."


    Aephelia said as she was about to hand a towel to Mark.


    "Thanks."


    Mark replied and tried to take the towel. He then froze. There was no towel where he stretched his hand towards and grabbed nothing but air. No, he was not mistaken. He saw the towel being handed to him but Aephelia has yet to fully stretch her small hands holding the folded towel towards Mark.


    Not only Mark but also Amihan and Aephelia felt strange seeing that. Especially Aephelia when she saw Mark had already tried to grab something in the ce where she was supposed to ce her hands as she handed the towel.


    "What is going on?"


    Mark waved his right hand in front of his eyes. He saw two hands moving towards the same direction. It was just one of the hands appeared several seconds before he moved his actual hand.


    "This¡­"


    "My Lord, maybe, because of your eyes."


    Amihan voiced what she was able to see. Aephelia on the other hand had not realized it until Amihan said it. It was because of her mannerisms as Freed''s personal maid. It was impertinence as a royal maid to directly look at their king''s face. That was why she tried not to do it most of the time and looked down as she spoke to Mark.


    Hearing what Amihan said, Mark sluggishly stood up and took apact mirror from his work table. As someone who was not blessed in terms of facial appearance, he did not like to look on a mirror. However, he needed to see what was happening this time. On his reflection on the mirror, he saw his eyes. His pupils were glowing in a bright purple color. It was very different from the usual red chilling glow. It was also different from Ka''s eyes that seemed to be covered in light.


    It was really strange. Not to mention that everything that moved in his eyes had two figures. The first one was quite blurry or transparent while the second figure was solid. He was having a hard time due to this. There was also the sensation of feeling drained while it was ongoing.


    In front of his work table, he put down the mirror and started to rx his body. He closed his eyes, emptied his thoughts and breathed deeply and in regr intervals. The next moment he opened his eyes, everything turned to normal. He looked at the mirror once more and the glow in his eyes was already gone. The feeling of being drained was still there but it had already stopped from worsening.<sub> </sub>


    "A new ability¡­"


    Mark clenched his right hand in realization.


    "Congrattions, Your Majesty."


    Aephelia voiced as she heard what Mark said. She also realized why Mark was behaving rather strange.


    "Your Majesty, is it perhaps, [sh Precognition]?"


    The royal maid in a child''s body asked. It made Mark quite surprised.


    "You can tell?"


    "Yes, Your Majesty. I realized due to Your Majesty''s actions earlier."


    "You''re as perceptive as ever."


    "This humble servant is gratified for Your Majesty''s praise."


    Mark looked at Aephelia with annoyed eyes. Of course, what he could see was Miracle''s body.


    "My apologies. I know what Your Majesty is thinking but I would not change it."


    Aephelia looked at Mark with resolute eyes which made him shrug his shoulders.


    Mark really wanted Aephelia to stop being too formal but the maid would not ept it no matter what.


    "Really, just what did Freed feed you to be like this?"


    He could only give up as he said those words. Turning his head towards the small window he made in this room, he could see the dark sky of the night.


    This was the day he would set out to finally meet his new family once more. Still, there was something bothering him.


    Why did he not arrive in time in his premonition?


    "Huh?¡­"


    Mark turned his head towards the wall and pped his forehead.


    Milliel that was on the other side of the room was shivering in fright. For sure, she also felt that intense bloodlust he subconsciously released after witnessing those scenes in his dream. He had no choice but to go out to the next room and appease her.


    ***


    <strong>Day 44 ¨C 6:42 AM ¨C Mountain Base, Mount Mbito, General Nakar, Quezon</strong>


    Morning arrived and Mark did not manage to return to sleep after he appeased the scared mermaid with a lot of effort. As many different thoughts running in his mind, it would be surprising if he was able to. In the end, he tried to grasp the new ability he suddenly had. It was quite hard to grasp and was too taxing to maintain but he managed to get some insights from it.


    [sh Precognition], it was a branching ability of [irvoyance]. While [irvoyance] could allow a person to peek into the future or past events, [sh Precognition] would allow someone to see at least a split second into the future. As Mark could only see a second and a half before the actual action happened, he ended up seeing two figures doing the action especially if the action was made slow or the movement was too little.


    An ability that was both weak and strong at the same time. Compared to the main ability, it was weak but if used properly, it was strong. In the least, Mark could control its activation. He never expected to gain something like this at this moment.


    It was new evidence that Mutagen could strengthen and bolster an already existing psychic ability. Although he could not control the [irvoyance] he inherited from his mother and could only manage to peek into the future at times something severe was about to happen, he was given this new one. He had yet to grasp the full extent of his current abilities and he was given another one. He had to work on it even harder.


    Inside the room, Mark started to prepare. Wearing his armor, checking his equipment and picking up the bags he prepared beforehand. He also had to help Miracle who was struggling to wear her armor and dress.


    In an hour or so, he would leave. The onesing with him this time aside from Miracle and Amihan was Karlene and Edzel. There was also the usual set of [Blood Children] that wasposed of Oracle, Crimson and Ivy. This time however, , the glowing [Blood Child] was alsoing along.


    Miracle and Amihan along with the three [Blood Children]ing along was already a given. For the other three, there was a reason. Mark decided to start training Edzel and one of the best ways for that was to make him fight the infected. Since Mark was going to the city, there were a lot of chances to do that. Karlene on the other hand needed to be monitored. After all, only Mark could control her alter ego, Ka. It would be a disaster of Ka suddenly broke out while Mark was gone. Although she would not hurt the people, the infected Mark was keeping would be in danger.


    As for , Mark really had no n to bring her since she was needed to install appropriate lighting around the base. However, she would not behave at all with others around. She was too hard headed despite her gtinous body and would only behave around Mark. Without Mark, the instation would not progress either. Sine that was the case, Mark decided to bring her. He could only pray that the other [Blood Children] would not imitate her in order toe with him. It would be a whole lot of trouble not only to him but also for the base since they were the main source of construction materials for the base.


    With everything in set, Mark and his entourage was ready to go. Everyone in the base gathered outside the southern gates to see them go. na and Karlene said goodbyes to each other and thetter threatened Mark to take care of her friend. Huey, Jollene, Hallie and Nicole assured their leader that they would take care of the base while they were gone while the others and even the children waved as Mark and the others flew unto the sky while riding on Char''s back.


    Their first stop was the new North East Quezon Settlement.

 Chapter 291 Picking Up The Package, The Bad Karma Of A Certain Girl

    <strong>Day 44 ¨C 6:55 AM ¨C Mount Mbito, General Nakar, Quezon</strong>


    At the sky above the foot of the mountain northeast of the Mountain Base, a dragon flew with several people on its back. Of course, it was Char who was serving as Mark''s transport. With the dragon around, it became easier for Mark to traverse the distance that should have taken longer and harder.


    Since the base was at the slightly tter area southeast part of Mount Mbito, it would normally take several hours just to hike down the mountain towards Agos River and go up the mountain range on the other side to reach Marikina-Infanta Highway. From the highway, walking towards the new location of the Military Settlement would take several more hours. Not to mention the dangers that they would encounter on foot.


    Mark had already brought back the motorcycles he hid after eliminating the ouws but he had yet to find a ce to park the vehicles near the road. Right now, their priority was developing the base and structures all the way outside would have to wait for a while.


    On Char''s back, everyone sat neatly. Afortable saddle had already been made on the dragon''s back which enabled five adults to ride. Char''s back was quite wider than the area of its shoulders. Due to that, the saddle was positioned in one, one, two and one seating order. Not to mention that the saddle was connected to a carrier under Char that could hold quite an amount of baggage.


    The first seat was upied by Mark and Miracle sat in front on him. Karlene upied the second seat while Edzel was on the right seat behind Karlene. The two remaining seats were upied by the bags Mark brought that should not be put under Char for many reasons. Of course, Amihan was on Mark''s shoulder as she controlled used her powers to remove the air resistance as Char flew as fast as possible.


    The morning air above the mountains was colder than the city, Karlene and Edzel still shivered even though they were already wearing jackets. Even though Amihan warded the air resistance and they could not feel any wind blowing hard, the temperature was still there.


    "Don''t you three feel cold at all?"


    Karlene could not help butin as she saw how Mark, Miracle and Amihan seemed to be unaffected by the cold temperature.


    In response to Karlene''s question, Mark opened one of the canisters beside his backpack and let Crimson out. He then handed the [Blood Child] to Karlene.


    "Hold him tight and don''t let him fall."


    Karlene was confused as to why Mark gave Crimson to her but when she held the [Blood Child].


    "He''s warm¡­"


    She could not help but rub Crimson on her face.


    Mark could feel that Crimson was troubled about this but the poor [Blood Child] could only endure. On the other hand, Mark was quite pleased with how Edzel was behaving. Edzel knew that he was still not worthy of the same treatment as Karlene had and was enduring the cold without saying anything. It made Mark want to see how long he could endure.


    ***


    Back in the base, Edzel saw how different the people lived. They were wearing good clothes, they were well fed and everyone did not emanate the same atmosphere most people in the East Port Settlement had. The people in the base could even smile and the ves that had already given up on living were starting to see a better future.


    Seeing those things, he could not help but think.


    "What if I and Pearl lived here in the first ce? She wouldn''t have left me then."


    He could only shake his head when that thought came and the words he heard in his ears before resurfaced.


    That event was not anyone''s fault but his. It was because of his weakness.


    During his stay in the base, Mark left Edzel in the care of Huey and the others. He saw the abilities of the first group in Mark''s base firsthand. Eagerness, that was what he felt as he watched them.


    There were also times when Jollene would bring him to train and spar. Of course, he was pitifully trashed although he was physically stronger than her.


    Yesterday, Hallie noticed his eyes as he watched another of Jollene''s and na''s spars. She gave him a few words.


    "Jollene isn''t that great before. She''s even the weakest among us."


    She said which surprised him.


    When he asked how she became strong, Hallie answered.


    "She epted being Mark''s ve along with Huey. Along with her natural ability, she became strong with Mark''s training." Hallie then looked at him. "You and Jollene had the same eyes before you know that? The same thirst to be strong. Mark brought you here so as long as you follow him, you''ll be strong in the future."


    After saying that, Hallie left and wanted to join the spar of Jollene and na. However, the two refused adamantly.


    It was because Hallie was already a Mutator and a rather powerful one. They said that it was because of Mark that she became one. He could not help but anticipate the future, but now, he just have to show that he was worthy of it.


    ***


    <strong>Day 44 ¨C 7:24 AM ¨C Barangay Banugao, Infanta, Quezon</strong>


    It did not take long and they arrived at the new settlement. They saw evolved birds along the way but they all avoided Char and some even fled in fear. It made their travel even easier this time. As long as they did not encounter any infected capable of flight like giant flies or mosquitos, they should be fine.


    Seeing the familiar dragon, the people of the new settlement did not create any fuss anymore. They had seen Char several times this past days as Mark travelled several times for different purposes. Still, many people gathered to at least catch a glimpse of the legendary dragon that now existed before their eyes. Mark found it rather annoying though.


    As hended, General Faustino and Major Bautista were already there waiting for them. After all, this meeting was already scheduled before and was of great importance. They needed Mark to bring several things to Bay City for both development and research. Another thing was they also needed Mark to bring back a few things from Bay City, especially some of the fruits of the research there.


    Normally, they could just transmit the things through radio by using encrypted messages but with the members of international organization lurking around, they could not do that anymore. Actually, the [Berserk Liquid] that the Death Valley Settlement was not only their research but they were also trying to recreate the [Regeneration Medicine] but just failed since Port of Real Settlement did not transmit any of their findings on the radio yet.


    "It''s good that you guys are here. I don''t need to go anywhere else like your office or something."


    Mark said as he approached General Faustino.


    "You don''t really have anything else to do here, right? It will be better if we don''t take too much of your time."


    The general replied with a smile as he personally handed three metal cases to Mark.<sub> </sub>


    "This one is yours to keep."


    He added as he gave the third case.


    "Alright, thanks."


    Mark epted the metal cases. He already knew the contents of the cases and the one given to him was a sample of [Berserk Liquid] and a copy of the research. It was one of thepensations he could get for this job not to mention the copies of research from Bay City he would receive after he returned.


    "Edzel, take these and put these in the carrier."


    He called Edzel and handed the two of the three metal cases. Edzel immediatelyplied and put the metal cases on the carrier under Char''s body.


    On the side, Karlene and her father were talking. After all, Karlene was going away wheremunication was currently impossible.


    "Sir Mark."


    After Mark conversed with General Faustino, someone called unto him. Mark knew that they were here.


    "Mr. Salvador. Do you have any business with me right now?"


    Mark spoke. The person in front of him was the head of Salvador Family, Darren Salvador.


    "Just Darren is fine." Darren smiled. "It''s about our cooperation."


    "Is something wrong?"


    "You see, we surveyed our properties yesterday, the ntation we had that is stated in the contract. The whole ce is decimated and almost everything we nted was destroyed."


    "So you are saying that you won''t be able to uphold the terms stated in contract, right?"


    "Yes, unfortunately." Darren sighed. "You have done us a huge favor back then and even gave use a good amount of food for sustenance but we don''t have much to give you in return."


    Mark smiled. Darren was really an honest person. Instead of lying and prolonging the issue, he actually came here to tell the problem honestly. In the first ce, Mark had no interest in those properties. He only wanted to use Annica''s taming ability. That was why he was really not bothered about the ntation.


    Then, Darren made a bold deration.


    "That is why if possible, our family will work under you from now on."


    Hearing that, not only Mark but the other people around were surprised especially those that came from the East Port Settlement and were helped by the kindness of Salvador Family.


    Their family already surrendered their status to the Military and many people they hired already left them not to mention that many died back then during the multiple battles they experienced while evacuating.


    With nothing left but their selves, the members of the Salvador Family could only use their people to uphold their end of the contract.


    They did not know. Bing Mark''s people just would further deepen their debts. Still, Mark found it more convenient that they offered it themselves. Actually, he also wanted to recruit them, especially Annica.


    However, Mark could not bring them now as he was in a hurry.


    "Then, can you wait for my return? Just a week or so and I will bring your family with me."


    "A week, huh¡­ No problem."


    Darren then held out his hand which Mark received with a bit of annoyance. He still hated handshakes.


    Mark did not really stay long and left after their business were done and Karlene finished her farewell with her Father. Major Bautista also made Mark promise to take care of his daughter well in this journey. Karlene was really loved by the people close to her.


    As they took off, Mark could not help but feel something strange. It as if something changed¡­ Something he could not exin. Then, he realized, if he did not see the premonitionst night, he would not hurry this much and might have immediately brought the Salvador Family to his base. That would surely take more time.


    "It was one of the things that should have made me dyed isn''t it? It would surely not be thest one."


    He murmured as he turned his head looking at the corner of one of the school buildings. There was quite a tint of pity in his eyes.


    ***


    Behind one of the school buildings, a girl in her teens watched the dragon flew away. She was emaciated and her body was filled with scars. The clothing she was wearing was old and dirty. It was obvious that the injuries she acquired happened not long ago as her scars were rather new. Her fair skin looked coarse now and a knife wound that went from her forehead, between her eyes and to her right cheek destroyed her face.


    She looked at the fading silhouette of the dragon with longing, guilt and regret in her eyes. Although she tried to hide it, the glistening drop of tear that fell down on her face could be seen.


    "It seems you''re doing well now¡­ It is better for you to not see me like this¡­"


    The girl murmured as she wiped her tears with her dirty sleeves. Without anyone noticing, she walked away back to where she belonged now¡­


    ¡­Together with the outcast ves.


    ***


    <strong>Volume 5 END</strong>

 Chapter 292 A Short Break By The Riverside, What Edzel Was Lacking

    <strong>Day 44 ¨C 8:00 AM ¨C Lumutan, General Nakar, Quezon</strong>


    After leaving the new Military Settlement, Mark and his group riding on Char flew west aiming to go over the mountains of General Nakar, Quezon.


    No matter which route they would take, it would be fraught with danger. Following the roads would likely make then encounter infected insects and birds while flying over the mountains could lead to an encounter with evolved feral ones. In thetter''s case however, the number of evolved feral animals were lowerpared to non-feral ones and the encounter would be less likely. That was why Mark took thetter route.


    "This mountainous area is reallyrge, isn''t it?"


    Karlene said while looking at the vast expanse of the mountainous area of General Nakar.


    Even though they were up in the sky, they could not see the full area of the forest and mountains. Of course, they were not flying above the mountain peaks and were just about a little more than half a kilometer from the ground. Flying over the mountain peaks would not be suitable for a travel like this due to the air being thin the higher the altitude of the flight.


    The mountainous area in General Nakar was really wide. It was more than one-hundred thirty thousand hectares which was about eighty percent of the whole municipality of General Nakar, Quezon. Furthermore, ny-four percent of the municipality was dered as foresnds. There were also three watersheds within the area.


    Food, water and construction materials, this ce could supply all these things needed by their small base that only upied more than fifty square meters and had less than fifty people. Not only was that but the surrounding area outside of General Nakar also forested and mountainous areas. Since security was not an issue as long as everyone was within the base, they could live safely andfortably here, without anyck of food and water unlike the settlements where people were suffering.


    "That is the direction to the base right?"


    Karlene spoke once more as she pointed at the south.


    She was like a child on a tour.


    "Seriously¡­"


    Mark shook his head hearing her words. It could not be helped though. He just wished that she would behave like Miracle and Edzel who were just looking around silently. He also wished that  also stopped being noisy in his head. The hard headed [Blood Child] wanted to go out of her container. Luckily, they could not talk or else, it would be very annoying.


    The sun was rising up in the sky as time passed making Karlene and Edzel feel morefortable in this travel.


    While everyone else looked like tourists, Mark was keeping his vignce in the surroundings. The things he saw in his premonitionst night was still bugging him and making him unable to fully rx. He did not want to let down his guard and regret it.


    "Say¡­ Mark, are we going straight to Bay City? This is the right route, right?"


    Karlene asked.


    "It''s not a straight route since we have to go around mountains and I''m not an expert in navigation. Even if we have apass and a map, it will be hard to fly straight. Also Char could only fly for two hours straight and he needed to rest."


    Mark replied as he looked at thepass he was holding. It was something he got from the tourist spot during one of their supply runs before.


    "Oh right."


    Karlene said as she patted one of Char''s scales.


    What Mark had just said made her remember. Char was a living thing and its stamina was not infinite. Being able to fly about two hours straight was already amazing considering its size. Not to mention that it was carrying people and baggage. Because of the baggage, it would be possible that the time Char could maintain flight would be lesser.


    They needed to make stops before they reach Bay City. Although Mark was in a rush, he did not want to push his pet to the limit or things might turn out worse than better.


    Of course, despite the expected stops, their travel speed was already fast. If they went on the ground either by foot or using a vehicle, it would be questionable if they could even reach a quarter of the distance they already traveled so far with the same time constraints. Not only that but they would surely encounter a lot of danger and roadblocks to hinder them further.


    If they traveled on the road, just the distance from the New Military Settlement in Infanta to Bay City was already about hundred and forty kilometers. That was a three hours fifty minutes travel before the outbreak if there was no traffic. With the traffic in EDSA, one of the most prominent roads in Metro Man, those three hours would get consumed just to traverse the very well-known avenue.


    After the outbreak however, it would surely be longer. It would not be surprising if it even took days to cover the whole distance.


    In any case, it was really convenient that Mark had Char.


    ? ***


    <strong>Day 44 ¨C 8:42 AM ¨C San Jose, Antipolo, Rizal</strong>


    As expected, Char did not even reach the two hour mark during this flight. It was not because he was weakened but the unsteady flight as they avoided the mountains was also taxing. Char was not a dragon that specialized in speed and flight but a kind of destructive one.


    Since Mark had a mental connection with Char, he could tell that the dragon was nearing its limit. The prideful lizard did not want to admit it though and wanted to keep going. Of course, that was not something that Mark could agree to.


    Without any choice, they had to find a good ce tond and rest for a while. Even though they were still around the forested areas, they already travelled outside the border of General Nakar. ording to the map Mark had, they should already be at the northeastern border of Antipolo, Rizal.


    "Boss, how about there?"


    Edzel who rare spoke this time suggested. He was pointing at a small town surrounded by forests and a river quite a distance away.


    Since Mark had no problems with that, he epted the suggestion. They chose an open area beside the river andnded. Uponnding, Char immediatelyy down on the grass and closed its eyes. It knew that taking a nap would make it recover faster.


    After theynd, Karlene walked towards the river to wash her face with the clear water.


    "Are you sure that you should be doing that?"


    Mark asked.


    "Why?"


    "This is still part of Agos River you know? Who knows how many dead people this water drowned after the outbreak?"


    "Ugeh!"


    Karlene realized that what she was about to do was dangerous and backed up immediately.


    Agos River was a very long winding river that crosses not only around the mountains of General Nakar but also at a few of the west, south and eastern municipalities surrounding General Nakar. Due to that, many viges and towns rely on the river for livelihood and supply.


    After the outbreak however, it was questionable how many lives was taken by the river. There were a lot of possible causes for people to end up in the river after the outbreak. It might be because they fell,mitted suicide or fell victim to evolved carnivorous fishes. In any case, it was never safe to use the river water unless it was at the source of the water.<sub> </sub>


    "Boss, I''ll make some rounds."


    Edzel said.


    "Alright, just yell if you encounter something you can''t handle. Also don''t stray far, we''ll leave after an hour."


    Mark smirked as he saw Edzel scratch his head after hearing what he said.


    Edzel knew that he had been seen through. He was not just going for rounds but going to find something he could use for training.


    "Yes, Boss."


    Mark and the rest watched Edzel walk away holding the sword Mark made for him and an assault rifle hanging on his back.


    "That guy is too eager isn''t he?"


    Karlene voiced her concerns after Edzel walked away. Even the childish her could tell that there was something wrong with Edzel.


    "Just let him be. He needs to learn a few things on his own. Especially what hecked."


    Mark replied.


    Edzel surely took his interest back then at East Port Settlement and because of his circumstances, it would be easy to get his loyalty. Mark was already sure about thetter issue and Edzel was following his instructions properly by word. As for the interest, it was because Edzel''s father was not human.


    The problem however was that Edzel was not worthy yet of receiving one of his precious crystals. Edzel was too eager and still needed to experience many things. He needed to realize what hecked right now. That was the crucial thing.


    "Lack? What is it?"


    Karlene asked in confusion.


    To that question, Mark sat on arge rock by the riverbank and put Miracle on hisp. He started caressing her hair gently which made the little girl squint her eyes infort. Amihan as usual sat on his shoulder. Mark then looked at Karlene.


    "Why do you want to be strong? Why do you want to be able to control Ka''s abilities?"


    Karlene was surprised by the sudden question but she immediately answered with resolute eyes.


    "I want to survive this world and help my father in the future. Also to everyone, I don''t want to be a burden."


    Mark nodded hearing that and spoke.


    "It''s a na?ve goal but at least, you have a befitting one. Something you could work towards to."


    "What does it have to do with Edzel?"


    Mark then turned his head at the ce Edzel walked as he left.


    "That guy doesn''t have such goals. Not anymore."


    Karlene was still confused about the circumstances but she knew that she should not ask too much since Mark stopped talking.


    As for Mark, what he had said was true. Edzel lost his goals already.


    Mark already heard his circumstances. Edzel was only an elementary graduate since he had to start working early and did not have much opportunity to build up friendly rtions with people of his age. It was because her mother died a year after he graduated elementary school due to sickness. Since he could not rely on his rtives, he could only work on his own to live. He never met his father and the only thing he had in life was Pearl. However, the event that night happened.


    Without anything to hold on to but his empty life, his only goal right now was to be stronger. Not for the sake of living or self-satisfaction but just for the sake of being strong. And that was not a good thing.Although it could be said that Mark also had a hand at causing this.


    Mark had not seen any circumstances like this before. However, he had Freed''s memories. The fallen king saw many people that ended up being consumed by their strength and fallen into bad circumstances. It would be bad if Edzel followed the steps of those people. The main goal of bringing Edzel this time was to make him realize this.


    While they were passing time¡­


    "My Lord¡­"


    Amihan tried to say something but¡­


    "Shhhh."


    Mark stopped her with a smirk.


    The tall grasses around the clearing near Karlene started rustling which immediately alerted her.


    As she was about to jump away from her position, several figures jumped towards her and surrounded her. Several pointed wooden spears were aimed at her.


    "D-don''t move! G-ggive, give us all your food and water!"


    ''What an intimidating deration.''


    Mark tried his best not tough.


    Not only Mark but even Karlene did not know whether she should be scared with the spears pointed at her orugh.


    However,ughing would be rude towards their cute assants.


    After all, what surrounded and pointed their spears at Karlene were seven children with ages about five to twelve. And they all looked really desperate.

 Chapter 293 The Little Bandits, Going A Bit Overboard In Dealing With Them

    <strong>Day 44 ¨C 9:02 AM ¨C San Jose, Antipolo, Rizal</strong>


    While the sudden assants pointed their spears at Karlene, Mark just sat in ce without moving. He stopped Amihan and Miracle from making a move while he also made Char who was disturbed by themotion to stay put. There was really no need for any of them to make any move of retaliation. After all, it would be overkill to do so.


    On the other hand, Karlene was troubled. She looked at Mark with the expression asking "What should I do?"


    "You should be able to deal with them right?"


    Mark said knowing what Karlene wanted to say.


    "Deal with them?! You want me to kill them?"


    Karlene was flustered with Mark''s words but hearing her ask that question, the children around her flinched.


    These children were not bandits or anything of sort. Mark knew that. The way the children tried to threaten them was too amateur. The way the leading child stutter as he spoke made it obvious that they were doing this for the first time. Even the way they surrounded Karlene was not organized. Some went out and charged first while others didg behind.


    The seven children surrounding Karlene started to hesitate when they heard her words. They were all very nervous and would surely try to run away in the slightest scare. After all, they just heard that they would be killed.


    Among the seven children surrounding Karlene, six were boys and one was a tomboy. However, these seven were not all the children here. Behind the bushes there was still four more and they were all girls.


    These children were surely na?ve. Although it was a smart move that they aimed for Karlene first in attempt to take her as hostage since she looked weaker, it was not a smart move to target the ce with more people. They might have more percentage of seeding of they tried to target Edzel first but it seemed that they perceived him as dangerous since he was holding a weapon and had a gun when he went away. They did not even try to observe further as it seemed that they did not witness the time Char Landed. They were totally oblivious that there was a dragon keeping silent near them.


    Mark did not say anything about killing the children and Karlene just misunderstood it. These children were not enemies that would try to take their lives. They just wanted food and water and seemed desperate about it. However, since they pointed their weapons at Mark''s group, there was no need to bother with them too much.


    Since Karlene did not want to make a move, Mark sent a mental signal to Char.


    "ROAR!"


    Char slowly stood up and roared in a menacing manner. It was really an overkill.


    "UWAAAHHH!!"


    "Mo-monster!"


    "RUN!"


    "MAMA!"


    The children''s formation immediately copsed. While some immediately tried to run away, there were those that were not able to. Two fell on their butts as they stared at Char wide-eyed and shivering in fear. One boy stood frozen as warm liquid flowed down his legs. The youngest that was five years old tried to run but ended up tripping on a rock and started crying while holding his knee.


    Behind the bushes, three of the girls plopped down on the grass and started crying while one tried her best to not sumb to fear and started helping the others up to run away.


    It became a disaster.


    Only one boy who was the oldest stared at the dragon facing it with all the courage he had. His legs and arms were shivering but he positioned himself between the dragon and his friends.


    "MARK!"


    Karlene yelled in a fluster. She immediately ran towards the five-year old boy that tripped to help.


    "I did nothing though? It''s Char''s fault."


    Mark feigned ignorance. Of course, Karlene would not believe him.


    "I''m sure you made it scare them!"


    "What? You''re not making a move so it thought, you''re scared stiff."


    "You! I thought you want me to kill them!"


    "I said nothing of sorts though."


    "Hmpf!"


    Karlene started to ignore Mark and focused on helping the crying children around her.


    "It''s Char who scared them though."


    Mark shrugged his shoulders. It seemed that he was enjoying the scene.


    "Uhm, My Lord, you''re behaving badly, you know?"


    Even Amihan could not help but admonish Mark. Even though she was still afraid of humans, the scene in front of them right now was just too much.


    "Geeze, alright." Mark then shouted at his pet. "Char, you can stop it already."


    Finally, Char who was staring at the shivering boy in front of him went back to resting. The way it looked at the children was really smug. If Mark did not make it stop, it would probably push the children into fright even more.


    Seeing that Dragon did not attack and actually obeying the man in ck clothes, he plopped onto the ground. Although he did not cry out loud, the corner of his eyes had tears.


    "Boss! Is something wrong?"


    Edzel finally appeared. The roar Char made alerted him. He thought that that there was danger and hurriedly returned. However, seeing the scene in front of him, he was not able to process it. He left with only their team in this ce but now, almost a dozen children were scattered creating a huge ruckus with their wails of fear.


    "Just¡­ what? Boss?"


    He could only turn to Mark but thetter only signaled to ask Karlene about it.


    ***


    It took several minutes and Karlene managed to pacify the children. All of them already gave up on robbing the unfamiliar people in front of them. Not only that they failed but the other party even helped them calm down. Although they pointed their weapons on Karlene but she still took their sides.


    Now, they hung their heads in shame. Not only they tried to rob people for the first time and failed but their supposed victims ended up helping them. They really thought that they would die just earlier and could not help but sumb to fear. When Char suddenly roared, they thought that they were being attacked again.


    Eleven children now lined up in front of Karlene. Unexpectedly, even though the one who wet himself was rather embarrassed, he did not go to the river to wash even though the river was just a few feet away.


    "Why don''t you wash yourself first?"


    Karlene also noticed and asked. However, an unexpected answer came.


    "He can''t. It''s dangerous."


    The eldest child spoke.


    "Why?"


    Karlene could not help but ask.


    "The river water is harmful in this area. If we want to wash, we should go downstream. We still can''t use the water for drinking or cooking though."<sub> </sub>


    Hearing that, Karlene shivered as she turned her head to Mark. It turned out that he was right and luckily, he stopped her from washing her face with the river water earlier. But how could he tell? She could not help but think.


    Sensing her confusion, Mark spoke.


    "Because there''s not a single fish in the water in this area, there are no river insects either."


    The child further attested to it as he spoke.


    "Fishes that will enter this part of the river and the area upstream would die. The fish downstream are also already too few and small."


    No wonder these children were desperate for food and even water.


    Still, if the river became like this, it was bad news not only to these children but also to Mark and a lot of people. Not only the stretch of this river run near his base but also this river was the one that the military thought that would provide water for their new settlement. If the river became contaminated and harmful, it would be dangerous.


    "When did it start?"


    Mark could not help but ask since it would also affect his base and the military settlement he had cooperated with.


    The child looked at him reluctantly and spoke.


    "Just two days ago."


    "No wonder it hadn''t spread too much yet."


    Mark murmured. He thought that it had not happened for long since the child had just said that they could still use the water downstream to some extent. It meant that the contamination had not spread too much yet.


    "Did something strange happen that day?"


    Karlene managed to catch up with Mark''s thoughts and asked.


    "Yes. It was about midnight before the river became contaminated. The sky was covered in thick clouds then, a bright red light appeared for several minutes in the forest upstream."


    "It is really something strange! The red light covered the forest!"


    Another child spoke, a girl about eight years old.


    "Mimi, don''t be rude."


    The eldest child admonished the girl while ncing at Mark. Seeing that Mark did not mind, he felt relieved.


    On the other hand, Mark scratched his cheek.


    "Father, he''s scared of you."


    Even Miracle noticed in. It seemed that he really went overboard. In any case, it seemed that Karlene managed to get the hearts of these children.


    "Are you all siblings? Where are your parents?"


    Karlene asked. However, that question made the whole atmosphere down. Sensing it¡­


    "I''m sorry, I didn''t mean to. Is there any adults around?"


    Hearing her question, the children looked at each other and started whispering in a circle. Karlene did not mind it though but she wished that they would go a little farther since she could still hear what they were whispering about.


    "Big Sister, Sirs. Can you help us? We have a few adults with us but they are sick and injured."


    After whispering, the eldest girl who seemed to be eleven spoke. As she spoke, the other younger children started to show their begging look and puppy eyes.


    Mark would notice what these cunning children were nning but Karlene and Edzel was the issue here.


    "My Lord, can we at least check?"


    Well, Amihan was another.


    While the children were showing those looks¡­


    GROWL¡­


    A growling sound was heard. Some of the children hurriedly looked around to see if there was danger. However¡­


    One of the boys looked down in embarrassment.


    "Um¡­ Sorry¡­"


    It was his stomach growling in hunger.


    "Mark, can we give them food and water?"


    Karlene patted the boy on his head and asked Mark. That question made the children look at Mark with expectations.


    "No."


    The children became downhearted.


    Now, even Karlene was looking at Mark with a begging look.


    "Hah¡­ Stop that you idiot."


    "Who''s an idiot?!"


    Karlene snapped.


    Ignoring Karlene, Mark looked at the eldest boy.


    "Bring us to where you all live first. I''ll give you some food and water if you all did that."


    Of course, hearing that, it would not make them answer immediately. They did not know these people. Even though Mark said that he would give them food and water, they were reluctant to let strangers into their dwelling ce. The children could not help but look at Karlene.


    "You all don''t have to worry. That guy might look like a criminal but he''s not bad."


    With those words, the children finally agreed albeit reluctantly. They were really desperate right now and the opportunity finally came. In the least, they were not harmed and they failed to do an evil deed either.


    As for Mark, he really did not want to do this in the first ce. However, the circumstances of this river could fatally affect his base. After all, the spring river in his base was also connected to Agos River. Although it was not connected by source and was just connected downstream, he could not take chances.


    To address the situation, he needed more information. However, children whose minds were not ripe yet would not be able to give him enough and that was why she needed the adults. Fortunately, these children seemed to still have some guardians and not some vagabonds here.


    Still, just how severe were the condition of the adults for these children to go out and find food and water on their own?

 Chapter 303 Deity Of Bloodshed, The Demons Past During The Time Of Unrecorded History

    <strong>Day 44 ¨C 1:20 PM - San Marcelino, General Nakar, Quezon</strong>


    Everyone gathered around Mark but no one tried to touch him due to Amihan''s warning. Despite being unconscious, they could see Mark trashing around, gritting his teeth and was releasing a faint growl from his mouth. His forehead was heavily frowning. From these signs, it was obvious that he was in deep pain.


    "Amihan, you said its possession. Can we do anything aside from watching him suffer like this?"


    Karlene asked while feeling helpless as she watched Mark suffer.


    However, she did not receive any reply. She turned to Amihan just to see her standing in front of a weird altar-like contraption under the acacia tree. Karlene walked towards the altar to take a look at it and she saw Amihan. She was crying. Finally, Karlene heard the little sylph''s reply.


    "I don''t, I don''t know. What my lord is undergoing is not just some normal possession." Amihan said as she tried to wipe her tears with her arm. "This altar, I heard of it before. What is trying to possess my lord is not just some evil spirit or a normal demon."


    "What do you mean?"


    Karlene asked with further worry. The conversation of the two immediately caught the attention of Edzel and Miracle. Amihan turned to look at Mark and the ck smoke emanating from his body and answered.


    "When other spirits that are capable of trying to possess someone, specifically a human, the disparity between the vessel''s body soul and mind will hinder the foreign entity to some extent. When the possession seeded, he one that possessed the person would not be able to control the body to the full extent and ends up having strange movements, growling and at worst cases, they and up not being able to stand at all. It also applies to normal demons. It is because they could only possess the body and not the soul. If that was the possession my lord is undergoing, he should be fine afterward. But¡­"


    "But what?"


    "The one trying to possess my lord is not a normal demon. If I''m correct, it''s a strong demon born of miasma. In the worst case, it might even be the demon sealed thousands of years ago."


    "What are you saying? How are you sure of that?!"


    Karlene started to panic. Her voice even started to rise.


    "Miss Karlene, calm down! Look at Miss Amihan before going hysterical."


    Edzel hurriedly tried to intervene and forced Karlene to calm down. His voice made Karlene look straight at Amihan. The little sylph was biting her lip that it almost bled. She was even shivering. Compared to everyone here, she was the one with the weakest mentality. Yet, she was trying her best to keep as calm as possible. She was crying but still answered Karlene''s questions. What Karlene did was just in unreasonable.


    "I''m sorry."


    Karlene apologized and Amihan shook her head.


    "I-Its fine." Amihan then turned to the altar. "This altar looks like something that is used to seal a formless demon, a demon born of miasma. They are demons that are not too strong at first but grows by absorbing negative energy. Also even though they are not immortal, they are very hard to destroy. Their kind had no bodies so they always try to possess people and take over their bodies. But since they had no bodies in the first ce, it became easier for them to adapt to the human body they possessed taking over the victim''s identity in the process. After they seeded, the victim''s mind and soul are destroyed permanently."


    Amihan took a deep breath. Even though the air was quite unpleasant in the surroundings, she had no problem as she could purify the air around them.


    "Also¡­ This altar is moreplex to normal ones. The demon sealed here should be a very strong one. I just wish that this is not the altar that I heard about or it will be hard for my lord toe back to us."


    "That''s¡­"


    Karlene slumped to the ground while Edzel gripped his fists tightly.


    While the three were feeling remorse for Mark''s possible oue, a child''s voice was heard.


    "Such impudence. His Majesty will not fall to such a filthy creature."


    It was Miracle. It was not surprising for Amihan but Karlene and Edzel were shocked to the unfathomable change that they saw.


    "Aephelia¡­"


    Amihan voiced.


    "Little one. Shouldn''t you put more trust in His Majesty?"


    Aephelia admonished in a strict tone apanied by a re.


    "I''m sorry¡­ Will My Lord really ovee this?"


    "I told you to put more trust, didn''t I?"


    With those words, Aephelia started working. Even though it could not be helped that her king had to lie on the ground, at least, she wanted to clean the surroundings. After all, the aftermath of her king''s battle caused the surroundings to be unsightly.


    ***


    <strong>Day (-)¨ƒ¨ƒ¨ƒ¨ƒ¨ƒ¨ƒ¨ƒ¨ƒ - ¨ƒ¨ƒ:¨ƒ¨ƒ¨ƒ¨ƒ- ¨ƒ¨ƒ¨ƒ¨ƒ¨ƒ¨ƒ¨ƒ¨ƒ¨ƒ¨ƒ¨ƒ,¨ƒ¨ƒ¨ƒ¨ƒ¨ƒ¨ƒ¨ƒ¨ƒ¨ƒ¨ƒ¨ƒ,¨ƒ¨ƒ¨ƒ¨ƒ¨ƒ¨ƒ,¨ƒ¨ƒ¨ƒ¨ƒ¨ƒ¨ƒ¨ƒ¨ƒ¨ƒ</strong>


    Thousands of years ago, in a time unrecorded by history, a time where deities and lesser gods walked the earth, a time where spirits and elementals walked thend, often, tribes in the Philippines lived worshiping their gods while waging war against evil spirits, foreign usurpers and enemy tribes.<sub> </sub>


    Wars between tribes were a normal thing especially when the chieftains of the tribes had things against each other. Most of the time, the losing tribe be absorbed by the winning tribe while at times, it could also lead to the annihtion of the losing tribe if they did not want to submit.


    The causes of these wars could sometimes be a conflict with the hunting grounds, a conflict with the territory or at rare times, conflict because of a woman or a contest for domination. Even inside tribes, infighting wasmon especially when two menpeted for a single woman. A duel for the sake of the woman was always seen as a way of courting them. At worst times, however, these duels of courtship could lead a war between tribes killing many people in the process.


    Wars because of these causes weremon at those times. But at very rare times, a war could happen¡­


    Just of the sake of bloodshed.


    Resentful souls of the innocent victims left negative energies at the ce where their tribe was annihted. This made those ces uninhabitable ording to the beliefs of the people during those times.


    At one time however, hundreds of innocent tribe members were killed causing a huge amount of resentful energy to gather in one spot. Thick malicious had drawn in a huge amount of evil spirits and demons to linger the area almost all the time. The dispersed energy by these creatures soon umted in the area and turned into miasma.


    Then¡­ A formless demon was born.


    This formless demon forsook the area and wandered in the forest. For an unexpected event, the demon found the first human to possess. That human was wounded to a high degree and was almost dying. That person was the sole survivor of the massacred tribe that had been chased after the other tribe for a long time.


    As a new demon, it possessed the human and inherited the human''s lingering resentment. During the time of the possession, the assants found the human and tried to kill him for good.


    That was where the massacre began.


    The tribe that caused the massacre of the previous tribe was massacred in return. But it did not end there. All the tribes that had ties to the previous tribe soon followed its steps to destruction.


    <o>,m As more resentful souls appeared, the man possessed by the demon became stronger and stronger. The negative energy birthed by the massacre caused the demon to grow. The demon soon gained an ego which it used to gather followers. Soon, he was worshiped as a deity of bloodshed. He used bloodshed and suffering of humans as entertainment. The victims were subjected to torture and their blood-curling screams served as music to the demon''s domain.</o>


    Soon, the humans in his domain were eradicated after he turned them all into entertainment. Due to that, he started to put his hands in ces he should not put his hands to. He left the mountains and started to spread bloodshed towards the tribes inhabiting the ins.


    With their domains and tribes worshiping them bing desecrated, the true deities and lesser gods did not find it amusing, especially the Goddess of Cultivated Land, Ikapati and her husband, the God of Seasons, Mapulon. The two were lesser gods inhibited the ins at that time while teaching the tribes about agriculture. Many of the tribes that were attacked in the ins worshiped the two lesser gods and the ones they gave their gifts to.


    The two lesser gods retaliated but it was toote, not only that the fighting capability of the two lesser gods was low but the demon had grown too strong. Although the cooperation of the two managed to defeat the demon and kill his vessel, they were never able to destroy its formless body.


    The two then sought the help of the greater Goddess of the Wind, Amihan and they were able to seal the demon in the middle of the forest in a certain mountainous area. To keep the seal from being broken, it was ced under a spirit tree to provide energy for the seal and a sylph which was the kin of the Goddess of the Wind was ced to guard the ce. Soon, that forest became a forbidden ce where people with evil intentions could not go back once they entered it.


    After several thousand years, the guardian had been reced several times. Nevertheless, the tree remained the same and the seal remained intact.


    Suddenly, an unknown energy invaded the Earth which affected the current guardian, the spirit tree and the seal. A ne crashed near the spirit tree and the supposed to be dead humans from the ne shambled towards the tree and hugged its trunk like drunk people. Their bodies soon merged into a ball while exuding a faint stench to attract the animals around which soon joined the disgusting ball of flesh around the tree.


    Due to energy and the ball of flesh, the guardian was never able to enter the spirit tree anymore and remained outside the tree for more than a month. Although it wanted to stay away from the disgusting ball of flesh, she was still the guardian of the altar for this generation. Fortunately, the spirit tree continued to supply the seal of energy it needed.


    Until the day came¡­


    The magical energy in the area was being sucked towards the east inrge amounts. Dark clouds formed in the east as if it was going to rain very hard. As if the day that the Earth was flooded woulde again.


    Without sufficient energy, the seal started to weaken. In a panic, the current guardian forced the spirit tree to supplement the seal causing it to weaken. Nevertheless, the magical energy continued to drain and the seal finally started to break.


    One of the stones in the seal cracked and the miasma started to leak from it. As the guardian, the sylph tried to confront the miasma but she was unable to resist it. In exchange, she became the first casualty and was controlled. The miasma then seeped into the ball of flesh and the red lichen was created.


    The red lichen then spread out on the forest floor which victimized more creatures in the forest and contaminated the northern part of the river.


    Nevertheless, the demon still stayed inside the seal. Being imprisoned for thousands of years weakened it far from being able to fully break the seal. It needed more sources of miasma to fully break the seal. Instead, it used the red lichen to gather more energy to corrode and convert to miasma.


    ***


    <strong>Day ¨ƒ¨ƒ - ¨ƒ¨ƒ:¨ƒ¨ƒ¨ƒ¨ƒ - ¨ƒ¨ƒ¨ƒ¨ƒ¨ƒ¨ƒ¨ƒ¨ƒ¨ƒ¨ƒ¨ƒ¨ƒ¨ƒ¨ƒ¨ƒ¨ƒ¨ƒ¨ƒ¨ƒ¨ƒ¨ƒ¨ƒ¨ƒ¨ƒ¨ƒ¨ƒ¨ƒ¨ƒ¨ƒ¨ƒ¨ƒ¨ƒ¨ƒ¨ƒ¨ƒ¨ƒ¨ƒ¨ƒ¨ƒ</strong>


    "What is this?! Wh''re in the w''rld is this?!"


    The demon bellowed he watched the scenes of his own history shing around him. He should have possessed the insolent mortal that confronted it and destroyed the physical body it chose to inhibit but why did he end up in this ce?


    "Can you stop shouting you piece of smoke? Your story looked simr to anime stories so I want to watch more."


    The demon heard a voice which made it shiver. It then saw the insolent human who it should have possessed in unexinable shock.


    "Even if you don''t seem to have eyes, don''t stare at me like that. In any case, wee to my world you lowly demon."


    The mortal smirked while looking at the demon with his red glowing eyes.

 Chapter 295 Investigation, Asking Questions And Learning The Possible Cause

    <strong>Day 44 ¨C 10:09 AM - San Jose, Antipolo, Rizal</strong>


    "What¡­ What do you mean?"


    Jennivive forced out that question from her confusion. Looking at Mark''s serious face, she started to have a bad feeling.


    She thought that these people the children brought here were people that came from the nearest viges and managed toe here by chance. They were not the first people to have those circumstances after all. About two weeks ago, a family arrived here after their vige was decimated by animals that turned into monsters. Of course, that family was not here anymore. Learning that the circumstances in this ce were the same as where they came from, they decided to try their luck further and left.


    As for them that remained here, it was not because they did not want to leave but rather, they could not. They tried to leave before their situation became this dire but the dangers they encountered in the way pushed them back here. Not only that they had to return to being trapped in this ce but they also lost people, mostly, children. Out the almost a two hundred students of this school, only ten were left. And the more than fifty adults that managed to survive the initial attack of the monsters, only seven were left.


    More than a week ago, five of their strongest men volunteered to go and find rescue. If it was just them, it was easier to escape from danger and fight since they had no need to protect anything else. That was thest they heard of those men. However, this ce was too far from the city in the first ce and they who were left here trapped could only pray that those men would reach the city and send help. Since animals became monsters, even if it also happened to other ces, areas with a lot of people should be able to fend off those monstrosities.


    Or that was how it was supposed to be in their minds.


    "The world has ended already."


    Mark''s words made the poor teacher stare at him with disbelief.


    With Karlene''s help, Mark told Jennivive gist of the events that happened this past month. The ne crashes, the infected, the mutation and the survivor settlements.


    Jennivive did not say anything all the while and just listened while staring at Mark and Karlene in a daze.


    At the end of the story, the teacher was totally silent while staring at the coffee table in front of them. Seeing her state, Mark spoke.


    "You seem awfully calm."


    Finally, she lifted her head and looked at Mark but her eyes still nk. It seemed that she was in the middle of believing and disbelieving what Karlene and Mark had just said.


    "I¡­ I just don''t know what how should I react to this."


    "It might be hard for these to sink into you mind but remember that it''s all true. You all better give up on waiting for rescue since no one wille. If you had people that left to call for help, they should be dead already. Not only there are dangerous animals here in the forests, even if they managed to reach the city, the only things they could encounter are the infected. Either way, they will die."


    Jennivive became silent once more. It was very hard for her to ept the things she had just heard. Nevertheless, she could totally confirm that those were not lies. She could not think of any motives these people in front of her could have for them to spout such lies. Furthermore, they already saw animals turning into monsters, the zombie like infected and the end of the world was not very unlikely.


    Seeing the dazed state of the teacher, Mark decided to leave her alone and went out dragging Karlene out of the room. The dazed teacher did not even react to their group going out.


    "Will she be fine?"


    Karlene asked as they went out of the room.


    "She won''t. It might not sink in immediately but it will be a hard blow for her. She was really hopeful that someone woulde to rescue them but reality is just that harsh to everyone."


    Mark replied as he led the way back to the rooms where the sick were located.


    "Reality is harsh to everyone¡­"


    Edzel murmured. Those words hit him home since he was also a victim of it, a poor victim of harsh reality. Reality, it was a formidable foe for everyone who had high expectations about something but failed miserably.


    Mark wanted to ask the teacher about things but he never expected that the people here were this ignorant about the happenings of the world outside. Now that the teacher still needed sometime alone, he could only do his investigation on his own.


    On the way back, he noticed several figures below the schoolyard. Despite the danger outside, several children were there. The younger ones were on the lookout while the older ones¡­


    They were digging new graves.


    "Edzel, go and help them."


    "Yes boss."


    "I''ll go too."


    Karlene volunteered.


    "Alright, you two go. Also Karlene, you can distribute some of the dried jerky on that bag you are carrying."


    "Okay! Wait, what about you?"


    "I just have some things to do. Just go if you want to help them."


    Making the two go away, Mark continued walking through the hall with Miracle on his arms. Soon, they arrived at the room where the sick were being kept.


    "No one should enter here! Ah, you are¡­"


    The middle-aged stout bodied woman inside immediately noticed Mark the moment he came into the room. After all, she was the only one that could notice him since she was the only concious person in the room. She was facing the other way and thought that a child came barging into the ce they should not go but she was surprised when she turned around.


    This woman was the same, she was not wary about strangers at all. If this was your typical survivor hideout in the city, the moment a stranger entered into their room, murderous eyes would surely be pointed at them. However, the people in this ce had not experienced the hardships of the survivors in the city. Furthermore, they were too happy to see new faces, alive.


    It was despite how Mark more or less looked like someone who couldmit crime anytime.


    "We are passing by when the children spotted us and brought us here."<sub> </sub>


    "Ah, yes. I saw your group with Miss Jennivive earlier. But you shouldn''t go in here or you might get infected. It will also be dangerous to your daughter."


    The woman warned Mark with concern. After all, this ce was where the remaining adults that were all sick were being kept.


    "We''ll be fine. Actually, I want to ask questions."


    "Is that so? Then, we can talk outside."


    The woman stood up. Of course, it was with difficulty. Like Jennivive, she was also infected. Furthermore, hers was worse since not only her legs and feet but her arms and hands also had those swelling red colored veins. In the least, the state of her legs was still better as she was able to stand and walk without the need of support.


    They stood in the hallway overseeing the schoolyard. The woman was surprised seeing Edzel and Karlene trying to help the children but she could only smile with gratitude.


    "It''s been hard to those children." She murmured before she turned to Mark. "Where is Miss Jennivive?"


    "She''s back in the office thinking about something."


    "I see. What do you want to ask then?"


    "Then, madam, it''s about the contamination in the river."


    Hearing that, her expression became bitter.


    "Did anything strange happen before the river be contaminated? The children already told us about the red light in the forest to the north but I don''t think that it''s all."


    Mark pressed on.


    "Just call me Imee. Being called Madam is too high ssed for me. About the strange things, that red light is just the start of it."


    Imee then narrated things that happened that day.


    The animals that turned into monsters often appear and that was why they rarelye out. However, those erged animals could still be felled and be source of food with the use of some traps and weapons. It was not because they wanted to eat them but they had no other choice.


    That day however, the clouds were too thick. They thought that it would rain and as such, they wanted to get more game in case that it really did rain. If it rained, the forest would be more dangerous and they would not be able to find food. Since people in this ce mainly relied on hunting, fishing and gathering for food in the forest, there was very little that they could gather around to keep.


    To hunt more animals before the rain fell, all the remaining adults went out. There were still fifteen adults at that time. It was not really that dangerous as long as they did not enter deep in the forest since all they needed to do was lure the animals towards the traps theyid beforehand.


    However, that bright light appeared disrupting their hunt. They all felt scared and decided to retreat but they werete. From the direction where the light came from, ferocious animals started rampaging. The animals caught up to them and some of them did not manage to escape while a number of the ones who escaped were injured.


    "When we escaped that time, we thought that it was over. Some of us died but we are already used to it. Actually, some of those graves there don''t have bodies inside but just the belongings of the deceased. We can''t go back and retrieve their bodies after all."


    When they thought that they were already safe, they came to the river to wash their bloody bodies. Mostly, those that were wounded wanted to clean their wounds.


    That was a fatal mistake.


    The water was already contaminated and the parts of their bodies that touched the water felt painful midway. They could not help but rush out of the water but it was already toote.


    Miss Jennivive was lucky that she went to the riverte and she just reached the shallow part but those that washed their bodies, they caught the worst part.


    Up to that point, Imee looked at the room behind them.


    "Those remaining inside were those that were injured and the water from the river entered their wounds. They were the ones in the worst condition."


    She then looked at the other room where the corpses were being kept.


    "Mr. Emilio and Ms. Maricris were the most injured at that time. The infection spread faster in their bodies and they did not make it. It won''t take too long and we will all follow them."


    Imee then raised her unsightly arms in front of her.


    "The first day, it''s only my hands up to my wrist but now, it''s nearing by elbow."


    "Is it really contagious?"


    "Unfortunately, yes." Imee replied with a sad expression. "The children that took care of us in the first day got infected. We think that anyone who get in touch of our body fluids could get infected easier."


    Hearing that, Mark did not ask anything about those infected children. He could only detect sick adults inside the room. Meaning, those children had already gone first.


    "Anyway, did anything else happen way before that? At least, a story, folklore or an incident in that forest where the bright light came from?"


    "Hmm, let me see. Actually, we had stories that spirits live in that forest and that was why the trees there were very abundant. They said that going there would make the spirits angry and that is why none of us go to that ce."


    Imee said while thinking.


    "Ah." Imee eximed as she remembered something. "More than a month ago just before the animals turned into monsters, a small airne, I think, Ms. Jennivive said that it could be a private jet. Something like that crashed in that forest."


    Hearing that, Mark knew. He had found the information he wanted.

 Chapter 296 The Sudden Arrival Of Unusual Creatures, Another Clue On The Source Of The Contamination

    <strong>Day 44 ¨C 10:28 AM ¨C San Jose, Antipolo, Rizal</strong>


    Mark finally learned about the most probable reason of the contamination. Any aircraft flying around the world crashed after the meteoroids exploded in the atmosphere forty-three days ago. That was because the sudden entrance of high concentration of Mutagen on earth hit them and turned the people aboard those aircrafts into infected monsters and other unsightly things. However, there were still some things that did not fall into ce.


    If the people aboard that ne were really the cause, why did it only happen now? Furthermore, the people here in this town seemed to have never encountered any infected people.


    As Mark thought further, his eyes widened.


    "Is it perhaps¡­ rted to that?"


    "Sir, is there something wrong?"


    Imee asked as she saw Mark''s expression.


    With her question, Mark turned back to her.


    "It''s nothing. Did you people check the area where the airne crashed?"


    "We didn''t." Imee shook her head. "No one from our town would dare to venture inside that forest. We also don''t know the exact location of the crash. All we could do was to send people to inform the authorities."


    Imee then fell silent. Those people, surely, no one managed to return. From her silence, it was likely that one of her loved ones were among them.


    Soon, some steps could be heard from their side.


    "Managed to sink it in?"


    Mark spoke without looking. He knew who the person was in the first ce.


    "It''s hard¡­ but I can manage."


    The person replied. Her voice was wavering and sounded rough.


    "Miss Jennivive, what happened?"


    Imee asked as she looked at the teacher.


    Her eyes were red and she seemed parched. It was obvious from her looks that she had just finished crying.


    Seeing the teacher''s state, Imee suddenly turned towards Mark.


    "What did you people do?!"


    Of course she would be suspicious. Aside from her sickness, Jennivive weed them fine. Now, something happened for sure from the current state of Jennivive.


    "Imee, stop it. They didn''t do anything bad."


    "Then why?"


    "They just told the truth. The worst thing we could hear right now."


    Jennivive tried to smile but she was not able to.


    "What truth¡­"


    Imee was confused.


    "You two better do thatter."


    Mark interjected between the words of the two. When they looked at Mark''s face from the side, they saw that his face was too serious as he stared at a certain direction. He then took out a pocket sized radio from his belt.


    "Karlene, Edzel."


    From the second floor, Mark saw Edzel and Karlene stop what they were doing as they heard Mark''s voice from the radio.


    "Boss?"


    "Mark? Why use the radio, you can just shout right?"


    Two voices interjected one another from the radio Mark was holding.


    "Make the children evacuate. We gotpany."


    "What?"


    The two were surprised. One reason was because they suddenly have enemies at a strange time. ording to the things they learned from Mark''s base, feral evolved animals were more likely to attack during the night unless prey wandered near them during the day which was less likely to happen in ces inhabited by people. Even though they were aggressive, they were not totally mindless. This early in the day and was about to approach noon was a very unusual time if the enemies were feral animals. From Jennivive''s story, the only threat they had in this ce was the number of animals that turned into monsters which for sure meant evolved animals.


    Another thing that surprised the two was Mark''s unusual serious tone as he told them about the threat. The two then heard Mark''s admonishing tone.


    "You two stop gawking around! The enemies this time is unusual to its better to retreat first!"


    Hearing his shout, the two immediately moved. When the children learned that there were enemiesing, they immediatelyplied on evacuating. The younger children ran first towards the school while the older ones moved with Edzel and Karlene from behind.


    "Sir Mark, what is going on?"


    Jennivive asked. Hearing that enemies wereing, she could not believe it immediately. After all, there was no danger on sight even though they were on the second floor.


    "Sir, are you sure about¡­"


    Imee also tried to ask but she was not able to finish her words. Running from the northern side of the town, there were several horrendous looking creatures.


    "No way¡­"


    "My god¡­"


    Imee and Jennivive could not help but gasp seeing those creatures.


    Mark nced at the two. From their expression, it seemed that this was not the first time for them to see such creatures. They seemed to be more surprised about the quantity and not the creatures itself.


    "You encountered those creatures before?"


    "Yes¡­"


    Jennivive''s voice was shivering because of her emotions.<sub> </sub>


    "Those were simr to the ferocious animals that attacked us the other day¡­"


    Imee said.


    Running between the houses, trees and bushes at the north, many figures of animals could be seen running. Despite Jennivive and Imee could not get a clear figure of the enemies, they knew those familiar characteristics.


    Mark on the other hand frowned seeing those figures. For sure, they were evolved animals. However, he could not tell whether they were feral or not.


    They were several kinds of animals. There were boars, deer, civets, macaques and even birds. Even insects were present in the group. In Mark''s estimate, there should be about more or less sixty to seventy of them. The smallest was about the size of a dog while thergest was the size of a horse. Still, even though there were arge variety of the animals and insects, all of them were running on the ground. Mark could not tell if the insects were the same but all the animals were bald. They totallyck fur or feathers from their bodies.


    One thing was consistent among all the animals though. They all have red lichen like things sprouting all over their bodies. As for the animals and those insects that had softer bodies, the swellings on their bodies were prominent. It was the same symptoms prominent to those who were infected by the contamination in the river, the very same symptoms the people sick people in this building had.


    "Hmmm?"


    Mark then noticed that each of the animals and insects had bulging sacks on different parts of their bodies that seemed to be releasing heat and smoke. Those bulging sacks even looked like that they were pulsating. The only difference the enemies from the sick people.


    The question most people would think was why these animals would suddenly attack now. However, Mark had a vague idea.


    "Amihan, it seems that they are here for you¡­"


    Mark suddenly spoke calling a name Jennivive had not heard before making her turn to him in confusion. She remembered that his daughter was called Miracle so he was not talking to the little girl.


    Then, Amihan flew out of Mark''s bag shocking the two sick women.


    "Wha-what?"


    The two both stepped back but did different reactions. Jennivive stared wide eyed in shock but Imee kneeled on the floor looking at Amihan in reverence.


    Both Mark and Amihan ignored the two and stared at the iing enemies.


    "What do you think?"


    Mark asked.


    "My Lord, it had simr presence to one of my kind but it''s all reeking of miasma. Probably¡­ One of my kind that turned into an evil spirit or something simr. That person should have felt my presence here my lord. I''m sorry."


    The frown on Mark''s forehead became even deeper. It was a tricky situation. Although he just wanted to investigate a bit, it seemed that their group appearing in this ce put the people here in more danger.


    Mark then felt a small hand straightening the frown between his eyebrows.


    "Father, Aunt Aephi said, it''s bad to frown too much."


    Seeing the warm scene, Jennivive and Imee should have smiled if not for the current situation. With the panicked voices of the children below, the two could not pay too much attention to the scene and even Amihan was neglected by Imee as she stood up once more.


    "Everyone! Run faster!"


    Jennivive shouted towards Edzel, Karlene and the children running away. Even though they were all running as fast as they could, the children''s short legs could not take them away any faster. The two women on the second floor of the school started to feel nervous.


    On the school yard, everyone could already see the enemies surging from the other side of the earthen street. Some of the animals were already crossing the street and was about to step into the schoolyard.


    TSST! TSST! TSST! TSST! TSST!


    Edzel had already prepared his silenced assault rifle and started shooting as they all retreated. Some of the children flinched as they heard the sudden gunshots as it echoed badly on the open area.


    "Ignore the gunshots! Run!"


    Karlene immediately pulled the children back from their stupor and pushed them urging them to run away.


    BAM! SPURT! BLAG!


    Different sounds were heard as the vanguard of the animals fell after being hit by the gunshots. Some of them were directly hit on their head while most were hit on different parts of their body.


    Many of Edzel''s shots missed the target. He was still not too experienced with guns with just one or two days of a few hours practice. This became a fatal w this time.


    The injured animals slowly gained their footing once more and strange enough, those that were hit on their heads were also the same. None of the animals remained unmoving and still charged towards the school despite their bleeding bodies.


    As he saw what happened, Edzel fired his rifle even more. However, it was obvious that he had already lost his cool. His shots became even more inurate and rather than stalling the enemies, the noise he was making caused the enemies to charge towards them faster.


    The situation was bing more and more dangerous.


    "Quick climb up!"


    Karlene shouted as she helped the smaller children climb up the emergencydders. Still, their speed was not enough. Ignoring their sickness, the two women dragged their bodies towards the direction of the emergencydder. It seemed that they have at least a countermeasure for something like this. The two women grabbed a roll of man rope hanging near thedders and started to lower the rope. The two covered their hands with thick rags that seemed to be used for cleaning windows so that they would not touch the rope directly.


    Seeing the rope, the children started to tie the lowered rope to the bodies of the smaller children and the two women would pull them up. This way, the time needed by all the children to climb up would be shortened as their numbers was reduced. Still, the bodies of the two women were considerably weakened by their disease. Imee''s arms seemed to be in extreme pain as she frowned with tears on the corner of her eyes but she did not let the pain stop her.


    But then, the two became surprised as they were pulled back by the rope. The two could not help but look behind and saw Miracle pulling on the rope which gave themon sense of the two a huge blow.


    "You two should just rest. Just give it to her."


    Mark said with a nonchnt attitude.


    "But¡­"


    "Just let go. You two will just get in the way."


    Mark said that with a tint of intimidation. The two finally let go of the rope and Miracle started pulling the rope on her own which further widened the eyes of the two. Furthermore, the little girl was pulling it up with very little effort. She even seemed to enjoy pulling the rope as if she was ying.


    "Amihan, guard this ce, especially Miracle."


    "Yup! No problem! My Lord, are you going?"


    "It''s our fault that these things appeared here so I have to make a move. If not for that, we could just leave this ce and go find the source."


    With that, Mark removed his backpack revealing the [Darkness Shade] Set on his back and put the backpack down. He then jumped off from the second floor making the two women nervous as they hurried to see Mark below. Seeing that Marknded fine after jumping down, their felt a bit relived. However, the two women were now questioning themselves whether they were dreaming or not.


    After all, they were being besieged by nightmarish creatures and the people they met just now seemed to be nightmarish in a sense too.


    Of course, the nervousness of the two was just the start. As they saw Mark face the iing creatures, they could not help but shiver.

 Chapter 297 Fighting The Contaminated Beasts, The Circumstance Mark Was Being Worried About

    <strong>Day 44 ¨C 10: 32 AM ¨C San Jose, Antipolo, Rizal</strong>


    Marknded with ease after he jumped from the second floor. Afternding, the first thing Mark did was¡­


    "Stop that already, you''re wasting bullets."


    He grabbed Edzel''s shoulder. The young man did not even realize that he already arrived behind him and was continuously shooting the iing animals. When Mark grabbed his shoulders, he flinched as he snapped away from his current state.


    "Boss¡­"


    "You need to keep you calm even if death is approaching you. Otherwise, you won''t even notice any opportunity to survive even if there is one."


    Edzel fell silent. He still needed to learn a lot of things. His legs were even shaking from the scary scene in front of him. He might be able to handle one or two enemies but this many pushed him into fear.


    "Retreat first. You can back me up from the second floor. Also tell and Karlene to watch out for the ones that will go straight to the school. The target of these guys is Amihan."


    "Yes, boss."


    Hearing Mark''s orders, Edzel finally retreated and helped Karlene in assisting the children to go up.


    "It''s better if no one will drag me around this time."


    Mark murmured with a serious expression as he watched the iing animals. He was also not confident in being able to deal with these creatures with efficiency.


    What was harder? Was it fighting people? Maybe, fighting the infected? Was fighting evolved animals harder? Or fighting these beasts?


    For Mark, it was the fourth one. These beasts exhibiting the same symptoms as the people that were the hardest enemies he faced so far. He knew that these beasts were still alive. However, their consciousness and instincts were all wiped out. In other words, these beasts should not be capable of moving at all as they were all in a state ofa. Yet, these beasts were moving. It was something simr to the infected by the unstable strain of Mutagen. No, it definitely had to do with Mutagen. Everything in the world had already been altered by Mutagen ever since the start of the outbreak.


    With Mark''s Emphatic Ability to detect and absorb emotions, he had a high advantage against humans and animals. As for the infected, even if they had no emotions, their movements were mostly monotonous and easy to predict.


    These beasts in front of Mark however were thebination of the two. The enemies now had no consciousness but exhibited the physical prowess of those that had consciousness.


    Furthermore, there were several more things he was wary about these beasts.


    But he had no choice right now but to fight.


    Making his first step, he charged forward. He then dropped the angle of his body as he ran and at the same instance, a ded batonunched forward from the shield on his back. As the baton passed over his head, he immediately grabbed it with his right hand and swung it to the side. With that swing, ded baton turned into a long spear, the [der].


    In this fight, what he needed to do the most was to avoid getting too close to these beasts. As they had the same symptoms of the contamination, it was very likely that they could also transmit the disease. A single careless move could be fatal. In that case, he should fight while maintaining distance as soon as possible and this spear and his needleuncher were the best weapons to use.


    There were only a few steps before he would sh with the first beast. He then held the [der] with two hands and positioned it with the de of the spear in front. It was a typical spear charge. Still, Mark was in doubt whether it would be effective.


    It was arge deer about the size a little smaller than an adult thoroughbred horse. However, its antlers looked like stone spears. Anyone pierced with its horns would surely suffer a fatal injury. This deer was charging forward with its antlers pointing in front of it.


    "Antlers are bones so¡­"


    Mark murmured as he suspected something. Antlers were made of bones. If its antlers looked like tough solid stones, then how strong the bones of this deer were?


    He decided not to continue the initial attack he wanted and pointed his spear a little downwards. Then, he suddenly stopped his running causing the force and speed from his charge to push him forward. With his left foot forwards and the right foot behind, he let his feet skid through the soil until the deer was already within the reach of his spear.


    Since the spear was pointed downwards, the de passed below the head of the deer. With a stomp, Mark stopped sliding forward. He then let his right hand let go of the spear and hit the hind side of the shaft with his right palm downwards. With his left hand as fulcrum and his palm as the effort, the spear was used as a lever.


    BAM!


    As the previously lowered edge of the spear suddenly swung upwards with the force enough to crush a normal person''s skull, the lowered head of the deer was blown upwards revealing the area underneath its jaw. With his fast reflexes, Mark pulled the spear back and pierced it forward with more force.


    SPLAT!


    A hole was punched through underneath the deer''s jaw. The spear evaded the strong bones of the deer''s skull and its de went straight into the deer''s brain.


    With the blood sttering around, Mark hurriedly retreated. He then swung the spear to the side to free it of the remaining blood and charged towards the other animals. Still, Mark was not relived at all even though his attack at the deer seeded. It was because the deer stood up once more even though its brain was already done for.


    However, Mark managed to get the attention of the whole horde of contaminated beasts.


    As Mark thought, these beasts were being controlled remotely. He only seeded at injuring one of them and yet, the whole attention was on him now. If it did not happen, he would have thought that these animals were some sort of voodoo or magical zombies that had no weaknesses except being burned to ash or being sliced into unrecognizable pieces.


    For sure, whoever or whatever was controlling these beasts, he found Mark as a threat.<sub> </sub>


    BAM!


    Mark hurriedly jumped back as a dog sized grasshopper hopped andnded to the ce he was standing previously.


    SHING! SHING!


    As he dodged the sudden attack, metallic sounds echoed from the de of his spear as one side of the de stretched down to a quarter of the length of the spear shaft. Mark then jumped forward and rotated the spear two times as he passed over the body of the grasshopper. After hended behind the grasshopper, its body fell down with its dismembered legs scattered around it.


    "Since they won''t die, disable them first."


    Mark said as he charged towards the other animals nearby.


    However, it was not easy to attack after that and Mark started to fall into defense. All these animals were connected to one another and what one saw were seen by the others. He was losing the opportunity to attack the beasts swarmed at him continuously.


    "It''s amazing how he was able to dodge all those attacks but will he be fine?"


    Jennivive could not help feel both amazement and worry.


    All the children already managed to get to the second floor of the school building unscathed with Karlene and Edzel. It was all thanks to the effort of Karlene and Miracle along with Mark stalling the contaminated animals.


    They were all currently watching the situation below. The children were all noisy cheering for Mark. Children were children after all. Right now, what they see was not just a person but a strong hero that had inhuman strength and reflexes. Despite their cheers though, the worry was present. Mark was in a disadvantage with him alone and if he fell, they would soon follow.


    "He should be fine." Karlene spoke as she readied her assault rifle. "Mark hasn''t even disyed a quarter of his abilities. Besides, he''s not alone."


    After removing the cloth that covered the rifle and fiddling a little, she aimed her rifle while using the concrete half wall on the terrace as leverage. Compared to Edzel''s, her rifle looked to different. It had a lot of necessary attachments and the outside appearance was customized. This rifle was given to her by her father when they met during the evacuation. It was a normal rifle with attachments back then but with the help of na, Hallie, Mark and the [Blood Children], the outer appearance of her rifle was customized.


    It was like a gun with a sci-fi skin from online games. Some of parts of the guns were even glowing. It was like a toy but deadly. Furthermore, its ammunition was not normal either.


    TSST!


    She fired the first shot. The green coated bullet flew and hit the wingless dog sized mosquito that was about to attack Mark from behind. Because of the mosquito''s soft abdomen, the bullet pierced through and hit another animal, a wild boar that was beside the mosquito.


    Both the animal and the insect should have been fine since it was a superficial wound. However, before the two managed to make another step, they both fell down and their bodies started to twitch. It could not be seen on the mosquito but the wild boar''s mouth started to foam. The wounds caused by the bullet started to fester.


    Poison, it was a very deadly one. The bullets Karlene was currently using were coated with a very thin film of [Blood Metal] from Ivy, the [Poisonous Blood Child]. Despite the miniscule amount of [Blood Metal] on the bullets, a single bullet was enough to kill a perfectly healthy cattle in several seconds. It was the very reason why aside from Mark, Miracle and the other [Blood Children], no one else should touch Ivy.


    "Edzel, take some bullets from the bag. The poisonous bullets seem effective."


    "O-okay!"


    With Karlene''s order, Edzel hurriedly switched the bullets of his assault rifle. After reloading his gun, Edzel started to shoot the animals. Since he was not confident about his shooting skills, he aimed for the ones quite a distance away from Mark. He was not Karlene who had a military Major for a father. He did not even have one in the first ce.


    With the help of the two, Mark finally had some opportunity. He then pulled the sleeves of his jacket revealing two smaller needleunchers on both hands. Since the bigger needle crossbow could not be hidden inside his jacket, he made smaller ones but had shorter firing range before he left the base.


    When both needleunchers were out, he rotated the needle cases on the inner edge of the bracers where theunchers were set up switching the ammunition to poisonous ones. Since he saw what happened after the two fired their guns, he now knew what to use. Unfortunately, the [der] was not equipped with any poisonous des or attachments.


    The numbers of the animals were steadily dwindling. Since the number of bullets they could carry inside their bags were limited in the first ce, it was good that even though the beasts were quite a number, it could still be handled. Edzel was still wasting ammunition though. Karlene on the other hand was rather a good shot.


    With the rate that the enemies fell, it would not take long before they were wiped out. Still, Mark was having a bad feeling for some reason. He could not help but focus on the direction where these beasts came from thinking that there would be reinforcements. It would not be surprising if there were because this number of animals and insects were too little for a big forest.


    Then, as if having ast struggle, the remaining animals all jumped towards Mark in very fast speeds. He had nowhere to run. With that, he had no choice but to use the move he was hesitating to use.


    POOF!


    Mark vanished into ck mist and the wavy mist escaped from the circle of beasts. But then¡­


    BUGSHK!


    The swelling on the body of a festering animal he passed by burst open sttering red viscous liquid around. And a part of that liquid managed tond on his body¡­


    It was despite he was inside the subspace and traveled as mist outside. The liquid was supposed to phase through his body.


    When Mark appeared outside the circle of beasts, he was holding his right hand that was sttered in red liquid.

 Chapter 298 The Miasma, The Cause Of Death And Danger

    <strong>Day 44 ¨C 10:51 AM ¨C San Jose, Antipolo, Rizal</strong>


    Feeling the pain on his hand, Mark hurriedly and forcibly waved his hand to the side causing the majority of the red liquid to fly off and stter on the ground. He then ripped a part of his shirt and wiped the remaining liquid on his hand and through the cloth away. Looking at his hand, the part sttered by was damaged despite the fact that he immediately cleaned the liquid.


    A small part of his right palm and the majority of the back of the hand along with his ring and pinkie finger was scorched ck and were even emitting ck smoke with a very pungent smell. He also noticed that the dirt the liquid was sttered and the cloth he had just thrown away turned ck and were also emitting the same kind of smoke.


    Mark frowned. This was the third time he received an attack while inside the subspace of his [Shadow Mist Movement]. First were the thorns released by the ck barnacles covering the sixty feet whale, the second was the bullets Sherwyn specifically prepared to deal with him while this was the third time.


    However, two of those three had the same thing inmon. The energy these things had. Mark still had not confirmed before it but he had the same feeling about the thorns and this red liquid. Now that he saw this ck smoke, he could finally tell. It had something to do with miasma. He could not really see the energy but he could feel it strongly. Now that the miasma materialized in the form of that smoke, he managed to deduce it further.


    "Guh!"


    Mark retreated and clutched his hand even more. His fingers were cramping and his hand started to move on its own. He could even see the blood vessels in his hand starting to swell and turning red in color. It was the same symptom of the contamination. Furthermore, it seemed to be several times more potent than what the sick people in the school had.


    The worst part, the being that was controlling these beasts was trying to control his hand.


    This could be a good opportunity to shout, "CALM DOWN MY RIGHT HAND!", like some kid with a certain syndrome. Of course, there was no way he would do that. It was both pointless and embarassing.


    If it was other people, it would have been a dangerous situation. The contamination would surely spread in several minutes or worst, seconds, and the person would be one with the beasts being controlled.


    Unfortunately for the enemy¡­


    BURST!


    The contaminated parts of Mark''s hand and fingers burst open and the contaminated flesh and skin fell onto the ground. With the contaminated flesh gone, a gaping wound was left on his arm. Some parts of his bone could even be seen. Along with the flesh and skin, quite an amount of ck colored blood also sttered down to the ground.


    He controlled his blood inside his hand and severed the contaminated parts. Since the blood he used to remove the contaminated parts also got contaminated, he pushed the contaminated blood out causing the bloody scene.


    Mark''s forehead started to perspire as he endured the pain. His bloody hand was even shivering but at least, it was just a normal reaction now. Fortunately, this wound would heal soon as he was given enough time. His absurd regeneration rate was not just for show. Of course, it was still painful. If possible, he would never do something like this again. Furthermore, regenerating a chunks of missing flesh and skin was not too easy.


    Since he could not use his right hand, he had to let go of his spear and returned it to being a baton and stored it. He needed to bide time first until the wound was healed and would use the needleuncher on his left wrist for now.


    He then started running around avoiding the attacks while shooting the needles urately. With the [Shadow Mist Movement] being unusable for now, he could only try to not let himself get surrounded.


    ***


    "He''s injured?! How?!"


    Karlene became wide eyed when she saw what happened to Mark after he used his [Shadow Mist Movement]. She already saw it firsthand how Mark was invincible to bullets while using that ability. Since she had apanied him for a while now, she also learned things about it. This was the first time she saw Mark getting hit while using that ability.


    Rewinding the scene, she saw Mark vanish after he was attacked by the surrounding beasts without a way of escape. Then, the usual wavy mist appeared in his ce and the mist moved out of the encirclement. As the mist passed over one of the dead bodies, the swelling burst open and sttered that red liquid. At that time, she saw the mist vanished a bit and she saw Mark''s blurry body for a split second before the mist continued and Mark appeared.


    The scene as the red liquid sttered made her remember a stone was suddenly thrown into the water causing the water to be pushed downwards and if the water was shallow, it would reveal the bottom of the water for a short period before the water returned.


    While Karlene and Edzel were shocked at Mark receiving that injury, Jennivive, Imee and the children were all shocked at the scene where Mark vanished and appeared. They all could not help but gaped their mouths although it was not the appropriate time for gawking.


    Everyone then heard a cute voice shouting.


    "My Lord! Don''t use that for now! The miasma will corrode any energy humans deemed as supernatural! Not only that the energy will be corroded but it will also strengthen the miasma!"


    Amihan shouted with worry. Her voice was amplified and was heard by everyone in the area. She seemed to be using the things Mark taught her well.


    "You should have said that earlier!"


    Mark shouted back causing Amihan to flinch.


    "Did you just say miasma?"


    "Uwah!"


    Karlene could not help but blurt out that question which caused Amihan to be taken aback.


    "Uh, sorry. You said miasma right? The one that caused by evil spirits?"


    "Yes!"


    Hearing that, Karlene''s expression became serious. She turned to Edzel.


    "Edzel, stop shooting and help me refill the empty magazines! We need to kill these things faster!"


    "O-okay!"


    Edzel was flustered. This was the first time he saw Karlene this serious.


    With all her attention on the enemies, Karlene sped up taking the beasts out.


    ***


    Soon, before Mark''s wound could fully heal, the all the beasts that came attacking fell using the poisonous needles and bullets. This time was quite dangerous as he could not use his [Shadow Mist Movement]. Nevertheless, he managed to learn something.


    Miasma, it could be the very weakness of not only his ability but also other psychic and magical powers.


    The battle had just ended and the schoolyard was littered with dead corpses of huge animals and insects.


    Before everyone could breathe in relief however¡­


    "MY LORD! GET AWAY FROM THERE!"<sub> </sub>


    Amihan''s panicked shout reverberated inside everyone''s ears.


    Mark also felt something dangerous and at the same time as the little sylph''s shout, he jumped back and retreated.


    SPLAT! SPLAT! SPLAT! SPLAT!


    Under everyone''s eyes, therge swelling on the bodies of the animals burst open sttering the red liquid everywhere. As for the insects, their bodies burst out entirely.


    ck smoke permeated therge part of the school yard. Even though Mark was outside the area covered by the smoke, he still felt suffocated and had to retreat even more.


    "GUHAAAAA!"


    "GHHAAAAAA!"


    But then, anguished cries entered everyone''s ears.


    Karlene, Edzel, Amihan and the children could not help but turn their heads towards the source of the cries. Their eyes turned wide in shock.


    Jennivive and Imee were both crying in pain as they slumped to the floor. Their painful screams could cause anyone to feel chills in their spine. Then, their bodies started to bloat and red lichen like substance burst out of their bodies.


    "Miss Jennivive! Aunt Imee!"


    "Teacher! Aunt Imee!"


    The children cried out in horror. They hurriedly tried to approach the two adults but¡­


    "STAY AWAY!"


    "DON''T APPROACH US! GO AWAY!"


    The two women suppressed their anguished cries and shouted at the children. Looking at what happened to the beasts at the schoolyard, they knew their end was approaching.


    "PUH!"


    ck blood started to drip from Jennivive''s mouth but she still tried to look at Karlene and Edzel.


    "Please, take the children away¡­"


    With tears at the edge of her eyes, Karlene nodded and stopped the approaching children. Edzel did the same and his expression was very unsightly. The children wept out loud and kept calling the two women''s names as they were pushed away. Dak, knowing that it would be thest time they would see their teacher¡­


    "Teacher! Aunt Imee! Thank you for keeping us until now!"


    With his voice in the lead, the other children echoed.


    Hearing those voices, Jennivive and Imee cried. It was ck blood that came out of their eyes but they were surely crying. The two smiled at the children.


    BURST!


    Their bodies exploded.


    It was good that the children were pushed away or else, the red liquid that suddenly burst out of the two women''s bodies could have contaminated the children. Amihan also helped by making a barrier of wind to push away the sttered liquid. The wind was weakened because of the miasma but it was able to defend the children.


    Not only the two women but several stters could be heard from the room were the sick people was kept and two bursts could be heard from the room where the corpses was ced.


    The younger children slumped on the floor and cried while the older ones tried to keep their cool since they were the only ones left to take care of the others.


    Karlene consoled the children while Edzel was at a loss on what to do. Amihan was affected by the children''s cries and also wept but her attention was mostly on the school yard.


    ***


    Marks saw everything that happened at the second floor. It was really unexpected that the deaths of these two came too sudden. Now, the children were left on their own prematurely and the reason was because Mark''s group arrived here.


    However, it was not the time to sympathize with them. The children might have lost their guardians but that was not the pressing issue.


    Not only the corpses of the beasts were emitting ck smoke but also the bodies of the adults that died inside the school. Furthermore, some of the graves on the other side of the schoolyard also started to emit that same kind of smoke.


    Still, the smoke was not moving upwards or scattering outwards. All the smoke was moving toward the center of the corpses of the beasts that littered the schoolyard.


    The materialized miasma started to gather and thicken. It even started to form arge whirlwind. There was no wind blowing around but the gathered miasma kept of spinning around. The area covered by the whirlwind started to berger and the smoke finally started to spread.


    Mark stared at the whirlwind as if waiting for something.


    Then arge shadow flew above the school. The shadow covered arge area and its wings tried to blow the smoke away from the school. Looking up, it was Char who Mark finally called.


    Mark had not called unto the dragon before since it was still an animal. One mistake could lead it to being controlled by the enemy. Now however, he had no choice. The smoke was spreading and he needed something to blow the smoke away. Since it was a thick concentration of miasma, it was very questionable if Amihan''s ability would work and he could only call unto Char.


    With Char''srge wings, gusts of wind started to push the spreading smoke away. The miasma still tried to spread but without wind helping it, the wind Char''s wings could only push the whirlwind of smoke further away.


    The smoke from the surroundings finally thinned and disappeared but the concentration of miasma in front was still spinning.


    Suddenly, Mark''s eyes widened.


    "Char! Burn it quick!"


    With the order, a huge burst of mes came out of Char''s mouth and swallowed the concentration of miasma whole.

 Chapter 299 Manifestation Of Miasma, The Enemy That Existed But Aslo Did Not Exist

    p <strong>Day 44 ¨C 11:03 AM ¨C San Jose, Antipolo, Rizal</strong></anda>


    Extreme heat permeated to the air surrounding the schoolyard. Even Mark had to retreat further due to the heat. In his order, he might have just said a few words but at the same time, he sent another order to Char through their mental connection. That order was not to hold anything back.


    Char emptied more than half of the chemical it had just regenerated in this single attack. Mark was detecting a deep animositying from the concentration of miasma in front. Since he was able to feel such emotion, he knew that something appeared at the center of the smoke. With such strong energy that even made Mark''s eyes go wide, something dreadful wasing.


    Despite the unbearable temperatureing from Char''s attack, Mark was not contented. Two crystals floated in front of him as he concentrated. Then, a beam of light and a sh of lightning tore through the wall of mes and flew straight towards where Mark was detecting the unsettling feeling. Even though the attacks became weaker than he expected, both attacks still pierced through the mes and miasma and even hit the old houses on the other side of the dirt road.


    "Tch! Char! Retreat!"


    Mark shouted and he himself retreated closer to the school building following the dragon''s retreat.


    WHOOSH!


    The miasma burst forth quenching the mes that surrounded it. After the mes were extinguished, the scattering miasma started to vanish.


    A shadowy figure was left in ce of the miasma.


    Everyone stared at the figure with an unexinable feeling in both their hearts and minds. The shadowy figure was shaped as a humanoid seven feet tall. Its body was kind of disproportional due to its limbs being too thinpared to its normal sized body. Still, the feeling they had, it was unexinable but they knew that it was a bad feeling.


    Mark scrutinized the figure silently with his eyes looking sharp and wary. The figure in front of them existed but for some reason, he felt that it did not exist either. It was there but not there. It was both dead and alive. It stood in front of him but it also felt that it did not. The feeling was strange and confusing.


    The figure raised its head and looked at Mark. He could not help but step back. It just stared but he felt like he was being drawn by it. The eyes of the figure were just a ck shallow holes but it gave a feeling of immeasurable deepness as if it was a bottomless hole.


    It was something simr to a psychic character that became filled with animosity and started to destroy everything.


    "Amihan¡­ Is this the one controlling those beasts and caused the miasma?"


    Mark shouted without taking his eyes away from the unmoving figure.


    "My Lord! I apologize but I can''t tell! The miasma is too thick and unstable!"


    Amihan replied in trepidation. This was the first time she was able to encounter something as dreadful as this. Even the evil spirits that killed her parents could not even amount to this one.


    While Mark and the figure stared at each other, the figure tilted its head and raised its right hand. Several fist wide bursts of miasma rushed towards Mark in fast speed. The burst immediately surrounded Mark leaving him no way to react.


    But then, Mark''s eyes glowed alternating with both red and violet color. As if hit by something, the figure staggered making the attacks slower. Then, the number of the bursts of miasma doubled. The new ones however appeared ahead of the already existing attacks and had almost non-existent appearance.


    Using the opportunity, Mark moved between the attacks and faced the blurry figures without worry. He was hit by the blurry attacks but the attacks just phased through his body. The next attack followed the same trajectory but Mark had already dodged it.


    Mark then turned his head towards the shadowy figure and with his eyes shing a bright deep red light. The light was too bright that it looked like small red mes on his pupils.


    As Mark dodged the attacks, some of the attacks hit the school building behind him. The parts of the walls hit by the miasma turned ck as if scorched by mes. Some of the bursts of miasma flew towards the second floor causing everyone to run away. Even Char had to hurriedly flew back to avoid some of the attacks. Luckily for them, Mark was the initial target enabling them all to dodge. If not, it was likely that they were hit by the miasma directly.


    "Karlene, Edzel, Amihan. Get the children and ride on Char! Get away from here!"


    Mark shouted as he made Char retreat at the same time.


    This enemy was very dangerous and they would just hold him back. It was impossible to escape altogether. If they did, it was likely that the enemy would chase them. In the first ce, the enemy was floating in ce and its feet did not even touch the ground.


    Someone needed to stay behind and stall this thing and he was the only one capable of that.


    "How about you?!"


    Karlene shouted back.


    "Don''t ask questions and just go will you?"


    "Hmpf!"


    Karlene felt a bit offended at Mark''s reply but her eyes still looked worried. However, Mark already gave his orders and his words were absolute in this trip. It was one of his rules for bringing them in this journey. With her lead, everyone started to evacuate the school.


    While everyone left in the school started to evacuate, Mark and the shadowy figure continued their confrontation. Bursts of miasma continued to attack Mark while he dodged every attack desperately.


    "Father! Be careful!"


    "My Lord! I can''t confirm but it might just be a manifestation and not the real body! Its body is made of miasma so please! Don''t get hit even once!"


    Mark heard Miracle''s and Amihan''s voices as Char took off from the school. The direction the dragon was flying towards was their base that should be southeast from this ce. He ordered Char to deliver the children to his base. Of course, it was possible that they would not be able to make it in one go but it was better than staying here.<sub> </sub>


    Seeing the escaping dragon and humans, the figure tried to float higher but only to suddenly stagger backwards. It turned to the human that stayed behind in overwhelming anger. On the other hand, the human was ring at him with red eyes.


    "RRRRUUUAAAAAAAAHHHH!!!"


    The shadowy figure released a loud sound that sound both like a roar and a screech. More bursts of miasma rushed towards Mark who evaded the attacks as if he was predicting the trajectory.


    Mark managed to dodge the barrage of attacks by using his newly acquired ability, [sh Precognition]. Still, sweat started to trickle from his head as he continued to use the ability. Not only that he had not done any practice using the ability since he had just acquired it but the expense on mental energy was overwhelming. Furthermore, the miasma around was draining his energy even faster.


    WHOOOSH!


    Another set of attacks moved towards him not leaving him any chance to dodge due to the speed. However, his eyes glowed red once more and red at the figure causing it to stagger backwards. The bursts of energy moving towards him slowed down allowing him to use his [sh Precognition] and dodge.


    Since Mark was detecting emotions from the enemy, he figured that it could get affected by his empathic ability and he seeded to some extent. The bursts of miasma were being controlled by the figure directly as if some remote controlled missiles. With Mark disrupting its control, he was able to dodge the attacks. Still, the situation was too dire and should not continue.


    Furthermore, another problem was starting to rise and Mark could only grit his teeth. The amount of animosity the figure was exuding was more than what his empty consciousness could handle. His mind was starting to get affected. Mark started to lose his calm and his eyes even started to exude the same animosity towards the enemy.


    Staring at the ethereal figure of the enemy, Mark started to charge towards it with the lights in his eyes alternating in color. Mark then shot a poison needle towards the figure. Of course, it was ineffective and the needle just passed through its body.


    "As Amihan said, it''s just a manifestation."


    Mark kicked side wards avoiding another attack and circled around the enemy. As he did that, the figure staggered as it received another mental attack from Mark.


    When it recovered after a second, it only saw a ck mist rushing towards the north leaving it behind.


    "RRRUUUUAAAAAHHHH!!!!"


    It floated higher and chased after the ck mist andunched another burst of miasma.


    As the miasma hit the subspace crated by his [Shadow Mist Movement], Mark was forced out of the subspace. However, he did not stop running towards the north.


    He ran around houses, trees and other obstacles causing the enemy to lose track of him several times and he activated his [Shadow Mist Movement] to gain distance. Although he was forced out every time, he was still able to create some distance between him and the enemy. He also used [Optical Camouge] but stopped soon as he noticed that the enemy could detect him just from the energy. The [Optical Camouge] also looked distorted due to the presence of Miasma.


    Mark continued to run even though he was already panting due to the massive expenditure of mental energy. He had already stopped using his empathic abilities and concentrated on [sh Precognition] to read the attacks and dodge it as he ran away.


    He was running towards north which seemed to confuse the enemy since the others escaped towards the south. Seeing that it was hard to catch Mark, the enemy stopped chasing and was about to turn back.


    For sure, Karlene and the other were easier to catch than Mark. But then, Mark shouted which made the shadowy figure stop.


    "You''re just a manifestation right? I wonder what will happen if I destroyed your real body."


    Mark smiled sinisterly as he provoked the figure and ran away afterwards.


    "RRRRRUUUUUUUUAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!!!!"


    The enemy''s animosity multiplied several times as it heard what Mark said. Now wonder that Mark started running towards the north direction. It thought that he was fleeing but he was actually trying to look for its true body.


    Absorbing the intense bloodlust and animosity, Mark''s nose started to bleed. There was also a metallic taste and feeling in his throat. His eyes turned red but for a different reason.


    "RAAAAHHHH!!!!"


    Mark roared as he resisted the influence of the bloodlust and animosity he continued to absorb without pause. It was the worst characteristic of empaths. They had no control to what or how much emotional energy they would absorb from the surroundings. It was already amazing that he was still able to resist this much. Normal empaths should have already turned berserk just from the initial outburst of animosity from the enemy.


    Finally, Mark reached the northern border of the town. Not far, he could see the edge of the forest that should be where the source of this mess could be found.


    As he reached the forest, he hesitated to enter. It was because red lichen spread out on the forest floor. There was no doubt that the main body of the enemy was in this ce. Still, it was unnerving seeing the contamination spread out this much.


    Nevertheless, he had no choice.


    He took out three crystals and the crystals floated around his wrist.


    Since the forest was lush and the sunlight reaching the forest floor was too little, Mark activated the [Lightning Mental Crystal] to provide light and he controlled the light generated with the [Photokinesis Mental Crystal]. A circle of high temperature light surrounded the ground by his feet with him in the center. The light burned all the lichen Mark passed by.


    Then, Mark activated the [Stormcaller Mental Crystal]. Slowly, clouds started to surge above the forest.


    With the preparations and protections activated, Mark rushed towards the deep areas of the forest with the enemy chasing behind him. He could not maintain all of these for a every long time. Mark needed to hurry even more.

 Chapter 300 Reaching The Source Of Danger, The Appearance Of The Real Boss

    <strong>Day 44 ¨C 11:24 AM ¨C Mount Mbito, Mamuyao, Rizal</strong>


    Northwest foot of Mount Mbito, it was the part where the Agos River and the mountain met. At a wide clearing by the riverside, a huge reddish ck lizard and several people could be seen. They were of course Mark''s group together with the children that escaped from the ce where the manifestation of the miasma appeared.


    Unfortunately, the attack Char made really took a huge toll on it and it was not able to fly towards the base directly. There was also the issue where there were too many people riding on its back and it had to carefully fly since the children were not used to it. Its master would surely give it a beating if any of them identally fell. In the end, the poor dragon could only reach the other side of the mountain where the base was located before itnded.


    In any case, it was enough for them to be safe from the miasma. Still, Karlene, Amihan and Edzel were all worried for Mark. They wanted to help but they knew that they would just hold him back. It was not that they want to escape but they had to.


    "Will boss be fine from that thing?"


    Edzel could not help but voice his worry as he gazed towards the northwest direction. He was not really asking anyone and was not expecting for anyone to answer him.


    The feeling they all had as they gazed at that monster was terrifying. It was as if they were going to be swallowed whole by the darkness and lose their minds. Even now, the younger children were shivering from the aura that the monster had and that was the reason they were too behaved while riding of Char''s back. It was not because they did not want to fall but more of they did not have the energy to fear about falling off.


    As for the children that were able to hold their fear in, they were still in remorse. After all, they had just lost everyone that took care of them in this past month. They all had no parents or guardians now and had no idea what to do next. The only thing that they could do now was to try to appease the other children.


    Karlene did the same and helped the children gather in a single area while trying to hush their cries. When she looked around, she saw Amihan and Miracle that stayed sitting on Char''s back while gazing towards the same direction as Edzel''s.


    "You two shouldn''t worry. Mark will be fine."


    She said thinking what the thoughts of the two could be.


    Miracle turned towards her and Karlene was surprised that there was not a shred of worry on the little girl''s face.


    "Father is fine."


    That was the entire thing the little girl said before she returned to gazing back at that direction.


    On the other hand, Amihan did not say anything and just looked down. She was already someone that was easily scared of things and she honestly felt like she was about to die when she saw that manifestation of miasma. As a na?ve spirit, she was highly sensitive to malice and she could feel that malice and animosity several timespared to people. Right now, she was trying hard to hold it in but her heart and mind was quivering fiercely. Still, despite how terrible she felt, she was still hoping that Mark was fine.


    "These girls are strong."


    Karlene smiled and looked at the children once more. Since Mark sent them this way, she knew that Mark decided to bring these children to the base. She could not do anything in that fight but in the least, she could protect these children.


    Especially, now¡­


    She stood up gazing at the other side of the river.


    "Ka, you felt them right. I''ll leave those guys to you so protect everyone."


    Saying that, she rxed her mind and let Ka take over. Her appearance changed and a dark purple armor started to cover parts of her body. The nails on her hands turned into ws and her hair changed color and started to move as if being blown by the wind.


    Everyone was surprised at her sudden transformation and the children felt scared even more but before anyone could say anything, she already dashed towards the river.


    That was then everyone noticed. There were several feral evolved animals creeping on the other side of the river while hiding behind the trees and bushes.


    ***


    <strong>Day 44 ¨C 11:28 AM ¨C San Marcelino, General Nakar, Quezon</strong>


    Almost half hour after the manifestation of the miasma appeared, Mark was still running towards the north following the Agos River. It had already been ten minutes since he entered the forest filled with the red lichen in the surroundings but he was yet to find the very source of all this mess.


    The shadowy figure was still on his tail relentlessly chasing him. However, it was still within his calctions. Actually, he was maintaining a fixed distance between him and the enemy. The distance enabled him to dodge the attacks with allowance to save on his mental energy being consumed by his [sh Precognition]. The main reason he was maintaining this distance was because he was using the manifestation as the radar to point the correct direction.


    It was because as he got closer and closer to the real body, the manifestation be angrier and angrier. It even roared more often. When he started to run in a different direction, the animosity the manifestation was releasing would also lower by a bit. With all those signs, he was able to pin point the correct direction to go.


    "Tch!" Mark clicked his tongue. "The reinforcements arrived."


    He said those words as he started to detect contaminated beasts started to approach him from different directions. It seemed that it took them a while since they still had to gather from different ces. However, since Mark rushed towards the right direction faster than the enemy anticipated, it could only throw the beasts towards Mark''s direction without gathering in one ce.


    "I can take advantage of this."


    The beasts were all scattered and were approaching him individually rather than in groups. With that, he could deal with them one by one as he ran. However, it would also give the manifestation the opportunity to catch up. In that case, he would need to use his [Shadow Mist Movement] more often and his mental energy consumption would increase several folds.


    "What a pain."


    Mark vanished into ck mist and rushed across the trees. The closest beast to intercept him was just several meters in front.


    A burst of miasma soon flew towards him destroying the created subspace forcing Mark out. As he was forced out, his body was horizontally on the air but he was already by the side of the contaminated beast that looked like a wild cat with his left needleuncher aimed at it.


    SWOOOSH!


    The poisonous needle wasunched hitting the contaminated beast on its temple. It caused the beast that amidst its charge to slide several feet through the red lichen covered forest floor.


    Mark''s body started to fall but it waste to just regain bnce and run. He stretched out his left foot towards then ground trying tond.


    FLASH!


    Before his foot touched the red lichen covered ground, a sh appeared at the sole of his shoes which made contact with the ground first and immediately spread out burning all the red lichen on the ce where his footnded. However, the momentum of his fall was too strong and he still fell.


    In thest moment, he stretched out his left arm.<sub> </sub>


    FLASH!


    Another sh of light burned the ground where his palmnded and he was able to do a one handed side flip. He then spun his body andnded with another two shes of light and continued running with the circle of light surrounding his feet.


    The contaminated beasts came at him from the front and sides while the manifestation continued attacking from behind. Roars of both the beasts and manifestation echoed inside the forest.


    Soon, he suddenly saw an odd clearing at in the middle of the forest. It was not a ce where trees and nts did not grow but rather, the trees and nts were mowed down.


    He then noticed some metal debris scattered around as he ran.


    "Bingo!"


    Mark''s eyes lit up. He finally found the site of the crash.


    Ignoring the iing enemies, he followed the trail of fallen trees.


    He ran as fast as possible while being careful of not tripping on the trees and soon found the crash site. It was under an oddlyrge acacia tree. When Mark saw the tree, his eyes became wide that he even ignored the appearance of the mangled ne.


    This acacia tree was surely not a normal one. He could feel magical energy emanating from the tree although it was faint due to the miasma. Mark could tell that it might be the same as the tree Amihan used as her house before she was affected by Mutagen, a tree that served as a dwelling of a spirit or elemental creature. Still, the tree was almost withered and all its leaves had already had a sickly yellow color.


    However, that was not the issue¡­


    Just in front of the wreckage seemed to be a primeval altar with skulls and stones carved with strange symbols.


    But that was not still the real issue¡­


    What Mark made wide eyed was the three meter diameter pulsating ball of flesh surrounding the trunk of the acacia tree. Swelling veins could be seen on the ball along with the same red lichen that covered the forest floor. Also on the ball of disgusting flesh, parts of both humans and animals could be seen protruded outside its surface. There were human hands and feet, hooves of a cow, limbs and wings of birds and even heads.


    Along with its horrendous appearance, the rotten stench it was emanating made Mark feel like vomiting. The smell not only permeated in his nose but could be said that it was affecting his mind directly.


    Without further ado, Mark''s eyes turned sharp.


    He aimed his needleuncher towards the ball of flesh.


    SWOOOSH!


    A poisonous needle wasunched.


    However, a figure swooped in front blocking the needle. The figure soon copsed after which was actually one of the contaminated beasts.


    Mark ran to the side and avoided several bursts of miasma from behind and shot one needle after another. Unfortunately, this needleuncher was not fully automatic and the firing rate was rather slower than his previous one. Still, the speed that the needles flew should be faster than needed.


    However, each needle was blocked by animals jumping one after another to be the meat shield of the ball of flesh.


    "TCH! Then, let''s see if you can block this!"


    CLICK! CLICK!


    The centerpiece of the shield, [Defier], on his back detached and fell. He quickly caught it and pointed it at the ball of flesh. He rotated the mechanisms on the centerpiece switching the needles to poisonous ones and fired. Theyers on the centerpiece opened and hundreds of holes appeared.


    With a push of the trigger, hundreds of poisonous needles flew out towards the ball of flesh.


    RRRRRUUUUUUUAAAAAAAARRRRRRRAAAAAA!!!


    A deafening screech was let out by the manifestation as it rushed towards the ball of flesh.


    The whole shadowy figure entered the ball of flesh.


    FWWWOOOOM!!!


    A ck whirlwind surrounded the ball of flesh causing the needles to either change direction or fall to the ground.


    "Dammit!"


    Mark cursed and retreated as some of the ck smoke blew towards him.


    "I don''t really want to do this but I have no choice."


    Mark said as three the three [Mental Crystals] he floated around his right wrist.


    He was all ready to activate the crystals when¡­


    "HAHAHAHAHAHA!"


    The stones on the altar cracked and crumbled to powder. ck smoke flew out of the crumbled stones and seeped into the ball of flesh. Following that, an eerieughter was heard.


    The ball of flesh distorted and contorted forming an eerie three meter tall face. While looking at Mark who froze at the sudden situation, it spoke in a strangenguage.


    "I wast did disturb and I hadst to hasten mine own awakening. Nay both''r, I did see something int''resting. Thee son of human, what art thee?"

 Chapter 301 Going Berserk, Revealing The Origin Of The Enemy

    <strong>Day 44 ¨C 11:41 AM ¨C San Marcelino, General Nakar, Quezon</strong>


    The ball of flesh became a terrifying looking face of what seemed to be a man in his prime. It could be said that following the shape, the face could beplimented as good looking. However, what made up the whole face was what made it terrifying.


    Its eyeballs were made of countless sets of eyes that belonged to different creatures whether it was human, animal or insect. The nose, lips, mouth and ears were the same, clustered parts of the same sense organ belonging to different species of creatures. Anyone with excessive Trypophobia would surely faint from the sight of this creature.


    Mark was shocked at the unexpected situation. Although he expected to encounter some supernatural creature, he did not expect something like this. As he felt when the contaminated beasts attacked, he expected something like a sylph that became evil and Amihan confirmed it herself. This in front of him however, was totally a different thing.


    There was no sign of it being a spirit before at all. Furthermore, it said that it had just awakened. It was very likely that it was not the one that controlled the contaminated beasts. Mark could not help but take the possibility that there was more than one enemy. Due to these thoughts, rather than replying to the creature''s question, Mark raised his guard further instead.


    "What insolence. This Deity asking thee a questih."


    WOOSH!


    Therge face on the acacia tree spoke. All the mouths thatposed its lips opened and closed as the same time as it spoke creating a hair-raising sight. Seeing that Mark was not answering, the creature was obviously displeased. A strong gale blew towards Mark forcing him to take several steps back and the centerpiece of [Defier] fell from his hands.


    Mark endured the blowing wind and red at the creature.


    "I have no need to answer you."


    Mark pointed his right palm that had yet to fully heal towards the creature and two of the three crystals floating around his arm shined.


    "Take this!"


    THOOOM!


    CRACKLE!


    A beam of light and a stato lightning surged towards the creature while intertwining each other.


    BOOM!


    An explosion urred as the two attacks Mark released at the same time reached the creature. Dust, dirt, broken wood and the red lichen that covered the forest floor was thrown around the surroundings. The explosion caused the visibility around the acacia tree to drop due to smoke and dust.


    However¡­


    SWOOSH! SWOOSH! SWOOSH!


    More than a dozen surges of miasma flew out of the smoke and dust towards Mark. His eyes shined violet and he dodged the attacks. Still, different from before where the attacks just flew off after missing him, these surges of miasma curved and turned evading the trees and obstacles in the surroundings and chased towards Mark once more.


    Without a choice, Mark started to run around the huge tree as he dodged the surges of miasma. He ran around the trees, over the bushes and jump up the trees on the way. Due to his irregr movements, the surges of miasma reduced one by one as they hit the obstacles.


    "Hoh? Thee has''t some abilities, thee not?" The three meter face''s eerie voice echoed with amusement. "Alloweth me tryeth thee a dram m''re."


    For the first time in years, Mark felt humiliated despite his trait as a Mutator. This, whatever of a creature this was, was actually using him for amusement. It seemed to find Mark being able to dodge the iing attacks amusing. Even though there was a screen of smoke of dust from the explosion, it seemed that it had no problem seeing Mark as it moved its face around the trunk of the tree following Mark''s movements.


    Wind blew around the tree dispersing the smoke and dust which revealed the one attacking Mark. He could not help but frown.


    The surges of miasma did not directlye from the face but the one flying beside it. It was a small girl with wings and clothes that seemed to be made with leaves and flowers. The small girl was emitting the same presence as Amihan. In short, she was another sylph. Compared to the three meter face, the several inches tall girl seemed to contrasting in size.


    However, Mark frowned as she saw the sylph. Her head hung down while her body was emanating miasma. Furthermore, Mark could not detect any sign of consciousness from the sylph although she seemed to be alive.


    The sylph raised her head and turned towards Mark. Her eyes were all ck despite not being hollow.


    "KREEEEEE!!!"


    She released a deafening shriek unbefitting her size. At the same time, the feeling of animosity attacked his subconscious. It was the same animosity that he felt from the manifestation of miasma. For sure, the one that controlled that miasma and the contaminated animals was this sylph.


    The shriek was too loud that Mark felt that his head was shaken and his eardrums would burst. As Mark was frozen due to the aftereffects of that shriek and the surge of negative emotional energy, the sylph flew forwards while sending uncountable surges of miasma from her body.


    "Well, sh*t. I''m not that good in bullet hell games."


    Mark could not help but curse as he saw the surges of miasmaing his way. He shook his head and tried to resist the pain in his head.


    He then activated his [sh Precognition] as much as he could. However, the attacks were just too many that even the prediction lines in his eyes began to confuse his mind.


    "Dammit!"


    Mark jumped back dodging the attacks closest to him. Fortunately, the attacks did not seem to be the homing ones. Perhaps, this number of attacks was hard to control even for the sylph and the huge head. Still, the surges of miasma was still too many to count.


    SWOOSH! SWOOSH!


    Swooshing sounds could be heard by his ears as he tried to dodge all the attacks with minimum margin as much as possible. If he didrger movements as he dodged, it was more likely that he would get hit as soon as the next attacks arrived.


    "It can''t be helped. I''ll just bear the painter."


    Mark murmured as his eyes turned sharper.


    BADUMP! BADUMP!


    His heard started to pump faster as he stimted his mind and controlled his blood inside his body. His adrenal nds started to function in its outmost potential. Large amounts of adrenaline was distributed to his limbs and head causing his movements to be faster and the scene in front of him became slower in his eyes and mind.<sub> </sub>


    He started dodging the attacks and even started to counter attack with his needles. Unfortunately, none of the attacks hit both the sylph and the gigantic head. They were being protected by a barrier of wind that rendered his attacks useless.


    "Dammit!"


    Mark was in a dilemma. This was totally a one sided battle. Although he was not really regrettinging here since it was needed but still, the situation was frustrating.


    Mark panted as he desperately maneuvered around the surrounding trees using the trees as shield to reduce the attacks that wereing his way. How about escaping? It was even more impossible. The moment that the sylph appeared, the surrounding areas were locked down by miasma. A tall wall of miasma bellowed around the area leaving about twenty meters around the acacia tree vacant. Not to mention that a lot of the remaining contaminated animals surrounded the tree to serve as meat shield.


    "HAHAHAHAHA! Most wondrous! most wondrous! i nev''r did expect yond a m''rtal liketh couldst still avoideth such numb''r of attacks! i''m itching to knoweth how longeth can theesteth!"


    While dodging the attacks, Mark heard the frustratingugh and voice. The feeling of being toyed with was really bad. Too bad that the negative energies he was absorbing since earlier started to corrode his consciousness.


    DRIP! DRIP!


    It started raining.


    RUMBLE!


    Sounds of thunder echoed as the sh of lightning flickered in the sky.


    On Mark''s arm, the third crystal shone its brightest for the first time since Mark acquired it. The [Stormcaller Mental Crystal] was finally activated.


    The sudden rain seemed to have surprised the eerie creature as it tried to gaze at the sky. It managed to see the already swirling clouds in the sky at the gaps of the leaves and branches of the dying acacia tree.


    "Thee. Thee hath kept surprising this deity. To bethink yond thee eke has''t the ability simr to the kings of the flote. Fascinating! Showeth me! SHOWETH THIS DEITY EV''RYTHING THEE HAS''T! HAHAHAHAHA"


    "KREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!"


    The gigantic faceughed in fascination. At the same time, shriek from the sylph that could be heard through the soul hit Mark''s consciousness.


    The mental attack made Mark stagger. He almost fell to the ground as he clutched his head. Unexpectedly, without him controlling it, his eyes glowed with violet color. It was not the bright one but a deep and dark one.


    It was just one second that the deep violet color shed in his eyes but it felt like a long time. In that second, his head hanged low. Scenes shed in his eyes like a rotating wheel. However, none of the scenes were his. It was still not the time for him to die after all. Mei and his daughters were waiting for him.


    Mark then raised his head. He was smiling sinisterly. His eyes were all red and were even glowing despite he was not using his empathic ability. It seemed that the emotions, the animosity he absorbed all this time, consumed a part of his rationality.


    He red at the gigantic face on the trunk of the acacia tree,ughing.


    "HAHAHAHA! Deity here, deity there! I''m not here for your amusement you lowly demon born from miasma!"


    The [Slicer] and [Divider] desunched from his back which was caught by his hands. His right hand was still in not fully healed due to the miasma and should still be painful but he could not fell it anymore.


    BURST!


    Six whips made of blood burst out of Mark''s body and started to change shapes. The outeryer of the [Blood Whips] metallized and hardened and turned into something simr to the exoskeleton on the legs of beetles. The ends of the [Blood Whips] were sharp and pointed like spears. As the transformation finished, all the metalized limbs pointed at the face as Mark lowered his body to the ground and was growling like a beast.


    "Thee! Who is''t?! WHO IS''T ART THEE?! ALL THOSE YOND KNOWETH MINE OWN BIRTH WAST ALL ELIMINATED!"


    It seemed that its origin being known by Mark made the creature lose itsposure.


    "GRRRR! I have no need to answer your question! Die without knowing it!"


    Mark kicked the ground rushing towards the face.


    The bursts of miasma continued to rain towards him but for some reason, they were slower and some were even curving away from Mark.


    "Thee! Thee bootless wretch!"


    The face red at the sylph who seemed to be struggling. With all its anger, the face opened its countless mouths and blew a ball of miasma towards the sylph sending it flying away.


    Then, the miasma the face released covered the animals surrounding the tree. The bald contaminated beasts that were now covered in miasma turned towards Mark with their glowing red eyes. They started to rush towards Mark to intercept his charge. At the same time, the demon sent several surges of miasma towards Mark.


    SWISH!


    Mark waved his des and the metal limbs moved piercing and slicing all the iing animals.


    BAM!


    As Mark was about to hit by a surge of miasma, he jumped and kicked the head of an iing beast propelling his body upwards. The attack that was about to hit him missed but since he was in the air, more surges of miasma flew towards him.


    Instead of shielding himself, Mark red at the face and smiled like a madman. He then threw the [Slicer] forward.


    RUMBLE! CRASH!


    A wall of lightning shot from the sky which used the slicer as conductor. The strengthened lightning spread out blocking the surge of miasma.


    Mark then grabbed the falling [Slicer] as he charged once more. The three [Mental Crystals] that should have been rotating on his right arm was now rotating around his body while glowing brightly.

 Chapter 302 Killing The Physical Body Of The Demon, The True Reason Of His Late Arrival

    <strong>Day 44 ¨C 11:52 AM ¨C San Marcelino, General Nakar, Quezon</strong>


    Mark red at the demon as he continued to charge forward. The three [Mental Crystals] also continued to exude the brightest light it could while the crystals rotated around his body.


    SWOOSH!


    THOOM!


    RUMBLE!


    Different sounds echoed around the ce as the demon blew miasma towards Mark and every single time, a strike of lightning blocked the attack. At the same time, Mark waved his des towards the contaminated beasts that rushed towards him.


    SHOOSH!


    As Mark swung his des towards two evolved monkeys while evading the other animals, a fast shadow rushed towards him from behind. Mark noticed the shadow and tried to retract his attacks towards the monkeys but the shadow was faster. The shadow jumped towards Mark targeting his neck.


    CHOMP!


    CLANG!


    One of the metal limbs controlled by the [Blood Whips] blocked the mouth of the assant. It was bald like the other contaminated animals but by the shape of its ears and itsrge circr eyes, it was possible that it was a wild leopard cat.


    Knowing that the attack failed, the leopard cat tried let go of the metal limb and retreat but before it was able to¡­


    BURST!


    The other metal limbs sliced its body to piece causing its flesh and blood to scatter behind Mark.


    SHING! SWOOSH!


    The metal limbs behind Mark started to move faster and faster as more contaminated animals tried to surround Mark. Since the des of the limbs had not poison from Ivy, Mark could only deal with the contaminated beasts by decapitating their heads and dismembering their limbs. Despite that, they were still alive but at least, they were immobilized indefinitely.


    Nevertheless, the contaminated beasts were slowing Mark''s charge. Not only was that but the contaminated beasts were getting stronger and stronger for some reason.


    "Halt thy resistance, t is futile. I pity yond this timeth hadst to endeth anon. I can''t alloweth anyone who is''t kneweth of mine own ''rigins liveth. FALLETH DEAD!"


    As it saw Mark struggle with the contaminated beasts it controlled, the demon spoke with its strangenguage that was almost impossible to understand. However, Mark knew that it wanted to end things now. Not only Mark was in dire straits but the demon also seemed so.


    Mark had already noticed it from the start but aside from talking, the only things that this demon could do was attack him with miasma and send the contaminated beasts to block him. In other words, it was nothing but a sitting duck under that dying acacia tree. That was why the demon was doing its best to halt Mark''s charge while maintaining its fa?ade.


    Another thing that Mark noticed was that this demon should have been even more powerful but it was obviously weakened. It might be due to the fact that it had just awakened as it said before and it was awakened rather prematurely.


    He should take advantage of it and kill it before it recovered. It was not like he had any other choice anyway. The ce was already surrounded by a wall of miasma and the demon was keen on killing him.


    "Cough! Cough!"


    Mark coughed several times. For some reason, his breathing started to be heavier. His eyesight was even getting dimmer.


    ''Well sh*t!''


    As he looked at the surroundings, he finally realized. The reason for the symptoms he was having and the contaminated beasts getting stronger was because the surroundings started to be filled with miasma. He did not realize soon since he thought that it was just the residue from the blocked surges of miasma the demon hurled towards him but the miasma in the air was getting thicker and started to form a faint fog.


    Mark looked around while fighting the contaminated beasts. He was trying to find a countermeasure. When his eyesnded on the face of the demon however, he felt infuriated. The demon was smirking while looking down on him.


    However, at that moment, he noticed behind the demon.


    A small me was burning. It was there since the beginning but no one noticed it due to the situation. From the explosion created when Mark attacked the demon earlier using the beam of light and the stato lightning, some of the debris that flew behind the acacia tree continued to burn. Since the demon was facing Mark, it failed to see the mes and did not manage to extinguish it.


    Around the mes, the miasma was thinner.


    Mark''s eyes glinted and a surge of lightning and high temperature light surged at the surroundings. Due to the high temperature, the trees started to dry up and burn. The ck fog that started to gather vanished and Mark''s condition became better.


    "Thee lowly m''rtal!"


    The demon bellowed after seeing what happened.


    However, it was just the start.


    RUMBLE!


    CRACKLE!


    RUMBLE!


    Several lightning strikesnded in the surroundings decimating the contaminated animals and setting more trees aze.


    As the fire started to spread, even the wall of miasma and the miasma the demon released started to weaken. Not only that, the movements of the remaining contaminated beasts started to be sluggish.


    "I should have thought of this sooner."


    Mark tried striking the acacia tree with lightning but the acacia, despite its dying state, was not normal and immediately dispersed the lightning strike.


    Nevertheless, Mark now had the opportunity to attack. The contaminated beasts could not attack him as fiercely as before and he managed to charge forwards easier.


    The demon still sent surges of miasma towards him but he managed to thwart the miasma with just a surge of high temperature light. At the same time however, the crystals started to dim.


    Mark was running out of time. Luckily, it should be over soon.<sub> </sub>


    He stood in front of the face pointing his des towards the demon.


    "Thee bethink thee can killeth me?"


    The demon said with an amusing tone.


    "It''s hard to understand what you are saying. Just die."


    Mark said in frustration as he pierced the metal limbs towards the flesh that made up the demon''s disgusting face. As he did that, Mark frowned. He could feel that the metal limbs and his [Blood Whips] were being corroded by miasma inside the flesh but he could not bother about it.


    FLASH!


    FLASH!


    He surrounded the [Blood Whip] with high temperature light inside the body of the flesh.


    "GRUUUAAAAA!!!!"


    With the disgusting smell of burning rotten flesh, the demon bellowed in pain. At the same time, des made of [Blood Metal] rampage inside the flesh body and started to cut the body into pieces.


    Sweat dripped from Mark''s forehead as he kept several abilities working at the same time. There was also the deafening roar from the demon that could even reverberate inside his mind which he tried so hard to resist.


    The three crystals finally lost its shine as thest of the energy in the crystals were used up. It would surely take quite a while before he could use these crystals again. And finally, despite the huge resistance, the final cut was made and the disgusting ball of flesh was no more. The roars of the demon and the miasma finally vanished.


    Mark turned towards the remaining contaminated animals and rushed towards them. He started killing them one by one and now, they finally stopped moving. Mark could not detect any sign that the animals would move once more.


    The rain clouds and the lightning strikes started to disperse with the loss of the energy to maintain them. Still, the forest was burning. Of course, it was a good thing and Mark had no reason or any way to stop the fire. The rest of the wide forest was still covered with red lichen after all. Even though the demon was gone, the red lichen could still contaminate the river even more if left alone.


    It was strange that the acacia tree was not affected by the mes but at least Mark had a ce to pass time until the fire was gone. He wanted to rest. He was tired both physically and mentally. His mental energy was drained to dangerous levels and his mind was affected by the malice the demon had. There was also the painful bacsh from using his adrenaline more than how much his body could handle.


    Mark moved at the altar under the acacia tree to look at it. The demon came from this altar after all. He wanted to check on it before resting.


    Then¡­


    Mark suddenly retreated. He felt a strong deathly aura. Nevertheless, he waste. After the fight, his movements were all sluggish.


    The altarbusted and released huge amounts of miasma. Even the amount of miasma the demon released earlier could notpare to this.


    As the miasma surged out of the altar, it all rushed towards Mark like a tidal wave. He was covered in miasma. Weakened, he was not able to make even an ounce of resistance.


    His eyes started to grow heavy. Soon, he nked out.


    ***


    <strong>Day 44 ¨C1:14 PM ¨C San Marcelino, General Nakar, Quezon</strong>


    Above the burning forest, a silhouette of arge flying lizard could be seen pping its bat like wings. On the back of the silhouette, a young man, a woman, a three year old child and a smalldy with wings could be seen. They were all stared down at the burning forest with worry in their faces while they seemed to be looking for something.


    It was Char and the rest of Mark''s group that returned after delivering the children to the base. Despite hurrying as much as possible, they still took a lot of time. Not like anyone was at fault. They had to travel around mountains while maintaining a lower height due to the children. There was also the thick smoke above the forest which made it harder for them to traverse the airspace above the forest.


    Using the link of Char, Miracle and the other [Blood Children] to Mark, they were looking for him. Nevertheless, even the mostly emotionless Miracle that only showed her emotions around her father was worried. With that look, Karlene and Edzel knew that something bad might have happened. Even the [Blood Children] were too restless that they could not be kept inside their canisters. They forced the canisters open and tried to rush towards a certain direction. If not for Miracle forcing them to behave, they might have fallen from Char''s back already.


    After a long flight, everyone saw a strange sight.


    The fire that spread around the forest was strong and the smoke was thick enough to suffocate anyone. Even the evolved animals living outside the forest were rmed and started to evacuate.


    Nevertheless, amidst the burning forest, a huge acacia tree stood tall despite its sickly looking leaves. The trees around it had already turned into charcoal and dust but it seemed to be unaffected.


    "A spirit tree!"


    Amihan could not help but yell in surprise.


    The others were confused about it but no one asked a question. Char was heading towards the direction of the tree and Miracle along with the [Blood Children] was looking at the same direction. For sure, Mark was within the vicinity around that tree.


    Soon, they reached the clearing around the tree and Charnded. Despite the almost scalding temperature in the surroundings, everyone went down. Miracle immediately dashed towards the acacia tree and everyone followed behind her in a hurry.


    They saw the remains of the fight and could not help but feel fear. Dozens upon dozens of dead contaminated beasts littered the area. Parts of the ground turned ck after being hit by surges of miasma. There were also the chunks of rotting flesh from the remains of the ball of flesh.


    It was then that they saw Mark. Miracle and the [Blood Children] tried to rush towards him but¡­


    "STOP! DON''T COME CLOSE TO HIM!"


    Amihan bellowed in panic forcing them to stop.


    Everyone looked at the little sylph only to see her tearing up. She gazed at Mark and carefully approached him.


    Mark was lying unconscious in front of a strange altar. His skin was turned ck and his clothes were corroded. A dark aura emanated from his body that was releasing a sense of danger to anyone.


    "Amihan! What happened to him? You know it right?"


    Karlene asked Amihan. She tried to retain her calm but there were tears on the corner of her eyes.


    "These signs¡­" Amihan lowered herself to the ground. "My Lord¡­ A demon is trying to possess his body."

 Chapter 303 Deity Of Bloodshed, The Demons Past During The Time Of Unrecorded History

    <strong>Day 44 ¨C 1:20 PM - San Marcelino, General Nakar, Quezon</strong>


    Everyone gathered around Mark but no one tried to touch him due to Amihan''s warning. Despite being unconscious, they could see Mark trashing around, gritting his teeth and was releasing a faint growl from his mouth. His forehead was heavily frowning. From these signs, it was obvious that he was in deep pain.


    "Amihan, you said its possession. Can we do anything aside from watching him suffer like this?"


    Karlene asked while feeling helpless as she watched Mark suffer.


    However, she did not receive any reply. She turned to Amihan just to see her standing in front of a weird altar-like contraption under the acacia tree. Karlene walked towards the altar to take a look at it and she saw Amihan. She was crying. Finally, Karlene heard the little sylph''s reply.


    "I don''t, I don''t know. What my lord is undergoing is not just some normal possession." Amihan said as she tried to wipe her tears with her arm. "This altar, I heard of it before. What is trying to possess my lord is not just some evil spirit or a normal demon."


    "What do you mean?"


    Karlene asked with further worry. The conversation of the two immediately caught the attention of Edzel and Miracle. Amihan turned to look at Mark and the ck smoke emanating from his body and answered.


    "When other spirits that are capable of trying to possess someone, specifically a human, the disparity between the vessel''s body soul and mind will hinder the foreign entity to some extent. When the possession seeded, he one that possessed the person would not be able to control the body to the full extent and ends up having strange movements, growling and at worst cases, they and up not being able to stand at all. It also applies to normal demons. It is because they could only possess the body and not the soul. If that was the possession my lord is undergoing, he should be fine afterward. But¡­"


    "But what?"


    "The one trying to possess my lord is not a normal demon. If I''m correct, it''s a strong demon born of miasma. In the worst case, it might even be the demon sealed thousands of years ago."


    "What are you saying? How are you sure of that?!"


    Karlene started to panic. Her voice even started to rise.


    "Miss Karlene, calm down! Look at Miss Amihan before going hysterical."


    Edzel hurriedly tried to intervene and forced Karlene to calm down. His voice made Karlene look straight at Amihan. The little sylph was biting her lip that it almost bled. She was even shivering. Compared to everyone here, she was the one with the weakest mentality. Yet, she was trying her best to keep as calm as possible. She was crying but still answered Karlene''s questions. What Karlene did was just in unreasonable.


    "I''m sorry."


    Karlene apologized and Amihan shook her head.


    "I-Its fine." Amihan then turned to the altar. "This altar looks like something that is used to seal a formless demon, a demon born of miasma. They are demons that are not too strong at first but grows by absorbing negative energy. Also even though they are not immortal, they are very hard to destroy. Their kind had no bodies so they always try to possess people and take over their bodies. But since they had no bodies in the first ce, it became easier for them to adapt to the human body they possessed taking over the victim''s identity in the process. After they seeded, the victim''s mind and soul are destroyed permanently."


    Amihan took a deep breath. Even though the air was quite unpleasant in the surroundings, she had no problem as she could purify the air around them.


    "Also¡­ This altar is moreplex to normal ones. The demon sealed here should be a very strong one. I just wish that this is not the altar that I heard about or it will be hard for my lord toe back to us."


    "That''s¡­"


    Karlene slumped to the ground while Edzel gripped his fists tightly.


    While the three were feeling remorse for Mark''s possible oue, a child''s voice was heard.


    "Such impudence. His Majesty will not fall to such a filthy creature."


    It was Miracle. It was not surprising for Amihan but Karlene and Edzel were shocked to the unfathomable change that they saw.


    "Aephelia¡­"


    Amihan voiced.


    "Little one. Shouldn''t you put more trust in His Majesty?"


    Aephelia admonished in a strict tone apanied by a re.


    "I''m sorry¡­ Will My Lord really ovee this?"


    "I told you to put more trust, didn''t I?"


    With those words, Aephelia started working. Even though it could not be helped that her king had to lie on the ground, at least, she wanted to clean the surroundings. After all, the aftermath of her king''s battle caused the surroundings to be unsightly.


    ***


    <strong>Day (-)¨ƒ¨ƒ¨ƒ¨ƒ¨ƒ¨ƒ¨ƒ¨ƒ - ¨ƒ¨ƒ:¨ƒ¨ƒ¨ƒ¨ƒ- ¨ƒ¨ƒ¨ƒ¨ƒ¨ƒ¨ƒ¨ƒ¨ƒ¨ƒ¨ƒ¨ƒ,¨ƒ¨ƒ¨ƒ¨ƒ¨ƒ¨ƒ¨ƒ¨ƒ¨ƒ¨ƒ¨ƒ,¨ƒ¨ƒ¨ƒ¨ƒ¨ƒ¨ƒ,¨ƒ¨ƒ¨ƒ¨ƒ¨ƒ¨ƒ¨ƒ¨ƒ¨ƒ</strong>


    Thousands of years ago, in a time unrecorded by history, a time where deities and lesser gods walked the earth, a time where spirits and elementals walked thend, often, tribes in the Philippines lived worshiping their gods while waging war against evil spirits, foreign usurpers and enemy tribes.<sub> </sub>


    Wars between tribes were a normal thing especially when the chieftains of the tribes had things against each other. Most of the time, the losing tribe be absorbed by the winning tribe while at times, it could also lead to the annihtion of the losing tribe if they did not want to submit.


    The causes of these wars could sometimes be a conflict with the hunting grounds, a conflict with the territory or at rare times, conflict because of a woman or a contest for domination. Even inside tribes, infighting wasmon especially when two menpeted for a single woman. A duel for the sake of the woman was always seen as a way of courting them. At worst times, however, these duels of courtship could lead a war between tribes killing many people in the process.


    Wars because of these causes weremon at those times. But at very rare times, a war could happen¡­


    Just of the sake of bloodshed.


    Resentful souls of the innocent victims left negative energies at the ce where their tribe was annihted. This made those ces uninhabitable ording to the beliefs of the people during those times.


    At one time however, hundreds of innocent tribe members were killed causing a huge amount of resentful energy to gather in one spot. Thick malicious had drawn in a huge amount of evil spirits and demons to linger the area almost all the time. The dispersed energy by these creatures soon umted in the area and turned into miasma.


    Then¡­ A formless demon was born.


    This formless demon forsook the area and wandered in the forest. For an unexpected event, the demon found the first human to possess. That human was wounded to a high degree and was almost dying. That person was the sole survivor of the massacred tribe that had been chased after the other tribe for a long time.


    As a new demon, it possessed the human and inherited the human''s lingering resentment. During the time of the possession, the assants found the human and tried to kill him for good.


    That was where the massacre began.


    The tribe that caused the massacre of the previous tribe was massacred in return. But it did not end there. All the tribes that had ties to the previous tribe soon followed its steps to destruction.


    <o>,m As more resentful souls appeared, the man possessed by the demon became stronger and stronger. The negative energy birthed by the massacre caused the demon to grow. The demon soon gained an ego which it used to gather followers. Soon, he was worshiped as a deity of bloodshed. He used bloodshed and suffering of humans as entertainment. The victims were subjected to torture and their blood-curling screams served as music to the demon''s domain.</o>


    Soon, the humans in his domain were eradicated after he turned them all into entertainment. Due to that, he started to put his hands in ces he should not put his hands to. He left the mountains and started to spread bloodshed towards the tribes inhabiting the ins.


    With their domains and tribes worshiping them bing desecrated, the true deities and lesser gods did not find it amusing, especially the Goddess of Cultivated Land, Ikapati and her husband, the God of Seasons, Mapulon. The two were lesser gods inhibited the ins at that time while teaching the tribes about agriculture. Many of the tribes that were attacked in the ins worshiped the two lesser gods and the ones they gave their gifts to.


    The two lesser gods retaliated but it was toote, not only that the fighting capability of the two lesser gods was low but the demon had grown too strong. Although the cooperation of the two managed to defeat the demon and kill his vessel, they were never able to destroy its formless body.


    The two then sought the help of the greater Goddess of the Wind, Amihan and they were able to seal the demon in the middle of the forest in a certain mountainous area. To keep the seal from being broken, it was ced under a spirit tree to provide energy for the seal and a sylph which was the kin of the Goddess of the Wind was ced to guard the ce. Soon, that forest became a forbidden ce where people with evil intentions could not go back once they entered it.


    After several thousand years, the guardian had been reced several times. Nevertheless, the tree remained the same and the seal remained intact.


    Suddenly, an unknown energy invaded the Earth which affected the current guardian, the spirit tree and the seal. A ne crashed near the spirit tree and the supposed to be dead humans from the ne shambled towards the tree and hugged its trunk like drunk people. Their bodies soon merged into a ball while exuding a faint stench to attract the animals around which soon joined the disgusting ball of flesh around the tree.


    Due to energy and the ball of flesh, the guardian was never able to enter the spirit tree anymore and remained outside the tree for more than a month. Although it wanted to stay away from the disgusting ball of flesh, she was still the guardian of the altar for this generation. Fortunately, the spirit tree continued to supply the seal of energy it needed.


    Until the day came¡­


    The magical energy in the area was being sucked towards the east inrge amounts. Dark clouds formed in the east as if it was going to rain very hard. As if the day that the Earth was flooded woulde again.


    Without sufficient energy, the seal started to weaken. In a panic, the current guardian forced the spirit tree to supplement the seal causing it to weaken. Nevertheless, the magical energy continued to drain and the seal finally started to break.


    One of the stones in the seal cracked and the miasma started to leak from it. As the guardian, the sylph tried to confront the miasma but she was unable to resist it. In exchange, she became the first casualty and was controlled. The miasma then seeped into the ball of flesh and the red lichen was created.


    The red lichen then spread out on the forest floor which victimized more creatures in the forest and contaminated the northern part of the river.


    Nevertheless, the demon still stayed inside the seal. Being imprisoned for thousands of years weakened it far from being able to fully break the seal. It needed more sources of miasma to fully break the seal. Instead, it used the red lichen to gather more energy to corrode and convert to miasma.


    ***


    <strong>Day ¨ƒ¨ƒ - ¨ƒ¨ƒ:¨ƒ¨ƒ¨ƒ¨ƒ - ¨ƒ¨ƒ¨ƒ¨ƒ¨ƒ¨ƒ¨ƒ¨ƒ¨ƒ¨ƒ¨ƒ¨ƒ¨ƒ¨ƒ¨ƒ¨ƒ¨ƒ¨ƒ¨ƒ¨ƒ¨ƒ¨ƒ¨ƒ¨ƒ¨ƒ¨ƒ¨ƒ¨ƒ¨ƒ¨ƒ¨ƒ¨ƒ¨ƒ¨ƒ¨ƒ¨ƒ¨ƒ¨ƒ¨ƒ</strong>


    "What is this?! Wh''re in the w''rld is this?!"


    The demon bellowed he watched the scenes of his own history shing around him. He should have possessed the insolent mortal that confronted it and destroyed the physical body it chose to inhibit but why did he end up in this ce?


    "Can you stop shouting you piece of smoke? Your story looked simr to anime stories so I want to watch more."


    The demon heard a voice which made it shiver. It then saw the insolent human who it should have possessed in unexinable shock.


    "Even if you don''t seem to have eyes, don''t stare at me like that. In any case, wee to my world you lowly demon."


    The mortal smirked while looking at the demon with his red glowing eyes.

 Chapter 304 Killing The Deity Of Bloodshed, Seizing The Demons Abilities

    <strong>Day ¨ƒ¨ƒ - ¨ƒ¨ƒ:¨ƒ¨ƒ¨ƒ¨ƒ - ¨ƒ¨ƒ¨ƒ¨ƒ¨ƒ¨ƒ¨ƒ¨ƒ¨ƒ¨ƒ¨ƒ¨ƒ¨ƒ¨ƒ¨ƒ¨ƒ¨ƒ¨ƒ¨ƒ¨ƒ¨ƒ¨ƒ¨ƒ¨ƒ¨ƒ¨ƒ¨ƒ¨ƒ¨ƒ¨ƒ¨ƒ¨ƒ¨ƒ¨ƒ¨ƒ¨ƒ¨ƒ¨ƒ¨ƒ¨ƒ¨ƒ¨ƒ¨ƒ¨ƒ¨ƒ¨ƒ</strong>


    Mark stared at the clump of miasma in front of him that made up the body of the demon''s soul. The demon, the so called Deity of Bloodshed, thought that it was his win only to see the shes of his past in the surroundings the moment he came to. The demon totally neglected the fact that this could be a trap.


    "This is impossible! How couldst a w''rld liketh this existeth inside a m''rtal!"


    The demon bellowed with his shock.


    "I can''t understand all your words but I guess, I can tell what you''re getting at. You know? Every sentient living thing had something this."


    Every living thing that had a soul and intelligence had a world like this, the ce where all their thoughts go to and the ce where dreams originated. It was the world made up of the person''s mind and soul, a world that could only be essed when a person was dreaming.


    At times, the person would still be aware while inside their own world and most people called that as vivid dreams. Most people however, could only enter a part of their consciousness in this world and that were the dreams most people easily forgot.


    As for Mark however, he could enter this world due to certain conditions that he had before. First was because his imagination was very wild and vast in the first ce. His overwhelming imagination could fit the criterion of being able to create a world in his mind.


    Second was because his body became inhibited by more than two sentient souls at one time. Unfortunately, both those souls were gone now.


    The third reason was the highpatibility of his mind and body to both PsyPathogen and Mutagen causing such mutation on his subconscious.


    Thest and final reason was because he was a psychic.


    Even though this world existed in his subconscious and he was aware of it, there was no way for him to enter this world aside from one circumstance. It was when another soul would try to invade his body.


    This was the very same world where he and Freed met face to face for the first andst time. It was the ce where Freed narrated and showed his story to him. Now, he was here once more because the demon tried to possess him. This was the demon''s mistake. It was because in this ce, Mark was the god.


    No wonder the demon seemed panicked.


    While Mark stared at the demon, the demon seemed to have noticed something and calmed down.


    "HAHAHAHA! Very much int''resting. Howev''r, thou art already expend''d. Even if ''t be true thee has''t this w''rld, th''re wast nothing thee can doth but beth one with me."


    It seemed that the demon noticed that Mark was expended already which was true. The fight they had outside expended a lot of energy from both of them. But with Mark''s current state, he would not be able to deal with the demon even inside this world. To materialize things in this world, not only his imagination but he also needed mental energy.


    However¡­


    "Yeah, I''m expended. But who said that I have no way to recover myself?"


    Mark smirked.


    ***


    <strong>Day 44 ¨C 9:48 PM ¨C San Marcelino, General Nakar, Quezon</strong>


    Karlene and Edzel were already getting used to the entity inside Miracle ordering them. They built a tent, created a campfire and cooked food under her instructions. Edzel found it hard to believe but Karlene epted it easily. After all, she was also the same, someone with another consciousness inside her body.


    More than a half day had already passed and Mark was still unconscious. His body was still painted in ck color and the ck smoke continued to leak from his body. Fortunately, the ck smoke was just a faint miasma which was too thin to affect them heavily. Nevertheless, it was still impossible for them to touch Mark without getting their skin corroded.


    While they were eating dinner ratherte, a bright light shone from Mark''s right wrist. Karlene and Edzel did not know what was glowing but Amihan, Aephelia and the [Blood Children] knew of it. It was the [PsyCrystal] on Mark''s wrist.


    As they watched the light, a [Mental Crystal] materialized above Mark. The crystal floated in ce as it started to crack and turn into glittering powder that seeped into Mark''s body.


    ***


    ? "Done."


    Mark smiled as he gazed at the stupefied demon.


    "Then, wherefore didst thee not doth yond earli''r?"


    The demon spoke.


    "Are you asking why I didn''t try to recover earlier?" Mark tried to interpret what the demon said by the demon''s emotional fluctuation. "You still don''t get it? Do you think that I don''t know that I didn''t manage to kill you totally when I destroyed yourrge head earlier? I can fully detect you hiding at that altar. But if I tried to recover myself, you won''t try to possess me for sure."


    "Thee deciev''d this deity!"


    "Nah, its strategy you know? Also stop with the deity role y, you''re a demon through and through. Thanks to that little sylph, I knew that I can''t kill you with normal means. What I can only do is lure you here and destroy your soul."


    Mark remembered the possessed sylph. At herst screech, it was not an attack but her final lingering will trying to show him the things he needed to know. After that however, there was no way for the sylph''s remaining will to survive.


    This demon had no physical body and its existence was the miasma itself. However, one thing was for sure. It had a soul as a living being. Mark could only try and drag it into the world created by Freed''s existence inside his subconscious.


    Thus, he feigned total weakness. He approached the altar in the thought of trapping the demon inside his body.


    It was a huge gamble that could harm him but as Mark seen from both the sylph''s will and the demon''s past, the body of the person this demon tried to possess would not be destroyed by the miasma immediately even after it abandoned the body. That was what happened when the body of the tribesman the demon possessed was killed by the lesser gods.


    "HAHAHAHA! Thee very much bethink yond ''twill beest easy? If ''t be true I died, the miasma shall destroyeth thy bodypletely even if ''t be true thou art not human."


    "Nah, once you died, the miasma will try to corrode my body because it became ownerless. In that case, it just needs to have a new owner right?"


    Hearing that, the demon found it both ridiculous and inconceivable. However, it could detect that Mark was not lying.<sub> </sub>


    "Wherefore? Art thee not afraid of death? A demon''s pow''rs is something a m''rtal shouldst beest afraid of! A deity liketh me shouldst beest the source of feareth f''r m''rtals liketh thee! Wherefore doth thee not feareth?!"


    The demon bellowed with his almost iprehensiblenguage.


    "Seriously¡­ Can you speak clearly? In any case I get you. Something like you should be feared by mortals. Even the spirits and lower deities should fear you."


    "Then, wherefore?..."


    "Because there is something way scarier than you."


    As Mark said that, he snapped his fingers.


    The scene around them changed from the aftermath of the demon''s story to a ce that seemed to be a wastnd. With the sudden change in the surroundings, the misty body of the demon wavered. When it looked at the scene behind Mark, it froze.


    Quite a distance behind Mark, an army of monsters marched forward. Behind them, a monster as tall as a mountain red at him with its eyes that reached the quantity of a million. At that re, the demon started to feel an emotion that it never felt before.


    FEAR¡­


    It felt that it was staring at death.


    "So, you can even feel fear." Mark smirked. "With your prowess, you killed people, destroyed tribes and waged war with lesser gods."


    Mark then pointed his thumb over his shoulder towards the gigantic monster behind him.


    "This guy behind me however¡­ It not only destroyed a whole civilization but a whole."


    SHOOOOOOM!


    As Mark finished his sentence, a beam of light was released from the eye of that monster. The demon tried to flee but with a snap of Mark''s fingers, it froze in ce and the beam tore through its body which immediately reduced the density of its body.


    "GAAAAHHAAAAAAAA!"


    The demon wailed in absolute agony. It was not a pain on his body after all but his soul. While the demon agonized in pain, Mark asked it a question.


    "With this guy behind me¡­ Why should I be afraid of a mere demon?"


    SHOOOM! SHOOOM! SHOOOM!


    "GRAAAAAAAAAAAA!"


    Millions of thin light beams flew towards the demon from the million eyes the monster had on its enormous body. It caused the demon to ceaselessly wail in pain. Until¡­


    "AAAaaaa¡­."


    Its wails lessened and finally vanished. From there the demon floated before, not a speck of smoke was left and it was totally obliterated.


    Mark turned to the psychic mutants and monsters behind him and sighed.


    "I wanted to use robots or even use magic here but you guys will do I guess¡­ I need to kill the guy as fast as possible after all. I don''t have much time to waste anymore. Seriously, I wish, I can use this world outside but¡­"


    BAM!


    Mark did not finish his words as he fell kneeling on the ground. The scene around him immediately vanished and became pitch ck. It was the original appearance of this world, a nk one.


    He kneeled on the ground gritting his teeth and clutching his chest. The miasma in his body became ownerless and started to rampage. It was several times more painful than the times he recovered his Empathic ability and at the times he became an Evolver. He felt like his body was going to tear apart. Nevertheless, he could feel that rather than rejecting the miasma, his body was trying to absorb it. He could also feel that the Mutagen and Psypathogen in his body was trying their best to make his body control the miasma.


    Still, with the pace it was happening, for sure, it might take several days or worse for this to end. He could not let that happen. Despite the suffering, he needed to hurry.


    If he had to wake up in several days, the people he wanted to return to would be gone already. It was a failure in his part. Even though the demon was severely weakened, he should not have underestimated its abilities.


    While in pain, Mark racked his brains for possible solutions. He could probably raise the amount of absorption of his body but he would suffer even more.


    In that dilemma, an unexpected thing happened.


    He suddenly felt the miasma being reduced which lowered the toll on his body. At the same time, he felt the existence of a certain [Physical Crystal].


    He remembered this crystal. The ability inside it seemed to be turning a person into something like a chimera. He only saw the glimpse of this ability since he killed the guy as soon as possible but he saw him having characteristics and abilities of several different animals. That ability belonged to one of theckeys of the disgusting cougar from Death Valley Settlement. It was strange why a woman like that kept ackey with this ability.


    It was quite confusing as to why this crystal woulde out. Nevertheless, this was not the first time that a crystal moved on its own.


    Mark''s eyes turned stern, it was thest gamble this time.


    The crystal floated towards his mouth and he swallowed it. The crystal immediately crumbled inside his mouth. He could not decide whether it was just his soul or his body outside really swallowed the crystal. However, he could feel the energy from it flowing inside his body.


    As the major details of the ability inside the crystal were drilled into his brain, his eyes widened.


    "DAMN! Why the f*ck is something like this existing in a toyboy?"


    Mark could not help but swear before his consciousness drifted into nothingness.

 Chapter 305 Shortening Timeframe, Waking Up From The Influence Of The Demons Possession

    <strong>Day 47 ¨C 12:23 AM ¨C Burnt Forest, San Marcelino, General Nakar, Quezon</strong>


    "It''s already the third day."


    Karlene muttered while she sat outside their makeshift tent quite a distance from the acacia tree where the altar and Mark was located.


    She was keeping watch despite there was really no need to since Char and the [Blood Children] were around. Edzel was the same and the two divided the watch schedule. It was Karlene''s turn to watch right now while Edzel was sleeping inside the makeshift tent.


    The makeshift tent was just made of wood and leaves. At first, they tried to build the tent under the acacia tree after cleaning the area but something happened that not only their initial tent got destroyed but everyone was forced to flee.


    Currently, a very thick and strong whirlwind of Miasma was enveloping the area under the acacia tree with the unconscious Mark as the center. It all started about more than an hour after the [Mental Crystal] appeared and entered Mark''s body. The surging miasma started small which enabled which luckily made everyone able to flee. Well, almost everyone.


    One of the [Blood Children] was missing.


    Before the whirlwind grew to its current state, instead of fleeing like the others, Crimson jumped into the miasma joining Mark inside it. At that time, Karlene, Edzel and Amihan were all worried about what happened. Among the [Blood Children] it could be said that Crimson was one of Mark''s favorites. If something happened to Crimson, it would hard to answer to Mark if he really passed this ordeal.


    Nevertheless, they could not do anything. They could not even see what was going on inside the wall of spiraling miasma.


    The strange thing however, instead of getting worried, the [Blood Children] at that time including Miracle seemed to be cheering for Crimson. The three could not understand what was happening and when Miracle was asked, she just pouted with obvious jealousy in her face, not answering the question at all.


    Without knowing what really happened, they could only wait. Even though they really did not know whether Mark was still alive inside that scary ck energy, they still had to wait. It was because the Miracle said that her father was still alive. The [Blood Children] also seemed to be saying the same.


    As for the being called Aephelia, she returned to slumber without exining anything to them. It was quite strange how they felt intimidated with a being inside the body of a child but they could only follow her orders as if it was natural while she was out. That feeling was really strange to them.


    Still, it was already the third day after that happened. There was still no visible change with the whirlwind of miasma which was really worrying.


    Since they found Mark, Karlene really had no time to rest properly. She was all worried, stressed and helpless. After all, Mark was not only their leader to her. He was her saviour, not only once but twice. Ka''s existence also relied to him. In fact, she could also feel that Ka was being restless inside her. In one way or another, Mark was an irreceable person to her.


    Karlene looked at her hands and sighed. Maybe, she started to understand why strength, not only normal strength, but overwhelming strength was needed in this world now. After all, although she was stronger than a normal human, she still needed to burrow Ka''s abilities. Aside from that, she could do little. She could not even help in monstrous fights Mark experienced before.


    While she was contemting about her weakness¡­


    RUMBLE!


    The ground started shaking.


    From the surprise, she stood up but the extreme shaking of the ground forced her down to the ground as she lost bnce.


    "What is happening?!"


    She could not help but voice out.


    Aside from her, Edzel and Amihan who were sleeping were woken up. Edzel managed to teeter out of the tent with great difficulty while Amihan who almost fell to the ground as she slept on the roof of the tent managed to stabilize herself in the air.


    "Miss Karlene, what is happening?"


    Edzel asked but of course, the person he asked also had no idea.


    At that moment however, they saw Miracle and the [Blood Children] that had no difficulty in traversing the shaking ground. Watching them, Karlene, Amihan and Edzel could tell that rather than fear or worry, they all looked excited.


    SHOOOM!


    Strong air blew into the surroundings forcing Edzel and Karlene to shield their faces while Amihan was blown away. Amihan managed to stabilize herself in the air after Char that was resting where she was blown towards blocked the iing air with its wings for her. At the same time however, Char was staring at the whirlwind of miasma that started to spin fiercely.


    Despite their current state, Karlene and Edzel noticed the change in the miasma.


    While the whirlwind of miasma spun faster and faster, its radius reduced slowly.


    How long was it? All of them could not remember due to the spectacle. Maybe half hour or even an hour, they watched the whirlwind slowly reduce until it was just as wide as a concrete pipe used in city drainage systems and as tall as the acacia tree that should be about four to six meters high.


    FOOOOM!


    Like a bamboo shed in half by a samurai, the whirlwind was divided vertically. With thest burst of air, the miasma gathered into the center forming a silhouette of a man and vanished. The shaking of the ground and the strong wind also stopped.


    In the spot where miasma vanished, a man with tattered clothes stood holding a slime with both hands.


    They then heard the man spoke with that familiar voice.


    "So, it''s you Crimson. No wonder the impact of miasma reduced drastically before."


    The [Blood Child] shook as if telling that he was worried about the man.


    In response, the man flicked its gtinous body causing it to jiggle.


    "Seriously, don''t risk your lives for me will you? Well, it turned out good so I''ll let it go this time."


    The man smiled and patted the [Blood Child] gently.


    The man was obviously Mark who finally woke up after the confrontation with the demon. His skin color had already returned to normal, no, rather, his skin became lighter than before. The ck color that his skin had during the possession was gone and instead, ck chain shaped tattoos could be seen on his neck, ankles and wrists. Although it the chains looked like tattoos in the first look, staring at the tattoos would make anyone without tolerance to negative energies feel ufortable.


    Another change was his hair, before, it was just neck long but now, it reached the back of his knees. Furthermore, there was a streak of white hair just above his right eye.


    On his hand, was Crimson, the very first [Blood Child] Mark found. However, the red colored [Blood Child] with streaks of ck on its body was now different. It was still red in color but the streaks of ck had turned into smoke like particles inside its body. He looked like a red snow globe with ck smoke inside after the snow globe was shaken.


    Mark then turned towards to the south east of the acacia tree. He saw a shadow of a child dash and jump towards him which he caught firmly.


    "Father!"


    Miracle bellowed with a cute smile on her face. The very rare times she showed an expression like this was really precious. Following behind her were the [Blood Children] thatgged behind due to the difference in speed. Mark could only walk towards them and receive their wee.


    As usual, the [Blood Children] clung unto him with great excitement.  on the other hand bounced towards his neck and clung as he lowered his body. She was like a spoiled child clinging to her father. It was fine but she was rubbing herself to his neck with made him feel weird.<sub> </sub>


    Noticing his difort, Crimson on his hand made an unexpected move.


    POOF!


    Crimson''s body dispersed into ck smoke which surrounded . The clingy  was forced off Mark''s neck and floated down to the ground surrounded by the smoke. As nded, the smoke gathered together and Crimson appeared once more and immediately made a tentacle which it used to hit . In return,  retaliated in the same manner.


    Mark saw what happened and was both amazed and helpless. Not only Crimson evolved but also became more intelligent. Looking at the two hitting each other, they looked like siblings bickering about small things.


    He immediately separated the two and put  on his head while held Crimson on his right hand. Despite that however, the two did not stop sending mental messages to each other and continued to bicker. Since it was just a bicker between two kids, Mark ignored them and made his way to the makeshift tent that was already almost broken. The other [Blood Children] were jealous about the treatment of  and Crimson but they could only follow Mark while bouncing behind him.


    "You all okay?"


    Mark asked the unkempt looking Karlene and Edzel. The two looked dirty and haggard, they even had wounds on their bodies especially Karlene.


    "My Lord!"


    With a crying voice, Amihan rushed towards Mark even using her wind control subconsciously. Since if it continued would end up with her hurting herself, Mark flicked his finger towards her direction. A small ball of ck mist exploded behind her which erased the magical energy she was releasing and slowed her speed.


    "UWA!!!"


    Surprised, Amihan yelped and lost bnce in the air.


    Mark hurriedly put Crimson on the ground and caught her of course. He then reprimanded her.


    "Be careful will you?"


    "My Lord¡­."


    She seemed to not hear his words and cried in joy. Feeling the genuine joy she had, Mark decided to let it go.


    "Mark¡­"


    "Boss!"


    Karlene also started to cry in relief. Edzel was also the same but he tried to hold his emotions back.


    "Look at you two, you two smell gross. Did you two not take a single bath?"


    "Just whose fault is it?" Karlene bellowed while wiping her tears. "It''s already the third day you know that?!"


    "Alright, my bad." Mark bitterly smiled. "Wait... You said it''s the third day?"


    Karlene looked at the military wristwatch on her right wrist and pointed at it while showing it to Mark. She then pushed the glow in the dark button revealing the time despite the darkness that was only lit by the campfire that was about to go off and ''s glow.


    "It''s already past midnight so it''s the third day. You slept for two days already!"


    Hearing that¡­


    "Tch!"


    Mark clicked his tongue. Even though he already used some countermeasures and even Crimson helped but he still took two days before everything assimted in his body. Well, at least, it was not more than a week or so but the time was still tight.


    Because of  on his head, everyone could see Mark''s unsightly expression.


    "Boss, what happened? Is there something wrong in your body?"


    Edzel asked with concern. After all, Mark had just ovee a dangerous situation. It would not be surprising if even a little went wrong.


    "Nothing." Mark shook his head. "You two ready our things. I get you two was yourselves and we will leave immediately."


    "But Mark¡­ It''s just past midnight."


    "I know but we don''t have much time left. We need to get to Bay City as soon as possible."


    "Well Mark, you''re the boss here."


    Karlene replied shrugging her shoulders. She might look like she was forced but inside, she was rather happy toply.


    While Karlene and Edzel tidied up the things around the camp, Mark approached Char.


    "You rested plenty already right? I''m going to make you work hard this time."


    "Growl?"


    Char flinched.


    ''Why is it different when ites to me?''


    The dragon thought.


    At this time, Karlene called out.


    "Mark, what should we do about her?"


    Karlene approached bringing a rectangr uncovered box made of [Blood Metal]. Inside the box looked like a bed and lying on the bed was a small girl with wings.


    She was the current guardian of the altar where the demon was sealed. As the guardian, her body was blessed to endure the corrosion of miasma which allowed her body to continue living.


    Unfortunately, despite the body being alive, it was only an empty shell.

 Chapter 306 Towards NAIA, The Mission And The Looming Danger

    <strong>Day 47 ¨C 7:10 PM ¨C Seaside Road, Bay City, Para?aque, Metro Man</strong>


    BANG!!! BANG!!!


    RATATATATATA!!!


    PANG! BANG!


    A plethora of gunshots could be heard from the walls beside the gates as the bridge lowered at the southeast side of Bay City. It was to clear the wandering infected on the other side of the moat before the bridge was fully lowered.


    Behind the lowering bridge, a huge number of vehicles were waiting. It was a huge convoyposed of both military and civilian vehicles. Thergest mission they had in the past was the Philippine General Hospital incident and the number of vehicles at that time was not even a third of the number of vehicles this time. In the truest sense, this was the biggest movement the settlement had since the outbreak started.


    Three days ago, unsettling information was disclosed by the military along with the announcement of a mission pertaining to that information.


    The information was about the Ninoy Aquino International Airport or NAIA which was just more or less three kilometers from the southeastern corner of Bay City Settlement.


    NAIA which was formerly known as Man International Airport was thergest Airport in the Philippines. Compared to the two of the four areas in Bay City that was the Bay City Settlement upied, the whole airport was visiblyrger. It was one of the two Airports that serviced Metro Man and also the most known Airport throughout the country.


    Before the outbreak, it serviced millions of passengers with its more than two hundred thousand flights, both domestic and international, yearly. Now however, more, not only the prestigious airport was vacated, it was overwhelmed by the infected.


    Since the outbreak started, NAIA was one of the ces the military barely touched. It was due to various mild to serious reasons.


    First was because the area around the airport was densely popted. Not only that manymercial establishments that were popted could be found around the airport but there were also severalrge areas where squatters inhabited. Compared to the actual residential subdivisions around the airport, the total poption in those squatter''s areas were wayrger.


    Second reason was because risk-benefit ratio of going to the area was very low. It was a high risk low benefit thing to do. Just wandering around the area could lead to annihtion than being able to take home that they came there for.


    Third and the main reason except for the high number of infected in the area was that early in the first day of the outbreak, in order to dy most the infected from the southeast as they build the Bay City Settlement, they bombed all the bridges, flyovers and highways that goes over Para?aque River. This river flowed from the north to southwest of NAIA and way south of Bay City and to Man Bay. By bombing those designated ces, they forced the infected to be stuck on the other side of the river at the area around the airport. Unless the infected at that time were able to traverse the deep river or climb over the walls at the riverside, they needed to go several kilometers north of the airport to manage and attack Bay City.


    That was rather both a good and bad move for the military. Good was because they seeded the in dying early attack of the infected towards Bay City while they prepared the settlement. It was also bad, because it hastened the scattering of the infected into other areas like Bacoor, Cavite which was just a few kilometers southwest. Not to mention that the military had to abandon all the survivors stuck on the area around the airport that could have crossed the areas the military bombed. There was also the fact that the military would also have a hard time to enter the area once again.


    Nevertheless, the survivability around the Airport was very low. It was because the airport itself was one of the ground zeros of the outbreak.


    Back that day, three airnes, two was in arrival while one was on departure, crashed into NAIA in three different areas. As such, the airport immediately fell into pandemonium. The emergency personnel of course came to the rescue along with the authorities but as everyone could guess, it did not go well.


    Like in the movies, military immediately tried to quarantine the whole airport but differently however, they failed to contain the situation. Not only that the squadrons of the military were spread out to deal with other ground zeros but the highly mutated infected from three airnes were way more than what the soldiers could handle.


    After that, the ce was neglected by the military. Although it could not be helped just by the fact that the military was mostlycking in manpower, it was still a bad move.


    Since they had already scavenged most of the areas around Bay City for food, water and other necessities, they finally set their eyes on the untouched area around the NAIA.


    Like most procedures, they sent scouts to monitor the area first both personally and using unmanned camera mounted drones.


    That was when they saw the horrifying situation inside the airport at the expense of the lives of several scouts.


    The airport had turned into a hell in the surface of the earth. Millions of infected roamed the terminal and the runway. Flesh like membrane could be seen like webs all across the vicinity of the airport whether it be the walls or the ground. The parked nes became meat driers as the bodies of the airnes were also covered with the simr membrane.


    Long term short, it was an infected nest wayrger than Bay City Settlement. Even the poption of the two cannot bepared in quantity.


    Another thing the scouts found¡­


    Was the type of infected that they called [Z-type: Alpha], the [Leader Type] among other [Leader Types].


    Thus, the military could not neglect it anymore and decided to prepare to take action.


    The military posted the announcement where they invited both free and private survivor groups to participate with a very high value ofpensation. Furthermore, whether it seeded or not, thepensation was still valid as long as they managed to survive the mission and made an eptable contribution.


    With that, they managed to haul arge number of people to participate in this mission.


    BAM!


    The lowering bridge connected to the other side of the moat. It was finally time for everyone participating on the mission to depart.


    With mostly military vehicles in the lead, the vehicles drove out of the settlement with the sounds of gunshots in the background.


    Just behind the military vehicles in the lead, three non-military vehicles could be seen driving at the center of the group of vehicles.


    Those three vehicles obviously belonged to onerge group as the three vehicles drove side by side. At the center was the very well-known vehicle in the settlement, the ck armored MB Sprinter.<sub> </sub>


    ***


    "Young miss, will it be okay? I still think that we should not participate in this."


    Odelina asked Mei who was behind her as she kept her eyes on the road.


    Mei who was patting the heads of both I and Abbygale who slept on the sofa while using both herps as pillows turned towards the front.


    "I also don''t want to but we have no choice. General Perez is practically begging us to help."


    She replied in a helpless tone.


    That was right. Their group did not want to participate in this mission initially. It was due to the very fact that Mark was about to return and they only needed to wait for him before they go. These past days, they even spent their time doing nothing much but wait except for the times that a small number of flying insects and animals attacked the settlement.


    However, General Perez begged them to participate. Still, it was not because he wanted to force them but it was because more of those humanoid infected with wings were sighted at the airport. In fact, most of the drones the military sent were destroyed by those flying infected. Aside from Mei, they had no one capable of dealing with them efficiently.


    Those flying infected were more troublesome than birds or flies and mosquitoes. Infected flies and mosquitoes, despite theirrger sizes, had not ability to lift a grown human from the ground. Due to that, their only attack pattern was to charge forward and bite while having an unstable flight pattern. At the time they were close enough, skilled people would be able to handle them even normal soldiers.


    The humanoid flying infected however was already a pain to deal with, even with just their flight pattern. Not to mention that they would not slow down as they attack in uncanny angles and drag a fully grown human off the ground.


    They really needed Mei''s help. Furthermore, there was also the pressure from other people. It was a wonder why those people started to exert pressure in the military but since they also had high standings in the settlement, it became harder for the general to contradict it.


    Thus, it came to this situation. In exchange, General Perez promised to put them in a secure position with most of his elites around. After all, even the general was notfortable with what was going on.


    While patting the heads of the two girls that had to wake up too early to prepare, Mei recalled the mission briefing.


    In this mission, the convoy would travel south through the Cavite Expressway. It was same expressway where she saw Mark for thest time before he was separated from them. Since it was impossible for the military to clear the fallen toll gate that blocked the center of the expressway, they would have to go through several private roads while fighting the infected.


    From there, the military nned to take Circumferential Road 5 or C-5 Road. C-5 Road was connected with Cavite Expressway and would lead them northeast. The road will pass right just beside the southwest wall of NAIA after traveling for about five kilometers or so of the road.


    From there, the mission wouldmence.


    The convoy would divide into several groups in which most will move as a distraction while the remaining would find a safe ce to infiltrate the airport.


    Their mission was to destroy the nest and not kill all the infected as it was dangerous. Not to mention that it was their territory. The people that would infiltrate all had stealth or agility type abilities and they would hurriedly nt bombs inside the airport while the infected were distracted by the other groups.


    Once the bombs were nted, everyone would pull out, retreat and meet at the rendezvous point.


    For sure, it would be a long and tiring mission but they all nned to finish everything before the sun set or else, everyone would end up dying.


    It was because this nest became more active during the night.


    ***


    As the convoy drove off from the sight of the people at the walls of the settlement, a shadow of a person could be seen above one of the buildings outside the settlement. No one from the wall was able to see the person due to the distance and the ce the person was standing but he could clearly see everything.


    Seeing that the convoy passed below the building the person was standing on, the person took out a radio and spoke. The person was a man with a rather raspy voice.


    "The targets had already driven out of the settlement. They were in the most guarded position. What are your instructions?"


    "Just continue to monitor them and the others will do the other things. Keep in touch and report everything about the targets."


    A gloomy voice replied from the radio.


    "Yes sir."


    The man stored the radio and lifted his head revealing bloodshot eyes. He then stared at the convoy while licking his lips not in a creepy but a hungry manner. If one were to look at his eyes however, the reflection on his eyes was upside down.


    As the convoy drove far, the man jumped from the building head first. Amidst his fall however, the shape of his body started shifting disgustingly and before he became a sttered meat below in the middle of the road, he turned into arge ck bird with disgusting face and bat wings before he flew off.


    "TIK TIK TIK!


    That sound echoed faintly as the strange bird flew following the convoy.

 Chapter 307 The First Phases, Both The Mission And The Scheme Commencing

    <strong>Day 47 ¨C 10:59 AM ¨C Circumferential Road 5, San Dionisio, Para?aque, Metro Man</strong>


    Along the C-5 Road, aside from the sounds of numerous vehicles, the sounds of gunshots could also be heard which even overwhelmed the former. Therge convoy from the Bay City Settlement drove in consistent speed following the road.


    It was already almost four hours after they left Bay City for the mission and they have even yet to pass the half of the distance they needed to traverse along C-5 Road. Although they were travelling in constant speed, it did not mean that they were going fast. Rather, they were already runningte from their expected schedule.


    C-5 Road was one of the roads arge number of motorists travel through before the outbreak. Due that fact, they expected to encounter road blocks due to abandoned cars left by the victims of the first wave of infected. In fact, the military had sent a drone to see the state of C-5 Road several days before while nning the route they should take in this mission.


    The military knew of the roadblocks and thus prepared a dozen heavy vehicles. Nine were ten-wheeler dump trucks and three were backhoes. The trucks were equipped with three kinds of rams in front and shield like bumpers behind. There were three trucks with each kind of rams. The first type was a V-shaped ram, the second were front nted rams with thest was t rams. Each type had different uses but was all aimed on clearing the vehicles that blocked the C-5 Road. Sure, the heavily vehicles were noisy especially the backhoes but each were necessary in this mission not only to clear the path but also transport the materials and equipment necessary for the mission.


    Since the roadblocks were within the calctions of the military, it was not the reason they were runningte, the reason were the infected.


    To clear the path on the normal stretch of the road, it was fine to just let the trucks with V-shaped rams to lead the convoy and push the vehicles to either sides of the road while the vehicles continued to move. At the blocked intersections however where the vehicles were entangled with each other and at worst, crashed in difficult angles, the convoy must stop while road was being cleared.


    While that happened, the soldiers needed to clear the perimeter of the infected. That was where the problems popped up. There were more infected that what the scouts had reported before. The number was not overwhelming and could be dealt with proper nning but the situation was still hindering the progress of the clearing.


    It happened several times in every ces where the vehicles blocking the road were rather troublesome to remove. The situation felt strange but since the infected wander around and their vehicles and guns were noisy enough to alert the infected in the vicinity, no one thought too much about it,


    Of course, all the participants in this mission found it troublesome but nothing could be done but deal with the infected and move on. Also there were a lot of mutated infected in the mix that were harder to put down but with the overwhelming number of people in the convoy, they were more than enough to kill the mutated infected and it only took more effort.


    Or not¡­


    Currently, the whole convoy was stopped in a defensive formation at the entrance of the flyover in Carlos P. Garcia Avenue Extension. The convoy was supposed to pass through the fly over but the blockage of the vehicles at the entrance was heavier than the previous ones. The heavy vehicles, specially the backhoes already started on removing the blocked vehicles but it would take time.


    Going through the lower roads was not a usible option for them however. Not only that it connected to a nearby intersection that would lead away from their destination but that intersection had far more heavier blockades of both public utility vehicles and private ones.


    Still, the clearing crew was in a severe rush. This ce was not a residential area but there were two malls in both sides of the flyover. Right now, the convoy was experiencing an attack from the infected from the two malls.


    ***


    "Stalker here. Reporting Sir¡­"


    That raspy voice could be heard as the same hooded man that turned into a hideous looking bird was observing the situation of the convoy atop one of the malls.


    "Stalker, what is the situation."


    The gloomy voice replied from the hooded man''s radio.


    "We are at Point 5. The targets are still out of sight. It seems that Major Lopez is keeping them as reserve along with the elite soldiers. Phase 1 is proceeding smoothly however. From their movements, none of them seemed to suspect what is happening."


    "Good. Shadow 3 and Shadow 4 should be around that area. Tell them to move to Point 6 for the next luring. Continue observing the targets. After they passed Point 6,mence Phase 2."


    "Yes Sir¡­"


    The hooded man put down his radio and watched the struggling soldiers in amusement.


    Phase 1, the first n of the scheme these people had.


    On C-5 Road, all of the blockades were natural and was untouched since the start of the outbreak. The number of infected however, was not. Even in these two malls, the number of infected should not be this many after more than a month had passed after the outbreak started. Many of the infected had already wandered off while most chased after the survivors at the first day.


    The current number of infected was lured by their group that was lurking in the shadows way before the convoy reached this area. And the purpose of Step 1 was to make the participants of the mission to waste as much resource as possible before the main part of their mission starts.


    "It''s unfortunate though." The hooded man took out a picture of the targets. "Such beautiful people. For sure they will taste good but it''s a pity I won''t be able to taste them, heh. There''s still the others left behind I guess, Sir better give me one."


    <o>,m The hooded man licked his lips as he stared at the pictures. He was staring at the pictures not withsciviousness however but like a hungry beast craving for meat and innards.</o>


    ***


    With great difficulty, the entrance was cleared and the convoy proceeded leaving the infected that had not stopped flooding towards them. Since the infected continued to chase while they drove on the rest of the road, the troops at the end of the convoy could only shoot them and kill as many as they could until the infected gave up. Of course the infected would not give up and in ended up with the convoy leaving hundreds of dead bodies along the road.


    The convoy still cleared up two more blockades but for some reason, thest one had lesser infected. Everyone noticed it but instead of suspecting, they could only sigh in relief as the previous instances already left them drained.


    At several minutes past noon, the convoy finally reached the southwest corner of the airport. Since what separated the vicinity of the airport from the roads around it was only a welded wire fence, everyone could see what was going on inside the airfield.<sub> </sub>


    Many felt their bodies shaking. It was hell. Although everyone had already seen the footage taken by the drones in the briefing, seeing the hellish scene personally had more effect to their psychological state.


    Almost the whole airfield was covered with the disgusting flesh film and webs that even reached the wire fences. Near the corner where they were, a vehicle of the airport police could be seen covered with the same disgusting matter.


    Despite the fear and disgust that swelled in everyone''s mind, they already reached this far and could not back up anymore. They already reached the starting point of the mission. The best that they could do was to take deep breaths and calm their minds and hearts.


    With such atmosphere, the main part of the mission finally started.


    The convoy divided into three groups, one turned right from the intersection and followed the road which was the Multinational Avenue to the west of the airport while the other drove straight along the rest of C-5 Road which was at the south. Thest group which was the smallest one stayed behind hiding from the infected inside the airport.


    Of course, the infected inside and outside the airport was stirred after intruders were spotted in their territory. The fences were enough to hold back the normal infected but the soldiers and the survivors still had to deal with the mutated infected jumping over. Of course, there were ces were the fences were broken and the infected from the airport flooded out from those areas not to mention the stronger infected that were able to bust thought the fences.


    As the convoys passed by, more and more infected flooded the streets. More than a million infected was not a small number and it could even be two million or more. Fortunately, the holes in the fences were too small to let all of them flood the streets in one go. This was also a good start as the main goal of the tworger groups was to lure the infected out of the airport for the third group to be able to infiltrate the nest and nt the bombs to destroy it.


    Finally, the western group of vehicles reached the next junction where a small street branched to the west side of Multinational Avenue. With several military vehicles in the lead, the vehicles at the tail of the group turned left and entered the small street. This caused infected following the group to divide at the same time. The nearest ones followed the vehicles that entered the street while most of the infected continued to chase the main group.


    At the next intersection, the same thing happened and a small number of vehicles separated and caused arge number of infected to separate from the majority. The same movement repeated at every intersection and which caused the infected horde to scatter further.


    Arge number of infected was lured away from the airport in this method. Of the western group, the heavy vehicles and arger number of vehicles remained. They soon entered the vicinity of the airport where the parking lots were located and drove up another flyover that was directly facing the main parking area and the entrance of the airport.


    At the highest point of the flyover, all the vehicles stopped.


    The military vehicles at the tail turned to the side and blocked the road while the soldiers immediately went down to assume defensive formation.


    The soldiers at themand center vehicle also went out led by Major Lopez who was leading this group.


    "Set up the defensive structures double time!"


    Major Lopez shouted as the soldiers immediately took out the construction materials and equipment from the dump trucks and other vehicles.


    "How about the C4s?"


    "Major, Sir! The infected on our tail is more than we expected, we can''t nt it immediately."


    "Then move and clear them out! Use grenades and dynamites if needed!"


    "Yes Sir!"


    Soldiers ran back and forth following themands issued by Major Lopez. Inside themand center van, the soldiers in charge ofmunication attentively kept connection and exchanged information with the other groups that separated from the main group.


    While the soldiers secured the perimeter of the fly over and started to build the defensive structures they needed, the people from the three vehicles they securely escorted finally went out.


    "Major."


    Odelina greeted with a slight bow. Behind her were Mei, I and Abbygale that were all ready to start their roles.


    From the other vehicles, Ron, Nikky and their other team members went down from their new armored jeep while from the familiar armored transporter, Arvie, Jason and their team members also went out.


    After another half hour of preparations, the metal bunkers were set up while the soldiers held their line of defense. It was then that the soldier in charge ofmunication shouted.


    "Sir! The other squads in position also finished with their preparations!"


    "Then tell them tomence the mission! Now!"


    BOOM!


    An explosion was heard as the Majormanded to start. The entrance of the flyover crumbled creating a gap between the defense line and the iing infected. Since the infected continued to flood, the ones in front fell on the gap.


    Several explosions could also be heard in other directions outside the airport. For sure, it was the same method to keep the infecteding but also blocking their way from the position of other squads.


    With the explosions as signal, the phase where everyone outside the airport needed to lure the infected inside out finally started.

 Chapter 308 Attack On NAIA, Locating The Alpha And The Shady People Inside The Airport

    <strong>Day 47 ¨C 12:16 PM - Imelda Avenue, Para?aque, Metro Man</strong>


    Past noon, sounds of explosions echoed around the Ninoy Aquino International Airport.


    The more than a dozen explosions around the southern half of the airport where the main runway was located disturbed the not only the airport but the whole district. After the explosions, the sounds of cement crumbling, buildings falling and uncountable gunshots echoed.


    Inside the airport, the nest was located at the very center of the runway where one of the airnes crashed during the start of the outbreak. The military still had not figured out exactly whether if the crashed caused the nest to exist in this ce or not. However, it was lucky that the nest was located at the southern area and thus, they only needed to surround the vicinity of the highway to lure out the infected. If the nest was on the northern side or inside the airport buildings, the nning would be harder and they would not have enough people to create more teams to surround the whole airport.


    The flyover facing the NAIA Terminal one at Imelda Avenue, it was the location where the Command Team positioned their selves. It was a fourne two-way flyover that had about four meter vertical clearance underneath. This location had pros and cons in this mission but with the bunkers being constructed, one of the cons was addressed to some extent.


    Since the flyover was rather high, unless the enemies were able to jump three to four meters high, it would be impossible to get to the people atop the flyover. Not to mention that the soldiers bombed the lower parts of the flyover facing the airport terminal leaving the opposite side of the flyover as the escape route. Unless the infected was smart enough to more than two hundred fifty meters to the back of the flyover and attack from there, there would be no way for themon infected to reach the people above.


    And fortunately, infected in reality had no suchplex AI pathfinding to be able to do that.


    Climbing? Some of the infected might be able to but only to face the muzzles of the guns the people above the flyover had.


    All in all, the located was a very defendable one in this mission as long as they could manage to deal with the flying infected. Dealing with those however was the duty of the "Team Fairy".


    WIIIIIIW! BOOM!


    WIIIIIIW! BOOM!


    The sounds of whistle rockets were heard from different locations around the airport. As the missionmenced, they had to attract as many infected as possible for the infiltration team to be sessful with nting the bombs inside the airport. That was why after the explosions, fireworks were released by the soldiers. The sharp shrill sound that came from the whistles of the rockets was proven to attractmon infected. Not only the rockets but other sharp sounds could attract the infected more than loud explosion sounds. The scientist were still researching why but the theory where these sharp sounds sounded more like shrills and screeches people let out when they were in deep horror was circling around.


    Quickly¡­ As in very quickly, the almost empty roads outside the airport became a sea of horrifying infected.


    Even the elite soldiers were sweating profusely due to the overwhelming number of infected. If not for their advantageous location, this number was more than enough to overwhelm the whole squad several thousands of times.


    "How many are there?"


    A soldier holding the frontline could not help but ask with a shivering voice.


    "Thousands¡­ Maybe, a hundred thousand?"


    The soldier beside him chimed.


    "Don''t think about the number! Just kill as many as possible!"


    The captain overseeing the frontline heard the two as he was close by and shouted.


    Firing their guns, the not only the two but all the other soldiers concentrated on shooting. Although it was very unlikely for these infected to be able to climb up to their position, it was still better to kill as many as possible for many reasons.


    "Flying infected at eleven!"


    A scout tasked of monitoring the vicinity yelled out which made the sniper group move out.


    Along with Mei, the snipers faced southeast where the flying infected were spotted. Behind Mei were Odelina, Abbygale and I as her support and guards. They moment they turned, they could see the infected immediately. Mei could not help but frown though.


    "Odel, tell Major. The one that escaped from the previous attack in the settlement, it''s among those flying ones."


    Mei spoke and aimed.


    "Yes."


    Odelina immediately left to themand truck while behind her, the sniper gunshots echoed.


    BANG! BANG!


    The first volley of gunshots from the snipers felled the closest flying infected. It was not like before back the first attack of these humanoid flying infected. Back then, the military betted on the ambush to eliminate them. This time however, the flying infected was faced with the snipers immediately causing them to be unprepared even if their leader had some intelligence.


    After theirrades however, the flying infected scrambled flying like a group of bees disturbed from their hive.


    "Young Miss, the Major asked for you to concentrate on that one."


    Odelina came back and with the order from the Major.


    "No need to tell me that."


    Mei answered with a frown.


    In that first volley, Mei was already aiming for that [Leader Type]. Those flying infected that fell down had nothing to do with her. However, the one she was aiming for managed to dodge in thest moment.


    BANG! BANG!


    Mei fired her sniper rifle in a speed no less than a revolver pistol. As her aiming time was shorterpared to others, she had no reason to time her shots with them. To her rare frustration, all her shots missed the target. However, the [Leader Type] also failed to advance further as it desperately dodged the sniper rifle bullets that seemed to have eyes and almost seemed to be following him.


    ***


    "The alpha had been located!"


    One of the soldiers inside themand truck shouted outside calling the attention of Major Lopez. The soldier, Technical Sergeant Spencer Olivera was controlling a camera mounted drone he hadunched at the start of the mission. Since the distraction around the airport drew out a lot of infected specially the ones capable of flight, the drone made it above the nest in the runway safely.


    Inside the camera feed in front of him, arge flesh like structure in the middle of the runway could be seen. It was over three meters in height and about three meters in diameter. It was like arge rosebud made up of fleshy matter. Beside it, a three meter tall skinless humanoid monster was marching.


    "Where is it?"


    Major Lopez asked the moment he entered the truck.


    "Sir, it is beside the central structure of the nest and don''t seem to be attracted to the distractions outside the airport."


    The Technical Sergeant replied with a grave tone.


    Hearing that, Major Lopez'' expression turned unsightly.


    "This is bad. If it doesn''t leave the nest, the infiltration team won''t be able to nt the bombs."<sub> </sub>


    "That was also my thoughts sir but what can we do?"


    The people in charge of themand racked their brains. This was the first time they saw an infected ignore the provocation in their territory. In fact even the smart flying infected came out but the [Alpha Type] seemed to have no interest of going out.


    If one of the distraction teams managed to lure the alpha out, they would bail out from their location and lure the alpha away. That was the first n. However, in this situation¡­


    Major Lopez turned to the soldier in charge of themunication.


    "Inform the infiltration to perform n C on the Alpha before they nt the bombs."


    The soldier''s expression was stunned and became bitter. However, he could only nod.


    "Yes sir."


    The n C for the infiltration team¡­ It was close to suicide.


    Since there was the possibility of infected not being lured out or being stuck inside the airport, this n was thought out which would likely prove the other term for the Infiltration Team in this mission, the "Suicide Team".


    In n C, a small number of their members would split from the group and would lure the remaining infected from the nest. Since they had to personally lure them without the help of vehicles and without a safe defending position, it was close to suicide. There was no way that vehicles would be able to properly drive inside the airport in its current condition after all.


    Because the thing they needed to lure was the [Alpha Type], it was very likely that the people that would split from the main Infiltration Team would not be able to make it back alive.


    "Huh?"


    Technical Sergeant Olivera who was looking at the monitor voiced out in confusion and hurriedly turned the camera of the drone¡­


    SHHHHRRRRRRRRKKKK! TWUB!


    The feed was cut off.


    "What!"


    The Technical Sergeant was shocked.


    "What happened?!"


    Major Lopez that had just turned his back from the Technical Sergeant turned back once more and asked.


    "Sir¡­ I don''t know if I''m just imagining things but it seemed that I saw people in the control tower¡­"


    "Are you sure?"


    "Yes, I just saw a glimpse but they seemed to be talking. I immediately turned the camera but as you see, I lost the feed. It''s very likely that the drone is destroyed."


    Hearing that, not only the Major but the other people inside themand center truck felt strange.


    ***


    <strong>Day 47 ¨C 12:42 PM ¨C Control Tower, Ninoy Aquino International Airport, Para?aque, Metro Man</strong>


    TIK! TIK! TIK!


    "That''s close. We can''t be careless anymore since the Philippine Military already learned to use drones for scouting."


    The raspy voice sounded as arge bird with a disgusting looking face flew into the broken window of the control tower. On the bird''s ws, a broken drone could be seen. As it tossed the drone to the floor, the bird''s body shifted and turned into a hooded man.


    Inside the control tower, eleven people could be seen and if the bird that turned into human was included, there were twelve.


    "Stalker, you''rete."


    One of the men inside the control tower spoke while staring at the man with raspy voice.


    "It''s good that I''mte or this drone might have spotted you all. You all should be more aware of your surroundings."


    "Well, THANK you."


    Another hooded man chimed in with a sarcastic remark which made Stalker re at him.


    "Stop with the childish bickering and get in position."


    Another one spoke. As he seemed to have higher position among the others, they immediately stopped.


    Stalker walked forward and stepped on therger gap between hisrades.


    Inside this room, nine people had the same looking robes and they stood in a circr formation at the center of the control tower. All the equipment inside had already been thrown out leaving the vacant floor which now was drawn with strange patterns and runes that looked like a magic circle. At fixed intervals at the outline of the circle were nine smaller circles where the nine hooded figures stood.


    As for the remaining three people¡­


    "MMMMFF!!!"


    Tears streaked out of the eyes of the three as their muffled cries could be heard.


    Inside the drawn symbol, three young girls about fifteen to seventeen years old were tied up and gagged while lying with their back on the floor at the center of the three major circles of the symbol. They were all crying in despair as they tried to struggle free from their bindings. They were wearing white one-piece clothing and their bodies were obviously cleaned thoroughly. Girls as clean looking and as beautiful as them would be hard to find in this apocalyptic world now.


    Looking at the three girls, Stalker spoke with disappointment.


    "Three virgin sacrifices. It''s a pity I won''t be able to taste them."


    The other eight hooded men turned at him with stern eyes and their superior spoke.


    "Stalker, stop with the nonsense. Well start the ritual."

 Chapter 309 Ritual Of Evil Blessings, The Horrfying Change In The Situation

    <strong>Day 47 ¨C 12:55 PM ¨C Control Tower, Ninoy Aquino International Airport, Para?aque, Metro Man</strong>


    While the soldiers and survivors from Bay City were struggling in their mission at the surroundings of the airport, the ritual of the shady people inside the control tower started.


    These people did not even feel the danger in the surroundings while staying in this ce which was supposed to be surrounded by the infected. Not just normal infected but existence the military called the Alpha was also here guarding the nest. The eyes of these people were glued to the magic circle drawn with pig''s blood mixed with different kinds of precious minerals and herbs.


    As the nine hooded figures stood around the magic circle and surrounded the poor sacrifices, the tallest one spoke.


    "Est Deus In Obumbratio, Oceanum Donasse Ferunt Numine Ad Caelum"


    The first phrase echoed, the drawn outline on the floor started to glow. Not a bright glow but a dim and gloomy glow that seemed to be unexinable to the eyes of the mortals.


    "Deprecandi Humilitatem Nostram Hic Nobis, Dona Nobis Conspectu Tuo"


    As he told the second phrase, the hooded men slowly raised their arms and hands in praise. At the same time, the bodies of three women stiffened. Their eyes opened wide in horror. Their eyes were shaking and they wanted to continue to struggle. However, they could not move their bodies as if there was a heavy pressure crushing their bodies from above. They tried to scream but to bolster their despair, no voice woulde out.


    "ipere Nostra Devotio, Dona Nobis Benedictio Tua"


    The tall hooded man continued the third andst phrase.


    Along with it, the overwhelming presence that could not be detected by mortals ensued inside the control tower. Even the hooded men felt ufortable. At the same time, the three sacrifices totally stopped moving. Their eyes rolled up in an impossible degree that it was obvious that the nerves in their eyes snapped. Blood flowed from their eyes like river which was totally unscientific.


    Like tears, the blood flowed through both sides of their faces to the floor. Instead of scattering however, the blood moved towards the lines of the magic circle as if the flow was being guided. It did not take long and all the lines of the magic circle were reced by the blood of the poor maidens.


    FLOOSH!


    The whole magic circle and the symbols inside it bloomed into mes. Red mes that did not seem to emit enough lightpared to normal mes. The nine hooded figures stood in their position without getting fazed. Even though the fire touched the ends of their robes, the mes never set their clothing aze. It was the same for the three maidens that were already at the verge of death.


    BURST!


    The chests of the three girls burst open revealing their hearts that had yet to stop beating. Three of the hooded figures positioned just in front of the girls took out three ck colored sinister looking ceremonial daggers and moved towards the right side of each of the girls. They passed through the mes like it was nothing. Without batting an eyelid, the kneeled down and pushed the daggers into the girls'' chests, precisely at their hearts with a choreographed movements.


    Finally, the hearts of the three girls stopped beating and the three figures returned to their initial positions and assumed the praising pose they had earlier with the same movements.


    Odd enough, no blood was spilled during the time the chests of the girls burst open and the daggers were pushed into their hearts. Instead, blood seeped into daggers as if the daggers were absorbing the blood of the girls and the ck colored dagger started to have a reddish hue.


    The daggers were then set aze but the mes did not seem to affect the dead bodies of the three girls. Instead, thick smoke came out of their bodies and that smoke moved towards the center of the magic circle forming what seemed to be a portal. However it was not a portal to traverse but a portal tomunicate.


    This ritual was not to summon something but to ask for requests in exchange for the sacrifices. They called it the [Ritual Of Evil Blessings].


    Seeing the portal form, the nine figures kneeled on the floor on both knees and lowered their heads to the floor.


    SWOOSH!


    The portal opened and pair of sinister looking eyes could be seen on the portal that was filled with darkness.


    "It had been a long time¡­" The deep voice that could prate souls sounded from the portal. "Raise your heads."


    ""Oh, Great One.""


    Hearing the voice of the being behind the portal, the hooded figures finally raised their heads and praised while they kept kneeling on the floor. They watched the eyes on the portal in total reverence.


    The portal was very strange. It was both two dimensional and three dimensional at the same time. Even though the hooded figures were looking at the portal from different positions and angles, they could see the same thing.


    "Hmmm?" The Great One seemed to have noticed something. "It seems that the surface is not as used to be."


    "Great One, the world is currently infested with the soulless bodies moving about. It affects both mortals and the not. We dare not call the Great One out while not fully understanding the current situation."


    The tall hooded figure spoke.


    "Hoh? I see. The surface had be interesting then. No wonder the sacrifice is only enough to establish contact." The ring eyes then panned on the lifeless bodies of the girls on the floor. "Now, what did you all need?"


    "We beseech the Great One to empower the soulless ones in this ce."


    "Hmmm? Oh¡­ Is it to clean the filth in this ce?"


    "Yes, Oh Great One."


    "Then, it will be granted."


    As the voice fell,rge amounts of ck smoke burst out of the portal. The smoke even drowned the whole surroundings while evading the hooded figures.


    ***


    <strong>Day 47 ¨C 1:15 PM ¨C C-5 Road, Para?aque, Metro Man</strong>


    "What is that?"


    The positioned at the southern part of the NAIA noticed it first due to theck of buildings in front of them. Even though the plethora of gunshots should have drowned the voice of that soldier that asked the question, everyone could not help but freeze as they saw the unnerving phenomenon.


    ck smoke as thick as clouds burst out into the sky. The smoke started to nket the sky and was slowly spreading.


    "Quick! Contact themand!"


    The captain in this squad hurriedly spoke.


    However¡­


    "Captain! We lost connection!"


    "What!" The Captain bellowed in confusion. "What are you doing?! Try the other frequency!"


    "Captain! All frequencies are not working! Even our hand held radios are not working properly!"


    Hearing that, the Captain took out the radio from his belt pocket and tried to use it.


    SHHHHHHHHK¡­


    All he heard was white noise.


    The captain then looked at the sky, the smoke was spreading faster. His heart started to feel dread as he looked at the pitch ck smoke.


    "May God protect us."


    He said as he grabbed the cross of the rosary tied up on his wrist.<sub> </sub>


    ***


    <strong>Day 47 ¨C 1:11 PM ¨C Imelda Avenue, Para?aque, Metro Man</strong>


    "Sir! Allmunications are down!"


    The soldier in charge ofmunications bellowed in panic. Not only him but all the other soldiers were feeling even more restless.


    Albeit a littleter, they could also see the ck smoke spreading in the sky, no, rather than smoke, those seemed to be actual clouds. However, they did not carry rain and instead, the cloud seemed to carry¡­


    Death¡­


    The pitch ck clouds scattered faster and faster. It did not take long and the ring afternoon sun could not be seen anymore. The bright day became a gloomy night as the clouds spread further.


    Soon, the clouds nketed the whole area in and out of the NAIA.


    It did not end there however as everyone could feel something strange was in the air.


    GRAAAAAAA!!!


    GRRRROOOOOOOWLLL!!!


    GRUUUUUOOOOOAAAA!!


    The soldiers froze as they heard the spine chilling growl in the background. It was as if someone hit the call the horde button in a certain game.


    They all turned to see where the growls wereing from and to their horrifying shock, all the infected below had their eyes glowing with an eerie red color.


    All the infected growled and roared at the same time while facing the sky. That was then that the soldiers and survivors saw the thing they never wanted to see in this outbreak. A literal sea and wave of infected as they wildly try to reach towards the soldiers.


    The infected started charging in faster speeds, even jumping over each other and climbing over each other''s body. As the seconds go, the infected started to make adder up to where the soldiers were, atop the flyover.


    "SHOOT! SHOOT! Don''t let them climb up!"


    Major Lopez shouted to break his soldiers'' stupor. Although he seemedposed, his heart was also pumping wildly. The feeling was even worse than encountering terrorists in the forests at the south of the country.


    "Oh My God! What in the world is happening?"


    A female survivor said as he stepped back from the edge of the flyover. She was shooting the infected below when she saw something.


    The skin on one of the infected burst leaving its flesh in the open, its muscles then distorted and its bones bent. Soon, it transformed into an infected no one had seen before. The most horrifying part¡­


    It pierced its fingers on the foundations of the flyover and climbed up in as speed no less than a running cheetah.


    "AHHH!"


    The survivor tried to shoot it but the infected knew how to dodge while climbing. Due to the uneven shape of the foundation, the woman lost sight of the infected. It was then that her assault rifle was gripped with a hand without skin and was pulled away from her. The assault rifle fell down the ground below the flyover and the infected climbed over the road barrier before jumping towards the woman.


    BAM! SIZZLE!


    Fortunately, a barrier formed in front of the woman. The barrier protected the woman and slowly corroded the sttered body of the infected.


    BAM!


    The skull of the infected sunk in and its neck was bent in an unsightly angle as a bone armored arm punched the infected''s head. After the infected flew away from the impact with a bent head, the barrier vanished.


    "Are you alright?"


    Odelina asked as she helped the woman stood up with her free hand.


    "Thank you! Thank you!"


    "It''s fine. Get another weapon, it''s not over yet."


    "Y-yes. I wi- AHHHHH!"


    The female survivor was not able to finish her reply as she shrieked once more while pointing at a certain direction.


    Odelina immediately entered a battle stance when she froze in shock.


    The one that the female survivor was pointing at was the infected she had just killed. Or, it was supposed to be.


    With a bent neck and sunken skull, the infected stood up like it was nothing.


    It then charged back towards Odelina and the woman once more.


    BAM!


    Odelina punched the infected once more causing it to fly back like thest time. Its neck was not just bent anymore but its head dangled on its neck. It should be dead by now¡­


    But it was not¡­


    It stood up again and charged forward.


    "This is bull."


    The always polite Odelina could not help but let out a simple swear seeing the infected in front of her.


    For another time, she attacked the infected and punched it on its chest. The infected''s chest sunk in and was pushed over the rails causing a disgusting stter sound below.


    Was that the end of it?


    Odelina hurriedly checked. To her horror however¡­


    The infected''s body was all broken and the fall might have totally broke its spine. However, with just its remaining right arm and two legs, it started to drag its body towards the foundation of the flyover. Fortunately, it was unable to climb up once more. Still, this was a thing of hell.


    The moment Odelina turned away from the scene below she could not help but feel shocked.


    That infected was not the only one. There was already a dozen or more infected on the fly over with bent necks, gunshot wounds on their heads and even exposed smashed brains. And yet, they were still moving.


    This time, the mission issued by the military became a true fight for survival.

 Chapter 310 The Worst Thing To Happen, Acquiring The Interest Of The Enemy

    <strong>Day 47 ¨C 1:23 PM ¨C Imelda Avenue, Para?aque, Metro Man</strong>


    The sudden change in the situation totally turned themon sense upside down of both the soldiers and survivors alike. Since the start of the apocalypse, it had been amon sense to everyone that no matter how strong orrge the infected was, it was all over once its head, brain or even just the brain stem was damaged enough.


    And yet, the infected that suddenly mutated in front of their eyes became a total exception to that rule.


    "What in the f*cking f*ck is this f*ck?!!!"


    "Hey, watch your mouth!"


    The ever foul-mouthed and shameless Joseph could not help but run his mouth as he contended with the seemingly immortal infected. As these infected did not die even after their heads were lopped off, he started to grab them despite how disgusting their bodies were and pushed them off the flyover. His body''s abnormal endurance and thick skin as an evolver was really applicable in this situation. The normal evolvers, even strength types would not be able to handle skinless infected as well as him in a whim. He was too pissed off with was happening that he stopped caring whether they looked disgusting or not.


    Arvie reprimanded Joseph about his swearing but it was unlikely that hetter''s mouth would stop soon. After all, instead of decreasing, the seemingly immortal infected were increasing.


    Besides the two, Jason and the other members of their team were also struggling to deal with the infected that already climbed up the flyover.


    On the other hand, Ron''s and Nikky''s were also struggling with the same kind of opponents.


    "Dhie, this is looking bad isn''t it?"


    Nikky said to Ron with a tinge of worry in her voice.


    "It just doesn''t just look bad Nhie. It''s already worse."


    Ron replied as he kicked away the infected in front of him. The squeaky sound and soft but disgusting sensation as he kicked the exposed flesh of the infected made the hair on his arms stand up.


    As he replied, he noticed Joseph grabbing another infected by its shoulders and trying to push it off the flyover. He then saw that iling arm and legs of the infected.


    "Joseph! Don''t throw it immediately!"


    Ron shouted and grabbed the sheathed butcher knife tied to his waist.


    "What?"


    Joseph was startled by the sudden call and lost grip of the slippery infected. It immediately tried to bite him.


    "Oh sh*t!"


    Joseph cursed and hurriedly grabbed the infected by its neck while he was pushed down to the floor.


    By then, Ron already arrived and with wide heavy swings, he dismembered the infected''s right arm. He then proceeded to dismember the remaining limbs from the joints causing a stter of blood.


    "F*ck! Can''t you startle me like that and if you''re going to do something like this, get the sh*t off me first!"


    Joseph cursed as he pushed away the limbless infected that was unable to move anymore.


    "But you can handle that much right? I don''t think these infected can bite through your thick skin."


    Ron said as he observed the surroundings.


    "F*ck you!" Joseph''s foul mouth could not be stopped anymore. However, it seemed that his mood became lighter as he looked at the infected that was still trying to reach him but was not able to. "What you did is really effective but really, I prefer an infected woman over me than this guy here."


    "You''re sick. Really¡­ In the head."


    Ron said with half-closed eyes and ran off to deal with the other infected. Seeing Ron go away, he hurriedly grabbed the male infected by its neck, broke it and threw the infected over the railings of the flyover.


    The two teams started to implement the method Ron thought of. They dismembered the limbs of the immortal infected before throwing them off from the flyover. Seeing their methods, the other survivors and soldiers started to imitate them. The process was more tedious but in the least, those that were thrown off that way would not climb back. Fortunately, the limbs that were dismembered from the infected, although moved and twitched violently for a few seconds like a detached lizard tail, stopped moving. If not, it would be a very horrendous thing.


    On the other side, the snipers had easier time after the change happened. The flying infected moved less erratically and tried to charge forward like berserk beasts. It became easier to predict their movements and the snipers managed to get more hits than misses.


    Mei also managed to hit the [Leader Type] with bat wings straight on its forehead. The infected crashed on the ground in great momentum after falling from about a hundred meters in the air. Due to the sea of infected in the ground, she did not manage to witness its end but with that height, its fate was already closed.


    She proceeded to shoot the other flying infected while being protected by Odelina and her daughters. However, she could not help but notice something odd. Not the sky that turned dark or the sudden change with the infected. But¡­


    "Mama!"


    I called out as she raised her hands forward and created a barrier to her side.


    BAM! SIZZLE!


    A skinless mutated infected crashed into the barrier.


    BAM! CRACK!


    Abbygale who had already transformed in her white cat form gave the infected a devastating kick.


    However, that was not the only one.


    BAM! BAM! BAM! SIZZLE!


    I was forced to create arger barrier as several more of these infected charged towards the direction of the three.


    "Young Miss¡­"


    Odelina retreated beside Mei, Abbygale and I while panting. Although it was not that noticeable, Odelina had been running around dealing with the climbing infected just in this area of the flyover.


    "Odel, these infected are targeting us aren''t they?"


    Mei said while frowning. She had noticed but there were more infecteding towards them than the others. If it was just I, they would not feel that it was strange since it would not be the first time but no, even Abbygale, Odelina and her was being attacked relentlessly. The attacks were too persistent that Arvie''s and Ron''s teams already moved around their position to deal with the infected while the Mei and the snipers dealt with the flying infected.<sub> </sub>


    "WATCH OUT!"


    A shout from a soldier was heard and Mei suddenly felt danger. She turned her head towards the source of danger by reflex and saw several flying infected with exposed flesh and glowing red eyes sweeping towards her. The speed was very fast that no one was able to react.


    Then, everything slowed down on her sight. Her [Bullet Time] activated at thest moment. The closest infected was seen clearly in her eyes and it was the very same infected she had just shot down. In fact, aside from the gunshot on its forehead, its skull was smashed heavily and it should have stopped moving already.


    She stepped to her left side allowing the first infected to sweep past her while she reached for the militarybat knife on her waist with her left hand. It was then that¡­


    She saw some ck smoke by the nape of the infected that flew past her. Since the surroundings had already been dark since the ck clouds nketed the sky, the ck smoke was very hard to see. If not for that she was rather too close and the scene was slowed down, she would not have seen it.


    Since she did not know if she was hallucinating, she let go of her sniper rifle letting it hang on her body and her right hand sweep towards the ck smoke touching it. At the moment her hand and the smoke made contact, the smoke vanished like illusion.


    But¡­


    The skinless hybrid mutated crashed on the road and stopped moving.


    She was surprised but there was no time to daze about, the other flying infected was already near.


    With the training Odelina gave her and the ability her eyes had, she was able to dodge the attacks of the flying infected. At the same time, she saw that each of them had that ck smoke on their napes. She managed to touch some of the infected but not all. The smoke she touched vanished but those infected did not stop moving.


    One of those infected without the smoke on its nape had one of its wings caught on a protruding rebar on one of the hastily made bunkers. The wing was ripped and the infected crashed unto the railing without falling off. A group of soldiers hastily restrained it and cut of its limbs and wings. They were about to pick up the limbless body and throw it off when they noticed that it was actually not moving at all. Turning over the body, they realized that it smashed its head on the railing due to the speed of its charge.


    This left everyone bbergasted as to what was happening.


    ***


    <strong>Day 47 ¨C 1:39 PM ¨C Control Tower, Ninoy Aquino International Airport, Para?aque, Metro Man</strong>


    "Hoh?"


    The demonic voice of the being on the other side of the portal could be heard.


    "Does something matter oh Great One?"


    The leader of the hooded figures asked noticing the amazement in that tone.


    "The primary goal of your mission here is ady with beautiful visage and the people around her are they not?"


    "Yes, Oh Great One."


    The leader was confused as to why the being in the portal asked but he still answered truthfully.


    "Interesting. To encounter a [Body of Void] among mortals. Not to mention, a woman detached from world fate and destiny."


    Hearing that, not only the leader but all the hooded figures were obviously bbergasted.


    "Oh Great One, the [Body of Void] and detached from fate¡­ Is the Great One not mistaken?"


    Stalker could not help but ask. He then felt his neck tighten.


    "Do you, insignificant ant, dare to question me?"


    The Great One red at Stalker that had already started to get lifted off the floor with an invisible force that continued to choke his neck.


    "This lowly servant implores Oh Great One to forgive my insolent subordinate."


    The leader hurriedly kneeled down and asked for forgiveness.


    Hearing that begging, Stalker fell down back to the floor in a coughing fit.


    "You should discipline your subordinates more."


    "Yes Oh Great One. I humbly apologise for his unsightly behavior."


    The leader sighed in relief. Although he also did not totally like Stalker, he was still a big asset to lose.


    On the portal, the eyes moved as if trying to view the scene outside towards the northwest direction of the control tower.


    "The [Body of Void]. A body that rejects all negativities. A body found mostly on deities and goddesses that represented beauty. Just this was enough to make lesser gods and deities to salivate over. With the addition of being detached from fate, her future will be unfathomable if handled perfectly."


    The eyes of the Great One started to glow with both desire and disappointment.


    "It seems that she had already been tainted but it does not matter."


    The eyes then turned towards each of the hooded figures.


    "I want her. Bring her to me. Seed and I will reward all of you in exchange."


    Hearing themand, and that they will be rewarded for abducting a lowly mortal, the hooded figures felt ted. To hear the Great One to purposefully reward someone was a very huge thing for them. Furthermore, not only one of them but all of them, nothing could be said anymore but¡­


    They all kneeled down and lowered their heads towards the floor.


    "The Great One''s words is our desire."


    With those words, five of the hooded figures melted into shadows, one shape-shifted into arge bird with unsightly face, two blended into the surroundings while thest one became bipedal wolf with a muscr body.


    They all scurried out of the control tower going at a certain direction, the flyover at Imelda Avenue Northwest of Ninoy Aquino International Airport.

 Chapter 311 Coercion And Abduction, Someone In The Shadows Throwing The Net To Haul In The Fish

    <strong>Day 47 ¨C 1:30 PM ¨C Imelda Avenue, Para?aque, Metro Man</strong>


    The infected that strangely mutated into something close to immortal magical zombies had given a heavy toll on the soldiers and survivors. The number of infected below was already overwhelming and it should have been fine if the mutation did not ur. After the sudden mutation of therge number of pushed the people in full defensive. Furthermore, not only the normal infected that were yet to mutate but also the already mutated ones mutated further which pushed the danger of the situation even graver.


    There was also the one hard thing that hindered both soldiers and survivors alike. They were all ill-equipped for a night battle. The sudden darkness that enveloped the whole ce that wasparable to night time reduced the capabilities of the soldiers and survivors. Aside from gun mounted sh lights and portable electricmps that the soldiers always had, it was not enough to have the illumination they needed in the whole area.


    Any further and they would be forced to retreat. That was when the strange event happened. Two of the newly mutated infected that attacked the face of "Team Fairy" stopped moving like puppets with their strings cut off. It was very strange and illogical from the view of the surrounding peopleparing it to the current situation.


    "Odel! Restrain one! I want to try something!"


    "Yes, Young Miss!"


    Mei hurriedly shouted as realization dawned unto her.


    Odelina targeted one of the nearest infected that had just climbed unto the flyover and grabbed its shoulders before it was able to get a stable footing and pushed it to the ground.


    Mei then ran over while minding the remaining flying infected at the sky. Seeing that the flying infected did not seem to have the momentum for the next attack, she hurriedly bent down and grabbed something from the nape of the infected Odelina was restraining.


    What Mei did was strange not only to the eyes of the people around them but even to Odelina''s eyes. They only saw her reach out to the infected, grab the air above its nape and retreated.


    "Odel, kill it."


    Odelina was confused to the order but just punched the infected''s head anyway creating a cracking sound that was very ufortable to hear. The infected''s head was smashed open and Odelina''s bone armored fist was stained with blood. As for the infected¡­


    It stopped moving.


    The people around could not help but deem it unbelievable but for sure, Mei had the ability to stop them. In any case, however, there was no way for her to handle all the infected alone. It just made things easier around her but it was not the true answer to this problem.


    With the newfound discovery, despite her confusion, she started to cooperate with Odelina, I and Abbygale as she disabled the infected in her own way.


    Amidst that however, she suddenly felt a tugging feeling and started looking for something nostalgic.


    "Where are the flying infected?"


    Odelina noticed and could not help but voice it.


    Mei however, was focused unto something else, I was the same.


    "This feeling¡­"


    She was feeling a little teary.


    ***


    "Remember not to harm the woman. We might have been tasked to set the stage for her and herpanion''s deaths but the words of the Great One shoulde first. Also be careful not to get spotted by the soulless ones or it will be trouble."


    The leader along with four of the hooded figures conversed as they blended into the shadows and traversed the infected filled airport with great caution.


    Why did they have to hide and let the infected do the job in the first ce? It was because although they could instigate the infected, they could not control them. Once they were exposed, they would also be target of the infected''s relentless attacks. Even the blessings of the Great One had no ability to control the infected but only boost their capabilities.


    If not for the Great One''s orders and the promise of a reward, they would not try to endanger themselves like this.


    They were not human. Unlike humans that would turn after bing infected, they would be food for the infected and nourishment to their mutation.


    Nevertheless, the Great One''s order was something that they could not neglect no matter what. The moment they defied him was the moment they sentenced themselves to death. It was not just normal death but the erasure of their existence.


    Fortunately, aside from two of his subordinates, their members had bodies that could hide using the surroundings.


    "The [Body of Void], huh."


    The leader muttered.


    As the Great One said, it was the physique that belonged to deities and goddesses of beauty. They were beautiful, untainted and seemed like they never aged. This physical constitution was very rare for mortals but it was not the first time that it appeared among them.


    In history, not only in one but many different countries, there were women and caused fall of tribes, nations and caused ughter just because of their beauty. Some weremon people that became the love interest of sons of heaven while some were empresses and queens that ruled over kingdoms. One of the most popr women in this country came from the story of lovers that caused the formation of a volcano after their death. Another known woman suspected with this physique was the female pharaoh that came from the other side of the Earth.


    How did he know? In their organization, records upon records could be found in their headquarters. These records were those that were not recorded in the current history of the world.


    With a bit of difficulty, they finally reached the flyover.


    The first one to appear was the Leader, Umbra. He was followed by Sniffer, the werewolf, which jumped unto the flyover from the other building that was several meters away and Stalker, the Tiktik, which swooped down despite being fired upon by the soldiers.


    As for the others, they were on standby. They were not beings that would throw in their cards in one go. They were not humans and in a sense, their existence was weaker than mortals, it was better to be careful.


    Upon his sudden appearance and therge ugly bird and the werewolf transforming unto humanoid form, the soldiers and survivors were highly rmed.


    It was the typical reaction of mortals. The leader expected it to be like this. However, for some reason, he felt unsettled.


    ***


    "Who are you people?!"


    Major Lopez shouted with the intent to intimidate. He even moved his hand signaling all soldiers around the neers to aim their weapons.


    The tall hooded man however that appeared as if he came from the shadows looked unperturbed by the guns pointed at him however and turned his head towards the Major.


    "Major Lopez is it? It is better if you and your men are to mind your own business or your deaths will be hastened."


    Major Lopez wanted to retort but when he looked at the man''s face under the hood, all he wanted to say was swallowed back into his throat.


    The man had no face and only had red ring eyes. It was as if the hood and long robe he was wearing was just floating in the abyss. In his whole life, this was the first time Major Lopez encountered a being like this that could instill fear in his heart with just a re.


    Nevertheless, he could not back down. He was the leader of this operation. Swallowing his saliva, Major Lopez shouted once more.


    "I will repeat! Who are you people? If you are survivors, we will wee you but if not, we will not hesitate to shoot!"


    To that however, Umbra red at the major as if looking at a clown.


    "You won''t be able to."


    Umbra waved his hand around his body in an exaggerated motion.<sub> </sub>


    Blood was spilled.


    The bodies of the nearest soldiers aiming towards Umbra fell down as their heads separated from their necks. More than a dozen soldiers fell down in one sweep.


    "Yo-you! Men! Shoot!"


    Major Lopez shouted towards the remaining soldiers surrounding the hooded man.


    SPLASH!


    The hooded man did not move as if letting the soldiers shoot him but not a single gun was fired. All of the soldiers that was about to pull their trigger of their guns fell down lifeless instead. Behind their lifeless bodies were four more hooded figures that seemed to havee out from the shadows emerged.


    Everyone was frozen in fear. Well, at least, there were two people who seemed unfazed.


    "Is it possible that even negative emotions are rejected?"


    Umbra murmured as he turned his head towards their target. Still, he found it strange that the eight year old child beside her seemed to not show any sign of fear either.


    "Lady, we are here to fetch you."


    Umbra said as he approached in slow strides.


    Hearing that, Odelina hurriedly stood in front of Mei wanting to protect her.


    "Stay away! The young miss can''t be touched by the likes of you!"


    Odelina bellowed but Umbra was not paying any attention to her at all.


    "Our Great God had taken a liking to you. It should be an honor to you who is a mortal."


    Umbra continued to speak to Mei.


    "And what if I decline?"


    Mei asked.


    "Then, your beloved daughters will be harmed. I don''t think that you will want that at all."


    It was a cowardly approach but mostly effective. He could see the eyes of their target waiver.


    He showed his prowess first by killing the other soldiers and showed his subordinates and their capabilities at the second time. With that kind of disy, it would be impossible that their target would not fall into the trap theyid.


    "Young Miss, don''t listen to them."


    Odelina spoke with great determination. It seemed that she would not hesitate to sacrifice herself if needed to. It was all to protect Mei, I and Abbygale.


    Also, it seemed that not only Odelina but the others were also getting ready to fight. Especially Mark''s friends, just what face could they give him if they let Mei taken away in front of them?


    To everyone''s surprise however¡­


    "Everyone, stand down." She looked at Umbra without a shred of fear. "I will go."


    "Young Miss!"


    "Odel, stand down. This is an order."


    Mei said with a serious tone. She then kneeled down and patted the head of Abbygale who started to tug on her pants with worry.


    "Don''t worry. Mama will be back, alright?"


    Tears suddenly formed in Abbygale''s eyes. After all, it was almost the same situation where her real mother left her for her to be safe.


    Mei hugged Abbygale with a gentle expression. She then turned to I whose expression seemed to be calm and unaffected.


    "I, I''ll be back, take care of your sister."


    "Yes!"


    To that scene and the words Mei uttered, Stalker tried spoke with ridicule.


    "Return? What return? You¡­"


    The raspy voiced man was not able to finish his words as he was red by almost everyone in his team.


    Mei then turned away from her daughters bringing her weapons.


    "Lady, you won''t need those things anymore. It is better to leave them."


    Umbra spoke with respect. Their Great God was interested in this woman, it would not be wrong to say that she could be their future queen.


    Mei then shrugged her shoulders and handed her weapons to Odelina and approached Umbra up to a certain distance.


    Seeing the Mei was ready, Umbra signaled for his female subordinate to take Mei away.


    Under everyone''s eyes, Mei and the female hooded figure sunk into the shadows and vanished. The werewolf and therge bird also left along with the other hooded figures.


    Those that were able to follow the direction the bird flew and saw it flying towards the Control Tower of the airport. Major Lopez was in remorse, he let someone important get caught in front of him. However, it was ording to Mei''s will who volunteered toe with them for the safety of her daugthers. Nevertheless, the Major was still at a loss simrly with everyone here that witnessed the situation.


    Aside from one child who was hugged her little sister. While no one was able to hear clearly, she whispered in the air.


    "Your Maj- Papa, they already took Mama."


    She then felt an invisible pat on her head.


    "Don''t worry¡­"


    I heard as the hand on her head vanished.

 Chapter 312 Inside The Control Tower, A Very Unexpected Turnaround

    <strong>Day 47 ¨C 1:40 PM ¨C Highway 2000, Barangay San Juan, Taytay, Rizal</strong>


    Amidst the long stretch of Highway 2000, in the Barangay of San Juan in the first ss municipality of Taytay in the province of Rizal, a huge figure of a lizard could be seem traversing the road with fast speed and loud steps.


    It was Char, the dragon Mark created. The dragon was running after it used up its regenerated gas inside the gas bag in its body. Although it was very inefficient for it to move around while it regenerated the low density but highly mmable gas, it needed to continue running in order to catch up.


    BAM!


    In the speed that it was running, it could not help that it hit or stomp on the vehicles and infected blocking the road. Of course, the ones riding behind it was already feeling ufortable.


    TSST! TSST! TSST!


    "Ugh! That guy really left us alone here!"


    Karlene grumbled as shot the infected chasing behind while minding her aching bottom.


    "Boss really seemed to be in a hurry."


    Edzel replied while also doing the same.


    Fortunately, the poption of the infected in this area seemed to be not thatrge and Edzel was able to practice shooting with ease. Of course, the majority of the infected behind was dealt by Karlene as Edzel''s shots hitting the infected was still at the lower ratio than the misses.


    "Mu¡­ You two are noisy!"


    Amihanined as she was doing a bit of sightseeing here. It was the first time she had gone to a ce like this withrge and tall buildings, lots of cars and highly popted. This barangay was close to the cities of Metro Man after all and she could see the tall buildings from the distance.


    Although she grumbled about the two being noisy, that was not the reason that she looked upset.


    Right now, there was only the three of them atop Char''s back. As for Mark, he already ran off after Char ran out of gas for the second time. That had been six hours ago. Although Char could run like this, it was way slower than its flying speed. Since time was running out, Mark decided to head off first. With him, he took the [Blood Children], Miracle and Aephelia. Amihan wanted toe with him but since she needed to assist with the air pressure during the flight of Char, she had to stay back. Since then, she was upset while ring at Karlene and Edzel from time to time.


    Of course, the two noticed her res and could only let out troubled expressions.


    "I wonder where that guy is now already. Why did Mark say that we should meet him in NAIA, aren''t we going to Bay City? And just how are we going there?"


    Karlene asked the thing that had been confusing her.


    "Miss, don''t ask me. It''s the first time I''ve been out of my province, really. I don''t even where that ce is or where we are right now."


    Edzel replied. Actually, he was also interested with the sceneries he had never seen before but the desire to practice overwhelmed that desire.


    "Hah¡­" Karlene sighed, a little lost. "I just wish we find our way correctly, I only know the general direction. I willin a lot if he scolded us for getting lost. I also want to sleep."


    "Yawn¡­ Me too."


    Edzel agreed.


    Since Mark had woken up, they left after they finished preparing. The two managed to get a little nap but it was far from enough.


    ***


    <strong>Day 47 ¨C 1:49 PM ¨C Control Tower, Ninoy Aquino International Airport, Para?aque, Metro Man</strong>


    ''How long will it take?''


    Mei thought as she tried to endure her nervousness.


    She knew that nothing would happen to her but the nervousness was creeping unto her heart. Nevertheless, it was instinctual nervousness instead of fear. It was because after the time she was taken by the female hooded figure into the shadow, she could see nothing but darkness. She could not even feel that she was being grasped by someone at all. It was just as if she was just standing there unable to move.


    The feeling was suffocating.


    In truth, she was really afraid. If not for the fact that the whisper she heard ensured her of her safety even before the enemies arrived, she would have rathermit suicide than being caught like this. She knew that he should be nearby waiting for the right timing. In any case, she should follow what he said first and follow the n.


    Seconds? Minutes? It felt very long¡­


    Finally, she felt her body being pulled out and her vision cleared. She saw her body rising up from the floor as if there was a hole on it.


    When she saw the scene in front of her, she could not help but feel uneasy.


    There were lines made up of mes forming a strange pattern. Nine hooded figures stood surrounding the lines of mes. Three bodies of lifeless girlsy inside that pattern. At the center of the pattern, a hole made up of smoke could be seen and inside the hole, it felt like she was staring at a bottomless abyss.


    It was then the two glowing eyes stared back at her. She could not help but remember the line that said "If you stare into the abyss, the abyss is staring back at you". The feeling she had was very surreal.


    From those eyes however, she started to feel afraid. The expression in those eyes¡­


    It made her remember the terrifying experience she had in the past.


    "Oh Great One, we brought thedy."


    The hooded figures kneeled and lowered their heads to the floor as if they were worshipers worshiping their god.


    Despite those words however, the eyes nevery its sight on them as if they were air. The eyes stared at Mei as if the owner of those stripping her off of her clothes.


    "W-who are you and why did you all bring me here?"


    Mei asked. She was already afraid and ufortable but she still needed to ask. What she wanted was information.


    "You should not be afraid, mortal woman. This one had taken a liking to you, as a mere mortal, you should feel honored."


    An eerie voice echoed in her head. The voice was filled with arrogance and looked down on everything.


    "Why? I''m just a mortal you said. And what are you?"<sub> </sub>


    Mei gulped her saliva and asked.


    Seeing that Mei asked, the owner of the eyes seemed to be amused.


    "You don''t need to know what I am. You will know in time since you will spend eternity with this one. As for why this one is interested in you, it is because you have the [Body of Void]."


    Mei looked confused. Sensing her confusion, the voice proceeded to fill in the information she wanted. It was obvious that the owner of the eyes deemed Mei as his already and spared no hesitation to tell her about her trait that she never knew she had.


    The only thing that made her felt better from that information was that¡­ She would never be able to conceive if she did not want to. No wonder¡­ When that happened, it was not a safe day after all. That was what made her feel even more devastated that time.


    She could not help but smile which dazzled the owner of the eyes.


    "What a dazzling smile from a mortal, a smile befitting the woman that will stand beside this one in the future."


    It was then that Mei looked at the eyes straight. She already heard what she wanted to. With a fearless smile, she said¡­


    "I''m sorry but I already have a husband. You should find another woman."


    The atmosphere inside the control tower froze. Even the hooded figures raised their heads by reflex and stared at Mei with dumbfounded expressions.


    "It seems that you failed to assess your current situation. There is no choice avable for you but be my woman. Do you think that I will let you leave this ce?"


    The voice became furious and aggressive. It even made the hooded figures feel fear.


    It was then¡­


    "Whether she can leave or not is not for someone like you to decide."


    A voice not belonging to anyone in this room was heard.


    All the hooded figures stood up in defense. They failed to notice that even the eyes on the portal were unsettled. It was because¡­


    Even the Great One failed to notice the intruder. As he scattered his blessings around the airport, he was able to see everything outside that was within the scope. Anything that his blessing touched and everything the receivers of the blessing fought, he could detect them. And yet, he failed to detect the owner of the voice even if he was nearby.


    "Who are you?! Show yourself!"


    Umbra shouted as he readied to wave his hands to attack whenever the enemy appeared.


    On the other hand, the female hooded figure, jumped towards Mei in order to capture her. It was a good move to secure the hostage first. However, it was also a fatal mistake.


    A strong surge of wind appeared around Mei followed by the appearance of ck smoke swirling like a small tornado. The female hooded figure was immediately swept into it. As the wind pulled her robe, the female hooded figure''s appearance was revealed.


    Her body was semi-transparent with a ck hue simr to mist. The only visible and contrasting trait was her red colored eyes that had no pupil at all.


    And then¡­


    It was the end of her.


    "AAAAAAHHHHHH!"


    As the ck smoke touched her body, she felt an excruciating pain that made her shriek like a banshee. The ck smoke slowly swept all over her body which scraped more and more of her existence. When she finally stopped her wails, her existence was no more leaving the ck hooded robe she wore before on the floor.


    "Sjenna!"


    Umbra yelled. He wanted to charge forward but with the ck smoke surging around, he was not able to. What happened to his subordinate was clear as day. He could only stay on his spot inside the sacrificial circle unless he wanted tomit suicide.


    The swirling smoke started to shrink it revealed a man that stood beside Mei. No, he was not just standing there, his left arm was around Mei''s waist and Mei was hugging his body.


    Umbra stared at the man. His visage was hard to guess as he was wearing a strange ck mask that seemed to be made of metal. His body was covered with armor of the same style. They could not fathom what kind of existence this man was but one thing was for sure, he was dangerous.


    "Who are you to darey your hands on the woman this one took interest in?"


    The Great One''s furious voice echoed in everyone''s minds.


    "Oi, are you deaf? She said that she already have a husband. I guess your pea sized brain will find it hard to understand."


    The remaining eight hooded figures stared at the man with their eyes wide as a golf ball. Who would ever dare try to ridicule the Great One?


    "To dare appear before this one, you are tired of living?"


    The Great One was even more furious.


    But then, they heard a snicker.


    "Stop with your delusion. Don''t you think that it''s the other way around? Toy your hands on my woman, do you think that I will let you all go? Besides, why don''t you look me first. Maybe, you will find something the eyes can''t see?"


    "Such false intimidation would not wor¡­k¡­"


    The Great One red at the man noticing the man withdraw the aura masking his existence. He was not able to finish his arrogant sentence.


    "Y-Y-You! W-What in the world are you!"


    The Great One''s eyes had gone wide and from his voice, he was obviously gawking and was even stuttering from the shock he received.


    That tone from the Great One made the hooded figures dumbfounded as nonexistent sweat droop onto their backs. To make the Great One gawk and stutter like that, what in the world was this man?


    "I-I¡­ I will let you bastard go for now, remember that it will not be thest time."


    The remaining eight hooded figures became dumbfounded. The Great One was trying to escape!


    What in the hell''s name was this situation?

 Chapter 313 How The Net Was Set Up, The Conclusion With The Airports Control Tower

    <strong>Day 47 ¨C 2:14 PM ¨C Control Tower, Ninoy Aquino International Airport, Para?aque, Metro Man</strong>


    The temperature inside the room became cold, not in a literal meaning but more in everyone''s emotional aspect. Especially for the hooded figures, they felt as if their world had turned around. None of them would ever think or even dared to have negative thoughts about the most respected Great One. Although the Great One was not omnipotent in their eyes, in the least he had the dignity and pride as someone who stood over mortals.


    It was way beyond their beliefs to see the Great One behave like this.


    The feeling was like they had been betrayed by their creator.


    Mark on the other hand felt amused as to how the scene unfolded. Even he did not expect the leader of the enemy to suddenly lose all hisposure. However, it he think about it, it was no wonder.


    This was the not the first time he heard that question. Even the formless demon he encountered two days ago asked the same thing. The answer however¡­


    He was not sure himself, especially with his current circumstances.


    One thing for sure, he already strayed away from being human.


    With those thoughts in mind, Mark spoke with a smile hidden behind his mask. Although that smile could not be seen, the ridicule in his voice was obvious.


    "Say, you want to retreat. How are going to do that?"


    This time, even the Great One froze. It was as what Mark had expected.


    Any kind of ritual to call another being from another in had an opening and closing rites. Like a session of Spirit of the ss, the opening and closing prayers were required. Not fulfilling those requirements would lead to peril.


    A ritual binds the soul of the people doing the ritual and the being they called into the ritual itself. In the case of calling the spirits, the spirit would not be able to go back to the spirit world while the people that called that spirit would be bound to the spirit causing a curse. It caused the haunting events on those people after they failed to close up the ritual.


    It was the same with this ritual that was used to beg for blessings from the Great One. An opening and closing rite was required from both sides.


    Unlike the opening rites which required a lot of things and preparation, the closing rites only had a single requirement.


    All it needed was that all the participants of the opening rites to be present with the exception of the sacrifices.


    Mark made it that the closing rites were impossible to be performed.


    "You BASTARD!"


    The Great One bellowed as he channeled his energy through the portal to attack Mark in full rage.


    Thick ck clouds surged out of the portal towards Mark. That amount of energy was toorge that even the sturdy control tower started to creak and shake.


    The hooded figures hurriedly retreated. This scale of attack was not something that they could endure. They should at least step out of the control tower and wait it out.


    In their own ways, the hooded figures tried to escape. However, that was when they realized¡­


    "GAAAAAHHAAAAAAA!"


    One of the hooded figures that tried to blend into the shadows cried out in pain. He was forced to stop sinking down into the shadow on the floor and fell down. There was no way for him to stand up anymore as from his semi-transparent knee to his feet was already missing.


    Stalker morphed into arge bird and tried to fly out of the broken window. Before he was able to however, ck smoke surged from outside the control tower blocking the window. Thinking that it was only smoke, he charged out through the wall of smoke.


    "GRAAAAAA!!!"


    His raspy voice was heard as he fell off the several meters high building. There was no way for him to either fly or even morph back into human form. What he thought as nothing but ck Smoke clung unto his body and started to contaminate his flesh.


    With a loud st, his bodyid on the airport grounds with his bones broken. He could not even move as the ck smoke started to eat his body. Slowly, his cries alerted the remaining infected in the airport. His wails of pain turned into wails of despair as the infected started to feast on his flesh.


    The infected were unlucky however. They soon followed Stalker''s steps and became ck rotting corroded flesh on the floor due to the contamination of miasma.


    Inside the tower, the remaining hooded figures knew that they would not be able to escape this. If the Great One showed fear on the man in front of them, then, it would be even more impossible for them to be able to defeat him.


    The spiritual energy the Great One released towards Mark poured in like a dam with its gates broken. However, thetter was facing the surge of energy with just his right arm.


    PING! PING! PING!


    The spiritual energy was very thick that several crystals appeared in front of Mark in just a few seconds.


    Yes, he was using the Great One as a power source to gather more crystals. It was one thing he noticed when he arrived. The energy the enemy was using, although looked simr to miasma, was actually pure spiritual energy. It was out of his expectations but he thought of taking advantage of it.


    Ten crystals were immediately created before the Great One incredulously looked at Mark and Mei who were unharmed.


    "Done? My turn."


    Mark did not wait for any reply and shot his own surge of ck smoke towards the portal.


    "GRUUUAAAAA!!!"


    Everyone held their heads as they heard the scream. Since the voice of the Great One was transmitted directly to their heads, the Great One screaming made everyone feel that their heads were being hammered.


    Then¡­


    PUFF! PUFF!


    One by one, the remaining hooded figures plopped onto the floor. One ones with ethereal bodies just looked severely weakened but the only one with physical body, the werewolf, vomited arge amount of blood.


    "Darn, he escaped."


    Mark spoke seeing that the mes on the magic circle started to dim and the smoke around the portal started to scatter.<sub> </sub>


    But Mark was not that bothered with it. He already expected that the most he could do to the guy was to damage his spiritual body severely. The portal was only made formunication and the most it could do was transfer energies both ways. If the enemy forcefully closed the portal, he would not be able to stop him. Of course, forcefully closing the portal would severely injure the Great One. After all, as a Devil, his body was made up of energies rather than an actual physical body. Pretty much like other spirits and elemental beings.


    "Mei-er, are you okay?"


    Mark asked as he rubbed his temple. That scream was way more effective than the energy attack the enemy released before.


    "Hmmhmm¡­ I''m fine. Just a little dizzy."


    <o>,m Mei replied with a sheepish smile.</o>


    "Sorry, I have to make you experience this."


    "It''s fine."


    Mark caressed Mei''s head. He was almostte to arrive actually.


    In the right timeline, Mei rejected the invitation forcing the battle between the survivors, the military and the enemies. In order to escape, the others tried to hold back the enemies but they all ended up being ughtered. After all, there was no way for them to fight beings that were far from humans.


    Before they were able to escape, the two hooded figures that remained hidden pierced the wheels of the vehicle. Without any other choice, the skirmish at the flyover continued. Therge bird managed to take away Mei by force and flew her away. However, she struggled too hard that she ended up falling unto the sea of infected below.


    Due to the failure of Mei''s abduction, the Great One was furious. He ordered the ughter of everyone that participated in this mission. It included his friends and daughters. After the ritual was concluded, every single one of the hooded figures became cursed and died even before they were able to leave the control tower.


    Now however, Mei was alive in his arms.


    Mark arrived just when the enemies that nned to abduct Mei went out of the control tower. Without any time to prepare, he approached the flyover while concealing himself using both the miasma and the [Photokinesis Mental Crystal]. Of course, despite that concealment, Mei and I still detected him. I was understandable but Mei was still a mystery.


    He told her the n and made her go with the enemy. It was to know the reason why they tried to abduct her and why did the enemy revealed too much rage on the supposed failure. Although the reason was surprising, Mark really did not care about it. Mei was Mei even if she did not have the [Body of Void]. Still, it was a good thing because of his condition now.


    After he blocked all the possible exits with miasma that was hard to see due to the thick ck clouds outside and the information they wanted was revealed, that was when he entered.


    "Gege, what are you going to do with them?"


    Mei asked while looking at the enemies suffering on the floor.


    "Isn''t it obvious? They have no worth so I''ll kill them. Well, except one I guess."


    Mark said as he made a surge of miasma envelop six of the seven enemies left. There was really no use of them in Mark''s eyes. Unlike Mutators, their abilities came from their birth and those abilities were also not psychic ones. He could not gain anything from them.


    Information? It would be impossible for them to speak. They would surely kill themselves first. It''s also possible that they did not know anything at all asckeys. In any case, they should die just because theyid their hands on Mei even if they were just following orders.


    Their horrified and painful screams ensued. The two ghostly figures vanished into thin air while the shadow people scattered like smoke. As for the werewolf, he turned into charred rotten pile of flesh and bones.


    Umbra was left horrified and shaking. This was the very first time he felt fear. He saw what happened to his subordinates. This was not just a work of any mortal. He could not understand¡­


    Why did a mortal like this man in front of him able to wield miasma? It was nonsensical.


    Umbra who was weakened from the bacsh of the ritual stared at Mark and Mei. It was then¡­


    BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!


    Mark and Mei looked out of the window and saw balls of red light falling from the sky from several directions.


    "res?"


    Mark asked.


    "Un¡­ It should be the signal for retreat."


    Mei replied.


    "Well, it''s more reasonable for them to retreat. The portal is already gone but the sky is still covered with thick clouds and below are infected that don''t die even if you cut off their heads."


    "Odel should be hysterical now."


    "Haha, it won''t be believable if she''s calm after all. We''ll just apologize to herter. It''s just I can''t reveal myself to the military yet."


    "Why?"


    "Because it won''t be fun if the enemies know that bad karma is approaching them."


    Mark then turned to Umbra.


    "We need to make that senator feel that he won, so Mei''er, you need to hide with me. That guy there will be our messenger."


    "Won''t he try to betray us?"


    "No, I still have a method. Also that devil won''t let him go because of the failure so he doesn''t have anywhere else to go but escape."


    Mark then approached Umbra and sat in front of him.


    "You know what you should do right?"


    Umbra raised his head and looked at Mark who started to reach to his face. Without warning, Mark made him swallow a ball of miasma as his nonexistent face warped in despair. Now, he had no choice but follow the instructions he was given.

 Chapter 314 Misplaced Atmosphere, Minding Their Business Inside The Control Tower

    <strong>Day 47 ¨C 2:28 PM ¨C Control Tower, Ninoy Aquino International Airport, Para?aque, Metro Man</strong>


    Leaving Umbra to his miserable thoughts, Mark and Mei looked outside the control tower. It might be just about two hours and a half past noon but the wind that was blowing was rather cold.


    Mutagen had caused a drastic change in the world. The change was not only on the creatures but the overall state of Earth. Back before the outbreak, it was already kind to say that the air in Man was bad. In fact, the pollution was too bad that when viewing the sky above Man from outside its boundaries, it always looked like it was about to rain due to the gray colored clouds.


    The air before was too dry and hot and always with thick dust and smelled like smoke and gasoline. Now, not only that it was cold but was rather refreshing. Of course, it would still depend on the location. In some parts of Man, there were still fires that were still emitting smoke and for sure, the air below would smell bad due to the number of infected around.


    While feeling the cold wind, Mark looked towards the direction where the flyover defended by the main forces of military was located. Of course, by the distance, there was no way for him to see what was currently happening there.


    "Gege, are you worried about Gale and I?"


    Mei asked.


    "A little, but they should be fine. The military decided to retreat early. If not, then I will really be worried."


    Mark replied while caressing Mei''s hair.


    ''It felt like a very long time.''


    He thought as he felt thefortable sensation on his arms.


    The sounds of gunfire echoed with the distance as the forces from Bay City that participated in the mission prepared to depart. Mark would have been worried about his daughters and Odelina if the retreat was a bitter. He knew the plot were the enemies lured a lot of infected along the way to make them waste ammunition and resources. If they did not retreat now, the likelihood of being stuck within the horde due tock of ammunition and other resources would be very high. Fortunately, it seemed that the military noticed the problem and decided to pull out early.


    In any case, they already failed this mission from the start so it was more rational to retreat as soon as possible.


    In Mark''s view, even though they were careful, the military still underestimated the infected in this airport. Even if the enemies did not try to hinder them, it was still very unlikely for them to seed. The only thing that the enemies did was just to ensure that they would have no way to escape and everyone would get annihted.


    Another thing, Mark left a bodyguard to guard his daughters. If this was three days ago, the little guy would not be able to guard them but now, he was the best one to do it.


    ''Now, to think of it, it was both fortune and misfortune, my encounter with that demon in that forest.''


    Mark turned to Mei. She seemed to have something in mind.


    "Mei''er, what''s wrong?"


    "Gege, I''m just thinking. Why did that creature inside that portal ask what Gege is?"


    "Haha, I don''t really know myself."


    Mark took off his mask, it felt suffocating.


    "Let''s see¡­ How should I say it¡­" Mark tapped his chin. "It''s like this¡­ My mind and consciousness is connected to emotions of others. My soul is a fusion of different entities and creatures. My eyes can see the past and the future while my thought can open up space. My blood is the result of Mutagen while my right wrist is the embodiment of PsyPathogen. Aside from that, my body contains miasma and my genes are fused with a demon''s."


    Mark then looked at Mei''s eyes.


    "What do you think?"


    "I don''t understand everything you said but it sounds confusing and chaotic."


    "That''s right. I don''t even know what to call myself now. Actually, everyone started to stray away from being human after Mutagen invaded Earth. It''s just that my body and actions kind of overdid it."


    Mark smiled bitterly.


    "But¡­" Mei smiled brightly. "Gege is still Gege, right?"


    For the first time, Mark stared at Mei as if he was hypnotized. That smile surely captivated him and those words really hit him home run.


    Although he was a loner and preferred less contact with people as much as possible, the thought of people unable to ept what you were was still unnerving. Even demons and devils were confused and afraid to what kind of being he was now, he would be hurt of Mei and the others were not able to ept him.


    However, it was an unnecessary thought.


    He felt kind of ashamed now.


    While in deep thought, a tight hug pulled him back to reality.


    "I missed you."


    Mei whispered in his ear. Both the genuine sentiment and the feeling of her breath were ticklish.


    Hearing that, Mark returned the hug and replied.


    "I missed you too."


    A pink atmosphere started to form inside the control tower surrounded by the infected.


    That was when¡­


    "Your Majesty, please mind the time and ce¡­"


    A cute but stern voice interrupted them.


    In surprise, both Mark and Mei stepped away from each other. Being interrupted, the emotions inside Mark''s mind were swept away and he became calm once more. On the other hand, Mei was totally blushing and confused.


    Mei looked forward and saw a creature she never knew that really existed.


    "Aephelia, is the scouting done?"


    Mark asked the little creature.


    In front of Mark was another sylph simr to Amihan floating with her semitransparent wings. Behind the sylph was Miracle who was staring at Mei quietly.


    "Yes, Your Majesty. I also brought the princess since she was looking for you. But seriously Your Majesty, why did you not call us if the things already settled?"


    The sylph started to reprimand Mark who left Miracle outside the control tower. Although he left her in a room and was safe, the royal maid who was overprotective of the princess was angry. Not only that, the couple started flirting while a stranger was watching and there were dead bodies inside the room.


    "Alright, alright. My bad." Mark scratched his head. "Miracle,e here."


    "Father."<sub> </sub>


    Miracle approached steadily but her eyes did not leave Mei even for a second.


    On the other hand, Aephelia was also scrutinizing Mei albeit stealthily.


    Right now, Aephelia and Miracle had been separated from each other. Since Aephelia was a soul, she justcked a soulless but functioning body. That was why the body of the guardian of the altar where the Deity of Bloodshed was sealed came in handy.


    That was right. Aephelia was now using the body of the sylph that lost her soul due to the possession of the demon. With the help of the [PsyCrystal] in Mark''s wrist, taking Aephelia out of Miracle''s body and putting her soul inside the sylph was easy. However, Aephelia was still adjusting to her new body. After all, although the size of the soul and container did not matter, the body of the sylph function differently than that of a human.


    Another thing was that due to miasma, the body lost most of its capability to control wind and Aephelia could not use it aside from flying which she practiced for hours with Mark''s and Amihan''s help. Even now, she could not control the wings freely. That was why she had another mode of transport which was left outside.


    "Gege, they are¡­"


    Mei''s bashfulness was washed away but the current scene.


    Even Umbra who was weakly watching by the side was dumbfounded seeing a high status spiritual being standing before an embodiment of miasma.


    Before Mark could say anything, Aephelia spoke.


    "Please to meet you, Her Majesty." Aephelia gave a curtsy towards Mei. "This one is called Aephelia Miferiel. The personal Maid of the previous king of Eriellis who is now serving under His Majesty."


    Mei was thoroughly confused now.


    "Aephelia, can you do a normal greeting?" Mark sighed before he turned to Mei. "Mei''er, as she said, that sylph is Aephelia. This one here is Miracle. Just don''t think of that his majesty and her majesty stuff. That''s just how Aephelia is."


    Mark pointed at Miracle who was currently hiding behind his legs while steadily peeking at Mei.


    "Gege picked up another one?"


    Mei asked while trying to beckon Miracle to approach her.


    "It''s not like I wanted to. It just happened."


    Mark sighed and tried to push Miracle forward towards Mei. He was not lying, he never expected Miracle to call him father. It just happened and he epted since there was really no demerit for him to have such a powerful daughter beside him.


    He then lowered his body and spoke to the little girl.


    "Miracle, she''s your new mother."


    "Mother?"


    Miracle voiced while looking at Mei. Mei tried to approach the little girl but to her dismay, Miracle ran back and hid behind Mark once more.


    "Hahaha, let''s just take it slowly."


    Mark felt happy seeing Mei''s distraught face. It seemed that she did not mind Mark introducing another daughter to her.


    Mark patted Mei''s and Miracle''s heads before turning to Aephelia, this time, with a serious look.


    "How did it go?"


    Mark asked.


    "Your Majesty, I tried to control the infected mutated by the spiritual energy but they are harder to control than the others. It is more efficient to just have the normal ones."


    "I see."


    Mark nodded.


    When he set up the for the enemies, he sent Aephelia and Miracle to do several things. One was to try to control the immortal infected and the other was to scout the perimeter of the airport, especially, the area where the nest was. As for their transport, they had a human sized infected eagle that they encountered on the way. The infected''s body was in good condition which prompted them control it and use it as transport of Aephelia and Miracle.


    Currently, the infected eagle was outside waiting for Aephelia''s next orders.


    "How about therge infected in the airfield? Can you control it?"


    "I think, I can, Your Majesty. I actually wanted to try earlier but¡­"


    Aephelia''s voice was filled with uncertainty.


    "But what?"


    "Therge pod at the center of the nest is baffling me. It felt like there is an infected inside but at the same time, it was not an infected either. It''s really strange. That is why we did not dare approach carelessly."


    "I see. Good work."


    Mark said with a frown.


    From the information Mark had gathered from the military and from Karlene and na, infected nests were a total mystery for the most part.


    Infected nests were different from most people thought off. It was natural to think that infected nests were formed after arge number of infected was gathered in a certain area but it was actually the opposite. The way and reason infected nests form was still a mystery but because of the nest forming, the infected around the area was attracted to the ce where the nest was.


    As for Mark however, he had a vague theory. The nests were ces where the highest concentrations of Mutagen were located and the infected were being drawn to it. Those infected that were lucky would mutate to stronger kinds and that was why anyone would encounter stronger infected as they closed into the nest.


    In this nest however, it seemed that something other than the infected would be born in the near future.


    "Say Aephelia, how long do you think before that pod hatch?"


    "I can''t say but I have the feeling that it should be today or in thetest, tomorrow morning."


    "Good, we still have things to do here while waiting for Char to arrive. We can also wait for that pod to hatch. If we can take what is inside, we''ll take it. If not, we''ll destroy it."


    Mark smiled. He could not help but feel the desire to collect more strange creatures as pets.


    He then turned to Umbra.


    "I''ll tell you what you need to do and you can go. Be aware that I''m watching you using that miasma inside your body. Do something undesirable and you will know what will happen."


    Mark said with a sinister smile which made Umbra drenched in nonexistent sweat. Instructions were filled into the mind of the Shadow Person and he scurried away from the control tower.


    Starting with Umbra, Mark''s n to raise the status of the senator inside the Bay City started.

 Chapter 315 Meeting On The Terminal Rooftop, The Prelude To The Greedy Senators Fall

    <strong>Day 47 ¨C 5:11 PM ¨C Rooftop, Terminal 2, Ninoy Aquino International Airport, Para?aque, Metro Man</strong>


    On the rooftop of the NAIA Terminal 2, Mark and Mei sat together with Miracle, Aephelia and the [Blood Children] with the exception of Crimson who was not here. While waiting for the others that were still not here to arrive, Mark and Mei who were separated for a long time started to tell the stories they experienced during their separation.


    Learning about the [Blood Children], Aephelia and Freed''s connection and about Freed''s existence, Mei could not help but feel both shock and sympathy. Their stories sounded like fantasy, but with what was happening in the whole world right now and also experiencing many things, she could only believe it, especially since there were living evidences in front of her.


    Right now, she was ying with Oracle while talking to Mark. Unlike Miracle who looked shy, the [Blood Children] were as usual who were curious about almost everything. When they all saw Mei after getting of their canisters, the first thing that they did was surround Mei in curiosity. If Mark did not inform her beforehand, she would surely think that she was being besieged or something along that line.


    While they were talking, Mark could not help but bring out a pressing issue that was bothering him. It was about why Laps and Fein seemed to be not with them despite the fact that those two could help a lot in this mission.


    The reason was both bothering and surprising.


    Laps was injured in their previous mission apparently. They were gathering supplies from warehouses at the Pier 15 about three kilometers north of Bay City. While on the mission however, Laps identally stepped on a trap which wounded her left hind foot. It turned out that one of the warehouses seemed to be inhabited by survivors but left the area in hurry leaving the traps in the open. It was just unlucky that the golden dog activated one of the traps that had yet to be triggered.


    As for Fein, the beetle was sick. Though, being sick was just the normal way to describe it, the real circumstances were stranger. The beetle seemed to be in a very slow and painful process of molting. In fact, its old exoskeleton already started to crack revealing brand new exoskeleton inside just the previous night.


    Mark did not think that beetles of Fein''s species molt after adulthood but it did not really matter. The world had already be a strange ce. It would not be surprising if even people started to molt their skin like snakes.


    While talking, Mark and Mei ate food and watched the infected nest in front of them. Other people might find it repulsive to eat while something as disgusting looking as the current state of the airfield but the two did not bother at all. They were even eating happily. The food Mark got from the airport terminal was still in good condition. Since the airport was untouched by survivors since the start of the outbreak, the properly stored food Mark saw inside the terminal was quite an amount. It seemed that the airport stocked properly before the outbreak since it was the holiday season when it started.


    "Gege, what are you thinking about?"


    Mei asked as she noticed him staring at the huge pod being guarded by the [Alpha Type].


    "Well, I just noticed the resemnce of that pod. Right, Aephelia?"


    "Yes." Aephelia nodded. "I may hate to admit it but that pod closely resembles the pods that we encountered back in our. It is also one of the reasons I feel unsettled around that pod."


    Mark looked at thergest pod with stern eyes. From the memories he inherited from Freed, that pod really looked like the ones that they encountered in Eriellis. From those pods, powerful psychic infected were born. The existence of this pod further bolstered the idea that Mutagen and PsyPathogen could havee from a single source.


    TINK!


    A sharp sound was heard as a new [Mental Crystal] was formed. While doing other things, Mark also chose this ce to pass time to take advantage of the spiritual energy from the ck clouds that were yet to scatter. Looking at how thick the clouds even after several hours, it were likely that these thick clouds would stay for a few more hours. Still, the creation of the new crystals was not as fast as when he was inside the storm created by the berserk whale. The concentration of the clouds was too scattered and most of the energy were directed to the infected causing a lot of them to mutate.


    Fortunately, the infected already stopped mutating after the ritual was stopped. Otherwise, it would be terrifying to encounter a horde of millions of immortal infected. Of course, the number of those that already mutated was still in thousands. Most people that would encounter these infected would surely die without doubt.


    A few more minutes passed, Mark turned his head towards the northeast.


    "Finally¡­ They were too slow."


    Mark sighed.


    Mei also turned her head. Due to the ck clouds, she could not see it immediately. She then zoomed in her sight and she finally saw the shadow under the dark clouds flying towards their direction.


    Soon, therge creaturended in front of them. Even though Mark had already told her about this, Mei was still amazed. In her eyes, Char looked strong and intimidating. Of course, she noticed that it looked strange when it was looking at Mark.


    Then, a small figure flew towards Mark which he caught with care.


    "Amihan, I already warned you about diving towards me like that."


    Mark could not help but reprimand the little sylph. It was always like this and if he did not carefully catch her, she would surely hurt herself.


    "Boo, My Lord left me with them! Karlene is really bad at directions! We got lost!"


    Amihanined teary eyed.


    Mark looked at Karlene who looked embarrassed as she hopped down from Char''s back.


    "Sorry¡­"


    Karlene apologized. At least, she did not try to ze her wrong doing.


    On the other hand, Edzel seemed to be tired mentally.


    "Why did you all arrive toote? What happened?"


    Mark asked sternly.


    "Well¡­" Karlene smiled bitterly. "We encountered a horde of infected along the way. They were all mutated so we tried to run away but they chased us. Oh, Char flew us away but those infected were too persistent. They jumped and climbed up buildings just to chase us. Then¡­"


    "Then?"


    "We got lost."


    Mark sighed.


    "You all could have just followed those thick ck clouds you know that?"


    "Hello?" What Mark said seemed to have struck a nerve on Karlene. "Who in the right mind will charge forward such sinister looking clouds?"


    "It is where the NAIA is though."


    "That''s¡­"


    Karlene was at a loss. Although Mark was right, she knew that she was not wrong either. Followingmon sense, it was better to avoid things that looked to dangerous or strange and these thick ck clouds were far more than just sinister looking.


    "Alright, I''ll let it go this time."


    Mark decided to let Karlene off this time. Of course, next time, she would receive a good scolding.


    After that, Mark was about to introduce Mei to Karlene and Edzel. That was when¡­


    "No need to introduce me, we knew each other."


    "Huh?"


    Mark was quite surprised about it. He never heard anything about this.


    "Surprised?"


    Karlene acted as if she seeded in her prank.


    At that moment, Mark turned to Mei.


    "You know her?"


    But then¡­


    "¡­ No?"


    It was Karlene''s turn to be dumbfounded.


    "Wa-wait! We met before at one of your father''s parties! I was together with my father and your cousin at that time!"<sub> </sub>


    "Cousin? Who?"


    "Joash."


    "Ah¡­ That¡­."


    Mei seemed to have remembered but her expression became even more disturbed and sad.


    "What kind of party is that?"


    Mark asked. He could sense that it brought out a bad memory on Mei.


    "Ah¡­" Karlene also realized her blunder and her voice trailed off. "I guess¡­ I know now why she doesn''t remember me. She really looked down in that party and seemed to be out of it. It was her engagement party with¡­ Well, I don''t really remember the guy¡­"


    Mark sighed. No wonder Mei looked down. Still, it was a small world.


    "That''s the past alright."


    Mark caressed Mei''s head making her nod.


    While consoling Mei, Mark introduced Edzel as his subordinate. Edzel however turned really timid in front of Mei. It was kind of understandable though. He was also the same when he saw Karlene and na in person for the first time.


    "Say, what are we going to do here?"


    Karlene asked. She was rather feeling ufortable while looking at the pulsating pods below. Especially thergest one, her scalp was tingling and she was feeling shivers in her spine whenever her eyes fell on that horrendous thing.


    Not only Karlene, even Edzel looked ufortable.


    "Well stay here for the night."


    "HUH? WHY? Bay City is already close by."


    "I have my ns. We''ll go there after my business here is done alright?"


    "Okay. But where are we going to sleep."


    Karlene was rather jittery right now and her eyes were kind of red. It seemed that theck of sleep these past days was already getting unto her. Even Edzel was showing signs of fatigue.


    "Maybe, we can try the VIP lounge." Mark suggested. "Eat first and we''ll look for it."


    Mark tossed some canned food to the two. It was also obvious that they had not eaten lunch yet.


    ***


    Day 47 ¨C 5:30 PM ¨C Government Ofificials'' Residences, Central Business Park, Bay City, Para?aque, Metro Man


    "S-Sir, I''m here to report."


    Umbra kneeled in front of Devon. At the side, Senator Estrada was watching.


    "How did it go? Where are the others?"


    Devon asked with a stern expression as usual.


    "Sir, there had been a change of ns and the target was kept alive. My subordinates are together with the target."


    "What happened?! Why is she still alive?!"


    Senator Estrada could not help but stand from his seat hearing that the person he wanted dead was still alive. On contrary, there was no change in Devon''s expression.


    "Speak. What happened?"


    "The Great One took interest in thedy and we invited her under the Great One''s orders. My subordinates were currently guarding her and we were preparing to escort her away."


    "Is that so¡­"


    Devon was hit with realization. The business and ns the members of the organization could not be altered in anyway with one circumstance as exception. It was when the Great One or the other beings with the same authority willed for the change.


    "Alright, be sure to properly escort her. What about the military and the woman''spanions?"


    "Sir, thedy agreed to the invitation without resistance and the Great One decided to spare them by thedy''s request. However, they failed the mission with arge amount of casualties. They might return sooner orter."


    Hearing that, Devon nodded with understanding. It was probably done on a whim of the Great One. It was not the first time that it happened.


    "Alright, you can go. Be sure not to displease the Great One."


    "Yes Sir."


    Getting the permission to leave, Umbra melded within the shadows and vanished.


    Devon seemed to ept the report since it was not the first time that it happened but of course, Senator Estrada was totally displeased.


    "Devon, what is the meaning of this? How dare that Great One destroy my ns?!"


    Hearing that, Senator Estrada was not able to speak further as his neck was grabbed by Devon.


    "Be careful about your words. The name of the almighty Great One is not for someone like you to defame."


    Feeling the killing intent in Devon''s words, Senator Estrada gulped his saliva and nodded. Devon finally let him go.


    "Just be happy that the military failed and had arge amount of casualties. Use this to weaken their prestige. As for thepanions of that woman, they were nothing without her. It will be fine to let them go for now."


    Devon walked out of the room leaving the pale faced Senator. The senator was fuming inside but of course, he would not show it unless he wanted to die.


    ***


    "Hah, I should hide from everyone now."


    Umbra said while looking at the walls erected around Bay City. Since he had no ce to go now and he fulfilled the task given to him, he shouldy low. Then¡­


    "GAAAHHAAAA!"


    His scream was heard as the miasma inside him started so eat him from inside.


    "Why?"


    Then, who knows if he was just hallucinating but he heard that person''s voice from the miasma swirling inside him.


    "Don''t be mistaken, I never said that I will leave you alive. Like your subordinates, you will die just because you tried toy your hand on my woman. Still, you have my gratitude for following my instructions. Goodbye."


    In a few moments, Umbra vanished without a trace leaving his robe being blown by the wind to Man Bay.

 Chapter 316 The Hatching Of The Pod, The Abomination That Came Out Of It

    <strong>Day 48 ¨C 5:40 AM ¨C Mabuhay Lounge, NAIA Terminal 2, Pasay City, Metro Man</strong>


    It was early in the morning and the sky had already started to brighten. The thick ck clouds yesterday already thinned out although there was still some small clump of ck clouds above the control tower which was the center of the entire event that happened yesterday.


    After the remaining members of his current group arrived, Mark led them to search for a good ce to rest. Unfortunately, Mark neglected the fact that there would be no private or VIP lounges in the Terminal 2. All they found suitable to rest at was the domestic lounge of Mabuhay Lounge.


    There should be other lounges that looked like hotels in other terminals but Mark decided not to leave Terminal 2 which was the closest to the Infected Nest.


    With the more than whole month of neglect and the infected roaming the ce, it was dirty and smelled bad. After they cleared up the remaining infected inside and secured the ce, they cleaned up a small area of the lounge near where the windows were located. Since they found the ce near sunset and because of the ck clouds outside, the ce was rather dark.  became very handy as they cleaned the area where they would rest.


    Amidst their cleaning, Mark felt that the miasma he left in that shadow man''s body had activated. Mark was sure that that man received his intent within the miasma before he was consumed by it. That person only got his just desserts. It was quite disappointing though that he was not able to take that guy''s robe.


    When they left the control tower, Mark also took the robes left on the ground and managed to inspect the robes after cleaning their resting area. To his amazement, the robes were not normal at all and did not seem to be made of just normal cloth. It was very sturdy and even stabbing the cloth with a normal knife he got from the catering area of the lounge did not damage it in the slightest.


    Shadow People, Spectral People, a Werewolf and a Tiktik that was under the leadership of a devil. Now, this unusual robe, Mark could not help but think that the organization that they belonged to was deeply rooted not only on the surface of the Earth but also on its hidden side that could not be touched by normal people.


    The whole night was rather an uneventful one. Karlene and Edzel immediately fell asleep after they ate dinner. The twoy down on different sofas not even minding the bad smell that seeped into foam of the sofas. That was how tired the two was. Mark did not mind them and decided to be on the lookout. Mei and Miracle along with the other [Blood Children] slept around him after they lined up several sofas on different directions forming arge bed.


    Mark sat on one end of the sofa while Mei used hisp as pillow. She really seemed to be happy about it that she was smiling while she slept. There was also the peaceful expression on her face that was pleasing to look at.


    Amihan and Aephelia were sleeping on the table with folded nket as bed. The faces of the two looked sort of identical with only a few differences. ording to Amihan, it was the natural trait of Sylphs to have slightly identical faces. She even said that she looked exactly like her mother. However, even Amihan did not know what was the reason behind it.


    Miracle and the [Blood Children] wanted to apany him for the whole night but he made them all sleep, although they did not really need it by context. Furthermore, rather than being asleep, it was more of shutting down their senses and body functions to conserve energy.


    Mark already had a good understanding about the [Blood Children]''s bodies. It came from both his observations and the research done by na''s Uncle, Professor Suzuki, the head scientist in the Eastern Military Settlement.


    The bodies of the [Blood Children] were really simr to human blood by structure. The thing that differed however was the cells that made up their bodies. It could be said that the majority of their bodies wereposed cells that could multiply andbine at will with themand of the cells that served as their nervous system. Furthermore, their bodies were continuously functions without ceasing unless they perished.


    In a sense, their bodies were shapeless human heart that would not rest. Due to that, it would consume energy which they could replenish by consuming blood of other creatures. By shutting down their body functions however which led to a pseudo-sleep state, they were able to lessen the energy consumption of their bodies.


    "Yawn¡­"


    Mark stretched his body and decided to move his body around. He gently lifted Mei''s head from hisp and ced it down on a pillow covered with folded nket to lessen the smell. He then sneaked out trying not to wake up everyone.


    He then picked up the [Mental Crystals] that were created overnight and fell on the sofa beside him and stored them inside the [PsyCrystal]. Mark felt that it would be more convenient if the crystals could be created and stored at the same time but it seemed to not work at all. Every time a new crystal was created, whether it was [Mental Crystal] or [Physical Crystal], it would pop and he needed to store it manually.


    Using the window nearby which was already broken and was currently covered with a nket, he slipped out of the lounge and made his way to the roof of the terminal.


    Char seemed to notice its master and raised its head. The dragon was left on the roof together with the infected eagle that was not moving like a statue.


    Mark signaled the dragon to continue sleeping as he only came out to check the situation in the airfield.


    When Mark saw the current situation, he scratched his head.


    "It seems I''m not the only one waiting for the pod to hatch."


    He murmured.


    On the airfield, countless infected were wandering. It seemed that all the infected that went out yesterday after being lured by the military already returned. Among them were the skinless infected that would not die no matter what. Their bodies were prominent among the horde since they were the only ones with a pinkish flesh color.


    The strange thing however was not only the Alpha was around the pod, there were several strange looking infected that he never saw before. An eye catching one was a more than two meter infected that seemed to have metallic parts on its body. Its dark silver colored body was really noticeable even from afar.


    Mark sat down at the edge of the roof watching the scene below.


    Soon, the sun started to rise and Mark could feel the temperature of the air started to be warmer.


    Another hour passed¡­


    GRRRWWW!!!!


    GRRRAAAAAA!!!


    Suddenly, the infected started to be agitated. All of them started growling. Hearing millions of infected growling at the same time could make anyone shiver.


    POP! POP! POP!


    Mark started to hear popping and bursting sounds. The sounds came from the smaller pods that started to hatch. One by one, different kinds of mutated infected came out from the pods. All of them seemed to be at level 2 mutation or even higher.


    Then, a strange sight unfolded.


    The infected near the already hatched pods started to swarm over the remains of the pods. And then¡­


    They started eating the remains.


    "Hmmm?"


    Mark was confused at the sudden sight but he decided to leave for a bit. The roars of the infected woke up everyone inside the lounge and he needed to get them out first to see the situation.


    As they got back to the roof top, Mark told them what was happening. Due to the scare they had after hearing the roars, none of them were half-asleep and were paying through attention to what Mark was telling them.


    When they arrived at the rooftop¡­


    "Your Majesty, it seems that therge pod is about to hatch."


    "We''re on time for the main event then."


    Mark said with great interest.


    It did not take long and the about four meter or higher pod started to shake. The boils on the surface of the pod started to burst scattering green liquid unto the surroundings.


    That was the time when¡­


    The [Blood Children] started shivering. Even Miracle was not an exception. They were shivering from fear.<sub> </sub>


    Not only the children but all of them were overwhelmed by a sudden pressure. It was a heavy pressure telling them of dangerous thing that was about toe out.


    On the other hand, the strong looking infected outside the pod, even the alpha, started to behave wildly.


    In everyone''s surprise, they started to attack the pod that was about to hatch.


    "What in the world are they doing?"


    Mark also found it odd.


    It was then when¡­


    BURST!


    Severalrge hands burst out of the pod and grabbed the heads of the smaller mutated infected around the pod. The heads of the infected were crushed which made a number of bodies fall down around the pod.


    ROOOOARR!


    Seeing his subordinates being killed effortlessly, the Alpha roared loudly. It grabbed a small luggage vehicle nearby and threw it to the pod mercilessly. A part of the pod was crushed open and arge hole was created. However, it could be seen that the vehicle did not manage to kill what was inside. The vehicle thrown was grabbed by numerous hands and was immediately thrown back out.


    BURST!


    Finally, the pod burst open and arge shadow jumped out in the open.


    Everyone was dumbfounded.


    "What in the world¡­"


    Karlene voiced out speechlessly.


    BAM! BAM!


    The shadow charged forward the Alpha.


    "Well, I''m not interested in that anymore¡­"


    Mark scratched his head.


    The thing that came out of the pod was a three-meter half-humanoid


    It was half-humanoid because only its upper body was shaped like a human and it was obvious that it was a female. Its lower body, however¡­


    There were arge number of tentacles that looked like arms without bones and at the end of each tentacle was arge hand that was more thanrge enough to grab a human''s torso. The creature looked like a Meroctopus with hand tentacles instead of octopus tentacles.


    But something made Mark and Aephelia unsettled.


    Each of the palms of the hands at the end of the tentacles had¡­


    ¡­Eyes.


    Furthermore, the face of the creature itself had about a dozen eyes.


    "Your Majesty¡­ Isn''t that¡­"


    "I know."


    Mark frowned.


    With the difference of the humanoid body, the appearance of the tentacles with eyes was highly identical to a creature Mark did not want to encounter at all.


    [Eye God], that was the name they gave it. The mountain sized creature that caused the destruction of Eriellis.


    This monster they were watching gave the same vibe as that creature.


    "We need to kill it."


    Mark said with all seriousness.


    "Gege¡­"


    "Mark¡­"


    "Boss, are you sure about this?"


    The three people with Mark voiced their hesitation. That creature was surely not something they could take down even if there was a dozen of them.


    "I''m going alone, don''t worry. I can also take advantage that its attention is on the Alpha."


    "Gege, before that¡­"


    Mei suddenly interrupted Mark.


    "What is it?"


    Mark turned to her and noticed that her eyes were dted. She was using her ability while staring at the pod that the creature had just left.


    "Gege, there''s arge stone inside the pod."


    Everyone turned toward the pod. Of course, Karlene and Edzel were not able to see it. Mark on the other hand strained his eyes for a bit and managed to catch a glimpse of it.


    Without saying anything to them, Mark turned into a puff of ck mist. The mist then could be seen making its beeline towards the pod that was now being besieged by the infected.

 Chapter 317 A New Species Of Infected, Triggered By The Blessings Of The Great One

    <strong>Day 48 ¨C 7:08 AM ¨C Airfield, Ninoy Aquino International Airport, Pasay City, Metro Man</strong>


    BAM! BOOM! CRASH!


    Loud sounds echoed inside the airport as the multitudes of mutated infected tried to besiege the strange creature that came out of thergest pod.


    Inside his subspace, Mark saw everything from above. He found it strange that something like this hatched out from the pod and the infected outside started to behave strangely after it came out. Since yesterday, he saw the Alpha guarding the pod for some reason. The other infected did not have interest in therge pod or even the other pods here as if it was natural that the pods existed here.


    However, it became strange when the new pods hatched. From the stories he heard from Mei, they had seen an infected nest before and there were also pods in that nest that could give birth to strong mutated infected. However, she never mentioned about the infected trying to eat the remains of the pods.


    Another thing, if the Alpha and the other infected here wanted something from that strange creature, they would not have waited till the time it hatched and destroyed the pod from the beginning.


    A realization came into Mark''s mind¡­


    "A change happened overnight when we are resting."


    And the only thing that could have caused the change was the clouds made up of spiritual energy that the Great One released yesterday.


    The infected were attracted to psychic energy and the like, he knew about it long ago. It just meant that these pods were affected heavily by the spiritual energy of the Great One. The smaller pods were still fine but thergest pod that could have been the most affected among the pods changed the being inside it differently.


    Although it might just be an assumption¡­


    "That thing is simr to the infected in Eriellis¡­"


    Mark muttered.


    That thing surely had both qualities of an infected with high level mutation like the Alpha but the physical characteristic of the [Eye God].


    Of course, it was not also the same as those psychic infected in Eriellis. If it was, Aephelia would have detected it. In a sense, this thing was an entirely different species.


    While the fight between the infected was on going, Mark dived straight towards the remains of thergest pod. He was aiming for that stone lying at the center of the remains. Now that Mark was closer, he could see howrge the stone was. If it was just fist size or even smaller, Mei would not noticed it but it was asrge as an average sized human''s torso.


    Seeing thisrge stone together with that strange infecteding from a single pod was strange. The other pods did not have anything like this. Furthermore, the infected did not seem to have any interest on the stone as the infected that besieged the remains of the pod started to feast on the remains without even trying to approach the stone.


    Mid-air, Mark appeared and disappeared onest time before appearing beside the stone. As he was closer, he could now see the stone clearly. Its surface was really like a rock. The stone was shaped in a perfect sphere although its surface was rather rough.


    The stone''s color and appearance was simr to the strange the ones found in Bosnia but of course, the one in front of Mark was not asrge as those.


    Mark touched the stone with his right hand but strange enough, Mark could not feel anything strange with it. It was as if it was just a normal stone that was coincidentally put inside the pod. Of course, Mark would not think of that.


    Although rare, many mutated infected had [Mutagen Stones] in their brains. Even though Mark could not feel anything from the stone and the [PsyCrystal] was not reacting to it, it did not mean that the stone was a normal one. In any case, he needed to take it away and study it.


    Mark''s sudden appearance immediately alerted the infected around the pod and swarmed towards him. However, not a single one of them managed to even touch the hem of his jacket as he immediately picked the stone from the ground and vanished from the spot he stood.


    The infected were confused as to where their target vanished to but it just took several seconds before they came back to their feast.


    After vanishing, Mark immediately returned towards the roof of the terminal.


    "Gege, how is it?"


    Mei and Miracle were the first one to notice Mark returned as the others were immersed in watching the battle between the two giants.


    "It''s strange, it look like a normal stone." Mark put the stone down while the others started to surround it. "The infected from the pod did not even mind me taking it. I expect that it will chase me or go hysterical if the stone is taken."


    Mark turned his head at the battle with a strange expression.


    He knew that the strange female infected noticed him when he appeared and took the stone but she did not even try to chase him. There was not even a pint of killing intent. Rather, there was surprise on her face as he saw him which turned to relief when he took the stone.


    It was as if, that infected had a high level of intelligence. No, it would not be wrong to say that she had ego. After all, all what normal infected could show in their faces were rage, hunger and their twisted unrecognizable expressions.


    Looking at the situation below, just how many infected had already died in the short time Mark took the stone?


    The area around the nest already looked devastated from the fight. A lot of dead bodies of normal and weaker mutated infected littered the ground. There was already too many and the ones that had their bodies smashed into meat paste were not included. After all, just the size of the foot and hands of the Alpha were as big as and as heavy as a wrecking ball.


    "What are we going to do next?"


    Karlene asked while watching the situation below.


    With the current state, there would be no way for them to kill those infected. Furthermore, the female infected was already physically strong to resist the besiegement of her enemies even though there was several hundreds of infected attacking her at the same time.


    Her tentacles whipped normal infected into unrecognizable bits and pieces. The hands on the tentacles grabbed and crushed the mutated ones. It was all happening while her upper body contended with the Alpha. Her multi-tasking ability was rather high for an infected. Furthermore, unlike the Alpha that was attacking her randomly and throwing anything it could reach around towards her, the strange infected was able to read the Alpha''s movements.


    "Let me try something first."


    Mark said as he vanished from the roof top once again. This time however, he charged towards the center of the fight. He approached the two giants up to a certain distance andnded on the roof of an airne abandoned in the middle of the runway.


    Then¡­


    "HEY! CAN YOU UNDERSTAND ME?!"


    Mark shouted.


    Karlene, Edzel and Amihan on the roof of the terminal froze. Aephelia on the other hand pped her forehead.


    On the other hand, the female infected turned her head towards Mark and ended up with her face punched by the Alpha due to being distracted.


    "Woops."


    Mark vanished from the airne as a loading vehicle was thrown towards him and ended up crashing onto the airne.


    Since Mark saw that surprised expression on the female infected, he thought that she had developed an ego to a certain extent. Sure enough, she did to some extent. As Mark moved closer to her position, enough that she was inside Mark''s Emphatic detection, Mark felt a consciousness inside her. Also when she turned her head, there was both surprise and confusion seeing Mark calling unto her.<sub> </sub>


    She was different from the normal infected. Unlike the Alpha that immediately attacked by throwing something at Mark, the female did not try to do anything and was distracted from the fight instead.


    It made Mark have the impression that this creature was only fighting because she was attacked first rather than fighting because she wanted to.


    When Mark vanished from the airne, he returned to the roof top once more.


    "Your Majesty, just what are you doing?"


    Aephelia asked with an exasperated expression.


    "I''m just trying out something. Aephelia,e with me and try taking control of the Alpha."


    "Your Majesty, wai-!!!"


    Aephelia''s voice vanished as Mark hurriedly grabbed her and vanished once more.


    The next time she appeared, she was falling above the head of the Alpha.


    "WAAAAH!!!"


    She screamed as she tried her best to bnce herself and fly with her wings.


    "Your Majesty!!!"


    Aephelia shouted while pouting as she regained her bnce in flight. She was angry. Nevertheless, she started to try to control the Alpha. However, it was not easy as the Alpha had a higher intelligencepared to the other infected thei encountered from the start.


    As Aephelia''s ability activated, the Alpha who was entangle with the fight against the female infected froze for a second before it started to trash around. Its heavy arms pounded the ground and itsrge feet stomped craters on the runway. It was roaring wildly that even the female infected froze and backed off in fright. Since the Alpha was iling randomly, she was not able to read its movements anymore and was also hit several times.


    BAM!


    The female infected tried to dodge a sudden wild il of the Alpha but was sent off flying as she failed. She then fell on the ground. Her lower chest sunk in and it was obvious that she badly broke some of her ribs.


    While she was struggling to lift her body and whipped away the iing infected with her tentacles, she heard steps by her side.


    There, she saw Mark approaching her.


    "Say, you can understand me right?"


    Mark asked. Being stared by multiple eyes on the female infected''s face felt ufortable but he had to confirm things. To his surprise¡­


    "Gra-¡­ Gur-¡­ GRRR-¡­"


    The female infected opened her mouth several times. She tried to speak but it seemed that she was not able to and was only able to release faint growling sounds from her throat.


    She seemed disappointed and she touched her throat with herrge hands. A sad expression was on her face as she was not able to convey what she wanted to say.


    Fortunately for her¡­


    "I see. You remember being human right?"


    She heard Mark say which opened her dozen eyes on her face as wide as she could. Tears started to drip on her face like a fountain.


    "GRA! GRER!"


    She cried out.


    "Okay, I changed my mind. Want toe with me?"


    Mark said with great interest.


    What Mark said seemed to have ticked something in her and she started to make begging gestures and letting out growling sounds.


    He turned towards Aephelia on the air.


    "Aephelia, how long will that take?"


    "Your Majesty! Please, don''t rush me!"


    She shouted back as she concentrated hard to take control of the Alpha.


    "Alright then."


    Mark replied as he made his way towards the center of the runway. He raised his hand forward and the [PsyCrystal] shinedparable to the sun. The female infected seemed to be confused and just followed behind him while attacking the infected that came near with her tentacles.


    The moment the light shone from the [PsyCrystal], dozens of buzzing sounds was heard and nail sized pebbles from around the area flew towards his hand.


    "Yep, this is quite a lot."


    Mark smiled as he stuffed the [Mutagen Stones] into his pocket.


    "We''re going."


    He said and grabbed the female infected by her left arm. The two vanished from the ce. It did not take long and the Alpha calmed down and with Aephelia''s control, it also left the runway leaving the other infected with nothing but the remains of the pods left behind.


    ***


    No one but a single person knew about the clear liquid gushing out from several tanker trucks parked near the docking of Terminal 2. The liquid slowly spread around the airport, especially the nest. The infected feasted on the remains of the pods while sshing the liquid onto their feet and other ces.


    Several minutester, mes and explosions engulfed the nest leaving nothing but burnt debris and ashes after the mes were extinguished on their own more than a dayter.

 Chapter 318 Glee, The Temporary Base And The Loyal Servants Depression

    Day 48 ¨C 9:42 AM ¨C Baran Church, Redemtorist Road, Pasay City, Metro Man


    "Hey, is this really possible???"


    Karlene had already asked simr questions like this for the nth time after they left the airport. She was currently staring at the strange looking woman that came out of that pod from the airport. Although she already confirmed herself that the woman could understand her, she was still in doubt.


    Her doubt was reasonable. The infected, even the Biters that still had vital signs, were considered dead by the military. Failed Mutators were also the same. It was because they already lost the ability to live lives simr to their past selves due to theck or change in ego. Now however, a living example of an infected that managed to regain her memories of her life as a human appeared. Themon sense she cultivated since the apocalypse started shattered into pieces.


    "Can you snap into reality already?"


    Markined with a sigh. He was already getting tired of her questions. Mei on the other hand also looked interested but rather than asking questions, she was trying to get closer to Miracle instead. It looked like she could not ept Miracle being shy towards her more than an infected regaining her memories as a human.


    At the side of the church, Edzel was checking his weapons. Although he had the same interest as the two girls, he knew that it was better to wait for answers to be given than asking for it. As a subordinate, he unknowingly gained the ability to observe what his boss like and dislike. From his observations, Mark would get more annoyed if someone was to pester him about something. The good example was Karlene in her current antics. If she continued with this, it was very likely that Mark would stop paying attention to her.


    And¡­ It already started.


    "Hey!"


    "¡­"


    Mark stopped paying attention already and instead, he stared at the female infected he brought.


    The almost three meter tall woman was silently sitting at the side. She sat while curling her tentacles backwards in order for her tentacles to not bother anyone and get on the way. She was currently holding the stone Mark took as if it was a treasure. In front of her were several sheets of old rusty colored paper and a water based ck marker.


    Although she could understand Mark and the others, she could not speak and thus, he came up with this idea. It was hard to find markers since most found were permanent ones that had already dried up and luckily, he managed to find a water-based one. That was not the end of struggles. Due to herrge hands, she was not used to writing with them and she ended up writing almost illegible letters.


    Aimee Florencia¡­ That was her name. She was a pregnant woman on a departure flight when everything started. Due to everything happening too suddenly, she and the other passengers were trapped inside that airne that got stranded in the middle of the runway. They would have survived in that airne for some time but there was a problem. The other passengers did not manage to stay put and opened the hatch after a day. That was the worst thing to happen when the number of mutated infected in the airport was increasing for some reason.


    Unable to escape their fate, all the passengers of that flight became infected and obviously, she was not an exception. She was bitten on her hand but managed to hide inside one of thefort rooms inside the airne. After that however, she had no recollection of what happened.


    The next thing she knew was that¡­ She woke up inside the pod submerged with an unknown liquid. Although she saw herself looking horrendous, she found it that it was natural and did not think much of it. The thing that had most of her attention was the sphere stone that was under her body when she woke up. Although she did not know why, the first thing that entered her mind when she saw that stone was the child that was supposed to be in her womb.


    When she boarded that ne, she was eight months pregnant. With a month that had passed, she should have given birth already if the outbreak did not happen. The bulge in her stomach was gone and she found that stone instead. It might not be logical but there was a possibility that she was not wrong either. After all, the [Blood Children] were also born from the infected even though they were cultured in a sense.


    "Alright! I won''t ask about her anymore¡­ But, are we really staying here?"


    Karlene gave up asking about Aimee and decided to ask about something else.


    One of the worst ces to go and stay at in a zombie apocalypse was churches. First, many people would try to go there to pray for salvation and ces with churches were usually crowded with people. The other reason was because churches had too many openings where infected could pass through or see people inside.


    In fact, when they arrived at this church, there was a lot of rotting dead bodies on the floor. The floor was also painted with blood here and there. The chairs were in disarray and the stained ss windows were all shattered into pieces. Fortunately, they managed to sweep corpses out easily with Aimee''s tentacles and used the chairs to block the unnecessary entrances and windows.


    Normally, Mark would also not choose a ce like this as a temporary base. However, aside from the church being surrounded by parking lots that could make it easier to detect intruders, they needed a big ce that could fit Aeimee, Char and the Alpha. Normal buildings and houses would not be able to amodate theirrge bodies and keeping them outside was a no go especially for Aimee.


    Mark found a new creature and she was an interesting one. Of course, he would treat her with care. She was an infected that managed to regain consciousness. Anyone would be interested in her. Well, if they did not attack her on sight. After all, her current appearance was just hideous in human sense.


    "It''s fine here already. We have a lot of advantage in this ce."


    Mark replied.


    Thepound of Baran Church was literally beside Bay City with just the width of twelvenes of roads which belonged to the Service Road and Roxas Boulevard. In fact, thepound was located just at the area directly between the north and south district of Bay City.


    Due to this ce being too near to Bay City, the infected in the area had been mostly dealt with and all those that would wander around would go directly to Bay City that was bustling with people. Another advantage was that even though this ce was close, the front area of thepound which faced Bay City was covered with quite arge number of trees and nts which masked the main church from the eyes of the guards in Bay City.


    The most advantageous thing was that they would be able toe and go without problems and Mark could immediately return if there was an emergency while he was outside. It was very convenient since he wanted to sneak in and out of Bay City.


    "Gege¡­" Mei who finally had Miracle sitting on herp spoke. "Is it possible that Aimee is the same as Jte?"


    "Possible."


    Mark nodded as he also had the same idea.


    Aimee''s appearance was like a mix of multiple things. If she was the same as Jte that seem to have the ability to absorb abilities of Mutators they ate, it was very possible. As for how Aimee was able to regain her consciousness, it was still debatable.


    It could be that Aimee already ate enough Mutators for her to gain consciousness since Jte was also gaining hers after she ate the Mutator from the gang at Firenze. Or her mutation inside the pod was heavily influenced by the spiritual energy the Great One released.


    Unfortunately, even if Mark wanted to experiment, only the first circumstance could be tried out since they needed the Great One for the second theory.


    "Is your injury okay now?"<sub> </sub>


    Mark turned to Aimee and asked.


    Right now, she was wearing some curtains draped unto her body. Due to her upper body''s size which was more than double of a human''s it was hard to find something that would fit her and could only use those curtains. However, she did not really seem to mind being naked. Probably, being an infected changed this mindset. From the time she got out of the pod to the time that they reached the church she did not have a problem with it.


    To Mark''s question, Aimee touched her ribs and nodded. Although her regeneration was not as strong as Mark''s, it seemed that her body was able to heal on its own.


    A problem came up and Aimee was always looking down instead of looking straight at anyone. It was because even Aimee found that her dozen eyes looking at someone kind creepy after looking at a mirror.


    ***


    Day 48 ¨C 12:37 PM ¨C Military Residences, Bay City, Pasay City, Metro Man


    "Mom, cheer up. The young miss should be fine."


    Odette handed a ss of cold juice while trying to appease her mother. Siegfried was also in the room looking at his mother with worry.


    Since when Odelina returnedst night, she had been in a bad mood. Learning what happened, everyone in their group who was left in Bay City had their hearts in turmoil. It was not because Mei was the central figure of the group but because Mei was close to everyone here especially the women. And even if she was not, a sudden disappearance of arade would leave anyone devastated.


    Among everyone here, Odelina had it worst.


    It might just be her reigning trait as a Mutator, her deal with Freed or because of her upbringing. No matter which reason, she alreadymitted herself to be Mark and Mei''s servant. She always stood beside Mei, Abbygale and I more than she was with her children although she did not neglect her duties as a mother. A bad mother would not be a good servant to her masters and she knew that.


    Together with Abbygale and I, they protected Mei from her fears, especially from other men with ill intentions. Yesterday however, she failed to protect Mei and she was taken away.


    The worst part of it, she heard that Senator Estrada was using Mei''s abduction to start harassing the military for their ipetence. Mei had been an icon in Bay City due to her beauty and prowess. Her being abducted was a huge blow to the trust the people had towards the military.


    Odelina wanted to leave and search for Mei and did not care about the senator anymore but there was no way she knew where to start. There was also no way for her to leave Abbygale and I that was under her care.


    Thinking about all those things, her mood worsened. Her appetite was even impacted that she had not eaten anything until now. In the least, she was drinking the juice Odette and Siegfried gave her from time to time.


    After their mother drank the juice, Odette and Siegfried left the room. The two knew that their mother just need time to sort her mind alone.


    The moment her children left and closed the door, Odelina sighed. She knew that she should not be behaving like this but she could not help it.


    "Young Miss¡­ How am I going to face Master now?"


    She murmured.


    That was when¡­


    "Odel¡­"


    She froze before shaking her head.


    "I must be getting crazy. I''m starting to hear the voice of the Young Miss."


    She murmured with a bitter expression.


    And then¡­


    Odelina felt to hands wrap her body from her back.


    "Sorry Odel. We made you suffer for our ns."


    Odelina slowly turned her head to the side to see Mei''s face leaning on her left shoulder.


    She was about to shout when Mei blocked her lips with her finger.


    "Don''t shout. We sneaked in secretly."


    When Mei said "we". She pointed behind.


    There, tears came out of her eyes. For a long time, she saw the person he vowed to serve. Since Mei told her not to shout, she could only bow her head. In her mind, she shouted.


    ''Master!''

 Chapter 319 Family Reunion, Tying Up A Loose End Before The Terror Ensues

    <strong>Day 48 ¨C 1:02 PM ¨C Military Residences, Bay City, Pasay City, Metro Man</strong>


    "Seriously, you don''t have to cry like that. You look like a elementary school girl that got bullied by her ssmates."


    Mark said with a bitter smile while he stood beside the door of the room.


    Hearing that, Odelina pouted but she could not refute it either. She was currently sitting on the edge of her bed beside Mei who was hugging her while she wiped the traces of her tears with her reddish eyes.


    It took more than fifteen minutes to appease Odelina while Mark and Mei told what really happened. Odelina felt displeased as she worried a lot for the circumstances that was actually under control and it was just everyone was left out and used as tool to start a heinous n. She also realized why the senator was too early to use what happened to pressure the military. It was because he knew everything that happened from the start as the mastermind.


    ''At least, the young miss is not really in any trouble.''


    Odelina thought as she tried to smile. She also looked towards the two others that her masters brought with them, a fairy and a little girl. Although she was surprised by the existence of the fairy, her distressed heart failed to show that emotion.


    THUMP! THUMP!


    The door was knocked while they were still in their conversation which made Odelina worried. Her masters said that they will hide themselves for a while and no one else should know they were here. However, Mark only put his index finger over his lips and slowly opened the door while standing behind it.


    There, two little girls entered. The older one stood behind the younger and was pushing her to go into the door faster and closed the door.


    I had Keeper''s memories and ability allowing her to know that Mark had appeared because of the [PsyCrystal] on his arm. Knowing that Mark had already returned, she brought Abbygale who was also sad about Mei''s abduction. Although she still had the calm expression she always had, her eyes were red from crying too much.


    "Gale, look."


    Abbygale was looking down at the floor this whole time so I had to urge her to look forward. When Abbygale looked towards the bed where Odelina and Mei sat, her calm face turned into surprise and glee as she literally charged forward.


    "MAMA!"


    Mei immediately caught her. Luckily, the distance of the door and the bed was not far and Abbygale was not able to gather more momentum and speed or it could have hurt both of them. The little girl''s face was immediately stained with tears of joy. Abbygale started rubbing her face on Mei''s body like a cat while thetter tried to pacify the little girl with a gentle smile on her face.


    On the other hand, I who was also an aplice of the n stood by the door and looked at the person she expected to be here.


    "Your Maj- OW!"


    I tried to bow down and greet Mark in the way that people of Eriellis greeted their king but she was not able to finish as her forehead was flicked without mercy.


    "I already told you that you are not Keeper so you don''t have to do that."


    I, who held her forehead with both hands and with teary eyes, looked up to Mark with a pout.


    "Who am I?"


    Mark lowered his body and asked face to face with I.


    "Pa¡­ Papa¡­"


    I said with embarrassment. It was then that her head was caressed gently. Finally unable to hold back her feelings as a child, she hugged Mark and started to cry.


    "Papa¡­ Papa¡­"


    Receiving the embrace, Mark smiled. Although he had Freed''s memories and I had keeper''s, they were still different people and the father and daughter should not be them. It was different from reincarnation. Although the memories were in their mind now, it was not their own at the same time.


    Abbygale noticed her older sister hug someone behind and was surprised. She stared at Mark who also turned his head towards her. Abbygale looked at Mark trying to recollect her memories and her eyes grew wider. Mei slowly let the little girl go and allow her to go towards Mark with slow steps as things happening right now registered in her young mind.


    "Papa?"


    Abbygale spoke with uncertainty and a warm hand was ced unto her head.


    "Took you long enough." Mark said with a bitter expression. "You little girl is the one who forced me to be your "Papa" but you dare to forget me?"


    They only spent time together for a week at the start of the outbreak and were far apart for more than a month already. Mark could not me the little girl. I was a bit different since her mind became more mature due to Keeper''s memories but Abbygale was still a normal little girl in mind and heart.


    Feeling the familiar warmth in those hands, tears started to fall even more from Abbygale''s eyes as jumped in to join I in his embrace.


    "Papa!"


    The little girl cried and started rubbing her face on Mark''s chest as if trying to mark him once more.


    On the side, Amihan was teary eyed as she watched the two lonely children reunite with Mark and Mei. Miracle on the other hand seemed to have another thing on mind as she stared at I and Abbygale.


    Miracle then walked towards Mark and jumped to cling on his neck.


    "Father? Papa?"


    The [Blood Child Princess] was confused.


    "Papa?"


    "Papa¡­?"


    I and Abbygale noticed Miracle and stared with both askance and confusion.


    The three then started to call unto Mark as he was not responding.


    "Papa?"


    I looked at his face trying to ask if something was wrong.


    "Papa!"


    Abbygale called out as he was not saying anything.<sub> </sub>


    "Papa?"


    Miracle looked at the two girls trying to know why they were calling her father "Papa".


    Hearing that word being repeated up the nth time, Mark turned to Mei and Odelina who was watching.


    "I know that I should be happy about this but¡­" Mark''s face turned serious. "When did my princesses got reced by aliens?"


    The atmosphere in the room froze.


    Several secondster, Odelina could not hold it anymore and startedughing. All her stress and distress was washed away seeing Mark''s predicament as he was surrounded by cute "Papa" aliens." Mei smiled with a warm expression but the three girls could not ept being called as aliens making them call out to Mark even more but now with displeased tones.


    Luckily, Amihan had contained the sound inside this room or this boisterous event was enough to alert even the floors above and below the room they were currently in.


    ***


    <strong>Day 48 ¨C 3:22 PM ¨C Military Laboratories Intensive Care Unit, Bay City, Pasay City, Metro Man</strong>


    One of the busiest ces in Bay City, theboratory held the most important things in this settlement. There were infected specimens, research materials, high-endboratory equipment and the fruits ofbor of the scientists working hard in this ce.


    On the first floor however, there was an area that served as Bay City''s only military hospital to treat emergencies. Although they should be kept in a separate building as theboratory held a lot of secrets and even dangerous chemicals, the building that would serve as the next hospital was still in preparation. Another thing was that a lot of unexpected circumstances could happen due to the presence of Mutagen and that was why the people brought here needed to be near theboratory as much as possible.


    A smaller section of the hospital area was made into an Intensive Care Unit. Now however, there was only one person in the ICU right now.


    At this time, a ck mist moved across the hallways. The mist was on in sight and should have been easy to spot because the walls, the floors and the ceilings of theboratory were all painted in white. There were also people in the hallway. The doctors, scientists, assistants and other personnel were moving back and forth the hallways. Nevertheless, none of them were able to see the mist that was currently invisible. On the cameras installed on theboratory however, a slight distortion of light was detected but it was not that noticeable.


    "Is this the right way?"


    Mark whispered to Mei as the two materialized from the mist. Of course, they were still invisible in the eyes of the people around.


    "Yes. I''ve been here several times. It''s just that she''s ced in the most secure part of the building."


    Mei replied.


    "Well then, let''s go."


    POOF!


    The two vanished and the mist continued to move in fast speed.


    Soon, they managed to find their target destination. The room was being guarded by several people dressed in military fatigues. Looking at these soldiers, they were the elite among the soldiers. In the eyes of the people, it could be said that it was a waste just to make these skilled soldiers guard a room in the ICU but if they knew who was inside, they would shut up immediately.


    Since the room was tightly sealed, Mark and Mei waited for a while until a doctor came to check the patient inside. Using the distortion in space, Mark and Mei slipped into the room.


    There, they saw the person they were looking for.


    "She looked thinner than thest time I saw her."


    Mark said while looking at the patient on the bed.


    "It''s already more than a month after all."


    Mei replied as she caressed the patient''s hair.


    The girl on the bed was no other than Angeline Perez, General Perez''s only daughter. To protect her friend, Pa Mae rence, from the attack of the unknown when they left Bacoor City Mall, she injured herself severely and ended up ina despite her wounds already healed from the evolution of her body. Her vital signs were normal but she never woke up.


    Up until now, no one was able to pinpoint the cause and the study was still ongoing.


    Since she was a good friend that stood to protect Mei back in the mall, Mark would not hesitate to help her either.


    Mark touched the unconscious girl''s forehead and his hands glowed with milky white light. The moment he entered the room, he knew the problem as his empathic ability detected Angeline''s consciousness.


    As she was in great pain and shock during the time her body evolved, her consciousness was not able to handle it and entered deep sleep while weakened.


    Of course, the milky white light would not be enough to wake her up. It could only nourish her sleeping soul.


    Mark then made two crystals appear in front of him. One was an empty [Mental Crystal] and the other was a [Physical Crystal] with a ck orb inside. Seeing the crystal, Mei was surprised. She already knew the purpose of the crystals since Mark did not hide it from her and that was why the reason for her surprise was different.


    "Gege, isn''t that¡­"


    "It is. The crystal that came from ck Devil¡­ Since Angeline seems to always get hurt when protecting someone, I''ll give her this one. I already had a lot to choose from after all. I won''t mind just giving this."


    Mark replied.


    The [Physical Crystal] in his hands now contained that ck skin transformation that was even able to block bullets. It came from ck Devil, the right hand man of Chameleon who orchestrated Mei''s suffering at that time and was also the culprit behind her abduction several years ago which almost took Mark and Mei''s lives.


    Soon, light enveloped the room when the two crystals entered Angeline''s body. The heart rate monitor detected the sudden change in her body and started beeping irregrly.


    The sudden light in the room and the change of beeping sound from the heart rate monitor alerted the soldiers guarding outside. Some of them hurriedly stormed into the room while a few immediately left to call a doctor.


    Mark and Mei used that opportunity to slip out leaving the panicked soldiers inside.


    There was no need to stay here as Mark was sure that the crystals would not do any harm aside from the little suffering as the changes in her bodymenced.


    Trying this loose end, Mark and Mei smiled at each other. Holding hands together, they vanished from theboratory in a puff of ck mist.


    Now that the good thing passed, the terror in Bay City was about to ensue.

 Chapter 320 Good News That Came Thrice In A Row, The Start Of Terror Finally Ensued

    <strong>Day 51 ¨C 6:23 AM ¨C Central Business Park, Bay City, Pasay City, Metro Man</strong>


    Dawn hade as the sun rose from the east. It marked the start of a new day. But of course, a new day cowering in fear inside the walls of the settlement of the infected outside was not that well appreciated. In the least everyone was d that they survived the past day and night without being food for the infected.


    It had been three days since the disaster where mission the military led to clear the Infected Nest in NAIA failed miserably. The number of casualties they suffered amounted more than the deaths they had for two whole weeks by two times and it even included the number of deaths incurred during the mission in Philippine General Hospital. That was how serious the situation was back then.


    However, no matter what the reason was for the failure, the people with ill intent took advantage of the matter to saw the power and the support the military had. In this past day, rumors after rumors that denounced the military spread like wildfire. Despite the fact that none of themon people knew about who started to spread the rumors, their trust towards the military started to falter.


    It was the worst thing to happen since the military heavily relied on the manpower from themon people to maintain the most important things in the settlement like man power for construction. Not to mention that while the numbers of soldiers were being reduced after almost every mission, the number ofbatants from themon popce was increasing. Every day, there would be people that would awaken their abilities as and Evolver after falling ill with a high temperature fever.


    Right now, if not for the firearms and equipment in the military''s arsenal, themon popce could overwhelm the soldiers and take over the settlement just by the number of Evolvers and Mutators among them.


    Fortunately, that was yet to happen. Wishfully, it would never do.


    Now, the current power in Bay City started to tilt towards the factions of the politicians, especially the faction led by Senator Estrada.


    Fortunately, it was not all bad news that the military received in these past days. The next day the participants of the mission returned tired and dejected, they received good news trice until yesterday.


    ***


    <strong>Day 51 ¨C 8:15 AM ¨C Recovery Ward, Military Laboratories, Bay City, Pasay City, Metro Man</strong>


    General Miguel Perez walked along the white halls of theboratory towards the recovery ward despite his heavy schedule. He totally freed his morning andte afternoon schedules to visit the recovery ward these past two days. It was because of the first good news that they received.


    The Bay City''s Military Princess, Angeline Perez, finally woke up from hera.


    When she suddenly had a high fever after a month of being stable, the military entered a panicked state after learning about what was happening. It would not be a good thing to make the general experience more stress from what he was already having after the failure of the mission and the nder that started to spread around the settlement.


    Fortunately, her fever onlysted until midnight and few hours after her fever receded, Angeline finally woke up. The General and his sons were overjoyed at the sudden good news. Unfortunately, there was no way for them to conduct a celebratory party for this event.


    "Dad!"


    Angeline immediately called out when General Perez entered the room. She was currently walking around the room with the help of a walker and was being supervised by her elder brother''s fianc¨¦ and her best friend. After more than a month of lying down on the bed, she needed to recuperate and practice her body to move around. Fortunately, her body was recovering strangely fast that she was already able to walk around even if it was assisted with some tools just the next day after she woke up.


    "It''s early in the morning and you''re training your body already. You should sleep more."


    The General reprimanded his daughter.


    "Dad, I''m already fine. I already slept a lot so I don''t feel like sleeping too much now."


    Angeline joked which made her father turn the two other women in the room who only shook their heads in exasperation. It seemed that Angeline was being hardheaded and was doing things as she liked.


    "Dad, is there news about Mei?"


    Angeline asked as she already heard about what happened in the failed mission in NAIA. It was one of the reasons why she was too hasty in recovering herself.


    Unfortunately, even though it was rted to the second good news the military received, there was no traces of Mei or even those powerful people.


    The second good news that they received was the mysterious destruction of the Infected Nest in NAIA. Due to being close to Bay City, they managed to see the thick almost ck smoke that was rising in the sky the next morning. On the night of the day the mission failed, several ounts of people with sensitive hearing said that they heard explosions during the evening. Due to the sudden signs, they sent several scouts back to the site to confirm what was happening despite how dangerous it was.


    When the scouts returned, they brought back the good but mysterious news that the whole nest was destroyed by arge fire. No one could fathom what happened but in the least, the threat of the Infected Nest was no more. Unfortunately, the news was limited to that and Mei''s whereabouts was still unknown.


    The general started to spend his time with his daughter chatting andughing as he tried to forget the current state of the Bay City that was giving him too much stress.


    It was when Pa brought out the question regarding the good news that many people in Bay City was talking about and was kind of celebrated by them.


    That news was about a survivor group that suddenly went missing yesterday.


    "Uncle, we have several strange urrences these past days don''t we? First, although it''s not bad, Ange who had not signs of waking up woke up abruptly. That Infected Nest in NAIA suddenly got destroyed and now, a group of survivors are MIA."


    "Haa¡­" The General sighed. He would not show this side of him to others but here, he was free to do so. "It might not be a good thing to say as a person but its good if that group will not return anymore, at least, I have less sources of headache to suffer from. We didn''t really want to but we still sent a search and rescue team just for saving face. It''s more of the person who contracted them to do that really."


    There, a warm embrace was given to the General that worked hard this past month. It came from his daughter that he longed to wake up.


    "Don''t worry dad, after I fully recover, I''ll help you straighten those kinds of people."<sub> </sub>


    "You silly girl. Just behave and don''t add another source of headache for me¡­"


    ***


    <strong>Day 51 ¨C 11:32 AM ¨C Harrison za, Mabini Street Corner, Adriatico St., Mte, Pasay City, Metro Man</strong>


    Led by First Lieutenant Rafael Perez, a group of armed soldiers were searching the mall infected by the infected as covert as possible. They were here for investigation and to locate the missing survivor group. If possible, make sure to make them return safely even with the fact that the soldiers did not want any ties from that survivor group.


    [Leo Troops] was what that group called themselves. A group of arrogant scoundrels that was really good at throwing their power around. The worst part was that they were contracted by the business genius, Raver Guevarra, who was among the faction that was benefiting the failure of NAIA mission the most.


    The [Leo Troops] were very unruly and always threatened those who was weaker and had lower status than them in Bay City Settlement. And even though they were highly protected, some of the members of [Team Fairy] were subjected to their harassment especially the girls in the group that were working inside the settlement.


    Unfortunately, the soldiers still had to do their job just for the sake of publicity. Their name was being dragged into the mud these past days and they could not afford to have more things thrown unto them.


    "Sir! We found their vehicles!"


    A soldier hurriedly returned and reported their findings.


    "Alright, lead the way."


    Rafael readied his squad and made their way towards the location.


    There, they found several cars parked at the front of the mall which were totally the same vehicles [Leo Troops] had.


    "Men, search the area. See if there are clues to their whereabouts."


    "Yes sir!"


    It did not take long and the soldiers found traces that led to where the members of the group were. Soon they found them¡­


    The members of [Leo Troops] were either dead or turned into Z-type Betamonly known as Eaters. They were not just dead and infected but they were all made to suffer in the most brutal ways.


    Their members were tied up and hanged at the central area of the mall. However, the electric cables that hanged them were not the cause of their current states but the roaming infected beneath them. Their bodies were hanged in a height that the infected where able to reach and eat up to their waists. Right now, each of the members only had their torsos remaining that were still hanging from the electric cables and were attracting the infected below them.


    Rafael and his men could also not help but notice that some the dead Mutators of [Leo Troops] had their heads bashed open and their heads were left hollow. Their brains were missing. Looking at the wounds on their heads, it was very likely that their brains were removed after they turned into Eaters after half of their bodies were eaten by the infected. As for the evolvers and normal members, they were left to be Eaters that were forever tied up inside this mall brimming with the infected.


    As they found all the members of [Leo Troops], Rafael and his squad had no reason to stay. They took the armored vehicles and also took a number of pictures to bring back as evidence for the investigation. They immediately returned to Bay City to report what happened.


    ***


    <strong>Day 51 ¨C 3:11 PM ¨C Central Business Park, Bay City, Pasay City, Metro Man</strong>


    "They already returned."


    Mark said as he watched the vehicles entering the northern gates of the settlement. Right now, he was together with Mei in the open and was not concealing their bodies. Instead, they wore masks and protective clothing that was not really strange after the apocalypse started.


    These past days, the two mingled with the survivors around Bay City asmon survivors. Due to therge number of people inside Bay City, no one suspected the two as they gathered information about which people they needed to pay attention to.


    Finally, he started his ns after gathering as much information as he could. He started with the [Leo Troops].


    These people were under Raver which was one of the high status individual in Bay City and someone who wanted Mei to fall unto his hands. Furthermore, the members of [Leo Troops] harassed Elsa and Charmaine several times already ording to Mei.


    Luckily, the group wanted some alcohol to drink and the military was strict about distributing alcohol from their stocks. Unless they took it outside the settlement, they would not have enough to endulge themselves. They never thought that that flimsy mistake of indulging in their desires led them to be the ones targeted first.


    As Mark watched the familiar vehicles enter the gates, he smiled as he yed with the two new crystals in his hand that he managed to get from that arrogant survivor group.


    "Let''s go."


    Mark and Mei held hands and left the area.


    For sure, the news about what happened to the group would spread like wildfire. Of course, as the first case, the people in the settlement would only think that it was an unfortunate coincidence.


    However, it was just the start¡­

 Chapter 321 Entering Phase Two, Planting Distrust And Creating Dispute

    <strong>Day 52 ¨C 8:32 AM ¨C Tent City, South District, Bay City Settlement, Pasay City, Metro Man</strong>


    Early in the morning, a lot of people were lined up for the morning rations. Although it was just chicken vored rice soup that really did not have chicken meat in it and only had vegetables that were dried and powdered in it, a lot of people still lined up for the food. No matter what, it was still something that they could eat to fill up their growling stomachs.


    There were not a lot of varieties with the jobs in the settlement offered by the military. Most of jobs required hardbor orbat experience and as such, many people were not able to join, especially the old, women and children. For those that had family members that were hired by the military, they had enough to get by day after day. The others however, had to rely solely on the rations. For the women that were desperate, they would secretly offer themselves to those that were able to scavenge outside.


    "Here is yours. Be careful it''s hot."


    Melissa handed a bowl of soup to an elderly woman.


    "Thank you."


    The elderly woman smiled at Melissa before she left the line.


    Right now, Anna, Melissa, Charmaine, Elsa and Cielo were among the people distributing the rations.


    "Hey Melissa, Anna, is there really no work for you two somewhere else? One is a nurse, the other is a cook. You two should leave this to us sisters."


    Charmaine asked. Normally, it was just her and her sisters while Anna was mostly behind the scenes as one of the cooks. Right now however, the two were together with the three.


    "What I''m going to do? Stay inside the clinic all day without doing anything?" Melissa sighed. "I rather get paid to work and not toze around."


    People like Melissa who had clinical experience could get epted into either theboratory, the clinic or on field duty. As a nurse, the first option was a no go as more experienced doctors and scientists were allowed there. Since she was not an experiencedbatant, it was better if she did not join as a field nurse during missions. All she could enter was the clinic which would only treat a handful of people every day.


    Since no one was getting sick nowadays due to viruses or harmful bacteria, all the people that had to get treated in the clinic were those that received wounds and physical injuries. Not to mention that it would only happen mostly after military missions. These days, the military were mostly staying since their manpower was severely weakened after the failed mission in NAIA. Due to that, Melissa had nothing to do but stare at the window these past days and decided to help out in the ration distribution.


    Anna on the other hand just joined in knowing that Melissa was also here.


    "Charm, don''t bother about it too much, it''s better that there''s more of us here. It won''t be boring."


    Elsa said to her sister making the youngest, Cielo, nod in agreement.


    While the five chatted, they continued to fill the disposable stic bowls with rice soup and handed the filled bowls to the people in line.


    "What you girls think about what is happening these past days?"


    Melissa suddenly changed the topic of the conversation.


    "About the missing survivor teams?"


    Charmaine asked.


    "Yeah."


    "I don''t really think about it too much."


    "Me too."


    Cielo agreed with Charmaine.


    "Right? It''s really better that those people are not here."


    Even Elsa agreed and spoke with contempt.


    "What''s with that reaction?"


    Melissa was confused.


    It was then that the next in line was a couple wearing masks and protective clothing. However, the girls were busy talking at each other that they did not pay too much attention.


    "You''re always in the clinic to you don''t know but those survivor teams were the worst people."


    "Is that so?"


    "Yeah, not only they act arrogant because they have the backings of powerful people. Many of them even tried to hit on us. If not for the soldiers guarding the ce, they might have done more than just that."


    "Their eyes are scary every time they look at us."


    Cielo who also experienced the worst thing as a woman after the apocalypse started could feel the ill intent of those people.


    "Here you go, please be careful."


    Charmaine smiled and handed two bowls of rice soup to the couple.


    "Alright, thanks."


    The man spoke before the couple turned around to leave.


    "Still, it''s kind of scary that five survivor teams had gone missing in just three days. That''s about sixty people already. Two of the teams had already been confirmed wiped out and both teams seemed to have died in the same way. The military already started to suspect that whoever is doing this should be targeting the settlement. Many other teams were already hesitating to go out of Bay City thinking that they might be next."


    "I don''t think it''s that bad. There were others that came out yesterday but returned fine. Maybe I''m just thinking this but the teams that were missing were those that had bad records."


    "Really?"


    "Yeah, really. Right Charm?"


    Elsa turned to Charmaine just to see her staring at the couple that had just left the line with their bowls of rice soup.


    "Charm?"


    Finally, Charmaine turned back to the four other girls. However¡­


    "Sis, I''m just going to check something."


    Before the four could say anything, Charmaine ran off towards the exit of the distribution area. She was following the direction that the couple had left.


    The couple turned at the corner leading to an alley where Charmaine lost sight of them. She hurriedly ran and turned at the same corner. But¡­


    "Where are they?"


    Charmaine started to slow down as she could not see the couple anymore. She was facing a dead end. She thought that the couple decided to stop in this ce to eat but they were nowhere to be seen. Rather, there was no one in the alley at all.


    "Charm, what''s gotten into you? It''s dangerous to move alone you know right?"


    Elsa caught up to Charmaine.


    "Sis, I¡­" Charmaine hesitated what to say¡­"Nevermind. Let''s return."


    ***


    "Gege, she looked dejected."


    Mei spoke as she watched Charmaine return to the distribution area with Elsa.


    "It''s still not the time for us to show up. I just wanted to try out eating that the people here eat. It''s just a coincidence that we encountered them. At least, they were doing fine outside."<sub> </sub>


    Mark spoke.


    The girls looked good outside but they were heavily impacted by Mei''s disappearance. Their minds were in constant stress and their mood was rather sour. That was why they were trying hard to divert their minds into their work just like what Melissa and Anna were doing.


    BRRROOOOOM!!!


    While they were talking, a vehicle could be seen rushing on the street. The sound was too loud as the vehicle was speeding up.


    Seeing the vehicle, Mark shook his head.


    "This guy took his time. After we let him go, it took him about two hours before returning."


    "Gege, don''tpare them to you." Mei grabbed his arm. "You have a dragon and the power to move fast and be invisible. Just being able to return here alone is good already."


    "I guess that''s true. Let''s find a ce to eat first or the soup will get cold."


    Mark turned towards the vehicle that was about to vanish from his sight. Since the enemies started to get cautious, it was already time for Phase Two.


    ***


    Day 52 ¨C 8:42 AM ¨C Government Officials'' Residences, North District, Bay City Settlement, Pasay City, Metro Man


    "Just what is happening this time?!"


    Senator Estrada mmed his palms on the table.


    Right now, all the members that schemed for the military to fail the NAIA mission were gathered once more. They were supposed to celebrate the current rise of their manpower and influence in Bay City but what was happening was theplete opposite. Five teams were already gone from their people and two of those teams were confirmed as dead already. If would be fine if they were just normalckeys but among those survivor teams were the strongest ones in their people.


    "Senator Estrada, you should calm down."


    Raver said with a foul expression. Among those missing survivor teams, two belonged to him. The first team, [Leo Troops], was already found dead. Yesterday, another team under him, [Scorpio Troops], had gone missing. He was infuriated about what was happening. The members of both troops were his men even before the outbreak happened.


    He might be a business genius but his current status was not reached cleanly. He hired people to harass and scare hispetitors which caused his fast rise in influence and power. When the outbreak started, those people continued to serve under him and some of them became powerful Evolvers and Mutators. Now, one team was found dead and one was missing. Who would not be infuriated?


    Among the people inside the usual room, three more people had unsightly faces as the other three missing teams were among their men. They were Congressman Escobar, Senator Asucena and Senator Osme?a.


    "What do all of you think?" Congressman Escobar spoke. "Among all the survivor teams that went out the past three days, only teams that belonged to our alliance had gone missing. There is no doubt that whatever is happening is directly aimed at us."


    "And who would dare do that?"


    Congressman Montesoro asked.


    "Who else? It should be the military." Congressman Escobar replied with a grudging tone. "Since our alliance is gaining momentum, they needed to weaken us."


    "You already saw the pictures. The way they died is very unfit for the military, especially those under General Perez."


    "That is the point there. Since they were killed brutally, the military will not be easily suspected. Think about it, it is the military who found the two confirmed cases."


    His words became more logical as the conversation deepened. Still, there was doubts and without enough evidence, the assumption could not be confirmed.


    Just while everyone was immersed in the discussion, the doors were knocked heavily which caused everyone in the room to enter a state of alert. Once the door was opened by one of the guards, a thin looking man barged in panting heavily and sweating profusely.


    Seeing the man, Senator Osme?a stood up.


    "Fraco! What happened?! Why are you here?!"


    The retired senator obviously knew the man that came in making everyone lower their alertness. However, they had a bad premonition about this.


    "Sir! Everyone! Everyone!"


    Fraco tried to speak but he was being short of breath.


    "Calm down before telling us what is happening."


    Senator Estrada interjected with a frown.


    "Yes Fraco, calm down first."


    Senator Osme?a also tried to pacify his subordinate. Unfortunately, it was not effective.


    "S-Sir. Everyone¡­ Everyone is dead! Phil, An, everyone!"


    Hearing that, everyone froze, especially Senator Osme?a.


    The people Fraco was talking about were the retired senator''s elite forces that he sent to investigate the first missing team from his men. Since there was already the suspicion that they were being targeted, she sent three teams along with his elites to investigate which were about a hundred people all in all. But for all of them to be dead with only Fraco as the survivor was totally unbelievable.


    "Tell me! Are you sure?! Are they really dead?!"


    The retired senator grabbed Fraco on his shoulders and questioned him seriously.


    "Sir, I know what I saw. Everyone was tied up while being eaten alive by the infected. I also saw the culprits!"


    Hearing that, the ears of everyone in the room perked up.


    "Speak! What did the culprits look like? How many are they?"


    Raver could not help but raise his voice while asking.


    "Sir Raver, I only saw two people. I can''t see their faces because they were wearing hooded robes and masks."


    "Only two people?! That''s total bullsh*t!"


    Senator Estrada bellowed as he was also there when Senator Osme?a sent them.


    "Senator, I-I don''t know how they did it b-but¡­ I know what I saw."


    "Why didn''t you see what happened?"


    "Sir, I separated from everyone for a bit to attend by call of nature. When I returned, everyone is gone. When I searched for them, that was what I saw."


    Senator Estrada frowned and turned towards Devon.


    "We need your shadow people now."


    "I only have two people avable now since the others escorted the target away remember."


    "It''s fine. Call them out."


    Devon snapped his finger and two robed people appeared from the shadows. Aside from Senator Estrada''s men, the other people in the room were surprised. However, there was someone who was more shocked than surprised.


    Fraco stared at the robed figures with wide eyes. He stood up hysterically and shouted.


    "THAT ROBE! THOSE ROBES! F*CK! YOU MONSTERS KILLED THEM!"


    Fraco without restrain charged towards the two robed figures as his teeth turned into fangs and his nails turned into ws.

 Chapter 322 After Sowing Distrust And Dispute, Entering The Third Phase

    <strong>Day 52 ¨C 8:51 AM ¨C Government Officials'' Residences, North District, Bay City Settlement, Pasay City, Metro Man</strong>


    While the faction led by Senator Estrada was inside their meeting room, the room at the opposite building facing the meeting room had two people eating their bowl of rice soup.


    "They are too obvious¡­ Well, I guess they can''t leave their windows open to keep the secrecy of their schemes. We can''t see what is happening though."


    Mark was displeased as he could not directly see what was happening inside. In the least, he could use the emotions and mental fluctuations to monitor the events inside the meeting room to some extent.


    As for Mei, she could only eat her soup in silence. She had no idea what was happening inside the room on the opposite building.


    "Hmm?" Mark turned his head towards the meeting room. "The show is starting."


    He sensed that the man they deliberately ignored as they posed as members of the organization entered the meeting room in panic.


    At this time, Mark''s eyes turned red as he focused on the person who was exuding a natural aura of arrogance and confidence within the people inside the meeting room. For sure, it was the leader of the group inside. Mark then started to influence the subconscious of the man and bolstered the senator''s urge to know what in the world was happening. At the same time, he also influenced the other people inside differently.


    As he seeded, he sensed that the senator called upon their avable shadow people as he sensed the two strange beings appearing inside the room. To get to the bottom of it all as fast as possible, the senator that was influenced by Mark decided to call the two shadow people despite the presence of the other people inside the meeting room.


    That was when he seeded in the second phase.


    Since Mark deliberately wore the robes they took from the members of their organization back in NAIA, the survivor of the team that had just narrated the story had his rage re up.


    The man activated his Mutator abilities and transformed while charging towards the two shadow people at the same time.


    "Oooops¡­"


    Mark scratched his head.


    "Something wrong?"


    That action of Mark made Mei ask what happened.


    "The show ended already. It just took several seconds¡­ How boring."


    Markined.


    The emotional fluctuations Mark could feel from the survivor vanished. On the other hand, one of the shadow people felt shocked at what had happened.


    "Haa¡­ Nevermind. I achieved my goals already. Time for Phase 3. Let''s go."


    Mark downed the contents of his bowl and urged Mei to go. Thetter could only copy what Mark did with his food and grabbed his hand.


    The two then vanished from the building in a blink of an eye.


    ***


    <strong>Day 52 ¨C 8:53 AM ¨C Meeting Room, Government Officials'' Residences, North District, Bay City Settlement, Pasay City, Metro Man</strong>


    "ESTRADA! WHAT IS THE MEANING OF THIS?!"


    Senator Osme?a furiously shouted while looking at the decapitated body of Fraco lying on the floor.


    No one was able to react when Fraco suddenly charged forward with a very thick intent to kill aside from the targets of his attack. Due to suddenly feeling danger the moment they came out, one of the two robed figures counter attacked by reflex and waved his hand towards Fraco. With that counter attack, the transformed Mutator immediately had his head and body separated before falling unto the floor.


    The event happened too sudden but the other people here were not stupid.


    Fraco had just mentioned that the two people that annihted his team that was sent to investigate were wearing hooded robes. Before he attacked, he also shouted about the robes the two people Senator Estrada called out.


    Although Fraco attacked first, he was easily killed like swatting a fly which also showed that just this two people could be enough to kill those three teams Senator Osme?a sent to investigate.


    Everyone in the room looked at Senator Estrada with distrustful eyes.


    "You people continue the meeting. I just remember that I have something important to do."


    With Raver in the lead, one by one, other members of the faction left the meeting with different alibis. Of course their acting was not good and their alibis could easily be seen through but they did not care anymore. They just wanted to leave no matter what before everything waste.


    Without waiting for any reply from Senator Estrada, they scurried off with their guards out of the meeting room. The only one left was Senator Osme?a who was ring at Senator Estrada.


    "I expect an exnation for this you bastard. So much for an alliance."


    With those words, Senator Osme?a left without even recovering the body of his subordinate. Although he was infuriated, he also thought that if he continued to stay here, he would be next.


    "Devon, what is the meaning of this?"


    Senator Estrada turned his head to his guard with a heavy re. With what just happened, it was very easy to assume the root of this. It could be that Devon moved behind his back and sent his men to kill those survivor teams.


    "Senator, we have a deal here, remember? I work following the contract and our organization is the same. It could be that another branch is tasked with this. Or¡­"


    "Or?"


    "Someone knew of our organization and was using us to sow discord in the alliance."


    Devon said grimly.


    If it was thetter case, then, they had been yed severely without them knowing. Now that distrust had been ced on the hearts of the leaders of the alliance, their alliance that had yet to take control of the power here in Bay City had already fallen.


    This only did not destroy the alliance but also disrupted the ns of the organization behind him.


    Devon turned towards the two hooded figures.


    "Go investigate the root of this."


    The two hooded figures kneeled on one knew before vanishing into their shadows.


    With what happened, Devon was itching to punish whoever did this but without any clue, he could only wait.


    ***


    <strong>Day 52 - 9:32 AM ¨C Osme?a Residence, Government Officials'' Residences Southwest Building, North District, Bay City Settlement, Pasay City, Metro Man</strong>


    "Sir, are you alright?"


    His personal guard, Ellisis Siguerra, asked.<sub> </sub>


    Senator Osme?a sat on his chair inside his office bedroom. He was trying to calm himself down but the impact of what happened which kept revolving in his mind was not making him any calmer.


    "Damn that Estrada, how could he y us like this?!"


    He furiously mmed his fist on his table.


    In his view, it was very likely that since the alliance had started to rise due to the huge failure the military made, Senator Estrada decided to weaken the other members of the alliance to remain on top and gain the most power in the settlement. It was easy to have this conclusion given that Senator Estrada''s thirst for power was too strong even before the outbreak.


    Then, Senator Osme?a froze. If that was really the case, he would not bring out his men that could be the main culprits.


    He finally calmed down.


    "There should be more to this." Senator Osme?a murmured. "Ellisis."


    He turned to his guard. However¡­


    What he saw was his guard holding his throat trying to prevent blood from spilling out from the slit on his neck. Ellisis started to stagger backwards mming on the table and finally falling unto the bed. He tried to scream in pain but only gurgling sounds came out as blood flooded his mouth.


    Senator Osme?a on the other hand could not bother anymore about his guard. He was staring at the two figures that suddenly appeared in his office bedroom. One was even holding the bloody ck colored dagger that was surely used to slit the throat of his guard.


    "To think that I hesitated. Are you two sent by that Bastard?"


    He expected that the two who wore the same kind of robes the men of Senator Estrada had was actually sent by him. To his surprise¡­


    "Nope. What''s in your mind is right. Senator Estrada is not the one behind the killings of your subordinates and the other survivor teams under your alliance."


    The man spoke nonchntly. He was even shrugging his shoulders.


    "Wh-what! Then, who are you people! Why are you doing this?!"


    Senator Osme?a tried to probe while his hand was moving to grab something from his waist.


    Finally managed to get hold of the thing, he immediately pointed it to the assants. It was a Desert Eagle 1191 semi-automatic pistol. With this, his confidence was raised as he red at the two assants.


    "Tell me! Why are you two doing this?!"


    The male did not seem to mind the gun being pointed at him and was just looking at the retired Senator as if he was an idiot. When the gun was pointed at the female however¡­


    CLACK! TING! TING!


    The man vanished and the next thing that the retired Senator was holding a disassembled gun that had its parts fallen unto the floor.


    BAM! BAM!


    "SIR WHAT IS HAPPENING THERE!?"


    The guards outside finally arrived as they heard themotion inside the room. They started knocking heavily on the door.


    "What are you shouting there behind the door?! Get inside already!"


    Senator Osme?a shouted. However, the one that answered him was the voice of the male assant in the room.


    "No one will be able to enter¡­"


    Senator Osmena stared at the man that was now standing beside the door wide eyed. He could not hear his guards outside anymore and all he could see was the blood seeping unto the gap below the door.


    "What¡­"


    He was horrified.


    "I have a question." The male assant spoke. "Do you know anything about Auraboros?"


    Auraboros, a portmanteau of the words Aura and Ouroboros. It was the name of the international underground organization that had influence in almost every country in the world. That was the same organization that founded Death Valley Settlement in Quezon and the ones standing behind Senator Estrada.


    "Auraboros¡­ You mean that organization? I don''t know anything!"


    "No? By your reaction, you have dealings with them before. But you''re not lying. What a blunder."


    The male assant sighed while the retired Senator felt relief. He was not lying at all and knew nothing. There was a deal between him and that organization before but it was all done through a middleman. However, the next words of the assant made retired Senator Osme?a horrified.


    "In any case, you have to die."


    "Why?! I told you I know nothing!"


    "That''s not the reason I''m going to kill you though?"


    The male assant pointed at his partner making the retired senator turn towards her.


    His eyes turned wide as the female assant removed the hood and mask that covered her head and face.


    p "Y-you!"</anda>


    That familiar face known by everyone in Bay City.


    "You should be dead already!"


    "Don''t curse her like that." The male assant walked towards him. "She''s just abducted, remember? But of course, that is different from what your alliance nned. You all wanted her dead. Well, she''s alive and will continue living. As for you guys who plotted on her and your arrogant but useless subordinates, you all will die instead."


    The man touched the retired Senator''s neck and he felt something entering his body. Terrified, he tried to resist only finding that he could barely move his body at all. As seconds passed, he started to lose the ability to move even his toe.


    He felt weakened and his body felt heavy and his head started to feel dizzy. His whole body felt painful every time he tried to move as if his body was being torn from inside.


    The assant finally removed his hand and the senator''s body that could not move fell on the floor in the same position. That caused the still living senator to feel pain that was more than equivalent of all the pain he felt in his whole life.


    "I turned half of your blood into metal blocking half your blood vessels to limit the blood flow in your body. You will die suffering for a while. Well, if you wanted to die already, just force your body to move so you will tear your blood vessels inside your body and cause internal bleeding. In any case, no one can save you."


    The assant kneeled and whispered unto the retired senator''s ears. He then stood up and made his way to Mei Xiao and the two vanished from the room as if they were never there.


    It took a half days'' time and shocking news shook the entire Bay City. Retired Senator Osme?a and all his men were massacred inside his residences. Fortunately, his family members were fine and were just confined inside one of the rooms.


    All everyone knew was that the massacre was caused by two people wearing hooded robes.

 Chapter 323 The Broken Alliance, Marking The Upcoming Battle

    <strong>Day 53 ¨C 12:11 PM ¨C Guevarra Residence, Residences VIP Lounge, Government Officials'' East Building, North District, Bay City Settlement, Pasay City, Metro Man</strong>


    It was currently lunch time in the Guevarra Residence. Instead of having lunch with his family however, he was together with Congressman Escobar despite the fact that he was not really in a very good rtion with him. Another one together with the two was Congressman Santiago, thest person among the leaders of their alliance with Senator Estrada.


    "Things are getting worse."


    Raver said with a frown. Even though there was higher ss food in front of them they started more than ten minutes ago, the three did not even touch their spoons yet.


    Yesterday, Retired Senator Osme?a and all the survivor teams under him were all killed. Osme?a was found dead inside his residence along with his dead guards and confined family members while the teams under him were found dead inside their residences.


    From what happened yesterday, there was only one person that they could suspect about what happened and that was Senator Estrada. Not only that the assants were robed people who was very likely to be the same people Senator Estrada called out yesterday, but since there was not a single trace of trespassing on the residence and it was as if the assants vanished into shadows, the descriptions totally fit with the Senator''s men.


    Now, they could not help but fear for their lives and started to question what the hell was in their minds when they joined the alliance.


    "Where are Asucena and Monteroso? They arete."


    Congressman Escobar ignored what Raver said and voiced his own question with a displeased expression. Although it was really not the fault of the two, the stress getting on his nerves made Senator Escobar even more irritable than normal.


    "It''s better if you two rx first. We won''te into a conclusion if the two of you were swayed by your emotions."


    Congressman Santiago tried to pacify the two even though in fact, he was also stressed out himself.


    With the exception of the dead Senator Osme?a and the primary suspect, Senator Estrada, Raver invited the rest of the leaders of the alliance toe up with a n or solution against the horrifying things happening to them. Aside from Senator Osme?a''s death yesterday, all of them also received news about the deaths of several teams under theirmand.


    Because of the several cases of missing survivor teams that had gone missing and were found dead these past days, the other survivor teams whether contracted or not within the settlement became afraid of going out. Many started to petition that the military should find the root of this mess but of course, there were no leads so far. The only witness that saw the culprits so far was even killed by Senator Estrada''s men. Now, they fear that it was really Senator Estrada''s work.


    While the three were racking their brains for anything that could possibly save them from this mess, the door into Raver''s dining room was barged open. The three could not help but almost jump out of their seats and their guards posed ready to fight but felt relieved when they saw Senator Asucena that rushed in. However, his face was pale and he was panting. It seemed that he rushed here in a hurry with his guards behind him. Not only that, but his guards were doubled in number.


    "Senator Asucena, what is happening with you? Also where is Senator Monteroso? He and his family live next to your residence, right?"


    Congressman Escobar asked with a frown. He was obviously expecting a bad news but asked nevertheless.


    There, Senator Asucena looked at Congressman Escobar with a look filled with horror.


    "Monteroso, he''s dead. Also no one was spared from his residence. His guards and even his two sons were found dead."


    With the deration of the horrifying news, the atmosphere inside the room turned colder. The second person from their alliance had fallen.


    "H-how did he die? Did the military know of this already?"


    Congressman Santiago asked.


    "They are already investigating the scene. All I know is that his daughters-inw and his wife that went out this morning returned after an hour and found the scene already like that. They immediately informed the military since one of daughter-inw had a rtive in the military."


    Senator Asucena who was wobbly approached the table and sat down as he replied.


    "How did Senator Monteroso die? Is it the same way as Senator Osme?a?"


    Raver asked. However, Senator Asucena shook his head with a grim face.


    "I saw his body. Rather than being killed, it is more like he was diced and grilled. Only his head that had that terrifying look on his face is left whole. His whole body is unrecognizable."


    Hearing that, Raver and the two congressmen turned to look at their food. It was grilled and diced meat. The three pushed away their food as their appetite turned upside down. Although it was meat from a Mutated Animal which was a luxury in the settlement, they could not help but picture it as what Senator Asucena had just described.


    "What are we going to do now? We will be next for sure."


    Senator Santiago voiced out with a grim face. Two of them had already fallen. Whether it was Senator Estrada that did it or not, they were surely in danger.


    "Should we ask the military for help?"


    Raver suggested.


    "And what? Confess everything?"


    Congressman Escobar scowled.


    "Why don''t you try to suggest something if you are not satisfied with mine?"


    Congressman Escobar grew silent. In fact, he could not thing of anything to suggest.


    "Let''s go with Raver''s suggestion." Congressman Santiago chimed in which made everyone in the room to turn to him. "We can just say that Senator Estrada forced us to join him. Also it is true that we didn''t have anything to do with his ns since it came from himself and the ones that enacted the ns were his men."


    Hearing that, the other three was convinced. They decided to leave lunch and contact the military as soon as possible.


    After the dining room was emptied, two human silhouettes appeared out of nowhere and turned into ck mist that flew out of the window and towards the rooftop of the building.


    ***


    <strong>Day 53 ¨C 1:16 PM ¨C Rooftop, Government Official''s Residences, North District, Bay City Settlement, Pasay City, Metro Man</strong>


    "There they go."


    Mark said as he watched several vehicles leave the residences. Inside the vehicles were the members of Senator Estrada''s alliance and their guards.


    "Is it really fine to let them contact the military?"


    Mei asked.


    "It''s fine. Just let them feel a bit of security. Then we will strike when they thought that they are already safe."


    "Okay."


    Mei nodded.<sub> </sub>


    "Well, we''re going to take the rest of the day to prepare."


    Mark said while stretching his arms and back. What he had just said made Mei tilt her head confused.


    To her cute head tilt, Mark caressed her head and spoke.


    "You heard them right? They will put all the me on Estrada. For sure, the military will confront him and it will turn into a bloody fight since the guy will obviously resist. We don''t know how many people from that organization were still present here in the settlement since they are very hard to detect but for sure, they are all powerful. Normal soldiers won''t be able to defeat them."


    "I see." Mei nodded. "When the soldiers were pushed back into a corner, we will show ourselves right?"


    "Yep." Mark smiled. "Let''s get the military into debt. That way, we can get more things from them with little opposition, especially their top secret research."


    "Gege is so sly."


    "It is against my principles to steal from allies, so we just need a way to make them unable to decline if we asked." Mark shrugged his shoulders and smiled sinisterly. "Besides, it might be the n of that alliance to deal with you but the military also had some responsibility since they failed to protect you."


    "Gege, are you angry again? You''re premonition did not happen and I''m still here."


    "I know. But you know? The feeling of having that premonition is simr to watching you and everyone die without being able to do anything. After I woke up, rather than waking up from a nightmare, it is more like returning to the past to make things right. That is why even though the things happened differently¡­ The bad feeling is still there."


    "It''s fine."


    Feeling the boiling anger inside Mark who rarely showed emotions, Mei hugged him tightly trying to calm him down.


    Mark looked at Mei.


    "I''ve decided. If you became a Mutator, what ability do you want?"


    "Hmm¡­"


    Mei knew about the [PsyCrystal] and the [Physical Crystals] already. That was why she was really thinking seriously about what she wanted.


    "How about the ability to fly? Something like wings? That way, I can support Gege wherever and I can escape easily if needed."


    She asked which made Mark scratch his head.


    "That''s hard¡­ I only have two that can allow flight and both have bat like wings¡­" Mark was troubled. "I prefer for you to have a dove''s or a swan''s if you wanted wings."


    What Mark was talking about was the [ck Dragonification] mutation that he got from the leader of Death Valley Settlement, Adrik Volkov. The second was a newer one, [Bat Wings] mutation.


    With a single thought, two [Physical Crystals] appeared in his hand.


    "I really want to save this one for something else but if you want it, I''ll give it to you."


    Mark pointed at the [ck Dragonification Physical Crystal] and told Mei what it was.


    "As for this one, I got it from something you''re familiar with."


    "Hmm?"


    "Remember the [Leader Type] infected with bat wings? That guy''s intelligence is rather high so I managed to get his mutation."


    Mark said while he yed with the other crystal. It was back then in the flyover outside NAIA when he killed the flying infected before he approached Mei. Aside from the crystal, there was also something else that he got from that infected.


    "I''m not really picky, this will do."


    Mei smiled and picked up the crystal with [Bat Wings] mutation.


    Seeing her contented smile, Mark shrugged his shoulders.


    "How about I grow the same kind of wings?"


    Mei was surprised at what he said.


    "Is it possible?"


    At that question, Mark took out a stic medicine bottle from his bag that was securely wrapped with soft cloth. When the cap of the bottle was removed, the stench of blood seeped out of the bottle.


    "Others can''t but I can."


    Mei''s eyes lit up and grabbed Mark''s arm like a kid begging to be brought to an amusement park.


    "Then, let''s go! Gege and I will have the same pair of wings!"


    Seeing her childish expression, Mark''s anger from before was suddenly flushed out and his smile turned gentle. That smile made Mei even more delighted.


    "Alright, let''s return to the church first. I''ll have you use that crystal. You also have that crystal inside the bottle right?"


    Mark asked which Mei pulled out the bottle from her shirt that was tied up into a ne that she was wearing. It was the only crystal that was not in Mark''s possession after he became a Mutator. It was the most precious crystal for Freed as it was the psychic ability that came from his sister.


    Now, Mark decided that Mei would have it along with that pair of bat wings.


    With things decided, Mark and Mei vanished from the rooftop.


    ***


    The clock started to tick faster. The political alliance was totally broken and the other members decided to side with the military. A confrontation that would dictate the fate of Bay City was bound to happen.


    Fortunately, Mark decided to prepare¡­


    As it was not only the forces currently inside Bay City would be present at that time.

 Chapter 324 Preparations, The Three Camps Waiting For The Brewing Event In Bay City

    <strong>Day 53 ¨C 10:22 PM ¨C Baran Church, Redemptorist Road, Bacran, Para?aque, Metro Man</strong>


    Mark watched Mei face with a gentle expression while he caressed her hair with his hand.


    Right after they watched the leaders of the alliance leave their residence building, Mark and Mei stopped by the "Team Fairy''s" residence and secretly picked up the three girls and Amihan. As for Odelina, she had to stay back in order to hide the fact that I and Abbygale was not there.


    After picking the girls up, they all returned to Baran Church in order to prepare. Upon their return, Karlene was delighted to meet I and Abbygale. Together with Miracle and the other [Blood Children] they started ying. As it looked like, Karlene''s childish trait made it easier for her to interact with children.


    While the girls yed inside the church, Mark brought Mei into the one of the rooms inside the church where they slept at in the past few days. There, Mark made Mei consume both crystals at the same time and helped her with the pain she felt during her mutation.


    It had been several hours since then and it was very likely that Mei would not wake up anytime soon. In the least, her condition had already stabilized.


    Since it was the case, he decided to start his own preparation.


    He moved into another room and took out the stic medicine bottle that he had shown Mei before which contained blood. This blood came from that [Leader Type] infected with bat wings that Mei had confronted before. With this blood, he would be able to gain the same kind of mutation the source of the blood had.


    It was his newest ability that came in coteral at that time he was possessed by the Deity of Bloodshed. The ability that came from the [Physical Crystal] he consumed at that time.


    He thought that it was a mutation that could turn people into a chimera like creature as he saw from theckey of the cougar in Death Valley Settlement. When he consumed it however, he learned that it was far more than that. It was not a mutation to turn someone into a chimera but a mutation that allowed someone to fuse genes or DNA into his body and receive the mutation that gene had. The ability of this mutation was rather overpowered in his view that he could not help but curse in shock at that time.


    This ability was what he called [Gene Fusion], an ability that totallyplemented his [Blood Conversion]. As he could absorb and convert blood of others into his, it was easier for him to fuse other''s genes unto his body.


    However, it came with a setback. This mutation cannot be controlled easily. If he carelessly absorbed just anyone''s and anything''s blood, he could turn into a monster in no time at all. Due to that, he was avoiding absorbing blood of others as much as possible since he gained this mutation. The least he could do during time he was sucking blood and turning them into metal was to not include the white blood cells and other cells in the blood that could contain DNA and just focused on absorbing those that surely did not.


    Another setback was that the fusion was extremely painful.


    This time, he was going to undergo [Gene Fusion] for the first time and it was to acquire that [Bat Wings] mutation.


    Without further ado, he let out a [Blood Whip] and made it absorb the blood inside the bottle. After the bottle was emptied, he closed his eyes and prepared for the next thing that would happen.


    "URGH!"


    Mark grit his teeth trying not to make a single loud sound. Unlike the [Physical Crystals] that would fuse the mutation contained within directly to the person''s body which only caused pain during the change, what Mark was undergoing right now was a full gic mutation.


    If it were to be described in a vague sense, the crystals would change the current genes of the user into the same mutated genes. It was more like the crystal was cultivating their genes to be capable of having that mutation.


    On the other hand, [Gene Fusion] was making two genes fuse with one another. The already mutated gene was being fused into his genes changing its very structure. Because of that however, the process was severely shortenedpared to using crystals and actual mutation after a person was bitten by the infected.


    It might be painful but because of the fusion, thepatibility of his body to the new mutation he would get would be as high as possible. Due to the highpatibility, it would be easier for him to use the ability than actual Mutators.


    While the others were oblivious to the pain Mark was undergoing, the [Blood Children] could sense it. It did not take long and they entered the room with Miracle in the lead. They surrounded him in total worry but they decided not to approach and touch him as his body was totally sensitive at this moment.


    Three hours passed and Mark was finally able to breathe calmly. His body was drenched in sweat and he was feeling quite numb but the pain was over.


    The [Blood Children] were finally able to approach him.


    "Is Papa ok? Still painful?"


    Miracle who already adapted her older sister''s address to their adoptive father asked with a worried expression.


    Mark patted her head and before patting the other [Blood Children].


    "I''m fine already."


    Of course, they did not believe him. This was the set back of having a mental connection with them. It would not be easy to fool these children.


    "Papa¡­ lying is bad."


    "Haha." Markughed it off. "I''m alright really. My back is just a little numb."


    Finally, Mark stood up from his position. With the [Blood Children] in tow, he entered the room where Mei was left unconscious.


    Mei was still asleep when he entered. He wiped off the sweat from his body, changed clothes andy down on the bed beside her. He was feeling sleepy after the tiring pain he had undergone.


    As he tried to sleep, Miracle and the other [Blood Children] surrounded him and also shut down their senses. With the Alpha and Aimee around, there would be no actual danger that would go to them in this church. They could take a good sleep without worries.


    While he was sleeping however, two little silhouettes entered the room. The two looked displeased and forced their little bodies into the bed. Luckily, the bed could still amodate the two.


    When morning came, Mark woke up with a whole mess on the bed. Mei also regained consciousness just before Mark was able to fix the mess.


    ***


    <strong>Day 54 ¨C 10:32 AM ¨C General''s Office, North District, Bay City Settlement, Pasay City, Metro Man</strong>


    "General, when are we going to make a move about this?"


    Major Lopez asked the General with a furious expression.


    The higher officials of the military in Bay City were called into a meeting this time. Their topic in this meeting was the sudden news that arrived to them yesterday. The news contained the existence of the alliance, the power behind Senator Estrada and the scheme that caused Mei Xiao''s disappearance.<sub> </sub>


    This alliance was not all new in the military''s perspective as it was obvious in the first ce. The secret meetings, the secured meeting room and some other things were too obvious to escape the eyes of the military in this settlement.


    What made the officials shocked was the possibility of a strong power backing the Senator and the scheme that led the military to lose a lot of people, prestige and the supposed assassination of Mei Xiao.


    Unexpectedly, all these things were disclosed by the actual members of that alliance that decided to turn over to the military because of the threat to their lives. This was not all false as two of their members were already killed in just two days.


    "I know." General Perez replied with a stern expression. "However, we are soldiers and we have our S.O.P.s. We can''t just storm there without proper nning and preparations."


    "Well, that is true¡­" Hearing that, Major Lopez backed down. "But we shouldn''t make it long. The rumors are running about already."


    Those words of the Major made the officials in the room shake their heads.


    The former members of the alliance led by Senator Estrada were surely using them as a shield. They did not only inform the military about those things but also anonymously spread rumors about the news across the settlement. Because the news was too crucial and had something to do with what happened in NAIA, it spread like wildfire overnight.


    Just this morning, the military already received petitions for a faster investigation about the matter.


    Due to this, the military would surely be forced to make a move as the pigs nned.


    "There is nothing we can do but dy it a bit." General Perez sighed. "The previous event in NAIA pushed us to anotherck of manpower. If there is really arge power supporting Estrada from behind, we really can''t take the matters lightly."


    ***


    <strong>Day 54 ¨C 11:13 AM ¨C Estrada Residence, Government Officials'' Residences, North District, Bay City Settlement, Pasay City, Metro Man</strong>


    BAM!


    Senator Estrada mmed his fists on the table in total anger.


    "Those traitors!"


    He roared.


    "What are you going to do now Senator?" Devon spoke in a mocking tone. "The whole settlement is condemning you now. So much for raising your influence over the people of this settlement."


    Hearing those words made the Senator re at Devon but he did not say anything back.


    "I already told you before that they might stab us in the back."


    "Tsk. But is it my fault that they turned their backs towards us?"


    "Maybe not but that did not really matter now."


    Devon moved to sat on an empty chair instead of standing behind the senator.


    "Where are those bastards now?"


    Senator Estrada asked.


    "They seemed to be relocated in a secure area. The two shadow people under me cannot enter the ce at all. If they did, it was really likely for them to be discovered."


    "Where are they relocated?"


    "Somewhere inside theboratories. You know that that ce is the most secure ce here. The hallways are painted white and the lights are always open. My shadow people had no ce to hide there."


    "Dammit!"


    The senator cursed once again. He could not wait to tear those traitors into pieces.


    He was really furious. All the things he worked towards to were gone in an instant. With the rumors of his scheme flying around from one mouth to another, the prestige he tried to build up crumbled within a single night. Even if the investigation went in favor of him, there was no way for the things he lost to return.


    This time, Devon spoke.


    "The deaths of those two had nothing to do with us which meant that there is someone pulling the strings behind everyone. Now, it is inevitable that we will have to sh with the military if we wanted to rule this settlement."


    "We don''t have any other choice do we?"


    "For sure, the military won''t make a move immediately." Devon smiled sinisterly which also made the Senator shiver. "We can choose that free time to prepare against them. Also in the meantime, I''ll inform all our men in this settlement and those that are staying outside."


    "How long do you think before the military make their move?"


    "ording to their Standard Operating Procedures, they will finish the initial investigations first towards the deaths of those two. They will appear before us in another day or two. The longest will be three."


    "Then call upon all your men. If they started to investigate me, it will only pretense but it is very likely that they will try to get rid of me."


    Hearing thatmand, Devon smiled.


    "About calling everyone, it doesn''t matter. I''ll tell you something, several people from our headquarters will pay a visit here in the next days. Let''s see if the military will be able to do anything.

 Chapter 325 Coinciding, The Generals Decision, The Unneccessary News And The Incoming Enemies

    <strong>Day 54 ¨C 3:42 PM ¨C General''s Office, North District, Bay City Settlement, Pasay City, Metro Man</strong>


    Inside the office, General Miguel Perez were together with his children, Raphael, Gabriel and Angeline, future daughter-inw, Teresa Cruz, and the two females entitled as the female devils in the settlement, the mother and daughter Alicea Mae and Pa Mae rence.


    Normally, the statements of the members of the alliance led by Senator Estrada would be questionable. Both fortunately and unfortunately however, the presence of Alicea and Pa during their statements had proven that they were not lying. Because of that, the military had to take their statements with all seriousness.


    This time, General Perez took everyone here in his office for a serious discussion.


    "I want all of you to be cautious for the next few days."


    General Miguel Perez spoke.


    "Dad, is it because of Senator Estrada?"


    First Lieutenant Rafael asked.


    "That is right." The general sighed. "We had just confirmed that the ones backing him came from Auraboros."


    Auraboros, it was an underground organization that had activities around the world though most of these activities were crime rted. There were even instances that their organization was confirmed to be funding terrorist groups and criminal syndicates.


    There was not much known about this organization aside from a story where the organization was eradicated before. Unfortunately, like one of the words that made up the name of their organization, Ourboros, their end was just another beginning. The next time their organization appeared after the fall, they already had influence in different parts of the world.


    The worst thing however, there were rumors that a lot of members of this organization were not human at all. There was no confirmation to this as their organization was too slippery for the authorities of different countries but this rumor was still being believed by a lot of people that knew about their organization or had dealings with them.


    Now, that very same organization was standing behind Senator Estrada and that was a total bad news for the military in Bay City.


    Also before they lostmunication with the Port of Real Settlement in Real Quezon, they received the report of a crime settlement called Death Valley. The worst thing about that report was that the so called crime settlement was led by and founded by the international drug lord, Adrik Volkov. From the international secret reports the General knew, there was an assumption that Adrik Volkov had connections with Auraboros.


    Auraboros being active in the Philippines this time was not a good sign. Starting with the n to kill Mei Xiao while thinning their manpower and to how Senator Estrada tried to raise his influence in Bay City after that, it was safe to assume that Auraboros would want to take control of Bay City while staying in the dark.


    Normally, the military had high chance to thwart Senator Estrada''s ns but with the performance of the robed people that abducted Mei Xiao, the chance for the military to fail was raised.


    "We are currently preparing to confront Senator Estrada and it will be finished by tomorrow. During that time, Angeline, Pa, Gabriel and also you Alicea, all of you will be put in the maximum security area in theboratory. Rafael, you and your squad will be tasked of guarding everyone. There will be other elite squad that will be present there but their duty is to protect our scientist and their families."


    "Dad, for you to arrange all that, would something huge happen?"


    Gabriel asked.


    "The possibility is high." General Perez nodded. "Although their camp made it as discreet as possible, they seemed to be gathering their forces into a single area. Senator Estrada also left his residence and stayed in a rented warehouse yesterday. The very same ce where their forces are gathered."


    "Dad, can''t we help you? Especially me, I''m a Mutator now."


    Angeline chimed in.


    "Angeline, I appreciate the offer but no. Our enemies this time were not the mindless infected but actual intelligent people. Since I, the General led this whole settlement, it will be likely for them to target you instead to get hold of me. In the first ce, the reason you became a Mutator is still questionable."


    "You kids shouldn''t give the General more headaches and just follow his instructions." Alicea spoke. "He is doing his best for everyone. Don''t try to hold him back."


    Hearing that, the three children of General Perez went silent. Although it as true, they found it hard to ept.


    "What about you dad?"


    Angeline asked.


    "Don''t worry. I won''t be put in danger just because of this. I''m the leader of the settlement so my soldiers won''t try to put me in front."


    While they were discussing inside the room, the door was knocked.


    "Enter."


    General Perez allowed the person knocking to enter and it was a soldier.


    The soldier saluted and spoke.


    "Sir, sorry for the intrusion in your meeting with your family but we have an urgent matter."


    "What is it?"


    General Perez frowned. He hoped that it was not bad news.


    "We have reestablished connection with the military settlement in Quezon. We had General Faustino on the other line and he is requesting for you."


    "Is that so?"


    The General sighed in relief. He panned his eyes to everyone inside the room.


    "Just go Dad, we can continue thister."


    Angeline pushed her father out of the room with a bitter smile.


    ***


    <strong>Day 54 ¨C 4:02 PM ¨C Military Communications Head Quarters, North District, Bay City Settlement, Pasay City, Metro Man</strong>


    General Perez hurriedly made his way towards themunications room which was quite a distance from his office.


    "This is Bay City Officer-In-Charge General Miguel Perez."


    "Miguel, it''s been a while."


    "Yes, it''s been a while General Faustino. Is what you had just told my men true?"


    "All of it is true."


    The two generals spoke about the recent events in both settlements. Since the two was close being a mentor and student before, the two spoke casually rather than using militarymunication protocols. General Perez was surprised to hear that Death Valley Settlement was no more.


    "By the way Miguel. Have you already received the reports we sent?"<sub> </sub>


    This question from General Faustino made General Perez totally confused,


    "What reports?"


    "About the [Berserk Liquid] and [Regeneration Medicine]. We asked someone to deliver that there."


    "Wait, wait. General Faustino, no one arrived here to deliver such things. Who did you ask to send the reports to us?"


    General Perez was totally bewildered. Not because he did not receive such reports but there was actually someone that General Faustino trusted that could deliver the reports from Quezon to Bay City. Not only the distance was too far but the cities that were needed to be traversed were brimming with infected.


    His question was immediately answered and his eyes had gone wide. Not only was he surprised about the person tasked with the delivery but with this information, the General managed to deduce the possibilities and missing links in the current situation in Bay City at the moment.


    Since the start, not only him but many noticed the inconsistencies in the current events. But if someone else was here pulling the strings, the inconsistencies was finally answered and the holes were filled.


    Hearing the information made General Perez cut themunication short.


    "We need to get to the bottom of this fast!"


    ***


    <strong>Day 54 ¨C 4:23 PM ¨CNorth District, Bay City Settlement, Pasay City, Metro Man</strong>


    "This is troublesome¡­"


    Mark rubbed his temples.


    Themunication with the settlement in Quezon being fixed came in unnecessarily and in a bad timing. Now, the military is acting rather strange. There were even soldiers sent to look for him.


    "What a blunder. I just wish, my ns won''t get disrupted with this mess. I will ask for an additional payment from that old man once we get back."


    "They won''t find us though. It''s just wasted effort."


    Mei spoke beside him.


    Right now, the two were hidden using [Optical Camouge] while flying above the settlement. The two held hands while a pair of bat like wings was present of both of their backs. They were currently practicing to fly using their wings. Mark had no problem getting used to it because of this body''s adaptability but Mei had to practice longer before being able to take flight.


    "Well, if they did not find us, they will still be forced to confront Estrada by tomorrow. The popce is already pressuring them."


    Mark turned to Mei.


    "It''s kind of amazing how you managed to get the hearts of too many people."


    Beingplimented like that made Mei blush. She did not care about the other people''s feelings about her but a singlepliment from Mark could make her a bit fidgety.


    "I didn''t do anything aside from work."


    "Well, that is the privilege of someone beautiful and talented."


    Mei blushed even further.


    "Let''s return to Odel first." Mark decided to change the topic or Mei might overheat. "We still need to cure Laps and help Fein."


    "Okay."


    With that, the two pped their wings and flew back to the residence where Odelina was together with the three girls.


    It was still a secret to his friends that he was here and thus, he was relying on Odelina for many things. He asked her to move Laps and Fein to be moved into her room so Mark could work on them when he and Mei returned. This way, the others would still not notice the existence of Mark and Mei.


    Mark had no ns to involve his daughters or even Odelina in the uing battle. That was why he did not work on increasing their strength for now. Instead, he nned to cure Laps and Fein to increase the security of the residence. In the worst case, he would make Char pick them up and send them to the church where they would be safe.


    While flying around the settlement, Mark and Mei also observed the movements of the people under Senator Estrada and he already confirmed that the senator and the people of Auraboros were nning to take over Bay City by force.


    Letting these guys conquer Bay City however would be a very bad thing.


    ***


    <strong>Day 54 ¨C 8:42 PM ¨C South China Sea</strong>


    Normally, the sky would be clear of any aircraft after the outbreak started. This time however, a V-22 Osprey could be seen traversing the sky over the sea.


    An American multi-mission,tiltrotormilitary aircraft was quite a sight even before the apocalypse but it was amazing that it was able to traverse the sky right now over the sea without getting into an encounter with flying evolved animals and infected capable of flight.


    Strange enough, the aircraft was flying towards Metro Man and would arrive in a few hours at most. It was unknown where it came from but it was obvious that even though the model of the aircraft was of American military origins, the people on board the aircraft were nothing like soldiers. There was not even a single sign that they belonged to the U.S. military at all.


    Themon trait among the majority of the people inside was that they were wearing strange looking robes.


    While on flight, the people aboard were spending their time talking in order to not get bored.


    "Dopp, we are going to such small country. I doubt that what the superiors said is true."


    A young man who seemed to be just fifteen spoke with a carefree attitude.


    "m, what are you taking about? I''m one of those superiors that you are trying to badmouth."


    Dopp red at m. His expression was rather sinister. As for the others, they were keeping their mouths shut. Unlike m that was close to Dopp who was their superior and the currently leader of this mission, they were just insignificant ants.


    "We received a signal from Devon asking for assistance. Luckily, it also coincides with our other missions."


    Dopp spoke nonechntly.


    "I''m quite surprised though." m spoke with great interest. "Too many things happened in this country that the headquarters had to dispatch us personally. I just wish that whoever our target right now can entertain us."

 Chapter 337 The Convergence, The People Lured Into The Place Of Battle Due To Fate

    <strong>Day 54 ¨C 12:04 PM ¨C Rooftop, OKADA Man, New Seaside Dr., Para?aque, 1701 Metro Man</strong>


    On the rooftop of a casino resort and hotelplex located on the Entertainment City gaming strip just more or less half a kilometer away directly south of the Industrial Area, four figures emerged from a hole in space.


    The shortest figure wearing a ck cloak spoke and pointed at the direction north of them. From the small voice the figure had, it was obvious that the figure was a girl on her teens. As she was thest figure toe out of the hole, it was more apparent that she was the one responsible for it.


    "Spera, why didn''t you just transport us directly inside that? I don''t think that your portal is this inconvenient."


    The tallest and buffest bodies figure spoke towards the short girl. He was wearing a red cloak and a long thin sword was strapped on his waist.


    "Shin, you shouldn''t on our cute Spera. You will frighten her."


    One of the two remaining figures that both wore purple colored cloaks spoke as she hugged Spera like a pet. Her voice was bright and mellow. Those that would hear it would not help but feel attracted to it.


    "Yoko, you should stop that. Even if the world suddenly exploded, Spera won''t change her expression."


    Thest one, who was also a female, spoke. Compared to Yoko, her voice was cold and serene. However, it gave the same attractiveness as the other had.


    "Yoko, Tsukiko. You two should take this seriously." Spera spoke with her monotonous voice before she turned to Shin and answered his question. "I want to open the portal inside that but it will take too much burden on me. If I forced it, I will use too much energy that we won''t be able to open another if we needed to return urgently."


    "Are you saying that something is preventing you from opening the portal inside?"


    Shin asked with made Spera nod in reply.


    "Alright, let''s go. That Dopp offered us a good deal just to retrieve him alone."


    Hearing the order of their leader, they started to make their way towards the target area, except a single person.


    "Spera, what are you doing? Are you scared?"


    Yoko asked as they noticed Spera not bulging from her initial spot.


    "You three go. I''ll wait here."


    "Why?"


    To that question, Spera looked at the two females in her group.


    "As I thought, you two don''t feel it." She then turned towards Shin. "You can feel it right?"


    "You mean the feeling that I should go in there? As if something is attracting me to that ce? It''s somewhat nostalgic."


    "That''s right. I get the same feeling. It''s rather unpleasant."


    The conversation of Shin and Spera made the other two confused. However, Shin would not let anyone left behind. He picked up the small statured Spera by her waist.


    "What are you doing?"


    "We can''t leave you here whether you like it or not. Aside from your portals, your physical ability iscking. We also need you to escape if the need came. The energies in that ce are rather overwhelming. I think that Dopp seeded in the ritual after many others in the organization tried several times before. But someone with the same strength as that demon is fighting it."


    Spera really did not want to go but with the difference between her strength and Shin''s, she could only sigh as she was carried away.


    Leaving the rooftop, Shin who carried Spera along with Yoko and Tsukiko jumped down the uneven shaped floors of the casino hotel and made it down unto the road without problems.


    Below the building, they encountered a lot of infected as the casino hotel was the one of the most infected areas near Bay City but with their prowess, the infected did not even bothered them as they ran towards Bay City.


    ***


    <strong>Day 54 ¨C 12:05 PM ¨C South District, Bay City Settlement, Para?aque, Metro Man</strong>


    As the wall of miasma prevented the General and other soldiers from seeing what was happening inside the Industrial Area from the ground level, the General and the Officers moved towards the roof of the closest hotel casino hotel north of the Industrial Area. There, you could at least see the events inside to some degree with the help of binocrs and the scopes of their sniper rifles. They actually tried to fly a camera mounted drone inside but as the drone touched or flew above the ck mist like wall, the drone would immediately lose power and crash.


    Their soldiers had already retreated outside the area for the most part. However, they did not know if there were soldiers still alive buried under the debris of the copsed buildings. As the retreat became urgent, they had no time to save them anymore.


    "Is he still human?"


    The general voiced seeing Mark contend face to face with the three meter tall monster. To their eyes, no matter how trained they were as soldiers, those swings the me demon that appeared did was hard to see. All they could see were blurs and therge sword already traveled to another point. Not only that but they found it hard to catch up with how fast the me demon and Mark was moving.


    No one could answer the general. All of them were focused on the fight between Mark and Gar''m.


    While they were watching, three guests suddenly appeared.


    "Miguel, something unusual is happening here, isn''t it?"


    Hearing that voice, General Perez turned his head by reflex.


    "Isaach! What are you doing here?! It''s dangerous!"


    The general blurted out which snapped the other soldiers from the scene inside the Industrial Area. They all looked the guests that were being escorted by some soldiers serving as bodyguards.


    It was Professor Isaach Co. together with his two assistants.


    The general red at the bodyguards making them have troubled expressions but the professor spoke.


    "Don''t me them. I forced them to bring me here. Also it''s not me who wanted toe here but my children."


    Isaach nudged his chin towards Nia and Allen, his personal assistants and foster children.


    "Sorry General but we can''t help it." Nia apologized. "Both I and Allen felt that we should go here. The feeling is too bad that if Professor did not allow us, we would have sneaked here."


    <o>,m To her words, Allen nodded with seriousness.</o>


    "What Nia said is true general."


    "Can you two exin?"


    "Sorry general but it''s hard to exin."


    Nia answered the general''s inquiry but her attention was already on the ongoing fight inside the Industrial Area. Allen was the same.<sub> </sub>


    Before the general could probe any further, a message came from his radio.


    "General! Miss Mei Xiao returned! She is at the eastern gates requesting for entry!"


    "What are you doing?" The General bellowed on the radio. "Let her in! Why do you have to ask me?"


    From the information he had and Mark''s appearance, he already deduced that the figure that fought the sword wielding man before was Mei. The proof of it was the very same sniper rifle Mei used was with that figure. When the two left the area, Mei did not return and instead Mark returned with a dragon. It was very likely that she was somewhere outside.


    "General, she''s not alone. I don''t know how but the two girls in Team Fairy are with her. There was also a dragon with her, two strangers and a weird looking creature."


    Hearing that, the general understood. The guards left at other positions had no idea what was happening here.


    "Don''t bother. Just let them in! Ask them where they want to go and if they said that they wanted to go in the operations area, escort them with all hospitality."


    "Yes Sir!"


    Themunication ended with the General''s sigh. At least, it was confirmed that Mei Xiao was safe. Beside the General, Major Lopez was also relieved although he was still feeling guilty about being powerless at that time to protect his people.


    Before the General could take a breather¡­


    "General! Look there!"


    Captain D Rosa shouted with shock while looking through his binocrs.


    The entrance of the Industrial Area was still surrounded by soldiers despite the wall of miasma being present. It was to stop anyone from entering and exiting the operation area.


    When the General and other soldiers looked that the same direction using their binocrs, they saw four robed figures walking towards the entrance. There were soldiers around the four but instead of intercepting the four, all the soldiers were just standing without moving. They were all nkly staring in front like mannequins.


    "General, should we shoot?"


    One of the snipers inquired. However, the General shook his head.


    "Don''t agitate them. They might have employed some hypnotic power to pass through without fighting. With ability like that, they could have caused more harm but they didn''t. Just let them pass."


    It was a rational decision. Strong beings wereing one after another. Them, humans, should stay at the side for now.


    They watched the four walked towards the entrance. The one walking in front pulled out his sword and shed towards the wall of miasma making a gap between the walls. The four then hurried inside before the wall returned to what it looked like before.


    Fortunately, when the four entered, the soldiers outside snapped back to reality and moved.


    It made everyone watching felt relieved specially the General who made the right gamble. He then felt a pat on his shoulder.


    "It''s not easy calling the shots, isn''t it?"


    Professor Isaach spoke sympathizing with the general.


    Soon, as the General expected, Mei and her entourage came to this very location. Aimee''s appearance caused some disturbance but it was not that bad as she was with the renowned Fairy Sniper. Many of them also recognized Karlene who was an actress before the apocalypse.


    There was not much words exchanged afterwards. They all just watched the events happening inside the Industrial Area.


    No one noticed however, I was ring at Nia and Allen stealthily.


    ***


    <strong>Day 54 ¨C 12:10 PM ¨C Industrial Area, South District, Bay City Settlement, Para?aque, Metro Man</strong>


    mes raged inside the Industrial Area as sounds of swords shing and destruction echoed within.


    Only a few was left among the members of Auraboros and not because they were had to kill but Mark purposely left them behind. Among them were Dopp and Emmette who had both of their legs crippled. Their muffled painful cries were apparent but as they were still holding unto hope of surviving, they held it in.


    Gar''m was enraged to a frightening degree now.


    "You''re not taking me seriously aren''t you?"


    The me demon spoke in a grave tone. All this time, Mark was only evading his attacks and aimed at the people he was protecting. He could already hear the mocking voices of the other beings at the top of Auraboros in his ears.


    To his enraged question however¡­


    "Took you long enough." Mark smiled with ridicule. "You''re strong. I admit it. But it seems that you never improved after thousands of years. You still fight the same way as you fought that Deity of Bloodshed, or should I say, you got weaker."


    "You¡­"


    Gar''m pointed hisrge finger towards Mark, shaking in anger.


    "You''re forcing me."


    His eyes glowed like magma.


    Finally, Mark felt some pressure. The air was shaking fiercely as Gar''m released energy straight from his spirit.


    "Arise!"


    The me demon shouted.


    mes circled around the demon before a tower of mes burst into the skies piercing through the clouds Mark gathered. The temperature around the area started to rise which forced Mark to cover himself with Miasma.


    Balls of mes then flew from the tower falling unto every dead body present in the area.


    There, their bodies burned leaving their charred skeletons behind. That however, was not the end of it. The skulls of the skeletons burst into mes and were raised from the ground leaving the rest or their bodies.


    In the blink of an eye, hundreds of ming skulls littered the Industrial Area.


    KEKEKEKEKE!


    Eerie rattlingughs could be heard that even the four intruders could not help but feel unsettled.


    Still, Shin and Spera felt the tugging feeling inside them way stronger than before.

 Chapter 327 Storming The Industrial Area, The Start Of The Battle Like A Scene From A Horror Movie

    <strong>Day 54 ¨C 10:03 AM ¨C Industrial Area, South District, Bay City Settlement, Para?aque City, Metro Man</strong>


    Senator Estrada''s monologue continued. After telling everyone about his shattered dream and the oppression he had to undergo in order to continue his career as a politician, he moved on into his propaganda and why the military and the previous government was not necessary anymore.


    "Senator, whether it was your dream or not, you vited thew in the worst possible way. Let''s say that you seeded, what will you rule when there is no one to protect the citizens here? Not only you sabotaged the mission but caused the death of many people, soldiers and civilians. No one will follow you or your reign willingly. What is the point with that? You even tried to assassinate one of the benefactors of the settlement. Although you did not seed, she was still taken. Do you know that just because of that, you gained the ire of the citizens? There is nothing that you will be able to rule because of those reasons. Furthermore, you think, the citizens will ept a criminal? You should already stop this farce and ept your sentence. We got you and your men surrounded!"


    General Perez tried to reason with the rebelling Senator and persuade him to stop. Of course, it fell into deaf ears.


    "General, General. It''s toote already. Whether I will rule over this settlement or not, it is not for you dogs to decide. You think I''m afraid of your soldiers and guns? You might not believe me but all of you are not enough to make me back down."


    By this point, the General was already starting to feel strange. It was really the weirdest point right now. Despite the thousand guns ready to shoot him at a moment''s notice, the Senator and the robed men around him were not fazed at all.


    ***


    On the jib of one of the cranes inside the industrial area, Mark and Mei decided to sit down while dangling their feet down the ledge. The show had finally started and they still had to wait before joining the fray.


    "Gege, that senator¡­"


    "You don''t have to say it, anyone can tell that he''s head is broken. He''s too delusional that he started to think that his greed and ambition are innocent dreams."


    Mark sighed. Despite the current state of the Senator, he could sympathize with him.


    These past days, Mark would also sneak into the military offices for information about Senator Estrada. It did not take too much effort since the General was also asking for the military intelligence division to gather as much information about the senator.


    ording to the records, the senator had a clean track from when he entered politics. Furthermore, he could be deemed as outstanding as the ces he governed received good development during his terms. Things had changed however when he entered the House of Representatives as a congressman.


    As the information was notplete or due to the fact that most of the things that happened that time were hidden, it was missing from the information. The only thing that the military was sure of was that Senator Estrada changed after entering the Senate.


    In each of the election propagandas that Estrada made during elections, his motto included that he was a strong minded and upright person. As written in the report and along with the statements of people that knew him at that time, it was true.


    Just how much hardship and oppression did the senator receive that it was enough to change him to what he was now. It was not easy to twist a mind of a strong minded person after all.


    "Gege, I can also sympathize with him."


    "Well, it''s easy for us to do since we had a bit of the same circumstance with him except for having such an ambition. However, this sympathy is not enough for me to let him live."


    Mark red at the senator and the three figures standing in front of the gates.


    "Hmmm???" Finally, Mark seemed to notice something. "No wonder they are not afraid of the guns being aimed at them."


    Mark murmured.


    "Why don''t the soldiers just shoot them already?"


    Mei was starting to get bored from listening to the drama below.


    "It''s because they are trained not to. Not only the soldiers but the police are the same. Whether it is a robbery holdup, hostage taking or things like this, the soldiers won''t shoot until negotiation falls through or they were ordered by the highest person inmand that was present in the mission. If they did, they could be pressed with criminal charges."


    Mark then smiled mysteriously.


    "Besides, even if the soldiers shoot now, it won''t be the end of it?"


    "Why?"


    "Look there."


    Mark then pointed at a building inside the industrial area that could oversee the situation outside the gates.


    As she turned to see what Mark was pointing at, her eyes widened. She then turned her head several times alternating her sight towards the situation outside the gate and inside that building.


    "Gege, that is¡­"


    "See why they are not afraid of guns?"


    Hearing that, Mei could only nod as she stared back to that building Mark pointed.


    From the [Optical Zoom] ability in her eyes, she could clearly see the situation inside the top northwest room of the building. Inside, there were four people standing while watching the scene outside the gates. And those four people were the senator and the robed figures that should be standing outside the gates.


    "Gege, what is going on?"


    "Don''t ask me. I don''t know either."


    It was quite surprising to see another set of the very same people standing outside the gates in apletely different area.


    Furthermore, Mark was also almost fooled by it.


    From his observation, the senator and the three robed people beside him outside the gates looked genuine. From every physical aspect and even the aura and energy they had. It was very hard to notice. If not for the fact that Mark''s emphatic ability detected the four inside the building, he would surely think that the four outside were the real ones.


    There was also another thing bothering Mark. One of the hooded men was irritatingly familiar. He could not tell why but his blood was boiling stronger as he stared at that person longer.


    Calming himself down, Mark stared at the Fake Senator once more. The Auraboros really had some unusual ways to deal with this situation. The fake senator and the fake robed men were surely human and not illusion. However, he could not fathom how that happened.


    While Mark was trying to rack his brains for any idea that could exin the existence of the fake senator, the negotiations below finally fell through.


    ***


    "I apologize, Senator, but since you don''t want to cooperate, we can only resort to this."


    General Perez raised his hand.


    With that raised hand, the safety of the guns the soldiers were holding was removed.


    BANG! BANG! BANG!


    Themand had been given as the general swung down his arm. Several gunshots sounded from different buildings outside the industrial area as the snipers that were already on position shot the senator and the robed men surrounding him.


    To every soldier''s surprise, the Senator and his men only stood there in front of the gate. Senator Estrada''s wide eerie smile could even be seen before a bloody hole appeared on his head and his fell down. It was the same for the three robed men. They all fell down with a lot of holes on their bodies.


    As the four copsed from the sniper shots, the soldiers on position in front started to move. Along with General Perez and the other officers, they approached to check the fallen bodies.


    On the other hand, the other soldiers moved in position to storm the industrial area to get rid of the remaining men under the senator and possibly, rescue anyone captured that was still alive.


    The soldiers that was with the General and the officers surrounded the supposed dead bodies and checked them. That was when the shock of their lives happened.<sub> </sub>


    "What in the world¡­"


    General Perez lost his words.


    There were four dead bodies in front of the gates but¡­


    None of them were Senator Estrada. One of the bodies was wearing the same clothes as the Senator that was speaking just earlier but the person in no way resembled the Senator. However, there was the very same eerie smile stered on his face even though he was already dead.


    That was when Captain D Rosa recognized the bodies after checking the faces of the three robed men.


    "Sir¡­"


    "What is it?"


    "These people¡­ They are our soldiers that were missing after they upied the area."


    "What?!"


    Not only the General but the other officers were shocked.


    "Damn it!"


    ? General Perez cursed.


    "Men! Commence Assault! Leave no one alive!"


    He then shouted which signaled the start of the operation. The General''s temper red. This was the worst thing that could possibly happen to him and his men. To think that his soldiers were used like this and they were made to kill their own people.


    One by one, the soldiers stormed inside the gates of the area. They covered each other and were looking after each other''s backs.


    They were all briefed about the enemies and the possibility that they were not human at all. Still, a lot of them were not convinced about this. After all, even for most of the soldiers here, it was the first time they heard of Auraboros.


    Now however, after witnessing the strange event just now, they were more convinced and were made to take the things they were told seriously.


    The moment they entered however¡­


    There was no one in sight. It was as if the front of the industrial area was empty.


    Yet, the experienced ones among the soldiers started to feel the strange feeling of being watched with killing intent despite the fact that they could not see anything.


    ***


    "Men, beware of your surroundings! The enemies might be hiding and are waiting for ambush!"


    Keene, the Mutator son of Captain D Rosa who was one of the leaders of the advance squads warned his men.


    Like other squads that entered the industrial area, they started to explore one of the buildings near the entrance. It was a wide warehouse that was one of the first buildings here that was already finished in construction.


    Strange enough, they did not encounter any single enemy until now.


    "S-sir!"


    Upon entering one of the rooms in the warehouse444, one of his men shouted in nervousness.


    "What is it?"


    "Sar-Sarte. Private Sarte is not with us!"


    Hearing that, all of the members of the squad were surprised at the sudden development.


    "What?!"


    Keen shouted as he hurried out of the room to see the situation outside but found no people. His squad members also hurried to follow him in high alert.


    "What the hell happened?"


    "Sir, I don''t know. Sarte is just behind me before I entered the room but he suddenly disappeared."


    "Sh*t! Men, let''s go! We have to find him!"


    "Sir Keene, shouldn''t we split up?"


    One of his soldiers suggested.


    "Don''t be stupid! One of us went missing while all of us were together. Although I hope that it is not the case but think like we are in a horror movie!"


    It was an absurd reasoning but they could not refute it. One of them had suddenly gone missing without any of them knowing.


    "Let''s go! Proceed with caution!"


    ***


    "Gege, the soldiers are being picked one by one."


    Mei said with a frown as she watched the soldiers getting attacked stealthily in broad daylight. The warehouses and the buildings might be dark since there was no electricity but also the soldiers that were outside the buildings were being attacked without them knowing how.


    "Should we give them a hand?"


    Mark suggested which made Mei aim the silenced sniper rifle she was carrying.


    It was a confirmation that she wanted to help them a bit and he did not stop her.


    "Gege, just one shot is enough right?"


    "I see what you are aiming for."


    Mark smiled.


    TSST!


    The sniper rifle was fired towards a secluded area where another squad was in position.

 Chapter 328 Hidden Support, The Militarys Capability And The Support They Recieved From The Shadows

    <strong>Day 54 ¨C 10:37 AM ¨C Industrial Area, South District, Bay City Settlement, Para?aque City, Metro Man</strong>


    Soldier after soldier, squad after squad, those that were tasked to enter the Industrial Area stormed through the gates. Those that were already inside immediately went to their designated positions and were all ready for confrontation.


    About a third of the forces the military deployed around the Industrial Area continued to enter the premises in formation while the remaining would stay outside for several reasons.


    The Industrial Area was rather about just a little less than a fourth of the whole South. That might sound smallpared to the size of the whole settlement but all the soldiers here would not be enough to fill even half of the Industrial Area. However, they could not pour all their forces in carelessly.


    If they all stormed at the same time, not only that the entry would take a lot of time but a single well nned trap or ambush could severely damage their ranks or worse, wipe them all out.


    Not to mention what was currently happening inside where some of the soldiers suddenly vanished into thin air. If only happened to one person, it could be that the person was lost due to the warehouses being filled with construction materials making it look like a maze but now, almost all of the teams that had already entered were experiencing such strange event.


    The soldiers started to form formations that would always keep each other on sight but it was alreadyte, they already lost one or two of their squad mates for who knows what reason.


    One of the squads that were tasked to position themselves in a rather secluded area inside near the gates where they would serve as backup if something happened at the front lines. Unknown to them, they were the easiest target right now.


    While they were oblivious about what was about to happen to them¡­


    PANG!


    A metallic sound echoed behind one of their youngest soldiers which made the soldier jump in fright and reflexively turn his head behind. The poor soldier received the greatest shock of his life. Far greater than the shock he received when he almost died several times during missions.


    Behind him, he saw a hooded figure half submerged in his shadow. What could be seen of the hooded figure was his head to his waist while the remaining seemed to be inside the shadow of the young soldier.


    Unknown to the soldier, not only he was shocked by the sudden development. Even the hooded figure froze with his hands that were about to reach the soldier''s mouth and grab him stretched out awkwardly. However, the shock of the hooded figure was not from the soldier but because of the bullet that had just prated his head. Fortunately, he was a shadow person and with their ethereal bodies, unless they wanted to touch something, almost everything would just phase through their semi-transparent bodies. Still, the bullet that should have prated his head left two holes on his hood.


    Finally, hooded figure regained his senses first and hurriedly tried to dive back into the shadow. When the hooded figure moved however, the soldier panicked even more and started yelling and shooting which startled his squad mates.


    "AAHHHH! DIE! DIE!"


    The sounds of his gun that he had forgotten to equip his suppressor echoed badly swallowing all the sounds in the Industrial Area. Thanks to that however, the members of his squads saw the hooded figure just in time before he dived back into the shadows. Unfortunately, the soldier''s gunshots did not kill the enemy.


    Immediately, what that squad saw spread among the soldiers through the radio. They started to get away from shaded areas and watched their shadows behind them.


    ***


    "Boo, that''s cheating."


    Mei grumbled with a pout when she saw that the bullet from that shot that she aimed at the head of the robed figure just passed through its body without actually doing damage. In the least, the soldiers already knew what was going on.


    On her side, Mark was not surprised about what happened.


    "Those people that can enter shadows have no fixed physical body so you should expect that."


    "Gege should have told me." Mei pouted even more. She was expecting that she would get the first kill. "But why does it look like they were trying to capture the soldiers alive?"


    Mark was also baffled. Since the start of all this, Mark had been watching. He woke up in the middle of the night after receiving the signal of the scout he sent during the time he was not in the settlement and watched everything happen. Since Senator Estrada left their hideout and upied the Industrial Area, he was watching. He found it strange that even though he could tell that there were many enemies hiding near the entrance, they were actually not nning a trap or an ambush. Instead, they tried to abduct the soldiers one by one.


    "I don''t know exactly but it looks like that they want them alive for another purpose."


    Mark then turned his head towards the outside where the bodies of the soldiers that posed as Senator Estrada and his men were still on the ground. In made him think.


    "Maybe they want more puppets like those four? Or probably, they are preparing on sacrificing people for something."


    Hearing that, Mei frowned. It was not a good thing either way. She already saw the ritual conducted to contact the Great One where three innocent girls died. If they really were preparing to sacrifice that many people, their goal would be big.


    "But Gege, how are the soldiers going to retaliate if those shadow people can''t get hurt by normal bullets?"


    "Just watch."


    Mark replied and pointed at a direction.


    There, five soldiers were already in formation as they ran towards another smaller building. As they ran however, they spotted a strange silhouette by the shade of the building. The shadow could not easily be spotted in normal situations but the soldiers were already informed about the enemies hiding in the shadows. Seeing that silhouette, one of the soldiers immediately aimed and fired his pistol.


    BANG!


    "GRUAAAH!!!"


    A painful shout from a deep voice with an echo like nature was heard as the silhouette was forced off from the shade.


    That painful shout confirmed the existence of the enemy and the soldier shot two more times at the staggering figure.


    BANG! BANG!


    There, the hooded figure copsed on the ground. In the blink of an eye, the body''s figure vanished leaving its empty hood riddled with three gunshot holes.


    Seeing what happened there, Mark nodded.


    "Gege, what is that?"


    Mei was confused by this.


    "Well, you know that Karlene is the daughter of a major right?"<sub> </sub>


    "Yes, I remember she said that."


    "Back when we were confronted with the contaminated animals in the mountain, she seem to have knowledge about miasma and paranormal stuff so I asked her about it when we are on the way here."


    On Mark''s question on Karlene, she said that her dead mother was a retired soldier from a special task force the military and the police had. Even though it was the modern times already, there were still instances that paranormal things would run amok and harming people. The existence of that special task force was solely for those matters. They were equipped with weapons that could harm paranormal entities, specifically, specialized bullets. The unfortunate thing that the manufacturing of that bullets was too small because there were not really that much mission that that task force was called for.


    "So they also have such things."


    "Yeah, but as you see, there are five soldiers there but only one seemed to be equipped with those. Actually, there''s two there but they tried to conserve the ammunition as much as possible."


    "Then how am I going to fight them?"


    Mei felt dejected.


    "Wait." Mark smiled and called. "Crimson."


    At hismand, clumps of miasma appeared from underneath his feet and flew towards his hands, there, the reddish ck [Blood Child] materialized out of nowhere.


    Among the [Blood Children], Crimson was the one he could rely the most right now especially since the little critter had now had a body that could dematerialize and materialize at will. At his mist like form, Crimson was almost undetectable and could even maneuver in the air without problem. Due to those abilities Crimson gained after he evolved, Mark sent him to stealthily guard Odelina and the others and also maintain an eye in the settlement when he was not here.


    Last night, Crimson was also the one reported the sudden event.


    "Crimson. Help her a bit. Coat her bullets with miasma."


    Receiving themand, Crimson wobbled in confirmation and turned back into his mist form. Then, the clump of ck miasma flew towards the muzzle of Mei''s sniper rifle.


    "Mei''er, try shooting again."


    "Okay."


    Without any question, Mei immediately went to find a good target below. She immediately spotted a strange shadow hiding at the shade of one of the hanging beams being used for construction.


    TSSST!


    PANG!


    "GRAAAAAH!!!!"


    The soldiers were surprised to suddenly hear another painful scream by the enemies when none of them actually shot at all. Another thing was that the scream seemed way more painful than before. They immediately charged towards the area where the scream was heard but all they could see was an empty robe that had a hole on its hood.


    "Gege it really works."


    Mei seemed to be delighted. Other people might be appalled from the scene though. After all, she had just ended a life and yet, she was delighted about it.


    To Mark it did not matter though, as long as she was happy.


    From that, Mei started shooting every shadow she noticed waiting for the soldiers. Of course, she did not shoot any that near the soldiers so she would not be noticed and only picked those that were in the isted ces.


    One shot, one kill. That was how she did it. The enemies did not even know what happened until they died. Of course, she could not spot all of the enemies hiding in the shadows and it was Mark''s duty to point where the enemies were lurking.


    ***


    Inside the building that could oversee what was happening around the Industrial Area, four figures were watching the predicament of the soldiers.


    It was until a strange shot out of nowhere destroyed it.


    "Hey Dopp. Our shadow people are getting decimated."


    m yfully said while gazing outside the window. There was no fear in his face that he would get shot by a sniper while gazing at the window.


    ZMMM!


    "Oh, they really won''t rest."


    m smiled as he flicked the sniper bullet that was suspended in front of him. He then turned to Devon.


    "Devon, your [Psychic Barrier] is really reliable."


    The four of them were already spotted in the building and they received more than a dozen sniper bullets already. However, none of the bullets could enter the room at all and the four of them could watch the situation outside without worry.


    "Hmm?"


    "GRAAAAHHH!"


    m had turned his head back to look outside when he saw a sh of bullet with a strange trajectory. The bullet then hit a shadow person which immediately materialized before dying.


    That death was too strange since the ce where the shadow person was lurking was away from the sight of the snipers of the military not to mention that it would be hard for the soldiers to confirm the existence of that shadow person just through the scope.


    m smiled with interest. He did not really care whether their men died or not. What he wanted was to have fun in this mission. Strange enough, he saw more of the shadow people die in the same manner.


    At that moment however, he managed to trace where the shots wereing from.

 Chapter 329 On The Crane, The Start Of The Fight Between The Powerhouses

    <strong>Day 54 ¨C 10:51 AM ¨C Management Office Building, Industrial Area, South District, Bay City Settlement, Para?aque City, Metro Man</strong>


    "Hey Dopp, we have some pests lurking outside. They seem to be helping the military. The shadow people we had are being taken out one after another."


    m called out in a yful manner as he gazed at the jib of the tower crane in the center of the Industrial Area. Although he could not see anyone on the jib of the crane, he could faintly see the very streaks created by the sniper bullets that were travelling in a very fast speed. All of those streaks appeared out of nowhere which made him conclude that the enemies were most likely to be concealed in some way.


    Hearing those words Senator Estrada was surprised. He had total trust with the abilities of these people especially since they were not human at all. Although they were not omnipotent, humans and even most Mutators were still weaker than a normal shadow person in this organization. The soldiers might be able to put up a good fight with their training and experience but that was it. They would be wiped out after some time.


    On the other hand, Devon and Dopp looked rather interested. To be able to take out their shadow people was already a feat for a human. Being able to kill their subordinates that belonged to other races were one thing but to be able to kill the shadow people, it would surely be an interesting event.


    "Where are they?"


    Dopp asked which made m point his finger at the crane.


    Of course they all could not see anything. Although they could see the same streaks left by the fast moving bullet, they could not see the source or hear the sound of the gun being shot.


    "It''s a concealment psychic ability."


    Devon spoke. As he was also a psychic ability user, he could faintly detect it now that they managed to pin point the exact location where he needed to concentrate his senses.


    Dopp on the other hand had his eyes change color. His light blue colored eyes turned crimson.


    "There are four life signs there. It''s hard to tell what they could be though."


    Now that it was really confirmed that there was someone there, m was getting agitated.


    "Hey Dopp. Let me deal with those pests."


    m seemed to be itching for a good fight.


    "I don''t mind if you want to deal with them but don''t forget why we are here."


    Dopp agreed but strictly reminded the easy going guy.


    "Geez, I know! Just let me have some fun without thinking about these things, its already driving me nuts!"


    Without waiting for any reply, m charged out of the windows. This room was in the third floor and normal people would likely get injuries jumping out of there. However, the moment gravity caught up to m, a burst of mes exploded under his feet which sent him flying towards the direction he wanted to go.


    "That guy¡­"


    Dopp watched m jump out of the window with exasperation. But he could only scratch his head under his hood. It was true and their current mission was rather annoying but they had no way to refuse it.


    "Devon, you really have no idea? It''s your men who had contact with the Great One for thest time."


    Dopp turned to Devon and asked him the question that was already asked several times since they arrive. Although Devon already shared what he knew about the abduction of Mei Xiao and the [Ritual of Blessings], there were still issues that had no answer.


    Apparently, there had been no further contact with the Great One since the mission was concluded. As one of the people at the top of the Auraboros, the Great One would constantly contact the headquarters. He would also report things like this that changed the goals of the mission their subordinates were tasked with. Yet, the Great One failed his duty for the first time.


    "This country sure is troublesome." Devonined. "First, we lost contact with that International Drug Lord and then, the Great One. Now, you failed on prating this settlement from the shadows and needed to use force with our help. These things only happen in this country. We already got control of several settlements in other countries without problems aside from more difficult ones with secret backgrounds."


    Devon then walked and stood in front of the window.


    "Now, tell me. What the hell is wrong here? This third rate country should not be able to do much trouble to us."


    His voice was getting agitated. Like m, he really hated troublesome things that were no obvious answers. It was more like that these issues appeared to be coincidental. The biggest issue was their loss ofmunication with the Great One. Even the [Ritual of Blessings] have failed to open a portal to contact him. Without that, more than half of their operations in South East Asia were paralyzed.


    "Sir Devon, I really have no idea."


    Devon was starting to sweat profusely. If he was asked of one thing that he did not want to happen, it was for this guy to be agitated. Dopp might sound like ame name and his personality was nothing else but dandy, but he was one of the most influential figures in the organization. Not only that he had private organizations around the world, the number of his men even outnumbered the main members of the organization.


    Furthermore, he was a powerful being.


    Ignoring Devon''s silence, Dopp called out.


    "Shade."


    A robed shadow person emerged from the shadow behind him.


    "How are the preparations?"


    "We stillcked a hundred and seventy-two people to start the ritual."


    "Then use stop trying to abduct the soldiers silently. Bring out everyone and use force."


    "Yes sir." Shade answered but the shadow person did not leave immediately. "Sir, I have something to report."


    "What is it?"


    "One of our people found something odd at the church outside this settlement."


    Shade then proceeded with his report before vanishing into the shadows and follow Dopp''s instructions.


    "A sylph, several strange creatures, an [Alpha Infected] and five humans mingling together, how interesting."


    Dopp''s interest was piqued. Specifically because of the existence of the sylph that was a very elusive race of spirits.


    "Devon, send someone to investigate. If we can get those creatures to our side, even if we fail the mission in this settlement, it will be worth it."<sub> </sub>


    Of course, Devon and Senator were displeased hearing that. This settlement was Devon''s mission and the senator wanted to rule over it. If they failed both of them would be bound to arge setback. However¡­


    "Yes, Sir."


    Devon could only reply subserviently like that.


    ***


    "Well good, they really took the bait."


    Mark smiled sensing that one of the most powerful figures emitted a powerful aura and his will to fight eagerly. He was rather surprised though as he saw the figure of the enemy flew of usingbustions of mes underneath his feet.


    He had let Mei kill the enemies below with this intent, although he did not know whether it will work or not. He was not sure about the number of enemies that woulde either. However, what he was sure was that these people from Auraboros really liked to underestimate humans to the extent that they only see humans as tools and sacrifices.


    Mark and Mei stared at the figure that was charging towards them. The enemy was still covered with his hooded robe but from observing his body shape, they could conclude that he seem to be in an age that was between a high-school student and an early college student. Aside from his lean body stature and hood, the thing that was the most eye-catching on the enemy was the sheathed sword on his back.


    The sword was oddly sized. The scabbard seemed to be four inches wide and the length was about a little less than four feet. The handle that could be seen above this shoulder seemed to be of medieval origin.


    Mei could not see anything else aside from that. Mark however whose body was fused with miasma could tell something else. The sword was emanating a sinister aura that was no less than the Deity of Bloodshed Mark encountered before.


    The sword aside, Mark could tell that there were two consciousness that reside on the enemy''s mind. One was active while the other seemed to be inplete istion.


    As the enemynded on the crane facing them, Mark cancelled the [Optical Camouge] revealing their figures.


    The enemy seemed surprised and scratched his head.


    p "Dopp said that there''s four, I can only see two here."</anda>


    It was a rather childish demeanor but Mark and Mei were not letting their guard down.


    "Well, no matter. Hey, who are you two? Why are you wearing our organization''s robes?"


    The enemy questioned but rather in a malicious behavior, it was nothing more than just pure interest.


    "Give me a reason why should I answer that?"


    Mark asked while he continued to size up the enemy.


    "Hmmm?" The enemy was confused. "It should be the proper etiquette in a battle right? Ah, right, I forgot I''m not in that era anymore."


    He then stared straight at Mark.


    "Still, I can''t just leave things hanging. I don''t really have a name but they call me m. Even if you two don''t want to answer me, I can''t just let you two die without me knowing at least your names. I''ll just leave it forter then¡­"


    "When you two are at the verge of death."


    Finally, the enemy released malicious intent. It was no less than the animosity Mark felt from the Deity of Bloodshed.


    "Another demon¡­" Mark finally realized. It was not the human though but the sword on his back.


    When Mark was just about to jump forward to fight, Mei spoke.


    "Gege, can you let me try alone first?"


    "You sure?"


    "Yes."


    Mei then put her sniper rifle on her back and took out a short ded Katana, a wakizashi, Mark made for her. She held the wakizashi on her left hand and held a .45 caliber pistol on her right.


    Since Mei wanted to try to fight herself, Mark would just let her. In any case, Crimson was hiding behind her in his mist like form while Amihan was hiding inside her robe. This was the reason the sounds of her sniper rifle could not be heard from below. Of course he made the little sylph hide since her existence would likely be more of an easier target for the enemies once she was discovered. A sylph''s stature might be too small of a target for ranged weapons but just one lucky hit would kill her for the same reason. Unlike the shadow people that had ethereal bodies, Amihan''s was a physical one.


    "Hey... You two shoulde together you¡­"


    m was still underestimating the two for sure and tried to made them fight together but he was not able to finish his words.


    CLANG!


    At that moment, m became wide eyed as he immediately defended himself. He felt an impact on his back as he shifted his body in order to use the sheath of his sword to block the attack.


    Mei who was just in front of him suddenly appeared behind his back and stabbed her sword towards his left shoulder bone aiming for his heart. Missing the first attack, Mei shifted her sword and shed horizontally aiming for the nape of the enemy.


    Sensing the attack, m lowered his body making the sh miss and counterattacked with a foot sweep.


    Mei jumped to evade the sweep but another attack came as m tried to grab her neck while she was midair. The hands of m could easily grab her in that condition but¡­


    Her body vanished and appeared behind m once again and immediately attacked. This time, the attack was not with her sword but with her pistol.


    BANG! BANG! BANG!


    CLANG! CLANG! CLANG!


    Mei shot in three different directions but all were blocked with the metal scabbard of the sword on m''s back. It was as if he had an eye behind him that was able to see the attacks and blocked them with great precision.


    Amihan already stopped muffling the sounds to hide her existence. It was this moment that the sounds of gunshots Mei made rmed almost everyone in the vicinity.

 Chapter 330 Turning Serious, Meis Psychic Ability And Flams True Body

    <strong>Day 54 ¨C 11:02 AM ¨C Industrial Area, South District, Bay City Settlement, Para?aque City, Metro Man</strong>


    Outside the Industrial Area, the General and the other military officers waited impatiently. From their expressions, anyone could tell that the operation to deal with the rebels and capture the perpetrators were at a not very optimal status. Instead of securing the perpetrators, their soldiers were the ones being secured. Although many soldiers were already able to adopt the right approach towards the strange enemies, there were still those that fell victim and vanished into the shadows.


    Due to the impatience of the officers, they already started to supervise themunication and directly gave orders to the squads inside the Industrial Area. It was then that they received an unexpected report from the sniper squads.


    "Break! Break!"


    A voice shouting through the radio traffic caused it to clear.


    "Eagle 1 to HQ! Eagle 1 to HQ! We spotted one of the main targets leaving the management building. Target 3 with the reddish colored robe jumped out of the building through the window on the third floor. Over!"


    "This is HQ, Eagle 1, where is the target going? Over."


    The one that answered this was Captain D Rosa himself.


    "Please wait!" There was a short pause. "The target is capable of flight and justnded on the crane! Two more people appeared out if thin air on the crane! Please give instructions! Over!"


    "Just stand by until further instruction is given. Over."


    "Yes sir! Over and out!"


    Hearing that, Captain D Rosa hurriedly peeked out of themand vehicle since the tower crane could be seen even outside the Industrial Area. As the captain tried to get a clearer view, he saw that the other officers and soldiers around were already watching the scene where two of the figures on the crane started to fight.


    "General, the sniper team is asking for instructions about the target on the crane."


    Captain D Rosa spoke to the general which seemed to have something on his mind as he watched the scene on the crane through a pair of binocrs. To the captain''s question however, instead of answering it, the general started to speak about something else.


    "D Rosa, do you remember our suspicion that Senator Estrada could not be the one who are killing the survivor teams under those pigs."


    "Yes General."


    "Didn''t they say that the only witness saw two people wearing robes simr to the ones the people from that organization?"


    "I also remember that." At this moment, Captain D Rosa realized what the General was trying to say. "Is it perhaps those two fighting with the target?"


    "We have no proof but it is very likely. Tell the sniper squads to not interfere with those on the crane right now and concentrate on aiding the ground troops."


    "Yes Sir!"


    While everyone outside was gazing at the ongoing battle on the crane, a sudden horrible move was made by the enemy camp.


    "Storm 1 to HQ! Storm 1 to HQ! The enemies finally appeared in droves! They are too powerful! We need more people!"


    Not only was that radio message heard. Following the message, the gunshots inside the Industrial Area intensified as the main enemy forces finally appeared.


    ***


    On the jib of the Crane, Mark watched the battle between Mei and m. The two already had dozens of exchanges while trying not to be bothered by the beams and metal supports on the crane. Still, none of the two gained the advantage until now.


    In terms of speed and flexibility, Mei was superior but in terms of battle experience and insight, it was obvious that m had the advantage. Even though m was hardly moving and was only receiving the attacks, none of the attacks Mei had made actually hit his body. Each attack would either be dodged or blocked with the scabbard of his sword.


    If not for the psychic ability Mark gave Mei, she would have lost in this fight already. [Force Blink], that was the ability Mei received from the [Mental Crystal] containing the psychic ability of ilia, thest princess of Eriellis. Like Freed, her psychic ability was also a movement type. It was another simrity Mark found between Psypathogen and Mutagen. People rted to each other was very likely to get simr abilities.


    ilia''s ability however was just [Short Range Teleportation] which allowed her to transport herself to a desired ce within a short distance instantaneously. That was how a young girl like here that did not have much battle capability was able tost till the final battle. The ability the princess had no regard to obstacles or dimension and she was able to move in and out of an enclosed space without any problem as long as she was able to fit in that space. The setback however was that she could not use it to teleport inside things and the ability would fail if there was not enough space to fit her body at the desired location.


    After Mei received that ability however, it evolved and it was very likely that it was because of her physical constitution. When she activated that ability, an invisible ellipsoid energy barrier would surround the space around her body. The size and shape of the barrier would vary depending on the dimension upied by her body. If she activated the ability while stretching her hands out, the barrier would berger and wider while if she used it while crouched down, the barrier would be smaller and shorter. After the barrier was erected, that was only when she would vanish from her initial position.


    As for what the barrier could do¡­


    BAM!


    Finally, m was sent flying and his back hit one of the steel beams on the crane.


    When Mei vanished and appeared behind m, thetter managed to read her move and preemptively counter attacked. He charged forward to where Mei would appear which made him enter the space upied by the invisible barrier when she appeared.


    Anything that was not included in her movement when she appeared would all be pushed away by the barrier. There were also restrictions as to what would be pushed away and it was those that could be moved by force. If the thing inside the barrier when she appeared was an immovable wall or someone powerful enough to withstand the push of the barrier, it would be Mei who would be pushed away.


    Unfortunately, the restriction in distance did not change at all. Mei could only travel up to four meters away from the initial point where the ability was activated. Any more than that was impossible.


    Still, those restrictions did not matter at all in Mark''s eyes. Just being able to move instantaneously was already envying. Although he could also move fast, there was still a dy as he needed to travel the actual distance he wanted to go. His [Shadow Mist Movement] was fast but not instantaneous.<sub> </sub>


    Tossing those thoughts aside, Mark felt proud about Mei''s improvement when he was gone. Being able to fight like this now was amazing since she was nothing but a powerless trapped princess when he found her. It was quite a pity though that he was not there to witness the process of her growth.


    "Tch! I got careless."


    m voiced out as he wiped the blood at the corner of his lips. The force that pushed him away was not a joke at all. It was even more painful than blocking the bullets from the pistol Mei had. It felt like he was hit by a speeding truck.


    However, the smile on his face just got deeper as he felt the pain in his body.


    "This is getting really fun! You''re not strong physically but that power of yours is superb! Come on! Fight!"


    Like a madman, m startedughing. He removed his hood revealing the young face he had. It was a Mark had estimated, m''s appearance was really like a high school student that had yet to graduate in his final year. However, Mark would not expect that his real age was the same as what he looked like.


    After removing his hood, m used his right hand and reached for the handle of the sword on his back.


    "I haven''t had fun like this for a long time. It would be a shame if I don''t go all out!"


    m then pulled out the sword from the scabbard revealing an odd looking de.


    The de of the sword was not shaped simrly to the shape of the scabbard. Instead, the six foot long de was shaped like a wave which made it enough to be put into a shorter scabbard.


    Seeing the sword Mark looked with interest.


    "So, you''re main body is a mberge?"


    Mark spoke his assumption which made the enemy look at him with surprise.


    "You''re able to see through me? Amazing!"


    m replied in glee. There were very few that were able to see through his true nature and those people were the ones worth fighting. It just meant that not only one but there was two people here that were strong enough to interest him.


    Mark on the other hand nodded in understanding. The enemy just confirmed his assumption. When this guy appeared, he already noticed the two consciousness he had and the sinister auraing from that sword on his back. Although it might sound like fantasy, he could only conclude that the sword was a cursed weapon and the young man was being possessed by the sword.


    Still, he did not expect that the sword would be a mberge.


    The mberge was also known with the names me-ded Sword and Wave-ded Sword. It was a sword that was likely of German or Swedish descent during the 13th century.


    Of course, it was more popr to Mark as a sword found in a lot of role-ying games.


    Still, Mark could not help but find the sword in being held by the enemy odd. The wave of the des was more prominent causing it to be wider than normal.


    "I''m not really fond of talking about myself so¡­" m spoke and stretched his neck. "Let''s continue!"


    m smiled. There, his demeanor changed. Mark and Mei could feel the energy around him burst out.


    Without further wait, m charged towards Mei and a speed faster than his movements before. He then waved the sword towards her neck which made her shiver as she felt the intense killing intent. Mei was almostte to dodge and Mark was already about to intercept but she still managed to activate her ability on time.


    As Mei vanished from the trajectory of the sh, it hit nothing but air, or as it appeared. However¡­


    CLANG! CRANG! CREEAAAK!


    The jib of the crane started to creak as the remaining metal supports were not able to handle the weight anymore. m''s sh hit nothing but the energy behind the attack severed most of the beams and metal supports under the jib of the crane. Now that there was not enough strength to support the weight of the crane, it started to break.


    CREEEAK! TANG!


    Onest creak and the jib of the crane were split in half. The part where the three stood started to fall unto the ground.


    The three jumped off and wings sprouted from Mark''s and Mei''s back while bursts of mes kept m afloat. The three were safe and seeing that his opponents were also capable of flight, m was even more fascinated to fight them.


    At the bottom of the crane however¡­


    "AHHH!"


    "WAAAAH!!!"


    "GRRRAAAOOOHHH!!"


    Both human and inhuman screams echoed. As the enemies already went out to fight the soldiers upfront, their battle was also intensifying. However, a lot of them were under fighting under the crane. With arge part of the jib of the crane falling from more than a dozen meters height, the buildings where it fell also copsed. Both the copsed buildings and the jib of crane buried a lot of soldiers and members of Auraboros underneath.

 Chapter 331 Snatch, Flams Defeat And Forced Submission

    <strong>Day 54 ¨C 11:16 AM ¨C Industrial Area, South District, Bay City Settlement, Para?aque City, Metro Man</strong>


    p A huge cloud of dust enveloped arge part of the industrial area due to the fallen jib. The visibility immediately became zero for both the soldiers and the members of the organization.</anda>


    When the jib fell, almost all the soldiers were focused on their own battles since the enemies already came in full force. There was very little chance for them to hear the sound made by the disconnected metal supports due to the sound of gunshots and voices around them. The moment they noticed that something big was falling from above, it was already toote.


    It was the same for the enemies. The humans on their side also had guns while the other races were using other weapons of their choice. They were also focused on the fight as they also needed to fill in the remaining people they needed. They needed to catch the soldiers alive but it was not easy as not all of them were insusceptible to normal bullets like the shadow people, the ethereal spirits and the werewolves.


    The fight below the crane suddenly halted when everyone noticed the big shadow falling unto them. Even though it waste, all of them tried to run away as fast as possible. Since most of the soldiers were just normal trained humans, a lot of them were not able to avoid the disaster. The unlucky ones made it out of the trajectory of the fall of the jib but got buried in the rubble of the copsed buildings instead. There were lucky ones but the numbers were too littlepared to those that were unfortunate.


    As for the forces both from the Auraboros and the Evolvers and Mutators under Senator Estrada, the number of casualties were too littlepared to the soldiers. They had inhuman capabilities enabling a lot of them to escape unscathed aside from being showered with dust. As for their casualties, it was because there was not much camaraderie between these races. If there was, the shadow people had the capability to save them but they did not.


    Midair, Mark and Mei looked at the scene below. Even m who was keeping himself afloat despite being unstable also stopped to see the result of his actions. Aside from the three, Amihan who was hiding inside Mei''s robe could not help but peek outside.


    "Sh*t. Dopp''s gonna scold meter."


    m seemed to have realized that what he had just done would affect their ns severely. Not only was that but his actions resulted to their subordinates and targets dying.


    While m was having a dilemma, Mark was scratching his head. This was going overboard. The military''s goal was not only capturing Senator Estrada and fighting the forces of Auraboros, the most important thing to them was to regain the industrial area intact as much as possible. If they could destroy this ce, they might as well use explosives and not put themselves in danger to confront the enemies.


    Unable to maintain flight, mnded on one of the taller buildings that were yet to be finished in order to avoid the cloud of dust below. Mark and Mei however could still maintain flight unlike their opponent. m could not help but look at the two with envy.


    "Hey you two, are you vampires?"


    m shouted to ask but of course, Mark and Mei had no ns to answer to his disappointment.


    As the fight was still not finished, Mei was about to charge once more when her shoulder was held to stop her. She could only turn to Mark who was shaking his head.


    "Mei''er, you can stop now."


    Hearing that, she tried to hide it but Mark sensed that she was dejected. Mark could only pat her head with a smile.


    "Don''t worry. I''m not stopping you because you can''t beat him. Between your fight, no one gained advantage at all. It''s hard to say who will win between you two but your chances isn''t low either. But we need to end this faster or this ce will get destroyed because of that guy."


    "Okay."


    Mei finally felt at ease. Mark acknowledged her current abilities and that was enough for her. She smiled sweetly and retreated.


    "E¡­ you two should get a room¡­ Are you the one fighting me now? You shouldn''t think that I can''t hear what you just said. She can''t defeat me. I''m not even serious yet."


    To that mock however, Mark only smiled.


    "You don''t need to get serious. You won''t be able to."


    Without waiting for a reply, Mark vanished from his position in a puff of ck mist.


    As his opponent vanished like the female before, m readied himself to intercept. He noticed the trajectory the waving mist was moving towards. As he did not know what that mist was, he just assumed that it could either be the trail his opponent was leaving behind or an attack he needed to avoid.


    m immediately shed the mist as it moved in front of him. That sh however, caused a burst of ck smoke that tried to envelop him. He could not fathom what this smoke was but he was feeling danger from it. With that, he waved his hand causing a burst of mes to burn and to scatter the smoke. The oxygen in the airbusted by his will but to his surprise, the mes was too small to even light a bonfire. It did not even need to touch the smoke before the mes vanished.


    Without any choice, he tried to jump back and fly bybusting the air under his feet but before he was able to, he felt a deep sense of danger behind him. m was too focused on the ck smoke that he was not able to follow the trail of ck mist that changed direction and circled towards his back the instant the smoke burst out.


    Quick enough, m reacted. He turned his body to intercept Mark''s attack from behind and jumped while creating a burst of mes under his feet to escape the smoke.


    That was when¡­


    "WHAT?!"


    m eximed as thebustion beneath his feet he expected never appeared. Instead, he saw clumps of ck smoke around his feet that seemed to suck the energy that should have ignited the air.


    From his jump, he fell back down and missed to intercept Mark''s attack. At that circumstance, m could only try to block whatever kind of attack wasing.


    To his surprise, even though he felt the animosity and thick killing intent, no fatal attack came and instead, a hand grabbed his wrist that held the sword. Then, a painful sensation was felt from his wrist as it stopped moving. He tried to move his wrist only to fell more pain as if his blood vessels were being torn open.


    "Alright, got you."


    m heard his opponent''s voice as he lost grip of the sword. Mark then fully materialized in front of him and took the mberge from his hand.


    At that moment, m lost consciousness and fell on the spot. As the guy lost consciousness in the air after his jump, his immediately fell. Mark hurriedly caught the unconscious body and moved it on the roof of another warehouse.


    Laying down the unconscious body, Mark finally confirmed his assumption.


    "As I thought, once this sword is taken away from the possessed body, the connection will stop."


    Mark looked at the unconscious m, right now, he could only detect a single consciousness inside his body and it was the one that was deeply asleep.


    Mei alsonded on the roof seeing that the fight was over. She was looking at Mark with amazement and joy. She was having a hard time fighting m but he took the enemy out in seconds. However, she noticed something.


    "Gege, your arm."


    She noticed that the hand that was holding the sword was shaking intensely.


    "It''s nothing. This guy here is trying to possess me." Mark pointed at the sword. "I already expected this so I''ll deal with it in a minute. I can''t let go of this right now so guard me for a bit."


    "Yes. No problem."<sub> </sub>


    Mei nodded and Mark sat down in afortable position.


    SWOOSH!


    As another consciousness tried to invade his body, he was able to enter his world once more. When he entered, he expected the spiritual body of the sword to attack him, however¡­


    "You¡­"


    Mark was surprised. Instead of a formless spirit or apparition, he saw a little boy about five or six years old.


    "Hey! What is this sh*t?! I''m supposed to take over your body already so why am I in this ce?"


    Hearing a young boy curse like this was not new to Mark but it was still annoying to hear.


    "You should shut up. Sad to say, you''re mine now and I will be the one controlling you, not the other way around."


    "Impossible! I am amazed that a human like you had something like this nk space in your consciousness but you think that you can control me?"


    "Who said that it is just a nk space?"


    Mark smiled sinisterly and snapped his finger.


    To the kid''s horror, the surroundings changed. The nk space turned into a mountain covered in snow and there was even a strong blizzard. The boy immediately shivered as his body started to freeze.


    "Y-y-y-y-you! W-w-hat is this?!"


    On contrary, Mark stood normally as if he was not feeling the cold weather.


    "You tried to enter my consciousness and you don''t know what this is? You seem to be as strong as that deity whatever but youck knowledge at all. You''re just a muscle brain aren''t you? You don''t look like you have muscles though."


    Mark stared at the boy who was not even able to reply anymore as his body was shivering fiercely from the cold.


    "As I said, you are mine now so just behave. Do you submit?"


    Hearing that, the boy red at Mark. It seemed that it was not enough.


    With a snap of Mark''s finger, a thin streak of electricity shot towards the kid causing his body to convulse fiercely.


    "What''s your answer now?"


    Mark asked after he literally tortured the kid with a continuous bolt of electricity under the freezing temperature. As he finally sensed that his will to fight was broken, Mark stopped everything.


    "I-I will¡­"


    "You will what?"


    "I will¡­ submit."


    "And how can I be sure about that?"


    "Dammit! You''re my master now! I submit! I surrender! F*ck!"


    The kid started to throw a tantrum.


    "If you really feel that way, then return to your body. Also stop cursing or I''ll strike you with lightning or cook you inside arge pot with boiling water."


    Hearing those threats, the kid became wide eyed and shivered. He immediately vanished from Mark''s consciousness as if trying to run away. Seeing that he was left alone inside his space, Mark closed his eyes.


    When Mark opened his eyes once more, he was back in reality. Mei was in front of him being on the lookout with a serious face. Even Amihan was outside already and joined Mei to guard him.


    Mark asked as he waved the mberge in his hand. The sword already stopped resisting and rather than a fierce aura, it was exuding a sad and helpless one.


    "Gege, are you fine?"


    "Yep, no problems. Anything happened?"


    "The two guys around the senator saw that you defeated this guy so they were on the move already."


    "I see. This makes things easier if theye to us on their own."


    Mark and Mei were already preparing to act if the two men that was left made their moves when Mark froze.


    Not only Mark but almost every single member of Auraboros that had bodies made of energy or those sensitive to paranormal energies also froze. It included Devon who was on the way out with Dopp.


    SWWWOOOOOOOOSHHHH!!!


    A beam of light pierced towards the sky. The beam was as bright as the sun causing everyone''s eyes to dim for a bit.


    "Mei''er, Amihan, let''s go." Mark was starting to feel infuriated. "If these bastards harmed any of my people, I''ll eradicate them all here."


    Without looking at the current state of affairs in the Industrial Area, Mark, Mei and Amihan flew off as fast as they could.


    It was because that beam of light that pierced the sky came from the direction of the church where Mark left everyone.

 Chapter 332 Capturing, The Battle That Happened At The Baclaran Church

    <strong>Day 54 ¨C 11:05 AM ¨C Baran Church, Redemptorist Road, Pasay City, Metro Man</strong>


    A few minutes before while the fight between Mei and m was ongoing, Karlene and Edzel had tense expressions on their faces as they gazed through the windows of the church. They could not see anything but the sounds of gunshots could be heard even outside the settlement.


    As someone whose father and mother had ties with the military, Karlene could tell that the fight inside the settlement was rather intense. Just add a bit of explosions in the background and it could be mistaken that there was a war ongoing.


    "Is it always like this in the settlements in the city? Back in East Port, many people had guns but there was never anything like this even when the evolved sea creatures came ashore."


    Edzel voiced out. As a country bumpkin, he was never been in a city like this. Everything was new, even the sounds of confrontation between the soldiers and the senator''s camp was the first for him.


    "Something like this happened before in Port of Real though?" Karlene replied. "At the time Mark came there, several thousand infected horde coincidentally arrived and it was like war at that time."


    "That happened?"


    "It did! I even joined the fight¡­ Well, kind off."


    The two started chatting to at least relieve the tense atmosphere. It was then when the eyes of the twonded on the [Blood Children], the three girls, the fairy and the strange infected at the center of the church that were busy doing things like there was nothing intense happening outside.


    I, Abbygale and Miracle sat in a circle along with the [Blood Children] ying with building blocks Mark found for them while Aimee and Aephelia looked over the children. This way, the children could relieve their boredom and the toys really took their interest as they tried to build things based on their imagination.


    As for Char and the Alpha, both were positioned at the opposite sides of the church. The Alpha infected was on standby while the Dragon was sleeping like nothing mattered at all.


    "You girls don''t feel worried at all, your mother and father are in there fighting."


    Karlene could not help but ask the three girls. It might not be an appropriate question to children but it did not really enter her childish mind that was too curious at the worst times.


    Her question made the three girls look at her with confused expressions. It was Miracle who answered first.


    "Papa is strong! He can kill all the bad people there."


    It was followed by Abbygale.


    "Mama is also strong and Papa will always protect Mama. Nothing will happen. All the bad guys that fight Mama and Papa will get killed easily."


    On the other hand, I only stared at Karlene with a "don''t ask what is obvious" look.


    The three girls trust towards their adoptive parents was amusing. Karlene felt envious. Still, three little girls viewing death and killing as everyday thing was rather scary.


    The three girls was about to go back to ying when I, Aephelia and Aimee suddenly stood in full alert. Suddenly, the atmosphere turned tense that even Edzel and Karlene became on guard. Aimee who held the stone that was supposed to be her child encircled her tentacles around the children wanting to protect them while Aephelia immediately called unto the Alpha. Char who also sensed the danger already stood beside the group in a single gallop. The Dragon''s sudden movement shook the whole building a bit.


    "Hiding is useless! Come out!"


    Aephelia shouted as she stared towards the direction of the door of the church.


    There, several figures emerged from the shadows as if they entered through the door despite the fact that the door of the church was left untouched.


    "I thought that this will be easy but wrong, huh. Sir Dopp really gave us some unusual tasks."


    One of the hooded figures who had thergest stature among the group spoke. Not everyone came out of the shadows individually but some of them appeared while receiving assistance. Thisrge statured man was one of those which meant that he had not ability to traverse through the shadows.


    "Who are you people?"


    Karlene shouted as she readied her assault rifle.


    As the man turned to Karlene, he was rather surprised.


    "Aren''t you Karlene Bautista? You''re rather popr before. However, we have no business with a human like you and that guy beside you."


    He then panned his eyes at everyone, specifically, at Miracle, the [Blood Children], Aimee, Aephelia, Char, the Alpha andstly, Aephelia.


    "The humans aside, we are here to invite all of you toe with us. But of course, we are not taking no for an answer. I won''t ask you all to answer since it''s already obvious." The man waved his hand forwards. "Take them all."


    With the man''smand, the hooded figures that numbered to twenty individuals scattered as they charged forward. The hooded figures had different body statures with seven of them having lean bodies while the others looked like normal people. However, the some of the figures with lean bodies vanished soon after and melded into the shadows while the remaining figures charged forwards.


    The enemies appearing and disappearing into the shadows surprised Karlene and Edzel but there was no time to dawdle around. Due to the sudden attack, Karlene and the others had no time to n a counter attack and as such, they sure will be pushed into a defensive. The ones charging forward might be fine to some extent but the ones that entered the shadows were kind of worrying.


    Karlene and Edzel started shooting the enemies. Unfortunately, even though the bullets left holes on the robes of the enemies, the bullets just phased through the bodies of the lean figured enemies. There was not damage at all. As for those who had normal figures, some of the bullets hit their bodies causing them to stagger. However, they still continued to run forwards like they were not injured at all.


    TING! TING! TING!<sub> </sub>


    Those sounds could be heard among the footsteps as the bullets that hit their bodies were pushed out and their wounds healed in absurd speed.


    As the enemies closed in, Aimee''s tentacles swept them away. Those with lean bodies were not able to dodge as they were not really fast moving. However, only their robes were swept away from their bodies revealing their scary ck ethereal figures. There were no distinguishable characteristics on their shadow like bodies aside from their glowing white eyes.


    However, the tentacles were able to block the way of the other enemies that had no ghostly bodies. Along with the Alpha and Char, they were stopped on their tracks. Char could not use his long body effectively inside the church however, it managed topensate with breathing fire with great control while trying not to burn the church where they were staying.


    The shadow people ignored the tentacles, the Alpha and the Dragon as their attacks phased through their bodies and continued to charge forward. They were surely aiming to snatch the smaller bodied children. At the same time some shadows appeared near and figures emerged from them which were trying to grab the [Blood Children], Aephelia and Miracle.


    At that moment however¡­


    "GRAAAA!!!"


    Their painful voices echoed as their outstretched hands met a barrier that started to corrode their hands and arms. Those that werete to retreat even lost their arms in the process. An unlucky one had his face corroded and immediately turned into scattered smoke leaving his robe behind.


    I''s eyes darted everywhere as she tried to spot the approaching shadow people. She then activated her barrier to any attacker that approached. Unfortunately for the shadow people, I''s [Corrosive Barrier] was made of pure psychic energy which could harm them severely upon contact. This was one thing they never considered and made them pay the price.


    Seeing how his subordinates were being dealt with, the man withrge stature was surprised. It was already strange that there was a group living here hidden outside the settlement. Who would think that they were actually this strong and could not be underestimated?


    "AAWWWOOOOOO!"


    The man could not wait anymore and howled. Following him, several of his subordinates did the same.


    As they did that, their bodies grewrger and bulkier. They muscles became firmer and thick hair covered their bodies. Their faces shifted and changed shape and fangs and sharp teeth grew out of their mouths. Their robes now looked like capes that were tied to their necks due to the size they grew.


    Werewolves, was what these men were called. Among then, the leader had a silver colored fur and blood red glowing eyes which indicated that he was an Alpha among these Werewolves. With the transformation done, the leader finally joined the fray and charged forward.


    Knowing that the enemy leader was the most dangerous, Aephelia controlled the Alpha to concentrate on him. It became a one on one fight between the two, an Alpha versus an Alpha. The attacks the two made caused the whole church to shake not only because of their heavy bodies but also because of their inhuman strength. However, it was obvious that the Alpha Infected was having a hard time.


    The Alpha infected was fast but not as fast as the Alpha Werewolf. It was more of a tank and damage dealer than an agile fighter. It was already good that the Alpha infected was able to maintain a stalemate on the enemy leader.


    As for the other werewolves, they gained a good advantage and managed to charge forwards. They started to ignore the bullets that were flying towards them as they did not even stagger back anymore. Unknown to them, Karlene and Edzel exchanged a signal using their eyes and changed the bullets they were using.


    "GUAAAA!"


    "GAAAH!!!"


    The werewolves that were too confident of themselves did not even try to dodge. When they were hit by the bullets however, their eyes went wide and they stopped in ce. They felt too much pain for every bullet that entered their bodies and by the time they noticed, the bullet wounds were not healing but started to fester instead. The wound even started to bubble and release a suffocating and nauseating smell that choked the werewolves that had their sense of smell heightened by the transformation.


    The alpha werewolf finally noticed. They really underestimated these people. His eyes fell on the sylph. A least, he should get the sylph and get out of this ce.


    BAM!


    The enemy leader jumped back to evade a punch of the Alpha infected and counterattacked with his heaviest punch. The Alpha infected was thrown backwards towards Aimee causing the two to collide and fall.


    An opening was finally made. The enemy leader charged forwards towards Aephelia. With her small stature, Aephelia could only retreat as she tried to call the Alpha back to its feet. Since there was not much time, even Miracle, Abbygale and I tried to intercept the enemy leader.


    Unfortunately, Miracle and Abbygale were blown away while I''s barrier was not enough to stop the enemy leader before it broke. The enemy leader''s fur was like steel and the barrier was barely able to corrode it.


    The Alpha Werewolf stretched his hand forwards trying to capture the sylph. Aephelia''s control with flight was still bad and as such, she could not maneuver herself to dodge. She was captured.


    He felt a bit of relief as he caught the sylph. As his other hand was free, his eyes darted to try and get another thing. However, instead of the [Blood Children], his eyesnded on the spherical stone that was ced on a pillow. Knowing how the stone looked strange, he hurriedly tried to grab it.


    Aimee watched in horror as her child was about to get taken by the enemy. However, there was too little time for her to move. She pushed the Alpha away from her body causing it to collide with one of the central posts of the church and sent her tentacles to intercept the enemy leader.


    Still, it was not enough. Before her tentacles could reach the enemy, he would already be able to retreat with her child.


    "KRRAAAA!"


    She shrieked.


    The eyes on her tentacles opened wide which red at the enemies with great killing intent.


    ZWWWOOOOOOM!!!


    Several beams of light swept over the enemies which soon joined into one as her tentacles moved together towards one direction and tore the whole Baran Church in half.

 Chapter 333 Calm Rage, Calling Forth The Omnious Omen

    <strong>Day 54 - 11:16 AM ¨C National Shrine of Our Mother of Perpetual Help (Baran Church), Redemptorist Road, Baran, Para?aque, Metro Man</strong>


    Light entered through the disintegrated roof of the church. The whole church was literally divided in half as the walls and the roof where the beams of light passed through formed holes and lines.


    Aimee did not expect that to happen and she did it by instinct due the overflowing emotions she had. When she saw that her tentacles were boring holes everywhere in the church and not only the enemies could be hit, she forced her tentacles to fire the beams in one direction and pointed the tentacles upwards. That was the cause of the divided walls and roof of the church. She only meant to save her child and did not want to destroy the church.


    However, what was done was already done.


    The only thing she could do next was to search for everyone and her child, wrap them with her tentacles and bolt out church as fast as she could. Fortunately, she found everyone she looked for easily because of her numerous eyes. That was except for the captured Aephelia. She could not find the leader of the enemies either. She wanted to look for Aephelia but there was no time left.


    Debris started to fall causing clouds of dust and more destruction. The church would not hold out any longer.


    CRUMBLE!


    BAM!


    With the walls first, the church started to turn into a pile of rubble.


    Aimee grabbed everyone even leaving their things inside the church and bolted out of one of thergest holes on the wall of the church. However, her speed was slower than the speed that the church started to crumble. Because Aephelia was gone, the Alpha Infected stood on ce without moving. Aimee tried to take the Alpha out but the infected was too heavy. Without any other choice, she had to leave it.


    As for the otherrge guy, Char, it already spread its wings and flew out of the roof after seeing that Aimee already had everyone. Of course, since the church was already crumbling, the smart dragon did not hold back anymore. It blew a huge burst of mes incinerating a lot of the remaining enemies that were also fleeing from the crumbling church.


    Aimee managed to get out safely with everyone. She looked at the state of the others with relief on her face. It was fortunate that she did not shot them with those beams by mistake. Among the little girls, I and Miracle were fine but Abbygale seemed to have received a bruise on her right cheek and right arm after being blown away by the enemy leader. All the [Blood Children] were like the way they were before the battle. As for Karlene and Edzel, the two were also fine aside from being covered in dust.


    They watched the church crumble and became a pile of debris. Even they already escaped the church, they still ran away further in order not to get caught in the cloud of dust that scattered.


    Still, there was no sign of Aephelia or the Alpha Werewolf.


    At this time, Miracle, I and the [Blood Children] looked up to the sky.


    ""Papa! Mama!""


    The two girls called out as they saw two figures flying towards them in a hurry.


    ***


    Mark frowned at the scene of the crumbling church. When he saw that them outside the church, he sighed in relief but his frown did not vanish. It was because he could not detect someone.


    Together with Mei, the twonded in front of the group which were immediately greeted by the embrace of the little girls.


    "Is everyone alright? Where''s Aephelia?"


    Mark asked.


    At his question, he saw everyone''s expression change for the worse.


    "We don''t know." Karlene replied. "We saw her got captured before the church crumbled but we didn''t see her afterwards. Even the guy that captured her is gone."


    "Tell me, what happened?"


    Hearing his question, Karlene summarized what happened while the behaved girls waited their turn to supplement other things.


    While listening to the story, Mark''s expression started to turn calmer and calmer. Angry? Yes, he was. He was too angry that he became too calm instead.


    He turned to Abbygale whose right cheek and arm was reddish. It was too obvious on her skin that was like of a porcin doll.


    "Did they do this?"


    Mark said which the girl nodded. He patted her head as gently as possible and let out a gentle smile.


    "Don''t worry. I''ll punish them for you and take back your Aunt Aephy."


    Mark turned to Aimee and Karlene.


    "Find somewhere else to hide. This ce is not safe anymore."


    He then turned to Mei.


    "Mei''er, you stay here. Treat Gale with this. Karlene know how to use this."


    Mark gave Mei a pouch he had on him which contained stic medicine bottles containing the [Regeneration Medicine] he got from the military in Quezon Province.


    Mei was also mad about what happened especially when she looked at how badly Abbygale was bruised. Aside from Mark, the only ones she cared for the most were the three girls. Seeing that they were injured and were subjected to great danger was making her feel that she could destroy a whole country.


    However, Mark was right. She needed to treat Abbygale''s injuries first. What the girls needed the most right now was the security a parent could bring them and she was the only one that could give it to the three right now.


    Mark watched the group hurriedly leave the area. There were infected that were already drawn to themotion but with Aimee and Mei around, they should be fine.


    He turned to Char was still sweeping across the air searching for any survivor of the enemies to burn alive. However, it could not see anyone else anymore.


    "Char!" Mark called out. "You wille with me. We''re going on to save Aephelia. But first¡­"


    Mark''s eyes swept the area. It was not like there was no one anymore among the enemies left here. They were just hiding.


    "It''s useless to hide you bastards."


    He murmured as his expression became nk. Instead, his eyes glowed brightly that it could be seen clearly from a distance even though the sun was high up in the sky.<sub> </sub>


    "GRRRUUUAAAA!!!"


    "GAAAAHHHH!"


    Painful screams was heard as the enemies hiding in the shadows were forced out while holding their heads in extreme pain. If not for the fact that they had no physical bodies, their orifices should have already been bleeding badly. Seeing this shadow people, Mark felt likeughing.


    All of them looked like disabled people. Some had missing arms while others had missing legs. One of the worst looking guys did not even have a single limb left and was only able to move by melding into the shadows.


    Mark approached one of the shadow people and grabbed the person by his neck. Despite the pain the shadow people felt in their heads, they were all shocked. As their bodies were non-physical, unless they wanted to, no one could touch their bodies. But now, one of them was mercilessly picked up by his neck.


    Then¡­


    The body of that shadow person Mark grabbed disintegrated in a way that was as painful as possible. While his body was disintegrating, the shadow person''s cries could already be put as background screams in horror movies and games.


    As if releasing his anger, Mark smiled as the enemy on his hand suffered.


    This made all these remaining shadow people shiver. Even though Mark was wearing the same robe as them, there was no doubt that he was their enemy.


    Unfortunately, Mark had no time to do this one by one. He already had an idea where to find Aephelia and he needed to catch up.


    And thus¡­


    Several surges of ck smoke covered the bodies of the remaining shadow people. The smoke did not kill them immediately but started to eat their bodies as slowly as possible causing an even more eerie sight.


    ***


    Day 54 - 11:25 AM ¨C Industrial Area, South District, Bay City Settlement, Para?aque, Metro Man


    "To think that m is taken. We underestimated those two."


    Dopp frowned as he stared at the unconscious boy in front of him. This unconscious boy was left along on the ground and was retrieved by one of his men.


    The fight between the military and the members of Auraboros did not reduce even after the incident with the falling jib of the tower crane. The military focused on retrieving surviving soldiers under the rubble while holding off the enemies. Unfortunately, it was different on the enemies were different. They did not even care about theirrades and focused of fighting the soldiers. Due to the circumstances, it was the military that was forced to a defensive instead of the enemies.


    "Sir Dopp, what do you mean? Isn''t this m? Why did you say that he was taken?"


    Devon could not help but ask. He was not of the same rank as the two and had no idea what m was.


    "The missing sword is m''s real body. This boy here is nothing but a body he used because of interest."


    Dopp replied as he nudged the face unconscious boy with his shoe.


    Devon and Senator Estrada was surprised and confused. They could not fathom how that was possible.


    Dopp on the other hand was feeling strange. m was a cursed sword and anyone that touched it would be possessed. And yet, the person that took him was still fine and it seemed that it was m who was beaten into submission. With these thoughts, urgency filled his mind. It seemed that their enemies were not just simple pests that they could deal with.


    While Dopp was on deep thoughts, several figures appeared inside the room which emerged from the shadows. When he saw the appearance of the figures, Dopp was shocked.


    "Emmett, you¡­"


    Dopp was speechless as he saw Emmett''s condition. He sent Emmett and his squad just to capture a sylph and herpanions. It should just be an easy task since that group was justposed of a ragtag band with three children. However, looking at Emmett''s condition despite being an Alpha Werewolf, he could not hide his shock anymore.


    Emmett''s left arm was missing and by the looks of it, it was not chopped but more seemed like burned into crisp. There was no blood dripping as his wound was melted into closing. Not only his left arm but he was also missing his right foot and right ear. If not for the fact that Emmett was maintaining his werewolf form, he should have passed out already. Besides Emmett, the subordinates that returned with him were all shadow people that also lost some parts of their bodies.


    "Sir, don''t worry about my injury." Emmett weakly spoke. "Ipleted the main goal."


    Emmett opened hisrge hand revealing the unconscious sylph he captured.


    Seeing the sylph, Dopp was delighted. If they managed to retrieve m and start thest part of their mission here, it would be perfect. He tried to reach for the sylph but before he was able to do so, Emmett spoke.


    "Sir, it''s better if we leave this ce. As you can see, it''s only us who managed to escape and I only snatched his sylph by sacrificing a lot. That group this sylph belonged to is not your normal people. If they chased us here to retrieve her, our casualties will be even more severe."


    Hearing that, Dopp was forced into thinking. As Emmett was his direct subordinate, Dopp knew his personality. To make him suggest leaving, for sure, the situation could be grave.


    "The preparations is about to finish. We can leave after that."


    Dopp decided. However, before he was able to say anything further, everyone froze. They noticed that the surroundings suddenly went dark.


    They all hurried to gaze outside the window and there they saw.


    ck swirling clouds covered the sky.


    "Sir Dopp, is this part of the preparation?"


    Devon asked in utter confusion.


    "No, its not."


    Dopp answered with a serene face.


    No one knew how the clouds suddenly appeared but one thing they all knew¡­


    This was a bad sign.

 Chapter 334 Retrieval, A Faint Hope For The Enemy

    <strong>Day 54 ¨C 11:30 AM ¨C South District, Bay City Settlement, Para?aque City, Metro Man</strong>


    The light colored clouds at the sky above the settlement gathered faster and faster fusing into dark gray clouds that were the mostmon sign of a heavy rain or worst, a storm. It was as if a storm was going to form exactly with the settlement at the center. No one here had ever seen a phenomenon like this.


    At the tent city and all other residential areas, the people stayed in their houses and tents because of the confrontation between the military and the camp of the rebelling Senator Estrada. Now however, not only those outside stood in ce watching the sky, those who were inside wondering why it suddenly turned dark went out only to stare at the sky with shocked faces.


    No one expected to witness something like this to happen, it made almost everyone stood in ce outside their dwellings with heads facing the sky. It was a very peculiar sight as their brains failed to register the danger that they could have been facing if this was a natural disaster.


    Or maybe, they just did not know what they had to do. If this disaster really befell on this settlement, they had nowhere to go with the infected cities surrounding the settlement. Even if they escaped, the chances that they would survive outside for long was nil.


    They could only stare at the sky praying that the worst would note.


    ***


    "General, the sky¡­"


    "I have eyes. You don''t have to tell me."


    Captain D Rosa and General Perez exchanged words as they also stared at the sky.


    Outside the Industrial Area, the focus of the soldiers was now at the sky instead of the ongoing battle inside.


    "Sir Lopez, do you think it''s the same as you reported in NAIA?"


    General Perez turned to the older Major. As the one leading the operation in NAIA, he witnessed the phenomenon there firsthand. Since the perpetrators back then and the people they were fighting now were obviously from the same group due to their clothes and the former members of Senator Estrada''s alliance confession also told the same. It would not be surprising that they would create another disturbance like this.


    Back then before the outbreak, Auraboros would surely not try to do anything like this in arge scale and in an obvious manner. Even though they had forcesposed of strange beings, they would not be able to withstand it if the whole world suddenly besieged them. Now that the previous world had fallen apart, they were free to do what they wanted and in any scale they could.


    To the General''s question however, Major Lopez shook his head.


    "It''s different. Back in NAIA, the strange clouds came out of nowhere and spread from the center. The clouds above us are doing the exact opposite."


    While the two were talking, a report from the soldiers they sent to the eastern wall of the settlement to check about that beam of light came in. Unfortunately, the situation could not be confirmed immediately as the area where the beam came from was hidden by the over pass and trees but the thing they confirmed was that the Baran Church turned into ruins. There was also the appearance of a dragon like creature which seemed to be fighting something on the ground but it required further investigation. The dragon was already out of sight as they saw itnd at the vicinity of the church.


    Hearing about the dragon like creature made the officers that already heard about the news from the military settlement in Quezon think. General Faustino himself informed them through the radio that the person called Mark and his group would being riding a dragon like creature. Although they were still in disbelief about it, the reports they received from the other settlement proved it otherwise.


    The dragon appearing near the settlement added the murders of the people that had conflict with "Team Fairy" proved the thought General Perez had. If that creature appeared there without anyone even noticing, it meant that the person they had been waiting for was lurking around exacting revenge on his own.


    While in that though, a hurried voice came in from the radio.


    "West Wall to HQ! We confirmed visuals of the dragon again! It''s flying towards the settlement! W-wait! There seemed to be someone riding on the dragon''s back! We are waiting for instructions!"


    Hearing that, the officers looked at each other and nodded.


    "HQ to West Wall. Do not shoot and let them enter the settlement. I repeat! DO NOT SHOOT!"


    Although they were confused, the soldiers on the west wall affirmed the order and just watched the dragon fly over them.


    Soon, the dragon was already in sight. The soldiers around the Industrial Area were already informed and were already in defensive stance if things had gone awry.


    ***


    Mark flew on Char''s back watching the soldiers below. Since they did not shoot, he expected that the military had already deduced that he was here. After all, they had been looking for him and his group already these past days.


    With the soldiers in the way, Mark needed to make them retreat first. As such, he made Charnd near the area where he could see familiar faces.


    As the dragonnded, the soldiers became more alerted. He was still wearing the robe he got from the enemies after all. Mark noticed it and removed the hood covering his head to make them sure that he was human. He also removed his mask which showed his face towards Major Lopez and Captain D Rosa.


    Seeing the rather familiar face, both the Major and the Captain felt relieved. They stepped forwards with General Perez to wee him but before they could speak.


    "You are General Perez am I right?" Mark spoke in a rather cold tone that made everyone feel that something is wrong. "We can do the introductions and talkter. I want you to make your soldiers evacuate the Industrial Area."


    Mark then turned around and was about to make Char fly once more but Captain D Rosa called out.


    "Wait! Why do you want to make us retreat?"


    Of course, everyone that heard Mark had that question in mind.


    Mark turned his head and replied.


    "I have some business with those people in robes. All of them will have to die. If your soldiers got caught in it, don''t me me."


    With those words, Char took flight once more. This time, Mark made the dragon circle the industrial area as if announcing his presence. In fact, he needed to wait till the soldiers retreated. That was when he was going to make a move.


    ***


    "No wonder that guy and hispanion left after taking away m."


    Dopp frowned as he watched the dragon flying at the sky.


    "What are we going to do now?"


    Devon asked. Emmett had already told them his encounter with the group which left him severely wounded. That dragon was also there and it was now obvious that the man that defeated m and those people were in the same group. It meant that that guy flying in the sky would be looking for the sylph they had just taken with great sacrifices.


    "Start the ceremony early. That guy is not someone we can deal with. He took down m in seconds. That thing in the sky should also be his doing. We need his help."


    Hearing that, the robed figures waiting for orders in the room hurried out of the building. They went to thergest warehouse.<sub> </sub>


    There, five hundred unconscious people were lined up in ordance to the symbols on the floor written in blood.


    Then, five people wearing white clothes stood at the center of the symbols forming a circle. At their center, a pentagram was drawn. Raising their hands, the five figures started to pray.


    "Tsk. We don''t have much time." Dopp spoke. "Prepare to retreat. The ritual will take some time but I don''t think that guy up there will wait too long. The soldiers are already retreating so he might be waiting for them to finish. I don''t know why but we already finished one of our missions here. That guy for sure had done something against the Great One. I can feel it."


    "Retreat? What retreat? What about our agreement? If you people offended that person outside because you took hispanion, just return this insect back!"


    Hearing the word retreat did not click well with Senator Estrada and he immediately shouted furiously. He grabbed Dopp by his shoulders and started shaking him.


    BAM!


    Dopp just made a slight push and the Senator was flung unto the opposite wall causing thetter to vomit quite an amount of blood. He was just a normal person, that force that was used to him was enough to severely injure him.


    "Are you an idiot?" Dopp spoke. "A pure elemental being cannot bepared to that agreement you are speaking of."


    Dopp then ignored the senator who could not even talk back anymore. He started to prepare to leave with Devon who was using his [Psychic Barrier] as a cage putting Aephelia inside.


    "Leaving? Don''t bother. Even if you people return her, I won''t leave you all alive."


    The chilling voice was heard inside the room causing everyone to freeze.


    Dopp immediately retreated away from the source of the voice while Devon raised his hand to create a barrier in front of him.


    There, they saw a figure appear out of thin air.


    "F*ck! It''s that camouge ability again!" Dopp cursed. "How are you here? Who''s the one outside if you are here?!"


    "What? You call another guy an idiot but you''re also an idiot that fell for a fake."


    p Mark who was not wearing his robe anymore spoke with ridicule. The one riding Char right now was only an empty robe made to stand using [Blood Metal]. Mark was already on the way to secure Aephelia first.</anda>


    He then turned his head towards Devon who had Aephelia in his barrier.


    "Giver her back and I''ll secure a painless death for you."


    "F*ck you!"


    Devon replied and flung his hand. He created a barrier that moved forwards in attempt to push Mark back.


    To his horror, Mark raised his hand releasing ck smoke. When that smoke touched the barrier Devon made, the barrier slowly disintegrated.


    "So, you want the hard way is it?"


    POOF!


    Mark vanished and turned into mist. The mist and smoke mixed inside the room which made everyone try to dodge.


    It did not take long and the smoke vanished with Mark appearing once more. When they looked at him however, they were surprised to see that he was already holding what he came here for.


    Dopp turned to the cage Devon made with his ability and there was nothing inside anymore. Furthermore, Devon was on a strange position and was frozen without moving. Only his head was able to move but it was obvious that he was in extreme pain.


    "You peasants are all too weak. I overestimated you all. Auraboros is just some shabby organization made for wimps."


    Mark said as he looked at everyone in ridicule. Sure enough, he could feel everyone here aside from Senator Estrada who was barely conscious and Devon that could not move at all felt infuriated. However, none of them spoke or went to attack in fury.


    "I''ll take my leave for now." Mark spoke once more. "By the way, I will have you all give me an entertaining show. I wonder who willst the longest."


    He then vanished in the room leaving a chilling smile in their minds.


    Dopp inhaled in relief seeing their enemy leave but he did not let his guard down. The pressure being emitted by Mark just now was terrifying for everyone here.


    "We lost. Let''s leave."


    "GRRRG!"


    Dopp decided as he looked at Devon. Although Devol could still move his head, it seemed that his voice was also sealed.


    It was then that a chilling report came in.


    "Sir Dopp! Sir Dopp!"


    A shadow person came in, not from the shadows but running into the room through the door.


    "A wall of we suspected to be Miasma surrounded the whole Industrial Area! All of our people were severely weakened and could not use their abilities anymore!"


    "Sh*t! Miasma? Who the f*ck did we mess with?"


    Dopp cursed as he mmed his fist on the wall. No wonder that Devon''s ability was useless and m was easily captured. Furthermore, if there was miasma surrounding the ce, the shadow people would not be able to leave at all and that was their only way of escape now.


    "No, there is still a way! If it''s that person, then¡­"


    Dopp remembered something and he ran off towards the warehouse were the ritual was ongoing leaving Devon to his demise inside the room.

 Chapter 335 Struggle For Survival Of The Enemies, The Rain Of Lightning And The Burst Of Flames

    <strong>Day 54 ¨C 11:35 AM ¨C Industrial Area, South District, Bay City Settlement, Para?aque City, Metro Man</strong>


    Miasma,mon people might not have known of it but it was the thing that most spiritual beings, elementals and psychics feared of. A lot of beings even in Auraboros feared such thing. It would not be wrong to say that it was the bane of Auraboros. Who would have thought that a human that could control such baneful power. Even a human that casually touched such energy could lose his mentality and those that were exposed to high concentrations of it would cause their bodies to rot painfully.


    "How could someone like that exist? I did not agree to this mission to encounter such being."


    Dopp murmured with all those thoughts in his mind. He was currently running as fast as he could. Since he was created, it was the first time he experienced a setback like this where he had to do all he could in order to survive.


    Fear? He did not know of it. Not until now. Devon had been done in in the blink of an eye and the sylph they captured was taken back without them being able to resist. It was questionable why their enemy left them alive but it looked like he did not have any notion to let them go.


    "My greed got the better of me but why is that guy going against us in the first ce?"


    He questioned but of course there was no answer.


    Dopp finally arrived at the warehouse and took a peek. To his relief, the ritual was still on going. Screams of all the sacrifices echoed eerily wailing in pain as their bodies started to dry up as if all the fluids in their bodies were being sucked up.


    "Sir!"


    A robe person hurriedly approached Dopp.


    "How will the ritual take?"


    "It''s already in the middle stages, Sir. It will finish shortly."


    "Good!" Dopp said but hisplexion did not improve at all. "Continue the ritual without fail. I have to do something."


    "Yes sir!"


    Dopp then hurriedly left. He was now heading towards the aircraft parked near the warehouse. He was not trying to escape using it. It was pointless to try that. Instead, he was going to contact someone really quick. If it went well, there might be a chance to survive this.


    ***


    At the sky, Mark sat on Char''s back holding Aephelia carefully. The face and figure was totally different from the one in the memories he got from Freed but her expression while sleeping was surely the same.


    Mark was d that Aephelia was just unconscious and no further harm was inflicted to her. If she did have more things done to her, his switch might have flipped immediately.


    He caressed Aephelia''s head with his finger letting her sleep some more. This girl barely rests at all. It was her habit since she became Freed''s personal maid.


    Mark looked at the sky. The clouds swirling above had already covered the whole Industrial Area inside and outside. He looked down. The several meters high wall of miasma surrounded the whole ce preventing all his enemies from escaping.


    "Now, shall we begin the experiment? Show me how long can all of youst. I wonder."


    Mark smiled while his eyes were glowing eerily. That expression was surely something that would not show at someone who was looking at the creatures below as equal. Right now, all of them were just pests that needed to be exterminated¡­ Both for relief and for fun¡­


    Beside him, a sword was shaking fiercely. Not because of excitement but because of fear. Although m was just a sword, it could perfectly grasp its surroundings by detecting the energy around it. Right now however, it could not feel anything but the overwhelming animosity that the person that captured it was emanating. m was sword that gained sentience due to blood that washed its de for decades. Countless lives were taken away by its de. The negative emotions from that blood caused its birth. Still, all the negative emotions that gave birth to it could not bepared to the negative emotions it could fell right now.


    Mark raised his right hand facing the sky. Three crystals manifested in front of his palm and glowed brightly like stars in the cloudy sky.


    CRACKLE!


    Branching light traveled from cloud to cloud with a rumbling sound.


    It repeated several times rming everyone inside and outside the settlement. The disy of lights in the cloudy sky was both fascinating and frightening. They all raised their heads to see the light show in the sky.


    Finally, the lightning was not content of travelling just from a cloud to another.


    CRACKLE! BAM!


    The first strike had finally fallen onto the ground.


    A single shadow person disintegrated leaving his burned robe on the ground. This rmed all those that were around that shadow person but before they could flee, remaining electricity in the air scattered as if being guided into their bodies. As they felt their bodies paralyze, they could only look at the sky onest time. Along with the shing lights from the sky falling unto them, their pitiful lives shed by their eyes.


    CRACKLE! BAM! BAM!


    Lightning rained inside the industrial area. One by one, the enemies that could not use their abilities died. They pain they suffered might be short but it should be the most painful thing they felt in their lives before they left this world.


    They said that lightning could only hit a person once in his life. It was a thing that could happen by chance. If the person survived, that would likely be the first andst time they could get hit by a lightning.


    Not this time however. Those that managed to survive the first lightning strike on their bodies were hit a second time. Survive once more and another one woulde falling. Even if they survived the third strike, the fourth would stille.


    There was no doubt that the only purpose of this rain of lightning was to eradicate them all.


    Like ck ants disturbed from their lines, the enemies scattered fleeing for their lives. As the attacks were lightning strikes, they thought of finding shelter.


    However, as if ridiculing their lives, the lightning bent and turned in unlikely angles before hitting the ground just to enter the ces they hid. Without ces to run, the lightning hit their bodies. There was no escape. That was what the lightning wanted to tell them.


    A smarter werewolf transformed. He managed to withstand the first and second strike with his strengthened body. As the third strike came, he knew that he would not be able to withstand it anymore. By chance, he grabbed a metal pole and threw it towards the lightning in attempt to either block or redirect it away.


    However, it was na?ve thinking.<sub> </sub>


    The lightning bent away from the metal avoiding it instead of getting attracted to it. Without touching the metal he threw, the third strike hit him causing him to fall unto the ground, dead.


    "How boring, they die too easily."


    Mark said but his expression betrayed what he said. He was surely having fun watching his enemies die with fear as thest thoughts in their minds.


    However, it was not enough. They were not suffering enough at all.


    Soon, the lightning strike became thinner and thinner. Atst, the lightning looked like it was just the size of aser pointer. It was as if the lightning was finally losing its energy. However, that was not it. What they thought was nothing but a false hope.


    Since the lightning became weaker, the enemies did not die immediately. That was when several more lightning strikes hit their bodies in fixed intervals. They could do nothing but spasm on the ground until they finally died. They could not even scream as their voices were unable toe out.


    ***


    Dopp looked at his surroundings in horror. None of the lightning strikes hit him at all but that was the worst thing that could happen right now. As he was fine, he could watch all his subordinates die one by one. Some of them tried to call him for help but of course, there was nothing he could do. His ability had no way to deal with this kind of thing.


    He looked at the sky. He knew that a gaze was fixed on him this whole time, a gaze full of ridicule and contempt.


    However, he was still not losing hope. The person he had just contacted agreed to help him. The price might be overly expensive but as long as he was alive, he could gain it back.


    ***


    CRACKLE! TING!


    Mark frowned.


    After his gaze left Dopp who ran into their aircraft to hide, he sent a small lighting towards the aircraft as a warning. To his surprise, it looked like that the aircraft had a barrier to block his lightning attacks. It was the same for the warehouse near the aircraft. None of his lightning attacks could enter the warehouse at all.


    He did not know whether those were energy barrier or a psychic ability. Still, he could not let those be.


    With a wave of his left hand, ck smoke surged towards the barriers of the aircraft and the warehouse.


    CRASH!


    A sound like ss breaking was heard as the surges of miasma made contact with the barriers. Since the miasma corroded the energy that made up the barriers, the barriers could not be maintained anymore and were broken into pieces.


    Seeing the barriers broken, Mark sent several streaks of lightning into the warehouse aiming at the enemies inside.


    Before the streaks of lightning could hit them however¡­


    BURST!


    The whole warehouse exploded into a sea of mes. With that explosion, the whole warehouse became nothing but burning debris.


    Mark was surprised.


    "Is this what they used the hostages for?"


    The sea of mes was rather strange. There was a kind of energy inside those mes was on par with his miasma and both energies were countering each other.


    mes burst and spread into a certain distance forming arge circle of mes.


    Mark thought that they self-destructed but the questions in his mind was immediately answered.


    Arge figure emerged at the center of the circle. It was about three meters in height. The figure was humanoid with ram horns on its head. Its skin was ck in color and looked totally scorched with cracks releasing glow like magma. The figure''s head was covered in mes and nothing else aside from its glowing eyes could be seen from its face.


    On its right hand, it was dragging a two meter sword with a half meter wide de. Like the figure''s head, the sword was also covered in mes.


    "FINALLY!!!"


    The figure spoke with a gruff and eerie kind of voice.


    "Congrattions, Master Gar''m."


    The remaining members of Auraboros kneeled outside the circle of mes calling upon the name of the Demon they had just called. Dopp was among them.


    Hearing the felicitations of the people that called him here, the demon nodded in satisfaction. His fiery eyes fell on Dopp who was known to lead this people to call him here.


    "Dopp. I am gratified for your sess in calling me here into the surface once more. However, what is with this event? Why are there traces of that foul false deity in this ce?"


    Hearing that, Dopp was dumbfounded. He had no idea why he was asked of that question. The missions Dopp was given was to aid Devon take control of this settlement, investigate the events regarding the Great One and to investigate what had happened to Death Valley Settlement. As for the ritual, it was just an attempt to call forth one of their leading figures in the organization. The ritual might or might not seed and it was lucky that it had seeded as their survival was now ensured.


    However, for the demon to speak of a false deity here, Dopp could not fathom how it came to this.


    Dopp could not reply at all, however something came into his mind as his wide eyes fell onto the figure flying in the sky.

 Chapter 348 Invitation, Recruiting A Supposed Enemy To For The Advantage She Could Bring

    <strong>Day 55 ¨C 6:37 PM ¨C Surveince Cell, Hospital Area, Military Laboratory, North District, Bay City Settlement, Pasay City, Metro Man</strong>


    Mark stared at Spera with a dumbfounded expression. This was the very first time in his whole life to see someone grovel on his feet. He could also tell that this was not an act, the girl hugging his feet was totally begging as if he had taken her only way to live.


    Spera looked at Mark with her eyes filled with tears. She did not care what she looked like right now. The only thing that she wanted was to get her powers back even if she had to pay her body for it. That was why¡­


    "Hik¡­ Please¡­ Please¡­ Return it to me¡­ Hik¡­ I will do anything... If you want¡­ If you want my body, I can give it to you¡­ Just¡­ Hik¡­ Please return it to me¡­"


    It was ufortable¡­ That was what Mark felt. Even Nia and Allen who were wary towards Mark after hisst sentence also felt it.


    Luckily, Mark covered all possible ways for other people outside to see what was happening inside the room. It was because not matter how they would look at it, it looked like Mark made a child cry.


    Mark sighed. He leaned down and held Spera''s shoulders and lifted her up. He noticed. She was very light¡­ even for a girl who had a body that looked like thirteen or fourteen, she was too light. It took no effort to pick her up by her shoulders and put her back onto her bed. This sensation made Mark ask in his mind if this girl was eating properly.


    "Calm down, will you? Do you really think that will talk to all of you like this if I only need to unconditionally take those abilities back? If I do, then this meeting is unnecessary, I can just take the abilities by force and none of you can do anything about it¡­"


    Mark then tapped his pockets before turning to Nia and Allen.


    "You two have a hankie? I forgot mine."


    The two were confused. However, Nia still took out hers and handed it to Mark.


    There, they saw Mark carefully wiping Spera''s tears like he was taking care of a child.


    "Seriously, you cry too much. Just how old are you?"


    Spera went silent. She was dumbfounded as she did not expect this kind of gesture from Mark. Still, since he asked a question, she answered it by reflex.


    "I-I''m seventeen¡­"


    Her deration of her age gave Nia and Allen a surprise. Spera''s current appearance totally concealed that fact. Mark however was not surprised. He could tell how old a person was from the fluctuation of their emotions and he knew that she was older that how she looked like. He just asked that question as an expression but this girl actually answered.


    Mark continued to wipe Spera''s face without any change in his expression and thetter just let him without any form of protest. She looked like a child that found the affection she wanted for a very long time.


    Herck of defense made Mark smile inside.


    ''It will be easy to get her loyalty like this.''


    It was true that Mark was interested when he noticed herck of expression and emotions yesterday. However, that was not the true reason he left her alive. Even if her apathy took his interest, it was not enough for him to leave her alive as she was initially in the camp of the enemy.


    Nevertheless, m''s turnover to his side made him realize that not all the enemies needed to be eliminated. Like some Sengoku Era video games, not all generals captured from the enemy needed to be killed. Sometimes, their talents would be useful to the yer''s camp and what the yer needed to watch out for was their potential betrayal as they were originally enemies.


    And Spera fit that criterion. She was not just a simple ability user but a genius in Mark''s view.


    The ability to create portals that would connect two different ces was not an easy task even if the person had the ability to do so, especially since the ability was bound to a lot of rules. In fact, the previous owner of the ability, Maurellfel, was not as proficient in using this ability as Spera.


    First, the ability cost arge amount of energy for opening the portals. Maurellfel at her peak state could only cast either three long distance portals or nine short distance portals in the span of a whole day. Furthermore, the dy in being able to open a portal ranged for at least an ten minutes to several hours depending on the distance of the previous portal.


    Next, opening a portal would cause a disturbance in space causing it to be very unstable. Unless it was a very short range portal, it needed full concentration until the portal was fully created. Anypse in concentration would cause the portal to fail and waste the energy already spent to open it.


    Any kind of disturbance of energy in the surroundings could affect the portal and its creation. That was another reason why it was hard to use for Maurellfel. Still, as a sniper, she was able to make use of this ability as she was always at the back of the line away from the most disturbance and enabled her to concentrate using it.


    Thest thing was that the user should have been to the destination of the portal before they would be able to open one.


    As for thest rule, there was nothing they could do about it as the user of the ability needed to grasp the aura of space the destination had before being able to open the portal. To the other reasons however, they learnedter that it was due to Maurellfel''sckingprehension ofws of space. Unfortunately, it was alreadyte when they managed to know about it.


    On Spera''s case however, it was different.


    The span that their group arrived and tried to leave was too short. Not only was that but Spera managed to forcefully open a portal despite the disturbance created by the thick miasma he spread in the area. If it was Maurellfel, Mark knew that it would be impossible for her to do so.


    It meant that Spera was a capable one in using this ability that was really hard to grasp perfectly. In other terms, she was a genius.


    Mark did not want to let go of such capable person if possible. If not however, he would not hesitate to end her immediately.


    Still, it seemed that it would go the way he wanted. Still, it was really strange that the Apathetic girl yesterday became a very emotional one although it made the job easier.


    With those things in mind, Mark finished wiping of her tears and sat on the only chair in the room leaving Spera that looked disappointed.


    "As I said, I won''t take the abilities unconditionally. It was also by the request of that source. Do you all know? The abilities you had belonged to other people before. Those people were the greatest friends and allies of the source of the crystals."


    Hearing that, Nia and Allen were shaken. The abilities they had were actually owned by other people.


    "And those people are?"


    Nia asked.


    "Unfortunately, they are already dead." Mark smiled bitterly. "They all fought to death trying to save their home."


    "A different? Are they aliens?"


    This time, it was Allen who asked with interest.<sub> </sub>


    "No, they are also humans. It''s just they were taken by extraterrestrials to live in another." Mark looked at Allen. "Also, don''t ask too much. I won''t tell everything since it is better for you not to know about it."


    Mark said those words with a serious expression.


    "You said, you won''t take our abilities unconditionally?"


    Nia asked once more.


    "That''s right. As I said, those abilities came from the precious friends andrades of the source as such, that person did not want to see these abilities to be used for evil purposes. Fortunately, Nia and Allen, you two passed."


    The two was surprised.


    "What do you mean?"


    "I can tell. You two aren''t bad people. Besides, don''t think I don''t know that you two had been sneaking out food for the orphaned children in the tent city. You two also stealthily joined in defending the settlement during attacks. I''ve been wandering around these past days monitoring the settlement and I already knew about the two of you. It''s just the time is not ripe for you two to meet me."


    "You¡­ You have been watching us?"


    "To some extent." Mark smirked. "After all, I have a duty to do so."


    "Then why didn''t we feel you. It''s impossible for us not to notice."


    "Oh, you mean that strange feeling?" Mark closed his eyes and breathed deeply. "Now, can you feel it?"


    The three in the room were dumbfounded. The strange sensation vanished.


    "I just overused my abilities yesterday and caused that sensation. I can activate and deactivate it anytime I want. It''s just I''m expecting to meet you two today that I left it on."


    "No wonder." Nia smiled with relief. "So, you will let me and Allen to keep these powers?"


    "I will¡­ For now¡­" Mark turned serious once more. "If you two tried to misuse the abilities you have, I might appear to take those back. You two have to behave."


    "Thank you and you don''t have to worry." Nia lowered her head. "We will surely not misuse these powers we have. We still have to return the favor to Professor Isaach for adopting us and protect the settlement within the shadows. We don''t want to be like those people that threw us into the streets."


    "So, you two were street children before, huh?"


    "Yes. Professor Isaach adopted us after we gained these powers and he never mistreated us."


    "Alright. You two should go. I think the professor is already looking for you two. He''s already close by. I still have to talk with this immature girl here."


    Mark pointed at Spera who was keeping quiet as she sat on her bed.


    "Yes."


    Nia and Allen bowed their heads and went out of the room after Mark removed the miasma covering the door.


    After returning the cover on the door, Mark faced Spera.


    "As for you, I have a proposition. Leave Auraboros and join my team. You have talent and potential so it won''t be bad to recruit you. Are you willing?"


    Mark stood up.


    "By the way, for sure I''m already an enemy of that organization. If you join me, then you will also be their enemy."


    Spera was rather surprised by the invitation.


    "Why?" She voiced with disbelief. "You said that you are the enemy of the organization. Then why do you want me? I am a member of that organization."


    "I already said that you have talent and potential. Besides, the organization is my enemy but it didn''t mean that all the members of the organization are also my enemies. Let me ask you. Do you want to kill me? I bet you didn''t even try to kill anyone in your life."


    "No. I don''t want to kill you or other people. I don''t have the courage or ability."


    Spera replied looking down on the floor.


    "Then, you are not an enemy of mine. Why can''t I try to recruit you? Besides, you have no choice. If you want that ability back, you can only join my side. If not, don''t worry, I won''t kill you, but I won''t return it either."


    "Aren''t you afraid that I will try to betray you?"


    Spera asked as she looked up and stared straight towards Mark''s eyes.


    "No, I have measures for that. Also, I won''t return that ability immediately. You must prove your loyalty first. So, what is your answer?"


    Spera looked down once more as she contemted hard. It was then that a handnded on her head and ruffled her hair.


    "Alright, I won''t rush you. I''ll give you a whole night to decide. Also try to eat more. You''re too light."


    After those joking words, the hand on her head vanished. She hurriedly raised her head to look at Mark but she found no one else aside from her inside this lonely room.

 Chapter 337 The Convergence, The People Lured Into The Place Of Battle Due To Fate

    <strong>Day 54 ¨C 12:04 PM ¨C Rooftop, OKADA Man, New Seaside Dr., Para?aque, 1701 Metro Man</strong>


    On the rooftop of a casino resort and hotelplex located on the Entertainment City gaming strip just more or less half a kilometer away directly south of the Industrial Area, four figures emerged from a hole in space.


    The shortest figure wearing a ck cloak spoke and pointed at the direction north of them. From the small voice the figure had, it was obvious that the figure was a girl on her teens. As she was thest figure toe out of the hole, it was more apparent that she was the one responsible for it.


    "Spera, why didn''t you just transport us directly inside that? I don''t think that your portal is this inconvenient."


    The tallest and buffest bodies figure spoke towards the short girl. He was wearing a red cloak and a long thin sword was strapped on his waist.


    "Shin, you shouldn''t on our cute Spera. You will frighten her."


    One of the two remaining figures that both wore purple colored cloaks spoke as she hugged Spera like a pet. Her voice was bright and mellow. Those that would hear it would not help but feel attracted to it.


    "Yoko, you should stop that. Even if the world suddenly exploded, Spera won''t change her expression."


    Thest one, who was also a female, spoke. Compared to Yoko, her voice was cold and serene. However, it gave the same attractiveness as the other had.


    "Yoko, Tsukiko. You two should take this seriously." Spera spoke with her monotonous voice before she turned to Shin and answered his question. "I want to open the portal inside that but it will take too much burden on me. If I forced it, I will use too much energy that we won''t be able to open another if we needed to return urgently."


    "Are you saying that something is preventing you from opening the portal inside?"


    Shin asked with made Spera nod in reply.


    "Alright, let''s go. That Dopp offered us a good deal just to retrieve him alone."


    Hearing the order of their leader, they started to make their way towards the target area, except a single person.


    "Spera, what are you doing? Are you scared?"


    Yoko asked as they noticed Spera not bulging from her initial spot.


    "You three go. I''ll wait here."


    "Why?"


    To that question, Spera looked at the two females in her group.


    "As I thought, you two don''t feel it." She then turned towards Shin. "You can feel it right?"


    "You mean the feeling that I should go in there? As if something is attracting me to that ce? It''s somewhat nostalgic."


    "That''s right. I get the same feeling. It''s rather unpleasant."


    The conversation of Shin and Spera made the other two confused. However, Shin would not let anyone left behind. He picked up the small statured Spera by her waist.


    "What are you doing?"


    "We can''t leave you here whether you like it or not. Aside from your portals, your physical ability iscking. We also need you to escape if the need came. The energies in that ce are rather overwhelming. I think that Dopp seeded in the ritual after many others in the organization tried several times before. But someone with the same strength as that demon is fighting it."


    Spera really did not want to go but with the difference between her strength and Shin''s, she could only sigh as she was carried away.


    Leaving the rooftop, Shin who carried Spera along with Yoko and Tsukiko jumped down the uneven shaped floors of the casino hotel and made it down unto the road without problems.


    Below the building, they encountered a lot of infected as the casino hotel was the one of the most infected areas near Bay City but with their prowess, the infected did not even bothered them as they ran towards Bay City.


    ***


    <strong>Day 54 ¨C 12:05 PM ¨C South District, Bay City Settlement, Para?aque, Metro Man</strong>


    As the wall of miasma prevented the General and other soldiers from seeing what was happening inside the Industrial Area from the ground level, the General and the Officers moved towards the roof of the closest hotel casino hotel north of the Industrial Area. There, you could at least see the events inside to some degree with the help of binocrs and the scopes of their sniper rifles. They actually tried to fly a camera mounted drone inside but as the drone touched or flew above the ck mist like wall, the drone would immediately lose power and crash.


    Their soldiers had already retreated outside the area for the most part. However, they did not know if there were soldiers still alive buried under the debris of the copsed buildings. As the retreat became urgent, they had no time to save them anymore.


    "Is he still human?"


    The general voiced seeing Mark contend face to face with the three meter tall monster. To their eyes, no matter how trained they were as soldiers, those swings the me demon that appeared did was hard to see. All they could see were blurs and therge sword already traveled to another point. Not only that but they found it hard to catch up with how fast the me demon and Mark was moving.


    No one could answer the general. All of them were focused on the fight between Mark and Gar''m.


    While they were watching, three guests suddenly appeared.


    "Miguel, something unusual is happening here, isn''t it?"


    Hearing that voice, General Perez turned his head by reflex.


    "Isaach! What are you doing here?! It''s dangerous!"


    The general blurted out which snapped the other soldiers from the scene inside the Industrial Area. They all looked the guests that were being escorted by some soldiers serving as bodyguards.


    It was Professor Isaach Co. together with his two assistants.


    The general red at the bodyguards making them have troubled expressions but the professor spoke.


    "Don''t me them. I forced them to bring me here. Also it''s not me who wanted toe here but my children."


    Isaach nudged his chin towards Nia and Allen, his personal assistants and foster children.


    "Sorry General but we can''t help it." Nia apologized. "Both I and Allen felt that we should go here. The feeling is too bad that if Professor did not allow us, we would have sneaked here."


    <o>,m To her words, Allen nodded with seriousness.</o>


    "What Nia said is true general."


    "Can you two exin?"


    "Sorry general but it''s hard to exin."


    Nia answered the general''s inquiry but her attention was already on the ongoing fight inside the Industrial Area. Allen was the same.<sub> </sub>


    Before the general could probe any further, a message came from his radio.


    "General! Miss Mei Xiao returned! She is at the eastern gates requesting for entry!"


    "What are you doing?" The General bellowed on the radio. "Let her in! Why do you have to ask me?"


    From the information he had and Mark''s appearance, he already deduced that the figure that fought the sword wielding man before was Mei. The proof of it was the very same sniper rifle Mei used was with that figure. When the two left the area, Mei did not return and instead Mark returned with a dragon. It was very likely that she was somewhere outside.


    "General, she''s not alone. I don''t know how but the two girls in Team Fairy are with her. There was also a dragon with her, two strangers and a weird looking creature."


    Hearing that, the general understood. The guards left at other positions had no idea what was happening here.


    "Don''t bother. Just let them in! Ask them where they want to go and if they said that they wanted to go in the operations area, escort them with all hospitality."


    "Yes Sir!"


    Themunication ended with the General''s sigh. At least, it was confirmed that Mei Xiao was safe. Beside the General, Major Lopez was also relieved although he was still feeling guilty about being powerless at that time to protect his people.


    Before the General could take a breather¡­


    "General! Look there!"


    Captain D Rosa shouted with shock while looking through his binocrs.


    The entrance of the Industrial Area was still surrounded by soldiers despite the wall of miasma being present. It was to stop anyone from entering and exiting the operation area.


    When the General and other soldiers looked that the same direction using their binocrs, they saw four robed figures walking towards the entrance. There were soldiers around the four but instead of intercepting the four, all the soldiers were just standing without moving. They were all nkly staring in front like mannequins.


    "General, should we shoot?"


    One of the snipers inquired. However, the General shook his head.


    "Don''t agitate them. They might have employed some hypnotic power to pass through without fighting. With ability like that, they could have caused more harm but they didn''t. Just let them pass."


    It was a rational decision. Strong beings wereing one after another. Them, humans, should stay at the side for now.


    They watched the four walked towards the entrance. The one walking in front pulled out his sword and shed towards the wall of miasma making a gap between the walls. The four then hurried inside before the wall returned to what it looked like before.


    Fortunately, when the four entered, the soldiers outside snapped back to reality and moved.


    It made everyone watching felt relieved specially the General who made the right gamble. He then felt a pat on his shoulder.


    "It''s not easy calling the shots, isn''t it?"


    Professor Isaach spoke sympathizing with the general.


    Soon, as the General expected, Mei and her entourage came to this very location. Aimee''s appearance caused some disturbance but it was not that bad as she was with the renowned Fairy Sniper. Many of them also recognized Karlene who was an actress before the apocalypse.


    There was not much words exchanged afterwards. They all just watched the events happening inside the Industrial Area.


    No one noticed however, I was ring at Nia and Allen stealthily.


    ***


    <strong>Day 54 ¨C 12:10 PM ¨C Industrial Area, South District, Bay City Settlement, Para?aque, Metro Man</strong>


    mes raged inside the Industrial Area as sounds of swords shing and destruction echoed within.


    Only a few was left among the members of Auraboros and not because they were had to kill but Mark purposely left them behind. Among them were Dopp and Emmette who had both of their legs crippled. Their muffled painful cries were apparent but as they were still holding unto hope of surviving, they held it in.


    Gar''m was enraged to a frightening degree now.


    "You''re not taking me seriously aren''t you?"


    The me demon spoke in a grave tone. All this time, Mark was only evading his attacks and aimed at the people he was protecting. He could already hear the mocking voices of the other beings at the top of Auraboros in his ears.


    To his enraged question however¡­


    "Took you long enough." Mark smiled with ridicule. "You''re strong. I admit it. But it seems that you never improved after thousands of years. You still fight the same way as you fought that Deity of Bloodshed, or should I say, you got weaker."


    "You¡­"


    Gar''m pointed hisrge finger towards Mark, shaking in anger.


    "You''re forcing me."


    His eyes glowed like magma.


    Finally, Mark felt some pressure. The air was shaking fiercely as Gar''m released energy straight from his spirit.


    "Arise!"


    The me demon shouted.


    mes circled around the demon before a tower of mes burst into the skies piercing through the clouds Mark gathered. The temperature around the area started to rise which forced Mark to cover himself with Miasma.


    Balls of mes then flew from the tower falling unto every dead body present in the area.


    There, their bodies burned leaving their charred skeletons behind. That however, was not the end of it. The skulls of the skeletons burst into mes and were raised from the ground leaving the rest or their bodies.


    In the blink of an eye, hundreds of ming skulls littered the Industrial Area.


    KEKEKEKEKE!


    Eerie rattlingughs could be heard that even the four intruders could not help but feel unsettled.


    Still, Shin and Spera felt the tugging feeling inside them way stronger than before.

 Chapter 350 The Workshop, They Meant Metal And Tools But He Just Needed Blood

    <strong>Day 56 ¨C 9:13 AM ¨C Corporates Building F Rear Parking, Pea Rd. 1, North District, Bay City Settlement, Pasay City, Metro Man</strong>


    Three figures entered the parking area what was just on the other side of the road from the military residences. Anyone could tell the two of the three who wore military uniforms as two of the highest figures of the military in this settlement. The two were General Perez and Major Lopez. The third person however, it was very likely that no one would recognize him.


    Not because he was not known in the settlement but because he was wearing some odd looking outfit.


    He was wearing a ck cloak with tattered hem. Aside from that, he was wearing a reddish ck metal mask that seemed to havee out of a sci-fi fantasy movie due to the design and the glowing slits on it. On the man''s back was an oddly wide looking sword in a metal reddish ck colored scabbard.


    Of course, the person was Mark who prepared this clothing just early this morning. On his back was m who gained a new scabbard for himself.


    Due to the people appearing around that wanted to meet him, Mark decided to hide his face and wear this getup when doing things pertaining to his group. It was all because he wanted to be able to roam around freely when not wearing these clothing.


    Besides, wearing this outfit could give out a "do not approach" vive on him preventing other people to have any contact with him.


    He was not afraid to deal with any of them. However, he just wanted his peace not disturbed.


    Right now, he was with the two military officers as they personally escorted him to look at the vehicles currently parked in this ce.


    Mark and his team would leave after a few days of preparing. Of course, he was sure that not everyone woulde with him. Still, he initially nned only to take Mei, his daughters, Jate, Odelina and her children and his pets away but if any of his friends wanted to go with him, he would not mind as his base still needed more helping hands. It was also easier to do things with other people if he knew them rather than trusting the work that was needed to be done on total strangers.


    Because of that reason however, just Char and the MB Sprinter that managed to survive until now was not enough as transport. There was also Aimee and the body of Gar''m that were both toorge for a normal vehicle to transport. As such, Mark already requested for a suitable vehicle in advance.


    The Corporate Building F of Asia Mall was a building being rented by a Call Centerpany before the outbreak was already turned into a workshop. This was where the military modified and equipped vehicles they retrieved in a form more suitable for the apocalypse.


    Even armored vehicles would notst long in this kind of world and that was why the military secured that they would have a facility like this around. Also with this workshop, the military opened service towards the survivor teams to modify their vehicles in exchange for military merits or [Mutagen Stone].


    As they entered, Mark could see arge range of types of vehicles. From motorcycles torge dump trucks, the military had them here. Some were already modified, some were still in the middle of modifications and of course, most of the vehicles were still untouched. The number of experts the military had to work in this field was too few and not everyone that were working in repair shops and vulcanizing shops could be called as experts to be recruited. As these modified vehicles were the lifelines of anyone who would go out of the settlement, the military could not just take anyone who would volunteer.


    "You really don''t want to take a break just for today?"


    General Perez said while looking at Mark with an awkward expression due to thetter''s current appearance.


    The General was also troubled as he was not able to express his gratitude for the recovery of his wife enough. If Mark did not leave without them knowing, their family would have invited him for a small party. Even though a party was a bit inappropriate since the settlement was yet to recover from the setbacks the settlement suffered these previous days, they family still wanted to celebrate even for just a small gathering.


    However, that would only happen if the guest of honor, Mark, agreed to join.


    Regrettably, the person in question did not want to waste more time for his preparations.


    "Sorry general. I''m alreadytepared to my set schedule because of the things that happened. I really can''t waste more time."


    Mark''s voice was kind of low because of the mask he was wearing.


    "It''s a pity. My wife wanted to personally thank you."


    "She can do thatter. I still have business with her if you remember."


    "I''m really curious why you want to know my wife''s origins. Even I don''t know about it."


    The General grumbled which made Mark and Major Lopez turn to him. It was also the first time Major Lopez heard about this.


    "You married her without knowing about it?"


    Major Lopez could not help but ask.


    "What is the matter with that? Her origins did not matter for me at all."


    The General answered and it seemed that he was proud about himself while also disappointed that his wife never opened the topic to him. Nevertheless, he did not ask for anything that his wife did not want to share openly.


    While on that topic, Mark''s eyes fell on a modified Humvee at the back of the parking lot. As his speed slowed down as he watched the Humvee, both General Perez and Major Lopez noticed it.


    "That is one of the fruits ofbor of our scientists and mechanics. You can say that that Humvee is the toughest vehicle in the whole settlement right now."


    Mark nodded. The he already finished reading the research papers handed to him. Among those papers, there was a new research that was brought into fruition.


    The research was named [Supermetal]. It was about the development of a strong metal with the use of a ratio of different preexisting metals and a ratio of crushed [Mutagen Stone]. After a month and a half since the start of the project, the research seeded and the result was brought into testing.


    Now, this vehicle finally existed. A gray colored Humvee that was harder to damagepared to previous armored vehicles the military had. Of course, this single vehicle was not enough but they could not elerate the production since the metal was hard to shape withoutrge custom machineries.


    "I''m sorry but we cannot give that to you."


    The General preemptively said before Mark could say anything. However, Mark was really not that interested in the vehicle. He had his [Blood Metal] and it was easier to shape and had different varieties due to the [Blood Children].


    There was a problem right now however as he did not have enough amount of blood to use.


    "No, that vehicle is too small for us. I need a bigger one."


    Mark said as his eyes fell on a Lorry. It was a Twelve-wheeler Fifty Ton Cargo Truck. The carried on the back was already covered with a metal cage simr to those trucks that transport live farm animals. What took Mark''s attention was that the Lorry was in good condition and looked brand newpared to the other trucks in the vicinity.


    "How about that one?"


    He asked while pointing at the Lorry. There was really no need for him to be picky as he only needed a vehicle that could transport


    "I think that is fine." The General replied. "Let''s go ask Reymond if that one is already checked."


    They all went into the noisy building. It was noisy due to metal cutting and welding that was happening inside. Even this early in the morning, the people here were already busy.


    When they entered, a volunteer hurriedly approached.


    "General, Major, what brought you two here." The volunteer''s eyes then fell on Mark and could not help but make a strange expression. "And this one is?"


    The General looked at Mark if he needed to answer the question but thetter shook his head.


    "Just don''t mind me."<sub> </sub>


    Mark spoke which made the volunteer let out and strange expression.


    "Is Reymond already in?"


    The General interjected.


    "Sir Reymond is on the back. He''s working on a vehicle personally. Do you need me to call him?"


    "No need, well go."


    "Alright, if there is something else you need, you can call me."


    The volunteer retreated. Of course, he still gave Mark ast look.


    "Your appearance right now is really eye-catching."


    Major Lopez spoke but did not receive a reply. Mark already told them the reason for this.


    Along the way, it could not be helped that the three took the attention of the workers of in the workshop. The General and Major were greeted warmly but the same people could only whisper when it came to Mark who was exuding an aura of aloofness.


    At the back of the workshop, they saw a burly man with tan colored skin. He was wearing a ck tank top and had a towel hanging around his neck. The man was currently welding some parts of a motorcycle that had its parts taken off.


    "Reymond."


    The General called out.


    It seemed that the burly man called Reymond had a rather keen hearing. Despite the loud sound from his welding machine, he managed to hear the general.


    "General, what brought you here?"


    Reymond put down his tools and removed the welding mask he was wearing before approached them. Unlike the other workers, he noticed Mark bit did not seem to mind his appearance.


    As Reymond stood in front of them, the three had to raise their heads. He looked small while sitting but when he stood up, he was a seven foot tall giant. With the muscles and tan skin he had, if not for his lively looking face, he would look like a brute.


    "General, Major, who is this strange looking guy here?"


    It seemed that he was quite a frank person.


    "Remember about the thing I asked you yesterday morning?"


    "Ah, about someone who wanted a truck right?"


    "That''s right. This is the person who wanted that. You should already know the rumors circting right now. This is the person in that rumor."


    "Oh, I see." Reymond replied enthusiastically and approached Mark. "I''m Reymond, the head mechanic here. Other people also call me as the first Mutator in Bay City."


    He then reached his right hand forwards for a handshake.


    Mark did not ept the handshake however and just stared at the hand.


    Reymond then realized, his hand was ck from the dirt, rust and oil from his work.


    "Oh, sorry about this."


    He awkwardly pulled back his hand.


    "Just call me Mark."


    Mark introduced himself.


    After the introductions, the General inquired about the Lorry. They learned that it was already checked and it was perfectly operational. Of course, it was yet to be modified.


    "Do you want me to modify it?"


    <o>,m Reymond asked which made the General and Major to look at Mark.</o>


    Surprisingly, Mark shook his head.


    "I will do the modifications myself. I need materials."


    The three were surprised as they had no idea that Mark knew about this kind of work.


    "What materials do you need?"


    To surprise the three people even further, Mark spoke in a mysterious manner.


    "Blood, a lot of it."


    "That''s¡­"


    The three were speechless.


    "You three don''t have to know much. All I need is blood. Just tell me if you can provide it or not."


    "What kind of blood?"


    Major Lopez asked.


    "Any kind of blood. Whether it is humans'' or animals'', it doesn''t matter. Even stale blood is fine."

 Chapter 339 [Release], A Secret About The Relation Between The Infected And The Mutators

    <strong>Day 54 ¨C 12:20 PM ¨C Industrial Area, South District, Bay City Settlement, Para?aque City, Metro Man</strong>


    Two voices, one song. The battlefield that was enveloped in destruction and killing intent was suddenly filled with the echoing harmonious melody.


    It was a beautiful song that could calm rage and fulfill discontent. The voices behind the song were of the opposite nature. One was lively and mellow while the other was cold and strong. Nevertheless, the two opposing voices alternating the lyrics of the song created strange but attractive harmony that anyone that would hear the song would not help but listen.


    Unfortunately, behind the beautiful song, the intent was different. There was no problem with the song. It was because of the voices.


    Those that would hear the voices, especially men, would enter a hypnotized state. Being unaware of the surroundings and unaware of their selves, those that entered that state could only follow the intent of the two women singing the song.


    ***


    Shin nodded at Yoko and Tsukiko who stood atop the building quite a distance from the area the two inhuman beings were fighting. It was his idea as he could feel an invisible field that was sucking a certain kind of energy around Gar''m''s opponent. As he could not fathom what it was, he made the two girls sing the song away from the scope of that field.


    While the two women continued to sing, Shin finally moved forward. It was towards Gar''m who was confused as to what was happening. Due to the me demon''s confusion, all the floating skulls stopped in the air in vignce ignoring their target that was directly hit by a number of balls of fire and already plummeted to the ground.


    "Master Gar''m."


    With inhuman speed, Shin traversed the battlefield, jumped over the debris and dodged the walls of mes scattered on the ground. It did not even take a minute and he already called out to the me demon.


    "Who?!"


    Gar''m massive body turned around and saw the red robed Shin kneeling on one knee and removed his hood as a sign of respect.


    "Fret not Master of Volcanic mes. I and myrades are here to assist. This one''s name is called Shin."


    Shin spoke in a rather different way than normal.


    "Who sent you here?"


    The me demon asked.


    "Dopp contacted us as an assurance and a way of escape. We are here to bring the remaining survivors away if there was any. Your Arkh¨¥s is also included."


    "Bring me back? Are trying to belittle me? A [False Deity?! I won''t leave this ce until I kill that bastard!"


    "I dare not, Master of Volcanic mes. However, Your Arkh¨¥s seemed to have not noticed but something is affecting your mind and heightening your rage. Your Arkh¨¥s did not even notice that your Arkh¨¥s'' strength is waning rather severely."


    Hearing that, Gar''m inspected himself for the first time since he used the energy straight from his spirit. Now, he noticed that his body was weakening and the energy he had left already less than half of what he had released earlier. He looked at the floating ming skulls around him and saw that their movements were way slower than they should have been. This made him shocked.


    "This is¡­"


    Gar''m finally realized that he had fallen into something deep without him knowing. If the battle continued further without these people interfering, he would surely lose not because the enemy overpowered him but because he empowered his enemy.


    The me demon could not help but grit his teeth as the thought of how he was yed by his enemy came into his mind.


    "Where is that bastard now? I saw him fall if I remember correctly. Damn it, my memory is unclear."


    He asked with a curse as he looked around.


    "He is in that area I presume."


    Shin pointed at the northeastern direction about a hundred meters away or so. An area filled with mes and debris from the copsed buildings.


    "I am worried but it seemed that the ability of mypanions worked. Your opponent might be unconscious now."


    "Hmm? Is it this song? I see. It''s the Hypnotism of Sirens."


    "Your Arkh¨¥s is right. However, mypanions were not pure ones but were just descendants."


    "Good. After this, I will reward you and yourpanions. First, I should kill that bastard before anything else."


    "On your lead, Your Arkh¨¥s."


    ***


    On the other side of the battlefield, Markid down with his back on the hot ground in the middle of the debris. The cloak he wore was not burned and filled with holes. Even his clothes were burned to a certain degree. Aside from the clothes he wore, his hair long hair that was scattered on the ground was burned here and there. His skin had patches of third degree burns. Several fingers on his left hand had turned into charcoal leaving a bit of flesh remaining around his finger bones. The fall he had also snapped his wings that had the membranes of his wings also burned. The bones on his back also cracked a little. Nevertheless he was still alive and his body already started on healing itself automatically.


    If not for the armor he was wearing and the slight resistance the robe he wore had, his body might look worse that what it looked like now.


    Luckily, his right hand still held m tightly. It caused the mes on the ground to scatter in order to not burn its new Master.


    The worst thing right now however, Mark was not moving and was staring nkly towards the sky. His eyes were lifeless. He was surely under the spell the voices carried.


    Outside, there was no activity but inside, he was already ming himself.


    "Darn, I''m too careless. Well, good job warding off some of the mes."


    Markined at himself whilemending m beside him.


    Right now, he was inside his subconscious world. As the hypnotism caused by the song invaded the will on his conscious which was simr to possession, Mark was thrown into this world once more and was unable toe out. Fortunately, the song was unable to fully control his body but his body ended up being an empty shell as long as he was affected by the song.


    "I didn''t expect some reinforcements that can pass through the wall of miasma I created to iste the whole area. I wasn''t able to detect them either but it seems one of them already met up with that muscle brain demon."


    "Master, what are you going to do now?"


    m asked.


    "You are calling me Master willingly now huh?" Mark smirked. "You were too reluctant when I took you earlier."


    "You already showed your prowess to me. I''m not really getting a loss if I chose to follow you. That organization is too stuffy anyway. Wait- that''s not it! Why are you still so calm! You''re just a free kill as youy down outside!"


    "Well, it''s not like I don''t have a card to y in this condition."


    Mark put his hands on the back of his head and sat down after creating an inclined chair behind him. Then, arge monitor appeared in front of him showing what his eyes could see outside.


    "Master, what do you¡­"<sub> </sub>


    m was surprised at this and was about to ask but Mark did not let him finish his question as a smaller chair appeared beside him.


    "Sit here and rx."


    Seeing his new Master''s calm demeanor, m timidly sat down on the chair facing the monitor. It was then that Mark spoke.


    "m, tell me. What do you think Mutators are?"


    Hearing the strange question, m looked at Mark in confusion. Still, he gave the answer he knew that came from both the organization and the reports of the scientists he heard about.


    "People who managed to adapt to the strain of Mutagen in their bodies and gained superhuman abilities that was impossible to have before through gic mutation."


    Mark nodded at ms answer and spoke.


    "That is true at one part but also false in another."


    "What do you mean?"


    "Think about it. Isn''t Mutators just infected that retained their human consciousness?"


    m opened his mouth at the sudden contradiction but before he could speak a word, he realized that he had nothing to retort it. Then, Mark continued to speak.


    "Both the infected, whether mutated or not had superhuman abilities and they know how to use them effectively. They can even use their psychic abilities if they have one. It was the same for Mutators whether they are failed ones or sessful ones. The moment they woke up, they had knowledge of their abilities without needing to fully discover it. Another thing is that whether it was a Mutator or an Infected, there are those that retained their humanoid bodies and there are those that barely looked like human at all. There is only one difference between the Infected and Mutators. That is thetter had consciousness and will while the former did not."


    Mark and m looked at the monitor. They could see the floating skulls starting to surround his body from the sky.


    "Master¡­"


    m was worried but Mark was still unfazed. He continued speaking.


    "Do you know what happens when a Mutator dies with his head intact?"


    "They immediately turn into Mutated Infected. But Master! It''s really not the time!"


    Mark still ignored m.


    "They turned into mutated infected because they lost their consciousness after dying." Mark then smiled mysteriously. "What will happen if shut off my connection outside leaving the empty body? I won''t die since I have this world and I can reconnect my consciousness anytime but don''t you want to see what will happen?"


    "Master¡­ You¡­"


    m''s childishrge eyes became even wider as he looked at Mark.


    "Well, you see. People under hypnosis had their consciousness asleep but the connection is still there that is why what I will do now will never likely to happen to others. Watch."


    Mark turned at the monitor.


    "Let''s give it a keyword or something¡­ I think this will be fine." Mark nodded and muttered with a snap of his finger. "Release."


    He muttered and the scene at the monitor shook fiercely.


    ***


    "My skull puppets already found him." Gar''m smirked. "That bastard is really out cold."


    "Yes, it should be like that until mypanions removes the hypnosis, those that were affected will remain at that state even if they stopped singing. It is strange however but it seems like mypanions cannot control his body."


    "Just making that bastard unable to move is already enough. Remember that he is able to fight squarely with me. Even if I''m just resurrected, my strength is stillparable to lesser deities."


    Gar''m was already satisfied that it was his win even if he needed the assistance of these people from the organization. He only wanted to win and kill the bastard to end a several thousand year battle.


    They were just a few dozen meters away and they could already see the enemy''s body when¡­


    Slowly, unsteadily and sluggishly, the haggard figure of the enemy stood up.


    Seeing that, Shin pressed a device into his ear.


    "Yoko! Tsukiko! Did any of you cancel the hypnosis?!"


    The one of the voices singing in the background halted as a cold voice replied on the device.


    "We didn''t. You can hear us singing right? Have you gone deaf?"


    "But the target is moving now!"


    "What?! Impossible!"


    "It''s true! Wait, there''s something wrong! I''ll contactter! Check Spera if she already found Dopp then continue singing!"


    "Okay!"


    Shin stared gravely at the figure in front of them and readied his sword. On the other hand, Gar''m was looking at the enemy with a strange expression."


    "Is that bastard dead? I don''t sense any will on him!"


    "Your Arkh¨¥s? You don''t mean¡­"


    GRRRRRRRRR!!!


    The two then heard a very low growl from the enemy who was now staring at the two with his eyes that had two different glows. The right eye was red while the other was violet.


    WHHOOOOOOOOOOM!!!!


    Miasma burst unto the surroundings like water from a dam that had its gates broken. An overwhelming pressure swallowed the two that even the Master of Volcanic mes, the me demon, Gar''m, felt the air grew heavy.

 Chapter 340 Wild Battle, The Mark Without Restraints And The Two Inheritors Of The Crystals

    <strong>Day 54 ¨C 12:25 PM ¨C Industrial Area, South District, Bay City Settlement, Para?aque City, Philippines</strong>


    Miasma blew like waves rippling on the ground in arge circle. In the center of that ripple, Mark''s unsteady body stood, twitching and growling.


    Both Gar''m and Shin had to retreat because of the miasma. Especially Shin, since he had a weaker body than the me demon. The dread he felt from the pressure emitted by Mark was too heavy.


    "You bastard¡­" The gigantic me demon growled. "You should just lie down if you are dead already!"


    Gar''m shouted as he controlled the floating skulls in the air to attack. Immediately, hundreds of balls of fire wereunched towards Mark who was just staring at the two without moving.


    As the attack came, Mark hunched low with his arms dangling down. The de of m that was still on his right hand hit the ground causing a metallic sound. Mark then raised his head looking at the balls of fire approaching.


    When the first volley approached¡­


    BURST! BURST! BURST! BURST! BURST! BURST!


    The balls of fire burst apart. A volley after another, the balls of fire came in droves covering the area with bright light as they exploded. Mark was enveloped by hundreds of basketball sized explosions.


    It might already have been a thousand or more when the rain of fire stopped. With that amount, the enemy should be dead already.


    Or not¡­


    To both Shin''s and Gar''m''s surprise, the pressure they could feel never lessened and the rippling miasma never vanished. When the smoke from the explosions was gone, they saw Mark unharmed from the new attacks.


    Mark stared at the two with his glowing eyes and his head lilted to the right. His hunched posture was still the same. However, six red tentacles could be seen swaying behind his back. On the end of each tentacle was a reddish-ck colored de.


    ROOOOAAAARRR!!!


    He released an inhumane roar from his throat. That could just be a simple roar on the outside but Shin immediately fell on one knee as he felt his head ache badly.


    Shin felt a wet sensation on his nose and ears. As he touched it, he saw that his ears and nose were actually bleeding. He finally noticed, Mark was staring at them with his eyes fully red.


    "Sh*t! It''s that strange energy again."


    The swordsman realized. He was too focused on the heavy feeling he had and failed to notice the very same energy that covered therge area from before.


    "Tsk." Gar''m clicked his tongue and spoke to Shin. "Kid, I appreciate your assistance but retreat now. If you can prepare our escape, then do it. That bastard is just standing there not because he can''t move. He''s preparing for something."


    Gar''m already realized. The enemy might have turned into a soulless one but it did not make the situation any better. Instead, it became more dangerous.


    BURST! BURST!


    As the me demon finished his sentence, two more tentacles emerged from Mark''s back. However, unlike the first six, the two new tentacles started to envelop his body. From his shoulders, the gtinous blood spread to his arms and torso. Then it spread to his back, wrists, legs, face and the already torn wings. Even m was engulfed by the blood.


    Still hunched, he looked like a figure totally covered in blood. The blood then wriggled as it started to take shape and hardened making a hideous looking armor filled with thorns and des. Even the tentacles on his back changed into jointed limbs simr to a spider''s or a beetle''s which was filled with thorns. m was changed from a mberge into a reddish-ck wide sword with spikes instead of a de. Mark''s face was covered with a mask that only covered the upper parts leaving his mouth and chin open.


    CLINGK! CLINGK! CLINGK! CLINGK! CLINGK! CLINGK!


    Metallic sounds could be heard as the six new limbsnded on the ground. The transformation onlysted for several seconds.


    Mark then raised his head ring at the two and then¡­


    POOF!


    Gar''m hurriedly used the wide side of his sword as shield and put the sword in front of Shin.


    It was because Mark suddenly disappeared from his initial position.


    BAM!


    Therge sword was shaken heavily as Mark appeared in front of the sword with his metal limbs hitting it. From the loud sound, it was obvious that the impact was too strong that the sword held by the me demon shook fiercely.


    "Tsk. This Bastard aiming at you kid! Retreat now!"


    Gar''m shouted as Mark jumped away kicking the de of the sword. Mark thennded on a pile of debris but before the two could blink, Mark vanished once more.


    Normally, a trail of ck mist could be seen. But as Mark appeared and disappeared now, it was not just a trail of mist but a thick wave of miasma bursting into the surroundings. It totally masked Mark''s true movements making his attack very hard to predict.


    VOOOOM!


    Another burst of miasma scattered as Mark appeared behind Shin.


    BAM!


    Gar''m blocked the attack once more. On the other hand, Shin took the opportunity to counter attack before he retreated. He unleashed several shes at Mark with his katana.


    CLANG!CLANG!CLANG!CLANG!


    All the shes from the katana was blocked by one of the metal limbs. Seeing his attack blocked, Shin jumped back and started to retreat. As he retreated however, a wall of miasma appeared blocking his path.


    Still, it was not enough to stop him.


    Shin shed the wall of miasma creating arge gap for him to go through. That sh contained his ability and rather than shing the wall into two, it looked more like the miasma that his sword passed through was erased instead.


    With that gap, Shin used his inhuman speed and ran away.


    As the primary target ran away, Mark tried to make chase but he was blocked by the me demon from following.<sub> </sub>


    When Shin was already out of sight, Gar''m smiled.


    "I can''t use my puppets or attack if that kid is around me but with the restraint gone¡­"


    Gar''m hacked his sword towards Mark creating anotherrge tremor as the sword hit the ground. However, Mark was still safe and sound. He did not even turn into mist but just propelled himself away using the metal limbs.


    SLASH! SLASH!


    The me demon unleashed sh after sh causing dust and debris to fly around. However, Mark moved around like a jumping spider evading all the attacks with erratic movements. From time to time, he would also charge forwards attacking Gar''m''s body with either a smash with the sword on his hand or by piercing with his metal limbs. Mark also tried to give the me demon arge bite but was not able to do so as the me demon tried to counter attack.


    The two fought like there was no tomorrow. Unlike before where Mark just flew around dodging everything, the current Mark was attacking fiercely without holding back.


    Due to the difference in speed, attack after attack from Mark connected on the me demon''s body. If not for Gar''m''s enhanced body, wounds would have already covered it. Still, there were scratches and holes left on his body as Mark attacked.


    BAM!


    Mark was finally hit and his body flew towards a huge pile of debris quite a distance away.


    Gar''m used a feint and shed down on Mark when he was actually going to use the wide part of the de to p thetter away like a fly. The attack was sessful. However¡­


    From the debris, Mark sprung up like nothing happened. However, something changed.


    The red glow on his eyes became violet steadily.


    Seeing that, Gar''m surrounded Mark with the floating skulls and shot a barrage of balls of fire.


    However, the balls of fire were being blocked by the metal limbs that moved on inhuman speed. Some of the fireballs hit Mark as they were too many causing him to sway around unsteadily and even fall. Still, he would sprung up like nothing happened. While all those were happening, Mark was staring at Gar''m with a ferocious stare.


    GRRRROOOOOOAAARRR!


    Mark bellowed. Another ripple of miasma covered the ground but different this time, ck balls of miasma emerged from the ripples.


    The balls of miasma then shot towards each of the floating skulls. Gar''m made the skulls evade and counter attack with balls of fire but the balls of miasma chased persistently while dodging the balls of fire.


    Then, a skull was caught and the miasma covered the skull entirely. The mes were not extinguished but the control the me demon had on the skull was cut off as it fell unto the ground.


    While the balls of miasma and the remaining skulls did a chase in the sky, Mark charged forwards piercing his metal limbs towards the unguarded head of the me demon.


    ***


    "This is wild¡­"


    mmented on the scene he could see on the monitor. Unlike before where Mark was ying a war of attrition, his body was behaving the opposite. It was only dedicated on attacking without even minding if he was hit or was hurt.


    "Yep, my body even tried to bite but Mutators don''t carry the [Unstable Strain] of Mutagen so it should be unnecessary." Markined. "By the way, do you recognize the other guy?"


    "Well, I''m not sure." m scratched his head. "If I''m correct, that guy is called Shin. He belongs to a group in the outer division of the organization."


    "His ability is to erase energies right? I didn''t expect that the holder of Eigrid''s ability to assist Gar''m. I also feel Maurellfel nearby. To think that the inheritors of those two are members of Auraboros. There could be more."


    Mark spoke in a low voice and a sigh.


    "Who? What?"


    m asked in confusion.


    "No, don''t mind me."


    Mark shook m''s questions away.


    Eigrid, one of Freed''s Royal Knights. He was about ten years older than Freed and was initially the personal knight of Freed''s father. When Psypathogen invaded Eriellis, he was bitten during the time the castle was invaded. He managed to survive the infection and became a Psychic that had the ability to erase any kind of energy in a certain radius around him at will. However, instead of using his ability like mages, he preferred to pair it with his swordsmanship. It seemed that the habit was also inherited by Shin.


    On the other hand, Maurellfel was a retainer of Freed''s former fianc¨¦. She was a body guard and an expert in usingser sniper rifles. As a Psychic, she gained the ability to open portals and travel through them. However, it was not omnipotent as the mental energy required to open a portal varied heavily and opening the portals needed to follow quite a number of rules.


    Mark never expected that two of the reinforcements of the enemy were inheritors. When he saw Shin, Mark wanted to cancel the [Release] but as the song was still ongoing, there was no way to take control of his body. He needed to wait until the song was stopped. Even if the hypnotism was still in effect at that time, it would be weaker and he would be able to break it.


    Now, he could only patiently wait. Once the song was stopped, he would immediately take control of his body and deal with the enemies. He had a promise to fulfill after all.


    ***


    The sounds of intense battle echoed over the distance.


    Spera carefully traversed the area searching for Dopp. At the short pause of the battle earlier, Shin asked the me demon if Dopp was still alive which the demon affirmed. However, since the me demon was deranged at that time, he could only direct Shin to the general direction.


    Now, Spera was running towards that direction.


    Carefully running aroundrge debris and jumping over obstacles, she finally reached the area where the ritual that resurrected Gar''m happened before.


    There, she saw the barely intact aircraft Dopp and his team used toe here.


    Scouring the area, he finally found Dopp and Emmett that were both severely injured and unconscious. She immediately pressed the device on her ear.


    "Shin. I found Dopp and one of his subordinates. No one else is alive. What are we going to do next?"

 Chapter 341 Escape! Withdrawing From The Battle In Desperation

    <strong>Day 54 ¨C 12:37 PM ¨C Industrial Area, South District, Bay City Settlement, Para?aque City, Metro Man</strong>


    After retreating from the fight, Shin was running towards the direction where Dopp wasst seen by Gar''m. Still, while he was running, he was could not help but look back several times.


    He could not fathom what happened to the enemy. A being who could contend with the me demon could not have died easily. However, not having a will or consciousness could only say otherwise. Not only was that but the enemy seemed to have turned into a powerful mutated infected, an existence even more dangerous than before.


    It was not new information in the organization. A Mutator that died with his head and body intact would turn into a mutated infected. The worst thing about this was that the infected the Mutator turned into would not only be stronger but could perfectly utilize the Mutator''s abilities.


    The worst thing about this was people with special abilities that turned into an infected could also use those special abilities after turning.


    The current enemy was in both instances which surely became a huge threat to him and the me demon that was already weakened due to the battle.


    About the strange feeling he had towards the enemy, he decided to ignore it. Although he was also curious about this weird feeling, his life was more precious.


    "Shin. I found Dopp and one of his subordinates. No one else is alive. What are we going to do next?"


    The monotone voice of Spera was heard on his device which gave him a sense of relief in this dire situation.


    The pressure he felt back then when he was attacked by the enemy was overwhelming even for an experienced fighter like him. If not for the generous payment they would receive and the possible reward from the Master of Volcanic mes, they would have left this ce immediately just by the sight of Mark overpowering Gar''m who was a [False Deity].


    Shin immediately pressed hismunication device on his ear.


    "Spera, fire a re for us to know your location. Yoko, Tsukiko. Regroup at Spera''s location. Also stop the song. It''s not effective on the infected at all. Don''t waste your energies anymore."


    Almost immediately after Shin spoke, the song that echoed across the Industrial Area stopped. On the other hand, a bright ball of light wasunched into the air marking Spera''s current location.


    ***


    Spera stared at the reunched at the sky. She noticed that Dopp was waking up, probably because of the light that came from the re above them.


    Dopp opened his eyes and saw Spera''s small emotionless face staring at him without even a shred of sympathy to his broken arms and legs. He was already out of their hooded robe revealing his rather good looking face. Unfortunately, he was all covered in bruises, wounds and dirt. The white colored clothes were all dirty and was already turned into ck and gray.


    "What took you all guys too long? I''m going to pay arge amount you right? My injuries are too painful that I passed out already while waiting."


    The supposed severely injured Dopp spoke. It was in a manner that anyone would question if he was injured or not. Spera however did not pay any mind on what he had just said and asked.


    "It''s good that you''re awake. Just how long are you going to maintain that state? You will pay us to open a path for you to retreat and not to carry you and your subordinate."


    "Hah, seriously." Dopp sighed. "Where is that monster?"


    BAM! BAM! BAM!


    "Hear that? That big guy there is still fighting the¡­ enemy. Shin said that he already turned into an infected and it''s a very powerful one. It''s better if we leave already. The big guy will not hold out too long. I''m really surprised you can sleep in a ce like this and will all the noise."


    Spera replied. However, it was noticeable how she hesitated in calling the current opponent of Gar''m an enemy.


    As Spera finished speaking, Shin arrived beside her. He reached the ce fast but Spera was not surprised.


    Seeing Shin, Dopp smiled.


    "Finally, I can get out of this pain. It''s killing me."


    Dopp said as his body disintegrated turning into dust. It included his clothes and other things he wore. At the same time and at the same rate his body crumbled into dust however, a silhouette of a person standing behind his body slowly emerged.


    The moment his body fully turned to dust and vanished, the silhouette finished materializing, revealing another Dopp who had no injuries on his body. His white clothes were unstained and his other belongings were all recovered. He was even wearing his gray colored robe once again.


    "Damn, that is painful."


    Doppined as he checked his body for anything wrong but made a satisfied nod soon after.


    Shin and Spera ignored Dopp who was now checking Emmett''s injuries.


    "Spera, prepare the portal. We''ll go when Yoko and Tsukiko arrived."


    "Okay."


    At Shin''smand, Spera closed her eyes concentrating heavily on using her ability.


    Soon, the space in front of her started to distort and a small hole appeared soon after which started to expand. The speed however was rather slow. Not only that they were in surroundings affected with Miasma but the distance where the other side of the portal was opening was rather far. She was also already drained from using a long distance portal earlier making it harder to construct another one.


    ***


    BAM! BOOM!


    The battle between Gar''m and Mark continued and was rather going intense. However, the battle was tilting against the me demon as the infected nature of Mark started to adapt further and further.


    From jumping around like a jumping spider using his metallic limbs, Mark was not appearing and disappearing consecutively while releasing arge amount of miasma in the surroundings. Aside from his speed, Mark was growing stronger. His jumps and kicks that could barely do anything before was now cracking the pavement and was already damaging the me demon''s enhanced body.


    Gar''m''s attacks could not hit Mark anymore and all his floating skulls were taken down already.


    POOF! BAM!


    Mark appeared behind Gar''m and gave the me demon a kick with his two legs and six metal limbs. The me demon was pushed two steps forwards and staggered before falling unto one knee. That kick Mark unleashed not only pushed the demon away but also caused cracks on his body.


    "DAMN IT!"


    Gar''m bellowed as he swung his sword making Mark jump back.


    At this time, the song had already stopped and Gar''m knew that the time to retreat wasing. Finally, he could feel a distortion in space as a portal was being opened by Spera quite a distance away.


    However, Mark also felt it.


    ***


    "Master, aren''t you going to take over already?"


    m asked as the song had already stopped. However, the infected behavior of Mark''s body continued as he was still affected by the hypnotism and Mark had notpeted for the control yet.


    "Not yet." Mark said calmly. "Auraboros is filled with strange creatures and psychic ability holders right?"


    "Yes."


    "Then, you should know that the infected is highly attracted to psychic abilities especially when they are being used."


    Hearing that, m became wide eyed. Just a few seconds after the ripple in space was felt, Mark''s body turned its head away facing toward the south.<sub> </sub>


    "See? They will think that I''m attracted to the appearance of the portal and will try to block me. That is when I will take them by surprise. Still, I''m surprised that that bastard seemed to be fine."


    Mark narrowed his eyes in annoyance as he felt Dopp had recovered.


    "Are you talking about Dopp?" m spoke. "That Dandy Guy is a Doppelganger. He can create another copy of him turning that into a real body after erasing the previous one. He can also change the appearance of himself and other people he was able to manipte. The copies he can make using other people''s bodies can be used as puppets connected to several people like how the speech was done before."


    The existence of Dopp being revealed like this surprised Mark a bit. It seemed that m really wanted to turn over to his side and leave the organization. Still, it also surprised him that Dopp was actually a creature like that.


    "So, it''s like that."


    Mark smiled. However, since Dopp''s ability was of his existence and not a psychic ability, he felt pity that he would surely not be able to steal it.


    ***


    Seeing Mark distracted, Gar''n hacked his sword down ferociously.


    Unfortunately, Mark dodged. The me demon hurriedly tried to defend himself as that attack created an opening to attack him but to his dismay, Mark vanished into ck mist and smoke which left the area of battle like a speeding racecar.


    "Not good!"


    Gar''m was wide eyed. As he had just been reborn, he never knew that Mark would be attracted to the ripples of psychic energy and was not prepared to intercept Mark.


    "KID! THE ENEMY IS COMING!"


    Gar''m shouted loudly which echoed across the Industrial Area. His body was toorge and slow to catch up to Mark who was getting faster and faster as he fought.


    ***


    It did not take long and the ck smoke was already speeding towards Spera.


    Shin hurried to intercept Mark and shed the mist erasing the movement ability and forced Mark to appear. However, Mark''s speed during the movement did not decrease after he was forced out and ended up ramming Shin. The swordsman used his sword to block and was forced back several meters.


    PUFF!


    Being hit by a speeding racecar was too much even for the inhuman bodied Shin. As his organs were rattled heavily by the impact he had just received, blood spurted from his mouth. However, he remained standing and did not fall down. Behind him were not just Spera but also Yoko and Tsukiko. He could not back down and let his members get killed.


    STOMP! STOMP!


    Gar''m''s loud footsteps could be heard from behind as the me demon tried to catch up.


    But then, something unexpected happened.


    Mark who was charging forwards stopped and stood in ce, a very unusual thing for an infected to do.


    It was when Mark raised his head and looked at Shin and Spera that they noticed the anomaly.


    "Would you all kindly surrender?"


    Mark spoke which turned everyone''s eyes wide except for Spera who was concentrating on the portal.


    An infected gaining his consciousness back was unprecedented. For it to happen abruptly like this made them feel like all of this had been staged.


    "Yoko! Tsukiko!"


    Shin shouted prompting the two to sing.


    However¡­


    "AAHHH!!!"


    "GAAAHHH!!"


    The two women fell on their knees holding their heads. Mark stared at the two with his eyes glowing bright red.


    "Unfortunately, I can''t let you two do that again."


    "Sh*t!"


    They were pinned down. Even Dopp who thought that his safety was secured became worried.


    As the portal was almost open, they just needed to make a distraction.


    It was then that¡­


    "BRATS! CLOSE YOUR EYES!"


    The voice of Gar''m shouting could be heard.


    SHINNGGG!!!


    Bright light enveloped the area which severely affected Mark whose eyes had been ustomed to the dark surroundings. He was blinded.


    The only thing he knew that the presences of people around was moving rapidly as they retreated.


    Knowing their n, Mark waved his hands despite not being able to see. Miasma surged unto the surroundings which engulfed arge area around him.


    Soon, the surroundings became quiet.


    By the time his eyes recovered, the portal was already gone along with the people in front. Mark turned his head behind and saw a four-meter-tall statue left in the middle of the Industrial Area.


    He did not expect that Gar''m would leave his newly created body and explode a part of his spirit in order to escape.


    The me demon seeded¡­ Well¡­ Almost¡­


    Mark walked forward. Several stepster, he was standing beside an unconscious girl wearing a ck cloak.


    "Well, this is Maurellfel''s inheritor, right? It''s a pity Eigrid escaped. That two singing girls are interesting too. I wanted to capture all of them including that Doppelganger. I want to know if there is a way to take their racial abilities. Well, I''ll surely encounter again them sooner orter."


    He said as he poked Spera''s arms with his right shoe.


    After checking that she was out cold, Mark stared at the space where the portal should have been before.


    "I wonder if they will like the souvenirs."

 Chapter 342 Bad And Good, The Two Endings Of The Battle In Bay City

    <strong>Day 54 ¨C 1:45 PM - ¨ƒ¨ƒ¨ƒ¨ƒ¨ƒ¨ƒ, ¨ƒ¨ƒ¨ƒ¨ƒ¨ƒ,¨ƒ¨ƒ¨ƒ¨ƒ¨ƒ,¨ƒ¨ƒ¨ƒ¨ƒ¨ƒ¨ƒ¨ƒ¨ƒ, Japan</strong>


    A hole appeared in the middle of an Expressway and expanded over the span of seconds. Before the outbreak, sudden phenomenon like this in the middle of a busy road would cause idents. Now however, there were only infected around that could witness the disturbance.


    The hole appeared like a disturbance in space than an actual portal. Then, a bright ball light suddenly flew out of the hole followed by a sudden burst of ck smoke that covered about four meters around the hole before disappearing.


    After running away from the ck smoke, the ball of light burst out a blinding light before five figures emerged on the middle of the almost empty road. Unsteadily, four of the figures stood up taking a look at the hole they escaped from as it vanished like it never appeared. On the other hand, one of the figures that had no arm remained lying on the ground unconscious.


    That was then that they noticed¡­


    "This is not our base. Spera! What happened?" Shin bellowed in his usual scolding tone. However, when he looked around¡­"Spera?"


    "Kid, don''t bother looking." A ball of fire that looked like boilingva flew down to the level of his face and spoke. "If you are looking for that small girl, she''s left back there."


    Everyone was surprised seeing the talking ball of fire but the voice immediately let them know who it was.


    "Your Arkhes?" Shin spoke in a question. "What did Your Arkhes mean? Spera is¡­"


    "You should just be d already." Gar''m spoke in an annoyed tone. "I forced all of us into an iplete portal because that small girl had already fallen unconscious. I saw the Miasma cover her so I was not able to retrieve her like you brats here. If I spent more time to get her, don''t even mention speaking and standing here. All of you will be in the hands of that monster."


    Hearing those words, Shin''s fist tightened to the point of his palm bleeding. Yoko felt crestfallen as Spera was left behind. As for Tsukiko, she looked like the usual although her eyes had a tint of worry.


    "Just what is that guy?" Yoko spoke. "Shin, you said that he turned into an infected right? Why can he speak?"


    That question echoed inside their minds. Shin looked at Gar''m who was the person who noticed the changed at first.


    "Kid, don''t look at me like that. That monster returned from being a soulless one back to his previous state after the song stopped. I even had no choice to leave my newly created body there to enable all of us here to escape."


    The tone of Gar''m was grave. After many tries and sacrificing thousands of human lives, he was finally resurrected. Just to fight a monster like that and escape in his weakened spirit form. With his current state, who knows how long he had to spend to recuperate his spirit and create another physical body. The setback he gained from this defeat was overwhelming.


    "Dopp, we lost a lot in this request of yours. You better give us a raise."


    Shin turned to Dopp who was not speaking since earlier but when all of them turned to thetter for his reply, their eyes widened.


    Dopp was not speaking not because he was just keeping silence but his body kept on the state of destruction and creation. For some reason, Dopp was trying to recreate another body but before he was able to, the new body disperses and the body he was trying to rece was getting reconstructed instead.


    "Curse that Bastard! All of you get away from him!"


    Gar''m bellowed in unprecedented panic. However¡­


    He waste¡­


    BOOOM!


    Dopp, wide eyed, exploded. ck smoke burst forth from his body enveloping area about five meters around him. Shin''s group was within that area as they were standing together with Dopp.


    At thest moment however, Gar''m burned another part of his spirit and created a thin film of light around Shin, Yoko and Tsukiko. The three managed to run out of the area covered in smoke. However, there were parts of their bodies touched by the smoke which immediately festered. Fortunately, the protection Gar''m gave then stopped the contamination in their skin from spreading.


    "Thank you Your Arkhes."


    Shin immediately conveyed his gratitude while enduring the pain in the injury he received.


    In exchange for burning his spirit once more, Gar''m became smaller. The burden in his spirit becamerger but he would not let these three die. Not only that they assisted him in fighting but these three was the only way for him to reach the base of the organization in this country.


    Shin, Yoko and Tsukiko inspected their hands and feet. The cloak that covered their bodies protected them but their hands and feet was not covered and was hit by the miasma. Now, their hands and feet looked unsightly and for sure, it would be hard to heal these injuries.


    Still, they were alive. Both Dopp and Emmett were no more.


    "Damn it. We lost Spera, we are injured and Dopp is gone. How are we going to get paid for this?"


    Shin bellowed in anger. At the side, Yoko and Tsukiko stepped away from Shin as if afraid that he would turn his anger towards them.


    "We should leave this ce first. The soulless ones are already gathering."


    Gar''m suggested which the three nodded to.


    "Where are we anyway?"


    Yoko asked which Tsukiko responded by pointing her finger at a certain sign beside the road.


    "Nagasaki Expressway¡­ What? We need to travel almost the whole country to get to our base! How are we going to do this without Spera?"


    Yoko started to throw a tantrum just to get a smack on her head.


    "Stop shouting, we need to leave. There''s no point in crying over spilt milk."


    ***


    <strong>Day 54 ¨C 12:45 PM ¨C Industrial Area, South District, Bay City Settlement, Para?aque City, Metro Man, Philippines</strong>


    "This armor looks hideous."<sub> </sub>


    Markined while touching the spikes protruded on the armor he was now wearing. Not only that his body was covered in this unsightly armor but the armor he previously wore was not fused with this one due to having the same kind of material used to create the armors. Now, he needed to make another.


    While shrugging his shoulders, the metal limbs on his back started to slowly liquefy as he tried to return the [Blood Metal] covering his body back to liquid state and return the blood inside his body. As the amount of blood used to create the armor and the metal limbs was ratherrge, he was kind of feeling lethargic.


    He looked around, fire still raged everywhere. Since this was a bad thing, he took out the [Stormcaller Mental Crystal] and activated it.


    DRIP! DRIP!


    The swirling clouds started to pour heavy rain¡­ Just inside the Industrial Area. It was quite a sight.


    p Mark faced the sky eyes closed as he embraced the refreshing feeling as the cold rainwater fell on his face. He was kind of tired already he needed some refresher.</anda>


    He then approached the unconscious Spera. To say, he was quite interested in this girl. She was giving the same vibe he and Mei both had. He wanted to know the details about it when she woke up.


    However, there was a thing needed to be done first.


    Mark removed Spera''s hood revealing her rather cute face that was being sshed by the drops of rain. By her looks, she seemed to be of Russian descent unlike her teammates that were all Japanese. He then pressed his right hand on her forehead.


    The [PsyCrystal] on his arm glowed brightly which even seeped out of his hideous armor. By the time he removed his hand, a crystal was already held by him. It was a [Mental Crystal] with a ck swirling orb inside with bits of lightning in it. The orb was a symbol of space, ck, bottomless and unstably chaotic.


    With a flick of his hand, the crystal vanished as it entered the [PsyCrystal] for safekeeping.


    Now, there was no way for Spera to escape and he would be able to question her about many things.


    Still, Mark did not expect that Spera that wascking emotions would not be able to handle his empathic ability. The other two women only screamed in pain but she directly fainted.


    "Well, it is a good thing anyway."


    Mark waited until the spikes on his hands and arms were melted before he picked Spera up on his arms and walked towards the exit of the Industrial Area.


    On the way, he stopped by the area where the jib of the crane had fallen. He had purposely led the fight away from this area because of one reason.


    "It''s good that they held out."


    Mark put Spera down and started waving m against arge portion of the wall of the fallen building. The wall crumbled revealing several soldiers that were trapped under the jib. They luckily survived because the jib served as the shelter above blocking the fallen buildings and created a safe area under the debris.


    Seeing that the wall crumbled, sounds of joy could be heard from the conscious soldiers. They had been trying to find a way to go out but were not able to and the tremors that they felt only bolstered their anxiety further. When the they saw Mark however, the became cautious.


    "Don''t worry and just get out. The fight ended already."


    Without saying anything further, Mark picked Spera up once more and left.


    The soldiers went out and shielded their eyes from the rain. Some walked out while carrying their unconsciousrades. They finally saw the destruction that was created by this battle. They could not help but feel d that they were still alive.


    After leaving the soldiers, Mark went to the only building left intact in the Industrial Area. It was the building where the Senator and Devon were left before.


    With a puff of ck mist, Mark appeared inside the same room where he retrieved Aephelia. The Senator was still alive but was in a very bad condition. On the other hand, Devon had already passed away. His face was warped in agony. His death was surely painful.


    Mark then let out an empty [Mental Crystal] and let it flew above Devon''s head. With a bright glow in the room, the crystal turned from being empty to having a ss like orb inside.


    "This wille in handy."


    Mark smiled at this harvest before turning at the unconscious Senator with his expression turning grave. The unconscious senator was still in the position like how he was left before, sitting on the ground while leaning on the wall.


    "I would not mind if you led the settlement. With your ambition, you could have pushed our country further if you really became a president. Unfortunately¡­"


    Mark stomped on the man''s head.


    BAM!


    "You picked the wrong people to mess with. You''re lucky you''re asleep."


    Carrying Spera out, Mark left the senator whose head turned into a mush of unrecognizable flesh and bones. Just the way he died could make anyone feel the anger of the killer that did it. Even the wall behind the head of the senator was dented by the impact.


    Soon Mark stepped out of the Industrial Area with his armor finally gone leaving his tattered clothes behind. As he walked out, the miasma around the area could be seen flying into his body as if being sucked by a worm hole. In a few seconds, the dark wall of miasma surrounding the Industrial Area had already vanished into his body.


    Mark smiled. Outside the gates, everyone was waiting for him. He was not surprised that Mei and the children along with Edzel and Karlene were here but for some reason, Odelina was also here along with the friends he searched for in Bacoor. Many of them had tears on their faces seeing the familiar face of Mark.


    """PAPA!"""


    The three little girls ran towards him and hugged him ignoring how we he was. Without a choice, he could only put Spera on the ground and hugged the three girls.


    Then, another person approached making him raise his head.


    With a smile¡­


    "I''m Back."


    "Gege, wee back."

 Chapter 343 A Day After The Shaking Event, Handing Over The Package He Was Tasked To Deliver

    <strong>Day 55 ¨C 9:22 AM ¨C South East Tower, Military Residences, North District, Bay City Settlement, Pasay City, Metro Man</strong>


    A new dawn hade several hours ago marking the start of the new day after the battle in the Industrial Area was concluded.


    At the Industrial Area, people were in droves working to recover anything they could and clean up the debris scattered all around. The battle yesterday caused a huge loss for the settlement but thinking positively, this loss was better than being conquered by another force that was totally unfamiliar to the people here. If they had seeded, who would have known what would happen in the future.


    The friends and the rtives of those that were abducted by the organization also came to the area to look. However, not to mention seeing their dead bodies, not even a hem of their clothes were found after the me demon burned their bodies to ash and used their skulls as puppets. All they found were hundreds of scorched skulls rolling on the ground but who would know which skull belonged to whom?


    And thus, these people could only mourn while holding onto their prayers wishing that their loved ones would watch over them from the heavens.


    Mark was watching that scene through the window of the room on the highest floor of the hotel he was allowed to stay. Yesterday was a tiring day for everyone, especially him. Not only that he fought against a [False Deity] but his body had gone another enhancement due to the stimtion of Mutagen in his body during the battle.


    "I still have to get used to this."


    Mark said as he shook his wrist. The ck marks on his body that appeared after he devoured the Deity of Bloodshed had changed and became a bitrger.


    "Gege, is something wrong with your hand?"


    Mei who was holding a cup of coffee to give to Mark asked from behind.


    "No, its fine. I''m just not used to this."


    "It doesn''t look bad."


    Mei said while looking at Mark''s wrist as he took the cup of coffee from her.


    Mark shrugged his shoulders and looked out of the window once more while he took a sip on his coffee.


    After the battle yesterday, the next events overwhelmed him.


    When his friends got the chance, they crowded him in glee for his return. Some shed tears while others shouted in joy. Since Mark was separated from them almost two months ago, the chance of him returning was rather slim in their view. After all, it was the end of the world where even their closest loved one could die tomorrow or the next day.


    Yet, he returned and even became someone powerful.


    Apparently, they came after they received the news that Mei returned. Many people saw Mei enter the gates and when she and the others were escorted by the military. When they arrived to see Mei, they saw the rest of the battle inside the Industrial Area.


    Unfortunately, Mark was not used to that kind of wee. If not for Mei and the children being there, he would have escaped immediately.


    After the crowd had calmed down, it was the time he was greeted by the officers of the military. The introduction of the General and his talk with them was rather short since both parties were not in the mood to do a long talk. Mark was tired and the military had to deal with the aftermath making them agree to schedule a formal meeting some other time.


    At that time, he made sure that the military would collect the body of Gar''m for him and not tinker with it which the general agreed readily. He also took im for the hooded robes that the members of the organization wore since he had uses for those garments.


    With everyone, they returned to the residence and he was given this room which was one of the most luxurious suites in the hotel. Of course, Mei, Abbygale and I immediately joined him in the room together with Amihan and Aephelia who gained consciousness shortly after Char returned to where Mei and the others hid.


    When they reached the room, Aephelia immediately apologized for the blunder that happened because of her. However, it was not really necessary since it was not her fault at all. Still, it did not make her cheer up and just promised her loyalty until the end of her life.


    Sure enough, that was an absurd kind of repentance for the small blunder that could not be helped but she was so adamant about it.


    After that, the military had been considerate leaving him alone and allowing him to rest. The other people were not though.


    The news of him and the battle he had with the me demon circted fast within the settlement. It was because everyone in the settlement wanted to know the things that happened in the Industrial Area and someone leaked the story. The military tried to cover it up but unfortunately, it did not work on the people who had eyes in the military.


    That was why an hour after Mark arrived at the hotel suite until the sunset, a lot of unwanted visitors came to greet him.


    Of course, he did not and would not care about them and as such, he just sent a soldier to push them away. Unfortunately, it would surely not be the end of theming to try to meet him.


    At night, Mark snuck out with Mei, Char, Amihan and Aephelia. It was to retrieve their things that were buried in the ruins of the church. The fragile things were done for. Good enough, even though the case was dented, the package he had to deliver remained intact inside due to the careful packaging it had inside.


    Unfortunately, the Alpha was found dead. It seemed that its head was crushed byrge debris that had fallen from the roof of the church.


    The night after that was rather peaceful. Well, the double bed was rather crowded though.


    Mark looked at the bed where three little girls were still asleep along with the [Blood Children] around them. Ivy however was sleeping on the side table though. Although it looked bad with her being isted like that but it could not be helped. Her body was made of poisonous blood.


    "Should I wake them up?"


    Mei suggested which Mark shook his head to.


    "Just let them sleep. It''s not like there are urgent things to do."


    Mark emptied his cup.


    "By the way, I''m going outter."


    "To deliver the package?"


    "Right, want toe with me?"


    Mark asked and surprisingly, Mei shook her head.


    "I''ll just stay."


    "Well, this is unusual." Mark said. "Is there something wrong?"


    "My family''s residence is near the General''s office so it''s very likely that we will run into them. I rather not see them."


    "I see¡­" Mark patted her head. "Okay, you stay here with the children."


    "Yes."


    ***


    When noon came, Mark left the hotel carrying two metal suitcases. This time, he was going to traverse the settlement like a normal person so he was escorted by soldiers to a vehicle which drove off towards the military grounds west of the hotel.


    They arrived shortly and Mark went out of the vehicle in front of a former call center building.<sub> </sub>


    Before Mark could enter the building with his guards and guide however, he suddenly turned his head on the other side of the road. There, he saw two people who seemed to be walking towards the same building he was going to enter.


    "Mei''er was right. It''s good that she didn''te."


    Mark murmured before turning and entering the building.


    After arriving at the third floor, the soldier that served as Mark''s guide knocked on a certain door.


    "General, he''s here."


    The soldier that guided Mark called out.


    "Let him in."


    A middle aged voice replied to the knock.


    Instead of immediately entering however, Mark sighed.


    When he entered, it was not just the General inside the office. It was expected that Captain D Rosa and Major Lopez would be present but it was not just the two. There were another two males and three females in the office.


    Seeing that Mark was panning his eyes towards the people inside the office, the General spoke first.


    "My apologies. I know this should be a formal meeting but there are people here that had requests to meet you."


    Mark just shrugged his shoulders. As if he could do anything.


    Inside the room were the General''s three children, Rafael, Angeline and Gabriel. Together with them were Pa and an older woman that had the same fluctuation as Pa obviously indicating that she was Pa''s mother.


    "You don''t have to be stiff." The woman spoke. "I''m Alicea, Pa''s mother. I''m just here to personally thank you for helping my daughter before. If not for you, she might not be here standing with me."


    Alicea approached Mark and offered a hand shake.


    With a sigh, Mark epted the handshake.


    "It seems that you dislike handshakes."


    Alicea spoke which made Mark look straight at her.


    "So, you can tell lies just by gestures. You''re stronger than your daughter."


    "My, my. It''s just from experience. Besides, my daughter is still young. If you like, I can give her to you."


    "MOM!"


    She tried to joke which made Pa beet red in embarrassment.


    "No thanks."


    Mark replied without a change in his expression which made Alicea sigh.


    "There''s no lie in that. Is my daughter not attractive enough?"


    Alicea continued as she was being pulled away by her daughter.


    On the other hand, the three military officers could only shrug their shoulders seeing Alicea''s antics. It looked like they were already used to her weirdness.


    To the side, Angeline was just staring at Mark as if trying to remember something. As she did not speak, Mark just ignored her and went straight to business.


    "Here''s the packages General Faustino told be to deliver."


    After they received the two metal cases, the three officers checked the contents and skimmed over the papers.


    "We confirmed it. The contents were the same as what is said with the report we received."


    There, the General ced another two cases on the table in front of Mark.


    "We would like you to deliver this when you return there. Is it possible? We already knew that you built your own base in Quezon and for sure, you will be returning there with your group."


    "I don''t mind but what about the payment."


    "We knew that you will say that."


    The general ced another case on the table.


    "We heard that you are interested with the military research and prepared a copy of ours. Aside from that, we will prepare seeds of the so called [Energy Rice] Professor Sandoval developed. Are those enough?"


    Mark took the case and opened it. There, he saw stacks of papers which showed the findings of the military about the infected in the area along with the profiles of each type of infected the military encountered. Seeing some of the names, Mark turned his head towards the General.


    "Z-Type A-1: Biter, Z-Type B-1: Eater. It seems like you guys adopted my naming pattern."


    "Yes." The General nodded. "Miss Odelina gave us the phone with the application you programmed containing information of the infected your group encountered in Bacoor, Cavite. Since it was easier for our soldiers to remember these kinds names, we decided to implement them along with the ssification name given by our scientists."


    Hearing that, Mark nodded. It seemed that he also had a hand with some of the things that happened in the military and this settlement.


    "Alright, this is enough along with the seeds. We need those in the base we are developing." Mark was satisfied with the papers he had received and carefully returned the research into the case. "Now, there is another thing you wanted to ask me right?"


    "Haha, it seems we can''t hide it." The Generalughed. "Actually, it was not serious but just a personal question."


    General Perez looked straight at Mark.


    "Are you the one that cured my daughter?"

 Chapter 344 Family Matters, The Generals Personal Request

    Day 55 ¨C 12:32 PM ¨C General''s Office, North District, Bay City Settlement, Pasay City, Metro Man


    "So, is this really the reason why these mother and daughter are here?"


    Mark said as it was the first thing that entered his mind after hearing this question. He looked at Pa and Alicea that were both shaking their heads though.


    "Please, don''t misunderstand." The General said with a serious expression. "Even if they are not here, I will still ask the same question. I just want to know it."


    Feeling the emotional fluctuation of the General, Mark knew that he saying the truth. Furthermore, not only the General was taking the question seriously but also his children.


    Looking back at the General, Mark spoke.


    "Well, if no one really asked about it, I won''t say anything but since you asked, I don''t really have to hide it either."


    "Then it''s true that you saved me."


    Angeline spoke from the side which Mark nodded to.


    That was right. Although it was somewhat inconvenient, Mark really had no reason to hide it. Even if he had the ability like this to help people with the same state as Angeline, no one could force him to do so if he did not want to. Another thing was that the General''s family could owe him because of this.


    The General was rather relieved that Mark did not deny it.


    "Still, what gave it away? I don''t think that your Angeline suddenly recovering would lead towards me. Maybe, she just woke up on her own."


    Mark asked.


    "Actually, there are a few reasons but most of them could only bring us to spections. Even though Angeline''s body was in a stable state, none of the doctors could say whether she will be able to wake up in the future. That was why her recovery was too abrupt. Also that¡­"


    General answered Mark''s question and turned to Angeline. There, Angeline''s armed turned ck colored which indicated that she activated her ability.


    "My daughter suddenly turned into a Mutator with an ability Lopez and D Rosa had seen before. The member of the syndicate called ck Devil. Furthermore, it is known that you handled his body at that time. It that was just it, we wouldn''t have suspected you and think that it is just a coincidence but the report from the settlement in Quezon about you came."


    General Perez ced a folder in the table which Mark opened. There, his updated profile along with a picture that was probably taken from a screenshot of the drone during the battle with horde controlled by the infected insect. Among the unconfirmed information however, one of the things listed would surely alert anyone.


    It was the ability to usurp a Mutator''s ability and give it to someone else whether it was human or animal. There, even the reasons for the spection were listed. Along the lines, even Drake''s and Char''s names were listed.


    "So, it''s because of this. Seriously, can''t I have some privacy from you soldiers?"


    Markined as he returned the folder.


    "My apologies but it''s also our job to monitor people like you. Although to tell the truth, I want to leave you alone with your business. Sir Faustino is also the same. That is why this new report is not circted to other settlements but was only known by us here in this room."


    "Is that so? It seems like I made a blunder. I should have used another ability to give her." Mark said with a bit of relief. "Now that you confirmed that I can do what is said in this report, what''s next?"


    With how the things proceeded here, Mark expected that the General might ask him for something. And as he expected, there was. What he did not expect was what the General would ask of him.


    "Actually, I want to ask for your aid once more."


    The General spoke in a tone not as the highest person in this settlement but as someone who seemed to be begging in the streets.


    "You want me to strengthen people and turn them to Mutators?"


    Mark spoke with a little re. Although creating a single [Physical Crystal] only needed two [Mutagen Stones] it would note cheap as he was the only person who could do this.


    To Mark''s surprise, the General shook his head.


    "Although it really is a good opportunity to ask something like that, I''m sure, we won''t have anything to give in exchange. Also what I am going to ask isn''t for the military. I''m not speaking as a soldier right now but as a husband who wanted to see his wife to live like a living person."


    This was a surprise. Mark could tell that all the people inside this room knew of this.


    "Your wife?"


    "Yes." The General nodded. "Are you free after this? I want to take you to see her."


    "I didn''t say that I will agree to help you. I don''t even know if I can help her."


    "I know. Even if you don''t agree, I just want her to meet the person that saved our daughter. Is that fine?"


    Hearing that, Mark started to contemte. It was then that General Perez remembered something.


    "Oh, right. My wife is currently confined in theboratory. I just remembered that Isaach wanted to meet you."


    "That scientist?" Mark frowned. "I heard that he had been annoying Mei''er and my friends. Is it about Jte again? Or he had his eyes on the body of that demon now?"


    "I don''t know. He just said that he had something to talk to you about and he looked serious."


    "Is that so?"


    Mark tapped his chin and finally decided.


    "Alright I''ll go. Are we going now?"


    Hearing him agree lightened theplexion of the general and his children.


    "We''ll go immediately." General Perez stood from his seat. "D Rosa, Lopez, I''ll leave the office to you two."


    "There are no problems with me."


    Captain D Rosa nodded.


    "Just go. You deserve a break to spend with your family. Though you have toe back immediately after your private business."<sub> </sub>


    Major Lopez revealed a rare smile in his stern looking face.


    There, everyone in the room went out to prepare to leave. The Captain and the Major also went out to apany everyone until the doors of the building.


    While walking, Mark could tell that just his agreement to meet the said wife of General Perez made all the members of their family feel better. This was a family of good people, a family that viewed gratitude and debt rather highly. Since they were in debt to him in many ways, they wanted to show their sincerity even in the smallest things they did.


    They were all ready to go out of the building. However, the General was stopped at the lobby.


    As they said, it was easier to encounter people who you did not want to meet.


    "General, you''re going out? We want to talk to you about something."


    A stout man together with a younger dandy looking man stopped the General and spoke without putting his eyes on the people around the General.


    Mark however, felt rather displeased.


    These two people were Xiao Jin and Xiao Hao, Mei''s father and older brother.


    Finally, Xiao Jin noticed that there were people together with the general. Seeing Pa and Alicea though, his expression turned into a wary one for a split second before hiding it.


    "Ah, you were with your children and Miss and Missus rence. Pardon me if I failed to greet all of you properly Also to Captain D Rosa and Major Lopez." Then, Xiao Jin''s eyes fell on Mark. "This person is?"


    General Perez was rather troubled by the question. As Mei had already shared her experiences with her family to Angeline and Pa, it already reached the General. The worst thing now was that the person Xiao Jin was asking about was the current partner of his daughter.


    Mark on the other hand felt a bit of relief. His name and deed yesterday might have spread to everyone in this settlement but no one actually saw his face aside from the soldiers. It was also the effect of not agreeing to meet anyone yesterday.


    As such, to the General''s predicament¡­


    "Please don''t mind me. I''m just a courier."


    Mark smiled rather amicably which made Pa, Alicea and Angeline feel squeamish. Angeline and Pa had interacted with Mark before and he was mostly stern faced and would only smile in front of Mei or Abbygale. Even so, his smile would give him a natural atmosphere. This time however, it was obvious that he was faking it.


    Alicea on the other hand could tell that Mark''s smile and gestures were total lies. She could not help but feel a little cold on her back since she could feel the hidden killing intent behind that smile.


    Hearing that Mark was just a courier, Xiao Jin immediately lost interest and did not put Mark in his eyes anymore and continued to speak to General Perez.


    Seeing what happened, Mark turned to Captain D Rosa and Major Lopez.


    "I''ll be waiting outside."


    And he proceeded to walk out of the building.


    The General was troubled in this circumstance as with the status of the Xiao Family in the settlement was not something he could just ignore either. In the end, he could only gesture Angeline to run after Mark. As such, Angeline and Pa ran off to follow him. Aside from the two girls, Captain D Rosa also followed.


    As Xiao Hao was concentrated on speaking with the General, he did not notice the two girls leaving but Xiao Jin saw it all. It made the man think as to why it looked like that General Perez and his family seemed to value a mere courier.


    ***


    "Why didn''t you introduce yourself to Mei''s father and Brother?"


    Angeline asked in curiousity.


    "Ange, you''re behaving badly again." Pa reprimanded. "People had different circumstances. Remember that Mei want to separate from her family."


    "I know. But isn''t it better if they knew who they will face if they still forced her toe back?"


    Finally, Mark replied.


    "It''s not that simple. Their status here in the settlement isn''t low at all and they can make it more difficult for everyone here. It includes your father. Since they didn''t know who I am, they won''t be able to try and measure me. They will be cautious to make forceful move over anyone."


    "Why? Wouldn''t they be afraid of you? The thing that happened yesterday, everyone knew of it already."


    Angeline asked in confusion.


    "Knowing didn''t mean believing it." Mark replied as he leaned his back at the wall of the building. "Aside from the soldiers and a very small group of people, no one else witnessed what really happened. Since I didn''t entertain those people that tried to meet me yesterday, they will start to think that I am just a fabrication of the military to put people in control for a while. After all, the whole settlement right now is very unstable."


    "That''s¡­"


    "Ange, Mark is right. You know that aside from Senator Estrada, there are others that are eying your father''s position."


    The three continued to chat with Captain D Rosa serving as their guard at the side.


    Soon, the Xiao father and son walked out of the building with rather serious faces. They saw the three talking near the entrance but just nced at them before the two left straight home.


    It did not take long and the General together with his sons, Alicea and Major Lopez also came out. This time, there was a rather heavy atmosphere around them.


    "Dad. What did talk to you about? Why do you look so serious?"


    Angeline hurried to ask her father.


    However, he turned to Mark first before replying.


    "Let''s get into the car first. I''ll tell it on the way."


    The General''s personal armored car arrived soon and everyone boarded it.


    From the General''s look at that time, it seemed that what those two talked to General about had something to do with him or Mei.

 Chapter 345 The Strange Coincidence, Meeting The Generals Wife

    <strong>Day 55 ¨C 1:03 PM ¨C J.W. Diokno Blvd., North District, Bay City Settlement, Pasay City, Metro Man</strong>


    Two armored vehicles left the military office following north of the main road just in front of one of the most prestigious malls in the Philippines, the Asian Mall.


    Inside the first vehicle which was the General''s personal vehicle, there was Mark, General Miguel Perez and his children with Rafael as the driver. On the second vehicle, Alicea drove with her daughter.


    "Now, Dad, what is that about?"


    Angeline asked.


    In response to that question however, General Perez turned to Mark.


    "Those two came to me to arrange a meeting with you and Mei."


    "So, what do they want now?" Mark felt annoyed. "Before, they wanted Mei''er to return to them after she gained enough status here in Bay City. Are they changing their ns now?"


    "That''s right. They''re goals are too obvious to anyone in the know. At first, when they learned that Mei arrived here safely, their approach to take her back was rather aggressive but their motivation isn''t there. As time had passed by however and Mei showed great promise together with her group, their approach became less aggressive but more desperate."


    "Unfortunately for them, Mei''er doesn''t want to be their pawn anymore."


    "That is right." The General nodded. "The Xiao Family is an ambitious one. Although they don''t vie the position of the military in Bay City, they wanted to have the same prestige and power. If they have Mei and her group who was recognized by the people in Bay City, it is very likely that they would be able to recruit more people and open an alliance with other well-known families and individuals here Bay City. However, they don''t have enough strength to force her to return."


    General Perez faced Mark with a mysterious expression.


    "Do you want to know their ns before?"


    "Don''t try to be mysterious. Just say it."


    "They learned that her previous fianc¨¦ didn''t make it so they wanted to arrange another. Do you know Raver? Raver Guevarra?"


    "That so called Genius Businessman? That dandy guy in Estrada''s alliance?"


    "Oh, of course you will him. You already dealt with his men right? That is their n at first but they had to cancel it when "Team Fairy" started to participate in a lot of activities of the military and the defense forces of the settlement."


    General Perez leaned on his seat and faced forward.


    "Now, they wanted me to arrange a meeting between you two and their family. Most likely to tie you up to their side. They already knew about the rtionship between you and Mei and hearing about what happened yesterday made it worse."


    "So, that meeting is somewhat like a marriage interview." Mark said with a sigh. "They wanted to know if the rumors about me are true. If not, they will do their best to separate me and Mei but if it''s true, they will acknowledge our rtionship and tie me up to their family. Seriously, her family is troublesome."


    "Unfortunately, that''s how business families work. If you are in a higher society, these kinds of things aremon."


    "Well, we really don''t need to worry about it." Mark said with a calm tone. "It''s not like they can do anything after we left."


    "That''s also true."


    Finally, the people in the car went silent. That should be the end of the conversation since the Xiao Family would really not be able to do anything after Mark left with Mei and the others. They had no capability to traverse several cities filled with infected just to chase after him. After that, the military will handle the aftermath.


    "Say Mark." Angeline suddenly spoke. "Why don''t you just kill them? You don''t even bat an eyelid when killing others. It''s not like they can put up a fight against you right? Once they are gone, the problems involving them will vanish too."


    Hearing that question, everyone in the vehicle turned to her with strange expressions.


    "Did youe from a family of criminals than a soldier''s family sister?"


    Gabriel asked while scratching his head.


    Even General Perez and Rafael had troubled faces.


    On contrary, Mark just looked at her with a faint smile.


    "You are right. I don''t really mind killing them, but if possible, I rather not."


    "Why?"


    "Mei''er don''t want to return to them and hated them but not to the point of wanting them to die. They might not be good people but they are still her family." Mark then sighed. "I would rather just leave them alive than be called the murderer of my wife''s family right?"


    "Oh."


    Angeline finally went quiet. She somewhat understood what he was saying.


    However, it seemed that she was still not finished as she spoke again after just half a minute when the things she heard sunk into her mind.


    "Say, you really called Mei you''re wife, huh."


    "Why, is there something wrong with it?"


    "Of course there is!" Angeline bellowed. "None of you two ever confessed to each other at all! We heard it from Mei yesterday!"


    ***


    It did not take too long and they already arrived at theboratory.


    Because of that, Angeline''s banter was cut short with Mark not being able to answer. Since the conversation was getting awkward, Gabriel had to cover his older sister''s mouth to make her stop.


    When they all parked the vehicles and went out¡­


    "What''s wrong with you all?"


    Alicea asked as she noticed the strange atmosphere from the other group. Mark looked fine but it seemed that the males of the Perez family felt awkward because of the only girl in their family.


    On the other hand, Mark was also in deep thought. What Angeline said was true after all.


    It was the problem of a person who never had any rtionship with the opposite gender before.


    Leaving the awkward atmosphere outside, they entered theboratory building. They were given passes to wear on their necks to indicate that they were guests here. The general was not an exception to this rule. This was how strict theboratory rules were. Unless a scientist personally led the people inside, everyone needed to wear these passes.


    In the reception, General Perez told the personnel to tell Professor Isaach Co that he arrived and they will be going to the hospital area of theboratory. It was only then that they left deeper into the building where the intensive care unit was located.


    Mark could clearly remember this ce as it was near the area where Angeline was confined before when she was still in hera. This time, they were going towards a different area where the more serious patients were located.


    Like how it was with Angeline''s room before, there were soldiers guarding outside. The two soldiers saluted as the General led everyone inside.


    Inside the room, the beeping of the apparatus could be heard.<sub> </sub>


    Mark looked at the female patient on the bed which almost looked like Angeline but just older and had blond hair.


    "Angelise, we''re here."


    The General spoke as he held the hand of the woman.


    Of course, there was no response from her.


    Despite that, the members of the family spoke to her as if she was awake. They introduced Mark to her as their family''s benefactor. Although it was not all false, it made Mark feel awkward. Yet, he could not help but feel a little bit of envy seeing how close this family in front of them was.


    However, Mark felt strange as he looked at the woman''s appearance.


    ***


    Angelise Lundberg Perez, was her name. Unfortunately, she was in aa for four years already and was just kept alive using life support devices.


    As a soldier in high position, not only the General''s life was always in danger but also his family''s members. That was proven when his wife was attacked by two people who infiltrated his house when he was away and his children were at school. Everyone in the house present at that time was shot. Among them was the General''s wife.


    It was a miracle that she managed to survive that incident although she ended up in aatose state since then.


    Still, what happened to her was the heaviest weight their family carried until today.


    ***


    "Is she a foreigner?"


    Mark could not help but ask.


    Aside from the blond hair the woman had, her face, despite being thin due to her state, still looked like of European descent.


    Hearing the question, General Perez smiled.


    "That is right. She came from Sweden. Back then, she came here to Philippines as a tourist but got caught in the middle of a terrorism activity in Mindanao. It was way before I became a general. I got dispatched with the squad that is tasked to retrieve the kidnapped tourists at that time and I ended up meeting her. She is a brave woman. Instead of sumbing to fear after being kidnapped, she looked for an opportunity and managed to escape. I saw her running away in the middle on the forest with her bruised legs and feet from running too far. Who would think that the woman that I coincidentally met in the woods during her escape would be my wife and the mother of my children."


    The General looked at the woman with a smile as he reminisced the past.


    Mark shrugged his shoulders. This man in front of him battled terrorists when he was in a younger age. He on the other hand was shut inside his home watching anime and ying video games. The gap was toorge.


    Still, looking at the woman, Mark felt really strange.


    As he racked his memories, a strange coincidence came about. He could not believe it.


    This woman called Angelise¡­


    ¡­Had a total resemnce to Freed''s deceased mother.


    It might just be a coincidence but it was really strange.


    "Mark, are you okay?"


    Pa tapped his shoulder as he was staring straight at Angeline''s mother.


    "I''m fine."


    Mark replied. However, his eyes are still glued to the woman on the bed. It made the others inside the room feel strange. Finally, Mark turned to the General.


    "Do you know anything about her ancestry?"


    That was a strange questioning from Mark but as they were the ones who wanted to ask for his help, the General could only answer what he knew.


    "Unfortunately, no." The General shook his head. "Angelise is an orphan who was raised by her foster parents. She never knew who her real parents were or if she had any other blood rted rtives left."


    It was a disappointing answer.


    Still, it gave him the reason¡­


    "Can all of you leave the room?"


    Mark said.


    "Why?"


    Angeline asked as his meaning did not sink in with anyone here.


    "I can''t let anyone just see my methods. It''s better if I''m the only one here."


    Mark spoke again. However, the General realized his meaning this time."


    "Are you saying¡­"


    "I''ll try what I can do but don''t count too much on it."


    "You¡­"


    "Me what? Just get out already. Do you want my help or not?"


    "Yes! Yes, we want it. Quick everyone empty the room!"


    The General was obviously delighted to Mark''s decision despite feeling strange as to why Mark asked those questions and suddenly told them that he would try to help them. Nevertheless, this was what he wanted to hear the most. Although Mark said not to count on it too much, in the least, the possibility was not zero.


    Mark watched the others go out of the room leaving him inside.


    "Seriously, they are too desperate. What if I''m here to harm her? Tsk, tsk."


    He murmured. Yet, although he said that, he had no ns to do any harm to her.


    Rather, he was curious. Once she woke up, he would surely ask for her lineage if she knew anything about it.


    Furthermore, it would not be hard to do it. She might have been ina for years already but her consciousness did not deteriorate too much. It was just in a state of deep sleep. He just needed to stimte her consciousness and she would be waking up soon.

 Chapter 346 In The Hospital Area, Treating The Generals Wife And The Introduction Of The Inheritors

    <strong>Day 55 ¨C 2:11 PM ¨C ICU, Hospital Area, Military Laboratories, North District, Bay City Settlement, Pasay City, Metro Man</strong>


    It had been an hour after Mark chased everyone out of the patient''s room. The General were outside waiting restlessly with his children. Even the two guards outside were confused as to why the General and his children were outside instead of staying inside the room.


    "Oh, Miguel, what are you doing outside your wife''s room?"


    A familiar voice was heard by the general who was staring at the windows on that door of the room that was shrouded with ck smoke. When the members of the Perez family turned towards the source of the voice, they saw three people. They were Professor Isaach Co and his foster children which also served as his assistants, Nia and Allen. None of the General and his children even noticed the three people approach due to their attention directed towards the door.


    "Isaach, you finally arrived."


    "Sorry I got dyed. We are in the middle of an experiment. You said that Sir Mark is with you. Where is he and why are you all outside of your wife''s room?"


    It was then the Professor''s shoulder was tapped and he saw Nia pointing at the window shrouded in darkness. That ck smoke at the window was rather familiar.


    "Is he inside?"


    "That''s right."


    "I see. You managed to convince him to help. Should I say congrattions?"


    "Don''t jinx it you idiot."


    Banter between the General and Professor started. It was quite childish of the two but in the least, the anxiety the general felt was lessened.


    ***


    Inside the room, Mark had his eyes closed while his right hand glowing with milky white light rested on the forehead of Angelise. He was concentrating hard on channeling his mental energy on the woman in order to wake her up. However, what he considered to be an easy task was not as easy as it seemed.


    While he was right that she could wake up after her sleeping consciousness was stimted like how he had done with I and Angeline, he found out that the current state of Angelise''s consciousness was in aplicated situation.


    Her state was hard to exin. The most fitting and closest exnation was that her soul was deeply asleep in the deepest parts of her subconscious. It became harder for Mark''s mental energy to reach those parts without affecting other unnecessary areas and it took more energy that what he used for both Angeline and Ibined. Luckily, he managed to absorb quite an amount from the me demon or else, the situation would be harder to deal with.


    There might be many possible reasons to this state but the best reason he coulde up with was because she had been ina for a very long time. Her body had deteriorated already to the point that it would not be able to handle her consciousness anymore. At this point, it would just be a miracle for a person in her state to still manage to wake up.


    From what Mark was doing, he could feel a bit of response from her consciousness but it was not enough for her to wake up at all. If would also be questionable if her body would be able to handle it if her consciousness suddenly returned or the opposite could also happen where her consciousness would not be able to handle a very deteriorated body like her state right now.


    As such, two different colored crystals appeared floating front of him. He decided to give up a pair of [Mental Crystal] and [Physical Crystal]. Of course, both of it were empty crystals since he had no ns to turn this woman into a Mutator or a Psychic. He just needed to strengthen her body and mind further in order to sessfully wake her up. In the process however, she would surely turn into an Evolver.


    Soon, another hour passed. Mark could finally detect some movements on her eyes. However, it was still not finished. Angelise was already burning with fever, the main symptom of a person bing an Evolver. In her state, it would surely take at least another hour or two.


    One and a half hour passed once more. Her fever was still raging and Mark still hand to keep on aiding her with his mental energy. However, her body was already responding to pain as she started to finally move a bit due to the pain.


    However, Mark was mistaken.


    ***


    It was almost sundown.


    After five hours since Mark started, the burning fever started to go down and she looked better now. Although she was still thin looking, the deterioration of her body recovered enough.


    Finally, her eyes quivered¡­


    Slowly¡­ Very slowly¡­


    Her eyes opened.


    When she opened her eyes, she was rather calm. She stared at the unfamiliar ceiling as if trying to remember something.


    That calmness however immediately faded and was reced with panic when she started to recall her final memories after she was shot inside their house. She tried to scream but of course, there were no words that came out. Instead, she released some hoarse screeches as her body had not fully recovered from her four yearsa. From that four years that she had not spoken, her voice would not work properly now.


    Tears started to umte on the corner of her eyes as fear started to creep on her mind.


    It was then she felt a warm sensation on her head that started to calm her down. The sensation was veryfortable that it started to wash away her panic and fear.


    That was when she noticed the unfamiliar person that was caressing her hair gently.


    She could not speak but her eyes that looked at him were surely asking for answers.


    "Don''t worry. You''re already safe." Mark spoke as gently as possible. "Actually, I want to ask you some questions but you''re still not in good shape. You just woke up so it''s not proper to do it. Well, it''s not like you will be able to answer my questions."


    The first two sentences aside, what Mark said made the patient confused.


    "It''s normal to be confused. No, just don''t mind what I said. It will be better if your family is the ones to tell you the details. Let me call them."


    Mark them stood up from his chair and made his way outside.


    ***


    As it had been a long time, the General and his children became more and more anxious. However, none of them tried to knock on the door in fear that they would interrupt Mark''s treatment. Professor Isaach had already returned since he still had topile the data he just gathered in his previous experiment but for some reason, Nia and Allen stayed behind.


    Finally, the shadow blocking the window vanished as if being syphoned to a certain direction. After that, the door opened revealing Mark who immediately went out of the door.


    "Mark, how is it?"


    The General anxiously asked.


    "Just enter." Mark said with a smile. "She''s already waiting for you all. Just don''t try to do anything that will make her unstable."


    Hearing that, the face of General Perez and his children lightened. The General grabbed Mark''s shoulders.


    "Thank you! Thank you!"


    "Just look inside first before thanking me alright?"


    Mark pushed the general away. Rafael, Gabriel and Angeline also expressed their gratitude before rushing into the room.<sub> </sub>


    After the members of the General''s family entered the room, Mark''s eyes fell on Nia and Allen who was intently looking at him.


    "You two have business with me right?"


    "Yes."


    The two nodded.


    "Did that girl I caught woke up already?"


    "She did. She was rather restless and was throwing a fit."


    Hearing that, Mark felt odd.


    "That''s strange. I felt that she should be a kind of emotionless person. Alright, bring me to her room. We will talk there."


    "It''s no problem."


    There, Nia and Allen led Mark towards another part of the hospital area.


    Mark handed Spera to the military for a hospital arrest since she was unconscious that time. Of course, Mark said that she would be under his protection and the military mess with her. Questioning her would be fine but Mark had forbidden any kind of torture or forceful approach in gathering information from her.


    "Did the military send anyone to interrogate her?"


    He asked.


    "Yes but it seemed that she''s uncooperative."


    Nia replied.


    "It has to be expected. The members of that organization are tight lipped ones. The interrogator didn''t try something funny, didn''t he?"


    "Fortunately, nothing of that sort happened."


    Soon, they arrived in front of the room. As expected, the security was tight as four soldiers guarded the room outside and there was a one sided mirror where the guards could observe what was happening inside the room.


    Normally, no one aside from assigned personnel could enter the room. Even Nia and Allen had no authorization to this. However, when the soldiers saw Mark, they saluted and let him enter with the two. It seemed that the guards knew him.


    "As I said! You people will not get anything from me! Either leave or just kill me!"


    A rather emotional voice was heard the moment Mark stepped into the room. Mark felt a bit of surprise. Looking at the bed, Mark saw Spera lying on her side while facing the wall. As she did not hear any reply, she finally turned and saw who entered her room.


    "You¡­"


    Of course, she recognized Mark. Not by his face however but by her intuition. Even though her ability was already taken, as the host of that ability for six years, the strange sensation she could feel from Mark was still there albeit weakened.


    Nevertheless, Spera became wary.


    "You are that one that fought the me demon and caught me right? What have you done to me?! Why can''t I use my powers anymore?!"


    She forcefully asked with a bit of tears at the corner of her eyes.


    ''Is this really the same person from yesterday?''


    Mark thought. He became interested in her since he felt that she was an emotionless person. However, the girl in front of him was the total opposite. Not only that she expressed her emotions outside without restraint but her emotions were rather unstable and mixed.


    "Don''t worry. I''m here to exin those things you want to know." Mark then turned to Nia and Allen. "Also to the two of you."


    Mark then waved his hand scattering Miasma on the wall where the one-sided mirror was installed. He also blocked the windows on the door and the security camera on the ceiling.


    "Well¡­ Introductions first I think. All of us had seen each other yesterday but had no opportunity to properly do so. Just call me Mark. Please don''t mind me not telling my surname. Seriously, I hate to lead these kinds of things¡­"


    "I''m Nia Co and this is Allen Co. Foster children and assistants of Professor Isaach Co."


    Nia introduced herself and Allen who stood beside her.


    "An you?"


    Mark looked at the girl sitting on the bed holding her legs on her arms.


    "Spera. That is what everyone calls me."


    "What about your real name?"


    Mark pressed further. To his surprise¡­


    "I-I don''t have any¡­"


    The feeling of dejection was written all over her face.


    Actually, she felt reluctant to introduce herself to the enemies but for some reason, he could not disobey Mark as long as what he wanted would not inflict harm unto her.


    "Then, Nia, Allen. You don''t have to tell me your question. I already know about that strange emotion you two have towards me. This girl called Spera is the same."


    Hearing that, the three looked at each other in surprise, especially Spera whose expression and emotions were strangely overflowing.


    "I decided to talk here since you three had the same circumstances. Actually, all of us here inside this room had the same experience."


    As Mark finished that sentence, a marble sized crystal magically appeared on Mark''s hand.


    "A crystal simr to this. Six years ago. I''m sure, you three can still recall."


    Those words filled the three with further shock as they stared at the crystal on Mark''s hand.

 Chapter 347 Meeting The Inheritors, The Story Of Their Pasts

    Day 55 ¨C 6:32 PM ¨C Surveince Cell, Hospital Area, Military Laboratory, North District, Bay City Settlement, Pasay City, Metro Man


    The three stood wide eyed as they stared at the crystal floating above Mark''s palm.


    Mark had asked them if they recalled anything about that crystal and an event that happened six years ago.


    Recall? They felt that Mark should be joking. Even if they wanted to forget, that would never ever happen.


    It was because that event Mark was talking about¡­


    ¡­ It was the event that changed their lives for the better.


    ***


    Nia and Allen were siblings that both grew up in the streets. Since their only guardian, their grandmother, died, no one was left to take care of the two. In order to live, the two wandered the streets searching for anything that could fill their stomachs. They did everything from searching garbage bins for scraps that could be sold to junk shops to begging passersby in order to eat.


    If it was that, it would still be fine. After all, they still had the small house that was left by their grandmother.


    One day after returning home however, they found out that there were strangers in their home. They imed that the house was theirs and mercilessly chased the siblings out. The two tried to fight. But as children, they were not able to do anything and were beaten instead.


    Since that day, the two started to sleep in the streets.


    And their hardships continued¡­


    Most street children would group up and im territories to scavenge and beg while bullying those that unknowingly entered their territories and snatch their hard work. Unfortunately, the siblings were also at the receiving end of it and sometimes, they ended up sleeping without eating a single crumb of bread.


    There were also cases where they would be chased off in the middle of the night since the owner of the ce they decided to sleep at caught them.


    They did not know how long they spent in the streets anymore. It may be a year but could also be more than that. The two lost count as they were desperate enough just to find ways to fill their stomachs.


    One day however, a sweep happened.


    People from the local government enacted the ordinance. The homeless were caught and the siblings were included.


    As children, Nia and Allen were brought unto the local social welfare department while the authorities waiting for any parent to show up to pick up the two. Unlike the other children that were caught that time however, no one woulde for the siblings.


    Because of that, they were sent at a rundown orphanage in the middle of nowhere.


    The orphanage was poor as the funding from the local government wascking. The roof leaked every time it rained, the walls were filled with soot and the floors were badly maintained. Those conditions were still fine but the orphanage was way over capacitypared to its size. The children were ill behaved and those who were weaker would likely have less to eat.


    And the worst thing was that the only caretaker of the orphanage was not doing her job. She did not care about the state of the orphanage and would hit the children if they annoyed her. The only things she would do was to cook porridge that barely had any taste and make sure that the children would not get out after curfew. Aside from those, the children were left on their own.


    It was a very bad environment to live in for children. Due to the same reasons, no people came there in interest to adopt any of the children. From what the siblings heard, every children living in that orphanage would end up leaving after they were old enough to work. It meant that they would live in that ce until they were of age.


    At that time, Nia was fourteen and Allen was a year younger. In the least, they only had a few years to spend in that orphanage before they go back to the harsher society.


    Six years however, Nia and Allen saw two bright lights falling unto the backyard of the orphanage in the middle of the night. In curiosity, the two sneaked out of their room despite the curfew and went to the backyard.


    There, Nia and Allen saw the two floating crystals emitting bright light. It was beautiful that the two could not help but reach of one. After touching the crystals however, the crystals turned into glowing dust and entered their bodies. They felt a very painful sensation in their heads as if something was trying to take over. The two wailed in pain and that was thest thing they knew before they fainted.


    The next thing they knew, they woke up in a hospital being guarded by soldiers. There, they met Professor Isaach Co thatter adopted the two and became their foster father.


    Since then, their lives turned better. They lived in a beautiful house, ate delicious food and were even homeschooled to catch up to the years they missed being out of school. Fortunately, their mental changes after they absorbed the crystals aided them in their studies. They did not only reach the level of studies of the others of the same age but surpassed them with flying colors.


    That was why the two became official assistants of the Professor in their young ages.


    Now, Nia was twenty and Allen was neen but the two were regarded as geniuses in the Professor''s field of study.


    It was all thanks to those crystals.


    ***


    Spera was not an orphan. She had a father and mother and probably, even siblings.


    Unfortunately, Spera came from a family of ck market merchandise. She, her father, her mother¡­ None of them were treated as people and were regarded as merchandise.


    Spera was born in a family of ves. That was why¡­


    She was never given a name¡­


    Human trafficking and very¡­ For the most parts of the world, these two things were illegal and were punishable byw. Everyone knew that very was abolished a very long time ago.


    However, that was only in the surface¡­


    Under that surface, the dark secrets were hidden. Human trafficking and ve trading was a very profitable business in this area. Not only actual transactions happen but these kinds of things could also be essed through inte for those that knew how to.


    Unluckily, Spera was born to be a part of this dark mess.


    When she was born, she was supposed to be sold to a couple that wanted a baby. However, she was too sickly to be merchandise and she was able to stay with her father and mother. At that time, their owners thought that it would need a miracle for her to survive her infancy.


    And the miracle urred. She was able to survive. Nevertheless, she was born a weak child. Her arms were thin and her stature was small for her age.


    Even though she was already put up for sale, no one wanted her.


    And during each time that she was put up for sale, there was a sentence that was engraved into her mind.


    "We don''t need someone like her."


    She often heard these words from the potential buyers. Every time she heard those words, even though she already submitted to her fate as a ve, she was still severely affected. She never noticed¡­ Little by little, her emotions vanished.<sub> </sub>


    When she was eleven years old, herst sale was conducted. Finally, she was bought.


    It was because an old pedophile took interest in her younger looking body.


    Even before the sale was finalized, he kept touching her in inappropriate ces. She hated it but as a ve, she could not do anything about it. Not only that she was trained just to obey orders, her weak physique disabled her to do anything.


    During her transport however¡­


    It happened¡­


    Their vehicle was driving at a road beside a cliff at that time since the ce of business where she was bought was in a very secluded area. Something then crashed unto the vehicle she was riding on together with the old man that bought her.


    Immediately, it became a pandemonium.


    The windows of the car were broken and arge part of the left side of the car was dented. From the force of the crash, the old man could only scream as the car was thrown off from the road unto the cliff.


    "It might be the end of me¡­ But it was better than being a ything."


    That was what came into her young mind at that time. She closed her eyes waiting for the impact.


    However, while the car was falling, a pint of light entered her eye making her open them. She then saw a crystal glowing in front of her.


    Who knows what happened to her but she grabbed the crystal by reflex.


    BAM!


    The vehicle crashed below the cliff and immediately caught fire.


    She did not know what happened that time since she lost consciousness after she grabbed the crystal.


    The next thing she knew however¡­


    She was nowhere in the scene of the crash anymore. Spera could see the smoke from the fire and the cliff where the car fell but it was about a kilometer or more away from her. Furthermore, it seemed that she had passed out for quite a while as she could already see rescue personnel at the road above the cliff.


    That was when she knew that she gained a supernatural ability. She did not know why but she knew what it was, how to use it and the rules needed to follow to properly use the ability.


    Using the ability, the very first portal she created was connected to the cell where her mother and father were being held. She wanted to free them.


    Unfortunately, rather than glee, her mother and father saw her as a monster.


    "We don''t need you! Just leave!"


    That was thest word she heard from her father.


    From then on, she used her ability to live freely. As a wanderer, she had no way to earn money and used small portals to steal food from stores.


    However, it seemed that her frequent use of her ability caught the eyes of the members of the Auraboros.


    Soon enough, she was scouted by robed people.


    Initially, she wanted to decline and flee but a single sentence made her stay and join.


    "We need you in the organization."


    Since then, she became an outer member of the organization following tasks where she most of it were either rescue or transport missions which could make use of her ability.


    For the most part however, she was free to do anything as long as it did not harm the organization and its goals. That was why she was able to reject a certain kind of job. It was to personally kill people. She did not mind if others in her team kill them but she did not want to do this kind of thing herself. Her resolve was still not enough.


    Nevertheless, her fate was changed and it was because of that crystal that appeared in the most crucial time possible.


    ***


    "You three are that shocked?"


    Mark panned his eyes at the three people around him.


    However, he could feel the turmoil inside their minds which indicated how much that even impacted their lives.


    "Well then, I think you three really remember." Mark smiled. "As for the talk we will have here¡­ It will regard to the futures of you three."


    "What do you mean? And how did you know that we encountered those crystals? That is our greatest secret¡­ Also, that crystal¡­"


    Nia spoke in a rather tensed tone.


    To that question¡­


    "I already said it. We are all the same right? I also got one six years ago, no, I got several actually." Mark looked at Nia. "Another thing is that my circumstances are different from you three. You can say that I met the source of the crystals and he wanted me to retrieve them."


    That deration made Nia and Allen step back with a tensed expression.


    Spera on the other hand had a look of realization. Shaking, she slowly stood up from her bed. She soon fell on her knees and hugged Mark''s legs with her eyes filled with tears.


    "No¡­ Please! Return it to me! Please! I-I''ll do anything!"


    She cried out loud.

 Chapter 348 Invitation, Recruiting A Supposed Enemy To For The Advantage She Could Bring

    <strong>Day 55 ¨C 6:37 PM ¨C Surveince Cell, Hospital Area, Military Laboratory, North District, Bay City Settlement, Pasay City, Metro Man</strong>


    Mark stared at Spera with a dumbfounded expression. This was the very first time in his whole life to see someone grovel on his feet. He could also tell that this was not an act, the girl hugging his feet was totally begging as if he had taken her only way to live.


    Spera looked at Mark with her eyes filled with tears. She did not care what she looked like right now. The only thing that she wanted was to get her powers back even if she had to pay her body for it. That was why¡­


    "Hik¡­ Please¡­ Please¡­ Return it to me¡­ Hik¡­ I will do anything... If you want¡­ If you want my body, I can give it to you¡­ Just¡­ Hik¡­ Please return it to me¡­"


    It was ufortable¡­ That was what Mark felt. Even Nia and Allen who were wary towards Mark after hisst sentence also felt it.


    Luckily, Mark covered all possible ways for other people outside to see what was happening inside the room. It was because not matter how they would look at it, it looked like Mark made a child cry.


    Mark sighed. He leaned down and held Spera''s shoulders and lifted her up. He noticed. She was very light¡­ even for a girl who had a body that looked like thirteen or fourteen, she was too light. It took no effort to pick her up by her shoulders and put her back onto her bed. This sensation made Mark ask in his mind if this girl was eating properly.


    "Calm down, will you? Do you really think that will talk to all of you like this if I only need to unconditionally take those abilities back? If I do, then this meeting is unnecessary, I can just take the abilities by force and none of you can do anything about it¡­"


    Mark then tapped his pockets before turning to Nia and Allen.


    "You two have a hankie? I forgot mine."


    The two were confused. However, Nia still took out hers and handed it to Mark.


    There, they saw Mark carefully wiping Spera''s tears like he was taking care of a child.


    "Seriously, you cry too much. Just how old are you?"


    Spera went silent. She was dumbfounded as she did not expect this kind of gesture from Mark. Still, since he asked a question, she answered it by reflex.


    "I-I''m seventeen¡­"


    Her deration of her age gave Nia and Allen a surprise. Spera''s current appearance totally concealed that fact. Mark however was not surprised. He could tell how old a person was from the fluctuation of their emotions and he knew that she was older that how she looked like. He just asked that question as an expression but this girl actually answered.


    Mark continued to wipe Spera''s face without any change in his expression and thetter just let him without any form of protest. She looked like a child that found the affection she wanted for a very long time.


    Herck of defense made Mark smile inside.


    ''It will be easy to get her loyalty like this.''


    It was true that Mark was interested when he noticed herck of expression and emotions yesterday. However, that was not the true reason he left her alive. Even if her apathy took his interest, it was not enough for him to leave her alive as she was initially in the camp of the enemy.


    Nevertheless, m''s turnover to his side made him realize that not all the enemies needed to be eliminated. Like some Sengoku Era video games, not all generals captured from the enemy needed to be killed. Sometimes, their talents would be useful to the yer''s camp and what the yer needed to watch out for was their potential betrayal as they were originally enemies.


    And Spera fit that criterion. She was not just a simple ability user but a genius in Mark''s view.


    The ability to create portals that would connect two different ces was not an easy task even if the person had the ability to do so, especially since the ability was bound to a lot of rules. In fact, the previous owner of the ability, Maurellfel, was not as proficient in using this ability as Spera.


    First, the ability cost arge amount of energy for opening the portals. Maurellfel at her peak state could only cast either three long distance portals or nine short distance portals in the span of a whole day. Furthermore, the dy in being able to open a portal ranged for at least an ten minutes to several hours depending on the distance of the previous portal.


    Next, opening a portal would cause a disturbance in space causing it to be very unstable. Unless it was a very short range portal, it needed full concentration until the portal was fully created. Anypse in concentration would cause the portal to fail and waste the energy already spent to open it.


    Any kind of disturbance of energy in the surroundings could affect the portal and its creation. That was another reason why it was hard to use for Maurellfel. Still, as a sniper, she was able to make use of this ability as she was always at the back of the line away from the most disturbance and enabled her to concentrate using it.


    Thest thing was that the user should have been to the destination of the portal before they would be able to open one.


    As for thest rule, there was nothing they could do about it as the user of the ability needed to grasp the aura of space the destination had before being able to open the portal. To the other reasons however, they learnedter that it was due to Maurellfel''sckingprehension ofws of space. Unfortunately, it was alreadyte when they managed to know about it.


    On Spera''s case however, it was different.


    The span that their group arrived and tried to leave was too short. Not only was that but Spera managed to forcefully open a portal despite the disturbance created by the thick miasma he spread in the area. If it was Maurellfel, Mark knew that it would be impossible for her to do so.


    It meant that Spera was a capable one in using this ability that was really hard to grasp perfectly. In other terms, she was a genius.


    Mark did not want to let go of such capable person if possible. If not however, he would not hesitate to end her immediately.


    Still, it seemed that it would go the way he wanted. Still, it was really strange that the Apathetic girl yesterday became a very emotional one although it made the job easier.


    With those things in mind, Mark finished wiping of her tears and sat on the only chair in the room leaving Spera that looked disappointed.


    "As I said, I won''t take the abilities unconditionally. It was also by the request of that source. Do you all know? The abilities you had belonged to other people before. Those people were the greatest friends and allies of the source of the crystals."


    Hearing that, Nia and Allen were shaken. The abilities they had were actually owned by other people.


    "And those people are?"


    Nia asked.


    "Unfortunately, they are already dead." Mark smiled bitterly. "They all fought to death trying to save their home."


    "A different? Are they aliens?"


    This time, it was Allen who asked with interest.<sub> </sub>


    "No, they are also humans. It''s just they were taken by extraterrestrials to live in another." Mark looked at Allen. "Also, don''t ask too much. I won''t tell everything since it is better for you not to know about it."


    Mark said those words with a serious expression.


    "You said, you won''t take our abilities unconditionally?"


    Nia asked once more.


    "That''s right. As I said, those abilities came from the precious friends andrades of the source as such, that person did not want to see these abilities to be used for evil purposes. Fortunately, Nia and Allen, you two passed."


    The two was surprised.


    "What do you mean?"


    "I can tell. You two aren''t bad people. Besides, don''t think I don''t know that you two had been sneaking out food for the orphaned children in the tent city. You two also stealthily joined in defending the settlement during attacks. I''ve been wandering around these past days monitoring the settlement and I already knew about the two of you. It''s just the time is not ripe for you two to meet me."


    "You¡­ You have been watching us?"


    "To some extent." Mark smirked. "After all, I have a duty to do so."


    "Then why didn''t we feel you. It''s impossible for us not to notice."


    "Oh, you mean that strange feeling?" Mark closed his eyes and breathed deeply. "Now, can you feel it?"


    The three in the room were dumbfounded. The strange sensation vanished.


    "I just overused my abilities yesterday and caused that sensation. I can activate and deactivate it anytime I want. It''s just I''m expecting to meet you two today that I left it on."


    "No wonder." Nia smiled with relief. "So, you will let me and Allen to keep these powers?"


    "I will¡­ For now¡­" Mark turned serious once more. "If you two tried to misuse the abilities you have, I might appear to take those back. You two have to behave."


    "Thank you and you don''t have to worry." Nia lowered her head. "We will surely not misuse these powers we have. We still have to return the favor to Professor Isaach for adopting us and protect the settlement within the shadows. We don''t want to be like those people that threw us into the streets."


    "So, you two were street children before, huh?"


    "Yes. Professor Isaach adopted us after we gained these powers and he never mistreated us."


    "Alright. You two should go. I think the professor is already looking for you two. He''s already close by. I still have to talk with this immature girl here."


    Mark pointed at Spera who was keeping quiet as she sat on her bed.


    "Yes."


    Nia and Allen bowed their heads and went out of the room after Mark removed the miasma covering the door.


    After returning the cover on the door, Mark faced Spera.


    "As for you, I have a proposition. Leave Auraboros and join my team. You have talent and potential so it won''t be bad to recruit you. Are you willing?"


    Mark stood up.


    "By the way, for sure I''m already an enemy of that organization. If you join me, then you will also be their enemy."


    Spera was rather surprised by the invitation.


    "Why?" She voiced with disbelief. "You said that you are the enemy of the organization. Then why do you want me? I am a member of that organization."


    "I already said that you have talent and potential. Besides, the organization is my enemy but it didn''t mean that all the members of the organization are also my enemies. Let me ask you. Do you want to kill me? I bet you didn''t even try to kill anyone in your life."


    "No. I don''t want to kill you or other people. I don''t have the courage or ability."


    Spera replied looking down on the floor.


    "Then, you are not an enemy of mine. Why can''t I try to recruit you? Besides, you have no choice. If you want that ability back, you can only join my side. If not, don''t worry, I won''t kill you, but I won''t return it either."


    "Aren''t you afraid that I will try to betray you?"


    Spera asked as she looked up and stared straight towards Mark''s eyes.


    "No, I have measures for that. Also, I won''t return that ability immediately. You must prove your loyalty first. So, what is your answer?"


    Spera looked down once more as she contemted hard. It was then that a handnded on her head and ruffled her hair.


    "Alright, I won''t rush you. I''ll give you a whole night to decide. Also try to eat more. You''re too light."


    After those joking words, the hand on her head vanished. She hurriedly raised her head to look at Mark but she found no one else aside from her inside this lonely room.

 Chapter 349 A Long Night, His Family And Their Family

    <strong>Day 55 ¨C 7:10 PM ¨C Rooftop, Corporates Office Building, Asian Mall, J.W. Jiokno Blvd., North District, Bay City Settlement, Pasay City, Metro Man</strong>


    It was one of the buildings northernmost of Asian Mall. The rooftop was filled with sr panels which powered the mall during emergencies even before the outbreak and was now being used to power a lot of facilities in the settlement. Normally at this time of the evening, no one would be here at all, however, a silhouette could be seen sitting on the northern edge of the rooftop and was staring at the opposite building which was the current militaryboratory.


    Of course, the silhouette belonged no other than Mark who had just left theboratory stealthily. It was really not necessary to do so but he just did not want to get entangled and pestered by Professor Isaach who wanted permission to examine many things that belonged to him. First was Jte, a docile infected, next was the body of Gar''m, third was Aephelia and Amihan, fourth was Aimee, andstly, Char. Although the professor did not really intended to do any harm and was just curious, he was still troublesome to deal with.


    As he watched the people below enter and exit the militaryboratory, he was contemting.


    "Really Freed¡­ You gave me a very troublesome work."


    Mark he murmured while sighing.


    If he was the one who could decide, he would just take Nia and Allen''s abilities away. He could either give to anyone in his group, make the abilities his or just store the crystals away and be done with it. If not, he could also recruit Nia and Allen to join him. That way, the abilities that Freed deemed precious would just be gathered in one ce.


    Unfortunately, he could not do that. Doing the former would be breaking his promise to Freed to only take the abilities back from those who misuse them. It was also impossible for thetter to happen as it was very less likely for the siblings to join him.


    "Also, it''s troublesome to pose like a good person."


    Speaking to Nia and Allen like he liked that they were good people made him cringe inside. Although the children the two were helping were pitiful, they had nothing to do with him. They were not part of his group either. However, he needed to make sure that the two would think that he hated evil people to avoid the very little chance that the two would misuse the abilities they got. Mark did not want to go back and forth just to monitor the two.


    "People can change."


    That is why the task Freed gave him was very troublesome.


    Good people that you could meet today¡­


    ¡­Might be evil people in the future due to their experiences.


    "Hah¡­ There''s nothing I can do about it I guess?" Mark scratched his head. "I also left the general and the others without saying anything. Angeline and Pa mighte pester uster like what they did yesterday¡­ Geez¡­ They didn''t even give us enough rest."


    He then stood up.


    "Nah, whatever¡­ Things that will happen will happen no matter what. I just want to go back already."


    He was about to leave when he took another look at the entrance of theboratory. There, he could see Professor Isaach, Nia and Allen who seemed to be searching for him.


    "Still Freed, it''s quite a karma." Mark smiled with ridicule. "The inheritors of your ex-fianc¨¦ and best friend turned out to be blood rted siblings. They can never continue their romance that was cut too short¡­Unless they wanted to betray their moral integrity."


    With thatst murmur, bat wings grew out of Mark''s back and he flew off under the shade of the night sky.


    ***


    Day 55 ¨C 7:15 PM ¨C Military Residences, North District, Bay City Settlement, Pasay City, Metro Man


    Marknded on the balcony of the room given to him on the highest floor of the southwest tower of the military residences.


    After hiding his wings, he was about to knock on the tinted ss sliding door but before he was able to, he could only smile bitterly.


    Without him needing to do anything, the sliding door slid open revealing Mei on the other side. Her hair was tied in a ponytail and she was wearing an apron while holding a spat. From inside the room, he could smell the aroma of fried canned meat.


    "Gege, wee back. How is the day?"


    She smiled sweetly and received Mark''s gentle pat on her head.


    "Okay, I''m home."


    Mark smiled. He was still not used to this feeling but it was not bad.


    "Just where did you learn that? You''re behaving like a housewife."


    "I saw it from your anime collection. Is it bad?"


    She looked worried if she was not doing it correctly.


    "Nah, its fine. Also get back to the kitchen, what you are cooking will get burned."


    "Okay~!"


    Mark shook his head with a smile as Mei scurried back to the improvised kitchen they set up this morning.


    Once Mei was already out of sight, several small voices could be heard as three girls and two sylphs entered the room.


    """Papa!"""


    The three girls called out at the same time rushing towards him on who would get the first hug.


    Of course, Abbygale won while I camest.


    "Seriously¡­ Be careful you three."


    Mark gave each of them a wee hug.


    ""Master.""


    The two sylphs greeted. It seemed that at the span while he was out, they finally decided on what to call him. Still, Mark felt troubled why they chose to call him that.<sub> </sub>


    "Is it Odel who suggested that?"


    Mark asked.


    "Yes!" Amihan energetically answered. "Odel told us that "My Lord" was more used to address a master of a household but Master is way more than that."


    "Unfortunately, Odel said that "Your Majesty" can''t be used too since Master is not a king of a kingdom." Aephelia replied dejectedly.


    Mark patted the two using his fingers.


    "Geez, don''t be dejected. I also told you before to change that since it''s not appropriate. I may be Freed''s inheritor but I''m not Freed. Still, Odel seemed to have the dominance between you three, huh."


    "Yes~!"


    "Humph, she''s just bigger because of my current body."


    The two answered in the opposite manner. Amihan did not seem to mind and seemed to be not afraid of Odelina at all while there was likely to be apetition between Aephelia and Odelina.


    "By the way, where''s Odel."


    Mark asked.


    "Aunt Odel went to the trading area with Sieg and Odette. She said that we don''t have enough seasonings anymore. They should be returning already."


    It was I who replied.


    The Military Trading Area, it was where anyone could buy anything that the military had supply of. It ranged from food and clean water to medicine and clothes. Of course, most medicines were useless now since the virus and bacteria that causedmon diseases were either extinct already or could not affect humans anymore due to Mutagen. Weapons could also be bought here.


    And the currency? It was either the military merits gained by working in the settlement and participating in their missions or the items could be exchanged with [Mutagen Stone] which had be the main topic for research of the military.


    "Well, she should have just told me before. I''m gone outside anyway."


    "Master, that is not possible." Aephelia seriously replied. "Please, let the servants do the work of servants."


    The stare of Aephelia made Mark smile bitterly.


    "Alright, alright. I won''t say that again." Mark sat on the bed and looked at the three girls. "Dinner is not ready yet, what will we do?"


    Hearing his enquiry, Abbygale and I looked at each other. The two then ran out leaving the confused Miracle behind. Mark was also confused as what the two were up to.


    It did not take long and the two returned carrying the familiarptop he took out of Bacoor City Mall. Behind them, the [Blood Children] were following.


    Soon, on the bed, everyone could be seen watching a magical girl anime on theptop. Even when Odelina returned with her children and dinner was ready, they all ate while watching. As Mark expected, Angeline and Pa came to crash the party byining to Mark as to why he left without saying anything.


    When sleep time came, Mark could not sleep. It was not because therge bed was crowded but because he was thinking about something.


    "My own family, huh¡­" He whispered. "This is not bad at all."


    ***


    Day 56 ¨C 1:23 AM ¨C Mount Cdang, General Nakar, Quezon


    A temporary camp with several shelters could be seen with about fifteen people living inside the camp. They were not just normal people however.


    They wore hides of beasts they had in as protection on their bodies. On their necks hanged nes made of ws and teeth of ferocious animals. Above their heads were crowns made of feathers of birds of prey. Their hands held spears and bows made from bones and sturdy wood.


    In one look, anyone could tell that they were not city folk. These people were tribesmen, very likely, those who were left of their tribe.


    Inside one of the shelters which was positioned at the center of the camp.


    "Grandmother, are we really taking the right direction?"


    A boy about eleven wearing a tribal loincloth asked an old woman who was mediating.


    The old woman did not respond and her eyes were still closed. Due to that silence, the boy could only look at his grandmother''s appearance.


    His grandmother was already old. Her arms and legs were thin and while they were travelling, they needed to carry her. However, no oneined as his grandmother was the only believed person to show them the direction of the salvation they needed. It was because she was the seer of their tribe. Unfortunately, the next seer, his sister, was still not of age to inherit the ability of their grandmother and their mother had already passed away.


    It was already almost two months since they left their tribe in Baguio. That was then when the world became a mess. At the time they left, there were several families with them which totaled to seventy people. Now however, they people here in this temporary camp was the ones left.


    They experienced hardships and was almost wiped out several times. Nevertheless, they managed to make it through despite the casualties and sacrifices. Now, his grandmother said that they were already close but could not pinpoint the actual location due to a strange reason. That was why they chose to build this temporary camp as they searched for their destination.


    Yesterday, their tribesmen that went to search located a forest that was severely burned with a single tree left in the area near arge river. They also saw the remains of an airne around the tree. South of that burned forest, they saw a small town. However they decided against living there instead of this worn down temporary camp. It was because the ce was filled with stench of rotting dead bodies of animals which would not be good for anyone''s health.


    Hearing that news however, they were surprised to his grandmother''s response. She said that their savior was responsible for all those they have witnessed. It meant that they were getting closer and closer to their destination.


    Nevertheless, the people in their tribe were starting to get disheartened.


    After all, it had already been a long time. They loved ones passed away and they were left struggling to death while chasing something that they did not know whether it existed or not.


    Anytime soon, their hearts would not be able to bear it anymore. That was what worried this young child with a mature mind.


    As the boy had those things in his mind, his silent grandmother finally spoke.


    "Relio, don''t be discouraged. This is a trial for us. Those that can''t handle it anymore can leave and those that could persevere can stay. Only those that passed the trial can reach salvation. Although we are all one family, it did not mean that all of us deserve it."

 Chapter 350 The Workshop, They Meant Metal And Tools But He Just Needed Blood

    <strong>Day 56 ¨C 9:13 AM ¨C Corporates Building F Rear Parking, Pea Rd. 1, North District, Bay City Settlement, Pasay City, Metro Man</strong>


    Three figures entered the parking area what was just on the other side of the road from the military residences. Anyone could tell the two of the three who wore military uniforms as two of the highest figures of the military in this settlement. The two were General Perez and Major Lopez. The third person however, it was very likely that no one would recognize him.


    Not because he was not known in the settlement but because he was wearing some odd looking outfit.


    He was wearing a ck cloak with tattered hem. Aside from that, he was wearing a reddish ck metal mask that seemed to havee out of a sci-fi fantasy movie due to the design and the glowing slits on it. On the man''s back was an oddly wide looking sword in a metal reddish ck colored scabbard.


    Of course, the person was Mark who prepared this clothing just early this morning. On his back was m who gained a new scabbard for himself.


    Due to the people appearing around that wanted to meet him, Mark decided to hide his face and wear this getup when doing things pertaining to his group. It was all because he wanted to be able to roam around freely when not wearing these clothing.


    Besides, wearing this outfit could give out a "do not approach" vive on him preventing other people to have any contact with him.


    He was not afraid to deal with any of them. However, he just wanted his peace not disturbed.


    Right now, he was with the two military officers as they personally escorted him to look at the vehicles currently parked in this ce.


    Mark and his team would leave after a few days of preparing. Of course, he was sure that not everyone woulde with him. Still, he initially nned only to take Mei, his daughters, Jate, Odelina and her children and his pets away but if any of his friends wanted to go with him, he would not mind as his base still needed more helping hands. It was also easier to do things with other people if he knew them rather than trusting the work that was needed to be done on total strangers.


    Because of that reason however, just Char and the MB Sprinter that managed to survive until now was not enough as transport. There was also Aimee and the body of Gar''m that were both toorge for a normal vehicle to transport. As such, Mark already requested for a suitable vehicle in advance.


    The Corporate Building F of Asia Mall was a building being rented by a Call Centerpany before the outbreak was already turned into a workshop. This was where the military modified and equipped vehicles they retrieved in a form more suitable for the apocalypse.


    Even armored vehicles would notst long in this kind of world and that was why the military secured that they would have a facility like this around. Also with this workshop, the military opened service towards the survivor teams to modify their vehicles in exchange for military merits or [Mutagen Stone].


    As they entered, Mark could see arge range of types of vehicles. From motorcycles torge dump trucks, the military had them here. Some were already modified, some were still in the middle of modifications and of course, most of the vehicles were still untouched. The number of experts the military had to work in this field was too few and not everyone that were working in repair shops and vulcanizing shops could be called as experts to be recruited. As these modified vehicles were the lifelines of anyone who would go out of the settlement, the military could not just take anyone who would volunteer.


    "You really don''t want to take a break just for today?"


    General Perez said while looking at Mark with an awkward expression due to thetter''s current appearance.


    The General was also troubled as he was not able to express his gratitude for the recovery of his wife enough. If Mark did not leave without them knowing, their family would have invited him for a small party. Even though a party was a bit inappropriate since the settlement was yet to recover from the setbacks the settlement suffered these previous days, they family still wanted to celebrate even for just a small gathering.


    However, that would only happen if the guest of honor, Mark, agreed to join.


    Regrettably, the person in question did not want to waste more time for his preparations.


    "Sorry general. I''m alreadytepared to my set schedule because of the things that happened. I really can''t waste more time."


    Mark''s voice was kind of low because of the mask he was wearing.


    "It''s a pity. My wife wanted to personally thank you."


    "She can do thatter. I still have business with her if you remember."


    "I''m really curious why you want to know my wife''s origins. Even I don''t know about it."


    The General grumbled which made Mark and Major Lopez turn to him. It was also the first time Major Lopez heard about this.


    "You married her without knowing about it?"


    Major Lopez could not help but ask.


    "What is the matter with that? Her origins did not matter for me at all."


    The General answered and it seemed that he was proud about himself while also disappointed that his wife never opened the topic to him. Nevertheless, he did not ask for anything that his wife did not want to share openly.


    While on that topic, Mark''s eyes fell on a modified Humvee at the back of the parking lot. As his speed slowed down as he watched the Humvee, both General Perez and Major Lopez noticed it.


    "That is one of the fruits ofbor of our scientists and mechanics. You can say that that Humvee is the toughest vehicle in the whole settlement right now."


    Mark nodded. The he already finished reading the research papers handed to him. Among those papers, there was a new research that was brought into fruition.


    The research was named [Supermetal]. It was about the development of a strong metal with the use of a ratio of different preexisting metals and a ratio of crushed [Mutagen Stone]. After a month and a half since the start of the project, the research seeded and the result was brought into testing.


    Now, this vehicle finally existed. A gray colored Humvee that was harder to damagepared to previous armored vehicles the military had. Of course, this single vehicle was not enough but they could not elerate the production since the metal was hard to shape withoutrge custom machineries.


    "I''m sorry but we cannot give that to you."


    The General preemptively said before Mark could say anything. However, Mark was really not that interested in the vehicle. He had his [Blood Metal] and it was easier to shape and had different varieties due to the [Blood Children].


    There was a problem right now however as he did not have enough amount of blood to use.


    "No, that vehicle is too small for us. I need a bigger one."


    Mark said as his eyes fell on a Lorry. It was a Twelve-wheeler Fifty Ton Cargo Truck. The carried on the back was already covered with a metal cage simr to those trucks that transport live farm animals. What took Mark''s attention was that the Lorry was in good condition and looked brand newpared to the other trucks in the vicinity.


    "How about that one?"


    He asked while pointing at the Lorry. There was really no need for him to be picky as he only needed a vehicle that could transport


    "I think that is fine." The General replied. "Let''s go ask Reymond if that one is already checked."


    They all went into the noisy building. It was noisy due to metal cutting and welding that was happening inside. Even this early in the morning, the people here were already busy.


    When they entered, a volunteer hurriedly approached.


    "General, Major, what brought you two here." The volunteer''s eyes then fell on Mark and could not help but make a strange expression. "And this one is?"


    The General looked at Mark if he needed to answer the question but thetter shook his head.


    "Just don''t mind me."<sub> </sub>


    Mark spoke which made the volunteer let out and strange expression.


    "Is Reymond already in?"


    The General interjected.


    "Sir Reymond is on the back. He''s working on a vehicle personally. Do you need me to call him?"


    "No need, well go."


    "Alright, if there is something else you need, you can call me."


    The volunteer retreated. Of course, he still gave Mark ast look.


    "Your appearance right now is really eye-catching."


    Major Lopez spoke but did not receive a reply. Mark already told them the reason for this.


    Along the way, it could not be helped that the three took the attention of the workers of in the workshop. The General and Major were greeted warmly but the same people could only whisper when it came to Mark who was exuding an aura of aloofness.


    At the back of the workshop, they saw a burly man with tan colored skin. He was wearing a ck tank top and had a towel hanging around his neck. The man was currently welding some parts of a motorcycle that had its parts taken off.


    "Reymond."


    The General called out.


    It seemed that the burly man called Reymond had a rather keen hearing. Despite the loud sound from his welding machine, he managed to hear the general.


    "General, what brought you here?"


    Reymond put down his tools and removed the welding mask he was wearing before approached them. Unlike the other workers, he noticed Mark bit did not seem to mind his appearance.


    As Reymond stood in front of them, the three had to raise their heads. He looked small while sitting but when he stood up, he was a seven foot tall giant. With the muscles and tan skin he had, if not for his lively looking face, he would look like a brute.


    "General, Major, who is this strange looking guy here?"


    It seemed that he was quite a frank person.


    "Remember about the thing I asked you yesterday morning?"


    "Ah, about someone who wanted a truck right?"


    "That''s right. This is the person who wanted that. You should already know the rumors circting right now. This is the person in that rumor."


    "Oh, I see." Reymond replied enthusiastically and approached Mark. "I''m Reymond, the head mechanic here. Other people also call me as the first Mutator in Bay City."


    He then reached his right hand forwards for a handshake.


    Mark did not ept the handshake however and just stared at the hand.


    Reymond then realized, his hand was ck from the dirt, rust and oil from his work.


    "Oh, sorry about this."


    He awkwardly pulled back his hand.


    "Just call me Mark."


    Mark introduced himself.


    After the introductions, the General inquired about the Lorry. They learned that it was already checked and it was perfectly operational. Of course, it was yet to be modified.


    "Do you want me to modify it?"


    <o>,m Reymond asked which made the General and Major to look at Mark.</o>


    Surprisingly, Mark shook his head.


    "I will do the modifications myself. I need materials."


    The three were surprised as they had no idea that Mark knew about this kind of work.


    "What materials do you need?"


    To surprise the three people even further, Mark spoke in a mysterious manner.


    "Blood, a lot of it."


    "That''s¡­"


    The three were speechless.


    "You three don''t have to know much. All I need is blood. Just tell me if you can provide it or not."


    "What kind of blood?"


    Major Lopez asked.


    "Any kind of blood. Whether it is humans'' or animals'', it doesn''t matter. Even stale blood is fine."

 Chapter 351 Speras Longing, The First Step To Get Her Loyalty

    Day 56 ¨C 11:02 AM ¨C Hospital Area, Military Laboratory, North District, Bay City Settlement, Pasay City, Metro Man


    On the white hallways of theboratory, Mark walked with a soldier designated to process things for him if needed.


    After the arrangements in the workshop were finished, Mark decided to return here for his unfinished business. On the other hand, General Perez and Major Lopez had other work to do leaving him to go with a designated guide. Especially since the two also needed to process his request for arge amount of blood he needed.


    Fortunately, they had quite a good amount of unused blood bags retrieved from nearby hospitals. A fresh blood bag could onlyst for forty-two days and the quality deteriorated for the time it was stored unless frozen. Unfortunately, freezing blood was a bad way of storing it and was not advisable. As almost two months had already passed, there were a lot of blood bags in storage that were not usable anymore.


    These blood bags should have been disposed of already along with expired medicines and food in the storage. However, a facility to dispose of the waste was not fully implemented yet in Bay City. The scientists were against indiscriminate disposal of wastes in an unmonitored area due to the high sensitivity of Mutagen. If the waste disposal was not properly done, new types of mutated infected might appear because of it.


    As such, aside from food waists and non-biodegradable wastes, most medical and chemical wastes were secured instead in a maintained warehouse just on the northernmost part of Bay City that was not upied by the settlement.


    For the stale blood bags however, these items were still stored in a freezer in theboratories since the blood could still be used for different experiments.


    It did not take long and Mark was in front of Spera''s rood once more. He made the soldier assisting him to stay outside with the guards who let him in after he removed his mask.


    ***


    Spera did not get enough sleepst night. She was thinking carefully about the offer Mark had given her.


    During her contemtion, however, she found out that Mark was ying with her. He said that she had a choice but thinking about it further, there was no choice at all. The choices that she was given were to join his group or stay here. However, she could only choose the first one. While it was true that she could stay here, there was no doubt that she would end up as a hopeless criminal to be held in prison. Since Mark would also not return her ability if she chose the second choice, there was really no other choice for her to pick.


    Another thing that kept her awake was her current condition that she herself could not fathom why this happened. Since the time she felt being a useless person even as a ve, her emotions from her childhood vanished. Now, however, she could not control it no matter how she tried. Her actions were affected by these emotional bursts too. She even hugged Mark''s legs and begged when she would have never do something like that before even if she was about to die.


    Nevertheless, she found something good. The head pats Mark gave her was reallyfortable despite his scary aura.


    "It seems you already decided."


    She suddenly heard a voice which made her flinch.


    When she turned, she saw someone wearing a tattered ult-like robe with a familiar sword on his back. She was about to panic until she saw his face.


    "Do I look scary?"


    Mark spoke with a grin.


    "You should have knocked before entering a girl''s room."


    Spera huffed. She was grumpy both fromcking sleep and Mark tricking her.


    "This is not your room but your prison. I think you already figured that out."


    "That''s¡­"


    Spera was stumped.


    "So, you''re joining me, right?"


    "I don''t have any choice, do I?"


    She replied dejectedly.


    "Then, get your things and I''ll get you out of here. Also¡­"


    Mark approached the confused Spera and reached for her forehead.


    "GAAAHHHH!!!"


    She could not help but yell in pain. Tears umted at the corner of her eyes as she felt a head-splitting pain.


    It only took a few seconds but Spera was sweating and gasping for breath afterward. She tried hard to endure but tears still overflowed from her eyes.


    "Wh-what¡­ did¡­ you¡­ do¡­?"


    She tried hard to ask.


    Then, his hand fell on her head and caressed herfortably.


    "Sorry about that but I can''t just let you roam around freely. I told youst night but I have a way to deal with the possibility that you will stab me in the back."


    From the pat on her head, the pain started to ease but her pain started to turn into fear.


    "Don''t worry. I only nted a ball of miasma in your head. It is something that is usually used to possess someone without harming the body. I can''t possess or control you since I don''t have that ability but I can do this much. The moment you tried to escape or think of something against me or my people, that miasma in your head will explode and rot your brain."


    Mark smiled.


    "So be sure to behave. By the way, I also took care of that Dopp the same way. Your previous teammates might have been injured because of him detonating like a bomb."


    "I see¡­"<sub> </sub>


    Spera sighed. She figured as much. Mark would not give her a chance as a previous enemy if he did not have any assurance.


    "Hmmm?" Mark looked straight at her. "You don''t seem to be worried about your teammates despite your unstable emotional state."


    "It''s¡­ It''s not like I''m with them because I want to. Shin used his merits to take me to request the higher ups to put me into their team. Yet, he treats me as nothing but an item. Yoko treats me like a toy and Tsukiko did not care much at all. Even if they are worried about me, I''m sure it''s just because of the convenience I brought to them."


    She then realized and looked at Mark with wide eyes.


    "Wait, you knew about what is happening to me? Did you do this to me?"


    p Spera stood up to approach Mark in a burst of her suspicion. However, her body was kind of unstable due to what Mark had done just now and she almost fell on the floor face first. Fortunately, she was just at Mark''s arm''s reach and he caught her.</anda>


    "Calm down, will you? Who knows what happened to you. I just know that you are having unstable emotions since I met you yesterday."


    Mark made her sat on the bed.


    "Rest a few minutes I think. Your body is too weak¡­ I didn''t expect you to end up like that when I just nted energy in your head. We will immediately go out once you recovered. I don''t have much time to waste now."


    He said and sat on the chair thinking.


    Spera''s suspicion about her current emotional state was not baseless. Actually, Mark also thought that it could have been his fault. When he saw Spera the other day during the battle, he was sure that her emotions were locked up inside her subconscious. However, it seemed that when Mark sent a chaotic surge of different emotional energies in their heads that time which made her faint immediately triggered that lock. Now, she could not control even the slightest change in her emotions.


    Well, it was not his problem since the situation made Spera easier to read and manipte.


    ***


    Day 56 ¨C 12:21 PM ¨C Military Residences, North District, Bay City Settlement, Pasay City, Metro Man


    Mark had returned for lunch. However, he was not alone. He brought Spera with him. Right now, the girl was timidly sitting on the sofa while being guarded by the two sylphs. They knew that she was among the enemies the other day and they could not let their guards down around her. Amihan and Aephelia even started to instigate Laps unto helping them guard her.


    "Seriously, you two should stop. She can''t do anything harmful even if she wanted to unless she wants to die first. Also, stop pestering Laps. She''s not fully healed yet."


    Mark could not help but reprimand the two as he removed the clothes he wore earlier. The outfit was not bad in his eyes but it was kind of stuffy. He felt like a cosyer after a cosy convention was held.


    "Gege is right, Amihan, Aephelia. The food is ready so let''s eat."


    Mei also joined in after she and Odelina finished preparing the dining area.


    As the two sylphs were already reprimanded by their master and mistress, the two decided to stop. Nevertheless, the two did not want to be easygoing around Spera since it was their duty to protect their master''s family.


    The dining area in the suite was not reallyrge and only had a small table for three to four people before. Nevertheless, it was not an issue for them as they could just request furniture from the military and now, all of them could eat at the same table. Today, there was an extra seat, however.


    Mei approached the girl who sat on the sofa without moving. She grabbed Spera''s hand that was surprised by the gesture.


    "The food is ready. Join us."


    Mei smiled and pulled Spera up.


    "But I¡­"


    Of course, Spera would hesitate. She could only turn to Mark. Unexpectedly, Mark nodded.


    "Don''t mope around there and join us. If you don''t, we will eat all the food. Let''s see where you will get to eat lunch."


    With those words, Mark sat down on his seat.


    Mei pulled Spera to the vacant seat and when all of them were already around, they all started to eat.


    Spera was not used to an asion like this. At the time she was with the team, she preferred to eat alone unless they were in the middle of the mission. Still, even at those times, she did not feel anything.


    This time, however, despite the fact that she was eating with actual strangers, she was feeling warm. Three curious girls were watching her from the side but there was not a tint of hostility in their eyes. They even talked happily to their current parents while they ate. The youngest girl was not eating normal food though, but it did not matter anymore.


    As she ate her food timidly, there was a small smile on her face. It was a lonely and envious smile. In her heart, she wanted to be part of a warm scene like this more than anyone.


    Mark ate his food while ncing at Spera''s expression. Even Mei, Odelina, Amihan and Aephelia could notice her longing. He could not help but smile mysteriously.


    Spera was like him and Mei. Even Mei could tell that. Mark did not know what this girl had gone through in her life but he was sure that she was looking for a ce she could belong to. However, while she had prospects in that organization, it seemed that she never found what she was looking for.


    And thus, this scene came. This was the first approach he did to ensure Spera''s loyalty. If she wanted to be a part of the warm scene in front of her and not just watch from the background, she needed to make an effort and prove her worth.


    If she managed to fully turn over a new leaf, Mark would not mind helping Spera grow even stronger. Together with Edzel and Jolleen, he could make a group of strong people to follow his bidding.


    However, Edzel still needed quite a work though. Not physically but mentally.


    Of course, Mark was sure that the time woulde soon. Edzel was soon turning eighteen. If Mark was right, that was the time Edzel would start to learn about his true origins. And for some reason, even Edzel''s father would appear out of nowhere on that asion.


    For now however, he must concentrate on his preparations.

 Chapter 352 Modifications, Working On The MB Sprinter

    <strong>Day 57 ¨C 10:22 AM ¨C Workshop Parking Area, North District, Bay City Settlement, Pasay City, Metro Man</strong>


    It should have been a normal day after the outbreak in the settlement. However, something caused quite a disturbance at the parking area of the workshop. Everyone who passed by the area could not help but stop while those that saw the bizarre scene could not help but mention it to those they knew. Those who then heard about it would go see the scene themselves and the cycle continued.


    Still, no matter how bizarre the event was, no one tried to approach it. Not only that there were soldiers guarding the area, what they were seeing was rather ominous looking.


    And the thing they were seeing¡­


    ¡­ There was as a wall of ck smoke surrounding a part of the workshop''s parking area.


    ***


    Inside the wall, there was Mark and the little girls. There was also Amihan and Aephelia and the assistants for the current work, the [Blood Children].


    Mark was currently working on the two vehicles that they would surely use when they leave, the Lorry and the MB-Sprinter.


    He actually wanted to start yesterday afternoon but gathering the blood bags he requested took more time than expected. It was alreadyte in the afternoon when he was told that the blood he requested were ready. Because it would be hard to start the work at that time, he decided dy it for the next morning.


    This morning, he saw the two freezer vans parked beside the Lorry which contained the blood bags. It was quite arge amount and it seemed that the military scavenged a lot than necessary causing most of the items to be wasted.


    Nevertheless, even though the two freezer vans were filled with unused blood bags, Mark doubt that it would be enough. The quantity of blood would decrease after the conversion after all. Of course, this amount of blood was more than enough to do the initial modifications.


    Before he started however, he secured that no one would be able to witness his work. For one, he did not like strangers watching him work. No body aside from those who wanted to boast and put airs would want something like that. Second, he wanted to hide the actual things he needed to use here. Although his work would be seen by others after it was done, they would not know the process and the abilities Mark used would be concealed from their eyes.


    Of course, it was the wall now that was causing quite an unnecessarymotion outside.


    Right now, Mark was measuring the proportions of the MB Sprinter. This vehicle had already been modified and fixed several times and was already an armored vehicle, to begin with. However, because of the same reasons, it looked worn out as the paint was scraped at many locations and the body was dented here and there due to battles this vehicle had gone through.


    The sr panels they initially installed on the vehicle were already removed as the sr equipment was very vulnerable during missions. What was left were the railings they installed and the other things they added at that time back in the mall.


    There were other additions after the military fixed the vehicle but fortunately, they left the insides intact.


    Now, the vehicle would undergo a deserved makeover.


    "Alright m, get to work."


    Mark said as he stood at the roof of the MB Sprinter. He held the cursed mberge pointing at the installed railings. On hismand, m''s de started to glow red. It was not releasing mes but its temperature was very high. Mark could even feel the heat despite he was using miasma to protect his skin and clothes.


    For normal people, they would need an angle grinder or metal saw to cut the metal needed to be removed. Mark, however, he found a good use for m aside from fighting.


    With several swings of Mark''s hands, the unnecessary metals on the vehicle fell on the ground. Since he was nning to change a lot of things along with the ss on the windows, he removed the railings and metal screens that covered the ss windows.


    Next, he removed the windows and some unnecessary parts like the front and back bumpers and the installed ram.


    It took quite some time but he managed to return the outside of the vehicle to what it was when he received it.


    There was no need to remove the already bulletproof body. Instead, he nned to coat the outer part with [Blood Metal] along with the design.


    "Alright, Oracle, you do the windows. Miracle, help me."


    Mark called on Oracle and  to help him with things.


    With his [Blood Whips], Mark started to pierce open the blood bags inside one of the freezer vans. Oracle also did the same.


    Mark and Oracle worked together. He carefully instructed Oracle on how to make the shape and thickness of the windows. He then used m to drill holes on the vehicles body where he would peg the outeryer he would make securely. As for the other details, he made  help.


    A few minutes past noon, the MB-Sprinter had already taken shape. There were no signs of the MB-Sprinter outside anymore. Rather than an armored van, it was now a sci-fi transport vehicle. With the sleek futuristic military design pared with movable mechanisms and glowing parts of the vehicle for camouge, it looked both amazing and intimidating.


    Mark did was not only content on changing the appearance but also added a new feature, a rotating sniper post on the roof at the back of the front seats. It was like a dome with metal roof and three-hundred and sixty degree transparent [Blood Metal] window. Since Mei had a sniper rifle as a primary weapon, they needed a good ce for her to show her skills on the go. Nevertheless, it made the MB-Sprinter look more like a tank without cannon equipped on top.


    p "Master, isn''t this going overboard?"</anda>


    Aephelia could not help but voice out as she looked at the current appearance of the vehicle. Others might think that it was just a sci-fi inspiration but Mark actually took some bits of design from the vehicles Freed''s kingdom had back then. Of course, the ones they had were actual levitating cars rather than ground-based ones like Earth had.


    "Isn''t it fine?" Mark answered. "It doesn''t only look strong in Earth''s standard. It also gave a nostalgic sense, right?"


    Saying those words, Mark smiled and turned to I who was also looking at the vehicle with a homesick expression on her face. After all, even though she was surely a resident of Earth, most of her memories came from Keeper who was also a resident of Eriellis.


    Patting I''s head, Mark turned his head towards the entrance of the parking area. He shook his head. It might be bad to say but there were a lot of his country folk who were idlers every time they encountered an unusual event despite how dangerous the event was. In the least, he would not think that they would be people taking selfies now like what happened in a scandal in a certain hostage-taking crisis before.


    "Hmm? Lunch ising."


    Mark spoke as he could hear somemotion on the idlers outside. He was sure that it was because the idol of the settlement wasing. As he willed, a part of the wall of miasma opened up letting several people outside enter. He could not help but sigh when that opening even caused amotion outside.


    From that opening, Mei, Odelina, Edzel, Karlene, Siegfried, Odette and Spera entered. Aside from the seven, there was also Angeline and Pa. Unexpectedly, Mara also came with Jte in tow. After they all entered, Mark immediately closed the wall as some annoying pests now tried rushing to enter despite not being invited.


    It would not be Mark''s problem if they identally touched the wall in their rush. They would surely die since Mark did not hold back in creating that wall. It was the very same kind of wall he used to trap the members of Auraboros. They could die by carelessly touching it.


    "Mama!"


    The three girls who sat beside Mark waved their hands as Mei approached.


    "Isn''t there a lot of you?"<sub> </sub>


    Mark could not help but ask. He did not mind letting the others enter since they were currently on break but there were a lot of them just to bring lunch.


    "Gege, they wanted toe. Is it fine?"


    "There''s no problem right now but I have to chase them out after the break."


    "Why are you so secretive?" Angeline interjected. "Just what miracles are you do¡­ Holy s-mmff!!!"


    She was not able to finish talking. Because of both shock and the hand that covered her mouth.


    "Don''t try to swear or I''ll immediately kick you out. There are children here. Also, try it again and I''ll tell your father."


    Mark sternly spoke.


    "MFFF!!"


    It was iprehensive but Angeline seemed to have realized her blunder as she nodded.


    "Seriously, Ange. I know it''s shocking but watch your mouth will you."


    Pa bitterly smiled as she reprimanded Angeline while looking at the current appearance of the MB Sprinter.


    Not only the two but everyone else was agape while looking at the still unfinished vehicle.


    "Master, this is still the previous vehicle, right?"


    Odelina asked. Since the outbreak, she had been driving that vehicle. Despite the appearance it had right now, she could still tell.


    "Yeah. It''s still not done though. The inside is still untouched and the other equipment is still not there."


    Mark said.


    "That''s still not finished?!" Angeline eximed. "That''s already a tank. What are you building? A spaceship? Where are you even getting those parts you used there?! OW!"


    Mark flicked her forehead.


    "Stop asking questions you shouldn''t ask. I will really kick you out."


    "Do you really have to flick me?"


    "Yes, because you are annoying."


    "Pa, he''s bullying me."


    "Why are you even putting me upfront?"


    Because of Angeline, things became chaotic in a positive way.


    The lunch became arge parking lot pic. Apparently, aside from Spera and Mara helping to cook, Angeline and Pa also helped with preparing this much food.


    "So, what''s your business here Mara?"


    Mark asked as it was quite unusual that she came here with Jte in tow.


    "Um, nothing much. I heard that you will leave with Mei and Odelina but you did not mention about taking everyone else."


    "Ah, I see." Mark nodded. "It''s because none of them wanted to go. Well, I guess, aside from you, Nikky and Ron. I can tell that much."


    "Why?"


    Mara could not help but ask. Mark turned to her with a shrug.


    "You three all saw your families turn became infected. Like you, Ron and Nikky are sure that they don''t have any family left. The others, however, didn''t. Although the possibility is very slim, they wanted to think that some of their family members were alive somewhere and will appear here in the future."


    "I see¡­ I never really had the thought to ask them." Mara smiled bitterly as she looked at her older sister beside her. "Then, you are going to take anyone who wanted toe?"


    "I do. I know you will say that since I''m taking Jte with me even if you wanted to stay."


    "Yeah. I will."


    It seemed that Mara felt relieved that Mark allowed her toe. She would still be with her sister.


    While eating, Mark was paying attention to two people. It was Edzel and Spera.


    Spera was starting to integrate into his team and she was moved by the hospitality Mei gave her. If fact, Mark could tell that Mei started to treat her as a younger sister.


    Edzel, on the other hand, seemed to have something in his mind. He was looking at the people around Mark, the people that the person that took him in was protecting.


    Mark was rather d about this. Finally, Edzel started to find his purpose.

 Chapter 353 The Modified MB-Sprinter, The Birth Of Exceed Apocalypse Vehicle Series

    <strong>Day 57 ¨C 1:01 PM ¨C J.W. Diokno Blvd., North District, Bay City Settlement, Pasay City, Metro Man</strong>


    Outside the wall of miasma, aside from the soldiers guarding the area and preventing overly curious people from touching the wall, there were still a lot of bystanders despite the fact that they were already being dispersed by the military.


    Since the rebellion instigated by Senator Estrada happened along with the disclosure of the movements he made that harmed the stability of the settlement, the person that ended it all became one of the main topics of the rumors and talks in the settlement. Nevertheless, with the exception of the military, no one really knew, had seen the face ormunicated with the mysterious person.


    That person avoided all contact with other people that were not part of the military or his group and the mouths of these people were all sealed about anything pertaining to him. Due to these things, his existence started to be questionable to the people.


    Now, however, the same ominous-looking wall that appeared that day suddenly made an appearance in this ce once more. That was why the idlers outside wanted to at least get a nce of the person in the rumors. When they saw that the members of [Team Fairy] walked into the area surrounded by the wall, the possibility that the person they wanted to see was really inside which made everyone even more eager to wait.


    However, there were not only idlers were here. There were also people who were observing the area for their own purposes.


    "Is that person really there?"


    A voice could be heard by a radio held by a man hiding in the corner of a nearby building.


    "Sir, I''m not sure but the possibility is very high. I just saw your daughter and the [Skeletal Brawler] enter the area. There were other unknown people but one of them was the actress Karlene Bautista which is also rumored to be among that man''s team. There was also the [Little Demoness] and the [Military Princess] that had just recovered from hera. The information said that those two were also rted to that man."


    The man reported what he had just witnessed.


    "Do you think it will be possible to confront that person right now?"


    The voice on the radio asked.


    "Negative Sir. The soldiers are securely guarding the area and it would be hard to assume a possible meeting or even just handing an invitation."


    "Alright, just continue to monitor and find a good chance to invite him personally. I don''t think that we can rely on the military to send the message. Our family really wanted to meet this man who took my daughter and see if he will be of use to us."


    "Affirmative Sir."


    Aside from that man, there were also other scouts within the crowd. They were either hiding or blending in with the civilians. They all belonged to different factions within the settlement.


    Fortunately, not all of them were here for the sake of getting on the good side, proposing alliance or roping that man in. There were also those that were trying to meet him because of goodwill.


    Like a man and woman who personally arrived in a vehicle after hearing that he was here.


    "Senator, Madam."


    The soldiers saluted at the couple that surrounded by their own guards.


    "Who is currently in charge here?"


    The Senator asked.


    "I am, Senator."


    A soldier in a formal uniform approached the couple. He was no other than Master Sergeant Keene D Rosa. As someone who personally knew that person and being the son of Captain D Rosa, he was tasked to manage the current situation.


    "Oh, it''s you. You''re Captain D Rosa''s son, right?"


    The madam, Congresswoman Lanie Vi spoke. She still remembered Keene and their family maintained good rtions with the military due to many reasons. One of those reasons was that she owed her life to Major Bautista and Captain D Rosa''s team before. Of course, most of the life debt she had was towards the actual person who helped her and her people not only once but twice.


    "We heard that Mark is inside this thing, can we speak to him?"


    Madam Lanie told their agenda foring this time. Normally, they would just send a message or send someone to invite the person they wanted to meet but not only that Mark was not entertaining anyone but the Vi Family did not want to make a contest to those with ulterior motives.


    All they wanted was to express their gratitude especially Senator Ramon Vi, her husband. Which husband would not want to express their gratitude to the person that helped their beloved wife in the time of crisis?


    "I''m sorry Madam, Senator. I can''t do anything about that. Sir Mark said that no one should disturb him right now since he is busy with something."


    "Is that so?" Madam Lanie seemed to be disappointed as she turned to her husband. "It seems like we came in a bad time."


    "It looks like it."


    The Senator was also disappointed.


    "I apologize. Sir Mark is really avoiding meeting anyone."


    "Don''t worry about it. It''s not your fault."


    Madam Lanie smiled.


    However, before the two could say that they would just try again next time, a ball of ck smoke flew out of the wall towards the two. They were shocked as they already heard that the ominous ck wall was harmful and if it was an attack, the two would surely suffer serious injuries or worse, die. The guards around them hurriedly rushed forwards to block it in whatever way they could. Contrary to their suspicions however, the ball of ck smoke stopped in front of everyone before materializing into a reddish-ck slime-like creature that immediately plopped down to the ground.


    Despite that, they were still ware as they had never ever seen such thing before. Then, before they could utter their words of shock, the slime extended out a tentacle which made the guards even more cautious. It was until they saw a piece of paper folded at the tip of the tentacle.


    The smile extended the paper towards the guards as if asking them to take the paper. Realizing the intention, one of the guards bit the bullet and reached for the paper. Once the paper left the tentacle, the slime turned into smoke once more before flying into the wall again.


    After the smile vanished, the guard opened the folded paper and turned to the political couple.


    "Madam, this is for you."


    Madam Lanie took the paper saw that it was actually a message. After reading the contents silently, she smiled and turned to her husband.


    "Dear, let''s go."


    Everyone was confused but as the Madam said, they all left after receiving the message.


    ***


    Mark shook his head as he sensed that the political couple left. Of course, he did not know the man but he could tell who the woman was. But by how he sensed the rtionship of the two, it should be the popr senator who was once a multi-awarded star. Well, Congresswoman Lanie was also the same.<sub> </sub>


    "Gege, are you going to meet themter?"


    Mei asked as she saw Mark write the contents of the message.


    "Well, their personality is known to be good. It would be good if we can count them to also keep an eye on everyone that we will leave behind here. I don''t want my hard work in looking for them before to end up badly. They are also sincere unlike the others lurking outside. They really think that I can''t tell, huh."


    "Hah, of course, everyone will try to rope you in. Not only Mei and the other members of your group are well known here, but the rumors about you are also getting more and more exaggerated as the time flew by."


    Pa spoke while Angeline nodded.


    Among all the people here, these three girls were the only ones who knew that he was a powerful Empath. That was why they could understand where he wasing from.


    "They can wait all they want as if I will meet them."


    Mark said as he stood up. They finally finished lunch and it was time to continue working.


    "Alright, Angeline, Pa, it''s time to go out."


    Mark smirked.


    "Hey, don''t chase us out like dogs!"


    Angeline replied in annoyance. However, she did insist on staying. She understood that everyone had secrets to keep especially since they were not really Mark''s people.


    Soon, the utensils were cleaned up and everyone that came during lunch left aside from Mei who stayed behind to help.


    As they left, Mark watched Edzel who seemed to be reluctant to leave but still decided to. Mark could only shake his head. It seemed that Edzel was still undecided about the things in his mind.


    Now together with Mei and the little girls, Mark went back to modifying the MB-Sprinter, no, right now, it did not a single resemnce to the expensive car model it had before. Because of this, Mark decided to give it a new name. He now called it¡­


    [Exceed: Personnel Carrier]


    He decided to give it this name as it exceeded its previous appearance and capability as an armored vehicle. Furthermore, its main purpose was to transport people withfort.


    After three more hours passed and he finally finished the first vehicle. Not only that the needed things to install were finished but there were also ces that were made to mount other things that were still unavable now.


    ***


    [Exceed: Personnel Carrier]


    Vehicle Model: MB-Sprinter (Bulletproof Model)


    Features:


    Protection and Utility:


    Shock Absorbent Full Armored [Blood Metal] ting (including Windows, Wheel Guard, and Lights)


    Sr Panel Slots (Roof) Covered with Transparent [Blood Metal]


    V-Ram Front Bumper (One-Hundred and Twenty Degrees, Convertible with Night Mode)


    Combat and Weapons:


    Three-Hundred Sixty Degree Rotating Sniper Dome (Roof) with Two Sniper Mounting Slots


    Slip in Gun Mounting Slots (Windows and Side Doors)


    Poison Dart Launchers (Windows)


    Spring Controlled Rocker Panel des (Both Sides)


    V-Ram Shredders


    ***


    Looking at the vehicle, Mark felt proud.


    Aside from being bulletproof due to the good durability and strength of [Blood Metal] he also made it more resistant to shock from unexpected crashes by adding hundreds of springs under the metal ting of the vehicle.


    Since it was more convenient to have electricity on the go, he added slots of sr panels on the roof which was made of transparent [Blood Metal]. However, it was still empty since he had not requested for a sr panel yet.


    In front of the vehicle was a V-Ram to shove obstacles in front of the vehicle aside. Not only it was sturdy, but he also applied the same principle that the armor ting had to make it more resistant to shock and impact. Also in front of the V-Ram, three pairs of dull des were installed. The des were dull enough to avoid idents but with enough speed, it could turn into des that could cut people in half. It was also made that if pressed by a heavier object, the de would be pushed back inside the ram making scenarios where the de would get stuck on the obstacles nearly impossible.


    At the Sniper Dome on the roof, he made two sniper slots that could be moved in different angles depending on the need.


    The windows were also installed with gun slots enabling the passengers to shoot while inside the vehicle. Not to mention the dozens of needleunchers installed in a row under the windows which used poison needles made by Ivy as bullets.


    At the sides of the vehicle were two one meter long des installed under the rocker panels. It could be controlled by the person manning the sniper dome to snap out to attack anyone standing at the sides of the vehicle.


    With this, he already finished the first model of [Exceed: Personnel Carrier].


    As Mark turned towards the still untouched Lorry, he looked at the design he madest night he was currently holding.


    At the top of the paper, it was named¡­


    [Exceed Convertible Transport Type-1: Disintegrator Fortress]

 Chapter 354 The Mysterious Seed, Revealing Its Origins And Purpose

    <strong>Day 57 ¨C 4:43 PM - J.W. Diokno Blvd., North District, Bay City Settlement, Pasay City, Metro Man</strong>


    The [Exceed Convertible Transport Type-1: Disintegrator Fortress] was one of the few designs he thought upst night together with the [Exceed: Personnel Transport] that he had just finished making.


    Unlike the [Exceed: Personnel Transport] which did more of just reshaping and equipping the MB Sprinter, the design he chose for the Lorry needed more of building things from scratch with the truck as the foundation and core. It was unlike the MB Sprinter that was fully designed. The Lorry only had its tractor unit shaped and the semi-trailer was nothing but a cage made of metal.


    That was why with that cage as the support, he could shape the Lorry in any way he wanted as long as the changes did not affect the capacity and speed of the vehicle.


    The primary goal for the use of thisrge vehicle was to transport therge-bodied Aimee and the body of the me demon. However, it did not mean that they were just cargo, especially Aimee. The design of the Lorry he had right now would utilize her unique and strongest attacking trait.


    It was called the [Disintegrator Fortress] because it would make use of her tentacles and light beams.


    In the design in the paper he had, there was a sketch that made the Lorry look like abination of Sci-fi and Cthulhu. It was a sci-fi looking fortress carrier that had tentacles extending out of it ready to disintegrate any foe and obstacle that it would meet.


    Aside from utilizing Aimee''s abilities, the horsepower of the Lorry was higher enabling it to carry heavier loads than smaller vehicles. That was why the design Mark made not only made the Lorry capable of removing obstacles such as abandoned cars with its ram but was packed with both cold and hot weapons. The design had arge variety of weapons from saw des, swords, poison needleunchers, gun mounts with different guns and even rocketuncher mounting slots.


    Furthermore, each of the weapons did not require electronics to control but only had levers and springs as mechanisms. It even included reloading mechanisms for the rocketunchers without needing anyone toe out of the vehicle.


    It was a design that would need Mark to work for quite an amount of time longer than he worked on the MB Sprinter.


    However, he would need to stall the creation of it for now.


    Mark looked at the Freezer Vans containing the blood bags the military gave him. One was already empty while the other already had less than half of its previous contents. His current resources were not enough as he thought from the start.


    Unfortunately, he doubted that the military could give him more of their current supplies. As he knew, they already gave him all they could give. They still needed the still usable blood for medical and scientific purposes after all. That was why for sure, he needed to visit a ce that had these things tomorrow or just raid a horde and take their blood.


    Still, it was quite peaceful in the settlementtely. There were a few small attacks but there was no danger that needed to utilize the whole military forces.


    Mark actually expected that there would be more attacks as the infected would surely get attracted to themotion that happened the other day. Not only that the event caused a lot of noise with the explosions and thunder, but, the use of psychic and paranormal energies at that time would surely attract the infected. Yet, nothing of sorts happened.


    It made Mark feel a bit strange as to why it would happen.


    p "Gege, are we done for today?"</anda>


    Mei asked as he stood thinking while nkly staring at the half-empty Freezer Van.


    "Yeah, we still need more resources so we can stop for now."


    Mark sighed. He was in the mood for building things but there were still the constraints to stop him. Also it was getting quitete in the afternoon.


    "Alright, let''s tidy up the ce. I''ll also make something to prevent annoying things from happening."


    With Mark''s lead, they started to ce the parts he removed from the MB-Sprinter into the empty Freezer Van. After that, Mark conjured his [Blood Whips] and started to make something else.


    ***


    The fifth hour of the clock was finally struck when the idlers outside the wall of miasma noticed that it was vanishing. Those that were around to spy on the situation started to contact their superiors and see if they would have the opportunity to contact the alleged person in the rumors.


    When the wall vanished, however, they saw no one in the parking area. The only strange thing they saw was arge reddish-ck rectangr metal box that was ced in a parking slot between a Lorry and two Freezer Vans. There was no one in sight and no one saw anyone exiting the ominous-looking wall. The box seemed to be arge container as there was a double door on one end facing the exit and was locked with an ominous designed padlock.


    Not only the idlers but Keene and his men were surprised. They knew that Mark was in the parking surrounded by that wall and Mei also did not leave the premises after she went in. And yet, no one was there. It was as if they were spirited away leaving a strange container behind.


    As Keene was about to contact his father about this, he noticed a small box that mysteriously appeared by his feet which almost tripped him. However, just seeing the box, he knew who it came from. It was because the box by his feet and therge box in the parking area both had the same color and material.


    Opening the box, he saw a letter addressing him. It said that their duty for today was done and they could go. There were also things said that he needed to tell the general.


    What took most of his attention were the exquisite lookingbat knives inside the box. There were ten pieces that were equal to the number of soldiers that diligently guarded the area. ording to the letter, the knives were souvenirs for doing good work which made him feel proud. The letter also mentioned about leaving the metal box on the parking alone.


    With their work done, the soldiers pulled out leaving the confused people what was going on. It was especially devastating to those who had other motives while waiting since the orders they were given were failed without even being able to start it.


    As the soldiers guarding the wall that vanished pulled out, the curiosity of the people went to therge metal container in the parking area. However, no one tried to tamper with it as it was within a military facility and they could be caught even just for trespassing if they entered it without permission.


    ***


    Everyone returned to the military residence without anyone noticing. It was because Mark hid everyone with [Optical Camouge] and flew off to avoid nuisance. They did not even enter the building through the main door but used the rooftop instead. It was very convenient since they did not need to use the several dozens of sets of stairs due to the elevator being activated and avable to use only during emergencies to conserve power as much as possible.<sub> </sub>


    Going home, they were weed by Odelina who was doing the chores and Spera who was helping her. It seemed that Spera was enjoying herself even just doing house chores.


    As their entered, Abbygale and I scurried away to get their phones what were left of the sr chargers at the balcony. They soon were seen ying with Miracle and the [Blood Children] watching. It seemed that Mark''s habits already influenced the little girls. During the time that Mark was not doing anything, he was ying the games he downloaded before and the little girls picked it up.


    Phones now were cheap as no one could use them withoutmunication signals. It was easy to get the girls their own phones just by Mark''s request which they used to y. At times, Mark would also join them and things would be a bit chaotic.


    Mark sat on the sofa to rest with Mei while watching the children. Building the vehicle was quite fun but also tiring.


    While they were resting, Odelina entered the bedroom and came out carrying something.


    "Ah, Master. We are already preparing our things for the time we leave when I came across this again. I think it is better for you to keep it."


    Odelina handed a folded handkerchief to Mark who looked confused.


    "Gege, that''s the seen you received from Mikio that time."


    Hearing that, Mark realized and unfolded the handkerchief revealing the red colored seed that had the shape of a watermelon and was about the size of his thumb.


    It was then that¡­


    "AAAAHHHHHHH!!!"


    Everyone became deaf.


    They all could not help but look at Amihan who had a small body and tiny voice but was able to release a deafening shout like that. She looked shocked and shaken. Her eyes were wide and her mouth was agape. It seemed that she had just witnessed the greatest shock of her life. However, all that they could see was her staring at the seed on Mark''s hand.


    "Hey, what are you shouting like that for?"


    "Ouch!"


    The naggy royal maid could not help pinch and pull Amihan''s cheeks.


    "Why are you pinching my face? It hurts!"


    It seemed that she snapped back to reality.


    "Wait, it''s not the time for this!" Amihan rubbed her pinched cheeks as she turned to Mark. "MASTER! Why do you have a seed like that?!"


    Everyone was confused as to why she was behaving like that. She approached the seed in Mark''s hand and tried to touch it with her shaking hands.


    "It''s true! I''m not dreaming!"


    It was then that she was grabbed and pulled away.


    "Just what is going on with you?"


    Mark asked the question in everyone''s minds right now due to her strange behavior.


    "Master, that seed¡­ Why do you have a seed of the Pure Spirit Tree?!"


    That question made everyone even more confused. Even Mark was not an exception. He even racked his brains including the memories of the formless demon but could not find any clue.


    "What are you talking about? Exin what a Pure Spirit Tree is. Is that the same as the Spirit Tree that could house spiritual races like your house and the tree near the sealing altar of the formless demon? Also, take a deep breath first and calm down."


    Mark spoke seriously.


    Taking a deep breath, Amihan calmed down a bit. While looking at the seed though, she was still shaking.


    "Master, what you are talking about is just a normal Spirit Tree. It is kind of rare for trees to be one but they were just old trees that umted magical energy over the years enabling them to house spirits like me. Pure Spirit Trees are different. Since the start that they grew, they could open a dimension to house not only one or a family of spirits but a whole kingdom. Furthermore, a Pure Spirit Tree is something that royals of spirit races could possess. In human terms, you can say that it''s a castle made for spirits. Seeds of Pure Spirit Trees can only be found in the dimensions of Spirits and there are only one every thousand years. That is why I''m asking how a seed of a Pure Spirit Tree is here in the mortal world!"


    Now, it was everyone''s turn to be shocked. Even Spera who came from the organization filled with uncanny races was agape. She did not know what exactly a Spirit Tree was but she heard about the term long ago.


    Who would ever think that the seed given to Mark by just empathizing with a strange tree at that time would turn out to be such a good thing?

 Chapter 355 Discussions, Information About The Spirit Tree And A Request To Return Favor

    <strong>Day 57 ¨C 5:13 PM ¨C Military Residences, North District, Bay City Settlement, Pasay City, Metro Man</strong>


    The information Amihan brought to everyone quite a surprise. Who would have thought that the strange seed that Mikio identally found during his transformation and gave Mark for returning the golden fruit turned out to have such origins?


    From what Amihan had said, it was a tree that was exclusive to the royal families or leaders of races in the so-called Elemental Spirit Dimension. It was the grand ce where almost all-known spirit, elementals and evil spirits known to man came from. Even the spirits like Amihan knew whether it was a parallel dimension to Earth or just arge magical space pocket on Earth. But, one thing was for sure, it was a separate world of its own inhabited by magical beings.


    Even though that world was called with such magical name, it was not a special and ideal world. In fact, that world was filled with conflict. A lot of races, especially the evil spirits liked to wage wars which render a lot of ces devastated and uninhabitable. Due to such things, it was not a very safe ce to live in despite the beauty it hadpared to the Earth inhabited by humans.


    That was where Pure Spirit Trees came in. Unlike normal spirit trees that were normal aged trees that umted magical energy to their old age and could only house a small space, the fully grown Pure Spirit Trees had enough space inside to house a whole race. That was how a lot of spirit races managed to preserve their kind despite the raging wars in the dimension they lived in.


    The space created by the Pure Spirit Tree was no different from an actual world. Inside, thews of physics was the same as outside but it was just the appearance of the world was up to the owner of the tree to decide.


    It could emte the outside world having day and night, being able to grow nts and trees or just a in desert with never ending day. That was how the royal families could maintain an optimal living space for their kingdom.


    Furthermore, once a Pure Spirit Tree was fully grown, it did not matter whether it was nted in the mortal world or the spirit world, it would exist in both nes of existence. The space inside it would have two portals that could serve as both entrance and exits. One portal was connected to the mortal world while the other was connected to the spiritual dimension.


    It was a trait of the Pure Spirit Tree that even the royals of the magical races could not exin.


    Due to its existence in the middle of both ins, Pure Spirit Trees were more prone to danger. In the Spirit Dimension, the tree could be sieged by enemy races. While in the mortal world, it could be identally cut down by unknowing people. It was because if a Pure Spirit Tree was nted in the Spirit Dimension, it would appear like a normal tree in the Mortal world.


    However, the opposite was not the same. If a Pure Spirit Tree was nted in the mortal world, it would appear in its actual form in both ins making its existence more vulnerable to other humans.


    Fortunately, a Pure Spirit Tree being cut down would not normally happen. In the Spirit Dimension, a Pure Spirit Tree was a precious thing and enemies would rather keep it than destroying it. On the world of mortals, however, humans who would try to cut one would end up facing the wrath of the owner of the tree. Not to mention that the tree was capable of protecting its self.


    It was because a Pure Spirit Tree was an actual sentient being.


    ***


    Amihan narrated all that she knew about Pure Spirit Trees. Actually, Amihan had only seen one before and it was owned by a royal of sylphs. Unfortunately, she was a sylph born in the mortal world and did not have the qualifications to enter an actual kingdom inside such tree. In fact, she had never stepped in the spirit dimension before and all that she knew came from her mother and father.


    "Are you really sure that it''s a seed of the tree you are talking about? I don''t see or even sense anything special on it."


    Mark asked as he carefully observed the seed on his hand in every angle. As he said, he could not sense anything special aside from its strange size and color.


    "Of course I''m sure!" Amihan insisted. "Try releasing magical energy on it!"


    "Magical energy? Is miasma fine?"


    Mark asked jokingly. Although he had different sorts of energy in his body, the strongest was miasma after all. He thought that Amihan would panic due to the destructive properties of miasma and might be able to destroy the seed.


    However, to his surprise, Amihan nodded.


    "It''s fine! My father and mother said that royal demons and other beings with negative energies managed to nt their own Pure Spirit Tree. They said that its seed can absorb any kind of energy."


    Hearing her, Mark circted one of the energies in his body. Of course, he wanted to channel the milky white energy he had instead of miasma because he was not trying to risk it.


    Nevertheless, something strange happened¡­


    Instead of the milky white light, Miasma burst out of his hand which immediately covered the seed entirely.


    Due to the strange event, Mark hurriedly stopped it. Despite the small amount of uncontrolled miasma, it was more than enough to kill a dozen normal people not mentioning a small seed like this.


    Yet, they all could see the miasma swirling as if being sucked by the seed. It took just a second and the small amount of miasma was all absorbed by the seed. There, they saw a strange reaction. The red seed from before was slowly turning purplish ck. Fortunately, though, it was not destroyed.


    "Amihan, what is this?"


    Mark asked which Amihan replied to while looking smug with both her hands on the both sides of her hip.


    "That should the thing my mother called [Branding]. It will ensure that the seed will not grow unless Master is involved in the process. This time, the seed absolutely belong to you now. Even if others try to steal it, they won''t be able to grow it at all."


    She proudly grinned.


    Everyone here thought that the seed would only try to absorb the energy and did not expect such a reaction from the seed. By Amihan''s current expression, they knew that she did it on purpose.


    "So, how can we nt this? I doubt that it will be the same as normal nts."


    Mark asked deciding to let Amihan off as her intentions were really not harmful.


    "Master should nt this in a good ce like the base in the mountains. It can serve as both a protector and an escape route for your people in times of emergencies. Also growing a Pure Spirit Tree is not that hard andplicated but it doesn''t mean that everyone can do it. As far as I know, like what happened right now, the seed will only absorb the most dominant energy its owner has and absorb other energies as a supplement. However, it will require quite arge amount of energy every day and that is why not just everyone can nt one."


    As Amihan had said before, Pure Spirit Trees were owned by royals of the spirit races for a reason and that was becausepared to other members of their race, the members of the royals were way more powerful.<sub> </sub>


    Mark looked at the seed in his hand. Unexpectedly, there was a trump card just lying near them just waiting to be discovered. With this seed''s existence, another assurance for his base was secured.


    "By the way, how long does it take for a spirit tree to fully grow?"


    Mark asked the most crucial question. Even if he nted it and it actually needed years to grow like normal trees, it would be unusable for the most part.


    "How long? I don''t know." Amihan answered while scratching her head. "They said that it depends on the person that nted it. The more powerful the person, the faster it will grow."


    ***


    <strong>Day 57 ¨C 8:01 PM ¨C Government Officials'' Residences, North District, Bay City Settlement, Pasay City, Metro Man</strong>


    The discussion continued until dinner. Not only about the discovery of the seed but also Mark''s ns to gather more blood to use.


    After dinner, Mark and Mei put the little girls to sleep early and left.


    The two went out for the appointment Mark scheduled.


    It was the same building they observed for a few days due to Senator Estrada''s schemes. Unexpectedly, it seemed that unlike other higher positioned government officials that took higher floors of the former hotels for safety reasons against potential breach and attacks, the family of Senator and Congresswoman Vi were on the first floor.


    Appearing like ghosts in front of the political couple''s room, Mark and Mei knocked on the door.


    As Mark informed them of the meeting, Senator Ramon and Madam Lanie were prepared and readily opened the door. Seeing the two, Madam Lanie smiled.


    "We''re sorry that you two have toe here because of us."


    Madam Lanie apologized after the four were gathered in the living room of their suite.


    "It''s fine."


    Mark replied.


    "It''s really hard to have a meeting with you. I''m sure you already know me but I''ll still introduce myself. Ramon Vi at your service." The senator spoke. "I wanted thank you for helping my wife back when they are stranded in the City Hall of Bacoor, also when they were caught by that drug syndicate in Cita."


    "You really don''t have to thank me though. It''s a fair trade."


    Mark spoke. Back then, in exchange for the im of the weapons and ammunition, he agreed to escort them to Firenze. Also due to that, he managed to find his best friend, Ron. What happened in Cita Italia was also not to be included as he was working as an escort for the military and he also had bad blood with the syndicate because of the things they orchestrated that not only harmed him before but also did the worst to Mei.


    "It''s unfortunate that we can only convey our gratitude through words. I don''t think that we had something that will interest you now."


    Senator Ramon smiled bitterly.


    Mark looked around,pared to thevish living of the other government officials on the higher floors, they were more modest. There were no luxury stuff in the room and were just necessary things for living every day.


    "Are you thinking about why our ce looked simple like this?"


    The Senator bitterly smiled. His eyes were full of sadness.


    "We decided to stop all luxuries. It is to mourn our children and family."


    Mark already heard about it. Senator Vi and his wife had seven children. Out of those seven, only two were here in Bay City Settlement. Another two were missing and three were already dered dead as their death was personally witnessed by the Senator.


    As for their other family members Mark knew about, the current Mayor of Bacoor, Senator Ramon''s brother, died due to his injuries a few days after reaching Bay City. There was no news about the others and they were either missing or dead.


    "You don''t have men under you like others?"


    Mark asked as he did not even see a guard guarding their room outside. There were no maids here either.


    "We have a few people loyal to us like our men and the Bacoor police and we still have connections to the military. Aside from those, we find expanding our influence further unnecessary."


    "I see. That should be enough I guess."


    Mark smiled.


    "Do you need anything from us? As long as it will not harm us or betray our morals, well do it."


    Madam Lanie said. She could still remember how cold looking Mark was when he killed people back then.


    "Actually, I do have one." Mark replied. "Only the military knew about it but I will be leaving with a few of my friends. We won''t being back. Most of my friends will stay behind because of many reasons, so aside from the military, I want you to back them when needed. Can you two do it?"

 Chapter 356 The Mission, Towards Their Destination

    <strong>Day 58 ¨C 8:11 AM ¨C Workshop Parking Area, North District, Bay City Settlement, Pasay City, Metro Man</strong>


    It was another day of the outbreak. Everything had calmed down after the rebellion staged by Senator Estrada and the members of Auraboros. However, the cirction of rumors regarding the actual leader of [Team Fairy] became even more exaggerated after what happened yesterday.


    Using the rumors and the information that had been released by the military after the rebellion, people started to specte Mark''s abilities, personality, and strength. Even though the military already disclosed that the rebellion was concluded with his participation alone, it was not enough for the imaginative minds of the people who wanted to escape their fears and turn their attention to anything else but the situation outside the settlement.


    Only a very small number of people noticed.


    It was eerily peaceful these past few days aside from some small skirmishes on the eastern and southern walls.


    At the parking area, the alleged members of [Team Fairy] together with their actual leader, two actual fairies and three new members, Karlene, Edzel, and Spera were preparing.


    p Mark stillcked enough blood to be able to modify the Lorry ording to his design. That was why he decided to go out of the settlement to procure the items himself. At the same time, he would go out with the whole team for the first time to observe their battle style and they would also drive the newly modified MB Sprinter and test its capabilities.</anda>


    ***


    "Yawn¡­"


    Mark felt a bit sleepy.


    The meet up with Senator Ramon and Congresswoman Lanie yesterday evening left Mark quite satisfied because of the answer of the two. His request was not that big and could be dealt with easily due to their position and influence in Bay City. And thus, the two readily agreed despite the fact that they felt a bit of loss after Mark said that they would leave this settlementter. After all, [Team Fairy] had already be a pir and support of Bay City and things would surely be harder without the powerful group protecting the settlement.


    After the meetup, Mark and Mei spent some time together flying under the night sky and ended up returning homete.


    Yet, Mark did not want to dy his ns any longer than necessary and woke up early to prepare to leave.


    Unlocking the padlock of the metal container, the finished appearance [Exceed: Personnel Carrier] was shown in front of those that only saw the first touches yesterday.


    "Master, is this really the same vehicle from before?"


    Odelina could not help but ask as she stared at the vehicle she had driven since the start of the apocalypse.


    "It is still the same if you enter. I barely touched the insides of the vehicle aside from the sniper dome part behind the front seats."


    Odelina entered the vehicle and saw that the appearance of the vehicle inside was almost the same aside from a number of additions like the gun mounting slots by the windows, the controls for the needleuncher and the adjustable seat under the sniper dome.


    As she sighed on how much the outside of the vehicle changed, Odelina heard Mark spoke. Later, I''ll also change the insides after we got more parts and materials.


    Odelina could only smile bitterly hearing that.


    Soon, their preparations were finished and everyone boarded the vehicle. Odelina drove the vehicle out of the parking area and for the first time, the modified vehicle named [Exceed: Personnel Carrier] made its public debut.


    The strangely high-tech looking vehicle drove off on the road making everyone by the roadside stop with shocked expressions.


    "Well, this is a real head-turner isn''t it?"


    Mark said in a joking manner as he saw everyone else in the road turn their head following their vehicle with their eyes. Luckily, he made sure to tint the windows by mixing Oracle''s and Crimson''s blood metal or everyone would see them inside the vehicle.


    "Master, I told you, you went overboard."


    Aephelia who was sitting at one of the two seats designated to her and Amihan above the dashboard spoke reprimanding Mark.


    "Nah, it''s fine. The military workshop will sure get a lot of attention though since they were the only ones that modify vehicles here."


    Mark replied while shrugging his shoulders.


    The vehicle took quite an amount of attention before making it out of the settlement. Even the soldiers stationed at the gates had to stop them and confirm their identities before allowing them to go out.


    While the [Team Fairy] which Mark decided to change into [Team ck Tourmaline] from the unofficial name drove out. Mark''s prediction came true.


    Inquiries about the alleged high-tech vehicle flooded the military, especially the Workshop. Of course, the military could not say anything about it as none of them also had any idea about the vehicle Mark created.


    Mark had just caused General Perez and his officials another headache.


    ***


    "Where are we going Papa?"


    Abbygale who won the rock, paper, and scissors and sat on Mark''sp asked her father who was browsing on a mobile tablet installed with an offline navigation app he downloaded before.


    Answering the little girl, Mark pointed at a figure on the mobile tablet.


    "We will go here first."


    What Mark pointed at was the University of Perpetual Help System DALTA in Las Pi?as. It was more than seven kilometers south of Bay City. Of course, the actual distance following the roads was way longer than that.


    However, that was the best choice nearest from Bay City. This university offered a lot of educational services from basic education to college. One of the college courses they were known for was their medical courses and they also had their medical center for internal medicine. From what Mark knew, this University not only had its own school division for medicine courses but also had its own blood bank. They even organized blood donation drives from time to time.


    That made it the most optimal choice to search.


    As Mark browsed the mobile tablet, he was thinking about how this was quite inconvenient from before. Unfortunately, he had no choice but to y by the rules unless he wanted to y a random roulette with his body.


    Before, it was fine even if he just absorbed blood from the infected. But now, he could not do that anymore. Blood of humans and evolved animals was still fine as normal human blood was not that risky and most animals had different DNA and genes from humans. As for the infected blood, if he absorbed that kind of blood carelessly, he could risk mutating himself unwantedly.<sub> </sub>


    It was the consequence for him to be able to contain miasma in his body. He became stronger but it limited his ability to absorb the blood of others.


    If he just needed blood, he could conduct arge blood trade in the settlement, however, not only it would need proper equipment but would also take more time than necessary to gather enough blood and would need Mark to gather resources to trade when the resources necessary for survival near the settlement had already been taken by the military.


    Furthermore, doing a blood trade would risk him of exposing his abilities to the public. It was still fine with the officers of the military of Infanta and Bay City to know since they were on his side but others were not.


    As for the [Blood Children], they could still absorb blood from the infected but as all of them with him already mutated into another type, the type of [Blood Metal] he needed the most could only be made by him unless he took returned to the base and take another [Blood Child] that had yet to mutate.


    ***


    <strong>Day 58 ¨C 10:11 AM ¨C Carlos P. Garcia Ave. Ext., Barangay Png Lupa Uno, Las Pi?as, Metro Man</strong>


    They followed the Cavite Expressway south of Bay City Settlement and drove about five kilometers without many problems as the route was used by the military frequently. It was also the route that they took before they tried to storm the NAIA Airport.


    They encountered quite an amount of infected though which put the vehicle to test.


    Many Biters rushed to the side of the vehicle as they passed by. Mark made Mei open the [Side Panel des] to try it out. Like a certain robotic liger that evolved from being a shielded one to a ded one, two des unfolded by the sides of their vehicle.


    SHIIINGG!!!


    All themon infected that rushed to the side of the vehicle fell down in the middle of the street as they lost their feet. The vehicle left a trail of blood and feetless infected as they passed by.


    Finally, they reached the closest route Mark found and it required them to get off from the main highways and into the main road inside a popted district.


    However, they were stopped.


    "Mei''er, is this blockade here before?"


    Mark asked. It was because the road that they were about to take was blocked by vehicles and other obstructions.


    "Gege, I don''t think that these were here before. If we knew, we should have told you."


    Mei replied frowning. Odelina also agreed that this blockade was not here before.


    "Odel, driver forward. Let''s try the next street."


    Mark said as he looked at the map once more. There was another street just quite a distance away that would lead to the same direction he intended to go. As this was a newly developed highway, there were very few streets that would lead to their destination without needing to go through a detour. Going through a detour would only lead them to spend more time, probably hours, just to get the University.


    To their disappointment, the next branching street was also blocked.


    For sure, there was something going on here.


    As they were all feeling strange, Mei who was capable of seeing far away in a fast manner scanned the area quickly. She then spoke.


    "Gege, we''re being watched."


    Mark looked at her and she was staring at a couple of buildings about a hundred meters away from their location. The buildings were likely to be a condominiumplex.


    When he tried to find out what Mei had seen at the buildings, although he could not see that far as clear as Mei, he managed to spot several silhouettes on the rooftop of the eleven-floor building.


    "Mei''er, what do you think?"


    Mark asked as it was Mei who could see them as clear as day.


    "They seem to be wary. There are three people... No, one of them ran off. It looks like they were up to something."


    "Of course everyone will be wary if a vehicle like this is at their doorstep."


    Karlene spoke. What she had said was not wrong at all.


    "Alright." Mark decided. "Odel, continue driving. There is another route we can try about a kilometer away."


    With his order, the vehicle drove away. Although the previous route should have been closer, Mark did not want to waste time clearing the blockade and possibly needing to deal with people. They were just living on their own. Unless Mark detected that they had ill intentions, that would be the time he would waste time to clear them up. Even if they were not enemies, Mark had more things to do than attend to survivors he knew nothing about.


    ***


    Unknown to Mark and his team¡­


    "What in the f*cking hell is that car? It that some kind of transformer?"


    One of the men on the rooftop spoke in total surprise seeing the vehicle that seemed to initially want to drive through the blocked street.


    "I don''t know man. That thing is straight up from a movie. You think Boss will make a move because of that?"


    "No f*cking idea." The first man shook his head. "We are just lookouts, so it''s the other''s business. But it is likely that Boss will make a move. He''s a f*cking possessive and greedy madman. He f*cking want everything in the world as his."


    "Shhh¡­ Don''t let Boss hear what you just said or you will get screwed like the others."


    "I know, I know. I''m speaking right now since that mosquito already went in to tell Boss what we just saw."

 Chapter 357 Strange Behaviour, Trying To Pull-Off Something Making Everyone Confused

    <strong>Day 58 ¨C 10:15 AM ¨C Paseo Verde, Diego Cera Ave, Barangay Png Lupa Uno, Las Pi?as, Metro Man</strong>


    "Are you sure about what you said? Eloy, you better not be joking with me."


    A barely dressed man came out of his condo unit after he was called out by one of his subordinates. His tone was rather heavy as it seemed that he was disturbed from his fun. Nevertheless, his tone became a bit lighter as the details about why the subordinate came was revealed.


    "Boss, I won''t be joking with you. I''ll never. Baldy and Jerry are also there if you want to be sure."


    Eloy replied like a dog wagging his tail.


    "Alright. I''ll change first so call Logan and Royce. Tell them to meet me in the meeting room."


    "Yes Boss!"


    Eloy scurried off to follow the order while the Boss returned to his room.


    "Gifre, what is that?"


    A woman who was covered whoy on the bed covered with nkets asked.


    "Our lookouts saw a strange vehicle lurking around the blockades we made at the northern streets. They said that the vehicle looked like something from a sci-fi movie."


    Gifre replied as he started to wear his clothes. Seeing that, the woman on the bed looked disappointed. Seeing that, Gifre approached her and held her chin.


    "Vem, we''ll continue itter."


    The two shared a lustful kiss before Gifre went out of the room.


    As they were interrupted in the middle of their fun, the woman called Vem was dissatisfied. And thus¡­ She started ying by herself.


    ***


    Gifre soon arrived at the meeting room just one floor below.


    "BOSS!"


    The people inside the room stood up and greeted. Although it was only Logan and Royce was called, it seemed that the said vehicle caught the attention of their other members. Currently, there were ten people inside the meeting room including Gifre. All of them were armed with guns that should be illegal to own in this country.


    "I guess you all knew why we are here?"


    Gifre spoke.


    "Boss, other lookouts aside from the guys on the roof saw the vehicle. I also saw it personally from my unit since it is facing that road."


    Logan, the man who was tall but had a stout body spoke.


    "What are your thoughts about it?"


    Gifre asked.


    "I don''t know. I never saw anything like that. It looks intimidating, to be honest. Look at this."


    Logan then took out his phone and opened a video recorded by him through the window. It seemed that it was the habit of this man as there were a lot of videos and pictures inside his gallery.


    "This thing¡­"


    Gifre was speechless seeing the vehicle. Not only him but the other people inside the room had the same expressions. The vehicle looked amazing, powerful and intimidating. However, it also sparked the greed inside him.


    "Boss, by the looks of your face, we can tell that you want this vehicle."


    Logan joked.


    "Why not?" Gifre smiled. "The car might be amazing but what about the people inside?"


    Gifre turned to a shorter man with a thin body and an easily forgettable face.


    "Royce, you think you can tail that vehicle? Investigate and observe the people inside."


    Royce looked back at the boss without any change in his expression.


    "I want one from the collection once I get back."


    "Sure, sure. No worries. If we managed to get that vehicle you can take two or three if you want to y."


    Hearing that, Royce walked out of the meeting room without saying anything else. No one bothered with his attitude however as they were used to it. He was not a wordy person but he always got his job done without problems.


    ***


    <strong>Day 58 ¨C 11:03 AM ¨C Diamond St., Don Angelo King Townhomes, Barangay Manuyo Dos, Las Pi?as, Metro Man</strong>


    Mark and his team were not having good luck today it seemed.


    After they took a detour further away due to the roadblock on the initial route they should have taken, they had to take several more detours.


    First, they encountered a broken bridge. It seemed that whoever did that had the idea to blow up the bridge to cut off the movements of the infected. Although the bridge was notpletely copsed, it was questionable whether it was safe for a vehicle to pass through it.<sub> </sub>


    They also entered a cemetery and had to deal quite a number of infected. Of course, they were not infected that rose from their graves but because of a chapel nearby that seemed to be used as a refuge by a lot of people initially. Mark also had to personally break down the back gates of the cemetery as it was not only locked but the hinges of the gates were heavily rusted which fixed the gates in ce.


    Luckily, he already had m or it would be a hassle to break the gates down even if they had a truck with them to ram over it.


    As they left the cemetery behind, the next thing they had to deal with was arge number of infected blocking the street. From the map on Mark''s tablet, he could tell why there was arge number of infected here. The subdivision they were currently in had a lot of dead ends that could trap the infected inside this ce. The other reason for the horde was because there was a densely packedpound nearby. Mark could not tell from the map but it was very likely to be a squatter''spound.


    There, the shredders in front of the V-Ram were fully utilized. Ignoring the rocking and noises as the infected mmed unto the sturdy body of the vehicle, they sped off.


    Because of the shredders, the impact on the vehicle was lessened. Instead of the infected being rooted to the ground, every one of them that stood in front of the vehicle fell down with either their waists or legs decapitated. The other parts of the V-Ram then pushed the body parts aside making way for the vehicle.


    Mark felt satisfied as already two of the arsenals of the vehicle worked fine. Nevertheless, it seemed that the shredders overstepped his initial ideas as the infected not only fell on the ground but also sttered a lot of blood and guts on the windshield. He started to think whether he needed to change the shape of the ram like a boat shape to push the remains downwards or just keep it as is.


    Almost an hour more passed and they were finally about to leave Manuyo Dos. At the end of the current street was a wider main road dividing his barangay to the next one. Unfortunately, they could not follow that wider road as it led somewhere else and needed to enter another maze-like subdivision towards their destination.


    "Seriously, why are these ces built like mazes?"


    Karlene grumbled. Not only her but everyone in the vehicle was rather riled up by the inconveniently designed roads. Even without the vehicles abandoned in the middle of the road, just the turns and dead ends made them unable to speed up.


    "Well, we can''t help it. We won''t have to go here if the road back there isn''t blocked."


    Mark shrugged his shoulders.


    As he said that, Mark smiled.


    "Why are you smiling?"


    Karlene could not help but ask. Their current situation was not something to smile about.


    "Don''t mind me." Mark replied and looked at his tablet and looked for something on the map. "It''s almost noon. We should find a ce to eat lunch."


    What he had just said made everyone confused.


    Nevertheless, what he said was true. It was almost lunchtime and it was better to fill their stomachs before reaching their destination. However, they could not fathom why Mark wanted to find a ce to eat when they could just eat inside the vehicle.


    "Hmm, alright. There is a quite hidden parking area behind a restaurant two lots away from the route we are taking. We can stop there. There''s also a convenience store and a fast-food beside the parking lot. We can try to see if there is there are still supplies there."


    Mark said as he chose a ce to eat.


    "Mark, what are you trying to pull?"


    Karlene became suspicious. Not only that Mark decided to eat outside of the vehicle but also mentioned searching for supplies. The first thing was still fine but the second one was totally off from their real goal this time.


    "Nothing. I just want a change of pace before entering another maze." Mark said with a mischievous smile. "Also let me see how you and Edzel can handle the infected on your own now."


    Edzel nodded as he wanted to show how much he improved but Karlene could only grumble herints under her breath.


    Soon, they left the Don Angelo Townhomes and left Barangay Manuyo Dos. Just on the other side of the main road, they arrived at the parking area. As the parking area was facing the main road, there was quite a number of infected that were attracted to the vehicle but not as many as they encountered inside the townhomes they just left.


    Running over some of the infected, the vehicle rushed behind the restaurant, which really was a rather secluded area as the whole parking area was surrounded by tall walls.


    With Mark in the lead, everyone went out of the vehicle and stretch their legs that were numb from sitting too long inside.


    "Alright, you two go clear the remaining ones. There don''t seem to be mutated ones so it will be fine with the two of you."


    Mark pushed Edzel and Karlene forward.


    "Seriously, why should we do this before eating¡­"


    Karlene grumbled but still followed.


    As they needed to stop here for a while, the two could not use firearms that would likely attract more infected in the area. Because of that, Karlene was going to use the folding de Mark made for her while Edzel had the katana Mark previously had.


    Since Mark had other weapons and m now, he did not mind giving that sword away.


    While the two cleared the infected in the parking lot, Mark and the remaining ones entered the back area of the restaurant to get to the second floor where they would eat. There were several infected inside the restaurant but they were easily dealt with.


    Mark observed how the two fought and could say that they were improving and were way better from before they left the base. Ka was also behaving and was not abruptly taking control with Karlene''s body enabling thetter to grow on her own.


    The two fought the infected in their own ways. Their speed, strength and fighting skills were already above normal but were still not in the line of being outstanding. The way they fought only gave out the feeling that they were seasoned survivors of the apocalypse.


    While the two were fighting it seemed that a mutated infected from the other side of the wall detected them. As the mutated infected came from behind the wall, the two did not saw it immediately. The mutated infected rushed towards the two people while jumping like a grasshopper.


    No, it definitely jumped in a way simr to a grasshopper. In fact, the infected were human, but it was standing on all fours and its lower limbs were distorted that its knees were facing backward.


    "Geez, why are those two not watching their backs¡­"


    Mark grumbled. He then jumped down from the second floor through the broken ss wall with great difficulty. He then rushed towards the iing infected that was unable to control its jumps. It was really the same as a grasshopper that randomly leaped around. Like an amateur, Mark chased after the mutated infected and managed to take its attention. Finding a chance as itnded in front of him, Mark gave it a strong but clumsy-looking kick that managed to break its neck.


    On the second floor of the restaurant, they others were confused.


    "What is going on with Master?"


    Odelina asked as the way he behaved was totally not normal. He did not even wear his armor and was currently wearing something casual except for his face that was half-covered with a handkerchief. Aside from that, he made Aephelia and Amihan stay inside the vehicle.


    Mei, however, had a hunch. It was because, since the time he jumped out of the second floor, she could see that Mark was stealthily ncing in a certain direction. Not only was that but all his strangely weak actions were made sure to be seen from the direction he was ncing at.

 Chapter 358 The Act, Enemies Assumptions And Reaching The University

    <strong>Day 58 ¨C 11:22 PM ¨C 2nd Floor, Bacolod Inasal Restaurant, Naga Road, Baranagay Png Lupa Dos, Las Pi?as, Metro Man</strong>


    Clearing the infected in the parking lot, everyone could finally proceed to eat lunch. However, aside from the little girls and Mei, the others were looking at Mark who ate lunch as if he had done nothing odd.


    Ignoring the awkward and confused stares toward Mark, Mei finally asked.


    "Gege, are we being followed?"


    "Yep. There''s only one person though." Mark answered nonchntly after swallowing the food on his mouth. "Probably a scout from those guys that created the roadblock there."


    The confirmation Mark gave them caused quite a surprise. None of them noticed and Mei only picked the thought after observing Mark''s strange behavior.


    Karlene could not help but try to turn her head around trying to look around for any clues but before anyone else could stop her, her head was held by Spera stopping her reflexive actions.


    "I''m sorry but miss shouldn''t try to turn your head if there are people following you around. That can alert the enemy and make them either wary or more aggressive. Both circumstances are not good since Sir is obviously trying to lure them in."


    "That''s¡­"


    Karlene looked awkward as she saw Mark nod at what Spera had said. With Spera''s current expression, it seemed that she learned what she had said the hard way.


    "Have you been followed and chased around before?"


    Mark asked making Spera stiff. It looked like she was still holding some wariness towards him. In the least, it was getting better and she still answered.


    "I''ve been careless using my portals before I became a member of the organization. Because of that, there are other people who managed to get me on their sights."


    As she answered, there were a lot of expressions appearing on her face. It seemed that she had it rough that time.


    "Master, why are you luring them? Shouldn''t you just need to deal with the scout and things will end? It is kind of strange seeing you pretend to be weak."


    Odelina asked.


    "Why should I? They can''t do anything to us at all here so there are more benefits if theye in full force that just killing the scout they sent. Besides, I don''t want to waste more time raiding their ce so it''s better if the blood sackse to us on their own."


    Marks said with a rather dark smile on his face.


    ***


    <strong>Day 58 ¨C 11:32 PM ¨C PureSilver Png Lupa Rooftop, Naga Road, Baranagay Png Lupa Dos, Las Pi?as, Metro Man</strong>


    On the roof of the supermarket just on the other side of the road from the restaurant, a silhouette of a person could be seen prone on the hidden slope of the roof.


    The person was no other than Royce who easily caught up with the vehicle even if it left first before him. It was because of the trail of decapitated bodies lying in the middle of the roads the vehicle passed through and his abilities.


    In their group that was called Dark Greed due to their leader''s unusual greed for almost everything, he was the best in terms of speed and stealth. This speed and ability to stay hidden did not onlye from the abilities he had from being a so-called Mutator. Back before the outbreak, many of their current members worked for a smuggling syndicate and their primary products to smuggle into the country were foreign illegal drugs and weapons. They were the suppliers of many local underground groups in the area.


    In that syndicate, his role were mostly being a messenger while sometimes, he also received tasks such as scouting, assassinations and cleanups. In those four roles, moving fast while being stealthy was required. Even before the outbreak, he was already a seasoned veteran in this line of work.


    After he was bitten however when he was caught in the middle of a deal with another drug syndicated and was bitten by one of their men that had turned, however, he did not turn like the one that bit him and became a Mutator instead.


    He was not the only Mutator in their current group but there were other seven of them. Nevertheless, he was special among them all. It was because he was a Mutator with two abilities.


    The first one was his lower limbs were stronger and faster. Not only that but his limbs could release and absorb strong impacts enabling him to run fast, jump higher andnd from great heights with no difficulties.


    As for the second ability he had, he could change the color of his skin and hair at will. It enabled him to blend into any surface that had a single color. Like right now, his skin was green colored making him blend unto the roof of the supermarket. Even if there were flying infected to pass by, the only thing they would notice was his ck clothes but not the other parts of his body.


    Royce continued to observe the targets that were currently eating at the second floor of the restaurant. Although it was quite hard to see from this distance, in the least, he would not risk getting found out if the light from the sun was identally reflected while using a pair of binocrs or another scouting instrument.


    He was a cautious person. Or else, he would not have survived in the industry he was in.


    From the time Royce saw the aftermath the vehicle left behind, he knew that the vehicle he was tailing was an amazing one. He was further amazed as he saw the vehicle in action. There was also the fact that while the vehicle was stained with blood and guts, it remained mostly unscathed despite the number of infected they encountered on the way.


    Observing the people from the vehicle however, what he concluded was that there seemed to be only two people capable of fighting in their group. The third person who seemed to have strength but it looked like the man wascking in skill and fighting experience. As for the others, he did not think much of them. Four small girls and two older ones, all of them did not even look like they were capable.


    "It seems like it was just a bunch of rich kids."<sub> </sub>


    <o>,m He murmured.</o>


    In his eyes, the clean appearance of everyone that came out of the vehicle was enough evidence of how pampered they were. Not only that but out of all ces, they chose a quite expensive ce to dine in like they were used to it. Even though he found that the second man was quite strange, he neglected him and focused on the two fighting the infected instead. Nevertheless, he would not lower his guard.


    Another thing was that he could not help but feel amazed seeing how many beautiful, cute and good looking women and girls were together in this group with only two men. He could probably request one or two after they capture them while the rest would go to the collection.


    With those conclusions, he took out his radio and contacted his group.


    "Boss, this is Royce."


    "Royce, how is it? What did you found out?"


    With that cue, he reported the things he found out.


    "Alright." Gifre spoke after the report. "Continue to tail them and constantly report. These people might havee from Bay City and will surely not go that far. People from that ce never did. We will set up an ambush after they reached their destination."


    "Roger." Royce affirmed. "But don''t skimp on our men. I have an odd feeling though I can''t tell where ites from."


    "Ho? Maybe you are just being paranoid. You''re always like that, too cautious."


    "It''s better to be cautious than to be on the losing ends. Don''t be like Chameleon who died because he underestimated his opponents."


    "Alright, alright. What''s going on with you today, you are rather wordy."


    "Don''t mind me. Also don''t forget my warning. I''ll stop now. The targets are on the move again."


    ***


    Day 58 ¨C 12:02 NN ¨C Naga Road, Baranagay Png Lupa Dos, Las Pi?as, Metro Man


    They ate quickly and searched the restaurant a before boarding the vehicle once more. Now that they knew that they were being tailed, Karlene, Edzel, and Odelina were quite unnerved. It was quite ufortable knowing that someone was watching them from where they could not see.


    Spera was also ufortable but at least, she was used to it. Still, she could not help but think how Mark and Mei were able to keep their calm like this. She did not know that Mark just did not feel anything about it and would not feel anything even if he wanted to. Mei on the other hand just did not care as long as she was by Mark''s and the little girls'' sides.


    As they left the parking area and moved towards their destination once more, Mark had a meaningful expression on his face as they passed by the supermarket on the other side of the road.


    "Gege, you''re in a good mood."


    "Well, yeah. The guy following us is skilled and cautious but that cautiousness will surely make him not underestimate us easily and make their group bring more people. He never knows. He might not underestimate us despite my act but that is still not enough. They will all end up as materials for us. I can convert more fresh blood than the stored ones so having more peoplee after us is convenient."


    While Mark and Mei were talking, the others were confused. Mark never told them why he would need a lot of blood and how the blood of peopleing after them would be materials. Yet, none of them asked why. In the least, they knew that everyone had secrets they should not pry.


    One more thing that bothered the rest however was how both Miracle and I were sulking currently. Before they returned inside the vehicle, the three girls did another rock paper scissors to determine who would sit on Mark''sp. However, just like before, it was Abbygale who won in a game of threes. It felt like she was cheating.


    ***


    <strong>Day 58 ¨C 2:42 PM ¨C Acacia St., Baranagay Pamplona Tres, Las Pi?as, Metro Man</strong>


    Another two hours of traveling through maze-like subdivisions filled with roadblocks, closed roads and infected, passed. Due to different subdivisions having different styles and ns, each subdivision was a maze of its own different from the previous one. After traversing a straight road from the previous one, that same road could end up as a dead-end or a turn after entering another one.


    It was annoying in Mark and the other''s perspective but they could notin at all. What made it worse was that the roads were already small and yet, many homeowners liked to park their vehicles in front of their houses and not inside their garage. They would not mind if the vehicles were abandoned after being trapped in heavy traffic or being besieged by the infected but most of the blockades were created by neatly parked vehicles on the street side.


    When encountering mutated infected, they had to stop and make Edzel and Karlene deal with them continuing the act. While normal infected would not be able to damage the vehicle, it could not be said towards mutated infected as a lot of them had uncanny abilities. Of course, unlike in the parking lot where they only used melee weapons, they used guns when fighting the mutated.


    Finally, from all those hardships, they reached this street, the very street behind the University. And of course, the ce was brimming with infected.


    While the vehicle moved slowly, Edzel, Karlene and even Mark had to go out and clear the infected going after the vehicle. There was a lot of mutated infected and there were also those that Mark saw a lot before, the dozers. Sure enough, there might be a lot of people that could turn into this kind.


    As Mark continued the act, he would act clumsy and weak when in the line of sight of their observer but once he was not, he moved fast and efficient. Soon, they saw a ce where they could enter the campus. It was a parking area behind the school where the gate was left open. They entered the gate and Mark closed it by stealthily creating a lock on the gate using his blood.


    Finally, they reached their destination. Nevertheless, Mark was surprised.


    Inside the university campus infested by the infected, he detected people.

 Chapter 359 Entry, The Few Survivors Of The University

    <strong>Day 58 ¨C 3:04 PM ¨C University of Perpetual Help System Dalta ¨C Las Pi?as Campus, bang-Zapote Road, Barangay Pamplona Tres, Las Pi?as, Metro Man</strong>


    The University of Perpetual Help also known by the abbreviation, UPH was a rather well-known university. They provided training for quite a number of courses for service in the Philippines and abroad. The University had nine campuses in various areas in Luzon and this one Mark and his crew went to this time was one of the two campuses in Metro Man and was also the Main Campus of UPH.


    This ce should have been a lively one with its about twelve thousand students and a thousand and five hundred staff, but now, it had turned into a hellhole. The infected were roaming everywhere and there were a lot of mutated ones. If not for the fence isting the back parking lot from the rest of the university campus and their vehicle not noise as normal vehicles did, the infected in other areas would have swarmed them already.


    "Odel, drive the vehicle slowly. Don''t attract too much attention from the infected on the other side of the fence."


    Mark said ignoring the people he detected.


    Because of the fences and the other vehicles left on the parking and blocking most of the sight of the infected inside the campus, the vehicle looked more like a moving box to them which was not that attractivepared to seeing human silhouettes from the distance.


    Of course, not all the infected ignored the vehicle driving inside the fence. There were the more sensitive ones that are able to detect humans nearby not mentioning the fact that there were four psychics and two magical beings inside the vehicle. Fortunately, the uncontroble leak of psychic energy had been toned down with Mark around or more infected would surely sense them inside the vehicle especially since Amihan was constantly using her powers.


    "Where are we going to park?"


    Odelina asked.


    "Enter the inner parking, the entrance should be there." Mark pointed at the southwest corner of the rear parking area after looking at the map. "Use the parked vehicles as cover so the infected gathered at the school field won''t easily notice."


    Odelina followed Mark''s instructions and entered the inner parking area behind the school. From there, they could see how horrifying it was just on the other side of the parking area. Luckily, there was a lot of vehicles parked obscuring the view of the infected through the metal fences though the number of vehicles were also strange in a certain way.


    "There are too many cars. I don''t think these all belong to students." Karlene voiced. "Look at the infected, there''s barely any of them wearing uniforms."


    To her confusion, Mark spoke.


    "Look around more and you will see why."


    Hearing that, not only Karlene but also the others looked around the surroundings from the tinted windows of the vehicle. Finally, they noticed. They had already forgotten because of the time that passed and the signs on the streets being obscured by the scene of destruction and carnage. However, ones in this school managed to be preserved longer and more noticeable.


    "They must be conducting a school-wide Christmas Party."


    Mei spoke.


    From the decorations on the upper floors of the buildings of the school to the leaning Christmas tree at the center of the school field and a few student-built disys, it was likely they were about to conduct a party that day. The number of vehicles parked in the parking area that should be unusual and the casual but should be stylish clothes of some of the infected gave out the same vibe about the ce.


    Before they could conduct and enjoy the party however, the outbreak struck turning their anticipated event into a bloody nightmare that who knows when it would end.


    Aside from the decorations however, they noticed something else. Due to that, Mei turned to Mark.


    "Gege, are there still people in a ce like this?"


    She asked.


    On the building on the other side of the sports field filled with infected, there was arge beautifully and asymmetrically designed building with the emblem of the school at the central wall.


    The northern wing of the building should be the gymnasium of the school while the other wing could either be ssrooms or an office area. On the second floor of the southern wing, aside from the decorative banners, there was a banner with arge SOS that was written vertically hanging on one of the windows.


    To Mei''s question, Mark nodded.


    "Thirteen people. Try using binocrs or the scope of the sniper rifle, you can see one person peering at the right window."


    Hearing that, they really did and saw someone standing in front of the window. It was kind of hard to see since the window was covered with something to block the view but since they knew that someone was there, they managed to see the person. They also noticed that it seemed like the person standing was also watching them.


    ***


    Day 58 ¨C 3:22 PM ¨C 2nd Floor Faculty Building, University of Perpetual Help System Dalta ¨C Las Pi?as Campus, bang-Zapote Road, Barangay Almanza Uno, Las Pi?as, Metro Man


    "Terrence, there is a car in the parking area."


    The girl in front of the window spoke with a rather excited voice as she had a glimpse of a vehicle moving across the parking. She was about twenty years old with a short neck long curly hair.


    "Lynn, what are you talking about? Of course, there are cars in the parking area. Are you sick?"


    Terrence who was a man about the same age replied hearing the girl. The two of them were on the lookout this time though it was only Lynn who was doing the job correctly.


    "You''re the one who is sick youzy bastard." Lynn yelled. "Why don''t you look outside the window to see instead of lying down and beingzy when Sir Edward is not around?"


    "Alright! Geez! Don''t yell. What if the zombies below hear you?" Terrence finally stood up. "Where is the car you are talking about? You better not be joking. Just who will enter a hellish ce like this anyway?"


    Terrence looked out of the window just to stop Lynn''s yelling but did not really believe her. That was until he also saw a glimpse of a vehicle moving in the inner parking just across the school field.


    However, as the distance was quite far and the vehicle was moving behind the trees and other parked vehicles, they were not able to see it clearly. Nevertheless, they knew that there was a vehicle there that entered the campus through the back entrance.


    "What the hell?"


    Terrence could not believe it.<sub> </sub>


    "I told you there''s a car moving. You didn''t believe earlier since you are not doing your job properly." Lynn reprimanded. "Should we tell Sir Edward?"


    "Of course we should." Terrence replied. "We have to be careful. Thest guys that entered the school are bastards."


    "That''s true." Lynn agreed. "Then, you go and tell Sir Edward."


    "What? Why me?"


    "Because you''re not really doing anything here. It''s better for you to go."


    "Hah¡­ Alright."


    With a defeated sigh, Terrence left Lynn and went out of the room they were in.


    ***


    "Are you sure about this?"


    The man sitting inside the faculty stood up after hearing what Terrence hade to report. It was almost two months since they were stuck in this ce and peopleing to this ce only happened once before. At that time, they werecent and trusted the group.


    That event did not end well.


    "Call everyone. We will prepare. Since you said that there''s only one vehicle, then, it surely won''t be the military or the police."


    As Terrence bolted out of the room to inform the others, Edward let out a sigh. Of course, it would be lying if he said that he did not want to see other people. However, the first time they did cause more harm than good.


    Edward left his seat and entered another room. Inside the room, there was a makeshift bed and several necessities he personally had.


    On the bedy a thin statured woman. She was asleep not naturally but because of the medicine fed to her. Edward sat on the bed and caressed the head of the woman.


    "There are people here again Emi. I just wish that it will end well this time. I don''t want to see what happened to you before get repeated."


    Leaving a kiss to the cheek of the sleeping woman, Edward took a shotgun hidden in a medical cab along with a bag of bullets before leaving the room. As he closed the door, he took ast look at the woman. His eyes were filled with the resolution to protect what he had left.


    When Edward went out of the hallway, everyone was there already except for the medical student named Lynn who was still on the lookout. Right now, there were eleven people in the hallway. Three including Edward was school staff, three were students from the high school division of the campus and the rest were college students before the outbreak. Every one stood worried in the hallway and every single one of them was armed with firearms. It was something odd that they had these weapons when all of them should not have one.


    "Edward, what are we going to do?"


    An older man, Phillip, who was a medical instructor before the outbreak asked.


    "We won''t do anything right now. Just position yourselves and guard the entrances. We don''t know if those people will go here or even will be able to but we just need to be on guard. If they managed to get here, I''ll go first to talk to them while you all just need to be prepared for anything that can happen."


    Hearing Edward''s instructions, everyone nodded. They all left in groups and went to the positions designated to them. Of course, those positions were the two stairs they already blocked, the only way to the roof and the windows that can be essed from the back of the building. As for Edward, he left with Terrence and went where Lynn was.


    ***


    "Sir Edward!"


    Lynn greeted as she saw Terrence return with Edward.


    "How is it?"


    Edward asked.


    "The car already stopped but we can''t see it clearly from here since it stopped behind a tree."


    "You didn''t use your binocrs?"


    "I did Sir but¡­ I don''t know. It is really hard to see even with the binocrs since the car moved behind the cars parked there. It might sound strange but I think they know that they are being watched."


    "Well, of course, people will know that we are here since we have that banner outside."


    Terrence chimed in a fact none of them could refute. However, they could not just take out the banner. After the outbreak, they saw military helicopters flying not far from the campus and that did not happen only once or twice. Even though it was not happening anymore, they wish that if another helicopter from the military passed by, they would see the distress banner they hanged outside.


    Taking the banner down would surely lower the chances of them being attacked by other people but at the same time, lowering the chances of them being rescued to zero. It was either risk it or win it. They just have to be prepared for both asions.


    "People went out!"


    Lynn eximed as she used the binocrs once more. Although she could not see the vehicle clearly from her position, she saw several people running out from the vehicle towards the nearest building from the parking area.


    Using his own binocrs, Edward also managed to see the same scene.


    "It seems like they are going to the Medicine Faculty." Edward assumed. "But how are they able to brave themselves in a risky ce like this with just a few of them?"


    He questioned. It was because there were only seven people that came out of the vehicle. Three of them were even children.

 Chapter 360 The Impossible, Reunion Between Two Friends In The Middle Of The Apocalypse

    <strong>Day 58 - 4:03 PM - Medicine Faculty, University of Perpetual Help System DALTA, Las Pi?as Campus, bang-Zapote Road, Barangay Pamplona Tres, Las Pi?as, Metro Man</strong>


    Mark together with Mei, the three little girls, Karlene, and Edzel rushed into the closest building from the parking area. Because they still needed to fake their act, it was only Edzel and Karlene that shot the infected with their guns along the way while Mark and the girls just avoided any confrontation.


    Nevertheless, even the confrontation with the infected was just an act. The quite a number of the infected along the way had already been controlled by Aephelia that was watching back inside the vehicle. Together with her, Amihan, Odelina, and Spera stayed at the vehicle to prepare the stage forter.


    Actually, the parking area extended towards the front of the building but because of the vehicles that packed the parking area, it would not be easy to remove the other vehicles. If they were to do so, they would at least secure the building first.


    The moment they entered the building and they were out of sight of the scout, the clean up intensified.


    Blood sshed and bodies littered the floor as Mark''s group became a moving meat grinder running inside the building.


    It was alreadyte, what they needed right now was a ce to spend the night and this building was the best ce.


    The building wasrge but smallerpared to the other buildings around it making it easier to clean up and defend. It had two floors and the second floor could be set up as a safe camp.


    Those things aside, this building was not only the closest to the parking area but was built at the very center of thergest part of the university. Because of its location, it would be easier to move anywhere around the university and retreat to this location. The only ces that would not be easy to ess would be the Medical Center and buildings at the front of the university that was located about three hundred meters away from the Medicine Faculty.


    "It is kind of disturbing how this building was easily cleaned by just by five people and three of them were just cute little girls."


    Karlene could not help but voice her thoughts seeing the number of dead bodies that littered the floors of the building.


    After entering the building through the door, there was no much she and Edzel could do. Even though she was a Mutator, unless she transformed and was controlled by Ka, her abilities would be limited. Edzel, on the other hand, might be stronger than average people being raised in hardbor but he was still just a normal person. If the two wanted to help, they could only use their firearms but the narrow hallways prevented them from doing so. Rather than hitting the infected, it would be easier to hit those that were fighting in front even if they did not want to.


    "Gege, the person watching us didn''t see this, right?"


    Mei asked worried that Mark''s n would fail.


    "Oh, don''t worry, this building is blocked by several trees from where he is. Unless he goes down from his hiding spot, he won''t be able to see anything here. If he goes down though, he will surely end up being chased by the infected."


    After Mark replied to Mei, he turned to Miracle.


    "Miracle, don''t touch those things, we don''t know what is inside those."


    Being reprimanded, Miracle who was about to touch several bottles left on a table out of curiosity immediately retracted her small hands.


    Abbygale was also curious about the things found inside but refrained from touching anything while I stood to the side silently while observing the surroundings.


    Looking around, it was not hard to assume what this ce was. White walls, tiled white floors, and the educational charts on the walls made it look like either aboratory or a hospital but the office tables and chairs, the document cabs in each room, personalputers, and lesson ns on the tables said otherwise.


    "This ce looks like a faculty for Medical Instructors and Teaching Doctors."


    Mark spected. There was alsoboratory equipment on disy at almost all the rooms. Unfortunately, most of the items had already been trashed broken to the ground. Even some of the ss windows on the second floor were broken making it obvious that a few people tried to escape from the windows.


    While thinking that, Mark looked through one of the broken windows and stared below. The puddle of dried blood on the cement below surely indicated that the person who jumped through here did not end well.


    "Alright..." Mark spoke facing everyone. "Let''s pick a room and clean up a bit. Just dump the bodies inside one of the rooms on the first floor."


    As Mark instructed, aside from the little girls, they started to clean the ce to spend the night. It was not a thorough cleaning as there was no water to clean the bloodstains on the floor, in the least, they could use the documents on the cabs to cover the fresh blood under their feet.


    It took another half hour and they finished preparing the room. They chose a room that could oversee the parking lot. The office desks from different rooms were gathered in the room they chose and were lined up into makeshift beds.


    Finishing the task in the building, Mark waved his hand out of the window to signal Odelina to do the next part.


    Receiving the signal, Odelina drove the vehicle once more. This time, she had the goal of pushing away the vehicles that blocked the way.


    BAM! BAM! BAM!


    The V-Ram of the [Exceed: Personnel Carrier] crashed unto the vehicles in front causing crashing sounds. After being pushed to the side, the abandoned vehicles had their sides scraped or dented but the [Exceed: Personnel Carrier] did not even have a single scratch on it.


    Without much problems, Odelina opened the way towards the front of the Medicine Faculty. However, her job did not end in that. After pushing the other vehicles to the side, Odelina turned the [Exceed: Personnel Carrier] to the left facing the other vehicles. She then rammed the abandoned vehicles towards the fence not only creating an open space in front of the Medicine Faculty but also adding anotheryer of defense around the parking area.


    After finishing her work, Odelina and Spera walked out of the vehicle while Aephelia and Amihan still stayed inside.


    "Master, what are we going to do next?"


    Odelina asked.


    "Hmmm..." Mark turned towards the building on the other side of the school field. "Odel, Mei''er... and also Spera. It''s gettingte so prepare dinner. Karlene and Edzel, we will go to greet our temporary neighbors."


    "Huh? Why?" While Edzel nodded without a word, Karlene could not help but ask. "Isn''t it better if we just avoid contact with them?"


    "Don''t worry, those guys there are different from the ones chasing after us. Also since they live here, they might know where the blood bank is. That will save us a lot of time searching."<sub> </sub>


    "I see. But how are we going there?"


    She asked once more. The school field was brimming with infected. Anyone would ask that question.


    "There''s a way though."


    Mark smiled.


    ***


    Leaving the Mei, Odelina, and Spera together with the three girls back in the Medicine Faculty, Mark, Karlene, and Edzel made their way towards therge building to the east side of the school.


    As Mark had said, there was a safer way towards that ce and it was on the roof of the walkway at the southern side of the school field. This covered walkway was not only connected to the building but also extended towards the furthest sides of the school and to the main entrance several hundred meters away from their location.


    While running on the roof, they were, of course, detected by the infected on the school field. The infected started roaring aggressively as they raised their hands in an attempt to reach the three that was two to four meters away from them. It was a futile attempt for the infected. Still, both Karlene and Edzel could not help but swallow their saliva seeing how many infected were there at the school field. Even a needle would have a hard time to fall unto the ground.


    Seeing the expressions of the two, Mark shook his head. If there was no one watching them, he would bring Mei and the three girls instead but as they had to keep the act, he chose this arrangement. Not only that he made it look like that he was wary aboutmunicating with the survivors on the other building but he also made it look like that they never noticed the scout tailing them since they left the supposed nonbatants on the building.


    "STOP!"


    A male voice was heard when they reached half of the distance they needed to walk on the roof of the walkway.


    Mark was not surprised by Karlene and Edzel immediately went on a defensive stance.


    Three looked at the t area of the roof of the building and there were six people there armed with guns and staring warily at them. Three of the six were even pointing the guns at them with a bit of hesitation on their minds.


    "Karlene, you do the greeting."


    Mark whispered.


    "Why me?"


    "Because of the girl on the roof, look."


    Mark answered mysteriously.


    When Karlene turned to the only girl among the six, she was confused. She could not recognize the person since the girl''s face was rather dirty and it seemed that she had not taken a bath for a very long time. However, the way the girl looked at her was full of unbelievable shock, too shocked that she even dropped her pistol without knowing surprising the others around her.


    Before anyone could speak another word, the girl on the roof rushed forward.


    "Lynn! What are you-?!"


    A boy that seemed to be the same age as the girl shouted in surprise and tried to grab the girl. Unfortunately, he waste. None of them was able to react as the girl jumped down from the roof of the building to the roof of the walkway. Even though it was about a two-meter drop, she seemed to be fine and did not even create a sound as shended on the metal roofing.


    As she ran, she was already sobbing.


    Since a stranger was running towards them, Edzel could not help but raise his gun but before he could do so, a hand pressed his assault rifle down. Edzel could only look at Mark in confusion.


    "Read the mood, will you?"


    Hearing that, Edzel turned to the girl once more. He was too wary about the people with guns that he did not notice theck of aggression from the girl.


    On the other hand, Karlene was also stuck. She could not help but find the girl familiar but she could not recognize her due to her current appearance. Before she was able to think clearly, a warm but rather smelly embrace enveloped her body.


    "Karlene! I''m not dreaming right?" The girl sobbed with tears creating a clean trail on her dirty face. "Right? This isn''t a dream... Right?"


    The girl asked repeatedly not knowing what else was to say. The world had already turned into a huge nightmare, it would not be surprising if she was dreaming.


    Karlene on the other hand froze. Tears also fell from her eyes before she could even open her mouth.


    "This voice... Analynn? Lynn... Is this... really you?"


    Karlene pushed the girl away and held her face. She even rubbed the sticky dirt on the girl''s face just to be sure. As the tears had softened the dirt, some of it was wiped away.


    "No way..." Karlene voiced as she finally confirmed the crying face she held. "Lynn!"


    Karlene let go of Analynn''s face and gave her a tight embrace.


    Even though there was arge number of infected just a few meters away, their aggressive roars and growls could not overwhelm the joyful cries of two girls that had the reunion that was almost impossible to happen now in this world.

 Chapter 361 Communication, The Location Of The Blood Bank And The Arrival Of The Fools

    <strong>Day 58 - 4:42 PM - University of Perpetual Help System Dalta, Las Pi?as Campus, bang-Zapote Road, Barangay Pamplona Tres, Las Pi?as, Metro Man</strong>


    A reunion, whether it was between family members, friends or even just between two people who only knew the faces of each other, it was an event that was very unlikely to happen. In a world where the infected invaded everything, even just seeing the dead bodies or the walking corpse of their loved ones was already a huge miracle. No matter how hopeful one was, it would not change that fact.


    Yet, despite the circumstances that made it even more impossible, Karlene and Analynn reunited with each other. Due to uncanny circumstances, they still met each other even though they were about a hundred and fifty plus kilometers away from each other when the apocalypse started. A distance and location where the two were enough to be said that they were at the opposite ends of the country.


    The reunion of Karlene and Analynn caused thetter''s group to lower their hostility for a bit. Like anyone else in this apocalyptic world, they also wanted to see their families, their friends... Their loved ones. Seeing one of them managing to fulfill such wish made them both jealous and happy at the same time.


    "Just how... How did you get here?" Analynn asked Karlene not bothering how the wet dirt on her face was very ufortable to look at. "Aren''t you in Quezon for a drama shoot?"


    "Many things happened..." Karlene answered. "I''m just lucky..."


    While the two already started to ask about each other''s circumstances...


    "Ahem..."


    An awkward cough was heard behind Karlene.


    "Ladies, I know that the two of you are overwhelmed with emotions but can we do this somewhere else. I don''t think that the gallery below likes it."


    The one who spoke was Edzel whose face was slightly red from saying such line. It was obvious that he was just pushed to say such things and it was Mark who stood behind him gave the dialogue.


    "R-right..." Analynn spoke embarrassed before looking back at her group, specifically, the man in his thirties at the center of the group. "Sir Edward, can we?"


    Hearing that, Edward scanned Karlene, Mark, and Edzel for a bit. He sighed.


    "Alright. Invite them." Edward replied to Analynn before turning whispering to those around him. "We''ll let them in but don''t let your guards down."


    "There''s just three of them though."


    Terrence voiced.


    "Yes, there are just three people. Lynn''s friend and that boy that spoke might be fine but that man behind them is unsettling."


    Edward whispered.


    Hearing that made the curious boy turn his head towards Mark just to see thetter staring at him with a mysterious look in his eyes. It was unfortunate that he could not see the smile on Mark''s face due to the handkerchief he was using as a mask.


    That made Terrence immediately withdraw his sight away.


    ***


    Guided by the group, the three entered the building through door at the back of the building leading to the stairs going down to the second floor and first floor.


    Terrence ran off to inform the others inside first about the guests, but of course, it was not to wee the three but to make their people inside hide and not go out.


    Inside, Mark, Edzel and Karlene were guided into a certain room. As Mark surmised, this should be the office of the director of the university due to office table at the center of the room and thevish-looking furniture and decorations inside. There was also the desk que that was already ced on the disy cab instead of the table.


    This indicated how cautious these people were towards them. They brought the three in a secluded room which would make it easier to make moves if the three gave out any sign of threat. Nevertheless, they only did this with no other intentions but to protect themselves.


    Without regarding anything else, Karlene and Analynn immediately went to their world making the men around rather awkward.


    "Are women always like this?"


    Terrence voiced out not minding if the two heard him.


    "Boy, just let them be. I know you can understand why right?"


    The old instructor, Phillip,ughed.


    Now, behind the desk and on the sofa in front of it, Edward and their two male guests sat down.


    "Let me introduce myself. I''m Edward, you two can say that I''m the leader of this group. Can we ask what are your business here?"


    Edward spoke in a neutral tone which made it sound not weing but also not aggressive. It was to show that while they did not want a fight, they were not a pushover either.


    Nevertheless, it seemed that he could see through the farce that was going on with Mark''s group as he asked that question directly at Mark although the one sitting closer to him was Edzel.


    "You can tell that I''m their leader?"


    Mark asked even though he already seemed to expect it.


    "I don''t know why you are putting these two in front while pretending to be a follower. It might be hard to notice if there is no contact between us but as you already see..."


    Edward replied while ncing at Edzel and Karlene which Mark nodded to, agreeing with what the former said.


    His n to fake things was just effective without proper contact. Once contact was established, however, it would show how both Edzel and Karlene were unfit to be the leaders of this group. Still, it was already fine since it was very unlikely for the scout observing tailing behind to establish contact.


    "Alright, I won''t beat around the bush." Mark spoke and took off the handkerchief covering his face. "You can call me Mark, the one beside me is Edzel and that one there, I guess you all know who she is. What we are here for is the location of the blood bank."


    Their goal here made the others inside the room surprised. It would not be strange if they were looking for someone or were searching for supplies. Yet, Mark asked for the location of the blood bank which no one in this world would surely want. There was only one reason for this surprise. It was because of the time that had already passed after the apocalypse started. Even though most people would not know of it, they knew how long blood could be stored and it was already past that date.


    Knowing their surprise, Mark spoke once more.


    "You all don''t need to know why. The blood bank is not important to any of you here right? I doubt that there will be implications with asking this."


    Hearing that, Edward nodded. There would not be any implications towards their group and there was no problem telling them the location of the blood bank.


    However...


    "The blood bank?" Analynn eximed and turned to Karlene. "You cannot go there!"


    "What is wrong?"


    Mark asked.


    "You might be looking for the blood bank on the campus right?" Phillip spoke. "Unfortunately, that blood bank had already been temporarily moved to the Medical Center after some problems urred on the main campus building. Some leakage in the freezer, you see. Well, the repair was never done so the only blood bank here now is in the Medical Center."


    Hearing that, Mark sighed. It felt like he was going around on a continuous RPG quest where he needed to go somewhere far after reaching the current goal.


    Nevertheless, they now knew why Analynn did not want Karlene to go to a ce like that.


    "Do you know what is the situation in the Medical Center?"


    Mark asked once more.


    That question made everyone droop their shoulders.<sub> </sub>


    "The Medical Center is much worsepared to the school field in front."


    Edward sighed. It seemed that they went there before and things ended up badly.


    "The Medical Center is filled with zombies." Terrence spoke. "Also there are a lot of strange ones than the normal kind there."


    "A hospital filled with Mutated Infected..." Mark nodded in contemtion. "It''s not surprising I think."


    He then turned to Edward.


    "Anyone know where the blood bank there is located. Draw a map if possible."


    "That''s..."


    Everyone was confused. They already said how dangerous it was and yet, Mark was not perturbed at all.


    "You people don''t have to worry about us. Just give us a map of the location of the blood bank and we won''t disturb you guys anymore. Also..." Mark unstrapped the ck colored katana he had on his back. "I''ll give this to anyone who can give me the map. You guys have guns but your melee weapons are shabby."


    Seeing the deal, everyone''s eyes lit up. To entice them further, Mark even unsheathed the sword to show them the ck colored de.


    However, not all of them were fully familiar with the location. They could only turn towards the old instructor.


    "Alright, I''ll draw the map."


    Phillip shook his head with a bitter smile. He was also interested in the sword. Who would not want more assurance in this danger-filled world?


    As such, Phillip drew the map in an unusually detailed way. It seemed that he not only familiar but it was not wrong to say that he lived his life here for more than a decade. He was not only an instructor here but was also a doctor in times of emergency.


    In the middle of drawing the map, however...


    Mark stood up and walked towards the window facing the school field. He was not looking at the school field was gazing towards the direction of the street at the back of the school.


    Everyone was confused as to why he was behaving his way. They only thing they could hear was Mark murmuring numbers as if he was counting something.


    "Boss, did they arrive?"


    Edzel asked a question that was easily misunderstood. It made some of the men heighten their alertness. Fortunately, Edward and Phillip managed to read Edzel''s worried expression and if Mark''s people were really nning something sinister, Edzel would not voice it here.


    "Yep, those idiots arrived. They seem to be going full force with ny-six people in their group."


    Mark''s words made the others realize that what Edzel asked about were not their allies but enemies. Just the number was enough to make them shiver.


    Unexpectedly...


    "Do you need any help?"


    Edward asked.


    "You want to help even though we are outnumbered and you don''t know us at all? You can also me us since we brought them here in a sense."


    Mark asked.


    To that question...


    "The conduct of criminals is not the victim''s fault."


    Edward replied while biting his lip. Not only him but the others also had unsightly faces hearing his words. They might have experienced something bad that was inlined with those words.


    To those reactions and speech, Mark smiled.


    "You guys are rare kind of people in his world."


    There, Mark faced them with a sinister smile.


    "You people don''t have to do anything. We knew that they are tailing us all this time."


    "If you knew... then..."


    Phillip spoke with an unbelieving expression.


    "That''s right, I nned to deal with those people here. So you guys don''t need to do anything but watch the showter."


    Mark looked at Phillip.


    "Also continue drawing the map, please."


    After that, Mark faced the window once more and closed his eyes. No one knew what he was doing.


    Nevertheless, they noticed. Not only Mark but Edzel and Karlene were not afraid at all even when they knew that enemies with arge number wereing.


    Edward also walked towards the window and tried to see if the would be able to see anything. Nevertheless, he could only see the infested school field because the parking area and the street behind the school were not in view at all.


    While Edward was wondering, he heard Mark speak in a small voice.


    "You people look decent. Especially you. Want to join my base?"


    "Your base?"


    The man was interested. Rather than being trapped here in this school, joining a survivor base should be better.


    "Yep. It''s in the mountains of General Nakar."


    Edward was surprised. He could only shake his head.


    "That''s too far away. I don''t want to risk it. Especially since..."


    His voice trailed off.


    "You don''t have to decide right now. Also, the offer is not only for you and I won''t mind if your whole group joined us."


    Mark''s voice then turned mysterious.


    "You can decide after witnessing everything that will happen tonight."

 Chapter 362 Abbygales Prowess, The Start Of The University Hunt

    <strong>Day 58 - 6:11 PM - University of Perpetual Help System Dalta - Las Pi?as Campus, bang-Zapote Road, Barangay Pamplona Tres, Las Pi?as, Metro Man</strong>


    In the director''s office, Edward stood with the window overlooking the field in front of him. Beside him was Phillip who was quite unnerved about the things that would likely happen tonight.


    "What do you think will happen, Edward?"


    The old medical instructor asked.


    Anything bad could happen at any time even before the outbreak started. It was just after the outbreak, the possibility of it happening rose more than a hundredfold.


    Everyone that knew about this fact would surely feel unnerved while living in this kind of world.


    And knowing that there were about a hundred people outside that would potentially ruin everything of what they had left including their lives would surely not help.


    The worst thing was that they did not have the ability to choose. Both staying and escaping would give almost the same chances of dying. That was unless they would throw away what was left of their virtues and humanity to sacrifice others so that some of them could live.


    It was something that Phillip would never able to stomach.


    "I don''t know Phillip." Edward sighed. "We can only wait. I don''t know why but I feel that something unexpected will happen tonight. I''m probably gambling with our lives right now but we might just win this one."


    "Then, it will be the most important wait in our lives."


    "Yes, I can''t agree more."


    Hearing that, the old man sat on the sofa.


    "Is it really fine to let Lynn go with them?"


    "I think that it''s fine. You already heard her boasting being a close friend of Miss Karlene before. Besides, Terrence apanied her although I doubt that the two, no, even all of us will be able to do anything if they had bad intentions."


    "Is that the feeling you got from them?"


    "No, not from the other two, just from that person called Mark."


    ***


    <strong>Day 58 - 6:13 PM - Medicine Faculty, University of Perpetual Help System Dalta - Las Pi?as Campus, bang-Zapote Road, Barangay Almanza Uno, Las Pi?as, Metro Man</strong>


    Analynn and Terrence followed behind Mark''s group and reached the Medicine Faculty without problems. Some infected tried to attack after they went down from the roof of the walkway but for some strange reason, the two found the infected rather too slowpared from before. Because of that, the two could only follow Mark and his group that ignored the infected and run forwards.


    They also saw the vehicle parked in front of the vehicle and could not help but feel amazed. They never saw anything like it. Nevertheless, it was not the time to admire it since there were infected wandering around them.


    Going up the second floor of the faculty, the two of them heard a sweet voice as they saw a girl approach Mark. And of course, the two froze. Terrence froze because of the surprise of seeing Mei''s appearance. Analynn was good looking and Karlene was also beautiful. However, the two could not bepared to the one in front of them right now.


    On the other hand, Analynn had a different reason for her surprise. It was because she recognized the girl in front of them. Her family might not be too rich but they also belonged in the higher society. Because of that, she was familiar with people who were the best to have connections with.


    "Gege, how is it?"


    She asked Mark without even ncing at the strangers together with him. However, it seemed that she felt the gaze Terrence was giving her. Because of that, she jumped into Mark''s embrace stating that she belonged to someone else.


    It did not take long before Terrence lost sight of her. It was because Mark''s back blocked his view. He then felt cold and turned to his side just to see both Karlene and Analynn giving him cold stares.


    "Let''s talk inside. Don''t mind these two here. They are Karlene''s guests."


    "Okay."


    ***


    The night deepened as they talked about their next steps. They also ate dinner like there was nothing wrong which made their two guests perturbed. Nevertheless, eating nothing but dry noodles and crushed crackers these past days made the two throw away their confusion and ate the first real dinner they never had for a long while.


    Finally, Mark stood up.


    "Odel, Spera, and Edzel, go inside the car and operate the things there as I showed you before. Karlene, stay here with your guests. Mei''er, prepare to back me up from the window. Miracle, I protect everyone here."


    He then looked at Abbygale.


    "We haven''t fully tested your new power yet, right? This will be a good opportunity."


    Without asking questions, everyone moved to leave another thing that made Karlene''s guests confused.


    "Karlene, what is happening?"


    "Oh, the enemies outside is probably making their moves already."


    "Huh?!" Analynn''s eyes turned wide. "What are they going to do? He said that there are about a hundred enemies right? Are they just going to confront them upfront?"


    To her friend''s worries, Karlene smiled bitterly.


    "You don''t have to worry and just watch. Well, it''s quite dark outside already so you might not see anything. It might sound ridiculous but this is already overkilling the enemies. Just Mark alone is more than enough to deal with those people."


    Analynn could only nod trusting her friend''s words while Terrence silently peeked outside the window wanting to see how they would deal with this.


    ***


    The preparations started.


    Mei took out her sniper rifle and aimed through the window while I created a barrier that would protect everyone in this room.


    Odelina, Edzel, and Spera ran into the vehicle which made the two sylphs inside rather happy that they did not have to hide any longer inside. With a few maneuvers, the vehicle faced the exit as if ready to rush out at any moment. At the same time, Edzel stood in the sniper dome and mounted two assault rifles in the gun slots while Spera was already to activate the weapons around the vehicle when needed.


    ***


    In the parking lot, about fifty men slowly closed in. They were trying to be as stealthy as possible as they only used knives and other melee weapons to deal with the infected. All of them were rather skilled in closebat as they took down the infected in the shortest amount of time possible.<sub> </sub>


    It was then that they suddenly heard the sound of a vehicle engine starting. Lights shed towards them making them blinded for a bit. However, as seasoned fighters, the sudden blindness did not stop them from moving. They immediately moved behind the vehicles parked near them and hid until their eyes were used to the light.


    "Royce, what is going on?"


    Atop one of the buildings that could oversee the parking area, Gifre asked Royce. For the vehicle of their targets to suddenly startup at this time, it felt like the targets knew that they wereing.


    "Boss, don''t judge my professionality. I kept my self on the maximum distance I can observe them. It is impossible for them to notice me. Hmm, unless they noticed it when our people arrived. The infected made quite a ruckus back then."


    "Gifre, it doesn''t matter if they knew that we are here or not. Just take them down."


    Vem hugged Gifre from behind and whispered into his ear.


    "That is right, boss." Logan chimed in. "There are just a few of them and we already took a lot of our men here. Things are already in our grasp."


    Gifre nodded. He was also confident about this. After this, the amazing looking vehicle would be his along with the beautiful girls in that group. It might not suit his taste but it would be fine to add a few little girls in their collection.


    While those thoughts filled his mind, however...


    "Boss, look!"


    Royce spoke in a strange voice while pointing at the parking lot.


    As Gifre and the others looked, they saw two figures standing in the middle of the parking area slightly illuminated by the lights of the vehicle. One of a man and the other was a little girl.


    ***


    "It''s been a while since we are together like this with just the two of us, right Gale?"


    Mark spoke.


    "Un!"


    Abbygale nodded excitedly.


    "Well then, you go and deal with the people on that roof." Mark pointed on the roof of the building west of the parking lot. "I''ll deal with the others."


    As Mark finished his words, Abbygale nodded and rushed off. Like a shadow in the night, she was almost invisible to the eye. However, even if she was fast, there was no way for her to jump towards that roof of a two-story building. Well, that was before though.


    Abbygale stared at the roof and ran as her appearance transformed. Her speed increased further and her eyesight had gotten brighter. She then jumped unto the roof of a vehicle creating a loud thud before she jumped off the roof of the vehicle towards the roof of the building. The sound of her jump alerted the people there and she was able to see their silhouettes.


    Of course not all the enemies were just pushovers. They were not amateur criminals and were trained. There was also the fact that some of them were Evolvers and a Few were Mutators. When they saw her shadow mid-air, some of them managed to react and point their guns at her.


    With Abbygale being in the middle of her jump that was not enough to reach the roof and there was also no way for her dodge in the air normally, the men thought that it would be the end of the silhouette that tried to threaten them.


    RATATATATATA!


    Bullets flew towards the little girl.


    But when everyone expected her death, her eyes shed with a mysterious light. Both her feet kicked the air for some reason.


    And then...


    Her body blurred as her body moved towards another direction leaving the bullets with nothing to hit but the cemented ground below.


    The men were surprised, yet, they still tried to aim but...


    They were never able to. The blurred shadow jumped off and changed directions mid-air as if the shadow was using an invisible tform to propel towards different directions.


    By the time they knew, the little girl was already in front of them, no, her foot was in front of the face of one of theirrades.


    CRACK! BLAM! THUD!


    The first person that received her kick fell with a neck bent backward before his lifeless body fell off the roof.


    After the first casualty, a loud thud was heard as the little girl jumped towards another person.


    It was the start of the struggle of about thirty people on that roof. They tried to fight back thinking about the deaths of theirrades and with the thought that there was only one enemy in front of them.


    ''It was just a little girl.''


    They kept on thinking.


    It made them not notice that...


    One by one, they started to fall.


    ***


    Mark watched the performance of his little girl with a proud expression. Since the start, Abbygale''s fighting style concentrated on her feet. She had fast movement and strong kicks but the foundation of those moves was her jumps. That was also her greatest weakness. She jumped a lot.


    Although Mark started to train her on kicking lower parts of the body like feet and knees to incapacitate the enemy, it was instinctual to her to target the heads and necks of the enemies for some reason.


    And Mark managed to think of a good way to address that. Devon''s psychic ability, the [Psychic Barrier]. Mark did not hesitate to give it to Abbygale during their free time in the settlement.


    Devon used this ability to protect himself and the people he was contracted with. It was the main use of this ability after all.


    To Mark, however, the function of this ability was not limited to that. Like how he taught his little cat girl, it could be used in many more things.


    Just like how Abbygale used smaller barriers as floating and steady tforms in the air to propel herself towards any direction she wanted. This erased her greatest weakness and with her overwhelmingly fast cat-like reflexes, it was almost impossible to kill her without stopping her movements.

 Chapter 363 Predator Turned Prey, The Failure Of The Greedy Fool

    <strong>Day 58 - 7:22 PM - University of Perpetual Help System DALTA - Las Pi?as Campus, bang-Zapote Road, Barangay Pamplona Tres, Las Pi?as, Metro Man</strong>


    "What the actual f*ck?"


    Gifre cursed with an unbelievable shock as he witnessed his men on the rooftop of the other building fall off one by one. As they were already discovered, the sounds of guns firing from there were already fine. However, just how panicked the screams and how unorganized the sounds of guns firing could tell anyone how grave the situation there.


    Furthermore...


    The cause of all that chaos was just a little girl.


    "Royce, what is the meaning of this?"


    Gifre questioned the scout they sent as they never received any report about this girl. Nevertheless, Gifre could see the deep frown on Royce''s face even in this dark night only faintly illuminated by the moon.


    "Boss, sorry but I really don''t know anything. Only those two in my report fought properly before while the others only ran away from the infected in each encounter." But then, Royce realized something and clicked his tongue. "Boss, perhaps we''ve been had."


    "What do you mean?"


    Gifre asked in a slightly enraged voice.


    "I don''t know how but it is likely that they knew that we''ve been targeting them but feigned weakness to draw us in."


    "What?!"


    Not only Gifre but everyone else around them were shocked.


    "Aren''t they of how many we are to lure us in?"


    Vem eximed.


    "Well Miss Vem, what if, you see... The little girl is already decimating our men on that roof... What if all of them who I didn''t see fight is all like that."


    The thought Royce had poured a cold bucket of water on the greedy minds of the people here.


    "Boss, should we retreat?"


    Logan asked.


    "No." Gifre bluntly shot down the suggestion. "We are already here so and we lost several of our men already. If they have powers, then, let''s confront them with powers."


    While they were talking, however...


    VRROOOM!!!


    The loud unmuffled sound of a vehicle was heard. They hurriedly turned their heads below and saw the vehicle they wanted charging towards their men.


    BAM!


    A parked vehicle was pushed back sandwiching several people behind it on another parked vehicle. Some managed to retreat in time but most of them hiding behind that car were not able to.


    The armed men below were all reluctant to do a move since Gifre wanted the vehicle and to break in a firefight was not something they would want to happen. Nevertheless, the gunshots and horrified screams from the roof along with the sounds of the bodies of theirrades hitting the ground from the second floor started to push them to the limits.


    BANG!


    Finally, one of them opened fire towards their target vehicle.


    To their horror...


    PING!


    Instead of a crashing sound as the bullet hit the front window of the vehicle, they heard a metallic sound. And the window, it was unscathed.


    Following the first guy, bullets rained unto the vehicle but it remained unscathed.


    "Shoot the wheels! Shoot the whe-"


    One managed to think of a rational move but...


    TSST!


    A bloody hole was suddenly formed on his forehead as a sniper bullet pierced through his brain.


    Still, the desperate men heard the man''s suggestion. Ignoring the fact the man kicked the bucket, the other men started to aim at the wheels.


    To their horror, however, the wheel guard and the fender around the wheels of the vehicle lowered down leaving just less than an inch space between the lowered parts and the ground. With the wheels covered like that, they had nothing to shoot anymore and could only watch as the huge metal beast decimated them all.


    "What the hell..."


    Gifre and his men on the roof were all speechless at the spectacle below. They now knew that they literally kicked a steel te now. However, a retreat was not an option. They have to make up for the loss they already incurred.


    "Logan, you go down and stop that steel monster. Royce, you go to the other rooftop and stop that little girl. Vem, go and deal with the people remaining in that building. As for me..."


    Gifre suddenly turned at the tree beside the building they were at.


    "Are you done watching?"


    He spoke with immeasurable hostility.


    Everyone on the roof could not help but turn to the tree just to see a silhouette standing on arge branch and leaning on the trunk of the tree.


    "Well, I''m not done yet, I guess? You all are free to do what you want. I''m just here to ensure that no one will escape."


    "You..."


    Royce was shocked. He knew that the person in front of them was the same person who he saw fighting clumsily before. Now, however, it was obvious that this person was the mind behind this mess their group was in.


    "Royce, Logan, Vem. Take the others and do what I told you. I''ll confront this man here."


    Hearing that, everyone else literally jumped down from the roof to the ground leaving Gifre and a few people to face the enemy in front of them.


    "You made us face a loss here. How are you going topensate for this?"<sub> </sub>


    Gifre spoke confidently.


    "Why should I care for your loss? You are the ones who came after us. It''s your mistake. You are too greedy for your meager capabilities. That''s the issue."


    "YOU!"


    Gifre was immediately infuriated. He was a greedy person and he had no qualms about being called one. However, what he hated the most was his capabilities and skills being questioned and ridiculed.


    As Mark already killed the conversation, Gifre roared.


    His skin painfully cracked open revealing reddish-orange scales. The irises in his pupils contracted vertically and the pupils changed from dark brown to an eerie yellow color that glowed in the dark. Two boney ps grew by the side of his skull right in the middle of his temple and forehead.


    The canine teeth of his mouth grew into two-inch fangs and his tongue elongated before the tip split into two.


    As for his body, the nails on his fingers became crooked like ws, his muscles became more buff as his clothes became more fit looking and at the lower back of his body, a long scaly tail grew.


    The transformation of Gifre was not pleasing to the eye as it looked like he was in too much pain. Nevertheless, the oue was rather intimidating that even his men that stayed with him stepped back just from the dangerous aura he exuded.


    Finishing his transformation, Gifre looked at the man on the tree wanting to see his intimidated and fearful reaction. To his total dismay...


    "Are you done?"


    The enemy asked with a bored expression while cleaning his nails.


    Gifre''s confidence was crushed as it all turned into anger.


    He slithered, no, he charged forward at a very fast speed as he tried to maul the enemy with his scale-covered fist.


    ***


    Mark jumped off the tree as the ferocious attack came.


    As the punch from Gifre missed its target, the fist connected with the trunk of the tree he leaned on before.


    SNAP!


    The trunk of the tree that was as thick as a fully grown man snapped at the impact.


    CREAK! BAM!


    A loud sound echoed in the parking area as the tree from the midsection fell down to the ground.


    While in the air, falling, Mark looked at the leader of the preys who surely wanted to be the predator. He was not intimidated from the enemy''s transformation in any way. However, he was rather surprised by the coincidence.


    The greedy enemy transformed into a snake man and snakes was a representation of greed in many cultures. Mark started to think, what if it was not just a coincidence? This thought was quite unnerving.


    Mark turned towards the other direction. There was also that lustful woman and that gluttonous stout man. What kind of entertainment would these insects give him? He could not wait to see.


    BAM!


    Gifre kicked off from the remains of the tree towards Mark who was still midway his fall. He was even more infuriated to see that his current opponent was not even paying attention.


    His jump was fast and punch was fast. Unless his the enemy could do the same as that little girl or fly, there was no way to dodge it.


    The enemy really did not jump midair or fly...


    Gifre''s punch passed through the opponent''s body, however.


    His attack missed once more and this time, his charge propelled him further. Of course, there would be no problem for him tond even if he missed but...


    A heavy kick was felt on his back. The kick was strong that his shoulder t sunk in. Because of the kick, instead of being able tond properly, Gifre crashed unto a parked vehicle crushing its roof.


    On the other hand, Mark used that kick to propel himself back onto the roof. The remaining men there, surprised, shot a volley of bullets towards him.


    As the bullets were about to hit, Mark lowered his body forwards before he vanished into a puff of ck mist.


    Mark then appeared and shed behind every one of the men. As he appeared once more at the edge of the roof overlooking Gifre that had a hard time freeing himself from getting stuck on that vehicle, the men behind fell one by one. It was all bloodless kills as Mark only dislocated their cervical spine area. A methodmonly used as animal euthanasia.


    He did not want to waste their blood and spill it outside their bodies. This way, there would not be much waste and they would also not turn into infected by ident.


    That was also the reason Mark chose Abbygale as hispanion for this fight as her killing method was simr and bloodless. Well, most of the time. There were circumstances that the little girl was not able to control her kicks well and the enemy''s head was ripped off from their bodies.


    Now, it was time to restrain Gifre. He wanted to see what show the other members of this group of fools would bring him.


    ***


    In the other roof, Abbygale continued her rampage.


    Although most of the men here were already done for, there were still others that were able to resist till now. They seemed to have better instincts and reflexes than the others as they frantically dodged Abbygale''s attacks. Some of them also started to throw their useless guns aside and tried to restrain the little girl by grasping the timing of her attacks. Unfortunately for them, the moment Abbygale was about to get caught, a small invisible force would block their actions enabling the little girl to kill them easier.


    As Abbygale charged forwards another enemy, she felt danger.


    She hurriedly stopped and jumped toward another direction and looked around.


    Nevertheless, she could not see anything. It was quite strange though that she noticed a pair of shirt and pants bloated while lying down on the roof.


    As a child, she did not think much of it and continued to attack the targets she had. However, the same feeling bugged her making her suddenly turn and retreat and at times jump away or dodge blindly.


    And yet, all she could see was the same bloated clothes lying on the roof not far from her.


    She finally noticed. It seemed like the clothes were following her from behind.


    As frustrated as a child could be, she ferociously kicked down on the clothes. A hole was even created on the roof because of her kick. Yet, the kick missed what she wanted to hit. Comedically, she saw the bloated clothes float while running away.


    Finally, she saw a figure emerge from those clothes as the color of the roof was different from the color of the surroundings.


    "Tsk, even kids are hard to fool these days."


    Royce voiced out as he looked at the little girl with annoyance on his eyes.

 Chapter 364 Mediocrity, The Fall Of The Fools

    <strong>Day 58 - 7:28 PM - University of Perpetual Help System DALTA - Las Pi?as Campus, bang-Zapote Road, Barangay Pamplona Tres, Las Pi?as, Metro Man</strong>


    Following the order given to him by Gifre, Logan jumped down from the rooftop without hesitation. It was despite the shape and size of his body.


    BAM!


    The sound of a heavy object was heard crashing unto the parking area. Following the sound was a faint tremor that was felt by the people nearby the point of impact. Even the men that were trying to besiege the rampaging metal beast in the parking area did not expect such thing and were forced to look behind. Seeing Logan, however, the lost hope of the armed men was ignited once more.


    "Boss Logan!"


    They cheered.


    "Get your asses up, you idiots. Take our business here seriously!"


    Therge man scolded as he stepped forward without fear even if the metal beast they needed to capture was now charging towards him.


    BAM!


    A collision between Logan and the [Exceed: Personnel Carrier]. Unexpectedly, it ended up in a stalemate. Even though the vehicle was not in top speed, it would be hard for just anyone to stop it. Yet, Logan was simply forced to slide back about two steps before he managed to stop the vehicle.


    It seemed that this man was not onlyrge-bodied but was also unbelievably strong.


    SCREECH!


    The tires of the vehicle screeched loudly as both sides pushed each other back. However, both never budged.


    Since the vehicle could move forward, Odelina decided to drive it backward and escape the grasp of the man. Of course, Logan would not let that happen. He held onto the V-Ram of the vehicle and pulled with all the strength he could muster.


    Due to the predicament, Edzel who refrained from shooting in the sniper dome finally fired. As Mark wanted the blood of these animals, he refrained from shooting all this time unless needed. And now was the time to do so.


    RATATATA!!!


    Both the two assault rifles mounted at the sniper dome fired with a volley of bullets straight atrge man''s face.


    Unexpectedly, Logan faced the bullets without fear. The next action he did, however, was to...


    ...Open his mouth widely.


    It was too wide that it looked unsightly. Anyone would surely question how it happened that he was able to open his mouth wayrger than his face. What was more disturbing was theyers uponyers of sharp teeth inside his mouth.


    As all the bullets fired entered his mouth, Logan closed it and started to chew the bullets like tender meat before swallowing the crushed bullets.


    "Tsk, it tastes awful."


    Loganined.


    With the vehicle stopped in ce by Logan, their men started to surround it.


    Unfortunately for them, the armor and the mounted guns were not the only arsenals the vehicle had.


    As the enemies approached, the metal tes under all the windows swung up revealing rows and columns of one-inch nail sized holes. Of course, due to the darkness of the night, the men only saw the metal tes raised and not the holes.


    SHEW! SHEW!


    A shower of needles with eerie green color nketed every single one of them including Logan.


    Many of them immediately fell and while the remaining ones managed to remain standing for a second or two longer, the also fell afterward with the color of their skin turning into a shade of either red or purple.


    Logan was immediately weakened. Yet, he managed not to fall and just kneeled on the ground with his body shaking.


    BAM!


    Logan rolled away as his stout body mmed onto the V-Ram of the vehicle.


    "Boss Logan, are you alright?!"


    One of the lucky people that was not hit by the poison needles due to being stuck in the middle of two vehicles eximed as Logan fell to his side.


    "F*ck!"


    That was the only word that came out of Logan''s mouth before he used the little bit of strength he had left to pull out the concerned man out of being stuck. However, it was not to help.


    Even though the man was able to speak just fine, he was in pain like a few others of theirrades. Their lower bodies were not crushed but it was impossible to remove them from their predicament without moving the vehicles first.


    When Logan pulled the man out, he ended up ripping off the man''s stuck legs behind. Blood spilled and the man screamed in pain but Logan did not care. With an evil but desperate look in his eyes, Logan ripped the man into pieces before shoving the pieces of the man''s body into his mouth.


    Horror enveloped everyone''s faces.


    Logan finished the man''s body in one go and he seemed to be recovering. However, it was not enough. One by one, he ate the men stuck on those vehicles. He did not even spare their ripped legs as he pushed the vehicle away just to pick up the remaining pieces and shove all of them unto his mouth.


    The monster fully recovered and any sign of him being poisoned vanished. Of course, he did not have any notion to blindly charge forward once more. He managed to recover his body but it did not mean that he gained immunity to that poison.


    Logan''s ability was to be able to turn anything and everything that entered his digestive system into nutrients for his body. The effects on his body varied. Some effects were permanent while others were temporary. An example of these was when he ingested certain metals, he could turn his skin into metal for a duration. On the other hand, ingesting meat or animals could permanently regenerate his body.


    Unfortunately for him, the strength he developed was the only thing that could help him here and yet, he could not approach the vehicle anymore.<sub> </sub>


    ***


    Inside the Medicine Faculty, Mei who should have been assisting the others outside with her sniper rifle was also facing another enemy.


    The queen of Dark Greed, Vem, managed to enter the building with several men.


    She should not have been able to because of I''s barriers but something happened.


    Terrence suddenly attacked them. No one was hurt but I''s concentration needed to maintain the barrier was disturbed allowing the intruders to enter.


    However, it seemed that it was not the fault of Terrence. His appearance was strange since his face was flushed red and he was looking at Vem with lustful eyes despite being restrained by Karlene and Analynn. The men Vem brought with her were in the same condition. There was no mistake in that assumption since if they were in the right minds, people like them would surely start drooling after seeing Karlene and Mei in the building.


    "Tsk, why are there only girls here? There''s only one dog and he''s useless!"


    Vemined as she looked at Mei with deep envy and hostility.


    The lustful queen was beautiful in a mature standard. However,pared to Mei, three was arge disparity.


    "No matter." Vem shrugged. "Men, kill them."


    Vem did not wantpetition even if the girls here would only be put in the collections. She would rather have them killed here.


    Hearing her orders, the men charged like crazed dogs. They were not even using their weapons properly.


    Vem''s ability was to release pheromones from her body. It was too strong that it could turn those that were affected into puppets that could follow her bidding for them to please her. They would be stronger to some extent but it was in exchange for being a bit mindless.


    Unfortunately, her pheromones could only affect the opposite sex. Because of that, only Terrence was affected in this building.


    Still, Vem knew that her approach with bringing these men was enough. Normally, it was enough. In her thoughts, there would only be those two abnormal beings in their group, right? Anyone would think so since even in theirrge group, there were only a few of them.


    Unfortunately, the possibility that all the members of this group might be abnormal passed her mind. And thus...


    "I, protect the guests. Miracle restrain these trashes. Your Papa will need them in pristine condition. I''ll take care of that filthy thing at the back."


    Mei spoke which I and Miracle immediately agreed to.


    Hearing Mei''s words, Vem was infuriated while also looked at Miracle with ridicule. What could a three-year-old something girl do to a bunch of fully grown men? However, the ridicule in her face was immediately covered in wide-eyed shock.


    The cute little girl changed into a horrendous monster with numerous fleshy tentacles. Not only Vem but even Analynn was filled with shock in her face.


    Without waiting for anyone, the tentacles wrapped in each of the men''s necks before their necks were bent in an impossible angle.


    Vem''s shock, however, was immediately changed to fear. She decided to abandon Gifre''s order and jumped out of the second floor through the broken window.


    As shended, she did not even look back and ran away. She also did not bother to meet up with Gifre and their men and ran towards another direction to escape.


    Nevertheless, she felt goosebumps on her neck when she heard a loud p of wings following behind her. Looking back by reflex, her eyes became as wide as it could be. Behind her, the beautiful girl she was envious of was chasing her with bat wings on her back and chilling intent in her eyes.


    But then, the girl banished. She vanished instantly from her sight. Confused, she stopped to cautiously look around. She did not found her however until she felt a hard stock of a gun hitting the back of her neck. Everything around her went ck.


    ***


    On the roof of the other building, the battle intensified despite being in a stalemate. Both Abbygale and Royce moved in inhumane speeds but none of the two could touch even the hem of each other''s clothes.


    In terms of speed, Abbygale was much faster and her movements were more irregr due to her [Psychic Steps]. At the same time, however, her inexperience as a child was reflected in her movements which made the more experienced Royce to dodge her attacks. On the other hand, Royce could not match the little girl''s speed and the two of them exchanged attack and defense in a pointless battle.


    The winner here would only be determined if one of them finally sumb to exhaustion. Still, that would not anytime soon based on the movements of the two.


    It should have taken more time but Royce noticed that Gifre was already defeated. He also saw Vem as she was taken down. For sure, there was no point in staying anymore. He could just ditch these unlucky people and search for others.


    Abbygale then attacked. In Royce''s mind, he would escape after dodging this one as it would make an opening for him to run away after the little girl''s attack missed.


    At that moment, he froze. He did not know why but his head felt faint and painful. Blood even flowed out of his ears and nose. Unfortunately, he did not have any time to ponder as the little girl''s shoe connected with his cheek. The next thing he felt was that the back of his head was hitting his spine.


    ***


    On the parking area, Logan was in a predicament.


    To be able to approach the target vehicle, he needed either immunity to poison or imprable defense. He chose thetter and he started ripping other parked vehicles and ate the metal parts.


    Due to that, he managed to turn his skin into metal.


    However, the vehicle did not charge towards him anymore but stayed in the distance. Then, for some strange reason, several mutated infected managed to climb over the fence and swarmed him. With his current metal skin, the infected were not able to bite him. Nevertheless, he was also not able to move too much as his skin was hard to move with.


    Without a choice, he started ripping the infected''s bodies and ate them. He was already bitten once. For sure, it would not be a problem if he ate them, right?


    ***


    Mark stared at the pig below incredulously as they saw the pig slowly turn into a mutated infected under his despairing wails.


    Sure enough, theck of knowledge could kill a fool.

 Chapter 365 Resource Harvest, The Consequences Of Their Greed

    <strong>Day 58 - 7:32 PM - University of Perpetual Help System DALTA - Las Pi?as Campus, bang-Zapote Road, Barangay Pamplona Tres, Las Pi?as, Metro Man</strong>


    The engagement ended as quickly as it started. It did not end well for the assants, of course. These maniacs came merrily following the orders of the leaders they idolized. Led by their powerful rulers, they never did anticipate this oue. They never thought that they would lose this miserably.


    Most of them that came here died while those that survived were either heavily wounded or incapacitated. There was no way for them to escape.


    Their leaders were also not in a good situation like them.


    Gifre was the one in the best condition. He was still conscious and was able to maintain his transformation. However, metal restraints bound his body tightly. The metal restraints disabled him of any actions. All he could do right now was to wiggle his fingers and turn his head.


    Their queen, Vem, was already restrained despite being unconscious. After not being handled well, bruises covered her supple and lovely skin.


    There was nothing much to say about Royce. With how dislocated his head was from his body, anyone that would think that he was still alive should have their head checked up.


    As for thest one, the stout and tall bodied Logan. He was nothing but a mutated infected now.


    ***


    Mark started to retrieve everything that could still be of use from the enemies. It did not only include their vehicles and things. They even included the lifeless bodies that littered the area. No one else would do such action aside from his group.


    The method of collecting the bodies, however, shocked those that saw it.


    Anyone would surely feel the same after seeing the few mutated infected in the parking area diligently cing the dead bodies in one area. Although they were stumbling and even fell to the ground as they walked, it did not stop them from moving. These infected never looked at the restrained prisoners and continuously focused on their work.


    Nevertheless, such sight made the prisoners shiver. Sure enough, what they targetted this time was not prey but a bunch of predatorial monsters. They did not only have monstrous abilities and skills but could alsomand the infected.


    Unfortunately, no matter how they regret it, they could not go back to the past few hours. The time they still could choose to stop.


    Then, the survivors saw the girls that they heard about from the report Royce made earlier. Despite the darkness of the night, they could tell that Royce did not exaggerate his description of them. The report wascking instead.


    "It a f*cking pity."


    Gifre cursed under his breath as he gazed at the women in front of him lustfully. Especially the one who was holding a sniper rifle, she looked like a goddess. Vem was nothingpared to her. If they seeded in this, they could y with these women until they died. That would only happen in their dreams, however.


    As he thought that, he felt a chill on his back. He turned his head and saw Mark. The man was staring at him with killing intent with eyes glowing red that made it more unnerving.


    However, there was nothing for him to fear anymore. There was no way for him to be left alive after being captured. As such, he continued to stare like that at the women without reserve. In the least, he could do something satisfying in thest moments of his life.


    "Bad move."


    He suddenly heard a chilling voice beside him.


    Gifre tried to look, but before he was able to, his sight turned red. His eyes were still intact, but blood filled his tear ducts. The trail of red blood poured out of his eyes. At the same time, his nose and ears were bleeding. Excruciating pain in his head followed after making him unable to do anything but scream. What made it worse was that his restraints disabled him from pressing his hands on his head.


    "Can''t we just kill this guy?"


    Karlene spoke. His obscene stares also infuriated her despite how careless she was in terms of these things.


    "I''ll leave him forst. Let''s see if he can still behave the same way after watching how his men will die before him."


    Mark replied with a sinister look in his eyes.


    At the side, Analynn watched the scene before her with different emotions. Shock, fear, amazement, and anticipation. Those different kinds of emotions circted in her heart and mind, spinning like a washing machine cleaning a mix of different clothes.


    Still, she could not fathom how the infected they feared too much was moving likeborers for this group. Another thing she was amazed about was the appearance of the vehicle in front of them. But those were not the only surprises that were in store for her.


    As everything was ready, the harvesting ensued.


    The infected segregated a few of the dead bodies for some reason. The doors of the [Exceed: Personnel Carrier] opened. However, not just Odelina, Spera, and Edzel got out of the vehicle. Together with the three were two sylphs and several slime-looking creatures of different colors bouncing out of the door.


    As if they already knew what to do, the [Blood Children] moved towards the pile of corpses designated to them. Each of them let our tentacles which they pierced unto the dead bodies. The bodies then started to dry up as the bodies of the [Blood Children] inted.


    It did not take too long. The piles of dead bodies in front of them became nothing but dried up corpses. And what happened were all witnessed by the squealing captured enemies. Of course, it was the right reaction. They just saw what they would end upter, after all.


    As the [Blood Children] finished, Odelina opened thepartment behind the vehicle. There, the production happened. One by one, the [Blood Children] shaped metal ingots from their bodies piled up neatly inside thepartment.


    On the other hand, Mark went to another pile of dead bodies together with Mei and the little girls. They ced this pile in a different area far from the eyes of the others, especially the people in the building on the other side of the school field and also away from Karlene''s guest. In this pile of bodies included Royce that Abbygale killed with a bit of assistance from her Papa.


    There were only eight bodies here in this pile. With Royce, however, the other dead bodies only had minor mutations as Mutators. There was also Vem, Gifre, and the already infected Logan, which were all not here.


    Mark had different ns for them.


    Gifre was to diest witnessing the death of his men, brought by his greed.


    On the other hand, it would be easier to get information from Vem. Although Mark did not want to storm the base of these guys, he would not hesitate to do so if they had valuable things there.


    As for Logan.<sub> </sub>


    Mark turned his head towards the guy.


    "Aephelia, keep that guy on a leash, alright?"


    Mark yelled out before proceeding to take away the abilities from the dead bodies of the Mutators in front of him.


    Logan''s ability was not that useful in Mark''s view. The adaptability of that Mutator Ability was great, especially toward emergencies. To use the ability, however, it required catalysts to carry everywhere, and for the most part, it required a broken mental state like Logan''s to be able to eat anything and just anything.


    The ability had gone well with Logan''s mental trait as a Mutator, but after someone inherited the ability, the trait would be different. There were simr traits on mutators but what trait would pop out was still unpredictable.


    That was why Logan''s ability was better if the infected man kept it.


    They already lost the alpha, this guy could just be the recement.


    With Aephelia''s control, they could turn this guy into a moving shield after feeding it metal. It could also have other things it could be useful for after feeding it something.


    The most important thing, however, Mark finally found a way to secure garbage disposal. Like Bay City, his base would surely face the same problem. While there were no infected around his base to suddenly mutate, improper disposal of garbage might lure mutated insects near.


    Why not feed the garbage to this guy?


    Mark felt funny with the thought of that.


    Still, the way Logan turned into a mutated infected feltedic. Anyone could say that after witnessing what happened. Mark also felt the same.


    Well, if he did not include what he felt at that time.


    In terms of strength and ability, Logan was confident that he could contend with the vehicle. However, the sudden disadvantage and the possible death, along with the pain the poison brought, pushed his unstable mentality into copse.


    His trait as a mutator, Glutonny, kicked in uncontrobly. Before Logan turned into a mutator, he was surely in pain, however, there was nothing Mark could feel from the guy but absolute hunger.


    When Logan turned into a mutator, Aephelia immediately put him into control like the other infected in the parking area. If not and he continued eating, who knows what Logan would mutate into.


    There were already signs of further mutations on Logan''s body and it happened immediately after he turned. That mutation, however, not only came from his eating but after his trait lost control.


    His condition made Mark think. What would happen to Mutators when their traits took over and went out of control like Logan? Since the Military had no idea of such traits on Mutators, they had not ongoing research about it. There was also no mentions of such things in the research papers given to him.


    Nevertheless, he heard of a Mutator suddenly going out of control from Mei. The military concluded that the Mutator was turning into an infected but witnessing what happened right now, it might not be the actual case.


    Mark wanted to know and he might be able to induce such event using his abilities.


    As such, that was the way Gifre and Vem would die.


    In other people''s reasoning, it was for the sake of science. Such sacrifices could not be helped.


    ***


    Day 58 - 7:56 PM - Faculty Building, University of Perpetual Help System DALTA - Las Pi?as Campus, bang-Zapote Road, Barangay Almanza Uno, Las Pi?as, Metro Man


    Bright light ensured behind the building as Mark took the abilities of the Mutators at the same time. Due to the darkness of the night, it looked more like a beacon to draw people to the hope they wished for.


    Edward looked at the light with such a mentality as he saw that the enemies were dealt with easily. He remembered the invitation Mark told him. An invitation that held no ill will and did not force them to agree. Yet, the event that had just ended would make them think nothing but to agree.


    He felt quiteplicated. However, it was for the sake of his group, especially Emi.


    She did not deserve what happened to her. She did not deserve staying in this forsaken ce.


    "Have you decided Edward?"


    Phillip who stood beside him asked.


    "Yes, Phillip." Edward nodded. "I want to see a better future. Not only for me but Emi, for everyone. We''ll take this onest gamble."


    "Then, I''ll tell everyone." Phillipughed. "Everyone here is ready for your decision. You just have to say it."


    With those words, the old instructor went out of the room leaving Edward to stare at that light with anticipation.


    ***


    In the room where Edward stayed in, Emi opened her eyes. Her eyes were nk and her face had no emotion.


    Leaving thefort of the bed, she walked towards the window and stared at the light.


    On that nk expression on her face, a smile was formed.

 Chapter 366 The Mutator Experiment, The Results And The Unexpected Harvest

    <strong>Day 59 - 12:22 AM - University of Perpetual Help System DALTA - Las Pi?as Campus, bang-Zapote Road, Barangay Pamplona Tres, Las Pi?as, Metro Man</strong>


    The day of the attack passed already by midnight.


    While everyone else stayed behind in the Medicine Faculty, Mark and Aephelia were currently At the rooftop of the high school building, northwest of the Medicine Faculty. The two, of course, brought the two remaining members Dark Greed. Gifre and Vem. Andstly, a Biter also stood behind them while being controlled by Aephelia.


    "Please! Let me go! I''m only forced to do this!"


    Vem begged.


    She had already gained consciousness a while ago. Since then, she had been begging. It made Mark annoyed and gagged her recing her voice with moans of despair. As Mark removed the cloth that blocked her mouth, she desperately pleaded once more.


    However...


    "I already told you before. There''s no point in you begging."


    Mark tried to shut her down to the nth time.


    Vem cried. She was not lying. While it was true that she was a lustful sl*t even before the outbreak, she did not want to be a part of a group like Dark Greed. However, to survive in this cruel and dangerous world, she had to use anything she could. It was even if she had to sell her body and dignity.


    She just did not want to end up like those women put in the collection of Dark Greed. Dolls without a will and to be used until they broke.


    Using her ability as a Mutator, she climbed up and became the queen of that greedy group. She had to feed Gifre lies after lies while under the influence of her ability to keep her by his side.


    Everything she did had gone down the drain.


    While she was gagged and restrained, she tried to use her ability towards the man in front of her. To her horror and disappointment, it was useless for some reason she could not fathom. And worse, it seemed that he noticed what she was doing. He turned to stare at her with ridicule after she tried that time.


    Nevertheless, she could only continue to try and beg for her life.


    On the other hand, Gifre was oddly silent. His mentality was already half-broken. Not only was that Mark made him watch his men as they dried up and died while hearing their painful despairing screams, but he also put him under continuous [Emotion Induction] filling his mind with fear and horror.


    With all his energy drained and mind not working properly, Gifre could only look down on the floor without moving.


    ? "Aephelia, we''re starting."


    Mark spoke which the royal maid nodded to.


    Aephlia already heard what Mark was going to do and why he came to this idea. She agreed with his thoughts immediately. What had happened to Logan might not be just a one-time thing. Since many people in his group were Mutators, it was better to understand the situation as early as possible.


    With that, Mark started the experiment without saying a single word. The first to go under the experiment was Vem.


    As Mark''s eyes glowed red which gave chills to Vem who continued to beg, he started to affect her subconscious emotions.


    One minute, two minutes...


    A few more minutes passed. Emotions build up at a constant rate inside Vem.


    Logan before was suddenly filled with hunger due to his Gluttonous trait, on the other hand, Vem started to show a different state.


    Her skin was flushed red with the worst being her face. She looked like a drunk woman. She was shivering severely. And for the worst part...


    "Ahhh..."


    Vem moaned. She was not in pain or what so ever. Instead, that moan was filled with desire and passion.


    Aephelia flushed red as well. An erotic scene was too much for an innocent girl like her.


    "Ahhh... What are you doing to me... Ohhhh..."


    Vem stared at Mark. Instead of confusion and fear on her face, however, it looked more like she was trying to seduce him.


    Unfortunately, Mark''s nk emotional trait was stopping him from such unwanted emotions. It was also the reason Vem''s ability failed to do anything to Mark before.


    While Aephelia''s eyes started to swim around avoiding the scene in front of them, Mark stared straight at Vem and strictly monitored the changes in and out of her body.


    As her lust continued to build up, her condition became even worse. She struggled and to try and remove her restraints. Every time she moved, however, she released a moan filled with pleasure. It seemed that her body started to release an aphrodisiac inside her which made her more sensitive and feel pleasure than pain.


    Her body started to release a faint mist that made Mark and Aephelia retreat.


    On the side, Gifre could not move or even care to move as he inhaled the mist.


    "RAAAHHHH!!!"


    Gifre suddenly roared. His eyes fell on Vem and immediately tried to approach her even to the extent of crawling with his restraints.


    Unexpectedly, someone else was affected by the mist which surprised Mark and Aephelia. Especially, Aephelia was shocked as she lost control...


    Of the Biter they brought for the experiment.


    As the Biter was not restrained, it immediately pounced on Vem. It was not to bite her however but to rip her clothes apart.


    "Hah, what the hell is going on." Mark scratched his head. "Aephelia you should turn around and cover your ears. This is not for kids."


    Of course, Aephelia was nowhere a kid. However, she was as innocent as one. Her mental age should be around eighteen to neen even though she should already be more than a thousand years old. And as a royal maid, she never engaged in such affairs.


    "Yes..."


    Aephelia replied with a red face and a muffled voice. She hid behind Mark and tightly covered her ears. It was more appropriate if she left but Mark could not have her do that. If something happened to the Biter, he needed her here.


    And thus, a passionate session ensued between Vem and a Biter. It was a very unprecedented thing. No one would surely imagine such a disgusting scene to happen. No, there were some in fictions but those scenes should stay in fiction. Watching something like that happen in front of anyone could make their stomach churn.


    Even Mark did not know anymore whether he should continue watching or not. However, he still insisted on watching. Even though the passionate but disgusting scene was happening, Vem was still in the process of the experiment.


    Rather than her lust going down from what was happening, it started to rise faster instead.


    Then...


    "Huh?" Mark scratched his head. "The hell am I supposed to do now?"


    An unexpected event happened. He should have separated Gifre and Vem if he knew that this would happen.


    Gifre was also affected by Vem''s mist but was not able to go to her on time. Because of that, he ended up watching an infected do her in.


    Vem belonged to him. Yet... yet...<sub> </sub>


    Gifre''s greed started to rise on its own. Even faster than how Vem was doing.


    "I see... a natural way for their emotions to build up is way faster than manipting it. Probably, a more desperate situation like what happened with Logan is the fastest."


    Mark murmured. However, there was still the fact that things were getting out of control.


    It a few more minutes and the reaction Mark was looking for happened.


    "AHHH..."


    Onest moan from Vem was heard as her head drooped down. It was not the natural exhaustion from the session but her consciousness copsed.


    "Aephelia, try to control the Biter and make it retreat."


    Mark spoke to Aepheli behind him.


    Fortunately, the Biter was controlled once more and it hurriedly left leaving Vem slumped on the ground.


    SPLURT! SQUISH!


    It was not the sound of any liquid but came from inside Vem''s body. Two short horns grew out of her forehead, her eyes turned red. Her tongue became simr to a snake''s and sharp curled ws reced her nails.


    Aside from those non-human traits, herplexion became whiter and her body grew more attractive. Her hair started to sway under the moonlight.


    Parts of body like her wrist and shoulders grew blue-colored armor seemingly made of bones. Unfortunately, none of those armors tried to cover parts that were needed to be covered.


    BAM!


    Her increase in strength enabled her to break free from her restraints and stood up sluggishly.


    "So, that''s how it is."


    Mark got the conclusion he wanted.


    Vem was no more. The one in front of him was a failed Mutator.


    And Mark did not like the look she was giving him.


    There was no hostility or killing intent at all but it was giving him goosebumps.


    Licking her lips, the mutated Vem lunged at Mark.


    Facing the lunge however, Mark stretched his palm forward while covered in ck smoke. The smoke turned into a ball that Mark pressed into the head of Vem after he dodged.


    "RAAAAAHHH!!!"


    Vem held her head in pain as she raised a grimaced roar. It was before she fell on the ground unconscious.


    Mark had no time to deal with her or think of any use for her. He needed to deal with the other one first.


    Shortly after Vem mutated, Gifre''s started.


    He transformed into his Snakeman form once more. However, it took a different turn from Logan and Vem who retained their human forms.


    Gifre''s legs were torn from his body as a new lower body grew in its ce. Arge slithering snake tail reced his legs. Looking at it, it was about four meters in length.


    Unexpectedly, the skin on his hands and armpits broke down before an almost clear film grew on those making his arms and hand webbed. Furthermore, his tongue changed from a snake''s into something simr to a frog''s. Even the colors of his eyes changed into a red one with a ck pupil simr to a snake''s.


    His scales fell to the ground and was reced with scales with a golden sheen.


    "Aephelia, make the Biter bite him. We already have the results we need."


    Mark spoke while staring at Gifre with a frown. Letting this guy''s transformation continue would be dangerous. Not only his body was humongous but his features were dangerous in many ways. Also, his trait was not something good to deal with.


    As he was in the midst of his transformation, Gifre was defenseless. It also came with the fact that Mark was interfering with his mental state.


    CHOMP!


    The Biter bit Gifre sessfully. There, his transformation took an even more eerie turn.


    New pairs of legs burst out of his lower body but it grew in the midsection of the tail that grew before. His arms grewrge that his knuckles touched the floor.


    Lastly, his head distorted into a shape that looked like a fusion of a snake and a frog''s.


    Nevertheless, Mark knew that the guy turned into a Mutated infected sessfully. It was because of the new consciousness inside him copsing into nothingness.


    "Aephelia, control him before he goes on a rampage."


    "Yes!"


    Aephelia immediatelyplied with Mark''s instruction. However, with a swing of its tail, the infected Gifre smashed the Biter that bit him into meat paste.


    Then, while Gifre roared repeatedly, Aephelia turned her head towards Mark with a very troubled expression.


    "What is wrong?"


    Mark asked. It seemed that Aephelia was having a hard time and Gifre was still not under control.


    "Uhm, Master... Can you distract it for a bit?"


    Aephelia replied.


    "Is it resisting?"


    "Yes... I think... We got an Alpha here. Even more powerful than the previous one."


    Hearing that, Mark''s eyes brightened. Who would have thought that Gifre would be an Alpha? It was an unexpected harvest. Without any further ado, Mark charged forwards to distract Gifre.


    ***


    That night, the whole barangay was disturbed. Especially the infected and the two groups staying in the University Campus.


    It was because, in the short distance, the highschool building was being demolished.

 Chapter 367 To The Medical Center, A Bloody Battle Before The Entrance

    <strong>Day 59 - 8:10 AM - Medicine Faculty, University of Perpetual Help System DALTA - Las Pi?as Campus, bang-Zapote Road, Barangay Pamplona Tres, Las Pi?as, Metro Man</strong>


    A new day. Another weekday which meant that any school should be bustling with activities. Even though it was already the apocalypse, it was one of the few things that did not change. The difference, however, it was the infected reced the humans instead.


    While preparing, Mark looked out of the window from the second floor. The university was in a situation worse than before. There was already a whole lot of infected here inside the university, but the battle between the enemy group and the process of capturing Gifrest night called over, probably, all the infected in the area.


    Many mutated infected with the ability to jump leaped over the walls into the campus. Meanwhile, those with enough strength destroyed parts of the walls of the university to get in. Those that destroyed the walls around caused even more infected to swarm the ce.


    It was not that surprising considering themotion that happened yesterday.


    "So much for containing the infected inside the school field."


    Mark sighed.


    While Aephlia stayed inside the vehicle in the parking area yesterday, she was not idling away. Mark tasked her to manage the infected in the school field and make sure that they would not go out of control.


    It was not that hard to do so for Aephlia. All she needed to do was to find the [Leader Type] infected in the horde and control it. The one that she needed to find was a mutated infected at the precise center of the horde. That was how the infected behaved during times they were idle.


    Unexpectedly, what she found was a little boy thattched onto the head of another bigger infected. No wonder the infected here were kept in captivity, their leader was not that active. It was in the dormant state all this time which caused the other infected to idle around unless something nearby distracted them.


    Even if Aephelia controlled the [Leader Type] themands she could make to the infected that were not under her control were limited. She could not prevent them from attacking people and the like. However, there was onemand that the [Leader Types] could transmit to the other infected with the same effect.


    The infected under themand of the [Leader Type] rarely acted towards the personal prey of their leader. With Aephelia marking the area as the [Leader Type]''s hunting ground, the activity of the other infected was limited.


    Now, however, the invasion of the other infected broke this rule. Eachrge horde had its leaders. To contain thisrge number of infected, Aephelia needed to control the leaders of each horde.


    Unfortunately, she would not be able to do that. The number of infected she could control was limited. Furthermore, what determined how many infected she could control was not the quantity but the quality of the infected.


    Currently, she could control thirty normal infected. Each of those infected could be regarded as slots. A normal mutated infected would take two slots, a level two mutation could take three to five slots and a [Leader Type] would usually take four to six. The alpha from before took only six but Gifre right now, he was taking the whole nine slots for his own.


    Because of that, Aephelia had to let go of some of the infected she was controlling leaving only the [Leader Type] child and its mutated ride, Logan and Gifre.


    Aephelia had herself full with just the four of them.


    "You okay Aephelia?"


    Mark asked the little sylph that was not able to get proper sleepst night. Her face was red and she was fidgety all this while.


    "M-master, I''m fine... I guess..."


    "Here, rx a bit and take those filthy things in your mind."


    Mark smiled bitterly as he let hernd on his palm and caressed her head.


    "Gege, why is she like that?"


    Mei asked curiously. Not only her but everyone here was quite curious.


    "Don''t mind her. Just some of her innocence was taken awayst night."


    Mark answered jokingly as his eyes fell on the captured Vem that was now wearing a uniform of this school. As there was no way to contain her for now, Mark left her unconscious using various methods. If he let her wake up he would not be affected but Edzels chastity would surely be in the line.


    "Everyone ready?"


    Mark asked in which everyone nodded.


    Everyone rushed out of the faculty. Mark''s group entered the vehicle while Analynn and Terrence made their way back to their group.


    Nevertheless, the sight of the gigantic monster beside the vehicle made the two not help it to look back. The two did not know where it came from or how they managed to tame it but knowing how strong this group was, the two would do everything to convince everyone to grab their ticket out of this forsaken ce.


    ***


    "We''re going toe back for them, right?"


    Karlene asked while watching her friend running away on the roof of the walkway.


    "I don''t mind." Mark replied. "If they join our group, especially your friend, that Edward and also the old man, it will be better."


    "I can understand why you want the old instructor but you seem fixated on that Edward. Why is that?"


    "Nothing much, really. It''s just I find it interesting that he kept a deranged woman near him even though most people will surely find her a liability."


    "I don''t know about the woman you are talking about but Lynn isn''t like that."


    "I know, but how about the other people around?"


    "..."


    In the end, Karlene fell silent. She knew her friend but not the other people around her.


    "Alright, enough talk about this. Odel, let''s go."


    Mark shook his head. Karlene was still childish.


    And for the most childish thing around...


    "Miracle, I. You two should change the game. Gale will always win rock, paper, scissors against you two."


    Both I and Miracle were surprised. No wonder Abbygale won every time. On the other hand, Abbygale was both guilty and dejected.<sub> </sub>


    "What are going to do with these three."


    Mark sighed while hearing the giggles of Karlene. Mei, on the other hand, watched warmly on that scene.


    Rather than a group that would storm an infected filled hospital, the atmosphere inside the vehicle was more of a family going on an outing.


    ***


    The vehicle drove at the small road beside the Medicine Faculty. This short road headed to the back entrance of the university where they would let in delivery trucks for their school canteen. Although the gates were closed, it was not locked which made it easier for them to go out.


    They exited the school with Gifre and Logan in the lead. Because of the two''s strong bodies, it would be easier for them to clear the way for the vehicle. On the other hand, they left the [Leader Type] child and his ride back in the school field. Making the two leave with them would surely end up in a catastrophe after the infected horde in the school field lost their leader.


    Driving in the streets beside the school, things got slow. There were too many infected. If not for Gifre and Logan, it would be hard not to get stuck in the middle of all these infected.


    Their target was the Perpetual Help Medical Center that was only essible by the main road, the bang-Zapote Road. Unfortunately, there was no way for a vehicle to get there without going out of the university campus. It was already fortunate that from the exit they took and going to the main road was only a stretch of one straight street.


    Sure enough, the moment they reached the main road, they were greeted by abandoned heavy traffic.


    BAM! BAM!


    Loud sounds were heard as Gifre and Logan pushed the abandoned vehicles aside. As infected, their control over their bodies was not that precise. Making them work silently was not usible.


    It did not take too long and they reached thepound of the Medical Center.


    Thepound upied the area of eight-thousand one-hundred sixty square meters. It was apound filled with several buildings of various sizes which included several hospital buildings and evenmercial areas.


    Mark''s group drove into the main alley where ambnces were parked and the emergency room could be easily essed. It was brimming with infected.


    As the vehicle stopped in front of the main doors of the Medical Center, the door slid open with several peopleing out. There was Mark, Abbygale, Miracle and unexpectedly, Karlene.


    Weilding m, Mark charged forwards with a sword enveloped in mes.


    FWOOM!


    Mark swung the sword leaving a trail of mes in its trajectory. He was aiming for the mutated infected that seemed to be more dangerous than the others. This was a hospital, stranger kinds of infected would surely exist in this ce.


    On the other hand, Abbygale and Miracle started their rampage in other areas.


    The little cat girl transformed and rushed mid-air as if she was running in the air. Every time shended, a head would either crack or bend in an unsightly direction.


    Miracle to the side morphed as tentacles grew out of her body to strangle and pierce the infected around her through their eyes or mouth. Every time blood of the infected would stter on her tentacles, however, she had an unsightly face as if she had eaten rotten food.


    Lastly, Karlene, no, its Ka. Ka had not been out all this time and was itching to sharpen her ws. The number of infected just outside the hospital made her unable to hold back.


    Inside the vehicle, Mei, I and the others were not idling.


    At the sniper dome, Mei took care of the [Agility Types] and [Predator Types] lurking around the ce preventing idents and sneak attacks especially on the two little girls outside.


    Spera and Edzel took care of the normal infected trying to swarm the vehicle.


    I kept her barrier up in case things would go awry.


    Infected flew up and rained down as Amihan used her powers to control the wind.


    At the entrance of the alley, Aepheliamanded Gifre and Logan to block off the alley preventing more infected to swarm in.


    This battle took quite a while. It was because the infected from inside the hospital buildings also came shambling out either through the entrances or even from the windows of the upper floors.


    Although many of them fell to their deaths, there were still quite a lot that survived with only broken bones. Even if they were not able to walk or run anymore after the fall, they would still crawl forward as fast as they could.


    Mark found it annoying as there seemed to be no end to them. If he could just use his miasma in arge scale, he would love to.


    However, it would surely be a risky move. Mutagen was too sensitive and could also develop into new strains due to paranormal energies.


    Aimee''s case was a good example of this.


    Although it was fun for him to create something and, possibly, tame it, it was only when things were being observed by him. He did not want to create something unknowingly and end up creating a catastrophe.


    Like how it happened in Eriellis.


    A trial that had gone wrong started that world''s end as far as Freed knew.


    Creating a storm of miasma in a highly infested area was not ideal in any way. Well, unless something like Gar''m appeared. If that was the case, he would have no other options left.


    With a more than straight of forty minutes of fighting, the number of infecteding lowered.


    Mark did not know whether they already killed all the infected in thepound or not but sure enough, there were too many.


    Just the alley right now was probably littered by more than a thousand bodies of infected causing the stench of blood to permeate the area.


    It was not an ideal ce to work because of this mess.


    And thus...


    Logan''s first personal assignment happened.

 Chapter 368 Inside The Medical Center, An Eerie Exploration

    <strong>Day 59 - 9:22 AM - Perpetual Help Medical Center Compound, bang-Zapote Road, Barangay Pamplona Tres, Las Pi?as, Metro Man</strong>


    The stench of blood, iplete dead bodies scattered everywhere, and the agitated infected that wanted to enter the alleyway, that was the aftermath of the battle that urred in front of the main building of the Medical Center.


    There were more than a thousand dead bodies around that was more than enough to make anyone with a weak stomach to vomit. However, this number was already low for a hospital in the middle of the city.


    A lot of the infected wore hospital gowns indicating that they were just poor patients unable to survive due to their weakness. There were also those wearing hospital staff uniforms, but their number was way lesser than the anticipated quantity of staff in arge hospitalpound like this.


    Mark raised his sight while inspecting the building in front of him. ording to the map, Phillip drew, the temporary blood bank was actually on the first floor of the extension building behind this one. However, the only way to get there was to go through this building.


    Still, Mark could not help but notice. The longer he stared at the hospital, the creepier it became.


    Hospitals were always known to be the kind of locations with eerie vibes. Negative energies filled these kinds of ces way more than graveyards had.


    While staring at the building, Mark felt a bit dizzy. Being an Empath did not only mean that he could only feel emotions directly from people. Sometimes, the lingering energy from extreme emotions left behind was more dangerous. In hospitals, there were plenty of these kinds of lingering heavy sentiments.


    If possible, Mark would not go to these kinds of ces. Even before the outbreak, he avoided buildings such as this. Fighting infected hordes felt way better than this.


    Nevertheless, he had no choice. The blood bank in the university moved here temporarily because of renovations. It was totally the worst timing.


    "Gege? Are you okay?"


    Mei asked as she saw him shaking his head.


    "I''m fine, don''t worry." Mark smiled. "Let''s go?"


    Hearing the question, Mei nodded.


    This time, it was only Mark and Mei who would enter the hospital while everyone else remained outside.


    Hospital hallways were always known for being small. Even though having more people would usually increase the survivability of a group in a zombie apocalypse, it would be quite the opposite in stuffed ces with a high poption like hospitals.


    With more people, it would be hard to maneuver around the cramped hallways while watching out for possible ambush in every corner. Friendly-fire would be easier to happen when there was very little space to fight in.


    If there was only Mark and Mei to go inside, the two of them could easily avoid such issues as both of them had the ability to move from ce to another quickly.


    Furthermore, the initial entry did not need a lot of people in this case.


    What Mark wanted to do first was to scout the actual location of the temporary blood bank. Once he found it, that was when he would formte a n to move the blood bags out of the Medical Center as efficiently as possible.


    ***


    While the cleanup outside was still happening with I guiding Odelina to search for [Mutagen Stones] and Aephelia making Logan eat the corpses, Mark and Mei entered the hospital from the main entrance.


    The two cautiously entered the main lobby, the area that was very likely to be the most spacious in most hospitals.


    As Mark expected, not all the infected came out despite themotion they caused outside earlier.


    These infected were not the fast types, however. While most of them were [Eaters], the type of infected that had dead bodies, the others were either those that were already disabled before they even turned or those that damaged their bodies after they turned.


    In the lobby, there was even an infected with no lower limbs. It was not a new injury, however, as the stumps had already healed long ago. Probably, the limbs had already been cut in an operation for quite some time already.


    Ignoring the struggling infected on the floor, Mark and Mei readied their weapons and rushed in.


    Right now, m was sheathed on Mark''s back while his other weapons were hidden in his cloak. Mei, on the other hand, had an assault rifle on her back and two pistols on her waist. However, the two wielded different weapons. No, it was not really different as these weapons were not really new ones.


    They both held crossbows, the very same crossbows Mark made at the male back then. However, both crossbows had already been remodeled with [Blood Metal] to make the weapons stronger. These weapons were the best for this time as they only needed to infiltrate and not cause as muchmotion inside. If they needed to kill something, these crossbows could do it silently.


    Mark and Mei made their way across the lobby and into the hallway further inside. They were lucky that the temporary blood bank was on the first floor. Because of that, they only needed to follow the general directions on the map.


    SWOOOSH!


    A crossbow bolt was fired as an infected shambled out of one of the open rooms unto the center of the hallway.


    As Mark expected, all sorts of strange infected could be found here inside the hospital. The one that Mei killed just now was one of those. It was an infected with yellowish spots on its skin that would seem to be very likely to explode in the slightest contact.


    There was another one whose body was too bloated that it blocked the entire width of the hallway.


    Without any choice, Mark used m to cut the infected into pieces and clear a way for them.


    In the midst of the exploration and about midway the distance they needed to traverse to the area where the temporary blood bank was, they heard something.


    "UUUWAAAA! UWAAA! UWWAAAAAA!"


    A voice of a crying baby could be heard echoing in the hallways.


    Hearing the eerie voice, Mei could not help but turn to Mark to see what he thought of.


    Mark shook his head.


    As an Empath, he should be able to tell if there was a baby around. However, he could feel nothing. There was no living baby around the area to make such noise.


    This brought Mark into two guesses. The sound could either being from an infected infant that mutated into something that could mimic a human infant to catch prey or worse... Something that they could not see at all.


    As there was no way that it was a human infant, the two carried on.


    It was until they reached the next corner, an area further behind the main building.


    Both the two of them stopped on their steps with frowns on their forehead.


    The hallway was dark. Not because there were no windows or rooms to illuminate the ce but because of the wall, floor and ceiling covered with a flesh-like membrane. The membrane was rather thick as it seemed to be about half an inch to about a whole inch thick.


    Who would have thought that the unassuming Medical Center outside was actually a possible infected nest hiding from the eyes of everyone?


    As the situation was unusual, Mei turned to Mark with a meaningful stare and Mark replied with a gesture that they would continue onward.


    Mark then took out the [Photokinesis Mental Crystal] and created a ball of light in front of them to illuminate the darkened way forward.


    SQUISH! SQUISH!


    Each of their steps caused a squishy sound as the two walked over the floor covered with flesh-like membranes.<sub> </sub>


    The stench was quite nauseating.


    Because of the membrane covering all the possible exits and entrances in this area, the air was stagnant and the smell of rotting flesh permeated the hallways. The smell became worse as they went further in.


    Then...


    "UUWAAA! UWAA! UWAAAA!"


    "UUWAAAA! WAAA! UWAAAAAA!"


    "UUUWWAAAA! UWWAAA! UWWWAAAAA!"


    A chorus of many infants echoed across the hallway. It was a very chilling experience and Mei could not help but move closer to Mark.


    Like before, Mark decided to ignore the cries and continued forward. Now, however, Mei was clinging to his arm.


    There was another strange thing.


    Since they entered this area, they did not encounter any infected along the way. Normally, an infected nest would be brimming with arge number of infected and they would not leave the nest unless under some special circumstances.


    Before the next corner, Mark stopped and looked at a sigh which seemed to be a directory of the hospital. Of course, the location of the temporary blood bank was not in it but he found out that they were still quite a distance away.


    At the next corner...


    "UUUWAAAA..."


    They heard another voice of an infant. This time, however, it was not a cry simr from before. It was more of an eerie moan.


    Mark and Mei continued forward. Now in a very cautious state.


    "UUUWAAAA..."


    The eerie infant voice continued and was getting louder for every second that passed.


    "UUUWAAAAAAA..."


    Finally, Mark shot the ball of light forward illuminating the area upfront.


    And the horror scene finally happened.


    A baby could be seen crawling...


    Upside down on the ceiling...


    The baby seemed to be about a month or two old. Its head was twisted backward staring at Mark and Mei with its head upright and its body upside down on the ceiling. Its right eye was half closed while its left eye was hanging out of its sockets.


    Aside from those infected like traits, the most prominent thing on the infected baby''s body was its umbilical cord that was still attached.


    However, the umbilical cord was not cut short but was actually horrifyingly long. It was too long that it led somewhere else while hanging unstably and swinging side to side.


    Without further ado, Mark shot his crossbow.


    PLOP!


    The infected baby fell on the floor with a squishy plop as its head was pierced by the bolt of Mark''s crossbow.


    "RRRUUUUAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!!!!!"


    Mark and Mei flinched as a deafening screech of a woman echoed cross the closed off hallways.


    "UwwaAAuAA..."


    "UUwWwUAAAaaAAA..."


    "UWWAaaAAaA..."


    "UuUWWwwAaAaA..."


    Lumps appeared on the membranes on the walls, ceiling, and floor. Each lump moved at fast speeds and all of them came from both in front and behind.


    Each lump was apanied by eerie voices of infants.


    SPLURT! SPLURT! SPLURT! SPLURT!


    One by one, the unsightly looking babies burst out of the lumps on the fleshy membrane. While all of them had different appearances, the unbelievably long umbilical they had connected to their bodies. The weirdest part in that was some of them had their umbilical cords attached to the wrong ces on their bodies.


    In any case, they were surrounded.


    Mark grabbed Mei''s hand and the two vanished in a puff of ck mist.


    Inside the subspace, Mark and Mei continued to move forward leaving who knows how many infected babies were there.


    As they ran, the two could not help but notice that the umbilical cords, like electrical wires on electric posts, went somewhere else.


    "Mei''er, we''ll check what kind of abomination this umbilical cords lead to. Are you in?"


    Mark asked as they stopped at the stairs leading to the upper floor. The same way where the umbilical cords hanged and headed to.


    "Un. Let''s go."


    Mei replied readily grasping Mark''s hand tightly.


    They did not take the stairs on foot but Mark used his [Shadow Mist Movement] to follow the leads.


    It was not far from the stairs on the second floor. The Maternity Ward along with the Nursery.


    And there, Mark saw a two and a half meter tall abomination. A woman with a bloated body stered unto the wall of the maternity ward. And all those umbilical cords connected to the infected babies, those were connected to her stomach that had a huge gaping hole.

 Chapter 369 The Nest In The Medical Center, The [Breeder Type] And Finding The Blood Bank

    <strong>Day 59 - 9:46 AM - Maternity Ward, Perpetual Help Medical Center Central Compound Building 2nd Floor, bang-Zapote Road, Barangay Pamplona Tres, Las Pi?as, Metro Man</strong>


    "Well, this is disgusting..."


    Mark murmured.


    A huge obese woman with a bloated body and overly huge stomach, the monster was stered on the walls inside the nursery. However, it did not look like she was there by coincidence. It was more like she was one with the flesh membrane that covered almost everything in this area of the hospital.


    The most disgusting thing about her was that instead of a navel, at the center of her bloated stomach was a hole that wasrge enough to fit an adult human head.


    From that hole, dozens upon dozens of umbilical cords extended out like electrical wiring that was bound to be faulty no matter how someone would look at it. On the floor, on the walls, and even on the ceiling, these umbilical cords stretched out while sticking on the flesh membrane without problems.


    At the end of each birth cord, there was an infant attached to it. The little critters roamed the building like ants working for their queen.


    As the umbilical cords were going almost everywhere, Mark immediately made the ball of light that was lighting the way to scatter and illuminate the ce darkened by the flesh membrane covering anything that could let light enter from outside. At the same using the [Photokinesis Mental Crystal] once more, he used [Optical Camouge] to hide.


    Of course, as it was a psychic ability, there was also the chance of them to get noticed. That was why Mark scattered the light sources at the same time. It was not only to lure the infected babies near the light but also scattered some psychic energy around to confuse the infected to some extent.


    Mark and Mei neared the already broken ss windows of the nursery to get a closer look. As they neared, the earthy and bloody stench intensified. While enduring the disgusting smell, they realized that the woman seemed to be in a dormant state.


    Yes, the woman inside was dormant to the point of not moving at all. It was even though they heard a roaring screech just earlier after Mark killed the infected baby crawling on the ceiling.


    With its body stuck unto the wall by the flesh membrane, its arms stretched out wide covered by oozing flesh and her legs that was nowhere to be seen due to her bulging stomach, the only thing she would be able to do was moving her head.


    Yet, the head just hanged low as if she was staring at her stomach with her barely opened eyes.


    With Mark''s observation and using the measurement about the infected in Eriellis as a reference, he could assume that the mutation of this infected should be around a level three to level five. Furthermore, looking at it made Mark remember the pregnant infected he encountered at Barangay Daraitan before. Although there were differences in the mutation, there were also some resemnces.


    First, both infected were pregnant women. Another was that both infected took the path of a mutated that was either fused or connected with the babies inside their womb.


    However, it seemed that not only they differ in their branch of mutation but also took different turns in terms of utilizing the babies inside them. Furthermore, the one in front of Mark and Mei currently was not only a higher level mutation but there was more to it.


    It was then they heard some movements from behind.


    Mark and Mei turned their heads, just to see a couple of infected babies dragging another infant on the flesh covered floor.


    Seeing the baby being dragged by the others, that baby could not be any more familiar to the two. The dangling eyes, the twisted neck, and the small hole on its forehead bleeding profusely, there was no doubt that it was the same baby Mark shot with his crossbow.


    This time, however, not only it was dead, but it seemed that its umbilical cord was torn off from its belly as its navel was left with nothing but a wound bleeding profusely.


    Not being able to see Mark and Mei, the babies passed in front of them, crawled onto the wall and climbed into the broken window of the nursery. As the babies dragged their umbilical cords around, Mark and Mei were careful not to get tangled on the umbilical cords as the babies passed by.


    Mark watched the scene with interest. After encountering who knows how many infected since the start of the apocalypse, this was the very first time he witnessed such a scene. Normally, the infected would not care about the dead bodies of their kind and would most often end up cannibalizing the dead bodies after the Biters grew too hungry and were not able to find food.


    This scene, however, the other infected babies were bringing their deadrade back for an unknown reason.


    Finally, for the first time, the infected woman raised her head looking at the babies in front of her.


    Mark and Mei then saw a stomach-churning scene.


    As the babies retreated backward leaving the dead infected baby in front of the woman, the woman''s bulging belly started to pulsate. The gaping hole then started to move. From the gaping hole, the bulging stomach started to tear apart. Like a flower in spring, the stomach opened wide. Arge flower made of oozing flesh and disgusting matter.


    The moment it opened, smelly water burst forth from her stomach revealingyers uponyers of fetal sacs inside. Inside each transparent sacks, a fetus could be seen. Unlike a normal human fetus, however, in each fetus, deformities could be seen. Some had overlyrge heads while others were missing limbs. Although it could be said that fetuses were still in developmental growth, those irregrities were already apparent.


    From the rows and columns of fetuses, there were odd spaces in several ces and from each of that space, an umbilical cord could be seen attached in her mutated organs inside. Some of those birth cords could be seen attached to the few babies in front of her.


    Seeing that scene, there was only one thing that entered Mark''s mind and he started to stealthily take pictures of the infected woman and the babies around her.


    "A new type of infected."


    Mark frowned. There was no doubt that his infected woman was capable of reproducing on its own. Furthermore, to ensure that the babies she gave birth to would grow, they were kept connected unto the mother''s body and was limited from going out of the nest.


    It was no wonder they did not encounter any infected baby outside despite theirrge numbers inside this area of the hospital.


    Mark also felt suspicious before as to why the numbers of the infected babies here were ratherrgepared to the capacity of the nursery and the possible number of babies that could be delivered in a day even before the apocalypse. Since he also noticed the irregrities in the bodies of the babies, seeing the fetuses in the woman''s stomach revealed where they came from.


    "Gege..."


    Mei voiced silently as grasped his hand tighter.


    Sensing her anxiousness, Mark let go of her hand and instead, put his hand around her waist to pull her closer.<sub> </sub>


    Since what happened to her in that mall cinema, she had difficulty with topics regarding human reproduction and sexual intercourse. It was not that she had a problem with the topic personally but it was more of a repulsive reflex that came from her subconscious. Although she was better now, she was still far from fully recovering.


    It seemed that the scene in front of her triggered such a reaction.


    While Mark tried to soothe Mei as much as possible, the scene inside the nursery continued. Several flesh tentacles that looked no different from the umbilical cords moved towards the dead baby. The tentacles wrapped around the dead baby and lifted it moving it closer into the woman''s stomach.


    After the dead baby was already inside, the stomach slowly closed once more just leaving the gaping hole and the umbilical cords that stretched out of it. Nevertheless, the babies outside never left and the woman did not go back to its dormant state.


    A few secondster...


    "ROOOOAAAAAAAHHHH!!!"


    A deafening screech was heard from the infected woman.


    Rather than a normal threatening roar, it was a yell filled with anger, grief, and sadness.


    Her stomach pulsated once more the gaping hole opened slightly.


    PUH!


    Something was ejected from the hole in a rather violent manner. As the figurended in front of the other babies with a thud, the thing was revealed to be the same dead baby.


    From there, the ritual continued as the babies that remained to wait approached the dead one. They moved their faces towards it and...


    CHOMP!


    They started eating the soft flesh of the dead infant.


    As the infants had no teeth at all, it looked more like they nibbled on the flesh with their gums until the flesh was soft enough to tear off before swallowing the torn flesh whole.


    "Let''s go."


    Mark decided to leave. There was nothing else to see here. Furthermore, Mei was not doing well already.


    "Are we not going to kill them?"


    Mei asked knowing that leaving these creatures alone could cause a catastrophe in the future.


    "Later. Our primary goal is to find the blood bank on the first floor. Also if we started to fight here, who knows what will happen? We are in its territory, it won''t do us any good if the building copsed. We''ll try to deal with this nest after getting what we need. That time, it will not be a problem even if we destroy the wholepound."


    With those words, Mark created a bigger ball of light beforeunching it towards the opposite side of the hall. Seeing the bigger light source, the babies roaming the area started to rush over to defend the ce if needed. As themotion caused by the light was ratherrge, even the babies on the other floors stormed the area.


    With the patrols gone, Mark and Mei traversed the ce easier. It did not take them long and found the temporary blood bank. However, if they did not have the map drawn by Phillip, it would be hard to find this ce because the door was covered with flesh membrane. Mark had to cut away the membrane revealing the door of the freezer.


    Despite being temporary, the ce seemed to be made as a freezer for future purposes than just storing blood bags.


    The blood bank door was tightly shut. Still, Mark only needed m to slowly pry the door open by melting the locks of the door.


    Soon enough, the rows upon rows of blood bank freezers were in in sight. Because it was not the fixed ce to store these blood bags, the brands and designs of the freezers were not consistent. Nevertheless, the freezers only needed to store the blood bags until they finished the renovations at the real blood bank. Of course, that would never happen anymore.


    Mark and Mei checked the contents of some of the freezers. Sure enough, the blood stored was already stale but in the least, it was kept in a good condition. The blood here was more than enough to customize two lorries.


    After all, they also needed a vehicle for the new addition to their group. If possible, something to transport Char too. Even if the dragon could just run and fly, it would be better if it could conserve its energy for times it was needed the most.


    While exploring the blood bank, they stumbled upon something at the furthest area from the door.


    Seeing it, Mark frowned.


    Several freezers were broken and pushed down unto the floor. Dry blood spilled the floor as the blood bags were torn open.


    Oddly enough, there was fresh blood scattered at the corner of the blood bank where the freezers were destroyed.


    As it was too odd, Mark stepped forward to investigate.


    That was when his sense of danger kicked in making him retreat immediately.


    The moment he retreated, the ce where he stood before was attacked by several tentacles made of red liquid.

 Chapter 370 Losing Control, The Ferocious Upgrade

    <strong>Day 59 - 10:11 AM - Temporary Blood Bank, Perpetual Help Medical Center Central Compound Building 1st Floor, bang-Zapote Road, Barangay Pamplona Tres, Las Pi?as, Metro Man</strong>


    "That''s surprising... I guess?"


    Mark said, in a somewhat doubtful tone.


    He stared at the spilled blood on the floor as it started to retract and gather in a smaller area. Although he did not expect that the dangerous thing inside the tightly locked blood bank would be the blood scattered on the floor, he already found it strange. There were blood stters that spread in different areas but had already dried up. It made thatrge puddle of fresh blood too suspicious.


    Because of that fresh blood, it made it look like there was something else in the room.


    Nevertheless, no one would expect for a puddle of blood to suddenly attack once he closed in. Since it did not move before, Mark could not help but think that it might be either waiting for prey or in a dormant state which was disturbed after he approached. He would not know the answer to this, however.


    It only took a few seconds before the pool of blood stopped retracting into a smaller area. However, it did not show any sign of it entering a coagted state. It remained as a pool of blood albeit thicker in volume.


    "Gege, is that simr to Oracle and the others?"


    Mei asked. Anyone who knew about the [Blood Children] would surely ask that question first the moment they saw the thing in front.


    Nheless, Mark shook his head to deny it.


    Mark could not feel anything or any consciousness from it. Unlike the [Blood Children] who were born living despite their formless gtinous bodies, this one was the total opposite. This blood creature could be an infected that mutated into a being with a shapeless body if not a new kind of creature that was born of the apocalypse.


    Still, Mark could say that there was a higher possibility that it was the former. Because as the blood creature moved for the first time...


    He sensed hunger inside him.


    Furthermore, he could tell. This creature was the same. Just like how it was ignoring Mei.


    It was extending several tentacles made of blood outside its body and all of it was pointed at him.


    "Hah... Hah..."


    "Gege, are you alright?"


    Mei asked as she noticed that Mark started to behave rather oddly. He was breathing rough and was staring at the creature in front of him like a hungry beast. There was even a glint of a predator in his eyes that even Mei found scary.


    "Mei''er, retreat to the back..."


    Mark said in a rough voice as the strange feeling started to overwhelm him.


    Worried, Mei hesitated to follow what he said, but seeing his eyes show concern for her well being despite the predatorial glint in it, she nodded and fell back.


    It seemed that not only Mark had the same thought. Despite being an infected, the puddle of blood seemed to be wary of Mei helping Mark.


    The moment Mei retreated, all the tentacles of the puddle of blood, shot forward. Their speed was really fast and Mark''s eyes could barely follow. Furthermore, as the blood tentacles stretched forward, the tentacles became thinner and thinner that made it harder to see because of the bad lighting in this dark room.


    Mark moved his head slightly, a short wheeze entered his ear as a tentacle shot just a few centimeters away from his face.


    Following that, he lowered his body and started to charge forward.


    WOOSH! WOOSH! WOOSH!


    Mark zigzagged as he ran while retreating and jumping sideward at times. With how each tentacle shot almost as fast as a bullet, Mark decided to avoid all of them. However, his eyes were particrly useless this time and he was purely relying on his instinct and reflexes.


    He could use his other abilities, but using any of it did not enter his mind. A strange hunger and desire were overwhelming his consciousness. The only thing he wanted to do right now was to...


    Absorb this thing in front of him.


    Mark was already near the creature when he was forced to retreat to his right. It was because some of the tentacles he dodged before were already attacking him from behind and his left.


    Normally, most people think that the most dangerous infected were the ones with tough armors and sharp ws. However, in terms of versatility, they lost to those with either physical structures or abilities to akin to traits octopuses and mollusks had. In short, tentacles.


    Even though the speed may vary from individual to individual, the range movement of tentacles was not as inhibited as limbs did. To easily turn at uncanny angles and even turn to attack once more after being dodged, these capabilities were normal to these features.


    As Mark continued to dodge, the tentacles chased after him without giving him time to continue forward. It was until all the directions had been sealed and a turn to his left made Mark see how many tentacles were shooting towards him.


    Then...


    Mark went down on all fours as seven [Blood Whips] burst out from his back moving at speeds faster than the blood tentacles. As he raised his head, the tips of the [Blood Whips] turned into metal des started to cut the iing tentacles into pieces.


    Nevertheless, the tentacles continued to attack without pause. Even with the speed his [Blood Whips] were disying, the speed could not keep up with the number of tentacles.


    As several tentacles pierced forward his body, Mark used his four limbs to propel his body toward the ceiling avoiding the attack leaving the tentacles piercing unto the floor. The tentacles were made of blood, it was liquid, and yet, it was able to pierce the concrete floor without problems.


    Getting hit by just a single one would surely not end well.


    The remaining tentacles curved upwards chasing Mark above, however, before the blood could close in, the already vanished leaving two dents on the ceiling after he kicked it with all force he could muster.


    BAM!


    Mark violentlynded in all fours in front of the puddle of blood.


    Without waiting for anything, Mark''s [Blood Whips] all pierced into the liquid body of the enemy.


    THROB! THROB!


    Both the puddle of blood and the [Blood Whips] pulsated in rhythm. It might look like a beautiful synchronized disy but it was actually the visual effect of Mark absorbing the creature into his body.


    It seemed that the pool of blood felt the threat it was under and tried to flee. However, before it was able to do anything else or even counter-attack, Mark''s [Blood Whips] changed shape encasing the creature into an orb made of blood that did not only cut off all of its path of retreat but also cut off its tentacles that were left outside.


    Slowly, the orb shrunk along with the body of the blood creature. It did not take long before its traces vanished as all of it was absorbed in Mark''s body.


    THROB! THROB!<sub> </sub>


    This time, Mark hunched down holding his body tightly, especially, his chest. His heart was pumping wildly that it could be heard inside the whole room.


    His [Blood Whips] immediately entered his body as he kneeled down on the floor.


    ROOOOARR!!!


    A ferocious roar was heard from Mark. His eyes started glowing in the dark as he faced the ceiling. Then, from his chest, his blood vessels started to release a faint red glow. The glow started to spread all over his body highlighting his blood vessels under his skin.


    THOOOMMM!!!


    Mei worriedly watched Mark from a distance. She wanted to approach but something told her that she should not. Then, she felt an invisible pressure that made her step back. She started to have difficulty breathing and her body was shivering.


    Unknown to her, all the infected in this area was being riled up by the sudden pressure. Those with higher intelligence immediately fled.


    Inside the nest, the infected babies started to gather around their mother as they felt the danger nearby. Even the [Breeder Type] infected inside the nursery was in a strange state. If she could leave this ce, she would have already done so.


    Outside the hospital, Odelina, Abbygale, and Karlene who were mutators felt that strong pressure as well. The three started to have difficulty breathing.


    On the other hand, Miracle and the [Blood Children] seemed to be in euphoria. They were jumping happily like there was no tomorrow as if they won the lottery.


    This made the others feel odd seeing those that were severely affected by the unseen pressure. Although they also felt a strange feeling, it was nowhere near the others felt leaving them confused.


    Inside the Blood Bank, Mark still clutched his body while gritting his teeth. Now, his whole body was pulsating.


    ***


    "It''s you again..."


    Mark spoke. He was currently inside his subconscious.


    m suddenly altered him when another it felt something odd and he had to enter this ce once more.


    In front of Mark and m, a ck silhouette was standing. Although there was no face or any features that could describe it aside looking like a ck solid shadow, there was no doubt that it had the same body shape as Mark.


    Of course, Mark knew who this guy was although they really did not meet before.


    It was the same consciousness that took over his body during the process of Mark bing a mutator. The one that controlled his body as he spent time with Freed and fully integrate his abilities into his body.


    For some reason unknown, he appeared again. He thought that this guy already vanished with Freed before.


    This time, however, it seemed that he had no notion to control his body anymore.


    As Mark stared at the shadow, the shadow pointed at the nk sky.


    There, shes of memories of an unknown person could be seen.


    It was the memories of a woman.


    Mark watched the scene for some time and shook his head. The memory was quite pitiful. When he turned towards the shadow once more, there was not only one anymore but two. The new shadow, however, had the shape of a woman.


    "Alright, take her away already."


    Mark sighed and shooed his shadow away as he already knew why he was here once more.


    After his words, the shadow of the woman bowed before the two shadows turned around and vanished into thin air.


    "Can you stop hiding behind me?"


    Markined as the spirit of the cursed mberge was hiding behind him like a child who saw a ghost. Although both of it was true, it was still annoying.


    "Master, what in the world is that?"


    m asked in relief seeing that there was no one else here anymore.


    "Who knows?"


    Mark replied before he too vanished.


    ***


    p Back inside the Blood Bank, Mark''s eyes gained sanity.</anda>


    The glow and pulsating of his body started to lessen before vanishing.


    Panting, Mark looked at his hand. He was holding a metal container made of [Blood Meta] about the size of a small medicine bottle. Inside of it was some kind of fluid. Of course, only Mark knew what this was.


    Disregarding his weakened state, Mark turned behind in a hurry and ran.


    "Mei''er are you okay?"


    Mark worriedly asked as he hugged Mei who was slumped down on the floor leaning on one of the storage freezers. Her face was pale and it seemed that she was severely weakened as shown by her heavy breathing. Fortunately, she was still conscious.


    "Gege, I''m fine. Thank goodness you returned to normal."


    She smiled.


    Mark felt guilty and caressed her head gently.


    "Sorry, I didn''t expect this to happen."


    As both of them were not in the state to continue exploring immediately, the two huddled on the floor leaning at each other''s body.

 Chapter 371 Upgraded Abilities, The Last Memories Of The Blood Infected

    <strong>Day 59 - 11:01 AM - Temporary Blood Bank, Perpetual Help Medical Center Central Compound Building 1st Floor, bang-Zapote Road, Barangay Pamplona Tres, Las Pi?as, Metro Man</strong>


    Mark rested his back on a blood storage freezer while Mei leaned on him silently. It was such an intimate disy in such a dark enclosed room. Since they had met in NAIA, they were barely able to do such simple things. The main reason being Miracle and Abbygale trying to hog their Papa most of the time.


    "Won''t they worry about us if we took this long? My radio doesn''t work for some reason."


    Mei asked while feeling Mark''s warmth.


    It would not be a lie if she said that she did not feel scared with how Mark behaved earlier. But it did not matter anymore as it was also out of his control. Just the genuine guilt and worry in his eyes were enough for her since Mark seldom disyed such real emotions.


    She rather enjoyed her current position, but it was not good if they made everyone worried since they spent too much time in here.


    "Don''t worry, remember that Imunicate with Miracle and the [Blood Children] to a certain extent? I already told them not to worry. Just tell me if you''re already fine, then we can go."


    Mark replied in a calm tone.


    "I''m already fine... But can we stay like this for another five minutes?"


    "Okay, no worries."


    Mark smiled. Of course, there was no problem for him as Mei rarely act this spoiled after she became a Mutator. Her Mutator trait was [Devotion]. It was quite a vague trait that could target almost anything. To Mei, however, the target of her [Devotion] was her current family. To be precise, towards him and the little girls. She would put their interests first and would not even wrestle with the little girls for Mark''s affection no matter how she felt envious. That was why some times, Mark would approach her first instead.


    In fact, she was still disying such traits this time. She said that she was already fine because she did not want to waste Mark''s precious time. Nevertheless, she did not know that her face stillcked color. It was too obvious to see even in this darkened environment.


    ***


    Five minutes passed in the blink of an eye.


    The first thing Mark did, however...


    "Gege, what are you looking for?"


    Mei asked as she saw Mark looking around the disced and fallen freezers.


    "Here..."


    Mark seemed to have found what he looked for and beckoned Mei toe closer.


    The thing Mark found was at the back of several blood-storage freezers that had fallen to the sides. Looking at the freezers, however, it seemed that these freezers had not fallen identally. It was more like the freezers had been arranged for something like a shelter.


    Mei then saw what it was. A set of skeletons. It seemed to have belonged to a female nurse because of the clothes that it wore.


    "Is she perhaps..."


    Mei turned to Mark and asked.


    "The blood creature earlier."


    Mark confirmed knowing her assumption.


    He reached for the name badge on the nurse''s uniform. It seemed that her name was Rihanna Asuncion. The nurse whose memories Mark saw inside his subconscious after he absorbed the blood creature. What he saw were just her memories after the outbreak started. The memories of herst moments. It surely was not a pleasant one.


    ***


    Since this was a hospital, many injured and presumably, infected people, were sent here at the start of the outbreak. It was even though this was a medical center that treated patients, it was unlike normal general hospitals. This hospital was built mainly to give training for the medical students of the University behind it.


    As the state of emergency was released, the government forced every medical institution to operate even if it was not their opening hours. Doctors and nurses were called toe and Rihanna was included among them.


    It was still fine when she arrived and even managed to attend to several patients with minor injuries. Everything went down however when the defense line of the military and police in this area was breached open.


    The medical center descended into chaos.


    Because of the danger, the military tried to evacuate as many medical practitioners as possible. Their field of expertise would be needed by the military without a doubt.


    Rihanna, however, did not make it.


    She was blocked by the infected before she was able to exit the building. In order to survive, she could only run back inside and find a ce to hide to wait it out. It was not easy as the hospital was already brimming with infected. In the end, she found the Temporary Blood Bank and holed up inside... Alone...


    The room was cold but she could only endure. It did not take long and the electricity was cut off.


    Without food and water, she would notst long. However, she could only shiver in fear as she thought of every time she came out, the corridors filled with infected was what she would see.


    Without food and water, along with her degenerating mental state, it resulted in her doing a drastic method to quench her hunger and thirst.


    Her eyesnded on the most abundant thing in this room, blood.


    Opening the blood bags with difficulty, she drank the contents of the blood bags one by one until she was full. Of course, she knew that it was harmful but she did not care anymore.


    Furthermore, after a few days of surviving and asking herself how consuming blood kept her alive, she decided that she would go out. She could not stand this dark cramped ce anymore. She was sure that there would be no rescue that would find her. She opened the door just to find that the doors were blocked with a disgusting membrane of flesh.


    Desperate, she tried to tear the membrane open using a broken shard of ss from one of the freezers.


    It did not go well.


    She had to retreat into the blood bank and unfortunately, she was bitten before she was able to do so.


    In herst moments, she could only think of how unfortunate she was.


    ***


    "Instead of bing a normal infected, her luck sucked further when her body slowly melted into blood leaving her skeleton behind... Is it?"


    Mark murmured.


    "What are we going to do with her remains?"


    Mei asked.<sub> </sub>


    "Why do you ask?"


    "Because Gege won''t try to find her if you don''t have any ns, right?"


    "Yep." Mark smiled. "She aided my upgrade so I should give something in return. In the least, we can take her remains and give her a proper burialter."


    Mark then let out his [Blood Whips] and tore open several blood bags to create a metal box where they could ce her remains.


    There was something that he did not tell Mei though. The silhouettes he saw inside his subconscious, although the woman seemed to have the shape of Rihanna, she was not the same person either.


    Nevertheless, Mark confirmed something.


    Despite being infected and without consciousness, they still carried the memories of the past to some extent.


    This gave reason to how Aimee was able to recover her memories before she became an infected.


    However, a question popped out. Was Aimee still the same Aimee before she became an infected or another consciousness that was born and inherited her memories. It was really hard to say, but the likelihood of it to be true was very high since Mark knew that once a person turned into an infected, their consciousness would copse into nothingness and there was no way to recover from that.


    ***


    With those thoughts in mind, Mark and Mei proceeded to do the work they needed to do.


    Since they already found the Blood Bank, they needed to bring the blood out and inform the others to help.


    Mark went out of the blood bank for a bit and looked for a wheeled stretcher. He saw one almost immediately but he had to remove the flesh membrane that covered it and stuck it on the squishy floor.


    Using some blood bags, Mark remodeled the stretcher into a wagon which was then filled with as many blood bags that it could carry out.


    Then, they started to make their way out of the hospital once more.


    "Gege, you can control more of those [Blood Whips], right?"


    Mei asked as she saw Mark take out twelve just earlier.


    Mark could only take out seven before but it almost doubled this time.


    "Yeah, it''s quite hard to control all of them at the same time though. I still need a lot of practice. My blood seemed to more concentrated too."


    "Is that all?"


    Mei asked. Although the number of [Blood Whips] doubled, it feltckingpared to how scary the process of his upgrade had been.


    "Hmm, let''s see... Well, just take a look."


    He stopped pulling the makeshift wagon and turned towards Mei.


    Then, the blood vessels in his body started glowing. It was just like his appearance before. However, it was not just the visual appearance but something else seemed to have changed.


    Mark then let out his [Blood Whips] once more. Each of the [Blood Whips] was glowing bright red.


    "It''s like this. It seems like my [Adrenaline Rush] and [Blood Control] fused. I can use my blood to stimte my body with adrenaline and doubles physical abilities. I can raise it further if I concentrate on empowering just a part of my body."


    The glow then vanished from his face as he concentrated the glow on his lower limbs. He kicked his foot on the flesh covered floor and he appeared at the other side with a blurry sh.


    Mei was both happy and surprised seeing that speed. Even with her [Bullet Time], it took quite an effort to see Mark move.


    "Gege is as fast as Gale now."


    "Well, that''s only if I concentrate it on my feet. If I concentrate on my whole body, I''m still slower."


    Mark smiled.


    There was something else but he could use it here without confirming it fully. And thus, this was enough for now.


    The two then continued on their way out.


    For some reason, their way back was quite easy. They still saw the infected babies lurking at the vicinity of the nest but all of them were steering clear of the two as if they were afraid.


    Sure enough, the intelligence of these babies and their survival instincts were higher than normal infected.


    They probably felt Mark being too dangerous and there was also the pressure he let out earlier which rmed almost everyone in the vicinity.


    The moment the two went out of the Medical Center, several figures jumped towards them, especially Mark. It was Miracle and the [Blood Children].


    "Papa, hungry!"


    Miracle cried out. Not only her but the [Blood Children] were asking the same.


    Mark scratched his head. As if he did not know what these kids were up to. He decided to shut them down.


    "There''s still a lot of work to do. I will feed you allter. That''s only if all of you behaved."


    He reprimanded them all with a bitter smile.


    The children were all troubled and wanted toin like spoiled kids but with one look from Mark, they lined up neatly in front of him. Later or never, that were the only choices they have.


    Mark shook his head.


    Since he gained a power-up with his blood, these children would also benefit from drinking his blood.


    Like normal infected and creatures of the apocalypse, even the Mutators and the like, they all wanted to grow stronger. These children were the same.


    Since they were his family, he would not hesitate to give them the same benefits. Just at the right time and not now.

 Chapter 372 Leaving The Medical Center, Torching The Building Into Ruins

    <strong>Day 59 - 12:16 PM - Perpetual Help Medical Center Compound, bang-Zapote Road, Barangay Pamplona Tres, Las Pi?as, Metro Man</strong>


    A makeshift wagon after another, Mark and his group slowly emptied the contents of the Blood Bank. It took a rtively safe process except for a few infected stragglers and the initial disgust seeing the vicinity of the nest inside the hospital.


    Everyone helped with transporting the blood bags out of the hospital except for Aephelia and Odelina. The two stayed behind outside to guard the front alley of thepound.


    While it was quite safe while they transported the blood bags, they felt quite creeped out with the infected babies. Unlike the normal behavior of the infected, these babies did not make any hostile moves against them. Although their eyes still let out the same ferocious glint, they stayed in a safe distance instead of attacking.


    They did not attack. Nevertheless, seeing all of the infected babies watching while hiding behind corners, crawling on the walls and hanging on the ceiling, made everyone feel creeped out.


    Not to mention that the appearance of the babies was straight out of a horror movie.


    "Are these babies not hostile?"


    Karlene curiously asked while rubbing her arms because of her goosebumps.


    "Just ignore them and don''t approach. They are still hostile and will attack at any chance. It''s just they are afraid right now."


    Mark warned her.


    "Afraid of you?"


    "Maybe? These little guys are smarter than the ones outside so it''s harder to predict their actions."


    He answered in a mysterious tone as they brought out another batch of blood bags.


    "Master, the amount of blood bags is too much. We can''t fit any more inside the car."


    Odelina spoke as everyone returned outside.


    Since both the blood banks of the university and the Medical Center were ced in a single storage, the quantity was too many than they expected. Nevertheless, it was in Mark''s favor. There was also the fact that the university had done a blood donation drive just before the outbreak. Their current stock was a whole lot than they usually had.


    Initially, he nned to go on several trips to other ces if what they gathered here was not enough. But by the looks of it, however, what they had here was way more than what Mark needed.


    "Yeah, I know."


    Mark replied while looking at the pile of blood bags that were ced beside the vehicle. Even if they ced a temporary carrier above the vehicle, it would not be enough without making something too big that could tip the [Exceed: Personnel Carrier] to the side.


    He then looked at the [Blood Children] jumping around doing anything they could to pass time.


    "Maybe we can make a wagon."


    Mark had the idea they could use. There was also therge-bodied Gifre that should be able to carry enough load. The was no problem for them at all. That was how convenient Mark''s and the [Blood Children''s] abilities. Just give them enough blood to y with and they would be able to make anything.


    With the idea in mind, Mark let the [Blood Children] do the frames of the wagon while they continued to empty the Blood Bank.


    Every time they went back, they could not help but notice that more and more infected children were watching in the shadows. For the most part, they were blocking the stairs leading up to the maternity ward. It was easy to realize what they were doing. They were protecting their mother in any way possible. If Mark or any of the people in his group tried to take a single step up the stairs, these swarm of infected babies would surely not hold anything back and attack.


    However, since both groups had no opposing goals, for now, a sh did not happen. It was even though Karlene was having a hard time as Ka wanted to take control of her body and fight the infected babies. Mark had to help her out to avoid unnecessary conflict.


    ***


    Day 59 - 2:01 PM - Perpetual Help Medical Center Compound, bang-Zapote Road, Barangay Almanza Uno, Las Pi?as, Metro Man


    It took them about two hours and they finally got everything they wanted out. Not only the blood bags but they also managed to raid the medicine storage near the emergency room that Miracle found by ident. The curious girl had been opening closed doors to see what was inside and she stumbled into a small room filled with medicine cabs.


    The frame of the wagon was already done and Mark was just in time to do the moreplex parts like adding wheels from an ambnce nearby to the wagon and also the bearings and such. With the simple minds of the [Blood Children], they would not be able to do those things properly.


    While doing that, however...


    "Mei''er, Odel."


    Mark called out to the two which they replied to without another word.


    "Gege."


    "Master."


    "See that gas station on the other side of the road? Check if you two can get gas from there, as many as possible. If they have kerosene and LPG tanks, prioritize that. Odel, you already know how to check right?"


    "Yes. I still remember what you did back then."


    Odelina replied with a smile but was also confused.


    "What are you going to do with arge amount of kerosene? I don''t think you can use that for anything aside from burning things. Your car also uses diesel as fuel, right?"


    Karlene could not help but ask.


    On the other hand, Mei nodded in understanding.


    "Gege is going to burn the hospital."


    She said.


    Everyone looked at Mark in both surprise and bitterness. Although a part of the Medical Center had already turned into an infected nest, burning the whole building might be unnecessary.<sub> </sub>


    "If we fight them upfront, it will be easier for them to escape. Those little critters are smart and if the [Breeder Type] ordered them all to escape, it will be chaotic to chase them all. Although the guarantee that they will all die after burning the hospital is not a hundred percent, it was way better than letting a whole bunch of them escape."


    His argument was reasonable and they could only agree. Besides, it was very unlikely that anyone else would want to use this building after it was housed by an infected nest.


    Mark on the other hand only had this idea because he did not want to waste more time. He already had the materials he needed and wanted to return already to build the other vehicle.


    Furthermore, dealing with those infected babies were more of a hassle than it looked like. Mark had no way of detecting the infected, unlike humans. His empathic abilities would not help him wipe them all out. The only thing to secure that it would be hard for them to escape was burning the building from the outside towards the insides, trapping everything inside without a way of escape.


    Thus, all of them continued to work.


    The first group was Aephelia and Amihan that kept the ce secure. Mark and the [Blood Children] were among the second group who worked with the wagon. Everyone else made up the third group and ransacked the gas station on the other side of the main road.


    While everything in the hospital alley was fine and secure, the gas station was a mess. It was an open area and to follow Mark''s orders, they had to deal with the infected at the same time.


    It was not easy but they finished the job done. When they returned, Mark already attached therge carrier wagon at the back of the [Exceed: Personnel Carrier]. The only thing left was to arrange the remaining blood bags inside it.


    After they returned, it was time for Mark to enter the hospital once more. This time, however, he made a different approach.


    Opening his wings and carrying a gallon of kerosene in his both hands, he flew up to the roof.


    From there, he pried open the door to the rooftop and poured in the contents of the gallons into that door letting the kerosene make its way down unto the floors below. He did that a few times until he was satisfied and closed the door once more even locking it with his [Blood Metal].


    He then smashed the windows of the rooms around the building and sshed gasoline inside. He even went far to put a tank of LPG in some of the rooms.


    Following those, he entered the hospital while scattering the mixed gasoline around. He flew around the halls of the hospital repeating the process, especially at the parts of the building upied by the nest. To avoid arousing any suspicion from the infected inside, he hid his figure with [Optical Camouge].


    Lastly, he entered the center of the nest. The nursery room where the [Breeder Type] was located.


    He stared at the grotesque looking woman with a bitter smile. As he inherited some of the memories of Rihanna, he recognized this woman.


    This woman was checked in here because of her pregnancy havingplications. Rihanna was the nurse assigned to this woman during her shifts. Unfortunately, this woman did not make it and instead turned into this abomination.


    Rihanna was quite close with this person and the two even met before chaos descended in the hospital.


    However, that was not only the reason Mark felt bitter.


    "Unfortunately, the location you mutated and created this nest is far from my base."


    He murmured.


    These infected were smart. More like animals that could be domesticated. Unfortunately, the state of the nest and the [Breeder Type] could not be separated. How the flesh membrane pulsated and how she was stuck in this wall, it was likely that there would be implications if this woman was removed from this ce.


    Furthermore, Aephelia already had her slots filled with Gifre and Logan alone. There was no way for her to control this one.


    It was a pity. Mark wanted to observe how these smart infected would grow.


    Although he said that they might be dangerous, that was only when they were left alone. He actually wanted to keep them in captivity.


    If this nest was only found near his base.


    "Hah..." Mark sighed. "At least let me bring one back."


    If anyone was to hear that he wanted to raise an infected baby, they would surely say that he was a lunatic. However, it was quite true in a sense.


    He looked at the umbilical cords sticking out of her stomach. Most of them had an unsightly shade of color while only two had a healthy-looking color.


    Leaving the nursery, he followed the cords and saw both babies the birth cords were connected to.


    "Both are males huh?"


    Mark murmured. Nevertheless, it seemed that he could only pick one of the two. It was because only one of the two looked more like a normal baby. The other looked like someone stepped on his face with his eyes bulged and nose caved in.


    As Mark made the final touches, the babies became restless. Not only that one of the babies was detached from his umbilical cord without the mother knowing how, but there was also an unsettling stench that started to permeate the whole hospital.


    "Everyone ready?"


    Mark asked as he saw everyone waiting for him when he went out.


    "Gege, everything is ready. We can leave anytime."


    Mei replied while looking curiously at the metal box Mark was carrying. They knew that something was moving inside as they could hear the metal being knocked violently. There was even the faint voice of an infanting out of the small air holes of the box.


    "Alright then, let''s go."


    Mark said as everyone boarded the vehicle.


    As the vehicle drove out of the alley, Mark opened the door onest time. He was holding m as he moved half of his body out of the window.


    With a wave of his hand, m released a ball of fire with was hurled unto the entrance of the Medical Center.


    Immediately, the front entrance ignited in mes which spread fast because of the mmable fumes trapped inside the hospital. It did not take long and the whole hospital burst into mes apanied by explosions here and there.


    Along with the loud sounds of mes, however, the faint cries of babies burning to death could be heard.

 Chapter 373 Leaving The University, Emis Mysterious Smile

    <strong>Day 59 - 12:59 PM - Faculty Building, University of Perpetual Help System Dalta - Las Pi?as Campus, bang-Zapote Road, Barangay Pamplona Tres, Las Pi?as, Metro Man</strong>


    "Lynn, are you sure that they wille back for us? It''s been hours already."


    Mercel, one of the survivors in the university asked Analynn. It could be said that he was the third inmand after Edward and Phillip in this group. That was why he was concerned about this since Edward and Analynn''s decision and reasoning had given them a bit of hope to get out of this hellish trap. It would not be long and their supplies would all be gone. This made everyone agree that they should take this chance to leave this ce.


    If Mark''s group did not return, however, all their hopes would be for naught.


    "Don''t worry! I know Karlene for a long time already. She won''t leave us just like this!"


    Analynn insisted as she strongly believed in her friend.


    "Unless they died, of course. It''s not like ghosts can go back and help us."


    Another one spoke. He was Jerard and the person here know to be the most pessimistic in the group. Even everyone else here was wondering how a person like this was able to survive with a personality like that.


    In any case, no one spoke after that and Analynn could only stare hatefully at Jerard. Even though she already witnessed the prowess of Mark''s group and knew that it would not likely happen, it still felt bad when someone spoke ill of her friend.


    ''Just wait to be shocked.''


    She thought. Aside from Edward and Phillip, Analynn and Terrence did not tell the whole story to the other members of the group. They never knew about the Sci-Fi vehicle, about Gifre and Logan and about how they overwhelmed the enemyst night. She could not wait to see their shocked faces.


    Still, no one knew what was happening in the Medical Center. It had been hours since thest gunshot was heard from there. Nevertheless, they could only wait.


    All of them were already prepared to leave. Their few belongings were already backed in bags beside them. While most of them were waiting here, Edward and Phillip were preparing their transport inside the gymnasium that they locked down. Even Emi was with Edward although she was just sitting nearby and staring nkly in front of her.


    The gymnasium was filled with a lot of things. Tables and chairs covered with festive decorations, equipment for stage entertainment, sound system and other things they were preparing for the Christmas Party on the day of the outbreak. Now, however, all these things were nothing but artifacts of the past.


    Aside from those things, there was something that stood out inside the gymnasium. It was the ambnce parked near the faculty building entrance.


    Edward and Phillip started to examine the ambnce for its condition. In the best-case scenario, they could use this to escape. If the worse came to a shove, they could just abandon it and go on foot using the roofs of the university buildings.


    The ambnce was not in and its windows had been barred with the metal frames that came from the chairs used for the party. However, that was the best thing they could do as they did not have tools inside here to modify a vehicle. All they had was a makeshift hammer which they used to fix the metal frames onto the windows of the ambnce.


    They were all prepared to leave this ce. The only problem, however, was that that preparedness would end as long as they opened the doors of the gymnasium. An ambnce like this would not stand the prowess of several hundred infected in the school field.


    "Good. It looks like there are no problems."


    Edward said as he went out of the driver''s seat after testing the ambnce for a bit.


    "Then, all we need to do is wait for them."


    Phillip spoke with a very lightened tonepared to his tone these past days. The anticipation in his voice could not be disguised. They were likely to leave this ce atst. Yet, the exchange for this was for Edward and Annalynn joining the team. That was how it was arranged. Of course, Emi would being with Edward and Terrence was also considering it. Phillip was the same. He would likely follow their steps.


    As for the other people in their group, who knows? They were all here gathered not because they were all close to each other but just to band up and survive. After they reached the Bay City Settlement, it would be likely that some of them would leave.


    BOOM!!! BOOM!!!


    While everyone was emersed in their thoughts, loud sounds were heard from the distance.


    "What is that? Explosions?"


    Phillip eximed as they were disturbed by the sounds. It did not take long and Analynn came barging in before they were able to go and check it out. Furthermore, the sounds continued as if the explosions were set off at different times.


    "Sir Edward! Sir Phillip!"


    "Lynn, what is happening?"


    Edward asked as he walked together with Emi helping her by his side.


    "The Medical Center is on fire! The explosions areing from there too!"


    "What? God... Are those people alright?"


    Phillip murmured.


    Then...


    BAM!


    A loud sound echoed from inside the University. It sounded like one of the gates were forced open. The sound was then followed by the faint sound of a vehicle.


    "They''re back!"


    Analynn eximed in glee.


    "Are you sure?"


    Edward asked.


    "Of course! You all know how strong my sense of hearing is!"


    With that reasoning, Edward and Phillip nodded.


    They owed a lot of things to Analynn and her keen sense of hearing. Managing to save Emi and killing the people that harmed her was among those things.


    "Lynn, go and tell everyone toe down. We''ll wait in the ambnce."


    "Okay!"


    Edward and Phillip nodded at each other and boarded the ambnce with Emi.


    This morning, Analynn not only came back with the proposition but also with the n to get them out of this ce. Since their transport was ready, all that needed work was to make way for them.


    And thus all they needed to do was hang a white curtain outside the window if they agreed with the proposition and wait inside the vehicle in the gymnasium. As for the other things, they had no idea.<sub> </sub>


    Knowing that the time of escape hade, it did not take long for everyone to board the ambnce and wait.


    GRROOWWWRRR!!!


    Everyone was nervous. The sudden sounds in front of the doors of the gymnasium made it worse.


    Then...


    BAM!!!


    The doors were mmed open by a massive force. Both doors were flung off the hinges and the bars they used to block it was broken easily.


    To everyone''s horror, they saw a huge creature outside the door which looked like a fusion of a frog and a snake. Nevertheless, it only took a look inside and turned back.


    That was when Analynn shouted.


    "Follow that monster!"


    With a smirk on her face, she looked at the faces of everyone filled with horror. The only exceptions were Edward, Phillip, and Terrence that knew the n and Emi who had no expressions on her face.


    The other tried to say something to stop that ridiculous action but before they could do so, Edward kicked on the gas pedal and rushed the ambnce out of therge door.


    Those not in the know could only close their eyes and wish for a miracle. They already expected that the ambnce would get swarmed almost immediately.


    They waited for a few seconds and all they could hear was the engine of the ambnce roaring and loud thuds outside that did not evene from the ambnce.


    Their horrified faces looked out of the window to see that a huge long snake tail was smashing every infected that woulde close paving way into meat paste for them to drive through.


    Hearts beating loudly, they started to cheer. That monster was not here to kill them but to help them. These infected trapped them in this ce for almost two months. Watching all the infected around the ambnce get killed gave them unmeasurable satisfaction.


    ***


    With Gifre leading the ambnce, they made it out of the school field safely and entered the parking area in front of the Medicine Faculty.


    Cheers could be heard from inside the ambnce. Nevertheless, their cheers stopped with their gasps as they saw the vehicle waiting for them. Unfortunately, they could only watch as Analynn took Emi out and boarded into that vehicle and they were left in their shabby ambnce.


    Mark and his group let the two aboard. It was within the proposal after Analynn told them about Emi''s circumstance. Unlike the [Exceed: Personnel Carrier] the shabby ambnce outside could easily get into idents with the infected on the streets. If a time like that happened, Emi would be a big weight for them and thus, Analynn requested for this which Edward agreed to readily.


    In a way, this would also ensure that Edward would do his end of the bargain. It was like she was coteral for Edward.


    Without waiting for anything else, they made their way out of the university.


    Mark''s vehicle led the way with the ambnce followed it behind. In the tail of the convoy was Gifre carrying Logan while taking care of the infected chasing behind.


    ***


    Inside the vehicle, everyone observed Emi who was sitting beside Analynn.


    She was just staring nkly in front of her. Luckily, the one sitting in front of her was Miracle or it would feel rather awkward for the others.


    Mark closed his eyes and felt her consciousness.


    ''It''s rather faint...''


    He thought. It seemed that she had detached her consciousness from her body as a self-defense mechanism.


    "Depersonalization."


    Mark murmured.


    "Yes. Unfortunately."


    Analynnmented.


    Emi was not like this when the outbreak started. She was a fine lovely woman who was always optimistic despite the odds. She had a good appearance, a kind personality and many adored her as one of the school nurses.


    It all changed when they trusted the wrong people.


    Mark and his group were not the first survivors Analynn and her group encountered. There was another one. That other group was a group of students in this school but were holed up in a different building. Because of that, they trusted them.


    Unexpectedly, they were wolves in sheep''s clothing.


    One day, Emi vanished without reason. They all panicked and searched for her. Fortunately, Analynn was here and she was able to find traces with her keen hearing.


    Unfortunately, it was already toote when they found her being ravaged by a gang of wolves. Furthermore, the people of the other group did not only consist of students but also outsiders. They were fully armed.


    It was fortunate that Edward was not just a normal person either. He was abat medic that was forced to leave his post due to an injury that would affect his military duties. In turn, he found another job where he met Emi and became her boyfriend.


    Out of rage, Edward snatched their weapons and killed them all. Even if they were armed, their experience and skills were no match of a person who was a member of the army before. The greatest factor that helped was that Analynn could point out the enemies'' positions with their footsteps and they were fighting inside a building.


    Unfortunately, what had happened already happened. There was no turning back. Emi ended up like this since then.


    Aside from her, they found several bodies of female students stocked in one of the rooms of the building that group stayed in. They all had been dead for some time. That was surely the reason why their eyes fell on Emi.


    Like now, Emi was always like this, staring nkly and needed medication to fall asleep. If left alone, she would stay awake the whole night.


    While they were staring at Emi, however...


    She made a movement that shocked everyone, especially Analynn.


    Emi turned her head towards Mark. Her eyes were still open and nk but there was a smile on her lips.

 Chapter 374 The Blood Armored Devil, Putting His Upgraded Abilities To Test

    <strong>Day 59 - 1:09 PM - Kamagong St., Barangay Pamplona Tres, Las Pi?as, Metro Man</strong>


    "Miss Emi! Miss Emi!"


    Analynn''s voice rose as she held Emi''s shoulders and tried to get her attention. Surely, she was shocked by Emi''s sudden action. It was very likely that it was the very first time she witnessed this.


    "Karlene, you should stop your friend. Emi is already back to normal. Your friend is just hurting her like this."


    Mark spoke.


    "Lynn, calm down."


    Karlene gently held Analynn''s hands and made her let go of Emi.


    "But Karlene, Miss Emi... She is... She..."


    Analynn looked at Emi''s face. There was nothing but a nk stare though. Realizing that Emi was still the same, Analynn broke into sobs.


    The two might not have known each other for a very long time. However, the bond built in a short time they spent in a life and death crisis weighed heavier than the bond formed for years in the day of peace.


    While Karlene pacified Analynn in her arms, Mark stared at Emi.


    As for how sudden her smile was made, that was also how sudden she returned to normal.


    No one in this vehicle could understand what happened. Not even Mark.


    Emi might not respond to anything, but, she was awake all this time. To be precise, her consciousness was awake. She could see, she could understand and she could hear what was happening around her. Nevertheless, her body would not respond to any of her wishes. It was like how doctors advised the rtives ofa patients to keep talking to the patient because, despite their state, they could still hear the sounds and voices around them.


    Emi''s state was not that different, albeit, moreplex.


    The mysterious thing, however, that smile had nothing to do with Emi''s consciousness. It was the sole movement that came from her body.


    Not only it was mysterious and strange. It was also a bit creepy. The feeling was like a still doll suddenly turning her head towards you as she smiled. It was as if something else made her body act like that.


    Nevertheless, Mark could not detect anything that could, possibly, do it.


    If she was possessed, Mark should be able to tell as there would be two conflicting consciousness in her body. It would result in her behaving violently contrary to her current state. He could tell that it was not the issue though.


    There was also no strange energy around her or Mark who became rather sensitive to such energies after he was able to wield miasma would also feel it.


    "What a headache..."


    Mark scratched his head. With his current knowledge and capabilities, he could not make out any reason about Emi''s strange actions.


    In any case, there would a lot of time to observe Emi.


    ***


    Day 59 ¨C 2:23 PM ¨C Carlos P. Garcia Ave. Ext., Barangay Png Lupa Uno, Las Pi?as, Metro Man


    The way back took a shorter time than before. Since they followed the same route they took when going to the university, the only things they needed to deal with was the infected on the streets. Still, with the presence of Gifre and Logan, it became easier to traverse the infected filled streets.


    It was unfortunate that despite being an [Alpha Infected], Gifre was not a [Leader Type]. If he was, things would be a whole lot easier.


    At this moment, their vehicles stopped by the side of the highway extension. It was the same area where the roads were blocked by Dark Greed, Gifre''s band of bandits.


    Everyone was out of the vehicles. Especially the ambnce, they needed to check the damage because unlike the [Exceed: Personnel Carrier], the ambnce was just a normal vehicle that was poorly modified. Even with Gifre and Logan around, there would still be some of the infected that managed to slip in to attack the vehicles.


    "What are we going to do here?"


    Karlene asked. Although she knew that this ce was where the other members of the enemies that attacked themst night were holed up, she did not know what Mark would want to do here.


    "No." Mark replied. "I''m the only one who is going to do something. Everyone else stays here."


    "Huh?"


    Karlene was confused. Before she could say anything else, however...


    POOF!


    Mark vanished and all they could see was the trail of ck mist moving towards the condominium buildings upfront.


    "Say... Are the members of this group really human?"


    Analynn asked. That was the question that not only she had but the other members of the survivors from the University. Not only that they had a vehicle that could traverse a sea of infected without getting a single dent, they even had two monsters on the leash. There were even two little fairies flying and slime-like creatures bouncing around the three little girls of the group.


    Before Karlene could answer her friend''s question, infected started toe towards their temporary encampment. As Aephelia was about to send Logan to intercept the infected, Miracle and Abbygale already charged forward.


    That small number of infected was taken out in no time... Just by two little girls...


    "Okay... Just don''t answer my question..."


    Those were the only words Analynn could say after witnessing that. Karlene could only smile bitterly as she witnessed the world of her friend going upside down.


    ***


    <strong>Day 59 ¨C 2:27 PM ¨C Paseo Verde, Diego Cera Ave, Barangay Png Lupa Uno, Las Pi?as, Metro Man</strong>


    Mark stood at the center of thepound where the condominium buildings were located. The ce was quiterge and surprisingly, the Dark Greed managed to secure the whole of it and even some of the streets outside. Their set up was not bad at all.


    The streets were blocked with different kinds of things like vehicles, appliances and barbed fences which could block normal infected. Then, the Mutators in their group would deal with the mutated infected that would be able to get past the blockades.<sub> </sub>


    Then, the walls of thepound were equipped with barbed wires which made it for most mutated infected to traverse without breaking the walls. Furthermore, the east side of the walls was a deep creek that became natural protection for the walls on that side. The insides of thepound were also heavily guarded.


    In Mark''s estimate, there were already thirty people on the lookout just at the walls while there were also separate lookouts on the rooftop.


    Closing his eyes, Mark concentrated to feel the people in the area. No wonder Gifre could send thatrge number of menst night. They still had about a hundred and fifty people left here to guard their base.


    Then, there were quite a several people in a certain room at the higher floors of the main building. With their mental states, they were surely the prisoners in this ce. No, rather than prisoners, they were ythings.


    "Time to go wild then." Mark sinisterly smiled. "I just have to make sure that I don''t identally kill those women there. Well, if they identally died, then that''s it."


    Mark was not here to save them or fight the people here without reason. What he wanted to do here was to try the thing that he had not shown Mei in the Medical Center.


    Before, he could only use his blood to transfer adrenaline into specific parts of his body. On his upgrade, however, his blood alone already had the same properties his adrenaline could bring. Still, it did not mean that his [Adrenaline Rush] was already unusable.


    What if... He used both abilities at the same time?


    PUMP! PUMP!


    Mark''s heartbeat became stronger and faster. The glow on his veins spread throughout his body. And... His muscles were being strengthened by his Adrenaline.


    BURST!


    His skin burst with deep wounds and cuts as it was not able to hand such immense strength. However, his devilish regeneration kicked in repairing the damage.


    "Yep, it is dangerous." Mark smiled bitterly while enduring the pain. "Mei''er will panic if I show her this."


    However, it was not the end of it. As the repair of his body continued, the new muscles and tissues being generated started to adapt to the strength in his blood paired with his adrenaline. The injuries started to lessen and the pain started to disappear.


    Then, his blood started to cover his body. It was not on Mark''s control but it started to form naturally.


    "Ooops..."


    Mark murmured.


    He overdid it. One more thing that made it dangerous was that he would feel the same predatory sensation he had when he faced Rihanna in the Medical Center. If poorly handled, he could lose control of himself.


    His eyes glowed red and his wings burst open on his back. Unlike the normal appearance of the bat wings, however, the wings right now were covered with red glowing veins. And it wasrger than before.


    "Hah..."


    Mark panted. He managed to stop going out of control by channeling the strength evenly throughout his body. Nevertheless, his whole body was not covered with a devilish armor that he did not even think of wearing. It looked like the armor he wore when he left his body on the control of Mutagen while fighting the me demon but was more borately designed. Even parts of his wings were covered with this armor.


    Still, while Mark did not go berserk, the thirst for violence was left.


    His eyes fell on the lookouts of thepound. None of them knew that death was literally staring at them from above.


    PAAM! CRASH!


    Mark pped his wings which created an explosion of air around it. The unstable wind immediately broke the windows of the nearby room.


    That sound of crashing ss alerted the lookouts below and looked above them.


    BOOM!


    They did not see anything above aside from falling shards of ss. Yet, they heard a loud crash behind them.


    THUD!


    One of the lookouts fell on the ground with his head rolling away from his body.


    The remaining lookouts froze as they slowly turn their heads towards the strange silhouette of a devil appearing behind them.


    "This is quite hard to control."


    Markined.


    He only wanted to sweep down and behead one of the lookouts with his w before flying back up. Nevertheless, while he managed to behead his target, he ended up crashing unto the pavement.


    "One more time."


    Mark said as he turned his head towards the remaining lookouts. His glowing red eyes were particrly eye-catching despite how the sun was up in the sky.


    The lookouts panicked and raised their guns. That was when another burst of air and dust in front made them close their eyes. Only to close their eyes forever. Those who managed to open their eyes at thest second could only see how their headless bodies looked like before everything went ck.


    ***


    Chaos ensued in the condominiumpound as a devil rampaged about.


    A devil with reddish-ck armor, sharp ws, sinister-looking wings, and glowing red eyes. The devil made everyone shed blood in the worst possible way while mumbling how hard it was to control.


    At first, the members of Dark Greed still poured in where the enemy had infiltrated them but that soon turned around. When the remaining ones saw the headless, limbless and crushed bodies of theirrades staining red blood on the ground, their confidence to thwart the enemy turned into absolute fear.


    When the devil''s eyesnded on them, they could not help but shiver. The moment they felt fear, that was thest thing they felt in their lives.


    ***


    On one of the rooms on the highest floor, the windows were covered with metal bars. It was to imprison those that were inside. Grief-stricken at their fates, the best thing they could do was to look out the window and think how it was better to be eaten by the infected than to be eaten by a bunch of hungry wolves every single day.


    Now, however, they were watching something else on the ground below. They saw the devil and they were happy. They would not bother if the devil also killed them but they were delighted how the wolves were being ughtered like pigs.

 Chapter 375 Auntie?, An Unexpected Encounter With Another Psychic

    <strong>Day 59 ¨C 2:48 PM ¨C Paseo Verde, Diego Cera Ave, Barangay Png Lupa Uno, Las Pi?as, Metro Man</strong>


    The battle inside the condominiumpound took about fifteen minutes. Not because the enemies put up a good fight, but Mark adjusted the control of his abilities bit by bit.


    If fact, he was not totally in control. He was barely able to avoid going over his limit. It was because the sight of blood spilling from the bodies of the enemies started to stimte his predatorial instincts. He even stared smiling under his armor with glee that could be seen in his eyes as blood sttered unto the ground.


    Right now, he stood with a menacing aura around him while being surrounded by dismembered bodies of the members of Dark Greed. The blood that spilled on the ground together with the despair and pain on the faces of the decapitated heads rolling everywhereplimented his current appearance very well.


    An Armored Devil surrounded by carnage and bloodshed, it was a fitting name for this scene.


    "I can''t return immediately like this."


    Mark said. Something inside him was crying for more blood, but there were no enemies left anymore to kill. He needed to calm himself first before returning. It might just be overthinking. Nevertheless, there was no way he would want to make Mei, and the little girls feel ufortable.


    With that in mind, he decided to free the imprisoned women first. Everyone in the Dark Greed already died. The only ones left were their three leaders. Of course, their current state could not be described as alive either. Without anyone left on their captors, those women would die there. Being imprisoned indefinitely without food or water would be the cause of it.


    Still, there was a chance that they would not die because of that and managed to open their prison on their own. But hordes of infected would have swarmed this ce already by then. Especially since the smell of blood already permeated thepound.


    Mark would be the indirect cause of their deaths. That was not a good thing.


    As such, he pped his wings and shot off towards the higher floors of the main building. He passed by the window and saw several of the women peeking out. It seemed that they had been watching what was happening below.


    When Mark flew near, the women had different expressions. Nevertheless, all of them were scared, except for one person who was staring at him directly, scrutinizing him strictly for some reason.


    He stopped in front of the window abruptly, causing several of the women to stumble backward in fear while some slowly retreated inside. It was except for that same woman who was staring at him without fear.


    "Make way."


    Mark spoke as he slowly transformed his ws into a set of sharp short swords.


    The woman immediately backed off after hearing his words.


    SHING! SHING! CLANG! CLANG! CLANG!


    Mark waved his right arm a few times that caused pieces of metal rebar to fall onto the floor. A few swings and his ws took down the railings blocking the window. There, he flew in.


    Looking around, Mark could not help butmend the taste of Gifre''s group. For sure, every woman imprisoned here was a beauty. Nevertheless, their taste for women widely varied as there were three pregnant women among the group.


    Still, it seemed that aside from their mental and emotional states, their physical states were taken care of properly. In the least, while Dark Greed was greedy, they were not wolves that would toy with people to death. Vem would not have survived to be one of the leaders of this group if that was the case.


    Mark walked past the women shivering in fear and towards the door leading to the hallway. With another few waves of his arm, the door reinforced with metal rebars turned into pieces.


    With this, there was nothing to do here anymore. For sure, these women already knew what to do afterward.


    p He walked back to the window he destroyed and was about to leave. Then, he froze. A new mental connection entered his mind. Normal people would not feel it. However, as he already had several mental connections to the [Blood Children] and Char, he had already been sensitive to it.</anda>


    "Wait!"


    Mark heard a voice. It did not enter his ear though but was directly transmitted into his mind.


    When he turned his head to find where the voice wasing from, his eyes fell on the woman who had been staring at him for this whole time. This time, however, she looked paler and sweat trickled around the curves of her face.


    "Is it you?"


    Mark asked and as he suspected, the woman nodded.


    Around them, however, the other women, other than fear, felt confused as to why Mark suddenly spoke to that woman.


    "I''m sorry formunicating like this." The voice echoed in Mark''s head. "I am mute physically."


    No wonder. Mark now understood why she had been staring at him all this time. She could not speak so she had to connect herself to Mark mentally to be able tomunicate. That would not have been so easy for her though as Mark''s mental abilities were on another level. Because of that, she became tired and pale in a short time.


    Nevertheless, it was a surprise to find someone like her in this ce. Mark was only here to test a few things and harvest a few Mutator abilities. He never thought that he would encounter a Telepath in this ce.


    "What do you want from me?"


    Mark spoke through his mind as well. The woman was surprised at this.


    "Don''t be mistaken, I''m not a Telepath like you. I''m using the link you made tomunicate like this. Just tell me, what do you want."


    Mark asked. He was sure that it was not to save everyone here though as for some reason, this woman did not hold sentiment towards the other women here.


    "Can you please take me with you? You have a group waiting outside, right?"


    "Why? I already opened the door. You all are free to go."


    Despite the fact that this woman being a Telepath already made him interested, he still wanted to know.


    At that question, the woman looked down while ncing at the other women that already started to slip out of the room.


    "They can go together but I don''t think that they will let me join them."


    There was a huge amount of sadness in her eyes. It seemed that despite all of them being prisoners here, she had been outcasted for some reason. The best proof of it was that the other women started to escape not even bothering about her that was doing a staring contest with Mark.


    "Aren''t you afraid that I might also use you like a toy?"


    "I am afraid." Her body shivered the memories of her experiences in this ce shed in her mind. "But I don''t think you are the same as them. You''re eyes exude murder than lust."


    She then raised the already thin rags she was wearing disying her bountiful peaks towards Mark.


    "See, your eyes didn''t even change. In the worst case, you''ll kill me but I don''t think that death will be bad. Of course, I still want to live. You can utilize me any way you want as long as you don''t y with my body. I''m tired of it."<sub> </sub>


    "Aren''t you ashamed of doing that?"


    Mark asked with both a sigh and a frown. Not only she was doing something that she should not do but she was even smiling.


    "Before, maybe..." She replied as she lowered her clothes once more. "But with how many times and many men saw my body and toyed with it, I don''t particrly think anything about it anymore."


    She then beamed with a smile.


    "Maybe, I''m broken already."


    Mark shook his head after seeing that smile. As pity enveloped him, the murder in his eyes and aura started to recede.


    "You''re the very first talkative mute I''ve ever seen."


    He then lowered his body.


    "Climb on my back. I''ll bring you out of this ce."


    "Really? Thank you!"


    She climbed unto Mark''s back without hesitation.


    ***


    With that, Jaeya Agoncillo left the forsaken ce she had been imprisoned with the other women from the Dark Greed''s collection. She took a gamble to survive and now, she was riding on the devil''s back to safety.


    Jaeya was a beautiful woman in her early twenties. She married early and four months ago, she was about to be a mother.


    However, on the way to the hospital for her childbirth, the ambnce got into an ident. In that ident, she lost her voice. But that was not the worst thing. She lost her husband and the son she was about to give birth to. They died in the ident along with the two nurses that were apanying them inside the ambnce.


    She luckily survived without too many injuries but she suffered depression since then.


    The ident caused her to awaken the ability tomunicate through her mind but it really did not help with her mental condition and revealing it would do her worse than good.


    And when the outbreak came, her house was raided, her husband''s parents were killed and she was taken by Dark Greed. Since then, instead of recovering, her mental state became worse.


    Furthermore, since she was a mute, despite her appearance, she was not the preference of the members of Dark Greed. They preferred those who would make arousing noises and those that would plead while toyed with them. Because of that, she gained the ire of the other women imprisoned as they were used more than her.


    Of course, it was not her fault. The other women just wanted to have something to direct their grievances and she was the unlucky one to receive it.


    Amidst the suffering, she snapped. It created the current her. A woman without shame but would do anything to survive.


    In order to survive, she would take any gamble. The gamble she took this time was to show her ability and get a contract with the devil. If she did not, she would surely die early.


    ***


    Marknded back in the temporary encampment of their group. Everyone was surprised to see that Mark in his current form and that he brought someone back.


    As Jaeya came down from his back looking curiously at the people Mark returned to, Mark''s armor slowly turned into liquid and retreated inside his body.


    Then, Mei hurriedly approached Mark with a handkerchief on her hand. She started wiping Mark''s face.


    "Mei''er?"


    Mark was confused.


    "Blood."


    Mei gently wiped the blood that stained his face.


    Hearing that, Mark caressed her head and let her do so. Blood from the people he killed might have slipped into his helmet without him noticing. Since he did not try to absorb anyone''s blood while transformed, it was left to dry on his face under the armor and was exposed after the armor was removed.


    "Master, who is she?"


    Amihan flew near and hid behind Mei while staring at the neer. She was still afraid of strangers though she was curious.


    "Oh, her. A convenient human radio."


    Mark''s reply did not clear anything and blurred the circumstances further.


    Everyone in Mark''s group looked at him in confusion.


    The person in question, however, was not speaking but was instead frozen in ce. She was widely staring at someone.


    That, someone, was also staring at Jaeya.


    Calmly the person waved her hand and spoke.


    "Auntie."


    Abbygale calmly greeted.


    That calm voice of the little girl froze everyone in ce. Especially Mark who brought Jaeya back because of his interest in her Telepathic ability. Who would have thought that something like this would actually happen?


    With the little girl''s greeting as the catalyst, tears flowed out of Jaeya''s eyes as she ran forwards to embrace the little girl.


    Jaeya sobbed silently. Her mouth opened without any voice going out but everyone was sure that she was calling out Abbygale''s name.

 Chapter 376 Returning To Bay City, The Last Help They Will Give The Settlement

    <strong>Day 59 - 3:02 PM - Radial Road 1, La Huerta, Para?aque, Metro Man</strong>


    Mark and the rest were finally returning to Bay City. The previous day, night, and the morning were rather eventful.


    Inside the vehicle, Jaeya sat beside Abbygale. She wanted to hug her niece and make her sit on herp. Unfortunately, the little girl with a nose as sensitive as a cat did not want to. It was because she reeked of bad smell. Analynn only smelled of dirt and sweat, Jaeya''s had a way worse source. It was already good that the little girl did not run away from that.


    Still, it was a surprise that the woman who Mark brought back was actually the blood rtive of the calm little cat girl in their group. Even Mark had not expected the fact.


    To some extent, he could use the mental energies of people around him to judge people who were possibly rtives. These energies and emotional waves had distinct simrities between blood rtives. The simrities grow more substantial as the two people had closer blood ties.


    On Jaeya''s case, however, it was kind of hard to tell.


    Like the individual, herself acknowledged, she had a broken mind. Mark also acknowledged that fact because he could tell how chaotic her state of mind was. It was already good that she was not someone that had gone crazy. Her consciousness was still clear to some extent. There were a few things to watch out though.


    Nevertheless, everyone was shocked when Jaeya started tomunicate with them through their minds. They now understood why Mark brought her back and called her a convenient human radio.


    Although handheld radios were greatmunication tools, these items still had discrepancies. The signal between radios could be greatly affected by environmental factors. A good example just happened recently when Mark and Mei were inside the blood bank.


    With Jaeya''s presence, this issue could be addressed to arge extent. All that was left was further testing on this. She would be a good asset to Mark''s group. It was also very unlikely for her to leave Mark''s entourage considering that her only rtive left saw Mark as her father and Mei as her new mother.


    Right now, Jaeya was feeling down and quietly sat on her seat. She asked Abbygale about her mother which was actually Jaeya''s older sister. Hearing the story from the little girl herself and how she witnessed her mother''s death the Aunt felt sad and confused.


    Sad because her beloved sister was gone and in the most brutal way, to save her daughter. Confused because of how the little girl calmly narrated everything as if what happened had nothing to do with her. The changes her lovely niece had were baffling her.


    However, that state of Jaeya did not take too much time. As her chaotic mind affected her state, she instantly recovered.


    Now, Mark could not help sigh at how his group had two mentally ill patients now.


    ***


    Aside from those things, the rest of their journey went well. The highway had less infected than other areas because of the fences and walls that isted most parts of the highway.


    There were not many events going on, aside from one thing.


    "They are really following us weren''t they?"


    Odelina said as she took a nce at the side mirror of the vehicle.


    There should be just two vehicles and a huge infected in their convoy but about several dozens of meters behind them, another vehicle followed.


    "Just let them be. We have no time to deal with them."


    Mark spoke.


    Those people behind riding the vehicle were not new to him. They were the same women that were imprisoned in that condominium building. It seemed that some of them had their way around that ce and took one of the vehicles that were left behind. By the looks of it, they took the opportunity to use Mark and his group as a shield and guide to follow.


    Nevertheless, those women seemed to not have any idea that the devil their ignored to escape and Jaeya was in this convoy.


    "Why didn''t you help them?"


    Karlene asked.


    "Because there is no point to." Mark shrugged. "We are not some rescue workers or part of the military and police. If they ask me for help, I will want something in return. I''m not asking much, even just some useful information will do."


    Mark then tilted his head.


    "The main problem is unlike Jaeya, they didn''t even ask for my help. Why should I bother?"


    "Alright then..."


    Karlene shrugged her shoulders and epted the reason.


    This, however, made Analynn quite bothered. Not even one person in this group contradicted his answer.


    "We are quite heartless, aren''t we?"


    Mark spoke which made Analynn shiver as it was exactly what was in her mind.


    "We are in the apocalypse right now. Sympathy can get you or the people around you killed. You should have already learned that the hard way."


    That made Analynn look down. He was right. Their sympathy towards other survivors before led to the current state of Emi. It was just her not digesting the fact properly.


    Thinking about this, the people following them were not exactly good people either. To follow behind strangers and use them as a shield to clear the path was not good behavior.


    As Mark said, there was no need to bother with them. Stopping because of them would just be a waste of time.


    ***


    BOOM!


    As they left the highway and closed near Bay City, explosions could be heard along with faint sounds of guns shooting fiercely.


    "Looks like we returned at a bad time."


    Karlene voiced out hearing themotion from afar.


    Because of the noise, Mei climbed unto the sniper dome where she had a higher and clearer vantage point.


    "Mei''er, can you see anything?"


    "No, Gege, were are still too far to see anything. I''m just looking if there are any flying infected around, but there don''t seem to be any."


    "Probably, there''s just ground infected this time. But for the military to use explosives, the number of infected should be quiterge."


    Odelina assessed.


    That should have been an urate assessment of the current situation. It was until...


    "Hmm? What is that?"


    Spera who sat at the front beside Odelina spoke.


    It was because she saw something covered in mes fly up in the air.


    SCREECH!<sub> </sub>


    BAM!


    Odelina kicked on the breaks as the ming figurended in front of them.


    Thending of the figure was quite unsightly. It was obviously humanoid but its hard drop left it in the middle of the road unable to get up.


    Mark went out of the vehicle to check while signaling everyone to stay inside the vehicles including Edward''s group inside the ambnce behind.


    As Mark inspected the figure, however, the figure, despite its crippled legs, it was scrambling towards him.


    This made him frown for different reasons.


    The figure covered in mes was nothing else but a Mutated Infected. Nevertheless, it was just in its initial stages. The most concerning thing were how it was covered...


    With the mes of Gar''m.


    "No, it''s quite off."


    He murmured. There was no sign that the infected was a psychic and the energy that reeked out of its body was rather weak.


    "Don''t tell me..."


    SHING!


    Using m, Mark beheaded the infected and looked forward. This was not the only one but in the distance, several more ming figures were flying towards the direction of the Bay City.


    No, rather than actually flying, they looked more like being tossed away by something.


    Mark entered the vehicle once more.


    "Gege, what is that?"


    Mei immediately asked as she was concerned about the deep frown on Mark''s face.


    "Odel, continue driving and contact the military about the situation."


    Mark ordered the servant first before going back to his seat.


    "Yes, Master."


    "Everyone, ready for should get ready for battle." Mark sat and spoke. "That thing that crashed just now should be infected that were affected by the residual energies with the battle with Auraboros."


    Analynn and Jaeya were confused since they did not know about it but Mark had no time to deal with their confusion. His greatest concern finally happened.


    Both him and Gar''m rather went all out in that battle. The residual and scattered energy around the settlement was rather thick at that time.


    Theck of infected attacks these past days was also suspicious. Now, Mark a theory. Theck of attacks should have been the result of the infected taking in the residual energies and mutating into something else. Since the infected finally finished their initial mutations, they were on the move once more.


    It did not take long to drive on that straight road until they were able to see the walls of Bay City Settlement. Aside from the walls, however, a sea of infected could be seen in front.


    As for the estimated number, there should be several thousands of infected in this area alone. For sure, the other areas had more.


    The most concerning thing was that the infected were all standing and around and were not blindly walking unto the moat in front of the walls. A lot were standing at the edge of the moat but they all stopped there like they knew what was about to happen.


    And the worst part...


    Four meters tall bulky infected were standing here and there among the horde. And their duty, it was to scoop the other infected around them into their hands and throw them into the walls of the settlement. Theserge mutated infected were the once causing the flying infected they saw before.


    Their throws were mostly inurate and messy but it still instilled chaos inside the walls as the infectednded inside the settlement.


    "Miss Odelina, this General Perez. The situation is not optimal."


    As Odelina asked for the current state using the radio mounted in front of her, it was General Perez that personally answered.


    "The settlement is under siege on all sides. When I say, all sides, the Man Bay area is included."


    The initial information Mark''s group received was not good at all.


    It seemed that arge group of infected had appeared around the settlement early this afternoon. The infected came from all directions with [Armor Types] leading the front. An overwhelming number of flying infected were also apparent.


    There was also arge number of what they called [Catapults], the newly seen infected mutation that was apparent in this horde. The [Catapults] were thoserge infected that were throwing other infected around them to attack. They seemed to be impervious to bullets and even rockets could barely damage them.


    The once they called [Burners] also appeared for the first time. They were those infected with mes covering their bodies without their bodies being scorched. This was really strange as they all looked normal infected for the most part.


    From the sea, infected animals, mostly erged aquatic insects, were attacking. Sea spiders even started to climb unto the settlement which the soldiers were pressing hard to suppress.


    Despite the military''s scouts spotting the horde onnd early, they had no choice but to deal with the flying infected first. Even though they managed to kill all the flying infected already, it caused the ground infected to travel towards the settlement easier.


    That led to the current situation.


    "We cannot open the gates currently so please, find a safe ce to settle. At our estimate, we needed to hold out for several hours more before this ends."


    The General added.


    "Master, what are we going to do?"


    Odelina asked as she stopped the vehicle.


    "I already said it." Mark smiled. "Get ready for battle. Mei''er, we''ll go first to survey the area. Odel, you and everyone else wait here and watch out for my instructions."


    Mark then opened the door and jumped out. Mei swiftly followed behind him.


    "We can help them onest time before we leave this ce. They will take care of our friends that will stay behind after all."


    He said before his and Mei''s wings opened and the two of them flew off.


    ***


    "Gege, this attack looks odd."


    Mei spoke while looking at the infected below.


    "I know. Even the military surely noticed. This is not a random attack but an organized one."

 Chapter 377 The Blinding Entry, Luring The Mastermind Into The Open

    <strong>Day 59 - 3:13 PM - Diosdado Macapagal Blvd., Tambo, Para?aque City, Metro Man</strong>


    An organized attack, two words put together forming a dreadful term to call a dangerous event in the apocalypse. Saying that the infected did something like this made it, however, sound more absurd than being scary though. Anyone that would mention such a thing could be mistaken as a crazy person by normal people.


    Nevertheless, no one could deny what was happening at Bay City right now. If it was not an organized attack, there was nothing else that they could call it with.


    [Armor Types] upfront, the infected not trying to fall unto the ditches, and the [Catapults] throwing the other infected into the settlement like there was no tomorrow. It was quite unbelievable to hear, but it was happening.


    Mark and Mei flew around while under the veil of [Optical Camouge]. Flying out in the open would surely cause several consequences. Getting noticed by the infected and had infected being thrown in their direction would be the least of it. It would not be surprising if the panicked soldiers and survivors below started to shoot the two for mistaking them as flying infected.


    Looking below, everything was in chaos.


    The number of infected was overwhelming. With the exception of the Ninoy Aquino International Airport, this was thergest congregation of infected in a single area they had seen. The number of infected might not have reached half a million but it would probably around a hundred thousand or two.


    Compared to the number ofbatants in Bay City, this number was overwhelming.


    The military was right enough to ignore the iing infected on the group and take out the flying infected first. The situation could have gone worse than the current state if that was not the case.


    Nevertheless, it seemed that the number of flying infected before was alsorge. There was panic among the citizens of the tent city and the number of dead bodies lying on the ground wasrge. It was for both the flying infected and survivors it seemed.


    The military already incurred quite an amount of casualties.


    Because of the flying infected, the military had to scatter most of their forces away from the walls. It created the opportunity for the [Catapults] outside to throw infected inside the walls. It created more chaos.


    The infected were being thrown everywhere by about a hundred or more almost invulnerable giants. This was the greatest weakness of the military since their number was notrge enough to cover every inch of the settlement.


    Thus, things had turned into a full-blown war between the infected and the citizens of Bay City.


    ***


    "There''s no way we''ll be able to deal with this immediately."


    Mark murmured as he and Mei pped their wings above the infected at the south side of the settlement.


    He was thinking of making way for his group first and enter the settlement.


    SSSHOOOM!


    BLAM!


    A beam of light shot to the sky from the North District. There was no doubt that even Aimee and Char were participating in the battle and were protecting their current ce to return.


    As Mark felt Char''s connection, it seemed that most of the work to kill the flying infected was done by the dragon. The dragon was already unable to fly from using its mes too much.


    Seeing those beams of light, however, Mark thought of a good idea.


    "Hey, um, bos- ah no. Should I call you Big Brother instead?"


    Suddenly, Jaeya''s voice echoed in Mark''s head.


    "You can call me anything you want, what''s the matter?"


    "Alright then, Big Brother. The women following us suddenly drove of which caused the zombies to notice us. It''s better if you and Sister hurry up. Zombies are already flying towards us."


    While Jaeya was saying that, the situation was already apparent to Mark and Mei. Two [Catapults] already had their backs towards the walls of the settlement and were throwing infected towards the direction of the vehicle. Not only that but the infected started to notice the group and started moving towards them.


    Not far away, they could see the vehicle ridden by the women rushing away not even caring how loud their vehicle was.


    "Better deal with the big ones first."


    Mark frowned.


    "Mei''er, try to shoot one with your sniper rifle."


    "Okay."


    Mei aimed her sniper rifle at the head of the [Catapult] nearest to them and shot. Mark had to assist her as the recoil from the shoot made her flight unstable.


    BANG!


    PANG!


    A metallic sounding impact could be heard as the [Catapult] staggered a bit. Aside from that slight pause, however, and the distraction from the sound of the sniper rifle, the [Catapult] was not affected at all.


    "Gege, no effect."


    "The skin of these guys might be made of thick metal." Mark then noticed something. "Mei''er, try one more time. Aim for the knees this time."


    "Okay."


    Mei nodded and aimed her gun once more. This time, aiming at the same [Catapult] but at its right knee.


    BANG!


    THUD!


    This time, the shot had quite an impact. Blood sttered as the bullet entered its knee and shot through it before hitting the ground. Its bones were also strong but not as sturdy as its skin. A nick was created by the bullet and caused its bones to snap because of its weight.


    The [Catapult] fell on its knee as its body lost support.


    "Good." Mark nodded. "Mei''er, try the shoulder next."


    Mei agreed and the same result happened.


    Mark had noticed that despite the thick and imprable skin of the [Catapults], their movements were not slow at all. A skin that had metallic properties should have made its movements stiff but its steps looked natural and the swing of its arms was fast and wide.


    No wonder the soldiers were having a hard time dealing with the [Catapults]. The standard way to kill an infected was to destroy its brain. It did not work on these giants, however, due to their thick skin that covered their heads and body that could even withstand an explosion from a rocketuncher.


    There was also no way to urately aim their rockets on the arms and legs of the [Catapults] for greater damage at that distance. It would be good if the military could utilize their tanks but there was no way to get the tanks up the walls.


    Knowing now what to do, Mark and Mei disabled the two [Catapults] going after their group and told them to deal with the remaining infected. There, Mark and Mei entered the settlement and looked for the General.


    ***


    Mark and Mei found the General who was personally leading the fight at the eastern walls of the settlement. This was the worst ce to be as there was no moat in this part to separate the settlement from the infected. Thergest number of infected was in this area too.


    The twonded near the General and disabled the [Optical Camouge].


    The soldiers were surprised seeing the two suddenly appear and aimed their guns. However, the soldiers around the General were the elites. The chances of them panic shooting was lower than other soldiers. They immediately recognized the two and lowered their guns. Still, the surprise in their faces was apparent.<sub> </sub>


    "Mark, Mei, what are you two doing here?"


    The General eximed trying to hide the stress that was apparent on his face before Mark and Mei appeared.


    "Our team needs to enter. We need your permission to open the gates."


    Mark went straight to his goal. Although calling through the radio was possible, it would be easier to convince the General bying personally.


    "You two know that I would like to do that. But you should have seen the number of infected there. We can''t lower the bridge and open the gate unless you can open a path for entry there."


    Mark then smirked.


    "You don''t have to worry about the way. Just open the gates."


    Seeing that smirk, the General was convinced.


    "You have a way?"


    "Of course we do."


    "Alright, I can''t leave this post right now. Sir Lopez, please oversee their entry."


    The General turned to Major Lopez.


    "Yes, General."


    The old major saluted.


    ***


    As time was of the essence, Mark brought the Major along using his [Shadow Mist Movement]. The three soon appeared at the southern wall surprising the soldiers there but that did not matter. Everyone prepared to open the gates as instructed.


    "Jaeya, can you hear me?"


    Mark spoke while staring at the air which made the soldiers around confused.


    "Big Brother, loud and clear!"


    "How is the situation there."


    "Your team is the best! The zombies can''t evene close to the cars!"


    Jaeya eximed.


    "Alright, tell Odel to get everyone ready. I''ll open a path between the infected. Just drive through and the gates will open at the same time."


    "Okay good!"


    With that cue, everyone in the southern walls could see two vehicles and strange enough, a monster being ridden by a fat man could be seen approaching the sea of infected at high speeds. As the road goes straight to the drawbridge and the gates, the only thing getting on the way was the horde.


    At that moment, Mark raised his hand facing the infected outside. A crystal floated in front of his palm glowing with all its might.


    SHOORM!


    A ball of light appeared and grewrger andrger further in front of the crystal.


    Mark then nodded at the Major as a signal to start lowering the bridge and opening the gates.


    At the right timing...


    SHOOOM!


    The ball of light shined in splendor as arge beam of light shot forward.


    It caused everyone around to cover their eyes due to brightness.


    The light onlysted about a second or two and everyone turned back at the scene in front.


    All they saw were burnt corpses that had iplete bodies littered the sides of the road. The road was even scorched a bit and smoke was emitted due to the heat.


    As for the middle of the road between the gates and the vehicles in front, there was nothing anymore. All that was left were ashes that started to be blown away by the wind.


    BAM!


    The drawbridge connected with the other side and the vehicles drove through at the same time. There were infected that immediately tried to fill the gap but then, needles shot from the sides of the ck vehicle. The infected stopped in their tracks as their bodies started to fester and rot into putrid liquid. A few [Catapults] were no exception.


    "Yeah! We made it!"


    Jaeya''s voice echoed in the mind of those she connected her mind to. It seemed she was enjoying the suspenseful ride. The guys in the ambnce were about to die in fear though. Their hearts were almost unable to contain their feelings.


    "Well, I won''t be able to use this for a few days I guess."


    Mark grasped the [Photokinesis Mental Crystal] that entirely lost its shine. It waspletely drained of its energy.


    Nevertheless, it seemed that his goal of making his team enter first was not only fulfilled but his other goat came into fruition.


    Mark turned his head in a certain direction.


    "Found you."


    He smiled.


    With thatrge amount of Psychic energy being released. It would surely alert the infected. Especially the mutated ones and more importantly, the one behind this mess.


    ***


    At the roof of the building behind the horde, a man stood. He was wearing rags and was covered in blood. He totally looked like an infected. However, he also looked different.


    His skin was not as pale as the infected and looked no different from a human. The color of his eyes, however, it was pitch ck. There was no way to tell where his iris and pupil were. It was all ck.


    The most noticeable thing, however, his body was releasing an ominous ck aura that could make anyone feel that this aura could swallow them whole.


    Under his breath, it was not just an inhuman growl.


    "Queen... Find..."

 Chapter 391 The Glow At The Lake, The Nighttime Hunting Ground

    <strong>Day 66- 6:22 PM - Circumferential Road 6, Napindan, Taguig, Metro Man</strong>


    It was the first night of their journey. Unlike how it was in Bay City Settlement, everything in the surroundings looked-like something to be feared.


    Without living people, there was no electricity. There were no lights in the streets, no lights in the houses nearby, and no lights in everything theynded their sights on. If not for the moon that was faintly illuminating the surroundings, the pitch-ck darkness of the night might have enveloped everything.


    For the night, they chose a supposed vehicle trade building, as it turned out, this detail in the map was already outdated.


    Yes, the vehicle trade business existed. Still, most of the area around turned out to be severalmercial buildings.


    Fortunately, this made it easier to secure the ce.


    There were three main buildings, two of which were two long single floor buildings built to amodate two rows of business establishments. The two buildings faced each other with a wide roofed area in between to serve the customers.


    Another good thing was that the roofs of the two buildings were mostly t, which made it easier to traverse while giving the guards on duty a better viewpoint.


    There was a wall securing the whole ce, but it was not that secure. The walls might be sturdy but were built temporarily. Some parts had already fallen, probably because of the infected. Still, it became uplicated with existing walls to work on, especially when Mark and the [Blood Children] were the ones working on it.


    Of course, it was while ignoring the green-haired girl tagging along while watching the [Blood Children] with glittering eyes. Still, Mark did not let anyone see that the [Blood Children] were creating [Blood Metal], not even Emika. To everyone, it only looked like they were tying up the temporary walls with something like a metal cable.


    Scouring the ce, they found it strange that the area was entirely untouched even though there were very few infected around. All in all, they found about twenty infected inside, either wandering the ce or trapped inside the stores. Only three of them were mutated ones and the mostmon kind.


    Then, inside one of the stores, they found a sad scene. Three decaying corpses were inside, by the looks of it, none of them were infected. Using their clothes, it should have been three women who managed that store. They all died while holding the hands of each other. With the presence of a box of rat poison and pellets of it scattered on the floor, it was not hard to imagine what happened.


    Unfortunately, the soldiers would not be able to give these poor people a proper burial. The area was unfamiliar, and the dangers around should not be underestimated. In the end, they could only clean the corpses along with the killed infected. All the cleaning fell unto Logan.


    Fortunately, Aephelia was used to seeing dead bodies and was able tomand Logan with precise instructions. Unlike Amihan, who was still quivering at the sight of decaying corpses.


    ***


    Night fell not too long after. Everyone had an early dinner and decided to sleep, leaving those in guard duty outside.


    While the soldiers and their families took the business establishments to camp in, Mark''s group took the third building that had three floors. Actually, it was just two since the third floor seemed to be still under construction when the outbreak started.


    Since they still have a very early morning tomorrow, everyone decided to sleep early like the others. Of course, everyone aside from Mark.


    Although he pretended to sleep, he was still awake. He opened his eyes once he was sure that everyone else already entered their dream world. There was no need for anyone to stand guard for them as Char, Gifre, and Logan could alert them once danger came. Even Aimee, who stayed inside the [Exceed: Disintegrator Fortress], was sensitive to the infected and would be able to detect them if they came too close.


    That was also the problem, aside from Char, the three were only sensitive towards the infected. The three were supposed to be infected, that was why they were able to detect their kind. However, as the three were not the usual infected, theycked something that normal infected had, the instinct for searching the living.


    Char, on the other hand, could detect enemies on certain conditions. The most prominent one was the smell of flesh and blood. This enormous lizard was a carnivore, after all.


    Laps and Fein were also here to help with detecting enemies. A dog''s nose was very good, while an insect''s instinct for survival was high.


    As for Mark, he could detect almost any living thing as long as they emit emotional fluctuations.


    With all of them around, any form of danger would not be able toe close undetected.


    However, it did not mean that they could lower their guards, especially when Mark could tell that there were a lot of things outside, waiting for night to fall.


    The soldiers actually wanted to set up spotlights, which could help in detecting and defending the ce. However, Mark stopped them. Not only that it would attract unwanted attention, but, it could also call forth danger.


    Being careful not to wake up anyone, Mark stepped out of the building unto the unfinished third floor.


    "Si-"


    "Shhh..."


    A few soldiers on the watch saw Mark and wanted to greet, but Mark shushed them.


    Nevertheless, Mark knew why. Even 1st Lieutenant Baller was here.


    Mark went down to where the soldiers were.


    "How is it?"


    Mark asked.


    Almost everyone was looking at the direction of theke while being careful not to make too much sound.


    "Sir, we don''t know what is happening. We wanted to call you out but you said not to since your pets will know if there is danger. Since they don''t seem to be responding, we concluded that there is no danger yet."


    The 1st Lieutenant reported.


    "Good. I just came out since I noticed the disturbance, but you all should calm down. There''s no danger yet."


    Mark replied.


    Currently, a glow could be seen at theke in the distance. At the sea, a phenomenon like this was a normal, but rare, urence due to algae. In thiske, however, there were no precedent events like this. For sure, the existence of Mutagen had something to do with it.


    Mark could faintly feel what the cause was, however. Whatever that thing that was glowing under theke, it was trying to draw insects towards it using the light it was emitting.


    "All of you, stay here. I''ll investigate. Just prepare for skirmish since we don''t know what it is."<sub> </sub>


    Mark instructed.


    "Yes, Sir."


    The soldiers saluted with a low voice.


    Opening his wings, Mark flew towards theke.


    Around, the area, he could feel insects, mutated or not, were traveling towards theke. It was not surprising since the wide vacant area behind the resting point was actually filled with ricefields. The rice crops were already destroyed though. However, it became the best nest for insects.


    Reaching theke, he saw that the light formed arge circle near the edge of theke. Around the area were filled with water hyacinths. And... A ratherrge one was at the center of the circle of light.


    The water hyacinth at the center was reallyrge. The smallest of its leaves had about the size of a human torso with thergest ones with a span of a meter or more. There was also the cluster of flowers and its stalk which was about two meters high.


    The source of the light was therge cluster of flowers.


    While observing the giant nt from above, Mark saw a mutated giant cockroach trying to approach the cluster ofrge flowers. It flew low over the glowing water of theke. Then... It was caught.


    A thick pointed stick spurt out of the water piercing the body of the cockroach. As the cockroach died, Mark saw several insect-like arms grab it and dragged it underwater.


    And that scene was not the first andst one. As more insects came towards the flower, more of them suffered the same fate. The sizes of the pointed sticks and insect arms were not the same either as some of them were smaller orrger than the rest.


    "So, this is a night hunting ground."


    Mark murmured.


    It seemed that whatever these hunters underwater were used those flowers to lure their prey. Of course, he could be mistaken and those creatures underwater might actually be protecting the flower.


    While Mark watched the unusual sight below, he suddenly felt danger. He swayed his body to the side. At the same time, arge burst of water happened below as arge thing flew out of the water. With a buzzing sound, therge silhouette passed where he was positioned before.


    Since its prey managed to dodge, the assant turned around in a curve and charged towards Mark once more.


    However, as Mark already saw the attacking, Mark prepared to strike it down. He dodged the next attack and then flew at the same speed beside it.


    Finally, since he was flying at the same speed, he saw what this creature was.


    Belostomatidae,monly known as a Water Bug. At least, that was how Mark judged it. Mark could not find out its specific name though as it had already mutated far from its original appearance.


    Not only that it wasrge, about the size of an adult human, but its legs also had sharp protrusions and there was a long pointed horn above its head.


    The insect seemed to hate that its prey was flying beside it


    and it attacked with its long pair of hind legs.


    Of course, Mark dodged it and started to fly away while provoking the insect. Mark could not tell whether provoking it would have an effect as its intelligence was not existent. However, as it already saw Mark as prey, it still chased.


    He wanted to lure it away. Although Water Bugs were not known as social insects, Mark could not gamble it. Many things could change with their mutation and the fact that these water bugs were hunting together could tell otherwise.


    As they reached an area quite far from the hunting ground, Mark knocked it down. He sent a burst of ck mist that immediately entered its head causing it to fall unconscious and fell to the ground. Since they were already going home, it would not be a bother to bring something like this alive. If Annica could tame this, it would be better. Mark could not do it since this thing had a low intelligencepared to Char.


    Mark returned to the resting point while surprising the soldiers. Who would not be if he brought back arge thing?


    BUZZ!


    Then, buzzing sounds could be heard from theke.


    Everyone keeping watch stiffened. Mark also frowned.


    It seemed like the number of insects going towards the flower was not enough. The water bugs decided to hunt onnd.


    Mark immediately issued orders.


    "Lieutenant, abandon the lookout and lock the buildings. We should be fine as long as those insects don''t find us. Leave the guard duty to this time."


    "Alright." 1st Lieutenant Baller nodded. "Men, you heard that. Go!"


    Seeing them go, Mark stealthily woke up Aephalia.


    Since Char and Gifre could be easily seen from outside, they needed to move them between the buildings where there was a roof. In the least, unless the waterbugs flew down to chek, the tworge beings would not be seen.


    Mark just wished that nothing bad would happen tonight. In the worst case, he would lure these insects away.


    ''How about killing all of them...''


    Mark thought at first, then, he shook his head.


    He had better ideas as he etched this ce in his mind.


    Of course, he had something to do tomorrow though. Something that these insects would surely hate.

 Chapter 379 The Aerial Battle, Two Versus An Army Of Flying Infected

    <strong>Day 59 - 3:25 PM - Bayview International Towers, Roxas Blvd., Baran, Para?aque City, Metro Man</strong>


    ck shadows filled the sky around the condominiumplex. Most of them were either infected birds or erged insects while there were humanoid ones here and there. Aside from being capable of flight, these infected were all hybrid types for sure. Different things could be seen on each one of their bodies. Some looked familiar while some looked new.


    Nevertheless, it was a frightening army of infected. More terrifying than the several tens of thousands of infected below where most of them were normal Biters and Eaters. Especially since the one at the center of the flying army was a four-meter tall quad-winged humanoid.


    It looked like a gigantic infected with moth wings on its back. Just the two pairs of wings alone looked threatening enough by everyone''s eyes with its red color and ominous-looking patterns.


    Slowly, the infected gathered above and around their king.


    ***


    "Mei''er, you should retreat. Let me handle this."


    Mark said as he pulled Mei back and take some distance from the infected.


    Nevertheless, it seemed like she had a different idea.


    "No." Mei looked straight into Mark''s eyes. "Let me fight with you."


    Mark looked at her serious eyes. There was no need to ask. He could feel how determined she was to fight at his side.


    "Alright then." Mark smiled. "Get ready. Just shout the word."


    "Do I really have to?"


    Mei looked embarrassed.


    "I won''t let you fight here if not. The current armor you have won''t be enough for this fight."


    "But do I really have to shout that?"


    "Yep, it''s more like amand. Don''t worry, let''s shout it together."


    Mei was still reluctant but the enemy would not wait for too long. She looked at Mark''s yful expression and nodded.


    "GRAAAHHHH! Kill! Queen! FIND!"


    The king finallymanded his army.


    Without dy, the army of flying infected charged forward. Their targets were no one else but Mark and Mei.


    Seeing the infecteding, Mark smirked.


    "One... Two... Three..."


    He counted.


    ""Armorize!!!""


    The two shouted.


    As the two shouted, gtinous threads surrounded their bodies.


    The threads that surrounded Mark''s body came out of nowhere apanied by Miasma. On the other hand, the threads that surrounded Mei came from the bag she carried.


    These threads came no other than Crimson and Oracle. Crimson was always with Mark hidden in the shadows while Oracle was with Mei most of the time.


    The two were the first ones to receive their upgrades from Mark''s blood with the exception of Miracle. With the upgrade, the blood metal created from their bodies became stronger. Furthermore, their ability to turn their bodies into [Blood Metal] and vice versa were hastened greatly.


    With Mark''s idea, the two received two armor designs from Mark''s mind. These designs would not only turn their bodies into metal without dying out but would also let the two fight together with Mark and Mei.


    As Mark and Mei shouted, the threads turned into armor covering their bodies.


    Mark had an armor that was almost pitch ck containing the color of miasma. It looked like a devilish armor different from his berserk armor.


    Mei''s armor contradicted his entirely. It was a crystal valkyrie armor that had a matching helmet for her.


    The only thing simr to the two armors were the bulged dome over their hearts. These domes contained the remaining parts of Crimson and Oracle that did not turn into metal. This way, it would be easy for the two [Blood Children] to remove the armor and they would be protected by the Mark and Mei.


    Seeing the sudden change of appearance by his enemies, the [King Type] was confused. Nevertheless, its goal was never changed. Kill the enemies in front, destroy the settlement of humans, and more importantly, find the Queen.


    "Here theye."


    Mark pulled m and mes burst on the de of the cursed sword.


    Mei also readied her self and aimed her submachine guns at the enemies.


    SHOOM!


    Mark''s wings then glowed red. He pped his wings causing a shockwave behind aiming to sh with the enemies. Mei stayed behind and timed Mark''s movements.


    RATATATATATATA!


    With those loud rhythmic sounds, Mei opened fire.


    From behind, Mark heard the shots but he ignored the sounds.


    Pew! Pew! Pew! Pew!


    Mark heard the bullets Mei fired passed around him. He was not fazed. None of the bullets hit him as he continued forwards. The bullets bypassed his speed and hit the smaller infected insects in front.


    SHHAAAA!!!


    An infected ignited in mes as the cursed sword split its waist in half. Mark started shing the infected he passed by. As the sword passed by the bodies of infected, Mark added a burst of mes causing their bodies to catch fire. One by one, the bodies enveloped in mes fell down to the ground below.


    GRAAAAHHH!!!


    The [King Type] roared.


    With that loud roar, the movements of the army of flying infected changed. They started to avoid Mark who was charging in the middle of the army. Like bees, half of the infected scattered outwards in unison and was aiming for Mei who was flying steadily behind. The only ones left behind to intercept Mark was the four-meter giant and the other half of the infected.


    SHOOM!


    Mark''s wings glowed brighter and pped hard as his back faced the infected flying above him. The shockwave caused the infected to lose bnce and started to swerve uncontrobly in the air. With that p, Mark charged faster towards the giant while reducing the number of infected going towards Mei.


    Seeing therge number of flying infecteding towards her, Mei did not panic. She pped her wings and charged forwards instead of retreating. At the same time, she did not stop shooting her guns.


    Finally, Mei was on the reach of the army in front of her. Then, dozens of acidic spits were shot towards her from the infected insects while the infected humanoids tried to grab her.


    Then, she was gone.


    The acidic spits flew straight to the ground with nothing to catch the attacks on its paths. Even the other infected lost their targets.


    RATATATATA!


    The sounds of guns echoed once more. The insects that used acids to attack had their heads exploded. Following the sounds, the infected turned around just to see that their target d in crystal armor was already behind them.


    BLINK! RATATATATATA!


    BLINK! RATATATATATA!


    Since then, Mei started appearing and disappearing while leaving a barrage of bullets aside from the time she needed to reload her guns.


    On the other side...


    CLANG!<sub> </sub>


    Mark unleashed a swift sh on the giant. Nevertheless, it was not harmed at all. Its skin was very likely to be thicker and stronger than the [Catapults].


    To counter-attack, the giant swung its right arm outwards aiming a backhand p at Mark.


    POOF!


    Mark vanished leaving a trail of ck mist that swiftly flew around the giant.


    CLANG!


    Another sh was unleashed by Mark. This time, he was aiming at the wings of the giant which looked fragile enough. To his dismay, the seemingly weak moth wings sounded like metal too. He even added a ball of me to envelope the wings on mes.


    Then, the mes were extinguished. At the same time, Mark retreated. It was because the mes were extinguished as the metallic scales of the wings started to scatter around like harmful spores.


    "This is annoying."


    Mark frowned as he shed two more infected that closed unto him. Furthermore, the number of infected barely lessened.


    "Hey m, are you really this dull?"


    Markined which caused the cursed sword to vibrate fiercely. It obviously disagreed with Mark''s question. There was no way it was dull, the infected they were fighting right now was just too sturdy.


    FLAP!


    With the p of itsrge wings, the giant chased after Mark. It then shot a punch at Mark with itsrge fist.


    Mark tilted his body evading the punch. He then vanished into smoke and appeared several meters away.


    The glow on his wings intensified even more. It already glowing as if it was about to burst into mes. Aside from his wings, his eyes and right foot started glowing.


    BOOM! CRASH!


    Mark pped his wings causing arge explosion of air behind which destroyed the windows of the opposite building.


    Using that momentum, Mark disappeared. The next thing that the giant infected knew, Mark was already in front of it with his right foot on contact with its chest.


    BAM!


    The loud metallic sound was heard as the infected giant received the impact of Mark''s kick.


    BOOM! CRASH!


    From the impact of the kick, the giant was thrown backward causing it to crash on the condominiumplex. The crash caused the building to quake as the giant was thrown deep into the building.


    Nevertheless, it might be stuck for now but it was still not dead.


    "I''ll deal with youter."


    Mark murmured as he flew towards Mei who was still entangled with half of the flying army.


    Mei''s [Bullet Time] might help her conserve ammunition as she was able to aim clearly. However, it did not mean that all the shots she had could kill. Among the flying infected were [Armor Types] which was not something that could be handled by low caliber submachine guns. There was also no room for her to aim with her sniper rifle as not only it would make her flight unstable but there were also too many enemies around her.


    RATATATATA!


    Mei continued to unleash a barrage of bullets taking down those she was able to kill.


    Mark also appeared at her side shing everything in his path.


    ***


    About five minutester.


    Mark frowned while Mei panted.


    Just how many had they killed already?


    It might already be around two hundred but it was still not enough. Not only that more than half of the army of flying infected was still present but the ones left were those that were harder to deal with.


    The infected continued to swarm the two and even started to adapt. With the [King Type]''s control, they started to avoid the attacks Mark and Mei did which caused the two to spend more time.


    Looking at the rooftop of the condominiumplex, he locked eyes with the [King Type] who was totally infuriated. Of course, Mark could not feel any emotional fluctuation from the infected but it still looked like it.


    "GRAAHHH!!"


    It roared.


    This time, the flying infected went berserk. It seemed that even the [King Type] was getting impatient. With its instigation, the flying infected started to fly faster and became stronger. Like flies, they started to swarm the two in an erratic manner.


    RUMBLE!


    The condominiumplex shook and arge part of it started to copse. It revealed the giant moth-winged infected in a berserk state. With a p of its wings that scattered silvery scales, it rushed towards Mark and Mei.


    They were surrounded.


    Then...


    ROAR!!!


    SHOOOOM!!!


    Two unexpected sounds were heard.


    Mark smiled however as he heard those sounds.


    Reinforcements hade.


    From the settlement, arge lizard could be seen flying towards the battle while a beam of light was shot from the walls.


    Nevertheless, the reinforcements would not make it. The giant flew faster than the other infected and was already closing in.


    "Mei''er, we''ll fly up."


    Mark spoke and grabbed Mei''s right arm.


    The two then shot upwards using their abilities to alternately.


    From all the infected, the giant was the only one that managed to keep pace.


    Finally, the two reached a height that the air started to thin and the buildings below looked like toys. Just quite a distance more and they would be able to touch the clouds. The air current was also getting stronger.


    "Mei''er, I''ll go first and wee the reinforcements with a bang. Follow me shortly."


    "Okay."


    The two smiled at each other before looking down at the iing enemy.


    There, Mark''s body started to glow red from his blood vessels. Mei took a distance as Mark''s wings glowed red once more.


    BOOM!


    A shockwave that even disturbed the clouds echoed in the area.


    Mark then shot downwards to sh with the iing giant.

 Chapter 380 Going Even Further Beyond, The Rising Morale And Fighting The King

    <strong>Day 59 - 3:28 PM - South District, Bay City Settlement, Para?aque City, Metro Man</strong>


    The swarm of flying infected outside the settlement took the attention of almost everyone inside the south district. They already thought that thebined forces of the military and the survivors already killed them all. It was fortunate that the infected being thrown over the walls were lessened considerably. If not, their attention being split could cause fatal consequences.


    They were thankful that these infected did not seem to have the aim to attack the settlement. At least, not currently. It was because the army of flying hybrid infected was entangled with two winged and armored figures.


    The battle in the sky was intense that those were free and those that were positioned in rtively safer areas could not help but watch. Furthermore, the disy of the armored figures dealing with the flying infected army and the gigantic flying infected left everyone in awe.


    From the sky, the corpses of the flying infected fell one by one. When the ck-armored figure kicked the gigantic infected into the building, everyone watching yelled and cheered.


    Slowly, their fear started to transform into hope. The two people in the sky were dealing with the army of flying infected on their own. Just what were they doing below? Why were they struggling with such measly ground lurking and almost incapacitated infected?


    Their blood began to boil. The exhrating battle in the sky started to affect their minds and hearts.


    RAAAHHHH!!!


    Who was it that shouted?


    Where did that shout filled with vigor and fighting intent came from?


    No one knew the answers to those questions but one thing was for sure. That shout started it.


    Coming out from their hiding spots, the scared survivors took what they could use as weapons. Some took picked up the guns of the fallen soldiers and survivors from the ground. The scene immediately became chaotic. Nevertheless, they were all now working for a single goal.


    As the first ones came out, the others started to follow. Like how being infected was highly contagious, the current vigor everyone had was the same.


    They only had one ce to call home now. Living here might be hard and everyone was feeding off from the hands of the military. Nevertheless, they had nowhere else to go. Once this ce fell, a lot of them would fall together with it. Those could be their families, their friends, their lovers, or someone they just knew.


    Those things, they wanted to prevent it from happening. Hiding behind others would not do to. They had to step forward by themselves.


    ROAAR!!!


    The familiar roar was heard as they saw the rumored dragon. It was the dragon that helped to thwart a lot of the first flying infected.


    As they saw the dragon join the fray once more, their hearts felt even more ted.


    Not only the dragon but another group ofbatants could also be seen rushing towards the southern walls. They were no other than the rest of the group of "Team Fairy". There was even the huge woman with tentacles with them that was already shootingsers at the flying horde as she slithered forward.


    The morale of the people inside the settlement rose rapidly. They charged towards every infected they saw and mobbed them to death. The scared people started to forget the feeling of fear they had before.


    ***


    <strong>Day 59 - 3:29 PM - North District, Bay City Settlement, Pasay City, Metro Man</strong>


    On contrary to the situation in the south district, the north district was struggling.


    It was because, in this ce, only the ones affiliated with the military, the VIPs and government were settled. The unity was almost none existent as most the politicians and businessmen kept their hired people around them to protect them. As such, the hands needed here was not enough.


    RAAAHHHH!!!


    Those that were living close to the south district suddenly heard loud cheering and vigorous shouting.


    When they checked, they saw the positive chaos happening at the south district.


    At the government official''s residences, many among the stationed private soldiers saw the samemotion. They saw how the should be nobatants vigorously fought.


    Inside the residence of a congressman, some of the hired mutators watched the scene from the window.


    "What idiots. They could just hide and wait it out till the military sort everything out."


    The captain of the group ridiculed. He did not notice that the young ones of their group were looking at him sternly.


    Looking back at the people in the south district, one of the young ones could not help it anymore.


    "Nils, where are you going?"


    The captain asked as he saw the young man started to walk towards the door.


    Hearing their captain''s stern voice, the young man stopped. Nevertheless, he did not want to face their captain anymore.


    "Sorry captain. I am not a cold and heartless bastard like you."


    The young man then removed the badge that indicated his group and threw it on the floor.


    "Nils! What are you-"


    The captain did not finish what he was about to shout as he became speechless. Three more men followed behind Nils and threw their badges on the floor.


    "Everyone, are you sure about this?"


    Nils asked the others that followed behind him.


    "Well, there''s use asking that now, right?"


    One of them smirked.


    With that, the group of hot-blooded young men stormed the streets killing every infected they saw.


    They were not the only ones. There were others.


    Their numbers may not be too many, their participation slowly turned the tide in the north district.


    ***


    At the northern walls, Nia and Allen finally revealed themselves to the public. Furthermore, they were fighting alongside the young driad and her spriggan little brother. The four were busy fighting the infected that made it to the walls while also maintaining the situation as best as they could.


    Then, they heard themotion inside the north district.


    The private army hired by the government officials and the VIPs joined the fray.


    "Just what in the world is going on?"


    Not only the four of them but the soldiers and other mutators started to wonder.


    Then...


    BOOOOOOMM!!!


    From where they stood, they heard a loud sound. The source of the sound could not be told whether it was an explosion or not. Nevertheless, it was not hard to see where it came from.


    As they could not see it clearly, Emika and Mikio used their abilities to create a rampart raise them high with Nia and Allen. It was quite dangerous but they wanted to see what was happening.


    There, they finally witnessed.


    Dust and debris scattered from far away as they saw the condominiumplex of Bayview crumbling into pieces.


    ***


    <strong>Day 59 - 3:31 PM - Airspace, Baran, Para?aque City, Metro Man</strong>


    Mark charged downward leaving Mei up in the sky. He was aiming for the gigantic infected below.


    His wings created shockwaves as it pped. However, it was not enough.


    The veins in his body glowed along with his eyes. Adding adrenaline to the mix which he circted all over his body, blood started to seep out of them and transformed.<sub> </sub>


    As his whole body transformed, his predatorial instinct started to awaken. Nevertheless, it was still not enough.


    As such... He disappeared into a puff of smoke and entered his created subspace. Inside that subspace that could double or even triple his speed, he continued to charge downward. The moment he exited the subspace, he was moving even faster.


    Still, he felt that it was not enough.


    Once, twice, trice... he disappeared and reappeared repeatedly. Each interval was shorter as he gained several times more speed.


    There was nothing that could be seen anymore from him but a slight ck blur.


    Mark could not hear anything anymore. The resistance from the wind started to make him feel burning. His skin started to be reddish. Nevertheless, he was not stopping. He even elerated further. As they said...


    "Go even further beyond."


    The giant then stopped midair. It seemed that its instincts told it how dangerous it was to continue upwards.


    It tried to fly away leaving itsrades and defying the will of their king below them.


    However, it was alreadyte.


    "PLUS ULTRA!"


    A shout was heard.


    BAAAMMMM!!!


    The giant lost stability in the air as it felt a heavy impact on its back which even dented his metallic winds and skin. And it did not end there...


    SWWOOOOM!!!


    Mark''s wings pped faster and started to push the giant down along with him. They traveled at a speed that their figures could not be seen clearly.


    And then...


    Mark looked at the blurry surroundings and saw a glimpse of the top of the building where the [King Type] resided. He smiled despite the pain he was feeling in his creaking body.


    Metallic scales fluttered in the surroundings creating an effect of a meteor falling.


    BOOOOOOMMM!!!


    Mark and the giant crashed unto the roof of the condominiumplex like a meteor.


    Rooftop, twentieth floor, neenth floor...


    Floor by floor, Mark and the giant created holes on the floors of the building.


    Until the two crashed unto the ground floor creating arge crater.


    It had dents on its skin but the giant was intact. At least in the outside. Inside its skin, everything already turned into mush.


    Mark, on the other hand, felt pain all over his body. Nevertheless, it was not the time to bother with it.


    He grabbed the lifeless giant by its neck and vanished into a puff of smoke onest time. They left the crater empty and made it out as the whole building started to copse.


    Gray smoke crated from falling debris and scattered dust covered the area. The copse was rather strong as it created a small tremor that affected the nearby buildings.


    Outside the vicinity of the copse, the ck smoke waved away and Mark appeared. He threw the giant on the ground and looked behind him.


    There, a figure d in ck aura came out of the cloud of dust looking at Mark with sinister eyes.


    It was no other than the [King Type].


    Mark smiled. His transformation was not undone by the pain he was feeling. Instead, the pain started to stimte his predatorial senses further.


    He was in pain, he wanted to release the pain in his body.


    BOOM! BOOM!


    Two explosive sounds were heard.


    Mark disappeared from his spot as he kicked the ground. Nevertheless, the [King Type] seemed to have the same idea.


    BAM!


    The fists of the two shed.


    GRAAAHHH!!!


    Unfortunately, the [King Type] was at a disadvantage.


    It was not injured but it was pushed backward and slid its feet on the ground. Unlike normal infected, it was sure steady on its feet.


    Nevertheless, it was not the real attack.


    He appeared to the side of the [King Type]. His eyes ring red and his mouth shaped like a crescent moon with his smile.


    A kick was unleashed on its stomach.


    BOOM!


    The [King Type] flew backward for about a dozen meters before crashing unto another building causing ss and pieces of furniture to fly around.


    Mark thennded. He walked towards the building with deep breathes. Control, that was what he needed. He wanted to capture this infected. In the least, he wanted to know who was the queen this guy was looking for. If he lost control, he would probably end up killing it.


    He looked above and saw Char swooping towards Mei to let her ride on its back. Thesers also kept firing which meant that Aimee was already by the south district to help.


    As the remaining flying infected were being dealt with, the only one left was the [King Type].


    Nevertheless...


    The fight was not over yet.


    GRAAAAAHHHH!!!


    A loud roar came from the building and a figure came out.


    Of course, it was the [King Type] who was not only unscathed. It was even emitting a more dangerous aura.


    THROB! THROB!


    Its body started throbbing. The muscles on its body started to growrger, sturdier and stronger.


    Soon, the normal sized infected turned into a two-meter muscled infected.


    It red at Mark with an unhidden desire to tear him from limb to limb.


    "Human... No..." It spoke in a deep voice. "Not... Human... Still... DIE!!!"


    BAM!


    It kicked the ground and leaped forward leaving a meter wide crater in front of the building.

 Chapter 381 The Dance Of Flames, Dismembering The Infected King

    <strong>Day 59 - 3:34 PM - Roxas Blvd, Baran, Para?aque City, Metro Man</strong>


    The battle outside the walls of the settlement was an intense one. No, calling it as just intense was not enough as the non-humans battled against each other.


    It was the battle of Mark, the one deemed as unknown by three deity-like beings, and the king of the infected reigning over more than a hundred thousand infected.


    Just the battle in their area alone made the battle between the army of infected and the forces of Bay City Settlement pale inparison. Thetter only had numbers while the former had strength. Of course, it was not that the forces of Bay City Settlement or the infected horde were weak. They were strongpared to the normal level. It was just Mark and the Infected King was far more inhumane.


    ***


    At the sky, Mei and Char teamed up to deal with the flying infected. With the dragon''s help and letting Mei ride on its back, she had a more stable footing and was able to do more attacks. She did not have to worry about the recoil of the sniper rifle causing her to lose bnce or not being able to maneuver properly.


    It had not been long since Mei gained her wings. Unlike other Mutators that were able to create des of bones, transform to enhance their bodies, or just their mutations changing their body structure, gaining wings was like having another pair of arms. She was able to fly and maneuver to an amazing degree but a suddenpse in her concentration could cause her to lose bnce. It was the reason she relied too much on her [Force Blink].


    Now that she was on Char, although her line of sight became limited, she was able to attack more. She was even able to properly aim at the weak parts of the enemies unlike before where she would need several shots to take down some of them.


    Char and Mei rode the wind with the dragon breathing mes while being surrounded by beams of light around that disintegrated the infected to dust. It was quite a sight to see.


    ***


    Aimee below currently standing atop a small building inside the walls of the settlement. Her tentacles were all facing the sky shooting beams of light towards the infected. All her eyes were moving rapidly making sure that each shot not only killed at least one infected while not hitting Mei and Char on the sky.


    ***


    At the bridge of the southern gates, the infected were still swarming to go across it. Nevertheless, very few of them were able to take a step midway the bridge.


    If it was not a volley of poisonous needles that smelted their body parts, they would be greeted by strong winds that would knock them off from the sides of the bridge.


    Unfortunately, some were impervious to both those attacks. Of course, they were no other than the [Catapults]. Not only that the poisonous needles were unable to pierce their skin, but they were also too heavy that they were able to ignore the strong wind.


    And thus...


    BAM!!!


    A white-haired girl with cat ears and tail would handle them. Jumping around in the air, she would gather as much momentum as she could and deliver a kick to the back of the knee of the infected giants. The moment their knees bent and their bnce was broken, several tentacles would drag them down off from the side of the bridge.


    Abbygale and Miracle repeatedly did that for every Catapult. There were times that the two reckless girls would be approached by other infected but a corrosive barrier would always protect them. The eldest sister, I, was always watching the two.


    With the teamwork of the three girls, things were bing more and more stable on their side.


    ***


    Back at the area of the copsed corporate building, the battle was yet to continue.


    It was not hard to see what was going on. Mark and the [King Type] were in a staredown.


    Both of them deemed each other as dangerous.


    Mark was trying to see what did the changes on the [King Type]''s body brought. On the other hand, while it was trying to hold back its urge to attack, the [King Type] was waiting for Mark to move first.


    However, of course, Mark would not do the first move. He had all his time to stare at this guy for now. Because the [King Type] was entangled with him, it was unable to give instructions to his army. Due to that, the burden on the defenders of the settlement was lessened.


    If they just had to stare at each other, Mark would be able to find out more things about the [King Type] while the infected army was being annihted. At that time, it would be easier to capture this thing and get the answers he wanted to know as help woulde.


    Mark had been in confusion. It was why he was staring at the enemy. The mutated infected, once mutated, would stay mutated. They would not have the ability to transform back to their normal humanoid form. That was how it was so far. Yet, the [King Type] suddenly became filled with muscles contrary to its previous appearance.


    It was almost simr to the smiling hero, the symbol of peace.


    Maybe, it was the ability of infected at the [King Type]''s level. Still, he wanted to be sure.


    Of course, while Mark had enough patience, the infected king did not.


    RAHHH!


    Fed up from the staredown, the [King Type] moved.


    With its muscled legs, it kicked the ground creating a crack on the cement under its foot.


    It charged towards Mark, a bit faster than the attacks it made before. The about twenty-meter distance between Mark and the [King Type] was traversed by thetter in less than a second.


    The moment it appeared in front of Mark, it was already unleashing its punch.


    Seeing the punching, Mark knew that it was not something that his body would be able to handle. Just the threatening pressure from the [King Type]''s stance was already trying to push him back.


    Sure enough, a single hit from a punch like this would kill him despite his armor.


    If it hit, that is.


    Mark''s figure blurred as he half entered his subdimension. The punch was unleased but it just phased through his body. He then lowered his body and his blurry visage turned back to normal. At the same time, he drew m from its sheath once more with his right hand and immediately made a ming upward sh to counter-attack.


    He was aiming to dismember the left arm of the [King Type].


    The sh hit and the sizzling smell of burning flesh appeared. Nevertheless, Mark just managed to make a half-inch deep wound on the [King Type]''s armpit. It was stopped with just the [King Type]''s flesh.


    Of course, Mark would not stop at something like that and the [King Type] was the same.


    As its punch was dodged and it received the counter-attack on its left armpit, the [King Type] felt hurt. It waste to retract his right arm that was still stretched out and its left arm had gone numb. Thus, it moved its left shoulder back pulling the sword with it while it unleashed a kick with its right leg. This diagonal kick was obviously aiming at Mark''s head.


    Mark smiled. He tilted his body to his right while pulling his left shoulder at the same time. The swift kick passed just an inch away from his chest and face. Then, he used his left foot to follow the sword that was pulled back. He then let go and switched his hold to a reverse grip.


    The veins on his arms, waist, and right leg glowed brightly. He tightened the grip on the sword and kicked the ground with his right leg. It caused his body to spin counterclockwise with the strongest and fastest force he could unleash.<sub> </sub>


    A mberge was a sword with a wavy de that was almost identical to the shape of a saw. That sudden pull of the sword made by Mark created a grating sensation as the wavy uneven de of m dug deeper on the [King Type]''s arm. Combined with a huge burst of mes, the flesh was cut easier.


    SHHIING!!!


    A vertical wheel of me was created by Mark''s movements as the sword finally cut off the left arm of the [King Type]. The force from the spin and kick he made him fly back spinning several times beforending on his feet and the mes lessened.


    GGGGGUUUUUUUUURRRRRRRRRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!!!


    A piercing scream was heard as the [King Type] staggered backward clutching the stump remaining of its left arm.


    PLOP! PLOP!


    The muscled left arm rotated in the air before plopping on the ground.


    Mark was then surprised.


    The arm started to dete returning to its previous state. However, that was not the surprising part. What surprised Mark was because as it deted, it released miasma at the same time which immediately dissipated in the air.


    "No way."


    Mark murmured. He never heard or seen something like this even from the memories of the Deity of Bloodshed. It was an entirely unknown thing to him.


    He turned his eyes back to the [King Type] struggling with the extreme pain it was feeling. From the stump, Mark had just cut, miasma was leaking. The cut part also started to dete.


    There was no doubt. This infected was using miasma to enhance its body.


    His eyes became eager.


    He had a veryrge amount of miasma in his body. If he could turn it into strength without releasing it, it would be easier for him to handle beings like this Infected King.


    GGRRRRRRRRR!!!


    The [King Type] red at Mark while in pain. It looked at its dismembered arm. It then moved. Of course, to retrieve the arm that was cut off.


    Nevertheless, as the [King Type] was about to grab it, a wavy ck mist passed by and the arm vanished.


    The mist swooped upward and Mark appeared on the air while holding the [King Type]''s left arm.


    "I don''t know if you can reattach this thing but I will not let you have it."


    Mark spoke.


    GGGGGGGRAAAAAAAAAAHHH!!!


    The [King Type] roared menacingly. That roar made a lot of the flying infected above sweep down and gather around the [King Type].


    However, with the state of the [King Type] right now, it was the best time to catch it. Mark would not back down because of some flying infected.


    Holding the arm in his left and the mberge d in mes in his right, he took a deep breath. The veins all over his body glowed brightly as his blood circted fast inside his body. Both adrenaline and the enhancer on his blood circted along with his blood.


    At the same time, the enumerable amount of flying infected charged towards him.


    SWOOM!


    He pped his wings charging forward with high speed. Hended on the ground. Matching his speed, he started to spin around while running causing a waving movement of mes all around his body.


    As the mes spun and waved following his spins and movements, it was like he was dancing. No, it was definitely some kind of dance.


    "Dance of the Fire God."


    He murmured along with a song ying in his mind.


    His sword and body spun around shing everything that came his way. The flying infected, one by one, was shed to death while covered in mes.


    Finding an opening, he kicked the ground at the same time his wings propelled his body, he appeared in front of the [King Type].


    Furiously, the [King Type] ignored its pain and counter-attacked with another punch. Nevertheless, unlike before, its movements were sluggish.


    The Infected King was not an Eater but a highly evolved Biter. Its senses fully worked and the pain from losing an arm affected it severely.


    Mark kicked using his right foot avoiding the punch while sending his body for another vertical spinning sh.


    RAAAAAAHHHHHHH!!!


    With the grating sensation on his hand, the remaining arm of the [King Type] detached from its body.


    "Time to end this."


    He said as he spun around the back of the [King Type] and the mes waved towards its legs.mes circled and danced around them causing an intense scene.


    THUMP!


    The limbless body of the [King Type] fell down to the ground as the miasma in its body started to dissipate along with its weakened roars.


    ***


    -VOLUME 6 END-

 Chapter 382 The Roar Of Thunder, The Cheers Of Victory

    <strong>Day 59 - 3:42 PM - Parking Area, S&R Membership Shopping, Diosdado Macapagal Blvd., Baran, Para?aque City, Metro Man</strong>


    GRAAAAAAAAHHH!!! KRAAAAAACK!!! GAACK!!! RAAAHHH!!!


    The Infected King had fallen. It was, without a doubt, defeated. Nevertheless, the battle did not end there.


    Limbless and in pain, the [King Type] repeatedly growled and roared. It squirmed its torso violently in itsst attempt of struggle.


    Following its roars, however, its people, the infected army, responded rather violently.


    Ignoring everything, the [Catapults], the flying army, and the hundred-thousand horde charged towards the direction of their distraught king. They all entered a crazed state.


    Charging forward while ignoring everything, yes, everything.


    They ignored everything, including the moat that surrounded most of Bay City Settlement.


    Roaring and screaming, they all ran like there was no tomorrow.


    Since the Infected King was way down south of Bay City, all the infected had to run towards that direction. It caused the immediate fall of the northern horde.


    ***


    The infected army at the north stood in front of the moat south of them. Running south without minding anything was the worst thing they could do. Except for the ones at the northeast corner of the settlement, the rest fell unto the murky waters. While the moat was not too deep, the water was to some extent.


    As they continued to traverse the waters, the deeper they sunk into the channel. The Biters immediately turned into slower Eaters due to theck of air.


    The [Catapults] became stuck in the mud and sunk deeper and deeper as they tried to move. While their heads managed to remain over water, their bodies were too heavy. The muddy waters of the reimed area would not be able to keep them from sinking further.


    Because of the current happening, the defensive forces in the northern walls became confused. Nevertheless, the chance to retaliate without worries finally came.


    Captain D Rosa, who led the forces on the north wall, shouted on his radio.


    "Throw thes!"


    Following hismand, the soldiers threws unto the murky waters. Of course, these were not fishings.


    "Captain! Thes are ready!"


    The soldiers shouted one by one through the radio.


    "Turn it on!"


    <o>,m The Captain Commanded.</o>


    "Roger! Turning it on!"


    CRACKLE!


    Following their echoing voices in the radio, the sounds of cracking and sizzling followed.


    What they threw were coppers woven from electrical cables. It was one of the defense measures Bay City had, especially on the northern walls where the moat was lowerpared to the other sides.


    Unfortunately, they could only use this once the horde entered the waters. With the horde avoiding dropping into the moats before, they were not able to use it. Now, however, it was the time for thes to shine, literally.


    With the electricity equal to a fourth of what Bay City umted, the coppers created an electric field. With sparks here and there, electricity nketed the waters.


    This method might create some mutations, the scientists of Bay City said. It was a highly possible scenario. Nevertheless, with the high voltage of electricity on thes, frying the infected''s brains woulde first before they mutate.


    Soon, the murky waters of Libertad Channel, the water channel on the moat, became covered with floating corpses.


    ***


    With the [Catapults] that stopped their task to throw the infected over the walls, the infected inside the Settlement died out fast enough. The threat inside died down too quickly after the survivors mobbed them to death.


    On the Eastern walls of the North District, General Perez immediately acquired information on what was happening. Although it did not look like the infected were retreating, the horde still left their previous positions. There was also the copse of the building. The people on this side saw that clearly. They wanted to know what was happening so they could adapt their strategies.


    Hearing about the situation from Major Lopez himself, General Perez sighed in relief. It looked like that Mark really did subdue the horde. The current situation seemed to have stemmed from the defeat of the horde leader.


    "Everyone!"


    The General shouted.


    "Sir!"


    The squad leaders around him lined up and waited for his order.


    "The situation is pretty much under control! However, we still need to back up the people that brought us on the verge of victory! The horde ising their way!" The General raised his assault rifle. "Hear my orders! Fire at will! Reduce the number of the infected outside as much as possible!"


    "YES! SIR!"


    With that, the relentless shooting of the infectedmenced from the walls. Before, they needed to concentrate on reducing the number of the almost invincible [Catapults] and kill the infected that entered the settlement. Now, all they needed to do right now was to kill any infected on their line of sight.


    Without the pressure of defending their home, they were finally able to unleash their frustration from the several hours of struggling.


    ***


    Around the Infected King, the flying infected gathered. They were swarming towards their king in an attempt to retrieve him.


    FWWWOOOOM!!!


    However, the devil d in ck armor and equipped with his ming cursed sword stood on the way. No, the devil, he was actually stepping on the body of their king.


    The ming sword waved around as the devil danced with his ming sword. In every swing, an infected or two would fall while burning into mes. Once in awhile, ck pebbles could be seen bursting out of the heads of the infected. These ck pebbles would then fly towards the devil and would disappear afternding on his right wrist.


    Alone, the devil contested against the flying horde, with his body glowing red, especially his eyes.


    A fearsome sight it was.


    Because his helmet did not cover his mouth at all, anyone would witness the sinister smile on his lips.


    Of course, it would not matter to the infected as they all swarmed towards his direction in an attempt to rescue their defeated king.


    Unfortunately, the number of flying infected was not enough. Their numbers had already dwindled to two digits with the efforts of Mei, Char, and Aimee.<sub> </sub>


    Swarming towards Mark was aplete suicide to those that remained.


    Soon, thest of the flying infected was killed.


    Then, the next enemies finally came.


    Soon as the flying horde was dealt with, the hundred-thousand horde was running ferociously towards Mark.


    But without the ability to fly, what could these infected do?


    Mark smiled as he sheathed m on his back. He grabbed the infected king by his neck and created an extension from his armor around the neck of the king. He then flew forward the body of the gigantic flying infected and did the same.


    As he flew, he saw the soldiers on the wall throwing electrics over the walls unto the water. Seeing that, he had an idea.


    Carrying the two bodies, he flew away. He flew towards the direction of the coast of Man Bay to the west. Behind him, Char and Mei followed.


    And of course, the horde chased after them frantically.


    Mark started to attack the [King Type] with his [Blood Whips] inflicting more pain to it. The sounds of the Infected King screaming to its demise was painful to the ears. However, it was what Mark wanted.


    As the [King Type] roared louder and louder, the more frantic the infected below became. Even the infected animals and insects in the water started to move. There were fewer of these kinds because of the methods of the military, but they were noticeable.


    ***


    Finally, they reached the waters of Man Bay. Luring the infected was a time-consuming task and it took more time than the actual battle. The speed of the infected varied and he needed to make sure that most of them were keeping up.


    Soon, one by one, the hundred-thousand infected entered the waters as Mark flew just a meter from the surface. The once covered in mes caused the water to sizzle and their bodies started to be stiff.


    Mark continued to torture the Infected King which made the horde even more agitated.


    When most of the infected fell onto the waters, it was finally time.


    Two crystals flew out of Mark''s wrist and flew around him in circles.


    As he waited for all of the infected to enter the waters of the bay, he prepared.


    The two crystals glowed. One caused clouds to gather. Another agitated the electric charges in the clouds.


    Seeing the sky darkening, Mei, riding on Char behind, already predicted what her Gege was going to do. Once all the infected entered the waters, a storm of lightning would strike them from the sky. She did not predict something, however...


    Seeing that thest of the infected stepped on the water, Mark smiled. Mark nodded on Mei and Char and the three flew up to the sky.


    Then, Mei noticed that the clouds above started moving. To her surprise, some of the clouds started to fly down and form a visage of a giant old man with a long beard, wearing a robe and was holding a staff. At the same time, lightning started to fall from the sky randomly striking almost everything below. The lightning even started to kill some of the infected under the water.


    Mei who did not care about things outside her current family could not help but scratch her head and look at Mark with a bitter smile.


    ''At least, Gege is enjoying things this much.''


    She thought.


    Lightning then covered the staff of the visage. No one would be able to tell how much voltage of electricity was gathered at that moment but it should be veryrge to kill all the infected even if they were underwater.


    Mark looked at the waters below filled with infected under and muttered.


    "Judgement Bolt."


    The arms of the old man made of clouds then moved. It threw the staff made of lightning unto the water.


    As the staff entered the water of the bay, it exploded causing a huge scatter of lightning and clouds around. The heat generated by lightning started to boil the water in arge area.


    The scale of this attack made the defensive measures of the Bay City pale severely.


    As the clouds and lightning dissipated, the corpses floating at the bay appeared.


    About a hundred thousand corpses floating on the bay was the stuff of horrifying nightmares. Even the scene of corpses floating down the river in a certain alien invasion movie could not bepared to this.


    Nevertheless, they were in the apocalypse, seeing them running around in the streets was more horrifying than seeing them floating on the bay and river as corpses.


    The most important thing, the horde was eliminated.


    Mark and his group could take a break for the rest of the day. They were more than tired for thest two days.


    He could also try and interrogate this thing in his hand. Of course, it was not the same as interrogating humans. He doubted that it could understand everything he would ask. Thus, he needed toe up with a way to get the answers from it.


    Mark took a deep breath, the glow on his body subsided. As he stopped the cirction of his adrenaline and the activation of his blood, his breathing started to be ragged.


    His body was shaking and he ground his teeth.


    It was too painful. He exerted too much burden on his body, especially on the move that he used to deal with the giant flying infected he was currently holding.


    "Char, can you hold this for me?"


    Mark told the dragon and threw the dead flying infected. The dragon caught it with its legs.


    With the Infected King that was now gagged with [Blood Metal] on its mouth, Mark plopped down on Char''s back.


    "Gege, are you okay?"


    Mei asked worriedly. She remembered the first time in the mall she saw Mark like this.


    Mark could already use arge amount of adrenaline in his body without a problem. Yet, it seemed that he still used more than what he could handle. There was also the upgrade in his blood that was not fully tested yet.


    [Blood Whips] were then released by Mark which secured the [King Type] on Char''s back. Mark then sat beside Mei, tired. As the battle was finished, Crimson and Oracle started to turn back to normal.


    As soon as the armors were removed, Mark felt a pull on his shoulder. He did not resist and soon, his head fell on Mei''s softp.


    While the two rode on the dragon''s back, Char flew into the settlement.


    Seeing the dragon enter, the people below cheered loud. Despite the frightening disy, their settlement was saved.


    They did not know that the one they were cheering for already fell asleep.

 Chapter 383 Investigation, The [Queen Type] And The Invitation

    <strong>Day 60 - 9:02 AM - Military Residences, North District, Bay City Settlement, Pasay City, Metro Man</strong>


    The previous day had already passed. It was now the day after the horrifying number of infected tried to invade Bay City. Throughout the rest of the day, the whole night, and the morning came, the military was still not done with the cleanup.


    There were a lot of things for them to do. First was to be sure that there were no infected left inside the settlement. Yesterday, arge number of infected entered the Bay City Settlement because of the [Catapults]. Although most of themnded inside the settlement in gruesome ways that made them incapacitated, a lot still managed to kill and infected people.


    They were very lucky. If the military handled that situation poorly, it could turn the whole settlement upside down.


    Fortunately, it did not.


    Of course, even if the people started to help, the casualties still reached hundreds.


    The next thing they had to do was to remove the bodies out of the waters under the moats. It was also the same for the ones in Man Bay. Such a task was not easy. Nevertheless, it was a very urgent thing for them to do.


    Bay City Settlement''s current water supply relied on purifying the water from the Bay. To make it more contaminated was not something they wanted.


    There were also other things they needed to address. The military was too busy at this point.


    ***


    At the rooftop of the Military Residences, Mark, along with a few people, currently gathered.


    Immediately after the battle yesterday, Mark fell asleep. He woke up a bit after reaching the residence, changed clothes, and plopped on the bed afterward. It was until dinner that he finally recovered from his lethargic state.


    Mark overexerted his body in the battle. It was too apparent for Mei and the others to notice. While eating dinner, Aephelia reprimanded him severely for not taking care of his body. It was quite annoying, but her worry was heartwarming at the same time.


    As for the [King Type], Mark imprisoned it in a cage made of [Blood Metal] at the rooftop. Char guarded it throughout the night.


    After its defeat, the [King Type] grew weaker and weaker. It weakened until it returned to its natural form, of course, without limbs. The dark aura around its body already dissipated as if it never appeared at all.


    The military inquired about it since they saw Mark carrying two bodies before the final attack. However, since Mark was asleep at that time, the questioning had been postponed.


    Now, Mark was together with Mei, Odelina and Spera. They were here to confirm one thing. What was the reason the [King Type] sent his army towards this settlement? With the miasma around its body exhausted, Mark learned that this infected was incredibly weak. It might be stronger than normal infected by it was weakerpared to even the weakest mutated infected they knew.


    It indicated that it used the miasma stored in its body to strengthen itself. This might also be the reason that it sent its army instead of personally entering the settlement. The [King Type] might have been able to store miasma in its body, but could not use it the way it should be used. The possibility that it could not keep its strengthened form for too long was also there.


    They tried tomunicate with the [King Type]. To their dismay, it was totally impossible. Their questions were answered with nothing but inaudible aggressive growls. Although it still muttered about finding the queen while idle, that was it.


    As such, Mark had another idea. It was to show the [King Type] a few individuals. Those in the settlement that could possibly be the queen it was looking for.


    The first candidate was Aimee that was currently staying at a renovated building beside the Military Residences.


    Bringing Aimee in the front of the [King Type], however, was a bad idea. Seeing Aimee, it started to behave aggressively. Even more aggressive than it behaved around Mark and other humans. On the other side, Aimee felt the same. If not for her having her previous memories, she might have attacked the [King Type] immediately.


    Fortunately, Aimee knew that Mark had some uses for the [King Type] and restrained herself.


    After the two met, it took quite a while before the [King Type] calmed down. They had to make Aimee stay out of its sight for some time.


    To the stone Aimee was carrying, the [King Type] did not react at all. The same way the infected at NAIA ignored the stone after Aimee''s pod opened. As the days passed, it became more and more doubting whether there was really a life inside that stone.


    After that, they started to think that the queen it was looking for could possibly be a human. Nevertheless, they had to forget the thought immediately after. It was because, on their second attempt, they found the queen. Furthermore... There was not only one...


    On the rooftop, Mara and Monique entered. Mara was bringer her sister, Jate, in. On the other hand, Monique was bringing her daughter. The two were confused as to why they were asked to bring the two instances of docile infected in the settlement on the rooftop.


    The first to enter was Mara and Jate. Mark had the two pairs enter separately to avoid confusion. The moment the first pair entered, however, they were weed by violent growling and rattling of a cage.


    "QUEEN!!! AAAA!!!"


    The [King Type] continued to struggle inside the cage trying to get the attention of Jte. It even looked at Mara with ferocious eyes as it saw her holding the hand of its queen.


    Mara felt goosebumps all over her body. She could not help but step back. It caused her to lose grip of the hand Jte.


    The moment it happened, Jte suddenly ran...


    Towards Mark.


    She ignored the aggressive calls of the [King Type] inside the cage and ran towards Mark. Like she did before, she grabbed Mark''s hand and put his hand on her head. She behaved like a tamed cat as she rubbed her head on his palm.


    The Infected King fell silent. Everyone felt awkward.


    GRAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!


    The Infected King roared as it released its anger. It found its queen. Yet, that queen was ignoring him for the being that defeated it. Of course, no one would find it forgivable.


    Then, an unexpected thing happened.


    Because of the roars, Monique became curious. She opened the door to the rooftop to take a peek. That was a wrong move for her as her daughter ran through the door.


    "Trish!"


    Monique yelled and chased after her daughter.


    Everyone was surprised. They suddenly saw Monique''s daughter running towards the [King Type].


    As Mark could not let things like this happen, he immediately moved and grabbed Patricia. Mara, on the other hand, grabbed the hand of Jte and for sure, she would not let go of it no matter what.


    Nevertheless, the roars of the [King Type] suddenly stopped.


    The Infected King looked at Patricia and Jate alternately in confusion. That was right, even though it should have been incapable of showing or feeling emotions, the confusion on its face was apparent.


    "Q..QU...EEN?"


    Its expression was too incredulous. If he was a normal human, he might have the expression of someone who thought that he might be dreaming.


    That made Mark realize. Looking at its expression, it seemed both Jate and Patricia were [Queen Types]. No wonder the two had simr characteristics as infected. The only difference between the two was that Mark had affected Jate too much that she started to gain a new consciousness while Patricia remained a normal [Queen Type].


    Unlike Jate, Patricia responded to the [King Type]''s calls. She was even struggling to break free from Mark''s grasp.


    Still, the [King Type] lied down inside the cage and continued looking at Jate and Patricia alternately.


    It was as if two queens should not exist in one ce.


    Well, there was no way to know what was going on.<sub> </sub>


    Mark gagged the [King Type] once more and nodded to Odelina. She reached out for a tarpaulin and then covered the cage with it.


    "Gege, Jate and Patricia are both [Queen Types]?"


    Mei asked.


    "They should be." Mark replied. "Though I don''t think both of them canmand the infected."


    He said his thoughts as he helped Monique restrain her daughter.


    Mark would want to see what would happen if he let the [King Type] and a [Queen Type] meet. However, Jtepletely ignored the poor Infected King while Patricia was just a child.


    They already found the Queen. It was time to end this for now.


    "Master, what are we going to do with the [King Type?]"


    Odelina asked.


    "Are his arms and legs collected?"


    "Yes."


    "Alright, secure those for now. We will bring that king when we leave."


    "Yes."


    And thus, after making sure that the [King Type] was being guarded by Char, they returned to their rooms.


    Mark still had a lot of things to do. One of those was to finish modifying the Lorry and if possible, modify another extra vehicle. Of course, thest vehicle would only be partly made of [Blood Metal].


    Not long after they returned, however, Angeline and Pa came. The two were inviting Mei and Mark.


    ***


    <strong>Day 60 - 11:21 AM - General''s Residence, North District, Bay City Settlement, Pasay City, Metro Man</strong>


    Reaching the General''s residence, Mark and Mei were guided by Angeline and Pa. To the two, they were actually inviting Mei to hang out a bit since Mark''s group was not here for two days. As for Mark, however, it was Angeline''s mother who wanted to meet him.


    Mark entered a bedroom and the two girls dragged Mei away. The three left Mark and Angelise alone.


    "You''re here. Come here and sit."


    The beautiful woman sitting on the bed while holding a book smiled at Mark. She tapped the chair beside her bed.


    Although she was already fine, she was still too far from fully recovering. She had been living on life support for years. Her current state was not surprising.


    Mark nodded at her and took the seat.


    Before Mark could say anything, she spoke while looking above as if reminiscing something.


    "I''ve heard about what happened. I''ve been in aa for years. It''s very shocking to see my children all grown up too suddenly."


    She then looked at Mark.


    "Thank you for allowing me to meet them again."


    Angelise smiled. It was a smile filled with gratitude.


    Mark looked away. He was not embarrassed at all but her smiling face was ovepping with Freed''s Mother in his memories. If Freed was still here, he would have started crying already.


    Taking a deep breath, Mark looked at Angelise.


    "What I did is not free."


    "I know." She nodded. "Still, I''m thankful. Also for what you did for my daughter. Saving her twice physically and once mentally."


    "They borated that much?"


    "My daughter just slipped." She chuckled. "You have questions for me right? You mentioned it the moment I woke up."


    "Yes. I won''t lie but it is because you look exactly like someone I knew. That is why. It''s about your origins. Do you know anything about it? All I heard from your husband is that you''re an orphan. I want to know if there is anything else."


    Mark went straight to the point as there was no way to phrase it without sounding weird. To his dismay, Angelise shook her head.


    "I really have no idea. I was raised in an orphanage. I have been there so far as I remember. It was until my foster parents adopted me."


    "I see." Mark sighed. "Do you have any recollection about someone named Freodelius?"


    He asked hopefully although he had no idea what he was being hopeful for.


    Unfortunately, Angelise shook her head.


    "Who is Freodelius? It''s quite a weird sounding name."


    "No, its nothing. I just asked."


    Mark could not sense any emotional fluctuation from her that indicated that she was lying. Nevertheless, he felt genuinely dejected for some reason.


    Seeing that she had not been really helpful, Angelise felt down. It was when...


    "Ah, wait." She eximed. "Can you please get me that bag there?"


    She pointed at the bag ced on a dresser which Mark immediately took and gave her. It seemed like the bag contained her important belongings as she carefully searched inside. Then, she took an oval-shaped metal locket about the size of an egg.


    "I really don''t know about my ancestry, but this locket... The Directress of the orphanage told me that this locket had been with me since they found me in front of their door."


    She handed the locket to Mark.


    Mark then looked at the locket, not expecting too much, only to be shocked.

 Chapter 384 Abrupt Vision, Angelises Mysterious Origins

    <strong>Day 60 - 11:35 AM - General''s Residence, North District, Bay City Settlement, Pasay City, Metro Man</strong>


    The answers Angelise gave Mark were unsatisfactory. Nevertheless, there was nothing he could do about it if she did not know anything. It was not her fault.


    About the locket, Mark received it without expecting too much. This locket which should have been able to tell her origins, but she remained oblivious about anything.


    Looking at the locket, however, Mark was frozen in shock.


    Without noticing Mark''s expression, Angelise started speaking.


    "You see... My Dad and Mom. My parents that adopted me weren''t able to bear a child. Mom had a problem with her body. It''s a pity because they are rich and can''t have an heir. That is why they looked for a child to adopt, and that''s me."


    She sighed.


    "Like most orphans, I was happy. Dad and Mom were also kind and treated me like their own child. But it did notst too long. They died in an ident when I was neen. That is when I had the urge to look for my real parents using that locket. I failed, unfortunately. No one can even open that locket without destroying it. It''s even questionable if that is possible."


    Angeline looked at Mark. That was when she noticed that something was wrong as Mark''s expression was too solemn while staring at her locket.


    "Is something wrong?"


    She asked. However, Mark did not reply. Nevertheless, she was rather surprised herself.


    ? It was because...


    Mark''s eyes were glowing with a deep purple color.


    ***


    Mark stared at the locket with his expression going serious from shock.


    The locket looked like it was old. An antique preserved for a very long time. He could not tell what kind of metal this locket was made, but for sure, it was something very sturdy.


    Of course, the most pressing part of it was the crest carved on the cover of the locket.


    It was a sea serpent with wings winding around a trident. The wings of the serpent were nted. The wing on the right lower than the left and the head of the serpent was in front of the base of the trident''s prongs.


    Without a doubt, this crest belonged to the royal family of the lost civilization. The lost civilization that was the ancestors of the residents of Eriellis.


    Mark caressed the head as the sentiments Freed left inside him flowed.


    Unexpectedly, scenes passed by his eyes.


    ***


    It was the night of a snowstorm. Two people wearing robes could be seen frantically running inside a snow-covered forest. They wore white robes that blended with the white snow. One of the two was carrying something covered with a thick cloth. By the shape of the cloth, it was very likely to be an infant.


    From the manner the two ran despite the thick snow, they were being chased. The two kept looking behind them from time to time. Luckily, the snowstorm immediately covered their tracks dying the ones chasing them.


    "Meririo we can''t keep this up! Ellicea will freeze to death!"


    The person carrying the infant worriedly spoke. From the voice, the person was a female and it was easy to tell that she was the mother of this child.


    While she was talking, the strong blow of the wind knocked off her hood revealing a beautiful woman with bright golden hair. As she was carrying the infant with both hands, she struggled to cover her head once more.


    The other person immediately helped her.


    "We have no choice Ronellia. If they caught us, not only we will be executed but our daughter will be put into their experiments."


    Hearing that, Ronelliamented.


    "Just why do we have to be descendants of those deserters..."


    "There is nothing we can do about it. It had been an ident. We just need to leave this ce."


    "No, if we took too long, it will bete for Ellicea. I don''t mind dying, but at least, she..."


    As they continued, Ronellia saw a silhouette of building from afar.


    At the same time, Meririo suddenly turned his head behind with a serious expression.


    "Ronellia, they areing closer."


    He said even though there was no one in sight.


    "What should we do?!"


    "Let us check that building. We should at least hide Ellicea."


    Hearing that, Ronellia nodded without hesitation.


    When they saw the sign in front of the building, they felt relieved to some extent. It was an orphanage.


    "I''ll seal her first. We should make sure that they won''t find her."


    Ronellia said in which Meririo nodded.


    "Sorry, my daughter, but we have to do this. We will return if we could. If not, I wish you a happy life."


    Ronellia set the infant down in front of the door removed the part that covered Ellicea''s face to see her onest time.


    There, the sleeping infant with golden blond hair could be seen.


    After kissing the infant''s forehead with affection, Ronellia started while Meririo kept on the lookout.


    The mother stretched out both her hands onto the chest of the infant and a small circle of light with many symbols appeared. It was, no doubt, a magic circle.


    As Ronellia sealed the infant, Ellicea''s hair darkened and from her bright golden blonde hair, it turned into a pale yellowish color.


    When the sealing finished, Ronellia frantically knocked on the door to be sure that she would be heard from the inside. When the two parents sensed that there was someoneing, they hid.


    There, they saw a nun open the door and with shock, picked up Ellicea. The nun then tried to look around but saw no one. She looked at the infant with pitiful eyes as she entered the orphanage once more.


    Seeing that expression of the nun, both Meririo and Ronellia were relieved. They then ran. Not to escape but to lead their pursuers in a different direction.


    As they ran away, Meririo noticed.


    "You left you locket?"


    "I did. If the worst came, in the least, I don''t want her to think that we didn''t love her."


    Hearing that, Meririo smiled.


    "Should we do this?"


    "Yes."


    Finishing that conversation, a magic circle appeared under the feet of the two before they moved in inhumane speed. This speed was not something an infant would be able to handle.


    While they were moving fast, it would also make them easily noticeable by their enemies. And that was what they wanted.


    Soon, they saw the enemies gaining on them. There were about a dozen of them wearing the same kind of robe but with a gray color.


    ***


    Mark felt a shake on his shoulder. He returned to reality too abruptly that he felt a bit dizzy. As sweat trickled from his forehead, he felt a soft cloth wiping his face.


    Looking around, Mei, Angeline, and Pa were already here. Angelise was still on the bed looking at him worriedly. It seemed that she called for the three because of what happened to Mark.<sub> </sub>


    "Hey, what happened to you? You scared us you know?"


    Angelineined. It was her who shook his shoulders, apparently.


    "Are you okay? Is there something wrong with my locket?"


    Angelise worriedly asked. She was scared and did not know what to do. All she was able to do was to call out for her daughter.


    Hearing those questions, Mark shook his head and returned the locket.


    "Nothing happened. It''s just my body acting up. Being strong could also mean repercussions."


    That statement of his made Pa stiffen. Nevertheless, since she stood behind Angeline, she saw Mark''s hand giving her signals not to say anything. She could only nod stealthily.


    "Thank you for answering my questions, but we should be going."


    Mark stood up from his seat.


    "Is that so? I wish you two can eat lunch with us."


    Angelise sounded disappointed.


    "Sorry, but my little girls would sulk if we ate lunch without them."


    Mark said an alibi which was also true.


    Angelise looked at Mei and thetter also nodded.


    Without any choice, Angelise gave up. Of course, she still told the two to drop by sometime.


    As they left the room, Mark said onest sentence to Angelise before leaving.


    "Keep that locket with you at all times. It''s important so remember that."


    He did not wait for a reply and turned around while muttering.


    "Ellicea..."


    ***


    Leaving the room, Angeline was left behind to take care of her mother while Pa escorted the two.


    "What are you hiding?"


    Pa asked Mark.


    "I won''t deny that I''m hiding something but I won''t tell you."


    Mark shrugged his shoulders.


    "Why? It should be about Aunt Angelise, right? Shouldn''t she know about it? You''re staring at that locket."


    "If I said that its a matter of life and death of her, will you stop asking?"


    Mark replied nonchntly. However, Pa froze. No matter how nonchnt Mark was when saying that, she knew that he was not lying.


    "Okay, I won''t ask anymore."


    Pa gave up.


    "Yeah, that''s better. Maybe, I''ll tell her in the future if we met again. At least not now."


    ***


    Leaving the residence with Mei, Mark''s mind was filled with thoughts.


    Angelise was in no doubt, a descendant of the same race of Freed''s ancestors. Their branch was probably among those that stayed behind and survived the cmity. That scene where Mark saw Ronellia''s hair, it was the color of hair that was within the bloodline of Freed''s mother. No wonder now why Angelise looked like Freed''s mother. It was because of either her genes or bloodline.


    Two more facts bothered Mark the most.


    Due to thenguage barrier, Mark could not understand what Ronellia and Meririo were saying. Nevertheless, he could understand their context and read their expressions to some extent.


    Nevertheless, that barrier did not mask two obvious things.


    Angelise''s parents were not normal humans, even she was very likely. As disyed by the scenes he saw, they could be either witches or western mages. Although some eastern mages were also known for rituals with magic circles, the style he saw were more apparent in western lores.


    The most bothering thing, however, was not their ancestral descent or their abilities.


    Those robes were not all new to Mark.


    Who would have thought that Angelise''s parents had direct involvement with Auraboros? In fact, that style and color of robes meant that they were among the central members. They could have been members but they probably defected from the organization.


    And the reason for their desertion was Angelise herself.


    While thinking those, Mark scratched his head. If he wanted more answers, he needed to confront Auraboros. Furthermore, he was abruptly woken up from his vision which surely made him miss more important details.


    "Gege, can I ask something?"


    Mei spoke.


    "Sure, what is it?"


    "Is that locket something special?"


    Mark smiled. Of course, she would be curious since he said those words before they left.


    "That locket is sealed."


    "Sealed? Not locked?"


    "You immediately caught my wordy, huh."


    Mark shrugged. Sometimes, the silent Mei was rather too smart.


    "Yeah, that''s right. It won''t open until her life is truly in danger. It''s probably what kept her alive after what happened to her."


    "I see. So it''s like a life-saving amulet."


    "To some extent, yes." Mark nodded. "Once that locket fully opened, however, she should start counting her days I guess..."


    Those words made Mei confused but Mark did not say anything else.


    ***


    Once that locket opened, she will receive the legacy of her mother. Once that happened, however, it would be easier for Auraboros to find her.


    It was unfortunate that she was the wife of the General leading Bay City. If not, he would invite her to his base. He would really want someone like her to be one of his people. He already had some odd creatures so having another was not a problem.


    He already had a beef with Auraboros. If Angelise knew the truth, she might likely join the fray in order to find the truth about her parents.


    Unfortunately, it was not the case.


    Still, Mark never thought that his [irvoyance] would activate as such instance. Maybe, the force sealing the locket affected him and gave him the vision. He would not receive the answer that easily though.

 Chapter 385 In The Lab, A Strange Discovery About The [King Type]

    <strong>Day 60 - 2:12 PM - Parking Area, Military Workshop, North District, Pasay City, Metro Man</strong>


    After lunch, Mark was here at the parking area of the workshop, once more. Like before, the parking area he was working at was surrounded by a ck wall. It was for nothing else but to obscure what was happening inside.


    To the military, they already knew that he could use blood to make the metal he used for his vehicle. Still, the exact method was unknown. If anyone else aside from his group knew about the [Blood Children] being capable of that, it could spell trouble.


    He would never want for the little critters to be the target of the eyes of people with ulterior motives.


    As for Mark''s current goal, it was to build the [Exceed: Disintegrator Fortress]. This day, he wanted to start the transformation of the Lorry. Of course, the remaining half of the day would not be enough since he spent a whole day just modifying the external appearance of the [Exceed: Personnel Carrier]. If needed, he would spend an all-nighter to finish this. And probably, the whole day tomorrow.


    There was also the need for another vehicle for Edward''s group. He would also modify Ron and Nikky''s Jeep to some extent.


    As Mark and the [Blood Children] started their work, he began to ponder about other things.


    Mark already asked his friends for the final time to decide who would leave with him. At first, he nned to take just Mei, the little girls, and Odelina''s family, but his base needed more trustworthy people. It would be good if they all came.


    However, it seemed that only a few of them had positive feedback with their mental fluctuations.


    First was Monique''s group. Since her daughter had unique circumstances, it would be better to stay near Mark, who managed to tame Jte. Unlike Jte, Patricia did not show any improvement from her state.


    Next was Nikky, Ron, Daniel, Dorothy, and Mara. Their group would disband soon because two of them, Vincent and Delia, wanted to stay.


    Carlo, his sister, Anna, and Sundra were also going. There would be nothing else for them to stay here. They were also tired of the tension always happening here in this settlement. If possible, they wanted peace and quiet. To forget everything that happened in the past.


    Arvie''s group would also go. Every one of them. They were goodbatants that made them very wee.


    For the new ones, Edward and Phillip decided to follow bringing Emi with them. And since Karlene was with Mark, Analynn would also follow. Terence, on the other hand, was still reconsidering his thoughts.


    As for the others, some were reconsidering while some did not want to go.


    Well, they still had a few days. Mark just wished that they would settle things sooner since the vehicles and supplies they needed for the travel had to be considered and prepared.


    Other than nning their leave, Mark had another headache. Those people that wanted to invite him before were personallying to visit instead. It started yesterday afternoon at the time he was asleep.


    The trigger of this was his open disy at the battle yesterday. At first, they wanted to invite Mark and meet him. Now, however, they decided to pay respects to him instead. Of course, Mark denied them. Nevertheless, they would not stop. It was as if they could not even understand that Mark did not want to have any business with them.


    As for Mei''s family, they were unusually silent. They did not bother him, Mei, or even the General. Mark could not understand what was going on with their minds.


    "Hah..." Mark sighed. "I have a lot of things in mind. It''s tiring."


    In the least, he had one thing addressed. It was the request of Professor Isaach Co to let him study the [King Type], at least until Mark and his group leave Bay City Settlement.


    Mark agreed as it would lessen his work. In exchange for allowing them to study the [King Type], they would give him a copy of the results. Lastly, they would not damage the Infected King any further. The General had no reason to disagree with the conditions and assured him.


    ***


    <strong>Day 60 - 2:39 PM - Testing Room, Military Laboratory, North District, Pasay City, Metro Man</strong>


    Professor Isaach Co, Nia, and Allen were currently studying the [King Type] together with other scientists. General Miguel Perez was also in attendance.


    They had received Mark''s approval to study the [King Type] about two hours ago. Nevertheless, the Professor already started the tests with great enthusiasm.


    General Perez was here to ensure that the Professor would not go too far in his experiments. If Professor Isaach damaged the [King Type] due to his enthusiasm, it would be grave as he was the one who assured Mark. Being here also served as his rest as the General had been busy all this time.


    Unfortunately, even if it was crucial, they could not get a im for the [King Type] even for the sake of research. Since the military started to collect [Mutagen Stones], it had been a rule that the one who killed or defeated the infected had a im for it. Of course, it was to lessen the conflict among survivor groups that participated during defense battles and missions while also making them eager to help.


    ***


    The current room used for the experiment wasrge. It was because aside from the [King Type], they also had several infected inside the room.


    At the center of the room, they strapped the limbless [King Type] in an operating table. The [King Type] had different kinds of apparatus sticking on its body, especially on its head.


    The scientist checked different things like pulse, brainwaves and also took a tissue, blood, and saliva samples, to put under tests.


    "Interesting..."


    Professor Isaach muttered as he checked the vital signs of the [King Type].


    From what he had seen, aside from the symptoms of anemia due to loss of blood, the other things werepletely normal. It was as if the Infected King was a standard human.


    Checking it physically, its muscles and bodyposition was the same. They even found out that it was physically weaker than a normal infected, which they think was strange.


    The oddest thing, however, was its brainwaves. From their monitoring device, it was extremely chaotic. The graph they saw told how restless its brainwave was. It might not even be wrong if there were several brains inside its head. However, there was only one.


    Furthermore, the [King Type] was remarkably sensitive to pain. When they took a blood sample using an injection, its brainwaves spiked, and its vital signs showed signs of agitation.


    The Infected King roared. As that happened, the Infected shackled and caged inside the room reacted violently. Firsthand, they saw how the [King Type] could affect the other infected around it.


    Despite its chaotic brainwaves, it was as intelligent as a child. It could even recognize the one that took its blood sample all this while. The poor scientist could not properly focus on his work as the [King Type]''s killing intent was directed on him. Of course, the scientist was oblivious to it while only feeling distraction on his mind and body.


    General Perez, Nia, and Allen noticed that killing intent and suggested for the scientist to take a break. Once that scientist left, the killing intent inside the room lessened. Of course, it had notpletely disappeared as the [King Type] wanted to ughter everyone here if he could.


    Then, another scientist came in. He was holding on a clipboard with several papers attached to it.


    "Professor, the other samples are not done testing yet, but the results for the Salivaomics is already here."


    The scientist said to Professor Isaach.


    "Good, give it to me."


    The Professor immediately took the clipboard and checked it. Aside from the printed report, there were also pictures clipped in between.<sub> </sub>


    "Is this true?"


    After getting to a point in the report, Professor Isaach turned to the scientist and asked skeptically.


    "Professor, I know it might be unbelievable. However, that is what we found out initially. We are also surprised by the result. So if you will allow us, we want to take another saliva sample and test it again to be sure."


    Hearing that, the Professor nodded sternly.


    "Go. Take another sample immediately."


    "Yes, Professor."


    As he got permission, the scientist took some equipment and began extracting saliva from the [King Type]. For standard subjects, taking their saliva would be easy. For the Infected, they needed more caution and specialized equipment.


    "Isaach, what does it say for the need to repeat the initial test?"


    General Perez approached the Professor in curiosity.


    Professor Isaach flipped the papers and examined the pictures once more before handing the clipboard to the General. He specifically opened the report on an exact page.


    "This..."


    The General was also surprised.


    "Get it now?" Professor Isaach turned his head on the [King Type] at the center of the room. "An infected with no unstable strain on its saliva. It is the first we encountered."


    "Does this mean that it can''t infect others through his bite?"


    The General frowned. Until a further test proved this, this could either be a good or a bad thing. If the [King Type] could not infect others, it might be the best scenario. However, what if it had other methods of spreading the infection to people aside from its saliva? They needed to be careful about it until they finalized the results. Other areas also required testing.


    "Isaach, we need to be sure about this. Can we make use of one of those subjects?"


    Isaach asked.


    "Are you talking about the prisoners?"


    The General replied with another question.


    "Are there other things I call experimental subjects?"


    "I guess. There''s none."


    The General shrugged.


    Those prisoners were not just ordinary criminals but those that the military apprehended after the apocalypse. Furthermore, theymitted crimes far from anyone would be able to ept. Now, they had a purpose for being kept by the military.


    That purpose, to be used in the military''s testing and experiments.


    It might be called inhumane and hical. However, it was for the sake of knowing more about Mutagen.


    Furthermore, what these people did was far more inhumane.


    It was already good that they still lived and were not killed on the spot. Probably, even getting killed over and over was not enough for them to atone for their sins.


    Not following thew after when the apocalypse came was one thing, abandoning their humanity was another.


    Now, to be used for the sake of what they abandoned, that was their purpose.


    "How many do you need?"


    "About five will do. I have sorts of things to test."


    Hearing that, the General called upon one of the soldiers guarding the experiment.


    Professor Isaach also called for Nia.


    "Nia, you file a request for the subjects."


    "Yes, Professor."


    Nia and the soldier left. Even though the Professor and the General were the highest people here, they still needed to follow the formal procedures.


    While observing the experiment, Professor Isaach and General Miguel talked.


    "It''s really a pity that Mark doesn''t allow us to test thosesses."


    The Professor talked about Jte, Patricia, and Aimee.


    "You should be content for what you are given. Those girls you are talking about are their precious to them."


    "I know that. But who would not want to study two docile infected and a mutated infected that had human memories? Just the thought of them existing is just insane."


    "That''s true, but there''s nothing we can do."


    "Yeah. There''s nothing. The worst part of it is just how they are all in one group. They even had a dragon and several unknown creatures. The research results we received from Quezon is just not enough!"


    Hearing Professor Isaach raising his voice and throwing a tantrum like a child, everyone in the room either shrugged their shoulders or sighed. They have been used to this.


    Probably, he would only stop until the result of the next test came out.

 Chapter 386 Jaeya, Her Longing And Foolishness

    <strong>Day 61 - 6:02 AM - Parking Area, Military Workshop, North District, Pasay City, Metro Man</strong>


    "Yawn~..."


    Mark stretched his arms and back as he shook the sleepiness he had away.


    He expected this to happen before he started this work yesterday afternoon. The remaining time of yesterday was not enough to finish the modification of the Lorry. Since he ended up getting hooked on his work, he had no problems pulling out an all-nighter.


    Nevertheless, as the sun started to rise, he felt the need to sleep. It seemed that he had gotten used to getting sleep even just an hour or two every night. His body lost the ability to stay up for two or three days straight like when he was watching an anime marathon or getting hooked up on ying a video game.


    Looking at the [Blood Children], they were still as active as ever. As long as they could get the energy they needed from consuming blood, they could go one without shutting down their selves. Mark wished that he had the same kind of ability. It would be helpful in many ways.


    As for the little girls who were, as usual, with him, Mei picked them up after sending him dinner. Mei, Odelina, and especially, Aephelia, were worried about him pushing himself too much. Nevertheless, Mark genuinely enjoyed modifying these vehicles and putting pieces by pieces of it.


    Since he was little and even before he became an Otaku, Mark liked the idea of creating stuff. As a child, he would always y with building bricks and assembled toys. When he learned to draw and started to watch anime and movies, he began designing weapons and equipment more than actual characters.


    When he became older, like in high school and college, he regrly stared at stic model disys whenever he encountered one. He always hoped that he could buy these fascinating things. Unfortunately, he was just a poor guy who could not even buy a lock for the door of his own house immediately.


    Now, not only he had been able to build things in the same manner, he was even creating his own. It was a fascinating feeling that his trait as a Mutator could not mask.


    That was why when Mei, Odelina, and Aephelia saw the interest and joy in his eyes as he worked on the vehicles, they just sighed and let him be.


    Aside from battling against the infected or killing people that deserve it, they rarely saw Mark disy such genuine expression. They did not want to destroy it.


    "Master and his Majesty Freodelius are the same in this regard."


    Aephelia remarkedst night.


    Although Mark heard that while he was working, he decided to ignore it. It was because there was no way to deny it at all.


    Like Mark, although it was kind of different, Freed also had fascination over creating things. On his side, however, it was about the technology their gods left their ancestors.


    When they left for the night, Mark continued to work with the [Blood Children]. Of course, Miracle was with him as one of them. There was no need to request lighting with the existence of , and they were able to work smoothly.


    When morning came, Mark was quite satisfied already. He already finished modifying the Lorry, no it was now the [Exceed: Disintegrator Fortress].


    Than its previous appearance, it looked more like a Mobile Construction Vehicle now from a particr video game franchise. The carrier at the back was more spacious and built with twoyers. The lower smalleryer was to contain cargo. On the other hand, the upperrgeryer was to be ridden by people, especially Aimee.


    Withpartments here and there along with the self-loading rock in front, ejecting weapons and gun mounts, Mark finished the initial design. He might upgrade this vehicle, but that would be in the future. For now, he was already confident about it.


    Mark then looked at the few other vehicles parked and at the wagon containing the blood bags.


    "Yep, I still have materials to use for a bit of modification on the others."


    It seemed that he had no ns to rest until he finished this work.


    Not long after he continued working, he felt a presence outside the wall he created. For the safety of the people around, the military guarded the wall in shifts guaranteeing that only those with a personal connection to him would be able to approach the area.


    As Mark created an opening, the new addition to his group, Jaeya, entered. She was not alone. On her hands, she was carrying a box made of [Blood Metal].


    "You''re alone?"


    Mark asked while closing the wall.


    "Sis is already awake preparing breakfast with miss Odel. I and Gale are still asleep." She immediately replied. "Anyway, I want to ask what this is."


    Jaeya''s voice echoed in his mind and was obviously asking about the box.


    "You should just ignore that."


    "Ignore?" Jaeya seemed more agitated than usual. "Can''t you hear it?"


    Of course, Mark could hear it clearly. He just tantly ignored the fact that the voice of a baby crying sounded from the box.


    "Hah, Mei and Odel should already have told you about that, right?"


    Mark said with a sigh. There was no way the two would not tell her. He already told the two about his goal of raising this infected baby. It was just he was busy to deal with it immediately.


    In the first ce, it would not be hard to know its diet. Mark and Mei saw how the other infected babies in the hospital ate their dead kind. Unfortunately, there was no way to get fresh animal meat right now.


    Mark wanted to try and raise if differently from normal infected.


    "They did tell me, but... Can I see it?"


    Jaeya requested.


    As Mark and the [Blood Children] were the only ones able to open this box, anyone would need his permission. In any case, there should be no problems with letting her see it.


    Besides, the infected babies might be infected, but since they had a better instinct for survival, they were not overly hostile.


    Mark opened the box for Jaeya to see. There, she saw the baby boy that did not look any different from a regr baby aside from its pale-colored eyes.


    The babyy inside the box naked. It was clean, and it was lying in soft cloth as Mark tasked Odelina to take care of it. Of course, as Odelina could only open and close the box with Mark''s help, the cleaning yesterday was done here in the parking area. This made it impossible for Jaeya to see the infected baby beforehand.


    The moment they opened the box, the baby stopped crying. It was looking at the people that opened the box. When the infected baby saw Mark, it shivered like a small animal. It seemed like their mother''s order to stay clear of Mark, and his group was still fresh in its mind.


    If it could crawl away and escape, it might have already done so. Unfortunately, it was cornered inside a small box and can only freeze in fear.


    Mark was not new to this behavior of this infected baby. Actually, Mark started to question whether this was really an infected or they were just another new race of creatures born from the infected. With the existence of the [Blood Children], it was not impossible to happen. In fact, the way it behaved contradicting the behavior of the infected so far with the exception of a few intelligent ones. Among them were the [King Type] and [Queen Types].<sub> </sub>


    "Can I hold it?"


    Jaeya asked.


    Mark looked at her in confusion as normal people would surely feel repulsive after knowing that the baby was an infected one. Thinking about it, Jaeya was not normal either. Furthermore, the infected baby was not really strong and it did not have teeth or sharp nails to injure someone. It should be fine if she just wanted to hold it.


    Still, Mark wondered why Jaeye seemed to have some fascination with infants to the point of wanting to hold an infected baby.


    Seeing her hold the baby like normal, Mark knew that she had some experience in it. Probably with Abbygale.


    While being carried, the baby made no suspicious movement. Rather, it ignored Jaeya, who was carrying it and continued to stare at Mark warily.


    As he could not stay idle at all, Mark decided to look around the other vehicles to see what modifications he could do with the remaining blood bags he had.


    While he was checking behind the Jeep of Nikky''s group, he heard a hum in his mind that he decided to ignore. Then, Miracle started tugging on his pants.


    "Papa, what is Aunt Jaeya doing?"


    She innocently asked.


    When Mark looked, his eyes turned wide. He immediately dashed towards Jaeya and pulled the infected baby off her causing it to cry fearfully. White liquid sshed around as the dumbfounded Jaeya looked at Mark with her right chest bare.


    "Wha-"


    "What are you doing?!"


    Mark yelled making Jaeya swallow what she was about to say.


    Looking at the furious Mark, Jaeya covered her dripping chest with a teary eye.


    "I..."


    "I what?"


    "I just thought he is hungry... So..."


    "Hungry? Do you know that you can get infected with what you did?!"


    Mark was absolutely furious. He would not that worried about Jaeya if she was nothing but a stranger capable of [Telephaty]. However, she was Abbygale''s aunt and possibly the little girl''s only rtive left. The little girl might look calm about it but her mood had been lighter since yesterday after she met Jaeya. Mark did not want that to disappear because her aunt did a foolish thing.


    "Infected?" Jaeya was stunned. "Don''t the infected needed to bite to infected someone? That baby didn''t have teeth..."


    "The infected turn people by their saliva! Not their bite!"


    Jaeye froze. She waspletely stunned.


    "I... I... I don''t know..."


    Tears finally flowed from her eyes. First from Mark''s anger, next from the fear of what she had done.


    Seeing that, Mark''s anger subsided a bit, furthermore, his trait erased the rest. Calming down, Mark could not me her.


    She already told her story to them and she was evenining about how her chest was aching yesterday. From the start of the apocalypse, she was confined in the Dark Greed''s collection without knowing anything about the infected.


    p The thing she had done this time was probably because of the lingering emotions she had from her depression and about losing her son. Unfortunately, Mark could not fell her exact emotions because of how chaotic her mind fluctuation was. If he knew, he would not have agreed to her request.</anda>


    Nevertheless, even if it could not infect, who in the right mind would try to breastfeed a baby born from an infected? This showed how Jaeya''s head was not working properly.


    Mark returned the crying infected baby inside the box and locked it.


    "Ah, f-."


    Mark wanted to curse even if he disliked doing so.


    "Jaeya, just stay here. We need to observe whether you are going to turn or not. Got it?"


    Hearing his words, Jaeya nodded.


    If she became a Mutator, it would be good. Even if she became a failed one, Mark could handle it immediately. The worst-case was if she turned into a normal infected, or worse, into a mutated one.


    The moment that happened, they would only be able toment her fate.


    Even if Mark was here, there was no assurance that she would be the same as Jte and Patricia. And even if she did, the previous Jaeya would surely cease to exist.


    In any case, Mark had to try something once symptoms of her turning happened.


    Because of what happened, Mark postponed the modification of the other vehicles. He stayed by Jaeya''s side who was staying silent.


    Soon, Mei and the others arrived to bring breakfast. As they heard about what Jaeya did, they were worried about both her mental and physical state.


    Especially Abbygale. If not for her Mutator trait severely affecting her disy of emotions, she would have cried already. She even sat beside her aunt holding her hand.


    ***


    The noontime arrived.


    However, none of anything they had expected happened to Jaeya.

 Chapter 387 NeoHumans, The Ongoing Theory

    <strong>Day 61 - 3:22 PM - Hospital Area, Military Laboratories, North District, Bay City Settlement, Pasay City, Metro Man</strong>


    Mark, wearing his mask, Mei, and Abbygale sat in the waiting area of theboratory.


    Because of what Jaeya did, Mark had to postpone the modification of the remaining vehicles. After noontime passed and nothing happened to Jaeya, Mark decided to bring Jaeya to theboratory for checking. To be sure, he also brought the infected baby to theboratory.


    Because it was not easy to disclose the origin of the baby without causing amotion, Mark had to lie. He told the doctor that met them personally about checking for possible Mutagen Infection on the two.


    This was not the first time the people in theboratory received an inquiry like this. The speed of people turning for each individual infected by the [Mutagen Unstable Strain] was fundamentally different. That was why theboratory would handle such cases from time to time. Due to that, however, they already had a protocol to follow.


    For the time record of a person turning, the longest the military experienced was twenty-two hours. That was why it would not be impossible that other instances could ur.


    Nevertheless, having VIP treatment was superb. While people had to wait in queues in the lobby, theboratory personnel immediately directed them inside.


    Since things were urgent, they had not eatenunch yet. Unfortunately, it was forbidden to eat outside appointed areas in theboratory. Mark tried to tell Mei to lead Abbygale out to eat first, but the little girl did not want to and patiently waited beside Mark. Despite her calm expression, Abbygale was worried. She did not even remember taking advantage of I and Miracle not being present to solo Mark''sp on her own.


    Finally, the results they were waiting for arrived. Unexpectedly, the one delivering the result was no other than Nia instead of the doctor they spoke with before.


    Seeing Mark looking at her with a strange look, Nia smiled.


    "Sir must be wondering why I''m here. The staff reported to us about the circumstances and I led it personally. Hearing your requests are our utmost priority after all."


    Nia spoke respectfully.


    Not only her but Allen would behave the same way when around Mark. The first reason was Mark being able to strip away what they had now with a wrong move, and another was because while they look at Mark, they felt lower and guilty for a reason they could not fathom.


    Hearing her reason to be here, Mark nodded.


    "What about the result?"


    Mark asked. He could feel that even Abbygale and Mei were getting anxious.


    To Abbygale, she was herst rtive, while to Mei, she was like a sister. Not only because she was Abbygale''s Aunt, but Jaeya did not treat her any differently. Having the thought of having a sister was new to her and was quite enjoying it. The problem, however, was that the role of the two was reversed with Mei behaving as the older sister despite being younger.


    The short pause from Nia seemed too long.


    "There is no need to worry about the mother and the baby, they are both normal."


    Half-relieved and half-confused. That was what Mark and Mei felt. Of course, the little girl was all relieved.


    "Is something wrong?"


    Nia noticed the odd atmosphere.


    "Can you bring us to them?"


    Mark asked.


    "Of course, there is no problem. Please follow me."


    As such, Nia led the way.


    ***


    They were led unto the high-security rooms of the hospital area. It was the area reserved for these kinds of tests. Not only several soldiers were stationed in the area, but the rooms were built tost if the patient being checked suddenly turned or mutated.


    As Nia led them, they passed by the bulletproof window of the room they were about to enter. There was Jaeya inside and they saw her immediately.


    Mark hung his head low while rubbing his temple. This woman was a total headache.


    On the hospital bed, Jaeyay sideways... Happily breastfeeding the supposed "infected" baby.


    Mei sighed and even the little girl understood the predicament her Papa and Mama were having.


    Jaeya was concentrated on breastfeeding the baby that she did not even notice that she was being watched.


    Nia was waiting for Mark to open the door and enter first. As she was not rted to the patient, it would be better if she enteredst. Nevertheless, she could not understand why the three people in front of her were behaving oddly.


    "What tests did you perform?"


    Turning to Nia, Mark asked.


    "The standard tests. Body temperature, pulse and heartbeat checking, the most important were urine and saliva checking."


    The tests were a good set for checking possibly infected people. Body temperature and heartbeat alone could tell if a person had been infected since they would experience a very high fever and their heart would start to palpitate. Furthermore, an infected person''s urine and feces did not only reek several times stronger but would also contain blood as their insides transformed.


    As for the saliva, it was the most important indicator. Any person infected, even before turning, would already produce an [Unstable Strain] of Mutagen. It meant that if a person were infected, he could immediately infect others without turning into a full-blown infected.


    And, there was the problem Mark and Mei had in mind.


    Despite these tests, they deemed the baby to be "normal".


    "Are you really sure that the baby is normal?"


    Mark asked which made Nia even more confused.


    "Is there really something wrong, Sir? I would not understand if you don''t tell me."


    Nia respectfully asked.


    Leaving things like this, they would not get anywhere.


    "Can you keep a secret? Something that you won''t tell that crazy professor of yours?"


    Mark sighed. He decided to tell the circumstances.


    "Yes, you can count on me."


    Nia nodded with a stern expression. Probably, other than the professor, she would only show such expression around Mark.


    Mark then took out a phone and opened the gallery. There, he showed the grotesque pictures and videos of what they had encountered inside the nursery ward in Perpetual Help Medical Center.


    "This is?"


    Nia asked seeing the [Breeder Type] infected.


    "The mother of that baby there." Mark pointed at Jaeya and the baby inside the room. "You can see that umbilical cords on that infected? One of those is connected to that baby before I took it."


    "It seems like you found a rather unique infected there."


    Nia looked at the pictures with interest. She would also change expressions as she saw the pitiful looking babies born of the [Breeder Type].<sub> </sub>


    "You said that the baby is normal."


    Mark said the pressing matter.


    "I see."


    Nia finally realized why they were behaving oddly.


    "Can you follow me for a bit, it is not far from here."


    "It''s fine. But where are we going?"


    "Sir will knowter."


    Nia said as she led the way.


    Soon, they reached the maximum-security area of theboratory. The entrance was being guarded by several heavily armed soldiers.


    Nia showed her ID and they were given entry.


    She then stopped in front of a ss window of a secured room.


    Inside, there was a healthy baby sleeping.


    Seeing that, Mark and Mei were sure.


    "Is that what we think it is?"


    Mark asked.


    "Yes. An infant born of the infected." Nia said to confirm their thoughts. "The mother of this one might not be as grotesque looking as the one you showed me but I believe, they were in the same circumstances."


    Nia then turned to the baby inside the room.


    "And as I could say, we consider this baby as "normal"."


    Hearing that, it piqued Mark''s interest.


    "So, you are saying that an infected mother could give birth to a normal human baby?"


    "Yes." Nia nodded. "The circumstance is very rare and as we researched, there could only be a single instance this could happen."


    Nia then narrated the information Mark needed to know.


    ***


    It started when the military was still building the walls of the settlement. Way back when the outbreak began.


    The baby in front of them currently was born from pregnant a woman they military found and rescued. However, she was already infected the moment they found her. For the sake of research, they took the woman in as the researchers wanted to study what would happen inside the baby inside the mother''s womb.


    That pregnant woman turned into a mutated infected.


    While she was turning, however, she suddenly gave birth to a baby girl. The soldiers thought that it was alreadyte as they saw the umbilical cord attached to the baby was already odd-looking and the centa was still attached to the mother''s womb. Despite that, they took their chances, a soldier cut off the umbilical cord and brought back the baby.


    Under testing, they found it "normal". However, not only the baby girl open its eyes too early but also learned to crawl in about a week. Furthermore, aside from milk, she preferred a soft meat diet despite not having teeth yet.


    The most important thing, they did not carry any [Unstable Strain] in their saliva or other parts of their bodies.


    Other tests were still ongoing about how different the baby girl waspared to a normal human infant.


    ***


    "We tried to recreate such scenarios with infected pregnant women brought in but all of it failed."


    Nia continued.


    "We also tried fertilizing ovum from infected women. It was rarely fertilized and the growth of the fetus was rather fast. However, what we ended up with were unsightly infected critters like the babies in the pictures you showed me earlier."


    "So, you are saying that the baby I took might be the true baby inside the mother''s womb which she gave birth to while mutating?"


    Mark asked.


    "Yes, Sir. Exactly as you said. Although most of it is still in theory, that could only be the answer we can find right now."


    "Shouldn''t it mutate or turn into an infected since it is connected to the mother for a long time?"


    Mark said while contemting.


    "I can''t answer that precisely." Nia shook her head. "However, I have a theory. The Z-type A, the ones you call Biters. Aside from their instinctual urge to bite to infect people and their increased stamina and strength, all other functions of their bodies are the same. It could have been the same for the mother''s umbilical cord which only transferred nutrients to the baby that is already outside its womb."


    "It''s just a theory, right?"


    Mark asked.


    "Yes. Unfortunately."


    "I see..." Mark scratched his head. "I don''t know if I lucked out on this one or not. I wanted an infected baby and see how it will evolve."


    "Why Sir? I guess, it is lucky for you. We only have one despite our hundreds of attempts. Sir, on the other hand, picked that baby boy out of all the infected babies you saw."


    It was not really luck. Mark only picked the most decent looking among the babies. Who would have thought that real infected babies had no way of properly developing as a fetus? No wonder the others looked unsightly.


    With those thoughts in mind, Mark''s expression grew stern.


    "So, a new race of humans possibly appeared."


    He voiced out.


    "Yes. That was what we also hypothesized. We still don''t have a proper name for them, but Professor calls them [Neo Human]."


    Nia nodded with a serious expression.


    Finally, they had some answers though there were still obscure things they needed to confirm.


    The most important thing that Jaeya would not be infected because of her broken head. Not only that, since the baby was not really an infected one, but Mark could also appoint Jaeya to take care of it. Her loneliness would be addressed although it was not her child. It also seemed like she had taken a liking to it.


    Hearing the good news, Jaeya was totally delighted. She immediately jumped up from her bed forcing the baby off her chest which she immediately regretted.


    Mark could only sigh when Jaeya started talking to the baby and even approached him showing how the baby suckled on her chest. She did not even realize how afraid the baby was while she approached Mark.

 Chapter 388 Called Out, Another Mission From The Military

    <strong>Day 62 - 12:32 PM - General''s Office, North District, Bay City Settlement, Pasay City, Metro Man</strong>


    The day of the worrying event had passed with another all-nighter. Half of the night was because of the remaining work Mark had to do while the other half was because of another horde of infected appearing near the vicinity of Bay City Settlement.


    It was a considerably big horde. There were about a thousand infected in it. Because of thest event with the [King Type], the military started to practice high alert with infected hordes attacking the settlement. After all, no one would know what kind of infected could be present within the horde. Another [King Type] appearing was also possible.


    Still, such cases of hordes randomly attacking the settlement were normal. ording to Mei and Odelina, it had always been like this. This alert, right now, was because the people were still paranoid about thest event.


    Leaving the horde aside, Jaeya''s predicament yesterday was settled with her adopting the child as her own. Mark had no qualms about it. Although he was also interested in the babies called [NeoHumans], he was more interested in the growth of infected babies. Unfortunately, he already scorched the entire building to ruins before they left that ce. Since he secured that everything inside that building would burn, Mark did not think that any of them would survive.


    Nevertheless, having her adopt the child created a positive effect on Jaeya. Her chaotic mind had gained a bit of stability, and Mark could already read her emotional fluctuations. It was a good start for her recovery.


    As for the rest of the night, Mark finished using up all the blood bags he had. The remaining blood bags left after he modified another vehicle for their use, and modifying the lorry was more than enough for the simple modifications he made on the vehicles of his friends. He even had enough to make a few swords and spears.


    Right now, he was on in front of the General''s office and was about to enter.


    With Angeline and Pa''s usual routine of visiting Mei, they told him that the General wanted to talk. As Mark had no problems with it, he left after lunch and wore his usual mask.


    When the personnel in the lobby saw Mark, they immediately guided him even if it was not needed. They also informed the General that he was already here. Nevertheless, Mark was not led into the office he knew but another room not far from it.


    "General, the visitor is here."


    The soldier that apanied Mark knocked on the door.


    "Let him in."


    The voice of the general could be heard.


    Hearing that, the soldier opened the door and let Mark enter before leaving.


    A long table in the middle, quite a number of chairs and a whiteboard at the back. This was not an office but more of a conference room.


    Inside the room, there were several people present. Of course, he was not surprised as he already detected their mental fluctuations even before he entered the building. He was quite unsure why they were here though. Nevertheless, the reason why the General called him might be because of these people.


    Aside from the General, there was Professor Isaach Co, Nia, Allen, Captain D Rosa, and Major Lopez. Unexpectedly, four more people were here. They were Rosamie, Emika, Mikio and Professor Chervil Sandoval.


    "Surprise! You didn''t expect that we''re here, right?"


    Emika cheerfully shouted before anyone could even say anything.


    This caused everyone in the room to look at her while feeling awkward.


    "Emika, mind your manners."


    Rosamie reprimanded her daughter.


    The green-haired girl covered her mouth, but her expression made everyone doubt whether she was listening to her mother.


    On the other hand, Mark ignored her antics and turned to the General.


    "Hey Uncle! Don''t i- mfmph!!!"


    Emika was displeased being ignored and wanted toin, but several tree root-like vines twirled around her face covering her mouth. Unlike the boisterous Emika, her younger brother was more mature and understanding.


    "I''m sorry about this."


    Rosamie apologized with exasperation.


    Nobody inside the room had problems with it. It seemed that they were already used to seeing her behavior. In the least, her antics were still eptable as a child. As for the other, the General, Nia, and Allen looked at the unsuspecting Professor Co while slightly shaking their heads.


    "So, why did you call me here?"


    Mark asked the General.


    "Please, take a seat first."


    The General replied.


    Mark took the seat and the General finally spoke.


    "Our settlement, no, not only Bay City Settlement, even the Quezon Settlement are already buried in debts to you and your group."


    That statement made the other two military officers nod. Not only that, but General Perez and Captain D Rosa also had personal debts to Mark.


    "Still, we needed your help once more." The General continued. "We had a mission for you and your group."


    Hearing that, Mark frowned. As he already finished with what he needed to do here, they would be leaving in a few days. He had no extra time to deal with Military troubles. The General should already know that.


    Seeing that frown, the General was not disheartened. He looked at Professor Isaach to continue.


    "Don''t me Miguel. This request came from me."


    The Professor said making Mark turn to him.


    "Actually, what we wanted you to do will not deviate from your current goals and schedule."


    He then turned to Chervil.


    "As you know, Chervil is our best botanist here in Bay City. He even sessfully researched and created the new variant of rice which could address a percentage of food shortage we had in another month or two."


    As the Professor said that, Chervil nodded while Emika was looking proud of her Uncle Chervil. Her proud look, however, was obscured by the tree roots covering half of her face.


    "There is a problem, however." The Professor continued. "Since this settlement is surrounded by the Man Bay in the west and infected cities on the other sides, we are wasting his talent."


    Chervil looked down. While he did not want to voice it, it was true. His specimens for research werecking and there were not enough ces here in Bay City to test his research. As a botanist, his research was about flora, something that this settlement could not provide.


    "I see..." Mark spoke. "You want me to bring them to Quezon. Is that it?"


    Since the mission was about Chervil and the Professor said that it would not deviate from his goals, it could be the only possible exnation.


    "It''s good that we didn''t have to go further into detail." The General smiled. "Also, we already know that you work like a mercenary. If you ept the mission, we will give you these."


    The General nodded at Nia who took out a suitcase onto the table and opened it.


    Inside the suitcase, ten fruits could be seen.


    Of course, he recognized those fruits and could not help but look at Mikio.


    "So, it''s true that you know about it." Professor Isaach spoke. "It is one of our research we don''t normally disclose to others. Like the things about [Neo Humans]."


    Hearing that, Mark looked at Nia who hung her head low.


    "Don''t be angry at her." The Professor shook his head. "She did not say anything. But it is not hard to know what happened when she led you and Miss Mei into the restricted area after the checkup of a baby you brought. There are also surveince camera''s there and the soldiers and personnel on guard will report to us. Don''t be a bad influence on Nia, she actually tried to lie. But you know, she is really bad at that."


    Then, the Professor continued.


    "I still don''t know why you get to find the good stuff here in the apocalypse."


    Thatst sentence was more of a grumble due to envy rather than a lecture.


    Of course, as they had to stop the Professor from saying too much, the General asked.


    "Are you willing to do it?"<sub> </sub>


    "Can I see those first?"


    Mark asked while pointing at the golden fruits. As they had no problems with it, the suitcase was pushed in front of Mark.


    "These had pale colorpared to the one I saw."


    He spoke.


    "We are aware of that. However, we can''t make a child do something dangerous and recreate the scenario we heard of."


    The Professor spoke.


    "That''s different from what I expect you to say."


    Mark said. There was no doubt that this guy was lying.


    "Alright! Alright! The little boy is a rtive of someone important, what else can I do?"


    That statement made Chervil, Rosamie, and Emika red at the Professor. However, the Professor did not seem to care about their expression. He was really a nutcase if it came to research.


    "We can also give you papers about those fruits. Anything else you want to ask?"


    The General blocked the Professor from speaking once more.


    "How many soldiers will be participating?"


    Mark asked.


    "One toon. That should be more than enough since I don''t think there would be much danger if your group were to ept this mission. However, since it will be a one-way trip, the families of some of the soldiers will being. Don''t worry about their vehicles and supply, those will be provided by us."


    Hearing that, for sure, it might be around a hundred people just the soldier''s families alone.


    However, there was no need to reject this mission. There was no deviation in his journey ns aside from bringing more people.


    "I will ept this with one condition aside from the reward."


    Mark spoke after thinking a bit.


    "What is it?"


    "I want full authority over the soldiers participating. I can''t have them ruin things just because they have other ns."


    Hearing that, the General nodded.


    "I will brief them about it. We only needed to finalize the date of departure."


    "Hmm..."


    Mark started to ponder about it. He never really set a specific date since he was used to having scheduled ns being disrupted when the time came.


    "How about four dayster."


    Mark decided.


    "That should be fine. We will have three more days to prepare. It should be more than enough."


    As the decision was made, Mark shook hands with the military officers and the professor. It was not like he wanted to.


    Since the meeting about the mission was finished, Mark decided to leave, Rosamie''s family was the same as they had no further business here. As for the remaining ones, they were left as they still had things to discuss.


    "We will be in your care again."


    Rosamie spoke to Mark.


    "Seems like it."


    Mark replied.


    "Sir, Mark. Sorry for the inconvenience."


    Chervil said.


    "It''s fine. I''m getting paid for this. It''s not like there are many changes too."


    On the other hand, Emika was grinning after she was released by Mikio that Rosamie currently carried on her arms.


    "What''s with that look?"


    Mark asked. After all, she was grinning while looking at Mark.


    "Scary Uncle, you can''t escape from me. Gale and I are my friends, but you wanted to take them away."


    "That''s not my problem though?"


    Mark shook her statement nonchntly.


    "As I said... You-cant-escape!"


    She jumped forward trying to grab Mark and hug his waist.


    But... She caught nothing and almost fell.


    "Actually, I can."


    Mark appeared behind her with a puff of ck Mist and whispered.


    Ignoring the fact that he appeared behind her, Emika swiftly turned around and tried to grab him once more. Like before, she caught nothing. This time, Mark appeared several steps in front.


    "AAHHH!!! Don''t run away!"


    Emika started to chase him.


    Nevertheless, she became tired shortly and stopped while panting.


    "I''ll be going first, I still have things to do."


    Mark appeared in front of the surprised Rosamie and Chervil and gave a high five towards Mikio.


    "Sorry about my daughter."


    Rosamie voiced out exasperated.


    "It''s fine."


    With that, Mark vanished from their sight just as Emika tried to sneak on him.


    "ARG! Scary Uncle! Stop cheating! - OW!"


    Emika yelled out loud which disturbed everyone around. As Rosamie could not hold her temper anymore, she knocked on the green-haired girl''s head.

 Chapter 389 Day Of Departure, Leaving The Bay City Settlement After Setting Up A Bomb

    <strong>Day 66 - 6:22 AM - South Gate, South District, Bay City Settlement, Para?aque City, Metro Man</strong>


    Four days passed in the blink of an eye. These days were rather uneventful except for a few battles at the eastern walls. It was amon urrence as the walls there were not separated from the maind with trenches, unlike the other sides of the settlement. Furthermore, it would be very long before such encounters stopped. It was because of Metro Man alone had millions in terms of the poption before the outbreak.


    Furthermore, the wave of infected returning from the coasts increased that number.


    Mark and his group also raided several of the nearest untouched food establishments to gather the supplies they needed for travel. Although they could ask the military and trade [Mutagen Stones] for supplies, Mark would rather not. It might not be too soon, but with therge poption of Bay City Settlement, they would surely experience a shortage.


    Since the military governing the Bay City Settlement had treated his people well, he did not want to contribute to the cause of their future struggles.


    Today was the scheduled day. With everything prepared and things to do had been done, it was now time to leave.


    At the preparation area near the southern gates, several vehicles gathered. Most were modified military vehicles, but the most eye-catching were two odd futuristic-looking vehicles along with several oddly modified cars.


    The [Exceed: Personnel Carrier] was already known by many. However, everyone was shocked seeing thepleted [Exceed: Disintegrator Fortress]. It looked like a huge metal monster packed with weapons. They also saw Aimee test the slots dedicated to her tentacles that made it even scarier. Aside from those two vehicles, there were also supposed to be "normal" vehicles before. Now, these vehicles had attachments that were never there before.


    Normally, the military vehicles were the ones that looked intimidating. This time, their vehicles were overshadowed. Heavily overshadowed.


    There was also Gifre and Char.


    For some reason, the soldiers felt small.


    Nevertheless, there was a good advantage to this. It would be very unlikely for raiders to target them.


    The news was not heavily circted to the public, but the military and survivor groups had encounters with armed enemies once in a while. Very much like Gifre''s group.


    This event had not been announced. However, it seemed that the presence of Mark''s group and the military''s higher officers in one ce attracted onlookers.


    ***


    Inside the preparation building, Mark was together with General Perez, Major Lopez, and Captain D Rosa. There was also the person that would lead the soldiers, 1st Lieutenant Enrico Baller.


    They were doing the final discussion about the route they would take to Marcos Highway.


    "Going through C-6 might be the best idea."


    The General said.


    As Mark had prepared before inte services were cut off, he had a full map of the Philippines, especially, Luzon, in his device. Even the military requested a copy as they had not thought of preparing one. All they had were normal maps that did not even have satellite images. Although the satellite images on Mark''s application might not be too well updated, it was still a better reference than a nk map that only showed the roads.


    They were currently using the application to determine the routes and Mark had several routes in the proposal.


    The C-6 or Circumferential Road 6 they were currently talking about was the same road Karlene and Edzel took while riding on Char''s back. Since they had seen the road, they knew it better even just by memory.


    Furthermore, as the east side of C-6 was facing Laguna Lake, the only threat they should expect would being from the west side of the road. Of course, there was still the possibility of attacksing from theke, but it was uncertain.


    From there, they would enter Taytay and Antipolo, Rizal, before they get to Marikina-Infanta Highway.


    This was the route they all agreed to take. It proposed the roads with less riskpared to others. There were still popted areas among the roadside, but it could not bepared to what they could encounter when traveling through several highly infested cities.


    "So, thest thing is the possible resting points."


    Major Lopez spoke.


    Since the final route had been decided, the only thing left was the resting points.


    Like what happened to Mark when they had to travel to the University of Perpetual Help, they had to spend the night there. It was because unlike before the apocalypse, the roads now were longer to traverse because of the blockades. Those blockades could either be barricades or the infected. If the worst came, even humans could block them. In any case, they needed to choose where they could camp if they took too much time on the road.


    The final meeting did not take long and the directions were circted among the members, especially, the soldiers.


    As Mark, went out of the tent, a woman hugged him.


    "Dude, be careful on the way."


    Mark shrugged, this woman was no other than Carren. His college ssmate and could be said as both good and bad influence on him. The person he also viewed as an older sister.


    These past days, except for preparing, he spent time with his friends. He was not able to before since he had a lot of things to do.


    Beside Carren, Markron tapped his shoulder. Together with the two was Saime. In college, the four of them were a group. Not a normal group, but a weird group with weird personalities.


    The main reason Mark became an otaku was because of this group.


    "I know, I know."


    Mark answered as he escaped from her embrace. Before, he quite liked being embraced by her. However, this woman was already a married one. Yet, she never changed this habit of hugging Mark. She never did that to others though for some reason.


    Aside from the three, the others that would stay were also here to bid their farewell. Like Mark had expected, only those that had positive feedback when he told them about leaving decided toe with him. Most of them would stay. Hoping that their families managed to survive.


    Ron, Nikky, Mara, and Daniel, even the little Dorothy were saying their farewell to the other two members of their group. It was the same for Arvie''s group as also two of their members would stay behind. Because of this, the ones staying on these two groups decided to form a new one.


    "Sir!"


    One the side, Edward''s voice could be heard as he saluted to General Perez and Major Lopez. Captain D Rosa even gave him a brotherly embrace. As it appeared, they were all in one toon when the ident happened on Edward. Seeing theirrade still alive made the officers happy. Now, however, Edward had to leave once more as he was recruited by Mark.


    "You better take care of your partner. She might have gone through bad experiences, but life is not over."


    The General tapped Edward''s shoulder.


    "Yes, Sir!"


    ***


    The farewells had been made and the ones leaving started to board their vehicles.


    "Emika? Where are you going?"


    Rosamie caught her daughter that was trying to slip away.


    As the most important people here, it was decided that they would board Mark''s vehicle that was the most secure one. Then, while the [Exceed: Disintegrator Fortress] led the way and the [Exceed: Personnel Carrier] along with the other vehicles behind it, the soldiers would be distributed around the convoy. It was to ensure that the nonbatants would be protected.


    However, it seemed that Emika had no interest to board the designated vehicle.<sub> </sub>


    "I want to ride on that too!"


    She shouted while pointing in a direction.


    In that direction, Mark could be seen sitting on Char''s back.


    Of course, who would not want to be able to ride on the back of a dragon?


    Even so, Rosamie would not let her.


    "No. That will be dangerous."


    "But I want to!"


    Emika looked dejected. It was fortunate that while this girl was hard-headed, she was not the type to throw an unsightly tantrum.


    Unexpectedly, Mark appeared in front of them.


    "She wants to ride with me?"


    Mark asked Rosamie.


    "I want too! I want too!"


    Emika did not even let her mother answer the question.


    "Alright."


    Mark nodded which made the green-haired girl jump in delight.


    "Will it be fine? It''s not dangerous, right? Also won''t she be a bother?"


    Rosamie worriedly asked. Although she was happy to see her daughter lively, she did not want to bother other people.


    "Don''t worry. She''ll change her mind after an hour or probably, less."


    With those words, Rosamie nodded. She could not understand why Mark seemed certain about it but she did not bother to think anymore. She just said strict things to her daughter before Mark brought her away.


    As Emika climbed up the dragon''s back with Mark''s help, she happily waved at Abbygale, I, and Miracle that was entering the vehicle. She was so hard-headed and dense that she did not even realize that the three girls were staring daggers at her.


    ? Mark, on the other hand, really did not mind it.


    The emotional fluctuation in the settlement was always negative. Being able to absorb something positive was better. Furthermore, Mark was certain that Emika would change her mind about riding on Char''s back.


    Riding on horseback was hard, not to mention the back of a dragon. Riding horses were trained and were more tolerant of its riders. Char, on the other hand, was not. It might be better if they were going to fly, but they would travel onnd. In a short while, Emika''s bottom would start to hurt.


    At that time, even if sheined, Mark would not let her go down immediately. Mark really liked to joke around with this girl.


    ***


    After everyone was prepared, the bridge outside lowered and the gate opened. There, fifteen vehicles and two monsters drove out of Bay City Settlement while being witnessed many people.


    Led by the General, the soldiers all saluted. Of course, the gallery still wondered what was going on as none of the soldiers they asked wanted to answer their questions.


    "There goes the most powerful force in this settlement."


    Major Lopez bitterly sighed.


    Not that Mark and his "Team Fairy" were gone, things would be harder in this settlement. They just wished that another [King Type] would not appear until they were ready.


    "It can''t be helped. They might be citizens in our country, but we can''t say anything when the highest ones in the government abandoned everyone."


    General Perez sighed.


    Hearing that, the two officers looked down.


    It was a secret to the public. The upper house had abandoned the rest. Those senators that did not make it were the ones distributed to settlements for the military to not gain too much power. Of course, some of those senators were also not aware of this. People like Senator Estrada.


    As for the upper house, the Senate, they already locked themselves away from the surface. Inside the sole apocalypse bunker built in the Philippines.


    "In any case, what are you going to do these things he gave us?"


    Captain D Rosa spoke as he held something in his hand. Although he held it, he was making sure that none other than the General and the Major saw it.


    The thing on his hand, it was nothing else, but a [Physical Crystal]. Furthermore, it was something that contained a mutation.


    As Mark needed the military to support the friends he left here, he gave a crystal to a few individuals he knew in the military. The General was the luckiest one as his family was given one for each member.


    However, Mark did not say what it was but only said what to do with it.


    "I don''t know what this is, but I have a suspicion."


    The Major said which the two also understood. Mark would surely not do anything to harm them as his friends needed their support. Because of that, these crystals could only mean one thing.


    ***


    A few dayster, a shocking thing was leaked to the public. Several mutators suddenly appeared within the military and those that were left behind from the "Team Fairy''s" group were revealed to be Mutators. Aside from them, other individuals were also suspected to hold such abilities. There was also a senator and his wife that suddenly became Mutators despite their current reclusive state.


    And thus, the VIPs of the settlement wept.


    At the Xiao residence, the things they had were scattered on the floor as the head of the family rampaged. As his family gave up contacting "him" at thest minute. If they did not, they believed that they would also be included.


    Themon popce might not be able to, but those at the top could investigate.


    It was when they found out, all of the Mutators suddenly appearing had a single simrity.


    Every single one of them had contact with the leader of "Team Fairy", The ck Armored Devil, Mark.

 Chapter 390 The First Day On The Road, A Rather Smooth Travel

    <strong>Day 66 - 10:15 AM - W Service Road, Para?aque City, Metro Man</strong>


    "Oww... Scary Uncle, let me down already..."


    Emika''s unsteady voice echoed behind Mark while riding on Char''s back.


    It had been more than three hours after they left Bay City. Now, they were traversing one of the main service roads beside only skyway going through Metro Man. As for their exact current location, they were more or less a kilometer away southeast of Ninoy Aquino International Airport.


    The first route they had taken was the very same route when the forces of Bay City Settlement tried to destroy the nest in the same Airport. Not only that the route should already have been cleared of the previous blockades, but most of the infected had also been cleared by the explosion that urred in the airport.


    Of course, it did not mean that they would not encounter the infected on the way. In fact, there was quite a lot.


    If it was before the outbreak, from Bay City, their current location could be reached within less than an hour if the traffic was low. Yet, because of the infected, they still took this much time.


    As for Emika, she was alreadyining about her aching bottom.


    Mark already expected this, but his predictions had been off. Emikasted longer despite Char rampaging around to fight the infected that came close to it. It took three whole hours before she noticed the effect of riding on Char''s back.


    Unfortunately, they could not just suddenly stop the vehicles while being besieged by the infected on all sides.


    Past the airport, it was already out of the activity area of the forces of Bay City. It meant that the number of infected here wasrger than the areas around the settlement.


    And they were currently experiencing it.


    Since the road they were traversing was the main road going through several cities, there was a lot ofmercial establishments could be found by the roadside and a few blocks and streets away from it. This meant that the poption in this area alone was rather high.


    Furthermore, main roads like this suffered more heavy traffic when the outbreak happened. As such, most of the road was upied by abandoned vehicles.


    They were currently experiencing one of the downsides of having arge number of people in a traveling group during an apocalypse like this.


    Unlike when there were only one or two vehicles in Mark''s group, they would be able to traverse smaller roads, branching streets, and back alleys. Because of that, they could avoid heavy road blockades by entering alternative routes.


    That was something hard to do with arge group of vehicles.


    Although they could do the same, entering smaller roads would need to separate the defenses of the convoy making it easily prable. Also if they encountered a dead end, it would be hard to backtrack with too many vehicles in the group. The group would be prone to getting stuck during those times and ambushes, especially from [Predator Type] infected, could happen.


    Mark would have no problem if he or his group were the ones being attacked with the ambush. However, it would likely be a different story if the target of the surprise attack were either the soldiers or the vehicle with their families inside. Casualties could happen because of that.


    ***


    While traversing the road, the vehicle leading the way was no other than the modified Lorry, the [Exceed: Disintegrator Fortress]. It hadrger V-shaped rams in front of it and was heavy enough to push away most of the blockades on the road. The one driving it was Edward as he had the experience to drive a military truck before.


    The Lorry was being followed by two military humvees, then the [Exceed: Personnel Carrier] in the middle of a modified van, ridden by Monique''s family, and the modified armored carrier that was currently used by Ron and Arvie''s groups.


    Behind the three vehicles modified by Mark were four military trucks with the families of the soldiers participating in the escort mission. The remaining vehicles were all military humvees that surrounded the other vehicles, especially the sides and the rear.


    As for Char and Gifre, the tworge beings had no fixed positioning within the convoy. They would go where most of the infected wereing from to avoid things from going out of control.


    While midway on traversing the service road, the convoy slowed down before going to a stop.


    The soldiers from the humvees went down from their vehicles and took position around the convoy. This had been their routine when the convoy needed to stop.


    As the Chance, Mark made Char go near the [Exceed: Personnel Carrier] to drop off Emika.


    "Scary Uncle! I''ll get back at you for this!"


    Emika shouted while sticking her tongue out as Mark left with Char to see the situation upfront. Her threat might have been more intimidating if she was not limping as she approached the vehicle. When Emika entered the vehicle, everyone was holding back theirughter, Rosamie was included.


    ***


    Mark and Char went in front of the convoy and looked around. Of course, there was already the muffled sounds of shooting in the background as the soldiers shot the iing infected.


    "What a mess."


    1st Lieutenant Baller said as Mark approached.


    Edward was also outside the [E: DF] as he tried to see if there was a way to push through this.


    They were already near Bicutan Interchange where they would turn eastward leaving the vicinity of Metro Man Skyway.


    However, the road was blocked, not by abandoned vehicles or the infected, arge part of the skyway had copsed. The copsed skyway filled the roads below with arge amount of debris.


    "What could have caused that?"


    Phillip who followed Edward out of the [E: DF] could not help but voice while looking at the destroyed skyway.


    "It is better for us not to know."


    Edward said as he understood a certain fact.


    The Metro Man Skyway was not something that would easily copse even if a tank were to ram against one of its foundations. There were no signs of arge explosion either. The only thing they could conclude in this scene was that something unimaginable caused this.


    "Aimee, can you get rid of this?"


    Mark approached the [E: DF] and asked Aimee who was already sticking her head out of the carrier.


    Unfortunately, she shook her head. Her light beams might turn flesh into dust and melt metal in seconds, but it would be hard to do with concrete without taking too much time.


    "I see..."


    Mark looked around and his eyesnded on the concrete walls under the skyway. These walls separated the northbound and southboundnes of the roads under the skyway.<sub> </sub>


    Opening his wings, Mark then flew to look over the walls and see the situation on the other side.


    Looking down, the otherne just behind the wall was also blocked. However, running beside thatne was the track line of the Philippine National Railway or PNR. It was the oldest train line in the Philippines that goes through several provinces in central and south Luzon.


    Fortunately, the train tracks were not that affected by the debris from the destroyed Skyway.


    Lading down, Mark shouted.


    "Everyone, get ready! We are going to open a way!"


    As Mark shouted, Edward and Phillip, boarded the [Exceed: Disintegrator Fortress] once more while the other soldiers positioned themselves in a way that they could easily enter their vehicles and leave.


    With that, Mark spoke on his radio and contacted Mei to call out Aephelia.


    Aphelia came out of the vehicle and flew towards Mark.


    "Master, need something?"


    She asked.


    "Control Gifre, we need to bust those walls."


    Mark replied pointing at the walls on under the intact part of the Skyway.


    With Char and Gifre, they started to remove the metal barriers and break the concrete wall. As the wall was made that even a truck would have a hard time to break it, Char would not have enough strength to do this alone.


    Char weakened the metal supports and barriers with its high-temperature mes before breaking those things while Gifre smashed the walls slowly. Since the insides of the walls were fitted with rebars inside, Char also took care of the exposed ones.


    The strong wall could not stop the coordination of the two and the path was opened. Doing the same, they broke the fences that separated the road to the train tracks and the convoy finally left the blockade.


    Finally, they left the vicinity of the Skyway as they turned left at the intersection and entered the General Santos Avenue that would lead them directly to C-6 Road right beside Laguna Bay.


    As they left the area, however, many of them could not help but take another look at the destroyed part of the Skyway, Mark was not an exception. They all wondered what could have caused such massive destruction on a road designed to be strong enough tost too long. A Skyway could not be too fragile to copse that much.


    Nevertheless, one thing was for sure, whatever that caused that would be dangerous.


    ***


    After leaving the area around Skyway and avoiding other main roads, their travel became smoother. Of course, the infected were still blocking them and were trying to swarm them. But, just Aimee alone was enough to obliterate arge horde blocking the path of their convoy.


    Of course, her ability was not inexhaustible. She would surely need arge amount of food to replenish her energyter.


    ***


    <strong>Day 66 - 2:47 PM - Circumferential Road 6, Napindan, Taguig, Metro Man</strong>


    They were now near the end of the Circumferential Road 6 and they only needed to traverse the bridge going over Pasig River to reach its end.


    However, they already decided to stop.


    "Sir, should we build camp already?"


    1st Lieutenant Baller asked as they looked around the area.


    In response to that question, Mark took out his phone to check the offline map application. He then started to estimate the things he needed to mind on this journey.


    "I guess, we already should."


    Mark agreed after about a minute.


    And thus, they started to prepare.


    They cleared off a vehicle trade building south of C-6 Road near the bridge of the infected and decided to use the ce for camping.


    ''Isn''t it still early? It was just still before three in the afternoon.''


    That was what most people would think of this circumstance. However, it was better to build camp this early that trying to find another suitable ce before the sunset.


    For the main reason, the military did not expect that they would reach this ce this early. This ce was one of the designated resting points for the first night of this journey. They expected to reach this ce before evening. However, Mark''s group decimated most of the threats and blockades easily which made the travel smoother.


    Unfortunately, they could not take it for granted and continue to press on.


    After crossing the bridge over Pasig River, the next resting point they nned was about more than a dozen kilometers away in Taytay, Rizal. It was because, from the other side of the bridge, the only roads they would be able to traverse before getting to the next resting point were all main roads.


    The remaining time of the day was surely not enough to reach that ce given the fact that what they would encounter at the road was uncertain.


    Especially the copsed Skyway they saw several hours ago, it gave them an uncanny feeling.


    While they took camp, families of the soldiers also started to do their duties. The families of the soldiers might be nobatants, but it did not mean that they could not do anything.


    They started to prepare food for everyone. It was already ate lunch since they could not stop in the middle of the city to eat. The most they could do was to much on some crackers. Hungry soldiers would not better with empty stomachs after all.


    The ce was not too secure, but they could make do with it.


    As the sun had set on the horizon, night came.


    Many of them slept, however, it was just the time for the creatures of theke to wake up.

 Chapter 391 The Glow At The Lake, The Nighttime Hunting Ground

    <strong>Day 66- 6:22 PM - Circumferential Road 6, Napindan, Taguig, Metro Man</strong>


    It was the first night of their journey. Unlike how it was in Bay City Settlement, everything in the surroundings looked-like something to be feared.


    Without living people, there was no electricity. There were no lights in the streets, no lights in the houses nearby, and no lights in everything theynded their sights on. If not for the moon that was faintly illuminating the surroundings, the pitch-ck darkness of the night might have enveloped everything.


    For the night, they chose a supposed vehicle trade building, as it turned out, this detail in the map was already outdated.


    Yes, the vehicle trade business existed. Still, most of the area around turned out to be severalmercial buildings.


    Fortunately, this made it easier to secure the ce.


    There were three main buildings, two of which were two long single floor buildings built to amodate two rows of business establishments. The two buildings faced each other with a wide roofed area in between to serve the customers.


    Another good thing was that the roofs of the two buildings were mostly t, which made it easier to traverse while giving the guards on duty a better viewpoint.


    There was a wall securing the whole ce, but it was not that secure. The walls might be sturdy but were built temporarily. Some parts had already fallen, probably because of the infected. Still, it became uplicated with existing walls to work on, especially when Mark and the [Blood Children] were the ones working on it.


    Of course, it was while ignoring the green-haired girl tagging along while watching the [Blood Children] with glittering eyes. Still, Mark did not let anyone see that the [Blood Children] were creating [Blood Metal], not even Emika. To everyone, it only looked like they were tying up the temporary walls with something like a metal cable.


    Scouring the ce, they found it strange that the area was entirely untouched even though there were very few infected around. All in all, they found about twenty infected inside, either wandering the ce or trapped inside the stores. Only three of them were mutated ones and the mostmon kind.


    Then, inside one of the stores, they found a sad scene. Three decaying corpses were inside, by the looks of it, none of them were infected. Using their clothes, it should have been three women who managed that store. They all died while holding the hands of each other. With the presence of a box of rat poison and pellets of it scattered on the floor, it was not hard to imagine what happened.


    Unfortunately, the soldiers would not be able to give these poor people a proper burial. The area was unfamiliar, and the dangers around should not be underestimated. In the end, they could only clean the corpses along with the killed infected. All the cleaning fell unto Logan.


    Fortunately, Aephelia was used to seeing dead bodies and was able tomand Logan with precise instructions. Unlike Amihan, who was still quivering at the sight of decaying corpses.


    ***


    Night fell not too long after. Everyone had an early dinner and decided to sleep, leaving those in guard duty outside.


    While the soldiers and their families took the business establishments to camp in, Mark''s group took the third building that had three floors. Actually, it was just two since the third floor seemed to be still under construction when the outbreak started.


    Since they still have a very early morning tomorrow, everyone decided to sleep early like the others. Of course, everyone aside from Mark.


    Although he pretended to sleep, he was still awake. He opened his eyes once he was sure that everyone else already entered their dream world. There was no need for anyone to stand guard for them as Char, Gifre, and Logan could alert them once danger came. Even Aimee, who stayed inside the [Exceed: Disintegrator Fortress], was sensitive to the infected and would be able to detect them if they came too close.


    That was also the problem, aside from Char, the three were only sensitive towards the infected. The three were supposed to be infected, that was why they were able to detect their kind. However, as the three were not the usual infected, theycked something that normal infected had, the instinct for searching the living.


    Char, on the other hand, could detect enemies on certain conditions. The most prominent one was the smell of flesh and blood. This enormous lizard was a carnivore, after all.


    Laps and Fein were also here to help with detecting enemies. A dog''s nose was very good, while an insect''s instinct for survival was high.


    As for Mark, he could detect almost any living thing as long as they emit emotional fluctuations.


    With all of them around, any form of danger would not be able toe close undetected.


    However, it did not mean that they could lower their guards, especially when Mark could tell that there were a lot of things outside, waiting for night to fall.


    The soldiers actually wanted to set up spotlights, which could help in detecting and defending the ce. However, Mark stopped them. Not only that it would attract unwanted attention, but, it could also call forth danger.


    Being careful not to wake up anyone, Mark stepped out of the building unto the unfinished third floor.


    "Si-"


    "Shhh..."


    A few soldiers on the watch saw Mark and wanted to greet, but Mark shushed them.


    Nevertheless, Mark knew why. Even 1st Lieutenant Baller was here.


    Mark went down to where the soldiers were.


    "How is it?"


    Mark asked.


    Almost everyone was looking at the direction of theke while being careful not to make too much sound.


    "Sir, we don''t know what is happening. We wanted to call you out but you said not to since your pets will know if there is danger. Since they don''t seem to be responding, we concluded that there is no danger yet."


    The 1st Lieutenant reported.


    "Good. I just came out since I noticed the disturbance, but you all should calm down. There''s no danger yet."


    Mark replied.


    Currently, a glow could be seen at theke in the distance. At the sea, a phenomenon like this was a normal, but rare, urence due to algae. In thiske, however, there were no precedent events like this. For sure, the existence of Mutagen had something to do with it.


    Mark could faintly feel what the cause was, however. Whatever that thing that was glowing under theke, it was trying to draw insects towards it using the light it was emitting.


    "All of you, stay here. I''ll investigate. Just prepare for skirmish since we don''t know what it is."<sub> </sub>


    Mark instructed.


    "Yes, Sir."


    The soldiers saluted with a low voice.


    Opening his wings, Mark flew towards theke.


    Around, the area, he could feel insects, mutated or not, were traveling towards theke. It was not surprising since the wide vacant area behind the resting point was actually filled with ricefields. The rice crops were already destroyed though. However, it became the best nest for insects.


    Reaching theke, he saw that the light formed arge circle near the edge of theke. Around the area were filled with water hyacinths. And... A ratherrge one was at the center of the circle of light.


    The water hyacinth at the center was reallyrge. The smallest of its leaves had about the size of a human torso with thergest ones with a span of a meter or more. There was also the cluster of flowers and its stalk which was about two meters high.


    The source of the light was therge cluster of flowers.


    While observing the giant nt from above, Mark saw a mutated giant cockroach trying to approach the cluster ofrge flowers. It flew low over the glowing water of theke. Then... It was caught.


    A thick pointed stick spurt out of the water piercing the body of the cockroach. As the cockroach died, Mark saw several insect-like arms grab it and dragged it underwater.


    And that scene was not the first andst one. As more insects came towards the flower, more of them suffered the same fate. The sizes of the pointed sticks and insect arms were not the same either as some of them were smaller orrger than the rest.


    "So, this is a night hunting ground."


    Mark murmured.


    It seemed that whatever these hunters underwater were used those flowers to lure their prey. Of course, he could be mistaken and those creatures underwater might actually be protecting the flower.


    While Mark watched the unusual sight below, he suddenly felt danger. He swayed his body to the side. At the same time, arge burst of water happened below as arge thing flew out of the water. With a buzzing sound, therge silhouette passed where he was positioned before.


    Since its prey managed to dodge, the assant turned around in a curve and charged towards Mark once more.


    However, as Mark already saw the attacking, Mark prepared to strike it down. He dodged the next attack and then flew at the same speed beside it.


    Finally, since he was flying at the same speed, he saw what this creature was.


    Belostomatidae,monly known as a Water Bug. At least, that was how Mark judged it. Mark could not find out its specific name though as it had already mutated far from its original appearance.


    Not only that it wasrge, about the size of an adult human, but its legs also had sharp protrusions and there was a long pointed horn above its head.


    The insect seemed to hate that its prey was flying beside it


    and it attacked with its long pair of hind legs.


    Of course, Mark dodged it and started to fly away while provoking the insect. Mark could not tell whether provoking it would have an effect as its intelligence was not existent. However, as it already saw Mark as prey, it still chased.


    He wanted to lure it away. Although Water Bugs were not known as social insects, Mark could not gamble it. Many things could change with their mutation and the fact that these water bugs were hunting together could tell otherwise.


    As they reached an area quite far from the hunting ground, Mark knocked it down. He sent a burst of ck mist that immediately entered its head causing it to fall unconscious and fell to the ground. Since they were already going home, it would not be a bother to bring something like this alive. If Annica could tame this, it would be better. Mark could not do it since this thing had a low intelligencepared to Char.


    Mark returned to the resting point while surprising the soldiers. Who would not be if he brought back arge thing?


    BUZZ!


    Then, buzzing sounds could be heard from theke.


    Everyone keeping watch stiffened. Mark also frowned.


    It seemed like the number of insects going towards the flower was not enough. The water bugs decided to hunt onnd.


    Mark immediately issued orders.


    "Lieutenant, abandon the lookout and lock the buildings. We should be fine as long as those insects don''t find us. Leave the guard duty to this time."


    "Alright." 1st Lieutenant Baller nodded. "Men, you heard that. Go!"


    Seeing them go, Mark stealthily woke up Aephalia.


    Since Char and Gifre could be easily seen from outside, they needed to move them between the buildings where there was a roof. In the least, unless the waterbugs flew down to chek, the tworge beings would not be seen.


    Mark just wished that nothing bad would happen tonight. In the worst case, he would lure these insects away.


    ''How about killing all of them...''


    Mark thought at first, then, he shook his head.


    He had better ideas as he etched this ce in his mind.


    Of course, he had something to do tomorrow though. Something that these insects would surely hate.

 Chapter 392 Going Back To The Lake, The Start Of The Second Day Of Their Journey

    <strong>Day 67 - 7:49 AM - Sampaguita Street, San Juan, Taytay, Rizal</strong>


    The sun had long risen from the east, and the convoy Mark led left the resting point quitete.


    A journey outside the settlement was also a race against time. Because of that, the original schedule was to start preparing before dawn and leave at sunrise. Unfortunately, the waterbugs continued on seeking food until almost an hour after the sun had risen.


    Due to the threat of the waterbugs, their schedule got dyed.


    However, also due to the waterbugs hunting for food, they managed to have a night mostly free of threat. As Mark had thought, the waterbugs only attacked prey on sight while also avoiding possible predators. Some managed to identally see Char and Gifre under the roof covered area in front of the business establishments, but none attacked them.


    Perhaps, due to theirrge size and both looked like they were something that supposed to prey on insects, they found the two giants as a threat.


    While everyone hid inside out of sight of the waterbugs, the waterbugs started to target the infected that roamed the area. These infected started to loiter the area after Mark and his crew arrived. Possibly because of either the noise or the presence of living beings. Or perhaps, both.


    Unfortunately for the infected, except for a fewrge-bodied and [Armor Type] Mutated Infected, the others became prey to the waterbugs. Since the waterbugs were also living beings, the remaining infected also tried to go after them. It ensued a battle between the two species leaving Mark''s group in peace for the night.


    Everyone just wished that they returned to theke earlier though.


    After they confirmed that there were no waterbugs left flying and roaming around, the soldiers hurriedly prepared and they all left as soon as possible.


    The waterbugs might have be nocturnal after their mutation. Nevertheless, they could not take chances. The number of waterbugs they saw was quiterge and many of them were the size of an adult human. Most of the infected that roamed into the area did not even stand a chance, not to mention normal humans.


    They had to leave the ce as soon as possible. 1st Lieutenant Baller also took note of their discoveries and once they reached the Infanta Settlement, they would report the information and ry it back to Bay City Settlement.


    Right now, they already crossed the bridge while warily eyeing theke and the river. They were still in the vicinity of the protected area around theke and they could not let their guards down.


    It was a lucky circumstance that these Mutated Bugs had no ability to seek prey outside of their eyesight. A confrontation between them and the waterbugs in the middle of the night could have been dangerous. Mark and his group might be able to handle it, but it would be hard to protect everyone against arge number of these fast-flying insects.


    Fortunately, their fears were unwarranted, as they followed the main road and turned at the next curve, they started to drive away from theke safely.


    Of course, it did not mean that the continuation of the journey would be smooth-sailing. It was because as they drove away from theke, they entered the heavily popted areas once more. If one was to look at the map, this ce looked like a set of numerous rectangr grids with uneven proportions. In each block, there were about twenty or more houses.


    And there were a few hundred blocks around the main road.


    In fact, the moment they entered the subdivision, they were already blocked by quite a number of infected. Furthermore, instead of decreasing, their numbers were increasing as more infected were drawn by the sounds of the vehicles and the gunshots.


    If they stayed in a ce for too long, the road would surely turn into a sea of infected that would block their advance.


    Thus, along with the military, Mark utilized everyone to clear up the infected.


    While Mark instructed Char as the dragon run around the ce while spewing fire on the infected, he could not help but take out his phone and snap a few photos. It was because there were quite a number of infected that he had not seen before and was also not included in the data given to him by the military.


    Perhaps, these infected could be said as endemic to this ce.


    There were quite a number of infected with strange moss covering their bodies. Probably because of the dirty creeks around the area caused them to mutate and be hosts to the moss. It was quite annoying how these infected smelled horrible. The smell even permeated after Char burned their bodies to ashes.


    Aside from those, there was also a lot of thin-bodied infected that moved around on all fours. They rather move fast and had good instincts and reflexes. They were quite a pain to deal with as they try to avoid danger by jumping over abandoned vehicles and low structures before going into hiding.


    Their behavior made Mark think that the infected started to develop their own hunting methods by instinct. If this really was the case, things would be harder and harder for survivors in the future.


    ***


    <strong>Day 67 - 9:15 AM - Ejercito Avenue, San Juan, Taytay, Rizal</strong>


    "Here should be fine I think."


    Mark said as he looked around.


    They already left the area with arge number of houses. There were still some areas with simr states further away. However, the number of houses and possible infected residents would be lower. Right now, they entered an area where the structures on the streetside were quite sparse.


    It was because, at the east of the road, it was a water reservoir, while on the west side, it was an industrial area that was still under development. Of course, its development would not be finished, not in the near future. Or probably, it would never be.


    Mark then took out a radio. There was no need for a radio for the members of his group right now, but they needed one tomunicate with the soldiers. He could not just disclose Jaeya''s ability to them. It was the same for Edward''s crew who also had radios as they were just new people in his group.


    Before talking to the radio, Mark spoke in his mind first.<sub> </sub>


    "Jaeya, can you hear me?"


    "Yes, loud and clear."


    Jaeya immediately replied.


    "I need to leave for a while. Inform everyone that I told you to connect before. As for the soldiers, I''ll inform them, myself. While I''m away, just continue on the road, I will catch upter. I will also leave Char just in case."


    "Where are you going?"


    "I can''t tell for now. Just inform everyone so they won''t panic."


    "Okay~! I''ll inform them."


    Jaeya agreed. Her mood seemed to be good. Surely, she was watching her adopted son as he slept.


    As for the baby''s name, Jaeya gave him the name Theodore. Sadly enough, it was the same name her unborn son was supposed to have.


    Following that, Mark informed the soldiers and instructed Char to carefully guard everyone like before.


    Finishing that, he sprouted his wings from his back and pped it hard. With a blur, he flew away.


    He flew towards the southwest direction. Back from where they came from this morning.


    Along the way, Mark encountered a few infected birds. The infected birds tried to catch up to him, but, unless they were special type flying infected, they would have no way of catching up to him.


    It did not take long and Mark was already flying above theke. Unlike when traveling on the ground, traveling in the air was faster. On the ground, they needed to follow the roads while avoiding obstacles. While in the air, he could just fly over everything.


    Real-life might be a crappy game. At least, it was open-world. Furthermore, the current update called apocalypse made it better.


    As stealthy as possible, Mark lowered himself towards theke. More precisely, towards therge water hyacinth in the waters of Laguna Lake.


    While he lowered his altitude, he was checking for any mental fluctuations underwater. It was faint but he managed to detect the waterbugs. There was really a lot. Most of them probably did not try to leave the waters of theke as their bodies were smaller than the others.


    Furthermore, Mark confirmed. These mutated waterbugs were nocturnal. Probably, they did not like the light from the sun. It was because while the majority of them were asleep deep under theke, probably, under the mud, some of them were awake. Nevertheless, they did not try to swim too close to the surface.


    Maybe, they could tolerate the morning sun as it was not too bright and hot. However, as the sun rose in the sky, they could not tolerate it anymore.


    This was a great opportunity.


    Approaching the gigantic water hyacinth, Mark noticed that the flowers were not emitting light anymore. More importantly, the flowers seemed to be facing the sun, unlikest night when most of the flowers were drooped down while emitting light.


    Mark started to wonder why but shook his head. He was not here to mull over those things. What he came back here for was to look for something.


    Flying around the cluster of flowers, he started to rummage around. It did not take long and he found it. Stuck in the stem of the leaves, he found two fist-sized seeds.


    As far as Mark knew, water hyacinth flowers onlyst a day. Even if it mutated, there was a chance that even if the blooming time was lengthened, it would not be too long. In fact, there was not only one flower stalk but three. However, the other two already had no flowers on it.


    If that was the case, there could be seeds around. Mark was not sure as it was quite rare to find and water hyacinths weremonly grown with ntlets. In any case, he managed to find two. It should already be fine and try to grow it. For sure, it might not work since there was only one of this giant water hyacinth but he could still try.


    Storing the seeds, he also plucked three young flowers at the top of the stalk. He could use some souvenirs. One of these would be given to Chervil for study. If this nt turned out to be something helpful, it would be the best scenario. In the future, he could go back and pluck some more or search for seeds too.


    When Mark plucked the flowers, he felt some disturbance underwater. It seemed that the mutated waterbugs really valued this flower and managed to sense that its flowers were being taken. He then hurriedly removed a small part of a leaf connected to the root before leaving. He could also try nting this part.


    Luckily for these insects, Mark was not nning on fighting. If Annica really managed to tame the one he caught, he would take back more of these guys to create an army to mobilize on freshwater areas. So, Mark would not harm them right now.


    The disturbed waterbugs dug themselves out of the mud they slept and surfaced while enduring the sun. Their cries could be heard when they saw that the water hyacinth was missing some flowers and had a broken leaf and root. Some of them even flew around which caused their bodies to dry up too much due to the sun.


    Unfortunately, the poor insects never found the culprit and entered theke waters once more to soak their dried bodies.


    As for the culprit, he already scurried away while using his wings and [Shadow Mist Movement] at the same time. With the very fast speed of his flight, he managed to catch up with the convoy very quickly. Hended on Char''s back and joined the fray as he arrived while the convoy was in the middle of another battle.


    He would never know that for the next few nights, the waterbugs he stole the seeds, flowers, and root from were angrily hunting everything that came near their nest.

 Chapter 393 Through Taytay Rizal, Encounter At The Alternative Route

    <strong>Day 67 - 12:22 PM - Highway 2000, San Juan, Taytay, Rizal</strong>


    Passing over Barkadahan Bridge that goes over Manggahan Floodway, they gained a bit of breathing time until they enter the busiest parts of Taytay, Rizal.


    Even though they already drove past one of the longest and busiest bridges in the area, everyone was not content with their current pace. They were already behind schedule when leaving the first resting point. After passing over the Pasig River, their movement had been too slow.


    As they move further and further away from Metro Man, they encountered more varieties of infected that caused them to slow down. After all, going head-on against infected with unknown capabilities was the worst thing an individual could do. Regr people might copy game characters, tackling unknown enemies without much consideration. The military, however, was conscious of that fact.


    They would preferably not rely on luck where not only their lives but also those of who they protect would be in jeopardy.


    And thus, the soldiers pretty much try to deal with the new kinds of infected first before they got close.


    They were precisely right with this. Some of the infected could release toxic liquid or explode upon death. Letting theme closer without knowing their capabilities was the same asmitting suicide.


    Although everyone was dissatisfied with the current pace, it was to ensure their safety. Because of that, no one wouldin.


    Mark, who returned from theke earlier, was also enjoying the current pace. He happily turned the camera he pinned on his cor on and was even taking pictures as he fought. The military gave him enough data for most of the kinds of infected they found around Bay City Settlement. Nevertheless, finding out things on his own was more enjoyable.


    The feeling was pretty much the same as ying a new game without following any walkthrough. The yer needed to discover everything inside the game on his own.


    Mark knew that things of this caliber were different from video games. It was an issue of life and death. Nevertheless, his trait as a Mutator erased the feeling of fear inside him. That enabled him to enjoy these things, albeit the very same circumstance he had as a Mutator would remove this enjoyment soon enough.


    Leaving the vicinity of Barkadahan Bridge, they entered another development area. The stablishments around were all aimed for industrial use. Many were factories, while some wererge scale retail stores. However, like the others, these areas would never be finished.


    Furthermore, the construction materials and other things left around the unfinished establishments caused more kinds of infected to sprout.


    The infected in this area was lesserpared to the previous areas. However, the ratio of mutated infected over the normal ones was higher.


    One of the infected that stood on their way was quite slow on its foot but hard to kill with usual means. It was because itsrge body was covered with thick concrete. The infected was also a heavy one that even the [Exceed: Disintegrator Fortress] was rattled after ramming it to the side.


    The concrete covered infected was still alive despite that, however. Still, it was funny to see how it struggled to get up because of its heavy body.


    Mark got down from Char to look at the infected with interest. While it struggled to get up, Mark broke parts of its concrete armor as if trying to ascertain something. Soon, he just shook his head. After taking a few pictures, he made Char breathe fire on its head killing it almost immediately.


    "Big Bro, what are you trying to do?"


    Jaeya''s voice sounded on Mark''s head as he headed back to join the group.


    As she had already seen Mark bring back a few things he was interested in, she was curious about what he was up to this time.


    "Nothing much. I just tried to see if we can exploit that one."


    Mark replied in his mind.


    "Exploit?"


    Jaeya was confused. Everyone was just going nuts wanting to kill or run away from the infected. Mark, however, was theplete opposite. Not only that he had no fear facing them, he even wanted to exploit these carnivorous creatures.


    "Yeah," Mark replied. "I just tried to see if it can regenerate its concrete armor. If it could, then we can bring it at the base, feed it and make it produce concrete, at least, cement for us."


    Hearing that, Jaeya understood.


    Since her knowledge about the infected seemedcking, Odelina and Karlene took the opportunity to teach her. From the two, she learned about [Armor Type] infected and the ability of some of them to regenerate their armor once damaged. By the looks of it, that concrete armored infected could not.


    Still, Mark''s ability to think of using the infected as a resource amazed her quite a bit.


    ***


    Midway Highway 2000, their vehicles came to a stop once more. Sure enough, the road was blocked. Unlike the circumstance back in Metro Man Skyway, however, this one looked normal.


    The cause of the blockade was heavy traffic after two dump trucks crashed at each other. One of the two heavy-duty dump trucks was overturned andy in the middle of the road on its side. Furthermore, it seemed that the fuel tanker of parked at the gas station was involved in the ident and exploded. Most of the vehicles along with a few structures around the ce were scorched beyond recognition.


    Among the wreckage, there were also mutated infected with distorted and charred looking bodies.


    Mark instructed Char to burn the infected. Sure enough, the infected were ignited but did not die. They continued to shamble towards the vehicles despite their bodies covered in mes.


    "At least, these ones were normal mutated infected."


    Mark thought as he beheaded the scorched infected. It made him remember the infected affected by Gar''m''s mes that had their bodies burning despite looking like normal infected.


    "Sir, which alternative route are we going to take?"


    1st Lieutenant Baller asked.


    "Okay, wait a bit."


    Mark replied and sprouted his wings.


    He then flew up to survey the area. It was more reliable to do this than just consulting his outdated maps. In fact, the map would only show two short alternative routs around this part. However, one of those two was a set of roads inside a nned private housing subdivision. Although it had an extension dirt road before, it could be different now.


    And he was correct.<sub> </sub>


    From the sky, he saw that the north route was already closed with the subdivision''s walls. The only way they could go now without backtracking was the southeast route on the right turn street they had just passed by.


    That route would lead them either to an alternative route or back in this road. However, the heavy traffic caused by the ident spanned all the way across the highway. They could not use the initial route they nned.


    While looking towards the new route, Mark noticed something.


    ***


    Backtracking for about ten meters, they entered the branching street going southeast.


    This road was more devoid of establishments. There were mostly vacant lots covered with grass and treespared to the roadside of the highway that was mostly filled withrge establishments.


    The only problem was that the road was smaller. They had to stretch out the convoy into twones most of the way while also moving at a singlene at some points.


    They had to move about more than a hundred and fifty meters back before going in the right direction once more. It was because of how the blocks in the area were distributed.


    Soon, they entered a wider road. It was not the main one like the highway, but it was also quite popted with vehicles. The reason being the municipal hall and a few government offices in Taytay, Rizal were located on this road.


    Furthermore, there were quite a number of infected wandering in the area because of a certain reason.


    And...


    As they passed by the Municipal Hall surrounded by a pretty muchrge number of infected...


    They heard shouting.


    "Help! Help!"


    There was not only one voice, but there was also quite a number.


    In Mark''s detection, there were twenty-three of them.


    This was what Mark noticed as he surveyed the route in the sky. There were many banners hanged around the Municipal Hall which were written with either, "Help!", "SOS", or "Survivors Here!".


    With those banners, Mark could only scratch his head. Even though the goal of the banners was to seek help and rescue, it could also attract people with ill motives. They were probably lucky that no one would try to antagonize therge number of guards outside the municipal hall.


    Mark wished they were enemies. He did not want to add more baggage and he knew that the soldiers would not be able to resist the urge to help them.


    There was also the other request from the general that he told Mark. Mark''s group alone was enough to escort Chervil and his sister and her children. While these soldiers here were to assist them, one of their directives was to rescue survivors along the way if they encountered them and if it was possible.


    In this case, it really was possible.


    These survivors were crafty enough to survive until now. They even had a firetruck at the side of the city hall with itsdders locked up towards the rooftop. There was a gap between the end of thedder to ensure that even if an infected learned to climb up, it would not reach the roof. As for the people traversing thatdder, they only needed to use something like a bridge which for, sure enough, they had already prepared.


    If these survivors managed to survive this far, it might be because even with the banners, they did not g just everyone that possibly passed by.


    <o>,m On Mark''s detection, he could tell that these survivors saw the military vehicles and that was the reason they frantically called out.</o>


    Unexpectedly, in this small group of survivors, Mark detected four Mutators. With the exception of Mark''s group, this was quite unusual. In settlements, it wasmon to have several Mutators in a group because there was arge number of people. Still, the ratio of normal people overwhelmed the number of Evolvers and Mutatorsbined by several times.


    Having four Mutators in a group of twenty people was already a high number. Comparing it to Edward''s group before, Edward''s group only had a single Evolver. On the other hand, Gifre''s group had quite a number of Mutators. However, the members of their Dark Greed numbered about hundreds.


    "Sir."


    1st Lieutenant Baller''s voice echoed on the radio.


    Mark already knew what he wanted to ask. If possible, Mark did not want to agree. However, it was a request from the General who took good care of Mei and the others.


    "I know, just do what you needed to do. Just remember that we have no duty of protecting them. Their protection up to you and your men."


    Mark said with a sigh.


    "Thank you, Sir."


    1st Lieutenant Baller replied filled with gratitude for Mark granting permission.


    Thus, the military moved to secure the survivors along with finding a vehicle that could be used to transport them.


    On the other hand, Mark told Aephelia so send Gifre to assist the soldiers. Although he did not want to personally assist with the rescue, he did not want to have a record of anyone dying in a mission entrusted to him. Of course, the survivors that had no rtion to him was another issue. He could not care much about them. There was no benefit for him to help them too.


    They had Mutators that most people would want to recruit. However, no one probably knew about the reigning traits Mutator had after they became one. That was the main thing Mark assessed to recruit a Mutator. It was because, no matter how good or nice a Mutator was, their reigning traits could turn them upside down.


    As for these Mutators, Mark only found one that he could possibly recruit. However, it would not be suitable to recruit that person if he belonged to the group of the other three.


    While the rescue was ongoing, Mark was not just idling around. He was monitoring a certain direction opposite the Municipal hall using his detection.


    After all, the people in the municipal hall were not the only survivors in this ce.

 Chapter 394 The Second Day On The Road, Towards The Next Resting Point

    <strong>Day 67 - 1:15 PM - Don Hrio Cruz Street, San Juan, Taytay, Rizal</strong>


    The rescue of the survivors proceeded as the soldiers kept the infected at bay. One by one, they crossed the bridge they prepared as they went down thedder of the firetruck. As for the vehicle, these survivors apparently had one they used when looking for supplies. The car was an unmodified red van covered with dents on its body. That was how they managed to secure their survival up till now.


    Unfortunately, that vehicle alone would not be enough to bring them out of this ce towards safety. Furthermore, as the infected around the municipal hall grew in numbers and mutated further, they had to stop their supply runs and rely on what they had gathered.


    Now that they spotted military vehicles passing by, they knew that it would be their chance to leave this ce.


    While the soldiers resumed the rescue, Mark continued to monitor the fluctuationsing from the south direction. He took out his phone and looked at the offline map as flying would be too conspicuous. Looking at the map, he saw that the establishment in that direction was arge resort hotel.


    That resort was on a ratherrge scale. The whole establishment was three timesrger than thepound around the municipal hall of Taytay, Rizal.


    Mark could not tell whether the whole resort hotel was already secured, but he was sure that survivors were living there. Several of their scouts were even hiding while observing the situation around the municipal hall.


    There were five scouts scattered hidden. Their motives were questionable as they did not g the soldiers to rescue them and moved suspiciously instead. Among the scouts, there was one Mutator. As Mark observed the movements of the others, however, he concluded that they were agility based Evolvers.


    Since most of the resort hotel was out of his detection range, Mark could not tell the exact number of people there. However, just by the small area, he could detect, there were about fifteen already. The scouts were not included in that number.


    Mark then waited. In case that they only came to watch, so be it. If these people decided to make a move, however, he would immediately deal with them. Another Mutator ability would be handy for his collection since he had arge number of [Mutagen Stones] he collected from the horde of the [King Type]. Right now, he had more than a thousand vacant [Physical Crystals] stored inside the [PsyCrystal].


    Unfortunately, these people did not seem to have any urge to confront Mark''s group. He was quite disappointed. Nevertheless, they appeared to be troubled by the fact that the people inside the Municipal Hall were rescued.


    Their reaction to the rescue was quite odd. Why were they troubled when the survivors inside the Municipal Hall were not rted to them in any way?


    Were there any rtions?


    Mark could not help but ponder.


    The rescue went quite smoothly. There a few hitches because of the Mutated Infected, but the soldiers managed to handle the situation. It was even without too much of Mark and his group''s interference.


    As for the scouts of the other group, they only watched while trying not to be seen.


    After securing the survivors, they left the area immediately. There was no need to waste more time as it would also waste their effort and ammunition.


    As they continued their travel, the military had to adjust their positioning. It was because of the new addition to the convoy. For Mark''s group, there was no change as they remained as the vanguard of the group.


    ? Leaving the alternative route they took, they reached the main highway that traveled throughout Taytay, Rizal.


    ***


    <strong>Day 67 - 3:42 PM - Radial Road 5, San Juan, Taytay, Rizal</strong>


    Being one of the busiest roads on Taytay, this road had a lot of vehicles either left parked at the roadside or abandoned in the middle of the street. There were also a lot of infected wandering the streets waiting for prey toe.


    Seeing the convoy led by Mark, all the infected rushed towards them. It was quite a horrifying scene. The soldiers were quite tense due to many reasons. With this number of infected, it would greatly hinder their progress. It would be fine if it was still early. However, it was already about to gote in the afternoon. If they got dyed any further, they would end up driving on the road after sundown.


    That was the worst thing to happen.


    The survivors that were also rescued were also terrified. They wanted to be saved so they could escape the danger threatening them. Yet, they were faced with a new kind of risk in the road. They were also wary of the two gigantic monsters that came along with the convoy. After all, they had never seen such creatures in real life before. It made these people uncertain whether these creatures could be trusted.


    As for theirmander''s response to the enormous number of infected.


    "Full Speed Ahead!"


    Markmanded through his mind and the radio in his hands.


    Yes, it was a busy road. There were quite a number of vehicles on the road and arge number of infected around them. Nevertheless, this road was an eightne one. There was plenty of space to go through without needing to crash unto the abandoned cars on the road.


    As for the infected, they could all face the strength of the [Exceed: Disintegrator Fortress].


    In fact, thatmand was not just on a whim. It was also a signal designated to this convoy.


    The convoy stretched out its formation with all other vehicles moving behind the [Exceed: Disintegrator Fortress] as the vehicles elerated. Since the one driving the vehicle of the rescued survivors was a soldier, he also followed the adjusted formation.


    Then, Aimee''s tentacles moved out of the slots on her vehicle. The eyes on the tentacles aimed everywhere. As the defense in this formation thinned, Aimee would make up for the lost strength while also getting ready to open up the path whenever needed.


    Driving on the road, the convoy started to elerate while beams of light flew everywhere.


    On the other hand, Gifre also moved while keeping up with the [Exceed: Disintegrator Fortress]. Therge-bodied Gifre got rid of the vehicles that blocked the way when there was no space to go through. Char on the side with Mark left the ground and flew around to eliminate most of the infected with its fire.


    The soldiers also did not just idle around as they started shooting everywhere to get rid of the infected.


    They kept that pace to save precious time while getting rid of the infected by leaving them behind.


    After two and a half kilometers since their entry on Radial Road 5, they reached its end. Leaving the highway, they entered the extension road of Ortigas Avenue.


    They had to finally slow down and move at their normal pace once more. It was because this road was smaller with just its fourne road. As it continued the busy roads before, there was still a lot of abandoned vehicles that disabled their ability to maneuver around.<sub> </sub>


    Nevertheless, rushing throughout the highway gave them a bit more time to reach the next resting point.


    Since they could not rush the road anymore, driving for around a kilometer and a half at the beginning of the extension road was quite tedious. Nevertheless, past that distance, the infected became lesser and lesser.


    It was because of the rest of the Ortigas Avenue Extension being surrounded by lush forested areas rather than highly popted housing subdivisions.


    This state of the road would stay the same until they leave Taytay and reach Antipolo, Rizal.


    As the poption in this ce was lower than the surrounding areas, it would be safer here to spend the night.


    Finally, they reached the resting point. Different from the previous night, however, the ce to stay the night was not designated to only one establishment.


    Inside the high-elevated and forested area, there were several establishments. Some were resorts and event establishments while some were retreat and recollection areas.


    As for the ce Mark selected, it was arge building way inside the forested area about six-hundred meters away from the main road. It was a retreat center aimed towards religious practices as it was also a pastoral training center.


    The establishment had gone by the name MaryHill Retreat House.


    As the elevation of the ce was high, it was rather cold and the road was curved at some parts as going straight would either need more budget to build or make the road too steep.


    While going through the road surrounded by trees, this was the very first time they traversed a road without encountering any infected on the way.


    There were even small insects flying in the area. Although the appearance of some of the insects looked odd, they still behaved like their normal counterparts and escaped when they saw peopleing.


    Soon enough, they reached the wide parking area just in front of the three-story retreat center.


    The ce looked rather creepy for some reason.


    It was already five in the afternoon. In another hour or so, the sun would already set. They did not have time to carefully search every nook and cranny of therge retreat center to ensure that there was no infected inside.


    As such, Mark had an idea.


    Mark ordered the soldiers to secure a defense perimeter at the parking area facing the retreat center. He then went towards the [Exceed: Disintegrator Fortress] to fetch something.


    As he came out, what he was carrying was a cage with a limbless person inside. Of course, the limbless person was nothing else other than the [King Type]. It was awake but could not make any sound as its mouth was gagged tightly.


    Carrying the [King Type] out made the rescued survivors terrified. They started to mull over what they had gotten themselves into.


    Mark nodded to his group and to the soldiers to signal them to get ready. He opened the cage and reached for the neck of the [King Type] and pulled it out.


    The next thing he did was to remove the gag causing the [King Type''s] growls of hate towards Mark to be heard by everyone.


    Mark then smiled as he took out a knife and pierced the [King Type''s] shoulder.


    GRAAAAAAAAA!!!!!


    It''s painful scream echoed throughout the area, espcially the retreat center as the trees muffled the scream towards other directions.


    Like Mark predicted, the infected inside, despite not being under the total control of the [King Type], reacted.


    Mark had already thought about it. If there was no [Leader Type] Infected to lead the others, they would respond to any [Leader Type] that would call for them. That was how hordes grew after a horde led by a [Leader Type] passed by other infected without leaders.


    This time, even [Leader Types] would respond to this call. It was because a [King Type] was far superior to a mere [Leader Type] Infected.


    After the scream, Mark gagged the [King Type] once more, blocked its bleeding wound and threw it back inside the cage letting it squirm inside in pain.


    They then prepared for the fight.


    Different kinds of rare infected appeared from inside the retreat center. Some had the appearance of insects while others looked nt-like. There were also those with animal-like abilities.


    Responding by the call of the [King Type], they all rushed towards the direction of the defense perimeter.


    Unexpectedly, it seemed that the infected in the area congregated in this ce for some reason. There were about two hundred of them and about more than a hundred and fifty were mutated. This ratio was quite odd but they had no time to think about it.


    The battle with these infectedsted shortly. With Char''s mes, it was easy to dispatch the nt Mutated Infected. Of course, they had to be careful not to burn the forest around them. Mark''s group also participated in full force to dispatch the infected fast.


    To finish the day, they just needed to make Aepheliamand Gifre and Logan to search for their kind if there were still some remaining. Of course, Mark deemed it unlikely. Nevertheless, it was better to be careful.


    As they secured the retreat center, they were ready to spend the night. Since they all had to go out of their vehicles, the rescued survivors finally saw the other members of Mark''s group.


    Still, Mark hated the way they looked at Mei. Especially one of the four Mutators they had.


    Also, there was quite an uncanny feeling for this location Mark chose as their resting point.

 Chapter 395 The Recreation House, Starting The Haunted Night

    <strong>Day 67 - 7:22 PM - MaryHill Retreat House, Ortigas Avenue Extension, Taytay, Rizal</strong>


    The darkness of the night loomed over the end of the world once more.


    Being far from the middle of the city did not lessen their wariness towards their surroundings, however.


    The nighttime in the middle of a city filled with infected was scary. Yet, spending the night in a ce surrounded by nothing but trees and darkness was scary in its own way.


    Along with the fact that the retreat house itself was giving them strange feelings, no one would be able to rest properly in this night.


    ***


    As they decided to spend the night here, they used one corner of the building as their resting area. This way, it would be easier to gather everyone if something bad happened in the middle of the night. They upied the rooms around the stairs from the first floor to the third floor.


    The first floor was upied mostly by soldiers. The second floor belonged to the rescued survivors and the families of the soldiers. Lastly, the third floor was upied by Mark''s group. Of course, the soldiers on shift to be on the lookout would patrol the first and second floor. Although there was no need to, it was to make the people on the second floor relieved. Most people would feel secure when they knew that there were guards outside than having nothing, even if it was unnecessary.


    For the third floor, Mark made it off-limits unless it was an emergency. The soldiers knew that Mark''s group did not need any guards. If fact, if it came to a shove, even the little girls in Mark''s group would perform better than the soldiers.


    Mark''s rules for not allowing entry on their floor aside, there were not many rules that restrict the others. Although the soldiers told their families and the rescued survivors to stay inside their rooms unless necessary, they did not strictly restrict them from going out. It was as long as they stayed away from restricted ces and they had at least a single to escort them.


    It was to maintain their psychological state. Some might feel safe by confining themselves inside closed spaces, but there were also those that get more anxious as they would not know what was going outside. It was especially the case since they knew nothing about this ce.


    Furthermore, the survivors were feeling ufortable with the ce for some reason.


    ***


    "You guys saw that girl, right? How beautiful. They also had cute girls and women. There''s also Miss Karlene with them. How lucky."


    A man''s quite annoyingly toned voice echoed in a room on the second floor.


    "Hah... Prince, can you stop that already. You''re just being annoying again."


    A voice of a womanined at the man although her voice showed obvious jealousy with her tone.


    "It''s both of you that is annoying."


    Another voice chimed in. It was a man''s stern toned voice reprimanding the two.


    There were also other people in the room. By listening to their muffled voices and tones, the rtionship between these people was not bad. Well, except for one person it seemed.


    These people were the survivors they rescued from the Municipal Hall of Taytay, Rizal.


    The leader of this group was no other than the stern man, Harold Buenavista. As for the other two, the annoying man was Prince Jeremy Mendoza and the jealous woman was Kate Torres.


    These three people led this group to survive in that Municipal Hall for these past two months. Actually, there were more of them before along with some of the municipality''s officials. However, those that were not here did not make it. If not for these three, the ones left would not have made it either.


    "Still, we are finally away from those bastards."


    Kate voiced out which affected everyone in the room. They all knew who she was talking about.


    "Those bastards left us alive but made our lives miserable."


    Another person in the group voice out and everyone agreed.


    What they were talking about was the group that made the resort hotel as their base. Those people were a group of notorious gangsters. Their group was not stationed here in this part of Taytay before and was more known in the urban and squatters areas. A few days after the outbreak, they moved on that less popted area and started to terrorize other people that managed to survive the initial outbreak.


    It did not take long and their group was the only ones left. It was because to deal with their group having three mutators would not worth the risk. Instead, that notorious gang lured the infected away from their base and gathered the infected outside the municipal hall. The gang used them to lessen the threat on their base by luring the infected to another.


    That was the reason why they started to have a harder time surviving. Because there were more infected around the municipal hall, the infected in the surrounding areas also moved there and left the resort hotel alone. Luckily, before the supplies they managed to gather ran out, the convoy with strange vehicles and soldiers passed by and rescued them.


    THUMP! THUMP!


    While they were talking, someone knocked on their door. Although the knock was not hard, the material used on the door made it sound like someone was pounding on it.


    Kate being the one close to the door, opened it to see who was outside. There, a soldier stood.


    "Sir, do you need something?"


    Kate asked with a bit of a strange tone. This made Harold shake his head. This was one of Kate''s odd sides. Every time she faced someone with higher standing, her tone, and actions turned like this all the time. It was the same when she was talking to him. She looked like she was appealing to be treated well every time.


    The soldier outside was not prepared for it. As the door opened, a good looking woman fidgeting like she had seen her crush talked to him. He froze for a bit and saw the other people behind her. That was when he regained hisposure and cleared his throat with a cough.


    "Ahem. Dinner has been prepared. Please go down to the first floor and our men there will guide you all to the dining room."


    After telling them the message, the soldier turned around not waiting for any reply. However...


    "Thank you for telling us."


    The same woman''s voice echoed with a suggestive tone. The soldier felt goosebumps. He''s a married man with two children and his family was with him in this mission. Such temptation should not affect him.


    Thus, he scurried away.


    "Kate, can''t you do something about that habit of yours?"


    Harold immediately spoke as the soldier left.


    "What habit?"


    Kate replied which made Harold rub his temples. That was the problem, Kate was oblivious to her behavior. How could she change if she did not understand what she was doing?


    "Yeah, what did she do?" Prince chimed in. "Anyway, let''s go! We can finally eat proper food. Maybe, those girls are also there!"


    And here was another. He was not just narcissistic but was also an idiot.<sub> </sub>


    If not for their abilities, their position as his left and right hand were not worth their personalities.


    ***


    "I see, they said that they only have three Mutators."


    Mark said while tapping his chin.


    He was currently on the first floor which listening to the report of 1st Lieutenant Baller.


    From his report, the survivors did not seem to hide too many things. They even told the summary of their survival up to when they were rescued. It included the information they knew about the gang that hid in the resort hotel.


    The strange thing was that...


    It seemed that they did not know that there was a fourth Mutator in their group. That was very odd.


    As Mark received the names of the Mutators and their descriptions, he immediately knew who was missing. If there was a chance, he would surely ask. After all, that Mutator was the one he thought that he could recruit.


    "Alright, I''ll go now."


    Mark said as he already heard what he wanted to hear. He also wanted to explore this ce a bit.


    "Are you not going to eat with us, Sir?" The Lieutenant asked. "Dinner should be prepared already."


    "Hmmm. I''ll see if we will."


    Mark replied and went out of the room designated for the that did not have their families in the convoy. Sad to say, it was not because they left their families in Bay City Settlement. It was because they had no families left. 1st Lieutenant Baller was the same.


    As Mark climbed the stairs, he ran into the rescued survivors. Of course, he did not bother with them although he nced at the Mutator not know by the soldiers for a second.


    Since Mark did not even pay attention to them unlike the soldiers, he got the attention of the rescued group. Well, most of them. One did not and proceeded the way without stopping.


    ***


    "Just who do you guys think that man is?"


    Prince said not minding if the person would hear him.


    "Can you just shut up?"


    Harold reprimanded while taking a nce back at the person they passed by just now.


    Unfortunately, Prince did not seem to hear him. Or probably, did not care at all. He continued talking.


    "That man rides that dragon, right? I also saw him with those women. Why is such an ugly person like him had the gall to be with those beauties. Someone handsome like me is more appropriate to be with them."


    Harold then felt cold. No, it wasnot just cold. It was killing intent. Surviving for this long was not just a show for him. He survived undertaking dangers while leading this group. His people might be naive but not him.


    To make him feel this thick killing intent, there was no doubt that the source of this killing intent would not hesitate to spill the blood of other people.


    He had to act fast before it got worse.


    "I said, shut up!"


    Harold stealthily kicked oblivious Prince who was walking in front of him and fell for the rest of the stairs.


    BAM!


    There were still about a dozen steps remaining and the fall was quite hard. However, Harold already had the circumstance in his calction. To Prince, this might hurt bad but it would not injure him badly. He did not even have a single bruise after his hard fall.


    Feeling the killing intent lessen, Harold sighed in relief.


    "What are you doing Prince? Did you be too handsome that you want to suicide?"


    Kate chuckled. No one had seen Harold kick him. To them, Prince lost his footing and fell.


    Kate''s remark made the others release stifledughs.


    "I didn''t! Someone kicked me!"


    Of course, no one believed the narcissistic idiot.


    They all continued to the dining room while being escorted by a soldier that witnessed what happened. As their attention was all on Prince. They did not notice that they were missing someone.


    ***


    Mark did not continue to climb to the third floor, he went in a different direction because he sensed something. He walked across the hallway of the second floor with a strange feeling. Before the outbreak, he was quite sensitive to feelings like this. Now that he had miasma inside him that was the bane of any kind of supernatural and even natural energy, that sensitivity became higher.


    The ce was dark and creepy. And the kerosenemps that the soldiers hanged around contributed to the eerie ambiance.


    While walking on the hallway, alone, almost in the dark, something flew by at the end of the hallway.


    Mark rushed towards it even using his [Shadow Mist Movement]. That thing that flew by, however, was nowhere to be seen.


    As he lost that thing from his view, the strange feeling also vanished. However...


    "AHHHHHHHHHH!"


    A frightened scream was hearding from the first floor.

 Chapter 396 A Conversation, The Fourth Mutator And The Ghost Of Maryhill

    <strong>Day 67 - 7:49 PM - Maryhill Recreation House, Ortigas Avenue Extension, Dolores, Taytay, Rizal</strong>


    The terrified scream echoed into everyone''s ears. That scream broke the silence of the night. Even the insects in the surroundings of the retreat house could not help but scatter.


    Since it could be an emergency, the soldiers nearest to where the scream came from immediately responded.


    There, they saw a frightened woman sitting on the floor, trying to shrink herself as much as possible. She was shivering as if she saw the most frightening thing in her life. A te of warm soup scattered on the floor and already spilled its contents.


    One of the soldiers that responded to the scream immediately recognized the woman. After all, the woman was his wife.


    The soldier was young, so as his wife. It was positive that they married after the day of the apocalypse.


    While the young soldier pacified his panicked wife, the other soldiers scattered to find whatever the possible cause of her panic was. However, they found nothing.


    The soldiers already blocked the rooms with possible entryways that were not in use. Since that was the case, entry without being seen by the patrols was not possible. There was no ce to hide either without removing the blockade the soldiers made.


    It took a few minutes of calming and several sses of water before the woman regained herposure. That was when she started to tell her creepy story.


    ***


    On the second floor, Mark heard the scream rather clearly. It was because he was precisely just above the source of the scream. However, there was no need for him to hurry up and check. He could sense that the soldiers already went to investigate the circumstances below.


    Right now, he needed to deal with something else.


    "So, what are you tailing me for?"


    Mark spoke as he turned around, facing the direction he came from.


    As Mark''s question ended, a silhouette of a person could be seen emerging from a slightly hidden part of the hallway.


    When the person stepped a bit closer, the person''s appearance was revealed.


    A sixteen-year-old boy who had quite a thin presence. Of course, even without seeing the boy''s appearance, Mark knew who he was. The fourth Mutator in that group of survivors who were rescued in the Municipal Hall of Taytay Rizal.


    He was the very same Mutator that was hiding his abilities for an unknown reason.


    "I''m surprised. You managed to notice me." The boy spoke. "Those idiots didn''t even realize that I''m missing again."


    He did not have any ill intent, but his voice was filled with both self-ridicule and helplessness as he turned towards the stairs leading down to the first floor.


    The atmosphere was then enveloped with odd silence. When the boy looked at Mark, thetter was just staring at him.


    "Why are you staring at me?"


    He could not help but ask.


    "Because you didn''t answer my question at all?"


    Mark spoke with a questioning tone.


    The boy felt awkward and scratched his head.


    "That''s... I''m just curious. Sorry." The boy awkwardly apologized. "I want to see who is this mysterious leader that those soldiers obey without question."


    Hearing that, Mark raised an eyebrow. He never introduced himself to the survivors. He also told the soldiers not to say anything about him either. It was because he had no responsibility in taking care of the survivors they rescued. The best that they could say was that the soldiers and Mark''s group just decided to travel together to get to Infanta, Quezon.


    Nevertheless, this boy managed to point out the one who was actually leading the whole group. Not to mention that this boy was among the two youngest people in their group. The other one being a female at the same age as him.


    "Well, then. I''ll be going. Sorry for disturbing you."


    The boy decided that there was no need to tail Mark anymore as he had been caught. Furthermore, he also missed the part where Mark vanished into the mist and appeared on the other side of the hallway. The hallway was dark enough to mask Mark''s usage of his psychic ability.


    It''s not like he was hiding it though,


    As the boy turned around and was about to leave, Mark decided to ask.


    "So, why is a Mutator like you hiding your abilities?"


    That blunt and straightforward question made the boy freeze on his steps.


    Mutators, the boy had just learned about this word today. They were people who were bitten by the infected but did not turn and instead, they gained superhuman abilities.


    He was also one of these, so-called, Mutators. However, he had been hiding that fact to everyone. The question was a total surprise to him.


    The boy turned around with a wary expression.


    "How did you know?"


    "Do you really think that you''re the only observant person around?"


    That was an obvious lie. Mark even know that this boy would get it that he was lying. Still, that lie shook the boy up to his core. That answer had told the boy that Mark knew a bit more than just him being a Mutator.


    The boy was troubled.


    By nature, the boy was an observer. He had a thin presence that despite his above-average looks, he could blend in with the crowd without anyone noticing. It was as if he was a person easy to forget on a whim. That was why he developed the knack to observe people without getting noticed. Because of that, there were many things present around that others could not see.


    Upon turning into a Mutator after he was bitten in his escape, this ability to observe grew further. It became easier to notice things around him that others would not notice even for a long time. This very same trait made him realize who was the actual leader of the people that rescued them. It was also the reason why he hid his abilities as a Mutator from his group.


    No, he would rather notbel himself as a part of that group. For him, he was different. Except for one person he valued there, everyone else was total idiots.


    Mark stared at the boy who had quite a lot of things going on his mind. He realized that this boy did not think that he was a part of that group at all. That was good enough. What he wanted from this boy was really his trait. Even if his ability as a Mutator was useless, the trait alone was valuable.


    Since they encountered these survivors in that Municipal Hall. He noticed the plethora of emotions this boy was emitting despite theck of change in his expression. Furthermore, on different things that his eyes saw ornded on, the emotion might change drastically. In his conclusion, this person was observing things around him up to the slightest detail.


    This trait alone could make this boy a good detective. It was even applicable in observing and experimenting with the infected.


    Mark wanted such a person since he was also collecting information about almost every kind of mutated infected they encounter.


    While the silence loomed over the two people observing each other, the sounds of steps could be heard climbing up the stairs.


    As the person reached the second floor, the person looked around. It was a girl, in that survivor group that was at the same age as the boy. When she saw the boy, she called out.


    "Case! There you are! Aren''t you going to eat?"


    While calling out, it seemed that she did not notice Mark as he was blocked by the boy.


    The silence was broken.


    p "You said that no one noticed that you are missing."</anda>


    Mark whispered.


    Hearing that, the boy was embarrased.


    "She''s different." The boy said with a muffled voice before sighing. "Can we talkter?"


    The boy said with a resolute expression. It seemed that his mind was filled with questions that would surely prevent him from sleeping.


    "Also, please. Don''t tell anyone about me being a Mutator."<sub> </sub>


    He whispered.


    "Case! Did you hear me? Who are you talking to?"


    The girl''s voice echoed once more.


    "Alright! Alright! I''ming!"


    The boy nodded at Mark before he left.


    "Case, huh." Mark smiled. "What a fitting name."


    As Mark mumbled that, he vanished into the shadows like a ghost.


    Case looked back one more time before going down the stairs just to see nothing but darkness in the hallway. He shook his head and turned to the girl.


    "Kaira, I heard a scream. What is that about?"


    "That..." Kaira seemed a bit creeped out. "They said that someone saw a ghost. That is also why I looked for you."


    "Alone? Aren''t you scared?"


    "There are soldiers around the stairs. Why should I be afraid?"


    ***


    From another side of the building, Mark arrived at the area where the scream was heard.


    Several soldiers saluted to Mark as they patrolled the area. Even though they saw nothing after the scream was heard, they could not just put their guard down.


    Looking around, Mark felt a shiver on his back.


    ''That scream is not groundless.''


    He thought. The temperature in the area was rather low and there was still lingering odd energy that was about to dissipate. A good indication that something had manifested here before.


    "Sir!"


    A soldier came to Mark. It was no one else but Lieutenant Baller.


    "What did that woman see?"


    "Sir?"


    Mark suddenly asked and the Lieutenant was not able to process it immediately.


    "The woman that screamed. She saw something right?"


    Mark rephrased his question and the Lieutenant understood that Mark already knew a part of what happened. Of course, these soldiers could not believe the woman''s statement immediately without proof.


    "The woman that screamed is the wife of one of our soldiers..."


    Lieutenant Baller narrated what they heard from the woman.


    The woman was about to deliver dinner to her husband who was posted on the opposite side from the dining hall. That was why she was carrying a te of food through the hallway. However, she felt cold midway and it was ufortable.


    Following the cold, she saw the silhouette of a person walking towards her from the opposite side of the hallway. She did not think much of it as it could be another soldier or a rtive of other soldiers.


    For some reason, she found it hard to move.


    The closer the figure came, however, the colder it became.


    It was until she saw a clear view of the person.


    The person was wearing a white frock simr to what the priests wore. She was confused as she did not remember any priest in the convoy. Also, after the apocalypse, they were educated in Bay City about proper attires to prevent being caught by the infected easily. A frock was a bad example of this.


    Then, she looked at the person''s face.


    She froze.


    The head...


    It was not there...


    She was totally terrified at the scene.


    She tried to run but her feet would not move.


    She tried to scream but her voice would note out.


    She tried to move her body but she was frozen.


    All she could do was to shiver in fear as the headless figure passed by her.


    The headless figure passed by her shoulder to shoulder.


    When the figure passed where she could not see it anymore, the ce she carried was thrown onto the floor as her body suddenly regained movement.


    She slowly looked behind her, thinking that it was gone.


    She was wrong.


    The headless figure stood facing her.


    Her fear overcame the loss of her voice and she screamed. However, she was so terrified to run. She could only curl into a ball at the side of the hallway until the soldiers came.


    No one saw the figure. She also did not see how it vanished.


    ***


    "Should we test her psychologically? Maybe, encountering too many dangers in this travel affected her mentality."


    Lieutenant Baller asked as he did not believe what happened himself.


    "Why are you going to test her? She''s not mistaken though."


    Mark said.


    "Huh?"


    The Lieutenant stared at Mark with confusion.


    "I mean, I chose this ce to spend the night because I know that this ce is haunted."


    The Lieutenant froze.

 Chapter 397 A Missing Important Detail, Locking Down The Living Area

    <strong>Day 67 - 8:02 PM - Maryhill Retreat House, Ortigas Avenue Extension, Dolores, Taytay, Rizal</strong>


    Walking around the first floor with the Lieutenant, he ran across Case once more. The boy was surprised to see Mark already on the first floor before he and Kaira could even go down the stairs. Mark did not mind the two, and Case did the same. Although they said nothing about this, the two already understood that it was better not to regard each other if there were people around.


    It was because it would make other people suspicious, especially when Case was hiding his abilities from the people around him.


    On the other hand, 1st Lieutenant Baller following behind Mark had a lot of things on his mind. Without a doubt, what Mark had told him was one of those.


    Mark said that he chose this as the resting point, knowing how haunted the ce was.


    Many people were skeptical about these kinds of things. Spirits, ghosts, demons, and the like, many people did not believe in their existence. Lieutenant Baller also belonged to that camp.


    "Isn''t it ironic, Lieutenant?"


    The Lieutenant suddenly heard Mark ask him a question, which made him confused. However, when he was about to ask what it was, Mark continued.


    "Many people deny the existence of ghosts, elementals, and spirits. Saying that there is no way such things exist."


    Lieutenant Baller felt awkward. Then, he heard Mark''s next sentence.


    "Yet, those very same people believe their gods, angels, and miracles. They believe in the existence of heaven and hell."


    The Lieutenant felt even more awkward.


    "Don''t worry. I''m not ridiculing you or something." Mark continued. "What I''m saying is be a bit more open-minded. You have the lives of your soldiers in your hands. Just because you don''t believe about something could cause them to lose their lives. There''s nothing bad about being more cautious."


    "I''m sorry, Sir. I''ll bore those words in my mind."


    Lieutenant Baller understood what Mark wanted. Mark had no responsibility to protect the soldiers as they should be the ones doing the protecting. However, as themander, their carelessness would leave dirt in his name.


    At the same time, the Lieutenant epted that Mark was serious about the things he said.


    "Sir, is this ce really haunted?"


    Lieutenant Baller asked.


    "You still don''t believe me? I have two Sylphs with us. Sylphs exist, why not ghosts? There are also those creatures from Auraboros."


    The Lieutenant scratched his head. He totally neglected the fact that Mark did have two supernatural beings in his group. The individuals from Auroboros were mostly non-humans too.


    "But Sir, why did you choose this ce if you know that this might happen?"


    To that question, Mark contemted a bit before he decided to tell the soldier.


    "It''s more of a personal reason. Well, I guess you people will notice this soon." Mark spoke. "Not only the mortal world is affected by Mutagen. Even the paranormal world is the same. So, it won''t be surprising if we encounter infected supernatural creatures."


    "That''s..."


    The soldier had a loss for words...


    Just infected humans, animals, and insects were already something that the remaining poption could not handle. If infected paranormal creatures were added to the mix, it might be better to kiss this world goodbye.


    "So, Sir. You wanted to investigate this ce?"


    "Right. We will stay here for only a night. At least, I want to learn a few things. I''ve been searching for the ghost since we got here. The woman that screamed had beaten me to it, though."


    It did not take long, and they got to their destination, the room where the frightened woman was being tended by her husband.


    "Sir! Lieutenant!"


    The young soldier hurriedly saluted after Mark and Lieutenant Baller entered the room.


    "How is your wife?"


    Lieutenant Baller asked.


    "Lieutenant, she had gotten better, but she''s still shivering."


    The young soldier replied as he looked at his wife worriedly. As for the wife, she sat on a sofa while hugging her knees. She was trying hard to ease her shivering. Nevertheless, the terror in her eyes was still there. It was already good that they could converse with her to some extent and got the story out of her.


    Without saying anything, Mark approached the terrified woman.


    "Sir, what are you-"


    The young soldier was worried, but the Lieutenant grabbed him and told him to calm down.


    Mark looked at the woman in different angles first until he noticed something. He parted the woman''s mid-back long hair around her nape. Then, he reached his hand like he was about to grab the woman''s neck. His hand was d in miasma making it look sinister.


    It made the young soldier even more worried.


    However, before Mark could even touch the woman''s neck, he closed his hand as if grabbing on something. He then pulled his hand back with an intense rise in miasma around his hand. At the same time, the woman released a painful moan.


    After that moan, her body slumped as if she lost her energy. The young soldier hurriedly grabbed her as she was about to fall off from the sofa.


    "Belle, are you okay?"


    The soldier asked as he checked on her. He was panicking.


    "Sorry... Nel... I made you worried."


    The woman''s weak voice was heard. It seemed that aside from being weakened, she already returned to normal. Herplexion also had gotten better.


    "Sir, just what happened?"


    Nelson, the young soldier asked Mark. Although he was confused. He understood that Mark did something to make his wife recover, at least, mentally. In the tone of his voice, he was obviously grateful.


    "Corpse energy," Mark replied. "Her body was invaded by energy emitted from a ghost that became a strong evil spirit."


    The other three people would have not believed such magical stuff he was saying if they did not saw what happened with their own eyes. The sudden recovery of the woman was the concrete evidence of what Mark was saying.


    As Nelson made his wife lie down on the sofafortably, Mark asked the woman.


    "I have a question for you about what happened."


    "Sir, I think, she already said everything she saw."


    Nelson tried to intervene as he did not want his wife to force herself to recall such a terrifying experience.<sub> </sub>


    To the young soldier''s intervention, Mark had no problems with it. He was the same if it came to Mei after all. However, what he wanted to ask would be crucial to everyone.


    "She might have told everything else but a single important detail, you see. Don''t worry, it will be a short one."


    Mark assured the soldier.


    "Nelson, Sir said that it''s important."


    Even Belle seemed to have no problems with it making Nelson agree.


    Seeing that the woman was ready to answer, Mark asked.


    "I just want to ask whether you remember if the headless priest you saw is carrying his head in his arms or not. Or at least, if he is carrying something that might fit a person''s head."


    To the young soldier and the Lieutenant, that question was quite hard. Most people would not be aware of such details when they experienced a frightening event. However, the woman responded contrary to their expectations.


    "Sir, I don''t think that the priest I saw was carrying anything. Both his hands are on his side while walking."


    "I see." Mark nodded with a stern expression. "Okay, that''s all. Also if you felt something strange, find me. Being exposed to Corpse Energy can cause side-effects."


    "Yes, thank you."


    "Sir, thank you."


    Both the husband and the wife thanked Mark as he left with Lieutenant Baller.


    "Lieutenant, I''ll add two new rules for tonight."


    Mark spoke when they stepped into the hallway.


    "Just say it, Sir."


    "First, don''t let anyone go alone, even the patrols. Be sure to inform everyone. If they want to go out, even just in the hallway or inside the toilet, be sure to be in a group of a least three people. As for the second one, do not leave the area we designated as our dwellings for tonight."


    "Yes, Sir!"


    <o>,m After letting the Lieutenant return together with a few soldiers, Mark climbed to the third floor.</o>


    There, he was greeted by the disturbed Amihan. He was also bombarded with questions about the scream. They were also curious, but Mark told them not to go out unless it was really necessary.


    Of course, he told them what happened. He also told that he knew about this ce before. He had never been here though.


    "So that''s why!" Amihan eximed. "I''ve been feeling odd since we got here!"


    It seemed that she could feel the presence of the ghost in this ce.


    Mark observed everyone. Now that they knew that there was a real ghost in this ce, everyone had different expressions on their faces. Especially Karlene and Analynn, both of them were really scared. Even Jaeya was also afraid. On the other hand, there was no change to his little girls. Mei was also not afraid as it looked like.


    "Anyway, all of you should stay here together. The one we have here should be aggressive."


    Mark warned.


    It was the reason he met the woman and confirmed that detail. In some rumors and urban legends, a headless priest might be either harmless or harmful. The indicator of that was whether their detached head was present around their body or not.


    If the headless priest was seen carrying its head, consider it harmless and was just passing by. On the other hand, if the head was totally out of the picture, some bad things could happen to the people that saw it.


    They said that it might mistake the head of the person that saw the priest as his head. In that case, the headless priest would take it. It would not matter how many people saw it at the same time. It could either be the closest person or anyone in the group. There was no restriction on gender either.


    As for the said witnesses, most of them would run away. Those that were really frightened would not even care if one or two of their friends were left behind. Unfortunately, the person slowest to run would not be seen again. It was even more dangerous if the person was alone.


    Luckily, the soldiers managed to respond quickly or that woman might have vanished into thin air already.


    "Gege, what are you going to do?"


    Mei asked. From what Mark said, all of them should stay together. He was not included.


    "I will search for that guy. I have a few things I want to know."


    Mark replied. He knew that Mei was being worried.


    "Then, be careful."


    Mei grabbed his hands.


    "Don''t worry. I''ll be fine. I don''t think that that priest will want my head to rece his."


    Mark smiled.


    With that, Mark made sure that everyone was protected as he nted a wall of miasma around the area upied by the whole group. It included the first and second floors which made some of the people terrified.


    After all, the incident about the headless priest had just happened. Now, everyone was being imprisoned by this ck misty wall. The soldiers knew what this was and worked hard to pacify everyone.


    While everyone was already secured, Mark, alone, went to the other parts of the retreat house.


    On the other hand, it seemed like no one would be able to sleep tonight. It was all because of their curious leader.


    "Is Big Brother always like that? To bring us somewhere dangerous as this haunted ce."


    Jaeya''s voice echoed in everyone''s head as sheined. She noticed that even Theodore was disturbed. Luckily, the baby boy was not a normal baby that would cry at the slightest disturbance.


    There, Ron sighed.


    "Mark had always been like that."


    These words made everyone look at him.


    "Back in high school, he had something like an ult book he always brought to school. It contains a lot of weird stuff he wrote such as information about ghosts and magic spells. He even had a deck of ying cards he used for fortune-telling."


    Unknown to Mark, his dark past was being uncovered.


    As it was about her Gege, Mei was also interested. Then, a weak tug on her side took her attention. It was Miracle.


    "Mama, what is a ghost?"


    The little girl asked. No wonder she was not afraid.

 Chapter 398 Ghost Hunting, The Repulsive Landfill

    <strong>Day 67 - 8:19 PM - Maryhill Retreat House, Ortigas Avenue Extension, Dolores, Taytay, Rizal</strong>


    Built atop arge hill, the Retreat House looked quite prominentpared to the other buildings in the area.


    The whole building was L-shaped with a protruding bottom and a longer horizontal line. It was one of the reasons why it had long hallways inside.


    After he left, Mark started to roam the other areas of the retreat house.


    The resting area was a bit to the north of the main entrance. Because of that, Mark only had one direction to explore.


    As he walked into the long side of the building, he got an idea of why they shaped the building like this. The long side of the building that faced the east had a great picture of the surrounding areas below the hill. Furthermore, the open space behind the front of the building had been turned into a recreational area. It was mainly for the guests of the retreat house.


    Starting from the third floor, Mark checked all the rooms one by one. Although it may look like it, he did not start checking each room randomly.


    Since the start, the odd energy in the area had been present. It would be hard to detect the precise target location unless it became thicker like in the previous instances.


    By checking the rooms one by one, he made sure that there would be no odd congregation of the energies in any of the ces he checked.


    In fact, he found a few points where the energy was quite thicker than in other areas. Most of these points, however, were located in the hallways instead of the rooms.


    Finding those points made Mark realize. No wonder that in the stories he heard about this ce, most of the stories told about encountering the headless priest moving across the hallways.


    In the religious context, ghosts might either be evil spirits or lingering souls of the departed. They were not able to pass on due to different reasons. The most prominent reasons were that they had not let go of the living, and they had unfinished business they had to do.


    That might be true as ghosts were often said to be seen where their lives ended. They wanted to finish something and continue on from that area. However, as they ceased as the living, they could notplete it. In the case of the said headless priest, it was very likely that he was looking for his missing head.


    The religious context had those views, while another field had a different setting.


    In the field of paranormal investigation, they somewhat believed the religious theory. However, how could they manifest? Researchers said that spirits and ghosts could exist as a congregation of energy. This congregation could affect a lot of things such as temperature, maic field, electric field, and even white noise. As such, devices used by paranormal investigators were developed.


    Mark could tell that all of these things might be true. Since his senses to notice and feel energies around him, deeply haunted ces like this had odd forces in it. To describe it, in Mark''s view, everything devoid of color. It was like watching an 80''s ck and white movie even though everything was supposed to be colored. That was how this odd energy could affect his vision.


    This was not the first time he saw something like this. Even before when he had his odd jobs. There were times that he would catch a glimpse of ces being devoid of colors. Although it would return to normal in a blink of an eye, the eerie feeling was still there.


    It was the same here, especially at the ces where the odd energy was thicker. The ces where the headless priest would manifest often.


    "Where is it?"


    Mark murmured with a frown. Although he could sense these energies, he could not find the ghost he was looking for.


    It felt like as if the ghost was running away from him.


    He did not have time to y hide and seek with this ghost.


    That was why... Mark closed his eyes.


    ck smoked then seeped out from his feet that started to scatter on the floor. Like leaking water, the miasma spread out further. The hallways, the rooms, down the stairs, on the second floor, and on the first floor. Miasma flooded the whole building, except for the protected living area. As it spread, miasma ate every energy around the building cleansing the ce while trying to track the source.


    While the miasma spread, Mark also walked towards the areas with thicker energies. Following those points, he ended up stepping out of the building and towards the recreation area.


    Looking around, Mark could not help butmend the ce. Even under the darkness, the ce looked pleasing to the eye. It was truly a good ce to take a break from the chaotic life in the city.


    As Mark continued on his steps, the ground about five meters around him was covered in Miasma. He was using this as apass to lead the way. It was easier to detect energies like this, at the expense of any living and organic thing touched by the miasma. If fact, the grass where he stepped on started to wither along with some of the trees.


    He could make the circle of miasma wider but it would be harder to control. Not to mention that it might affect the mutation of many things if he spread it too much. At least, with this radius, he was able to control it.


    Step by step, he entered the woods north of the Retreat House.


    Soon after he entered the forest, his nose was assaulted by a thick repulsive smell. As the apocalypse ensued, this smell could not be any more familiar to Mark. Just walking at the side of the street, this smell was prominent.


    The smell of rotting corpses.


    However, the smell here was too thick. Mark could not help but think that this smell could havee from several rotting corpses.


    While following the smell and the energy he was detecting, he noticed a structure in front in between the gaps of the trees. Checking his memory, he remembered that there should be a seminary in that same direction from the Retreat House. He was able to notice it because of the difference in elevation. The seminary was built at a lower elevation making its roofs visible even with the trees.


    "A seminary could be a perfect ce for a headless priest, isn''t it."


    Mark murmured.


    As he walked closer towards the seminary, both the odd energy and the smell of rotting corpse were getting stronger.


    And before he could even get to the seminary, he stopped with a steep slope in front of him.


    Below the slope, there was a mountain of dead bodies. The feeling the seen gave him was like he was looking at a dumpsite orndfill. Of course, instead of garbage, the things dumped here were dead bodies.


    Headless. Dead. Bodies...


    The scene was quite repulsive and stomach-churning. Especially seeing the rotting juices of the corpses spill unto the ground. Aside from their missing heads, most of the corpses were not damaged at all. Still, Mark found that some of the corpses were iplete, some had human bites on them, and some were mutated.


    Odd enough, some of them were also missing some body parts such as arms or legs. The oddest thing was that he even saw a corpse with only limbs left dumped into a corner.<sub> </sub>


    There was no distinction on the dead bodies. Whether it be human, infected, mutated infected, or might even be Mutators. Their headless bodies were dumped here.


    It also meant that there should be survivors in this ce before.


    Mark also found out certain simrities with the bodies, they all looked human. Even the mutated infected. None of them seemed to have insect-like, animal-like or even nt-like mutations. These kinds of infected were the only ones they encountered upon arriving.


    "So, it was not like the mutations of the infected in this area became that way because of the ce. It was because they were the only ones left among the infected."


    Mark realized.


    He also remembered that among the remainingmon infected in the Retreat House, all of them had broken faces, heads or distorted jaws which no one would appreciate seeing.


    "Headless corpses."


    Mark sneered.


    "Only something like you will do such things."


    Mark said that as he turned his head towards the center of the heaps of corpses.


    There was nothing there. At least, physically.


    The strong wind then blew around like a whirlwind. Mark was forced to cover his eyes as dust and the putrid smell almost entered his eyes.


    Although he covered most of his sight, he was still paying attention to the same direction.


    The air then turned dark as the whirlwind grew stronger. At the peak of its strength, the wind suddenly vanished.


    At the same ce, a figure stood.


    Same with the descriptions, waring a white frock with a style pretty much seen in Spanish colonial times. One thing that Mark noticed however made him frown.


    From what he knew, ghosts, no matter how they looked physically real, there was a tint of feeling that they were somewhat ethereal.


    However...


    The headless priest in front of him...


    Why did it seem to feel like a living being...


    "Are you..." Mark came to a realization.


    A ghost trying to revive itself.


    The missing body parts from some of the corpses might be used in recreating this physical body for him. In fact, the body of the priest looked disproportional. His right arm was even longer than his left that it was too noticeable because of the sleeve of the from he was wearing.


    While Mark was thinking about those things, the headless priest started to move. It started pointing at Mark while stomping at the ground. It seemed to be disying its anger at Mark for some reason. Mark could understand such since he could detect its emotional fluctuations. Still, Mark found those actionsedic since he had seen such actions in movies at scenes where a priest was angry.


    This headless priest was in no doubt, sentient. Nevertheless, Mark had no interest in such a creature filled with overwhelming anger.


    The anger of this priest could drown anyone just by the pressure he was emitting. Mark even felt cold.


    Mark stood there observing the angry headless priest while trying to decern how it was able to do such a thing. For sure, it was close to reviving as it already finished a body to dwell in. Of course, it was still missing his head.


    Nevertheless, Mark knew that there would be a catch to this kind of revival.


    Mark''s stare seemed to be taken negatively by the headless priest. His anger rose higher making it feel as if an earthquake was happening.


    In the middle of that, its body started twitching.


    The priest fell on all fours as it lost thest of its rationality as a pervious human. Root like tentacles sprouted from the priest''s body making holes on the frock he was wearing.


    Then, the priest''s body started to bloat and grow as it twitched uncontrobly. As the frock the priest wore was torn into pieces, a horrifying sight ensued.


    The priest''s body was riddled with horrifying heads. Each of the heads was attached to his erging body and was able to move on their own.


    Each head started to release growls while twitching in different directions.


    In a span of a minute, the headless priest was no more. What stood in front of Mark was a quadrupedal monster about the size of four buses stacked on pairs.


    Hundreds of heads could be seen wriggling on its body.


    It looked horrifying and repulsive.


    The ironic thing, however, the part where its real head was supposed to be, it remained as a fleshy stump of a neck.


    GRAAAAAAAAHHHHH!!!


    The monster shrieked. The high pitched shrieked with hundreds of voices mixed together was bad. Mark felt like his eardrums exploded.

 Chapter 399 Collateral Damage, A Disadvantage At Fighting The Enemy On Its Homeground

    <strong>Day 67 - 9:20 PM - Maryhill Retreat House, Ortigas Avenue Extension, Dolores, Taytay, Rizal</strong>


    The sun had already set hours ago. Since the apocalypse started, people would try to catch as much rest as possible. It was because they would need the energy from that sleep to survive the next day.


    Inside the Retreat House, however, almost everyone was still awake. With the unknown danger looming around them, who would be able to sleep at all? Only a few managed to sleep despite the current situation. They were either the children of the soldiers and a few adults that desperately needed to rest.


    Especially the soldiers that fought the whole day almost without pause to reach this ce.


    As for the other people, they would not be able to sleep even if they wanted to. They were sleepy. However, the anxiety of the incident of a ghost appearing hit their minds hard. Many of them were skeptical about ghosts before the outbreak. The appearance of Mutagen on Earth, however, turned the beliefs of many around.


    ***


    On the third floor, Mark''s group was engaged in a group discussion to pass time.


    Most of the topics were about Mark though. From Ron and the other''s perspective when they were in high school.


    In the middle of the talk, they suddenly fell silent. It was because the roof of the Retreat House started to make noises. The creaking sound of the roof felt unpleasant for some reason. Aside from the roof, they also noticed that the trees around the Retreat House were also reacting to the strong wind that suddenly blew.


    The sounds caused by the strong wind blowing stopped shortly.


    Nevertheless, things had gotten worse instead.


    It was because everyone suddenly felt a heavy and dark feeling inside their hearts.


    At the side, no one noticed that despite acting normal, Amihan was shivering.


    As an elemental spirit herself, she was more sensitive to this feeling. She felt that a very strong evil spirit appeared nearby. That strong wind that made the whole building shake along with the trees outside was the evil spirit disying its prowess.


    Furthermore, it was not just wind. It carried an aura that would make unknowing creatures to feel negative emotions. Luckily, it seemed that most of that aura was filtered by the wall of Miasma her Master made. If not, it would not be surprising if some people that were affected started killing each other.


    This aura was something almost all evil spirits possessed. Normally, this aura could only make people fear the evil spirit unconditionally. Stronger ones, however, could affect people''s mentality and turn them into murdering psychopaths.


    There were two more frequent stances of this. One was no matter how people were close to each other, once they were affected by this aura, they would run away while leaving everyone else behind. The second was when "mentally disturbed" people go on a murder spree including their family members beforemitting suicide after the effect of the aura was gone.


    Normal people would always think of those circumstances as normal events despite the dark secret behind it though.


    While everyone felt the dark aura looming the area, they felt fear. However, that was not the end of it.


    GRAAAAAAAAHHHHH!!!


    The high-pitched screech eerilyposed of hundreds of voices entered everyone''s ears. All of them could not help but cover their ears. However, it was not enough. The screech was it being heard through their minds instead of entering their ears. Many were not able to handle it and fell on their knees. Those that had the worse fell on the ground unconscious.


    On the third floor, the members of Mark''s group was not an exception. Amihan, being the most sensitive to this immediately lost consciousness. Aephelia who now dwelled in a Sylph''s body was the same.


    Most of the children were also not able to handle that screech. Both of Odelina''s children, Siegfried and Odette fell down, unconscious. It was the same for Jester, Monique''s son. Mikio also lost his consciousness while Emika was barely holding on.


    I who had a mentality of an adult and memories of several years of fighting was able to endure without fall unto her knees.


    Most of the adults though were not to endure it fully. Odelina who was worried about her children could not even sit straight as she tried to wake them up. The others were not doing any better.


    Unexpectedly, there were five that managed to endure it. Some of them, it was questionable whether they were even affected.


    Mei was not affected at all and tended to I immediately. Jaeya was the same as she worried about Theodore. The baby was not affected too though. Abbygale was able to endure it too and only clutched her ears with a frown.


    And Miracle... She had no clue what in the world was going on. As almost everyone around her fell, she only looked around in confusion.


    As what happened was rather serious, the first thing that came into Jaeya''s mind was to contact their leader.


    Before she was able to do so, loud sounds of destruction could already be heard north of the Retreat House.


    ***


    At the steeply sloped area south of the seminary, Mark stood his ground as he endured the screech.


    When the abomination in front of him started to release that long loud screech, he thought that it was just screeching out of anger or trying to intimidate Mark. However...


    "Tsk!"


    Mark clicked his tongue as his eyes turned red.


    As he was directly in front of the monster, he faced the brunt of the invisible attack. He did not expect such an attack. Even despite his trait as a Mutator, having his emotions taken away, he still felt cold on his feet.


    "To think that it''s a mental attack."


    Mark murmured as he jumped back. The attack was simr to his [Emotion Induction] where he could afflict his target with a certain kind of emotion. The difference was that what this monster used was more powerful. An attack equivalent to the fear, anger, and grief of its hundreds of victims.


    To endure it, Mark started using [Emotion Induction] on himself.


    BOOM!


    In the midst of its deafening screams, the monster stomped the ground causing quite a number of dead bodies in the heaps to stter around disgustingly.


    That stomp, however, was the start of its attack.


    Since the aura it released did not make its target fall, it started on a full brunt attack.


    As the huge monster charged forwards Mark, he felt really ufortable.


    It was not because of the mental attack. The reason was something else. As a loner, he always felt that the stares of other people were rather ufortable. Now, hundreds of pairs of eyes were locked onto him. It felt disturbing in its own right.


    This monster was one of Mark''s banes. At least, mentally.


    "m, get ready."


    Mark said which caused the sword sheathed on his lower back to tremble in excitement.


    m was a sword made for bloodshed, battles like this were what made it the happiest.


    Mark stood ran around as the monster approached. Along the way, it scattered more rotting corpses around while uprooting trees violently. The several-decades or probably older trees were snapped and destroyed like sticks from the hands of feet of this humongous monster.<sub> </sub>


    The monster even started throwing things at him. Anything that its hands would grab woulde flying towards Mark.


    "Big Brother!"


    Jaeya''s voice suddenly echoed in his mind.


    "What is it?"


    Mark immediately replied while he dodged one of the rotting corpses thrown at him.


    "What is that scream! Almost everyone is affected! Many fell unconscious!"


    Jaeya started to tell what happened to Mark. Hearing that Mei and the little girls were fine, he was a bit relieved.


    "You want to know what is happening, right?"


    Mark asked.


    "Of course! Sis is also asking! Everyone can also hear those loud sounds outside!"


    "Okay then."


    Mark replied with a mischievous smile.


    VLAM!


    m was suddenly covered in mes that illuminated the ce. As the appearance of the monster became clearer, he ingrained the image into his mind.


    Then...


    "GUE!"


    That was Jaeya''s reply. It was obvious that her stomach was churning right now.


    "What is that! Disgusting!"


    Her voice was rather desperate to reply and was filled with both annoyance and disgust.


    "You know what is happening now. Just wait for me toe back, this guy is more dangerous than the king type in many ways so I need to concentrate."


    Mark calmly said.


    He did not know what happened. Jaeya did not reply anymore. He turned his eyes towards the direction of the Retreat House and concentrated. As the range of his detection reached the Retreat House, he almost burst outughing. Jaeya separated herself from the others and her mind was filled with disgust. It was kind of obvious what was happening.


    As for the evil spirit that fed on negative emotions of people, it felt Mark''s change of atmosphere. It became more aggressive. Evil spirits could either be stronger or weaker depending on the mentality of the one facing it. Like its mental attack, those with positive traits managed to endure it further than others.


    If Mark''s neutral mental state turned positive, many of its abilities as an evil spirit would have weaker effects. That mental attack for example.


    Feeling the change in its aggression, Mark finally stopped on his tracks. He waited as the hundred-headed-headless monster approached.


    "Yeap, what a fitting name."


    Mark murmured as he faced the repulsive stares. A monster with hundreds of heads but missing its own.


    As it approached, it tried to grab him violently. The humongous right hand stained with dirt while dripping of rotten juices approached Mark.


    Ignoring the smell, Mark stepped back at the right time making therge hand swipe in front of him.


    SHING!


    The hand continued to swing the initial direction. The moment the monster realized, it was missing four of its fingers on its right hand with only the thumb remaining.


    It only realized what was happening when it saw the burning fingers wriggling like a detached lizard tail on the ground.


    GGGRRRAAAAAAAYYYAAAAAAAAA!!!


    Another scream from hundreds of head ensued. This time, however, it was not a mental attack but a scream of pain.


    Mark sneered. That reaction gave way something.


    As a ghost, it lost its sense of touch. For might be more than a hundred years it was wandering while searching for its head, it grew ustomed to not feeling anything.


    Unfortunately, it was different if it had a physical body.


    The pain that it was not used to anymore became one of its greatest weaknesses.


    Of course, with a gigantic body that it had, it would be hard to inflict enough damage that could make it truly fill pain. Even if you shot it with a gun, it might only feel like being pricked by a mosquito.


    Losing its hard-earned fingers was one thing though. Most creatures would surely feel pain in that.


    Unfortunately, its pain did notst too long.


    The monster stabbed its hand into one of the heaps of rotting corpses. Like the growing roots of a tree in fast forward motion, its hand grew root-like things that enveloped some of the corpses.


    Then, its missing fingers were reced...


    With whole bodies of rotting corpses. Its right hand now had four rotting bodies as fingers and the necks of the bodies were attached to the stumps where the lost fingers were before.


    "GUH..."


    Mark felt even more disgusted with that scene. Especially when it tried to wiggle the fingers causing the rotting guts to spill out of the rotting bodies.


    Still, he realized how troublesome it was. Not only that it had that repulsive stares and disgusting body, it even had the ability to use the corpses around to fix its body.


    He was fighting this monster on its home ground. He wanted to observe the monster a bit more while fighting it, but... Nevermind.


    The longer he spent time, fighting this monster, the more disgusting this monster would be.

 Chapter 400 The Frustrating Battle, Flams Proposition

    <strong>Day 67 - 9:25 PM - C.I.C.M, Ortigas Avenue Extension, Dolores, Taytay, Rizal</strong>


    BAM! BOM! DOM!


    Loud sounds echoed across the forest.


    The gigantic monster stomped, jumped smashed, and destroyed everything in its path. All of it happened as it raged to catch the ant in front of him.


    Unfortunately for it, no matter how its rage rose, the ant was too slippery. All of its attacks were missing by arge margin.


    Furthermore, it was receiving a searing wound from time to time when the ant in front of it was able to find a chance to counter-attack. The current situation made it even more furious. Its attacks became more aggressive, its movements became faster, and its attacks became even more powerful.


    Its strength was growing to the point that its slight punch would leave arge crater on the forest floor. Even the swings of its hands started to p the uprooted trees flying in every direction.


    ***


    "This guy..."


    Mark''s frown did not leave his forehead since he started to fight this thing in front of him.


    Unlike the battles he experienced before, the level of repulsiveness this enemy was giving him was very high.


    He could ignore the hundreds of pairs of eyes staring at him ferociously. However, the sshing putrid juices from one of its hands prevented Mark from lingering near it.


    Furthermore, it was impossible for Mark to not notice. This monster was growing more powerful for some reason. As its anger rose, its strength rose along with it.


    BAM!


    Mark jumped back once more as the monster mmed its hand to the ground in an attempt to turn him into meat paste. After its right hand mmed on the ground, it used that hand as support tounch its enormous body towards Mark.


    Its other hand then swiped towards Mark.


    Mark kicked with his left foot and propelled his body upwards with a bit of spin. Therge hand passed under Mark, who was upside down in the air.


    SHING!!!


    m drew an arc with its mes as Mark swung it at the wrist of the monster that passed under him.


    "Tsk!"


    Mark clicked his tongue as he jumped back once more as the hand with rotting bodies smashed towards him the moment hended.


    BOOM!


    The hand hit the ground, causing a loud sound.


    Mark was also getting frustrated on his own. Although he was a person that would not mind many things, one of the things he could not help but pay attention to was this. Getting bathed with blood was one thing. To get soaked with rotting juices was another.


    Even blood from Eaters was not as repulsive as this. There was not much blood left on those bodies. All he could see was the stale looking disintegrating flesh. Sometimes, it was even green colored.


    As Mark dodged too much, m started to shake.


    "Yeah, yeah." Mark understood what m was saying. "I know. We can''t beat the sh*t out of it without getting closer."


    Mark considered using Miasma on the monster. However, he decided against it. The effect of Miasma on human flesh would make it decay. It would be worse since this thing was just using four rotting bodies on its hand, and it was already this troublesome.


    Furthermore, this thing was an evil spirit, most evil spirits could use Miasma to empower themselves. Not to mention that this one was also a monster with a body mutated by Mutagen. Carelessly using Miasma on it could cause it to grow even more powerful rather than actually harming it.


    Not to mention that with the hundreds of pairs of eyes watching Mark, this thing had no blind spots at all. There was no head to kill it by beheading either.


    GRAAAAAA!!!


    The monster was feeling even more furious. Although Mark''s counter-attacks barely damaged its humongous body, it still felt pain at every sh on its arm and wrist. It attacked and attacked and attacked. Yet, it could not touch even just the shadow of its enemy.


    It was a battle of frustration for both sides.


    BAM! BOOM! BAM! BAAAM!


    The hands of the monster moved faster and faster in every attack that its hands and arms turned into blurs.


    "Its really getting frustrated."


    Mark found it quite astonishing that a creature''s anger could raise this much. No wonder this guy was beheaded. If it had its real head, it surely would not be able to contain this much anger.


    "This guy is really getting faster and faster."


    Mark said as he spun his body to the side as he shed the wrist of the monster while dodging its attacks.


    GRAAAYYYYAAAAAA!!!


    That attack was rather good as it sliced the back of the monster''s wrist horizontally. It could not help but roar in pain.


    ''Chance!''


    Mark thought as the veins on his foot glowed red.


    POOM!


    He kicked the ground as strongly as he could, causing the soil to scatter behind him. Then, he charged in between the two arms of the monster.


    Since Mark could not think of many ways to kill this thing, he aimed for the heads dangling on its body. Maybe, by removing these heads, he could force out the evil spirit out of its current vessel. If it was forced out, it would be easier to kill it.


    SHING!


    m burst into mes as Mark released a horizontal sh on a row of heads on the monster''s chest.


    GUUURYYYAAAAAAAAAA!!!


    All of the remaining heads screeched loudly. It was too sudden and loud that Mark started to hear ringing in his ears.


    He then opened his wings before flying sideward to avoid the two arms frantically trying to attack him.


    BAM!


    GRRRRRAAAAAAAAAA!!!


    The monster was out of control. It even smashed some of the heads on its body when it tried to attack Mark.


    Feeling the pain that was bing even more severe, the monster started to roll around on the ground with its high pitched screams. Some of the heads on its body were crushed by its weight, causing it to trash around even more.


    Seeing the enormous monster inflict more damage on itself, Mark felt good. That feeling did notst, however, as he saw the monster roll around the heaps of rotting bodies. Its body then started to absorb the corpses in the same way it did with its fingers.<sub> </sub>


    Mark wanted to stop it. He attacked furiously while flying around. Shockwave after shockwave exploded in every p of his wings that were glowing red. He flew back and forth, shaving as many of the heads on the monster''s back with his ming sword. Each of the head he attacked was not only destroyed but also burst into mes.


    Nevertheless, it was not enough.


    As if crawling on its body, the rotting corpses were pulled onto its skin, creating a disgusting looking armor of greenish juicy flesh.


    Many of the heads on its body were covered with the rotting corpses. Although it impaired its ability to see Mark in every direction, it also made it troublesome to attack without getting covered with rotting juices.


    "m, do you have any kind of area attack?"


    Mark started to ask the cursed sword for an impossible thing. The most that m could do was to release a burst of fire in a short distance like a me sh. As for an area attack that on a huge scale, it did not have the ability to do so.


    As the monster was still absorbing the rotting corpses, Mark flew above trying to think of something.


    ''How about explosives.''


    Mark thought. However, a few grenades would not do. Even the soldiers did not have that much supply. He started to consider calling Char and Aimee who both had long-ranged and highly destructive attacks.


    While Mark was thinking, his eyes suddenly went nk.


    ***


    In a split second, the scene in front of him changed. He was not in the forest anymore. He was inside his subconscious. In front of him, a little boy stood while staring at him.


    "Just what are you doing, we are still in the middle of the battle."


    Mark said with a frown.


    Although the time inside his subconscious could be faster or slower, it would still consume time outside. If he was forced to enter, it meant that m did it. It would only happen if something tried to take control of his body, after all.


    "Master." Unexpectedly, m kneeled on one knee. "Give me a name."


    This was unexpected.


    "What is this about?" Mark was confused. "Isn''t m your name."


    In response to Mark''s question, m shook his head.


    "m is not my name but something they just called me. The only person that can name me will be my only master until their life ended."


    Mark tilted his head. This was quite unusual. Not to mention that m who could curse a lot and was usually rowdy was speaking formally.


    "How many masters did you have so far?"


    m smiled bitterly.


    "I only have one. At the time I was not a cursed sword yet. The very first person to use me to kill people in his era. However, as he died early. He was never able to give me a proper name."


    m then added.


    "As the naming ceremony will bind me to a person for the span of his life, I never did it with anyone."


    "So you finally decided to be my sword?"


    Mark asked.


    "I''ve been considering this for a while now," m replied. "All I wanted before was to fight. However, since I was not able to control your body when you caught me, I was forced to experience a lot of different things. Honestly, it''s not bad. I even felt more fun than just ughtering humans. That is why I wanted to do this for days now. But, I never found a good timing. I also don''t know if you will really want an annoying sword like me."


    m then added.


    "Unlike other swords, my shape is harder to use as it was unconventional. I am made to inflict as much pain to the enemies than killing them."


    Mark smiled. m was being adorable just now. He did not mind as long as this guy swore loyalty. In fact, if m did not tell him this right now, if Mark became careless and let other people touch it, it could control them and it might be able to escape Mark''s grasp.


    However, it actually told him which indicated that it chose to swear true loyalty to him.


    "Tell me, just how many cursed swords are there on Earth?"


    "I don''t know. I haven''t seen many of us."


    "Then, why won''t I want you?"


    Mark patted the boy''s head making his face lit up.


    ***


    GRRRAAAAAAAA!!!


    The menacing roar echoed as Mark returned to reality. Below, the already disgusting monster became even more unsightly. Rotting corpses covered its whole body with hundreds of festering limbs sticking out of its skin.


    It was roaring at Mark because he was hovering too high from its reach. The moment Mark returned, he pped his wings back to avoid the putrid corpse thrown towards him.


    Mark did not mind the smell anymore.


    He was feeling good this time.


    "Say, do I really have to recite all those cringy lines?"


    Mark suddenly asked m.


    The mberge replied why shaking violently. It seemed that the sword was rather excited about this.


    Mark, on the other hand, was also the same. However, the process of naming was not as simple as just giving it a better name.


    A chant was required to do so. After all, it was not a normal sword but a cursed one. A sword that needed to bind its spiritual connection to its chosen master.


    Furthermore, m also told Mark that the naming ceremony would have effects on both of them.


    As m also never tried this before, it did not know what these effects were. As such, it was also a gamble.


    Nevertheless, things like this were why gacha games were rather fun to do.


    Mark took a deep breath.


    "Alright, here we go!"


    He shouted as m burst into intense mes that it never released before.

 Chapter 401 Demonic Awakening, The Naming Ritual Of The Cursed Sword Gone Wrong

    <strong>Day 67 - 9:36 PM - C.I.C.M, Ortigas Avenue Extension, Taytay, Rizal</strong>


    Mark held the handle with both hands as searing mes covered the long wavy de of the sword. Saying that it was searing was nothing but a context. In truth, Mark could not feel any heating from those mes.


    Nevertheless, Mark could tell that these mes had an unimaginable temperature. It was because he could see the de turning red. These mes gave him the feeling that these mes were trying to temper the de.


    The mes them bloomed further causing the darkened forest to be illuminated. It was as if the sun suddenly appeared over the forest. Due to this light, the monster below could not help but take a step back.


    Like the de of the sword, a wavy line made of these mes circled Mark.


    As the wavy mepleted a circle around Mark, he knew that it was the time for him to start.


    Thus, he closed his eyes.


    As m said, he needed to concentrate on the sword in his hand as if linking his mind to it.


    While doing that, Mark let his left hand go of the sword. He then used his right hand to ce the sword horizontally with its t side facing him. Then, his left hand was stretched towards the de and pressed his palm unto it. The bright mes covered his hand. Nevertheless, nothing harmful happened to it.


    With that, he opened his mouth.


    "This sword on my hand. A sword made for torture and ughter. A sword that bathed with the blood of the innocents. A sword that took away their precious lives. A sword birthed with a soul in exchange for the unjust sacrifices."


    Mark then rotated the sword making on side of its double-sided de face his palm.


    SHIIIK!


    Mark pressed his palm on the de. Without controlling his blood, the blood flowed normally unto the de. He then pulled both hands away from each other causing the entirety of the de to be covered in blood.


    "Be my sword. A sword that will stay by my side till the end of this life."


    Together with the de, the blood that was covered in mes started to glow.


    "And I de-"


    BADUM! BADUM!


    Mark''s eyes abruptly opened without finishing his chant.


    That was weird because he was not supposed to open it until he gave the sword its name.


    m could not help but shiver as he realized that the naming ritual would fail. A naming ritual could only be done once for any person. If this failed, Mark would never be able to undergo the same ritual no matter how both of them wanted to.


    BADUM! BADUM!


    Furthermore, it would give severe repercussions to the person doing the ritual. Dying abruptly could be one of those. It was already lucky if the person became a cripple.


    BADUM! BADUM!


    m then noticed something.


    Normal, Red and Violet. Mark''s eyes alternated in color at a very fast speed that looked like he was glitched. It was until a ck tint from the sides of his eyes slowly covered Mark''s eyes.


    BADUM! BADUM!


    The ck markings on Mark''s body started to grow. The ck markings that appeared on his body after he absorbed the Deity of Bloodshed drew sinister-looking symbols all over his arms, back, legs and face. Despite being ck in color, it was releasing a faint reddish glow.


    Mark''s hair started to grow once more. Now, with blood-colored highlights here and there.


    BADUM! BADUM!


    Loud sounds of heartbeat continued to echo in the forest.


    Mark who now had a nk expression opened his mouth.


    "Misery, Agony, Torture, ughter, Death... Thy sinsmitted deemed thy worthy. "


    m shivered even more. Mark''s voice not only changed, but it also sounded like four voices were echoing together. Furthermore, he spoke iprehensibly while releasing a demonic aura around him.


    SWOOOOOSH!!!


    Miasma suddenly surged covering m. Then, from Mark''s both hands that were touching m, blood flowed out. Both Miasma and Blood mixed together as it covered m''s body.


    "Fire, Blood, and Darkness."


    mes then surged back from m causing Mark''s body to be covered with it. However, while covered in mes, there was no change in Mark''s state.


    m was scared. Not only that he was being invaded with energies that did not belong to him. His own energy was being sucked into Mark''s body.


    "Reshape and Create."


    Four voices echoed at the same time and dered.


    m''s body started to change as both miasma and blood entering its body. Its de turned ck with red veins glowing on it. Furthermore, a metal inner de with saw-like teeth was created in the middle of its de and was connected to its handguard.


    At the same time, the mes covering Mark''s body were absorbed by him causing his eyes to release an orange glow until the ck color concentrated on Mark''s pupils. mes then surged from Mark''s wings reshaping it into a wing with veins of mebined with the veins of red glowing blood.


    At that moment, Mark''s seemed to have snapped out of his trance. However, even though his consciousness already returned. He still behaved oddly.


    He spoke in a clear voice.


    "The curse that brought your soul into existence, will now free you from its binds. This is the night of your birth."


    m started to feel the overflowing power inside it.


    "Unbound by the curse, thee are no longer a cursed sword."


    Clouds in the sky started to gather swirling in an ominous manner.


    Braches of lightning webbed through the clouds as if weing the birth of a powerful treasure.


    Mark then threw m who was still covered in miasma towards the sky.


    THHOOOM!!!


    A thick branch of lightning struck m before the lightning branched downward. The branched lighting struck the ground and trees.


    "Thy name will be Ignis Tenebris! The Demon Sword of ck mes!"


    m... No, Ignis. The Demon Sword with the name of Ignis Tenebris fell from the sky onto Mark''s right hand.


    The red veins on the de and body of the sword glowed brightly as if rejoicing its birth.


    ck mes then surged out of Ignis and turned into a ball of mes suspended in front of Mark. Without any hesitation, Mark used his left hand and pierced the ball of mes. As his hand entered the ball, it then spun creating as small whirl that entered the back of Mark''s hand. The entirety of the ball entered Mark''s hand leaving a new mark on the back of his hand. This time, it was not ck but a red-colored one that showed the shape that Ignis currently had.


    After taking a good look at Ignis, Mark turned his head towards the creature below without any warning.


    "How unsightly."


    Mark spoke.<sub> </sub>


    Hearing his voice, the monster below shivered. Who would have known that an evil spirit filled with hatred could feel fear?


    However, it could not recognize Mark as the enemy before anymore. As an evil spirit, although it could not bemunicated with, it was sentient enough to recognize and understand things. This time, it realized that the enemy was not just a human or an infected.


    It realized that the enemy in front of was partly an existence way above it.


    The enemy was partly a demon. And it just witnessed the birth of a demon sword.


    If it knew, it would have grovelled on his feet. However, it was alreadyte. As an evil spirit, antagonizing a demon would only result in one end.


    Mark pointed Ignis towards the monster below and its de surged with ck mes.


    SHOOOOOM!!!


    A ball of ck me about the size of a basketball flew towards the monster. Fearing for its life, the monster jumped back to dodge.


    The monster managed to avoid the trajectory by a good margin. It caused the ball of ck mes to fall unto the ground.


    BOOM!!


    The ball of ck mes suddenly exploded. It disintegrated a meter around the point of impact.


    Unfortunately for the monster, its right hand was still inside that radius. Half of its hand turned into nothingness.


    GRRRAAAAAAAAYYYAAAAAAA!!!


    The monster roared in pain hundreds of its heads.


    Mark frowned.


    "Noisy!"


    He shouted as he swung Ignis several times. Several balls of ck-colored mes with different sizes flew and hit the monster''s struggling body.


    BOOM! BOOOM! BOOOOM! BOOOOOOM!


    With different sizes of the balls of mes, the monster''s body was riddled with different sizes of holes. Its roars became lesser and lesser as the precious body it managed to create after the apocalypse slowly turned into ashes with each explosion.


    However, it was not the end.


    Mark started to swing Ignis almost everywhere scattering ck-colored mes to engulf the whole ce. The putrid smell of burning corpses started to permeate the air as the heaps of rotting bodies burst into mes.


    pping his wings, Mark slowlynded at the center of the area covered in mes.


    Step by step, he walked towards the monster who was still trying to escape. However, with its iplete body, there was no way that it would be able to do so.


    With the struggling monster in front of him, Mark smiled sinisterly.


    ck mes covered the de of Ignis. Mark then started hacking on the body of the monster ensuing its screams of both pain and fear.


    "HAHAHAHAHA!"


    Markughed sinisterly as he hacked the monster into pieces. Each time a part of the body fell off, he would burn it to ashes.


    Unable to endure anymore, the monster slumped down to the ground and turned into lumps of rotting bodies almost immediately. Without the evil spirit preserving the dead bodies it collected, the physicalw of the world started to catch onto the bodies.


    Realizing that the monster was dead, Mark looked annoyed.


    He then kicked the ground with the veins on his legs glowing red.


    On the direction, he propelled his body towards, he stretched his hand that he covered in Miasma and grabbed something.


    As he opened his hand, a ball of spiritual light appeared while shivering. It was nothing else than the spiritual body of this evil spirit. Commonly known to humans as a spirit orb.


    It was something that wasposed of pure spirit energy.


    As the orb shivered, Mark could tell that it struggling to break free. However, how could he let such a precious thing to go?


    Without thinking twice, Mark pulled the sleeves on his right arm revealing the Psycrystal embedded on his arm.


    He then shoved the orb unto the crystal.


    KKKIIIIRRRRRRYYYYYAAAAAAAAAA!!!


    An ear-piercing screech was emitted from the orb as its body started to disappear.


    "KUKUKUKU..."


    Mark chuckled as the music entered his ear.


    After the spirit orb fully disappeared, a ck see-through marble-sized crystal came out of the PsyCrystal.


    "It looks different."


    Mark said as he stared at the crystal in his hand.


    "Master, aren''t you feeling odd?"


    A childish voice of a boy echoed in Mark''s mind. He could not help but turn to the sword he held on his right hand.


    "Is that you?"


    "Yes, master!"


    "So, you can do this now."


    Mark nodded. It was better this way as he would not need to enter his subconscious world to ask Ignis about things he wanted to know.


    "Yeah! I seem so!" Ignis replied with glee. "Wait! That''s not the issue here! Master, are you really alright?"


    "Hmmm? Why are you asking that? I''m fine. Actually, I feel better. I never felt this way before! As if something locked up finally managed toe out! HAHAHAHA!"


    Ignis shivered. Something was definitely wrong.


    "HAHAHAHA..."


    Mark''sugh however slowly faded.


    The darkness in his eyes vanished as it closed and his body fell down surrounded by ck mes. At the same time, the ck markings that covered his body slowly retracted.


    CLANG!


    Mark let go of Ignis as he fell unconscious.


    Ignis could not help but panic. After Mark let go of it, it started to fly around Mark while calling through his mind. The demon sword did not even realize that it was moving and even flying on its own.

 Chapter 402 The Next Day, Explanations And Theories

    <strong>Day 68 - 7:22 AM - Maryhill Retreat House, Ortigas Avenue Extension, Dolores, Taytay, Rizal</strong>


    The night of fear had passed unexpectedly.


    As the sun rose to spread its shine, the retreat house already changed. It looked the same, yet different. The eerie feeling that the retreat house that loomed over it before was gone. What was left was a beautiful ce. It was a wonderful ce to spend a day or two away from the chaos that spread by the apocalypse.


    Even the sunrise was a pleasant scene to see from the higher floors of the retreat house. Anyone would forget that they were still in the middle of the end of the world.


    Well, that was the case unless they went to the area north of the retreat house. There was nothing there. Literally nothing with almost everything burned to dust.


    The forest that covered the northern slope between the retreat house and the seminary was gone. All that was left was the scorched earth that spanned several dozens of meters. There might be a few things left like charred skulls and bones. Nevertheless, their number was insignificant as it would be hard to find one unless they purposedly looked for these things.


    ***


    With a throbbing head, Mark slowly opened his eyes. He pulled himself up and saw that he was currently on a bed. He then sat while he rubbed his temples as his head felt heavy and was aching a bit. A wet tower fell from his head which he immediately caught by reflex. He also noticed that his clothes were changed.


    Mark tried to pull his left hand, but he felt some resistance. There, he realized that several people were surrounding his bed. All of them were asleep in poor postures.


    Abbygale and Miracle were sleeping on his right side. The two fit themselves in the narrow space beside him. It was fortunate that Abbygale did not fall off being the one sleeping at the right edge of the bed.


    To his left, Mark saw I, who fell asleep while sitting on a chair. Her neck tilted to her left as she slept. It was not difficult to notice that she would have a painful neckter.


    Mark also saw Mei to his right. She was sitting on the floor while her head and arms rest on the bed. Both her hands were holding unto his right hand. No wonder he felt some resistance when he tried to pull it.


    "These girls..."


    Mark shook his head. It was likely that they tried to spend the night awake. However, they were not able to endure. Yesterday was a tiring day on the road, after all.


    Of course, it might be different for Miracle. She probably decided to shut her body down since everyone was asleep. When she did that, she surely slid herself between him and Abbygale. With Abbygale''s personality to even cheat to remain close to Mark, she would not let Miracle lie down between.


    "m."


    Mark called out in his mind.


    A response came, and Mark was surprised. He did not expect that a sword woulde flying in front of him.


    "Master, it''s not m anymore. Don''t you remember?"


    The sword''s childish voice echoed in Mark''s mind.


    "Ah, right..."


    The scenes of what happenedst night shed on Mark''s eyes. He definitely had a clear recollection of the events that ensued while they fought and defeated the monster possessed by that evil spirit.


    However...


    "What happened?"


    Mark asked.


    "You don''t remember?"


    The sword asked with worry.


    "No, I remember everything." Mark cleared up the confusion. "What I''m asking is what happened to me."


    Of course, that would be his question.


    That odd behavior, the four voices, and the change in the supposed naming ritual.


    He knew nothing about what would have caused those. That was why he asked the Demon Sword in front of him.


    "So... Master remembers the name you gave me?"


    The sword tried to confirm.


    "I remember. Ignis Tenebris. Though, I only nned to give you Ignis."


    Mark scratched his head.


    "I''m happy about the name though. It really fits the new me." Ignis rejoiced. "Though, I have no idea what really happened. I don''t think that the right ritual is like that either. One thing for sure, Master. The thing that happenedst night is because of you."


    Ignis spoke his deduction with a strong conviction. As the sword who chose its master and wanted to be named, it would not do anything that could possibly ruin it.


    Mark stared at Ignis floating in front of him with confusion.


    "Uhhnnnn..."


    The two heard a faint voice. Mark turned towards the source of the voice and saw that Mei slowly opened her eyes.


    Realizing that she fell asleep, Mei suddenly pulled her body. When she turned to Mark, she saw Mark sitting on the bed while leaning on the headboard.


    "Good morning."


    Mark greeted with a low voice and a smile.


    Mei did not respond. Instead, she stared at Mark as her tears flowed out from the corner of her eyes.


    Mark then put his right index finger in front of his lips.


    "Shhh."


    He said and pointed at the three little girls before he signaled Mei toe closer.


    Unable to hold back, although silently, Mei jumped to Mark''s embrace.


    "Sorry I made you worry."


    Mark patted her head as she burrowed her face on his chest.


    "It''s okay..."


    Mei replied with a sob. Of course, she said that because she did not want to put me on Mark.


    Nevertheless, Mark knew that it was his fault.


    "They are really worried about you Master. They found you unconscious in the middle of the burning forest. For the rest of the night, you are burning with fever and roaring in pain. It was until about an hour before sunrise that you became stable."


    Ignis informed Mark.


    "I see..."<sub> </sub>


    No wonder Mei looked too tired. Mark could not help but caress Mei''s head even more. She might have stayed awake that long to take care of him.


    While letting Mei rid of her tears...


    "Papa!"


    Miracle woke up with a shout. She then jumped towards Mark while waking up Abbygale and I in the process.


    ""Papa!!""


    The two also followed suit. They were surely happy to see Mark well.


    "You''re really loved, aren''t you Master?"


    Ignis teased.


    "Shut up."


    Mark replied with an annoyed face as he looked at the sword.


    The noise created by the three girls alerted everyone about Mark waking up. Sure enough, it became noisy.


    At the same time, Mark was informed about what happened after the fight and when he fell unconscious once more.


    Apparently, Miracle and the [Blood Children], even Char, felt the odd incident that happened on Mark during the naming ritual. They had been quite jumpy. They wanted to find Mark, however, Miasma still covered the area they were in.


    As the only one able to pass through, Crimson went out. Crimson arrived just when Mark fell unconscious. He even saw Mark talking to Ignis which prevented anyone from thinking that the demon sword was an enemy. After all, Ignis had its appearance changed.


    At the same time that Mark fainted, the Miasma protecting everyone vanished enabling them to get out. Mei and the others immediately tried to find Mark since Miracle said that her Papa fainted.


    When they found him, Mark was already feverish.


    Due to the event, the military surveyed the area if they could prolong the stay here. After all, they could not go on with the journey with themander being unconscious.


    It was a good call. After leaving this ce, what they would traverse was the main road going through Antipolo, Rizal. This meant that along almost the rest of the way, they could pass through where the traffic and infected were most concentrated in this municipality. Furthermore, the road they would need to traverse was longer than the previous ones before arriving at the next resting point.


    Although it did not mean that they could not do it without him. However, as Char, who was the main firepower, only listened to his orders, things would be harder.


    Besides, they found out that the ce was safe. That was why some of the soldiers wondered if some survivors lived here before. Not only that but they also found supplies that surely did not belong in this ce originally.


    If they knew what happened to those survivors, they would not want to stay here any longer. That was for sure.


    With the excuse that Mark still needed to rest, he managed to make everyone get out. Especially the noisy Emika and Jaeya who wasining about what he made her seest night.


    After everyone went out, Mei could not help it anymore and spoke to Mark.


    "Gege... I getting more worried about you."


    "Worried about what?"


    Mark asked.


    "You faint a lot. If not, you lose control of yourself and go on a rampage."


    Seeing Mei with an expression that did not know what she should do, Mark shook his head.


    He sighed.


    Mark told Mei about a lot of things including about Freed. However, he did not tell everything.


    Caressing her head, Mark decided to tell a few important things that Freed told him.


    "Mei''er... You know? What fever with pain meant after the apocalypse started?"


    "Evolution or Mutation, right?"


    Mei answered. When Mutagen invaded the Earth, these two things caused a person to get a very high fever apanied by pain. It was true as many of them here had undergone such experience.


    "That''s right." Mark nodded. "Freed said that mypatibility with Mutagen is very high. That is why my body is taking any possible catalyst that will react with it. It became even more sensitive after I took that [Gene Absorption] ability. Other people might also experience these things. It''s just that mine is rather fast."


    Letting Mei rest on beside him, Mark continued.


    "For each Mutation, the pain is multiplied. Since my growth is very fast and abrupt, my mind can''t cope with the intensity of the pain my body is having. That is why I end up being unconscious as my body''sst resort."


    Mark then smiled.


    "If the evolution was more natural, I think, the pain will be lesser. But cramming things inside my body, it is not surprising how painful it is. My body is not just getting upgraded, it was more like it is creating something that did not exist before."


    That was the truth in Mark''s case.


    If it followed the same pattern as the Psychics with Psypathogen. A normal evolution was more like their original abilities getting upgraded. In Mark''s case, his body was taking in catalysts and was creating new mutations in his body.


    A normal upgrade would surely not give Mark too much pain to the point of copsing. It was like when he absorbed Rihanna in the Medical Center. Although he lost control of himself due to the influence of Mutagen, he did not fall unconscious as it was an upgrade to his blood.


    Mark exined about these things while avoiding a certain topic.


    It was the thing that happenedst night.


    Those four voices, three of them were familiar. Nevertheless, none of them belonged to him.


    One belonged to Freed, another belonged to the Deity of Bloodshed. The third one which sounded like a woman should have belonged to Rihanna who he also absorbed.


    Thest one, however, although it sounded like his voice, Mark was sure that it did not belong to him.


    Mark could not help but wonder. Was it connected to one of Freed''s theories?


    During the time he spent chatting with Freed, there was another theory about Psypathogen that was not confirmed.


    What if Psypathogen did not give the Psychics their abilities but awakened their inherent psychic abilities instead. As some theorists on Earth said, every human had psychic abilities. However, not everyone was capable of using it.


    But...


    What if Mutagen was not using human genes as the main catalyst for the mutation but was actually awakening something from their genes instead?


    In that case, was it perhaps that something was awakened inside Mark?


    While thinking of that, the image of the consciousness that tried to take over his body when he became a Mutator came up in his mind.


    Was it perhaps...

 Chapter 403 Two Different Groups, Something Boiling Deep Within

    <strong>Day 68 - 8:02 AM - Maryhill Retreat House, Ortigas Avenue Extension, Dolores, Taytay, Rizal</strong>


    Since Mei was concerned about him, Mark readily told her about some of the things she needed to know.


    It ended up with her staring at him seriously.


    "Hmm??"


    Mark stared back with a look that was asking for what she wanted to say.


    "Promise me..." Mei spoke. "Promise me that you won''t do dangerous things like that anymore. At least, not alone."


    She spoke with a very serious face as she held Mark''s hand tightly.


    Mei was not wrong with what she said. Since Mark was likely to do more dangerous things in the future, he should not be alone anymore.


    It was because most of the instances that he fell unconscious were when he was alone.


    First was when he fought with Odelina when she was on a rampage. At the most dangerous moment, Freed came out and saved the day. Still, he fell unconscious because of his severe injuries while he received his regenerative abilities as an Evolver.


    The second time was when he lured the Stone d Woman and the Frog Headed Infected away from the evacuation convoy. He became a Mutator at that time alone. If not for Freed securing his survival, he could have turned into a Failed Mutator.


    Next was when he fought the Deity of Bloodshed. After absorbing the formless demon and ingesting the [Physical Crystal], he fell unconscious too. Fortunately, his Mutation at that time was too powerful and the miasma swirling around his body continued until he woke up.


    This was the fourth time. If not for Ignis securing that he would not be consumed by the mes he conjured himself, although he would not die, he might have received injuries.


    Hearing Mei''s request, Mark felt rather troubled. He was d to have her worrying for his safety. However, he would not be able to stomach it if any of them became injured while apanying him.


    Still...


    "Alright."


    Mark nodded.


    If he did not want to make them fall into danger, then, he just needed to grown even stronger. Strong enough that no harm would befall even on a single strand of their hair.


    Mark then paused and made a bitter smile.


    Before the apocalypse, he was just a person like him rotting alone in a closed dark house. The only things he had were his video games, anime and the non-reachable idols he watched on the inte.


    Who would have thought that a shut-in like him would have the motivation to grow stronger now? Furthermore, the reason for it was some 3d girls.


    ''I became a hypocrite of my past, don''t I?''


    Mark thought.


    "Gege?"


    Mei called out while tilting her head cutely. She was confused about why Mark was showing such expressions.


    "It''s nothing." Mark smiled and decided to change the topic. "By the way, what is that thing?"


    Mark pointed at something wrapped with a cloth ced on a table near the door. He had been in this roomst night and could not remember that thing being ced there. If not for Mei and the little girls sleeping around him, that would be the first thing he would notice.


    Since that thing was wrapped with a thick cloth, all he could see was that it was something spherical about the size of a ser ball.


    Mei stood up and took the thing Mark pointed at. When she returned and sat on the bed, unwrapped the item revealing a ck ball. No, it was not a ball but was a stone.


    "Is this what I think it is?"


    Mark asked as he turned towards I.


    I nodded confirming Mark''s thoughts.


    This ck spherical stone was nothing else but a veryrge-sized [Mutagen Stone].


    In fact, Mark could feel some reaction from the Psycrystal on his arm when the stone was unwrapped. However, Mark could also feel that this thing could not be absorbed by the Psycristal because of a certain reason.


    "Isn''t this too concentrated? Where did you all find it?"


    Mark asked with both amazement and confusion.


    "Papa, we got this from the monster you defeated."


    I answered. It was certain that she was the one that found it. However...


    "Where? That thing had no real head at all."


    Mark was confused. As [Mutagen Stones] were found inside the heads of Mutated infected, it was kind of unexpected that something this size was inside a headless monster. This thing would surely not fit on any of its hundred heads either.


    "Inside here!"


    Miracle interjected while pointing at the left side of her chest.


    "The heart, huh..."


    Mark scratched his head. This was getting confusing. Furthermore, what could they do with this thing? For sure, it could not be turned into an empty [Physical Crystal] since it could not be absorbed.


    His workload after they arrive at the base increased again. There was also the Spirit Tree that he needed to nt...


    One of the things he wanted to do was rx before starting to fulfill his promise to Freed. However, it seemed that his free time lessened further.


    ***


    <strong>Day 68 - 12:16 PM - Recreation Area, Maryhill Retreat House, Ortigas Avenue Extension, Dolores, Taytay, Rizal</strong>


    Soldiers roamed the vicinity ensuring the safety of the ce. Still, it was unexpected that aside from the threat of the supposed ghost, there was barely anything dangerous to mention.


    There were infected appearing outside the vicinity, however, the number was very small. They were barely a threat at this point.


    Of course, it would not be for too long. The infected were drawn to ces where people were staying. Since they were arge group, staying there for more than two or three days would start to call the infected from the surrounding areas.


    While the soldiers were busy securing the ce, however, a pic was going on at the recreation area behind the retreat house,


    The people in the pic were no other than the members of Mark''s group. Of course, aside from Mark, Mei, the three little girls and the main members of the Team Fairy, the others were having a hard time. It was even more awkward for the new members. After all, since the outbreak, they already forgot the carefree feeling of doing things like this. All they did was survive every danger that came their way.


    "Karlene, is it really fine for us to join this?"


    Analynn whispered as they sat inside one of the huts in the recreation area.


    "It''s fine! It''s fine! Look at Jaeya, she''s even sitting with Mark and Mei."


    Karlene said while looking at Jaeya who was happilyughing while listening ying with Theodore on her arms. She was also showing the baby to Mark and Mei.


    "Lynn, its better if you just enjoy things if we can." Phillip who also sat inside the same hut spoke. "These kinds of things are good for our mental health. Look."


    Phillip pointed at Edward who was feeding Emi. Emi who seemed to like the current atmosphere was showing some response though a bit vague. Still, there was the creepy smile when her eyes fall on Mark''s side.


    Until now, no one could fathom what was going on with her.


    ***<sub> </sub>


    Of course, the activity of Mark''s group was not epted by everyone. On the second floor of the Retreat House, a group of people was watching what was happening in the recreation area.


    "Look at those people. Don''t they know that the world is ending? They actually have the gal to have fun. They sure know how to waste time."


    p The one speaking was no other than Harold. The leader of the survivors that were rescued at the Municipal Hall of Taytay, Rizal.</anda>


    He was frowning as he viewed such activities after the end of the world as nothing but a waste of time.


    Furthermore, they should already be on the way to safety if not for themander of these people returning injured.


    "Yeah, there are wasting their time. Let''s see if they can stillugh like that if we are suddenly attacked by the infected."


    One of the people in their group chimed in.


    "They can have fun like that since they are strong."


    Kate spoke while staring intensely at Mark. With her natural disposition, it was easy for her to gather information from other people, especially, men. Of course, it did not mean that she would blindly share the information she gathered.


    That was why these people were behaving like this. It was because they did not know the true strength of the group below. They think that most of their strength came from those odd vehicles and the three monsters.


    Prince, on the other hand, was silently staring at the women below like a dog in heat.


    At the side, someone was looking at them like idiots though.


    He was nothing else other than Case.


    Compared to these narrow-minded idiots, the carefree people below were more reliable.


    As such, he decided to leave with both his hands on his pockets.


    "Case, are you leaving again?"


    Kaira immediately noticed him even though the others were oblivious.


    Hearing Kaira''s voice, the others noticed Case that already turned around to leave.


    "Case, are you slipping out again?"


    Harold questioned with a frown.


    Case turned his head and looked at Harold with his right eye.


    "You said that they are just wasting time right? Then, it will be better for me to leave than waste time watching others waste their time."


    Case then turned around avoiding the angry re of Harold.


    Kaira looked at the two alternately before chasing after Case with a worried expression.


    Of course, after the two left, Harold was fuming.


    "Just let them leave," Kate spoke with her normal seductive tone. "Unlike us, they don''t have powers. They are more anxious about things."


    That made Harold take a deep breath.


    "That''s right." Harold nodded. "Just let those two be. We don''t need weaklings."


    ***


    "Weaklings... Huh..."


    Case snickered.


    Although he was already on the first floor, he was able to hear those people above.


    "Case, you''re being rebellious again!"


    Kaira eximed in worry.


    It had always been like this. Everyone would follow Harold''s instructions since he was the leader. Everyone except Case though.


    She also noticed that he was being exceptionally grumpy since this morning.


    Case then turned to Kaira.


    "Tell me. If you have to choose. Will youe with me or stay with them."


    Kaira was stumped at the sudden question.


    "Wh-why are you asking about that. Do you want to leave?"


    Kaira asked in a panic.


    Instead of answering that question, Case turned his back at Kaira and spoke.


    "Last night... That pervert narcissist touched you again didn''t he?"


    Kaira''s eyes went wide.


    "How did you..."


    "Of course, I will know. It happened several times before. He does that to any woman in our group if he is anxious about things. With what happenedst night, that bastard is bout to do that. It''s fortunate that he doesn''t have the courage to do more or he will receive Harold''s wrath. He''s a dumb coward after all. I''m thankful for Harold that he made such rules."


    Case looked up.


    "Still, you didn''t even ask me for help."


    Tears fell from Kaira''s eyes.


    "I''m sorry... I don''t want you to get in trouble. He''s someone with powers. We are normal people."


    "There''s no reason to stay with those idiots anymore. I''m going to leave. Will youe with me? You don''t need to undergo those horrible things anymore."


    Case spoke with a sinister glint in his eyes.


    "But... Sir Harold will not forgive us."


    "Don''t worry about it." Case grabbed Kaira''s hand. "Their existence is already useless to us. I already talked with themander of the soldiersst night, remember? That person is way better... No, he''s iparable to that tyrant."


    "I''ll try to convince him to let us join them."


    Case added which made Kaira nod.


    Receiving her affirmation, Case looked down. He had quite a guilty expression.


    "Actually, I''m sorry. I let you suffer like that. Even though I knew, I didn''t make any move. Don''t worry, I''ll personally erase that bastard after tearing his precious face apart."


    "Case, what are you saying..."


    Kaira asked but Case did not reply. He pulled her away. Their direction, towards the recreation area.

 Chapter 404 A Test Of Worth, The Strength Of The Person Judged To Be Weak

    <strong>Day 68 - 12:32 PM - Recreation Area, Maryhill Retreat House, Ortigas Avenue Extension, Dolores, Taytay, Rizal</strong>


    Mark and his group already finished eatingunch. At first, many of them felt awkward about rxing like this amidst the end of the world. Nevertheless, as the atmosphere got into them, they started to truly enjoy the event.


    The food was not toovish as most of it was nothing but canned food cooked into another kind of dish. Even the drinks were just juice or soft drinks.


    What mattered the most was the mood.


    Laughing about each other''s stories, spending time with their beloved, and watching the children y. These kinds of things made them forget the horrible creatures outside this ce.


    Nevertheless, it seemed that Mark was waiting for something else. After all, he was ncing at the Retreat House from time to time.


    ***


    Inside the Retreat House, Case and Kaira slipped into the room they usedst night to get their things. As this room was not really somece to sleep at but a conference room, they all shared thisrge room. That was why they had to slip in and avoid anyone from seeing them.


    Case packed his things with a lot of things in his mind.


    "Are you really sure about this, Case?"


    Kaira asked with uncertainty.


    Case suddenly asked her to leave with him. Although she did not hate it, it was too sudden. They had no preparations, concrete ns, or even enough time.


    Furthermore, even though Case already talked with themander of the soldiers, there was no guarantee that they would be epted by them.


    Another thing was if they two were caught by Harold. Although Harold rarely showed his anger, one of the things he hated was desertion. It was the exact thing they were currently doing.


    "Also, we aren''t sure... if thatmander is a good person either."


    "Sir Mark? I''m sure he''s quite the demon. He won''t hesitate to abandon unrted people and let them die."


    Case''s reply made Kaira surprised.


    "Then why..."


    "You saw those people outside. The members of his group. What do you think?"


    "They seem to be having fun."


    Kaira replied as she zipped her bag.


    "Exactly." Case nodded. "Their leader is a demon to those unrted but the best leader to his people. If we can join them, then we won''t belong to those unrted anymore."


    Case slipped his backpack on his arms.


    "Let''s go."


    He grabbed Kaira''s hand, and the two hurried out of the room.


    Things should have been fine. Since it was not new for Case to appear and disappear, it should have been fine.


    However...


    "Where do you think you two are going?"


    Prince who sat on the highest step of the stairs leading up to the second floor.


    His back was facing the two but Case could tell that this narcissist currently had a smug-looking face.


    Kaira froze. Compared to Harold, she was more afraid of this person. After what he did to her several times, she already developed an instinctual fear of him. For her, it would be better if Harold was the one who caught them than this lunatic.


    Case frowned. He pulled Kaira closer which made her lose bnce since she was frozen in fear. However, that made it easier for Case as Kaira would not be able to resist what he was about to do.


    "Uwaaa!"


    Kaira shouted as her body fell.


    Case caught her and lifted her up in a princess carry.


    "Hold tight and don''t bite your tongue."


    He said before he did the thing that not only Kaira but even Prince did not expect.


    Since Kaira shouted, Prince turned around. The moment he did, however, what he saw Case jump over the railing beside the stairs.


    This was unbelievable because no sane person would that kind of thing unless he wanted to suicide. The height between the second and first floor was rather higherpared to the height between the second and third floor. It was because of the reception areas and other activity areas built on the first floor.


    A normal person might not die unless theynd head first. Still, breaking a bone would not be surprising.


    And yet, Case jumped without hesitation. He was even carrying Kaira.


    "Hey!"


    Prince shouted in surprise. His voice was loud that it obviously alerted everyone around them. It was including Harold and the other members of their group that was still watching the event below.


    Contrary to what Prince thought, Casended safely on the first floor. There was barely any sound of thending either.


    Thatnding was witnessed by several soldiers and the family members of the soldiers that were still at the reception and the open dining area.


    Case ignored all those stares and bolted off. It was because Prince also jumped to chase after them.


    As a Mutator, Princended on the first floor without effort.


    "Case... How did you..."


    Kaira was in shock. Although she managed to hold her scream when they fell, what just happened was still unbelievable to her.


    "I''ll exin itter."


    Case continued to run while Prince chased behind them.


    ***


    "Here theye."


    Mark spoke while looking at the back door of the Retreat House.


    Crashing the event, Case came out of the door while carrying Kaira.


    Of course, the ce fell into silence as they immediately became the center of attention.


    "Gege, are you waiting for them?"


    Mei asked.


    "I am. Those two will be our new members."


    Mark confidently replied.


    "They seem to be in trouble."


    Mei said as Prince also passed through the door chasing after the two.


    "It''s fine, they are not."


    While Mark and Mei conversed, Case already arrived in front of Mark.


    "Sir..."


    Case was about to say something, but he was cut off.


    "Just leave her here. Do what you need to do."


    Case nodded and put Kaira down.


    "Just stay here. Alright?"<sub> </sub>


    Case spoke with a serious expression that left Kaira an impression that he would not take no for an answer.


    "Okay..."


    Kaira replied even though she was still uncertain.


    As Case was about to face Prince who hesitated to chase further, he heard Mark speak.


    "Give us a good show."


    It might be simple words. However, Case understood the deeper meaning.


    While Mark would openly wee someone like him, he still needed to prove his worth.


    Case stepped forward Prince with a subtle smile on his mouth.


    "Hey, Case. What do you think you are doing, huh? Harold won''t forgive you for this."


    Prince spoke with a frown.


    With his personality, he would not want to cause too much ruckus in front of the girls he was drooling for. That was why he hesitated.


    To his surprise, however, Case tilted his head in confusion.


    "Really, how naive are you? Do you really think that I''m afraid of the likes of you? Even that bullsh*t leader wannabe. Just who the hell does he think he is?"


    Case spoke in a manner very different from what they were used to.


    "So, that''s how you think of me, huh?"


    Harold along with the other members of their group heard what Case said as they went out through the back door of the Retreat House.


    "What else should I think about you? I''m not like those idiots groveling at your feet."


    Case said with a snicker as he panned his eyes to the other members of Harold''s group. Of course, they were offended.


    Nevertheless, Case was right about it. They were idiots for being easily manipted.


    Harold was not a good leader. He was just good with his words. He managed to convince the others and gain their hearts and minds as their leader. Slowly, he made others rely on him making them think that they would not survive without him.


    As for other aspects, this so-called leader was trash. His nning was trash enough that many of their previous members died horribly. Yet, Harold never once admitted that their deaths were his fault. He always shirked the me for saying that the ones that died were not weak and not suited to the current world. The remaining ones should not follow their steps.


    Prince, on the other hand, was a pervert who wouldy his hands on any girl he got close to. The worst part was that his handsome face made it harder for some of the women to resist his advances. This guy''s mental case was so severe that he would not hesitate to touch the under-aged Kaira.


    In fact, the social climber, Kate, was better than any of them. In the least, she knew what she should do and not.


    "Harold." Case spoke without any shred of respect. "We will be splitting up with your dumb group. It''s better if you all don''t bother us anymore."


    He then turned to Prince.


    "As for you ugly bastard. I have a score to settle with you."


    Case spoke to the narcissistic pervert with a smirk.


    Prince''s face turned red in fury.


    Others might not know it since no one paid attention. Case, however, observed them far more than they would have imagined.


    The narcissistic Prince, he was too sensitive to the word ugly, especially if the word was personally spoken to describe him.


    Once that happened, Prince would lose control.


    Seeing Price fume in fury, Harold panicked. Although he did not like the group watching even a little bit, it would be bad to show such unsightly behavior around them. After all, they still had themand over the soldiers. It would be bad if they suddenly decided to leave them behind.


    "Prince! Don''t!"


    Harold shouted. However, his shout fell unto deaf ears.


    Prince charged towards Case without any shred of sanity on his face.


    "Who are you calling ugly!"


    Prince shouted.


    He charged while his body transformed. His pupils turned red and started to show divisions. His pupils looked simr topound eyes found on many insects, especially the genus of flies.


    A segmented armor covered his arms and on his back, a pair of clear wings grew. His mouth split into several parts showing a horrifying shape.


    BUZZZZ!!!


    His wings fluttered fast causing a loud buzzing sound causing him to hover above the ground. With his transformation, he charged towards Case at a very fast speed. Furthermore, he was screeching in fury as he released killing intent towards Case.


    "CASE!"


    Kaira could not help but scream in fright.


    She was about to run towards Case when she felt someone holding her shoulder. Looking behind her, Odelina was there.


    "You should trust your boyfriend more."


    Mark spoke which caused Kaira to blush despite her fear of what was about to happen to Case.


    "But, Case... He..."


    Kaira stuttered while she tried to beg Mark to save Case.


    "Why don''t you look?"


    Mark pointed in front making Kaira turn back to Case.


    She was shocked.


    Without a doubt, Prince was attacking rather fast. Smacking with his armored arms, attacking with the pointed protrusions on his armor, and kicking at different angles while flying around Case like a dizzy fly.


    Nevertheless, none of the attacks managed tond on the supposed to be weak Case.


    Even Harold and the other members of their group could not believe what they were seeing.


    Among the three Mutators in their group, Prince was the fastest. Even though he was quite out of his mind at this moment, his attacks were still fast.


    Yet...


    Case was dodging each attack by a small margin.


    "Ugly, can you fight seriously?"


    Case pushed Prince''s anger further.


    He started roaring like a severely mentally ill patient.


    At the side, Aephelianded on Mark''s shoulder and spoke.


    "That boy isn''t bad. He''s really good at reading the attacks in advance. He must have good eyes."


    "He stillcked experience though."


    Mark added which made Aephelia nod.


    "His personality is somewhat simr to a certain person."


    Aephelia said before mischievously flying away.


    "This woman."


    Mark shook his head. He could admit that there were simrities between him and Case. However, there were more differences.

 Chapter 405 The Mutation Of A Young Predator, Facing The Consequences Of Ones Actions

    <strong>Day 68 - 12:42 PM - Recreation Area, Maryhill Retreat House, Dolores, Taytay, Rizal</strong>


    "Kate, what do you think?"


    Harold, who could not do anything but watch the fight, asked Kate with a deep frown.


    There was no merit in this battle at all. He was be infuriated at the sudden deration of Case and Kaira to leave. However, thinking about it more, there was not much demerit in letting them go. Among their group, these two were the hardest to deal with.


    Kaira might be more manageable, but Case, there was no way for this boy to fall to his words. Also, since Kaira was close to Case, it became harder to deal with things.


    Furthermore, these two suddenly had a connection with these people, which made him confused. Just when did this happen?


    If their deration came in another time, Harold might have dealt with these two like what he did to others. However, there was nothing he could do right now. Absolutely nothing.


    "I''ll be frank," Kate replied. "We might lose that pervert in this."


    The frown on Harold''s face became darker. He also thought the same.


    Prince was not fighting the introverted boy they knew. The boy in front of them was a predator eying its prey.


    "That boy hid himself well, didn''t he?"


    Kate added.


    Back then, at the Municipal Hall, the food they had was limited. As such, to ensure proactiveness on gathering supplies from their members, those that contributed more would have arger share.


    Due to that, the less proactive Case had a smaller share of food and water. He should have starved to death in that circumstance. Actually, Case would not participate in their supply runs at all. They thought that this boy was just afraid of the infected.


    To show sympathy and upright leadership, Harold still gave a small share. This should have received appreciation from the boy. It never did, however.


    Case stayed the same. He was uncooperative and hard-headed. From that small portion he always received, he should already have starved. However, that did not happen. He stayed the same. They thought that it was because Kaira shared her food and water with him.


    Now that they saw this, the circumstances might be different. Now, they understood one of the things that happened every time Case managed to slip away without any of them realizing.


    "Kate."


    Harold called with a low tone.


    "What is it?"


    "Prepare to interfere if Prince is about to get killed."


    Hearing that, Kate looked at Harold with an annoyed look.


    "Can''t you just let that pervert die for god''s sake?"


    "His personality might be trash, but we still can''t lose him. There''s only three of us here. Losing him will be a great demerit for us."


    "Alright, alright." Kate shrugged her shoulders. "But you better put a leash on him if you don''t want more of us to leave."


    What Kate had said, knocked Harold hard. He could only nod with a frown.


    ***


    "STOP DODGING!!!"


    Prince roared with rage.


    He was totally consumed by his anger. Case being able to dodge his attacks by a hair''s breadth did not help in subsiding his rage.


    Being called ugly was something that would trigger his inner demons. Thest person that did that was secretly murdered by him.


    Like his attacks towards Case right now, there was not a pint of holding back. He was absolutely trying to kill the boy in front of him.


    On the other hand, Case just smirked as he continued to dodge each attack. Of course, there was also no way for him to counter-attack. With his current strength, all he could do was to avoid each attack.


    Nevertheless, he was not afraid.


    After all, he was not using his abilities as a Mutator.


    ***


    "Case..."


    Kaira sped both her hands together over her chest.


    Although Case showed an unexpected level of ability, it was not enough to thwart her worries at all.


    It was then when she heard Mark speak.


    "He''s finally going to counter-attack, huh."


    That made Kaira turn to Mark before she turned her head back facing the battle, in panic.


    BAM!


    Everyone eximed in shock as Prince crashed on the ground.


    Even Prince had the shock of his life. His eyes were open wide as he tried toprehend what had just happened.


    What he remembered was that he buzzed towards Case and was about to grab him. Once the boy was caught, there was no way for him to dodge his attacks anymore.


    Then, Case''s pupils erged and changed in color. His usually brown pupils turned golden. Not only that, but his appearance also changed.


    When Prince was close enough, Case jumped to his right. Then, he felt a massive impact on his back.


    Prince was not able to see what happened, but everyone else did.


    After Case jumped to the side, he kicked the ground too hard with his right foot that he spun his body in the air before he dropped the same foot on Prince''s back.


    Seeing the transformation of Case, both Abbygale and Jester hid behind their parents. Abbygale behind Mark and Jester behind Monique.


    Case had the same kind of transformation as the two children. He grew a pair of triangr ears on his head while his hair changed to a mix of gray and white colors. There was also a fluffy looking tail that dangled under the back of his shirt.


    However, unlike Abbygale and Jester, Case was not a cat.


    "A literal wolf in sheep''s clothing, isn''t he?"


    Markmented, and everyone that heard him could not help but agree.


    As Mark said those words, Case already raised his foot to stomp on the back of Prince.


    BUZZ!!!


    Prince hurriedly pped his wings as he felt the killing intent behind him. He managed tounch his body away as the foot of Case fell.


    BAM!


    That stomp was not a joke. Even Harold and Kate almost jumped to help. Fortunately, Prince managed to dodge. If not, his spine would have been broken already. Case''s foot sunk onto the ground for about three inches. That force was more than enough to crush anyone''s bones.


    Unfortunately, Case had no intention of letting Prince go.


    Case stretched his fingers with his nails already turned into thick ws. He then stretched at a speedparable to a bullet.


    "AAAAAAAHHHHHHH!!!"


    Prince screamed in pain.


    Without effort, Case caught the left foot of Prince. His ws dug deep into his skin which caused that scream.<sub> </sub>


    Case then pulled Prince back before mming the pervert on the ground with a big swing.


    "GAHA!"


    Prince coughed blood as his back and head mmed on the ground. Even his clear wings were torn from the impact.


    Attacking the enemy''s weakness, it was the easiest way to win.


    In Prince''s case, his arms were armored and the front parts of his body, especially his face, were guarded by these armored arms. The greatest strength of Prince was his wings as it enabled him to fly at fast speed.


    However, it was also his weakness.


    Once the wings were broken, more than half of his capabilities would be lost.


    Then...


    CRACK!


    Case stomped on both arms of Prince.


    The arms were still fine but both armors had been cracked.


    Of course, the boy would not stop there. He wanted to break these arms and hands that were used to touch Kaira.


    However...


    "Case! That''s enough!"


    Harold and Kate already rushed to rescue Prince.


    If the two let this go on, even if Prince was left alive, he would be nothing but useless baggage.


    Harold secured Prince and pulled him away while Kate blocked Case.


    "You two better stop meddling."


    Case said in a menacing manner. There was even a tint of killing intent in the stare he gave Kate who stood in front of him.


    "You probably won''t believe me but I don''t want to meddle at all. Like you, I wanted this pervert dead. But, it''s best that you stop already." Kate tried to persuade Case. "Look at Kaira."


    Hearing that, Case turned his head. He saw the worried Kaira who had tears in the corner of her eyes.


    "You are right with what you said. We are a group of dumb people. But it''s better for you to not lower yourself to our level. Just return to Kaira. I''m sure, she''s not used to seeing you behave like this."


    Kate tapped the boy''s shoulder before turning around.


    Case observed Kaira before sighing. He took ast chilling re at Prince who was being carried away by Harold before walking towards Kaira.


    "Case!"


    The fight was over and Odelina let go of Kaira. She immediately rushed towards Case and embraced him.


    "Sorry, did I scare you?"


    Case asked with a bit of guilt. It was not wrong to say that he also lost himself to anger.


    In response to his question, Kaira only shook her head and sobbed while hugging him.


    "Are you sure you two want to let that guy go?"


    Mark''s voice interrupted the two with a question.


    "Honestly, no."


    Case bluntly replied which made Kaira look down.


    It was obvious that Case nned to kill that guy on the spot after ying with him. Nevertheless, he stopped for her sake. She never had the thought of killing someone or having someone die because of her. Kaira was still too naive to carry that guilt in her conscience.


    "Alright." Mark nodded. "The ending is a bit disappointing but ability-wise, you passed."


    "Thank you, Sir."


    Case finally felt light.


    Unlike the group that Harold led, Mark''s group had more of a lighter atmosphere. The bond and reliance were mutual and not one-sided.


    Back in the municipal hall, Case could only endure. Kaira was also the same. It was even if they were treated like trash there and Kaira was toyed by Prince. The reason being that they both had nowhere else to go. Both of them could escape. However, surviving with just the too of them, their future would be bleak.


    Case was aware of his abilities. Even if he was a Mutator, he was still far from being able to protect himself and Kaira on his own.


    It could be said that today was their luckiest day since the apocalypse started.


    As the two officially joined the group under Mark''s direct approval, the other members congratted them. The two were quite overwhelmed as they did expect to be weed like this.


    Nevertheless, the two could only smile.


    Unlike their previous group that was bonded by the goal to survive, the bond in this one was like a huge family.


    The contrast was like heaven and earth.


    ***


    "F*CK! F*CK! F*CK!"


    Prince''s screams could be heard from the second floor of the Retreat House. His cursing was too loud that they even received warnings from the soldiers guarding outside their room.


    However, no matter how he cursed, his anger would not subside.


    He was turned into aughing stock. More than that, he was called ugly in front of many people.


    He would get his revenge no matter what.


    Of course, that would not happen immediately.


    Although not broken, both his arms received fractures. His wings were also broken which impaired his ability to fly. His body also felt numb as his spine was hit by two attacks Case made.


    Unfortunately for him...


    Kate might have managed to stop Case.


    However...


    The leader of the group Case and Kaira joined was not as forgiving as the two.


    It was impossible for that leader to not notice how he drooled while staring at Mei. It was also impossible for that leader to not feel the perverted thoughts he had while looking at her.


    Just looking was fine. Even admiring would not have an issue. Nevertheless, Prince already overstepped both those boundaries.


    That was why...


    ***


    <strong>Day 69 - 6:17 AM - 2nd Floor, Maryhill Retreat House, Dolores, Taytay, Rizal</strong>


    "AAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!"


    Early in the morning, the scream of the annoying perverted fly caused turmoil to everyone.

 Chapter 406 The Worst Punishment, Screams Of Fright By Sunrise And Yells Of Cheers By Sunset

    <strong>Day 69 - 6:18 AM - 2nd Floor, Maryhill Retreat House, Ortigas Avenue Extension, Dolores, Taytay, Rizal</strong>


    The soldiers tended to their duties early while most of the other people were already preparing for departure.


    It was when the scream of a man was heard.


    Everyone was disturbed by the sudden scream that echoed across the whole building.


    The other night, everyone heard a woman''s scream. This morning, it was a man''s.


    Nevertheless, because the soldiers disclosed the truth to everyone about the previous instance, everyone went into their alert mode as this happened.


    However, it was not the end of it.


    "AAHHHHH!!!"


    "KYAAAAAAAHHHHHH!!!"


    Frightened shrieks of two women followed the man''s scream.


    The soldiers, armed with their guns, rushed towards where the screams came from.


    Unexpectedly, the screams came from where the survivors they rescued from the Municipal Hall of Taytay were resting.


    The soldiers kicked the door open and rushed in as they thought that it was an emergency situation. As the soldiers entered, however, they saw that the survivors seemed to be safe.


    Still, the situation seemed to be quite odd.


    Aside from the two women, who seemed to be the ones that screamed and were now huddled in a corner, frightened, everyone else stood facing a particr direction. All their faces were unsightly and even looked disgusted.


    "What happened here?"


    Lieutenant Baller came in and questioned Harold, who was among the survivors.


    Among everyone else, his face had the most unsightly expression. It was as if arge part of his ns fell out of its algorithm.


    As for the question of the lieutenant, there was no need for anyone to answer. Since everyone was looking in the same direction, he reflexively turned his head towards what they were looking at.


    There, the injured Prince was on his bed. He was asleep, no, by the manner his eyes were opened wide and rolled up, it was more like he fainted.


    However, that was not the most pressing issue. Everyone knew that the person was Prince, but no one could recognize him anymore. At least, not by his facial appearance.


    His face... was unrecognizable.


    Parts of it were swelling, some ces were putrefying, and the broader areas were actually rotting.


    The handsome face he was proud of was awfully destroyed.


    ***


    Mark entered through the window being weed back by Mei and the little girls.


    Turning towards the window, stretched his back while he looked outside the window that faced the steep side of the hill. Even if the city was already devoid of people, the scenery from his ce was something to admire. No, perhaps, theck of people was the element that made it look this way.


    The girls were already preparing to leave like the others. That was when most satisfying screams he had not heard for some time echoed throughout the building.


    "Gege, those screams..."


    Mei asked as she saw Mark''s satisfied expression.


    "Don''t mind them," Mark replied. "Someone annoying just received a punishment he deserved."


    "Okay."


    Mei nodded with a smile. Of course, she realized whose voice that scream was. And she was also d. It seemed Mark made a move to get rid of the disgusting stare being aimed at them. She was sensitive to those kinds of stares aimed at her. It was impossible for her to not notice, and she was already feeling very ufortable.


    As Mark started to help to move their things out of the room, his mood was quite lighter than before.


    Releasing his annoyance and angerst night was worth it.


    ***


    While some of the soldiers stayed on their lookout duties and everyone else rested, he slipped into the room of the survivors on the second floor.


    Using his [Shadow Mist Movement] and [Optical Camouge], unless someone around was sensitive to temperature, sounds, or smell, he was undetectable.


    Without anyone able to notice, he stood in front of the bed where Prince was resting.


    Because it was still the duty of the soldiers to watch over these survivors, the medics already tended to Prince''s injuries. His arms were splinted and bandaged while his back was covered with cold press. He also had other wounds he got from being smashed on the ground hard.


    The soldiers actually wanted to use a bottle of [Regeneration Medicine] that Bay City sessfully replicated from the research Mark delivered. However, Mark forbade them to do it.


    When they asked for the reason. Mark replied with a logical thing they could not refute.


    "It was better to reserve the medicine for the soldiers in fighting in the frontlines. Giving it to a survivor that is only being protected is just a waste."


    What he said was right in a sense, and the soldiers could only agree. While Prince was a Mutator that might be of help, they were still survivors that they rescued. Instead of making them fight, the soldiers rather put them in protection. Making them participate in the battles were just ast resort.


    As such, Prince did not receive any treatment more than he deserved.


    It was not like these survivors knew about the medicine either.


    When Mark saw Prince, he was disgusted.


    Beside Prince on the bed, two women slept soundly. It seemed that this narcissist already managed to seduce these to on bing his women. Unfortunately, his heaven turned into hellst night.


    One by one, Mark touched the heads of everyone in the room.


    Harold seemed to have felt some danger and woke up a bit. He returned to sleep almost immediately after seeing nothing. That allowed Mark to touch his head too.


    In every touch, Mark released the same surge of Miasma he used to make Vem, the Mutator of Lust, sleep. This ensured that no one would disturb him as he punished the annoying fly.


    The worst punishment that a narcissist like him could receive.


    To destroy his handsome face to the point of no return.


    Silently, miasma covered the fly''s face. As Mark needed to control it that he would not identally kill the bastard, it took about ten minutes to finish.<sub> </sub>


    When Mark was satisfied, Prince''s face was already a coge of swelling, putrefying and rotting skin.


    Of course, that was not the only thing Mark did, there was another thing, and he also left a souvenir, which made him snicker before turning into ck mist and vanishing from the room.


    When Prince woke up, Mark was actually watching outside the window. His face might have been too painful as Prince woke up abruptly.


    Prince was confused as to why he felt ufortable and his face hurt a lot. He wanted to wake up the two women sleeping beside him but opening his mouth made his face hurt even more. That was when he noticed a mirror sitting on the table beside his bed. He was sure that that mirror was not there when he slept.


    The mirror was ced in a way that he would be able to see his face clearly.


    He then saw a horrifying monster in the mirror. Since it was a mirror, he was confused at first. When he realized what he was looking at, the frightened scream came out of his mouth before his eyes rolled back, and he fainted.


    Mark almost burst outughing at hisedic reaction. The impact had been too great that Prince''s brain felt like it was fried.


    The scream of the fainted fly woke up the two women beside him. That was when the next set of screams were heard. Luckily, Prince already fainted. If he was still conscious, the disgusted screams of the women he conquered would surely make him ckout in shame.


    ***


    Soon, Mark received the report of what happened from Lieutenant Baller. Since Mark did not even hide his good mood, it was easy for the soldier to realize what happened. Of course, he just stayed quiet. The lieutenant himself was annoyed with that guy.


    As Mark and his group did not interact with that person, they did not experience how that guy boasted about his looks andpared himself with the shoddy looking soldiers.


    They also heard himparing himself to Mark for thetter to be surrounded by beautiful girls. As these soldiers respected Mark and his group, they were offended by that.


    "We will proceed with the schedule. We are already dyed by a day so we can''t postpone it again."


    Mark said.


    "Yes, sir."


    What they were talking about was about dying the journey for another day. Harold requested such because of Prince''s current condition.


    The Lieutenant himself would not want to, but he still needed to undergo the right procedures even if it was just for show. That was why he still asked Mark.


    ***


    Receiving the order from Mark, Harold clenched his fist. There was no doubt that themander was suppressing them. However, there was nothing he couldin about. It was all brought upon by Prince himself.


    The time for departure was already here. Because Prince was still unconscious, the men in their group had to hold back their disgust as they tried to help Prince up.


    The moment they made Prince stand up, however...


    SPLAT!


    Something fell out of his shorts. He was wearing a rather loose one because of his bruises on his feet and legs. It made it easier for the thing that fell to slip out.


    Everyone around looked at what had fallen for it to make such sound.


    "URP!"


    Everyone felt their stomachs turn upside down.


    Frightened and disgusted shrieks came out of the women''s'' mouths. Kate was not an exception.


    What had fallen was nothing else, but Prince''splete set of rotting manhood.


    ***


    Finally, they left the Retreat House after they got dyed for a day.


    A small congregation of infected had already gathered by the main gates. Nevertheless, the number was still small that Gifre and Char dealt with the infected without effort. Besides, most of them were the slower Eaters for some reason.


    If they spent another day, it would be a different thing though. The infected numbered about a hundred or two already. More time spent would surely bloom this number into thousands.


    The convoy left in a rather awkward manner.


    Since the screams this morning rattled everyone, many of them inquired about what happened. They immediately regretted asking.


    Everyone that heard the answer could not help but imagine the scene inside their minds. They shivered. That was the case especially with the group of survivors Harold led. They saw everything with their own eyes after all.


    Even when lunchtime came, none of them had the appetite to eat. It was even if they covered Prince''s face securely to avoid seeing it.


    For some reason, the lunch distributed had canned meat in it.


    It made them lose their appetite even more.


    ***


    "Big Bro is in a good mood isn''t he?"


    Jaeya spoke while looking outside through the window of their vehicle. She could see that there was a slight smile on his face and he was even chuckling.


    Case and Kaira who were allowed to sit inside the [Exceed: Personnel Carrier] could not help but also look. They were still quite timid since they were new to the group. The luxurious appearance of the vehicle inside made them even stiffer as they did not want to break anything. The two were also curious about Amihan and Aephelia who were both sylphs that should be only found in fairytales.


    To what Jaeya said, Aephelia sighed.


    "Yeah, Master is in a good mood. He''s having fun tormenting other people."


    Everyone inside the vehicle agreed with that. As if they would not realize what Mark had done. He even gave orders to the soldiers about the food that would be rationed out for lunch.


    As for Case, however, he felt gratitude.


    He knew that what Mark did was not for him or Kaira. However, Mark did something that he was not able to do and he was thankful for that.


    Prince got what he deserved. There was no way for him to recover.


    With a lightened mood, Case and Kaira watched the sceneries outside the window pass by. They managed to choose what path they wanted to take. Unlike back in the municipal hall where they had no other choice but to wait and suffer if they did not want to submit.


    While they had those things in mind, the day passed with the longest travel they had since the apocalypse started.


    The battle on the road was quite intense and there were quite many roadblocks to clear.


    And finally, everyone cheered as they reached the edge of the Cityscape and entered the Marikina-Infanta Highway before sunset.

 Chapter 407 The Last Night Of Their Journey, A Request By The Misunderstood Woman

    <strong>Day 69 - 5:48 PM - Marikina-Infanta Highway, San Jose, Antipolo, Rizal</strong>


    As they reached the highway, everyone was in glee. Reaching the outskirts of the cities made everyone feel at ease. It was because of the number of infected within the cities being veryrge. After leaving the cities and entering the rural areas towards Eastern Luzon, they thought that it would be easier already.


    However, that was the mindset cultivated by survivors that stayed in the middle of heavily infested cities. The real story was way too far from that.


    In fact, the danger did not lessen at all.


    For a lot of instances, it might have been even more dangerous.


    At these parts, the infected might be lower in number. What made it worse was that these infected were a lot stronger than the ones around cities. It was because they managed to survive an environment filled with mutated predators.


    Also, for the most part, Marikina-Infanta Highway was surrounded by forests and mountains. Mutated animals were more prominent in these areas than the infected.


    Their cheers did notst long after the convoy was blocked by a two-meter dog in the middle of the highway. If not for the existence of Mark''s group, that dog was enough to wipe out arge part of the convoy.


    The dog was a feral one as Mark assessed. Thus, there was no problem with killing it immediately. This dog that wanted to prey on humans turned into meat to keep instead. People might have problems eating meat from these kinds of animals, but it was different after the apocalypse started. Not only that the survivors would be picky about fresh meat for dinner, but the meat of mutated animals was also far more nutritious and had positive effects on Evolvers and Mutators.


    Thus, the dinner was decided that way.


    It was a blessing for everyone but the group of survivors from the Municipal Hall of Taytay though. Every time they see meat or even the infected, the memory of what they saw this morning would sh in their minds.


    Although they reached the highway, they did not have enough time to traverse it. As such, they went off from the initial direction of the highway''s curve.


    About six hundred meters away from the highway, the ce where they would spend the night was located. It was a ce, Mark, Edzel, and Karlene saw when they were on the way to Bay City.


    What made this ce stand out from the sky was because it was a mansion with a wide lot. The lot was surrounded by almost three-meter walls making it a secure ce in a rural area like this.


    "This ce really gives you a vibe that it''s owned by a politician don''t you think?"


    Karlene said as they went out of their vehicles.


    Entering was not a problem for them as it was easy for many Mutators, or even Evolvers, to jump over the walls and destroy the lock inside.


    Karlene could not be med for her assumption as the design of the ce was basically the same as how it was in movies.


    After entering through the gates, there was a wide road to traverse before arriving at the actual mansion. Furthermore, the tall walls surrounding the ce made everyone think that whoever lived here prioritized their security.


    Thendscaping beside the road and the gardens were also elegant looking. Well, if the nts were not overgrown. Without anyone tending the ce for two months, thendscaping had turned ragged and messy.


    Securing the area, they found that there was no danger inside the premises of the mansion.


    Still, they found traces of dried blood, broken windows, and the back door of the mansion was destroyed. Looking at the markings on some of the furniture covered with dried blood, it seemed that the cause of this was not infected but a mutated animal.


    The poor inhabitants of this mansion managed to escape the initial outbreak but were wiped out by mutated animals instead. That was what the clues left in the house, made everyone assume.


    After the mansion was searched thoroughly, everyone made their preparations for the night.


    Half of the night passed by without problems. The worst that happened was Prince''s wailing as he gained consciousness. Furthermore, everyone could tell that he was already a lost cause.


    In the middle of the night, Mark visited Prince once more. It was to check on his condition. Of course, it was not in a good way.


    While for the most part, Mark did this to punish this bastard, it was not the entire reason he let him live. In fact, Mark wanted to end this insect''s life already.


    However, he still had some purpose.


    There were a lot of things about Mutators that were still undiscovered. Although Mark already uncovered a few things, there was still a lot to be researched. One of those was that what would happen if a Mutator''s reigning trait could not fulfill its conditions anymore?


    To other Mutators, it was hard to experiment on this. Finding ways to contradict and stop their traits would be hard.


    On Prince, however, it was very easy to do. His reigning trait was his narcissism and it fueled his pervertedness and greed to conquer women using his handsome looks. By destroying his face and manhood, there was no way for him to be narcissistic about his looks anymore.


    What would happen then?


    From what Mark observed, from the sudden fainting and his wails after waking up, there was one severe effect on Prince.


    He was losing his sanity, literally.


    His mental health was deteriorating at a fast rate. In another two or three days, Mark estimated that this pervert would totally lose his mind and be insane.


    What a suitable ending for this person.


    "You are here aren''t you?"


    Mark suddenly heard a voice. This made him quite surprised.


    Since he just stopped by to take a peek, he only concealed himself with [Optical Camouge] and did not bother to make everyone sleep deeply. Nevertheless, it would not be easy to find him. Furthermore, he was sure that everyone was asleep from their fluctuations.


    Unless...


    Mark turned to the source of the sound. There, Kate sat looking at his direction. It was even though he should not be visible.


    She was in her transformed state.


    Part of her neck, cheeks, and forehead was covered with multi-colored scales. Kate''s eyes that were staring at Mark was releasing a bluish glow around her pupils.


    Probing Kate, Mark did not talk and just stared at her.


    "You can''t pretend that you are not there." Kate pointed at her glowing eyes. "I can see you because of your body temperature."


    After saying that, she looked around. Seeing that everyone was still asleep, she stood up and made a gesture at Mark to follow her.


    Kate then went out to the balcony of the mansion when she saw that Mark followed her.


    "So, what do you want?"


    Mark canceled his optical camouge and asked.


    Kate turned around and asked.


    "What do you think of me?"


    The way she asked was rather suggestive that Mark''s eyebrows twitched.


    "A THOT?"<sub> </sub>


    Mark replied without even a pint of hesitation.


    Kate''s smile froze. She surely did not expect that kind of response.


    Her shoulder''s drooped in realization.


    "Do I really look that kind of woman?"


    She murmured.


    "To everyone, you do."


    Mark added which pierced another arrow on her.


    "Hahh... It''s no use then..." She sighed as she sped the railing on the balcony. "Case and Kaira managed to leave. I thought that I can too. I just wished that those two asked me toe with them."


    "Of course, they won''t," Mark spoke. "You looked like you are enjoying being Harold''s right hand while sucking up to him on every possible asion."


    "Did you hear that from them?"


    Kate looked even more down. However, it made her look like she was just asking for pity. Those with weakness to this would surely fall.


    However, Mark could tell that she was genuinely sad.


    "I don''t even know why everyone thinks of me like that. I never even slept with any man my whole life."


    Mark scratched his head. It seemed that he also had a wrong impression of her. He judged Kate by her reigning trait. After all, he also viewed social climbers as a troublesome kind of people.


    As for this woman, she did not have even the least idea about how her behavior changed after bing a Mutator. It was no wonder she felt sad about it.


    Being misunderstood was a bad thing. Mark also experienced that when he was younger. It was not a good experience.


    He could not deny that this woman was genuine about her current emotions. Still, he could not let his guard down since she managed to fake her sleep without Mark noticing.


    "Did you fake your sleep?"


    Mark asked straight which made Kate confused.


    "I didn''t?" She replied. "It''s more like I was half asleep and talked before I knew I woke up?"


    Now, even Mark was confused. She was not lying at all. It seemed that this was a normal urrence to her. No wonder now how Prince was not able to take advantage of her even in her sleep.


    "Anyway, I get what you want," Mark spoke. "You want to join us like Case and Kaira?"


    "I do." Kate nodded. "But by your reaction, it looks like I have no chance to."


    "What about Harold and your group?"


    "Who said that I want to stay with them? Like Case and Kaira, I only stayed because I have no choice. If possible, I will leave as soon as I can. I already nned to leave after reaching the settlement. It''s just that I thought that it will be more beneficial for me to join a group like yours."


    "I see."


    Mark nodded and turned to leave.


    Seeing that, Kate was even more crestfallen. It was when she heard Mark speak again.


    "My group won''t approve just anyone who wanted to join immediately. Let''s talk again after reaching the settlement."


    Kate''s face lit up with hope.


    As for Mark, he already prepared to vanish. It was when he felt a heavy but soft sensation on his back before a supple lip pecked on his cheek.


    Mark stared annoyed at Kate who ran back into their room like a mischievous child. He then took out a clean cloth and rubbed his cheek before throwing the cloth away.


    That act of Kate made him consider rejecting her request to join. However, the ability to see using temperature made him interested. She was not hostile either for him to unreasonably take that ability away from her.


    With those thoughts, he vanished from the balcony.


    ***


    Mark returned to his room. There, Mei and the little girls were still awake.


    "You all are still awake?"


    "Gege, we are waiting for you," Mei replied. "Miracle found something you see."


    Hearing that, Mark nodded and let them guide him.


    They were currently in the master''s bedroom on the highest floor. This bedroom had its own office area and a library.


    The four girls led Mark to the library.


    A bookshelf was broken. Seeing that the bookshelf had a mark of a child''s palm, it was obvious that Miracle hit the shelf by mistake.


    However, that was not the issue. Behind the broken bookshelf, there was a huge safe door. Without a doubt, there was a hidden room behind this door.


    Now, they just had to find a way to open this door.


    While Mark was observing the door, he noticed Abbygale.


    Sniff... Sniff...


    She was sniffing Mark.


    "Gale, what are you doing?"


    "Papa smell like another woman? No, a fish?"


    Abbygale answered Mark''s question with a confused look.


    "I see." Mark nodded. "That woman''s Mutation seemed like of a fish I guess..."


    When he turned around, he saw Mei staring at him.

 Chapter 408 Opening The Metal Door, Behind The Doors That Lay Behind It

    <strong>Day 69 - 10:22 PM - Padi, San Jose, Antipolo, Rizal</strong>


    Mark and Mei stared at each other for a few seconds.


    At the same time, they looked away from each other and faced the safe door.


    Of course, nothing happened. What would anyone expect?


    Mei only had eyes for Mark now. She always observed him, his likes, reactions, his behavior, and what he disliked.


    He was not someone who would go after women, at least, not the real world ones.


    Mei had seen Mark give out more expressions towards cute female anime characters, but she never saw him make genuine expressions towards real-life women.


    If a woman''s smell stuck unto him, it was very likely that it was the woman who made a move.


    She would not me Mark for it.


    Of course, it would be a lie if she said that she did feel anything. She still felt jealous. However, she would not unreasonably me Mark and be angry at him.


    Other than that, she could not me the other woman either. What women like her seek at times of chaos like these was protection. To some women, it would reach the point that they would disregard their dignity in order to survive.


    Here, there was Mark as the strongest person who could give that protection. Furthermore, he did not treat his people in a bad way. The worst that he did was ignoring them or kicking Joseph out of the meeting room, but that was it.


    Even if his looks were rathercking, those aspects were enough to make desperate people flock towards him. There would be no distinction in that whether it be a woman or a man, a child or an elderly, human or not.


    Rather, she was proud that a man like than was overprotective of her.


    Of course, she was still a bit jealous.


    Then, she felt a warm embrace enveloping her body from behind. Her jealousy vanished in an instant.


    "So, are we going to open this door?"


    Mark asked with his breath tickling Mei''s ears.


    "Maybe we could," Mei answered. "The girls had been asking to open and explore it since they discovered it. It''s just the door is locked and really sturdy to open forcefully."


    Mark nodded. Looking at the door, it was not just some cheap-looking hidden passage. It was more like a vault door seen in many post-apocalyptic video games.


    "Okay, let''s open it."


    Mark said which made the little girls cheer.


    Mei looked a bit disappointed though as Mark let go of her to open the door.


    Mark could not help but smile bitterly as he felt Mei''s disappointment. He decided to make up for itter.


    "Gege, aren''t you going to use Ignis?"


    Mei asked as she noticed that Mark did not bring the Demon Sword. Its mes should be the best way to open this thick metal door.


    "Hmmm?" Mark looked at her. "I want to try something."


    Mark then started to examine the door and find the exact ces where the locks were. He actually wanted to just slip in using his [Shadow Mist Movement] and see if he could open it from inside. However, it was tightly sealed that there was no space between the door and the frame at all.


    He also noticed that not just the door, the walls around the supposed hidden room were made of thick metal. Mark could not tell but he assumed that this metal was bulletproof, might be shockproof even.


    As he estimated where the locking mechanisms were located, Mark held out his hand.


    FLOOOM!


    A bright orange colored fire burst out from his hand.


    Mei and the little girls were surprised.


    "Gege, that''s..."


    "Oh, this?" Mark pointed at the mes on his palm. "These are the original mes that Ignis had. Ignis absorbed my miasma and blood while I absorbed his mes. That''s what happened I think."


    Actually, Mark was quite unsure of it himself. After all, the naming ritual could already give a random effect to the master and it also went wrong.


    What he knew was that while the mes of Ignis became ck, he gained to use the original mes Ignis had. Of course, he could also turn it ck by mixing miasma in it.


    Using the high-temperature me in Mark''s hand, he slowly melted some parts of the door. He needed to adjust the positions at several points as the mechanism was slowly unveiled.


    CREEAK!


    Finally, the lock was destroyed and the door creaked open.


    "I''ll enter first okay?"


    Mark said as he blocked the excited little girls from entering first.


    The little girls behaved and waited for their Papa to enter.


    Using his mes, Mark lit up the room as he entered.


    There... was nothing.


    The hidden room was just a three-meter by two-meter room. There were a few cabs with books and a couch for reading. Aside from those, there was nothing else.


    "Gege, is it fine to enter?"


    Mei peeked through the door while holding her shlight.


    "It''s okay. Just enter. The room is quite small though."


    Mark replied.


    Once the five of them were all inside the room, the little girls were a bit disappointed. They thought that there would be something interesting inside. There was nothing but books though. Miracle even tried moving the cabs and removed the books but saw nothing behind.


    "Is this all?"


    Mei also looked disappointed by what they found inside.


    "Let''s look around some more. I don''t think that this is all."


    Mark said as he started to investigate.


    Moving the cabs and the couch, removing the carpet on the floor, and even removing the paintings on the walls. Unfortunately, nothing was revealed. There was nothing but metal tiles all over the walls and the floor.


    Mark then went for thest resort.


    Knocking on the walls and the floor.


    Mark did not believe that this room was all of it. Looking at theyout of the house, the secure walls, and this hidden room. He deduced that the person that owned this house was rather overly cautious about their security.


    This meant that theyout of this hidden room could just be a disguise.<sub> </sub>


    Soon, Mark''s suspicion was answered. He was right.


    On the set of metal tiles at the corner of the hidden room, the sound made after he knocked was different from other areas.


    Once more, he started melting the thick metal tiles with his fire.


    "Master~! What is everyone doing?"


    Amihan and Aephelia that went for a night stroll came back and saw what was happening. Being away from nature for too long, Amihan asked Aephelia to take a fly around the area.


    "Adventure!"


    Miracle was the one to answer first which made Abbygale and I nod.


    EIIINNGGGG!!!


    A sound was heard after Mark removed the melted metal tiles. Sure enough, it was a trapdoor with adder going down.


    Like before, Mark took the lead and went down.


    Thedder was quite high. In Mark''s estimate, thedder actually led him even lower than the basement of the mansion.


    Reaching the end of thedder, there was a flight of stairs that lead to a door below.


    And... It was another thick metal door.


    Mark could not help but scratch his head. This was the third one. For sure, the owners of the house were overly cautious for them to make something like this. It was good that there were no traps so far. If there was, Mark could surely question the sanity of the person that made this.


    For several more minutes, Mark melted parts of the third door. As it was safe, he let everyone go down while he worked on the door.


    The third door was twice as thick as the first door making it harder to open. It was a pain to melt with his mes.


    Finally, the third door was opened. Nevertheless, Mark started to promise in his heart that if there was nothing behind this door or this door was not thest one, he would make this ce explode tomorrow.


    Fortunately, that was not the case.


    Upon entering, what weed them was the stale air that was enclosed in this ce for too long. Ignoring the bad air, everyone was amazed.


    This ce was not just an emergency shelter, it was actually an underground bunker.


    The whole ce was huge. In Mark''s estimate, the bunker upied half of the lot.


    "Amihan, manipte the air to remove the stale gases inside. Some harmful chemicals might have mixed with the air too."


    Mark asked the Sylph to remove the bad air and rece it with a fresher one.


    "Okay~!"


    After Amihan blew the bad air out of the house through the passage they just went through.


    Finally, they explored the bunker.


    It was a jackpot.


    Looking around, there were canned goods that could go on for years, longsting food and proper water supply. Aside from food, tools, generators, and even gas barrels were securely stored in one of the rooms in the bunker.


    The most amazing thing, however, was one of the rooms at the furthest corner.


    Secured cabs,rge boxes, and disy cases. All of it was filled with firearms, ammunition, and explosives. Most of it was even illegal in the country. It would make anyone question what kind of people were the owners.


    Nevertheless, Mark decided to take back what he thought of the owner of this ce. He started tomend them instead. Sure enough, they were prepared for an apocalypse. Although the supply here was not enough tost for a lifetime, it could at least allow several people to live here for several years.


    Unfortunately, it seemed that the owners failed to even make it into this bunker. There was no sign that his ce had been touched for a long time. If there were people here, Mark would have detected them too.


    The outbreak came too suddenly that the owners of the house did not make it. This apocalypse was also different from what could be seen in movies.


    Inside the bunker, they also found a modified humvee. This made them question how it was brought here.


    "I wonder if the lights work."


    Mark murmured as he wandered into a room that looked like a control room. Inside, there was a set of monitors stacked together, several sets of buttons and even the panel of the electricity inside the bunker was here.


    Seeing the button to turn on the lights, Mark flipped it.


    THUM! THUM!


    Everyone squinted their eyes as the sudden brightness blinded them.


    Unexpected, there was electricity. However, it seemed that the electricity was only enough to power the lights as other things inside the bunker was still not working. Some of the appliances could be turned on but would cause the lights to dim and flicker.


    "Gege, where did this electricitye from?"


    Mei could not help but ask.


    "Probably, from batteries connected to sr panels. I saw several sets on the roof of the mansion earlier."


    Mark then noticed a button that seemed different from the set of buttons that controlled the doors.


    He could not help but press it.


    As soon as he did, all the lights dimmed.


    Then, the girls eximed in amazement as the ceiling above the humvee slowly split into two and opened.


    The scene outside the opened ceiling was rather familiar. It was the dried-up swimming pool at the back of the mansion.


    "This ce is amazing."


    Mark could only say that in amazement.


    In video games and movies, he had seen many things about high-tech bunkers. He did not expect that he would encounter one here.


    Rather, who would expect something like this? They just went here to spend the night, after all.


    "This really is a jackpot, isn''t it, Mei''er?"


    Mark spoke.


    "Yes."


    Mei replied. She was also amazed by what they were witnessing.


    And all of these belonged to them.


    Mark could not help but hug Miracle and kiss her cheeks for finding this treasure trove.

 Chapter 409 The Last Day On The Road, Reaching The New Infanta Settlement

    <strong>Day 70 - 7:11 AM - Padi, San Jose, Antipolo, Rizal</strong>


    As they already left the outskirts of the city, the atmosphere was now rxed as morning came.


    In these areas, mutated animals were the worst things they could encounter. Stronger mutated infected could also be spotted.


    Nevertheless, the number of them was rather low.


    Unlike in the middle of the city where the infected woulde continuously in hordes, here, encountering enemies with thisrge group was not as dangerous.


    Furthermore, with Char and Mark''s presence, only Feral Mutated Animals and Mutated Infected would daree near them. As for the non-feral animals, they would rather stay away.


    It seemed that the animals considered their presence as simr to apex predators.


    There were also Gifre and Logan that were not just ordinary infected. Not to mention the [King Type] infected that was also present.


    Any sane animal would surely shiver at the existence of this group.


    As for the previous night, it passed rather smoothly.


    Of course, except for one instance where everyone heard a loud sound of a metal door opening.


    The soldiers hurriedly rushed where the sound came from and saw the bottom of the dried-up swimming pool vanished into what seemed a bunker.


    When they saw Mark and the girls below, everyone was surprised.


    ***


    "Be careful! Those are explosives! Carry that carefully!"


    Lieutenant Baller''s loud voice echoed across the back area of the mansion. He led his soldiers as they moved out most of the supplies Mark and the girls foundst night.


    Everyone who saw the amount of supplies inside the bunker was amazed. Just the number of canned goods was about a fifth of what Bay City Settlement currently had. For the weapons, ammunition, and explosives, there were about twenty times as much as the soldiers carried in this journey.


    Still, it made the soldiers wonder how thisrge amount of illegal equipment managed to enter the country. This amount was more than enough to use someone of plotting terrorism.


    The most hateful thing for the soldiers was that the majority of these weapons and equipment were way better than what they had.


    It was an unfortunate truth.


    The weapons, equipment, and even the vehicles, the military of this country had, were outdated. The government deemed research for weapons as unnecessary. Thus, there was no weapon research done by the government known to the public.


    Thus, for the weapons and equipment, the military needed, the government relied on other countries, especially, America. In fact, most models of guns the armed forces of the Philippines had were American Models. It was the same for tanks, military vehicles, and even aircraft.


    The worst part, other countries would surely not try to sell their newest technology. That was why the armed forces ended up with these old models. Furthermore, to cut the budget, the government settled for second-hand things.


    This fact made the soldiers of this country rather pitiful.


    They were alreadymendable being able to stand against the apocalypse in this condition.


    Feeling the envy of these soldiers to the weapons and equipment, Mark decided to donate a set for every soldier in this mission. The number of soldiers was not that many at all and would not be a demerit. This made them not only happy but also thankful for Mark''s generosity.


    Of course, since that deal was only for the soldiers, there were a few people that were not happy. These people were nothing else but Harold''s group. Nevertheless, they could not do anything. These things were not found by them. The only thing they could do was to remain jealous of Mark''s luck.


    These supplies were precious. No one would be able to deny that. However, after the outbreak started, it was nothing but "finders keepers" and "firste first serve". This time, even if there were soldiers here, everything inside the bunker was owned by Mark and his group since they were the ones that found it.


    If they wanted something like this, they needed to find one themselves. Unless... They had the guts to steal. Of course, they did not have it. Thus, they could only stare in envy while the soldiers crammed all the supplies they could into the vehicles. Even the roofs of the vehicles had several boxes tied on them.


    Everything was ready to go after the soldiers finished loading the supplies inside the vehicles. Unfortunately, there was not enough space or vehicles to carry everything. In fact, all they could load right now were the weapons and equipment and a small portion of food and water inside the bunker.


    They decided to prioritize the weapons over the food and water. It was Mark''s idea.


    Since they would not be able to carry everything, they would need toe back here to get the things left behind. Since Mark and Miracle already broke the things that hid the bunker, like the bookshelf that hid the hidden room, and the metal tiles in the room, it was still possible that some people might find it.


    In that case, it was better to take away the possible source of danger which were the weapons. As for the food, some of it could be taken away, but it was too many for all of it to be taken away.


    Of course, Mark also prepared to block the doors and close the pool just in case. He would give anyone a chance to easily steal his things.


    "Sir, we are done loading."


    Lieutenant Baller reported to Mark who was inside the bunker. Aside from the hidden door in the master''s bedroom, there was another door hidden in the garden which made it easier to go in and out of the bunker. It was just that the door was well hidden under a huge statue that no one would be able to see it unless someone came from another entrance.


    Unfortunately, the humvee inside the bunker was already broken. For two months without proper maintenance, different problems could happen to a vehicle. Even the gas inside the gas tank was already bad. They tried to hotwire it and it managed to start. However, the sound the engine made brought them the idea that it would be better to leave it here for now.


    At ten in the morning, they eat an early lunch and left. When they arrived, the convoy looked a normal military convoy. Now that they were leaving, the convoy looked more like a merchant caravan. Even Char''s and Gifre''s back had boxes of supplies tied onto them.


    As the convoy left, stayed behind to carry on securing the bunker. He eyed the vehicle the survivors led by Harold. The soldiers were more trustworthy than them. That was why he decided to secure the bunker after everyone left.


    Securing the broken doors, not only that he used [Blood Metal] to seal the doors, then even added a mechanism that would release a burst of miasma once the doors were opened. He made some sealed boxes using [Blood Metal], sealed a thick ball of miasma inside and put the box on the mechanism. He did it to each door that led to the bunker.


    "Master, aren''t you being too cautious?" Ignis said as it flew around Mark while he made the traps. "I don''t think that anyone will be able to make it here easily."


    "There''s nothing bad with being cautious. What is bad is not being cautious and regretting it after."


    Mark replied as he installed thest trap at the door under the statue in the garden.<sub> </sub>


    "Okay, I''m done."


    Mark stretched his arms and back. Making contraptions like this was rather hard as he had no blueprints to follow and just did it on a whim.


    "Are you going to fly back?"


    Ignis asked.


    "Well, yeah. But not with my wings. I want to try something else."


    Mark said as he stared at Ignis.


    Ignis shivered.


    ***


    "I find skateboarding hard to do before... Did my body bnce got better?"


    Mark said as he flew over the highway.


    In high school, he tried to ride a skateboard. However, he almost fell which made him consider not to ride one ever. This time, however, he was experiencing the same feeling. The difference was that he was not falling this time and was able to perfectly bnce himself.


    And at what was he bncing on?


    Ignis sighed as he resigned to his fate.


    The demon sword flew at fast speeds while Mark bnced himself on it. It was pretty much a scenemonly seen in Chinese cultivation fiction.


    Mark enjoyed the cold air that brushed against his body as he experienced riding on a flying sword. It was a whole new experience on par with riding on a dragon''s back. Although his posture was not elegant at all, at least, he was not falling.


    Soon, Mark caught up with the convoy. It seemed that they were in trouble.


    "A termite nest?"


    Mark murmured as he saw a mound beside the highway. It was about five meters tall. As for how wide the nest was, the area was rather questionable. Some parts of the nest ovepped the highway. It seemed that the presence of the convoy disturbed the nest and the termites came out to protect the nest.


    It became a problem to the convoy as the termites blocked the highway. The situation might have been fine if the termites were just normal ones, however, each termite was about the size of an adult house cat while the soldier termites were about the size of an adult dog.


    Char led the fight and was breathing mes to kill the termites that came close to the convoy. The soldiers also started to fight the termites. They used melee weapons on worker termites while they shot the soldier termites with guns. There was no way to fight the soldier termites in close quarters because of their sword-like mandibles.


    Even though the enemies were just termites, it was not easy. Not only their size grewrger but their exoskeleton, especially the soldier termites, became sturdier. Furthermore, there were too many of them.


    The convoy was in a pinch with no way out other than to retreat.


    It was when...


    BOOM! BOOM!


    Balls of ck mes exploded in the ranks of the mutated termites. Then, a long de of ck mes flew towards the side of the highway which forced the rest of the termites to retreat.


    Everyone looked behind them where the mes came from.


    There, they saw Mark riding on his sword like a hoverboard.


    "What are you all staring at?" Mark shouted as he passed over the convoy. "Hurry up and drive! There''s still a lot of termitesing out!"


    Everyone snapped out of staring at Mark with strange expressions. They hurriedly board their vehicles and drove off.


    Mark secured that the termites would not get in the way. Those sword-like mandibles of soldier termites looked like something that would dete a wheel of a vehicle.


    Of course, Mark was sure that he could deal with these termites and wipe them out. The problem was that it would consume a lot of time just trying to force the termites out of their nest.


    As the convoy left the vicinity of the termite nest, Mark followed and flew above the convoy. This way, he could overlook the whole convoy and keep watch for possible danger.


    It was rather efficient as Ignis only needed to absorb Mark''s miasma and it would be able to continue flying without problems. The only hard thing was that Mark could only stand on Ignis and bnce himself. There was no way to sit as Ignis was not wide enough to be sat on.


    From time to time, Mark''s feet would feel numb and he would end up deciding to rest on Char''s back. Of course, once he recovered, he went back practicing how to fly properly on Ignis.


    The day passed without too many problems. They passed by several towns and barangays, but there was nothing too troublesome aside for a few annoying [Predator Type] mutated infected. They kept using the forest as camouge which made Mark have a hard time finding them. Fortunately, Mei managed to handle these annoying infected effectively.


    Aside from the enemies on the road, however, there was another annoying thing. Emika just would not keep quiet as she kept on shouting to let her ride on Ignis too.


    Finally, they reached the ce where they would drop off the supplies they transported. This ce was still far from the settlement. However, this ce was where the road that led to Barangay Daraitan was located. Since there were no roads leading directly to their base, they could only use the one going through that barangay.


    However, Mark could not bring this convoy there or the location of the convoy would bepromised.


    As such, they decided to drop the supplies in a hidden ce nearby and leave Char to guard it.


    After they drop the supplies off and left Char, they continued on their way.


    It was already after sunset. However, there was no need to set up camp.


    Spending another hour under the night sky, they finally reached the New Infanta Settlement.

 Chapter 410 The Arrival At New Infanta Settlement, The Start Of Edzels Quest To Find Answers

    <strong>Day 70 - 7:42 PM - New Infanta Settlement, Barangay Banugao, Infanta, Quezon</strong>


    New Infanta Settlement, it was the settlement built from everyone''s sweat and effort.


    After the disaster of the rampaging storm and flood thirty days ago, the two different settlements in Quezon merged into one and built this safe haven together. Thus, unlike in Bay City Settlement, where the survivors mostly relied on the Military, the people here valued this ce highly. The Military was not the sole protector of this ce. Everyone was.


    The early days were tough. The infected in nearby areas and mutated animals from across the river would attack almost every day. Everyone capable of fighting had to be ready to be called to fight at any time.


    It was very fortunate for them that the animals tamed by the young miss of Salvador Family were always out to warn them of any approaching danger.


    By everyone''s efforts, proper walls were built around the settlement. Compared to the walls of Bay City Settlement, the walls here looked shabby.


    Nevertheless, the military made sure that these walls were tall and strong enough to fend from usual dangers. Of course, they were still putting efforts to improve these walls, but since they were still gathering enough materials, they were taking it at one step at a time.


    This night, however, the soldiers were up and were preparing. As there was no rm for an emergency, the people of the settlement were confused.


    Asking around, they learned that it was not a preparation for battle but to prepare for the arrival of some people.


    This made the people surprised. As this ce here was scoured already by most scavenging groups, they all knew that there were no other settlements nearby. Furthermore, since the military was informed about the arrival, it was very likely that the people arriving belonged to the military. Or in the least, had some rtions to them.


    It meant that these people actually came from far away and managed to traverse the Mutagen infected world and reach this ce. That was a piece of pretty amazing news for them.


    Thus, aside from the military, many people gathered for the anticipated arrival of the guests.


    Past eight in the evening, the convoy finally arrived.


    The bystanders were rmed by the monster running along with the convoy. However, seeing that the soldiers were not making a move, it was very likely that the monster was not a threat. Some of them could not help but remember the Dragon incident that happened before. There were also the animals of the Salvador family.


    Animals and monsters like this could possibly be tamed with the right methods. That was what they were thinking.


    The gates opened soon letting the convoy enter.


    Seeing some of the vehicles with strange appearances, both the people and the soldiers were surprised. It made them feel like that some groups with advance technology arrived.


    The convoy was led by some military vehicles to the militarypound on the western side of the settlement.


    ***


    Mark and his group watched the scene inside the settlement as the vehicles drove through the street.


    Unlike thest time, he came here, there was a lot of improvement. The farnds were now filled with newly grown crops, there were walls around, and the devastating atmosphere the people had was gone.


    It seemed that by participating in the rebuilding of the settlement from scratch, the people started to ept the current situation of the world.


    Upon arriving at the militarypound, the officials of the military were already waiting. Led by General Faustino, they weed the members of the convoy.


    Mark being themander of the convoy epted the wee.


    "It''s good to see you again."


    General Faustino said as he stretched his right hand towards Mark for a handshake.


    Mark who still hated to do handshakes resigned to it and epted the greeting.


    "I''m given a mission, so here I am."


    Mark replied with a shrug. If there was no need to bring Chervil and his family here along with the soldiers and their families, Mark and his group would have gone straight to the base in the mountains.


    Major Bautista, Karlene''s father was also here and happily weed the return of his daughter. Of course, as she would still leave to join Mark''s group, he was cherishing his time with his daughter.


    First Lieutenant Baller and the soldiers that participated in the mission weremended by the officials too. What made every soldier here happy the most was the fact that not a single soldier was lost in this mission. It was almost like a miracle as every corner in this world now could cause death at any possible time.


    "Karlene!"


    Two voices hurriedly called out to Karlene. The two were no other than Joash and Tyson.


    Joash tried to embrace Karlene. Of course, like a cat with its tail stepped on, she dodged and hid while clinging behind Mark who was nearby. This made Mark rather annoyed.


    "Your father is there, why are you hiding behind me?"


    "Sorry, I just did it by reflex."


    Karlene looked like a kid that did a bad thing. She really hid behind Mark without thinking. She slowly turned at Mei who was beside Mark and sighed in relief that she did not look angry as she clung behind Mark.


    Joash could only step in front of Mark with an admonishing look.


    "So, it''s really true, huh."


    Joash said as his eyesnded at Mei.


    Since Joash stood in front of them, Mei who was not really paying attention saw him.


    "Cousin?"


    She spoke in a confused tone while she pulled on Mark''s sleeve.


    It was a rather stale reunion for two rtives. Although they knew each other, they were really not close.


    Joash did not mind it. He knew about the circumstances Mei had before because of her family. Seeing here being too attached to Mark and looking better than before, he had noints about Mei. Of course, Karlene was another thing.


    "Did you also took Karlene as your woman?"


    Joash frankly asked Mark with an annoyed look.


    "What are you talking about?" Mark replied and turned his eyes towards Karlene. "Can you let go already? You''re giving others a wrong idea."


    Karlene retreated slowly before running off to her father.


    "There''s the answer you want."


    Mark said to Joash who was now scratching his head.


    "I know, I''ve been rude, but you don''t have to be that harsh on Karlene."


    Joash already understood that Mark had no interest in Karlene. Of course, he felt a bit troubled seeing the person he liked being reprimanded that way. It was also partly his fault so he became rather guilty.<sub> </sub>


    "Oh~! Jo!"


    Another voice chimed in calling for Joash. Of course, he was surprised as he saw Analynn waving from the window of the Sci-fi looking truck.


    ***


    The procedures went smoothly and the convoy finally dispersed.


    Before everyone went in different ways, the soldiers that came from Bay City expressed their gratitude to Mark''s group for keeping everyone safe throughout the whole journey.


    There were a lot of close calls that could have imed a life of one or two soldiers at every instance, but Mark and his group went on great lengths to protect everyone.


    If Mark''s group was not in this mission, it would be questionable if they would have ever made it here. These soldiers'' gratitude and respect towards Mark''s group was already off the charts.


    As for Harold''s group, they went on a separate way. Being survivors rescued by the soldiers, they would be brought to a facility to examine their health first thing by tomorrow.


    Mark''s group, on the other hand, was brought to another ce to spend the night. This ce was just outside the militarypound and was used as temporary dwellings by the soldiers before thepound was established.


    General Faustino actually wanted to bring Mark and his group to a better ce. However, the facilities in the settlement were still severelycking and this much was the highest hospitality they could show.


    Mark''s group had no problems with the temporary dwellings though. Although it was not as good as the mansionst night, it was way better than their previous two ces they spent the night before.


    Thus, some decided to turn in for the night while some decided to group up and tour the settlement.


    It was already nighttime but it did not mean that the activities in the settlement already ceased.


    ***


    As everyone dispersed, Edzel decided to walk around under the night sky. He did not know why, but he just felt like doing so.


    Edzel was not unfamiliar with this ce as he had been here before the outbreak a lot of times. It was when he was selling his share of fish from their fishing sessions. Living back then was hard for an orphan like him. Nevertheless, it was fun and peaceful.


    Mark had been giving him pointers to fight and Karlene was teaching him how to properly use a gun. He would not deny that he had gotten stronger. Nevertheless, he could not deny the fact that Mark was holding back on making him stronger. It was not a secret now in the group that Mark could turn someone into an Evolver or a Mutator.


    Nevertheless, Mark did not give him his turn yet.


    This made him rather confused. It was as if he was stillcking something and Mark was waiting for him to learn about it. Karlene also seemed to know about it.


    "If they would just tell me straight."


    Edzel murmured.


    However, it also urred to him that it was better to realize it himself. This way, he would be able to understand it more deeply than being told by other people. He just wished that he would be able to understand himself further.


    Edzel had such deep thoughts in his mind that he started walking nkly.


    It was then, that...


    "You seem to be troubled, young man."


    Edzel stopped as he heard a voice that seemed to echo in his heart and mind. It was as if he was familiar with the owner of the voice and it even felt nostalgic. Nevertheless, he could not recall anything about it.


    He turned to the side of the road and saw a silhouette of a man leaning on a tree. Since the man was standing at a direction that the light from the nearestmp would not shine, all he could see was the shape of the man''s body.


    "Who are you? Do I know you?"


    Those were the first questions that escaped from Edzel''s mouth.


    Hearing that, the man seemed to have smiled.


    "I''m sorry, but I can''t answer that. At least, not right now."


    The man answered which made Edzel even more confused.


    "Enough talking about me." The man continued. "You seem to be missing something, didn''t you?"


    Edzel froze. He finally realized that this mysterious man seemed to know what was going on with his mind.


    He got the feeling that this man had the answers he was looking for. However, he decided that he would look for the answers himself.


    "I don''t know who you are or if you know the answer I''m looking for. Still, I don''t need you to tell me."


    ''I don''t want to disappoint Boss and everyone.''


    He added in his mind.


    Hearing that, the man under the tree seemed to have smiled even further. It was a lonely but proud smile.


    "You have grown mature in a short time."


    Those words gave Edzel the impression that his man had been watching him for a long time.


    "I''m sorry but I have to go."


    Edzel said and he turned around to leave.


    "North of here, under Agos Bridge. The Hut made of old tarpaulin with a lot of junk around it."


    The man spoke once more with sentences Edzel was not able to immediatelyprehend.


    "Sir, what are you..."


    Edzel turned around once more. He was not able to finish his sentence.


    The man was not there anymore.


    This made the hairs on his arms stand. He looked around but saw nowhere that the could have hidden. The tree the man leaned before was totally at the side of the road away from any other structure. It was as if he vanished like a ghost.


    Remembering that the existence of the ghosts was true made him even more creeped out.


    Still, the ce that the man said seemed to have engraved itself in his mind and heart. There was a huge urge inside him telling him to go there.


    Thus, his random walk under the night gained a specific ce to go. He could not help but wonder what could be waiting for him in that ce.

 Chapter 411 The Hut Under The Bridge, The Race That See Love As Both Treasure And Poison

    <strong>Day 70 - 9:17 PM - New Infanta Settlement, Barangay Banugao, Infanta, Quezon</strong>


    Under the night sky dimly lit by the moonlight, Edzel moved his feet at the side of the street.


    He just walked at the street side while staring in front nkly. His mind was filled with thoughts about different things.


    As for the direction he was heading to, he was going north.


    The man was too mysterious to the point of being creepy. He even vanished in a blink of an eye that could have spooked anyone. There was no reason for him to heed that man''s instructions. Yet, he was here intending to go to the location the man mentioned.


    There was no reason for him to go other than the strong feeling inside him. It might just be an illusion on his mind. However, the feeling was too strong that he could not help but believe it.


    As such, here he was.


    He did not care whether there were fewer people as he went further.


    He did not mind even there were lesser houses and the ce was darker. It was because he was moving further away from the center of the settlement.


    Since most of the battles around the settlement happen near the walls, the residential areas and other facilities were built at the center of the settlement. Most of the structures built near the walls werebat-oriented such as bunkers and watchtowers.


    Even if there were houses or structures already built before, if the structure was near the walls, most people would not want to live in those. Whether the ce looked luxurious or not, most people would rather live in temporary tents at the center of the settlement than stary near the walls.


    Only those capable enough would live in those houses like survivor groups with Evolvers and Mutators.


    Still, the area north of the settlement was different.


    Even those survivor groups would rather stay away from the north and east walls as all attacks of Mutated Animalse from those directions. Compared to the infected, more kinds of Mutated Animals and Insects were capable of bypassing the walls.


    That was why in these areas, only soldiers could be seen near the walls patrolling.


    "Boy, are you lost?"


    A voice suddenly called out to him which made Edzel snap back to reality. When he looked behind, there were two soldiers who seemed to be in the middle of their patrol.


    "Um, did you say something. Sorry, I''m not paying attention."


    That was Edzel''s response as he did not hear the soldiers clearly.


    The two soldiers looked at each other first before repeating the question.


    "We are wondering if you are lost. There''s nothing but the bridge over that direction. The ess through the bridge is only open during the day."


    Everyone was allowed to go in and out of the settlement at any time. Of course, everyone entering that was not part of the military had to undergo some checks during their reentry. The only exception was the Agos Bridge which only allowed exit during the day because there were more Mutated Animals active during the night.


    The closure of the bridge during the night was not for the safety of the settlement, but for the safety of the people.


    "Sorry, I just arrived and didn''t know about the bridge." Edzel scratched his head. "But, I wonder if there is a hut under the bridge? Someone told me to go there."


    The two soldiers turned skeptical. The hut did exist, but who would ask a boy like Edzel to go there? However, one of the soldiers caught unto Edzel''s reply.


    "You said that you just came here?" The soldier observed Edzel and saw that not only he was wearing a bulletproof vest but also had guns on him. "Are you perhaps among the people that arrived from Bay City?"


    Hearing that, Edzel nodded.


    "I do. Oh, I''m not with the survivors. I''m with the escorts."


    Hearing that, the two soldiers nodded. The group that escorted the soldiers and the scientist from Bay City had special privileges. Thus, one of the soldiers called unto his radio and asked about Edzel''s name. Confirming that what Edzel said was true, the two soldiers smiled.


    "There''s a hut under the bridge. We don''t know why you are looking for the hut, but please don''t do anything bad the person that lives there."


    "I see thank you."


    Edzel thanked the two soldiers and turned to continue on his way.


    "We will radio the soldiers on the bridge so just tell them if you need something."


    One of the soldiers said before they continued on their patrol. Edzel understood those words as normal, not noticing that it also stood as a warning. In fact, there was even a hint of pity on the soldier''s faces upon mentioning the hut and the person that lived there. It was just that the darkness of the night hid those expressions.


    It did not take long and Edzel reached the bridge.


    Since the walls by the riverbank were built where the previous dikes were located, some parts of the bridge go above the walls. It seemed that it allowed the space under the bridge to be used by someone.


    The soldiers guarding the bridge saw Edzel because of his shlight. However, it seemed that the two soldiers he met previously really informed the ones on the bridge as they just left Edzel alone.


    Some of the soldiers kept on watching him but no one approached.


    Edzel, on the other hand, approached the foot of the bridge.


    With his shlight, he saw some poorly built structures under the bridge. It seemed that whoever built these things were not experienced in it. The thing that stood out the most was the hut directly built by the wall under the bridge.


    The hut was really made out of ragged tarpaulin. It was a small hut that could probably only fit a bed and a small table inside. Although it was shaped and looked like a hut, it was more appropriate to call it a shabby tent.


    Around the hut was filled with junk. It was not like the ce was not being cleaned but it felt more like that the one that did had no experience in cleaning at all.


    This scene suddenly reminded him of a certain person. She did her best as things like this. However, she was really bad and always gave up. This sudden thought made him sigh.


    Edzel looked around to find any trace of the man that told him to go here. However, he did not see anyone around.


    Without any choice, he approached the hut. However, for some reason he could not understand, his heart started to pound loudly and strongly. It was true that his current situation looked like a part of a horror film, but his heart was not pounding like this because of fear.<sub> </sub>


    Through the holes on the tarpaulin, Edzel could tell that there was gamp lit inside. It meant that there was someone inside.


    "Hello? Is anyone inside?"


    Edzel called out as it was impossible to knock on the door covered with nothing but tarpaulin.


    He suddenly heard soundsing from inside the hut. It seemed that the person was startled that someone came here in the middle of the night.


    The door then opened slightly and a person peeked through the small gap of the door.


    "I-is there something you need from me?"


    The person spoke. The voice was rather hoarse but it was no doubt that the person was a woman.


    From the gap, she could be seen wearing a ragged cloak and with one of her hands, she was trying hard to cover her face. Only her eyes could be seen that squinted a bit because of the shlight Edzel was carrying.


    Edzel, however, did not realize that the woman''s eyes squinted. It was because he was shocked.


    His shock took control of his body and shoved the door open with force. It was too sudden that the woman was pushed back and lost bnce. A loud cracking sound was heard as the woman fell on her shabby med made of old bamboo.


    The woman was shocked and scared. She stared at the man in front of her with extreme fear.


    However, Edzel did not stop. He entered the hut and grabbed the woman''s hood. He removed it hastily and pointed his shlight at the woman''s face.


    The scared woman could only cover her face ugly face in fear. Because of the shlight, she could not see the person''s face at all. She could not understand why this was happening.


    "Hih!"


    A scared voice scaped out of the woman''s mouth as she heard the sound of the man''s shlight being dropped to the ground.


    She expected that she was about to get hurt and was about to curl herself in fear.


    Then, she was shocked even more.


    The man embraced her tightly.


    "Pearl, it''s me."


    The man spoke near her ears.


    There was a moment of silence as she finally recognized the man''s voice. Tears started to flow from her eyes. These tears were filled with sadness, guilt, and regret. She felt that she was not worthy of this embrace and such, she tried to push Edzel away.


    However, Edzel did not budge. He tightly embraced her without any sign of letting go.


    "Edzel, let go of me," Pearl begged. "Please... Let go."


    "No." Edzel firmly declined. "No matter how much you reject me, I''m not letting you go anymore."


    Those words ignited Pearl''s guilt even more. Tears overflowed from her eyes.


    "Just let me go! You don''t deserve someone like me!" She sobbed loudly. "I chose material things over you! My body had already been used by who knows how many men! I became ugly with these scars on my face and body! I''m nothing but a piece of useless trash of a wom-!!!"


    Pearl tried to tell Edzel about the degrading things about her and make him leave her alone. However, she was not able to finish her words. Her eyes opened wide as a kiss without any sense of disgust sealed her lips. Nevertheless, it did not make her happy. She felt even sadder.


    She could feel Edzel''s feelings from this kiss. His feelings towards her never changed. It would be a lie if she said that she did not like Edzel. However, she chose to be a slut who chose material things andfort over staying true to her feelings.


    Edzel then slowly moved his face away from Pearl. The light from the oilmp lit up her face showing that ugly scar that went across it. There were also other small scars on her cheeks, chin, and forehead. However, none of those mattered to him as he wiped her tears.


    "No matter what you say, you won''t be able to get rid of me." Edzel smiled. "I''m not the same as the past me. This time. I won''t let go of you even if I die."


    Those words made Pearl speechless. She could tell that Edzel was not joking. She could not think anymore as his words pierced her heart.


    "Uwaaahhhh!"


    Pearl started to weep even harder than before. Edzel decided to no do anything but embrace her once more letting her head rest unto his chest.


    ***


    "Are you really sure about this?"


    Just a distance away from the hut, two silhouettes could be seen talking under the shadow of the bridge. The two were closely watching what was happening.


    The two were no other than Mark and Pefile, Edzel''s father.


    As Mark felt that Pefile appeared before Edzel, he could not help but head out to see what was happening. He did not expect that he would make Edzel and his traitorous girlfriend to reunite.


    Mark was against it at first. However, he started to think otherwise as he felt Edzel''s genuine feelings towards Pearl.


    To Mark''s question, Pefile sighed.


    "Sad to say, we are not human. Unlike humans, we live with only a single partner for the rest of our lives. Once we fall for a female, that feeling will stay for the rest of our life. Why do you think that some of us would even abduct females with husbands if we can settle for females without partners? Love is a treasure, but it is also a poison to us. If we fall for a female, we can only be with that female.


    Pefile turned to Mark.


    "You know. Love can''t always be manipted. Many of our kind die because of this poison. If I did not do this, my son will die from his own."


    Mark looked at Pefile with a bit of pity. It seemed that there was more to this story as Pefile''s emotions were everywhere as he said his reason.

 Chapter 412 The Life Of A Tamawo, A Race Bound By The Emotion Called Love

    <strong>Day 70 - 10:12 PM - Agos Bridge, Barangay Banugao, Infanta, Quezon</strong>


    Inside the poorly made hut, Edzel continued to wrap Pearl in his embrace. She continued to cry until her eyes almost dried up. Not only her guilt and sadness but the tears that she was not able to let out in the times of her hardships flowed out.


    After she realized her faults, she resolved herself not to shed even a single tear no matter how she suffered. What happened to her and the rest of the things that came after was something she deserved. The karma that she must suffer after listening to the devil and following his steps.


    Because of that, even if she gave up several times and even tried to kill herself, she did not shed a single tear.


    Feeling Edzel''s warm embrace filled with forgiveness and love, her tears flowed like water from a broken dam. She did not want to, but it just kept on flowing.


    It must have been the hardest she cried for her whole life. After she let everything out, she fell asleep wrapped in that warm embrace.


    Edzel caressed her hair not minding how dirty it was. Looking at her face as she slept like a log, Edzel decided to just let her sleep. He did not mind staying in this ce for the whole night.


    ***


    ? "These people..."


    Mark looked up. Although what he could see was the underside of the bridge, what he was gazing at were the soldiers above.


    It seemed that they were rather concerned about Pearl, especially the female soldiers. They probably knew about her circumstances, and the reason she was living in this ce rather than the temporary dwellings for evacuees.


    They were worried that Edzel might have ill intentions and was paying attention to what was happening under the bridge. However, hearing Pearl''s cries and what she had said, it was not hard to realize who Edzel was.


    Some of the soldiers even shed a tear while listening as closely as possible.


    Still, eavesdropping was bad.


    With a sigh, Mark turned to Pefile.


    "What do you mean by love being poison to your race?"


    It was a question he was curious about. Although he had a vague idea about it, it was still better to confirm the truth.


    Pefile turned to Mark and he could sense his brimming curiosity.


    "I will answer your questions. But, at least give me a favor."


    "What do you want?"


    There was no hesitation as Mark asked that question. He was given an opportunity to learn about a race that normal people deemed nonexistent. Who would want to pass this opportunity?


    "It''s not something hard," Pefile said as he stared at the shabby hut. "Take in Pearl as one of your people. Please, don''t discriminate her for her past mistakes."


    "That''s pretty surprising," Mark said while leaning on one of the bridge''s foundations. "She betrayed your son, you know?"


    "I won''t lie. I''m mad about her decision at that time. But, I think, she suffered more than enough because of that decision. That is why I want to give her another chance for my son."


    "Well, your son is pretty much my underling now. If he wants Pearl, it''s not like I will deny it from him."


    Mark replied which made Pefile''s eyebrow twitch. Although what Mark said was not wrong, it ticked Pefile a bit.


    "Alright, I already agreed. Answer my question now."


    Mark said with an annoying tone. It made Pefile consider backing out of the deal. He could only sigh in resignation.


    "When I said that love is poison to us, it meant both in a symbolic and literal way."


    ***


    The Tamawo was a raceposed of only males. They might be a race that was naturally good looking and had the charm that could make most women fall for them. However, that apparently had no value for a race that had no women.


    Without women, their race had no way to continue their lineage.


    Fortunately, they were a race that could procreate with most humanoid races. It did not only include humans but other spirit races.


    No matter what race the partner was, any male child born would have the blood of a Tamawo while every female would inherit their mother''s race.


    If they had such ability to procreate with females of many humanoid races, they should have no problem maintaining their lineage. They could just make any female they were interested in fall for them and procreate. As they also had the magic to charm females, it would not be a problem if they took more than one wife.


    Unfortunately for them, the truth was harsher.


    The chance of a wife of a Tamawo bearing a child was rather low. Too low that it would not be surprising if a Tamawo could only have one child in his whole life. The most unlucky ones could not even have one.


    And the worst part, they could only choose one partner in their whole life. Unlike humans, whose love was more something like mental and physical attraction to the opposite gender, to the Tamawo, love was more to a spiritual level. Once they fell in love with a female, that love would bound their souls to that emotion.


    If they failed to end up with the female they fell in love with, even if they tried to forget, their souls would remember. For the rest of their lives, they would not fall in love with another woman. They would slowly lose their powers until they were not able to use it anymore.


    Once the woman they loved fell from the passage of time without fulfilling the love the Tamawo had, they would suffer from a bacsh from their souls harming them in the process. The mildest circumstance was the Tamawo losing his good looks and charms as his face shriveled like a nt thatcked water for ages. Their while shiny hair would fall in patches. Their skin would crack and hurt.


    For the worst part, they could die after suffering from turning into a shriveled spirit.


    Furthermore, there were even circumstances of some Tamawo that became evil spirits after losing the purity of their souls.


    It was because of these things that no matter how much they wanted their race to flourish, they were never able to. Compared to other spirits, their numbers were much lower.


    ***


    "That''s a bummer, isn''t it? Your race is."


    Mark could not help but remark after hearing those things.


    "What can we do?" Pefile replied. "Our race is created like this. It''s not like we are born this way because we wanted to."


    A race of beautiful men that had troubles with procreation. It was such a unique story. They were gifted with one thing and forsaken with another.


    "Many of us are really envious of humans. Those that turned into evil spirits took humans as primary prey because of that envy."


    Pefile added.<sub> </sub>


    "About those effects..." Mark said with confusion. "Edzel looked fine though, aside from having a bit of depression."


    "My son is still young. The blood of a Tamawo has not fully awakened in him yet. That is why it''s still notte for my son to correct things. If it is not corrected though, he will start to feel the effects once hees of age, the day of his adulthood."


    Pefile looked at Mark who wanted more information.


    "Unlike male children born from mothers that came from other spirit races, male children from human mothers are this way. They would only be a pure Tamawo once they reach adulthood. We don''t exactly why but we suspect that it is because of the humans, unlike spirits, had a looser bond to the string of fate."


    "The bond to destiny is it?"


    Mark nodded.


    It might also be the reason why spirit races had more rules they could not defy. They were closely bonded to the string of fate, the rules of the world. Unlike humans that had a looser bond to fate and were able to influence their destinies, the spirits races had no capability of defying these rules.


    This made them somewhat pitiful. Most humans might not have special powers like Spirit Races, however, humans were only bound by rules made by themselves. The Spirit Races were tightly bound by fate itself.


    "Are you not envious of humans?"


    Mark asked in curiosity. Although Pefile said that, he did not show any envy towards humans.


    "I''m not as desperate as others." Pefile looked at Mark. "If I have something to be envious of, it''s you."


    "Me?"


    Mark was confused.


    "Thest time I saw you, you''re a human not bound by fate. It''s already strange. After a while that I did not see you, you don''t even feel like a human anymore. You are now closer to demons and spirits but not bound by the rules they had. Your very existence is just unfair to everyone."


    In response to Pefile''sint, Mark shrugged his shoulders. It was not like he wanted to be like this anyway.


    "By the way," Mark suddenly spoke while looking at Pefile''s whole body. "You look good in your outfit."


    Currently, Pefile was wearing a ck leather coat that highlighted his long white hair. It was paired with a red shirt inside, ck cks, and ck boots. With his handsome looks, he looked like a protagonist from a fantasy action movie. He justcked a cool looking sword, probably, something with a thin but unreasonably long de.


    Hearing that, Pefile''s face darkened. As a Spirit, he was not used to wearing human clothes and had no idea what to wear. He just looked for something with consistent color and took it without any other thoughts. To think that he would be teased by a brat because of it.


    "I''m leaving." Pefile decided. "Please, take care of my son and his female."


    "Say, why don''t you stay with us? I don''t know why you are hiding from your son, but isn''t it better to look after him without hiding?"


    Mark asked as Pefile turned to leave.


    "I can''t. I would like to but I still had something else to do."


    Pefile replied as he started to walk away towards the nearby tree.


    "Is it about Edzel''s mother?"


    Pefile froze on his step as he was about to touch the tree.


    "I want to ask..." Not minding Pefile''s reaction, Mark continued. "What will happen if a Tamawo fell in love with another Tamawo''s wife?"


    After he said that, Mark felt a strong reaction from Pefile. However, it seemed that he did not want to talk about the topic. Pefile immediately touched the tree and vanished as if he was sucked into it.


    Seeing Pefile leave, Mark shrugged his shoulders.


    "What a troublesome race of creatures."


    He muttered.


    However, he could not deny that it was both romantic and sad depending on what angle one would look at.


    If the Tamawo seeded in making a woman fall in love with him. There were bound to a happy partnership without any possibility of the man finding another woman.


    However, if the Tamawo did not seed, they would suffer from their unyielding love.


    A poison indeed.


    "Looks like Edzel will spend the night here."


    Mark said as he stretched his arms and back.


    "I''ll leave now, I guess. I''ll check on that narcissist first before returning."


    With those words, Mark also vanished.


    Both Pefile and Mark left the ce as if they were not there at all before.


    ***


    "Is this what I''mcking?"


    Edzel muttered as he watched Pearl''s peaceful face. Before this reunion, he only wanted to grow stronger. It was because he was weak that Pearl left him and did not want that to happen anymore.


    Looking back at those times, he realized. He wanted to grow stronger without even valuing his life. He just wanted to push forward without minding whether he was tired or hurt.


    Furthermore, he followed Mark''s instructions like it was thew and without asking anything. He never declined or questioned him. No wonder now why Mark did not give him any task where he was alone.


    Now, looking at the scars on Pearl''s face, his will to grow stronger was ignited further. This time, it was different. He did not want to grow stronger to prevent something. He wanted to grow stronger to protect something.


    "I don''t know. But it doesn''t feel bad at all."


    Having something to protect, he should not fall and disregard his life.


    Growing stronger while protecting oneself. That way, he would be able to continue protecting what he wanted to protect.


    With those thoughts, a heavy weight was lifted from Edzel''s heart.

 Chapter 413 The Morning In New Infanta Settlement, The Story Of Pearls Ruin

    <strong>Day 71 - 7:01 AM - New Infanta Settlement, Barangay Banugao, Infanta, Quezon</strong>


    Since they reached the settlement, everyone felt more rxed to rest for the night. Added that they arrivedte, most of them ended up wakingter than usual. It was even though the beds they could use here was way worse than those back at the mansion. What mattered the most was security for everyone to be able to rx enough.


    Mark, of course, was different. He was used to not sleeping too long, and his Emphatic Abilities would not allow him to sleep any longer. It was better during the night when most people were asleep. Once they woke up, however, the time that they all woke up was the time for Mark''s sleep to get disturbed.


    Unfortunately, he could not leave the bed yet. It was because Mei clung to him firmly while she slept deeply. He did not want to disturb her sleep. As for the little girls, they were in the next room sleeping. Since these temporary dwellings were small, everyone would not fit inside one ce.


    It became an opportunity for Mark and Mei to sleep together.


    Since he could not leave yet, he just decided to ponder about things.


    Before returningst night, he looked for the narcissist to see his current state.


    Then, he was surprised. Unexpectedly, Prince was isted from the rest of their group. Since his face and manhood were ruined, his mind started to deteriorate. From being unable to satisfy the needs of his reigning trait, he was going crazy. It also caused him to faint every time he woke up. His mind could not keep up with his current state.


    Unlike others like Dominador, who longed for domination, and Harold, who wanted a higher position than everyone in his group, Prince''s trait was more of a material one. None material traits like domination, loyalty, leadership, or being a socialite, they only needed to slowly fulfill these traits. Even if they failed once or twice, as long as they were alive, no restrictions were stopping them from achieving the goals of these traits.


    For Prince, however, no one would be able to fix his face. Prince, himself, knew that subconsciously. Because of that, his mind was like aputer program that was missing a crucial code to run correctly and ended up facing an error.


    When he checked on Prince, he was ced in a secure ce in theboratory. He heard from the workers there that Prince ran amock after waking up. It was different from before since he did not end up fainting, but had to be tranquilized. The soldiers had no choice to do so because Prince already showed signs of transforming into his mutator form to attack everyone around.


    As for being ced at the newboratory, it seemed that the scientists wanted to know about something. One was the reason for the deterioration of Prince''s mind. The other was the reason for his face to fester.


    For something, most likely wounds, to fester, there should be bacterial colonization on the infected area. That triggers the immune system to react causing inmmation and tissue damage. It also causes Serosanguineous Drainage in the wound in most cases.


    What the scientists were baffled about was that... Most of themon harmful bacterias had gone extinct after Mutagen invaded earth. A lot of microorganisms were not able to contain Mutagen and ended up being eradicated. If there were no bacteria to trigger the reaction Prince was having, what was happening?


    Mark could only shrug his shoulders learning about that. After all, it was all his fault. It was not like he was going to tell them what was happening. As such, he left. He already knew that it was the end for Prince. Even without him doing anything, he would end up dying by himself.


    Well, once that happened, Mark would be sure to be there. Prince was still a Mutator. His personality might suck but his Mutator ability was still a high-level one.


    Mark would not let that one go to waste.


    "Uhn..."


    While Mark was thinking, he heard the soft voice of someone waking up. He looked beside him and saw Mei who was rubbing her left eye.


    "Good morning."


    Mark said which made Mei''s sleepy eyes look at him.


    Then... Mei closed her eyes and went back to sleep. She did not forget to snuggle closer to Mark as she did so.


    Mark smirked as she pinched Mei''s nose making her open her eyes abruptly.


    "Stop ying around. We still have to prepare things before we leave tomorrow."


    They already finished the mission given by General Perez. Furthermore, they finished it with an SS rating. IT should be SSS but they had a few dys during the journey. Of course, all this nonsense was Mark''s view of the mission.


    Mark''s group could go to his base at any time they wanted. Immediately this day if possible. However, Mark had some business to finish before going back.


    First, he needed to attend a meeting with the officials of this settlement. There, he could gather some information about the surrounding areas of New Infanta Settlement. He would also hand over the things that he was asked to deliver to the General. It was the research papers and the seeds of [Energy Rice] developed by Chervil.


    Second, he needed to meet the Salvador Family. He would not let go of the opportunity to bring them to his base. Annica''s powers were too useful to pass by. They already told Mark their ns before so he just needed to inform them to prepare.


    Next, it was about Kate''s request to join. He would try to see the situation first before talking to her. Even though her trait might be a bit troublesome, she did not seem to be a bad person.


    Furthermore, Mark could tell that their group was already on the verge of disbanding. Harold was not satisfied with his group anymore. Especially because of how he saw Mark''s group. Mark''s group was filled with usable and talented people while they only had imbeciles. Harold would surely abandon the people he made to rely on him. How savage.


    Lastly and the most important thing, to meet Edzel and Pearl. It was bound to happen and probably, the first thing this morning. He already knew what it would be about, but there were some things he wanted to as Pearl before epting her.


    After Mark pinched her nose, Mei snuggled on his body, even more, making him sigh.


    "Don''t go all Dandere on me just because we are alone."


    Mark revealed a troubled look.


    "Dandere?"


    Mei asked as she was not familiar with the term.


    "You''re mostly silent and keep things to yourself. But you be like this when we are alone. That''s what a Dandere is."


    Hearing that, Mei blushed. She could not deny that all. However, she really liked snuggling beside Mark like this, especially when they were alone.


    Mark could sense what was going on in her mind. He could only sigh.


    "Alright, I''ll spend more time with you when we get to the base. Just bear with it a bit more."


    "Promise?"


    Mei looked at Mark with puppy eyes.


    "I promise. So, off the bed now."<sub> </sub>


    Hearing that, Mei immediately sat up and went to do things she needed to do. She looked as if she had not just woken up at all.


    "Why do I feel like I''ve been cheated."


    Mark muttered as he watched Mei go out of the room to wake up the little girls.


    ***


    <strong>Day 71 - 8:17 AM - New Infanta Settlement, Barangay Banugao, Infanta, Quezon</strong>


    They were having breakfast when Edzel arrived. Of course, he had Pearl with him. She looked too awkward and afraid. It was obvious that she was scared that she would be discriminated against because of her current appearance.


    It seemed that it had been a normal urrence to her in this settlement and became engraved in her heart and mind.


    "Boss... Everyone, good morning."


    Edzel greeted as he entered the room where Mark, Mei, and the little girls were eating. Aephelia, Amihan, Jaeya, and Odelina with her children were also here.


    As for everyone else, they were in the proper dining area for breakfast.


    Since Mark was expecting Edzel, he decided to eat separately. It was not necessary to divulge Pearl''s circumstance to everyone in the group.


    "Boss, you see..."


    After Edzel entered with Pearl, he was about to talk about the details. He was kind of awkward as he knew that Mark saw what happened to them before. Before he could continue, however, Mark cut him off.


    "You don''t have to say anything. I knew what happened."


    Edzel had aplicated expression. He did not know whether he should be surprised about this or not. On the other hand, Pearl felt even more scared. Mark spoke with a nonchnt expression. She felt that what Edzel wanted would not happen.


    Then... Mark turned to Odelina.


    "Odel, bring the children out first. We have to talk about something."


    Without hesitation, Odelina brought the children out.


    Mark then turned to Pearl who was covered with her ragged cloak while hiding behind Edzel.


    "Step forward. Don''t hide behind Edzel. Also, don''t cover your face."


    The scared Pearl looked at Edzel who nodded. Slowly, she stepped forward while holding Edzel''s hand tightly. She then removed the hood of her cloak and swiped away her hair that covered most of her face.


    Mark and Mei had no reaction to her appearance. Of course, the others were shocked and felt pity.


    "I want to ask," Mark spoke. "What happened after you left with the Cristobal Family during the evacuation in East Port Settlement before?"


    Pearl shivered even more. It was a memory she did not want to remember anymore. She did not want to say what happened at all.


    "You don''t have to say the specific details." Mark knew what he should ask and what should not. "Just tell what you can."


    Finally, she spoke.


    ***


    Back then, she did not know much. However, during the evacuation, she heard that the Cristobal and Ruanto actually had a secret alliance. That was why the two families left together abandoning everyone else on the verge of the disaster.


    There was not much infected on the road at that time. However, she noticed that the noise from their vehicles was actually attracting the infected nearby causing them to block the road behind.


    When they reached the town in Dinahican. The vehicles stopped by the orders of Former Mayor Jacob Ruanto. Then, the Cristobal Family learned the awful truth.


    The alliance of Ruanto family to them were nothing but lies. The real allies of Ruanto Family were the forces of Death Valley Settlement. Thus, with their futile resistance, everyone in Cristobal Family was captured to be ves. Including Pearl.


    However, that was not the worst part. Trying to save himself, the young master of Cristobal actually tried to sell his girls off. That was when the first time she regretted her dumb decision.


    And the torture ensued after that. The men of Death Valley settlement were like hungry wolves. Inside the vehicles used to transport them, Pearl and the other women were already treated as toys for pleasure.


    Arriving at Death Valley, the torture for her became worse. As a young girl with good looks, a middle-aged woman had taken fancy on her. However, not because the middle-aged woman was a homosexual, but because she hated young women with good looks.


    At that short time, Pearl was taken under that middle-aged woman''s roof, she let her boy toys y with her while she ruined Pearl''s appearance slowly.


    Pearl could still hear the middle-aged woman''sugh even now in her sleep. Theugh she heard as she was being tortured using different devices.


    She heard the boy toys muttering about Pearl being killed afterward. At that time, she did not care anymore. But in the middle of her torture, gunshots echoed. The middle-aged woman escaped with her boy toys leaving her chained in the basement.


    At that time, she passed out from blood loss. The next thing she knew, she was being transported by soldiers inside one of their vehicles while her wounds were being treated.


    Hearing this part, Mark nodded.


    p It was something he knew. In fact, Mark still remembers the middle-aged woman Pearl was talking about. For sure, it was that cougar he bisected with her boy toys.</anda>


    In fact, Mark knew that Pearl was there all along in the basement as he took  from the top floor of that building. However, how could he care for a slut like her? That was why he did not do anything and proceeded to do with the things he needed to do.


    Hearing all these, for sure, Pearl was just lucky to survive those things.

 Chapter 414 Finishing Things, The Last Day In New Infanta Settlement

    <strong>Day 71 - 8:45 AM - Temporary Housing, New Infanta Settlement, Barangay Banugao, Infanta Quezon</strong>


    Hearing Pearl''s story made the women inside the room feelplicated. That feeling was even moreplicated when it came to Mei and Jaeya. They experienced being toyed with by men. Mei was lucky that Mark came to her rescue. Jaeya, on the other hand, experienced it while her mind was already broken. They did not have the same experience as Pearl, but it was already enough to understand her plight.


    What made it even moreplicated was because Mei and Jaeya were both victims of misfortune. Pearl, on the other hand, was a victim of her ill choice.


    They did not know whether they should sympathize with Pearl or me her for it.


    Then, the next part of the story was told by Pearl.


    She had been nursed back to health by the military as much as possible. It was the same for the other ves with grave conditions after being rescued.


    Unfortunately, there was a problem that urred. Those ves, especially those with scars like her that could not be hidden, were outcasted by most of the survivors. Worse, female ves were seen as dirty creatures. Being treated like a prostitute was one of the circumstances for them.


    For no proper reason at all, they became the way for those people to release their frustration about the outbreak and other things that happened after.


    There were even times that someone would throw stones at them just for fun.


    The military tried their best to remedy the situation. However, while there was an effect, it was very minimal.


    Because of those things, Pearl, who was already seeing herself as living trash, decided to live away from everyone. The soldiers warned her about living under that bridge being too dangerous. However, she did not care about that much.


    She tried killing herself several times. But for some reason, every time she had those thoughts, her knife would suddenly go missing. Furthermore, anything she could use to hurt herself would vanish. When no one was around, she even tried drowning herself in the river. However, after she passed out from theck of air, the next thing she knew was that she was sleeping on her bed inside the hut.


    Pearl could live properly in the settlement. Yet, she could not die either for some reason.


    It was another level of torture.


    That was why Edzel''s sudden appearance could be said as her only way out.


    Hearing everything, Edzel was clenching his free hand hard. It was all while the other hand held onto Pearl''s hand as gently as possible. He looked at Pearl who told the story. She barely even had an expression on her face. It was like she already resigned herself to be worthy of such punishment. This made his heart hurt.


    After Pearl finished telling everything, Mark finally asked the deciding question.


    "I''ll ask you an important question." He said with a serious look. ""Do you think that you deserve to be here?"


    Hearing that, Pearl shivered. Edzel could not help but gasp at that question thinking that Mark would reject Pearl.


    With a deep breath, Pearl nced at Edzel before answering.


    "I don''t."


    Pearl said without hesitation.


    "Boss, she-!"


    Edzel tried to speak for Pearl, but he was interrupted by Mark raising his had and stopping him from talking. Apanied by a re from Mark, Edzel could only swallow his words.


    "I don''t think that Edzel will let you go, though? What are you going to do?"


    Mark asked another question.


    This question made Pearl look down with a defeated look. Edzel already said itst night. And her answer now...


    "I don''t know. I don''t know where should I start. But... I will try my best to make up for everything."


    That answer made Mark smile. Pearl was being honest. She had no idea where to start. The only thing she could do was to do her best to make it up to Edzel and respond to his feelings.


    That smile on Mark''s face made Edzel sigh in relief. Since Mark rarely smiled without a bloodthirsty aura, the smile he had right now surely meant a pleasant thing.


    Mark then flicked his right hand towards the two. Since two items came out flying, Edzel and Pearl could not help but flinch and close their eyes.


    However, nothing hit the two. As they opened their eyes, they saw two marble-sized crystals floating in front of each other.


    Pearl was confused and amazed at the same time with the show of Sorcery Mark did. Of course, anyone not in the know would think of a floating crystal as nothing but a magic trick.


    Edzel, however, could not believe his eyes. He already saw these kinds of crystals around Mark several times. Of course, he knew what this meant.


    "Boss, are you sure about this?"


    Edzel asked as his hands shaking in excitement carefully caught the crystal in front of him.


    To Edzel''s question, Mark shrugged his shoulders.


    "I had a different idea before, but that Sephiroth-lookalike meddled because of that bloodline thing. Well, you already learned and chose your purpose. I guess it''s time for you to receive one. The one for her, just consider that as a gift."


    "Boss, thank you!"


    Edzel conveyed his extreme gratitude and made Pearl catch hers quickly.


    "Edzel, also this."


    Mark said as he tossed a vial towards Edzel. Thetter could not help but panic as he caught the bottle. Mark just tossed a valuable thing like nothing. Of course, anyone would panic trying not to let it fall and shatter on the floor.


    "Boss, this..."


    Edzel was speechless. What Mark just tossed was a vial of [Regeneration Medicine].


    "Give that to her together with the crystal. I don''t know how much that will work but I can''t have her looking like that all the time."


    Mark then turned to Pearl.


    "Remember that Edzel is someone under me. Being with him meant that you are also under me. Do something undesirable and I won''t hesitate to im your life."


    Pearl shivered once more, however, she nodded. She just had to prove that she would be responsible for her conduct.


    "You two should go back already before I change my mind."


    Mark said while he shooed away the two. It was because Mark could tell that Edzel was about to ask about the man he metst night and led him to Pearl.


    Pefile''s existence must remain a secret to everyone as much as possible. Some people here in this room would surely notice him lying if Edzel was to ask about it.


    Hearing that Mark might change his mind, Edzel hurriedly bowed in gratitude while urging the confused Pearl to leave with him already.<sub> </sub>


    Unexpectedly, before she stepped out of the room, Pearl looked back at Mark and respectfully opened her mouth. It was almost a whisper, however, it was easy to read her lips.


    "Thank you."


    She said. In the least, she did not forget to say that.


    "Bro, you''re being generous today, aren''t you? Can you also give me one of those crystals?"


    Jaeya immediately spoke the moment Edzel and Pearl went out of the door. Of course, Mark only rolled his eyes on her.


    While it was true that he was being generous, it was just because he liked the way Pearl answered his question. If she tried to lie or butter up her words, it might have ended differently.


    Everyone was rather happy about Edzel though. They were all worried that the boy would not hesitate to throw away his life just to prove himself. After what happened to him when Pearl left him, he lost his self-worth. Now that they were reunited, a new Edzel was shown to them. It was way better than the Edzel that knew nothing but to find a way to be stronger.


    Finishing these things, Mark proceeded to do other things they needed to do.


    ***


    Unexpectedly, there was no need for Mark to inform the members of the Salvador family.


    Darren and Annica visited just before lunchtime came.


    They asserted their willingness to join Mark once more and said that they would get ready to leave as soon as possible. It really seemed that they did not find staying in this ce appealing.


    Furthermore, it seemed that Karlene visited them and told stories about how the base was before they went to Bay City. This made their family even more eager.


    There was another thing.


    When Darren and Annica visited, the girl was holding unto something.


    "I almost forgot about this guy..."


    Mark muttered as he poked the small tortoise the table.


    It was the only animal Mark noticed and took away from the army of mutated sea creatures that came ashore during the storm. The small tortoise that looked like it was made of stic. If not for the fact that it was moving and responding to the people around it, anyone would think that it was a toy.


    "Yeah! You just left it to us like that!"


    Annica said with a bit ofint. Well, she was somehow eying Mei who sat beside Mark.


    About this tortoise that was left to her, she did not know what to do with it. It was not hers, to begin with, and did not know if it would be appropriate for her to tame it.


    Unexpectedly, there was no need to. Compared to the mutated animals she tamed, this small and seemingly useless turtle was way smarter.


    On its own, it learned to respond to human words and gestures fast. Even the way that it responded to Mark right now showed that it remembered him saving it from the stampede of mutated Sea Creatures.


    "Can I turn this thing into a dragon?"


    Mark muttered as he poked on the belly of the tortoise after it identally overturned in its delight.


    Of course, everyone in the room looked at Mark incredulously.


    ***


    After lunch, Mark went unto the meeting with General Faustino and the other military officials. Professor Suzuki was also in attendance.


    Handing over the items, Mark also received what he wanted.


    Professor Suzuki was also inviting Mark to take a look at the new specimens they captured. However, Mark declined as they still need to do things for their departure tomorrow. If he came with this scientist, it would bound to a long journey inside the newboratory.


    As the meeting was finished, Professor Suzuki suddenly left a remark.


    "Oh, Saviou- I mean, Mark. There are some things waiting for you at your base. My niece told me."


    "What things?"


    Mark was confused. What things would that be for na to tell her uncle?


    "Haha, I won''t tell you. You will know when you get back there."


    The crazy professor replied and he scurried away.


    Watching the Professor run away, Mark sighed.


    "What is wrong with these people?"


    He muttered while scratching his head.


    As for what the scientist mentioned, Mark was sure that it would not be a bad thing. After all, Professor Suzuki did not seem troubled about it even though his niece was at that base.


    Still, Mark could not help but feel that the Professor''s words had some mocking and insult? Furthermore, Professor Suzuki was about to address Mark with something else but just cut it off.


    ***


    With that, the rest of the day passed and the news came to him. As he expected. Harold disbanded their group and even tried to urge Kate to go with him. The poor guys were left unable to do anything and not knowing what they should do next.


    As for Kate, she declined without hesitation. It made Harold quite angry. He left without saying much to her.


    Thus, Kate came to meet Mark and his group on her own and told that news firsthand.


    Mark had no problems with Kate joining and after consulting Case and Kaira, the two did not have problems too. In fact, Kaira was d to have Kate join. It seemed that one of the reasons Prince was not able to do much to Kaira was Kate herself.


    Well, there was one problem that came up as Kate conversed with them.


    "Ah, fish!"


    Abbygale shouted as she saw Kate.


    This caused Mark and Mei to have another short stare-off. Mark could only sigh as Mei ended up embracing him from his back while staring Kate asserting her dominance.


    Of course, Kate could only respond with a confused look.

 Chapter 415 The Road Back, A Bumpy Ride Around And Across The Mountains

    Day 71 - 10:21 AM - Marikina-Infanta Highway, Barangay s-Asin, Santa Maria, Laguna


    Early in the morning, Mark and his group left New Infanta Settlement. The officials of the military and even the soldiers that participated in the mission were inplete attendance to see them off. There was also Emika and her family. Emika and Mikio seemed to want toe along. However, they could not.


    Differently from when they arrived, the soldiers and their families were not with the group anymore. They were reced by Pearl and the Salvador family joining the group. Unexpectedly, there were a few people that remained loyal to their family despite abolishing their power and joining the military settlement. Aside from the five members of the Salvador family, there were also four Mutators with them.


    Of course, Mark had no problems with these four to join in. In fact, they already proved their personalities for being loyal to Darren''s family even if they did not have any authority within the settlement. Mark also did not detect any ill intent from them. Rather, they seemed to be more excited as they looked at Mark like seeing a popr actor.


    They left New Infanta Settlement a few minutes after sunrise. However, the drive back alone was long. They just arrived at the barangay where they left Char to guard the supplies could not carry anymore.


    There was a small town here in this barangay which seemed to be untouched since the start of the apocalypse. However, it seemed that the cause of deaths in this ce were mutated animals than the infected. Traces of blood could be seen everywhere but the dead bodies were almost non-existent. This was the difference between the behaviors of the infected and Mutated animals.


    The infected might eat dead corpses on the spot, especially the Biters. Still, they would leave a huge mess of an unfinished meal after they felt full. On the other hand, Mutated animals were more prone to drag their meal somewhere safer or their nest before eating. That was the reason for the non-existent corpses in the area despite the traces of deaths almost everywhere.


    Reaching the ce where they left the supplies taken from the mansion, they immediately saw the dragon sleeping like a log. As for the reason of its current state, just looking at the bones and blood scattered around the area, anyone would understand.


    "Hey, youzy dragon."


    Mark started kicking Char on its side to wake it up.


    Feeling something heavily hitting its scales, Char annoyedly opened its eyes. Seeing Mark, it hastily opened its eyes wide and bounced back in surprise. The dragon was like a dog caught doing something bad.


    Well, Mark had no n to me it at all. Even though Char was a reptile that did not need food too much, it would still love to eat. Back within the confines of the city, there was no way for it to eat live animals that could satisfy it enough. Being back in its natural habitat, it might have gone and hunt as much food as it could before falling asleep.


    Seeing that Char was already awake, Mark spoke.


    "We''re going to get some of the supplies but you will stay here, alright? We''ll be back for the rest of the suppliester. Guard this ce properly."


    Seeing that Mark was not angry, Char felt relieved. It nodded intently though it just looked like a huge lizard bobbing its head.


    "Big brother, your dragon is really well tamed, isn''t it?"


    Annica suddenly came to look at Char. This made the dragon look at the girl since she was quite unfamiliar.


    "What I did with this dragon is different from your ability. Mine is only applicable to those intelligent enough. Your ability is more useful even to those with lower intelligence. So, expect that you will need to use that ability a whole lot at the base."


    Mark replied.


    "I don''t mind. That is in exchange for our protection, right?"


    Annica said without hesitation. She knew her role well it seemed.


    Mark looked at everyone loading as many supplies into the vehicle as possible. Because most of the people of the Salvador Family knew how to drive, they managed to request three pickups from the military. This way, they would have more space to transport supplies.


    The loading of the supplies took longer than before. Without the soldiers, their manpower was severely lessened. Because of that, they decided to eat lunch first before continuing on the road.


    Of course, this time, the road was different.


    After leaving Char behind once more, they entered a branching road going away from Marikina-Infanta Highway. It was not a concrete road, however. It was a dirt road going up a hill and would lead to some of the most rural ces in the area.


    The road was not too bumpy, however, it was still an ufortable ride. Because of the road going up and down, the speed of their travel was rather inconsistent.


    There was another road which was tter and was more developed. They would have used that if not for the fact that they would need another hour or more of travel to get there and the entrance to that road was way closer to the termite nest. This was the shortest route they could take right now.


    Along the uneven road, they encountered quite a number of mutated animals and insects. Nevertheless, aside for a few feral ones, most of them ran away at the sight of several vehicles and Gifre.


    As for those that tried to hinder the group, they would be the menu for dinner. Of course, the animals and not the insects. Even though the insects had already gonerger, not all people would want to eat these insects unless they were too desperate for food.


    ***


    Day 71 - 1:32 PM - Makaira-Daraitan Road, Mady-dy, Tanay, Rizal


    After almost an hour at the dirt road, they reached Makaira-Daraitan Road, the only road that would lead to Barangay Daraitan.


    It was the main road in this area. Nevertheless, despite being the main road towards Barangay Daraitan and the tourist spots nearby, the road was pretty much an isted one.


    There were very few houses on the roadside and there was more flora to be seen along the way. Furthermore, there was barely any vehicle abandoned by the roadside. Most of the vehicles were even parked properly which meant that the owners did not manage to use these vehicles to leave at all.


    Despite those, not a soul could be seen around. Not even a single infected on the streets.


    Nevertheless, Mark and the others managed to notice something odd.


    Mark went down the vehicle to investigate some stores they passed by.<sub> </sub>


    The very few stores on the road were rather looted cleanly. If it was obvious that the owners tried to keep their things, it would be fine. However, everything that was not edible or usable was still left. There was also the difference between the dust gathered on the tables and counters.


    If things were left untouched for a long time, the thickness of dust would rather look evenly spread. However, the spots where the dust was rather thin clearly left the mark where some food containers were ced before. This made it obvious that whoever took the items did it after a long while.


    Furthermore, in Mark''s estimate, the thinness of the dust at those spots indicated that the items were taken not long ago. Probably a few days or so. Of course, it was still not sure. Maybe a week or more had passed already.


    It made everyone wonder if someone passed by this ce in the same direction they were going.


    With those thoughts, they continued on the road.


    As they went deeper this isted road, the sceneries had gone contrary to what they expected. The more they continued, the more structures and houses they saw on the roadside.


    Of course, it was quite understandable if anyone tried to think why.


    There as barely anything along the road. However, business and work opportunities exist at the ends of this road where tourist locations existed. Anyone who knew their priorities would surely live near these locations.


    However, it also meant that more animals present as these ces were where they found more humans as food. Because of that, Mark and his group encountered more animals along the way. It was a pity that they could not carry any more carcasses and they could only leave the dead animals by the roadside.


    Still, Mark had to do some inventory sorting and made Gifre prioritize carrying more things than fighting. It was because some of the animals they killed had useful body parts such as spiny scales or hard shells. Even if these parts could not be used as weapons or armor, these could still be used for traps and other things.


    Midway, they finally reached the highest point they could go on this road. It was not because it was a dead end. In fact, Makaira-Daraitan Road still continued up the mountainous path. However, as they reached the forked road, they needed to take Daraitan Road that would go down the hill.


    This was the final stretch of road before they would reach the very same barangay where Mark first met Miracle and some of the [Blood Children].


    Nevertheless, they noticed something which made them traverse the road more carefully.


    In the middle of the dust-covered road, footprints could be seen. Not animal footprints but footprints that belonged to humans. Furthermore, the footprints did not only belong to a single person but a group. As Mark investigated, there were seven different footprints ording to the print left from their shoes.


    It also seemed that they had traversed this road several times before as the same footprints could be seen going different directions and at different times. It was very probable that these were the same people that scavenged the stores along the way. However, those stores were probably scavenged first as Mark did not notice footprints in those areas.


    Even though they became careful, it was actually unnecessary. They did not encounter any ambush or humans along the rest of the way.


    After a few minutes, they finally saw the clearing allowing them to see the mountain ranges in the northeast. In front of them, the part of the very same Agos River that flowed northwest of New Infanta Settlement could be seen.


    Being a tourist location and a resort area, the scene by the riverside was soothing.


    Well, it was like that if the rule out the fact that they could see the wreckage of arge passenger ne just on the other side of the river.


    Unfortunately, they had no time to enjoy this scene yet.


    As such, the whole group crossed the river in their vehicles.


    There was a wooden bridge that allowed medium-sized and lighter vehicles to cross. As for the lorry, however, they had to make it across the shallow part of the river. The river was rocky which made it easier for them to cross despite feeling ufortable. In the least, they did not get stuck because of mud.


    Finally, they entered the vicinity of Barangay Daraitan.


    Mark could not help but scratch his head.


    After they cleaned up this ce during scavenging and training, it seemed that some people stumbled here. It looked like the owners of the footprints decided to live in this ce this while when he went off to fetch Mei and the others.


    Furthermore, there were more of them. From what he could detect, there were actually thirty people. They upied the small elementary school northeast of the barangay.


    Well, he had no problems with it as long as they were not hostile. He would not hesitate to eradicate them if they made an idiotic move.


    Of course, the lookouts of the new group also spotted them. They were ready to fight in case Mark''s group were to attack first. Still, they were hesitant as Mark''s group did not look like easy pickings at all and more of a threat just with Gifre alone. Rather, they seemed that they did not want to fight at all.


    Seeing Mark''s group was just passing by, the lookouts sighed in relief. Still, they were confused as to why a group of vehicles would go to a direction that was supposed to go up the mountains. Sure enough, these people thought of the road leading up to a base of survivors there.


    Exiting from the east side of Barangay Daraitan, they had to traverse a long dirt road along the rocky riverside.


    Seeing the end of that dirt road that was supposed to be a dead-end, Mark smiled.


    Huey and the others surely did their job properly.


    A road that was not there before was properly made. It was one of the tasks he left for them since it would be troublesome to travel without a good road to traverse up the mountains.


    It was not the best kind of road, still, it was better than nothing.


    After two more hours of a bumpy ride and ufortable, Mark and his group finally arrived at the base between the two mountains.


    The scene there as they arrived, of course, made Mark scratch his head and frown at the same time.

 Chapter 416 The Situation Outside The Base, Those That Could Enter And Those That Could Not

    <strong>Day 71 - 5:22 PM - Mountain Base, Mount Mbito, General Nakar, Quezon</strong>


    Reaching the base located in a t area between two mountains, everyone was already dead tired. There might not be that too many battles along the way. However, just the rough new road out of Barangay Daraitan leading to the base drained out their energy because of the very bumpy ride.


    When everyone saw the base, they could not help but feel amazed. Tall reddish-ck walls surrounded the base. Above the walls, many odd-looking cross-bow like weapons were mounted. If that was not intimidating enough, the spikes protruding from the walls would surely frighten people enough to make them stay away from these walls.


    "This is not just a base, it''s more of a fortress."


    Those words were what currently upied their minds.


    As for Mark, he felt rather proud of the base after seeing their reactions. The foundations of this base wereid out by him, after all.


    Still, his proud feeling could not appear on his face at all as he frowned deeply.


    The exterior of the base was all excellent and was even improved.


    However, what was with the two tent viges outside the southern gates?


    It was already surprising to find out that Barangay Daraitan was currently being upied by a group of survivors. Yet, what was with this situation?


    These two tent viges were set up with temporary huts separated by the road going towards the gate. By size, the people on the west side of the road numbered to thirty-two. On the east side, however, there were ny-seven individuals.


    The people on the west side looked really odd. By their appearance and the atmosphere around them, they seemed to be belonging to an indigenous tribe.


    On the other hand, therger group on the east side, many of them wore rags, they all looked normal citizens.


    Since several vehicles arrived up the rough road, the people in the temporary huts were rmed. They all went out of their dwellings to see what was going on. Amazement could be seen on their faces as they saw the Sci-fi looking vehicles leading the convoy. Of course, seeing Gifre, many were shocked that they ran into hiding.


    Then, amotion could be heard from the base.


    Hurriedly, the gates opened. This seemed to have surprised the people on the east side of the road.


    As the gate opened, several people went out with brightened faces. They were no other than Mark''s direct subordinates left to lead the base. Huey, Joleen, Trisha, Ed, Ron were here. Along with them, Mark''s friends, Hallie, Nicole, and na, also came. Unexpectedly, Aaron, Naomi, and Tullia, the ves that were saved from Death Valley, were also present.


    It was not hard to tell why they came out. Even withoutmunication, it would be impossible for them not to recognize the same material used on the vehicles. After all, it was the same material used with the walls and weapons they had.


    Seeing the vehicles modified with [Blood Metal] only meant that Mark had returned.


    Their eyes lit up even more as they saw Mark going out of the vehicle leading the convoy.


    ""Boss!""


    ""Mark!""


    The grouping out of the gates yelled in unison and greeted.


    Mark nodded at their greetings and faced Huey, who served as the temporary leader, while he was not around.


    "What happened? Why are there people outside?"


    Mark asked while ncing at the people in the surroundings.


    Hearing that question, Huey sighed.


    "Actually, Boss, we don''t know either."


    ording to Huey, this situation happened too suddenly.


    The tribesmen seemed to have arrived first just a few days after Mark left with Miracle, Karlene, and Edzel. Since Mark made a very strict rule to not let any outsiders to the base, Huey did not let them in. Since the only way for them to enter was Mark''s permission, Huey told the tribe that they have to wait for Mark or could just leave if they wanted to.


    Nevertheless, they insisted on staying to meet Mark who was the owner of this base.


    They did not seem to be bad people and that was why Huey and the others actually helped them make temporary dwellings for them. These tribesmen even helped with farming on the north side of the base in exchange for extra food and clothing. Since there were no problems with that, Huey and the others dly epted their proposition.


    These tribesmen seemed to have some odd customs. Still, they were good people to work with.


    As for the group on the other side, they suddenly appeared about five days after the tribe arrived. Furthermore, they arrived with a bit ofmotion.


    Apparently, this group arrived midday after the ho nest northwest of the base were disturbed. Furthermore, when these people arrived, a lot of them were wounded, especially the ones wearing rags.


    Furthermore, some of the people from this group tried to infiltrate the base one night. Of course, with Huey guarding the base entirely, there was nothing that could escape his ears within the base.


    The intruders were eliminated without mercy. There were seven intruders and four among them were Mutators while the remaining were Evolvers. Unfortunately for them, their abilities were no match to the defenses of the base. They were killed even before they could climb over the walls.


    When the other people from their group were questioned, they denied their involvement with the intruders. Since there was nothing that could serve as evidence, Huey could only maintain close guard towards that group.


    "Alright, good work."


    Mark tapped Huey''s shoulder.


    "It''s nothing, Boss. We need to protect this ce or we won''t anywhere else to go."


    Huey replied.


    While the greetings were happening, some people from the vehicles also came out.


    "Bessie!" Karlene shouted as she embraced na. "Look who''s here!"


    Karlene pointed at the person following behind her.


    "Mizuki! Long time no see."


    "Lynn!!!"


    na shouted at Analynn in glee as the two embraced each other.


    Mark was rather surprised hearing what Analynn called na though. However, asking about that woulde for another time.


    "Gege, who are the enemies?"


    Mei, who also followed behind after Karlene and Analynn, approached Mark and whispered.


    Sure enough, her appearance as she came out of the vehicle caused the world to still a bit. Everyone in Mark''s group was already used to her appearance. The others who saw her for the first time were surely not.


    What was unexpected was her question to Mark. She even had her sniper rifle and sub-machine guns with her. It seemed that she realized what Mark''s frown meant. It was not only because there were people outside the base, but it was also because of something else.


    "Huey, can you guys stomach killing people like animals?"<sub> </sub>


    Mark asked which snapped everyone out of their trance at Mei''s appearance. Still, the question made them shiver a bit. There was not a bit of joking on Mark''s tone.


    While the others hesitated to answer, three people nodded.


    "Boss, I can if needed."


    "Me too!"


    "No problems with me."


    Joleen, Hallie, and na replied respectively.


    It was quite surprising that these three women were the ones to reply. However, it was enough.


    Nodding, Mark gave his orders.


    "You three go up the walls and man a needleuncher each. When I start, shoot all those that try to fight."


    Hearing those orders, the three left without hesitation. na took along Analynn and Karlene while Hallie pulled Nicole with her.


    "Mei''er, you also go up the walls. I''ll do most of the things here."


    Mark said to Mei.


    "Okay."


    Mei replied and embraced him a bit before following behind Karlene.


    "Huey." Mark turned back to Huey who was a bit confused as to why Mark seemed to be releasing bloodlust right now. "Guide everyone inside. Also, let the tribe enter. I''ll speak to themter."


    Huey nodded as Mark signaled the vehicles to enter the gates. Still, he was surprised and d that the tribe received the permission to enter.


    When Huey informed the tribe about their entry, everyone was all smiling. Finally, they received what they had been waiting for all this time. As the tribe took out their very few belongings, they were escorted inside the base.


    Among the tribesmen, an old woman took Mark''s attention as the younger tribesmen helped her walk.


    On the other hand, the old woman was also staring at Mark even though her eyes seemed to be already bad. It was questionable how she was able to look at Mark at this distance.


    Furthermore, the old woman nodded at Mark with a respectful greeting. Mark could tell that the old woman was strange and possibly, a psychic. As the old woman did not harbor any ill intentions, it was fine to let them in for now.


    Of course, the act of letting the tribe in caused some disturbance towards the other group.


    While everyone entered the base, Mark stood in ce watching them. It was when he was approached by some people.


    "Sir, are you perchance the leader of this base?"


    A bald man with a bushy beard and was had a shotgun strapped on his body asked while trying to be as respectful as possible.


    Mark turned his head back looking at the man sideways.


    "You''re mistaken. I''m not the leader of this base. I''m the owner."


    The rude and unfriendly tone Mark gave out made the representatives of the group make stiff expressions.


    Mark''s manner already showed it. They were not wee in this ce. However, they could not give up. If they could enter this ce, they would not have problems looking for a ce to live anymore.


    "Sir, we saw that you let that tribe enter. I wonder if we could too. It was very dangerous for us to stay outside."


    The man tried to persuade Mark.


    However, Mark''s response to that was a chilling smile.


    "Before everything else, I want to ask you, people, something."


    Mark finally faced them. Yet, they felt more ufortable for some reason.


    "What is it, Sir?" The man replied. "As long as we could answer, there would be no problem."


    "I''ll ask then..." Mark''s smile became even more chilling. "How many ves did you people sacrifice to get here?"


    That question rmed them all as they all took a step back. The bald man even tried to retreat far from Mark as he was the closest.


    However, he was not able to as Mark''s hand grasped his neck.


    "Let... me... go!!!"


    The bald man struggled and tried to pull his shotgun.


    "Unfortunately for you people..." Mark paid the guy no mind. "I don''t n to let the dregs of Death Valley enter my ce."


    The bald man''s eyes became wide.


    SNAP!


    His neck was bent in an unsightly angle as his body went slump on Mark''s right hand. Mark then threw the corpse of the bald man away like throwing a bag of garbage into a bin.


    Seeing one of them die, the others immediately pulled their guns to point at Mark. However...


    BANG! BANG! BANG!


    SHOOV! SHOOV! SHOOV!


    Their fates ended there. The men around Mark had either their heads exploded by Mei''s sniper rifle or riddled with holes by the girls that manned the needleunchers by the wall.


    "AAAAAHHHHH!!!"


    Screams ensued as the group that approached Mark was killed in the blink of an eye. Of course, all these screams only came from those people dressed in pitiful rags.


    As for the other members of this group that were the remains of Death Valley Settlement that managed to escape, the Mutators started to exhibit their abilities to counter-attack while many of the ones dressed in rags decided to run away.


    Unexpectedly, despite how scared they were, many remained on the ce covering their heads. These ones had no energy to run at all as the ve owners prioritized themselves for the food and water they had.


    Finally, Mark gave his orders.


    "Don''t shoot the ones wearing rags! As for the others, kill them all!"

 Chapter 417 The Battle Outside The Base, Ending With Another Harvest

    <strong>Day 71 - 5:48 PM - Mountain Base, Mount Mbito, General Nakar, Quezon</strong>


    Mark stood in front of the Mutators and Evolvers alone. This prompted the enemies even more to do a counter-attack.


    Activating their abilities, they charged towards Mark first as it would be harder to approach the girls atop the walls of the base.


    Unknown to them... Their movements were just as Mark nned.


    Mark decided to deal with these people by being alone outside. It was not because he alone was enough to deal with these people. In fact, it would be easier to end this if Mark let the others fight alongside him. Nevertheless, it would also prompt the enemies to retreat and run towards the forest.


    It was already getting dark. Although Mark would not have a hard time finding these people even if they ran away, it would still take more effort. If these people scattered in different directions, it would cause some of them to have the possibility to escape.


    Since Mark was alone, they thought that with their numbers, they could take him down alone. Or maybe, take him as a hostage to stop the girls on the walls from firing their weapons.


    That was the worst "maybe" of their lives.


    Mark looked at the enemiesing towards him. He was scrutinizing the abilities they disyed. Some of them had ws. Other enemies had animal parts on their bodies. While a few had transformed their skin into some like metal.


    However, one ability took Mark''s interest.


    A man stood steadily in the middle of their encampment. He was waving his arms with precision as he deflected everyrge needle and bulletsing towards him. A wide one-meter long de could be seen protruding from his right arm, and his left had deformed and turned into a shield.


    Furthermore, unlike the others that were in a state of panic the man was still calm. It was more like he did not even care whether he would die or live here. Or maybe, he had the confidence that he was capable enough to escape this.


    Mark could tell, the man''s ability was rather unique. It would not be surprising if he had such confidence. Unfortunately, Mark and his group were not your typical survivors. Even among Mutators, the abilities of people in Mark''s group was top notch.


    Other than the man with a de and shield, there was another who transformed into something looking like an insect. His whole body was covered with green colored exoskeleton which emphasized his lower limbs. He jumped around fast which made it hard even for Mei to actually hit him.


    Lastly, Mark noticed a bear. There was nothing else that could describe that enemy than being a bear. A tall man with huge muscles covered in dark brown fur. What else could be but a bear?


    Aside from them, there were others with notable abilities. However, they were not as eye-catching as the three.


    Finally, the attackers reached and surrounded Mark. In response to their attacks, Mark danced.


    He tapped his right foot on the ground causing red-orange mes to ignite around his foot. The attackers were surprised. However, they could not stop in their charge anymore.


    With a spin, Mark mauled those that were too close to him with his right foot.


    In every hit, the mes around Mark''s foot would explode. It caused those that were hit to fly back depending on which part of their body was hit by the kick. There were also those that were hit on their face. Among them, three died immediately as parts of their heads exploded.


    There were still those that managed to dodge. Not like Mark would let them go easily. As for those that took the opportunity to attack after that kick, Mark kicked the ground spinning in the air dodging them.


    As Mark spun, his ming foot created a circle of me. Ending that circle, his foot dropped onto the head of a man withrge ws. The man''s head ignited into mes and he fell down. He wanted to roll and extinguish the mes. However, Mark''s spinning drop kick left him with a concussion. Dizzy and unable to do anything, he died as Mark''s foot dropped onto his neck.


    While Mark ughtered these ignorant insects, Mark suddenly turned his back from their main encampment.


    CLANG!


    A loud metallic sound echoed as Ignis that hung on Mark''s back was hit by something metallic.


    Following that sound, the new attacker tried to bash Mark with his shield. However, Mark already jumped away while killing another two enemies. The bash missed leaving the attacker with a frown.


    When Mark turned to face the attacker, he saw the man with a pair de and shield.


    Like before, the man''s face was calm.


    "Tell me, how did you know that we are from Death Valley?"


    The man spoke.


    "Why won''t I?"


    Mark replied with a smile that confused everyone around.


    Then, his words fell which shocked these men.


    "I''m the one that destroyed that garbage dump. Don''t you know? Spy Captain?"


    The calmness from the man''s face vanished as he heard what Mark called him. There was no doubt that the man realized who Mark was.


    "So, you''re that person they were talking about before I cut off mymunications from them."


    It was not hard to tell who was the man talking about. For sure, he was talking about the other spies sent to Death Valley and the soldiers of the military.


    As for why Mark recognized these people, although he would not heed any mind on misceneous people whose mental energy he felt before, he would remember them once they appeared in front of him once more. He was very sure that he felt the fluctuations of most of these people in Death Valley during the moment before it was destroyed.


    It just meant that they managed to escape the destruction of Death Valley Settlement and the military. However, they brought themselves to the lion''s den to be ughtered mercilessly. It was not like they deserved any mercy though.


    "Well, we won''t die without a fight! Everyone attack!"


    The former espionage captain yelled at hisrades.


    Hearing that exchange by the two, the other enemies felt even more desperate. They did not hold back anymore and used any means for attacking. Whether it be their abilities or their guns even if they did not have much ammunition left. It was all or nothing for them now.


    BANG!


    A pistol was fired from the enemies'' side. However, Mark was not the target. The bullet flew towards na on top of the wall. The shot was too sudden and there was no time for na to take cover.<sub> </sub>


    BANG! TING!


    The bullet did not reach na, however. Mei''s eyes dted activating her [Bullet Time]. The bullet was still fast but not in a way that it could not be seen. Mei fired her sniper rifle deflecting the iing bullet.


    "Thank you!"


    na said to Mei. She did not seem to be fazed by what she was about to experience just now. na then proceeded to pierce holes on the person that shot at her like a crazy person. It might not look like it but her mind was surely affected by the near-death experience just now.


    Because of that instance, the girls atop the walls focused on shooting those that had guns on their hands.


    Then, the girls faced another unexpected attack. A huge tree was hurled towards their direction. The tree was uprooted and was thrown by the bear. There was no doubt, he was really a bear. Furthermore, he was not done yet. He threw another uprooted tree towards the girls just to be sure and was in the middle of uprooting another one.


    The girls were in trouble. There was no way for any of them to block theserge trees hurled at them.


    Then... A white shadow charged past them from behind. The while shadow kicked the air fast which caused the shadow''s speed to elerate.


    BAM!


    The shadow spun forwards and dropped her heels on the iing tree causing it to fall down. With that kick, the shadow stopped midair revealing Abbygale in her transformed appearance.


    na and Hallie gasped at the appearance of a cute cat-eared little girl in front of them. It was despite that they were still in the middle of a battle. The priorities of Otakus, despite the situation, were really odd most of the time.


    Before they could take a proper look at Abbygale, she already kicked the air once more and charged towards the other iing tree.


    The intervention of the trees gave some of the enemies some time to shoot at Mei and the other atop the wall. However, not only that the girls were ready to take cover this time, a barrier was erected in front of them blocking all of the iing bullets. Both I and Miracle also came to assist.


    Not only the little girls, Edzel, Odelina, but even Edwards also came to provide support. As expected, a former military soldier had better gun skills than Karlene. After Edwards appeared, he managed to gun down several people already.


    It was obvious, the people from Death Valley were on the verge of defeat. Many of the remaining ones decided to run away already.


    Unfortunately for them, Mei prioritized herself on shooting those people. Even if they were already a distance away, as long as they were within her sight, they would fall with a bloody hole on their bodies.


    They were efficiently dealing with the situation, even Abbygale was doing fine as she contended with the bear. Still, there seemed to be no way for the little cat girl to win alone against that giant bear. As such, another two came that made both Hallie and na gasp once more.


    A grey colored wolf teen and a gray tabby colored cat boy joined into the fight with the bear. Their teamwork was awful especially since the two cats were rather wary of the wolf. However, the three of them fighting the bear caused the bear to fall unto a disadvantage.


    Mark, on the other hand, already disposed of the weaklings around him. The only ones left around him was the spy captain and the armored grasshopper. He could only shake his head though. It seemed that everyone was itching for a fight and just timed their entrance properly. He started to wonder if they understood his intentions for staying outside alone.


    CLANG!


    Another loud metallic sound echoed as Mark wielded Ignis and shed with the spy captain.


    Mark could have ended it faster. However, since the others already participated in killing a lot of the enemies, he decided to y a bit with his prey.


    After the sh, Mark was forced to jump back. It was because the grasshopper man jumped towards him. The teamwork of the two was rather wless. It was not like Mark was afraid of getting injured. However, he did not want his clothes ruined because of this fight.


    "Annoying!"


    Mark spat as he blocked another sh from the spy captain.


    Then...


    CLANG!


    Ignis "slipped" out of Mark''s hand as he was "overpowered" by the sh of the spy captain.


    Seeing Mark lose his sword, the spy captain had an excited look on his face. However, that look did notst.


    "AHHHH!!!"


    A painful yell echoed by their side which made the Spy Captain look by reflex. There, his eyes opened wide as he saw the grasshopper man covered by ck mes while being impaled by Ignis on his chest.


    The grasshopper man fell on the ground lifeless. Then, Ignis shook as it pierced through the grasshopper man''s body before returning to Mark''s hand.


    "You..."


    The spy captain was speechless... For sure, the sword slipping out of Mark''s hand was on purpose to catch the two off guard. The sword did not slip and hit hisrade but sure enough, flew towards grasshopper man''s chest like how it flew towards Mark''s hand.


    "Oh, by the way, you''re the only one left."


    Mark said which made the spy captain look behind him.


    Aside from a few ves that could not run away, everyone else was already dead while a lot of ves escaped on their own. Even the bear was defeated by two children and a young man already.


    While he was moping for their defeat, he heard a whisper.


    "Say hello to Satan for me."


    With those words, the spy captain''s sight spun like a Ferris wheel as his head flew off after being separated from his body.


    "Alright, time for harvest."


    That was thest thing the spy captain heard before everything went ck. It seemed that they were nothing but livestock to the eyes of the enemy.

 Chapter 418 The Fate Of The World, As Destiny Dictated And Her Vision Foretold

    <strong>Day 71 - 6:17 PM - Mountain Base, Mount Mbito, General Nakar, Quezon</strong>


    Horror, that was what the remaining ves felt as they saw Mark behead the corpses of Mutators in front of them. Putting the heads inside a sack soaked with blood, anyone who did not know Mark would surely feel horrified. Still, they were a bit confused as to why Mark seemed to be only picking some bodies to behead while leaving the others. Nevertheless, that did not make Mark any less scary.


    One thing that made the ves felt relieved, however, was knowing that Mark and his group were not just demons that would ughter just anyone. The ves were left there without any harm. Well, of course, it would be different for those that ran away.


    With how dangerous these forested mountains, especially during the night, they surely would not live for tomorrow.


    Unfortunately, it seemed that Mark had no ns to just take these ves into his base. They were not dangerous to take in. However, they were not loyal to Mark and his people, unlike the others. The most that Mark could do for them was to feed them tonight and escort them out of this ce tomorrow.


    If some wanted to join Mark''s base, he would evaluate them first before agreeing. As for those that were not, they could leave without any issues.


    "Jaeya, can you hear me?"


    Mark spoke in his mind calling for Jaeya that already entered the base.


    "I can~! Big Bro need something?"


    Jaeya replied immediately.


    "Tell Aephelia to go here and bring out the Garbage Cleaner. We need to clean this ce before the smell attracts animals and wandering infected."


    It did not take long for Aephelia toe out of the gates with Logan.


    Thus, the ves were subjected to another round of mental torture. Most of them could not help but feel their stomachs churn as they saw Logan chew on the dead remains of the enemies.


    Mark, on the other hand, watched this to see if there would still be any effect on Logan. Sure enough, Logan was able to use the Mutations of the already beheaded Mutators. However, the strength was way lowerpared to when it ate everything, including the heads.


    After eating the body of the grasshopper man, Mark told Aephelia to make Logan transform. Logan did cover its body with a green exoskeleton. However, the strength of armor did not even reach half of the Mutator was capable of using.


    It did not take long, the insatiable Logan finished its meal.


    The smell of blood was still there. Nevertheless, it was considerably lessened.


    Leaving the scared ves, Mark entered the gates with Abbygale, Jester, Case, and Aephelia, who controlled Logan.


    The sun already set halfway by the time Mark entered the gates. There was barely any daylight left to see the appearance of the base.


    Still, as a Mutator, Mark''s enhanced sight allowed him to see the changes from when he left the base and now that he returned. The difference was rather huge. The huts from before, like the hut he used as a workshop, were nowhere to be seen anymore. What reced the wooden, roughly built huts were properly built sheds made of reddish-ck metal.


    Even the other structures and houses were properly made following the outline they drafted. There were even ces to house guests and temporary housing which looked like a one-floor dorm ced near the gates. The parking area was also made just beside the gates were their vehicles were properly parked. It was good that Mark''s mentality in ying games made him decide for arger parking area. Due to it, all their vehicles managed to park and the parking area still had a good amount of free space avable.


    As for the river that ran at the east side of the base, it was properly secured with fences. Mark felt odd, however, seeing a small structure near the spring. He could tell that the mermaid he found was inside, and was afraid about the gunshots that were heard during the battle. Still, it seemed that she had been living well. She seemed to be in a far better state than when he found her.


    At the center of the base was arge clearing that could be used for many things. It could be a resting area or an area for open meetings. Mark had thought of this the same way he thought about the parking area. Just like how Mark y civilization-building games where he always left city centers as an open za.


    Mark walked inside the base and met with everyone. Sure enough, they were amazed which made Huey and the others proud of their work. The creation of [Blood Metal] used for construction was Nicole, Hallie, and na. The three already managed to bond with a [BloodChild] for each of them. As for the construction, Huey and Ed led it while those that were not working on the farm and other things were helping them.


    For everyone that had just arrived, including Karlene, Edzel, Amihan, and Aephelia, this ce was not just a base. It was an actual fortress in the middle of the mountains.


    As for the only ce untouched by the changes, it was Mark''s precipice. The face of the tall cliff he dug to make his own house. Since Mark wanted to build this structure himself, he strictly told Huey to leave it be. They were allowed to enter the main areas where the infected were being kept but the other parts were off-limits.


    Since it was already getting dark, they decided to do everything else for tomorrow. As such, everyone decided to go find where they would stay for the night while the others prepared for a good celebration for Mark''s return with his group.


    In their perspective and struggles since the start of the apocalypse, it would not be easy to traverse a long way filled with dangers just to find and bring back the people you valued.


    That was why they decided to celebrate.


    Luckily, it seemed that with the help of the tribe, Huey and the others managed to hut a mutated cow. Unfortunately, it was a feral one to be kept as livestock and thus, they decided to cook it tonight.


    Their return was perfect timing for a delicious meal for dinner.


    ***


    While everyone prepared, Mark with Mei decided to do one thing first. It was to meet the elder of the tribe.


    Since the tribe was small, they only needed three small rooms for everyone to properly sleep. The beds might not be too ssy but were way better than sleeping on tufts of grass covered with cloth. It seemed that the tribe already opened up to Huey and the others and were not that awkward inside the base. Some of them already fell asleep on their beds as their fatigue for more than two months of struggles through the forests and mountains caught up to them.


    Their journey filled with dangers and sadness was finally over. Even when they arrived for quite a while already, staying outside did not give them the least bit of sense of security. Inside the walls, however, they could finally sleep without worries.


    Mark led Mei to the area where the tribe was brought into by Huey. When the tribesmen saw Mark approach, they unexpectedly kneeled down in respect.


    He could not tell whether it was just a courtesy from the tribe or if this gesture had other meanings. Nevertheless, he decided not to bother too much about it and proceeded to the door leading to the room of the elder and her grandchildren were staying.<sub> </sub>


    Mark was about to knock when he heard the lock on the door was removed. He could not help but retract his hand and let the door open.


    There, a girl about sixteen or seventeen opened the door.


    "Please... Enter..." The girl said nervously. "Grandmother... Grandmother expected you toe."


    She stepped aside letting Mark and Mei enter. On the bed, an elder sat with her eyes closed while a young boy fed her some porridge that they seemed to have prepared earlier before Mark and his group arrived.


    The elderly woman then signaled the boy to stop feeding her and faced Mark who stood by the door.


    "I had been waiting for you. Savior."


    The elder spoke with her old and a bit hoarse voice. Yet, somehow, her voice sounded clear to the ears of those that heard it.


    Still, Mark could not help but frown. No wonder Professor Suzuki was making fun of him. No one told him about this either.


    For him to be called a "Savior", he was not worthy. Such an address should go to those with a heroplex to save everyone they wanted to save. Not for a person who would not hesitate to kill like him.


    Sensing his mood, the elder spoke once more.


    "I''m sorry, I should not have addressed you in such a way if I knew that you would dislike it."


    "Mark, just call me Mark," He spoke. "What is this savior thing that you just said? Why would you call me with that?"


    Of course, Mark would ask that.


    To his question, the elder smiled.


    "There is no other reason actually. I know you feel that I''m just not a normal person. Yes, I am not. I am the leader and the Seer of our tribe in this generation."


    The elder tried to open her eyes to look at Mark. However, sure enough, she could barely see anything.


    "A Seer," Mark repeated. "So, you can see the future?"


    p Hearing that, the elder shook her head.</anda>


    "Unfortunately, a Seer like me is not that capable. I can only see signs about things that I needed to know. Just like I ended up calling you Sir a "Savior". From the signs given to me, we found this ce. It was because the person that could lead the remaining of our tribe to salvation should be in this ce."


    "And that is me, isn''t it?"


    Mark said which the elder nodded to.


    "I can''t be mistaken. You are the person that the signs had told me about."


    The elder then squinted her eyes as she looked at Mark.


    "My eyes could already be bad. However, I can still see that you and that woman behind you are different from most people on Earth."


    Mark fell silent while Mei grasped his hand as she intently listened to the elder.


    "Everyone in the world is shrouded by the energy called fate. The destiny that dictated the oue of their lives. The string that pulled them into the events that happened in their lives. Everyone had differences. Some might be strongly shrouded by fate while others were weakly shrouded. Some could not defy it no matter what and some could defy and direct it to some extent. There are also those like me who can foretell it to some extent and avoid our impending doom."


    The elder than alternated her stares towards Mark and Mei.


    "You two did not have a shred of it. There is no doubt that you two could only be our saviors, especially you, Mark was it?"


    The elder then looked at her grandson and caressed his head with a sad look on her face.


    "Our world is already destined to doom. That is what I saw from the signs. Even those monsters that were previously humans are still bound to fate. Who they attack, who they eat, where they wander, and where they trip. It might look random, however, they were only following what fate dictated. They were only enacting what fate had dictated for us. The only ones that could save us are those not bound by these chains."


    "You''re not telling me to save the world, are you?"


    Mark asked.


    To that question, the elder shook her head.


    "It''s alreadyte for that... The world was already facing destruction since all these unfortunate events started. The only ces that would be safe were those ces where people like you had influence over. Like this ce. That is why... I beg you to let our people live here."


    The elder lowered her head towards Mark and Mei. Both the girl and the boy followed the gestures of their grandmother.

 Chapter 419 Chaflars Way Of Apology, Retrieving The Supplies With A Pleasant Surprise

    <strong>Day 72 - 8:12 AM - Moutain Base, Mount Mbito, General Nakar, Quezon</strong>


    The night had passed after Mark spoke to the tribe elder. He decided to let them stay. Having a Seer in his base was not detrimental to them. In fact, an existence like the elder was more reliable than his [irvoyance] that would be activated without his control.


    Although the elder''s [irvoyance] was a bit obscure in its predictions, it was more active than his. That was what he needed.


    He and Mei also listened to the elder tell their origins. Unlike other psychics that managed to gain their abilities identally like Mark and Jaeya, her [irvoyance] ran on the blood of their family. Before the current Seer faced their death''s door, they needed to pass on their ability as a Seer to a sessor. The sessor should be a female direct descendant from the Seer''s family and should be of adult age.


    That should be the normal way for them to pass on the leadership of the tribe and their Seer. The female child of their family would be the Seer while a male child would take on the role of the Tribe Chief. Unfortunately, there was no possible sessor for the elder right now.


    Her children all passed away during their journey from Baguio towards this ce. They died along with other members of the tribe when they were attacked by mutated animals several times in their journey.


    Sadly, the only ones left in the elder''s family were her two Grandchildren. The little boy, Gani, was just an eleven-year-old. As for the granddaughter, Mayumi, she had just passed her seventeenth birthday three months ago. Both of them still did not fit the right criterion for the positions that should have waited for them.


    However, as they intended to go under Mark''s leadership, Gani would not be the tribe chief anymore. As for Mayumi, she would still need to inherit the elder''s position and be the next seer on her next birthday.


    Thus, the elder still needed to wait for several months before she could pass on peacefully.


    That was right, the elder might be avoiding the topic since her grandchildren were around. However, Mark could tell.


    Her time in this world had long been over. The aura of death was rather too strong around her. However, it seemed that not being able to pass their position as a Seer prevented her from passing on.


    Somehow, Mark had the thought that it was rather simr to folklore stories about Aswangs and Mananggal. There were stories about them where Aswangs would not be able to die of old age or sickness if they did not give their powers to a sessor.


    It might be simr, but, Mark could not sense that kind of atmosphere from the elder. There might be some simrities. Nevertheless, the elder and her grandchildren were surely human. If not, not only Mark, even Amihan would sense it.


    With those in mind, Mark stretched his back as he helped with moving the things out of their vehicles.


    The supplies and weapons they got from the mansion, the things they brought from Bay City, and most importantly, the gaming consoles Mark brought back from different ces.


    Prioritizing the gadgets he had, Mark and Mei moved them into his house.


    As Mark had thought, the night here in the mountains was way colder than in the city. Especiallyst night, everyone had to adjust to the drop in temperature. Nevertheless, it was a ratherfortable night. Since the [Blood Children] had not seen Mark for a long time, they had been longing to be around him. As such, their warm bodies served as a heater for him, Mei and the girls.


    The bed he prepared wasrge, yet it still felt cramped because of that.


    Even right now, while Mark was working, the [Blood Children] were around watching his movements. They were thoughtful enough not to disturb his work. Well, aside for  who would still jump towards Mark if not for Crimson holding her back.


    After moving the things out of the vehicles, Mark with a small team from his group would go out to retrieve the supplies they left with Char. There was also the supplies left behind at the mansion. They also needed to pick those up as soon as possible.


    "Master, where should I put these?"


    Odelina stopped by to ask while she held arge box filled with things Mark collected.


    "Put it inside the first room on the right after entering."


    Mark replied.


    The contents of that box were things he collected from the remains of the animals, insects, and even mutated infected, they encountered during the journey. It was only reasonable to put these items inside his workshop.


    Since Mark, Mei and Odelina focused on the things they had inside the [Exceed: Personnel Carrier], they finished early. Odelina went off to help with moving out things from the other vehicles.


    Mark, on the other hand, was troubled about three things. Two of the threey down unconscious inside three cages in front of him and Mei.


    The first one was Vem. This embodiment of lust was brought back by him without really thinking too much about it. He just found her as an interesting creature and nothing else.


    Second, there was the [King Type] infected. It was ring at Mark while lying down inside its cage. Its throat was already hoarse from screaming and growling that were was no voiceing out of its mouth anymore. Probably, Mark would observe and experiment on this guy before actually killing it.


    The third one was nothing else but the Water Bug he caught from Laguna Lake.


    While Mark was looking at the unconscious water bug, someone wandering around passed by which Mark immediately called.


    "Annica,e here for a bit."


    The girl was amazed about the ce that early in the morning, she was wandering around looking at almost everything. She even entered every ce she could enter. Of course, she knew that there were ces that she could not enter and did not force herself to. As Mark called her, she skipped toward him.


    "What is it, big brother?"


    "Can you tame this one?"


    Mark pointed at the Water Bug. He was not sure if she would be able to and how she would react to this creature. After all, it would not be surprising if she was afraid of cockroach-like insects like this water bug.


    Unexpectedly, she crouched in front of the cage.


    "Can I touch it?"


    She turned to Mark and asked.<sub> </sub>


    "It''s fine. I made it unconscious so even if you tear off its legs, it won''t attack."


    Hearing that, Annica puffed her cheeks like a squirrel.


    "Do you want me to tame it or kill it? Don''t say something like that to animals and insects when they did nothing wrong, alright?!"


    Mark was scolded by the youngdy.


    He could only shrug his shoulders.


    "Alright, I won''t do it anymore."


    "Good!"


    Annica replied puffing out her almost nonexistent chest with a proud look.


    Mark could hear Mei trying to muffle her giggles beside him. It seemed that she did not have a bad impression of Annica and found her antics rather amusing.


    "So," Mark spoke ignoring the muffled giggles. "Can you tame it?"


    To that question, Annical tapped the Water Bug in different parts of its body as if trying out something. Finally, with aplicated look, she turned to Mark and replied.


    "I can probably try first. You see, I never tried taming an insect. My pets are either birds, mammals, reptiles. Mutated insects are very troublesome to catch and most of them had uncanny ways to protect themselves. It''s dangerous for us to keep one before. Also, the intelligence of insects is way lower than animals. We never encountered one smart enough to form a rtionship with humans."


    That was reasonable. Mark could not help but nod. He also noticed that fact. Compared to Mutated Animals, there were more Mutaed Insects that were proven to be more dangerous.


    "Alright, I will leave that guy to you. Don''t worry, I guarantee that this guy is among the smarter ones from the ce I caught it."


    "Really, if that''s true, then it will be easier."


    Annica replied with a happy expression. She was also eager to try to tame an insect for the first time.


    After another hour, the preparations were finished. Mark and those capable of driving all went out bringing the ves that were left from the battle yesterday. As they were given some food during the night out of pity, they looked better now.


    Unexpectedly, about half of the ves decided to stay. There were just twenty-three ves left. From Mark''s estimate yesterday, there should be around fifty ves. It seemed that most of them ran off during the battle. Among these twenty-three, ten kneeled in front of Mark to let them stay.


    He decided to let those ves in. They were sincere enough in his view. Of course, he made them know that a wrong and ill move would cost their life in this base. They better behave and listen to those that manage the base.


    As for the remaining thirteen, they had no ns to join Mark who they saw ughtering people without batting an eyelid. They knew about the military settlement in Infanta and would rather go there. Mark would not stop these people. He let them ride out of the forest until the highway.


    From there, however, they were free to leave on their own. They were not Mark''s people. He had no reason to escort them further from that. However, Hallie and the others convinced him to at least give them weapons to protect themselves till they reach the settlement.


    Since that was not a problem, Mark agreed and gave them some crossbows, arrows, spears, and swords. As for a vehicle, they should try finding their own. Mark and his group had no vehicles to spare.


    Reaching the highway a few minutes after twelve, the ves left. Some of them were somehow reluctant. Nevertheless, it was alreadyte for them to change their mind. Thus, all thirteen of them made their way towards the next town and look for a vehicle they could use.


    After splitting from the ves, Mark and his group made their way to the ce they left Char.


    As soon as they arrived, they immediately went to load the things inside the vehicles. Fortunately, without the body of Gar''m and Eimee inside the [Exceed: Disintegrator Fortress], they had a lot of space to spare inside the modified lorry. They managed to load everything into the vehicles and did not need to go back here anymore.


    Aside from that, Mark and the others were rather happy after arriving here. It seemed that to make up for yesterday where Char was caught sleeping, the dragon caught several animals instead of eating everything it saw.


    Unexpectedly, it caught a pair of male and female mutated cows, a male mutated grebe, and a hen about the size of a german shepherd. The animals were trapped shivering inside a house guarded by Char. These poor animals would surely shiver at a sight of a dragon.


    Mark was not mad at Char at all about yesterday. However, it seemed that Char was really afraid that he was angry. He could not help butmend the dragon for its work making it feel relieved.


    Thus, not only they managed to retrieve the supplies, they would go back with livestock to raise.


    Nevertheless, looking at the animals, anyone would surely tilt their heads.


    The grebe looked fine even though it wasrger than its normal counterparts. However, the pattern on its feathers and its color surely resembled some depictions of a Vegavis.


    As for the cows, although their color was the same, their horns were unbelievably asrge as a bull and was shaped like a ram''s. Their fur was also on the longer side though still short to be the same as yaks.


    For the chicken, aside from being asrge as an adult german shepherd, its tail feathers were rather longer than it should be. It was also as white as snow. It would be hard to see it if it was ced in a white painted background as its beak andb were also white. Only its eyes had a reddish color simr to a starling.


    With the threat of Char, it became awfully easy to make the animals board the vehicles. They all seemed to be in a sad mood as their freedom was taken away from them. Nevertheless, for sure, Mark''s base was safer for these animals to stay.


    Returning back to the base through a bumpy ride, everyone had another reason to rejoice.


    The base awfully needed livestock to increase the variety of food and nutrition everyone could intake. This timing was the best for everyone.


    For tomorrow, Mark nned to go out with the same team once more. This time, they had to retrieve the supplies they left at the mansion.


    Nevertheless, it seemed that they had some uninvited guests to meet there.

 Chapter 420 Milliels Gratitude And Sadness, Homesickness That Could Not Be Fullfilled

    <strong>Day 73 - 7:22 AM - Moutain Base, Mount Mbito, General Nakar, Quezon</strong>


    Another day had passed, and another morning came.


    Everyone that had just arrived in this ce was still adjusting to the environment. Nevertheless, they would prefer the current situationpared to their living conditions back in the Settlements. Both Mark''s group from Bay City and the members of the Salvador family could agree with such fact.


    There were a few animal attacks that happenedst night. A wolf-like mutated dog and a wild monkey with spikes on its spine appeared on separate asions. It seemed that the smell of blood from the previous battle still lingered around. Both animals were detected wandering around the ce where the ves previously stayed.


    Because of Mark, they managed to catch the wolf-like dog. As for the monkey, they had to kill it since it was a feral one. It was added to their food supply.


    Before Mark returned, everyone in the base would try to kill any form of danger that came close to the walls. It was because they had no way to tell whether these animals and insects were feral or not, aside from seeing some of them run away from the sight of humans. Most of the mutated animals and insects turned out to be carnivorous, and both humans and infected were included in their diet.


    Now, not only Mark but Annica was here. Everyone was looking forward to her taming more animals for the sake of the base. The girl even included the farm animals brought back yesterday to her list. That way, it would be easier to manage them.


    In fact, Annica already seeded in taming one.


    The very first animal in the base. The female Grebe that Mark caught after arriving in this mountain was already tamed by her. The Grebe was already used to being around humans and knew that she was safer here than outside. Unfortunately, her eggs that Mark had returned did not hatch anymore, and she was rather lonely.


    Her existence, however, made the male Grebe morefortable after being caught. The two could be seen waddling around their coop together like love birds. It would not take long before the base could add fresh eggs to their menu. Of course, it would still take more time before they could actually distribute it individually from time to time. They still needed to let the Grebes procreate.


    Finally, as the tamer, Annica got the chance to name the two. The female was Maddy, and the male was Bailey.


    While Annica was busy with the animals, there were others on the fields to the north of the base. Using the water from the spring, they watered the nts that already sprouted from the ground.


    Some of the people designated to farming, were busy creating new fields for the seeds of [Energy Rice] Mark got from Bay City. Rice needed more irrigation than other crops they had. Because of that, they decided to make the new fields south of the base closer to the river.


    While the adults worked, the children got to y before they attend their studies. It was mandatory since the adults did not want the knowledge of the children to regress because of the apocalypse. At least, they needed to learn about things they could apply to daily events.


    On the other hand, not only the people that newly arrived were adjusting. Even Laps and Fein were adjusting to the new environment they were in. Both of them were animals living in the city and was not used to the natural environment.


    Fortunately, the two did not seem to reject it. Especially when Wargy, Nicole''s pet, would go bother them from time to time. In fact, this fox-like wolf animal would try to disturb every animal it saw trying to y with them. It was good that the only ones it encountered were either the ones that were not interested in it or the ones tamed by Mark and Annica. If not, it could spell trouble for the mischievous young animal.


    ***


    "Gege, coffee?"


    Mei spoke as he handed a cup of hot coffee to Mark.


    He dly received the cup and sipped from it. Mark really needed some caffeine right now.


    There were a lot of things to improve in his home. Things like rooms for the little girls, another designated for his collection and consoles, and also the instation of the sr panels he brought back from Bay City. He also had other ns to do. He wanted to do a lot of things, including ying games. However, there was only one him. He could only do all these one at a time.


    Thus, he woke up early and started to work. After breakfast, he would also go and prepare for their departure.


    Mark was d Mei was here to make coffee for him. He actually forgot to make one because he was too engrossed in digging a new room.


    "Ah, Gege," Mei spoke. "Uhh, Hallie... She''s Hallie, right? The short woman with pink sses."


    "Yeah, that''s right," Mark affirmed that she got Hallie''s name right. "Did she say something?"


    "Yes. Hallie said that someone called Milliel wanted to speak to you."


    Mark tilted his head. He could not remember anyone called Milliel in this base. He started to think that the person might be someone from the ves or the tribe.


    "Did she tell where?"


    Mark asked.


    "Hallie said that she''s in that shed near the spring."


    Hearing that, Mark realized who Milliel was. He had not met her since they arrived. Since she wanted to speak, it seemed that she managed to open up to humans. Furthermore, she seemed to have learned the humannguage while he was not here. It was a good thing.


    As such, Mark decided to postpone his current work and visited Milliel.


    Hearing from Mark that Milliel was actually a real mermaid, Mei''s interest was piqued. She wanted to stay behind and do her chores initially but decided to see the mermaid with Mark. The little girls were already awake and ying so, it was already fine to leave them with Odelina.


    ***


    Mark and Mei entered the shed. The noise from the metal door made Milliel inside flinch and hide under the water in her pool. Seeing who went in, she was quite reluctant but still decided to show herself. She still remembered Mark. After all, it would be bad for her to forget the person who literally saved her. It was despite what his intentions were.


    Furthermore, Nicole, Hallie, na, Joleen, and Trisha did not treat her poorly. She knew that it was not an evil ce. This made her think that the person who saved her was not a dangerous human, despite his appearance.


    From the girls that she met often, she slowly learned theirnguage. There was still a lot to work on. In the least, she could understand the context and somemon words.


    Aside from her savior, however, there was an unfamiliar woman. She could not help but look at her.


    Due to that, Mei and Milliel ended up staring at each other.


    Mei was fascinated by the appearance of this beautiful mermaid. Her blond colored heir adorned by colorful shells and stones and her golden gold-fish like tail perfectlyplimented her appearance.


    As for Milliel, her thoughts were almost the same. Mermaids were born beautiful, and they knew that fact. In her kingdom, it was not wrong to say that she was the most beautiful. However, she did not expect that there would be a female human that could top her beauty.


    "Ahem..."


    Mark purposedly coughed. He was there, why was the two staring at each other? It was not like he wanted to be stared at. However, Mark had other things to do than watch the two stare at each other.


    Both Mei and Milliel looked down, ashamed of their manners.


    "Can you understand me now?"


    Mark crouched at the side of the pool and spoke. Still, he kept a distance as he did not want to frighten her now.


    To Mark''s question, Milliel replied.


    "Ye... Yes... little..."<sub> </sub>


    She spoke slowly.


    Even though she already knew how to, Milliel was still in the process of learning. She was thinking deeply about what words she needed to say before speaking it out.


    "Alright, I''ll introduce us a bit. I''m Mark, this is Mei. What''s your name?"


    Mark introduced himself and Mei.


    "Milliel."


    She replied.


    "Hallie said that you wanted to speak to me."


    Mark spoke once more, which made the mermaid nod.


    She then reached for the centerpiece of her head ornament and took out a pretty, red-colored stone. It almost looked like a crystal if not for its pebble-like texture, and teardrop shape.


    Slowly, she approached Mark and handed the stone to Mark. It seemed that she was now fine to approach humans. At least, for a few selected people.


    Mark carefully took the stone, and Milliel spoke.


    "Th-thank... Thank you... Saving me..."


    She was a bit bashful. It was because, being a princess of the mermaids, she never tried telling others about how grateful she was. Her family and servants were the only exceptions.


    "What is this?"


    Mark could not help but ask. If it was just a regr stone or crystal, there was no need to question anything. He would just ept it. However, when he touched it, he could feel some energy from it.


    "K-key... Treasury... Our kingdom."


    This made Mark and Mei confused.


    "Isn''t this too precious for a thank you gift?"


    Mark could not help but ask another question. In his view, this thing was really precious. Even though there was no guarantee that he would be able to go to their kingdom under the sea, it was still a precious thing.


    To Mark''s question, Milliel looked down sadly.


    "Do-don''t need anymore... Everyone... Dead... Kingdom... Destroyed. Cannot go... home."


    Mermaid, like Sirens, could charm people. At the same time, to the mermaids, this ability would reflect their current emotions.


    Mei now understood how Mark was feeling when he could detect the emotions of anyone. She could feel Millie''s sadness as her own.


    Mark was the same. And as an Empath, he could feel the sadness even stronger.


    If not for the fact that Mark was used to this feeling, and Mei barely felt emotions to other things besides Mark and her current family, the two would have shed tears already.


    As for the mermaid, even if she was sad, she did not shed any tears. She already epted her and their kingdom''s fate. She had grown stronger mentallypared to her pampered self back in her kingdom. The dangers and sorrow she felt made her grow stronger.


    Seeing Milliel''s sad face, Mark looked at Mei with an intention. Mei looked at him who showed his hand glowing with faint white light and nodded.


    Milliel suddenly felt a hand patting her head. It felt good andforting. She looked up and saw Mark patting her head.


    "You don''t have to be sad anymore. Everyone here can be your new family."


    Milliel nodded a bit. However, she was still reluctant to believe him fully. After all, they were humans while she was a mermaid.


    "Alright, we need to go. We''ll talk again some other time."


    Mark said as he decided to leave with Mei. Unexpectedly, Mei smiled at Milliel and waved to her before going out of the shed.


    Milliel watched the two go out if a bit of relief. Her heart was a bit lighter as she finally managed to thank the person that was the reason why she was still alive. About what Mark had said, she still needed to think about it.


    She swam to the part of her pool that had no roof. There, she could look at the sky while she reminisced about home.


    However, when she looked at the sky, her eyes widened.


    A swirl of grey clouds could be seen in the sky together with a familiar aura that suddenly surrounded her.


    Pearls fell and ttered unto the water as her tears flowed out.


    ***


    "Gege, you''re being sly."


    Mei could onlyin at Mark. He was standing outside the shed with a crystal glowing in his hand.


    Mark had no time to ask Milliel for personal information like her status in their kingdom. However, for her to have a key to their treasury, it was not hard to assume her status.


    He was right. As he activated the ability to call storms that could have belonged to the king of Mermaids, he felt an intense reaction from Milliel.


    Well, it would still take time before she could open up to everyone in this base. They could only take it slowly.


    For now, they should prioritize things.


    That was why after breakfast, Mark left with the same team he had yesterday. They would go to the mansion to pick up the supplies and weapons left there. Possibly, get the humvee too.


    Unexpectedly, someone had gone to the mansion first before they arrived.

 Chapter 421 The Group Of Raiders, Expectations Turning Into A Nightmare

    <strong>Day 73 - 10:32 AM - Mansion, Padi, San Jose, Antipolo, Rizal</strong>


    A hundred and two kilometers away from New Infanta Settlement, this mansion could be found.


    It was a mansion previously owned by a business tycoon. That was what he was known outside. A kind, rich man who had several blooming business and several volunteer foundations.


    Not known to many, in the underworld of this country, the very same person was known as a smuggler. Drugs, weapons, and even people, he could get them in and out of the country without problems.


    He had a bunker under his mansion. This bunker served mainly as his storage for his wares. The items he smuggled from outside the country. Despite being a rich person, he was extremely fearful of suffering losses. That was why he made a tightly hidden bunker just for his underground business.


    However, the bunker did not only serve as secure storage for his wares. It also protected him, his family, and trusted people from dangers outside. Being wealthy on the surface and well-known in the underground market, various threats were aiming for his life.


    When the apocalypse happened, however, the man was on a business trip to meet a client in Southern Luzon. Being caught in the middle of the apocalypse away from his trusted mansion, he perished along with his guards.


    As for his family and employees in the mansion, they all perished in a quite simr fashion. The only difference was...


    His family and trusted employees were already dead. The wealthy man, however, was still roaming the infected streets as a Mutated Infected.


    There was no one else left in his mansion. His supplies and weapons were left in the bunker for the taking of anyone lucky to stumble upon it.


    In this case, it was Mark''s group that was returning from Bay City settlement several days ago. Since they did not have enough capacity to carry everything, they could only leave more than half of what they found inside the bunker.


    Because of that, however, it became a sight for the sore eyes of someone envious.


    "Is this the ce?"


    A man with a solemn aura around him stepped out of his vehicle in front of the mansion. Just by the looks of his face, it was easy to tell that he was not a person to be trifled with. He asked that question as he nced at the man still sitting inside the vehicle.


    "That is right, sir. This is the ce."


    The man inside the vehicle nodded respectfully.


    Hearing that, the solemn-looking man signaled towards the other vehicles in their group, making everyone not designated to drive go out.


    The man with a solemn aura was known by the alias Combustion. The leader of the survivor group called Hell Bombers. It was a group that was known for their delinquent members.


    They belonged to the survivor groups based in New Infanta Settlement. While they did follow the rules and regtions of the settlement, it was different outside where thew was already nonexistent. They were known for ckmailing and forcing people to hand over parts of their loot, calling it a protection fee.


    It was a group undesired by most people in the settlement. However, it was also risky to confront them. Among their thirty members, half were Mutators, and the remaining ones were Evolvers. Furthermore, it was known that three of their Mutators, the leader and his two henchmen, were double ability Mutators.


    A Mutator was already rare in a sense, not to mention one with two abilities. And for some reason, three of them gathered in this group of uwful bandits.


    This time, they were here because of the tip their newest member gave. The man inside the vehicle that Combustion asked earlier. As he went out of the car to show everyone the way, his face was open for everyone to see.


    It was no other than Harold.


    Harold already left his group filled with useless baggage. He wanted to lead a group of strong individuals, simr to what he saw when they were being escorted to the settlement.


    Unfortunately, Prince was already as good as dead while Kate did not follow him. Still, no matter how frustrated he could be, he knew his limits.


    There was no way for him to convince anyone to join his group easily. And thus, he thought of a n. He decided to join a group that even the military would have a hard time dealing with. He would climb the ranks, and even if he did not be the leader immediately, he would have enough authority over the group.


    He would make each member trust him as much as possible. And when the leader suddenly died, it would be easier for him to take over that position and eliminate opposition.


    For the first step, it was to sell the group some valuable information. After all, who would be able to resist arge amount of supply and weapons lying around for taking? Once they managed to retrieve those supplies and weapons, his value in the group would surely rise rapidly.


    "Boss! The gates are locked by some kind of ck metal! We can''t break it."


    One of the men trying to open the gates called out to Combustion.


    The leader also checked. This was the first time he saw this kind of very strong metal. The lock that jammed the gates surely made it hard to open it without actually breaking the gates. Furthermore, he assumed that his ability would not be able to destroy this lock at all. Nevertheless, it also made him assured that something valuable could be found inside the mansion for it to be locked in such a manner.


    "Clear the way."


    Combustion spoke which made the others run away from the gates immediately. He then searched where the hinges of the gates were located.


    "Pui!"


    Taking a step back, he spat on one of the hinges.


    Then...


    "POM!"


    A fist-sized explosion urred once his salivanded on the hinge. From the explosion, the hinge was damaged immediately. He then moved onto the next hinge and did the same.


    Combustion got his alias for a reason.


    His mutation made his saliva explode after it was exposed to some elements in the air and the surroundings. The mostmon catalyst that could make his saliva explode was metal. Furthermore, as the explosion caused by his saliva was more of temperature than impact based one, it was very effective in melting metal in an instant.


    Because of this ability, that alias stuck onto him easily.


    POM! POM! POM!


    After several small explosions...


    BAM!


    The whole gate fell down with a loud deafening sound.


    After the gate fell, the other members around immediately carried the gate out of the way. Then, their vehicles drove in without hesitation.


    Of course, they remained cautious with their surroundings. They had their weapons ready for any confrontations that could happen.


    On the way here, they had to fight some Mutated Animas, Mutated Insects, and Stray Infected. It was not that easy to reach this far from the settlement. Furthermore, they had to pass by several towns which hindered them further.


    They left the settlement way before sunset to reach this ce and arrived just now. That was how far this ce was and how time-consuming the journey they had.


    In their minds, Harold should better be telling the truth or just their current fatigue was enough to make them beat him up senseless.


    Still, if they really managed to get something valuable, they would be grateful. Searching for things around the settlement was not that easy anymore. The longer time passed, the lesser things they could find and scavenge. Or else, even with their delinquent attitudes, they would not risk harassing other groups. Even though they were strong in their own evaluation, there were others that were the same.<sub> </sub>


    Blindly provoking others could lead to a lot of deaths. They did not want that. Once the strength of their group dwindled, a lot of people that they offended woulde after them. The military was included.


    "Harold, where is the entrance to the bunker that you are talking about?"


    Combustion asked Harold who stood beside him.


    "I only saw two entrances," Harold replied. "One is under the statue in the garden. Another is under the swimming pool behind the mansion."


    "You guys heard him!" Combustion shouted at his men. "Go check the locations he mentioned."


    With that order, the men divided into three groups. One group went to the garden to look for a statue, while another group went to the back of the mansion to check the swimming pool. As for the third group, they stayed at the parking area ready to back up the two other groups if necessary.


    As Combustion and Harold waited at the parking lot, voices were heard from the leader''s radio.


    "Boss, we already found the statue! We are trying to remove it from its ce!"


    The first group seemed to have found the statue easily. After all, it was too conspicuous in this ce.


    Then, the second group also contacted them soon after.


    "Boss! We located the secret door at the bottom of the pool. The door is closed and we can''t see any way in!"


    "What do you think?"


    Combustion asked Harold for his opinion.


    "Sir," Harold replied. "I think, it is better to enter through the door in the garden. From what I remember, the door at the bottom of the swimming pool should have a broken elevator inside the bunker. Maybe, the way to open it is inside."


    "Alright," Combustion nodded. "We''re going to the garden."


    The leader then signaled half of the members around them to follow.


    While they were on the way, the first team contacted them through the radio once more.


    "Boss, we managed to remove the statue. There really is a metal hatch underneath! We are trying to open it but something like the metal that locked the gates are blocking the way."


    "Wait for us. We areaing."


    Combustion replied.


    "Yes, boss!"


    Combustion and Harold arrived at the garden. The members of the first team still tried to break the strange metal. However, their metal saws were broken instead.


    As their boss arrived, the men trying to break the metal hatch retreated to make way.


    Combustion then analyzed the hatch and as his men stated, a ck metal lock prevented them from opening it. As such, the leader tried his way of opening it once more.


    "PUI!"


    POM!


    He spat on the hatch and a small high-temperature explosion happened.


    After the explosion disappeared, they saw that the surface of the hatch was a bit damaged. It was surprising and they were amazed at how sturdy the hatch was.


    Nevertheless, as the damage was properly made, they knew that their leader only had to spit on the hatch several more times, and they would be able to open it.


    As such, Combustion repeated the process and slowly whittled the metal hatch open.


    POM!


    Finally, thest hit needed to create an opening on the hatch was reached. As the remnants of the explosion disappeared, they saw that the hatch was almost opened. They only needed to remove some of the parts that held it in ce.


    They immediately approached the hatch to try and open it.


    It was then when Harold felt odd.


    As a part of his ability, his sensitivity towards danger was heightened. He could detect vibrations in the surroundings with his skin. Right now, he could feel some vibrationsing from the other side of the hatch.


    It was odd because there should not be anyone right now inside the bunker as he estimated. He started to think that the explosions Combustion caused made some reactions in the air outside. It was possible since the bunker was an enclosed space.


    Then, he knew that he was mistaken as he felt the vibrations started to be more violent. By instinct, he took a few steps back before actually bolting off and take distance away from the hatch.


    The others saw him and felt odd. Combustion, on the other hand, saw Harold''s expression and felt danger. He immediately used his second ability. He spat on his hands and pped. Then, he spread both his hands in front of him. An explosion urred in front. However, unlike earlier that it looked like a ball, the mes this time made a wall to protect him.


    After securing that the front was blocked, Combustion also retreated.


    The leader tried to warn his subordinates to run away. However, it was alreadyte.


    ck smoke leaked out of the hole on the metal hatch. It immediately swallowed everyone in about three meters radius around the hatch.


    "AAAAAHHHHHH!!!!"


    Painful screams ensued.


    Some of the men managed to run out of the area covered by the ck smoke. However, they still fell down... suffering...


    Their bodies festered and rotted at an rming rate. It was like watching the process of a dead body rotting in a fast-forwarded video. The only difference was that the rotting men were still alive. They kicked a fuss and screamed as rotting holes on their bodies appeared eating them slowly.


    It did not take long and those that managed to get out of the smoke died.


    Combustion turned towards Harold. His eyes filled with fury.


    "WHAT IS THE MEANING OF THIS?!"


    To that question, Harold could only swallow his saliva. After all, he had no idea at all.

 Chapter 422 The Failed Plans, The Ambush Prepared By The Raiders

    <strong>Day 72 - 10:39 AM - Mansion, Padi, San Jose, Antipolo, Rizal</strong>


    ck smoke scattered around the hatch found under the statue in the garden. As the smoke spread, it was apanied by the blood-curling screams of the rotting victims.


    What was scarier than dying immediately or being tortured to death?


    Feeling a pain worse than being tortured and watching your body rotting slowly.


    A grotesque hole opened on your body, slowly eating everything as it dug into your flesh deeper.


    Witnessing your skin and flesh reduced to a putrid mush as it exposed your bones and organs.


    Seeing such a horrible thing happen to yourself until all signs of life escaped your body. That was one of the worst things that could happen to anyone.


    It was a severely nasty way to go. Especially when thest thing they would remember before dying was their rotting organs spilling on the ground.


    Those that were not in the radius affected by the ck smoke felt their stomach churn at the sight of their dyingrades. At the same time, they felt relieved that they were not the ones in that condition.


    They immediately retreated further away, afraid that the ck smoke would spread even more. Fortunately, the smoke did not scatter more than it initially had. Almost everyone sighed in relief.


    The camaraderie of this group was rather low for sure. It was because relief was evident on the faces of their members that survived. Even though their dyingrades were still rotting in front of them.


    On the other hand, Combustion''s temper had surelybusted.


    Harold was silent as he did not know what to say. Thus, Combustion approached Harold and grabbed thetter on his neck.


    By appearance, Harold was older. He was a government worker in histe thirties. Combustion, on the other hand, was only in his early thirties. However, the younger one had a foreigner''s blood on him. His stature was way bulkier and taller than the older one.


    Furthermore, Harold had a passive personality and a schemer, while Combustion was wilder and a straight-up gangster.


    These traits caused the scene that was happening to these two looked natural.


    "Boss, you must calm down."


    A person approached to stop Combustion. It was the second inmand in the group and their second Dual-ability Mutator.


    He was called ell. Of course, it was also an alias. A man in histe twenties who looked like a rational thinker. In fact, his looks matched his role in this group as the nner.


    His ability, like his alias portrayed, was superspeed. The muscles and bones in his body mutated in a way that enabled him to move around with inhuman speed. In fact, ell should be among the team that went to the swimming pool. When the screams were heard, however, he rushed towards this ce and saw Combustion grabbing Harold''s neck.


    Being the brain of the group, it was not hard for him to realize what happened after looking at the surroundings.


    "Why are you stopping me? I almost suffered like our men because of this bastard!"


    That was right. The leader of the group, Combustion, was not angry about his men dying grotesquely. He was furious because he almost suffered the same fate as those unlucky men.


    "Boss, look at him." ell pointed at Harold. "His face showed it all. He did not know and had no idea that this will happen."


    "Tsk!"


    Combustion looked at Harold''s and saw the confusion in his face. The group leader could only click his tongue as he released him.


    They already lost several people. Despite what happened, they could not just kill Harold and reduce their numbers further.


    "What do you think this is?


    Combustion turned to ell and asked.


    "Surely, a trap. Probably, made using another Mutator''s ability." ell replied. "Harold already said that these supplies were found by another person. The leader of the group that brought them to the settlement. It was likely to be left by them."


    ell replied with sound reasoning. He was totally on point with his deduction.


    "Do you remember anything?"


    ell then turned to Harold and asked.


    Harold, on the other hand, nodded. He remembered that Mark left this cest. Mark only caught up to the rest on the highway.


    Before Harold was able to reply, however, the radio Combustion and ell had started to release sounds.


    "Boss, ell, can you hear me?"


    It was the voice of the third inmand in the group.


    He was called HawkOwl. Like Combustion and ell, his alias was given to him because of his ability.


    The ability to see far away like a Hawk. Furthermore, it did not matter whether it was day or night, he would be able to see things within a very long distance.


    That was not all, however. HawkOwl was also one of the three Mutators with the ability to fly within Infanta Settlement. It was because he could sprout a pair of wings on his back.


    Right now, HawkOwl was not here with the rest but was left in the vicinity of the highway. Like always, he served as the main lookout for their group. This the method they always used to find other survivor groups and extort supplies from them.


    "What is it, Hawk?"


    Combustion thew ast furious nce at Harold before he spoke to the radio.


    "I found arge group of vehicles driving on the highway. They seem to be the same group that we saw arrive in the settlement the other day."


    Hearing that, both Combustion and ell looked at Harold.


    "They should being back for the supplies then."


    Combustion nodded. It meant that Harold did not lie to them, and there were really supplies hidden in this ce. If that was the case, there was no way for them to let go of this.


    "What do you think we should do?"


    The leader turned to the brain of their group.


    "Actually, I rather not have conflicts with a group that had ties to the military," ell replied. "But I think it is alreadyte for us to retreat."


    Combustion could not help but nod. There was only one entrance to this area, and that was through the highway. To leave this ce and escape without getting caught, they could only take the road going to the northwest of the mansion. However, that was also risking themselves.


    The reason they managed to reach this ce was because of the same group that they wanted to escape cleaned the road already. Going further away was risky as it was likely to be an untouchednd since the apocalypse ensued.


    "Boss, let''s try tomunicate and negotiate first. If not, we can only confront them. We should prepare an ambush as fast as possible."


    ell formted their n to deal with the situation. They immediately called on everyone and prepared for the arrival of the other group.<sub> </sub>


    ***


    "Hmm?"


    Riding inside the [Exceed: Personnel Carrier], Mark suddenly looked up. It was even though the only thing he could see was the roof of the vehicle.


    "Gege, is something wrong?"


    Mei asked as she noticed that Mark detected something.


    "Someone is watching us."


    "From the sky? Is it an animal or an insect?"


    "Hmm..." Mark thought for a second and answered. "An animal with two legs, two arms, and looked like an evolved monkey. Well, in a way, its a pest. So, also an insect."


    "An enemy, isn''t it?"


    Mei replied with understanding.


    Everyone else inside the vehicle, however, was all confused as to how Mei came to that conclusion.


    Unexpectedly, Mark nodded.


    It made everyone question their sanity because of these two.


    Right now, there was only Odelina, who drove the vehicle, Jaeya, and Edzel inside with Mei and Mark. The others were left back at the base since there was no need for everyone to be here. They were just going to retrieve the supplies they left.


    On the other vehicles, there was Arvie and Jason that drove their armored carrier. The armored jeep was driven by Ron and Nikky. The [Exceed: Disintegrator Fortress] was manned by Edward and Terrence. Lastly, thest vehicle was driven by Monique''s husband, Harvey.


    As for Char and Gifre, Mark decided not to bring them. It was because while they could help carry the supplies, the presence of the two could deter any prey they coulde across. Whether it be humans or animals, Mark would wee anyone who wanted to be ughtered.


    Fortunately, it seemed that there were some idiots. And more than that, there was someone with the ability to fly. If Mark was a bit crazier, he would have licked his lips already. However, that was out of the bounds of his personality.


    ***


    Arriving at the mansion, Mark told Jaeya to order anyone to stop outside the gates and remain on standby.


    On the other hand, Mark stepped out of the vehicle. It was because he needed to face the idiots blocking the gates with their cars.


    "One, two, three..." Mark muttered as he stepped forwards. "Twenty-three, huh."


    Two people stood in front of the gates, seven people armed with guns were taking cover behind the vehicles that blocked the entrance. The rest were scattered around, hiding in the bushes, tall grass, and trees aside for one person. Thest one stood behind the walls hiding from sight and without any urge to fight.


    In a sense, Mark and his group were surrounded. As if it mattered, though.


    "So, Harold brought you, people, here?"


    That was Mark''s first words, which not only made the enemies frozen but also shocked Harold that was hiding behind the wall.


    Regaining theirposure, Combustion spoke.


    "Are you the one that set traps to this ce?"


    "What of it?"


    Mark replied nonchntly.


    "Some of my men died because of that ck smoke. You betterpensate us for our loss."


    Hearing that, Mark looked at the tall, burly man standing at the center. That was rather cheeky for someone that tried to steal someone else''s stuff. However, as if Mark would fell for that ruse.


    That speech Combustion said was only said to buy time. They did have the n to talk it out first and say that their group identally stumbled upon in this ce. Then, tell a bunch more lies and stuff.


    However...


    Mark mentioning Harold in his very first sentence, ruined it all.


    Combustion only said those words to make Mark focus on him, while ell made hand signals for their men to pass onto others.


    Since their n to talk it out, was gone into dust, they could only fight.


    Unexpectedly, Mark did not reply at all and just stared at Combustion like he was staring at an idiot. As a person with a bad temper, the leader of the enemies could not stand that stare.


    As such, he gave the signal to attack. And it was to...


    "PTUI!"


    Combustion spat his saliva like a bullet towards Mark. Compared to what he used before, not only this saliva was clumpedrger, it was more concentrated.


    Mark dodge the saliva. However, before it passed beside Mark...


    BOOOOM!


    An explosion urred engulfing the area within a three-meter radius of where the saliva exploded. The high-temperature mes enough to melt iron in seconds, engulfed everything including Mark.


    At the same time, the raiders hiding around the bushes, trees, and grass, sprung out of hiding. They all aimed to seize the vehicles of Mark''s group.


    As they saw Mark engulfed in mes, Combustion, ell, and even Harold thought that there was a chance to win. From the information they knew from Harold, Mark was the leader and the strongest one in this group. Yet, he was killed rather too easily.


    But then, Harold felt uneasy. He felt a threat that could easily threaten his life. It made him want to run away. As he trusted his senses, he really did try to sneak away.


    However...


    THOOOM!!!


    Everything froze.


    No, they were not frozen. However, their bodies felt heavy that it seemed to be pushing them in ce.


    Then, the mes from the explosion vanished.


    There, they saw the hazy visage of Mark, who was smiling sinisterly, unscathed. The most terrifying thing, however, was how his glowing red eyes seemed to pierce through their minds.


    "Don''t celebrate too early," Mark spoke. "You might have caught me off guard... But that is not enough to hit me at all."

 Chapter 423 The Raider Groups End, A Final Touch Of Bad Karma

    <strong>Day 72 - 11:02 AM - Mansion, Padi, San Jose, Antipolo, Rizal</strong>


    Heavy pressure enveloped the surroundings as Mark released the emotional energies he umted from his Emphatic Ability. It was a medium-scale [Emotion Induction] that targeted every single enemy in this area.


    Mark''s eyes glowed bright red as he nted deep fear in everyone''s subconscious. None were aware of it and did not feel the fear consciously. However, their bodies stopped moving as it recognized the intense feeling of fear inside the back of their minds. As a result, they felt heavy, and their legs were shaking.


    The enemies could barely move at all. And only those with enough mental fortitude would be able to negate this effect. Like three people among them.


    RATATATATA!!!


    Gunshots echoed from above as HawkOwl opened his wings and flew up. This birdman was the first to react to Mark surviving the explosion.


    TANG! TANG! TANG!


    Some of the bullets hit the vehicles behind Mark, making everyone inside nervous. However, the deformed bullets fell to the ground after hitting the cars.


    Aside from a few scratches and barely noticeable dents, the cars were not damaged at all. All these vehicles had already been modified by Mark. Only high caliber weapons could do some damage to these vehicles.


    M16 military-issued guns like HawkOwl had, was useless. It was unless the bullets targeted the wheels. That, however, would not happen as HawkOwl started shooting as he flew up.


    Nevertheless, Mark''s hazy visage just blurred every time a bullet hit him.


    Each shot hit nothing but air in its path and flew towards the ground unhindered.


    ell saw that the guns were not working. Supporting HawkOwl''s actions, ell also started to move. His reaction was not as fast as the former. However, as a person with the highest intellect and mental capacity within their group, Mark''s [Emotion Induction] had the least effect on him.


    As HawkOwl continued to fire his assault rifle, ell charged towards Mark at an unimaginable speed. It only took him a second, and he traversed the seven-meter distance between him and Mark. He even rushed behind Mark to attack from a blind spot.


    However, in another unexpected action, ell did not use any weapon. Instead, he tried to grab Mark with bare hands. His hands, however, had been releasing arge number of sparks. It was obvious that he was releasing a rather deadly amount of electricity from his hands.


    Mark, on the other hand, squinted his eyes at the sudden movement by ell. He could tell that the guy flying above was still affected by his mental attack as a lot of his gunshots missed him. This guy behind, however, was barely affected. Furthermore, this attack might be able to harm Mark.


    To dodge the explosion, Mark used miasma to block and absorb the heat hitting his body. Against the bullets, he partially used his [Shadow Mist Movement], causing his body to blur and phase through the space between the bullets.


    Electricity, on the other hand, was a different matter. Electricity was formless and could upy space. He could enter his subspace, however, as electricity was not a physical matter but was a flow of electrons, he did not know whether he would be able to pass through the gaps of chaotic electrons without getting hit.


    As for absorbing the energy using miasma, it was alreadyte. The enemy''s movements were too fast. There was barely any time for him to react, not to mention releasing miasma.


    And thus, Mark made the easiest thing to deal with this guy.


    ell proceeded and used his second ability. It was to conduct and release a high voltage of electricity from his body. This was also his deadliest move. None of those he used this ability to managed to live.


    However, he had the shock of his life. It was because of Mark directly catching ell''s hands covered in electricity with his own. ell felt strange. Still, he alreadyunched his attack and there was no option to retreat.


    Mark caught the two hands of the enemy. This caused a burning pain in his hands as the electricity started to burn his skin. His hands started to release smoke as the tissues in his hand''s arms were became numb and damaged.


    Seeing the effect of his attack, ell raised the voltage further. This caused his arms to light up and emitted crackling sounds all over.


    Then, he was terrified.


    ell saw Mark''s face. He was smiling. Then, the visible damage from his arms and body started to heal at an inconceivable rate. Increasing the voltage further, Mark''s body started to emit smoke. But then, the damage was soon repaired. It was until... Mark''s body did not seem to be affected by the electricity ell released any longer.


    Feeling the threat in his life, ell tried to retreat. However, like a mp, Mark''s hands locked his hands and did not let go.


    Seeing ell''s expression, Combustion and HawkOwn knew that he was in a predicament. HawkOwl swooped down closer to Mark to ensure that he would not miss and shot more bullets.


    Combustion, who could still move, despite slowly, spat several times. He shot several nail sized clumps of saliva towards Mark.


    To those attacks, Mark made a sinister move.


    He swept his right foot below and caused ell to lose bnce. At thetter''s fall, Mark spun his body upside down and pushed his body towards the attacks of Combustion and HawkOwl.


    RATATATATATA!!!


    "GAAAAAAHHHHHHHAAAAHHH!!!"


    HawkOwl''s bullets tore holes on ell''s body, making him scream in severe pain.


    BOOM! BOOM!


    The screams were reced by small explosions engulfing ell''s body.


    Almost turned into a charred human, ell''s body fell on the ground... Lifeless. His body was filled with holes of different sizes from the gunshots and explosions. His left leg and right arm plopped on the ground, detached after the explosions hit him, and melted his limbs.


    Seeing ell''s fate, their members wanted to scream, including Combustion and HawkOwl. However, the pressure they were feeling prevented them from being able to speak. ell was the most important member of their group. Without him and his nning skills, they would need more effort to do things they needed to.


    Fortunately for them, they did not have to think of those things anymore. None of them were leaving here, alive.


    Mark nced at the sniper dome on his vehicle. Mei was there waiting for hismand. He then moved his head as if pointing at the enemy above. Receiving the order, Mei aimed at the birdman above.


    Of course, HawkOwl noticed the movements on the vehicle. With his superhuman eyesight, he clearly saw the muzzle of a sniper rifle turning to aim at him.


    Thus, he decided to flee.<sub> </sub>


    ell was no more and the other members of their group could barely move at all. There was no use to staying. Everyone had no way of escaping aside from him. He could just start over after he escaped this ce.


    He was able to fly fast with his wings simr to a hawk''s. What he did not expect, however, was that even if his flying speed was as fast as ell''s speed, it was nothing to the eyes of Mei.


    BANG!


    HawkOwl''s eyes grew wide. There was no time for him to feel pain, however. He only felt an impact on his head before his vision turned dark. His lifeless body plopped violently on the ground like a ragdoll.


    Seeing what happened to ell and HawkOwl, Combustion started to panic.


    Facing Mark, he spat saliva like a machinegun loaded with grenades.


    Towards those clumps of explosive saliva, Mark stretched his right hand forwards. He then started flicking his fingers. In every flick, a ball of ck swirling miasma was shot.


    Each ball hit a clump of saliva. Thus, each hit caused the saliva to explode midair. Reacting to the sudden release of heat, the balls of miasma expanded and swallowed the explosion whole. The miasma ate the heat released by the explosion until both vanished.


    Combustion could only stare at the spectacle that happened before him. This time, he finally realized. Because of Harold, they f*cked up big time.


    "Well, we don''t have much time to deal with you all one by one, so..." Mark spoke. "Let''s just do this."


    Mark then raised his hand. It was amand towards Ignis as it flew out of its sheath behind Mark. Ignis could fly on its own. However, having a direct mental connection with Mark through the naming ritual, he was able to control its flight using his mind.


    All the enemies stared at the flying sword with both shock and fear. Then, they were overwhelmed by the aura of death looming over them. It was because Mark swiped his hand around making the flying sword behead them one-by-one in a single swing.


    As Combustion saw the sword flying towards him, he knew that he was going to die.


    At thest moment, the leader of the raiders turned towards Harold with absolute hate and fury.


    "F*CK YOU!"


    Combustion screamed. As the sword was about to hit his neck, he made hisst spit. It was towards Harold who could only stare at the clump of saliva flying towards him in extreme horror.


    ? Harold tried to resist the pressure and even transformed as he finally used his Mutator Ability. Tworge curved horns grew out of his temples as his body became bulkier. Thick brown hair covered his highly muscled body. He surely looked like a humanoid buffalo.


    With his sheer strength, he kicked the ground to dodge the clump of saliva.


    Despite the heavy pressure hindering him, he managed to move. It caused the saliva that was about to hit him, fall to the grass where he stood before.


    Unfortunately, at that attack, Combustion used his greatest move. A concentrated explosion urred engulfing a seven-meter radius from the center.


    PLOP!


    BOOM!


    At the same time that Combustion''s head plopped to the ground.


    Harold''s body was engulfed in the huge explosion.


    A shockwave of heat spread into the surroundings which made the closer flora to catch fire while the further ones immediately dried up.


    Mark also had to cover his face because of the heat from the shockwave. Although his body would regenerate to heal any damage, it was still painful to let his face get nketed by scalding heat. Especially to his eyes.


    Still, what worried Mark was that the corpses of the mutators to be charred corpses. If they were burned to the point of turning to ash, it would be a waste. Luckily, Harold hid further away from the others. That was why the explosion only caught Harold in it.


    When the explosion dissipated, what was left was an unrecognizable charred humanoid. From the smell, it was sure that the fur Harold grew contributed a lot to his death.


    Mark then used an empty crystal on the charred body.


    Fortunately, it still worked. Mark could not tell why as Harold''s body was all charred. Thus, he smashed the corpse''s head open. There, he saw that while he was charred to the bone, it seemed that the skull prevented the brain to be charred entirely. Still, Mark could not help but notice something.


    Compared to normal corpses of Mutators and Mutated Infected that he took their abilities from, those that had damaged brains had a paler glowing orb inside the [Physical Crystal]. It seemed that the absorption of ability was iplete or maybe, degraded.


    If that was the case, he better try not damaging the brains of the Mutators he would kill in the future.


    After killing every enemy, they proceeded into the mansion to retrieve everything they could carry. Even the working appliances inside the mansion and the sr panels installed on the roof were included.


    Since Mark was around, the traps he installed did not activate. Thus, there was no need to remove the traps, he made using miasma, one by one.


    Everyone spent tillte afternoon before being able to load everything into the vehicles. They also chose some vehicles from the group of raiders and towed the cars.


    This was a rather bountiful day.


    That night, after arriving back at the base, Mark and Mei went out riding on Char.


    It could be called a date under the night sky, however, Mark had a ce he wanted to go. He wanted to visit the ce where the altar that sealed the Deity of Bloodshed was located. They went to retrieve several things.


    Now that everything they needed to do outside the base was done, they should focus on the things they needed to do inside.


    Especially, there were a few things Mark wanted to try.

 Chapter 424 A Relaxing Morning, Amihans Greatest Wish

    <strong>Day 73 - 8:15 AM - Moutain Base, Mount Mbito, General Nakar, Quezon</strong>


    Another cold and fresh morning came.


    Everyone already epted the change in their lifestyle since arriving at this ce.


    Unlike how almost everyone here lived back in the past, before the apocalypse, it was rather dull. They did not have much to do but do the work they were designated to do regrly. Of course, they were not forced to work until they were tired or treated as lowly ves. And they were d about that. Especially those that experienced being ves in Death Valley Settlement, they wished that they had stumbled into this ce sooner.


    Yes, anyone could say that it was rather dull. Compared to living outside, however, this was heaven. The infected could barely reach these parts of the mountains. There were animals that should have been treated as a threat. However, the secure walls, traps, and the strength of the leading figures of the base turned these threats into a stable food source instead.


    Meats had already be a luxury to military settlements due to the scarcity of it, especially fresh meat and meat from mutated animals.


    There was no livestock to ughter anymore since the apocalypse started. Because of that, the only meat food avable could only be found in preserved canned goods.


    As for meat from mutated animals, it was a dangerous endeavor to gather. The word mutated stated it all. These were not the usual fauna earth had before. Without proper nning, catching one for food could spell disaster. These animals had different features than before. Many of these characteristics were also deadly to their enemies and predators. Furthermore, not all these mutated animals were edible. Some of them had poison either in their blood or meat.


    In the base, however, it was very different.


    Everyone could eat meat on a daily basis. Furthermore, there was no fear of poison and such. Why? The existence of the [Blood Children] made a lot of things in this settlement different.


    While Ivy mutated in a way that its body contained poison, another [Blood Child] mutated oppositely.


    Apparently, a bad thing happened while Mark was gone and went to Bay City Settlement. During one of the days, Huey and the others were training their abilities, Nicole got attacked by a poisonous insect. She was stung by a fist-sized green colored bee. Like ordinary bees, the bee died a few seconds after it pricked Nicole. Still, Nicole was poisoned.


    Bringing Nicole back to the base, she was already feverish. Her left arm that was stung already turned purplish. Without a doubt, it was a deadly poison. They were all in panic at that time because Mark was not around.


    That was when Ruby, the [Blood Child] closest to Nicole, did something they did not expect. With a tentacle, it pierced the area where Nicole was stung. Then, she started to suck the poison out of Nicole''s system using her blood flow.


    Huey and everyone around saw how Ruby sucked out the poison. They could even observe a different colored liquid flowing through her body from the tentacle she used to pierce Nicole.


    Everyone knew that Mark would be angry if something happened to Ruby. However, they could only take this chance. And thus, none of them stopped it. Nicole''s life was in danger, after all.


    When Ruby stopped and retracted her tentacle, healthy colored blood flowed out of Nicole''s wound. There was still discoloration in Nicole''s skin. Nevertheless, herplexion was better, and her breathing stabilized.


    One thing was odd, however. Ruby stopped moving. It looked the same as when they were in the sleep state. They all knew that it was not normal and decided to observe further.


    The next day, Nicole recovered. And so thus Ruby.


    However, Ruby had changed. Her reddish-ck color now had been mixed with a purplish hue. She looked ominous.


    Still, that made Nicole''s and Ruby''s rtionship even closer.


    Since that time, Ruby would take care of any suspicious animals they brought back from their hunt. If the poison was in the meat, Ruby would detect it, and it would be discarded. However, if the poison was within the blood, Ruby would happily absorb it.


    To say, the [Blood Children] were the very foundation of this base next to Mark. The walls and structures here were built solely with the metal they created.


    Because of , they even started installing light sources using the [Glowing Blood Metal] she could produce.


    The production of see-through windows also started after Mark''s return since Oracle was with him.


    Poisoned weapons, needles, and arrows were created by Ivy.


    Crimson, on the other hand, would do the surveince while they were hunting. With his ability to turn into ck Smoke, he could go around the forest faster without being detected. He started this job after Mark returned. Because of the sudden influx of people, they needed more food for the base, after all.


    Lastly and one of the most important ones was Scia. The [Blood Child] named after a goddess of saltwater helped a lot in the preservation of food. The [Blood Metal] was found out to have high concentrations of salt. With drying racks made from the [Blood Metal], she created, curing meat and fish caught in the river became faster and easier.


    ***


    From the newly created balcony on the face of the cliff, Mark turned into a house, he nced unto what he had created. The base was just starting. Yet, he could say that it was already prosperous.


    The people living in his base had different aurapared to those living inside settlements. Even the new ves that joined in did not have a hard time to find the security they needed. They had not fully recovered from malnutrition. However, the state of living in the base made them want to contribute. They desired to do what they could and be a part of this smallmunity.


    "This is a very different cepared to Bay City."


    Mei, who sat beside Mark, said.


    Back in Bay City, although the treatment they received was not bad at all, they barely had any time to properly rest. In the middle of the night, there were a lot of times that they needed to wake up and help to fight the infected attacking the settlement. Missions had to be done every now and then. And as one of the pirs in that settlement, the responsibility was rather heavy.


    Now, they did not have to experience such circumstances more than necessary.


    "Yeah, very different."


    Mark could agree with that. Just the mood of the people could make the difference.


    "Gege, you should eat your breakfast first before it gets cold."


    Mei could not help but pout after hearing his reply. It was because he already went back to what he was doing without even touching the food Mei made for him.


    "Okay, sorry."


    Mark apologized and decided to eat first.


    While he ate, Mei looked at what he was working on. On the table, Mark made yesterday in this balcony, several pieces of paper with a lot of scribbles and sketches were ced.


    Without a doubt, he was working on a new weapon. Furthermore, on the sketch, it was a ratherrge one. Probably, something that could be mounted on the roof of a vehicle. She wanted to know what kind of weapon this was. However, the part was Mark could usually ce the title on his sketches was still empty.


    "Gege, what kind of weapon is this?"


    Mei could not help but ask as her curiosity peaked.


    "Well, I don''t know if it will really work. For now, its some kind of Psy-Railgun."<sub> </sub>


    Mark replied after swallowing a mouthful of fried meat.


    Hearing that reply, Mei was stumped.


    To think that Mark was currently designing a weapon that was still under testing of the military of other higher countries.


    "Gege, isn''t this still in concept and theory of other countries?"


    "Well, I don''t know if they really made a working one. But this one I am making is different. I''m using materials that don''t exist on Earth before. Maybe, it can work."


    Mei could not refute that. Many things were still in theory before because of theck of things that could be used to make them. Now, however, many new things, like [Blood Metal], started to exist.


    "But Gege, does it have to be this big?"


    Mei asked. After all, it was really a big one if it could be mounted on a vehicle''s roof.


    And to her question, Mark nodded.


    "We need to prepare. If what I expected is true, gigantic mutants will appear in the future. I rather have something to use when that time came."


    That was something that Mei could not refute. The Frog Headed Infected and the Stone d Woman that they encountered before were good examples. Furthermore, there was also the whale she heard from Mark and Karlene.


    "I just wish that nothing like that World Destroyer will appear."


    Mark said with a sigh. He remembered the abomination he saw at Freed''s memories.


    "Gege, what about the power source for that railgun?"


    "Well, at first, I only have one option. Now, there''s two."


    Mark said as he called out two crystals and ced the two on the table. One was the [Lightning Mental Crystal]. The other was the new [Physical Crystal] he got yesterday.


    The only problem with these two was that the [Lightning Mental Crystal] could only be activated by hi. On the other hand, the [Psysical Crystal] could only be used by someone that would consume it.


    He did not have any power source that could be used publicly.


    "Master~!!!"


    While Mark and Mei were talking, Amihan flew up into the balcony from outside. After returning, she would usually fly around outside the base while enjoying nature at this time in the morning.


    For her toe this early, she surely needed something.


    "You need something?"


    Mark asked.


    Amihan flew down on to the table and sat down in front of Mark.


    "Master, when do you n to nt the Spirit Tree?"


    "Should it be nted already?"


    Mark asked. In fact, he nned to nt itter after trying out a few things. However, it seemed that Amihan was quite eager to do so.


    "It''s not really urgent," Amihan said after thinking a bit. "But it''s better to nt it as soon as possible. You see, nts nted near a spirit tree grow faster and healthier. I''m having a hard time finding wild fruits."


    "Hah..." Mark sighed. "I see..."


    Mark stared at Amihan with a smirk. She might be hiding it, but she was a glutton. He clearly remembered how he met her when she stole a whole basket of wild berries from him.


    However, her suggestion was not bad at all. If a Spirit Tree could elerate the growth of the crops they nted, it would be the best for the base.


    "Should we nt it now?"


    Mark asked, which made Amihan rather surprised. She then smiled and nodded fiercely.


    "Yes! Yes!"


    Seeing her excited look, Mark and Mei could not help but smile. Amihan looked really adorable just now.


    As thus, Mark and Mei finished their breakfast and took the little girls out of the house.


    "By the way..." Mark suddenly spoke to Amihan, who sat on his shoulder. "You have another agenda, right?"


    Amihan froze and made a stifledugh.


    "I really can''t hide anything to Master, can I?"


    The little sylph sighed and finally said the main reason she was excited.


    "Actually, Master, I just want to see the ce where my parents were born. I might be a spirit as humans call me. However, I have never entered the spirit world. Not even once. I was born after my parents were outcasted by our race, here in the mortal world. Everything I know about their home ce came from my parents. I just want to see their stories with my own eyes."


    Mark, Mei, and the little girls listened to Amihan''s story. Every time she mentioned her parents, there was a fluctuation of sadness and anger inside her. She probably remembered how her parents perished because of an evil spirit.


    Since that was the real reason, Mark would not dy it further. He wanted to reward such a loyal person like Amihan. She might be mischievous and hard-headed, she never betrayed Mark''s expectations.


    It was a good chance to reward this hundred years old little girl.

 Chapter 425 The Emergence Of The Spirit Tree, The Reemergence Of An Extinct Race

    <strong>Day 73 - 9:22 AM - Mountain Base, Mount Mbito, General Nakar, Quezon</strong>


    Mark, together with Mei, Amihan, I, Abbygale, and Miracle, walked out of the house. It was quite odd that Mark was carrying a huge sack on his arms, even though their n was nothing else but to nt the Spirit Tree that Amihan anticipated so much.


    This Spirit Tree was a precious thing. There was no way that Mark had forgotten about it. It was just that there was no time to nt it these past days since they arrived. In fact, he already decided where he would nt this tree.


    That was their current destination, the wide vacant area at the center of the base. The one directly in front of the precipice Mark turned into his home.


    They only needed to walk about fifteen meters or so. Still, along with that short distance, they came across many people in the base.


    Seeing the owner of the base and his family, they all greeted respectfully.


    Still, the people Mark passed by on the way could not help but stare for a bit. The reason being the Sylph sitting on his shoulder. Unlike the others, Amihan and Aephelia were very elusive to the eyes of the people in the base. It was very unusual for them to see the two fascinating creatures.


    Aephlia might not be a real Sylph. However, she felt too ufortable receiving such stares. That was why she was trying hard not to show herself to people.


    Amihan, on the other hand, while her fear of people was already lessened, it was already her nature to not show herself to humans as much as possible.


    The only times the two could be seen by people was when they were with Mark. This kept the interest of everyone in the base towards the two from subsiding.


    In fact, while living in this apocalyptic world now was dullpared to the past, everyone in this base had something to turn their attention to. It was the fact that this base had creatures that they never ever believed that could exist.


    "Master!"


    "Mark!"


    Two voices ovepped as they called for Mark. The two were no other than na and Jolleen. Both looked sweaty, and their current appearance called the eyes of men around. It seemed that the two had just finished their morning training and was on the way back to clean up.


    "Where are all of you going?"


    na asked with interest. It was rare for Mark to suddenly go out with everyone. From what she knew of Mark, there should be something interesting going on. Like how he created things back before the apocalypse for her.


    "I can''t say anything much, really," Mark replied. "You two are wee to watch, though. We are just going by the central area of the base."


    Both na and Jolleen looked at each other. It seemed that the interest towards Mark wanted to do weighted heavier than actually cleaning up their bodies. Thus, they really followed.


    Arriving at the vacant area, however, Mark and Mei were slightly surprised.


    Sitting at a wooden chair at the side of the central area. There was the seer of the tribe together with her grandchildren. From how they sat facing the center of the vacant space, it looked like they were waiting for something.


    "Mark, you finally arrived."


    The elder smiled after seeing that Mark finally came to this ce. There was no doubt. She was waiting for something.


    Mark did not have to say anything. Before any of them could ask, the elder exined herself.


    "I dreamt that something will happen here today. I only know that it had something to do with you. I don''t know what will happen. But, my dream told me that it is an important event that people don''t really see."


    She was really a Seer. After all, she was right. Something would happen that people would not usually see. Which person would have been able to watch a tree sacred to Spirit Races get nted anyway? Most of the poption around the world did not even know the existence of it.


    "Alright, there''s really no issue watching."


    Mark replied with a nod. There was really no problem with it. After all, since he needed to release miasma during the nting of this tree, it would surely be noticed by everyone in the base.


    "Yes, thank you." The elder smiled. "Please, just don''t mind us."


    As such, Mark made everyone wait at the side and stepped towards the center of the vacant area. Even Amihan retreated as it was only Mark who should be present during the nting.


    The area was designed by him to be shaped in a circle. At first, he would want to build something like a tower here. That was why it was shaped like this. Who would have thought that the tower he nned would be reced by an Unusual Tree anyway? Still, it was not a bad thing.


    If what Amihan said before was true, the Spirit Tree would be several lines of defenses for the base.


    The only thing was that, like what happened in Mark''s and Ignis'' naming ritual, the kind of tree that would grow was rather hard to determine.


    What they knew was that the Spirit Tree wouldplement the kind of energy fed to it during its growth.


    That was why Mark decided about something.


    Mark tipped the sack in the center of the vacant area. The contents of the sack spilled out. This confused those that did not know what the contents of the sack were. After all, all they saw was dark brown colored dirt that was dumped out by Mark.


    This dirt, however, was not just normal dirt. It was actually the dirt gathered around a Lesser Spirit Tree. It was one of the things Mark and Mei gatheredst night. The soil around the Lesser Spirit Tree beside the altar that sealed the Deity of Bloodshed for thousands of years.


    Furthermore, not only that it was a special kind of dirt, it had the residue of auras both the guardian and the false deity had.


    Pouring the unusual soil, Mark formed a shovel with his blood and dug the area he would nt on. He mixed both the normal soil and the unusual soil together.


    Then, he took out the seed and buried it into the mixed soil.


    After that, Mark unexpectedly conjured five [Mental Crystals] and surrounded the ce where he buried the seed with the crystals.


    ording to Amihan, there was no fixed method to nt a Spirit Tree. Everything was up to the one nting it. Even the chant or the materials. This was what led Mark to do things like this.


    In Mark''s theory, the soil soaked with the aura of strong beings would surely make the seed grow. Then, the crystals would ensure that something positive would be born of it. After all, whether it was the [Mental Crystal] or the [Physical Crystal], both of these only brought out positive effects.


    Finally, the most important thing. It was to feed the seed enough energy to grow.


    And for the crazy Mark... He actually conjured the [Psychic Mental Crystals] he had to contribute.


    The [Photokinesis Mental Crystal], the [Lignthning Mental Crystal], and the [Storm Caller Mental Crystal]. All three floated around Mark as he started to release all the different energies around inside his body.


    SHHOOOOMMMM!!!


    Miasma swirled around his body like a tornado. His right eye glowed red and his left eye shined purplish. He then extended his palms towards where he nted the seed. His right hand covered with while milky light while his left hand was burning with bright orange mes.


    Then, the three [Mental Crystal] activated. Crackling sounds echoed as one turned into a ball of lightning. Another shined brightly like the sun. Thest one was covered in a grey haze as it started to call the swirling clouds in the sky.


    The sudden influx of different energies was felt by everyone. Mutator or not, psychic or not, they all felt that something was happening.


    Annica who was able to see the energies with her eyes was rmed by the event. Leaving her current duty to try taming the water bug, she ran towards the center of the base. Her brothers could not help but run after her after seeing strange behavior.


    On the other hand, a strange event happened that Edward, Analynn, Karlene, and Terrence witnessed. They could not help but run towards the center of the base. It was because Emi, who should be just sitting on her chair nkly, suddenly ran away towards that direction.<sub> </sub>


    Then, another strange thing happened. All the [Blood Children] in the base suddenly left their current ces and made their way to the very same ce. This made Nicole and Hallie who had Ruby and Merlot with them run after the two.


    Even Layan experienced the same as Scia suddenly ran away.


    Ignis that was left inside the house felt the same thing and could not help but fly out.


    Milliel inside her hut was rather scared and was hiding while rather confused as she felt the powers that belonged to her father.


    Not only the ones inside the base were affected. Even those outside were the same.


    Mutated Birds could be seen flying away as if a natural disaster was to ur. Even the Mutated Animals and Insects were the same.


    Furthermore, several individuals hidden in the mountains and forests could not help but notice the phenomenon.


    Outside the base, a man with white hair suddenly came out of a tree.


    "What in the world is that guy doing now?"


    Pefile could not help but mutter.


    The scale of what was happening right now was not something to be trifled. Although there seemed to be no ill intent on it, just the sheer amount of magical energy gathered right now was terrifying.


    While all of those things were happening, Mark was oblivious to it.


    The others did not know, however, he already lost control.


    BADUMP! BADUMP!


    This was not in his n at all.


    BADUMP! BADUMP!


    The energies inside his body had actually gone rampant.


    BADUMP! BADUMP!


    There was that annoyingly loud heartbeat too.


    Mark was still conscious, however, everything was already out of his control. Even his body was not moving the way he wanted to.


    He could only stare in front of him.


    Then, he saw a swirl of energies being sucked down into the soil in front of him.


    Mark knew that the seed was surely absorbing the energy around it now.


    RUMBLE!!!


    Then, an earthquake urred.


    It was not that strong, just enough to make everyone lose their bnce for a bit.


    At the same time, the sky started to change in color. The grey clouds became frighteningly red. As if blood was about to rain instead of water.


    Then, like a beanstalk from a certain fairy tale, a nt sprouted out of the soil. It steadily grew at a fast rate that it was unbelievable. At the same time, Mark could feel that the energy inside his body was being sucked dry.


    Everyone in the base had already gathered at the central area of the base. Not only people, even Char, Laps, and the other animals in the base were watching. Even Pefile managed to blend into the crowd and watch what was happening, up close.


    Some were scared, some were confused. Nevertheless, whatever emotion they felt, they still felt amazed as they saw a nt that had just sprouted from the ground growing into a tree.


    Then... everyone saw Mark... Fell onto one of his knees. He was obviously in extreme pain.


    That scared Mei, however, the swirling energy around Mark prevented anyone from approaching.


    But then...


    Mark''s wings sprouted from his back. Strange, however, there was not just one pair, but two. Furthermore, both pairs that looked identical started to change. Red glowing veins appeared like a streak of lightning in a dark rainy sky.


    His hair grew long once more. At the same time, the markings in his body acted up too.


    Slowly, Mark stood up once more. He turned his head around looking at everyone. They were all shocked.


    Who blood-red horns had already grown on his forehead and two pointed canine fangs could be seen protruding from his mouth.


    Finally, the earthquake stopped and the swirling energy vanished as the Spirit Tree took shape. An eight-meter tree that towered over the base with its blood-red leaves, and ck colored trunk and branches. Red glowing veins could be seen in each leaf that looked identical to Mark''s wings.


    When Mark turned around, another strange thing happened.


    It started with the [Blood Children]. Then, Char, I, Miracle, Emi, andstly, na.


    They all bowed down and kneeled on foot as they faced Mark. This made everyone even more confused.


    It was until they noticed a scary thing.


    The [Blood Children] were releasing a faint reddish glow on their bodies, even Miracle was included. On the other hand, Char had its eyes glowing red, and its scales exuding a reddish light.


    For the I, Emi, and na, however, everyone felt even more afraid. Their eyes were glowing red while the veins on their bodies became rather visible as their veins exuded the same glow as Mark''s.


    Seeing this, Pefile had the greatest shock of his life. It was even a greater shock he received after hearing what happened to his wife.


    The signs he saw on Mark''s and the bodies of the others. It was somewhat inconceivable.


    Under his breath, he could not help but mutter.


    "The Night Everred Spirit Tree... And the Blood Demon Race that had gone extinct... They actually appeared once again..."


    Still, when he said those words, he was not afraid. Instead, it was obvious that he was rather excited.

 Chapter 426 The Event Settling Down, Starting The History About The Blood Demon Race

    <strong>Day 73 - 10:30 AM - Mountain Base, Mount Mbito, General Nakar, Quezon</strong>


    The tremendous event was witnessed by almost everyone, in and out of the base. Whether it be humans, animals, insects, infected, or non-mortal beings, they saw the blood-red color that covered the clouds and the sky in several mile radii. It was even if they did not see the actual reason.


    With the blood-red sky could be seen miles away, many people were rmed.


    The new survivors that now inhabited Barangay Daraitan closed their doors tightly as they gazed at the strange sight.


    Even the New Infanta Settlement was rmed by the scene, and the military went in full alert. Civilians were told to retreat back to their dwellings and wait for further instructions. On the other hand, survivor groups known for their inhuman abilities were called for a possible disaster. It was especially since everyone here experienced the pitch-ck storm that destroyed three settlements not long ago.


    Not only that... Unknown to most people, other smaller survivor groups managed to survive hidden in many ces. Even these poor people felt terrified because of the ominous appearance of the sky.


    Not to mention the earthquake that urred. It was not too strong. However, the tremors were still felt by everyone within a great distance.


    As for the non-mortals, they were even more shocked. Being otherworldly entities themselves, they were sensitive to the immense influx of supernatural force that transpired below the blood sky. Of course, they felt threatened. Such amount of energy undoubtedly belonged to something nearing the level of a lower deity. They could only help that it was not a malicious entity. Or else, they would be forced to flee.


    That powerful entity could be the new overlord of these mountains. Because of that, while some felt fear, some of these creatures started to consider paying their respects.


    This had been a rule to these races. If one could not defend themselves, they would either run away or submit. That way, they could ensure their lives.


    It was because, unlike the world of mortals, the world of the paranormal was more prone to deadly conflicts. Deadly enough that a single dispute might end up a to the fall of a whole race.


    ***


    While everyone outside feared, the actual cause of the event was now at a stupor.


    As the supposed short session of nting the Spirit Tree had finished, the sky started to clear up back to its natural state. The violent surge of paranormal energies had finally calmed down and vanished.


    At the same time, Mark and those that knelt towards him finally snapped out of their trance.


    They were all confused as to what in the world happened. Especially Mark, who transformed into something he never had before.


    Feeling not used to the slight weight added to his forehead, he touched it only to get pricked by his sharply pointed horns. Each red blood horns were about four inches long with a bit of curve. Mark could not understand why this pair of horns suddenly grew.


    Inspecting his body, he felt his canine fangs and saw the new pair of wings that grew on his back. Furthermore, his hair grew once again... Now, it had a bit or red highlights mixed with the previous white ones. The most annoying part was that he had to cut this long hair for the 4th time already.


    "Gege! Are you okay?"


    Mei immediately came towards him with the three girls. Both I and Miracle seemed to be confused as to what had transpired earlier. But one thing they were sure, their bodies were far stronger than before.


    "I''m fine..." Mark replied and looked at I and Miracle. "Are you two fine?"


    Mark saw everything, even though he had no control over his body at that time. It would be lying if he said that he was not worried about I, and Miracle.


    "Papa. I''m fine, I think."


    "Fine! I''m fine!"


    Both I and Miracle, replied respectively. As there the two really seemed fine, Mark sighed in relief.


    Mark looked around toward everyone that exhibited that strange behavior. Despite looking confused, they all seemed to be alright. That was a good thing.


    Still, Mark could feel a distinct aura from them that was not different from his. It was as if everyone was connected. Though the connection was a bit weak and unnoticeable.


    Then...


    PANG!!!


    Everyone received a great shock as they suddenly heard a loud sound amidst the confusion.


    When everyone turned where the sound came from, they saw na, who was still in a punching pose. It seemed that for some reason, she punched the metal wall of the structure near her.


    The most surprising thing, however, was that her fist actually sunk half an inch into the wall. It would not be this shocking if what she punched was a regr metal sheet. That ck wall she had just hit was in no doubt made of [Blood Metal].


    na might be an Evolver. However, her ability was her enhanced stamina. There was no way for her to be able to do such a thing.


    "Ooops... Sorry, everyone..."


    na noticed themotion she created. She could not help but apologize while scratching her head. Of course, it could not be hidden in her expression that she was absolutely confused about her current strength.


    In thatmotion, Mark called Huey and Jolleen to make everyone disperse. He decided to sort things first before telling the crowed what actually happened here. Of course, he decided to make those that were acting strange earlier to remain.


    Andstly...


    "Pefile, just what are you doing here?"


    Mark called out to someone that no one in the settlement knew of.


    In their search for the person, the owner of the base was calling for. They saw an unfamiliar person step out of the crowd. Everyone was surprised at the fact that someone handsome looking was here, and no one knew about him.


    Of course, Edzel somehow recognized that person. There was no doubt that he was the person that guided him to Pearl. This mysterious person actually appeared here. Edzel was confused. Furthermore, Mark seemed to know this person.


    "You really surprise me. You know that?"


    Pefile said as he approached Mark while panning his sight from Mark towards the Spirit Tree.


    "Do you know anything about this?"


    Mark asked with a frown.


    To that question, Pefile smiled.<sub> </sub>


    "What I know might not be concrete information. I don''t mind sharing if you want to know about it."


    "Good,e with us."


    Mark said. Unexpectedly, Pefile nodded without hesitation. It was even though he was now exposed to the humans around. This made Mark think that there might be more to it that Pefile wanted.


    ***


    Everyone dispersed from the za and returned to their work. Of course, there were a lot of questions in their minds. However, Mark''s representatives in the base, Huey, and Jolleen, already told everyone Mark''s ns. They could only wait.


    Only those who were affected by the sudden change in their behavior earlier followed Mark along with a few people. The only exceptions were Char and most of the [Blood Chilren] since they would not understand the conversation that would happen.


    As for the few people that followed, there was Edward, the tribe elder, and her grandchildren, Edzel and Pearl,stly, those that were living in Mark''s home.


    Edward was apanying Emi. She was being silent. However, it was obvious that she was not mentally ill anymore. Her nk eyes from before were now showing emotions. She was even walking ahead of Edward while pulling his hand. He was truly happy. However, this was not the right time to celebrate.


    As for the elder and her grandchildren, they were actually called out by Pefile. Because of that, Mark could not help but let theme along.


    Edzel and Pearl were following because Mark called the two. Since Pefile decided to show himself, there was a chance that he would finally tell his circumstances. Furthermore, Pefile actually did not refute Mark''s actions.


    As for the others, there was Odelina and Spera, who were both living in Mark''s house. The two served as the house''s servants. Spera was diligently learning from Odelina. They were called to serve treats. After all, they had guests.


    ***


    Inside the main room, the very same room Mark used when he made Huey and the others turn into Evolvers, everyone gathered. They were all focused on Pefile.


    Well, except for Mark.


    Mark was able to retract his wings. Now, he was trying if he could retract his horns and fangs. There were some changes. However, it was rather hard to control. As for his hair, he had given up on it. As such, Mei volunteered to cut itter. This would be the second time that she would do it, and she was happy to be able to do something for Mark.


    On the table, Aephelia and Amihan sat. It was obvious that the two were also interested in what Pefile would say. Furthermore, the two could tell that Pefile was not human. Amihan was a Sylph, after all. She could tell if the one in front of her was another Spirit Race or an Elemental.


    On the other hand, Aephelia could tell because she was in the body of a Sylph.


    Pefile also seemed interested in the two. However, it was not the time for that.


    "So, can you tell us what you know already?"


    Mark voiced out.


    "Alright, I will go straight to the point." Pefile nodded. Have anyone of you ever heard of Blood Demons?"


    "Blood Demon?" na suddenly chimed in. "Are they capable of-"


    "Mizuki, stop." Mark immediately cut off na. "That''s obviously a different thing."


    That made na sit down silently. She just wanted to joke a bit. However, she was shot down brutally.


    "Blood Demons? That extinct race???"


    Amihan was visibly shocked. She never saw one as the race had been extinct several hundred years already before she was born. Who would have known that they would be mentioned by Pefile?


    To her outburst, Pefile nodded in confirmation.


    Finally, he told the story.


    ***


    Blood Demons, they were a very prominent race in the world of Spirits several hundreds of years ago.


    They were known to exhibit abilities that were rted to their blood. Furthermore, these abilities varied to a great degree. Their appearance was also not consistent. It was because, aside from Pure Blood Demons, the Blood Demon Race was actuallyposed of individualsing from different races.


    The only thing consistent with every member of their race was that glowing veins would appear on their bodies every time they would use their abilities to the maximum. That was coupled with glowing red eyes.


    For purer Blood Demons, they were known to have veined wings and horns. The deepness of the color of the horns and the number of pairs of wings determined the purity of the individual.


    Contrary to being demons, however, they were one of those demon races that were not considered to be purely evil.


    Rather, their race could be said as one of the pirs maintaining the bnce between the races of Demons, Evil Spirits, Elementals, Spirits, and Cryptids.


    The Blood Demons stood between the lines of good and evil in the Spirit World. They were not biased towards any race and kept their neutrality.


    Of course, not many of the other races liked that fact, especially the other Demon Races. Most Demon Races had a hostile rtionship to Blood Demons despite having a rted race.


    At that point, the story was cut off by Mark''s question.


    "Did you say that Blood Demons areposed of individuals that came from different races? How is that possible?"


    To that question, it was not Pefile who answered. It was actually Amihan.


    "Master, I don''t know if it was true." She spoke. "My parents told me stories about Blood Demons before. They said that a Pure Blooded Blood Demon can turn other races or creatures into Blood Demons using the essence of their blood."


    That made Mark freeze for a second. He then turned to I. He also remembered that the [Blood Children] and Char also exhibited such behavior. He did not know about the [Blood Children] as they were truly mysterious creatures.


    However, there was no doubt. Pefile already said that Pure Blooded Blood Demons had horns and veined wings. He had both. There was no way for him to know how it happened. However, the evidence was here. He was a Pure Blooded Blood Demon.


    Mark was the reason both I and Char had that reaction. He turned the two into Blood Demons.

 Chapter 427 About The Spirit Dimension, The Cause Of The Fall Of The Blood Demon Race

    <strong>Day 73 - 11:06 AM - Cliff House, Mountain Base, Mount Mbito, General Nakar, Quezon</strong>


    Seeing Mark thinking deeply, Pefile paused his story. It was not hard to guess what he was thinking.


    As for Mei and Odelina, there was no need to guess. They knew the real circumstances of I.


    Karlene and na, on the other hand, also saw how Mark tamed Char. He made the lizard drink a drop of his blood in the process.


    Both I and Char were among those that behaved strangely earlier. As for the others, they still had to wait for the possible clues about why they were the same.


    Then, a question crucial question came into Mark''s mind as he turned back to Pefile.


    "If Pure Blood Demons can turn other races into their kind, how did they get extinct?"


    That was a good question that everyone here was interested to know the answer.


    However, before Pefile could even answer, Mark realized the answer.


    "Seems like you realized it quickly."


    Pefile spoke, making the others look at Mark.


    "It''s because of those rules binding the race, isn''t it?"


    Mark said in which Pefile nodded to.


    "If a Pure Blood Demon wanted to turn others into their kind, the other individual must agree first. If not, they can reject the blood, and its ability to turn them into a Blood Demon will be negated. It''s a rule of their race that came from their very origin."


    This answer told everyone how such race had gone extinct. It was either the Pure Blood Demons had gone extinct first, disabling their way to repopte their numbers. Or, there was ack of other individuals wanting to join their race.


    And now, there was the existence of a person named Mark. A being not bound to the rules of the world was actually a Pure Blood Demon. Just with a drop of his blood alone, he could cause chaos to two different worlds.


    "It is good that I don''t have to exin it any further."


    Pefile nodded as he saw Mark''s face, who surely realized his circumstances.


    "How did the Blood Demons became extinct?"


    Mark asked another question as he did not have time to dwell in his circumstances at this moment.


    To that question, both Pefile and Amihan shared in telling parts of the history unknown to mortals.


    ***


    Being said before, the Blood Demons kept the bnce between the races in the world of spirits.


    However, that position always put the race in jeopardy when an enormous conflict between other races urred.


    The story should start with the geography of the Spiritual Dimension.


    Unlike Earth that was portrayed to be spherical or an ote spheroid, the actual shape of the world of Spirits was unconfirmed.


    It was even with the fact that the shape of its continents and countries were the perfect copy of Earth.


    In that dimension, a group of inds identical to the Philippines existed. A vast continent like Asia existed simrly. It was the same for other countries.


    The greatest difference, however. Instead of broad seas, each country and continents were divided by deep chasms. These deep chasms made the seawater flow down immeasurable cliffs. That was why the seas around countries were not that wide, allowing very few races to live in.


    Under those chasms, the Demon Races lived. It was not wrong to say that it was an actual representation of hell in religious beliefs. The Underworld.


    Because of the chasms, there were very few ces that connected the Underworld to the Surface.


    The Underworld and the Surface were two different realms but following a single rule.


    Most Demon Races could only live in the dark depths of the Underworld while the vice-versa applied to Spirit Races. When races with these restrictions wanted to go on the other''s ce, they needed to prepare a lot of things or they would end up weakening themselves.


    To a dimension prone to conflicts, being weakened in enemy territory would surely bring anyone to death. This reason made most races to live away from the ces that connected the two realms. It was because, on those boundaries, both the spirit and demonic auras exist.


    However, there were a few exceptions.


    One of those exceptions was the Blood Demon Race. Being a race that wasposed of different races and having high adaptability to surroundings, they lived by the border of the Surface and the Underworld.


    That way, they also kept the bnce between the two realms.


    Many races did not like the Blood Demons and there were also races that were envious of them. Nevertheless, the Blood Demons were numerous in number that most races did not want to mess with them.


    It was until a disaster urred.


    Aside from the Spirit Dimension, there were other two dimensions that existed. The inhabitants of those two dimensions were in constant war with each other. During one of their greatest wars, the Arcleaders of those dimensions opened doors to the Spirit Dimension.


    The inhabitants of the Higher Dimension appeared from the sky while the inhabitants of the Lower Dimension appeared under the chasms. Rallying the spirits and demons to their camps, the great war urred in the Spirit Dimension. It was all because of the rewards, power, and treasure, the two camps promised to the races of the Spirit Dimension.


    That was the nightmare of Blood Demons. Being at the border of the Surface and Underworld, they have been sandwiched between the two opposing forces.


    Being a neutral race that did not want to take sides, both the camps of the outsiders deemed the Blood Demons unnecessary.


    In that war, many spirits and demons died.


    For the Blood Demon Race that tried to stop it...


    The veryst of them was killed in the process.


    There might be survivors of the race that had gone into hiding. However, none of them were found.


    After the war at that time, the Spirit Dimension was left devastated. As for the instigators, none was heard from them as they closed the doors to their own dimensions.


    It was alreadyte when both the Demon Races and Spirit Races realized that they had been used. In the process, many races, like the Blood Demons, had gone extinct.


    Because of that, more conflicts had risen since then. As there was no one guarding the borders of the realms anymore, it was easier for both realms to cause trouble to each other.


    That was why some of the spirits that could not take the state of the Spirit Dimension fled to the Mortal World instead.


    ***


    Hearing the story, everyone in the room was dismayed. Especially to Mark and those that showed the signs of being Blood Demons earlier. They felt a certain connection to the story that gave them more impact than normal.


    The Blood Demons were in no doubt, victims. They were victims of the greed of other races. It was a rather pitiful end.<sub> </sub>


    Now, however, Blood Demons had somehow resurfaced. Still, they could not fathom the actual reason why and how they became Blood Demons.


    Finally, na could not handle it anymore. She asked a question.


    "I have a question. ording to what you said earlier, not only Mark, even me and some of the people here belonged to Blood Demons. But, how did that happen?"


    Pefile turned to na before turning to Mark, then to Edzel. He then spoke.


    "I don''t know if you will believe me. I''ll tell you, however... Not all humans are purely human."


    That was a deep statement. However, no one could refute it at all. As the existence of Spirits and Demons were now revealed before them, they did not know what they should believe anymore.


    "I don''t know for sure..." Pefile continued. "There might be someone in your ancestry, that was a Blood Demon, or also had the blood of a Blood Demon in them. It is really something that is hard to determine. But... Facts, speak for themselves. As humans always say."


    It was really a hard thing to determine. However, the reaction Mark and the others had earlier, it was hard to refute otherwise.


    "Does the Spirit Tree had something to do with it?"


    Mark voiced out in which Pefile shook his head.


    "The Spirit Tree might have helped trigger the blood of Blood Demons hidden in their veins. The Night Everred Tree, it is one of the requirements to awaken the dormant blood of the Demon Blood Race."


    Then, Pefile looked at Mark with a serious expression.


    "It is different to you, however. Spirit Trees are born differently. What kind of tree it will end up differs depending on the individual nting it. For you to be able to nt a Night Everred Tree, it meant that one of your ancestors in the past is a Pure Blood Demon. Blood from a Pure Blood Demon cany dormant but not acquired. Or else, that little girl there would already have the same pure blood as yours."


    Pefile looked at I.


    Mark was not able to refute that either. If the blood of a Pure Blood Demon could be acquired, I should have grown horns and wings too.


    While Mark was thinking that, Pefile added something.


    "There''s something I am very confused about."


    This made everyone turn at Pefile only to see him staring at Mark.


    "What are you talking about?"


    Mark asked.


    "You see... Dormant blood, no matter what Spirit or Demon race it is, there are procedures to be followed to awaken it. Like these girls, they needed the presence of the Night Everred Tree to partially awaken the dormant blood of the Blood Demons inside them. The process was even more difficult for Pure Blooded ones."


    At that point, everyone''s gaze at Mark turned rather strange. Then, Pefile finally said his question.


    "Just what did you do for you to fully awaken your dormant blood, to the point of being able to nt a Spirit Tree at the level of a king of a race?"


    That question put Mark into a stupor.


    The answer to that question?


    HE. DID. NOT. KNOW!


    Mark was just doing things randomly and did other things when the situation called for it.


    He had a few spections.


    First, he absorbed an actual demon.


    Second, he absorbed a blood creature.


    Third, he mutated himself to have wings.


    Fourth, he absorbed energy from another demon.


    Fifth, because of the Mutation he got after bing a Mutator.


    Sixth, because of the PsyCrystal.


    Seventh, it was a pure coincidence.


    Still... No matter how much he tried to specte, there was no way for him to find the actual answer!


    There was only one thing that was sure.


    Eight... It was because of Mutagen.


    Everything of this started since Mutagen arrived on Earth. Compared to the other reasons he thought of, it was the most likely thing that caused it.


    Furthermore, for some reason, Mutagen would cause some blood-rted family members to have close to identical abilities and mutations. Emika and Mikio was the best example of this. Even their father turned into a huge treant after turning into a Mutated Infected.


    What if Mutagen was not just mutating people, but was actually capable of awakening the genes dormant within the person''s body? That was the best theory Mark coulde up with.


    As Mark could not answer, there was no need to push it further. Everyone understood that even Mark confused about the things happening right now.


    "Alright, I give up. I can''t think of any reason." Mark shrugged his shoulders. "Anything else you two need to tell us about the Blood Demons?"


    Mark asked Pefile and Amihan which made the two turn at each other.


    Pefile then sighed.


    "I don''t have much to tell. I haven''t lived that long. What I know also came from others."


    "Me too."


    Amihan also answered.


    That made everyone rather unsatisfied. There was not enough information at all.


    Mark then asked about the Night Everred Spirit Tree that Pefile spoke several times before. However, aside from its name, appearance, and the fact that only a Pure Blood Demon could raise a tree like that, there was nothing else he knew.


    Most information about races was rather kept by themselves. It was because some of it could reveal the weakness of a race. With how the Blood Demons had gone extinct, they brought a lot of information about their race into their graves.


    The only thing that might tell them the things they needed to know was to find a true surviving member of that race.


    Mark could only sigh as the reasons for him to visit the Spirit Dimension started to pile up in front of him.

 Chapter 445 Preparations At The Mountain Base, The Pillars Of The Base

    <strong>Day 86 - 2:14 PM - Eternal Night Subspace, Night Everred Spirit Tree, Mountain Base, Mount Mbito, General Nakar, Quezon</strong>


    After the meeting, Mark had brought Mei and the little girls, the folklore creatures, and Huey out to see the ce. There were others close to Mark also asked him to see, like na, Hallie, and Karlene. Mark had no reason to decline them, and it was better for them to see the space they would need to work on.


    Thus, the whole gang entered the space with a blinding light that they had to close their eyes.


    The moment they opened their eyes, they were amazed by the scene that was nowhere near the appearance of the base they were standing at a second ago.


    Chiyo immediately greeted Mark as he entered, and he introduced the ball of red light to everyone. Sure enough, it was curious about the other people and started to circle around them.


    As Mark did not want to spoil its fun, he waited for a bit before everyone went on their way to see the ce. Of course, it was not like they would be able to see anything as it was nothing but a mountain-wide grasnd covered with blood-colored grass. Mark just let them, though. With how massive this ce was, it was unlikely for them to get very far from the center where they appeared.


    On the other hand, he opened the portal connected to the Spirit Dimension for Pefile and the others to see.


    Sure enough, they were shocked. Hearing about the situation in the Spirit Dimension and seeing it with their own eyes brought a different level of shock and helplessness.


    What they were seeing from the portal was far from what they wanted to see. The whole area around the Spirit Tree was lifeless, and there were also monsters wandering around. Monsters that in no doubt, were races and creatures that inhabited the Spirit Dimension and turned after bing infected.


    This hit the folklore creatures big time. The capsized emotions were even moreplicated to Pefile, Teremillio, and Felenia. They almost lost it. If not for the fact that they knew that they would not be able to jump into the portal without Mark''s permission, they would have done so.


    And of course, Mark would also not let his allies go endanger themselves by jumping into the portal.


    It was not hard to estimate how dangerous infected and mutated creatures with magical abilities werepared to humans that became infected. It was not hard to imagine that it would be easy to encounter something at the level of what the forces of Bay City fought at Philippine General Hospital.


    If they wanted to venture into the Spirit Dimension that had turned into a literal Magical Apocalypse, they needed to prepare. Not only them but also the whole base.


    There was one fact that became the reason for this. In a typical journey, Mark only had to prepare his team. Strengthen them, prepare food, water, weapons, and other necessities. If they wanted to go to the Spirit Dimension, they needed to prepare the whole base simrly.


    It was because...


    The flow of time of the Mortal World and the Spirit Dimension exceedingly differed.


    Being inside any of the two, anyone would feel the same. Only those with high awareness of Space and Time would be able to notice it.


    Inside the Spirit Dimension, Time flowed slower than the Mortal World. Furthermore, the difference was not fixed depending on the stability of the Spirit Dimension, and its connection to Mortal World. At times, an hour inside the Spirit Dimension could already be a day on Earth. Sometimes, it could be faster or slower.


    The only thing that remained constant was that time inside the Spirit Dimension could flow at the same speed as the Mortal World or slower, but never faster.


    If they entered the Spirit World and was gone for a day, several days could have passed on Earth. This was not good considering the current state of Earth and the Oracle the Elder had just given Mark.


    And that was why... Mark immediately hatched a decision.


    ***


    Finishing what they needed to do and showing the current state of the Spirit Dimension to Huey and the others who were also interested, Mark brought them back.


    He told Pefile and the others to wait a few more days and they would jump into the portal. They understood and agreed. Not only Mark, but they also needed to prepare themselves.


    Late afternoon, Mark had to call for Huey, Jolleen, Nicole, Trisha, Ed, and Ron. Hallie was also present, even though she didn''t have to be here. It was the third time for them to be called by Mark today. However, none of them hadints.


    They were the very first people in this base, and basically the people directly under him. Mark also trusted them, considering the loyalty they showed him, and the work they had done. Furthermore, in their hearts, this base was the only ce they had and Mark was the person that took them when they had nowhere to go after being lost in the forest to escape danger.


    More than that, Mark gave Huey and Jolleen a chance. The two weremitted to serving him.


    Nicole and Hallie, on the other hand, owed Mark quite a bit. He promised to check on their families which Mark did when he was in Bay City. Unfortunately, the news he found out was not good. Nevertheless, it was enough that they did not have to keep false hope in mind. In fact, they did not expect much, which made them recover easier.


    When they all arrived and sat on the chairs, Mark put a [Physical Crystal] in front of each of them, except Hallie.


    Seeing this, they were surprised.


    "I believe that all of you know what these are."


    Mark spoke. And of course, they nodded.


    "Take the ones in front of you and consume that tonight. I''ll be expecting to see your abilities tomorrow."


    And of course, they dly epted the crystals.


    Mark gave them the crystals that could improve their already present abilities as Evolvers or bnce their abilities to the roles given to them.


    Huey was not good at fighting. He was more of a strategist and his Evolver Ability, [Hyperesthesia] proved that he was more of a support type and the brain of the team. Of course, this made him a bit vulnerable was his physical abilities were subparpared to the rest of the team.<sub> </sub>


    Thus, Mark decided to give Huey the ability taken from the scout of Dark Greed. This would mutate the springs of Huey''s legs and allow him to be able to jump and fall in unprecedented heights at very fast speeds. It would keep him from danger and would not need direct protection from others.


    Next was Jolleen. Her [Intuition] allowed her to be able to fight without receiving fatal attacks. Her constant training also gave fruition to the current her. Mark had a hard time choosing an ability for her. In the end, he chose something to aid her ability that came from one of the insignificant criminals in Death Valley Settlement. It was the ability to turn her skin into metal.


    Mark had some ns on why he gave Jolleen this ability, and he would tell her after she was able to use the ability proficiently.


    To Nicole, she already had the same ability Mark had decided to Huey although it was quite weaker. The problem was that she was still not able to jump down without feeling scared. Thus, decided Mark to give her one of the abilities Mark had just taken when they arrived. The ability of HawkOwl that Mei shot back when they were retrieving the supplies at the bunker. With this, her fear ofnding from heights would be lessened as she would have the assurance to not fall on a bad angle. It would also allow her to scout with more options for moving around.


    Trisha, the cook, did not really need to fight. However, her ability was the most bnced among the seven. He did not want to waste it and put her in charge to be the all-rounder of the team. Thus, Mark gave her a mutation that made her bones as strong as Odelina''s and allowed her to freely change the shape of the bones of her limbs. Depending on how she used this mutation, she would be able to support which whoever in the team needed her.


    Ed, on the other hand, was given one of thetest addition to Mark''s collection. Alias Macho''s [Muscle Enhancement]. He was already a strength and tank type, to begin with. With his ability, his strength would be multiplied several times. Not only that it would help a lot in battles, but it would also help him as the main person in building structures in the base.


    Lastly, Ron. He had an ability simr to the ve named Tullia who was among the hunting team. This made him the range type of the group. The problem with him was like with Huey. Oncepromised by enemies, he would be vulnerable due to theck of physical enhancement. As such, Mark gave him an agility based ability. It was a minor mutation that enhanced his legs allowing him to run like a jaguar and kick like a horse. It would give him many options to keep a distance from his enemies while shooting them with his weapon.


    Hallie who watched Mark put the crystals in front of the six was happy. The bond of these seven was strong since they all came from one group. Now, she was not the sole Mutator from the group. As the magician type of the group, she was d to get her allies strengthened.


    Of course, these crystals were not all.


    "After picking those crystals, get some of those."


    Mark said as he pointed at a few cases at the side of the room. Each of the cases was a different size and had a name engraved on the topside.


    Carefully, they picked up the crystals and picked up a case that had their name.


    Unexpectedly, Hallie also had one. The case she had was rather long, almost the same height as her. She was not able to resist and immediately opened hers. Mark had not said anything about opening it after all.


    What was inside her case was a staff. Sure enough, her magician role in this team was finalized with this. Still, she was confused though as she could not use magic like Mark or the folklore creatures in the base. What could she do with a staff? Furthermore, it did not seem to be a magical one. Nevertheless, it looked stylish and it had a flower-shaped tip.


    Seeing Hallie confused while examining the staff, Mark shook his head and spoke.


    "Put both your hands at the handle and put your thumb at the button above the handle."


    Hearing that, Hallie held the staff the way Mark instructed. She noticed the rough surface on the handle where her palms were positioned but did not mind it.


    "Then?"


    She asked.


    "Push the button and release fire from your hand."


    Hallie pushed the button and heard clicks under her palms. She looked and saw that while she was holding the button, several holes appeared at the handle under the rough surface.


    Seeing that, the light bulb above her head lit up and she knew what she had to do.


    Hallie gripped the staff hard, pointed it up, and released fire from both her palms.


    Her hands were covered with mes. Then, as the mes on her hands burst forth, stronger, the top end of the staff spewed a spiral me that lit up the whole room.


    "OOOOHHHHH!!!"


    Hallie was amazed.


    That was when Mark spoke.


    "You have problems with the range you can attack with your mes right? I made that so the mes can travel inside the staff and give you a bit more range of attacking. It can also change the shape of the mes to some extent. Just twist the handle until you hear a click."


    Hallie did as said and twisted the handle and a click was heard. Then, another burst of mes was spewed by the staff. This time, the me was concentrated like a blowtorch. She did another twist and tested another. This time, mes burst from the six petals of the flower, spreading mes in a wide area.


    There were only four shapes with thest one spewing all the three shapes at the same time that would make it look like Hallie created a small explosion. However, Mark told her not to try that one inside the room.


    Sure enough, she was delighted. She hugged the staff like her own child.


    Seeing what she got, the others were also eager to see what they received. Unfortunately, Mark told them to check the weaponster and call for the next batch.


    They all thanked Mark and went out. Soon, the next batch entered.


    They were some of the people in the team he decided to bring to the Spirit Dimension with him. There was Karlene, na, Edzel, Pearl, and most importantly, Spera.

 Chapter 446 Preparations At The Mountain Base, A Surprising Piece Of News For Edzel And Spera

    <strong>Day 86 - 6:02 PM - Meeting Room, Cliff House, Mountian Base, Mount Mbito, General Nakar, Quezon</strong>


    After the first batch, the second batch of people Mark called for entered.


    Looking at their faces, they surely were confused as to why they were called here. Also, they were not thest batch, as there were still others waiting outside. It seemed that they tried asking Huey''s group. However, it looked like that the first group did not answer them to keep the surprise factor. As such, they entered while trying to guess the reason.


    The most confused among them, however, was Spera. She felt that she had no reason to be here at all.


    When they entered, Mark signaled them to sit down. Once they all sat down, Mark started to tell them his reason for calling them.


    "I know that all of you are confused. The reason I called all of you here is the current state of the Spirit Dimension. I believe that you all knew about it already."


    They all nodded to Mark''s words. The base was not toorge, and the poption was also small. It was not hard for information to circte around. Even Pearl, who was not present in the meeting earlier, heard the news from Edzel.


    "In several days, a week at most, I will lead a team that will enter the Spirit Dimension."


    "So, are we included in that team? Is that why you called us?"


    na raised her hand and asked.


    To her question, Mark nodded.


    "Of course, it is not final. I called you all to ask your opinion first. If any of you doesn''t want to go, it is fine. I will not force anyone."


    After those words, Edzel raised his hand. Mark allowed him to talk.


    "Boss, why is Pearl called? I don''t mind if it''s me, but she''s still not used to these things."


    na and Karlene also nodded at Edzel''s notion. Pearl had turned over a new leaf and was trying her best to be useful to everyone, especially Edzel. But even so, she was still not suited for dangerous journeys.


    "I know that all of you are eager to know," Mark said with a sigh. "Sorry, but I can''t tell yet. The reason is quite relevant to you, Edzel. But of course, I already said it. I won''t force anything."


    Sure enough, they were disappointed to not hear the real reason. Nevertheless, Edzel fell silent in deep thought after learning that it had something to do with him.


    While Edzel was in silence, Pearl''s voice was heard.


    "I''ll go."


    Everyone could not help but turn to her. After all, her answer was unexpected.


    "Are you sure about your answer?"


    Mark asked.


    "Yeah, you don''t have to force yourself."


    Edzel told her in worry and confusion.


    Pearl looked at Edzel with a sincere smile.


    "Boss already said that the reason is rted to you. It sounds important. I don''t want to ruin it for you." She then turned to Mark. "I don''t know how I can be of use, but I''ll try not to be baggage for everyone."


    Hearing that, Mark nodded with a smile.


    "Good. Don''t worry, you won''t be some useless weight. There is a lot of creatures in the Spirit Dimension that can be invisible or trick the eyes of their enemies. You being around to detect the vibrationsing from them will already be a good help."


    Mark then stood up.


    "Also, here."


    He put crystals in front of na, Pearl, and Edzel. Like Huey''s group, these three also received a [Physical Crystal] each to be a Mutator.


    "Mizuki is one thing, but Pearl and Edzel, you two are still not that proficient in using your abilities. I don''t really want to give you two a crystal too soon. However, we don''t have much time. That is why you two needed to double your practice."


    "Yes."


    "Yes, Boss."


    Pearl and Edzel epted the crystal in front of them and replied.


    na, on the other hand, was also happy to receive hers. She could finally be a Mutator without any risks.


    "Mark, what about Spera?"


    Karlene asked. She did not need a crystal since she was already a Mutator, even though she was not able to control it entirely. It was surprising, however, that Spera did not receive one.


    Spera, of course, had no problems with it. And she did not really expect to get one.


    Mark then replied.


    "I have another n for her. So, she will stay to speak with me aler."


    His reply made them even more curious instead.


    "So, Mizuki, Karlene, you two want to go?"


    The two women looked at each other before turning to Mark with a straight nod.


    "We don''t really have a reason to not join."


    "Don''t try to ditch me on an Isekai experience, will you?"


    Karlene and na replied, respectively. Then, na followed with another question.


    "Can''t Hallie and Analynne with us?"


    To her question, Mark shrugged.


    "Analynn is still new here. I can''t make an exception for her. She''s not directly under me either and is here as friends of you two. Though it doesn''t really matter to me, I don''t want to rift in the base because of envy. I don''t think that anyone will voice it, but it will still bring an unpleasant taste to a lot of people here."


    Hearing that, the two understood. Although Edward, Emi, Terrence, and Phillip were brought here because of their deal with Mark. Analynn was brought here by Karlene''s request. Her status was different, and she was not Mark''s friend, either. It would not be appropriate for her to suddenly receive something while many people were waiting before her.


    It was quite frustrating. However, that was the truth.


    Mark then continued.<sub> </sub>


    "About Hallie, I really want to bring her. But it will also mean bringing Nicole. Like you two, those two are almost inseparable. Hallie and Nicole are also among Huey''s group that is necessary to maintain and protect the base."


    Hearing the reason, Karlene and na nodded.


    Mark then turned to Edzel, who was contemting what could be the reason. He was really worried about Pearl participating in a dangerous mission like this.


    "Edzel," Mark called out, causing Edzel to look at him. "I can''t tell the reason since there are still unclear things. But I can tell you one thing. It had something to do with your mother and father."


    Edzel''s eyes grew wide, and he abruptly stood up. If not for Mark being his superior, he might have approached to grab him.


    "Boss, what do you mean?! I haven''t met my father all my life. My mother died several years ago! What does it have to do with them?"


    Mark stared at him, not giving an answer. Noticing how rude he was, he tried to calm down as he took his seat once more. Pearl started to rub his shoulder and back to help him calm down. Then, something clicked on his mind.


    "Boss, do you know my father?"


    The other people in the room looked at Mark.


    Unexpectedly for them, he nodded.


    "As I said before, I can''t tell the specifics. Your father also forbids me from telling you. What can I say is that your questions will be answered in this mission."


    Sure enough, they were getting more questions instead of answers. However, it was unlikely for Mark to budge and give them the answers.


    "Alright, just pick up your crystals and be sure to use those tonight. I''ll check on your abilities tomorrow. Also, each of you should take one case there. Get the ones engraved with your names."


    Mark said to them.


    After they took the crystals and the cases designated for them, Mark told them that they could leave already. The only person left inside was Spera.


    Mark then took the seat in front of Spera, facing her across the small table.


    "Master, why do you want me to join the next expedition in the Spirit Dimension?"


    Spera asked. She had no reason to refuse as she wanted to be of help. However, she could not understand why someone like her, who did not have any ability, was chosen.


    To her question, Mark ced his closed hand on the table on her side. As he opened his hand, he spoke.


    "Because we will need your talent."


    Mark''s hand left two crystals in front of her.


    One of the crystal was the same as others in color, although the color and the glow of the orb inside was different. On the other hand, her eyes could not help but shake as she sensed the familiar energy from the other crystal with a deep violet color.


    "Is this perchance..."


    "That is right. The ability to open Portals and create tunnels through space."


    Mark said. It confirmed what she was feeling at the moment as she gazed at the crystal.


    Unexpectedly, she took her sight away from the crystal and turned to Mark.


    "Master, isn''t it better if you give it to someone else you can trust more?"


    Mark was not surprised to receive that question. She had already given up having that power once more. Instead, she just wanted to continue her current life here. She felt that once this ability was returned to her, the trust and ce she earned here would be in jeopardy. Rather than having something to be suspicious of, she chose to have none.


    To that attitude of hers, Mark nodded.


    "That is why I''m returning this to you. You have proven your self to be worthy of this power. You already earned your ce here. Many people here like you, even Mei''er treats you like a younger sister. You don''t have to be afraid of losing everything just because of this."


    "But..."


    "No buts," Mark interjected. "As I said, we need your talent. This ability isn''t just something that can be used by everyone without aptitude. Do you know that you''re even better at using this power than its previous owner?"


    Spera started to lose the argument. Now that aptitude was brought into the topic, she would have no reason to reject it anymore. That was also when Mark dropped the bomb.


    "I need you to be able to use this ability again. Because once we enter the Spirit Dimension, there will be a chance that the members of Auraboros will appear to destroy everything. You don''t want to get this ce destroyed, do you?"


    Spera froze.


    "The awakening of the Chiyo should have alerted them and they could be searching for this ce already. When they appear, we need to be able to return immediately. Or else, you know what will happen."


    "I... No, we will lose this ce, right Master?"


    Spera''s voice was quite shaky with the thought that she had in mind. She was a member of that organization before. Thus, she knew the extent of their powers to some degree. If they really did appear and Mark was not in this base, once the higher-ranked members of the organization arrived, everyone here could die.


    In fact, Mark was the only person she saw that was able to contend with a lower deity like Gar''m. Furthermore, there were several individuals that were on par with the me Demon in the organization. There were also others that were stronger.


    It was a piece of bad news to hear for her, who finally found what she had been looking for since she was born.


    Slowly, her hand moved. She grabbed the two crystals on the table.


    As the chosen inheritor of the [Space Portal], the crystal immediately reacted to her touch. It turned into dust that was absorbed by her body.


    Of course, she started to feel dizzy. After this ability was taken away from her, she reverted to a normal person. Now that she regained it, her body would undergo some readjusting to be able to use it once more.


    As she was about to fall, Mark gently caught her. She was already ring with a high fever.


    "So, I take this a yes, right?"


    Mark asked Spera who started to lose consciousness.


    Spera nodded with great conviction. Finally, she passed out.


    Mark carried her out of the meeting room and brought her to her bedroom. He then told Odelina to look after her.


    After that, Mark called for other people. His friends like Ron, Nikky, and Arvie, Edward''s group, except Analynn and Terrence, and a few more people that were essential to the base like the old farmer couple.


    They were all called by Mark, given a crystal, and was given a weapon or equipment suitable for them.


    That night, Mark had to take over as the lookout and spent the night together with Mei at the balcony. At the same time, Mark monitored the whole base for those that were undergoing mutations inside their dwellings.


    And of course, this was not the end of the preparations. Mark still had some ideas in mind that he needed to implement starting tomorrow.

 Chapter 447 Preparations At The Mountain Base, The [Blood Children] And The Many Layers Of Defense

    <strong>Day 87 - 10:29 AM - Mountain Base, Mount Mbito, General Nakar, Quezon</strong>


    The next morning, the base had entered a new phase. Those people called by Mark yesterday were now being seen checking out their new abilities outside the walls. After all, they were also excited to try out the powers they had received.


    As for those that did not receive a crystal from Mark, they could not help but feel a bit of envy. However, the old couple that did their best at managing the fields were among those Mark had called. This just showed that giving enough effort to be recognized in the base would lead them to the oue they wanted.


    Of course, unlike Huey and the others close and directly under Mark, the older couple and a few people that came first in this base were just regr people. And thus, they were only given an empty crystal for them to be Evolvers. Still, it was already something others would want to have. No one would not want to receive even the slightest powerup they could get, after all. Everyone wanted one way or another, to survive and protect themselves in this harsh world that became even more dangerous.


    In fact, a few days after arriving in the base, Mark tasked Edward to start a training session for thebatants. Being in the army before, he was capable of leading such sessions. Nevertheless, not only thebatants were joining and watching the sessions. The majority of people, even the ves, were carefully learning fighting techniques, self-defense moves, and the strategies he learned when he was still in duty.


    That was the extent of how the people here did not want to go back to their previous lives. There was no need to tell them, and they were finding ways to get stronger by themselves.


    With this reasoning, the people in the base would surely work harder for Mark to recognize their efforts.


    ***


    Outside the base, Edward could be seen watching over the others as they tried out their new abilities. Since they needed to get used to their powers, the usual routine they had for this day was canceled. Nevertheless, they did not want to waste their time. As such, their current training used the trees at the south of the base as targets. It was because those trees were nned to be cleared out in the future.


    It was hitting two birds with one stone.


    Of course, Hallie was an exception. If she did the same using her abilities, it was not hard to start a forest fire. She was currently on the side, getting used to her staff.


    The others were also using trying out their abilities with the weapons and equipment they received.


    Huey was practicing with a needleuncher pistol in a strange shape. Being a support type, he could only attack within range. The strange shape of the pistol, however, was not because of the muzzle, but the ammunition. It had two needlepartments that would allow him to change ammo without needing to remove the magazine.


    Jolleen was given another wakizashi. The new one looked cooler, however. It also had some movable parts that could make its de either longer or wider.


    Trisha was given some sort of gunde being the all-rounder. Furthermore, it used the same ammunition as Huey''s pistol.


    Nicole, on the other hand, was given a crossbow that could retract or contract its body. It was made to be useful in both short-range and long-rangebat.


    Ed was given a pair of gauntlets and a transformable kite shield. The shield could be folded for easier movements and had a pile bunker to affix it on the ground when needed. Furthermore, the pile bunker could also be used to attack after flipping a lock and make therge nail fly towards the enemy.


    As for Ron, he had a quiterger crossbow that was specialized in long-rangebat. Its bolts were alsorger and came with different heads that could fit any asion.


    To the other side, Karlene and na were also practicing with the pretty envious Analynn watching them.


    The weapons Mark gave the two were improved versions of the weapons he gave them originally.


    na had some sort of Pressure Gauntlets that uses heavy springs to further enhance her already absurd punching power. The needleuncher around the brace of the gauntlets was also improved. Not only that it could shoot farther and faster, but another kind of needle was added to the ammunition it could fire.


    It was called Tracker Needles as the needle was made with [Glowing Blood Metal]. The needle was shaped strangely, in order not to sink on the body of the target. This needle was very useful in the dark as it would glow brightly indicating where the enemy was.


    Karlene''s Retracting Knife also had improvements. Now, not only that the de could be retracted, it could even be shot towards the enemy when needed. Then, it could be pulled back, with a string of [Blood Metal] attached to the handle and the de.


    Pearl and Edzel were practicing on their own. Edzel was teaching Pearl the basics of what he learned from Mark, Karlene, Edward, and na.


    What Pearl received from Mark was different from others and she did not have it right now. Her''s was a robe made of leather brought back by Pefile. Mark had a hard time processing it as the leather was as tough as metal despite not being as hard. And ording to Pefile, it had magical properties. However, he was not disclosing what kind of property it had.


    As for Edzel, the weapon he received was a set of sword and shield. This way, he could attack and defend depending on the need. Furthermore, both the sword and the shield hadpartments that could shoot projectiles to enemies.


    Mark watched them all from the top of the wall. Some of them were already capable of using their abilities to sufficiently. It was despite just bing Mutators. Among them, na came at the top. In a sense, she was a genius too in many aspects.


    Right now, she transformed herself, looking like a red lioness. It was quite a different look from what Mark remembered though. Sure enough, the presence of her Blood Demon genes in her body caused the ability to mutate even further.


    "Ah..."


    na''s voice was heard in a disappointed tone as she released her transformation. Of course, it was not because of her transformation.


    "Mark!" She called with a wave. "My nails are turning into ws when I transform! Can you fix the gauntlet so it will not block my ws?"


    Mark scratched his head. He did not expect this. In fact, the Mutation she had now looked very different from the previous owner. This ability came from the leader of the ouws that chased na and Karlene''s group when Mark saw them for the first time. For her ws to be hindered by the gauntlets, her ws surely wererger.<sub> </sub>


    He had no problems modifying the gauntlets and nodded. He should make this into gauntlets that could adjust its size a bit.


    Their training continued until beforeunch. Still, their enthusiasm had yet to go down. They would probably go on it till sunset.


    As for Mark, he went on other things after lunch.


    The first one was...


    To mutate some of the [Blood Children].


    There were still a number of those that retained their normal body structures among the [Blood Children]. Mark actually wanted them to Mutate naturally like Crimson, Ivy, Scia, , and Ruby. However, the situation called for the opposite.


    Thus, he ended up picking five crystals that could be of use to him if the [Blood Children] were to use it. Of course, he would not be biased let the [Blood Children] if they want the crystal or not. Unexpectedly, children''s brawl and tantrums for the crystals did not happen.


    Mark could sense them actually talking with each other through their connections on who would want the crystals. It was quite unexpected for Mark. Nevertheless, it made him smile. Compared to a lot of people on Earth, these kids were more sensible.


    In the end, five [Blood Children] stepped forward to each of the crystals.


    The first was Methyl, one of the three [Blood Children] that was handed to him by Professor Suzuki. She chose the crystal with acidic ability. The one that came from the criminal in Death Valley known for eating the flesh of little girls.


    The second was Currant who was among the first [Blood Children] Mark found. He chose one of the new abilities Mark had. The one that came from the strategist of the raiders that Harold brought to steal the stuff at the bunker. It allowed that guy to release electricity from his hands along with being able to move fast.


    Third among the [Blood Children] was Merlot. He chose the crystal that allowed a person to turn his skin into copper. This one came from the criminals fighting the berserk whale back then.


    As for the fourth crystal, that also came from those criminals, Candy jumped for it. She was among the [Blood Children] he picked up from Annica before. The ability she chose was a rare one that Mark only encountered once. It was a maic ability. Unfortunately, the criminal that had this ability before was too dumb to use it and was just shooting bullets at the whale before he was killed.


    Lastly, the Mutation to release high temperatures simr to Hallie''s ability as an Evolver. Compared to hers, however, it was much stronger and could reach to a degree that could melt metal. This ability was received by Vermillion who was also among the three that Mark got from Professor Suzuki.


    Mark wanted all of them to Mutate. However, most of the crystals he had would either have the same kind of abilities or something that did not seem to be useful to the [Blood Children]. The best example were the abilties that would mutate people to have animal parts or fur. What would the [Blood Children] turn into once they absorb those? A peice of metal puffball? Because of that, he could only wait for new abilities that he would encounter in the future and mutate the [Blood Children] if they wanted to.


    The five absorbed the crystals into their bodies and immediately fell into a deep sleep. Their bodies were slowly growing to a change. Furthermore, the first ones that Mutated first before being enhanced further by Mark''s blood, they were theplete opposite. Furthermore, their characteristics as Blood Demons were already awakened. By the looks of it, their mutation would take longer than the previous ones.


    There was no problem with that though. The other [Blood Children] presented themselves to guard over the five.


    Thus, Mark moved to the second part.


    It was to create hidden weapons to be nted around the base.


    One thing that would give the Auraboros their advantage during their attacks was because they thoroughly investigate and observe their enemies before they attack.


    However, what if there were weapons hidden around the base that was to be used specifically when they attacked? These weapons would surely catch them off guard. After all, they would have no data about it if they had no chance to see the weapons being used.


    The only people that would be allowed to know about this were Huey''s team. This way, even if the chance that the enemies used brainwashing or hypnotism to gather information, they would only know if they used it of their team. And to step it even further, the information and location about the hidden weapons would be separated among their team without any of them knowing.


    As such, the weapons Huey knew would be different from Jolleen knew. It was the same for the five. And they were forbidden to talk about the weapons to anyone, to avoid it from leaking.


    The only way for the Auraboros to know all the details was to hypnotize all of Huey''s team.


    And that would be hard to do.


    Especially since Chiyo would be watching over the whole base. It was impossible for the Spirit Tree to not detect something wrong with the people living under it.


    Mark was not going to let his and his people''s hard work fall into the enemies'' hands. He would try to fix every hole.


    The enemy could enter the ce, with the consequence of not being able to go back outside.


    And along with all those preparations, Mark finalized his team. He proceeded to make weapons and armor for them. He also taught the newly Mutated [Blood Children] on how to turn themselves into armor and weapons if needed.


    The days passed by with Mark busying himself too much that the others were being worried about him. Because of that, however, he managed to ready his team and his base for their departure.


    A weekter, after all the busy days that Mark had been through, they were finally stepping into the Spirit Dimension.

 Chapter 431 The Odd Meetup, The Strange Creatures Arriving At The Base

    ? <strong>Day 76 - 9:52 AM - Mount Mbito, General Nakar, Quezon</strong>


    Mark, with Amihan hiding behind his shoulder, stood in front of the group of small folklore creatures. It was quite a strange meeting.


    Furthermore, Mark could not understand. It would be natural if he felt that they were scared of a "human" like him. However, instead of being scared,it was more urate to say that they were intimidated.


    Ignoring the emotions that he could detect from the group of small creatures, Mark turned to Amihan.


    "I told you to stay put, didn''t I?"


    He said in a reprimanding tone.


    What Amihan did was not nned at all. Although he intended to help, he wanted to observe them more without needing to show themselves. It was also the reason Mei, na, and Hallie that were with them were hiding quite a distance away.


    After all,mon sense would not apply to these creatures. They might have the ability to affect the minds of people or able to do other unusual things.


    "Sorry, Master. My body just moved on its own."


    Amihan apologized sincerely.


    It was true that she moved without thinking when she saw that Mya was in great danger. If it was Teremillio, however, she might have just stayed put and watch.


    While Mark and Amihan conversed with each other, the group in front of the two heard them clearly.


    After hearing how Amihan addressed Mark, everyone in the group was surprised. Especially Teremillio. He had the shock of his life.


    Unknown to Mark, having an individual of the Spirit Race pledge to serve under him had a far deeper significance than just simply being a servant. It basically meant that their lives were the property of their master.


    Thus, if Teremillio wanted to continue to pursue Amihan, there were only three ways for that to happen. First was for her Master to give permission. Second, he could join Amihan and pledge allegiance to the same master. Lastly, if the Master died leaving Amihan behind.


    And none of those were probable to happen.


    In other words, he would need to give up. He felt rather frustrated, someone else won over Amihan''s heart before he was able to.


    "What happened there?" Mark suddenly asked while looking at Teremillio. "That guy is extremely frustrated."


    Hearing that, Amihan was confused. She could see how frustrated the Duende was just by looking at his distorted expression.


    On the other hand, the wives of Teremillio was relieved to some extent. While they were all having a good rtionship with each other, there was still somepetition over Teremillio. They would rather not have another one joining in. However, they could still not stomach seeing Teremillio, frustrated at that fact.


    This guy was a known womanizer, after all. It was unfortunate that they fell in love with this guy. However, unlike others that had to mind their status and dignity, none of the girls here had to.


    Because in the first ce, all of them were outcasts of their race. Else, why would they live in a ce away from their actual habitats?


    It not for Teremillio, few of them might not even be here anymore.


    Well, it was not the time to dwell on these things. As Teremillio was not in a good mood, the first wife, Felenia, had to step up.


    "Please, Pardon our rudeness. Are you the master of the Spirit Tree in the human fortress to the northeast?"


    Felenia asked Mark in a straightforward but respectful fashion.


    That question, however, confirmed that they were here for Mark. It was just as he expected, after detecting strange presences all over the ce scouting the base. Furthermore, he could recognize the presence of some of the Duendes that were armed with spears around the girls. Some of them scouted his base before.


    Thus, Mark nodded.


    "I am. Still, how did you deduce that it''s really me?"


    That question was bugging Mark. How did they know? After all, he looked human, for the most part. From Amihan, he knew that normal humans had no ability to nt and raise Spirit Trees.


    To that question, the doll with golden hair replied in a small voice.


    "You''re emitting that aura, and yet, you ask us."


    "Daniya!"


    As Daniya''s reply was rather rude, even if said in a small voice, Felenia immediately called her to stop.


    Knowing the severity of her actions, Daniya immediately covered her mouth and looked fearfully at Mark. Seeing that he did not seem angry, she felt relieved. The others were the same.


    Mark did not mind that murmur of the adorable girl. Still, what did she mean by him emitting an aura? He was confused.


    "Amihan, am I emitting some sort of strange aura?"


    He could not help but ask Amihan in a whisper.


    To that question...


    "Yeah?" Amihan nodded. "It''s weak and not easily detected. They might be too cautious about Master that they managed to feel it? I don''t know."


    That made Mark rather surprised. Since when? Furthermore, he did not even realize.


    In the midst of thinking, a voice suddenly chimed in.


    "If you are thinking about when it started, it happened when you nted that Spirit Tree. That aura is something that connected you to the Spirit Tree you nted. It will go away after the Spirit Tree gained its sentience."


    Everyone, except Mark, looked towards the person who spoke. There, they could see Pefile, leaning on a tree not far from them.


    "Why did no one told me about this?"


    Mark spoke, he could not feel anything about it at all.


    "Because there is no one to bother with it? Besides, humans can''t feel it. Only beings like us can and if we only focus enough."


    Pefile replied.


    Hearing that, Mark understood.


    "So, its like dust that no one can see unless they paid attention, isn''t it?"


    "That''s quite an analogy, but that''s pretty much it."


    Pefile said as he looked at the group in front of them. The group was the same.


    And someone, recognized the handsome Tamawo in front of them.


    "Pefile?"


    It was Angis.


    "Yeah, long time no see Angis. You look beat up."


    Pefile replied with a friendly smile. On the other hand, Angis was embarrassed. This was the first time she Pefile, after a long time, and here, she looked ragged, with wounds, and was carrying the unconcious pixie.


    Both Pefile''s and Angis'' races were either forest or tree-dwellers. As both of them lived around this area for a long time, it was not hard to see how they knew each other.


    "Angis, who is he?"


    The other wives could not help but whisper. Teremillio was also interested in the answer. After all, he could not help but feel jealous by how handsome this white-haired guy was.


    "Later, alright?"


    Angis knew that it was not appropriate to speak about it right now.


    Hearing that, the others were forced to focus on the issue. They finally met the Master of the Spirit Tree. Yet, they did not know what to do.


    On the other hand, Pefile turned to Mark.


    "Can I ask for a favor?"


    "What is it?"


    "Can you let them enter your base and continue the talk there? It''s just too painful to look at their state right now."<sub> </sub>


    Pefile had no intention to ridicule or insult. Still, what he had just said hit the group homerun.


    "They won''t cause trouble, right?"


    "I know what you''re afraid of. Don''t worry. They probably won''t try any silly stuff unless they wanted their heads rolling away."


    That nonchnt remark made the group gulp their saliva. It sounded like a joke, however, it was surely not.


    However, they were really not in a good state to keep standing here.


    "Alright, you all follow me."


    Mark said as he turned around and leave. On his shoulder, Amihan signaled for the wives to quickly follow while totally ignoring Teremillio.


    Seeing that, they hurriedly followed.


    As small creatures, and not all of them could fly, their steps were short. They had to run in order to catch up with Mark''s steps.


    Then, they saw three human women waiting on the way. The two seemed to have gleaming eyes as they looked at the group of small creatures. One of the three, however, did not pay too much attention and approached the Master of the Spirit Tree.


    "Gege, is it fine?"


    Mei asked.


    "For the most part, I guess," Mark replied. "Let''s head back first. We''ll talk with them at the base."


    With that, Mei nced towards the group of folklore creatures before walking beside Mark. The other two really seemed eager to interact with these unusual creatures, however, Mark told them to wait.


    On the other hand, seeing Mei, the group was mesmerized.


    It was then that Pefile who was keeping pace with the group spoke.


    "Hey, the wives better restrain their husband if they did not want him to turn to dust. That''s the wife of Amihan''s Master. Your husband better not have any ideas towards her."


    Hearing that, the wives became nervous. They looked at Teremillio. His eyes stared at the beautiful human with a lovestruck expression.


    In tacit understanding, the wives nodded at each other.


    When Teremillio snapped out of his gaze, he was already being dragged by his wives while being tightly tied with a magical rope.


    "Wha-what is this!"


    Teremillio eximed.


    To his cry, he saw the cold faces of his wives.


    "Husband, this is for your own good. Just stay put. Please."


    Felenia warned with a cold gaze.


    Teremillio gulped. The cold stares of his wives were kind of scary. He could only keep silent as Angis carried him with her free arm.


    Seeing him stay put, the wives finally sighed in relief. They were here to talk and negotiate, not to face death. They already had casualties just by trying to go here. They rather not have more. Especially their husband, he could die just because of his normal behavior.


    On the other hand, Mark could tell what was happening behind without looking. The Duende was lucky that he was restrained. Mark was already preparing to turn him to dust if he made a move, after all.


    In the least, even though the wives could not let go of their feelings towards this womanizer, in the least, they were not totally blinded by it.


    ***


    Arriving at the base, the huge gates opened.


    This allowed the group of folklore creatures to see what was inside. On the other hand, the humans on the way could not help but stop and stare at the group following behind the owner of the base.


    After all, who would not feel fascinated? The creatures that they did not think would really exist, was not in front of them.


    Still, they all looked strange when they saw Teremillio, tightly bound like a person that was about to be offered as a sacrifice.


    Walking through a part of the base, the group of folklore creatures was amazed by the close-up view of the Spirit Tree. It was fascinating to see from afar, not to mention now. Furthermore, they could feel the vital energy inside the base and could not help but feel ratherfortable.


    Arriving in front of the house, Hallie and na decided to split up. They were interested in these creatures, however, Mark had private matters to deal with them. And thus...


    "We''ll continue ying, alright?"


    "Yeah, just call us when it''s over."


    They left with those remarks that made Mark a bit frustrated. He wanted to continue ying too.


    Mark looked at the group and spoke to Amihan.


    "Bring them to the balcony."


    "Okay~!"


    Amihan agreed.


    Then, by the surprise of the visitors, Mark and Mei opened their wings and flew up towards the balcony near the top of the cliff.


    "Amihan, your master..."


    Mya wanted to ask Amihan who stayed behind. However...


    "Mya. You can still fly, right?"


    Amihan asked.


    "Yes."


    "Then, it''s just them, huh."


    Amihan looked at the rest of the group. There were thirteen of them.


    "Um, everyone. I''m not really used to do this since I just learned it. So..."


    As Amihan said that, a very strong gust of wind started to cover the group making them panic.


    "Ah, I''m just bringing you all up. Just don''t move too much if you don''t want to fall~! That jerk there can fall anytime though."


    "Amihan, what are you-"


    "Darli-!!"


    They all wanted to ask Amihan to rify what she was about to do. However, before they could do so, the questions were reced by screams as they all started to float up.


    "Mya, let''s go."


    Amihan grabbed Mya''s hand and flew up together with the group.


    Seeing this, Mya was all surprised.


    "Amihan, you became really strong."


    She said with a bit of envy.


    Not only Amihan faced and killed the Earthworms that she could not even defend herself from one. She could even do this. From what Mya remembered before, Amihan was not only a clutz. She was also weaker than her both in terms of magical powers and abilities.


    Now, however, she had been miles left behind.


    "Well, you see." Amihan smiled. "It''s all because of Master~."


    Those words made Mya anticipate. What kind of person was Amihan''s master?

 Chapter 432 Gravely Mistaken, The Result Of Overthinking Things Because Of Culture

    <strong>Day 76 - 10:27 AM - Cliff House Balcony, Mountain Base, Mount Mbito, General Nakar, Quezon</strong>


    Despite not being nned, Mark was back at this balcony once more. Even though he frequented this ce every day, it was only at times that they were having meals, rxing, or doing some designs. The reason being this ce was the most rxing part of the base.


    Not only that it could let them oversee the base, and a wide area towards the east, the wind blowing from here felt nice. It was a perfect setting for many things.


    Now, he was here with some unusual guests. Usually, he would bring guests toward the living room near the entrance. However, as these guests, right now, were tense, it was not suitable to bring them in an enclosed area.


    Mark and Mei sat together while Amihan sat on her Master''s shoulder. Pefile leaned on the wall while looking at the scenery below. As for the guests, aside from thergest among them, the rest were on the table. Most of them sat on the table. Even if it could be disrespectful to the owner of the ce.


    It could not be helped, though. After the method, they were brought here, only a few could withstand it. The rest had their feet shaking after theynded.


    As for the unconcious one, she wasid on the tablefortably. She was not heavily injured and just hit her head in the battle. There were a few bruises and a torn part of her wings, but she would be fine.


    Well, it was not like Mark was mindful of formalities. As such, he wanted to start the conversation while observing each creature that was now in front of him. That should be the n. But... Mark could not ignore thergest one sitting on the chair on the opposite side of the table.


    She was bitten by one of the Earthworms. Now, she was heavily sweating and panting. The rows of teeth that left marks on her arm started to turn violet colored. There was no doubt that she was poisoned. She was trying hard to cover the wound and contain the poison in her body without telling anyone. It was because she did not want them to worry.


    Unfortunately, it seemed that the poison from the Earthworm was something she could not handle.


    And thus, a [Blood Child] came bouncing out into the balcony after receiving Mark''s call. When they had nothing to do, the [Blood Children stayed in one of the rooms Mark had just made for them. From the perspective of most of the people, the [Blood Children] were just unusual creatures. To Mark and a few people who knew, they were children.


    Because of that, Mark made a room for the [Blood Children],plete with toys and stuff they could enjoy.


    Seeing the strange slime-like creature bouncing out into the balcony, the guests were certainly surprised. They had not seen or heard of such a creature. The creature then bounced onto thep of the Master of the Spirit Tree like a spoiled child.


    Then, Mark spoke.


    "You there, what is your name?"


    Normally, an introduction would start a meeting like this. But that could be der.


    Surprised by the sudden question, the Kibaan gulped.


    "A-Angis."


    "Come here for a bit."


    Mark said as he pointed at the seat beside him.


    As that was unexpected, the guests were surprised. It was quite worrying that Angis was called out. However, these were not their ce, and there was an obvious disparity in their status right now. They could only obey if they did not want a fight.


    Well, a fight could really happen, if not of the quick-witted Felenia covering the mouth of panicking Teremillio. He might be a womanizer. However, he was very protective of his wives. Angis, being called out, did not suit him very well.


    "Husband, just calm down!" Felenia whispered. "Just try to feel it. Amihan''s master meant no harm."


    That was right, these creatures, like animals, were very sensitive to the ill will of those around them. If not, they would not be wary of humans until all of them were eradicated. Hearing that, Teremillio calmed down while looking at Angis that moved to sit beside Mark.


    "Just sit tight. It will be a bit painful. Also, remove your hand from your wound."


    Mark said to Angis as he urged Ruby to do her thing.


    Confused as to why Mark said that, Angis looked at him with confused eyes.


    The Kibaan was depicted most of the time as scary old looking creatures simr to goblins. Nevertheless, like humans, they had different faces. Compared to those depictions, Angis looked more like a child than a goblin. She had fair skin and long hair that almost as long as her body. The most noticeable things on her were her golden teeth, reversed feet, and mellow voice that was the most known indications of her race.


    Angis followed what Mark said reluctantly. Seeing her wound, the rest of her group eximed in shock.


    Then...


    "Ah!"


    Angis cried out. Rather than pain, it was because of surprise. Not only her but the others were also surprised.


    Ruby covered the wound with her tentacle and entered the bloodstream of Angis to absorb the poison.


    Then, Ruby jiggled around as if asking Mark something.


    And Mark replied.


    "No."


    It seemed to have made Ruby a bit dejected.


    "I''ll feed youter, all right? Just not hers."


    Mark sighed.


    It seemed that Ruby found the white-colored blood of Angis rather delicious and asked Mark if she could eat some. However, that was not appropriate and he denied her like that.


    Still, hearing that Mark would feed her instead, Ruby jiggled in an even livelier manner.


    Since the poison had not spread too much due to the effort of Angis to counter it, Ruby did not take too long to absorb everything. As Ruby retracted her tentacle, the wound on the arm of Angis looked surely better than before.


    "Thank you."


    Angis said with her mellow voice. The others were also relieved as they saw that the wound looked better. They started to see Mark better than before.


    "Well, that''s settled," Mark then said as he turned towards the group on the table. "Introduce your selves and why did you want to meet me?"


    They were still nervous, however, they managed to introduce themselves properly. Furthermore, after Angis was treated with the poison, Teremillio finally calmed down.


    "Master of the Spirit Tree. I don''t know if you heard of me before. I''ll introduce my humble self. This one''s name is Teremillio. A leader of a small tribe living some way southeast of this ce. Near the ce, human''s called Daraitan."


    Teremillio bowed like a proper person. Well, if not his usual shenanigans towards women, he could look better. Furthermore,pared tomon appearances of Duendes, there as no doubt that he was handsome within their race. Aside from that, there was a subtle aura around him that could tell that he was not just somemon person either. Something that told others that his background was not simple at all.<sub> </sub>


    As the current matter was not something he should mess up, Teremillio decided to deal with it properly. He even looked at Mark straight. Right now, Teremillio was not below Mark as he had to be to protect his people.


    Seeing this, Mark nodded. This Duende surely knew how to behave when needed.


    Then, Teremillio proceeded to introduce his wives from the first tost.


    Felenia, the first wife. A Duende who was surely at the same level as Teremillio in terms of appearance. Furthermore, she also had that same subtle aura Teremillio had.


    The second wife was Dathlia. Another Duende. Compared to Felenia, she looked a bitcking. However,pared to Teremillio and Felenia, it seemed that she had a higher level of magical power.


    Mya was the third wife. A Sylph with yellowish-green hair. Compared to the whole group, she had the strongest magical energy. However, it seemed that shecked proper control of it. It was leaking even right now.


    The fourth wife was Angis who Mark asked for her name just now.


    As for the fifth, it was the unconcious Pixie. Her name was Reilynne.


    The sixth was the Bukaw called Daniya. A doll-like creature with golden hair that usually rode on Coconut Shells ording to folklore.


    Lastly, the creature that Mark was the most interested in their group. She was a shy Koropokkuru. She had the name Kokoro which obviously stated her Japanese descent. She had the appearance of a very beautifully cute young woman.


    Seeing the contrast between the appearance of Teremillio and Kokoro, Mark wanted to ask how she became his husband. However, that question would surely go back to him. Thus, he decided to keep silent despite the curious eyes he had.


    After the introduction, Teremillio finally asked the reason why they came here to meet Mark.


    "As the leader of our tribe, I wanted to ask about your ns in this ce."


    To that question, Mark tilted his head in confusion. He turned to Mei and Amihan if they understood what the Duende was talking about. However, Mei was also confused. Amihan also did not understand it.


    Seeing the visible confusion of the three, the Duende and his entourage were bbergasted.


    Thus, Teremillio decided to rephrase his question.


    "What I mean is to ask about your ns. To appear in this ce and nt a Spirit Tree. Are you going to im the mountains in the area as your territory? Will you go and make others like us that lived nearby to submit and serve you? Will you purge those that resist out of your territory?"


    Hearing that, Mark, Mei, and Amihan finally understood. No wonder the question confused them. It was because...


    Mark never had those ns at all!


    This base existed because he wanted to build a ce he could call home.


    The people that were here came either by coincidence or were handpicked by him.


    He nted the Spirit Tree mostly because of Amihan''s request.


    During the time the Spirit Tree was nted, he partially awakened his dormant demon blood. This also caused the blood-colored sky as the Spirit Tree grew following the characteristics of a Spirit Tree of the Blood Demons.


    And thus, Mark replied.


    "What are you talking about? Everything you said is just a pain and troublesome to do. I don''t have such ns. I''d rather y video games than do that."


    That reply left the group of unusual creatures ck-jawed.


    This meant that all their worries and efforts were for naught. Rather, their actions had no meaning at all.


    They all felt helpless as they slumped down on the table. Somehow, they felt relieved, at the same time, sad. Some of them died on the way here thinking about the fate of their tribe. To think that their sacrifice was worthless.


    Teremillio felt angry and looked at Mark.


    To that look, Mark just shrugged his shoulders.


    "Don''t look at me like that. It''s not my fault. You all are being too paranoid. That is the cause of your troubles. Besides, if I really had those ns, why would I wait for days? After the tree grew, I could start immediately."


    Then, Mark''s eyes turned into a sinister hue. He also smirked.


    "After all, killing you all is just as easy as this."


    As those words came from Mark''s mouth, his eyes glowed red. Every single one of Teremillio''s group fell on fours having a hard time to breath. They felt heavy and their throats were choked. Teremillio immediately forgot the anger he had and his mind was upied with fear instead.


    This was not a joke at all. He could see his wives and guards beside him struggling to keep up.


    p Then, as instantly it happened, the pressure vanished.</anda>


    They all coughed heavily as their throats were cleared. They panted hard and were surely weakened.


    "Everyone! Is everyone okay?!"


    Then, the panicked voice of Angis entered their ears as she ran towards their side of the table. They then noticed that Angis was all fine. It was the same for Reilynne, she was still in the same state. They could not help but look at Mark.


    At those stares, Mark made another shrug.


    "What? I''m not much of a bully to pick on the injured."


    That confirmed everything. Not only Teremillio and his tribe but all the races living in this area were gravely mistaken.


    The master of the Spirit Tree had no intention to do anything about his neighbors. It was not because he could not do it or did not have the ability to. He just found it troublesome. However, if he was pestered or angered, he would not hesitate to eliminate them. Just like how he demonstrated everything here.


    They thought that this person would be like the other powerful owners of Spirit Trees. They forgot that he was human which the same culture of the non-human races might not apply.


    Then, another set of words was heard that made them surprised.


    "Say, you guys. Want to work for me?"


    Mark said with his elbows on the table and fingers in between each other. He was speaking like a merchant.

 Chapter 433 An Unexpected Twist, The Decision The Folklore Creatures

    <strong>Day 76 - 10:39 AM - Cliff House Balcony, Mountain Base, Mount Mbito, General Nakar, Quezon</strong>


    Now understanding the circumstances and their mistake, this group of small creatures was swallowed in self-pity. It was understandable. They were already struggling because of the changes that suddenly happened in the mortal world. And yet, because they were paranoid, they just caused the death of some of their tribesmen.


    Then, Mark said those words that made them very confused.


    They already did not understand what the video games that he spoke of were. Now, they could not understand what Mark clearly meant by asking them to work for him.


    The concept of working for payment or sry surely did not exist among their kind.


    To them, each individual had a duty to fulfill. An excellent example of this was the guards. They served as guards because of their loyalty to their leader. In exchange, it was the leader''s duty to feed his people.


    Another thing was that not all of these races follow the concept of money. Especially to small tribes, they barter for things they wanted.


    As such, the real meaning of the word "work" did not register clearly in their minds.


    Not understanding the meaning of Mark had said, they had to ask. Nevertheless, it was quite strange that the one who stood up was Felenia instead of Teremillio.


    "Master of the Spirit Tree, can you please borate? What did you mean by use working for you? Do you want us to submit to you? You already said that you had no ns about something like that."


    This made Mark feel strange as he looked at Amihan, who also looked a bit troubled.


    "Master, the concept of work, like humans did. It doesn''t exist to us."


    Amihan already understood this concept as she spent more time with humans. As for those that lived in istion, it was a very foreign concept. Thus, Mark really needed to borate.


    "No, I don''t need your submission," Mark said seriously. "What I meant that is something like you will do things for me and in exchange I will provide benefits."


    Mark then looked at Kokoro, who flinched after receiving Mark''s attention. She wanted to hide. As there was nowhere to take cover on the table, she could only cover herself with therge leaf she was carrying.


    While thinking that she should already rece that tattered leaf she always carried, Mark spoke.


    "Kokoro, right? Your race used to trade with the Ainu people before if I''m not mistaken."


    Hearing that the Master of Spirit Tree knowing something about her race, she was obviously delighted for some reason. Despite being shy, she peeked out from behind the leaf and nodded while she spoke in a soft voice.


    "Yes."


    After that reply, Mark turned to the others.


    "It''s basically the same concept with Trading or Barter. The only difference is that you will follow my orders as long as you are capable of it in exchange for the benefits I can provide."


    Then, Felenia fired another set of questions after understanding what Mark had said.


    "I want to ask. What kinds of orders are you going to give us? Are those absolute? Also, what do you mean by benefits?"


    Mark scratched his head. Felenia sure was an intelligent, cautious, and curious Duende. If she did not understand, she would ask. If she found a w, she would try to confirm it. However, that was not a bad trait at all. She was really suited to be the highest in the hierarchy of Teremillio''s wives.


    "As I said before. Follow my orders as long as you are capable of it. I want you all to work, not submit. I won''t force any of you to do something that you can''t do or against your will. Of course, not being able to do my orders things means fewer benefits. About the benefits that I mentioned before..."


    Mark looked with a bit of a sly expression.


    "One of the most valuable things is protection."


    Hearing that veryst word, the ears of these little creatures perked up. However, Mark was not finished yet.


    "I can let your tribe live inside my base. You all will be protected by the dangers outside and will be able to freely roam without fear of any threat you cane across, even humans. Food and necessities will be provided plenty enough depending on the work you fulfill. More importantly, the benefits of my Spirit Tree."


    With each of Mark''s sentence, the group of small creatures could not help but gulp their saliva. Each of what he mentioned was too enticing for them to just pass by.


    "C-can you please let us discuss this?"


    Felenia said. Obviously, she already lost herposure.


    "I don''t mind, go on."


    Mark replied. He was already satisfied with their reaction. Sure enough, the fishes were already circling around the hook.


    Thus, with the unconcious pixie as an exception, the members of the group of little creatures gathered around whispering.


    "You''re being too sly, you know that?"


    Pefile said with a low voice.


    "But I''m not deceiving them."


    Mark replied.


    To those words, Pefile smiled.


    "I know. Or else, I might have tried to stop you."


    The Tamawo then moved. It was clear that he decided to leave.


    "Leaving already?"


    "I don''t have any roles here, do I?"


    Pefile said. And without waiting for a reply, he jumped off the balcony. Hended on a small tree below, vanishing from everyone''s sight.


    "That person is really mysterious."


    Amihan remarked. Mei also nodded to her words.


    "Just don''t mind him, you two. He just had his own problems to deal with."


    The discussion of the folklore creatures was taking a while. They were really discussing it hard as their decision would dictate the future of their tribe.


    In the middle of their discussion, three little girls entered the balcony.


    "Papa, Mama!"


    Three cute voices mixed together called out to Mark and Mei.


    The appearance of the three girls surely interrupted the discussion of the little group. The little girls were also amazed seeing the moving toy-sized creatures on the table. However, they were smart enough to be able to tell that those creatures on the table were not toys. After all, they spent time with Aephelia and Amihan every day.


    "Sorry, Master. I told them that you have guests, but they would not listen."


    Aephelias voice came in as she hurriedly chased after the three.


    But then, an unexpected reaction was detected from the small group. No, it was just from one individual.


    "Hiraya?"


    Some called out to Aephelia. It was no other than the Sylph, Mya.


    "No," Mya seemed to have realized something. "Who are you?! What are you doing with my sister''s body?!"


    That statement was both surprising and not at the same time. Not only Mya recognized the body that Aephelia was using. The real owner of the body was actually her sister.<sub> </sub>


    Without any warning, Mya flew towards Aephelia. It was evident that she wanted to take her sister back.


    That was when Amihan flew off from Mark''s shoulder and embraced Mya to restrain her.


    "Amihan, let go of me! My sister, she-"


    "You''re sister is gone."


    Mark''s voice interrupted Mya, making her look at him with shock.


    "Don''t tell me... You..."


    Due to her emotions, Mya immediately saw Mark as the only possible person that did this.


    Amihan immediately refuted her.


    "Master didn''t do it!"


    And Mark asked a question to Mya.


    "Remember what you''re sister''s duty is?"


    Hearing that, Mya froze.


    She lost her strength as she was assisted by Amihan to slowly float down back to the table.


    Seeing that, Teremillio and his other wives helped her up while Amihan returned to Mark''s shoulder. The small creatures were also surprised at the appearance of another Sylph. However, they could tell that the aura around Aephlia was too weak for a Sylph and was more of a human.


    Still, they were surprised. This was also the first time for Teremillio and the others to hear that Mya had a sister.


    It was no wonder, however. The duty of Mya''s sister was to guard the sealed Deity of Bloodshed. Such information could not be passed to others carelessly.


    However, Mya knew. If Mark mentioned Hiraya''s duty, it was understandable as to how her body was still intact even if the soul was already dead.


    To enforce this fact, Mark spoke.


    "The Deity of Bloodshed managed to escape. Your sister is the first victim."


    After hearing those words, Mya''s tears dropped on the table.


    The situation was clear now. For Mark to even know that name, there was no doubt that what they said was true.


    And her sister''s death... Was her fault if that was the case.


    About the sudden situation, Aephelia was really troubled. However, as Mark''s servant, she had her convictions. Thus, she had to make things clear.


    Aephelia flew towards Mya and the others.


    "I''m sorry about what happened to your sister. However, if you want her body back, I can''t oblige to it. I can''t serve Master without this body."


    That was a harsh statement to Mya. It made Teremillio and his wives quite ufortable.


    Still, thinking logically, there was nothing they could say. Even Mya knew that fact. If not for Aephelia using that dead body, there was no need to mention seeing her alive. They also would not have any possibility to find a strand of hair from her corpse.


    It might be amenting fact, however, just seeing Hiraya''s body intact was something Mya should already be thankful about.


    As for Mark, he sighed. He did not think that things would beplicated like this.


    And thus, he decided.


    "If you all are not ready yet for my offer, I''ll give you more time."


    However, it seemed that Mark was mistaken.


    "We ept your offer."


    Mya said with a solemn expression.


    In fact, they already decided that they would ept. It was just her actions after seeing Aephelia interrupted things.


    "Are you sure about that? What about the others?"


    Mark asked just to formally conclude things. After all, he already knew their decision.


    Seeing Mya''s expression, Felenia nodded and formally replied to Mark.


    "Yes, we agree. We just wish that you will fulfill everything you said to us."


    Hearing that, Mark smiled.


    "Don''t worry, you have my word. I''ll also make a written contract about thister if you all want to."


    Then, Mark looked at Mya.


    "Still, I''m surprised you still want to agree. Is it about your sister''s body?"


    To that question, Mya nodded.


    "Maybe, even if I want to, I can''t take my sister''s body from you. But I need to make sure that you will not use my sister''s body to do evil. Even if I have to turn to dust, I''ll stop it."


    That was quite a statement. It made Teremillio, and the others worried. Mya was a lively Sylph who liked to y and joke around. This time, however, she was not joking at all.


    On the other hand, Mark gave this sylph a plus. She was not afraid of him at all for her sister. Her conviction was something else.


    And thus, Mark received a new group to reside in his base. Of course, he needed to assist them to move the rest of their tribe into his base. That could be said as one of the benefits they would get from him.


    Furthermore, if he let them do that alone, it would be questionable as to how many would be left for him to utilize. That would be problematic.


    These creatures had powers and abilities that could be useful to the base. Like how a Koropokkuru was known as good hunters and fishermen. They were also known to develop potteries and other tools.


    The Duendes also had some uncanny abilities known by many people.


    There might be things that he did not know about them. However, now that they were under him, it was notte to learn about those things. He also had to learn to properly utilize them for the base.


    As for Angis, Mark had some ideas for her. After all, her race had a rather unique ability. Her mellow voice was the evidence of this.


    It did not take long and lunchtime came. Mark decided to treat his new employees for lunch.


    The Pixie, Reilynne, also woke up. And then...


    "UWAAAAA!!! HUMAN!!!"


    That was her reaction the moment her eyesnded on Mark, Mei, and the little girls. She even tried to fly away but as she was injured, she felt dizzy and fell on the table instead.


    Somehow, Mark had a deja vu.

 Chapter 454 The Arrival Of Danaya, Questioning Marks Identity

    Day ¨ƒ¨ƒ - ¨ƒ¨ƒ:¨ƒ¨ƒ ¨ƒ¨ƒ - Eastern Mountains


    Above the forest at the north of the Eastern Mountain Territory, a young woman wearing a white dress and a crown made of flowers could be seen flying.Her long wavy hair fluttered with the wind as she flew, holding on to her wand.


    She was Danaya, a young Diwata and the current overseer of the mountains in his area. The races around her jurisdiction woulde to her for advice and resolve conflicts between themselves. She served as the merciful judge and the ruthless punisher. The innocents would receive justice while the guilty received banishment from thend.


    Danaya was not only powerful but was always fair. The races that she looked after liked her, and her existence gave them peace.


    Unfortunately, that peace was gone. Right now, Danaya served as thest lifeline for many. Despite the danger, she would regrly roam hernd to search for those that survived and bring them to safety.


    This time, however, she was returning to the Eastern Mountain with a sad expression. She did not find any survivor this time. And probably, she would not find any in the future.


    While flying, several infected birds found Danaya.


    These beautiful and lovely colored birds became flesh-eating monsters. That thought made Danaya even sadder. With a deep sigh, she waved her staff.


    The infected birds froze in the air before their bodies plummeted to the ground, with their heads squashed by a strong force.


    Danaya did not watch the fall and just left. There was no point in staying. She just wanted to return to thest fortress in her jurisdiction.


    The Diwata entered the forest nketed by illusion without any problem. She exited the woods soon, and she was weed by everyone that was currently living in this ce.


    This ce could be said as thest line of defense in these mountains. Still, it was good to see that everyone was coping with the situation.


    Danaya took her time walking towards the Stone Fortress in the distance. She wanted to see if everyone was doing fine and was looking at every house that she saw.


    That was when she reached a certain distance from the Stone Fortress.


    Her heart pounded as she felt some presence that she could not recognize. Furthermore, these individuals she felt had a demonic presence. This caused her to worry.


    However, she was rational. Seeing that everything seemed to be fine, and she could not detect any feeling of danger, she decided to confirm things first before making any movement.


    Danaya entered the gates of the fortress with the soldiers greeting her. That was when she saw three gigantic creatures waiting in the courtyard. What made her frown at first was that she could tell what they were. One was a demonic dragon, while two were Infecta. However, the crease on her brows disappeared. She noticed that the dragon was sleeping without worry, while the two Infecta were not moving at all.


    It was very strange.


    She remembered that there should be a meeting happening right now.


    Thus, she decided to go there to ask about what was happening.


    When she arrived at the meeting room, everyone kneeled before her and greeted her. The kings were not an exception. Well, except a single person, that is.


    ***


    "We greet the Diwata of the Eastern Territories."


    The folklore creatures inside the room, including Pefile, kneeled on one knee and greeted the beautiful woman that entered the room.


    It left Mark to stand alone in the room. This caused some of the representatives to feel a bit annoyed. However, they knew that humans in this era did not follow these kinds of customs anymore. While annoyed, they could not reprimand him either.


    Mark then felt the scrutinizing stare of the Diwata that entered. It was not a questioning stare, but something that was trying to pry into his soul instead.


    Seeing Danaya staring at Mark, the King of Duendes decided to introduce him.


    "Diwata Danaya, this man is called Mark. He here is a guest from the World of Mortals that came to exchange information with us."


    "Information?"


    Danaya turned to Hieromano and asked.


    "Yes, Diwata Danaya. Just now, we learned from him what is the current state of the World of Mortals. It seemed that they had the same circumstances as ours and probably worse."


    "Is this true?"


    Danaya turned to Mark and asked with a serious face.


    "As he said, I''m here to exchange information, I have no reason to lie. It''s not like they could not tell a lie from the truth."


    Mark replied with a shrug.


    This caused more animosity to be directed at him, and Pefile was even hitting Mark''s knee with his elbow.


    Danaya felt a bit relieved as she realized that Mark was not lying.


    Still, she wanted to be sure.


    "Since you didn''t have the reason to lie, then tell me. Are you human, a demon, or something else?"


    Her question made the heart of the representatives pound hard. They thought that Mark was human. However, it seemed that he was not. Furthermore, a demon? They actually let a demon into their final sanctuary?


    They felt conflicted. However, they were in the presence of Danaya. None of them dare start amotion.


    With a bit of a yful attitude, Mark replied.


    "Can I pick all the choices?"


    This caused everyone to be confused instead of feeling offended further.


    "Why all?"


    The Diwata questioned once more.


    "Well..." Mark scratched his head. "I was a human before I became something that no one can tell what I am, and then, I awakened my dormant demon blood recently?"


    His answer caused everyone, even the Diwata, to look at him strangely.


    "Are you trying to feed us nonsense?"


    That was when Pefile decided to speak.


    "Please pardon me, Diwata Danaya, for speaking. However, what he said is true. Although I was not there every time, I witnessed how he awakened his demon blood."


    "I see, a half-demon then," Danaya said. "Then, what about the others?"


    Hearing that, Mark sighed. Of course, it would not be easy. He could say that he awakened his blood, and Mei, the little girls, and na were his family members. However, he could not justify things about Char. Trying to cover it up would only lead to more suspicions.


    Thus, there was only one way.<sub> </sub>


    Mark sighed.


    "I''m not a half-demon, I''m a pure-blooded one they said."


    As his words ended, two pairs of bat wings sprouted from his back, his eyes turned red, two blood-red horns grew on his forehead, andstly, his fans grew longer. His transformation was apanied by the glow of his veins and pressure that made everyone here shiver.


    Seeing the transformation, Danaya stared at Mark wide-eyed. It was the same for the representatives here that already lived for hundreds of years.


    "A... Blood Demon..."


    Danaya could not believe it. The supposedly extinct race resurfaced once more, and a pure-blooded appeared before her eyes.


    "Does this answer your question?"


    Mark said with a bit of annoyance. He was really not used to having horns or fangs. His head felt heavy because of these features.


    "I see, so the other individuals here are the ones you turned into your kind."


    Danaya said.


    "They are my family. You don''t have to worry about me forcing them. One of them even awakened on her own the same way I did."


    Mark shrugged.


    "I see..."


    Danaya nodded. It seemed that she was relieved now. Diwatas were fair and neutral individuals for the majority of their race. They did not care what kind of creature an individual was as long as they did notmit any sin before them.


    Furthermore, Blood Demons were known to be a neutral race. Unless necessary, they would not start a conflict.


    "Onest question," Danaya spoke once more. "You are not here to avenge your race, are you?"


    That question made the representatives wary. Because of what happened to the Blood Demons during that war, it would not be surprising if the remaining survivors hated both the Spirit Races and Demonic Races.


    To that question, Mark titled his head.


    "Why should I? That did have anything to do with me. I''ll repeat once more, I''m just here to exchange information. Is it that hard to understand?"


    Mark''s annoyance was already obvious. Pefile was already hitting Mark with his elbow and whispering for him to calm down.


    Those questions were enough for Danaya, it seemed. She walked to the highest chair in the meeting room and sat down.


    "Then, I apologize if my inquiries offended you in any way." She said. "I just have to put the wellbeing of everyone here in priority."


    Danaya was a reasonable individual. Even though she had the authority to question anyone here, she still apologized.


    ? Mark epted the apology, and the meeting continued. Of course, the representatives of the races were wary towards Mark even more. Before, they just viewed him as a human that had Spirits as friends. Now that they knew that he was a demon, the racial prejudice they had towards demons could not help but go out a bit.


    It could not be helped after all. The Spirit Races and the Demon Races were enemies. There were very few that were an exception.


    ***


    The meeting continued, and they started to discuss the thing that upied the Kingdom of Sylphs.


    Unfortunately, even with Danaya''s attendance, they could not think of an effective idea to deal with that thing.


    If it was just that thing, they might be able to approach and try things to kill and destroy it. However, with over three thousand Sylphs roaming about the area, it was suicide to go and approach.


    The closest thing they managed to think of was having someone lure away the Sylphs as they try to destroy that gigantic carpet of tentacle covered flesh. Unfortunately, it meant suicide for anyone that would be tasked to lure them away.


    As everyone racked their brains about it, Mark raised his hand a bit.


    "I have an idea."


    Everyone looked at Mark. Although they were a bit d that he was joining the discussion, there was really no reason for him to do so.


    Then, Mark spoke as if knowing what was in their minds.


    "Well, my Spirit Tree is within the area you guys call the Dead Territory. So this is my problem too."


    That statement made everyone frozen.


    Danaya could not help but stand up from her seat.


    "That Red Spirit Tree is yours?! Then, that is a Night Everred Spirit Tree, isn''t it?"


    Mark was a bit surprised, and he looked at Pefile. From all the Spirit Races he met, only Pefile was able to pinpoint what Chiyo was. Even Danaya and the representatives inside the room were shocked, hearing that it was actually a Night Everred Spirit Tree.


    "That''s right," Mark replied.


    "I see." Danaya sat back down. "What is your n?"


    "Well, you guys don''t need to do anything. I will go with two individuals from my team. All I need for all of you is to let the other members of my group stay here safely until I return."


    That made everyone surprised.


    Even if all of them that were currently here in the fortress charged towards the Kingdom of Sylphs right now, half of them or more might die during the battle. Yet, Mark only needed three people? Just what was he thinking?


    However, Mark seemed to be confident about it. Besides, if he could get rid of it on his own, everyone else here would benefit without needing to do anything.


    Well, of course, the righteous Danaya would not let that happen.


    "If that is the case, I will go with you. I want to see what you will do. If you are able to get rid of that creature, I will promise for a reward."


    Those words caused murmurs between the representatives.


    One, they did not really know him to entrust him such a mission. And two, having a Diwata promise a reward was enough for them to envy.


    Nevertheless, they could not do anything at all.


    As for Mark, he naturally agreed. He did not want to work for free, after all. If Danaya did not propose this, Mark would have asked the others to givepensation.


    In any case, things were handled, and for most, Mark''s reveal did not receive a too negative reaction.


    It was fortunate that he was a Blood Demon that was known for being neutral. If not, things would have been harder.

 Chapter 435 A Morning Hunt, A Peek To Their Abilities

    <strong>Day 77 - 8:42 AM - Mount Mbito, General Nakar, Quezon</strong>


    "I hear something. Everyone stays here. Nicole and I will go check."


    Huey said in a low voice just enough for everyone around him to hear. Together with Nicole, they ran stealthily through the forest, going towards a specific direction.


    As for the remaining eight people together with the two, they found a ce to rest while being wary of their surroundings.


    This group was currently on duty to hunt for animals to be processed into food. No matter how much food would not be enough for a base, in the long run. As such, they organized a group that would hunt for animals every now and then.


    Six people were fixed within that group while anyone could volunteer anytime that they wanted to help.


    The leader of this group was Huey and Joleen, who were Mark''s left and right hands in managing the base. Together with the two, there was Nicole, and Ed, who were among the earliest people in under Mark. As for thest two, they were there were the sisters, Audrey and Tullia.


    In this group, Huey and Nicole served as scouts for finding animals and evading danger. Huey would focus on the noises that he could hear around them. At the same time, Nicole would use her agile movements to observed the environment.


    Joleen and Ed were the main fighters. Being trained in fighting and with her evolver ability, to avoid fatal attacks from hitting her, she was extremely efficient for fighting. As for Ed, the physical strength he received from evolving made him a strong melee fighter. The existence of the two in hunting was surely necessary as many mutated animals had hard skin or armor. If bullets or the crossbows were not able to prate the animal''s defenses, the two would step in.


    Ed also served as the group''s baggage carrier using the cart he was pulling.


    Lastly, the sisters Tullia and Audrey, who were both in charge of the backline and preventing the prey from fleeing.


    Tullia was one of the first ves Mark managed to gather from Death Valley Settlement together with Naomi and Aaron. Audrey, on the other hand, was Tullia''s sister, who was caught as a Spy in the Port of Real Settlement before.


    After the two were reunited, they lived peacefully in the base and fulfilled their duties happily. When the hunting group was formed, the two volunteered to be one of the central members.


    In the first ce, Audrey was a Mutator capable of flight. That was why her decision to volunteer for the hunting group was a great help. If the prey they found or animals they encountered were capable of flight, it was her duty to face it. On the other hand, the younger sister, Tullia, was not just a regr person either. Being on a survivor team before being caught by the people of Death Valley, she had her share of fighting experience. The best thing about her was that she was also an Evolver.


    Tullia could deduce the distance, trajectory, and speed of a target in a blink of an eye. If the prey was something prable with the crossbow she had, there were a lot of times that she alone could take it down. Unfortunately, she was not that good, strength-wise. If she had no chance to shoot her weapon, she could be quickly taken down by fast-moving animals.


    And that was why the other members were here to prevent that from happening.


    This time, two other people joined the hunting group. They were Edzel and Pearl.


    Edzel and Pearl joined today''s hunting because of Mark''s suggestion. The two needed to gain more experience. They had to learn things that would benefit them in the long run. Furthermore, it would let them find ways to use their newly awakened abilities as Evolvers.


    "You okay, Pearl?"


    Edzel asked as he helped Pearl sit down on a fallen log nearby.


    "I''m fine. Just not used to this."


    Pearl replied.


    What she said was true. This was the first time she had gone out of the base after arriving. And in her whole life, her first time going up the mountainous terrain of the forest. She was having a hard time keeping up with everyone.


    "I told Boss that I can help alone, but he insisted on making youe with us."


    "I tell you, I''m fine. I can do at least this much."


    Pearl smiled.


    Compared to her appearance when Pearl and Edzel reunited, she looked way better than before. Herplexion looked better, and she also gained weight. Although she had not recovered her weight from when they parted ways, she was improving.


    The most important thing, Mark''s suggestion about using the empty [Physical Crystal] and the [Regeneration Medicine] together showed effectiveness to some extent. Pearl''s unhealed wounds and the smaller scars on her body had healed. It was quite unfortunate that that was the extent of the effect as many of her deeper andrger scars remained. Nheless, even those scars looked better than before.


    Still, Edzel felt bad every time he would see the scar that went across Pearl''s face.


    While the two talked, Tullia and Audrey were watching them.


    "Edzel, don''t worry too much. It''s pretty normal to get tired after hiking this much. Even my sister is like that the first time we went hunting. The distance was not even half of what we traveled now."


    ? Audrey spoke. What she said, however, annoyed the silent Tullia.


    "Sister..."


    Tullia said with an annoyed tone and expression.


    "Alright, I''ll stop."


    Audrey said as she hugged Tullia.


    Tullia looked ufortable as she was being hugged by Audrey. Nevertheless, she did not push her sister away.


    Jolleen and Ed, on the other hand, were keeping watch of the surroundings. Well, it was not like both Tullia and Audrey were just fooling around. In fact,pared to Joleen and Ed, the sisters were more sensitive to their surroundingspared to the others within this group.


    CRUNCH!


    A faint sound was heard which made Tullia and Audrey ready their weapons immediately as they were the first to react. Seeing the sisters, the others also did the same. They then formed a circle with their backs facing each other.


    "What do you guys think that is?"


    Ed voiced in a whisper.


    "It sounds like some dried leaves being stepped on," Tullia replied. "It is hard to pinpoint where it came from, though."


    Everyone agreed with Tullia. The sound was too faint that it was hard to know where it came from. The only thing that they could do was to wait for another sound.


    But then...


    CRUNCH! CRUNCH! CRUNCH!


    Sounds of leaves being crushed were heard several times. The sounds were getting closer each time it was heard. There was no doubt that something was approaching them.


    However, they could not see anything.


    "Be careful! The enemy is invisible!"<sub> </sub>


    Audrey warned everyone with a serious expression. After all, they could already hear the steps circling around them at a very fast speed. And yet, they could not see anything.


    This was the hardest kind of mutated animals to deal with. Those that could either camouge their bodies to their surroundings or those that could turn themselves invisible. This was not the first time they encountered an animal with this kind of ability. This was the second time. The first time, however, Huey as around to tell them where the enemy was exactly using the sounds it could create.


    This time, Huey and Nicole, had run off to scout something. The rest would have a hard time to deal with this thing that was threatening them.


    Furthermore, from the number of sounds they could hear, there was not only one enemy. There should be at least three.


    One of the sounds suddenly vanished. For some reason, that made them all feel an iing danger.


    But suddenly, a voice was heard.


    "Edzel! Point your gun straight to the right and shoot!"


    Edzel was rather surprised to be suddenly called out. However, not only that he could not hesitate, the one who spoke was someone he loved.


    As such, Edzel stretched his right hand holding the assault rifle to his right and shot.


    RATATATA!!!


    Several shots were fired which made the others flinch. However...


    SHRIK! TAD! SHRUK!


    Some of the bullets fired hit something.


    THUD!


    And that thing fell and slid towards Edzel''s foot.


    When they looked, there was arge lizard about the size of a cat with wide ps connecting its forelimbs and body. It was surely a mutated lizard capable of flight.


    They could not help but nce at Pearl who had her eyes closed. She was currently using her mutator ability. However, she was still not used to it andcked practice, since she was still recovering from malnutrition.


    The ability she awakened was something not normal either. Unlike most who got strengthened or became more agile, hers was more of a defensive or detection type. It was the ability to sense vibrations with her skin. Still, as she was not used to it, she was having a hard time sensing vibrations through solid matters. It was easier for her to sense vibrations on air and water.


    Everyone wanted tomend her, however, it was not the right time.


    As the enemies saw one of them got shot down, the noises for crushed leaves vanished. It was good if the enemies fled, however, it was the opposite. The invisible flying lizards decided to attack almost at the same time.


    By this time, Joleen had separated herself from the others. It was because she could deal with almost any danger that could befall her. In order to be able to fight more effectively, she needed more space around her.


    As for the others, they could only rely on Pearl who was concentrating hard on her ability.


    When the joint attack happened, Pearl also spoke as fast as she could.


    "Miss Audrey, in front! Um, forty-five degrees above! Miss Tullia, diagonally to the left! Sir Ed, directly in front and another to your right foot! Edzel! Another one in front! Miss Joleen,-"


    "Don''t worry about me! I can handle mine! Just support everyone!"


    Pearl instructed everyone with her shaking voice. It would be a lie if she said that she was not scared. Rather, she was too scared that her knees were shaking. However, she was trying as hard as she could to hold her fort.


    As for Joleen, she cut off Pearl in order to save time. She might get wounded a little, it the least, her body would immediately move if she would receive a rather heavy blow.


    Just like Joleen had expected, even without knowing why, her body had ducked on its own. Realizing that something might have flown towards her head, she immediately sliced the air above her head with her Wakizashi.


    With a quite ufortable feeling, she surely sliced something. Red blood was almost sshed on her as a lizard was bisected. Several more attacked her, however, the lizards were dealt the same way.


    The others also showed their skills as they followed Pearl''s instructions.


    Edzel, on the other hand, struggled a bit. It was because not only that more lizards attacked him for some reason, he also had to protect Pearl.


    Thus, he also exhibited his Evolver Ability. Furthermore, his ability could be said as one of the stranges ones from the Evolvers seen by everyone before. Using his hands, he could release a strong vibration, which would cause a shockwave, towards a direction he wanted. The harder he pped his hands or flicked his fingers, the stronger the shockwave was.


    As it was hard for Edzel to maneuver his assault rifle towards several directions, he would use his opposite hand and flick his fingers towards the directions Pearl mentioned.


    Although the shockwave was not enough to kill the lizards, it was enough to stop their attacks even if the flick was not urately lined with the invisible lizards'' attacks.


    Soon, Huey and Nicole were seen rushing back to the rest. It was impossible for Huey to not notice the disturbance. However, they were already quite a far distance away when it started.


    Still, when the two returned, the battle was over.


    "Huey! Nicole! What took you two so long?" Joleen asked as the two returned. "Do you think, we can eat these?"


    While Joleen asked the two, Ed and Edzel could be seen loading more than twenty dead cat-sized lizards into the cart.


    The two could only scratch their heads. They were alreadyte and the battle was already finished. The group had received some injuries, but the injuries were just scratches or bruising. Nothing was severe.


    Huey could not help but look at a certain direction with a sigh.


    ***


    In that direction, someone was watching. This person was also the actual reason why Nicole and Huey left. Also, the reason why the lizards appeared around the rest of the group.


    Well, he was quite pleased with how they handled the situation. It was not the best, but it was better than failing. Especially Joleen and Edzel, their improvement were thergest. Still, they would need further training.


    ***


    Thus, the hunt ended rather early. These mutated sure were edible. The meat was not much for each lizard, however, the number made up for it.


    And for the menu this day, a lizard soup was added.


    Normally, no one would want to eat a lizard like this. Nevertheless, no one would be picky when it came to the meat of mutated animals. Unless it was poisonous... No, even poisonous ones, once cooked properly, the taste was priceless. Especially, it was handled by a professional cook like Trisha.

 Chapter 436 The Search For Comfort, Building Things Inside The Base

    <strong>Day 78 - 10:35 AM - Mountain Base, Mount Mbito, General Nakar, Quezon</strong>


    Five days after the Night Everred Tree grew, the unnecessary incidents around the event finally settled down by half.


    The animals that had fled finally started to go back to their previous habitats. Because of that, they expected hunting animals for food and leather to go easier in the next days.


    Furthermore, there seemed to be more animals trying to get close to the base because of the vital energy the Pure Spirit Tree emitted during the night. Of course, only those feral ones would dare to attack the base, ending up as food to process. As for the sane animals and those that gained intelligence to some extent, they still kept a safe distance away from the human base.


    Since yesterday, however, two animals tried to approach the base. The two seemed to be intelligent and tame and were dly captured by Mark. The two, which was a Mutated Cloud Rat, and a Mutated Japanese Night Heron, seemed to have approached the base without hostile intentions, unlike the feral animals that wanted to destroy everything.


    The allure of the Spirit Tree made the two want to make a nest on it. After they were captured, the two seemed to be afraid. As the two animals could not understand human words, Mark used Char tomunicate with the two animals. Knowing that they would not be killed, the two animals calmed down while still being afraid.


    And thus, the two animals were added to the list of the animals Annica would tame. Especially since the two were quite unique ones.


    The Cloud Rat had a metallic sheen on its fur, which it could actually use as both weapon and armor.


    On the other hand, the Japanese Night Heron that must have been trapped in this country after migrating seemed to have grown abilities to be able to fly at night. Also, during the night, its brown colored feathers would turn ck, allowing it to conceal itself. If not for the fact that Mark was able to detect it and Huey managed to hear the ps of its wings, it might have been able to approach the Spirit Tree without problems.


    Aside from the two animals, the presence of spiritual creatures and elementals could be detected around the base from time to time. They were keeping a safe distance as they only wanted to see the actions that the owner of the Spirit Tree would take.


    However, they seemed to have deduced that there would be no harm that would befall them and started to go back to their previous lives. Although some of them would still stop by, the frequency was reduced considerably.


    Some made contact with Teremillio''s group. There was no restriction for the tribe to remain inside the base. They were allowed to go in and out if whenever they wanted. Thus, some of those creatures lurking around managed tomunicate with them.


    Finally, learning about the circumstances, the anxiousness of these creatures had settled down. However, none of them seemed to want to follow the steps the tribe of Teremillio took.


    Around this area, Teremillio''s tribe could be said as the odd ones. The nearest group of creatures that could be considered as a small kingdom was several mountains away north of the base. Those that live around this area were those that had been exiled and outcasted by their original groups.


    Teremillio''s tribe was the same. The members of the tribe were individuals that were either exiled or left their previous tribes for various reasons. In fact, Teremillio and his wives were the same except for Kokoro. The Koropokkuru had a different circumstance from the rest.


    Usually, these creatures would end up living alone after being outcasted since no one could trust them. The most frequent reason for individuals to be exiled was that they broke the rule of their tribe and became criminals. No one would believe them even if they tried to deny it.


    Teremillio, on the other hand, despite his annoying personality, took these poor peoples into his tribe. That also resulted in their loyalty to Teremillio and his wives. Even several of Teremillio''s wives had the same circumstance and fell in love with him after he saved them.


    ***


    While the changes around the base were happening, Mark was busy with many things. If he was not making weapon designs with Hallie and na, he was doing other things around the base.


    Yesterday, he, , and the other [Blood Children] installedmps around the base. The instation was not that hard but consumed a lot of time.


    Because of the newly installed lights, the atmosphere of the base during the night became livelier. Apanied by the red lights, the Night Everred Tree released, thest night felt like a festival.


    Right now, Mark was digging the soil around the spirit tree together with other people. He wanted to make a manmadeke with the Spirit Tree at the center. A channel connecting theke to the spring would also be made. It would be constructed together with a passage towards the pool inside Miliel''s hut.


    This would allow the poor Mermaid to at least swim outside when no one was around.


    Mark wanted to treat every member of his base fairly. He wanted everyone to befortable with their environment.


    As everyone wanted to be of use to their leader, the hole that would be theke took shape after two hours. It was fast. If it was back before the outbreak, it would take more time, even days, to finish a project like this. This was the extent that Mutagen had enhanced, not only Mutators and Evolvers but also ordinary people.


    Making the walls of the bottom and sides of theke was not hard either as they already prepared enough blood to use. With the help of almost all the [Blood Children], the main appearance of theke was finished.


    As for decorating theke, Mark already had some of the materials. There were rocks from Agos River, freshly caught fishes, and ornamental nts to decorate the surroundings of theke.


    And the final decoration, tworge gardening pots were put carefully to the side. A small nt had already sprouted on each of the two gardening pots. These sprouts were the seeds of the Mutated Water Hyacinth, Mark took from Laguna Lake. After arriving in the base, he nted the seeds on the next day. He hoped to nt these water nts in his base.


    Yesterday, both seeds had already sprouted. That was why he decided to create the manmadeke today.


    The normal water hyacinth would take a long time to grow from seeds. These seeds Mark had, however, were Mutated ones. A day after sprouting, it already grew several inches and sprouted leaves. Furthermore, being nourished by the Night Everred Tree, its growth became faster.


    In another day or two, Mark estimated that it would be ready to be relocated into theke. Of course, he did not know when it would start to bloom. Once that happened, it would surely be a spectacr sight.


    Aside from theke, Mark also built a fence around it. Another was a bridge over the channel connected to the spring.


    After everything was put into ce, the water from the spring was allowed to enter theke and fill it with water. The event was witnessed by everyone. The scene somehow made them feel quite rxed.


    The reason for that was rather simple. As the world was enveloped by chaos, all they were able to see was violence, suffering, fear. This time, they were able to see that something beautiful could still be created despite the world changing in a dangerous way.


    No one wanted to get this peaceful like they found to be taken away from them.


    Feeling the sentiment brewing in the minds of everyone, Mark felt satisfied. In the least, he was able to strengthen their sense of belonging without using his mental abilities.


    ***<sub> </sub>


    During the night when no one was around, Mark let Milliel out of her hut and into theke. Being able to swim in a wider area, it made her really happy. Theke was also deep enough for her to be able to dive and hide underwater. While she swam, the fishes put into theke swam together with her. It was a satisfying sight.


    Mark and Mei watched Milliel as she swam around happily. Well, that did not take too long, though.


    Being creatures most active during the night, Teremillio and his wives would hang around the base at these times. And by chance, Teremillio witnessed Millielughing with the fishes circling around her.


    The folklore casanova, of course, would not let this go easily. In a very fast speed that was almost like teleporting, he appeared before Milliel.


    "Beautiful Lady, may I have a bit of your t-"


    SPLASH!


    Teremillio was not able to finish what he was about to say as the water from theke was sshed unto his face. It was because Milliel was totally surprised by his sudden appearance, and hurriedly dove under the water.


    Teremillio was stunned.


    Then...


    "OW! OW! OW! Don''t pull my ear!"


    Teremillio cried out.


    Just like how he appeared beside theke, Felenia appeared beside him and pulled his ear.


    While taking away her husband, Felenia bowed towards Mark and Mei that Teremillio did not even notice.


    "Sorry for the disturbance." She said respectfully.


    With apologetic expressions, Teremillio''s wives took him away.


    "He''s already gone. You cane out now."


    Mark said to Milliel, who was peeking out of the water.


    Milliel was not really a shy person. However, her experiences when their kingdom fell made her extremely fearful of her surroundings. That was why she did not want to be in contact with others except for very few people.


    Until midnight, Mark and Mei sat beside theke while apanying Milliel. It was not hard to see that the two treated Milliel rather well. The reason would be hard to guess. Still, it was a simple thing.


    It was because, like them, Milliel had no ce to belong anymore. Mark already made a ce where they could belong. They would not mind sharing it with individuals that lost their ce in the world.


    ***


    After Milliel, there as also Aimee. Since her body was big, the ce for her to stay was roughly made. That was why Mark was nning to make her dwellings himself. Although Aimee had already said that she was already fine with what she had now, Mark was not satisfied with it.


    Since Mark was the one who took her in, Aimee could only agree. And thus, her house was the next in line for the projects, Mark wanted to build in the base.


    Mark was not only aiming for a ce capable of defending against danger. What he wanted to build was a ce where he and those under him could livefortably. Especially for those that would y a vital role in preserving the base.


    Aimee was one of those.


    Once Mark was done with the preparations, he and a team he selected, would leave once more. He had a lot of things to do in the future. There was the Spirit World, and the Mission left by Freed.


    Thus, thest line of defense of the base would fall to Aimee''s hands, no, tentacles. That was why Mark wanted to give her a treatment that was on par with her importance to the base.


    ***


    Mark also wanted to expand the base a little. In the least, he wanted an extension where they would keep the animals they had safely. Since the base only had ns for residences, it was better for the animals, except for a few ones, to be put in a separate ce.


    As for the ones exempted, there was Char, Laps, Fein, and those that were contracted by Annica.


    Well, there was a lot to do. Mark could only rest every time he was alone with Mei. After all, she was guarding him strictly so that he would not force himself too much.


    She also regted Mark from spending all-nighters unnecessarily.


    Mark always tend to forget to take care of himself. Now, Mei was here to remind him when needed.


    That was why he decided... After the things he needed to do in the base, he would take her out on a date outside.


    This n was the reason why Mark was stealthily spending time ying dating sim games when no one was watching. After all, while he knew a lot of things, he was ignorant about things like this.

 Chapter 437 An Indirect Confession, The Date At A Very Unusual Place

    <strong>Day 80 - 1:25 PM - Mount Banahaw, Tayabas, Quezon</strong>


    A week after the birth of the Night Everred Spirit Tree, Mark finally finished the things he initially nned to do in the base. Although there were other projects he had in mind, those were not that urgent to do.


    And thus, Mark asked Mei to go out. As he did not feel embarrassed at all, he directly told her to go on a date with him. The manner was quite unromantic. The fact that there were also other people in the room when he asked her did not help.


    Odelina, Spera, Jaeya, Aephelia, Amihan, and the three little girls were in the room as they were having dinner. Although no one said anything, Odelina, Aephelia, and Jaeya had teasing expressions on their faces. Spera and Amihan seemed to be confused as the concept of dating were new to the two. Amihan was not human, while Spera barely had any genuine interaction with other people. I seemed to be happy seeing that Mark was trying to strengthen his rtionship with Mei.


    Abbygale and Miracle had a different reaction, though. Hearing that their Papa and Mama were going, they wanted toe along.


    Despite all that, Mei did not mind anything else aside from Mark''s invitation. And of course, she happily agreed bashfully. A kind of emotion and expression that she would only show around her new family.


    Mark asked her where she wanted to go. To his dismay, her reply was...


    "I''ll go where Gege wants to go."


    That reply brought him quite a dilemma that he was not able to hide. Seeing that expression of his, however, Mei smiled mischievously.


    And now, Mark and Mei, holding hands, flew in towards this ce.


    The ce that was known as the "Holy" or "Sacred" Mountain of the Philippines, the Mount Banahaw.


    Mark had chosen several ces for them to go to today. This mountain was the first stop.


    There was a lot of beautiful sceneries around this mountain. Each of these scenic spots was good with events like dates and family outings. However, that was not the only thing Mark wanted to find. He was gambling to find something else.


    It had already been around five minutes since they arrived above the volcano. Although Mount Banahaw was about sixty-three kilometers away from the mountain base, they just spent an hour flying. Flying was a faster way to travel now that the roads were blocked by many things. After arriving, however, Mark brought Mei to fly around the mountain for some reason.


    "Gege, what are we looking for?"


    Mei asked. She did not mind spending more time with Mark flying around. However, he seemed to be keen on finding something.


    Then...


    "Let''s go down."


    Mark said with a smile as if he had won a jackpot in a lottery. It made Mei quite confused.


    Mei was even more confused when Mark brought her to a somewhat secluded part of the Mount Banahaw. She would not be surprised if he brought her into one of the tourist spots. However, why did Mark brought her here?


    Furthermore, being a Mutator, Mei''s senses were enhanced to some extent. Her constant exposure to Psychic Energies also heightened her ability to feel it. Afternding, she could not help but feel some stares towards her and Mark. The strangest thing was that the gazes felt abnormal.


    "Gege, are we being watched?"


    She asked.


    "Don''t worry about them," Mark replied. "They are the spirits living in this mountain."


    Hearing that, Mei understood what was happening. Being called the Holy Mountain, Mount Banahaw was not just a regr mountain at all. It was a mountain being frequented by pilgrims and devotees of some religions. There were also rumors of spirits living in this mountain.


    For sure, these creatures were rmed by their arrival, especially since Mark had a strong aura.


    And as expected, someone appeared to confront the two.


    A beautiful woman appeared in front of them. She was wearing a long white dress and had a crown made of vines and flowers.


    "What is someone with demonic blood doing in our mountain?"


    She said with a frown.


    Without a doubt, this woman was the caretaker of the Holy Mountain. Of course, the appearance of someone with Demonic descent in her territory would make her angry. She was even releasing an aura while trying to intimidate Mark and Mei.


    Unfortunately, both Mark and Mei were unfazed. This made the woman surprised.


    "Are you the Diwata of this ce?" Mark asked. "We''re here to enter the sanctuary."


    Hearing that, the Diwata was surprised.


    "Are you here to destroy the sanctuary?" The Diwata released an even stronger aura. "I will not let you!"


    To her intimidation, Mark sighed.


    "I''m not here to fight. If I''m here to fight, I can just destroy this whole mountain without a word."


    After saying that, Mark released a ball of ck smoke on his hand.


    That ball of smoke made the Diwata step back with a terrified look.


    "M-miasma!"


    She shouted in fear.


    Seeing the Diwata being afraid, Mark made the ball of miasma vanish.


    "As I said, I''m not here to fight. I just want to enter the sanctuary for a short time."


    After Mark made the ball of miasma vanish, the Diwata felt relieved. Although she was still afraid, she was the caretaker of the mountain and the sanctuary. She could not back down that easily.


    "If you are not here to fight or destroy the sanctuary, why do you want to enter it?"


    To that question, Mark made Mei step forwards. As the Diwata had not paid attention to her due to Mark being someone with demon blood, she was stunned to see her appearance. She was a Diwata who was born beautiful, yet, Mei''s beauty was above hers.


    "We''re here on a date. I want her to see a nice looking ce."


    The Diwata was not new to Human customs as humans frequented the mountain. Still, she was surprised that a Demon would bring a human on adate. Usually, a Demon would just force a woman they took a liking to submit and copte with the woman.


    Nevertheless, the Diwata could tell that Mark was not joking.


    "Although I know that demons are not trustworthy, can you promise that you will not destroy anything?"


    The Diwata decided topromise.


    "You can rest assured. I don''t want to ruin our date, either."


    "Alright. Follow me."


    The Diwata then turned around to lead Mark and Mei.


    With a smile, Mark looked at Mei as they followed behind.


    Soon, they were brought to a ce, where tworge acacia trees had grown forming an arc. Passing through the center of the two trees, the scenery blurred.


    This made Mei close her eyes unconsciously.


    "You can open your eyes now."


    She heard Mark''s gentle voice.


    When she opened her eyes, she was surprised.


    Lush green grass and trees, beautiful and colorful flowers, the cold and gentle breeze of the wind, and the flying orbs of light everywhere. Although the mountain was still here, the whole forest had gone on a frightful transformation in a blink of an eye.


    Still, the scene was too beautiful to be exined by just words. Just this scene was enough to make her heart pump.


    "Do you like it?"<sub> </sub>


    Mark said with a pleased expression.


    "I do. I really do."


    Mei replied with a smile.


    Seeing the interaction of the two, the Diwata was finally assured. Although there was still a tint of wariness on her, she decided not to disturb the two and wait from a distance away.


    That action of the Diwata made Mark pleased. He decided to give her a reward when they leave. Something that she would be able to use to keep protecting this mountain from the infected and Feral Mutated Animals.


    Mark and Mei sat on arge rock while watching the grass, flowers, and leaves of the trees sway with the blowing wind. The scene was too peaceful and out of this world that Mei could not help but lean on Mark in a rxed manner.


    "Gege, how did you know that a ce like this exists?"


    Mei whispered.


    "There had been rumors about this since a very long time ago. Most of it came from those that stumbled here by ident and was waken up outside. I also asked Teremillio''s wives if they knew about this. Mya confirmed it."


    "I see."


    Mei smiled.


    She could see how much effort Mark made just to take her out on a date. Even to the extent of consulting other people.


    "Where do you want to go after this?" Mark asked. "Just don''t give me the answer before since I want to know what you want to do."


    "Something I want to do?"


    Mei asked.


    "Yeah. Like shopping for clothes or watching movies. We can''t watch movies, but we can at least do shopping."


    "I never really tried shopping before," Mei replied. "All my clothes were custom made orders by my mom and dad. I never had the freedom to pick my own clothes."


    "Let''s try that then. This time, you can pick any clothes you like."


    "Okay. But won''t it be dangerous."


    "As if some infected can ruin our time together."


    "Uhumm. That''s true."


    Then, there was some silence.


    Mark noticed that Mei was staring at his face.


    "Is something on my face?"


    To that question, Mei shook his head.


    And... An unexpected question was asked to Mark.


    "Gege, do you like me?"


    This made Mark smile bitterly. To be asked straight like this made him a bit ufortable for some reason. Still, he decided to answer.


    "I do. Well, anyone would do."


    That was something that Mei could not deny. Anyone would like her because of her appearance. Of course, she could tell that Mark was not hinting on that. Still, she was unsatisfied with the answer.


    "Then..." Mei hesitated a bit. "Gege, do you love me?"


    This question made Mark''s heart pound hard. It was a question that he did not know how to answer. After all, all his life, he never fell in love or had any intimate rtionship with the opposite sex. As such, he did not know if he was feeling love or not.


    And as such, he decided to answer by telling what he felt.


    "I''ll be frank." Mark stared at Mei''s eyes. "I don''t know what love feels like."


    That made Mei feel a bit disappointed. But then, Mark continued.


    "One thing I know... Mei''er, I don''t want to lose you. It feelsfortable when you''re is around. I don''t care about other things as long as I see you smile."


    Mark then looked at the sky.


    "My life is dull. I lost the ability to easily feel emotions. The feelings that I even don''t own would affect me. But when you''re around, it doesn''t feel dull anymore. Comparing my life before and now that you are here with me, I''d rather not go back to my previous life even if I die."


    Mark did not notice... The more he said, the redder Mei''s face got. However, it was obvious that she was happy hearing those words.


    In fact, she felt the same. Having everything dictated to her since she remembered, she did not know what love was. Nevertheless, she did not want to leave Mark''s side. She would rather die than be taken away from him.


    To hide her embarrassment because of what Mark said and her mind contained, she burrowed her head on Mark''s chest.


    Mark smiled and caressed her head.


    Deciding on something, Mei moved and faced Mark with a serious expression.


    "Gege, I have a request."


    "What is it?"


    Mark wondered as he saw her expression.


    "Make me one of your kin."


    She said.


    "A Blood Demon?"


    "Yes. I want to be the same as Gege and I."


    Hearing that, Mark nodded. He had no reason to deny her. Still, he asked her to confirm.


    "You''ll stop being human, though. Also, I don''t know if your body will allow it."


    That was right, Mei''s physique was special. It might reject Mark''s blood.


    "It''s fine." Mei smiled. "Remember what that creature said back in NAIA. My body will reject anything I deemed harmful. Since I wanted to, I don''t think that my body will reject Gege''s blood."


    "Okay then." Mark smiled. "As you wish my queen. Let''s do thatter, though, and enjoy the rest of the day."


    "Uhumm."


    Mei nodded.


    Mark thought that it was over, but then, he saw Mei''s face blocking his. A light peck on his lips was felt before he saw Mei running away into the middle of the flower field.


    He could not help but touch his lips, stunned. As his brain finally registered what had happened, he could only shake his head with a gentle smile.


    Mark sat on the rock with a smile as he watched Mei who was being approached by the sylphs attracted to her presence. She seemed really happy this time as she did not ignore the sylphs unlike she usually did to others.


    Along with the sylphs, she danced at the center of the sanctuary filled with flowers. That beautiful scene was dedicated to no one but Mark alone.

 Chapter 438 Store Hopping Date, The Rest Of The Day In Laguna Province

    <strong>Day 80 - 2:12 PM - Mountain Base, Mount Mbito, General Nakar, Quezon</strong>


    "Ma''am Odel, what do people do in a date?"


    Spera asked as she washed the dishes they used for lunch.


    Odelina, who was doing someundry just outside the kitchen, stopped and looked at Spera.


    "Hmm..." Odelina tapped her chin. "Different couples do different things. There are too many possible things to do. Mostmon is spending time together in activities they liked."


    "What for? Couples can spend time together as usual. There''s no need to go on a date."


    Spera asked. She could not understand the concept at all. She was not just talking about Mark and Mei but other couples she had seen before.


    To her statement, Odelina smiled.


    "You might be right in a sense. However, dates are special in many ways. When going out on a date, a couple will do something different than usual. Example, watching movies, a pic, eating in a restaurant, or just walking around a park. By doing different things than usual, the couple will see new sides of their partner. That is the most important thing on a date. It is to learn new things that you don''t know about the person you like. At least, that''s what I think."


    "It is thatplicated, huh."


    Spera looked down while in deep thought.


    Seeing that, Odelina continued on sorting the clothes she wanted to wash.


    While in deep thought, Spera did not realize that she was flexing her right hand, subconsciously. Realizing what she was doing, she hurriedly stopped it.


    It was a mannerism she had not fixed yet. It was because when she still had the ability to open portals, she would do this from time to time to practice while concentrating her powers on her hand. As she got used to this, she would unknowingly do this every now and then. It was even though her ability was already taken away from her.


    Nevertheless, it was nothing but pure mannerisms now. In fact, she did not care anymore whether she would get that ability back or not. After Mark and his group took her in, they did not treat her any differently from others. She felt that she already found a ce where she was valued, not as an item or tool, but as a person.


    "Spera, what are you thinking about?"


    A voice was heard as a person entered the kitchen. The person that entered was, the now lively, Emi.


    Awakening her dormant blood as a Blood Demon, the connection between her mind and body was fixed. The Emi that was only staring nkly in front of her was no more. She returned to her previous personality. Of course, she still exhibiting some symptoms of trauma. Nevertheless, she was already better.


    Now, Emi was helping around the base. She even volunteered to join Spera and Odelina and serve as a maid. Even Emi was oblivious of the reason. As far as she knew, she just felt like it.


    That was why, while Edward was leading the training of thebatants, she was here helping do some chores. Like right now, she was carrying new materials acquired from the bodies of the hunted animals this morning. She was passing by to bring the materials into Mark''s workshop.


    "Ah, Miss Emi." Spera looked to the side. "I''m just thinking about the Master and the Miss."


    "Oh, they went on a date, right?" Emi smiled. "I''m kind of envious. It''s been a long time since Edward brought me out. It''s not possible anymore though."


    Emi had a nostalgic expression on her face. It made Spera press more questions about the custom of dating among couples.


    Their conversation made the two finish their chores longer than usual giving Odelina quite a headache.


    ***


    <strong>Day 80 - 2:31 PM - Spirit Sanctuary, Mount Banahaw, Tayabas, Quezon</strong>


    After spending about an hour rxing in the middle of the field surrounded by flowers, Mark and Mei decided to leave. It was not because they were already tired of the scenery, rather, they wanted to do more things before sunset.


    Seeing that they decided to leave, the Diwata felt relieved. Most demons were unstable beings. If not for the fact that she was afraid of Mark''s ability to control Miasma, she would not let anyone with a demon''s decent inside the Sanctuary.


    Still, the Diwata could not believe that a Demon was really dating a human woman. If not for her seeing the interaction between Mark and Mei, she would never believe it.


    "We are leaving."


    Mark said to the Diwata which made her nod and open the portal going outside the sanctuary.


    Then Mark said something that made her freeze.


    "We''re going to visit again sometime."


    But while shemented...


    "Here, as thanks."


    A marble-sized crystal flew towards the Diwata. Surprised, she reflexively caught it.


    Seeing the crystal in her hand, the Diwata was shocked. It was not hard for her to realize that the crystal on her hand was created with pure magical energy.


    For humans, this crystal would have minimal effects. To her and other spirits, however, this was a very precious treasure that could raise her powers.


    It was too precious that she wanted to return it. Even if it was a payment for Mark and Mei to enter the sanctuary, it was too much.


    As she was about to return it, Mark and Mei were already gone and passed through the portal. She hurriedly followed out, however, she was not able to see any traces of the two anymore.


    She had no choice but to ept it. The next time that she saw the two, she would openly wee them to the sanctuary.


    With this crystal, she would have more power to protect their home mountain.


    ***


    "Gege, you''re being generous to give her one of those."


    Mei said as they flew away from Mount Banahaw.


    She knew the value of the [Mental Crystals] especially since the number of it was limited. At the moment, Mark only had around sixty of thesepared to the [Physical Crystals] which was around two hundred, not including the already upied ones.


    "It''s fine," Mark replied. "She will need more power to protect this ce. That way, we can visit again in the future."<sub> </sub>


    "That''s true."


    Mei said as she looked at the mountain behind. It would be a lie to say that she did not want to visit this ce again.


    Mark did not say one thing though. He was in a good mood right now because she saw how happy Mei was. That was the main factor for him to give one of the empty [Mental Crystals]. If he had more of the crystal that he got from the headless priest, he might have given that instead. In his view, it would be even more beneficial to spiritual beings and elementals. Unfortunately, he only had one.


    Another thing, he did not mind giving a gift to the Diwata. It was because even though she was not as strong as the me demon he fought before, she was still stronger than most paranormal creatures he encountered. A friendship with a good creature like her was not bad at all.


    ***


    <strong>Day 80 - 5:22 PM - Pagsanjan River, Maytng I, Lumban, Laguna</strong>


    Time passed by rather fast. It was an odd concept of time and consciousness. Depending on the circumstances, time could be perceived as fast or slow. It was more apparent when a person was focused on doing something, was doing something they enjoy, or when they were spending time with their special someone.


    That was what Mark and Mei had experienced from the rest of the day.


    After leaving Mount Banahaw, they went mall hopping. They browsed stores whether it be clothing or just something that interested them. Stores that sold stuffed toys, books, cosmetics, or even children''s clothes, they entered all of these establishments.


    They did not mind the current state of the mall or the stores they went in. As long as it took their interest, they would check out the store.


    It was kind of unfortunate though that Mei couldn''t try out the clothes she liked immediately. After being unattended for a long time, the clothes were already covered with dust if not stained with blood from the infected roaming the establishment.


    The most that they could do was to pick up some of the things that interested them and try the items out after the things were washed.


    Still, the activities they did made them enjoy their time together. They even tried out some kiddy rides whileughing as they yed together.


    It was a time they enjoyed a lot. Not minding the litter of disembodied corpses and stter of blood they left at every ce they stopped by.


    The sun would set soon. That was why they decided to take a walk near the Pagsanjan River as theirst stop. While walking, they just kept silent. They already had their fun for today, now, they were just enjoying each other''spany before they went home.


    Mark and Mei held hands as they crossed the river, with the things they decided to bring home.


    ***


    While Mark and Mei crossed the bridge, a lookout spotted the two.


    Just beside the river, not far from the bridge, a two-story house had been fortified by a group of survivors living in the area. The group was led by two Mutators. Coupled with the fact the province had a lesser poption densitypared to cities, they managed to survive.


    The lookout, of course, was surprised to see a couple crossing the bridge.


    "Paulo, there are two people on the bridge. They seem to be... On a date?"


    The lookout called his partner.


    "Chris, don''t joke around, a date? Who will believe you?"


    "I''m not joking, look."


    The teenage boy, called Chris handed his binocrs to Paulo.


    "Huh?"


    That was all that Paulo could voice out. He was dumbfounded that there would be a couple out on a date after the apocalypse. It was not hard to guess as he could almost see the pink aura between the two people crossing the bridge.


    "I don''t mind if they really are on a date," Chris said as everyone had their own way of spending their time even if it was already the apocalypse.


    "But isn''t it bad?" Chris added. "This should be around when those bastards will cross the bridge, won''t they?"


    Paulo nodded. It was rare for them to see new survivors. Now, however, they were in the wrong ce at the wrong time.


    "Should we warn them?"


    Chris asked.


    "We better do. I don''t want to see more people fall because of those bastards. I can''t see clearly, but the girl seems to be beautiful. It will be bad if someone like her fell on the hands of those animals."


    Paulo said and he stood up.


    "Chris, you keep on the lookout, I''ll go out to warn them."


    "Uhm... Paulo." Chris said with a dismayed tone. "It''s alreadyte."


    While saying that, a group of vehicles could be seen on the opposite side of the bridge. Most of the vehicles wererge modified motorcycles while there were two heavily modified trucks.


    The group feared by people, not only in this ce, but in many parts of Laguna. Especially after the apocalypse started, this group became more active.


    The criminal group, "Buddha Gang".


    They were known for many criminal acts, like robberies, drug trafficking, and especially, contract killings.


    Since the outbreak, many survivors had fallen by their hands. Men were killed while women and girls were taken as prisoners. They would alsomit abductions of important members of survivor groups and make the remaining members bring ransom to take them back.


    Of course, while they were true to their word and returned the person they abducted, they returned them, broken.


    As for the other survivors that lived in the area, they were paying this group for protection. Although the payment was rather overpriced, in the least, they could live in their homes, not fearing the infected.


    As for the group of Paulo and Chris, they only managed to avoid this crime group because of the two mutators that led them.


    Now, Chris and Paulo could only watch in dismay as they saw the couple crossing the bridge get surrounded by dozens of armed people.

 Chapter 439 Picking Up The Wrong Victims, The Reason For Not Avoiding The Group Of Criminals

    <strong>Day 80 - 5:35 PM - Pagsanjan River, Maytng I, Lumban, Laguna</strong>


    The sky was already changing its color as the sunset came closer. Nevertheless, this transition just improved the atmosphere of Mark and Mei''s date. A loving couple walking across the bridge under the sunset sky was surely a romantic scene to behold.


    It was a perfect picture as the river reflected the scene above it together with the shadow of Mark and Mei over the bridge.


    This whole day, Mark tried to avoid as much interaction with anything unnecessary. Survivors, Animals, and especially, the infected. He avoided such encounters as much as possible. He did not want to destroy their date. Or else, they might have to kill much more infected after they visited several malls.


    Mark also detected survivors, though very few. However, there was no reason for him to make contact with them at all.


    Unfortunately, not everything would go as nned.


    "Gege, I hear motorcycles."


    Mei said as she turned to Mark.


    Of course, Mark also heard it. Since the speed of the vehicles seem to be fast, they entered his detection range shortly. He had not tried to measure how far his detection range now. His estimate was it was around a hundred meters already and could be extended if he focused in one direction.


    Feeling how many people wereing, Mark had the urge to leave with Mei and not bother with them. That was what he wanted, yet, he could only shake his head bitterly.


    "Mei''er, we''ll meet with these people. Is that fine?"


    Mark could only ask Mei with a bitter expression.


    "I don''t mind if Gege wants to." She replied. "What kind of people are they?"


    "Probably enemies," Mark said. "I think it is better if you hide."


    Hearing that, Mei grabbed Mark''s left arm and hugged it.


    "I''ll stay."


    Mark had nothing to say to that. It was not like the iing people could do anything to her with him around. What he did not want was to expose her to unsightly stares that could make her remember her bitter experience. With what he felt from the people in that group they were about to encounter, they were definitely a bunch of animals in human skin.


    It did not take long, Mark and Mei stood in the middle of the bridge, surrounded by a group of men. They were clothes in a simr style to biker gangs in movies. ck thick vests, leather jackets, ragged jeans, and bandanas either on their heads or faces. Some had piercings on their nose and lips. Andstly, each of these people was armed to the teeth.


    "What do we have here?"


    A man with a built looking body went down from his heavy bike and approached Mark and Mei. It was not hard to see his muscled body structure as he was wearing an open vest with nothing under it. He was wearing a ne that somehow fit his current appearance. Furthermore, he was tall. Probably more than seven feet. By how he behaved, he was undoubtedly the leader of this bunch. If not, he might be a vice leader in the least.


    The man looked at Mark and Mei. Seeing Mei''s appearance, his eyes lit up with unhidden lust.


    Not only the man but even the other members were also looking at Mei with unsightly expressions.


    This made Mei quite ufortable. And of course, Mark did not want it.


    With a faint red glow on his eyes, the men around froze, feeling the heavy pressure that fell unto them. Their eyes that were filled with lust were reced with fear. They wanted to scream and flee. Nevertheless, they were able to do neither. They were rooted to their spot with wide eyes and mouths gaped open.


    Unexpectedly...


    "Oi, you." The built man spoke to Mark while his eyes were glued to Mei. "Usually, we kill anyone wandering around our territory. Leave this b*tch here, and we''ll let you live."


    This made Mark quite surprised. He could not help but stare at the man with his gleaming eyes.


    As Mark did not answer, the man''s eyes finally left Mei and turned to Mark. There, he saw Mark''s glowing eyes and his ominous re.


    "What is the meaning of those eyes, huh?" The man stepped forward in an imposing manner. "Do you want me to dig your eyes out? Someone as bad looking as you don''t deserve a b*tch like her. Just scram now when I still have a good mood."


    Of course, he was in a good mood since he thought that they hit the jackpot after seeing Mei.


    But then...


    THAM!


    BUGHI!


    An extremely strong impact hit the man on his stomach, making him release a pig-like sound from his mouth.


    BAM!


    The man was sent flying towards their truck, even causing the truck to shake and got pushed off its original position. From that impact, quite a number of scared screams could be heard from inside the truck.


    After hitting the truck with his back, the man plopped to the concrete. Of course, as his body implied, the man wound not die easily. Even though blood leaked from the corner of his mouth after his organs were rattled, he was still perfectly fine.


    The man looked forwards with fury, he saw Mark that was still in the kicking pose that made him fly. He nced at his men and shouted as his furious eyes turned back to Mark.


    "What are all you fools doing?! Kill that bastard and capture that b*tch!"


    His roar was loud and was surely intimidating.


    But then...


    Nothing happened.


    In absolute fury, he looked at his men and wanted to shout once more. There, he realized. The current appearance of his men was unnatural. Some of them even started to wet their pants as yellowish liquid dripped to the concrete.


    It was not hard to understand what was happening.


    The leader of the bikers stood up and stared at Mark.


    "Is it you?"


    He asked.


    "Yeah?" Mark replied. "I''m surprised why you''re not affected, though."


    That nonchnt reply made the leader even more furious.


    His muscled body bulged even more, in a very intimidating manner. This man was a Mutator without a doubt. A strength type Mutator with an Unfearful trait. Despite what was happening with his men, he did not feel fear as he charged towards the cause, which was Mark.


    The leader stretched his left hand trying to grab Mark''s head, who had not moved a single step away from his initial position. With his hands that currently had more than five hundred kilograms of grip strength. He could crush Mark''s head like a tomato.<sub> </sub>


    And the leader''s eyes widened as he was stopped in ce. Mark had grabbed the same hand and stopped the leader from moving forwards.


    Mark couldmend this person''s strength. In order to stop him, he needed quite an effort. Right now, the veins on his whole right arm were glowing brightly.


    The leader''s shock onlysted for a second as locked Mark''s right hand in ce, and he stretched his other hand.


    That was when a red shadow shed.


    Suddenly, the leader lost the feeling on his right arm.


    THUD!


    A mysterious sound was heard below him which made him slowly look down.


    There, his severed army scattering his blood on the concrete. Still, that failed to register on his mind. Only when he slowly looked at what was left of his right arm was when he realized what had happened.


    "AAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH!!!! MY ARM! MY ARM!!!"


    He subconsciously let go of Mark''s hand as he stumbled backward, screaming. His body started to dete, returning back to his previous appearance. He fell down grabbing the stump that was left of his left arm. Even his trait as a Mutator could not stop the feeling of fear of losing a part of his body.


    The leader was screaming in fear, his men watching at the side were already dying of it. They all saw what had happened when a [Blood Whip] from Mark severed that arm in a sh before it retracted back into his body.


    Furthermore, the smile Mark had in his face was like the smile of a devil. It might be better if Mark spoke even a single word of taunt because not uttering a single word as he watched the fountain of blood on their leader''s arm, made him look more like a devil.


    While the leader continued to yell in pain, Mark and approached him. Finally, Mark opened his mouth.


    "Who are you going to kill again?"


    Mark said, with a slight tilt on his head. There was obvious mockery in his tone.


    "F*CK OFF!"


    The leader swung his remaining arm, trying to hit Mark in an insane burst of rage.


    However, with another sh, the arm that was swung did not hit Mark. Like the first arm, it was severed. The force from the swing sent the severed arm flying and ended up crushing the skull of one of the frozen members.


    "AAAAAHHHHHHH!!!"


    The leader could only scream as both his arms were lost.


    Making Mei stay behind for a bit, Mark approached the hysterical leader and bent down. He grabbed the ne the leader was wearing and tugged it away.


    When the ne was taken away, the leader froze. He was still struggling with pain, however, like his men, he was now frozen in fear. Now, he understood why his men could not move a single finger.


    The leader could only move his eyes as he stared at Mark and Mei.


    Seeing Mei, the leader thought that they hit the jackpot. They never tasted such a beautiful woman. There were only two of them, what could they do? This beauty was here for taking.


    Who would have thought that they encountered the devil instead? No wonder these two were walking around without fear. They stood at the center of their circle without a shred of anxiety.


    On the other hand, Mark did not pay attention to the leader anymore and was observing the ne.


    "So, this is it..."


    After the awakening of his dormant blood and became a Blood Demon, his senses towards unusual things had heightened. It was also how he found where the Diwata was at Mount Banahaw.


    Now, he sensed something odd with this group. It was also odd that the leader of this group was not affected by his [Emotion Induction] in the slightest.


    The cause was this ne. This was also the odd thing he sensed. After the ne was removed, he saw that the leader became affected by his Empathic Ability.


    Without a doubt, this ne was not a normal one.


    "Gege, what is that?"


    Mei asked.


    "I don''t exactly know," Mark replied. "I suspect, this some sort of trinket or Agimat."


    Hearing that, Mei was a bit surprised. An Agimat was simr to charms and trinkets that were known to have magical effects on the people who wore it on their bodies.


    The ne Mark took seemed to fit the criteria as it was a circr medallion with an eye at the center and unknown symbols all over it. There was one thing Mark noticed, though. This ne was just a part of the whole thing.


    Ignoring the armless leader that was already dying from the loss of blood, Mark panned his eyes at the frozen men.


    "Anyone know about this?"


    He raised the ne for the men to see.


    Unexpectedly, half of the men seemed to have a reaction. He picked the nearest one, who was a skinny man, and removed the pressure on him.


    After the pressure was removed, the skinny man fell on fours gasping for breath. He was covered in sweat and his nose and tear ducts were already bleeding.


    Seeing the skinny man released from suffering, the other men were in turmoil. They obviously wanted to take the skinny man''s ce instead.


    Mark approached the man and said the same question.


    "Do you know anything about this ne?"


    The skinny man was surely afraid of Mark and was not able to answer immediately. Furthermore, he tried to retreat away.


    Mark was displeased by the skinny man''s action. With a reddish blurry sh, the skinny man''s head separated from his body. The skinny man''s head even rolled to the center of the encirclement making the other men soil their pants even more. After all, the head was still alive as it rolled while realizing what had happened. The skinny man could only open his mouth agape in hisst moment.


    Then, Mark posed the question once more.


    "Anyone knew about this ne?"


    He said that as he approached the next person to have the chance to answer.

 Chapter 440 The Agonizing Screams, One Of The Worst Tortures Anyone Could Experience

    <strong>Day 80 - 5:40 PM - Pagsanjan River, Maytng I, Lumban, Laguna</strong>


    The remaining men stared at the nightmare before them. This situation should not have been happening. They all wanted to believe that it was nothing but a dream. Unfortunately, they were facing a harsh reality.


    They were already on the way back to their base after a sessful hunt. Aside from collecting things from a few survivor groups, they also managed to capture a few women to y with.


    It should have been a bountiful day if they did not decide to stop and surround two people who were minding their own business.


    The arrogance they had, had taken away their ability to judge the situation. This gang had more people in their group. They also had deadly weapons at their disposal.


    Unfortunately, all of these things were worthless in front of real, genuine strength.


    They could not even do anything but freeze on the spot.


    Watching theirrades die one by one.


    Not even able to help or run away.


    ***


    Mark stared at the next person he was about to ask the same question.


    From the skinny man that died first, several heads were already rolling on the concrete. He asked several of the men already, and he was unsatisfied with their answers. Thus, they were beheaded in a sh.


    Now, there were only eleven people left, including the already dying Mutator.


    Mark then threw the ne on the next man he was going to ask. He already experimented on this ne on the previous men. There, he found the use of this thing.


    This Agimat was able to ward off any magical or psychic attack that affects the mind of the wearer. It was the very reason why the leader was unaffected by his [Emotion Induction] in the slightest. To prove this fact, the next person fell on his knees after the ne made contact with his hand. He was released from Mark''s mental pressure.


    However, there was one thing. The wearer was not protected from other kinds of magical attacks. One of the dead bodies were severely scorched after he threw a ball of fire on him. Another was festering after he hit that person with a surge of miasma. The ne remained intact, but the person did not.


    Mark bent down on the next man and asked.


    "The same question. Do you know anything about this ne?"


    To Mark''s satisfaction, unlike the previous men that were still afraid despite being free from the mental pressure, this one looked calmer. Now, looking at this guy, he did not seem to wet himself like the others.


    The man then asked Mark.


    "I don''t understand. What exact answer do you want to hear?"


    Of course, if this person was calmer, that was the question he would say to Mark. After all, unlike the first one, some of the previous men Mark killed gave one or two answers. However, they were still murdered brutally.


    Since this one was different from the previous ones, Mark decided to change the question.


    "Alright, have you seen another ne that looked simr? At least, something that could be connected to that one."


    Hearing that, the man racked his brains. And fortunately, he remembered something.


    "Our leader..."


    "Say it louder."


    Mark said as the man''s voice was nothing more than a mumble.


    "I don''t know if that is what you are asking for, but I remember seeing our leader wearing a ne that looked like arge ring. Both that ring and this ne looked simr."


    Hearing that, Mark pointed at the armless Mutator.


    "That isn''t your leader?"


    "No... Sir... He is our leader''s younger brother."


    That made Mark nod. He also thought the same before. In fact, the armless man looked nowhere qualified to be a leader of a criminal group like this. At most, he could be a right-hand man.


    "Alright, thank you for the information."


    Mark said as he reached for the ne on the man''s hand.


    "Are you going to spare me?"


    The man asked with a bit of hope. After all, Mark seemed to be satisfied with his answer.


    Nevertheless, the harsh reality kicked him down once more. After the ne left his hand, he immediately froze in ce.


    "Spare?" Mark nced at the man sideways. "Why should I? After looking at my wife with indecent eyes, you think that any of you will live? Keep dreaming."


    Mark said as the man''s head separated from his body.


    The man had his eyes widened as he realized what had happened in hisst moments.


    Hearing those words, the remaining men had lost all hope. Furthermore, Mark already had the answer he wanted. The next goal was to find the base of these animals.


    And thus, Mark''s body blurred as the veins on his body glowed red. By the way that his body seemed to have lost its substance, he certainly left his position at that moment. When his body returned to normal, and the red glow on his body vanished, each of the remaining men fell down with their heads detached from their bodies.


    It was a gruesome sight, and yet, both Mark and Mei barely had any reaction on their faces.


    "Gege, you can just ask that gori there if you want an answer, right?"


    Mei asked as she pointed at the armless Mutator.


    To that question, Mark smiled.


    "Well, I want to give them some hope before killing them. I can''t have anyone looking at you like that die easily. At least some mental torture should be done."


    Mei looked at Mark with a sweet smile. He might be keeping his cool, but he was still angry.


    "Ok, your turn."


    Mark said while looking at the armless Mutator lying on the concrete. He was bleeding to death, but as a Mutator, he would not die quickly. The muscled man was still conscious despite the pain. He also had some resistance to Mark''s emotion induction because of his reigning trait. The only thing pinning him on the ground was the weakened body, and the pressure Mark was giving out.


    "Just kill me already, you f*cking monster. My brother will avenge me. He will mess with that b*tch of yours in front of you."


    He sure was fearless.


    "You seem to have confidence," Mark had a sinister smile. This gori called Mei names for the third time.<sub> </sub>


    And thus...


    A [Blood Whip] from Mark pierced the shoulder of the man. However, instead of killing him, a ck film of metal sealed his wounds, stopping the bleeding.


    "Wh-what are you..."


    The Mutator already expected to die. He was insulted to the fact that the bleeding of his arms was stopped. He did not need pity from his enemy.


    And of course, it was not pity. When the man saw the sneer on Mark''s face, he felt chills all over his body.


    "I changed my mind. I won''t kill you here." Mark said. "I will let you witness how that brother you''re confident about will die."


    As Mark said those words, the [Blood Whip] changed shape and solidified into a metal chain. The chain was stuck inside the Mutator''s body inside his veins. The moment Mark tugged on the chains, he felt his whole body being torn apart.


    He could only scream in agony. Of course, the chain was not made to kill him, despite how much pain he felt, he would not die unless his mind broke down.


    "Mei''er, let''s go. We''ll visit this gori''s base."


    Mark said which made Mei nod.


    At their will, their wings sprouted in between their backs and the bags they were wearing. There were no problems with it as Mark tweaked with the bags. They could not leave these either since the bags contained the clothes Mei picked and some souvenirs to bring home.


    Leaving the bridge, Mark and Mei flew.


    "AAAAAAGGGGGGGGAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!"


    With the agonizing screams of the Mutator being hanged in the air by Mark.


    However, Mark had no idea where the base was. He also doubted that the gori would actually tell. That was why Mark was decided to go on a short stop nearby.


    ***


    Paulo and Chris saw everything that happened at the bridge. Sure enough, the two could not believe what their eyes witnessed.


    The members of the collector group of the Buddha Gang were ughtered very easily. They thought of warning the couple on the bridge, but to think that it was the total opposite. The members of the gang were the ones who needed to be warned. Not like they would do anyway, even if they knew that this would happen.


    Those animals of Buddha Gang needed to be killed. Any survivor living in this area would not go against that notion.


    What made the two frozen was when they saw the couple sprout wings and take flight with the right-hand of Buddha Gang, Alias Macho, in tow. The two could even hear the dying screams of the Mutator from the gang.


    Still, that was not the issue. The problem was that the couple were actually flying towards their direction.


    "Paulo, call Zach and Danna. Quick!"


    Chris said which made Paulo rush down from the watchtower.


    ***


    Mark and Mei arrived at the hideout of a group of survivors living beside the river.


    It was impossible for Mark to not notice the two lookouts that were watching the whole scene at the bridge. He also knew about the notion of the two to warn Mark and Mei, which gave him a good impression of these people.


    As these survivors lived in this area, they should be aware of where the base of the enemies was. That was why Mark decided to stop by and ask.


    When they arrived, the two lookouts already left the watchtower and stood in the middle of their yard with two more people.


    They were wary of course. However, Mark had no ns to spend much time with them.


    And thus... Before the group could say anything, Mark opened his mouth.


    "Do you guys know where the base of this gori is?"


    The sudden question made the four people below stumped. There was no greeting or anything. Just straight to the question. However, since two of them watched what happened, they just decided to answer. They did not want to receive the ire of this couple and follow the steps of the gang members.


    The appearance of the screaming Alias Macho was proof that they should not try to mess with the two.


    "They should be at the Capitol. In Sta. Cruz."


    The man that replied nced at Alias Macho. It was not surprising if he received a deadly re from the gang subleader. However, not mention ring, the subleader could not even stop himself from screaming because of the torture.


    As the question was honestly answered, Mark and Mei had no reason to stay. Mark, just spoke another two sentences before they left.


    "The weapons, vehicles, and supplies left at the bridge belong to your group now. Just take care of the captured people there too."


    With those words, Mark and Mei swiftly vanished from their eyes.


    ***


    The four people left on the ground were both stunned and speechless. As what they just heard was too good to be true, it failed to register in their minds immediately.


    Zach, the leader of their group was the first to snap back to reality.


    "Everyone also heard it, right?"


    "Ah..." Danna blinked. "I do?"


    Chris and Paulo also nodded.


    "Then quick! Get everyone! We''ll retrieve everything before the zombies swarm the bridge! QUICK!"


    And thus, their whole group of thirteen people left the protected walls of their base to go to the bridge.


    There, they shiver at the sight left by the one-sided ughter that happened. Nevertheless, the shiver they felt had vanished as they saw everything that was left for their taking. They also freed the captured women who were pitifully tied up and ravaged inside the trucks.


    ***


    In the next few days, a new group would rise in Laguna,posed of several groups joining together. They were worshiping a man and woman with bat wings as their idol.


    Of course, that detail was left not known by Mark and Mei, who were now heading towards the Provincial Capitol of Laguna. They flew in the air with the orange colored sky as the background picture. Unfortunately, their background music was the agonizing screams of Alias Macho.


    The annoying Title Screen music of a certain insane bus video game from an old console was way better than this.


    Thus, Mark decided to bash the screaming guy onto a building below. Alias Macho fainted as they left the crumbling building behind. Sure enough, that was not just a simple crash. It was surprising that Alias Macho was still alive.

 Chapter 441 Annihilation Of The Buddha Gang, Ending The Date In A Bloody Way

    Day 80 - 6:29 PM - Laguna Provincial Capitol, Pedro Guevara Avenue, Sta. Cruz, Laguna


    The Laguna Provincial Capitol, it was the central government established in the province of Laguna. Thispound had a collection of different government offices and other establishments.Thus, this about seven hectares wide area was frequented by arge number of people back then before the Apocalypse befell Earth.


    Its liveliness before the outbreak, however, had long been gone.


    The ce was now the central area of violence in the province.


    After the Buddha Gang showed themselves and gained control of the areas near the Capitol, those people that were lucky to survive the initial outbreak found another source of suffering.


    Men wearing old clothes could be seen pacing back and forth, carrying things while they were being watched by armed men.


    This was a usual urrence in this ce now as Buddha Gang were using captured men to do menial jobs.


    Strangely, however, there seemed to be amotion. The usual schedule of the Buddha Gang was to retreat back once night came, and they would not go out until dawn. Everybody knew the reason why and that had followed since they started to rule this ce.


    Now, the members of Buddha Gang seemed to be preparing to go out. It was even though the sun had already set. Furthermore, the leader of the gang, Alias Putik,monly known as Nardo. It was quite apparent that he idolized a notorious criminal that was killed back in the 1970s for using that name.


    The most strange thing was that Nardo was trying to mobilize the majority of his men. Except for the hundred gang members that would remain in the base, the rest that was about three hundred were getting ready to go out.


    ***


    Concealed by the dark night sky, Mark and Mei pped their wings while watching themotion below.


    "Aren''t they restless?"


    Mei voiced out. As they could only see the people below running here and there in a hurry, that was how it looked like to her.


    "I found the guy that seems to be the brother of this gori. They really are agitated."


    Mark replied.


    His eyes fell on the unconcious Alias Macho that was hanging on the chain and thought of an assumption.


    "Did this guy''s brother sensed that something happened?"


    "Gege, is that possible?"


    To Mei''s question, Mark shrugged his shoulders.


    "Nowadays, anything is possible. Though, I don''t think that he can actually sense where we are."


    That was how it felt. The brother might have sensed that the gori was in danger, but was unable to pinpoint where the younger brother was exactly. Or else, they might have been firing guns at Mark and Mei already.


    Observing the outline of the ce, Mark finally decided to start.


    "Shall we go?"


    Mark asked which Mei nodded to. Normally, women would not want to get involved in these kinds of situations. Mei, however, did not care. As long as she was with Mark, as long as she was with the people she cared for, everything else was insignificant.


    And thus... Mark started to wake up the unconcious gori with his [Emotion Induction].


    ***


    "Hurry up you f*cking imbeciles! Something happened to my brother and our collectors! We need to find them!"


    Nardo yelled to the top of his lungs.


    While he shouted, his left hand was holding the ring-shaped medallion hanging on his neck, tightly.


    This medallion had another part that was currently in his brother''s possession. With this, he could sense the current state of his brother. In the previous hour, however, he felt that his brother was in danger. Furthermore, the connection was suddenly cut off. He totally feared that his brother was now no more.


    Unfortunately, as their scavenger team had just returned, they were not able to prepare to depart immediately.


    Because of Nardo''s anger, his men were frightened. Their leader did not only lead them because he was strong, but it was also because he would not hesitate to kill. Whether it was men, women, children, elderly, or even another member of their gang, he would not hesitate to end their lives in the slightest nuisance.


    Now that it seemed that Alias Macho was in danger, their leader might kill everyone heid his eyes on.


    While everyone was preparing, however, a familiar voice was heard from above.


    That familiar voice was not just speaking, though.


    "AAAAAAAAAAGGGGHHHHHH!!!"


    The painful yells of agony made everyone''s spines shiver. They could only look up to the sky where the screams wereing from. That was when they noticed something falling from the sky.


    THAM!


    The concrete in the middle of thepound cracked as the source of the scream crashed.


    However, there was no need to ask who it was. Nardo could be seen rushing from his spot towards the cloud of dust created by the impact.


    "Brother!"


    Nardo yelled as he saw his younger brother in a horrible condition.


    "Bro-AHHGGGAAAAA!!!"


    Alias Macho was still alive having a sturdy body. He realized who was calling him and tried to reply. However, the agonizing pain in his body took over before he was able to finish the word.


    "Brother! Who did this to you?! WHO F*CKING DID THIS TO YOU?!!!"


    Nardo yelled.


    That was when another voice was heard.


    "Damn, you two are really brothers. You have the same annoying screaming voice."


    Everyone in the area paused and looked above. There, they saw two figures flying down slowly. The two thennded not far from the two leaders of the gang. Everyone was surprised to see a beautiful girl and a quite in-looking man with wings.


    Sure enough, even though the lights in the ce were just spotlights and burning gas barrels, it was not enough to overshadow Mei''s beauty. Many that were able to see her face was fascinated. Of course, for the gang members, their fascination was apanied by lust.


    Of course, Mark would not take that lightly. With a red glow of his eyes, the mobs were frozen still. Those that had nasty intentions towards Mei even started to bleed from their eyes, nose, and ears.


    "Are you two the ones who did this?"


    Nardo warily stood up and was readying his gun.


    "We did, so?"


    "Who are you two? I don''t think that you two came from around here. Why did you do this?"


    Nardo fired a barrage of questions. It seemed that he was quite smart. He deduced that the collection team was no more just by the current appearance of his brother. And such, he just proceeded to question Mark and Mei''s intentions.


    "Well..." Mark replied. "We really did not belong here. I''m just here on a date with my wife. So ask your brother who encircled us without warning and threatened me to hand over my wife and scram."


    While saying that, Mark was smirking. The ridicule was all over his face and he was implying that all of it was no one else''s fault but Alias Macho and the collection team.


    Mark expected that Nardo would be enraged by that. Surprisingly...


    "Is that so? You already trashed my brother and surely killed our men with him. So, let bygones be bygones."<sub> </sub>


    What a cruel brother. He realized that Mark and Mei were not people to be trifled with and decided to avoid fighting. This made even the agonized Alias Macho look at his brother in pure shock. However, it had been always how this gang survived. Kissing the feet of those with power using bribes, this gang was able to keep operating. That was also how he kept his head while being wanted by the police.


    To Nardo''s surprise, Mark shrugged his shoulders.


    "You''re quite cruel aren''t you. Abandoning your men and your brother to save yourself."


    "We have topromise sometimes in our line of business."


    Nardo replied. Of course, he was ready for any confrontation. One of his hands was on his back making signals to his men not noticing what was happening to the other members of the gang.


    "Hmmm..." Mark smiled. "Sorry to say. Your men disturbed our date. That brother of yours called my wife insulting names. He also threatened me about you taking revenge."


    Mark''s smile became even more bloodthirsty.


    "I''m quite a cautious person and annoyed so... I don''t n to let anyone from your group live."


    Mark''s glowed brighter enveloping every enemy in thick bloodlust. They not only that they were frozen, they felt that they were sinking in a bog slowly.


    On the other hand, Mark was also quite surprised. He just wanted to try recing the effect of his [Emotion Induction] from fear to bloodlust. For some reason, the effect was stronger and he also felt quite a chill even though he was the one that used the ability.


    Though as expected, Nardo was unaffected.


    "SHOOT!"


    The gang leader yelled. He then froze as he realized that all his men looked odd.


    "DAMN IT!"


    It was not hard for Nardo to realize that Mark might have done something. And thus, he sprung into action by himself.


    He tried shooting Mark and Mei. However, he missed as the two who were holding each other''s hand vanished in a puff of smoke and appeared to his right.


    As the distance as too close, Nardo knew that the gun was useless. He released his own bloodlust stemming from his trait as a Mutator. His muscles then started to change shape. However, different from his younger brother who looked like he overdosed with steroids, Nardo''s looked sleek and tight.


    Nardo was not strengthening his muscles but was enforcing it. Storing arge amount of strength in his muscles and release the strength in one go to deal massive damage to his enemies while doubling the endurance of his muscles. It was quite a unique ability.


    Seeing that ability, Mark was not fazed but was excited. Finally, he found a very interesting ability to take.


    Mark then noticed something. It made him angry. Although it looked like Nardo was going to attack him, the bastard was actually aiming for Mei who was slightly behind him.


    And thus, Mark decided not to y with this guy anymore.


    "Die."


    Mark said in a cold, low voice as a red blurry sh passed by Nardo''s waist once he got close.


    All the energy Nardo stored went out in a puff as his body split in half fell. The w in this ability was that he was not able to reinforce his whole body at the same time. The most he could do was enforce his limbs in one go. As such, his waist was vulnerable.


    Nardo became wide-eyed as he saw his organs spilling on the floor. In a few seconds, he died not able to ept his death.


    Mark then bent to pick up the ne Nardo was wearing. There was no doubt that it was the other half of the one Alias Macho had. Wiping off the blood from the right-shaped medallion, he put it into his pocket.


    The death of Nardo surely made the gang members devastated. Even Alias Macho could not believe what he saw. Sure enough, Nardo was strong and fast because of his ability. However, Mark was on a way different league from their leader.


    They wanted to rely on other Mutators and Evolvers in their gang. However, all of them were in the same situation right now. Frozen in ce while being submerged in thick bloodlust. They were starting to feel faint and was having a hard time breathing.


    Mark then looked at all the remaining members. There were sure a lot of them. He was feelingzy to go and kill them all. He only wanted to deal with the Mutators and take their abilities. As such, he turned to the captured ves who were keeping it low to not get caught in the battle.


    "Hey, you people."


    The ves froze. However, Mark''s next words left them in ecstasy.


    "Kill their remaining members and all of you are free to go."


    "A-are we really free to go? You, Sir, will not harm us?"


    One of them strengthened his resolve to ask.


    "You people didn''t offend me. Why should I kill any of you?"


    Hearing that, the men''s blood started to boil. Despite their malnourished bodies, they stood straight. With angry faces, they looked at the frozen members of Buddha Gang. One by one, they picked up any weapon they could use.


    With a war cry filled with grief, anger, and revenge, the male ves rushed to kill the enemies that could not fight back.


    They were shouting about their wives, daughters, girlfriends, and even mothers that were humiliated and killed by these animals. The members of the gang could only watch in agony as the supposed ves killed them slowly.


    On the other hand, Mark and Mei watched the scene in satisfaction. They approached Alias Macho who could not believe what was happening.


    "See the consequences of offending us?"


    Mark ridiculed.


    The fearless gori wanted to curse. However, before he was able to say anything, he froze as he saw Mark pick up the chain.


    "You don''t have to say anything. Just say hello to your brother in hell."


    Mark''s right arm that was holding the chain glowed bright red. Without hesitation, he whipped the chain up causing Alias Macho to bounce up into the air. Then, with all the strength Mark could muster, he flung the chain away to the side.


    In a very fast speed, Alias Macho was shot towards that direction along with his agonizing screams. When the inertia from swing was about to pull the chain away, Mark suddenly pulled the chain in the opposite direction.


    SPLAT!


    Alias Macho''s body was torn and exploded into pieces as his guts, organs, and blood sttered on the wall in that direction. What was left on Mark''s hand was the chain with a kind of odd "anthill art" with a decapitated human head at the other end.


    They then proceeded to deal with the bodies of the Mutators.


    ***


    It did not take long. Not only the members of the gang were killed, but the pitiful women were also rescued. When everyone wanted to thank their benefactors, they were already gone.


    They could only thank the two within their hearts. Some even kneeled as if praying to a god.


    ***


    Mark and Mei saw that scene before they left. Sure enough, it felt ufortable.


    "Let''s go home?"


    Mark asked.


    "Uhum... Let''s go."


    Holding each other''s hands, Mark and Mei flew under the night sky.


    ***


    VOLUME 7 End

 Chapter 442 Another Start, The Birth Of New Blood Demons And The Awaited Awakening

    <strong>Day 85 - 2:24 PM - Mountain Base, Mount Mbito, General Nakar, Quezon</strong>


    Five days after the date that ended in a bloody way, the whole base was moving forwards smoothly. In fact, even way smootherpared to how most of the government managed settlements around the country.


    The crops were growing fine, way faster than how nts grew before the apocalypse. By the estimate of the old farmer couple that was tasked to manage the fields, the base would have a stable source of vegetables and a bit of fruit after a month and a half to two months.


    Furthermore, even mutated insects had already gained instincts on par with animals before the apocalypse. Because of the dangerous figures in the base, most of these insects would rather stay away.


    Thus, it was very rare for one to go and try to damage the fields.


    And if they did, the Duende''s magic they put around the fields would confuse the insect or other animals until these intruders were put down before they could damage anything.


    With the base having good cooperation with these folklore creatures, many things became more prosperous.


    Entertainment for everyone was also set up rather magnificently.


    Angis, the Kibaan, was finally able to make her own instrument after Mark let her rummage inside his workshop. Using some of the smaller pieces of [Magic Wood] together with tendons of Mutated Animals, and other materials, she created an odd-looking guitar-like instrument.


    Mark helped a bit in shaping the instrument and saw how dexterous her hands were.


    The instrument might be odd in appearance. However, the sound it made was magical. That was why, now, a small stage was built at the remaining vacant area around the Spirit Tree. There were also enough seats made for everyone.


    Tonight, Angis would have her first performance. Mark and everyone living in the Cliff House already heard Angis in her practice. Some of Mark''s friends that visit from time to time also heard it. Despite her not looking as beautiful as the other wives of Teremillio, her voice was heavenly. Whenever she would sing, magical white wisps of light would appear floating around the vicinity.


    Angis might not be capable of fighting, but her ability was also in a different league. Mark, Hallie, and na really wanted her to sing Anime songs. Unfortunately, her magical abilities in her songs would only work if she understood thenguage. That was quite a letdown. Learning Japanese was not that easy either.


    Aside from that, Milliel was starting to try tomunicate with people. She was still scared most of the time. Nevertheless, her anxiety towards humans and othernd creatures was lessening. The best thing about this was that all the people saw her in a positive way. It helped her a lot in opening up to others.


    However, the most interesting to everyone on the base was how Mark and Mei''s rtionship had progressed.


    After their date where they returned home ratherte, there was an obvious change to how Mark and Mei interacted with each other. Before, even though they were disying intimacy with each other, there was still some sort of uncertainty between them. Mostly, from Mei''s side. The main reason for this was because she was still uncertain about what Mark exactly felt about her.


    Now, however, Mei had be livelier and smiling more now. Every time that Mark and Mei were together, it felt like there was some pink aura around the two.


    This made Mark being a target of teasing to his close friends. He did not mind, though, since most of their teasing was true in the first ce.


    Mei was also being teased, mainly by na, Karlene, Jaeya, and Emi. This always left her red in embarrassment when they start asking when the wedding would happen. It was really not an embarrassing topic. To Mei, however, raised to be a doll to expand her family''s business dynasty, it meant a whole different thing.


    It was to give all of herself to Mark. Including that thing that would usually happen after the wedding. She did not mind as long as it was Mark. However, it was still embarrassing for her.


    That, however, was a good thing in Mei''s case. Once things like this enter her mind before, what she would remember was what happened to her back at the City Mall. She would end up nightmares the night after as the effect of trauma.


    Being embarrassed about it instead meant that she was recovering and was starting to forget about the nightmare she experienced.


    And every time she was embarrassed, Mei would end up touching the one and a half inch diameter medallion hanging on neck.


    After experimenting and testing things with the two Agimats Mark and Mei got from the gang, they learned that both trinkets had the same effect and fit each other as one. The circr medallion could be inserted inside the ring. Once it was done, the effect of protecting the wearer from mental attacks would get multiplied to the point of affecting not just the wearer but actually a five-meter area.


    This made Mark realize that if the two medallions were together and were worn by anyone from the gang, Mark would need more effort to deal with them. Luckily, it seemed that those gang brothers only knew of one function this Agimat had. That function was to let the wearer of one part of the Agimat feel the current state of the wearer of the other part.


    Because of this, after Mark cleaned the medallions, he wore the ring part while he gave Mei the inner part. This made the two able to feel each other''s state, both physically and mentally. This was also why Mei was touching the medallion because she knew that Mark could feel how embarrassed she was.


    The only thing that made Mark rather disappointed was that he expected something else to happen when thebined the two medallions. Unfortunately, aside from the heightened effect, nothing else happened. It would be awesome if it was also a key of some sort.


    Still, because something like this existed, Mark was looking forward to finding more. As a gamer, he was also a hoarder. He would love to have more in his collection, especially now that he could sense when one was around.


    ***


    At this moment, Mark was currently sorting his Transparent [Blood Metal] cab where his collection of glowing crystals was put. He was preparing to pick some suitable ones to give out to the members of his base. Of course, only to those directly under him and his friends that came with him. There were also a few for those that had done good merits for the base like the old farmer couple. However, as they were just regr people, they would only be given an empty [Physical Crystal] so that they would turn into Evolvers.


    Furthermore, it would raise the life expectancy of the old couple allowing them to live several more decades as long as they were not killed by other means.


    That was one of the things the scientists from Bay City had written in their research. After Mutagen invaded Earth and changed a lot of things, any living thing that could withstand the potency of Mutagen had their lifespan raised.


    For humans, it was more apparent to those that became Evolvers and Mutators. It was also the same for Mutated Fauna and Flora.


    Now, it would not be surprising if a regr human would have a life expectancy of a hundred and fifty years, as long as they were not killed before they died of aging.


    As for Evolvers and Mutators, their life expectancy might vary depending on the abilities they acquired.


    And for Mark who had awakened his blood as a Pure Blood Demon, it would not be surprising if he was able to live another one or two thousand years. That was only if he did not evolve any further... Which was very unlikely.


    Back at the matter about the [Physical Crystals], there was also something that scientists had found out.


    Unlike regr humans that were bitten and directly became Mutators, those that were Evolvers before turning into a Mutator were more prone to the growth of their abilities. There were also instances of their Evolver abilities being carried over to their Mutations.


    This made Mark realize something. It was something that was hard to achieve by using crystals as the Mutation needed to be natural. Like how it happened to him.


    Nevertheless, there was one thing that was hard to achieve with natural mutation either. It was to have more than one Mutator Abilities.


    While Mark was sorting the crystals, four girls entered the collection room.


    "Papa~!"


    There were three little girls, who were being followed by Mei, who was looking after them. It seemed that they were tired of ying.


    "Why are you all here?"<sub> </sub>


    Mark asked with a smile as he patted the cute girls'' heads.


    "Papa, y with us."


    Mark was mistaken, they were not tired of ying, they just wanted to y together with him.


    To that, Mark agreed. He was almost done sorting the crystals anyway and could just continue itter. Rather than focusing on his work, it was good to spend more time with his new family. It was something that he had longed when he was living alone. Now that these girls were here, he would cherish them even if he needed to sacrifice himself.


    If something irreversible happened to them...


    "This world should stop to exist."


    "Gege, did you say something?"


    Mei asked as she heard Mark mumbling.


    "No, its nothing."


    Mark smiled.


    And thus, Mark time with the girls.


    ***


    Night came and one of the most important nights since the base was built.


    Mei and Abbygale...


    Would finally be Mark''s kin as Blood Demons.


    Of course, no one knew aside from a few selected people.


    Why did several days passed before it happened? Mark had to ask Pefile and Amihan what they knew about the ritual to turn other beings to his kin. Unfortunately, they knew too little.


    Unexpectedly, both Terremillio and Felenia knew something despite not realizing that Mark was a Blood Demon and the Spirit Tree was the Night Everred Tree. It seemed that although they did not know about the actual appearance, they knew some knowledge about Blood Demons and their Rituals.


    It became suspicious as to how the two knew some ancient knowledge. However, that did not matter right now.


    Now, there as only Mark, Mei, and the three little girls in the bedroom.


    Mei and Abbygale were lying on the bed beside each other. Both were calm and was still smiling.


    "Are you two ready?"


    Mark said which made the two nod.


    He then closed his eyes and stimted his blood. As the ritual started, I brought Miracle to a corner to watch.


    Mark''s two pair of wings then opened up glowing red. Veins on his body started to glow brightly along with his eyes. His horns grew once more and his fangs were the same. The only thing he controlled was the growth of his hair as having it too long was rather inconvenient. It was also unnecessary as it served nothing but aesthetics. Nevertheless, it was also confusing why it had to grow when he was losing himself.


    To that ritual, there was no need for lengthy chant or magic circles. Mark only needed to concentrate on his Demonic Blood and let two drops of pure blood toe out.


    From the tips of his two index fingers on both hands, a drop of glowing blood started to congeal. Seeing that, Mei and Abbygale closed their eyes and opened their mouths.


    They then felt a drop of liquidnd on their tongues.


    Strange enough, it did not taste metallic. Rather, it tasted something sweet and addicting.


    Unlike normal drops of liquid, however, the drop of blood entered their throats without needing to swallow it voluntarily.


    The two felt their bodies getting hot. In fact, their skin was turning a bit red.


    Then, they both passed out.


    Mark knew... They were starting to adapt to the blood he gave them. As the only things needed to two was to wait, he retracted his wings, fangs, and horns and sat by the heads of Mei and Abbygale.


    With a milky glow on his hands, he touched their foreheads. In the least, they would make the two feel rxed a bit.


    Miracle then jumped unto hisp while I sat beside him. Sure enough, the two girls were happy that their Mama and Sister were going to be one of them.


    While Mei and Abbygale were turning into Blood Demons, the normal reaction of the Night Everred Tree to the ritual happened. Only a few noticed that the leaves of the tree glowed brighter while many of the red wisps it had around it started to fly towards the room where Mei and Abbygale were in.


    Seeing the lights being absorbed by Mei and Abbygale, Mark knew that it was going smoothly. Glowing veins also started to appear on the bodies of the two starting from their hearts and was spreading across.


    And then...


    Mark felt something...


    Not only him...


    Each of the people carrying the blood of a Blood Demon and the folklore creatures in his base felt it.


    The Night Everred Spirit Tree...


    Had finally awakened.

 Chapter 443 The Space Inside The Spirit Tree, A Grave Discovery On The Other Side

    <strong>Day 85 - 11:52 PM - Mountain Base, Mount Mbito, General Nakar, Quezon</strong>


    Mark stood by the window of the room together with I and Miracle. Not only the three, but almost everyone in the base was rmed by the sudden event. Who would not be? The bright red light emanated by the Night Everred Spirit Tree enveloped the whole nds between the mountains. It was bright enough to wake up those that were sleeping.


    Furthermore, being seen from far away, it looked like the sun started to rise between the mountains. Even the people of New Infanta Settlement that was about twenty kilometers away northwest witnessed the light. It was although a few mountains separated the two ces.


    The others might not know. But as the master of the Spirit Tree, Mark knew that it was finally gaining its sentience. Just as how sudden it had fully grown, the birth of its consciousness was the same.


    Mark could feel this connection to the tree was growing stronger. There was even a faint light being emanated by his body as it was happening.


    "Is this the aura the Duendes spoke of?"


    He murmured as he examined his arms enveloped with a faint film of light.


    While he watched the Spirit Tree, he could feel its consciousness growing like a balloon slowly inting with air.


    Mark did not realize his eyes were also glowing.


    He wanted to approach the tree. However, he could not leave Mei and Abbygale amidst the transformation of their bodies. Moreover, their state was different from I. They were directly turning into his kin because of the Spirit Tree. It was quite faster and a bit more painful. Unlike I, whose body slowly changed, before the blood Mark gave her awakened.


    SWOOOOOMMM!!!


    An invisible shockwave echoed across the mountains. It caused the air to be disturbed. The leaves of the trees rustled violently, while the shockwave almost pushed back everyone watching.


    Then, Mark felt a call inside his mind.


    There was no doubt that the call came from the Spirit Tree.


    Sure enough, the young sentience of the Spirit Tree was fully born.


    The feeling of this connection was the same as his link to Ignis, although the manner was closer to the bond he had with the [Blood Children].


    It could be said that the construction of the consciousness was simr to Ignis, who was a sword that gained sentience. And like the [Blood Children], the Spirit Tree had sentienceparable to a human infant.


    Mark wanted to continue watching over Mei and Abbygale. However, the Spirit Tree repeatedly tried to call him. The more times it called him, he could feel that it was getting sad.


    He sighed.


    "I, Miracle. Watch over your Mama and Gale for a bit."


    Mark patted the heads of the two. I had a mature mentality, and Miracle was smart. The two girls nodded as they knew that their Papa needed to do something.


    After caressing the heads Mei and Abbygale, he went out of the Cliff House and flew towards the Spirit Tree.


    Feeling that he wasing, the Spirit Tree''s consciousness became livelier. Fortunately, it seemed like it could not move its body as it was still a tree. If it was able to, it would probably be waving its branches now.


    Everyone saw Mark flew towards the tree because of the light it was emanating. There, they saw himnd by the roots of the tree and touched the base of its trunk.


    Then, they all covered their eyes as a brighter sh of light appeared.


    The moment they recovered, Mark was nowhere to be found anymore.


    ***


    "So, this is the space inside a Spirit Tree."


    Mark murmured while looking around.


    Feeling the call of the Night Everred Spirit Tree, he did what it instructed and touched the trunk with his right palm.


    He felt something prick his hand, and a drop of blood was smeared onto its bark before a door opened. He did not need to enter the door on his own. It was more like he was swallowed by the door.


    Around him was a vast open space. A vast grasnd with red-colored grass under the starry night sky. There was even a red-colored moon illuminating everything.


    Mark bent down to touch the ground and snap a few grass leaves. He was making sure whether everything he was seeing was real and not just an illusion.


    To his surprise, everything felt real.


    Being inside this space, he had the feeling that everything was surreal. Nevertheless, he could touch everything and affirm that the things he could see exist in reality.


    ''Was this the feeling of people who were transported to another world had after they were transported?''


    Mark thought.


    While his thoughts were wandering deep, trying toprehend the unbelievable things around him, a ball of red light fell from the sky and floated in front of him.


    "You are the consciousness of the Spirit Tree, aren''t you?"


    Mark immediately recognized the ball of light.


    In response to his words, the ball of light bobbed around, flying around him. It was like a kid that saw its father for the first time.


    Unfortunately, like the [Blood Children], the consciousness of the Spirit Tree could not talk yet. It was still too young and could only send its thoughts to Mark to respond.


    With the ball of light flying around him, Mark wandered around the space. It was not an endless one. It seemed to be a t-shaped world. Once Mark reached the edge of the world, the only thing he could see was darkness. It was the void as it looked like.


    He tried entering it as the Spirit Tree told him that it was not dangerous. Entering the void, it was as if... Everything had vanished. No sight, no noise, there was nothing. He tried to continue a few more steps forward. That was when he realized that he returned to where he entered. He stepped out of the void and saw the ball of light waiting for him.


    It was really not dangerous. Once one tried to pass through the void, they would just return to where they entered despite walking straight. The feeling was kind of strange. Nevertheless, understandable.


    The space that the Spirit Tree could support was only small. Still, the expanse inside it wasparable to the whole of Mount Mbito. Where his base was just a tiny part of it. With how wide it was, Mark could probably build more than a hundred bases of the same size, and there was still some space to spare.


    Unfortunately, Mark noticed one thing.


    The moon and the stars were not moving.


    It meant that it was very likely that this space was under an eternal night. This was rather understandable since the name of the Spirit Tree said it. Amihan also told him before that the space inside the tree would depend on the individual that nted the tree and the kind of tree that had grown.


    And this was the space created by him and the Spirit Tree. He could not me anyone for it.<sub> </sub>


    However, it also meant that it was impossible to practice agriculture in this space. nts needed light to grow. A ce under endless darkness was not suitable for nts.


    "Can you turn it into daytime?"


    Mark asked the ball of light.


    Unfortunately, it shook in disappointment. Mark could not me it though. Well, he might be able to find a way to modify the space inside the Spirit Tree in the future. He should take things slowly.


    "How about opening a portal to the Spirit Dimension?"


    Mark asked.


    Knowing what he wanted from their connection, the ball of light warped its shaped into something like arge hole with a mirror in the center.


    Sure enough, it was a door to a different ce as Mark could see what it looked like on the other side through the mirror.


    And Mark was shocked.


    Like Pefile had said, a Spirit Tree growing from the Mortal World could get the attention of the Spirit Races on the other side. Thus, it would not be surprising if there would be armies of spirit races rallied to take action whenever the portal was opened.


    "Move the entrance, let me see more of the other side."


    Mark said and the Spirit Treeplied.


    The mirror panned around the Spirit Tree inside the Spirit Dimension.


    The scene made Mark frown.


    Not like it was surrounded. Rather... There was nothing.


    From what Amihan and Pefile described the Spirit Dimension, it should reflect the shape and appearance of the Mortal World.


    On what Mark had seen on the portal, while it did reflect the mountainous terrain where the Spirit Tree and his base was located in the Mortal World, everything else was dying.


    The supposed lush green grass was dried and brown. The soil was dry and arid. The trees werecking leaves. And the whole mountain seemed lifeless.


    However, Mark found some creatures. He was not happy about it.


    Each creature was as disgusting as it could be.


    One of what he saw was an eight-meter humanoid blob of flesh with bluish-green skin. Its ck colored blood vessels were apparent and seemed bloated. Greenish ooze dripped from its mouth and its eyes were filled with rage.


    Another was a half bodied naked woman with wings. Without a doubt, this was a demon that was called Manananggal. The strange thing was that it was crawling violently on the ground with its wings that were bent in the wrong way. It was like a ferocious animal walking on fours with its arms and wings.


    Aside from the two, there were also others. They were wandering around the tree and it seemed that they were here by coincidence. These creatures did not even seem to be interested in the Spirit Tree.


    While Mark observed the disgusting creatures, a small creature with clear wings passed by the portal. It seemed to notice the portal and flew towards it.


    As the portal could be described as an oneway mirror that allowed Mark to see outside, the little creature could not see him. This gave Mark the opportunity to observe the creature up close as it investigated the portal. Furthermore, as long as Mark did not allow it to enter, it would not be able to enter the space inside the Spirit Tree.


    The creature was in no doubt... A female sylph. However, looking at her mindless behavior as it investigated the portal, the veins visible on her skin, and her pale-colored lifeless eyes, Mark knew.


    "So, it''s not just Earth, huh."


    Mark murmured as the unsightly truth was revealed before his eyes.


    Mutagen also invaded the Spirit Dimension. Furthermore, they had it worse than the Mortal World.


    For the supposedly beautiful mountain to turn into a wastnd, just how devastating were the effects of Mutagen in the Spirit Dimension?


    Looking at the monsters on the other side of the portal, something clicked inside Mark...


    "These appearances," Mark said as he stared at the unsightly monsters. "They looked simr to the infected that appeared in Eriellis."


    The Spirit Dimension was filled with beings capable of using psychic abilities and magic. Thus, Mutagen likely turned them into beings simr to those infected with Psypathogen.


    "This is not a good thing, isn''t it?"


    Mark murmured with a grave expression.


    Mutagen managed to invade the Spirit Dimension. The opposite was not unlikely to happen. If that really did happen, things on Earth would be worse than it already was.


    This discovery made Mark want to know the details as to how this happened. To do that, he needed to venture into the Spirit Dimension and find survivors in that Dimension.


    Who would have thought that the vacation they wanted to do on another world would be a quest for survival instead?


    Mark needed to prepare for this. That was what filled his mind after he made the Spirit Tree close the portal.


    "Oh, right," Mark remembered something. "Do you want a name?"


    Mark asked the ball of light.


    To that question, it bounced in the air, filled with eagerness.


    "Alright, I have a perfect name for you. From now on, you''re called Chiyo."


    Hearing the name, the Spirit Tree as surely d. Then, hearing the meaning of the name, the Spirit Tree was even more delighted.


    "It means Blood and Night joined together."


    It was a perfect name for a blood-colored tree that glows during the night.


    After giving the name, Mark decided to return to the base. He needed to discuss it with the folklore creatures in his base, especially Pefile and Amihan.


    Little did he know, this piece of news would cause Pefile, Teremillio, and Felenia to panic.

 Chapter 444 Another Meeting, An Oracle And The Grave News

    <strong>Day 86 - 6:15 AM - Cliff House, Mountain Base, Mount Mbito, General Nakar, Quezon</strong>


    The Night Everred Spirit Tree, Chiyo, had finally awoken its consciousness. Its awakening had given the whole base another step forward.


    With Chiyo, the whole nds around the base could be monitored securely. Furthermore, as Chiyo was more active at night, it could supplement a lot in keeping guard during the most dangerous times of the day.


    Now, the security of the whole base was pretty much stacked up. Even if Mark was not around, there were the lookouts over the walls, Huey to detect noises, Pearl to detect vibrations, and now, Chiyo for overall surveince. Even underground attacks were now impossible to seed with Chiyo''s roots monitoring the ground.


    Unfortunately, despite having sentience, Pure Spirit Trees were too far from being Treants. They were not able to move their bodies except for a few unique kinds. In the least, most mature trees could have their own unique way of protecting their territories. As for a Night Everred Spirit Tree, it was still unknown, along with a lot of information missing.


    Of course, this would be unveiled in the near future. There was no need to wonder about it too much.


    ***


    Inside the room, I and Miracle fell asleep after staying awakete in the evening. Miracle really did not need it. However, it had grown unto her to sleep with her sisters during the night. Of course, she was still the first to wake up and join her Papa on watching over Mei and Abbygale, that were still in the middle of bing a Blood Demon.


    Unexpectedly, the first to finish was not Mei but Abbygale. She woke up a bit after sunrise a bit sluggish. For almost the whole night, her body had a state simr to a sick person''s. It was understandable if she was a bit weakened when she woke up. Nevertheless, the moment she woke up, she was happy and gave her Papa a tight hug.


    Mark fetched something for them to eat, especially for Abbygale. Then, they continued to watch over Mei.


    For some reason, she was taking it longer. And Mark was sure that it was not because Abbygale was a child, and Mei was older for her body to change slower.


    After another two hours, Mei woke up. And there, they learned a strange thing.


    "Gege..." Mei said as she opened her eyes. "Good Morning."


    She greeted Mark and the little girls as she turned her head around.


    That was when she froze a bit and hurriedly tried to sit down. Mark felt that something was wrong and immediately approached her.


    "How do you feel?"


    Mark asked just to see Mei touching her cuspids.


    "Gege, this..."


    Mei then showed her teeth towards Mark. He was quite surprised.


    Compared to his, it was short, but no doubt...


    Mei grew fangs.


    This was unbelievable as Pefile had already said that being a Pure Blood Demon could not be acquired. Yet, one of the characteristics of a Pure Blood Demon appeared on Mei after she became one.


    Mark then had an idea.


    "Mei''er, try opening your wings."


    Mei nodded, and her batwings grew out of her back.


    Like before, there was just a pair of wings. However, while it might be a bit faint, there were red-colored veins at the base of her wings.


    There was no doubt, for some reason, she turned into a Pure Blood Demon. Nevertheless, he could tell that her rank as a Pure Blood Demon was lower than his considering her short fangs and the faint red veins.


    Still, this fact was baffling.


    Mark decided to ask Pefileter, and also Teremillio and Felenia considering that they knew many things for some reason.


    As Mei and Abbygale had both turned into Blood Demons, Mark was relieved. Now, he could say that this family was genuinely his, and no one would be able to deny it.


    With the two waking up, Mark decided to have a good breakfast. Although he and the little girls had already eaten a bit, they would not let Mei eat alone.


    ***


    After lunch, a meeting was held inside the meeting room inside Mark''s house. The ones present were the people directly receiving orders from Mark, a few of his friends like Ron, Carlo, and Arvie, and the important folklore creatures living in the base, Teremillio and his wives, and Pefile.


    Teremillio and his wives were easy to call. On the other hand, even without needing to call him, Pefile would suddenly appear whenever he was needed.


    Aside from them, the Tribe Elder and her grandchildren were also present.


    Mark disclosed the fact that the Spirit Tree had awakened its consciousness. Pefile and the other folklore creatures in the base already knew about this. On the other hand, it surprised the people in the base that only watched what was happening at the treest night without knowing anything.


    For the Spirit Tree to wake up, it was a good thing for everyone in the base. Mark also discussed the benefit of having the Spirit Tree awakened to his people and friends making them feel even more secure in this base. He also told them that he would be distributing the crystals to them and those that contributed heavily to the base. Sure enough, it made them delighted.


    Mark discussed a few more things to Huey and the others including the space inside the tree that they needed to start working on. Thus, Huey would need to make another draft of a new base that they would build inside that space. Of course, Huey needed to see the location first before he was able to start and Mark agreed in showing everyone the space inside the tree.


    After that, most of the humans left, leaving only the Tribe Elder and her grandchildren as the only humans in the room.


    And there, the discussion would have to a grave turn.


    "There is something that I need to tell you all."


    Mark said.


    "The Spirit world is in shambles right now."


    This caused the folklore creatures to be shocked. The ones most affected were Pefile, Teremillio, and Felenia for some reason.


    "What do you mean?"


    Pefile asked with a serious expression.


    And thus, Mark described what he had seen through the portal inside Chiyo.


    The three could not believe what they were hearing. The others were also the same as what Mark had described greatly differed from what they expected.


    There, Pefile, Teremillio, and Felenia had a serious request.


    They wanted to see the situation for themselves.


    Mark did not mind it. However, he had a question for the Elder first. In fact, Mark did not call for the Elder, she was the one who wanted to meet with Mark.


    "Elder, why did youe to meet me today?"


    To that question, the Elder faced Mark''s direction.


    "I received an Oraclest night. I have a message for you."


    Hearing that, Mark was surprised. It would not be surprising for an oracle about the base to arrive. However, this oracle seemed to have something to do with him.


    "Please, say it."


    Mark said.


    The Elder then looked down and opened her mouth.<sub> </sub>


    "Clouds had gathered, and blinding light streaked across the night sky. I happened ones, and the shadows were lost. The cloud gathered once more, and red light enveloped the sky. It happened twice, and the shadows found their way."


    The elder coughed a bit making her granddaughter rub her back. She then continued.


    "The shadow will arrive but will decide not to loom over. With its thousand eyes, it will observe. At the right time, the will absorb."


    She then raised her head.


    "That is all I can tell you. I believe that you know what it meant. We will be returning to our ce."


    "Thank you for the message," Mark nodded. "Let Odel escort you back."


    With that, being helped by Odelina, the Elder and her grandchildren left the room.


    Everyone was baffled to the meaning of what the Elder had said. It was quite cryptic after all. Inside the room, Mark was the only one that had the ability to understand it. After all, he knew the things that the message mentioned.


    "Gege, do you understand it?"


    Mei asked a bit worried. Hearing those words made her feel a bit ufortable.


    Mark nodded and spoke for everyone to hear.


    "What the oracle meant is that the enemies also felt the awakening of Chiyo. They will find this base soon."


    "Which enemies?"


    Pefile asked with a frown. The news about the Spirit Dimension already ticked him off, now, the ce where his son and his partner were living seemed to be in danger.


    "I don''t exactly know." Mark shook his head.


    However, he had a vague idea.


    In Mark''s understanding, what the oracle meant was this.


    At the time he fully assimted with Freed''s ability, the clouds gathered and lightning streaked across the sky. The enemies felt it and tried to find the source. However, as it just happened once, the enemies were lost. However, when the Spirit Tree was nted and when its consciousness awakenedst night, it was very likely that the enemies finally managed to pinpoint, at least, the general direction of this ce.


    Because of howrge the Spirit Tree was, they were sure to find it if they arrived.


    However, they could not just make a move and needed to observe. These enemies would need to gather information. When they were ready, they would attack.


    As for who were the enemies... The oracle mentioned shadows several times. Talking about shadows, there was only one kind of creature that entered his mind.


    The shadow people. It meant that the Auraboros was looking for Chiyo. Sure enough, their goal was not good in any way.


    Fortunately, they still had time to prepare. Although he oracle the Elder had given out sounded ominous, it did not seem to be hurried. He needed to bolster the defenses of the base before he ventured into the Spirit Dimension. The current state of the Spirit Dimension was just as important as this oracle he had recieved.


    Sorting his thoughts, Mark decided to bring the folklore creatures into the space inside Chiyo.


    However, before that...


    "Pefile," Mark called out. "You said that being a Pure Blood Demon cannot be acquired, right?"


    Hearing that question, Pefile nodded.


    "Yes. From what I heard, that is the case."


    To Pefile''s statement, Mark nodded to Mei.


    There, she opened her wings and showed her fangs. She also let her eyes shine red along with her veins on her body.


    "You got to be kidding me."


    Pefile said in speechlessness.


    Not only Pefile but even Amihan was surprised.


    On the other hand, Teremillio and Felenia also showed surprise for a very different reason.


    The two thought that Mark was only asking about Blood Demons in curiosity. They never expected that reason was this. From the conversation of Mark and Pefile, it was obvious that Mei had just be one. Then... The eyes of the two slowly fell to Mark who actually nodded to their stares.


    Teremillio and Felenia felt lightheaded. No one had ever told them about this. It was not surprising that they would not know since they did not even recognize the Night Everred Spirit Tree in the first ce.


    To the scene in front of him, Pefile pped his forehead. It was obvious that he was having a headache.


    As Mei returned back to normal, Pefile spoke in a bit frustrated tone.


    "You couple really loved breaking the rules, aren''t you?"


    Sure enough, that frustration stemmed from the bottom of his heart. He also wanted to get away from the rules binding their race. Too much that he might even exchange his soul for it.


    Yet, Mark and Mei were breaking the rules of the world without even knowing. This made Pefile want to punch someone.


    Seeing Pefile''s reaction, Mark called for Spera to fetch a ss of water for him which he dly received.


    Holding the ss, Pefile asked.


    "Does she have anything special about her body or something?"


    He just voiced this question without thinking. Raising the ss of water, he slowly drank on it.


    Mark and Mei looked at each other for a bit. Mark then spoke.


    "Do you know about the [Body of Void]?"


    PFFFT!


    "Cough! Cough!"


    Pefile spit out the water he was drinking and started a coughing fit after he choked.


    It was obvious that he knew what Mark was talking about and was totally shocked by the reply.


    Pefile wanted to question Mark if he was joking.


    However...


    "Ahem..."


    A male grumpy voice was heard first.


    Pefile looked at the table in front of him.


    There, Teremillio and his wives, with the exception of Angis, were drenched with water he spat out.

 Chapter 445 Preparations At The Mountain Base, The Pillars Of The Base

    <strong>Day 86 - 2:14 PM - Eternal Night Subspace, Night Everred Spirit Tree, Mountain Base, Mount Mbito, General Nakar, Quezon</strong>


    After the meeting, Mark had brought Mei and the little girls, the folklore creatures, and Huey out to see the ce. There were others close to Mark also asked him to see, like na, Hallie, and Karlene. Mark had no reason to decline them, and it was better for them to see the space they would need to work on.


    Thus, the whole gang entered the space with a blinding light that they had to close their eyes.


    The moment they opened their eyes, they were amazed by the scene that was nowhere near the appearance of the base they were standing at a second ago.


    Chiyo immediately greeted Mark as he entered, and he introduced the ball of red light to everyone. Sure enough, it was curious about the other people and started to circle around them.


    As Mark did not want to spoil its fun, he waited for a bit before everyone went on their way to see the ce. Of course, it was not like they would be able to see anything as it was nothing but a mountain-wide grasnd covered with blood-colored grass. Mark just let them, though. With how massive this ce was, it was unlikely for them to get very far from the center where they appeared.


    On the other hand, he opened the portal connected to the Spirit Dimension for Pefile and the others to see.


    Sure enough, they were shocked. Hearing about the situation in the Spirit Dimension and seeing it with their own eyes brought a different level of shock and helplessness.


    What they were seeing from the portal was far from what they wanted to see. The whole area around the Spirit Tree was lifeless, and there were also monsters wandering around. Monsters that in no doubt, were races and creatures that inhabited the Spirit Dimension and turned after bing infected.


    This hit the folklore creatures big time. The capsized emotions were even moreplicated to Pefile, Teremillio, and Felenia. They almost lost it. If not for the fact that they knew that they would not be able to jump into the portal without Mark''s permission, they would have done so.


    And of course, Mark would also not let his allies go endanger themselves by jumping into the portal.


    It was not hard to estimate how dangerous infected and mutated creatures with magical abilities werepared to humans that became infected. It was not hard to imagine that it would be easy to encounter something at the level of what the forces of Bay City fought at Philippine General Hospital.


    If they wanted to venture into the Spirit Dimension that had turned into a literal Magical Apocalypse, they needed to prepare. Not only them but also the whole base.


    There was one fact that became the reason for this. In a typical journey, Mark only had to prepare his team. Strengthen them, prepare food, water, weapons, and other necessities. If they wanted to go to the Spirit Dimension, they needed to prepare the whole base simrly.


    It was because...


    The flow of time of the Mortal World and the Spirit Dimension exceedingly differed.


    Being inside any of the two, anyone would feel the same. Only those with high awareness of Space and Time would be able to notice it.


    Inside the Spirit Dimension, Time flowed slower than the Mortal World. Furthermore, the difference was not fixed depending on the stability of the Spirit Dimension, and its connection to Mortal World. At times, an hour inside the Spirit Dimension could already be a day on Earth. Sometimes, it could be faster or slower.


    The only thing that remained constant was that time inside the Spirit Dimension could flow at the same speed as the Mortal World or slower, but never faster.


    If they entered the Spirit World and was gone for a day, several days could have passed on Earth. This was not good considering the current state of Earth and the Oracle the Elder had just given Mark.


    And that was why... Mark immediately hatched a decision.


    ***


    Finishing what they needed to do and showing the current state of the Spirit Dimension to Huey and the others who were also interested, Mark brought them back.


    He told Pefile and the others to wait a few more days and they would jump into the portal. They understood and agreed. Not only Mark, but they also needed to prepare themselves.


    Late afternoon, Mark had to call for Huey, Jolleen, Nicole, Trisha, Ed, and Ron. Hallie was also present, even though she didn''t have to be here. It was the third time for them to be called by Mark today. However, none of them hadints.


    They were the very first people in this base, and basically the people directly under him. Mark also trusted them, considering the loyalty they showed him, and the work they had done. Furthermore, in their hearts, this base was the only ce they had and Mark was the person that took them when they had nowhere to go after being lost in the forest to escape danger.


    More than that, Mark gave Huey and Jolleen a chance. The two weremitted to serving him.


    Nicole and Hallie, on the other hand, owed Mark quite a bit. He promised to check on their families which Mark did when he was in Bay City. Unfortunately, the news he found out was not good. Nevertheless, it was enough that they did not have to keep false hope in mind. In fact, they did not expect much, which made them recover easier.


    When they all arrived and sat on the chairs, Mark put a [Physical Crystal] in front of each of them, except Hallie.


    Seeing this, they were surprised.


    "I believe that all of you know what these are."


    Mark spoke. And of course, they nodded.


    "Take the ones in front of you and consume that tonight. I''ll be expecting to see your abilities tomorrow."


    And of course, they dly epted the crystals.


    Mark gave them the crystals that could improve their already present abilities as Evolvers or bnce their abilities to the roles given to them.


    Huey was not good at fighting. He was more of a strategist and his Evolver Ability, [Hyperesthesia] proved that he was more of a support type and the brain of the team. Of course, this made him a bit vulnerable was his physical abilities were subparpared to the rest of the team.<sub> </sub>


    Thus, Mark decided to give Huey the ability taken from the scout of Dark Greed. This would mutate the springs of Huey''s legs and allow him to be able to jump and fall in unprecedented heights at very fast speeds. It would keep him from danger and would not need direct protection from others.


    Next was Jolleen. Her [Intuition] allowed her to be able to fight without receiving fatal attacks. Her constant training also gave fruition to the current her. Mark had a hard time choosing an ability for her. In the end, he chose something to aid her ability that came from one of the insignificant criminals in Death Valley Settlement. It was the ability to turn her skin into metal.


    Mark had some ns on why he gave Jolleen this ability, and he would tell her after she was able to use the ability proficiently.


    To Nicole, she already had the same ability Mark had decided to Huey although it was quite weaker. The problem was that she was still not able to jump down without feeling scared. Thus, decided Mark to give her one of the abilities Mark had just taken when they arrived. The ability of HawkOwl that Mei shot back when they were retrieving the supplies at the bunker. With this, her fear ofnding from heights would be lessened as she would have the assurance to not fall on a bad angle. It would also allow her to scout with more options for moving around.


    Trisha, the cook, did not really need to fight. However, her ability was the most bnced among the seven. He did not want to waste it and put her in charge to be the all-rounder of the team. Thus, Mark gave her a mutation that made her bones as strong as Odelina''s and allowed her to freely change the shape of the bones of her limbs. Depending on how she used this mutation, she would be able to support which whoever in the team needed her.


    Ed, on the other hand, was given one of thetest addition to Mark''s collection. Alias Macho''s [Muscle Enhancement]. He was already a strength and tank type, to begin with. With his ability, his strength would be multiplied several times. Not only that it would help a lot in battles, but it would also help him as the main person in building structures in the base.


    Lastly, Ron. He had an ability simr to the ve named Tullia who was among the hunting team. This made him the range type of the group. The problem with him was like with Huey. Oncepromised by enemies, he would be vulnerable due to theck of physical enhancement. As such, Mark gave him an agility based ability. It was a minor mutation that enhanced his legs allowing him to run like a jaguar and kick like a horse. It would give him many options to keep a distance from his enemies while shooting them with his weapon.


    Hallie who watched Mark put the crystals in front of the six was happy. The bond of these seven was strong since they all came from one group. Now, she was not the sole Mutator from the group. As the magician type of the group, she was d to get her allies strengthened.


    Of course, these crystals were not all.


    "After picking those crystals, get some of those."


    Mark said as he pointed at a few cases at the side of the room. Each of the cases was a different size and had a name engraved on the topside.


    Carefully, they picked up the crystals and picked up a case that had their name.


    Unexpectedly, Hallie also had one. The case she had was rather long, almost the same height as her. She was not able to resist and immediately opened hers. Mark had not said anything about opening it after all.


    What was inside her case was a staff. Sure enough, her magician role in this team was finalized with this. Still, she was confused though as she could not use magic like Mark or the folklore creatures in the base. What could she do with a staff? Furthermore, it did not seem to be a magical one. Nevertheless, it looked stylish and it had a flower-shaped tip.


    Seeing Hallie confused while examining the staff, Mark shook his head and spoke.


    "Put both your hands at the handle and put your thumb at the button above the handle."


    Hearing that, Hallie held the staff the way Mark instructed. She noticed the rough surface on the handle where her palms were positioned but did not mind it.


    "Then?"


    She asked.


    "Push the button and release fire from your hand."


    Hallie pushed the button and heard clicks under her palms. She looked and saw that while she was holding the button, several holes appeared at the handle under the rough surface.


    Seeing that, the light bulb above her head lit up and she knew what she had to do.


    Hallie gripped the staff hard, pointed it up, and released fire from both her palms.


    Her hands were covered with mes. Then, as the mes on her hands burst forth, stronger, the top end of the staff spewed a spiral me that lit up the whole room.


    "OOOOHHHHH!!!"


    Hallie was amazed.


    That was when Mark spoke.


    "You have problems with the range you can attack with your mes right? I made that so the mes can travel inside the staff and give you a bit more range of attacking. It can also change the shape of the mes to some extent. Just twist the handle until you hear a click."


    Hallie did as said and twisted the handle and a click was heard. Then, another burst of mes was spewed by the staff. This time, the me was concentrated like a blowtorch. She did another twist and tested another. This time, mes burst from the six petals of the flower, spreading mes in a wide area.


    There were only four shapes with thest one spewing all the three shapes at the same time that would make it look like Hallie created a small explosion. However, Mark told her not to try that one inside the room.


    Sure enough, she was delighted. She hugged the staff like her own child.


    Seeing what she got, the others were also eager to see what they received. Unfortunately, Mark told them to check the weaponster and call for the next batch.


    They all thanked Mark and went out. Soon, the next batch entered.


    They were some of the people in the team he decided to bring to the Spirit Dimension with him. There was Karlene, na, Edzel, Pearl, and most importantly, Spera.

 Chapter 446 Preparations At The Mountain Base, A Surprising Piece Of News For Edzel And Spera

    <strong>Day 86 - 6:02 PM - Meeting Room, Cliff House, Mountian Base, Mount Mbito, General Nakar, Quezon</strong>


    After the first batch, the second batch of people Mark called for entered.


    Looking at their faces, they surely were confused as to why they were called here. Also, they were not thest batch, as there were still others waiting outside. It seemed that they tried asking Huey''s group. However, it looked like that the first group did not answer them to keep the surprise factor. As such, they entered while trying to guess the reason.


    The most confused among them, however, was Spera. She felt that she had no reason to be here at all.


    When they entered, Mark signaled them to sit down. Once they all sat down, Mark started to tell them his reason for calling them.


    "I know that all of you are confused. The reason I called all of you here is the current state of the Spirit Dimension. I believe that you all knew about it already."


    They all nodded to Mark''s words. The base was not toorge, and the poption was also small. It was not hard for information to circte around. Even Pearl, who was not present in the meeting earlier, heard the news from Edzel.


    "In several days, a week at most, I will lead a team that will enter the Spirit Dimension."


    "So, are we included in that team? Is that why you called us?"


    na raised her hand and asked.


    To her question, Mark nodded.


    "Of course, it is not final. I called you all to ask your opinion first. If any of you doesn''t want to go, it is fine. I will not force anyone."


    After those words, Edzel raised his hand. Mark allowed him to talk.


    "Boss, why is Pearl called? I don''t mind if it''s me, but she''s still not used to these things."


    na and Karlene also nodded at Edzel''s notion. Pearl had turned over a new leaf and was trying her best to be useful to everyone, especially Edzel. But even so, she was still not suited for dangerous journeys.


    "I know that all of you are eager to know," Mark said with a sigh. "Sorry, but I can''t tell yet. The reason is quite relevant to you, Edzel. But of course, I already said it. I won''t force anything."


    Sure enough, they were disappointed to not hear the real reason. Nevertheless, Edzel fell silent in deep thought after learning that it had something to do with him.


    While Edzel was in silence, Pearl''s voice was heard.


    "I''ll go."


    Everyone could not help but turn to her. After all, her answer was unexpected.


    "Are you sure about your answer?"


    Mark asked.


    "Yeah, you don''t have to force yourself."


    Edzel told her in worry and confusion.


    Pearl looked at Edzel with a sincere smile.


    "Boss already said that the reason is rted to you. It sounds important. I don''t want to ruin it for you." She then turned to Mark. "I don''t know how I can be of use, but I''ll try not to be baggage for everyone."


    Hearing that, Mark nodded with a smile.


    "Good. Don''t worry, you won''t be some useless weight. There is a lot of creatures in the Spirit Dimension that can be invisible or trick the eyes of their enemies. You being around to detect the vibrationsing from them will already be a good help."


    Mark then stood up.


    "Also, here."


    He put crystals in front of na, Pearl, and Edzel. Like Huey''s group, these three also received a [Physical Crystal] each to be a Mutator.


    "Mizuki is one thing, but Pearl and Edzel, you two are still not that proficient in using your abilities. I don''t really want to give you two a crystal too soon. However, we don''t have much time. That is why you two needed to double your practice."


    "Yes."


    "Yes, Boss."


    Pearl and Edzel epted the crystal in front of them and replied.


    na, on the other hand, was also happy to receive hers. She could finally be a Mutator without any risks.


    "Mark, what about Spera?"


    Karlene asked. She did not need a crystal since she was already a Mutator, even though she was not able to control it entirely. It was surprising, however, that Spera did not receive one.


    Spera, of course, had no problems with it. And she did not really expect to get one.


    Mark then replied.


    "I have another n for her. So, she will stay to speak with me aler."


    His reply made them even more curious instead.


    "So, Mizuki, Karlene, you two want to go?"


    The two women looked at each other before turning to Mark with a straight nod.


    "We don''t really have a reason to not join."


    "Don''t try to ditch me on an Isekai experience, will you?"


    Karlene and na replied, respectively. Then, na followed with another question.


    "Can''t Hallie and Analynne with us?"


    To her question, Mark shrugged.


    "Analynn is still new here. I can''t make an exception for her. She''s not directly under me either and is here as friends of you two. Though it doesn''t really matter to me, I don''t want to rift in the base because of envy. I don''t think that anyone will voice it, but it will still bring an unpleasant taste to a lot of people here."


    Hearing that, the two understood. Although Edward, Emi, Terrence, and Phillip were brought here because of their deal with Mark. Analynn was brought here by Karlene''s request. Her status was different, and she was not Mark''s friend, either. It would not be appropriate for her to suddenly receive something while many people were waiting before her.


    It was quite frustrating. However, that was the truth.


    Mark then continued.<sub> </sub>


    "About Hallie, I really want to bring her. But it will also mean bringing Nicole. Like you two, those two are almost inseparable. Hallie and Nicole are also among Huey''s group that is necessary to maintain and protect the base."


    Hearing the reason, Karlene and na nodded.


    Mark then turned to Edzel, who was contemting what could be the reason. He was really worried about Pearl participating in a dangerous mission like this.


    "Edzel," Mark called out, causing Edzel to look at him. "I can''t tell the reason since there are still unclear things. But I can tell you one thing. It had something to do with your mother and father."


    Edzel''s eyes grew wide, and he abruptly stood up. If not for Mark being his superior, he might have approached to grab him.


    "Boss, what do you mean?! I haven''t met my father all my life. My mother died several years ago! What does it have to do with them?"


    Mark stared at him, not giving an answer. Noticing how rude he was, he tried to calm down as he took his seat once more. Pearl started to rub his shoulder and back to help him calm down. Then, something clicked on his mind.


    "Boss, do you know my father?"


    The other people in the room looked at Mark.


    Unexpectedly for them, he nodded.


    "As I said before, I can''t tell the specifics. Your father also forbids me from telling you. What can I say is that your questions will be answered in this mission."


    Sure enough, they were getting more questions instead of answers. However, it was unlikely for Mark to budge and give them the answers.


    "Alright, just pick up your crystals and be sure to use those tonight. I''ll check on your abilities tomorrow. Also, each of you should take one case there. Get the ones engraved with your names."


    Mark said to them.


    After they took the crystals and the cases designated for them, Mark told them that they could leave already. The only person left inside was Spera.


    Mark then took the seat in front of Spera, facing her across the small table.


    "Master, why do you want me to join the next expedition in the Spirit Dimension?"


    Spera asked. She had no reason to refuse as she wanted to be of help. However, she could not understand why someone like her, who did not have any ability, was chosen.


    To her question, Mark ced his closed hand on the table on her side. As he opened his hand, he spoke.


    "Because we will need your talent."


    Mark''s hand left two crystals in front of her.


    One of the crystal was the same as others in color, although the color and the glow of the orb inside was different. On the other hand, her eyes could not help but shake as she sensed the familiar energy from the other crystal with a deep violet color.


    "Is this perchance..."


    "That is right. The ability to open Portals and create tunnels through space."


    Mark said. It confirmed what she was feeling at the moment as she gazed at the crystal.


    Unexpectedly, she took her sight away from the crystal and turned to Mark.


    "Master, isn''t it better if you give it to someone else you can trust more?"


    Mark was not surprised to receive that question. She had already given up having that power once more. Instead, she just wanted to continue her current life here. She felt that once this ability was returned to her, the trust and ce she earned here would be in jeopardy. Rather than having something to be suspicious of, she chose to have none.


    To that attitude of hers, Mark nodded.


    "That is why I''m returning this to you. You have proven your self to be worthy of this power. You already earned your ce here. Many people here like you, even Mei''er treats you like a younger sister. You don''t have to be afraid of losing everything just because of this."


    "But..."


    "No buts," Mark interjected. "As I said, we need your talent. This ability isn''t just something that can be used by everyone without aptitude. Do you know that you''re even better at using this power than its previous owner?"


    Spera started to lose the argument. Now that aptitude was brought into the topic, she would have no reason to reject it anymore. That was also when Mark dropped the bomb.


    "I need you to be able to use this ability again. Because once we enter the Spirit Dimension, there will be a chance that the members of Auraboros will appear to destroy everything. You don''t want to get this ce destroyed, do you?"


    Spera froze.


    "The awakening of the Chiyo should have alerted them and they could be searching for this ce already. When they appear, we need to be able to return immediately. Or else, you know what will happen."


    "I... No, we will lose this ce, right Master?"


    Spera''s voice was quite shaky with the thought that she had in mind. She was a member of that organization before. Thus, she knew the extent of their powers to some degree. If they really did appear and Mark was not in this base, once the higher-ranked members of the organization arrived, everyone here could die.


    In fact, Mark was the only person she saw that was able to contend with a lower deity like Gar''m. Furthermore, there were several individuals that were on par with the me Demon in the organization. There were also others that were stronger.


    It was a piece of bad news to hear for her, who finally found what she had been looking for since she was born.


    Slowly, her hand moved. She grabbed the two crystals on the table.


    As the chosen inheritor of the [Space Portal], the crystal immediately reacted to her touch. It turned into dust that was absorbed by her body.


    Of course, she started to feel dizzy. After this ability was taken away from her, she reverted to a normal person. Now that she regained it, her body would undergo some readjusting to be able to use it once more.


    As she was about to fall, Mark gently caught her. She was already ring with a high fever.


    "So, I take this a yes, right?"


    Mark asked Spera who started to lose consciousness.


    Spera nodded with great conviction. Finally, she passed out.


    Mark carried her out of the meeting room and brought her to her bedroom. He then told Odelina to look after her.


    After that, Mark called for other people. His friends like Ron, Nikky, and Arvie, Edward''s group, except Analynn and Terrence, and a few more people that were essential to the base like the old farmer couple.


    They were all called by Mark, given a crystal, and was given a weapon or equipment suitable for them.


    That night, Mark had to take over as the lookout and spent the night together with Mei at the balcony. At the same time, Mark monitored the whole base for those that were undergoing mutations inside their dwellings.


    And of course, this was not the end of the preparations. Mark still had some ideas in mind that he needed to implement starting tomorrow.

 Chapter 447 Preparations At The Mountain Base, The [Blood Children] And The Many Layers Of Defense

    <strong>Day 87 - 10:29 AM - Mountain Base, Mount Mbito, General Nakar, Quezon</strong>


    The next morning, the base had entered a new phase. Those people called by Mark yesterday were now being seen checking out their new abilities outside the walls. After all, they were also excited to try out the powers they had received.


    As for those that did not receive a crystal from Mark, they could not help but feel a bit of envy. However, the old couple that did their best at managing the fields were among those Mark had called. This just showed that giving enough effort to be recognized in the base would lead them to the oue they wanted.


    Of course, unlike Huey and the others close and directly under Mark, the older couple and a few people that came first in this base were just regr people. And thus, they were only given an empty crystal for them to be Evolvers. Still, it was already something others would want to have. No one would not want to receive even the slightest powerup they could get, after all. Everyone wanted one way or another, to survive and protect themselves in this harsh world that became even more dangerous.


    In fact, a few days after arriving in the base, Mark tasked Edward to start a training session for thebatants. Being in the army before, he was capable of leading such sessions. Nevertheless, not only thebatants were joining and watching the sessions. The majority of people, even the ves, were carefully learning fighting techniques, self-defense moves, and the strategies he learned when he was still in duty.


    That was the extent of how the people here did not want to go back to their previous lives. There was no need to tell them, and they were finding ways to get stronger by themselves.


    With this reasoning, the people in the base would surely work harder for Mark to recognize their efforts.


    ***


    Outside the base, Edward could be seen watching over the others as they tried out their new abilities. Since they needed to get used to their powers, the usual routine they had for this day was canceled. Nevertheless, they did not want to waste their time. As such, their current training used the trees at the south of the base as targets. It was because those trees were nned to be cleared out in the future.


    It was hitting two birds with one stone.


    Of course, Hallie was an exception. If she did the same using her abilities, it was not hard to start a forest fire. She was currently on the side, getting used to her staff.


    The others were also using trying out their abilities with the weapons and equipment they received.


    Huey was practicing with a needleuncher pistol in a strange shape. Being a support type, he could only attack within range. The strange shape of the pistol, however, was not because of the muzzle, but the ammunition. It had two needlepartments that would allow him to change ammo without needing to remove the magazine.


    Jolleen was given another wakizashi. The new one looked cooler, however. It also had some movable parts that could make its de either longer or wider.


    Trisha was given some sort of gunde being the all-rounder. Furthermore, it used the same ammunition as Huey''s pistol.


    Nicole, on the other hand, was given a crossbow that could retract or contract its body. It was made to be useful in both short-range and long-rangebat.


    Ed was given a pair of gauntlets and a transformable kite shield. The shield could be folded for easier movements and had a pile bunker to affix it on the ground when needed. Furthermore, the pile bunker could also be used to attack after flipping a lock and make therge nail fly towards the enemy.


    As for Ron, he had a quiterger crossbow that was specialized in long-rangebat. Its bolts were alsorger and came with different heads that could fit any asion.


    To the other side, Karlene and na were also practicing with the pretty envious Analynn watching them.


    The weapons Mark gave the two were improved versions of the weapons he gave them originally.


    na had some sort of Pressure Gauntlets that uses heavy springs to further enhance her already absurd punching power. The needleuncher around the brace of the gauntlets was also improved. Not only that it could shoot farther and faster, but another kind of needle was added to the ammunition it could fire.


    It was called Tracker Needles as the needle was made with [Glowing Blood Metal]. The needle was shaped strangely, in order not to sink on the body of the target. This needle was very useful in the dark as it would glow brightly indicating where the enemy was.


    Karlene''s Retracting Knife also had improvements. Now, not only that the de could be retracted, it could even be shot towards the enemy when needed. Then, it could be pulled back, with a string of [Blood Metal] attached to the handle and the de.


    Pearl and Edzel were practicing on their own. Edzel was teaching Pearl the basics of what he learned from Mark, Karlene, Edward, and na.


    What Pearl received from Mark was different from others and she did not have it right now. Her''s was a robe made of leather brought back by Pefile. Mark had a hard time processing it as the leather was as tough as metal despite not being as hard. And ording to Pefile, it had magical properties. However, he was not disclosing what kind of property it had.


    As for Edzel, the weapon he received was a set of sword and shield. This way, he could attack and defend depending on the need. Furthermore, both the sword and the shield hadpartments that could shoot projectiles to enemies.


    Mark watched them all from the top of the wall. Some of them were already capable of using their abilities to sufficiently. It was despite just bing Mutators. Among them, na came at the top. In a sense, she was a genius too in many aspects.


    Right now, she transformed herself, looking like a red lioness. It was quite a different look from what Mark remembered though. Sure enough, the presence of her Blood Demon genes in her body caused the ability to mutate even further.


    "Ah..."


    na''s voice was heard in a disappointed tone as she released her transformation. Of course, it was not because of her transformation.


    "Mark!" She called with a wave. "My nails are turning into ws when I transform! Can you fix the gauntlet so it will not block my ws?"


    Mark scratched his head. He did not expect this. In fact, the Mutation she had now looked very different from the previous owner. This ability came from the leader of the ouws that chased na and Karlene''s group when Mark saw them for the first time. For her ws to be hindered by the gauntlets, her ws surely wererger.<sub> </sub>


    He had no problems modifying the gauntlets and nodded. He should make this into gauntlets that could adjust its size a bit.


    Their training continued until beforeunch. Still, their enthusiasm had yet to go down. They would probably go on it till sunset.


    As for Mark, he went on other things after lunch.


    The first one was...


    To mutate some of the [Blood Children].


    There were still a number of those that retained their normal body structures among the [Blood Children]. Mark actually wanted them to Mutate naturally like Crimson, Ivy, Scia, , and Ruby. However, the situation called for the opposite.


    Thus, he ended up picking five crystals that could be of use to him if the [Blood Children] were to use it. Of course, he would not be biased let the [Blood Children] if they want the crystal or not. Unexpectedly, children''s brawl and tantrums for the crystals did not happen.


    Mark could sense them actually talking with each other through their connections on who would want the crystals. It was quite unexpected for Mark. Nevertheless, it made him smile. Compared to a lot of people on Earth, these kids were more sensible.


    In the end, five [Blood Children] stepped forward to each of the crystals.


    The first was Methyl, one of the three [Blood Children] that was handed to him by Professor Suzuki. She chose the crystal with acidic ability. The one that came from the criminal in Death Valley known for eating the flesh of little girls.


    The second was Currant who was among the first [Blood Children] Mark found. He chose one of the new abilities Mark had. The one that came from the strategist of the raiders that Harold brought to steal the stuff at the bunker. It allowed that guy to release electricity from his hands along with being able to move fast.


    Third among the [Blood Children] was Merlot. He chose the crystal that allowed a person to turn his skin into copper. This one came from the criminals fighting the berserk whale back then.


    As for the fourth crystal, that also came from those criminals, Candy jumped for it. She was among the [Blood Children] he picked up from Annica before. The ability she chose was a rare one that Mark only encountered once. It was a maic ability. Unfortunately, the criminal that had this ability before was too dumb to use it and was just shooting bullets at the whale before he was killed.


    Lastly, the Mutation to release high temperatures simr to Hallie''s ability as an Evolver. Compared to hers, however, it was much stronger and could reach to a degree that could melt metal. This ability was received by Vermillion who was also among the three that Mark got from Professor Suzuki.


    Mark wanted all of them to Mutate. However, most of the crystals he had would either have the same kind of abilities or something that did not seem to be useful to the [Blood Children]. The best example were the abilties that would mutate people to have animal parts or fur. What would the [Blood Children] turn into once they absorb those? A peice of metal puffball? Because of that, he could only wait for new abilities that he would encounter in the future and mutate the [Blood Children] if they wanted to.


    The five absorbed the crystals into their bodies and immediately fell into a deep sleep. Their bodies were slowly growing to a change. Furthermore, the first ones that Mutated first before being enhanced further by Mark''s blood, they were theplete opposite. Furthermore, their characteristics as Blood Demons were already awakened. By the looks of it, their mutation would take longer than the previous ones.


    There was no problem with that though. The other [Blood Children] presented themselves to guard over the five.


    Thus, Mark moved to the second part.


    It was to create hidden weapons to be nted around the base.


    One thing that would give the Auraboros their advantage during their attacks was because they thoroughly investigate and observe their enemies before they attack.


    However, what if there were weapons hidden around the base that was to be used specifically when they attacked? These weapons would surely catch them off guard. After all, they would have no data about it if they had no chance to see the weapons being used.


    The only people that would be allowed to know about this were Huey''s team. This way, even if the chance that the enemies used brainwashing or hypnotism to gather information, they would only know if they used it of their team. And to step it even further, the information and location about the hidden weapons would be separated among their team without any of them knowing.


    As such, the weapons Huey knew would be different from Jolleen knew. It was the same for the five. And they were forbidden to talk about the weapons to anyone, to avoid it from leaking.


    The only way for the Auraboros to know all the details was to hypnotize all of Huey''s team.


    And that would be hard to do.


    Especially since Chiyo would be watching over the whole base. It was impossible for the Spirit Tree to not detect something wrong with the people living under it.


    Mark was not going to let his and his people''s hard work fall into the enemies'' hands. He would try to fix every hole.


    The enemy could enter the ce, with the consequence of not being able to go back outside.


    And along with all those preparations, Mark finalized his team. He proceeded to make weapons and armor for them. He also taught the newly Mutated [Blood Children] on how to turn themselves into armor and weapons if needed.


    The days passed by with Mark busying himself too much that the others were being worried about him. Because of that, however, he managed to ready his team and his base for their departure.


    A weekter, after all the busy days that Mark had been through, they were finally stepping into the Spirit Dimension.

 Chapter 448 Entering The Spirit Dimension, An Immediate Battle Upon Entry

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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


    There were also other reasons. For example, Odelina. Putting her two children into thoughts, Mark decided to let her stay at the base. As for his male friends, they had their wives and children here, they could also help with the construction and expansion. Thus, he could not pick among them who could go.


    And thus, he decided on this line-up.


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


    ***


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


    Unfortunately, it was surely not a hundred percent safe.


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


    Then, the chance finally came.


    "Everyone ready?"


    Mark asked.


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


    As he burned the animal, Mark almost cursed.


    SSCCRREEEEEEEEE!!!


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


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


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


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


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


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


    With Aephelia''smand, Gifre charged to stop the rolling blob of flesh.<sub> </sub>


    Mei took out the new sniper crossbow Mark made for her and aimed at the animals. As for the little girls, they stayed beside their Mama to support and guard her and the others.


    "Amihan! Teremillio! Pefile! Guide everyone else which one to fight! Avoid fighting those with high magical concentration upfront and deal with them from far away!"


    Markmanded, which they immediately followed.


    The infected animals and insects were fine to fight. However, those with a high magical concentration in their bodies could be considered as walking bombs. No one knew what they could do in order to attack. The best way to face them was to be cautious.


    With Mark''s order in effect, the iing enemies were properly dealt with.


    ? "Master! Gifre is having a hard time!"


    Aephelia called out in a hurry.


    Everyone then saw Gifre struggling.


    Not because the infected that looked like a blob of flesh was physically strong. The reason was after Gifre tried to grab the infected, its hands sunk into its body as if it was trying to devour him. The body of the infected was solid by looks but it seemed to be actually semi-liquid.


    Mei and Karlene shot the blob to no avail. Even their poisoned ammunition was not working.


    Hearing Aephelia''s call, Mark immediately charged to help. ck mes covered the de of Ignis as Mark shed the blob open.


    There was no resistance at all and it felt like Mark tried to cut water. Furthermore, the ck mes on the de that could not be put out easily were actually extinguished. Fortunately, it seemed that the sh also had an effect as the part Mark shed remained deformed.


    "Make Gifre retreat!"


    Mark shouted which Aephelia immediatelyplied with.


    Gifre pulled its arm out of the blob''s body. Because of the strong and thick scales of Gifre, he was basically unharmed. However, if one was to look closely, the surface of his scales looked scratched and melted a bit.


    There was no doubt that the body of this thing was not just normally corrosive but magically.


    As Gifre retreated, the blob''s target changed to the closest person. And that was Mark. It rolled towards Mark, although a bit slower since he was on the higher part of the slope.


    In response to its charge, Mark tried to find its head. However, he could not find it as the infected was rolled into a massive blob of liquid flesh. Without a choice, Mark created a ball of miasma on his hand and threw it at the enemy.


    The ball of miasma exploded and covered the whole body of the infected.


    Being covered by ck smoke, the infected blob started to shrink. Sure enough, the magical energy thatposed most of its body started to get drained.


    Finally, among the miasma, Mark managed to pinpoint where was its head. With a sh of the ck me covered de of Ignis, the infected enemy lost its life. As he dispersed the miasma, everyone was finally able to see its true body.


    "It''s a Berberoka isn''t it?"


    Mark voiced in which Pefile affirmed.


    The beheaded creature, although mutated, had the same appearance and body structure to the illustrations Mark saw before. Normally, a Berberoka''s body looked either a tall and fat mudman or had an entire body made of water. And this one mutated to have flesh which was unnerving. Its stench was bad too.


    With the fall of the Berberoka, thest of the infected in the near vicinity was dealt with.


    It was bad for the heart of almost everyone. The moment they arrived, theynded with a nauseous feeling. Before they could even recover properly, a number of disgusting infected were already charging towards them.


    Now that there was no danger anymore, everyone could finally take a breather and look at the environment. Sure enough, Pefile, Teremillio, and Felenia did not feel well while looking at the surroundings.


    Not only the three, but the others also felt unsettled.


    After all, the appearance of the ce was no different from thendscape of the base. It was just the whole ce was dead with only the Spirit Tree remaining alive.


    If the base fell, would it also be like this? That was what entered their minds. And sure enough, it was not an impossible thing to happen.


    "But if everything here is like this, how is Chiyo able to survive?"


    Karlene asked while patting therge tree.


    To her question, Mark said the answer that came to his head. He also asked himself about that question before and the answer he came up was that Chiyo''s needs were being filled on the Mortal World where the Spitirt Tree was nted.


    "So, where are we going next?"


    Mark turned to Pefile, Teremillio, and Felenia and asked while he tried to see if the could take the ability of the Berberoka into a crystal.


    The three looked at each other and nodded.


    "Let''s try the mountains in the north first," Pefile said. "The nearest kingdom of Sylphs should be there.


    Hearing about the kingdom of sylphs,the eyes of both Amihan and Mya lit up. After all, it would be the first time they might be able to see the kingdom of sylphs.


    Hopefully, it should be able to stand, right?


    And thus, traversing the barren and arid mountains, the headed towards the north.

 Chapter 449 Up The Arid Mountains, A Way To Power Up Our Little Friends

    <strong>Day 93 - ??:?? ?? - Arid Mountains, Spirit Dimension</strong>


    The soil, the trees, the grass, and even the small rivers around the area described how the ce was not suitable for habitation.


    At each step, the surface of the soil would turn into a clump of fine dust. In the slightest touch, the leaves and stems of the dried grass and nts would snap and fall to the ground. A push enough to make a regr human make a step back was enough to uproot arge tree and break its trunk.


    From a close observation, they all concluded a reason for this to happen. It was very likely that the nutrients and water in the area were somehow drained out. The most concrete evidence that proved that were the rivers that did not have a single drop of water left. All that remained were the river bed, dried up mud, and all the dried up rocks in the vicinity of the river.


    It made them look at the sun, thinking that the heating from the sun caused it. However, the heat of the sunlight could barely be felt as the temperature around them was rather cold.


    The temperature was even getting colder as they went up the mountain.


    While traveling, it was not hard to get the attention of the now infected creatures in the area. It was because with the trees and nts did not have many leaves left at all, there was barely anything they could hide into. Furthermore, the steps Char and Gifre made, although not too loud, would topple dried trees from time to time, causing more noise than necessary. After all, there were no pathways for giants up the mountain or even for humans. They would demolish everything blocking their path, whether they wanted it or not.


    Luckily, while there were nowhere to hide from the enemies, it was the same for them. Iing attackers were easy to spot and were dealt with before they could do any harm.


    The most annoying things, though, were the magical infected.


    Small infected Sylphs were hard to hit from a distance and were too agile. After two to three missed shots from their crossbow, one could already be flying on their faces trying to bite a nip of their flesh off. Although it was hard to say if the bites from their small mouths could really infect others, Mark''s team would not dare try it even once.


    There were also a few infected Duende''s running around the dried grass and bushes. It would have been hard to find them if the area still the same lush forested mountain. However, now that almost everything was dyed with a brown or gray color, their differently colored clothes stood out.


    The Duendes and Sylphs were not the mostmon, but there were surely a lot of them lurking around. Some animals, insects, and birds looked simr to their Mortal World counterparts. The differences though varied. Like swallows with gold-colored wings and tails, four-horneddybugs, or wild saber-toothed cats.


    Mark''s team was being attacked from time to time, causing them to deal with the situation as soon as possible. It would be easier of Char could just breathe fire over the enemies. However, a single spark of mes touching a single tree in this driednd could cause a massive forest fire. Everything was dried and could easily catch and spread the fire.


    As for Mark, he was fine. As long as within a radius, he could extinguish the ck mes he caused as it was partly made of miasma. He could not use the normal mes he got from Ignis, though.


    Even though the Spirit Dimension was mostly depicted simrly to a paradise, it was not always the case. Even without the Demons and Evil Spirits that constantly fought with the Elementals and Good Spirits, their world had its fair share of dangers.


    Most ces of their world was an untouchednd. The main reason being the poption of the Spirit Races was notparable to humans. In exchange for their long lives, the chance of a husband and wife of a race to have children was too small. The time they spent in before bing an adult and being able to procreate was also too long.


    Even a thousand or more years passed, these races would not be able to upy the whole Spirit Dimension, which was the same size as Earth.


    And because of that, animals and insects, especially the dangerous ones, managed to thrive. And now, most of them seemed to have turned into infected.


    Mark could still see a few birds flying at the sky, which looked normal. Unfortunately, all of them were being chased by their infected families and friends.


    As for the encounters with these infected races, Mark realized he could not absorb the ability of a race in one go, and at times, get nothing at all. The best example was the Infected Sylphs. Even though Mark and the team already killed quite a number since they arrived, Mark was not able to store their ability to control the wind. It was the same for the Berberoka and the Duende.


    What Mark found out, however, was that he could use the [Psycrystal] to absorb the magical energy of the infected races they encountered after killing them. And thus, he mostly ended up with four-millimeter bead sized crystals with different colors depending on what race it was taken from.


    From the Sylphs, it was green, brown for the beads that came from Duendes. As for the Berberoka, he got nothing but an oddly sized [Mental Crystal]. I was more than half smaller than a regr marble but a bit bigger than the colored crystals.


    "These crystals look cute, doesn'' it?"


    Mark said as he showed the twenty-five bead-sized crystals of assorted colors on his palm to Mei and the little girls.


    "Yes, these looked cute and pretty."


    Mei replied while the little girls also looked.


    "Gege, what can you do with these?"


    Mei asked. She knew about the [Physical Crystals] and [Mental Crystals]. These bead-sized crystals were, surely, different from the two.


    And Mark''s answer to that...


    "I don''t know."


    He shrugged and looked at I.


    Knowing what his eyes meant, I shook her head too. After all, even though she had memories of Keeper, even Keeper never encountered something like this.


    That was when an idea popped into his mind.


    "Aephelia, I, Mya. Come here for a bit."


    Mark called for the two and a half sylphs who were hanging around on Char''s head. Mya was quite confused as to why she was called. As for both Amihan and Aephelia, they immediately flew over without asking. Because of that, Mya could only follow.


    The three arrived, hovering in front of Mark.


    "You three, try absorbing these."


    Mark said as he handed each of them a green bead crystal.


    The three carefully grabbed the crystals in confusion. Aside from Aephelia, the two did not understand what Mark meant by absorbing. When Amihan and Mya touched the crystals, however, they shivered.


    "This..."


    Amihan made another look at Mark and finally grabbed the crystal off his hand. Sure enough, she finally understood what Mark meant by absorbing.


    "This is pure magical energy our race had, isn''t it?"


    Mya asked Amihan as she picked up hers. Her expression surely depicted excitement.


    Amihan and Myanded in front of Mark and rxed their bodies. The two closed their eyes. Their wings released a bit of a greenish glow. The crystals on their hands burst into glowing dust, that was absorbed by their bodies. Their bodies were coated with a green glow. The glowsted a few seconds before vanishing.


    When they opened their eyes, the two looked refreshed andfortable.


    "That felt good."<sub> </sub>


    Amihan said.


    "Me too." Mya agreed and asked. "Do you always receive treats like this? No wonder you became strong. I''m feeling a bit jealous."


    "I don''t. This is the first time! Just being around master makes me strong!"


    Amihan replied with confidence, which made Mya feel even more jealous.


    Seeing what happened, Mark nodded as his assumption was right on point. These bead-sized crystals were made of the magical essence of the dead races. And thus, it could be used to strengthen those that absorb it that belonged to the same race.


    Then, they looked at Aephelia. She was still holding unto the crystal.


    "Not working, Aephelia?"


    Mark asked her.


    Aephelia dejectedly shook her head in reply. She then returned the green crystal back to Mark''s hand. It was understandable as only her body was of sylph and not her soul. There were some sayings that Magical Psychic Abilities dwell in the soul and while the Energy that was needed to use it dwells in the body. It might probably be true.


    Seeing her dejected, Amihan and Mya felt bad for her. Mya always stuck around Aephelia most of the time when she arrived at the base. At some of those instances, she would drag Amihan with her. They saw how Aephelia was training her psychic powers secretly so that she could be more of use to Mark. After all, she already used up all her slots to control the infected with Gifre and Logan alone, with only a bit of space left. She wanted to improve more so that she could control more infected.


    Although she was improving by staying around Mark and absorbing the leaking energy from the Psycrystal, it was slow for her as her ability was already strong in the first ce. Being able to control a dozen normal infected or a few strong mutated infected was enough to annihte a small military base.


    Of course, it was not enough for her.


    At another try, Mark changed the green crystal to another one. It was clear and a bitrger. As Mark handed the crystal to her, her eyes lit up.


    Grabbing the crystal, Aephelia flew and sat unto Mark''s shoulder. There, she closed her eyes and tried to absorb the crystal. Different from Amihan and Mya, the crystal started to glow a bit instead of her wings or body. Furthermore, it took longer for her, about four minutes. That was when the crystal burst into ss glitters that were absorbed in her body.


    Opening, her eyes, the first thing she said was...


    "Master, thank you."


    She smiled.


    "How is it?"


    Mark asked.


    "It is not much, but I can probably control another two or three regr infected."


    "That''s good."


    Mark patted her head. Just like how Freed did when he praised her back in Eriellis.


    This made Aephelia a bit teary-eyed. But the loyal maid held it in with pride.


    Mark, on the other hand, was quite excited. He might not have that much advantage of absorbing the essences from the infected folklore creatures. However, he found a way to increase the power of those that followed him. That enough was a great thing.


    A few minutester, Mei who was surveying the area tapped on Mark''s shoulder. They were already at the altitude that allowed them to see the foot of the mountain to the south where the Agos River should be.


    "Gege look."


    She said with urgency.


    Mark looked at the foot of the mountain and frowned.


    There, he could see the transition of the dried barrennd unto a fertile lush forest, just before the wide river. There were not able to see it before as even though the trees were already dried and many had fallen because of the wind, they were still deep within the forest filled with thousands of years old trees.


    Mark and Mei also kept flying to a minimum to protect everyone below from unexpected attacks.


    Seeing the scene oat the foot of the mountain, Mark realized that not all of the Spirit Dimension was turned into something like a mountain desert.


    And by the looks of it...


    They were actually heading towards the center of this barren ce.


    With those in mind, they continued halfway up the mountain. There was no need to climb up to the peak as they only needed to reach the other side.


    And there... They witnessed...


    "Pefile, that is not the kingdom, right?"


    Mark asked Pefile with a frown.


    And thetter''s reply...


    "Unfortunately, it is..."


    Pefile was also in dismay.


    From what they heard from Pefile, it was a forest kingdom filled withrge trees inhabited by Sylphs. A beautiful paradise filled with greeneries and flowers centered on their Wind Drizzle Spirit Tree.


    But that was not what they were currently looking at.


    What they were seeing was a colony of pulsating flesh draped over a dried forest like a nket. It was all centered on a majestically shaped giant tree that was all dried up.


    Of course, there were still remnants of its previous inhabitants. Like buzzing flies, Sylphs were everywhere. Of course, they were literally behaving like flies as theynd on the pulsating flesh from time to time, taking a bite, before flying again.

 Chapter 450 The Cause Of The Barren Mountains, Revealing A Secret Of The Husband And The First Wife

    <strong>Day ?? - ??:?? ?? - Arid Mountains, Spirit Dimension</strong>


    About eleven kilometers north of where the Night Everred Spirit Tree grew, the nearest kingdom of the wind spirits, Syplhs, was located. It should have been a beautifulnd maintained by the nature-loving creatures that inhabited it. It was an almost imaginary ce, filled with peals ofughter from the lively Sylphs and their usual yful antics.


    Of course, none of those characteristics remained its current repulsive visage.


    A continuously pulsating mass of flesh covered the already dried up kingdom. The only things that kept the trees upright were the tentacles of that enormous expanse of flesh that spiraled around the trunks extending to the ground. Like its main body, the spiraled fleshy appendages continued to pulsate in a manner that made it look like it was sucking something from the earth.


    Without needing to think or observe, it was evident that the Kingdom of Sylphs faced its destruction.


    This scene of their kind wandering and buzzing about as mindless infected broke Amihan and Mya''s hearts. In the Mortal World, although there were quite a number of them, it was remarkably hard to meet another of their race. It was even more particr to Amihan and Mya, who were both born in the Mortal World.


    They thought that they would meet more of their kind this time, only to face total disappointment.


    "Pefile," Mark called out as he patted Amihan''s head, who sat on his shoulder. "Do you know how many is the poption of Sylphs there?"


    Mark and his team were currently observing the scene from their initial position after seeing the remains of the Sylph Kingdom. There was no need to move any closer as they could see the situation on the next mountain. It was not hard to see the more than two-hundred meter wide carpet of pulsating flesh from their position.


    Furthermore, trying to go closer could spell disaster once the infected Sylphs roaming their former kingdom spotted them. Just imagine humans trying to approach a killer bee nest of that size and getting chased by an unclear number of six-inch killer bees. Not to mention that all of them would be hurling wind magic at him.


    That was suicide. There was no doubt about it. Mark could protect himself in that circumstance, but it would be hard to keep everyone in check. Using miasma would also risk causing mutations if used frequently as it could contaminate the dimension filled with magical energy in the air.


    Use [Photokinesis] to hide? That was even worse. More than sounds, the infected folklore creatures, and even animals in this dimension were highly sensitive to magical fluctuations. To cover his whole team with [Optical Camouge], Mark would need to use an enormous amount of energy from the crystal and cause a disturbance that was enough to alert the infected in a mile or two radius.


    That was why Mark asked Pefile that question. He needed some information to decide on what to do first.


    Pefile looked at Mark and shook his head.


    "I can''t answer that, even if I want to. We are different from humans that monitor numbers and poptions of other races or groups. It is enough for us to know how many individuals we had in our group and did not care much about others. That is the work of the ones in the rule, like the king, tribe leader, and their trusted men."


    "So, you don''t know?"


    "Yeah, I don''t. Sorry."


    Pefile shrugged his shoulders. He wanted to be of help as he was also disappointed in the scene before him. However, the question was beyond his knowledge to answer.


    Then, Mark turned to Teremillio and Felenia, who looked pale as they thought about something.


    "How about you two, do you know?"


    Everyone looked at Mark as they could notprehend as to why he would ask the two.


    "Boss, why would you ask Husband and Big Sister Felenia?" The second wife, Dathlia, asked. "Pefile did not know, why would they?"


    The other wives, except for Felenia, also had the same notion. They could not understand the reason why.


    That was when Mark dropped a bomb that even Teremillio and Felenia went agape.


    "Don''t look at me like that." Mark shrugged. "Pefile said that only those in the ruling would know this information. I just thought that they would know since they are both royals."


    All the wives of Teremillio were shocked. None of them knew where Mark could have gotten such information. When they looked at the two in question, however, they started to have doubts. Both Teremillio and Felenia both looked like a couple caught in the act of adultery. Of course, it was not like it applied to them.


    "H-how did you..."


    That was what all Teremillio could voice. Both him and Felenia did not know what reaction or reply they should give out. Teremillio might have a flowery mouth, but outside of being dandy and romantic, he was not much of a con man and a liar. It was more so for Felenia, who was also as pure as a child in many things.


    And thus, the two were not able to deny it.


    "Well, it''s not hard to realize if you know the stereotypes. Not only me but some of us, like Mei''er and Mizuki, also noticed how you two behaved differently from the others. You two are more refined, formal, and you two have an aura of superiority over others."


    The more Mark said, the more both Teremillio and Felenia shrunk. Then Mark said the main reason.


    "You two don''t know, but I have someone who can hear everything happening at the base when necessary. You two talking secretly about royal stuff and calling your parents king and queen did not help."


    The other wives of Teremillio looked at the two in realization. They did not suspect anything at all. So, that was the reason why both of them looked very worried when Mark told them what was happening in this dimension. Although they were not angry, they felt dejected. The two should have told them about it.


    "Go on with the dramater." Mark interrupted the mood. "Answer me first since we need to move and find a ce to rest and eat if possible. Also, I don''t want to spend a night in an unsecured ce. We also need to find one if we can''t get to the next destination in time."


    Teremillio sighed and nodded.


    "I don''t know how long it passed in here, so it might not be urate anymore. Thest time, both I and Felenia are here... There should be about two-thousand Sylphs in that Kingdom."


    "That many, huh." Mark contemted. "We better not mess with that ho nest right now."


    Everyone nodded. What Teremillio said might be too long ago. The number of infected Sylphs could already be higher, even if there were survivors that managed to escape.<sub> </sub>


    Mark wanted to deal with this thing as soon as possible though. By what the environment appeared to look like, that carpet of pulsating flesh was the cause of all this dried up mess.


    "So, the next one should be the Kingdom of Duendes, right?"


    Mark asked Pefile while ncing at Teremillio and Felenia.


    "That''s right." Pefile agreed. "Two mountains to the east from here, If I remember correctly."


    Sure enough, it was quite a distance away. Just hearing about it made everyone feel tired. It might be a short distance if it was tnd. However, going up and down mountains made it not only farther but harder to go to. Going around the mountain was not usible either as they would end up needing to climb more mountains.


    They did not know now whether they should be d about the whole ce being dried up or not. Even though it was a bad thing, it did help them traverse the way easier.


    As for the Kindom they were going to, next, it was Felenia who gave a stronger reaction. Looking at that, it seemed like Felenia and Teremillio belonged to two different Kingdoms. Still, everyone around them was reasonable and did not push the two about their story. Everyone had circumstances, after all.


    Thus, they continued on their tiring journey. Sure enough, there was a lot of interception along the way. They even encountered the infected Manananggal, who was crawling using its wings, thatMark had seen before.


    A Mananangal was a demonic entity that looked like a human. Well, until night came. When the sun had set, a Mananangal would go in a secluded area to transform. It would separate its torso from its waist down to its feet. The separated torso would grow wings at the same time and its separated upper body would fly away to hunt prey.


    Their favorite diet was the fetus of a pregnant mother and they were very attracted to their smell. They would fly unto the roof of a house inhabited by a pregnant woman. Using its straw-like long tongue, it would suck the fetus out of the mother''s genitals while she was sleeping through a hole in the roof or ceiling.


    The Manananggal''s weakness was the sun and its lower half that was left hidden. Pouring salt on the exposed organs of the lower half would prevent the Manananggal from returning to its human form, and once the sun had risen, they would turn to dust.


    And sure enough, this Manananggal that Mark and his team encountered had Mutated in a way that addressed its weakness. That was a really bad thing as it meant that even demons, that was afraid of the sun, could traverse the surface even during the day.


    The Manananggal they encountered was killed quickly, as it did not have its greatest advantage, which was flight. Nevertheless, the possibility of others retaining flight was there too. The thought was quite unnerving.


    As for the harvest, Mark actually got a ck colored crystal from the Manananggal. The odd thing was that it was marble-sized.


    While Mark was pondering about the ck crystal on his hand, Mei spoke.


    "Gege, aren''t Manananggals previously humans? Maybe, that determines the size of the crystals?"


    She said although she was quite unsure of it herself.


    Nevertheless, what she said was usible.


    It also conforms with the size of the [Spirit Crystal] that he got from killing the headless priest before. That evil spirit was also previously human and the crystal was the same size as the [Physical Crystals] and [Mental Crystals]. And as for the races that were never human, to begin with, what he got were smaller crystals of varying sizes.


    "I think, you''re right about it." Mark agreed. "But we better make sure of it."


    Mei nodded in agreement.


    On the way up the other mountain, Amihan received several more crystals from Mark. It made her very happy. However, she did not absorb all as she gave a few to Mya who was enviously watching her. Mya had no ill intentions about her envy. It was quite natural as anyone wanted to get stronger these days.


    Nevertheless, she did not want to be ill-mannered and wrestle for something that was not hers. Mark was Amihan''s master and it was all-natural for her to receive something from him. Still, Amihan gave Mya some which she was really thankful for.


    "You know, if you really want to be like Amihan, you can be my subordinate, like her."


    Mark remarked in a whisper.


    And of course, Mya was very tempted. The treatment Amihan was receiving from him was something to be envious about. Nevertheless, she shook her head. She had a husband, which she shared with her sisters. She would consult them first and think, than blindly epting the tempting offer.


    "Gege is being sly again."


    Mei whispered to Mark which he could only shrug in reply.


    The journey over the two mountains surely took too much time. Not only that they had to deal with strange infected animals, but the terrain was also steep and hard to climb at some parts. Even with Char and Gifre''srge bodies, there were some parts of the mountain that they could not traverse.


    By the time they reached a reasonable height on the second mountain, the sunset was already near.


    Mark could not help but take out his watch and phone to check the time.


    Unfortunately, as thews of this world were different, both the time on the phone and watch were frozen to the time that they entered this dimension. Mark could only store the gadgets back into his bag and face the other side of the mountain.


    There, they saw it.


    Unlike the Kingdom of Sylphs which looked like a forest paradise, the Kingdom of Duendes was different.


    It was a huge stone fortress embedded in the face of the rocky part of the next mountain.


    The stone fortress was outside the driednd. This made them all d. The best thing, however, was despite their current distance, they could see activities of gigantic creatures around the fortress.


    Without a doubt, there were survivors.

 Chapter 472 The Gift Spera Received, The Night After They Met A Former God

    <strong>Day ¨ƒ¨ƒ - ¨ƒ¨ƒ:¨ƒ¨ƒ ¨ƒ¨ƒ - Fortress Walls, Stone Fortress, Eastern Mountain, Spirit Dimension</strong>


    Everyone opened their eyes, trying to adjust to the sudden change in their surroundings. Like how they left, it was also how they returned. With a sh of blinding light, they left the cave and appeared atop the walls of the Stone Fortress.


    When the light vanished, however, darkness embraced them. Of course, it was not some idiom or analogy, but in the literal sense. Looking at the sky, it was already night time. Probably, it was already midnight. Due to the difference in lux, it was no wonder why they felt blinded.


    The group felt odd. They were all sure that it was still morning when the battle with the giant happened. They had just woken up and did not even have breakfast yet. It was good that the tea that was served to them seemed to have effects that filled their stomach for some reason.


    They left in the morning and returned in the evening when they spent barely two hours in that ce. It was not hard to guess that the ce they went to had its time moving even slower than the Spirit Dimension.


    The group''s return caused amotion. It was impossible for them to return stealthily because of that sh of light, especially in the middle of the night. Not to mention that more than half of the races that were currently living around the Stone Fortress were nocturnals.


    Soldiers immediately ran towards their direction to see what was that sh of light. And when the soldiers saw Mark''s group, it was like a hero''s return. Everyone was delighted to see them and had the look of reverence in their faces. It was very ufortable.


    Mark urged Felenia to lead the way so that they could enter the fortress immediately. He did not want to stay any longer with this kind of reception.


    Luckily, no one stopped them on the way. Instead, the races and the soldiers parted to the side, letting them pass without any hindrance.


    However, it was very noisy. The Duendes that were guarding the walls had all turned to human size, securing the safety of the night. Seeing Mark, who defeated the giant that killed many of them, they started hitting the ground with the base of their spears as they cheered.


    The way they chant and hit the ground was uniform as if they were trained to do so. It was a rather beautiful sight. It was quite annoying, though.


    As they entered the gates into the fortress, they thought that it was over.


    As they stepped inside, however, Diwata Danaya was there. Along with the king and queen of the Stone fortress and the representatives of the races.


    Mark could feel that they wanted to throw a celebration for some reason.


    And of course...


    "Pass..."


    He murmured.


    Everyone could see the annoyance in his face now. And thus, Felenia decided to step up to quell the situation.


    Since it was clear that the time they were gone here was longer than they thought, the Princess of the Stone Fortress took that to her advantage.


    "Father, Mother... Diwata Danaya, can we rest first. Look at the time, we are all tired."


    Felenia said with made everyone feel awkward. It was because the group truly looked tired. Of course, it was not because they were spent or something, but they were still digesting most of the things they heard earlier. And for the most part, the fatigue on their faces came from the unexpected reception.


    Luckily, because of that, they decided to retreat. Although they were curious about the two additions in their group and the missing Sylph.


    Unfortunately, it seemed that they were not going to stop but would just postpone the celebration. Mark and the others still had no escape.


    They returned to their guestroom and gathered in the lobby, except for Felenia. She was called by her mother and father to tell what happened. Since Bath graced everyone his presence that was not felt for more than a millennium already, it was impossible for them to settle down just like that.


    "Is it fine to let Filenia go? She won''t tell everything, right?"


    Aephelia, who stood behind Mark''s seat asked. Since she was already back to being human, she could not do what she did before. To sit down on Mark''s shoulder like Amihan, right now. Nevertheless, she liked this ce. It was the same ce she always had when she was still serving Freed back then.


    To Aephelia''s question, everyone was also worried. Not everything that Bath mentioned to them was safe to disclose. It was especially for Mark and Mei''s circumstances that would surely invite unnecessary trouble.


    "Don''t worry. Felenia is a smart woman. She knows what to tell and what is not."


    Teremillio bragged.


    "Yeah, she is a smart person. But I still doubt why she fell for you."


    Amihan rebuked. Of course, her rtionship with the Prince of ck Duendes was still as bad as before.


    "Still, I can''t believe it that we met a God."


    na said while she massaged Karlene''s head who was lying on herp.


    Karlene was still weak and her head was still aching. Everyone told her to rest in her room already, but she wanted to join everyone. Especially since she could not leave Ka alone who stuck to Mark like a leech.


    Actually, now, there was not only Ka. Mara, who sat beside the currently silent Spera, was smiling bitterly. Her sister was currently sitting on the floor in front of Mark as she took his free hand to put on her head.


    Mark was quite troubled already, but what could he do? It was not like they were doing any harm. However, to say, it was a huge improvement that Jte could already feel jealous.


    Still, Mark wished that she felt jealous about something else and not to Ka.


    Fortunately, Mei and the three girls knew that they should not bother him and add themselves on top of the two. Mark already had two handfuls to deal with.


    Everyone started to express their emotions and opinions about the unique encounter they had. They also exchanged ideas about the gifts they received. And the best topic of the discussion was about Aephelia who they saw from the vision that Bath showed everyone.


    There was one, however, that was keeping silent. Mark looked at Spera.


    Among everyone, she was the only one who received something that was not Physical. Currently, she was moving a small ball of light above her palms. Furthermore, Bath did not give any concrete exnation about it either. But to say, Spera seemed to be contented about it. The reason being like Amihan, she could feel some connection to the thing they received.


    "What do you think that is?"


    Mara could not help but ask as she was seating beside Spera.


    As a reply, Spera shook her head.


    Everyone was also curious about that ball of light. No one had seen something like that before. The only thing that they could tell that it seemed to have life and was an entity made entirely of energy different from what everyone here had.


    The only exception in this curiosity was Mark. If he was right, he already encountered something like that before. And to say, Bath knew his stuff. What Spera needed was not any item or essory.


    "Spera, catch."


    Mark said as he tossed something towards her.<sub> </sub>


    It was very unexpected and it made her flustered as she caught what he threw to her.


    When she looked at it, it was crystal simr to the ones Mark gave her before. She already received three of these, one when he returned her ability, the other was to turn her into an Evolver.


    Still, this one looked rather different.


    "What is-"


    She was about to ask Mark about the crystal when the ball of light in front of her rushed unto the crystal and swallowed it.


    "AHHH!"


    Spera was surprised for two reasons. One, because the ball of light reacted in an unexpected way. And two, she knew that a single crystal was too precious. Especially after their encounter with Bath, she knew that even Gods would salivate for these.


    But now... A ratherrge crystal... Was gone...


    Spera was troubled she did not know what to do as she thought that she had to rece it.


    "I..."


    She was about to apologize to Mark when she saw Mark''s had a yful look on his face.


    "What? Say it."


    Mark urged, almostughing.


    "Gege, don''t bully her."


    Mei reprimanded.


    Everyone then realized that he must have expected that to happen. He was just teasing her afterward.


    Of course, everyone here knew why he was teasing her. She was too bad at hiding her emotions. Right now, she looked like a child whose ice cream fell onto the floor, along with tears on the corner of her eyes.


    "Do you know anything about it?"


    Pefile asked as he looked at the ball of light in curiosity.


    Even Spera had the look of askance, although she was about to cry just now.


    "A juvenile soul, a spirit."


    Mark replied. Of course, this just made everyone even more confused.


    "Still don''t get it?" Mark asked which Spera nodded. "That is what you need right now, instead of power-up items. You have a very loose grasp to lifepared to everyone here. Do you know why?"


    That question made Spera realize.


    "Because I''m alone?"


    She said. Although Mark and Mei did not treat her any different from a rtive to the point of teasing her and making herugh,it still felt different.


    Mark had Mei and the little girls. na and Karlene were friends since childhood and was nothing less than sisters. They two also had rtives in the Mortal World. Teremillio had his wives. Pefile also had his, although not here. Edzel and Pearl were together. Aephelia and Amihan had Mark as the master they were devoted to.


    As for her, she was different. Her rtionship to everyone as also shallow since she had not spent too long with them. She found her current life enjoyable, but it was still iplete.


    "With that, you might have something more to grasp onto. That is a young soul bound to you. You should cherish it like a family. Probably in the future, find a body for it."


    "Ah..."


    Everyone had the same reaction.


    The thing that Spera was given was an unborn soul. A soul without a body.


    "Say..." Karlene interjected. "Can''t Bath just give her someone already grown or something like Ka? She can even give Aephelia a body. Why give a soul without a body to Spera?"


    "Bessie, because it''s different." na was the one who answered. "Bath already said, he was weakened. Creating a body and granting it agrown soul could already be hard for him. It might even cause the Observer to find him since it is not a natural birth or scientific birth."


    Then, na looked at the ball of light in front of Spera.


    "As for that soul, Ka and Aephelia are different, I think. They already exist, though Ka was rooted from yours. And since it was a new soul, Spera will need to raise it and bond with it like a family. That is what matters the most."


    "Hoh... To think that you can exin it to that extent."


    Mark said. If his hands were not upied, he might have pped just to tease.


    "Of course!" na replied. "I read a lot of light novels before. There are a lot of things in resemnce."


    Mark shrug his head and looked back at Spera.


    She was staring at the ball of light with a new spark in her eyes. It was a very good sign.


    As for the crystal Mark gave her, it was actually the only crystal unique to his collection.


    After all, this was not the first time he saw a ball of light like that. When he defeated the headless priest, he caught one and got that crystal in return. That made him think that it would help Spera''s gift a lot.


    The night got deeper and Felenia returned. As they expected, she knew that she needed to hide a lot of things. She also brought back several things. These were the things Mark asked her to find before, the records about the Blood Demons that their kingdom had.


    Of course, he could not read it.


    Thus, having new goals for tomorrow, they decided to sleep.

 Chapter 473 The Celebration, A Whole Day Of Headache

    D<strong>ay ¨ƒ¨ƒ - ¨ƒ¨ƒ:¨ƒ¨ƒ AM - Stone Fortress, Eastern Dimension</strong>


    The next morning, the celebration of the racesmenced.


    And of course, with Mark at the center of it all. It was despite all his rejection, Diwata Danaya begged him to do so. Even if it was just for a short time, he had to sit on the throne and meet some people.


    With the Diwata''s persistence and Karlene and na''s urging, he agreed for one condition. If he could not stand it anymore, he would leave at any point in time in the celebration.


    Even though Danaya was not satisfied with it, she epted his condition. In the least, he would be present for the asion for some time. Still, the Diwata could not fathom why Mark hated to participate. From what she knew, humans were fond of celebrations.


    Thus, with his agreement, the preparation started.


    Early in the morning, he had to prepare himself together with Mei, who would step out with him on the podium. She did not find being the center of a celebration a good thing too. However, she became more epting of it because of how her parents raised her, being the center of business parties and such. Furthermore, Mark was with her this time.


    Mark and Mei wore the clothes prepared for them. It was quite amusing how they were able to provide such clothes, a day after the battle. Furthermore, it was a perfect fit. Nevertheless, considering that what they encountered yesterday was already absurd beyond belief, this was way more eptable.


    The clothes were a set of Royal Tribal Attire made of something that was like silk, but as tough as leather.


    Mark had a garb embroidered with intricate patterns.


    The top was a pair of buttonless long sleeves and an inner shirt. Compared to the inner shirt, the patterns and designs on the outerwear looked moreplicated. And even though it did not look like leather or petroleum, it had the same shine. The pair of pants was the same.


    Fortunately, they were considerate enough to not make the clothes as colorful as possible. They should have based the color from what Mark always wore. A set of ck clothes, and reddish ck armor. It was because of the whole attire, despite having a lot of designs and patterns, it only had different hues of ck and gray, with a streamline of red.


    The pattern of the clothes and the atmosphere Mark had around him made him look fierce and cannot be opposed.


    As for Mei, she had ck patterned innerwear and a poncho-like outer garment of red color. It was paired with an ankle long red skirt with golden patterns. Aside from the clothes, there was also a box of essories.


    Aside from Mark and Mei, everyone had clothing of their own. Of course, except from the three little girls that the Mark and Mei called daughters, the others had a less extravagant attire.


    It was not biased, but Mark was the center of the show, he and his family had to stand out. That was what Felenia exined to them.


    Males and females had to separate the ces they should wear their clothes. Well, they separated while dragging Ka, who followed Mark instead of the girls.


    When everyone wore their clothes, for some reason, Mei was still not out. And it seemed that the girls had some presentation for Mark.


    Sure enough, when Mei came out of the room, everyone''s skipped a beat. Even Danaya, who was present in the lobby, had to question whether she was the Diwata or Mei was.


    Even Teremillio had to be held back by his wives. If they let him go, he would get killed for sure.


    Mei slowly approached Mark, who was staring at her. She did not even pay attention to anyone.


    "Gege, how do I look?"


    She asked with a blush.


    "Uhm, you look beautiful."


    Mark said as he looked away.


    That gesture did not escape everyone''s eyes. They were surprised.


    "Hoho, what do I see there..."


    na teased.


    Unfortunately for them, the time to tease got cut short. Mark closed his eyes and inhaled deeply. Then, his expression return to the usual. It made Mei rather disappointed, but Mark was better looking with a dignified face than an embarrassed one.They were not used to it at all.


    An aide of King Hieroman also came knocking on the door to tell Danaya if everyone was ready.


    Thus, the celebration finally started.


    And Mark almost backed out from the first activity.


    To start the celebration, he had to present himself to every citizen that was currently residing in the territory of the Stone Fortress. All the races, big or small, young or old, were gathered at the main courtyard of the fortress. And for everyone to see him, he had to step on the highest podium of the fortress.


    And there, a speech would start the asion.


    Fortunately, Mark did not have to say anything. He and Mei, who was apanying him, just needed to step out after receiving the cue. It was Diwata Danaya and the King of the Stone Fortress, Hieromano, who would give the speech.


    And the reason for that was thenguage barrier. Mark was very thankful that he could not speak theirnguage in this regard.


    Diwata Danaya and the Rey Hieromano came out first together with other few people. Aside from the Queen, and the two Princes that Mark and the others saw for the first time, the others were the king''s personal guards. All of them right now was in human size for the sake of convenience. Of course, not every Duende was capable of this. In fact, Felenia, who was the princess, could not.


    The speech of the two was quite long. Long enough that Mark yawned and felt sleepy. As Felenia and the others were present, they tranted parts of the speech for Mark and those that could not understand it in their group.


    Diwata Danaya and the King talked about the current situation of the Spirit World. The harsh truth about their low rate of survival considering the threat that they encountered yesterday. That was why they all needed to join forces together and thwart any obstacle that they face.


    Diwata Danaya and the representatives of the races wanted to raise the morale of everyone. That was why they pushed this celebration to happen. It was even though their current supplies would take a good hit, it would be easier to make everyone move if the celebration was a sess.


    After all, surviving the catastrophe yesterday was surely something to celebrate. Even if not all of them died, too few might have remained. Furthermore, they would be left with nothing while wandering the infected world. Fortunately, someone stopped the disaster.


    Finally, Mark and Mei were called. Cheers immediately erupted. Many saw the battle, bothbatant or not. They all knew that they would not have any chance of survival at that time. And yet, to face the giant that even Diwata Danaya had no way of winning against, Mark appeared with a ck trail of smoke.


    At first, they thought that he was a human, yet, the truth that he was a Blood Demon soon spread. Many did not know what race that was and thought that they like other Demon Races. And those who knew spread the truth.<sub> </sub>


    The race that maintained the bnce between the Surface and the Underworld had returned. And the debut of their return was to kill a giant that could destroy theirst home.


    With Mark and Mei present for everyone to see, Diwata Danaya continued to speak. It was about thanking him for his help at that time.


    And shortly after, the trantion for Mark and the others stopped. Felenia and the others that were tranting had awkward looks on their faces.


    When pressed about it, it became more awkward.


    Furthermore, the citizens below were shouting the same words over and over.


    Being stared daggers by Mark, Felenia gave up.


    Apparently, Mark was being called as Bath''s Envoy.


    Mark could not help but cringe.


    It seemed that those that were at the walls at that time spread what they had witnessed. After all, it was Bath who sent Mark to deal with the Giant. Furthermore, his whole group was taken by Bath, soon after the battle. It further solidified the rumor.


    "Hah..."


    Mark sighed.


    Just the first activity, Mark was all drained.


    After that, the rituals started. Mostly to thank Bath who appeared yesterday in the time of crisis. Especially when he had not appeared for several thousand years already.


    It seemed that the races celebrate things differently. While the Sylphs and the Duendes seemed to be more modern in their celebrations, with just a ritual for thanking gods and stuff, the other races were still exercising tribal rituals andpetitions.


    There was a fighting challenge where the participants were mostly Sarangays and Tikbngs, who wanted to showoff.


    Another was a contest where the contestants would have to kill magical animals, and the one that killed the strongest animal would win. This time, however, was different. The contestants would find an infected wandering in the Forest of Illusions and kill them. Of course, the Tikbngs managing the forest were ordered to release their magic on the infected that were chosen by the contestants for a fair fight while the Tikbngs also ensured their safety.


    There were also performances that the Dryads led with the Sylphs. The two Races that lived side-by-side gave good dances that were well epted by the audience, especially males. The Dryads were all beautiful, and seductive looking, despite the tree-like patches on their skin. The beauty of these Tree Nymphs was only next to the Encantadas and Diwatas.


    The Trade Area was also special this time. Since most of the people were in high spirits, the items in the Trade Area were better than the other day. Unfortunately, Mark and the others were being held by the representatives hoping that he wouldst till the most important part.


    And thus, lunchtime came. It came with the part everyone was hoping for.


    In the main hall of the Fortress, the highest people of the races gathered. Not only the representatives of the races but also the Chieftains of the smaller tribes under them.


    And the headache came.


    Everyone wanted to form a tie to Mark in one way or another. After all, the prowess he showed, together with his possible connection to Bath, a rtionship to him or his group, was something to invest at. Not to mention that he and his family were the only known people of the Blood Demon Race. There were more reasons to want to get closer to them than not.


    However, these races were not living in modern human times. And thus, the easiest, and known approach for these Chieftains...


    Was to gift their daughters away.


    Rtionship ties with most of these races were solid, there were only very few races and individuals that valued familial ties, tike Amayana, or the Tamawos that Pefile belonged to. Stronger ties were also present in the Royal families of Duendes, Sylphs, and Encatados. But to the ones that had a lower ce in the society, it was rathermon to trade their offsprings if needed by the tribe.


    And there was the dilemma.


    Forming ties with these non-human races were not bad. But to gift him their daughters was too much. Mark would prefer items or males to add to his workforce.


    And if anyone expected that the daughters were forced...


    NO!


    What was with their happy faces?!


    It was obvious that some of them were even aiming at bing a concubine.


    Of course, despite their suggestive actions, Mark did not even bat an eyelid. And surely, Mark had no n on epting them.


    Mei was enough for him. He did not want any others.


    Furthermore, he totally showed that he only reacted to Mei during the lunch gathering. This made many girls disappointed.


    But then...


    "Master." Aephelia seemed to have an idea. "ept those with no intention to snatch you from the Mistress."


    Mark was confused.


    "Why?"


    "I already have a body now. It should be fine if I ept trainees. Just Me and Miss Odelina is not enough for your current status."


    And thus, the selection started. Mark did not hide his intentions and many were disappointed. However, it seemed that they still had found some earnest candidates.


    The gathering inside the fortresssted till evening.


    But in thetter half, Mark and Mei were already gone leaving Diwata Danaya and the others to entertain everyone.

 Chapter 474 The Compensation, Into The Dungeons Of The Stone Fortress

    <strong>Day ¨ƒ¨ƒ - ¨ƒ¨ƒ:¨ƒ¨ƒ ¨ƒ¨ƒ - Stone Fortress, Eastern Mountain, Spirit Dimension</strong>


    The celebration was remarkably sessful.


    With most of the races being nocturnal, the celebration outside the fortress had yet to end. It was even though it was already past midnight. They did not party like how humans did. Most of then just gathered around, listening to stories told by the chiefs of their tribes. Sometimes, others would step up in the limelight to boast about their achievements. Although most of them were boisterous, it just made things livelier.


    The smell of roasted animals zed with their tribe''s mix of spices spread everywhere. Some tribes even brought out the liquor exclusive to their tribes.


    And to see those happy expressions that they had not seen for a while, Diwata Danaya was satisfied.


    Everyone had been living on the edge these past days. And the appearance of that Giant could have pushed many to their limits. If that condition continued, the unity in this ce would fall soon, even if the Giant was defeated.


    Danaya could not let that happen. Fortunately, the leaders of the races had the same thought. The threat outside was already overwhelming. If a problem rose from inside, it would be much worse as everyone had nowhere to go.


    Fortunately, the sudden interference of Bath made this celebration possible. His appearance back then made everyone feel that at a pinch, someone might step out to save them. Although the possibility was very low, it would give everyone the hope they desperately needed.


    While Diwata Danaya hovered above the fortress as she watched everyone, two figures appeared before her.


    It was Mark and Mei, who were taking a midnight stroll. Because of the ongoing celebration, the Trade Area was still open. Thus, Mark and Mei decided to look around if there would be something that would catch their eye.


    Mark and Mei had changed into a more discreet type of clothingpared to what they wore in the celebration. They even more masks. This way, most of the races that attended the speech this morning would not recognize them.


    And sure enough, Mark had found some good things, especially materials for crafting and some magical weapons. Furthermore, since he traded with the small crystals with the attribute that the owner of the item could absorb, he got more than what he needed. Many traders there were honest ones, and Mark was d to trade with them. As for the ones that wanted to take advantage after seeing what he used for trading, he did not bat an eyelid to their call.


    "Good evening." Danaya greeted the two. "Are the two of you going back already?"


    "We are."


    Mark replied.


    "Then, before you get back, I would like to thank you once more for being the center of the celebration."


    Danaya said.


    "Well, I can tell you that I will not do it again."


    Mark frankly replied. He did not even hesitate to say that and made Danaya smile bitterly.


    "I also wish that I would not happen again. Because if it did, it just meant that we met another disaster that we would not be able to handle while your group is staying here."


    Danaya sighed. She did not want to give them any more trouble, mainly because they did not belong to this ce at all. They were just guests that were checking on the state of the Stone fortress because of Felenia. Furthermore, after their unfinished business here, they would leave. It was not new to her that they had two more destinations.


    "Have you prepared thepensation?" Mark asked. "Because I want to receive that as soon as possible. The most that we can stay here should be another day or two."


    "That fast?"


    Danaya asked.


    "Don''t forget. We came from the Mortal World. The more time we spend there, even more time passed there. By the few days that we stayed here, we don''t even know how many days or weeks we already spent there."


    Hearing that, Danaya could only agree. Both worlds were approaching the end of times. It was better if everyone could spend their time in the ces they wanted to be.


    "Then please, wait till tomorrow afternoon."


    Danaya said with a bit of disappointment.


    "What is with that expression?"


    Mark asked as it was clear that the disappointment was not with his group leaving but something else he could not read.


    "Actually, it was better if you could tell us what you wanted. We are having an absolutely hard time trying to think of what would satisfy you. As for the Brigands, we have some Tikbng ves, but we doubt that they would be able to fetch the same value. There was also the reward for dealing with the situation in the Kingdom of Sylphs. You wanted the Giant''s body, but with what happened, that deal was a total void."


    Danayained earnestly. They would not be able to give him a satisfying reward if he did not tell want he wanted. Furthermore, with the gifts he received in the gathering this afternoon, it became harder for the representatives to think of what he would need.


    Because of her earnest request, Mark decided topromise a bit.


    ***<sub> </sub>


    Day ¨ƒ¨ƒ - ¨ƒ¨ƒ:¨ƒ¨ƒ ¨ƒ¨ƒ - Dungeons, Stone Fortress, Eastern Mountain, Spirit Dimension


    Afternoon, the next day, Mark, Mei, and Aephelia were being led by Danaya and the General of the Stone Fortress, Merio. They were going into the dungeons of the fortress.


    The number of Tikbngs that they could trade for the Brigand did not match up. Furthermore, they were obviously weaker. Diwata Danaya and the representatives could not just capture innocent ones either was it was against their code.


    Thus, Mark decided to release that restriction. Any race should be applicable as long as there were a few Tikbngs with them. And of course, the only ones that could be given to him were the ones imprisoned for different crimes in the dungeon.


    Still, Mark was worried about how he would be able to restrain them. After all, unlike the Tikbngs, the other races did not have that three golden hairs on their heads.


    And because of that question, Danaya smiled.


    Apparently, they have three ways to address that. Or else, no prison would be able to hold these races because of their superhuman abilities.


    First was the most unreliable of the three methods. It was a Magical Restraining Shackle that would limit their magical and physical prowess. The shackle could be worn on either the arm or the ankle, depending on the race. However, as it limited their strength, it was not suitable to make them do manualbor. Furthermore, the daring ones might slip and cut off the limb that had the shackle. After all, only one could be attached to a person.


    Attaching one to each limb would render them useless.


    The second was engraving a crest on their bodies. This magical crest was connected to the master of the ve. If they disobeyed the master''s orders, it would inflict massive pain on their bodies. This was the suggested method by Diwata Danaya.


    It was because even though the third option was the best kind, it was the hardest to achieve either.


    Among these three methods they use on the prisoners, Mark had never heard of the first two. ording to Danaya, the spirits in the Mortal World hid these things as they could be exploited by people. It was because the two methods could also work on people, although the second one was severely weakened. It was because the crest was reacting to the magical energy in the body of the ve. Humans that did not have magic could barely feel it.


    As for the third method, Mark had heard it before in some legends. It was to learn the True Name of the ve. Once a person knew the True Name of the Spirit, Elemental, or Demon, there was no way for the ve to disobey the master.


    ording to Danaya, everyone had a True Name, not only Spirit Races but also humans, animals, and insects. It was the name that originated from their souls. However, the inhabitants of the Mortal World had no way of knowing these names. They did not even know their own True Name.


    To the citizens of the Spirit Dimension, however, it was a normal thing since birth. Since when they were born, they already had their True Names in their minds. They absolutely cherished it as it meant their lifetime freedom.


    Last night, Mark asked the Spirits and Elementals in this group. And they all replied positively. They knew their True Names. Amihan even imed that she would tell Mark hers if he wanted.


    Of course, Mark declined. Amihan was a preciousrade and was not a puppet. Knowing the True Name of an individual, a person could treat them as a doll or puppet to be manipted. It was fine if it was an enemy or an untrustable individual. However, it was a no go for the likes of Amihan and the others.


    Right now, they entered the dungeons to show Mark the Tikabngs they had. Furthermore, he could also choose among the other races being imprisoned here. And apparently, what made Mark quite interested, was the fact that they had some Demonic Races being held in the dungeons.


    Thee Demonic Races were being held deeper in the dungeons and that was why Mark did not encounter them when he trashed the Brigands. Of course, he could feel them. Compared to the Spirits and Elementals, they had quite a disturbing emotional energies.


    Some were not that intelligent at all. They were just filled with rage and violence.


    First were the Tikbngs.


    Inside therge cell, there were eight Tikbngs. All of them had a Magical Shackle on their right arm. They were imprisoned here because of their crimes. Of course, their crimes were not as heavy as the Brigands. That was why Mark was fine with them even though all of them did not even reach half of the strength of the weakest among the Brigands.


    Six of them were guilty of theft. Apparently, they tried to steal some things in the Trade Area and were caught. To humans, that might not be a big deal, and some would reach an agreement before it reached imprisonment. Here, however, theft as a crime that was punishable by Banishment.


    They would not be able to return to their tribe, and they would be forbidden to enter the ce where theymitted the crime. This was mostly the cause of the appearance of wanderers in the Spirit World. However, it was not a heavy punishment considering that they would be able to stay alive.


    But...


    If they were Banished right now, they would surely die. That was why even though the cell was cramped, they chose to stay in prison than being banished. Furthermore, although not that filling, the food was free either.


    These brats were being freeloaders.


    That was theint Danaya said about this group, considering that four of them were juvenile Tikbngs. They resorted to theft because their families died because of the outbreak and they had no ability or courage to go out of the Forest of Illusions to hunt for food.


    Still, seeing them being behaved, Mark nodded. Among them, only one had a heavier crime and that was the oldest. Apparently, a member of another tribe tried to capture his Anggitay daughter for indecent purposes. Thus, he killed them without hesitation. However, as it happened here in the fortress, he was subjected to thew.


    Actually, both parties would be punished in this. But with the whole opposing party being all dead, he was the only one imprisoned here while the daughter in question was currently under Danaya''s protection.


    Mark was quite satisfied with this group of Tikabngs. Of course, their strength was far from enough. But for him, it was not an issue. He could just cultivate them to be even stronger than those Brigands.


    Nevertheless, these eight were still not enough in terms of value. That was why after checking them out and being introduced as their master, Mark''s group went to check the other cells.

 Chapter 454 The Arrival Of Danaya, Questioning Marks Identity

    Day ¨ƒ¨ƒ - ¨ƒ¨ƒ:¨ƒ¨ƒ ¨ƒ¨ƒ - Eastern Mountains


    Above the forest at the north of the Eastern Mountain Territory, a young woman wearing a white dress and a crown made of flowers could be seen flying.Her long wavy hair fluttered with the wind as she flew, holding on to her wand.


    She was Danaya, a young Diwata and the current overseer of the mountains in his area. The races around her jurisdiction woulde to her for advice and resolve conflicts between themselves. She served as the merciful judge and the ruthless punisher. The innocents would receive justice while the guilty received banishment from thend.


    Danaya was not only powerful but was always fair. The races that she looked after liked her, and her existence gave them peace.


    Unfortunately, that peace was gone. Right now, Danaya served as thest lifeline for many. Despite the danger, she would regrly roam hernd to search for those that survived and bring them to safety.


    This time, however, she was returning to the Eastern Mountain with a sad expression. She did not find any survivor this time. And probably, she would not find any in the future.


    While flying, several infected birds found Danaya.


    These beautiful and lovely colored birds became flesh-eating monsters. That thought made Danaya even sadder. With a deep sigh, she waved her staff.


    The infected birds froze in the air before their bodies plummeted to the ground, with their heads squashed by a strong force.


    Danaya did not watch the fall and just left. There was no point in staying. She just wanted to return to thest fortress in her jurisdiction.


    The Diwata entered the forest nketed by illusion without any problem. She exited the woods soon, and she was weed by everyone that was currently living in this ce.


    This ce could be said as thest line of defense in these mountains. Still, it was good to see that everyone was coping with the situation.


    Danaya took her time walking towards the Stone Fortress in the distance. She wanted to see if everyone was doing fine and was looking at every house that she saw.


    That was when she reached a certain distance from the Stone Fortress.


    Her heart pounded as she felt some presence that she could not recognize. Furthermore, these individuals she felt had a demonic presence. This caused her to worry.


    However, she was rational. Seeing that everything seemed to be fine, and she could not detect any feeling of danger, she decided to confirm things first before making any movement.


    Danaya entered the gates of the fortress with the soldiers greeting her. That was when she saw three gigantic creatures waiting in the courtyard. What made her frown at first was that she could tell what they were. One was a demonic dragon, while two were Infecta. However, the crease on her brows disappeared. She noticed that the dragon was sleeping without worry, while the two Infecta were not moving at all.


    It was very strange.


    She remembered that there should be a meeting happening right now.


    Thus, she decided to go there to ask about what was happening.


    When she arrived at the meeting room, everyone kneeled before her and greeted her. The kings were not an exception. Well, except a single person, that is.


    ***


    "We greet the Diwata of the Eastern Territories."


    The folklore creatures inside the room, including Pefile, kneeled on one knee and greeted the beautiful woman that entered the room.


    It left Mark to stand alone in the room. This caused some of the representatives to feel a bit annoyed. However, they knew that humans in this era did not follow these kinds of customs anymore. While annoyed, they could not reprimand him either.


    Mark then felt the scrutinizing stare of the Diwata that entered. It was not a questioning stare, but something that was trying to pry into his soul instead.


    Seeing Danaya staring at Mark, the King of Duendes decided to introduce him.


    "Diwata Danaya, this man is called Mark. He here is a guest from the World of Mortals that came to exchange information with us."


    "Information?"


    Danaya turned to Hieromano and asked.


    "Yes, Diwata Danaya. Just now, we learned from him what is the current state of the World of Mortals. It seemed that they had the same circumstances as ours and probably worse."


    "Is this true?"


    Danaya turned to Mark and asked with a serious face.


    "As he said, I''m here to exchange information, I have no reason to lie. It''s not like they could not tell a lie from the truth."


    Mark replied with a shrug.


    This caused more animosity to be directed at him, and Pefile was even hitting Mark''s knee with his elbow.


    Danaya felt a bit relieved as she realized that Mark was not lying.


    Still, she wanted to be sure.


    "Since you didn''t have the reason to lie, then tell me. Are you human, a demon, or something else?"


    Her question made the heart of the representatives pound hard. They thought that Mark was human. However, it seemed that he was not. Furthermore, a demon? They actually let a demon into their final sanctuary?


    They felt conflicted. However, they were in the presence of Danaya. None of them dare start amotion.


    With a bit of a yful attitude, Mark replied.


    "Can I pick all the choices?"


    This caused everyone to be confused instead of feeling offended further.


    "Why all?"


    The Diwata questioned once more.


    "Well..." Mark scratched his head. "I was a human before I became something that no one can tell what I am, and then, I awakened my dormant demon blood recently?"


    His answer caused everyone, even the Diwata, to look at him strangely.


    "Are you trying to feed us nonsense?"


    That was when Pefile decided to speak.


    "Please pardon me, Diwata Danaya, for speaking. However, what he said is true. Although I was not there every time, I witnessed how he awakened his demon blood."


    "I see, a half-demon then," Danaya said. "Then, what about the others?"


    Hearing that, Mark sighed. Of course, it would not be easy. He could say that he awakened his blood, and Mei, the little girls, and na were his family members. However, he could not justify things about Char. Trying to cover it up would only lead to more suspicions.


    Thus, there was only one way.<sub> </sub>


    Mark sighed.


    "I''m not a half-demon, I''m a pure-blooded one they said."


    As his words ended, two pairs of bat wings sprouted from his back, his eyes turned red, two blood-red horns grew on his forehead, andstly, his fans grew longer. His transformation was apanied by the glow of his veins and pressure that made everyone here shiver.


    Seeing the transformation, Danaya stared at Mark wide-eyed. It was the same for the representatives here that already lived for hundreds of years.


    "A... Blood Demon..."


    Danaya could not believe it. The supposedly extinct race resurfaced once more, and a pure-blooded appeared before her eyes.


    "Does this answer your question?"


    Mark said with a bit of annoyance. He was really not used to having horns or fangs. His head felt heavy because of these features.


    "I see, so the other individuals here are the ones you turned into your kind."


    Danaya said.


    "They are my family. You don''t have to worry about me forcing them. One of them even awakened on her own the same way I did."


    Mark shrugged.


    "I see..."


    Danaya nodded. It seemed that she was relieved now. Diwatas were fair and neutral individuals for the majority of their race. They did not care what kind of creature an individual was as long as they did notmit any sin before them.


    Furthermore, Blood Demons were known to be a neutral race. Unless necessary, they would not start a conflict.


    "Onest question," Danaya spoke once more. "You are not here to avenge your race, are you?"


    That question made the representatives wary. Because of what happened to the Blood Demons during that war, it would not be surprising if the remaining survivors hated both the Spirit Races and Demonic Races.


    To that question, Mark titled his head.


    "Why should I? That did have anything to do with me. I''ll repeat once more, I''m just here to exchange information. Is it that hard to understand?"


    Mark''s annoyance was already obvious. Pefile was already hitting Mark with his elbow and whispering for him to calm down.


    Those questions were enough for Danaya, it seemed. She walked to the highest chair in the meeting room and sat down.


    "Then, I apologize if my inquiries offended you in any way." She said. "I just have to put the wellbeing of everyone here in priority."


    Danaya was a reasonable individual. Even though she had the authority to question anyone here, she still apologized.


    ? Mark epted the apology, and the meeting continued. Of course, the representatives of the races were wary towards Mark even more. Before, they just viewed him as a human that had Spirits as friends. Now that they knew that he was a demon, the racial prejudice they had towards demons could not help but go out a bit.


    It could not be helped after all. The Spirit Races and the Demon Races were enemies. There were very few that were an exception.


    ***


    The meeting continued, and they started to discuss the thing that upied the Kingdom of Sylphs.


    Unfortunately, even with Danaya''s attendance, they could not think of an effective idea to deal with that thing.


    If it was just that thing, they might be able to approach and try things to kill and destroy it. However, with over three thousand Sylphs roaming about the area, it was suicide to go and approach.


    The closest thing they managed to think of was having someone lure away the Sylphs as they try to destroy that gigantic carpet of tentacle covered flesh. Unfortunately, it meant suicide for anyone that would be tasked to lure them away.


    As everyone racked their brains about it, Mark raised his hand a bit.


    "I have an idea."


    Everyone looked at Mark. Although they were a bit d that he was joining the discussion, there was really no reason for him to do so.


    Then, Mark spoke as if knowing what was in their minds.


    "Well, my Spirit Tree is within the area you guys call the Dead Territory. So this is my problem too."


    That statement made everyone frozen.


    Danaya could not help but stand up from her seat.


    "That Red Spirit Tree is yours?! Then, that is a Night Everred Spirit Tree, isn''t it?"


    Mark was a bit surprised, and he looked at Pefile. From all the Spirit Races he met, only Pefile was able to pinpoint what Chiyo was. Even Danaya and the representatives inside the room were shocked, hearing that it was actually a Night Everred Spirit Tree.


    "That''s right," Mark replied.


    "I see." Danaya sat back down. "What is your n?"


    "Well, you guys don''t need to do anything. I will go with two individuals from my team. All I need for all of you is to let the other members of my group stay here safely until I return."


    That made everyone surprised.


    Even if all of them that were currently here in the fortress charged towards the Kingdom of Sylphs right now, half of them or more might die during the battle. Yet, Mark only needed three people? Just what was he thinking?


    However, Mark seemed to be confident about it. Besides, if he could get rid of it on his own, everyone else here would benefit without needing to do anything.


    Well, of course, the righteous Danaya would not let that happen.


    "If that is the case, I will go with you. I want to see what you will do. If you are able to get rid of that creature, I will promise for a reward."


    Those words caused murmurs between the representatives.


    One, they did not really know him to entrust him such a mission. And two, having a Diwata promise a reward was enough for them to envy.


    Nevertheless, they could not do anything at all.


    As for Mark, he naturally agreed. He did not want to work for free, after all. If Danaya did not propose this, Mark would have asked the others to givepensation.


    In any case, things were handled, and for most, Mark''s reveal did not receive a too negative reaction.


    It was fortunate that he was a Blood Demon that was known for being neutral. If not, things would have been harder.

 Chapter 455 After The Meeting, An Odd Night And The Departure To The Destroyed Kingdom Of Sylphs

    <strong>Day ¨ƒ¨ƒ - ¨ƒ¨ƒ:¨ƒ¨ƒ ¨ƒ¨ƒ - Guest Rooms, Stone Fortress, Eastern Mountain</strong>


    The night in the Spirit Dimension had finally fallen.


    Nheless, it was the time of the day for many kinds of elementals and spirits to be active. It kept the ce lively despite the dark sky.


    Bright glowing stones, magical fruits, glowing mushrooms, and even balls of light made of magic illuminated the whole ce. Not all the races needed light during the night, but for the sake of safety, they tried to light up the entire area where the survivors lived.


    Of course, since the whole ce was surrounded by tall trees nketed with illusion magic, the light could be barely seen outside. It was unless the attackers came from above. Still, even if that happened, everyone was ready to defend this ce. To make the fortress fall, the infected would need a thousand horde of flying ones, that was unlikely to happen for now.


    Inside the Stone Fortress, the meeting had already ended. Everyone, except for Danaya and Hieromano, who still had to discuss things about the fortress, had already left the room.


    Mark and Pefile arrived at where the rest were brought to. They were being led by one of the King''s aides who immediately left after leaving a message to the queen that was still within the guest room. Shortly after, the queen also left together with her guards after bidding goodbye to Terrimillio''s wives. The husband, of course, was still ignored.


    "Gege, how is it?"


    Mei asked after she weed Mark back with an embrace.


    "Let''s sit down first. I''ll tell everyer."


    Mark said as he patted Mei''s head.


    He looked around, it seemed that they were brought to a guest area with several bedrooms. It was not a very ssy looking one but was surely pleasing to the eyes. For something like this to be built in this fortress, it looked likerge groups of guests would frequent this ce.


    Everyone was waiting in the lobby, except for Amihan and the three girls. Mark could feel that the four were inside one of the four rooms and were already asleep.


    Mark and Pefile sat down together with everyone and told them about what happened here in the Spirit Dimension. Amidst the story, dinner was brought to them. The food looked too different from what they usually had in the Mortal World because of the uncanny ingredients.


    It was just soup and grilled meat. However, the meat was colored red, while some of the vegetables were something that they never saw before. Fortunately, Teremillio, Felenia, and Pefile were here to say that these things tasted good, or else, none of them would have eaten a single bite.


    The story continued while they ate. Of course, Mark hid some details in the story, specifically, his connection with all these elerated ruckuses in this dimension. The others might not get it. However, Edzel and Karlene were present at that time. Mark trusted them that they would not babble to anyone, but at times, walls had eyes and ears.


    Furthermore, they were in a ce that magic was not rare. Even if he could not detect anyone spying on his group, there might be some magic concealed anywhere.


    It was better to be cautious as Mark rather not have any conflict with the races at this moment.


    Pefile seemed to be confused as to why Mark hid some details. Nevertheless, he was able to read his intentions. Thus, he decided not to speak anything about it.


    Mark also told his n on dealing with the situation in the Kingdom of Sylphs. The ones that would apany him were Aephelia and Logan.


    Hearing that, anyone in here knew what he was nning. And thus, everyone agreed in his decision, even Mei was the same. No one here wanted to hold Mark back.


    "By the way," Karlene spoke. "Queen Mbinia said that there is a trade area outside the fortress every morning."


    "Trade area?"


    Mark tilted his head.


    At his question, Felenia exined.


    "Mother said that they allowed this since not everyone here can fight and hunt. Those people can use their things to barter for extra food and also other things."


    "I see. So, while I go out tomorrow, you all want to see?" Mark asked.


    "Of course we do!" na eximed. "Who knows what kind of unusual things we can find there!"


    "And what are you going to trade with them?"


    Those words from Mark made the others stumped. They thought about trading some of their food, but that was unlikely since it was human food, after all.


    "How about weapons?"


    Spera suggested.


    "We don''t have that many, though."


    Edzel voiced.


    "Let''s just window shop. There''s no problem with that, right?"


    Karlene finally suggested, and they all decided to just do that. After all, no one here was sure about what they would be able to see there.


    Soon, they turned in for the rest of the night.


    The night was strange, though. Even though they just slept for a few hours, and it was just past midnight, they all woke up and could not go back to sleep.


    They all ended up idling in the room till morning. The time they spent this night, for some reason, felt like ages.


    ***


    When morning came, Mark and Aphelia prepared for departure.


    Everyone came to apany the two out as they were called out by an aide of the king for departure.


    At the courtyard, they met Danaya and the representatives that were already waiting.


    Mark told Aephelia to call Logan, which caused a bit ofmotion. After all, Logan and Gifre were not moving at all ever since they were left there. Many individuals even poked and made fun of the two. It was normal as many elementals and spiritual beings were yful in nature. They disregarded the fact that the two were Infectas since they were not moving.


    When Logan moved, there were still some individuals ying around him. That caused these creatures to scurry around while screaming in fear.


    Fortunately, everyone was already here in the courtyard to see all that happening. There was no misunderstanding that could happen. Of course, the representatives of the races and Danaya were surprised that one of the two individuals that Mark decided toe with him was thisrge, fat Infecta.


    "Is everything ready?"


    Mark asked.


    "I am just waiting for your people, and we can go."


    Danaya replied.<sub> </sub>


    "Let''s go then."


    There, they all walked towards the forest outside the fortress. It seemed that the news of Mark and Danaya, going to deal with the monster that upied the Kingdom of Sylphs, had already spread outside. Many individuals on the way joined to bid good luck.


    Before leaving, Mark bid goodbye to everyone. Of course, not without receiving a hug from Mei and the little girls. Karlene tried to line up as well only to get her ears pulled back by na.


    That scene actually had a positive effect on the people around them. Seeing how this supposed family of Blood Demons behaved and cherished each other, it was hard to think that they were up to no good at all.


    Under everyone''s watch, Mark, Danaya, Aephelia, and Logan passed through the forest of illusions.


    While inside the forest, Danaya spoke.


    "You are serious about this, right?"


    "I think, you can see that I''m not joking."


    Mark replied.


    "But that Sylph on your shoulder..."


    Danaya pointed.


    "She''s Aephelia."


    He introduced the royal made, who flew and bowed to the Diwata.


    Although the gesture was nice, it made Danaya even more curious.


    "Her body is a Sylph, but the soul is not... Why is that?"


    Well, of course, Danaya would notice that.


    And thus, Mark told her the story about the Deity of Bloodshed and thest protector of his seal while they left the eastern mountain, and proceeded on their current journey.


    Of course, Mark left out his part in the story. The only thing he told Danaya was how the Sylph''s body was intact without a soul after being possessed. Since Aephelia, who dwelled in someone else''s body, needed a new body, it was the perfect chance at that time.


    Danaya was distraught about what had happened. A guardian who was diligently guarding the seal of an evil individual died like that.


    It did not take too long and they reached the distance where they could already see the Kingdom of Sylphs. In Mark''s estimate, it was just two hours since they left the Stone Fortress. It was faster not because they were moving to a small group. The reason was because of Mark and his team that already dealt with the enemies they could see along the way yesterday.


    There were many new ones but were dealt with swiftly.


    "What are you going to do now?"


    Danaya asked.


    "Say, there is no issue to kill all the Sylphs there, right?"


    Mark asked in return to confirm.


    Danaya was confused but still answered.


    "Those Sylphs already became Infectas. Although it hurts my heart, there is nothing that we can do but put them out of their miseries."


    "Well then, there''s no holding back." Mark smiled. "Miss Diwata, you stay here in the safe distance and watch. Aephelia, let''s go."


    Hearing that, Danaya was confused and wanted to tell Mark to exin. However, before she could say anything, Mark had already flown off with Aephalia. Logan also followed while running on the ground, causing quite a tremor in every step.


    Of course, Mark and Aephelia''s presence in the air as they closed into the Kingdom of Sylphs, agitated the ho nest.


    Like a cloud of green-colored bees, the majority of the infected Sylphs flew to intercept Mark. On the other hand, the rest remained around the pulsating flesh, as if protecting it.


    "There''s no doubt, that thing is a [Leader Type Alpha]."


    Mark deduced as he saw the orchestrated movement of the infected Sylphs. Aephelia agreed to his assumption.


    Actually, Mark wanted to get the attention of all the Sylphs. However, this much should already be fine. In his estimate, there were already around two thousand five hundred Sylphs trying to swarm him.


    Danaya, who was watching, became nervous. Even she did not know whether she would be able to deal with something at this scale. And the scariest thing happened.


    It was the instinct of the infected to use anything at their disposal. As long as their bodies had the ability, they would use it without any regard for anything.


    Thus, an overwhelming amount of magical energy started to gather in the area. The amount was enough to make Danaya gulp and shiver.


    The sky started to darken, and clouds started to gather, moving in arge spiral.


    What made Danaya even more shocked was even her had no idea that this was possible. Before, these infected Sylphs were only throwing clumps of air towards their prey. The current happening before her eyes were beyond everyone''s knowledge.


    If it was like this, even if the survivors gathered in the Stone Fortress to deal with this situation, there was a very high chance of them being wiped out.


    This was practically a suicide. She wanted to call Mark back to abort this mission.


    That was when she noticed. Mark was just pping his wings while watching the infected Sylphs create an orchestra of growls and moans.


    He was smiling without fear. It was a bizarre scene.


    Mark was not doing anything. Danaya was sure that he was not feeling fear, but he was just there in the air while pping his wings calmly. Evading some of the Sylphs charging towards him.


    No, it seemed that rather than watching, he was waiting for something.


    Then, the amount of magical energy in the air reached its peak.


    Mark also made his move.


    Together with Aephelia, he turned into ck smoke that charged towards the center of the tornado that started to form in the sky.


    Then Danaya witnessed a scene that shook her soul.

 Chapter 456 Cleaning The Kingdom Of Sylphs, Facing A Disaster By Creating Another Disaster

    <strong>Day ¨ƒ¨ƒ - ¨ƒ¨ƒ:¨ƒ¨ƒ ¨ƒ¨ƒ - Sylph Kingdom, Dead Territory, Central-Eastern Mountains</strong>


    The powerful gusts of wind blew as the devastating tornado started to form. The already dried soil of the area began to fly around, making the vision below thickly obscured.


    It was as if a sand storm was about to rage cause chaos and devastation.


    At the center of the spiraling gusts of wind in the sky, Mark flew. He was looking at the scene below.


    This kind of scene was something you could see in disaster movies where a tornadoing from the sky was about to touch the ground. Mark did not expect this kind of thing to happen either.


    He already thought of this before and concluded that this nket of pulsating flesh was an intelligent kind of infected. The fact that it was able to keep all the Sylphs it had infected around it to serve as protection was the evidence.


    When the Sylphs divided into two groups, with one to deal with Mark and the other to protect, it proved his suspicions further.


    And onest thing, this [Leader Type Alpha] was intelligent and perceptive enough to consider him as a threat. Or else, why would it resort to an attack of a catastrophic scale.


    Unfortunately, it was just what Mark wanted.


    He already found a way to strengthen Amihan and Aephelia. However, he could not neglect himself either. The was quite unlucky that most of the infected they encountered yesterday gave a very meager amount of Magical Energy for him to absorb.


    This time, however, it was surely in the same scale of that Mutated Whale before. He would not pass this opportunity.


    And thus...


    "All this is mine!"


    Mark eximed, as a thick cloud of Miasma, exploded on his surroundings. The terrifyingly looking ck clouds spread fast, engulfing the tornado in its entirety along with the majority of the Infected Sylphs raging about.


    Their growls, roars, and moans were swallowed and vanished into the darkness as their bodies slowly turned to dust.


    As the ck cloud traveled down to the ground, it started to spin and took slowly took the shape of the tornado.


    The Miasma did not just swallow the tornado, it slowly became the tornado itself, swallowing every bit of Magical Energy present in the surroundings.


    However, that was not enough.


    Mark, inside the ck tornado, closed his eyes. He concentrated on sensing any magical fluctuation in his surroundings. Specifically, he was aiming for the magical fluctuation of the Infected Sylphs that was not swallowed by the cloud of Miasma.


    One by one, he started to feel them.


    The infected Sylphs were somehow staying out of the tornado. It seemed that the carpet of pulsating flesh below detected danger and was trying to keep its protectors alive.


    As if Mark would let that go just like that.


    From the ck colored disaster, multitudes of surges of Miasma burst forth like hundreds of tentacles. All of which directed to the Sylphs that were already returning to guard near their leader.


    Unfortunately for them, while they could fly fast, the surges of Miasma moved faster. After all, not only that the infected Sylphs already used up the majority of their energy, but the [Leader Type Alpha] was not a Sylph and could not utilize their abilities effectively.


    One after another, the retreating infected Sylphs turned to dust after their bodies were swallowed by the exploding surges of Miasma.


    Quite a distance away, Danaya was watching the whole ordeal. She was shocked beyondpare because of the scale of the disastrous scene before her. It was also not wrong to say that she was afraid. Even if she used up all of her energy and sacrificed her existence, she doubted that she would be able to contend with what was happening right now.


    "It was no wonder I can''t measure his abilities..."


    Danaya subconsciously said, as her wide eyes stared at the ck tornado.


    She had been measuring Mark ever since she saw him. And she realized early on, while she could tell that he was not human, she could not tell how strong he was.


    Miasma was kind of a silent killer. It might cause strong fluctuations when being used, especially when it shed with other energies. But when dormant or purely alone, it was undetectable. Only those races that had more powerful sensing abilities and demonic races that could control Miasma would be able to distinguish it in that state.


    This was one of the things that made existences that could control Miasma unpredictable.


    What she could not fathom, however, was how Mark was able to control Miasma while having a mortal body. Only the beings that were able to use Miasma were formless demons, demons born of Miasmic Energy, and those that had been corrupted by Miasma.


    That was when she remembered Mark''s answer when she asked him yesterday about what he was. She concluded that he was half-human and half-demon while neglecting the third choice. He was also something else different from the two.


    An Unknown Existence. Something unfathomable that it could break the bnce of the ne of existence. He was something that should not exist, and yet, he was existing.


    Mark was an Enigma, an Anomaly, and an unfathomable being for Mortals, Demons, and Spirits.


    Danaya felt shivers on her back. It was lucky that she was not rash when she arrived yesterday and when she questioned him. She now realized how close to death she might have been.


    In the sky, the one-sided battle was still ongoing.


    The more than two thousand infected Sylphs were now reduced to about five hundred. And for some reason, the surges of Miasma seemed to avoid a few Sylphs while it targeted others without mercy.


    Below, the cloud of mixed sand, dry soil, and dust of dead Sylphs started to calm down. Even the gusts of wind were disappearing. Without the Magical Energy controlling the wind to support its creation, the tornado slowly vanished.


    In its ce, the tall tower of Miasma stood instead. And slowly, even the Miasma started to gather and shirk into one ce.


    It did not take too long before Mark and Aephelia could be seen once more. He had both his hands stretched forwards as the Miasma spiraled towards his palms.


    Seeing that, Danaya was even more shocked. She could not fathom as to how Mark''s mortal body was able to handle such a vast amount of Miasma. Furthermore, what he was absorbing right now was about half more than what he had released.


    Mark smiled, feeling the newly absorbed energy in his body. He got quite a harvest. As for the remaining Sylphs that he deliberately allowed to live, it was now their turn.


    From his experience yesterday, Spirit Races could give him varying sizes of Crystals even though they came from the same race. And those withrger magical capacity would give thergest ones. That was why he left those forst and would turn them into what he called [Energy Crystals].<sub> </sub>


    Mark then turned to the Sylph on his shoulder, who was waiting for his cue.


    "Aephlia, your turn."


    "Yes, Master."


    Aephelia nodded.


    She then flew off from Mark''s shoulder. In this battle, she had two roles given to her.


    The first was to choose from the Infected Sylphs in front of her to be her subordinates.


    Yesterday, the first [Energy Crystal] given to her gave her three "Slots" for controlling a regr human infected. As Sylphs, one of those slots could hold two. The three Sylphs they captured yesterday for the demonstration was already disposed of. They were just weak ones, and only one of the three gave Mark a crystal.


    In Mark''s view, it was better to get stronger ones. Unfortunately, Mark had yet to get another clear [Energy Crystal], or she might have at least another slot open.


    It did not take long for her, and she picked six of the strongest Sylphs that flew towards her after she controlled them.


    As for the remaining ones, Mark charged towards them with a sinister smile.


    While Mark was collecting the Sylphs, it was time for Aephelia''s next move.


    Logan, who was left at the ground, was now standing beside the [Leader Type Alpha]. The fat giant was ignored by the enemy because of the fact that they were both infected. Furthermore, the Alpha''s attention was on Mark, which allowed the embodiment of Gluttony to approach without suspicion.


    Aephelia then gave themand.


    "EAT."


    Thatmand made Logan''s eyes as if it was glowing with hunger. He opened hisrge mouth and took a huge chuck out of the pulsating flesh. Of course, that damage was insignificant to the enemy as it slowly healed like how it did when it was feeding the infected Sylphs under its control.


    However, that speed of regeneration would be able to catch up to the hungry beast.


    Like a gigantic ghost that was not fed for millenniums, Logan gobbled up the body of the [Leader Type Alpha]. It was up to the point that it could not ignore the giant glutton.


    It seemed to be confused as to what was happening as it was not attacking Logan. But when a considerable chunk was taken off its body, it started to shiver. A tremor was created from its movements as it moved thousands of its tentacles in anger.


    Without a doubt, it now viewed Logan as an enemy.


    More than dozens of tentacles pointed at Logan and attacked. The tentacles pierced Logan''s body. Logan could have died there. However, not only that Aephelia made him dodge the blow to his head, but the tentacles were not strong enough to pierce Logan''s mutated bones.


    Since it sensed that Logan was still unharmed, the enemy decided to do its greatest move. It tried to use its tentacles to absorb the liquid inside Logan''s body and turn him into a dried corpse.


    That was when the horror, struck. The supposed wounds on Logan''s body where the tentacles were still stuck, opened up like mouths and started to suck the tentacles into his body instead.


    "CROARARACKARARAO!!"


    An iprehensible sound was let out by the carpet of pulsating flesh as it finally sensed danger from Logan. It voluntarily cut off the tentacles being sucked and tried to attack once more.


    Its attack ended up futile as the same thing had happened. Furthermore, the more tentacles it used to attack and ended up being sucked into Logan''s body, the more its body shrunk.


    Finally, Mark was done with thest Sylph. Unfortunately, even with stronger Sylphs, the chance of getting a crystal was not fixed. After absorbing the remaining infected Sylphs, he only got a hundred and fifty-three [Sylph Energy Crystals].


    Together with Aephelia, they watched the scene below.


    That was when Aephelia froze.


    "I something wrong?"


    Mark asked as he sensed her emotions.


    "Master, look at Logan."


    Mark then stared at the fat gluttonous giant, as Aephelia said.


    Logan was still ferociously eating while the enemy was panickily retaliating to no avail.


    However, Mark and Aephelia noticed that Logan''s body was growingrger. Parts of his skin was changing color to an orange hue. The remaining clothes he had got ripped off by the sudden growth and orange-colored armor started to cover his arms, legs, head, and lower body.


    Sure enough, Logan was mutating as it continued to eat the enemy.


    After a few minutes and as Danaya had met up with the two in the sky, they Logan finish his transformation.


    Now, Logan was not eating through his mouth anymore. No, it was correct to say that not from his original mouth. It was because a humongous mouth with several dozens of rows of teeth, grew on his stomach, chomping the enemy inrge bites. Furthermore, there were holes in Logan''s palms and other parts of his body that were sucking the enemy in as the holes made contact with the enemy.


    The struggle between Logan and the [Leader Type Alpha] continued for two more hours. Unfortunately for the enemy, its body was immobile and had no way of escaping. Logan chomped unto itsst bit and it finally died.


    Seeing that, it showed how hard it was to deal with the enemy if Logan did not mutate. It seemed that it was able to relocate its brain and organs and only died after itsst bits were eaten. With its regeneration rate, it would be hard to kill with other means.


    Mark could have done it easily with Miasma. However, the remains of the Kingdom of Sylphs would vanish in existence along with the enemy of he did it.


    Now, that the enemy was gone, there was no use mulling over it. Thus, he asked Danaya if it was possible to treasure hunt in the ruins while checking that nothing dangerous remained.


    Danaya was a bit conflicted. Still, she relented. This ce was already a lost cause if Mark was not here anyway. Surely, the Sylphs would not mind.

 Chapter 457 The Trade Area, A Bizarre Trade With A Mysterious Being

    <strong>Day ¨ƒ¨ƒ - ¨ƒ¨ƒ:¨ƒ¨ƒ ¨ƒ¨ƒ - Trade Area, Stone Fortress, Eastern Mountain</strong>


    A few hours before, a few minutes after Mark''s departure, Mei and the rest prepared for the things they nned to do.


    Everyone would go to the trade area as they told Markst night. The only exception was Felenia and Angis that Mark tasked to do something else. Char and Gifre were also left behind. The dragon was toorge to roam around the trade area while Gifre would not move without Aephelia around.


    Everyone walked out of the fortress in their full battle gear. It was what Mark had suggested since they were not familiar with this ce at all. Furthermore, not only Demon Races but a lot of Elementals and Spirits were known for being prone to mischiefs or even attack others. Not all Demons were evil or wicked. The same goes for Elementals and Spirits. Not all of them were good-natured.


    The more noticeable fact, majority of these races were known for the evil deeds of their race.


    That was why even though they just nned to roam around outside the stone fortress, they should not be toocent about their surroundings.


    Sure enough, their presence would take the attention of almost everyone on the way. It was because humans were very unusual to see in this dimension in the first ce. The fact that most of them were beautiful women added to the reasons while many races were looking at them.


    Of course, not only men were looking. Pefile, who was present within the group, was also getting the attention of the females on the way. The Tamawo were beautiful men, and among their race, Pefile''s appearance could be said as top-notch.


    They made their way towards the northern part of the fortress. The group was being led by a Duende that was assigned personally by the King. She was a servant who introduced herself as Morana. However, she did not look like a Duende right now. She was looked more like a human after she resized her body.


    Morana had this ability and was the reason she was chosen to lead them. It was inconvenient if a small Duende was to lead their group, after all. Furthermore, this servant also did the reception to human-sized visitors of the fortress often.


    It did not take long for the group to reach the Trade Area.


    The ce was brimming with creatures that wanted to trade. Probably, around a third of all the creatures, that were currently residing here, were present here at this moment.


    "Everyone, please be careful. Even though this ce is under our jurisdiction, security is still a huge problem. Please be wary of your surroundings."


    Morana warned everyone. Even though they had a few guards who also resized themselves to human size, it did not mean that nothing could happen. Especially since beautiful women of the human race were being targeted by evil individuals more often.


    Entering the trade area, even though there were a lot of people, there was still a good amount of space to pass through. Furthermore, their group was being the center of unwanted attention, and it made others create a path for them to go.


    Also, thanks to that, they were able to see what items were being traded around them.


    There were a lot of people, and of course, most of them were offering their items for barter. Some walked around with their items in hand, many sat down on their colorfully woven nkets, while others had their own stalls. Even the stalls varied in appearance associated with how varied the kinds of structures around the fortress.


    Of course, there was arge variety of items.


    To their dismay, many of the items were something they had never seen before.


    Everyone in Mei''s group, with the exception of their guides and Pefile, was very interested. Unfortunately, they could not fathom what kind of items were being disyed almost everywhere. There was also the greatest obstacle, thenguage barrier.


    It was lucky that the Morana, Pefile, and Teremillio were here to provide them some trantions.


    Even Teremillio''s wives were having a hard time as they could not understand the words of the natives of this ce. Among them, only the Pixie and the Koropokkuru were able to travel into this dimension. However, both of them came from different parts of the world with a differentnguage. As for the others, they were born and grew in the mortal world. Their knowledge of thenguage was too shallow.


    Browsing through the stores, they saw a lot of interesting stuff. From weapons made of strange materials to beautiful gemstones that looked mesmerizing, there were too many things to see. The things that took their attention the most, however, were the magical items.


    These items were kind of rare and were very expensive. One they saw was a spear with a body made of ck wood and a de made of red-colored metal. The owner demonstrated it to attract people and fed the spear with magical energy. Its de glowed like magma and was able to pierce a te of metal easily due to its temperature.


    Unfortunately, the spear was being traded for arge amount of meat. The man, who was an Encantado in a human-like form, seemed to need arge amount of meat because of his Bagats.


    The appearance of the man surprised them and thought that he was a human. However, Encantados were spirits that were able to take different forms. That was what Morana told them. As for the Bagats, they were animals that supernatural beings rear. They had the appearance of different harmless animals. However, they transform and be dangerous when they or their master was harmed.


    For sure, this Encantado was raising his Bagats for protection. That was what they needed the most at these times. And arge amount of food was needed to raise them.


    Seeing the spear, Mei was a bit interested. However, thinking about it further, her interest declined. Mark could make them more effective weapons. Even though it was magical, a weapon like this spear was unnecessary for them.


    As they left, they did not notice the dejected expression of the Encantado. He saw Mei, Karlene, and na, after all. Just having beauties watching you was already satisfying. Seeing them go away as they lost interest was a huge blow.


    They continued to roam around. Mei was satisfied looking from afar whilementing on the things the little girls were pointing to. Karlene and na were also reserved, but they took the initiative to look at the wares being traded closely.


    Edzel, Pearl, and Spera just stuck behind Mei as it was their duty. As for Teremillio and his wives, they were more active as Teremillio wanted to look for gifts he would give to them, especially for Felenia, who was not here.


    Only Amihan and Pefile kept their eyes on everyone, making sure that nothing would happen.


    While walking, Spera felt something.


    "Mistress," Spera called for Mei.


    "What is it?"


    "I sense something from that man sitting there."


    Spera pointed at an old man sitting under a tree with his wares ced on a ragged cloth in front of him.


    "Do know what you are sensing?"


    Mei asked.


    "I don''t know." Spera shook her head. "I only know that I feel somewhat attracted to it."


    "Let''s see it then?" Mei suggested.


    Spera nodded. She did not know what it was. However, she felt somewhat eager to see it.


    Leaving the others that were still browsing on the nearby stalls, Mei and Spera took the little girls towards the old man. Pefile and Amihan nodded at each other, and thetter flew towards Mei. Edzel and Pearl wanted to follow but got separated because of the number of people.


    They arrived in front of the old man who was just sitting there with his eyes closed. Unlike others that were advertising their wares, the old man sat there silently, letting people browse his wares without disturbance.


    Nevertheless, the old man opened one of his eyes as Mei''s group was about to browse the items he had on disy. It was obvious from his eyes that he was quite surprised by them. Not because of their appearance, but because of what they had.


    "The [Body of Void] with an [Unshackled Soul], a [Space Attribute Soul], a girl with transferred memories, a girl with blood from another world, a child of unknown existence, and a sleeping deity. What a blessed lineup this was."


    The old man said with a gentle smile.


    Hearing those words, Mei retreated in high alert, making everyone halt their movements. Seeing Mei''s re at the old man, they became ready to fight. They could not fathom why, though. Although they heard the old man, they could not understand what he had said even if he spoke in humannguage.


    For Mei, however, even if she could not properly understand the rest, just hearing the term [Body of Void] was enough to trigger her. She looked around, it might be bad if others heard what the old man had said. Unexpectedly, everyone else was minding their business. It even looked like that they could not see Mei and the others that were already ready to attack.


    Seeing Mei reacting like that, the old man shrugged as he opened both his eyes.<sub> </sub>


    "Worry not, young ones. I have no intention to fight. And do not bother with the others, only you six could hear what I had said."


    The man''s voice was heard.


    However, the old man was not opening his mouth. His voice was being directly transmitted to their heads. Even his intent was also being felt by the six. His gentle soothing voice could not help but made them calm down for some reason.


    Mei knew that the old man was not lying. If the soothing feeling was just a mental attack, her body would reject it. However, it did not happen. She could only lower her weapon.


    "Who are you?"


    Mei asked with a frown.


    "Me?" The old man dressed in rags pointed at himself. "I''m just an old nobody trading for wares here."


    "I don''t believe that."


    Mei replied with a pressing tone.


    To her words, the old man just replied with a sigh.


    "You don''t have to believe me. But you can look at my items if you want."


    "What do you mean by the things you called us before?"


    Spera asked.


    "Things I called you? What things? This old man doesn''t remember. If you are here to trade, please look at my items. If not, please don''t block my business."


    The old man then returned to his nonchnt state as he stopped talking and closed his eyes.


    Mei and Spera could only look at each other. Amihan scratched her head in confusion. The little girls could not fathom what was happening at all.


    And thus, they sat down to see the items being disyed on the dirty rag spread out on the ground.


    "Mistress, this is what I''m sensing."


    Spera pointed at the ck gemstone.


    "Old mister, what is this?"


    Mei asked.


    Then, the old man replied, directly into their heads.


    "It is a gemstone that had a small space inside. Come on, hold it, and try to transfer magical energy to it."


    Hearing that, Spera slowly reached to the gemstone and looked at the old man. Seeing him nod, Spera did what she was told to do.


    As she injected her magical energy into the gemstone, she felt a small space inside it that she could open at will. She was shocked.


    Spera then handed the stone to Mei, and she also tried it. Her expression was not different than Spera. In their estimate, the stone had a two-meter by two-meter cube of space inside just a pinkie fingernail-sized gemstone.


    "What do you want to trade for this?"


    Mei asked.


    Then, the old man replied.


    "What do you want to trade for it?"


    Hearing that, Mei exhaled and took a small pouch out.


    "Do you ept this?"


    Mei took one of the contents of the pouch and showed it to the old man.


    The old man opened one of his eyes just be shocked once more.


    It was an [Energy Crystal]. Mark had given all he collected yesterday to Mei and try to trade items with it.


    "Ten-, no, just five of those for the gemstone! I have two more here!"


    Mei and Spera were surprised.


    Where did the calm and mysterious old man go?


    Nevertheless, it was to their favor. They traded fifteen [Energy Crystals] for the ck Gemstones. Furthermore, the old man also offered more of his rare wares that were all magical items.


    Mei, Spera, and Amihan were happy at their harvest. They could tell that the old man was not swindling them as he seemed really desperate for the crystals. He even exined and demonstrated the use of the items he offered.


    When they turned their backs from the old man, however, Morana and Pefile rushed towards them.


    "Where did you all go?!"


    Pefile asked them with quite a panicked expression.


    "What do you mean?" Mei was confused as Spera and Amihan.


    Amihan then replied as she pointed behind them.


    "What are you asking us? We just traded with that old ma..."


    Amihan was not able to finish her words.


    There was no old man at the ce she was pointing at. His wares were nowhere to be seen either. The only proof of the old man''s existence was the items Mei and Spera had in their arms.

 Chapter 458 Illusion And Directional Disorientation, An Ambush Destroyed In A Short Moment

    <strong>Day ¨‚¨‚ - ¨‚¨‚:¨‚¨‚ ¨‚¨‚ - Trade Area, Stone Fortress, Eastern Mountain</strong>


    Because of Pefile''s outburst, they decided to go on an area clear of people to talk.


    There, Mei, Spera, and Amihan learned the reason.


    Things were still all fine when everyone separated at first since the ces where everyone had gone to were in the close vicinity. Karlene and na were looking at ethnic looking essories in one stall, and others could do the same without trouble.


    However, when Mei and those that came with her went to a ce that did not have a stall or trader at all. More than that, some sort of power seemed to be at hand as Edzel and Pearl got separated from them for some unknown reason. When the way was cleared out, the two could not find Mei and the others they were trying to follow.


    Pefile also lost sight of them, even though he was keeping his eyes at everyone. Furthermore, aside from Mei and the others missing, he did not feel anything strange. As if everything remained natural. And it was too natural that it was suspicious.


    Mei, Amihan, and Spera felt their backs cold. No wonder Pefile seemed panicked. They suddenly vanished from their sight, with no sign at all. It was strange, though, as they were staying in one ce all this time. Furthermore, they could see all of the other people in the trade area passing by.


    "Now that we mentioned it, it''s really unusual."


    Mei said with a solemn expression.


    "What is it, Mistress?"


    Spera asked.


    "Remember? When we are talking to the old man, the other people are not paying attention to us even though we garner their attention where ever we go. Like now."


    Mei said as she nced at the Spirit Races passing by that were looking at them.


    "That''s true, isn''t it?"


    "Yeah..."


    Both Spera and Amihan agreed.


    The strangest thing, none was able to sense anything unusual in the way they disappeared and reappeared. As Pefile had said, everything felt too natural to the point of being suspicious.


    Seeing the three discussing things, Pefile looked exasperated.


    "Sir Pefile. You should calm down." Morana tried to appease him. "We will investigate what had happened just now. I suggest that everyone should return early and stay inside the fortress until things are affirmed."


    "Hah..." Pefile sighed. "Alright, we should return."


    "Pefile, you should really calm down." Karlene followed up. "Something might have happened, but everyone is okay in the end."


    Not only Karlene, but others also felt the same. Mei, Spera, and Amihan also did not feel any danger from that old man. Furthermore, the old man traded good stuff to them. Mei knew that Mark would be happy to see these things when he returned.


    And because of this, instead of calming down, Pefile became even more exasperated.


    "Alright! We are lucky that nothing really happened to them! If something did, we can start counting down about how long this ce willst! Don''t you get what I mean? Damn it."


    Hearing those words made Morana and the guards frown. Counting down on how long their fortress wouldst? That should be a joke.


    However...


    "Ah..."


    That was the only word that Karlene could reply with. Not only her, almost everyone in their group, even the little girls, had realized the severity of the situation.


    Those reactions made Morana and the guards feel like Pefile was not joking at all. Still, from their beliefs, this fortress was imprable. Thus, they could not fathom why this group felt that this ce would notst long at all.


    With those emotions, they finally decided to leave the trade area and return. This ce would still be here tomorrow, after all. They could visit it again tomorrow with Mark.


    Also, the situation that happened just now would surely reach Mark. Mei would tell him, it was the same for Amihan and Pefile. The existence of the old man would surely interest him.


    But still...


    Just who was that old man?


    That question came over and over in their minds, but none of them could not find any answer.


    As they returned, they passed through the same area where they saw the old man and saw nothing.


    ***


    Unbeknownst to them, the old man saw them pass by. After all, he never left in the ce. He was sitting there, waiting...


    Waiting for those interesting people with the destiny to see him. Nevertheless, there were times that they would find him because...


    ...They were not bound to the destiny of this ne at all.


    While seeing their backs, the old man noticed something and smiled.


    "I wonder if they will be able to get over this new trial."


    The old man sighed. It was true that not everyone was good. And now, those blessed girls would face an annoying impediment.


    ***


    Everyone walked towards the fortress and walked at the path beside a moat near the walls.


    All of them were quite absentminded because of what had happened. Morana and the guards were the same as they tried to think of what could cause the fall of their fortress if Mei and the others were harmed.


    But then...


    "Is it just me, or we are taking too long?"


    Mei suddenly voiced out.


    None of them noticed, they already traversed a distance more than twice than what they should have to return to the gates of the fortress.


    Mei''s question snapped everyone out. It was as if everyone was in a trance. This made her frown. She looked to the direction that they were going and then, behind. Both ways looked the same.


    "Are we... Lost?"


    Pearl voiced out as she saw the same thing as Mei when looking around. Everyone was the same. They looked shocked while scanning the surroundings in high alert.


    Without a doubt, they all entered some sort of trance that disabled them from sensing their surroundings and impede their sense of direction.


    The situation was a dangerous one. Everyone immediately gathered around with their backs facing another''s. The guards also surrounded everyone to ensure their protection.


    "Should we wear our clothes inside out?"


    Karlene suggested. It was not hard to tell what was happening.


    If not that they identally entered a ce under a Tikbng''s magic, a Tikabng must be targetting them on purpose.


    Moreover, whoever did this, it was a powerful one. None of them felt anything after all until Mei spoke.


    However, taking off their clothes, especially that the majority of them were females, seemed inappropriate.


    "It''s fine, we don''t have to," Mei replied with a serious expression.


    She then smiled. A mesmerizingly smile, even though that smile told that whatever or whoever the enemy was, this illusion was nothing.


    "Crimson."


    Mei called out.<sub> </sub>


    ck smoke gathered on her right shoulder which formed the reddish-ck colored [Blood Child]. And with his jiggle, the very same ck smoke scattered in the surroundings.


    Morana and the guards felt terrified. They were not new to this ck smoke and knew the feeling of Miasma when it was close.


    Then, the surroundings started to distort. The infinite loop of the moat and the wall vanished, and they became surrounded by trees, bushes, grass, and vines.


    The ck smoke then gathered once more. Mei patted Crimson and thanked him before the [Blood Child] vanished once more.


    Morana wanted to question what that creature was. However, their current situation took precedence. She scanned the surroundings and spoke.


    "We should be in the forest, east of the Trade Area. This is the only part of the forest surrounding the fortress where these vines grow."


    It seemed like even though the scene they saw was an illusion, it was true that they walked quite a long way.


    Just when Morana finished her sentence, Pefile shouted.


    "Whoever you are,e out!"


    That shout from Pefile was replied by a dozen of rustling soundsing from different directions.]


    Tall silhouettes came out from behind trees, vines, and thickets after some distortions in the surroundings.


    Having the head of a horse, muscr body of a man, and an elongated pair of legs with hooves instead feet, there was no doubt. It was a group of Tikbngs.


    Morana then noticed the markings on the bodies of these Tikbngs.


    "So, it''s these brigands."


    "Know them?"


    Pefile asked her.


    "They are a tribe of wandering Tikbngs. They are known to target women of any race and copte with them. After new members of their tribes are born, they kill the women and move somewhere else. But that''s not the problem here."


    "Then, the problem is?"


    "I''m sure you noticed that the representative of the Tikbngs and Anggitays was a single person? The representatives for multiple tribes of the same race are chosen as to who was the strongest. Among the Tikbngs, the leader of this tribe is the strongest. But his notoriety devoid him of ess to the fortress making the strongest of the Anggitays to take over,"


    Hearing that, Pefile did not ask anything anymore. That surely was a problem. They were talking about the strongest of the Tikbngs in the area, after all.


    "Finished talking?"


    A Tikbng with red mane and fur walked upfront with an arrogant expression.


    "Narquico..."


    Morana recognized the Tikabng. Without a doubt, he as the one she was talking about.


    "Good that you recognize me. It will be easy then." Narquico said with a smug expression of a horse. "The women should just surrender. We''ll let the children and men go. Also you two, female Duende and female Sylph, we don''t need you two. Go away."


    "It is better for you not to touch them." Morana threatened. "They are under our protection. Diwata Danaya will punish you all when she returns."


    "Heh, fret not. Although it is such a waste for such beautiful women, well return themter. With our offsprings, that is. Neigh!!!"


    "Neigh!!!"


    Theughs of these Tikbngs echoed in a way irritating to the ears.


    "Morana..." Mei spoke calmly, which for some reason, made the Aide feel unsettled. "There''s no problem to eliminate these trash, is there?"


    Gulping her saliva, Morana replied.


    "I-it''s fine. Although it is preferable if we can just take three golden hairs on their manes to tame them. Even if their personality is unweed, they are still strong and can be assets to battle."


    "I see. Maybe, Gege will want one too."


    Mei said in a way that made both Duendes and Tikbngs stare agape. The way she spoke made it as if the Tikabngs were easy pickings. Not to mention that even the weakest Tikbng, at a young age, could run up a tall mountain in a few minutes. Even their kicks would be able to take down a Sarangay, that had a veryrge body.


    "Neigh!!! You all hear that? This female human wants to capture us! We haven''t started yet, and she is already dreaming!"


    p "Neigh!!!"</anda>


    Another set of annoyingughter ensued.


    "Annoying..."


    Mei spoke with a fierce re.


    With that word, her body disappeared from her initial position, with a bit of shing light.


    Then, with the shock of the Duendes, theughter of the Tikbngs came to a deafening halt. They all froze on their positions with their eyes wide as if they had seen something too terrifying to fathom.


    Mei then walked out from behind Narquico, making Morana and the Duendes look back where she initially stood, and to where she was now in soul-shaking shock.


    "Kneel."


    Mei then said, which made all twelve Tikbngs feel something heavy pulling them to the ground. All of them, except for Narquico, immediately fell to the ground on their knees.


    "YOU!!!"


    Narquico resisted as much as he could. However, his body would surely notst.


    "I said, Kneel!"


    Mei spoke with a re.


    BAM!


    A heavier force fell on Narquico''s body, mming his whole body to the ground.


    "D-Damn i-it!!!"


    Narquico was still trying to resist. It was just futile resistance, though.


    "W-what happened..."


    Morana and the guards are in utter confusion.


    "Because Mama is strong!"


    Miracle was the one replied apanied with the shrug of everyone in their group.


    Mei then showed the thirty-six strands of golden hair in her hand. She used all her abilities as both an Evolver and a Psychic to gather all of these in a short moment.


    After all, what was faster? The Tikbngs who could run fast, or her who could instantly appear behind them?


    Unfortunately for the brigands, the way they surrounded her group made them all enter the distance she could use her [Force Blink]. It could have been a different thing if even just one of them were far away.


    With the enemies dealt with magnificently, they returned to the stone fortress. Now, without any hindrance.


    Along the way, everyone turned to them like before, but with a different reason. Before, because it was a group filled with beautiful women. Now, because there were a dozen Tikbngs, chained, and was following behind them like ves.

 Chapter 459 A Discussion In The Hidden Room, The King Of Duendes Decision And The Good News

    <strong>Day ¨‚¨‚ - ¨‚¨‚:¨‚¨‚ ¨‚¨‚ - Secret Room, Stone Fortress, Eastern Mountain</strong>


    Inside the Stone Fortress, several small hidden passages connected the Throne Room, Meeting Room, The Room of Knowledge, and the Armory. These passages were hard to see as the entrances were not only small to fit a Duende but were concealed with variousyers of protection.


    At the end of these passages, a hidden room could be found. It was a ce that only the royals of the Duendes in the Eastern Mountain, and their close and trusted aides knew. Right now, there were four people inside the hidden room. The Rey and Reina of Eastern Mountain, Morana, and the Heneral Merio.


    Morana, who had just arrived back here in the fortress, had to report to the king and queen about what had happened. She did not apany Mei and the others just to assist as a guide. The royal aide was there to observe the members of their group individually.


    Furthermore, she was not just an aide, by role, she was a person trained to fight, and protect the queen when necessary. She was a calm person and serious about her work. Even during the time they were surrounded by the Tikbngs, she was not totally startled and still took the chance to observe everyone closer.


    Her report was not really that urgent and was scheduled during nightfall. However, the situation when the group returned made the king call her to report. After all, everyone in the Stone Fortress witnessed the guards dragging the captured Tikbngs. It would not be surprising if they were just some regr Tikbngs. However, it became a huge issue when the captured ones were known to be the strongest and most unruly of the Tikabng Tribes that gathered around the fortress.


    That was something that not even the whole fortress working together would be able to do at all. And more than that, all three golden hairs were taken away from the mane of each Tikbngs. While this would not grant the capturer their loyalty, it guaranteed their absolute obedience.


    The king needed to address the situation. Of course, they would not make Mei return the golden hair strands from the Tikbngs. However, he needed to know what really had happened.


    Morana reported everything from the start. She told the details from when they went out of the Stone Fortress, the time they browsed the items on stalls in the trade area, the attention they gathered as they walked around, Mei and the other''s disappearance, andstly, when they encountered the brigands.


    The whole report sounded fine and normal, except for the twost parts.


    Mei'' and the others vanishing in the way Morana described was quite astonishing. While they heard of some individuals stealing in the Trade Area as the security was quitex, something like this was never heard before.


    Andstly, the situation with the brigands. The goals of these brigands were not surprising. Mei and the others looked above average. Furthermore, Mei even had the beauty that could bepared with the Diwatas. It was hard not to expect to see some of the races with lustful tendencies toe after her.


    This was one thing the king worried about when he sent guards to be with them. In fact, the number of guards around Mei''s group at that time was more than the number that was guarding the safety of the whole trade area. This was the particr reason no one in the Trade Area tried to mess with their group despite the great number of people there.


    However, it seemed that the worry was unnecessary. Hearing how Mei dealt with the Tikbngs in a blink of an eye, the king managed to feel relieved about Mark volunteering to deal with the threat in the Kingdom of Sylphs. The wife was strong and talented, what more of the husband?


    Furthermore, ording to Morana''s observation, their whole group was ready to fight rather than flee during the time they were surrounded. Even the little girls was not an exception. Furthermore, there was also that blob of reddish-ck slime that appeared out of nowhere and released Miasma to cancel the illusion of the Tikbngs.


    "In my assessment, this group of humans is not to be looked down upon." Morana gave her thought. "Even though some of them are Blood Demons, as their leader imed, the abilities they have shown so far are not among what they should have as people belonging to that race. Furthermore, we have yet to see what the other members could do aside from Miss Mei, Miss Amihan, and Miss Aephelia."


    "This meant that they can be best as allies and the worst as enemies. There are a lot of unknown factors to them, but it did not matter as long as they are on our side."


    King Hieromano surmised.


    "Yes, my Rey."


    Morana affirmed.


    "How about you, my dear wife?" The king of Duendes turned to his queen. "Did our unfilial daughter told you anything?"


    Those words, however, caused the king to receive a heavy re from the queen.


    "I already told you multiple times to stop calling our daughter that. Continue, and you will also lose a wife."


    Queen Mbinia said with a serious expression. She was not joking at all, which made Heiromano reconsider his thoughts. Still, he could not get over the fact that Felenia left the Kingdom and eloped with that womanizer.


    The king had great ns for his daughter. Tying her knots with the current general that was loyal to the throne and was hounding achievements was already good. However, she fell in love with someone else. It could have been fine if the person was someone from their kingdom. However, Teremillio was not. The worst thing was that...


    Teremillio was a 9th Prince of the Kingdom of the ck Duendes to the south. Although their race was not totally evil, they were known for their wicked tendencies.


    As for the Duendes of the Stone Fortress, they were not total enemies with the ck Duendes. In colors, they were categorized as the Brown Duendes, that specialized with earth magic. Even if that was the case, the Brown Duendes did not like the ck ones like how they were hated by the White Duendes.


    Heiromano sighed.


    Seeing that, Mbinia reminded the king.


    "Remember that Teremillio saved your daughter from harm. Without him, we won''t even have her anymore. You kept pushing her to the point of leaving. Don''t ever think that I have already forgiven you for that."


    Those words did not only struck Hieromano but also Merio, who was in front of them. He was the supposed husband of Felenia before until Teremillio appeared out of nowhere. Thinking about the queen said, his hate for Teremillio lowered a bit. He was just overwhelmed to see them together for the first time after dozens of years.


    "I apologize." The king sighed. "I mean it. Although I can''t say that I will ept that bastard."


    "That is fine enough."


    The queen seemed to be satisfied with how dismayed the king looked.


    "Then, did our daughter say anything?"


    Hieromano went back to the topic.


    "There is." Mbinia nodded. "Currently, Teremillio formed a Tribe of different races and had other wives besides our daughter."


    "That bastard!"


    The king made an outburst and stood up.


    "Shut up."


    The queen red fiercely.


    "..."


    Heiromano fell silent and slowly sat down.


    "I''ll continue," Mbinia said. "Their tribe right now is working with humans for safety. Remember what had happened when the King of Sylphs sent people to investigate what is happening in the Mortal World? It seemed that it is affected Spirit and Elemental Races in there, losing some of their abilities, primarily, making themselves invisible to the eyes of Mortals or being able to enter their home trees. That is why our daughter is with these humans."<sub> </sub>


    "Is that so..." The king caressed his beard. "Their leader did not mention anything about that..."


    "No one asked him," Mbinia said. "He only gave us what we want to know about the cause of this catastrophe and the state of the mortal world. He probably did not know about the scouts they sent, and no one asked him about the races in the Mortal World."


    "That is... I guess you''re right." The king agreed. "What else?"


    "The ce they currently reside has many people with strange abilities. Although most of them seemed to be Physical, there are those with Magical and Psychic abilities. The people in this group, apparently, they are the strongest among them."


    "I see." The king nodded. "Then, we could assume that we will get good news about that thing in the Kingdom of Sylphs."


    "The chances are high if we look at the current evidence. My Rey."


    Merio agreed.


    "And also one more thing." The queen added. "Felenia mentioned about their leader being able to gather pure energy into crystals. She said that he uses those crystals to increase the strength of the Sylphs directly under him. It would justify how strong that Amihan is."


    "That''s..." Not only the king, even Merio and Morana was stumped, after hearing that.


    "No, wait..."


    Morana realized something.


    "What is wrong, Morana?"


    The king asked.


    "I just remembered that when Miss Mei and the others vanished,I said that she returned with some rare things that they traded with a mysterious old man. Thinking about it, they should have nothing to trade with that would interest any of us. Unless they actually traded those crystals."


    Those words caused the other three to ponder. That was very likely.


    "Should we try to trade for some of those crystals?"


    The king suggested.


    "My Rey," Merio replied. "It is better that we confirm it first before we do some movements. They might not take it positively. If that happened, it will be bad for our rtions with them."


    "That is also true." The king nodded. "Then, we will do this. We will wait for the return of their leader, and I will personally talk to him about it. Felenia might not lie to us, but I still want to see those crystals and assess its worth. Just in case..."


    The king turned to his queen and his aide.


    "Prepare some of our treasures for exchange. Choose some that might take the interests of humans."


    "Yes, my dear."


    "Yes, my Rey."


    Mbinia and Morana replied respectively.


    Then, the king turned to Merio.


    "Also check for the ves. Morana mentioned about Miss Mei speaking about their leader wanting to tame or having ves."


    "Yes, my Rey."


    Merio replied.


    The meeting continued and unfortunately, they were not able toe up with anything to do with the brigands. Thus, they decided to ask the Representative of Anggitays and Tikbngster on. She should know what to do since the brigands belonged to their race.


    ***


    The long day had passed and sunset was about toe.


    At this time, Silhouettes appeared from the mountain to the west. The sentries immediately reported to the King as they saw Diwata Danaya and Mark returning. However, they could not see the fat giant anywhere, and instead, there was an orange armored giant with them carrying arge box made of metal on his back.


    The news immediately spread in the whole fortress. After all, many anticipated the oue of this. The greatest threat they were facing now was the drought caused by that water-absorbing carpet of pulsating flesh.


    Thus, their return was faced with more people. They were led by the King and Queen of the Stone Fortress, together with the representatives of the races. Lastly, Mei and everyone were also present.


    Danaya and Mark emerged from the illusion covered forest and saw themotion. Mark could only sigh and turned to the tired-looking Danaya.


    "It''s your duty now."


    He said as he led Aephelia and Logan towards Mei and the others. The others were confused about his conduct, and leaving Diwata Danaya, who was looking a bit ragged, to face everyone.


    Danaya bitterlyposed herself. In front of everyone, she said the news.


    "Everyone." She smiled. "The threat in the Kingdom of Sylphs is no more! We can now stay in this ce with less worries!"


    The news caused amotion in a very positive way. The king and queen fo the Duendes and the other representatives could not wait to hear the details. Of course, they approached her positively and respectively.


    Everyone was happy, and the situation was like a festival that night. A small asion was opened, and everyone had a share of good food that they never had for weeks.


    Well, that was fine for everyone, except the brigands that faced the re of the reaper, and the representatives of the Anggitays, Amayana, begging not to kill them, as they could serve better purpose alive than just a pile of corpses.

 Chapter 460 The Situation In The Fortress Dungeons, Marks Wrath And Danayas Proposal

    <strong>Day ¨‚¨‚ - ¨‚¨‚:¨‚¨‚ ¨‚¨‚ - Meeting Room, Stone Fortress, Eastern Mountain</strong>


    The representatives of the Spirit and Elemental Races gathered once more in the meeting room even though the time was alreadyte. Everyone outside was in the mood for a celebration. For these people that represented their races, however, they had other things to consider.


    They were happy to avert a slow, but surely an iing disaster that they would not be able to avoid. Well, unless everyone was interested in abandoning the only safe ce they had left. And that was the veryst resort they would want to take considering how dangerous it was. Even when hunting animals outside the territory of the Eastern Mountain, there was an immense risk of encountering the infected.


    Mind it, that not only that the infected were still capable of magic, they also had highly enhanced bodies,pared to the ones that were not infected. Even if the infected werecking in terms of intelligence, a single infected Tikbng could surely wipe the floor against a whole squad of soldiers. There were also the mutations of some that made them even far more threatening than human infected.


    None of the residents of the Stone Fortress would want to live in such an environment outside the Eastern Mountain. Thus, the representatives were also happy that their people would not experience as such.


    Still, for a threat that they could not do anything about to be killed by a small group, they needed to know the exact details of the event. Especially for the king and queen of the Sylphs, this event meant a lot for the two. They did not only lose their kingdom and people. Some of the members of their royal family were also gone.


    In fact, the king and queen of Sylphs caused quite a ruckus together with a few Sylphs and their remaining son and daughter. Apparently, one of the six Sylphs Aephelia took back was actually the infected first princess. She sacrificed herself to let her siblings escape at thest moment. To see her in her current state, it was not wrong for the former royal family to react like that.


    Fortunately, Danaya managed to calm them down. In the first ce, there was nothing that the Royal Family of Sylphs could do. The princess was already infected. If they demanded to return her, Mark had no problems agreeing to consider that he got some items from their kingdom. However,he would have Aephelia cancel her control on the princess. At that point, the infected princess, who had quite arge amount of magic, would end up endangering everyone.


    She would have to be killed to prevent casualties.


    Nothing would change, and they would have to see their beloved family member get killed for the second time. They would not want that and just relented.


    And thus, after gathering everyone in the meeting room, Diwata Danaya recounted the events she witnessed.


    Hearing that their first idea of making everyone march to kill that thing could have ended up in a disaster, they felt shivers on their backs. Then, learning about how Mark dealt with the creature and the thousands of infected Sylphs there, they felt quite nervous. Luckily, they did not try to offend such a being.


    Furthermore, Danaya affirmed to everyone that Mark was way more powerful than her. If they offended him in any way, she would not be able to do anything, and they could just pray for mercy.


    Therefore, Danaya warned everyone here that even if they chose not to form a full alliance, they should not offend such a Mark and their group.


    That made everyone even more nervous. Hieromano reported what had happened this morning. Learning about it, Danaya could not help but frown. She looked at Amayana, who was looking down nervously.


    "Where are those idiots now?"


    Danaya asked.


    "In the dungeons, Diwata."


    Hieromano replied.


    "Heiromano, lead me there. Amayana, you alsoe with me. Everyone else can leave."


    "Yes, Diwata Danaya."


    They all respectfully replied.


    Led by the king and queen of the Duendes, Danaya and Amayana went the lowest level of the fortress where the dungeons were located.


    And there, they felt a bit confused.


    The Duendes in human size guarding the dungeons had nervous expressions while watching the cell holding the brigands. Even the other races imprisoned in their cells were very nervous and were trying their best to shrink themselves to the furthest corner of their cell.


    That made Danaya and the others feel strange. It was until...


    "Neigh! Geua! Gahhha!!"


    They heard painful and choking sounds inside the cells.


    Before everyone was able to react, Amayana rushed towards the cells. Danaya, Hieromano, and Mbinia followed behind her immediately.


    They were then subjected to a chilling sight.


    Mark was there, lifting Narquico, the Tikbng with red-colored mane, by his neck. No one knew how Mark could have found this ce that easily as it was a secured area that no one could enter at will. Furthermore, the cell was still locked from the outside, and yet, he was inside.


    Aside from Narquico, the other Tikbngs in the group were lying down around the cell, wailing in pain with injuries. At the wall of the cell, arge crack could be seen with blood smeared all around it. That was when they noticed that Narquico''s back seemed to be bleeding profusely.


    And thest thing, they saw strands of golden hair scattered on the floor.


    Then, with his arm holding the leader glowing red brightly, Mark mmed Narquico towards the wall once more.


    BAM!


    GUACK!


    The m was too powerful that everyone inside the dungeon felt the tremor. Blood spurted out of Narquico''s mouth, some of it sttered on Mark''s arm and face.


    That seemed to have irked Mark further. With a fierce expression, he was ready to m the Tikbng towards the wall once more.


    "STOP!"


    Amayana finally managed to react. Her shout made Mark pause and look at her.


    "What do you want?"


    Mark asked, ring at Amayana. This sinister re, apanied by the blood on his face, was terrifying to see. There was also a very heavy killing intent being emanated from him.


    Amayana could not help but step back, causing her horse bottom to knock on the metal bars of the cell at the opposite side of the hallway.


    Seeing the Anggitay afraid, Danaya went forward herself.


    "Mark, do you n on killing them?"


    Mark turned to Danaya and replied.


    "I won''t. These idiots still have a use for me. Creating an illusion and such. Like how you did around this ce. But that doesn''t mean they needed to have their bodies intact, right?"<sub> </sub>


    Hearing that, everyone that heard him felt chilling shivers crawling on their backs. It was even more for the Tikbngs that were inside the cell he was in. As for Narquico, he could not react anymore, he was on the verge of passing out.


    "Can we talk about this?"


    Danaya asked.


    "What talk?"


    Mark said, tightening his grip on therge neck of Narquico make him choke.


    "Could you please put him down first, let''s talk somewhere else."


    Danaya tried to calm Mark as much as possible. She wished that she took a Kibaan with her. In the least, their voices and songs could calm people.


    Mark looked at the horse-head on his hands and at Danaya. He had no problems with her, and she tried to be as hospitable as possible after learning what he was. Thus, he did not have problems agreeing with her request. He could give punishment to these idiots for another time.


    And thus, like a dirty rag, the blood-covered Narquico, was tossed onto the floor.


    Mark then turned into ck smoke, which swept across the floor before moving out of the cell through the gaps. He then appeared outside with the golden hairs back on his hand.


    The Amayana, Hieromano, and Mbinia were surprised as it was the first time they saw this even after hearing about it from the Diwata. As for the guards and the other prisoners, it seemed that they saw Mark do this before when he entered as they were not as surprised as the three.


    "Can you talk now?"


    Mark asked.


    "If possible, we can talk somewhere else."


    Danaya asked once more.


    "It''s fine here. I know that you don''t have anything to talk about yet. You just bidding for time for an idea."


    He said with a nonchnt re. The Diwata was stumped.


    What Mark said was true. They were here to see and discuss what to do regarding the Tikbngs. Mark''s appearance here was unexpected.


    "You got me."


    The Diwata sighed.


    "I just want you to stop what you are doing right now. We want to catch them for a long time already, but you know that Tikabngs are not that easy to contain either. Now that they are caught, they can be a good asset to strengthen our defenses against the Infecta."


    "But it is MY WIFE that caught them. The same person that THEY tried to sexually assault along with mypanions. They are already lucky that they did not aim for my daughters or they are already dead now despite what use they have."


    Mark spoke with emphasis on several things and a chilling re that could put anyone into the abyss.


    Still, Danaya had her won appearance to maintain. She stared straight at Mark not minding how deep his stare was.


    "I did not ask for them freely. I know where you areing from. If not for the current situation, their crimes did not only warrant banishment but public execution. You wanted to punish them for what they did and only needed their magic, am I right? We needed their strength. That is why, if possible, we can arrange some amendments. Although we have not fully decided yet, maybe, we can exchange them for some other Tikbngs or other races we as ves and prisoners. So please, suspend what you wanted to do until we could assess things fully."


    Mark did not seem to be very contented with that.


    That was when Amayana spoke.


    "I beg of you not to do anything further."


    Mark looked at her and spoke.


    "Even if he is like that, he is still your brother, is it?"


    Those words shocked everyone. The shock for Amayana was even deeper. After all, no one knew about this aside from her and Narquico. However, the truth was already out of the bag. Amayana folded her leg, lowering her horse body to the ground. She then lowered her body into a bow.


    "I beg of you."


    It was the lowest stance an Anggitay could give to someone. Furthermore, she was the strongest among the Anggitays and their current representative in this ce. For her to lower herself like this in front of everyone was akin to stepping down from her status.


    "Tsk." Mark clicked his tongue and turned to Danaya. "I will wait for what you all will decide. Rember that I don''t want to be on the losing side considering that you all requested this."


    He said as he turned into ck Smoke which swiftly disappeared from the dungeons. In his spot, thirty-six strands of golden hair slowly fell down to the ground.


    Seeing him disappear, the atmosphere in the dungeons felt several times lighter.


    Danaya could now breathe deeply.


    As for Amayana, she waited for all the strands of golden hair to fall to the ground, picked it all one by one, before slowly getting up. She felt that her status fell to dirt now. However, she did not regret it. She did not hate her brother and wanted to catch him to change him slowly. Unfortunately, he was too slippery and grew as strong as her. Now that the chance came, she would do everything to not lose it.


    Now, however, another dilemma came.


    It was because it would be hard to find anyone topare to this group. Even disregarding their physical strength that Mark did not need, their magical abilities were among the strongest in their races too. It would be almost impossible to find a recement.


    Just what would they do now that they promised something like this?


    Things could have been different if these brigands were caught for targeting other individuals. But to be caught because they targeted the people of someone that even she did not want to offend. They were asking to die.


    Unfortunately, they could not lose this group no matter what their sin was in the past. They needed every strong individual they could find.


    In the Mortal World, the apocalypse could be handled with quantity over quality of quality could not be achieved.


    It was different for the Spirit Dimension. They could only aim for quality even if they had quantity. That was the difference in the strength of these individuals.


    Danaya wanted to cry for having some idiots in her territory.

 Chapter 461 Checking The Loot, The Items Mark And Mei Gathered

    <strong>Day ¨‚¨‚ - ¨‚¨‚:¨‚¨‚ ¨‚¨‚ - Guestrooms, Stone Fortress, Eastern Mountain</strong>


    Returning to their room, everyone weed Mark back. Of course, none of them asked what he did as they already knew what could have happened. He immediately left after hearing what happened with a scary expression. They already expected that he might make the Tikbngs regret targetting them in them.


    They already expected that Mark would not kill them because they witnessed how effective their magic towards the infected. That did not mean that they would not suffer. He would probably beat the hell out of them to the brink of death.


    Well, of course, they did not try to ask what Mark did, except for one person.


    "Did you kill them?"


    p Karlene asked childishly.</anda>


    Her question made na want to choke her. The others could only sigh. They were already used to it. There were times that Karlene was too childish, and there were times that she had a screw loose.


    Mei, on the other hand, did not bother to know the fate of those Tikbngs, though. Those horseheads targetted her group, and she caught them in retaliation. She then gave them to Mark, and he could do anything he wanted. Nevertheless, she was delighted as to how Mark reacted to what happened. The feeling of having someone you loved to get angry for you was rather fulfilling. That showed how important you were to them.


    Still, Mei felt very tired. Now that things were over and Mark had returned, all the tension she held back kicked in. She was Mark''s partner, and she felt that she had the responsibility of protecting everyone in that attack. Her trait as a Mutator also helped her suppress her feelings as the beloved little girls, her daughters, were present.


    Unfortunately, it did not mean that her mental scar already healed. Those lustful stares andughs from the Tikabngs made her stomach churn and feel very nervous. She just had to hold everything back as everyone was in danger.


    Mark knew how Mei was feeling. He held her tight in an assuring manner as they sat on the sofa while he replied to Karlene''s question.


    Hearing about the Diwata''s proposition, everyone thought that it was for the best. They did not really want to keep bastards who tried to harm them by their side. Besides, Karlene and the other women in the group felt repulsed to the stares of those Tikabngs.


    Markforted Mei by his side while they talked about their next ns. Amidst the nning, dinner came. And to say, the food delivered was several times better than yesterday. Even Felenia, who knew how the dishes were being prepared in this fortress, was surprised. Apparently, the dinner brought to them this time was food that was only served for royal asions.


    Grilled meat of a rare magical animal. Golden Mushroom soup. Rainbow glittered fish. There were also other beautifully looking dishes. All of these dishes were something that did not only taste good but also replenish the magical energy of those who ate it.


    Without a doubt, they were trying to please Mark.


    Sure enough, the food was emptied in no time. Mark also did not hold back. He was still in a bad mood, and he decided to burn his anger through eating. Teremillio''s wives, except for Felenia, were in heaven, and it was the first time they were able to eat such food.


    They continued their nning while eating. Apparently, the next closest ce was Teremillio''s Kingdom, which was at the southern mountain range past Agos River. It was quite far.


    Teremillio did not want to return there, though. His race loved to y trickery on others and would not hesitate to kill for various reasons. A greedy kind that would take revenge in the slightest offense, that was what they were. Sometimes, there was no offense at all. They just take action for the fun of it. Furthermore, many males of their race like to have more than one spouse. And the way they get their wives were not the best either.


    Then, how was Teremillio different? It was because, believe it or not, his mother was a White Duende. Although he managed to inherit the nature of having more than one wife, his other aspects were different from the majority of his race.


    His mother, the fifth wife of the king, was also the main reason he wanted to return. He also had a younger brother. However, Teremillio could not care less about that bastard. That sibling of his totally took after their father. He did not want anything to do with him.


    After eating, everyone was still active. Mark''s group already started to notice the effect of this dimension on their body clocks. It seemed that while their minds subconsciously acknowledge the flow of time, their bodies had yet to adapt to the actual difference. That caused them to feel ufortable. They even took a nap in the afternoon because they felt tired. At the time Mark returned, it was the time they just woke up.


    Now, they had a lot of time in their hands.


    "By the way, Mark. What is that?"


    The woman as curious as a child, Karlene, attacked with her question once more. This time, however, everyone had the same reaction to the twenty-five-kilogram shipping box sized metal box Mark carried back.


    Mark had no problems showing them. He opened the box, which contained different kinds of items. Most of the things were beautiful gemstones and crystals. There were also doll sized armor sets, weapons, and equipment. There was no doubt that it was items belonging to the Sylphs.


    Everyone checked the items. Amihan and Mya even tried the armors that fit them perfectly as if tailored for them. Each object was a magical one. The armors weighed lighter than it should be. It was the same for the weapons. Swords with des coated with wind magic, a dress that enhances a Sylph''s speed of flight, and even a Sylphen Bow that could make arrows pierce through the body of arge enemy.<sub> </sub>


    There was a huge variety of items in that small box. It was because the items used by the Sylphs were small in the first ce.


    "Actually, there are more of those things back there. I left the rest since most are either broken or drained of its magical properties."


    That was the sad part. Most of the things in the Kingdom of Sylphs were ruined by that carpet of flesh. Even the wood of the Spirit Tree was unusable. It was too dried to the point that it could fall anytime.


    Still, Mark found a considerable amount, especially the gemstones. ording to Danaya, these could be used to make magical equipment. In fact, the armors and weapons the Sylphs had were made with these gemstones. Mark also found these gemstones in a ce like a workshop. The number was just enough to make a weapon or single part of human-sized armor, though.


    Apparently, most of the stock of these stones that the Sylphs had were stored inside the space of their Spirit Tree. And that space already copsed, causing the destruction of whatever items left inside after its copse.


    And for the greatest item that Mark found in the ruined Kingdom of Sylphs, the crown of the Infected Princes. It was a crystal crown embedded with multiple wind attribute gems. Anyone wearing the crown could drastically increase their wind attribute magic.


    If the crown was worn by someone without wind magic but was able to control magical energy, it would allow them to use wind magic to some extent. ording to Danaya, it was one of the treasures the Kingdom of Sylphs valued highly.


    The Diwata warned Mark, though. Although he had the im for the items since he destroyed the thing that upied the Kingdom of Sylphs, the Sylphs might still be hostile if he tantly showed their treasure out. It was better to keep in a secret.


    This crown was really a good treasure. However, it only fits on the small heads of small Spiritual and Elemental Races. It was toorge to make it a ring too. And that was the problem. The properties of the crown could only be used while wearing it on a part of a person''s body. It meant that it could only be used as either a crown, a ring, or a bracelet if it fit. Putting a string on it and using it as a ne would not do.


    And thus, under the envy of Teremillio and his wives, Mark said that Amihan and Aephelia could take turns wearing the crown. Of course, the two were delighted. Especially Aephelia, who thought that it would be better for Amihan to wear it. She also wanted to learn more abilities. Unfortunately, she was in the body of a Sylph right now.


    Finally, they moved onto what Mei and Spera brought out from the Trade Area. Mark already heard about what had happened. To say, he was also interested in the mysterious old man. He also learned how much the races would value the [Energy Crystals] due to their story and the itemsid on the table.


    There were only eight items that Mei and Spera traded to the old man. Three were those gemstones that had a small space inside.


    Mark tried the ck gemstones, which he called [Spatial Stones], first. The space inside the stone surely made Mark remember the wuxia novels he red before. In fact, na had the same idea. They could craft these stones into Storage Rings. Unfortunately, it seemed to be a rare thing as there were only three, unlike the wind gemstones Mark found, which amounted to hundreds.


    The next thing was a dagger. It was a silver dagger with red-colored inscriptions on the de and handle. The old man said that he got this dagger from a foreign individual. This dagger needed to be dropped with the blood of the owner, and it would return to the owner after being dropped or thrown.


    The fifth item was a red billiard ball-sized spherical crystal. And to Mark''s surprise, it was actually something with the same property as the Crown he found. The only difference was that it had afire attribute. Mei said that this one cost twenty [Energy Crystals]. Mark was not bothered about the cost, though. It was a very amazing thing.


    As for the sixth item, Mark called out Ignis who was in a dormant state all this time. This Demon Sword found the energy in the air in this dimension was beneficial to its growth. Thus, it had been staying in a dormant state ever since they entered while absorbing energy from the air. In fact, although slow, Ignis was growing stronger. Mark woke the sword up because the next item was actually a scabbard.


    Mei thought that Ignis might fit in this scabbard that was actually meant for a sword with a wide de. The de of Ignis was not wide but upied a wide area because of his shape. And to Mei''s satisfaction, although there was about a centimeter allowance, Ignis fit in the scabbard.


    "WHOA! WHAT IS THIS!"


    Mark could hear the excited screams of Ignis in his mind that made him knock on the Demon Sword to pipe it down.


    Apparently, this scabbard could nourish the sword sheathed in it with magical energy. It could absorb energy in the air at a fast pace, purify it, it would make the sword absorb the energy. It was very beneficial to Ignis.


    The seventh item was actually an ornate box. It was the thing Mei used to store the items while carrying it, except for therge scabbard that Spera carried back. This ornate box could store magical items, and stop magic from leaking from the items stored in it. Furthermore, it could be locked using magical energy, and the only person that locked it could open it.


    Lastly, a two meter long and four inches wide strand of cloth. It was a magical cloth used as raw material for magical clothing. This cloth could not be pierced or torn by normal means. Even the returning dagger earlier could not put a scratch on the fabric. It was a very strange item with infinite possibilities to use.


    The items Mei got from the old man surely made Mark forget his anger a bit. He did not expect to see this much either. Although what he got from the Kingdom of Sylphs was more in quantity, inbined quality, Mei won.


    Mark could not wait what to do with these items. Unfortunately, it was not the time to turn these things into equipment. It was alreadyte when they finished and decided to sleep after cleaning up.


    That night, however, Mark woke up with Mei tearing up in her sleep. Without waking her up, he embraced her all night. He made sure that her nightmare would stop and note back as he drained all her anxieties and negative feelings, absorbing everything into his.

 Chapter 462 On That Day... A New Threat Came For The Stone Fortress To Face

    <strong>Day ¨‚¨‚ - ¨‚¨‚:¨‚¨‚ ¨‚¨‚ - Guest Rooms, Stone Fortress, Eastern Mountain</strong>


    Their third morning in the Spirit Dimension hade. And for the first time in a while, Mei had woken up first while Mark was still heavily asleep. She opened her eyes, feeling his warm embrace, and noticed that she was holding him even tighter. That was when Mei remembered having a nightmare that suddenly vanishedst night. Although she could not recall the details anymore, she was sure that Mark was the reason why she was able to sleep more peacefully.


    Mei was still in his embrace, making her not want to leave the bed. It looked like Mark was quite tired but looked after her for the rest of the night, nevertheless. It made her pretty guilty. She snuggled closer to his chest until she could hear his heartbeat, thinking of ways to return the favor.


    She then looked at his sleeping face, looking at how his appearance was improving ever since they met. It was not like he was transforming or changing his appearance. The situation was more like the impurities in his body was being flushed out as he got stronger.


    When they met for the first time, Mark''s skin and hair were totally unkempt and uncared for.His hair was ragged, looking dirty and sticky. His skin was rough too. Now, even though he was still uncaring about his appearance, his hair looked healthy, and his skin was smoother. Mei was happy for him.


    Mei could not help but poke his cheeks a little while smiling.


    While Mei was doing that, Mark woke up. He opened his eyes rather abruptly that he caught her. She immediately turned red, lowered her gaze, and burrowed her face unto his chest.


    "Mei''er, good morning."


    Mark said with a smile.


    "Good morning, Gege..."


    Mei replied in a muffled voice.


    That was when Mark said something that made Mei freeze.


    "You three too. Good morning."


    Mei slowly turned her body to see the opposite side of the room like a broken toy. There, she saw I, Abbygale, and Miracle sitting on their bed facing theirs. Abbygale was still half sleep rubbing her eyes. Miracle looked curious while tilting her head. On the other hand, I was looking at Mei with a meaningful smile.


    ""Good morning, Papa, Mama.""


    I said first, which Miracle copied.


    "Papa... Mama... Morning... Yawn..."


    Abbygale also greeted, although in a sleepy voice.


    Mei could not hide her embarrassment. The moment she woke up, she was focused on Mark. She did not know when the three girls woke up. They might have seen everything.


    "I, since when you woke up?"


    Mei asked.


    And, I only replied with a smile. Without a doubt, she saw everything.


    "You three,e here."


    Mark invited them into his and Mei''s bed. And of course, they dlyplied. He told I to stop teasing her Mama, and she nodded in reply. On the other hand, Miracle started poking his face, obviously copying Mei. Abbygale, on the other hand, dozed off after shey down beside Mei.


    Mei felt even more embarrassed because of I and Miracle, but surely, she was happy. This was the kind of family she wanted, after all.


    ***


    Unfortunately, their peaceful morning was short-lived.


    BAM!


    The double door leading to their room mmed open. Outside, Karlene was there.


    "Ah..."


    Karlene voiced in a daze as she saw what was happening inside the room.


    na was also there with her palm on her forehead, behind her best friend.


    "I already told you to slow down..."


    By the looks of it, Karlene did not deliberately push the doors without thinking. She was probably running and ended up not being able to stop on time and pushed the doors by ident.


    Seeing Mark, Mei, and the little girls in the room, she realized that she must have ruined their family time.


    Mark did not mind. Actually, the reason he woke up was not because of Mei and the little girls. He was detecting some panic in the fortress.


    "Is something wrong?"


    He asked the two.


    Seeing that he was not angry, Karlene sighed in relief. na then spoke.


    "Well, Morana just came saying that a gigantic infected is seen in the north by the sentries. Everyone is panicking. The soldiers are getting ready to fight."


    "So, that''s why."


    Mark said.


    Because of that, they ate the breakfast that Morana already sent to everyone and went out. Mark had no intention to fight, he was just interested in what kind of gigantic infected appeared.


    ***


    Mark and the others went out. There was no need to actually go out of the Stone Fortress to see what was happening. It was already enough to stand atop the tall walls of the fortress.


    And they were amazed. The iing enemy sure was gigantic.


    Even the walls of the Stone Fortress looked nothing but a toy.


    An about fifty-meter humanoid giant could be seen passing through the mountains to the north.<sub> </sub>


    "On that day... Mankind received a grim reminder..."


    na started to narrate.


    "Stop..." Mark scratched his head. "That thing doesn''t even look anything like that thing that kicked Wall Maria Open. These walls don''t even reach ten meters, let alone fifty."


    "I know!" na pouted. "I just want to say it!"


    The others, even the soldiers on watching atop the walls, looked at the two in their yful banter. Pefile sighed. This group of abnormal people was surely fearless. Even with the iing abomination, they felt no fear.


    Looking back at the threat, it was really nothing like an anatomical model-like giant. It was an androgynous muscr giant with hairy skin. And despite having a humanoid shape, it did not have any many features on its body, except for things.


    This giant had, who knows how many eyes on its body. Its whole body was covered with countless eyes of different sizes, to the point that a glimpse of it could make anyone have an itchy scalp. Thergest one it had was a horizontal eye on the center of its face, covering about a quarter of it.


    Under thatrge eye, was its veryrge mouth with a pair of fangs shaped like a mammoth''s tusk. Its mouth was always opened like it was always smiling in a very ugly manner. Due to the way its mouth was opened, its bloody gums were exposed.


    "It should be an overgrown Bungisngis, isn''t it Diwata?"


    Mark spoke, calling for someone who had justnded on top of the walls.


    "Unfortunately, yes," Diwata Danaya, replied.


    A Bungisngis, it was a giant known in Philippine Folklore. There was not too much information in cirction about this cyclops. However, it was known for its favorite diet, humans, and its dumb nature.


    Still, for something like this to appear, it was surprising. This giant was the very first infected they had seen with this scale. If something like this appeared in the Mortal World, it was hard to say if this could be taken down by humans.


    BOOM! BOOM!


    Its gigantic steps echoed through the mountains. This made everyone very afraid.


    Even Diwata Danaya was frowning. Without a doubt, that huge thing was aiming for this ce.


    "Want me to deal with it?"


    Mark asked the Diwata nonchntly.


    The Diwata was surprised, and obviously, she was d to ept the offer. However, she shook her head.


    "I''m sorry, but I like to rely on you as ast resort. I''ll be honest. We are still struggling to find a way topensate you for Narquico''s group. We can''t deepen our debt anymore. There is also the reward we have yet to give to you regarding that thing in the Kingdom of Sylphs."


    "If you say so," Mark said. "Well, I already found good items from that kingdom. If your people can take down that giant, just give me the body, and its enough for the reward."


    "Are you sure?"


    Diwata Danaya was surprised. In fact, they had no use for the body of the giant, aside from feeding some of its flesh to their carnivorous pets and livestock. Most of it would go to waste as the Bungisngis was more of a cryptid than a Spirit or Elemental. Its body would not turn into dust and just rot. Of course, some races would want its flesh as many races would not bother about unnecessary things as long as they could fill their stomachs.


    None of them were bothered about being infected, though. They already knew that the infection could only be transmitted through saliva. In fact, some of the meat being circted in the trade area was actually meat from infected animals.


    "Think about killing that thing first before asking that question."


    Mark said which made the Diwata nod. She immediately left to convey Mark''s intentions to the representatives.


    "Gege, won''t it be faster if you deal with it?"


    Mei asked.


    "That''s true I guess. That thing isrge and physically strong but in terms of speed, its slow. It doesn''t have magic either. Well, it isn''t really our business. That giant is aiming for this fortress, which is not ours. We have no actual reason to participate."


    "How selfish."


    Felenia remarked with a serious expression.


    "Oh, right," Mark remembered. "This is your parent''s ce. But unlike you, they are not under me. They even have debts to pay to me. You know that. Of course, I''ll help if they wanted to. Remember, I already offered my help."


    Felenia stopped speaking with a sigh. Mark did not say anything wrong. She was the one being selfish.


    Furthermore, the actual reason Mark was not that keen on helping, was because he wanted to see the Spiritual and Elemental Races in action. He wanted to see their actual strengths and abilities. It was to assess whether they were worthy allies.


    If they passed, then a mutual pact could be signed where Mark''s base and the Stone Fortress would aid each other in times of emergency. There was also trade and such. That was his n.


    After all, after dealing with things around his Spirit Tree in this Dimension, he still needed to travel across Earth to search for inheritors. He had to make differentyers of preparations and defense while he was gone. Even though Spera was at their side, it was not always sure that they would be able to travel instantly as her ability to open portals was still limited.


    Thinking about the things he wanted and needed to do, Mark was feeling tired. He just wanted to rx and y games inside his base. However, the situation around him did not allow it.


    While Mark was thinking things, thebatants of the Stone Fortress started to move. Each race had its own groups that would face the giant and was being led by the representatives themselves.


    Seeing that, Mark was very interested in what these races would show him. Furthermore, each member of the groups they had below the walls had either strong bodies or strong magical fluctuations. It would surely be a good show.


    There was also one thing, Mark could feel another observer like him. And the person was watching atop the mountain where the Stone Fortress was built. He was not sure if that was the old man Mei and Spera talked about, but surely, he would meet with that person once the giant was dealt with.


    After all, whoever that observer was, that person had a far stronger energy fluctuation than both the Deity of Bloodshed and the me Demonbined.


    Sure enough, this person was in the level of a deity or probably, higher.


    Furthermore, Mark could tell. While he was observing that person using his mental and emotion detection, the person was also observing him with great interest.


    In any case, Mark would see how everything yed out.


    "Everyone! Move!"


    Diwata Danaya shouted as she led the groups of races out of the forest that was covered with illusions. They did not want the ce to be destroyed because of the battle, as such, they would fight the giant before it reached the forest.

 Chapter 484 The Two Ongoing Battles, Testing The Enemies And An Unexpected Reveal

    <strong>Day 125 - 9:01 PM - Military Camp, New Infanta Settlement, Barangay Banugao, Infanta, Quezon</strong>


    Mark fought physically with the two jumping corpses in front of him. The two were very sticky opponents. Dodging, blocking, counter-attacking, and even charging forward and retreating. The two corpses coordinated too well and fought too smoothly that anyone would forget that they were nothing but moving dead bodies.


    But to say, Mark was enjoying thepany of the two. After all, he never had any proper training, and his fighting style was nothing but a mash-up of things he self-studied. It was a way to train his muscles to fight with these two, who seem to be only able of physical fight.


    Furthermore, the two corpses were able to cope with his enhanced body after he awakened his ancestry of being a Blood Demon. It was a good thing for him to have proper training partners.


    He could y a little bit with these two.


    After all, with the chaos that ensued in the settlement, Mark had nothing to do here anymore.


    The future already changed.


    ***


    Back in the workshop, Mark''s eyes blurred as he got a vision. The irvoyance he had that would only activate at random times and when something was going to happen to the people close to him. And it would not show any vision for trivial matters.


    The only times that it activated was when something very crucial or something concerning death would happen to them.


    And he could not deny, but Emika was one of them. Not only that, she fought by his side several times, but her personality and trait as a Mutator were very pleasing. She was annoying at times, but it was just a part of her charms as a child.


    However, this night marked the start of her supposed suffering.


    The Auraboros abducted people from the New Infanta Settlement stealthily. It was a very sessful mission for them as they managed to get a lot of people. Worse, the Military only noticed it after hours the mission had ended.


    People disappeared, many died hidden outside the walls, and worse, Emika''s family were also gone.


    Chervil was a capable scientist. Among the scientists that the Military had, he was one of those that had been able toe up with good results after the apocalypse.And thus, after seeing the research, the enemies would take him to work for him.


    And of course, he would not just ept that. As such, they would use his sister, niece, and nephew to force him.


    The first example was to force Emika to swallow a pill. She was the most active in protecting her family, being noisy and resisting, and such, the leader of the enemy did not fancy her.


    Swallowing the pill turned her a beautiful green-haired child into a hideous vine monster. Worse, it did not change her into a savage beast, keeping her consciousness intact. If anyone was to mutate that way, it was better if it also destroyed her mind in the process.


    They made her suffer like that to force his uncle to work under them.


    The vision Mark saw was clear as spring water. Like before, it felt real, and he could feel Emika''s emotions. He found it very unpleasant. It was as if it was choking him. Even though she became a monster, she did not cry outside. She insisted on protecting her brother and mother, forcing the ire of the enemies unto her.


    Inwardly, she was in pain. The body she turned into felt pain in every movement. Having her body like that was torture. And yet, she did not voice any of it. Her many eyes under her leaves red at the enemy with resolution. She would protect her family at all costs.


    What she felt did not escape Mark''s vision. It was as if he there beside her. And thus, he would not let it happen.


    Mark immediately asked Spera, who had just left his workshop. He needed a portal towards the New Infanta Settlement. Not only that, it was the fastest method of travel, but it would not alert the enemies like how it did if he created an opening through the mist.


    And thus, he appeared at the outskirts of the New Infanta Settlement to change the future once more. He was together with Mei and Amihan, who would serve as his backup from outside. The two would also be in charge of alerting the people of the enemies.


    Aside from what happened to Emika, the vision gave Mark a good thing.


    It was the closeup figure of the enemy leader and his aides. Without the enemies even knowing, he was able to see their leader and his subordinates.


    He knew how many jumping corpses were there, and he now knew the face of the leader of the enemy. Furthermore, he heard their n to use these people and infected to deal with his base. It was good to know as he had the same idea. It looked like he needed to do some tweaks on the infected he imprisoned and not send them as is.


    ***


    Mark waved Ignis to one of the two Jiangshis. Of course, it evaded the attack smoothly while the other took the opening to attack him from behind.


    He kicked the ground, backflipping, and evading the chain that flew towards him from his back. He spun his body int he air, trying to cut the chain. It caused a loud nging sound, but even if Ignis was a Demon Sword, the chain only received a few scratches.


    The Jiangshi wielding the sword jumped from in front, charging towards Mark, who was yet tond. With the sword pointed at him, it tried to pierce his chest.


    Mark twisted his body, causing the sword to pass an inch before him. He then grabbed the head of the Jiangshi and smashed it to the ground as hended.


    BAM!


    The dirt sunk and a small crater formed with the head of the Jiangshi at the center. While the attack smashed the ground, the head of the Jiangshi was unexpectedly still intact.


    Furthermore, it slipped out of Mark''s hand, leaving its hat, keeping the talisman still stuck on its forehead. It then spun his body with one hand, using the other that held the sword to cut Mark.


    At the same time, the chain came hurling at him once more, trying to wrap on his body and constrain him.


    BAM! CLING!


    Mark kicked the chains away and pped the t side of the sword, forcing it to the ground. Using the same hand he used to smash the head of the sword-wielding Jiashi to the ground, he pushed himself away from the sandwich of the two.


    He smiled. Fighting like this was enjoyable.


    And to say, he already got his goals here. One was to change the future. The other was to test the enemies.


    He already saw the leader and these jumping corpses from his vision. He already saw Chaaya and Huo Long Yue. The only thing that he had not done until this time was to test their abilities.


    Why? Not because he wanted to know to be able to protect his base. What he realized this time when he returned was that he was not the only one that needed to grow stronger.<sub> </sub>


    In the uing confrontation in his base, he would try to make a safe environment where he would allow his people to learn.


    He would benefit from absorbing the energy that created the mist, while his base would have experience thwarting a siege. In that case, he needed to measure the abilities of the enemies.


    And this time was an adequate opportunity.


    It was kind of unfortunate that the shadow woman named Chaaya was not here for the test. In any case, he would just deal with them with the time came.


    As for his other abilities, he would not use it this time. He would only use the things he showed when he returned. After all, that fox that was always watching was around.


    Mark could not fathom what it wanted. It was just watching without hostility or any notion to face him. This behavior made it hard to guess what its goals.


    However, as long as it did not show any hostility, Mark was not going to confront it. If he started to find it annoying, however, he would not hesitate to eliminate it together with these robed annoyances.


    While Mark yed with the two Jiangshis, Huo Long Yue faced two people.


    Emika was supposed to be the victim. Yet, she was now fighting with the person who was supposed to abduct her. She stood on the second floor using her vines to distract the Huo Long Yue.


    On the other hand, the person with an alias of Ogre. The mercenary Jones Galley, faced with Huo Long Yue.


    Huo Long Yue was a rogue cultivator. He was more powerfulpared to regr people. Strong enough to see the speed of bullets and even catch the ones from assault rifles flying towards him.


    Yet, Jones Galley, who was supposed to be nothing but a mercenary, was able to cope with him.


    Emika''s vines crept towards Huo Long Yue, trying to constrain him. Thetter waved his hands with a bright light, shing the vines into pieces.


    At the same time, Jones charged towards Huo Long Yue and punched.


    Huo Long Yue, on the other hand, smiled with ridicule as he released a punch of his own.


    His slight tap could sink a bulletproof armor worn by a soldier. A punch from him could pierce the armor of a tank. If a human received this attack, he would explode into pieces.


    BOOM!


    Huo Long Yue''s eyes turned wide.


    The two punches they threw connected with a loud boom. Yet, Jones Galley was still standing with a smug smile on his face.


    Huo Long Yue retreated in a hurry as he knew that something was not right. Even Mutators with enhanced bodies would not be unscathed after receiving a punch from him.


    "You! Who are you!"


    Huo Long Yue asked. After all, it was clear that Jones was of another country''s forces. He did not look like a Filipino and more of European or American origin.


    "Isn''t it rude for you to ask my name without introducing yourself first? Well, in any case, I don''t mind." Jones smiled. "My name is Jones Galley. A mercenary."


    Hearing thest word, Huo Long Yue felt smug.


    "So, you are paid to fight here? Why not join us. Have you heard of us, the Auraboros? We like to take talents. We can pay you more than what you can get here."


    Huo Long Yue was quite confident about this. In his eyes, mercenaries were nothing but money huggers. Pay them more, and they would go from enemies to allies.


    But then, Jones Galley smiled with ridicule.


    "Don''t make meugh. The Auraboros will take me and let me join?"


    Huo Long Yue suddenly felt confused.


    Then, Jones charged towards him once more with his fist that shone with a glossy metallic hue.


    Huo Long Yue retreated.


    BAM!


    There was nothing that the punch hit, but the air trembled with a strong wind.


    "I''ve been fighting with your organization for the majority of my life. How will your superiors let me join you? Hahaha!"


    Huo Long Yue was shocked by that statement.


    "Your people chased after me for a long time and every single one of them... I killed."


    Jones Galley stated.


    And then, Huo Long Yue remembered the name of the manughing in front of him. His eyes turned wider.


    "It seemed that you realized." Jones smiled. "Let me reintroduce myself. My name is Jones Galley. But they also call me SSP-018367. One of the few survivors of the experiment that your organization conducted on innocent orphans before. And the only survivor of your organization''s Supersoldier project."


    Jones then adjusted his fist, getting ready for a better fight.


    "Now tell me. How do you want to die?"

 Chapter 464 The Eyes, The Retreat Of The Races And The Interference Of The Old Man

    Day ¨‚¨‚ - ¨‚¨‚:¨‚¨‚ ¨‚¨‚ - Northern Border, Forest ofIllusion, Eastern Mountain


    The warriors of the races led by Diwata Danaya thought that everything would be over once they sealed the movements of the giant.


    With all their might, they seeded in making the giant fall on its back and kept it from standing once more. With its body covered with vines, roots, and shackles made of stone, there was no way for it to recover back up on its feet.


    What was left was crush its head and brain. That way, the threat of the giant would finally end.


    Still, even when pinned on the ground, the sheer size of the giant gave a threatening pressure to everyone. Because of that pressure, none of the races was able to approach any closer, especially near the giant''s head.


    And thus, the ranged attackers and magic users took point. The Angittays focused their enchanted arrows at the giant''s ears, where the muscles of the head should be softer. The Sylphs, on the other hand, continued to destroy the giant''s eyes, trying to dig further into its eyes.


    The pain from the attacks made the infected giant trash around. Diwata Danaya and the Duendes took the toll from that. Nevertheless, they held on as they continued to repair the breaking shackles around the giant''s body.


    Ranged attacks and magic continued to attack the giant''s head. Just a little more, the battle would already end.


    That was what they thought.


    It was until a stomach-churning feeling enveloped everyone.


    Diwata Danaya was the first to notice. They were in a dangerous situation. She felt some sort of dark and frightening energy that started to leak from the giant''s body.


    "Everyone! Retreat!" Danaya shouted as loud as she could. "Get away from the giant!"


    Knowing how the Diwata treated everyone, they knew that something was up. Something dangerous was up. Along with the Diwata''s superiority towards everyone present, they immediately followed her orders.


    They were supposed to be winning, and yet, they were now retreating.


    However, as they retreated, the sinister energy burst forth from the giant''s body. It made everyone that felt it shiver. Worse, the closest ones to the giant with weaker minds ended up falling unto their knees. Some even lost consciousness almost immediately. It was the worst case to happen as they needed to get away as much as possible.


    Enduring the weakness of their bodies, those that were still conscious came to aid those that fell.


    Diwata Danaya did her best to reduce the effect of the sinister energy towards her people. This way, they would be able to retreat faster. In exchange, however. Her magical energy was depleting rapidly. She did not know how long she would be able to maintain it.


    The Diwata watched the warriors retreating and the giant that was still moving wildly in its restraints.


    But then...


    CRACK!


    Loud cracking sounds were heard echoing across the mountains. However, those sounds did note from the breaking restraints, but from the giant''s body.


    Several humps started to grow on the giant''s body, one on each shoulder,one on the center of its chest, six on its back, and one on each palm. The formation of these humps started to bend the restraints of the giant.


    BURST!


    The humps on the giant''s shoulders and chest burst open, causing it to break free from its restraints. Instead of standing, however, the giant rolled over to its front and raised its body on all fours. That was when the six clustered on its back simrly exploded open.


    At the same time, a thick, sinister, and evil aura permeated into the surroundings.


    Each of the humps bored holes on the giant''s skin, revealing huge eyelidless eyes. Every eye of the giant, big or small, rolled in different directions, searching for both enemies and prey.


    And of course, the eyes saw the races. Most of them were fleeing in fear, some were frozen, while many fell to the ground. Many could not resist the dense evil aura that wasing from the giant.


    That was when the smaller eyes on its body wriggled disgustingly. Then, each eye extended out of the giant''s body, being the point of countless tentacles that reach out towards the nearest races.


    Diwata Danaya immediately flew towards the giant, trying to stop it from attacking her people. With a wave of her hand, several tentacles were cut off and were left wriggling on the ground.


    That was the worst thing, however. The eyes on the giant''s back all turned towards her.


    Then, the surroundings grew dark as a clump of light appeared centered on the pupil of one of therge eyes.


    Danaya felt a crisis that could threaten her life. She wanted to immediately flee. But once she did that, the races fleeing behind her might be hit of whatever attack was toe.


    All she could do was to wave her wand, trying to put up defenses in front of her using magic.


    Before she could finish all of theyers, however...


    THOOOOOOM!!!


    The surroundings grew darker as a blinding beam of light shot towards Danaya. Feeling the energy from the attack, she knew that it was the end of her. Theyers of defenses she managed to put up did not even resist the attack and was immediately broken.


    She was overwhelmed by the feeling of death, making her want to flee. Nevertheless, she did not and started to let out her remaining magical energy, to at least divert the attack in a different direction. This method, however, would inevitably end her life.


    Of course, she did not want it. She wanted to live. But to protect her people, it was inevitable.


    Facing the iing attack that seemed to slow in her perception, she smiled. At her eptance of her iing oue, she closed her eyes.


    "Unfortunately, you can''t die just yet."


    Danaya heard a voice in front of her. She could not help but open her eyes in shock.


    There, she saw a man with two pairs of bat wings, each glowing with a red light. He had red horns, fangs, and his hair had grown to his waist. Furthermore, his forearms and neck were glowing.


    He reached both his hands forwards with open palms. A wall of miasma surged out, blocking and absorbing the beam of light that hit it.


    "You still have a debt to pay. You can''t die without paying that."


    The man said as he manipted the wall of Miasma to spin from the center, lessening the impact of the attack and made it easier to absorb.


    "You..."


    Danaya voiced out as she recognized Mark despite his transformation.


    "Seriously, you better take your people away already. They will be in the way."


    "Th-thank you!"


    Danaya said as she immediately retreated. Using her magic, she brought away as many races as she could.


    The contest between the beam of light and the wall of darkness continued. Sure enough, even Mark was having a hard time contending with it.<sub> </sub>


    "Old man! Is this what you want?!"


    Mark bellowed.


    Then, a voice echoed inside his head.


    "That is right! Absorb the attack until everyone can retreat back into the fortress. And remember! Never try to absorb that ck aura!"


    "Tch, you made it sound easy!"


    ***


    Back when the surge of energy was felt by almost everyone, the familiar yet, an unfamiliar voice echoed inside Mark''s head. It repeated the words Eyes and Observers over and over. He held his head in pain.


    For some reason, he felt the urge to charge forward and fight the giant that was amidst its transformation.


    However, he did not want to. And the more he tried to resist, the more he felt the pain on his head. It was to the point that he fell on his knees while holding his head with both hands.


    Everyone around him became shocked and worried. Mei immediately hugged him, thinking that something from the giant was affecting him. She wanted to use the characteristics of her body to thwart any negative element that was affecting him.


    However, it seemed that his condition was still worsening.


    This made Mei a bit teary. She could see how much pain Mark was in. However, she could not help.


    "Don''t cry, youngdy. It is not your fault."


    A familiar voice echoed on her mind. It was also heard by everyone around her.


    It was when a hole in space opened near them. Then, a familiar old man stepped out, giving Mei and Spera a huge surprise.


    Pefile and the others immediately tried to step forward as they were wary of the old man. That was when they realized that they could not move their feet at all.


    The old man turned to Pefile and the others.


    "I''m sorry about this, but we don''t have too much time."


    He then approached Mark and Mei.


    Looking at Mark, the old man shook his head.


    "Your ancestors surely put a huge burden on you."


    He said as he tapped Mark''s head. With a single tap, Mark returned to normal.


    Surely, Mark felt a bit weakened. Nevertheless, he stood up with Mei beside him.


    "Is he?"


    Mark asked Mei, and she nodded in confirmation.


    "That is right. I''m the one they met in the Trading Area." The old man also confirmed. "I know you have questions, but by your own logic, it should be a tradeoff."


    He said with a smile.


    Mark, on the other hand, could not say anything to contradict that. Not only items but also information could be traded.


    "What do you want?"


    Mark asked.


    The old man did not reply immediately and pointed at the giant that was amidst its transformation.


    "Get rid of that creature. I''m sure that you can do it."


    Hearing that, Mark felt strange.


    "If it''s just dealing with that thing, I think, a single finger is enough for you."


    Mark said with a frown. He could not feel the exact strength of this old man, but his magical energy was definitely higher than him and those that he fought before. He felt like a child before this old man, not only in age but also in strength.


    To Mark''s question, the old man shook his head. The voice of the old man then echoed inside his mind.


    "If it is that easy, I definitely would love to." But then, the old man''s expression had a grim turn. "But you heard it yourself. The Eyes are here. The Observers are definitely watching. Appearing here like this is already risking myself. If I did any more than this, they will definitely make things harder for us."


    Everyone could not understand what the old man meant. They wanted to press more questions. However, the old man stopped them with a signal of his hand.


    "The questions shouldeter. I will not escape, you all have my word." He turned back to Mark. "Deal with that thing first. I will give you some instructions. We don''t have much time. If this continued, that young Diwata will die."


    With a deep sigh, Mark nodded.


    Everyone from his group also wanted to help. Nevertheless, the old man stopped them.


    "It is better if your leader is the only one to go. That thing there is not something you all should be able to face at your current strength."


    Mei and the other felt down. The old man was right, however.


    Mark patted Mei''s head along with the little girls.


    "Wait for me, I''ll be back."


    Mark then jumped off the wall before soaring towards the giant that was now standing on its fours with that disgusting clump of gigantic eyes on its back.


    When he felt the energy being released by one of the eyes facing Danaya, he immediately transformed into his Blood Demon Form. However, what was different this time was that the markings left on his body when he absorbed the Deity of Bloodshed were flickering with a strange glow.


    While he wondered about this, the old man''s voice echoed in his mind.


    "It is me who did that. It is better to face that thing with those markings restricted if you didn''t want to lose control of yourself amidst the battle. Also, I know that you will try to use the miasma on your body to drain the giant of its energy. DO NOT DO IT! You can absorb the iing attack into your own, but NEVER try to absorb that raw ck aura that that thing is releasing from its body."


    While receiving the old man''s instructions, Mark faced the attack of the giant and let the warriors of the races fall back into the fortress.

 Chapter 465 Scorching The Mountain And Forest, The Battle Between Mark And The Giant

    <strong>Day ¨‚¨‚ - ¨‚¨‚:¨‚¨‚ ¨‚¨‚ - Northern Border, Forest of Illusion, Eastern Mountain</strong>


    <o>,m Light and Darkness contended with each other as the bright beam of light and the ck spiral of Miasma shed above the forest.</o>


    Many trembled at the sight of the sh of the two forces. The collision between the two created no tremor or shockwave. It was just the sheer amount of energy produced by the two that made their knees weakened. Just what would have happened if that beam of light went straight towards the races fleeing below? Not even their ash would probably remain.


    Diwata Danaya was very lucky. Mark had taken her ce and received the giant''s attack directly. Her life would have ended already together with many of her people if he did not intervene.


    pping his wings above the lush forest of the mountain, Mark continued to receive the inconceivable attack. Each of it was already glowing bright red, and the force behind his it caused the trees below to sway. And yet, he seemed to be struggling.


    It would be hard for everyone watching in the distance. But very slowly, Mark was being pushed back. Furthermore, the end of the attack was very far from sight as the giant seemed to be continuously feeding energy towards the attack.


    "Old Man! I can barely absorb this beam! What is going on?!"


    Mark bellowed in frustration.


    He was not only getting pushed back, but his Miasma could barely absorb the energy from the attack of the giant. Most of the strength in the attack was either dispersing in the surroundings. Some of it was negating a part of his Miasma, causing him to make more effort to resist it than necessary.


    Mark thought that he would be able to absorb this energy slowly and strengthen himself in the process. But it seemed that it was not the case at all.


    "Of course, it will." The Old Man replied in Mark''s mind. "The energy in that attack and your Miasma are two contending forces. Miasma will absorb and contaminate. On the other hand, that light will erase everything it touched. That light can erase Miasma, but since Miasma is consuming a part of it while contaminating the other part, both energies can negate each other. Don''t expect to use it to strengthen yourself, just its raw energy can kill you like poison."


    The reply from the Old Man made Mark made frown deeper. It was no wonder now. But still, he was not on the winning side here. If the giant did not stop this beam any soon, he would end up being pushed towards the direction the attack was aimed at, the Stone Fortress.


    "Tsk! Since you will not stop, then, I''ll just go on the offensive!"


    Mark grumbled as his body released Miasma covering his body. He had no n to continue to endure this hell of an attack. Then, ignoring the two diameter beam of light in front, several surges of Miasma flew its side, aiming for the giant''s clump of huge eyes on it back.


    Of course, the eyes saw the surges of ck smoke flying towards it. However, it could notprehend what was happening at all. Being infected, while it knew how to attack, its intelligence was toocking for it to be able to defend itself. Furthermore, counter-attack came too fast for it to react at all.


    Thus, the surges of Miasmanded on the ginormous and disgusting clumps of eyes that released the beam of light.


    GROOOOAAAAARRRRR!!!


    Sure enough, the giant staggered backward while wailing in pain. It trashed around the surroundings, toppling every tree and even damaging the foot of the mountain. The best thing, the beam of light was interrupted.


    Mark took a deep breath as she stretched his wings. His wings felt a bit numb. All the burden in resisting the beam of light was put on these wings.


    However, there as not a single second to spare.


    He stretched his wings not only to release its numbness but also to prepare for his next attack.


    His wings glowed as bright as before as suddenly blurred from everyone''s sight.


    THOOM!


    That was when the shockwave from the p of his four wings was felt from behind. In an instant, he was already nearing the giant was still wailing in pain. Even for the infected, [Biter Types] was having a hard time because their bodies were basically still living.


    Of course, while the Miasma hit the eyes on its back, there was barely any damage dealt on the eyes. Mark''s attack only caused severe pain but did not manage to fester the parts it touched.


    Miasma was surely being negated in contact with the giant''s body.


    "What a troublesome creature."


    Mark said as he maneuvered out of the way.


    As he flew closer, despite his speed and the giant still in pain, the tentacles and undamaged eyes on the giant''s body were following his movements. Seeing him getting closer, hundreds of smaller beams of light shot towards him.


    Mark was forced to evade while he created a shield of Miasma that would block those attacks that he could not. He felt like a fighter jet in an arcade game dodging attacks from the boss that was several times the ne''s size.


    If his Miasma could affect this giant, this battle would have been faster. He could just cause the giant to rot despite being alive. Unfortunately, that was not the case. Then, if he could not use his Miasma to harm the giant...


    Two crystals flew appearing from Mark''s body. He started to charge both the [Photokinesis Mental Crystal] and the [Lightning Mental Crysta] for an all-out attack. Due to the sheer size of the giant, small attacks would barely affect it unless it was like his Miasma that had unique characteristics and effects.


    But of course, it seemed that it would not be simple.


    The giant might have felt the energy Mark was gathering. Disregarding the pain, the giant felt on the eyes on its back, it jumped towards Mark, trying to swat him like a fly.


    Before, when the races fought it, its movements were sluggish and slow. Now, on all fours, it was moving at an rming speed. Its huge right hand appeared before Mark amidst the beams of light flying everywhere.


    Mark pped his wings and retreated. He did not want to be touched by this giant. Not because the attack would kill him and turn him into meat paste in one hit, it was because of the aura that covered its body. After all, the old man specifically told him to avoid this aura.


    As Mark dodged the right hand, causing it to continue downwards, the left palm immediately came after. Unlike the first hand that as trying to swat him away, the second was trying to grab him.<sub> </sub>


    Mark flew out of the left hand''s trajectory, turning into a ck mist that circled fast around the giant''s outstretched left arm. As he was rather close to its skin, he could feel the aura almost brush around his body. Even without touching it, he could feel the searing hot temperature from it. If not for the aura''s dark color, Mark would have thought that it might be how devils felt after being sprayed with holy water.


    He then appeared in front of the giant''s face. The difference in size sure was perplexing. The pupil of the biggest eye on the giant''s face was already as tall as Mark.


    As Mark appeared and disappeared, the giant was not able to react as he appeared in front of its face.


    Mark then bent down, his horns and veins glowing brightly. Using all the energy reserves on both crystals on Mark''s hands, his body served as the conductor. Both lightning and light energy gathered in his body, then mixed with Miasma and fire energy. Four elements gathered, causing Mark a bit of pain. But this was worth it.


    A small ball of light appeared between his horns. The ball was glowing while its surface was all ck, releasing ck surges of electricity, and having a temperature hotter than magma. It was just a small ball, but its appearance and creation caused the surroundings to tremble.


    And before the giant couldprehend what was happening, the Cero... Ahem, the ball of light burst forth into an enormous beam of ck, electrifying, searing, light.


    The beam immediately tore an enormous hole on the giant''s face. Arge part of its eyes vanished into a hole that passed through its head. Its flesh, blood, and brain, which was touched by the ck light, evaporated instantly.


    But that was not the end.


    Mark swayed his body, causing the beam of light to pass through the giant''s body several times, tearing it into severalrge pieces.


    He thought that it was enough and was about to stop, it was when the Old Man''s voice hurriedly echoed in his mind.


    "Don''t stop! Pulverize everything! A single part of that thing remaining can cause it to revive! Don''t bother with the coteral damage! Just erase that thing''s existence!"


    Hearing that, Mark nodded. He was holding back a bit as he did not want to destroy the surroundings more than necessary. But it could not be helped if that was the case.


    The beam of light from the center of his horns scattered simr to the light emitted by a shlight. This ensured that all of the remaining parts of the giant was erased, up to a single eyeball.


    While he did that, Mark had confirmed what the Old Man was afraid of. Even though the brain was damaged and the body was torn into pieces, the remaining parts of the giant''s body were wriggling as it tried to join back together.


    Mark was quite interested in what the giant would end up after it rejoined its remaining parts. But with that thought going in his mind, the Old Man shouted to absolute not try it.


    Finally, the attack stopped. Nothing seemed to be left of the giant. The energy from the two crystals was also depletedpletely. It would need several days from now on to recharge it.


    Mark took a deep breath, and the glow in his body disappeared. Of course, he did not revert to normal. He needed to confirm the surroundings before bingcent.


    Looking down below, the damage he and the giant did was tremendous. Arge patch of the forest was erased, and the soil beneath was scorched. There was even fire spreading in some parts of the forest, which the races immediately tried to control. Mark looked to the northwest, it seemed that his initial attack that bore a hole on the giant''s face also tore a part of the mountain.


    It was a necessary sacrifice of nature, though. This could not be helped from happening.


    Mark was searching if there was still remnants of the giant remaining. And thus, he decided tond.


    But then...


    SHOOOOOOM!!!


    A bright beam of light tore through the forest. The beam that was only about two feet in diameter took everyone by surprise. Unexpectedly, the target was not Mark. The beam of light flew at a fast speed towards the Stone Fortress.


    As the beam reached the walls of the fortress, arge tear in space opened. The beam of light went straight into that tear. Behind that tear in space, the Old Man stood with his right hand outstretched.


    Mark immediately went towards where the beam of light came from saw a fist-sized eyeball using four tentacles to prop itself up.


    Seeing Mark, the eyeball stopped its attacks and tried to flee. But of course, it was impossible to let that happen. He caught up to it and pinned it down, using a spike created from his blood.


    Despite being pierced by the spike, the eyeball still struggled as it tried to break free. There, Mark threw a ball of ck fire unto the eyeball incinerating it to ashes.


    After the eyeball turned to dust, however, a ball of light about the size of a basketball, escaped from it. Mark could tell that the ball of light was just a manifestation of pure energy. Remembering what the Old Man said, Mark was wary about this ball of light.


    And then, horror had struck.


    The ball of light flew towards Mark. Being caught off guard and because of the short distance, the only thing that Mark could do was to shield himself.


    But then...


    Nothing happened to him...


    There, he realized that the ball of light was not flying on its own, but was being sucked by the [Psycrystal] on his arm.


    TINK! PLOP!


    The sound of a ss that plopped unto the soil was heard. Mark looked down and saw a crystal with a small sun inside that unto the ground.

 Chapter 466 The Old Mans Sanctuary, A Place That Mortals Never Reached Before

    <strong>Day ¨ƒ¨ƒ - ¨ƒ¨ƒ:¨ƒ¨ƒ ¨ƒ¨ƒ - Stone Fortress, Eastern Mountain</strong>


    After picking up the crystal that fell to the ground, Mark did not return immediately. He was a bitcent when he obliterated the giant''s body, causing thatst attack to happen. Seeing that even a single eyeball was capable of releasing such an attack, he scoured the area a bit more, ensuring that no remnants of the giant''s body remained.


    Mark went on a few circles around the scorched area and its boundaries. While he did that, many of the races that escaped during the second half of the battle had returned. They returned not because they were only curious about the oue of the fight. They came back to search for the remains of theirrades.


    Diwata Danaya did her best to secure everyone''s safety when the giant grew those humongous eyes on its body. However, being a single individual, she alone was not enough to save everyone.


    Furthermore, none of them expected to see an intact body. The tentacles that grew out of the giant''s body caused most of the death as it happened while most of the races were near the giant''s body. Those that the tentacles caught and strangled had their bodies either crushed or squeezed into unsightly pieces.


    There was no distinction on the races of those that perished. Even some of the Sarangays that had sturdy bodies had their bodies torn to shreds or squeezed into meat juice.


    More might have died because of those tentacles if Diwata Danaya did not intervene and caused the giant''s attention to focus on her.


    And looking at the area left after the battle, the races that came back questioned whether they would still be able to see any remains. For sure, like the giant''s body, their corpses already turned to dust and ashes.


    Many people were already present in the area when Mark decided to return to the fortress.


    After arriving, he witnessed a strange sight where Danaya was prostrating in front of the Old Man. The Old Man was trying to make her stand up, but it was just that she would not dare to.


    "What is happening?"


    Mark asked his group after hended. That was when he noticed that even the members of his group had strange expressions as they looked at the Old Man.


    Apparently, they were still digesting the absurd information that they had just heard.


    "Gege, Danaya called the Old Man, Bath."


    Mei said while scratching her cheek.


    It was no wonder now that they could notprehend what they had heard. After all, who would believe if someone told you that the hermit that you spoke to was someone regarded as a God?


    Mark had a strange frown as he looked at the Old Man. It was quite urgent before, and he had no time to observe the Old Man''s appearance. Now, however, he could see the resemnce from the writings he read in the past.


    The Old Man looked like someone in his eighties with tinum silver hair, mustache, and beard with the length that reached his chest. His stature was also far from his appearance, and if one observed firmly, he had solid muscles under his loose, ragged clothes.


    That state of his clothing was somewhat off as it made him look like a beggar. Nevertheless, it was definitely his signature white robe that barely covered his muscr body. Below, he was wearing a long breechcloth around his waist and a pair of ragged shorts made of animal skin underneath.


    On his neck, he was wearing a tribal neced with ck colored fangs. He was also wearing a pair of golden tes about two inches in diameter as earrings. He held an oddly shaped wooden staff. The Old Man was also barefooted and only wore a pair of anklets made of different colored stones on his feet.


    Because of Danaya, those races around them also started to prostrate before the Old Man. Sure enough, this made him even more troubled. As for Karlene and the others, they began to ponder whether they needed to copy the races. After all, it was a God, or a supreme deity in the least, that they were talking about.


    Seeing Mark staring at him with a very pressing expression, the Old Man coughed. He then looked at the Danaya.


    "I will have to speak to your guests. To avoid repercussions, we will have to leave. Take care of this ce well."


    "Y-yes! I will obey your words, Mahabaging Bath!"


    Danaya replied in a fluster.


    Hearing her reply, the Old Man turned to Mark and the members of his group.


    "Follow me."


    He said as he turned his back and walked towards the opposite direction of the wall.


    Mark and his group were confused. The way down the wall was in the opposite direction of where the Old Man was walking towards. Nevertheless, the Old Man continued to walk, making them follow.


    And after they took a couple of steps behind the Old Man, the scene around them changed.


    They were no longer atop the wall of the fortress. The members of the races around them were also gone.


    Instead, they were surrounded by shimmering ss-like walls, both left and right. It was a cave with crystal walls with only a single path.


    Everyone in his group shivered at the sight of this. Not because they were surprised or afraid, but because of the thick energy abundant in the area. It was too thick that even Edzel, Pearl, and Karlene, who were still humans, could feel it.


    Despite the surprise, Mark and his group did not stop walking. They savored the pleasant feeling of the energy seeping into their bodies while following behind the Old Man.


    Soon, they saw rays of lighting from the end of the cave.


    The Old Man stepped into the rays, and they followed. There, they realized that they exited the cave.


    And what they saw was paradise.


    Outside the cave was a basin about five hundred meters wide and was being surrounded by mountain high steep crystal walls. Looking up, it felt like someone or something dug an enormous hole into a crystal mountain and created a sanctuary below it.


    Half-foot tall grass covered thend, and there was a ten-meter river flowing across the center of the basin. They could see the source of water, and it was a waterfall that fell straight from above the mountain cliff. This waterfall was definitely higher than the tallest waterfall on earth, Salto ¨¢ngel, in Venezu.


    Because of the flowing water, different kinds of flora could be seen around the basin. All of the nts they saw was something they had seen for the first time. Some were nts with crystal leaves and flowers, there was also a flower that was releasing light, and there was a tree growing golden fruits.


    Those golden fruits made Mark stop a bit as the thought of something. Mei and Abbygale also paused as they had the same feeling after seeing the fruits.


    They did not take long, though, as the Old Man continued to walk away. Along the way, they also saw animals and insects. Each creature was unusual, but fascinating to look at.<sub> </sub>


    A male deer with sapphire horns, a small swallow with golden feathers, a white butterfly that glows in the dark, and even a literal Golden Beetle was seen flying.


    Furthermore, what made the scene even more astounding, was how the grass, flowers, leaves, and vines danced with the gentle breeze. It was very odd considering how the whole ce was enclosed by tall crystal cliffs.


    After waving through the grass and crossing the river using a bridge made of vines, they reached their destination.


    It was a small cabin in the middle of the basin. The whole structure was made with simplistic materials. Because of this, the simple house stuck like a sore thumb, and yet, it oddly felt like it blended well with the surroundings.


    There was an unusually shaped tree beside the cabin that was filled with hanging vines. And from the branches of the tree, they could hear some melodious chirping.


    When the Old Man neared the house, two small blue birds with long tails and feathers that shimmered like gems flew towards him.


    "Tigamanukan?"


    Mark blurted out in curiosity. That, however, made the two birds look at him strangely. Sure enough, the two birds could not only hear him but actually understood him. Though the two birds seemed to be looking at Mark oddly, he could tell that the two birds were happy to be recognized. The two birds even flew towards him and circled around his head, before returning back to the Old Man.


    The two birds thennded on the Old Man''s shoulder as he led them into the cabin.


    "Please enter. Pardon the small space since I''m the only one living here."


    The Old Man said as he opened the door.


    Mark and the others did not mind. They were just a small group, and the three giants they had was not with them.


    However, after entering, they could not help but mind it.


    The space in the living room was still too small for their group, and it felt quite cramped. It was really a house made for a single person.


    In the end, even the Old Man had topromise.


    He led everyone to the back of the house under the huge tree. The Old Man them spoke to the tree to everyone''s confusion. Then, after the Old Man gave hismands, the roots of the tree grew longer and bigger, making a table, several chairs, and even some stands. The stands were made, so that Aephelia, Amihan, Mya, and the Pixie, Reilynne, could sit downfortably.


    While the tree did its magic, the Old Man entered the cabin and went out with earthen kettle and cups of different sizes floating in front of him.


    From the kettle, everyone could smell the aroma of tea that seemed to be made from flowers.


    The Old Man then served everyone a cup of tea. It was sweet and hot, yet refreshing. Even the little girls that did not like this kind of drink could not help but like it.


    For some reason, the Old Man was very aodating to them that it felt strange. He was Bath, after all.


    As everyone settled down, the Old Man spoke.


    <o>,m "So, where does everyone want to start?"</o>


    He asked.


    And it was Karlene, who was fidgety since the start, immediately asked.


    "Are you really Bath?"


    Hearing the question, no one disagreed for the conversation to start from there.


    Then, the Old Man smiled with a pint of mncholy.


    "I was called by that name in the past. Right now, I''m just an Old Hermit. You all don''t have to be stiff, or I will feel troubled."


    As the Old Man confirmed it himself, without any sign of lies or deceit, Karlene and the others could not help but feel surprised. Even though they already heard Danaya earlier. It was that hard to take that they were actually speaking with a Godly entity right now.


    Mark, on the other hand, epted it. Not because the Old Man was not lying, even without the words, the strength he could feel from the Old Man was several times greater than his.


    He was able to contend with a weakened Deity. And now, he could probably fight with a lower Deity to a draw. But if he was to fight this Old Man, he could not see any chance of winning.


    "If you are Bath, why can''t you just make that giant disappear in a sh? Is it that you are also bound to something like the rules of the world? Like the Spirit and Elemental Races?"


    Mark asked the most crucial thing.


    That question made Bath sigh. He took a sip from his cup and replied.


    "It''s not like that I am restricted by the rules of the world. I may not be a True God, but I have been a God of this country. From Higher Deities to Higher Gods, they have the ability to bend these rules. What restricts us, however, are the rules made by Them."


    "Them?"


    na asked.


    That question made Bath turn to Mark.


    "Them... They don''t have any real name or race. Their role is being the Administrator of Worlds, Universes, and Dimensions. We who knew their existence call them..."


    Bath looked up at the sky with a stern expression.


    "Observers."

 Chapter 467 Sitting Under The Vine Tree, The Observers, The Culling, And The Eyes

    <strong>Day ¨ƒ¨ƒ - ¨ƒ¨ƒ:¨ƒ¨ƒ ¨ƒ¨ƒ - Underground Crystal Basin, Unknown Dimension</strong>


    The Observers, it was an entirely new concept for everyone here that was listening.


    Of course, except for Mark and na. These two Otakus had read and watched countless stories, movies, and Anime regarding the different concepts of Godhood and rted stuff. Hearing the general description from Bath, they kind of understood what the old man was saying.


    And Mark posed a question.


    "These Observers are the managers, you said. Then, they are not the ones that created the worlds and dimensions they managed, do they?"


    That question made Bath smile.


    "They are not." The Old Man said. "Let me exin this. The hierarchy of the management of worlds like Earth is very different from everyone had thought. To Mortals, and even to most immortal beings, all Deities are Deities, and all Gods are Gods. But the truth is that both Deities and Gods had lower, middle, higher realms. Then, after the Higher Gods are the Observers. And above them are the True Gods that created the worlds and dimensions."


    It was quite confusing. And Karlene could not help but ask.


    "What is the difference between a True God and the Gods below the observers?"


    There was no need to ask if Bath was a True God or not. From his exnation, it was evident that he belonged to one of the three levels below the Observers. Then, what was the difference between the two?


    Bath answered Karlene''s question with a straight answer.


    "True Gods are those that were born as Gods and came from the Realm of Gods. Those that are below the Observers like me... we came from a different origin."


    The Old Man did not wait for the next question and continued.


    "Lower Gods, Middle Gods, and even a Higher God like me did note from this world. Some of us came from lower God Realms. Like how Odin came from Asgard and Zeus from Olympus. Even I had my own origin, and it is not from this Earth or any of its subdimensions."


    "In fact, it is almost impossible for an individual from Earth to reach Godhood. There are just a few individuals that were able to do so. And their numbers can be counted in one hand."


    He added.


    It was quite strange to hear. Who would have thought that a God being worshiped by people on Earth was not someone from this world? But thinking about it further, it was not strange. The magical energy on Earth was almost non-existent for a Godly being to be born in it.


    But then, Mark noticed something from what Bath said.


    The Old Man looked at Mark and nodded before saying.


    "You are right. I did note from any Godly Realm, I am also a Mortal who reached Godhood in a world with something you call a Fantasy World."


    Everyone in Mark''s group was speechless. Their beliefs about mythological gods had been shattered.


    Nevertheless, there was very little known about the Gods of myths. Who would have known what was real and what was not aside from the Gods themselves?


    There were too many questions that filled everyone''s minds. Even the little girls were curious about it.


    However, letting everyone ask questions one by one was a waste of time. Thus, Bath decided to tell everything in one go. And it was not just traditional storytelling. With a wave of his staff, the scene around them changed.


    Bath came from a lower dimension. A world with swords and magic, ruled by tribes and monsters. A he was a sage in that world that reached Godhood and ended into a higher realm. And for some unfortunate reason, he ended up on Earth, where there was no way for him to ascend further, aside from one method.


    It was to form a religion.


    Unfortunately, Earth was already a world upied by Gods that were having territorial disputes when he came around. Still, he could not just stand back and joined the fight. In the end, the Gods divided Earth in different territories.


    And for Bath, who came alone to this world, unlike the other Kings of Gods and Gods of Creation, he was forced to have this destend. A country that did not even have a name.


    There was not even a single people to start his religion. That was not the worst part, however. Bath came about when another culling of Earth had just ended.


    The whole country was submerged underwater with nothing but a few small inds.


    And thus, while waiting for the water to subside, he created his few subordinates, the Anitos. The Deity, Amihan, was one of them.


    At this part of the story, Bath was looking at Amihan, who sat beside Aephelia and Mya. She was quite confused as to why. Herte mother just named her after the Deity, it was not like Amihan had a direct connection to her, right?


    Bath did not say anything about her reaction and continued in his story.


    When the water subsided enough, Bath created the first couple in this country. It was when the legend of Mkas and Maganda was born.


    "So, the theory of evolution is not true?"


    na could not help but ask in this part. After all, it was different from what science told.


    But there, Bath shook his head.


    "It is true, though," Bath said with augh. "Like some of the other gods did. I took the model of humans from the evolved Neandertals before the culling and shaped them to my liking. You all can say that this is the reason that the intelligent ones of the mortals are still looking for the missing link. Also, humans already existed in other countries at that time. I''m not the first one to do it. Lastly, I modeled the first people in this country and my Anitos with the same appearance and culture of people from my previous world. That is why the people in this country looked quite uniquepared to the other countries around it."


    "..."


    No one could say a thing. Mark and his group were speechless.<sub> </sub>


    Bath then continued, though this time, it was more of a grumble.


    When the poption in his territory grew, he sent his Anitos to thend to aid the mortals. He wanted to spread his religion to the people he created.


    Of course, it was not easy. It was because other lower gods that could not find any avable territory was thrown into his because he was alone. Another reason for that was because he had the same fashion sense as the neers having a tribal look.


    It caused some conflicts like Amanikable, the God of Hunting, who actually fell in love with Maganda. Only to be rejected because Bath created Mkas and Maganda for each other. And the brat actually threw a tantrum and sent waves from the sea to torment Bath''s people.


    "There was also that Ideyanale. That androgynous brat liked her name being called by my people. If not, she will tamper with their work making them finish itte."


    Other instances like this were recorded in the Philippines'' Mythos. The story they were hearing right now, for some reason, sounded credible.


    But seeing the Old Man grumbling in front of them, it seemed that Bath, even as a Higher God, had his hardships. It was clear that he did not view many of the Philippine Gods in a good light.


    "Ahem..."


    Bath coughed as he noticed that he was getting derailed.


    What Mark and his group wanted to know was about the Observers. Also,


    about the giant that they had encountered.


    "I already mentioned about the culling, right?"


    The Old Man asked as he reverted the scene around them, where everything was about to be submerged underwater. The skies were dark, and the rain was exceedingly heavy.


    "This is not any God''s work but the work of the Observers. Some of the Gods that were present before this culling tried to save the civilizations they managed."


    As Bath said that, the scene around them moved in a rather fast motion. It was like they were flying around the world in fast forward. One time, they witnessed an enormous ark atop a hill. It was filled with animals and people, waiting for the water to rise.


    There as also some that could be seen climbing up the mountains.


    But one scene made Mark, I, and Aephelia stand up. They saw a familiar space ship fly through the clouds, out of the.


    "The Gods Amerilia and Verehillio. The forgotten gods who took away their forgotten civilization. From what I heard, they are very kind Gods despite their appearance. It''s a pity that they already left when I arrived."


    Bath said as they all watched the spaceship fly away.


    The Gods Amerilia and Verehilio. One was a Goddess with a Pigeon Head and White Wings, while the other was a God with a Raven Head and ck Wings. The two Gods of Eriellis. Of course, Mark, I, and Aephelia would react to that.


    "I apologize to you three, but I also don''t know too much about them. What you are seeing right now was nothing but an overview of Earth''s memories. I can''t go to specific things. If I did that, it won''t be surprising if another Eye suddenly dropped onto us from above."


    Bath said jokingly.


    Mark, I, and Aephelia sat back down. Although they were interested, they would not want to bring everyone into trouble.


    "What is the culling and the Eye you mentioned are exactly?"


    Mark asked to divert the topic. It was because the others were looking at him, I, and Aephelia with strange expressions.


    "Is the culling the way to reduce the poption of people on Earth?"


    na added.


    And surprisingly, Bath shook his head.


    "I wish it is really all thatplicated, but it is far more in than that." The Old Man said with a sigh. "The Observers are not fixed. Sometimes, they give up on a world and leave. Other times, the True Gods above them would rece them. There are also times that they retire or die as they were not physically immortal beings either. And during the change of Observers, that is when the culling happens."


    Bath then looked at Mark and na. He was looking for more explicit examples to say. And sure enough, he found a good one in the minds of the two.


    "Think like if an Observer is a yer of a video game. However, the video game only had a single save file slot and a single fixed world setting. And the game is something given by another yer, with the save game already yed. Looking at the older save, the new yer did not like how the previous yer yed the game. Thus, he erased it to start a new one."


    With a shrug, the Old Man said.


    "That is what culling is. The new Observer did not like how the previous Observer managed the world. Thus, the new Observer will destroy it to start anew. However, since they can''t destroy the world as a whole and the changes it had gone through, the only thing they could do is to start what they call Trials. Sometimes, its natural disasters like this flood, or a falling meteor from space. There are also other times where the Observer did not like a single country or area and will start a gue or a local disaster. It is this simple."


    Then, Bath showed a solemn expression.


    "As for the Eyes, they are quite different. The Eyes are what you can call the envoys of the Observers. They are sent to clean up most of the time."


    "Clean up what?"


    Karlene asked.


    "To remove the things that the culling was not able to remove. Like right now, the current Observer of Earth did not like us, the Gods, below him. And thus, is trying to remove us, along with those that had the possibility to grow and reach Godhood on Earth."


    Saying thatst line, Bath turned to Mark and Mei.

 Chapter 468 Connections, The Eyes, The Observers, Psypathogen, And Mutagen

    <strong>Day ¨ƒ¨ƒ - ¨ƒ¨ƒ:¨ƒ¨ƒ ¨ƒ¨ƒ - Underground Crystal Basin, Unknown Dimension</strong>


    That stare of Bath towards Mark and Mei made the two somewhat ufortable. It was a tant deration that they had the possibility of reaching Godhood. The thing that made them very uneasy was that the words came from a Godly being.


    Even the others with the two felt strange. Bath had already said that reaching Godhood in this world was almost impossible. For in all history that the ones that reached it could be counted on one hand, there was no need to tell how hopeless it was to reach that level.


    And yet, it was clear that Bath was pointing his words at Mark and Mei in hisst sentence.


    Bath was not mindful of their strange gazes. Instead, he smiled even more.


    "Do you all know the most important aspect if a person wanted to take a step towards Godhood?" The Old Man asked.


    "Religion and Worship?"


    Karlene blurted out. However, Bath shook his head.


    "Religion and Worship is the best way for Gods to reach a higher level. But without stepping into Godhood, no matter how many people worship an individual, it is useless."


    The Old Man exined before looking at everyone, waiting for another answer.


    "The ability to defy destiny, isn''t it?"


    Mark spoke with a solemn expression. That was the only possibility that both he and Mei had. And to his answer, Bath nodded.


    "Destiny isn''t just some book that dictates the fate of humanity. It is a force of guidance etched within the souls of every individual. When that guidance ends, it is also the end of the individual. Even if a person''s lifeforce is still strong, they will die at the end of that line. The perfect example of this is when a mortal with a lethal illness would recover for sometime before their death, letting them spend theirst burst of lifeforce. And because of that, there is no way for a person to reach Godhood without defying it."


    Bath looked and Mark and Mei solemnly.


    "The time for you two had long passed. Yet, you two are still here. Although it is quite apparent that it was an outside force that caused you two to derail from your destinies, it is a legitimate step towards Godhood."


    As Bath exined further, the more that Karlene and the others became confused. They looked at Mark and Mei, who seemed to understand what the Old Man was saying. It made them feel awkward and out of ce.


    "Then, that giant, the one you called an Eye, appeared because we are there?"


    Mark asked.


    "The possibility is there, but not concretely. It might have attacked by coincidence. Or maybe because I am there. Who knows? The Eyes of the Observers are very unpredictable. Even the Observers could not control them after they were sent into this world. They are nothing but autonomous puppets that followed thestmand given to them by their creators."


    Hearing that, Mark''spanions felt a bit lighter. Mark and Mei would surely not care that much, but for them, it would leave a bad taste in their mouths. After all, it was the lives of innocent people that were talking about.


    "Then, Mutagen, the thing that is happening on Earth right now, is another form of Culling?"


    na asked.


    And to answer that, Bath shook his head.


    "I don''t know if this disaster that is happening right now is another work of the Observers. But in my opinion, it is not." Bath looked at Mark, Aephelia, and I. "The Amerillia and Verehillio sent their people are also subjected to a simr event, is it not? Forgive me for peeking into your memories. But if a got destroyed like that, the Observers can''t do that. Even the Observers had rules to follow. One of the things they are forbidden to do is destroy a world created by who they worked for."


    As Bath said that, the scene around them change, disying the time where Mark fought the giant.


    "Looking at this, I can say that the current Observer of Earth is taking advantage of things."


    The current Observer managing Earth wanted to remove the previous gods and stop the ascension and appearance of new ones. The reason was not clear. However, it would deviate from his goals if he sent the Eyes, which was basically at the level of Deities and Gods, that he wanted to remove.


    Because of that, it restricted him from sending his Eyes. The Observer was restricted by the same rules he made. This was how the remaining gods on Earth, like Bath, managed to exist even now.


    This time, however, the appearance of Mutagen changed everything. Mutagen was hard to predict. Thus, summoning the Eyes in the bodies of the infected was not breaking his own rules.


    Looking at the giant that Mark fought, it was not a creature summoned by the Observer. The best exnation that Bath could give was that the Observer used the powers of the Eyes as a Catalyst for the Mutation of the Infected.


    "Then what about that thing that destroyed our?"


    Aephelia asked with all seriousness.


    "There is no way for me to tell," Bath replied. "Unless you three want to share your memories to me for a bit."


    That suggestion made Aephelia look at Mark with askance. I was the same. As there was no problem with it, Mark nodded.


    Receiving the permission of the three, Bath waved his staff, and the scene around them changed once more.


    And Karlene and the others almost fled from their seats. What they saw was the scene where some people surrounded by thousands of corpses of hideous infected looking creatures. And in front of those people, was an army of Mutated Infected. Behind that frightening army, was an enormous creature that was taller than Mount Everest.


    Even though they knew that it was just a scene created by Bath, they felt the pressure and fear that this creature could bring.


    Mya even fell from her seat, and Mark had to catch her. She wanted to change positions as she felt ufortable, but because of the terror that she felt, her wings did not p at all.


    Seeing the creature, even Bath was surprised. This being was not any less than a Higher God like him. Furthermore, even Bath felt that if he had to fight this creature, the oue would be unknown. It was kind of surprising that there was a group of mortals that tried to fight it.


    Mei grasped Mark''s hand tightly. Even Amihan, Abbygale, and Miracle stuck to him after seeing the creature. On the other hand, Aephelia and I were calm like Mark. After all, it was not the first time for them to see this.<sub> </sub>


    "That''s Freed."


    Mark said to Mei while pointing at the handsome man with blonde hair that led the group of humans. He already told Mei the story he heard and saw from Freed. But of course, there was no way for him to urately portray the exact appearance of things using nothing but words. It was unexpected, but also the perfect timing for him to show her.


    He also told Mei, who was Aephelia and Keeper among the group. Spera also learned who her ability belonged originally, while Bath observed the creature.


    "There is no doubt." Bath voiced out. "This thing is also an Eye. But this Eye is from a different Observer."


    "Eriellis also had its own Observer? But our ancestors were told that the that they were sent was far from the reach of other godly beings."


    Aephelia said.


    "That might be true," Bath replied. "After all, this kind of Eye is being used by the Observer that caused the flood before I arrived. That Observer would use Eyes with a very unsightly appearance like this one. No one can even tell what this creature was."


    Then, Bath came to a realization.


    "This was destroyed, isn''t it... No wonder now. That Observer was reced rather too fast. From what I heard from the other Gods that came to Earth before me, that Observer had the shortest term of management on Earth and was abruptly reced. To think that this was the reason why..."


    Mark and his group could notprehend what Bath was grumbling about. After all, they were not born in that era to understand.


    Bath then removed the scene around them, returning to the paradise that they saw after arriving. Finally, everyone was able to breathe normally. For those that were able to see that creature for the first time, it was too frightening.


    "So, the current Observer might go after us. Is that what you wanted to say before calling us here?"


    Mark asked.


    "That is the gist of it," Bath replied. "But don''t you want to hear about that voice in your head earlier?"


    That question made Mark silent. It was, without a doubt, a silent agreement. But then, he hurriedly spoke.


    "By the way. I want to ask something first before you start. Did you n everything from the start? To meet me here, and yesterday, meeting them?"


    Mark indicated Mei, Amihan, Spera, and the three little girls, that met Bath at the trade area, yesterday.


    And Bathughed.


    "The thing yesterday is a pure coincidence. It is even embarrassing to remember that I lost myposure in front of them. They gave me quite a surprise when your wife took out those crystals containing pure energy."


    Bath took out one of the crystals he got from Mei yesterday.


    "You might think that this thing is just a tool to raise the abilities of your subordinates. But I will tell you. This thing is very precious to us Gods here on Earth, especially with our current state."


    Then, the Old Man sighed.


    "The Current Observer did not like the presence of us Gods that came from other worlds here. He instigated the war between the Gods of Greece. Don''t you think that a son of a God would grow very differently to the point of having a war with his siblings and even his own father? It is all by the instigation of the Observer. And the result, it forced many Gods present on Earth to retreat because of a promise."


    And of course, as that was a war between a family and group of local gods, many gods like Bath did notply. After all, not all of them had somewhere to return to, unlike the Gods of Rome, Norse ane Greek Mythology. Like Bath, there were also other gods that were sent here without their consent. Still, honoring the rules, they lessened their interaction with mankind.


    But of course, the Observer would not see that as an excuse. And thus, he did the worst thing that he could do to an Earth God.


    Earth was not a good ce for powerful beings. The magical energy was very low, and there was no way for the Gods to grow further aside from one method. It was to gain energy from the worship of the religion they founded.


    To remove the remaining Earthen Gods from the picture, the best way was to cut off that worship.


    And thus, the n to spread a single religion all across the globemenced. A religion that worshiped the True God that created Earth.


    The Crusade.


    It was despite the fact that the very God they worshiped did not interact with humans.


    And sure enough, the Observer seeded in his n for the most part. The remaining Earthen Gods lost the worship of their religion and became weakened. To avoid the relentless pursuit of the Observer, these Gods had to hide in inferior dimensions in Earth where its eyes could barely see.


    That dimension was the Spirit Dimension, where almost every race that was living were failed creations, idental creations, and experiments of the Gods.


    Without anything to replenish they lost magical energy and grow, these Crystals that Mark could produce was very precious.


    "You know, with the right amount of crystals like this, some Gods might even sell their daughters to you."


    Bath joked.


    And of course, the joke was not well received.


    "Really?"


    Except for na, it seemed.

 Chapter 469 The Missing Piece, The Real Reason For The Fall Of The Blood Demons

    <strong>Day ¨ƒ¨ƒ - ¨ƒ¨ƒ:¨ƒ¨ƒ ¨ƒ¨ƒ - Underground Crystal Basin, Unknown Dimension</strong>


    The way na blurted that out made everyone direct a strange re towards her. Even Bath was the same. What he said was mostly a joke that an Old Man like him could say. But this girl totally bit it.


    "Uhm... Sorry..."


    na said with all awkwardness. It was just her Otaku''s way of thinking. After all, there were anime characters that ended up having gods or goddesses as their life partners. She thought that it might be interesting, well, if she met a male that was not like that blue thing.


    Furthermore, she was single and was without any open suitor. There was nothing wrong with being excited at that the thought that Bath gave them.


    To thwart the awkwardness, Mark, who was the only one that understood na''s train of thought, decided to get back to the topic.


    "About the voice, do you know who it is?"


    Mark asked. After all, he understood the other voices that he heard before in his head, aside from that single one. But even so, the person felt very familiar.


    "That should be the voice of your ancestor. The founder of blood demons."


    Bath replied, which made Mark felt even stranger. The Old Man then continued.


    "You should have heard about the end of the Blood Demons already, am I right? It was not just a typical war among the Upper Dimension, Heaven, and the Lower Dimension, Hell. That happened with the maniption of the Observer. The beings that led both the Angels and the Devils in that war are, Eyes, sent by him."


    They already heard about the war and how it was nothing but an event that instigated the Spirit Races and Demon Races to participate. Still, the truth that it was a war led by Angels and Devils had quite an impact to hear.


    "Wait," Karlene interjected. "Don''t the Eyes have those disgusting features, how would Angels and Demons follow them?"


    Bath did not reply immediately. Instead, he waved his staff, indicating the change of the scene around them.


    Looking around, it was, without a doubt, the Spirit Dimension. However, the sky was colored red instead of its bright blue color. Furthermore, they were in an area near the sea. A kilometer away from the shore, the seawater was gone, however. There was an impossibly bottomless chasm where the water flowed into.


    From the sky and from that chasm, two forces emerged to fight. At the center of the battlefield, however, was the innocent Blood Demons.


    From the sky, and thend, a man with three pairs of white wings, wearing white armor with golden ornaments, was leading the forces. He wielded a pair of silver shield and sword on his hands and a bright halo shined above his head.


    On the other hand, the forces that rose from the chasm was led by another man. His skin was red and was filled with demonic markings. He had enormous wings of a bat, and on his forehead, he two remarkablyrge horns of a ram.


    As the two forces charged towards each other, Bath pointed at the two.


    "Those two are the Eyes sent to instigate both forces. And to seed in their missions, they had to have the same appearance as the others. If you remember that giant earlier, it also looked nothing but a mutated creature, it was until it was almost defeated. That is only when they would show their true appearance."


    While Bath spoke, Mark was not looking at him. Mark was watching the Blood Demons below, especially a particr individual.


    Seeing Mark''s behavior, Bath Smiled.


    "That is your ancestor. The very same owner of the voice you are hearing in your mind. He was the leader of the race and the very first Blood Demon."


    Mark did not speak. Even Mei, the little girls, and na were emersed at the scene for some reason they could not fathom.


    With their reaction, Bath decided to not speak too much and let them watch. Of course, at specific points, he exined things.


    It was like what Pefile and Amihan had told Mark and the others. The Blood Demons were the gatekeepers of the connection between the surface and the underworld.


    Unexpectedly, the man looked like an angel. However, he had the wings and horns of a devil. Without a doubt, he was a mixed breed, the result of an Angel''s and a Devil''s sin. As a being that should not exist, he developed a trait unique to him after he was born.


    He was a Unique being that should not exist, a monster that broke fate itself.


    And of course, someone that was close to being a god as he could create his own legion despite its constraints.


    The new Observer would not like something like that to exist.


    And thus, using the Eyes, he started the war to stealthily remove this race from existence. Along the way, it also reduced the number of races living in the Spirit Dimension.


    However, it did not go well.


    The Ancestor of Blood Demons managed to hold back both the Eyes from the Angels and Devils, even to the point of defeating them.


    Still, while the prowess of the Ancestor was disyed, it did not hide the tragic happenings around him. One by one, the Blood Demons had fallen. The Ancestor fought with his grief until he was the only one left. Fueled by his anger, he almost killed both the two Eyes.


    It all happened while the forces of Angels and Surface Dwellers and Devils and Demons were enveloped in their own battles.


    Many died. It was a helpless and brutal conflict.


    But then, when the two were at their defeat before their allies could help them, their bodies burst out into a disgusting mass of eyes. The two helplessly ganged up on the Ancestor, who finally realized the truth in this war.


    Not only him, but the whole battlefield was also frozen when the two revealed their real forms.


    They realized that they were being used as they knew that appearance that the two turned into.


    Both forces lost their moral. Some even tried to help the Ancestor of the Blood Demons, not minding whether they were an Angel or a Devil. It was the same for the Spirit Races and Demons that realized their mistake.


    However, those two Eyes were not someone that anyone could just contend on a whim. The two were at the level of Higher Deities. It was already amazing that the Ancestor of Blood Demonssted that long.


    In the end, pierced by two beams of light on his chest, the Ancestor had fallen.


    At his death, with a very weak voice, he dered with a fearless smile.


    "In the future, we will return. When that timees, you better clean your neck, you meddlesome impostor."<sub> </sub>


    Bath tranted, as Mark and the others could not understand what he had said. However, even with thenguage barrier, they could feel his grievance and hate. At the time that the Ancestor''s body disintegrated into dust, Bath waved his staff as there was nothing else to see. All that happened next was what they knew. Both Angels and Devils retreated back to their realms without fixing the mess that they created.


    Mark and the others felt heavy. na even had tears at the corner of her eyes.


    "What you are hearing is the call for the revenge that your Ancestor had been waiting. Furthermore, the blood of a Blood Demon that ran inside you was directly from him. You are one of his direct descendants. Although it took me time to confirm, I can assure you that what I''m saying is true."


    Bat then added further.


    "You surely have a heavy load on your shoulders."


    The Old Man sighed.


    Mark looked down with a serious expression. Bath was straight on point with those words. He had his promise to Freed. Now, he had an even heavier load to carry.


    "Can''t we just ignore it?"


    Mei asked. She did not want Mark to have a heavier burden and the worst, endangering himself. What they were talking about here was something that even Bath and the others at their peak could not contend against. And yet, what the Ancestor wanted was to kill the very same being.


    "Sure, you all can ignore it." Bath nodded, but his expression was very serious. "But even if you let it go, that being that is watching from above will not. You all are not just descendants of a race that he tried to erase. Two of you even had the potential to step into Godhood despite the current state of Earth. He definitely would not like that."


    The atmosphere became heavy. Furthermore, Mark felt like he put Mei and the little girls to danger now that he turned them into one of his kin.


    "What do we have to do?"


    Mark asked Bath. He could not think of anything right now.


    However, the answer he received made everyone gawk at Bath.


    "Nothing."


    That was what the Old Man said. He even said it with a nonchnt expression.


    Still, Mark nodded with a serious expression. There was nothing they needed to do. And what Bath meant for that was there was nothing for them to change. They could just follow what they had been doing up until now.


    And if that Observer sent another thing to hinder them, just destroy it like every obstacle they faced and would face in the future.


    Bath looked at Mark with a pleasant expression. It was good that Mark understood what he meant.


    While Mark was in contemtion, Bath spoke.


    "You also have another kind of crystal, right? The one that could harness Psychic Abilities."


    Hearing that, Mark looked at Bath with confusion.


    "Lend me two and give me thirty of the ones with pure energy."


    This time, everyone was confused. This was not extortion, was it not?


    On the other hand, Mark could tell that it was not. Rather, it seemed that Bath wanted to give them a big gift. And thus, he handed the things the Old Man asked for. It was not hard for him to take out since he had just dealt with the Infected Sylphs yesterday.


    Upon receiving the crystals, Bath immediately absorbed the energy from all thirty [Energy Crystals]. As for the two [Mental Crystals], the Old Man held both on his right hand.


    When thest [Energy Crystal] turned to dust, everyone covered their eyes. It was because the two [Mental Crystals] that Bath held shot out blinding light everywhere.


    It did not take long, and they also recovered their sight.


    And there, both the two supposedly empty [Mental Crystals] on Bath''s hand had glowing orbs inside them. Without waiting for any question, the Old Man handed the two crystals back to Mark.


    "I can''t do anything much at my current state. And I absolutely can''t directly lend a hand to your group. Still, I''m a former God of Creation in this country. I can at least do something like this. It consumes a lot of energy, though."


    Mark received the two crystals. Although he was not that surprised, it was still unexpected to receive a gift like this.


    "The one with red color is for this Lady here that want to have a God as her lover." Bath jokingly said which made na blush. "It will allow her to release an energy impact from her hands. This can also be used with weapons. It is perfect for her, considering that her blood had some strengthening properties."


    Then, pointing at the other crystal, Bath looked at Mark.


    "This one is for you. This will make your mind and body more adaptive to Psychic changes. It is very crucial right now that you will not lose your Psychic abilities every time you gain a new one."


    Hearing that, Mark absentmindedly nodded. But then, he realized...


    "How did you know?"


    Mark asked. After all, it was very unlikely for Bath to know that as it was not something that the Old Man asked permission to read from their minds.


    "Oh, my encounter with your wife is a coincidence. But ours is not. Since you arrived in Mount Mbito in your crazed state, I already know you. I already said earlier, it took time to confirm that you''re a direct descendant of the Ancestor of Blood Demons."


    Everyone, even Mark, was surprised. Did it mean that he was under the watch of a god all this time?


    Understanding the genuine look on Mark''s face, Bath hurriedly spoke.


    "Ah, no. I''m not watching you all the time. Only at times that you are fighting or doing something interesting. Like that battle with that Formless Demon or your battle with the me Demon. I was there watching."


    Bath said with a mischievous smile. He was really a God, without a doubt. Gods were bored beings and they observe things and people they found interesting.

 Chapter 470 On The Table And Into The Cabin, The Gifts That Bathala Gave Everyone

    <strong>Day ¨ƒ¨ƒ - ¨ƒ¨ƒ:¨ƒ¨ƒ ¨ƒ¨ƒ - Underground Crystal Basin, Unknown Dimension</strong>


    Mark held the two crystals that Bath returned to him. He never expected that he would receive such gifts.


    And the most crucial part was that the contents of the crystal for him. It addressed the side effects caused by consuming more than one [Mental Crystals] or when consuming one despite having an existing Psychic Ability.


    Like what happened when Freed finally gave his Psychic Ability to him, he lost both his Emphatic Ability and that random irvoyance for some time.


    Did it mean that he could consume any Psychic Ability as he wanted?


    However, before he grewcent, Bath spoke.


    "Although I gave that to you, you shan''t be greedy. Usually, it was as you experienced. People who gained new Psychic Powers from an outside source would need to adapt. They needed to consolidate the already existing and recently attained Psychic Ability. It will lead to being unable to use both Psychic Abilities for some time until the consolidation finished."


    Everyone attentively listened to the Old Man. After all, they never heard about this. And by how it was addressed to Mark, he definitely experienced something like this.


    "And that Crystal," Bath continued. "It will allow you to be able to use your existing abilities even though you are undergoing that period of consolidation. However, it will only allow you to use the portion that already consolidated."


    "Then, when I consume another one, I will still get weakened?"


    Mark asked.


    "That is better than not being able to use anything."


    Bath shrugged.


    "It may be disrespectful, but why can''t you just make something that will finish the consolidation instantly?"


    Amihan asked.


    Bath threw a gentle gaze at her and smiled bitterly.


    "There is no perfect remedy for everything. Even medicine had its side effects. If the solution for poverty is hard work, it will drain your mind and body in the process. If the advancement of technology is the remedy for the rough life of people in the past, it made the present peoplezy and dumb. Even if I, a former God, tried to address things, it will not always be perfect because of other factors."


    The Old Man looked at the crystal on Mark''s hand.


    "As for that crystal, the factor for that is not my limited ability, but the property of the person''s Soul, Mind, and Body. A Psychic, no, even other Magical Abilities, it is rooted in the Soul, controlled by the Mind, and stored in the Body. The consolidation is the whole process of the body to adapt. If that is skipped entirely, the person will end up dying. Your Soul will be raptured, the Mind will be Broken, and the Body will Explode."


    Hearing that, everyone shivered as they looked at Mark.


    "You are lucky that the crystals are made not to kill. I think you already know that."


    Bath added.


    This time, everyone understood. Growing your own power was safer, and acquiring what you did not have had its own risks.


    Then, Bath said an awful truth.


    "This is also why we, the Gods of the Past, are given specific titles. It is because we can''t just acquire any other ability just because we wanted to. If we undergo that period of consolidation, it will be very fatal for us. I was a God of Creation because I can create things. The Gods of War are called that because they can only use their abilities to fight. The Gods of Fire only can control fire. Although it is not impossible, it is extremely rare for Gods to have two or more specialties. If we got greedy and ended up not being able to use our abilities, not only that the worship of people to us would lessen, but those other gods that wanted to rece us will use that opportunity."


    Hearing that, Mark wanted to ask the Old Man a question. Since the other Gods were also not around, they could take the opportunity to gain new abilities. But then, he refrained as he realized the answer. Bath might be able to create a new ability, but it would not be something at the level of Gods. The only way was to snatch the abilities of other Gods, but they were not present at all.


    And the worst part for it was the time that the consolidation ended.


    What happened to him back then was a worldwide phenomenon. If it happened to a God, it might cause arge scale catastrophe. And worse, the Observer would find them.


    "Well then, our fateful meeting will end soon. I can''t take all of you away for too long, or that Observer will be able to trace where this ce is. In any case, let me give all of you some things as gifts for crossing paths."


    Bath said with a bitter smile.


    With a flick of his wand, several items appeared in front of everyone. Each item then flew towards the members of Mark''s group.


    Mark and na already received theirs. And thus, the items were for the others.


    Mei received an intricate box made of rosewood. However, the items inside were precious things. There as a pair of metal rings iid with intricate patterns. This gift obviously included Mark as Mei would surely have no reason to wear a pair. Sure enough, it was a pair of magical Couple Rings. The rings, as long as it was filled with energy, would allow the owner of the rings to teleport instantly beside each other.


    I, Abbygale, and Miracle each received different colored balls of stone. At first, it seemed odd, and the little girls felt a bit disappointed. However, hearing what the balls of stone were, the three did not want to let go of it. The three balls were actually cores. It was used as a heart for living dolls. Golems in the magical sense.


    Terremillio and his wives also received things. Being a prince, Teremillio received a crown that would enhance his abilities.


    Felenia also received the same, but with a different design and more of a feminine one.


    The second wife, Dathlia, who was more of a nt maniptor, received a wand made of magical vines.


    Mya received a cor simr to the one Mark got from the Infected Princess of the pixies.


    Angis received a crystal stringed instrument.


    Daniya, the golden-haired Bukaw, actually received a coconut fruit. However, everyone knew that it was not a normal one when they saw her hugging thatrge fruit as if afraid that it would be taken away.


    And for Reilynne, the Pixie, and Kokoro, the Koropokkuru, the two received a crystal ball for some reason. The two could not understand what the crystal balls were. But when they learned what was the crystal balls are for, they almost teared up.


    Space Crystals, that was what these crystal balls were called. Shattering it would open a portal that would lead to the ce imprinted in the crystal. In this case, these crystals would open a portal to the respective homes of the two.


    The two who were lost in another country because of the idents they had been through, could finally go home.


    However, they were not that happy. The Crystals were one use and the portal would only be opened for a short time. Their new family was here and if they used the crystals, they would be able to return here.


    But then, Mark looked at Bath as he realized the Old Man''s purpose. Bath was trying to bind this odd group of Spirit Races to his group. It was true that the crystals were one-use items. But if they let Spera into the portal, the problem was solved. In that way, however, two of Teremillio''s wives would not be able to do anything but rely on Mark as Spera''s Master.


    Pefile, on the other hand, was staring at the thing given to him in shock. He was speechless. It was a wooden medallion that looked like nothing but a trinket. Tracing the marks on the medallion, however, anyone would feel unique energy.<sub> </sub>


    To Pefile''s state, Bath spoke.


    "I already know your circumstances. That thing is from the ancestors of your tribe. Use that to end your business with your tribe."


    "Thank you."


    It was a genuine reply from Pefile. It could be said that his preparations for several years had been wasted, but it was wasted in a good way.


    Edzel and Pearl, on the other hand, received a pair of bracelets. Both bracelets not only told the wearer where the other one was but also protected the wearer from curses and evil intent.


    Next was Amihan. She had the strangest thing to receive. What she got was a crystal box with a gold lock. The box was small as it fit her hand perfectly. Nevertheless, she could not open it at all.


    "Don''t bother opening it right now," Bath teased. "That is something very special and will only open when the right timees."


    Amihan was confused. Her childish mind could notprehend it exactly. Nevertheless, she could feel some connection from the box for some reason.


    And that was all the items that appeared in front of everyone. Although they felt happy to receive such gifts, they also felt awkward.


    It was because Aephelia, Karlene, Mara, and Jte did not receive anything. This also made the two feel a bit disappointed. As for Jte, it was understandable as she was Infected.


    But the disappointment did notst too long. It was because Bath spoke.


    "Do not worry, you two. It''s not that I forgot about giving you all anything, I have something more suitable."


    Bath then stood up from the seat and waved his staff as he beckoned the Karlene and Aephelia.


    "You two first, follow me."


    The two looked at Mark. They did not know whether they should follow or not. However, Mark nodded as he could tell that they would really receive something good for them.


    Standing from their seat, Karlene followed while Aephelia flew beside her.


    Led by Bath, they entered the shabby looking cabin.


    Aside from Karlene and Aephelia, the others sat down while drying the tea on their earthen cups.


    While everyone else was waiting for the two toe back, Mark was mulling about something else. He was trying toprehend the actual reason why Bath called them here. Although it looked like Bath was showing them that he was just trying to inform them about things, Mark could feel that it was not all.


    Furthermore, all this time that they were talking, no, even when they appeared inside the crystal cave, there was a wave of energy from Bath that was surrounding everyone. It was as if he was searching for something from his group.


    But without being able to tell what Bath wanted, it was all nothing but spections.


    "AHHHHHHHH!!!"


    "KYYAAAAAA!!!"


    Two odd sounds where heard from the cabin. The two different screams made everyone stiff.


    Furthermore, Mark almost choked when he heard the second scream.


    The first scream was of pain, the second was of shocked embarrassment.


    na almost stood up and wanted to check. However, Mark shook his head making her sit down. Even though he could detect strange things happening from inside the cabin, he was sure that nothing bad was happening.


    Still, why did it feel like Karlene''s consciousness was split into two?


    Everyone waited restlessly. Although it was just several minutes, it felt much longer than it actually was.


    Soon, with a creak, the door of the cabin opened.


    "PFFT!!!"


    Everyone choked as they almostughed. If it did not feel inappropriate, the might have done so.


    However, even though there as a red mark of a palm on Bath''s left cheek, he was still a former God. It was very disrespectful tough.


    "Ahem..."


    Bath coughed as he stepped aside.


    There, a figure emerged which surprised everyone, even Mark. A figure that they saw from the scene in Eriellis, the woman in maid clothes went out of the door.


    Seeing that figure, both Mark and I felt very happy.


    "Master."


    Aephelia bowed towards Mark. Although she was red in her face and had an embarrassed look while holding her reddish palm, she was definitely back in her own body. It just made the others feel confused though as aside from Mei and I, the others did not know about Aephelia''s past.


    As Aephelia went back to Mark''s side as if it was natural, the next scene further shocked everyone.


    A little girl, about nine years old, with violet hair and eyes ran out of the cabin and went straight towards Mark. She then took Mark''s hand without hesitation and put it on her head under everyone''s gaze.


    On the other hand, Karlene went out of the cabin in an unstable manner. She was holding her head and as if she had undergone a painful operation.


    na could not help but blurt out as she looked at her best friend and the little girl.


    "Bessie, did you gave birth or something?"

 Chapter 471 Bathalas True Goal, Sending The Group Back To The Spirit Dimension

    <strong>Day ¨ƒ¨ƒ - ¨ƒ¨ƒ:¨ƒ¨ƒ ¨ƒ¨ƒ - Underground Crystal Basin, Unknown Dimension</strong>


    "Before attempting to joke or something, isn''t it better if you help her first?"


    Mark said with a strange look on his face.


    Karlene looked lethargic and frail. Her face was also drained of color. That painful scream they heard was not just for a show.


    Hearing those words, na hurriedly stood up and ran to help Karlene. Although she could stand and walk, that was all she could do at the moment.


    "Sorry, I was surprised by the girl," na said to Karlene. "She looked exactly like you when we were little."


    Those words of her made everyone realize why she said that joke likement. After all, there were only four possibilities for a person with the same appearance to appear that they could think of. First was obviously, a child of the person. Being rtives could also do the same. The third and fourth, however, was a bit absurd. It was either the girl was a doppelganger or a clone.


    And since it was impossible for Karlene and the little girl to the former two, and it was unbelievable for the third, it only left thest one.


    To confirm that, Bath spoke.


    "Take care of her. There''s no harm to her body the structure of it, her DNA in human science terms. What made her weakened is because I had to pull out the soul of this little girl from her. It is the first time that I witnessed a soul giving birth to a soul without a body, which made them end up in possession like state. Their souls were attached from the roots, and I had to severe that. Since she''s the host, her soul was weakened. There is no problem for the girl, though."


    Everyone now understood who was the little girl. Back in the base, although quite rare, there would be times that Karlene would lose herself, especially when she was involved in bloody battles. That was how they learned about her circumstances. It was not a secret to everyone in the base. And during those times, although she would not hurt her allies, she was kind of hard to control. It was until she saw Mark while in that state. Karlene would then run towards Mark, grabbing his hand and putting it on her head.


    "Ka, is your body fine?"


    Mark asked the little girl. However...


    "Ka! Ka!"


    That was her reply. Her voice was not rough any more, unlike when she was still in Karlene''s body. Nevertheless, it seemed that she could not understand what Mark was saying, like before.


    This made Mark look at Bath.


    "There''s nothing I can do about that," Bath said before Mark could say anything. "Her soul had just been plucked off. I can''t do something to modify it right now, even I will not know what consequences will happen. After all, she''s a soul that is detached from the circle of reincarnation."


    "A newborn soul, is it?"


    Mark said.


    "That is right," Bath sighed. "Normally, a new soul is born with two parts of the soul from its parents fused together with the breath of life. That is the routine. Unless another dead soul of a person is given another life due to good or bad karma. Or if a God created it."


    That made everyone flustered. Not only that Bath revealed the birth of souls to them, but also said that the existence of Ka, was unnatural.


    And then, Mark turned to someone else...


    Seeing where he was looking at, Bath nodded.


    "She is also the same." The Old Man then proceeded to tell Mara the awful truth. "The soul of your sister had been long gone. I''m sorry to say, but the current soul inside your sister''s body is not its previous owner."


    Everyone looked at Mara, then to Jte. Bath just said that Mara''s sister was already dead, and the one beside her was something else using her sister''s body.


    They all expected that Mara would cry or break down. Unexpectedly, she did not. Mara only showed a bitter, sad face and a little smile.


    "It''s fine to cry. You shouldn''t hold it back."


    Pefile said as he knew how it felt to have someone you loved, taken away. He was a bit better than Mara, though.


    "I''m fine. Boss already told me before that she isn''t my sister anymore. I''m the one who kept on clinging on to her."


    That made everyone understand her response to the news. She already epted it since the start when she saw that her sister had a bite on her shoulder. It was already good for her that she could spend time with her sister, although she already had a different soul.


    Seeing that, na had an idea and turned to Bath.


    "You''re a God, right? Even a former one, can''t you have her sister resurrected? Or call her soul back at least? Since you gave us gifts, it will be a good one for her."


    "Hey!!!" Mara said in a fluster. "It''s inappropriate, right? Taking to a God and requesting in that way..."


    Since even the person in question rebuked her, na looked down as she helped Karlene back to their seats.


    "That would really be a perfect thing," Bath said dejectedly. "But I am a former God of Creation and not a God that governed souls. That is beyond my abilities."


    But then, Bath flicked his robe, and a medallion appeared on his hand.


    "Since it is the case, let me give you this."


    The medallion, that was made of crystal and was rimmed with gold floated from Bath''s palm towards Mara.


    As Mara wondered what the medallion was for, Bath exined.


    "Stay by this man''s side." The Old Man pointed his staff at Mark. "Although it might not be sure, there''s a possibility for him to run into a God that had links to the river of souls. Use that medallion to ask a favor. That medallion is not enough to resurrect your sister''s soul. However, it might be possible to talk to her onest time if she has yet to enter the cycle of reincarnation. Do not expect too much as the time for a soul to enter reincarnation is not fixed. Some are early, and some wait for a long time. You just have to be lucky."


    Mara nodded and gave the old man a sincere thank you.<sub> </sub>


    Then,stly, Jte.


    And towards her, even Bath was troubled.


    "I wonder what should be suitable for her..."


    "You don''t have to force yourself to give her one if you can''t think of anything."


    Mark suggested. Even he would have a hard time thinking about what would be suitable for her.


    If there was something, then it would be a fresh brain of a Mutator... Something with the mutation to enhance her body and mind at least. And of course, Bath would not do that. It was hical, even for him, who was a God. He was a God of Creation. He would not create something iplete and let it get destroyed the moment he created it.


    And there was also another reason that the Old Man could not disclose yet.


    There, the Old Man gave up.


    "I''ll hold unto her gift for now. When she developed her abilities, especially her mind, more, I will give the gift at that time."


    Mark, however, thought that it was not that simple. Why would the Old Man suddenly give up? This made him feel strange. It was like Bath was making a reason to meet them in the future.


    While Mark was thinking that, Bath spoke.


    "Well then, that is the end of everything for now. Since itste, I will send you all back. Follow me back to the cave."


    Bath then turned around without saying anything else. It was more like "the business was done, so I will lead you out," kind of feeling.


    Without a choice, they followed behind the Old Man with the gifts they received in tow. Like how they arrived, the way back was silent. But unlike the first time, they were a bit restless. After all, everything was surreal.


    They met a former god only known in stories, they saw visions of histories they never knew, and they even witnessed a few miracles that no mortal could do.


    At the entrance of the crystal cave, Bath stopped.


    "This is as far as I can lead you all. Just continue to the end of the cave, and you will go back to the Dimension of Spirits."


    As Bath stepped aside with a smile, everyone gave their pleasantries and gratitude.


    Bath watched them all enter deep into the cave until the cave was enveloped with light. As that light signaled their exit, Bath now had a stern look on his face.


    Not because he was displeased with that group. Rather, he was fond of them.


    The current look on the Old Man''s face was because of the true reason he called Mark''s group for.


    "Mutagen, is it?"


    He sighed.


    The reason why he let Mark and his group was not only because of Mark and Mei but also because of Karlene and Jte. There as also that girl called Miracle. And of course, someone he knew from her previous life.


    More importantly, to observe the Mutage face to face. Although he was a former god, there was no way for him to manifest himself in the Mortal World in a physical form. When he was watching Mark, he was only using some sort of observing treasure. If he opened a portal into the Mortal World, he would be easily found by the Observer. The other gods and higher deities were the same. That was why each of them had their own dimensions to hide inside.


    Because of that, he had no way of closely observing Mutagen aside from the mindless infected he could see wandering in the Spirit Dimension. Mark''s group was the first group of people that were involved with Mutagen that he encountered in the Spirit Dimension.


    Mark, Karlene, Jte, and Miracle were all different circumstances that involved Mutagen. Not only that they were not mindless, but also had differing natures.


    And now, observing them closely, even analyzing the soul of two of them, the Old Man had drawn an awful conclusion. However, it was not concrete evidence and that was why he did not dare disclose it to Mark and the others. He was also not ready to answer their other questions so he decided to give them gifts and lead them away.


    As for the drawn conclusion, it seemed that the Observers, or maybe, other True Gods, were involved in this. He could not tell whether it was directly or indirectly, however, he found traces of their work in the bodies of Mark and the others.


    The creation of another race, grafting of souls, new souls born of empty bodies, and altering both soul and body. It was not something that a normal disease would do. Not only that but Mutagen could also affect those without souls. It was very strange that even a former God like him found itplicated.


    Bath returned to his cabin with a heavy heart.


    "The leads were still far from reach, it seemed. In the least, I formed a connection with them. A new potential God, is it? Furthermore, there are two of them. This time, I will not repeat the same mistake as before."


    That mistake he was talking about, was the reason he easily lost the worship of the people in this country. As a God of Creation, he thought that he was enough. He created his own Deities to lead his people, not trying to get any actual direct help from the other Gods that was thrown in this country after him.


    Because he was alone, his religion was easily swallowed. Unlike a group of Gods in arger country that decided to move together. Until now, their country was barely touched by the new regime of the Observer.


    Returning back to the cabin with all those thoughts, Bath was weed back by surprised chirps of his two messenger birds.


    The two led them back to the tree and there...


    "Hahahaha! What a really interesting fellow."


    Bathughed with amusement. On the seat where Mark sat before, a small pouch was left. It contained fifty small energy crystals.


    It obviously indicated that Mark was epting the gifts to his group, not as favors, but as an equal trade.

 Chapter 472 The Gift Spera Received, The Night After They Met A Former God

    <strong>Day ¨ƒ¨ƒ - ¨ƒ¨ƒ:¨ƒ¨ƒ ¨ƒ¨ƒ - Fortress Walls, Stone Fortress, Eastern Mountain, Spirit Dimension</strong>


    Everyone opened their eyes, trying to adjust to the sudden change in their surroundings. Like how they left, it was also how they returned. With a sh of blinding light, they left the cave and appeared atop the walls of the Stone Fortress.


    When the light vanished, however, darkness embraced them. Of course, it was not some idiom or analogy, but in the literal sense. Looking at the sky, it was already night time. Probably, it was already midnight. Due to the difference in lux, it was no wonder why they felt blinded.


    The group felt odd. They were all sure that it was still morning when the battle with the giant happened. They had just woken up and did not even have breakfast yet. It was good that the tea that was served to them seemed to have effects that filled their stomach for some reason.


    They left in the morning and returned in the evening when they spent barely two hours in that ce. It was not hard to guess that the ce they went to had its time moving even slower than the Spirit Dimension.


    The group''s return caused amotion. It was impossible for them to return stealthily because of that sh of light, especially in the middle of the night. Not to mention that more than half of the races that were currently living around the Stone Fortress were nocturnals.


    Soldiers immediately ran towards their direction to see what was that sh of light. And when the soldiers saw Mark''s group, it was like a hero''s return. Everyone was delighted to see them and had the look of reverence in their faces. It was very ufortable.


    Mark urged Felenia to lead the way so that they could enter the fortress immediately. He did not want to stay any longer with this kind of reception.


    Luckily, no one stopped them on the way. Instead, the races and the soldiers parted to the side, letting them pass without any hindrance.


    However, it was very noisy. The Duendes that were guarding the walls had all turned to human size, securing the safety of the night. Seeing Mark, who defeated the giant that killed many of them, they started hitting the ground with the base of their spears as they cheered.


    The way they chant and hit the ground was uniform as if they were trained to do so. It was a rather beautiful sight. It was quite annoying, though.


    As they entered the gates into the fortress, they thought that it was over.


    As they stepped inside, however, Diwata Danaya was there. Along with the king and queen of the Stone fortress and the representatives of the races.


    Mark could feel that they wanted to throw a celebration for some reason.


    And of course...


    "Pass..."


    He murmured.


    Everyone could see the annoyance in his face now. And thus, Felenia decided to step up to quell the situation.


    Since it was clear that the time they were gone here was longer than they thought, the Princess of the Stone Fortress took that to her advantage.


    "Father, Mother... Diwata Danaya, can we rest first. Look at the time, we are all tired."


    Felenia said with made everyone feel awkward. It was because the group truly looked tired. Of course, it was not because they were spent or something, but they were still digesting most of the things they heard earlier. And for the most part, the fatigue on their faces came from the unexpected reception.


    Luckily, because of that, they decided to retreat. Although they were curious about the two additions in their group and the missing Sylph.


    Unfortunately, it seemed that they were not going to stop but would just postpone the celebration. Mark and the others still had no escape.


    They returned to their guestroom and gathered in the lobby, except for Felenia. She was called by her mother and father to tell what happened. Since Bath graced everyone his presence that was not felt for more than a millennium already, it was impossible for them to settle down just like that.


    "Is it fine to let Filenia go? She won''t tell everything, right?"


    Aephelia, who stood behind Mark''s seat asked. Since she was already back to being human, she could not do what she did before. To sit down on Mark''s shoulder like Amihan, right now. Nevertheless, she liked this ce. It was the same ce she always had when she was still serving Freed back then.


    To Aephelia''s question, everyone was also worried. Not everything that Bath mentioned to them was safe to disclose. It was especially for Mark and Mei''s circumstances that would surely invite unnecessary trouble.


    "Don''t worry. Felenia is a smart woman. She knows what to tell and what is not."


    Teremillio bragged.


    "Yeah, she is a smart person. But I still doubt why she fell for you."


    Amihan rebuked. Of course, her rtionship with the Prince of ck Duendes was still as bad as before.


    "Still, I can''t believe it that we met a God."


    na said while she massaged Karlene''s head who was lying on herp.


    Karlene was still weak and her head was still aching. Everyone told her to rest in her room already, but she wanted to join everyone. Especially since she could not leave Ka alone who stuck to Mark like a leech.


    Actually, now, there was not only Ka. Mara, who sat beside the currently silent Spera, was smiling bitterly. Her sister was currently sitting on the floor in front of Mark as she took his free hand to put on her head.


    Mark was quite troubled already, but what could he do? It was not like they were doing any harm. However, to say, it was a huge improvement that Jte could already feel jealous.


    Still, Mark wished that she felt jealous about something else and not to Ka.


    Fortunately, Mei and the three girls knew that they should not bother him and add themselves on top of the two. Mark already had two handfuls to deal with.


    Everyone started to express their emotions and opinions about the unique encounter they had. They also exchanged ideas about the gifts they received. And the best topic of the discussion was about Aephelia who they saw from the vision that Bath showed everyone.


    There was one, however, that was keeping silent. Mark looked at Spera.


    Among everyone, she was the only one who received something that was not Physical. Currently, she was moving a small ball of light above her palms. Furthermore, Bath did not give any concrete exnation about it either. But to say, Spera seemed to be contented about it. The reason being like Amihan, she could feel some connection to the thing they received.


    "What do you think that is?"


    Mara could not help but ask as she was seating beside Spera.


    As a reply, Spera shook her head.


    Everyone was also curious about that ball of light. No one had seen something like that before. The only thing that they could tell that it seemed to have life and was an entity made entirely of energy different from what everyone here had.


    The only exception in this curiosity was Mark. If he was right, he already encountered something like that before. And to say, Bath knew his stuff. What Spera needed was not any item or essory.


    "Spera, catch."


    Mark said as he tossed something towards her.<sub> </sub>


    It was very unexpected and it made her flustered as she caught what he threw to her.


    When she looked at it, it was crystal simr to the ones Mark gave her before. She already received three of these, one when he returned her ability, the other was to turn her into an Evolver.


    Still, this one looked rather different.


    "What is-"


    She was about to ask Mark about the crystal when the ball of light in front of her rushed unto the crystal and swallowed it.


    "AHHH!"


    Spera was surprised for two reasons. One, because the ball of light reacted in an unexpected way. And two, she knew that a single crystal was too precious. Especially after their encounter with Bath, she knew that even Gods would salivate for these.


    But now... A ratherrge crystal... Was gone...


    Spera was troubled she did not know what to do as she thought that she had to rece it.


    "I..."


    She was about to apologize to Mark when she saw Mark''s had a yful look on his face.


    "What? Say it."


    Mark urged, almostughing.


    "Gege, don''t bully her."


    Mei reprimanded.


    Everyone then realized that he must have expected that to happen. He was just teasing her afterward.


    Of course, everyone here knew why he was teasing her. She was too bad at hiding her emotions. Right now, she looked like a child whose ice cream fell onto the floor, along with tears on the corner of her eyes.


    "Do you know anything about it?"


    Pefile asked as he looked at the ball of light in curiosity.


    Even Spera had the look of askance, although she was about to cry just now.


    "A juvenile soul, a spirit."


    Mark replied. Of course, this just made everyone even more confused.


    "Still don''t get it?" Mark asked which Spera nodded. "That is what you need right now, instead of power-up items. You have a very loose grasp to lifepared to everyone here. Do you know why?"


    That question made Spera realize.


    "Because I''m alone?"


    She said. Although Mark and Mei did not treat her any different from a rtive to the point of teasing her and making herugh,it still felt different.


    Mark had Mei and the little girls. na and Karlene were friends since childhood and was nothing less than sisters. They two also had rtives in the Mortal World. Teremillio had his wives. Pefile also had his, although not here. Edzel and Pearl were together. Aephelia and Amihan had Mark as the master they were devoted to.


    As for her, she was different. Her rtionship to everyone as also shallow since she had not spent too long with them. She found her current life enjoyable, but it was still iplete.


    "With that, you might have something more to grasp onto. That is a young soul bound to you. You should cherish it like a family. Probably in the future, find a body for it."


    "Ah..."


    Everyone had the same reaction.


    The thing that Spera was given was an unborn soul. A soul without a body.


    "Say..." Karlene interjected. "Can''t Bath just give her someone already grown or something like Ka? She can even give Aephelia a body. Why give a soul without a body to Spera?"


    "Bessie, because it''s different." na was the one who answered. "Bath already said, he was weakened. Creating a body and granting it agrown soul could already be hard for him. It might even cause the Observer to find him since it is not a natural birth or scientific birth."


    Then, na looked at the ball of light in front of Spera.


    "As for that soul, Ka and Aephelia are different, I think. They already exist, though Ka was rooted from yours. And since it was a new soul, Spera will need to raise it and bond with it like a family. That is what matters the most."


    "Hoh... To think that you can exin it to that extent."


    Mark said. If his hands were not upied, he might have pped just to tease.


    "Of course!" na replied. "I read a lot of light novels before. There are a lot of things in resemnce."


    Mark shrug his head and looked back at Spera.


    She was staring at the ball of light with a new spark in her eyes. It was a very good sign.


    As for the crystal Mark gave her, it was actually the only crystal unique to his collection.


    After all, this was not the first time he saw a ball of light like that. When he defeated the headless priest, he caught one and got that crystal in return. That made him think that it would help Spera''s gift a lot.


    The night got deeper and Felenia returned. As they expected, she knew that she needed to hide a lot of things. She also brought back several things. These were the things Mark asked her to find before, the records about the Blood Demons that their kingdom had.


    Of course, he could not read it.


    Thus, having new goals for tomorrow, they decided to sleep.

 Chapter 473 The Celebration, A Whole Day Of Headache

    D<strong>ay ¨ƒ¨ƒ - ¨ƒ¨ƒ:¨ƒ¨ƒ AM - Stone Fortress, Eastern Dimension</strong>


    The next morning, the celebration of the racesmenced.


    And of course, with Mark at the center of it all. It was despite all his rejection, Diwata Danaya begged him to do so. Even if it was just for a short time, he had to sit on the throne and meet some people.


    With the Diwata''s persistence and Karlene and na''s urging, he agreed for one condition. If he could not stand it anymore, he would leave at any point in time in the celebration.


    Even though Danaya was not satisfied with it, she epted his condition. In the least, he would be present for the asion for some time. Still, the Diwata could not fathom why Mark hated to participate. From what she knew, humans were fond of celebrations.


    Thus, with his agreement, the preparation started.


    Early in the morning, he had to prepare himself together with Mei, who would step out with him on the podium. She did not find being the center of a celebration a good thing too. However, she became more epting of it because of how her parents raised her, being the center of business parties and such. Furthermore, Mark was with her this time.


    Mark and Mei wore the clothes prepared for them. It was quite amusing how they were able to provide such clothes, a day after the battle. Furthermore, it was a perfect fit. Nevertheless, considering that what they encountered yesterday was already absurd beyond belief, this was way more eptable.


    The clothes were a set of Royal Tribal Attire made of something that was like silk, but as tough as leather.


    Mark had a garb embroidered with intricate patterns.


    The top was a pair of buttonless long sleeves and an inner shirt. Compared to the inner shirt, the patterns and designs on the outerwear looked moreplicated. And even though it did not look like leather or petroleum, it had the same shine. The pair of pants was the same.


    Fortunately, they were considerate enough to not make the clothes as colorful as possible. They should have based the color from what Mark always wore. A set of ck clothes, and reddish ck armor. It was because of the whole attire, despite having a lot of designs and patterns, it only had different hues of ck and gray, with a streamline of red.


    The pattern of the clothes and the atmosphere Mark had around him made him look fierce and cannot be opposed.


    As for Mei, she had ck patterned innerwear and a poncho-like outer garment of red color. It was paired with an ankle long red skirt with golden patterns. Aside from the clothes, there was also a box of essories.


    Aside from Mark and Mei, everyone had clothing of their own. Of course, except from the three little girls that the Mark and Mei called daughters, the others had a less extravagant attire.


    It was not biased, but Mark was the center of the show, he and his family had to stand out. That was what Felenia exined to them.


    Males and females had to separate the ces they should wear their clothes. Well, they separated while dragging Ka, who followed Mark instead of the girls.


    When everyone wore their clothes, for some reason, Mei was still not out. And it seemed that the girls had some presentation for Mark.


    Sure enough, when Mei came out of the room, everyone''s skipped a beat. Even Danaya, who was present in the lobby, had to question whether she was the Diwata or Mei was.


    Even Teremillio had to be held back by his wives. If they let him go, he would get killed for sure.


    Mei slowly approached Mark, who was staring at her. She did not even pay attention to anyone.


    "Gege, how do I look?"


    She asked with a blush.


    "Uhm, you look beautiful."


    Mark said as he looked away.


    That gesture did not escape everyone''s eyes. They were surprised.


    "Hoho, what do I see there..."


    na teased.


    Unfortunately for them, the time to tease got cut short. Mark closed his eyes and inhaled deeply. Then, his expression return to the usual. It made Mei rather disappointed, but Mark was better looking with a dignified face than an embarrassed one.They were not used to it at all.


    An aide of King Hieroman also came knocking on the door to tell Danaya if everyone was ready.


    Thus, the celebration finally started.


    And Mark almost backed out from the first activity.


    To start the celebration, he had to present himself to every citizen that was currently residing in the territory of the Stone Fortress. All the races, big or small, young or old, were gathered at the main courtyard of the fortress. And for everyone to see him, he had to step on the highest podium of the fortress.


    And there, a speech would start the asion.


    Fortunately, Mark did not have to say anything. He and Mei, who was apanying him, just needed to step out after receiving the cue. It was Diwata Danaya and the King of the Stone Fortress, Hieromano, who would give the speech.


    And the reason for that was thenguage barrier. Mark was very thankful that he could not speak theirnguage in this regard.


    Diwata Danaya and the Rey Hieromano came out first together with other few people. Aside from the Queen, and the two Princes that Mark and the others saw for the first time, the others were the king''s personal guards. All of them right now was in human size for the sake of convenience. Of course, not every Duende was capable of this. In fact, Felenia, who was the princess, could not.


    The speech of the two was quite long. Long enough that Mark yawned and felt sleepy. As Felenia and the others were present, they tranted parts of the speech for Mark and those that could not understand it in their group.


    Diwata Danaya and the King talked about the current situation of the Spirit World. The harsh truth about their low rate of survival considering the threat that they encountered yesterday. That was why they all needed to join forces together and thwart any obstacle that they face.


    Diwata Danaya and the representatives of the races wanted to raise the morale of everyone. That was why they pushed this celebration to happen. It was even though their current supplies would take a good hit, it would be easier to make everyone move if the celebration was a sess.


    After all, surviving the catastrophe yesterday was surely something to celebrate. Even if not all of them died, too few might have remained. Furthermore, they would be left with nothing while wandering the infected world. Fortunately, someone stopped the disaster.


    Finally, Mark and Mei were called. Cheers immediately erupted. Many saw the battle, bothbatant or not. They all knew that they would not have any chance of survival at that time. And yet, to face the giant that even Diwata Danaya had no way of winning against, Mark appeared with a ck trail of smoke.


    At first, they thought that he was a human, yet, the truth that he was a Blood Demon soon spread. Many did not know what race that was and thought that they like other Demon Races. And those who knew spread the truth.<sub> </sub>


    The race that maintained the bnce between the Surface and the Underworld had returned. And the debut of their return was to kill a giant that could destroy theirst home.


    With Mark and Mei present for everyone to see, Diwata Danaya continued to speak. It was about thanking him for his help at that time.


    And shortly after, the trantion for Mark and the others stopped. Felenia and the others that were tranting had awkward looks on their faces.


    When pressed about it, it became more awkward.


    Furthermore, the citizens below were shouting the same words over and over.


    Being stared daggers by Mark, Felenia gave up.


    Apparently, Mark was being called as Bath''s Envoy.


    Mark could not help but cringe.


    It seemed that those that were at the walls at that time spread what they had witnessed. After all, it was Bath who sent Mark to deal with the Giant. Furthermore, his whole group was taken by Bath, soon after the battle. It further solidified the rumor.


    "Hah..."


    Mark sighed.


    Just the first activity, Mark was all drained.


    After that, the rituals started. Mostly to thank Bath who appeared yesterday in the time of crisis. Especially when he had not appeared for several thousand years already.


    It seemed that the races celebrate things differently. While the Sylphs and the Duendes seemed to be more modern in their celebrations, with just a ritual for thanking gods and stuff, the other races were still exercising tribal rituals andpetitions.


    There was a fighting challenge where the participants were mostly Sarangays and Tikbngs, who wanted to showoff.


    Another was a contest where the contestants would have to kill magical animals, and the one that killed the strongest animal would win. This time, however, was different. The contestants would find an infected wandering in the Forest of Illusions and kill them. Of course, the Tikbngs managing the forest were ordered to release their magic on the infected that were chosen by the contestants for a fair fight while the Tikbngs also ensured their safety.


    There were also performances that the Dryads led with the Sylphs. The two Races that lived side-by-side gave good dances that were well epted by the audience, especially males. The Dryads were all beautiful, and seductive looking, despite the tree-like patches on their skin. The beauty of these Tree Nymphs was only next to the Encantadas and Diwatas.


    The Trade Area was also special this time. Since most of the people were in high spirits, the items in the Trade Area were better than the other day. Unfortunately, Mark and the others were being held by the representatives hoping that he wouldst till the most important part.


    And thus, lunchtime came. It came with the part everyone was hoping for.


    In the main hall of the Fortress, the highest people of the races gathered. Not only the representatives of the races but also the Chieftains of the smaller tribes under them.


    And the headache came.


    Everyone wanted to form a tie to Mark in one way or another. After all, the prowess he showed, together with his possible connection to Bath, a rtionship to him or his group, was something to invest at. Not to mention that he and his family were the only known people of the Blood Demon Race. There were more reasons to want to get closer to them than not.


    However, these races were not living in modern human times. And thus, the easiest, and known approach for these Chieftains...


    Was to gift their daughters away.


    Rtionship ties with most of these races were solid, there were only very few races and individuals that valued familial ties, tike Amayana, or the Tamawos that Pefile belonged to. Stronger ties were also present in the Royal families of Duendes, Sylphs, and Encatados. But to the ones that had a lower ce in the society, it was rathermon to trade their offsprings if needed by the tribe.


    And there was the dilemma.


    Forming ties with these non-human races were not bad. But to gift him their daughters was too much. Mark would prefer items or males to add to his workforce.


    And if anyone expected that the daughters were forced...


    NO!


    What was with their happy faces?!


    It was obvious that some of them were even aiming at bing a concubine.


    Of course, despite their suggestive actions, Mark did not even bat an eyelid. And surely, Mark had no n on epting them.


    Mei was enough for him. He did not want any others.


    Furthermore, he totally showed that he only reacted to Mei during the lunch gathering. This made many girls disappointed.


    But then...


    "Master." Aephelia seemed to have an idea. "ept those with no intention to snatch you from the Mistress."


    Mark was confused.


    "Why?"


    "I already have a body now. It should be fine if I ept trainees. Just Me and Miss Odelina is not enough for your current status."


    And thus, the selection started. Mark did not hide his intentions and many were disappointed. However, it seemed that they still had found some earnest candidates.


    The gathering inside the fortresssted till evening.


    But in thetter half, Mark and Mei were already gone leaving Diwata Danaya and the others to entertain everyone.

 Chapter 474 The Compensation, Into The Dungeons Of The Stone Fortress

    <strong>Day ¨ƒ¨ƒ - ¨ƒ¨ƒ:¨ƒ¨ƒ ¨ƒ¨ƒ - Stone Fortress, Eastern Mountain, Spirit Dimension</strong>


    The celebration was remarkably sessful.


    With most of the races being nocturnal, the celebration outside the fortress had yet to end. It was even though it was already past midnight. They did not party like how humans did. Most of then just gathered around, listening to stories told by the chiefs of their tribes. Sometimes, others would step up in the limelight to boast about their achievements. Although most of them were boisterous, it just made things livelier.


    The smell of roasted animals zed with their tribe''s mix of spices spread everywhere. Some tribes even brought out the liquor exclusive to their tribes.


    And to see those happy expressions that they had not seen for a while, Diwata Danaya was satisfied.


    Everyone had been living on the edge these past days. And the appearance of that Giant could have pushed many to their limits. If that condition continued, the unity in this ce would fall soon, even if the Giant was defeated.


    Danaya could not let that happen. Fortunately, the leaders of the races had the same thought. The threat outside was already overwhelming. If a problem rose from inside, it would be much worse as everyone had nowhere to go.


    Fortunately, the sudden interference of Bath made this celebration possible. His appearance back then made everyone feel that at a pinch, someone might step out to save them. Although the possibility was very low, it would give everyone the hope they desperately needed.


    While Diwata Danaya hovered above the fortress as she watched everyone, two figures appeared before her.


    It was Mark and Mei, who were taking a midnight stroll. Because of the ongoing celebration, the Trade Area was still open. Thus, Mark and Mei decided to look around if there would be something that would catch their eye.


    Mark and Mei had changed into a more discreet type of clothingpared to what they wore in the celebration. They even more masks. This way, most of the races that attended the speech this morning would not recognize them.


    And sure enough, Mark had found some good things, especially materials for crafting and some magical weapons. Furthermore, since he traded with the small crystals with the attribute that the owner of the item could absorb, he got more than what he needed. Many traders there were honest ones, and Mark was d to trade with them. As for the ones that wanted to take advantage after seeing what he used for trading, he did not bat an eyelid to their call.


    "Good evening." Danaya greeted the two. "Are the two of you going back already?"


    "We are."


    Mark replied.


    "Then, before you get back, I would like to thank you once more for being the center of the celebration."


    Danaya said.


    "Well, I can tell you that I will not do it again."


    Mark frankly replied. He did not even hesitate to say that and made Danaya smile bitterly.


    "I also wish that I would not happen again. Because if it did, it just meant that we met another disaster that we would not be able to handle while your group is staying here."


    Danaya sighed. She did not want to give them any more trouble, mainly because they did not belong to this ce at all. They were just guests that were checking on the state of the Stone fortress because of Felenia. Furthermore, after their unfinished business here, they would leave. It was not new to her that they had two more destinations.


    "Have you prepared thepensation?" Mark asked. "Because I want to receive that as soon as possible. The most that we can stay here should be another day or two."


    "That fast?"


    Danaya asked.


    "Don''t forget. We came from the Mortal World. The more time we spend there, even more time passed there. By the few days that we stayed here, we don''t even know how many days or weeks we already spent there."


    Hearing that, Danaya could only agree. Both worlds were approaching the end of times. It was better if everyone could spend their time in the ces they wanted to be.


    "Then please, wait till tomorrow afternoon."


    Danaya said with a bit of disappointment.


    "What is with that expression?"


    Mark asked as it was clear that the disappointment was not with his group leaving but something else he could not read.


    "Actually, it was better if you could tell us what you wanted. We are having an absolutely hard time trying to think of what would satisfy you. As for the Brigands, we have some Tikbng ves, but we doubt that they would be able to fetch the same value. There was also the reward for dealing with the situation in the Kingdom of Sylphs. You wanted the Giant''s body, but with what happened, that deal was a total void."


    Danayained earnestly. They would not be able to give him a satisfying reward if he did not tell want he wanted. Furthermore, with the gifts he received in the gathering this afternoon, it became harder for the representatives to think of what he would need.


    Because of her earnest request, Mark decided topromise a bit.


    ***<sub> </sub>


    Day ¨ƒ¨ƒ - ¨ƒ¨ƒ:¨ƒ¨ƒ ¨ƒ¨ƒ - Dungeons, Stone Fortress, Eastern Mountain, Spirit Dimension


    Afternoon, the next day, Mark, Mei, and Aephelia were being led by Danaya and the General of the Stone Fortress, Merio. They were going into the dungeons of the fortress.


    The number of Tikbngs that they could trade for the Brigand did not match up. Furthermore, they were obviously weaker. Diwata Danaya and the representatives could not just capture innocent ones either was it was against their code.


    Thus, Mark decided to release that restriction. Any race should be applicable as long as there were a few Tikbngs with them. And of course, the only ones that could be given to him were the ones imprisoned for different crimes in the dungeon.


    Still, Mark was worried about how he would be able to restrain them. After all, unlike the Tikbngs, the other races did not have that three golden hairs on their heads.


    And because of that question, Danaya smiled.


    Apparently, they have three ways to address that. Or else, no prison would be able to hold these races because of their superhuman abilities.


    First was the most unreliable of the three methods. It was a Magical Restraining Shackle that would limit their magical and physical prowess. The shackle could be worn on either the arm or the ankle, depending on the race. However, as it limited their strength, it was not suitable to make them do manualbor. Furthermore, the daring ones might slip and cut off the limb that had the shackle. After all, only one could be attached to a person.


    Attaching one to each limb would render them useless.


    The second was engraving a crest on their bodies. This magical crest was connected to the master of the ve. If they disobeyed the master''s orders, it would inflict massive pain on their bodies. This was the suggested method by Diwata Danaya.


    It was because even though the third option was the best kind, it was the hardest to achieve either.


    Among these three methods they use on the prisoners, Mark had never heard of the first two. ording to Danaya, the spirits in the Mortal World hid these things as they could be exploited by people. It was because the two methods could also work on people, although the second one was severely weakened. It was because the crest was reacting to the magical energy in the body of the ve. Humans that did not have magic could barely feel it.


    As for the third method, Mark had heard it before in some legends. It was to learn the True Name of the ve. Once a person knew the True Name of the Spirit, Elemental, or Demon, there was no way for the ve to disobey the master.


    ording to Danaya, everyone had a True Name, not only Spirit Races but also humans, animals, and insects. It was the name that originated from their souls. However, the inhabitants of the Mortal World had no way of knowing these names. They did not even know their own True Name.


    To the citizens of the Spirit Dimension, however, it was a normal thing since birth. Since when they were born, they already had their True Names in their minds. They absolutely cherished it as it meant their lifetime freedom.


    Last night, Mark asked the Spirits and Elementals in this group. And they all replied positively. They knew their True Names. Amihan even imed that she would tell Mark hers if he wanted.


    Of course, Mark declined. Amihan was a preciousrade and was not a puppet. Knowing the True Name of an individual, a person could treat them as a doll or puppet to be manipted. It was fine if it was an enemy or an untrustable individual. However, it was a no go for the likes of Amihan and the others.


    Right now, they entered the dungeons to show Mark the Tikabngs they had. Furthermore, he could also choose among the other races being imprisoned here. And apparently, what made Mark quite interested, was the fact that they had some Demonic Races being held in the dungeons.


    Thee Demonic Races were being held deeper in the dungeons and that was why Mark did not encounter them when he trashed the Brigands. Of course, he could feel them. Compared to the Spirits and Elementals, they had quite a disturbing emotional energies.


    Some were not that intelligent at all. They were just filled with rage and violence.


    First were the Tikbngs.


    Inside therge cell, there were eight Tikbngs. All of them had a Magical Shackle on their right arm. They were imprisoned here because of their crimes. Of course, their crimes were not as heavy as the Brigands. That was why Mark was fine with them even though all of them did not even reach half of the strength of the weakest among the Brigands.


    Six of them were guilty of theft. Apparently, they tried to steal some things in the Trade Area and were caught. To humans, that might not be a big deal, and some would reach an agreement before it reached imprisonment. Here, however, theft as a crime that was punishable by Banishment.


    They would not be able to return to their tribe, and they would be forbidden to enter the ce where theymitted the crime. This was mostly the cause of the appearance of wanderers in the Spirit World. However, it was not a heavy punishment considering that they would be able to stay alive.


    But...


    If they were Banished right now, they would surely die. That was why even though the cell was cramped, they chose to stay in prison than being banished. Furthermore, although not that filling, the food was free either.


    These brats were being freeloaders.


    That was theint Danaya said about this group, considering that four of them were juvenile Tikbngs. They resorted to theft because their families died because of the outbreak and they had no ability or courage to go out of the Forest of Illusions to hunt for food.


    Still, seeing them being behaved, Mark nodded. Among them, only one had a heavier crime and that was the oldest. Apparently, a member of another tribe tried to capture his Anggitay daughter for indecent purposes. Thus, he killed them without hesitation. However, as it happened here in the fortress, he was subjected to thew.


    Actually, both parties would be punished in this. But with the whole opposing party being all dead, he was the only one imprisoned here while the daughter in question was currently under Danaya''s protection.


    Mark was quite satisfied with this group of Tikabngs. Of course, their strength was far from enough. But for him, it was not an issue. He could just cultivate them to be even stronger than those Brigands.


    Nevertheless, these eight were still not enough in terms of value. That was why after checking them out and being introduced as their master, Mark''s group went to check the other cells.

 Chapter 475 Inside The Dungeons, Selecting The Slaves

    Day ¨ƒ¨ƒ - ¨ƒ¨ƒ:¨ƒ¨ƒ ¨ƒ¨ƒ - Inner Dungeons, Stone Fortress, Eastern Mountain, Spirit Dimension


    The dungeons of the Stone Fortress, being called that name, many would think that it was a gloomy ce that no one would want to go.


    This ce held those thatmitted crimes within the territory of the King of the Brown Duendes. As such, many thought that it would be the worst ce to be. Those that were brought here for their crimes learned that it was the opposite.


    The Dungeons of the Stone Fortress was not a dark ce.


    It was a bit dim, but definitely not dark. The gloomy mes of torches or braziers were nowhere to be seen. Instead, the walls were iid with glowing magical stones that released light like a fluorescentmp.


    And the most noticeable thing, unlike how it was in most castle dungeons where the walls and floors were rough and dirty, it was different in the Stone Fortress.


    The Brown Duendes was a proud race in terms of earthen architecture. Even their dungeons had smooth walls and floors. The corridors inside were not any different from the hallways outside. And the cells were being cleaned thoroughly every day. The cells even had their own ce forfort. This way, the cleanliness was further maintained in the dungeons.


    Looking at it, it did not look like any prison at all if not for the metal bars imprisoning the criminals.


    It was a pleasant-looking ce, except for onerge cell, where the walls were cracked, the metal bars were bent, and the floor was smashed to pieces. They have yet to repair the damage done by a particr outraged individual the other day because of the battle with the Giant and the Celebration yesterday.


    About the security, it was nowhere to be found. It was not that there were no guards, but rather, they were hidden in small slots in the walls. Duendes, after all, were tiny people. Aside from the guards hiding, there were also the statues. These were not just decorations but were actual gargoyles. However, unlike the demon-like ones that were seen in movies, the appearance of the ones here was different. They looked like sculptures of the races making no one suspect until they saw the statues move.


    As for the people being held inside, there was quite a variety.


    Many of them were criminals before the outbreak. At present times, however, most of them were criminals driven to the edge after the apocalypse started.


    Different races were being held inside.


    There were quite a number of Tikbngs, though. This race of horseheads was among the most troublesome race after all. And even though they were directly rted to the half-horse women of the Anggitays, the men and women wereplete opposites. Of course, it was entirely to the individual''s choice. After all, there were more decent ones than the actual troublesome fellows.


    Unlike the first group, however, Danaya did not rmend the others. It was because they were involved in more substantial crimes. Mostly because of their high libido. They were those that could not control their lust and resorted to forcing others as an outlet. Thus, Mark would surely not like them in the slightest.


    As Mark was free to look at the cells, Danaya and Merio followed behind him, Mei and Aephelia.


    And to say, Mark had someints inside him. It was okay if they were ugly. However...


    ''Why in the world that most of these creatures look hideous?!''


    However, he could not really me anyone. Even if one were to list all known Mythological Creatures of the Philippines, around seventy-five percent of that list would be hideous looking creatures. Thus, avoiding the repulsive-looking ones, he decided to look at the others.


    He wanted those that could be of use in terms of strength and capabilities, not those that could scare the enemies to death just by their appearance. Furthermore, these creatures might not only scare the enemies. Even their allies might flee.


    Looking around the cells, Mark found some intriguing fellows.


    One of what Mark saw in those spacious and taller cells was an Agta. A giant man who was about three meters tall. These creatures live inrge trees and smoke cigars. Many thought them to be rted to Kapres. However, they looked too different. Their skin was pitch ck that they could be seen like a shadow even during the night. And unlike the Kapres, their bodies were not hairy. They were known to do many petty things, though there were no stories of them inflicting harm on people.


    This guy was not really ugly or anything. However, aside from their skin color and height, they had no redeeming features either.


    Thus... Pass for now.


    Another was a Lampong, which Mark took some interest in. It was rather strange to see a beautiful, white deer with red eyes being imprisoned in the cell. But remembering its appearance, he was not deceived. This fellow was surely an Old Dwarf in disguise. A kind of creature known to shepherd deers.


    In another cell, there as a red-skinned man with slightly pointed ears, yellow eyes, and green scaly hair. And seeing this man, Mark immediately asked about why he was imprisoned.


    This man was known by the race named Tamahaling. They were Earth Spirits that live in balete trees. And the only thing they were known for was their love for animals. When the Wind Spirits called Sylphs had the title of Callers of the Wind, the Tamahaling were titled as Keeper of Animals.


    After hearing the question, Merio immediately supplemented the needed information.


    Apparently, this Spirit managed to reach this ce after the infected attacked their home. He was together with some of the animals he was keeping. However, he came while being chased by some infected creatures. Panicked, he did not realize that a sentry was trying to stop him from suddenly entering the forest. Thus, the sentry was run over by his beasts, and they entered the forest. And because of the illusion, he got lost inside and was separated from his animals.


    In that incident, the sentry was also taken aback as his call to stop them was not heard. Furthermore, the animals the Tamahaling was riding and the herd behind were very agile animals. He was hit by the stampede with minor injuries. However, even if that was an ident, it was an offense against the soldiers of the Eastern Fortress. Furthermore, his animals caused a ruckus inside the Forest of Illusions, causing more injuries to those that tried to stop them.


    The animals could not be ounted for the harm done, the owner was. And thus, he was held here. The animals, on the other hand, had already turned to supplies of the fortress. It was a rather harsh punishment for an ident, but that was how it was here.


    Mark decided to pick this one and the Old Dwarf who had the offense of killing a few people.


    Why?


    The Old Dwarf had a pet white deer that he cherished. However, some of the races decided to steal it. The Dwarf managed to find the thieves...


    They were amidst grilling his friend whole.


    The Old Dwarf flew onto rage and killed some of the offenders and causing a ruckus among the refugees. He ended up injuring even those that were innocent. He was caught along with those thieves that survived.


    Aside from these two, Mark found it hard to find other interesting ones. Of course, he decided to take those Sylphs imprisoned in the dungeon. There were ten of them. Nine were caught for stealing fruits. One was rather unique though. She was caught trying to explore the fortress, even the parts that visitors were not allowed. Of course, she would be imprisoned.


    At the end of the first level of the dungeon, Mark found another interesting one. It was actually a Dryad. This one was caught for infiltrating the personal garden of the Queen. Apparently, she wanted to find a good ce for her to take root. She thought that the garden would be suitable for her and take root there.<sub> </sub>


    It caused some precious magical nts the queen was raising to wither as the trees of Dryads requirerge amounts of nutrients to maintain itself without absorbing it from other people. And of course, she was caught for Royal Offense. However, this dryad was rather hard-headed and did not want to take the me. Thus, she was still being held here.


    In the first level, aside from the group of Tikbngs, and Sylphs, Mark only chose three.


    When the three heard that they would be taken in as ves, they were notfortable with it. However, instead of being banished, it might be better if someone was to take them. When the Old Dwarf and the Tamahaling heard that Mark decided to take them to take care of animals in his base, they readily agreed. That was how they live their lives and wanted to continue it.


    As for the Dryad...


    "Him? My master? I don''t want to. He looks ugly."


    That was her reply.


    Hearing that, Mark shrugged. He was not offended by the least. If she did not want to, then she did not have any choice.


    The person who was called ugly had no problem. But it did not mean that the ones beside him were the same.


    The Dryad wanted to throw more insults and make Mark not want to take her, but she could only gulp with fear. A ck knife already had its de touching her throat. She might not be afraid if there was a tree nearby or she was connected to one. However, she was currently in her true body. This knife would surely kill her.


    Mark sighed.


    "Mei''er you don''t have to do that."


    That was right. After Mark was called ugly by this girl, Mei appeared inside the cell in an instant and held her knife on the Dryad''s neck.


    Even Aephelia was not able to react. Well, it was not like she was against it. Someone had just insulted her master. It was a capital offense.


    "Gege, what do you want to do with this thing?"


    Mei asked.


    "Nothing. Just return here."


    Mark replied. However, Mei really wanted to inflict at least a wound on the Dryad.


    "Mei''er, just don''t bother. I rather have you by my side rather than inside that cell."


    Hearing that, Mei finally agreed to let the Dryad go. She appeared beside Mark in a sh.


    As for the Dryad inside, she fell unto her knees. That was surely a frightening experience for her. Even the guards of the queen that caught her did not release such kind of bloodlust.


    <o>,m While she was trying to recover from that fear, Mark spoke.</o>


    "I already chose you so you don''t have a say in this. Just behave if you don''t want to be killed."


    And thus, the Dryad could only nod weakly.


    Yesterday, Mark and Aephelia received five girls for training and because Dryads do not live in tribes and all were women, there as no dryad among those five.


    Mark wanted this one so she could take control of the nts and trees around the base and use them for defense. Even if this girl did not want to, a ve crest would surely make her agree.


    Then, since the Dryad was in thest cell on the first level, what they faced now was a door.


    "Can we go below?"


    Mark asked Danaya and Merio.


    "Are you sure?"


    Danaya wanted to confirm.


    The door leads to the second level, where the cannibals and murderers were being held. Of course, this level was notparable to the third level. However, it was still not good either.


    "Well, if you can give some, I don''t mind."


    Mark said.


    Although Mark was going to be given some ves in exchange for the Brigands, it did not mean that he could only take ves. For others, these repulsive creatures thatmitted murder were nothing but manualbor and useless after being killed, to him, it was different.


    It was fine if these criminals were given to him. Even more eptable if the crimes they did were punishable by death.


    What Mark needed was not their lives. What he wanted to get were more crystals.

 Chapter 476 At The Second Level, The Deathly Cries In The Darkness

    <strong>Day ¨ƒ¨ƒ - ¨ƒ¨ƒ:¨ƒ¨ƒ ¨ƒ¨ƒ - Dungeon Stairwell, Stone Fortress, Eastern Mountain, Spirit Dimension</strong>


    Going through therge door guarded by two gigantic statues, Danaya and Merio took the lead instead.


    Unlike the first level of the dungeons, the lower floors were very different. It was not just a straight path but something like a dark maze. The lights were scattered far in between, and the whole floor was dim. The only thing that did not differ was how they constructed the walls, floor, and hallways.


    Another thing was that the whole level had more spacious prison cells than the first floor.


    As for the lights, it was not because the King was oppressing those in the lower levels. Although they might have done far more severe crimes, that was not the case for the dark floor. It was because those races that were keener tomit those crimes were the residents of the dark.


    With the lead of the two, Mark''s trio went down a spiral staircase. It was when they reached about ten meters below the first level was when they reached the second level.


    And to say, while the majority of the creatures on the first floor looked hideous by human standards, the ones here on the second level were the source of horror.


    In fact, at the very first prison cell, what they saw made Mei''s and Aephelia''s hairs stand up.


    The moment they entered, the creature bashed towards the metal bars causing a loud sound. Even Mei, who did not care for most things, flinched and hid behind Mark. Aephelia tried to keep her calm, but she was already holding unto the hem of Mark''s clothes.


    The creature held onto the bars in a threatening manner. It looked like an emaciated corpse with a pointed face like a dog, long arms, and long, sharp, curved nails. Its eyes glowed predatory red above itsrge nose. The mouth of the creature was shaped like a death worm''s mouth, and it was sticking its long, fat, bloody tongue out like a hungry animal. Its repulsive stench could be smelled despite there seemed to be no source for it.


    "Sorry about this, I should have warned."


    Danaya said with an apologetic expression. Even though the surroundings were dim, her face could be seen clearly because her body was faintly glowing in the dark.


    "HAH!"


    Merio, on the other hand, shouted as he bashed his spear unto the metal bars causing another loud sound. It made the creature flee towards the furthest corner of its cell.


    "That''s a Balbal, isn''t it?"


    The unfazed Mark asked.


    And to that question, Danaya nodded. That made Mark look at the creature with a horrifying appearance with interest.


    A Balbal, it was a kind of ghoul that could be seen digging graves and feeding on the corpse inside. Some times, in very rural areas, it would even snatch a dead body that was yet to be buried and was undergoing a funeral. In order for the people to not suspect anything, it would rece the dead bodies with cut Banana trunks enchanted with an illusion that would make anyone look at it think that they were looking at the corpse it took.


    "Did that thing also belong to Spirit and Elemental Races? Or is it a Cryptid?"


    Aephelia asked. After all,pared to what she had seen so far, this thing seemed to be different.


    "Yes and no." It was Mark who replied to her. "It''s a Cryptid but also a Spirit. An evil one, though."


    Mark then turned to Danaya.


    "Does this one have a value to you guys? I don''t think that there would be any reason to keep something like this."


    It was a good question.


    Spirit Races and most Elementals were hostile to Evil Spirits and Demons and vice versa. That said, the former group was rather neutral to most Cryptids. On the other hand, thetter group considered Cryptids as livestock and animals.


    But in strange situations, there were Evil Spirits that looked like Cryptids. The Balbal was a good example. In fact, many Evil Spirits looked like Cryptids because of their appearance.


    It was despite that truth that many of them were former humans, in a literal sense.


    This Balbal and that headless priest could be the same in that sense.


    Danaya sighed and replied to Mark''s question.


    "Normally, none. Although there are Evil Spirits with higher intelligence, this one only had an intellect a bit higher than an animal. These kinds don''t really have any value and were being killed on sight. After all, they defile the final resting ce of many and feast on the bodies of our precious loved ones. This particr one was caught trying to dig the graves we made for ourrades that died while defending this ce."


    "This a special case, then?"


    Mark asked once more.


    "Yes. Actually, the kinds of these creatures are very keen on spatial faults. That is why even though they don''t have the ability to own or raise a Spirit Tree, they are able to go back and forth, traveling from the Spirit Dimension to the Mortal World and back. This time, we kept this one in case we had to flee from this world and take our chances in the Mortal World."


    "By the way, Gege," Mei spoke. "How can we distinguish which race is which? I''m getting confused a bit."


    "That''s kinda hard." Mark pinched her left cheek yfully. "All I can say is because of the energy they emit."


    That answer of his made Danaya and Merio agree. But then, as Mark continued, they flinched.


    "Though there is one way that will work in many of them. If you kill most kinds of Spirits and all kinds of Elementals, they turn to dust. It is also the same for most demons and ghostly Evil Spirits. As for Evil Spirits with a physical body, their bodies rot as if you poured a high intensity of gastric juice on them. As for any of the race that was closer to a Cryptid, even if they died, they leave their bodies behind. It was like Berberokas and Tikbngs."


    Although Danaya and Merio could not deny what he said, they still felt goosebumps considering that he differed races by what kind of corpse they left behind.


    "By the way, is it really fine if I take some of the prisoners here and possibly, the third level?"


    Mark asked.<sub> </sub>


    "Yes. We already discussed it. Actually, you can choose until you are satisfied. It''s not like we have any use for these prisoners. On the first level, the prisoners there could still be pardoned. As for the ones here, they are imprisoned for life. Especially for the ones on the third level, imprisoning them for eternity would not make up for their sins."


    Danaya replied with a serene expression. It seemed that aside from the horrifying Balbal in front of them, the rest were unforgivable creatures.


    "Then, why not use them as cannon fodder?"


    Mark asked a very delicate question.


    Since these creatures here were destined to rot, why not send them in the front lines. If they were the ones that were close to the Giant before, maybe, none of the Spirit and Elemental races that participated in the battle had perished.


    To that question, however, Danaya and Merio shook their heads.


    "It''s a matter of pride, Sir," Merio said with a dignified tone. "Our races were proudful warriors. We would rather die fighting in the front than win while hiding behind. Even if we retreat in panic or fear sometimes, we will regroup, and go back charging towards the enemy once more. Unless we have no choice but to flee, that was when we retreat. But never ever we will use our prisoners just to enjoy the safety behind them."


    Hearing that, Mark shrugged. He would not deny their belief. Though in his view, it was a waste of resources.


    "I want to ask. Although I can understand why you picked those ones on the first level, I wonder why you wanted to also collect people here? I believe that anyone would detest these unforgivable criminals. No one would want to have them serve anyone even as ves."


    Merio''s question made Danaya look at Mark. She was also curious.


    Mark smiled impishly.


    "I don''t want them to serve me. I wanted something else. Remember that once you guys gave these criminals to me, their lives are mine. It doesn''t matter to you people what I will do with them."


    That hint gave the answer.


    "You want to kill them? Why?"


    Mark did not answer. Instead, he replied with another question.


    "I''ll let you two choose. Just point at who can die and not. I''ll show you why."


    That made the two both troubled and relieved at the same time. Mark just gave them the heavy weight of being an executioner. And yet, they were relieved. Since they now knew what Mark would do, it was better if those with lesser crimes spend their sentence and let those with unforgivable crimes perish.


    And thus, the selection began.


    This day, the prisoners of the second level cowered in fear as they heard the other Races in other prison cells cry theirst words of pain. Some of them had already been held in this ce for decades and they were already used to the darkness. This time, however, the darkness was rather unsettling.


    After killing the first prisoner who was a Boroka, a harpy-like woman but with ugly bat wings, witch-like old face, a serpent-like pair of eyes, and sharp, pointed teeth, they learned why Mark needed to kill them.


    As they saw the spherical crystal that plopped out from the Crystal embedded on Mark''s arm, they now knew where these crystals containing pure energy came from.


    Who would have thought that he was collecting these by killing the members of the races?


    They were very fortunate that they did not give Mark any reason to be offended, or else, he would surely not hesitate to kill them just to gain these crystals.


    After the first kill, without any choice, they led Mark to the next one.


    In every kill, Mark would scrutinize the crystal. He was checking carefully what kind and color the crystal was and what creature he took it from. Then, when Mark killed a Berberoka that terrorized a small Tribe of Duendes before, he tossed the crystal to Aephelia.


    Unfortunately, not every person that Danaya and Merio pointed to did not suit Mark''s taste. Soon, they learned that he was only killing those with higher magical energy they were the ones with a higher chance of giving him crystals. In fact, they realized that not every kill would result in one. There were several wasted lives that brought out nothing but a lifeless corpse.


    Not only Mark had a harvest here. After Mark killed several Spirits that gave him brown colored crystals, he gave Merio two. Danaya also received two after he a Mambukay and even a Tamawo that was the same race as Pefile. Both of them gave him a light green colored crystal.


    Danaya and Merio did not want to receive the gifts. After all, it was supposed to be hispensation. Although they knew how precious it was, and considering that a life was lost in getting one, they were not greedy.


    They were about to reach the end of the maze where the stairs leading down to the third level were found. The dungeon was made this way in case someone tried to break out. The most dangerous and powerful beings in the dungeon were at the third level. If they managed to break out of their cells, they had to go through two magically enchanted mazes before getting out. It would give the guards and the soldiers enough time to prepare to intercept them.


    Danaya and Merio were about to lead Mark to the third level...


    But Mark stopped with a frown.


    He turned his head towards the west, even though there was nothing there but a wall.


    "Is something wrong?"


    Danaya asked.


    Mark did not reply and closed his eyes for a few seconds.


    Everyone kept silent.


    When he opened his eyes, he immediately turned to Danaya.


    "I''ll get the rest at ater date. We have to leave immediately."


    His voice had a severe tone. He did not even wait for the reply as he grabbed Mei and Aephelia and turned into a streak of ck mist that flew across the maze of the second level.

 Chapter 477 Under The Veil Of Fog, The Current Situation Of The Mountain Base

    <strong>Day 119- 9:22 AM - Mountain Base, Mount Mbito, General Nakar, Quezon</strong>


    Across the many mountains of General Nakar in Quezon Province, the air in the morning was as cold as usual.


    This kind of feeling would make anyone rxed, if not for the current state of the world.


    The base surrounded by reddish ck walls centered by a gigantic red tree still stood tall. They continuously developed as they built more facilities with sturdy metal walls of unknown materials for others.


    On the south side of the base, the road they built had been widened and ttened thoroughly. It was unlike before when Mark''s group returned, where going up the mountain was a hell of a bumpy ride. Now, traveling on the same road was better.


    The farnds on the north side were also broader. With the help of the nourishment the crops were receiving from Chiyo, they had more time to extend the area of the farnd. If possible, they wanted to widen it till to the part where the slope of the mountain was steeper.


    Extending the farms that far was not a problem for the people of the base. Everyone agreed with it, and those with free time from their tasked work would also help. After all, having more food was better than having none. Many people here learned that the hard way when he apocalypse started.


    The defenses of the base were fortified thoroughly with the advice given by Edward. Having someone with military experience and actually retired due to battle was truly helpful. Without a thorough understanding of defense tactics, they were only doing things with what they thought would be effective. It was not like those defenses were not adequate. However, fundamental knowledge was surely a must to see the holes.


    Furthermore, with more Mutators and Evolvers in the base, their security was secured. With Wall-mounted weapons, the Tribe Members of Teremillio, and the Pure Spirit Tree, there should be nothing that they would fear in these mountains.


    Right?


    Unfortunately, despite their horrifying firepower, people aiming at their current prosperity existed, and they did not know why.


    "Any changes?"


    Edward asked as he walked up the stairs of the tall fortified walls. Above the wall were the people that the owner of the base left to manage it, Huey, Jolleen, Nicole, and Hallie. There were also the other main members of their group, but they had other things to do than managing the base.


    And sure enough, their faces did not look good.


    It had almost been a month since Mark and his small group left to the other dimension. To be exact, it was already twenty-eight days.


    Things were okay after they left. That was why they managed to develop the base to this extent despite the small manpower they had. What made things even easier was the animals that Annica had tamed. With the mental link that she could give to anyone that wanted a pet, it became easier to train and use the animals forbor.


    Finding a suitable pet was kind of hard, though. Although all kinds of animals were fine, catching a good one was rather hard.


    After two weeks of peace, they were finally disturbed.


    Someone from outside tried to infiltrate the base for an unknown reason. It happened several times with every other day interval at most, for one week.


    Unfortunately for the infiltrators, though, Huey could clearly detect the minuscule sounds of their movements before these people could even enter the base. Added with the enhanced physical abilities they acquired after bing Mutators, their group was already ready before the enemies got in.


    All of those that attempted to enter the base stealthily were caught without mistake.


    They were not even able to do anything before they fell to the ground, unable to move.


    There was even an attempt where the infiltrator could not be seen by Huey, despite the fact that he could hear it. There was no smell either. There, Kate became the main asset. Although others could not see the enemy, she could be seeing the temperature of the surroundings.


    With a single point of her hand, the enemy that was trying hard not to make any noise by moving as slowly as possible was lobbed by multitudes of poisoned arrows and needles.


    However, even though there were quite a number of enemies that they encountered in the span of that week, they did not manage to get a single prisoner to question.


    And from the very first one, they knew that it was kind of impossible.


    After all, even though they managed to catch the enemy alive, they would kill themselves immediately. At the moment of their death, only the robes they wore would be left behind. Their bodies would turn to ash.


    There were no other clothes from what they were wearing, no weapons either. It seemed that the sole intent was the sneakily enter the base and get any information they could before fleeing. If they failed, only death was warranted as to how every single one did.


    Fortunately or unfortunately, those that came with Mark from bay city managed to recognize these robes.


    The Auraboros.


    Despite recognizing the robes, none of them could fathom why they suddenly appeared here.


    Was it because of their enmity with Mark? If that was the case, then, they would not try to use these sacrificial pawns.


    It was very doubtful if they knew that this Base was owned by Mark at all.


    That was why they were sure that they were here for something else.


    After a week, the appearance of these infiltrators stopped.


    There was a peaceful two days after that. When they thought that it was over and was ready to return to their previous lives, that was when more uninvited guests appeared.


    Adorned with Military Uniforms, they imed to be from the Armed Forces of the Philippines. Fifty soldiers in total knocked on the gates of the base.


    They were iming that the army was currently on the move to reim the country from the infected. As for them who built this base, they were illegal settlers and needed to leave.


    This made everyone rather confused and nervous.


    Immediately, while Huey and the others faced these uninvited guests, he sent someone to use the radio they had to contact the base in infanta. After all, they never heard of anything like this.


    Huey asked the leader of the soldiers his name. And for some reason, the person got frustrated instead. That gave it away.


    These people were not soldiers at all and were trying to drive them out for some reason.


    However, it seemed that these bastards did not do enough research. They should have thought that the people of this base was cut off from the rest of the world due to the location. And while that was partly true, it was not entirely.


    Who would have thought that a base in the middle of the mountains, with no uniformed soldiers and was filled with civilians were directly connected to the military?


    These people might have already observed them from afar and that was their conclusion.


    And thus, in a country where the civilians fairly feared the armed soldiers, they decided to try this move.


    But with the confirmation of Genera Faustino himself, they knew what to do.


    Everyone, standing behind the weapons mounted on the walls, aimed at the soldiers.


    Unexpectedly, even with that, those soldiers did not back out and were the first to fire their guns.<sub> </sub>


    A sniper rifle was fired from somewhere and Huey who was thought to be the leader was the aim.


    But Huey who already detected the ones hiding from a distance was able to dodge it as he moved his body at the moment he heard a sound of metal being scraped.


    It became a massacre.


    That sniper bullet aimed at Huey triggered the others. They shot their weapons, towards the people dressed soldiers outside the base who were enveloped with panic.


    Everyone was killed and Huey and the others tried to chase away the sniper.


    The sniper escaped, however.


    After the massacre, they realized that most of these people wearing soldier uniforms were actually nonbatants. Although some of them felt guilty, it could not be helped.


    It became obvious that whoever the sniper was, he was the one behind this. These people in front of the gates were used to judge the firepower of the base.


    <o>,m After that incident, everyone became cautious. Even the farmers had double the guards while farming. The hunting routine every other day was stopped. They had no choice. Whoever it was, the danger was looming around.</o>


    Unexpectedly, there was nothing that happened afterward.


    It was until the third week.


    Fog enveloped the whole mountain range.


    And ording to Milliel and the members of Teremillio''s tribe, the fog was not natural but was created with magical energy.


    Due to the thick fog, even the farming schedules had been stopped as the visibility outside the base, where there was no light, was very low.


    And since then, it became a battle of attrition.


    Whether they run out of supplies first, or the fog dispersed.


    Unfortunately, the base seemed to be on the losing side. And after every day that passed, instead of dispersing, the fog was thickening instead.


    Right now, they could barely see a few dozen meters outside the walls.


    "No changes at all." Huey sighed. "When will boss return? We already told Chiyo to contact him yesterday."


    No one could answer that question.


    They wished that they could do something against this situation, but with how it looked like, stepping outside the walls was akin to entering a horror movie.


    The only fortunate thing that happened was that nothing happened after the fog appeared. Everything was eerily quiet.


    No mutated animals, no infected, and no uninvited guests either.


    It was rather peaceful under the veil of this thick fog. But it was too peaceful that it was frightening.


    What was more was the tribe elder gave another oracle the other day.


    "The eyes are watching and waiting." She said.


    It was kind of obscure, but it might mean that the enemies were watching the base while waiting for something.


    While they were on watch, Trisha came up the walls with a tray containing cups of soup.


    The soup was rather tasty, but it had nothing else but just some bits of canned meat.


    Seeing their disappointed faces, Trisha had a bitter smile.


    "It can''t be helped. We should save our supplies. If we eat like how it was before, our current supplies won''tst us another week in our estimate."


    Hearing that, they all sighed.


    They would rather fight monsters than experience this kind of sh*t.


    That was what they thought as they drank the soup they had for breakfast.


    They could not help but think that the enemy was waiting for them to use up all their supplies before moving. It might be the thing that they were waiting for, ording to the oracle.


    That was why when they thought of that, they immediately told Chiyo to contact Mark.


    They might not be able to deal with something like this by themselves. But for some reason, Mark would surely be able to.


    Because of this, they regretted that they did not try to contact him sooner.


    But at this moment, a huge portal opened by the vacant area in the middle of the base. It was not the portal that opens when entering the Spirit Tree but a different one.


    A group of humans and Spirit Races came out of the ck portal with three giants behind them.


    "Spera, are we really back?"


    Karlene asked Spera as she looked at the surroundings.


    It was because no matter how she looked at it, it was like a ghost town. Since they had been into different dimensions before, it was not impossible where they entered a dimension that had the same appearance as their base but with a different setting.


    "We are back. You know that I can only go to ces I''ve seen before."


    Spera said as she looked at their leader.


    Mark, on the other hand, had a frown on his face. After he absorbed that tornado made of magical energy from the Sylphs, his senses towards magical energy were heightened.


    And to say... It felt like they entered a vortex filled with magical energy.

 Chapter 478 On The Other Side Of The Fog, The Enemies Goals And Plans

    <strong>Day 119 - 10:15 AM - Central Area, Mountain Base, Mount Mbito, General Nakar, Quezon</strong>


    A vortex of magical energy, it was not wrong to call it that. The fog was too thick, but instead of the usual scientific water vapor, Magical Energy caused this phenomenon instead. Fortunately, there was some visibility inside the base because of the lights that they installed before they left. There was also the red glow from Chiyo, the Night Everred Spirit Tree, that seemed to lessen the fog inside the base.


    Looking towards outside the walls, however, the visibility was a total zero. The mountain tops in the northern areas outside the base were not visible at all. Not to mention the forest outside, there was only about a dozen meters area outside where the fog was thinner.


    Because of the fog, no one was unnecessarily outside their dwellings. That was why it made the ce look more like a ghost town.


    "Some bandaged nurses and a man with a pyramid on his head won''t appear, right?"


    na asked. No one could tell if she was joking or not. After their experiences, no one could tell which was a joke and not after all. Even fictional creatures could be real. All they could do was re at na. She should not try to be a devil''s tongue.


    While they banter around due to the appearance of the surroundings, Chiyo celebrated the return of its master. It tried to release a glow from its body.


    However, before it was able to do so, Mark spoke.


    "Chiyo, don''t. I know you''re happy, but you might alert unnecessary people."


    Hearing that, Chiyo settled down. But it still released some of the red wisps from its leaves. This thing, however, was its daily routine. Even though it currently did it for the return of its Master, Mark, it would not raise any suspicion from anyone.


    Mark then closed his eyes for a second. Using his abilities as an Empath, he tried to detect everyone in the base. And fortunately, everyone was alright. Although, their mental state was at the negative right now and was rather heavy. Luckily, the number of people here at the base was not that high. If the poption was at the scale of a military settlement, and they all had these collective negative emotions, Mark would surely feel weakened.


    While they were observing the surroundings as they had just arrived, someone passed by.


    She was quite surprised, but the surprise in her expression immediately turned to glee.


    "B-Boss! Everyone! Thank God, you''re all back!"


    Trisha, who was returning to the kitchen area with empty cups on her tray, eximed.


    na became worried that Trisha would end up throwing the stuff she was carrying all over the floor. Fortunately, it was not the case, and instead, she received an "Are you serious?" stare from Mark.


    Turning back to Trisha, Mark asked.


    "What is going on here?"


    There was no need to ask why Chiyo contacted him. It was definitely because of this thick fog. However, he still needed to know the details.


    "Please, just ask Huey," Trisha replied. "He''s savvier about the situation than me."


    "Okay, I''ll meet him first," Mark said as he turned to the others. "Mei''er, lead everyone back to the house first. Aephlia, lead Logan, and Gifre to the shed."


    "Un!"


    "Yes, Master."


    Mei and Aephlia replied, respectively.


    On the other side, Trisha, who was watching them, was confused, totally.


    Currently, the only members of Mark''s group that were present were Mark''s family of four, na, Karlene, Amihan, Mara, and Jte. Furthermore, there was a little girl with violet hair, several horse-headed people, a dwarf with a white beard, a man with red skin, and a beautiful but snobdy with greed hair. As for the Dragon, Char, Pefile, Edzel, Pearl, and Teremillio''s harem, they were not present.


    What made Trisha even more confused was when a cute but stern-lookingdy in maid uniform replied to Mark when he called for Aephelia. The other Sylph that followed Mark everywhere was not even present.


    Fortunately, even though his appearance had changed, Logan was still recognizable. Her shock towards the all-eater was lessened.


    Even with her confusion, and a bit of curiosity, however, Trisha still managed to speak.


    "Wait, we relocated the shed. It''s better if I lead you there."


    "Why?" Mark asked.


    "Annica managed to add more animals. It became easier to deal with the waste if they are near the walls. Many of the new animals are not trained yet. Also, webined the shed for Gifre, Char, and especially Logan there too. We thought that we can let Logan Deal with the waste after you all returned."


    Mark nodded. It looked like Huey, and the others put more thought into this.


    "Lead the way," Aephelia said to Trisha. Thetter immediately nodded as she led Aephlia and the two Giants in a different direction.


    Mei also led everyone else to follow her. The ves were really curious about their current surroundings. Furthermore, when they saw how Mark and the Pure Spirit Treemunicated, their reluctance to serve their new master immediately vanished. It was also the case to the Dryad. Although she was quite a snob and picked on Mark''s appearance, if her master was a ruler and even had a Pure Spirit Tree of his own, then, there was no need to resist. Well, it was not like any of them could resist the crests tattooed on their chests.


    Mark watched everyone leave first while he observed the fog even more. As for the others that were not here, Mark tasked some of them of something else while Pefile and Termillio decided to stay and gather information about their homnds. The most important task was that of Felenia, who he told to trante the transcripts written on the leather scrolls in their library.


    After all, Mark could not read the Spirit Language, and the scrolls were too small that looked like some bandaid strips rolled together. It was definitely an item made for their race and not for others.


    While ying with the fog, Mark smiled.


    "So, this is food for me, isn''t it? I wish I didn''t leave Crimson back to protect the others, or he will also benefit from this."


    Mark murmured.


    Crimson, he the strongest among the [Blood Children], including even Miracle. The very first [Blood Child] Mark found had turned into a monster capable of dispersing itself into the surroundings like mist, and absorbing energy to grow stronger. That critter was getting even more powerful while they were in the Spirit Dimension, simr to Ignis.


    "Ignis."<sub> </sub>


    Mark said, and the Demon Sword on his back flew out of its sheathe.


    "Yes?"


    The voice of Ignis echoed in Mark''s mind.


    "Fly through the fog and see if how far it goes. Also, look for anything suspicious around. Fly low to the ground, and don''t let anyone notice you."


    "Okay!"


    With the orders it was given, Ignis flew out of the base. It then dove near the ground before charging towards the forest in the distance.


    Mark then vanished from his spot, turning into a ck mist that flew towards the southern walls.


    ***


    <strong>Day 119 - 10:14 AM - Daraitan Elementary School, Barangay Daraitan, Tanay, Rizal</strong>


    The barangay that served as a tourist spot in the area, it was Barangay Daraitan.


    At the center of the barangay, there was the area ripped by the ne that crashed towards Agos River. Mark and the people of his base looted most of the things in this ce. At some point, a group of survivors managed to reach this ce and settled down at the small elementary school.


    Who would have known that it was the worst decision they could make? They should have asked the group of strong people up in the mountains to join if they knew that this would happen.


    Right now, the group was no more than lifeless corpses. And the most unfortunate thing was that they were not killed by the infected as they expected the most. Furthermore, their bodies were fed to the beasts brought by the new upants, the killers, the people in robes.


    There were about two hundred people currently wandering about in the vicinity of the school. And at the center of the school grounds, about twenty-five people in Emerald colored robes formed a circle while continuously chanting at the magic circle theyid on the ground.


    Unlike with the Grey Robed ones, who had semi-transparent dark-colored bodies, the pale-white colors of their skin of the Emerald Robed ones were particrly noticeable.


    Obviously, the difference in the colors was either based on their abilities and race.


    The ones overseeing the ritual was there were two men. One had a grey robe with a golden seam, while the other was a man in ck robes with a silver lining.


    It was very apparent that they were the current leaders of this group.


    Currently, the two sat on the balcony of the second floor of one of the buildings in the school. While the Grey Robed leader was watching over the ritual, the ck Robed one could be seen wiping a rather unique kind of sniper rifle.


    "How long will the leader arrive?"


    The ck Robed man asked the other while checking the scope of his sniper rifle.


    "Not long. Another two or three days at most."


    The Grey Robed one replied. Unexpectedly, the voice told that the person was a woman.


    "That long?" The ck Robed man shrugged. "We are here for about three weeks already. I say that we should just raid that ce."


    The woman turned toward him. Although her face could not be seen, she was obviously looking at him smugly.


    "We are not tasked to do that. Our orders are to test the waters. Besides, you already tried to stray from your orders and fired at who you thought to be the leader. Yet, you failed miserably. You''re getting dull, aren''t you?"


    The man was quite offended, but he did not react that much. He removed the hood of his robe. There, his face was revealed.


    He was a human without a doubt and of Chinese descent. Yet, there was a subtle aura around him that could tell anyone that notice that he was not normal either.


    "What can you say? Those people there are not normal at all." Just those that are stationed at the walls are Mutators and Evolvers. Shouldn''t they be rare? Just why is arge number gathered in a small group like that?"


    "You should expect the unexpected even more. Remember that they had a Spirit Tree. A pure one at that. We don''t know whether the tree grew naturally or someone raised it. Both ways, we can''t be careless. We don''t even know what kind of material they used to build that fortress or where they are getting it. The needle that you managed to bring back was pure metal but had a stench of blood despite not looking like normal Iron or steel. And its properties are poisonous despite not being a magical projectile. Also looking from afar, it is really strange that they were able to shape metals seamlessly. Their walls are definitely connected altogether without any welding or junction. It was as if the whole wall around their base was smelted as one."


    The woman also took off her hood. Sure enough, she was a shadow person. However, her body had a more physical form than others.


    Then, while turning back to the ongoing ritual, she added.


    "In any case, the spies I sent were all eliminated, and we can''t gather information from inside that metal fortress. We can only wait for the leader and reinforcements since our leader might have thought of recruiting those people."


    "Okay, you said it."


    The man shrugged and did not pay attention to the woman anymore. He went back to cleaning his gun.


    As for the woman, she was observing the ritual in front of her. It was a ritual to iste the whole ce they were targetting. This way, no one would be able to leave and get out until their leader arrived.


    A fog that would not only lower the visibility in the area but also disorient anyone who would try to cross it. And then, it would bring those people back to the part where they tried to enter or leave.


    It was going quite smoothly. By the time the leader arrived, that metal fortress around the Spirit Tree should also be weakened considerably. All due to theck of their supplies and sunlight.


    As she thought about those things, however...


    "Puff!"


    One of the Emerald Robed people around the Magic Circle spewed out blood from his mouth and copsed.

 Chapter 479 The Adventures Of Ignis, The First Clash

    <strong>Day 119 - 10:22 AM - Daraitan Elementary School, Barangay Daraitan, Tanay, Rizal</strong>


    One of the Emerald Robed people on the east side of the magic circle copsed. The situation immediately caught the attention of everyone around. Nevertheless, none of the other people around the magic circle tried to help at all. Even those that were beside that person did not try to move a single inch from where they stood.


    It was not that they did not want to. However, these people wearing Emerald Robes could not leave their current positions without finishing today''s ceremony. Instead, they channeled more of their energy in an attempt to fill in the gap created by the one that copsed.


    The people that took the person away was the Grey Robed ones.


    "What happened?"


    The Grey Robedmander of this team jumped down from the second floor and asked the person leading the ceremony. It was an elderly person wearing the same Emerald Robe but was not within the magic circle.


    "There had been some interference." The Elder replied. "You might not have noticed, but the energy to feed the F¨¦th F¨ªada weakened for a bit. That one that copsed just now... It indicated that the F¨¦th F¨ªada had been attacked with a powerful individual in the direction he is designated."


    "So, something is happening on the east side. Is that what you want to say? But F¨¦th F¨ªada shouldn''t be damaged even with magical attacks."


    "Yes, Madam Chaaya. The F¨¦th F¨ªada is not easily damaged but is not without weakness. If possible, send someone to check it immediately. Although we can patch up the hole, the next attacks will might affect the rest of us. "


    Looking at the Elderly''s expression, this was a rather unusual circumstance. And also, a rather dangerous one.


    F¨¦th F¨ªada,it was a magical mist that a supernatural tribe called Tuath D¨¦ used to conceal themselves from the eyes of the mortals. And in this instance, the Emerald Robed people were the current descendants of that race that were left after most of them returned to the Otherworld. Their powers were far weaker than their ancestors. However, they could still exhibit such abilities. This time, under the orders of the organization, theybined their strength with a magical ritual to iste arge area.


    Nevertheless, for them to encounter a setback like this, it must mean that whatever was happening on that side was not something to joke at.


    "Madam, should we check?"


    Several Grey Robed figures were already behind Chaaya and were all ready to receive the orders. This was how everyone here was trained to do when something unusual happened.


    "No, I''ll go myself," Chaaya said, serenely. "I''m faster than anyone here. We can''t wait and let the ns take a wrong turn."


    "Yes, Madam." The subordinates backed down immediately. "Please, just be careful."


    Chaaya nodded and was ready to leave.


    "Wait! I''lle too! This can be interesting."


    The ck Robed Chinese on the balcony shouted as he jumped off with his sniper rifle.


    "Do as you wish."


    Chaaya replied without emotion as her body swiftly moved away, leaving adark blurred image. She then jumped over the ssrooms on the east side of the school. As she entered the forest, her visage vanished into the shadows.


    The ck Robed figure did not mind her attitude and just chased behind her. He was not any slower than the first one, either. However, he did not vanish and just jumped on the trees propelling himself in every kick. It was even though the branches and leaves on top of the trees should be weak and fragile. Despite that, his steps did not break anything and moved as if he was running on concrete.


    From afar, the dome of mist around at the center of the two mountains was entirely visible. That just showed howrge of an area was affected by the F¨¦th F¨ªada. Furthermore, the mist was scattered into the surroundings making it look even more vast.


    ***


    <strong>Day 119 - 10:19 AM - East Side, Mountain Base, Mount Mbito, General Nakar, Quezon</strong>


    A few minutes before themotion in the elementary school in Barangay Daraitan happened, a strange-looking sword flew out of the walls on the East Side of the Mountain Base.


    It was Ignis, who was tasked by his Master to investigate the area.


    Sure enough, the visibility outside the base was much lower than inside. The visage of the forest on the east side could be barely seen, even though it should be just more or less a dozen meters away.


    Nevertheless, Ignis flew straight towards the forest without hesitation. The sword was daring and did not fear too many things. He just needed to fly through the mist and report back what he saw.


    Thus, the sword entered the forest.


    And then... exited a few secondster.


    Sure enough, Ignis immediately halted on its flight after he saw that hew was now facing the direction heading back to the base. Furthermore, it was at the exact location where he entered.


    Not convinced, it tried once more and entered the forest.


    Only to return the same way a few secondster.


    Ignis became confused. And at the same time, furious.


    His Master barely used him these past days and allowed him to use his time to absorb the energy in the Spirit Dimension. That was why he should be more formidable than before.


    And thus, it would be a failure if he was not able to aplish his task.


    Thus, he charged into the forest once more. This time, its de was burning with ck-colored mes.


    TANG!!!


    And there, a change happened.


    Ignis continued flying through a few meters into the forest and did not return the way he came from. Instead, he felt like he crashed into something that sounded like ss.


    It could only stop on its flight and looked in front of it. It could see some distortions in the air in front, which immediately vanished. Ignis realized what was going on.


    Thus, Ignis extinguished the mes and flew forwards. Sure enough, he returned where he came from just like before.


    Ignis then moved as far as possible from the forest, where the end of his hilt touched the walls of the base. Then, d with even more ck mes than before, Ignis shot off with the fastest speed he could fly.


    From the wall of the base, across the vacant area, and through the forest, he flew.


    CRASH!!!


    A sound of ss shattering was heard, and Ignis flew past the distortion. He left a hole in the mist in his wake and charged straight to the east.


    When he realized that the mist had thinned, that was when he decided to fly above the trees. He then looked around.


    There, he saw the dome of mist covering the whole area around the case. It was quite a surreal sight even for him.


    Remembering his duty, Ignis entered the forest once more, and he started to scour the area for any suspicious activities or people.<sub> </sub>


    Unexpectedly, aside from the strange mist, he found nothing in the close vicinity of the base. He flew around the dome and towards the west side and found nothing, either.


    As Ignis decided to return, it felt a presence below it. It saw a disembodied handing out of the shadows to grasp his hilt. As it was too sudden and there was no time to dodge, Ignis burst into ck mes which scattered in the surroundings.


    The ck mes did not burn any trees but surely made the hand retreat hastily.


    "Hoh, that was dangerous, isn''t it?"


    A voice of a man was heard as a ck-Robed figure with arge gunnded quite a distance away from Ignis. However, it was evident that the person was not talking to Ignis. As suspected, a figure appeared from the shadow on the ground next to the first one. It was a Gray-Robed person.


    "A cursed sword? And intelligent one at that." The man spoke again. "Never thought that I would be able to see one here. But that shape... A western sword? Not my type."


    Then, the man turned the Grey Robed person who did not say anything and was just staring at Ignis.


    "Is this the one?"


    "It should be. It is the only one suspicious currently moving around. But don''t you think that its appearance quite familiar?"


    The woman replied.


    "Familiar or not, I don''t care. This sword surely is not my type. But I, Huo Long Yue, is not afraid. I will take this sword. What do you say?"


    The man said in a smug tone.


    "Do what you want."


    The woman said as she walked to the side.


    "Don''t mind if I do."


    Then, the man called Huo Long Yue charged towards Ignis. Anyone would doubt whether it was of pure bravery of pure lunacy. Nevertheless, the greed in his eyes was truly apparent.


    On the other hand, the woman just looked at what was going to happen. In fact, she was hiding her right hand just now. Her hand was currently scorched, and the energy she used to create her physical body waned. After being scalded by those mes, her hand became more transparent.


    That should be why she decided to stand down. Those ck mes were fatal to her. She wanted to see how the troublesome bastard would deal with it, though.


    As Huo Long Yue charged towards, his hands moved across his sniper rifle. Folding the buttstock and muzzle, and flipping it upside down. There, a de protruded from the back of the gun, turning it into arge, odd-looking sword.


    Ignis, being a warmonger himself, did not back down. Seeing that the other person was using a sword, it decided to sh head-on.


    CLANG! CLANG!


    The human and the Demon Sword shed several times, with every hit causing sparks to scatter.


    At an opening, Ignish shed itself towards the side of the enemy. The enemy managed to dodge as he jumped back. However, the left side of his robe was torn.


    Seeing that, the man was even more delighted as he tore away his robe. It revealed his clothes underneath, which was a ck ancient Chinese robe with golden embroidery.


    "Alright! One more time!"


    Huo Long Yue shouted as he charged forward Ignis once more. But this time, he was not holding back.


    His body was releasing a glow that channeled unto his gigantic sword.


    "Heaven Subduing de!"


    The man shouted as a formidable force enveloped his sword.


    Unaware of what it was, or probably, stunned by how cringy the line was, Ignis received the sh with his own.


    TANG!!!


    Ingis was flung back rather violently. He recovered his bnce as soon as possible, but he was still flung across a dozen meters.


    The Demon Sword shivered inside as it checked its body. Fortunately, he was upgraded when he epted Mark as his Master. If not, his de might have gotten a nick after receiving that attack. How careless he was.


    And thus, he decided not to y anymore.


    ck mes covered its body as it shot towards the enemy.


    Huo Long Yue immediately counter-attacked with the same technique.


    The two des shed loudly, grinding each other.


    It was then that Huo Long Yue noticed that he was on the losing side as the energy he was channeling to his sword was dispersing at an rming rate.


    Noticing that caused apse in his concentration. Thus, Ignis took advantage of it created an explosion of ck mes.


    As it was an explosion only made with nothing but those ck mes, there was no substantial impact that happened. However, the mes covered the whole sword of the enemy, making him let go of it as he retreated in panic.


    Still, although he managed to retreat, he was not unscathed. His clothes had been scorched here and there. He only managed to leave his skin intact by channeling arge amount of energy on his body.


    Then, as the enemy expected the flying sword to attack once more...


    It used its uncanny shape to hold unto the sniper rifle that was turned into a sword. The sniper rifle was not just some regr metal. It was something made with an unusual method and was not melted by the mes Ignis released.


    Then...


    d with surging ck mes, Ignis flew into the mist, causing another crashing sound and back towards the base.


    "STOP!"


    Huo Long Yue called out desperately. However, it was no use. Even the two would not be able to enter the mist unless they made the Tuath D¨¦ stop the ceremony. And that would surely ruin all the ns of their leader.


    Despite knowing that, Huo Long Yue chased after Ignis... Only to return to where he entered and see Chaaya, who was snickering on him.

 Chapter 480 In And Out Of The Féth Fíada, The Plans And The Infighting

    <strong>Day 119 - 11:02 AM - Southern Walls, Mountain Base, Mount Mbito, General Nakar, Quezon</strong>


    Atop the walls, several people could be seen talking to the person at the center. Obviously, it was Huey''s group that was very happy to see Mark''s return.


    Since the current situation was kind of discouraging to everyone, Mark immediately asked the details.


    Hearing about the things that happened after they left made Mark frown.


    But first and foremost...


    "Twenty-eight days, huh..."


    Mark murmured.


    Although he knew that it was usible and Huey''s group was telling the truth, his body and mind seemed to reject the information. After all, in his body clock, only a few days had passed.


    Even though it could not be denied that the day and night felt longer in the Spirit Dimension, it was just still a couple of days.


    Probably, this was what people that identally entered the Spirit Dimension and managed to return felt when they got back.


    The difference in speed of time was surely disrupting their body clocks. It was the same when they first entered the Spirit Dimension. All of them even ended staying up for more than half of the first night.


    "So, Boss. What are we going to do?"


    Huey asked. He was very hopeful that Mark could do anything about his fog and the danger that seemed to lurk in the shadows. Though it was really not the fog that was the problem. The issue was with their dwindling supplies.


    "I can deal with this fog, actually."


    Mark said, which surely delighted everyone. But then, they were surprised.


    "But leave it be for a while."


    He said with a smile.


    "Why?"


    Jolleen asked.


    Of course, they had no idea what was going on inside Mark''s mind. Who would have thought that he wanted to fatten the chicken before eating it? Since the fog was created with Magical Energy and was gradually growing, would it not be better if he absorbed it with its already filled?


    With those things in his mind, Mark replied.


    "I have a better use for itter. The problem is the supplies, right? I''ll personally go out and hunt to procure food. All of you just stay here. From what I feel, as long as this fog is around, everyone is safe. Just don''t leave the walls of the base, though."


    Everyone was confused as he did not tell them the actual reason. However, it was enough of an answer for them as the trouble would be addressed by Mark, personally.


    Furthermore, they could not deny thest sentences he said, either. Since the fog appeared, there had been no interference in the base from outside. There were no enemies, no people, no animals, and no infected. It was kind of depressing that they could not see the sun, though. This felt worse than spending cooped up inside the house because of a strong storm.


    As for Mark, he was not just specting the safety of the surroundings while the fog was active.


    When he sent Ignis to scout the fog, he felt the Demon Sword go back and forth a few times. And when it managed to go through, he lost his it and was not able to detect it anymore. Mark was not worried about it, though. He could still feel his connection with Ignis, albeit weak. Furthermore, even if he concentrated on widening the range of his detection, he could not feel anything through the fog at all.


    This fog, for sure, was isting the whole base from anything outside.


    While they were talking, Mark felt Ignis reenter the fog from the opposite side that he sent the sword to. Moreover, Ignis was hurrying towards his direction.


    In a few seconds, they were able to see a strange silhouette of a flying object through the veil of fog.


    The silhouette made Huey and the others a bit afraid, thinking that it was an enemy. But when they finally saw it clearly, they calmed down. It was just Mark''s Demon Sword. They became afraid because its silhouette had a strange shape. And it was because Ignis was carrying something on its de.


    Honestly, seeing a flying sword carrying another sword was kind of hrious.


    But when Ignis ced the sword in front of Mark, everyone noticed that it was not just some kind of odd-looking sword. It was actually a sniper rifle and a swordbined together.


    "Just where did you get this?"


    Mark said as he tinkered with the sword. The interest in his eyes could not be concealed. It was a sniper rifle and a sword. Either he or Mei could use this. Furthermore, even though the weapon was kind of big, it was not overly weighty. Though, because of its weight being light, the recoil of this gun should be strong. It could not be used by just a regr human.


    While Mark tinkered with the weapon, everyone went silent. After all, they could tell that Ignis was telling him his findings. Who would not notice if the sword was flying around like a child reenacting a fight scene in a movie they watched?


    Hearing everything from Ignis, he could say that the enemies could probably monitor if something was able to go in and out of the mist. Or else, Ignis would not be ambushed just like that. Fortunately, Ignis was far from what he was before. Stronger and sturdier. However...


    "Master! Come with me! Let''s kick their a*sess!"


    The voice of Ignis echoed in Mark''s mind. Sure enough, he could not admit that he would be defeated. Unfortunately, he was a sword meant to be wielded. Although he could fight alone, without any support and strength from its wielder, it could easily be pushed back like what happed to him earlier.


    Furthermore, it was not like that the two were just some thugs, either.


    The Shadow Leader, Chaaya, and the Lone Crazy Dragon, Huo Long Yue. Both weremander ranked in Auraboros. Even he had no chance to get close to them before, being nothing but a member of the outer circle. This time, he was able to contend against Huo Long Yue and take him on with a bit of surprise. If Chaaya had joined the fight, Ignis would have fled immediately.


    Fortunately, it was not the case, as it was known that both of them hate working with othermanders or lower positions. The attitude of the two during the encounter showed it.


    "Well, fight themter, not now. You should settle down."


    Mark sternly reprimanded Ignis, making it stop in ce and tilt its body forwards. Sure enough, the sword was feeling down.


    Seeing that, Mark feltughing.


    "You can wait for a few days, right? It is better to haul in a when the fish gathered."


    Hearing that, Ignis felt excited. It seemed that Mark was nning to deal with all the enemies in one go.


    "Okay, I''ll wait!"


    Ignis said.


    "Then, tell me what you know about the two. I''ll also ask Sperater if she knew something."


    Mark then turned to the others.<sub> </sub>


    "Also, all of you. Go home and rest. Even with the fog, the eyebags of all of you are visible."


    Hearing that, Hueyughed while the girls touched the lower area of their eyes. They could not tell whether Mark was joking or not. However, they did have less time to sleep these past three weeks. If not for the nourishment in their bodiesing from Chiyo, they should have copsed long ago from fatigue.


    Taking heed of Mark''s orders, they all said goodbye. With Mark here, they felt more assured. They would surely get a good rest starting today.


    On the other hand, Mark, who was left with Ignis atop the wall, started to formte his ns.


    And to start it...


    He should feed the Tikbngs. Not with food, but with the crystals he had just taken from the prisoners. Also, he should check the camp of the enemies to at least gauge how many strong ones were there.


    But even before all those...


    He should go out to hunt dinner first.


    Thus, making Ignis return to his sheathe on his back, Mark turned into a ck mist that made its way through the wall of fog.


    ***


    <strong>Day 119 - 11:25 AM - Daraitan Elementary School, Barangay Daraitan, Tanay, Rizal</strong>


    After some time since they left to check, Chaaya and Huo Long Yue returned arguing.


    "I tell you! Deactivate the F¨¦th F¨ªada! I need to get my weapon back!"


    Huo Long Yue shouted.


    "Absolutely not! The leader''s ns are not going to fail because of the likes of you! Who said that you should be toocent about yourself in that fight? Losing your weapon is your fault! Only yours! The whole n had nothing to do with it!"


    The subordinates around were watching the two. As no one tried to interfere with them, it seemed that this kind of thing happened asionally.


    "Hey! All of you!"


    Huo Long Yue shouted at the Emerald Robed ones that were still amidst the ceremony. Furthermore, it was noticeable that they were missing another person. This time, on the west side.


    "Make a hole for me to get through that F¨¦th F¨ªada! I need to get inside!"


    Hearing Huo Long Yue''s demand, the Elder of Tuath D¨¦ stepped forwards.


    "I apologize, your sire, but you have no authority to order us."


    "HAH?! Do you think that I have the time to joke with you?"


    Huo Long Yue shouted with an intent to threaten.


    "No, I am not joking." The Elder was unfazed. "You Sire definitely had no authority to order us. The leader told us to follow no one else but Madam Chaaya''s orders."


    "F*CK!"


    Huo Long Yue cursed as he turned to Chaaya and stared hatefully. Chaaya would definitely not let him. It was clear by her smug expression that could be seen despite her ckplexion.


    "You two are really funny."


    A voice suddenly interrupted the two. As there was no one from the subordinates that would dare to say that to them, they were sure that there was an intruder. Chaaya and Huo Long Yue immediately took a battle stance towards the direction that the voice came from.


    There, they saw a small fox sitting on the roof of a ssroom, overlooking everyone.


    It was a white fox with red markings on its body. The most noticeable was the three tails it had.


    Seeing the fox, the two, who were arguing, rxed their postures. However, the frown on their faces could not be hidden.


    "What is an envoy from the Japanese Branch doing here?"


    Chaaya asked the fox.


    With that question, the fox jumped off from the roof, and with a bright light, it... No, shended.


    A beautiful woman with an alluring bodynded instead of the fox. She had white hair, fox ears, and three fluffy tails, indicating that she was the same fox that jumped off just now. Like everyone here, she was also wearing a robe, albeit a white one with a silver lining on the seams.


    The woman looked at Chaaya, Huo Long Yue, and panned her eyes across the vicinity. She then spoke.


    "I was sent by the empress to search for something."


    She then turned towards the East, where the F¨¦th F¨ªada was present.


    "But it looks like you people from the Chinese Branch had beaten me to it. You even employed the Tuath D¨¦ on the field."


    "What is it to you?" Chaaya said with contempt. "This ce is already under our jurisdiction. You better stay your paws out of it."


    "How rude." The fox woman shrugged. "I''m not a busybody to meddle with anyone''s affairs. But I can''t just return like this, or the Empress will me me. I''ll stay for a while and see what your leader will do."


    "No, you better return where you came from!"


    Chaaya ordered.


    However...


    "I''m sorry, I may be of lower rank, but I am still under the direct order of the Empress. You have no authority to order me."


    The fox woman said with contempt.


    "Pfft!"


    Chaaya heard a snicker behind him. She could not help but send a kick. Unfortunately, Huo Long Yue, who was alreadyughing, managed to evade. Although he was still angry for the loss of his weapon, it was still mood-lifting to see Chaaya being pped like this.

 Chapter 481 A Two Day Interval, The Food Search, Preparation, And The Growth Of The Infected

    <strong>Day 123 - 2:21 PM - Outside F¨¦th F¨ªada, Mountain Base, Mount Mbito, General Nakar, Quezon</strong>


    Chaaya and Huo Long Yue appeared at the southern side of F¨¦th F¨ªada in the fastest speed as they could. However, they could only click their tongue in frustration as they reached the ce.


    It had been the second day for this thing to happen, the third day, in fact, including the time they encountered the intelligent sword.


    There was someone, or something had broken in and out of the F¨¦th F¨ªada. And for a mysteriously annoying reason, they could not find the culprit. Not even a trace was left behind, making them unsure of what was happening.


    Not only that, but the events were disturbing their ns, horribly, and also made them fear an unknown factor interfering with the things they prepared. Furthermore, the worst thing was that every time the F¨¦th F¨ªada was disturbed in this manner, the ongoing ritual was being affected. In these past days, they already had quite a few of Tuath D¨¦ fall because of the backfire. Although they should be able to recover in about a day or two, these missing members made the gathering of energy slower and more unstable.


    If this continued, the F¨¦th F¨ªada might get weakened. This event was one of the things they did not want to happen.


    But what could they do aside from getting frustrated? The culprit was nowhere to be found at all.


    It seemed like they needed to push other measures to guard the perimeters of F¨¦th F¨ªada.


    ***


    Unbeknownst to them, the culprit was overseeing them from above.


    Mark pped his wings silently above the two enemies that Ignis described to him. Concealed from their eyes using the [Photokinesis Mental Crystal].


    He was ying with the enemies at the same time that he was hunting for animals. It was rather unfortunate that both Spera and Ignis had no idea about this mist. From the looks of it, it was some sort of measure from the Inner Circle of Auraboros.


    That was why he investigated it a bit yesterday.


    He managed to find the base of the enemy rather easily. It was because they did not bother to hide at all. The more or less two hundred members of Auraboros camped at the Elementary School of Daraitan.


    Seeing the school made him remember the people that decided to dwell there. By the looks of it, they were all gone now as Mark could not detect other humans in distress. It was rather unfortunate. Since those people managed to get this far and live this long in this deadly apocalypse, their abilities should be above average. If some were still alive, they could be of use to the base after saving them.


    Sadly, there was no way for that to happen as it was Auraboros that they were talking about. If this organization saw humans as livestock, it was even though many of their outer members and subsidiaries were humans. If they could not find a human useful or of value, it was already lucky to be turned into a ve. Dying in their hands was not unexpected. Worse, they would be food for the creatures this organization was rearing.


    The base camp was found. Unfortunately, he could only observe from afar. There was a barrier around the school, which Mark did not dare try to touch. He did not know what this thing would do, but most usibly, it was put to detect intruders. Mark did not want to disturb the enemies as it would implicate his ns, either.


    Nevertheless, he managed to find out what was happening every time he or Ignis was making a hole from the mist. Unfortunately, they could not do anything about it and ended up alerting the enemy every time they get out. They could tell Spera to open a portal for them, but since the number of times she could use the Portal in a short time was limited, they better use it for emergencies.


    And of course, even though it might affect the ns a bit, Mark found annoying the enemies little by little quite fun. Their frustrated faces were ratherfortable to look at. After all, these same people caused some difficulties for his people. They should also feel the same.


    The only thing that Mark was quite wary was the third party.


    Every time these two appear, there was a mysterious entity tailing them. However, this entity had no intent to meddle. Mark could feel that this entity had already found him, and he found it too.


    After he watched the two robed figures leave in frustration, Mark turned to another direction.


    There, a white fox with three tails could be seen sitting on a branch of the tree while staring at his direction. It was even though he was still under the effect of [Optical Camouge]. After a few seconds, the fox turned away and jumped off from the branch, following the two robed figures.


    Mark wanted to know what it wanted, but it could wait for some time. Now, he went out to capture animals for a meal for the next days. These past two days, he only scoured around the mountain for animals. However, it seemed that the disturbance in the mountain scared away the animals leaving a few ones.


    The worst thing, however, was that he found many mutated infected wandering in the mountains. It was not surprising. The F¨¦th F¨ªada was like a vortex gathering magical energy.


    And the infected found this kind of energy very attractive. With the amount of energy gathered, it could even attract the more sensitive infected from miles away.


    Furthermore, after another month, the infected sure have mutated further.


    Many of them already left their humanlike figures from before, turning into total monsters. There were still parts that told that they were previously human. However, without those parts, no one would be able to notice at all.


    This time, Mark decided to fly rather far away, probably, near the east coast. Some seafood might be a good thing to eat, considering that they only had animal meat these past three days. The amount of fruit and vegetables they had in store was also dwindling. Unfortunately, Mark could not gather an amount that would be able to satisfy everyone. After all, he had other things to do.


    As Mark neared the Markina-Infanta Highway, he had to stop. It was because he saw something rather interesting.


    An infected was walking down the slope of the road. Like the other infected, Mark saw that were roaming on the mountains, this was highly disfigured. It was definitely a [Predator Type] infected.<sub> </sub>


    The infected still had a human torso. However, its limbs only had the first segments left. From the elbows and knees, there were no arms or legs. Instead, there were two pairs of scythe-shaped des made of white bones covered in bloodstains. It ran fast in all fours in a manner like a cockroach. It wiggled its body away while running because of theck of joints on its ded limbs.


    As for its mouth, more than half of its face had been torn apart, allowing its jaws to open up inhumanly wide. Green slightly acidic saliva dripped off from its mouth.


    These kinds of infected roamed the mountains now.


    To Mark''s measure, many infected had already reached the standard of being a [Level 3 Mutation]. It was the measure used back in Eriellis to measure the strength and capabilities of the infected.


    The worst thing, however, on that Freed and Aephelia came from, [Level 3 Mutations] only appeared after two years of the outbreak. It meant that the Mutation of the Infected was too fast on Earth for some reason.


    Luckily, Mark already made a base in the mountains where the infected found it quite hard to climb. With these infected around, the settlements and survivor bases near the cities should be having a hard time.


    Another good thing was thatpared to the infected in Eriellis, the infected on Earth was far dumber. The psychic infected had slower growth, but their intelligence was rather high, being able to build enves and such after some reached [Level 4]. As for the infected here on Earth, despite their [Level 3] strength, it looked like that their minds only evolved to the same level of predatory animals.


    If it was not the case, Earth would definitely be doomed without being able to prepare. Even the organization called Auraboros would not have a good time dealing with the Psychic Infected.


    Marknded near the infected, causing it to notice him immediately. Without pause, the infected charged towards him. His visage then vanished into a ck mist, appearing and disappearing at several intervals.


    When he appeared standing behind the infected, it fell down. It was not dead yet but was restrained by ck metal that restricted the movements of its body. It tried to create loud noises as it tried to wriggle out of its restraints. However, Mark had already appeared in front of it with his [Blood Whip] covering its mouth. The blood then turned into metal blocking its mouth.


    Mark checked the thing he caught. This was not for food, of course. He was preparing to deal with the iing enemies. This infected might not be intelligent but would definitely cause a ruckus if released into the ranks of the enemies.


    He was not worried that once it was released, it would attack his base. The infected were attracted to magical energy, after all. It would prioritize the enemies that had much of it than his people that were mostly humans hiding behind the walls.


    This infected was not the first one he caught. In fact, there were more than a dozen already.


    All of these infected were being trapped outside the walls in the east area. That part was yet to be removed and was still filled with trees. Using the abilities of the Tikbngs were proven useful there. Furthermore, it would be used to direct the infected Mark caught towards the enemies.


    Leaving the newly caught infected in a secure ce, Mark continued on his way. He also passed by the area where he could see the New Infanta Settlement from afar.


    Because of the fog, they had lost contact with the outside world, including radio transmissions. The military there might already be worried, but who told them to worry? Mark was confident that he could deal with the situation. It was just, it was not the right time to serve the dishes yet.


    Mark soon reached the Port of Real, the former military settlement here in Quezon Province.


    Sure enough, there was nothing but ruins here. Mark managed to see a group of survivors who seemed to be scavenging, but it looked like that their search was rather bad.


    Ignoring the group, Marknded by the port. He pretended to look around the water to see if there was something that he could catch.


    However, there was no need to look. A giant evolved eel, about ten meters in length, jumped out of the water. Its two-meter diameter mouth opened up to devour Mark, whole.


    That caused amotion that alerted the survivors nearby. As the eel jumped several meters in the air, the survivors immediately ran away, thinking that the monster might see them. They did not notice Mark at all.


    And then, the eel fell. Dead.


    Ignis flew from Mark''s back, stabbing the eel on its forehead midair.


    "Now, how am I going to carry this?"


    Mark murmured. Even the gemstone Mei traded from Bath would not be able to store this monster.


    In any case, he caught something worth several days of food for the whole base. That was what mattered for now.


    ***


    Two dayster, after the frustration cat and mouse events for Chaaya and Huo Long Yue, what they were waiting for finally arrived.


    At the center of their camp, the energy was disturbed. Then, ck colored lightning cracked the space open. A very unstable Portal appeared.


    Several figures appeared through the Portal, and everyone, including Chaaya and Huo Long Yue, prostrated in respect.

 Chapter 482 The Arrival Of Tan Sitong, The Vice Leader Of The Auraboros China Branch

    <strong>Day 125 - 7:47 PM - Daraitan Elementary School, Barangay Daraitan, Tanay, Rizal</strong>


    The sky was already dark when every member of Auraboros was rmed by the cracking of space.


    They immediately gathered as it was the signal that their leader would arrive. Before the portal could widely open, everyone had already gathered to wee the arrival of their leader.


    Once the unstable portal widely opened, several figures came out of it.


    Leading the group of eleven people was a man that seemed to be in his early thirties. He wore a long dark blue colored Chinese robe with golden embroideries and a mark of a golden dragon at the center of his torso. On his head, there was a ck hat that had the shape of a boat. From how his clothes looked, it seemed that it had a style of a civil officer in the Qing Dynasty.


    The man''s face was pale as a corpse. However, for a very contradicting manner, his body exuded a thick aura of vitality.


    Still, the stitches that were present on his neck and the line on it indicated that this person should not be a living one.


    Behind him were ten people who moved in pairs. They had the same kind of attire, but less gant and a talisman that hung from their hats covered their faces. They did not walk either but jumped behind the man as they followed.


    As the man stepped out of the portal, Chaaya humbly spoke.


    "We wee the arrival of Leader Tan Sitong."


    Everyone prostrated.


    Sure enough, everyone here respected the man, and it was not from fear. The man also seemed to not look down on anyone even though they prostrated in front of him.


    Nevertheless, even though he seemed to value his subordinates, the darkness in his eyes could tell that he would not hesitate to abandon them when needed. A kind but sinister person, that was how everyone here knew this person was. If he saw that a person was of value, he would not hesitate to cherish them. Lose that value, and they would not be worthy of his nce.


    Tan Sitong was a different person when he was still alive. However, as his death and resurrection tainted his body, the previous him was no longer present.


    After all, "he failed to kill the robbers because of hisck of strength. And died because of it."


    As the group stepped out of the portal, Tan Sitong looked back as the portal immediately closed.


    "This portal is very inconvenient. It took two weeks to set up and needed a lot of virgin sacrifices. Yet, it only opened for several seconds."


    Tan Sitong said with a tint of annoyance in his voice. He then turned to his subordinates and spoke once more.


    "All of you stand up. Chaaya, Long Yue, I need more information about our goals here."


    "Thank you, Leader Tan Sitong. Please follow us."


    Chaaya said as she led the leader back to the ce they prepared for him.


    They prepared the room rathervishlypared to the surroundings of Daraitan. There were soft couches, expensive types of furniture, and even charms that exuded vitality. They did put a lot of effort into this as it was hard to find such luxuries in the mountains.


    But of course, in the eyes of their leader, this was rather nd. Chaaya knew that, and such, she immediately said.


    "I apologize if it was not to your taste. It is rather hard to gather better things as we can find nothing much here but mountains."


    Tan Sitong took the center seat in the room without saying anything. The people behind immediately scattered, standing in different directions of the room with their backs on the walls.


    Chaaya felt relieved seeing that. And thus, they reported everything that their leader needed to know.


    After half an hour, Tan Sitong closed his eyes in contemtion.


    "I see..." He said. "There is an unknown factor in that ce. It is possible that whatever it is, we will have to face it. To be able to go in and out of F¨¦th F¨ªada, it seemed to be a strong one."


    "Leader, do we have to prepare about it?"


    Chaaya asked.


    "Definitely. Being prepared is far better than not."


    Tan Sitong nodded.


    "But leader, what are we going to do? We can''t transport new weaponry of call for reinforcements now, can we?"


    It was Huo Long Yue that asked this time.


    "There was no need."


    Tan Sitong shook his head.


    Then, he waved his right hand towards the two, making a hundred yellow paper talismans flew out of his sleeve thatnded in a stack in front of them.


    "Capture some soulless ones. I will lend you these aides for this mission."


    Tan Sitong said making six of the people that came with him, jump forward.


    "Put the talisman on the head of the soulless ones, and they will activate it. We configured those talismans to control the soulless ones for a day before burning out. Gather the strongest that you can, but do not use those talismans immediately. Prepare for another day, and we will start at night of the next day after."


    "Yes, Leader. We will aplish this immediately."


    Chaaya and Huo Long Yue replied together.


    "Then, all of you are dismissed."


    Tan Sitong said, which made the two go out with the six aides lent to them.


    "Are you done eavesdropping?"


    Tan Sitong said.


    Then, a person entered through the window of the room.


    "To think that the vice leader of the Chinese Branch personally led this. That Shadow Woman and that insane cultivator were too tight-lipped to tell."


    The foxdy said as she leaned on the window.


    "You sure had the guts to stand like that in front of me."


    Tan Sitong was offended by the conduct of the fox.<sub> </sub>


    "I only bow down to my Empress."


    Tan Sitong red at the fox.


    "State your name and your business here."


    The foxdy smiled slyly.


    "Where are my manners? This one''s name is Yukine, vice leader of the Yuki Kitsune under our Empress. And for my business here is no different from what you all are here. But do not worry. I will not meddle in your affairs until you all are finished."


    Of course, Tan Sitong did not favorably take thest sentence.


    "You seem to know something."


    Tan Sitong immediately picked up what Yukine meant.


    "While I do know something, I can only tell that to my Empress. The only thing I can say that even if you are all defeated, it''s just a matter of bad luck. Well then, if you excuse me."


    Yukine then jumped out of the window, leaving Tan Sitong frowning.


    He did not like what that sly fox just said.


    It seemed that he needed to prepare more things than he thought or that sly fox would not give such a statement.


    Foxes are known for feasting on vital energy. And thus, they were capable of sensing such. It was very likely that the fox already found out the factor that was unknown to them. Unfortunately, she was directly under the Empress. Or else, Tan Sitong would have captured her to squeeze out the information even if she was a member of another branch.


    "I''ll just have to prepare this in case."


    Tan Sitong murmured as he rubbed the ancient-looking ring on his finger. As he touched the ck gem on it, several jade bottles appeared in front of him.


    "It might ruin everyone, but it doesn''t matter. We needed to know the source of that metal and capture the Spirit Tree."


    He said as he opened one of the bottles. The smell of medical efficacy seeped out in the room. However, instead of a calming and fragrant one, it smelled like blood and had a sinister feel to it.


    Inside the jade bottle was several fingernail-sized balls. The balls had a sinister red color. It was called [Berserk Pills]. The research of Berserk Medicine had reached different branches which headed towards different results. And to the Chinese Branch, they managed to create medicinal pills from it. However, it was far from being medicine. It was a kind of evil drug that could mutate the individual that consumed it.


    And worse, it was could also affect the infected once they ingested it. It would not cause the infected to raise a level but would make the infected gain new abilities.


    "Hmm... I should also tell them to capture some consumable pawns."


    Tan Sitong murmured with an evil thought.


    ***


    <strong>Day 125 - 7:49 PM - Moutain Base, Mount Mbito, General Nakar, Quezon</strong>


    Early in the night, Mark was currently in his workshop. He was eating dinner while he worked on two identical bracelets and a ring.


    Mark had trained all the [Blood Children] to be able to transform into armor or weapons. That was why they needed fewer items to carry around. However, it was different for things like Mei''s sniper rifle, the ammunition, and other stuff that could not be replicated by the [Blood Children]. Thus, he decided to use the three Space attribute Gems that Mei traded from Bath. Two were bracelets because Mark and Mei already had rings. Thest ring was for Spera, who was the one that led Mei to that encounter.


    With these Spatial Items, it would be easier to carry things around. Unfortunately, the space was quite limited. However, there was nothing they could do as these Gems were rather rare. It was very likely that Bath could not even create something like this, or he would have used it to trade for more [Energy Crystals].


    While Mark was working, Spera came suddenly came into his workshop, huffing.


    "Master! I felt a fluctuation in space just now. About to the southwest of the base."


    "What kind of fluctuation?"


    Mark asked. If it was just a tear in space, it should be fine.


    "It felt like a forcefully opened space. The fluctuation was quite violent. I only felt something like this before when the China Branch of Auraboros is experimenting on some ancient magic circle."


    Hearing that, Mark pondered a bit. Of course, it was not hard to assume what was happening.


    "I see." Mark smiled. "Don''t panic. Maybe, the one leading the enemies finally arrive. But they won''t make a move too soon."


    "Is that so?"


    Spera asked, tilting her head in confusion. She thought that it was rather urgent, and such, she rushed towards Mark. To see him this calm, maybe, she was worrying too much.


    "It''s okay. Go back and rest. If I notice some changes, I''ll be the first to move out."


    "Okay, then."


    Spera finally retreated. Of course, there were still doubts in her mind. But seeing that Mark was unfazed, then, it should be alright.


    As for Mark, why was he confident about it?


    Mark shook his head with the thought. These past days, he riled up the enemies so much that they were too wary. Even if their leader appeared, they would not attack without preparing.


    He was not just ying with them. While he did that, he was reading their emotions, reading their thoughts, observing their reactions, and analyzing their personalities. That way, he could buy more time before the enemies attack.


    Furthermore, they would not attack immediately, even after surrounding the base. It was because it was clear that the Auraboros needed something from here.


    Before they kill everyone, they would want to obtain those things first.


    Unknown to them, the person who solely foiled their ns in Bay City was the owner of this base. If they did, it was doubtful that they would only prepare that number of people.


    However, when that thought passed his mind, he realized something.


    "Well then, I guess I should check themter after I finish these things."


    He murmured as he felt something that was not right.


    But as he said that, he froze. He suddenly turned his head towards the east, his eyes glowing with a purplish light.


    "Not good. The Emika and the others."

 Chapter 483 Stealthy Abduction, The Disturbance In New Infanta Settlement

    <strong>Day 125 - 8:47 PM - New Infanta Settlement, Banugao, Infanta Quezon</strong>


    The New Infanta Settlement, it was thergest survivor settlement in the Quezon Province.


    It was the result of the two settlements merging after the disaster that happened almost two months ago. And now, despite the initial struggles, they were doing better than before.


    This settlement prioritized agriculture because thend, in and out, were already prepared for agriculture. Prioritizing crops that could grow to maturity in less time needed, in another week or so, they could start their harvest.


    Greeneries covered the southern and eastern areas of the New Infanta Settlement. This situation made everyone think that they were doing fine in the apocalypse. Well, of course, disregarding the constant appearance of mutated infected and evolved animals. They had been used to it, after all.


    Unfortunately, shadows lurked this time around. They could wish that trouble came knocking at the door. However, the problem they were facing decided to stay as silent as possible.


    Grey robed people ran in the shadows, obscured from everyone''s sight. They moved fast from the southwest side, where the edge of the Agos River flowed.


    What was the reason for them to appear in this ce?


    It was because their leader, Tan Sitong, made an order.


    In two days, they would start to surround the F¨¦th F¨ªada. And thus, they needed to move as soon as they received the order their leader has given.


    The order was to procure humans, as many as they could find. They did not know what the leader wanted to do with them. Not that they could question or care about it either. Their duty was to follow the instructions of those higher than them in the organization. Nothing else mattered.


    However, where would they find humans in this ce? The only answer was this Military organized settlement.


    Learning about that, Tan Sitong sent two another two of his aides. These two had a different mission than the others.


    There was one thing that Military Settlements had around the world. It was the facility where their research things after the apocalypse started. In that case, any research material and scientists were valuable assets to everyone. Their current findings would be usable in any way.


    Make use of anything of value. That was one of Tan Sitong''s views after he died. Resources, people, and even ranks. As long as it had value, he would make use of it. When their value deteriorated, then it was time to dispose of them.


    And thus, Chaaya and Huo Long Yue split up for two different missions.


    Chaaya would deal with the procuring of Mutated Infected, while Huo Long Yue would gather the humans they needed.


    On the farm field of the New Infanta Settlement, many shadows shed as seventy-five members of Auraboros rushed towards the settlement. They evaded the oilmps installed around the ce to make the area visible and not difficult to guard. These installments around that kept the ce lit at night were one of the things that made the New Infanta Settlement even more secured.


    Nevertheless, it only worked on the mindless infected and animals with low intelligence.


    As for the members of Auraboros, they passed through it rather effortlessly. Reaching the newly made walls that did not even reach three meters in height, their shadows shed up the walls, scaling it without problems.


    Some led the way and appeared behind the soldiers that were guarding the walls. The soldiers felt their presence and the danger they brought after they appeared. However, it was already toote. Even though some of the soldiers managed to turn around, they all fell unconcious. The shadows hit the back of their necks without holding back, causing them to fall.


    Then, they dragged the fallen soldiers off the walls, bringing them to the riverside quite a distance away.


    As those went back with their catch, the others dove straight towards the dwellings. Man or woman, elderly or children, they dragged away any human that they saw.


    The members of Auraboros effortlessly gathered humans as they went back and forth. It took no time, and they already gathered around a hundred people.


    Compared to the poption of the settlement, which reached thousands, it was just a small number. But all these people were taken away without the military noticing. They were doing their work silently and efficiently.


    At the northern side, Huo Long Yue and the two aides jumped over the roofs as silently as possible. They were heading towards the elementary school were the military encampment was located. Theboratories, for sure, were ced in these parts of the settlements.


    The moment theynded inside the walls, they took down the guards without hesitation. Five guards who patrolled the front gates of the school fell bleeding with a sh on each of their necks.


    "This is easy."


    Huo Long Yue said as he licked the blood off his hand and kicked the body of the soldier he had just killed.


    Regr humans were weak in his eyes. Especially those that rely on the Military and cower in fear, he found them disgusting. Strength, it was what anyone needed. However, no one could achieve it when they rely on others to live. As for these soldiers, people fear them because of their guns. Without these weapons, they were nothing either.


    Huo Long Yue moved forwards, leaving the dead soldiers. But then, he felt danger.


    ck Smoke suddenly surrounded him and the two aides. They all tried to jump away, but the smoke followed as if it had a mind of its own. The smoke pushed the three together as if wanting to consume them in one go.


    The chill that Huo Long Yue felt as he saw the smoke reminded him of something. As such, he took out a medallion from his hand.


    Then, the medallion shone brightly in the night, creating a barrier of light around Huo Long Yue and the two aides.


    As the smoke touched the barrier of light, it started to vanish. Seeing the situation made Huo Long Yue felt relieved. Still, it seemed that it took a toll on his medallion. There was a small nick that appeared on its edge.


    Huo Long Yue stored the medallion and turned forwards. The two aides stood in front of him in a battle stance.


    In front, a silhouette of a person stood calmly. His red glowing eyes were staring at them.


    Huo Long Yue could not fathom what was happening. There was no doubt that this person was an enemy. And yet, why did he not alert the people of New Infanta Settlement if this person found them?


    However, there were no questions asked. The two aides jumped like the jumping corpses they were. They charged towards the person in front in an aggressive manner.


    To see the aides like this, Huo Long Yue realized one thing. This person was dangerous.


    Jiangshi, it was what was these two aides were, simr to their leader. However, these two were not intelligent once but more like puppets. They had no emotions and would only wait for orders from those that were authorized to order them.


    There was only one thing that could make them react, and that was the feeling of danger. This act also made these two very formidable foes. As they respond to danger, it was hard to hit them with attacks. Even Huo Long Yue would not be able tond a punch against two if he was to fight them.


    Well, he could not just stand and watch, if the two aides were moving like this, it was better if he made his move too.<sub> </sub>


    The two aides swiftly moved their arms in unison. Every move, a small knife flew out of their sleeves, flying at bullet speed towards the person standing before them.


    TANG! TANG! TANG!


    Multiple metallic sounds rang across the school grounds as more than a dozen knives were blocked effortlessly. The person waved his sword as if bullets were nothing to him, not to mention these knives.


    Seeing the sword, however, Huo Long Yue lost it.


    It was the same sword that took his weapon.


    Then he realized. This person must be the one responsible for their struggles in the past days.


    Before Huo Long Yue could shout his anger, the man suddenly vanished.


    TANG!


    A metallic sound rang beside Huo Long Yue''s ears. He felt a chill in his back as he heard it. That sound was loud and clear. As he turned his eyes towards the source, he saw the de of the strange sword just an inch away from his face. What was protecting him was one of the aides that were supposed to be charging forward. The aide was now wielding a short sword that came out of nowhere.


    Huo Long Yue jumped back and retreated.


    That was very close. Huo Long Yue lost his cool for an unknown reason and almost lost his life.


    "Tsk."


    Huo Long Yue heard the person click his tongue. That made him realize. His sudden loss of temper might have to do with this person.


    ''A mental attack!''


    He gulped. Huo Long Yue was ill-prepared for this. He never thought that he would encounter a user of mental attacks in such a backward country.


    Then, he breathed deeply. His inner energy rose into his head, dispelling any foreign effect, returning his mind into its former state.


    The assant frowned at that as he jumped back to avoid the attack of the other aide. One was using a sword, and the other was using a chained whip. They jumped fast and urately, dealing with the enemy before them.


    Following the enemy, the two aides did not make any pause to attack. Furthermore, every time the enemy attacked, they would dodge it wlessly. It was the same even if the man disappeared again and appeared behind to aim for a supposed blind spot. It was like the two aides had eyes all over their bodies.


    The two aides were holding things better than Huo Long Yue. However, that was not what mattered at the moment. It was because the battle caused amotion.


    BANG! BANG! BANG!


    Sounds of gunshots echoed across the settlement from the residential area. It seemed that somepetent survivors managed to detect the members of Auraboros that were abducting people.


    CLANG! CLANG! CLANG! CLANG!


    The sound of a bell rang after. It was the sound indicating intruders in the settlement.


    Soldiers went out of their quarters as soon as possible. They were armed to the teeth and ready to kill.


    That was when the soldiers in the school found themotion at the schoolyard.


    "Stop! RAISE YOUR HANDS!"


    One soldier shouted as he aimed his gun at the four. However, the soldier could only groan in the end with his eyes wide open. A knife had already flown towards him, stabbing his neck.


    "Who are you two order me?"


    Huo Long Yue said with disgust in his face.


    He then looked at the aides currently dealing with the enemy. As for him, he decided to deal with the iing soldiers.


    "These weaklings had no right to step in the battlefield."


    He said with a frown filled with disdain.


    BANG! BANG! BANG!


    RATATATATATA!!!


    The death of the soldier caused the ire of the other soldiers. They did not shout anymore and just fired their guns at Huo Long Yue,


    In response, Huo Long Yue charged towards them. Waving his hands in front, he was catching the bullets that were supposed to hit him.


    Catching enough, he flung the tips of the bullets back to the soldiers.


    One by one, they fell because of the unexpected way of counter-attack. Some managed to dodge, however, Huo Long Yue was already in front of them.


    Huo Long Yue tapped the chest of the soldier lightly. It was a very light hit. Yet, despite the bulletproof armor the soldier wore, he crumpled to the ground with his whole chest sunk in.


    At this moment, the other soldiers present in the schoolyard started to feel panicked.


    And then, Huo Long Yue jumped back two times. Two attacks came towards him unexpectedly. The first was a green, thorny vine with flowers that tried to tie his feet stealthily while the other was a punch from another person.


    After dodging, he looked forwards. From the second-floor balcony, there was a green-haired little girl. In front of him, a tall caucasian man had his one knee on the ground as his hand left a crater after hitting the ground.

 Chapter 484 The Two Ongoing Battles, Testing The Enemies And An Unexpected Reveal

    <strong>Day 125 - 9:01 PM - Military Camp, New Infanta Settlement, Barangay Banugao, Infanta, Quezon</strong>


    Mark fought physically with the two jumping corpses in front of him. The two were very sticky opponents. Dodging, blocking, counter-attacking, and even charging forward and retreating. The two corpses coordinated too well and fought too smoothly that anyone would forget that they were nothing but moving dead bodies.


    But to say, Mark was enjoying thepany of the two. After all, he never had any proper training, and his fighting style was nothing but a mash-up of things he self-studied. It was a way to train his muscles to fight with these two, who seem to be only able of physical fight.


    Furthermore, the two corpses were able to cope with his enhanced body after he awakened his ancestry of being a Blood Demon. It was a good thing for him to have proper training partners.


    He could y a little bit with these two.


    After all, with the chaos that ensued in the settlement, Mark had nothing to do here anymore.


    The future already changed.


    ***


    Back in the workshop, Mark''s eyes blurred as he got a vision. The irvoyance he had that would only activate at random times and when something was going to happen to the people close to him. And it would not show any vision for trivial matters.


    The only times that it activated was when something very crucial or something concerning death would happen to them.


    And he could not deny, but Emika was one of them. Not only that, she fought by his side several times, but her personality and trait as a Mutator were very pleasing. She was annoying at times, but it was just a part of her charms as a child.


    However, this night marked the start of her supposed suffering.


    The Auraboros abducted people from the New Infanta Settlement stealthily. It was a very sessful mission for them as they managed to get a lot of people. Worse, the Military only noticed it after hours the mission had ended.


    People disappeared, many died hidden outside the walls, and worse, Emika''s family were also gone.


    Chervil was a capable scientist. Among the scientists that the Military had, he was one of those that had been able toe up with good results after the apocalypse.And thus, after seeing the research, the enemies would take him to work for him.


    And of course, he would not just ept that. As such, they would use his sister, niece, and nephew to force him.


    The first example was to force Emika to swallow a pill. She was the most active in protecting her family, being noisy and resisting, and such, the leader of the enemy did not fancy her.


    Swallowing the pill turned her a beautiful green-haired child into a hideous vine monster. Worse, it did not change her into a savage beast, keeping her consciousness intact. If anyone was to mutate that way, it was better if it also destroyed her mind in the process.


    They made her suffer like that to force his uncle to work under them.


    The vision Mark saw was clear as spring water. Like before, it felt real, and he could feel Emika''s emotions. He found it very unpleasant. It was as if it was choking him. Even though she became a monster, she did not cry outside. She insisted on protecting her brother and mother, forcing the ire of the enemies unto her.


    Inwardly, she was in pain. The body she turned into felt pain in every movement. Having her body like that was torture. And yet, she did not voice any of it. Her many eyes under her leaves red at the enemy with resolution. She would protect her family at all costs.


    What she felt did not escape Mark''s vision. It was as if he there beside her. And thus, he would not let it happen.


    Mark immediately asked Spera, who had just left his workshop. He needed a portal towards the New Infanta Settlement. Not only that, it was the fastest method of travel, but it would not alert the enemies like how it did if he created an opening through the mist.


    And thus, he appeared at the outskirts of the New Infanta Settlement to change the future once more. He was together with Mei and Amihan, who would serve as his backup from outside. The two would also be in charge of alerting the people of the enemies.


    Aside from what happened to Emika, the vision gave Mark a good thing.


    It was the closeup figure of the enemy leader and his aides. Without the enemies even knowing, he was able to see their leader and his subordinates.


    He knew how many jumping corpses were there, and he now knew the face of the leader of the enemy. Furthermore, he heard their n to use these people and infected to deal with his base. It was good to know as he had the same idea. It looked like he needed to do some tweaks on the infected he imprisoned and not send them as is.


    ***


    Mark waved Ignis to one of the two Jiangshis. Of course, it evaded the attack smoothly while the other took the opening to attack him from behind.


    He kicked the ground, backflipping, and evading the chain that flew towards him from his back. He spun his body int he air, trying to cut the chain. It caused a loud nging sound, but even if Ignis was a Demon Sword, the chain only received a few scratches.


    The Jiangshi wielding the sword jumped from in front, charging towards Mark, who was yet tond. With the sword pointed at him, it tried to pierce his chest.


    Mark twisted his body, causing the sword to pass an inch before him. He then grabbed the head of the Jiangshi and smashed it to the ground as hended.


    BAM!


    The dirt sunk and a small crater formed with the head of the Jiangshi at the center. While the attack smashed the ground, the head of the Jiangshi was unexpectedly still intact.


    Furthermore, it slipped out of Mark''s hand, leaving its hat, keeping the talisman still stuck on its forehead. It then spun his body with one hand, using the other that held the sword to cut Mark.


    At the same time, the chain came hurling at him once more, trying to wrap on his body and constrain him.


    BAM! CLING!


    Mark kicked the chains away and pped the t side of the sword, forcing it to the ground. Using the same hand he used to smash the head of the sword-wielding Jiashi to the ground, he pushed himself away from the sandwich of the two.


    He smiled. Fighting like this was enjoyable.


    And to say, he already got his goals here. One was to change the future. The other was to test the enemies.


    He already saw the leader and these jumping corpses from his vision. He already saw Chaaya and Huo Long Yue. The only thing that he had not done until this time was to test their abilities.


    Why? Not because he wanted to know to be able to protect his base. What he realized this time when he returned was that he was not the only one that needed to grow stronger.<sub> </sub>


    In the uing confrontation in his base, he would try to make a safe environment where he would allow his people to learn.


    He would benefit from absorbing the energy that created the mist, while his base would have experience thwarting a siege. In that case, he needed to measure the abilities of the enemies.


    And this time was an adequate opportunity.


    It was kind of unfortunate that the shadow woman named Chaaya was not here for the test. In any case, he would just deal with them with the time came.


    As for his other abilities, he would not use it this time. He would only use the things he showed when he returned. After all, that fox that was always watching was around.


    Mark could not fathom what it wanted. It was just watching without hostility or any notion to face him. This behavior made it hard to guess what its goals.


    However, as long as it did not show any hostility, Mark was not going to confront it. If he started to find it annoying, however, he would not hesitate to eliminate it together with these robed annoyances.


    While Mark yed with the two Jiangshis, Huo Long Yue faced two people.


    Emika was supposed to be the victim. Yet, she was now fighting with the person who was supposed to abduct her. She stood on the second floor using her vines to distract the Huo Long Yue.


    On the other hand, the person with an alias of Ogre. The mercenary Jones Galley, faced with Huo Long Yue.


    Huo Long Yue was a rogue cultivator. He was more powerfulpared to regr people. Strong enough to see the speed of bullets and even catch the ones from assault rifles flying towards him.


    Yet, Jones Galley, who was supposed to be nothing but a mercenary, was able to cope with him.


    Emika''s vines crept towards Huo Long Yue, trying to constrain him. Thetter waved his hands with a bright light, shing the vines into pieces.


    At the same time, Jones charged towards Huo Long Yue and punched.


    Huo Long Yue, on the other hand, smiled with ridicule as he released a punch of his own.


    His slight tap could sink a bulletproof armor worn by a soldier. A punch from him could pierce the armor of a tank. If a human received this attack, he would explode into pieces.


    BOOM!


    Huo Long Yue''s eyes turned wide.


    The two punches they threw connected with a loud boom. Yet, Jones Galley was still standing with a smug smile on his face.


    Huo Long Yue retreated in a hurry as he knew that something was not right. Even Mutators with enhanced bodies would not be unscathed after receiving a punch from him.


    "You! Who are you!"


    Huo Long Yue asked. After all, it was clear that Jones was of another country''s forces. He did not look like a Filipino and more of European or American origin.


    "Isn''t it rude for you to ask my name without introducing yourself first? Well, in any case, I don''t mind." Jones smiled. "My name is Jones Galley. A mercenary."


    Hearing thest word, Huo Long Yue felt smug.


    "So, you are paid to fight here? Why not join us. Have you heard of us, the Auraboros? We like to take talents. We can pay you more than what you can get here."


    Huo Long Yue was quite confident about this. In his eyes, mercenaries were nothing but money huggers. Pay them more, and they would go from enemies to allies.


    But then, Jones Galley smiled with ridicule.


    "Don''t make meugh. The Auraboros will take me and let me join?"


    Huo Long Yue suddenly felt confused.


    Then, Jones charged towards him once more with his fist that shone with a glossy metallic hue.


    Huo Long Yue retreated.


    BAM!


    There was nothing that the punch hit, but the air trembled with a strong wind.


    "I''ve been fighting with your organization for the majority of my life. How will your superiors let me join you? Hahaha!"


    Huo Long Yue was shocked by that statement.


    "Your people chased after me for a long time and every single one of them... I killed."


    Jones Galley stated.


    And then, Huo Long Yue remembered the name of the manughing in front of him. His eyes turned wider.


    "It seemed that you realized." Jones smiled. "Let me reintroduce myself. My name is Jones Galley. But they also call me SSP-018367. One of the few survivors of the experiment that your organization conducted on innocent orphans before. And the only survivor of your organization''s Supersoldier project."


    Jones then adjusted his fist, getting ready for a better fight.


    "Now tell me. How do you want to die?"

 Chapter 485 The Supersoldier Project, The End Of The First Skirmish

    <strong>Day 125 - 9:07 PM - Military Camp, New Infanta Settlement, Barangay Banugao, Infanta, Quezon</strong>


    A Supersoldier, Jones Galley''s deration rang in everyone''s ears. His reveal surprised everyone, as well as Mark, who was dancing in his current battle.


    Huo Long Yue, who currently fought with Jones Galley, felt a bit choked. He was a higher member of the Inner Circle and one of themanders in the China Branch of Auraboros. Even so, his knowledge about that incident was quite limited. After all, it was an ident that the elders of the organization tried well to hide.


    The Supersoldier Project. It was one of the organization''s projects that started long ago since the end of World War II. There was a substantial increase in human orphans at that time due to war. It was the perfect time for the Auraboros to start many of their projects.


    There was only one goal for those many projects. The members of Auraboros was limited. The increase of members was not constant due to its rules.It was to make humans fight humans.


    Supersoldiers were a thing that scientists researched for a very long time. And not only by the organization but also by many militarized countries. The scope of creating these One-Man Armies was remarkably extensive.


    From using highly technological equipment and highly specialized training routine to a more inhumane experiment such as adding mechanized body parts to a human or mutating the soldier''s gic makeup, the tests were far too many.


    In the case of Jones Galley and the Auraboros, they yed with gic enhancement. It was to create gically enhanced soldiers that would not break downpared to the other kinds of experiments. Soldiers that would be able to regenerate injuries, having superhuman bodies, and specialized in taking downrge enemies despite being alone. That was what the Auraboros wanted to make.


    Decades passed, and since the start of the projects, the other projects disyed distinguished results. From being able to train spies, assassins, and geniuses in many fields, they made their cultivated personnel back into human society. They even managed to find a good number of psychics among the orphans.


    The Supersoldier Project, however, failed in almost everything.


    Gically enhancing humans was not as easy as they thought.


    Children were the best candidates for these experiments. It was because their bodies were still adapting to their growth and their environment as they grew. It was also easy to manipte their mindsets and trainpared to adults.


    This fact, however, came with an enormous consequence. The bodies of these children reacted highly to the mutagenic substances and gic enhancers they used.


    The human genome was mostly the same for all people. However, DNA was unique. And both of these affect the changes in the amount of the substances to be used on the children.


    And to learn about the exact dosage, they had to experiment. In each experiment, the handlers of the project wasted at least one life.


    Administering too much would immediately kill the children. Using too little would not amount to anything but minute changes. In these two instances, they considered the children as failures. Living or not, they had to be disposed of as they would not have any value to the organization.


    Due to all these failures, the death toll of this project was the highest. It could even surmount the deaths of the other projectsbined. That was how lethal and hard the experiments were.


    There were a few times that they managed to administer the right amount that had a substantial effect on the body of the child. Nevertheless, the child would still die because of the insurmountable pain they felt and shock from ongoing changes in their bodies. Using anesthetics and other kinds of pain reliever was not usible either as it could affect the experiment.


    Thus, everything went into failure.


    It was until the mid-neen-eighties.


    By a stroke of luck, a miracle urred.


    Despite the pain and suffering, a child managed to survive. The experiment was sessful, and the child was very obedient.


    A strength that was abnormal for a child, or even a human to have. He was resilient as the dragons, strong as an elephant, fast as a cheetah, and ferocious as a lion.


    In every test they conducted, the results made the handlers of the project more delightful.


    The whole project focused on this miracle with all their resources so that they could present him to the organization.


    And three years after the sess of the experiment, the child was already fourteen. They sent the child into a field mission to prematurely start a conflict in the Soviet Union.


    But that was the turning point of the Supersoldier Project.


    After they arrived at the site of the mission, the obedient child suddenly revolted. He killed all those that apanied him in that mission and escaped.


    The organization sent many of its personnel to track down SSP-018367 and capture him.


    However, the said child was a sessful experiment for the project. Too sessful that he was able to take down the threats sent to him. If he could not kill them, he could escape anytime he wanted.


    No one was able to bring back the child until he finally vanished from the sight of the organization. Even so, they still sought for the child. Every time they got a lead, the person searching for the child would also vanish.


    After that failure, the handlers of the project tightened their measures to control the children. It was to the point of hypnotizing and brainwashing them before the experiment.


    But the miracle of SSP-018367 never happened again. Until they shut down the project for ipetence, another potential Supersoldier never appeared.


    Furthermore, from time to time, SSP-018367 would appear. He did nothing else but to thwart their ns, killing their members whenever he could.


    ***


    Who would have thought that the very same child in that story would appear here as a mercenary hired by the Philippine Military?


    Nevertheless, this fact did not faze Huo Long Yue. Instead, he was quite delighted.


    "I see." The Crazy Dragon, Huo Long Yue, smiled. "If I bring back your head then, the organization will surely reward me!"


    With a maniacalugh, Huo Long Yue charged forwards. Then, like a beam of light, his footsteps brought him in front of Jones Galley in almost an instant. No one was able to see how he did it. He stepped forward, vanished, and appeared in front of Jones Galley. It was like an eclipse.


    "[Full Moon Fist]!"


    Huo Long Yue shouted. He moved his fist in a circle, glowing like a full moon, before releasing it towards his opponent.


    Thebination of his [Eclipse Threading Footsteps] and [Moonlight Fist], no one had been able to counter it aside from those with higher cultivation levels from him.


    It surely caught Jones Gally off guard. The glowing punch connected to his abdomen and sent him sliding backward. His feet raptured the earth below him as he tried to stabilize himself, which he was able to after he slid back for about five meters.


    This scene made Huo Long Yue frown. One of his fiercest attacks hit Jones Galley squarely. His fist left a burning hole on the clothes of his opponent. Yet, he was still standing, and his body did not have any injuries at all.


    "Is that what is all you got?" Jones Ridiculed as he ripped his torn clothes off from his body. "My turn then!"<sub> </sub>


    BAM!


    Jones Galley kicked the ground, making a loud bam and leaving a thick cloud of dust.


    Like a fierce animal, Jones Galley pounced towards Huo Long Yue with another punch. Thetter reacted by jumping backward. But unlike the former''s previous straightforward punches, even though this one still had the same ferocity, it was nothing but a feint attack.


    The fist turned into a grabbing w that grabbed the right leg of Huo Long Yue. With its tight lock, Jones Galley bashed the cultivator''s whole body down to the ground.


    BOOM!


    It was as if a shell from a cannon of a tank impacted the ground. The body of Huo Long Yue crashed with a crater fitting his whole body.


    "Crescent Moon Kick!"


    With a shout, a foot covered in glow caused an impact against the metallic arm of Jones Galley.


    TAM!


    The ear-piercing sound echoed as the kick forced the Supersoldier to let go of his opponent.


    Huo Long Yue jumped out of the crater. His clothes mangled clothes showed that the attack was strong, but his body was still unscathed as he protected it with his inner force. Nevertheless, Huo Long Yue could not ept something. He realized it. Huo Long Yue and this Supersoldier was aplete match. No, he was weaker than Jones Galley.


    As a cultivator, Huo Long Yue relied on his inner force when fighting. Too much usage would empty it in the long run until he could recover.


    On the other hand, Jones Galley was purely relying on his body. He might get tired but not any sooner than Huo Long Yue expending his inner force.


    And when that happened, it would be the end of the line for him.


    "You two, help me here!"


    Huo Long Yue shouted towards the two Jiangshi that were fighting with the mysterious man. He did not care about the man with the demon sword anymore and just wanted to defeat this Supersoldier.


    But to Huo Long Yue''s dismay, the two only their heads towards him, and continued to fight the man with the sword.


    That was when he realized another thing.


    While the two Jiangshis would follow his orders most of the time, on the battlefield, the two would only fight the most dangerous enemy. Then, if the two ignored the Supersoldier in front of him.


    It meant that the man with the sword was far more dangerous. Too dangerous that it needed the two of the Jiangshis to fight together, and possibly, even more.


    This time, Huo Long Yue knew that the mission was a failure. He could only do one thing.


    "Retreat!"


    Huo Long Yue shouted, which echoed across the settlement.


    Everyone heard the voice. Whether it was the members of the Auraboros, the Military, or the survivors that were panicked by the gunshots, they heard it.


    Although it might seem like it was dering their movements to the enemies, it was the opposite. The people of the settlement did not know whose voice that was forcing them into a bit of a stupor. It made an opening for members of the Auraboros to retreat.


    Along with that shout, Huo Long Yue confidently dered.


    "I''ll remember you two. I''ll take your heads next time!"


    Leaving those words, Huo Long Yue kicked the ground, vanishing and appearing like a ghost in every other step, appearing before the Jiangshis.


    The two Jiangshis then threw two spherical bombs on the ground, releasing thick smoke in the surroundings.


    SWISH!


    However, within the thin smoke, a voice rang.


    "GAH!"


    THEW! THEW!


    Along with that shout, another two sounds echoed with a rustle as two sniper bullets pierced through the smoke.


    When the smoke vanished, Huo Long Yue and the two Jianshis were not there anymore. Nevertheless, they left something behind.


    From the spot where they vanished, a severed arm and two destroyed talismansy on the ground.


    The man with the sword brandished his sword covered in mes, burning the blood on its de.


    At the same time, a beautiful woman with bat wings and a small fairy flew towards him. Three women followed the two behaved like servants.


    Jones Galley was quite disappointed. He let the enemy go. However, they were just a match in terms of strength. There was nothing he could do.


    Still, he wondered why the other party let those members of Auraboros go when he could surely kill them if he wanted.


    On the other hand, Emika held unto the railings of the second floor in relief. She was very nervous as she assisted Jones Galley in the battle. Finally, it was over.


    Seeing the group that was on the field, Emika smiled.


    "Oi, Uncle!"


    She waved with augh.

 Chapter 486 The Conclusion Of The First Skirmish, A Short Talk At The School Grounds

    <strong>Day 125 - 9:11 PM - Agos River, Barangay Banugao, Infanta Quezon</strong>


    A silhouette on a man was walking by the riverside, dragging two non-moving corpses using the only arm he had left. Blood dripped from the stump left of his left arm. He traversed the rocky path, cursing unto the heavens.


    The man was Huo Long Yue, who had just escaped from the battle.


    "F*ck! F*ck!"


    He repeated with deep resentment.


    The resentment he had was not because of his lost arm, the two bodies he was dragging, or the defeat he had experienced. What he resented was the fact that the enemy toyed with him. The act was not apparent when he was in the middle of the battle, but when he decided to retreat, the man with the sword suddenly grew more powerful and moved faster.


    Before he was able to react, his arm had already fallen to the ground. There was also that two sniper shots that destroyed the talisman on the foreheads of the two Jiangshis.


    It seemed that they had the idea to make him leave them behind. However, even if he could lose his life, these Jianshis were different. Tan Sitong uniquely cultivated these bodies. They were bodies of some of the greatest warriors in his time. They were irreceable.


    Even if he had to leave his dismembered arm behind, Huo Long Yue would not leave these two bodies.


    With his curses, he reached the area where they should have gathered those that they already abducted. Even if they had to retreat, it was still good as long as they had some people to bring back.


    And the harsh reality weed him.


    The gathering area was almost empty, only left with ash-covered robes and a few weakened members of Auraboros.


    "Sir..."


    The robed shadow person that currently leaned on arge rock called out weakly as he saw Huo Long Yue.


    "What happened here?" Huo Long Yue asked with a frown. "Where are the people we already gathered?"


    "Sir... They all escaped. Two women ambushed our encampment."


    After seeing that, the shadow person''s life came to an end. His body turned to ash, and his gray-colored robe fell to the rocky riverside.


    The mission was a total failure. Huo Long Yue could not deny that anymore.


    He turned towards the other shadow people.


    "Gather everyone left! We will return immediately!"


    ***


    <strong>Day 125 - 9:12 PM - Military Camp, New Infanta Settlement, Barangay Banugao, Infanta, Quezon</strong>


    The battle had already ended. Mark stood in the middle of the school grounds together with Mei and Amihan, who came with him, and Odelina, Aephelia, and Spera, who followed afterward.


    Since the vision Mark had, came ratherte, he went through the Portal Spera made with Mei and Amihan. Then, he left an order for the other three to get the equipment he prepared and go to a location to disrupt the mission of the Auraboros further.


    Thus, with that order, Odelina and Aephelia followed after and went to ambush the camp where the enemies gathered the kidnapped people.


    And sure enough, they returned sessfully.


    As Mark had already seen what the members of the organization wanted to do with those people, he would not let it happen. He would not care much if it happened elsewhere, and he had nothing to do with it. However, they would use the innocent people they captured against his base and his people.


    He would not let that happen.


    The base existed so that he, his family, and the people important to him would have a ce to belong. He wanted a beautiful ce and environment for Mei and the others and not a bloodthirsty one that had no value for life.


    Once the people in his base learned that they killed innocent people turned into monsters by the enemies. Although they would not say it, the scar would remain in their minds. That would affect everyone''s way of living, and it would slowly break down the foundations heid down.


    He rather not have that happen in his watch.


    The enemies coulde after him and his base all they wanted. Just don''t involve innocents that would affect the morale and mentality of his people.


    Or else, he would not just stand by.


    Furthermore, one of those people they targeted was someone he favored. As if he would let them go just like that.


    Odelina, Aephelia, and Spera reported to Mark about the sess of the orders he gave. Mark praised them for it.


    Of course, the three did not ept it just like that. After all, even if the three were able to fight, it was almost impossible to deal with the enemies. It was thanks to the weapons Mark made to deal with these kinds of enemies.


    The most highly numbered individuals in the Auraboros were not humans, but the shadow people. Their bodies were almost ethereal and non-physical. The robes they wore had magical properties to be able to be worn by them.


    In direct words, the bodies of the shadow people were impervious to the usual weapons that humans used against each other. However, while Mark was working in his workshop, he made weapons with parts made of the dying spirit tree that sealed the Deity of Bloodshed.


    Thus, these weapons had magical properties that could harm ethereal entities like the shadow people without the need for magical or psychic abilities.


    Combined with their other abilities and trained close-quartersbat, just Odelina, and Aephelia was able to overwhelm the number of enemies they faced. Not to mention that there was not that many in the first ce.


    The most that the enemies could send to abduct people was a quarter of their personnel. It was because they had other things to do, and they also had to watch out for their current base. Furthermore, the shadow people that infiltrated the settlement were all scattered, leaving even fewer to guard the abducted people.


    Thus, because of the interference of Mark and his entourage, the enemies lost miserably in this battle.


    "Oi! Uncle!"


    Emika''s gleeful voice echoed from the balcony of the second floor of the north building.


    Seeing how her switch flipped too fast, Mark shrugged his shoulders. She was as lively as ever.


    Furthermore, no matter how the others started to respect him and even fear him, Emika never changed. She still called him Uncle, even Smelly Uncle whenever she could. She never changed at all.


    While Mark had those thoughts, Jones approached.


    "Are you sure letting them go like that?"


    The mercenary asked.


    "Why are you asking me? You let them go too."


    Mark replied, causing Jones to scratch his head.


    "I just noticed that you are holding back, so I also did."<sub> </sub>


    That reply made Mark unable to retort.


    Mark only wanted to test the enemies and give a bit of a warning. And to get a few benefits as well. That was why he told Mei to watch out for people with papers stuck on their faces and shoot the talismans if they were about to retreat.


    In that process, he might be able to get one, in the least, and study the corpse. That was why he also chopped off Huo Long Yue''s arm to limit what he could take back.


    But who would have thought that the crazy cultivator would leave his arm behind and take back the two non-moving corpses?


    It seemed that the two corpses were far more valuable than his missing arm. In that case, Mark did not try to chase. It was not like the enemy would not send those corpses again to him. He just needed to wait a bit more.


    "By the way, are you sure about revealing that identity of yours like that?"


    Mark asked with a frown. He came here because Emika and her family were in danger. If that reveal was to attract more attention from Auraboros, then the move Mark made was for naught.


    "If you are worried about that, you don''t have to." Jones Galley smiled. "Auraboros only moved for either profit or revenge. But the former always came first. I learned that when they started toy low on chasing after me. I wasted too much of their personnel and resources. With a world like this, it will be harder for them to move around between countries and would take more resources to do so."


    Hearing that, Mark understood.


    "Going here to deal with you will not only waste resources, but they will also pose themselves to danger, am I right?"


    "Right. Going to this edge of the country would not profit Auraboros at all. And my existence here will pose a warning either."


    "I wish you are right about that."


    Mark said with his skeptical eyes.


    Nevertheless, there was some truth to it.


    Right now, the Auraboros was targeting his base because of the Spirit Tree and probably, because of other things they deemed valuable.


    If his base had none of those, the Auraboros might only think that it was nothing but a gathering of mountain people.


    Sometimes, wealth and resources could invite trouble. However, it was alreadyte for Mark to dwell on that. He could only shrug his shoulders.


    On the other hand, Mark stared at Jones Galley. This person being a Supersoldier that was cultivated by the organization, was quite a surprise.


    But what was more was that Mark was not able to see any of his appearance in his vision. This situation made him disturbed.


    Then, something entered his mind and tried to test.


    His eyes glowed purple. It was the ability he had to see a few seconds in the future.


    And to his surprise, it did not affect Jones.


    There was no future, and there was no past.


    This ability of his did not work on only a few people. The examples were Odelina, Mei, I, and his own. People who were supposed to be dead and yet, still living. It seemed like Jones had the same destiny as them. The connection to him and the world''s string of fate was gone.


    No wonder now how he was able to grow strong like this, away from human standards.


    The atmosphere made by Mark''s stare made Jones quite ufortable. Thus, he made an unexpected move.


    "Ladies, how do you like my body?"


    Jones asked the women with Mark while flexing his highly muscled body.


    Mei disregarded everything. She did not even respond with a blink to his voice. On the other hand, the others did not say anything, they looked at him without expression, but their eyes were looking at Jones filled with disgust. Only Spera, who had a problem controlling her emotions, was very readable, and sure enough, she did not fancy it either.


    "You know that I can kill you just for that, right?"


    Mark smiled sinisterly.


    "Alright! Alright! I''m just joking! Just stop those stares!"


    Jones knew that his joke was not that offensive. But for some reason, the response he received was disheartening.


    "Yeah, old man. Your muscles look amazing, but not everyone had such standards."


    Emika further broke Jones'' heart as she skipped towards Mark and his group.


    But more than everything, Emika was more curious about something.


    "Uncle, you added another servant?"


    She asked Mark as she stared at the new face among Mark''s entourage. The new one looked beautiful, and more than that, she looked dignified, serene, and loyal.


    And to her shock, that servant replied with a smile.


    "Young Miss Emika, long time no see."


    "Eh?"


    Of course, Emika would be confused.


    "She''s Aephelia."


    Mark said with a yful grin.


    "Aephelia?"


    Emika was confused at first. Then she remembered.


    "Eh? EEEEEHHHHHHH?"


    She shouted like that in shock. It was a veryical manner that everyone around could not help butugh.


    Well, of course, the soldiers around were very disturbed.


    After all, that group was having their fun while being surrounded by dead bodies of theirrades. They were thankful for their interference against the enemies. But still, they should find a better ce for jokes.

 Chapter 487 A Meet Up By The River, An Enticing Proposal Mark Had Received

    <strong>Day 125 - 9:47 PM - Agos River, Barangay Anoling, General Nakar, Quezon</strong>


    Emika created quite amotion after Aephelia introduced herself. After all, thest time the lively dryad girl saw the loyal maid, she was still in the same size as Amihan. Now, however, it was hard to link this beautiful but stern-looking woman, to the cute but silent Sylph from before.


    Nevertheless, looking at Aephelia''s behavior, it never really changed. This fact made it easier for Emika to ept it. Of course, she was very curious about how this happened. If not for her family, together with General Faustino appearing in time, she might have started to annoy Mark to get the answers she wanted.


    General Faustino thanked Mark''s group for interfering with the enemies'' n. He did not know how Mark came to know about the situation. Nevertheless, his interference made the settlement avoid the worst conclusion. The abducted people had already returned, and seeing that they lost almost lost that many people without noticing made them feel ashamed.


    The deaths of theirrades felt unjustified, but they had no choice but to ept. It was because the enemies came at the time they least expected, and the enemies were not just regr beings either. The soldiers that witnessed Huo Long Yue catching the bullets and throwing it back still made their spines shiver.


    One unexpected thing was that after hearing about the real identity of Jones did not make General Faustino any more surprised. The old general already knew since the start.


    After all, he was the one who personally "hired" Jones Galley as a mercenary. But in fact, it was Jones who volunteered to help them as they found traces of the Auraboros operating in the country.


    One of those traces was the Death Valley Settlement. It might be a gathering of criminals with the founder, who was an international drug lord. However, their backing was the same organization that Jones Galley escaped from during his childhood.


    While they talked at the school grounds, the clean up started. General Faustino wanted to invite Mark''s group. To their dismay, Mark declined. They still had things to do, after all.


    Mark''s group bid goodbye to General Faustino''s group. Emika was a bit sad. After all, her family separated from Mark''s group for a long while now. It was the first time she saw them after almost two months. Who knows when would she see them next time. With how the world was right now, it might even be forever.


    However, Mark promised that he would bring her to his base next time. His daughters were also quite close to this little dryad. They would be happy to see her. Still, now was not the right time.


    After all, his base still had enemies to face.


    With that promise, Emika settled down, and Mark''s group departed.


    The thing, however. Mark walked out of the settlement with the others instead of directly going back to his base. This move also made the girls confused as to what Mark was nning.


    It was quite dark, but they all moved towards the east of the New Infanta Settlement.


    Soon, they heard the gushing water as they reached the vicinity of Agos River.


    Then, looking around, Mark sat down with Mei on arge rock.


    "There''s only us here. Are you not going toe out?"


    Mark suddenly called out to everyone''s confusion.


    But then, they became alert as the bushes on the south side of the ce they stopped started rustling.


    And there, a small white fox made its way out of the bushes.


    The fur of the white fox was beautiful, and its appearance was cute. However, not only that foxes were not endemic to this country, but this white fox had three tails.


    That appearance, however, made Spera flinch. She immediately hid behind Mark and Mei as if it was natural to do so.


    The fox looked straight at Mark and the others for several seconds.


    "Are you done watching?"


    Mark asked.


    As if sighing, the fox exhaled a deep breath. Then, bright light enveloped its body, causing everyone to cover their eyes. This light was too bright for this dark environment that was only lit by the moonlight.


    After the bright light vanished, the fox also disappeared. In the fox''s ce stood a beautiful woman in white robes.


    A Kitsune, it was what the woman was. The word meant "Fox" in a literal manner. But if used in a paranormal context, the word Kitsune would refer to Demon Foxes and Spirit Foxes.


    The appearance of the woman made Spera even more uneasy.


    "Don''t worry. We''re here. Nothing will happen."


    Mei assured Spera like an older sister.


    This gesture made Spera nod, though she was still a bit nervous.


    "It is as she said, Spera. With that man in front of you around, I won''t be able to do anything here."


    The fox woman said with a fearless smile.


    "So, you have been lurking around all this time. I''m getting annoyed. What do you want?"


    Mark asked directly.


    This gesture made the fox woman quite surprised. Most men would flirt, introduce themselves first, and ask for her name after seeing her face. That was how confident she was with her appearance. But seeing Mei, who sat beside Mark, his reaction became too eptable to a hateful level.


    "Gathering information."


    The fox woman replied as direct as Mark''s question.


    "So, you are going to inform those guys that ran away, maybe not."


    Mark said. This fox had been around every time he was hunting. That was one of the reasons why Mark held most of his abilities back. However, when he encountered Huo Long Yue this time, it made him realize something.


    Even though this fox was watching, Huo Long Yue and the others seemed to have no idea who he was. It meant that this fox never reported anything to them.


    "She is Yukine, the vice leader of the Yuki Kitsune. An intelligence group from the Japan Branch of Auraboros and move directly under the orders of the Empress."


    Spera spoke. It seemed that she knew this fox woman.<sub> </sub>


    Mark already heard about the Empress from Spera before. After all, before he got her, she was with the members of the Japan Branch. The other inheritor, Shin, exchanged some of his merits for Spera''s service. Since then, she worked at that branch for a while.


    And such, Mark also knew that different branches of Auraboros did not get along. Now that Spera mentioned it, it was clear that this fox woman was not working with the other group that was nning to attack his base.


    But then, what did the Japan Branch of Auraboros want?


    "It is as Spera said. I''m gathering information for the Empress." Yukine said with a smile. "And I can attest that our branch might want to cooperate. Though I guess it will be hard to do so."


    Mark looked at Yukine with a frown. He could tell a bit of what was going on in her mind.


    Both branches of Auraboros had the same goal. It was his Pure Spirit Tree. However, the two decided on two opposing approaches. The China Branch decided to seize, while the Japanese Brance chose cooperation.


    That was why Yukine was gathering information. It was to see if cooperation was possible. She lurked around the veil of fog, waiting for Mark to appear and see what he was capable of doing.


    It was not hard for her to realize that Mark could be the real leader of the base as not everyone could tear open that veil of fog to go in and out of that energy vortex.


    But this night, an unexpected thing happened for Yukine.


    It was the appearance of Spera.


    After the mission that Spera''s group had taken to rescue Dopp, the group had been missing for a month. It was until recently that the remaining members of that group were retrieved. They were trapped on the edge of the country, filled with injuries that never healed. Even the wisp of Gar''m was only capable of slowing down the festering wounds, or the members would have died already.


    However, one of the most valuable assets, Spera, was not with them.


    To see her here, meant that they were dealing with the same person that the members of the Japan Branch fought before.


    This situation was a deep headache for Yukine. Especially when she already thought that the cooperation was possible.


    Hearing about cooperation, Mark was quite intrigued, though. After all, it was the first time he had heard about suching from a member of Auraboros. All the ones he had dealt with before were all bandits. They only wanted to seize what they wanted.


    "I''m curious. What kind of cooperation does your branch want? And what can you give?"


    Hearing the question, Yukine smiled.


    "I believe that you know that Pure Spirit Trees are not easily found or grown. I will give you some confidential information, but even our organization only had two despite having branches in many major countries."


    "Are you nning to have ess to the Spirit Dimension? I bet you know about the chasms there that divide countries and territories."


    Mark cut her off.


    "Yes, we are aware of that. But that was not our goal. Trade. That is the primary thing we wanted. We needed resources that are only avable in that dimension. Not only that. We can trade resources with things you might need, but we can also guarantee one thing." Yukine smiled. "Entering this trade with us can ensure that no other branches will try to meddle with your ce."


    That was quite an attractive proposal. However, Mark could not just bite something because of some words. Mark turned to Spera, asking for some exnation. Fortunately, Spera understood what he wanted.


    "Entering an alliance, cooperation, or trade with a branch will make it considered to be its subsidiary," Spera exined. "Since there is a strict rule that branches of Auraboros could not meddle with each other''s business, it will stop them from eyeing the subsidiaries."


    Mark turned to Yukine. She nodded as that was the direct exnation.


    It was a very enticing proposal. Of course, it was not perfect as even with that rule. Other branches could still meddle in one way or another. It was just that they could not do it tantly in front of everyone.


    This situation was very much like what this fox woman was doing right now. She was indirectly meddling with the business of the China Branch by observing their target.


    A Pure Spirit Tree was surely an enticing thing for the organization. Not only that, this would allow them to enter the Spirit Dimension, but it would also give them a nice amount of resources only avable on the other side. It could also allow them to recruit more personnel.


    For sure, China Branch and Japan Branch were not the only ones that would be interested in his property. It was just that with the current state of the world, only these two branches were able to travel here.


    Protection, valuable trade, and cooperation, these things were attractive. Anyone would be able to see the value of this proposal. It was a win-win situation for both parties.


    Mark smiled. It looked like a pleasant one.


    This smile, however, made Yukine a bit delighted. She thought that he would agree to the proposal. It was despite the conflict that happened between him and the members of her branch.


    However, as Mark opened his mouth, she froze.


    "I refuse."


    Now that Yukine knew the meaning of the smile, his pleasant smile did not look as good anymore.


    Ridicule. Mark was not ridiculing her or her proposal. He aimed at the organization behind her.


    "I''ll tell you something you don''t know."


    Mark said as his eyes turned grim.


    "Your organization meddled with my affairs several times already. Worse, that idiot that some called The Great One tried to abduct my wife before. This time, some dumb people from your China Branch are harassing my home. Then, they came after someone I valued highly."


    Then, Mark''s eyes turned threatening.


    "If you want cooperation, you better tell your Empress to cut ties with the organization. Also, hand over that Shin to me. Because sooner orter."


    "I will destroy that ything called Auraboros."


    "If that time came and your branch is still under that ything, don''t mind if I destroy you all along with it."


    Those words echoed in Yukine''s ears as a menacing aura almost swallowed her consciousness.

 Chapter 488 Yukine By The River, Her Thoughts, Her Identity, And Another Oracle

    <strong>Day 125 - 10:22 PM - Agos River, Mount Mbito, General Nakar, Quezon</strong>


    Yukine sat on the rocky riverside, ying with her foot on the water. Her white robey on the rock beside her, revealing her beautiful visage as a fox spirit in human form.


    She was a part of the Yuki Kitsune, a group to gather intelligence and information that was directly under the Empress, the leader of the Japanese Branch of Auraboros.


    Yuki Kitsune wasposed of white spirit foxes who were the ones with the most alluring appearances among the spirit foxes. This quirk made it easier for them to deal with people and gather information without getting too much suspicion. Some times, their appearance made the people overlook the severity of their questions without using their abilities to charm them.


    Because of that, no one forced them to act their status. The Yuki Kitsune were free to move and act in any way they wanted as long as they would get their work done fittingly.


    Furthermore, as spirit foxes feed off the life force of their victims, they were sensitive to these energies, making their job easier.


    But this time, Yukine, the vice leader of Yuki Kitsune, was having a hard time in her mission.


    Her mission was to gather information about the several phenomenons that happened in the countries south of Japan. It was not surprising considering how many things had changed during the apocalypse. Still, nothing could cover that the ones that happened in the south-east countries of Asia were among the most earthshaking.


    It was earthshaking in a literal way.


    Who would have thought that a Spirit Tree would be born in the mortal world at this time? Thetest one before this was already a thousand years ago. It was at the time way before someone said to have discovered America.


    There was also the Moria. It was a tree born as a gift from a godly being. However, that person made it that the Moria would not be exploited aside from its fruits. Thus, it had far lesser capabilities, consciousness, and intelligencepared to the ones nted by powerful entities. It was nothing more than an ancient tree that continued to exist for religious purposes.


    This time, after a long time, a Pure Spirit Tree appeared. And it was a fully grown one. Of course, everyone that was able to would try to contend for it no matter how much they sacrifice. That was what the China Branch of Auraboros was doing. Furthermore, they took an interest in the resources that the base that harbored the Pure Spirit Tree had.


    As for the Japan Branch, aside from trying to take over the remains of Japan, it had a far lesser interest outside their jurisdiction. Unlike the empire of Japan, led by humans, that tried to colonize as many countries as they could, the members of the Japan Branch did not aim for that scale.


    Nevertheless, endeavors like this would interest them, trading and such. That was why Yukine gave out that proposal. She was very sure that her Empress would agree with it too.


    But the main reason for this was different.


    It was because, unlike most humans, Yukine could not read what was going on in that person''s mind. The owner of the Spirit Tree that she had observed in these past days was not something to be taken lightly. She followed him every time he came out, and he also just left her alone until now.


    The reason might be because the current n of the China Branch to involve innocent people angered him.


    And thus, she finally managed to meet the entity named Mark.


    For the result, however, she wished that she knew more before this. What she received was a direct threat and a deration of war towards the Organization.


    Because of the outbreak, their information gathering had been slower. Although the Japan Branch knew that some branches started to move against weaker countries, they were not able to gather their urate ns.


    When Shin''s group epted the rescue mission, they only knew that the ns of Auraboros in Bay City had failed. They did not know what the exact ns were or who was in charge of the mission. It only came to light when The Great One had gone missing.


    The Great One, he was not just some random leader or character in the Organization. Among the thirteen founders of Auraboros, he was the eight. The weakest among the thirteen was a Lower Diety while The Great One was just a few steps away from being a Higher Deity.


    All the branches of Auraboros had contact with all the founders through magical means. And they all knew that they lost contact with The Great One due to an unknown reason.


    It came to light that he led the mission in Bay City directly. Although he could not go physically, he was able to due to the use of small ritual portals. Not to mention that the current founders could not leave their personal spaces due to a reason unknown to everyone.


    And in that mission, The Great One led, something severe might have happened. The other founders could tell that he was still alive. However, any form of contact was not possible.


    Now, Yukine gained a valuable but threatening piece of information.


    The cause of what happened to The Great One was the person the China Branch was currently facing.


    "Hah..."


    Yukine sighed. She remembered the sentences she spoke to Tan Sitong before she left. Those words were nothing much but a y despite having some truth in it. Now, she could not even believe that her words would note true.


    Furthermore, she tried to use this opportunity to measure his strength as the Jiangshis that Tan Sitong brought were well-known warriors. But even with that, she could tell that he was holding back. This situation made it harder for her to gauge things urately.


    "What should I report to the Empress? Iplete reports like this were uneptable for her."


    While she was thinking deeply while looking at her reflection on the river water, she heard a loud p of wings.


    "What could you be thinking too deeply, mdy?"


    A middle-aged voice echoed from behind her.


    "Kouki."


    Yukine spoke.


    "Yes, mdy?"


    The voice from behind replied.


    "What will you do if someone gave a deration of war to the organization?"


    "Hmmm..." The voice hummed. "That depends, mdy."


    "Just answer."


    Yukine pressed.


    "The person should be a powerful one if someone was able to dere something like that. In that case, it depends on whether the person is a ughterer or not, or if we offended him or not. At the moment, our branch is avoiding conflict as we stabilize our condition. If that person would not ughter everyone just because they were a part of the Organization, then I will not join the battle. On the other hand, I would fight. If he stepped into our with the goal to ughter, I would kill him. But if he was stronger, I will still fight and let you, mdy, and the Empress, escape."


    "You''re not going to escape?"


    Yukine asked.<sub> </sub>


    "I will not."


    The voice confidently replied.


    "Your answers are very like you, Kouki."


    Yukine smiled as she turned her head to the side to see behind her.


    There, a tall, muscr man wearing an old Japanese attire stood. He was wearingrge beads on his neck and a small hat on his head, his white long white hair and beard waved with the wind. He looked like a human. However, he had a red-colored skin, a very long nose, and the ck feathered wings of a crow were present on his back.


    He was a Tengu, a powerful being in Japanese Legends.


    "Are you here to pick me up, Kouki?"


    "Yes, Mdy. An oracle came. This ce will be a battlefield. That is why the Empress immediately sent me to pick mdy up and return."


    Hearing that, Yukine was a bit surprised.


    "For an oracle toe at this moment. But I am confused. Isn''t it just a small group from the China Branch that are here?"


    Those words of Yukine made Kouki shake his head.


    "We already received mdy''s initial report a few days ago. How was it now?"


    Hearing that, Yukine told Kouki about Tan Sitong and the movements they made after the vice leader of China Branch arrived. She also told him about her spections in the current battle.


    The information Kouki received caused a frown on his already scary face.


    "I could not understand it too, mdy. If it is just as you said, the current forces of China Branch here were not enough to cause an oracle."


    The two felt confused as to how mysterious it was. Oracles would not easilye, especially to events unrted to them. For an oracle to appear, it should either be a catastrophic event or something directly rted to the person receiving it.


    As Yukine was nothing but an observer here, a third party, she was not directly rted. Then, the oracle meant that it was the former. A catastrophic event was about to happen.


    Realizing this, Yukine became distraught. Her determination to cooperate had not waned at all. Maybe, she could use this as a bargaining chip?


    But then, she was directly interfering with the business of the other branch then. She needed to wait after the China Branch left defeated. But then, what if the catastrophe would happen before that?


    "This is the first time I saw mdy having such expressions in a long while."


    Kouki smiled.


    The vice leader of Yuki Kitsune, it was a big task given to Yukine. Because of that, the yful fox before decided to be a proper intelligence agent afterward.


    She mostly tried to hide her expressions, as it was not a good role model for those below her. Yukine also gained merit after merit, which gave her more poprity that even surpassed the current leader of the Yuki Kitsune.


    Of course, it was not like she was not admired by many before all these.


    "Just give your word, mdy. Maybe, I am here to pick you up, but you can always choose when you want to leave."


    Kouki smiled.


    Hearing that, Yukine took a deep breath.


    "Well, then..." She smiled. "Can you apany me here for a while. I want to see the battle that will happen soon. If the catastrophe really struck, it''s notte to leave since you are here."


    Kouki looked at Yukine. He could not tell whether she wanted to gather more information or was just inly interested in what will happen.


    ''But even if it was thetter, it was still fine.'' Kouki thought.


    There was barely anything that actually made Yukine interested. That was why Kouki was quite supportive of it.


    "Still, mdy, the moment that I deduce that it is getting dangerous, please pardon me if I dragged you back."


    "Are you afraid? You''re strong, right?"


    Yukine teased.


    And to that, Kouki stared at the white fox woman with a stern expression.


    "Mdy, I am not afraid of any enemy. What I am afraid of is you getting into danger that you can''t deal on your own. This might be one of those times. Remember that the oracle of your n never made any wrong predictions."


    Seeing that expression, even Yukine felt goosebumps. She knew that Kouki was only thinking of her well being. Thus, she could only sigh.


    "Alright. You''re free to take me back at that time. I will not resist it."


    "As you wish mdy... No," Kouki said as he kneeled on one knee. "As you wish Princess."


    Seeing that, Yukine shrugged her shoulders.


    "Stop that Kouki. I''m currently on Duty. I don''t even dare call the Empress as my mother at times like this. Family and work in the organization is separate, remember?"


    Yukine reprimanded Kouki.


    "Yes, I understand, mdy."

 Chapter 489 A Sleepless Night, The Elders Last Oracle

    <strong>Day 126 - 12:51 AM - Mountain Base, Mount Mbito, General Nakar, Quezon</strong>


    Marky on the bed, awake, and was thinking about things deeply.


    The things he said to the fox woman, he was not joking about any of it. He nned to wage war against Auraboros since the time they tried to touch Mei.


    Nevertheless, he was still not sure how he would do it.


    After all, it was not just some local syndicate but an international secret organization. If not for the apocalypse that started, he might have never heard anything about it.


    Adding every information he had about the organization and the things he learned and experienced, there was one thing that he concluded.


    Unless he had someone in the inner circle of the organization to get some information, it would be hard to destroy that group they call Auraboros.


    If he could not take out the enemy straight from its roots, it would be just like where this organization got its name. The Ouroboros. Their end would just be another beginning.


    The most crucial thing in uprooting this gigantic tree was something he learned after meeting Bath.


    As Auraboros was an organization mainlyposed of non-humans, it would not be surprising if the main person behind it might also be a former God. If that was the case, the issue was not fighting, but how to find that person.


    Bath had his own space that even the Observer could not find him. It could also be possible that the ringleader of Auraboros was the same. Furthermore, there might not be just one. Maybe, there was more.


    The fact that The Great One that he encountered before was stronger than the Deity of Bloodshed was also there.


    This idea meant that he might need to find several dimension pockets that he had no idea where to find.


    "Hah..."


    Mark sighed.


    There were very few times that his emotions manifested and affected him. What happened earlier was one of those times. After all, he saw how Emika suffered in his vision. Even though he managed to thwart the threat, he still saw it.


    That was why when someone from the same organization that tried to harm his valued people proposed cooperation, he was infuriated. Furthermore, quite an amount of the emotions he absorbed from others leaked out at that time. It caused even Mei and the others to feel a bit suffocated.


    Even the anger he felt back when he saw how everyone died in Bay City came back.


    Affected by those deep-seated emotions, he immediately rejected the proposal without thinking.


    Now that he calmed down, he knew that while it was an honest deration, it was the most inefficient decision.


    Maybe, he should have epted it first, use the connections, and slowly track down the roots of the organization.


    Well, it was toote now.


    All he could do now was kill everything from that organization that would block his path and while slowly tracing the source.


    Thinking about it, it was not bad at all.


    Just how frustrated the organization would be when things started to sway away from their favor.


    Deciding that he would just leave things for the future and face the current situation, Mark closed his eyes.


    However, it seemed like there was still no time for him to sleep at all.


    Opening his eyes with a frown, he slowly removed Mei''s arms wrapped on his body. Then, without trying to wake her up, he vanished from the bed with a puff of ck mist.


    Appearing and disappearing throughout the base, Mark arrived at the quite unlikely ce he would go.


    The house Huey and the others built for the Tribe Elder and her grandchildren.


    It was not like he did not like to go here, but as the Elder was already too old, it was better for her if there was not too much disturbance around her.


    This time, however, Mark had no choice but to go.


    As Mark appeared outside the door, the door abruptly opened. The granddaughter ran out in panic and immediately bumped onto Mark. Being a regr person, even though she was the one who charged with momentum, she was the one who fell on her bottom.


    Nevertheless, she did not feel the pain. When she saw that it was Mark who she ran into, she immediately stood up and cried out.


    "Master! My Grandmother! SHE!"


    Tears were pouring out of her eyes. Sure enough, something unwanted happened.


    Mark did not speak and calmly entered the house.


    The house was rather small and simple. It was by the request of the Elder as there were only three of them living there. As such, after entering the door, Mark could see the Elder that was lying down on the bed without moving.


    The grandson sat beside the bed. Unlike his sister, he was still calm. However, the worry in his eyes was present.


    As Mark entered, the Elder opened her eyes and slowly turned her head.


    "You havee."


    The Elder said with a smile that was lighted by the [Glowing Blood Metal] installed on the ceiling.


    With a frown, Mark approached.


    "Just what did you do?"


    He asked. His voice was serene and a bit upset.


    "Haha." The Elder let out a shortugh. "I felt that something is not right even though I am not receiving an Oracle for some reason. That is why I tried to force myself to see why."


    Cough! Cough!


    "Grandmother!"


    The Elder coughed hard, making her two grandchildren panicked. The two called out loud because the Elder started to cough out blood.


    Mark, on the other hand, looked calm. It was already inevitable.


    As the Elder was still not able to pass on her ability, despite her old age, she was still alive. Now, however, it seemed that she tried to touch something that she should not. The protection from her ability could not stop it anymore, and her life was waning slowly.


    "Why did you force it? After a glimpse, there was still time to retreat, right?"


    Mark asked.


    The Elder let her grandaughter wipe the blood off from her mouth and replied weakly.


    "Because I saw a glimpse of our demise. After seeing that, anyone will want to see more."


    That made Mark frown even more.


    "A man shrouded in a ck haze. He will arrive when everyone less expected. He seemed to have some history with you and your wife. I know that you wanted to train your people to fight using the current enemies. But now is not the right time..."<sub> </sub>


    The Elder turned towards the ceiling.


    "What I saw... You might be able to save your family and close people. But the others, my grandchildren. You are too upied at the battle. You did not notice."


    Mark did not know what to say. If it was the case, then, no wonder that he did not receive any vision about it. The people in the base were important as manpower. However, they were not as important as people who he was close to.


    His rtionship with them was not enough to trigger his vision.


    So that was why the Elder forced it. The value of her life was gone a long time ago. She was already past her time. And to her, the lives of her grandchildren were far more valuable.


    The words of the Elder was getting cryptic. Nevertheless, Mark got the gist of it.


    Whoever the man covered in a ck haze was, he was nning for a sneak attack. When his attention was on the battlefield, the enemy would try to eliminate his people.


    Mark wanted more and explicit information.


    However, the Elder had already closed her eyes.


    She was still alive. However, she was likely not tost till morning.


    With her eyes closed, she spoke onest time.


    "My only regret is that the powers that flowed through the blood of our family will end at my time. I don''t know how I am going to apologize to our ancestors."


    After those words, the Elder finally lost her consciousness.


    The two grandchildren called out to their grandmother in tears. However, no matter how they shout, she did not respond.


    "You two should cherish yourst night with her."


    Mark said and was about to return.


    "No! My grandmother... She will live! Don''t lie!"


    The granddaughter cried out loud, shouting at Mark.


    With a serious look, Mark replied.


    "Your grandmother was already past her time because of you two. Learn to take care of yourself and your brother already."


    "No! Grandmother said that the enemy had a history with you, it''s your fault! That this happened!"


    "Don''t be unreasonable."


    Mark said with a re. That re made the girl step back.


    "This is my ce, I can kick you two and your tribe out anytime I want. I can''t say that you can''t me anyone, but be reasonable. This is no one''s fault. Your grandmother did this to protect you two. Don''t put her decision in vain."


    With those words, Mark did not wait for a reply. He walked out of the door without closing it.


    Mark could understand the sorrow of the two kids. It was too overwhelming that they began to lose reasoning. Aside from their grandmother, they did not have any rtives left. They saw their parents die in front of them and managed to hold on because of their grandmother.


    And Mark, who could absorb their emotions, was having a hard time resisting it. He needed to get away as soon as possible until the two stabilized their minds.


    "I never expected that I will witness something like this again. And for it to happen here in the Mortal World."


    The seductive voice of a woman was heard after Mark went out of the door.


    "What are you doing here?"


    Mark asked as he looked at the ve Dryad that he brought back from the Spirit Dimension.


    "I felt a burst of lifeforce, so I came here, my dear master."


    "Don''t address me like that. Also, what do you know about this?"


    Mark warned, along with a question he wanted to ask. It seemed that this Dryad knew about Oracles, or else, she would not be attracted here.


    "Okay! Okay!" She sighed. "You see, I saw something like this before. You know, Oracles are not fortune-tellers. They are given omens and prophecies at random from the so-called string of fate. But they never should try to go beyond that. They are not like irvoyant people that can see into the future. However, there are times that more experienced Oracles can force to see the future."


    Then, the Dryad turned to the house of the Elder.


    "Like she did. As I said, I felt a burst of lifeforce. That is why I came here. For Oracles capable of this, they needed to pay their lifeforce. That old woman there is already past her time like you said. She had no lifeforce to pay, that is why the protection from her bloodline was broken. It looks like she was aware of this, but still did it."


    With a shrug, the Dryad shook her head.


    "I don''t understand you, humans."


    Mark heard enough. And thus, he walked away.


    But nevertheless, he left a few words to the Dryad.


    "It''s not being human is that you don''t understand. It''s having a family of your own."


    With those words, Mark vanished from the sight of the Dryad.


    She turned back to the house, she could still hear the wailing of the two grandchildren.


    She mulled over the words she had just heard.


    "Yup, I don''t understand."


    The Dryad murmured as she walked away back to where she was staying.


    Mark appeared on the branch of the Night Evered Spirit Tree. He looked over the base below and then, towards the veil of fog that covered the whole ce.


    "I really hate it when things don''t go as nned."


    He murmured.


    A new threat was waiting. Or was it an old one? Nevertheless, it seemed like he should not wait for the enemy toe and take the initiative instead.


    But as he thought that, he frowned once more.


    The vortex of magical energy that continuously gathered mana started to slow down.


    It was already toote to take the initiative. As vortex waned, it might stop by morning. At that time, the fog and energy around would start to dissipate.


    And that was the countdown for the confrontation to start.

 Chapter 490 The Morning Of Elders Death, Marks Decision About The Oracle And The Elder

    <strong>Day 126 - 9:23 AM - Mountain Base, Mount Mbito, General Nakar, Quezon</strong>


    Early in the morning, everyone woke up receiving a piece of bad news.


    The Tribe Elder had passed away.


    Mark, who was the owner of this base, organized an emergency meeting during breakfast. The passing of the Elder was the first news that he brought to them.


    She, who guided the remaining members of her tribe to safely, had finally reached the end of the line.


    Nevertheless, even though no one meant it in the wrong way, many people in the base were curious as to how the Eldersted this long. Although no one asked, her appearance could tell anyone that she must have passed a hundred years old already even before the outbreak came.


    After all, not everyone was able to see what was the actual reason.


    One of the things that entered everyone''s mind, however, was the fact that the Elder was the very first death among the members of the base since Mark established the base.


    Nheless, no one could decide whether this was a bad or a good thing.


    It was a bad thing because the Elder left her loved ones, especially her grandchildren.


    On the other hand, she did not have to worry anymore about surviving in this world. The world was already moving towards destruction. Anyone could die anything. In the least, she did not die being torn apart by the teeth of the infected.


    She died with her loved ones beside her, unlike the families of almost everyone here.


    None of them even knew whether their loved ones that died still had their bodies intact.


    Everyone wanted to do a funeral for the Elder.


    Unfortunately, they did not know whether their current situation would allow it.


    In the meeting, Mark did not hide that the enemies might be attacking today. This added to the tension that everyone felt from the death of the Elder.


    Furthermore, Mark already told them that everyone, except the children and elderly, would be participating in this battle. It was to give everyone a good experience in defending the base.


    But in the middle of Mark''s announcement. He suddenly said that everyone except for some selected people would be retreating inside the space of the Spirit Tree.


    The subspace existing inside Chiyo was not new to them. In fact, everyone here had already entered it since they started to build things inside, following Mark''s instructions.


    However, for the former ns to be changed at thest minute, everyone felt that something was not right.


    It was not hard to guess that something was going on. However, Mark decided to hide the details of this one and did not say anything instead.


    Nevertheless, many felt relieved. It was because these ones were unlike the people close to Mark.They were already trained to fight and had some experiences. On the other hand, while the majority of the people in the base only managed to live by being ves. They were protected by their owners as property and manpower.


    And after the announcement, there was no time to waste. Everyone was told to prepare to evacuate and transport most of the things into the subspace.


    Thus, everyone became more active than any of the days they had in their lives. It was as if the scene of evacuation when a typhoon wasing repeated itself in the apocalypse.


    Everyone here knew that Mark and his team were fierce. But if they said that everyone should evacuate despite their presence, the situation might really be dangerous. Thus, no one held back in preparing to leave.


    Mark watched the situation as he made his way back to the Elder''s dwelling. Without any ce or time for a funeral, the Elder''s body stilly on her bed.


    Mei came with Mark this time. Quietly walking beside him.


    The loss of the Elder was the loss of a great asset. Despite being cryptic, her Oracles could warn the base against danger.


    In respect to the Elder, Mark decided on something.


    Mark did not know whether it would be an honor or not. However, it was the best that he could treat the deceased old woman.


    She was to be buried inside the subspace of the Night Everred Spirit Tree, forever protected from everything as long as the tree continued to exist.


    Mark entered the room. It was being guarded by the remaining members of their tribe.


    They bowed their heads upon Mark and Mei''s entry.


    At the bed that could be seen in the entrance, the body of the Elder could be seen. She was now dressed in different clothing and was surely cleaned diligently. Not even a trace of blood could be seen around despite what happenedst night when the Elder coughed out blood, staining her clothes, the floor, and the bed.


    Mark looked at the granddaughter whose eyes were not only swelling but was also a bit dark. It was very likely that she did not sleep a wink at all and took care of everything. As for her brother, it seemed that he was tired of crying. He was lying down on the bed beside her.


    Without saying anything, Mark and Mei walked towards the body of the Elder.


    No one said anything, either and just watched.


    But then, Mark held his hand towards the forehead of the deceased Tribe Elder.


    Then, the wind swirled around inside the room as if someone suddenly turned on an industrial fan.


    Every cloth in the room fluttered with the wind.


    The wind surged with Mark and the Elder at the center.


    Although it was not present on his face, Mark was also quite surprised at the current phenomenon. Although he had done this before, this was the first time that something like this happened.


    It was no different. Using an [Empty Mental Crystal], he was taking out the Elder''s [Oracle] ability from her corpse before it dissipated.


    He could have done itst night. Although he was not sure if he was able to take it, he could at least try. However, he decided to do it after the Elder died.


    This ability that ran through their blood was the one that tried to maintain her life. If he chose to do itst night and seeded, it would immediately end her life.


    That would be unfair for her two grandchildren that she would leave behind.


    But then...


    CRACK!


    The crystal on his hand shattered.


    Mark frowned. Sure enough, the Elder''s ability was different from normal ones.


    Taking another [Empty Mental Crystal], he tried once more.


    CRACK!


    The second crystal also shattered into pieces.


    Two marble-sized crystals already shattered to dust. If the Spirit Races knew of this, they would surely cry. Even Gods seem to value it, but tworge pieces of it shattered into nothingness.


    Despite that, Mark did not give up.<sub> </sub>


    He took out seven crystals in one go.


    Mark wanted to see if a single crystal was not enough, or it was just hard to seed in getting this power.


    And then, the wind intensified further. It was too strong that it started to knock things over.


    Then, a different reaction happened.


    Six crystals shone and flew in the air, leaving one on Mark''s hand. They started to glow brightly and spun altogether, like a group of dancers.


    The spectacle amazed everyone. Even the tribe members outside could not help but open the door ande in in a hurry because of the noises inside the room.


    The six crystals continued to spin in a circle for a whole minute already while everyone stared and waited. They all floated above the Elder''s forehead while dancing in the air.


    Then, slowly, the six crystals starred to close in to each other. The circle started to shrink as the crystals began to spin faster.


    SHOOM!


    With a bright light that made everyone cover their eyes, the six crystalsbined.


    The next thing that they saw was a bright red crystal with a glowing golden orb inside floating above the Elder''s face.


    Seeing that it seeded, Mark was d. He wasted some crystals, but it should be worth it. He was about to grab it when something unnatural happened.


    A hazy red string started to appear connected to the crystal. As for the other end of it, no one knew as it vanished midway the ceiling.


    Nevertheless, Mark knew, the string had to end somewhere. It was because whatever it was, the crystal was getting dragged by it somewhere.


    Mark hurriedly grabbed the crystal and pulled it.


    However, it was as if the crystal was affixed in the air and refused to budge. Slowly, it was floating away, even staring to drag Mark with it.


    Something was absolutely wrong.


    Not giving up on trying to drag the crystal, Mark racked his brains out. Even Mei grabbed onto him and started to pull.


    Nevertheless, even with the strength of two Pure Blood Demons, they failed to resist the force pulling the crystal away.


    Mark started to use his full strength as the veins on his body glowed brightly. Mei was the same as she even opened her wings.


    It was futile, however. The crystal was still being dragged away.


    Mark then sent a surge of Miasma to envelop the hazy string. If this string was made of energy, his Miasma should be able to absorb it.


    Unexpectedly, the surge of Miasma passed through the string as if it was not there at all.


    Now that Mark noticed, even though he was holding unto the crystal, the string was passing through his fist. It was an ethereal existence that no one seemed to be able to touch.


    But then, a surprising help came.


    Mayumi, the Elder''s granddaughter, charged towards the crystal.


    Grabbing onto Mark''s hand, she also pulled.


    But then...


    "Huh?"


    Mark and Mayumi reacted at the same time.


    Not because she grabbed unto Mark''s hand, but because her hand hit the string and did not pass through.


    Seeing that, Mark immediately shouted.


    "Quick! Grab the string and try to tear it apart!"


    Hearing that, Mayumi immediately climbed up the bed of her deceased grandmother and jumped towards the string. Grabbing with both hands, she tried to tear it apart.


    She managed to grab it. However, it seemed that there was no way of tearing or cutting it.


    But Mayumi was not giving up.


    She knew what those crystals meant, and this one was definitely her grandmother''s powers. There was no way for her to give up on something that her grandmother should leave behind.


    Thus, with all her might, she pulled the string apart. She did it too hard that her hands started to bleed.


    The blood from her hand started to flow down the string and dripped on Mark''s hands.


    As there was no time to wipe it away, Mark just let it flow.


    Then, the blood touched the crystal.


    The moment that it happened, the force tugging them started to weaken. Slowly, the red string started to dissipate.


    Without the string, Mayumi, who was hanging unto it, fell down. Mark and Mei, on the other hand, managed to stabilize themselves and did not fall by ident.


    However, it was not finished.


    With another sh of bright light, Mark''s hand was forced open.


    The crystal then flew towards Mayumi and rested on her hand.


    It looked like the crystal knew who it should belong to. But of course, Mayumi was still not of age. She was not able to absorb it, like how she was still ineligible to inherit it from her grandmother.


    Sitting on the ground, Mayumi smiled. She looked at the crystal on her hand and her deceased grandmother.


    "Don''t worry, grandmother. Our family''s legacy will not end on you as you are worried about. I will continue it."


    She said with tears on the corner of her eyes.


    "Hah, that was tiring."


    Mark shrugged. His forehead was kind of sweaty.


    It would be a lie if he said that he was not worried about what happened. Not only that, it would be a waste, but the fear of the Elder might really happen. Luckily, the key was the blood of her granddaughter.


    No matter how anyone looked at it, this ability only belonged to their family.

 Chapter 491 The Siege, Destroying The Plans Of The Enemies

    <strong>Day 126 - 1:21 PM - Mount Mbito, General Nakar, Quezon</strong>


    The time that the F¨¦th F¨ªada would vanish was about toe. The vortex of energy that kept the magical veil of fog was about to stop turning. In another hour or two, it wouldpletely vanish.


    It was a well-calcted n.


    Because by the time that the F¨¦th F¨ªada vanished, the Auraboros China Branch was already ready to start their siege.


    At this moment, an armyposed of a hundred and fifty robed people, five hundred [Level 3] Mutated Infected, and two hundred humans gathered outside the veil of fog.


    Compared to the estimated number of people who resided at the base that they were going to attack, it wasplete overkill.


    If it was an online game, it wasparable to arge guild attacking a small one, trying to overwhelm them using numbers.


    But of course, it was a show of intimidation. This number was not only to ughter but to force the enemy to submit without a fight. If not, it was also a method to reduce the morale of the enemy.


    Anyone who lived in the era of war knew how important morale was to soldiers. Comparing a whole hundred army of soldiers with no confidence or enthusiasm to fight was way worse than half of the number who were ready to die in a fight.


    The battle of morale was the first battle thatmanders would face first. That was why hair raising speeches were regr before an army departed into war.


    It was to raise the morale of their army, to heighten their desire and enthusiasm to win.


    Without it, fighting an army of the same number, despite higher skills, might lead to a losing battle.


    But of course, that was not only the leader of this army, Tan Sitong, was thinking.


    At first, they thought that it would be enough to send a smaller army and surround the strange base under the Spirit Tree. However, the unknown factor that managed to get in and out of F¨¦th F¨ªada appeared. It made the Tan Siton decide to increase the size of his army by capturing people from the settlement in Infant.


    But who would have thought that it did not only lure out the unknown factor but the wanted child from the Supersoldier Project decades ago also appeared?


    Because of that, not only they failed the mission, but Huo Long Yue was severely injured, and they lost a third of the people they sent to that mission. Fortunately, Huo Long Yue managed to carry the two disabled Jianghis back, or it would be an irreceable loss.


    These Jianghis were not like the others. They were dead bodies of Martial Arts experts in the past eras. No matter how many they create at this point, they would neverpare to these Jianghis cultivated for decades.


    Even though they could create new ones having bodies of mutators, the skill and reflex would not be present. That was one of the downsides of these corpses. Although they retained their abilities from when they were still alive, they could not improve or train anymore. That was why they needed dead bodies of experienced people more than ones that had just gained their abilities.


    And now, even though Huo Long Yue lost one of his arms, he was rearing to fight. The two Jiangshis he brought backst night were also ready to fight.


    The army, led by Tan Sitong, started to get into position.


    They needed to finish their preparations by the time that the F¨¦th F¨ªada vanished.


    The robed soldiers immediately moved. As for the humans among them, however, they had worried expressions on their faces. The members of Auraboros forced them toe here. Even though they failed in getting any from the infanta settlement, it did not mean that they had no other ces to get more.


    Among these people, only twenty were members of Auraboros. As for the others, they were nothing but sacrificial pawns that did not even know why they were here. Almost all of them were nonbatants, to begin with, and some of them were children.


    Tan Sitong, together with his aides, sat on top of an elevated area of the mountain, overseeing the whole battlefield.


    With the looks of his face, it seemed that he was confident about winning this. It was despite the presence of the mysterious man that cut off Huo Long Yue''s arm.


    Tan Sitong might be respectable in terms of leadership. Outside that, however, he looked down on everything. His enemies were not an exception. It was not like he was underestimating their skills but was just his usual behavior.


    Furthermore, from the disy that the mysterious man did, just four of his aides should be able to handle him. Of course, Tan Sitong did not entirely believe something that he had not seen. As such, he had some ns hidden just in case.


    After all, they were still in the dark as to who was the Master of the Spirit Tree. If it was true that man was the Master, they had to prepare.


    They were in the middle of getting ready to surround the whole area. Unfortunately, the entire future messed up, things were not going to go the way they wanted.


    To their surprise, ck smoke slowly mixed with the F¨¦th F¨ªada, swirling around, dragging the mist with it.


    Chaaya did not wait for their leader''smand and issued a retreat to the people assigned to her immediately. They were designated to block the southern area of the base, and they were the closest to F¨¦th F¨ªada.


    However, it was toote for those who were the nearest to the veil of fog.


    As the ck smoke swirled, surges of it swallowed those were near.


    The shadow people, whose bodies made with nothing but magical energy,


    left nothing but their robes behind.


    Tan Sitong immediately stood up from his seat, surprised as to what was happening.


    What surprised him, even more, was what happened to the shadow people consumed by the ck smoke.


    "Miasma..."


    Of course, Tan Sitong would be surprised.


    For more than two hundred years that he lived, died, and lived once more, there were only several instances that Miasma could appear.


    One was a formless demon, who was as rare as the blue moon. Once they appeared, arge scale catastrophe and ughter would happen. These creatures were not allowed to grow, and even their organization would try to eliminate such beings instead of recruiting them.


    Another was if an archdemon appeared. The evil energy these demons had could corrupt the surroundings.


    Magical energy sources corrupted by the evil energy could run amok, scattering Miasma around it.


    As for the mostmon one, it was the same as what happened to magical energy sources when corrupted, but more naturally. Sometimes, impurities in these magical sources could change its nature in a good or bad way. Worse, it could turn corrupted and release Miasma instead.


    With those three listed, there were still others that were less more frequent to happen. It was like a singleet passing near Earth twice.


    Nevertheless, while an archdemon appearing was not unlikely, Tan Sitong was sure that it would not happen that easily. The Spirit World had two divisions, after all.


    Then, there was only one possibility in Tan Sitong''s mind. The thing that they came here for, the Spirit Tree, became corrupted. Spirit Trees were not only magical trees. They release magical energy as a source as well. Or else, how would cities built under these trees flourish fasterpared to those that did not.


    Tan Siton frowned.<sub> </sub>


    "What bad luck!"


    He said as he thought of that reason.


    After all, they came here for the Spirit Tree. Also the source of that metal used by that base under it. If the Spirit Tree had be corrupted, all the preparations they made would have gone to waste. Furthermore, as the F¨¦th F¨ªada trapped everything inside, it was very likely that everyone inside was gone.


    "Retreat! Do not let the Miasma hit anyone!"


    Tan Sitong shouted in a loud voice that echoed across the field. He dered what the ck smoke was and that the mission was a failure.


    Standing behind the ranks, however, Huo Long Yue did not think the same. He reported about the mysterious man appearing like mist and hurling ck smoke towards them the previous night. They had thought that it was just the man''s ability.


    But seeing this now, Huo Long Yue felt the same feeling as he hadst night.


    He could not be sure as he had not really seen Miasma before, as it was quite rare. Opportunities and danger alike, one could only encounter one by chance.


    Still, he could not shake the feeling. Thus, he decided to leave his post and tell their leader.


    "Sorry, but I can''t let you."


    A voice echoed from his side, making him take a defensive stance immediately.


    However, it was toote.


    He turned his head as he saw the de of the strange western sword approaching his neck. There was no time to dodge it. He could not defend either as the attack came from the direction of his severed arm.


    The only thing he could do was to use a defensive art to use his inner force to strengthen his muscles. Concentrating it on his neck, the skin around his neck released a metallic hue.


    And then, his eyes turned wide. With a ck fire on the de of the sword, the inner force he used to defend his neck was consumed instantly.


    Huo Long Yue''s neck was sliced off like tofu. As his head flew off, the only thing he saw was the mysterious man holding that strange sword while wearing the same robe as everyone else in Auraboros. The only thing different was a crystal floating in front of him, releasing a bright glow.


    They have been had. The enemies were not inside F¨¦th F¨ªada but within their ranks.


    A loud thud was heard, and the members of Auraboros in front of Huo Long Yue looked behind them.


    And, they saw nothing.


    They noticed that Huo Long Yue was gone. However, it was not new to them that the Crazy Dragon would leave without saying anything. Thus, they returned their attention to the front.


    Unknown to them, Huo Long Yue was still there with the assant. Standing in front of them without any of them seeing.


    The assant, Mark, snicked at the reactions of the members of Auraboros. Huo Long Yue was an entric person. And his entricity backfired here.If not, anyone would surely report his disappearance immediately.


    As Mark could not leave the body behind, he pulled his left sleeve, revealing his hand that now had two rings. One looked ancient while the other was beautiful with a ck gem.


    Pouring some energy on the ring, he touched Huo Long Yue''s dead body. Suddenly, it vanished, leaving nothing but some stains of blood on the ground.


    Then, Mark left as if nothing happened.


    At this time, the Miasma finally finished absorbing the F¨¦th F¨ªada. It soon vanished along with the veil of fog, revealing the scene inside.


    But then, they saw nothing.


    All was there was a vacant piece ofnd.


    The Spirit Tree was not here, nor the base that existed before. There were still marks as to where it stood. However, nothing stood on it anymore.


    "Go! Investigate!"


    Tan Sitong shouted. Then he called themanders.


    "Chaaya! Long Yue!"


    As soon as she was called, Chaaya vanished in her station and appeared in front of Tan Sitong. However, Huo Long Yue did not appear.


    "Where is Long Yue?!"


    Tan Sitong shouted furiously.


    Then, someone reported.


    "Sire, Huo Long Yue is missing again."


    "That crazy bastard. Forget it!"


    Tan Sitong rubbed his forehead. Then, he turned to Chaaya.


    "You go and lead the investigation. Be careful. I feel that something is not right here."


    "Yes. As youmand."


    Chaaya vanished and appeared in front of her troops.


    With her lead, they rushed towards the area where the base should be located before.


    It was the worst decision.


    From multiple unseen sources, projectiles flew from everywhere.


    Chaaya and her troops, who were the closest, caught most of it.

 Chapter 492 Disordered Ranks, A Series Of Planned Abushes

    <strong>Day 126 - 1:31 PM - Mountain Base, Mount Mbito, General Nakar, Quezon</strong>


    Arge number of projectiles flew towards the members of the group tasked to investigate.


    Since Chaaya led this group, they were all shadow people. And thus, they disregarded the projectiles flying towards them even though they saw theming.


    Human weapons would not harm them, even regr bullets or explosions, would not, despite ruining their robes. Their bodies were ethereal and were untouchable without their consent. Only special bullets and weapons could harm them.


    And those projectiles flying towards them were nothing but wooden arrows. There was not even a metal tip on them. Of course, the shadow people would not pay it any attention.


    That was the second mistake.


    Chaaya, who had a higher danger awareness, did not feel right and immediately hid in the shadows. As the attack came too suddenly and unexpectedly, she had no time to warn her soldiers.


    And thus, the arrows flew through the shadow people''s bodies, tearing their bodies apart, giving them the shock of their lives before their deaths.


    Aside from the Commander, Chaaya, the whole group sent to investigate, turned to dust, leaving nothing but their torn robes behind.


    ***


    Standing behind the ranks of the enemies, Mark smirked. Taking the enemies by surprise was a hard tactic. After all, they were veterans of the conflict, being an organization hiding in the darkness of human society.


    Thus, he had to think of a way to surprise them.


    Mark started it with the Miasma eating away the thing they called F¨¦th F¨ªada. The magical veil of an old tribe in Irish Folklore. Who would think that Miasma would suddenly erupt and consume the magical energy of the mist before them on arge scale? Thus, not only it terrified them, but also caused their attention to focus on the situation.


    Having the enemies'' attention elsewhere made it easier for him to assassinate Huo Long Yue. Mark''s [Emphatic Detection] covered the whole area, and Huo Long Yue was the only one who showed a sign of realization.


    Initially, Mark wanted to capture him alive. Chinese cultivation methods known since ancient times was something that would interest him. Unfortunately, the Crazy Dragon realized something after experiencing the battlest night. And since cultivators had many surprising trump cards, they usually hid, it was better to kill him as fast as possible lest he tried something that would hinder his ns.


    Then, after killing the rogue cultivator, next were removing the Miasma in an unexpected way and the vanishing act of the base.


    Miasma would linger and spread. That was how it usually worked. However, for both the Miasma and the base vanishing like that, the enemies would surely send people to investigate. People who were untouchable and should be able to dodge regr dangers. The shadow people.


    Unfortunately for them, the wooden arrows they belittled, had tips made from the core of the dying spirit tree. In other words, it was a waste of resources, using a valuable magical material for disposable projectile weapons.


    Nevertheless, it was worthwhile. The group of forty people sent to investigate vanished with only one person surviving the assault. It was quite a substantial blow to the enemy, considering that the actual battle had yet to start.


    Then, while everyone was still shocked at that scene, the arrows that targetted the group sent to investigate, flew towards them.


    However, as they already saw it before, only a little number was hit by the arrows. Furthermore, only fewer died.


    BANG!


    Then, the sound of a sniper rifle echoed out of nowhere. A bullet flew, tearing the bodies several shadow people at once.


    Many froze to that sight.


    At first, it was just arrows. Now, a sniper bullet came out of nowhere.


    Fearing that they also had other weapons like that, everyone rushed to find cover.


    Mark looked at the hill overseeing the whole situation with a stifledugh.


    The leader of this mission was already standing with his fists sped tightly. His furious expression was quite a sight. Mark never thought that a dead person would still be capable of these expressions.


    However, what could they do if they could not see the enemy at all?


    Blindly charging forward would only cost them more casualties.


    None of Tan Sitong''s ns were usable at this point. Thus, he turned his eyes to the meat shields that seem to be disregarded by the attacks.


    The humans they gathered cowered in fear as they lie down on the ground, shrinking themselves as much as possible. Since their guards were still around, these humans could neither run away nor hide. Rolling on the ground like a ball was the best that they could do and wish that none of the arrows and bullets shoot them.


    Thus, Tan Sitong decided to send these weaklings forward.


    He was about to issue the order. Then, one of his aides suddenly stepped in front of him.


    SPLAT!


    The head of the Jianshi exploded to pieces.


    Tan Sitong felt cold. That shot aimed at his head without a doubt.


    Fortunately, the Jiangshi''s body was strengthened and was able to stop the bullet despite its head exploding. Losing the Jiangshi would be a big waste. Nevertheless, it was not as valuable as his life.


    This situation was the worst con of regaining consciousness after being a Jiangshi. Jiangshis relied on nothing but instinct to detect danger. For him, who was never a fighter in the first before he died and regained intelligence, he had to rely on his consciousness to do things.


    It also became his weakness as even weaker Jiangshis without consciousness would be able to detect that iing attack.


    Tan Sitong immediately retreated to cover while the remaining Jiangshis protected him. His face was even more furious. Although the easiest way to end a battle was to y the general, it was not in a way like this.


    Tan Sitong was a great warlord. He even managed to overwhelm military bases before just using an army of he created.


    But now, the targets were not ying by the books. Not even in Tan Sitong''s most brilliant intelligence expected a scene like this to happen.


    More sniper bullets flew towards Tan Sitong. However, non of it hit him as the Aides already got their weapons out to deflect the bullets.


    By this time, the army of Auraboros already retreated into the woods, leaving the humans behind, cowering in fear.


    The arrows and bullets could still take out one or two, but the cover of trees and rocks greatly hindered the efficiency.<sub> </sub>


    SHING!


    Mark beheaded another member of Auraboros that was behind the lines without making too loud sounds. While everyone went into hiding, it also made then even more vulnerable to sneak attacks.


    Thus, Mark threw Ignis forwards. In the Demon Sword flew away to y the enemies.


    Mark then took out the updated versions of his [Slicer] and [Divider], the two sword whips he made before, and started the ughter behind the lines.


    Like a shadow in the dark, Mark ran stealthily. The two whip-like swords in his hands danced around the trunks of the trees, shredding his enemies into pieces.


    On the other hand, Ignis was more swift. He flew around the trees, piercing through the bodies of the enemies before flying to the next target.


    No one realized yet. Even though the arrows and bullets were deadly, it was nothing but a diversion and crowd control. Although they could see the direction where the attacks wereing from, they could not rush forward as they could see nothing in front. The only thing they could do was to hide within the forest around the base, in which their ranks would break.


    The army of Auraboros managed to hide from the front, but not from the back. Entering the forest not only broke their ranks but lessened the visibility around them considerably.


    This situation made it hard for them to notice that someone was hunting them from within their ranks.


    Unfortunately, this situation would notst long.


    Mark managed to y about fifty enemies when two Jiangshis stepped forward to block his front. He could only shrug.


    It was not surprising considering that many of the members he killed were shadow people. There were those with ugly faces and green blood. Mark could keep the corpses as long as they fit his ring. However, the blood that sttered on the ground and the trees were hard to remove. As the smell of blood in the surroundings thickened, it was not easy to conceal what was happening here anymore.


    Still, Mark found it annoying that these Jiangshis could approach him without him noticing. They were corpses without consciousness, after all. They would not enter his [Emphatic Detection].


    "Unlike this one."


    Mark murmured with a smirk as he waved the [Slicer] behind him, ignoring the two Jianghis in front.


    A shadow dodged away forcefully. There, Chaaya was present, trying tomit a sneak attack at Mark.


    It might have higher chances of working if it was the Jianshis who did that. Well, the enemies never knew that Mark could sense everything with consciousness and emotions in arge area around him. They never knew that sneak attacks like this would not work on him.


    "Tsk!"


    Chaaya clicked her tongue as her attack failed miserably. She stood about five meters away from the enemy staring warily with her ck daggers on hand.


    "Who are you?"


    She asked as the enemy was wearing the same Robe as their regr members, the in Gray-colored Magical Robe. Furthermore, like shadow people, his face was obscured by darkness.


    But when Chaaya stared at the enemy''s face longer. She noticed that his body was not like a shadow person, but there was just a dark haze blocking most of his face.


    SHING!


    Chaaya suddenly spun her body and blocked an iing attack from behind her. There, Ignis and the ck dagger shed, creating a loud metallic sound.


    After the attack was blocked, Ignis flew beside Mark, floating like an avatar behind him, peeking above his shoulder.


    Seeing the sword, Chaaya frowned. There was no need to ask anymore. This person wearing their Magical Robe was the same person Huo Long Yue encounteredst night.


    "Dammit, where''s that crazy idiot when we need him."


    Chaaya cursed.


    Huo Long Yue was the one that managed to witness how Mark fought. Thus, it would be easier to fight him if Chaaya worked with Huo Long Yue.


    Unfortunately for her, Mark took out something.


    "Are you looking for this?"


    Mark smiled as he threw the thing towards Chaaya. The item rolled on the ground, which immediately froze the Shadow Commander.


    It was Huo Long Yue''s lifeless head.


    Chaaya''s actions did not falter that much, but her expression and emotion were very constrained. She never expected that the contrary to what they thought, Huo Long Yue did not run off once again. He already died by the hands of the enemy in front of her without anyone noticing.


    Not minding Chaaya and the two Jianshis encircling him and Ignis, Mark took out a glowing crystal. The glow of the [Photokinesis Mental Crystal] was already very dim.


    "Time''s up, huh."


    He murmured as he tapped one of his rings. Then, he deactivated the crystal.


    Tan Sitong and the other members of Auraboros became shocked.


    On the other hand, Chaaya witnessed everything.


    The moment that the glow shrunk into the core of the crystal, the base appeared. As if a veil of light shattered around it.


    They thought that it vanished, but as they expected after the attacksmenced, it was still there.


    But still, what was with the current appearance of the base now? Before they activated the F¨¦th F¨ªada, it was nowhere like this.


    Right now, even though the previous appearance of the base was still present, vines, leaves, bushes, and strange green trunked trees surrounded it.


    It was as if the immediate surroundings of the base became a strange forest.

 Chapter 493 The Hated Decision, The Expected But Unexpected Arrival

    <strong>Day 126 - 1:40 PM - Mountain Base, Mount Mbito, General Nakar, Quezon</strong>


    Mark smiled, seeing the shock in the face of Chaaya. After all, the current appearance of the base was one of his surprises.


    It was kind of disappointing that the [Photokinesis Mental Crystal] could only support hiding the whole base for only around ten minutes. Any more than that, and it would drain the crystalpletely. He was also using it earlier to hide, which made the duration a bit shorter.


    ? Nevertheless, it was enough as the attacksing from the base was barely working anymore. Ambush attacks were only viable for a short run. That was why most ambushes came about intending of utterly destroying the enemies in a short amount of time.


    However, they could not do that. Even though Mark took the initiative to make the ambush, they were still fighting a defensive battle here. Furthermore, being outnumbered would not do any help here. It was unfortunate that he had to evacuate the others or else, they would have more people to deal with the enemies.


    Despite Chaaya''s surprise towards the reappearing base, the two Jiangshis did not wait. Being corpses that did not have any intelligence, they were only moving on instincts left in their bodies and the orders they received from their owner.


    Thus, the two Jiangshis charged towards Mark without hesitation. Looking at it, Mark noticed that these two were different from the ones he foughtst night. Those two fought using a sword and a chain. This time, he was facing ones that were using throwing daggers and a spear.


    One retreated while the other charged forwards. Taking out knives from inside the sleeves, the Jiangshi that fell back threw several knives, flying at a faster momentum as the one that charged forwards. On the other hand, the Jiangshi with the spear pointed his spear forward, making a swift charge at Mark.


    Seeing that the two Jianshis started, Chaaya did not hesitate anymore and also moved. She ran a few steps forwards before vanishing into the shadows.


    Mark faced the two Jianghis and waved the [Slicer] and [Divider] differently. The first shot forwards while the other circled his body. Both moved like living things with minds of their own.


    TING! TING! TING!


    The knives arrived first at Mark, creating multiple metallic sounds as the [Divider] deflected each of them.


    PANG!


    Another loud sound echoed as the tip of [Slicer] collided with the tip of the spear. After deflecting the spear, the sword-whip did not stop and swirled towards the Jiangshi holding it. Seeing the danger, the Jiangshi circled his spear, trying to tie the sword-whip with its shaft.


    However, as he circled the spear, the iing sword-whip was the same. The Jiangshi was unable to do what it tried to and had no choice but to jump back and retreat.


    Using the momentum of that retreat, Mark then did what the Jiangshi wanted. He controlled the [Slicer] and tied it on the spear. However, since the Jiangshi already jumped back, the spear was tugged away from his grasp instead.


    Behind Mark, Chaaya appeared once more, attacking more aggressively than before. However, there was no way for her to get through with Ignis blocking the way firmly. Furthermore, every time that she wanted to skip into the shadow of Mark, the ck mes of Ignis shot off, making her unable to.


    Then, as Chaaya was fended off by Ignis, a spear flew towards her, which made her retreat immediately.


    "Hah," Mark sighed. "Sorry, I want to y more, but I can''t."


    Mark said as he turned his gaze at Chaaya. His eyes glowed bright red, whichplemented his expression that cared for nothing.


    "GAHA!"


    Chaaya fell on her knees. She held her head that felt like it was about to split.


    Seeing that, the two Jiangshis rushed over to protect her. Unfortunately for the two, they were on the other side of Mark. There was no way that he would let them do so.


    However, since these Jiangshis seem to be precious, he would not try to kill them. The attention of the two Jiangshis was towards protecting their currentmander. Using that as the opening, Mark vanished into a puff of smoke while scattering Miasma at the same time.


    Feeling the danger that the Miasma could bring to them, the two froze from going forwards. But then, from inside the Miasma, a hand burst fort from the ck wall and grabbed the talismans stuck on their faces consecutively.


    Unable to dodge the sudden attack thatcked killing intent or ill will, the two corpses fell like puppets with their strings cut.


    The Miasma vanished, leaving only Mark and Ignis standing. Chaaya already lost her consciousness and was sprawled on the ground, and the corpses were rendered immobile. Ignis flew into the sheath on his Master''s back. Mark did the same and sheathed the two sword-whips.


    With a puff of ck smoke that swirled around, Mark, Ignis, Chaaya, and the two Jianshis vanished.


    ***


    At the hill, Tan Sitong suddenly stood up. He lost connection to two of his Jianghis once more. Being the Master of these jumping corpses, although he could notmunicate with them mentally, he could a least feel when the talisman on their forehead was working or not.


    Tan Sitong''s connection with the Jiangshis getting cut off was not new. Since these jumping corpses were more adept in ancient martial arts than modern warfare, for the talismans to get destroyed because of bullets could happen. Nevertheless, it was very unusual to happen as the Jiangshis excelled in detecting danger. Thest time that it happened was when they stirred some conflicts in Vietnam before but had a harder time than expected due to the Vietnamese terrain at that time.


    Now, however, this was the second time it happened in just one mission. Furthermore, it happened in pairs. The more Tan Sitong spent his time here, the more he found things inconceivable.


    Tan Sitong looked at the area where the connection cut off. A big explosion of Miasma was present. That thing itself was already unbelievable. Why would Miasma suddenly appear and disappear in this ce for the second time?


    Did his Jiangshis got caught by the sudden surge of Miasma?


    Tan Sitong already had to issuemands to deal with the reappearance of their target base. They could not just charge in blindly considering that the current appearance of the target was vastly different from the reports he received.


    His temper was getting riled up. Furthermore, Huo Long Yue was still missing. He also started to suspect the unexpected.


    "Use Berserk Pills. Send in the humans."


    He ordered in a cold manner that chilled even the person he gave the order.


    The messenger immediately vanished to ry the orders to the squad handling the humans.


    Frowning deeply, Tan Sitong waited for the execution of his orders and the retrieval of the two Jiangshis if there was still any corpse left. But to add salt to his already riled up temper, none of it happened.


    Tan Sitong was severely furious, yet, it made him realize something.


    The enemy was within their ranks. If this was the case, it might be possible that Huo Long Yue did not run off again but was already dead. It should be the same for the messenger he sent, or else, why would the humans remain there not moving?


    Thus, he shouted from the top of the hill.


    "Release the Soulless Ones!"


    With thatmand, the armyposed of five-hundred [Level 3 Mutated Infected] charged forwards with their ferocious roars.<sub> </sub>


    It was already unnerving to see a horde of normal infecteding towards anyone''s settlement. But to see half a thousand highly mutated infected, most people would have abandoned their bases and fled already.


    This horde was something that even the soldiers of settlements would struggle to fend off.


    Roars and growls echoed loudly as the mutated infected closed in towards the base. Some were fast, and some were slow. Nevertheless, that disarrangement showed which ones were attackers and which ones had a higher defense.


    But contrary to anyone would expect, the base continued to fire towards the hiding members of Auraboros. Theypletely ignored the ferocious horde that wasing their way.


    And then, they saw a strange sight.


    The horde arrived at the strange forest that surrounded the base. Once the mutated infected entered, however, the infected started running off in every direction.


    They did run off in every direction except the direction of the base they should attack.


    Some would run off along the strange forest, while others would end up running out towards the direction where they entered.


    Those infected that got out of the forest would reenter, following the orders given to them but would end up doing the same, repeating the process.


    This strange sight staggered everyone''s thinking process.


    As for Tan Sitong, he stared widely at theical act before him.


    None of his ns here was working. This situation was uneptable to his ego and reputation.


    Something was missing in his calctions. It was the owner of the Spirit Tree that never appeared at all. Their only clue was the report given by Huo Long Yue, but that was never concrete.


    Tan Sitong hated one word the most. Nevertheless, it seemed that he had no choice but to use it twice in this mission.


    "Retreat!"


    He shouted as loud as he could, delivering his order.


    It was a differentmand if Tan Sitong shouted that word along with other orders. Shouting that word alone, however, meant that they were canceling the mission and needed to evacuate the area.


    None of the members of Auraboros here though that they would hear that from their leader. Nevertheless, they understood why.


    All that happened here was inconceivable to the degree of fantasy. It was even though the existence of the members of Auraboros should include themselves in that genre in the first ce.


    Abandoning their posts because of the order, they followed the escape n drafted in case that something happened.


    Tan Sitong might hate that word and act. Nevertheless, he was careful enough to make several ns of retreat for situations like this.


    The question, however,y in the enemy whether they would let them retreat or not.


    It was not new for the winning side to pursue the enemies and ughter the losing side.


    And that was not wrong.


    As they to form their retreat, the enemy within their ranks finally revealed himself.


    With two swords moving like whips on his both hands and a flying ck mberge beside him, he started to kill without mercy. With his glowing red eyes, everyone around him froze, and the des of his swords danced.


    No one was able to resist as they could not move a finger.


    Seeing that, Tan Sitong immediately sent his remaining aides to assist his people. Tan Sitong knew about this from Huo Long Yue. The mental attack that the Crazy Dragon experienced the night before.


    Nevertheless, who would have known that this mental attack was something of an area effect instead of a targeted one?


    Huo Long Yuecked that information as he was alone with two mindless corpses when he received the attack.


    The four remaining aides tried to hold back the enemy. In terms of close-quartersbat, these corpses fighting together was equal to the fighting strength a medium-sized squad had.


    But then, another burst of Miasma exploded, covering the four Jiangshis.


    Tan Sitong stared wide-eyed as his connection to the four was lost instantly.


    And now, he finally determined that the sudden appearance of Miasma in this ce was not a coincidence. It was the enemy all this time. And without a doubt, the owner of the Spirit Tree they were trying to acquire.


    An Unknown and unexpected existence. A being capable of wielding Miasma despite having a mortal flesh.


    While in that predicament, however, the sky suddenly turned dark. The ck, heavy clouds violently swirled as if it was already the end of the world.


    For the first time since the Qing Dynasty, the time of his execution, Tan Sitong felt fear. He thought that the sky darkening was also a move of his unpredictable enemy.


    Then, a ridiculing voice echoed from the sky.


    "Scurrying like rats. Is this the most that the China Branch can do?"


    Everyone looked up. No one was an exception.


    From the circle of the vortex of clouds, a silhouette of a figure emerged.


    It was high, but not high enough that everyone here that was beyond human could not see.


    Nevertheless, all they could see was a robed silhouette covered in a ck haze.

 Chapter 494 Darkness Versus Darkness, The Eighth Founder Of Auraboros

    <strong>Day 126 - 1:51 PM - Mountain Base, Mount Mbito, General Nakar, Quezon</strong>


    The clear skies turned dark as if there was an iing storm. Thick ck clouds covered the blue sky, swirling violently.


    It signaled the arrival of a unique being that should not appear in front of anyone that easily.


    When he appeared, it was kind of unexpected that the first words he let out were to ridicule Tan Sitong and his soldiers. Despite being far away, his voice reverberated in their ears. Nevertheless, despite that ridicule, it meant another thing. The individual that came was also one of them.


    But then, when Tan Sitong and Mark saw the person. The former was shocked while thetter had a fierce re on his eyes.


    Nevertheless, no matter what reaction, the arrival of this individual could mean the safe retreat of Tan Sitong''s people.


    "The Great One."


    Tan Sitong immediately prostrated.


    Not everyone in Auraboros had the honor of being able to see any of the founders of the organization. The lucky ones were those that were directly following their orders and the higher members of the branches. Thus, most of the members here only heard about one of the founders of their organization.


    Even though The Great One was not in charge of the Chinese Branch among the founders, it was unlikely for them to watch their members get ughtered before them.


    Unfortunately for them, The Great One did not care for them in the slightest.


    SHHHOOOMMM!!!


    The ck clouds covering the sky started to make smaller vortices which surged towards the ground like thin tornados. At a fast speed not any less than a bullet, these tornadoes, each having a diameter of two meters, rushed to the ground.


    The wind picked up around each tornado. It was too strong that the trees near it got uprooted immediately the moment it touched the ground.


    And despiteing from different directions, all of the tornadoes converged towards one impact point.


    All of it was aiming towards Mark.He, who was still killing the members of Auraboros, despite the appearance of The Great One above. The dark raging clouds surged without mercy, even though some of the members of Auraboros were still around him.


    The wind was strong, and it sucked away everything. Nevertheless, there was nothing inside the tornadoes despite everything it sucked into its bodies.


    Instead, thick clouds of dust flew round like a sandstorm. It was dust with a ck hue that smelled like a mix of ground flesh, trees, leaves, and dirt.


    This dust was nothing else but everything that touched the tornadoes.


    Into unrecognizable pieces of dust, that was what everything that entered the tornadoes ended up.


    This scene threw everyone, whether it was the humans or not, into a state of panic.


    The humans brought in by Auraboros did not care whether they died trying to flee. This ce was not meant for humans to linger around. Either they die escaping or die staying around. They chose to do the former as it had more chances of surviving. Who knows who gave the signal, they all scrambled around scurrying away in groups.


    Fortunately, none of the members of Auraboros bothered about them anymore. They were also busy trying to survive as many of them were closer to the ck tornadoes, many of them got dragged away with their futile resistance.


    The ck tornadoes ravaged the forest. It was trying to pursue its enemy. In every direction, it touched, only the darkened ground filled with dust remained.


    Trees, nts, humans, infected, and even the surface of the ground turned to ayer of dust that could be easily blown by the wind.


    Nevertheless, the actual target was never there in the first ce.


    "I should be doing the wee, not you."


    Mark said as his figure blurred not far behind The Great One. This time, he was not holding back anything. He had already transformed into his Blood Demon form.


    The Great One calmly turned around, hovering mid-air, uncaring that Mark was unscathed.


    "You don''t have to be humble. I am not invited by anyone, after all."


    He replied with a calm voice.


    Mark stared at the enemy. He felt a bit d, and sure enough, he avoided the situation that the Elder warned him.


    Following the previous n, he would be staying at the base, while watching his people fight and use the enemies to train under his surveince.


    Now, however, he chose to be the only force attacking the enemies from outside the base.


    There was where the future changed.


    Following the actions that this high in mighty being in front of him, it was very likely that he used the same attack in the original timeline. If that was the case, that force was enough to pulverize his base and kill everyone in it.


    With how fast the ck tornadoes traveled from the sky to the ground, there was barely any time for him to dodge. He might be able to save Mei and his family, who should be watching around him. But not the others.


    This time, however, since he was alone on the battlefield, away from the base, the worst-case scenario was averted. And instead, the ones dragged by the disaster were the other members of Auraboros.


    "Deity, why would attack us!"


    Tan Sitong shouted from the ground.


    He was furious, but he still needed to ask as humble as possible. The Great One was not someone he should question in the first ce. However, this not only impacted his forces but the China Branch as a whole.


    What he did, however, asking and shouting the being that he knew that he should not question, was the biggest mistake.


    The Great One turned his head towards Tan Sitong. His face and expression were not visible. Mark, however, could tell that The Great One was annoyed.


    And to any annoyance that disturbed his business, the only way out...


    ...was Death.


    To Tan Sitong''s horror, another tornado shot from the sky to where he stood. He managed to dodge it, and by his movements, he was fiercer than the Jianshis that served as his aides. Nevertheless, even though he could dodge one, he would not be able to avoid more.


    The Great One was annoyed further as Tan Sitong avoided the first strike. Thus, he sent four at the same time, surrounding the vice leader of China Branch on the ground.


    This time, however, the four wererger but weaker despite having the same speed as the previous ones.


    With four tornadoes surrounding him, Tan Sitong was unable to escape anymore.<sub> </sub>


    He was trapped in the middle as the weaker tornadoes slowly ground his body to dust while he screamed in horror.


    It took about a whole minute before Tan Sitong''s body turned into dust. Since he was not a real living being, to begin with, he did not die totally until his head was also consumed by the ck tornadoes.


    That was painful suffering, more painful when he was executed back in his previous life.


    Tan Sitong''sst painful screams echoed across the mountains even after his body was gone.


    "Quite heartless, aren''t you?"


    Mark smirked, suiting his current devilish appearance. It was not like he hated what The Great One did.


    "There are no annoying pests anymore."


    The Great One turned to Mark. It was impossible to see his current expression because of the haze covering his body.


    "Actually, there is. Ants. Below."


    Mark pointed at the remaining members of Auraboros, trying their best to escape.


    "Do you think that I will erase them all for you?"


    The Great One said with a deep furious voice.


    "Yeah?"


    Mark said, almostughing. He even tilted his head to provide more insult. His red glowing eyes continued to stare at the enemy filled with ridicule.


    Of course, the high and mighty ego of The Great One slowly filled up with rage. The Great One made an unseeable re at Mark as the clouds once more swirled with vertices everywhere.


    Like missiles, multitudes of ck tornadoes surged towards Mark.


    Mark pped his wings fast. He flew away with all the tornadoes following him. His eyesnded on the fleeing members of Auraboros once more with a witty expression.


    Without hesitation, he flew down to the horror of everyone on the ground. He flew just several inches above the ground, maneuvering his way as fast as he could.


    Mark flew around arge tree, behind one member who was running away, turned into mist and swerved under the feet of another, and then through arge group of shadow people.


    Everything he flew by turned to dust without exception.


    Suddenly, the tornadoes chasing dissipated. Mark could not help but look at The Great One that was getting increasingly furious at every second that passed.


    Mark actually had the gall to use his attack to clear the remaining members of the China Branch.


    Those that managed to survive Mark''s flight scurried away faster than before. Their only wish right now was to get away from this ce.


    ? "I just want to test my new body and settle my business with you for damaging my Spirit Corest time. But it seems like you are wasting my patience."


    The Great One''s voice echoed in everyone''s ears. It felt like their heads were ringing badly.


    Without warning, The Great One waved his hand towards the base. With that motion, a wide ck tornado surged towards it.


    "Spera!"


    Mark called out in his mind, using Jaeya''s [Telepathy] was very useful at these times.


    In front of the surging ck clouds, an even bigger portal opened.


    Even The Great One was shocked at the appearance of the portal.


    The portal that only Spera knew where it led to swallowed the whole tornado and continued to transport the continuous surge of swirling clouds.


    He might be surprised, but he did not falter. The Great One waved his hand once more, trying to send another one towards the base.


    Nevertheless, he was not able to and had to move away and evade. A surge of Miasma passed by his previous position. And then, Mark appeared behind him, waving Ignis to cut his head.


    ck clouds covered The Great One''s body, letting Ignis pass through without resistance. The ck clouds moved away fast before forming back into The Great One''s body.


    Mark pped his wings with its red glowing veins. He immediately appeared behind The Great One shing three swords at the same time.


    Holding Ignis with his two hands together with the [Slicer] and [Divider] that was controlled by his [Blood Whips] attacked the enemy. Each de was coated with ck smoke, trying to disable and weaken The Great One.


    With swift movements, The Great One maneuvered against Mark''s fast attacks.


    Despite the fast movements that could not be seen by the naked eye anymore, Mark did not hit anything. The Great One was able to cope with his swift attacks.


    Mark sliced three swords multiple times as if simting a battle from the anime with seven starred balls.


    The Great One evaded every sh like a walk at the park. Although he could deflect the swords, he was still wary about the Miasma that coated the des.


    But then, Mark''s red eyes glowed brighter.


    The Great One suddenly felt sluggish. Nevertheless, The Great One was able to recover swiftly.


    Still, Mark managed to get a hit if it was considered as one.


    As The Great One paused for a millisecond, the [Slicer] managed to snag the haze that covered the face of the enemy.


    When that happened, The Great One suddenly exploded a thick gust of clouds around him, making Mark shield himself with Miasma and retreat.


    Nevertheless, Mark already saw the face behind that ck haze. He could not help but stare with a frown.


    The face that was hardly a face at all. The Great One had a mouth and two holes for a nose. As for the rest of The Great One''s face, it was upied by a widely opened vertically eye.

 Chapter 495 The Disastrous Battle, Finding The Great Ones True Intention

    <strong>Day 126 - 2:01 PM - Mountain Base, Mount Mbito, General Nakar, Quezon</strong>


    The Great One immediately covered his face with a haze once more. Strange enough, in quite a panicked way.


    Even though Mark only saw a short glimpse of that face, it already made him frown deeply. Another thing was the reaction he felt after using his [Emotion Induction] towards The Great One to freeze him. There was something odd that was going on.


    "That is not your real body. Why do you have a body of an Eye?"


    Mark voiced out as he paused his attacks. That was what he felt. When he used his [Emotion Induction], there was very little response. There was no resistance, yet there was almost no effect. It was like the body was here, but the mind was far away. The only thing that was affected was the connection between the body and the consciousness that was controlling it.


    Furthermore, there was that vertical eye.


    There was a lot of creatures in mythology with a single eye and even had various shapes and appearance. It was the same for those with multiple to hundreds or thousands of eyes.


    But with Mark''s experiencebined with the memories of Freed, there was something unique about the Eyes sent by an Observer.


    No matter what shape they had, how many eyes they had, whether those had tentacles or not, even if they had the intelligence or not, there was one thing that never changed.


    Their eyes gave a pressure of dominance to those that stare at it. That pressure that could make everyone with a weak mind give in just by staring at it.


    That was one reason that even though they suspected it a bit, they never persecuted Aimee, who had a resemnce to that monster from Freed''s world. Instead of dominance, Aimee was more like an animal who lost her home.


    On the other hand, that same sliver and pressure of dominance were present on that single eye on The Great One''s face.


    The Great One also paused after hearing that question.


    "I never thought that you already reached the point of learning about the Observers."


    There was no pretense in that. Even in the Auraboros, only the founders and a few highest-ranking members knew of this truth about the world.


    "Hoh..." The Great One came to a sudden thought. "Someone had been in contact with a reclusive God, I see."


    Because of the haze covering his face, no one could tell his expression. Nevertheless, it was no doubt that The Great One was amused.


    "Interesting. At first, I''m just trying out this body I newly acquired. But things are getting interesting."


    "You call that puppet a body of yours?"


    Mark asked.


    "Why not? Thanks to you, my spirit is damaged. It will be hard to form a real body any time soon. If you can kill this one, then you deserve to live until we can meet face to face. If not...then this the farthest you can go. It will be an honor to die in the hands of this deity."


    The Great One replied in an attitude that did not care for anything. Mark even heard information that should be crucial.


    A damaged spirit body was not something that could heal that fast.


    Even gods had to struggle once their spirit was damaged, not to mention a lower deity like The Great One. The gods of creation were not an exemption to that either. They could create unique and spectacr things. But not mend their damaged spirits.


    To humans, having a damaged spirit was no different to getting into aatose state with barely any chance of recovering.


    The only once capable of healing someone''s spirit was the Gods that reign over Spirits and Souls. In the current time, however, where would they find one?


    That was some good news for Mark but came with a piece of bad news as a pair. The Great One already had found his base and was capable of sending his avatars to harass him.


    No, from what The Great One said, they could meet face to face after he recreated his body. It could mean that he had no intention of sending more puppets.


    Was he testing Mark?


    No, there was no reason to.


    But then, the realization came.


    The Great One did not answer one of his questions. That was why he had a body of an Eye as a puppet. He did that on purpose to hide his true intentions. Mark could tell without a doubt.


    With a murderous glint in his eyes, Mark spoke in his mind.


    "Jaeya, tell Spera to open a portal at my signal."


    There was a cold tone in the message he sent, which made Jaeya, who was inside the base, to falter a bit.


    "W-where? Spera asked, the destination."


    "Anywhere far from here. If possible, on the opposite side of Earth."


    "Anywhere?"


    Jaeya tried to confirm.


    "I''ll repeat. Anywhere far from here."


    "O-okay. We got it. We''ll wait for your signal."


    Mark closed his eyes and took a deep breath.


    "You don''t only have someone with the [Body of Void] but also someone with portals. Now, someone with [Telepathy]. Your ce sure is a den of talents. What are you telling them to do?"


    Sure enough, The Great One could tell that Mark wasmunicating with someone from the base. Fortunately, it seemed that he was not able to tap into it.


    "I want to ask onest thing." Mark opened his eyes with a serene expression." What kind of deity are you?"


    That was one thing that interested Mark. There were deities of elements, of wisdom'' and there were also others with minor designations. Yet, he could not tell what The Great One was.


    "Me? I''m a Deity of Nothingness. Everything that Iy my hands on will be nothing but dust. From dust where everything started and to dust will everything end."


    Hearing those words, no wonder why everything hit from The Great One''s attacks disintegrated into dust.


    "Did that answer satisfy you?"


    The Great One asked as he waved both his hands.


    ck clouds came swirling out of his robe, covering arge area. One the other hand, Mark sheathed the [Slicer] and [Divider].


    "Ignis, return to the base. Help protect it."


    Ignis shivered in frustration. Nevertheless, it followed the order and flew around the cover of clouds back to the base.


    "Crimson."<sub> </sub>


    Mark said as a cloud of Miasma materialized around him. The Miasma surged around his body, forming a sinister-looking armor. Eight whips made of blood burst out from his back, forming into ck metallic segmented limb-like spears. Together with his two pairs of bat wings, the spears looked sinister.


    Still, Mark felt that it was not enough. Even though the body in front of him was nothing but a puppet, its strength was the real deal.


    Mark was powerful. But he was still nowhere near a Diety just by his strength alone.


    "Release..."


    Mark murmured as the ck markings on his neck and wrists started to spread all over his body once more. The scleras of his eyes turned ck, which emphasized his eyes that were glowing with different colors. His right eye shined bright red while his left eye glowed violet.


    As the ck markings spread, his body became coated with a thin film of Miasma protecting his body.


    Suddenly, Mark moved his head to the side. A string of ck clouds passed by at the speed of an anti-materiel bullet.


    At that dodge, the voice of The Great One echoed from the clouds once more.


    "Different abilities from different beings inside one body. An existence like you definitely should not exist."


    As that was said, smaller and even needle-sized vortices appeared from the cluster of ck clouds. There were also tornadoes with the same size at the previous once forming above.


    The smaller the attack, the faster it moved. That was why Spera had the time to react to thatrge-scale attack that The Great One. Nevertheless, these smaller ones could only work for shorter distances before dissipating. That was how Mark observed it as the one he dodged just now dissipated before reaching the ground.


    Still, with this many attacks forming at the same time, even though The Great One called this a test, he was keen on killing Mark.


    And even if he was not able to, there would be someone else to deal with the aftermath. What a sinister n.


    Telling Mark that they could meet in the future was nothing but a lie to hide The Great One''s true intentions.


    BOOOOHHHHHOMMMMM!!!


    Like missiles from an armada of spaceships, multitudes of swirling clouds flew towards Mark. How many were there? Hundreds? Thousands? Only The Great One could tell.


    And all those attacks that could disintegrate matter to dust were all aimed at Mark.


    Alone, he was facing an attack that could destroy a whole city in an instant.


    Mark''s figure blurred, leaving the afterimage of his glowing eyes.


    He moved his body around the air, evading each of the attacks that came across his body.


    Some faster attacks seemed to hit his body. The moment the attack hit, all was left was an afterimage, and Mark had already appeared at another ce.


    There were some of the smallest and fastest attacks that grazed Mark''s body, but the armor and the film of Miasma protected him.


    As Mark avoided the massive attacks, however, the swirling clouds bent behind him and returned.


    At the same time, the other attacksing from different directions curved towards him.


    From above, behind, right, left, front, and below.Mark was trapped at the center with all the attacksing towards him. Then, everything picked up speed, trying to give him the finishing blow.


    Both Mark''s eyes glowed brightly in violet color. His body blurred as the subspace created by him [Shadow Mist Movement] expanded. Adrenaline enhanced his focus. The veins around his eyes glowed red brightly. A burst of red glow covered his body as his blood burned fiercely.


    Everything slowed down.


    In a blink of an eye, Mark left a trail of bright red light as his body moved. His body was nothing but a red blur as he flew around and in-between the swirling clouds.


    He charged towards the ck clouds covering the puppet of the Great One.


    The swirling clouds that missed their target hit each other. The difference in speed, the direction of rotation, and the trajectory caused the clouds to explode and scatter.


    Those attacks that managed to remain formed continued flying on their trajectory.


    Some continued flying towards the sky before dissipating. The majority scattered across the ground, turning everything that was hit to dust.


    Some end up flying towards the base. Fortunately, the portal that Spera opened earlier was still there, swallowing most of the stray swirling clouds. As for those remaining, Ignis d in ck mes flew to block while the smaller ones were shot by Mei. The bullets turned to dust, but it destroyed the swirling clouds that already lost their momentum.


    Charging forward, Mark scattered a surge of Miasma to intercept many of the swirling cloudsing towards him.


    The clouds were made with energy, but it was too destructive to be swallowed whole. Both the swirling clouds and the surge of Miasma that shed dissipated into nothing.


    Finally, Mark managed to close into the scattered ck clouds around the puppet of The Great One.


    With his arms stretched out and both hands wide open, a thick burst of Miasma scattered around, enclosing the cloud that The Great One created.


    The already darkened sky became even darker.


    "NOW! Behind this guy! In the direction that I''m flying to!"


    Mark shouted in his mind.


    A portal opened behind the thick ck cloud as Mark charged into it.


    There was a bit of struggle inside the dark cloud, but as Mark enclosed it with Miasma, there was nowhere to run to.


    Soon, two figures burst out of the thick clouds. It was Mark who was pushing the puppet of The Great One unto the portal.


    Mark was injured. Some areas of his arms, legs, and face already disintegrated into dust. One of his wings was missing, and some parts of his armor were broken. Nevertheless, he used the metal limbs on his back to pierce the body of the puppet tightly.


    As fast as he could, Mark flew with the puppet into the portal that only Spera knew where it would lead to.


    "Close it! Don''t open one after another day!"


    That was thest thing they heard from Mark before he entered the portal with the enemy.


    As the portal closed, the thick ck clouds in the sky dissipated.


    With the light of the sun returning, everyone could clearly see the destruction left behind by that battle.


    There was almost nothing left in the nds around the base anymore, only a few trees that managed to luckily survive. Even the crops and fields that they painstakingly made had already turned to dust.


    Seeing this scene made them feel alive. It was good that everyone managed to prepare to protect the base.


    Now, they only needed to wait and pray that Mark would be alright.

 Chapter 496 Above The Waters Of Atlantic Ocean, Ending The Battle As Swift As He Could

    <strong>Day 126 - 2:10 PM - Mount Mbito, General Nakar, Quezon</strong>


    Atop the mountain, Yukine and Kouki safely watched the spectacle.


    The shocking scene they had watched was enough to make the hair on the back of their necks stand up in fear.


    What they saw was not like things they encountered before.


    Furthermore, she had just conversed with Mark the previous night, where they mentioned the name of The Great One. And yet, the next day, he came to crash the party.


    "No wonder the Oracle said that it is a cmity."


    Kouki, the tengu, murmured beside Yukine.


    The Great One, the eighth founder of Auraboros, the Deity of Nothingness, those three were among the four titles that he had.


    As for the fourth one, from the people of his time, The Great One was called the ck Storm.


    There was not much known about the Deity that gave himself the arrogant title of The Great One. And even his origins were obscured. However, there was one thing that Yukine heard from her mother, the Empress. It might just be some hoax or rumor, but it might have some truth in it.


    The Great One was neither a creature or a human.


    Even so, considering him as a human might not be wrong at all. He was not born as a creature of nature, after all. Instead, he was born as a none existent twin of a human child.


    He was not invisible like anyone would imagine. The Great One was born without a solid body. Very simr to formless demons.


    That was why even his mother never knew of his existence at all.


    When he was born, however, the cmity struck.


    The whole vige turned to dust.


    He was a child, bearing the curse nted unto his mother. It was his destiny to destroy since he was born.


    No one knew what happened to him after that.


    The next time he appeared was a decadeter as he destroyed the ce where the curse came. At that time, he finally gained a body of his own with painstaking effort.


    And that was when the people noticed him as a cmity called the ck Storm.


    Unfortunately, the gods at that time would not let a creature like him grow. They chased him down, gaining his ire.


    That ire forced the creature that had no mortal body, to begin with, to grow more powerful.


    The Great One, unlike other beings of Earth, was born a Deity. The curse he carried was that strong to give birth to a catastrophic deity.


    Those gods managed to kill the physical body he created, but never managed to kill his spirit.


    Thus, like what they did to others, they sealed the catastrophe away.


    But before the Auraboros formed, the first founder reached out and released the imprisoned disaster.


    And now that humans started to go extinct, it seemed he decided to start ying.


    "He might be thousands of years old already, but it still felt like he was a child who found a new toy and was trying to show it off."


    Yukine murmured as she remembered the attitude that he showed to Mark.


    Mark was quite desperate to fight and protect his base, but to The Great One, it was nothing but a game.


    The fight here as over and the devastation left by The Great One was quite massive. If the people living in that base were regr people, this was enough to make them struggle.


    The crops they nted and soon would be harvesting were all turned to empty fields filled with nothing but ckened dust.


    The forest that served as secondary protection of the base from the eyes of many was already gone. The nearest edge was several dozens of meters away.


    Luckily, the spring that was the source of water of the base was inside. If not, who knows if the water got contaminated. It was also questionable if the soil basked in this ck dust was still arable.


    The lingering stench of danger should be enough to make the edible animals stay away. And the magical energy left by the battle might attract infected from who knows where.


    After this catastrophe, the base was in for a worse time.


    Nevertheless, even though the battle here already finished, it was still ongoing on the other side.


    ***


    Day 126 - 3:10 AM - North Antic Ocean


    The dark before dawn sky obscured the dark clouds that appeared once more.


    They flew above the Antic ocean, a ce where nothing and no one would be dragged into this battle unknowingly.


    It was a good choice of ce by Spera. But knows how she had been here in the middle of this ocean before?


    Mark stared at the enemy in front of him as the injuries he acquired started to recover.


    On the other side, The Great One watched Mark heal as if it was something amusing.


    "I seemed you noticed."


    The Great One said as he looked around. Nevertheless, there was just amusement in his voice and did not care much whether he was found out or not.


    "As if I will try to destroy that body near my base."


    Mark replied with a re.


    It was kind of unusual that The Great One kept on obscuring the sky and the face of that body even though were was no need to do so. And thinking about that matter, it became more and more suspicious.


    That was when Mark realized.


    The Great One was trying to drag his ce into the wrath of the Observer.


    Everyone who knew called them Observers, but it did not mean that they were able to see everything, especially those detached from the world fate, the ones with the potential to be gods.


    Gods had to hide because their godly auras were easily detectable, but those below them, it was not easy even for the observers to locate them immediately. They were only observers and not the god that created the world.


    That was where the eyes came in.


    The stronger once tend to attack, but how were they Obeservers able to locate those to be attacked in the first ce?<sub> </sub>


    That should be where the scouts that served as the sight of the Observer came in. Those that were hard to be seen and detected. Something shaped more like humans.


    One of those was the body that The Great One was currently using.


    Even though he had gained control over it, the sight that it could give to the Observer must still be there. Once The Great One removed the ck clouds or that haze on its face, even his would be seen by the Observer.


    And if Mark destroyed it near his base, it was very likely that while the connection would be severed, the location of its death would be revealed to the owner.


    None of those should happen.


    Mark might be able to obscure himself from that sight because of his Miasma and severed fate, but his base would be exposed to who knows what amount of danger.


    pping his three remaining wings and thest one that was still healing, Mark released a huge amount of Miasma into the surroundings, trying to ovee even the clouds in the sky.


    Of course, The Great One did not just watch. Using the ck clouds he was releasing, he scattered his own.


    Two waves of ck forces collided, each trying their strongest to win against each other.


    But to Mark''s dismay, it was a tie.


    His Miasma could not push forwards anymore that what he was able to.


    Mark''s Miasma and The Great One''s destructive clouds were equal at most. The former could not eat thetter, thetter could not fully destroy the former.


    It was a stalemate.


    Well, if Mark continued this way.


    Finally, Mark''s missing wing finished regenerating. He flew at fast speeds once more.


    On the other hand, The Great One just hovered in ce, but his attacks were fiercer than before.


    But then, Mark took something out that he had never used in an actual battle before.


    "An Eye for an Eye they said."


    Mark murmured.


    A crystal hovered in front of him as he flew.


    And then...


    SHOOOOOOOOOMMMM!!!!!!


    A blinding beam of light that obscured the night sky shot off.


    Even The Great One did not expect it. The beam of light came faster than he could see.


    Before he could even react, the body he was currently using disintegrated to nothing.


    Nevertheless, the presence of The Great One did not vanish.


    "You really have a lot of interesting things, don''t you?"


    The Great One''s voice echoed in Mark''s ears. Nevertheless, there was no indication of where it wasing from.


    "We will y again in the future. Don''t disappoint me. If you don''t entertain me like this next time, let''s see what reaction your face thatcked expressions will show me as I take that woman as my bride. HAHAHAHA!"


    With that evilugh, the voice of The Great One vanished.


    Mark looked at the crystal on his hand, only one use and it was already dim. The power was not something to joke at, but the expenditure was also huge. He did not know how long this would charge up as he only used a little of it before for preparation, but it took two days for a smallser pistol sized beam to recharge.


    But it was worth it. For now, he managed to avert the danger from his base.


    With the disappearance of The Great One, the clouds that covered the sky started to dissipate.


    Seeing that, Mark also fled as fast as he could.


    ? Who knows what would happen here now that the body of the Eye died.


    However, Mark did not know where he was right now. The only thing he could do was fly away in a random direction as long as he could get away from this ce.


    Half an hourter, Mark''s premonition came true.


    Fifteen figures appeared at the ce where the battle took ce. All of then had unique features. Most of them were capable of flight while some were swimming underwater.


    The only simr features on their bodies, however, there were eyes at ces that eyes should not be located.


    Each of them was at the level of a deity in strength. Probably, even stronger than The Great One.


    If Mark saw this, he would be sure that even the Observer was taking advantage of the outbreak to clean up things he wanted to clean.


    It was understandable considering that an organization of non-human creatures surfaced after the outbreak.


    The figures scoured the area for anything for who knows long. They were patient just to get any clue of what had happened here. They took a whole day searching without anyint.


    Unfortunately, they found nothing but a sliver of residual energy left by the battle.


    Anger was clear on their faces. One of them just had gone missing and suddenly perished. It was a disgrace to them even though the one that died was the weakest among them.


    Without any lead as to what happened, they left and went back to their own duties. It was to search for clues as to where the reclusive gods were hiding.


    ***


    While all of that was happening, Mark reached a ce he had never been to before.


    After the battle, he flew randomly in the west direction, avoiding any suspicious presence. In fact, he detected one that was flying towards the direction where he came from after fifteen minutes.


    He did not dare confront the being, however. The guy was emitting a pressure not far from Bath.


    Using thest sliver of the [Photokinesis Mental Crystal], he made himself invisible as he flew just a few inches above the ocean waters.


    After another twenty minutes of flying stealthily, he saw a patch ofnd on the horizon.


    And there, he arrived...


    At Antic City, New Jersey.

 Chapter 497 The Current State Of Atlantic City, A Group Amidst A Huge Dilemma

    <strong>Day 126 - 3:42 AM - Antic City, New Jersey, United States of America</strong>


    Antic City. It was a city established at the Antic Coast of New Jersey during the 1800s as a health resort. It then became known as a resort city with casinos, wide beaches many other features aimed for rxation and entertainment.


    Now, however, the city''s bright lights were already gone, and it was nothing but a dead silhouette of a city filled with tall buildings from afar.


    After a tiring flight, Marknded atop a highrise building by the coast. He breathed deeply. It was very tiring trying to flee in that situation that you know when something that you could not handle might appear.


    Mark walked towards the edge of the building, sitting down as he looked around the area.


    There were other ces he couldnd when he was flying away. From the north, there seemed to be some suburban city. It was the same in the south. However, both areas were not that suitable for hiding. If one was fleeing from something, it was a better choice to find where there were more ces to hide.


    It was not like something was chasing him, but it was never a bad thing to be careful. After all, who knows? He liked to hide his trump cards and use them at crucial times. The others could be the same. Furthermore, who knew what else the enemies were capable of considering nothing much was known about them.


    As Mark looked around, the city was dead quiet. But it did not mean that no activities were happening.


    In the first ce, Mark did not know where in the world he was right now. The only thing he could think of was somewhere in America because of what he told Spera before opening the portal. He also flew across an ocean towards the west. The outlook of the city also resembled the North American casino cities.


    Even the reason why hended on this specific building was that it stood out quite a bit. This orange-colored,rge building with a tall tower seemed to be a multi-purpose tourist site now that he got a closer look at it, even the building connected to several casinos around it.


    To the north, there was another casino-hotel that was violet-colored. It was more conspicuous, but Mark avoided that one. It was because one of the activities in the area was there.


    Why was Mark aiming for buildings that stood out? Of course, it was because the more conspicuous the hiding ce was, the more likely that who or what could be chasing would think less of it. Well, it would not work all the time, but there was still the chance that it would.


    Mark sat at the edge of the building but away from anywhere that anyone could see him easily. He was waiting if there was something to happen and was getting ready for another action if needed.


    While he did so, Mark was observing that violet-colored casino-hotel.


    It was quite surprising to find survivors in a ce like this. If one to look below the streets, were was quite an amount of infected. It was something to expect in cities that invested more in tourism.


    The outbreak suddenly came, and the tourists that flocked in these areas during the holidays turned into infected.


    To say, as a fan of the Zombie Genre, Mark missed seeing a scene like this. After all, they had been spending their time at the base surrounded by greeneries. A zombie-apocalyptic city scenery was more pleasing to Mark''s eyes if not for the danger.


    Looking back at that building, Mark could see how these people managed to survive. The lower roof of the casino used to be part of rooftop restaurants and a big swimming pool. Since that was the case, they were able to use the rooftop that already had enough facilities to shelter people.


    With that as the main camp, they were able to cross arge area using the junctions that connected the buildings.


    Mark closed his eyes, enveloping the whole casino he was looking at with his [Emphatic Detection].


    "Hmm?"


    He detected something unexpected. It might be a coincidence, but who knew?


    There was an inheritor among the survivors in that casino-hotel.


    Mark could not tell which ability the person inherited. Nevertheless, it was definitely something worthy of checking.


    Of course, he had no reason to meet or show himself to the person. As long as he passed Freed''s criterion, there was no need for any interaction.


    And to say, if he was to evaluate the current state of his survivor camp, it was rather neutral.


    Their emotional states were not happy but not that disturbed either. They seemed to be content just by surviving.


    Nevertheless, there seemed to be some problems. That was what Mark thought as the Mutators were together emitting some uneasiness in their conversation.


    Mark waited in his position for another hour.


    Fortunately, nothing seemed to be tailing him. It would be a bad thing if there were in any case.


    Nevertheless, he did not dare go home immediately. Someone might call him being too careful, but it was better than botching things up.


    In any case, he already told Spera to open the portal back after a day. Thus, he could stay here and go hometer.


    While patting the dust off from his pants, Mark stood up.


    The sky already had a glimpse of dawn as he was on the eastern coast. The breeze was cold, but a bit salty. It was something that one could expect when near the ocean.


    Still, Mark had quite a jeg. It was already past lunchtime when the battle started. And yet, here he was now. On the morning of the same day again. The feeling was quite odd.


    Mark looked at one of the rings on his fingers, he started sending magical energy at it without trying to activate it.


    This ring was one of the pair of rings Mei received from Bath. The rings that would allow the wearers to teleport to each other.


    During the preparation, Mark and Mei already tested it. There seemed to be no repercussion to using it. However, the rings could only be used with a day interval after thest one. It was something like a cooldown as the rings replenish the energy used on their own.


    Mark tried replenishing it with his own energy or the crystals. Unfortunately, that was not applicable. He could use it now, and return. Still, he would use this in times of emergency instead. A day might not be too long, but seconds of danger could already cause a catastrophe.


    Nevertheless, Mark and Mei found another use for these rings.


    When one ring was activating, the wearer of the other pair would feel a slight vibration to indicate the arrival of the other. However, this vibration would trigger while the ring was preparing the energy being used for transfer and could be canceled before activation.


    That, however, led to something like amunication device between Mark and Mei. Using the vibrations with morse code, they could send messages when they were far from each other.


    And right now, he was sending a message to Mei that was on the other side of the globe.


    ***<sub> </sub>


    <strong>Day 126 - 3:16 PM - Mountain Base, Mount Mbito, General Nakar, Quezon</strong>


    Past an hour after Mark dragged The Great One through the portal that Spera opened, those that were left at the base were worried.


    They did not dare call the others out yet, and they were still waiting for any danger that could appear.


    While they did that, they started eliminating the scattered infected outside the base. Without anyone controlling the infected, the infected started to go rampant and even tried to attack the base.


    Fortunately, the base was made to defend against the infected. There were some infected that were troublesome to deal with, but all still fell.


    Finally, after waiting for a while, Mei''s ring let out a weak vibration.


    Tranting the code was quite hard, but Mei had no qualms learning it. She was still slow, though. It was not too hard to learn, but it was not something that could be memorized perfectly in a few days.


    "Sis, how is he?"


    Jaeya asked Mei, who was still receiving Mark''s message.


    "Gege won." Mei smiled. "He said not to worry about him. It seems like he''s in New Jersey right now. He''s still looking for any directory or address around."


    "New Jersey... Spera really sent him that far." Jaeya said as she looked at Spera, who was currently sleeping. "She''s spent, though."


    Spera was the MVP when it came to protecting the base this time. In return, however, she immediately fell asleep after the battle.


    From what they could see, Spera spent her magical energy to thest drop. She might have gotten stronger because of Mark. Still, opening arge portal and another that connected to the opposite side of the world would leave her incapacitated afterward.


    Not to mention the effort she exerted in order to maintain therge portal from crumbling, her mental stress would surely be heavier than anyone here.


    Well, the danger this time had already passed. The next thing they should focus on was to recover.


    The surroundings of the base were devastated, after all.


    "The old couple will be sad after seeing that."


    Jaeya said with a shrug while looking at the already nonexistent crop fields.


    "By the way, won''t big brother return?"


    "Not yet. He''s being careful not to drag anything unnecessary back here. Also, the rings are for an emergency." Mei said with a smile as she looked at the ring on her ring finger. "Let''s just wait until Spera recover."


    ***


    <strong>Day 126 - 3:42 AM - Bally''s, Antic City, New Jersey, United States of America</strong>


    Inside the office of the casino, the Mutators gathered as they discussed their worries.


    These Mutators led this group of survivors holed at the rooftop of Bally''s Casino. Every since the start of the outbreak, all of them had been here. No one tried to leave, or rather, no one could leave even if they wanted to.


    They were trapped in this casino.


    It was because Antic City was one of the worst ground zeros in the state.


    The chances that an ident where two passenger airnes would collide in the air was too small. And yet, it happened above this city before the outbreak started.


    Many people witnessed it when two airnes suddenly stalled and lost control, deviating from their paths and colliding with each other.


    Thatrge disy of fireworks brought hell to the city as Mutated infected rained from above. Many died from the fall, but most of them managed to live with just broken body parts.


    Unlike how the outbreak started at one area in other ground zeros, the ground zero here was the whole city.


    Because of that, the military had to abandon the city and destroy all the bridges leading to it. They thought that they could contain the outbreak by trying to iste it.


    That was where they were wrong and the military just ended up trapping the survivors inside the city with nowhere to go.


    The survivors here managed to hold on for four months just by scouring the connected casinos and hotels.


    But that ended here as their supplies started dwindling.


    And of course, no one wanted to go to the streets even if they were Mutators.


    It was because, in this city, the Mutated Infected outnumbered the regr ones.


    And in their group, there were only six of them among the one hundred and thirty people they had.


    Running for supplies would not only endanger their lives but would not ensure that they would be able to collect enough for everyone.


    All that led to this meeting. Among the six, however, there was someone not paying attention and was looking at the wall for some reason.


    "Morgan, what are you looking at?"


    One of the two women at the meeting asked the man.


    "No, its nothing."


    Morgan replied. Nevertheless, he was sure that he felt something nostalgic for no apparent reason.

 Chapter 498 The Infected Of Atlantic City, The Odd, The Strange, And The Interesting

    <strong>Day 126 - 7:22 AM - Caesars Antic City Centurion Towers, Arkansas Ave, Antic City, United States of America</strong>


    Mark continued tomunicate with Mei through the ring as he flew down to the lower roofs of the orange-colored building. His destination was the next building south of this one. It was because he saw some rooftop park and a bar which looked interesting.


    A rooftop park with nted trees and bushes were very unusual if one came from the Philippines. It was no wonder that he would be interested in this one.


    The rooftop was empty. There was no infected either. It was kind of understandable because it was easy for the infected to fall off from the roof.


    Still, the evidence of the struggle was present in the area. Dried blood stained the floor and walls. There were even chunks of desated flesh at some ces.


    The tables and chairs were overturned, the ss walls were shattered.


    Fortunately, the flora on the rooftop was enough to overshadow the despair left in this ce.


    At the clear sight of the park, Mark said.


    "The nts had overgrown."


    Without maintenance, these trees and nts nted in an unnatural environment should have withered already. Yet, they were still living vigorously and had overgrown. The effect of Mutagen on flora was very apparent in this situation.


    As hended, Mark noticed a tourist pamphlet that already stuck to the floor. He tried to scrape it off to check, but because of the very long exposure to nature, the paper was already brittle. The pamphlet was torn. However, he was able to read arge part with pages stuck together.


    Through this pamphlet, he learned where in the world he was currently.


    After throwing the pamphlet away, Mark noticed webs on the overgrown trees while walking.


    The newly created webs were rather thick for a regr spider, and each strand was enough to be used to sew new clothes. This meant that whatever that created these webs must be nearby.


    ''A Mutated Infected Spider or an Evolved Spider?''


    Mark could not help but specte.


    He then heard a rustling among the trees, which immediately alerted him.


    And here was the answer, jumping out of the trees while shooting webs at Mark. As Mark sidestepped to dodge the thick, sticky web, he watched the assant without expression.


    He was wrong in both assumptions.


    "A cat?"


    Mark murmured as he looked at the bloated creature in front of him.


    It was a gray fat tabby agilely moving while spitting strings of webs through its mouth. With its swift movements that a regr human would only see a blur, it was questionable to call it fat at all.


    "Ah. I see."


    Mark realized that it was not a web but might be a string made of fur. This infected cat might have mutated some of its organs to be like this.


    The cat charged towards Mark while shooting those strings like a regr mindless infected. Thus, with a swing of his [Blood Whip], the cat''s body fell with its head off.


    Looking at the dead body on the floor, Mark could not help but say.


    "What a weird one."


    Leaving the body behind, Mark walked off towards the bar.


    He wanted to look for food as he was kind of hungry now. As it was unexpected that he had to drag the enemy away, he never prepared any food for him to carry. Besides, the food situation of his base was not good either because of the enemies. They could not make any dried goods because of the veil of fog.


    Disappointingly, the bar was already ransacked. It was kind of expected, but Mark was feelingzy to go around to search for food. He had just finished a tiring battle. This made him want to rx a bit while he observed the inheritor on the building to the north.


    "Oh, well."


    Mark shrugged as he decided to find some food in ces below. This was a tourist area, there should be a lot of restaurants and stores.


    BOOOM!!!


    Before Mark could even take flight, a loud explosion was heard from the northwest. It sounded like it was quite far away, but the sound was loud enough to be heard clearly.


    The explosion made Mark fly up in the sky to see the source.


    "What the f-?!"


    Mark almost cursed at the sight he saw.


    He was not able to see it earlier because it was still dark, and he did not pay attention to the residential areas of Antic City. Now, however, he was able to see it.


    The whole highway to the northwest was already scorched along with every building beside it. Looking at the way the establishments looked charred, it was not because of fire but because of something too hot near it. It was like the structures were exposed to smoke for a very long time.


    The situation was quite strange as the charring of the buildings looked old.


    And the source of the explosion was a car that was abandoned in the middle of the highway.


    As for the culprit, it was a bungalow-sized red slug moving across the highway at a slow pace. The slug''s body was glowing like magma, releasing smoke every time it breathes.


    Mark noticed the people on the rooftop of the violet buildinge out to see the spectacle. They did not seem surprised at the situation, making him realize that it was not new to them.


    Thus, turning into a ck mist, Mark decided to eavesdrop a bit.


    ***


    "It moved again. When was thest time?"


    A female Mutator said with a frown.


    "Its been dormant for a week. It''s not any different from the previous times. Since that thing appeared, it will move a few blocks for a whole day before sleeping for at least five days. Just be d that it is not moving our way."


    A male Mutator replied.


    They all watched the spectacle together with other survivors that were interested. As for the others, they could care any less.


    But then, another Mutator seemed uneasy. He was a thin ck-American, with a generic office worker look. He had an honest and straightforward vibe on him, and with the interaction of the non-Mutator survivors with him, it seemed that he was very well-liked.<sub> </sub>


    The same man then turned serene.


    "Who''s there?!"


    The man shouted at the blind spot of the rooftop.


    He then ran towards the ce with his uzi on hand.


    But when he reached the spot, there was no one there.


    "Morgan, what is wrong?"


    The other people chased up to him with a wary expression.


    "There''s nothing here."


    Another survivor said while peaking out.


    "Morgan, don''t scare us like that. We''re at the rooftop. No one will be able toe here without us knowing."


    A bulky bodied Mutator tapped Morgan on his shoulder. They all pulled him back amicably. They might have thought that Morgan was ying a joke on them.


    On the other hand, Morgan was silent. He did not know why, but he was sure that he felt that someone there.


    ***


    "So, he''s called Morgan, huh. He''s pretty sharp."


    Mark said with a smile as he looked at the man, who was returning with his group.


    Unfortunately, Mark could still not tell what ability this person inherited. Although he could feel the inheritors through the crystal, he could not learn whose powers they had unless they used it in front of him at least once.


    The only exceptions to this were Nia and Allen, who inherited the two closest people in Freed''s life. He had a special connection to them, and he would know who they were, even if he did not want to.


    Leaving the vicinity of the casino-hotel, Mark flew towards the giant slug while avoiding the sight of the people back there.


    And the more he flew, the more the frowned.


    "What the hell is wrong with this city?"


    Mark murmured, while a sizable number of infected tried to chase him from below.


    The city was brimming with infected. It was not surprising as it was a tourist area. If the wave of infected that happened before also happened here, the number of infected was more eptable.


    Still, it did not exin why the ratio ofmon infected and the mutated ones was tilted the wrong way.


    Themon, regr infected could not be called mon" at all as he could count more mutated infected roaming the streets.


    It was more appropriate here to call the mutated infected as themon ones.


    Fortunately, almost all of Mark encountered on the way so far were all [Level 1] mutations. If they were all [Level 3], he would question why that group in the casino-hotel was still alive.


    Nevertheless, the sight on the street would make anyone shiver. There was no way that any survivor would be able to use the roads at all.


    That survivor group was stuck at the rooftops, there was no doubt in that.


    Mark also saw some food stores along the way and tried to peek a bit. Almost everything was untouched. This meant that this city was overwhelmed by the infected since the start of the outbreak.


    There was also one thing that Mark noticed. There were chunks of airne parts everywhere, and there was even arge cut of a wing stuck at the face of a building.


    As Mark continued to fly, observing the surroundings, something jumped on the walls of the building, trying to catch unto him.


    "A [Level 3]."


    Mark murmured as he spun his body, evading an attack from the mutated infected.


    The infected was a teenaged male, and he was shooting pointed bones from his arms as he chased after Mark.


    But then, he saw his prey vanish in a puff of smoke. The next thing he knew was that his head flew away as his headless body plopped unto the streets.


    Mark continued to fly, leaving the horde on the street that started to feed on the dead body of their previousrade.


    "These guys are starving, arent they?"


    It was no surprise, though. Not all infected were dead, after all.


    Along the way, Mark found two small infected nests. One was at an apartment building, and one was at a school.


    For two infected nests to exist just two blocks away from each other was quite odd in a sense.


    Nevertheless, Mark did not pay much attention. What he was interested in was that gigantic magma slug.


    It made him want to call Aephelia here and capture this one. But it seemed to be impossible right now unless he wanted to give up on either Gifre or Logan.


    Nevertheless, he did not know whether it would worth it. From the discussion of the survivors on that rooftop, this slug was something slow-moving. And it was not suitable to be kept on his base as it might cause a forest fire even without doing anything.


    As he flew closer to the highway, Mark started to feel the temperature going up. Sure enough, it was something emitted by that gigantic slug.


    In the end, he was not able to reach the highway at all. The heat was too much to bear. He could only get about two blocks before the gigantic slug, and it already felt like his skin was burning.


    However, not that he was closer, Mark realized something as he observed the gigantic slug.


    It was nowhere like amon slug that one could see in damp areas.


    There were flowering coral-like designs on its head and back along with a beautiful pattern on its body. There were holes in its back where it releases smoke, and after it was done, the holes would be sealed with beautifully colored gills.


    It was a marine gastropod mollusc, a Nudibranch.


    Mark wanted it even more. It was not like a mutated infected at all but something that naturally born of nature.

 Chapter 499 A Temporary Military Base, A Disturbance Caused By A Single Man

    <strong>Day 126 - 7:25 AM - Great Ind, Antic City Parks Department, N Albany Ave., Antic City, New Jersey, United States of America</strong>


    The Great Ind. It was arge, irregrly-shaped ind southwest of Antic City. Rivers, grass, and trees filled thendscape. A single highway connected the ind to both the main ind of Antic City and the maind of New Jersey. Inside the ind, only four establishments were present, an abandoned roadside hotel, a gas station, the Antic City Parks Department, and thergest school in Antic City, the Antic City Highschool.


    Currently, while the survivors remaining in Antic City thought that the state had abandoned the city, arge group of the US military was stationed here, upying the Great Ind.


    Unfortunately, their orders did not include the welfare of the survivors.


    Inside the Antic City Parks Department, the military had installed a surveince system. Powered by sr panels and batteries, the whole facility had no problems running.


    Here, they monitor the current state of Antic City and fulfill two of the orders given to them.


    The first order was to study the ecology of the infected, and the second was to monitor the state of the survivor groups left in the area.


    Each day at a fixed schedule, theyunch and retrieve drones that they scattered across the city. There were more than a hundred of these drones equipped with the military''stest technology. There were more than two hundred drones across the city. The location did not matter whether it wasnd, air, or water.


    These drones were not only equipped with silent motors but also had long-distance cameras allowing them to observe the targets without closing into a noticeable distance.


    Furthermore, these drones were perfect for the job as the infected were not attracted to them except for a few odd ones.


    They needed to gather as much data about the infected as they could together with the scientists studying them that currently stationed at the high school.


    At this moment, a military officer with a stern appearance entered the surveince room early in the morning.


    "Sir McGuire!"


    The personnel inside the surveince area immediately stood up and saluted.


    He was Major Samuel McGuire, the head military officer of this military facility. Known for his strict appearance and conduct, no one who knew him would try to get on his worst side. Nevertheless, he was a very approachable superior to his men and everyone here respected him.


    "Report."


    Major McGuire signaled his hand to put everyone at ease and asked for the current status report. He was alerted by one of the soldiers in charge of monitoring one of the targets of interest.


    "Sir, specimen NH-528, Codename: Magma Hill, is on the move again."


    A soldier with quite a bored expression reported.


    Hearing that, the Major made his way towards the monitor of the bored soldier. On the screen, a sea-slug with magma like body and was spewing hot smoke was present. It slowly made its way through the highway.


    "So, it moved again." Major McGuire voiced. "Did it change direction?"


    "No, Sir. It continued in the same direction after another week of dormancy."


    "If it continued like this, it could be heading in a specific direction. We need to know where it is going."


    "I know, Sir. But how long will it take?"


    The bored soldier asked. It was no wonder he had that expression if the was assigned to monitor this creature. Even the Major could not me the soldier since he understood his troubles.


    ording to their records, NH-528 surfaced from the sea two days after the start of the outbreak. It first appeared at the coast near Oscar E. McClinton Waterfront Park with the signs of hot water vapor from the ocean. Since then, it continued to move straight towards the highway at a snail''s pace. Not only its movements were slow, but it had long dormancy intervals too. For the four months that it appeared, it had not even reached half of the highway it was traversing. Also, because of this, they had to rotate the personnel monitoring the target.


    "Continue monitoring the target. Who knows if it suddenly exhibits changes in its behavior."


    The Majormanded.


    "Yes, Sir." The soldier replied with a deadpan expression.


    Major McGuire then looked around.


    "Where is Andrews?"


    He asked.


    Private First ss James B. Andrews. He was one of the promising new soldiers among thest batch of graduates that they recruited before the outbreak. Meticulous, observant, and honest. Those three traits were something Major McGuire liked about the young man.


    Because Andrews was good at observing, the Major designated him to one of the specimens that were hard to catch.


    When the Major entered this time, however, he did not see Andrews among the people that stood up to salute.


    "Andrews, Sir? He''s right there."


    The nearby soldier pointed at the seemingly empty station that was facing the Major.


    As it looked empty, the soldier stood up from his station and approached the one he pointed.


    The Major immediately followed behind. And there, the Major saw a soldier, who was fully concentrated at the monitor on his station. His face was just about three inches from the monitor as if he was trying to search for something.


    "Andrews! Hey! Andrews!"


    The soldier called out.


    "What is it?! I''m busy!"


    That reply made the soldier shrug as he pointed at the man behind him.


    "Ah, Major!"


    Andrews immediately stood up and saluted.


    BAM!


    His chair fell with a loud bang, though.


    "What is happening? You''re not always like this."


    The Major asked.


    "Sir, it''s about the specimen you told me to watch."


    Andrews replied with a bitter expression.


    "What happened?"


    Moved towards Andrews'' station to see. Even the other soldiers nearby went to see.


    "Sir, look."


    Andrews pointed at the barely recognizable corpse shown on his monitor.


    And of course, everyone frowned. What was shown was not only bad for the eyes and stomach, but that was not the issue. The corpse that was on the monitor should be HS-005, Codename: Jumpshooter. The fifth among the infected that they were monitoring since the start of the outbreak. It might not be the strongest, but it was among the fastest. It could also use its jagged hands with hooked bones to climb and jump across faces of buildings and walls. But that was not its ultimate weapon. It was able to generate projectiles from its fast-growing bones and use it to attack its enemies and prey.<sub> </sub>


    The fast-moving predator, however, was now nothing but a leftover of a heavily-eaten corpse.


    "Did you see how it died?"


    The Major asked.


    "That is the issue, Sir."


    Andrews then switched to a minimized video yer, which seemed to be the one he was watching intently earlier.


    It was a rey of the video feed that was recorded earlier by the drone Andrews was controlling.


    At the start of the video, the Jumpshooter was roaming around blindly. But then, arge number of infected was seen running on the opposite street. And then, the target followed the horde.


    From that onwards, it was clear that Andrews used the drone to immediately chase the target. But with the speed of the Jumpshooter, the drone had a hard time catching up.


    The target turned on the corner of the street following the disturbed horde.


    And when the drone turned at the same corner, all they saw was the head and body of the Jumpshooter separating from each other. Then, the head vanished while its headless body continued to plummet to the ground.


    Everyone watching the video frowned. The soldiers could see nothing at all.


    Then, Andrews switched to a slow-motion yback. There, they saw a ck blur that appeared to be a smoke catch the head and flew away.


    Not content yet, Andrews switched to a still screenshot. There, they could see a blurred silhouette of a person with bat wings reaching for the severed head.


    Seeing that, the Major frowned. But then, he knew what to do.


    "Locate the area and check all the drones around it! We need to know what it was!"


    The Major ordered.


    "Yes, Sir!"


    With that order, every soldier in the room moved.


    It was not surprising. One of the targets they were monitoring died for an unknown reason. The silhouette that they saw might be a new threat, and they needed to find it as soon as possible.


    "Huh?"


    A confused voice was heard among the busy people. It immediately took the attention of everyone in the room.


    And they saw that the source of the voice was that confused-looking soldier that was in charge of the Magma Hill.


    "Major, look!"


    The bored soldier immediately called to the Major.


    "What is it?"


    The Major, of course, approached as it could be urgent.


    But at the monitor, there was nothing but an empty rooftop of the building.


    "Are you fooling with your job right now? Why is your drone focused on an empty rooftop instead of your target?"


    The Major said with a reprimanding voice.


    "Sir, no! It''s not that!"


    The bored soldier immediately worked on his station, opening and switching screens. And then, the rey of the footage that was onlysted a few seconds was projected on the monitor.


    And there, they saw a man with tattered clothes standing at the very same location of the empty rooftop earlier. The man was wearing an odd-looking armor, and two swords could be seen on his back.


    The man seemed to have noticed the drone as he turned his head facing the camera. Then, with a cloud of ck smoke, the man vanished.


    Everyone that saw the video realized that something or someone had appeared in the area of their jurisdiction. And that smoke was totally the same as the one that killed the HS-005.


    Without a second thought, the Major released an order.


    "Everyone assigned to specimens of lower threat level, switch to search protocol. We need to know whether that man is human or not. Release the reserve aerial drones if needed! Understood?"


    "Yes, Sir!"


    And that morning, the monitoring division of the soldiers stationed at the Great Ind became busy.


    ***


    Day 126 - 7:34 AM - Antic City, New Jersey, United States of America


    Mark stood at a hidden area of another rooftop, away from the one he stood at while watching the gigantic mutated Nudibranch.


    "Is that a military drone?"


    He murmured with confusion.


    Since he did not expect it, he was caught off guard. He was definitely filmed by that drone even just for a few seconds.


    "I was too careless."


    Mark did not care who that drone belonged to, but it definitely looked like the ones that he saw on a US military documentary before the outbreak. In the first ce, he never liked being filmed or taking photos of himself. It as because it felt ufortable for him. That was also the reason how he noticed the drone as he felt the same difort.


    He did not mind being seen, but in the current state of the situation, he did not know who could be watching the video feed of that drone. The person could be connected to Auraboros or even the Eyes. There was no one he could trust here.


    And it was even doubtful if it was really a drone of the US military. It was because if it was present here, they should be working on evacuating the survivors left here.


    Now that it crossed his mind, he did not really know anything here at all. It seemed like whether he liked it or not, he should establish contact with the people here.


    "Hmm?"


    While he was in deep thought, he noticed something.


    There were more than a hundred flying drones now gathering in the area.


    "What the hell is this now?"


    Mark shrugged. It felt like he was some freeman with a crowbar being chased by drones sent by the enemies.


    With that funny thought, he decided to investigate a bit. Thus, turning into ck mist, he flew towards where the drones came from.

 Chapter 500 A Visitor, The Disturbance At The Great Island Military Base

    <strong>Day 126 - 9:07 AM - Antic City Highschool, Albany Ave, Great Ind, Antic City, New Jersey, United States of America</strong>


    At the baseball field of the high school, the soldiers were hurrying to deploy the drones from the tech division. Unlike the ones mainly used by the monitoring division, these had built-in technology being able to autonomously search and recognize potential targets.


    In terms of utility, these new ones were better than the usual drones. However, due to the technology used in this experimental drones, it was not optimized yet for energy efficiency. Due to the apocalypse, even the military had a limited amount of electricity for usage. Thus, they refrained from using these new drones unless it was an urgent situation or an emergency.


    One of those situations was happening right now. An unknown character suddenly appeared in their area of operation. They needed to determine if it was human or not, or if possible, an enemy or an ally.


    The state, no, the whole country was in peril, and the military had less than the amount of time they needed. As such, at these kinds of unforeseen circumstances, they had to use their best methods to end it immediately.


    Unknownst to them, they wereunching the drones in the wrong direction. To make the drones more energy-efficient, they were programmed to activate their sensors in the vicinity of the main ind. This, however, made the drones fail in detecting the shadow sitting on the oval of the highschool.


    Sitting on the viewing seats of the sports oval of the highschool, Mark watched the soldiers do their job.


    Mark was using the little bit of recharged energy from the [Photokinesis Mental Crystal] to gather a bit of information inside this military base. He managed to locate this ce by following where the droves of drones wereing from.


    Still, Mark felt troubled as to why these soldiers wereing after him when he definitely did not do anything wrong.


    "So, nowadays, even a tourist will be chased by the military, isn''t it?"


    Mark spoke the question out loud. After all, he was already found. Not by the drones, though, but a military squadposed of seven people. A group of mutators and they were definitely strong, stronger than normal mutators, at least.


    With that question, the mutators that were trying to surround him stealthily were surprised. First, it was because they were experts, and it was easy to track their movements. And second, the invisible enemy did not even turn around or move to be able to see them.


    On the other hand, Mark shrugged his shoulders. He got used to seeing the military in his country that he forgot that the soldiers of other countries were different.


    In the Philippines, Mark seldom heard of their soldiers being equipped with high-tech equipment. Even though drones were now introduced to the military, the models and specifications of these drones were too outdated. Because of these reasons, Mark could not help but think that this could either be that the government could not afford to fund the military or that them being outdated was on purpose.


    Even on media and news broadcasts, one of the most memorable first news broadcasts made using a drone was made using a private drone personally owned by the newscaster and not thepany. That was how outdated the Philippines was in terms of technology. Not only in the military but also in other aspects of the country.


    On the other hand, the soldiers ofrger countries like the US were fully equipped with gadgets and things that would ease the difficulty of their missions.


    It was pretty much like this squad that found Mark. None of them seem to have the ability to see him. However, they were all equipped with thermal and infrared goggles.


    As they were also found out, the squad gave up on stealth and aimed their weapons at Mark.


    "Show yourself!"


    A good looking woman wearing a tight military suit and was holding a .45 Caliber pistol shouted.


    Now, it was not hard to determine who was the leader of this group.


    Themotion created by the squad suddenly popping out of nowhere and aiming their guns at a nk space was seen by the other soldiers. Of course, they were mystified as they were not informed of anything about this situation.


    Some immediately took caution as they seem to realize that something was wrong. The others immediately called their superiors on the radio to report.


    Things were already escting, and he was already found out. It was not like he did not do it on purpose. If Mark really did not want to be seen, it was not like they would be able to.


    Thus, Mark returned the [Photokinesis Mental Crystal] into the PsyCrystal and his [Optica Camouge] automatically deactivated. It revealed his current tattered look as his clothes had holes here and there.


    It did not bother Mark as to say, it was the result of his battle with The Great One. If not for Crimson turning into his armor and protecting him, most of his clothes might have turned into dust, if not all of it.


    To the soldiers, however, these tattered clothes made him look like a survivor trying hard to strive in the apocalypse. Nevertheless, none of them lowered their guns, even in the slightest.


    Furthermore, the way he appeared alerted the elite squad even more.


    "Who are you? What are you doing here?"


    The same woman asked as he slowly closed in.


    "Why are you asking me?" Mark replied in a manner that he did not even put their guns in his eyes. "Your drones had been looking for me and disturbing me. Now, you ask me what I am doing here?"


    After hearing those words, the woman was surprised. She turned to one of her subordinates.


    "Hurry, call Major here."


    But before the subordinate could nod his head, a reply from another direction came.


    "No need. I''m here."


    It was Major McGuire. The officer in charge of this military base.


    Even though the Major replied to the woman, his eyes were fixated at Mark. Mark, on the other hand, was still sitting on the viewer''s seat.


    "Sir, it''s definitely him. The one we saw in the monitoring drone."


    The soldier beside the Major whispered, making thetter nod in agreement.


    "Recall the drones we deployed. There''s no need for them now."


    "Yes, Sir!"


    The soldiers around immediately ran off to fulfill the orders given to them.


    Then, the Major turned towards Mark.


    "Who are you, and what do you want from us?"


    The Major asked as he stepped forwards and stood beside the leader of the elite squad.


    "Why are you asking me? I should the one asking. What do you want from me?"


    That was a very rude question that made everyone choke. Nevertheless, the Major could not refute it. Major McGuire understood that this person in front of them came here after being disturbed by the drones they sent.


    In the least, the man did not seem to be a new threat. That was good enough for now.


    "Ahem." The Major coughed to clear his throat. "We want to ask some questions. Is that possible?"


    Hearing that, Mark immediately nodded. It was what he also wanted to do, ask some questions.


    "I also have questions. I''ll answer yours if you answer mine."


    Mark said as an offer.


    As it had no conflict with what the Major wanted, he immediately agreed.


    "Sherry, order your subordinates to put their guns down. I''ll be taking that man with me."


    The Major said to the female squad leader.


    "Major, are you sure about this?"


    The woman asked.


    "Don''t worry about it. I can read people well, remember?"<sub> </sub>


    Hearing that somewhat illogical reason, Sherry agreed and lowered her gun.


    "Everyone, lower your weapons."


    Sherrymanded.


    "But Captain."


    <o>,m One of the elite members tried to protest.</o>


    "It''s an order."


    Sherry firmly said.


    "Yes, Ma''am."


    Finally, that elite member reluctantly lowered his gun.


    "You don''t have to be that reluctant." Mark suddenly spoke. "Even if you continue pointing that gun at me, it doesn''t mean that you will be able to do anything if I tried to do something."


    The elite member could not ept what he just heard. Even here, their group was respected by these lower-ranked soldiers. The ridicule from a single beggar-looking man was too hard for him to ept.


    Thus, getting overwhelmed by his emotions, the elite member raised his gun once more and fired to everyone''s shock.


    "STOP!"


    Sherry and Major McGuire shouted. However, it was already toote.


    A burst of three bullets fired from the assault rifle that man was holding, flying towards Mark''s direction.


    But then, who knows when did Mark take out one of his swords. With a wave of the whip-like des...


    TANG! TANG! TANG!


    Three bullets fell dented to the ground.


    Then... Mark vanished from where he stood. The next thing that everyone knew...


    Mark was already standing behind that elite member that fired his rifle. The de of the whip-like sword curved around the neck of the elite soldier.


    "So, how many pieces do you want to turn into?"


    Mark asked without looking at the soldier behind him. The soldier could not speak as he was already overwhelmed in fear.


    On the other hand, the other soldiers readied their weapons as conflict suddenly rose. Mark did not care about them, though.


    "Not answering?"


    Mark said as the curved whip-de tightened around the soldier''s neck.


    As the de connected with the soldier''s skin, blood started to drip.


    "Stop! Stop! I surrender!"


    The soldier was finally able to blurt out his words.


    "Do you think that I will ept that?"


    Mark smiled sinisterly as the de continued to tighten.


    "Please stop, we apologize for his conduct."


    The Major tried to intervene.


    The de loosened a bit, but Mark did not let go.


    "Apology? Think about it. A subordinate did not follow his boss'' order and shot his gun to kill you. You managed to turn it around, but the boss stopped you with an apology. Will you ept?"


    That question made everyone speechless and understanding at the same time.


    "Just what do you want?"


    Sherry spoke with a frown.


    "What are you asking about? He tried to kill me, so I''m trying to kill him. What is wrong with it?"


    It was against thew either way, but no one could refute it now.


    "Tell us what you want in exchange for his life." The Major asked, making everyone look at him as he continued. "When I told you that I have some questions for you to ask, you said that you will answer if we answer your questions. Then maybe, you can trade his life for something."


    Many soldiers did not ept that, and they were ready to fire their guns if needed.


    "Trade, huh?" Mark spoke with his index finger tapping his chin.


    And then, he gave a shocking offer.


    "The research you people are conducting here. I want to see it along with the reports."


    That made both Major McGuire and Sherry freeze.


    "Major, you dropped us into the pit."


    Sherry whispered as she panned her eyes through the soldiers around that were present.


    Hearing that sentence, the Major could only have a bitter expression. Sherry was right, he dropped everyone into the pit.


    Handing over the research they painstakingly studied for the life of a single soldier was not worth it. Furthermore, even if he was an elite soldier...


    After he fired his gun, he was already subjected to insubordination.


    Nevertheless, Major offered a trade for the life of that soldier, in front of everyone here. If he declined, even if it was the most logical answer, the morale and trust of the soldiers to their superiors would be broken.


    It was a double-edged sword. Either side that hit the soldiers would wound them severely.


    Thus, there was silence as everyone waited for the Major''s answer.


    "Major, just agree to him. I don''t mind if others learn about our research."


    A voice interrupted. As everyone turned their heads towards the source of the voice, there was a young man in scientist clothes walking from the direction of the school building.


    The young scientist turned at Mark, and thetter did the same.


    Sure enough, a troublesome character appeared.

 Chapter 501 Information Exchange, Learning About The Inheritor Called Morgan

    Day 126 - 10:26 AM - Antic City High School, Great Ind, Antic City, New Jersey, United States of America


    The violentmotion ended peacefully with the words of that young scientist.


    In this military base, there were three heads. First was Major Samuel McGuire, the officer in charge of the military and the soldiers. The second was Captain Sherry Yorkshire, the leader of the elite forces and the assault squad.


    Andstly, Professor Alphfa Alston. The young scientist with a mysterious background.


    Whether the soldiers or the scientists in this military base, none of them knew where Alphfa came from. Even the first meeting they had was when the young scientist was personally endorsed by the government to be the research leader of this base.


    As Professor Alston had direct connections to the government, even Major McGuire could not do anything about his decisions.


    In a sense, that mysterious young scientist was the real leader of this military base.


    Right now, Captain Sherry and Major Samuel walked together with their subordinates towards the prepared conference room. Of course, rather than a conference, what would happen was nothing but an information exchange.


    The Major brought two of his young subordinates to gain more experience. Well, he just wanted to bring one, but the other pestered him toe along. He might have ignored the young soldier if not for the fact that the hard-headed young soldier was his youngest son.


    In fact, this son of Major McGuire was far from being a real soldier. However, as undergraduate cadets were drafted because of the outbreak, it led to the current situation.


    "Dad, we have more soldiers and the enemy is just one person, why are you afraid?"


    The son, Maurice, gabbed.


    And to answer that, Major Samuel turned to the other soldier apanying him. It was no one else but Private James Andrews.


    "Andrews, answer him."


    The Major said.


    Complying with the order, James turned to Maurice.


    "First, because the aggression started with us. That man might have trespassed our base and are supposed to be shot on sight, but since Major already proposed a deal they agreed upon, we are at fault at what happened earlier. Second, what are we here for? We are tasked to gather information because we know nothing much about the infected. Just like that man, we know nothing about him. Unnecessary aggression will lead to unforeseen circumstances since wecked intel."


    James returned to look at the front.


    "Just like what happened earlier. Both Major and Captain got trapped in a sticky situation. Though we don''t know whether it was intentional or not."


    Hearing those words, Maurice frowned. He did not like that he was being lectured by a soldier just two years older than him. Nevertheless, Maurice could not refute the things said to him. All he could do was maintain silence.


    "Major, are you sure of bringing your son? This meeting can be dangerous."


    Captain Sherry asked.


    "You don''t have to worry. Maurice might still be green, but he''s special."


    The Major replied in a way that was quite hard to understand. It made the Captain and the other soldiers with them confused.


    On the other hand, Maurice looked at them with a smug expression. Nevertheless, before the others could even discipline him for his arrogance, the Major beat them up to it.


    It did not take long, and they arrived in the conference room.


    The conference room was unnecessarilyrge, with just a few people inside. Furthermore, the only people that were going to sit around the twenty-four seater table was just four people.


    In the conference room, Mark was already waiting.


    In fact, he almost fell asleep as he waited. Nevertheless, it was not surprising that it would take time since everyone, aside from him, needed to prepare their pieces.


    The Major and the Captain already arrived, but the head scientist was still not here. And looking at the seating arrangement, even without using his Emphatic abilities, Mark knew that the soldiers were wary of him.


    Mark was seated at the furthest end of the table. On the other hand, the two soldiers were sat close to the other end.


    Finally, the young scientist arrived with a briefcase. Surprisingly, he only had two escorts, and both were not soldiers.


    Without hesitation, the scientist sat close to Mark in front of the shocked Major and Captain.


    Then, in front of everyone, the young scientist pushed the briefcase he had towards Mark.


    Mark looked at the scientist with a frown, and thetter just returned it with a smile.


    "That is the summary of all our research. I hope that will satisfy you."


    The scientist said with a smile.


    Surprisingly, Mark could not detect any odd fluctuation from the scientist, indicating that he was not lying.


    Mark opened the briefcase that was not locked at all. Inside the case was a stack of papers. It made him turn towards the scientist once more. He said that it was a summary. Yet, it was as thick as a grade schooler''s textbook.


    "Giving me all these without hesitation, what is your intention?"


    Mark asked, immediately, as he browsed over some of the papers.


    "Nothing much, I just hope that you will answer some of my questionster."


    "Then, ask."


    Mark said.


    "Later." The young scientist waved his index finger. "They will ask first. My questions willeter."


    With the urging of the young scientist, the exchange of information between Mark and the two high ranked soldiers started. All that while, the young scientist kept silent.


    Of course, the first step was introductions. Mark learned the names of the two officers and the scientist without problems.


    And sure enough, Mark left them his usual introduction.<sub> </sub>


    The questions of the two officers were not too farfetched and were just for information gathering. Questions like where Mark came from and why he was in this ce was included in the questions.


    Mark had no problems answering those questions. Nevertheless, while he did not lie, he left out some of the details.


    The American soldiers were surprised to hear that Mark came from the Philippines, which was basically on the other side of the globe. As for the question of why he was in this ce, Mark answered that he fought with an enemy and got lost. That was why he was here.


    Of course, they asked who his enemy was.


    And to test these people, Mark answered without hesitation.


    "The people of Auraboros."


    Sure enough, the atmosphere in the room froze. Even the young scientist looked strange.


    Nevertheless, that answer gave Mark one confirmation. There were no members of Auraboros in this room.


    Still, looking at their expressions, it seemed that their government also had shes with this underground group ran mostly by non-humans.


    Then, the question about why Mark was fighting that group came. He answered with the truth. It was because the Auraboros tried to meddle with his country, but he got on the way.


    More questions seem trivial but had goals of trying to reveal the meaning of Mark''s obscure words. Nevertheless, they were careful enough not to tantly ask for more details from his answers.


    On the other hand, Mark asked about the goal of the military and why they seemed to have abandoned the survivors in Antic City.


    Sure enough, that question gave a bad taste in these honest soldiers.


    It was not like they did not want to, but they could only follow the orders of their superiors.


    Then, an unsightly wave of anxietying from these soldiers swept towards Mark. This made him speechless.


    No wonder now. Mark noticed since he came here, but he did not see any nonbatant in this ce aside from the scientists. With this feeling, it was very likely that they were sent here for the mission while their families were held somewhere else.


    As long as they were alive, and they fulfill their missions, their families would be kept safely by the government. If not, who knew what would happen.


    It was a cruel world, after all.


    Aside from that question, Mark learned about the differences of terminologies between the Philippines and here. Mutagen here was called Gene Virus, and Mutators were simply Mutants. The Evolvers were called Enhanced Humans as the people call them that.


    Fortunately, the infected remained infected.


    Mark''s second set of questions, however, surprised everyone else in the room. It was because he started asking about the survivors in Bally''s Hotel Casino. Considering that they were surveying the whole city as per their mission, it was very likely that they were also observing the survivors remaining in the Antic City.


    Sure enough, Mark got some answers he wanted, especially about the man called Morgan.


    He was Louie Morgan as per the database of the military. Apparently, he was among the persons of interest remaining in Antic City. It was because he was not only a Mutant, but he also disyed supernatural abilities.


    The Major sent his subordinate to fetch the profile of the man, and Mark received it after a few minutes.


    Learning about the person made Mark''s eyes lit up, but he also sighed.


    This Louie Morgan was the inheritor of the man called Gordilius Efleria. The trusted general of Freed''s father, the former king.


    Gordilius was bitten by the infected during the disaster at the castle, where most of the royals were killed. The general almost died, protecting the former king. Unfortunately, the king died, and he lived.


    He gained the ability to manipte rocks. Shaping rocks into ded swords or hurling the rocks as projectiles.


    After Freed took the throne, Gordilius followed Freed, promising himself that what happened to the previous king would not happen to Freed. Unfortunately, the monster that destroyed Eriellis came, making him unable to fulfill his oath.


    It was quite a powerful ability if used and was trained properly. Unfortunately, reading the records, Mark found out that Morgan more than passed Freed''s criterion.


    Louie Morgan was an honest office worker that was brought to Antic City because of a business trip led by his Boss. It seemed that it was not of goodwill, however. Even though he was a proper employee, that Boss of his treated him as an errand boy. Furthermore, bringing him to gatherings only to be subjected to racism because of his color.


    Nevertheless, Louie Morgan never gave up and remained lowly even though he was not just a regr human.


    Furthermore, when the outbreak came, the first thing that Morgan did was save some people. In fact, more than half of the current survivors there in that casino-hotel was saved by him.


    It was a bummer for Mark. He thought that he could get it back.


    Still, it was surprising that these soldiers had this much information, even the background and what Louie Morgan did before the outbreak was included.


    Sure enough, the information gathering of arger country was top notch. It could not bepared to Mark''s 3rd world country and its military force.


    The exchange of questions continued. It included the diversity of infected in the area of Antic City and the kinds of infected found in the Philippines.


    The Major and Captain were conscious enough to not ask about more private questions towards Mark, like asking about his skills or if he was a Mutant or someone with a supernatural ability.


    Finally, the Major and the Captain exhausted their list of questions that they gained quite an amount of information and things about the current state of the Philippines. After all, it was crucial information asmunication across countries was already cut off.


    Mark asked about that since he remembered that before he lost consciousness before bing a mutator, the satellite phones were still working.


    And there, Mark learned the strange answer.


    Apparently, another meteoroid closed near the Earth approximately at the time that Mark was unconcious.


    Even the US military did not know whether it was among the meteoroids that caused the outbreak but just arrivedte. It ended up crashing into the mainmunication ry satellite that was orbiting Earth.


    No wonder now. Still, that meteoroid was suspicious.


    Finally, the turn for the young scientist came. However, he had a strange request.


    It was for everyone aside Mark and his two escorts to leave the room.

 Chapter 502 The Professor Called Alphfa Alston, An Interplanetary Information Exchange

    Day 162 - 11:22 AM - Conference Room, Great Ind Military Base, Antic City High School, Great Ind, Antic City, New Jersey, United States of America


    Professor Alphfa Alston gave a ridiculous request. Not only, he wanted to leave the military out of his part of the meeting, but it would also be dangerous as there would be nothing to protect him if danger happened. Looking at the two escorts behind him, the two young soldiers behind Major McGuire appeared to be more reliable.


    Mark looked at the two people on the other side of the table without expression. He waited for the response of Major McGuire and Captain Yorkshire.


    And he was astonished.


    "We will take our leave then."


    "If that is what you wanted."


    Both Major McGuire and Captain Yorkshire replied, respectively. But in any case, these sentences should not be their supposed reply at all. Even the soldiers behind them were surprised by their words.


    But without minding those expressions, both the Major and the Captain left the room. The soldiers with them had no choice but to follow behind wearing strange emotions on their faces. It was except for one young soldier behind Major McGuire who was looking fiercely towards the scientist.


    Professor Alston seemed to be amused seeing that young soldier but said nothing until the soldiers left the room.


    "Mind control..."


    Mark voiced out with uncertainty. He could not confirm if his assumptions were correct as he could not feel any fluctuation of magical energy from the professor. The only thing he knew was that the emotional thoughts of the two leaders got cut off as if they were executing some set of instructions after they replied.


    "No, no. It''s not Mind Control." Professor Alston replied while waving both his palms at Mark. "I just sent some brain wave signals which disrupted their thought process and made them execute some suggestions. It is more of hypnotism than mind control."


    Mark stared at Professor Alston in silence. On the other hand, thetter just smiled at this reaction.


    "Well, now that there will be no nuisance, we can start asking each other some questions. But it seems like our first questions are the same, right?"


    "What are you?"


    Mark and Professor Alston voiced at the same time as if they both had a tacit understanding. The former was expressionless while thetter was smiling brightly. Nevertheless, they had the same thing that they wanted to know.


    Since the start, Mark already had this question.


    Back at the school grounds, when Mark set everything up to gain more advantage towards these soldiers, this young man came and almost disrupted everything. But that was not the issue. What the problem was that Mark never detected this Professor Alston, who appeared on the school grounds.


    Even now, if Mark could not see Professor Alston, it felt like he was not there at all.


    With those in his mind, something clicked in Mark''s thoughts.


    "You''re not the real deal, aren''t you?"


    Mark voiced out, which seemed to have surprised the professor.


    But then, the professor smiled even brighter.


    "Brilliant! I never thought that you would notice that."


    Then, confirming Mark''s assumption, the appearance of Professor Alston shed as if an electronic projection turned off.


    There, a robot with a humanoid shape wearing a scientist''s robe sat while looking at Mark''s direction.


    It was a robot, or maybe, an android. No wonder now that it gave out a feeling of a person that was not alive. Even more dead than the Jumping Corpses Mark encountered before. The body, the professor was using, was not a living thing in the first ce.


    "Just who are you? I don''t think that even the highest technology of Earth can already create something as high tech like this."


    Mark asked with a frown.


    "Hey, hey. I already answered the question. It is my turn to ask."


    The robot started to move, mimicking the reactions of a human. It was very strange to see since its face was nothing but a nk metallic visor.


    "That is not my question that you answered."


    Mark said with a frown. His first question was what Professor Alston was and not show the real appearance of this robot in front of him.


    "Tch, alright. You got me." Professor Alston replied in annoyance.


    Then, the appearance of the robot shed once more. This time, however, it was not the appearance of the young scientist.


    Gray wrinkly hairless skin,rge ck beady eyes, a nose without a bridge, and a tiny mouth, that was what reced the robot''s appearance.


    "A Greyling."


    Mark voiced out.


    "Hey, that is rude." Professor Alston reacted rather fiercely. "Calling us Graylings is very derogatory! And even if many of us with almost simr species had the same color, we mostly belong to differentary races. Bear that in your mind!"


    Mark had a strange expression now. Who would have thought that a Grayling would be offended by being called a Grayling? Nevertheless, what Professor Alston said was not wrong. It was like calling people white or ck even though they came from different countries and just had the same skin color.


    Nevertheless, Professor Alston already answered Mark''s question. He was not a human. And he also revealed it with sincerity. Mark could tell as the two escorts behind the professor had some surprising reactions.


    They were not surprised that the professor was not human. The escorts were shocked that he revealed the truth just like that.


    "Now, it is your turn to answer."


    Professor Alston''srge ck eyes blinked as he stared at Mark intently.


    "What is there to answer. I''m human. At least, for the most part."


    Mark replied while shrugging his shoulders.


    Sure enough, Professor Alston started intently at Mark as if he was scrutinizing something. In truth, he was scanning Mark''s body.


    Mark knew of it as he could feel a strange feeling enveloping his body. Nevertheless, he had no qualms about it. Even Mark himself was curious as to what he ended up bing.


    But then, the already wrinkled forehead of Professor Alston crumpled even more.


    "What did it say?"


    Mark asked.


    Professor Alston seemed to be surprised that Mark would notice. Nevertheless, he was more focused on the result of the scan.<sub> </sub>


    "Unidentified."


    The professor replied in a serene tone.


    The escorts turned towards Mark with surprised expressions. On the other hand, Mark almost choked after hearing that answer.


    Although he already expected it somehow, the result still gave a surprising effect.


    "In a straightforward meaning... If you are human before. Then, you already left the ne of being human or any existing species."


    Hearing that, Mark nodded with another shrug.


    "You don''t seem very surprised."


    Professor Alston asked with curiosity.


    "Two people already told me something simr before. And that was even way before I became what I am right now."


    Mark replied. He had no problems sharing that.


    Nevertheless, it piqued the professor''s interest in Mark even more.


    "Still, you don''t seem very surprised when I revealed myself true identity. It felt kind of unfair."


    Professor Alston voiced out.


    The mood swings of this person were quite unpredictable. Mark thought. It gave this alien a personality inclining more to mad scientists.


    On the other hand, Mark was not surprised since he was mostly incapable of such emotions, more so in front of strangers. There was no need to put up a front either.


    Furthermore, an extraterrestrial being manipting a robot would pique interest in Mark more than surprise or shock.


    "So, why is an alien here pretending to be a scientist?"


    Mark asked as it was already his turn.


    "Isn''t it obvious? We are cooperating with the US government to fight off the outbreak."


    It was a surprising answer. Mark could not deny it.


    This answer meant that the US government had ties with the extraterrestrial all along.


    "So, the rumors about Area 51 and other things are the truth."


    Mark voiced out. Unexpectedly, Professor Alstonughed about it.


    "Are you talking about that decoy base?"


    That question from Professor Alston made Mark confused a bit.


    Then, the professor continued.


    "Area 51 is nothing but a military base that serves as a decoy to gather attention. Don''t you think that a base built as secretive as possible will be easy to find out? You think that if the US government is really testing alien technology, they would allow others to see or allow some leakage to happen? Everything is done on purpose. The more that humans suspect that base, the more that they neglect other ces. It became easier for us and the US government to cooperate that way."


    "And what cooperation is that?"


    Mark could not help but blurt out.


    "Hey, it''s my turn to ask. Nevermind. It is not an answerable question anyway." Professor Alston shrugged. "I have no authority over that information. I''m only here to study the Gene Virus."


    Mark was a bit disappointed. Nevertheless, it could not be helped. Other countries'' private matters were not that much to his interest anyway.


    In any case, the existence of Professor Alston here concluded that even the aliens were interested in Mutagen. Or maybe, they already experienced it in others and were trying to find answers.


    Mark and Professor Alston continued to exchange questions like how Mark did with Major McGuire and Captain Yorkshire.


    The only difference, however, was that the professor''s questions pointed more on Mark''s existence. He was asking about how he became like this despite being formerly human and other things rted to his unidentified ssification.


    Other than that, Professor Alston had no qualms in sharing information that was under his jurisdiction. And sure enough, Mark learned more than he should be able to.


    Unexpectedly, the aliens were also aware of Auraboros and the spirit races. Hearing that Mark had demon blood in him, the professor started to mumble about the existence of magical races.


    It gave Mark the opportunity to ask if magical races also existed on his.


    Mark was given an unexpected answer.


    Their did not have them, at least, the native species did not. However, there were others with twisted physics andws which allow the existence of unknown energies, matter, and physiques for the beings living there. And so as, the thing humans called magic existed in some of thoses.


    And in fact, Earth was not the only that was inhabited by human-like species. There were others in other gxies too. It was just unlike other alien races, the ones with simr evolution chains as humans tend to have slower growth in terms of technology.


    Thus, it was more impossible for human aliens to visit Earth unless for special circumstances.


    Mark felt a bit refreshed conversing with Professor Alston. Unlike the exchange with the two soldiers, the professor aimed more on his interest and there were no constraints about the topic.


    And to describe the professor''s manners, he was more of a curious being than a scientist who only wanted the truth to revealed.


    The conversation led towards Auraboros at some point. Unexpectedly, the aliens would not interfere in that matter even with their current cooperation with the US government.


    Why? The reason was that it was a fight between the natives of Earth. It was not something that visitors like them should step into. As long as Auraboros would leave them alone, the aliens would not do anything either.


    Furthermore, it was thew established since the start. Or else, someone powerful would interfere and vanish the visitors out of the.


    If not for that, the Earth had long been invaded by aliens. Someone was protecting it from that and only visitors with no ill intentions and would not directly interfere in Earth''s matters were wee.


    That information made Mark frown.


    It made Mark feel insecure for some reason. It felt like he was driving a car but one wheel went over the gutter.


    This feeling was ufortable. It was as if a piece of crucial information that he needed to know was missing.

 Chapter 503 Outside And Inside, The Two Colors Of The Information Exchange

    Day 126 - 11:32 AM - Conference Room, Great Ind Military Base, Antic City High School, Great Ind, Antic City, New Jersey, United States of America


    Inside the conference room, the Mark and Professor Alston continued to converse in a quite amicable manner. A third person would think that they were two friends talking about each other''s opinion. Nevertheless, this carefree atmosphere appeared from the two''s interest in each other. Not as a person, however, but as a foreign species.


    The alien called who called himself Professor Alphfa Alston was not someone who would be interested in just anyone. There were too many humans on Earth.Even if the humans get differentiated through their race, there was still a sizable number.


    And Mark that was currently in front of him was not included in those numbers.


    On the other hand, it was the very first time Mark encountered an actual alien that evolved through an environment different from Earth, an alien that came from another.


    It was an existence very different from demons and spirit races. It was also different from the gods that came from a different dimensional ne.


    Another thing that brought the amicable exchange was that both Mark and Professor Alston knew the limits of things that they could ask each other. There were times that they asked questions that the other could not answer due to privacy orck of information due to protocol. Nevertheless, both sides did not try to push for the answer.


    This behavior also showed something about Professor Alston. It was, even though he was an alien species, he had a good grasp of human psychology.


    Then, the question that Mark wanted to ask came.


    "You said that interference from visitors would cause vanishment. Who will do that?"


    Mark asked in a constrained manner. He had some spections. However, he needed more proof.


    To that question, Professor Alston unexpectedly shrugged.


    "Who knows?"


    That was his answer before continuing.


    "If you are thinking about something like an intergctic force that is protecting the universe, they do exist. It is a Union of different intergctic species that stop crimes and such in space."


    "I''m thinking about something else," Mark said. "About that intergctic force you mentioned. You said that it is a Union. Then it will only protect the members, am I right?"


    "You said it." Professor Alston agreed. "The Earth''s current technological level is too low to be a member of that union. As such, there is no way that they will be the ones protecting Earth. I don''t know who it was, but there is someone. Or else, Earth had long been invaded by other aggressive species. And I will tell you. There are more aggressive intergctic species than peaceful ones."


    Mark could not help but frown. One of the questions that he wanted the answer the most was left without answers. Furthermore, it was a matter he needed to confirm the most at the moment.


    The conversation continued. And finally, thest and most crucial question from Mark was asked.


    He asked if Professor Alston knew of the Mutagen''s origin.


    And of course, the expected answer came.


    "No."


    That was why this alien professor was here in the first ce. To study this strange Mutagenic Effector, or so they called it.


    "Remember that intergctic union I mentioned earlier? One of the reasons they will not protect Earth if it was attacked, especially right now, is because they are busy about things on their side."


    And here, Professor Alston revealed a piece of shocking information.


    Apparently, the Mutagen that currently thrown Earth into chaos and put the living poption in peril was a reurring disaster in the universe since thousands of years ago.


    Who knows how manys it destroyed, both habitable and inhabitable.


    Currently, not only Earth but others that were experiencing the same circumstances exist. This kept the other intergctic species busy.


    And the worst thing about this. In all these thousands of years, no cure was found for this so-called Mutagenic Effector.


    In the first ce, there was no way to find a cure if it was not a disease in the first ce. The Mutagenic Effector had both qualities of a virus and bacteria on Earth. However, it also had traits of simr things that were not discovered on Earth because of its current technological level.


    Furthermore, aside from spreading like a zombie virus, the characteristics of the Mutagenic Effector varied from to. It was rare for the same kind of effect to happen in two different worlds.


    It was like how it created Psychics in Eriellis and Physical Mutants on Earth. There were alsos were only Flora or Fauna was affected by the Mutagenic Effector. There were those that only small insects or those with only one race on the were affected.


    Mutagen was an unpredictable existence.


    The most important thing, the Mutagen, or Mutagenic Effector, was undetectable in its initial state. In fact, no one that had seen its initial state before entering a''s atmosphere had been found. No specimens were existing either.


    Fortunately, there was only one way that Mutagenic Effector would enter a''s atmosphere. It was through a meteor exploding in the atmosphere.


    There were already others who knew about this and prepared thoroughly. They installed intercepting mechanisms that would destroy any iing meteor or any other space debris that would enter their atmosphere.


    And of course, it was not worth it. The number of meteors hitting the atmosphere of a could not be counted at all. Trying to destroy everything did not only drain the''s resources, and they became more vulnerable to other disasters.


    Furthermore, some still fell victim to Mutagenic Effector after they used up their resources.


    There was no cure, no way to prevent, and its source was not known.


    A falling victim to Mutagen was only up to luck. And Earth faced its unlucky streak.


    Mark engraved all the information he heard in his subconscious. With thest question and answer given, Mark stood up.


    "Well, that''s all I wanted to ask for now."


    "That is all, huh? I still have tons of questions. But I guess, I can''t pin you down onto your seat."


    The professor said with a carefree smile on his gray-colored face.


    Hearing that, Mark only nodded his head once before turning into a streak of ck Mist that seeped through the gaps of the door of the conference room.


    In an instant, there was only Professor Alston and his two escorts left in the room.


    "What a rude human."


    One of the escorts finally spoke after staying silent all this time.<sub> </sub>


    "You''re not any different, Uno."


    The other escort spoke, reprimanding the first one. Thetter was obviously irritated. However, the first escort kept calm.


    "Uno." Professor Alston said as his face shed, turning from the gray alien face to a handsome young man. "That thing is not human, remember that."


    At this moment, the amicable expression of Professor Alston was gone. What was left was a stern and cold expression that could make anyone shiver.


    "Yes, Professor."


    Uno respectfully replied.


    "What a strange specimen. I really wanted to keep him."


    Professor Alston said with a creepy expression.


    "Then, Professor. Why didn''t you try to manipte his brainwaves?"


    The other escort, who used the alias Segundo, spoke.


    To that question, Professor Alston turned to Segundo with a frown.


    "Do you think I did not?"


    Hearing that, both Uno and Segundo had surprised expressions. Sending suggestions by altering and sending brainwaves directly into another was an ability of their race. It was undetectable unless there was some brainwave detection apparatus nearby.


    However, with the current technological level of Earth, it was easy to do it without getting noticed.


    "Then, Professor..." Uno said with hesitation. "It did not work?"


    "Obviously! It did not!"


    Professor Alston started shouting.


    The two escorts kept silent at this scene. Sure enough, both of them were used to this.


    Professor Alston was no in this ce in his own volition. He was tasked to by their superiors. His interest in the mutation that happened on Earth kept him sane in this ce. Though in fact, Professor Alston was the most insane researchers in their fleet.


    He could control himself in front of others, but when no one was around, his true personality woulde out frequently.


    For him to behave like this after exchanging information with that strange man, meant that he was not satisfied with what had happened.


    And for his ability to not work red his ego further.


    While Professor Alston was ring with anger, the two escorts just hoped that the man that left just now did not detect what their boss tried to do.


    After all, Mark was an unknown existence. Of anything that anyone could be afraid of, the unknown was the most frightening.


    ***


    Mark fled the Great Ind Military Base as soon as he went out of the conference room.


    His face was serene, and there was no doubt that he knew what the professor had been trying to do.


    Furthermore, it was not just once but many times. Every time that Mark gave quite vague answers, he would feel some sort of interference in his thoughts that seem to urge him to blurt out everything to answer the question that was given to him.


    Fortunately, even without him doing anything voluntarily, his trait as a mutator swallowed those invading thoughts to the void. And thus, he was not affected even a tiny bit.


    But still, for that to happen, it meant that Professor Alston was not sincere in meeting him at all. Unfortunately, he could only pretend that he knew nothing until the meeting finished. Mark needed information, and there was a very limited source to get that information from. Because of that, he could only endure.


    Furthermore, he was still busy with the ho nest called Auraboros. Even if he was furious to that alien professor about what he tried to do, Mark was not ready yet to poke another ho nest.


    Nevertheless, Mark gained some valuable information that no one would be able to provide him on Earth. He knew that it was not false information since, despite the ill will, the professor genuinely shared the things he could.


    After all, although that information was not avable on Earth, it might already be general knowledge outside. It was not that valuable in the professor''s eyes and just shared it without thinking too much.


    Unfortunately, the mysterious origin of Mutagen was still not revealed. Mark could not tell if Professor Alston was just lying at that part because all he was facing in that room was nothing but a remote-controlled robot. The two escorts were real living beings, but it seemed that they had no knowledge about that part either.


    Professor Alston might not know anything, or it was just not applicable for him to share.


    Now that the meeting was over, Mark immediately left. He could not stand to stay anywhere near someone he could not tell what he was thinking.


    Mark had severe trust issues, after all.


    And there was another reason that made Mark leave in a hurry.


    Grrowwlll...


    He was hungry.


    The soldiers served him coffee in the conference room, but that was nowhere anything that could be called a meal.


    He wanted to search for food, and that was why he went down from the rooftop of that orange-colored building. However, things just kept happening that he forgot about it.


    It was already noon, and he had not eaten anything since he arrived here. Of course, he would be hungry. Learning all that information just made him even more hungry.


    And thus, he flew back towards Antic City, where the food at the stores was barely touched. He just wished that the drones the US military had sent were all recalled as he did not want to have anyone watching him as he ate.


    Unfortunately, the moment he arrived back at Antic City, eating was not an option yet.


    A battle was happening around the Bally''s Casino-Hotel.

 Chapter 504 A Grave Situation, The Impending End Of The Ballys Casino Survivors

    <strong>Day126 - 12:03 PM - Monitoring Division, Great Ind Military Base, Antic City High School, Great Ind, Antic City, New Jersey, United States of America</strong>


    "Dad, are you just letting that weird professor go his way like this?"


    "Major, I have the same opinion. It was already the fifth time it happened. Not only to you but our other personnel."


    Both Maurice, the Major''s son, and Private James,ined to the Major, who already snapped out of the mental suggestion of Professor Alston.


    "You two should not mention this anywhere else. I''m angry myself be can''t do anything."


    Major McGuire let out a deep breath.


    "Remember that our families are still under the government''s "protection."


    Sending soldiers on the battlefield while leaving their families under the so-called protection of the government. It was not a new concept. This, however, was what the US government did to force the soldiers into fighting and surviving.


    They had to fulfill their duties as per the government said. It was in exchange for the shelter and protection that their families would directly receive from the government.


    The moment they lost their lives, however, that protection would also end.


    After their death, the family members they left behind under "protection" would be sent out to a settlement that had lower security and more prone to the attacks of the infectedpared to the "protected area."


    Thus, the soldiers could only strive to survive while fulfilling their duties to ensure that their families would not have the worst fate after their deaths.


    Nevertheless, in this outbreak, not everyone was always lucky to be able to return and reunite with their families.


    In the worst case, they would still be able to reunite with their loved ones. In the afterlife, that is.


    Almost every soldier here had the same circumstances. Thus, they could only obey someone like Professor Alston that was directly sent by the government and was the one making evaluations on them.


    These soldiers were like dogs with leashes that would tighten once their point their fangs to their owners.


    Hearing those words, both Maurice and James shut their mouths. The Major was right, and it was the worst thing if what they were saying was heard by Professor Alston.


    "Anyway, Maurice." Major McGuire turned to his son. "What do you think about that man called Mark?"


    As the topic was shifted, Maurice spoke once more. This time, however, his eyes and expression were serene.


    "Dad. I''m taking the words I said before the meeting back. That man. Don''t try to mess with him."


    Hearing that evaluation, Major McGuire nodded.


    "That man sure has an eerie atmosphere around him."


    "No, dad." Maurice shook his head. "It''s more than eerie. I don''t think that even if we sent all the soldiers in this base... No, even all the soldiers in this state. We won''t win."


    Those scary words from Maurice made Major McGuire and Private James Andrews freeze in their steps. That was not a good im at all. It was hard to believe.


    However, Major McGuire trusted the words of his son. He might be hard-headed, but he never lied about things like this. It was also the second time he saw his son give out that kind of expression. The first time was at the start of the outbreak. That expression saved their family''s lives at that time.


    "Then, it is good that he seems to havee here only to gather information."


    Major McGuire said with a bit of relief in his tone.


    It was already noon. To ease the three''s tension, the three decided to head to the cafeteria to get lunch.


    Unfortunately, it seemed that everyone in the monitoring division would eatte.


    "Major! Do you copy? Major!"


    Major McGuire''smunication device sounded.


    "I can hear you! Report!"


    "Major, a situation is happening in Area 0. NH-002 located the survivors in Bally''s Casino."


    Hearing that, Major McGuire and the two young soldiers with him frowned.


    The survivors in Antic City was not abandoned by the soldiers.


    It was the government that abandoned them for the sake of so-called "study."


    If Major Mcguire was given the call to rescue these people, he would not hesitate to bring them to safety. Unfortunately, they did not and could not.


    And because their families were in the government''s grasp, these soldiers could not move out and save these survivors on their own.


    As they received the notification from the three hurried back to the monitoring room.


    It was not good news. Furthermore, NH-002 did not stand for a single infected but a cluster.


    NH - 002, Codename: Brainspiders. It was a cluster of infected Pholcidae,monly known as cer spiders. These spiders mutated in a way that they would jack into the heads of the normal and mutated human infected and control them. Another bad thing was thatpared to infected humans, these fist-sized infected spiders retained most of their predatory instincts. Andpared to regr spiders that would cast out their and wait for prey, the Brainspiders would group on hordes of brain-controlled infected and search for prey.


    But the worst case was that... the infected jacked by the Brainspiders would undergo a mutation where their bodies would be stronger, faster, and enable them to climb walls with their bare hands. And if one spotted a prey, all the other members of the horde would be alerted.


    The soldiers joked about it, calling the horde as infected spidermen. But in fact, it was one of the most threatening dangers in Antic City. Furthermore, unless the Brainspider was killed, it did not matter if the body it was controlling died. It wouldtch onto another infected and repeat the process.


    The only fortunate thing was that the soldiers never observed the spiders being able to multiply. If they were capable of it, the Brainspirders might have overwhelmed the whole Antic City long ago.


    Still, the numbers of these spiders were not to joke at. Theirst count, there were more or less nine-hundred spiders creating arge horde of infected.


    ***


    <strong>Day126 - 12:05 PM - Bally''s Casino, Antic City, New Jersey, United States of America</strong>


    "Everyone! Hurry! Throw anything heavy that we don''t need!"


    Everyone in Bally''s Casino ran around the rooftop frantically. They carried sofas, cabs, beds, and even empty propane tanks. They threw these heavy things down the building.


    Of course, the survivors were not dumping trash or trying to make a tall tower of debris. These survivors were trying to make the infected climbing the face of the building fall to the ground.<sub> </sub>


    Due to their current crisis in their food supply, Morgan and the other mutators decided to make a crucial decision. It was to try to go down and find food at the shops in the streets.


    It should be fine as long as they maintained themselves out of the sight of the infected.


    They even managed to reach the first floor of the casino on the other side of the street. They did it while eliminating the infected along the way as quietly as possible. Especially with Morgan''s powers, it became a possibility.


    Unfortunately, their "clever" vice leader wanted to show off since he was very insecure about the praise that everyone was giving Morgan. Morgan''s skin color gained the vice leader''s ire even more. It was racism at its finest.


    Along the way, they encountered a seemingly normal infected wandering the first floor of the casino. They were totally out of sight of the infected, and it was fine to leave it be as they were just passing by.


    However, the vice leader found it an opportunity and attacked the infected. They never noticed the fist-sized spidertched onto the back of the head of the infected because of the poor lighting.


    The only moment that they noticed the spider was when it jumped off the infected after the infected''s head burst into pieces.


    Morgan used his powers to kill the spider, and he managed to do it.


    However, it was already toote.


    The ss windows and the remaining ss walls burst into pieces as hundreds of infected came in droves.


    Their jealous vice leader was trapped within that horde, and hisst screams were heard by everyone as they fled.


    As they fled back to the rooftop, Morgan used his abilities several times to block the path behind them. There, they managed to gain some distance from the infected horde.


    But their relief did notst long as they witnessed the hundreds of infected climbing up the walls slowly.


    The group left that building and used the roofs to make their way back to the Bally''s Casino, where they resided.


    Unfortunately, the hungry infected did not want to let their prey run away, climbing every building in the vicinity.


    One of these infected identally located their base.


    That instance led to the current situation.


    BAM! BAM!


    Loud explosion-like sounds echoed as the friction between solid cement happened.


    Morgan held tightly unto the edge of the building as he tried to stop the advance of the infected below. Cement spikes protrude of the building''s face as it pierced the heads of the infected that tried to climb up the walls.


    Nevertheless, despite their efforts, there seemed to be no end to this. They managed to make the infected fall off or destroy their heads. However, new infected would suddenly take their ce, and new ones from below would emerge.


    "The spider! Kill the spider''s on the back of their heads!"


    One of the female mutators realized the issue as she remembered the spider back on the first floor of the opposite casino that Morgan killed.


    Then, the most crucial question came from one of the survivors that were helping throw out furniture.


    "How?"


    That question made everyone as frustrated as they could be. They were regr people. They managed to get three guns at most, and they already used up the bullets long ago.


    They only managed to survive because of Morgan and the Mutators, and none of them had the ability to shoot out projectiles aside from Morgan.


    And to say, Morgan was already pushing his limits here.


    Everyone could see him heavily panting, but he was still not giving up.


    "GUHHAA!!"


    An eerily painful sound was suddenly heard.


    They could not help but look at the source of the sound and saw one of their people.


    "Gregory, what is wrong?!"


    One survivor immediately asked and try to approach him.


    Nevertheless, the only thing that Gregory managed to say was...


    "Help?..."


    BURST!!!


    Gregory''s skin burst and cracked into unsightly pieces as he suddenly went mutation while alive. The pain in his twisted expression was clear to everyone.


    Because of the pain, the man called Gregory started waving his hands around, trying to reach behind the back of his head. Nevertheless, his hands would freeze unnaturally every time he tried to.


    Their leader immediately ran behind Gregory and saw the cause.


    "There''s a spider behind his head!"


    The leader rushed towards Gregory with his hands covered in ck fur. He swatted the spider down to the floor and stepped on it causing a burst of red fluid.


    Gregory immediately fell down and some of the survivors checked on him.


    It was already toote. He was dead. It was already fortunate that he did not turn into an infected puppet.


    Morgan squinted his eyes in anger and agony. One of them perished once more. However, he could not stop. Until his powers emptied, he would try to protect this ce.


    "Everyone! Don''t just concentrate on the climbing zombies! Watch out for spiders if you don''t want to follow Gregory''s steps!"


    The leader shouted. His words were kind of angering since he voiced it as if Gregory had done something wrong. Nevertheless, none of them could refute those words because of the current situation.


    They could only continue to hinder the infected trying to reach their ce.


    None of them noticed, there was a man with bat wings at the roof of the tower where they lived. Watching everything unfold while munching on some luxury chocte from a box.

 Chapter 505 Morgans Sacrifice, The Reminiscence Of The General

    <strong>Day 126 - 12:15 PM - Bally''s Casino, Antic City, New Jersey, United States of America</strong>


    Mark munched on the choctes from the box on his hands. From the appearance of the box, it seemed to be some holiday chocte box. After all, the outbreak started several in December about two weeks before Christmas. Of course, items like this were usual inside untouched shops.


    And since shops aimed for the rich filled the casino and hotel area, this was some luxury assorted chocte with gold decorations.


    It was something that Mark had never tasted before. That was why he was quite enjoying the food while he watched the deadly situation below.


    Below, the group of survivors was doing their best. Unfortunately, in front of almost a thousand mutated infected army, it was far from enough.


    Despite their efforts, it would not be too long, and the infected would reach the roof they were standing on. And at that time, they would have drained all their energy already.


    Mark turned his head as he detected some movements. Sure enough, the situation was being watched by the soldiers at Great Ind from multiple angles.


    Drones wandered around the area, whether it be on the air ornd. The drones just kept enough distance so that regr people would have a hard time detecting them. Especially with the current situation, the survivors would not find the drones since their attention was on the attacking horde.


    COUGH! COUGH!


    "Morgan! Are you okay?!"


    One of the two female mutators rushed towards Morgan after he had a coughing fit.


    Morgan was already wasted. He could not even reply to that question. Nevertheless, he did not fall. Holding tightly onto the ledge of the rooftop, he red at the iing infected below.


    Stretching his left arm forward with his palm open wide, seven spears made of cement detached from the face of the building.


    SHOOM! SHOOM! SHOOM!


    The spearsunched at a speed of a tank cannon tearing holes on the bodies of the infected that it passed through.


    Several dozens of infected fell off from the room because of the spears.


    Morgan seeded in pushing the line of climbing infected back several floors.


    Nevertheless...


    COUGH! COUGH! SPLAT!


    Morgan gave out another coughing fit. This time, he started coughing out blood that sttered before his feet.


    "MORGAN!"


    Many of the survivors around could not help but feel shocked at that scene. At the same time, they felt touched. Everyone here was in danger at this moment and Morgan was not holding anything back to protect everyone.


    Despite the blood dripping from his mouth, Morgan did not stop. He was about to stretch his arm forwards once more. Fortunately, the female Mutator caught that arm and prevented Morgan from moving.


    "Morgan! It''s enough! Your body can''t hold it anymore!"


    "I''m... Fine... Felicia. Let go... of my arm."


    "NO!"


    Felicia held onto Morgan''s arm tightly, not letting go. Morgan was already pale from using his ability far more than he could handle. It was already questionable where he was getting the energy to fire the attacks that started to damage his body.


    "Everyone! Don''t let Morgan do all the work! Hurry up!"


    The leader shouted as he pulled a metal tube from a metal chair with his fur-covered hands. Running towards the edge of the roof, he threw the metal tube with a wide swing.


    Flying at fast speeds, the metal tube pierced the head of the closest climbing infected. The infected fell pushing the ones behind it back to the ground.


    The other survivors continued to drag the beds from the tower out unto the lower rooftop where they stood.


    It did not take long, another spider managed to climb up. Fortunately, it was immediately found out before it managed totch on anyone.


    Still, killing one or two spiders would not stop the horde. It was just making the situation worse.


    Every time that a spider managed to climb up and see the people on the roof, the others below were being alerted of the prey currently present. Their climbing speed became faster and faster for every spider that was killed.


    Finally, there was just one-floor distance between the roof and the frontline of the climbing infected.


    Everyone was already tired and they almost used up all the things they could throw down. Although there were still other heavy things inside the upper floors of the hotel tower, the infected would already have climbed the lower roofs before they could take out the furniture.


    "Everyone should run into the tower and hide. I''ll hold them back..."


    Morgan, who managed to rest several minutes because of Felicia said with great conviction.


    Everyone looked at him. They all knew that Morgan was nning to sacrifice himself.


    Unsteadily, Morgan stood up with his resolute eyes.


    "But Morgan!"


    Felicia wanted to convince Morgan not to do what he wanted.


    Morgan and Felicia was not any lover of sorts. However, Felicia owed her life to Morgan when the outbreak started. She was nothing but a lowly girl attending to VIPs of the casino wearing clothes that would break any girl''s dignity in the eyes ofmon people.


    Yet, Morgan saved her with his abilities and they reached this far in the outbreak. She did not want to see her savior fall before her eyes.


    "Felicia, hurry up before the zombies reach this area."


    "No! I''ll stay with you!"


    Felicia said with conviction.


    "I''ll stay too. Everyone else run inside and hide. We''ll try to distract these zombies away."


    The leader said.


    "Arnold. You should go with everyone." Morgan red at the leader of their group. "You too, Felicia."


    "What are you saying. You can''t even stand up straight!"


    Arnold shouted.


    "There''s nothing you two can do here. At least, I can hold them back until everyone can hide."


    Morgan then turned towards the two.


    "As long as you guys are still alive, it is not over yet. My sacrifice won''t be in vain."


    Morgan smiled.


    ***


    "As long as Your Majesty is alive, it is not over yet! The sacrifice of this General won''t be in vain!"


    Mark held his head as a nostalgic voice yed in his ears.


    Emotions swirled inside of him. It was not his emotions but what was left of Freed''s memories.


    "Hahahahaha!!!"


    Markughed out loud like a crazy person.


    It was different if Freed just gave his memories to him. But no. He and Freed became the same person when Freed fused his ability and soul into his.


    He was still Mark, but he still had Freed''s fragments.<sub> </sub>


    The very same words that General Gordilius Efleria left before he died protecting his king. It left a deep mark on Freed''s memories and emotions.


    ***


    Below, everyone had already retreated despite their reluctance.


    The only one left was Morgan, standing while facing the part of the building where the infected were climbing.


    He closed his eyes. Since he had gotten this ability six years ago, he thought that his life would be better.


    He was the bastard son of a refugee...


    He was scorned since he was young...


    He became a subject of racism because of his color...


    But he did not give up. He wanted to prove his worth, at least even once.


    Despite having this ability, it did not mean that he could be a superhero. Superheros only exist inic books. In reality, if you fight off crimes without authorization of the government, you were nothing but a vignte, a criminal.


    It was only when the outbreak came that he managed to show his worth. Protect everyone, save people. Despite his color and background, the people he saved epted him. Not as a ck man, not as a bastard of a refugee, but as Morgan who saved them.


    That was why, if protecting them was thest thing he could do, he would not hesitate.


    He did not know why, but it felt like this ability that he received was agreeing with his current thoughts.


    Morgan breathed deeply, lifting his face towards the sky with his eyes closed.


    Slowly, magical energy started to gather in the surroundings.


    Morgan did not know how he was able to do it. He just felt like he could do so.


    Slowly, he bent down. He nted both his palms onto the floor while keeping his eyes closed.


    Magical energy continued to gather around Morgan.


    GROOOWWLLLL!!! ROAAARR!!!


    The infected finally reached the rooftop. Dozens of infected immediately saw Morgan, who stood before them alone.


    Without waiting for anything, the infected charged towards their only prey.


    ***


    "Earthen Resonance."


    Mark said as he watched the tide of magical energy gathering in the surroundings.


    It was General Gordilius'' ultimate attack. As long as he was in a ce filled with stone, he was able to draw in arge amount of energy for a full-force attack.


    A city like this made of crushed stone, cement, and other stone materials was a perfect ce to use this ability.


    However, it was not without repercussions. Drawing in arge amount of energy into a human body far from it could take in would render the user incapacitated.


    At Morgan''s current state, it would spell death as he would not be able to move after this. Whether he got caught by the attack he was going to use or get attacked by the infected that would survive the attack, he would surely die.


    ***


    As the infected swarmed towards Morgan, he shouted.


    "BREAK!"


    BOOOM!!!


    Arge part of the whole building of the casino fractured.


    As the cracks started to spread across the whole part of the building, it began to copse.e


    CRASH!!!


    Debris after debris, therge parts of cement fell to the ground.


    It all fell along with the infected causing a loud sound and a thick cloud of dust.


    Everyone inside the tower watched what happened with both shock and worry. However, the survivors could not see the situation clearly as everything was enveloped by a thick cloud of dust, including the roof.


    As the ocean wind blew a bit, they saw the silhouette of the unconcious Morgan that lie down on the roof, in the middle of the spreading cracks.


    CRACK! CRACK! CRACK!


    The fracture of the cement continued to spread as Felicia and Arnold rushed out to retrieve Morgan and retreat.


    However, they werete. The part where Morgany down fell before they could reach him.


    "MORGAN!"


    Felicia could only shout as she watched Morgan get swallowed by the cloud of dust below.


    GROWL! GRRAAAUUU!!!"


    Both Felicia and Arnold flinched, hearing the sound of the infected.


    Despite Morgan''s efforts, the infected were still advancing. Still, the sounds were quite far, which meant that Morgan seeded in holding the infected back. They only needed to return to the tower and hide.


    With teary eyes, Felicia rushed with Arnold back towards the tower, hoping that the infected would leave soon.


    Not long after Felicia and Arnold left the rooftop, arge number of infected swarmed the area.


    And they saw nothing. The infected started climbing everywhere, including the tower, searching for their missing prey.


    And...


    "AAHHHHH!!!"


    The survivors inside the tower were found by the swarming infected. An idiot tried to see if the infected were already gone. It was fine to do that. However, it was done too early. He was spotted by the infected as soon as he peeked out.


    Along with that painful scream, more and more infected swarmed the tower like a ck Friday sale.


    And the infected were fighting to shop for human meat.


    ***


    Atop the tower, Mark waited as he continued to watch the situation.


    "What are you going to do? Your sacrifice is in vain."


    Mark voiced out towards the unconcious man lying beside him.


    It was no other than Morgan, who tried to sacrifice himself to save his group.


    After he was swallowed by the dust below, Mark was swept down to catch him.


    It was not really his style. However, this person reminded him of the General in Freed''s memories. Mark could not just let this guy die like that.

 Chapter 506 The Selection, Saving The Worthy And The Appearance Of An Empress

    <strong>Day 126 - 1:11 PM - Monitoring Division, Antic City Parks Department, Great Ind, Antic City, New Jersey, United States of America</strong>


    Inside the military''s monitoring division, everyone stared agape at the scene they watched on their monitors.


    They never expected to see a scene that was only present in hero movies in real life.


    The zombiesing into life and Mutants appearing was already hard for everyone to believe. Now, the disy Morgan gave them made it harder for them to ept immediately.


    In the first ce, they only thought that Morgan was just a Mutant, a psychic at best. Nevertheless, destroying arge part of the Bally''s Casino was not an easy feat from what these soldiers knew.


    While everyone felt shocked, the Major''s son, Maurice, could only feel amazement.


    Unlike the regr soldiers who only saw the extent of the destruction, Maurice saw a totally different scene.


    The scene where wisps of brownish-orange light emerging from the surroundings and gathering in Morgan''s body. It was etched into his mind.As the building copsed, the blinding explosion of light deprived him of his sight for a few seconds.


    It was amazing.


    Unfortunately, the next thing they saw was Morgan lying unconscious on the roof before he was swallowed by the thick cloud of dust below.


    "What a pity."


    Major McGuire said with a downhearted expression.


    Many of the soldiers thought the same. With this disy, they might be able to appeal to rescue these survivors if they managed to live through this tough situation. But Morgan, who should be the best bargaining chip, had already fallen below.


    "Dad, what are you saying? That ck guy is still alive."


    Maurice suddenly voiced, which caused the attention inside the room to focus on him.


    Unlike everyone here who could only see what they could see, Maurice could see a bit different from everyone. He could see energies in the surroundings in the form of different colored lights.


    Just now, when Morgan fell into the cloud of dust, he saw a streak of ck energy fly across the cloud of dust.


    There was only one person that he had seen with that energy, and that person was surely still around. It was definitely that person, and he caught Morgan from that deadly fall.


    Before Maurice could exin, however, one of the soldiers monitoring the situation cried out.


    "Survivor-011, Louie Morgan is still alive!"


    "Switch it to the main monitor!"


    As the Majormanded, the scene on thergest monitor in the room that everyone could see changed.


    At the rooftop of the tower of the same building, Morgany unconscious.


    And beside him, a person sat on the edge of the rooftop, dangling his feet over the ledge.


    It was a person with ck, tattered clothes, two pairs of bat wings, long ck hair, and an untrustworthy face.


    "Mark..."


    Major McGuire could not help but voice out the person''s name.


    <o>,m Now, the Major remembered. Mark asked for the information on Morgan earlier. Nevertheless, his goals were unknown to them.</o>


    While they watched the monitor in surprise, Mark suddenly faced the screen. Even though they did not know why. They knew that the person on the screen knew that they were watching him.


    Then, Mark stood up. With a wave of his hand, his whole body was covered with a cloak of ck smoke.


    His right hand stretched out, blood swirled out of his palm. With a showy wave in front of him, the blood formed arge reddish-ck scythe.


    "The Grim Ripper..."


    Whoever the soldier that voiced that, everyone could only agree. With a swirl of ck smoke, Mark vanished from that ce, leaving a trail behind.


    ***


    Day 126 - 1:13 PM - Bally''s Casino, Antic City, New Jersey, United States of America


    "Everyone, run to the higher floors! Hurry!"


    Arnold shouted as he crushed the heads of two infected with his bare, fur-covered hands.


    They were currently in the hallway of the hotel tower, two floors above the lower rooftop.


    The mutators held the iing infected as much as they could. The narrow hallways helped a lot in reducing the number of infecteding at once. Nevertheless, with just a few people holding the rear, it was not enough. Even if they managed to kill another infected, another one would rece its ce. If they managed to kill another spider, the infected would undergo another burst of ferociousness.


    CRASH!!!


    Loud sounds of breaking ss could be heard everywhere as the windows of the rooms connected to the hallway was broken in by the infected.


    "Abandon the floor! Quick!"


    Arnold shouted out loud to everyone holding back the rear.


    Unknown to them, the higher floors were already being invaded by the mutated spidertched infected. The number was not as many as below. However, the infected had already thrown the escaping survivors into chaos.


    To flee from the onught of the ferocious infected, many of them got separated from the main group.


    "You kids! Run! We''ll hold back the rear!"


    Two men shouted as they ran with three children. The oldest of the three children was twelve, the second was eleven, and the youngest was just eight.


    "But..."


    The oldest voiced out his hesitation.


    "Don''t worry about us! Just run!"


    One of the men pushed the oldest forwards. With that, the three children turned their backs from the two men and ran forwards.


    Unfortunately, what they thought was wrong.


    For most people in the apocalypse, children were nothing but baggage. They could not work. What they could do was limited. And their childish tantrums were hard to handle for most people.


    Thus, it was easier to abandon them if they had no close rtion to the adults. To unlucky ones, even if blood ties were present, sacrificing them when needed was possible.


    It was also the case this time. The two men voiced it as if they wanted to protect the children. However, when the children turned their backs, the two men immediately ran in a different direction and hid. It caused the infected that was running after them focus on the three children that were running across the straight hallway.<sub> </sub>


    BAM!


    The oldest child heard the sound of a door closing. This sound never sounded as frightening as before.


    Turning his head, what he saw was the infected rushing towards them. The two men were nowhere to be found, even just as a corpse.


    The youngest one could not realize what happened. The two, however, were old enough to realize that they had been used as bait.


    Nevertheless, there was nothing they could do but run away.


    On the other hand, the two adults hid inside a hotel room, locking the door as they entered. Seeing that the window was still intact, they hurriedly pulled the curtains close, overturned the livingroom furniture, and created a ce to hide.


    From their relieved faces, they did not even feel guilty from what they deed. It was the survival of the fittest, after all.


    It did not take long, and the sounds outside the door connected to the hallway vanished.


    They did not even think that it vanished unnaturally. Nevertheless, they did not want to repeat the mistake of the idiot before and hid even with the sounds dampened.


    But then...


    CRASH! CRASH! CRASH!


    Three sounds of breaking ss made the two deaf. Their heads turned to the ss window by reflex. There, they saw three infected that were lying on the floor.


    But what was with the infected''s appearance?


    Instead of looking like they broke into the windows andnded upright despite unsteadily... Why were the infected sprawled on the floor?


    It was as if they were thrown inside...


    The two men had no time to think of anything. With their nervous hearts and unclear minds, the only thing they thought of doing was to run towards the already silent hallway.


    After all, the three infected that crashed into the room were mutated ones. And they were already starting to get up.


    Click! TAM! TAM!


    "Huh?"


    One of the men voiced out. The door was unlocked, but he could not open it.


    Both of them tried to kick it open in panic. However, the whole door was already covered with reddish-ck metal outside.


    A few secondster, only their painful screams could be heard.


    "Go! Run!"


    The twelve-year-old shouted as he grabbed a heavy vase that he could barely lift. Resolutely, he faced the infected that was running behind them. There was no way to outrun them as children. One needed to stay. Even so, it would not ensure the safety of the two.


    Unexpectedly, the eight-year-old understood that fact. Instead of running, he managed to find an old ballpen that was lying on the floor and took it as a weapon.


    The eleven-year-old girl was afraid. Nevertheless, there was only the three of them here, it was lonely to die alone. Readying the broken umbre that she had been holding all this time, she joined the two boys.


    Miraculously, the three children were smiling at each other. Mister Morgan had already brought them this far. They would die valiantly like him.


    "You children passed."


    But then, a voice made them freeze. Then, a ck shroud covered the surroundings. They saw a man with a cloak made of ck smoke and was holding a scythe stood in front of them.


    The reddish-ck scythe moved, creating ck streaks of afterimages. The next thing that the children knew, blood already washed the walls and floor of the hallway. Blood dripped from the scythe the man in front of them was holding.


    The man turned towards the three children, the first thing they noticed was his red glowing eyes.


    Because of that, the oldest of the three immediately went on the defense and hid the two behind him.


    And surprisingly, the youngest boy peeked out and asked a question that made the manugh.


    "Are we dead? Are you here to pick us up?"


    "That is right, I''m here to pick you three up. But you three are not dead yet."


    With those words, the man turned into ck smoke and covered the three. They felt a hand grabbing unto their bodies.


    The surroundings turned dark, and they could see the whole ce sh by their eyes very fast.


    As fast as the surroundings passed by, the next thing they knew was that they stood on the rooftop of the tower.


    Nevertheless, instead of being surprised, what they noticed first was the unconcious Morgan.


    "Mister Morgan!"


    The three children rushed towards their respected savior, not noticing the other people on the rooftop.


    "Don''t make too much noise. Morgan is just sleeping."


    A familiar voice of a woman was heard. They finally noticed Felicia, who was tending to Morgan.


    In the rooftop, aside from the three children and Morgan, there were already ten people. Most of them were the mutators that got trapped at the lower floors of the tower in order to hold back the infected including their leader, Arnold.


    Arnold was currently staring at the man who saved them.


    Covered in a ck cloak of Miasma, Mark stood at the ledge of the building, monitoring the remaining people inside the tower. It also seemed like he was looking for something.


    All of them here were d that they were saved and Morgan was still alive. Nevertheless, they did not know what motives what this frightening person had for helping them.


    "Found it."


    They all heard the voice of Mark. He was looking at the middle of the swarming numbers of the infected.


    Curious, some of them peeked out, trying to decern what he was looking at.


    It did not take long for them to find what he was looking at.


    On the lower rooftop, a pale-skinned woman stood. At the back of her head, a glowing spider wastched.


    Mark already suspected it. From his knowledge of the infected, it was impossible for a horde of this size to not have a leader.


    In this case, however, it was an Empress.

 Chapter 507 The Battle At The Lower Rooftop, A Very Strange Situation

    <strong>Day 126 - 1:15 PM- Monitoring Division, Antic City Parks Department, Great Ind, Antic City, New Jersey, United States of America</strong>


    The soldiers in the monitoring room watched their monitors in amazement.


    Although they could not see everything, they managed to witness how Mark appeared and disappeared from the rooftop of the hotel tower. Every time that he reappeared, he would have people popping out with him.


    The soldiers immediately recognized the people Mark had brought back at the rooftop. Furthermore, even though it was hard to follow Mark''s movements, some of the drones managed to record how he saved some of these people, especially the mutators that were left trapped in the lower floors of the tower.


    While the soldiers were both relieved and thankful that Mark started saving these people, they could not help but notice that he was choosing which ones to save, and which ones he should not.


    Although they found it reasonable if he was choosing those that deserved to be saved, they could not help but feel a bit dismayed as to how Mark could throw away the lives of others like trash.


    Especially when Mark purposedly threw three infected inside one of the hotel rooms. They immediately controlled a drone to see why. There, the main screen in the monitoring room disyed how two men tried to struggle to open the door of the hotel. It was all before they were torn to pieces by the infected that was thrown inside by Mark.


    Since they did not see what the two men did, they thought that Mark just wanted to kill them. It was until they saw a glimpse of Mark appearing in the hallway to save the children on the same floor as those two men.


    They were soldiers with experience. It was not hard to understand why Mark did that. If they had children in that same situation, they might have done the same.


    Still, watching by the side, unable to do anything... as honorable soldiers, it left a bad taste in their mouths.


    Then, after Mark saved the three children, they felt strange as they saw Mark staring down to the lower rooftop.


    "Quick! Find out what he is looking at!"


    Major McGuire immediatelymanded. For Mark to suddenly behave like that after moving about, there could be something wrong.


    And the Major''s hunch was right.


    A few secondster, their central monitor showed a pale-skinned woman standing in the middle of the infected hordetched with hundreds of spiders.


    Even the mutated infected cer spidertched at the back of the head of the woman looked very different from the others, especially that its body was glowing.


    "What the hell is that?"


    One of the soldiers could not help but voice out. Nevertheless, none of them could say anything else. This was also the first time for them to see that woman among the infected. They never expected this.


    But then, an unexpected thing happened.


    The woman turned her head. Her lifeless but glowing eyes were facing the drone they currently had in the central monitor.


    It might just be a coincidence. That was what everyone thought.


    However, what was this sense of crisis that they were currently feeling right now?


    They were just watching through the camera feed from the drone.


    But why did it felt like the woman was staring directly at them?


    Then, the woman suddenly jumped back.


    What reced the scene at the monitor was Mark, cloaked with Miasma, brandishing his scythe towards the woman.


    ***


    <strong>Day 126 - 1:15 PM - Bally''s Casino, Antic City, New Jersey, United States of America</strong>


    "Tch, I missed."


    Mark clicked his tongue as he waved the scythe in his hands.


    He attacked while the enemy was distracted by the drone. However, he still missed it.


    It was hard to hit two enemies at the same time, after all.


    One empress? That was what would think if they saw this woman. After all, the mutated cer spiders would deprive the host of their will and control the host like a puppet.


    It was different with this woman, however.


    The mutated cer spider was showing signs of consciousness. It was the same for the woman host in front of Mark.


    One was an insect [Empress Type], the other was a human [Queen Type]. Both were high ss infected.


    "Food... Enemy..."


    A faint voice could be heard from the woman. Nevertheless, the two words seemed to be conflicting.


    There was no doubt that one came from the woman, and the other came from the spider.


    ''I want to catch these two.''


    That was what Mark had in mind.


    It was the first time Mark encountered a [Queen Type] in the wild. As for the insect, it was the second time. However, the one he had back in the base was still a juvenile, unlike the one currently in front of him.


    Mark vanished from his spot, leaving a trail of a ck mist moving at fast speeds towards the two enemies. He appeared beside the woman, brandishing his [Blood Whip] to constrain the woman.


    Of course, it would not be that easy.


    As the [Blood Whip] circled around the woman''s body, she immediately jumped, escaping the constraints before it could even touch her.


    Then, while mid-air...


    PUH!


    The woman spat towards Mark.


    A white ball shot out of the woman''s mouth with a string that connected the ball to the woman''s mouth.


    As she closed her mouth, the ball expanded, turning into arge that tried to trap Mark.


    It was a futile attempt, however.


    Mark''s body blurred, letting the pass through his body. The fell to the ground while Mar was still standing at the same ce.


    Seeing that the attack failed, the string connecting to the woman''s mouth was bitten off. Shended a distance away from Mark, staring at him fiercely.


    "Dangerous Enemy... Prey..."


    The conflicting voice was heard once more.


    Then, with her glowing orange eyes, the woman waved her hands forwards. From the tips of her fingers, white thread shot out in different directions.


    Mark stood there, anticipating what kind of attack this woman would do.


    Then, the woman crossed her arms in front of her, causing all sorts of things, from dead bodies, to heavy debris, to fly towards Mark''s direction. Each of these things was pulled by the strings on the woman''s finger.


    As the things pulled by the strings flew towards Mark, he brandished his scythe fiercely.


    The dead and infected bodies were cut, the other furniture was broken, and the pieces of heavy debris crumbled to pieces.


    That scene made the woman show an unsightly expression on her face. Even the spidertched on her head started hissing.


    "RAAAAAAAAHHHH!!!!"<sub> </sub>


    A high pitched scream was let out from the woman.


    Everything went silent.


    Then...


    GGGGGGGGGGGGRRRRRAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!


    <o>,m The deafening roars of hundreds of infected, roaring at the same time, filled the whole ce.</o>


    Everyone felt dizzy at the sudden screams that could be heard even a kilometer away.


    Then, the bodies of the infectedtched by spiders started mutating further.


    Their muscles burst out, their skin was filled with spikes, and their mouths burst to pieces.


    They hunched over violently. Long, thin, but sturdy segmented legs burst out of their backs. These legs had a metallic sheen, and the hair that covered the legs looked like deadly hooks.


    Lifting their bodies with those eight thin legs, the faces of the infected that were covered as they hunched their bodies were revealed.


    Their eyes were all ck like a spider''s, and they had mandibles growing out of their jaws.


    Finishing their mutation, the infected started to surge towards Mark.


    "You guys think that only you guys had something like that?"


    Mark smiled.


    Hunching his body over, eight [Blood Whips] burst out from his back, above and below his two pairs of bat wings. The [Blood Whips] immediately turned into segmented limbs, far more threatening in appearance that the spider legs that the infected had.


    Unexpectedly, the woman leading the horde showed a surprised expression. She was staring intently at the sinister weapons on Mark''s back.


    "Eat..."


    Mark suddenly felt the hair on his nape stand up. He turned towards the queen and the spider empress.


    For some reason, Mark felt he made a mistake trying topete with these infected.


    "RAAAHHHH!!!"


    The woman let out another shriek causing the infected around to go berserk. They started to swarm Mark with great ferocity.


    Spear-like stabs rained towards Mark as the infected brandished their newly acquired spider limbs to pierce his body.


    SHING!


    Of course, Mark''s own metal limbs moved with more agility and received each pierce that came his way. As the tips of his metal limbs were des, everything that shed with it turned into slices of spider leg sticks.


    Furthermore, he moved faster than all the infected here. They could not hold him in once ce as he obliterated them one by one.


    But then, Mark noticed some odd-looking infected that started to join the fray. They also had spiders at the backs of their heads. However, the spiders looked smaller than the others. Furthermore, it looked like they mutated this way long ago as their spider limbs looked more solid and the blood on their bodies from mutating already dried up.


    Nevertheless, the infected theytched one was stronger and faster.


    They even managed to cope with Mark''s speed to some extent.


    However, it was far from enough.


    The scythe in Mark''s hands melted into blood that entered his body and he finally pulled the two de-whips out.


    As he had his eight metal limbs out, the two blood whips lost its versatility without a [Blood Whip] controlling it from inside. Nevertheless, the two whips danced in a ferocious manner that torn the iing infected into pieces of blood and meat.


    Still, while Mark killed the odd infected and the smaller spiders thattched unto their heads, why did Mark feel more goosebumps.


    ***


    Above the hotel tower, the thirteen people that Mark saved watched the scene below in disbelief.


    Morgan''s disy earlier was already amazing.


    Yet, the man that saved them was currently fighting with hundreds of infected...


    Alone...


    Furthermore, the infected already mutated into more ferocious ones.


    But they could still not hold a candle against the strange man.


    "He''s still holding back. I can tell."


    Arnold voiced out. He was not the leader of this group for nothing. He was the best fighter of the group and was actually here in Antic City for an underground battle.


    As an experienced fighter, he could see that Mark was still not showing the full extent of his abilities.


    But why?


    He could not tell the reason. After all, it was more of a gut feeling.


    Nevertheless, why did it seem like the battle below was strange?


    The strange female infected stopped attacking and stood by the side, watching her underlings and Mark fight to their death.


    "Huh?"


    One of the mutators on the roof finally noticed something.


    "Ernst, is something wrong?"


    Arnold asked.


    Ernst on the other hand stared at the scene below with a frown. He seemed to be recalling something from his mind. It was not an odd scene for everyone was this guy always did this. After all, he was a biologist here for a vacation before the outbreak started.


    "I don''t know but... Thatrge glowing spider should be female. If it is the leader of this horde of spiders, then it is some sort of queen, right?"


    Everyone nodded at this assumption. It was reasonable.


    "I don''t know if this applies here since spiders don''t really make colonies or live in groups that frequently. But what if you guyspare these spiders to bees... Then, themon ones were workers."


    Theparison was rather odd, but they could understand the logic.


    "Look at those strange ones that had smaller spiders. In other insect colonies, the males are smaller. Since they are weaker and only grew to mate, there were only some instances that they would fight. It was when they contend who would breed the queen."


    Everyone looked at Ernst.


    "Is your head okay?"


    That was their question.


    Nevertheless, why did it seem like he was right?

 Chapter 508 A Woman Feeling Restless, Meis Sudden Arrival

    <strong>Day 127 - 1:22 AM - Cliff House, Mountain Base, Mount Mbito, General Nakar, Quezon</strong>


    Midnight had already passed more than an hour ago in the Phillippines. Everything in the base had already returned to normal.


    Still, it would take time before the area surrounding the base return to its previous appearance.


    After the everyone that evacuated finally returned, they were in dismay. It was not hard to feel that way when the fields they poured their sweat and effort vanished into nothing but a patch of emptynd.


    Nevertheless, they could not deny that they were relieved that they were still able to return. While looking at the surroundings, it would not be surprising if the base was wiped off the map.


    But it still stood. The people only needed to give more effort in recovering what was lost.


    As night came, everyone went to sleep. With Chiyo around, the base did not even need a lookout for the night, enabling everyone to get enough rest.


    At the main house of the base, etched on the face of the crevice, however, almost everyone was still awake.


    "Sis, you should sleep. It''s already past midnight..."


    Jaeyained while yawning.


    For some reason, Mei was quite restless. She was trying to contact Mark through the ring, but he was not answering. There was definitely something going on.


    She wanted to use the ring to teleport to Mark already.


    If there was a problem, she wanted to help him. The girls were already sleeping. It was also okay for her to be absent from the base for half a day.


    However, they were waiting for something.


    Spera already woke up before midnight. And there, a problem was found.


    The portals Spera created could only connect ces that she had seen personally. Simply, ces she had been before or seen with her naked eyes.


    It was the same for the ce she opened the portal with Mark''s order. In the middle of the Antic Ocean where travel routes of passenger nes were located.


    And the problem was...


    Spera had never been into New Jersey.


    The bases of Auraboros was spread out worldwide. However, these bases were only located as energy gathering points and hidden ces. Those were located far away from human society as much as possible.


    And thus, no bases of Auraboros exist in New Jersey. The state also had the thing they called an energy gathering point. However, not only that it was already upied, but it was also surrounded by cities and towns. It was not fit for the activities of Auraboros.


    From New Jersey, the nearest one was far North East of New Jersey. In a hunting grounds in the middle of Pennsylvania.


    And the nearest ce that Spera could open a portal from New Jersey was at Reading, Pennsylvania, that she had been to before.


    Currently, they were waiting for Spera, who was checking the map application that Mark had and was looking for the best ce to open the portal. Afterward, they would print a map that Mei would personally deliver to Mark using the rings they had.


    While she checked the map, small holes could be seen floating midair in front of her. She was opening portals as tiny as possible that could make her see the ce on the map.


    She would search the map, peek on the hole, and would end up shaking her head.


    The whole world was already devastated, after all. It was hard to find a safe ce that they could designate as the receiving point.


    "Here, drink some coffee."


    Aephelia and Odelina came into the room, bringing some cups of coffee for everyone.


    They were all here nning to open a portal at a suitable and safe ce. There, they would enter the portal to wait for Mark in advance as it was more convenient to do so rather than randomly opening a portal at the ce when they did not know when Mark was going to arrive.


    Spera''s portals were also not unlimited. She was able to use these holes to peek, and save energy, but the number of portals she could open that would enable humans to pass through was still limited in number and duration.


    It was more efficient to open one at the right time.


    "Here!"


    Spera eximed.


    Finally, she managed to find a good location. Once the sun had risen once more, they would travel to that location and wait for Mark.


    On the other hand, Mei would leave as soon as she had the map Spera printed.


    After all, she really felt restless.


    ***


    Day 126 - 1:25 PM - Lower Rooftop, Bally''s Casino, Antic City, New Jersey, United States of America


    On the lower rooftop, Mark''s de-whips and metal limbs moved without pause.


    How many infected was there? And how many infected did he kill already?


    Everyone watching had already lost count.


    Currently, to everyone''s eyes, Mark was like a killing machine.


    Corpses of infected hosts and spiders littered therge part of the rooftop, being trampled by the new ones that arrived.


    Still, everyone found it odd that the woman that seemed to be the leader of the horde was just watching at the side, intently staring at Mark. It was not a behavior that an infected should disy, after all.


    Unfortunately, even though they could see the woman opening her mouth several times before, they could not hear her voice because of the far distance.


    If they knew that the woman was actually talking despite being infected, everyone would be in turmoil.


    On the rooftop, the survivors started to believe what Ernst thought of more and more.


    They could not unsee the difference between the behavior of the battle before and now.


    Furthermore...


    While the infected with spider limbs on their backs fought Mark, they also started killing each other when the opportunity came.


    It only happened to the ones with smaller spiders on the backs of their heads. The regr ones still behaved the same.


    And as the battle became centered towards the infected with smaller spiders, it started to be a free for all.


    "What the hell..."


    Mark could only murmur as he noticed what was happening.


    As he looked at the sticky stare of the [Queen Type], it was not hard for him to understand what was happening.


    Furthermore, the more he killed the ones with smaller spiders, the emotion from the feeble consciousness of the [Queen Type] was getting stronger.


    Lust? No, it was not that, but close. It was the instinctual urge to breed. It was an instinct that was highly present in animals and insects.


    And of course, Mark felt unpleasant as that instinctual urge was targeted to him.


    That was when Mark remembered.<sub> </sub>


    The [King Type] was looking for a queen.


    Then...


    The [Queen Type] might also be looking for a king.


    This instinctual urge of the [Queen Type] should be targeted towards a [King Type].


    However... As if that was easy to happen.


    There was no doubt that [King Types] and [Queen Types] among the infected was very rare.


    If the suspicion was right, he had two in his base. In the wild, however, Mark only encountered one [Queen Type] and one [King Type] among the tens of thousands of infected he faced since the start of the outbreak.


    "And there was another factor."


    Mark said as he waved the [Slicer] on his right hand, downwards, and sliced the head of the infected in front of him vertically.


    He then moved his eyes, looking at the limbs of the [Empress Spider] that was present in this angle.


    The factor that might have affected the judgment of the [Queen Type] was the urge of this spider.


    These two moved as one. The [Queen Type]''s and the [Empress Spider]''s instincts and consciousness were mixed.


    It led to the two looking at Mark as a candidate for breeding.


    "Ugh..."


    Just thinking about it made Mark feel ufortable.


    NNNNNNGGGGG!!!


    Suddenly, Mark felt his hand vibrate fiercely. He was surprised.


    Without thinking twice, he turned into a wave if ck mist and escaped the area of the battle. He flew straight towards the rooftop of the tower, materializing in front of everyone that was staring at him in shock.


    Before everyone could even close their open mouths, a blinding light shone beside Mark. They could not help but cover their eyes.


    The moment their sight returned, a beautiful woman d in crystal armor stood beside their savior.


    That was when they heard Mark speak with a stern voice.


    "Mei''er, why would you appear like this? You should have alerted me beforehand..."


    As the question was asked, the crystal armor of the beautiful woman melted into a slime-like creature, revealing her slender figure. Then, the woman embraced their savior affectionately.


    When her body touched the ck cloak of mist, parts of it vanished as she directly embraced Mark''s body.


    "I tried alerting Gege for almost an hour already... Gege is not responding..."


    Hearing that... Mark knew that it was partly his fault.


    He was too concentrated in the events around him, along with the battle, that he failed to notice his vibrating ring.


    "Hah... Alright, my bad." Mark shrugged. "I''ll ask youter why you came here. We still have some business to finish."


    Mark said to Mei while pointing at the situation below.


    Even without Mark, the skirmish of the male spiders continued. However, the regr ones already started climbing the hotel tower under the angered orders of their Queen.


    After all, she could not let her potential mate escape.


    Mei, on the other hand, was ring at the Queen as if she saw her mortal enemy.


    "Gege, can you let me take care of that woman?"


    She asked.


    "Hmm? You want to kill her? I''m nning to catch her, though..."


    "Why?"


    "We have that [King Type] at the base, right? I want to see his reaction if we bring him a genuine [Queen Type]."


    "That''s a [Queen Type]?" Mei said with a bit of realization. "I''ll do it. I''ll catch her."


    Mark looked confused for a bit. Even though he could feel Mei''s emotions, he could not understand why she was too eager to fight the [Queen Type].


    "Hah..." Mark sighed. "Alright. I already wanted to end this, but it''s fine if you really want to. Just be careful, alright?"


    "Don''t worry."


    Mei showed a beautiful smile at Mark, which immediately mesmerized the witnesses.


    Then, without waiting for them to recover, the slime-like creature, Oracle, turned into Mei''s armor once more. And to everyone''s surprise, the angelic-looking girl sprouted demonic wings from her back, not that different from the ones their savior had.


    Wielding therge white de she had on her back with both hands, she jumped down from the hotel tower.


    "Crimson, protect her."


    Mark murmured, and a small surge of ck smoke followed Mei.


    The new enemy immediately alerted the spiders climbing the face of the hotel tower. Without dy, they all tried to charge towards Mei.


    And then, with a sh of light, Mei vanished, appearing past before the group of the first attackers.


    Losing their target for their attack, many of the infected lost bnce and fell while Mei continued flying down the face of the building.


    Mark, who was still watching from the rooftop, could only shrug. After all, Mei had just arrived, and she was already jumping into action. It was as if she expected that there would be an enemy for her to fight.


    "Well, I better follow her."


    Mark murmured as he turned into a puff of ck mist once more.


    He charged towards the hundreds of infected climbing the hotel tower.


    With a few swings of his two de-whips, pieces of flesh and blood rained below.


    Mei immediately reached the lower rooftop.


    Contrary to her usual style using a sniper rifle, she decided to fight the [Queen Type] face to face for some reason.


    As Mark kept an eye on Mei while he fought his own battle, a thought sprouted in his mind once more.


    "Women really are strange creatures."

 Chapter 509 Not Holding Back, Dispatching The Enemy She Hated As Fast As Possible

    <strong>Day 126 - 1:27 PM - Monitoring Division, Great Ind Military Base, Great Ind, Antic City, New Jersey, United States of America</strong>


    The sudden sh of light was clearly shown in the video feedback from the military drones. Most of the monitors inside the monitoring room were focused on the area of the battle. That light caused most of the monitors to sh, causing the whole monitoring room to brighten fiercely.


    And the next scene put the soldiers in awe.


    Most of them were men, and most men were easy to be fascinated by a woman''s beauty.


    "A valkyrie?"


    One of the soldiers could only mutter.


    Soldiers were not innocent about mythological things, especially the ones that symbolized soldiers and war. And in this State of New Jersey, paranormal things were often witnessed even before the outbreak started. The mostmon one was the sightings of the Jersey Devil.


    The word valkyrie was also being used as squad names often.


    And this time, apanied by blinding light, a beautiful woman d in crystal armor, with arge, white weapon on her back appeared. Of course, they could only associate her with something out of this world.


    When her armor melted and her face was revealed clearly to them, they were even more mesmerized. Some of them even began to fantasize.


    But their fantasies were crushed when the woman embraced Mark. And furthermore, instead of a pair of wings of an angel, she sprouted those of a devil''s.


    Still, they could not help but watch the scene in the central monitor more than before. There was no doubt that the beautiful woman came because of Mark. With the disy Mark had shown them, they could not help but anticipate how she would do in this battle.


    However, a sudden outburst from one of the soldiers broke the monitoring room''s silence.


    "Major! This is bad!"


    The soldier immediately pointed at his screen.


    His hurried expression made everyone feel uneasy.


    "Bring it up on my monitor!"


    The Major ordered as he took his seat.


    Seeing the feed that was shown to him, he could not help but frown. It was the same for Maurice, who was standing behind him.


    "Hear me out! This is an emergency order!" The major shouted to get everyone''s attention. "Check all the critical monitoring targets and report!"


    "Yes, Sir!"


    The loud reply of the soldiers echoed inside the room as they followed themand given to them.


    And as soon as they all did, the atmosphere inside the monitoring room became stifled.


    The situation was more than enough to be called an emergency.


    It was because the battle that was currently happening at the Bally''s Casino had drawn the attention of almost all infected in the whole city.


    Because they were all focused on the happenings at the Bally''s Casino, they neglected this part.


    Still, most of them wondered if it could pose a threat towards Mark, who was still fighting at the rooftop, especially since someone else came to fight with him.


    ***


    <strong>Day 126 - 1:29 PM - ?????????????????</strong>


    "Interesting..."


    A creature said in a sharp, monotone voice.


    It was none other than the real Professor Alston.


    This ce was not inside the Antic City Highschool, and it was his real body. The professor was sitting at the center of an empty space with only floating screens all around him. No one could tell where he was just from this scene.


    And the scene in the screens was no other than what was happening inside the area of his jurisdiction. Specifically, what was currently happening at the rooftops of Bally''s Casino.


    He had been fascinated by the unknown being that was called Mark. Now, another one had appeared beside him.


    "A level of beauty that even gods would want... When was thest time that one of them was born on earth again?"


    "Thest one recorded in Earth''s known history was born in 69BC."


    A mechanical voice answered his question.


    "Oh, right. That Cleo-something. Who would have thought that another one will appear at this time? Unfortunately, she''s already taken. Or else, I might have coveted her beauty. Although I can''t wait to have my hands on that Unknown being, it is better not to poke at something dangerous."


    The Grey alien continued speaking while watching the floating screens in front of him.


    "Schr Oldreilic, Earth Name: Alphfa Alston. Your orders are to study the infected in your area of jurisdiction. Doing anything that is outside the orders you received is not rmendable and would not be tolerated."


    The mechanical voice spoke once more.


    "I know, I know... Seriously, who programmed this Artificial Intelligence."


    Oldreilic''s eyes squinted.


    "It is you, Schr."


    The mechanical voice retorted.


    "Uhg..."


    Without anything to reply, Oldreilic returned to watching the scenes on the floating screens. This time, he did it quietly.


    ***


    <strong>Day 126 - 1:30 PM - Lower Rooftop, Bally''s Casino, Antic City, New Jersey, United States of America</strong>


    Mei charged towards the horde of infected without fear. She was not like Mark, who had a hard time to actually feel emotions. However, she did not care enough about the infected in front that she could not feel such emotion.


    And as a woman, she could feel if someone was targeting her man.


    It was more eptable if it was human or any of the Spirit Races. She would not react this way either if other women were feeling genuine admiration towards Mark.


    However, she would not, and never ept that another woman was targetting Mark for the sake of nothing but breeding.


    She would not ept it, no matter what race the woman came from.


    And thus, she felt angry at this infected.


    Many spidertched infected got on her way. Every single one of them was protecting their Queen, contrary to their previous goal of consuming human flesh.


    Even those originally aiming to climb the tower also climbed down as fast as they could to surround her.


    Mei''s killing intent towards the Queen was felt by her underlings. Unlike with Mark, who was just ying with them, Mei was emitting killing intent that was enough to alert all of them.<sub> </sub>


    If not for Mark''s request to not kill the Queen, Mei would kill her without hesitation.


    "This is troublesome."


    Mark could not help but voice as he immediately went to assist. Even those infected around him rushed towards Mei, totally ignoring him.


    Unfortunately for these infected, Mei was not a pushover after bing a Blood Demon.


    With the veins on her arms legs releasing a faint glow, she forcefully stopped, kicking the floor, and waved her sword with both hands.


    The sword left a white afterimage of a wide arc, bisecting the bodies of the infected before her. Blood, flesh, and organs sttered everywhere, creating a grotesque scene around her. Before any drop of blood couldnd on her body, her body shed forwards, appearing a few meters in front.


    With another swing of her sword, the infected that lost their targets had their bodies bisected from behind.


    After that, Mei continued to charge towards the Queen with a p of her wings.


    Since she decided to fly up, the spidertched infected could not reach her as she continued on her way.


    Mei finally reached a distance several meters away from the Queen. There, her body shed, appearing behind the Queen without any warning.


    Using the t side of her sword, Mei decided to strike the Queen down.


    But then, it seemed that it would not be that easy.


    As Mei''s sword formed another arc, the Queen kicked her foot, causing her whole body tounch backward. She jumped behind her evading the sword as her body spun midair.


    Mei''s eyes dted, everything in her sight slowed down a bit. She turned her head up, following the movements of the Queen.


    As Mei looked up, the Queen was looking down. The two stared at each other at that instant.


    However, before the swing of Mei''s sword reached halfway, her body shed once more.


    Mei appeared behind the Queen once more in the middle of the swing of her sword.


    Creaking noises could be heard from the [Empress Spider] as she sensed danger. However, without any foothold, there was no way for them to dodge.


    BAM!


    The t de of therge sword connected with the Queen''s left side.


    With a painful screech, the Queen was flung off the rooftop.


    Of course, it was not enough to dispatch the Queen. Being even more special from other Mutated infected, her body was more resilient too.


    As the Queen was falling, she stretched her hand towards the face of the building. With that action, several strings of webs shot off from her fingers. She intended to use the webs to mitigate her fall.


    Unfortunately for the Queen, her current enemy would not let her do so.


    A sh of light urred in front of her, Mei appeared as the light vanished.


    BAM!


    Mei''s feet kicked at the same time, hitting the Queen''s abdomen with full force.


    BOOM!


    GRAAAAHH!!! SCREEECH!!!


    The Queen crashed in the middle of the street. After falling from three stories high with a speed of a speeding car, it would not be surprising if she did not feel pain.


    Both the Queen and the [Empress Spider] spat out blood. The impact from that fall could not be joked at. The Queen tried to struggle and move. However, even as an infected, the damage done to her body was enough to incapacitate her.


    The spidertched infected that was still at the lower parts of the building immediately came to aid the Queen. They surrounded her as she screeched out loud.


    In the middle of their encircle, however, Mei appeared waving her white sword.


    In very few reinforcements that came to aid the Queen was dispatched quickly as most of them were already on the lower rooftop and the insides of the casino.


    With this, Mei secured the capture of the Queen.


    Mark dispatched the infected around him as he saw that Mei ended her battle as quickly as possible.


    "She''s being too active. It''s not a bad thing, though"


    Mark smiled.


    However, the smile did notst too long, and his expression turned serene.


    He immediately rushed towards Mei.


    "Mei''er, hurry up. We need to leave."


    Mark said as [Blood Whips] shot off from his hands, and constricted the Queen and the [Empress Spider]. The [Blood Whips] turned into metal shackles immediately, and he picked up the captured enemy.


    On the other hand, Mei did not need to ask why Mark was in a hurry. Just from where they currently stood, they could see what was happening.


    Except for the spidertched infected and the others that were already here before, the infected from other ces started gathering here.


    On the east side of the road, they could see a two-story-tall cat, quickly rushing towards them. The cat was jumping over cars, infected, and debris as it found Mark and Mei.


    CLACK! CLICK!


    Several clicking sounds were heard as Mei transformed the sword in her hands into a sniper rifle.


    As Mei aimed towards the cat, parts of the sniper rifle started glowing.


    BANG!


    The sniper rifle shot like normal. However, the velocity of the bullet was several times faster than her speed of flight and had the impact of a tank cannon.


    Unable to react, the head of the cat was pierced through. Itsrge body turned into a ragdoll that rolled in the middle of the street. A hole asrge as a fist could be seen on its bleeding head.


    "You really don''t have to do that?"


    Markined.


    "Sorry, I just want to try."


    Mei apologized with a puppy-like expression.


    "Don''t show me that." Mark patted her head. "Let''s go."


    With those words, Mark and Mei pped their wings and flew back to the rooftop of the hotel tower, leaving the hundreds of infected that hurried towards them in order to save their Queen.

 Chapter 510 The Escape, Goodbye To The Hellish Atlantic City

    Day 126 - 1:32 PM - Hotel Tower Rooftop, Bally''s Casino, Antic City, New Jersey, United States of America


    Mark and Mei returned to the rooftop with the incapacitated [Queen Type] in tow. This action caused the spidertched infected to turn berserk, rushing up the building as fast as they could. They all growled and roared in unison, making loud noises unpleasant to anyone''s ears.


    Unfortunately, it would not be easy for them to climb up once more without using the maze-like interior of the building.


    Almost no one noticed, but most of the windows and walls at the lower part of the hotel tower already turned to rubble.


    Everyone was interested in and focused on Mei''s fight that they did not notice that Mark aimed for the destruction of the lower parts of the hotel tower. The damage was not severe. However, it was almost impossible for the infected to climb up using the face of the building.


    That was why even though they returned on the rooftop, Mark was not worried about being disturbed by the minions of the [Queen Type].


    Nevertheless, it did not make the whole situation safe for anyone.


    From the rooftop of the hotel tower, anyone would be able to see the situation. The infected all over the area, and possibly, the whole city, were gathering around the casino. It was not a big city, after all. There was no need to mention the entire situation. Just thest attack Morgan used was enough to shake the whole ce after he copsed arge part of the casino.


    And now, all sorts of infected could be seen everywhere, whether it be onnd, air, or water.


    That huge cat that Mei had taken down just now was just one of the fastest infected in the city and one of those that arrived earlier than the others.


    From the eastern coast, a human-sized octopus emerged, dragging its unstable body to cross the beach towards the casino.


    From the northern suburbs, a small horde of charred-looking infected was stumbling towards the area.


    There was a horde of one and a half meter tall dogs running from the south.


    Aside from those, there were more than five thousand infected that were rushing towards the area. It was more than enough to make the faces of the few people left at the tower pale.


    It was clear that there were only the fourteen of them left from the one hundred and fifty people that were initially in their group since this morning. Fighting against a few hundred infected was already impossible for them. None of the would ever dare think of facing several thousand.


    And thus, they could only look at the two people that flew back to the roof. They felt scared that the two brought back the infected woman. Nevertheless, to escape the current situation, these two were only their hope. Furthermore, the man d in a cloak of ck smoke had already saved them once.


    Still, the group could not fathom how the two could have a rxed attitude despite the situation.


    "Hmm..." Mark tilted his head as he examined the [Queen Type] a bit. "Mei''er, you overdid it..."


    Mark could only shrug. Many bones of the [Queen Type] broke from the battle. It was no wonder why it was so much in pain. As the consciousness of the Queen was still vigorous, it was not dying. However, it was questionable if it would recover.


    "Sorry..."


    Mei could only meekly apologize. She knew that she lost control because of the things in her mind. Luckily, she did not end up killing the [Queen Type] by ident.


    Mark patted her head without any hint of anger. It was not like Mei did not do anything good for the situation.


    Mei''s sudden arrival might be too sudden. However, it helped Mark in one very crucial thing. It was to keep his cards hidden from the multitudes of eyes that were currently watching.


    It was more than easy for him to dispatch the infected that was swarming the building in one go. However, it would reveal his abilities in the eyes of dangerous beings, especially from the likes of Professor Alston.


    They might be cooperating with the U.S. government. Nevertheless, no one would be able to tell the true goals of these extraterrestrial visitors foring to Earth.


    With Mei''s appearance, even though she failed to hold herself back, it was better than him showing what he was truly capable of.


    If they were enemies, even if they managed to gauge Mei''s abilities from her disy earlier, they would still hesitate to do any move against him since they knew less about him.


    "Alright, we have to move out. This ce is going to be a mess soon."


    Mark said as his eyes panned towards the survivors waiting for him and Mei.


    "Well then..." Mark spoke. "I saved all of you here because you passed my criterion. We will leave this ce as soon as possible. But all of you have to listen to my instructions."


    Hearing those words, although they were all confused as to what criterion Mark was talking about, they could only nod. After all, Mark and Mei were their only ticket out of this ce.


    "You see, we can''t take all of you out of this ce in one go. So others have to wait here."


    Before Mark could continue, Arnold spoke.


    "Then, please, take the children and the women first. Us men can wait."


    Hearing that, Mark smiled.


    This guy was truly fitting as their leader. Unfortunately, only a few people from his group were fit to be under him.


    "That''s what I''m nning in the first ce."


    Mark looked at Mei, and they nodded at each other. He was about to lift the [Queen Type]. However, Mei beat him up to it. Mark wanted tough though he could only shrug his shoulders.


    He then looked at the three children he saved earlier. Unexpectedly, the three approached him without hesitation. Picking the three and Morgan, who was still unconcious, they flew to leave the area.


    With that arrangement, the ones left behind hid inside a utility area on the roof while they wait for Mark toe back. Because of the transition of the abilities the two used to fly faster, the people they brought felt a bit dizzy. Still, they held on tightly.


    They did not leave the city but flew just past the copsed bridges. Past the main ind, the number of infected considerably decreased. They chose a wide empty parking area tond. There, Mei was left to guard while Mark picked up the other survivors.


    It took a maximum of fifteen minutes. Finally, the rooftop of Bally''s Casino was empty.


    Even so, the whole ce looked like a festival with the number of infected gathered in the streets. Even a needle would have a hard time falling to the ground.


    At thest flight Mark did, even his scalp was tingling with the infected that gathered below. Since the majority of the infected were mutated ones, many of them had the appearance that was enough to make everyone puke. Mark did not see these infected earlier which meant that they could havee from other areas.<sub> </sub>


    Unknown to Mark and the survivors of Bally''s Casino, the situation gave way for the other survivor groups to have the opportunity to leave the city.


    The infected in the city left in hordes towards the eastern coast, leaving the other parts almost devoid of the infected. If they did not leave the ce now, they would never be able to in the future.


    It became a wide migration of survivors. Inside the whole city, there were about four hundred survivors divided into several groups. They were all struggling to survive and many of them already died. Therewas no way for them to let this opportunity go.


    Still, the unfortunate thing was that... Now that they had the opportunity to escape this hellish city, their true colors came out.


    Many of the mutators left their groups alone and rushed to escape. Some left unnoticed, using the ones they left behind as bait for the remaining infected.


    Many of them only bonded as a group because they had to. They could not survive alone in this city. Now that they could leave, there was no need to stick with the weaklings.


    One of the things that led to this was... The hope that only this city was enveloped by the outbreak.


    Since many witnessed when the military bombed the bridges and they lostmunication with anyone outside the city, many of them thought that only this city was affected by the outbreak. They thought that the bridges were bombed to contain the infected in one ce.


    Their unstable minds and emotions made them believe those things...


    Outside the city, there was the military, the government, the living people...


    Outside the city, they would be safe...


    But when first Mutators managed to reach the bridge and used the remains of it to cross.


    Their eyes were opened wide by the awful truth.


    From the forests, evolved animals that were living there rushed out to the survivors. With four months that the ce was devoid of humans, these hungry beasts saw them as prey.


    A bloody battle ensued for those that were able. For those who were not, they could only run in fear as they tried to escape the ughter.


    Along the way, Mark managed to detect one of those scenes. However, there was no reason to stop. He brought Arnold, who wasst to leave, towards the waiting point.


    As everyone arrived, many of them had tears at the corner of their eyes. They never thought that they would be able to leave the city alive, after all. The current situation was no less than a miracle for them.


    "Now then..." Mark spoke. "I will give you people two options."


    Hearing Mark speak, everyone listened carefully.


    "First, I can bring those who wanted to our base. In a condition that all of you will follow and live under my rules."


    "Second, those who want can leave now. I won''t stop them. I''ll give everyone five minutes to decide."


    Murmurs ensued across the group. After all, even though Mark had saved them and brought them out of the city, it was not easy to trust people.


    Then, Felicia asked a question.


    "What about him?" She pointed at Morgan. "There is no way that he will be able to choose in that condition. Are we going to choose for him?"


    There, Mark tilted his head.


    "No. Whether any of you like it or not, we will take this guy back with us."


    Everyone froze. But considering the disy that Morgan showed earlier, it was possible that Mark wanted him because of that.


    "Are you going to exploit Morgan?"


    Felicia asked with a fierce re.


    "I''ll ask you." Mark sneered. "Do you think we need to exploit anyone?"


    It was a proud and confident deration that sounded too annoying to hear. Nevertheless, even if they wanted to, they could not retort.


    After all, they saw what Mark and Mei were capable of.


    And it was possible that what they saw was not all of what they were capable of.


    Looking at their reactions, Mark could only smile inside.


    It was what Mark ensured when he chose these people to save. All of them had strong sentiments towards Morgan.


    And ording to his n...


    "We can''t leave Morgan alone with you. We are sure that we won''t win in a fight so we are following your arrangements."


    Arnold boldly dered without even two minutes of their discussion.


    It was the scene that Mark was aiming for since the start.


    As the situation was addressed and the group had given their decision, the only thing left was to wait for Spera''s portal that would take them back after a day.


    "Gege, that is why I came here."


    Mei interjected at that time and told the situation while showing the map she carried.


    Mark could only breathe deeply. Of course, things would not be easy.

 Chapter 511 The Road Out Into The Mainland, Finding A Treasure Just Beside Them

    <strong>Day 126 - 2:11 PM - Parking Space, Absecon Blvd., Antic City, New Jersey, United States of America</strong>


    The survivors of Bally''s Casino walked behind Mark and Mei with utmost vignce. They finally left the main Ind of Antic City. From behind, they could see the silhouette of the copsed bridge connecting the main ind to the maind of New Jersey, the Absecon Blvd. Bridge.


    It was the line that every single one of them wanted to cross ever since the apocalypse started. In the end, there were only thirteen of them left from their whole group that managed to reach that goal.


    Many died, sacrifices happened. It was all for the sake of surviving,


    Now, however, even though they managed to get out of the hellish cityscape, most of them felt empty.


    Like the others, they thought that getting out of the city would be the end of their suffering. Like in that movie where the whole city was locked down, and the outside was still safe and sound until several yearster.


    Contrary to their thoughts, the goal they wanted to reach was the actual beginning of their journey.


    And the worst thing, aside from the ragged clothes they were wearing, they were not able to bring anything with them. Not even a single candy to eat or a fork to use as a weapon.


    Furthermore, it was fortunate that they were traversing the road they were on right now during the day. If it was during night time, they would not know how they died.


    From that copsed bridge, the whole road they needed to traverse was grassy nes and small forests. To the next city, they needed to walk around five kilometers of this deadly road.


    Fortunately for them, Mark and Mei, who saved them, had been leading the way.


    Since the moment they arrived at the road, they had been attacked for more than a dozen times already. Even though the way was rather dested in appearance, many abandoned cars were strangely piled up in the middle of the boulevard.


    The appearance of the vehicles and the number of infected on this side of this Absecon Boulevard Bridge only led to one conclusion.


    Many thought that the ind of Antic City was a safe ce being by the coast and was isted from the maind with bridges. That thought only led to them being trapped in this road and were left to die with nowhere to run.


    As they said, the grass is greener on the other side.


    Unfortunately, not only that the road to the other side was cut off, but it was more dangerous in a deadly way.


    Nevertheless, the only issue was the number of infected. In fact, even these survivors that managed to live inside Antic City all this time felt that the infected here was weaker than those that they encountered before.


    That was how their lives were honed by a more dangerous environment.


    The survivors were wary of the surroundings due to the danger. Mark, on the other hand, was watching out for the infected because of apletely different reason.


    Right now, Mark was pulling a ck metal cart behind him. On the cart, the restrained [Queen Type]y while struggling.


    However, the cart was rather small and unbnced.


    This cart was made using the blood of the infected they were encountering on the way. However, since the ratio of conversion was still on the low side, it was hard toplete a whole cart with just a few dozen infected. Especially when the infected had lesser blood flowing through their veins because of starvation.


    Of course, due to Mutagen, the Biter Types would not die of starvation that fast. However, they would still haveplications like this. Furthermore, if they actually died, they would turn into Eater Types, which did not seem to require blood at all in their bodies to continue moving.


    "By the way, Sir. Where are we going? Where is your base located?"


    Arnold, who was carrying Morgan on his back, asked. Although they agreed to follow Mark as they had no other choice at all where they would survive, Mark never told them where his base was located.


    "Oh, I forgot to tell you guys," Mark replied while looking above his shoulder. "Our base at Quezon Province in the Philippines."


    "Huh?"


    Everyone froze, except Mei, froze.


    "Can you please repeat that again?"


    Arnold could not register the answer in his brain and decided to ask once more.


    "Quezon Province, Philippines."


    Mark replied with a bit of a smug look. He rather liked the shocked appearance of the people behind them right now.


    "Philippines? Not Phdelphia, right?"


    Ernst asked in a very awkward manner.


    Finally, everyone, aside from the three children, could not believe what they had just heard.


    To think of it. Now that both Mark and Mei''s faces were revealed to them, they did not look like locals at all. Although there was that. But it was also possible that they were tourists like some of them.


    Still, the Philippines? Phdephia was already far enough from this ce on foot. Just how were they going to the Philippines? Furthermore, they felt quite unsettled, hearing that they would be going to a country on the opposite side of the globe. All of them here had never stepped into an Asian country, after all.


    With those things in mind, their eyes fell on Mei. They remembered that Mei suddenly appeared in front of them out of thin air.


    "What you guys are thinking is wrong. We have a different way of going home. It''s just we needed to go to Reading, Pennsylvania first since we can only return from there."


    Everyone felt mystified. However, considering the disy of the two earlier, it was not wrong to believe that Mark and Mei could do many things that were far from their imagination.


    GRROOOWWWLLL...


    Every one of the survivors flinched and got ready to fight. Well, everyone aside from the little girl who was now red-faced.


    <o>,m There was no danger around, and they found out where the growling sound came from soon after.</o>


    The survivors could not help butugh. It was a good atmosphere changer. Nevertheless, it made everyone realize that all of them were hungry. Furthermore, since their supplies were dwindling, they already ate a little this morning.


    Now, they did not have anything to eat at all. The eyes of the survivors fell on the abandoned cars on the road. Maybe, just maybe, there was still food left in some of the vehicles.


    "Don''t bother looking. Here."


    Mark suddenly spoke to them as a ck hole opened in front of his hand. His hand entered the hole. And when he pulled it out, a medium-sized stic bag filled with things was magically on his grasp. He threw the bag towards Ernst, and he clumsily caught it in surprise.


    Opening the bag, they were surprised to see that it was filled with luxury choctes.


    "Just make do with those. We''ll eatter if we find a suitable ce."


    Everyone could not say anything and could only stare at Mark in amazement.


    This strange couple was filled with mystery.


    That was the only thing they could think of.<sub> </sub>


    Everyone continued walking while eating the choctes they received from Mark. To say, these choctes never tasted as good as before. Not only these choctes were free, but they did not have to risk their lives to get a single bite of it.


    They remembered one time that just to get a small box of candies from a stall at the rooftop of the opposite building, they lost one of their people. They could only wish that they would not go over that experience once more.


    "Uncle, are you and big sister wizards?"


    Everyone was too focused on watching out for danger and what they were eating that they did not notice the eight-year-old boy that already pulled the hem of Mark''s tattered shirt.


    Mark and Mei were their only lifeline here. Thus, they were trying hard not to offend them in any way. They even refrained in asking more private information and just followed behind attentively.


    Furthermore, Mark did not look like someone approachable at all. That caused them to be surprised when the boy did this.


    What made them afraid, however, was that Mark and Mei were obviously lovers. Yet, the boy called Mark as Uncle and Mei as Big Sister. It would not be surprising if it was received as an insult.


    To the boy''s question, Mark and Mei looked at each other. With a shrug, Mark turned to the boy who was not even afraid of approaching him. Not to mention that he was pulling a cart carrying a very dangerous infected.


    Then, Mark replied, honestly.


    "I''m not a wizard. I''m a demon."


    He did not bother about being called Uncle. He was used to it.


    "Demon? But demons are bad guys."


    The boy asked once more. The others in their group already wanted to pull the boy away. However, Mark shook his head to them in mischievously.


    "You don''t believe me?" Mark snickered. "Look."


    With those words, Mark''s eyes glowed red, his fangs grew, and two horns sprouted on his forehead.


    Along with the pressure that naturallyes when he transformed, everyone felt afraid. They could even see the evolved animals in the grasnd fleeing from fear.


    But then...


    "Coooool!!!"


    The boy was staring at Mark with his eyes shining brightly as if an avid fan saw his idol.


    This made Mark undo his transformation while looking at the boy in confusion.


    Although he toned down the pressure so that it would not injure the boy who was standing next to him, it should still feel heavy and frightening.


    Still, the boy stood in front of him like it was nothing.


    Now to think of it, it was also this boy that approached him and asked if they were already dead, and he was there to pick them up. It was even though the bloody scene was enough to make the two other children freeze in fear.


    Mark turned back to Mei, it seemed like she was thinking the same.


    This boy was odd.


    Then, Mark made another test.


    His eyes glowed red as he targeted the boy with his [Emotion Induction].


    But...


    The boy stood there unmoving. Blinking innocently, as he stared directly at Mark''s glowing eyes in amazement.


    Sure enough, even his [Emotion Induction] was not working on the boy.


    Mark''s eyes returned to normal, and he ruffled the boy''s head.


    "What is your name?"


    "Caelum! My friends call me Cael!"


    The boy energetically answered.


    "Alright, I''ll call you Cael then. Go back to those two. They look worried. Don''t run around and keep following behind us closely."


    Mark said as he gently pushed Caelum towards the two other children.


    "Yes!"


    Caelum nodded with a smile as he returned to the grasp of the two.


    "Looks like we unexpectedly found another treasure."


    "Yeah."


    Mark and Mei exchanged as they nced at the boy that was being scolded by the two other children.


    To not feel the pressure from Mark and being unaffected by his mental attack, the boy was absolutely strange.


    Still, Mark could not fathom what was strange about the boy. Was he incredibly insensitive to the flow of magical energy? Or maybe, he had the ability to negate it?


    Mark and Mei had those questions in mind as they walked all the way. After more than an hour of long, abandoned road, the clear visage of the next city was in sight.


    From here, the road would be more dangerous. Of course, Mark did not n to go on foot. The next thing they needed to do was to find a good ce to hide while he searched for a vehicle they could use.


    As they exited the boundaries of Antic City, Mark looked behind.


    The drones stealthily following them also stopped.


    Mark red at the drone and shook his head slightly. It seemed that the soldiers got his message and finally retreated.


    Now, before sunset, they had to find a good ce to stay.


    ***


    <strong>VOLUME 8 END</strong>

 Chapter 512 Sentiments, At A Lodge By The Roadside

    <strong>Day 126 - 7:32 PM - Royal Lodge, E Absecon Blvd., Absecon, New Jersey, United States of America</strong>


    Along the empty boulevard, a small family-owned lodging with a great view of the Absecon Bay. The rooms looked dated, and it was low in terms of qualitypared to the other lodgings dozens of meters away along the same road. The security of the ce was questionable, and the facilities were not functioning for the most part. Furthermore, the apocalypse turned it into a dpidated building filled with a bloody mess.


    Nevertheless, if one was looking for a quick lodging in the middle of a zombie apocalypse, it was one of the best options.


    After all, even though the security was not up to standards, it was easier to clear as it had a lesser number of infected wandering around or trapped inside its walls.


    Now, a group of fifteen people was currently spending their time in this ce for the night.


    Of course, it was no other than Mark and Mei, together with the survivors of Bally''s Casino.


    With Mark and Mei around, clearing the infected and the problem with security got addressed without question. Cleaning the rooms that they needed to use fell in the hands of the survivors.


    They had no questions against it either. What mattered was safety. They had no issues for doing menialbor after it was secured.


    Nevertheless, they never thought that it would be quite hard than they imagined.


    Rotting corpses left inside the rooms almost made their stomachs turn upside down.


    Although these survivors had seen the infected daily since the outbreak, a dead, dposing corpse was still different. Not to mention that they had to clean these disgusting, rotting piles of flesh that already stuck to the floor and walls.


    Fortunately, they only had to clean three rooms on the second floor of the lodge. They picked the area above the office on the first floor that was easier to clean than the others.


    While the survivors cleaned the rooms, Mei stood guard. Mark, on the other hand, left for an hour.


    When he came back, they were yet to finish cleaning as the rooms were too filthy.


    Then, it was when they heard Mark speak.


    "Hurry up cleaning so we can cook a meal."


    That was when they noticed the two strange-looking rabbits that Mark had on his hand.


    They looked like cottontail rabbits, but they had long, sharp fangs instead of incisors.


    But seeing the rabbits, what came into the minds of the survivors was not doubt if these animals were edible or not. What was in their minds was that they never tasted fresh meat ever since the outbreak started.


    It had been four months already. Some of them could not help but swallow their saliva because of that thought.


    Because of that, their cleaning efficiency suddenly spiked up. Even the children were affected by their eagerness and started helping in doing smaller work.


    Seeing that, Mark and Mei could only shrug as they prepared the rabbits together.


    When the night came, they were already eating a well-cooked meal after a long time. It was just a in salted stew. The seasoning they found in the kitchen of the lodge was not even enough. From the looks of it, other people might have searched the ce already long before.


    Nevertheless, the taste of meat almost made them tear up.


    Mark and Mei left the group to their own and ate in another room. After all, this arrangement was better for the survivors as they only met Mark and Mei today.


    The survivors ate energetically. It was until the survivors noticed one of them. The other female mutator, Sandie Miller, was only staring at the bowl of food in front of her.


    She was a woman in her mid-thirties. She was not beautiful, and she did not have an attractive body, either. However, what made her stand out from the group was that she waspassionate to everyone.


    "Sandie, what''s wrong? Did you not like your food?"


    Arnold asked as he was the first to notice her.


    Sandie snapped out of her daze because of the question. It was when she noticed that everyone was staring at her, waiting for her answer.


    "No, I''m fine. The food is delicious. I just had things in my mind."


    "Is it about your family?"


    Felicia asked as she stood up from her seat next to the unconcious Morgan and sat beside Sandie.


    Most of the survivors that were stranded in Bally''s Casino were either tourists or employees around the area. Sandie was one of the former, and she was with her family. Her husband and two children. Unfortunately, their family was among the first casualties of the outbreak in Antic City, and it was the very same incident that turned her into a mutator.


    Sandie shook her head to that question.


    "I''m still sad about my family, but that''s not it. It''s just... There is still a lot of us this morning, hungry and worrying for the future. Now, we have food, but there''s only thirteen of us left."


    Hearing that, everyone could not help but feel down. It was the worst atmosphere breaker. However, no one wanted to rebuke Sandie. She was the mother figure of the group, so they understand her sentiment. What she said was also correct.


    When they escaped the Casino, Sandie even asked Mark if they were the only ones left, which he nodded as a response. It just meant that either everyone else was already dead or already turned.


    They were the only ones left of their group. All of them were too shocked by the events that happened earlier. It caused them to not think much of anything else aside from their survival.


    Now that things had calmed down, the emotions for those events started to haunt them.


    "It is better if we don''t think about it too much."


    Arnold said, which made everyone look at him. After all, what he said was quite cold-hearted and was not like him at all.


    Nevertheless, when they saw his expression by the gloomy fire they had, he was obviously feeling down. Then, Arnold continued.


    "Let''s just think that they already escaped the hardships that we are going to experience from here on out. Remember that we are following Sir Mark and Miss Mei, but we are never sure what we will find while following them."


    "That''s true." Felicia also spoke. "Living in this world now was no different from being thrown in the middle of the Amazon forest, hard and deadly. In the least, none of them will struggle like us."


    "They are dead, we are alive. That''s all that matters."


    Ernst also spoke. What he said, however, earned him everyone''s unfriendly re.


    "Huh? Did I say something wrong?"


    Ernst noticed their res and was confused. He was just stating facts, after all.


    "We are trying to cheer everyone up! You idiot with no social skills!"


    "Ouch!"


    Arnold knocked on the head of Ernst. It was a friendly knock, but it sounded quite heavy. Ernst could only hold his head in pain while staring at Arnold with an expression that did not know what he did wrong.


    Seeing that, everyoneughed.<sub> </sub>


    "Hey! Shush!!!"


    Felicia immediately hushed everyone causing them to cover and zip their mouths. That was right, it was not the time forughing out loud. What if they attracted anything dangerous outside? They might also disturb Mark and Mei next door.


    Nevertheless, the atmosphere was much better. Even Sandie was smiling a bit.


    Many have died, and they were the only ones left in their group. Yet, fighting together with everyone for survival and managing to seed, even with Mark''s help, brought everyone closer.


    Arnold watched everyone as they started to continue eating. He was smiling, but behind that smile, there was a tint of sadness and disappointment.


    Inside this room, only Arnold had the guts to ask Mark a question. It was why Mark saved them.


    And the answer was unexpected.


    It was because they did not run away and tried to fight the infected despite the disadvantage, whether it was to protect or let the others run away.


    Who would have thought that a moment of valiance would let them survive that deadly situation?


    But then, at the same time, the answer told him an awful truth.


    Among their whole group of survivors consisting of about a hundred and fifty people, only thirteen of them stood their ground in front of the infected.Whether it was to protect or just in bravery, only that number passed Mark''s test.


    As for everyone else... they abandoned everything for their own safety. Even sacrificing Arnold and the others who stood behind, taking their words for granted. And to think that even three children passed. It meant that these three children worth more than all those people left to die.


    It was an awful truth that Arnold would not tell everyone here. They, who managed to survive, valued everyone from the group. They would be emotionally distressed if they learned of this.


    Even if it was known to them, in the least, it would note from his mouth.


    ***


    "What a rowdy bunch."


    Mark said as he heard theughter.


    Of course, he did not mean it negatively. A good mood and mentality was one thing that survivors needed to maintain in front of adversities. It would keep them going even at times that there was seemingly no hope.


    Mark and Mei sat together as they ate their bowl of stew. Compared to what they ate at the base, and in the Spirit Dimension, it was awful. Of course, it tasted good enough to be eaten because of the natural vor of evolved meat.


    "Gege, here."


    Mei said while eating as she took out some clothes from her [Space Ring].


    Mark was quite surprised by this, but also thankful. He never had time to properly change away from his ragged clothes or even find some. Still, for Mei to bring some, she was really prepared.


    "Its because I saw Gege''s clothes already tattered before entering the portal, so I brought this. Also when Gege is not responding when I''m contacting, I know that Gege is concentrated at something again. Gege even forgets to take baths when working at the workshop, so I thought that Gege will even forget to look for clothes."


    Mei''s reasoning made Mark speechless. However, there was no retort that he could think of as everything was true.


    "Alright, you got me." Mark caressed Mei''s head. "I''ll change after we eat."


    THUMP! THUMP! GRRR!!!


    A noise disturbed the time of the two. It was no other than the [Queen Type], who was still struggling from her restraints.


    Looking at the [Queen Type], Mark thought of things to make her stop making noises.


    "Maybe, I should affix her to the wall."


    Mark murmured.


    "Gege, that will only make her noisier, I think."


    Mei said while ring at the [Queen Type].


    While thinking, Mark''s eyes fell on the stew he was eating.


    Suddenly, he conjured a small [Blood Whip] that immediately turned into a metal skewer. He pierced a mouthful chunk of rabbit meat on his bowl and stood up, walking towards the [Queen Type].


    Mark removed the part of the restraints that disabled the [Queen Type] from opening her mouth.


    The first thing that the [Queen Type] tried to do was to screech.


    However, before she was able to do so, a chunk of rabbit meat entered her mouth.


    Wide-eyed, she started chewing.


    Swallowing the meat, she stared at the skewer that already had another chunk of meat.


    "What this?"


    Mark asked as he waved the skewer side to side. Like a hungry cat, the [Queen Type] followed it with her eyes.


    "Stop making noise, and I''ll give you more. Understand?"


    The [Queen Type] was not responding. However, she was intently staring at the skewer on Mark''s hand.


    "No noise. Understand?"


    Mark said more firmly. He knew that even though not everything, just like the [King Type], the [Queen Type] should be able to understand some words.


    Finally, the [Queen Type] nodded weakly. There, Mark gave her a few more chunks of meat before she was satisfied and went quiet.


    When Mark went back to his seat, he noticed that Mei had not touched her food since he stood up.


    "Why are you not eating?"


    Mark asked. And the reply was...


    "Ah..."


    Mei closed her eyes, blushing as she opened her mouth.


    Mark could only sigh and did what she wanted. There was nothing hard in feeding a jealous girl, after all.

 Chapter 513 The Morning At The Road, The Bloody But Beautiful Scenery

    <strong>Day 127 - 6:32 AM - Royal Lodge, E Absecon Blv., Absecon, New Jersey, United States of America</strong>


    Early in the morning, as soon the sun rose from the east, everyone got ready to leave.


    Everyone knew that they still had a very long way to go to get to safety. The goal of this journey was to get to The Pagoda in Reading, Pennsylvania.


    It was the fifthrgest city in Pennsylvania, located in the southeastern part of the state.


    And from their current location, the shore of Absecon Bay, the shortest route they could take was still more than a hundred and eighty-five kilometers. Using a family car and going through the Antic City Expressway, it would take around two and a half hours to travel that distance back before the outbreak.


    Now, however, this travel might take several days, if nothing goes wrong in the middle journey. And unfortunately, the chances of something going wrong was rather high. No matter what road they took, it would lead them to pass through several infected infested cities before reaching their destination.


    "We will be going through the shortest route, so everyone should focus."


    Mark said to the survivors with a serene expression.


    Everyone nodded. Although if the infected inside Antic City looked fiercer than those outside, they could not let their guards down. Even though they were currently under Mark and Mei''s protection, they should not be toocent.


    They did not survive these four months trapped in the middle of Antic City without learning anything.


    And thus, everyone left the dpidated lodge, facing the empty road.


    Their load was quite light, with only four backpacks carried by the survivors. These backpacks had some items they managed to find in the lodge. It contained a few clothes, the little amount of seasoning they got from the kitchen, and some sanitary items that were yet to expire. Being a lodge, it still had the things of the people staying there when the outbreak started.


    Most of it smelled gross, though, after the smell of rotting corpses seeped into the items. That was why there were very few things that they could take with them.


    The cars outside the lodge had some valuables like gadgets and other stuff that most people bring on vacations. The electronics were unusable without electricity, and thus, left behind. A car had a set of tent though, which they dly took.


    There were also cars left open, even with keys inside. However, after four months of being left without maintenance, the vehicles would not start anymore. The batteries were already dry, and the gas had gone stale.


    Even if they wanted to highjack a vehicle, none of the cars would start at all.


    They had no choice but to continue on foot with the items they had taken.


    On the other hand, Mark could have requested a vehicle from the US Military. It would just take a few minutes for him to go to the Great Ind Military Base. However, with that little favor, the US Government might use it for something troublesome. He could steal, but it would also bring some trouble.


    It was hard to be indebted to the government, any government. Comparing walking through cities filled with infected and having a debt to the government, both were equally dangerous. Dealing with the infected was better as they could not scheme, unlike humans.


    Mark would also prefer adventure than diplomacy.


    The whole group started walking north, following the E Absecon Boulevard.


    Luckily, the road was pretty much empty. It was your typical countryside road during a zombie apocalypse.


    The infected were more concentrated in cities where humans lived before. On the other hand, there were fewer infected in these kinds of ces.


    There was a downside, though. Evolved animals frequented areas like this.


    A vast grasnd surrounded the road, filled with kneehigh grass and bushes. Those surroundings made it easier to spot the animals roaming the area. There were also smaller ones hiding in the thickets.


    However, for some reason, none of them were brave enough to attack Mark''s group. The animals could only watch their supposed prey in fear.


    Mark pulled the cart carrying the [Queen Type] and the [Empress Spider] without minding the animals watching them. Like how it was in their base, the animals could feel a grave threat from Mark and dared not to take action.


    Still, Arnold and the others did not know that and were still wary of the animals. After all, even though they had encountered who knows how many mutated infected, yesterday afternoon was the very first time they had seen an evolved animal.


    And to say, to them, even the small cat they saw with metal spikes around its neck, was very dangerous.


    These animals made them realize that the world was not what they remembered.


    Mark and Mei led the group as they passed by the other lodgings and arge hotel along the road not far from where they started.


    They took care not to make too much noise as there were quite many infected roaming the vicinity of the hotel.


    Most of them were regr infected, Biters and Eaters, though there were some strange-looking mutated ones.


    CRASH!


    A loud sound of ss breaking sounded. It seemed that an infected from the higher floors saw them passing.


    That was not a good move though, because the infected was on the sixth floor, it ended up falling unto its death. The sound of flesh falling to the ground echoed from the hotel''s front parking. Still, everyone hurried to pass by the hotel as the sound of crashing ss alerted the entire hotel.


    There would not be much danger for the group even if the infected from the hotel confronted them. Nevertheless, rather than wasting time while fighting the infected, it was better to continue on the road.


    Avoid unnecessary fighting. That was what Mark nted on his mind this time.


    Leaving the vicinity of the hotel, they reached an abandoned house. From there, it would be a long patch of emptynd until they reached the outskirts of the next city.


    While walking, Mark could not help but notice Mei looking around.


    "What''s wrong?"


    Mark asked.


    "There''s nothing wrong. It''s just I never thought that a single road could look pretty, like this."


    Mei had a strange reply. Nevertheless, Mark could understand what she was saying.


    If you removed the infected out of the way.


    The green grass by the roadside and the properly maintained road before the apocalypse, the scene looked beautiful.


    Now, the nts had overgrown, and some were crawling in the middle of the road. Nevertheless, it added to the beauty. In the least,pared to the ones back in the Philippines, this scene was better. After all, it was moremon to see unmaintained roads in the Philippines, especially the older ones.


    After walking for about twenty minutes, they finally reached the outskirts of Absecon.


    The first two buildings they saw made Mark feel a bit funny. Disregarding the first one, which was another small motel, the second building was The Home Depot. And a big mall at that.


    "Gege."


    Mei called out to Mark.


    "What?"


    "You look very interested in that mall."<sub> </sub>


    "Ah, I guess so. I always hear about The Home Depot when watching Reddit videos before, but I never been to one."


    Mei tilted her head. She could not understand what Mark was talking about.


    "Don''t mind it. Let''s go."


    Mark patted Mei''s head and urged her to continue walking.


    And as expected. As Mark''s group went closer to the city, the number of the infected in the streets was increasing.


    Leaving the cart to Mei for a bit, Mark turned into smoke and dispatched the infected along the way.


    Mark had to do it quickly and efficiently. He had to prevent alerting more infected, and thus, had to kill everything in front.


    Blood sshed, heads rolled. In every swing of his sword, an infected would fall.


    Still, they could not growcent with this. Everyone had to start running while following behind Mark.


    It was because the smell of blood could still attract some of the infected, especially the infected animals that had a keen sense of smell.


    Sure enough, while Mark was dispatching the infected in front, a tiger sized infected dog jumped out of the windows of the closest building.


    "Pull this."


    Mei handed the cart to Felicia, who could only receive it.


    Then, Mei''s body shed and appeared above the charging dog. Because of the sh of light, the dog noticed Mei above it. Nevertheless, it was alreadyte for the dog to react. Mei was already pointing her white sword downwards as she fell.


    SHWIRK!!! THUD!!!


    The dog''s lifeless body copsed with Mei''s sword fixing its head to the ground.


    As shended, Mei immediately pulled the sword off the head and waved it to remove the blood.


    That scene made the males in the group fascinated.


    "Stop, ogling. All of you might get your heads off your necks."


    Felicia warned, which snapped the men out of their trance with embarrassed and flustered expressions.


    "What are all of you doing?"


    Mark suddenly appeared in front, making them shocked.


    No one dared to reply, and could only swim their eyes.


    Mark took the cart from Felicia, and as Mei returned, they continued on their way.


    However, they noticed something.


    Mark and Mei were running fast while dispatching the infected along the way. It became harder and harder for them to keep up.


    And when they reached the road where they would take their first left turn, Mark and Mei ran off the corner first, disappearing from their eyes.


    When they reached the corner, Mark and Mei were gone.


    What they found was... a small horde of infected. There were about thirty infected that immediately noticed the group.


    As some of them were not actuallybatants, they had the urge to step back and retreat.


    However, retreat where?


    They needed to find Mark and Mei. Retreating was never an option.


    Thus, the Mutators led the battle, leaving the still unconcious Morgan to the hands of the nonbatants.


    Arnold''s hands and arms became covered in fur. It was his usual transformation. However, this time, everyone noticed something odd.


    His eyes became beady, and there was a tail that protruded behind him.


    "Arnold..."


    Felicia called out.


    "What?"


    Arnold responded hurriedly as the infected was already closing in.


    "Eyes and Tail."


    Felicia said while pointing behind Arnold.


    Arnold was confused until he saw the moving tail behind him. It looked like a short, rat tail.


    Well, he became even more confused. However, there was no time to think about things. He brandished his talon-like ws and cut off the neck of the nearest infected.


    Felicia also disyed her ability. Her nails also turned into ws of a different kind of animal. Looking at her eyes, it was clear that her mutation was a cat. With her agile movements, she immediately appeared in front of the horde, twisting the necks of the infected caught with her hands.


    On the other hand, Sandie remained with the nonbatants as her body also changed. Her skin turned greenish with strange patterns simr to a turtle''s shell.


    One of the infected, which seemed to be faster than the others, managed to close into the group. Sandie intercepted the infected and swiped her hand with great force.


    BAM!


    With one swipe that hit the infected''s temple, the infected was thrown away with a smashed head.


    Lastly, Ernst. There were no noticeable changes in his body or appearance. However, when an infected approached him, he spat his dark-colored saliva.


    SISSSS!!!


    The head of the infected that was smeared by the saliva immediately melted. Ernst''s saliva did not seem to be too potent as the melting stopped after a few seconds. However, as the saliva melted its head up to its brain, the infected stopped moving.


    They fought the horde bravely, not knowing that Mark and Mei were just sitting by the pavement beside them.

 Chapter 514 The [Shooting Moon Edge], Finishing The Punishment

    Day 127 - 8:36 AM - Antic 651, Absecon, New Jersey, United States of America


    "Hah... Hah..."


    The four mutators panted heavily. Nevertheless, most of the horde was already dispatched by them.


    Compared to themotion they had to experience back in Bally''s Casino, this number of infected was nothing. However, the circumstances now and then were too different.


    Inside the closed building, the narrow halls, walls, and pieces of furniture could help in hindering the infected. That way, there was a limited number of infected that they had to deal at a time. In this open intersection, however, the attacks coulde from every direction, forcing them to move more than they were used to.


    The most crucial thing was that they had to protect the nonbatants for the most part. Back in Antic City, the nonbatants would stay at the safehouse and deal with the jobs they could do there. Everyone that would face the infected on almost a daily basis was all mutators and evolvers.


    This time, this was they had to fight in an open space while minding the protection of the people behind them. And due to that, they had to expend more effort and stamina to keep them safe.


    They did not know why Mark and Mei suddenly disappeared. But if this was another test, they had to give their best.


    Felicia, on the other hand, knew that it was more of a punishment to them than a test. This started after these men around her ogled on someone else''s partner. As if she would not see that.


    After all, Felicia was someone who worked on a casino before. One of their requirements was to have keen eyes and talent for observation for them to spot the literal money bags.


    Although what they did was nothing but an appreciation of admiration for the scene they witnessed, it was still inappropriate.


    Still, what a deadly punishment this was. One slip up and anyone could die. Was there not a safer find of punishment?


    Were Mark and Mei watching? They could not even tell where they were.


    And thus, they could only fight with their lives on the line. And only because of the shallow nature of men towards beauty.


    Fortunately, they could manage this much.


    It was quite tiring, but they were about to finish. Felicia and the others only wished that there would be no reinforcementsing.


    Unfortunately, their thoughts jinxed it.


    GRROOAARR!!!


    A loud growl like roar was heard along with quick, heavy footsteps.


    Following the sound, they saw what wasing, and the sight of the creature made them flinch.


    A two-meter tall canine was rushing towards them from the direction they were supposed to go to.


    Furthermore, it was not only big, but it had a lot of strange features.


    It looked like a wolfdog as it had the appearance of a wolf still looked different. The wolfdog''s fur was green in color, and it had a blood-red petal-like protrusion around its neck like a lion''s mane. Its ws were shaped like talons of an eagle, and it had a bald, green, scaly tail simr to a rat''s. As if panted while running, they could see its snake-like tongue that was also green in color like a vine and had spikes like a feline''s.


    After seeing it, it was not hard to think of a name.


    Wolfdog Flower Chimera. No other name could fit this mutated infected beast.


    The survivors gulped their saliva. They did not know if they would be able to handle this one. There was no option to flee either.


    "Damn... That beast..." Arnold said as he readied to fight despite the danger. "Just where is Sir Mark... He doesn''t expect us to fight that thing, right?"


    "Don''t worry, We''ll deal with that."


    A voice was suddenly heard a few steps behind the group. It made them flinch as they turned their heads towards that direction.


    There, they saw Mark and Mei sitting on the pavement with the cart beside them.


    "Just... How..."


    Ernst could only mutter those words in surprise and confusion.


    They had already seen that if Mei was to use her ability, there would be a sh of light. On the other hand, there would be a trail of fast-moving smoke from Mark.


    Both abilities should be visible to them if they were looking, and they had been wary of their surrounding since the start of this battle.


    Yet, as if they were ghosts, Mark and Mei suddenly appeared just beside them.


    Mark then stood up and walked in front while Mei prepared her weapon.


    "Oh, all of you still have to finish the rest of the horde, alright?"


    Mark said while peeking at them over his shoulder. The group of survivors felt a bit of dismay, but their mood was much better.


    CLICK! CLICK! CLICK!


    With several clicking sounds, the white sword in Mei''s hand became a sniper rifle.


    SHHHHOOOOM!!!


    With a quite loud sound, Mei fired her gun. The bullet shot with strong momentum, flying towards the mutated infected beast.


    This white Sniper Rifle Sword was called [Shooting Moon Edge]. It was named by Mark after thepletion before the attack at the Mountain Base happened. However, he did not let Mei use it at that time to keep it as an emergency trump card.


    It was Huo Long Yue''s Sniper Rifle Sword engraved with the name [Yu¨¨qi¨² Bi¨¡nyu¨¢n] meaning, [Moon Edge].


    Mark changed the name a bit after he modified it using the materials he had and some unfinished blueprints.


    And one of those blueprints was the railgun that was yet to be finished.


    Of course, turning it into an actual railgun was quite impossible. Nevertheless, an idental result of modifying the Huo Long Yue''s weapon was the bullet having at piercing power of a tank''s cannon.


    In the first ce, the weapon was designed not only to turn into a sword and a sniper rifle. It could absorb energy from the user to empower the bullets being fired from it.


    While modifying it, Mark kept most of the weapon intact while recing the energy conductors inside with strips of Spirit Wood he had.


    And thus, the powerful firepower of the weapon was the result.


    The end product was both a failure and a sess.<sub> </sub>


    Mark failed in turning it into the weapon in his mind but still seeded in making it a powerful weapon.


    Of course, it was not something that anyone could use. The recoil from firing the weapon was enough to dislocate the arm of an ordinary person. However, Mei was not one of them. She was also a Blood Demon and was a partial pureblood at that.


    The bullet Mei fired flew at fast speeds.


    Unexpectedly, the beast suddenly swayed its body downwards, evading the bullet for the most part.


    The bullet still hit the Wolfdog Flower Chimera. Well, just the end of the tail of the mutated infected beast.


    GGRRROOOORR!!!


    Nevertheless, it seemed to be painful as a loud growling roar was heard from the beast.


    SHHHOOOOOMMM!!!


    Another shot was fired by Mei. This time, the beast did not just sway its body to evade but jumped to the side as fast as it could while it charged towards Mark, who was already standing in front.


    In fact, the beast was paying attention to Mei and wanted to attack her first. However, Mark blocked its path.


    Comparing sizes, Mark and the beast was not far from their heights. However, the enemy still had arger body.


    It seemed to be an intelligent infected. However, it looked like it could not assess the strength of the one it was trying to attack.


    Reaching a few meters from Mark, the beast pressed its two front paws to the ground and pounced towards Mark. The attack was fast and ferocious. If it was one of the mutators behind Mark received this attack, they would definitely die.


    Mark''s body turned into a puff of ck smoke, making the beast miss its attack. However, as it was a mutated infected, it did not think anything about Mark suddenly disappearing and immediately switched targets.


    But then, it froze as it felt danger from above.


    Mark appeared above it, waving the [Slicer] to behead the beast.


    The des of the [Slicer] waved towards the beast''s neck. That was when the petals around its neck closed.


    CLANG!


    Unexpectedly, it gave out a metallic sound when the de of the [Slicer] and the petals shed with each other.


    Still, the attack was too powerful that the body of the beast staggered after receiving it.


    That situation gave Mei a chance.


    Mei fired another shot, aiming for the gap on the flowers at the forehead of the target.


    SHHHOOOOOMMM!!!


    SPLAT!


    Blood and brain matter sttered everywhere as the bullet bore a fist-sized hole on the beast''s forehead.


    Mark stared at the body by his foot. It was such an unusual kind of mutated infected. In fact, he also wanted to catch it.


    Unfortunately, Aephelia was not here. Even Mark and Mei restrained it, there was no way for them to travel with this gigantic load.


    Behind Mark, the battle of the survivors from Bally''s Casino was also finished. They were panting hard as they were tired from the fight.


    It was just two hours after they left the Royal Lodge. Yet, they were already tired. It seemed that the physiques of these people were not suited for long travels, not to mention that they had to fight along the way.


    "Done? Let''s go."


    Of course, Mark had no n to rest. They could slow down their speed, but they definitely could not stop moving.


    Hearing him, the survivors felt dismayed. However, none of them wanted to be left behind.


    Mark took the cart once more and led the group in a speed that was easy for tired people to catch up.


    Everyone noticed the change in speed, and their dismay vanished. Of course, aside from Felicia, they were still wondering why Mark subjected them to that dangerous battle.


    And for sure, no one would try to tell them.


    Leaving the bloody intersection, they continued traveling on the road called Antic 651.


    It was a good route as they were trying to avoid the central areas of the city. In fact, after they turned left from that intersection, the cityscape started to change, even though they had not left the city at all. It was because, for the most part of this road, it was filled with greeneries.


    Trees were everywhere, in and out of the backyards of the houses by the roadside. Furthermore, as they walked away from the intersection, the more forests they would see along the way.


    And there, they stopped by a pretty nice ce to rest, by the side of the Antic City Reservoir.


    The area near the road was wide open, it was easy to spot danger while they rest. The cold breeze also felt good, though the water seemed to be quite murky. Nevertheless, its green colorplemented the forest surrounding the reservoir.


    Because of the fight and the tension it brought, the survivors felt a bit hungry. They decided to snack on what was left of the choctes that Mark gave them yesterday.


    The spot was actually a pretty good ce to have an early lunch. Arnold also suggested it.


    However, Mark was against the idea and could only follow his order despite not knowing why.


    Mark and Mei, however, stared at the murky water. Although it was not very noticeable, small bubbles were floating up to the surface.


    It meant that there was something under the water, waiting for everyone to lower their guards. Furthermore, it was not just one, but there seemed to be a lot... A LOT.


    Mark could not even count the number of presences he was detecting underwater.


    Whatever these creatures were, it was better not to fight them and waste time.


    And thus, before the creatures underwater could make a move, they left the area.


    Then, following the rest of the road without taking any unnecessary turns, they arrived back at the main road, the Antic City Expressway.


    They wanted to follow the road as peacefully as possible. However, it seemed like trouble liked toe to the group every now and then.

 Chapter 515 Stopping For Lunch, Getting Spotted By A Bunch Of Low Lives

    <strong>Day 127 - 12:11 PM - Antic City Expressway, Egg Harbor Township, New Jersey, United States of America</strong>


    Egg Harbor Township. It was a township the Antic County in New Jersey, one of the ces where the Antic City Expressway directly passed through.


    Right now, the whole group led by Mark and Mei were following the expressway.


    Following this road had pros and cons.


    One of the pros was that the part of the expressway going through Egg Harbor Township and the next Town, the Hamilton Township, the road was pretty much isted from the popted areas. Although there were some housing andmercial areas connected to the expressway, it was fewerpared to other routes.


    Because of that, the number of infected reduced considerably. It was despite therge number of abandoned vehicles in the middle of the expressway.


    One of the cons, however, thick, lush forests surrounded this part of the expressway, leading to more evolved animals to be encountered. For most humans, this fact was deadly enough to avoid this road during the apocalypse.


    To capable some, however, it was a pretty good hunting spot.


    While many evolved animals retained their size, most had grown bigger. Thus, hunting these beasts yielded more meat. Furthermore, not only the nutritional value of their meat spiked up, but it also served as a great energy supplement for mutators.


    Well, there would be people hunting animals in this area. That is if there were still humans living around this ce.


    In the middle of thenes of the expressway, Mark and the whole group walked.Everywhere they passed by, a trail of blood and dead bodies was left behind.


    "There are too many animals," Felicia said as she looked behind them.


    Everyone that would look behind might say the same thing. Many times, enemies attacked their group while peacefully walking along long the center of the road. Most of the attackers were animals, though.


    They had seen a whole lot of animals observing them from the shade of the forest. There were all sorts of appearances and sizes. If not for the fact that these animals were dangerous, it was a very interesting sight for them to see.


    Especially since these animals looked like they had been taken out of a storybook.


    For the most part, the animals that did not seem to have hostility towards humans looked like herbivores, like rabbits that were more frequent to be seen.


    Of course, these rabbits were not docile and to be trifled with. After all, to keep surviving in such a hostile environment, they should have the capability.


    Most of the animals that stood their way were evolved cats and dogs. Thinking about it, these animals might have been domesticated ones before the outbreak. When the apocalypse started, most of them might have turned infected, while those that survived, evolved, and left the urban areas.


    It was kind of sad if one was to think about that side. After all, these animals were also victims of the apocalypse.


    "Don''t think about it too much. There''s nothing we can do about these animals right now."


    Mark looked at Felicia over his shoulder as he shed the head of an infected shambling towards them.


    With a sigh, Felicia looked away from the dead bodies of the animals they left behind. Before the outbreak, she had a pet cat at her apartment. The little guy was the only her only escape after the long hours of stressful work at the casino. If fact, she wanted to see if her cat was still alive. Of course, it was nothing but a wishful thought. And even if it was able to survive, there was a veryrge chance that it had already turned feral like how Mark described those animals attacking them without fear.


    Even for them, who spend their days of the outbreak around the casino, it was easy to notice that there were two types of evolved animals. The first ones retained most of their natural behavior before the outbreak, while the second type was those that attacked any living thing they encountered. Along the way, they also witnessed some animals being attacked by other animals.


    As such, Mark briefed them about the feral evolved animals.


    It was a good thing for them to know, though, that not everything had be ravenous flesh-eating infected.


    Mark looked at the elevation of the sun and took out his phone to check the time, luckily, he readied several spare batteries inside his [Space Ring]. Although the time on his phone was not set up in the timezone of New Jersey, it was not hard to calcte the time. Sure enough, it was already past noon.


    "We should hurry up and find somewhere quiet to eat lunch."


    Hearing what Mark said, the ears of the survivors from Bally''s Casino perked up. It made Mark shrug his shoulders as he felt their emotions when any world rted to food was mentioned.


    Well, it was not like he could not understand them.


    In four months that they had to live with a limited amount of food and were at the was very close to dying because of theck of supply, it was not surprising that the words "eat" and "food" sounded like music to their ears.


    Because of Mark''s suggestion, everyone was invigorated. Thus, their pace hastened as they try to find a good ce to prepare lunch.


    Unfortunately, in order to find a good spot to rest, they had to make a detour from the expressway. It was fortunate that Mark took pains to download an offline map and installed it on every gadget he had. Although the features were not that usable without the inte, they could have a usable reference.


    Using the map, they managed to find a good spot, a Steakhouse. Not only that there it was easy to clear up as the ce was rather small, but they also managed to find more items to season their in food.


    Still, as they could still attract the infected while eating, the inside of the Steakhouse was not quiet. Thus, they moved to the rooftop and prepared their lunch. This time, they would have some grilled birds.


    Unknown to them, while they were preparing to eat, they were being watched.


    ***


    <strong>Day 127 - 1:01 PM - Hamilton Commons, Mays Landing, Hamilton Township, New Jersey, United States of America</strong>


    Hamilton Commons. It was a decentlyrge mall andmercialpound. There were several buildings and facilities around the wide parking area that surrounded the whole ce.


    And at the main building... was being upied by survivors.


    Currently, several men were scrambling around the rooftop of the department store. It was because one of their Mutators that had the ability to see about a kilometer away without problems spotted some survivors in their territory.


    CLINK! CLINK!


    "What''s the ruckus all about?"


    A woman with a mercenary look went up the rooftop to question the lookouts. She was wearing some tight tanktop while wearing camouge pants. On her back, an assault rifle was hanging. Two pistols were holstered on her waist.


    The strange thing, however, the woman was pulling a chain that locked the neck of a very tall and muscr man behind her. The man did not seem to mind the chains though as he followed behind the woman silently.


    "Boss!"


    Everyone on the rooftop immediately greeted. Unexpectedly, this group of rowdy men was being led by a woman.


    "I spotted some people. They''re currently at the roof of the Steakhouse."


    A man with a handkerchief bandana on his forehead and hawk-like pointed eyes spoke while he used his thumb to point at the Steakhouse about two hundred and fifty meters away.<sub> </sub>


    The woman opened his hand towards one of the men and a pair of binocrs was given to her immediately.


    And there, she immediately spotted the small group of survivors currently cooking at the rooftop.


    "Boss, what do you think should we do?"


    One of the lookouts asked.


    It was a question that would note from a decent person. In fact, none of them here were decent people.


    Hamilton Raiders. That was they call themselves after the outbreak started. They took control of this area early in the outbreak and plundered the escaping survivors in the guise of a toll as they blocked the road to the expressway.


    Many fell victims to their group and many died by their hands.


    This time, they found people for the first time for a long while. Of course, their malicious minds would spin immediately.


    "Hmm... They have a beautiful girl with them, huh?"


    The woman said as she licked her lips while looking through the binocrs.


    "What do you think should we do Gregor?"


    The woman turned to the chained man. That was when she noticed that Gregor was staring in the same direction with quite a fierce re. The woman was quite surprised by this as this chained man was not the type to do so. Well, when he was chained, in the least.


    With slow movements of his head, Gregor turned to the woman.


    "Ignore... Dangerous..."


    Hearing those words, everyone was rather surprised.


    In fact, the strongest person here was the man in chains, Gregor. No one could control him with the exception of Lady Amelie, their female boss.


    "If you say so."


    Lady Amelie said with a shrug. She was quite interested in that beauty among those people. However, since Gregor said to ignore them, there was nothing she could do.


    After all, most of her aplishments here were because of Gregor.


    "You all heard him. Ignore that group if they are just passing by."


    That decision from Lady Amelie made the men here dissatisfied. Everyone here had seen the beauty she among that group in the Steakhouse. It would be a lie to say that none of them was interested.


    After all, they would not get tired of a beauty like that. They could keep her for a very long time, unlike the ones that passed by their hands before.


    That beauty aside, there was also another good looking woman among that group. Of course, they would want to y with at least one of the two.


    After saying her decision, Lady Amelie left, pulling Gregor''s chain.


    "Hawker, what do you think?"


    One of the lookouts asked the mutator that spotted the group first.


    "Although I don''t understand why Gregor wanted to ignore that group, it''s better if we follow that."


    Hawker said without thinking too much. After observing the group after a few minutes, he also left.


    Both Gregor and Hawker was right, that group was dangerous.


    Unfortunately, their other members could not see the bigger picture and were blinded by their desire.


    ***


    "Tsk. Cowards."


    The third among the hierarchy in Hamilton Raiders, Sir Kesser, heard about the findings of the lookouts. He was in charge of the westmost building and was thest to know about the survivors the lookouts had spotted.


    And among the sub-leaders of this group, Sir Kesser was the most courageous. No, reckless was the most appropriate description to call him.


    "Is there really a beauty among those people?"


    Sir Kesser asked the man that reported the situation to him.


    "Yes, Sir. I saw it with my eyes. She''s like an angel fallen from heaven."


    To hear that from the man, Sir Kesser''s eyes had a deep tint of lust in it. Sir Kesser was notorious for capturing beautiful women even back when they blocked the roads. Even if the victims already paid the toll they set up, he would still capture any woman he got interested in.


    Unfortunately, he killed most of them in the most unbelievable way.


    While ying with them, Sir Kesser would mostly get careless. He would end up killing the woman with his sheer weight.


    After all, he was a man weighing six hundred pounds before the outbreak. When he became a mutator, his weight increased further.


    But unexpectedly, this weight was not his weakness, but his strength. With the nickname Bulldozer, he was capable of demolishing everything on his path.


    "Ignore Amelie and Hawker. Prepare to capture those people."


    Sir Kesser said with a wide grin that made his double cheek jiggle.


    "Yes, Sir."


    The man that reported the situation eagerly replied. In his mind, those survivors were unfortunate.

 Chapter 516 The Long Road, The Afternoon Before The Snow Fell

    <strong>Day 127 - 1:32 PM - Outback Steakhouse, E ck Horse Pike, Mays Landing, Hamilton Township, New Jersey, United States of America</strong>


    At the roof of the steakhouse, Mark and Mei had some delicious grilled birds for lunch. Not only was the meat fresh, but they managed to find more than enough amount of seasonings to vor their food.


    Furthermore, since they were at a steakhouse, there was nock of cooking utensils and utilities to use.


    Unfortunately, there was no gravy to pair the grilled meat.


    They found some leftover gravy mix that they could cook. However, with the limited supply of water, it was better to eat grilled meat alone.


    That was one of the differences inside and outside Antic City.


    In Antic City, there was more than enough food to feed the survivors for years. However, it was deadly to go out and scavenge. The outbreak started in the middle of the city, and there was no time to gather supplies before fleeing.


    Here, on the other hand, there was a considerably lower number of infected, and the roads were also safer. Nevertheless, it was also because of that reason. The supply of ready to eat food and drinkable water and the area was scarce. When the outbreak struck, the people managed to prepare to some extent and bring away anything they could use and carry. As for the things left behind, the people that managed to survive the outbreak must have taken those already.


    Everyone ate a delicious lunch. Nevertheless, none of Mark''s group was able to eat calmly.


    Arnold and the others seemed unaware, but they were looking around impulsively.


    And for Mei, it was worse. She was feeling cold for some reason. Mark could tell what this was, however. Mei would only react like this if she subconsciously noticed that someone was watching her with malicious and lustful intent.


    Mark was also feeling the same, and he was aware that they were under watch. However, he could not detect anything. It seemed like whoever the person or people watching them was outside the range of his detection.


    Feeling difort, Mark looked around.


    They were on the roof of a two-floor building. It meant that if the person watching them was not anywhere with lower elevation. If it was the case, they would not feel this much difort. The feeling was strong enough to tell that they were being openly watched.


    Meaning, the elevation of the source of unwanted attention was higher than them.


    Mark stealthily looked around, his eyes fell on the mall at the northwest, about two-hundred and fifty meters away.


    "Mei''er, sit here."


    Mark told Mei to sit next to him, in the direction opposite of the mall.


    Sure enough, Mei''s reaction had gotten better. It seemed Mei also noticed, and she could not help but look at Mark.


    "Just don''t mind it and eat."


    Mark said as he patted Mei''s head.


    Because of his hand, Mei felt even better.


    Unknowingly, she started to rub her head to his hand even more.


    The group from Bally''s Casino, except for the three innocent children, could only cast their gazes away. They could not help but get drawn by the affection that the two were showing to each other. However, they did not want to be punished once more. They did not have much to do on the way here, and thus, they could only think of the reason why Mark let them fight a horde back at the intersection.


    The men were rather dense, and thus, Felicia told the blockheads the reason. Realizing their fault, they decided to reflect on their actions. After all, they still wanted to live.


    Despite this situation at the rooftop, it made them more rxed. In the least, the survivors could see that Mark knew what was happening.


    Furthermore, even though he did it stealthily, Mark was close enough to them to see that he was ncing at the mall.


    "Don''t stare too much. Don''t let them know that we know where they are."


    Mark suddenly spoke to the rest as they also started looking at the mall. They immediately retracted their gazes. Still, Mark confirmed that there might be people there watching them.


    "Just finish eating quickly, so we can leave."


    Because of Mark, they all finished food quicker than they expected. After all, it was ufortable to eat if you knew that you were being watched by someone.


    Soon, they left the rooftop to continue the journey after resting their stomachs a little. They also brought more things with them, like the grill they used.


    Leaving the steakhouse, they passed through the main road alongside themercialpound. Mark walked, covering Mei from the mall. It was to hide Mei from the eyes of the strangers, and it would also allow her to check the mall with less chance of getting noticed.


    Sure enough, even though they tried hard to not let themselves be seen, Mei spotted them easily. After all, not only her eyes could see clearly from afar, she could also slow it down to get a better picture.


    "Sir Mark, are they looking at Miss Mei? You''ve been covering her since earlier."


    Felicia asked.


    To her question, Mark nodded.


    "Flowers attract bees, but most of the time, its flies," Mark said with a shrug.


    It was not hard to understand what he meant.


    Mei, the flower, was attracting the flies at the mall.


    Beauty was a good asset. However, without enough protection and strength, it would bring more trouble than necessary.


    Especially in the outbreak, thews had been broken, and malicious intent ran rampant. Beautiful and alluring women were the first ones to fell because of this.


    "I''m surprised that Sir Mark is not punishing those flies now. Since we just stared a bit, and we had to fight a horde."


    Ernstined, making the other men agree.


    Felicia and the other women looked at them with a nasty re.


    "I don''t have time to deal with them now. Its already past noon. We need to walk as far as we can and find a ce to stay for the night."


    Mark spoke nonchntly. Nevertheless, the group could feel the coldness within those words.


    He said that he had no time to deal with them... now. Although it looked like a regr statement, for those with keen understanding, it had an underlying meaning.


    It seemster, he would have time to deal with them.


    Nevertheless, Mark really wanted to swat these flies now. However, it would be hard to protect Arnold''s group if there were some mishaps to happen.


    Mark was strong. He grew stronger since the apocalypse started.


    It happened to him, it could also happen to others. It was better not to take chances.


    Taking a few turns at the road and passing by some familiar spots that Mark only heard and saw on the inte like Chuck E Cheese and Target when watching videos about entitled people, they returned back to the track stepping at the Antic City Expressway once more.<sub> </sub>


    Since time was the essence, they walked as fast as they could without turning it into running. Although everyone needed to hurry as much as possible, they still had to conserve their stamina in case of emergencies.


    The road was long and deste.


    Along the road surrounded by trees, the only things they could see were abandoned cars, evolved animals, and mutated infected.


    There was even one time that they saw a mutated infected and an evolved animal fighting.


    It was a giant roon, about two meters in height, with spiky metal-like fur fighting against a disfigured infected with de-like teeth and ws.


    Unfortunately for the two, they were blocking the road as they trashed everything on their path.


    Since Mark and the others had no time to wait for the two to finish, and both were hostile to humans, they were dispatched by Mark in one go.


    Finding their next lodging was proven difficult in this part of the Antic City Expressway.


    There were almost no buildings by the roadside, and if there was one, it was not secure enough to spend the night in.


    After walking for more than three hours, they reached apound separating the twones of Antic City Expressway.


    It looked like a pitstop for the travelers of the road as it had a gas station and a building with several restaurants. There were even a police station and some local government offices.


    And among these buildings, the only suitable and secure was the police station.


    However, a police station could make people not rted to the police or military a bit stuffy. Thus, Mark checked his map.


    There were no other choices.


    On the map, the next area where they could possibly find a secure lodging was another two to three-hour walk away. If they continued on the road, the sun would have set already before they reached that area. Not to mention that they would not know what they would encounter along the expressway to hinder their path.


    Thus, they could only make do of the police station. They could also check out the restaurants and the gas station convenience store to look for anything they could use.


    After dispatching the infected wandering outside, they entered through the broken ss door. Upon stepping inside, everyone frowned.


    The whole ce was trashed.


    It was a police station, what could they expect?


    The stains of blood covered the many parts of the floor and the walls. Dismembered bones could be seen scattered here and there. Most of the chairs and tables were overturned and seemed to be used as barricades. Bullet casings were also everywhere, and holes on the walls indicated the bullets that hit it.


    The worst part, there was the stuffy, damp, and unpleasant smell that was lingering inside.


    Nevertheless, they could only shrug their shoulders as they picked a ce to clean.


    Of course, none of them would ever pick the jail cells to sleep in.


    Although it needed more work and cleaning, they preferred the office areas.


    While the survivors cleaned and Mei took guard, Mark and Arnold went to search the other buildings.


    And... There was almost nothing, aside from the wandering infected.


    At the convenience store, Mark located the storage. It was locked. The lock was no problem, and he broke it easily. However, it seemed to be barricaded inside.


    Without wasting time, Mark shed the hinges of the door, removing it.


    COUGH! COUGH!


    Mark could not help but have a coughing fit. Not because of dust, but because of the lingering smell of rotting flesh that entered his nose the moment he removed the door.


    "Sir, are you okay?"


    Arnold asked.


    Clearing his throat, Mark signaled with his palm that he was alright.


    There, he kicked the barricade that blocked the door, causing a loud tter of falling items.


    Ignoring the smell, Arnold''s eyes shone.


    It was a treasure trove.


    The untouched boxes of food, drinks, and other necessitiesy tidily in racks inside the storage.


    Seeing all those, Arnold rushed inside to see if he was not mistaken.


    As he turned at the corner of the door, however, he almost jumped in fright.


    Mark entered and saw the reason immediately.


    A dposing corpse sat by the wall between two shelves. Looking at the stter of blood on the wall behind the head of the corpse, he must have been shot on his head. No, he was definitely shot, but not by anyone else.


    Lying by the corpse''s right hand, there was a pistol covered in grime.


    "It''s a suicide."


    Mark murmured.


    Even though he had lots of supplies with him, the person still gave up. That was just how other people were. They always wanted an easy escape from hardships.


    Mark and Arnold came back to the police station with the good news. Seeing the boxes Arnold was carrying, everyone rejoiced.


    Despite that joy, however, Mark went out, looking at the sky. It was getting cloudy, and the wind was getting colder.


    "Gege, is something wrong?"


    Mei asked as she followed behind him.


    "Nothing. It just looks like I will have the first snow of my life tonight. And yet, I have to turn it red."


    With those words, Mark had a sharp look in his eyes.


    After all, since they left the Steak House, they had already being followed by that malicious bunch. Or else, they might have traveled even faster on the road.

 Chapter 517 Roadblock, In Front Of The Hamilton Commons Shopping Mall

    Day 127 - 6:12 PM - Hamilton Commons Shopping Mall, Hamilton Commons, Mays Landing, Hamilton Township, New Jersey, United States of America


    At the westside area of the shopping mall, theughter of Sir Kesser alongside the cries of a woman echoed loudly. While theughter was filled with lust and malicious intent, the weeping yells were filled with pain, begging, and despair.


    Anyone with the right mind would not be able to bear hearing this kind of cries. Brave ones would not be able to disregard it and try to help while the cowardly would immediately leave despite their conscience.


    Unfortunately, there was no one like that in this ce. Everyone here was inherently malicious. Although there were also women among the raiders, they did not feel any sympathy towards their victims, even if it was the same gender.


    In fact, some of them even enjoyed watching their victims as they suffer.


    They were definitely twisted people.


    KNOCK! KNOCK!


    A knock was heard, stopping theughter.


    "Who is it?"


    Sir Kesser asked with an annoyed voice.


    "Sir, it''s me."


    The person outside the room spoke. Knowing whose voice it was, the annoyance was washed away.


    "Come in."


    The door opened, and a man with a seemingly thin presence came in. If not for the fact that he called out, he might even be able to enter the room without getting noticed. Furthermore, his steps did not make any sound as if it was natural.


    This person was called Hyena in the Hamilton Raiders. He was the second of the best scouts in this group. As he entered, the first thing he saw was a fat pig sitting naked on his bed with a teenaged girl, crying while trying to shrink her bruised body as far as she could from the fat pig.


    Hyena did not care much about this scene as he was already used to it, being this fat pig''s right-hand man. And by the looks of it, this girl would notst and die in a few days at most.


    ''Seriously, this fat pig better take care of his toys. It''s not easy to find one nowadays.''


    That was what Hyena thought of before turning his head towards Sir Kesser, who was waiting for his report.


    "The people from earlier had settled down for the night," Hyena reported. "They are currently at that police station in the middle of the expressway."


    "That police station?"


    "Yes, that police station."


    Hearing that, Sir Kesser frowned a bit.


    "That beast roams around that area, so we haven''t really touched that ce."


    The fat man murmured.


    Antic City Expressway Station was already out of their territory. There was really no need for a boundary for their activities as there would be no one toin or go against them in this ce. At thatmercialpound, however, they decided not to step there unless necessary.


    Because there was a very strong beast living in that area. It was not strong enough to kill Sir Kesser or the other mutators alone. However, it was intelligent enough to pick on its targets and prepare ambushes. Confronting that beast might lead to unnecessary casualties. That was why this group of raiders did not dare to fight it.


    "Although I left wolf there as a lookout, I think, it is better to just ignore them, Sir."


    However, for the lusty Sir Kesser, women were more important than danger.


    "No, tell our men to prepare. We''ll move out immediately. We just need to avoid confrontation with that beast."


    Hyena did not show any expression. However...


    ''This fat bastard is only thinking of himself. If not for the benefits you are giving me, I won''t even stand here.''


    "Okay, Sir. I''ll tell everyone to prepare."


    Hyena said.


    "Wait, send someone to take this girl back to her cell. Tell that no one can touch her. I''m not done with her yet."


    Sir Kesser said with a grave tone. It seemed like there was a precedent incident before this.


    ***


    At the central area of the mall, Lady Amelie was eating dinner together with the other closer members of the group. That was when someone came in and whispered a report to her.


    Receiving the report, Lady Amelie could not help but frown.


    "Is it Kesser again?"


    Hawker, who was sipping the stock from his bowl of boiled meat soup, asked.


    Hearing that, Lady Amelie nodded.


    "What is that fat pig up to now?"


    "Kesser is targeting that group we saw this afternoon."


    After saying that, Lady Amelie turned to Gregor, who was slowly eating beside her.


    "What do you think, Gregor?"


    That question made Gregor slowly turn his head towards Lady Amelie. Then, he slowly shook his head.


    p "Will... Die..."</anda>


    Everyone around saw surprised by the bold deration. Sir Kesser, after all, had the strongest physique and defense among everyone here. He might even be able to stop tank cannons with his body. However, those here knew that Gregor was never wrong in this kind of assessment.


    Then, just how strong were those people if the assessment was like this?


    VROOM!


    While discussing, they heard the rough sound of vehicle engines.


    "Looks like they''re going out already."


    One of the men said. It was clear that the sounds wereing from the vehicles used by Sir Kesser''s faction.


    However, after about a minute or two, they felt strange.


    It was because the sound of the vehicles never left the front parking of the mall.


    They could not help but feel strange. Lady Amelie and the others wanted to go to the rooftop of the mall to see what was happening while keeping a safe distance if there was danger.


    However, as Lady Amelie was about to stand and pulled Gregor''s chains, she froze. With Gregor still staying put, there was no way for her to pull him with her.


    "Gregor, what is wrong?"


    Lady Amelie asked. The others also thought that Gregor was behaving strangely. Although he was already an odd person from the start, he would always follow behind her. This was the first time that Gregor did not want to follow.


    And to Lady Amelie''s question, Gregor looked straight at her for the first time in a very long time.


    "Dangerous."


    Gregor told everyone in a very deep, unsettlingly serene tone.<sub> </sub>


    Then, they suddenly heard a plethora of gunshots echoing in their territory.


    ***


    A few minutes back, Sir Kesser and his men were all ready to go. Equipped with guns, more than what they thought as necessary, they jumped unto their vehicles.


    There were motorbikes, awfully modified with unsightly decorations. The other vehicles were rathermon but each of them was modified to their unsightly tastes. One even had human skulls hanging at the roof of the vehicle.


    The most eye-catching, however, was the military jeep at the center of the group.


    Sir Kesser jumped into the back of a military jeep. It was something they plundered before. The vehicle creaked just by the sheer weight of his body but in the least, this car was built to withstand heavy load.


    They started their vehicles to warm up the engines. The temperature was getting cold after all.


    Still, the mood was very high.


    Everyone was excited. After all, survivors were very scarce nowadays. For them, the feeling of plundering other people and bringing them misery was exhrating. If possible, they wanted to do it over and over.


    With everyone aboard their vehicles, they were about to leave.


    However, when they moved just a few meters from the initial spot, the lights of their vehicles spotted someone standing in front.


    Normally, they might have just run over the person, thinking that he was an infected shambling around their base.


    However, everyone stopped. They could see the eyes of the silhouette glowing red and violet. It was not something that an infected could disy.


    Then, one with keen ears among the men heard a murmur.


    "I didn''t think that they had properly maintained vehicles. I would have attacked earlier if I knew. We wasted time walking for nothing."


    "What are you all stopping? Just run that over."


    Sir Kesser shouted at his men.


    "Sir! It''s not an infected. I can hear him murmuring something."


    The man in a motorbike decorated with an animal skull spoke in a loud voice.


    "So what? To stand in front of us, he''s just seeking death! If none of you want to run that bastard over, just shoot!"


    Sir Kesser shouted in anger. He was annoyed at how his men were too slow to adapt to the situation.


    On the other hand, Hyena was frozen stiff. After all, he was one of the two people that went out today to follow that group of survivors.


    And the person standing in front, he would not mistake it. He as one of them. The man that led that group.


    "Sir! It''s the leader of our targets!"


    Hyena shouted which caused everyone to be surprised.


    What was one of their targets doing here?


    But still, if it was really one of their targets, then, what were they doing? Was it not easier for them if they dispatched this guy now that he was alone?


    "Hahaha! I''ll do it!"


    One of the men shouted as he readied his assault rifle.


    "No, I will!"


    Another man shouted.


    All of them readied their gun. They were having a contest on who would kill that man before them. In fact, anyone who would see thins would think that it was overkill. A whole group of fifty people, where twenty-five of them were pointing their guns at a single person. Anyone would think that the man was done for.


    BANG! RATATAT! BAM!


    A plethora of gunshots was heard. They did not mind whether they were wasting bullets or making too much noise. It had been a while that they killed someone. They wanted to have the pleasure at this moment.


    The shes of their guns blinded them because of the darkness. However, continued firing several times at the man''s direction.


    They expected to see a dead body afterward.


    Nevertheless, after the first volley of gunshots. To their shock, the man was still standing. Furthermore, he did not even move from his spot.


    They felt shocked, there was also a tint of fear of the situation that they could not understand.


    When the man started walking towards them, they fired once more. This time, there were more shots and they fired their weapons for a longer time.


    Despite the rain of bullets, the silhouette continued to advance. His body would turn hazy like a ghost and he was not seen to deflect the bullets either. It was as if the bullets were passing through his body.


    In fact, they started to notice their bullets made after hitting the things behind the man in front of them.


    "G-GHOST!"


    One of them shouted, causing more disarray within their hearts and minds.


    "BASTARDS! Ghosts don''t exist!"


    Sir Kesser shouted as he pulled the pin of a grenade he had in the car.


    Without hesitation, he threw the grenade towards the man.


    BOOM!!!


    The explosion illuminated the front as everyone took cover from it. From thest thing they saw, the man was engulfed by the explosion.


    Before they could see the aftermath of the explosion, however...


    "Ghosts exist though?"


    A questioning voice was heard behind Sir Kesser.


    Everyone looked behind and saw the very same man standing on the military jeep, behind Sir Kesser.


    "Don''t try to fool us!"


    Sir Kesser shouted as he waved his left arm towards the man behind him.


    However, he hit nothing. The man already jumped off, avoiding the very fast and strong swing. That made everyone frozen even more. Although it was dark, there was still enough visibility for them to see.


    That attack from Sir Kesser was as fast as a bullet. None of them were able to see it. If it was aimed at them, their bodies would be able to avoid it even if their reactions were fast enough to do so.


    And yet, the man avoided it like nothing.


    "I guess, that''s enough probing. You people are worthless."


    The man said as his body vanished like a ghost.


    As the first snowke fell, it was the same time that blood started to spill.

 Chapter 518 Their Inevitable Death, The Blinding Light In The Darkness

    Day 127 - 6:29 PM - Hamilton Commons, Mays Landing, Hamilton Township, New Jersey, United States of America


    From the cloudy sky, snow started to fall.


    Mark stared at the fat man in front of him while amidst his jump. Although he said out loud that these people were useless, that was not entirely true. Mark just said those words to mess up with the minds of these people. After all, with the disy, he had shown them, if he judged them as worthless, it would shrink their ego and increase the fear in their hearts.


    Well, it was not entirely wrong, either. Mark was already able to fight with lower deity levels to some extent. Compared to those enemies, the ones in front of him were nowhere close to ants.


    However, Mark was an Empath. Although it was unpleasant to absorb other people''s emotions without control, it was still satisfying if he was the one that inflicted the fear they were feeling, especially from his enemies.


    This kind of satisfaction might probably be one of the reasons why demons loved to inflict despair to their unfortunate victims.


    And due to this fear, most people were likely to lose their senses.


    Pretty much like the situation right now.


    Unable to control their fears, the men under the fat man aimed their guns at Mark. They already knew that there would be no effect. However, they still did as their reasoning weakened.


    Furthermore, they even disregarded what was behind and in front of Mark.


    BANG! RATATATATATA!


    Another round of gunshots sounded. The uracy of the shots was way worse than before. Even the fat pig that was currently close to Mark got hit with the bullets to everyone''s surprise.


    Still, Mark''s blurry visage remained unscathed. Unexpectedly, it was the same for the fat man.


    The building behind Mark, however, the headquarters of these raiders, turned into a beehive. It was just a small area, and it was not enough to do considerable damage to the shopping mall, however, with how the people inside were screaming and shouting, some of the bullets might have flown inside the building. Possibly, important things or even people got hit.


    "You bastard! Watch out where you are shooting!"


    Sir Kesser shouted in rage. If not for him being a Mutator, the bullets from his subordinates might have already turned him into swiss cheese. Luckily, his regr human form was already impervious to bullets.


    Still, for the fat pig, their enemy right now was very tricky.


    However, when Sir Kesser physically attacked earlier, Mark avoided it.


    The fat pig was violent, lustful, and impulsive. Nevertheless, no one among the raiders would be able to deny that Sir Kesser was a fast thinker despite his appearance.


    Thus, Mark avoiding that attack gave him a quick idea that he could try.


    After he shouted, he immediately followed it with a punch with the speed of a bullet towards Mark.


    The moment that Marknded on the ground, the punch was alreadying towards his face.


    Mark tilted his head to the right. The swift punch from the fat pig passed over his left shoulder, bringing heavy wind pressure with it.


    When Mark avoided his second attack, Sir Kesser fully believed his misunderstanding. He thought that bullets might not be able to harm the enemy in front of them, but direct attacks like this could.


    TAP! TAP!


    As that thought entered his mind, Sir Kesser heard two taps in front of him. That was when he realized that the man he attacked grabbed his outstretched arm amidst its devastating punch.


    The punch had yet to stop. As Sir Kesser felt the hands of the enemy, he immediately tried to pull his arm back.


    However, before he was able to do so, he felt his body rising from the back of the military jeep.


    The veins on the arms and feet of Mark glowed brightly in the dark snowy night. Then, using the force from the missed attack of Sir Kesser, along with the strength umted from his blood, without holding back, he twisted his body and faced backward with the arm in his grasp. Bending his body down, Mark pulled the right wrist of Sir Kesser.


    In the next split second, everyone stared in disbelief.


    The more than six-hundred pounds, Sir Kesser, was hurled fiercely towards the face of the shopping mall.


    BAM!!! CRASH!!! CRUMBLE!!!


    The force of the throw and the weight of Sir Kesser''s body caused the barricades along with the wall of the shopping mall to crumble.


    Arge, crumbling hole was made on the face of the building, scattering dust in the vicinity.


    That disy of strength caused some of the raiders'' knees to weaken.


    Among these fifty people, aside from Sir Kesser, there were three other Mutators. There were also seven Evolvers.


    Like Sir Kesser, they thought that the bullets had no effect. Thus, they all rushed forwards to make direct attacks at the enemy.


    The first to arrive was the fastest one of them, Hyena. Using his fur-covered hands and sharp ws, he swiped at the enemy. Unfortunately, the attack he made missed miserably. His arm continued on its trajectory, and he tried to attack with his other hand. But he froze.


    Where were his arms?


    BAM!


    Hyena was sent flying, sttering blood along the way. Both his arms were suddenly gone. He was bleeding profusely from the stumps that were left of his arms.


    The others that attacked were not in good shape either.


    Any part of their body that they used to attack was dismembered. One of the Mutators immediately died with his head was missing.


    "I remember you."


    They heard Mark speak. He was looking at Hyena that was staring at him in both shock and fear.


    "You''re the other one that tailed behind us, right?"


    Hyena''s eyes turned wide. His already paleplexion from the loss of blood became even paler.


    From the start, their targets knew that they were being tailed. No wonder that their leader would appear here.


    Then, what of Wolf, who stayed to keep an eye on them.


    Then, as if reading his mind, Mark spoke to Hyena.


    "Are you thinking about the other guy you left behind?"


    There, everyone was already shocked, but still, they could not help but have their hearts beat louder.


    A ck hole appeared in front of their enemy and took out something from it.


    "Don''t worry, you will follow this guy."


    Mark said to Hyena as he held out Wolf''s decapitated head that was still dripping with blood.


    These people were Mutators. He could take their abilities. However, since Mark rushed here, he had no time to get this guy''s Mutator ability yet. Thus, he took the head and put it inside his [Space Ring].


    Nevertheless, even though it was not his intended use of it, the decapitated head was able to inflict more mental damage to these people.<sub> </sub>


    CRASH!


    A loud sound from behind was heard, making Mark look above his shoulder. He was not surprised that the fat pig was still alive since he could detect him. What was unexpected, however, was the fat pig''s current appearance.


    His whole body was covered with a metallic sheen. Despite that, however, unlike other Mutators with metalization ability, Sir Kesser''s movements were not hindered. Not even in the slightest.


    In fact, his movements were as smooth as if his body was just covered in metallic paint. Still, that was not the case. Sir Kesser''s body definitely turned into something metal like.


    "Ptui! You BASTARD!"


    Sir Kesser shouted in rage as he spat the dust that entered his mouth.


    Without any other words, the fat metallic pig charged towards Mark like a racecar. These agile and smooth movements were not something that anyone would expect from a person with that body stature.


    The problem with most heavily overweight people was that their bones and muscles could not handle their weight. Thus, it felt heavy, and it was slowing them down. However, none of those side effects were present with how Sir Kesser Moved.


    "I see," Mark murmured as he calmly dodged the charge of Sir Kesser.


    Mark looked at Kesser, who ended up crashing his own military jeep, with interest.


    Sir Kesser''s ability did not only metalize his skin or muscles. Even his bones were the same, even in his regr human form.


    Furthermore, Mark could feel some difference from this fat metallic pigpared to the other Mutators, something that felt simr to him, and partly to Arnold.


    It was the feeling of an enhanced Mutator.


    Sir Kesser was a Mutator that already mutated further after turning into one.


    In that case, this fat metallic pig''s ability was a good catch.


    Shouting and cursing after breaking his own vehicle, Sir Kesser red at Mark.


    "Just who the f*ck are you!"


    Sir Kesser finally came to his senses. They kicked a steel te this time. Looking at the Mutators and Evovers lying on the ground, he started thinking that it was better not to risk anything more.


    But then, a reply came. Something that even though sounded normal, it was definitely saying that Mark would not let them go.


    "The leader of the group that you scumbags are targetting tonight?"


    No one would be able to deny that. After all, everyone here saw the head of Wolf that was sent to stalk the targets.


    "T-Then..." Sir Kesser stuttered. What he was about to say would inflict a great deal of damage to his ego and reputation.


    "You already killed some of us. We won''t bother you, people, anymore. If you want supplies or women, I will give you what I have. Isn''t it better to let it go?"


    The remaining raiders looked at Sir Kesser in dismay. However, they could not say anything. It might be pleasurable for them to take the lives of others. However, what they feared the most was their lives being taken away from them.


    To that proposition, everyone stared widely at Mark, who only let out a smirk filled with ridicule.


    "Don''t bother." Mark''s eyes stared at them widely with a murderous look. "I can take all those after I''m done with you pieces of garbage."


    Mark then turned at the already weakening Hyena.


    "That guy you left to keep an eye on us already confessed. You bastards are targetting my wife."


    "Now, tell me."


    "Why should I let anyone of you go?"


    The murderous intention spread throughout the surroundings.


    It became difficult for everyone to breathe.


    Many of them fell to their bottoms, causing loud ttering sounds as they identally let go of their weapons.


    As if that was not enough, two pairs of bat wings sprouted behind Mark, filling everyone''s minds and hearts with deep fear.


    Unlike the others, Sir Kesser was able to endure the pressure better. Sure enough, he was on a different levelpared to his men.


    "Don''t look down on me!"


    Sir Kesser shouted as he charged forwards once more.


    This time, everyone saw a crystal fly above the right wrist of Mark as he pointed his right index finger towards Sir Kesser.


    A blinding beam of light suddenly fired, depriving almost every one of their sight. The hot, brightser fired towards Sir Kesser''s body.


    Sir Kesser could not help but stop and cover his eyes. But then...


    "AHHHH!!!"


    p "GGGGAAAAHH!!!"</anda>


    "HEELLPPP!!!"


    Sir Kesser''s clothes were immediately burned, revealing his disgusting metallic body. However, the mirror-like properties of his metallic body caused the beam of light to scatter in many directions.


    The scattered beams of light burned and tore holes in the bodies of the blinded people in the surroundings.


    Seeing that, Mark smiled as he changed the angles of his arm, directing the scattered beam of light to the remaining enemies.


    Soon, only Mark and Sir Kesser stood alive. The only ones with intact heads were the dead Mutators.


    However, the beam of light had not stopped, and Sir Kesser tried to resist it as much as he could.


    However, even a mirror would heat up after bouncing light constantly, not to mention metal.


    GGAAA!! HAAAAAAAA!!!


    Sir Kesser''s wails were heard as a hole was melted through his metallic body.


    After dying, Sir Kesser''s body fell down without making too much mess. His whole body was still in its metallic state.


    With everyone gone, Mark turned towards the building.


    It was time to deal with the others.


    But then, several people went out of the building.


    The man with chains made Mark frown.

 Chapter 519 The True Form Of Gregor, The Battle Between The Demon And The Devil

    <strong>Day 127 - 6:30 PM - Hamilton Commons, Mays Landing, Hamilton Township, New Jersey, United States of America</strong>


    When they heard the first gunshots, Lady Amelie and the others in the central area of the shopping mall wanted to go out. However, Gregor tried to stop them.


    Dangerous, that was what Gregor terrifyingly insisted on them.


    However, Lady Amelie was the boss of Hamilton Raiders, the owner of this ce right now. There was no way for her to disregard if something was happening inside her territory.


    "Gregor, I need to go out." Lady Amelie insisted. "If you don''t want to, I''ll go alone."


    Of course, it was not because she did not trust Gregor. It was because she was a raider and the boss here, a fearless leader that led everyone here. To shrink inside here in fear was not her style.


    Besides, the fact that she was leading a group of ruthless,wless, and malicious people that she needed to show that she was above them all.


    She was not afraid to die. It was something to be expected once a person joined the field to entered.


    Seeing her determination, Gregor looked down a bit. Then, he stood up.


    "I''lle. But... danger, escape."


    No one could understand what danger Gregor was talking about. Nevertheless, they would be wary.


    At first, they wanted to climb up the roof to see the situation at a safer distance. However, when Lady Amelie and the others left the room, the building shook, and they heard the copsing walls. Because of that, climbing the roof became more dangerous than being safe. They thought that the building might copse while they were up at the rooftop. Some of them might be able to avoid it if that happened. Still, more of them would be buried in the rubble.


    Nevertheless, that fear would note true.


    While they rushed out, the gunshots and sound of fighting outside continued for another minute. Seeing their boss rushing out with the fiercest people of the raiders, more and more of their members tagged along.


    However, the moment they stepped out of the building, what greeted them was silence.


    They could only see a silhouette of a man standing in the middle of charred, disfigured pieces of dead bodies.


    Everyone was speechless at this sight before them.


    "What happened..."


    Lady Amelie could only say in a lowered voice.


    Nevertheless, no one could exin what happened. Those that were able to see the first parts of the battle had withdrawn after the men of Sir Kesser fired their guns blindly towards the mall. And thus, none witnessed the events afterward.


    But then, while they stood by the door in a stupor, the silhouette turned his head towards them with his red glowing eyes.


    Lady Amelie could not help but flinch. She thought that she was not afraid of death. But those eyes, for some reason, felt like swallowing her alive.


    That was when Gregor stepped forward, shielding her from those eyes.


    ***


    Mark stared at the man with chains. Thetter also stared at him.


    There was a frown of Mark''s face as he stared at the man.


    Humans might not be able to feel or smell, but that man''s body was emanating a dark aura and a nauseating smell.


    The smell of something not human, yet it was.


    And in this area, there was only one creature Mark could think of that would have such characteristics.


    "You are..."


    While Mark and Gregor stared at each other, Hawker managed to recognize Mark.


    "You are from that group at the steakhouse before."


    Hearing that, the rest of the raiders, especially those that watched that group from the rooftop, was unable to control their shock.


    Mark turned his eyes from Gregor to Hawker.


    "So, how is it staring at my wife with those malicious thoughts you pieces of garbage have?"


    There, everyone here realized the primary reason this man appeared here. The lookouts this afternoon was ogling at his wife, offending them in the process. Those that had no participation in that could not help but look at the people here stationed at the roof. On the other hand, those being stared became pale.


    "At first, I only thought of blinding those people. If you ignored us then, we would not havee to this. However, to think that someone was sent to tail us. So... It''s better to kill you all, isn''t it?"


    Mark dered boldly, even though he was facing about a hundred people now.


    Hearing those words, everyone got ready to fight. They readied their guns, while the six Mutators and fifteen Evolvers took readied their stance.


    Except for Gregor, however.


    "Gregor, what are you doing?!"


    Lady Amelie pulled Gregor''s chains. However, therge man would not budge an inch.


    "Amelie..." Gregor turned his head towards Lady Amelie and spoke in a grave tone. "Escape..."


    "Gregor wha-!"


    Lady Amelie tried to question Gregor. Before she could finish her words, however, she was pushed by Gregor towards Hawker and the other mutators.


    "ESCAPE!!!"


    Gregor roared at the group.


    Everyone stared wide-eyed towards Gregor. It was the first time he behaved like this.


    At their stupor, Gregor suddenly kicked the ground, jumping in front of them.


    BAM!


    A loud sound echoed, and a shockwave was felt by everyone in the surroundings as Gregor blocked the attack as Mark appeared before him.


    While everyone was distracted, Mark made a surprise attack towards the seemingly most important person of the group, the woman that was being protected by therge man. Unexpectedly, therge man was able to catch movements blocking this charge.


    "This is unexpected," Mark spoke. "You can gauge how much danger you are in. Unfortunately, the people around you are too numb to notice."


    Gregor smashed his left hand towards Mark. Thetter jumped back to evade the attack, and the missed attack continued to the ground.


    BAM!!!


    A one-meter diameter crater was created as the closed fist impacted the ground.


    Gregor did not chase Mark and turned behind him instead.


    "GO!"


    Finally, Hawker and the others realized what Gregor was implying. There was no way of winning this. They should just escape if they wanted to live.


    "You really think that I will let them go?"


    Mark said with deep conceit.


    His body was enveloped with ck smoke that flew above and spread, creating a tall wall around thepound.<sub> </sub>


    Everyone was horrified after seeing that scene. Some of the raiders fell on their feet. The others felt their pants wet as yellowish liquid dripped to the ground.


    "You..."


    Gregor stared at Mark in deep anger.


    "What?" Mark tilted his head. "You''re a demon yourself. I''m sure you knew how fun it is to torment others, right? Not to mention, you should be the man-eating kind, aren''t you?"


    Those that were still able to react looked at Gregor in disbelief.


    "Don''t restrain yourself." Mark provoked. "Go all out. Let me see your true form, or else, you can only watch as I kill everyone here."


    Gregor turned at Lady Amelie. Thetter only nodded.


    With that nod, Gregor tore the chains on his body.


    "RRRAAAAAAAAAA!!!!"


    His deep roar echoed in the surroundings.


    In front of everyone, his alreadyrge, muscr body, started to expand. His two-meter height grew to four meters. His whole body grew covered in fur, and the nails on his hands turned into ck ws.


    Head of a goat, horns of a stag, hoofs of a horse on his feet, tail with a split end, and a pair ofrge, bat wings.


    The raiders could not help but step back after seeing this form of Gregor. Most of the were locals, while some came from other surrounding states. There was no way for them to not recognize the appearance that was taken out of the myths.


    "The Jersey Devil." Mark smiled. "Tell me. Are you a genuine one or a descendant?"


    "That has nothing... To do with... You!"


    Gregor shouted in a gurgling voice.


    SWOOOHSS!!!


    With a kick, Gregor soared towards Mark, with his speed faster than a bullet. Almost instantly, he was already sweeping towards Mark, brandishing his sharp ws to slice his neck.


    Mark bent his body backward, and the attack of Gregor passed over him.


    Missing his attack, Gregor pped his wings, turning his body back and kicked the ground to charge towards Mark once more.


    Another swipe of de-like ws came towards Mark at bullet speed. However, it was evaded once more without difficulty.


    Gregor flew around very fast that all everyone could see was a sweeping dark shadow. The audience could only believe their eyes that a four meter tall monster like that could move at that speed.


    BAM! BAM! BAM!


    Craters appeared on the parking lot as Gregor kicked the ground every time he charged towards Mark. He kept repeating the attacks while going around from different angles and speeds.


    "What are you all staring for! Support Gregor!"


    Lady Amelie shouted, forcing everyone to snap from their stupor.


    They immediately readied their guns.


    Gregor, on the other hand, was being frustrated that none of his attacks could hit despite the speed he was moving. When he saw Amelie ordering her subordinates, he decided to take a chance.


    GGGGGRAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!


    Gregor pped his wings above and released a loud roar towards Mark.


    As the attack was unexpected, Mark felt his ears ache, and his eyes blurred.


    This attack from Gregor was supposed to inflict unconditional fear into the mind of the target. The mental capacity of the enemy, however, was strange. Still, making him stagger was already enough. It was because...


    BANG! RATATATATATA! BANG!


    Hundreds of bullets shot towards Mark like torrential rain. Being inflicted by the effects of Gregor''s roar, the bullets showered upon his body.


    The bullets bored holes on his body. The impact made his arms numb.


    Mark''s body was turned into a beehive. His body fell to the ground.


    The raiders stopped shooting, thinking that they won.


    Before they could rejoice, however, Mark sat up. As he did, ttened bullets could be seen falling from his head and torso.


    When they looked at what happened, they saw ayer of ck metal covering Mark''s face and body.


    They were stunned. Nevertheless, the raiders could see that Mark''s arm and feet were not covered by that metal that came out of nowhere. There were countless holes from his arms and legs.


    But then, Hawker found something strange.


    The enemy was hit with bullets, but there was no blood. And as Hawker was the one that could see things clearly, he was the first to be horrified.


    It was when the holes made by the bullets started to spit the bullets out, and the holes healed like the enemy was never wounded.


    As Mark stood back up, the metal covering his body slowly retracted, and more bullets fell from his body as his arms and legs healed.


    "Well, that was dangerous."


    Mark said as he looked at the raiders with a sinister smile.


    "Looks like you people can''t wait for your turn at all."


    CLACK! CLACK!


    Seeing that they failed, some raiders let go of their guns in fear. The enemy was immortal. There was no way for them to win this.


    That realization came toote, however.


    A ball of Miasma was conjured on Mark''s hands. With a jerk of his palms, the ball of Miasma flew towards the raiders.


    The ball flew like a rocket, causing the raiders to flee in panic. And like a rocket, the ball exploded after making contact with one of the raiders.


    "Wha... AHHHH!! GGGGAAAAAHHHHH!!!"


    The blood-curdling scream of that raider echoed around as the others watched his body quickly rot in front of them.


    He was still alive, rolling fiercely on the ground. However, his body started to look like a corpse that was dug after being buried for several weeks.


    Amidst his screams, that raider died. It was a very disgusting and agonizing death. Even though he was already dead, his body continued to rot, creating a puddle of smelly rotten juice on the ground that started to mix with the falling snow.


    "That''s a warning," Mark said. "Wait your turn if you pieces of trash don''t want to die that way."


    Saying those words, Mark turned to Gregor, that was already protecting Lady Amelie.


    "Now, shall we continue?"


    Mark asked as he wanted to see the extent of the strength of the creature of the myth was.

 Chapter 520 Mercy And Laziness, Letting Them Go

    <strong>Day 127 - 6:35 PM - Hamilton Commons, Mays Landing, Hamilton Township, New Jersey, United States of America</strong>


    BAM! CRASH! BOOM!


    Different loud sounds echoed across thepound of Hamilton Commons. The gunshots and explosion of grenades before, now, it was the sound of breaking cement, thrown vehicles, and exploding cars.


    Outside the wall of Miasma isting thepound, the infected started to gather. The loud sounds were enough to attract them in droves, but what they could not resist even more was the thick magical energy emanating from the area. Most of them dived through the wall of Miasma, only to get a few steps through before they slumped into a rotting pile of flesh. The mutated ones could enter further, but the result was the same.


    Nevertheless, it was quite dangerous as there seem to be some that managed tost longer than the others. It would not be surprising if any of them mutated because of the Miasma if any of them managed tost enough time to mutate.


    On the other hand, evolved animals in the area started to flee in fear, with the exception of feral ones, of course. The pressure from two terrifying beings was not something that they would be able to withstand. While the most evolved animals fled, however, the feral ones started a riot.


    With many infected in gathering in the area, the feral evolved animals saw this as a hunting ground. They started to attack the infected. The infected did the same as they spotted the non-infected animals.


    Outside the walls of Miasma, it became a battlefield of its own.


    Inside, it already became a dump of chaos.


    The raiders already retreated as far as they could from the battle zone of the two non-human beings. It was something that humans like them could not interfere with anymore. Nevertheless, non of them tried to hide or escape. Everyone here realized that doing those were futile. They could not go anywhere in the first ce. They saw what happened when the enemy killed one of them using that ball of smoke. Going through the swaying ck wall could result in the same ending for them.


    Thus, they could only watch the battle that could decide their survival.


    Nevertheless, inside their minds, they wondered where things had gone wrong. They could not remember how they offended this enemy they were facing now. Was it because of Kesser? But Kesser was already dead, and the ones here knew nothing of their ns.


    No, they knew. It was just that the ones remaining did not participate in it.


    Nevertheless, this should not warrant their deaths, right?


    "You all must be wondering why."


    As if their thoughts were being read... The enemy who was currently avoiding the one-sided attacks of Gregor spoke to them.


    "Then, I guess, it''s fine to tell... Since all of you will die anyway."


    Mark said with a grim smile.


    "How was it? Watching my wife with indecent thoughts."


    That question did not ring a bell to most of them. However, the lookouts during the afternoon and even Lady Amelie froze.


    To think that this threat was brought by them.


    "We are only looking! What is wrong with that?"


    One of the raiders that were guilty of the usation stood up bravely to find a way out. However, he could only shiver and fall on his butt as he received the direct killing intent from Mark.


    "Just looking is fine to some extent. But your indecent thoughts are not. My wife had some emotional and mental scars, you all see... She''s very sensitive to that kind of stares, and you all pretty much reminded her of what she wanted to forget. That is enough for me to kill you all. It was way better than the likes of you who killed others for fun, isn''t it?"


    Mark said with a smiling face. Nevertheless, from that smile, they could see their demise.


    ***


    Gregor was already being frustrated in this battle. The enemy never attacked him even once, but none of his attacks were hitting. As fast as a bullet, Gregor swept across the parking area, picking up and throwing cars at the enemy.


    Most of the cars only crashed on the concrete, of course. Some managed to explode, and those were the vehicles that were used by the men of Kesser earlier.


    And every time that a vehicle exploded, Gregor could see the eyebrows of the enemy twitching in annoyance for some reason.


    Nevertheless, there was really nothing Gregor could do now. He was alreadycking the options for attacking.


    In the first ce, Jersey Devils were feared because of their superhuman strength and speed. Using those, they could trample and kill humans. But in fact, Jersey Devils were easier to kill than most have thought.


    They had strength and speed. Their muscles were thick, and most weapons humans had would not easily work on them. However, unlike dragons, their bodies were not covered in thick, impervious scales. A small pistol could kill them if they got hit in vital areas. Furthermore, Jersey Devils were not known to have any inhumane regeneration abilities. Their wounds needed to heal as normal people did.


    After all, Jersey Devils were not a race of magical demons. They originated from a curse on a newborn child. The thirteenth child of a family. A curse that many families around New Jersey had to bear. It was not all families, of course, and only those that lived around the forest for some reason.


    It was very rare to happen, especially in modern times. Who in the right mind would have thirteen children in these times, anyway? Furthermore, each instance would result in at least the death of the mother. At worse, the whole family would be massacred. However, themon people never knew of it because the instances that it happened were being suppressed by the government, not allowing the news to be known by the public.


    Only the first instance was known, and it was made to turn into a folklore story used to scare children.


    In the past few years, no incidents like this happened. Thest one recorded was twenty-five years ago. That one was Gregor.


    It could not be confirmed if he was the only Jersey Devil still living. Nevertheless, before the outbreak, rumors and sightings of Jersey Devils were still circting here and there. There might be a chance that there were others out there.


    ***


    Mark watched the Jersey Devil in front of him, attack relentlessly. Sure enough, the repertoire of this kind of creature relied on physical attacks. Jersey Devils were physical demons, even considered as a cryptid. They did not have powerful magical abilities. That roar was the only ability known to exist outside of its transformation abilities, superhuman strength, and superhuman speed.


    And when none of those worked, the Jersey Devil could easily be subdued. It was very rare to happen since there were no normal humans that would be able to contend with the physical abilities of a demon, like the Jersey Devil.


    The strength and speed of this man called Gregor weremendable. Even Mark had to carefully keep an eye on him while using the enhancing ability of his blood through his eyes to keep up with his speed. That was the reason his eyes were glowing red all this time. On top of that, he was using his empathic ability to pressure the raiders.<sub> </sub>


    That surprise attack earlier was dangerous, after all. If Mark did not protect his vital areas, although he would not die, he would be incapacitated for a while. That was a bad thing.


    And that man he killed, that was not just a warning.


    That bastard shot at his manhood. Anyone would be ticked off if that was the case.


    Also, Mark was not numb to pain. Those bullets boring holes in his flesh hurt like hell. However, he could not and would not show any sign of weakness towards his enemies.


    Mark could tell that Gregor was already frustrated. He started to wonder if he should kill this guy or add him to his collection. If it was thetter, it would be hard to subdue this guy. Then...


    Mark''s eyes turned to the blonde woman among the raiders. She seemed to be someone important to his Jersey Devil.


    But then, as Mark did that, he was able to feel that Gregor started to fear for something.


    In haste, Gregor tore off the gas tank of one of the motorcycles and threw the gas tank at Mark with great strength.


    However, instead of hitting him, the gas tank fell in front of him, causing the gas to leak and the metal scraping at the cement to ignite it.


    The gas tank exploded in front of Mark, forcing him to retreat a bit.


    His [Shadow Mist Movement] could allow him to pass through any gap in space, no matter how small it was as long as he could see it. However, in an instance of an explosion, the heated gas was everywhere. It was one of the weaknesses of this ability. If not for that, he would have no reason to dodge explosions.


    Amidst his dodge, however, his vision was obscured. He started to be alert of any iing attack as Gregor was not in his view anymore.


    That was when he realized... Gregor was not aiming for another attack.


    Even with his obscured vision, he could feel Gregor''s mental fluctuations sweeping towards that woman within the raiders.


    With great speed, Mark kicked the ground and moved around the explosion.


    Mark could only scratch his head as he watched Gregor flew away with the woman and the man with annoying looking eyes.


    Flying with the speed of a bullet, Gregor managed to get a wide distance away before Mark realized his intentions.


    "What a bummer. Next time, I should also cover the sky."


    That was what Mark said as he watched the Jersey Devil fly away. Nevertheless, it was not possible to do either. If he covered the sky with Miasma, everything inside would be pitch ck. Even Mark would not be able to do much in that darkness.


    However, Mark was not keen on chasing Gregor either. In the first ce, it was obvious that he was not one of the offenders this time. They might have killed people before, but it was not Mark''s job to punish them for that. He was also feeling toozy to chase a creature constantly flying at bullet''s speed. Even Mark''s natural flying speed would be able to keep up with that. He could use his blood to enhance his flight, but it wouldst shorterpared to Gregor''s stamina. It would also give the real culprits a chance to escape since he would not be able to maintain the wall of Miasma if he flew too far away.


    Still, that woman seemed to be one that ogled on Mei since she also reacted fiercely on Mark''s reason for attacking them.


    "Hah... Nevermind. I''ll let them go this time. The Jersey Devils are pitiful anyway."


    That was right, the Jersey Devils were pitiful creatures. In the first ce, they came from a human family. However, they were turned into a creature like that because of a curse.


    With those thoughts, Mark turned to the people in front of him. They were all shouting towards Gregor, who escaped with only two people with him. These people were cursing the three that escaped without holding back.


    "Now then, what should I do with all of you... You people had been abandoned."


    Mark said with a sinister smile. It made the remaining raiders freeze in fear.


    And the first one appeared. He kneeled in front of Mark.


    "Sir! I''m not one of those you are talking about! Please, don''t kill me!"


    But then, Mark kicked the man''s shoulder, the man rolled several times away, with his arm bent in the wrong direction.


    "AHHHH!!!"


    The man wailed in agony, that was when Mark approached him and picked him up, grabbing his neck.


    "Do you really think that I won''t realize your lie?"


    The man stared to Mark, wide-eyed, filled with tears, and with nose dripping with snot.


    "To think that the first one to beg for his life was a liar. You people are less than garbage."


    That was right. This person was one of the people that reacted strongly when Mark said his reason. His reaction was even stronger than anyone here. And yet, he was the first person to deny his offense.


    "What a thick face."


    Mark said as he bent down. Scraping the man''s face on the rough cement until it bled.


    With his throat being chocked tightly, he could not even scream in pain.


    The others watched in horror as the torment began.

 Chapter 521 The Fate Of The Raiders, An Encounter With Someones Relative

    <strong>Day 127 - 6:40 PM - Hamilton Commons, Mays Landing, Hamilton Township, New Jersey, United States of America</strong>


    The battle between Gregor and Mark ended with the former escaping with two of the most important people among the raiders.


    That end, however, left the remaining members fearing desperately for their lives. And like how narrow-minded they were, in their minds, they started ming the three that managed to escape for the demise that they were facing.


    There were a lot of them left. Nevertheless, no matter how many they were, they could only feel that they were no less than ants at the enemy in front of them.


    In horror, they could only watch at the enemy caught one of them on his neck and scrape his bloody face hard unto the cement. Even in this darkness, they could distinguish the bloody color left on the ground as the face of theirrade started to thin horribly. The skin on both his cheeks was gone. Even his nose and lips were torn to shreds.


    That was when they realized, the guy stopped moving.


    Mark lifted the guy up. Sure enough, he was already dead.


    "Tsk." Mark clicked his tongue. He failed to control his strength and ended up crushing the guy''s neck identally. The guy died too easily. He was lucky.


    Mark turned to the others, causing them to flinch. The unsightly death of theirrade in his hands was enough to give them a deep mental scar. They all wanted to flee. However, without the capability of flight like Gregor, there was no way for them to leave this ce.


    The only thing that they could do was to wait for their demise while watching the man in front of them.


    Mark, on the other hand, seemed to have another idea.


    "You, you, you, you..."


    One by one, Mark pointed at eleven people. Each of them could not help but shiver as they were pointed out. After all, they were the guilty ones of what Mark said before. They were the lookouts and curious ones that lingered the roof, ogling at Mei this afternoon.


    Mark then smiled.


    "Those I didn''t point out, let''s y a game."


    Everyone became silent by reflex. As bloodthirsty raiders, they were not new to this kind of term. Giving their victims a chance to live as long as they were entertained.


    "The ones I did not point at, you will be the hunters. The others were targets. The hunters can bring me an eyeball of those the targets, I''ll let them leave this ce alive."


    Hearing that, the ears of the others perked up while those that were guilty of the crime started to back off.


    "S-sir... Will you really let us go if we did what you just said?"


    One of the raiders bravely asked Mark.


    "I''m not like you people. I will keep my word. One person per eye. I will not kill them and let them leave."


    Hearing that, those that were not pointed out by Mark turned towards those that he pointed at. Their eyes were not looking at their poorrades. Instead, they looked like hyenas eying their prey.


    "Oh, by the way..." Mark added. "Take their eyes without killing them. Remember that."


    They heard what Mark said. Nevertheless, their bloodshot eyes did not waver. What was in their minds was solely their own survival. They would follow what Mark said to live, disregarding the heightened difficulty of the task.


    "Well, then. You guys can start now."


    Mark said as he walked out of the way. He climbed the back of the military jeep to oversee what was happening.


    And there, the chaos ensued.


    Everyone readied their weapons. Although this time, they were aiming for their ownrades.


    The guilty ones immediately grouped up while retreating. They had the same circumstances at the moment. It was better for them to stick their backs at each other.


    While they retreated, they did not hesitate to fire at the others, forcing them to hide and take cover.


    Mark watched the y with a smile. With the rules he gave, barely anyone would manage to live.


    All of them had guns. However, the group aiming for the eyes would not be able to use their weapons to their maximum efficiency. Mark said that they could not kill the targets. Thus, they could only aim for their arms and legs.


    On the other hand, the targets could kill anyone as long as they could.


    Because of that rule, even though the hunter group overwhelmed the target group with numbers, they could not get any advantage. More than that, since they had more people on their side, it was expected for them to have a lot of casualties.


    PLOP!


    As Mark was just thinking of it, the first casualty appeared. One of the members of the hunters was shot directly on his forehead as he tried to peek out of his cover.


    Despite that, however, that guy''s death did not matter.


    One death meant one lesspetition. There were only eleven targets, twenty-two eyeballs. Only twenty-two people would be able to leave this ce.


    A mutator among the hunters used a different tactic and circled the targets. He seeded and got a clean shot on one of the targets.However, the shot hit the target''s head, causing him to immediately die.


    Nevertheless, the Mutator did not care. Using his dirty hands, he scooped out the dead target''s eye.


    But then... before the Mutator could rejoice... His view spun, and he managed to see his headless body holding onto that bloody eyeball he took. That was thest scene before everything went ck.


    Everyone froze. They saw Mark appear behind the Mutator and sliced his neck off. He then caught the head and like magic, put it in a ck hole in front of him.


    "As I said, take their eyes without killing. The eyes from a dead target will not count. One already died. Only ten targets remain. Meaning, only twenty might be able to leave this ce alive now."


    Hearing that, the nervousness of the hunters grew. They stamped clearly in their minds that they should not kill any of the targets. Not only that they would die, but even the quota would also decrease.


    Because of that, the hunters became careful with their approach. On the other hand, the targets managed to get a breathing room.


    As the raiders were concentrated in the battle, none of them realized that Mark already entered their base, leaving them on their own.


    Mark really did not have much interest in watching the chaos he created. And rather, he wanted to see what he could loot in this ce. Besides, he could monitor them without watching using his [Empathic Detection].


    And another thing, aside from that Jersey Devil, he was detecting another person of interest.


    The person was not like Gregor, though.


    Without a doubt, the person he was detecting was human. The person was not a psychic or an inheritor either.


    In fact, Mark was not sure about what he was detecting and wanted to confirm it first.


    Following his [Empathic Detection], he ended up at the very same building that Kesser and his henchmen used. The whole ce was dirty, and garbage could be seen everywhere.


    Ignoring the unsightly appearance of the interior, Mark continued walking.


    Along the way, he managed to encounter some raiders hiding.


    Not all the raiders in the building had gone out, after all, and some hid inside the mall instead.


    And those that hid, Mark killed them without mercy.


    Soon, he arrived at what seemed to be a staff room of the mall. As he peeked on the ss window on the door, he could see that the staff room had already turned into a prison cell.


    Mark broke the lock and entered through the door.<sub> </sub>


    Inside, there were eight women. All of them were around teens to about thete twenties of age and were above average regarding their looks.


    Unfortunately, their beauty was already covered in bruises, dirt, and scars.


    Despite the weather, all of them wore thin, ragged, and dirty clothing. The only thing that was protecting the women from the cold was their thin, torn nkets.


    Three of them turned to Mark while shivering. Fearing the next thing that would happen to them. On the other hand, the eyes of the five of them were already empty, without any will to live. They only stared forward, not minding their future.


    Disregarding the other seven, Mark turned to a young girl shrinking herself on the corner of the room.


    Knowing that the attention of the person that entered was on her, the girl shivered from both cold and fear. Furthermore, the gunshots that they could hear from outside fueled their fear even more.


    That fat demon just yed with her, and she was still in pain. She would not be able to take it if she was yed with again. She could only cover her face and hide. Withing that the person would go away.


    But then, everything went silent in the room.


    Normally, when one was taken out of this room, there would be some resistance. The only exception was the five women that had already given up.


    She peeked out of her nket.


    And to her extreme horror, the man was squatting in front of her, staring at her.


    But then, a question from the man, made her wide-eyed in shock.


    Squatting in front of the frightened girl, Mark asked.


    "Do you know someone named Odelina?"


    Unable to believe what she heard, despite her fear, she asked.


    "C-can y-you... Can you say that again?"


    "I said, do you know someone called Odelina. Odelina Nadasia."


    After hearing that name, tears poured out of her eyes.


    "W-who are you?" She asked. "Why do you know my Aunt''s name?"


    That question made Mark shrug his shoulders.


    When he closed into this mall, he could not help but detect two interesting fluctuations. One came from something not human. The other came from someone familiar.


    The emotional fluctuations that Mark could detect were like DNA. Those that were blood-rted had simrities in it. The closer the blood-ties, the stronger the simrity. Of course, it was not always urate. Sometimes, some fluctuations felt simr even though the two people were not rted at all.


    That was why he had to confirm what he felt first. And it seemed that he was not mistaken.


    "Then, what about Siegfried and Odette? Do you know them?"


    Mark asked onest question.


    "M-my cousins..."


    The girl replied with even more shock.


    "Haahh... what a small world this is."


    Mark said with another shrug. He then faced the girl.


    "Want toe with me? I''ll take you back to my base."


    Hearing that question, the girl hesitated. Although it seemed like this man in front of here did not belong to the raiders that caught her, it was not easy to just follow him.


    However, he mentioned the name of her rtives. It was something that she would not be able to ignore. Nevertheless, if it could bring her out of this hellish ce, it was better. Grasping thest bit of hope was better than rotting in this ce.


    As if knowing her intentions, the man in front of her reached his hand out. Slowly, she epted the hand, and with his help, she stood up.


    Mark escorted the girl out of the room, passing through the other women.


    Seeing what happened, they wanted to catch the man''s attention. However, their fear overwhelmed them more.


    When the man reached the door, however, he spoke.


    "The guys that caught you all will die tonight. All of you are free now, but don''t leave this ce immediately if you women don''t want to die."


    After that, Mark and the girl left. The other women already lost the opportunity to ask for help and take them with him.


    At the main area of the building, Mark asked the girl.


    "What''s your name?"


    "H-Hannah..."


    She replied.


    "Well then, we better find better clothes for you first before finding a vehicle."


    With that Mark took Hannah for a change of clothes before going outside.


    Hannah could not help but stare in front with shock and wonder.


    Everything was in chaos. And among the raiders, only eight remained standing. Among the targets, only seven were left alive, either unconcious or wailing in pain from their empty eye sockets.


    Those that remained were all injured. Nevertheless, they were still in a condition that could leave this ce safely.


    "Then, go."


    Mark said as the wall of Miasma in front of them opened up.


    The eight remaining raiders hurriedly rushed off, not even thanking Mark for the mercy he gave.


    Well, Mark did not need it anyway.


    Hannah, on the other hand, could see the sinister smile on Mark''s face as he closed the wall once more.


    "AAAAAAHHHHHH!!!"


    The frightened screams of the eight raiders echoed in their ears.


    Mark kept his promise. He let them leave the ce alive.


    However, outside, there was the battlefield of the infected and the evolved animals.


    They were destined to die no matter what.

 Chapter 522 At The Police Station, The Beast Of Makepeace Lake

    Day 127 - 6:32 PM - Antic City Expressway Station, Hamilton Township, New Jersey, United States of America


    By the time that the first kes of snow fell, Mark already started the one-sided fight against the raiders. Mei, on the other hand, was left with the role of guarding the [Queen Type], [Empress Spider], and the survivors from Bally''s Casino.


    And for some reason, Arnold and the others were quite troubled by this.


    Although they had noticed it before, with Mark leaving them this time, the issue became more apparent.


    Mei was not interacting with them at all. At first, they thought that the issue was the men in their group. However, she was also not paying attention to Felicia and Sandie.


    The most that she would do was to smile at the three children with them. Aside from that, there was nothing else.


    Of course, she was diligent in following what Mark said for her to do and was keeping guard on them and the surroundings.


    Still, Felicia and Sandie wished that Mei would at least sit near them.


    Before the snow even fell, the temperature of the surroundings was already decreasing. At this time, the cold started to be a little unbearable. Being in a ce surrounded by forests added further to the coldness of the night.


    Felicia and the others already huddled around the fire, while cooking dinner. Mei, on the other hand, was sitting just behind the door of the police station, not minding the cold. They could not help but worry.


    Unfortunately, they did not know that Mark and Mei were Blood Demons.


    Blood was one of the main factors of the body to keep the right temperature. And for Blood Demons that had innate abilities rted to their blood, regting their body temperatures was already a reflex.


    Mei was not feeling cold, and that was why she was fine sitting there. Nevertheless, she looked like a maiden sadly waiting for the return of her husband that had gone to war.


    "Miss... soup."


    Sandie bravely came to Mei to give her a bowl of soup they cooked for dinner.


    "Thank you."


    Mei replied and received what Sandie gave her.


    And there, Sandie could only retreat with a sigh as no interaction followed after.


    Mei ate the soup while looking at the snow falling outside the broken ss door. Unlike Mark, it was not her first time seeing snow. Coming from a well-known business family, they spent vacations and holidays out of the country.


    Unlike before, however. This time was different.


    She was not feeling cold anymore.


    The night was silent as the snow gently covered the surroundings. Or that was how it was supposed to be.


    Now and then, Mei had toe out. It was because their presence in the police station was attracting some of the infected to roam the area. With her guarding the ce, the infected could not pose a threat at all.


    And since she had nothing to do, after every time she had to go out, she would wipe the de of her sword clean with a cloth.


    Aside from the infected and a few feral evolved animals, there was no other threat that they would expect around here.


    That was what they thought.


    Just twenty minutes after Mark left, they heard a loud sound.


    BUUUZZZZZZZ!!!


    It was onlying from a single creature. Nevertheless, the sound was getting louder and louder, closer, and closer.


    The group of survivors from Bally''s Casino could not help but be alerted. They immediately readied themselves if there was a need to fight.


    Mei also prepared. Taking out Oracle from her bag, the clear-colored [Blood Child] turned into her armor.


    BAM!


    All of them fell silent. Even Mei immediately hid once the loud sound in front of the police station echoed in their ears.


    Peeking out from hiding, Mei warily stared at the beast outside.


    "A dragonfly..."


    Mei murmured.


    Outside the police station, a gigantic and strange-looking dragonflynded.


    Nevertheless, unlike most of the evolved animals and insects they had seen today, this one looked threatening, even more than the [Queen Type] infected.


    Its sheer size could make anyone feel threatened. Just the dragonfly''s head was already asrge as a human''s torso. Its thorax was asrge as a family van. Including its tail, the whole body of the dragonfly was as long as two and a half provincial busses.


    Not to mention the span of its wings that was longer than its whole body.


    Just the size of the beast was already frightening.


    But its appearance could make anyone flee.


    The dragonfly''s ck-colored mandibles looked-like it was steel. Its two forelegs looked like ck ws of a mantis. A ck, spiky, and sinister-looking armor covered its whole thorax like a robe. The end of its tail looked like a scythe, ready to behead its prey. And unlike a regr dragonfly, its tail was moving sideways like a serpent''s body.


    As itnded, the snow blew everywhere because of its wings. The cold wind entered the police station. Nevertheless, everyone could only stay silent as much as possible.


    Even though it was cold, they did not hesitate to extinguish the fire they had. If it could make things safer, a little cold was nothing.


    Mei warily watched the beast outside the police station. It wandered the ce, looking around. When it saw nothing else, it walked towards the dead bodies left bleeding on the snow.


    Sure enough, it was attracted to the smell of blood from the bodies.


    The gigantic dragonfly started to eat the dead bodies. It looked like it would not go away anytime soon.


    After all, there was quite arge number of corpses outside. Aside from those that Mei killed, some were the ones they eliminated when they arrived in this ce.


    Mei watched while trying to hide as much as she could. However, there was some lingering feeling that there was no need to hide at all.


    It was as if...


    Mei looked up, she froze.


    The dragonfly was also looking at her.


    ...The dragonfly was aware that they were inside the police station.


    However, why was it not attacking?


    And there, Mei thought of something ridiculous.


    Readying her sword, she came out of the police station.


    "MISS!!!"


    Felicia and the others could not help but panic.


    Mei came out.


    The dragonfly looked at her for a second. Then, it continued eating. Using its mantic like forelegs to grasp the dead bodies, it bit off the corpses and swallowed piece by piece.


    Mei sat down at the steps in front of the parking area. Watching the bloody scene in front of her.<sub> </sub>


    Without a doubt, this insect was intelligent. As long as there was food around it, it would not incite conflict.


    Besides, Mei was not prey, but also a predator.


    The loud buzz of the dragonfly''s wings alerted more infected and feral animals toe to this ce. As they had no capability of thinking, they blindly charged towards the two predators.


    Mei killed the onesing after her.


    The dragonfly, on the other hand, only needed to wave its long flexible tail to dispatch the attackers.


    With the two around, the enemies were eliminated quicker.


    But then, the dragonfly could not help but look at Mei. It was because she started dragging the animal corpses.


    Then, she piled the corpses in front of the dragonfly. Afterward, she sat back at the stairs.


    Since then, aside from the sound of tearing flesh and blood sttering to the ground, there was silence.


    Mei nkly watched the supposedly threatening dragonfly. She did not even realize that snow started to pile on her head.


    Her job right now was to watch out for any threat. But with the appearance of the dragonfly, there was barely anything left for her to do.


    The dragonfly ate fast and soon finished eating. It then used itsrge feet to grab unto some of the remaining corpses. With ast nce at Mei, it flew away, sweeping the snow away from the area once more.


    As it left, Mei went back inside. And like before, she would go out from time to time to kill the infected outside.


    Everyone inside the police station managed to breathe in relief. While the dragonfly was present, they could feel like their hearts were in their throats, especially when Mei went out. If something happened to her, just how were they going to face Mark?


    Soon, they heard another loud sound.


    VRROOOOOOMMM!!!


    This time, it was the sound of arge vehicle.


    As the sound stopped in front of the police station, they all came out to check. Well, Mei was already ahead of everyone. As always, she knew if it was Mark without seeing him.


    In front of the police station, a Toyota Hi-Ace Minibus was parked.


    Mark came out of the driver''s seat. No one around had seen how, but Mei was already embracing Mark, weing his return.


    "Wee back."


    Mei said, receiving a pat on her head from Mark.


    Felicia and the others could not help but notice.


    Mei only looked alive if she was with Mark.


    "Did something happen while I''m away?"


    Mark asked.


    Even if he did not want to, he would notice arge amount of snow swept away from the front of the police station. The things around the area were covered with snow in a very odd way. As if the snow was sttered on the faces of the walls instead of falling on top of it.


    "Yes. Arge dragonfly stopped by to eat."


    Mei replied.


    Mark wondered about what Mei said. After all, there did not seem to be any damage to the area. At least nothing that couldpare to the scale of the snow that was swept away in the surroundings.


    "Tell me the detailster." Mark smiled. "I brought back someone."


    Mei tilted her head in curiosity.


    Mark knocked on the passenger door of the vehicle.


    Receiving Mark''s signal, Hannah alighted from the car.


    Mei tilted her head even more.


    "Odel? No... It''s not Odel."


    Mark could not help but snicker at Mei''s first impression of Hannah. That was what he also thought when the filth was removed from her face.


    Hannah looked a lot like Odelina. The difference was that Hannah looked younger and naive. If Odelina was like bamboo, hard to push down. Hannah was just a patch of grass, easy to trample.


    Mei was really confused. Nevertheless, the stories should be told inside the police station and not outside where it was snowing.


    Mark brushed away the remaining snow on Mei''s head and beckoned Hannah to follow him inside.


    While following, however, Mei could not help but notice something on Hannah.


    The way she followed behind Mark was the very same manner as to how Odelina did. It was like she had been trained to do so.


    Relighting the fire, they heated the remaining soup they had for Mark. Luckily, there was more leftover, and Hannah was able to have her share without needing to cook more.


    While eating, the stories from both sides were shared.


    When Mark heard what Mei did from Felicia and Arnold, Mark could not help but look at Mei with a reprimanding look.


    "It did not attack."


    Mei replied while pouting.


    "I... I wonder if that is the beast that the raiders were talking about."


    Hannah said, warily joining the conversation.


    From what Hannah knew, there was a beast in this area. Anyone that saw it would not be able to leave alive. That was why there was no clear description of what it looked like.


    If that was the case, however, the dragonfly might be a different one.


    While they were talking, however...


    BUZZZZZ!!!


    The familiar buzzing sound, apanied by strong gusts of wind, was heard.


    Hannah and the others flinched, while Mark became alert. Mei, on the other hand, was quite curious.


    The sound stopped a bit in front of the police station. However, before any of them could go out, the buzzing sound echoed once more and left.


    By the time they went out, the only thing they could see was the silhouette of therge dragonfly flying towards the south.


    However, they noticed something lying in front of the police station. Everyone was sure that it was not there when they entered.


    Mark picked it up. It was a green-colored sphere with two red spots. The thing looked like gelly, but it was as hard as metal.


    Nevertheless, there was one thing Mark was sure about.


    It was an egg of a dragonfly.

 Chapter 523 The Morning After The Snowy Night, Stopping By Off The Expressway

    <strong>Day 128 - 8:11 AM - Antic City Expressway, Hammonton Township, New Jersey, United States of America</strong>


    VRROOOMMM!!!


    Early in the morning, a loud sound of the vehicle echoed along the expressway.


    The snow had already stopped. The sun shined brightly at the slightly cloudy sky.


    After a cold night, the group prepared to leave early. With Mark''s instructions, they packed up as many supplies as they could from the convenience store. They managed to carry too much into the vehicle that it was full. Even the roof was not spared from being loaded.


    Having a vehicle felt better than walking. Furthermore, since it snowedst night, it would be much colder going on foot.


    Still, Arnold and the others were feeling a bit ufortable every time they remembered the uncanny surprise they had after waking up.


    Last night, they remembered that Mark drove a Toyota Hiace Minibus. Even before they fell asleep, they could still recall that it had the appearance of a regr vehicle.


    Although there were rails on the windows and the bumper was a bit modified, it was still a regr vehicle.


    When they woke up, however, the regr vehicle was gone.


    The insides of the vehicle were still the same. But outside, it was already a tank with reddish-ck armor.


    A sturdy ram was installed in front. Windows were more secured. The sides and even the wheels were covered for protection. There were even weapons that they, the passengers, could utilize from inside the vehicle when needed. Below the windows, severalpartments were present where they couldtch guns unto and fire outside.


    At the back of the vehicle, metal gas cans made with the same reddish-ck metal was affixed. The roof also had a protected carrier that enabled them to securely put supplies in it.


    They could not fathom how it happened in just the span of one night. Furthermore, they could not think of where Mark got the material to modify the vehicle to this degree.


    Nevertheless, despite the difort, they felt safer inside the vehicle.


    Mark had demonstrated how strong the armor was, shooting a gun at it.


    They also had no problem with food and water.


    There was also enough fuel to go further than where they needed to go.


    Mark also brought back weapons and ammunition.


    Unlike their state from before, this was like heaven.


    If Mark did not appear in front of them, even if they survived that onught caused by their vice-leader, they would have died of hunger.


    Still, while they thought that Mark could do almost everything, they could not help but be surprised that he was not able to do something properly.


    Mark was an awful driver. Even Hannah could confidently attest to this. It was not like he could not drive. Even though Mark knew how to, Mark was like highschooler ying on a racing arcade machine. If he was the one to drive, it would not be long for his passengers to have a heart attack.


    That was why this time, the one driving was one of the survivors from Bally''s Casino. He was called Otis. Apparently, he was a chauffeur from the casino, before the outbreak.


    He was not able to drive anything after the start of the apocalypse. Even so, his skills had yet to rust.


    And Otis was d that he could contribute something to the group since he was not adept at fighting.


    It was also best for Mark to not drive as he was the main fighter of the group. With Otis around, even if he needed to go out and fight, there was no need to stop the vehicle.


    In fact, it was the best choice. The vehicle was not a very silent one. Since it was the only one making noise along the highway, the sound of the car was severely multiplied.


    Along the way, it had drawn the attention of every danger they coulde across the highway.


    And there, Otis had shown his driving skills after adjusting to the vehicle.


    They still had to stop after encounteringrge and fast-moving animals and mutated infected. For most of the infected, however, Otis was able to swerve the vehicle safely.


    Having a vehicle was surely more convenient along the expressway. Even with the dangers and abandoned vehicles along the way, in just one hour, they managed to travel a fourth of what they walked yesterday.


    Of course, it was not a smooth journey, especially when they had to manually remove the entangled vehicles that crashed against another at the intersection.


    There was even an upturned trailer truck that Mark had to destroy before they could pass.


    ***


    Inside the vehicle, Mei held onto the egg of the dragonfly carefully. Seeing this, Mark could only smile.


    "You really like it, don''t you?"


    Mark said, making Mei blush a bit.


    Mei rarely asked Mark for anything aside from hispany. She did not want anything, except Mark and her current family.


    Thus, Mei''s current appearance was quite a sight to look at.


    Mark had Char, it seemed that Mei finally found hers. Once the egg hatched, they could ask Annica to connect Mei and the dragonfly nymph that would hatch from that egg, if ever it hatched.


    Well, considering the heightened vitality of evolved animals, it was very likely that it would sessfully hatch. Unless an ident happened, of course.


    Last night, Mark actually asked Mei if she wanted to catch the gigantic dragonfly. One yes from her would make him jump into action.


    However, she shook her head.


    The dragonfly was not an enemy, after all. Furthermore, it gave Mei an egg.


    Looking at the egg, Mark could not help but think.


    Mark already heard the story of the events that happenedst night while he was gone. Thinking about it. There was nothing that Mei had done to be awarded such a valuable egg. Once it hatched, it could be anyone''s powerful pet and ally. Considering that the mother was an intelligent evolved animal, it was reasonable to expect that the child would be smarter than the mother.


    But if one was to look at another angle... The angle of the mother dragonfly...


    This egg had no value at all.


    Dragonflies were known toy their eggs somewhere and leave it to hatch by themselves. Thervae had to survive by themselves in the environment filled with predators.


    In fact, most insects, even some animals, did not value their children. In the worst cases, they would eat their eggs and offsprings.


    So, this egg was nothing but a thank you gift for the food that it was given and nothing else.


    Or maybe, from what Hannah said, the giant dragonfly might be the beast that frequented the area as its territory.


    Territorial animals of the same species tend topete against each other for the best habitat.


    If that was the case... It was also likely that the dragonfly was getting rid of its futurepetition for its territory.


    That was very likely considering that since the dragonfly was a uniquely evolved animal, there was no way for it to have a mate. At least, not immediately.<sub> </sub>


    This egg might even be inside the dragonfly''s body when it evolved. And might be the only one that survived the evolution.


    Mark scratched his head.


    The more that he thought of the egg, the more possible reasons, and theories were popping up without concrete evidence.


    It seemed like it was better not to think of anything and just ept what was given as it was.


    Unknown to Mark, he was partly right in everything he thought of.


    The egg was of no value to the mother and the only egg that survived the evolution.


    It was also the onlypetitor that the mother could have in the future for her territory.


    Thus, it was given to Mei for that amount of unnecessary corpses.


    It was not for gratitude or anything.


    The giant dragonfly was just shirking future troubles.


    ***


    Driving through the outskirts of Hammonton Township that was filled with farming ntations, they had to stop.


    It was not like there was another blockade on the road, or there was a threatening enemy.


    Just the fact that the ce was surrounded by ntations of edible fruits and vegetables was enough for Mark and Mei to stop by.


    After all, after the battle with The Great One, the fields around their base was devastated. They needed seedlings. And of course, more variety of fruits and vegetables.


    Driving off from the expressway, they took a turn at the right corner and entered an area surrounded by farm fields.


    Stepping out of the vehicle, Mark looked around.


    <o>,m "I guess... This should be expected..."</o>


    Mark could only say that wryly.


    Winter had just passed by in New Jersey. Of course, there would be nothing but weeds now growing at the farm fields.


    And instead of farmers, infected and dog-sized pests roamed the fields.


    "Gege, should we check the storehouses?"


    Mei suggested as they eliminated the infected and the insects that started to attack them.


    Mark had the same thought. Maybe, they would be able to find things inside the farmhouses or the storehouse.


    Taking out his phone, Mark checked the map.


    There, he saw something.


    "Let''s check somewhere first."


    Mark said as they boarded the vehicle once more.


    Driving further the road and a single left turn, they arrived at the destination that Mark saw on the map.


    It was a farm with a storehouse near the road and several greenhouses on the other side of the street.


    And of course, there were some infected. In the least, there was lesser than the first area.


    "Mei''er, guard everyone. I''ll go check the greenhouse."


    Mark said as he patted her head.


    As Mei nodded, Mark left towards the greenhouses behind the farmhouse.


    Waving his swords along the way, Mark killed every infected that came running towards him.


    Arriving at the back area, he saw six greenhouses of different sizes.


    Unfortunately, among the six, four were obviously destroyed.


    Despite that, Mark still decided to check.


    He did not care much about what or how many he would find. At least, he wanted to find something to start in restoring their fields around his base.


    It was more preferrable if he could find seedlings. After all, even seeds did not have a hundred percent guarantee of growing.


    However, it seemed that he was out of luck this time. He searched the five smaller greenhouses and found nothing but dead nts.


    Finally, he decided to check thest one.


    Why did he put thergest onest? It was not because he was not expecting to find anything inside it. And rather, from outside the greenhouse, Mark could see that the nts inside this one were overgrown.


    Overgrown in a very odd way that the nts had broken through the confines of the greenhouse.


    Nevertheless, none of the nts sticking out of the greenhouse resembled an edible nt. Instead, Mark found it rather alien-like.


    Curled vines as thick as a child''s arm, strange bulbs asrge as an infant''s fist, there were a lot of things to question.


    Carefully, Mark opened the door of the greenhouse. The strange overgrown nts made the door hard to open. Mark had to carefully cut off the nts to open the door with making muchmotion.


    As Mark opened the door open, the insides of the greenhouse were revealed in his eyes.


    Mark frowned.


    At the center of the greenhouse, there was an infected. However, even if Mark was seen by it, it could not approach to attack at all. No, there was no way for it to do so.


    It was rooted in ce, literally.


    "This is new..."


    Mark murmured as he stared at the abomination in front of him.


    It had been a very long time since hest saw a nt-based mutation among the infected. This time, however, it was more grotesque.

 Chapter 524 Dismay And Ambush, The Empty Storehouse And The Ambush At The Road

    <strong>Day 128 - 10:29 AM -Edward Wuillermin & Sons Farms, Hammonton Township, New Jersey, United States of America</strong>


    Mark stood by the door of the greenhouse, looking at the abomination at the center of the greenhouse. He could not tell if the infected could detect him or not. Although there was movement, he could not see any kind of aggression.


    Taking out his phone and turning off the sh, Mark took out some pictures.


    It had been his hobby since the outbreak started. Every time he could, he would take pictures. If not, he would engrave the appearance of the infected in his mind and draw an illustrationter.


    In fact, the database about the infected and evolved animals inside hisptop was growing fast.


    That was the difference of this outbreak from what Mark knew from video games and movies. The number of possible branches that the infected could mutate to because of Mutagen was infinite.


    Of course, there was some rarity among the mutations. Simr catalysts would mutate the infected the same way.


    And the moremon the catalyst for the mutation was, the more likely that an infected mutated by it would appear. It was like the Dozers, the infected that had fat, bloated bodies that would release methane when injured. A lot of them were among the infected everywhere.


    The catalyst for the mutation of Dozers was already confirmed. It was the high amount of fat in the bodies of the infected before turning. Since obesity wasmon around the world, it was easy to find Dozers almost everywhere.


    It was the same with other mutated infected.


    Now, Mark had seen a new one. And it was a very rare nt-based mutation.


    Thus, he could not help but feel interested.


    After taking photos, Mark switched his phone to video recording and started to record the interior of the greenhouse as he entered.


    From outside, what could only be seen was the vines and strange bulbs sticking out of the broken panels of the roof. Inside, however, rather than a garden, it was like a small jungle.


    Vines covered the walls and the ground. Large, green leaves filled the ce.


    No one would think that it was a mutated infected unless they look at the center.


    At the base of the vines, a man stood still, with his arms outstretched.


    The base of the vines stuck out of the person''s body. As if the entirety of it grew from inside him. From his eyes, nose, ears, and his widely opened mouth. The vines even stuck out in front and the back of his hole-ridden pants.


    In a short nce, anyone would think that he was dead. However, with the infected man releasing that creepy moans from his disfigured throat, there was no doubt that this infected was still "alive."


    Furthermore, the base of the vines that were directly connected to the infected''s body had a different appearance. Instead of looking like a nt, it was like some flesh membranes growing out of the infected''s body.


    Mark looked up, he saw something.


    "Fruits?"


    That was what anyone would think at first.


    At the thickest parts of the vines above, severalrge things were hanging.


    However, each one was not only asrge as a human. It was also pulsating disgustingly. With its fleshy appearance, it looked more like a cocoon than a fruit. Nevertheless, there was no doubt that these things were hanging connected to the vines.


    Out of curiosity, Mark took out his sword. With a jump and a slice, he opened one of the "fruits."


    SPLAT!!!


    Mark immediately retreated as disgustingly smelling liquid burst out of the fruit. As the contents fell to the ground, Mark could not help but frown.


    The rotting and gastric smell spread across the greenhouse, making Mark retreat outside.


    Even for him, that was already used to encountering rotting corpses everywhere, the smell from that thing he sliced open just now was unbearable.


    If he did not retreat, even if he did not touch that thing, the smell would definitely stick to his clothes.


    Despite his quick retreat, he saw what fell out of that "fruit" clearly.


    It was a pile of digested human body parts.


    Those things hanging from the vines were not fruits but food. Then, if those things were all food for this mutated infected...


    As Mark had thought of that, the vines started to move like snakes. Sure enough, what he did alerted the infected inside of prey lurking around it.


    CRASH! CRASH!


    More ss panels broke as the vines surged out of the confines of the greenhouse.


    Then, the bulbs on the vine started to open, revealing huge flowers filled with barb-like teeth.


    Seeing that, Mark tried something.


    Mark ran, heading towards a corpse of an infected animal that he encountered while searching the greenhouses.


    Picking up the corpse, he threw it into one of the widely opened bulbs.


    As the bloody carcass entered the bulb, it closed. The vine that was connected to that bulb also retreated inside. Then, from the broken parts of the greenhouse, Mark was able to watch what happened inside.


    That vine that retreated moved and hanged itself on the roof with that closed bulb hanging on it.


    "What a unique way of eating."


    Mark murmured.


    However, he also noticed something.


    The vines were moving everywhere, looking for him. It was even though the direction the vines were moving to was the opposite way.


    "It can''t see."


    That was what Mark concluded.


    A vine came towards him. But when he stepped aside, the vines continued moving the same direction and passed beside him.


    Mark returned his phone into his pocket. With a wave of his hands, ck mes burst forth, igniting the whole greenhouse.


    "It is a pitiful infected, but it can''t be left alone.


    Mark murmured as he went back.


    "Gege, did you find any?"


    Mei asked as Mark returned. Mark could only shake his head. He found nothing that they could nt. And as if they would nt an infected like that in his base.


    On the other hand, the others seemed to want to ask something as they nced at the direction Mark came from repeatedly.<sub> </sub>


    After all, the thick smoke from the burning greenhouse was open for everyone to see. However, Mei did not ask anything. They felt that it would be inappropriate if they were the ones to ask about it.


    The next stop was the storehouse on the other side of the street. This time, everyone could help to look around. It was because there was a driveway in front of the storehouse where they could part the vehicle.


    Entering the storehouse, they could not help but feel dejected. There was no infected inside the storehouse. There was nothing of what they were looking for, either.


    From the looks of it, the storehouse had been emptied by other people. It was because the lock was forcefully broken, and the whole ce was a mess. It was as if someone searched the storehouse in a hurry.


    The only things they managed to find were some old dried seeds that were quite questionable if it would still sprout.


    Still, it was better than nothing.


    They decided to leave. From Mark''s map, there were still other ces of interest if they were looking for things to nt. After, this whole area was filled with different farms.


    However, with this storehouse being obviously searched, the others being in the same state was very likely. Then, it was better to leave than waste their time.


    Maybe, they would be able to find what they were looking for elsewhere.


    Going back to the expressway, they left the vicinity of the Hammonton Township and entered the border of Winslow Township.


    And here, they finally entered the most popted areas around this ce.


    Due to that fact, they noticed that the road... started to be more and more crowded.


    Their speed slowed down because of the vehicles blocking the middle of the road. Most of them were abandoned because of an ident blocking their way.


    They even saw a vehicle half-hanging the side of an overpass.


    The speed of their travel slowed more than half of before. Still, it was faster than going on foot.


    Because of this, it was already almost lunchtime.


    And yet, they were only in the vicinity of Turnirshville at Washington Township.


    They should be looking for a ce to eat now since it would be questionable if they would be able to once they drove deep into the city.


    But then, Mark could not help but frown.


    "Stop! Help!"


    A shout was heard from in front.


    As their speed was not fast, they managed to see the man far in front of them along the expressway. He was stumbling on his steps, and he was holding unto his right side that was covered in blood.


    With a desperate expression, the man stood in the middle of the expressway, blocking the vehicle''s only path because of the otherne being blocked by an abandoned vehicle.


    "Sir? What are we going to do?"


    Otis cried out. In a few seconds, they would not be able to do anything but stop the vehicle. Actually, they wanted to help the man as he looked desperate. However, this was Mark''s vehicle, and he was in charge here.


    And all of them were surprised by Mark''s reply.


    "Run him over."


    "But-"


    Otis had no experience in killing other people. Furthermore, he could not understand why Mark said that. If he did not want to help, they could just make the man stop blocking the way.


    "Otis, follow what Sir Mark said." Arnold suddenly joined in. "I don''t feel good about that man. Don''t hesitate."


    Hearing that, Otis inhaled deeply.


    He had never killed anyone aside from the infected. However, he could only obey.


    Stepping at the gas pedal, Otis sped up the vehicle.


    Hannah, Felicia, and the others closed their eyes as they braced for impact. Killing humans was something they had yet to experience. Thus, they were nervous about this.


    Arnold was the same. Nevertheless, he kept his eyes peeled open. He wanted to see if his hunch was correct.


    And there, when the vehicle was about to collide with the man...


    "F*CK!"


    The man rolled to the side. None of his movements showed that he was injured, or desperate.


    "DAMN IT!"


    The man cursed once more as he took out a pistol from his jacket and fired at the driver''s seat.


    BANG! BANG! PANG! PANG!


    Otis was shocked as the shots were aimed at him. The sound of the bullet colliding with something metal was heard loudly in his ears. When he looked to the side, he saw two shallow dents on the window. It was clearly the mark the bullets left after hitting the window.


    Unexpectedly, the windows did not shatter, and it sounded more like metal than ss.


    "Don''t mind the bullets. Unless they shot from below us, the car will be fine."


    Mark said with a smirk.


    Outside, the man stared wide-eyed at the vehicle that continued to drive away. He could see the two bullets he fired that fell off in the middle of the road, leaving the car unscathed.


    With a raged expression, the man took out a whistle hanging on his neck like a ne.


    PRRRRRRRTTT!!!!


    The loud sound of the whistle echoed loudly. It was the signal for hisrades.


    BRRROOOOMM!!!


    VRRROOOOOMM!!!


    From the hidden areas behind the buildings nearby and behind the forest on the other side, multiple sounds of engines from different vehicles echoed.


    Soon, the source of the sounds came out. Seven Motorcycles, two owner-type jeeps, and four quadbikes, there was a total of fourteen vehicles with about thirty people riding on them.


    All were armed to the teeth. Some had guns, some had metal bats. One of the jeeps even had a machinegun mounted on it.


    With crazed expressions, they chased behind the ck armored vehicle.

 Chapter 525 Road Chase, Failing To Stop The Target Vehicle

    <strong>Day 128 - 11:32 AM - Antic City Expressway, Washington Township, New Jersey, United States of America</strong>


    Seeing the threatening group chasing behind their vehicle, except for Mark and Mei, everyone felt nervous. Furthermore, the sound when the bullets collided with the window surprised them to their bones. Everyone knew how close Otis was to dying.


    Fortunately, it seemed that Mark did not only tamper with the body of the vehicle but also reced the windows.


    Mark calmly sat on his seat with his eyes closed.


    To use humanpassion to lure the victims into the trap. It was a ploy that could easily deceive most people.


    Running in front of the victim''s way while pretending to be injured, that inconspicuous abandoned vehicle that "coincidentally" blocked the otherne, that was the first part of the ploy. Even if the person driving was notpassionate to help the "injured" man, they would be forced to stop if they did not want to run him over.


    Once the vehicle stopped, two scenarios would happen depending on the response of the people in the car.


    If they tried to help the "injured" man, the assant would be able to pick the most suitable person in the group of the victims. Then, take that person as a hostage. When that happened, it was very likely to be the end of the victims, and no conflict would start.


    The second scenario would happen if the people in the vehicle drove the man out of the way. There, the ambush would immediately start, trying to capture the victims violently.


    Andstly, if the vehicle did not stop like what they did. Like what happened, the "injured" man would signal hisrades that were waiting, and a dangerous car chase would start.


    For the high risk, high return ploy, especially for the man that had to pretend to be injured. It was because there was also thest possibility to happen. That was if the passengers of the vehicle shot the man on sight for blocking their way.


    Mark could have done thatst one. However, it was no fun doing so.


    Among the people inside the vehicle, it was Hannah, who was the most nervous. As someone who was caught by the same kinds of people before, it would bring unwanted memories back in her mind. She could only close her eyes and cover her ears in fear.


    But then, Hannah felt a hand on her shoulder. She opened her eyes a little and saw Mei, who sat beside her, consoling her.


    "Don''t worry, it will be fine."


    Mei was smiling. With that confident and beautiful smile, Hannah started to calm down.


    ''That was right, this time would be fine.''


    This thought entered Hannah''s mind. It was different than thest time. Now, she was with someone that was able to kill the Hamilton Raiders alone. There was no way for the same thing to happen again.


    While Hannah was calming down, the group from Bally''s Casino was subjected to confusion. They could not fathom why, but Mei''s treatment to them was very different from Hannah''s. It was not like they were jealous... No, the men were quite envious. But that was not the issue. It was just that the difference in treatment could make anyone feel unsettled.


    BANG! THUNK!


    The unnecessary thoughts were immediately banished from their minds. It was because of the sound of another bullet that echoed from behind the vehicle.


    That was not the only one.


    BANG!! RATATAT!!!


    The armed group chasing behind started to rain bullets into the vehicle, making everyone even more nervous.


    However, despite how many bullets had hit the vehicle, there was almost no damage that could be seen.


    Mark finally opened his eyes.


    "Sir, what are we going to do?"


    Otis shouted from the driver''s seat. He was quite panicked, but it seemed that he could still handle the steering wheel very well.


    "Just continue driving. We can''t stop yet until we get out of the area under the guys behind."


    Otis followed the order and kept the speed as fast as possible. Nevertheless, not only him but everyone inside could not understand the rest of what Mark said, especially about being in the area under the enemies behind them.


    Furthermore, even though they were driving fast, it was arge car. Compared to the vehicles that were still far behind, it was slower. It would not be long before they were overtaken.


    Then, Mark spoke.


    "Mei''er, shoot the guy on there."


    Mark said to Mei while pointing at the tall billboard in front.


    ***


    "F*ck! What kind of vehicle is that?"


    The very same man, who tried to stop the ck vehicle in front, cursed while riding at the back of a motorcycle.


    This was not the first time that the vehicle tried to run him over. However, the others were subdued after shooting at them a few times.


    However, for the first time, they encountered a vehicle that they could not damage, not even the wheels.


    Nevertheless, the more sturdy the vehicle was, the more they wanted to get it. A car imprable by bullets was hard toe by.


    Even bulletproof military vehicles were hard to procure without confronting the military. That was something that they would not dare do without them holding the advantage.


    The man took out a small radio from his waist.


    "Tower! Get ready! The target is alreadying your way."


    "I know, I know! I can see it! But what the f*ck is that? The wheels are covered!"


    An annoyed voice replied from the radio.


    "Just shoot it anywhere! Just don''t shoot the engine or the fuel tank! Even they don''t have supplies, that vehicle is valuable!"


    The "injured" man shouted.


    "Then, it''s fine if I kill anyone inside?"


    The voice replied once more.


    "F*ck! You can do anything! Just stop that vehicle!"


    "You said it alright... huh? SPLAT! TAKATAK!"


    The man in the radio replied once more, but before he could finish hisst sentence, the voice was filled with confusion.


    Thest things heard from the radio a sound of sttering liquid and the radio ttering as it fell to the ground.


    "Tower! What happened?!"


    The "injured" man shouted once more.


    "SSSHHHHHHKKKKK!!!"


    However, there was no reply, but some broken white noise.


    "Boss, what happened?"


    The man driving the motorcycle asked.


    "Tower is not responding."


    "Maybe he dropped the radio from the billboard again? It''s not the first time."


    "That idiot... He will get it when we get back."


    That was what they thought.


    BANG!<sub> </sub>


    A loud gunshot echoed in their ears. It was clear that it was a sniper shot. They thought that it was the guy on the radio that made that shot.


    Strange enough, there was only one shot. Furthermore, the ck vehicle was still moving.


    Then they passed by the billboard.


    There, they saw a horrifying sight.


    The sniper post they built on the billboard had a huge hole on its walls that even passed through the billboard. And from the tform of the billboard, they could see blood dripping like a faucet filled with blood was left open.


    They could not fathom how it happened. But without a doubt, their sniper in that outpost was dead.


    The only culprit that they could think of was the vehicle they were chasing. To think of it... The gunshot seemed to havee from the vehicle and not the billboard.


    But there was another mystery...


    Even if they had guns, how did they find the sniper before he could even shoot?


    Some of the armed men started to have second thoughts.


    However, they already lost something. It was impossible for them to retreat without getting anything.


    Furthermore, it was not the only thing they had.


    Antic City Expressway was just a straight road in these parts. Nevertheless, the abandoned vehicles and the two following overpasses would obscure the view in front.


    At the third overpass, the Davistown Rd. just a two minutes drive away, they prepared a blockade.


    There was no way for their targets to continue on the road.


    ***


    In Mark''s vehicle, everyone was surprised that Mark was able to find the sniper hidden at that billboard. It made them feel like there was no way for them to hide from Mark.


    Nevertheless, it was a very good thing for them. There was no threat that would be able to take them by surprise.


    Then, about a minuteter, enduring the sounds of gunshots echoing behind, Otis shouted.


    "Sir, the road is blocked!"


    "I know. I can see it."


    Mark said as he moved to the front passenger seat that was left empty for some reason.


    "Mei''er, let me borrow that."


    Mark said, pointing at Mei''s [Shooting Moon Edge].


    Mei handed therge sword with a bit of difficulty due to the small space inside the vehicle. Receiving the sword, Mark opened apartment in front of the vehicle.


    He docked the sword into thepartment after turning it into a sniper rifle.


    While everyone was surprised that it was possible to do this with this vehicle, they could not fathom how a sniper rifle would be able to help with the situation.


    But then, Mark took out something from his [Space Ring]. It was a palm-sized wooden board with a strange circuit like markings on it. At the center of the board, there was a spherical indent.


    Mark then docked that board unto the top of the sniper rifle.


    Andstly, he took out an empty [Mental Crystal] and slotted it into the indent.


    "Everyone, close your eyes. Otis, you too, but continue driving straight."


    Mark said with a yful smile.


    ***


    At the overpass of Davistown Road, there were twenty armed people waiting.


    By their usual routine, they blocked the road below, and they waited on the overpass to ambush any fleeing targets.


    "Get ready, here theye."


    The leader in charge of this groupmanded as the target vehicle was on sight.


    At this point, the target was expected to slow down. The road was blocked, after all. Furthermore, the vehicles they used to block it was not just small ones, but thergest they could. Even if the vehicles of the targets were sturdy, there was no way for them to pass through without stopping.


    "Sir, the target is not slowing down..."


    One of the armed men said, noticing the speed of the target vehicle.


    "Are they crazy?"


    Another one said with ridicule.


    However, the leader did not say anything but frowned as he started to feel a dangerous sensation.


    As the target vehicle drove closer, the leader saw a sniper rifle sticking out in front of the vehicle. It was too obvious since the vehicle was ck, and the sniper rifle was white.


    Confusion was the first thing that entered their minds.


    But then... the muzzle of the sniper rifle started to emit light.


    The leader started to instantly know that it was dangerous. Thus, without even alerting the others, he wanted to flee.


    However... as he took the first step... his body felt heavy. His knees were shivering for some reason, and it was hard to keep his bnce, even just to stand.


    He could only turn his head back at the vehicle. There, he saw a man sitting at the front passenger seat. He had a sinister smile, and his eyes were glowing bright red.


    THOOOOOOMMMM!!!


    A deafening sound, as if an energy cannon was fired, echoed in the surroundings.


    Thest thing that the frozen men at the waiting in ambush saw was the blinding light that swept over the overpass from side to side.


    ***


    CRACK! TSH!


    Mark shrugged his shoulders as he watched both the crystal and the board cracking and crumbling to dust.


    "The material I had is really inferior..."


    Mark murmured as the vehicle passed through the hole made through the blockade under the overpass.


    "Ah, all of you can open your eyes now. Especially you Otis. If you continue closing your eyes, we will crash. There''s another truck in front."


    Mark said calmly.


    However, Otis was panicked. They almost hit the truck.


    Still, everyone was confused. When they looked behind, there was a look of shock on their faces.


    A path was opened up from the blockade, leaving the melted remains of the vehicles that were left there. And while the cement of the overpass was mostly intact, the metal railings were gone...


    ...Along with the people waiting there to ambush them.

 Chapter 526 The [Crystal Converter], A Magical Futuristic Weapon From The Past

    Day 128 - 11:35 AM - Antic City Expressway, Washington Township, New Jersey, United States of America


    SCREECH!!! CRASH!!! BAM!!!


    Loud, unpleasant sounds echoed along the Antic City Expressway.


    The ouws were already close to catching up with their target vehicle. In front, the blocked overpass was also visible.


    However, all of them were utterly confused when the vehicle continued to speed up instead of slowing down. It was as if the targets wanted to ram their car unto the blockade.


    That was when the sh of blinding light deprived them of their sight. Some of the cars managed to stop, mming on their breaks violently. Most of them, however, failed to do so.


    Especially for the motorcycles, there was no way for them to stop immediately while going at top speed.


    Thus, with the shock, confusion, fear, and being unable to see where they were going, forced the ouws into different idents.


    One of the two jeeps crashed into an abandoned vehicle. The front of the car was utterly mangled due to the strength of the impact. The driver and the passenger at the front seat immediately fell unconcious after their heads hit the steering wing and the dashboard. For the other passengers of the car at the back seats, since they were all standing and shooting at the target vehicle and without any safety precautions, they all flew off everywhere. They allid on the road injured. The unluckiest of them fell headfirst, bashing his head on the concrete like a tomato.


    All of the motorcycles crashed one after another.


    Both the drivers and back riders fell rolling in the middle of the road for several meters while their motorcycles continued to slide. Some only stopped after crashing unto an obstacle or just because of the friction. Falling at that speed, unless they were endurance type Mutators, they would receive grave injuries.


    Some of the drivers of the motorcycles definitely broke their legs after falling. As for the back riders, most of them had injuries on their arms since they tried to mitigate the fall by reflex. Two of them had their arms bent the wrong way in the wrong part.


    One of the back riders had the worst fate, though. After he fell, the quadbike following behind ran over him, breaking his arms and ribs in the process. The ouw immediately died. As for the quadbike that killed that man, the driver and passenger were not left unscathed. Suddenly running over a bump, the killed back rider, at that speed, sent the quadbike flying. It was not high, just a few inches above the ground. That, however, made them lose bnce, and the two rolled over together with the quadbike.


    Both were dead, with their mangled bodies.


    The other quadbike lost control and went over the gutter. It crashed onto the divider of the oppositenes.


    The driver and passenger were sent flying unto the other side of the road.


    As for the others, the drivers managed to stabilize their vehicles. However, they could only hold their faces in pain afterward as their eyes hurt like hell.


    They could hear the painful moans of theirrades, but what could they do? Everyone was murderously staring at their target, and none of them was able to react to that blinding sh of light.


    Nevertheless, while that blinding light hurt their eyes, it was not enough to blind them permanently. After more than ten seconds, they regained their sight, although their eyes were still painful.


    And there, instead of helping theirrades immediately, those that recovered their sights could only stare in front with their mouths agape. They also realized the unpleasant smell of burned materials that entered their noses.


    Their target was gone, and there was a huge, molten hole on their blockade. Simrly, the men that should be waiting on the overpass to ambush their targets were also gone.


    The ouws could not help but shiver in fear at this scene.


    Just what if whatever that was, was pointed at them. It was able to create a hole through several vehicles. If it was them, not a single trace of them would be left behind.


    As their heads failed to process the scene in front of them properly, they sumbed to fear immediately.


    "F*CK! I''M OUT OF HERE!"


    The first cry of fear echoed as the man hopped into his quadbike, wanting to leave. Then, because of that man, the others that were still fine followed unconditionally.


    They did not care if their boss was among the people rolling on the ground in pain. They only wanted to leave this ce as soon as possible.


    After all, while they liked killing others, they did not want to die.


    Ignoring everything, even the pain in their eyes, they hopped into their vehicles and turned around.


    But then... They were not able to move an inch anymore.


    "W-WHAT...."


    The road back... it was being blocked by a veil of ck smoke.


    Overwhelmed by fear, they lost their reasoning.


    It was not known whether the ck smoke was harmful or not. At least, unlike the vehicle they were chasing that created a melted hole on their blockade.


    Thus, one gambled on it.


    VRRROOOOMM!!


    Squeezing the throttle of his quadbike, he rushed through the ck smoke.


    The others that did not dare to gamble with their lives watched in fear.


    They felt a bit of hope when they heard the sound of the quadbike seemed to have passed through the ck smoke. Maybe, this smoke was not harmful at all.


    But then...


    "AAAAAGGGAAAAHHHHH!!!"


    The blood-curdling scream of the man was heard, along this his quadbike that crashed unto another abandoned vehicle.


    That scream... made the remaining men horrified to their bones.


    With the lead of one, they decided to ditch their vehicles. They started to run away towards the forest at the side of the expressway.


    Before they could do so, however, the ck smoke surged towards them.


    All they could do was scream as their bodies were enveloped by the sinister, ck smoke.


    Those screams did not give then any ounce of hope. Instead, the screams started from fear, had goneing from pain.


    They could only scream. There was nothing else that they could do as their bodies started to fester.


    It was the same for those lying on the ground. Their already painful moans turned to screams of pain.<sub> </sub>


    In a way, those that died immediately after the ident were lucky.


    At least, they did not have to suffer the pain and fear while watching their bodies slowly rot to their deaths.


    It did not take long, and the smoke gathered into a small ball and flew away.


    At its departure, all that was left was the rotting corpses of the ouws that were lively just a minute ago.


    ***


    "Gege, that..."


    Mei did not know what to say. It was even more so for the rest of the group.


    <o>,m The [Shooting Moon Edge] was given to Mei by Mark after he finished it. However, she never knew about what Mark did just now.</o>


    "Haha."


    Markughed with a bit of a secretive smile. He opened the window and threw away the dust that was left on his hand.


    "It''s some experimental thing. It''s not easy to make, so, that''s the only one I had."


    An experimental thing. Those words made the people inside the vehicle shiver. It meant that it was something notpleted yet and could pose a great danger even to the user.


    What if that thing failed and exploded inside the vehicle instead?


    Mark shrugged his shoulders. It was easy to tell what was in the minds of the people here, even without his Emphatic abilities.


    Still, Mark returned to his seat beside Mei without exining anything. He wanted to let their imagination run wild for now.


    What they were thinking were true in a sense. What he used just now was a bit unstable. However, it was not to the extent of exploding or backfiring. The harm it could do at most was blinding both enemies and allies for a couple of seconds.


    After all, it was nothing but a high concentration of light with enough heat to melt metal instantly.


    The unstable part of it was that it was not supposed to scatter that blinding light like that. In the least, everyone that stood behind the user would not be affected by the blinding light.


    As for what it was, Freed called it something like a [Crystal Converter].


    Yes, it was something that Freed created in Eriellis after the outbreak started on their. It was created with the help of Keeper, who was the original owner of the [Psycrystal].


    It was something that could be attached to the weapons they developed back in Eriellis. Pretty much like how Mark used it with Mei''s sniper rifle. The palm-sized board that had circuit-like markings was capable of converting the energy within the crystal into certain attack elements.


    Specifically, what Mark created was called [Beam Type Converter]. The [Beam Type Converter] could convert the crystal into a beam of light. The size of the beam differed depending on the circuit. What Mark made was the one with thergest beam.


    However, the creation of these [Crystal Converters] was nothing to joke at. Every line in the circuit should be made in a precise manner. A single mistake would waste the whole circuit, and Mark would need to make another one from scratch.


    The biggest problem, as Mark had murmured before, was the materials to create this kind of weapon.


    These [Crystal Converters] were not meant to be disposable. In fact, some of the sessful ones that Freed created made it to their final battle before everyone perished.


    However, the materials that Freed used to make the [Crystal Converters] back then was some rare metal that appeared in Eriellis after the outbreak.


    Mark had no way to get hold of that metal. Thus, he tried to find a substitute.


    The property of that metal was that it was able to flow magical energy through it, even without the carved circuit.


    It was the very same property that the wood from the core of a spirit tree had.


    While Mark seded in finding an alternative. It was subpar.


    Mark was a good craftsman, even before the outbreak. na, who was his customer, could attest to that. Even the things he made after the outbreak were good.


    Then, the problem did not lie in carving the circuit. It was because of the material.


    After carving the outlines of the circuit, Mark needed to fill the carvings with powdered empty [Mental Crystal]. However, while doing that step, it was rathermon for the wood to crumble to dust, before the filling was finished as it was unable to contain the energy within the circuit.


    In creating the one Mark used just now... Just how many [Mental Crystals] and pieces of the core of the Spirit Tree had he wasted?


    Furthermore, the finished product was still defective.


    However, when making this weapon, Mark discovered something.


    The metal that was used in the weapon they got from Huo Long Yue was able to conduct magical energy without problems. However, there was no way for Mark to dismantle the weapon he made for Mei just for something like this.


    Thus, it became one of his goals in the future. If he could get hold of this metal, he might be able to create something that was not defective even without the actual materials from Eriellis.


    With those in mind, Mark smiled. Crimson then appeared on hisp out of nowhere.


    "Done with them?"


    Mark asked.


    There was no need to answer, but Crimson wobbled as if nodding.


    Mark patted Crimson, and he vanished once more.


    "Crimson is really like a Shadow Guard, isn''t he?"


    Mei said with a smile. Mark shrugged. What she said was true, after all.


    Now that there was no one chasing behind them, aside from some infected, everything went back to normal. No one pestered Mark about the [Crystal Converter] either.


    Driving silently with a few bumps on the road, they reached Deptford Township. At the flyover at an intersection, they decided to stop and have a quick lunch.

 Chapter 527 A Stop Over, Reminiscing Felicias Memories

    <strong>Day 128 - 12:22 PM - North-South Freeway, Deptford Township, New Jersey, United States of America</strong>


    Atop the flyover built over Clements Bridge Road, Mark''s group stopped for lunch.


    It was not the best ce to stop, cook their food, and eat. And in fact, it was better not to. It was because of the dried blood in the middle of the road that even the weather could not wash away anymore. Here and there, bones could also present, scattered like pebbles.


    However, since it would take too much time to search for somewhere to better to eat, this was enough. Furthermore, since it was an overpass, the only directions that the infected coulde from was the entrances and exits. Of course, unless the infected were capable of flight.


    Everyone all sat down in a circle while eating their lunch. It was rather good that the weather was a bit chilly, and the sky was quite cloudy. Even though they were eating in the open, they could barely feel the heat from the sun.


    Nevertheless, except for Mark and Mei, the others were quite restless for two apparent reasons.


    One, they kept ncing warily at the direction they came from. It was easy to understand why.


    "Don''t worry about anyone chasing behind," Mark said. "There won''t be any."


    They could not help but look at Mark carefully. It had not been long since they met him. Yet, the surprises he showed them was overwhelming and out of this world.


    After they broke through that blockade, Mark did not say anything else about the armed people chasing behind them. That was why they were quite worried that those ouws might still be chasing.


    But thinking about it... No one in the right mind would still chase after witnessing what happened. Another one of those beams could probably wipe out an entire armed battalion.


    What they did not know was that there would be no one chasing anymore because all of them were already dead.


    The other thing that Hannah and the others were worried about was... the one sitting beside Mei, being fed by her.


    It was the [Queen Type] infected.


    Seeing an infected sitting and eating with them was very surreal. They thought that all infected were carnivorous beasts that had no intelligence.But this one... even started to get picky about its food.


    At first, Mark brought her quite a distance away, killing an infected and giving it to her. Unexpectedly, she turned away. Instead, she was staring at the others that were cooking at that time.


    Specifically, she was ring at the pot they were using.


    Once they all had seated, the [Queen Type] looked at everyone and imitated them. She sat beside Mark, looking restless. She only calmed down once a bowl of food was given to her.


    Well, that turned out badly.


    Despite her bizarre actions, she was still an infected. She did not know how to properly eat and tried to gobble everything in one go. In the end, two-thirds of the contents of her bowl was wasted instead.


    Not content with what she ate, she tried to gobble up the food that was spilled on the ground.


    Of course, Mark did not let that happen. Reprimanding the [Queen Type] like a child, Mark managed to stop her. Instead, he tried to feed her.


    That was when Mei jumped in and volunteered to do it. From there, it ended up with this situation.


    Due to this... Although they managed to cook and eat more food than before, they never felt satiated.


    Not to mention that they also shared the vehicle with the same infected.


    Although the [Queen Type] looked behaved, there was no way that they could let their guard down around her.


    And apparently, there was one more thing.


    "Felicia, are you okay?"


    While eating, Sandie, who was eating beside Felicia, could not help but notice. Felicia was staring at the northeast while eating.


    In fact, it was not hard to notice her since she was turning her head away from where her body was facing.


    Thus, that question took the attention of everyone.


    Felicia was the one taking care of Morgan the most. Everyone could see her dedication to taking care of him while he was still unconcious. Seeing her like this was quite odd for everyone.


    "Ah, no... It''s nothing."


    Of course, it was a lie. There was something in her mind.


    "Come on. Say it." Arnold chimed in. "We''ve been together for four months already. We can tell that there is something wrong. Don''t make us worry."


    Hearing that, Felicia smiled bitterly. Since she could see the concern towards her, she decided to share what was in her mind.


    "Well, it''s just my parent''s house is near here..." Felicia took a deep breath. "Actually, I had a scuffle with my parents before when I was in first-year college several years ago. I ran away and started working independently. That is way before I ended up in Antic City. I haven''t heard anything from them for years."


    Hearing that, everyone fell silent. Everyone here had their own circumstances, and this was Felicia''s. In fact, aside from the people here that already lost their families in Antic City, some did not know whether their families were alive or dead.


    And the worst part...


    Not only that their homes were far, but also none of them had enough courage to confirm the fate of their families.


    It was because of fear. They were afraid that they would see their families'' iplete bodies. Worse, to see them wandering the streets as an infected.


    There was the urge that it was better to not confirm it and just hope that they were still alive somewhere.


    But then, while everyone was silent. An unexpected question came from the most unexpected person to say it.


    "Want to visit your parent''s house?"


    Mark said, staring at Felicia.


    Felicia could only stare back due to the unexpected question.


    In fact, while she reminisced, she was unsure whether she wanted to visit or not. What if she saw them dead?


    But then, Mark pushed her further.


    "Since it is close here, it is better to check it now. Remember that I will be taking you all out of this country. No one can tell when or if you will be able to go back here."


    Felicia contemted deeply. The others just kept silent and let her think it over.


    "Won''t it be a bother? You said before that we are in a hurry."


    Felicia asked.


    "You said that it''s near, right?" Mark replied. "Since its nearby, it''s not a bother. If anyone else''s house is near the way we are going to take, it would be fine to stop by. Besides, I''m thinking of making a detour after we leave. We should find a ce to spend the night early today?"


    Everyone was confused. After all, it was just noon. They could still travel for about two to three hours before finding a ce to stay.


    Seeing their confusion, Mark continued, taking out his phone and opening the map.<sub> </sub>


    "From where we are now, it is not far and we will cross the Dware River and pass the border between New Jersey and Pennsylvania. Past the bridge, we will immediately enter Phdephia. I don''t think that we will have a good time searching for a ce to stay there."


    Now, they understood his reason.


    Phdephia was thergest city in the state of Pennsylvania.


    Entering the city before dark? Why not jump into the Dware River instead? It was more questionable if they would be able to find a good and secure ce to stay there.


    No one could refute Mark''s decision. It was better to take it safe than take a risk in the outbreak.


    "Then, what''s your decision?"


    Mark turned to Felicia and asked once more.


    "Then..." Felicia closed her eyes and took another deep breath. "Please."


    "Lead the way then. After eating and resting a bit, sit beside Otis and tell him the directions." Mark said.


    "Yes."


    Felicia replied. There was no enthusiasm in her voice. And instead, it was filled with uncertainty.


    After lunch, Sandie took Felicia''s role in taking care of Morgan as she sat at the front passenger seat.


    Taking a U-turn at the junction road to the right of the northboundne, they went down into Clements Bridge Road.


    And to say, unlike the Antic City Expressway and the North-South Freeway, Clements Bridge Road was very popted.


    Of course, not humans, but infected.


    The road, they were about to take, ran near differentmunities, like Glendora, and boroughs, like Runnemede.


    Just with those two ces, there should be a poption of about twelve thousand people.


    The poption of the infected might be lesser. However,paring that number to a group of sixteen people, it was already overwhelming.


    Of course, there was no way for that number of infected to be gathered in a single area. Nevertheless, if they were to create a hugemotion, it would not be surprising if they were able to identally call hell on Earth.


    p Furthermore, they were just passing by these two ces. Their destination was quite further.</anda>


    The house of Felicia''s parents was located in the eastmost part of Haddon Heights. It was more than four miles from where they eat lunch.


    Because of the number of infected, Mark decided to ride on the roof instead. After all, with the speed they were currently taking, it was hard to outrun the infected.


    Moreover, since the road was smaller, even with the lesser number of abandoned vehicles, there were too many blockades.


    It was not like it posed too much trouble. It was just annoying to deal with repeatedly.


    While dealing with the infected, Mark could not help but notice.


    It was quite a nice ce to live in.


    There were a lot of houses. However, they did not look cramped at all. Even the smallest houses wererge enough for a family to live in. Not to mention that almost every house had a very wide yard.


    The facilities such as malls, diners, churches, schools were also close to the residential areas making it easier to ess.


    Well, that was way before the outbreak.


    Right now, that very same reason made the ce a hell of an infected hole.


    They took roughly one and a half hours to finally make it through Runnemede and Barrington.


    It was lucky that aside from roadblocks of abandoned and crashed vehicles, they did not encounter any barricades or manmade blockades. Unlike the residential areas, Mark passed through before back in the Philippines, it seemed quite impossible for this ce to be barricaded considering theyout and style of the residential area.


    Thus, they did not have to take detours too many detours along the way.


    Soon, they finally entered the border of Haddon Heights.


    At this point, Felicia was obviously restless.


    The closer they got to their destination, the louder was her heartbeat.


    Seeing the ce she was very familiar with, if one was to nudge her, she might cry.


    After all, the familiar ces in her memory looked very different now.


    The lively streets became a deadly road.


    The beautiful houses were left broken and abandoned.


    The lovely neighbors were now carnivorous infected.


    The good things in her memories were being reced with the current unsettling appearance of the ce.


    Then, she realized. She was starting to doubt her decision to return to this ce.


    If she did not return here, the good memories she had would not be reced with the unsightly things she saw.


    However, they were already here.


    "Turn left, right?"


    Otis asked, snapping her out of her thoughts.


    "Y-yes..."


    It was thest two turns before they reach her parent''s house.


    What would it look like? Were her parents still there?


    Both anticipation and fear filled her heart.


    Another turn, this time, it was to the right.


    A white modest house with a wide yard that contained an old yground, they finally stopped in front of the house of Felicia''s Parents.

 Chapter 528 Searching The House, The Clues And The Mystery

    <strong>Day 128 - 3:48 PM - Haddon Heights, Camden County, New Jersey, United States of America</strong>


    A white house with a basement and an old wooden yset at the yard, it brought back the good old memories that Felicia had. Even the old picket fence that surrounded the yard looked the same, though most of it already broke because of the infected currently roaming in it.


    There were trees in front, at the back, and beside the house. Although the carpet grass at the front yard had already overgrown, it was definitely modest but good looking.


    A typical old house in a beautiful looking town, that was the feeling that the house gave out.


    The moment the vehicle stopped, Felicia jumped out. She began carefully checking the infected in the surroundings. Once she confirmed that the infected was not someone she was looking for, she eliminated them by herself for trampling their yard.


    Because the whole ce was quite silent, the vehicle took the attention of the infected in a wide radius. Thus, Mark also joined the fray, though he made sure not to kill any that Felicia had not checked yet. They came to this ce to check her family. At least, if they were found among the infected, Felicia had the right to choose what to do with them.


    More than a hundred infected were checked and killed around the house and on the street.


    Unfortunately, or maybe, fortunately, not a shadow of Felicia''s family was found.


    None of them could say whether it was good news or bad news.


    With a heavy heart, Felicia turned back to the house. Without a doubt, it was empty.


    Step by step, she approached the door.


    Felicia reached for the knob and twisted it.


    CLACK!


    The knob was torn off from the door.


    "Seems like the house had been broken through."


    Arnold said while pointing at the hole where the knob was ced before.


    Although it was not noticeable, there were markings that the door had been opened by force before. No wonder that it fell off after Felicia twisted it.


    With the knob broken, they could only force the door open with the lock stuck.


    After opening the door, the mood grew heavier.


    The whole house was trashed. They could tell with just the view from outside the door.


    Upon entering, the only thing that Felicia could feel was anger.


    The appliances were gone, all the cabs were left open, and the furniture was overturned. Many things were left on the floor to gather dust. There were even shards of ss from who knows where scattered here and there.


    Felicia walked towards the living room. In front of the firece, she picked up something from the floor.


    It was a broken picture frame with a photo containing seven people in it. In the photo, there were three children standing side by side in front of the adults.


    "Are you the one in the middle?"


    Sandie, who also looked at the picture frame on Felicia''s hand, asked.


    "That''s me, *Sniff*."


    Tears already formed at the corner of Felicia''s eyes. Her emotions were in turmoil, with mainly sadness and frustration. However, she did not want to show weakness and tried to hold it in.


    "It''s fine. Cry it out."


    Sandie embraced Felicia tightly.


    There, Felicia could not hold it anymore.


    Everyone else looked away. This disy of hers was not something for them to watch.


    While waiting for Felicia to calm down, the others checked the house. It might be disrespectful to the owner, but they should check whether there was danger or things left behind in the house.


    Mark and Mei sat on the roof together while they wait for Felicia and the others to check the house. Hannah and the children, on the other hand, stayed inside the vehicle.


    Hannah was not close to any of them, and it was inappropriate for her to join them. Thus, Hannah could only wait inside together with the children. Of course, she was keeping her guard up since they were alone with the unconcious Morgan and the restrained [Queen Type].


    While looking around the surroundings with Mei, Mark noticed something, making him jump down.


    "Gege?"


    Mei asked with confusion.


    "Wait there a bit. I''m going to check something."


    "Okay."


    With that exchange, Mark stepped into the backyard surrounded by broken fences. Then, he walked to the back of the house. It was where the outside entrance of the basement was located.


    What made Mark approach it was because the cover looked strange. The entrance was blocked by a sheet of metal and heavy things like wood and rocks. That was already strange. However, what made it stranger was that the cover looked like it was ced in a hurry. It was as if the one that put the cover was running away from something.


    CREAK! CLACK! TANG!


    Different sounds echoed as Mark removed the heavy items on the cover.


    Arnold and the others could not help but go out to see where the sounds wereing from. When they saw Mark, they could not help but wonder what he was doing.


    Mark then looked at Arnold.


    "Can you look inside if there''s an entrance to the basement?"


    "Ah, okay Sir!"


    Arnold hurriedly replied. He immediately went back inside the house to check.


    While Arnold checked, Ernst and the others helped Mark bring away the things on the metal cover of the entrance to the basement.


    BAM! BAM!


    Ernst and the other survivors from Bally''s jumped back in fright. The sound came too sudden, and it was from the other side of the entrance they were trying to uncover.


    "What the hell, that almost gave me a heart attack."


    Ernstined. The other survivors could only agree with him while looking at Mark, who did not react at all.


    Despite that, there was one thing they confirmed. There was something inside the basement. They could not help but be wary.<sub> </sub>


    Soon, while the banging sound continued, Arnold came back.


    "Sir, there''s an entrance, but the way to the door is blocked with a lot of things. Some are nailed to the door."


    Mark nodded and looked at the others.


    "All of you should get away a bit."


    He warned.


    Most of the heavy things were already removed. Mark could open the metal sheet by pulling it away in one go. Once he did that, whatever was making the noise inside would surely rush out.


    BAM!


    As everyone watching retreated, Mark pulled the cover away.


    The moment that the entrance was opened, a shadow rushed towards Mark ferociously.


    Mark took a step to the side, avoiding the attack entirely.


    ? As the attack missed, the attacker was stopped and turned, facing Mark and the others in a ragged manner.


    It was an old woman who was heavily emaciated. She almost looked like skin and bones. Her eyelids almost stuck to her eyeballs, and her cheeks took the shape of her gums and teeth.


    Due to her being too thin, her remaining clothes were hanging too loose, revealing her chest that was nothing but ribcage. As for her hair, there was barely anything left. If not for the fact that she was not wearing anything below anymore, no one could tell that this infected was a woman.


    Furthermore, without a doubt, it was a mutated one. The infected''s nails were like ws, and despite her appearance and stature, she moved like a cat.


    The infected woman charged towards Mark once more as he was the closest to her.


    Mark took another step to the side, making the attack miss once more. This time, Mark shot a [Blood Whip] around the woman as he dodged her attack. It immediately turned into metal, which disabled the infected woman from moving.


    As the woman fell down to the ground, Mark pulled her up and turned to the survivors once more.


    "Arnold, hold this. Then, call Felicia. Since this is imprisoned inside their basement, maybe she knew her."


    Mark then handed the infected to Arnold, who looked too repulsed to even get close to the infected woman. However, since it was Mark''s orders, he could only ept.


    While they waited for Felicia, Mark entered the basement.


    The first thing that Mark noticed was the awful smelling from inside. It was the smell of mixed blood, feces, and urine. There was also the smell of rotting flesh. Almost all infected smelled this way, especially the Biters. Thus, if they were enclosed in a small space like this, this repulsive smell would seep inside that space if not cleaned regrly.


    Covering his nose, Mark peeked inside. It was dark, and he had to take out a shlight from his [Space Ring].


    Actually, with the infected woman running out, no one would try looking inside. However, that infected woman was a Mutated Biter. She was a living infected. That meant that she had something to eat inside the basement that made herst long. If not, she should have turned into an Eater long ago for dying from hunger.


    Mark was not wrong. With this rotten smell, there was definitely a source of its food.


    The question was... was it a what, or was it a who?


    There was also a chance that it was an animal, after all.


    The basement was surely dark. Mark could only walk slowly, in order to not step on anything disgusting.


    And there, at the corner, Mark found the source of the foul rotten smell. It was a decaying rat about the size of a huskie. Fortunately, there were no human corpses inside.


    If there was a human corpse here inside the basement, there would be a huge chance that it might be one of Felicia''s family members.


    Mark soon went out. Outside, everyone had already gathered around. And from the atmosphere, it seemed that Felicia knew the infected woman. She was kind of feeling down.


    "So, you know her?"


    Mark asked, pointing at the infected woman struggling in Arnold''s grasp.


    "Yes," Felicia replied. "She''s our neighbor. She lives on the house on the other side."


    She said while pointing at the abandoned house just on the other side of the road.


    "She''s a kind woman. She and her husband could not have children. So, she often yed with me and my siblings when we were young."


    Felicia knew the woman. Fortunately, although it was someone close to them, she was not one of her parents.


    "Sir, did you find anything else inside?"


    Felicia asked. After all, even though just corpses, her parents might be inside.


    "There''s nothing aside from a rotting dog-sized rat."


    Mark said with a shrug. That, however, was sort of good news for everyone.


    "It won''t be long before it gets dark. Let''s just spend the night here. Is that okay?"


    Mark asked Felicia. After all, it was her parent''s house.


    Felicia nodded. Rather, she had no reason to decline. Even though the house was already trashed and empty, she wanted to spend the night in her parent''s house for onest time.


    While clearing the house to be suitable enough to stay for the night, time passed by quickly.


    They could not help but wonder why Felicia''s neighbor was trapped inside their basement. However, no matter how they think of it, they could not find any answer.


    Looking at the clues like the heavily barricaded door to the basement inside the house and the hurriedly covered entrance outside, Mark had a hunch. Of course, it was nothing but spection.


    And then, while sweeping the living room, Amy, the girl among the three children, came across something. It was a crumpled piece of paper that was inside the firece.


    Most of it was charred, but arge part was still intact.


    Out of curiosity, the girl opened it.


    The contents were barely readable because of being partly burned. But there was one thing for sure...


    "Miss Felicia!"


    Amy immediately called out and ran towards Felicia. She then gave the crumpled paper.


    It could not be read clearly. Furthermore, it seemed that it was written in a hurry. But definitely, it was a letter.


    ...A letter for Felicia and her siblings.

 Chapter 529 Felicia, The Results For Choosing The Wrong Choice

    <strong>Day 128 - 5:42 PM - Haddon Heights, Camden County, New Jersey United States of America</strong>


    Receiving the veryst thing that might give her any clues about the whereabouts of her parents, Felicia hurriedly sat to read it.


    Just the handwriting on the letter was enough to make her tear up. It was from her mother. Felicia did not doubt it.


    The unfortunate thing, however, there was barely anything of importance that could be made out of the letter.


    If it was left out somewhere in a proper manner, even if it took years, the writings on the paper should still be readable.


    However, not only that the paper was found inside the firece filled with soot and ash, it seemed that whoever threw it there tried to burn it. In that case, it was already fortunate that the paper did not burn entirely.


    The only intact part of the letter was the top part of the paper. On the other hand, two thirds towards the bottom were entirely illegible.


    Nevertheless, for Felicia, just to see her name among the names of her siblings was enough for her to feel guilty. She did not contact them for years, and yet, they did not forget to include her in the letter. It was even though there was no tangible possibility that she would be able to return here.


    Felicia tried hard to read the letter. It was for naught.


    "What did it say?"


    Arnold asked, seeing Felicia''s expression.


    In response to that question, Felicia only shook her head in dismay as she handed the letter to Arnold.


    As he read the letter, he could only frown. He even moved towards the window to use the remaining sunlight to see if it would reveal more letters.


    The sun was already setting, though. Thus, it did not help much. Not to mention that the area was filled with trees, further blocking the sun that was about to set.


    "Use this."


    Mark suddenly said as a crystal flew towards the table. Everyone was amazed by the magical sight. The children even wanted to touch it. Of course, the adults prevented them from doing so. The crystal then released a bright light at Mark''s snap.


    Ignoring the magical sight, Arnold moved the letter to the crystal.


    Because it was burnt, it was still unreadable. However, the light managed to reveal some words that they were not able to see earlier.


    Aside from the intro stating how much Felicia''s parents loved their children, they managed to make out the crucial keywords like "evacuation," "Y.A.L.E.," and "military" at the burned part of the letter. There were some mentions about the neighbor too. It was probably about the infected neighbor in the basement, but it was unreadable.


    "A military evacuation, huh..."


    Mark voiced out after he was handed the letter to see it.


    As Mark said that however, except for Mei, the others stiffened.


    "Military evacuation," these two words were something they longed to hear about in the past four months of their struggles. Some of them were trapped in a casino while being surrounded by the infected. One was caught and was being used as a toy by the raiders. Who would not want to hear such words that could give them salvation?


    Unfortunately, they never saw a single soldier appear to help them, not even their shadow. Thus, these words should mean salvation but felt foreign to them now.


    Ignoring their stiff reactions, Mark asked.


    "Do anyone here know what Y.A.L.E. meant?"


    And to that question, pretty much every one of the survivors from Bally''s Casino reacted.


    "That''s the learning school for special children, right?"


    Ernst said while a bit unsure. It seemed that while he knew, he was not too familiar with it.


    "That should be it. There are various campuses around here, after all."


    Sandie voiced out.


    "I see," Mark said as he turned to Felicia. "Do you know where is the nearest one?"


    Wiping her tears, Felicia stared at the table to think.


    "It''s been years. I don''t remember exactly. But I think there should be one in Audubon."


    Mark took out his phone and started to search for the map. Unfortunately, nothing turned out on the search. It was because Mark did not expect to find himself in this ce before the outbreak. While he downloaded the most data he could for the maps of the Philippines and countries he was interested in, the data on the other countries was the bare minimum.


    Nevertheless, he managed to see the potential area using the satellite image.


    "I guess we''ll be checking it tomorrow."


    Mark voiced out as everyone turned to Mark.


    "What?"


    Mark asked as he questioned them for their expressions.


    "Nothing," Felicia spoke. "We''re just surprised that you want to help me find my family."


    After hearing those words, the others nodded in agreement.


    "I don''t really mind since it''s nearby. If any of you ask me to go to another state or a different direction from where we are going, you can go alone."


    Mark then handed the letter back to Felicia and continued.


    "Besides. It mentioned the military. I want to get more information, especially about Phdephia. I don''t want us getting dyed further just because we ran into a threat there that we don''t know of."


    "But you Sir should be able to handle it, right?"


    Ernst suddenly spoke. Though what he said was met with a re.


    <o>,m "Don''t try to tter me. You can consider me as someone strong, but I''m not the strongest."</o>


    To the eyes of these survivors, Mark might already be a godly being. The prowess he showed them was not something that just anyone could contend to.


    That was because they had not seen anyone stronger.


    Compared to many other things that Mark encountered before and the entities in Freed''s memories, he was still way weaker than many of them.


    The Great One, the founders of Auraboros, Bath, The Deity of Bloodshed, Gar''m, and the Eyes, all of them were far stronger than Mark.


    Going back to it, Mark only managed to absorb The Deity of Bloodshed using unconventional means. He tried to possess him, and that was why he won. If they actually fought until thest ounce of their strength, he would surely lose.<sub> </sub>


    It was the same for Gar''m, the volcanic deity. He only managed to defeat him because he was still weak after he was summoned back to the surface and the conflicting nature of their abilities. If they fought when Gar''m was at his peak strength, there was no guarantee that Mark would have won.


    "Prepare dinner and rest early."


    Mark then said as he took Mei out with him. Felicia and the others had not finished cleaning, after all.


    ***


    While cleaning the house, they were mostly silent. They were thinking about what Mark said to them earlier.


    Even though he fought with hundreds of mutated infected that they struggled to fight even a dozen, he was still not confident with his strength. They could not help but think of what creatures could possibly be more powerful than him.


    But then, since nothing could enter their minds, they just decided not to think about it too much. There was no point in thinking about it since they were sure that they would never reach Mark''s level.


    Freed from those thoughts, Sandie turned to Felicia, who was sweeping the floor.


    "Felicia, I''m just curious."


    "What is it?"


    "Howe that you did not see your parents for years? The distance from here and Antic City is not really far back then."


    "That''s..." Felicia hesitated to reply. "I don''t have the face to meet them."


    "Why?"


    Sandie asked. Although it might be inappropriate to ask, her nature as a regr housewife was irked.


    Felicia was hesitating to answer. It was the memory that she did not want to relive. It was the memory that she tried to lock down inside her mind.


    However, she also wanted to let it out. Locking it inside never did anything good to her. Back then, even if she wanted to tell her story, no one would listen. That was why she did not bring it out until now.


    Now, however, someone was willing to listen to her. There, the hesitation vanished.


    "Well, if you are willing to listen to how this unfilial b*tch trashed her life. I guess... I don''t mind not sharing it anymore."


    Sandie was stunned. In that sentence, Felicia''s guilt, regret, and self-hatred gushed out. She even addressed herself with an unsightly name. Because of this, Sandie regretted bringing the topic out.


    However, she already asked. There was no point in backing out. The only thing she could do was embrace Felicia.


    "Dear, don''t call your self like that. Look, everyone is looking at you, worried."


    Tears welled up on Felicia''s eyes once more. How long did she wait to be consoled like this?


    ***


    Felicia was the second child among three siblings. She was also the first daughter. Her parents did not treat any of them ill, but being the second child and the first daughter gave her more privilege than her two siblings.


    Thus, it was not surprising that she grew up quite spoiled and rebellious.


    Despite that, however, everything was fine. Felicia was a smart child. She was not at the top of the ss. However, she was still hovering at the border of the intelligent and the average.


    In herst year of high school, however, things started to turn.


    Felicia found a boyfriend that she loved the most. There were no problems with it, except the fact that her parents did not like him.


    The next year became harder when she entered college. Her parents did not stop telling her to leave that man.


    It was until her parents told her that they saw him with another woman. Felicia got angry, thinking that it was another n of her parents to foil their rtionship.


    Felicia got into an emotional fight with her parents. That very night, she ran away from their house and eloped with her boyfriend.


    That was the first time she experienced hardships. She did not want to drop out of school and decided to take on jobs that she was not used to.


    Luckily, her appearance made it easier for her to find work. Sometimes, though, she was being hired with ill intentions behind it for the same reason.


    After she was almost raped at herst job, she finally dropped out. They decided to move to Antic City by the suggestion of her boyfriend as there should be more opportunities there.


    That was the worst thing she could have agreed on.


    Antic City... The actual reason her boyfriend chose to move here was because of his other lover.


    Felicia saw them together, flirting several times. However, she was afraid tosh it out to him. She did not want him to leave her.


    One day, however, her boyfriend did not return home.


    After waiting for another day, thinking that he was spending his other woman, she decided to find him in her ce.


    The woman was also gone.


    There was no need to ask anything. Anyone would know what happened.


    Crying, she returned to their apartment.


    Only to find it trashed with several men in expensive suits waiting.


    There, she learned the horrible truth.


    Her boyfriend incurred millions of debts in the casino. Now that he ran away, there was only one person left to pay for it.


    It was the girlfriend, Felicia.


    Thus, she ended up working at the casino, to the point of selling her body to wealthy customers for money.


    She even got pregnant once. With nothing else she could hold onto, she wanted to keep the baby. It was even if the father was unknown. But the casino ordered to abort it. She tried to resist, but she was drugged. The next thing she knew, after she woke up, the baby was gone.


    Inside the casino, she was seen as one of the best merchandise. Outside, she was seen as a disgrace to women.


    Years passed like that.


    Thus, until the outbreak came, she was working there with both mental and emotional scars.


    With this kind of life, what face could she let her parents see?

 Chapter 530 Towards Audubon High School, A Clash Before They Arrived

    <strong>Day 128 - 6:11 PM - Haddon Heights, Camden County, New Jersey, United States of America</strong>


    An ufortable silence, that was the only thing Arnold and the others could give while they continued to clean after hearing Felicia''s story.


    None of them expected such kind of story from a lively and caring woman. It was also no wonder why she hesitated in telling her story. This time was not the first time that someone asked Felicia about her past. However, every time that the topic came out, she would only reply about being an employee in the casino. And none of them expected that it was that kind of employee.


    Furthermore, she was not working there because she wanted to or desperate for money. They forced her to work with a debt that she did not even make.


    Outside the house at the front yard, Mark and Mei sat at the stairs while guarding the ce against the wandering infected. With their heightened senses, they could hear the whole story that Felicia told in the living room.


    It was such a sad story and was horrifying in a sense.


    Still, some things did not make sense.


    "Mei''er, what do you think?"


    Mark asked as Mei seemed to have some opinion. Usually, she would ignore the stories of other people she was not interested in. But as someone who was used by her family as a tool to expand their business, she could rte somehow. A woman that was being forced by the circumstances and could not do anything to stop it or retaliate. In that sense, both of them were the same.


    And it was also the same that both their circumstances ended when the outbreak started.


    "Gege," Mei turned to Mark. "I don''t think that it is possible to amass such arge amount of debt from a casino."


    "I also think the same." Mark agreed. "It can only happen if the person had some position in society, or at least, had a good background. From Felicia''s story, it doesn''t seem to be the case. After all, a casino won''t let just anyone borrow money. Unless..."


    "Unless it was all a plot."


    Mei continued what Mark wanted to say.


    A plot. That was not impossible to happen.


    And the one that most likely happened was that the debt was all a lie.


    Felicia''s appearance may not be on par with Mei, but surely someone at the level of international beauty pageant contestants. It seemed that she had taken care of it since she was young. That very same reason, however, could get the attention ofwless people.


    Especially since she was living with no one but her ungrateful boyfriend.


    And the worst thing that could have happened was that Felicia''s boyfriend only did not have that debt but actually sold her to the casino.


    "Should we tell her?"


    Mei asked.


    "Better not," Mark shrugged. "Her past is already a heavy burden. We shouldn''t more load to it. Besides, she''s definitely going with us back home. There, she can start anew with Morgan."


    Hearing that, Mei smiled. Like her, Felicia definitely deserved a new beginning.


    ***


    The night was rather uneventful.


    Cleaning the house enough to be slept in, they had had dinner and slept early. While cooking, however, Arnold and the others that were free dug a hole in the backyard by Felicia''s request.


    It was to bury the remains of her neighbor that their family was close with.


    After eating, Mark and Mei slept in the vehicle while the others slept inside the house. The house was not that big for everyone to sleep inside. Furthermore, there was no extra room for the [Queen Type] to be confined, and it would be unnerving for anyone to sleep with a high level infected around.


    Furthermore, even with its intelligence, the [Queen Type] did not need to sleep like the other infected. It was just Mark could put her to sleep like how he did with Jte. Her sleeping time was not long either and would wake up with the slightest disturbance.


    Morning came, and Felicia was able to experience something nostalgic. It was to wake up in the house where she grew up with her family. Unfortunately, none of them were around for her to greet a good morning.


    Except for the children, everyone woke up rather early. No one could tell the reason why. Well, Mark, who could, would not say it to them.


    Hearing Felicia''s storyst night made them want to do something for her. It was not that she shared her story to gain sympathy. In fact, she was not expecting anything at all. Nevertheless, they just felt like doing it.


    They were going to search for her family today. That was why they wanted to set off as early as possible.


    Well, once they went out of the house to see Mark and Mei, they were stupefied. There was arge number of corpses outside the vehicle, particrly in front of the passenger door.


    Since the window was clear, they could see that Mark was already awake. He was not moving, though, as Mei was clinging to his left arm and leaning on his shoulder, still asleep.


    There was nothing to say about it. It was because there was a lot of infected wandering the area. Since Mark and Mei were both psychics, they were more prone to attract the infected despite not being seen. Thus, for the whole night, Mark had to wake up every now and then. He had to deal with the infected knocking at the door of the vehicle.


    And he had to do it without waking up Mei.


    They ate a light breakfast and immediately proceeded in preparing to depart.


    Felicia securely locked their house. Mark even gave her a lock he made to secure the doors.


    As they boarded the vehicle, Felicia kept staring at the house they just left. She wanted to keep a good memory of the house onest time. Until they turned unto the corner and the house was nowhere in sight anymore, that was when she turned her head to the front.


    Their next destination was about two miles away from the house of Felicia''s parents, the Audubon High School.


    The contents of the letter were too vague due to being burned. That was why they could only bet on this one as it was the closest. It was because, just beside the high school building, there was a Y.A.L.E. School. Both schools seemed to be on the same campus.


    It was just two miles, which should only take more or less than five minutes to travel. However, after twenty minutes, they barely passed midway the distance.


    The road was quite wide with its fournes. However, it was not wide enough for the abandoned cars, the infected, and some barricades left abandoned along the way.


    Their advance had slowed down because of such annoying obstacles.


    After looking at the barricades, the rolled barbwires appeared to be very simr to that militarymonly deployed along the roads. Since the military evacuation was written in the letter, it was very likely that it was left by the soldiers and had no time to dismantle.


    As they got closer to their destination, the more barricades blocked the road. There was enough space for vehicles to pass through.


    However, it needed the car to drive around the small spaces around the barricades. That was not something easy to do, especially since they were driving arge vehicle.


    Well, unless they ran over the barricades. It was something reckless to do, though.


    Then... along the way...


    BANG! RATATATATAT!


    Sounds of gunshots suddenly echoed.


    Everyone in the vehicle flinched, and Otis could not help but m on the breaks due to his surprise.


    Nevertheless, they were not the ones being shot at. If they were, they would start hearing metallic sounds hitting the vehicle. Furthermore, the gunshots sounded distant.


    And the direction the gunshots wereing from was the same direction they were going to.<sub> </sub>


    That gave Felicia some hope.


    If there were gunshots, there were people.


    There was also the chance that the gunshots came from the soldiers.


    "Otis, speed up."


    Mark said, and Otis immediatelyplied.


    Of course, there was no way for them to reach the same speed they had in the expressway.


    As they came closer to their destination, they started to notice something.


    The gunshots did not cease. At first, they thought that the school was being attacked by the infected.


    When they got closer, however, they noticed that the gunshots came from opposite sides.


    Mark closed his eyes, extending his senses towards the direction the gunshots wereing from. At first, he could not sense anything as they were still far away. When they got close enough, Mark found out the situation immediately.


    The school was definitely under attack. Not by the infected, however, but humans.


    "This is the third group already."


    Mark sighed.


    Since they left Antic City, they already encountered two bandit groups. From what it looked like, they were going to meet the third group.


    "Otis, stop at the corner and hide the vehicle a bit. I''m going to check the situation first."


    Mark then turned to Mei and patted her head.


    "I''ll leave the protection to you again."


    "Uhn! No problems."


    Mei smiled.


    After the vehicle stopped at a hidden corner, Mark jumped out and flew up.


    There was no other best ce to see the situation aside from the sky.


    Mark used his [Shadow Mist Movement] to obscure his flight andnded at the rooftop of the nearest building inside the school campus.


    Sure enough, a battle between two opposing groups was happening.


    Inside the school, the group was a mix of people wearing military uniforms and civilian clothing. Outside, the group was wearing some punk style clothes with most of their members had piercings, mostly on their noses and ears.


    ***


    The battle was intense, and both sides were getting casualties.


    "ARG!!!"


    A painful shout was heard as another man from the military was shot on his arm. With a tter, his assault rifle fell to the ground.


    "Captain! If this continued, we are going to waste a lot of our ammunition!"


    Another soldier called out to the one in charge of the soldiers here.


    "I know!" The Captain shouted back."But what can we do? If we don''t deter these bastards, they are going to break down the gate!"


    "JUST GIVE UP CAPTAIN MORRISON!" A shout came from the enemies outside the school. "This ce will be under us starting today! There is nothing you can do!"


    Looking at the lineup outside, it seemed that they prepared thoroughly in order to capture the school.


    "You bastards! Not only your group always obstructs our scavenging groups. Now, you want to destroy our only ce to stay!"


    "Who said that we will destroy it?" The person leading the attackers snickered. "We will not destroy it. All of you will serve us instead! Well at least, those who will survive! HAHAHA!"


    With an insaneugh, the leader of the attackers transformed.


    His thin body became covered with ck bone armor. His nails became ws, and two bone des grew at the sides of his forearms.


    ***


    Mark watched the transformation unfold.


    "A level two mutator..."


    That was what Mark thought as he felt the aura of the person. It was the same feeling he had when he absorbed the blood infected back in Perpetual Help Medical Center, also the same feeling when he fought that fat guy before he found Hannah.


    ***


    The transformed mutator kicked the ground. His visage vanished as he moved at unprecedented speeds. His body appeared over the walls with a blurry appearance. He then vanished once more with another kick to propel his body forwards.


    Due to his speed, the soldiers could not even know where to shoot.


    The next time he appeared, he already impaled one of the soldiers with his ws. The ws even prated the armor that the soldier was wearing.


    Throwing the dying soldier away, he looked for the next target. The soldiers shot him, but before any bullets could hit, he turned into a blur once more.


    The next target was an old man. Despite his age, he was holding a gun and was aiding the military in this battle. However, he was also too conspicuous among the group of younger people.


    Thus, he became the next target by the bone-armored mutator.


    As he brandished his ws towards the old man, however...


    TANG!!!


    A loud metallic sound echoed as a man covered in ck haze suddenly appeared to block his attack with his scythe.


    "Sorry, but I can''t let you kill this one."


    The man in ck haze said as the whole ce became silent due to his sudden appearance.

 Chapter 531 The Bone Armored Brothers, The Battle At Audubon High School

    <strong>Day 129 - 10:23 AM - Audubon High School, Audubon, Camden County, New Jersey, United States of America</strong>


    The sudden appearance of an entity covered in ck haze and wielding a ck scythe caused the people nearby to freeze. It was even more shocking for the mutator whose attack got blocked with ease.


    None of them were able to tell where the entity came from.


    The entity just appeared out of nowhere to block the lethal attack that was aimed at the old man.


    As for the old man, he could only stare in front, wide-eyed. His reaction was not surprising, considering that two lethal weapons shed just several inches away from his face. The loud metallic sound from the sh that entered his ears was far more than enough to shake his soul.


    Realizing that he was just a few inches away from his death, the old man subconsciously stepped back in fright and ended up falling unto his bottom.


    Luckily, someone blocked the attack for him. If not, the old man was nothing but a corpse now.


    As his attack was blocked, the leader of the enemies immediately retreated, jumping backward at fast speeds.


    At first, the leader thought that it was a helper from the military that blocked his attack. But a single nce at the surprised and cautious soldiers told him that this entity that blocked his attack was not from the military.


    "Who are you?!" The leader shouted. "Why are you barging into our business?!"


    But then, he noticed, the entity that blocked his attack was not paying attention.


    "You okay, old man?"


    They all heard him asked the old man that fell behind him.


    "Ah?" The old man was surprised and hurriedly stood up. "Ah, yes. Thank you for saving me."


    "Damn it!" The leader cursed. "How dare you ignore me!"


    He kicked the ground once more, vanishing from everyone''s sight. His movement speed was definitely something else as a human''s naked eye could not follow it.


    ***


    "Old man, you should retreat first."


    Mark said to the old man.


    It was quite close. If Mark did not arrive early, even if Felicia found her father, what she would see was nothing but a corpse with a smashed head.


    CLANG!


    Another loud metallic sound echoed as he blocked another attack with a frown.


    As another attack of his was blocked, the leader retreated once more.


    Mark could not help but frown. The strength of level two Mutators could not be trifled with. The first one he encountered was specialized in defense. This one was in speed.


    This guy''s speed was too fast that even Mark could barely follow his movements. If not for the fact that he could detect him using his [Empathic Detection], Mark might not be able to block the attacks urately.


    Mark could not help but sigh as he started to notice his weakness now. Using his enhanced blood and adrenaline could give him a short boost in strength, speed, and reflex. However, while it was an all-around ability, it could barely contend on specialized enemies like the one he was currently facing.


    Even the Jersey Devil called Gregor that he encountered before was specialized in speed, and Mark was not able to do about the guy''s escape.


    "Well, I guess it''s time to power up."


    Mark murmured.


    He had a lot of crystals to choose from, but he had never consumed another. With the appearance of the level two mutators, he should need something toplement this physical weakness he found out.


    "This guy''s mutation is not bad."


    He continued to murmur as his eyesnded at the enemy in front of him. Besides, this guy''s ck bone armor was kinda cool-looking.


    TANG! CLANG!


    Two more loud sounds echoed as Mark blocked two more attacks from the enemy.


    BANG!


    Another sound followed. This time, it was the sound of Mark''s scythe, hitting the enemy''s body.


    Because of the impact, the enemy flew to the side. He managed tond on his feet but still slid for about two meters before stopping. Furthermore, the enemy leader was still unscathed because of his armor.


    The leader was even more frustrated. He could notnd any attack on the entity that appeared, but he got hit instead.


    Well, at least now, the leader got Mark''s attention.


    "F*CK!"


    "You''re asking who I am, right?" Mark spoke. "I''m just a passing-through Kame- ahem. I''m just someone passing by. That''s it."


    Mark ended his words by brandishing his scythe. He turned into a surge of ck mist that moved at fast speeds.


    CLANG!


    "GAHA!"


    The enemy leader shouted in pain as a heavy blow hit his side. The armor might be hard to prate or sh, but it did not mean that his organs inside his body would not be rattled by strong attacks. Furthermore, as he was able to move at fast speeds and capable of evading bullets, he was not used to getting hit at all.


    "Brother! Stop hiding and help!"


    The leader suddenly shouted, making everyone rmed. That same shout also seemed to have raised the morale of the enemies.


    "You said that you can handle this, but now, you are calling for me."


    A contemptuous voice was heard by everyone. Everyone hurriedly looked for the source.


    Unexpectedly, the voice came from a man sitting atop one of the military''s parked tanks.


    None of them saw how or when he infiltrated the ranks of the soldiers. Without a doubt, this man was stronger than the leader of the group that was currently attacking.


    The soldiers near the man immediately aimed their guns and fired.


    Before any bullets could hit the man, however, he vanished.


    The next thing that everyone saw was the fountain of blood after the closest group of soldiers around the man were all beheaded. Although the soldiers had bulletproof protection around their neck, it was not able to stop the man from slicing off their heads.


    Furthermore, the man did not even transform. He only had the ws on his right hand and nothing else. Yet, none of them saw how he did it.


    "Just where the hell did these strong peoplee from."


    One of the soldiers could not help but speak. Although they were still battling with the members of the enemies outside the walls, the sudden appearance of two party-crashers could not help but take their attention.


    Not waiting for anything, Mark turned into a puff of ck mist and surged towards the new enemy.


    CLANG!<sub> </sub>


    The w and the scythe shed with each other.


    "What a surprise." The new enemy said with a smile. "You''re quite fast yourself."


    "You can follow my movements, though."


    Mark replied.


    With that probing attack, one turned to smoke, and the other became a blur.


    CLANG! CLANG! CLANG!


    The two vanished and appeared. Every time that their figure appeared, the loud sound of shing metals echoed.


    Even the enemy leader joined the fray. It became a two on one battle.


    Because of the two, the battlefield became silent. Whether it was the soldiers or the ouws, they were focused on the battle that was happening.


    Well, some of the soldiers and the ouws took this opportunity, though. They started killing those whose concentration was away from the battlefield.


    "Concentrate on the enemies! Get away from those them!"


    Captain Morrison shouted loudly. Thus, the battle continued.


    The casualties were piling up on both sides. Fortunately, Mark was holding the most powerful people among the ouws. If not, they would be wiped out already.


    BAM!


    A burst of red light and a loud crash made the two brothers fly backward. They bothnded outside the walls while Mark stood on one of the foundations.


    Mark looked at the brothers from that elevation. It was just a normal stare, but it looked like he was looking down on them. Well, it was the literal thing but felt like it was not. He then stared at the older brother, the one that appearedter.


    "You better transform like your younger brother. You two will die sooner if you don''t."


    As Mark said, aside from their speed, the two were not his match at all. Besides, he was not using his other abilities in this fight. If he did, it would be easier to kill these two.


    But why not?


    It was because these two were good training partners. Their speed was fast. If he could get used to their speed without using his other abilities, it would be beneficial for him in the future.


    Although he could just kill them and give their abilities to other people and train with them, it was still different. After all, fighting to train and fighting to kill were two different things and would give different results.


    Since Mark was not ending it early, however, the battle between the soldiers and the ouws continued, and more people were getting injured or dying.


    Not like Mark could care about them. As long as the reason they wereing here for was fine, the others did not matter.


    Mark turned into a puff of smoke once more, appearing in front of the brothers.


    BANG!


    The scythe and two ws shed once more.


    Unfortunately for the brothers, while their speed was unfathomable, theycked in strength. The strength of Mark, who was an all-rounder, was more than enough to push them back in a slight sh of attacks.


    "RAHHH!!!"


    After being pushed back several more times, the older brother roared.


    Finally, he decided to transform. Like his younger brother, his body was covered in sturdy bone armor. The difference was that he had scythe-like des on his forearms, and his armor was dark-red colored.


    The brothers vanished once more after the older brother''s transformation.


    Mark immediately braced for the attack as he did not know how strong the older brother after transforming.


    Then... he was stupefied.


    Nothing appeared around him to attack. Instead, he could detect the two running away, leaving their men.


    "What the hell. Why did he transform if all he''s going to do was to run away?"


    Mark scratched his head.


    Seeing an entity that looked like a grim reaper scratching his head was quite surreal, though.


    In any case, Mark was not in a hurry to catch those two. It was better if they came back, bringing more friends. It would save him the trouble of looking for them. But of course, there was no guarantee to it.


    Thus, Mark looked at the direction of the two, with his eyes glowing red.


    As the two escaped the area of his detection, he turned towards the ouws left in a panic. It was not surprising since their leader left them without saying anything in the middle of the battle.


    Their morale immediately copsed, and they started to board their vehicles with the thought of feeing.


    Before they could get into their vehicle, however, their heads started to fly off one after another.


    "AHHHH!!"


    Screams echoed as the soldiers started to put down their guns.


    In front of them, the ouws were screaming in panic as a man d in ck haze ran about. He was slicing his scythe here and there.


    In every wave of his scythe, one or two ouws would fall down with their necks turning into a fountain of blood and their heads thrown away like rotten cabbages.


    The ouws did their best to resist, shooting the man with the utmost fervor of fear.


    However, what could they do when the bullets only passed through the body of the enemy like a ghost?


    Unfortunately, they could only curse their rotten luck. They were only following orders, but they had to encounter something inhuman.


    In the face of imminent death, many of the ouws broke down.


    While they were able to feel the excitement when killing others, it was theplete opposite when they were facing death. Some of them immediately let go of their guns and cowered down to the ground. They thoroughly lost their will to fight.


    Unexpectedly, those who did that ended up being left alive. When the battle died down with almost all of the ouws dead, those that broke down were easily captured by the soldiers.


    The battle was finished. Mark then started tapping on his ring.


    Captain Morrison tried to approach Mark to thank him, but they were rmed by the sound of an oing vehicle. The soldiers could not help but put on his guard once more.


    "Lower your weapons. That''s my car."


    A serene voice was heard by the soldiers as they looked at the man d in a ck haze.


    Although they were still unsure of the reason why this man appeared here, he was definitely not an enemy. It was easy for him to kill all of them here, but he did nothing to any of them.


    Thus, hearing that it was his vehicle, they could only lower their weapons.

 Chapter 532 Forcing Her Out, Felicias Reunion With Her Father

    <strong>Day 129 - 10:36 AM - Audubon High School, Audubon, Camden County, New Jersey, United States of America</strong>


    Mark''s arrival took everyone in surprise, and the way he harvested the lives of the enemies with his scythe made the soldiers relieved that he did not seem to be an enemy. If this man d in a ck haze that looked like a grim reaper started attacking them, they were not sure if they would be able to stand it.


    After all, Mark just eliminated most of the enemies by himself and that the soldiers did not know how many casualties they would have if they were the ones to do it.


    Thus, when he said that it was his vehicle that wasing, they could only lower their weapons without hesitation.


    This person did not seem to be human, after all. Even if one were to tell them that he was, they would not believe it entirely. They were enclined not to for some reason they could not understand themselves.


    While waiting for the vehicle to arrive...


    "Sir, thank you for saving me."


    The old man approached Mark in gratitude.


    Everyone around the old man that time knew how he was close to death. Luckily, Mark appeared to block the attack aimed at him.


    "It''s fine," Mark replied. "I have a reason for saving you."


    The old man was stupefied. What reason could that be? Did he know this person? Even though he could not see the face of Mark because of the ck haze, The old man could not feel any familiarity with him.


    Then, it was Captain Morrison, who approached, with some of his men with higher status in this group.


    "Sir, thank you for aiding us. May I know your name?"


    The military captain humbly conveyed his gratitude.


    This gesture gave Mark a good impression of this person. He was definitely the leader of this ce, but he did not hesitate to lower his head because of his people.


    Captain Morrison was not afraid of Mark. Even if they would surely lose, this military captain would not retreat if they had to face Mark. This, however, made his gesture even more sincere. He was not lowering his head because of fear but purely because of gratitude.


    The military captain himself was a Mutator. And the ones standing behind him were the same. However, none of them were at the level to contend with the brothers that fled. Even if these soldiers ganged up on that younger brother, they would not be able to do anything much.


    "Call me, Mark, just Mark and nothing else."


    Mark replied with neither overbearing nor servile attitude. This way, he would not look arrogant or someone they could take advantage of, just pure neutrality.


    "I want to ask, is this all your forces?"


    Mark asked in a bit of confusion.


    It would be easy for them to wipe out these soldiers, considering the strength of the attackers. Just the two brothers were enough to assassinate these soldiers and take over the campus.


    And yet, they were here with a small army of societal garbage, and one of them was lying in wait. It was as if they were wary of something.


    Captain Morrison seemed to realize why Mark asked that.


    "We have two small groups out scavenging this time. Our strongest people came with them. It''s because these bastards had been attacking our scavenging groups all this time, and we already lost many people."


    "So, its all part of a n, isn''t it?"


    Mark asked once more, and all those that heard him could only agree.


    Because of theck of supplies, they had to send as many scavenging groups out as possible. However, most of them got attacked by these same people. They would always demand the things that the scavenging groups collected, and those that tried to resist would get killed. Strangely, as long as it was not a good looking woman, they would let the others go back.


    Thus, they started to take measures like making fewer but bigger scavenging groups and forbid women from participating in it. But of course, that did not stop the harassment. And if not dead, the members of the scavenging groups were injured. The survivors in this school were getting desperate these past days. They had no other choice but to send their most powerful mutants to guard the scavenging groups.


    Unfortunately, that seemed to be what these ouws were waiting for.


    "Seems like you got rats in your camp."


    Mark said, causing a ruckus among the soldiers. However, what other exnation could they find aside from this? It was like their movements were always known by the enemy, and their countermeasures were rendered useless.


    "All of you here better not let this out, you hear me?"


    Captain Morrison spoke towards his soldiers and the other men that participated in this battle that heard what Mark said. Although what he said might be true, it would cause serious trust issues among the military and the survivors once it spread out. There were still around five hundred survivors in this school, and although they had not had a new headcount since the battle just finished with casualties, there were still around a hundred and fifty soldiers.


    With that number, infighting was not something they would be able to suppress without using force. Once force was used, though, the rtionship between the survivors and the military would crumble.


    They had already considered this angle. However, it was also not suitable to just point fingers without proper investigation. And it was one of the things hard to do after the outbreak.


    "I want information," Mark suddenly voiced out. "I can help you uproot the weeds if you can give me enough. But it might want some confidential ones."


    Everyone looked at Mark in surprise. However, Captain Morrison could not help but frown with a sigh.


    "This person..."


    Why would Captain Morrison not notice it? Mark deliberately caused some problems by saying it out loud, and then, he would offer some help for a cost. What a crafty person.


    Although Mark helped them with the current predicament, he actually caused Captain Morrison some serious trouble.


    "Don''t worry, I''m not forcing to answer now," Mark said as the ck haze around his body vanished. His scythe also turned to a gtinous liquid that entered his body.


    With the haze disappearing, Mark''s face was seen by the soldiers. And he was...


    ...Rathermon looking.


    Who would have thought that a powerful existence like this person actually looked like some "Henchman A" from a gang movie?


    Well, although he looked like that, Captain Morrison and the Mutators behind him knew that it had nothing to do with looks. Life was not like just some television drama where every protagonist was good looking.


    Finally, the vehicle came.


    Sure enough, the soldiers looked intimidated by the ck vehicle with an uncanny style. As they were experienced soldiers, they somewhat knew that this minibus was not any less sturdypared to their tanks.


    As the vehicle stopped a few meters away since it was blocked by the dead bodies of the ouws, Mark spoked the old man.


    "Old man, look who''s here."


    The old man was very confused.


    Unexpectedly, after a few seconds, no one went out of the vehicle.


    "What the hell are they doing?"


    Mark could not help but murmur.


    Any one of them could step out already. However, it seemed that they were urging Felicia to step outside first. It was not like he did not know the reason.


    Mark sighed and decided to approach the vehicle. The old man was left in ce, even more confused.


    Opening the passenger door in the front seat, Mark spoke inside the vehicle.


    "If you''re not going out, we''re going to leave."


    Felicia stiffened. Her eyes were filled with tears as she saw the old man, but she could not find the courage to step out and face him.


    "Come on. I''ll be right behind you when you go out."<sub> </sub>


    Sandie tried to encourage Felicia.


    "But what if they are still angry with what I did?"


    "Don''t worry. I''ll kill him if he is."


    Everyone stared at Mark wide-eyed. What kind of encouragement was this?


    But with the looks in his eyes, he did not seem to be joking.


    "NO!" Felicia shouted and stood up in reflex.


    Unfortunately, the car was not something made to stand inside. The roof was low, and she ended up bumping her head.


    Dizzy by the sudden pain, Felicia tried to hold unto the side of the vehicle.


    Mark, on the other hand, found that as the best opportunity.


    CLACK! SLIDE!


    Mark reached for the knob of the door and slid it open.


    Felicia, who was reaching for the wall, ended up touching nothing and fell out.


    She managed not to fall in an unsightly way because of her cat-like reflexes and managed to stay standing.


    However, she was out of the vehicle now.


    "Sir, isn''t that a bit forceful?"


    Arnold could not help but say.


    "It''s fine," Mark shrugged. "Look."


    The vehicle was opened, Felicia stood outside the door, and Mark stood leaning by the front passenger seat.


    Everyone outside that was watching it unfold was confused, especially when a beautiful woman fell out of the vehicle because of Mark.


    The old man, however, stood stunned.


    The beautiful woman looked very familiar. Then, the woman raised her head, staring at him with surprise.


    Seeing that face...


    The old man''s body shook.


    "Licia..." the old man murmured.


    The old man then started walking towards Felicia, not minding that he was stepping on the blood of the ouws that Mark had killed.


    In every shaky step he took, the blood on the ground sshed.


    But it did not matter.


    "Licia, is that you?"


    The old man uttered with a shaky voice as he approached.


    Felicia could not do or say anything. She was utterly shocked at what Mark did. Her mind was nk as she faced her father.


    As the old man got closer, he became more and more sure. The beautiful face that looked like a copy of her mother when she was younger. The woman that stood in front of him was definitely his daughter.


    "Licia, you''re Felicia, right?"


    When Felicia came to, her father was already holding her on her shoulders.


    Seeing that face that wrinkled due to age and the blond hair that already turned white. Felicia realized how much time she lost because of her wrong decisions in the past.


    "Dad..."


    Felicia uttered as tears overflowed from her eyes.


    "My daughter!!!"


    The old man could not hold himself as he heard Felicia call him dad. He immediately embraced the daughter he had not seen in years with an outburst of emotions.


    They did not know what happened to her after she left their side. When the outbreak came, their chances of seeing her once more had gone down to zero.


    However, she was here, in his embrace, alive.


    Only the heavens knew how happy the old man was.


    They might have some scuffles and regrets in the past. But now, it did not matter.


    What mattered was that they were both alive and met once more. This time, even if the world was to be destroyed, they would not leave each other''s side.


    Inside the vehicle, Sandie and the others also had tears on their eyes. They were happy that Felicia was able to reunite with her father, and it seemed that what happened in the past did not matter anymore.


    "*Sniff!"


    A loud sniff was heard, they could not help but turn to Ernst.


    "Ugh..."


    That was their reaction after seeing the snot that reentered his nose.


    "What are you, a kid?!"


    Arnold shouted as he was just beside the disgusting guy.


    "What?! Is it bad to be moved by this?!"


    Ernstined, closing in towards Arnold.


    "F*ck off! Get away from me! Don''t wipe your nose with my clothes!"


    Laughter echoed from the vehicle because of that. Even Felicia and her father, who was crying just now, could not help but let out giggles.


    Mark and Mei, at the side, looked at each other with a smile.


    "It''s a good reunion, isn''t it?"


    Mei said. There was a trace of enviousness in her voice.


    Mark patted her head. If he could, he would try to erase her envy. However, it could never happen as Mei was born from a sh*tty father. There was no way to change that by force.

 Chapter 533 An Unexpected Welcome, Reuniting With Her Mother And Sister

    <strong>Day 129 - 10:45 AM - Audubon High School, Audubon, Camden County, New Jersey, United States of America</strong>


    The dramatic part of the reunion between Felicia and her father was cut short because of Ernst and Arnold''s antics.


    It was a good thing, however, as a reunion was better withughter than tears.


    "Can we enter?"


    Mark turned to Captain Morrison to ask.


    "Of course, there''s no problem."


    The Captain immediately granted ess. However...


    "Wait a minute, Captain."


    One of the soldiers behind Captain Morrison, who was covering his nose with a handkerchief, spoke.


    "What is it, Smith?


    "It''s quite faint, but there is a smell of infected from their car. There''s even two of them. They might have helped us, but we can''t let the infected enter our settlement."


    The soldiers were surprised, hearing that. However, they would not suspect this person, Second Lieutenant Jericho Smith. He was a mutator with a wolf-like sense of smell. Although he was not able to distinguish different smells thoroughly, there was one thing that he was very capable of. It was detecting the odor from the bodies of the infected.


    Because of this ability, they were able to find out infected attacks in their settlement in advance and keep the ce safe before a horde surrounded it.


    "Sir Mark, is this true?"


    Captain Morrison asked.


    Hearing that, Mark shrugged. Compared to these soldiers, the security of the settlement in his country was ratherx. Back then, Jte and Trixie were able to enter Bay City without problems. Here, however, the [Queen Type] and the [Empress Spider] were immediately found out.


    Mark then turned inside the vehicle and spoke.


    "Go out."


    As Mark said those words, a woman went out of the vehicle. Felicia immediately dragged her father out of the way as if she was also quite afraid. The woman was not any less than Felicia in appearance though it looked a bit unnatural.


    Before anyone could feel envious of Mark, having beautiful girls in his vehicle, they noticed the huge spider that wastched unto the woman''s head.


    "Sir, it''s positive. That woman is infected, and that spider on the back of her head. Those two are what I have been smelling from their vehicle."


    Second Lieutenant Smith spoke in confirmation although his voice was a bit confused. His words immediately led the soldiers to point their guns at her.


    Fortunately, these soldiers seemed to be properly disciplined. They did not shoot immediately and was waiting for orders from Captain Morrison first.


    Still, they had some questions regarding this infected.


    The infected woman was obviously not restrained in any way. And yet, she was not behaving aggressively. And rather, there was a look of confusion in her face, seeing too many guns pointed at her.


    That was right, a look of confusion. The infected were never witnessed to show any kind of emotion aside from anger and hunger. Yet, this infected woman was clearly showing something that she should not be able to.


    Mark looked at the soldiers. He did not look troubled at all. If any of them shot the [Queen Type], he could immediately take her away. And the look of utter confusion on the faces of these informed soldiers was quite funny to look at.


    "Want any of that?"


    Mark suddenly spoke to the infected woman and pointed at the dead bodies of the ouws still left on the ground.


    The soldiers began to think that Mark was crazy, talking to an infected. But then, to their shock...


    The infected woman shook her head.


    "Smith, are you really sure that she''s infected?"


    Captain Morrison asked for confirmation.


    "I''m a hundred percent sure, Captain. That woman smelled like an infected that turned for months already. She''s not someone bitten just recently."


    There, another mutator soldier at the side of Captain Morrison chimed in.


    "Captain. Is it possible that she mutated her intelligence?"


    Hearing that, the Captain could nod. There was no other exnation they could think of. This was the very first time they encountered an infected that could understand humannguage.


    "Can we enter now?"


    Mark asked.


    "This..." Captain Morrison hesitated. "She will not cause trouble, would she?"


    "Oh, don''t worry," Mark replied. "She prefers rabbit stew over human flesh. And if I wanted to do anything bad in this ce, I don''t need her help. I can kill everyone here alone."


    What Mark said was both assuring and threatening. Yet, the soldiers could not say anything to refute him.


    "Alright, let''s give an exception this time."


    Captain Morrison sighed. There was nothing they could do here. It was already good that Mark did not openly attack them. They rather not provoke something that they would not be able to handle.


    After thatmotion, the cleanup outside the school started. The nonbatants were also called outside to help cleaning. They needed to clean the bodies and the blood as soon as possible. It was to prevent too many infected from getting attracted to the smell of the blood.


    Fortunately, they had no problems with the water that they needed to wash away the blood. Just a block away west of the school, the Haddon Lake was located. There were evolved fishes in the water, but as long as they did not fall off into theke, it was alright to get water.


    While all the cleaning happened, Mark and his group entered the school.


    The school wasposed of several two to three-floor buildings connected to each other. There were a wide gymnasium and other necessary facilities. Just the building area was more than enough to allow all the people here to livefortably. At the back of the building, however, there was a football field, a track and field oval, a baseball field, and a ser field along with more than two more sports facilities.


    All in all, the school had a very wide area for activities. The military also did not hold back on reinforcing the fences around the school. All this area was avable for the survivors to ess aside from areas where only the military and specific personnel were allowed.


    Mark and his group left the vehicle at the parking area behind the school, past the football field.


    Once everyone went out, they looked around due to the new scenery they saw. On the other hand, the survivors were also the same, curious about the neers.


    Many people around greeted Felicia''s father. Seeing Felicia clinging to her father, everyone was curious and asked who she was. Hearing that Felicia was his daughter that was missing for years, the people were surprised. Nevertheless, they congratted the old man for reuniting with his missing daughter despite the state of the world now. Looking at this, it seemed that this old man had some poprity in this settlement.


    It was not surprising. The old man was in no doubt old, already in his fifties, and might even be approaching his sixties. Nevertheless, despite the wrinkles on his forehead and white hair, he had the body of a veteran soldier.


    ording to Felicia, her father was in the army before and retired when he was past forty. It was an early retirement. However, it could not be helped since he suffered a permanent injury on his shoulder after being hit by shrapnel from a grenade explosion in thest battle he participated in. It was no wonder that some of the soldiers here treated Felicia''s father with respect, including Captain Morrison, who was just eight years younger than Felicia''s father.


    Walking inside the school, however, felt quite tedious.


    Since Mei stepped out of the vehicle, more eyes were glued to their group. Even Arnold and the rest could not help but feel ufortable.<sub> </sub>


    Unexpectedly, somescivious stares wereing from the soldiers.


    "Looks like not every soldier here was as disciplined as I thought."


    Mark said as he returned those unwanted stares with his killing intent while shielding Mei from them.


    The Mutators among the soldiers immediately felt that killing intent. There was no doubt that if this was not addressed immediately, some of their soldiers would end up dying.


    "Sir Mark, I apologize for this. I''ll make sure to discipline themter."


    Captain Morrison said and turned towards those soldiers.


    "Go back to work and don''t cause a mess here!"


    Hearing their angry superior, the soldiers immediately scurried away.


    Mark''s killing intent vanished when the unscrupulous soldiers left. If this Captain of theirs did not make a move, their heads might have gone flying already.


    "They were young soldiers. Please don''t mind them."


    Captain Morrison followed up as he led Mark''s group into the school building.


    "Dad, where''s mom? Are Roan and Elise here too?"


    Felicia asked her father.


    Hearing the question, Felicia''s father sighed with a smile.


    "We survived, fortunately. Your brother is in the scavenging group this time. Elise and your mom are here. But your mom... sigh..."


    "Did something happen to mom?"


    Felicia asked worriedly.


    "It''s better to see it."


    Since their primary goal here was Felicia''s family, thus, they all went to go see them first.


    Soon, they arrived in arge room on the third floor. It seemed to be an office before the outbreak, but now, it was turned into a ward for non-serious injuries.


    In one of the beds, an old woman was sitting on her bed, while talking to a girl in her early twenties. The old woman really looked like Felicia, albeit older. There seemed to be no visible injuries on her, but when their eyesnded on the nket covering her lower body, they immediately found the issue.


    Her left leg, from her knee below, was missing.


    Since there were people that entered the room, everyone inside the room had their attention at the door. It was the same for the old woman, and she immediately saw her husband.


    "Dear, you returned! Are you... al..."


    It seemed that she was really worried since her husband participated in the battle earlier. She was about to ask if he was alright, but she did not manage to finish her words as her eyes fell on the woman clinging to her husband.


    Of course, there was no jealousy or anger. The old woman was purely shocked when she saw the woman who was already teary after seeing her.


    There was no need to ask anything. Tears flowed from the old woman''s eyes.


    Letting go of her father''s arm, Felicia approached the old woman.


    "Mom."


    "Licia, my daughter. Come here."


    With that cue, Felicia and her mother shared a warm embrace.


    "I''m sorry I didn''t listen to you back then."


    Felicia said as her tears drenched her mother''s clothes.


    "No," Felicia''s mother shook her head. "Thank you for staying alive and meeting us now."


    Felicia had been forgiven long ago. Her parents only wanted to see her alive once more.


    At the side, the younger woman stared at what was happening, wide-eyed. She was shocked by the sudden event, happening before her.


    "Y-you..."


    The woman stuttered.


    "Elise, aren''t you going to greet your sister?"


    Their father spoke, making Elise realize what was happening.


    "Felicia?"


    Elise stood up. She looked strange as her body was shivering.


    "Well, it''s not good."


    Mark murmured, making everyone around him feel confused.


    "Elise."


    Felicia let go of her mother and faced her younger sister.


    PAK!


    A very crisp p echoed inside the room as Elise''s palm left a red mark on Felicia''s face.


    Everyone was stunned at the sudden development. They now understood why Mark said those words.


    Seeing her long lost sister, Elise was overflowing with emotions. It was all anger, though.


    Elise was also teary-eyed, though her eyes were ming with hate as she looked at Felicia, who was stunned after receiving her younger sister''s p.


    Then, as if Elise snapped from her emotions, her eyes suddenly turned to normal. She looked at her palm that turned red because of how strong her p was.


    Realizing what she had done, she wanted to flee. She looked at the door, it was blocked by what seemed to be her sister''spanions.


    Without any choice, she ran towards the window facing the sports field. She was fast moved as if she was a cat. Opening the window, she jumped outside. The room was on the third floor, but shended fine on the school grounds. From there, she ran away from everyone''s sight.

 Chapter 534 Boasting And Schemes, Marks Goals In Helping Felicia And Hidden Circumstance

    <strong>Day 129 - 11:04 AM - Third Floor, Audubon High School, Audubon, Camden County, New Jersey, United States of America</strong>


    Stunned by the p she received from her younger sister, Felicia stood nkly in ce as Elise escaped. Their father, Abraham, and their mother,Candace, were also surprised by the scene. Still, their expression was more of remorse on their faces rather than shock.


    Not only their family, but everyone who witnessed the scene was surprised.


    Usually, reunions, after the apocalypse started, would be filled with relief, happiness, and tears of joy. This situation was the first time that many of them seen a reunion filled with resentment, especially from a sibling.


    "Licia, are you alright?"


    Abraham approached her daughter, patting her back gently.


    Felicia slightly nodded, though her face was still nk.


    Seeing that, Abraham helped Felicia sit down.


    "Licia, you shouldn''t mind it too much. It''s my and your father''s fault."


    Candace said while looking down on her bed.


    It seemed that this would be the start of family talk between Felicia and her parents.


    "Should we leave them alone?"


    Arnold asked.


    That question made Ernst and the others nod. It was not their ce to intrude in other family''s business.


    Mark then turned to Captain Morrison.


    "Do you have somece we can stay? We might need to stay here for a day."


    Hearing Mark''s words, Captain Morrison''s eyes lightened. Who would not want Mark''s group? Even if it was just one day, it still a day of the settlement''s safety was being guaranteed. Furthermore, with what happened earlier, there was a high chance that the ouws would return to take revenge and for other dangers toe.


    "We still have a lot of rooms unused. We can prepare one immediately for your group."


    "Then, please guide them to where they can wait for a while."


    Mark then turned to Arthur and Otis.


    "Get morgan out of the vehicle, also keep an eye on her."


    Mark handed the chains that restrained the [Queen Type] behind him that had been gathering a lot of attention since earlier for having arge spideressory on her head.


    "How about you, Sir Mark?"


    Arnold could not help but ask as he received the chains.


    "We''ll stay here a bit." Mark then turned back to Captain Morrison. "It''s fine, right?"


    "There''s no problem. I can leave someone to guide you when you want to leave the ward."


    "No need." Mark declined. "It''s also likely that we won''t use the door, anyway."


    Captain Morrison was confused. Nevertheless, he did not want to ask any more questions and annoy Mark. Thus, he left with his men, leaving one of the soldiers. Even though Mark said that there was no need to, they still needed to keep an eye on them since they were strangers, to begin with.


    Mark did not bother about the soldier that Captain Morrison left. Together with Mei, Mark approached Felicia and her parents.


    "You two are...?"


    Candace asked as she saw Mark and Mei approached.


    "This is Sir Mark and Miss Mei. They are the leaders of the group Licia belongs to. They were the ones that brought her here."


    Abraham introduced Mark and Mei since Felicia already did the same while they were walking towards this ce. Felicia''s mind was too boggled to do the introductions this time.


    "Is that so?" Candace smiled. "Thank you for taking care of our daughter."


    Mark could not help but scratch his cheek. Felicia''s parents were too sincere that it felt ufortable for him. It seemed that they really loved Felicia. It came with a price, though.


    "You don''t have to thank me. Your daughter is now one of my people. It is just convenient to pass by since this ce was near the road we wanted to take, and by coincidence, you all, her family, are still alive."


    "So, Licia is going to leave again?"


    Candace asked, looking at Felicia, who was still silent.


    "No..." Mark shook his head. "I''ll go straight to the point. We will take you two and your children with her. We will bring you somewhere safer than this ce."


    "That''s..."


    Felicia''s parent''s looked at each other. Of course, they would hesitate.


    "Can we think about this first?"


    Abraham said. Unexpectedly, Mark shook his head.


    "I''m not asking you. Whether any of you want it or not, we will take you all out of here. The only time I can give you is whether you wille willingly or not. If not, I will have to use force."


    "You..."


    Candace was about to say something offensive. But Abraham held her hand and shook his head. He could tell that Mark was only being nice was because they were Felicia''s parents.


    "Why are you going this far to do that?"


    Abraham asked.


    "I already said. Felicia is already one of my people. I give my people the best as long as it is possible. Keeping her family around her would be the best for her, right?"


    "So, you want to keep us around so that my daughter won''t leave you?"


    "What?"


    Mark was confused.


    "Do you want to keep our daughter as your woman? That is why you want to keep us?"


    <o>,m Mark was bbergasted. Did he really look like that kind of person? Mark scratched his head, making him see his reflection on the window. Forget it, he really looked like one.</o>


    Unexpectedly, Mei, who was silent until now, stepped forward and spoke.


    "Pardon me for interrupting, but please. Felicia already has someone else in her heart. And MY HUSBAND won''t be interested in humans."


    Mark was surprised though he liked the sound of that. He patted Mei''s head.


    "Yep. I''m not interested in Felicia as a woman, so don''t worry. Look at my wife. If your daughter can surpass her beauty, then I might put her in my eye."


    TCH!


    A lot of clicking tongues were heard inside the room, along with envious killing intent. There were more men than women in this room, after all. Most of them were injured soldiers that were single.


    Both Abraham and Candice choked. What kind of reasoning was that? Furthermore, what did Mei just said? Not interested in humans? Were they not humans?


    Felicia''s parents were speechless.


    "What the hell am I doing?" Mark scratched his head. "In any case, don''t worry. If you really want a reason, it''s because of your daughter''s current sweetheart."


    Hearing that, Abraham and Candace turned to their daughter once more. Nevertheless, it seemed that she never heard anything or noticed what was happening around her.


    "She''s too shaken, isn''t she?"<sub> </sub>


    Mark spoke as he reached his hand towards Felicia''s head. Then, her parents saw his hand glow with white milky light.


    "What are you..."


    Abraham was stunned.


    "Don''t worry, I''m just calming her down. You won''t be able to talk if she''s like this."


    It did not take long, and Mark removed his hand.


    "Huh? Ow..."


    Felicia snapped out of her trance, the first thing she felt was the pain on her cheek.


    "Did you calm down now?"


    Felicia heard Mark''s voice. She looked up and nodded. Although she could not understand what happened after her younger sister pped her, she was calm now after feeling thatfortable sensation on her body.


    "Well then, you should talk about things first."


    Mark said as he led Mei away, leaving the three. But then, he suddenly turned his head back at them.


    "By the way, should I pick up that other daughter of yours?"


    Mark asked Abraham.


    "What do you mean?"


    "Nothing much. That brat just ran off out of the school grounds. I don''t know her abilities, so I''m just asking if there''s a need to pick her up."


    Felicia''s parents were stunned, especially Abraham.


    With what happened earlier, it was very dangerous to leave the school grounds. Not only the enemies might have sent people to keep a lookout on the school, but there would be infected that would be attracted to the smell of blood.


    And that was the most dangerous part.


    The area around the school was devoid of infected due to the soldiers eliminating them constantly. That was why the infected that would be attracted to the smell of blood woulde from other areas. And the first ones to arrive were those with stronger and faster mutations. Even the soldiers sometimes struggle to deal with them.


    "C-can you please bring her back?"


    Abraham was in a panic.


    "I''ll go."


    Felicia stood up to volunteer.


    "You better not." Mark looked at Felicia. "You are the reason why she left. She might run away again after she sees you."


    Hearing that, Felicia could only sit back down slowly. Mark was right, it would not do any good if she was the one to go.


    "Alright, we''ll bring her back."


    Mark said as both he and Mei nodded at each other.


    The two of them then ran towards the same window that Eliss went through and jumped out.


    Everyone in the room was surprised. The soldier that Captain Morrison hurriedly ran towards the window as he should be keeping an eye on the two.


    Peering through the window, the soldier was stunned. It was the same for those that followed suit in curiosity.


    The only thing they saw was Mark and Mei sprouting wings on their backs and flying away.


    "What in the world..."


    Who knows who murmured that. But that was the only thing all of the people that saw the scene had in their minds. It seemed to be the first time for them to see Mutators capable of flight.


    Mark and Mei flew across the sports fields causing many people to witness them. Fortunately, Mei''s appearance was kinda hard to forget, and many of the people that saw them before recognized her. The soldiers that participated in the fight earlier also recognized Mark.


    "It''s the first time."


    Mark suddenly spoke as they flew, making Mei look at him.


    "?"


    "You called me your husband just now, right?"


    Mark teased. Obviously, Mei''s face turned red.


    "You''re starting to get more possessive, aren''t you?"


    He asked.


    "Sorry..."


    Mei felt a bit down. Maybe, she did something wrong.


    "Why are you apologizing?" Mark reached for Mei''s hand. "I actually want you to be a bit more selfish. You don''t ask me for anything that I don''t know what things you will like."


    Hearing that, Mei smiled. Her smile was bright and refreshing.


    "I like anything that Gege gives me."


    That smile and reply made Mark smile bitterly.


    "If you say so."


    "By the way, Gege."


    Mei changed the topic.


    "Hmm?"


    "Why did you stop Felicia''s sister earlier?"


    "You noticed?"


    "Of course."


    Mei nodded. Earlier, when Elise had a burst of emotions after seeing her sister, things were about to get ugly. She was already blinded by hate and anger, and she might have ended up either injuring herself or her sister in the process, an injury in physical, mental, and emotional aspects.


    With that kind of outburst, that crisp p was not enough to stop her. Yet, she suddenly snapped out of it and realized what she had done, causing her to escape.


    No one noticed since it looked natural. However, at that time, Mark''s eyes let out a red glow, targeting Elise.


    "Well, physical injuries can heal with medicine, and scars can be covered. Mental and emotional ones are hard to heal, and there''s no medicine for it. Only time can mend it, and time is what we don''t have now. It is better if they can sort their problems peacefully.


    "I didn''t think that I will hear that from Gege..."


    Mei giggled.


    "I know, I know." Mark shrugged. "Well, they are Felicia''s family, so it''s we really can''t settle things with violence. We need her to ensure that Morgan will give us his loyalty once he woke up. I don''t want to take the ability from someone with talent like him."


    Then, Mark smiled. A smile with a hidden sinister thought.


    "Besides, there are traces of maniption on that girl''s emotions. She might have run off to meet the cause of it."

 Chapter 535 Elise, Felicias Younger Sister

    <strong>Day 129 - 11:15 AM - Browning Square, Bellmawr, New Jersey, United States of America</strong>


    BAM! BAM!


    "Ugh!"


    Two men released painful voices as their bodies heavily crashed unto the wall of the main hall of the building they were in. Their agonized gurgles intensified further after their heads were stepped on by some people.


    Unexpectedly, these two same men were the ones that led the attack at Audubon High School.


    "King, please... Mercy..."


    The older brother pleaded, looking at the man sitting at the center of the main hall.


    It was a ballroom hall, cleaned with everything else, and was refurbished. Now, it looked more or less like a throne room for a king with expensive disys and decorations. Even the throne that was ced at the center of the all was made with gold. Who knew where they got something like this.


    On the throne, a man sat arrogantly. With his blonde hair, blue eyes, and a handsome face, he looked like a prince from a fairytale. The difference, though, was his expression that was simr to that of a ughterer''s.


    He looked coldly at the two brothers that were being heavily punished. If not for their abilities, he was more inclined to kill them immediately.


    "You want mercy?" The man on the throne spoke. "Returning here with your tails between your legs and wasting a lot of our people? I wouldn''t have minded it even if they lost their lives as long as you two brought back good news. But what? Not only the two of you, failed a small task, you two even sacrificed our manpower to escape? Now, what mercy do you want?"


    WAP! WAP!


    p "ARG!"</anda>


    The two brothers let out more painful noises as the two women wearing ck clothing whipped their bodies.


    "My King, remember not to cripple them. Their abilities still have some use."


    A woman entered the hall. Her curly blond hair and gray colored eyes looked alluring. Not to mention that she was wearing a pink beh, showcasing her body figure that could make the mouths of men water. The clothes she wore wereced with gold and silver along with gems here and there.


    The woman walked straight towards the King and sat at the left armrest of his throne.


    "Do not fret, my queen." The King spoke. "I don''t n to kill them. But I can''t just let this failure alone. They wasted quite a number of our people."


    "Are they all dead?"


    The Queen asked.


    "I sent Ellse to watch over them." The King turned to the slender looking man, standing at the side of the room.


    The slender man had a pale face but an attractive appearance. Even though the King was handsome, this man''s visage seemed to have been taken out of folklore stories. His deep blue eyes had long eyshes, and he had a shiny white hair. And because of his long hair, no one would notice immediately, but he had pointed ears.


    "Greetings, My Queen."


    Ellse stepped forward and greeted the woman.


    "Tell me what happened."


    The Queenmanded.


    Thus, Ellse narrated what he observed without forgetting a single detail, once more. He already told this to their King, but he did not mind repeating it again to the Queen.


    "Why did you not help them?"


    The Queen asked Ellse, pointing at the two brothers sprawled at the floor.


    "My Queen. My King only tasked me to observe. And even if I wanted to, I dare not."


    "Why not?"


    "The enemy that appeared is someone unfathomable. I can''t tell what it was, but there is a disturbance in a wide area with that person at the center. I dared not step into that area without knowing what it was. I even had to immediately retreat when I noticed it. Fortunately, I managed to not get caught in it."


    "Hoh..."


    It seems that the Queen''s interest was piqued.


    "Seems like some strange people entered our territory."


    The King voiced out.


    "It is as you said, My King. Ellse replied. "Furthermore, with that man around, I won''t be able to infiltrate the school."


    "Because of that disturbance, you are talking about?"


    "Yes. Unfortunately."


    While the three were talking, the older brother that was sprawled in pain looked up.


    "My King. Shouldn''t we take revenge?"


    The older brother spoke.


    "Who told you to speak?"


    The King red at the older brother.


    "But King... This might be our fault. However, the enemy is also strong, as Ellse said. The King''s reputation is at stake here. If we don''t take revenge, what would the others think?"


    "My brother is right, My King." The younger brother chimed in. "Those soldiers might start thinking highly of themselves if we don''t take revenge. They might think that we are already hiding in fear, including you, My King."


    "SILENCE!"


    The King shouted in anger. A strong gust of wind blew inside the enclosed hall causing the two brothers to fly back and crash unto the wall. From the force of the impact that the two were thrown, they immediately lost consciousness, leaving the cracked walls as they fell down.


    "You should Calm down, My King."


    The Queen alluringly said as she hugged the King''s head unto her stomach, letting her ample chest rest on top of his head.


    The King took a deep breath. He was already riled up by the two brother''s failure, and yet, they had the audacity to talk back. Since when did they have the courage?


    After regaining his calm, the King turned to Ellse.


    "Don''t you think that these imbeciles are behaving oddly?"


    "I also thought the same, my King. Should I check them?"


    Ellse replied humbly.


    "Do it."


    "Yes, My King."


    With that order, Ellse approached the two unconcious brothers. The other people around gave way for him as if they feared him.


    Closing unto the two, Ellse bent down. Both his hands touched the heads of the two. No one could see it, but his hands had an invisible force prying into the minds of the two.


    It took about five minutes for each of the two before Ellse stood up.<sub> </sub>


    "How is it?"


    The King asked.


    Unexpectedly, Ellse shook his head.


    "There seemed to be nothing wrong, my King," Ellse replied as he went back to his original position. "All I can say is that the two were too bent on taking revenge that it swallowed their rationality. They might have felt humiliated after that battle for them to be like this."


    The King frowned, though the frown rxed after a while. What Ellse said was quite reasonable. In fact, it was the first time that these two brothers failed with their mission. It was not wrong to feel humiliated after being pushed around by the enemy to the point that they had to flee.


    Anyone in this circumstance would be hell-bent on taking revenge.


    The King grew silent, so as the whole main hall.


    Then, a pat on his head was felt by the King. He looked up, and the Queen was smiling at him.


    "Think about thister. Let''s eat lunch first to cool your head."


    Seeing that lovely and alluring smile, the King nodded.


    "Everyone is dismissed. Drag those two away." The King pointed at the unconcious brothers. "Ellse, you stay."


    With that order, everyone in the hall immediately moved, leaving the three inside.


    But then, Ellse suddenly turned his head towards somewhere.


    "What is the matter?"


    The King noticed Ellse and asked.


    "My King, My Queen, can I leave for a bit?" Ellse bowed. "It seems my little cat had returned."


    "Is that so?" The King nodded slightly. "Then go. Return after you finish immediately."


    "Yes, My King."


    Ellse bowed once more, this time, his right hand was on his left chest.


    Then, with a cloud of white mist, Ellse''s body disappeared like a mirage.


    ***


    <strong>Day 129 - 11:35 AM - Haddon Lake, Audubon, Camden County, New Jersey, United States of America</strong>


    Haddon Lake, it was a beautiful ce to spend time back before the apocalypse. There were a park and other spots to stand by around it. The vegetation was nice looking and properly maintained. There were also fishing and sports areas that people could go to.


    Now, the park was empty. Only the remains of dried skeletons after their flesh was eaten clean remained.


    Fortunately, the ce was mostly devoid of the infected. It was because the survivors and the military use the water in theke and also to fish. Thus, they had to conduct a sweep every now and then to preserve their water source.


    Earlier, there were people around as they procured water to wash away the remains of the battle this morning. As the cleaning was finished, it was supposed to be devoid of people.


    Yet, there was a woman sitting on one of the benches alone. She seemed to be in deep thought about the things that happened to her earlier.


    She was no other than Elise, Felicia''s younger sister.


    Well, that was the title she had and hated the most. She never ever liked it, to be called Felicia''s younger sister.


    In most cases, it was the youngest child that would get the attention of their parents. It was especially the case when the youngest andst child of the family was a different gender than their older siblings.


    Everything they had was new. Requests were being given to them with little resistance.


    Unfortunately, Elise had an older sister. That was Felicia. Although there was not much difference with the emotional affection their parents given to each of them, Felicia had more privilege.


    Felicia would mostly have new clothes, while her old clothes would fall to Elise. It was not like she did not receive new ones, but more of her clothes and things had once belonged to her older sister.


    Things might have been better if Felicia and Roan changed ces. Felicia was the oldest child, and Roan was the second.


    But it was all family matters. Even though Felicia grew up a bit spoiled, it did not mean that much to her as she did not mistreat Elise.


    Things got worse when she entered school, the very same school that her older sister studied in.


    Elise had hidden circumstances. Because of this, she could not concentrate on her studies or take care of herself better.


    Thus, the very smart and popr Felicia, her older sister... Elise was beingpared to her.


    Felicia was always among the ranking, while she had mostly average grades. She was also known by almost the whole school.


    Once they learned that Elise was Felicia''s younger sister, the people that knew Felicia would start topare Elise to her.


    Elise''s confidence became lower and lower. And her hidden circumstance made things worse. Soon, she was branded as a weird kid that always talked to herself.


    She was never bullied physically, but the emotional damage was just as worse.


    All of that continued till highschool. It was until Felicia vanished from her life.


    She thought that things would be better. But it became worse as her parents spared no effort in searching for her older sister. Most of the house''s budget and her father''s retirement benefits were spent on funds for finding her missing sister.


    It reached the point that they even had to reduce their food expenses. Elise almost dropped out of school. Luckily, their older brother was already working at this point, and he supported her school expenses.


    Fortunately, it ended after two years that her sister was missing. Her life got back on track. Her parents started to treat her better since Felicia, who was hogging everything, was gone.


    But now, the older sister she despised the most for being the cause of most of her ordeals in life suddenly returned. What other reaction could she make?


    She did not want to be nothing but FELICIA''S YOUNGER SISTER once again.


    HAHAHAHAHA!


    Annoyingughter echoed in her ears. It was as if scorning her for her current state.


    "STOP LAUGHING AT ME!"


    Elise shouted, covering her ears. But theughter never stopped.


    Several wisps of light could be seen dancing around her, mocking her.


    But then, a cloud of mist covered the ce, causing the wisps to scurry away in fear.


    "You''re here again. What is wrong this time?"


    A gentle voice entered her ears. Elise immediately raised her head.


    In front of her, a man with a handsome face and green eyes stood. He looked like a human, though he had an ethereal air around him.


    "Ellse!"


    Elise called out.

 Chapter 536 The Entity Named Ellse, The Secrets He Held

    <strong>Day 129 - 11:36 - Haddon Lake, Audubon, Camden County, New Jersey, United States of America</strong>


    Elise brightly smiled as she saw the man appear before her.


    Ellse, it had been long she met this man. It should be about a few years ago before the outbreak started. Right after Felicia had gone missing and their family was too focused on looking for her older sister.


    Yes, she knew this man even before the end of the worldmenced.


    He was an irreceable existence to Elise.


    Since Elise was young, she was considered a child with psychiatric problems. When she was a baby, she could be seen ncing around her for no particr reason. It was as if she was looking at something, but her family never saw anything.


    When she started to walk and talk, the first words she uttered were not Mom or Dad, but a name none in the family recognized. She was also pointing at somewhere while calling the name, but there was no one there.


    The only time she stopped calling that name was when she fell unconcious with a very high fever when she was five. But things have gotten worse as her mood swings started.


    It was triggered, especially when Elise started to get angry, saying someone or something wasughing at her.


    And that continued until she met Ellse. She did not know where he came from. The first time they met was at this very same location. One thing was for sure, though...


    Every time that Ellse was around, the voices would go away.


    Because of that, she started to frequent theke at almost any free time she could get.


    It was even more so when she had problems. Ellse was always there to listen. She knew that he might not be human. At least, he was there, any time she needed someone to listen to her troubles.


    Like now, she was troubled about the return of her sister. Yes, Elise hated Felicia because of what happened in the past. But even with that, there was also happiness within since they were still siblings. That should have been able to make her retrain herself.


    But for some reason, she could not.


    And Elise ended up pping her sister at a burst of anger, she could not understand where it stemmed from.


    At the appearance of Ellse, Elise narrated what happened before she fled from the school.


    "Is that so?" Ellse said, sitting on the bench beside Elise. "Maybe, that is your real feelings. You should just let it out, or you will feel more miserable."


    "But..."


    Elise hesitated.


    At that point, Elise did not notice, but there was a sharp re on Ellse''s eyes as he realized something.


    "My maniption is broken. Who did it?"


    Ellse muttered in anger.


    "Did you say something?"


    Elise asked as she heard his muttering voice but did not manage to catch what he was saying.


    "No, nothing," Ellse replied. "Did your sister bring other people with her?"


    "?" Elise tilted her head. "Yes? Why?"


    "Did any of them feel strange?"


    Ellse asked once more.


    "I don''t know..." Elise replied. "I only nced at them. But I think... the man wearing ck clothes felt weird for some reason."


    "Is it that guy?"


    Ellse muttered while touching his chin.


    "Do you know them?"


    Elise asked.


    "No, I don''t. But in case, stay away from those people."


    Elise could not understand why Ellse said that. However, she could not also think of a reason why she should not follow what he said to her.


    But then, Ellse suddenly turned his head towards the direction of the school.


    "Tch!"


    Elise heard him click his tongue for the first time.


    There, Ellse waved his hand, as the two of them were enveloped by a thick cloud of mist.


    ***


    After leaving the Audubon High School, Mark and Mei immediately flew towards the direction that Elise fled to. She was already out of his detection when they finished talking with Felicia''s parents making the two hurry.


    Finally, Mark found Elise in the vicinity of Haddon Lake. However...


    She was not alone.


    Sensing that, Mark urged Mei to fly faster.


    But then, Mark frowned.


    Elise and whoever ever the person with her was, suddenly vanished from his detection.


    Reaching the ce, where the two vanished, Mark and Meinded.


    "Gege, there''s no one here."


    Mei said, looking around.


    Of course, Mark knew that. But there were people here just a few seconds ago.


    "Just wait a bit."


    Mark said as he closed his eyes.


    Concentrating his mind, he tried to feel the surroundings.


    Then, on the bench where Markst felt Elise, he could sense traces of Magical Energy being used.


    Furthermore, it was not something peaceful but was utterly evil in nature.


    "Another Evil Spirit."


    Mark muttered as he opened his eyes. He was frowning deeply.


    "Is she in danger?"


    Mei asked, sensing Mark''s mood.


    "I don''t think she is," Mark replied. "That Elise is not just a regr person either. For Evil Spirits, it is better to keep her alive than dead."


    Mei was quite confused. Well, anyone that would hear Mark say those words would since they did not know what he knew.


    Without exining anything, Mark took out his phone. He then looked at theke.


    "Lake,ke..."


    He muttered as he searched the map on his phone. There was ake in front of them, but Mark did not know whatke it was as they never asked anyone.


    Ake near Audubon High School, there was nothing else but Haddon Lake.


    Seeing the name, Mark sinisterly smiled as he remembered something.


    "Let''s go."


    Mark grabbed Mei''s hand and led her to fly off.


    "Gege, where are we going?"<sub> </sub>


    Mei asked, letting Mark lead her without resistance.


    "A ce of a curse," Mark said.


    Mei could not help but tilt her head.


    "There might be a lot of evil spirits around the world, but not all of them can manifest in a way that they could directly and physically affect people. If an evil spirit is capable of transporting a person, it should be a strong one. For that to happen, that spirit should be attached to a ce with high concentrations of negative energy. Cursed and haunted ces are the most suitable ones for stronger evil spirits to be born from."


    Mark then turned his head in a precise direction.


    "There just happened to be a ce nearby that fit the criteria."


    ***


    Elise was startled when Ellse covered the two of them with that cloud of mist.


    When the mist vanished, however...


    "Where?"


    That was what escaped from her mouth.


    The two of them were not at their initial location back in Haddon Lake. It was a totally different ce but not that unfamiliar either.


    "Remember this ce?"


    Ellse asked as he leaned his back on a tree.


    When Elise saw the tree, however, her eyes turned wide.


    For those that did not know, it might just be another tree near a body of water. However, it was different for those living in this area and those interested in the supernatural. This tree was not just any other tree.


    It was an old tree in a small penins at the side of Newton Lake.


    "The Oaklyn Suicide Nazi Tree..."


    Elise muttered.


    Of course, she would remember. She came here before, wanting to end her life like how the others did on this tree. To hang themselves on its thick branches.


    In fact, to warn people to stay away, some of the ropes used by other suicide victims were left hanging on the tree. The party spot in the past turned into a sinister ce with beautifulkeside scenery.


    Many mysteries had circted around the area that had been linked to this cursed tree. Some were bodies being dumped in thekes around here, some were mysterious homicide cases, and of course, the suicides that happened on this tree before the outbreak.


    Because of that, most people who knew would stay away from this location. Even though it might just be some hearsay, no one would want to be the next victim of the curse.


    "Why did you bring me here?"


    Elise asked. She was not worried, but just curious.


    "It seems like the people that brought your sister back is looking for you."


    Elise sighed. There was no doubt that her parents and sister must have sent those people to look for her. It was not like she did not want to go back, but she was not ready to face them after what happened.


    But then, Ellse stiffened in shock. He was about to cover himself and Elise with another cloud of mist.


    However, it was alreadyte this time.


    "Found you two."


    A voice entered their ears.


    "TCH!"


    Ellse clicked his tongue and tried to hastily transport himself away, leaving Elise behind.


    SHOOM!


    Ellse was not able to as a surge of ck smoke dispersed the mist.


    In shock, Ellse and Elise looked up. Above, Mark and Mei pped their wings.


    "My guess is right."


    Mark said, looking at the tree behind Ellse.


    "Demons..."


    Ellse muttered, seeing the wings and sensing aura from Mark and Mei. He was shivering. Ellse might be a strong evil spirit, butpared to demons, he was just a lower existence.


    "Are you the evil spirit born from this tree? Or are you the evil spirit of this tree born because of her?"


    Mark asked, pointing at the tree and Elise.


    The questions brought deep shock to Elise as she turned to Ellse.


    Come to think of it, when Elise tried tomit suicide, her rope suddenly broke off without reason. That time, she went home with bruises from the fall and just brushed it off as she slipped while on the road.


    After that incident, that was also the first time she met Ellse.


    But then... as Mark probed further, he realized something even more peculiar. Even Mei seemed to have noticed it.


    "Gege, don''t this guy and Elise look a bit simr?"


    That was right, Ellse and Elise seemed to be the same age and had a bit of resemnce to each other.


    As for Mark, what he noticed was something that could not be refuted.


    Thus, his words gave more shock to Elise, who had yet to reorganize her thoughts.


    "You''re her twin brother, aren''t you?"


    Mark''s words made Ellse open his mouth in shock. This was the secret of his that Elise should never know.


    Elise was even more muddled. She had no knowledge that she had a twin brother. But to think of it, she always feltfortable when he was with Ellse. He was closer to Elisepared to her other siblings, even though they had known each other for a shorter time.


    Ellse stared at Mark with a grave expression. His secrets were being dug up one by one by this demon.


    "Just what kind of demon are you?! How are you able to know those things?!"


    Elise stared at Ellse with wide eyes. He did not deny any of the usations, meaning, all of it was true.


    "Why should I answer the questions of an enemy?" Mark replied. "You are here to gather information from her and give it to those that attacked this morning, am I right?"


    "You..."


    Ellse could not say anything anymore. He was stripped naked of his secrets.


    "You really thought that I won''t notice you earlier? When I arrived this morning, you hurriedly retreated from my field of detection. When those brothers retreated, you also did. This time, you did the same. It might work once, but not twice."


    "Ellse, is that true?"


    Elise suddenly asked, forcing her tears not to fall.


    Ellse turned his head away from her. It seemed that he could not look at her straight on her eyes anymore.


    "WHY?!"


    Elise shouted.


    "WHY?" Ellse shouted back, a surge of ck energy enveloped around the surroundingsing from the tree behind them.


    "It''s all because of you!"


    Strong winds blew in the surroundings, pushing Elise back with a strong force.She flew back, almost falling into Newton Lake.


    Mark and Mei appeared behind Elise and caught her. They stared in front as the surroundings were enveloped in a dark, sinister, aura.

 Chapter 537 The Cover Of Evil, The Premature Awakening Of The Curse

    <strong>Day 129 - 11:59 AM - Newton Lake, Veteran''s Memorial Park, Oaklyn, Camden County, New Jersey, United States of America</strong>


    It was just a minute before noon, and the sun should be up and shining. Yet, a dark and malicious aura enveloped the surroundings of the Veteran''s Memorial Park at the side of Newton Lake.


    Despite how the sun was shining in the clear sky, for some reason, everything was dark. It was not only the brightness of the surroundings but as if the world became devoided of its color.


    That sensation continued to spread, enveloping not only the whole memorial park but extended for more than two hundred meters diameter with the cursed tree at the center.


    Not knowing the effects of these changes in the surroundings, Mark decided to be cautious. Carrying Elise and pulling Mei with him, he tried to flee as fast as he could.


    Unfortunately, despite using the strengthening of his blood, the spread of the dark aura was faster. It was as if the whole area changed in an instant.


    Mark could only stop at the boundary where the spread ended. It was because there was a misty distortion of space that felt too dangerous to cross. To make sure, Mark let go of Mei and used the nail of his index finger to touch the boundary. The tip of his nail was cut off as if it was sliced off with a very sharp de.


    "We''re trapped."


    Mark frowned.


    Without any other choice, they faced the direction they fled from.


    There, they could see the cursed tree growing for about seven meters in height, enveloping arge area under its shadow and covering the small penins with its trunk and roots.


    In front of the tree, they could see Ellse, floating like a ghost. However, the aura he had before while he was with Elise was all gone. It was reced with a menacing sensation that could make anyone that looked into his eyes shiver.


    An evil spirit born from a cursed object, that was one of the most dangerous things on Earth. Old paintings, dolls, houses, humans, and even a family''s bloodline. Many things could be cursed in many different ways.


    Most of the time, the curse was caused by the resentment that the owner of the object had when they were alive. Somethings, it was caused by the anger of a person towards another.


    Many people dared try to face these things just for fun. While some ended in a boring fake event, some did not end up very well.


    Despite the existence of these things, most people were skeptical. They believed their religion but did not acknowledge the truth about the creatures being taught by their holy books.


    As for the most dangerous things about curse objects, it was those that could grow. It was at the expense of many lives and sacrifices. The souls of people that died with the involvement of the curse would be absorbed by the object.


    With the deaths that were suspected to involve the tree in front of them, it was not surprising that it became this strong. Furthermore, two more factors brought the curse to this point. It was the existence of Mutagen and Elise.


    "Ellse!"


    Elise called out. She might be surprised that the man she shared her troubles to was the spirit of her twin brother. However, they still experienced a good time together. That was something that she would not forget.


    "Don''t bother calling. That thing is not the person you knew he is."


    Mark said, reprimanding Elise.


    "What do you know?!" Elise shouted. "You are just someone that Felicia brought here. As if you knew anything!"


    Mark turned to Elise with a re.


    "I might not know your circumstances, but at least, I know more about that thing in front. Tell me. Did you get in contact with that tree before?"


    "I-I did." Mark''s scary re surely pushed Elise in a passive stance.


    "Then, when did you meet that Ellse for the first time? Before or after you got in contact with the tree?" Mark''s voice was rather serene. "If you met him after you got in contact with the tree, then the entire time, you are not speaking with Ellse but the evil spirit of the tree that swallowed him."


    The eyes of Elise turned wide while she fell silent. What Mark said shook her to the core as it was the truth. She met Ellse not long after she tried to hang herself on that same tree.


    Tears started to appear at the corner of her eyes. What Mark had said had just proven that everything thing she had in these past years was nothing but lies.


    Elise wanted to cry out loud. She wanted to refute everything in front of her. However, even if Elise closed her eyes and ears, there was no going back. In the least, she did not want to cry while being carried by a man she did not even know.


    "Please, put me down."


    That was all she could request. However, Mark''s reply was nothing but a tant...


    "No."


    Elise could not help but raise her head to look at him. There, she could see him pointing below.


    When she turned her head to where he was pointing, she could see a lot of infected. However, there was something strange about them. Their eyes were glowing red and were all staring at them that was flying in the air.


    It was a strange and unsettling scene.


    "Don''t think that I''m just carrying you because I want to. The energy being released by that can make any human without proper resistance insane. If I let you go even a second and you got exposed to it, you will be one of those infected."


    "This..."


    Elise''s mind was in turmoil, she could not process everything that was happening right now, and her thoughts started to be chaotic.


    "Ugh..."


    Suddenly, Mark released a painful voice.


    "Gege?"


    Mei was surprised as she suddenly saw Mark''splexion pale. It seemed like his head was in pain.


    Gritting his teeth, Mark raised his free hand.


    PAK!


    Elise fainted as Mark hit her nape.


    As soon as Elise lost consciousness, Mark''splexion started to recover.


    "This..."


    Mei was surprised. It was not hard for her to realize that Mark''s sudden pain was connected to Elise.


    "Gege, what happened?"


    Mei asked.


    "I''ll tell youter," Mark replied. "Can you hold her for now? I still have to fight that guy in front."


    "Okay."


    Mei nodded and received Elise from Mark.


    "Even the infected are affected, why are we still fine?"


    Mei asked, looking at the infected below.


    "We''re already demons rather than humans, so that should give us more resistance. Besides, you have your physique, and we are wearing this."


    Mark then pulled out the Trinket he took from the gangsters back on his date with Mei from his chest.


    "Remember, these protect their wearers from mental attacks."<sub> </sub>


    Mei remembered. She was also wearing hers.


    "But this energy..."


    Mei spoke, sensing the energy in the surroundings.


    "I know. It''s some kind of Miasma. The one that affects the consciousness of people."


    Mark said, knowing what Mei was pointing to. The energy from the cursed tree was not that different from the Miasma that the Deity of Bloodshed used to control the infected and animals back then.


    The only difference was that the Miasma from the cursed tree could not control those that were affected directly but cause them to attack those that were not.


    And since in this area, there was only Mark, Mei, and Elise that was protected from the effects. Thus, all the ones affected were currently looking at them from the ground.


    "Gege, should we attack now? He''s still powering up."


    Mei suggested as the tree was still slowly growing.


    "Let''s wait until he starts moving."


    Mark said with a smile.


    Mei was quite confused as to why, but then, Mark raised his right hand and slightly moved the bracer covering it. Mei finally understood why he did not want to take action immediately.


    The [PsyCrystal] was absorbing the Miasma in the surroundings. Its glow was pulsating brightly but was being covered by the bracer that Mark was wearing.


    ***


    <strong>Day 129 - 12:02 PM - Audubon High School, Audubon, Camden County, New Jersey, United States of America</strong>


    At the same time, the Mutators, the Infected, and some other people noticed themotion.


    With the sudden appearance of abundant energy from the cursed tree, all the infected in the area started rushing towards the location.


    At Audubon High School, the lookouts were rmed as they saw arge hordeing towards the direction of the school. But then, they were all bbergasted when they saw that the infected were just passing by, ignoring the school and everyone ready to fight them.


    It was while they finally noticed the strange phenomenon happening in the north, about two kilometers from the school. They were all rmed as almost everyone in the school rushed towards the roof to see what was happening.


    They were all shocked to see the unsettling darkness in that area, along with the towering tree that was even higher than the building they were currently on.


    "What in the world is happening now?"


    Captain Morrison voiced out as he started at the even in front of his eyes.


    "Sir, what are your orders."


    One of his soldiers asked. At this point, none of them knew what they should do. The only thing they could do was to follow the Captain''s orders.


    "Gather everyone inside the gymnasium." The Captain ordered. "We don''t know what is happening. It''s better to gather everyone in a single area. That way, it will be easier to protect them. GO!"


    "Yes Sir!"


    The soldiers saluted and went to fulfill the orders given to them.


    Inside the third floor clinic, Felicia and her parents could not see what was happening. However, for some reason, they had an unsettling feeling in their hearts.


    Everyone was already panicking as if it was the seconding of the end of the world. Nevertheless, the only thing that the old couple wanted was the safe return of their youngest child.


    ***


    <strong>Day 129 - 12:03 PM - Browning Square, Bellmawr, Camden County, New Jersey, United States of America</strong>


    Almost everyone in this ce was Mutators. Thus, they were all standing in high ces, peering towards the north.


    It was not surprising that they were all rmed. The hair on their napes and arms were all standing up as they felt the sinister energy from miles away.


    At the roof of the main building, the Kind and Queen of this ce stood.


    "Tch."


    Seeing what was happening, the Queen clicked her tongue, unbefitting of her current role.


    "Do you know what is happening?"


    The King asked, seeing the frown on his Queen''s eyebrows.


    "It''s that damn Ellse." The Queen cursed. "No, something must have happened for him to be too riled up to the point of waking up that tree prematurely."


    As she said that, the Queen turned to the King.


    "Let''s go see what is happening."


    The Queen was surely pissed off. Thus, the King could only shrug his shoulders.


    "On your lead, My Queen."


    The Kind replied.


    At that moment, the Queen transformed.


    Two curved horns sprouted from above her ears, and a pair ofrge, bat wings came out of her back. A long red tail grew from her tailbone, it was a tail with a spade-like end. That was not the end. As those features fully appeared, red tattoo-like markings started to show on her skin, especially on her wrists, neck, chest, and below her umbilical region.


    On the other hand, the King had no physical changes in his body. Instead, there was strong magical energy around him that caused the air to fluctuate. And as he willed, his body started to float steadily.


    With the preparations, ready, The King and Queen flew towards the location of the cursed tree.


    ***


    <strong>Day 129 - 12:05 PM - ACME Markets, Haddon Township, Camden County, New Jersey, United States of America</strong>


    In another location, another group was rmed by the sudden event. The leader of the group had some worries as he looked at the changing color of the sky.


    "Everyone! Hurry up! We are returning!"


    The leadermanded as their members rushed to their vehicles.


    As everyone was ready to leave the market, the leader suddenlymanded.


    "All of you return quickly! I''ll check out what is happening!"


    With those words, he jumped into his motorbike and left.


    "SIR ROAN!"


    Shouting was the only thing their members could do as their leader rushed away.

 Chapter 538 Tangled Fates, The Different Roads That Unexpectedly Crossed

    <strong>Day 129 - 12:07 PM - Newton Lake, Veteran''s Memorial Park, Oaklyn, Camden County, New Jersey, United States of America</strong>


    Chilly air blew despite how the sun was up in the sky. Without a doubt, the whole ce around the tree was separated from reality. It was a ce where thews of physics on Earth did not apply.


    In fact, some of the things on the ground started to float. It was as if thews of gravity began to weaken.


    When Mark saw that, he had the urge to make a move. If it continued this way, it would not be surprising if the berserk infected below started lunging at them despite being more than a dozen meters above the ground.


    However, he could not start the fight immediately. It was because not only the tree and Ellse had a strong surge of energy protecting them, but the [PsyCrystal] on his arm was crazily absorbing energy.


    Mark looked at his left hand. There were already two new marble-sized crystals.


    In the six minutes that this event started, two crystals had already been formed. Mark could not just let this opportunity go away.


    Furthermore, the crystals were differentpared to the ones that the [PsyCrystal] usually create. The new ones were gray colored. And for some reason, Mark had the urge to absorb these immediately for some reason he could not understand.


    No, it was not Mark. It was the Miasma in his body that wanted to absorb these crystals.


    This was one more reason to not start the fight immediately.


    Unfortunately, it seemed like he did not have much time to do what he wanted.


    Outside the wall that differentiated reality and space affected by the cursed tree, the infected started to gather in droves. Then, they dived into the wall, trying to enter the ce filled with magical energy.


    Of course, all of them became ground ash that scattered on the ground. Despite that, the infected did not stop, causing more disgusting dust to permeate the air. But it did not stop there. Many of the infected were mutated, and some had [Mutagen Stones] inside their heads. The [Mutagen Stones] were also destroyed.


    Unexpectedly, the nail sized stones did not turn to dust but vanished entirely. In their ce, a small amount of neutral energy was released that was immediately swallowed by the Miasma from the cursed tree.


    It caused the negative energy in the surroundings to grow thicker at a faster rate.


    While Mark observed that, he noticed a familiar emotional fluctuation enter his radar. It was surely not someone he knew but had some connections with some people around him.


    Soon, the man was in sight. He was agilely jumping from roof to roof, avoiding the infected on the streets.


    When Mark saw the person, he had some astonishment.


    It was because, for the first time, he encountered a...


    "[Level 3]..."


    Mark had the inclination to not believe it. Even in Freed''s, it took five years before the first [Level 3 Psychic] appeared. Nevertheless, Mark would not be able to fool himself. Furthermore, considering that [Level 3 Mutations] had already appeared among the infected, a [Level 3 Mutator] was not that far to show themselves.


    No wonder the group that Ellse was in cahoots could not attack the Audubon School directly despite having strong Mutators. But of course, this was not only the factor.


    The other factor was Elise and Ellse.


    If not for the existence of these siblings, the settlement at Audubon High School had already been long gone.


    Soon, Roan reached the border of the affected area. The first thing he saw was Mark and Mei... and of course, Elise that was being carried by them.


    "Who are you?! What are you doing to Elise?!"


    Roan shouted as he charged towards the border.


    But then, he froze as he felt a stinging sensation in his head. He could not help but look at Mark, who was ring at him with his red, glowing eyes.


    "You better not go through the border if you don''t want to end up like those."


    Mark said, pointing at the infected, diving through the border, and turning to dust.


    As Roan stopped on his feet, the stinging sensation vanished. It happened at the same time that the glow in Mark''s eyes dimmed.


    Roan was about to speak again. He was definitely concerned about Elise. However, Mark beat him to the punch.


    "Don''t worry about her. She''s just unconscious. We are here to bring her back to your parents after she ran away. We just got trapped in her because of your younger brother."


    Roan''s eyes turned wide.


    "How did you... No, he''s already dead. What are you saying..."


    In the middle of Roan''s sentence, Mark pointed in front.


    Roan then saw the humanoid floating in front of the cursed tree. Seeing the appearance that was not much different from his and Elise, he could not believe his eyes.


    "But he died after birth..."


    That was what Roan could only say. However, it gave Mark a vague idea about what happened in their family.


    Ellse must have died after he and Elise were born. Such a tragic event for a happy asion. It could be the reason they decided not to tell Felicia and Elise.


    Roan turned back to Mark. It seemed that they really came just to take his younger sister back.


    "Who are you two?" He asked. There were no other things for him to do since he could not enter the border.


    "We came here with Felicia. This younger sister of yours ran away after meeting her."


    Hearing that, Roan shivered. He was on the verge of tears. These two just mentioned his missing sister''s name. It was enough for him to believe them.


    "Thank goodness... She''s still alive."


    Seeing that reaction, Mark and Mei could not help but smile. Roan was surely a good brother to his siblings.


    While Roan was in that condition, two more people appeared outside the border. It was a man and a woman.


    Unexpectedly, with the wave of the woman''s hand, the border was torn, and she led the man inside.


    The appearance of the two made both Roan and Mark surprised. At the same time, Roan had a boiling rage that even the glint of his eyes felt that he could kill.


    Surprisingly, they were staring at the same person. It was the man that followed the woman into the border.


    "Jude..."


    Roan murmured.


    Hearing Roan mutter what seemed to be the name of that man, Mark turned to ask.


    "You know him?"


    Roan turned to Mark, his rage did not dissipate even a pint.


    "Even if the world turned upside down. I''ll never forget this man," Roan said with seeing anger. "I don''t know if Felicia already told you the reason why she left us."


    "She already did. That''s why we are here."


    Mark replied.


    "Then it will be easy to exin." Roan red at that man called Jude once more. "That is her boyfriend that caused her to leave us."<sub> </sub>


    This caused both Mark and Mei to be surprised. Who would have thought that they would meet that guy?


    Furthermore, there was one thing that only Mark knew after heid his eyes on that man.


    Who would have thought that it was a [Inheritor] that caused all of Felicia''s suffering? Being one with Freed, Mark felt that he was partly at fault.


    ***


    On the other side, the King, Jude, and his Queen were also staring at Mark and Mei. The Queen could not help but feel surprised to see demons in his ce. Furthermore, they were [Purebloods].


    In terms of status, these demons were not that different from her master. She could not help but feel pressured. If those two were the enemies this time, it would be no surprise that Ellse activated the curse prematurely.


    The Queen looked at Ellse, who was still in the middle of releasing the curse, then, to Mark and Mei.


    "I wonder why these to esteemed Demons wandered in our territory?"


    The Queen asked. Although her words were quite polite, there was irritation in her beautiful face.


    "My Queen, what are you..."


    Jude whispered.


    "Shut up for now." The Queen cut him off. "If we can avoid further conflict, we better do. I don''t know why they are not making a move at Ellse, but if they attacked Ellse in the middle of releasing the curse, we might not stand a chance once conflict start."


    It seemed that the Queen knew what she was doing. Conversing with the enemy was also a way to stall for time.


    At that question, Mark smiled.


    "We came to take this girl away, but that guy there had been hindering us."


    Jude and the Queen''s eyes fell on Elise. They both had unsightly expressions.


    After all, Elise was the key to the ns that took years to prepare. There was no way that they could hand her over just like that.


    "Why would you want to take her away?"


    Jude asked.


    But then, another voice chimed in.


    "Jude! You bastard! First, it was Felicia, now its Elise!"


    Jude finally noticed Roan. He could not help but frown. To think that there was another troublesome character here. Nevertheless, Roan was outside the border, there was no point in arguing with him when there was no way for him to do anything.


    Thus, Jude ignored the furious Roan and turned back to Mark, waiting for his answer.


    "I just want to take her back? Is there a need for other reasons?"


    Mark said in a mocking tone. He was definitely trying to rile up the two.


    "Esteemed Demon, I don''t think that it will do you any better if you take her away." The Queen spoke in a threatening but calm manner. "Even if you are a [Pureblood], it would be impossible for you to get out of the barrier without our permission."


    "That is not for you to decide, though."


    Mark smiled as he suddenly turned into a puff of ck mist.


    The Queen immediately felt a chill as she conjured a red dagger on both of her hands.


    CLANG!


    Sparks spread as a reddish-ck scythe, and the pair of daggers collided with each other.


    "Not bad."


    Mark said as he appeared in front of the Queen.


    "UGH!"


    The Queen let out a painful voice as Mark suddenly released a ruthless kick on her stomach.


    BAM!


    The force from Mark''s kick using his [Blood Strengthening] caused the Queen to crash onto the ground and made a house to copse.


    "Illia!"


    Jude shouted in surprise.


    He red at Mark and waved his right hand.


    Mark could not see anything happen. However, he had the urge to dodge. Thus, he did.


    In his ce, invisible des of wind passed by, tearing the Miasma in the surroundings apart.


    Mark appeared in another ce with an understanding look.


    "So, its that guy... It''s no wonder his ability chose a person like you. You two are both womanizers."


    Jude could not understand what Mark was saying, and he had no notions of understanding its meaning. All he did was wave his hands more, sending dozens of wind des towards Mark. As Jude did that, he retreated towards the Queen, Illia.


    Mark frowned. The ability that this guy inherited was one of his banes. His [Shadow Mist Movement] that allowed him to pass through small gaps in space could be neutralized by this guy. The air was everywhere, after all.


    He did not know whether this guy''s ability reached the level to be able to do that. However, there was no need to know. It was better to eliminate this guy as soon as possible.


    With a p of his wings, Mark charged towards Jude. Mark intended to end his life and take his head.


    CRUMBLE!


    CLANG!


    Mark''s path was blocked by Illia, and their weapons shed once more.


    "Illia!"


    Jude shouted, intending to help her.


    "You MORON! Retreat! This demon is after your head!"


    Illia shouted with great urgency. She did not know why these demons appeared here and seem to want to kill Jude. However, there was no way that she would let that happen.


    But then, the thing they were waiting for came.


    Ellse opened his eyes, the curse activated, and the ritual finally started.

 Chapter 539 Years Of Plans, The Reasons Behind Their Sufferings

    <strong>Day 129 - 12:15 PM- Newton Lake, Veteran''s Memorial Park, Oaklyn, Camden County, New Jersey, United States of America</strong>


    The atmosphere inside the area affected by the cursed tree suddenly became stagnant. Mark could not help but retreat because of the sudden change. It was better to be cautious than to get caught off guard.


    Mark immediately flew back and hovered in front of Mei and Elise. He did not know what was happening, but for some reason, he was feeling some sort of danger.


    He stared at Ellse, his appearance changed. His hair turned white along with hisplexion, fangs grew on his teeth, and his ears became pointed. It was his original appearance as an Evil Spirit.


    Aside from Ellse, the Cursed Tree behind him started to emit an evil aura that was different from the Miasma that already scattered around it. Along with its release, dead evolved fishes and insects that were hiding under the like started to float. It was as if theke was alerting everyone of the ominous event that was about toe.


    "Ellse!" Illia flew towards Ellse together with Jude. "Why did you activate the curse?! It''s not the proper time yet!"


    "My Queen, do you really have to ask that?" Ellse replied. For some reason, his conduct was way different from when Mark revealed their ns.


    "That demon there revealed our ns to Elise. Even the idiot Ellse''s rtionship with their family."


    It was strange. Ellse was referring to himself in third-person. No, it was like the Ellse earlier, and the Ellse now were two different people.


    Hearing Ellse''s reply, Illia understood.


    The very reason they did not wipe out the Settlement in Audubon High School was for this very event. Slowly killing the survivors, pushing them into the corner, and harassing them in every way. It was all for the sake of feeding their despair and other negative emotions to the curse.


    But the most crucial part of it was Elise.


    Devils, Lesser Demons, and Evil Spirits feed off the negative energies that humans emit. It was the very reason that the weaker Evil Spirits tend to scare people to absorb their negative emotions.


    And Elise was exceptional in that regard.


    Mark also noticed the same thing, and that was why he knocked her unconcious. The more chaotic her mind was, the more negative energies were being released from her emotions.


    In a sense, she was theplete opposite of Empaths that could absorb negative energies from the emotions of people around them.


    That was the cause of her miseries since her birth. Because of the negative energies around her, evil spirits tend to gather near her. They would make her life even more miserable to feed off the energies she emits.


    It was also the very same reason that made people subconsciously avoid her because they somehow felt ufortable when she was around.


    But of course, to Ellia, the guardian of the Cursed Tree, she was a treasure.


    She contributed a whole lot to make Elise''s life miserable. That included Jude, who became her partner in crime since six years ago. It was when a beam of light fell from the destroyed meteorite andnded on his body, giving him the powers that he had now.


    All of what happened to Felicia was included in their schemes.


    When she became neglected and tried to suicide, Elise did not know that she caused the spirit of her brother that was sleeping inside her body to be sucked by the Cursed Tree.


    That was when the current Ellse appeared and became another of her aplices. Although he still had the fragments of the real Ellse that woulde out from time to time, soon, the boy''s spirit would be absorbed by the reborn Evil Spirit.


    It would not be long before the curse waspleted perfectly.


    However, the sudden appearance of Mark and his group destroyed the ns they prepared for years.


    Unfortunately, there was no going back. The curse had already been activated.


    Illia just needed topromise.


    CRACK! CRACK!


    The bark at the center of the trunk of the Cursed Tree started to peel on its own. For each bark that fell, a surge of red, sinister light would seep out of the gaps.


    When the bark was peeled off in a circr shape, a demonic magic circle was revealed with Swastikas around it.


    After seeing that magic circle appear, Illia''s eyes lit up.


    "My King, Ellse. Follow me."


    "What for?"


    Judeined. He was not feeling well as he stared at the magic circle.


    "Ellse activated the curse prematurely! We need to supplement the remaining mana needed for the ritual."


    After saying that, Illia flew towards the Magic Circle. Ellse immediately followed without question, while Jude also flew with a bit of hesitation.


    When they arrived in front of the Magic Circle, it only when Jude noticed that it was about three meters in diameter. It was huge.


    "My King! Put your both hands in that circle, Ellse you on the opposite side."


    Illia said, pointing at smaller circles on the left and right side of the Magic Circle.


    When the two did that, the magical energy in their bodies automatically circted.


    Illia smiled. The ritual was back on track.


    ***


    On the other side, Roan was getting restless.


    "Hey, aren''t you supposed to be stopping them?"


    Roan shouted at Mark in impatience.


    It was the most reasonable action. However, Mark was only watching. If this continued, Elise would be subjected to more danger. That was what he could feel.


    Mark frowned at Roan.


    "Shut up! I want to see what will happen."


    Roan was taken aback. He started to think if Mark was an idiot or something. Roan became seethed in his emotions. He did not mind if Mark wanted to watch, but he should not make his sister face more danger.


    Sensing Roan''s emotions, Mark sighed.


    "Give her to me."


    Mark took Elise from Mei.


    Then...


    "Here, catch!"


    Roan''s eyes turned wide as he saw Mark toss Elise towards the border.


    If this continued, Elise would definitely turn to dust.


    But then, Mark waved his hand. A surge of ck mist touched the border first before Elise.


    Then, that part of the border suddenly dissolved, allowing Elise to safely pass through.


    Roan jumped and caught Elise by reflex. Even so, his heart was pounding hard.<sub> </sub>


    "You!"


    Roan red at Mark. It looked like he wanted to skin Mark alive.


    "What, she what you are worrying about, right?" Mark shrugged. "You better bring her away. She''s still the target of those guys there."


    Roan wanted toin. However, he decided not to. Giving Jude thest killing stare, Roan carried Elise away, jumping from roof to roof.


    As Mark recalled the surge of Miasma, the border returned to normal. He turned back to the three that was supplying magical energy to the Magic Circle. It seemed that they did not notice him open up the border with ease.


    "Gege, should we get ready?"


    Mei asked.


    "We should," Mark replied with a smile. "They seemed to be waking up something. Whatever it is, expect something at the level of that me Demon or maybe stronger."


    Mark then took out two things.


    "Keep this just in case."


    He handed to two things to Mei. It was no other than the item he used in clearing the way after being chased by ouws and the crystal needed to power it.


    "That''s thest one I had. I''ve been keeping that just in case. Remember how I used thest one?"


    Mei received the items and nodded.


    Mark and Mei were preparing. It was then when...


    "AAGAAHHH!!! WHAT IS THIS!"


    Jude''s panicked voice echoed loudly.


    "My Queen, what is the meaning of this?!"


    Even Ellse seemed to have a problem.


    When Mark and Mei turned to look, they saw that Jude and Ellse were slowly sinking into the trunk of the tree. It seemed that they were powerless to resist.


    On the other hand, Illia pped her wings, watching the two. She had a sinister smile on her face.


    "Sorry, My King. You too, Ellse. We could have avoided this if the curse was activated properly along with human offerings. But it can''t be helped. My Master''s rebirth needed a soul and a vessel. The two of you are the only ones avable right now."


    "No! Illia, didn''t you love me?!"


    Jude shouted, his eyes wide in disbelief.


    "You really believed that nonsense?" Illiaughed in ascivious manner. "You know what I am, a Subus. I can give love to any men I wanted. But of course, none of them can bepared to my Master."


    Jude could only open his mouth, but no say anything. He could not believe that he had been used as a pawn. He was a King. He could be someone greater in the future.


    "My Queen, why?"


    Ellse said. Being bound to the curse, he knew that he would not be able to escape this. Still, he needed the reason why.


    "No reason, really," Illia replied. "Also don''t worry. After your soul fused with my Master''s, your sister will be his first meal. You and your sister would be together forever. Hahahaha"


    "F*CK! YOU WILL PAY FOR THIS!"


    Jude shouted in hisst moments. His whole body was swallowed by the cursed tree at the same time as Ellse''s.


    Illia turned towards Mark and Mei.


    "My Master will be reborn soon. You two are purebloods. My Master will surely ept you two if you pledge allegiance. I also like strong people. I can be your woman."


    Mark shivered. The Subus was giving him some suggestive gestures. He nced at Mei. She did not seem to be affected, though inside, she could not wait to tear this demon apart.


    He patted Mei''s head and snickered at the Subus. Mark knew that she needed to bid for time and decided to talk to them. Well, there was really no need for this since Mark wanted to see things to the end. Nevertheless, he did not mind ying with this woman.


    "No, thank you." Mark then pushed Mei forward in front of him. "You are too sexy, not my type. I prefer some proportioned bodies like my girl here."


    "GEGE!"


    Mei blushed.


    On the other hand, Illia was definitely embarrassed in a negative way. This was the first time that someone told her something odd like this. Her self-confidence took a hard blow. Furthermore, she was secretly releasing magic to seduce the man in front of her, but it seemed to have no effect.


    But nevertheless, Illia could not deny it. The girl in front of her was far too beautifulpared to her.


    Her eyes alternated at Mark and Mei. She could not understand how someone with a face like him ensnared this kind of beauty.


    While alternating her eyes, however, she noticed something.


    It was as if something was missing.


    Then, Illia saw Mark tilt his head with a smile filled with ridicule.


    "You just noticed?"


    That words of his snapped Illia.


    Elise, the key piece to the ritual, was missing. Eating Elise would stabilize the rebirth of Illia''s Master to his perfect condition. Without her, although the ritual would still be sessful, her Master would be weakened and would need time to recover his past strength.


    "But how..."


    Illia''s eyes stared at Mark widely. There was no ce here that Mark and Mei could hide her without causing chaos among the infected below.


    Then, Mark stretched his hand, opening a small ck hole in front of him. He then took two pairs of packed juice and straw, handing Mei one.


    "She''s inside here. If you want to get her, you have to defeat me first."


    Mei looked at her Gege. He was lying with a straight face.


    He revealed that he had some sort of space storage. However, it was the best way to cover that Elise was already brought away by Roan. Besides, it would be hard for her to realize that Mark could open the border, or he was able to control another kind of Miasma.


    "YOU!"


    Illia was seething in anger. She might not be able to contend against Mark in strength, but Elise was needed to perfect her Master''s rebirth. Even if she had toy down her life, she would do everything to take Elise back.


    The Subus wielded her daggers, ready to charge towards Mark.


    But then...


    "Illia, stand down."


    A deep, chilling voice echoed from the cursed tree.

 Chapter 540 The Creature From The Cursed Tree, Another Being That Should Not Exist

    <strong>Day 129 - 12:31 PM - Newton Lake, Veteran''s Memorial Park, Oaklyn, Camden County, New Jersey, United States of America</strong>


    After hearing that voice, Illia revealed a very unusual excited expression on her face. It was as if her entirety was born, only for that voice. She immediately left Mark and Mei and flew towards the tree as if she was a child waiting for her parent''s return.


    The eyes of Mark and Mei fell unto the tree. What they immediately noticed was that the three started to distort. It was as if the substance that made up the tree was not a solid matter in the first ce.


    Then, the whole tree started to get sucked up unto a single point. That point was nothing else but the magic circle that swallowed Jude and Ellse.


    Like strands of spaghetti sucked into someone''s mouth, the Cursed Tree entered the Magic Circle. And as the Magic Circle copsed, an entity behind it was revealed.


    The appearance of the man had made Mark frown.


    Without a doubt, Jude and Ellse were the foundations in creating that body. It looked like Jude, but also had Ellse''s white hair and pointed ears. Furthermore, Mark could feel the Psychic Ability that Jude inherited in that entity.


    But most of all, this being was an unknown entity.


    Only half of his body was flesh. The exact right half was more or less, made of wood. No, it was without a doubt, wood. Half of his body came from the Cursed Tree. He also had six wings as if he was something like an Arch-being.


    What Mark could not fathom even more was this entity''s body was even moreposed of different things.


    The most noticeable was the six wings that were on the entity''s back. Each of them belonged to a different creature. On the left, one looked like a bat''s, the other was of an eagle, and another was a moth''s. On the other side, one was of a dove''s, the second was of a crow''s, and thest seemed to be from a butterfly.


    His right eye looked like a cat''s, while the other was of a goat''s.


    His left footd talons. His right foot looked like a monkey''s.


    He had no right hand but had a mantis'' scythe instead. The other hand looked normal, aside from the sharp ws that seemed simr to a tiger''s.


    He had a pair of horns. One was a ram''s, the other was of a bull''s.


    He also had a tail simr to a snake.


    The more Mark stared, the more he found the creature strange.


    This entity was not a demon. It was an incarnation of evil.


    If it was not a Fiend...


    It was a Devil.


    While Mark was staring at the reborn creature, the other was doing the same.


    It was not surprising since both of them were quite simr.


    They were both entities that should not exist in this world.


    "It''s my first time meeting something like you." The creature opened his mouth. "What are you even?"


    For the first time in a while, Mark heard that question.


    And to say, it was easier for non-humans to identify each other.


    Illia was delighted to see her master once more. However, his question to Mark made her quite surprised.


    "Master."


    Illia said as she embraced the creature. From her behavior, it was more urate to say that she was like a python coiled around a person. She did not even show any shame as she rubbed her voluptuous body on another person.


    "Illia." The creature turned to the Subus. "How long had it been since west saw each other."


    "It had been five-thousand two-hundred sixty-two years, twelve hours, fifty-one minutes, and ten seconds, ording to the modern measure of time, Master."


    Hearing that reply, Mark and Mei shivered. It was such a creepy degree of devotion that she had towards her master.


    "I see." The creature held Illia''s cheek affectionately. "Don''t worry, this time, I won''t go away."


    "Yes..."


    Illia replied, trying hard to conceal her tears.


    Sure enough, these two people loved each other that even the millenniums that passed was not enough to end it.


    However, it seemed that unforeseen circumstances caused them to separate, leaving Illia alone.


    "Illia," The creature spoke while flexing his fingers. "This body seemed to have some foreign powers."


    "Yes. Six years ago, this guy gained the ability to control the wind. I turned him into my partner. I did not really intend to make him the sacrifice for your body since his power is useful, but I had no choice."


    "Is there something wrong with it?" Illia asked.


    "That power you are talking about is rejecting me." He then turned to Mark. "And that entity seemed to be connected to it."


    Illia was even more surprised. She finally realized the reason why Mark seemed to want to kill Jude earlier.


    "Since its rejecting you, can you just give it back?"


    Mark suddenly spoke. This was not the first time he encountered an ability that seemed to have a mind of its own. And if it was rejecting this creature, he would not be able to use it at all without using some methods.


    Unexpectedly, the creature gave a quite favorable reaction. Nevertheless, it would not be easy.


    "I don''t mind returning it. But I believe that you took thest thing I needed for my perfect revival."


    Mark frowned. This creature was obviously talking about Elise. However, there was no way for him to let go of her.


    "Why do you even need her for?"


    Mark asked. Although he did not mind fighting this guy, he had no reason to aside from Elise and that ability that Jude inherited. If he could take both, without fighting, then why not.


    "My rebirth is premature. I needed more energy to stabilize the connection of my new body and soul. An Energy Well like her is just what I needed."


    The creature exined patiently.


    An Energy Well, it was a good term to call Elise.


    "So, you''re going to eat her?"


    The creature then snickered.


    "What is wrong with that?"


    Mark shrugged. It was no surprise. To this creature, humans were no different from livestock.


    Then, Mark smiled.


    "I can''t give her. But if you only needed more energy, I can give you something else in exchange."


    The creature frowned. But then, sighed.


    "Then, let''s fight." The creature suggested. "If you manage to prove yourself enough, I will agree."


    "Master!" Illia called out in protest. "There''s no need for you toe in terms with them."<sub> </sub>


    To those words, the creature smiled bitterly.


    "Illia, its already been thousands of years, yet you did not even grow a bit. No matter how powerful you are, never underestimate the ones that stood before you. It was even more if you are facing an entity like him."


    The creature spoke while staring at Mark.


    "You two are people whose destinies aren''t bound by fate, am I right?"


    That question made Illia''s eyes turn wide.


    "P-potential Gods..."


    "You know a lot, don''t you? Even the deities we encountered before were not able to see us that deep."


    Mark said, not denying the im.


    "Not because I wanted to." The creature replied bitterly. "Well then, should we start?"


    At that question, Mark turned to Mei.


    "Retreat back. I''ll handle this alone."


    "Will it be fine?"


    Mei asked worriedly. After all, even though the creature was not aggressive, she could feel a very dangerous sensationing from him.


    "There''s no killing intent, so it''s fine." Mark patted Mei''s head. "Also, I think I know what he wanted to do to propose a fight."


    Mei nodded and retreated, as Mark said. On the other side, Illia did the same.


    "Before we start, let me introduce myself." The creature bowed slightly. "I am Chimetrice, an Artificial Devil Chimera."


    Mark was surprised. Sure enough, this creature was not something that was supposed to exist. An artificial creature almost at the level of a Deity that was created five thousand years ago. No wonder that he was sealed with a curse.


    Of course, Mark would not return courtesy with discourtesy.


    "Just call me Mark. As for what I am, I don''t know myself. Just consider me as a Pureblood Blood Demon."


    With the end of the introductions, it was the sign for the battle to start.


    The creature smiled and pped his wings. Afterimages were left as he flew about.


    Mark''s eyes turned wide as his eyes immediately turned violet. At thest moment, he pped his wings as strong as he could, and flew in a different direction.


    The scythe on Chimetrice''s right hand almost grazed Mark.


    Mark bitterly smiled as his blood started to boil. They were not fighting to their death. Nevertheless, it did not mean that they would hold back.


    After missing his attack, Chimetrice passed by Mark and made a wide turn behind. However, it seemed that he was having some difficulty in controlling his flight. Finally turning back, he unleashed another attack at Mark.


    This time, he waved his right arm, sending wooden projectiles from his wooden hand.


    The violet glow in Mark''s eyes intensified, facing hundreds of projectiles flying towards him. He brandished his scythe, warding off any projectile that was about to hit his body.


    Seeing that, Chimetrice smiled. It would be easier for Mark to avoid the attack entirely, but he decided to face it off directly.


    Chimetrice charged towards Mark once more. This time, he kicked Mark using his foot with talons.


    Mark then waved his scythe, trying to block the talons.


    BAM!


    A strong shockwave traveled across the vicinity of the border. Mei and Illia could not help but get pushed back.


    After that sh, both Mark and Chimetrice were pushed back.


    Chimetrice looked fine, but Mark was frowning. Although Mark managed to stand his ground, both his arms were shivering from numbness.


    The physical strength of this devil was something out of this world.


    "Don''t hold back and use your other abilities," Chimetrice spoke. "If you keep it like this, I might identally kill you."


    Mark smiled bitterly. This guy was not joking. Chimetrice had no intention to kill, but with his current condition, he really might identally kill Mark.


    Chimetrice had just reborn from thousands of years of slumber. After acquiring a new body, his control of it was almost non-existent. It was the reason he proposed a fight. He wanted to get used to his new body as soon as possible.


    Disregarding the numbness, Mark moved. It was his turn to attack. His wings glowed red as he pped it. He then soared towards Chimetrice at almost the same speed as Chimetrice had done before.


    CLANG!


    Two scythes shed with each other. Chimetrice received the attack without any difficulty.


    Mark then twisted his body, using his whole body as leverage, and pushed Chimetrice''s mantis scythe upwards. With the force of the spin, the right arm of Chimetrice was pushed up, creating a wide opening.


    The red glow in Mark''s veins concentrated on his left foot. And with another swift spin, he unleashed a strong kick.


    BAM!


    Chimetrice flew several meters away, unsteadily. Mark''s left foot connected with his right nk with a crisp sound of contact.


    Instead of feeling pain, however, Chimetrice smiled even more. He could feel the control of his body getting firmer. The pressure of fighting Mark was forcing him to adapt to his new body faster.


    Mark did not want to let Chimetice rest. After thetter was pushed back, he immediately followed.


    He waved his scythe towards the wings of Chimetrice. Comparing their flight speeds, the devil was faster. Mark wanted to put it at the same level as his.


    Of course, Chimetrice would not let that happen. His bat wing faced Mark''s scythe directly.


    CLANG!


    A metallic sound echoed as the batwing, and the scythe shed. Unexpectedly, the batwing was more of metal than actual flesh.


    That sh pushed the two away from each other once more.


    "Do you have to be that ruthless?"


    Chimetriceined as he checked his batwing.


    "You already said that I should not hold back, right?"


    Mark smiled.


    There was one thing that he read in novels that he could not understand before. It was using fists to know the opponent.


    For the first time, he started to understand the concept.


    And his conclusion with this guy...


    Not everything with evil energy and was created from evil was evil itself.

 Chapter 541 Abilities, Ending The Battle And A Shocking Information

    <strong>Day 129 - 12:35 PM - Newton Lake, Veteran''s Memorial Park, Oaklyn, Camden County, New Jersey, United States of America</strong>


    Staring at his opponent, Mark smiled.


    Chimetrice was not evil. At least, at the general moral standpoint. He was not a person who would deliberately cause chaos without reason. His expressions, movements, and mentality indicated that he was quite a peaceful person that should be left alone.


    Of course, from a human standpoint, he was evil. He was a devil, after all. He looked at humans as livestock, but it was no different from how humans saw cows, pigs, and chickens.


    It was not a difference in a moral level, but more from the difference in races.


    Humans were Humans.


    Demons were Demons.


    Spirits were Spirits.


    Devils were Devils.


    Each kind had their different point of views.


    Of course, it was free for any to ept the view of the other race.


    Nevertheless, it was not right to force their views on others.


    And in this aspect, humans were the most sinful. After all, humans were known to push their idealism to other races more.


    ***


    Mark and Chimetrice contested against each other using speed and physical strength. Each time their attacks shed, loud sounds and shockwaves spread across the vicinity of the enclosed space.


    Still, while both of them seemed equal, Mark was barely holding on. Although he could persist, it would notst too long.


    Chimetrice was far above Mark in speed and strength. It was even though he was barely putting effort into his attacks. Instead, he concentrated on getting perfect control of his new body.


    It was uneptable to say. But if this was a life and death fight, there was a high possibility that Mark would get killed. It was even if he used all of his cards in hand. In the least, Mark could have the ability to escape, but not defeat Chimetrice.


    Luckily, it was just a peaceful contest. Although the attacks were ruthless and unforgiving, the two were at least making sure not to use anything deadly. They were even missing the other''s vital parts un purpose and were concentrating on restricting the other.


    Chimetrice pped one of his wings to attack now and then. He also used his different body parts in the same way. It was so that he could get more control of these parts evenly.


    Mark, however, could not help but feel amazed.


    Surely, Mark had different abilities. He was a Mutator and an [Empath], he had his [Blood Enhancement], there was also his [Shadow Mist Movement], andstly, the [Psycrystal] and the other crystals that came with it.


    And Chimetrice was not that different from him.


    This Artificial Devil Chimera, it was not wrong to say that he was a multitude of abilities pped together.


    Each of his body parts that looked different had a different ability and power. Furthermore, it seemed like Mark appraised Chimetrice''s body mistakenly.


    At first, Mark thought that this devil had a bodyposed of differentmon animals. But to think of it, was he correct. As they fought, Mark started to change his mind.


    The bat wing that had very high defense, it was more of a dragon''s now in his eyes.


    The eagle wing seemed regr, but it actually had a golden sheen. Furthermore, the moment it pped, there was a significant increase in his speed.


    The mothwing that Chimetrice had no intention of using, it had an aura of death around it.


    The dove wing that had a pure white color, it emanated an aura simr to that Subus, Illia.


    The wing of the crow, it emanated the aura of bad luck for some reason.


    And the wing of the butterfly, staring at it made Mark felt like his soul was being sucked away.


    His eye that was simr to a cat, the moment it moved, Mark always missed his attacks.


    On the other hand, the goat eye seemed to have the ability to mess with emotions.


    As for the remaining ones, it significantly increased his physical abilities in different areas.


    BANG!


    Mark and Chimetrice shed once more and were pushed away from each other.


    "Hey," Mark suddenly spoke. "Is your body made up of different magical creatures?"


    Hearing that, Chimetrice looked at Mark with an expression of surprise.


    "How did you know?"


    "Ugh..."


    Mark groaned.


    Magical creatures were inhuman in the first ce. The stronger ones were could even trash higher beings in a physical fight. It was no wonder Chimetrice was this physically strong.


    Well, Mark should have thought of it since the start. After all, even if a Chimera was created...


    There was no way for each wing that seemed to havee from a regr creature had such arge size. It would not be surprising if these animal parts actually came from pets of gods.


    "Then, can you tell me where your body parts came from?"


    Mark asked. It was because he had some uncanny suspicions.


    Chimetrice looked at Mark, unsure why he was asking. Nevertheless, he seemed to not mind answering the question.


    "Actually, I don''t know where these came from." Chimetrice shrugged. "I just woke up like this one day."


    Then, he seemed to have remembered something.


    "Ah, right." Chimetrice pointed at the eagle wing he had. "I once heard my creator mumbling about capturing an eagle atop some world tree when he looked at this wing."


    Mark froze.


    "Then, can you tell me why you are sealed in that curse?"


    Mark asked once more as he charged towards Chimetrice.


    BAM!


    The scythe and the tiger''s w collided, even though Mark attacked from a tricky angle.


    "The reason?" Chimetrice replied as he counter-attacked. "After I killed my creator since he mistreated Illia, several gods came chasing me, iming that I stole something from them. They cannot kill me, and they decided to seal me instead."


    Mark became silent. He could not decide which one he should refute first in that reply.


    The most crucial fact, however...


    Mark was currently fighting a being that even gods from the past could not kill.<sub> </sub>


    Seriously... Just how lucky were Mark and Mei?


    "This is why I wanted to recover fast," Chimetrice said as he unleashed a kick towards Mark. "Those gods might realize that the cursed seal is broken and appear here. That''s why I need to consume that woman."


    Mark blocked the kick with the shaft of his scythe. He was flung back and had to p his wings hard to keep in bnce.


    But after receiving the kick, Mark was staring at Chimetrice with a troublesome expression. Then, he turned to Illia.


    "You didn''t tell your Master about what happened to the gods?"


    Chimetrice and Illia froze at that question.


    "What do you mean?" Chimetrice asked. "Don''t me Illia as there is no way for us to talk while I''m sealed. And as you can see, I just woke up."


    He then turned to Illia.


    "Do you know what he is talking about?"


    "Master..."Illia started pushing her two index fingers together. "Actually... I don''t know either."


    "Cough! Cough!" Mark choked. Even Mei had a bitter expression.


    "Why would I know that?" Illiained. "When the Master was sealed, I fell into slumber. It hasn''t even been a hundred years since I woke up. The moment I did, I disregarded everything, even the human war, and concentrated on breaking the seal. I have no time to deal with those bastard gods!"


    Hearing everything, Mark sighed. He lost the eagerness to continue fighting.


    "Can we stop here and talk instead?"


    Mark suggested.


    On the other hand, Chimetrice could only nod. It seemed that he noticed that were was something wrong.


    "By the way. Can you remove this space, first?"


    Mark asked, pointing at the barrier.


    "I''ll do thatter." Chimetirce shook his head. "I''m still absorbing the essence released by the curse."


    Mark shrugged. If that was the case, there was nothing he could do. Actually, he wanted to talk it over lunch. It was already past noon, and Mark and Mei had no time to eat lunch yet because of themotion.


    Mark then called for Mei, while Illia quickly rushed and coiled herself on Chimetrice''s body.


    They all sat down near where the cursed tree initially stood. It was because the thickest essence of the curse emanated from that location. Mark and Mei had some difficulty approaching the ce at first due to the thick evil aura. But with a wave of Chimetrice''s hand, Mark and Mei were both protected from it.


    Getting some snacks from their [Storage Rings], Mark shared some food with Illia and Chimetrice.


    A scene where two Pureblood Blood Demons, a Subus, and a godly living weapon eating junk food together, it was an unbelievable sight to see.


    Now that they sat down, Mark ryed the information he heard from Bath. The event where the current observer had chased away most of the gods and deities that existed in the past and how the ones that were left were hiding in different ces, not daring toe out easily.


    Illia was surprised while Chimetrice calmly epted the information.


    If no Gods were chasing them now, they could live peacefully somewhere in Earth as long as they did not get the attention of the current observer.


    "Say, did you two know anything about Auraboros?"


    Mark suddenly asked. He was probing them, or at least, he wanted some information. He also provided a rough outline of what the organization was.


    To answer the question, Chimetrice shook his head.


    "If what you said about them causing chaos to get revenge on humans, then they don''t exist before I was sealed."


    Mark understood what Chimetrice meant. Back then, legends of Gods, Humans, and Beasts living together was born. There was very little reason for this kind of organization to exist.


    The organization was probably born after Humans took most of the control of Earth.


    On the other hand, Illia had a different answer.


    "That organization tried to recruit me every now and then. They are a bunch of annoying people. I already said that I only live for my Master, but they still kept on pestering me like flies."


    Mark felt relieved that these two had no ties with the Auraboros.


    "It is better that you two stay away from them."


    Mark said.


    "Are they your enemies?"


    Chimetrice asked.


    "Pretty much, but not all of them."


    Mark replied. After all, he had not received any reply from Yukine as he was away from the base for a few days already.


    "I see..." Chimetrice nodded. "They seem to be a troublesome bunch. I rather spend my time with Illia than join them."


    Hearing that, Illia looked at Chimetrice with a red face. It was not wrong to say that her pupils turned into hearts. It was as expected of a subus.


    Chimetrice had Illia by his side.


    Mark turned to Mei. He was not that different.


    In any case, it was time to peacefully settle things.


    "Can you return me Jude''s ability, now?"


    Mark asked.


    Chimetrice nodded. And on his hand, some white smoke started to float in ce.


    Mark then conjured an empty [Mental Crystal], and the smoke was sucked into it.


    Seeing the crystal, however, both Chimetrice and Illia was shocked.


    "[Pure Energy Crystal Essense]... Where did you get that?"


    Illia spoke, staring intently at the [Mental Crystal] that now contained the ability to control the wind.


    "Do you know what this is?"


    Mark asked as he took out another [Empty Crystal].


    "It is the crystalization of a pure energy source. My creator had one of those before, and he said that it was something that came from a higher ne and rarely existed on this. I remember him saying that it needed a million years of undisturbed energy source for it to crystalize in that form. For it to be on the size of the crystal on your hand, it should be more than five million years."


    Hearing that, it was Mark and Mei''s turn to be shocked.


    Who would have thought that Keeper''s ability was far more than what they had thought.

 Chapter 542 [Pure Energy Crystal Essence], The Crystals And A New Threat

    <strong>Day 129 - 12:40 PM - Newton Lake, Veteran''s Memorial Park, Oaklyn, Camden County, New Jersey, United States of America</strong>


    The sudden information about the crystals created by the [PsyCrystal] took Mark and Mei off guard.


    Who would have thought that these crystals were something that actually existed before and was not just created by Keeper''s ability? Furthermore, it was not something that could be seen easily. Even just the real rarity of these was enough to Mark freeze.


    A rarity of one in a million years and even just the conditions it needed to form was hard to find. Yet, Mark had a lot of it. Of course, the [Physical Crystals] were excluded since they were created from [Mutagen Stones] and not magical energy. Nevertheless, he still had a lot.


    It gave Mark a deep need to conceal this secret far more than before. If the information about him, having many of these was to spread around, it was not surprising if the whole world started to chase him.


    Now, it was no wonder Bath had such a reaction after seeing the crystals before. And now, Chimetric and Illia were the same.


    Luckily, Bath and these two did not seem to be greedy for these crystals. Or else, it would be a grave mistake to show these to them.


    "Can you two tell us more about these crystals?"


    Mark asked Chimetrice and Illia.


    That question, however, made the two look at each other before shaking their heads.


    "Nothing much is really known about those since they are impossibly rare in this realm. Its rarity is enough to make lower gods contest for one. Even deities would even be desperate to get their hands on one of those."


    Apparently, it was quite simr to what they heard from Bath.


    Gods and Deities could grow stronger by the power of worship. If no people were worshiping them, or in the least, believing in them, their strength would regress, and they would be fallen Gods.


    Fallen Gods, although still Gods, they had lesser strength than higher Deities.


    To prevent that from happening, they needed other sources of strength. However, they could not just turn towards any other energy source. What they needed was a pure energy essence.


    The [Pure Energy Crystal Essence] were among the rarest and most potent sources of energy for Godly beings.


    "But we met a reclused God before. He didn''t seem to know much about these crystals."


    Mark said.


    "It''s not surprising," Illia retorted as she munched on some cheese vored potato chips. "Even we only knew about this by coincidence. I don''t know if you two knew this, but in this world that humans called Earth, new Gods are almost impossible to be born no matter what potential they had. That God you are talking about definitely came from another world or realm, am I right?"


    "He did say that he came from a lower realm."


    Mark nodded.


    "Then that tells it," Illia said while seductively licking the cheese stuck on her fingers. "We already said that these crystals exist more in higher realms. Only those from higher realms knew more about these."


    Mark grew silent. It seemed that even if he scoured the whole Earth to gather more information about these crystals, what he would find was very little.


    "You two say that it is rare, but you two don''t seem to have an interest in it."


    Mark said, looking at the two.


    "Because there is no point?" Illia replied. "You see, there are different kinds of an energy source that could possibly give birth to a [Pure Energy Crystal Essence]. Each energy source also had its own elemental attributes that the crystal it formed would inherit."


    Illia then pointed at the [Mental Crystal] on Mark''s hand.


    "That seemed to be an attributeless one. Even though anyone can absorb that, it can only give an eighth of energy that crystals with attributes had. So, basically, although attributeless ones were rarer than those with attributes, it was the most useless among them to the point that even humans could absorb it with little consequences."


    As if a teacher teaching her student''s Illia continued.


    ording to her, the mostmon attributes of these energy crystals were fire. It was created inside undisturbed volcanos sleeping deep under the sea.


    As for the other attributes, it was safe to say that they were non-existent on this small blue as most energy sources it had were always being disturbed.


    However, not everyone could openly absorb these crystals. Although the attributeless ones could be absorbed by humans and only suffer fever while enhancing their minds and psychic powers, absorbing those with attributes carelessly and forcefully would end up in grave repercussions.


    Illia presented herself and Chimetrice as examples. Both of them were beings that had attributes. Chimetrice had powers that came from curses and evil forces like Miasma. On the other hand, Illia feeds off the energy from the essence of males since she was a Subus.


    If both of them received a fire attributed [Pure Energy Crystal Essence], it would not react to their bodies. If they forcefully absorbed it, it would be no surprise if they end up burning and worse, turning into ashes.


    Only those with fire attributes could absorb a [Fire Pure Energy Crystal Essence], whether it be magical creatures or psychic humans.


    Hearing about these, Mark and Mei turned at each other. It was no wonder Amihan and Spera could only absorb crystals with specific colors. It was the same for their other people.


    But then, Mark remembered that Bath seemed to have an interest in the crystals without minding the colors.


    As such, Mark could not help but ask this question.


    And to Mark''s question, Illia replied with another surprising question.


    "Is that God you are talking about some kind of God of creation? Gods of Creation had more than one attribute. If not, then, he probably wants to use Crystals on the Deities under them or something."


    There was no need to ask further. It definitely answered Mark''s question.


    But then...


    "Wait..." Illia said as she stared at Mark intently. "Do you have other crystals with different attributes?"


    Sure enough, Illia managed to realize that fact as Mark asked that question.


    It was not like that Mark was intending to hide it from these two. He already managed to deduce the personality of Chimetrice and Illia. There was no need to be cautious around them.


    As for Chimetrice, as long as no one harmed Illia, he was more or less disinclined to take drastic actions.<sub> </sub>


    Mark, however, did not answer Illia''s question. He turned to Chimetrice.


    "If you have Crystals with a suited attribute, how many do you needpared to eating Elise?"


    Mark then stared at Chimetrice. He was waiting for this devil to swallow all the junk food he stuffed in his mouth. Even Illia was quite embarrassed to see her Master like this and wiped the crumbs on his face.


    "Sorry," Chimetrice said as he swallowed his food. "This food was filled with impurities, but it tastes good. I never had anything like it before."


    Of course, that was true. These kinds of food that tasted good but had very low nutritional value were not invented yet five thousand years ago.


    "That Energy Well-woman can give me a lot of energy, but it''s still unrefined. Comparing to the attributed crystal my creator had before... Changing its attribute, then about the same size as yours... Probably, about three."


    Chimetrice said while thinking deeply. Of course, by his expression, he was not expecting that Mark would be able to give him that and was just asking out of curiosity.


    "Three, huh."


    Mark said as he conjured three crystals on his hand. There, three gray-colored crystals appeared. It was among the crystals he managed to create since the curse was activated.


    "Here."


    Mark then presented the crystals to Chimetrice.


    Chimetrice was surely surprised, but Illia was about to get a heart attack.


    "Did youe from some rich God family in the higher realm?!"


    Illia could not help but blurt out in shock.


    But then, she realized. That was impossible. After all, Mark did not seem to know the significance of these crystals.


    Mark ignored Illia and ced the crystals on Chimetrice''s left hand.


    "Absorb these quickly. How long do you need? Also, how long will this cest?"


    The other three could not help but fell silent. It was as if Mark was suddenly in a hurry.


    "Gege, is something wrong?"


    Mei finally opened her mouth. Since they sat down here, she had been silent.


    "We havepany, you see." Mark shrugged. "Also, don''t look around. They didn''t know that I already detected them. They are lurking around the border. It seems like they can''t enter."


    Chimetrice seemed to be nonchnt about it. However, Illia and Mei froze.


    "Do I need to be in perfect shape?" Chimetrice asked. "You already said that the Gods are mostly non-existent now. If it were just some deities, my current state is more than enough to deal with them."


    Mark then sighed.


    "I forgot to tell you. The Gods are already gone. But the cause of them leaving Earth is being active right now."


    Mark''s eyes turned quite serene.


    "Your revival caused quite amotion, and you are pretty much a Godly being, yourself. I''m afraid we will run into one of his Eyes once this we leave this ce."


    Hearing that, Chimetrice frowned.


    "Are you talking about the apostles of the Observer?"


    "Since you know about them, it makes things easier to exin," Mark replied with a nod. "There are several people outside the barrier. I can tell that none of them are human except for one that I could not fathom. That one is just hiding and observing. I suspect that that one is an Eye. I encountered two Eyes before. I get the same feelinging from that person."


    "An Eye..." Illia shivered in anger. "One of those bastards is the very reason why my Master was sealed..."


    Mark then turned to Illia, asking for an exnation.


    "Actually, Master''s existence is a secret to the Gods. He is not a god, yet, he could rival them in strength and abilities to some extent. The Gods learned about him and tried to eliminate him. Then, you know what happened next." Illia exined. "An Eye leaked his existence to the Gods. Probably, from the previous Observer."


    "I see." Mark nodded and turned to Chimetrice. "It''s better if you absorb those crystals now. I don''t know if we can avoid a conflict with the people outside."


    Chimetrice nodded. He would not be afraid of Gods and Deities, but the Eyes were apletely different issue. Compared to Gods and Deities, the Eyes were far more unpredictable.


    Thus, without hesitation, Chimetrice activated the crystals and absorbed all of it in his body in one go. Now, they only needed to wait until the energy from the crystals help his body reach his peak.


    On the other hand, Mark thought deeply about what Illia had just said.


    While the current Observer was getting rid of Gods and Deities, the previous one was not without faults either. It was the same as what happened to the Blood Demons. The Eyes manipted the angels and devils to get rid of the Blood Demon Race. In the case of Chimetrice and Illia, that Eye instigated the Gods to get rid of Chimetrice.


    Mark thought of the situation deeply. He started to get the gist of what these Observers wanted to do.


    In one way or another, it felt like the Observers were not only managing the number of humans on Earth but were also removing any factor that could change the aspects of the world.


    Especially the ones that would change it from what it looked like on the surface.


    It was as if they were limiting the advance of Earth into a single direction.


    Realizing that, Mark started to feel a sense of crisis.


    In the future, there was a very high possibility.


    He would be among the list that the Observers would want to erase.

 Chapter 543 A Small Problem That Had Grown Big, The Arrival Of The Guests Lured By The Commotion

    <strong>Day 129 - 12:39 PM - Newton Lake, Veteran''s Memorial Park, Oaklyn, Camden County, New Jersey, United States of America</strong>


    Not long after Mark and Chimetrice stopped their battle and sat down to talk, several people arrived outside the barrier.


    Although some of them looked human on the surface, none of them were humans.


    These people belonged to two different groups. The first group wasposed of thirty people, while the other only had a single person.


    Comparing the two groups, it was quite odd that the group with only one person felt more dangerous than the other. It was even stranger since the person looked harmlesspared to the other group.


    Soft brown hair, a pair of soft, small cheeks, about fifty-four inches in height, and looked around ten years old.


    No matter how anyone looked, it was nothing but a young boy.


    Nevertheless, the aura around him was no less than a monster.


    He had an arrogant feel on his eyes as if he looked down on others. And more than anything else, there was a vertical, third eye on his forehead and seemed to have two more closed slits thaty between each of the two eyes and the third eye.


    It was safe to assume that this boy had five eyes on his face.


    Without a doubt, one of the apostles of the Observer.


    The moment he arrived, he did not dare touch the barrier in front of him. In a single look, he knew that it was a harmful border between reality and a cursed space.


    "Damn it. The Fifth should be the one observing this since she''s more versed in curses."


    The boy murmured.


    Unfortunately, the one he was talking about was in a different location right at this moment.


    "After a Destroyer vanished in the Spirit Dimension and the sudden death of The Eleventh, the other higher ranking Eyes were quite busy at the moment. Jeez, why did something big like this happened this time? And while I''m taking a nap."


    The boyined as he started his real duty. It was to observe from the shadows.


    As the other group arrived, none of them saw the boy that was standing right in front of them. There was no need for the boy to act immediately. He was different from the Scouts and the Destroyers.


    He was a direct Apostle.


    Their duty was to search for things and beings that fit some criteria.


    It was those anomalies that could tilt the bnce of the world, avoiding the current set of rules present in the surface. Gathering information about them and reporting these to their Master.


    Andstly, executing the judgment of their Master, regarding that anomaly.


    "Yawn~..." The boy stretched his arms sleepily while looking at the gigantic bird in front of him. "I''ll just do my job, I guess. I don''t want to get scolded. Master had been quite pissed off since the work of another guy unexpectedly entered Earth and turned it into this mess. It also caused those guys hiding to be more unruly after being left alone."


    The boy sure was talkative. He was talking to no one but himself, though.


    As the boy sat on the roof, he watched the other group as they flew around like idiots.


    "These guys are definitely members of that organization."


    The boy murmured.


    ***


    The other group wasposed of fifteen people. They were riding on the back of arge bird that seemed to release charges of electricity on its wings each time it pped.


    Five within the group looked totally human. However, they were releasing a thing aura of death from their bodies. It felt like they were ghosts even though they seemed to have bodies of their own.


    Two were nine-foot-tall man and woman with an oddly thin physique, pale skin, severalyers of sharp teeth, and a bald head. Their hunger for human flesh was visible in his eyes.


    Three were women with odd energy emanating from their bodies. They were wearing pointed hats and ck robes that definitely pointed out what they were. Different frommon depictions, however, they all seemed to be young. Furthermore, the one that stood in the center had blood-red-colored hair.


    Andstly, the other five. These five definitely looked human, and the Leader of this group was among these five. Despite their human appearance, however, they were emanating an aura no different from canine beasts.


    The Leader stared at the barrier in front of him. He seemed to be a man in his early thirties. His body was quite muscr and was bursting with energy. Despite that, however, his hair was white as an elderly.


    "What a strong curse."


    The Leader said as he looked at the barrier and its effects of the curse on the infected below.


    He then turned to the three witches.


    "Any ideas if we cane in?"


    Unfortunately, each of them shook their heads.


    "This curse is beyond our capabilities." The red-haired Witch spoke. "All we can do is wait until the barrier subsided and see what caused it."


    After hearing those words, the white-haired man frowned.


    They were members of Auraboros from Pennsylvania that was currently assigned near the area. After they felt a strong fluctuation of evil energying from this location, he immediately gathered a team and took their fastest Thunderbird to get here. He was quite annoyed to know that they would not be able to enter as soon as they arrived.


    "Any ideas on what could be inside?"


    The Leader of the group asked the witches once more. Witches were known experts of ck magic and curses. It was not wrong to ask them.


    At that question, the three witches whispered at each other before the red-haired one replied.


    "We three had the same conclusion." The red-haired Witch looked at the barrier. "It is very likely that someone or something managed to be relieved of its curse. Although it''s already faint, there are traces of energying from a sealing curse that was forcefully torn."


    That made the Leader nodded his head slightly. Since the outbreak came, different phenomenons had been happening one after another. The energy in the air caused by the Mutagen had been causing anomalies not only to humans but also to magical creatures and objects.


    They even heard from one branch that even the Spirit Dimension was now filled with infected magical beings that were far more dangerous than their human counterparts.


    Even the Spirit Tree of Auraboros in Irnd had already been subjected to attacks of such magical infected.


    "We will wait then." The Leader decided. "Whatever it was that escaped its sealing curse, we must get it in our hands before others arrive. We might be able to find something we can offer to the branch leader and gain his favor."


    Everyone in the group agreed. The Leader thenmanded the Thunderbird tond as they wait.<sub> </sub>


    As they did that, however, the two tall people jumped off and caught several infected to munch on.


    "These Wendigos really can''t restrain their selves for too long." One of the people with strange spiritual fluctuations spoke with disdain."


    "It''s not like you, Demonic Spirits, are different." The red-haired Witch retorted.


    That Demonic Spirit red at the Witch but did not say anything. Comparing hierarchy, these Witches were still higher in the group.


    "You all stop arguing."


    The Leader spoke.


    ***


    "Really, what a bunch of idiots." The Eye, who was watching nearby murmured. "They really think that they could get their hands on something that was sealed by a sealing curse created by multiple gods? They are dreaming too high."


    The boy looked at the barrier.


    Most people that could feel the energy in the barrier would only be able to tell that it was a sealing curse. For the boy, however, he could feel the faint traces of energy released by the Gods in this curse. It was already faded, though, causing the curse to weaken after thousands of years. Furthermore, since the Gods that made the curse were no longer on Earth, it hastened the weakening of the curse.


    The boy sighed. He could not understand why Observers liked implementing rules that the True God that created the world did not even give.


    "Who''s there?!"


    The white-haired Leader suddenly shouted as he quickly turned to the direction of the boy.


    Hearing that, the boy smiled as he retreated.


    "This guy is not bad. He managed to detect my presence slightly."


    Although amused, the boy had no reason to reveal himself. These people were not included in his work, and he waszy to include them. If the elimination of Auraboros was among the work of the Eyes, there was no way for them tost this long on Earth.


    The Auraboros was left alone by the Observer for a reason. Thus, the boy would not carelessly meddle with them.


    "Leader, there''s nothing there."


    One of the direct subordinates of the Leader said, looking in the same direction.


    "Strange." The Leader said as he approached the ce he was looking at. "I definitely felt a presence here."


    "Leader, maybe, you''re just hallucinating. Maybe, this curse had other effects."


    Another subordinate chimed.


    The Leader did not say anything. He was sure that he felt a presence there but suddenly vanished.


    From there, they could only wait.


    However, they could not help but frown as they noticed other groups appearing in the area as they waited. These neers were in no doubt also members of Auraboros. Some came from the same branch, and some came from others.


    No one came near each other to talk, though. Competition between members and branches of Auraboros was intense. This time, they werepeting on who would get the thing that caused this event.


    Unexpectedly, not only the members of Auraborors but others also appeared. Some wandering creatures appeared and even a group of Eastern warriors.


    There was even a small spacecraft. This was the United States, after all.


    After three hours of waiting, the red-haired Witch stood up.


    "The barrier is weakening."


    The red-haired Witch spoke. It seemed that among their group, she was the most sensitive towards magical energies as the others were yet to detect the subtle changes in the barrier.


    "Everyone, prepare yourselves."


    The Leader spoke loud, forcing the two Wendigos to stop eating the infected and stand by.


    Another ten minutes passed, the others finally felt that the barrier started to vanish.


    After another five minutes, they could see that the color inside the barrier started to return to normal.


    As the dark color of the surroundings vanished, the barrier finally dissipated.


    "Go!"


    The Leader shouted, making the Thunderbird fly forward as fast as it could.


    They were not only ones that had the same idea. With their fastest speed, most of the groups rushed towards the center of the area affected by the barrier before it dissipated.


    Sure enough, friction between the groupsmenced.


    Some were patient enough, though, and did not rush. Some gave up due to what was happening, while others wanted to be the orioles behind the mantises.


    What added more to the chaos, however, was the infected that was affected by the curse. These infected started attacking anyone that came near, causing small battles here and there.


    ***


    At the center of it all, Mark frowned.


    Before, he did not expect that something like this would happen. He thought that only that first group and the Eye lurking in the shadows would appear.


    But now, there were about a hundred people, human or not, rushing towards them.


    And there was no ce to hide, either. Unless they wanted to dive unto the dirtyke that was now filled with dead fishes and insects.


    The biggest problem, however, the barrier vanished even though Chimetrice was still in the process of absorbing the crystals. Like the others, it was better not to move him while in this state. It was the same for Amihan and Spera before, when they were in the Spirit Dimension.


    Thus, as the guests arrived, Mark, Mei, and Illia had no choice but to hold them all back until Chimetrice finished absorbing the crystals.

 Chapter 544 Biding For Time, A Successful Plan Ruined By Someone

    <strong>Day 129 - 4:06 PM - Newton Lake, Veteran''s Memorial Park, Oaklyn, Camden County, New Jersey, United States of America</strong>


    Several minutes before the barrier vanished, Mark was already frowning as he detected new guests arriving one after another.


    It was a pretty problematic situation. Many people were approaching. Some of them were humans, but none of them were regr people. Luckily, the energy from the curse in the area they sat at was thick. It was to the point of obscuring the view from outside the barrier.


    In the least, before the barrier vanished, none of the guests outside could see them.


    "Gege, what are we going to do now?"


    Mei could not help but ask as she readied her weapon.


    There, Illia thought of something.


    "You have some space pocket, right? Can''t you put Master inside that? After that, we can run away and escape."


    "You are going to trust us with that?"


    Mark asked.


    "It''s not like we have other choices, do we?"


    Sure enough, even Illia felt the pressure of the situation. She was willing to risk it rather than letting her Master get harmed here.


    Mark smiled. It kind of felt nice, being trusted by someone you just met. Unfortunately, he could only shrug.


    "That''s not possible."


    "Why?" Illia frowned. "Isn''t that woman inside?"


    Mark stared at Illia. Even though this woman was over five-thousand years old, she was an airhead towards things like this.


    "That''s a bluff," Mark replied. We can''t store living creatures inside. Elise already escaped with her brother. I just said that to make sure that you won''t chase them."


    Illia stared at Mark with a ming look. She just realized that the man outside the barrier before was now gone. No wonder now.


    "Gege, what about your Miasma?"


    Mei whispered. If Mark used it, there would be no problem even if several times more enemies were surrounding them.


    "I''ll leave that as ourst card," Mark replied with a shrug. "I can''t risk things with an Eye lurking around."


    Mei nodded. It was a reasonable thing to do.


    <o>,m Back then, Mark could just use it without regard for anything. It was because he barely knew things he should watch out for. Ignorance was bliss, as they said.</o>


    Now, along with gaining knowledge about the hidden face of the world, he had many factors to consider before using his best abilities.


    It was even more now because the creatures and people that lived hidden in the society before the outbreak starteding out.


    If it was before the outbreak, most of these guests that appeared now would not evene here. Even the first thing to happen if the curse activated at that time would be the American Military securing the ce and controlling the information froming out.


    Well now, the military could even barely keep themselves from copse, not to mention taking control of these matters.


    "Why the hell did we suddenly get thrown into a Chinese Novel setting..."


    Mark murmured with a deep sigh. Both Illia and Mei heard that but could only look at him with confusion. The two could not understand why he said that, after all.


    ***


    Soon, the barrier vanished, and Chimetrice was still not finished absorbing all the energy from the crystals.


    Illia could not help but stand up, ready to fight. On the other hand, Mei was waiting for Mark''s instructions.


    "You should sit down."


    Mark said to Illia.


    "But..."


    "Just let me handle this for now. Don''t make any rash moves unless I said so."


    Mark said with a serene expression. Illia seemed hesitant. Furthermore, she had never taken any orders that did note from her Master. However, her Master was still in a meditative state, and she knew that she was not too smart enough to deal with these kinds of situations. Thus, she could only back down and sit as close as possible to her Master.


    Mei, on the other hand, remained on position. Still, it was clear that she was ready to act whenever Mark called for it.


    "Mei''er, hide your wings."


    "Okay."


    While Mark told Mei that, he also hid his. If things go awry, it could serve as a good surprise.


    As Mark stood up, he took a deep breath. He was not scared. And rather than saying that he was calm, it was better to say that there were no traces of any emotions in his face.


    In this condition, it was easier to face the guests.


    Mark stared at the guests rushing towards the center of the ce affected by the curse.


    Many of them did not even look human. There were even beasts that were only heard off from local mythology, legends, and folklore.


    It was somehow unexpected that there was a strange flying vehicle about the size of a bus. Furthermore, it was moving without making any unnecessary sound.


    There was also a small group of people riding on flying swords and were wearing traditional Chinese clothes. Without a doubt, they were cultivators from China. It was quite mysterious that they were here despite their county being on the other side of the globe.


    But the strangest thing that made Mark frown was that even though he could sense the presence of the Eye in the surroundings, he could not see it or even pinpoint its exact location after the barrier vanished. He could feel that the Eye never left, but it disappeared as if its existence earlier was nothing but a lie.


    On the other side, these guests that rushed towards the source of the curse could not help but stop on their tracts as they saw Mark''s group. They could not fathom how there were people inside the barrier.


    "Who are you, people?"


    It was the middle-aged man with white hair that asked. He was the leader of the first group that arrived. Because they were riding on a Thunderbird, they reached the center faster than the others.<sub> </sub>


    There was a deep frown on the man''s face. It was as if his house had been robbed empty or his wife had cheated on him.


    "Aren''t we supposed to be the ones asking that question?" Mark replied. "Just because the barrier vanished, it doesn''t mean that all of you can barge into our business. All of you should just leave."


    A reply that was rude but rational, that was what Mark said in return.


    "On what grounds should we leave?"


    One of theckeys beside the white-haired man seemed to be offended and barked at Mark.


    "Because we are the ones that released the curse?" Mark said nonchntly. "It''s our business and not any of you. Most people will say this to anyone sticking their noses where it doesn''t belong. Mind your own business, right?"


    Many were appalled by the way Mark replied. Nevertheless, no one could refute him as it was the truth.


    "Then tell us what happened here. Why would something big like this happen?"


    Unexpectedly, it was a young man from the group of Chinese cultivators that chimed in.


    But Mark looked at him with a ridiculing look.


    "Are you deaf or an idiot? I already said that mind your own business."


    With that reply, the young man''s face distorted in anger. If not for the elder behind him holding his shoulder, he might have rushed towards Mark already.


    "Hey, are you sure about this?" Illia suddenly whispered from behind. "I don''t think provoking them will do anything aside from making things worse."


    Mark did not reply to Illia. Who knows whether there would be anyone among the uninvited guests with very keen hearing.


    However, it was never his intention to negotiate. In the face of these people, that would be a sign of weakness. Once that happened, they could consider themselves fish on the cutting board. These people would not hesitate to attack and try to get what they thought that might have caused this mess. It was even though there was nothing at all but Chimetrice.


    By standing his ground, however, Mark saw his desired result.


    None of these people could tell why Mark was unafraid despite facing many powerful beings. It was even more strange since he looked nothing but a human. He might have a hidden card that could be used against them.


    Furthermore, the existence of Chimetrice was already giving them pressure. Just him sitting there without moving worked as a ward over those with weaker hearts.


    Thus, none of them wanted to sacrifice themselves and test the waters.


    Then, Mark ignored the others and focused on the spaceship.


    "How are you all connected to Professor Alphfa Alston?"


    Mark asked, sensing the five aliens aboard the small ship.


    While that question made the other guests confused, the spaceship unexpectedly made some movements.


    On its bottom, a hole opened, and a device that looked like a disc with a green lens showed up. From the lens, a greenish light beamed down in front of Mark. There, a holographic image of a creature that looked simr to Professor Alston appeared, a Greyling.


    "Who. are. you. and. what. is. your. connection. to. Professor. Alston?"


    The alien asked Mark in a pretty much broken speech. It seemed likepared to Professor Alston, this alien was not that proficient in speaking humannguage.


    "An acquaintance. We met three days ago and exchanged information."


    "Is. that. so?"


    The alien replied. Then, it roamed its head around as if looking at something. Soon, it had a look of understanding.


    "Your. telling. the. truth. Professor. Alston''s. acquaintance. we. won''t. disturb. you. any. longer."


    As soon as the Greyling finished saying that, the holographic image vanished. And as quick as they arrived, the spaceship left.


    "Did that guy look at something like a log?" Mark murmured. "Anyways, that got rid of one problem."


    Mark smiled slightly. It was just a gamble. He was not sure whether those aliens were connected to Professor Alston at all. However, he expected that there was no way that different alien groups would operate in a single area.


    The spaceship left, leaving everyone in awe. With that conversation, Mark had just revealed that he had some connection to an otherworldly force even though he looked like an ordinary human.


    That fact caused the remaining guests to became even more hesitant to make a move.


    It fell ording to Mark''s intentions. Now, without anyone testing the waters, none would make any drastic moves. Between Mark and the guests, it was correct to say that they were at a standstill.


    What Mark made dismayed, however, was the fact that none of the remaining guests had any intention to leave. It was quite expected, though. They were already here, and they would not go home without gaining anything.


    It looked like they really wanted to know what happened here. If Mark''s group left, they would surely scour the area for clues.


    If that was the case, Mark had no problems with that. Once Chimetrice woke up, there was no need to fear these people anymore. Even Gods could not kill Chimetrice, not to mention these people.


    Unfortunately, it would not be easy, though.


    Sitting on the bench not far from Mark, a child sat without being noticed by everyone. He was no other than the Eye that arrived earlier.


    "This guy is good." The boy murmured while looking at Mark. "He managed to stall for time with just his words and actions."


    "What a strange bunch. An unknown being, the [Body of Void], a Subus, and a Humanoid Chimera." Then, the boy''s eyes fell on Chimetrice and seemed to be trying to remember something. "Ah... I remember now. This one should be the anti-god weapon created five-thousand years ago. Looks like the sealing curse that got broken is from him, huh."


    The boy then panned his eyes at the hyenas waiting for their opportunity to receive some gains in this mess.


    "It''s no fun if it continued like this..." He murmured in a bored tone.


    There, a yful grin was showed on his face.


    That was when a voice echoed in everyone''s ears except for Mark and his group. No one could tell where it came from and felt more like it was directly transferred into their heads.


    It was like a Devil''s whisper.


    "Don''t fall for that guy''s schemes. He is just biding his time since that person with wings can''t move while absorbing the treasure they unsealed. You should take advantage of the situation and steal the treasure before it is fully consumed."


    That was the voice said, triggering the greed in the hearts of these people.

 Chapter 545 Sneak Attack, The Consequence Of Trying Too Hard To Hide His Cards

    <strong>Day 129 - 04:10 PM - Newton Lake, Veteran''s Memorial Park, Oakly, Camden County, New Jersey, United States of America</strong>


    Knowing that his farce seemed to have some effect, Mark felt a bit rxed. Furthermore, while no one could easily see it, his eyes were glowing red. He was trying to affect the minds of these people to a degree.


    With these arrangements, even if these people did not leave, they would not make a move. At least, not until they realize that Chimetrice had no way of moving currently.


    Mark only needed another half hour. That was what he estimated from how fast Chimetrice was absorbing the energy from the crystals.


    Sure enough, Chimetrice''s body was far more powerfulpared to anyone he encountered before. Even the rate of his absorption was inhumane.


    Everyone that he gave a crystal so far needed at least a half-day or more to absorb the crystals. It was the case even though what Mark gave them were those non-attributed ones that contained only an eighth of the energypared to attributed crystals.


    Chimetrice, however, only needed a few hours to absorb the energy from three attributed crystals.


    If Mark could stall these guests in another half hour, they would be able to leave this ce without the need to show his cards. It was the best situation to happen.


    But then, at the slight moment that Mark took his attention away from the guests, a foreboding feeling overwhelmed him.


    Mark raised his face a re towards the guests. His eyes brightly glowed as he dropped any notion of concealing it.


    But it was no use.


    Only those that had stable minds and a few that had no greed in their hearts managed to retain their sanity.


    As for the others...


    Their minds turned into a chaotic mess where their greed consumed their rationality.


    "NOT GOOD!"


    The elder among cultivators shouted as he noticed the sudden changes in the members of his group. He also heard that voice that whispered into their heads, but only he and a young girl among his group managed to resist the temptation.


    As for the first group that arrived, the white-haired man and the red-haired witch did not know what to do. All their members seemed to have gone crazy and could not hear them at all.


    And for the other groups, all of them sumbed to the whispers of the devil.


    Except for four people, all those that came charged towards Mark and his group in one go. They looked like a bunch of crazed animals.


    "Mei''er! Illia! Get ready to fight!"


    Mark shouted as he conjured his blood scythe. Mei also redied her [Shooting Moon de], while Illia wielded her daggers.


    Gritting his teeth, Mark cursed in his heart. There was no need to know what was happening. Without a doubt, the Eye was ying with them.


    Mark turned towards the elder that was chasing after the members of his group.


    "If you want your members to live, you better catch them before they reach us!"


    The elder could not help but turn to Mark just to see him beheading the first creature to approach. A disy of ruthlessness without hesitation. If he did not hurry, the younger cultivators that came with him would have the same fate.


    BANG!


    Mei''s weapon loudly echoed as she shot a bird-like humanoid that swooped towards her.


    On the other hand, Illia agilely brandished her dagger as she stabbed the neck of an Imp that approached her.


    CLANG! CLANG!


    Metallic sounds echoed as Mark parried to swords that shed at him. In front of Mark, two young cultivators held the swords.


    Comparing physical strength, these two were far weakerpared to Huo Long Yue. Thus, with a quick push, Mark made the two men stagger backward.


    There, Mark stretched both hands to his right, extending the range of his scythe.


    "STOP!"


    The elder that managed to catch two members of his group shouted.


    However, Mark only nced at him.


    SHING! PLOP! PLOP!


    Mark''s scythe moved in a wide swing, beheading the two young cultivators. Their heads plopped down to the ground in front of the elder and the young girl in their group.


    The elder rushed down, but he was alreadyte. He could onlynd in front of the two headless corpses.


    "Do you have to be that ruthless?"


    The elder questioned Mark, who was currently blocking a golem-like creature. The group of cultivators only had seven people, including the elder. He managed to restrain two, and the girl managed to catch one. The other two, however, were already beheaded by Mark.


    "I don''t have the time to argue with you and your bullsh*t nonsense. I already told everyone to leave. Don''t me me if any of you die because of your stupidity."


    "Y-you!"


    The elder was thoroughly infuriated.


    Sure enough, narrow-minded people hated to be med for the consequences of their own actions.


    BANG! BANG!


    Mei shot her sniper rifle continuously after each time she reloaded. These creatures were not easy enemies. They might have turned berserk, but they still had some senses remaining. Not all of them were blindly charging at Mark''s group, and many were able to evade Mei''s bullets. And the worst part...


    Some of them were not even hurt after being shot by Mei.


    CRACKLE!


    A loud, crisp sound echoed in the surroundings.


    "Oh, sh*t."


    Mark could only curse as he stared above.


    The Thunderbird was going for a lightning attack.


    "Gather!"


    Mark shouted as he retreated towards Chimetrice. Mei and Illia did the same, although Illia seemed to be at a loss of what to do. She immediately embraced Chimetrice to shield him. One of the banes of Evil beings were lightning attacks. Even though the Thunderbird could not kill Chimetrice, he would receive injuries, especially since he basically had no defenses at this moment.


    THOOM!


    Thick branches of lightning fell to the ground as if a different end of the world came.


    At thest moment, Mark pulled Mei behind him as he stood in front of Illia and Chimetrice.


    Stretching his right hand forward, the [Photokinesis Mental Crystal] flew in front of his palm. As the crystal glowed, all the branches of lightning that were about to hit them changed directions.


    Mark, Mei, and Illia could feel the stinging and numbing sensation on their skin as the electricity from the lightning strikes scattered around them.


    The attack from the Thunderbird caused the remaining trees and nts to burst into mes.


    The small penins where the cursed tree stood before was now engulfed in mes.


    As the lightning attack ended, Mark stared at the sky.


    Several ugly winged demons were gathered, performing some sort of ritual. They chanted anguage Mark never heard before conjuring arge magic circle in front of them.


    "Mei''er, Illia. Take care of this ce."<sub> </sub>


    Mark spoke with a serene voice as his wings formed on his back.


    His wings glowed red, and with the strong gust of wind left by the p of his wings, Mark flew up, leaving a trail of red light.


    Covering his scythe with a faint shade of Miasma, he swiped it at the magic circle.


    CRASH!


    The magic circle unexpectedly shattered in front of everyone, causing the demons to cough out blood with their ritual being interrupted.


    Not finished, Mark pped his wings charging towards the demons, waving his scythe from different angles.


    As he passed by, blood spurted from the bodies of demons before they fell from the sky.


    After dispatching the demons, Mark flew towards the other flying enemies.


    BANG! BANG!


    The shots from Mei''s weapon echoed one after another. She was shooting the Wendigos from the first group that was now charging towards her. Unfortunately, she could only frown as all her shots missed the target.


    These Wendigos were really fast. Even with her [Bullet Time], she was having a hard time chasing their erratic movements. Furthermore, even though her bullets were faster, it was hard to take aim when the two Wendigos were changing their direction at random.


    Mei wanted to try to shoot them more times. However, they were already too close.


    CLICK! CLICK!


    Clicking sounds echoed as Mei transformed her weapon as fast as she could.


    CLANG!


    The metallic sound ring into their ears as Mei used her sword to block the teeth of the closest Wendigo that arrived before her.


    CREAK! CREAK!


    Mei wanted to pull the sword out of the Wendigo''s bite. But like a mp, it was not letting go. The worst thing was that...


    She was already within reach of the other Wendigo. She needed to let go of her weapon if she wanted to dodge it.


    BAM!


    Unexpectedly, the second Wendigo was suddenly sent flying. There, Illia came to the rescue, kicking away the Wendigo with all her might as she found a good timing to do so.


    The first Wendigo then tried to reach towards Mei with its long arms while keeping the [Shooting Moon de] mped between its teeth.


    Without letting go of her weapon, Mei jumped side to side, evading the hands of the Wendigo.


    After finding a good footing, Mei''s feet released a red glow as she kicked the ground.


    Mei jumped without letting go of the sword. It caused her to turn upside down mid-air, as she pulled the head of the Wendigo with her.


    Her unexpected movements caught the Wendigo off guard causing its head to follow Mei against its will. At the moment its head was facing upwards with Mei''s sword, it tried to resist causing its uncontrolled movement to stop.


    <o>,m At that moment, however, Mei was already falling towards its back and was already in an upright position. With both her feet, she kicked the nape of the Wendigo as hard as she could.</o>


    CRACK!


    The Wendigo''s head bent at an impossible angle. Its neck stretched backward as its head dangled upside down on its back. As if fell lifeless on the ground, it finally let go of Mei''s weapon. She immediately pulled it back and charged towards the other Wendigo that Illia was stalling.


    At the sky, Mark saw Mei''s movements as she killed the Wendigo. He kind of felt proud that the weak girl he saved before could not contend with inhumane creatures on her own. These creatures were different from the infected, after all. They had intelligence and uncanny abilities that not just anyone could handle.


    SHOOM! SHOOM!


    With those in mind, Mark flew in twisted patterns. He was currently maneuvering through a barrage of fireballs being shot from the mouth of several lizard-like creatures.


    Because Mark suddenly showed his capability of flight, he managed to gather most of the attention of the enemies. Right now, Mei and Illia only needed to face a smaller number of creatures as most of them were aiming at him.


    But then, Mark suddenly felt some strong magical fluctuations.


    CLINK! CLINK!


    Multiple metallic sounds echoed around Mark to his surprise. He immediately flew faster as he could not tell where the sounds wereing from.


    But then, below, while Mei and Illia were fighting the other Wendigo...


    The elder cultivator suddenly made a move.


    He was still in the right mind. However, the sudden death of two of the disciples of their sect affected his mentality.


    The worst part, he was aiming for Mei and Illia while they were upied with a strong enemy.


    Mark saw the elder move and immediately flew down as fast as he could to intercept him.


    But then...


    CLINK! CLINK!


    The metallic sounds intensified around Mark.


    Suddenly, he felt a searing pain on his right foot as his fast flight suddenly came into a stop.


    CLINK! CLINK!


    Mark ignored the pain, and he turned to his foot. There was a chain that came out of nowhere tightening around it. He had no time to think about it and immediately waved his scythe to cut the chain.


    Nevertheless, the wave of his scythe stopped midway as another set of chains appeared and caught his right arm.


    Mark was surprised. However, Mei''s safety was his priority. He released a surge of Miasma around the chains, causing it to disappear since it was made of magic.


    As he did, however, more chains appeared around him, tightening around his neck, waist, and other parts of his body. He becamepletely still mid-air.


    Below, the elder was already a few steps from Mei and Illia.


    Mark did not care anymore. A cloud of Miasma burst out of his body, melting all the chains that constricted him. He pped his wings as hard as he could, trying to stop the elder.


    However, because of the chains and his hesitation, he waste.


    Illia and Mei managed to react at thest second and noticed the elder behind them.


    Unfortunately, his glowing palms were already moving towards their bodies. Those were just palms, but for some reason, they could not move because of it.


    BAM! BAM!


    The two palms hit Mei and Illia on their upper backs, causing them to cough out blood at contact. From the force of the attack, both women were flung several meters away before crashing in the middle of the memorial park.


    "Hahaha! I''m just starting!" The elderughed. "This is the consequence of killing disciples of our sect!"


    The elder sure was in a crazed state, albeit mildly. It seemed that he received another whisper.


    But then...


    BAM!


    The surroundings suddenly became colder.

 Chapter 546 The Tribulation, A Higher Level Of His Empathic Ability

    <strong>Day 129 - 4:13 PM - Newton Lake, Veteran''s Memorial Park, Oakly, Camden County, New Jersey, United States of America</strong>


    Swaying his feet as he sat by the bench, the boy watched the mayhem he created unfold. Without a doubt, he was quite amazed that Mark, Mei, and Illia were able to hold on despite being swarmed by almost a hundred powerful beings. Furthermore, they were the ones having the advantage.


    Of course, he was having fun watching this. And because of that, he wanted for it to not end fast.


    "Thunderbird, attack."


    The boy whispered directly into the bird''s head.


    That was when the strikes of lightning fell unto Mark''s group, forcing him to take out the [Photokinesis Mental Crystal] and redirect the lightning by moving photons and electrons in the air. It made an invisible bridge that forced the lightning to change directions.


    The boy gleefully watched as Mark managed to ward off the attack of the Thunderbird. He was also surprised to see Mark take out an energy crystal that contained some kind of ability to redirect those lightning.


    Sure enough, Mark piqued his interest. The boy wanted to know how many things this enigma of the world was hiding.


    The boy looked above.


    "Lesser Demons, use your curse ritual."


    That was when the lesser demons that belonged to different groups coordinated strangely together and called out arge magic circle.


    "Wendigos, attack those women and hold them back."


    The boy whispered as he turned to the two Wendigos that were on standby.


    Without a doubt, this boy was controlling everyone here with his whispers.


    Fueling their negative emotions and invading their thoughts, that was this boy''s ability.


    And with this, all those with tainted but weak minds and hearts would end up submitting towards his whispers.


    As Mark shattered the magic circle, it gave the boy another wave of surprises. The boy thought that Mark would attack the demons doing the ritual first to stop it. He never expected that Mark would shatter the magic circle instead.


    Having these kinds of surprises was like ecstasy to this bored boy. He could not help but smile as he whispered his nextmands.


    That was when he noticed that the beautiful woman in Mark''s group actually managed to kill a Wendigo. That was one thing that even he as an Eye would need some time doing. After all, he was not someone suited in physicalbat.


    There, the boy noticed something that made him smile even more.


    It was the unstable mind of the elder after mulling over the death of two of the disciples that he brought with him. Because of this state, it became easier to get the elder under the boy''s control.


    "It''s a pity they died." The boy whispered to the mind of the elder. "Why don''t you take revenge. Those two women had their backs towards you. Why not make that man know the consequences?"


    Fueling the elder''s anger, he fell unto the boy''s control. The elder then moved to make a sneak attack on Mei and Illia.


    "Hmmm?" The boy suddenly looked up. "How did he notice it that fast?"


    The boy murmured as he saw Mark move to intercept the elder.


    "Witches, cursed chains."


    The boy whispered to all the Witches in the area. Of course, not all the witches could use this magic. Those that could, however, targeted Mark, summoning chains around him.


    Unexpectedly, the first chain was severed by Mark''s scythe, like that Magic Circle of the Lesser Demons.


    "Is that scythe some kind of Magic Cancelling Weapon?" The boy could not help but say before he whispered once more. "More chains. Constrict him."


    The boy smiled as he was surprised once more. It was not the scythe. Mark was the one who could negate the magic being thrown at him.


    There, more chains appeared to constrict Mark.


    That was when the boy was given a surprise that he never expected. It was actually not an ability to negate magic. Instead, it was Miasma.


    A person with a human body using Miasma was not unheard of. In cases that a human was possessed by a Formless Demon or a Miasmic Demon, they would be able to use Miasma.


    Of course, it was by the will of the Demon possessing them. And at that point, the consciousness of that human was already destroyed.


    Mark, on the other hand, there was not a single sign of being possessed was on him.


    "No way." The boy excitedly eximed as he stood up from the bench he sat on.


    At that time, the elder''s sneak attack had seeded.


    "Hahaha! I''m just starting! This is the consequence of killing the disciples of our sect!" The elder eximed, not knowing that he was under someone else''s control.


    The elder was about to chase after Mei and Illia that were thrown away because of his attack. It was when somehow, the temperature felt cold.


    Even the boy could not help but feel it. The actual temperature of the surroundings never changed. In fact, the whole area was currently on fire, and they were supposed to feel hot.


    And yet, they felt shivers.


    The boy immediately looked at the sky.


    "You got to be kidding me." The boy murmured.


    ***


    CLINK! CLINK! CLINK!


    Everything slowed down in Mark''s eyes as he saw Mei cough out a mouthful of blood and as she was flung away like a ragdoll. The only thing he could hear was the sounds of chains clinging unto his body as he hovered frozen.


    Mark then heard what the elder said as heughed sadistically.


    Consequences of killing disciples of your sect?


    No, it''s not.


    It was the consequence of Mark trying hard to hide his cards despite the actual need to use them.


    He was being overcautious of the Eyes that was lurking around somewhere.


    Being cautious was a good thing.


    But being overcautious could also bring disaster.


    ''I get it now.'' Mark thought as he slowly lost control of his supposed to be nonexistent emotions.


    In many novels, especially Chinese ones, whenever the protagonist asked who their parents or their master''s enemy were, they would tell the protagonist that it was not the right time for them to know, or they must be stronger first.


    It was because it would affect their growth and decisions too early.


    That was what Mark experienced.


    He learned about the Observers and the Eyes too early when only those that stepped unto the ranks of Deities should know about them.


    That was why...


    ''I don''t care anymore.'' Mark thought as a chain tightened on his neck.


    Whether it be the Eyes, the Observer, Deities, or Gods.


    ''Juste at me if you want to.''


    BAM!


    A cloud of Miasma exploded around Mark, disintegrating all the magical chains that surrounded him.<sub> </sub>


    In that explosion, many Lesser Demons were caught and fell down with their rotting bodies.


    There, a ck mist flew out of the Miasma, flying towards the elder as he rushed to Mei and Illia.


    Mark then materialized in front of the elder, waving his scythe towards the enemy.


    Of course, the elder would not go down that easily. The elder''s flying sword parried Mark''s scythe. Nevertheless, the elder had to retreat because of Mark''s attack.


    As the elder retreated, Mark turned to the other direction and rushed towards Mei.


    Mark kneeled down, lifting Mei''s limp body. Blood trickled from her mouth, her face was pale, and she was unconcious. The injury she received from the elder was not trivial.


    On the contrary, although in severe pain between her wings, Illia was still conscious. Slowly, she got up and turned to Mei since both of them were flung away.


    A demon''s body was very sturdy. That was why Illia was still conscious.


    On the other hand, even though Mei seemed to be a Pureblood Demon, she still had a human body. The attack they both received must have several times more effect on her body.


    As Illia turned to Mei, however, she froze at the scene she saw.


    There, reddish colored liquid trickled from Mark''s mouth as his lips touched Mei''s. Holding her as carefully as he could, making her drink the contents of his mouth.


    As his lips separated with Mei''s, Mark caressed her head gently.


    Illia was confused. If Mark was here, what happened to the enemies?


    When Illia looked above, she was shocked.


    The enemies never stopped attacking. Above them, magical fireballs, lightning attacks, and even magical chains continued to rush rain towards them.


    Yet, none of the attacks reached as a film of ck smoke circled around, covering them like a barrier. Each magical attack that touched the smoke was being absorbed by it.


    Illia stared at Mark. Without a doubt, he was responsible for this.


    Mark then stood up, carrying Mei on his arms. He nced at Illia and moved his head slightly, telling her to follow.


    With difficulty, Illia followed behind Mark, returning where Chimetrice sat. Unexpectedly, he was unharmed.


    What was happening could never be any obvious. Even though Mark was in the sky and Mei and Illia were flung away, no one attacked Chimetrice. The attacks were only concentrated on the three for a reason.


    Going back to where Chimetrice sat down, Mark handed Mei to Illia.


    She understood what he wanted her to do. But why was Mark not talking?


    Mark turned and walked away. With a wave of his hand, Mei, Illia, and Chimetrice were covered by that circling barrier made of Miasma.


    Raising his head, Mark panned his eyes to all the enemies surrounding him, especially the elder.


    Mark was totally furious that he felt like losing himself. Yet, he never felt so calm in his entire life.


    RUMBLE!


    Everyone froze as they all turned towards the sky.


    Thick ck clouds started to form, spiraling menacingly. Lightning shed, and thunder echoed. It was as if a storm wasing.


    Mark turned to the sky. He had not done anything yet, what was happening?


    Nevertheless, the scene felt familiar.


    That was right. It was the same event that happened when Mark regained his emphatic ability and gained Freed''s psychic powers.


    It was the way the world weed something that should not exist in this ne.


    Mark closed his eyes.


    "I see it now." Mark murmured. "This ability was never intended to reach this point, wasn''t it?"


    With those words, Mark''s eyes glowed red. It was not the usual red glow but deeper in color. There were even red sparks of electricity escaping from his eyes.


    ? CRASH!


    Everyone froze as they heard something akin to shattered ss in their heads.


    Their greed, anger, and unnecessary emotions vanished in an instant. All of them froze as they tried to recall what was happening.


    They escaped from the Eye''s control.


    Mark''s head felt heavy. He absorbed the negative emotions that everyone here had at this moment in one go.


    There, he released it.


    BAM!


    Everyone froze in a different way.


    Their bodies were shivering. Fear and terror engulfed their minds as they looked at Mark.


    "Flee!"


    That was what echoed in their minds repeatedly. However, they could barely move, not even a step.


    RUMBLE!


    At the sky, the lightning intensified.


    BAM!


    From the center of the clouds, a very thick tower of lightning fell towards Mark.


    Because of the fear they were currently feeling, the enemies cheered and wished that Mark would turn to ash because of that lightning.


    "Stop dreaming."


    Mark''s voice echoed inside the tower of lightning that continuously fell onto him, pouring cold water on the enemies'' wishes.


    Around Mark''s arm, several crystals floated, glowing brightly.


    The lightning started to converge at one point. Everyone noticed that a crystal formed atop Mark''s head.


    As the lightning ended, the crystal fell on Mark''s hand.


    "I left the first one at home. I should thank the heavens for giving me another one."


    Mark spoke with a sinister smile.


    As that new crystal joined the others, the sky rumbled once more.


    The enemies thought that another strike of lightning would fall unto Mark.


    Then, it rained, not water, but branches of lightning.


    There, all those that kept flying in the sky turned to charred corpses that littered the ground.


    "I already told all of you to leave. But since none of you did, don''t ever think of leaving."

 Chapter 547 Unimaginable Suffering, A Torture That Even Devils Would Fear

    <strong>Day 129 - 4:15 PM - Newton Lake, Veteran''s Memorial Park, Oaklyn, New Jersey, United States of America</strong>


    The boy watched everything unfold before him. Although he was excited, he now had a bitter expression on his face.


    "I provoked a monster, didn''t I?"


    He murmured.


    [Heavenly Lightning], [Judgement], [Lightning Tribtion], there were a lot of names that this phenomenon wasbeled with.


    It was the event where a living thing surpassed a threshold of a rule causing the heavens to pour lightning on them and measure their existence. Those that perished under this lightning would be deemed unworthy, and of course, die. On the other hand, those that lived through this deadly event would continue to live on.


    This kind of event was moremon among Chinese Cultivators. It was because the goal of Cultivation was to surpass the limits of their species in the first ce.


    As for the event that unfolded this moment in front of the boy, it was unprecedented. Reaching this level of an Empath was deemed impossible in the past.


    In fact, among all kinds of Psychic Abilities, Empaths were the mostmon. It did not have too many requirements to be one aside from having more sensitivity towards the emotions of other people.


    However, because being able to understand emotions was a skill that could be learned through various methods, it was not given too much attention, unlike other shy psychic abilities.


    Furthermore, there were no known methods for developing this ability further. If a person became an Empath, only fate and luck could make them stronger.


    Unfortunately, that came with severe consequences. After the [Realm of Understanding], the [Realm of Absorbing] followed.


    It was when the Empath started to absorb the negative energy from the emotions of the people around them. This was where the ill effects of being an Empath starts. It would be worse over time as there was no way for the Empath to control it.


    Absorbing these negative energies could render the Empath''s emotional tendencies chaotic. They began to hate crowds of people and be moody most often.


    Next was [Realm of Release].


    The energy umted by the Empath started to leak from their bodies. It made people stay away from the Empath as if they contained contagious diseases. People would also have the tendency to feel threatened for being around Empaths in this realm, and those Empaths were most often mistaken for criminals.


    It was also thest realm known for Empaths to reach.


    Why? It was because none of them were able to surpass it. There was no known training to be able to restrict the absorption of energy, or in the least, forcefully release the negative energy they absorbed.


    With the negative emotional energies piling up in their heads, most of them would suffer severe depression. It would not be long until they eithermit suicide or break into insanity. That was where the lives of Empaths end up.


    That was the supposed fate of Empaths.


    Now, however, the Enigma called Mark existed. He surpassed the limits of Empaths and embarked on a new field of existence. And as such, the world tested him.


    "Damn, he was even able to break off my control on these idiots."


    The boy murmured.


    ***


    Mark red at the enemies. He did not care if there was an Eye watching at this moment. The only thing he wanted to do right now was to kill.


    His killing intent intensified. The veins in his whole body glowed red.


    There, one of the crystals shined brightly as Mark''s visage blurred. Then, he vanished.


    When Mark vanished, all the enemies were rmed. That was when they finally noticed.


    "We can move!" One of the Lesser Demons shouted. "RUN!"


    Sure enough, that was the first thing that came into their minds when they regained the ability to move their bodies.


    Unexpectedly, there were three that did things differently.


    "Feng Zhiruo! Bring them here!"


    The elder shouted to the female disciple that guarded her unconscious teammates.


    "Y-yes!"


    The girl called Feng Zhiruo was flustered. Nevertheless, she managed to control several flying swords to transport her teammates towards the elder.


    As the girlnded...


    "Hundred Swords Array!"


    The elder shouted.


    Around their group, one-hundred swords made of blue light appeared, circling to defend them.


    On the other side, the white-haired man and red-haired witch also gathered what remained of their group and watched each other''s backs.


    When the members of their group gathered together, the red-haired witch waved her hand, making a long wooden staff to appear. She then tapped the end of her weapon on the ground, causing arge magic circle to appear that became the base of a thick magical barrier.


    Without a doubt, their movements were the smartest at this moment.


    As for the others, they tried to escape as fast as they could. Even those within groups decided to go in different directions. They were hoping that the others would get targeted instead, allowing them to escape.


    But then, they noticed.


    A tall wall of Miasma appeared around the area surrounding them.


    At the sky, lightning continued to strike anyone that tried to fly.


    They thought that once they were allowed to move, they would be able to leave. But no.


    They were only given...


    A "False Hope."


    Giving them a little bit of hope for survival when there was no chance for any of these hopefuls to live.


    "AHH!"


    A scream was heard, making everyone look at a Demon.


    The Demon was in an awkward position as his body was leaned forward like he was running away. However, he was frozen in ce, and his right shoulder and arm were stretched out backward.


    In a blink of an eye, Mark''s visage faded in on the back of the Demon. He was holding onto the Demon''s shoulder and arm with his glowing red hands.


    Then...


    RIP!


    "AAAAAAHHHHHH!!!"


    The Demon''s wails intensified. His ck blood sttered as his left arm was mercilessly ripped off his shoulder.


    Mark then gave a ruthless kick on the Demon''s leg.


    Despite the Demon''s wails, everyone heard his bones crack as he fell to the ground.


    When the Demon fell, it felt something stepping on his head. It tried to look above, and it fell unto despair. It saw Mark smiling despite the stains of blood dripping from his face.


    And there, the Demon heard Mark speak.


    "You''re the luckiest one." Mark''s sinister voice echoed as he pulled the Demon up using its left horn. "Look at them."


    Mark made the Demon see the others that had no way of escaping.


    For some reason, they were all pale, shivering, and terrified.


    "You know why you are lucky?"


    Mark continued. Of course, the Demon could not even give a proper response.


    "You know why all of them look like that?"


    "You''re pain, fear, horror, agony... Everything you are feeling right now... It is being transmitted to everyone."<sub> </sub>


    "You are lucky since you only get to feel your own pain."


    "Shouldn''t you be grateful that you are chosen?"


    "Hehe."


    Those sentences were thest things the Demon heard before its neck was torn off from its body.


    That Demon was lucky, without a doubt.


    Mark held the Demon''s head for a few seconds before throwing it away. That was when he looked at the others to look for the next one.


    Sure enough, everyone was looking at Mark in horror. It was true. Everything that the Demon that had just died was experienced by them. Although their bodies were not in actual pain, the pain transmitted in their minds made them felt as if it was their arms and necks that were being torn off.


    Seeing those expressions, Mark turned to the elder.


    The elder seemed to have more tenacity than the others. Unfortunately, it seemed that Mark had a very ruthless n for the old man.


    "Don''t worry." Mark smiled. "You will be thest one. Let''s see how long it will take before deciding to take your life instead. Hahaha!"


    The elder looked at Mark wide-eyed.


    With this kind of punishment, even his defensive treasures and techniques were rendered useless.


    "Everyone! Let''s team up and kill him! Or else, all of us will suffer before we die!"


    The elder shouted, asking for the cooperation of the others.


    It did not matter whether they came from different groups.


    It did not matter if they were demons, monsters, or humans.


    What mattered was that they were all going to die if none of them made a move.


    "SWORD!"


    The elder shouted with his index and middle fingers, pointed at Mark.


    A beam of golden light in the shape of a sword shot towards Mark.


    The golden sword flew towards Mark at the speed of a bullet.


    With a very slight movement, Mark evaded the sword. Unexpectedly, after it passed from his side, it turned around to chase.


    "A homing one?"


    Mark smiled sinisterly.


    He disappeared without a trace. However, the sword continued to fly in a direction.


    The golden sword flew towards another Demon.


    That Demon was surprised and tried to dodge, just to find out that its body was locked in ce.


    "H-hey! STOP!" The Demon wailed.


    Then, it felt a heavy mass on its head, forcing it to lean forwards.


    SHIIIRK!


    Right at the dead center of its forehead, the golden sword burrowed itself before disappearing.


    Mark appeared, holding that dead Demon''s head. He then turned to see the others. Some of them were kneeling while others were on deep shock while they suppressed the pain on their foreheads.


    "Hehehe."


    Mark let out a stifledugh.


    That golden sword was made out of energy the elder had. Being hit by it would not only make one feel pain but would feel the invasion of the man''s Qi unto the wound.


    And all these enemies, including the elder himself, felt that excruciating pain on their heads despite being illusory.


    "What are you all waiting for!"


    The elder shouted once more.


    Finally, the others reacted.


    "ATTACK!"


    "GO!"


    Yells of retaliation echoed from the remaining enemies as they let out different attacks towards Mark.


    Some of the demons shot out fireballs from their mouths.


    Some of them shot projectiles from their bodies.


    The others charged towards Mark with their weapons and ws.


    "Futile."


    Mark let out one word as his body vanished once more.


    All the attacks never hit their target.


    Mark then appeared behind a female Demon that did not attack. Since this Demon had already resigned to its fate, Mark did not mind killing her first.


    Feeling the palm nted on her back, the female Demon closed her eyes. Only to open it abruptly.


    "GAHAH!"


    The female Demon felt something invading her body, transforming her blood to metal. It was a slow and painful death.


    Unexpectedly, the female Demon could let out a smile as she died. It was because she saw how the others squirmed like worms as they all shared her pain.


    Mark then held the female Demon''s head for a few seconds before letting it go. As he went for the next target, the corpse of the female Demon was left behind, kneeling like a statue.


    One by one, Mark killed these foolish enemies in different ways.


    Their limbs being decapitated, their heads being smashed open, bones being crumbled to pieces, rotting their eyes with Miasma, burning them with lightning starting with their stomach, Mark did not hold back with the torture.


    For every kill that Mark made, the remaining ones started to lose the will to live.


    It did not take long, and some started to fall into insanity. Mark had fun looking at their slumped bodies on the ground. Their eyes lost their life. Their saliva leaked out of their mouths as they became numb to even close it.


    Some brandished their ws, tearing their own heads apart.


    Some fell unconcious, only to wake up because of more pain inflicted on their minds.


    Unexpectedly, the elder was still holding on. Of the disciples, however, only the girl was left. As for the others, they woke up and suffered until they brandished their swords to slit their own necks.


    The elder watched all those happen, unable to do anything.


    "Damn it... It''s all your fault..."


    The elder heard a struggling voice not far from him. There, the white-haired man and the red-haired witch were present, barely able to stand. As for the ones with them, they were all unconcious.


    The man and the witch used some method to block off Mark''s mental torture. However, it seemed that they expended all their energy and could not use that technique to themselves.


    It did not take long.


    While not everyone was dead, only the elder, the white-haired man, and the red-haired witch were left conscious.


    And now, they were being stared at by Mark''s piercing re.

 Chapter 548 Last Ditch Effort, The Elders Suffering And Death

    <strong>Day 129 - 6:22 PM - Newton Lake, Veteran''s Memorial Park, Oaklyn, Camden County, New Jersey, United States of America</strong>


    "Hmm..." Mark turned his head to the side. "Some are still alive, but only you three are the only ones still conscious."


    "I presume... It''s their turn now."


    Mark smiled as he calmly walked towards the unconscious members of the group, led by the white-haired man.


    "STOP!" The white-haired man shouted. "Why are you doing all this?! That woman only got hurt! She''s not even dead!"


    Hearing those words, Mark paused on his steps.


    "Then, I''ll ask you..." Mark faced the man, tilting his head in confusion. "Why not?"


    The elder, the white-haired man, and the red-haired Witch stared at Mark with wide eyes. Regr people, no, even most creatures would not be able to see it. Around Mark, his killing intent was already forming a thick, suffocating aura.


    "We are just sitting there peacefully. Until all of you came uninvited."


    "Mei''er... She shouldn''t have been hurt in the first ce. That is if none of you came here. Or at least, you all went on your ways after I told you all to go leave."


    "Now, tell me..."


    "Why not?"


    Feeling Mark''s killing intent, the white-haired man and the red-haired Witch concluded that any negotiation could not happen.


    Mark was keen on killing them.


    There, with resignation in their eyes, the two nodded at each other.


    Seeing that gesture and noticing their resignation, Mark realized that these two still had a card left to use despite their already exhausted magical energy reserves. He had no notion of letting them escape.


    With a wave of Mark''s hand, he sent arge cloud of Miasma to cover the two and their subordinates.


    Unfortunately, Mark was alreadyte.


    The two pped their hands together, and their bodies shined brightly. It was the same for their subordinates. In an instant, their bodies turned into beams of lights that fired off towards the sky.


    Mark hurriedly controlled the lightning to block the beams of light.


    However, the beams of light were too fast. Although Mark managed to hit three, which immediately turned into either ash or corpse, the rest managed to escape through the clouds and fly away.


    "Tch."


    Mark clicked his tongue. He was too careless to let them escape.


    However, if those two were too hesitant to use this escape technique until thest moment, the repercussions of this technique might have been too harsh.


    Mark looked at the direction the beams of light flew.


    "I''ll see you again in the future. That time, I won''t let any of you escape again."


    That was right. There was no need to mull over the escape of that group. With the hatred between Mark and Auraboros, the chances of not seeing them again were too low.


    Now that he had seen this technique, their other members would not be able to use it again in front of him.


    Mark turned to the elder.


    "You''re thest one now. What do you say for yourself?"


    The elder red at Mark.


    "An evil creature like you will receive your retribution in the future."


    Mark stared at the elder, frozen in shock.


    Then...


    "Pfft!!! Hahahahahaha!" Mark burst out inughter. "Shameless! Too shameless! Hahahaha!"


    "Can you repeat that? Do you hear yourself? Really?"


    Mark''s voice, filled with overwhelming ridicule, made the elder''s face red with both fury and uneptable embarrassment.


    "I won''t deny it. I might be evil." Mark took a deep breath. "A least, I don''t make the first move. I rather avoid conflict if I could. I don''t hurt innocent people, I don''t steal without a legitimate reason, and I always return good intentions. But entitled people like you appear like mushrooms, thinking that you should be respected. Trying to steal what is not yours, treating others like ants, and thinking as if you are above everything else."


    "Get off your high horse, you maggot! I don''t care what you do to others. But mess with me, or my people... prepare to get the worst treatment from me."


    "Do you really think that your sect is any good? The way you talk sounds like you came from some sort of a righteous sect, right?"


    "Looking at you and these trashed though," Mark stepped on the corpse of one of the disciples with the elder, causing it to burst open. "I believe that sect of yours is filled with garbage pretending to be humans."


    "Y-you!!!"


    The elder could not talk properly anymore. The elder''s face was as red as a fried octopus because of the ridicule that Mark was giving him and his sect.


    To a cultivator, although not all, most of them see their sects as their home.


    Many of them wouldy their lives than letting their sects be ridiculed.


    It was even if the ridicule they were receiving was more of the truth than lies.


    "Well, I guess... that''s yourst words."


    Mark smiled.


    There, Mark''s eyes brightly glowed as it could.


    "GAAAAAHHHHH!!!"


    The elder was already prepared to be killed. In fact, the elder already blocked his meridians so that even if he received physical torture, he would not feel any pain until he died. However, he never expected to be killed in this way.


    "Since you have a high mental fortitude, let''s see how much you can handle."


    Mark''s voice echoed as blood started to flow out of the elder''s eyes and ears.


    "GAH!! STOP!!! STOP!!!"


    The elder wailed, holding his head with both his hands. He felt like his brain was about to burst. However, as the pain was not physical, he would continue to suffer until his consciousness could not handle it anymore.


    "BANG! BANG!"


    The elder started to give up. He began banging his head on the concrete. Blood trickled on his forehead as he got wounded. But as a cultivator with quite a high cultivation and specialized in closebat, his body was sturdier than others.


    Even if he used his head to dig his own grave on the concrete pavement he was kneeling at, he would still be too far from dying.


    Finally, the elder gave up.


    BOOM!


    His body burst into an explosion of flesh and blood.


    As it was unexpected, Mark''s body was drenched in blood since he stood quite close to the elder.


    The glow in Mark''s eyes vanished as he stared at the pile of meat that the elder turned into.


    "Did he detonate himself?" Mark murmured. "Shouldn''t there be some sort of energy build-up and arge explosion like how it is portrayed in novels?"


    Mark was confused. In the least, he already vented off most of his anger.


    But then...


    Mark froze, as the blood that drenched his body glowed.


    ***<sub> </sub>


    "Damn it!" An old voice echoed. "That demon pushed me to this state..."


    It was no other than the elder. He was currently inside a dark space, cursing his fate.


    "Damn it!" The elder cursed once more as he checked his semi-transparent body. "Using that technique will not only destroy my body but also damage my spirit. Though I doubt he will find me in here. I just need to wait until my spirit recovers, and I can take over this demon''s body."


    The Spirit Transfer Technique. It was an evil technique that the elder identally found in a tomb and had been practicing in secret. With this technique, he would sacrifice his body and damage his spirit to invade and take over another person''s body. However, the target needed to be drenched with the user''s blood, and this technique could only be used once. The second time that it was used, it would pulverize the spirit of the user.


    Because of that, the target of the technique should be carefully chosen. In the elder''s case, however, he had no choice but to use it to escape the suffering. Besides, the target right now was rather good.


    The elder then looked around.


    "Where am I? Shouldn''t I enter that demon''s consciousness using that technique?"


    "Yeah? You are inside my consciousness."


    The elder froze... He heard the demon''s voice behind him.


    Then, the surroundings became bright, forcing the elder to cover his eyes.


    When it regained his sight, he looked around.


    It was a paradise.


    "Is this heaven?"


    The elder murmured.


    "Nope. You are inside MY consciousness."


    This time, the elder jumped forwards and looked behind him. His eyes turned wide as if he had seen a ghost.


    "H-HOW?!"


    In front of the elder, Mark stood.


    "Why are you asking me when it''s you who entered my world?"


    Mark replied with a smile. His smile, however, looked like the omen of death for the elder.


    That was when the elder realized how f*cked he was.


    "Why?! Why do you have a consciousness like this?! Only cultivators that stepped into the levels of deities are known to create a world inside their sea of consciousness! It''s impossible!!! This is impossible!!!"


    The elder was about to break. Not only Mark had to make him suffer, but Mark was also breaking the rules he knew.


    "Now, are you ready to be swallowed by me?"


    Mark spoke, making the elder fell the kind of fear he never felt for his whole life.


    "You already served yourself in a silver tter, you see?"


    Mark said, once more. There, the elder noticed where he was standing.


    It was in the middle of a silver tter.


    From there, the elder realized. He looked at his hands. He was starting to disintegrate.


    "No... NO!!!"


    "Fool..."


    Mark murmured as he watched the existence of the elder vanish to oblivion.


    ***


    Mark opened his eyes. Who would have thought that an elder proud of his "righteous" sect would resort to an evil technique? Shouldn''t they be proud of dying with dignity?


    "What a hypocrite."


    Mark shook his head. It would take a while before the memories of the elder integrate into his own. However, Mark was not expecting too much. After all, the elder''s consciousness was heavily damaged.


    "Are you done?"


    A voice echoed behind Mark.


    He turned around. It was Chimetrice.


    It was already past two hours since Mark started to kill the enemies. Chimetrice had long been awake and was watching Mark vent his anger. He had no reason to interfere and just looked after Illia and Mei in case that something unexpected happened.


    "Not yet. There''s still thest one." Mark replied.


    "You better remove that barrier you made. I can pass through, but Illia can''t.


    Chimetrice pointed at Illia. She was guarding Mei while being trapped in the barrier of Miasma Mark made.


    Mark turned to Chimetrice. He made it out of his Miasma without any damage. What a sturdy body this Chimera had. Luckily, he was not an enemy.


    Shrugging his shoulders, Mark turned elsewhere. He then approached and picked up an unconscious person.


    It was the young girl among the group cultivators.


    He had no reason to kill her. She never did anything harmful. However, there was no reason for him to let her go either. After all, she was still among the reasons why Mei was harmed.


    Mark lifted the girl, bringing her with him. He then walked with Chimetrice towards Mei and Illia.


    As Mark removed the barrier and put down the girl, he shouted.


    "Aren''t you going toe out now?"


    Saying those words, Mark turned towards the bench not far from them.


    Chimetrice also turned, alert, and ready to fight.


    There, like a ghost, a child appeared, sitting on that bench.


    A boy with five eyes. Without a doubt, this boy was an eye, and the one caused themotion.


    "Amazing... How did you find me? Even that Chimera beside you can''t tell where I am."


    Mark tilted his head.


    "Why don''t you look around you."


    The boy was confused and looked around.


    "Hahahaha! No wonder!"


    The boyughed. It was because almost the whole park was already razed to the ground. The walkways were destroyed, and the trees and grass were burned. With all that, however, the bench and the small area around it was unscathed.


    Mark then nced at Chimetrice.


    "Let''s go together against this one."


    "No problem. I already recovered, thanks to you."


    Chimetrice replied with a resolute expression.


    Sensing Mark''s and Chimetrice''s intent to fight, the boy hurriedly spoke.


    "Wow, wow... Rx, all right? I have no intention of fighting you two. Besides, you won''t even be able to touch me if we did."


    There was no lie in that. Mark and Chimetrice could not sense the boy at all, even though he already appeared. He was like a ghost. You could feel the chill, but you would not be able to see it unless it showed itself.

 Chapter 549 The Other Side Of The Story, The Reason Why The Boy Appeared In This Place

    <strong>Day 129 - 6:31 PM - Newton Lake, Veteran''s Memorial Park, Oaklyn, Camden County, New Jersey, United States of America</strong>


    Mark frowned deeply. The fact that he could not sense this any lies from the boy made him want to kill this entity even more.


    "You''re saying that after starting all this mess?"


    Mark could not help but speak out those words with anger.


    When Mark said that question, however, the boy smirked in a very annoying way.


    "Don''t look at me like that. It''s not like I''m going to deny my part in this. You can hate me all you want, but give it up. You can''t do anything to me."


    Those words of the boy made Mark feel heavy. Because of this boy, Mei got hurt. Yet, he did not know whether he would be able to do anything against this boy.


    This boy was an Eye without a doubt. Nevertheless, he was very different from those that Mark had seen before.


    The first one he saw was from Freed''s memories. That gigantic thousand-eyed tentacle monster.


    The second was that parasite like creature that controlled that infected giant.


    The third was the puppet that The Great One controlled.


    Each of them had different characteristics, which made Mark assume that this boy was also unique.


    And Mark was not mistaken.


    This boy that had five eyes was truly unique, in an absurd way.


    "Aren''t you here to erase us?"


    Chimetrice asked. He was quite confused as to why this Eye seemed to have no intention to fight.


    "Why?" The boy replied as he climbed up the backrest of the bench. "Did any of you came from another universe? Did any of youe from another realm? Where did you even hear that?"


    That reply made Chimetrice turn to Mark. After all, what he knew about this came from him.


    Nevertheless, Mark was also surprised by that reply.


    The boy turned to Mark.


    "Did you hear about us from a God in hiding? No, that''s definitely why." The boy nodded as if he understood something.


    "Actually... that''s only the case for beings that came from other worlds, you know?"


    "What are you saying?"


    Mark could not help but ask. His anger towards the boy was yet to subside. Nevertheless, he was regaining his calm because of the information he was receiving from the boy.


    The boy then jumped down and sat on the armrest of the bench.


    "Did you two know? With how Earth was constructed, stepping into Godhood for any of its children is almost impossible. But Gods and Deities that came from other worlds, universes, and realms came in this Godlessnd and turned this into their yground. That is why the first thing our Master did is to remove these pests when he took the position of this world''s Observer."


    There, the boy continued to exin yfully.


    ording to him, Earth is created as a magicless. Its residents should experience a life where science developed, and its creatures had relied on natural evolution to grow.


    But with the Gods from other realms arriving, this rule was broken.


    Unfortunately, it was the fault of the previous Observer. That Observer was toozy to manage the world and let the invaders go rampant.


    Thus, creatures recorded in Earth''s Legends and Mythologies were born because of the Magical Energy, the Mana, that these Gods brought from their worlds.


    And as the rules of the world distorted, many more things deviated from its initial path.


    The magical races, demon races, and other unnatural beings were born, one after another.


    "When our Master stepped up to rece the previous Observer, it was alreadyte to bring this world to its original state."


    The boy said with a shrug.


    "But our Master is not a ruthless person."


    The boy smiled.


    "He gave some leeway for creatures that were born of this world."


    "It was even if they were born by the effect of the invaders on this world."


    The boy then looked straight at Mark.


    "Since you have demon blood, I presume that you know about the Spirit Dimension, the Higher Dimension, and the Lower Dimension. Do you know about those?"


    "I do."


    Mark replied with a frown.


    "It is us who created those dimensions." The boy said with a proud expression. "We created those ces to keep and segregate the beings born in this world after the Gods appeared."


    The servants of those Gods, the angelic beings, the holy warriors, and those that were directly created by Gods... They were all designated at the Higher Dimension.


    Those that were born of nature, fairies, cryptids, lesser demons, and the like, they were left in the Spirit Dimension. A beautiful paradise filled with nts and animals but also had a darker side.


    Lastly, the greater demons, the devils, fallen angels, and the embodiments of sins... They were all sent to the Lower Dimension.


    That way, humans could dominate the world once more, being its main upants.


    "But as you can see," The boy pointed at Mark. "Even though most of the Gods already left this world, their existence in that lost era affected the future. From time to time, enigmas like you are born."


    There were also times that humans with superhuman abilities would appear.


    "As long as none of you disturbed the bnce and current pace of the world, we really have no reason to make any movement. In fact, we even give the option to live in the Dimensions I mentioned instead."


    As long as the rules were being followed, there was no problem. No matter how strong the Enigma was, it did not matter if they knew how to listen.


    They would be allowed to exist.


    It was because those people were still the children of this world.


    Of course, it was a different story if the Enigmas of the world tried to distort its rules.


    After hearing all these things, a mystery popped up inside Mark''s head.


    "Then what about the Blood Demons?"


    That was right. The Blood Demons, Mark''s supposed ancestors, were annihted by the schemes of the Eyes.<sub> </sub>


    "Hmmm?" That question surprised the boy. "Are you talking about that race of demons that can turn any other race into their own using their blood?"


    "Hmmm... I believe it''s Second and Fourth that did that." The boy muttered. "I don''t know where you heard about them, but their race is wiped out because their very existence is a twist of the rules itself."


    "You know why?"


    The boy shrugged.


    "It''s because their blood had can turn invaders into someone considered as born of this world. It is against the rules since our duty is to remove them. If they became one of the Blood Demons, even us can''t do anything unless they defied another rule."


    In other words, the Blood Demons could give shelter towards the Invaders, and the Observer could not let that happen. Thus, they decided to be cautious and eliminate the source of threat instead.


    Hearing that, Mark understood. As long as one was naturally born on this, on this Earth, they would be fine. It was as long as they did not defy the rules stated by the Observer.


    In this case, it seemed that Mark was worrying too much for nothing. However, it could not be helped. After all, he only heard one side of the story.


    Mark felt rxed. In the least, he knew now that he would not be erased without reason. It was not like Mark was afraid of dying. But at least not now that he started to enjoy life.


    With something in mind, Mark stared at the boy.


    "With what happened right now, haven''t we exceeded the rules you are talking about?"


    It was the right question. With how muchmotion caused by Chimetrice''s revival and the effects of the battle that had just happened, it would not be surprising if Mark and Chimetrice were still in the kill list. However, it seemed that it was not the issue.


    "That''s the reason I''m here, you know?"


    The boy smirked, tapping his temple with his right index finger.


    "With those questions you two asked, I''m sure that you two haven''t received the news yet."


    That announcement made Mark frown even more. He did not know whether it would be a good or a bad thing.


    "All of you know, right? What state the world is in, right now. That is why there is a change or rules."


    There, the boy yfullyughed as he opened both his arms wide.


    "You two don''t have to fear! No matter how absurd your existence is, as long as you are not an invader, feel free to do what you want!"


    "What do you mean?"


    Mark asked as what the boy mentioned was really vague.


    "What do you not understand?" The boy tilted his head. "As I said, do what you want! Fight here, kill there, conquer countries, anything! Even if you want to ughter a whole country, it''s fine!"


    It was an unexpected announcement.


    Mark could not believe that something like this was possible. It was too good to be true, in a sense.


    "Why did the rules have such a U-turn?"


    Chimetrice asked with a frown. He was not a fool to believe the boy that fast.


    There, the boy sighed.


    "Because of this outbreak, apocalypse, end of the world, or whatever you want to call it. It caused the foundations of the world to copse. Soon, even the three subdimensions with open and fuse with the surface. I wonder if you know that already."


    Then, the boy continued with a piece of information that made Mark freeze.


    "This is just the first wave. It won''t be long, and the second wave wille."


    This information would be enough to shake the lives of the people still remaining on Earth.


    The poption of Earth was already severely shaved off the surface because of Mutagen.


    Now, there was another wave?


    Why not just destroy the Earth directly?


    "Is that why those creatures and even the cultivators are being active now?"


    Mark asked.


    "Yeah? Pretty much." The boy replied. "Their leaders might have received the news already. Only those with enough strength like you two are allowed to know this information, after all."


    The boy then smiled at Mark.


    "You understand now why I have to force you to show your true strength? Although I can pretty much judge what kinds of creatures you are, I don''t have any ability to know or read your abilities. I have to force it out of you since you did not seem to want to show it."


    Mark''s frown went deeper and deeper. So, Mei was hurt because of this?


    He found it rather uneptable.


    "Can you wipe that frown out of your face?" The boy urged. "I needed to do that to be able to see your potential. Or else, I won''t deem you legible to receive this information. So far, you are the only person that had yet to step to the realm of Deities to receive this news, so be grateful."


    Mark suddenly had the urge to punch this boy''s face.


    But then, Mark had some realization.


    "Is this why the sealed Deities and Demons started to find ways to revive themselves?"


    Mark blurted out.


    "Well, yeah?" The boy tilted his head. "Since this mess started, all of us, the Apostles of the Observer, had been running around. Cultivators, Underground Organizations, as long as they had Deities, we informed them. Well, even if we didn''t, there are already those that started to break their seals. When this mess started, arge amount of energy was released into the Earth, allowing them to break free even before we found them."


    The boy then pointed at Chimetrice.


    "Like him. Though I think. It''s quite different in this case."


    "Well, then. I did what I needed to do. I should get going. I still need to go back to slee- work."


    The boy then jumped and started to float away.


    "Oh, I forgot to introduce myself."


    The boy turned around for thest time.


    "I am the current 9th Eye, The Embodiment of Boredom. You all can call me Ninth. As you can see, my body is in, boring, and almost non-existent. See you two some other time!"


    Finally, the boy left in an instant.


    Mark and Chimetrice still had some questions. However, they felt that it was better to let that boy leave already. Just with the boy being around made them feel as if they were walking at the edge of a de.

 Chapter 550 Separation, Events That Transpired After

    <strong>Day 129 - 6:42 PM - Newton Lake, Veteran''s Memorial Park, Oaklyn, Camden County, New Jersey, United States of America</strong>


    Mark, Chimetrice, and Illia watched the boy float and fade out like a ghost. In an instant, his presence in the surroundings vanished as if he never existed.


    The Eye called Ninth finally left.


    Although Mark had not vented all of his anger for what happened, in the least, he could rx now.


    And as Mark lost all the tension from the events that had just ended, his body felt heavy. His head was throbbing hard, and his body was shivering a bit.


    "You alright?" Chimetrice asked. "I know you are angry. Me too, since Illia also got harmed. But, is it worth it to torture yourself like that?"


    Hearing those words only made Mark shake his head slightly and shrug.


    Mark nned on hiding this fact, but it seemed like Chimetrice noticed.


    The new ability he awakened came with a huge setback.


    He was able to share the emotions of a target to others in raw form and not just by affecting their minds. That, however, could only be achieved by using his mind as the medium.


    In simple words, while he slowly made the enemies suffer while killing them, he was also experiencing the same suffering they had.


    Other people would not be able to do this at all, even if they achieved the same realm as an Empath. The fortunate thing was that the pain he felt would not linger for too long before disappearing. Furthermore, he was too enraged to feel it at all.


    After all, people tend to forget and not feel many things when they got swallowed by their extreme emotions.


    Furthermore...


    "Some people say that pain is the best way to remember things. In the future, I will remember that this happened because I hesitated. That way, I won''t let history repeat itself."


    Mark said as he kneeled down and caressed Mei''s head.


    "Humans are reallyplicated," Illia spoke with aplicated expression. "Wait, you two are Demons, right?"


    Illia became confused. At first, she did not notice, but when Mark and Mei concealed their wings, they felt no different from humans.


    "They are humans with Demon Blood," Chimetrice interjected.


    "Ah, I see now." Illia nodded in understanding.


    Mark checked Mei''s current state. It looked like she was already fine but still needed rest.


    "What are your ns?" Mark asked Chimetrice. "If you two don''t have anywhere to go, why not go to my ce instead?"


    Those words were enough for Illia and Chimetrice to understand. Mark was asking for an alliance.


    Chimetrice turned to Illia.


    "Do we have anywhere to go?"


    Illia tapped her chin. She seemed to be unsure.


    "We have the group I led with Jude, but I only used them to gather more energy to revive Master. They''re useless now since the seal is already broken."


    "How about the creator''sir? No, I think it should be called aboratory by modern standards."


    That question from Chimetrice made Illia shake her head.


    "A lot of things have changed since five thousand years ago. Even geography included. I don''t know where that ce is now or if it still exists."


    "That''s true..." Chimetrice nodded.


    There, Chimetrice decided on what they would do first.


    "Mark, thank you for the invitation."


    "But, you two are not going to join us, right?"


    Mark replied.


    "We will, but not right now. I don''t want to join you and without giving something in return. If I''m correct, it''s called leeching off, right?"


    "Just your presence is already fine, though."


    "That is not enough." Chimetrice shook his head. "If we managed to find my creator''sboratory, we might be able to bring back some good things. Another thing is that I don''t feelfortable with my current face. It feels like I will get unnecessary enemies just because of this face alone."


    Hearing that reason, Mark could only nod. If Mark brought Chimetrice with him right now, Felicia and her family would definitely act violently.


    "Then, we''ll be going," Chimetrice said as he carried Illia pped his wings.


    "Alright, see you twoter."


    "Take this." Chimetrice made one of his golden feathers float towards Mark. "After we found my creator''sboratory, we''lle looking for you."


    And with those words, Chimetrice and Illia flew away towards North.


    "They really are in a hurry."


    Mark murmured as he saw the silhouettes of the two vanish into the night.


    However, it was not a bad thing. It was better to move faster even more. The news that Ninth brought them was not something to joke at. It would dictate the fate of the world.


    And now, it was no wonder that Auraboros was being too active now. It was the same for the cultivators.


    Although the lower members of these factions were not supposed to know about it, their leaders must have told them to grow stronger.


    Now, those that received that order were going everywhere to find their own ways.


    Nevertheless, Mark could not help but think of one thing. Why did the observer have a change of heart? He chased away the Gods and did more things so that humans could dominate the once more. But with the new rules, the very same humans would get implicated.


    Mark sighed. This was not a good time or ce to think about it.


    As Mark stored the golden feather that Chimetrice left behind, he decided to scour the bloody battlefield to see if he could get something to loot, especially the flying swords that the cultivators had.


    But there, Mark realized a troublesome thing.


    He was just a single person, but he needed to carry two unconscious girls back.


    ***


    Day 129 - 6:30 PM - Devil''s Den, Gettysburg, Adams County, Pennsylvania, United States of America


    The Devil''s Den. In the past, it was a historicalndmark mentioned in the records of the Battle of Gettysburg. Many tourists would visit this boulder-strewn hill, not only to see its odd appearance but to see the remnants of the past.


    This ce, however, was not only known for good things. Being a ce where soldiers died in the war, it was also known among the most haunted ces in the state of Pennsylvania.


    In the past, it was just a historicalndmark, a tourist spot, and a haunted ce. Now, however, another of its mysteries unfolded.


    A small fortress now stood at the same hill. It was not just a regr fortress, though, but a strange one. In one look at this fortress, even the densest person would realize that there was something mysterious going on in this ce.<sub> </sub>


    Inside its walls, both humans and non-humans inhabited the ce.


    At this moment, several beams of light fell unto the fortress.


    The people in the fortress were surprised and made way for the beams in a calm manner.


    As the beams of lightnded unto the main square of the fortress, each beam turned into several people and a Thunderbird.


    "It''s Aurex and Mellice!"


    The people around eximed.


    Without a doubt, this fortress was one of the outposts of Auraboros. Since humans were present in this ce, it was the indication that it was a fortress for outer members of the organization.


    Aurex, the white-haired man, and Mellice, the red-haired Witch, looked around as they appeared. Seeing that they safelynded inside the fortress, the two slumped on the ground. They were still conscious and could stand up and walk. However, they expended thest of their magical powers, leaving them weakened severely.


    "Puff!"


    Both Aurex and Mellice vomited blood. It was the bacsh of the magic they used to escape.


    "Sir Aurex, what happened?!"


    A young man hurriedly approached to help Aurex up.


    "Don''t bother about me. Help our brothers and sisters first."


    Aurex shrugged the help of the young man and pointed at the unconscious men and witches that were left of their group.


    Since he wasmanded to do so, the young man told the others to help their unconscious members.


    "My, my, what happened to you two?"


    A jeering voice sounded. It came from a blond-haired witch that came out after hearing themotion.


    "Also, where are the other members of your group? Your group was just supposed to scout the unusual activities in Reading City."


    "Pew!" Mellice spat out the remaining blood on her mouth. "Agatha, don''t annoy us. We almost died after encountering a monster. If you''re in our ce, I don''t think that you will even make it back."


    The Witch called Agatha frowned.


    "What really happened?"


    At that question, both Aurex and Mellice stood up.


    "We''ll tell youter," Aurex replied. "We need to meet the Chief first and report what happened."


    With those words, despite staggering in their steps, Aurex and Mellice entered deeper in the fortress.


    As the two left, a Witch about fifteen years old approached Agatha. The young Witch was not walking but was floating while sitting on a basketball-sized crystal ball.


    "Eina, can you find out what happened to them?"


    Agatha said to the young Witch.


    Eina did not reply but only jumped off her crystal ball and wiped her index finger to the blood vomited by Mellice and Aurex. Then, she wiped the blood on the floating crystal ball.


    The gallery saw what the two were doing and approached to see what would happen.


    And there, horror had struck everyone as they saw everything that happened to the group led by Aurex and Mellice.


    However, when Agatha saw Chimetrice''s face, she was shocked.


    "Jude?"


    She murmured as she remembered what happened several years ago. It was when Jude seduced her in Antic City. She could still remember how he told her sweet nothings and how he abandoned another woman for her.


    Only to be sold to an underground group.


    That all happened to her when she was still a regr human.


    ***


    Day 129 - ¨ƒ¨ƒ:¨ƒ¨ƒ ¨ƒ¨ƒ- ¨ƒ¨ƒ¨ƒ¨ƒ¨ƒ¨ƒ¨ƒ¨ƒ¨ƒ¨ƒ¨ƒ¨ƒ¨ƒ¨ƒ¨ƒ¨ƒ¨ƒ¨ƒ¨ƒ¨ƒ¨ƒ¨ƒ


    An unknown dimension. It was a ce where mortals could not step into.


    As for the beings that knew about this ce, it was called the Observatory.


    It was a ce where the Observers dwelled as they observed the world through the Eyes.


    At this moment, a robed person whose gender or face could not be confirmed was pacing back and forth in irritation.


    Without a doubt, this person was the current Observer of Earth.


    The Observer saw everything that happened in front of Ninth.


    "It''s amazing that Earth is able to produce two God candidates now."


    The Observer was quite ted to find Mark and Mei. At these times where the world was facing its end, what the world needed was strong beings that could face this end and try to prevent it.


    Thus, new rules were implemented even if it defied the previous rules they had.


    After all, all these rules were useless if there was no world to implement it.


    What irritated the Observer, however, was that the next wave that woulde.


    "If that idiot from Melvastea did not mess up with the world he is managing, this would not have happened."


    The Observer seethed in anger.


    "And now, this universe is on the verge of copse because of him."


    Right now, a lot of habitables, not only in this gxy, but this universe that Earth belonged to was facing a huge cmity. It was a cmity that continued to spread, destroying all lives, and erasings from existence.


    And now, it was Earth''s turn.


    The worst thing, however, the Observers that cherished thes they were managing could not directly interfere. The best that they could do was bend the rules they already had and wish for the best to happen.


    Thus, Ninth finding Mark and Mei, was a good thing for the Observer.


    The Observer did not care anymore if Mark and Mei would tilt the bnce of the world. As long as it was saved, the Observer couldpromise.


    Still, the Observer could onlyment.


    After all, both Mark and Mei were still young.


    The path to Godhood was not easy to traverse, especially for humans, no matter what kind of blood flowed in their veins.

 Chapter 551 Mt. Penn, The Friction Between The Peak And Foot Of The Mountain

    <strong>Day 129 - 7:02 PM - Devil''s Den, Gettysburg, Adams County, Pennsylvania, United States of America</strong>


    "So, how will you two exin yourselves?"


    A grim-sounding voice echoed inside the dimly lit main hall of the fortress.


    The voice came from the seat that appeared to be a sinister-looking throne. Nevertheless, there was no one sitting on it. Instead, there was a towering blue me floating over the throne. Despite just being an odd colored fire, however, it gave the strange feeling of being alive.


    And in fact, it was.


    In front of the throne, Aurex and Mellice were prostrating. Considering the mental and physical injuries they had, just this posture could already be counted as a painful punishment.


    To the side, Eina was present as she showed the mes what happened using her crystal ball.


    And to the question of that blue-colored me, both Aurex and Mellice could not utter a single word.


    "You''re team,posed of three groups, should be at the outpost, preparing to investigate the unusual activities in Reading City. Yet, your group took our fastest Thuderbird and went on your way... It would have been fine if you two managed to bring back anything valuable. Yet, not only your group returned without achieving anything, but you two lost most of your members. Even the Thunderbird is heavily injured. Do you two think that an injury of the Thunderbird is easy to heal?"


    The voiceing from the me was seething in anger. The manner it spoke seemed to have valued the Thunderbird more than the dead members of the organization.


    After hearing no reply, the blue me flickered.


    "Have your injuries treated and wait for your punishment. In the meantime, Agatha and Ortox will take up your positions. Leave."


    With difficulty, Aurex and Mellice dragged their bodies out of the main hall.


    "Eina," The blue mes called out to the young witch. "What is your opinion about this?"


    Unexpectedly, the unknown being that both Aurex and Mellice were afraid of was asking the young girl for her opinion.


    Eina stared at the mes floating above the throne. Unexpectedly, there was not a shred of fear on her expression.


    Outside, Eina was known as a quiet girl that would not even respond to questions or talk about her self. She did not seem timid, but just had this kind of personality.


    However, as she faced the mes, there seemed to be a slight expression of superiority from her gestures.


    "You want my opinion?"


    Unexpectedly, Eina answered. If others were present in this room, they would have been shocked.


    "You are correct." The blue me replied. "I have some thoughts on this matter, but I want to confirm your opinion."


    "Then, let the matter go and concentrate on more pressing matters," Eina replied as her crystal ball showed a blurry scene in Reading City. "We don''t need to pick fights with other powerful beings. Securing our territoryes first. Especially right now that a group of unique people appeared within our boundaries and is building some sort of base or outpost."


    "Remember that we need to secure our territory before the second wave struck," Eina added.


    "If that is your decision, then I will follow." The blue me replied. "Though its a pity that we cant use our fastest Thunderbird for several decades because of its injuries."


    "It can''t be helped." Eina agreed. "Elemental Beings like Thunderbirds and Phoenixes have a unique bodyposition. Potions and Healing Magic will not work on them."


    "Well then..." The Blue me seemed to have decided. "We will prioritize the group in Reading City."


    "Oh, by the way." Eina suddenly spoke. "Don''t unnecessarily provoke that group. Ascertain their purpose first."


    "Hmm? Why is that?"


    At that question, Eina two scenes in her crystal ball in session.


    The first scene was from Aurex and Mellice''s memories when one of their Wendigos was defeated by a beautiful girl with a sniper rifle. Specifically, then she kicked the Wendigo''s nape with both her legs exuding a red glow.


    The next scene was another woman. She seemed to be proficient with close-quartersbat. In the crystal ball, the woman could be seen punching through the armor of a heavily armored infected with her arms exuding the same kind of red glow.


    "You get what I mean?" Eina pointed at the red glow. "The people in Reading City and the ones Aurex and Mellice encountered might be rted. Don''t cause unnecessary trouble. We need to stock up on manpower."


    "I see... I''ll make it sure to tell Agatha and Otrox."


    "Good."


    With that word, Eina sat down on her crystal ball and floated out of the main hall.


    As the blue me was left alone, it sighed.


    "I really can''t understand why our Queen is disguising as an apathetic girl in this fortress for outer members."


    ***


    <strong>Day 129 - 8:41 PM - The Pagoda, Berks County, Pennsylvania, United States of America</strong>


    A Japanese styledndmark at the peak of Mt. Penn. At the initial phase of the outbreak, many survivors from Reading City fled to this ce to seek safety.


    With the Reading Regional Airport just at the northwest outskirts of the city, several infected filled airnes crashed in this ce. This caused sudden chaos forcing a quick action for the survivors. Thus, many people climbed this mountain and stayed in the pagoda.


    The pagoda was not a secure ce at all. However, being at the mountain peak, having very few ess to climb the location, the infected would not easily reach it.


    And that was also thest ce that most of them had been to. It became like that as the next phase of the outbreak started. That was when more and more animals evolved and attacked humans for food.


    Since it was a mountain, covered with forests, even if there was less predatory animals present, there were a lot of insects, together with the animals that fled from the city like the survivors.


    For several months, the sole inhabitants of this ce were giant insects and evolved animals.


    That was until a few days ago.


    "It''s already the fifth day, right? When will Big Bro and Sis return? The girls miss their parents already."<sub> </sub>


    Jaeyained as she viewed the nighttime scenery from the highest floor of the pagoda. She was carrying Theodore, who seemed to be enjoying the dark environment with his adoptive mother.


    "Master and Miss probably found things or people to bring back. Especially Master. He seems to have an obsession with collecting different things, even people to some degree."


    Odelina said as she tidied up the ce as they had just finished eating dinner. It was alreadyte, but they had a lot to do.


    "That might really be the case. Big Bro and Sis will really slow down since they won''t be able to fly here directly if they had people in tow. They might even be bringing an infected with them."


    What Jaeya said made Odelina let out a bitter smile. Since it was Mark, bring another infected back was really possible.


    Right at this moment, the people waiting for Mark and Mei''s return upied this pagoda. It was the ce where they decided to meet up after Mark fought with the puppet of The Great One.


    At first, they only intended to wait here, visiting the ce at fixed intervals. On the second day, however, they noticed some activities from the infected in the city. They started to climb up the mountain after being attracted to the energy fluctuations emitted from the portals that Spera opened.


    Thus, instead of doing that, they decided to turn the ce into an outpost instead. It was all while they wait for Mark and Mei.


    And with the people from the base and the [Blood Children], it was achieved in no time. Just with the fact that Huey and the others did this for the third time, their work in this pagoda went smoother. Building the main base and the dwellings inside the [Night Everred Spirit Tree] was more than enough building practice for everyone.


    Furthermore, since the Tikabngs and the Dryad already epted Mark as their Master wholeheartedly, even without Mark''s orders, they helped secure the ce.


    Around the pagoda was not only living vines but also an illusion that kept not only the infected but also other intruders at bay.


    The unfortunate thing, however, their activities attracted attention.


    A group of survivors arrived after they established the outpost. Apparently, these survivors had been living in a condominium building just below the mountain. Since the pagoda was at the peak that could be seen easily, it was no surprise that these survivors noticed the transformation of the pagoda.


    Among the group of twenty survivors, ten of them were Mutators. Such force could not be neglected easily, and thus, Odelina allowed them in.


    Of course, with restrictions. These survivors were only allowed at the lowest level of the pagoda.


    When Mark and Mei returned, that was when the fates of these survivors would be judged.


    The appearance of these survivors was still eptable. However, the appearance of enemies irked everyone.


    Robed people that tried to trespass stealthily. It was the very same method and the same result after they were captured.


    Sending Shadow People to spy on their activities, there was no doubt that it was the Auraboros. It was not surprising considering that there was a branch of this organization in Pennsylvania.


    Still, Spera said that they came too fast. It was as if they were not afraid of the rules to stay hidden anymore.


    And now, the thing they worry the most was the tant activity of Auraboros, at the foot of Mt. Penn.


    Why would everyone not notice when the enemies came with shy Thunderbirds as mounts? Furthermore, they used the very same condominium building that the survivors that arrived lived before.


    From that condominium, the pagoda could be clearly seen. It was the same for people in the pagoda.


    It had been two days since it started. Furthermore, several skirmishes already happened. The encounters were not threatening. It was more like the members of Auraboros testing Odelina and the others. Knowing that they were being tested, Odelina told everyone to not show all their cards just in case.


    FLAP! FLAP!


    Loud pping sounds echoed as arge shadow approached the pagoda. It was one of the reasons the other party was hesitant to attack this ce. It was Char.


    Several hours ago, a strange fluctuation of energy was felt by almost everyone.


    When they saw a Thunderbird with several people on it fly away in a hurry, Spera, together with Karlene, Ka, and Halley, tried to follow while riding on Char.


    "How is it?"


    Odelina asked as Spera went down from Char''s back.


    Spera could only shake her head.


    "That Thunderbird is too fast. We''re not able to catch up."


    "The bastards flew up the clouds. That is why we lost them quickly."


    Halley grumbled.


    "We really need people with high sensitivity towards different kinds of magical energy." Karlene stepped in with a suggestion.


    Everyone could only nod at this. Although everyone felt that fluctuation, no one here was able to pinpoint the exact direction. In fact, Mark was the only one with the capability of detecting energies over a long distance in their camp.


    Although there were also others like the Dryad, the scope was small.


    Thus, rather than flying without a concrete goal, Spera''s group decided to return.


    "But what took you all so long?"


    Odelina could not help but ask.


    "There," na spoke, pointing at Char''s back. "We stopped by a mall to get supplies and some clothes for the guys below."


    Of course, na was talking about no other than the survivors they let in.


    Odelina''s eyebrows could not help but twitch as she saw the boxes that Char was carrying.


    "That was not just some." Odelina rubbed her temples. "You all probably brought more than half of the stock of a clothing store with you. Just whose idea is this?"


    And as a response to that question, the group of girls, including Ka, pointed to Karlene.

 Chapter 552 The Night At The Pagoda, The Morning At Audubon High School

    <strong>Day 129 - 9:03 PM - The Pagoda, Berks County, Pennsylvania, United States of America</strong>


    At the lowest floor of the pagoda, the survivors from the condominium building at the foot of Mt. Penn checked the clothes they received. Without a doubt, they were delighted.


    Most of them were living in that condominium building. The whole building became chaotic when the outbreak started. Almost all the people inside the building either died or became infected in the first few hours. Most that managed to survive and hide in their units already got bit.


    That caused more deaths as families and friends started eating each other, leaving with some that was fortunate.


    It was the very cause as to why half of the survivors were Mutators.


    The survivors managed to keep the top floor and the rooftop of the building clear of the infected. It was because, at the start, there were more of them on the top floor.


    With the help of the Mutators, they managed to get by despite having a hard time gathering supplies. Because of that, as time went by, their numbers became lesser and lesser. Some died, some left. Not everyone would stay in ce and, despite the danger, would try their luck somewhere else that slowly rot facing an inevitable future.


    One of their struggles was decent clothing. After all, without enough water supply, they could not wash their clothes. When scavenging, food came at the top of the list.


    Thus, receiving new clothes, despite being a bit dusty, they were very gratified.


    Furthermore, their lives when they arrived here in the pagoda was far better than when they stayed at the condominium building. It was good that they took the gamble, although it also meant losing some people along the way.


    In a sense, it was upsetting that these survivors were already numb about things concerning death. But with their previous situation, it could not be helped at all.


    And now, the ones that managed to survive had a better life these past two days.


    Unfortunately, this group was not a harmonious one.


    "Get away! We''ll choose our''s first!"


    A group of five men pushed the others away to force the privilege of choosing clothes.


    And of course, the others could only make way. It was because all these five were Mutators.


    "These bastards are at it again."


    The others could only murmur at the side. However, as they did not want any more conflict to arise, they could only let these five do what they wanted.


    Of course, if they did not cross the line. If those five did, the other five Mutators would not stand by idly.


    However, once a battle urred between the two groups, the ones affected the most were the remaining members. And sadly, they were mostly nonbatants.


    Among the ten Mutators of these Survivors, seven were men with varying ages, while three were women. As for the nonbatants, four had ages of thirteen to seventeen with two boys and two girls. Lastly, among the remaining six, there was a middle-aged couple, three men in theirte twenties, and two women in their early twenties.


    On average, this group had more younger members. It was not hard to know what happened to the older ones.


    At the highest level of the pagoda...


    "Those five are really bad, aren''t they?"


    Karlene said as she watched the feed on theptop in front of her.


    "BAD! BAD PEOPLE!"


    Ka pointed at the screen with great conviction.


    "Ka, don''t shout." na patted Ka''s violet hair. "The bad people will hear you."


    Hearing what na said, Ka covered her mouth in panic. That action made everyone watching giggle.


    Unknown to the survivors below, since they arrived here, they were already being monitored. Several security cameras were installed at the ceiling of the first level of the pagoda. These cameras were in in sight. But of course, none of the survivors below paid attention to it. After all, it was already the end of the world. Electricity stopped working a long time ago.


    No one would suspect that these affixed cameras were still working.


    Well, at least none of the survivors below except one that was seemingly conscious of the cameras.


    It was Odelina''s idea. After all, Mark only allowed people that passed his criteria into his base. This way, it would be easier to segregate these survivors after Mark and Mei returned.


    In fact, most of the good things that these survivors received these past two days were on purpose. It was to judge them early on.


    And sure enough, it was worth it.


    These survivors had different personalities. And none of it could be seen when Odelina and the others were around.


    Since the fate of these survivorsy on Odelina and the others, these survivors only showed their positive side. When they turned around, these survivors were itching to kick each other''s back, especially those five men.


    "Those five is really hateful. When we are around, the stares these five give are ufortable."


    Sperained with a pout.


    "That is why we don''t let Jaeya go down."


    na shrugged.


    Jaeya had no self-awareness. No, rather than not having it, it was more urate to say that she lost it.


    Odelina could only reminisce about the times where Jaeya was moving around the house without wearing anything. There were even times that she did that in front of Mark. Jaeya was not feeling embarrassed, but Odelina and Spera were.


    "What do you all think about her?"


    Karlene pointed at a woman.<sub> </sub>


    "She''s called Vera, right?" na replied. "I think she''s good. She''s quite responsible and also helps around without any need to be told of what she had to do."


    "Yes, she''s a good one." Odelina also agreed. "But she''s too naive. She didn''t even realize that she''s being manipted by best friend."


    That statement made everyone watching sigh. To this group of women, the secrets of the survivors below wereid bare.


    To be interested in the affairs of others...


    These women were surely bored out of their minds.


    ***


    <strong>Day 130 - 8:21 AM - Audubon High School, Audubon, Camden County, New Jersey, United States of America</strong>


    The night passed without problems, although it could not be said that it passed peacefully.


    Because of Chimetrice''s revival, arge number of infected roamed the area. These infected were those that came from farther ces and did not make it to the event. With the event ending, the remaining infected scattered everywhere, and most of them were attracted to the school where people resided.


    For the entire night, the whole settlement was in high alert. The soldiers had to implement a stealthy way of eliminating the infected without attracting more of them unnecessarily. Although it seeded, they were far from clearing the whole ce once more.


    Right at this moment, Mark and Mei were sitting at the rooftop of the school building, feeling the morning breeze.


    After being injured by the technique of the elder, Mei managed to wake up before midnight. However, for the entire night, Mark did not allow her to move from her bed. It was not wrong, since even though she woke up soon, her face was still pale and hurting. Mei had no choice but to say in bed and feel delighted as Mark personally fed her dinner. Despite the pain she felt, she slept with a smile as he held his hand tightly.


    When morning came, Mei was feeling better. Her injury had not healed yet, but at least, it was not getting worse. It was thanks to the [Regeneration Medicine] that they had. If not, it might take longer for Mei just to wake up from this injury.


    For the whole night, Mark held onto Mei''s hand while skimming the fragments of memories that the elder left behind. And since it was the most recent event, he immediately found out the technique that the elder used. He could not help but feel mad and relieved at the same time.


    [Sword Palms], it was the name of the technique. It was a technique where the user would inject a sharp Qi to the bodies of the enemies to damage their bodies from inside. It was a deadly technique. Fortunately, when the elder used this technique, his goal was to torture Mei and Illia after they were disabled by this technique. Thus, the attack did not lead to instant death.


    This was what made Mark mad. It was a close call. The good thing was it did not work that much on Mei and Illia''s bodies. Illia had a demon body that was far sturdier than a human''s body. Mei''s body, on the other hand, rejected the invading Qi, making the injuries she received lighter than the elder expected.


    After eating breakfast, Mark brought Mei here to rx and take a breather. Her back still hurt a lot. Thus, Mark did not allow her to move around too much.


    This also made Mark decide to spend another day here to let Mei have a good rest.


    As for Mark, their returnst night was tedious. It was not surprising that he was bombarded with questions the moment he returned. Only when they noticed the two unconcious girls that he was carrying back that they decided to postpone it.


    Mark also learned that the event yesterday made Arnold and the others have a hard time. It was because the [Queen Type] and the [Empress Spider] threw a fit, trying to follow the infected running towards the center of the event. Fortunately, the soldiers had tranquilizers with them, and it thankfully worked after four shots.


    The [Empress Spider] seemed to be immune to the tranquilizers and continued to wriggle around. However, with its host sumbing to numbness, its resistance was turned to waste.


    As for the female cultivator that Mark brought back, she woke up far earlier than Mei. The moment she woke up, however, the first person she saw was Mark. And the first thing she tried to do was to scream in horror. The scream was cut short, however, as Mark hushed her with a re while pointing at Mei.


    Without a doubt, the girl remembered that what happenedst night started because Mei was harmed. She managed to live and did not want to die. She could only cover her mouth tightly as she shrunk herself in the corner of the room, trying to avoid Mark''s re.


    It was not bad, in the least, she behaved. The girl did not try to escape either. Because she might be killed if she did. Or worse, she might undergo the same ordeal that she sufferedst night.


    Well, it was not like she could leave either if she wanted to. Even if she ran out of the school, there would be nowhere she could go with Mark keeping their flying swords with him. Despite her fear, it was better to stay around Mark as she had nowhere to go. She just had to behave and not incur his ire.


    "Hmm?" Mark nced at Mei after he noticed something. "What''s wrong, did your lips hurt?"


    Mei was leaning her head on Mark''s shoulder. He could not help but ask as Mei was touching her lips subconsciously while thinking deeply.


    "No, it''s not hurt," Mei replied.


    Then, she asked a question that made Mark look away.


    "Gege, how did you make me drink the medicine?"


    So, that was what she was thinking. After all, an unconscious person had no way of drinking the medicine on their own. That was one of the reasons why in hospitals, drugs, and nutrients were directly injected into the unconscious patients intravenously.


    And of course, Mark could not answer the question immediately. It was an emergency yesterday, and he did it without thinking.


    But it was correct that he made Mei drink the [Regeneration Medicine] from his mouth.


    "Gege, don''t look away..."


    Meiined.


    "Do I really have to answer that? You already know the answer, right?"


    Mei''s face looked down, a bit red.


    "It''s unfair..." She grumbled.


    "Hah..." Mark sighed. "Look at me."


    Hearing that, Mei slowly turned to Mark.


    And there, Mark pecked unto her lips, surprising her.


    Mark already did it once. He could do it again. Though this time, it was just a short one.


    "That''s enough, right?"


    Mark smiled, seeing the tomato faced Mei. Though her face was like that, there was a smile on her lips as Mark caressed her head gently.

 Chapter 553 Elise Woke Up!, Side Effects And Psychological Trauma

    <strong>Day 130 - 9:10 AM - Audubon Hight School, Audubon, Camden County, New Jersey, United States of America</strong>


    Sitting under the morning sun and feeling the cold morning breeze, it was a nice way to rx after everything that happenedst night.


    However, it seemed that their rxation would be cut short.


    "Sir Mark!"


    Felicia came running and immediately called out after seeing him. But then, she realized...


    "Ah... I''m not disturbing you two, aren''t I?"


    Of course, she would ask that after seeing how red Mei''s face was.


    "No, it''s fine," Mark replied. "You''re here about Elise, right?"


    "How... No- I mean, yes!" Felicia was confused as to how Mark knew, but she had to say what she came here for. "Elise woke up, but something is wrong with her."


    "Ok, let''s go."


    Mark said, assisting Mei to stand up.


    ***


    Felicia led Mark and Mei towards the infirmary.


    Along the way, there were soldiers everywhere, ready to take drastic actions.


    Unexpectedly, all the people that should be resting inside the infirmary was now relocated to the hallway. They all watched Mark and Mei as they arrived.


    Even Felicia''s parents were not an exception.


    "Dad, Roan, how is Elise?"


    Felicia asked her father and older brother.


    "Still inside."


    Abraham, Felicia''s father, replied while shaking his head in dismay.


    "Why did lead to this?"


    Candace, Felicia''s mother, sobbed.


    "Sir Mark, do you know what is happening?"


    Abraham turned to Mark to ask while Roan only stared without saying anything.


    "I heard the details from Felicia. Let me check Elise first."


    "I''ll go with you."


    "Me too."


    Both Roan and Felicia requested.


    Mark nodded as there was no reason to decline them.


    And the reason for all this?


    RIIIINGGGGGGGG!!!


    An ear-piercing ring inside Felicia''s ear made her stagger.


    Even Mark could not help but squint his eyes.


    "Felicia, stay closer to Mei''er. Don''t me me if you suddenly get knocked out."


    This was the reason. The moment everyone entered the infirmary, the ufortable feeling suddenly set in.


    In front of the window, Elise stood while sobbing.


    Sensing that people entered the room, Elise turned around as she wiped the tears on her face with her hands.


    "Who are you two?"


    That was what she asked.


    ording to Felicia, Elise lost her memories. It was not all of her memories, but a lot seemed to have gone missing.


    When Elise woke up, she seemed to have been shocked by a lot of things. Especially because... Her whole family became older.


    It seemed that she could not believe what was happening. The next thing they knew was that everyone in the infirmary started hearing ringing noises in their ears that not only made them ufortable but also caused many to lose consciousness on the spot.


    Everyone had no choice but to vacate the infirmary. The people tried to take Elise out of the room. However, all those that came close to her would end up copsing. Elise''s family members were not an exception to this.


    "Mark, that''s me. This is Mei." Mark introduced himself and Mei as it was the first thing to do. "Felicia asked us for help."


    "Help?" Elise looked at Felicia. "Help for what?!"


    RIIIINGGGG!


    The people peeking from the door could not help but retreat as they felt dizzy. Roan was also affected, but he managed to resist. Only Mark, Mei, and Felicia seemed to be fine this time. Mostly because of Mei.


    "Felicia... Didn''t you run away after arguing with Mom and Dad? Why are you back already? What happened to that Jude you are keen on defending on? And why is everyone older? Even me? What happened? Why are there zombies roaming outside now? Why don''t I know anything?!"


    Hearing all that, Felicia and Roan had bitter expressions. Just how could they answer all those questions? They did not even know what was going on with Elise, aside from losing memories.


    Then, Mark asked a question that made Felicia and Roan confused.


    "Then Elise, can you tell me what year is it now?"


    Elise immediately replied as if it was a matter of fact. The answer, however, made her siblings stare at her in shock.


    Her reply was the year when Felicia ran away from home to elope with Jude.


    "How long has it been after Felicia ran away?"


    Mark asked again, causing Elise to count with her fingers while recalling the days that she remembered before.


    "A-about two months? I''m not sure! Why are you asking that anyway?!"


    Mark then turned to Roan.


    "Is there anything notable two months after Felicia left?"


    There, Roan thought hard. He was still unsure about relying on Mark and his strange questions, but as it involved his family, he decided toply.


    Then, he remembered.


    "The foundation week in Elise''s school?"


    Mark then turned to Elise.


    "When is that foundation week?"


    "N-next week... Why are you even asking that?"


    Hearing that, Roan realized something.


    "I see now..." Roan sighed. "It''s before that happened, huh?"


    "Roan, what happened?"


    Felicia asked.


    "It''s when Elise invited me, Mom, and Dad, to attend the school event."


    "Then?"


    "We forgot to attend it."


    Not only Felicia, but Mark and Mei looked at Roan in disbelief.


    If it was right, Elise was only around eleven when that happened. To forget a child''s school invitation at that time, it was no wonder that her memories rolled back to this time. That might have left a deep mental scar on her.


    It was no wonder Elise seemed to behave like a child this time, throwing questions in a tantrum.


    "It''s because of you, you bollocks." Roan dropped a hand chop on Felicia''s head. "We are too busy looking for you, and many things passed our mind."<sub> </sub>


    "What are you all talking about?"


    Elise asked. She was about to cry.


    "You two, look at what you did."


    Mark said with a displeased re. Roan and Felicia talked about that traumatic event without lowering their voices.


    Of course, to Elise, who''s memories rolled back, it was pretty much saying what happened to her future.


    RIIIIING!!!


    The ringing in their ears intensified. Roan fell on his knee, trying to cover his hears. He might have been someone physically strong, but this kind of mental attack was not his forte.


    "She really lost all breaks on her psychic ability."


    Markined.


    "I''ll try to calm her down." Mark decided and turned to Felicia and Roan. "Felicia, stay close to Mei, Roan, its'' better if you run out. That''s if you two don''t want your brains to get fried."


    "Fried...? WHAT?"


    Felicia''s eyes turned wide. She immediately got close to Mei. Mei did not seem to have any problems with it. Of course, she would not let Roan get close to her.


    "Roan, you better run out now."


    Felicia warned her brother.


    Roan was reluctant to leave. After all, his two younger sisters were in this room. He turned to Mei and Felicia. He remembered what Mark said to Felicia about closing into Mei. He thought that he could do that too and tried to. Roan really did not want to leave his sisters in this kind of situation.


    But the, a ck scythe blocked Roan on his path with its de in front of his neck.


    "I told you to go out."


    "What is wrong with you?"


    Roanined. It was not like he had any ulterior motives. He agreed that Mei was a beautiful woman, but he was not a bastard to aim at someone else''s woman.


    "I know that you don''t have any ill motives," Mark spoke. "The problem is that she had trauma with men. So don''t approach her."


    RRIIIIIIINGGG!!!


    Roan staggered as the ringing on his ears intensified.


    "You should go now. Also, tell those people outside to get away from here."


    Without any choice, Roan hurried out. The ringing in everyone''s ears was getting more and more intense for every second that passed.


    Roan finally left.


    Mark turned to Elise, she was crying hard.


    Losing her memories and waking up without it, it was like she was thrown in a world that she never knew. Furthermore, even her mental age rolled back with the loss of her memories.


    "Will it be okay?"


    Felicia asked Mark.


    "I can make it work out." Mark shrugged. "But after this, you''re family will be under me even if you liked it or not."


    "Huh?" Felicia was surprised. "What do you mean?!"


    Mark did not reply and approached Elise.


    "Hey! What do you mean?!"


    Felicia shouted and wanted to chase Mark. However, once she left a certain distance around Mei, intense ringing would assault her mind. She could only retreat back to Mei.


    Firming his mind, Mark approached Elise that was on the other side of the room.


    "No, go away! Don''t approach me!"


    Of course, it was the normal reaction. A timid girl like Elise would react this way if a stranger she did not know suddenly approached her this way.


    RRRRRRIIIIIIINGGGGGG!!!


    Mark squinted his eyes. This was quite a headache. Every step he took forward, the energying from Elise surged out like a tornado inside the room.


    Soon, Mark reached Elise. Elise tried to retreat, but she was backed into the corner of the room.


    "No... Get away from me..."


    Elise sobbed.


    Mark then raised his hand, causing Elise to cover her eyes in fear.


    To this, Mark smiled. Elise was like a cornered cute animal if she was like this. Though, she was already old to be treated as a child.


    Elise cried, not knowing that her unstable mind was causing a huge ruckus to everyone around her.


    There, she felt a hand on her head. It felt strangely warm.


    Slowly, she peeked through the gaps of her fingers. She felt the stranger in front of her patting her head gently andfortably.


    "Feel like calming down?"


    Mark asked with a tilt of his head.


    Feeling thefortable feeling on her head, Elise was still reluctant, but she still nodded.


    "Then, sit down and stop crying. How will your family exin what is happening if you''re not calming down? Are you still a child? You are not, right?"


    Hearing that, Elise closed her eyes and nodded.


    There, she started to calm down. The surroundings also returned to normal as the energy that caused the ringing sounds in everyone''s ears started to dissipate.


    Mark guided Elise back to her bed and sat down with her. He then signaled for Mei and Felicia toe closer.


    "Wow, you really pulled it off."


    Felicia spoke.


    And there, Elise suddenly fell on her back.


    "Elise!"


    Felicia panicked.


    Mark caught Elise and carried her to lie down on her bed.


    "Don''t panic. Elise is just asleep."


    Felicia hurried to Elise''s side, confirming what Mark said.


    "Gege, what is happening with her?"


    Mei asked Mark.


    "I''m not a psychologist, I don''t know." Mark shrugged. "Well, I have an idea, why her mental energy is leaking like this."


    "Mental energy?" Felicia interjected. "Is my younger sister some sort of Psychic or Magician?"


    "Well, sort of... and a powerful one. But''s she''s pretty much neglected, I think."


    Since themotion died down, people started to return. As they confirmed that it was safe now, although most were still reluctant to return, Felicia''s family, along with the officers of the Military, entered to ask Mark what was going on.


    Of course, Mark really had no reason to exin. However, if he did not, these people would continue to pester him or those people around him.


    It was better if they did not.


    Thus, Mark decided to take this opportunity and turn it into a meeting. It was not wrong to do this because the soldiers were also asking about what happened yesterday. And Elise was directly connected to that event.


    This time, Mark would exin the circumstances not only to the soldiers but also to Felicia''s family in one go.


    It was better like this than wasting more time exining to different parties one by one.

 Chapter 554 The Familys Decision, From Agreeing To Begging

    <strong>Day 130 - 10:22 AM - Infirmary, Audubon Highschool, Audubon, Camden County, New Jersey, United States of America</strong>


    The talk about what transpired yesterday happened in the infirmary. Usually, a discussion like this would be held in private meeting rooms where only necessary people were allowed. Even Captain Morrison proposed that after they heard that Mark decided to speak. However, Mark was against it, and they could only listen.


    Aside from the soldiers and the curious onlookers, Hannah, Arnold, and everyone from the Baley''s Casino were also present.


    Without minding who was listening, Mark leaned on the wall in front of everyone. He decided to divulge almost everything that happened.


    From Elise''s involvement with Ellse, the assumed rtionship of Ellse to the group attacking this settlement, and the reasons why Elise did that, Mark started to tell them about his first.


    Not only the soldiers and other survivors but Elise''s family members were also shocked to hear this. And of course, it was not surprising that anger many felt anger about this truth.


    Who would have thought that the rat in the settlement was Elise?


    It might be unintentional since she was not aware, but still, because of her, many people, soldiers, friends, and family, died and suffered. Some people inside the infirmary lost to their temper and tried to charge towards Elise, who was asleep. Of course, even though everyone here could understand their anger, no one would let that happen. Those people were restrained.


    Furthermore, it was no secret that Elise lost her memories after she learned the truth. ming her in this condition was akin to making someone who knew nothing take responsibility. Well, of course, if it was still the society before the outbreak, she was still punishable byw. Unfortunately, that was not the case in the apocalypse.


    And now, even more, no one here would be able to punish Elise as she now had Mark behind her.


    After some people became violent, Mark dered had he intended taking Elise in her family away. This made Abraham, Candice, and Roan very troubled. They had note to a conclusion on that matter yet.


    And for everyone here, they became even more troubled than the family in question. It was because Roan, the strongest in this settlement, was the only one that could keep the ouws in check. If he suddenly left, this ce would notst any longer.


    Disregarding everyone''s thoughts, Mark continued to tell what happened yesterday. The involvement of the ouws to the ritual. And that the leader of the ouws was actually someone that Felicia would never forget, Jude.


    Mark did not say anything about Jude''s rtionship to Felicia and her family, but their reactions already told everyone here that they had some sort of connection.


    And there, Mark told everyone that Jude, the leader of the ouws, was already dead along with Ellse. That they ended up being sacrificed for the revival of a humanoid chimera that was sealed under the rumored Suicide Nazi Tree at the bank of Newton Lake.


    Of course, everyone here was skeptical about magic and stuff. They were just regr people anyway. Some even started to question Mark and thought that he was just fooling with them.


    "Magic and monsters are just fantasy."


    Someone murmured.


    "Oh?" Mark turned to that person. "Then, exined what happened with Elise just earlier."


    That was a short exchange that transpired at that time.


    None of them could exin what happened when Elise woke up, after all. If it was not magic or psychic ability, that what was it? They had no answer. Even so, skeptics were hard to please with things.


    Thus, Mark conjured a ck fire at the end of his index finger to show them. That made the skeptics shut up. Chemicals could change the color of fire, but it needed to be under a special light to turn ck even if a chemical reaction was used. None of it was in the room. Those that knew about it could tell that a pitch-ck me was not possible even if the equipment was present.


    Furthermore, when Mark made the me float steadily after removing his hand, the people here, no matter how skeptic they were, had no choice but to believe.


    The discussion ended up with Mark telling everyone that the chimera left after being revived.


    Mark did not tell anything else that was unnecessary. He left out the arrival of the other intrudes, his rampage, and his encounter with the Ninth Eye. It was not something that should be disclosed to these people.


    The discussion took some time. Mark could not help but want to end it as soon as possible. Even more, since he was ufortable being the center of attention of many people for too long.


    Lastly, Mark decided to warn the people.


    "After we leave, you people here should leave this ce too."


    Making everyone confused as hell, Mark decided to end this meeting.


    With Mei, Mark left the room without exining about hisst words.


    However, there was someone who could not stay behind anymore and followed.


    ***


    Back at the rooftop, Mark and Mei decided that they would cook something for lunch. Felicia and the others could cook their own with the food they had in the vehicle, after all.


    Mark took out some cooking items from his ring and started to cook some instant dry noodles. It was not hard and fast to cook. They both wanted some fresh food, but at this moment, there was nowhere to get fresh ingredients.


    In the middle of cooking, the person that followed them decided to show up.


    Mark turned around, knowing who it was.


    "This is our food, we''re not going to share."


    Mark said with a serious expression, making the person almost stumble.


    After all, this guy was not here for that.


    This guy was no other than Felicia''s oldest sibling, her brother, Roan.


    Of course, he was not here to ask for food. He did not even have the slightest idea that Mark and Mei would proceed to cook lunch after that meeting.


    "I''m not here for that."


    Roan frowned.


    "I know. I just want to say it."


    Mark nonchntly replied, making Roan sigh.


    "What are you nning?"


    Roan asked.


    "About what?"


    Mark asked in return.


    Roan was starting to get pissed off. He could not tell if Mark really did not know what he had done, or if he was feigning ignorance.


    "You put our family in an awkward position. That''s intentional, isn''t it?"


    Hearing that question, Mark smiled.<sub> </sub>


    "Yeah, it''s intentional. So?"


    "You..."


    Roan pointed at Mark. However, he lowered his hand with a sigh.


    "What do you really want from us?"


    Despite his rising temper, Roan decided to ask peacefully.


    Mark talked about the matters yesterday in front of everyone. What he said might have been the truth, but it put a gap between his family and the people living in this ce. The deaths, the struggle, and the pain that happened, it was because of Elise. There was no way that the victims would forgive what happened.


    The only thing that was holding the people from outright ostracizing his family was him, Roan. After all, despite what Elise had gotten herself into, she was still his sister. And he was the strongest person here in this settlement.


    Mark did all this on purpose.


    "Do you want to force us toe with you to do all this?"


    Roan asked once more.


    "Since you already knew, why ask?" Mark replied as he stirred the pot in front of him, and Mei prepared the vorings.


    Staring at the boiling noodles, Mark started to speak.


    "Frankly, the only reason I had before to ask your family toe with us... It''s because I need Felicia."


    Hearing till that part, Roan was about to speak. After all, Mark phrased it in a way that was easily misunderstood.


    "Don''t talk, listen first." Mark cut off Roan. "You know that guy that is still unconscious? Morgan? I want to keep him around, and Felicia is needed for that. Besides, it''s obvious that Felicia had feelings for Morgan. Isn''t it fine to let the two together?"


    Roan felt relieved that Mark was not aiming for his sister in the way he initially thought. About Morgan and Felicia''s matter, Roan could not say anything. Last night, he saw how his sister meticulously took care of the unconscious guy. The thing between the two was too obvious to deny.


    "Then, now, you have another reason?"


    Roan asked.


    "I did." Mark smiled. "Elise and you."


    Roan was surprised.


    "One is an unidentified psychic while another is a [Level 3 Mutator]. Who won''t want you two around?"


    "Level 3? What do you mean? What is a Mutator anyway?"


    Roan was confused.


    "Mutators, it was what we in our country call people who got bit by the infected but did not turn. Instead, they got a physical superpower from the bite. Aren''t you one of those?"


    Hearing that, Roan could only nod in understanding.


    "About the level 3 part, didn''t the ability you got after getting bitten changed two times already?" Mark tapped the spoon on the top of the pot. "Understand it now? About Elise being a psychic, I think I don''t have to exin it, right?"


    Roan agreed with Mark. His ability indeed changed two times after he was bitten. And now, he was stronger than everyone here in this settlement.


    "But you didn''t have to do that. Letting everyone know of Elise''s fault and the connection between our family and Jude. Although it was a hostile rtionship, most people would misunderstand it."


    "Your parents left the decision making to you, right? I just made it easier for you to decide."


    Mark shrugged.


    "What if I did not want our family to follow you?"


    Roan tried to bluff.


    "That won''t work on me. I know that you already agree with me."


    Mark retorted with a smile.


    "Besides," Mark added. "You don''t have any choice. Even if not for Felicia, just the current state of Elise, your family can''t do anything to help her without me."


    Mark stood up, went to the side, and drained the boiling water unto another pot.


    "You know what is happening with Elise?"


    Mark asked, making Roan look down.


    "Both her psychic ability and mental age should grow side by side. That way, she was developing her own way of containing her powers to some extent without knowing. But now that her she lost her memories, and her mental age regressed, she totally lost control of it. Any instability in her emotions can cause what happened earlier to repeat."


    Mark tapped the strainer with the noodles in it to drain the remaining water.


    "You can think of Elise''s mind as a bucket and her psychic energy as wet sand. If a part of the bucket suddenly broke off, the wet sand will still stay in shape. But what if the broken bucket was suddenly shaken unstably? Despite the sand being wet, it will break off and scatter everywhere."


    Roan frowned. He did not know that this was the case at all. Since Elise was a child, she felt strange. So, this was the case. She was leaking that ufortable energy from her body.


    "So, you can help her recover? Can you fix the bucket that you are saying?"


    Roan asked. However, Mark shook his head.


    "I don''t know if I can help her with that, I can''t fix the bucket. In the least, I can stop the shaking and make the sand as stable as possible."


    Roan contemted and found that Mark was right. They had no choice but to follow Mark if they wanted Elise to be stable.


    "Oh, by the way," Mark remembered something. "Because of Elise''s powers, she and your family were targeted to revive the chimera. I traded some priceless items in exchange. So your family has a reeeaaaally heavy debt to me. Also, since Elise had such ability, even if I let her go, she will be targeted by other people. Sooner orter, she will die in the hands of those monsters as food. In the least, I''m not that heartless."


    Roan bit his lips. Although he already decided to let his familye with Mark, he never knew that there were reasons like this. Now, even if Mark changed his mind, Roan would cling to him. They would beg for Mark to bring them with him.


    Mark smiled as he felt Roan''s emotions. There, a question came out from his lips.


    "About Ellse, can you tell me what happened?"

 Chapter 555 Ellses Tragedy, The Story Of His Birth And Death

    <strong>Day 130 - 10:51 AM - Rooftop, Audubon High School, Audubon, Camden County, New Jersey, United States of America</strong>


    Roan was caught off-guard by the sudden question and change of topic.


    "That''s... it? You''re ending it there and just change the subject of conversation like that?"


    "Why not? It''s not like there''s anything to discuss there, is it?"


    Hearing Mark''s reply, Roan paused a little to think.


    It was true, there was nothing to talk about his family leaving this ce with Mark''s group. Still, he felt discontent for some reason.


    "Alright..." Roan sighed. "Can I sit down with you two first? It''s getting hot in my position."


    That question made Mark look at Roan and then look above his head.


    Mark and Mei were cooking under a small copsible tent on the roof. Roan, on the other hand, stood under the sun ever since he arrived here.


    "Well, alright. Sit here."


    Mark said, offering a monoblock chair nearby. This tent was being used by soldiers when on the lookout. Several of these were set up across the roof of the high school buildings. And of course, the chairs were also lying around.


    Roan was d that Mark would not make him stand under the sun for the rest of this conversation and approached.


    "But don''t expect that we will share our food, alright?"


    Mark added, which made Roan stagger.


    Roan stiffly took a seat after that.


    "You''re not taking me seriously, are you?"


    Roan could not help but ask that.


    "I''m being serious, though?" Mark replied, mixing the voring and noodles on his te. "We only cooked for two people, so we can''t share."


    Roan held his forehead. That was not the point of his question, after all.


    "Pfft..."


    Mei could not hold it anymore and let out a giggle.


    Roan caught that moment and could not help but stare at the beautiful scenery.


    But then, two metal spoons suddenly covered his eyes.


    "What are you doing?!"


    Roan was shocked. Mark suddenly appeared behind him and did that.


    "Your eyes." Mark scoffed. "If you do that again, I won''t mind making you an Ultraman with these spoons."


    "Ultraman..."


    Roan was stupified. Mark was definitely not taking him seriously.


    "Just tell us about Ellse already."


    Mark urged.


    Roan scratched his head.


    "Alright... It was just a short story, though."


    ***


    Roan started the story before their parents, Abraham and Candice, married.


    Apparently, both Abraham and Candice wanted arge family.


    Their father even joked about having a ser team. That was a ratherrge n. However, both Abraham and Candice wanted something like that.


    Nevertheless, it only ended up with three children.


    Many years passed after marriage, Candice did not give birth to a single child. At first, they did not think about it too much. But then, things got a bit suspicious, and the two decided to go to the hospital for a check-up.


    The result of the test was what they were afraid of. Both Abrahan and Candice had a low fertility rate.


    However, they did not give up.


    Thus, Roan was born.


    Abraham and Candice were very happy to have him. After all, it was hard to get their first child.


    Because of their parent''s condition, they valued their children a lot.


    Soon, Felicia followed. It still took years, though.


    When Felicia was already six, it was thest time that their mother had a pregnancy.


    It was not because Abrahan and Candice were already too old to have a child. Thest pregnancy had to undergo a Cesarean delivery. It was because Candice carried a pair of twins in her womb, and she could not deliver them naturally. That left some side effects, and future pregnancies might get risky for her.


    And that was why they valued the twins when they were born. If not for the fact that Candice had just undergone an operation that day, Abraham might have thrown a party.


    The twins were born healthy. It was a pair of a boy and a girl. Abraham took charge of naming the girl while Candice gave the boy''s name. The girl was named Elise, and Candice partnered her with her twin as Ellse.


    That was a happy asion. However, Felicia was not around at that time and was with their aunt because of school. Only Abraham and Roan were there.


    Abraham took a leave from the army at that time to aide his wife. On the other hand, Roan was on a break from school. The hospital was quite far from where they initially lived. That was why Felicia could not go until the weekend at that time.


    Felicia had no idea that Candice had a pair of twins. It was because the parents wanted to surprise her when she came during the weekend.


    It should be a happy asion for a couple who wanted a big family.


    However, it was also when the disaster struck.


    Three in the morning, Abraham woke up from his ufortable sleep. Candice had a private room. Being a soldier''s wife helped them to be able to afford it. Nevertheless, there was only one bed inside. There was no way Abraham would be able to sleep properly on a chair.


    Since Candice had just given birth, their twins were put in nursery for the night. Being woken up, Abraham went out to check on them.


    Abraham arrived at the nursery window, where he should be able to see Elise and Ellse.


    He was horrified.


    Abraham could see the cribs with the names of his twins. But Ellse''s crib was empty.


    He immediately called out a passing nurse to ask. However, that nurse panicked as she hurriedly checked the nursery.<sub> </sub>


    Ellse was missing on the night of his birth.


    The hospital staff went in emergency mode. A soldier''s child had gone missing, after all. Most people have it harder once they learned that the other party had ties with the military no matter what state or country it was.


    The police were called, and the hospital was searched.


    In the room where Candice slept, Abraham held Elise while he waited nervously.


    The hospital had security cameras. However, it was not heavily implemented at that time. And unfortunately, none of the cameras caught of what happened or any possible trace of the culprit.


    During the remainder of the night, the police and the hospital staff searched the hospital. It was to no avail.


    It was until morning came.


    Candice already woke up and learned about what happened. She held Elise weeping about Ellse''s disappearance. Roan also arrived and did not feel good about what was happening.


    Then police received an emergency call.


    Abraham was called immediately to go with the police while Roan was left behind to apany his mother.


    About two kilometers away from the hospital, the police mobile that Abraham boarded stopped at a park.


    When Abraham and the police officers arrived, there was already a gallery or people that were being driven away by other police officers. Abraham could not contain his nervousness as he approached the ce cordoned by the police.


    It was definitely a crime scene.


    In the middle of the crime scene, the body of the victim was still there. The police took pictures of the corpse for the documentation, but their faces were obvious that they could not stomach it.


    In front of the police officers, there was a corpse of a newborn infant bathed in blood. Its chest and stomach were torn open. The ribs were was crushed, and the heart was missing. Its guts were sprawled everywhere, and its skin and organs had sharp teeth marks.


    The infant''s face was torn off, making it unrecognizable. Its face was nothing but torn flesh with empty eyesockets.


    Anyone that would see this scene would question whether the culprit was human or a beast. No, it was definitely a beast.


    Abraham fell on his knees after seeing that corpse. He was still in denial. However, one of the custom-made bracelets that he made his twins wear was on the infant corpse''s arm.


    There was no denying it that the corpse was the missing Ellse.


    Abraham absentmindedly approached the corpse, but of course, he was stopped by the police. However, being a trained soldier, the police officers had a hard time containing him, and thus, had to tase him. Although they understood his misery, maintaining the crime scene for a further investigation came first.


    Ellse did not evenst a whole day before he died. And he died horribly. It was no wonder that he became a spirit lingering around his twin sister.


    p ***</anda>


    "I see..." Mark understood. "So, because of how horrible that event was, your family decided to forget about it. Am I right?"


    To Mark''s question, Roan nodded.


    "It was not mom and dad that brought the idea first. It was our grandparents. It''s not surprising since if everyone continued to mull over it, none of us would be able to let go. We also wanted Felicia and Elise to live normally. If they knew about this, none of them would have a good life."


    "Unfortunately, it backfired." Mark shrugged. "Elise did not live a normal life at all, and Ellse came back for revenge for being forgotten like that."


    "We did not forget about him at all." Roan shook his head. "Every year, during their birthday, Mom and Dad will ask me to deliver flowers to Ellse''s grave."


    Hearing that, Mark realized something.


    "No wonder Elise grew like that. She might have felt that her birthday is not a happy asion, right?"


    Roan could not reply to that. After all, after Elise''s birthday was Ellse''s date of death. They would remember the gruesome death of that child, dampening the mood for the other''s anticipated party.


    "Hey," Roan turned to Mark. "Do you think that the chimera you spoke about had something to do with this?"


    Mark thought about it after hearing that question. In the end, he shook his head.


    "I don''t think so."


    "But you said that they wanted Elise, right?"


    "Correction," Mark stared at Roan. "What they wanted is the energy that Elise emits. They don''t necessarily need to eat her if there is another energy source. I already covered that, though. Furthermore, I don''t think that they will stoop that low to eat a baby in a gruesome way. Besides, at that time, they might not have found out about Elise or Ellse yet."


    Roan could only nod. Thest sentence that Mark said was usible.


    "Then, the culprit should be someone or something else," Mark added. "Is there no clues from the police investigation?"


    That question made Roan look down.


    "The police were stumped. It is one of a kind case, after all. Furthermore, it felt like it wasn''t done by a human."


    That was true. Someone that would do something like that would not be human. Of course, not an animal either. Any person who would say that it was an animal would have their sanity doubted. After all, which animal could sneak out a baby from a hospital and eat it at a park two kilometers away?


    And with what Mark knew, it must have been done by a supernatural being.


    Then, Mark thought of something.


    "Did anything strange happen while your mom was giving birth?"


    Hearing that question, Roan started to think about it. Then, he remembered something.


    "I don''t know if it counts, but Dad said, the hospital''s lights unstably flickered when Ellse was taken out of Moms womb. All the lights in the hospital. They all thought that it''s just some electricity failure, though."


    "That''s it."


    Mark realized something.


    "What?"


    Roan was confused.


    "You know, Elise had powers, right? It''s not strange for twins to both have powers if one of them had it. Have you heard about the telepathic connection between twins? It''s something like that. Ellse might have already awakened his powers since birth, unlike Elise, who developed it more and more over time."


    "So, are you saying that Ellse might have been targeted at that time the same way with Elise''s circumstances right now?"


    "Probably. The possibility is very high, though."


    "So, if we knew that he had powers since birth, his death might have been prevented, huh?"


    Roan said while gripping his fist.


    "You can''t me your family with that." Mark shrugged. "If I''m on your or your father''s shoes at that time, I might have thought of that either."


    After all, until one saw it with his own eyes, most people on Earth would not believe about ghosts, supernatural entities, or psychic powers. It was the case no matter how religious or interested in the strange things the person was.


    Mark was the same. It wasn''t until he encountered [Psycrystal] that he totally believed these things and became aware that he was really an Empath.

 Chapter 556 The Reason They Stayed, Marks Last Activity In New Jersey

    <strong>Day 130 - 12:15 PM - Audubon High School, Audubon, Camden County, New Jersey, United States of America</strong>


    After eating lunch, Mark urged Mei to sleep and rest. At that time, Roan had long left the rooftop after Mark told them to prepare to since their group would depart tomorrow.


    Right now, Mark and Mei were inside a room that he requested for private use. It was the room Mei had been using to recuperate from her injury. Mark was currently apanying her until she had fallen asleep. At that time, looking after her would be left to Hannah, Felicia, and Sandie.


    Mark had to do a lot of things, after all. If not, he would stay to watch over her.


    It did not take long for Mei to fall asleep as Mark could make her feel rxed andfortable with his abilities.


    "Well, time to go, I guess."


    Mark stretched his back as he stood from his seat beside Mei''s bed.


    "Hannah, don''t let anyone enter except for Felicia and Sandie."


    Mark told Hannah. She was standing by waiting for his orders. Except for that, she was also in charge of looking after the dragonfly egg. It was currently being carried around by her.


    "Don''t worry. Even if I die, I won''t let anyone in."


    Hannah replied.


    Mark shrugged to that, though. It was not a bad attitude, but it was pretty extreme. He did not need her dead either, and Odelina would be sad if Hannah died.


    He then went out of the room and checked for the [Queen Type] that was currently guarded by Arnold. It looked like she was behaving now after the effect of the tranquilizers wore off. Though, she seemed to beining since Mark was not around her for too long.


    Mark also checked Elise''s condition. The soldiers moved her out of the infirmary into another private room. They did it carefully and did not wake her up. No one would want what happened this morning to repeat, after all.


    Felicia''s family was already preparing their things. There was not much to prepare, though, aside from their change of clothes, and important things they could not leave behind. As for their share of food from the Settlement, Mark told them that it was not needed and leave it behind.


    After that, Mark talked a bit with Captain Morrison.


    "What do you think of what I said earlier?"


    Mark asked.


    "Frankly, it''s hard to believe." The Captain shrugged. "But I can''t deny it either after seeing the phenomenon yesterday and what you showed us. I also heard before that the Armed Forces of our country had a division that primarily deals with these kinds of things. At that time, I thought that it was nothing but a hoax. But now, it might be real, after all."


    "Our country also had a task force like that," Mark said. "By the way, I''ve been thinking. You and your soldiers here should have received orders to evacuate people, right? What happened to all of you to stay cooped up in this ce?"


    That was one thing that Mark was curious about.


    These soldiers were sent to evacuate survivors. Since that was the case, there should be an actual evacuation settlement set up by the country, or at least, by the State Government.


    Yet, these people were cooped up in this school. It was despite the danger and harassment they were facing because of the ouws.


    Mark''s question made Captain Morrison show a bitter expression.


    "Initially, we are supposed to do that. At most, we only nned to stay in this ce for a month. But things happened."


    ***


    It was not new that one of the best ces for an evacuation site in a zombie apocalypse was masses ofnd off from the maind. In short, inds. It did not matter whether it was natural or man-made as long as it passed the needed criterion.


    First and foremost, it was amodation. The government needed an ind capable of aodating arge number of people.


    The second was sustenance. Was that ind able to sustain the estimated number of refugees? Was there enoughnd for farms and buildings needed to supply the necessities of the people?


    The third criterion was the defensibility of the ind. This included the shape of the ind, how far it was from the maind, and the possible threats that thend could face. The number of resources needed to secure the ind was also considered.


    If an ind passed all these criteria, even with a slight margin of error, it would be chosen as a good sight for evacuation.


    Unfortunately, no ind in New Jersey would pass those criteria.


    There were inds in New Jersey, specifically on the eastern coasts. However, not only that one of the inds contained a greater risk, the Antic City, none of these inds would pass the second and third criteria needed.


    Thus, the Government of New Jersey coborated with New York to use Staten Ind as an evacuation site. It might not be too far from the maind. However, the distance was enough to slow down most of the infected from crossing before the defenses were secured.


    The shape of the ind was not bad, either. It also had a wide area for farming and cultivation, although it required the clearing of the forests on the ind.


    And of course, manpower was needed, and New York, with its remaining people, would not be able to do that alone. With the survivors of New Jersey added to the mix, it would not be far for everyone to enjoy the safety of the ind.


    The soldiers in Audubon High School performed their duties and nned to leave before the month ended as they wanted to secure as many people as they could.


    They also kept contact through satellitemunications with the government. However, before the month ended, a radio message was received by the soldiers dispatched to evacuate the people.


    "Staten Ind has fallen."


    That was the only thing that the message said. If it was just that, the soldiers might not believe it. However, the message was sent in an emergency frequency that only the soldiers should know, and it came from the headquarters.


    They tried to contact the headquarters, but no reply came back. And not long after, all satellitemunications had been cut off.


    Unsure of what happened and because of theck of orders after that, the soldiers decided to stay here. They fortified the ce and did their best to survive.


    After all, it was too risky to go on the road without a sure destination at that time.


    Furthermore, the U.S. Government should have the means to send emergency orders to them. However, they received none. Thus, they could only rot here, wishing that their families were safe.<sub> </sub>


    ***


    "How about that research facility the military built in Antic City?"


    Mark asked.


    To that question, Captain Morrison shook his head.


    "Those people are not from the forces of the state. They are directly dispatched by the U.S. Government. They are not allowed to do anything outside the orders they are given. And even if we came there and they epted us, our people here might just end up as subjects by their mad scientists there."


    Mark went silent. He could agree with that thought since he already met that Alien Professor. It could definitely happen.


    "Alright, then." Mark shrugged. "I''ll be off to deal with one of your troubles here. Can you write anything your people know about Phdelphia right now? I''ll pick it upter."


    "Right, your group will leave tomorrow and travel through Phdelphia. I have no problems with that." Captain Morrison nodded. "But what do you mean by dealing with one of our troubles?"


    To that question, Mark only smiled and went on his way, leaving the Captain and his soldiers confused.


    ***


    Leaving the soldiers, Mark stood at the rooftop of the high school once more.


    "I should have asked that Subus where their base is before they left."


    Mark murmured while scratching his head. He already asked the soldiers if they had any idea where the base of the ouws was. However, they had no concrete answer. It was because every time they tried to send someone to tail them, the person would not make it back.


    The only answer Mark received was that the ouws always retreated towards the south after they attacked.


    That was the only clue Mark had right now.


    Thus, stretching his wings open, he flew towards the south.


    It was what Mark meant when he told Captain Morrison that he would deal with one of their troubles.


    Mark wanted to eliminate the ouws.


    Well, that was only a byproduct, though. What Mark really wanted was to get that brothers'' Mutator abilities.


    Those bone armors were not bad at all. Furthermore, those were speed type mutations, which made Mark even more interested. There might also be others with good abilities there, or they would not be able to overwhelm the soldiers like this for too long.


    Mark flew as high as he could to see the terrain and buildings better.


    He took note of therger buildings and tried to see if there were any visible fortifications on the buildings.


    Of course, he also thought that the buildings the ouws used might not have any fortifications at all. After all, having fortifications would be too eyecatching for a band of ouws in hiding. Well, Mark could be wrong with that thought, though, since fortifications was a must in a Zombie Apocalypse.


    There was also the thought that the ouws only retreated south for diversion. Their base might also be located in other directions. It was not wrong to think of that since it was ouws. They might have one or more ways of deceiving their victims.


    Starting at the buildings in the southeast direction, Mark checked for any signs of life.


    Mark flew over warehouses, malls, apartmentpounds, schools, cinemas, and all therge establishments that could possibly be a base for arge number of people.


    Unexpectedly, he found some survivors hiding at some of the buildings he went over.


    It was quite hard to say whether these people were lucky or unlucky, though. Some might be lucky surviving the first four months of this deadly apocalypse. And they were also unlucky because they were stuck in those buildings unable to leave at all.


    These buildings with survivors were easier to spot because of the basins and wide-mouthed containers lined up on the rooftop. Obviously, these containers were used to gather clean water from rain or snow.


    Well, the best factor that made these peoplest this long was the fact that they did not put any signs asking for help on the face of their buildings. If they did, the ouws might have spotted them long ago, and they would have either died or turned into ves and ythings.


    Instead, they put SOS signs on the rooftops. It seemed that instead of asking help from random people, they gambled on flying military vehicles instead. Of course, it was a futile hope. After all, thest aircraft that flew over these areas was back in the first week of the apocalypse.


    Some survivors spotted Mark flying over the area. Of course, instead of asking for help, they ran and hid. Who would ask help from a creature with several wings, after all? Unless Mark came to introduce himself, these people would see him as a threat.


    As Mark flew around, he could not help but be troubled. He started thinking that retreating south was really a diversion made by the ouws.


    But after flying for about an hour, Mark found some activity.


    "Damn, I flew towards the wrong direction first."


    Markined as he finally found the location he was looking for.


    The direction he flew first was to the southeast when the base of the ouws was located a bit southwest of Audubon High School.


    And seeing the scene below, Mark''s eyes could not help but light up.


    There were about three hundred people in the ce. Fifty of them were Mutators, while there seemed to be around a hundred ves.


    The best part, however, the whole base was in a mess.


    It was because of the absence of their leaders.


    The ouws started to fight over who would be the next to lead everyone.

 Chapter 557 The Mess In The Browning Square, The Outlaws Battle For Supremacy

    Day 130 - 2:19 PM - Browning Square, Bellmawr, Camden County, New Jersey, United States of America


    Browning Square. It was where the Ouws previously led by Jude, Illia, and Else resided.


    With the sudden disappearance of their leaders, however, turned the ce upside down. These ouws had their respective factions within this group. All these factions were held together by Jude using force and coercion. Not what they were gone, the strongest ones among the ouws started to contend for leadership.


    After all, to these kinds of people, who did not want to be the leader? The leader was feared, had benefits, andmand the whole group. There were a lot of benefits to being the leader of awless group like this.


    But of course, the question was whether they would be able to defeat the other contenders for the position.


    And there was the problemy.


    It should be just a contest between powers, or everything would be meaningless. If one of the factions could suppress the others, things would immediately end with a new leader rising in the group. The winning side would not wantonly kill the losing side either since, without enough members, the group would cease to function.


    But what about if the factions had equal power and none of them wanted to admit defeat?


    It would turn into a deadly battle.


    That was what was currently happening in the Browning Square.


    Three factions were fighting for supremacy, and each side had two leaders.


    One of the factions had already been defeated after one of their leaders died and the other heavily injured. Now, what was left of them stood watching by the side as the two remaining factions fought each other.


    In the remaining two factions, one was led by the Swift Brothers. Because of the failure of theirst mission, they had lost a lot of people under them. However, the two alone managed to fight equally against the members of the opposite side.


    As for the other side, it was led by a man and a woman. Behind them were the stronger members of this group.


    And right now, both groups were facing against each other in a deathmatch.


    ***


    Mark used [Optical Camouge] on himself andnded atop the concrete signboard of the Browning Square. It was very close to the two groups currently facing each other.


    Looking around, Mark found too many dead bodies. It seemed that these people did not care anymore who would die in this battle. The ves had it worse and were dragged into this bloodshed too.


    "Swift Brothers, you pair of cowards. Just give up."


    The woman on the opposite faction called out with arrogance.


    Mark looked at her and could not help but feel interested.


    Of course, not because he was a woman, but because of her mutation.


    Both her arm and legs were covered in rainbow-colored scales, and she had ws as white as pearl. Most people might only see it as something beautiful, but Mark could feel that it was more than just that.


    "Dragon scales?"


    Mark murmured.


    He was not sure about it. However, he felt a familiar vibe from these scales. It was simr to the mutation of the boss and the young master of Death Valley Settlement.


    If that was the case, it was no wonder that the Swift Brothers were having a hard time facing her.


    "Don''t f*ck with me!"


    The older one of the Swift brothers charged forward. Blood sttered around as he cut the heads of the woman''sckeys that tried to block him.


    He then appeared behind the woman, trying to behead her too. But before his bone de could reach her neck, the woman raised her arm.


    CLANG!


    The older Swift failed his attack, and he could only retreat.


    Mark watched that happen and could only nod.


    Both these brothers were speed types. Although their bone des were sharp, they were stillcking in strength to be able to cut through the woman''s scales.


    Furthermore, the younger brother was also entangled against the other leader of the opposing faction.


    The second leader was a muscr man. He had exaggeratedly bulging muscles with an unnatural copper sheen. Furthermore, he was only wearing speedos.


    No matter how one looked at him, he looked like he just went out of a bodybuildingpetition after overdosing steroids.


    And the worst of it...


    "Honey, just give up. You and your brother are on the losing side already."


    He had a sharp campy voice that did not match his appearance at all.


    "Just what manga did that guy jumped out of?"


    Mark murmured with a shiver. Seeing this in real life, he could not understand how anime and manga protagonists felt after encountering such a creature.


    "F*ck off!"


    The younger Swift brother shouted as he disappeared in ce. He then appeared, crouching to the side of the Speedo Guy, shing his bone de towards the enemy''s leg.


    PAKIN!


    However, that sound of breaking metal echoed as the Speedo Guy pped the de from above, breaking it into two. The Speedo Guy then followed with a punch.


    The punch seemed weak. However, the pressure that it gave was enough to make a person freeze in fear.


    Of course, the punch missed, unable to match the speed of the younger Swift Brother.


    "It''s a stalemate, huh."


    That was Mark''s deduction of the situation.


    Since the leaders of the factions could not do anything to each other, it was no wonder that the people following their leaders were the ones dying instead.


    To win this battle, the leader of the other faction should at least submit. However, both sides could not do anything to deal with each other.


    If the woman with rainbow scales and the Speedo Guy wanted to win, they needed to catch the Swift Brothers. However, they did not have the speed required to do so. The only thing they could do was stand in ce and anticipate the attack of the brothers and aim for a counter-attack.


    On the other hand, while the Swift Brothers had the speed, theycked the strength to defeat the two enemy leaders. Furthermore, since the two enemies were not attacking, the brothers had no choice but to keep charging.


    What made the situation even worse was that the battle here had drawn the attention of the infected. Many of them were running to this ce.


    "Soo, the walls will be knocked down, and this ce will be a graveyard."


    Mark said after seeing therge number of infected trying to break down the walls that the ouws erected around this ce.


    Some were trying to clear the infected from their positions. However, they werecking in hands as many people already died because of the power struggle.


    "I''ll wait a bit."


    Mark said as he searched for afortable sitting position atop the concrete signboard.


    After five minutes, however, Mark was already yawning.


    The leaders had their strengths and weaknesses. And this battle had the worst pairing.


    "Those brothers had too much pride. It should be easier if they both dealt with one enemy first before killing the other."


    That was what Mark observed. These brothers were cowards if their enemy was far stronger than them. But if it was equal or below to them in strength, they would not budge.<sub> </sub>


    The Swift Brothers wanted to deal with one leader each. And it was more like they werepeting on who would be able to defeat their enemy instead.


    "But it''s not getting anywhere," Markined. "They are just wasting time."


    Mark then turned to the side.


    "At the end of this all, that guy will be the true winner."


    There, a man was smiling as he rested leaning to the wall of a pizza house. The man looked heavily injured. Nevertheless, Mark knew that the guy was only pretending.


    "Oh, well." Mark stretched his arms and back. "I''ll free the imprisoned people first and let them wait outside."


    Mark murmured after giving the battle thest nce. He then jumped off and sneaked into the main building.


    ***


    Inside the main building that was made to look like an extravagant castle by Jude''smand, there were two dungeons. These two ces segregated male and female prisoners. The males were used for manualbor while the females became ythings for the sexually frustrated ouws.


    And all of them had already given up on their current life.


    After all, whether they live here or escape, what was waiting for them was death. Although they were suffering, in the least, they could live longer. Of course, some could not stand it and already took their own lives.


    The ones left here were those that were afraid to die.


    Now, all of them were only waiting for the oue of the change of regime in this group of ouws.


    But at this moment...


    "WHO! WHO ARE YOU AND HOW DID YOU GET IN HERE?!"


    The enraged shouts of the guards were heard by the prisoners.


    They all felt curious and afraid. None of the prisoners knew what was happening, after all.


    No answers were heard for that question, however.


    Instead...


    SPLAT! ROLL!


    The prisoners saw the heads of the guards rolling on the other side of the dungeon, sttering blood all over.


    They were all terrified at that scene.


    Then, they saw a man carrying using two odd-looking des walking in front of their dungeons, not minding the sshing of blood under his feet.


    The man faced the metal bars of the dungeon, looking at the prisoners.


    There, the prisoners felt terrified when the man raised his des toward them. They could not help but turn their heads in fear.


    SHING! SHING! CLANG!


    The sounds of metal shing with each other and falling to the floor echoed across the building.


    "All of you should prepare to get out."


    They heard the man speak and looked in front of them in shock.


    The metal bars that confined them had already cut into pieces.


    That was when the thought caught up to their minds. The person standing in front of them was here to set them free.


    "A-are you here to help us?!"


    One of the male prisoners asked.


    "Don''t ask too many questions," Mark replied. "Just follow behind me if all of you want to get out of this ce. Also, carry the ones that can''t walk properly. I don''t want to waste time waiting for slowpokes."


    The male prisoner gulped. The others also just followed Mark''smands. More than the fear they felt from him, they all just want to get away from this ce. Even if Mark was a stranger to them, this could only be their chance to escape.


    To the prisoners'' surprise, Mark was tantly leading them out of the main door instead of sneaking out through somewhere secluded.


    "S-Sir, isn''t it better if we just sneak out?"


    A female prisoner asked.


    "Why?"


    Mark turned and tilted his head.


    "W-we are escaping, right?"


    The female prisoner hesitated but still asked.


    "No? I''ll make it clear," Mark shrugged. "I''m not leading you all to escape. I''m leading you all out to leave this ce. Get the difference?"


    "S-Sir, you don''t mean..."


    Most of the prisoners gulped their saliva.


    "Yeap, we will leave this ce straight in front of them. In a sense, I guess... Actually, I n to kill all those that captured you guys. I just let you all out first since it will be troublesome if they suddenly took all of you as a hostage."


    Hearing that deration, the prisoners felt their legs go weak.


    They looked at Mark.


    ''This guy doesn''t seem to know fear.'' They all thought.


    There, several steps could be heard from the main hall.


    "STOP!"


    A shout was heard, and a dozen people armed with guns blocked Mark and the prisoners.


    "We''re doomed!"


    Some of the prisoners cried out.


    On the contrary...


    "I guess, let''s try this one out."


    Mark said with a smile as he stretched his right arm forwards with his palm facing the enemies.


    A crystal then appeared in front of this palm, which emitted a faint glow.


    Then, the armed men in front of them froze to the prisoners'' shock.


    That was when the prisoners noticed something odd.


    Lines of blood appeared on the faces of the ouws, and their clothes started to divide by itself.


    PLOP! PLOP! PLOP!


    That was when the standing armed ouws started to crumble, turning into pieces of sliced flesh and bones that sttered on the ground.

 Chapter 558 Jokes And Pranks, When The Dark Loom Of Death Covered The Browning Square

    <strong>Day 130 - 2:48 PM -Browning Square, Bellmawr, Camden County, New Jersey, United States of America</strong>


    PLOP! PLOP! SPLAT! SPLAT! SQUISH!


    Those eerie sounds echoed in everyone''s ears in the main hall very clearly. It was despite how noisy it was outside because of the ongoing battle between the factions of the ouws.


    Looking at the slowly slipping slices of human flesh as each piece fell on the ground one by one, apanied by a stter of blood, Mark noticed something.


    CLANG! CLANG!


    Pieces of metal also fell from the guns that the ouws held.


    "I messed up the controls, huh."


    Mark murmured.


    He only wanted to kill these guys and, at least, get their guns for the prisoners to use. But of course, since it was the very first time he used the new crystal he had, the [Wind Maniption Crystal], his control was not perfect. Although he managed not to break the weapons too much, bits and pieces still got sliced off them, rendering the guns unusable.


    ***


    urios Mirrioulle. He was the previous owner of this ability. He was the frivolous and narcissistic son of one of the ministers of Freed''s father, the King of Eriellis before Freed took over the throne without a choice.


    A famous womanizer to an annoying degree, it was the perfect description for urios if someone was to ask. Every single time he saw a beautiful woman, he would try to hit on them. The most annoying part, however, was that a lot of them would fall to this frivolous man. That made it even easier for other men to hate this guy.


    The only thing that changed this guy was when the outbreak came. Well, his change was only small, but it made him a bit eptable for the same gender. It was because his whole family was killed by a strong Psychic Infected at the time they were evacuating.


    From there, he became one of Freed''s vassals and one of thest protectors of Eriellis before it fell. Of course, he caused a lot of problems as he tried to hit with girls in the group, only to be physically rejected by them. It was not surprising since the only girls who would manage to survive the outbreak were not people that were easily swayed by his sweet words.


    The most annoying thing about him was that his ability was among the strongest in the group. urios'' Psychic power was not just blowing wind or controlling it. His [Wind Maniption] was unlike most of the abilities that only focused on one kind of attack like [Wind des], [Wind Arrow], or [Gale Blow]. It was an ability higher than those and allowed urios to control, move, and shape the air as long as he had the right image, focus, and knowledge.


    That was also the problem in his ability. Being a frivolous person before the outbreak, urios had no knowledge to properly use his powers and had to study and practice it hard afterward.


    ***


    Like what Mark did just now, he molded the air into thin des by increasing the air pressure into thin lines andunched it forward. He used an image simr to a waterjet cutter with a wide nozzle.


    And this was the result. The ouws in front were cut intoyers of flesh instantly.


    This was one reason that made wind-based abilities frightening in real life. Unless the air was mixed with chemicals in high concentration, it was transparent, tasteless, and odorless. Because of it, even if Mark was already spotted, he was still able tounch a surprise attack and instantly killed the enemies.


    "Urph..."


    Mark could not help but pause and turn behind him as he heard that noise.


    "Well, of course..." Mark shrugged.


    Most of the prisoners were not able to stand the bloody scene in front.


    It was not like they were not used to blood or anything. These people were survivors that made it this far in the apocalypse, and all of them already had their fair share of killing, specifically, the infected. Still, there was a different sensation to seeing the infected with their disgusting wounds and killing them by shooting or destroying their brain and neck,pared to a living human suddenly turning into piles of steak slices.


    What made Mark appreciate these people, however, was that even though their stomachs were already churning, they forced to hold it in and did not throw up. Well, it was not they did not want to, but they were forced not to as they were afraid that Mark would get annoyed.


    "I guess that thought also works." Mark shrugged as he turned around. "Follow closely, or I won''t be able to protect any of you."


    Mark then continued on the way, passing through the piles of flesh on the floor.


    Despite how repulsive it was for the prisoners, they carried on and followed Mark. It was even if their feet were soaked with the blood from the dead ouws.


    Soon, the whole group of prisoners, led by Mark, fearfully stepped out of the building.


    "Shhh."


    Mark signaled the prisoners with a mischievous smile. It was because a small group from the defeated third faction with their leader was intently watching the battle between the leaders of the other two sides.


    "How''s the fight? Still at a stalemate?"


    Mark suddenly spoke to the group making the prisoners shocked.


    Unexpectedly...


    "Yeah, it seemed that it won''t end anytime soon."


    One of the guys answered without looking at Mark.


    "They looked awfully tired already. Shouldn''t Boss throw in some "help" now?"


    Mark asked, ncing at the fight in the middle of Browning Square.


    "Yeah, Boss! Why don''t we "help" them now?"


    One of the members of the group turned to their Boss, sitting down and leaning his back unto the wall. It seemed that these guys knew that their Boss was just pretending to be defeated.


    "It''s still not the right time. Let them kill each other first," The Boss replied with a sinister smile. "You should stand close and wait for my signa..."


    The Boss replied to hisckeys and turned to Mark, thinking that he was one of them. That was when he did not manage to finish his sentence, and his voice trailed off. It was because he could not recognize Mark at all.


    As their Boss suddenly became silent, the members of their group turned to him only to see him looking at something with an incredulous expression. They all turned to what their Boss was looking at and saw Mark.


    They all stared at him the same way, unable toprehend who this guy was, how he was able toe here, and why the prisoners were not in their dungeon and following behind him.


    "Oh, hello."


    Mark waved at them with a smile.


    "Intru-!!!"


    The Boss shouted as what was happening, finally registered on his mind. He also tried to use his Mutator Ability and transformed. His eyes turned yellow, and the pupils turned into slits. Greenish gray scales with diamond patterns also appeared on his face and neck with his tongue, elongating and split at the end.


    Before he could finish his shout or transform, though, the Boss saw his vision spinning.


    Thest thing he saw was the heads of his subordinates spinning together with him.


    ''No...'' The Boss thought as he saw their group''s headless bodies slump to the ground before his vision went ck.


    "A Poisonous snake mutation, huh..."


    Mark murmured as he picked up the Boss''s head and turned the remaining blood on the head into metal so it would stop dripping. He then threw it into the hole that appeared in front of him.


    The prisoners were both surprised, while some had stifledughs at howical that scene was.


    "INTRUDERS!!!"<sub> </sub>


    Well, of course. After that happened, it was not surprising that they were spotted. Being spotted was not the right term, though. In the first ce, they were not hiding at all.


    That shout froze everyone, including the four faction leaders that were currently fighting.


    They all turned to Mark and the prisoners. Many of the prisoners'' legs gave way as a lot of guns were now pointed at them.


    "Who are you?!"


    The older Swift Brother shouted at Mark, knowing that he should be the intruder as he led the prisoners out.


    Of course, the four leaders decided to stop the fight with a nce as they faced Mark. Then, they also saw the headless corpses in front of him.


    "Don''t mind us and continue fighting!" Mark nonchntly shouted back before turning to the prisoners behind him. "All of you stand up. Let''s go."


    The prisoners stared at Mark incredulously. They could not fathom what was happening in his head at all. They were already surrounded with guns pointed at them. Why was Mark not fazed at all?


    "STOP!"


    The younger Swift Brother shouted as Mark took a step to leave.


    Mark then turned to the brothers with a smile.


    "You two sure want me to stop? Really? After the two of you ran away from me yesterday?"


    "Yesterday?"


    The younger Swift Brother questioned as he could not fathom what Mark was talking about.


    However, the older brother froze and got into his fighting stance. There was only one person that they escaped from yesterday.


    "You''re that Grim Reaper..."


    The older brother spoke with a grim tone as if he saw his mortal enemy.


    Hearing what the older Swift Brother called Mark, the other members of the ouws felt stupid.


    Grim Reaper? This guy that looked like ackey from a gang movie was?


    "Are you sure about that?"


    The woman with rainbow scales that stood close to the older Swift Brother asked. She was also disinclined to believe what he was saying. It might also be just a ploy to catch her off guard.


    But there, her expression turned from nonchnt to very serious. It was because she saw the Older Brother''s expression, and it was clear that he was not joking around.


    "SHOOT!" The Older Brother shouted. "Don''t mind if the prisoners and ves get caught in the crossfire! KILL THAT BASTARD!"


    BAM!


    "Late," Mark spoke as everyone froze.


    Not a single gunshot was fired as all theckeys were frozen in fear. They wanted to pull the trigger of their guns, but their shivering fingers would not follow theirmand at all.


    They could only stare at Mark, whose eyes were glowing brightly in red color.


    BAM!


    Their leg''s shivered. Not to mention shooting, it even became harder for these people to stand.


    BAM!


    They started to choke. It became too hard to breathe.


    The most affected ones were the members of the ouws that were just regr humans. One by one, they started to fall on their knees.


    As for the four faction leaders and the other Mutators, they were still standing. For the regr Mutators, it was very hard to do so, however.


    The only ones that still managed to resist better were the four faction leaders. These four were [Level Two Mutators], after all. It was harder for them to go down.


    "SH*T! WHAT IS THIS?!" The older Swift Brother cursed as he saw his remainingckeys fall.


    It was the same for the younger Swift Brother, Rainbow-scaled woman, and Speedo Guy. They could not fathom what was happening at all.


    "Well, then," Mark spoke in a loud voice. "You four and all those that can still stand. Let''s make a bet."


    "DON''T F*CK WITH ME! I''LL KILL YOU!"


    The younger Swift Brother was about to charge in. He could not take the humiliation from yesterday, and now, Mark was obviously ying with them.


    But then, the younger brother froze as he felt a hand on his bone armored shoulder.


    "Bro, don''t be rash."


    The older brother held his younger brother with a scary expression, forcing the younger to calm down.


    "What bet do you want?"


    The older Swift Brother asked Mark.


    "Nothing much." Mark smiled sinisterly. "I''ll let you all be able to move around freely. I''ll attack ten times. Those that can survive the attacks can be left alive. Be sure that you all only stay in the parking area. All those that go out will be killed immediately."


    Hearing the conditions, the four faction leaders looked at each other and nodded. What could the enemy do in ten attacks anyway? He was just one person, and there was still a lot of them. Furthermore, the attack just now only seemed to restrict the movements and not kill.


    Even if some people died, there was no way that Mark would be able to kill them all in just ten attacks.


    "We agree!"


    The four leaders replied in unison. They knew that fighting under this restriction was deadlier than epting the gamble.


    Knowing what was going on with their emotions, Mark smiled.


    Several crystals magically flew around his right arm as his body was covered in ck haze, forming a cloak.


    Bat wings sprouted from his back as he flew up under everyone''s amazed gaze.


    "Get ready then."


    They heard Mark''s yful voice was heard as he stretched his right hand forward.


    There, they could only stare at the sky with their wide eyes as hundreds of fist-sized balls of electricity appeared behind Mark.

 Chapter 559 Playing With His New Toy, The Combined Use Of Wind And Lightning Crystals

    <strong>Day 130 - 2:58 PM - Browning Square, Bellmawr, Camden County, New Jersey, United States of America</strong>


    Everyone stared agape at the scene above them. Especially for the members of the Ouws, they froze like statues.


    "B-Boss... Bosses, I don''t think that this is what we signed up for?"


    A Mutator that stood closer to the four leaders voiced out in a fearful voice. As the new leader of the group was still undecided, the man hesitated which person was to address.


    And absolutely, this was not what they thought of when Mark proposed that bet.


    They should have thought about it more. Why would the intruder propose only ten attacks? It was a very small numberpared to their remaining members.


    Now, no wonder.


    The enemy''s ten attacks were to this degree. They should have considered it further.


    However, to think of it...


    The attacks of the enemy were like this. Even without the bet, there was no guarantee that they would survive. If they did not agree to this, the enemy would be able to attack as much as he wanted. There was no escape if that was what happened.


    "Ten! Just Ten attacks! Hold out and survive!"


    The woman disregarded the Mutator''s question and shouted encouragement for everyone to hear.


    On the other hand, while the Ouws were panicking, the prisoners watching at the side stared at Mark in awe.


    "Is he a god? Are we saved by a god?"


    One of them murmured.


    That murmur, however, caused the prisoners to shake in delight and praise.


    The ouws and the prisoners had different ideas from seeing Mark''s current disy.


    More or less, the ouws did not believe in gods and the like. That was how they were able tomit deeds that even the heavens would feel disgusted from seeing them.


    In the eyes of the ouws, Mark was nothing but a powerful freak that could kill everyone.


    The prisoners, however, could only pray to the gods while they suffered under the torture of the ouws. That hope they held unto finally came into fruition. It was no wonder they unconsciously start to delude themselves into thinking that they were saved by an existence they prayed to.


    Well, rather than ming the beliefs of the poor prisoners, it was better to me Mark for it.


    Just who wanted to be shy this time?


    At the airspace above Browning Square, however, Mark felt troubled as he detected the reverence of the prisoners he freed.


    Mark did not want to show off or anything. He just wanted to test something like the balls of electricity floating around him.


    If he did this while on the ground, it would be harder to aim at the enemies, and there would be not enough space to conjure this many.


    As for the ck cloak made of Miasma, it was just a preventive measure. With this cloak, it would be harder to pinpoint his body parts because it lookedrger and covered his whole body. After all, while he was exhibiting a haughty behavior towards the enemies, he was not looking down on them. Mutagen caused people to have all kinds of uncanny mutations.


    Looking down on their enemies would spell demise to anyone once they encountered someone with a strange ability.


    "Alright, get ready!"


    Mark called out yfully, causing the ouws to stiffen.


    Without waiting for any answer, Mark waved his hand downwards, making the glowing crystals follow its movements.


    SHHOOOOM!!! CRACKLE! CRACKLE!


    The ouws panicked even more as hundreds of balls of electricity rained upon them.


    "Evade! QUICK!"


    The rainbow-scaled woman shouted, assumingmand over everyone. It was alright with the Speedo Guy, but the Swift Brothers red at her. However, there was no time to retort. The first attack was alreadying.


    CRACK!


    Everyone tried their best to dodge every ball of electricity that fell.


    Fortunately for them, every ball of electricity only flew in a straight direction. Each one that touched anything would disappear. The speed of the balls was fast but not too speedy that it was hard to follow even with a regr person''s eye.


    Of course, this did not mean that it would be easy.


    Not everyone was perceptive enough to dodge a barrage of attacks like this.


    "AHHH!!!"


    Painful screams echoed here and there. The number of balls of lightning falling unto everyone was too much for many of the ouws. Even if they were all Mutators and Evolvers, not every one of them had enhanced speed and reflexes.


    One by one, the ouws hit by the balls of electricity fell to the ground with their convulsing bodies.


    Mark watched the mess he created below with a smile. He was quite satisfied with what he did.


    No, he was not satisfied with the worms squirming around in the parking area.


    What he was satisfied with was the balls of electricity he created for the first time. After all, this was something quite impossible to do before.


    It was an exaggeration to say that the [Lightning Mental Crystal] was capable of controlling lightning. What it could at most was to conjure electricity up to high voltages and firing it off towards a certain direction. Even saying that the lightning he fired flew in a straight direction was also farfetched. After all, that was not how electricity worked.


    That was why, until now, Mark could onlyunch direct lightning attacks at his targets. The only exception was when he was using the [Storm Caller Mental Crystal] together with the [Lightning Mental Crystal]. At those times, Mark could use the electric charge caused by the friction of substances in the clouds and call forth a strike of lightning from above.<sub> </sub>


    p Lightning, no, even just a lower voltage of electricity, was highly unstable. This was the reason it was hard to harness and control. Furthermore, it was highly attracted to conductive materials such as metal. The presence of metal and other highly conductive substances in the air could cause a shift in the trajectory of the lightning attack. It was one of the reasons why lightning would branch out even if Mark used it to attack directly.</anda>


    In fact, every time Mark used a lightning attack on armed enemies, if their weapons were metallic, like guns and des, it would get struck first before the enemy''s body. It was unnoticeable since there was just split seconds after the attack wasunched and before it hit the target. This was something not easily seen, even to the eyes of Mutators.


    But now, Mark had a new toy to y with. The [Wind Maniption Mental Crystal].


    With the new crystal, Mark converged the metallic colloids and vapors in the air at a single point, creating an invisible conductor. Then, he stimted the electrons around to charge it with electricity. With the conductor in ce, the electricity would form a ball, traveling through the conductive colloids.


    Repeating the process simultaneously, it created the hundreds of balls of electricity that was currently falling unto the ouws.


    "Hmmm?" Mark noticed something which made him smile.


    Below, the Swift brothers were good at dodging the balls of electricity. Among all of the people Mark encountered before, their reflexes and speed were top notch. Of course, it did not mean that they were the strongest. If that Jersey Devil were to fight with these two, they would lose immediately. It was because aside from its defense that was on the lower side, the Jersey Devil had enough strength to lift a tank despite having the movement speed of a fired bullet.


    On the other hand, the rainbow-scaled woman was rather interesting. She was not dodging at all but was attacking the balls of electricity that would hit her using her ws and scales. It seemed that her scales also served as an instor, preventing the electricity from harming her.


    At the side, the Speedo Guy had it easier. The guy lifted a whole car sidewards and made it a wall where he sat behind it together with the other ouws.


    "Well, I didn''t give any rules about using shields. So, this is not against the rules, I guess?"


    Mark scratched his head.


    Following the Speedo Guy''s lead, the remaining ouws hid behind cars and posts. Some smarter ones fired their guns towards the balls of electricity. The tips of the bullets that were made out of lead might not be that conductive. Still, it could disrupt the flow of electricity that Mark conjured to some degree.


    Soon, the first attack ended. And there...


    "Huh? I''m still alive!"


    One of the ouws that fell after being hit by one of the balls of electricity shouted in glee.


    Not only him, but there were also others.


    It was not surprising since the voltage of the electricity in those balls were not too high. Although it was deadly towards regr humans, Mutators and Evolvers could possibly handle it.


    Of course, it did not mean that they were unscathed. Most of those ouws only managed to survive because the balls of electricity hit their guns first and only caused burns on their arms. They only fell because of the shock caused by the sudden entry of electricity in their bodies.


    Nevertheless, only a third of the ouws remained. A lot of them were either dumb, weak, or unlucky and died after being hit several times. Some of them even died instantly after being hit once. It was because they either got hit on their heads and torso, frying their brain or stopping their heart.


    "Good job, everyone. Receive the next attack!"


    Mark shouted as he conjured the same number of balls of electricity around him. This scene made everyone look at him incredulously.


    It was the same attack, after all.


    On the contrary, Mark sneered at their expressions.


    With that sneering smile, Mark stretched out his hand forwards and rotated it slightly.


    The balls of electricity started to spin around Mark, making it look like the balls were dancing around him.


    It was a beautiful scene circling around the God of Destruction.


    This scene made the ouws pale, however.


    Most of them only managed to survive after using the cars in the parking area as shields. Now, however, the balls of lightning would not onlye from above but also at different angles.


    "F*CK THIS SHIT!"


    One of the ouws lost himself. He was among the ones that got hit in the first round. He was feeling numb all over his body, and there was no way for him to dodge the next attack if it was like this.


    He knew that he would die. Then, it was better to take someone else with him. Shakily raising the assault rifle that he just picked up, he aimed at the prisoners causing them to freeze in fear.


    THOOOOM!!!


    A loud sound apanied by deafening crackles entered everyone''s ear. Then, the smell of burnt clothes and charred flesh entered their noses.


    A thick strike of lightning swallowed the man, burning his whole body ck. Dead, his charred body, mmed to the ground.


    "Listen!"


    Mark shouted.


    The rest of the ouws shivered as they turned their heads back to Mark like broken dolls.


    "I''m following the rules here and will really leave the ones that can survive my attacks alive. So, follow the rules too. If none of you want to follow this fool."


    Finishing his sentence, Mark waved his hand. The head of the charred man suddenly detached. Then, heunched a ball of ck fire towards the body, turning it into ash. The only thing left of that guy was his broken gun, and his head that was cooked "extremely well done." The agony with his mouth left open was etched on his face even after death.


    "Well, then... Go!"


    Mark shouted as heunched the next attack. Spinning altogether in a nket of crackling lights.


    The ouw''s faces looked even more serene. They all realized that their enemy could kill them all in a blink of an eye. They did not know whether he was showing mercy or was just ying. However, they did not have any choice now. Just how did they offend an enemy like this?


    While the ouws were on a deep dilemma, Mark stared at the moving balls of electricity.


    "Is this how bosses of DanMaku games feel like while tormenting the yers?"


    Mark shrugged with the nonsense that entered his head.

 Chapter 560 End Of The Game, The Destruction Of The Browning Square Outlaws

    Day 130 - 3:13 PM - Browning Square, Bellmawr, Camden County, New Jersey, United States of America


    Almost a quarter of an hour passed since Mark''s game started.


    In every round, Mark conjured the same attack. The hundreds of balls of electricity floated around him before flying towards the yers of the game.


    However, despite having the same appearance, the nature of every round was never constant.


    In every round, Mark made the balls of electricity fly differently. From circles to spirals, he even controlled some of the balls in one round like a remote-controlled missile.


    The speed of the attacks was never constant either. After the second round, he would increase the speed that the balls of electricity flew. Then, slow it down in the next attack before speeding it up once more.


    It became harder and harder for the ouws to adapt to the sudden and inconstant changes in speed that the balls of electricity flew.


    And now, the seventh round just ended, and there was only a fourth of the ouws remained standing. And of course, just standing. It was because most of them had no energy anymore to move.


    Among the ouws, only the Swift Brothers and the rainbow-scaled woman remained energetic. They had scorched marks on their bodies, indicating that they were not able to avoid everything. Still,pared to the others, anyone could say that these three had the best chances of surviving.


    As for the fourth leader, the Speedo Guy, he was already at the end of the line.


    At first, he was able to avoid the attacks by using the cars as shields. But as the game went on, the effects of the electric current in the air started to show. His mutation was something like copper muscles. And copper was a highly conductive metal. Even if he managed to avoid getting hit, a small portion of electricity in the air still entered his body.


    This muscled man that was only earing a Speedo. While he had the strength, the tenacity, and a body as hard as a copper statue, he was not invincible.


    Now, encountering his weakness, he already had one of his feet unto his grave. Well, that was nothing but an idiom. There was no way that they would have a grave after this.


    No one would bother to waste time to bury the bodies of these degenerates.


    While the ouws were trying their best to survive the mess they entered, Mark''s attention entirely focused on something else.


    And that was to make himself used to the sensation he felt while using the crystals.


    Mark could use the crystals to a great extent. However, his controls towards the magic of the crystals were far from perfect.


    And unlike the other crystals that did not require great control, the [Wind Maniption Crystal] was different. The air and the substances that it wasposed of was not easy to control.


    An example of this was when conjuring a ball of air above his palm. It was not as simple as saying that Mark only needed to gather the particles of the air in a single point. He needed a medium to keep the air he gathered intact without dispersing. That was where adding some rotation inside the ball was required, creating a small vortex that would suck in air and keep it in ce.


    There were also other methods of keeping the air gathered aside from forming a vortex.


    And in fact, using only a vortex spinning in a single direction could barely keep the gathered air into a ball.


    Thus, it was better to make severalyers of air akin to a shell, with eachyer spinning in a different direction.


    And there, a Rasenga- a ball ofpressed air was formed.


    However, precise control was needed to do all that. It was not easy to make the air as hard as a solid ball.


    That was why. Rather than ying with the lives of the ouws, Mark was focused more on honing his skills and control. Or else, no matter how yful he was, he would not need ten attacks to kill all these ouws. Just three should be enough.


    And now, Mark reached that point that he would need to end this game.


    BUZZ! BUZZ!


    Suddenly, like a cellphone in silent mode, the ring on Mark''s finger vibrated. It buzzed in intervals forming a sentence using Morse Code. Without a doubt, Mei already woke up.


    ''Gege, where are you?''


    Mei asked, making Mark tap and send his energy to the ring to send a reply.


    ''I''m just doing something outside.''


    ''When are you going to return?''


    Mei asked again.


    ''I''m almost done here. Can you tell anyone there to ask the Captain to send some transport vehicles in my location?''


    ''Where is Gege right now?''


    At that question, Mark looked around.


    "Where is this again?" He murmured as his eyesnded on that concrete signboard.


    ''Browning Square. Tell them to hurry since I already got the prisoners captured by the ouws. By the way, don''te here and stay in bed. You need to rest. Alright?''


    Mark replied to Mei and did not forget to tell her that. If he did not, she might leave the school to find him, neglecting the rest she needed.


    ''Okay.''


    Mei sent affirmation, though Mark could tell that it felt a bit sulky.


    Ending the message, Mark turned back to the ouws. They were all looking at him with confusion on their faces. After all, the round ended already, but Mark was there pping his wings, staying still in the air. Because of that, some of them had the notion to escape. However, the fear of being caught overwhelmed them more, forcing them to stay.


    "I can''t y any longer, unfortunately."


    Mark said, making the remaining ouws shiver.


    Unlike the previous rounds, this time, for sure, Mark was aiming for the kill.


    Mark stretched out his hand together with the crystals towards the ouws. Since the ouws had seen it before several times already, they all knew that once a crystal began to glow brighter, the attack wasing.


    The remaining ouws braced themselves as one of the crystals glowed brighter.


    Unexpectedly, nothing appeared. The ouws were expecting another barrage of balls of electricity, but there was none.


    But then, Mark suddenly closed his palm turning it into a fist.


    Then, the wind began to blow.


    "AHHH!!!"


    Several screams immediately ensue. The others could not help but look, only to see the bodies of their remainingrades bing sliced in half. As it happened too suddenly, not all of them died immediately. Their upper bodies detached, causing them to crawl and il their arms wildly as they scattered their own blood and guts on the ground.


    It was a horrifying sight, and none of them saw what kind of attack it was.


    But that was not all.


    From the outer parts of the parking lot to the center, the invisible attack continued.


    More and more ouws had their torsos and lower bodies separated.


    Some were fast enough to realize that it was an invisible attack that aimed at their torsos. Some tried to jump, while others crouched.


    However, the ouws were unable to find the right timing to evade. Some of those that chose to jump had their legs cut while those that crouched got their necks and heads cut off.<sub> </sub>


    At the end of the eighth attack, only seven people were left among the ouws. They were not all the ones left alive. But the remaining others had their legs cut off with no way of evading the next attack.


    The rainbow-scaled woman looked straight at Mark.


    "Since the start, you have no intention of letting us live, right?"


    She smiled with a fierce expression.


    Hearing that, Mark shrugged.


    "Yeah? So?"


    "Damn it."


    The woman cursed as she reverted back to her human form.


    Then, the rainbow-scaled woman took out a pistol from her pocket and pointed at her temple.


    "I don''t want to be someone else''s toy."


    She said with a resolute expression as she moved her finger to pull the trigger.


    But then...


    "AHH!"


    The woman cried out in pain as the hand holding the gun separated from her arm.


    Seeing her hand on the ground, the rainbow-scaled woman red at Mark.


    "Why?!"


    At that question, Mark smiled.


    "Killing yourself is against the rules."


    Mark replied as he moved his index finger.


    SWISH!


    The woman''s head separated from her body.


    Then, before the woman''s head fell to the ground, a strong gust of wind enveloped the head, causing it to fly towards Mark.


    Mark caught the head that had a frozen expression of pain on her face. After turning the remaining blood in the head to metal, Mark stored it. He did this because not because he wanted to be the one to kill the woman. It was just that if he let her fire that gun on her head, her brain would be damaged, and the ability he would get from her would be weakened.


    "This rainbow scales will suit Mei, I guess."


    Mark murmured. It was the main reason he could not let the Mutation of that woman go to waste.


    With the death of the woman, only six people were left. Because of the unexpected action of the woman, the Speedo Guy that was almost deadsted longer than her.


    "Well, only six left," Mark smiled. "Time to end this."


    Mark then pointed his palm once more at the people below. Because of the woman''s question, they all had unsightly expressions. They knew that they would die anyway. So...


    "ESCAPE!"


    The older Swift Brother shouted. The others were caught off guard, but the younger brother managed to react.


    The two brothers started to run in different directions.


    However, it was alreadyte.


    As Mark closed his palm once more, the next attackmenced.


    The Swift Brothers that tried to run away were flung back into the center of the parking area.


    Unlike yesterday, these two would not be able to escape.


    It was because Mark could now control the wind in this whole area.


    And there, like a, des of wind converged to the center of the parking area.


    The remaining ouws were cut to pieces with only their heads remaining intact.


    As for the Speedo Guy, he had already given up. His head flew off after he stood in ce without moving.


    Everyone died, with only the Swift Brothers remaining.


    The Swift Brothers were thrown at the center of the parking area. All the wind des were now moving towards them.


    "Stop! WE SURR-!!!"


    The older brother tried to speak, but the barrage of wind des had already reached them.


    BAM! BAM! BAM!


    Shielding themselves with their armor, they managed to resist longer. However, the two''s demise was inevitable as the wind des slowly chipped their armor.


    Soon, their armor was broken, and the wind des prated their bodies.


    "GUAAAHH!!!"


    The Swift Brothers roared in both pain and anger.


    It did not take long, and their roars disappeared.


    Marknded in front of the two''s corpses. Their bodies were barely damaged because of their armors. Still, it would be difficult for them to keep living after some of the wind des cut open their torsos.


    With all the ouws dead, it was now time to collect the heads.


    Storing the heads one by one felt was disgusting in itself, but Mark had no choice. It was better to absorb the abilities privately than tell everyone that he could harvest these Mutations to give them to someone else.


    Mark then turned towards the prisoners and could not help but sigh.


    The glint of worship in their eyes felt ufortable.


    "Hey, all of you," Mark shouted. "Find guns and bullets and kill the infected outside the walls. Your rescue ising soon, and they won''t be able toe here faster if there''s a lot of infected around this ce."


    Hearing that their rescue wasing, the prisoners rejoiced.


    Not only the people that made them suffer were all dead, but they were going back to their previous lives. Of course, there were a lot of changes. Families and friends of theirs died by the hands of the ouws. However, they were still alive, and that was what mattered most.

 Chapter 561 As The Night Came, Getting Some Rest And The Journey In The Icy Region

    <strong>Day 130 - 4:21 PM - Browning Square, Bellmawr, Camden County, New Jersey, United States of America</strong>


    Suddenly receiving a tip out of nowhere, Captain Morrison and his soldiers prepared as soon as they could. They did not know how Mei suddenly had this news or if it was true. There was some opposition, and some did not believe it. However, having no lead at all, they could only gamble and try.


    Still, they went out full force, leaving only necessary personnel to guard the school. After all, it was the ouws that they were talking about. They were the very same group that pushed this settlement to a corner. If the soldiers wanted to rescue the captured people, they needed to move a lot of resources they had.


    Despite the preparation, it took them some time to arrive. After all, the event yesterday caused the roads to be filled with infected. Even if they had enough manpower, clearing their way was not easy.


    But when the soldiers arrived, the only thing they could do was to stare agape at the scene in front of them.


    The mountain of infected corpses outside the walls, the headless bodies inside thepound, and the prisoners reverently staring at the man the soldiers knew.


    Mark, on the other hand, was looking around the bodies of the infected scattered around when the soldiers arrived. He could only scratch his head after seeing how much preparation the soldiers had beforeing here.


    He trusted Mei to ry the very same words he told her through the ring. After all, what he said was to bring transport trucks, and he already got the prisoners. Yet, the soldiers came prepared for battle. Even Roan was present as their main attacker.


    Captain Morrison and Roan went down from the military convoy and approached Mark, not minding the bloody smell around him.


    "This..."


    The Captain did not know what to say about the current situation.


    "I only said to bring transport vehicles." Mark shrugged. "Why did you guys bring tanks?"


    That question made the soldiers troubled. If they knew that there would be no fighting, they would not bring this many soldiers and the two tanks they had. Thinking about this, they just wasted precious fuel. After all, tanks were monsters at fuel consumption.


    "I also said that I already got the prisoners. Yet, you all came in full battle gear." Mark added. "I don''t think there''s any mistake with the words I said, right?"


    "It seems like we misinterpreted it. We only heard that you had the prisoners with you. We thought that you needed rescue."


    Captain Morrison replied with a troubled expression.


    Mark did not say anything else. What he said could really be misinterpreted. It was more understandable since these people did not know about his abilities.


    "Anyway, just go and loot this ce out of everything you need and bring those guys back. Their stares are making me ufortable."


    Mark nonchntly said, pointing at the prisoners that minded him more instead of the rescue that came for them.


    Captain Morisson left to order his soldiers, and they started to explore the whole ce. Roan, on the other hand, stayed around Mark.


    "Seems like what Felicia said about you fighting hundreds of infected alone is true."


    Roan said while looking at the hundreds of infected corpse around Mark.


    "I don''t think she''s a liar, though?"


    Mark said as he looked at a Mutated corpse closely.


    "My sister is not a liar, but she did lie." Roan shrugged. "About her happily living after Jude left her."


    Sure enough, Felicia did not say everything she experienced in the past years to her family. She already brought them remorse and sadness when she left. Felicia did not want to give more.


    However, it seemed that Roan saw through her lies.


    Well, Mark had no reason to say what he knew and ignored what Roan had just said.


    Getting ignored like that did not sit well with Roan. However, he was not someone that would force an answer out of anyone, or else he could just ask Sandie and the others. After all, it seemed they also knew about his sister''s story. He only mentioned it to Mark since he was the one to most likely not care about telling it or not.


    With a shrug of his shoulders, Roan decided to leave. That was when Mark spoke.


    "Just ask your sister when she''s ready to tell her story."


    Hearing that, Roan smiled.


    "I guess. You''re right."


    There, Roan left and joined the soldiers to explore the ce.


    The soldiers were happy to see the prisoners that were rescued from the ouws. Some of them were friends, and a few were family, after all. Of course, it was not an overall happy asion. It was because the number of freed prisoners here was less than half of what their numbers were supposed to be.


    There was no need to ask what happened to the people not present. The people here could only pray that they received peace in the afterlife since the culprits were all dead.


    What made the soldiers feel happier, however, was the number of supplies and weapons that the ouws amassed. They also had a lot of fuel barrels and even ammunition that who knows where it came from.


    And the food and water, there were threerge storage units full. This ce had more food and water than they had stored in school.


    While the soldiers scoured the ce and loaded the loot into their vehicles, Mark continued to check the infected corpses since he had the chance to do so.


    The [Physical Crystals] did not only absorb Mutations from the Mutators but also from highly intelligent Mutated Infected. Unfortunately, these kinds of infected were rare to find. Except for the [Queen Type] and the [King Type], Mark and Mei only encountered one once.


    It was the [Leader Type] bat-winged Mutated Infected back then in Bay City.


    This time, Mark was going around from corpse to corpse while holding a [Physical Crystal], trying to see if the crystal would react or not.


    Unfortunately, despite arge number of infected corpses around him, the[Physical Crystal] did not even glow a little.


    It was almost sunset when they finished. There, everyone was eager to go home.


    Mark did not ride the vehicles when the soldiers finished. Instead, he flew home first, leaving them all behind.


    ***


    The base of the ouws was just two kilometers away from the school. Of course, that was when flying in the air and not taking the route on the road. It did not take too long, and Mark arrived back at the schoolpound.


    It was quite dark already, and no one saw Mark as hended on the roof of the building. There, he went straight to the room Mei was staying and saw her staying in bed as he instructed. She was sleeping. It seemed that she had fallen asleep while waiting for him.


    Mark went out a bit to change clothes. He was reeking with the smell of blood even if he was not sttered by it. After that, he sat on the chair beside Mei''s bed, watching her.<sub> </sub>


    From time to time, she would frown. Maybe because of the pain on her back, or because she had an unpleasant dream. At those times, Mark held her hand tight and caressed her hair gently. That was when she would show afortable expression and a little smile on her sleeping face.


    Watching her like that, Mark could not help but smile. It was only beside Mei that he would feel at peace andfortable. Soon, he did not realize that he had fallen asleep beside her bed.


    ***


    <strong>Day 130 - 7:32 PM - Arctic IceCaps, Arctic Region</strong>


    A blizzard surged strongly, causing the ice-covered surroundings to be blurry. It was already night, and in the frozen Arctic, only ice could be seen. The blizzard only made the situation worse.


    Despite the strong blizzard and the cold temperature, however, silhouettes of creatures could be seen moving about.


    BAM!


    Loud sounds echoed, carried by the wind along with the sound of the blizzard.


    ROOOOAAARRR!!!


    A gigantic silhouette could be seen roaring loudly after its enemy punched its face hard.


    And that enemy? It was a humanoid with six different wings.


    He was no other than Chimetrice, and he was currently fighting against a gigantic Evolved Creature.


    The Evolved Creature was a giant octopus with white skin about seven meters tall, not including the length of its tentacles. Its tentacles had suction capsyered with teeth while its head was covered with long fang-like thorns.


    "Tch!"


    Chimetrice clicked his tongue as he avoided the monster''s long and thick tentacles.


    He was having a hard time fighting this monster with just his pure strength. However, he was doing this because his other abilities were not effective on the creature. Instead, he was doing this to further ustom himself to his new body.


    After leaving Mark yesterday, Chimetrice and Illia immediately proceeded to find his creator''sb. The birthce of the anti-god weapon with the form of a humanoid chimera.


    However, a very long time had passed. There were a lot of things that changed from the world they knew and the world as it was now. Finding something that existed five thousand years ago was not easy.


    Both Chimetrice and Illia had no choice but to look for clues and seek for the possible locations they could think of.


    And now, they found themselves wandering the cold Arctic since one of the things they could remember about that ce was that it was built somewhere very cold.


    It was not wrong since the cold temperature would help in preserving the dead specimens that Chimetrice''s creator got. Back then, refrigerators and freezers were still not invented. Aside from ice monsters and magic, there was no way to preserve things needed for experiments and studies.


    Furthermore, the gods that appeared on Earth back then all came from underdeveloped worlds. No, in a sense, their worlds were not underdeveloped. Instead, because of the existence of Gods and magic, their worlds developed in a different way than Earth had.


    They had been searching for a day already. And it was hard.


    The gigantic monster that Chimetrice was currently fighting was not the first one they encountered. There was also a giant ice worm and other evolved creatures.


    Fighting all these creatures was a hassle, especially to Chimetrice that was still getting used to his new body.


    "Master! Kill that faster! It''s too cold out here!"


    Illia shouted as loud as she could while peeking out of the shelter they built to pass the blizzard and the night.


    "Alright!"


    Chimetrice shouted back, and his flying speed suddenly increased.


    ROOOAAARRR!!!


    Now that Chimetrice was not holding back, the giant octopus could only roar in pain and fear as its body started to break from the attacks it received continuously.


    It did not take long, and the roars vanished. With a loud bang, the giant octopus crashed unto the sheet of cold snow and ice.


    Chimetrice then came back, carrying arge piece of the octopus'' body with him.


    "Is this thing really edible?"


    Chimetrice asked, poking at the flesh he carried.


    "Octopus tastes good, you know?" Illia replied. "It''s a pity we didn''t bring anything to cook it properly. We can only grill it over the fire."


    Illia then used her dagger to cut the flesh into smaller pieces before grilling it over the fire.


    "It''s strange though how an octopus managed toe here. We are nowhere near the ocean, and the ice below us is thick."


    Illia grumbled.


    It was not surprising for her to get fed up with the monsters they encountered. Most of them were, for some reason, appearing in front of Illia and Chimetrice as if they knew that they wereing.


    Chimetrice picked up a piece that Illia cut that had some skin on it. There he seemed to have remembered something.


    "Illia, look." Chimetrice pointed at the strangely shaped spots on the white skin. "Doesn''t this look like simr to the creator''s pet octopus back then?"


    Since Chimetrice said it, Illia also remembered.


    "But that one had ck skin with white spots."


    Illia said.


    "I wonder." Chimetrice sat down. "Maybe, that octopus managed to escape theboratory, and that giant one was among its descendants?"


    Illia froze. That was highly possible.


    If that was the case, they were going in the right direction.

 Chapter 562 Their Last Morning In New Jersey, The Route Towards Philadelphia

    Day 131 - 7:22 AM - Audubon High School, Audubon, Camden County, New Jersey, United States of America


    The night had passed without any noteworthy events aside from a few Mutated Infected that wandered outside the school.


    Last night, Mark fell asleep beside Mei''s bed. It was after an hour and a half that Mark woke up as he felt that Mei was about to wake up. From there, dinner and other things happened like using the crystals to absorb the Mutations from the heads that Mark stored inside his ring. He wanted to do this as soon as possible.


    It was quite unpleasant to think that severed heads were rolling around the space inside his ring together with the other items. Time was not stopped inside the ring, either. If he left it alone for too long, these things would start to rot. That was why in the span of the night, he was busy collecting the Mutator abilities from the heads of the ouws and disposed of them using his ck fire.


    There was the urge to use the crystals he wanted immediately. However, it was not the appropriate time to do so. It was better to do this stuff after they reached the safety of their home.


    Now, Mark was preparing for departure, and everyoneing with them was boarding the vehicle. And now, the members of the group were changed almost entirely. Why?


    It was becausest night, Ottis and the other survivors from Bally''s Casino pleaded Mark that they would stay behind. It was not that they did not want to go with Mark as per what they decided before. However, seeing Felicia reunited with her family made them jealous and hopeful. They wanted to stay behind and hope that they could find their families alive and reunite with them.


    Mark had no reason not to let them go. In fact, he quite expected this to happen. What he wanted from these people if he brought them to his base was loyalty. That was quite hard to achieve if they now had these kinds of thoughts.


    As Mark let them go, the only ones left were those that were sure that they had no family or rtives left. Sandie, Arnold, Ernst, and the three children were the only ones left in the group along with Felicia and her family of five. There was also Hannah, the unconcious Morgan, the female cultivator, and the [Queen Type] with the [Empress Spider]tched on her head.


    While Otis decided to stay, he still served as their driver for the past days. Thus, Mark decided to give him a crystal that he got from one of the ouws. He also gave one to Captain Morrison as he would need it to protect the people in this settlement.


    The two were quite confused as to why Mark was giving them strange jewelry in private. Mark did not bother to exin too much and just said that they needed to swallow the crystals if they wanted to get stronger. Of course, not at the time that he gave them the crystals but after their group left.


    Aside from everyone, there was also a new girl. Her name was Marie Hopkins, and she was following Roan.


    Mark had no problems with Marie joining in. But to say, Roan and Felicia were in kind of simr situation. They definitely were siblings. After all, Roan and Marie were not in any romantic rtionship, even though they liked each other. It was the same with Felicia and Morgan.


    Despite his young-looking appearance, Roan was already in his early thirties. Yet, he was single. It was quite surprising since having a good appearance run well in the blood of their family. There must have been dozens of women that would fall in love with him at first sight. However, because of the missing Felicia, Roan became focused on supporting his family instead of having his own. Now that Felicia returned, he might be able to start with the other aspects of his life.


    On the other hand, with Ottis gone, Roan reced him as the driver. Arnold could also drive, but it was a better decision to let Roan, who had better reflexes, to drive the vehicle instead. Of course, if the need came, the two would switch.


    There was also a problem that popped out, though. It was quite expected for Mark, and he was not troubled. However, Roan was rather displeased with it. After all, the problem was Elise.


    And the problem with her was... She was sticking around Mark like a shy little sister.


    Even now that they were about to leave, Elise was behind Mark, grasping the hem of his shirt. And to say, it should be Roan''s position.


    It was not surprising, though. Elise''s memories went back to the time that she was pretty much neglected by everyone. Then, she woke up not remembering what happened to the world. It was like she was transported to an Earth she never knew.


    But then, Mark came to calm her. And like when she was with Ellse, the times she could not remember anymore, Elise could not hear the annoying voices when she was around Mark or Mei. It made herfortable to stay around the two. She even started calling them elder brother and elder sister. That made both Roan and Felicia a bit jealous.


    And sometimes when Elise was like this, Mark would smirk at Roan, annoying the guy to the bones.


    Since the preparations were done early, it did not take too long before they left.


    Not everyone was okay with Mark leaving the school indefinitely. The people that were saved from the ouws wanted to follow Mark like worshipers. Of course, Mark did not want it. And even if they followed, they would not be of use because of their emaciated bodies. It was better if they stayed behind.


    Nevertheless, all the others here in the school were confused. They could not understand why these people were behaving like that towards Mark.


    As the gates were opened, the ck, armored vehicle rushed out.


    The freed prisoners waved to their savior while the soldiers saluted for the things that Mark did for them, especially getting rid of the Ouws.


    The vehicle drove out of sight, leaving those things behind.


    ***


    Inside the vehicle, Mark was skimming through the notes that he asked Captain Morrison. It contained what they knew about Phdelphia after the outbreak. It was not that much and was just ragged information that could fit three pages of a small notebook while loosely written. However, it contained possible routes and dangers that they could possibly encounter.


    From Audubon, they had two routes they could take to enter Philidelphia. The first was Walt Whitman Bridge that was a bit closer, while the other was the famous Benjamin Franklin Bridge that was still some ways to the north.


    However, both had pros and cons if one wanted to travel through any of these bridges.<sub> </sub>


    The closer and smaller one of the two, the Walt Whitman Bridge, was barricaded by the armed forces of both Pennsylvania and New Jersey. Of course, it was already abandoned by the military. Still, going through it would be a hassle because anyone that wanted to pass through the bridge needed to remove the barricades out of the way first.


    There was also one thing. The abandoned military outpost and barricades on the bridge seemed to have been upied by an armed group. Since Captain Morrison and his soldierscked the equipment to survey the bridge before without getting caught, they refrained from doing it.


    Aside from those, however, the route using Walt Whitman Bridge should be safer in the long run. It was because the road connected to it, the Schuylkill Expressway, was a long stretch of road almost entirely isted away from residential areas using concrete barriers, fences, and flyovers. The number of infected they would likely encounter was smaller. The expressway also travels outside South Phdelphia, away from the center of the city.


    On the other hand, Benjamin Franklin Bridge was also subjected to road blockade by the military of both states. However, the barricades had already fallen before it was finished and it as abandoned firstpared to the other bridge. The main reason for this was because the bridge led to the center of Phdelphia. Being the main bridge in the city, most people tried to cross it when the outbreak came. And so, the infected followed the evacuation causing its copse.


    That was also where the main problem with this route. It would go through the center of the city, where most of the infected resided. That area was pretty much an unchartednd for the survivors. The route was filled with residential buildings, business establishments, markets, and parks.


    In short, it was a very dangerous route.


    Just Antic City that could not evenpare to a fourth of Phdelphia had a [Queen Type], it might be safe to assume that there could be one or two in this ce.


    "So, Boss, what route will we go?"


    Roan asked, turning his head towards Mark, who was sitting behind. He started calling Mark Boss not out of respect but spite. It was quite childish of him, so Mark did not bother to correct it.


    "Go to Benjamin Frankin Bridge. We are going across the city."


    Mark smiled.


    That decision made Abraham and Roan a bit worried. It was a dangerous route, after all. On the other hand, Felicia and the others that knew Mark first could only sigh. They started to have a grasp of Mark''s personality. It was expected for him to choose the more dangerous route.


    "Don''t misunderstand me," Mark spoke as he opened the map application on his phone. "Using the infected as a gauge, the south route should not be any less dangerouspared to the other. Do you know something notable close that route? It is a veryrge facility that is directly tied to the outbreak."


    That question made the people inside the vehicle think. However, none of them were too familiar with Phdelphia, well aside from Abraham, it seemed.


    "Are you talking about Phdelphia International Airport?"


    Abraham asked.


    To that answer, everyone here understood what Mark was talking about.


    Airports were directly tied to the outbreak. It was because it all started when the airnes started crashing, containing its mutated passengers.


    And near airports, more of these aircraft could possibly crash.


    Compared to the infected that Mutated in the middle of the outbreak, the infected that came from those crashed aircraft were far more threatening.


    Four months after the outbreak started, the infected grew in strength as they Mutated. Then what about the Mutated Infected from those crashed aircraft? They could only shiver as they thought about it.


    The center of the city might be filled with infected. In the least, encountering an infected that had the strength to tten an army was far lower.


    "Is there anything we should take note of when we enter Phdelphia?"


    Roan asked another question. He was the one driving, and it was better if he knew what to watch out for on the road.


    Mark flipped the notes to thest page. There was a list of early mutation types that the military encountered before the radiomunications failed.


    And to say, while there was the same kind of Mutations that Mark encountered earlier in the outbreak, there were quite many kinds of infected that he had not heard of.


    "There''s nothing much to take note of," Mark replied. "Most of it is just infected. We can deal with them on the way without problems."


    Hearing those confident words, everyone smiled. In the least, everyone here could feel assured in this travel. Almost everyone here already knew how strong Mark and Mei were. Roan and the others here were also Mutators.


    If it was any other group, this kind of atmosphere would not appear at all and everyone would travel with their minds on the edge.

 Chapter 563 Crossing The Benjamin Franklin Bridge, Finally Entering The City Of Philadelphia

    <strong>Day 131 - 10:15 AM -Benjamin Frankin Bridge za, North-South Freeway, Camden City, Camden County, New Jersey, United States of America</strong>


    Almost three hours after Mark''s group left Audubon High School, they finally arrived at the entrance of Benjamin Franklin Bridge. Before the outbreak, the distance they had just covered measured just around twenty-two minutes or thirty minutes if there was heavy traffic.


    Even though they already expected the travel to be much longer than expected, it was still longer than that expectation. It was the case where expecting the unexpected ruled over.


    There was quite a number of infected roaming the freeway. And by saying quite, it was actually around several hundred. Mark''s group had to proceed with caution, and he and the others had to fight along the way, slowing their speed even more. Not to mention the increasing number of abandoned cars that were left, blocking most of the road.


    Nevertheless, they were still considered lucky after encountering this number of infected.


    Why?


    "Boss, what are you looking at?"


    Felicia asked as she saw Mark peering over the safety fences of the bridge. Since he did not answer, she also approached to see what he was looking at. There, she froze.


    "They started to gather because of the sound from the car."


    Mark said as he watched the thousands of infected that started to go out of the buildings they were confined in. Crashing the windows, falling from higher floors, and breaking weaker walls, there was definitely a lot of infected.


    It was not surprising considering that this area around this side of the Benjamin Frankin Bridge had a lot of facilities like University campuses, libraries, museums, theater, galleries, business offices, and even a few hospitals.


    These infected had been lying dormant here since the area had long been deserted by humans. Even survivors did not exist in this ce. Without anything to attract their attention, they had only been shambling around almost everywhere. A lot of them got stuck inside buildings in the process.


    Now, however, the sound from the vehicle Mark''s group had attracted these infected and caused them to force themselves out of their confinement.


    Fortunately, Mark''s group had already made it past the area of the freeway that was essible from the ground and was now traversing the bridge. If not, it would be a different story.


    "Fortunately, real life isn''t programmed like video games." Mark murmured. "If not, AI pathing will make all these infected run around the road ande chasing us from there."


    Hearing that, Felicia shivered at the thought.


    In video games, the enemies were programmed to chase after the yers, allowing the AI pathing to find the right route to kill their target. Even if the way around was very far from the yer, as long as the AI could reach it, the enemy would follow that path.


    Fortunately, it was not the case. And now, since the infected below could only hear the sound of the vehicle and not see it, they started to cluster below the bridge, not knowing where to go.


    "Boss! Let''s eat!"


    Roan shouted from outside the vehicle as the food had been prepared.


    They were currently having an early lunch. It was something Mark decided before they go crossing the bridge and enter Phdelphia. Everyone agreed to it since they knew his reasons for suggesting this.


    After they crossed the bridge and enter Phdelphia, it would be questionable if they would have any time to take a break. Now that they were in a safer area, it was better to take advantage of this chance.


    Of course, eating here in an open area, even if it was already above ground, it was not entirely safe. That was why it was decided that everyone would take turns eating. While the first group ate, the other group would keep the dangers at bay and vice versa.


    Being called back, Mark sat beside Mei as the cooked food was delivered to them. There was a bit of childish scuffle, though. Elise wanted to sit beside on the other side of Mark.However, the seat was already upied by the [Queen Type]. Because of that, Elise had no choice but to sit beside Mei instead.


    That scene made everyone watching almost burst out intoughter. Abraham and his wife were still sad that Elise lost her memories. However, seeing her being lively like this was better than her gloomy self in the past.


    As for the [Queen Type], everyone except Mark, Mei, and Elise, who had no idea about the [Queen Type] was, was still wary of her. It was still kind of odd that they were sharing the same food with an infected, after all. However, that gap was loosening, especially when they saw how the [Queen Type] was trying hard on how to learn to use a spoon.


    The stter of food on her face as she failed and how she let Mark and Mei wipe her dirty face without resisting. The way she stared at her food that she could not eat properly and the way she enjoyed the food as if it was the best thing in the world.


    It gave everyone the thought that the [Queen Type] was trying her best to be human again.


    Everyone merrily ate, except for one person. She ate timidly, wishing that no one bother or notice her. It was no other than Feng Zhiruo, the female cultivator that Mark captured.


    "Are you alright?"


    Someone suddenly asked Feng Zhiruo, making her flinch. When she turned her head, a woman was smiling at her. It was no other than the woman named Marie.


    Being new to the group, Marie was still in the process of knowing almost everyone. Thus, she decided to greet Feng Zhiruo, who was very quiet.


    "I, okay."


    And here was where the problemy. Feng Zhiruo was not only keeping it quiet because she wanted to. One of the reasons was that...


    Feng Zhiruo''s English vocabry was very shallow.


    It was not like she could not converse, but she was very awkward-sounding, and her English sentences were not constructed properly. And as she was not used to speaking English, there were times that Chinese words coulde out of her mouth instead, making it even more awkward for her.


    It was not surprising, though. Although Feng Zhiruo was a cultivator, it did not mean that she needed to learn othernguages without reason.


    Even the trip here in America was not something she wanted to do.


    In that group that the Elder led, Feng Zhiruo was not among the real members. It was more urate to say that she was nothing but a tag-along to fill in numbers.


    Marie found it hard to respond after hearing Feng Zhiruo''s awkward and broken reply.


    Everyone that was eating saw what happened.<sub> </sub>


    They all wanted to fix the atmosphere, but it was kinda hard if Feng Zhiruo was not able to understand it.


    Mark turned at Mei and nudged her. Knowing what he wanted, Mei nodded.


    [Did the food not suit your taste?]


    Mei started to speak to Feng Zhiruo using anguage that the others could not understand. This made them feel a bit strange since they could not understand a single word that she said, and the whole sentence sounded like a single long word.


    To Feng Zhiruo, however, it felt like that she saw the light in the darkness. Since when she woke up after being brought back by Mark, she spent time alone without anyone to talk to. After spending a whole day and night like that, it was not wrong to say that she started to feel lonely.


    And now, she learned that the beautiful girl in front of her can speak hernguage, Mandarin, fluently. Come to think of it, Mei''s appearance had qualities simr to a Chinese woman.


    [No, it tastes good. I''m sorry if I can''t speak English properly. I made things feel awkward.]


    Feng Zhiruo bowed in apology.


    [Then, there''s nothing to worry about. If you need anything, just tell me. Just finish the food quickly since we still need to leave as soon as possible.]


    Mei replied with a little smile.


    [Yes, thank you.]


    Feng Zhiruo bowed once more and continued eating her food. This time, however, she was livelier.


    Seeing that things returned to normal, Marie sighed in relief. She just wanted to greet the timid girl. Who would have thought that it would turn into an awkward situation? On the other hand, she looked at Mei in a new light. To be able to speak severalnguages, it was an amazing feat for many people, after all.


    The others also looked at Mei with a simr expression. It made her quite ufortable, though.


    After an exchange of lookouts, they finished eating soon after and left.


    Traversing this side of the bridge was easy as there were lesser vehicles that blocked the road.


    They reached the fallen military outpost at the center of the bridge. As Captain Morrison''s notes had described it, the outpost did not even manage to finish barricading the bridge before it was abandoned.


    Tall concrete barriers were set up to block the bridge. Theyout of the outpost indicated that the military only wanted to keep a passage that would allow vehicles to pass through one at a time. It as reasonable since they would need to check the cars one by one and not let any infected pass.


    SHING!


    Mark''s [Slicer] beheaded an infected as he jumped out of the vehicle.


    He looked around with Arnold and Ernst, checking the ce. After all, this was a military outpost. Even though it was already abandoned, there might still be some usable military equipment that was left lying around.


    On the other hand, the vehicle continued to press on, as it paved the way between the abandoned cars blocking the path.


    After seeing the ce, it was definitely abandoned in a hurry. The welding equipment to affix the barbed wires and the crane trucks used to arrange the tall concrete barricades were left in messy positions.


    The military vehicles were also left, though only a few in number.


    "Looks like no one has been here since the outbreak started."


    Ernst deduced, seeing how everything was left, evenly covered in dust. The only things different were the ces on the floor where the infected likely stepped at while randomly wandering around.


    "It''s not surprising," Arnold replied, pointing his thumb at Mark. "Only our Boss there had the guts to go through ces like this."


    Mark heard that but had no reason to refute it. Besides, he could not, even if he wanted to. It was true, after all.


    The three looked around the outpost as fast as possible. Unfortunately, aside from construction equipment that things that weremonly seen in ces like this, nothing else was noteworthy. And since the outpost was abandoned before it was finished, weapon and supply storages were also non-existent. They only thing they managed to find and take back were the very few guns that were left lying on the floor to umte dust and rust.


    There were some infected soldiers wearing armor roaming around. Although the bulletproof armors they wore would interestmon survivors, it barely held anything in Mark''s eyes. Furthermore, the members of his group right now were not that desperate to wear clothes and defensive equipment from these infected soldiers.


    Still, Mark took two sets of armor and military clothes left in the outpost and stored it in his ring. It was just for the sake of collection and nothing else.


    Soon, they left the outpost, passing through the border between New Jersey and Pennsylvania.


    Pushing through the traffic left on the remaining part of the bridge, they almost reached the exit of Benjamin Franklin Bridge. From their current position, they could already see the Bolt of Lightning. It was a tall, notablendmark, an artwork built facing the bridge.


    Soon, weed by arge number of infected, they exited the Benjamin Franklin Bridge and entered the City of Phdelphia.


    ***


    <strong>Day 131 - 12:02 PM -Rooftop, United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit, Phdelphia, Pennsylvania, United States of America</strong>


    At the rooftop of the tall, rust-colored building of the Court of Appeals, a silhouette of a man stood. He watched over a ck vehicle that exited the Benjamin Fraklin Bridge in the distance.


    "Interesting..." The man murmured. "It''s been a long time since thest time a human stepped into my territory."


    "Right, Vagus?"


    The man asked behind him where a two-meter tall hawk with yellow eyes and blood-red feathers stood.

 Chapter 564 The City Under Control, An Invitation To Enter The Center City

    <strong>Day 131 - 1:11 PM - Benjamin Franklin Bridge Exit, Center City, Phdelphia, Pennsylvania, United States of America</strong>


    "Quick! Turn right!"


    Mark shouted at Roan as they saw the vast horde of infected not far from the exit of the bridge. It was like there was an ongoing festival.


    The number of infected in that horde was more than half of the number of infected they encountered along the road these past few days of travel. It was a number far greater than the number of infected stuck on the other side of the bridge.


    Mark was not afraid of that number. Using the crystals, he could wipe them all with a bit of effort. Of course, they needed to get the vehicle out of the way first.


    If Mark fought the infected now, the road they needed to enter would be blocked by the infected, making the vehicle stuck. And if that happened and the battle was already ongoing, there would be a very high chance that they would alert the other infected in the near vicinity inside the city.


    That was why they needed to strike first.


    As Markmanded, Roan steered the wheel, driving the vehicle towards the overpass to the right. There were also infected blocking the way, but at least, it was still a number that the car could handle and mow down.


    SPLAT!


    The ram in front of the vehicle was sttered with fresh blood. The force from the collision shook the car a bit. Roan also had to use the wiper as the windshield was also stained with blood.


    "I knew that this is a crazy idea!"


    Ernstined with all his heart while looking at the infected behind the vehicle.


    Usually, Ernst would get refuted for shouting like that. This time, however, everyone agreed with him. That number of infected was sure a lot to be gathered in one ce.


    VVRRRROOOOOMM!!!


    The engine roared as Roan drove the vehicle as fast as possible to get away from the potential danger.


    With that speed, they reached the main road going through the Center City, Vine Street.


    Reaching the Vine Street after traveling for about five hundred meters away from the bridge, however...


    "HUH?"


    Roan voiced out in surprise as he stepped on the breaks by reflex.


    The sudden stop of the vehicle caused everyone inside to rattle. Roan had good reflexes, although this time, it caused almost everyone to get hurt. Luckily, everyone had their seat belts on. Or else, someone would already have a painful bump on their head.


    "Roan! What are you doing?"


    Felicia shouted. It seemed even with the seatbelts on, she felt dizzy from the sudden stop. Not only her, their parents, Abraham and Candace, even the three children, felt the same.


    However, no reply was heard from Roan, who was staring in front. Marie, who sat on the front passenger seat, was the same.


    Curious and because of the urgency of the infected chasing behind, Arnold that sat on the third row, stood up slightly to see the front.


    Then, seeing the situation in front of the car, Arnold called out to Roan.


    "Dude, Roan! Why did you stop?! There''s nothing in front!"


    But then, he froze.


    That was the issue and why Roan stopped.


    Abandoned vehicles covered the majority of the road. Old trash and stic could be seen getting blown away by the wind. The overgrown grass that started to grow was also present.


    All of the things left by the outbreak were present. Well, except for one thing that should be present, but none could be seen.


    There was not a single infected on the road in front of them. It was even though there was a lot when they exited the bridge.


    "Did we suddenly get transported somewhere else?"


    Sandie could not help but voice that question because of the absurdity of the scene before them.


    Remembering the horde by the bridge, everyone looked behind.


    "Huh? There''s no one chasing us?"


    Ernst said as he saw the empty overpass behind them.


    It was strange... Very strange.


    "Don''t move the car yet. I''ll check."


    Mark said as he left his seat. Jumping out of the vehicle, he spread his wings and flew up.


    The first thing Mark did was to look towards the way they took in a rush. He noticed that the road they traversed just now gave them a limited view of the surroundings. It was because of the walls it had and the winding roads that go over it. While flying above, it was even hard to see the entirety of the road they covered so far after entering Phdelphia.


    When his eyes reached the bridge, Mark was quite surprised.


    The infected they saw before were still there. All of the infected were all wandering around as if Mark''s group never passed by. However, in Mark''s eyes, although the infected were moving like natural, they were already blocking the bridge, preventing Mark''s group from going back.


    Mark suddenly had a bad feeling about this.


    KUWWEEEKK!!!


    Suddenly, Mark heard the loud screech of a bird. He immediately turned his head towards the direction that the screech came from. There, he saw arge hawk rushing towards him.


    A hawk with a two-meter body and a wingspan of more than three meters, it was not wrong to say that it was a small airne that was rushing towards Mark. Its yellow eyes were glistering despite the sunlight, and its blood-red feathers were in contrast with the blue sky.


    Mark immediately readied the [Slicer] and [Divider]. Using his [Blood Scythe] was not suitable for an encounter like this.


    Why? As it entered Mark''s area of detection, he could not feel anything. As it flew closer, it became even more apparent.


    A head that barely had skin and feathers, a hole on its stomach that made its guts spill out and one of its eyes dangled out of its socket. Without a single doubt, it was a Mutated Infected Hawk.


    With how fast the hawk flew, it reached Mark in no time. It swept its ws towards him. Mark stopped pping his wings, purposely losing altitude to evade the ws.


    With a spin of his body, Mark shed towards the wings of the hawk as it passed above him.


    However, the sh hit nothing as the hawk spun its body away, evading Mark''s attack entirely.


    "Intelligent Infected?" Mark could not help but blurt out. However, Mark shook his head immediately.


    There was already a lot of infected exhibiting intelligence. However, almost all of them only had enough intelligence to avoid danger. Furthermore, the way they evade danger, like deadly attacks, was rough. They would either jump back really far or run away far from the reach of the attack.


    Those infected were still different from the bat-winged [Leader Type] that Mark and Mei encountered before.<sub> </sub>


    This hawk, however, evaded his sh with minimum and efficient movements.


    There was a problem, though. Mark could not feel any intelligenceing from the hawk at all. It was not a kind of infected that should be capable of such movements.


    One thing immediately entered Mark''s mind.


    The hawk was being controlled.


    After evading his sh, the hawk flew past Mark and took a big turn. It gave Mark the chance to skim past the surroundings to see if he could find the one controlling it.


    But there, Mark''s eyes grew wide.


    Mark did not notice earlier since he focused his eyes towards the exit of the bridge. Now that he looked around, it was not that the infected were missing.


    All of the infected, no matter what size or shape, they were all hidden. The infected all hid away from the main road in front of the vehicle. Since some of the Mutated Infected were toorge, they were poorly hidden behind the buildings beside the road. However, if it was on the ground level, none of them could be seen like this.


    "Well, sh*t."


    Mark cursed as he ignored the hawk and flew back to the vehicle as fast as he could.


    "BACK TO THE BRIDGE!"


    Mark immediately shouted to Roan in the utmost urgency.


    Seeing his serene expression, Roan did not ask any question and stepped on the gas pedal and turned the vehicle around as fast as he could.


    Mark did not ride the vehicle and jumped unto the roof. He still needed to clear the way when they reach the bridge.


    VRRROOOOMMM!!!


    The vehicle roared as it elerated.


    But then...


    "Is it just me? Or the ground is shaking?"


    Marie asked.


    Of course, she was not the only one that felt it. However, none of them knew what was going on.


    "HOLY F*CK!"


    Until Roan cursed out of his lungs and stopped the vehicle in a hurry, shaking everyone violently once more. This was the second time it happened. They should have been angry because of this.


    Nevertheless, not this time. Everyone all understood why Roan stepped on the breaks.


    Who knows where it came from? Maybe, from the buildings beside the bridge, or somewhere that was hard to see. The only thing that everyone knew was that the way back was blocked.


    It was blocked by a five-meter tall humanoid giant that rushed towards the middle of the road. Its thick and fat body alone covered the span of four out of sixnes that the overpass had.


    Rushing back and driving through the emptyne beside the giant? Surely you jest. A single kick from this guy would send the vehicle flying for several dozen meters.


    At the roof, Mark started to get ready. He could at least lure or push the giant out of the way.


    With red light glowing on his veins, Mark pped his wings. He immediately appeared in front of the giant''s face, giving it a kick from both his feet.


    BAM!


    The surroundings shook from the collision.


    However, Mark could only frown as he failed to do what he wanted.


    The fat giant barely moved from its spot. Not only its thick skin managed to resist Mark''s kick, but its body was too heavy to be pushed by the attack.


    Mark wanted to use the crystals to instantly drill a hole out of the giant''s head. However, if he was to do that, the giant would fall in the middle of the road, likely to block the entire road they wanted to take.


    "Hey, bastard! Over here!"


    Mark shouted, trying to get the attention of the giant.


    However, it was not moving at all.


    "This guy is being controlled too." Mark deduced.


    But to say, Mark started to understand what was happening.


    The Center City, or probably, even the entire Phdelphia, was under the control of someone.


    Removing the infected out of the main road, if it was not an ambush, it should be an invitation.


    Blocking their path to return... It indicated that the one controlling the infected did not want Mark and the others to leave.


    Mark looked at the sky. The infected hawk was still there circling at them. However, not only the hawk. The giant made no threatening movement at all. It indicated that as long as they did not try to leave, these two would not attack at all.


    "Boss! Just what is happening?"


    Roan opened the side window and shouted at Mark.


    As the giant did not make any movement, Mark calmed himself down. He returned to the stopped vehicle.


    "We are being invited to enter the city."


    Mark voiced out, making everyone surprised.


    "Drive, follow the main road carefully."


    Mark ordered Roan and thetter had no choice but to follow.


    With that, they arrived at the main road once more. It was still devoid of infected from this angle.


    When they reached the first intersection, however, they could see that arge number of infected roamed the roads that branched off the main one. It felt like they did not want them to go through there.


    The person or people controlling the infected should be watching them. That was what Mark thought. In this case, Mark was interested to know what the other party wanted or even just what kind of creatures they were.


    With a smile, Mark could not help but anticipate this interesting scenario.

 Chapter 565 Being Led Away, Travelling Through The Vacated Road

    <strong>Day 131 - 1:19 PM - Vine Street, Center City, Phdelphia, Pennsylvania, United States of America</strong>


    Vine Street that was devoid of the infected. It felt somehow safe and dangerous at the same time.


    It was the main stretch of road going through almost the entire center of the Center City, from east to west. It connected the Benjamin Frankin Bridge and the Logan Square near the exit on the west side of Center City.


    Vine Street was a vast stretch of road, consisting of four carnes, both eastbound and westbound. However, that was not all. In between separating the fournes from the other was an expressway, going through a lower elevation, tunneling through the intersections.


    The distance between the sidewalk on the north side and the south side was about sixty meters. That was how wide this street was.


    It was a ce bustling with activity, especially during the rush hours. It was the center of Phdelphia, after all. Traveling across this road and looking at the side, all one could see were high rise buildings and business establishments.


    Nevertheless, it was a beautiful city filled with life, culture, and opportunities.


    Four months after Mutagen invaded Earth, it became a dead stretch of a road, devoid of humans. Abandoned cars littered the majority of the road, mostly arranged to face a specific direction.


    There, metal fences were set up, as if it was intended to regte the number of vehicles to pass through.


    It was now no wonder why Benjamin Franklin Bridge was not that crowded with abandoned vehicles. It was because the remaining ones were left stuck in this street.


    Sitting on the roof of the vehicle, Mark observed the surroundings cautiously. And to say, he might really be right about his assumption. For some reason, their group was being invited into the city.


    Every time they passed by an intersection, they would see the horde that blocked it. The weaker infected would not pay attention to Mark''s group as if they did not notice the moving and noisy vehicle. On the other hand, the stronger Mutated Infected would creepily follow Mark''s car with their malevolent-looking eyes. But of course, like the weaker ones, none of them would do anything more than stare.


    What was the enemy? A strong human? A paranormal creature? No, the being that was most likely to be able to do this kind of thing was either a [King Type] or a [Queen Type].


    "I guess... It''s better to lump the two in a single category instead. We should call them the [Monarch Types]."


    Mark murmured.


    Roan drove the vehicle carefully. Their movement was slow since the whole stretch of road was filled with abandoned cars and wreckage.


    If not for the current event that was happening, they might have chosen another road to pass through instead.


    CREAK!


    The vehicle shook, and the creaking sounds echoed every time it pushed aside the abandoned cars blocking the way.


    But then, the vehicle suddenly stopped.


    Mark immediately jumped down. He also felt what was wrong, and he opened the door.


    There, sitting on the seat beside his, the [Queen Type] was panicking. She was staring at Mark with anxiety and trepidation. She was chained, so she could not move from her position. If she was not, she might have jumped toward Mark already.


    "Gege, what''s wrong with her?"


    Mei asked as she noticed the stare that the [Queen Type] gave Mark.


    "I don''t know. Let me check first."


    Mark replied as he hurried back into his seat. Slowly, he removed her chains. It was because the chains seemed to be affecting what she was feeling right now.


    The moment she was freed from the chain, however, she rushed at Mark to everyone''s surprise. When they thought that she wanted to attack Mark and was about to interfere, they were dumbfounded.


    The [Queen Type] was hugging Mark intensely while shivering. Her helpless appearance somehow made them pity her. Even Mei, who behaved jealously against the [Queen Type], did not say anything.


    "What is wrong?"


    Mark asked the [Queen Type]. Although she was not a talkative kind, be she could understand some words and speak. It was better to ask her what was happening.


    "Someone... calls... strong... Don''t want to... go..."


    The [Queen Type] was desperate.


    It was not wrong that at first, she only saw Mark as a candidate for mating and the other humans as food. Spending time with this group, however, although she still had some of the urges that the infected had, she started to change.


    She wanted to try what it was like to be human.


    But now... Someone was calling her to return to the side of the infected.


    She did not want to.


    Mark patted the [Queen Type]''s head that was burrowed into his chest. It was kinda hard to do with the [Empress Spider] on the way, though.


    With that, the [Queen Type] started to calm down. But then, she froze with her eyes dted.


    SPLAT!


    Blood sttered inside the vehicle causing everyone to panic. That blood made Elise scared, and her mind started to be chaotic once more. Mei immediately held onto her, suppressing her negative energy that began to riot once more.


    Mark, on the other hand, grabbed the cause of this mess.


    On his hand, he clutched on a spider that wasrger than his fist.


    It was the [Empress Spider].


    Despite sharing the same body, the [Queen Type] and [Empress Spider] were still two different entities.


    The [Queen Type] wanted to resist the voice that was calling unto her. On the other hand, the [Empress Spider] that had lesser intelligence and consciousness decided to follow it.


    With the conflicting thoughts between the parasite and the host, the parasite that could not control its host anymore decided to leave.<sub> </sub>


    As the [Empress Spider] removed its legs that were drilled into the [Queen Type''s] head, thetter''s blood sttered around.


    Catching the [Empress Spider] that jumped off, Mark immediately restrained it with his [Blood Metal]. Putting the resisting spider aside, Mark started to tend to the [Queen Type] that was bleeding.


    There was no way for him to cure the wounds instantly, but he could at least stop the blood from flowing out.


    After the [Empress Spider] left her head, the [Queen Type] felt weak and slumped on Mark''s arms. Mark immediately took out a [Regeneration Medicine] from his space, making her drink it.


    Mark already found an interesting infected that wanted to return being a human. He would not let her die. He wanted to see how far she could go. Now that the [Queen Type] was separated from her parasite, there was now another reason to save her.


    The [Regeneration Medicine] sure was miraculous. The holes on the [Queen Type''s] head was a very severe wound. However, with two vials of it, the injury started to heal.


    As the wounds closed, Mark slowly removed the [Blood Metal] he used to stop the bleeding. Leaving it plugging the holes as it healed would not be a good idea.


    Several minutes passed, and the [Queen Type] was healed of her wounds. However, she was weakened and fell unconcious.


    On the other hand, the [Empress Spider] was still struggling in its restraints. Going wild was even an understatement to its current behavior.


    Mark also had to calm Elise after what happened. It was the first time she was this close to blood after she lost her memories, after all. Her panic this time was understandable.


    Still, what the adults here were more worried about was how the three children did not even react to the sight of blood. It would be fine if they felt scared, but they just looked at it as if it was nothing.


    "This is quite a blessing in disguise, isn''t it?"


    Mark smiled. One of the problems he had before was how to separate these two. He tried to do that before, but the [Empress Spider] would not budge from its position. Mark did not try to force it off as it might leave implications.


    Now, the [Empress Spider] left on its own. And aside from the wounds on her head and feeling weakened, the [Queen Type] seemed to be alright.


    The smell of blood inside the vehicle was quite unpleasant. However, Mark and the others did not have time to clean it right now.


    Urging Roan to move on, they continued to travel through this barren road.


    Nevertheless, they noticed the change in the infected that they could see at the intersections.


    All of them, weak or not, stared at the vehicle with bloodshot eyes. Their faces reflected the anger that the one controlling them was feeling.


    After making sure that the [Empress Spider] could not escape his small cage, Mark returned to the roof of the vehicle to keep guard.


    Mark felt better. The [Queen Type] was loyal to his group, and she was freed from the urges of the [Empress Spider]. Maybe this time, the [Queen Type] would stop seeing him as a candidate for mating. It was an urge mainly from the [Empress Spider], after all.


    More than that, seeing the warped faces of the infected was uplifting. Maybe, it was just Mark''s imagination, but he could see the warped face of a suitor rejected by the woman he was interested in from those faces.


    Without a doubt, the danger they were currently facing was from a [Monarch Type], a [King Type], to be exact.


    Then, Mark felt a strong presence that entered his detection area.


    "Found you."


    Mark murmured as his ring eyes turned towards the buildings on the south side of Vine Street.


    How would he not notice? As they passed by another intersection, he saw a humanoid silhouette jumped from the top of a buildingbeled as Hahnemann University Hospital towards the top floor of a garage parking building on the other side of the street.


    This guy... was insanely powerful.


    This guy... just leaped over a sixty-meter distance without a sweat.


    While Mark watched that silhouette, he was sure that the [King Type] was also watching him. Mark could feel the [King Type''s] re as if it was boring a hole on his body.


    That intense stare, it was itching for a fight as it was filled with anger and denial.


    Mark could not understand why this [King Type] invited them instead of attacking directly. It was because of the [Queen Type] without a doubt.


    Maybe, it was not the only reason.


    However, it was thergest factor that turned the entire situation into a more hostile environment.


    After all, the [Queen Type] rejected the [King Type] to the point of injuring herself.


    For the infected, that was pathologically violent. It was already amazing that the [King Type] was still able to hold back the urge to attack.


    In any case, the actual reasons would be revealed soon. Mark only needed to wait a bit more.


    Their travel across this road littered with cars and debris was quite long. They wanted to hurry, but it was impossible without turning everything into an ident. Carefully and cautiously, Roan had to maneuver the vehicle a lot to find a better route to go to.


    Everyone was on edge. It was not surprising since the intense re and killing intent of the [King Type] was focused on the vehicle. Only Mark could see the [King Type] watching atop the buildings, after all.


    Still, Mark felt unpleasant how the [King Type] was above as if he was looking down on his group, both literally and ideologically.


    Soon, they reached the part where even the road in front was blocked by the infected.


    They had no choice but to change directions, being led away by the infected.


    And there, they reached the Logan Square. A wide patch ofnd with several parks separated by the roads intersecting at the circle in its center.


    It was a good ce to rx when one had the time to idle around.


    However, Mark could not help but frown. Everyone inside the vehicle felt shivers.


    The ce did not look like a park anymore but a ughter ground.

 Chapter 566 Provocation And Assessment, The Infected King And His Generals

    <strong>Day 131 - 1:23 PM - Logan Square, Franklyntown, Center City, Phdelphia, Pennsylvania, United States of America</strong>


    Logan Square. It was the vibrant mix of historic buildings, swanky high-rises, and museums sharing verdant parnds as described. A popr attraction in the middle of the busy city.


    Its parks had been a ce made, intending to please the eyes of anyone that could see it.


    But what color should a park have?


    Children''s Parks had bright colors to attract children and stir their imagination.


    Cultural Parks had a simple, nevertheless, ssic color, disying traces of history.


    Leisure Parks had vibrant colors pleasing to the eyes, helping everyone that stop by to have a sense of rxation.


    Business Parks had a monotone, but professional-looking colors.


    In any way, parks were made for people and themunity around it to enjoy.


    In front of Mark and his group, however, there was no trace of any of these colors.


    Maybe, there were still other colors left.


    However, all that they could see was the color red and ck.


    To be exact, the color of dried blood that painted almost the entirety of Logan Square.


    Roan could not help but slow down the vehicle. Anyone in the current situation would do so.


    At the roof of the vehicle, Mark frowned.


    The grass that covered most of the park was all dead together with the trees and the bushes. All was left was dried trunks and branches that still managed to remain.


    Dangling on the braches of the trees were skulls and severed rotting heads.


    Dumped at the side were mangled, half-eaten, rotting bodies.


    The water in the broken fountain at the center of the traffic circle was reced with thick muddy blood.


    "It is a ughter Park."


    Mark murmured as he covered his nose. He had no problems with the smell of blood. However, the nasty stench of hundreds of rotting bodies was unbearable.


    Not only Mark but everyone inside the vehicle could feel their stomachs churning.


    The smell of death was the foulest stench that a human could smell in their whole lives, after all.


    Still, Mark and his group had no time to pay attention to the dead bodies or the rotting stench.


    Rather than that, they should focus on the person sitting in front of the blood-covered fountain. Furthermore, he was not alone. The guy was with his entourage.


    Of course, it was no other than the [King Type] that Mark saw jumping from building to building. And his entourage? They were all Mutated Infected that was capable of trampling over a small military-controlled settlement alone.


    There were seven of them present, standing around the fountain of blood with their King at the center.


    The first was a woman. She was rather eye-catching because of heryered-looking slimy pinkish skin. Her fingers were moving in a way like it had no bones at all. No matter how one looked at her, she looked like a humanoid earthworm.


    The second was a child. Or maybe not. He had the body of a ten-year-old. However, he had wrinkled skin and a face that was covered with his blood-covered beard. That appearance was highly contrasting with his clothes and size.


    The third was another woman. Maybe, she was a high school student as she was still wearing her uniform. What was noticeable about her was the two des that protruded on both her arms. She also had de-like ws and fangs.


    The fourth was... a baby. If an infant about the size of a bull could still be called a baby, then it was correct. It crawled on its fours with all the baby fats on its body jiggling as its body swayed.


    The fifth was a middle-aged man. Maybe, he was not. However, it was hard to tell because of his fur-covered body.


    The sixth was a lizard. It was not a crocodile but had the size of one. Its metal like scales told everyone that it was something imprable by bullets.


    Lastly, the seventh was the hawk that intercepted Mark earlier.


    Mark started at the Infected King. He seemed to be in his early twenties. He had long blond hair that reached his shoulders. Without a doubt, this guy was highly intelligent.


    The King was wearing some neat clothes, although as an infected, he had no fashion sense at all. No, it was more like he tried to clothe himself but failed miserably. He was wearing a basketball jersey over an unbuttoned polo while wearing cargo shorts below and a pair of bedroom slippers.


    Although he was emitting a dangerous aura around him, his appearance was nothing but a joke.


    Of course, no one would be able tough even if that was the case. The murderous intent from the Infected King''s eyes was enough to make a person mute.


    Slowly, the vehicle came to a stop.


    Roan had no choice. The whole Logan Square was already surrounded.


    "Just how many are there?"


    Ernst peered through the windows and asked. Sure enough, he was already scared. No sane person would be able to stay calm in this situation where their death felt eminent.


    Not only Ernst, but the others were also the same, especially Elise and her parents. It was the very first time they had been in such a situation, after all. At least, the survivors from Antic City already felt how it was to be in an event like this.


    There, Mark jumped off from the roof, standing between the fountain and the vehicle.


    Then, there was silence.


    Mark and the Infected King was having a staring contest. No, the battle already started. The two were trying to assess each other''s strengths.


    Inside the vehicle...


    "Get ready for battle."


    Mei suddenly spoke in a calm tone.


    Everyone looked at her. They did not know how she was able to stay calm in a situation like this.


    Roan sighed. It was not like they had any other choice. They might really go down in his ce. In the least, they should fight.


    "Don''t worry," Mei added. "Gege will do most of the fight. He said that we just protect the vehicle."


    Looking at Mei once more, everyone could not help but think that she and Mark were able tomunicate telepathically. This was the second time they saw this happen with the event against the ouws in Browning Square being first.


    However, they had no need to question anything. The did not know, but because of Mei''s calmness, they felt that there was no need to be scared in this situation. Mark was also the same, standing with confidence outside despite the danger.


    A minute passed, and Mark and the King were still staring at each other. The surroundings were already cold from how much killing intent was there in the King''s eyes. He was trying to subdue Mark with that alone. However, it was impossible.


    "Can we start already?"<sub> </sub>


    Mark stretched his arms and shoulders from getting stiff.


    Sure enough, the Infected King was pissed.


    "Human. Hand my Queen over."


    That was the first thing that the Infected King said to Mark.


    When he saw that moving metal box that humans ride, passing through the bridge, the Infected King was already prepared to y with them. However, he noticed something.


    It was something that he never felt before, attracting him to an individual inside the box. For the first time, he found a Queen. His very own Queen.


    He tried to connect to her, like how he was connected to his subjects. Hemanded her toe to him. However, she rejected it.


    The Infected King was furious. His kin, another person who stands above the infected, chose to go with lowly humans instead.


    He needed to take her to his side. He needed to take her.


    Take her...


    Take HER.


    TAKE HER!


    The urge kept boiling.


    However, he could not do any rash actions. These humans might harm her if he did.


    "Hand her over, and I will make sure to kill all of you painlessly."


    The Infected King had no urge to let these people go. After he got the Queen back. These humans would follow the fate of all the survivors in his territory.


    They would be decorations in this blood-covered park.


    "Tell me." Mark smiled. "Why should I?"


    Mark returned the same amount of killing intent, surprising and infuriating the Infected King even more.


    "I found her first. She is my object, and she doesn''t want to go with you." Mark smirked. "You''re have been rejected already. Face the facts. Don''t be a sore loser."


    The Infected King froze. His face was twisted.


    Sure enough, that struck a nail on the head.


    However, as an Infected King, he needed a Queen. This was not the first time he encountered one. However, that first one was already taken by another King. Now, he had a chance to have his own. And yet, she was following a human instead.


    "Well," Mark suddenly added. "If you want her, why note get her?"


    Mark provoked the Infected King, even to the extent of inviting him over with his finger.


    CRACK! BANG!


    Sure enough, despite his intelligence and status, he was still an Infected. Violent, easily triggered, and craving for human blood and flesh.


    As Mark provoked him, he was not able to hold back anymore.


    The pressure under the Infected King''s feet grew, the cement under it cracked as he kicked the ground.


    Mark crossed his hands as the Infected King appeared in front of him in an instant. The King then jumped to the side, forcing Mark to shift his guard at thest second. Blocked by his right arm, a brutal kicked connected from his side.


    SHOOOM!


    Mark flew from the impact.


    BOOM!


    And crashed at the hotel on the south side of Logan Square. A building that was more than one hundred and thirty meters away. Looking at how the face of the building crumbled with arge hole on it, Mark could have flown further if he did not crash on that building.


    Everyone watching that scene inside the vehicle stared with their eyes dted. In contrast, Mei was shivering. Not because of fear but anger. She was about to rush out of the car to fight. Nevertheless, she held herself back as her ring vibrated.


    "Will Boss be fine after getting hit like that?"


    Roan asked, getting ready to fight himself.


    No one here knew how strong Mark really was. Even Felicia and the others never saw him getting hit before.


    "Che, weak. Just like how humans are. Fragile."


    The Infected King sinisterly smiled as he saw the dust and the broken wall of the hotel that had a more than two-meter diameter hole after Mark crashed unto it.


    Leaving his sight from the wrecked building, the Infected King turned towards the vehicle.


    But then, as the Infected King stook a step forward, he felt danger.


    By reflex, the Infected King jumped backward. Suddenly, in the ce he stood before, a mark left by something sharp appeared on the ground.


    Then, he felt a surge of thick, killing intent. Where was iting from? It came from nowhere else but from the wrecked hotel building.


    A silhouette stood by the hole. It was Mark, who looked like a ragged beggar now with his clothes mostly torn apart. His right arm was also bent in the wrong ce and the wrong angle.


    Opening his wings and with a red glow on his back, Mark flew. Once again, hended standing between the Infected King and the vehicle.


    "Darn, it hurts." Markughed. "It feels like I got hit by a truck and almost traveled to another world."


    On the other hand, the Infected Kind jumped back once again, unable to believe what had just happened.


    The weak human, after all, was still alive.


    "So, you''re a kick type, huh."


    Mark stared at the Infected King, assessing him once more.


    While he was caught off guard and got flown away, Mark provoked the Infected King on purpose. He wanted to see if this guy mutated naturally or with a paranormal catalyst like the first one he encountered.


    As the Infected King became blindly furious, he would use the attack he was mostfortable and confident in. It was the same for humans, after all.


    And this Infected Kind, he mutated naturally with highly enhanced physical strength, especially on his legs and feet. However, it was still a mystery if that was all that he had.

 Chapter 567 One Versus One, Dividing The Enemies To Everyone

    <strong>Day 131 - 1:25 PM - Logan Square, Franklyntown, Center City, Phdelphia, Pennsylvania, United States of America</strong>


    With his rugged appearance, Mark stood between the Infected King and his vehicle. He could not help but tilt his head as he stared at the King''s shock-filled face.


    "What? Why are you so surprised?" Mark then looked at the hotel where he crashed. "I guess... because it''s the first time that someone survived, huh?"


    It was not hard to realize that it was not the first time this Infected King kicked someone towards that building. In fact, aside from the hole that was created after Mark crashed unto the wall, there were other traces of blood stters on the building''s face and other ces around Logan Square.


    There were dried sttered blood on the walls of the hotel, in the middle of the road, and in other ces, there were even remains of dried guts stuck with the dried blood.


    Well, thinking about it, if a regr person was to receive that kick, the impact alone would already mangle their bodies. And when they struck the face of the hotel or any hard surface, they would instantly turn into meat paste.


    On the other hand, Mark, who had a body that was far sturdier than a regr human, created a hole instead.


    "You should check first whether I''m really dead before uttering such nonsense."


    Mark smiled as he used his left hand to put his right arm back into position.


    Seeing Mark''s arm broken like that, Roan and the others gulped. Just how painful was that? Even his bone protruded out of his skin and the skin around the injury was already swelling. Strangely though, there was no blood dripping from it.


    Seeing him pull and twist the broken arm back into position, they could not help but wince. If it was them, there was no need to mention being able to hold it. They would wail in pain instead.


    However, when Mark put his broken arm back into its right position, the swelling started to heal and the wound started to close.


    It was as if they were watching an injury being rewind back to its initial state.


    They could not believe it when Mark raised his arm like nothing and started moving his hand as if it was never broken.


    "Look, your kick did nothing but destroy my clothes."


    Mark smiled while moving his arm and clenching his fist repeatedly. He was definitely provoking the Infected King even more.


    And of course, this kind of provocation was very effective towards the Infected King.


    Mark felt delighted as he watched that twisted face for some reason.


    And there, the Infected King kicked the ground and vanished. Appearing above Mark, he unleashed a downward kick.


    BOOM!


    Mark jumped to the side, causing the kick to miss. That, however, made the attack hit the concrete road, bursting it into an explosion of debris and dust.


    The kick was too devastating that even Mei and the others inside the vehicle felt the ground shaking.


    Finally, the Infected King began to be serious. He far underestimated Mark, thinking that he was like the other humans that he encountered before. It was because all of them already turned into corpses that decorated the current Logan Square.


    Inside the Infected King''s mind, he finally understood. Since the start, he already felt that Mark and several humans inside the vehicle were strange. It was as if there was a strange power within them. However, he neglected that fact since he saw them as nothing but ants that he could crush without any issue.


    Still, despite being serious, the Infected King was surprised.


    Mark was able to avoid his attack where he moved at his fastest speed.


    Taking opportunity from the missed attack, Mark jumped towards the Infected King. With his left foot glowing red, Mark made a clockwise spin and unleashed his own kick towards the enemy.


    Halfway through Mark''s kick, the Infected King noticed the iing attack.


    Using his other foot, the Infected King ignored the flying dust and debris and kicked the ground. He jumped forward, towards the direction of the fountain. This way, Mark''s attack would not reach him at all.


    Or so he thought...


    Landing forwards, the Infected King looked behind him to see how Mark missed his attack. Then, his eyes dted as he saw Mark halfway his kick, behind him.


    BAM!


    Mark''s kick connected with the Infected King''s face, causing him to fly towards the blood-filled fountain.


    Comparing the strength of their kicks, Mark''s was clearly weaker. However, his attack was sharper and precise while the Infected King had more speed and strength.


    "H-hey! What is that?"


    Marie could not help but voice her confused thoughts as she saw what happened. Not only her but Roan, Elise, and their parents were shocked at what they had seen.


    Sure enough, the Infected King''s attack was unbelievable on its own. However, what Mark did was unexpected for them.


    Everyone saw that halfway through the movement of his kick, the Infected King already dodged. The kick should have missed there already. But then, Mark turned into a surge of ck mist that followed behind the Infected King and appeared there in the same position. The moment that the enemy turned to look behind, Mark''s kick was already on his face.


    That surprising movement gave the Infected King no chance to dodge at all for the second time.


    The Infected King crashed unto the fountain, breaking off a part of it. The muddy blood slowly spilled out as the Infected King stood up. He was all covered with that disgusting liquid, but his red eyes that were staring at Mark with absolute fury could not be hidden at all.


    "ATTACK!!!"


    The Infected King roared, finallymanding his generals to act.


    At the same time, Mark gave the signal to Mei, telling the others inside the vehicle to go out for battle.


    Without hesitation, every Mutator in the vehicle except Mei went out, showcasing their own abilities.


    And the most anticipated of them all was Marie and Roan.


    Roan transformed. His forearms covered with ck fur, a pair of ck triangr ears appeared on his head, a long ck tail appeared on his back, and he grew sharp ws and fangs. His eyes had a yellowish glow with that slit-like eyes of a cat''s.


    Like Felicia, Roan was also a feline Mutator. It was absolutely aligned to Mark''s theory about Mutators sharing the same family. Their colors might be different, but their mutation had a simr appearance.


    On the other hand, Marie was even more unexpected. Her hair became colored like red maple during fall. And on her back, a pair of wings appeared with stunningly beautiful red and ck feathers. Grabbing an assault rifle with both her hands, she immediately soared unto the air.


    "Wow, that''s surprising."


    Mark said, looking behind at that pair of beautiful wings, not minding the fur-covered general already attacking him.<sub> </sub>


    BAM!


    Roan, with stunning speed, appeared to block the fur-covered general.


    "Boss, can you pay attention to the fight?"


    Roan said, troubled. Although he was able to stop the guy in front of him, it seemed that he would be on the losing side if this kept on.


    Mark turned to Roan.


    "You can handle that guy, right? Take him away."


    Finishing those words, Mark appeared beside the fur-covered general and gave a powerful kick. Being locked in a contest of strength with Roan, he was not able to dodge that attack and was thrown away.


    "Follow that guy. Fight over there."


    Mark shooed Roan as he faced the other iing Infected Generals.


    Roan grumbled but chased after the enemy designated to him.


    Then, Mark intercepted the attacks of the Infected Generals.


    The second to arrive was the infected girl with des. She shed towards Mark, trying to severe his neck in one go. Mark could not help but be surprised as to how fast the girl swung her arms. If Mark was not alert, his neck would have been sliced off.


    "Felicia! This is yours!"


    Mark suddenly shouted as he caught the arm of the girl as he did another slice. With a judo-like shoulder throw, Mark flung the girl in another direction while his arms glowed bright red. Felicia, who was surprised for suddenly being called out, looked at Mark for a second before chasing after the girl.


    Next to arrive before Mark was the red hawk, sweeping down to him with its sharp ws.


    Mark stepped to the side, evading the ws that passed an inch in front of his face.


    Grabbing one of the hawk''s feet with both hands, Mark threw it towards Marie that was flying in the air.


    Surprised, Marie evaded. The hawk managed to regain its bnce and flew in the air. Now, however, it was facing Marie.


    The next infected generals came towards Mark in session. And one by one, Mark used different methods to send them towards different directions. He also called upon the people behind him to face the opponent he chose for them.


    The earthworm woman was designated to Ernst.


    The metal lizard was assigned to Sandie.


    Arnold was facing the old-faced child.


    Andstly, the bull-sized infant... Did not charge forward at all.


    It looked like its ability did not lie in fighting, at all.


    Seeing how his entourage was divided just like that, the Infected King became even more furious.


    And there, he started to transform.


    His eyes turned ck with a greenish sheen. Multitudes of spikes grew out of his limbs, withrger ones on his legs and feet. His mouth split into several parts and a pair of long and thick antennas grew out of his forehead.


    "A locust, huh?"


    Mark muttered as he saw the transformation. Many would think that it was a just amon grasshopper. However, the color, the antennas, and eyes gave it away. Looking at those features, Mark remembered a certain species of mostly wingless locusts. The Rhytidochrotinae.


    SCREEEEEEEE!!!


    The Infected King roared once more. At this roar, the whole ce became noisy. It was because the thousands of infected that surrounded the Logan Square started roaring at the same time.


    BOOM!


    With a loud sound, the whole fountain crumbled. It was because the Infected King made his move. He vanished from the fountain with a very strong kick of his legs.


    BAM! BAM! BAM!


    Mark frowned. His eyes could not follow the Infected King''s speed at all. All he was able to see and hear was the uncontrolled kicks of the Infected King as he jumped around towards different directions.


    In every jump, a crater would be left from both the impact ofnding and the force of the next jump. Dust started to fly around even more as more and more crater appeared everywhere.


    Fortunately, he did not have to worry about other things. He was the sole target of the Infected King. And unless Mark died, the Infected King was unlikely to change target. After all, in this locust''s eyes, Mark stole his supposed Queen.


    "HUP!"


    Mark jumped away from where he stood.


    BOOM!


    The ce where he just left burst at the Infected King appeared there.


    "I actually wanted to settle this with just physical abilities... But it''s impossible, huh."


    Mark murmured as hemented hisck of physical enhancement. He was sure that his innate abilities were still growing. If it was a while back then, he would not have the ability to contend with this Infected King or Chimetrice at all. Now, however, he was able to.


    Still, it was not enough. Mark''s natural growth was far slower than what he needed.


    He had no choice but to rely on the crystals.


    And thus, Mark swung his hand to the side. All the crystals appeared at the same time, circling around his arm.


    At that scene, the Infected King froze. He stared at that crystal with both wariness and desire.


    From those crystals, the Infected King could feel a lot of power. A power that he did not have and needed to have.

 Chapter 568 The Feline Siblings, Roans And Felicias Battles

    <strong>Day 131 - 1:28 PM -Logan Square, Franklyntown, Center City, Phdelphia, Pennsylvania, United States of America</strong>


    The ground shook, the skulls hanged on the trees fell, craters appeared on the cement, and dust and debris flew around and scattered.


    As Mark intended, the fight in six other areas of Logan Square also started. This situation was only possible because, even though these generals were high level infected, their intelligence did not develop high enough to override their instincts and make their own decisions.


    Without themand of the Infected King, they would only attack the non-infected creature in front of them. And at the moment, their King was too enraged to give further instructions.


    Why did Mark do this? No reason in particr. He just did not want to make the others to only watch him fight. Besides, it was not a good thing if they really end up relying on him for everything dangerous.


    Thus, they must learn that Mark would not let them stand around as the gallery.


    And now, the battlemenced, with thousands of infected watching around Logan Square.


    ***


    On the southeast side of Logan Square, the nearest area to the hotel where Mark crashed before, Roan and the Fur-Covered Man was located.


    After being kicked away by Mark, the Fur-Covered Man rolled on the ground before crashing at a metal post. It was one of the metal posts around the square where gs of different countries were disyed. In this case, it was the g of Spain.


    The metal post bent from the impact. Of course, it was not enough to actually damage the Fur-Covered Man.


    With rage fully expressed on his face, the Fur-Covered Man stood up. There, he saw Roan standing in front of him.


    "Boss already told us about Mutation Levels of infected. Just what level is this guy?"


    Roan muttered as he was basked with the killing intent of the enemy.


    BAM!


    The Fur-Covered Man kicked the ground and rushed towards Roan. That stomp of his foot actually created webs of cracks on the cement. The man ran like a ferocious wolf and arrived in front of Roan to grab him.


    But then, to the man''s confusion, Roan''s image blurred. As he grabbed unto Roan, his arms passed through Roan''s visage as it vanished.


    It was an afterimage after Roan moved in thest second before he was grabbed.


    The man immediately turned to his right. There, he saw Roan standing several meters away.


    Roan was a [Level 3 Mutator]. His strength was considerably enhanced, but that was not his forte. Since he had a cat mutation like his younger sister, his specialty was speed.


    In a speed contest, Roan was still slowerpared to the Infected King. But there was one thing that he excelled over the insanely strong infected.


    The Infected King relied on the mutated muscles on his legs, using its strength and muscle springs to move fast. That was why every time the Infected King used his speed, he would end up crushing the ground because of the first kick. Because of this, every time he moved, there would be considerable noise and damage to the surroundings.


    Roan, on the other hand, was entirely different. He relied on his strengthened leg muscles leaned towards flexibility and motor functions. And the result, no matter what movement Roan had, there was almost no noise that was created by his feet. He was like a fleeting ghost.


    Or in video game terminology, he was an [Assasin Type].


    With his sharp ws and that kind of noiseless movement, there was no doubt that he was in that category.


    Seeing Roan after evading his attack, the Fur-Covered Man clenched his furry fingers, letting out severalrge ws not any less sharp than what Roan had. With that, he rushed again. This time, intending to tore Roan apart with those dirty ws.


    WAM!


    The Fur-Covered Man pounced at Roan and attacked from above. Roan, however, swayed his body out of the way before taking several steps back. As the attack missed, therge ws dug into the cement without any resistance.


    Since Roan evaded once again, the man quickly pulled his ws out of the ground, tearing arge part of the concrete road.


    BAM!


    The man smashed the concrete stuck on his ws to the ground, crumbling it to pieces, and charged towards Roan once more.


    But there, Roan leaned forward and vanished from the man''s eyes.


    SHING!


    The Fur-Covered Man froze. He turned his head behind him and saw Roan standing with their backs facing each other.


    "I''m not really fond of dragging things out so, I''ll end this here."


    Roan said as he waved his had to the side, sttering the blood on his ws to the ground.


    With those words, the Fur-Covered Man''s head fell to the ground first, followed by his body.


    Roan looked at the others. Their battle was still ongoing. However, that was not what worried him. The real threat here was the quantity of infected that was eager to tear off their flesh. He had no idea how everyone would be able to escape this without sacrificing anyone.


    ***


    On the northeast side of Logan Square, where the statue of Galusha Pennypacker stood, Felicia and the de Girl contended.


    Compared to her brother, Felicia was having a hard time with her opponent.


    Felicia could fight based on her experience and with the aid of her Mutation. However, she was never actually trained to do so. She had clumsy acts and a lot of unnecessary movements. Her speed hadpensated herck of skill in this regard.


    But now, she was fighting an infected with the same speed as hers.


    Because of this, hercking skills became more apparent.


    The worst part here was that... The de Girl was moving like a professional fighter. If not for theck of intelligence of the de Girl, Felicia would have long been beaten in this fight.


    Flexibility, speed, the sharpness of attacks, and killing intent, the de Girl had all this.


    SHING!


    The de Girl swung her right arm, with her de intending to behead Felicia. Felicia jumped back unnecessarily, afraid of the attack.


    If one could overwhelm his enemy, these kinds ofrge movements were still eptable. However, as Felicia was on the weaker side, these kinds of unnecessary actions could spell life and death.


    After evading the attack, Felicia wanted to counter-attack. However, Felicia was farther than she needed to do it. Not only that, but she also staggered as she lost bnce for some reason.


    And when she raised her head, the de Girl''s de was already shining before her eyes.


    In fear, Felicia closed her eyes by reflex.


    CLANG!!!


    "WHAT ARE YOU DOING?! DON''T CLOSE YOUR EYES IN THE MIDDLE OF A FIGHT!"


    Felicia heard a voice in front of her, shouting in anger. Of course, that voice could not be any more familiar to her.<sub> </sub>


    "Roan..."


    Felicia muttered, seeing her brother, blocking the de of her opponent.


    SHING!


    Roan waved his ws, which the de Girl evaded without problems.


    Seeing the enemy dodge and retreat, however, Roan did not chase her. The de Girl also did not move, wary about Roan''s sudden appearance.


    "Our family just reunited! What are you doing? Do you want to die just like that?!"


    Roan harshly reprimanded her sister.


    That harsh scolding whenever she did something wrong. Felicia kind of missed it. It always happened before, but she was too stupid to understand it at that time. After all, she was only a person described as book smart. Her social sense was harshlycking. She did not even acknowledge her mistakes and never apologized.


    But this time was different.


    "Sorry."


    Felicia, this time, apologized for her mistake.


    That stunned Roan, but he could only let out a satisfied smile.


    "I will not finish this fight for you," Roan said as he stepped aside. "I''ll guide you from the side. You better follow my instructions."


    With those words from her brother, Felicia nodded. She readied her ws once more, facing the de Girl.


    Like a fleeting ghost, Roan appeared beside the statue to watch his sister''s battle and instruct her.


    Seeing that the person that intervened left to the side, the de Girl seemed to be confused. However, she did not have any time to choose who to attack as Felicia charged forwards.


    CLANG!


    The de and the ws shed with each other.


    Roan was also surprised as his sister''s opponent actually knew how to block attacks with great precision.


    SHING!!!


    The de Girl counter-attacked with her free arm. The horizontal swing of the de towards her neck caused Felicia to fall back once again.


    "You don''t have to retreat that much because of an attack like that! You can just duck or bend your body away! That way, you can do a counter-attack immediately after her attack missed!"


    Roan shouted, giving pointers to his sister, one after another.


    "Okay!"


    Felicia replied as she panted.


    "Don''t take short breaths!" Roan followed up. "Take deep breaths instead! Panting is unnecessary in battles! It will only make you more tense and ufortable! You will alsock enough oxygen that your body needs to function properly! That is why you staggered earlier!"


    Felicia did not know why her brother knew these kinds of things. However, she had no reason to doubt him either.


    Thus, despite her nervousness and stress, she started to breathe deeper.


    And as she was in a dangerous situation, Felicia was able to feel the effects and be conscious of it. Taking a deep breath, she started to feel rxed. Her muscles also lost its stiff sensation.


    SHING!


    The de Girl charged towards Felicia and swung her de.


    Felicia''s eyes dted. However, unlike before, she was able to see the attack more clearly.


    Felicia was about to take a great distance once more to avoid it. But what her brother said before echoed in her mind.


    ''Don''t retreat too much. Just bend my body...''


    Felicia spoke in her mind.


    The de Girl swung her arm, trying to behead Felicia. And there, Felicia bent her body backward. As if things slowed down, she could clearly see the de passing over her face.


    She was unused to that movement, however. Felicia lost bnce and fell backward instead. However, she was not too nervous anymore. She was able to judge the situation differently from before.


    Felicia did not let herself fall to the ground. Instead, she bent her body further, with both her hands reaching the ground before her head or back.


    She then kicked the ground, wanting to bend her body to an upright position and recover from the fall. After kicking with the left foot first, the right foot followed.


    BANG!


    That was when she felt something getting hit by her right foot.


    In a hurry, Felicianded upright and quickly looked at her opponent.


    "Ah?"


    The de Girl was sent flying with blood sttering from her mouth.


    "What happened?" Felicia was both surprised and confused. "Did I do that?"


    Felicia looked at her brother, who was also surprised.


    Roan did not expect that to happen. When Felicia kicked the ground, her left foot was in the right direction. The right, however, went up directly from under the de Girl''s body. Since the de Girl was amidst her attack, her body was leaned forward.


    Felicia''s right foot heavily bashed against the de Girl''s chin, causing her head to get forcefully knocked upwards following her slender framed body.


    The de Girlnded about three meters away with a thud. As soon as she could, she stood up once more. Several teeth fell as she opened her bleeding mouth. Of course, this injury was far from something that could kill her.


    Still, Felicia was now on the right track. With her brother''s instructions, she started to overwhelm the de Girl. As that happened, Felicia began to gain more confidence in her abilities, and it helped a whole lot in the situation.


    And soon, the de Girl was unable to move anymore, with her body having a lot of injuries from the battle. The thing only left to do was to destroy her brain.


    As Felicia and Roan were about to do that, however...


    "Hey! Is that still alive? If she is, don''t kill her! We might be able to use herter!"


    Mark shouted from his location, making the siblings look at each other with a sigh.

 Chapter 592 Consuming The Crystals, The Rainbow Crimson Scales

    <strong>Day 137 - 8:42 PM - Bedroom, Cliff House, Moutain Base, Mount Mbito, General Nakar, Quezon Province, Philippines</strong>


    "Ready?"


    Mark asked Mei, who was currently lying down on the bed.


    He was currently holding onto the crystal that he got from the female leaders of the ouws in Browning Square.


    [Rainbow Dragoscale] mutation. It was what Mark called it. The name came from the dragon-like aura of the rainbow-colored scales. Mark considered calling it something like a rainbow dragon, but as the mutation was iplete, unlike the ones he got from the father and son duo of Death Valley Settlement, he decided on the current name.


    And to Mark''s question...


    "I''m ready."


    Mei nodded with eyes filled with resolution.


    And thus, Mark made Mei swallow the crystal, and it turned pieces that entered her throat.


    Almost immediately after the crystal entered her body, Mei lost consciousness. Just like the first time, Mei''s body temperature rose sharply as the mutation took ce inside and outside her body.


    Mei started to feel extreme pain in her body. It showed on her face, even though shepletely lost her consciousness.


    This was the sign for Mark to start his work.


    With his hand covered with milky white light, Mark pressed his palms on Mei''s head.


    "Ugh..."


    Mei suddenly started making painful sounds, even though Mark was trying to alleviate the pain for her.


    "Damn it, this strange power can''t fully mitigate the pain."


    Mark grumbled. Now that he realized, this was the first time that Mark actually witnessed someone ingesting a second [Physical Crystal] that contained a mutated ability. Consuming an empty one to be evolvers and a filled one to be a mutator, both those instances could be handled by Mark.


    However, it seemed that this ability was not enough for the second time of consuming a mutation crystal.


    "Tch!" Mark clicked his tongue. "I should have tried it on someone else first."


    It was an oversight on his part. He was conserving the crystals and abilities too much that it did not enter his mind.


    Although he knew that the pain would get worse for consuming another crystal, he thought that his ability would still be of help.


    Now, he was regretting it once more.


    Mark''s heart that was empty before the apocalypse was now felt like getting torn apart as he watched Mei suffer in pain.


    "No, I should try something else."


    Mark grumbled as he racked his brain.


    And the idea came around immediately.


    The skill he attained as an Empath. It was the ability to absorb and ry the emotional fluctuations of a target to others.


    And there it was...


    The ability to absorb. There was no need to ry it, even though Mark would likely suffer a concentrated amount.


    But that did not matter.


    Mark was willing to suffer for Mei and the little girls...


    And there, he started to grit his teeth as his eyes glowed bright red, even releasing sparks of red electricity around it.


    But then, an unexpected reaction urred.


    The moment he activated his Empathic ability, the milky light covering his hand started to swirl. Then, instead of just the negative emotional energy from the pain, the actual sensation that Mei was feeling all over her body began to flood into Mark instead.


    "GUH!"


    A painful growl almost escaped Mark''s mouth.


    With thebination of these two Psychic Abilities, Mei''splexion started to be better. She was still in pain, but it was greatly alleviated for her. It was all thanks to the sudden reaction of the two abilities fused together.


    Mark, on the other hand, was doing his best to not make a sound. He was gritting his teeth too much that his gums started to tear. It was too painful. He could feel what exactly Mei was feeling during the process of her mutation.


    It was as expected of the nature of [Rainbow Dragoscales]. This was a mutation on the skin, and as such, the pain was also there. It was more concentrated on the arms and legs, though.


    Mark squinted his eyes. He could feel as if his skin was started to tear to pieces. In fact, as he felt the pain, he could see Mei''s skin starting to crack and tear. However, there was no blood. It was because the torn skin did not form a wound at all. Instead, a newyer of skin covered the torn part as soon as it opened.


    It was like how snakes shed their skin.


    The process continued like that, with Mark taking most of the burden and suffering for Mei. Two hourster, Mark had be numb to the repeated feeling of his skin being torn apart. It was because Mei''s skin did the same all over her body.


    Severalyers of skin were repeatedly torn and were reced as if tuning the best kind of skin that waspatible with her body.


    It repeated and repeated for the next two hours. Finally, the tearing stopped, and the pain started to subside.


    Mark felt freed from the torture. But then.


    "ARGH!"


    Mark gasped. A sudden surge of pain was suddenly channeled to him from Mei. He almost removed his hands from Mei''s head but managed to persevere.


    Still, it was too painful. The pain was on his back, and for sure, Mei was feeling the same.


    And then, the pain suddenly intensified. His hands were already shaking, trying to maintain his current posture.


    But then, with another burst of intense pain, he finally let go.


    It was not because he removed his hand, though. His hands were forced away.


    The still unconcious Mei suddenly sat up.


    BAM!


    The scene in front of Mark made his eyes turn wide.


    Mei''s wings opened wide while she was still unconcious. But that was not the issue.


    Mei''s bat-like wings that had a reddish ck color due to being a Blood Demon was now covered with red scales with a rainbow-colored sheen. And as Mark looked closely, the scales that covered her arms and legs had the same color.


    It looked like Mei transformed subconsciously. Because of this, some parts of her clothes got torn off.


    Still, the scene in front of Mark was stunning. Mei''s wings now looked like it wasyered with sparkling red gems instead of scales.<sub> </sub>


    And while Mark stared at that scene, Mei''s wings and scales disappeared, and her body plopped back to the bed.


    Mark carefully checked her. It looked like that the painful part of her mutation had passed after more than two hours. He expected it to be longer, but it seemed that having a body of a Blood Demon made her adapt to it faster.


    Still, with a wry smile, Mark looked around Mei. Her mutation this time looked messy with her shed skin scattered around the bed. There was even leftover skin stuck to her body.


    "I should clean up first before I start my turn."


    Mark murmured and stood up.


    BAM!


    Mark''s body had mmed to the ground uncontrobly.


    "My whole body is numb... I didn''t notice."


    Enduring the numbness, Mark slowly stood up. He called for anyone to bring a towel and a bowl of water.


    Unexpectedly, it was Hannah who was avable and gave what he requested. She timidly asked what the items were for when she saw a glimpse of Mei and the mess on the bed. Of course, she was surprised as she had no idea what happened.


    Still, she asked if she could be of any help.


    Mark declined, though. When Hannah left, Mark removed Mei''s clothes, leaving her underwear alone. Gently, he removed the stuck skin on her body, wiped her clean with the wet towel, gave her a new change of clothes, and cleaned the bed.


    Finishing the work, Mark smiled, patting Mei''s head gently. This was a step forward for her. Now, her body would be far sturdier than before.


    Mark thought of giving her more than one crystal. However, considering how painful it was, Mark decided to do this sometime in the future. He would find ways to strengthen the white light on his hand first if he did not want to see her suffering while undergoing mutation.


    And this experience also Mark him think twice about letting the little girls undergo the same thing. It would be very questionable if their young mind and bodies would be able to handle the pain. Of course, it might not apply to Miracle. Still, it would be a gamble.


    With those thoughts, Mark stood up and sat in the farther corner of the room. It was his turn to use the crystals, and with Mei upying the bed, he could not do it there lest he might disturb her.


    Mark looked at the crystals on his hand.


    There were three crystals. One crystal belonged to the older of the Bone Armored Brothers, the other was the new [Lightning Crystal], and thest one was the crystal that Bath gave him.


    "Should I use these one by one?"


    Mark was contemting. He wanted to use these three for himself. In the first ce, the one from Bath and the [Lightning Crystal] was for him. On the other hand, the [Swift Bone Armor] was something he chose to address his weakness in terms of speed.


    The most ideal to do was one by one. After all, this would be an extremely painful experience. One crystal would be Mark''s third mutation. The first was his [Blood Control], and the second was [Gic Adaptation].


    As for the other two crystals, one was more or less a [Psychic Catalyst] that would help him adjust his body to Psychic Abilities faster. The other was an actual Psychic Ability to control lightning. Since Mark already had four Psychic Abilities, consuming these two crystals might trigger some unexpected reaction.


    "Ugh... What should I do?"


    Mark was troubled.


    Unfortunately, there was not enough time for him to consume it one by one.


    This world was not like a wuxia where characters were able to pass long periods of time cultivating without worries.


    "Geez... Consume it all in one go!"


    Mark decided. Even if there were unexpected reactions to happen, the most that he would suffer from was the pain. After all, these crystals were more or less configured to help the person consuming it. There were no ounts of consuming it turning into a disaster so far from both Mark''s and Freed''s memories.


    And as such, Mark put the three marble-sized crystals in his mouth, turning it all to dust that entered his body.


    But then...


    "Huh?"


    Mark looked at his hands, and then, at the different parts of his body.


    Nothing was happening.


    Earlier, the moment that Mei ingested the crystal, she immediately fell unconcious due to its effects.


    Several seconds after Mark swallowed the three crystals, nothing was happening.


    That was what Mark thought...


    THROB!


    Mark''s eyes opened wide. His heart was beating loudly. Pain enveloped his senses.


    CRACKLE!


    He then noticed sparksing out of his body.


    "SH*T!"


    Mark cursed. He did not expect this at all!


    Doing his best to ignore the pain he was in, he stood up and rushed towards the balcony.


    CRACKLE!


    Sparks of electricity continued to appear around his body as he ran.


    Reaching the balcony, Mark spread out his wings and flew away. Many people in the base were still awake at this point and they all saw Mark flying away in a rush with his unsteady flight and sparksing out of his body.


    These rmed the people as they saw him rush towards the top of the mountain. Even in the darkness of the night, Mark was visible because of the bright sparks of electricity enveloping his body.


    Being seen as he flew away did not matter to Mark anymore. He only needed to fly away as fast and as far as he could.


    But then, midway up the mountain, Mark lost the feeling of his wings.


    CRASH!


    Mark painfully crashed unto the ground. He tried to stand up but the pain disabled him from doing so. Thus, he could only try to crawl and sit down on the ground.


    Still, it seemed that his current state would not allow him to do even sit down at all.


    THROB! CRACKLE!


    CRASH!!!


    Pain in his body, the loud beat of his heart, and the spreading of electricity around him.


    ROAR!


    This time, everyone witnessed the mountain getting enveloped in bright streaks of roaring lightning.

 Chapter 570 Retreat! An Unexpected Consequence After The Infected King Was Harmed

    <strong>Day 131 - 1:46 PM - Logan Square, Franklintown, Center City, Phdelphia, Pennsylvania, United States of America</strong>


    With his mandibles opened wide and looking up at the sky, the Infected King released his ferocious, furious, and painful howl.


    The howl that sounded like a deep-voiced screech, it caused the surroundings to rattle.


    For the first time since he gained consciousness, the Infected King was wounded. As someone that had not felt this kind of pain before, the sensation was several times more painful. Furthermore, the bullet tore through his legs before piercing a hole on the broken fountain that blocked its path.


    "NOT GOOD!"


    Mark eximed, not expecting this to happen.


    His ear was ringing as the howl went on. Then, his sight started to blur.


    It seemed that the painful and furious howl of the Infected King was releasing vibrations capable of affecting the cognitive capabilities of anyone that would hear it.


    Thus, not only Mark. Everyone in the vicinity was affected except for the infected.


    The howl caused Arnold and the others to freeze on the spot, clenching their heads and ears in pain. Even Marie lost bnce and started to plummet to the ground.


    And of course, their opponents took advantage of it.


    SWOOSH!!!


    Suddenly, a strong gust of wind blew, sting the remaining away from Arnold and the others while a small whirlwind cushioned Marie''s fall.


    Mark wanted was to kill the Infected Generals immediately with this attack. However, with the effect of the howl, his concentration was weakened. The des of wind he wanted to create failed to manifest.


    "Retreat!"


    Mark shouted as he sted away the howling Infected King with another gust of wind.


    The Infected King was caught off guard and was thrown away by Mark''s attack.


    "Tch!"


    Mark clicked his tongue at the lost opportunity.


    Since the Infected King was not moving, Mark might have been able to catch him. However, because of the insanely loud howl and its effects, he was not able to properly control the crystals or make a proper attack. The only thing he could do was to send a strong st of wind to blow the Infected King away.


    The Infected King rolled on the ground and finally stopped its howl. However, Mark and the others that were affected by it were yet to recover. Even Mark''s vision was a bit blurry, not to mention the others that were weaker than him.


    Mark told everyone to retreat. However, only Roan was able to react properly. Of course, what Roan did first was to help his sister and retrieve Marie. The others were still in danger.


    There were no other options. Mark could only frown as he mustered as much concentration he could in his current state. With his will, the [Wind Maniption Crystal] glowed brightly.


    SWOOSH!


    Arnold, Sandie, and Ernst suddenly flew as if being sucked towards the direction of the vehicle.


    This time, Mark''s control was poor. The three were also not in the condition to react properly. Thus, Arnold, Ernst, and Sandiended by the vehicle in an unsightly manner. The most clumsy Ernst even rolled several times on the concrete. They all received bruises from the unsightlynding. Still, it was better than facing the dangerous situation they were in just now.


    The Infected Generals that were sted away by Mark recovered quickly. As they were suddenly free of any opponent, they turned towards the nearest person to them. Of course, it was no other than Mark.


    "Damn it..."


    Mark cursed because of how painful his head was. It was as if he had woken up after drinking liquor for the whole night. And now, four [Level 3] Mutated Infected were rushing towards him.


    Still, there was no need to keep these ones anymore. Mark only wanted to train Felicia and the others a bit. The only one he was interested in the Infected Generals was the de Girl because her movements were simr to a trained fighter. As for the Infected Generals, they were nothing but instinctual battlers. They only fought while being driven by their instinct and mutated abilities.


    For Mark, aside for their high mutation level and the possible Mutagen Stone inside their heads, they were worthless.


    Mark''s eyes turned sharp as he red at the iing Infected Generals. The crystal floating in front of his hand switched to the one with the white orb inside.


    SHOOOOM!!! SHOOOOM!!! SHOOOOM!!! SHOOOOM!!!


    With all the focus he could muster, Mark shot dozens of beams of light, burning holes through the Infected General''s bodies. One by one, their lifeless bodies fell as several beams shot through their heads and burned holes on their brains.


    The Infected Kind stood up, recovering from the surprise attack. Furthermore, like a real locust, it seemed that his body had fluids simr to hemolymph and was able to close the deep would he received, preventing him from bleeding out.


    His ferocious face was surely furious. Even though the wound had closed already, the pain still remained. That was when suddenly, his connection to his some of his Generals was cut off in an instant. He also realized that the de Girl was the only one remaining from those that fought the humans.


    The others were all dead, and on his side, only the Bull-sized Baby remained.


    This situation made the Infected King''s blood boil to the brim. He was a King of the infected. Yet, he had no Queen. All he had was his Generals. However, these puny humans killed them.


    The Infected King stared at Mark. His killing intent was intensifying.


    He admitted that Mark''s group was different from the humans he encountered before. This was the first time he faced a setback after iming this the Center City as his territory.


    Since he gained consciousness and intelligence, he killed all the humans in his territory. None of them, even the so-called soldiers, were able to encounter him and live. Yet, this small group of humans pushed him to this point, especially the man in ck clothes that led the group.


    In terms of speed and strength, he was superior to Mark. However, the Infected King could not hit him at all, aside from the first kick that threw Mark towards the hotel.


    And as the Infected King wanted the Queen inside the vehicle, he could not attack it rashly. He feared that something might identally happen to the Queen, making everything for naught.


    The Infected King had no choice now. Using his uninjured leg, he jumped towards the side of his trump card. He learned it from the humans he encountered before. It was to reserve the best forst.


    "KRYAAA!!!"


    The Bull-Sized Baby that was sitting and watching cried out as the Infected King tapped its shoulder.


    Its cry was not any less than the ferocious howl of the Infected King. The only difference was that it had no other effects on anyone that hear it.


    Instead, as it cried, its body started to swell.


    And there, everyone witnessed as the Bull-sized Baby''s skin tore, followed by its muscles. Then, it pulsated and regenerated before it began tearing again.


    Continuous swelling and tearing, one would think that the Bull-sized Baby would turn into a bloated creature. But that was not the case.


    Mark, Mei, Roan, and Feng Zhiruo had better eyes than the others. As they watched the scene, they also saw that under the tearing skin and muscles, the bones of the Bull-sized Baby also grew.


    Even though the start was slow, it started to hasten its pace.<sub> </sub>


    And now, with their naked eye, they could see the Bull-sized Baby growing in size.


    Three meters, four meters, five meters... It was not stopping.


    Before Mark and the others were able to fully recover from the effects of the Infected King''s howl, the Infected Baby was already as big as a life-sized Gundam.


    BAM!


    Loud booms echoed, and the ground started to shake as it stood up on its two feet.


    BAM! BAM! BAM!


    Of course, the baby had a weak sense of bnce, and it was even worse since it was a Mutated Infected.


    Trying to gain bnce, however, it caused the whole ce to shake. It was as if there was an earthquake going on.


    BAM!


    The Infected King jumped unto the Mutated Baby''s shoulder as it took a step forward. As it did, many of the infected that were surrounding the Logan Square fell down.


    Everyone could only watch the colossal baby approach. None of them were in the condition to continue the battle properly.


    "Can you still drive?"


    Mark voiced out to Roan that was helping the others enter the vehicle.


    "I think I can. But not too fast." Roan replied. "Are we escaping? The whole ce is surrounded, though."


    "Just drive," Mark said while massaging his nape. "I''ll do something to clear the way."


    "Okay."


    Roan replied as he rushed into the driver''s seat.


    Mark stared at the gigantic baby. Although it was big, its movements were slow and unstable. It was not much of a threat as long as they moved away from its range of attacks. Instead, the problem stilly on the Infected King.


    Another of that howl and they would be done for. It was not something that Mark expected to happen. Nevertheless, it was not unreasonable for the Infected King to have unusual abilities.


    The good thing, however... It looked like that the Infected King was not aware of that ability and its effects on them. Maybe, it was something that the Infected King used subconsciously. In that case, they better not provoke it into using it one more time.


    They had to retreat for now. This was in favor of Mark as he wanted to capture the Infected King instead of killing him. He needed to do some preparations if that was what he wanted.


    Mark nced at the vehicle, and Roan was already waiting for his signal. He nodded slightly as his wings glowed red.


    BAM!


    Mark disappeared from his ce and appeared in front of the giant baby that was midway its step. He then unleashed a ruthless kick on its forehead.


    BOOOM!!!


    The ground shook as the ten-meter tall baby crashed unto the blood-filled fountain.


    That fall caused the Infected King to jump off with its attention focused on his remaining general.


    And there...


    VRRROOOOMMM!!!


    The loud sound of the vehicle echoed as Roan took the opportunity to drive away.


    As it swerved around the traffic circle, the vehicle rushed towards the northwest exit of Logan Square.


    Seeing that, the Infected King had a look of ridicule on his face. After all, the direction the vehicle was rushing towards was blocked by several hundreds of infected.


    Unknown to the Infected King, Mei was already aiming her sniper rifle in front of the vehicle.


    And there...


    SHOOOOOOOOOM!!!


    Bright blinding light filled the whole ce.


    The Infected King roared at the sudden situation. It could not see anything at all. Of course, it did not take too long, and he regained his sight, only to be bbergasted at the scene before him.


    Those hundreds of infected that he was confident of being able to block the vehicle were all reduced to burned corpses in the short while that he was blinded.


    KRRRYAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHH!!!


    Sure enough, the Infected King let out that ferocious howl once more as the thought of losing the Queen he found entered his mind. Fortunately, the vehicle was already out of the effective range of that howl. If not, things would have turned into a mess.


    Mark now stood on the roof of the vehicle. He knew that their escape could not be ensured just by this. And as he had thought, the Infected King would give chase, along with his whole army that numbered for about several tens of thousands.


    Rubbing his temple to ease his dizziness, Mark stretched out his right arm.


    And there, three crystals floated glowing intensely.


    The sky started to darken, and dark clouds covered the sun. The sudden change in the weather made everyone that did not know what was happening uneasy. Even the Infected King felt danger.


    RUMBLE!!!


    The sound of thunder echoed as branches of lightning traveled from cloud to cloud.


    Slowly, the clouds started to spin faster and faster. And then, everyone in the vehicle saw it.


    A cone of clouds was emerging from the sky behind them.


    The wind started to pick up, and the cone stretched down from the sky.


    It was something that was almost impossible to happen in the middle of the city.


    A tornado emerged in the middle of Phdelphia.

 Chapter 571 Summoning A Natural Disaster, The Escape From Center City

    <strong>Day 131 - 1:52 PM - Benjamin Franklin Parkway, Franklintown, Center City, Phdelphia, Pennsylvania, United States of America</strong>


    The sudden escape of the humans and that bright explosion of energy was unexpected for the Infected King. Although he was already caught off-guard and was injured for underestimating these humans, he was still confident that the moving metal box that they were riding would not be able to go through the ranks of his minions.


    And of course, he was wrong, and the way was paved by that bright explosion of energy from the vehicle.


    The Infected King''s anger was piling up severely. Both sides had witnessed unexpected things in this encounter. However, only the Infected King had lost something. And yet, he did not achieve what he wanted the most.


    Chase! Kill them all! Eat their flesh!


    Those kinds of thoughts repeated in the mind of the Infected King as he led his army after the escaping vehicle. Even if he had to chase these humans outside his territory, he would do so.


    And even though the humans managed to clear a path through his army, it seemed that they were struggling. The vehicle waved through the abandoned cars in the middle of the road unsteadily.


    The Infected King had enough speed and strength. It would be easy to catch up with these humans.


    But then, the Infected King subconsciously froze. He saw that cursed man in ck clothes atop that vehicle with three crystals glowing brightly in front of his palm.


    The Infected King felt a threat looming above him. And when it meant above, it was in a literal sense.


    While his mindless army chased after the fleeing vehicle, the Infected King stood in ce, staring at the sky. It suddenly became dark as the spiraling clouds covered the sky.


    He felt suffocated. The overwhelming energy began to flood the surroundings. His anger started to subside as it was reced by the thought of escaping now repeating in his head.


    The Infected King felt like an animal before a big natural disaster happened.


    It was not a wrong description as even some infected had gained animalistic instincts as they mutated. For the [Monarch Type] infected like the Infected King, that sensation was even higher than others.


    And now, it was feeling a great threat from what was happening.


    The wind soon started to pick up as the sky darkened even more. Thunder crackled loudly as the braches of lightning illuminated the sky. It became the signal for the cone that formed under the clouds to stretch towards the ground.


    Finally, the Infected King decided to flee. With ast nce at the escaping vehicle with eyes filled with reluctance, the Infected Kingmanded his army to retreat as he left the ce first.


    The dirty gs of different countries that were hanged on themp posts fluttered violently. Even the thick branches of trees by the roadside swayed.


    Soon, smaller debris started to be thrown around by the wind.


    CRASH!


    And the ss windows of buildings broke one by one.


    It all happened as a tornado with an estimated wind speed of above a hundred miles per hour and about twenty meters wide made its touchdown.


    ***


    Mark controlled the three crystals as much as he could. And to say, it was very likely that he lost control of what he just did.


    Even with the full energy capacity of the [Wind Maniption Crystal], Mark was sure that this thing was impossible to happen. The most that it could do was a small whirlwind that was only enough to lift an average person a few meters above the ground.


    However, with what Mark did, he created arge disaster under quite impossible conditions.


    Using the [Storm Caller Crystal], Mark prepared the atmosphere above the city to be suitable for the birth of a tornado.


    Then, the third crystal came to prepare the updraft. It was no other than the [Photokinesis Crystal]. This time, however, it was not being used to redirect light for [Optical Camouge] or to fire beams of light.


    For the first time, Mark used its ability to control photons and electrons to do something else. With the help of the [Photokinesis Crystal], he caused the photons to transfer the energy needed to heat up the air in the surroundings.


    Finally, Mark used the [Wind Maniption Crystal] to blow the cold wind from the clouds down to the city and for the warm air he created to rise up. The friction between the winds with different temperatures caused the lightning to st the skies. And as the updraft was formed, Mark fed it with stronger rotation.


    And thus, it caused the birth of a tornado in the middle of Phdelphia.


    Everyone in the vehicle watched what happened nervously.


    First was a very strong infected and his army. Now, a huge tornado formed not far behind their vehicle. Of course, their hearts were now threatening them to jump out of their chests.


    This reaction was not surprising since none of them would expect that this was Mark''s doing. Still, some of them could not help but suspect it.


    SLIDE!


    The door of the vehicle opened, and the severely dizzy Mark staggered as he entered.


    Mei immediately helped him back to his seat.


    "Boss..." Roan called out while ncing at the side mirror of the vehicle. "Did you somehow summon that tornado?"


    That question made all of them eager to hear the answer. After all, to summon a natural disaster like this was already like ying god.


    And to that question...


    "Yeah, somehow..." Mark nodded. "But I don''t have any control of it. You better drive us out of this ce fast. We might get swept by that if you don''t."


    Mark''s warning made them even more nervous. Still, they could not help but feel amazed.


    Everyone looked outside the windows and behind the vehicle. The tornado started to destroy everything in its path. They could already see a huge number of infected that were not able to escape, flying around and crashing everywhere.


    Fortunately, the tornado seemed to be moving away from their direction. At least, it was not chasing their vehicle.


    Still, it was not a good time to feel relieved. Mark''s group must leave this ce. The faster, the better.


    "Ugh..."


    Mark groaned as he rubbed his temples. Hisplexion was slightly pale, and he seemed to be struggling.<sub> </sub>


    "Boss, are you okay?"


    Roan asked as he saw Mark''s state using the rear-view mirror.


    "Do I look okay?" Mark was in quite a bad mood because of his headache. "You all were quite a distance away from that guy when he roared, but most of you were immobilized immediately. Imagine being in my ce and standing just a meter away from that guy."


    With bitter expressions, none of them were able to respond to Mark''s words.


    If they were in Mark''s shoes at that time, they might have been knocked out cold already.


    Mei looked at Mark a little worried. He was definitely in severe pain right now.


    Imagine Mark who was still able to smile with his arm broken to be groaning in pain. Just how much pain was he feeling right now to show such reactions?


    Mei wanted to share his pain. However, there was no way to do that and it was questionable that Mark would allow it if it was possible. As such, she could only help him by massaging his temples.


    No one inside the vehicle said anything about this and concentrated at watching the tornado that started to tear apart the city.


    On the other hand, Roan had his full attention in front. He knew that they needed to leave this ce as soon as they could while the tornado was still rampaging.


    One of the most ideal surroundings that could make a tornado form was the existence of wide, almost vacantnds. It was easier for the wind to pick up, had a dry cold air, and severe thunderstorms ur in those areas, especially the Great ins in the central United States.


    Since this one was formed in the middle of the city, this tornado would notst too long. There were a lot of obstacles that could make it weaker as it passed by. It would not take too long and soon, this tornado would weaken and vanish.


    And thus, as soon as Roan fully recovered, he did not hesitate to rush.


    Finally, leaving the rampaging tornado behind, they left Center City and entered West Phdelphia.


    As they drove through the Martin Luther Drive Bridge that went over Schuylkill River, they all came to a unified decision. This time, they would not enter the West Phdelphia, and instead, they would drive at the isted road beside the river unless it was necessary to go into another path.


    Mark''s group had enough already. They might not make it if they were to encounter another Infected King or Queen.


    Not all of them were like Mark, who behaved a lot like a battle maniac.


    Nevertheless, even though they were quite a distance away from Center City already, they could still see the silhouette of the tornado rampaging there.


    Finally, they knew that there would be no way for the Infected King to catch them now. And thus, they started to feel more rxed.


    Even so, none of them should let their guards down. They were still about ny kilometers away from their destination, and it was impossible to say that they would be able to reach that ce today.


    And the worst thing about this was that...


    They still had to pass through several cities to get there.


    ***


    Day 131 - 3:15 PM - Logan Square, Franklintown, Center City, Phdelphia, Pennsylvania, United States of America


    About two hours since the battle in Logan Square ended, two silhouettes appeared, walking across the ughter Park. It was a pair of a man and a woman.


    "Just what happened here?"


    The woman voiced out after seeing the aftermath of the tornado.


    The whole ce turned into a mess.


    Threes were uprooted, the dead rotting bodies that were dumped in Logan Square was sttered everywhere, and even the buildings around Logan Square were turned into a source of debris.


    "A battle must have urred here."


    The man said while investigating the craters left on the ground. After all, even the strongest tornado would not be able to make such kinds of damage.


    And there, the two exchanged looks at each other. It seemed that they decided to find something.


    The two wandered around the square and the surrounding areas, trying to find an answer.


    And soon, they found what they were looking for.


    "There you are."


    The man smiled, looking at the Infected King that was currently sulking on the rooftop of one of the buildings nearby.


    Well, who would not be sulking if one was in his shoes?


    The Infected King finally found a Queen but was rejected. Among his generals, only one remained. And the worst thing, his territory became a disaster zone. A huge number of his minions also died because of that damn tornado.


    "Are you two here tough at me?"


    The Infected King asked with great hostility. Unexpectedly though, while his tone was hostile, he was not making any rash move against the two.


    "We are not." The woman replied. "You know that our territory is quite far from here, but we suddenly felt some strange energying from this ce. Just what happened?"


    The Infected King did not want to share his shame at first but ended up telling the story anyways.


    It was because it was better to say it instead of hiding it. Even the Infected King did not want to push the two into hating him.


    If it happened, it was good to say that he would die.


    It was because these two were the same as him, Monarchs among the infected.


    The worst part, these two were far stronger than him.

 Chapter 572 Changes After Danger, The Night Of The Troublesome Day

    <strong>Day 131 - 8:17 PM - Gulph Mills Golf Club Service Compound, Gulph Mills, Upper Merion Township, Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, United States of America</strong>


    In the middle of the Gulph Mills Golf Club, there was a smallpound made up of four buildings. There were tworge sheds, equipment storage, and arge bungalow office that was mostly used by the employees of the Golf Club.


    Of course, since the apocalypse started, there was nothing here, but some lost infected randomly wandering around. Among them were few employees that never left the premises since the day they turned.


    Now, however, therge bungalow was upied.


    With the strange ck armored vehicle now parked in front of the bungalow, it was clear that it was Mark''s group that stopped here for the night.


    After Mark unleashed that tornado and they fled from the City of Phdelphia, they traveled through Schuylkill Expressway that traveled alongside the Schuylkill River.


    At first, they were tense with the thought of the Infected King chasing after them. Butter on, they calmed down when no pursuit happened. And unexpectedly, going through this expressway was quite a good idea.


    The expressway had fivenes on both sides. Furthermore, the amount of traffic was lesser than the smaller main roads going through the city. There were also a lesser number of establishments on the roadside. It became the reason that lowered the number of infected to roaming the expressway.


    And thus, after leaving Phdelphia, and the threat of the Infected King passed, they had a pleasant ride.


    Abandoned cars still littered the road, but the number ofnes gave enough space for the vehicle to go through without much problem. Although, of course, some areas had idents which caused some traffic build-up. Aside from those, there was not much they couldin about.


    And because of that condition of the road, they managed to travel quite a distance from Phdelphia.


    They actually managed to travel fifteen miles for the rest of the day. It was rather unexpected considering how they had to deal with several kilometers a day in the past days because of the unpleasant road conditions.


    When the sun was about to set in a few hours, however, finding lodging for the night was proven difficult.


    They could not continue traveling by the riverside as Schuylkill Expressway parted with the river after reaching West Conshohocken. And also, at that point, the expressway started to travel across more popted areas. There was a lot of business establishments, suburbanmunities, and other ces frequented by people before the outbreak.


    And now, the infected poption was quiterge in some parts of the township.


    Finding a house was not difficult. However, finding one that suited to sleep in an apocalypse was highlycking.


    In the end, when they already had no other choices, Mark chose this smallpound surrounded by golf courses.


    The bungalow was not secure in any way. There were a lot of entrances and windows. Some of it was even broken. One good thing, however, was that it had a good view of its surroundings. Golf courses barely had any contraptions to block the view, after all.


    At this moment, everyone was having a sumptuous meal. Everyone deserved it because of the stress and fatigue Mark''s group experienced today when they entered Phdelphia. If one was to ask them if they woulde there again, none of them would definitely reply positively.


    Well, Mark was the only exception. If he had time, he would return there prepared to catch that arrogant bag of uncontrolled anger.


    And now, while eating...


    "Should I start exercising?"


    Ernst said with a sigh.


    During meals, everyone would talk about different things to entertain themselves while eating. This time, however, the topic was about what happened this afternoon. Specifically, they were talking about not being able to do anything about the opponents that Mark matched up to them.


    They were smart people and understood what happened.


    Mark wanted them to see their weaknesses. Of course, Mark did not mean that they should fill in those weaknesses entirely. In the least, improve on something and narrow down the chance of getting killed once they faced a kind of simr opponent in the future.


    Nevertheless, saying it and doing it were different things. Ernst might have asked that, but his heart was still quite against it. He was a scientist, after all. He was used to being cooped up in a research room orboratory than going outside to jog.


    In any case, he might as well try to do so. It was because Arnold and the others would also try.


    Abraham, Candace, and Elise were quite terrified about the earlier experience. Being surrounded by several thousands of infected with no way out, seeing someone summon a tornado in the middle of the city, and many other things that happened was not something they would ever expect to see in their entire life.


    Nevertheless, they just did and actually survived to tell the tale. This experience also made everyone realize the actual threat that the infected could bring to people. If Felicia''s family did not agree to follow Mark and something like the Infected King attacked Audubon High School, everyone would surely die.


    When that thought came to their mind, they could not help but remember the unsightly appearance of the Logan Square that became a ughter Park. They could just wish that the sight they saw would not haunt their sleep from now on.


    Still, not every result of today''s events was positive. It was more apparent with the rtionship of Mark towards the other members of the group.


    Before, they only saw Mark simr to a strong warrior with a set of uncanny abilities. They respect him for his strength and fear for his low view of life.


    Now, however, even though they were not aware of it, Arnold and the others seemed to start drawing a line between them and Mark. A person with the ability to summon disasters. If he wanted to, he alone could do more damage than what the infected could do.


    It was a kind of differentiation simr to what amoner and a noble.


    Like a worshiper and a deity.,


    Or maybe, the poor and the rich.


    Both sides could coexist. Nevertheless, there was a line between the two sides that they would not cross consciously or subconsciously, especially for those in the lower caste.


    The only exception to this was Roan, Felicia, and Elise. For some reason, the siblings did not view Mark any differently. Or maybe, they were not really thinking much about it. Hannah was the same. Her view of Mark did not change in the slightest at all. That behavior of hers was strange itself.


    More than anything, Elise started to see Mark as some powerful superhero. Her sparkling eyes that were simr to a high school girl''s seeing her idol was quite ufortable for Mark.


    On the other hand, the [Queen Type] that had already woken up also showed some changes. And to say, she was quite a lively one. Her sticky stare towards Mark was gone, indicating that most of that urge came from the [Empress Spider] urging her to copte.


    Nevertheless, the [Empress Spider] that was now freed from the Infected King''s orders started to behave like a normal intelligent mutated infected. Or rather, it was trying to escape and look for a new host. It continued to bash its body unto the walls of its cage and end up sleeping after it became tired of doing so. Of course, its intelligence was on the low side, about simr to a dog or a cat.<sub> </sub>


    The changes between the [Queen Type] and the [Empress Spider] likely indicated that most of the behavior they disyed before was the result of their rtionship as a host and a parasite.


    That change was quite a good thing, especially for Mark. Before, even if the [Queen Type] was docile, he could not let his guard down as it still felt like she would swallow him whole when she could. Now, even Mei had a considerable change towards her behavior towards the [Queen Type].


    Still, there was one thing that everyone felt strange. It was because [Queen Type] was highly submissive towards Mark. She was basically following Mark''s orders like he was her superior. It even became questionable to still keep her on restraints because of how she behaved.


    Even Mark found it quite strange. Mark asked her why, but [Queen Type] only tilted her head in confusion. Her intelligence was stillcking to be able to answer these kinds ofplex questions.


    The only thing that did not change about her was how she was too fond of cooked human food instead of human or raw animal flesh.


    With everything like this, the only thing left to worry about was Morgan. It was already several days since he fell unconscious. It was fortunate that he was not a normal human at all. Or else, this state would kill him anytime soon without hospitalization.


    Well, where would they even find a hospital here that was still operating anyway?


    After eating, it was time to sleep as they still have an early morning tomorrow. The destination was still more than forty miles away, and the travel would definitely be a rough one.


    Inside their room, Mark urged Mei to sleep first. It was not hard to make her do so as she was still injured.


    "Snow, you should sleep too."


    Mark spoke to the [Queen Type] that was sitting in front of the window. Since it was quite hard not to have anything to address her, Mark gave her the name Snow. It came from her paleplexion. If fact, if she was to wear a nightgown and let her roam a haunted house, she would be mistaken for a ghost because of her skin color.


    Hearing what Mark said, Snow nodded.


    "Where?"


    She then asked where she would sleep, making Mark point at the nketsyered on the floor on the other side of the room. Without anyints or other questions, shey down on the makeshift bed, not even minding as Mark put restraints on her.


    Seeing Snow fall asleep, Mark shrugged. She was more behaved than a child that would argue for wanting to sleepte. It would be eptable if she was hard to tame as she was an infected. However, that was not the case at all.


    Mark then closed his eyes, concentrating.


    "Arnold and Ernst are on the lookout, and everyone else is already asleep."


    He murmured as he monitored everyone.


    And then...


    "Crimson, Oracle."


    Mark called out, making Crimson appear out of thin air, and Oracle pop out of Mei''s bag.


    Patting the two with a smile, Mark ordered.


    "You two guard everyone here. I have to go out. I can''t let our guests wait any longer."


    The two jiggled in agreement, making Mark assured. And there, Mark opened the window and jumped out. Closing the window slowly, Mark started to run and left.


    ***


    <strong>Day 131 - 11:15 PM - ssglow Quarry, King of Prussia, Upper Merion Township, Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, United States of America</strong>


    After moving for more than two kilometers away while holding his phone, Mark finally found his destination.


    It was arge quarry own by an asphalt distributor, ording to his map. Of course, he was not here to mine anything. Instead...


    "You two shoulde out now. Aren''t you two tired of trying to peep without avail?"


    Mark said, facing therge hole at the center of the quarry.


    Well, he was not speaking towards the hole, but the two that were following him behind.


    And as he said that, two people went out from the dark shades of the trees that surrounded the quarry. It was a man and a woman.


    "See. I told you. He came out to lure us away."


    The woman spoke towards the man.


    "Alright, you win."


    The man replied.


    Mark turned towards the two with a serene expression. He did not know why trouble kepting in just the span of one day.


    First, a [King Type].


    Now, a pair of [King Type] and [Queen Type].


    The worst thing, these two were far stronger than the first one they encountered today.

 Chapter 573 In The Middle Of The Quarry, A Conversation With An Infected Queen

    <strong>Day 131 - 11:16 PM - ssgow Quarry, King of Prussia, Upper Merion Township, Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, United States of America</strong>


    It was a night under a waning gibbous moon. The abandoned quarry that now had its bottom filled with water and floating corpses along with trapped infected was now visited by three people.


    The three people, with one facing the other two, stood without minding the surroundings.


    Mark stared at the two with vexation. He barely had time to rest after the encounter with the Infected King in Logan Square. And now, he was facing even stronger entities.


    Even so, he did not forget to observe and estimate the two in front of him.


    The first was the [King Type], who seemed to be a man in his early thirties. He had a high nose, sharp eyes, thin eyebrows, and prominent jaws. With the addition of his unkempt hair, he looked like some sort of mercenarymonly seen in war movies. Not to mention that he had a slightly muscr body. Just give him a gun, and he would surely fill the part.


    On the other hand, the [Queen Type] was an alluringdy. She seemed to be the inviting type that would make one think that she was a prostitute. That was if she was a human. And the strangest thing, however, was that she was also dressed that way. It was in a manner that she would easily be mistaken as a human. She even moved and behaved like one.


    "So, what do you two want?"


    Mark asked.


    It was clear that these two were not just here to blindly attack or anything. If that was the case, there was no need for these two to lurk around while hiding. Like how the [King Type] that attacked Bay City or the one they encountered today, they would appear with their army of infected and attack. These two, however, had no one else with them.


    As Mark asked that question, for some reason, he faced the [Queen Type] instead of the [King Type].


    "Why are you asking me instead of my King?" The [Queen Type] seemed to be surprised at Mark''s behavior. "Normally, you humans will ask the male first, thinking that they are supposed to be the leader or superior."


    "So, you''re telling me that he''s not the leader between you two?" Mark replied. "Besides, gender doesn''t really determine the leadership between the infected. It''s more on who had the strength. Am I right? Still, I know that your King is the leader, but I''m talking to you because you have more brains than him."


    That reply from Mark made the [Queen Type] show a very amused expression. On the other hand, the [King Type] showed the opposite as his intelligence waspared to his Queen.


    "So, I''ll repeat. What do you two want?"


    Mark repeated the question while staring at the [Queen Type].


    Finally, with a smile, the [Queen Type] replied.


    "Well, one of our kin is tragically defeated, and his territory is left devastated. We are just interested in who did that."


    That reply made Mark frown.


    "You two n on revenge?"


    Mark asked, getting ready to fight.


    And surprisingly...


    "No?" The [Queen Type] replied with a tilt of her head. "I already said it. We''re just interested. And to say, we are quite surprised to see you."


    There, the [Queen Type] took a step forward.


    "By the way. Shouldn''t fateful meetings like this start with introductions? Let me introduce myself. I''m called Christia. My King here is Heron. We are the highest ss among our kin, the ones you humans call the infected." She then stared at Mark. "Now, who are you? Or rather... What are you?"


    Mark, even with his traits as a Mutator and his pretty limited emotions, could not help but feel genuinely shocked. The question "who" was standard and eptable. However, if someone was to ask him "what," it just meant that they somehow saw through the chaotic state of his race.


    And it seemed that this [Queen Type] managed to see through the thing that only Deities and Gods were able to before.


    The most interesting thing, however, was that it was actually the [Queen Type], Christia, who proposed the introduction. It was also strange since the infected were not the type to be concerned about such formalities. Even the [King Type] this afternoon did not bother at all.


    However, Mark was not the type to ignore this in this situation. He would feel more concerned about introducing himself to other humans, but not with non-humans.


    "Just call me Mark," Mark replied. "About what I am, what do I look like to you?"


    Hearing that, Christia frowned.


    "You definitely look human but also not either. You also felt like those demons, but you feel different too. You seemed to be an undefined existence inside a physical body."


    That reply made Mark shrug. Of course, he somehow expected this answer. Even he could not judge what he was now, after all.


    "Christia, are we really just going to stand here and talk?"


    The [King Type], Heron, seemed to be more agitated than the [Queen Type].


    "Heron, you should wait a bit since we are talking."


    Christia scolded her King, which was quite unexpected for Mark.


    "Tch." Heron clicked his tongue. "Just be faster."


    Mark watched the antics of the two. Sure enough, no one would be able to differentiate these twopared to actual humans. If no one knew that they were actually high leveled infected, it would be easy to mistake as they show and behave like a regr person.


    It was a bad thing. If things reached this point, the time that the infected would enter settlements while pretending to be humans would not be far off.


    "Now, where are we?" Christia turned back to Mark. "Right, about what you are. It seems like you also have no idea yourself."<sub> </sub>


    Christia was right on point, and Mark could not refute it either.


    "I want to ask." Christia intently stared at Mark. "What did you do?"


    "What do you mean?"


    Mark was confused.


    "Why do you have the scent of three Queens with you? There was even another strange scent, but I can tell that its another King. The King is out of the question, but how did you make those Queens willingly follow you? Don''t you know that Kings and Queens can''t coexist with each other in a single territory? Only one King and one Queen should exist in one ce. Any excess that will appear, and we will start killing each other for superiority. Howe that two of the scents you have seemed to coexist with each other?"


    That question made Mark stumped. He suddenly remembered the shock on the King Type he had at the base after he saw Trixie and Jte. However, as Christia had said, the two lived peacefully together.


    And of course, Mark knew that he was one of the reasons here. To be exact, his ability to calm creatures with his touch as long as they had enough consciousness to ept it. But he could not tell whether he was the sole reason or if there were other factors in y here.


    There was also Snow, now. A [Queen Type] that was trying to live like a human.


    In short, any [Monarch Type] infected that was closely involved with him would change strangely, far from what they should as an infected.


    Anyways, Mark would not tell that to just anyone even he was to be asked about it.


    "I don''t really know about it though?"


    Mark replied.


    "I don''t believe you." Unexpectedly, Christia doubted his answer. "Besides, which human would not kill our kin on sight? So far that I''ve seen, only you had the bravery to actually keep one of our kin beside you freely. That one that is with you right now, even if she''s restrained, I don''t think that other humans will let her sleep in the same room as them."


    "But you already asked, right?" Mark smiled. "Am I really human?"


    Christia fell silent and stared at Mark with a frown. She could feel that Mark seemed to be trying to mess with her thoughts.


    "I also have a question," Mark spoke once more. "You say that only one King and one Queen in one territory. But it seems like you two have some rtion with that guy we met earlier. Aren''t you two also coexisting with him?"


    "That''s different." Christia shook her head. "We belong to different territories, different horde, different birthces. As long as he didn''t try to extend his territory to ours and try to wrestle control, he will be fine. Queens like me are different, though. As long as we don''t have a King to lead us, we will try to kill each other no matter where we are. We can control our horde, but we can''t im a territory. We are nomads that continue to kill each other until we find a partner of ours. That is why the circumstances of the Queens around you is strange in every way."


    Mark ingrained that information in his head. It was an opportunity to learn things about the Monarchs of the infected. It was not every day that a person could encounter an infected that had a level of intelligence simr to a human.


    Christia was not only able to converse properly, but she was also capable of thinking properly, not being driven by her instincts as an infected.


    That in itself was a strange thing.


    Mark could tell that the [Monarch Types] he encountered so far was immature, driven by instincts, and spoke with fumbled or broken words. It was because their consciousness was just born not too long ago. Four months were not enough for the Infected to develop enough intelligence that could make them capable of thinking at a human level.


    After all, after they turned, they all lost humanity along with all their memories. It was not wrong to say that they became infants once more.


    With those thoughts in mind, Mark froze. He stared at Christia and finally, realized a feeling that was quite familiar to him.


    "I don''t really know what you are talking about," Mark spoke, denying his part in the changes of Trixie, Jte, and Snow. "By the way, I have another question for you."


    "What question do you have?" Christia sighed. It seemed that she would not get the answer she wanted from Mark.


    "Do you remember your memories as a human?"


    That question suddenly entered his mind. He realized that Christia''s consciousness had a bit of simrity to Aimee.


    "Oh, how did you know?" Christia replied with surprise. "I did remember things but not everything. It''s really convenient since I was able to gather information from humans before killing them."


    Sure enough, it was the case. Though thest part was quite threatening. Since Christia had memories as a human, it was easier for her to mingle with humans and gather information like what she was doing right now.


    "You have memories being human, did you never think of living as one?"


    Mark asked. It was because of Aimee''s case.


    "Why should I?" Christia retorted. "These memories are not mine but the previous owner of this body. I''m a new existence living in this body, me and my kins... All of us knew that. To us, humans are food. The living are nutrients. We are creatures driven by instincts. It''s impossible for us to live like humans. And as I said, the Queens with you are the ones that are strange in this regard."


    "Are you two not done yet?"


    Finally, Heron interjected once more. He was getting impatient.


    "Alright..." Christia shrugged and turned to Mark. "Sorry, but my King is an impatient one. I want to ask about other things, but we don''t really have too much time."


    "Are you two leaving now?"


    Mark asked. It was a good thing if they just left like this. He also wanted to rest.


    Unfortunately...


    "Well, no." Christia smiled. "My King here would want to challenge you in a fight."

 Chapter 574 Begin The Fight, Mark Versus Heron

    <strong>Day 11:24 PM - ssgow Quarry, King of Prussia, Upper Merion Township, Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, United States of America</strong>


    Mark stared at Christia with both confusion and surprise.


    Who would not feel this way? Think about an infected properly asking for a battle. This kind of thing never passed by Mark''s mind even once.


    Only because Christia was here that it was possible to happen. An Infected Queen that retained her human memories. Just how many individuals like her would there be in the world among the billions of infected?


    "A challenge? It''s not a fight until one of us dies, is it?"


    Mark asked. That question, however, made Christia show a smile.


    "If it was before, that might have been the case. But now that we met you, I would rather not risk our lives here. But of course, we can''t just go back like this since, you know, us infected are hot blooded individuals."


    "By the eight divines. Can I decline?"


    Mark grumbled. If possible, he just wanted these guys to go away and sot that he could rest.


    "Hmm... I guess this would be the case, no?" Christia''s smile turned questionable. "Humans prefer to stay away from things that would not give them any benefit, after all."


    And there, Christia gave a proposition.


    "Well, we really can''t do anything if you want to decline. So, how about this. Fight with my King. It''s not a deathmatch, and I promise that if you were the one defeated, we would leave peacefully. In exchange, no matter who wins or loses, I will answer your questions about us afterward. Of course, I won''t answer any question if you end up killing my King. I will also do my best to kill some of yourpanions if you did that. Even if I have to sacrifice myself in exchange."


    What Christia said made Mark weigh the options.


    Because of the whole day of hectic travel, the battle in Logan Square, and mental fatigue, he would have preferred to rest. However, he could not ignore the fact that an intelligent infected actually proposed that she would answer his questions.


    An opportunity like this would note by whenever he wanted. Not to mention that encountering an intelligent infected like Christia was not something that everyone would experience. Well, others would do, but they should have already gone to the afterlife after encountering a couple of Infected Monarchs.


    Mark was sure that Christia only gave this proposition since she also found him as a threat.


    "Then, let me ask a question first."


    Mark spoke.


    "I''ll answer, depending on the question, and just one."


    Christia raised her index finger to Mark.


    "The question is nothing that important, really," Mark said as he looked at the two alternately. "I just want to know what your goal is for fighting me. You already said that you two might risk your lives if we were to actually try and kill each other, so why?"


    "I can answer that. Two reasons, actually." Christia raised her two fingers. "First, to satiate my King''s hunger for battle. You probably understand this but at our stage, finding a satisfying fight is very hard. Second, is to see how we would fare against beings like you. We have encountered Mutants before, but not psychics, after all."


    Thatst sentence was unexpected.


    "You can tell?"


    Mark asked.


    "Not exactly." Christia tilted her head. "But unlike Mutants, you are oozing with unpleasantly attractive energy with you, after all. Even two of yourpanions seemed to be Psychics too, but yours is on an entirely different level."


    "Can you two hurry up?"


    Heron interrupted once more. And by the looks of it, this guy would not take a no from Mark as an answer.


    "Well," Christia bitterly smiled while shrugging her shoulders. "Let''s leave other things forter. I guess your answer is yes, am I right?"


    Mark nodded.


    "By the way, how will the winner be determined?"


    "Hmm... disabling the loser should be fine, I think?"


    Christia replied.


    "Okay, then."


    Mark smiled, shifting his eyes towards to Heron.


    "I''ll go to the side, alright."


    With those words, Christia moved. She was very fast. In a second, she might have traveled a hundred meters and reached the side of the quarry.


    "Should we start?"


    Heron massaged his shoulder.


    "Just attack," Mark said, concentrating his attention on Heron.


    As Mark spoke, however, Heron kicked the ground. Sure enough, this one was not talkative at all. Or rather, his strength did noty on intelligence. Instead...


    BOOOM!!!


    With that light kick on the ground, the area where Heron stood before exploded into dust and rubble. With that strong momentum, he instantly appeared in front of Mark.


    Mark was quite surprised. This guy was faster than the other one this afternoon. Furthermore, his speed relied on both his leg flexibility and strength.


    The moment that Heron appeared, he unleashed a right straight towards Mark''s face.


    For the first time in a while, he felt the aura of death in that punch. Mark immediately tilted his head, allowing the attack to pass over his right shoulder.


    BOOOM!!!


    The punch missed, and Heron paused a bit as his fist arm reached its farthest stretch. Nevertheless, an explosion of air created by that punch echoed behind Mark. To think that a single fist would be able to create a sonic boom.


    But then, Mark did not falter. Before Heron could pull his arm back, Mark grabbed it and tilted his body backward. He then kicked Heron''s right foot that was steeped forward, causing thetter to lose bnce. With the other foot, Mark kicked the ground, pulling Heron forward.


    Mark did not let go and spun his body, throwing Heron to the ground.


    BAM!


    The ground cracked as Heron''s back hit the ground. He was quite surprised at what Mark did, but before he could react, Mark''s punch was already going towards his face.


    Heron tried to evade, but his right arm was pinned by Mark using his left arm and foot, both glowing in red.


    Without a doubt, while Heron''s punch missed, Mark''s would hit.


    PANG!<sub> </sub>


    However, there was no sound of flesh being hit. Instead, it sounded like someone tried to punch a sheet of metal with his bare fist.


    Mark shivered as his hand felt pain. Heron took the opportunity to escape from Mark''s grasp and was able to, jumping back for several meters.


    Inspecting his bruised hand, Mark winced. Of course, the bruise immediately healed, but the residual pain was still there. He then turned to Heron, whose face became steel colored. It was kind of hard to see in the dark, but the reflection of the moon gave it away.


    On the other hand, Heron had a bright smile on his face. It was the first time he was actually thrown in the ground ever since he gained his consciousness. And to him, it felt exhrating. He had some expectations on his face as he stared at Mark.


    "HAHAHAHA! One more time!"


    Heronughed as he caused another explosion of dust and debris with his foot. He, once more, appeared in front of Mark almost instantly. He was unleashing other punch, this time, with his fist turning into steel.


    Mark saw the same attack pattern with more overwhelming strength. But would he grab it and also do the same counter? No. That would be stupid. He then took a stance as the fist arrived at his face.


    And there, Mark''s both hands moved circrly from below, hitting Heron''s arm on that angle. Heron''s punch was redirected and continued above Mark''s head as he lowered his body slightly. Spinning his body, Mark made a foot sweep, hitting both feet of Heron. Mark then stood upright as Heron lost bnce andnded his glowing palm to thetter''s chest.


    With his glowing red palm, he pushed Heron to the ground.


    BOOOM!!!


    The ground Mark stood on cracked as Heron hit the ground once more.


    Heron''s body seemed to have metal properties making it invulnerable to attacks from outside. Thus, Mark shifted his attack on rattling his opponent''s organs.


    "GAHAH!"


    Heron groaned as blood spat out from his mouth. Sure enough, Mark''s sudden shift in attack style was quite effective.


    But then, Mark felt danger and suddenly pulled his arm away and jumped back.


    Mark then felt a searing pain on his palm. When he looked at it, his hand was almost cut in half. There was a wound that went from between his index and middle finger to his wrist that was deep enough to hit his bone.


    As Mark let it heal, he frowned. He looked back to Heron that stood up, only to see his body to be covered with ded spikes.


    "This guy..."


    Mark was quite surprised. He did not expect it, but Heron had two different abilities that he showed just now.


    "Again!"


    Heron shouted with glee. He did not mind being thrown to the ground two times. Instead, he was in ecstasy for encountering an opponent worthy for him to show his abilities.


    And there, Heron lowered his body and flexed his arm and fingers. And there, ws as sharp as swords grew out of his fingers. And with a leap, those ws came down on Mark.


    Mark stepped back, making the ws pass in front of this face to the ground.


    SHING!


    This time, the stony ground of the quarry did not explode or crack. Instead, Heron''s ws passed through it like he was slicing tofu.


    Even the small gravel and stones that the ws passed through were sliced. That showed how sharp these ws were.


    As Mark managed to evade, more swipes came after. However, as he saw the sharpness of these ws, blindly blocking or parrying these attacks would be suicidal. While dodging, Mark made a small stick of [Blood Metal] hidden on his hand.


    And as Heron made another swipe of his arm, Mark threw the stick of [Blood Metal] towards Heron''s ws.


    CLANG!


    The metallic sound echoed. It made Mark smile, and Heron surprised. The two of them paid attention to the stick of metal that was flung away intact.


    Mark then opened his ring and took the [Slicer] and [Divider] out of nowhere.


    Seeing that, both Heron and Christia were surprised.


    Nevertheless, Heron continued to attack. But now...


    CLANG!


    Mark blocked both hands with his swords.


    PANG! PANG! PANG!


    Metallic sounds echoed at the two exchanged attacks and defense in speeds that could not be seen by the naked eye anymore. Only the metallic sheen on the ws and the swords could be seen as the moonlight reflected on them.


    And then, as Heron got used to evading and blocking the swords, a thing that he did not expect to happen caused him to falter.


    It was because as Mark swung his sword, it started to stretch out like ded whips, attacking Heron at different angles.


    CLANG! CLANG!


    The swords and ws collided, but now, Heron had to pay attention to the des moving in an irregr pattern, even attacking him from behind.


    "HAHAHAHA!"


    Heron''sugh echoed as his shirt tore off withrge, thick, and sharp scales growing on his back.


    The [Slicer] and the [Divider] made contact with the scales but only ended up making metallic sounds and got bounced back.


    "What the hell..."


    Mark was getting perplexed by this guy.


    [Metal Skin], [de Spikes], [de ws], and now, [Metal Scales]. For most people to see this, they might just think that it was just different applications of Heron''s seemingly metallic mutation.


    However, Mark thought differently.


    From what Mark knew, even if one had a whole body mutation, whether it be human or the infected, there would be a resemnce to the appearance of the ability. Nevertheless, texture, sharpness, thickness, and even appearance, none of Heron''s abilities that he disyed so far resembled each other.


    "Just how many abilities do you have?"


    Mark could not help but ask.


    "You don''t have to ask!" Heron smiled. "Let me show you!"


    Heron roared as his body started to change.


    And there, Mark felt the pressure in the surroundings suddenly grow. It was the strongest pressure he felt so far from an infected.

 Chapter 575 The Silver Giant, Herons Chimera-Like Transformation

    <strong>Day 131 - 11:29 PM - ssgow Quarry, King of Prussia, Upper Merion Township, Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, United States of America</strong>


    The pressure that Mark felt made him jump back and take some distance away from Heron. And there, he watched thetter transform in quite an unsightly way.


    Heron''s body started to tear with bloody cracks appearing all over his skin. Blood even sttered around as his violent transformation started. Nevertheless, despite the brutal disy and changes, Heron did not show any sign of pain on his face.


    The whole body of Heron started to pulsate before it began to swell. As his muscles and flesh bloated, the cracks on his skin became deep and wide.


    Mark watched as Heron''s body grewrger andrger. He then started to see the patterns that appeared as the skin began to get loose. Before the torn skin got peeled off, it turned into metal.


    The torn skin becameyers uponters of irregrly shaped scales that riddled Heron''s swelling body.


    It did not take long, and Heron''s body stopped growing. Still, Mark was already staring up a four-meter fleshy monster. After all, after Heron''s body grew, the torn skin was not enough to cover his whole body anymore and was left with his muscles exposed.


    And while Heron''s body grew, it also changed its shape. His upper body was nowrger and disproportionate with his legs and head. The muscled arms he had could even reach the ground despite standing upright.


    Heron''s face also changed. He now had a long beak with insect mandibles at both sides. The eyes that looked human before were now three pairs of ovalpound eyes arranged in a semi-circle across his forehead.


    Another thing was there were a pair of absurdlyrge wings on his back that was enough to cover his body when folded. However, it did not have any feathers. In fact, even though Heron''s name was a bird and he had a beak and wing, not a single feather could be found on his body.


    Still, Mark knew that it was not the end of the transformation. After all, aside from what remained of Heron''s skin that turned into metal, the other things he showed before was still missing.


    And as Mark thought, Heron''s body immediately exhibited further changes.


    Gaps opened up between Heron''s muscles, showing his silver-colored bones. From there, silver-colored slime flowed out, which started to cover his body.


    The slime flowed, covering from the tip of his hands to the sole of his foot.It began to form armor encasing his body. No, rather than armor, it was more appropriate to call it a metallic exoskeleton.


    And finally, the feathers that were missing appeared in the form of that metallic slime. It createdyers uponyers of metallic feathers in that metal-covered wings.


    RUMBLE!


    The ground shook as the four-meter silver monster took his first step.


    There, the final touches of Heron''s transformation ended with the growth of talons on his foot, ws on his hands, and a silver-colored fur around his neck and wrists.


    Mark looked at the monster in front of him that he could not fathom what to call. It had the exoskeleton of an insect, sharp ws of a feline, talons of an eagle, scales of a lizard, mandibles of an ant, eyes of a fly, beak of a heron, wings of an eagle, mane of a lion, and the body proportion of a man that skipped leg day.


    ''Wait... thest one was true but inappropriate.''


    Mark scratched his head as he observed Heron''s current appearance.


    It was not wrong to say that this guy was like a Chimera. That was the most appropriate description of a monster that appeared to be made of body parts of different creatures.


    However, Mark was also reluctant to call Heron a Chimera because of a reason.


    If one was to describe a Chimera, it looked like a monster with body parts from different creatures pped together in one body. One look at it would give a person a sense of feeling. It was a kind of feeling that each of the body parts it had was not meant to be together.


    A sense that made a Chimera an aberrant to the norm. It was because the body parts of the Chimera retained the appearance of the animal it was supposed toe from.


    Heron, however, was different.


    Sure, he had body parts of different beings, but still, it was more appropriate to say that he had body parts that had the nature of other creatures rather than belonging to others.


    And more than that, each part that Heron had shown an association with the others. Everything might have a different appearance, but all of it was made of silver and had metallic properties.


    ROOOOAAARRR!!!


    Heron faced the sky and roared. That roar was loud enough to be heard for more than a kilometer radius. Even the surroundings shook because of that roar.


    Mark retreated further. He was a bit careful about roars after his experience with the other Infected Kind this afternoon.


    Fortunately, this roar could not disorient the people in the surroundings.


    It was only a pure roar to show dominance and strength.


    "Let''s continue!"


    Heron, whose voice had turned gruff after the transformation, shouted while looking down on Mark.


    BAM!


    The ground copsed as Heron ran in all fours like a gori. It was quite expected since there was no way that his body would be able to run upright with that body proportion. Nevertheless, despite hisrge body, his speed did not reduce at all. In an instant, he ran a dozen meters.


    Mark could only look up, and a set of half-meter ws were already falling towards him from above.


    With a red glow on his feet, Mark jumped away. At the start of the battle, Mark and Heron had almost the same speed. Now, it was still the same. However, with thetter''s body that becamerger, Mark needed to exert more effort and speed in dodging.


    CRASH!


    The ws missed and hit the ground, causing even greater destruction in the surroundings.


    Not minding therge rocks flying around, Heron chased after Mark, waving his ws once more.


    And as expected, Mark managed to dodge it, although he had to move wider distances.


    However, therge portion of the quarry was already trashed. Therge rocks flying around buried a lot of infected that were trapped at the lower levels of the quarry.


    Heron continued to chase after Mark, making attacks, once after another. But then, Mark''s movement''s changed, and the way he dodged the attacks and the flying debris became more and more efficient. That was when Heron noticed that his opponent was releasing strange energy in the surroundings. And there, he saw that Mark''s eyes were glowing with a purple light that waved around as he moved.


    To Mark''s sudden change, Heron made his attacks even faster. His ws could hardly be seen by a regr human''s eyes anymore.


    The sudden increase of speed caught Mark off guard. After all, it was quite hard to believe that arge creature like Heron would be able to increase his attack speed further.<sub> </sub>


    But there, as Heron''s attack was about to hit Mark, he turned into a ck mist that moved between the gaps of the former''s ws.


    BAM!


    The ground shook once more, and the rocks flew everywhere. That caused Heron to lose track of Mark, who suddenly turned into a surge of ck mist. The dark surroundings made it even harder for Heron to see.


    But then, Heron felt movements from beneath him.


    There, Mark had already swung his swords towards Heron''s body.


    CLANG! CLANG!


    Two loud metallic sounds echoed as the [Slicer] and [Divider] shed with Heron''s body.


    "Tch. As expected."


    Mark clicked his tongue as he vanished once more since Heron tried to crush him.


    Evading the attacks of the giant Heron, Mark appeared several meters away. He stared at the part that he shed and could see that his swords only left scratch marks on that thick silver armor.


    Heron also paused a bit and looked at his belly.


    "HAHAHAHA!" Heronughed as he saw the scratches that Mark left on his body. "This is more like it!"


    Well, this guy seemed to be pleased that Mark could still do some damage even if he already turned into this form. Nevertheless, it was far from enough to actually kill him and not even enough to disable him, either.


    There, Heron turned towards his Queen.


    "Christia, this human can only do this much to me... I can just kill him in this case!"


    Heron''s ego seemed to have inted because of this.


    On the other hand, Christia sighed.


    "Heron... What are you talking about? Killing him? You can''t even touch him."


    That was right. Since the start, Heron was not able to make a single hit on Mark. Besides, he already showed his ability to turn into mist and evade the attacks even more.


    "He can''t do anything to me, either."


    Heron argued.


    This made Christia rub her forehead as she turned to Mark.


    "Can you please stop holding back? You are fueling my King''s ego further."


    Mark turned to Christia with a tilt of his head. That exasperation of hers gave him a thought.


    "So, there is another reason for suggesting this challenge, is it? Something you haven''t told me."


    "Unfortunately, yes," Christia shrugged. "I''ll tell you about it after you defeat my King."


    "Okay, then. Also, how can you tell that I''m holding back?"


    Mark asked.


    "It''s not like I can tell exactly. It''s just the energy that surrounded your body barely moved at all."


    Mark frowned at Christia''s reply. It seemed that she could feel the energies around in his body, simr to how Annica could see it.


    Then, he shrugged. He also wanted to end this as soon as possible. However, the rule of this battle was not to kill each other. In that case, he also wanted to see all of the abilities of this guy to the end. It was to prepare for the future if he actually needed to kill this guy.


    Still, he could not use the crystals or his Miasma in this fight at all. It was clear that this Heron guy had some ability to gain new mutations. This fact prevented him from using psychic attacks just in case this guy obtained them too.


    "Alright, I have no choice, I guess."


    Mark gave up on thinking. Of course, he still decided to not use psychic abilities. And that left him with one option left.


    And there, the surroundings rumbled. Even Heron was surprised and could not help but step back as he felt the pressure that suddenly spread out with Mark at the center.


    Mark''s body started to release a red glow, the ck markings on his neck, wrists, and ankles that he received after absorbing the Deity of Bloodshed, began to spread. His blood-colored wings spread out, and his hair grew longer. The horns and fangs he hid also appeared. Then, blood swirled out of his body, creating a sinister-looking armor to protect his body.


    Heron and Christia were surprised at this. The two could feel that this transformation was far different from what they, the Infected Monarchs, and human Mutants, had.


    This pressure, this dread, it was totally different from what they encountered so far.


    For Christia, she was convinced because of this. Mark was definitely not a normal being.


    Despite the pressure and dread, however, Heron still looked at Mark with excitement. He was anticipating what kind of fight would Mark show him in this form.


    Mark''s transformation finished. He looked at his hand, clenching it several times. The feeling of releasing this form was unpleasantly satisfying for some reason. It was like he was freed from some sort of shackle, but there was also the disturbing thought of destruction.


    With his transformation finished, Mark threw the [Slicer] and the [Divider] into his ring. The two swords he liked the most had no use in this battle at all.


    There, Mark looked at Heron and smiled. Thetter was the same, although it looked different because he had a beak instead of a mouth.


    BAM!


    Both of them kicked the ground at the same time, causing the entirety of the quarry to shake.

 Chapter 576 Rumbles In The Distance, The Red Shooting Star

    <strong>Day 131 - 11:34 PM - Gulph Mills Golf Club Service Compound, Gulph Mills, Upper Merrion Township, Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, United States of America</strong>


    BOOM! BOOM!


    At the servicepound, sounds simr to explosions woke everyone up.


    "What the hell is going on now?"


    Roan suddenly stood up together with Marie. It was already their shift as lookouts while the previous two had gone to sleep.


    Unfortunately for Arnold and Ernst, it was not long since they closed their eyes, and they had to wake up once more.


    "Roan, what was going on?"


    Felicia and the others went to the lobby, clearly disturbed from their sleep.


    "Why are you asking me? It''s not like I will know that. We can only hear the sounds, but it seems to be far away."


    BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!


    The sounds echoed once more. It was loud but was definitelying from somewhere else.


    "It''s not dangerous, isn''t it?"


    Abraham voiced out. The situation felt threatening, and he was worried about his whole family.


    "We better ask Boss..."


    Arnold said.


    "Where is Sir Mark anyway?"


    Filicia asked after looking around. Everyone was here, except Mark, Mei, Snow, and unexpectedly, Elise.


    "Maybe in their room?"


    Sandie spoke.


    "Alright, let''s go ask Boss."


    Roan suggested. However, he was stopped.


    "We''ll go. Men are not allowed there."


    Felicia said, grabbing Marie''s hand. She then pulled thetter with her before anyone could say anything.


    Mark and Mei''s room was at the end of the building, making it detached from the others. It was not like it was on purpose. It was just that the other rooms were not suitable to stay with all the mess left by the apocalypse.


    Felicia and Marie knocked on the doors. No one replied by the clicking of the knob was heard as the door opened slightly.


    Unexpectedly, the person that opened the door was Elise.


    "Elise? What are you doing here? No wonder you are missing."


    Felicia questioned Elise, whose face was half-covered by the door as if she was hiding. As the older sister, Felicia was quite surprised to see her younger sister in other people''s rooms.


    "I-I can''t sleep." Elise hesitated to reply. "I went so see Elder Brother and Elder Sister..."


    "Ah, right! Where''s Sir Mark?"


    Felicia asked, realizing that it was not the time to question her sister.


    "Not here..."


    That reply from Elise surprised Felicia and Marie.


    "What do you mean? Where did Sir Mark go?"


    Of course, Felicia would question that. But then...


    "Wait, don''t tell me..."


    An absurd but usible thing entered Felicia''s mind.


    "Can we enter?"


    Marie asked, making Elise turn her head inside the room as if asking someone.


    "Come in."


    Elise timidly opened the door, letting the two enter.


    When the two entered and only saw Elise holding on the transparent colored Slime Creature that they had seen with Mei before. On the other hand, Mei was standing by the window, looking nkly at the direction where the loud sounds wereing from. Sitting on her shoulder was another Slime Creature, but ck in color.


    There was also Snow that looked restless for some reason. Snoe was sitting on the bed near Mei while holding thetter''s hand tightly.


    The expression Snow had, made Felicia and Marie remember her reaction this afternoon before the [Empress Spider] detached from her head.


    Lastly, there was also the caged [Empress Spider] on the floor, obviously panicked and was trying to leave its cage in fear.


    "So, Boss really is..."


    Felicia was sure now. With Mei''s current reaction, she knew that Mark was the one currently fighting. However, none of them knew what was going on.


    It felt frustrating for some reason.


    ***


    <strong>Day 131 - 11:43 PM - ssgow Quarry, King of Prussia, Upper Merion Township, Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, United States of America</strong>


    BOOOM!


    The ground rumbled as Mark and Heron charged at each other. The rocky walls and ground started to copse, burying the infected trapped below the deepest parts or the quarry.


    The four-meter tall silver giant and a barely two-meter tall demon, fighting each other. The disparity in size could make one say that it was like the battle of David and Goliath.


    Heron''s ws swiped towards Mark from above. On the other hand, Mark clenched his armored right fist, intending to sh with the Heron.


    CLANG!


    The sound of metal shing echoed loudly.


    And then...


    CRASH!


    Mark''s feet sunk unto the ground, but both attacks stopped each other.


    Still, the disparity in size and weight gave Heron quite an advantage.


    "Tch." Mark clicked his tongue. "My strength is still not enough."


    Mark already transformed into his demon form. Nevertheless, his strength was stillcking for a straight sh with Heron.


    Furthermore, in terms of speed, despite the difference in their sizes, it was the same.


    BAM!


    Mark suddenly kicked the ground and dodge. The moment he disappeared, Heron''s other set of ws smashed to the ground.


    As Mark appeared, however, Heron already caught up to him, leaving destruction in his every step. Furthermore, both sets of ws that Heron had was already approaching Mark with the speed that was as fast as a bullet.


    BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!


    The quarry was already destroyed. Its pathways and dug pits were already gone.


    Nevertheless, the destruction was getting worse with every attack that Heron made.<sub> </sub>


    Unfortunately, Mark was able to evade the attacks with him leaping great distances. He wanted to make smaller moves as possible to make an opening for a counter-attack. However, Heron''s attacks were hard to keep up because of the speed.


    Another thing was that the stones and debris there were also flying around from every missed attack hindered Mark from moving efficiently. If Mark did not leave the ce he stood after dodging, he would be buffeted by small stones that shot like a shotgun because of the impact.


    But then, the opportunity finally came.


    The ws wereing from both sides, trying to attack Mark at the center one after the other. At this point, Mark could jump up and fly, but he would also lose the chance to counter-attack.


    Mark''s eyes glowed violet. He then saw the trajectory of the ws in advance. His wings then folded as he suddenly flipped his body. It was as if he just made an Olympic high jump.


    SWING! SWING!


    There, both swings missed. Even though Mark was at the trajectory of the attack, he was not hit at all. The jump that he did made him pass between the ws of the unseen attack.


    Mark thennded, looking up at Heron. The silver giant was wide open as his missed attacks could not be pulled back to defend at all.


    At the opportunity, Mark''s whole body glowed red as his blood stimted his speed and strength. His wings opened wide and pped hard. On the single p that blew all the dust away behind him, Mark added a strong kick on the ground.


    BOOM!


    The ground shook, and the wind exploded. Mark moved too fast that he could not hear anything, a speed faster than sound.


    BAAAM!!!


    The surroundings were enveloped with a strong gust of wind as Mark appeared in front of Heron''s chest. There, Mark''s armored fist was already connected with Heron''s silver body.


    "GAHAH!"


    Heron spat out blood as he felt the rattling pain on his chest. But before he could do anything, he felt his bnce copse. That was when he noticed that he was lifted off the ground and was now pushed into the air.


    CRASH!


    Heron crashed onto the wheel loaders and machinery left in the quarry that was about fifty meters away from where he stood before. A giant that weight about fifteen tons was flung that far in a single punch.


    "Gulp!"


    Heron swallowed out blood left in his mouth as he stood up. He immediately readied himself to attack Mark. But then, he looked around.


    Mark was nowhere to be found.


    SWIIIIIIIIISHHHH!!!


    But then, he heard an almost silent sound. It was the kind of sound created when the wind was resisting an object that was traveling too fast.


    And the sound was...


    Heron looked above. Mark was there, falling, no, charging towards him straight from the sky. His whole body was glowing red as his speed went faster and faster.


    ***


    Back at the Golf Club, things also became hectic.


    The soundsing from the ongoing battle started to draw the attention of all the infected in the area. A lot of them were running across the golf courses since it was a vast opennd that allowed the infected to travel directly towards their goal.


    Unfortunately, the Service Compound was blocking the way for a lot of infected. The Biters and Eaters were still fine and tried to go toward another direction. However, a lot ofrger infected tried to bust through their way, trying to demolish the building they were spending the night at.


    Without any choice, everyone jumped into action. Roan and the others killed every infected that tried to destroy the building. Still, that had some repercussions too. As they showed themselves in front of the infected, a vast number of the infected shifted their targets.


    But then...


    "Hey! What is that?!"


    Marie saw something and called out.


    Everyone looked at what Marie was pointing at. And there, they saw a blood-red shooting star, falling from the sky.


    From the sky, that red light elerated towards the ground.


    And then... All of them lost bnce. A strong earthquake was felt in the surroundings. The infected that already had a worse sense of bnce of their body plopped to the ground.


    BOOOM!!!


    Finally, the sound reached their ears as the cloud of grey dust scattered towards the sky. They could see it clearly even though it was dark because of how high the dust flew up like smoke from an explosion.


    SWOOSH!!!


    It was followed by a shockwave that destroyed all the ss windows in the surrounding buildings and made Marie fall to the ground.


    All of them might have thought that it was a nuclear missile, if not for the fact that no actual explosion urred.


    Still, what was going on was scary for them.


    "Is Boss really fighting there?"


    Roan voiced out, unable toprehend the intensity of that battle.


    "I think... it''s Sir Mark..." Felicia spoke. "That red light that fell."


    Hearing that, everyone froze. If what Felicia said was correct, then Mark caused this earthquake and shockwave.


    ***


    The quarry was now enveloped with a thick cloud of dust.


    It was all after Mark fell from the sky, giving Heron the most powerful kick that he made in his entire life.


    In fact, Mark expected the guy to evade. Unexpected, the idiot countered by swinging his ws in a cross, inside out.


    And when the ws and foot shed, the ws broke.


    Mark''s kick then went straight towards Heron''s chest.


    From there, the ground sunk in as if a dozen meter wide sinkhole appeared out of nowhere. Then, the copse of the rocks and the surroundings followed together with the earthquake and the shockwave.


    Now, from the dusty cloud, a silhouette shot up.


    A silhouette with several wings, it was definitely Mark.


    However, he looked unsightly.


    The armor that covered his legs were cracked and broken. It revealed hiscerated skin and muscles. His legs looked like it had been shredded by a beast. The only thing missing was the dripping blood that was nowhere to be seen. However, that only made the appearance of his legs more unsightly. Without the blood, his torn muscles, his ripped skin, and his broken bones were exposed bare, after all.


    "Darn, I overdid it. My legs can handle the impact." Mark murmured, feeling the intense pain. He then looked down.


    "What about that guy..."


    Mark murmured as he pped his wings, blowing away the dust to an eptable degree.


    And there, Heron was exposed.


    "HAHAHAHA!"


    Heronughed. The bastard was delighted. Nevertheless, the result was obvious.


    Mark already won.


    Herony there in the middle of the copsed crater. His sunken chest and limbs twisted from the impact indicated that he could not move anymore.


    "Let''s end it here then."


    Christia appeared beside Heron like a ghost. Even the dust was not disturbed by her movements. She then turned towards Mark.


    "Congrattions. And thank you for not killing my King."


    Christia alluringly smiled.

 Chapter 577 The First Question, Formation Of Hordes And Territories

    Day 131 - 11:49 PM - ssgow Quarry, King of Prussia, Upper Merion Township, Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, United States of America


    Christia dered Heron''s defeat without bitter expression. Still, while she looked pleased, she felt a bit disappointed inside.


    Mark could tell clearly. Disappointment, it was a negative emotion, after all.


    However...


    "What are you saying, Christia? I''m not defeated yet."


    Heron said with confidence. If not for his current appearance, anyone would feel that he was speaking the truth.


    Or maybe... Heron was speaking the truth.


    As Heron finished his sentence, his body started to heat up. It was too hot that even the rubble under him began to turn red. Then, parts of Heron''s body also turned red, specifically, his dented chest and twisted limbs.


    And there, like time being rewound, the twisted limbs moved back to its correct positions, and his dented chest returned back to normal.


    Heron''s gigantic body stood up. He was as good as new.


    "Nitinol?" Mark murmured. "No, probably just something simr."


    Nitinol or Nickel Titanium. A kind of metal alloy that could be bent and dented but would return back to its original shape as long as it was given enough heat.


    Mark was reminded of that when he saw how Heron''s body turned back to normal.


    And with this, the battle could be continued. That was what Heron wanted.


    Unfortunately for the silver giant...


    "No, my King. You already lost."


    His desire was shot down by his Queen.


    "What are you-"


    "The moment you went down thereughing, he could have killed you several times already. Even that attack that incapacitated you also could be he only decided to disable you. It''s your loss."


    "No, that''s-"


    <o>,m There, Heron could only stop as Christia gave him a death re.</o>


    "So, it''s already my win. That''s final, right?"


    Mark asked.


    "Yes. Absolutely. I''m afraid that if you two continued, you two would end up killing each other."


    Christia smiled.


    That was right. The intensity of the battle already destroyed the whole quarry. If they continued, they would probably end up turning the entirety of the township into rubble. And worse, Mark and Heron might identally destroy each other.


    "Then, I don''t care about your lover''s quarrel. Just get ready to answer my questions."


    Mark said in an irritated tone. He could not see through Christia at all. She had consciousness and human memories, but the amount of emotional energy she was releasing was too thin for Mark to read.


    "Of course, I will answer." Christia agreed. "But not in this ce. Your battle with my King already caused quite amotion. The lower sses will gather here soon, and we won''t have a good chat when that happens."


    That surprised Mark a bit. Who would think that Christia would be bothered with other infected that would start gathering in this ce? But then, it was a clue about something that bothered Mark for a while now.


    Thus, he could only nod.


    As Heron turned back to his human form, Christia asked Mark to lead them somewhere else.


    Sure enough, Christia was a clever one. Making Mark lead the way swept away any suspicions of her and Heron setting up a trap.


    There, Mark pped his wings, leading the two further north.


    His intention was to lead these two away from the golf course even more just in case they n to do something.


    As Mark took flight once more, Heron also brought out his metal wings under Christia''s request. The Silver Infected King then carried Christia as they followed behind Mark.


    Mark found an abandoned office building of a furniturepany. After securing that the two really followed, hended.


    A five-story building. The rooftop was not exactly empty, though. There were makeshift shelters made of wooden furniture on the roof. However, it was already devoid of any life or movement. The only thing left of the survivors that might have stayed here were the markings of washed-up blood that was sttered everywhere.


    "This ce is fine, right?"


    Mark asked as Heron let Christia down.


    "Quite an ugly ce but its better than a ce brimming with the lower ss infected."


    Christia replied.<sub> </sub>


    "Just don''t mind the ce."


    Mark shrugged.


    "Alright. Just ask me anything. As long as I know the answer, I will say it." Christia replied. "Of course, I will not answer questions that will reveal our skills and weakness. Please refrain from asking about those. No one would feel happy if they were asked those kinds of questions."


    Mark nodded, hearing that. Even he would not entertain such kinds of questions.


    "Then, let''s start with this." Mark looked straight at Christia. "We changed ces because of the other infected. It meant that even though you two are King and Queen among the infected, you can''t just control any infected youe across. If what I said is correct, can you tell me why?"


    This was one of the things that bothered Mark since the start. Jte and Trixie were already proven to be Infected Queens by the [King Type] that he caught. However, howe both of them never controlled any infected when they were traveling. Even the [King Type] never showed any sign of controlling the infected along the way to attack their vehicles.


    "I guess there''s no problem answering that," Christia replied and peered down the building, looking at the infected on the street. "Knowing how humans are, they will figure this out sooner orter."


    And there, Christia affirmed what Mark had said.


    Even if they were crowned as King or Queen among there infected, the Highest ss of Infected that gained intelligence, they could not just go and control every infected they could see.


    Even the infected. The infected were not grouping up in hordes just because they were all infected. If that was the only factor, all of the infected should have already formed a singlerge group that was enough to obliterate all humans.


    However, that was not the case. And even if there were hordes that had several thousands of members, they were under a higher ss infected as their leader.


    In that case, there was an unknown factor that caused the infected to form hordes. Still, there were observed conditions where hordes of infected were created.


    First, infected that came from a single ce was easier to form hordes. A good example was infected that came from a single neighborhood or city.


    Second, infected with simr mutations also tend to group up with others. It was disyed at that time in Bay City when a group of bat-winged infected attacked the settlement.


    Third, as said, there should be leaders among the infected. It could be [Leader Type] mutation or the higher [Monarch Types].


    But even so, the third condition was also not that easy to establish.


    ording to Christia, [King Types] could only control infected in an established territory. It would create a mentalwork in that territory where the infected were linked together under the King''s rule andmand.


    And that territory was fixed in ce and could not be moved at will. The [King Type] could move in and out of his territory, but it did not mean that he could just create another one easily or expand the current territory.


    In the first ce, the territory could not be chosen by the [King Type] at all. The territory that the [King Type] had was the very same ce where he awakened as a King, and the infected that was inside when the territory was established were his subjects.


    The only way that an existing territory to expand as Christia knew was when more infected that was not the King''s control entered it. Slowly, they would be affected by thework of control ande under the King''s rule. If that continued to happen, the poption of infected in the territory would start to bloat, forcing the infected to upy more space. And as such, the newly upied space became part of the territory.


    Of course, it did not mean that the King could just make his horde move and scatter to im more territory. It would not work that way. Still, it did not mean that the King could notmand the horde to leave the territory either. They could do it. Only expanding the territory that way was not possible.


    As for the [Queen Types], it was different. Christia already said it before. They were nomads. Their awakening was not as shy as King Types. They did not have territories or have a horde suddenly under them the moment they woke up. In fact, not all Queens had the ability to rule a horde. Only those that were [Leader Types] before awakening as a Queen had the highest possibility to lead a horde while most of those who were not were left alone.


    And that was where the struggle start for the [Queen Types]. Without a horde, they were more susceptible to death.


    After all, any infected that was not under the leadership of a [King Type] or [Queen Type] also had the tendency to attack. At more unfortunate times, weaker [Queen Types] would end up being eaten by the normal infected.


    It was not surprising since not all infected were born with the same strength. Some mutated stronger than the others, while some were even weaker than an Eater.


    "So, that is why only you two are here..."


    Mark said as he looked at Christia. On the other hand, Heron was not here anymore. He left midway the exnation to rampage below the streets, killing every infected that started to attack him.


    "That is right," Christia replied. "We could have moved our horde to surround you and your group, but this ce is quite far from our territory. By the time we arrive here, your group would have left already."


    Mark started at Christia with a frown. She was not hiding the fact that she wanted to kill Mark and his group. But in the least, she already gave up on the idea.


    Nevertheless, Mark was satisfied with the exnation he heard. It was not totallyplete since there were still a lot of things that Christia did not know. However, it exined a lot of things that Mark had the suspicion about.


    It proved the reason why Jte, Trixie, and the Miasma [King Type] were not able to hinder their journey back then. It was not like Jte and Trixie had any motive to do it, but at least, the [King Type] had. Furthermore, ording to the exnation, it was also possible that both Jte and Trixie could not form hordes at all since they did not even mutate to a [Leader Type]. And for the [King Type], he could notmand his horde anymore. For sure, his established territory was around Bay City, where he was born because of the residues of Mark and Gar''m''s battle.


    As for Snow, in the first ce, she had no capability of forming hordes at all. The only reason that she was able to lead the horde back then in Antic City was that she was the host of the [Empress Spider], and the horde were all hosts for parasitic spiders.


    That also exined why the Miasma [King Type] suddenly had a horde of several thousand when Mark and his group only left Bay City for two days to gather blood bags. If the [King Types] had to gather a horde like that manually, it should take a lot longer to happen.


    "Did my answer satisfy your curiosity?"


    Christia asked as she saw Mark pondering about the information he just heard.


    And to say, Mark was quite satisfied.


    "Then, next question..." Mark looked at Christia once more. "This one is a very important question. Answer it as much as possible."


    "I already said. I will answer if I can."


    "Then, what is the actual goal of the infected?"


    Mark said with a serene expression.


    It would be hard to determine the answer just by observing the infected. However, this time, Mark was asking an Infected Queen. After all, she had both experiences as a human and as an infected.

 Chapter 578 Next Questions, The Urges, The Facts, And The Past Christia Woke Up To

    <o>,m Day 132 - 12:02 AM - Rooftop, Abandoned Factory Office, Bridgeport Borough. Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, United States of America</o>


    The goal of the infected. It was something that any human still living in this ending world wanted to know.


    Many humans saw the world suddenly change.


    They witnessed their loved ones getting bitten by the infected.


    They witnessed their family and friends turn and try to eat them.


    The governments copsed.


    The cities became overrun by the infected.


    The world they knew, the reality they had, copsed in the span of a single day.


    Every single one of them. Everyone''s hearts, they were all crying for the answer to this question.


    Unexpectedly, Christia returned the question with eyes half-closed, unable to understand why Mark would ask such a kind of thing.


    "What kind of question is that?"


    Christia asked in return.


    "No, actually, I already have the hunch on the answer. I just want to confirm it from you."


    Mark replied.


    "Oh, is that so?" Christia smiled. "Well, then. I''ll say it. Goal? Such. Thing. Do. Not. Exist."


    Christia then peered below the building, looking at the infected scattered around in the streets.


    "Let me ask." Christia voiced out. "How many zombie movies have you watched?"


    That question made Mark thinking. With a smile, he replied.


    "Probably, all." Mark shrugged. "I don''t care aboutnguage or actors. I just watch every single zombie movie or even short films Ie across. Well, most of it is pirated, though."


    Mark answered in all honesty. For someone penniless like Mark, the only way to watch movies was by downloading pirated low-quality copies. If he wanted higher quality ones, he needed to wait for several months to even a year, and that was when the hype on the movie had died down.


    Christia almostughed after hearing that. Still, just that question that she gave answered Mark''s question.


    In zombie apocalypse movies, people turn into zombies either because of a sudden virus mutation or because it was developed by a certain person for personal purposes. But in the current case, Mutagen arrived on Earth without any particr reason.


    It was all by coincidence.


    And thus, no such goal existed.


    "We infected are only behaving ording to our nature," Christia said. "Like how humans treat pigs and chicken as livestock, that was how we view humans. Spread our species, like how humans and animals do by nature. Since the lower ss can''t procreate without any suitable mutation, the only thing they can do to increase our number is to infect humans and animals. For those that can create children, they will do that instead."


    Christia then turned to Mark.


    "We only have those urges. Not to think of a certain goal like taking over the world. Even if we do manage to take over this, it is just the aftereffect of our urges. Even if all humans or animals became infected, it is also just an aftereffect. Even if Earth was destroyed, it is just an aftereffect."


    "We have no goal. We only follow our urges."


    Mark then asked.


    "Even if you had enough intelligence and human memories, you still had those urges, isn''t it?"


    "Why not?" Christia replied with a confused expression. "Humans are intelligent. But their urges are far more intense than us infected. Don''t you think that I''m right?"


    Mark could only agree with that.


    Humans were intelligent beings. They pushed science and technology to the point that humans stopped evolving because of the ease that science gave them.


    Yet, humans were filled with endless urges that could not be satisfied in their whole lifetime.


    There was an urge to eat a delicious meal.


    There was an urge to find a good partner in life.


    There was an urge to be rich.


    These urges were too much that sometimes, it was mistaken as dreams.


    Compared to humans, the urges of the infected were far simpler.


    It was to spread their specie and eat human flesh. As the infected gained intelligence, the infected gain more urges like Heron wanting to fight a strong opponent or that other Infected King looking for a Queen. But even so, their initial urges still prevailed over others.


    Unlike humans...


    ...that could not even identify what urge they should prioritize in fulfilling.


    Mark then realized something.


    "The infected had a single goal then?"


    "What are you talking about? I already said that there''s no such goal."


    Christia insisted.


    "No, you have a single goal. That is to satisfy your urges as an infected."


    Mark said with open hands in front of him.


    "That''s..." Christia could not retort at all. "If you say it that way, then I can''t find a way to deny it."


    Christia gave up on Mark''s way of thinking. He was not wrong, after all. Fulfilling an urge was also a kind of goal.


    It was just unfortunate that the target of the infected''s urges were mainly humans.<sub> </sub>


    "Then..." Mark followed up. "You don''t have any urge to attack human settlements on your own?"


    Hearing that, Christia smiled.


    "No. At least, not me. I''m not dumb like the others. I have human memories. I know what extent humans pushed in a corner can do. Attacking a settlement is nothing but a pure gamble. I''m not a gambler. I even forbid my King from doing something dumb like that. Of course, it''s a different thing if it''s humans that entered our territory. We''ll try our best to kill and eat them. Or at least, make them one of us."


    Mark nodded at that answer. This was something that would not be answered by an infected just having developed intelligence. Christia knew what humans could do and would not be reckless in dealing with things. On the other hand, the other intelligent infected would still end up attacking settlements if they could. It was because they knew nothing about humans, aside from being food for them.


    Nevertheless, Christia''s answer proved that she was not a reckless opponent. If she actually started to attack settlements, she would have ns that other infected would not be able to pull off. Even if she failed to take down a settlement, she would not die and would probably leave the settlement in an unrecoverable state.


    "Okay then, next question." Mark decided to move to the next one. "What is the purpose of Kings and Queens? Are your kinds just here to lead the infected or are there other purposes?"


    That question made Christia''s expression crumple.


    "I don''t know," Christia answered, maintaining that expression. "I don''t know about others. But for me, I just have the urge to find a King the moment I woke up. I don''t really know why. The moment I found my King, Heron, I just want to be with him. To tell you the truth, there are other Queens that tried to challenge me for my position before. I killed them all. That is what my mind dictated for me to do. It is some sort of unexinable obsession. It is the same for the Kings too, as long as they haven''t found a Queen, they will challenge those that had queens and try to im the Queen as their own if they defeated the other King. Once we found a partner, however, the urge will vanish as long as we are together."


    Christia then tapped her chin, thinking about something.


    "Ah, remember that kid that you trashed this afternoon? If you remember how he reacted to a Queen being with you, you can probably understand what I am saying."


    "An unexinable urge, huh." Mark murmured as he remembered how that Infected King before behaved when he was rejected by Snow. "That guy totally looked like some guy with intense anger issues."


    "Hahaha!" Christiaughed upon hearing that. "That''s right. But if you had seen my King and another King fighting for me before, you will probably think that kid having anger issues is just a mild one."


    Mark started to imagine and shook his head.


    Imagine a scene of two mutated guys rampaging while roaring at each other like there was no tomorrow.


    "I think what you are imagining is wrong but I won''t correct it."


    Christia said, seeing Mark''s actions.


    "So, you really don''t know the significance of Infected Kings and Queens, huh?"


    Mark asked again.


    "Sorry, I don''t. Before, I also thought that I''m looking for a King to procreate or something along those lines. But now that I have my King, Heron, there''s nothing of that sort. Rather, we are just staying in his territory, leading the lower ss there, and dealing with intruders. Probably, I will know in the future."


    "I see."


    Mark nodded. There was no need to push this question. He could tell that even Chritia was yearning to know her purpose for existing.


    "By the way. You Kings and Queens can absorb abilities of Mutators... No, those that you call Mutants, right?"


    "Hmm? How did you... Ah right, you have Queens with you. We do. You can say that we Kings and Queens can''t mutate on our own anymore. It means that we can''t grow like how the lower ss does. Instead, we have the ability to absorb the abilities of Mutants in our bodies. Actually, not only us, you know?"


    "What do you mean?"


    Mark was confused.


    "I wonder if you have ever seen any Infected Mutants? In my knowledge, certain humans can be Mutants after being bitten instead of turning into one of us. Those Mutants can still be one of us after being bitten once more, you know that? But you won''t be able to see any at all."


    That made Mark realize.


    He had seen failed Mutators before, but never any Infected Mutators. Of course, it was a different case when Mark removed the ability first and the body became a normal infected instead.


    "The lower ss can elerate their mutations after eating a Mutant''s body, especially the brain. They won''t be able to actually possess the Mutant''s abilities but certain aspects of that ability will be incorporated into the mutations of the Infected that ate their bodies."


    Hearing that answer, Mark looked down.


    This was one thing he had been thinking about before. He wasparing the speed of mutation in Eriellis and Earth and concluded that the infected here on Earth was mutating faster. It was very likely that these ones were among those that Christia had mentioned just now.


    "Say, what effects does it give to the infected after they eat a psychic or any non-human with supernatural abilities? I noticed before that the infected are pretty much sensitive towards us."


    Mark asked as it was one of the things that were personally bothering him.


    "Sorry, but I don''t know." Christia shook her head. "We have seen some psychics before but they managed to escape. I haven''t tasted one myself. Hey, I have an idea. Since you can regenerate, why don''t you gave me a slice of yourself? Just a taste test or something."


    Mark frowned. This woman just had a ridiculous suggestion.


    "No."


    Of course, Mark would refuse it tly.


    "What a bummer."


    Christia pouted.


    Mark looked at that expression. The way Christia expressed herself and show emotions was very human-like. However, the eagerness she showed when mentioning eating humans was also genuine as an infected.


    "I want to ask a personal question."


    Mark spoke, erasing the pout on Christia''s face.


    "What question?"


    "You have human memories and can think like one. Have you ever thought of living like a human? Returning to human society or something and live as one?"


    That question made Christia show a bitter expression.


    "I have these memories but it doesn''t mean that its mine. It''s the memories of the person who owned this body before I was born as a Queen. And besides, even if I was her, I won''t return either."


    Christia turned to Mark. There were tears in the corner of her eyes.


    "Do you know what is thest memories of the real Christia before she died?"


    "She was in pain all over her body. Burns, knife wounds, bruises, twisted limbs... That is just the beginning of it. Christia''s trusted friends turned her into a toy that they yed with. Her beloved boyfriend was even among them. When the ce they stayed at was attacked by the infected, they all fled, leaving the Christia, who can''t even stand up because of her injuries, alone."


    "Tell me. Should I think of bing human when I have those kinds of memories the moment I woke up?"

 Chapter 579 Christias Question, Moving On The Road In The Middle Of The Night

    <strong>Day 132 - 12:14 AM - Rooftop, Abandoned Factory Office, Bridgeport Borough. Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, United States of America</strong>


    "You''re crying, huh." Mark pointed out the tears on Christia''s eyes. "Strange, though. You don''t seem to be sad about it."


    Of course, Mark would find it strange. Christia already dered that she was not the same person that was in her memories. Furthermore, Mark could tell that she had no such emotion that could cause her to cry. Yet, tears formed in the corner of her eyes.


    Being pointed out, Christia had an annoyed expression as she wiped off the tears on her eyes.


    "Tch. This again." She clicked her tongue. "It happens every time I try to recall those memories."


    "So, the real Christia''s sentiments are still clear in that body, isn''t it?"


    Mark voiced out his assumption. It was not the first time, after all. Back then, when he absorbed the nurse that mutated into a blob of blood, the sentiments she had were also left within her body, and Mark also fused with it along with her memories.


    "Now that you said it, that might be true." Christia agreed with what Mark said. "So, other questions?"


    To that question, Mark knocked his head a bit. He had a lot of questions. However, he was sure that even Christia, who was an Infected Queen, would not be able to answer it.


    And thus, Mark shook his head.


    "That''s thest one."


    "You seemed to have more questions, though."


    Christia seemed to have understood the expression that Mark was showing.


    "I do have a lot of questions." Mark nodded. "But unless you''re someone with deep scientific knowledge, you won''t be able to answer it. Let me give you an example. How did you awaken, to be a Queen, to be exact."


    Hearing that question, Christia understood. What Mark wanted to know was not something she could answer.


    In the first ce, she did not know how she became one. For her, it just happened.


    It was not within her urges to try and know why she became one. And to her, it also did not matter.


    It was like the saying...


    The past did not matter. What only mattered was the present.


    "See?" Mark shrugged. "You won''t be able to answer that."


    Mark smiled. He then moved towards the edge of the rooftop.


    "I''m leaving. I want to rest already."


    "Wait!"


    Christia suddenly called out.


    "What now?"


    Mark was quite irritated.


    "I want to ask something." Christia steeled herself to ask something personal. "It''s been strange, but you don''t seem to have any hate towards us infected. Our existence pretty much destroyed this world. Most humans we encountered before were filled with fear and anger. I want to know why you seem to be different."


    That question made Mark scratch his head. He knew that he was quite fond of the infected, but was never really asked by anyone about it specifically.


    "Let''s see..." Mark pondered. "Well, I''m quite disappointed that I won''t be able to watch new Anime, read new Manga and Novels, or y new Video Games."


    Hearing that, Christia was confused. She could not understand what he was talking about.


    "In any case, a world like this is not bad, for me at least." Mark then looked at Christia with a smile. "I don''t care if the one standing in front of me is a human, an infected, or other races. As long as they don''t bother me or put things I care about in danger, I won''t treat them badly, either. Of course, if its the opposite, I won''t entertain any nonsense. If I can''t make use of it, I''ll kill it. That other King this afternoon, he''s just lucky. I want to try and catch him alive. That is why he''s still living. If not, I might have already killed him."


    "Well, leaving him alive brought you here for me to gain valuable information. He sure have some other purposes."


    Mark smiled. This time it was quite sinister.


    And there, Mark opened his wings and flew away under the darkness of the night.


    BAM!


    The moment that Mark left, Heron returned, shaking the building as hended violently.


    "He''s gone?"


    Heron asked.


    "He already left." Christia took a deep breath. "That is nerve-racking. It looks like he did not take our threats before seriously, or things might have ended up roughly. But he''s still cautious, bringing us away from where his group is."


    "Is it really fine to let him go?" Heron voiced out. "For some reason, I feel hungry while looking at him."


    "My King... You think you are the only one? That''s why I found it strange that three Queens were lurking around him. If I stayed around him long enough, I might end up not being able to handle this hunger. I really wonder how those Queens are able to handle it or even stay together."


    "And my King." Christia stared at Heron. "Don''t try to challenge that man in the future. It might end up in a Death Match, and it will be very hard to say who will be the winner."


    "If you say so."


    Heron nodded.


    And there, Heron lifted his Queen and flew away. They were returning to their territory after satisfying their curiosity.


    ***


    Mark flew, returning back to the servicepound of the Golf Club. He was tapping on his ring, replying to Mei, who asked what happened.


    Apparently, the group also had their own battle with the infected, and it was still ongoing.


    Then, Mark proposed something.


    "Tell them to prepare to leave. Let''s just spend the night on the road."<sub> </sub>


    That was what he told Mei.


    Actually, it was better to do so. Even though he had a peaceful chat with Christia, she and Heron were still Infected Monarchs. Who knows if they would decide to do something.


    More importantly, even though Mark moved to the quarry to lure Heron and Christia out, the battle still affected a wide area. More and more infected woulde from farther ces, making it more dangerous the more time they spent here.


    With Mark''s decision, the others prepared to leave. It was agreed that they would just meet along the way, and thus, Mark flew towards the east, where the Schuylkill Expressway continued.


    Actually, it would not take long for Mark to return before Mei and the others prepare to leave, but he could not just return with his clothes tattered and his pants looking like rags.


    Finding a good ce tond, he stopped there to change clothes. He also cut off his hair that grew waist-long again. It was quite annoying since his hair would grow every time he unleashed that form, but would never shorten when he reverted back to normal. Of course, the way he cut it was quite unsightly. He was not a barber, and he only cut it off with a de. It would make one wonder why scenes in Anime and Movies where the protagonist cut off their hair with a sword still looked awesome and cool.


    "Whatever. I''ll just ask Mei''er to fix itter. She really likes it when she fixes my hair for some reason."


    Mark murmured with a smile. Actually, he also enjoyed it when someone yed with his hair. He was like a cat who liked his fur beingbed.


    After changing his clothes, Mark flew and managed to reunite with the others at an intersection near the Commerce Center of King of Prussia. And to say, the ce was now pretty much free of the infected. The effect of the battle was clearly present in this area.


    Roan was driving the vehicle in a hurry when they saw someone waiting by the road. When Mei told them to stop, they knew that it was Mark.


    Mark was weed back with an embrace from Mei, who looked sullen.


    "Gege left again without saying anything."


    She grumbled.


    Mark caressed her head. It was not like Mei was telling him to say where he was going. At least, she wanted to know if he was going to leave for a bit and not just vanish just like that.


    He then looked at the others.


    "Is everyone okay?" Mark asked before taking if back. "Of course not."


    Mark could only shrug. Everyone was woken up in the middle of the night and had to deal with the infected. Then, because of the danger, they had to leave. Of course, no one would feel okay in this situation. Even Elise had gone back to sleep the moment they rode the vehicle.


    Inside the vehicle, the others started to ask Mark questions.


    "Boss. Is it another of those you call [King Types] again?"


    Roan was the first to ask.


    "How did you know?"


    Of course, Mark would reply with that. He never mentioned that it was, after all.


    "Felicia said that Snow is scared again. It''s like this afternoon."


    What Roan said made Mark look at Snow. She was currently sitting beside him, asleep. It was as if she had finally felt safe could finally rest after an ordeal.


    Still, Mark could not understand. From what Christia said, once a King and a Queen had a partner, the urge of them looking for a partner would vanish. If that was the case, then Heron did not connect to Snow, like what the other King did. Nevertheless, she seemed to be afraid.


    "Ah..."


    Mark realized. It was probably because of Christia. Queens were prone to killing each other from what he learned from Christia.


    From there, Mark answered a few questions from the others before stopping them. He also wanted to rest and requested everyone to be quiet.


    Fortunately, because of his battle with Heron, the way was almost devoid of the infected. With this small number, the others could deal with them as Mark rested. Of course, the abandoned vehicles on the road still posed a problem. But other than the abandoned cars, the travel was smooth.


    Still, it did not take long before they came to a stop.


    It was not because there were infected or the road was blocked. In fact, the area they stopped was the road being in the middle of a vacant area with a bit of small forested areas. It was after they crossed over Schuykill River once more.


    Furthermore, it was Mark, who was supposed to be resting, that opened his eyes and told Roan to stop the vehicle.


    "Stop around there where the trees can cover the car."


    Mark pointed at the area where there were thick trees growing just beside the road.


    "Everyone stay here and don''t turn on the lights on the car."


    That was what Mark told everyone as he went out.


    Everyone was quite confused but they could only follow his instructions. Besides, there seemed to be no danger in this area at all. It was an opportunity for them to close their eyes for a bit.


    Leaving the vehicle, Mark stealthily made his way through the small forest in front of him.


    Paving through the bushes, the other side of the forest was seen by Mark. In front of him, about two hundred and sixty meters away, it was a huge red building, five stories high, and was shaped like a cathedral in front.


    Mark then browsed the map on his phone, covering around with Miasma so that the light from the screen would not identally be seen by others.


    And there, he saw the name of the ce. It was called St. Gabriel''s Hall.


    "Was it a church? It doesn''t look like it."


    Mark said, reading the short description on the map he had. He could only shake his head. There was no description at all.


    But why did Mark make the vehicle stop and why was he moving stealthily like this?


    It was because he detected humans.


    The road they were traveling on would curve around this ce. Thus, it would be impossible that the people here would not notice their vehicle.


    Because of that, Mark decided to check first. If these people were not hostile, they would just pass by without problems. If they were, Mark would not hesitate to use his crystals to cover their tracks.


    It was just that Mark wanted to save the Crystal''s energy if using it was not really necessary.

 Chapter 580 A Short Story Of Revenge, The Massacre At The St. Gabriels Hall

    <strong>Day 132 - 3:06 AM - St. Gabriel''s Hall Compound, Audubon, Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, United States of America</strong>


    Mark stared a little at the building in front of him before his eyes lowered.


    There, he saw them. The people he detected while he was still inside the vehicle.


    If not for these people outside, he would not be able to detect people from the St. Gabriel''s Hall while on the road because of the considerable distance between the two.


    Even so, it was quite lucky that the vehicle was not speeding, and the noise it emitted was not loud. If not, these people might have been rushing to see where their car was.


    And as it seemed, these people did not hear anything and went on their business.


    Still, it was quite unusual for a group of people to be outside at this time of the night. Until the sun rose from the horizon, most people would rather stay indoors because of the danger called the infected. On the other hand, these people were not afraid at all. They were even carrying torches to light up the way.


    Another unusual thing was that the group wasposed of boys that seemed to be in their teens.


    Mark hid better, wanting to know what these people were doing out here. Furthermore, they seemed to be gleeful for some reason.


    And as Mark watched the group, they made their way towards the middle of the vacantnd that had nothing but the overgrown grass. That was when he saw them dump something out of the sacks they were carrying.


    Then, the cold breeze blew, making Mark frown. The thick whiff of blood entered his nose. Mark, whose abilities were directly connected with blood, could tell, though.


    It was not the smell of the stale blood that the infected had.


    It was not the smell of blood from an animal either.


    It was the scent of blood that came from a human.


    After dumping the contents of the sack, the group merrily left and went on their way back to the red building. That was when Mark went out to see what those people dumped in that ce.


    Mark made his way through the overgrown grass, and the disgusting stench started to be thicker and thicker.


    As soon as Mark reached where those people dumped the contents of the sack they had, he saw what was in that ce.


    Because of the knee-high grass, it was hard to see, but there was a big pit, dug in the middle of the vacant, overgrown field.


    And what did the pit contained?


    It was a pit filled with decaying infected and human skeletons.


    Of course, it was not decayed skeletons. A lot of them looked fresh, with stains of barely dried up blood. There was even a set of bones that were still fresh, dripping with blood. It was very likely the thing that that group just now dumped in this hole.


    This scene made Mark look at the red building with a frown.


    "Cannibals."


    Furthermore, it was not just some cannibals that eat their victims. These ones were quite picky. From the shape of the bones that Mark saw, these butchered skeletons all belonged to females.


    Mark shook his head. It was not his intent to meddle in this ce. He was just here to see if these people could pose a threat while his group passed by.


    In any case, he confirmed that these people were hostile ones.


    "What should I do now?"


    Mark murmured as he threw a ball of ck fire towards the pit. The smell of burning bodies and bones started to mix in the air. But at least, no one would notice it as ck colored fire would not emit any light as it burned.


    Watching the hole burn while making sure that the fire would not spread unto the grass, Mark decided to check the red building.


    "I should at least see the firepower these people had. If they had guns, it''s better to dispose of them before we pass by."


    As the pitiful dead bodies turned to ash, Mark opened his wings and flew up.


    From the sky, Mark was able to see the whole ce. And he was right. It was not a church. He could tell just by looking at the shape of the building.


    Yet, from the front, it was shaped like a church with a tall belltower-like structure at the center. However, from above, it was actually apound of several buildings, built in a U shape. It had a vacant space at the center. He also saw the surrounding areas where it looked like wide recreational spaces. It was quite strange, though, that a single facility like this had five basketball courts, two baseball fields, and a half ser field.


    Mark was sure that even sports schools would not have this many basketball courts.


    There was also a small greenhouse, a swimming pool, and other vacantnds that had some recreational facilities left in it.


    Mark then circled the building from the sky and detected all the people living inside. Unexpectedly, all were males. He also found some females, though their mental states were already broken. The females also seemed to be under the building, indicating some sort of basement facility or dungeon.


    While flying around, Mark took the opportunity to peek into the rooms and found the sameyout for each one. The ce was like a dormitory of some sort. And as the furniture looked dull, this ce should be a dormitory for males.


    That was when Mark had tond in the northern area of thepound. It was where the road to ess the ce was located. It was because he saw some signage that could tell him what kind of ce this was.


    And as he read the sign, Mark finally understood this ce. He also passed by some information about this ce on the inte before.


    The St. Gabriel''s Hall. It was a Residential Treatment Facility for court-adjudicated adolescent boys. Inyman''s terms, a rehabilitation center for young males thatmitted crimes.


    No wonder now that it became a den of cannibals.


    Of course, it did not mean that because a young personmitted a crime would be irredeemable in the future. However, if one of them started something like this, being young, a lot of them would be influenced.


    However, what if the one that started it all was not the young ones? Instead, what if it was actually the people that run the ce?


    That might be the case in this ce. After all, Mark detected some older people in the building while he flew around.


    Leaving the signage, Mark flew away once more. He then saw that the road that his group would drive through was actually built with some watchtowers. Thus, he could not help but check.


    These cannibals were actually guarding the highway.


    "This must be where they were procuring their food, huh?"


    Mark murmured.


    Anyone using the Benjamin Franklin Highway would need to pass by this area. Thus, those people had no choice but to stop after being blocked by the current residents of St. Gabriel''s Hall.


    Furthermore, being a detainment facility, the people in the watchtowers were definitely armed with guns.


    In any case, whether Mark used the crystals or not, there was still a chance that these people would be alerted.


    PUFF!


    Without hesitation, Mark turned into a ck mist that moved towards the watchtowers.


    And there, the blood of the lookouts sttered into the walls inside.


    Mark then looted the bodies, took the guns away, and vanished with a sinister smile.<sub> </sub>


    He then flew around the hall, appearing and vanishing into ck mist. One by one, he quickly checked the ces were he detected firm mental fluctuations. These people that had confidence and had a high sense of safety were likely to have weapons with them. And thus, Mark took them all.


    If he could not find any, Mark did not hesitate to slit their throats in their sleep. Some of them woke up but could only utter gurgles on their mouths as blood flooded their throats.


    ***


    After a half-hour, the shadow of the Devil appeared in the dark basement of St. Gabriels hall.


    There, the women were all awake, despite their bloodshot eyes that were devoid of sleep. After all, even if they were already broken, who would be able to sleep if they knew that they would be eaten sooner orter.


    That was when the pitiful women noticed someone entering their despairing prison.


    Everyone shrunk back into the furthest corners of their cells. They thought that cannibals wanted some nighttime snack or something.


    But then, as the silhouette was seen by them, they were all surprised to see a human with demonic wings. He had a sinister aura around him that they felt fearful of.


    ''Did the devil finallye to im our lives?''


    ''In that case, please, take it.''


    ''Dying with their body intact instead of dying to be butchered. This would be better.''


    Their minds were flooded with those thoughts, as they slowly crawled their way towards the bars of their cells.


    ''Kill us. Please Kill us."


    ''We don''t want to live like this anymore.''


    Those words that they could not utter anymore were emitted by their eyes and gestures.


    They wanted this Devil that appeared to im their lives and stop their suffering.


    "Unfortunately, I''m not here to im your lives."


    The Devil then spoke.


    With several shes of a ck de, the cold metal bars that enclosed them to their dark prison were shed into pieces.


    And then, from a ck hole that appeared out of thin air, a lot of items fell.


    Guns, bullets, melee weapons, and even grenades, a lot of weaponry fell to the ground.


    Everyone was confused, frozen while looking at the weapons in front of them.


    "Those are your ticket out of this ce." The Devil continued. "I believe you all knew what to do next."


    And with those words, the Devil turned into a puff of ck mist and vanished.


    At the same time, the women''s eyes seemed to have a red glow on them.


    ''Pick up your weapons. Take revenge. Kill them all.''


    Those dark thoughts flooded their minds.


    It was the whispers of the Devil as they said.


    Slowly, with their weakened bodies, the women stood up. Sluggishly, they picked up the weapon of their choice.


    Like ghosts of revenge, the naked women left their prison.


    That was the start of the massacre.


    The women shot their guns at every person they saw inside the building. The gunshots woke up everyone, and they rushed towards the ce, only to get shot themselves.


    The cannibals tried to find their weapons.


    However, they never found any.


    As they ran out of the halls, bullets showered upon them.


    The cannibals tried to find their Mutators, unexpectedly, none of them were present. Instead, in their rooms, their beheaded bodies were left with their heads rolling on the floor.


    The men tried to fight back. But without weapons or abilities, they were only sitting ducks. Although they managed to kill a few of the women, a number of them still remained. And that remaining number killed more and more.


    The cannibals tried to flee, but found themselves trapped, unable to get out.


    ***


    <strong>The St. Gabriel''s Hall.</strong>


    <strong>The outside was red because of bricks.</strong>


    <strong>The inside was red because of blood.</strong>


    And the cause of it all was currently standing on the roof of the tower. The Devil was smiling at the scene he was watching.


    "Sure enough, the stories of revenge are the most satisfying to watch."


    He murmured as he opened his wings and flew away.


    ***


    Mark returned to the vehicle and saw everyone outside. Everyone was alert. It was clear why they were.


    "Boss, what did you do now?"


    Roan asked the moment that Marknded.


    Mark then shrugged.


    "Nothing. I just cleared our way. We can leave now."


    Of course, no one believed him. Even so, they rode the vehicle once more and drove off without problems. They saw the emptied watchtowers and thought that it could be what Mark took care of.


    Unknown to them, a few dayster, in the very same ce.


    A cult of women worshiping the Devil was founded.

 Chapter 581 The Last Stretch Of Road, A Strange Phenomenon And A Jump Off A Dragon

    <strong>Day 132 - 7:22 AM - S. Lewis Road Overpass, Pottstown Expressway, Royersford, Mongomery County, Pennsylvania, United States of America</strong>


    Everyone was in the middle of preparing the things they needed to cook and eat breakfast.


    After leaving the area around St. Gabriel''s Hall, the road was not too hazardous. Although they came across manymercialpounds and establishments because they were traversing the main expressway, the infected poption was not that highpared to cities.


    If they were to count the number of infected that they came across since they left the Cannibal Den, it should be more or less around five to six hundred. It was actually quite a lot. Butparing the number of infected they came across these past days, this number did not even reach a quarter.


    The only problems on the road were the pretty heavy traffic that was abandoned. Several idents on the road caused the blockage of traffic, causing a whole lot of cars on the way. Furthermore, bothnes had the same state. It was most likely that after the idents, many people that tried to flee decided to counterflow the iing traffic.


    That, however, made things moreplicated as more idents urred.


    Because of this, Roan was forced to drive the vehicle slowly, while paving way across the heavy traffic. At the sites where the idents happened, Mark and the others would go out and remove the crashed cars by force.


    When the sky lightened up as the sun rose from the horizon, they decided to stop and rest after finding a suitable area. Everyone did not manage to get proper sleep, after all. Thus, they decided to rest while those that were able to would prepare a warm soup for breakfast.


    Well, finding a good and safe ce to rest still took more than an hour, though.


    Hannah took the lead in cooking as usual. It was the only thing she could contribute to the group, after all.


    On the other hand, despite thenguage barrier, Feng Zhiruo volunteered to help in cooking. She was not much of a cook herself, but the speed and uracy she had while cutting the ingredients would make professional cooks drown in shame.


    At first, Feng Zhiruo actually thought that she would be declined of her participation. It was not surprising since she was among the group of people that attacked Mark and Mei before. However, Mark actually agreed to her surprise. It was not like she was nning anything bad. Still, to be trusted to participate in making food was not something to be given to people that could potentially harm the group.


    Feng Zhiruo could not tell whether Mark was too trusting, or it was just he knew that she had no ill intentions. However, Mark never looked like the former type. In fact, he looked like a scary person that would have a hard time trusting anyone. Thinking about this made her head hurt a bit.


    Well, Feng Zhiruo was quite right in that. If Mark was not an Empath of a high level, he would be someone hard tomunicate with because of his low trust in humans.


    While waiting for breakfast, Arnold and the others took charge as lookouts, allowing Roan and Mark, who had the least resting time, to rx.


    And now, Mark could be seen on the roof of the vehicle lying down with his head on Mei''sp.


    It was a scene that could make many men envy.


    Mark and Mei were of Asian descent. Feng Zhiruo was the same, being a Chinese.


    Nevertheless, even in American standards, Mei beautiful and attractive.


    Being a cultivator, Feng Zhiruo was also someone pretty. Butpared to Mei, there was a vast difference.


    Furthermore, even if Mei did not have the body of void, she still had the advantagepared to Feng Zhiruo. It was because she had both Chinese and Filipino blood flowing in her.


    It was one of the characteristics that were quite strange with Filipinos. Someone born a half-Filipino and half of another origin would likely end up with an above-average appearance. Although not everyone, it happened in a lot of cases.


    While Mark and Mei spent their time there, Elise wanted to join. However, she was being stopped by Felicia.


    On the other hand, Snow was watching Hannah and Feng Zhiruo cook. Looking at this, it started to be questionable what was the reason Snow wanted to be human. It was definitely because of food. Definitely.


    While cooking, however, Feng Zhiruo froze. She could not help but look at the surroundings by reflex.


    It was because she could feel a certain kind of energy suddenly circting.


    What kind of energy?


    Of course, it was the kind of energy that Chinese Cultivators were very familiar with.


    Qi, it was the vital force that was inherent in all things, living or not. This was the type of energy that Chinese Cultivators use to strengthen themselves far above human limits.


    Without a doubt, Feng Zhiruo would be surprised to feel natural Qi in the surroundings to suddenly circte.


    Nevertheless, as suddenly it came, the circting Qi vanished.


    "Hmm... It''s not working."


    Feng Zhiruo suddenly heard a troubled mutter from behind. She could not help but look and detected thest strands of Qi around someone.


    Unexpectedly, Mark was at the center of it all.


    Mark was supposed to be resting. But from what it looked like, he was doing something else covertly instead.


    Feeling the gaze and detecting the surprised emotion she had, Mark nced at Feng Zhiruo a bit before looking away and continuing his business.


    Mark closed his eyes and performed a set of breathing techniques.


    Once more, Feng Zhiruo felt the Natural Qi in the surroundings circting. The Natural Qi was moving towards Mark.


    "H-how..."


    Feng Zhiruo was shocked. That breathing technique could not be any more familiar to her. It was the basic foundation building breathing technique that their sect practiced. To be exact, it was something that was being practiced by the new members of their sect to ustom their bodies to the absorption of Natural Qi and build their foundation as cultivators.


    But why would Mark know about it? Furthermore, he was actually able to circte Natural Qi in the surroundings while lying down instead of sitting in a meditational position.


    And then, like before, the Natural Qi vanished. This time, Mark had a slight frown.


    "It''s not really working."


    Mark sighed.


    Now that he had a good time to feel calm and rx, he had the chance to dig the elder''s fragmented memories in his subconscious. He immediately found this foundation building breathing technique and tried it.


    Concentrating his mind and breathing in the air at different intervals through his nose and mouth, Mark could feel another kind of energy thickening in the surroundings.


    The next thing that was supposed to happen was to let that energy enter his body, through his meridians, and then, to the so-called, Dantian. He managed to vacuum the energy towards him. However, he could not feel it entering his body at all.<sub> </sub>


    Mark closed his eyes, digging through the elder''s memories. He could not find anything wrong with what he was doing. The sitting position was not really required either. And rather, afortable position could be used instead. In fact, he seeded in condensing the Natural Qi. The only thing that was going wrong was when he was trying to absorb it.


    "Gege, what are you doing?"


    Mei asked as she noticed the energy that Mark managed to circte in the surroundings.


    "I''m trying a breathing technique used by their sect. Something to absorb Natural Qi in the surroundings." Mark pointed his thumb at the dumbfounded Feng Zhiruo. "I can''t manage to absorb it for some reason, though."


    Mark then raised his head towards Mei.


    "Why don''t you try it?"


    "Can I?"


    Mei asked.


    "Yeah, I''ll guide you."


    Mark said as he lifted his head from Mei''sp and sat up.


    From there, Mei closed her eyes and followed Mark''s instructions.


    And there, the same phenomenon happened as the Natural Qi in the surroundings gathered once more. The condensed Qi then circled and moved like a vortex with Mei in the center.


    Unexpectedly, Mark felt the Natural Qi was actually being absorbed by Mei, albeit slowly. However, the process seemed to be different from what Mark saw from the elder''s memories.


    "HAH?!!!"


    An utterly shocked voice was heard, causing everyone to stare at the source with an incredulous expression. Of course, the shocked cry came from Feng Zhiruo after seeing Mei actually seed. But that was not the most surprising thing for her, however.


    [H-how! The Natural Qi is being purified before she absorbed it!]


    Feng Zhiruo was too shocked that she spoke the whole sentence in Mandarin.


    Of course, no one here could understand Feng Zhiruo. Only Mei, who could only stop her meditation because of her cry, and Mark, who can only understand some broken parts of her words.


    Everyone could only stare at Feng Zhiruo, whose mouth was agape. It would not be long before her saliva flowed out of her mouth. When she realized, she immediately closed her mouth with an embarrassed blush.


    Mark wanted to ask her about this. However, now was not the time to be immersed in it. Maybe, after they return home. Besides, Feng Zhiruo was not someone hard to get along with and would surely entertain their questions. It was even more possible since she seemed to have witnessed an unfathomable thing from Mei.


    After that short intermission, they ate breakfast with Feng Zhiruo''s face still red in embarrassment. However, she was ncing at Mark and Mei the entire time. It was obvious that she wanted to ask about what happened just now.


    Mark ignored her, though, with a mischievous thought. Being ignored like this, her curiosity would thicken as time passed by. When the topic came again, she would be blurting out everything that Mark would want to know.


    Soon, they continued on their journey. Inside the vehicle, however, Feng Zhiruo''s stares from behind were burning holes in Mark and Mei. The two could only shrug.


    They left that overpass after breakfast and made their way through the main expressway. Unexpectedly, unlike the past days, today was rather uneventful. The only time they stopped was when they ate lunch at the bridge over the Schuylkill River at Pottstown.


    It seemed that as they made their way farther from Phdelphia, the safer the roads became. This situation was not really surprising, considering that the next City they would pass by was actually Reading, which was their destination. Along the way, there were only smallmunities with lesser poption, even before the outbreak.


    After driving for the whole day, Reading City was not really far anymore. Thus, Mark decided that they would not make another stop and continue to drive after sunset.


    It was around five in the afternoon when they reached Stown.


    It was when...


    "WHAT THE HELL IS THAT!"


    Roan eximed, and Marielle was also shocked. Without hesitation, Roan stepped on the breaks. If not for Mark stopping him, he might have reversed the vehicle.


    Why?


    Well, there was just a dragon flying in the sky towards them.


    Everyone inside the vehicle was got the shock of their lives. That wings of a bat, a body of a lizard. It was definitely a dragon of the myths. Although they already had a fair share of seeing unusual creatures, they never expected to see an actual dragon.


    Furthermore, it was flying towards their vehicle at extreme speed.


    "Geez, they can''t wait any longer, huh."


    That was when they heard Mark mutter as such.


    Mark then opened the vehicle and jumped out with Mei.


    But then, before the dragon could reach them, they saw a strange thing sweep towards Mark at a fast speed.


    To their shock, they saw a strange shaped sword flying down. Then, it stopped in front of Mark.


    With a smile, Mark grabbed the handle of the sword. At this time, the dragon was already above, hovering in the air. It seemed to be finding the right angle tond.


    Before it couldnd, however, they heard a worried cry from above.


    Mark pped his forehead and opened his wings.


    It was because three girls just jumped off the dragon.


    "Seriously... These girls. Why are they imitating a certain Dagon Girl that jumped of a pervert dragon?"


    They heard Mark mutter as such before he pped his wings to fly up.

 Chapter 606 The Return Of The Brave Warriors, A Warning And The Reward He Wanted

    Day ¨ƒ¨ƒ - ¨ƒ¨ƒ:¨ƒ¨ƒ ¨ƒ¨ƒ - Stone Fortress, Eastern Mountain, Spirit Dimension


    The mes that engulfed the forest was still not extinguished but was already weakened enough by the rain for the warriors to force their way through. Tired, injured, and heavy-hearted, they pushed their way up the mountain why Mark covered their rear.


    Mark faced the horde of infected Spirit Races. Even though most of them chased after the retreating Demons, there was still a lot left to tail Mark and the warriors of Stone Fortress. Among them, a few infected Demons could be seen here and there. Facing all these enemies alone, Mark was forced to use his miasma to block magical attacks that came his way. Fearless and with a grin on his face, he tainted the charred forest with blood and dust of the disintegrated bodies of the infected.


    The warriors saw how Mark fought and wanted to join him. However, with their current condition, they would be more baggage than help.


    Nevertheless, to Mark, it was the best scenario. He was not covering the rear just for everyone to retreat safely. The actual reason that he did this was because he would be able to gather more crystals without getting too much attention. With thisrge amount of magical infected, Mark was bound to get more crystals than he would expect.


    Unfortunately, his fun ended soon as the reinforcements arrived halfway up the mountain. They helped the injured and faced the remaining infected together Mark. He could only shrug at this. Fortunately, he already got a number of crystals that he was satisfied with.


    Even Diwata Danaya came with the reinforcements and gave treatment to the injured soldiers. Because of this, their pace sped up as they climbed the mountain. Of course, even though the warriors were healed, they were still far from being able to join the fight.


    Unexpectedly, not all the warriors were healed. A few remained injured and weakened. It was no doubt that they were bitten. Even so, the bitten warriors were still brought up the mountain. If they turned, in the least, they would die in thend they protected.


    Soon, they reached the Stone Fortress and killed all the remaining infected. To no surprise, no one celebrated the return of the warriors. It was not like they did not want to. It was more of that they could not.


    The number of warriors from different races that went down the mountain to fight the infected horde was more than enough for a safe return. Even if some idents were to happen, it would be minimal. This time, however, less than a third of the warriors returned, and if not for Mark, it was possible that none of them would be able to return at all.


    Not to mention, the whole mountain was devastated. The forest had yet to stop burning, but everyone could see that everything was charred. They tried their best to stop the fire, but they could barely extinguish the area around the fortress, not to mention the whole mountain.


    The result of the forest being burnt to charcoal was an enormous setback to everyone living in the Stone Fortress. Not only the forest served as a natural defense and catalyst for the illusion magic of the Tikbngs, but it also attract beasts that could serve as food for its people. There was also a lot of herbs, fruits, and vegetables that could be picked around the mountain.


    Now, everything was gone.


    They could only wish that they had anyone that could use water magic. Unfortunately, all of the people here were either forest or mountain dwellers. Races that were capable of water magic lived nearrgekes and the ocean. Not in the middle of the mountains.


    In this situation, there was more to mourn than to rejoice. One thing that everyone here regrets at this moment was that they could not tear Tierio into pieces on the spot.


    ***


    After their return, Mark was escorted by a servant to a room where he could change his clothes. He fought under the heavy rain. It was no surprise that he was dripping wet, and his clothes and armor were stained with blood and mud.


    "I''ll be waiting outside. Please call me if Sire needed something."


    The servant said as she closed the door after Mark entered.


    Mark could not help but look around the room. Rather than a simple dressing room, it was quite extravagant. It was clear that it was another guest room. He would notin if he was brought to an empty room since he only needed to change clothes.


    Changing clothes, that was what Mark only needed to do. Yet, he could not bring himself to remove his clothes at all. He could not help but sigh.


    "What do you need from me?"


    Mark suddenly spoke, facing an empty corner of the room. There was nothing at that corner but the shadow of the curtains from the adjacent window.


    But as Mark asked his question, that very shadow distorted and seemed to have moved from its two-dimensional ne to a three-dimensional one. The shadow formed a humanoid silhouette before a person''s features appeared. Looking at it, it was a woman.


    The shadow turned into a dark-brown skinned woman with pitch-ck hair, ck eyes, pointed ears, and two short horns on her forehead. Her below shoulder-length hairplemented her dark colored skimpy-looking tight clothes. Her body was quite proportional, except for her chest that was on the t side.


    "Just what the hell are you looking at."


    The woman insecurely asked as she covered her front.


    Mark, on the other hand, did not care about her question as he was only observing the intruder in front of him.


    "I asked first. What do you want from me? I''m going to change my clothes so you better leave."


    He had no interest in interacting with her at all. The only reason he called out was only that this Demon was inside the room where he was supposed to change.


    Still, it was quite a surprise to find a demon woman lurking inside the Stone Fortress.


    The woman frowned as she noticed Mark''sck of interest in her. She was quite proud of her figure and appearance even as a demon. He did not even introduce himself or ask her name. With an annoyed snort, she went straight to the point.


    "What is a Pureblood Demon like you doing? Why are you helping the Spirit and Elemental Races?"


    Of course, that would be the question. This woman was obviously in cahoots with the Demon Army that ambushed the warriors of the Stone Fortress and set fire to the whole mountain. And Mark, a Pureblood Demon, was the one that stopped them.


    Furthermore, Demons and the Spirit and Elemental Races were enemies. It was quite unbelievable that Mark was helping them.


    "Why should I answer that?" Mark frowned. "It''s none of your business. I won''t say it again. Leave while I''m still not inclined to kill you."


    Mark was already emitting killing intent that made the woman shiver.<sub> </sub>


    "Tsk." The woman clicked her tongue. "We will retreat for now but you won''t be able to stop us."


    As she said that, her visage turned shadowy once more as she drifted out of the window.


    Sensing that the woman really left, Mark shrugged.


    "A Shadow Demon, huh. For them to send a spy here, their goals are not just to cause trouble for sure."


    Mark stared at the window that the woman used to exit. The window was closed, and she just drifted through the tiny space under it. It was an ability that the denizens of the shadow could do.


    He could have killed the woman in one go. She was strong but notparable to the two Mutator Demons that he encountered earlier. However, letting her go would serve as a warning. She would definitely report that Mark could sense her despite hiding in the shadows. It would be harder for them to send spies and infiltrate the Stone Fortress because of this. This situation would dy the demons of whatever goals they had and would give the fortress a little more time to prepare.


    ***


    After changing his clothes, Mark was led towards the throne room. There, Diwata Danaya and the representatives of the races were already waiting for him.


    "Our gratitude is yours for your help once more." Diwata Danaya, the guardian of these mountains, bowed towards Mark despite her status. "Although many lives were lost and only few managed to return, it was way better than none. Even though I am the one guarding this ce, at times like this is when I could realize my weakness."


    Diwata Danaya was crestfallen. As she said, she was the guardian of this ce. However, she could barely do anything at times like this. After all, she was just a young Diwata. Her abilities were limitedpared to others.


    The representatives were also the same. Having this position, they could not step unto the frontlines at all except for emergencies. If they were there in the first ce, this situation might have been avoided.


    "I don''t need your gratitude. Give that to those that died. I''m getting paid for the help I gave, remember?" Mark shrugged. "It''s a fair trade. I''m just upholding my end of it."


    Hearing Mark''s words, everyone did not know what to feel. Should they be annoyed or d? Who knows?


    Since the start, every time that Mark helped them in their troubles, it was because he needed something from them. There was something he wanted in exchange.


    It was the same in this situation.


    When Mark''s group arrived and learned the situation, Diwata Danaya implored him for his help. Given that she saw his capabilities, she knew that he could handle this situation. And of course, Mark wanted something in return.


    This time, however, they were d that it was not something material. It was information.


    Diwata Danaya nodded to Amayana, the representative of the Anggitay and the Tikbngs. With that signal, she stepped toward Mark and handed a square piece of animal skin rolled like a scroll.


    Mark opened it, and it was a rough map of the mountains that were under the protection of Diwata Danaya, exactly the same mountains in General Nakar, Quezon. On the map, several points were marked along with raggedly written roman alphabet letters that most humans currently use around the world. Whoever wrote this was familiar with the letters but was not used to writing them. Still, the effort was much appreciated even though it was really not necessary since he had Amihan with him.


    "There''s quite a lot, huh?"


    Mark said while looking at the map. There were twenty-eight markings all over different mountains.


    "But isn''t that what you wanted?" Diwata Danaya smiled. "That is one of the reasons all of us are gathered here. Everyone contributed their knowledge to finish that. In fact, we are reluctant if that is enough for your help this time."


    "Okay then. I recieved the payment." Mark shrugged. "Can I leave already, or am I still needed here?"


    "No, it is fine to leave. The rest of the agenda for us gathering here is our problem. If possible, we did not want to trouble you anymore than this. A servant will lead you to where your group is."


    Diwata Danaya then called for the same servant that brought Mark here to lead him back.


    With that, Mark left the throne room with a smile as he looked at the animal skin he grasped in his hand.


    What was this map? It was something he needed to progress his research.


    Back then, when they came here for the first time and saw the trade area, one thing urred to Mark. There was no form of currency that was being used here, and instead, it was barter trade. Among the items being traded were materials that only some races offered and not the others. It meant that some items were only avable to certain areas and were managed by different races.


    And it was what Mark wanted. The possible location on where to get those materials, for example, magical gemstones, metal mines, old Spirit Trees, or even medicinal herbs that did not exist on Earth. If Mark had these materials, maybe, he would be able to find alternative materials that could be used to recreate the equipment that Freed invented.


    Actually, Mark did not expect that it would be easy to get this map. However, it seemed that Diwata Danaya and the representatives already realized that the state of the world would never go back to the way it was before. Even if they did not give the locations to Mark, whatever was found there would end up rotting, unused for eternity.


    Furthermore, they already knew about the iing event after Teremillio and Felenia brought back the news. The news about the Second Wave and the fusion of Dimensions. Although believing it or not was another issue, there was nothing wrong with thinking about the worst-case scenario. If that really happened, there was no way that they would be able to go back to those locations at all in the future. The possibility was too slim.


    Besides, giving the locations to Mark was not a bad decision. If he was able to bring things back, there was a chance that they could trade for it if they needed some since Mark was more or less allied with them at this point.


    No, they were definitely allies considering that the Princess of the Stone Fortress was already one of Mark''s people.


    Mark reunited with the group. Unexpectedly it seemed they were given a permanent ce in the Stone Fortress. It was arge hall with different branching rooms. Even the decorations in the room were pleasing to look at. It was simple but luxurious.


    And here, everyone with Mark would start to talk about their future ns.

 Chapter 583 Reports And Troubles, The Things Needed To Be Addressed As Soon As Possible

    <strong>Day 132 - 6:48 PM - The Pagoda, Mt. Penn, Reading City, Pennsylvania, United States of America</strong>


    Mark stretched his back, trying to rx his muscles. Finally, the long journey he had with Mei from Antic City to this ce was over.


    The road was a very rough one, even for Mark. If it was just other ordinary people, that kind of journey was, without a doubt, deadly.


    There was a lot of trouble that they came across. First, a city that was isted from the maind, brimming with infected, prominent in both power and quantity. Then, the existence of Aliens. There was also the ouws here and there. The curse that sealed five-thousand-year-old Anti-God Weapon, the Cultivators, Lesser Demons, and even the Jersey Devil, andstly, the Monarchs among the infected that Mark came across.


    Among all that, the most important was the encounter with the 9th Eye. He called himself as Ninth, The Embodiment of Boredom. This encounter revealed the other side of the story.


    It was the other side of the events that transpired during the ousting of the Gods on Earth.


    Ninth also gave Mark the announcement of the iing Second Wave of the Apocalypse. Something that everyone that received the news should prepare for.


    With all those things in mind, Mark took a deep breath. Their journey home might have ended.


    Still, other things were just starting. Specifically, the preparation for the iing second wave would start from now on.


    While punishing the four troublesome women, Mark asked Spera, Aephelia, Huey, and Jolleen about the current happenings while he and Mei were gone.


    Usually, it would be Odelina that he would ask since she was basically the one left in charge of everything if he was not present. However, he sent her to have more time with her niece, Hannah, while weing the people he brought here.


    And there, Mark listened to the reports starting from the most urgent ones.


    First and foremost, the reason why The Pagoda that was supposed to be just a temporary meeting ce turned into a fully fortified outpost.


    The reason made Mark frown. It was not unexpected, but it was still annoying.


    All of this was because of Auraboros and its members.


    Like before, they sent Shadow people to infiltrate The Pagoda and learn about what was happening here. Although they were caught because of Huey, who had heightened senses, it still happened several times with different methods of infiltration. Thus, they decided to develop the ce instead and apply more security methods.


    Furthermore, the Pennsylvania Branch of Auraboros tantly built an outpost just below Mount Penn. It was not created discreetly but was an open deration that Auraboros was watching their activities. In fact, both sides could see each other''s outposts without problem any obstacle blocking the view.


    Mark asked them to point where the outpost of Auraboros was. He confirmed that it was true. There was no way that he would not be able to see thatrge condominium building below the mountain. Well, it seemed that the other party was having a hard time observing, though, because of the mist created by the Tikbngs using their Illusion Magic. Their magic was very effective around this area since the mountain was quite filled with trees. On other ces that were not, the Dryad helped in it.


    The Pagoda had already turned into a defensible outpost. Thus, Mark decided to keep it this way for a while. He already had some ns about the preparation they needed to do, and this ce in its current state was just convenient.


    Of course, he would deal with the annoying organizationter if they pushed over with their actions and went across the line. Right now, there were more important things to do than deal with pesky flies.


    The next thing that Mark asked about was not exactly urgent but asked about it anyways. It was about the people that were currently staying on the first floor of The Pagoda.


    He could not help but ask about it. It was because it was ufortable for him to feel unfamiliar people inside his turf. It would be more eptable if they were like the ones before that only camped outside his base.


    However, after hearing the reason for this, Mark decided to persevere. These people evacuated here and actually came from that very same building that the Auraboros was currently using as an outpost. They tried to seek help after they detected some human activities here at The Pagoda.


    Of course, that was not the actual reason they were allowed inside. It was because Huey and the others needed more hands in developing this ce as an Outpost. Though there were some people that were proven to be troublesome among them, the others still helped diligently in building things that were needed to be made.


    And now that Mark, their leader, came back, he would be the one to decide the fates of these people. Of course, if Mark did not want them, they would bepensated for their work before they were driven away.


    It was really not an urgent thing. But still, it was better to decide earlier so that Mark could let the useless people go.


    The next thing for Mark to hear was the current state of food supply for the base.


    First and foremost, the fields that were destroyed because of The Great One''s puppet was still unrecoverable for the most part. Apparently, the dust that covered thend rendered the soil infertile. Even removing theyer of dust above the ground would not work. It seemed that the properties of the dust and ashes seemed to have seeped deeper into the ground.


    Fortunately, the soil in the immediate vicinity of the base was recovering, albeit slowly. It seemed that the red particles that Chiyo, The Night Everred Spirit Tree, was releasing at night were the cause of the recovery.


    All the contents of this report were analyzed by the Dryad. She could check the soil when growing her vines and other nts. It was pretty fortunate that she was around, or else, they would not know that nting on the contaminated soil was futile.


    Aside from the soil, the battle at that time seemed to have caused evolved animals and insects to flee Mount Mbito. They were having a hard time procuring more food by hunting. In fact, they had to utilize Char to move around towards other mountains to capture evolved animals.


    Right now, the main source of food of the base came from the supplies they gathered here in Reading and transported back with Spera''s help.


    After hearing up to this point, Mark''s blood was already boiling.


    Auraboros had caused him and his base nothing but trouble.


    Back then, this organization lured Mei and the others into a death trap in Ninoy Aquino International Airport. Then, The Great One tried to abduct Mei on that same asion. Next was when they caused trouble when they revived Gar''m, and that encounter became the cause of the first [King Type] that they encountered to be born.


    The next thing was that organization encasing his base in inescapable fog and trying to kill Emika and other people. That was also when The Great One appeared and destroyed everything around his base.


    Trouble, trouble, and nothing but trouble.<sub> </sub>


    The more he thought about it, the more he wanted to destroy it.


    This was where he decided. Once those people at the condominium building below the mountain made a troublesome move while he was here, he would eliminate them immediately.


    The next report was about Edzel and the group that was left in the Spirit Dimension. It seemed that Odelina asked Spera to check on them while he was gone.


    Apparently, the Stone Fortress of Duendes was still holding one, although it seemed that the attacks of the infected spirit races were getting more and more frequent.


    About the ck Duende, Teremillio, and his harem, they were fine, though the man himself was getting a bit restless. After all, there was still no news about his mother and their Kingdom. In fact, they already wanted to set out on their own. However, with the infected attacks getting more frequent and stronger, it would be questionable if they would make it to their destination without dying. That was why the only reason they were still staying put at the Stone Fortress.


    It was the same for Edzel and his father. They still needed to go to the Tamawo''s Kingdom, but there was no way that they would be able to without Mark''s help.


    Those two groups only had Mark as their hope, and could only rely on him at this moment.


    Aside from those goals, Spera noticed something strange in the Spirit Dimension as she checked on the others. No one but her, who could travel through her portals would notice this.


    The flow of time in the Spirit Dimension was speeding up.


    Before, when they were inside the Spirit Dimension for three days, they were missing for about three weeks on Earth. It meant that an hour in the Spirit Dimension was about seven hours here. However, it seemed that the time difference was getting smaller and smaller.


    It seemed that yesterday, Spera went to check again and was in the Spirit Dimension for an hour. When she came back, however, only three hours and several minutes passed by.


    This report made Mark realize something.


    When Ninth delivered the news about the Second Wave, he said that the Spirit Dimension, the Higher Dimension, and the Lower Dimension would fuse.


    In this case, was the shortening time difference between dimensions pose as some sort of countdown mechanic?


    Mark could not be sure, but it was very likely.


    And the moment that the time flow on Earth and the other Dimensions reached the same wavelength, it was the time for the dimensions to converge.


    In this case, they did not have too much time.


    "Tch."


    Mark clicked his tongue while in deep thought. This made the others fall silent in that duration.


    They knew that Mark knew something that was happening since he reacted the strange way after hearing that report from Spera.


    Noticing the silence, Mark raised his head and faced Spera and the others.


    "Anything else?"


    Mark asked.


    "Nothing too important now, I think," Huey replied. "There''s also the issue with the infected, though. More and more of them were climbing the mountain to the base. It started after that battlest time."


    This one was not surprising. The infected were attracted to Supernatural Energies. Because of the battle between him and The Great One at that time, the infected might have gotten attracted to the area around their base.


    "There''s no problem with the infected?"


    Mark asked.


    "There isn''t for now." Huey nodded. "Our defenses can handle them, though it''s quite troublesome if [Armor Types] came. The needleunchers and our wall defenses have a hard time prating their armor. Also it would have been easier if we could use the Illusion of the Tikbngs around the base, again."


    It was a bit of aint. The wall defenses could be improved. However, the issue of the Illusion could not be helped. The Tikbngs could only use their Illusion Magic inside forests. But because everything around the base turned to dust, there was no way for them to use it.


    It also seemed that the Dryad could not force nts to grow in the contaminated areas either.


    And thus, they could only slowly address that issue.


    At this point, the most important things had been reported to Mark. The punishment had also passed, and the four troublesome women were allowed to stand. That was when the unnecessary remark from Jaeya came out from her mouth, making those in the know look at her with pity.


    Now, they finally entered The Pagoda after the vehicle was properly parked. Odelina also arranged some people to transport the still unconscious Morgan into a stretcher.


    At their entry, the attention of all the people staying on the first floor was on Mark and their group. Well, most of it was on Mei, though, standing out too much from the crowd.


    And there, some idiots seemed to be seeking death, after all.

 Chapter 584 The Five Vulgar Men, Their Fates Set In The Stone

    <strong>Day 132 - 7:34 PM - The Pagoda, Mount Penn, Reading City, Berks County, Pennsylvania, United States of America</strong>


    On the first floor of the Pagoda, the group of survivors that came here before was all confused. It was because about half an hour ago, most of the people running this ce went out for some reason.


    And now, the woman called Odelina, the person leading the operations in this ce, was guiding new people into the building.


    Soon after, Huey, Jolleen, and Spera that were known among the survivors were following behind two people and were talking in anguage that they could not understand.


    The man that the three were talking to did not look like someone of importance. The woman behind him, however, she was gathering their attention. Nevertheless, it seemed that she was quite uneasy because of the unwanted attention on her and was hiding behind the man.


    Because of her reaction, the other survivors tried to look away. Well, except for the five men that kept tantly ogling at her.


    The men were even talking about the woman without hiding it.


    "Dude! Look at that babe!"


    "Is she an angel?"


    "What are you talking about? She must be a goddess."


    The five hoodlums eximed one after another. Upon hearing that exchange, the others that were with the five wanted to hide their faces. Those words might sound like apliment. However, to the others that had been with these five for a while now, those words had a totally different meaning.


    Talking unnecessarily loud, even though they were talking among themselves. Those five wanted that beautiful woman to acknowledge their existence.


    Of course, there was nothing pure about their intention. After all, that kind of approach was more or less used by some gang members when picking up women in bars and night clubs. And sure enough, nothing good would end up in that kind of encounter, especially for the woman.


    At first, they would shower the woman withpliments, ying with her mind and emotions. The moment she reacted, the bait would be cast, and things would escte further.


    But before things could even start, the five became silent.


    PUFF!


    "AHH!"


    The other survivors were surprised and let out a shout as they retreated.


    It was because one by one, the five vulgar men spat out a mouthful of blood while their eyes, ears, and nose were dripping red.


    "W-what is going on?" A woman stood up, shocked with the current happening. She held on to another woman, pulling her away. "Vera, let''s get away from them. They might be sick!"


    The woman called Vera looked at her best friend and the five men alternately before nodding. In fact, not only the two but the rest of the group took distance away from the five vulgar men.


    Since something odd was happening, Vera turned her head to the people managing this ce. They should do something about this. But there, she saw them all doing nothing but staring at the five, especially the man that was taking with Huey, Jolleen, and Spera. He had a deadly stare at those men.


    Vera then rubbed her eyes.


    "Vera, is something wrong?"


    Vera''s best friend, Nte, asked, seeing her rubbing her eyes and staring at the Huey and the others.


    "No-nothing."


    Vera replied like that. However, her eyes were staring at that man. Why? She was sure that she saw his eyes glow red for a second.


    The survivors all turned to Huey and the others. Of course, they would be rmed about what was happening. Unexpectedly, Huey and his group did not make any movement at all. Instead, they seemed to be asking the man that they were talking to just now.


    Then, when they finished talking, the survivors thought that Huey and Jolleen would do something. But they actually turned around and left.


    "Wait! Are you leaving them just like that?"


    The oldest of the survivors, the middle-aged man named Lucas, called out to Huey''s group.


    Unexpectedly, instead of Huey, it was the man who turned around and replied.


    "Don''t worry. They''re not sick." But then, the man snickered. "They might die, though."


    They were surprised by that reply, and none of them were able to say another word. There, the man embraced the beautiful woman with his right arm and led her towards the stairs. They then climbed the stairs together with Huey''s group and the three girls that they had seen before.


    And as the group climbed up to the second floor, the five hoodlums fell down, unconcious. This caused the survivors to panic more. However, none of them approached to help the five either. At first, one would think that these survivors were afraid of the current situation. But looking at their faces as they stared at the five, they looked more or less happy at the state of these vile men.


    ***


    "Mei''er are you okay?"


    On the second floor of the Pagoda, Mark asked Mei. She had pretty much recovered from her trauma, at least, and could endure it in mild situations. However, this time was different.


    "I''m okay. But the stares of those men are scary."


    Mei was quite afraid of the stares from those five.


    Mark was not surprised about this, though. Those five Mutators seemed to have traits about lust and violence. Compared to normal instances, the stares of those five could make a woman feel that they wanted to swallow her whole in the worst situations.


    "We''re sorry about this," Huey apologized. "We also wanted to deal with those five already, but we were waiting for you, Boss."


    Hearing that, Mark nodded, understanding what Huey was implying.


    Those five were Mutators. And thus, Huey and the others waited for Mark, of course, to harvest those men''s mutations. It seemed that even if the personalities of those men were trash, their mutations were not.


    "What mutations did they have?"


    Mark asked, making Huey and Jolleen tell.


    First, the leader of those five men called Jeffrey could breathe out fire.


    Next was the right hand, Malcolm. This guy had a full body transformation of a gori. Huey and the others were not familiar with what kind of gori it was, but while transformed, Malcolm seemed to be able to pull a ten-wheeler truck with one finger. Listening to the appearance of the transformation where Malcolm had a ck upper body fur and white lower body fur, Mark concluded that this guy''s mutation must be a Western Lond Gori.


    The third guy, the runner of the group, he was called Aulsen. And when it said runner, it was literally a runner. This guy''s zebra legs mutation allowed him to run very fast.


    And the fourth guy, Silvester, was actually the most dangerous. His sweat had turned explosive and would ignite at contact with fire. This guy was a walking disaster if not managed. The most amazing thing, however, was that his body was immune to his own explosions. It was like the chemical reaction within the explosion that was caused by his sweat was different from a normal one. There was a problem with his mutation, though. Silvester could not control the secretion of his sweat, which made it useless duringbat.<sub> </sub>


    For thest one, it was the man called Vince. He was the fattest among the five, though his mutation had nothing to do with his weight. This guy could grow spikes on his body like a hedgehog. Furthermore, it could be used for both defense and offense. The most interesting in this ability, however, was that he was able tounch his spikes.


    "They really have some extraordinary mutations." Mark murmured. "How did you all get this information, anyway?"


    "It''s not really hard to know," Huey scratched his head as he replied. "We told the group when they arrived that people with abilities would be treated differently, and those five immediately came to boast about their abilities. They hid their weaknesses, though. So, we had to rely on the CCTV''s we installed for that."


    "What different treatment did you gave those five?"


    Mark asked.


    "Well, nothing much, really," Huey smiled. "We only gave them a bit more food than others, clothing too. Then, told them that the treatment will be improved if they were to actually join us after you return."


    "It''s not likely to happen. Impossible."


    Jolleen joined in.


    In short, those five were bamboozled to reveal their abilities easily.


    "Good work then."


    Mark praised them. There was no need to hold back on taking advantage of people like them.


    Hearing what he needed to hear about those five, Mark turned back to Mei.


    "You should take a rest. Spend some time with the girls."


    Mark said as Miracle was also itching to do so.


    Here, Spera interjected.


    "Sister, want to take a bath first?"


    It was an invitation that Mei would not be able to decline. She immediately nodded. She was quite excited about this.


    "You going to open a portal?"


    Mark asked Spera.


    "Ah, no!" She immediately denied. "We made a bath on the top floor. The view there is great!"


    Hearing that, Mark shrugged. The mountain base had a stable water source. It would not be surprising that they brought enough water here to be able to take a bath.


    "Go and take a bath, then."


    Mark smiled and patted Mei''s head.


    In the past days that they were traveling, the most that they could do was wipe their bodies with a wet cloth. They also had to mind the water supply and could not clean their bodies thoroughly. Now that they reunited with the others, they could finally take a bath once more.


    Well, in this apocalypse, being able to take a bath for most people was already a luxury. They could take a bath in oceans and rivers, but it was not without risk either.


    ? "What about Gege?"


    Mei asked.


    "What? You want me to join you?"


    Mark dropped a joke. Mei''s face turned red immediately.


    "My Mei''er is really cute." Mark then said as he nted a kiss on her forehead. "Just go already. I''ll just take out the trash."


    Take out the trash. There was no need to ask what that meant.


    With a red face, Mei and the girls were led away by Spera and Jolleen. Now, it was only Huey and Mark that was left.


    "So, Boss already moved to kissing."


    Huey suddenly said. It made Mark freeze with a wry smile.


    It was not hard to tell that Huey saw this as a huge improvement, knowing Mark and all.


    Mark decided to change the topic.


    "Get someone to move out those five bastards. I''ll eliminate them immediately."


    "As you wish."


    Huey replied. In his expression, it seemed that he was also itching to remove the pests for a while now. It was not surprising if those five behaved the same way towards Jolleen.


    And there, the survivors were surprised as Huey led some people to drag out the five unconscious men.


    "W-were are you bringing them?"


    Vera was suddenly pushed forward and asked Huey. She seemed to be forced to ask that question as she was stuttering.


    But to that question, Huey, who was kind to almost all of them, replied with an unexpected thing.


    "We''re bringing them to be executed."


    Huey did not even y with his words and directly said what was going on.


    And of course, the survivors were shocked at the sudden event. Before any of them could ask more questions, Huey beat them to the punch.


    "If all of you wanted to know why? It''s because they offended someone they should not offend while staying here. The pair that I''m talking to before was our leader and his wife. They just returned, but the Mistress is already subjected to vulgar intentions. Boss will not tolerate that."


    The survivors froze. There was no hesitation on Huey as he dered that. It just meant that the fates of these five were set in the stone. There was not much problem with that as these five were trash in its actual meaning.


    However, this event made the remaining survivors question the ce they went to seek shelter and protection.

 Chapter 585 Back To The Mountain Base, A Base Of Strange Fantasy In The Apocalypse

    <strong>Day 133 - 8:25 AM - The Pagoda, Mouth Penn, Reading City, Berks County, Pennsylvania, United States of America</strong>


    The next morning came with the survivors on the first floor not able to sleep properly. None of them would be able to ignore the fact that five of them were sentenced to deathst night. It was even if they did not like those men at all.


    And those five men that suddenly spat out blood and fell unconscious were not seen ever again after they were taken away.


    The survivors of Reading City started to question whether it was the right decision for them to go to this ce to seek shelter.


    Before the incidentst night happened, they thought that this ce was run by kind and tolerant people. These people were also powerful that each one of them could decimate groups of infected on their own. Even the three girls that were always present were the same. These survivors had witnessed the three fighting the infected under Odelina''s supervision one time.


    That group also had some supernatural creatures at their disposal. It was scary at first. But after the survivors began to get used to seeing those creatures, they were not something to be feared as long as one did not offend them. Of course, talking with these creatures was another thing. In the first ce, the survivors could not understand the words they were using tomunicate.


    Although it was sort of strange that a group of foreigners were here and captured the ce on their own. Still, this group was easy tomunicate with and was kind to them.


    Not only shelter but food, water, and clothing, the survivors of Reading City received that group''s kindness.


    They even let those five troublesome men stay here despite their obscene nces towards their female members. Of course, those five held themselves back well as they did not want to be thrown out.


    Butst night was the mark where their views of this ce began to move out of their delusions.


    Huey interacted with them amicably, until now. He, however, disyed an unmoved expression as he led people to bring the unconcious men out for execution. In fact, his eyes looked quite scary as he exined what was happening.


    And there, of course, there was no question that some of the survivors would follow. They wanted to see what would happen to the five men who were brought out of The Pagoda. And at the backside of the pagoda, unconcious and unable to resist, the five were brutally beheaded by the same man that arrived earlier.


    It was the real leader of Huey''s group who killed the five men without batting an eyelid.


    These survivors had killed infected before in more gruesome ways due to theck of proper weapons. However, seeing a living human beheaded like an infected made their stomachs churn. If not for the fact that they were trying to hide, they might have vomited out their dinner in that very ce.


    And then, something unexpected happened. As if it was magic, five crystals appeared on the leader''s hand, and those crystals flew towards the dead bodies, shining like a small sun in the darkness of the night.


    This made the survivors that followed sneakily think that they witnessed something that they should not have. They all retreated immediately, afraid, and unable to sleep for the night.


    None of them knew that the leader knew that they were watching. It was all part of the n all along.


    ***


    Mark stood on the highest floor of The Pagoda with Mei and the three little girls. They were preparing to go back to the Mountain Base and see the situation for themselves. Of course, it was not that they were going to abandon this ce. Since getting food on the other side was hard at this point in time, they needed to gather supplies from Reading City and transport it to the base with Spera''s help.


    It was something that only their group could pull off now. If it was other survivors, they might have to abandon their base in the mountain in this state and seek shelter near the city. Luckily, it was the right decision for Mark to win over Spera''s trust, and she really helped a lot in many things. Furthermore, she was enjoying her new life as is, without worrying about being treated as nothing but a tool for convenience.


    As Mark, Mei, and the three girls came down, Roan and the others were also getting ready. They were informedst night that they would be brought to the base in the morning.


    Of course, Roan and the others were all confused. Although Mark had shown everyone some strange abilities, there was no way for them to know how they would go from this ce to another country. Well, they were also excited for the same reason. They were very curious about how the Philippines that they had never been to would look like.


    "Boss, are you sure it''s the best time to go?" Roan asked as Mark and his family arrived. "Won''t it be nighttime in your country right now?"


    That was a good question. It was morning here in Pennsylvania, but because of the twelve hours time zone difference, it would be eight in the evening in the Philippines.


    "You know, that''s the reason I picked this time. My base looks better in the night."


    Mark replied, obscuring other details. He then turned to Huey, not waiting for another word from Roan.


    "You manage this ce. We won''t take too long."


    "How about the people below?"


    Huey asked. He was indicating to the survivors that they let watch the executionst night.


    There, Mark smiled.


    "Let them know that I''m not around. Do it indirectly. Then, let those that want to leave, go. I''ll screen the remaining ones when we get back."


    "Okay Boss."


    Huey nodded.


    It was impossible for Mark to not know that people were sneakily watching how he killed those five men. In fact, he made it as brutal as possible by beheading those five when he could just stab a knife on their heads to end things instantly. The beheading did not even go smoothly, and blood sttered around since he purposely used a slightly dull de to cut off their heads.


    All of it was to make those survivors leave the ce in fear. If they knew that Mark was not around, it would fuel their desire to leave.


    And now, as the business here was concluded, for the most part, it was time to return to the base.


    While Roan and the others were still confused, Mark nodded at Spera.


    Spera then stepped forward and stretched her hands in front of her.


    And there, Roan and the others that witnessed it for the first time could not help but step back from both amazement and fear.


    In front of Spera, it started as a small sh and spark of electricity in an empty space. But suddenly, it turned into a rip in space that expanded fast. It became a hole asrge as a double door.


    And inside the hole, everyone could see an entirely different scene from what they were supposed to see.


    "Follow behind us."


    Mark said to Roan and the others as he led the whole group to enter the portal.<sub> </sub>


    They all hesitated a bit, though they still followed.


    And they were amazed as the whole scene in front of them changed.


    It was a ce with structures and walls made entirely of ck material. It looked quite eerie on its own. However, therge tree with red leaves glowing in the dark fascinated everyone. Even the particles that fell from the tree like snow gave the whole ce a fantasy-like atmosphere.


    Since it was nighttime, they expected it to be dark. Furthermore, with no electricity, even if there were torches and oilmps, the light would not be enough. There was the possible use of generators. However, no one would be dumb enough to use something like that to illuminate everything aside from necessary ces.


    But they were wrong with that assumption. With some strange metal grid instations that were installed along the path, everything was brightly lit. They could not help but touch the instations and felt that it was metal. Nevertheless, it was exuding light, which was amazing on its own.


    Ernst that was a scientist could not fathom the things that he had seen so far. ck metal-like structures, the metal that was glowing brightly as fluorescentmps, and that towering huge tree with red glowing leaves. It was all new to him and these things started to throw what he knew in the past upside down.


    However, the things that would turn their knowledge upside down and fascinate them had just started.


    The portal they entered brought them to the entrance of the base. It was a ce where they designated that Spera would open her portals in the base. For emergency times, she could open a portal at other ces, but for normal asions, she would need to open there. Why? It was because it would be dangerous if she opened a portal, and someone was actually standing on the ce she connected to.


    Being in the way as the portal was constructed was quite dangerous. In the mildest cases, the static electricity generated at the initial phase could electrocute anyone. In the worse scenario, the person would be torn along with the space that was ripped open to create the portal.


    Being brought at the entrance of the base, they needed to walk further inside. Several people saw Mark, and the word of his return spread out quickly. Another warm wee happened as they all greeted Mark. Of course, they did not stop Mark, and it turned into a miniparade as they walked around.


    And when they reached the base of the tree at the center of the base, they saw a surprising creature. Peeking out of the waters of the pond with strange-looking water nts, there was a beautiful woman.


    "M-Master, M-Mishtress, wee back."


    Timidly and with a stutter, Milliel greeted Mark and Mei. She even bit her tongue in nervousness. She was not nervous because of Mark and Mei. Rather, it was because of the unfamiliar people with them. It also seemed that while they were gone, Milliel had learned more words.


    Seeing a beautiful woman with a cure gesture of biting her tongue as she greeted, Arnold and the others wanted to say hello.


    However, as they stepped forward, it scared Milliel, and she immediately dived deeper into the pond.


    That was when Arnold and the others saw something that made them speechless.


    When Milliel dived deeper, her lower body was exposed because of her maneuver.


    It was the tail of a fish.


    "E-Elder Brother, I-is she?!!"


    Elise ran towards Mark, tugging the sleeve of his jacket as she eximed excitedly.


    Mark smiled.


    "Yep, that''s a mermaid."


    Everyone was speechless at this point.


    Milliel then appeared once more on the further side of the pond, right beside the tree''s roots. Only her eyes and head was over the water, while she cautiously watched the group.


    And there, the group was surprised by a sudden scream.


    "MMMMAAAASSSSTTTEEEEERRRR!!!"


    The scream came from above, in the direction where Mark''s cliff house was built.


    And they immediately saw a small girl, small in a literal sense, plunge towards Mark.


    "MASTER!!! *Sniff"


    Amihan cried out as she rubbed her face on Mark''s chest.


    "Seriously, you''re too dramatic as ever."


    Mark said with a troubled smile as he put Amihan on his hands.


    Amihan was not together with everyone in The Pagoda as she had to help in blowing away the ck ash and dust in the area. And since she was alone in the house right now, she was quite lonely until the otherse back to check on her.


    But now, Mark had returned. The very first human she was in contact with and the person she trusted the most. Of course, she would act like this.


    And then, Amihan heard voices ovep each other.


    "Uwah! Fairy!"


    One of the children''s voices was heard in excitement.


    That was when Amihan turned her head like a broken machine that needed oil. She saw...


    "HUMANS!"


    Amihan eximed as she hid behind Mark.


    "Well, this is quite nostalgic."


    Markughed a bit. It had been a long time since he heard that shout of hers, after all.

 Chapter 586 A New Place To Stay, Leading The New Jersey Survivors To Their New Dwellings

    <strong>Day 133 - 8:32 PM - Mountain Base, Mount Mbito, General Nakar, Quezon Province, Philippines</strong>


    "This ce is fascinating."


    That was what filled the mind of Roan and the others that came here for the first time. It was as if they were brought into a different world, far from the nightmarish apocalypse that they suffered in for the past four months.


    In this ce, their group saw strange sights, fascinating creatures, and even the people looked carefree without worry.


    "Boss, you didn''t bring us to your country, right? It''s a different world, isn''t it?"


    Roan could not help but voice out as they continued to walk around.


    "That might look like it, but it''s kind of impossible, right?"


    Arnold said, rejecting what Roan said.


    The others nodded, agreeing with Arnold. With what happened on Earth right after the apocalypse, it was not strange that a ce like this existed. Of course, it was still surprising, especially the existence of the creatures that they only heard from fairytales, myths, and folklore. Though everyone had seen the Tikbngs and the Dryad back in The Pagoda, they did not think much of it.


    They just thought that they were Mutants with strange mutations. It was not surprising considering that not everyone was privy to Mythological Creatures around the world. Furthermore, they all looked half-humans, and that made them have such an assumption.


    But seeing the fairy, they were finally convinced that these creatures were not just products of Mutagen. They were actual, genuine creatures.


    Creatures took from the stories they had heard before.


    Creatures whose existence had long been being debated since the start of time.


    "I can bring you all to another world if you want to, though?" Mark suddenly said with a shrug. "It''s more or less just another dimension on Earth, but it can be considered as another world since manyws on Earth did not apply there. The people that lived there are not humans either."


    Everyone in Roan''s group froze. They could not fathom whether what Mark was saying was the truth or not.


    "Sir Mark, you''re kidding us, right?"


    Felicia could not help but say.


    "I''m not joking. It''s the dimension where those horseheads and the Dryad came from. The world home to the Mythological creatures that don''t exist on Earth for the most part."


    Everyone had gone speechless at this point. Mark definitely liked to turn their world upside down.


    "Well, don''t think about things too much," Mark added. "Only this ce looked like this. If you all go down the mountain, you will probably experience things not any differentpared to the things back in your previous ce. But of course, it can be less or worse, depending on the ce you intend to go to."


    Hearing that, everyone had a wry smile. This ce was too good to be true, but it seemed that it was no different outside.


    Still, everyone could only admit. The strange person called Mark brought them to a ce that was a paradisepared to the ce they lived in the past four months.


    A paradise, they said.


    It was until...


    The scene suddenly became a nightmare.


    In front of them, a gigantic woman with tentacles and hundreds of eyes all over its body stood. She was growling at them.


    No, she was growling at Mark. Her gestures did seem harmless, but it was definitely nightmarish to everyone.


    "She''s not growling, right? She seemed to be talking."


    Sandy said, realizing that this nightmarish looking woman seemed to be talking to Mark. It was impossible to understand, though, since all she did was to growl with a bit of gesture with her hands.


    That was when they heard Mark reply.


    "Thanks." Mark said since Aimee came to wee him back. "Any changes with your child?"


    Of course, it was natural for Mark to ask that. Since Aimee was keeping her supposed to be child secure all the time, no one else here knew its condition.


    To Aimee''s dismay, she shook her head. It seemed that there were no changes at all.


    "I''ll check on it inter, ok?"


    Mark said, in which Aimee reacted to in delight. She was already getting worried about her child, but she also felt that it was not dead at all. Thus, she could only wait in worry.


    Even though it was not sure that Mark could do anything at all, it was still better that he checked on that stone-like egg.


    On the other hand, however, Mark had a different reason for asking. It was because he could feel another consciousness in the base, albeit faint. Furthermore, it wasing to where Aimee was staying.


    Aimee then left immediately. Unless it was important business, Aimee barely came out of her dwelling, after all. All her time was spent on taking care of that stone.


    "I can''t believe that the fairytale turned into horror, all of a sudden."


    Felicia murmured, which caused Roan to bump her fist on her head under their parent''s orders.


    "Felicia, it''s rude."


    Abraham reprimanded Felicia, causing her to lower her head in embarrassment.


    Mark did not mind the shenanigans of the group behind him and turned to Aephelia.


    "Aephelia, lead Snow to where she will be staying. Also bring that Spider to the dungeon."


    "As you wish."


    Aephelia replied and took Snow''s hand. Since this loyal maid could control the infected, she was the best person to handle Snow, Jte, and Trixie. Of course, she had Monique and Mara as her assistants since they were rtives of two of the three Infected Queens that was now in this ce.


    However, since Aephelia was unfamiliar to her, Snow did not budge in her ce and looked at Mark with confusion.


    Mark then patted her head, causing her eyes to squint.


    "Follow her. She will bring you to your bedroom. She will also give you food."


    Snow tilted her head upon hearing the word bedroom. She could not understand it. However, this Infected Queen reacted quite differently after she heard food and stared at Aephelia with bright eyes.


    "Aephlia, don''t forget to give her food."


    "Yes."


    Aephelia nodded as she finally managed to pull away Snow.


    "Oh, by the way. Don''t give her infected food. She liked human food better."


    "Huh?" Aephlia then froze and looked at Mark before turning to Snow. "Master, you brought a strange one, didn''t you."


    Mark did not reply to that and only shrugged. Who had known that Snow would turn out to be a glutton for human food?<sub> </sub>


    "Odel." Mark then turned to Odelina. "Can you lead them to the Temporary Housing? It''s already relocated, right?"


    "Yes, it''s already been relocated to the east side, south of your house."


    Odelina replied.


    Before, the Temporary Housing was built outside Mark''s cliff house. There were two of them, separating the males and females. However, that was inconvenient for the most part. It was Aephelia who suggested it to be relocated and built somewhere else. After all, it was kind of disturbing that people that were still new to the ce were housed in front of the lord''s mansion.


    Aephelia said that it was like letting squatters build a house in front of the King''s castle.


    Since she had a point in that, everyone agreed to it, and it was moved.


    And under Mark''smand, Aephelia brought Roan''s group towards the Temporary Housing.


    When Roan''s group heard that they would be brought into Temporary Housing, they did not expect much.


    It was temporary, after all.


    But there they were mistaken.


    Reaching the southeast side of the base, they stood outside a huge building. Everyone was frozen once more. It looked more or less like a modern mansion with two towers. Of course, everything was all made of ck colored metal. It had two wings that were joined by a two-floor building in the middle.


    Then, with Odelina in the lead, they all entered inside.


    "This is where all of you will be staying temporarily," Odelina said with a smile as they entered the first floor. "The north wing is for women while the south wing is for men. In this first floor of the central lobby, there are family-sized rooms which can be shared by family members."


    Thest sentence was said by Odelina while looking at Abrahan that was pushing his wife''s wheelchair.


    Odelina then turned to Roan and Marielle.


    "We also had several couple rooms on the second floor."


    There was no other exnation needed for that part. And of course, Marielle turned red, and Roan was panicking.


    "W-we are not really-"


    "We''ll take it!"


    Roan tried to deny, but before he could do so, Marielle cut him off.


    "M-Marielle... What are you!"


    "We''ll TAKE it!"


    Marielle pushed forward, even though her face was already flushed embarrassment.


    Of course, it caused some banter within the group. Marielle was pushing forward aggressively.


    Still, while Roan received some yful jeering from the men, Marielle received some encouragement from the women, especially from Candace that was Roan''s mother.


    "Take care of my son well, alright?" Candace said to Marielle. "We''re already old but we still don''t have any grandchildren."


    Those words made Marielle d and more embarrassed at the same time. However, there was no pulling back.


    Hearing about the topic of grandchildren, though. Felicia had a slightly bitter smile.


    Soon, Odelina brought them to their assigned dwellings. There were also other people that were staying in the Temporary Housing. Apparently, there were prerequisites that needed to be fulfilled if one wanted their own housing in the base. One of which was having a family or being a couple. Another way was to gain enough contribution to the base. Of course, not everyone could fulfill this immediately, and they were still staying at the Temporary Housing.


    However, it was not bad at all. In fact, rather than a ce where new people were thrown into, the Temporary Housing was more or less like a huge inn. Furthermore, people that came in groups could share a room on their own. After all, this was a better arrangement than letting unfamiliar people sleeping in one room with all their belongings scattered around.


    While the designation of rooms ended shortly, Roan seemed to have slipped out of the room he shared with Marielle and tried to join the other men. Of course, he was banned from entering and kicked out by Arnold and Ernst.


    Andstly, the three children.


    In front of the Temporary Housing, there was a Nursery House. This was where all the orphans were staying. This was also the same ce they were receiving a proper education. Not everyone was fond of it, though, but as they were given more food and even toys for studying hard, everyone was eagerly studying.


    The three children from New Jersey were kind of awkward after arriving. After all, not only that it was an unfamiliar environment, but there would also be thenguage barrier because it was a different country.


    But unexpectedly, while not too well enough, the children that weed the three could converse properly. And as it seemed, these children had their own group in this base, and it was led by a girl with a metal armored arm. The three neers were fascinated by that as Elona introduced herself.


    Especially Caelum, the weirdest of the three, kept on staring at Elona''s arm.


    The three kids from New Jersey would not have a hard time adapting to this ce. It was because most of these kids here were all chosen by Mark to stay in this ce. He would not choose bad kids, after all. There were also some hard-headed ones at first, but they all changed after being educated properly, and since most of the kids had good behavior.


    ***


    After the duties given to them, Aephelia and Odelina returned to Mark''s house to report.


    "Master, you brought back a merry bunch, aren''t you?"


    Odelina asked, with Hannah following behind her.


    "It''s a good thing, though. It''s what matters."


    Mark replied while checking the things inside his and Mei''s rings.


    "Master, about Hannah." Odelina voiced out. "I want her to stay here and be one of the maids if possible."


    "Are you sure about that?"


    Mark asked.


    "I think it will be fine. She had been trained with the basics, already. She could help us with the house chores while we manage other things outside."


    "If that''s the case, there''s no problem for me."


    Mark agreed.


    "Thank you."


    Odelina replied with a bow. Hannah also followed.


    And there, Odelina led Hannah away to show where she would be staying. It seemed that the Aunt and Niece would share a room together.


    Seeing the two go out, Mark shrugged.


    "Trained she said."


    That murmur Mark just let out showed how much of a mystery Odelina''s background was.

 Chapter 587 The Black Dust, The Troubles It Caused

    <strong>Day 133 - 9:25 PM - Mountain Base, Mount Mbito, General Nakar, Quezon Province, Philippines</strong>


    After leaving their things at home, Mark now stood on the walls of his base.


    It was dark. But as Mark had just woke up from sleep back there in Pennsylvania, he did not feel the need to take another rest.


    Mark circled atop the walls of his base. He realized how much destruction that battle with The Great One caused.


    Not any fauna could be seen inside more than two hundred meter radius from his base. All he could see was the ck dust and the contaminated soil at parts that the dust had been removed.


    If one was to look at this scene from the sky, it was not wrong to say that his base was like arge ckhead in the face of the mountain.


    Seeing this disastrous scene, anyone not in the know would definitely wonder how his base came out unscathed.


    It was nice that the base came out intact with thebined effort of everyone. Of course, it was mostly Mark and Spera who warded the attacks of The Great One, while the others dealt with the remaining members of the Chinese Branch of Auraboros.


    Nevertheless, it was a close fight. If Mark did not think of a countermeasure back then, it would not be surprising if his base turned into dust. And even if they managed to kill the puppet that The Great One used there, it would be questionable how the other eyes would react to it.


    Clearly, Ninth did not seem hostile, but what if they learned that one of them was turned into a puppet and Mark killed it? It was hard to say how that Embodiment of Boredom would respond.


    Mark jumped off the wall, going outside. The men currently on patrol atop the wall saw him and watched. They were definitely gratified to the owner of this base.


    It was not surprising to see a leader of a group staying behind the curtain andmand his troops to deal with the situation. That was how the military worked, after all.


    Generals sit behind their men while gathering medals of valor from the poor soldiers. Although it did not apply to all Generals and other high-ranking Officers, it still happened a lot and was questioned by the minority of the society.


    It was also how gangs and other militant groups work. For the most part, their leader stayed behind the lines until there was no other choice but to step in. And at that point, their group had already suffered a lot.


    Mark, on the other hand, was entric in this way. He was the leader of this base, its owner. Nevertheless, he was the one to jump to lead the front lines, ramming the enemy lines using sheer might and his yful schemes.


    And now, Mark was personally checking the aftereffects of the battle, while if it was a military settlement, the leader would only wait for the reports of their men.


    Outside the base, Mark walked towards the ce where the dust was the thickest first. It was surprising, but the ck dust was about half an inch deep before the surface of the soil. It was as if they had just experienced a volcanic eruption like this.


    Mark could not help but notice. He picked a handful of ck dust. This ck dust was not as destructive to organic and non-organic materials in a short time. However, it seemed to suck in nutrients slowly from the surfaces it touches.


    This made Mark frown. His people should not be in contact with this dust for a long time, or else, they might catch far severe symptoms.


    Other people would not notice it immediately, but Mark that could control his blood felt some nutrients in his body was being sucked into his hand and to the dust. It was slow and unnoticeable.


    However, it was, in fact, happening.


    Nevertheless, they could not just leave it be either. No one would be able to move the dust without manpower.


    "I need to test this further. Also gather more information."


    Mark decided to do some tests with the dust. Andter, ask the workers that dealt with the dust some questions. Mostly regarding their health. It had already several days since this dust had covered thend around his base. There might be symptoms among the workers already.


    Creating a container using his blood, Mark filled it with dust. He then walked towards the perimeter of the affected area. And then, into the forest outside.


    As he left the affected area and deeper into the forest, he could see that the nts and trees nearest to the contamination were pale colored. Some were even dying.


    "To think that this is more troublesome that we thought."


    Mark grumbled. That guy who called himself The Great One definitely gave them a headache.


    "Is that guy really ying around? What he did more or less tried to eradicate us in many ways."


    That was what Mark thought.


    Bringing a puppet that was actually an Eye, its death could have angered the other Eyes and make them eradicate his base. It was prevented when he changed the battlefield to somewhere else with the help of Spera.


    Furthermore, Mark remembered that The Great One also unleashed an attack towards his base but was prevented using a portal.


    And since those two attempts failed, thest was the dust that prevented them from farming and cultivating. In the worst case, even the base would have been contaminated and rendered inhabitable.


    "Darn it. Looks like that guy isn''t ying at all." Mark said with a deep breath. "I didn''t notice at that time since his the thoughts he managed to detect was more or less yful and childish."


    As Mark said those words, however, he realized.


    "I see..." Mark shrugged. "Eradicating us is more or less a childish y for him, right?"


    That was right. It did not need killing intent, anger, or other ill intention to eradicate someone. For some notorious people, even serial killers, it was just a y for enjoyment.


    It was Mark that mistook The Great One''s intentions because of the faint emotions he detected at that time. It was a puppet, after all. The Great One''s actual consciousness was somewhere else.


    Sometimes, being able to read emotions was not really reliable.


    After all, ording to the person''s values and interests, their emotions could mean an entirely different thing.


    "I need to reflect on this, I guess."


    Mark sighed.


    "We should take measures about this dust first, though."


    He said as he gazed at the vast plot ofnd that was rendered useless because of the ck dust.<sub> </sub>


    And from there, in the middle of the ck contaminatednd, Mark sat like a child ying with sand.


    The first was cloth. Of course, it was no go. Mark felt dumb for trying it in the first ce. The dust would get stuck in the gaps of the cloth. Although the effect was lessened, it was still there.


    For the second try, Mark took out a stic bag inside his ring and wrapped his hand with it. Then, he took a handful of dust, once more. And there, Mark closed his eyes, concentrating on the sensation on his palm. He shook his head soon after. It seemed that thin stic would not work either. He could still feel the nutrients in his body being sucked through that stic. It was even worse than cloth.


    After the second try, Mark realized that his feet seemed to be alright. Made him conclude that rubber could work. But then, he shook his head. Where in the world would they get arge amount of rubber to make suits with.


    "I wonder if the Quezon settlement had some hazmat suits. Right, I saw some people wearing those in theirboratory then. I doubt they will let use borrow them, though."


    Mark was pretty much right in this aspect. Hazmat suits were precious pieces of equipment during the apocalypse as they needed those suits while conducting experiments and research. They also needed it to deal with harmful chemicals and even mutated infected. It was far more precious than guns or bullets for the military. Weapons could be reced with other alternatives, but the hazmat suits that they had no way of making was not.


    While thinking about it, Mark suddenly remembered. He took out the container he made and filled with dust.


    And as he thought, the effects of the dust did not seem to be working through the [Blood Metal] container.


    "This could work."


    Mark smiled.


    After that, past midnight, Mark was inside his workshop that he had not visited for several days that he was away. And like before, he was with his precious [Blood Children] making countermeasures for the effects of the dust on their workers.


    Outside the workshop...


    "Master is at it again."


    Aephelia smiled.


    At these times that the loyal maid could see the image of Freed ovepping with the visage of Mark working on creating things.


    "We can only see him this lively when working in his workshop, watching anime, ying games, and when he spends time with Mistress and the little Misses."


    Odelina said, agreeing with Aephelia.


    Right now, it was rest time for the maids. In this room that was outside the workshop, Aephelia, Odelina, and Spera were rxing. Most of the time, there were only three of them here. This time, however, there was another person.


    It was no other than Hannah. Most of the time, she was keeping silent. She only followed behind Mark before barely uttering a word. Now, she was following her Aunt, Odelina, but was behaving the same.


    Of course, it was not like she was like this before, which made Odelina quite worried. However, she already heard what happened to Hannah''s family and what she ended up before she was found by Mark.


    This behavior was not surprising for someone that was suffering from mental trauma. It also seemed that Hannah was not having proper sleep during their journey, either.


    "Hannah, are you feeling okay?"


    Odelina asked as she gave her niece a warm cup of coffee.


    "I-I''m fine, Aunt."


    Hannah stuttered.


    "Just rx, alright. You''re safe here. Those bad things will not happen anymore."


    Odelina caressed Hannah''s head gently. Aside from her children, Siegfried and Odette, Hannah was likely the only family member she had left. Of course, she would give her enough affection.


    Hannah properly received Odelina''s sentiments and smiled. Though she still did not speak too much.


    Seeing that, Odelina could not help but remember the earlier days when Mei was also showing the same gestures. Back then, Mei only followed behind Mark with minimal words and gestures.


    "Why not ask Master to give her a Mutationter? I think, he will not deny her."


    Spera suggested.


    It was a good suggestion. If she received a Mutation from Mark, she might recover after a while. Mutations had no direct effect on the recovery of mental trauma, but ording to Mark, it had some effects on the mentality of the Mutator.


    In fact, Mei''s recovery became faster after she became one. She became a bit selfless towards the people she considered as family, though.


    After the break, Spera stood up.


    "Is it time already?"


    Odelina asked.


    "Yes. I have to open a portal to transport the things we collected on the other side."


    "I''ll go with you. I can use my infected to carry more baggage."


    Aephelia suggested in which Spera agreed. If they could transport things faster, there would be less toll on her.


    The night passed like that, with Mark going back and forth in his workshop and the dungeon where the infected he was keeping was locked up. He used up the blood supply they managed to store after working for a while.


    The next morning came and the important people in the base were called by Mark. Even Huey and the others that were still in The Pagoda was called back.


    It was now time to talk about the ns from here on and the things Mark heard from the Embodiment of Boredom, the Eye called Ninth.

 Chapter 588 The Meeting, The Announcement Of The Second Wave And Dimensional Collapse

    <strong>Day 134 - 9:26 AM - Cliff House Meeting Room, Mountain Base, Mount Mbito, General Nakar, Quezon Province, Philippines</strong>


    After everyone had their breakfast early in the morning, the representatives in-charge of certain aspects of the base was called by Mark for a meeting.


    There were Huey, Coleen, Odelina, and Hannah, who were now following orders directly under Mark and Mei.


    Aephelia and Spera were also under Mark, but they were also representatives of other teams. Aephelia was with Mara for the people that were taking care of the infected they were keeping in the base, while Spera was here for the Transport Group that was in charge of transporting supplies through the portals she created.


    Trisha, who was among the first people in this settlement and came with Huey''s group, was also here as the one managing the food supply and distribution.


    The old couple leading the farming efforts in the base were also called here. After all, one of the subjects of this meeting had something to do with the ck dust.


    Ron, Nikky, and Mark''s group of friends were also here. They were the ones in charge of collecting the supplies at the facilities around The Pagoda. Even though it was not officially established yet, they were more or less the supply collection group of the base.


    Next were Ed and Ron. The two that also came with Huey''s group was now in charge of the building efforts in the base.


    Hamlin, the old man that Mark recruited back in East Port Settlement, the family that was taking care of the [Blood Child] Scia, was also here. Being a fisherman, he was also experienced with drying fish. That was why he was helping out in drying meat and other perishables in the base. But now, it seemed that Mark had other work for him this time.


    Annica and her father, Darren Salvador, were also present. Because of Annica''s powers, they were currently among the most important within the people of the base. They were managing the stables and other ces where animals were being used. If it was before the outbreak, taking care of the stables was not that good of a job. But now, they were actually managing a den of monsters. It was a feat for anyone that knew.


    The next one was the sisters, Tullia and Audrey. Tullia was one of the ves that was saved from the Death Valley settlement and was used as a bargaining chip to make her sister cause a problem as a spy in the Port of Rizal Settlement. Now, the two were among the leading figures that were hunting animals in the mountain.


    Then, there was Mayumi and her younger brother. They were the current leaders of the tribe that joined Mark''s base. As of now, they were helping around the ce with whatever they could. Right now, they might not be of much help, but after Mayumi came of age, she would be a great asset to the base.


    Karlene, Ka, na, and Jaeya were also here. They were now among the fighting force of the base, after all. Together with the four was Halley and Nicole. Well, for the most part, Halley and na, as fellow Otakus, were going around thinking about things they could add to the base.


    And among the neers, Roan, and his father, Abraham was here together with Arnold.


    Lastly, the Tamawo, Pefile, Edzel, even Teremillio, and his wives were called back from the Spirit Dimension. After all, this was a very important meeting that everyone that needed to know about it should be present.


    Still, with everyone being called like this, they were all confused.


    The room was a bit crowded now. However, all of everyone''s attention was with Mark that was standing in front of them.


    "Everyone I called is already here. Should we start?"


    Mark voiced out, making the room as quiet as possible. In this base, Mark''s words were supreme. No one would want to annoy or disregard him. None of them wanted to lose the safest ce they had been to on the face of Earth''s copse.


    "Okay. Then."


    Mark nodded.


    "Everyone here knows that the whole Earth is in peril now. Bad news. It will only get worse."


    After saying that, unexpectedly, no one had a big reaction. Then, Ron raised his hand and was allowed to speak.


    "The infected were mutating further. We already know that things are growing more dangerous as time goes on."


    Hearing that, Mark shrugged.


    "I know that you all know about that. If it''s only that, there was no need to mention it at all."


    And there, the faint murmurs ensued.


    "Then, I''ll say what is going on." Mark continued, making everyone silent. "While we are absent here and traveling in America, I received a piece of bad news for everyone."


    "The second wave of this apocalypse wille soon in the future."


    The Second Wave of the Apocalypse. Those words put everyone''s thoughts into turmoil.


    "Boss, is this true? I mean, confirmed? It that''s the case, what will happen?"


    Huey raised his hand and voice out.


    "I have no idea, either." Mark shook his head. "The source of the news might also be just ying with us, but I can at least confirm that he''s not lying."


    And then, Mark added.


    "In any case, even if that guy is joking, we can''t just ignore the words of an existence akin to an apostle of a God, can we?"


    That caused everyone to exim. From an existence that was like an apostle of a God, there was no way they would ignore the words of someone like that. It was like receiving an Oracle directly.


    What Mark had just said caused the eyes of Mayumi that was from the family of Seers to glitter.


    The room became a bit noisy. And because of it, Mark did not continue and watched.


    "Please be silent. Big Bro can''t continue."


    A woman''s voice echoed in their minds. Of course, it was no other than Jaeya.


    "Who?"


    Someone shouted in shock. It was Roan.


    Even Abraham and Arnold were surprised. It was expected since they did not know about Jaeya''s ability at all.


    Jaeya was about to reprimand them for shouting, but Mark stopped her.


    "They don''t know about you. You will only surprise those three more if you continue."


    Jaeya nodded after hearing that. Mark''s words also made Roan''s group realize who was talking in their minds earlier.


    "As I said. We don''t know what will happen in this so-called Second Wave." Mark continued after everyone went silent once more. "But there is one thing that is confirmed that will happen when the Second Wave ured."


    "It''s the copse of the dimensional barriers."


    Thatst sentence caused different reactions from everyone.


    First, not everyone was privy to the existence of different dimensions, or even if they were, they only knew it from theory. An example of this was Roan''s group once more.


    On the other hand, the people that knew about it already did not know what would happen during the copse and were confused. Furthermore, they only knew about the Spirit Dimension, not the others.


    And thus, Mark exined to everyone.


    The existence of the Spirit Dimension. A ce where the Elementals, Spirit Races and Demons were living.<sub> </sub>


    The Lower Dimension. The ce where the actual Devils resided.


    The Higher Dimension. The ce dimension in the sky, where the messengers of the previous Gods now lived.


    And the existence of the dimensional pockets created by powerful beings, Deities, and the Gods from other dimensions.


    "Once the dimensional barrier copsed, those dimensions will fuse with the current Earth."


    From here, it was where the things that Ninth mentioned to Mark ended.


    "Master, what will happen then?"


    Jolleen asked.


    Mark shook his head, however.


    "I''m not exactly sure, either. But I have spections. Since I have been to the Spirit Dimension, already, I have a hunch on what will happen in thergest scale."


    Everyone fell silent and stared at Mark.


    "The existence of current Earth will copse."


    Not all of them could understand it, but if it was said like this, then it was likely that the current appearance of Earth would change greatly.


    "Those that were with me, and even Pefile and Teremillio''s group here can attest, for the most part, the Spirit Dimension is the exact geological copy of Earth."


    The oceans and seas, the mountains,kes, rivers, ins, and even caves, all of it was the same copy from Earth.


    The appearance differed greatly, however. It was because only the geological appearance was the same and not everything that was living on both dimensions. Trees, nts, and bushes grew differently in both dimensions. It also had different inhabitants, and each had different actions in their environment. Even the growth of animals was not the same.


    "Geologically, everything that exists here on Earth was the same there."


    Mark said.


    "Thus, once the dimensions fused, I don''t think that there would be problems with that."


    It was not confirmed, but in the least, what Mark said gave them a breather. It was not wrong since they thought that Earth might suddenly grow or even blow out of proportion.


    "As I said, there might not be many problems with the shape of the terrain. The problemy on the things that are on that terrain."


    After those words, Mark exined.


    Like what he said before, while the terrain was the same, those that were on that terrain was not. Cities here on Earth did not exist in the Spirit Dimension. Instead, all of it was covered in forest and untouchednd.


    Once the two dimensions fused, the cityscape would fuse with that forest and untouched terrain.


    Since most of the city was built over ttenednd, a lot of it would end up buried in the untouchednd of the spirit dimension. Therge, thousand-year-old trees would invade the tall buildings of the city and cause it to copse.


    Without a doubt, most of the city built settlements would meet its end at that time.


    Trees would also collide with the new terrain and be uprooted causing different cmities in mountains.


    Bodies of water would be disturbed and most ces on Earth near water would be in danger.


    There was also the chasms that existed on the Spirit Dimension that separated the countries and continents. That would definitely cause the Earth''s oceans to change drastically.


    While all that existed in the Spirit Dimension would exist here, it was the same vice versa.


    The crust of Earth was mostly untouched and would definitely cause a lot of demon races that lived underground to be buried alive. The ces here that were untouched but were built with something by the Spirit Races would definitely face the same demise.


    A great example of it was the Stone Fortress of the White Duendes. They built a fortress on the face of a rocky mountain and even made a very deep dungeon on the mountain.


    Here on Earth, however, that mountain was totally intact. It would cause the stone fortress to be buried in rocks and rubble, killing everyone that was inside it.


    When Mark exined this part, Felenia, that was the princess of that Kingdom of Duendes, was drained of her color. After all, she was just given the fact that her family might suddenly perish like that.


    "Then, won''t this ce be in danger too?"


    Old man Hamlin asked. He was concerned since he was with his grandchildren.


    But to that question, Mark strangely smiled.


    "Not really."


    If all of my assumptions are correct, we''re pretty much safe thanks to that bastard that turned everything around the base to dust.


    Everyone was confused at this point. They could not understand what was happening.


    Mark then turned to Karlene and na.


    "Remember what the area around Chiyo looked like on the other side?"


    Hearing those words, not only the two but those that were with Mark at that time remembered.


    "AH!" Karlene could not help but exim." There''s nothing but dead trees and nts at all!"


    That was right. Because of what happened in the Kingdom of Sylphs, there was barely anything around their area they built this base in the Spirit Dimension.


    "We only need to uproot those dead trees and tten thend a bit around the size of our base. If we did that, we might not be affected by the fusion of dimensions at all."


    That was a surprise to everyone. The situation around the base suddenly became a blessing in disguise.


    While everyone was rejoicing over that fact, a sudden unfamiliar voice of a girl was heard.


    "Ooh! Nice deduction! What''s next!"


    Mark could not help but jump back. The voice actually came from beside him.


    And there, a little girl, about eight or nine stood.


    Everyone was surprised.


    What was more... The girl actually had three eyes on her face.

 Chapter 589 The Odd Girl, The Intrusion Of An Eye In The Meeting

    <strong>Day 134 - 9:56 AM - Cliff House Meeting Room, Mountain Base, Mount Mbito, General Nakar, Quezon Province, Philippines</strong>


    Mark jumped back in utter surprise. It had been a very long time since he hadst felt this way.


    If he remembered correctly, he was still in preschool at that time.


    When Mark started to develop his Emphatic abilities, although he would still get surprised from time to time, it was not as impactful at this.


    And why Markwould not feel surprised? The girl''s presence only appeared after she finished her sentence. It was as if she was a ghost that suddenly popped up there without any sign.


    The moment her presence appeared, however, Mark knew in an instant that this girl was an eye. It was because her mental fluctuation had a distinct pattern that was simr to Ninth.


    Furthermore, no one would think that she was human, even at a nce after seeing her face. She had three eyes. Usually, one would think that she only had an extra eye on her forehead. While that was correct, her eyes were all far from normal ones.


    It was because all her eyes had vertical slits. Even the eyelids were symmetrically shaped left and right.


    Anyone that would see her would think that she was a monster.


    Well, in the least, she looked better than the one that became The Great One''s puppet, who had a singlerge eye covering half of his face.


    Still, because of her sudden appearance, everyone in the room went into alert and defensive stances. One word from Mark and all thebatants in here would attack.


    p "Everyone. Don''t make any move."</anda>


    Mark said in a warning. He knew that his people were all waiting for hismand to attack. But even if he did give it, there was no way that they would win. Some of them even knew that fact by the feeling within their guts.


    "Ooowaaa... What''s wrong with you people???"


    The girl annoyingly spoke. It was questionable whether it was how she really speak or if she was taunting everyone.


    No one responded to her question, however. Instead, Mark asked his question in return.


    "What does an Eye want from us now?"


    Mark was frowning at this point. Of all the things he did not want to encounter at this moment, it was the Apostles of the Observer, the Eyes. There was no ill intenting from her like Ninth. However, there was a distinct feeling that was pushing everyone on edge whenever the Eyes were present.


    "Eh?" The girl reacted in an unexpected way. "You know what I am? How?"


    Things became confusing at this point. Even Mark was frozen for a bit.


    "Now that I thought about it... How did you know about the Second Wave?"


    Sure enough, it drove everyone into confusion.


    The people here did not know what an Eye that Mark mentioned was. It was expected that they would be confused at the sudden appearance of this strange girl.


    On the other hand, Mark was confused because of a different reason. It was because this girl seemed to have no idea about him at all.


    "Hey! Tell me! How did you know about us?!"


    The girl suddenly appeared in front of Mark from the spot where she initially appeared. No one in the room was able to follow her movements at all. It was as if she was not walking or running at all.


    It was not even exaggerated to say that she was teleporting instead.


    Furthermore, the way that the girl asked that question was a bit like a kid that was about to throw a tantrum.


    Thus, Mark answered with one word.


    "Ninth."


    That was the safest answer that Mark could give at the moment.


    Still, that answer seemed to have surprised the girl.


    "What?!"


    She said out loud.


    And then...


    She vanished.


    This made everyone even more confused. Everyone looked around, searching for the silhouette of the strange girl.


    However, none of them managed to see even her shadow.


    "Boss, what is that?"


    Huey could not help but ask. As the person with the highest senses in his room, he could tell that that girl was not something they should fight at all.


    And to that question, Mark replied honestly.


    "Remember the source of the news I mentioned before?"


    "A person akin to an apostle of a god?"


    Huey replied.


    And there, Mark nodded.


    "That''s right. That girl is one of them."


    This caused amotion in the room. None of the people in the room could believe what they had just heard.


    And there, Mark made a prompt decision.


    "I already said the news of what will happen in the future. I think it''s fine to end the meeting here." Mark then spoke louder. "The meeting will end here. I will write about what preparations we will need to do in the future. In any case, just continue what all of you are doing these past days until I give further instructions."


    Mark then looked around a bit.


    "It looks like that girl left for now. But she will return for sure." Mark returned his gaze to the people in the room. "They are an unstable bunch. More dangerous than the infected. It''s better if none of you are here when she returns."


    Hearing that, many of them felt scared and left by Mark''s instructions. Mark should have the capability to handle her at least. As for them, they were just humans. Something of the higher ne was not something for them to meddle with.


    There were some people that wanted to stay with Mark, not because they were not scared, but because they wanted to be beside Mark if things went awry. However, Mark forced all of them to leave. It was easier for Mark to handle things if he was alone.


    Thus, those that wanted to stay had no choice but to follow the ones that already went out.


    Now, the only one left inside the meeting room was Mark. He also chased out Mei and the others. If it was just a normal circumstance, Mark would let Mei stay with him. However, who knows what would happen.


    Sitting on the sofa, Mark waited.


    About ten minutester, Aephelia came, bringing Mark a drink after confirming that Mark was the only one in the room.<sub> </sub>


    After handing the drink, she immediately left per Mark''s order.


    ***


    Mark got a bit bored. It was already an hour since the girl vanished, and the meeting ended.


    However, he waited. It was better to deal with things the moment that that girl appeared again.


    And Mark was not mistaken.


    Another half-hour passed, the girl appeared as suddenly as she vanished earlier.


    "Eh? Where''re the other people?"


    That was what she asked the moment she saw the almost empty room.


    "I already sent them out," Mark replied. "Now, can you tell me what your business here?"


    Mark went straight to the point. If he let this girl go her way, who would know how things would end up.


    "Heeh... Straight to the point, are we?" She reacted at Mark''s word with amusement. "You really don''t seem to be afraid, huh?"


    As she said those words, she appeared and disappeared around Mark. She was observing him closely.


    And then, she appeared sitting on the sofa opposite of Mark. Her short legs were dangling off in front of her.


    Finally, she stated her business in this ce.


    "You see... I''m supposed to deliver that news that you and your people are talking about earlier. But how in the heavens did you meet Ninth? We are in South East Asia! My jurisdiction! Just how would you meet Ninth that is in charge of Eastern United States?!"


    The girl was calm at first. But as she went on and on, she started iling her arms and legs in frustration.


    It looked cute if not for her oddly ced eyes. The bad thing about her tantrum, however, was that she was releasing a displeasing aura around her. If it got worse, it would affect everyone in the base.


    "Can you calm down?" Mark asked in a reprimanding voice. "Aren''t you Eyes supposed to not directly affect mortals? If you continue, you will break that rule."


    Hearing that, the girl froze. She took deep breaths and calmed herself.


    "Say! Say!" The girl leaned on the coffee table, moving her face closer to Mark. "You''re not really afraid of me, huh? You''re really amusing just like Ninth said!"


    "So, you met with Ninth just now?"


    Mark asked, keeping himself calm.


    "Yeah! Yeah! I did. I confirmed that he met you in New Jersey during an incident there several days ago!"


    "Say it! How in the heavens did you end up there? And now, you''re here? Tell me! Tell me!"


    The girl was like a curious kid. Her oddly shaped eyes were staring at Mark as if she wanted to know his secrets.


    "We have someone who can create portals," Mark answered. "Is that enough?"


    Mark did not hide it. Even if he did, it was not hard for the Eyes to know if this girl could vanish and appear and even hide her presencepletely.


    Hearing that, the girls'' pupils dted while her eyes widened. It was quite an unpleasant sight.


    "Ooohhh. How amusing!" She pped. "Is it a human? A Spirit race? Demon? Or someone like you?"


    That question made Mark frown. This girl seemed to have known a lot of things that were going on in his base.


    "Don''t look at me like that!" The girl grumbled. "I know about that because I have been watching this ce for five days already! A pure spirit tree suddenly appeared on Earth and not on the Spirit Dimension. Of course, it will get my attention after we started searching!"


    And there, the actual reason why the girl was throwing a tantrum was told.


    As Ninth had said, the Eyes were seeking people that was legible to know about the iing Second Wave. And five days ago, she noticed this base because of the Night Everred Spirit Tree and the strange traces of destruction that was present around the area.


    However, she did not find anyone that was eligible at that time. It was not surprising considering that Mark and Mei were in New Jersey, and the others were in Pennsylvania and were securing The Pagoda.


    Despite that, this girl would still pass by from time to time to check. After all, she had not found the owner of the Pure Spirit Tree yet.


    And today, she passed by once more. However, there was a lot of unfamiliar presence that was currently in the base, particrly several powerful people. Most importantly, Mark and Mei, who had their strings of fate detached.


    There, she found the meeting and appeared here just at the moment that Mark started talking about the fusion of dimensions.


    She was rather amused by Mark''s theory and finally showed herself to bring the news to Mark and Mei.


    And that was where themotion in the meeting started.


    "I am supposed to bring you the news since you''re base is inside my jurisdiction!!! Me!"


    She started to throw a tantrum again. Although this time, she seemed to be controlling the fluctuations she was releasing.


    "There''s nothing that we can do about that, right?"


    Mark tried to reason. None of them was at fault for this. If there was someone to be med, it was that guy who called himself The Great One.


    The girl stared at Mark silently after his words entered her ear.


    That was right, there was nothing they could do about it.


    Still, she felt unpleasant. She was even puffing her cheeks.


    Looking at that appearance, Mark scratched his head.


    Without a doubt, the Eyes were troublesome to deal with. Still, he did not want a fight against this girl to break out. He had more important things to do than wreck the base everyone painstakingly built.


    So, how should a child throwing a tantrum be dealt with peacefully?


    And there, Mark spoke.


    "Want some choctes?"


    With a shrug, Mark took out several bars of choctes from his ring. Of course, he did not expect that it would work out.


    Unexpectedly, the girl''s eyes widened in delight as she immediately unwrapped the biggest one.


    As she took her first bite, her expression brightened.


    "You''re an amusing person!" The girl smiled. "By the way, I''m Fourth! The Embodiment of Amusement!"


    Finally, the unstable girl introduced herself.

 Chapter 590 Fourth The Amusing Eye, The Origin Of The Apocalypse

    <strong>Day 134 - 11:24 AM - Cliff House Meeting Room, Mountain Base, Mount Mbito, General Nakar, Quezon Province, Philippines</strong>


    Mark watched the strange-eyed girl in front of him as she munched on the bar of chocte that she held in her hands.


    Luckily, it looked like Fourth managed to calm down because of the chocte. Well, even an ancient dragon was not able to resist such temptation and sweetness.


    "Seriously... You''re an amusing person." Fourth turned to Mark as she took another bite. "You might be the only person who would think of offering choctes to existences like us!"


    Fourth was correct in that sense. Like Mark had said before, the Eyes were akin to apostles of a God. The Observer might not be the God that created Earth and its universe. However, that position was only a step lower than God itself. And following that, the Eyes that were under themand of the Observer.


    People who would know of this fact would likely offer the most formal and luxurious kinds of food to them. It would even be treated as some kind of religious offering.


    Mark, however, unceremoniously gave her choctes. The choctes were even packed inside the wrappers.


    And that was the most amusing part here for her. That was why she did not hate this fact.


    "If its Third, she might have flipped the table already and start yelling."


    Fourth mumbled.


    "What are you talking about?"


    Mark asked with a frown. Fourth had been on deep thought on her own and was mumbling things that were hard to understand.


    Of course, Mark could not make out most of what she said because she was continuously munching on her chocte.


    Fourth realized that she was mumbling things and turned to Mark.


    "Nothing, it''s not your problem." She took another bite. "Yeah, it''s not your problem."


    Mark started to have a headache at this point. The Eyes were really hard existences to deal with. Furthermore, even though she also had emotional fluctuations, it was obscured for the most part. He could not tell what she was thinking at all.


    "Then, do you have any other business here?"


    Hearing that question made Fourth sulk once more.


    "NO! I DON''T!" She eximed, getting another frustrated bite on her chocte. "Our job is to deliver the news of the second wave to every Earthborn existence that passed the criteria! You''re the first one I saw here in my area, but Ninth already robbed me of my work!"


    Mark finally understood why Fourth was sulking this much.


    The Eyes were born to follow themands of the Observer. Now, their duty was to deliver the news of Earth''s impending future to existences that passed the criteria that were given to them.


    Mark did not know what the criteria were, but it looked like that he and Mei were the only ones currently present in South East Asia.


    "Say, what are these criteria you are talking about?"


    Mark could not help but ask, and this question took Fourth''s attention. She stared at him like she was thinking about the circumstances.


    "Well, I guess we''re not really told to not say it, huh." Fourth murmured. "Then, let me tell you."


    And there, Fourth stated the three most important criteria.


    First were existences that were born on Earth. Humans, animals, insects, even ghosts, elementals, spirits, and demons were included. As long as they passed the second and third criteria, they would be eligible.


    Second, they needed to have cut off or, if not, at least, an obscure string of fate. Meaning, existences that could and possibly defy fate and destiny. People that were like Mark that already went past their death dates and managed to continue living on Earth. Even deities of the past were also included in this scope. There might be very few Gods that were born on Earth, but there was nock of Deities.


    Lastly, they must have at least one follower. Of course, the more, the better. It should be someone that believed in them in their entirety. If better, people that worshiped them.


    Mark did not pay much attention to the first criteria. He already heard it from Ninth. However, something entered his mind after hearing the second criterion. It was also mentioned in passing by Ninth when Mark asked why he was told about it.


    But why were people that could defy fate needed?


    "Tell me. Is Earth fated to copse in the second wave?"


    Mark asked in all seriousness.


    And that question made Fourth freeze on her next bite of chocte.


    "How amusing... Did you deduce that information just from the criteria? It seems that you''re a person who think too much about things."


    "But I''m right, aren''t I?"


    Mark questioned once more.


    "Yup. You''re right. Though not entirely." Fourth took the bite she froze in. "Earth is fated to copse, but not in the second wave."


    "It''s just the start." Fourth added. "But if no preventive measures are made, Earth would really go into ruin when the second wave came."


    The childish Fourth already turned serious.


    "The fates of Earth, its dimensions, all the creatures and even the things inside it. All of them are stored in a singlependium following a single root while branching off from it. It is one of the countless collections of fates of many things that existed in this universe. Further than that, each collection ispiled with countless libraries of different universes in existence."


    "Are you talking about the Akashic Records?"


    Mark could not help but ask about it.


    "Oh, you know about it? That''s one of the countless names it had." Fourth replied, looking amused. "Then, exining will be easier."


    One or two fates that were changed. Or even if a few million were affected by the Observer while maintaining the bnce of the world. It would still be alright.


    Since the past, the present, and the future was already written, the creatures affected by their destiny could only make minute changes to it. The Observers and their Apostles, the Eyes, were the only ones exempted in making changes on arge scale since it was their duty to maintain the bnce or preventing arge scale annihtion.


    Still, at times, even the records would branch, allowing the individual to choose which road to thread on.


    "It''s called the Turning Point," Fourth said. "Sometimes, ites with a stroke of luck or based on the individual''s actions."


    One example was a person finding a bag filled with cash. It was a turning point between the person that found the bag and the actual owner of the bag, and the turning point rested on the hands of the person that found it. If the person returned the bag, the fate of the owner would continue as usual. However, if not, it might turn into the worst situation. It would be depending on the circumstances that the owner of the bag was in.


    On the other hand, the person that found the bag would have his life changed if he decided to run away and keep the bag for himself.<sub> </sub>


    Turning Points like those were quitemon in the gazillions of fates stored in the records.


    Still...


    The whole world and all the records inside it wereing to a turning point at the same time was not supposed to happen.


    It was the apocalypse.


    "Are you saying that this is not supposed to happen?"


    Mark asked.


    "Of course not!" Fourth eximed. "At least, not now! The actual apocalypse that is recorded in the records is supposed to happen in the next hundred years! An intergctic chase between space creatures would ur near the asteroid belt of this sr system. The explosions would impact the formation of the asteroids sending some of them to the trajectory of Earth''s orbit. It will cause half of the surface of the Earth to be enveloped in mes, allowing only a minuscule poption to survive. And further than that, more of them will suffer from the aftermath. Then, a new civilization will rise, and it''s the start of the new Earth in another several thousands of years."


    Mark was speechless as to how this girl just divulged a catastrophic event in the future like it would be something amusing to witness.


    "Are you sure that you should be telling me that?"


    "It''s fine. That fate doesn''t matter anymore." Fourth replied, munching on her chocte. "The current Earth is going on a different turning point now, anyway."


    "I guess... it''s fine to tell you, but the current events on Earth are not written in the records at all. I guess, you can deduce what happened from all of what I said."


    "Another Observer messed up, like the predecessor of the current one on Earth?"


    Mark replied.


    "Bingo!" Fourth gave Mark a thumbs up. "Our master, the current Observer of Earth, is a very organized individual. She kept the Earth in check since she took over. However, it did not mean that all Observers are like her. There are also some dumb ones or ones that made idiotic decisions."


    Munch...


    "An idiotic Observer of an inhabitable in another gxy several thousand years ago. The Earth is still youngpared to that, so while Earth barely had potential people at that time, and when Gods from other worlds were busy creating their own races here on Earth, that was already experiencing overpoption."


    Munch...


    "Since the scientific development of that was slower than the expanding poption, its Observer took drastic measures. He made a scientist his medium and ''identally'' spread out the microorganism from the scientist''sboratory. But then, it came out of control."


    Munch...


    "As I said, the scientific development was slow, and that Observer forgot to add that fact to his calctions. The people were not able to find a cure, and the microorganism mutated into neither a bacteria nor a virus."


    Munch...


    "And that virus caused the''s ruin and the Observer was stripped of his title."


    "What happened to that now?"


    Mark asked, fully immersed in the story.


    "The and its entire gxy are gone now," Fourth shrugged. "All that is left is a gigantic rift in space that even existences like us will not want to approach. But before that gxy copsed on its own, it spread catalysts of the microorganisms all across the universe."


    "And now, it reached us, right?"


    Mark added.


    "Right," Fourth nodded. "Many factions, organizations, and even Gods are helping with eradicating this to no avail. Every now and then, another will still copse because of the microorganism."


    Hearing that, the memories of Freed resurfaced in Mark''s mind. The copse of Eriellis was also caused by the same disaster as it seemed.


    And somehow, Mark felt happy and frustrated.


    One of Freed''s wishes had been fulfilled in an unexpected way. To know the source of all this mess that cost Freed his family, friends, and home.


    And the fact that Mark had no way of getting revenge for Freed''s sake as the culprit was an Observer in the first ce felt frustrating.


    The room fell silent as Mark was deep in thought.


    But then...


    "WAH!"


    Fourth cried out.


    Mark snapped back to reality and turned to Fourth only to scratch his head.


    Fourth was staring at thest empty wrapper of chocte in her hand. She nibbled and munched on the choctes absentmindedly and did not realize that she ate all of it.


    That was more than a dozen bars...


    Seeing her sulking face as she stared at the wrapper with her three odd-looking eyes, Mark sighed. With a wave of his hand, he took another dozen.


    When she saw the choctes on the table that Mark took out, her face brightened.


    But then...


    "UWAH!"


    Fourth eximed as she held her head and looked up.


    Before Mark could ask what was going on, Fourth grabbed all the choctes on the table, hugging everything with her small body. She then stood up and looked at Mark.


    "Hehe, it looks like I said too much! I''m being called back immediately! See yater!"


    And then, she vanished.


    Seeing that, Mark sighed. That girl was amusing on her own. In any case, she gave valuable information, though it was still iplete.


    Mark still felt on edge with an Eye sitting in front of him. However, if it was that girl, he would not mind as she was not hard to get along with, unlike that Ninth.

 Chapter 591 Three Days, The Plans, The Development, The Events, And The Preparation

    <strong>Day 137 - 12:22 PM - Cliff House, Mountain Base, General Nakar, Quezon Province, Philippines</strong>


    Three days passed in the blink of an eye. After the sudden appearance of Fourth in the base, Mark became more concrete on his ns.


    There was still no confirmation of anything that would start the Second Wave of the Apocalypse. However, remembering Fourth''s reaction towards Mark''s deductions about the Fusion of Earth''s Dimensions, it looked like that he was not far off. Fourth did not show any disagreement either.


    And thus, in these three days, the preparation of the base started.


    First, dealing with the ck dust around the base. The majority of this task was given to the farmers. They had nothing to do at the moment because of the same issue, after all.


    When the fusion of dimensions came, there might be a possibility of the dust dispersing or getting buried. The chances of it gettingyered over the soil were the same too. In both cases, it was better to remove as much ck dust right now as they could as it would still affect the nutrients in the soil. In the former case, it would be even harder to remove.


    Mark properly briefed them of the slow effects of getting in contact with the dust and were now wearing the protective armor that Mark made for gathering the ck dust.


    Currently, Mark had no specific purpose for gathering the ck dust. However, considering its effects on living creatures, it might have some use in the future. Mark also intended to experiment on this.


    Maybe, he might be able to use this ck dust to slowly weaken enemy bases. Who knows? It could slowly drain and absorb nutrients out of the bodies of living things by touch. What would happen if it was ingested inrge amounts? There were a lot of possibilities to try out.


    The next thing that Mark focused on was the terrain around the Everred Spirit Tree in the Spirit Dimension. For the first time, he sent people on the other side. Many people in his base actually volunteered for the job. However, as they could not leave the other work unattended, only a picked few were selected.


    Of course, they were picked based on their physical capabilities as they needed to work on ttening thend as fast as possible. As for the dried remains of the trees there, Aephelia used the infected under her control. It made things a whole lot easier. Furthermore, the infected also served as a fighting force since the other side was not safe at all.


    In fact, ever since the work team was dispatched there, they had experienced infected attacks every now and then. It was even more dangerous since a lot of the infected in the Spirit Dimension were capable of using magic.


    Speaking of the Spirit Dimension, Pefile''s group went ahead and left back to the Stone Fortress of the White Duendes. It was Felenia''s suggestion as she wanted to ry the information to her father, the King of the Eastern Mountain.


    The news alone would not worry her too much of it came from other people. However, Mark had no reason to deceive them, and an actual Eye appeared to further back up what he said.


    Thus, Felenia urged Teremilio and their whole group to return as soon as possible. However, they were only able to return the next day since Spera had used up the times she was able to open portals that day after she gathered everyone for the meeting and transport the supplies they had in The Pagoda back to the base a few times.


    Besides, though it might not look like it, Spera needed to spend more of her avable energy to open a portal across Earth and the Spirit Dimension.


    And from what Mark told Edzel, after the ns in the base stabilized, the rest of Mark''s group would go back to the Spirit Dimension to fulfill his promise.


    After all, they needed to find the mothers of Edzel and Teremillio. That was among their goals for entering the Spirit Dimension. However, the ns got cut off in the middle because of the appearance of Auraboros.


    Now that Mark was back, they could continue the journey with him. It was not like they could not go on their own. However, without Mark''s Miasma, dealing with Magical Infected was extremely dangerous for them. Although it was possible that they could reach their destinations without Mark, the cost of the travel was too enormous for them. It was not just food or equipment, after all. It could be someone''s life.


    Andstly, The events in The Pagoda.


    As Mark had thought, a number of the survivors left the base after the incident. It was no surprise that the woman called Nte urged most of the group to depart.


    That woman, from the observation of Odelina and the others, had an excellent way of her words. It was in a worse meaning, though. She had the knack for manipting people around her. And as Mark did not hide his red eyes back then, it was to force that kind of trash away from his turf. In fact, Mark also nted some fear in her subconscious, causing her to make that decision.


    Unexpectedly, Nte''s best friend, the woman called Vera, was left behind with five other people.


    The hateful fact about that group, they dumped the youngest and the oldest in the hands of Mark''s people. It was the middle-aged couple and the pair of a girl and a boy. The girl was thirteen while the boy was fourteen. In the middle of a dangerous apocalypse, these ages were definitely young. As for the middle-aged couple, the man got injured while they were on the way to the Pagoda. There was no way that they would be able to make it longer if they left the ce.


    Unfortunately for that group, it was what Mark wanted. Those that left might be useful in terms of manpower. However, personality-wise, they did not pass. Besides, if Mark let too many people from different countries into his base, it would not be long for factions of those people to rise.


    It could create a rift between people in his base, and that was not a good thing at all.


    And as for that man that was injured, that injury was nothing for Mark''s group. They still had some stock of [Regeneration Medicine] and could likelymission more from the Infanta Settlement in exchange for many things.


    This way, the couple would join his group wholeheartedly. They would be grateful and would work willingly because of this life debt. It was not wrong since an injured person would likely not make it long and die in this situation of the Earth.


    Still, it was quite odd that Vera remained. She was like a dog that was being pushed around by Nte without her knowing. After all, Vera thought that Nte was her best friend all this time.


    ? And when Mark voiced the question. It was Karlene''s fault once more. She called Vera unto the upper floors of The Pagoda and showed the footages of Nte doing her usual things, manipting people.<sub> </sub>


    It ended up into an argument with Vera and Nte on the same night, with the more timid Vera on the losing side. It was even more because most of their group were on Nte''s side.


    In that argument, Karlene and the other members that were in The Pagoda purposedly did not intervene. They were all watching using the cameras they installed at that time, securing that Vera would be left by the group.


    It was because, in everyone''s view here, Vera was too good for that group.


    In the end, she was abandoned together with the other four.


    Karlene''s n was a sess, although she broke someone''s heart.


    Now, the childish Karlene was in charge of Vera and the other four. And seeing their reactions after they were brought to the base, it would not be long till they get used to the new environment. For now, they were grouped with Roan as they were all from the same country. It was easier to get used to people that way.


    The situation of the survivors aside, the collection of supplies in Reading City was going fine. It was not smooth since danger lurked in every corner. Still, as things would escte as the Second Wave and the Fusion of Dimensions arrive, it would be better if they collected as much as they could.


    After all, if what Mark deduced really was correct, a lot of ces on Earth would be buried. Most ces on Earth, cities, towns, roads, and a whole lot more, were built over ttenednd. Since the Spirit Dimension was more or less the version of Earth untouched by mankind, thend would likely reim its former ces, burying everything underneath it.


    And it would bury everything, including uncollected supplies.


    Furthermore, even without the Second Wave, just the magical infected alone appearing on the surface of the Earth would make the collection of supplies far more dangerous than its current state.


    It would be possible to say that a cup of ramen could cost someone''s life at that point in time.


    Roan and the others also formed a group and went back to Pennsylvania. Of course, they were not going to leave, but they volunteered to group up as one of the collection groups there. Of course, in Roan''s family, it was only him that joined the group. His parents and sisters stayed in the base since, aside from Felicia, the three were nonbatants.


    Felicia, on the other hand, stayed to take care of Morgan, who was still unconcious. Nevertheless, after arriving here, it looked like Morgan started to recover faster.


    Of course, Feng Zhiruo also stayed behind. In fact, she barely went out of her dwellings at all. Around her room, a strange energy fluctuation was always present, as they said. There was no need to ask what she was doing, and it seemed like she found the base suitable for her cultivation.


    Leaving movements of Mark''s group around The Pagoda, there were also movements on the camp of Auraboros.


    ording to Huey, it seemed that there was someone always watching the collection groups. He could detect it using the almost nonexistent noises that the enemies made. The Pagoda was in constant watch too. Although it seemed that for some reason, they stopped trying to infiltrate. The skirmishes also ceased from happening.


    It was as if the Auraboros had given up all of a sudden and only decided to watch.


    And to Mark, it was a good piece of news. He would not be able to concentrate on more important things if Auraboros kept on pestering them. He could wage war against them any other time but not now. Absolutely not now.


    If they were just watching, just let them watch. If they made a hostile move, kill them. It was that simple.


    And now, the third day after his return, Mark could see that the things they needed in the base were nned out.


    It was time to start the preparation to return to the Spirit Dimension.


    But of course, the preparation that Mark was talking about was not food, clothes, or equipment.


    In his journey through New Jersey, he realized his weaknesses. Without relying on his Psychic Abilities and Demon Blood, he was weak in terms of Speed. He could not catch up with those that had naturally fast movements, like those bone armored brothers and the Jersey Devil.


    And now, it was time to upgrade himself.


    Even Mei was added to the ount.


    After all, Mark collected some awesome abilities that would suit him and Mei and would address their weaknesses.


    Mark readied the crystals and handed one to Mei.


    Like the usual, Mei would go first as he assisted her. After all, it would be a painful experience.

 Chapter 592 Consuming The Crystals, The Rainbow Crimson Scales

    <strong>Day 137 - 8:42 PM - Bedroom, Cliff House, Moutain Base, Mount Mbito, General Nakar, Quezon Province, Philippines</strong>


    "Ready?"


    Mark asked Mei, who was currently lying down on the bed.


    He was currently holding onto the crystal that he got from the female leaders of the ouws in Browning Square.


    [Rainbow Dragoscale] mutation. It was what Mark called it. The name came from the dragon-like aura of the rainbow-colored scales. Mark considered calling it something like a rainbow dragon, but as the mutation was iplete, unlike the ones he got from the father and son duo of Death Valley Settlement, he decided on the current name.


    And to Mark''s question...


    "I''m ready."


    Mei nodded with eyes filled with resolution.


    And thus, Mark made Mei swallow the crystal, and it turned pieces that entered her throat.


    Almost immediately after the crystal entered her body, Mei lost consciousness. Just like the first time, Mei''s body temperature rose sharply as the mutation took ce inside and outside her body.


    Mei started to feel extreme pain in her body. It showed on her face, even though shepletely lost her consciousness.


    This was the sign for Mark to start his work.


    With his hand covered with milky white light, Mark pressed his palms on Mei''s head.


    "Ugh..."


    Mei suddenly started making painful sounds, even though Mark was trying to alleviate the pain for her.


    "Damn it, this strange power can''t fully mitigate the pain."


    Mark grumbled. Now that he realized, this was the first time that Mark actually witnessed someone ingesting a second [Physical Crystal] that contained a mutated ability. Consuming an empty one to be evolvers and a filled one to be a mutator, both those instances could be handled by Mark.


    However, it seemed that this ability was not enough for the second time of consuming a mutation crystal.


    "Tch!" Mark clicked his tongue. "I should have tried it on someone else first."


    It was an oversight on his part. He was conserving the crystals and abilities too much that it did not enter his mind.


    Although he knew that the pain would get worse for consuming another crystal, he thought that his ability would still be of help.


    Now, he was regretting it once more.


    Mark''s heart that was empty before the apocalypse was now felt like getting torn apart as he watched Mei suffer in pain.


    "No, I should try something else."


    Mark grumbled as he racked his brain.


    And the idea came around immediately.


    The skill he attained as an Empath. It was the ability to absorb and ry the emotional fluctuations of a target to others.


    And there it was...


    The ability to absorb. There was no need to ry it, even though Mark would likely suffer a concentrated amount.


    But that did not matter.


    Mark was willing to suffer for Mei and the little girls...


    And there, he started to grit his teeth as his eyes glowed bright red, even releasing sparks of red electricity around it.


    But then, an unexpected reaction urred.


    The moment he activated his Empathic ability, the milky light covering his hand started to swirl. Then, instead of just the negative emotional energy from the pain, the actual sensation that Mei was feeling all over her body began to flood into Mark instead.


    "GUH!"


    A painful growl almost escaped Mark''s mouth.


    With thebination of these two Psychic Abilities, Mei''splexion started to be better. She was still in pain, but it was greatly alleviated for her. It was all thanks to the sudden reaction of the two abilities fused together.


    Mark, on the other hand, was doing his best to not make a sound. He was gritting his teeth too much that his gums started to tear. It was too painful. He could feel what exactly Mei was feeling during the process of her mutation.


    It was as expected of the nature of [Rainbow Dragoscales]. This was a mutation on the skin, and as such, the pain was also there. It was more concentrated on the arms and legs, though.


    Mark squinted his eyes. He could feel as if his skin was started to tear to pieces. In fact, as he felt the pain, he could see Mei''s skin starting to crack and tear. However, there was no blood. It was because the torn skin did not form a wound at all. Instead, a newyer of skin covered the torn part as soon as it opened.


    It was like how snakes shed their skin.


    The process continued like that, with Mark taking most of the burden and suffering for Mei. Two hourster, Mark had be numb to the repeated feeling of his skin being torn apart. It was because Mei''s skin did the same all over her body.


    Severalyers of skin were repeatedly torn and were reced as if tuning the best kind of skin that waspatible with her body.


    It repeated and repeated for the next two hours. Finally, the tearing stopped, and the pain started to subside.


    Mark felt freed from the torture. But then.


    "ARGH!"


    Mark gasped. A sudden surge of pain was suddenly channeled to him from Mei. He almost removed his hands from Mei''s head but managed to persevere.


    Still, it was too painful. The pain was on his back, and for sure, Mei was feeling the same.


    And then, the pain suddenly intensified. His hands were already shaking, trying to maintain his current posture.


    But then, with another burst of intense pain, he finally let go.


    It was not because he removed his hand, though. His hands were forced away.


    The still unconcious Mei suddenly sat up.


    BAM!


    The scene in front of Mark made his eyes turn wide.


    Mei''s wings opened wide while she was still unconcious. But that was not the issue.


    Mei''s bat-like wings that had a reddish ck color due to being a Blood Demon was now covered with red scales with a rainbow-colored sheen. And as Mark looked closely, the scales that covered her arms and legs had the same color.


    It looked like Mei transformed subconsciously. Because of this, some parts of her clothes got torn off.


    Still, the scene in front of Mark was stunning. Mei''s wings now looked like it wasyered with sparkling red gems instead of scales.<sub> </sub>


    And while Mark stared at that scene, Mei''s wings and scales disappeared, and her body plopped back to the bed.


    Mark carefully checked her. It looked like that the painful part of her mutation had passed after more than two hours. He expected it to be longer, but it seemed that having a body of a Blood Demon made her adapt to it faster.


    Still, with a wry smile, Mark looked around Mei. Her mutation this time looked messy with her shed skin scattered around the bed. There was even leftover skin stuck to her body.


    "I should clean up first before I start my turn."


    Mark murmured and stood up.


    BAM!


    Mark''s body had mmed to the ground uncontrobly.


    "My whole body is numb... I didn''t notice."


    Enduring the numbness, Mark slowly stood up. He called for anyone to bring a towel and a bowl of water.


    Unexpectedly, it was Hannah who was avable and gave what he requested. She timidly asked what the items were for when she saw a glimpse of Mei and the mess on the bed. Of course, she was surprised as she had no idea what happened.


    Still, she asked if she could be of any help.


    Mark declined, though. When Hannah left, Mark removed Mei''s clothes, leaving her underwear alone. Gently, he removed the stuck skin on her body, wiped her clean with the wet towel, gave her a new change of clothes, and cleaned the bed.


    Finishing the work, Mark smiled, patting Mei''s head gently. This was a step forward for her. Now, her body would be far sturdier than before.


    Mark thought of giving her more than one crystal. However, considering how painful it was, Mark decided to do this sometime in the future. He would find ways to strengthen the white light on his hand first if he did not want to see her suffering while undergoing mutation.


    And this experience also Mark him think twice about letting the little girls undergo the same thing. It would be very questionable if their young mind and bodies would be able to handle the pain. Of course, it might not apply to Miracle. Still, it would be a gamble.


    With those thoughts, Mark stood up and sat in the farther corner of the room. It was his turn to use the crystals, and with Mei upying the bed, he could not do it there lest he might disturb her.


    Mark looked at the crystals on his hand.


    There were three crystals. One crystal belonged to the older of the Bone Armored Brothers, the other was the new [Lightning Crystal], and thest one was the crystal that Bath gave him.


    "Should I use these one by one?"


    Mark was contemting. He wanted to use these three for himself. In the first ce, the one from Bath and the [Lightning Crystal] was for him. On the other hand, the [Swift Bone Armor] was something he chose to address his weakness in terms of speed.


    The most ideal to do was one by one. After all, this would be an extremely painful experience. One crystal would be Mark''s third mutation. The first was his [Blood Control], and the second was [Gic Adaptation].


    As for the other two crystals, one was more or less a [Psychic Catalyst] that would help him adjust his body to Psychic Abilities faster. The other was an actual Psychic Ability to control lightning. Since Mark already had four Psychic Abilities, consuming these two crystals might trigger some unexpected reaction.


    "Ugh... What should I do?"


    Mark was troubled.


    Unfortunately, there was not enough time for him to consume it one by one.


    This world was not like a wuxia where characters were able to pass long periods of time cultivating without worries.


    "Geez... Consume it all in one go!"


    Mark decided. Even if there were unexpected reactions to happen, the most that he would suffer from was the pain. After all, these crystals were more or less configured to help the person consuming it. There were no ounts of consuming it turning into a disaster so far from both Mark''s and Freed''s memories.


    And as such, Mark put the three marble-sized crystals in his mouth, turning it all to dust that entered his body.


    But then...


    "Huh?"


    Mark looked at his hands, and then, at the different parts of his body.


    Nothing was happening.


    Earlier, the moment that Mei ingested the crystal, she immediately fell unconcious due to its effects.


    Several seconds after Mark swallowed the three crystals, nothing was happening.


    That was what Mark thought...


    THROB!


    Mark''s eyes opened wide. His heart was beating loudly. Pain enveloped his senses.


    CRACKLE!


    He then noticed sparksing out of his body.


    "SH*T!"


    Mark cursed. He did not expect this at all!


    Doing his best to ignore the pain he was in, he stood up and rushed towards the balcony.


    CRACKLE!


    Sparks of electricity continued to appear around his body as he ran.


    Reaching the balcony, Mark spread out his wings and flew away. Many people in the base were still awake at this point and they all saw Mark flying away in a rush with his unsteady flight and sparksing out of his body.


    These rmed the people as they saw him rush towards the top of the mountain. Even in the darkness of the night, Mark was visible because of the bright sparks of electricity enveloping his body.


    Being seen as he flew away did not matter to Mark anymore. He only needed to fly away as fast and as far as he could.


    But then, midway up the mountain, Mark lost the feeling of his wings.


    CRASH!


    Mark painfully crashed unto the ground. He tried to stand up but the pain disabled him from doing so. Thus, he could only try to crawl and sit down on the ground.


    Still, it seemed that his current state would not allow him to do even sit down at all.


    THROB! CRACKLE!


    CRASH!!!


    Pain in his body, the loud beat of his heart, and the spreading of electricity around him.


    ROAR!


    This time, everyone witnessed the mountain getting enveloped in bright streaks of roaring lightning.

 Chapter 593 A Night Of Hellish Pain, The Unexpected Process Of Marks Mutation

    <strong>Day 137 - 11:25 PM - Mountain Base, Mount Mbito, General Nakar, Quezon Province, Philippines</strong>


    The instantaneous release of energy caused by an electrostatic discharge of two electrically charged mediums, it was what Lightning was.


    Seeing these branching shes of light in the sky, moving from cloud to cloud, or even towards the ground, was both fascinating and terrifying. The loud sound of thunder it creates and the damage it could possibly cause when hitting the ground could make many people scared.


    Lightning was not limited to the ones people couldmonly see in the sky.


    There were those that could be seen in the distance but could not be heard at all. It was called Heat Lightning.


    There were also the Dry Lightning that would appear during Dry Thunderstorms.


    And there was the rarest observed by people, the Ball Lightning. An electrically charged ball of light hovering aboveground like a St. Elmo''s Fire. Among many kinds of lightning that were known amongst men, it was the one that was still unexined.


    And now, the people of the base were seeing an even more spectacr sight in the mountain. At the ce where they saw Mark fly to, shes of lightning apanied by loud crackles were shot in every direction. It was even more amazing when some of it shot up towards the sky.


    It was an rming sight for everyone, especially for those that saw Mark crash midway up the mountain.


    Those that witnessed what was happening called upon those that were already asleep. Soon, almost everyone that was in the base tonight was all looking up the mountain, worried about Mark. After all, very few were in the know of Mark''s ns tonight.


    And those that knew what could have happened, like Odelina and Spera, could only gaze at the same mountain, confused as to what Mark did this time. From what they knew, Mark never mentioned that something like this would happen at all.


    However, this was when Karlene and Aephelia that stood with the maids, spoke.


    "This feels the same as that time, doesn''t it?"


    na said, which immediately made Aephelia nod.


    "That time, isn''t it? I does feel the same."


    "What are you three talking about?"


    Karlene could not help but ask.


    "Well, it''s back then when Master acquired the ability to control the Miasma," Aephelia replied. "Only a few of us were present at that time."


    Odelina and the others could not understand it because they were not there. But for Aephlia and Karlene that were there at that time, they remembered it. The feeling when Mark was in the process of absorbing a powerful ability.


    Aephelia and Karlene were right in this regard. After all, Mark used both the crystal that Bath gave him and the [Lightning Crystal] he acquired identally for the second time.


    However, there was one thing that was bugging Aephelia.


    Back in Eriellis, they were used to seeing some of their people receiving crystals that Keeper Collected. There were times that things like this happened. It was at those times that the ability seemed to be ipatible with the user of the crystal and started to rampage.


    Those times would cause a lot of destruction in the surroundings and most often lead to the user dying. It was also a very painful process, and even if the user managed to contain the new ability, there were chances that they would have mental and physical disabilities.


    This was the reason they did not advise consuming crystals more than necessary. Even Freed only had three before their blew up.


    Furthermore, there was another setback in this situation. If the Psychic unfortunately died, Keeper would retrieve their abilities. As for those that had consumed crystals, however, only the first Psychic Ability could be retrieved while the remaining would be lost.


    It was why after everyone died in the final battle, only their Original Abilities remained.


    The only exception in this was Keeper herself, who had an odd Psychic Ability in the first ce.


    That was why in the eyes of Aephelia and I, the way Mark absorbed his abilities was very strange. It was like he was always on the verge of going berserk, and yet, he would end up seeding.


    In one word, Chaotic. It was the right description to call the way that Mark grow stronger.


    Just the thought of that could make anyone worry.


    However, they could not do anything about it but trust that he would always seed.


    ***


    While the whole base gazed on the mountain bathed in lightning, Mark, who was the cause of it all, was slumped on the ground, growling in pain. His clothes were all ripped to pieces and were entirely naked right now.


    Using all three crystals at the same time was a bad idea.


    A TOTALLY BAD IDEA!


    Mark''s body was enveloped in electricity that would explode from time to time, causing those lightning bolts that were flying everywhere. In that process, Mark felt being electrocuted with an extremely high voltage of electricity. His clothes were ripped to pieces and burned by these surges of electricitying from his body. Even his skin had been burned countless times already.


    However, that was not the most painful thing that Mark was experiencing right at this moment.


    Currently, his head felt like it was going to split. No, it felt more like his head was being hammered by a baseball bat continuously.


    Still, that was not the worst.


    What Mark was suffering the most and caused him to be incapable of moving even a finger was his bones being ground to dust.


    Ipatibility, that was the issue. Mark understood it now.


    As he thought before, each Mutator mutated in the way suitable to their gics and body. In that issue, not everyone hadpatible gic makeup for the mutated abilities that others had.


    And Mark''s body that was notpatible with [Swift Bone Armor] mutation started to suffer.


    Of course, because of the crystal''s positive effects, this would not happen to other people. It was very likely that the ability would be downgraded to suit the person''s gic makeup without damaging their body.


    Unfortunately, the crystals had a different way of upgrading Mark, who was abnormal since the start.


    Who would have thought that the effects of the crystal would take advantage of Mark''s regenerative abilities to rebuild his bones into ones perfectly suitable to the mutation? And now, he was suffering the insane pain of his bones being destroyed and regenerated over and over.


    If one was to see Mark right now, they would be terrified as Mark''s body would deform from time to time due to the absence of bones in some parts of his body. Although his regeneration heals the destroyed bones almost immediately, this appearance was still horrifying.


    "GAHA!"


    Mark painfully coughed out ckish liquid as remains of his former bones were pushed out of his body. That ck liquid flowed out of his mouth that he could not close at all.


    BAM!


    Another explosion of electricity made his body convulse painfully.


    Mark''s eyes were blurry. He was losing consciousness.


    However, he should not.


    Mark opened his eyes wide, glowing red, forcing himself awake.


    It was painful. Maybe, it would lessen if Mark lost consciousness. However, there was a feeling that Mark would lose if he did.


    Lose? To who? To what?


    Mark''s mind was clouded.


    The burst of negative emotions he umted from his uncontroble empathic abilities started to flood his consciousness.


    ''Would the pain end if I died here? It hurts. Just die and end everything here.''


    Mark was already delirious. He started to feel that the pain was receding.<sub> </sub>


    "NO!"


    A voice echoed inside Mark''s mind.


    Suddenly, Mark was forced out of his delirious state, and the pain surged once more.


    ''These voices again.''


    Markined in his mind.


    ''Still, thank you. I''mpletely awake now.''


    Mark was awake, yet, he started to close his eyes.


    And then, red light covered his veins. At the same time, Miasma started to envelop his body.


    ''Breathe as deep as I can! Contain everything inside!''


    Mark screamed inside.


    And there, a change finally appeared.


    The ck-colored Miasma started to mix into the surges of electricity around his body.


    It was unexpected considering how Miasma was supposed to do the opposite. Miasma should have absorbed the electricity instead, as it was a form of energy.


    And then, it finally dawned on Mark what was happening.


    Mark''s body contained Miasma and lightning was a form of energy. Thus, the ability to control lightning that was supposed to enter his body could not and continued to surge outside, harming him instead.


    But when he released Miasma, the surges of electricity that covered his body started to absorb it and take on its properties.


    It did not take long. The surges of electricity, the streaks of lightning, started to lose its bright glow.


    Seeing that, Mark smiled slightly, despite the pain he was still experiencing.


    ''ck Lightning... It does suit me better.''


    That was right, the streaks of lightning that were supposed to be a convergence of light was now tainted ck. Nevertheless, it felt closer to Mark''s heart and mindpared to the usual lightning he knew.


    And then...


    BOOOOM!!!


    The Earth and Sky rumbled.


    ck streaks of lightning flew towards the sky like ck dragons in the night. And then, flew back to Mark, entering his body.


    THROB!!!


    Mark froze. His body started to feel like it was pulsating at the same rhythm as his heartbeat.


    "ARGH!!!"


    A surge of unimaginable pain caused Mark to roar.


    And the cause of it was the final adjustment of his body.


    And there, like what happened to Mei, his body started to transform uncontrobly.


    Mark''s bones grew and changed shape as it tore through his skin.


    Thin sheets of metal-like calcium growth covered his body, starting from his arms and legs. Unexpectedly, the bone armor had simr properties as his [Blood Metal]. Reddish ck in color, metal-like instead of bones-like, and it had a sinister appearance.


    Mark gasped as his transformation finished.


    Slowly, he stood up. His whole body was still numb from pain, but the pain had already subsided.


    Mark stood up and almost fell. He was still unsteady. As he lost bnce, he could only rely on the rocky wall that was in front of him. He then dragged his body and sit down, leaning his back on that rock wall.


    He could not help but look around and felt lucky. It seemed that he crashed at the rocky part of the mountain and not in the middle of the forest. If thetter actually happened, everything would be on fire now.


    Mark looked at the armor covering his body.


    "This looks nice."


    He smiled.


    It was a painful experience. No, hellish to be exact.


    But it seemed that the result was worth it.


    Mark opened his palm covered with his new armor.


    CRACKLE!


    Sparks of electricity appeared. It was ck.


    As he willed, it formed into a crackling ck ball and he stretched his arm with his palm facing a huge rock nearby.


    RUMBLE!


    The roar of thunder echoed as the ck ball of lightning shot towards the rock. It left a foot-diameter scorched Mark on the face of the rock, with cracks at the center.


    "It''s weaker, huh."


    Mark mumbled. However, it was within his expectations. After all, he was supposed to be unable to use any Psychic abilities at all after absorbing a new one.


    "The crystal Bath gave worked properly, it seemed."


    Mark could not confirm if that crystal actually worked by just feeling it. It was because he could not feel any changes in his body that it could have caused aside from being able to use Psychic Abilities right after he seeded in absorbing the crystal.


    While Mark was contemting, he suddenly squinted his eyes. That was when he noticed as he looked up in the sky.


    "The sun is already rising, huh..."


    Because of the painful experience, Mark did not notice that he was in that state for thetter half of the night.


    Mark wanted to return already, but his body was still numb.


    That was when someone appeared.


    "Y-YOU!!! What did you do?!!!"


    Of course, there was only one person that Mark knew that could appear suddenly like a mushroom.


    It was no other than Fourth, who seemed to have rushed here from somewhere far.

 Chapter 594 The Many-Eyed Havoc, The Trouble Mark Caused This Time

    <strong>Day 138 - 5:47 AM - Mount Mbito, General Nakar, Quezon Province, Philippines</strong>


    Mark stared at Fourth with his eyes half-closed from fatigue. Not only was he too tired to respond to her, but he also did not know what expression he should show in this situation. It was entirely unexpected that she would appear here right now. Comparing the previous circumstances, hepletely fused with Freed''s Psychic ability, or when Chiyo, the Night Everred Spirit Tree, was born, he believed that the events this time was more discreet.


    "HEY! I''m talking to you!"


    Fourth approached Mark in an agitated manner since he was not replying to her.


    "Can you pipe it down? I''m tired."


    Markined, making the girl speechless.


    "I know I should feel amused that you can actually talk to someone like me that way. But right now, I can''t!"


    Fourth was raising her small voice.


    "Did you know that you caused the flow of energy to be unstable for several hundred-miles!!! Do you know where I came from before I got here?! I''m in Indonesia, and I finally found another eligible candidate! But I had to stop meeting her immediately because I saw that lightning strike, soaring in the sky all the way from this ce!"


    Mark was quite surprised after hearing that. He remembered that there were some streaks of lightning shooting off from his body earlier, but he never expected that those were able to reach other countries.


    "But that''s only lightning."


    Mark reasoned.


    "Only lightning, you said? ONLY LIGHTNING?! YOU SAY THAT HUNDREDS OF LIGHTNING BOLTS AT A TRIBULATION STRENGTH SOARING THE SKY ONLY LIGHTNING!"


    Fourth was definitely agitated. As she shouted her concerns, even the temperature in the surroundings was getting colder.


    "So, are you going to kill me?"


    Mark suddenly asked with his half-closed stare.


    That question, however, made Fourth freeze.


    "I-I-I..."


    Fourth was at a loss for words. She was agitated, but she did not have that intention. Instead, she was worried.


    "What are you worried about then?"


    Mark asked another question, which made Fourth even more silent. She did not expect that he could tell what she was feeling.


    And then, with deep breaths and her vertical eyes blinking, she asked Mark.


    "What kind of God are you aiming for?"


    That question suddenly came out of nowhere, making Mark unable to reply.


    "I''m sure you already know the potential you and your partner have, right? The potential to step into the realm of Deities or even be Gods. Then tell me. What kind of God are you aiming for."


    With those words, Fourth stepped even closer.


    "I have no ability to see what specific skills you have, but I can tell how much chaotic your existence is. Not only me, anyone in the realm of Deities or above would be able to tell. Last time, I still didn''t mind it. But after three days, your existence became even more chaotic. In this course, there''s only one thing you might end up. A Deity or God of Chaos."


    Mark''s half-closed eyes fully opened. That was unexpected information from this girl in front of him.


    Still...


    "God of Chaos? That doesn''t sound bad at all."


    Fourth''s eyes opened wide.


    "Y-YOU! Do you know what you are saying?"


    "What? That''s the issue here. I don''t know what you are talking about at all. If you are talking about a Primeval God, I don''t think there would be any issues. But I guess you are talking about a literal Chaotic God. Either way, I''m fine with any of the two."


    Fourth stared at Mark, stumped. She was feeling amused at Mark but troubled at the same time.


    With a sigh, she started to exin.


    "I''m talking about the literal one, The Deities, and Gods of Chaos. There''s very few in Earth''s history and literature, but they do exist in other universal dimensions. And they were among the most hated kinds of Gods."


    Hearing up to that, Mark smiled.


    "I guess I can see your point there. Chaos... unpredictable and unstable. Am I right?"


    Mark''s words made Fourth nod.


    "Deities and Gods of Chaos wield powerful abilities over different elements in existence. You can say that they were strong enough to sit just below Deities and Gods of Creation. But still, because of their chaotic nature, no one could predict their course of action. In a tick, they could be good Deities and Gods, but in another step, they might turn evil."


    "Well, that''s just perfect for me, don''t you think?"


    Mark asked.


    "Y-YOU! ARGH! I DON''T KNOW ANYMORE!"


    Mark''s question made Fourth start to throw a tantrum.


    But then...


    "Fourth, you are being unsightly again."


    A strict-sounding female voice sounded as someone''s existence slowly solidified in Mark''s detection.


    Mark raised his head while Fourth turned behind her in a startle.


    "Third! What are you doing here?!"


    Fourth eximed.


    Several meters above the mountain, a woman wearing a ck Kimono floated like a ghost. She had white hair and blue eyes that shined even under the sun. Like Fourth, she had three eyes on her face, but it was unexpectedly arranged in a way that one would expect of someone having a third eye. She had a cold expression on her face as if she was an embodiment of strictness.


    And to Fourth''s question, the woman replied.


    "And why won''t I be? Remember whose area of jurisdiction is above yours?"


    Fourth could not retort at all. The Eye in charge of East Asia was Third, after all. And considering the situation, there was no actual need to ask why she was here.


    It was obviously because of Mark.


    "I came to check where the disturbance ising from, and I found the lead going to your area of jurisdiction. There is no rule for us no not enter other''s territory so I kept on going. It is quite unexpected for me to see you here, though."


    "Rrrrr..."


    Fourth stared at Third with subtle groaning from her mouth.


    That was when Third''s eyes fell on Mark.


    "Care to tell me what THAT is?"


    Sure enough, Mark''s existence also intrigued her.


    "It''s none of your concern! GO HOME!"


    Fourth shouted. It seemed that the little girl did not have close connections with this woman.


    Hearing that, Third frowned.


    "As usual. You don''t have any ounce of beauty at all."


    "That''s none of your business!!!"<sub> </sub>


    That definitely irked Fourth. It seemed that she also hated that fact, given that she had a terrifying arrangement of her eyes.


    "It''s disgusting to see how you two bicker like this."


    Suddenly, another voice echoed.


    Both Third and Fourth turned to the source of the voice. Mark was the same.


    There, another woman stood by the shade of a tall rock. Leaning on that rock, it was a woman with eight eyes. Her eyes were arranged like a Funnel-web Spider''s eyes. She was wearing tight fitting clothes made of questionable material. She looked scary, especially with her greenish-ck hair that seemed to ooze of poison.


    In any case, although she called the behavior of Third and Fourth as disgusting, her appearance suited the word more.


    "Twelfth."


    Third frowned.


    "What are you doing here too!!!"


    Fourth cried out.


    "Isn''t it obvious? The same as her." Twelfth pointed her chin towards Third. "Still, I didn''t expect to see something like THAT here."


    Of course, this disgusting woman was referring to Mark.


    Seeing the appearance of the two new Eyes, Mark turned to Fourth.


    "Is this what you are truly worried about?"


    "Not exactly." Fourth was about to cry. "I didn''t expect these to to be overly curious ande here either."


    Mark could tell why Fourth was very bothered. Not only were these two intruded in her area of jurisdiction, but these two were stronger than her, especially that woman called Twelfth.


    However, there was nothing that could be done now. Like Third that was in charge of East Asia, this Twelfth might also be in charge of a nearby territory. Most likely, Oceania considering that she appeared from the East direction and Third appeared from the North.


    In any case, things became troublesome for Fourth.


    Mark wanted to leave. Just Fourth alone would make him feel that he was walking on the edge of a de, not to mention three of them. However, Mark was still numb. He could barely move a muscle.


    That was when...


    With a sh of bright light, Mei surprisingly appeared beside Mark. There was no warning at all, even from Mark''s ring. Furthermore, she was in full battle gear and with her new ability in full disy. She even brought Ignis with her.


    "Mei''er, what are you doing here?"


    Mark was quite surprised by her sudden appearance. And by the looks of it, it was not long since she woke up and already headed here.


    "Aimee said that Gege might be in danger. I came rushing first. The others willeter."


    Mei replied, ring at the unfamiliar women in front of them. She was familiar with Fourth, seeing her three days ago, and Mark said that she was not an enemy. It meant that the danger mighte from the two unfamiliar women.


    Hearing that, Mark became troubled. If they were really to fight these Eyes, it would be questionable if they would win at all.


    "Master!" Ignis''s voice echoed in Mark''s mind. "Are you okay?"


    "My body is all numb, but I''m fine, regardless," Mark replied. "Anyways, can you intercept the others and send this."


    Mark then created a rectangr te of [Blood Metal] with letters inscribed on it.


    "But..."


    Ignis hesitated to leave just when he had just arrived.


    "I''ll trust you on this alright?" Mark hung the te on Ignis with a metal hook. "It''s better if they don''te here."


    Hearing that he was being trusted, Ignis flew away carrying the metal te. It should be a message to stop the others froming here.


    p "You have some interesting toys, don''t you?"</anda>


    Twelfth spoke to Mark, seeing Ignis fly away. She was also looking at Mei, quite amazed.


    On the other hand, Third...


    "H-h-HOW!" Third shouted. "How can such a beauty exist!!!"


    There was no need to ask. Third was staring at Mei, wide-eyed.


    That stare, however, made Mei feel shivers on her spine. With her reflex actions, she tried to hide behind Mark as much as she could.


    "Fourth, tell me." Mark frowned. "Is that one a pervert?"


    "Ah, um..."


    Fourth did not know what to reply.


    Instead...


    "How disgusting."


    Twelfth straight up said while staring at Third''s unsightly behavior.


    Those remarks made Third snap out of it and realized that everyone here was looking at her with disgust.


    "Ahem... Pardon my unsightly actions."


    Third said, fixing her posture. Nevertheless, her eyes were still stuck onto Mei.


    "The tense atmosphere is suddenly gone, huh."


    Fourth murmured, amused as she assessed the sudden change in the situation.


    "Can we just leave?"


    Mark asked Fourth...


    "I want to leave too, you know? It''s not amusing to be left here alone with these two."


    Fourth wanted to do the same.


    However, it would be difficult to do so. Especially since Mark and Mei got the attention of the two. And as it was Fourth''s territory, she could not leave Mark and Mei alone.


    "Seriously, this is all your fault, you know that?"


    Fourth was ming Mark.


    "In any case, we''re leaving. All you three are Eyes. Sort this yourself."


    Mark said as he nodded to Mei. Mei then grabbed onto his arm as they both turn into surge ck mist that moved fast down the mountain.


    And of course, the three Eyes stared surprised. Mark and Mei suddenly vanished like that, leaving barely any traces.


    "HEY! DON''T LEAVE ME ALONE HERE!"


    Fourth cried out.


    In fact, she could leave immediately since she could instantly move from ce to ce up to a certain distance. However, she could not leave Third and Twelfth alone, lest they do some unwanted things in her territory.


    Seriously, things becameplicated because of Mark''s carelessness.

 Chapter 595 A Fruitless Visit, The Eyes Leaving Like How They Suddenly Arrived

    <strong>Day 138 - 7:23 AM - Living Room, Mountain Base, Mount Mbito, General Nakar, Quezon Province, Philippines</strong>


    "Haahhh...."


    Mark escaped the scene with Mei''s help, alternating their movement abilities while returning to the base.


    But of course, there was no way that Fourth would not chase after the culprit of the current situation.


    And now, Mark could only sign in annoyance as three beings that he did not want to lurk around were currently sitting in his living room.


    Furthermore, it was Fourth who brought the other two back like this ce was her own house.


    After suffering for half of the night, Mark wanted to rest. But now, he was forced to watch over the three in case they tried to something in his ce.


    Right now, because of the presence of the three, the whole base was silent. Even crickets would not dare make noise at this point. It was because of the suffocating feeling that everyone had after the three arrived together. Even the maids and the children had to go out of the house for now. Only he and Mei were left behind, being able to resist the feeling to a great extent.


    "Can you three go somewhere else? Or just leave already?"


    Mark grumbled with a frown. He would respect anyone worthy of it. These three in front of him, however, did not deserve an ounce of respect for him. It was even more after barging into his ce uninvited.


    "You''re an odd one, aren''t you?" Twelfth said. "Other people might be begging for any of us to visit them. Yet, you''re straightforwardly kicking the three of us out."


    "That is right." Third chimed in. "You can''t even serve your guests a cup of tea. Just be d that we here to visit this unsightly cave of yours."


    Mark did not mind what the spider-eyed woman said, but this pervert was irking him more than Ninth did before. Furthermore, she was quite hostile towards him.


    Ignoring the two, Mark turned to Fourth.


    "Just why did you bring them here?"


    "I didn''t bring them here! They forced me to lead them here!"


    Fourth cried out. This girl genuinely disliked her two guests, but it seemed that she could not do anything to push them away.


    As for Mark, he could not fathom why would Third and Twelfth insist oning here. Even if Mark caused amotion, it was of no concern for the Eyes as they were just sent now to spread the news of the Second Wave and not to meddle in mortal affairs.


    "Don''t worry." Twelfth shrugged. "We have no ill willing here. I don''t know about Third, but I''m just curious."


    "Who would think that a ce like this exists in this small country? Furthermore, there''s also you." She added. "Now I understand where all those disturbances in the past months came from. It''s all from you, isn''t it?"


    Mark stared at Twelfth. She was on point. In the past, there were also disturbances from unknown sources. These past months, however, Mark was the primary cause. Furthermore, not only here, but he also got involved in some things in America.


    "And you?"


    Mark turned to Third.


    "I am the same," Third fixed her dangling hair. "Though I''m more interested in that beautiful Spirit Tree you have here and that woman beside you."


    Hearing those words made Mei shrink beside Mark. She grabbed Mark''s arm tightly, staring sharply on Third. It was the wrong move, however, as it seemed that Third became more entranced at Mei''s current expression.


    "Can you stop that?"


    Mark''s eyes grew cold.


    To Mark''s words, Third''s eyes turned towards him with sharpness.


    "Who do you think you are to order me? Beauty is to be appreciated. Someone unsightly as you is not someone for me to listen to. In fact, can you not cover her? Please, get out of the way."


    Of course, Mark would not take that lightly.


    "So, you want me to stay quiet while letting you stare like a pervert at MY wife?" Mark said threateningly. "Is that what you wanted to say? Just who do you think you are?"


    Mark''s sudden threatening attitude surprised Fourth and Twelfth. Even those half-step deities would not have the courage he had. After all, the Eyes were more or less the administrators of Earth. No one in the right mind would dare provoke them despite knowing what they were.


    Nevertheless, Third''s reaction was even more unexpected.


    "W-what did you say?!!! She''s the wife of someone with an unsighlty appearance like you?! Impossible! IMPOSSIBLE!"


    "Uwa... She snapped..."


    Fourth could not help but murmur as they watched Third''s current state.


    On the other hand, with Mark being degraded like that, Mei''s eyes were about to spurt fire as she hatefully stared at Third.


    But then... Third did something that both Fourth and Twelfth did not expect.


    "You must have done something to her. I will unveil the truth!"


    Those words of Third made Fourth and Twelfth''s eyes grow wide.


    "STOP!" "DON''T!"


    The two cried out. However, the two werete. Third already used her main ability.


    ***


    "What the hell is this?"


    Third cried out as she found herself in an endless void.


    Dark, everything was dark.


    The Third Eye, the Embodiment of Aesthetic Appreciation. That was who Third was. She bore the title as the Judge of Beauty among the Eyes. And her ability was to enter the minds of people, read their memories, and judge the person''s inner beauty.


    As she could not believe that someone with an appearance as Mark managed to snag a beauty with a goddess-like appearance, she suspected that he used some underhanded methods to do it.


    Thus, she used her ability, targeting Mark.


    Third entered Mark''s consciousness in an attempt to read his memories. However, she suddenly found herself wandering in an endless void.


    For the first time, aside from their Master, Third felt fear from something else.


    "Happy now?"


    As Third wandered in fear, a voice was heard in her ear. The voice could not be any familiar.


    "Y-you! HOW!"


    Third turned around, looking for the source of the voice. However, she did not see anyone.


    "Show yourself!"


    She shouted.


    "Quite a nerve you have. You enter my consciousness, and you behave arrogantly. You better leave if you don''t want me to consume you."


    Mark spoke, showing himself walking out from the void.


    "Impossible... this is impossible..."


    Sure enough, Third saw something that rarely existed on beings at Mark''s level.<sub> </sub>


    For one to be able to enter his own consciousness was not a feat that just anyone could do.


    "Impossible here, impossible there. You''re noisy. This is thest warning. Leave!"


    Mark warned for thest time.


    "Hmp." Third huffed. "You think you can force me out? No matter what you try to do, I won''t get out until I find the truth!"


    Sure enough, this woman was a narrow-minded one. She could not believe that someone like Mei had fallen for Mark. Furthermore, it seemed that she knew that Mark could not consume her as he had said. After all, he would receive the ire of the other Eyes if he was to kill her.


    "Then, suit yourself."


    Mark smiled sinisterly. This suddenly gave Third the chills.


    It was true that Mark could not kill her because of the possible repercussions. However, it did not mean that he would not harm her.


    And with that creepy smile, Mark vanished in the void once more.


    Third was quite surprised that Mark suddenly retreated like that. However, her goal came first. She immediately used her ability, finding a door to Mark''s memories. Now floating in the void, a ck door appeared. Not minding the creepiness of the door, Third dove inside.


    It was a mistake.


    Third opened her eyes widely in shock. The scene before her was even worse than hell itself.


    The cries of thousands of infants as their bodies were slowly roasted over the zing fire entered her ears.


    The scene of ghoulish humans being chopped alive to pieces by unsightly deformed multi-headed monsters that drunk their fresh blood and feasted on their oozing flesh.


    Beautiful women being mutted like dolls by a gigantic baby that had a mouth instead of eyeballs on its eye sockets.


    Bloated and desated corpses being torn apart by ghouls, ying with and eating their rotten guts and flesh.


    Humans sitting silently at the side as maggots slowly ate their flesh alive.


    "URGH!"


    Third felt nauseous. She wanted to vomit, but as nothing but consciousness without a body, it was impossible. Without being able to release the urging fleeing on her throat, she started to suffer.


    And finally, Third could not handle it anymore. With the copse of her mind, she retreated.


    ***


    In a sh, Third returned to reality. Everything felt longer, but in fact, barely a second passed outside.


    Both Fourth and Twelfth were still in the position to stop her. But the two froze.


    They stared at Third with unconcealed shock.


    Third''s eyes were flowing with blood.


    The Eyes might be beings not born biologically. Nevertheless, they were alive and simr to humans, they could be hurt or bleed.


    But to suddenly tear up with blood, something must have happened.


    They could not help but look at Mark, who was sinisterly smiling at Third''s state.


    "I warned you."


    Mark spoke, making the dazed Third look at him.


    But then...


    "URP..."


    That sound from Third made Mark grab Mei and they turned into ck mist and materialized in the far corner of the room.


    Fourth and Twelfth were also surprised but they were able to react and jumped away from the table.


    "BLUURGH!"


    p Third vomited on the table. However, since she seemed to have not eaten anything, it was nothing but saliva and gastric juice.</anda>


    "How disgusting..."


    Twelfth delightedly remarked. That made Third snap out of her daze and realized what she had done. Feeling the trickle of liquid on her face, she wiped it with her hands and found out it was blood.


    Third was shocked at her own unsightly disy.


    She turned her head at Mark. Unexpectedly, tears were umting in her eyes.


    Without saying anything, she floated and rushed out to the exit. There, she left just like that.


    "I guess, I''m leaving too."


    Twelfth suddenly lost the urge to stay and made her way out without waiting for any reply.


    Finally, only Fourth was left among the eyes.


    "I''m going to leave... too?"


    Fourth turned to Mark but suddenly found him ring at her.


    "Clean that before you leave."


    Mark pointed at the mess that Third made.


    "You''re asking someone like me to clean?! Are you nuts?!" Fourth cried out. "I don''t know what you did, but isn''t it your fault?!"


    "You are the one that brought them here, right?" Mark argued. "Besides, maybe you can put that mess in a bottle or something andbel it with that woman''s name. You can use it to ckmail her."


    Fourth froze. That was an amusing idea but disgusting at the same time. However, it would surely be effective towards Third, who was someone highly concerned about the aesthetical disy of things.


    "You sure have some amusing ideas, don''t you?" Fourthplimented. "But I''m not cleaning this. I''ll send someone else."


    Fourth said as she teleported away.


    Mark closed his eyes, checking if the other two truly left. Feeling them leave the area of his detection, Mark was finally able to feel relieved. He then slumped on the floor, with Mei worrying about him.


    It was not surprising that he felt drained. He just underwent that painful experiencest night, and now, he had to create a highly detailed world in his consciousness that was able to affect an existence at the level of that Eye called Third.


    Nevertheless, it was good that the nuisance finally left.


    He did not want to deal with those beings anymore.


    Since Fourth said that she would bring someone else to clean the mess, Mark and Mei left the room and forbidden anyone from entering it.


    Five minutester, Fourth actually returned. She was with a humanoid creature with a maid-like appearance. It was quite unexpected that she really took Mark''s suggestion to heart.

 Chapter 596 The Eyes And Blood Demons, A Supposed To Be Peaceful Breakfast

    Day 138 - 10:23 AM - Cliff House, Mountain Base, Mount Mbito, General Nakar, Quezon Province, Philippines


    With the Eyes leaving, Mark was could finally feel relieved as he ate histe breakfast.


    Or so it should be...


    But now, sitting in front of Mark on the opposite side of the table, there was Fourth.


    "Just what are you even doing here?"


    Mark grumbled as Odelina served his and Mei''s breakfast.


    Ignoring Mark''s words, Fourth looked at Odelina and spoke.


    "Can I have some too?"


    That question made Odelina troubled as she looked at Mark.


    Odelina was calm most of the time. Still, the suffocating aura around the Eyes affected her.


    "Haah..." Mark sighed. "Just give her some, but give her a cup of milk instead."


    "Yes."


    Odelina replied.


    The food was nothing but a cup of coffee and fried meatloaf slices, though.


    "Hey! Don''t treat like a kid! I want coffee too!"


    Fourth grumbled.


    "Okay, then. Give this girl a cup coffee."


    Mark gave up. This girl was definitely treating his home as her own.


    That was when Odelina left for the kitchen to make another breakfast serving.


    As she was getting her own serving, Fourth sat satisfied.


    "You''re really treating my ce as your own, aren''t you?"


    Mark asked.


    "What''s wrong with it? Other people would be d if they were you."


    Mark frowned. Still, that would be undoubtedly true, especially for religious fanatics.


    If they could handle the Eye''s presence, that is.


    "Don''t you have work to do? You had been grumbling about needing to go here when you found another candidate earlier, right?"


    Mark reminded the girl.


    "I already did that. I left earlier, remember?"


    That was right. Fourth left earlier for about an hour before popping out inside Mark''s house once again.


    "So? Why are you here again?"


    Of course, Mark would ask that question.


    "I just want to rx a bit. Can''t I do that? Even beings like us grow tired, you know?"


    Fourth replied as if it was a matter of fact.


    "Then go rx somewhere else. Just your presence makes people suffocate, you know that?"


    "Ah..."


    Hearing Mark''s words made Fourth stare at him like she had a big glowing question mark above her head.


    "I forgot... How about this?"


    As Fourth said that, her suffocating presence started to shrink until it was unnoticeable.


    "Is this fine now?"


    Fourth asked as the suffocating feeling was finally gone.


    "You can actually do this..."


    Mark sure was pissed. Everyone had been suffering because of the divine-like pressure that wasing from the eyes every time they were present. And now, to think that she could actually hide it but just did not bother to do it.


    "Of course, we can! Or else, how do you think we are able to hide ourselves if we always have that kind of presence around us?"


    Those words made Mark remember Ninth. He did not have such a presence while he was hiding himself. Even Chimetrice could not tell at all, and Mark could only find Ninth because of his Emphatic Ability.


    "But that didn''t answer why you are rxing here."


    Mark questioned once more.


    "Then, where do you think that I can go to rx?" Fourth grumbled. "We Eyes are not tireless robots, and we take breaks from our duties from time to time. Back then, I can sneak into amusement parks to rx. Tell me. Which amusement park is still open in these times? There isn''t even a single peaceful yground left."


    "If you want some peaceful ce, why not clear the infected and make your own."


    Mark suggested.


    "We are not allowed to do that! We are not allowed to even deal with the infected, you know that?! To humans, the infected might be dead, hopeless, and unsavable beings. But they are still considered as inhabitants of this Earth. If we touch even one of them without proper reason, we''re going to receive punishment."


    It was one of the restrictions of being an Eye. As long as it was not a purge intended to bnce the state of the world, they were not allowed to make any movements.


    "But that pervert invaded my consciousness earlier."


    Mark said, making Fourth smile bitterly.


    "Well, yeah. That woman will definitely get calledter. But you can''t really me her either."


    "Why not me her?" Mark frowned deeply. "It''s not her position to dictate our rtionship."


    Mark said, grabbing Mei''s shoulder.


    To those words, Fourth shrugged.


    "Because you should me humans for that behavior."


    That sudden shift of me made Mark and Mei confused. Their confusion triggered Fourth to tell a definite truth about her and the other Eyes.


    "Remember how I introduced myself? I''m sure Ninth did the same."


    "So, it''s really that, huh..."


    Mark murmured, making Fourth surprised.<sub> </sub>


    "What are you murmuring?"


    "Nothing. I just confirmed it from your words. All of you, Eyes, are born from emotions of humans, isn''t it? That''s why when you and that other kid introduced yourselves, you added Embodiment of something after your name."


    "You... really..." Fourth was definitely amused. "You are right. We are born from emotions that humans had as humans are the reigning species on this. That is also why we had humanoid bodies by default. Also depending on the emotion, we are born from, it also affected our behavior. Third is the Embodiment of Aesthetic Appreciation. In her eyes, only beauty is epted. The way she behaved earlier, unable to believe the rtionship of you two with contrasting appearances, it''s exactly howmon humans think, right?"


    "She''s too beautiful for someone like you."


    "A frog from aiming for a swan''s meat."


    "You''re notpatible with each other."


    "You will hear all sorts of those kinds of things from humans, right?" Fourth titled her head. "They say all those when a pair of lovers are in total contrast with each other. It might stem from either culture or personal mindset, but most humans think that way. Just like how Third behaved."


    Mark fell silent.


    It was an awful truth that was applicable to the majority of people on Earth. A beautiful woman, being paired with a handsome man, was justice. An ugly man should also pair with an ugly woman. Aiming any higher would make people shun you. If you managed to seed, the other people''s jealousy would target you.


    At this time, Odelina returned from the kitchen, bringing Fourth''s food and coffee.


    "Thank you."


    Fourth said to Odelina. This made everyone quite surprised.


    "What''s with those reactions?!" Fourth roared. "I''m a woman who knows proper etiquette after receiving food, you all know that?!"


    "But you didn''t even utter a single thanks when you snatched my choctesst time. Also, you look like a brat rather than a woman."


    Mark retorted, making Fourth pout.


    "I was angry at that time, alright?! My job had been taken away from me! I''ll get scolded harshly! Also, I''m a proper woman! I may look like this because I got punished by Master, but I''m definitely several hundred times older than you!"


    Fourth kept on roaring while stuffing her mouth with fried meatloaf.


    "Alright, alright."


    Mark raised his hands up. If he continued retorting, this brat would be noisier and noisier. He needed to just let her finish the food and make her go.


    "Anyway, are you really weaker than those two?"


    Mark asked as he was curious. He wanted to confirm something.


    And to that question, Fourth looked down, tapping her te with the spoon she was holding.


    "No... I''m not really any less stronger than them before the outbreak. But in this state, even if I didn''t get punished, I can''t stay in the [Dimension Line.]"


    Mark''s curiosity was piqued. He even heard a term that he had not heard of before.


    "Then, why are you weaker now? Aside from being punished that you just said."


    "I guess, there''s no issue telling you all this." Fourth looked at Mark, Mei, and Odelina. We are the embodiment of human emotions, remember? We grow stronger or weaker depending on the emotions that humans in the majority had. Like me, I''m the Embodiment of Amusement. The more that people seek amusement and feel it, the more I gain power. But I bet you know the state of the people after this apocalypse started."


    Mark was right in his other assumption. Being the embodiment of human emotions, their strength also relied on humans. With Fourth being the Embodiment of Amusement, it was no surprise that she grew weaker after the outbreak started.


    When the world started to end, most humans lost the urge to find amusement and feel it, and instead, focused on survival. Some even sumbed to fear and agony. The necessity to have fun was also diminished.


    And for Fourth, Mark''s base was like a paradise on Earth as everyone was able to live in a more carefree manner, able to maintain the urge to find amusement and happiness in their lives.


    With all these in mind, Mark''s urge to kick Fourth out of his base lessened and just let her enjoy things as long as she did not cause any trouble.


    While they were talking, they did not realize that it was already almost lunchtime.


    At this point, some people entered the door to the dining room. Looking at them, they were no one else but Spera that brought the three girls home from their morning lessons.


    "Papa! Mama!"


    Miracle rushed towards Mark and Mei from the door, with Abbygale immediately behind her. Spera and I were left behind with bitter smiles while looking at the two.


    Mark patted the heads of the two girls while they both received a hug from Mei.


    "You are surprisingly gentle to these girls that are not even your own blood and flesh."


    Fourth spoke, amused at the scene in front of her.


    "Maybe not flesh, but my blood definitely runs inside them."


    Mark retorted.


    This was also when the girls noticed the visitor. Of course, Spera, who knew Fourth was immediately on guard.


    "Youss there. You don''t have to be on guard. I''m just here to rx." Fourth spoke to Spera before turning to the girls. "Now that you mention it, your family seems to have an odd aura... Wait... Why did you all have demonic aura''s anyway? All of you definitely felt human, well aside from you, Mr. Chaotic."


    It seemed that Fourth finally noticed. By the looks of it, she had not been paying attention before.


    This, however, made Mark a bit confused.


    Mark was a Pure Blood Demon. And following the story, it was the Eyes that instigated the extinction of Blood Demons in the past. However, she did not seem to have any idea or familiarity with the Aura of Blood Demons at all.


    This made Mark test the waters a bit.


    "Do you know about Blood Demons?"


    Mark asked.


    "Blood Demons, you say?"


    Fourth replied, thinking while waving her spoon. Nevertheless, it seemed that she could not recall.


    Mark decided to add to the details.


    "It''s a race of Demons living in the border of the Overworld and the Underrealm of the Spirit Dimension several thousands of years ago. Their race that went extinct after they were attacked by the denizens of Upper and Lower Dimensions."


    "Eh?" Fourth was surprised. "You mean that race?"


    "You remember now? The race that you Eyes schemed to eliminate?"


    "Ah! Of course, I won''t forget! Tenth and Eighteenth led the upper and lower dimensions to eliminate that race because they are bing too powerful. Their very existence was a threat to the bnce at that time."


    Mark frowned. It seemed that he learned about the extinction of the Blood Demons were true. If that was the case, it was better to disassociate those events from him and his family.


    But then, before Mark could speak another word, Fourth dropped a bomb.


    "Of course, that''s only what it was on the surface. The true reason they are were eliminated is because the blood of their race at that time had been contaminated without them knowing."


    Mark was definitely surprised by this reveal.


    "Can you tell me more details about that?"


    Mark could not help but ask.

 Chapter 597 The True Reason, The Story Behind The Blood Demons Annihilation

    <strong>Day 138 - 11:22 AM - Dining Room, Cliff House, Mountain Base, Mount Mbito, General Nakar, Quezon Province, Philippines</strong>


    First-hand information about what happened to the Blood Demons, there was no way that Mark would let this pass. The lost Demon Race that almost no one knew about. Right now, only the Eyes and the Observer might possibly know about what truly happened.


    Even the things that Bath showed to them were just what happened in the eyes of everyone that saw it. There was nothing about the actual reason why their extinction was orchestrated by the Observer and the Eyes.


    And now, Fourth was talking about the blood of the Blood Demons being contaminated. It was highly important information for Mark, especially now that it was revealed that he had the ancestry of that extinct race.


    Unexpectedly, Fourth only looked at Mark with a tilt of her head and did not ask the reason why he wanted to know. And after that, she did not hesitate to tell Mark as she asked him a supposed to be an unrted question.


    "You know about us Eyes from a recluse God, right?" Fourth asked. "Then, you must know the primary duty of the Eyes was after the previous observer was reced."


    "Ousting the foreign Gods and Deities."


    Mark replied.


    "Yup!" Fourth nodded as she ate another piece of meatloaf. "Although we did not manage to make all of them leave, and some are still left hiding, at least we minimized their influence on Earth. Looking for the remaining foreign Gods and Deities on Earth aside, do you think that it''s over with that? Of course, not. Even thought we already reinforced the [Dimension Line], there are still other Gods that woulde here from time to time."


    And it was the duty of the Eyes to stop them.


    ording to Fourth, this had been ongoing since the current Observer took the position. Even though they already did all they could to chase away the foreign Gods that walked this world in the past using various means, new ones would just keeping.


    No, rather, it would be strange if not a single new one would arrive, considering that some did it in the past. It was just the Eyes doing their best on their duties and let Earth traverse its right course.


    And of course, not every God was cooperative.


    "So, the purging that the Blood Demons went to is caused by one of those Gods?"


    Mark asked.


    "Yeap. That''s right." Fourth nodded. "We learned of itte, though."


    Apparently, an Evil God managed to force his way through the [Dimension Line].


    The [Dimension Line] had many meanings. Some call it the Dimensional Wall or Rift. It was the line of space separating this Universe''s Dimension and others. This was a dangerous ce as the space in the [Dimension Line] was highly unstable. A normal person would not take even a millisecond before getting ripped apart after stepping inside.


    However, there were some existences that were capable of traversing it. It was the Gods and Deities. Of course, there were also others that were just lucky to traverse it. There were also some circumstances that a normal soul or person would be allowed to travel across with the help of an Observer or God.


    And to say, that Evil God that managed to force himself through was not a pushover. It took all the Eyes to fight that Evil God, and the battle even affected Earth. It caused some unexpected natural disasters to appear at that time.


    In the end, they managed to kill that Evil God at the expense of a few Eyes. But when they thought that it was over, after more than a millennia, they learned that that battle with the Evil God caused a race to emerge.


    "It''s them, the Blood Demons."


    The very first Blood Demon, the ancestor, was actually not born as one. He was a half-demon half-spirit, being born from an unwanted rtionship between Red Demon man and a Nature Spirit woman.


    Of course, before the ancestor could even know his ancestry, he was thrown into a river at the border of the Underworld and the Overworld. It was not because his parents wanted to, but they had no choice.


    "Rtionships between Demons and Spirits are forbidden, is it?"


    Mark said which made Fourth nod.


    "The hate is more on the Spirit''s side, though. Most Demons won''t really care about something like that."


    Both the parents of the ancestor died in that event.


    Unknown to everyone, that event was happening at the same time that the battle with the Evil God happened.


    During the battle, it was impossible that the other dimensions on Earth were not affected. In that fight, several rifts between the dimensions opened up.


    Unfortunately, in one of those rifts, the blood of the Evil God dripped. And from the very slim chance that it happened, that drop of blood fell on the infant ancestor''s mouth.


    And there, the first Blood Demon was born.


    By luck, the ancestor was found and raised by an old Spirit couple that did not mind whether he was a Demon or not. That caused the ancestor to be someone considered as a good Demon.


    After the old couple passed away, he had lost his ce. He was not a Spirit and was almost killed by that fact. Unfortunately, he was not weed in the underworld either, as something unknown to them. Thus, he imed the border between the two areas of the Spirit Dimension, being able to live there because of his resistance towards the effects of the border to Demons and Spirit races.


    From there, many things happened which led the ancestor to lead his own race after learning his abilities by ident. The race slowly grew as beings that shared his ideals flocked to him.


    It was unknown when it started, but their race became the guards the stopped a lot of wars between Demons and Spirits from happening.


    Being the ancestor and founder of the race, his people worshiped him. Soon, he was slowly making his way to step into Deityhood.


    That was where the problem urred.


    "Do you know what Gods do in order to experience life as a mortal without actuallying into a mortal world?"


    Fourth asked which made Mark remember a certain fact that he watched from Animes.


    "Avatars?"


    "Wow... You actually know." Fourth was amused. "That''s right. God Avatars. The use of it isn''t really forbidden as the Avatar itself had no recollection of being a part of a God. In fact, on Earth, there are a few Avatars allowed to walk with our Master''s permission."


    And that was where the contaminationy. It was the blood of that Evil God that created the Blood Demons. A catalyst to gave birth to his Avatars.


    God Avatars would live and die like a human. However, it was different if they started to step into the way of Deityhood.


    When it happened, there were two possibilities that could happen. If the God was alive, they could possess their Avatar. On the other hand, a dead God could resurrect through that Avatar.


    The ascension of the Ancestor of Blood Demons into Deityhood could cause the resurrection of that Evil God to happen. In fact, every Blood Demon could cause it once they stepped into that path.


    It was lucky that they managed to find it out before the Ancestor became a Deity.


    Mark was forcing himself to be calm at this point.<sub> </sub>


    "How can a Dead God get resurrected through that anyway?"


    Mark asked.


    "Well, you see. The body of a God can be killed but it doesn''t mean that it would be easy to abolish their soul. As long as the root of their soul remains, they cane back at some point, especially using an Avatar they left before they died."


    Fourth exined.


    "Then, why did you Eyes have to use other races to kill the Blood Demons?"


    Mark asked another question.


    "Hah..." Fourth sighed. "Do you remember? We are not allowed to directly influence the inhabitants of Earth? Killing them with our own hands is out of the question. Blood Demons are included in that since they are all Earthborn. Although we can actually do that, we will suffer heavy repercussions for going against our own rules. It''s not like the Blood Demons had actually done a crime either. We are just preventing a possible catastrophe. And think about it if that Evil God was reborn as an Earthborn, just think how hard it will be for us to deal with him."


    "In fact, that Blood Demon Ancestor is not far from resurrecting that Evil God since he already started to hear the voice of that God''s soul."


    At this point, Fourth stopped. She already finished her food.


    "Oh, look at the time. I''ll go now. See yah."


    Fourth did not even stand up from her seat and vanished. She was definitely a carefree one.


    However, she did not notice that Mark was frowning deeply.


    "Gege..."


    Mei could not help but worry as she held Mark''s hand.


    Fourth seemed to have no idea as she was confident that they had wiped out the Blood Demons at that time. However, Mark was here right now, a Pure-blooded Blood Demon.


    More than that, thest words that Fourth said in that story, it was a definite clue about one thing that baffled Mark for quite a while now.


    "A voice from that Evil God''s soul, huh."


    Mark said with a sigh.


    The pieces of the puzzle were nowing in together, forming the hidden picture. Mark could not help but slump on his chair.


    "Papa, are you okay?"


    Miracle asked, reaching for Mark''s cheek.


    Mark turned at the little girl and smiled.


    "I''m okay."


    "If that Evil Godes for Papa, I will kill it."


    Abbygale chimed in. As usual, she was calm. However, her words were as brutal as ever.


    "Haha," Mark could not help butugh. "I''ll leave it to Gale then."


    Mark could not help but caress the heads of Abbygale and Miracle. These two were surely lovable girls.


    On the other hand, I kept silent, staring at Mark at the side. Having memories of Keeper, she had a more mature mind. She could tell that something was wrong.


    It did not take long and lunch came. Mark and Mei that had just eaten ate breakfast still ate a bit to apany the girls.


    After that, Mark and Mei started preparing for their departure for the next day. They still had to go to the Spirit Dimension to end their unfinished work there.


    Still, the atmosphere was quite cold.


    "Gege, you''re fine, right?"


    Mei asked.


    Mark paused and looked at Mei. He wanted to ensure her that it was fine, but could not make himself lie to her.


    "Not exactly," Mark shook his head. "But don''t worry. It will be fine. I will make sure that it will be fine."


    But then, Mei asked a question that made Mark freeze.


    "Gege, you can already hear the voice that Fourth spoke about, right?"


    That question made him look bitter.


    "Is it obvious in my face?"


    "No," Mei shook her head. "Gege did well keeping your expression the same, but I can feel that you were shaken when Fourth said that part."


    It was a matter of feeling. Mei, who was very sensitive towards things about Mark, could recognize his uneasiness.


    Mark caressed Mei''s head.


    "Don''t worry. I don''t n to be an incarnation of some other person. I will find a way to deal it. We are going back to the Spirit Dimension tomorrow. Let''s see if we can meet Bath and ask him."


    That suggestion made Mei nod. Nheless, there was nothing they could do in this situation.


    What Fourth told them seemed to be true, and Mark experienced it first-hand.


    In that case, there was only one thing to do and it was to find ways to prevent it.


    Unknown to Mark and Mei, Fourth that ran her mouth without breaks was being called once more. This time, however, not for punishment.

 Chapter 622 Into [The Ice Cube], The Disaster Of Magi-Science

    <strong>Day 143 - 8:10 PM - The Ice Cube, Arctic Depths</strong>


    Replenishing some of the energy he used up to reach this ce, Chimetrice led Illia to enter the door that led to the interior of [The Ice Cube].


    Approaching the door, the two could not help but raise their heads and look upward. There was a feeling of nostalgia in their eyes. After all, even though it might be less time in their sense of time, it was still several thousand years since they been here. However, it was not the only reason. It was because the door was gigantic.


    In front of them was a seven-meter tall double door that was five meters wide and had a thickness of half a meter. Not to mention that it was made of metal several times harder than titanium. Its weight was unfathomable that this pair of doors alone would make anyone question as to how this ce was kept afloat. It was such a door that even most Deities could not force open. And due to that, it did not even need any kind of lock to keep it in ce.


    Because it was such a kind of door, a piece of machinery that could open it automatically did not exist. Back in the days, there was a pair of golems that stood guard in front of this door. The two were tasked to specifically open these doors to its owners and invited visitors. There were two golems not because of aesthetics. It was because these two doors would not move unless both were pushed at the same time.


    And to say, just those two golems were quite a topic of envy due to the fact that while those two were not flexible in other aspects, their raw strength was on par with Higher Deities. Imagine how that kind of monstrous power was just being used to open and close these doors.


    Now, however, no signs of the two golems could be seen. Who knows what happened to them. Even so, it was questionable that the two golems were destroyed as there was no sign of previous battles were present at the entrance.


    "I''m opening it."


    Chimetrice spoke as he ced his palms on the doors.


    Forcing all the physical strength in his body, Chimetrice groaned as he pushed the doors open. He might struggle to open these doors, but an anti-god weapon like him would not be stopped by it.


    Nevertheless, it took arge amount of effort to open the doors. Chimetrice only needed to make an opening enough for him and Illia to slip through. Even so, it took him twenty minutes of continuous pushing to create enough gap between the doors.


    As the gap between the doors was created, they could feel the air was colder inside for some reason. Even so, the freezing temperature did not deter them as Chimetrice enveloped himself and Illia with a protective aura.


    Finally, they managed to enter the door. And to say, Chimetrice and Illia were surprised.


    The whole ce was...


    Wrecked.


    It was unexpected, considering there was no sign of fighting outside the doors. Furthermore, the doors were closed. Which enemy would close a door after wrecking the whole ce, anyway?


    Nevertheless, looking at the well preserved dead bodies lying everywhere, the conflict came from inside theboratory.


    The dead bodies did not belong to any human, Deity, or God. It was monsters that were unfathomable to people of both the past and the present.


    Chimetrice and Illia walked along the corridors dimly lit by phosphorus lights. While moving, they could not help but look at the preserved bodies.


    Near the door, there was a feline covered in metal scales. Its back was deeply dented, which might have caused its death.


    Not far from it, they saw the body of arge bird with gills. It was kind of hard to deduce what bird it was as its head already turned into meat paste with its beak lying in front of it.


    Another scene was a nine-meter-long snake with a body as thick as a human. However, instead of scales, it had wire-like fur covering its body. Its body was coiled unto another monster with an appearance that was hard to exin.


    It could be a bear with a turtle shell or a turtle with a bear''s head and limbs. The fur-covered snake coiled around it, crushing its turtle shell causing its death. It killed the snake, though, as its fangs were still deeply rooted at the snake''s neck.


    The abominations did not end there. While Chimetrice and Illia continued deep into theboratory and passed by empty rooms with broken ss chambers, they saw more and more dead bodies.


    One was a cobra with a nt-like body.


    Another was a scorpion with bat wings.


    Next was a dragonfly with pincers.


    And there was also a big green caterpir with hundred legs of a beetle.


    There was arge variety, and all of them were of monstrous size.


    The smallest one they saw so far was a crystal pillbug that was about the size of a basketball.


    "The Creator had a lot of fun after we''re gone, didn''t he?"


    Chimetrice said as he walked under the frozen body of an octopus-legged lizard that was stuck on the ceiling.


    "To create all these things. The Creator must have nned something."


    Illia replied with a frown.


    "That''s right. That man is always scheming something. These creatures might just be a preparation for a huge n. Unfortunately, it seemed something happened for each and every single one of these creatures to be dead and outside their chambers."


    Going through the freezing corridors, they continued. The goal of this journey was the core area of [The Ice Cube]. It was the ce of birth for both Chimetrice and possibly, all these dead monsters.


    As they continued, the dead bodies did not decrease at all. In fact, it increased further, making it harder to wave through the dead bodies.


    "Master, looks like the cold ising from that chamber."


    Illia said as she pointed at an open room.


    The two peeked into the room. And there, Chimetrice and Illia saw the cause of this freezing temperature.


    Unexpectedly, the impregnable walls of [The Ice Cube] was broken through by who knows what. There was a huge gap in the wall. Fortunately, the whole fortress was still covered with a barrier, and the seawater did not enter. However, also because of that, a thick sheet of ice covered the gap. It was causing this freezing temperature inside theboratory.


    Just what in the world was able to punch through this wall? Even Deities and Lower Gods would not be able to make a hole like this easily.


    This hole in the wall might also be the reason why Chimetrice encountered a lot of monsters while looking for this ce. All of those monsters might either be those that managed to survive or their descendants.


    "We can''t do anything about that right now." Chimetrice said. "Let''s go."


    The two then continued, changing floors and moving towards the core of the structure. [The Ice Cube] was not toorge. However, its corridors were designed to be a maze filled with experimental chambers making the travel take too long. Furthermore, a lot of things in [The Ice Cube] changed from what they remembered, making it harder to find the core room.


    The way to the core was quite uneventful. Everything inside theboratory was dead, after all.


    And soon, they reached the core of theboratory and was about to enter its broken down metal doors.<sub> </sub>


    At the door, however, they finally saw where the two golems that were supposed to be at the entrance.


    The two golemsy near the center of the core room, smashed into pieces.


    Not only the golems but a lot of apparatus in the core room were destroyed.


    And there, Chimetrice and Illia''s attention became focused on something.


    The Creator''s old body dangled on the wall with a metal spike embedded in his heart.


    Chimetrice and Illia finally entered the core room, wanting to investigate what in the world happened here.


    But then...


    WHIRL!!!


    Whirling sounds echoed as if a machine was suddenly powered up. The dim core room was suddenly lit up, along with the remaining apparatus inside.


    Both Chimetrice and Illia were surprised by the sudden event. The two of them readied their battle stance, waiting for any possible threat.


    It was when several beams of light were shot in the middle of the core room, converging into an image.


    That image, however, made Chimetrice frown and made Illia shocked.


    "I never thought that you wille back here, Chimetrice. It seemed that you were properly able to recreate your body after thousands of years."


    The voice of an old man echoed into their ears, as the lights converged into an image of a person.


    Of course, the image was no other than The Creator, the master of [The Ice Cube] and the maker of Chimetrice and the monsters in this ce.


    "It seems you''re consciousness is still alive, Creator."


    Chimetrice spoke with a cold tone.


    "Hahaha," The Creatorughed. "Alive? No, unfortunately. The true body died and his soul was eaten by hisst creation. As for me, I''m nothing but a piece of consciousness. You can consider me as an imprint. Of course, the true body is not powerful enough to create one so hebined the power of magic and technology to create me."


    The Creator exined as he floated towards Chimetrice and Illia. That, however, caused the two to raise their guard.


    "You two don''t have to be on guard. I can''t do anything but speak. And even though I''m created by him and was a piece of his consciousness, I''m different from the true body."


    The Creator, no, The Creator''s Imprint, exined further. Of course, the two still did not let down their guard.


    "I guess I can''t me your suspicions." The image turned around and floated back to the center of the room. "I won''t tell you two to rx. Even so, I will answer your questions if you have any."


    With those words, Chimetrice and Illia also walked to the center of the room.


    Of course, the two could not help but look around, estimating the extent of destruction in this ce.


    Finally, Illia could not hold it any longer.


    "Just what happened to this ce?"


    She asked, turning to the projection.


    The old man then smiled and replied.


    "It''s a long story which spanned several years. And whether you two believe it or not, it had something to do with the two of you."


    Those words took the attention of Chimetrice.


    Seeing that Chimetrice was now listening, the imprint continued.


    "You two should know the true body''s ambition, right?"


    "To create a godly being that can contend against gods. Fame and riches did not matter to him as long as he could create the ultimate being."


    Chimetrice replied.


    "You are correct," The old man nodded. "And you are his first sessful creation that should have fulfilled his ambition. A chimera based off an arch angel,posed with bodies of divine and mystical creatures. A body resilent and almost indestructible, together with a soul that could not be vanquished. Not even by the gods in that era."


    Chimetrice closed his eyes. Everything that the projection said was true. Although he was defeated, he could not be killed. And thus, they sealed him with a powerful curse.


    "However, there was a problem with you," And then the old man continued. "At first, you were an obedient child, following his orders. Nothing but a puppet. However, you slowly gained awareness because of her."


    The projection then turned to Illia.


    "Soon, you started to disobey his orders. Fortunately, you were sealed before you start to rebel."


    And at this point, the projection turned his head away, looking at the empty air in front of him.


    At the same time, a broken projection simr to a screen started to y a fuzzy recording.


    "Chimetrice, you being sealed and gaining awareness drove him to create another one."


    Then, the image of a creature shed on the screen.


    "Unlike you, however, that was modeled from an Archangel..."


    "The second one is of an Archdevil."

 Chapter 599 The Last Checking, The Day Before Returning To The Spirit Dimension

    <strong>Day 138 - 2:26 PM - Mountain Base, Mount Mbito, General Nakar, Quezon Province, Philippines</strong>


    Mark wanted to know about the Blood Demons considering that no one knew a lot about them. Mythological and historical records, even legends and folklores, did not mention anything about them. It was like someone erased their existence on purpose.


    And now, it was very likely that it was the work of the Observer and the Eyes.


    Finally, Mark learned about the actual reason why Blood Demons got purged from existence.


    It also revealed a problem for him to mull about, though. And this problem was quite a serious one.


    In any case, there was no use mulling about it at this point. Mark was just d that he became informed about it before things became serious.


    That was why instead of focusing on a problem that he could do nothing at the moment, he turned his attention to the preparations and checking things in the base before they leave for tomorrow.


    First was the removal of the ck Dust around the base. And to say, the armor that Mark made was not exactly convenient for everyone''s use. The armors were made thin and did not weigh too much at all. Its only purpose was to avoid direct contact with the ck dust and not to defend from attacks. Still, most of the workers were not used to wearing armor while working. After all, in any kind of work, it was better to wearfortable clothing.


    However, it could not be helped at all. Everyone needed to avoid the effects of the ck Dust as much as possible.


    Next was the people that would go back to the Spirit Dimension. Unlike before, several people would need to stay back. It would be Spera, Aephelia, na, and Karlene.


    Spera and Aephelia both had the same reason for staying behind. Both of them were necessary for the preparations they were doing before the Second Wave came. Spera was needed to open the portals to transport the supplies they collected while the infected that were under Aephelia''s control did the transportation.


    On the other hand, na and Karlene had new duties now, and it was to help with scouting and clearing the infected at ces where they found supplies. Their help was more needed there than on Mark''s side. In the first ce, the reason Mark brought Karlene with him all the time was to keep Ka in check. Now that Ka and Karlene were already separated, only Ka needed toe with Mark''s group.


    One of the individuals needed in the base was Amihan. However, there was no way for her to stay behind while Mark went somewhere else. She would definitely throw a tantrum. It was only because the situation could not be helped that she behaved while Mark was in New Jersey.


    In other situations, she would rather run with Mark into danger than staying with other people that she barely interacted with.


    Mark had no problems with hering along, however. Since the problem with the ck Dust changed from removing it to storing it, the work became easier.


    Mark also went back to The Pagoda to see their work. Gathering supplies were slow in his view, but in the least, it was going smoothly. He also went near the outpost of Auraboros to check. Strangely, though, the number of personnel they had there became lesser. Even the presence of Shadow People sent by them was almost non-existent. At most, two or three Shadow People were lurking around. They had no intention to infiltrate, though, and only watched their activities from a distance.


    It was really strange as to why Auraboros moved like this. However, it was to Mark''s favor as he had to leave for some time. Well, inside the Spirit Dimension, time would be shorter, but it was still faster here on Earthparing the two.


    There was one problem that cropped up, though. The Pagoda was close very close to Reading City. Although the geography around The Pagoda was a natural defense itself, more and more infected were trying to climb up the geographical barriers to reach their outpost. Because of this, it would not be too long, and they would be forced to cease the activities here and focus somewhere else.


    Right now, Mark was standing above the slope, watching the infected lost inside the Tikbng''s illusion.


    "There''s a lot of them, isn''t there?"


    Mark asked Huey, who stood beside him.


    "Yes, Boss." Huey agreed. "Actually, there''s more of themst night. A horde wandered tried to climb up the slope directly from the city center. This is only a fourth of that horde that managed to reach the illusion. Most of them went the other way after failing to climb up."


    Mark nodded after hearing that. In fact, all of the infected in front of them were mutated ones. It was not strange asmon Biters and Eaters did not have too much capability and intelligence to climb up steep slopes. It was even normal to see any of them tumbling down a set of not that steep stairs.


    "We better eliminate these ones first."


    Mark said, leading everyone to kill the infected trapped in the illusion.


    It did not take too long to kill the infected inside the illusion. The Tikbngs might not be able to choose which ones they wanted their illusion to affect, but in the least, they could iste the ones inside at will.


    "Wew. This became easier because of Boss here." Huey said as he shot thest infected with a crossbow through its head. "If it''s just us, it would take longer."


    Those words made everyone agree. Mark''s existence not only raised their morale in facing the terrifying infected but because of him being present, they could go wild a bit as their safety was more secured.


    "If I''m not around, do things carefuly."


    Mark warned.


    "Don''t worry Master," Jolleen spoke. "None of us here wants to die."


    That was right, no one, not only them but a lot of people, wanted to die in this wrecked up world. It was even more for people that were now under Mark that found their safe haven.


    Mark shrugged. At least, the people he took under him were finding their new lives better. Unlike them, the ones that Mark saw before were the ones truly suffering.


    With those thoughts, Mark turned his head towards the direction of Reading City. The build-up of infected at the edge of the city could be seen clearly.


    "If the number of infected going up the mountain became uncontroble, do not hesitate to abandon this ce. This is an order. This ce is not a part of our base but a temporary outpost. TEMPORARY. It''s not a big loss to us if this ce is gone."


    Saying those, Mark turned to everyone. There, they all nodded in affirmation. He had to give this order in case these guys behave like some heroic idiots that did not want to lose against the infected and stay to protect this ce.


    Nevertheless, the chance of that happening was really small. He just went and said it to be secure.


    After he finished checking on the situation at The Pagoda, Mark returned to the base with Spera...


    Only to find Fourth rxing inside his house... again...


    "Why the hell are you here again?"


    Mark could not help but ask. Anyone would surely ask this after seeing someone not weed going back and forth into your house without permission.


    "What? It''s not like I''m causing trouble, right? I even hid my presense and did not show myself to anyone outside your house."


    Fourth argued.<sub> </sub>


    Surely, for some reason, Fourth was more consideratepared to her actions this morning. The pressure that the Eyes naturally emit was contained properly either. If she showed herself to anyone in his base, they would be in panic considering that a lot of them saw knew about her but the base was just like the usual.


    However...


    "That''s not the answer to my question."


    Mark grumbled. He would rather have the Eyes stay away from him, considering that he was a Blood Demon that the Eyes should be eliminating.


    "Didn''t I tell you before that I''m spending my time here to rx since there was really no other ces to go to?" Fourth reasoned properly. But then, she dropped a question that made Mark frown.


    "What are you worried about? The fact that you''re a Blood Demon and your family is the same?"


    Mark frowned but did not react too much. After all, it was already given that it would be revealed after how he asked questions this morning. Although showed it like he was just interested, there was still a chance for it to be revealed.


    Nevertheless, Mark found it odd.


    Fourth already knew, but she was not making any move and confronted him about it.


    "Actually, I have another errand."


    Fourth said as a glowing crystal ball, about the size of a baseball, appeared on her hand.


    "Our Master already knows that you''re a Blood Demon. But because of special circumstances on you, we are not going to make any move or n on eliminating you or the remaining Blood Demons in your base. My Master sent this just before I returned here."


    And there, Fourth flicked her hand, and the crystal magically floated towards Mark.


    Mark did not hesitate to catch the crystal as he could not detect any ill intent from Fourth. The moment he touched the crystal, however, he froze.


    The crystal exploded with bright light, and a rather soothing voice entered Mark''s ears. It exined everything that was happening and why he would not be subjected to elimination. At least, not now.


    Hearing everything he needed to know from the n of the Eyes and the Observer, Mark''s mind returned to reality.


    "So, you guys want to make me as a tool, isn''t it?"


    Mark asked. He was quite dissatisfied with the arrangement.


    Unexpectedly, Fourth showed aplicated expression.


    "I know, right? Being treated like a tool is not something that everyone can ept. At least, you and your family won''t be subjected toplete annihtion, right? You have no choice to ept it."


    That was right. Mark had no choice but to ept it. Then, a question entered his mind.


    "Let me ask something."


    "What is it?"


    "What will happen to the others if I died before the ns of your master started?"


    Mark could not help but ask. It was the worst-case scenario but it was better to have knowledge about it.


    There, Fourth froze after receiving the question. Though rather than actually freezing, it was more like she was receiving a reply from somewhere.


    And when she came to, she immediately replied in a pitiful manner.


    "We will have no choice but kill the remaining Blood Demons if you died. After all, only you have the ability to consume souls among the Blood Demons, right? Then, the others will be prone to be the Avatar of that Evil God instead. That can''t happen, right? So you better take care of yourself."


    That pushed Mark into contemtion. It was one more thing to worry about.


    Without being able to do anything about it, Mark could only sigh.


    "Don''t worry. I know you will be fine! I believe in you!"


    Fourth said assuringly, which made Mark quite confused as to how this girl got that confidence on him.


    Well, in the least, Mark knew that the Observer and the Eyes would not meddle in his business in a negative way.


    While in those thoughts, Mark then remembered thest thing he needed to do. It was to check on Aimee and the stone egg she had. It was still postponed because of the things he needed to do.


    That was when a thought entered his mind and his eyes fell on Fourth.


    "Why are you looking at me like that?"


    Fourth was confused.


    "Actually, I had a question. But I have to show you someone first." Mark replied. "That''s possible, right?"


    "Hmmm.... There''s no problem, I guess?"


    Fourth agreed and Mark led her to the ce where Aimee was staying.


    But then, when they entered and Fourth saw Aimee...


    She froze in total shock.

 Chapter 600 The Visit At Aimees House, A Truth That Was Yet To Be Found

    <strong>Day 138 - 4:56 PM - Aimee''s House, Mountain Base, Mount Mbito, General Nakar, Quezon Province, Philippines</strong>


    Aside from Mark and other individuals awakening as Blood Demons when Chiyo was nted, there was another mystery that in this ce that no one had an exnation.


    It was the existence of the mutated infected that woke up from a pod from the infected nest in Ninoy Aquino International Airport.


    She was the woman that had the name, Aimee.


    An infected woman with a gigantic physique with half of her body being tentacles with eyes at the end, even among other mutated infected, her appearance was extraordinary in many ways.


    And unlike all the infected that they had encountered, she was the only one that gained consciousness. Furthermore, different from the Monarch Infected that gained consciousness, Aimee was the only one iming to be the human in her memories.


    The strangest thing about her, however, was how her appearance greatly resembled the monster that ended the existence of the called Eriellis.


    Since Mark gained the alliance, or at least, the cooperation of the Eyes and the Observer, he decided to bring Fourth to Aimee. Considering that they had knowledge about the world, the mystery surrounding Aimee might finally get resolved.


    With Mark leading Fourth, they made their way to Aimee''s House. It was arge structure south of the base where Char''s stable was also located.


    Both structures are built side by side for the sake of convenience since both buildings neededrge parts to make. At first, Ed, who was leading the construction in the base, was worried that Aimee would not like it. After all, many people would not like it to live beside an animal stable. But like how Aimee lost the embarrassment from not wearing anything at all, she did not mind the location of her house.


    The only thing that mattered to Aimee was that she had somewhere to live and take care of the stone that she believed to be her child.


    Mark knocked on the door before entering. The structure had two doors, arge one and a smaller one.


    Entering the smaller door, Mark and Fourth found Aimee already waiting for them inside. Like how she informed Mei of the potential danger this morning, it seemed that she knew whenever an Eye was around, even though Fourth had already controlled her presence in the surroundings.


    The house did not have too much furniture. It was hard to make everything from scratch because of her size. The first priority they made when building the house was the bed that consisted of several thin mattresses lined together in one corner.


    And on that bed, Aimee sat with her tentacles coiled around that egg-like stone.


    Aimee could not speak like usual and just bowed her head at Mark as greeting. Mark, on the other hand, epted her greeting before turning to Fourth that was already frozen in shock.


    "Heh? HUH? HOW... OI..."


    Those words were the first things that came out of Fourth''s mouth the moment she came to.


    "Speak properly, will you?"


    Mark scratched his head. It was unexpected that Fourth would give out such a reaction.


    Fourth looked at Mark, her index finger was still frozen, pointed at Aimee.


    "Do you know what that is?"


    She suddenly asked.


    "That''s the reason I brought you here. I don''t know, and I want to know."


    Mark replied.


    Those words from Mark made Fourth speechless. After all, this guy had been collecting things that he knew nothing about.


    Fourth turned to Aimee, looking at the woman with confused eyes.


    "How should I say this..."


    Sure enough, Fourth was troubled. It was not about how to exin, though. What she was thinking about was if she had the authority to exin it.


    At her trouble, a bright light shined behind them. Af first, Mark thought that it was the door that they just entered.


    But then, although he was right that it was a door, it was definitely not the one that connected the house outside.


    Behind them, a door connected to nothing appeared. It was a door white with exquisite design, outlined with shining silver and gold. The center had a pair of wings made of tin and a baseball-sized amethyst in the middle.


    For a door to suddenly appear like that was unexpected. Mark turned to Fourth as it seemed that she knew of the door.


    The door opened, and a female teenager in with a schrly aura passed through it.


    Mark looked at the woman in all seriousness. There was no doubt that she was an Eye, although unlike Fourth and the others, she came here with her aura already concealed.


    Still, the sudden appearance of this girl made Aimee on guard.


    After she passed through, she closed the door, and it vanished into thin air.


    Before anyone could say anything, the girl bowed her head politely towards Mark.


    "Please pardon my sudden arrival. I am Neenth, the Embodiment of Interest. I am pleased to be your acquaintance, Master of the Blood Demons of this generation."


    Mark stared at the girl, quite surprised. Also, that title Neenth called him was unexpected. And by reflex, he turned to Fourth.


    "Why do I feel that you are thinking about something rude?"


    Fourthined as she suddenly felt pain because of that stare from him.


    "Well, I have met four Eyes already, and all of you are a troublesome bunch. I did not expect that there would be someone decent among you all."<sub> </sub>


    Fourth returned those words with aining look. It was not Fourth''s fault that she was not decent at all. It was because they were made like this.


    "We are made by human emotions, and our personalities are affected by that. It could not be helped that most of us are unruly, and hard to deal with. Still, I thank you for thepliment."


    Mark turned to Neenth with a shrug. He quite liked this one''s personalitypared to the others. She did not evenin that he was badmouthing the other eyes and admitted their faults.


    "Then, why is another Eye suddenly appearing here in our ce?"


    Mark asked.


    "Because of the previous circumstances, Master had been keeping an eye on you through Fourth. Being a Blood Demon aside, we never thought that you will give us another surprise in a single day. We know that you brought Fourth here to ask questions. Unfortunately, she is unauthorized to disclose some of the information you needed. That is why I came here to supply it."


    No wonder Fourth was hesitating to answer, she was not allowed to disclose the information that was connected to Aimee''s existence.


    "So, you Eyes and your Master are keen on supporting me now?"


    Mark could not help but ask.


    Neenth then shook her head.


    "Unfortunately, not everything. We can only provide you information on certain things. Like now, if this miss is not here, we had no reason to provide you information about her at all."


    Mark nodded in understanding. The Observer and the Eyes were now going to support him with information depending on the circumstances. However, there was no way that they would jump in if Mark caused trouble on purpose.


    "Then, exin."


    Mark said, making Neenth nod.


    "But first of all... Miss." Neenth smiled at Aimee. "You don''t have to be on guard. I''m quite sure that you also want to know what happened to you and your child. Am I right?"


    Those words made Aimee feel agitated. After all, she remembered being human, then she remembered living as an infected, and then, she turned into this with her child looking like an egg-shaped stone. There were a lot of answers that she wanted to have an answer.


    Seeing that she managed to make Aimee interested in listening, Neenth put her hands in front of her and a book magically appeared.


    With several taps of the expensive-looking book, she flung it at the open space beside the wall. And there, the book erged, suspended in the air.


    Mark and Aimee were amazed and thought that they would need to read something on the pages. Unexpectedly, the book started to y moving sceneries as if it was a television.


    And the scene was...


    The apocalypse that was created by the appearance of Mutagen on Earth.


    "The outbreak?"


    Mark asked.


    "Yes, we have to start here." Neenth nodded. "Specifically, what we will start on was the actual effects of the pathogen that is now called Mutagen."


    And there, the scene on the book shed from time to time, showing different mutations of both infected and humans, aka, Mutators.


    A human that became infected after being bitten by an Infected Tick mutated into an infected with saggy skin that would drink the blood of its victims and like a Tick, would bloat depending on the amount of blood it fed on.


    An infected that was bitten by amon Biter but got caught in an explosion of a gas station. It managed to survive, mutating into an infected with high body temperatures, setting up mes where ever it went to.


    And then, there was this normal female Biter that was just roaming the street nkly. All of a sudden, the Biter fell down to the ground with her body convulsing violently. Her legs then started to fuse, mutating into something like a snake''s tail. Her upper body also showed changes and she grew fangs that most infected did not have at all.


    The next one was a shback of a caucasian highschool boy that got bitten by a dog. He was going to the hospital for a vine when the outbreak started. Of course, it ended up with him being in the middle of the dangerousmotion and got bitten. Instead of turning, however, he turned into a Mutator with a dog-like transformation.


    The scene shed once more, it showed a beautiful woman. She seemed to be a normal one without a single body defect at all. She was working when the outbreak came and got bitten. The infected that bit her was also a normal one. However, she became a mutator with blonde green hair, pointed ears, and an agile body.


    "I wonder if the context is clear here?"


    Neenth asked as thest scene ended.


    "It''s the effects of mutation, isn''t it?"


    Mark answered.


    "Yes." Neenth nodded. "I know that the first two scenes and the fourth scene I showed had already been circted asmon knowledge by the researchers around the world. When a bitten person or and infected becamepatible with the strain of Mutagen they carried, they would mutate depending on the catalyst on their bodies. But don''t you think that the third andst scenes were odd?"


    Mark and Aimee could only agree. It was odd. Both scenes showed that the two were both normal without a possible catalyst for mutation as Neenth implied. Actually, Mark had this hunch before, especially after meeting Emika and her family. Animal-like mutations could bemon because many humans deal with animals on a regr basis. But why would there be a nt-like mutation and three of them were from members of the same family?


    It was also the same as Felicia and Roan. Both of them had cat mutations although it was quite impossible that both of them got bitten by an infected cat or both lived with cats considering they lived far from each other. Felicia seemed to have a cat before, but it did not seem that Roan and the rest of their family kept one.


    "Actually," Neenth spoke while Mark was in contemtion. "While it is true that Mutagen mutates its victims using the catalysts present, it did not mean that only invasive catalysts are there. Inside a lot of humans carries a catalyst that Mutagen might be able to use to mutate people."


    "What do you mean?"


    Mark asked as Neenth was speaking in a roundabout way.


    "Well, you see..." Neenth smiled. "Not all humans are pure human."

 Chapter 601 The Lost Eye, The Impure Humans And Aimees Ancestor

    <strong>Day 138 - 5:21 PM - Aimee''s House, Mountain Base, Mount Mbito, General Nakar, Quezon Province, Philippines</strong>


    "Not all humans are pure human."


    Those words made sense.


    Even in terms of ancestry and ethnicity, humans were never a hundred percent of anything. Now that the truth about other races was revealed, some humans being not pure was an eptable exnation.


    In fact, some mythological and folklore creatures were known to procreate with humans. The Tamawo was among them. There were also stories of Duendes marrying humans and possibly, having children.


    Furthermore, it was not limited to just spirit races, elementals, and demons. Mythological records itself, in fact, stated that even Gods had children with humans. And there were a lot of them. Even Bath had stories of having three daughters with a mortal woman. The daughters were named Mayari, the Goddess of the Moon and the ruler of Nighttime, T, the Goddess of Stars, and Hanan, the Goddess of Morning, in Tagalog Mythology.


    The words from Neenth opened the mystery of how some abilities of Mutators did not seem to make sense scientifically.


    Everyone was in silence, and the Embodiment of Interest continued.


    "Many human ancestries involved other races that disguised and lived as humans after the purge. It was not like we can identify all of them without meeting them. Besides, at that time, our focus was concentrated on the fleeing and hiding Gods and Deities. Since those races can barely affect human society, after all. However, it ended up with other races mixing with human bloodlines."


    "Even so, it was not really a problem for us."


    Neenth added as she flipped the pages of the book, and the scene being showed changed.


    "It originated even before the purge of the otherworld Gods and Deities. The human bloodline is already mixed with a lot of impurities."


    At the time that those Gods arrived, there were already humans on Earth. These original humans were untainted by the presence of the new Gods and Deities. However, their numbers were greatly diminished after the punishment they incurred from the sins theymitted, the Great Flood.


    Due to theck of humans, the newly arrived Gods created their own versions of humans to rule over in their territories. And those humans created by the Gods were not considered to be pure humans of this.


    Yes, they were humans in their own right. However, being created by the Gods made them more susceptible to magical interference with further influenced their gics, although to a very small degree. That interference could not be noticed at all but would get passed down from generation to generation.


    The appearance of the new humans caused the poption of pure humans that were left to be impure.


    "At this point in time, pure humans, the bloodline and genes of first humans on Earth, barely exist anymore."


    Neenth said.


    "So, its not only by having children with other races, isn''t it?"


    Mark asked.


    "Yes." Neenth nodded. "Although some of the sleeping bloodlines that are now awakened by Mutagen was because of ancestry, there are some that did not. Actually, there is a good example here in your base."


    "Who?"


    Of course, Mark would ask.


    "Since Blood Demons suddenly appeared here, Our Master ordered me to investigate all of your ancestries. One of the Blood Demons in your base that you did not turn into one did not have any Blood Demons among her ancestors."


    The words from Neenth surprised Mark as he continued to listen.


    "I believe you all call her Emi." Neenth showed Emi on the pages of her book. "She did not have any Blood Demon ancestor. However, her past ancestors actually worshiped the Blood Demons. One of her ancestors identally entered the Spirit Dimension and found himself in the territory of the Blood Demons. The Blood Demon Ancestor personally saved that man who was dying because the border of Spirit and Demon territories was not habitable by humans. He was saved by ingesting a drop of blood from the Blood Demon Ancestor. Of course, it did not turn him into one."


    Neenth stared at Mark.


    "I believe that you know this. Consent is needed for someone to be a Blood Demon if the person is not a child of one. And of course, the human that did not want to be a Blood Demon remained human. However, he gained some immunity to be able to stay at that deadly ce. Bing friends with the Blood Demons and the debt he incurred from the Blood Demon Ancestor, when he was able to return to Earth, he worshiped them along with his future descendants."


    Neenth then shrugged.


    "All of that was the past, though. The Spanish Colonization erased all traces of that religion, although the Blood was passed onto that human''s descendants. At thetest generation, there was Emi."


    That was quite surprising. It was also no wonder that Emi suddenly behaved like a servant of Mark who was now leading the Blood Demons, unlike na that treated him as an equal.


    This story, however, confirmed that both Mark and na had Blood Demons among their ancestors.


    "Well, I guess it that for the exnation of how Mutagen can wake up sleeping bloodlines as a catalist for Mutation."


    Neenth said, changing the pages of her book once more with a wave of her hand.


    "The main reason why I came here is to exin this Miss'' circumstances."


    Mark nodded and Aimee seemed to be also eager to know.


    Looking at Mark, Neenth smiled.


    "I think, you already have a vague idea but I''ll confirm it." She turned to Aimee. "Miss Aimee, you are a descendant of an Eye. A Lost Eye, to be exact."


    Mark and Aimee did not know how to react to this. It was both understandable and confusing at the same time.


    "What do you mean by Lost Eye?"


    Mark asked, which made Neenth take a heavy breath.


    "It''s self-exnatory, Eyes that lost their ce."


    Neenth then started to exin.


    Eyes were the embodiment of emotions of the dominating species on a which were also the apostles of the Observer. Eyes could take on different forms, depending on their hierarchy and especially, the dominating species of the.


    <o>,m An example of this was the Scouts and Destroyers. They were also Eyes but were different from the Embodiments. On the contrary, however, they could exist without needing to rely on the emotions of humans.</o>


    The Emobiments were immortal. As long as the Observer that created them were still alive, they could resurrect with their memories intact. Of course, given that there was enough energy to recreate their bodies.


    Unfortunately, like Gods, while Observers would not age, they could still die. Along with their death, the Eyes would vanish.


    It was except for a very rare circumstance.<sub> </sub>


    If the Observer died at a time that a certain emotion from the inhabitants of the was overflowing, the Embodiment of that Emotion might continue to exist. Nevertheless, losing their Master, they would also lose their position as an Apostle and would fall to the surface like a mortal.


    And from that circumstance, the Eye could live like a mortal until the energy thatposed their body ran out. During that span, they could marry, have children, and other stuff. Of course, any descendant would end up as normal because there are some things from an Eye that the mortal species could not inherit.


    After all, aside from a few quirks, the appearance and Physiology of an Eye were not that different from the species that dominated the they were born.


    "So, Aimee is a descendant of someone like that?" Mark asked. "But you said that the Physiology of you Eyes was not that different from the dominating species, here on Earth, humans. Why did Aimee turn out like that?"


    There, Neenth smiled slyly.


    "I believe, I mentioned earlier that us, Eyes, can take different forms. Being the embodiment of human emotions, we initially appeared to be mostly human, but it did not mean that we can only appear like this. Let''s take Twelfth that you met this morning as an example. Her spider-like eyes are not just for appearance. She can also turn into a giant nightmarish poison spider with hundreds of eyes that humans might think that she was some devil spawn. Even I and Fourth here had simr forms."


    Hearing that, thest scenes of Eriellis shed on Mark''s eyes in which he decided to ignore.


    "Then, the Mutagen made Aimee take on the form simr to her ancestor''s permanently. Is that it?"


    "It was unfortunate, but yes." Neenth nodded, looking at Aimee''s current appearance. "In exchange, however, she has gained abilities that her ancestor might have."


    Hearing all those things, Aimee had mixed emotions. She was d that the reason why she became like this had been exined, but she could not feel any happiness for turning out like this.


    After all, who would want to be a multi-eyed monster that everyone was afraid of? Well, of course, there might be some crazy people that would want that, but not Aimee.


    With a down expression, Aimee looked at Neenth.


    "GRAA... RAAAA?"


    She tried to speak, but of course, it was nothing but some iprehensible roars.


    But unexpectedly...


    "Any way of turning back to human, you say?" Neenth could actually understand her. "I''m sorry, but I don''t have any method to do that. Mutagen itself is a new strain of that destructive Pathogen, to begin with, and a lot of it is still unknown."


    "Can''t that book tell it?"


    Mark asked, pointing at the giant book hovering in the air.


    However, Neenth shook her head.


    "This book is actually a part of my existence. I can only show confirmed facts and not the unknown. Besides, Miss Aimee''s Ancestor is not from Earth in the first ce and my ability can only work on everything that is here on Earth."


    "Huh?"


    Both Aimee and Mark were surprised by that.


    "What do you mean not from Earth?"


    "I meant exactly what I said." Neenth said as she flipped her book, showing Aimee''s Ancestry. "Look at this. This is the sheet that is supposed to show the information about Miss Aimee''s Ancestor."


    Mark looked at the page. However, aside from the title at the top of the page that said Embodiment of Nostalgia and the ancestry line that led to Aimee, everything else was nk.


    Here, Neenth exined.


    "As long as it is from Earth, I would show in my Book of Information. Even the things that are unknown will show, but it would be either garbled gibberish or pages ttered in ck ink. Anything that is nk meant that it did note from Earth."


    Neenth then showed a few pages that had what she had said and continued.


    "Besides, Earth only had four Observers as of now, and only two governed on the era of human civilization. Because of that, it is impossible for one of the previous embodiments to be a Lost Eye. In the first ce, an Observer dying is an urrence that doesn''t really happen a lot. It meant that somewhere in another dimension, an Observer died, and the Lost Eye escaped that dimension for some reason. That ended up being Miss Aimee''s Ancestor."


    Neenth''s exnation had some sense. It was very likely that it was what had happened.


    Nevertheless, it did not change the fact that Aimee would remain like this.


    "Actually," Neenth spoke facing Aimee. "Although I have no definite way of turning Miss Aimee back to human, there is one possibility we could try."


    Hearing that, Aimee seemed to be eager to know.


    That was when Neenth looked at Mark, specifically, his right arm.


    "If Sir can find a mutation that allows something to turn human, maybe you can get it and give it to Miss Aimee."


    That made Mark feel dumb. He never thought about that at all. In the first ce, was it even possible for something not human to turn into one because of Mutagen?


    The answer was...


    OF COURSE!


    All sorts of physical mutation appeared because of Mutagen. It would not be surprising if some animal or insect gained a humanoid body after mutation.


    The problem, however, was where were they going to find one.


    Mark looked at Neenth. But before he could say anything...


    "Please, don''t look at me. I might provide some information simr to our topic this time. However, while I could find what you Sir have in mind, directing you towards the exact location is a different thing. I cannot do that."


    Mark shrugged. That response was expected. Nevertheless, Mark turned to Aimee.


    The weight on her mind seemed to have lightened after knowing that there was a possibility that she could turn back into a human body.


    Now, there was only one thing left to discuss about Aimee''s circumstances.


    It was her supposed child.

 Chapter 602 Aimees Final Worry, Neo Humans And Mutated Babies

    <strong>Day 138 - 5:34 PM - Aimee''s House, Mountain Base, Mount Mbito, General Nakar, Quezon Province, Philippines</strong>


    Even though the problem was still not resolved, just getting a proper exnation about it could give relief to anyone. It was the case, especially for Aimee, that turned into an infected, mutated, and regained consciousness knowing nothing but confusion.


    Nevertheless, Aimee was less concerned about herself,paring to her worries towards her supposed child. Ever since she woke up, looking like this monster, the child in her womb was gone, and instead, there was this egg-shaped stone. Others could call her crazy, but she could not shake off the feeling that this stone was what became of her child.


    "Then, what about that stone?"


    Mark asked, making Aimee obviously happy. He actually took the initiative to ask about her child''s circumstances. Still, it also made Aimee a bit afraid.


    What if she was wrong, and this was nothing but an odd-shaped stone?


    What if the child she and herte husband happily waited for was long gone after she became infected?


    What if everything she was feeling towards this stone was nothing but her own delusion?


    Aimee was both anticipating and anxious about the answer she was about to receive.


    Seeing her troubled expression, Neenth smiled.


    "Miss Aimee had nothing to be worried about. It may look like a lifeless stone, but that is definitely your child. A daughter to be exact."


    After hearing that, all anxiousness vanished from Aimee''s face. Relief and happiness overwhelmed her as she picked up the egg-shaped stone and put it into her embrace.


    Still, there was another question to be asked.


    "Did you know how her daugther ended up that way?"


    Mark said. He was also interested.


    And Neenth, the Embodiment of Interest, was more than happy to share what she knew.


    "Like Miss Aimee, her daughter also had the bloodline of a Lost Eye. Thus, it is also the very same circumstance. Like I said before, Mutagen can bring back the hidden genes of a person and make it a catalyst for mutation. However..."


    Neenth then waved her hand, flipping the pages of the book. It then showed a scene of a pregnant infected, presumably a Biter, giving birth, or rather, ejecting the contents of her womb. It was not the most pleasant sight to see, but it was necessary for her exnation.


    "I''m pretty sure that Sir already knew about this. The infectious and most mutagenic strain of Mutagen can only be spread from an infected''s saliva, specifically, from a bite. If the saliva was taken out of an infected''s mouth, although it will remain infectious for a while, the potency will slowly drop, and the strain will die. Even if a person was to drink an infected''s blood or eat an infected''s flesh, they will not get infected by Mutagen. Of course, it did not mean that there would be no other repercussions considering that the infected are constantly mutating."


    This meant that, like what they were watching from the book. While the mother was infected, the child did not seem to. It had the perfect appearance of a human infant.


    "Neo Humans."


    Mark murmured.


    "Yes." Neenth nodded. "Still, even though the fetus inside an infected''s womb would not get infected in the same way, there are still repercussions. In fact, Neo Humans are too rare, and I''ll say it, only ten of these infants existed living on Earth right now. Actually, there are other cases, considering how high the infected poption and the number of pregnant women that got infected. However, just how many of them could be found before they got eaten by their own mothers? Not all infected are [Breeder Types] that would care for their children."


    And as Neenth said that, the infected mother on the book kneeled on her newborn baby and started eating it.


    "As for the fetuses that did not be Neo Humans, they ended up mutating along with their mothers." Neenth said as she flipped the book, showing an infected mother with her mutated fetus taking control of her body like a parasite. "Like this and others."


    This situation was not really unexpected. Once a pregnant woman got infected, her body would start to change, especially during mutation. As the changes in her body urred, it would definitely include the womb that contained the fetus of an infant. As the structure of the womb changed along with the chemicals and other substances that the fetus would end up absorbing, they would also mutate, even without turning into an infected.


    It was a simr case to non-infected animals that became feral.


    "By the way," Neenth added. "Although these mutated babies were not infected by normal means, they also carried a different type of infectious strain on their saliva. Consider them as a new kind of infection carriers. The only exceptions are the Neo Human infants. These infants mutated in a way that counteracted the mutation. They can be distinguished as babies that came from an infected mother but retained their human appearance."


    That was right, like Theodore that was now Jaeya''s adopted son. He was an infant that came from an infected mother that did not carry any infectious strain and also had a perfectly human appearance.


    Mark then remembered the other babies that were together with Theodore back then. They all had unsightly appearances and mutations that anyone would think twice or thrice to call them human babies.


    "Well then, let''s get back to Miss Aimee''s daughter." Neenth turned to Aimee. "Miss Aimee had gone into a mutation, and of course, her daughter also did. Both of them might have turned into mindless infected if not for one fact that Miss Aimee''s mutation used their ancestor''s bloodline as a catalyst."


    "Please remember that Mutagen is a pathogen affecting the infected''s physique for the main part and erasing their consciousness as the infection took over. However, before all of Miss Aimee''s consciousness was snuffed out, her blood that carried the bloodline of a Lost Eye stopped the erasure of her consciousness, recovering it and saving both her and her daughter."


    "I''ll just add this in case, but us Eyes, specifically, us Embodiments, can also get infected since we have a Physical Body. However, we won''t be mindless. Our consciousness is too strong to be erased by a physique affecting pathogen. That is why Miss Aimee''s consciousness recovered."


    "And Miss Aimee, your daughter is at a state called [Returning to Origin]. She was a fetus still in development and her mutation was too strong that she inherited more traits of your ancestors."


    "That egg-like stone is a form all of us Embodiments had before we are born."


    Thatst sentence was unexpected.


    It exactly meant that while Aimee mutated into an Eye-like creature, her baby became an actual Eye, a supposed Embodiment.


    And here, Neenth''s expression became a bitplicated.


    "Even though I just said a happy thing after confirming that it is really your daughter, Miss Aimee, I''ll need to cut it soon. Your daughter might not likely wake up for eternity."


    "GRA?"


    Aimee froze after hearing that.


    "Us Embodiments needed the concentration of human emotions to keep our existence. We are created by the emotions of humans on Earth. In order to wake your daughter up, you will need to do the same as us. But your ancestor did note from Earth."


    "And that is where the issuey, isn''t it?" Mark interjected. "All of you Eyes can gather emotional energies from humans all over Earth because you are all created from these emotions. And Aimee''s bloodline came from another dimension. For her daugther to form and wake up, she needed emotional energies from that."


    "Exactly." Neenth agreed. "The Eyes can absorb emotional energies from the world they were created automatically. And for it to work, they needed to be in the same world. Since Miss Aimee''s ancestor came from another world, her daughter needed to be there to absorb the energy she needed automatically."


    Hearing the bad news, Aimee started to weep.


    Her heart had been on a rollercoaster this time.


    "Isn''t there any other way?"


    Mark asked. Aimee was one of his people and a very important asset to the base. It would be a bad thing if she lost heart now.<sub> </sub>


    "I''ll be direct. I don''t know." Neenth shook her head. "In the first ce, it is the very first circumstance that this happened on Earth. A human [Returning to Origin] and bing an Eye is unheard of, at least not on Earth."


    "How about gathering Emotional energy artificially?"


    Mark suggested.


    "That might work, but an Eye only needed a specific emotion and not a mix of it. That is why each of us is an Embodiment of a certain human emotion. Mixing it is a bad idea as you might end up with a chaotic monster."


    "Then, can''t I do it?"


    Mark suddenly said, making everyone look at him.


    And as it was not the topic, they all forgot.


    Mark was an Empath that was automatically absorbing the emotional energies of people around him. In fact, he was the strongest human Empath in the history of Earth. Furthermore, he had the ability to channel emotional energies to others which was the thing they needed the most for this to work.


    "RIGHT! THAT''S RIGHT! Why didn''t I thought of that?!" Neenth eximed happily. "I was too focused at Miss Aimee''s circumstances that I forgot!"


    Aimee was still in tears as she looked at Mark. In her eyes, however, there was no Mark in front of her but only Hope.


    "GRAA?"


    Aimee was begging for Mark to do it if he could.


    It was when Fourth voiced an issue.


    "I wonder if this will work. To wake up an Eye, the energy of a specific emotion is needed at a quantityparable to the entire poption of Earth. I don''t think that you will have that much even if you lived for a hundred years."


    And, Fourth was right. Mark was only twenty-eight and as a shut-in, the number of humans he encountered for his whole life was far smaller than others of the same age. It was impossible for him to have enough Emotional Energy stored that wasparable to Earth''s entire poption.


    "Does it need to be one time? It can be done slowly, right?"


    Mark asked.


    Neenth and Fourth looked at each other and nodded. Even the Eyes look it slow as they gathered energy to resurrect themselves.


    "Doing it slow should be fine." Neenth said. "But there is still one problem left. The poption of people in your base is too small. Gathering the leaking emotional energies from them will be too slow."


    Yes, that was still the problem. The source of emotional energies that Mark would need to channel to Aimee''s daughter.


    "Do I need to go to other ces for this?"


    Mark grumbled. He still hated ces with too many people.


    But then, the lightbulb above Mark''s head turned on.


    "If its a source of emotional energy, we also have that, I think."


    Those words made Aimee, Fourth and Neenth stare at him. Mark shivered. Seriously, being stared with these many eyes could make anyone ufortable.


    Mark then turned to Neenth.


    "Have you investigated everyone in my base with that book of yours?"


    To that question, Neenth shook her head.


    "Not fully. I only focused on the Blood Demons as my master ordered."


    So, that was why Neenth had no idea what was in Mark''s mind.


    "Why don''t you look at the girl named Elise with your book."


    Neenth was confused as to why Mark said that but still followed.


    And as Elise''s information appeared on the pages of the book, Neenth''s eyes turned wide.


    Under Elise''s skills and abilities, there was one that they needed the most in this situation.


    [Bottomless Emotion Well], the energy from her emotions are bottomless.


    It was not something controble though, like how she ended up harming people once her emotions got chaotic.


    Nevertheless, the problem was solved. The only thing they needed was to slowly work it out as not everything would happen instantly. Besides, Mark was not immune to the overflow of energy since even Elise''s chaotic state could make him feel pain.


    p "Well, that''s all I guess. We just needed to wait until it is filled with Determination."</anda>


    Mark said, looking Aimee''s daughter.


    "Pfft!" Neenth suddenly burst outughing. "I did not expect that you''re kind of a joker."


    "No, I''m just tired. I don''t normally bring out references like this."


    Mark shrugged, making Neenthugh even more.


    "Hey, what''s so amusing?! Tell me?!"


    Fourth shouted as she did not understand what the knowledgeable Neenth wasughing about.


    In any case, aal izz well.


    There was hope for both Aimee and her daughter.

 Chapter 603 Back To The Spirit Dimension, A Sudden Unexpectedly Dire Situation

    <strong>Day 139 - 7:15 AM - Mountain Base, Mount Mbito, General Nakar, Quezon Province, Philippines</strong>


    Yesterday was very fruitful, but it was, without a doubt, a tiring day for Mark.


    Even though he was used to it, Mark was without a wink of sleep since yesterday. Not to mention that he had just gone under a deadly amount of pain during the process of consuming three crystals at the same time.


    Immediately after that, the Eyes appeared one by one, not giving Mark any chance to have a good rest. Their presence was enough to make anyone uneasy, and Fourth only controlled it when Markined. Without a doubt, most of the Eyes were inconsiderate about others.


    Nevertheless, Mark got information about a few things from the Eyes, and Aimee''s circumstances were answered thoroughly. Still, awakening Aimee''s child was not something to be rushed, though.


    Aside from those things, Mark managed to finish the final checks and preparations for the day and managed to find time to rx afterward.


    Spending time with the little girls while ying video games was something that Mark enjoyed.


    And the night was peaceful with Mark finally getting a good night''s sleep with Mei.


    Now that morning came, it was time to depart once more.


    Almost everyone present at the base gathered at the central area where Chiyo, the Night Everred Spirit Tree, was nted. They were all here to wish Mark''s group a safe journey.


    "Elder Brother, can''t I reallye?"


    And of course, someone was begging to tag along. It was Elise. In the first ce, she was quite awkward towards her family. After what happened to her and losing her memories, she was more inclined to spend more time with Mark and Mei. Her parents were a bit sad because of this. However, they did not want to force her and decided to go on a slower route to fix everything.


    Mark patted Elise''s head like how he usually did, not only to her but also to others. This gesture, together with that soothing feeling that his hands had, could give them mentalfort.


    "Just behave and stay here. The Spirit Dimension is more dangerous than most ces on Earth right now."


    What Mark said was no joke. Comparing the infected here on Earth that had physical abilities and the magical infected in the Spirit Dimension, thetter was way more dangerous. And if Elise was toe with them, they would be a beacon that would attract all troubles because of her ability.


    Elise was disappointed that she could not tag along. But like what Mark said, she behaved herself and did not insist oning any longer.


    With everyone''s ovepped voices, this time''s group that was onlyposed of Mark, Mei, and their daughters, along with Amihan, rode on Char and entered the bright door that Chiyo opened.


    This time, they were not going to use Spera''s portal to go back to the Stone Fortress. Her ability was needed more in the base than Mark''s group.


    And there, after a short greeting with Chiyo, Mark stepped once more in the Spirit Dimension.


    ***


    Looking around the Night Everred Spirit Tree on this side, the scene was different from before. The driednd had better color than before. It seemed that after the infected that was the cause of this situation was destroyed, the affectednd started to recover. Nevertheless, with that much damage done, it would take years for everything to return to normal.


    The most different thing in the surroundings was the vast area around Chiyo that was devoid of everything. The dried trees were gone, and even therge mountain boulders here and there were removed. It was the result of the preparation they did here, ording to Mark''s deductions.


    As it was one of the priorities, it was finished early in the past few days. It also became easier since dried brittle trees were not really hard to remove, and the boulders were taken care of by the infected under Aephelia''s control.


    "The surroundings is that clear, huh."


    Mark said, looking around some more. Before arriving, Chiyo had already informed him that there were no infected around. Still, it was quite strange that in every nook and cranny of the mountain that their eyes could see, not a single infected could be found.


    "Gege, this is strange, isn''t it?"


    Mei said.


    This situation was really unexpected, considering how many infected the clearing team had encountered while removing the trees and boulders. Even Mark was called out for help several times because of some pesky infected Sylphs. Some workers also got injured.


    "The infected are erratic, to begin with. Let''s just go to our destination as soon as possible."


    Mark replied as he told Char to move on through his mind.


    Like before, they had to go up the higher areas on the east side of Mount Mbito to get to the other side of the mountain.


    Strangely enough, even as they made their way up the slopes of the mountain, both steep and not, not a single infected was present.


    Eerily, all of them seemed to have gone somewhere else.


    Because of this, Mark could not help but heightened his alertness as he sat at the foremost seat on Char''s back.


    But then, halfway up the mountain, Abbygale started to sniff the air.


    "Papa! Papa!" Abbygale called out. "Something smells burning?"


    Since her mutation was a cat, Abbygale''s senses were higher than everyone present here. The others had not sensed it yet, but she already smelled the burning stench from the direction they were going.


    Mark frowned after hearing Abbygale. He would never doubt her even a little.


    "Char, fly up."


    Markmanded his dragon. They were traveling onnd since flying up high would attract unnecessary attention. Of course, that attention would all be infected that was possibly in the area. But since the situation seemed strange, and now, the burnt smell, something worse might be happening.


    Chalr''srge wings pped, and everyone was brought up the mountain faster.


    Before they could reach the top, however, they could already see the thick ck smoke that was rising towards the sky from the east.


    It did not take long, and the whole scene was revealed before their eyes.


    The whole forest of the Eastern Mountain, the home of the White Duendes, was covered in mes.


    Aside from that, a three-way skirmish seemed to be happening by the foot of the mountain.


    The familiar forces of the Stone Fortress, the infected that was missing from the surroundings, and unexpectedly...


    ...An army of demons together with the ck Duendes.


    It was a total mess as the fantasy-like battle happened by the river that separated the Eastern Moutain and Mount Mbito.


    Arrows and magic flew here and there.


    Blood sttered as attacks were exchanged by the camps.


    Spirits, Demons, and Elementals turned to ash shortly after they died.


    While most of them were fighting onnd, a lot of them were shing their weapons and magic mid-air.


    And to say, the situation did not seem to go well with the races from the Stone Fortress.<sub> </sub>


    "Just what in the world is going on?"


    Amihan shouted out in total shock. None of them expected to arrive at a scene like this.


    "Obviously, not something good."


    Mark said with a frown as he tapped on Char''s neck, urging the dragon to fly towards the Stone Fortress.


    The sudden appearance of a dragon rmed both the camps. The infected did not pay attention, though, and continued to swarm towards the two camps. But as the forces of the Stone Fortress recognized Char, their morale rose spontaneously.


    As Char flew closer and closer to the battlefield, they started hearing the shouting from both sides. Only Amihan was able to understand all of it, though, as they were using thenguages native to their races.


    There was one thing that Mark understood, though. The Demons and ck Duendes viewed Mark group as enemies.


    CREEEEEE!!!


    Several dozen screeching sounds echoed in everyone''s ears.


    "TSK!"


    Mark clicked his tongue as several dozen human-sized bats charged towards Char.


    These bats were something that Mark never heard about in Philippine Folklore and Mythology. It was very likely that these bats were just normal ones. However, it seemed that they had gone some sort of demonization and turned into bloodthirsty servants for the demons.


    Mark could not help but frown as they were at a disadvantage if they were to fight in the air. He and Mei might be able to fly, but the little girls could not.


    And thus...


    "Char! Fly faster!"


    Mark shouted as a crystal floated in front of him.


    Suddenly, a swirl of wind appeared in front, and the air resistance around them vanished.


    And by Mark''smand, Char flew faster.


    Like a spear of spiral wind, Char tore through the horde of flying bats, destroying everything that obstructed its way.


    Seeing how the Demonic Bats were being obliterated, loud cheers could be heard among the forces of the Stone Fortress.


    They all watched Char as much as they could as the dragon tore through the thick smoke and flew towards the Stone Fortress surrounded by the burning forest.


    The air above the forest was hot and impassable. If not for the swirling wind that surrounded Char, it would be hard to cross the sweltering smoke.


    Char arrived at the Stone Fortress. The sudden arrival took the people in the fortress by surprise. But as most of them recognized the Reddish ck Dragon that apanied the Princess of the White Duendes before, the soldiers did not make a mistake to attack the dragon.


    Mark and Mei looked below. There was still a considerable number of soldiers and warriors in the open area of the Stone Fortress. By the looks of it, they might be reinforcements that were meant to aid their forces below the mountain. However, because of the forest fire, they were not able to move at all.


    Still, it looked like that the Stone Fortress was protected from the mes with magic from the Sylphs.


    The people in the fortress made way for Char tond. Before Mark''s group could get down, Mark could already spot Pefile, Edzel, Pearl, and Teremillio''s entourage rushing to meet them.


    "Boss!"


    Edzel called out, looking relieved by the arrival of Mark''s group.


    "Just what is happening?"


    Mark asked seriously.


    "Some idiot Duende lost his mind."


    Pefile replied with a grumble. Of course, the way he answered did not give any information at all. Instead, it was full of spite towards someone.


    Still, Pefile mentioned a Duende, and Mark could only turn to Teremillio and Felenia.


    Teremillio was not looking good at all. Mark could sense the heavy emotions swirling inside him.


    "My home kingdom had already fallen."


    Teremillio said with a heavy heart.


    And to say, it was no surprise. Considering how the Kingdom of Sylphs fell, other Kingdoms could also suffer the same demise.


    Still, what was the rtionship between the fall of the Kingdom of ck Duendes and the war that was currently ongoing?


    Before anyone could answer, the King and Queen of the Stone Fortress came out to meet Mark''s group. Together with them were the representatives of the races that were taking refuge in this ce.


    It seemed that the King, Hieromano, heard Mark''s question. He did not wait for Mark to ask him and spoke.


    "It is one of Teremillio''s brothers. I had no idea if you know this, but ck Duendes weremonly mischievous, vengeful, and jealous about things. They could not ept that their Kingdom had fallen, and we are still able to stand. We did not know how they were able to collude with the demons, but their goal is to make our Kingdom fall like theirs."


    No wonder why Terrimillio was heavy-hearted. It was actually one of his siblings that orchestrated the situation.


    "What a load of bull."


    Mark said with a frown. Just what was that Duende thinking for orchestrating an event like this?


    "What about this forest fire? Can''t any of you put it out?"


    Mark asked another question.


    Unfortunately, everyone could only look around with troubled faces.


    And there, a familiar voice echoed into Mark''s ear as the familiar woman appeared before them. It was the Diwata Danaya. At her appearance, all the Spirit Races around kneeled down in respect.


    "The Demons lit up the entire forest to prevent the reinforcements from aiding the frontlines. Unfortunately, wecked people capable of water magic. There is no way for everyone here to put out the fire and can only wait it out."


    Mark looked at Diwata Danaya. She seemed to be heavily fatigued due to the dire situation. She really valued every single life here and was really sad for the loss of the lives of their brave warriors.


    Diwata Danaya looked quite pitiful.

 Chapter 604 Merios Perspective, The Events That Transpired And Led To This Dire Situation

    <strong>Day ¨ƒ¨ƒ - ¨ƒ¨ƒ:¨ƒ¨ƒ ¨ƒ¨ƒ- Foot of Eastern Mountain, Spirit Dimension</strong>


    Merio, the General of the brave warriors from the Stone Fortress, were currently trapped at the foot of the mountain. They had no choice but to make a stand facing the hordes of infected and the army of the Demons.


    "Steel yourselves!!! Do not falter!!!"


    Only those words were what Merio could shout to encourage his men.


    Still, it was not something that would help in their current situation.


    The Demons in front, the infected at the sides, and the raging mes behind them.


    They were trapped. Neither going forward nor retreating was possible.


    The only thing that they could do was fight.


    Helpless, the remaining warriors could only watch theirrades fall while trying their best not to be in the same circumstance themselves.


    Eaten, bitten, and turning to dust, those were the only oue that they would end up with if the situation kept on.


    If not for the fact that Diwata Danaya''s blessing was protecting them, it would not be surprising that all of them might have fallen already, either by the hands of the infected or the demons.


    Even so, their current number was far less than half of what they had before all this started.


    But how did all of this happened in the first ce?


    ***


    It started just the other day when Teremillio''s group was suddenly called back to the Mortal World. During their absence, arge group of Spirit Races came to seek shelter from the outbreak. Among that group, the leader was surprisingly the fifth prince of the Kingdom of ck Duendes, just a mountain away at the south.


    Without a doubt, he was one of Teremillio''s siblings.


    He was the fifth Prince of the South-East Mountain Kingdom, Tierio.


    Together with the arrival of this group, the news about the fall of the Kingdom of ck Duendes came. Thisrge group was among the possible survivors of their fallen kingdom.


    And here, things became quiteplicated.


    Even at the time of their ancestors, ck Duendes were infamous for their negative influence in both the Mortal and Spirit Worlds.


    The Duendes, no matter what color, they were yful creatures. They loved to y tricks and pranks on other races, especially the ones bigger than them. Of course, unless they were enraged, their yful attitude barely harmed others.


    Well, except for the ck ones. They loved seeing others getting hurt by their pranks. Sometimes, this attitude would lead to permanent damage to the victim, or worse, death. That was why other races would rather stay away from them.


    However, at this point, every race needed to unite if they wanted to survive. The world where the races could live safely was getting smaller and smaller, after all.


    And thus, even though all of them rejected it in their hearts, they weed the group into the fortress.


    It was a bad idea.


    Tierio''s personality was awful. He behaved like it was an honor for the Stone Fortress to have him around. And the worst part, he demanded to stay in the inner walls of the fortress.


    However, it was impossible. The inner areas of the fortress were where the real citizens and very important guests of the Stone Fortress were staying. In fact, even the representatives of the races were not staying here. They were only allowed to go in and out, but they were still staying inside the outer walls. The only time that other races were allowed in the inner areas were during emergencies like back then when the giant infected attacked.


    When Tierio was not allowed to do what he wanted, he did not argue too much. However, he and his group started to cause trouble to the others that were staying inside the outer walls.


    Just in the few hours that they arrived,ints about his group''s behavior piled up.


    But the thing that triggered Tierio the most was when Teremillio''s group returned. Their group brought back unbelievable information about events going to happen in the future. The problem with most of the races not believing the news they brought back was for another time.


    But the fact that Teremillio could enter and exit the inner walls freely was unbelievable to his brother that recognized him.


    It was not unexpected that they still recognized each other after not meeting for several decades. Most races in the Spirit Dimension were long-lived, after all, and their appearance barely changes even after a hundred years past their adulthood.


    A confrontation happened between the two princes of the ck Duendes. Teremillio was shocked by the news that the kingdom he abandoned in the past had fallen. The fate of his beloved mother was unknown.


    On the other hand, Tierio could not believe that this traitorous sibling of his was actually held highly in the Stone Fortress. And like a true viin, he tried to ride on the coattails of his younger brother to try and get better treatment in the fortress.


    But of course, it would not work here. Even Teremillio did not want to acknowledge any connection to the ck Duendes. This thing was one of the reasons why he left that ce and abandoned his position as a prince in the first ce.


    And as anyone would expect, the jealous nature of the ck Duendes overwhelmed Tierio. He was envious of Teremillio''s position here. He was envious that while their kingdom had fallen, this ssless kingdom carved from a mountain was still standing tall.


    Everyone became aware of Tierio''s state of mind as he started to be more irritable and troublesome.


    And then, the next morning, they found out that Tierio and his loyal men left the Stone Fortress. The people of the fortress could not care less, though. They had a lot of problems to deal with and a nuisance like Tierio leaving the ce was for the best.


    Another night passed, the current day came.


    Suddenly, the information of hordes of infected moving towards the mountain for an unknown reason came from the scouts. It was a number that would definitely render the illusion in the forest useless.


    The illusion in the forest work through muddling the victim''s sense of direction, and forcing arge number of infected at the same time would cancel the need for the illusion to have enough space to work.


    And thus, the Stone Fortress dispatched their warriors to deal with the iing horde.


    It was a hard battle, but they were doing fine. There were casualties, but as it was a deadly battle, some things could not be stopped from happening.


    But then, in the middle of the battle against the infected, the army of demons came out of nowhere. It was a bad timing since most of them were already tired after fighting the infected horde. Besides, they were not even halfway through the battle yet.


    Shockingly, they actually saw Tierio and his entourage leading the demons. They could not tell what was going on. Just how in the world did those ck Duendes get into a deal with the demons?


    But that was not the time to think of other things. They needed to deal with the current situation first.


    The first option in this situation was to retreat. Second, it was to send a messenger to the Stone Fortress to send reinforcements. They picked thetter since there was no way that they would let this huge number of infected into the illusion.


    Merio sent an Anggitay messenger to rush towards the Stone Fortress, carrying the information about the current situation.


    But then, a minute after their messenger rushed into the forest, the forest burst into mes. As everyone felt the sudden influx of magical energy in the surroundings, they were sure that the forest was magically ignited.


    Not only did it cut their ways of retreat, but it also stopped the fortress from sending reinforcements.


    Now, it clicked into everyone''s mind. From the sudden influx of the number of infected to the forest bursting into mes, everything was orchestrated by Merio and his group.


    Even maybe, everything that happened so far since Tierio''s group arrived was a farce, and everything was already nned since there.


    Maybe, this would not have happened if they did not let that ursed people enter the fortress in the first ce.


    Everyone was losing hope. Even Diwata Danaya''s blessing would not save them from their current predicament. It would be good if the Diwata coulde here and aid them, but for sure, she was busy making sure that the fortress did not sumb to the heat and mes.


    They were losing hope.<sub> </sub>


    But then, they saw the familiar visage of a dragoning from the west.


    Their plummeting morale started to soar once more.


    Not only Merio''srades saw it, of course. The demons too, and they were shocked. Seeing Tierio''s face warping into disbelief made the General feel likeughing.


    Feeling the threat it had, the demons sent their demonic bats towards the dragon.


    But everyone saw how it swooped through the hordes of demonic bats, tearing everything that blocked its path.


    When the dragon entered the burning forest and was obscured by the smoke, the warriors of the Stone Fortress knew that they only needed to hold their position a bit more.


    Soon, help woulde.


    ***


    With that reminiscence in mind, Merio shed an infected in front of him. He then turned towards the demon that was trying to sneak from his back.


    CLANG!


    The demon''s w and Merio''s sword shed with a loud metallic sound.


    "You must be the leader of these warriors. I''ll be the one to take your head."


    The demon smirked with a bloody smile.


    Merio did not care about talking and pushed the demon''s ws away before trying to sh the demon''s nk. With the Duende General''s swift moves, his attack connected with the demon''s body.


    But...


    CLANG!


    The sword and the demon''s skin created another metallic noise after shing.


    Then, Merio immediately stepped to the side.


    SPURT!


    Blood sttered. Merio''s left shoulder was pierced by one of the demon''s ws.


    The battle-hardened General did not utter any sound of pain as he was lifted off the ground despite his currently human-sized body. This demon was a few heads taller than him and lifted him using that w with ease. Being lifted like that, however, did not stop the General from attacking with his sword, trying to break himself free.


    "Do not bother. I can make my skin as hard as metal." The demon smiled. "Like I said before, I will be taking your head."


    Seeing Merio''s predicament, some warriors charged in to help.


    "DON''T GET AWAY!"


    Merio tried to stop them.


    CLANG!


    One of the warriors managed tond his sword on the demon''s body. Like before, however, it did no damage at all.


    "You''re in the way."


    The demon scored as he waved his free hand towards the warrior.


    With a swift movement of the demon''s ws, the warrior''s head was sent flying away. The warrior''s headless body fell on its knees before turning to dust. It was the same end of every Spirit and Elementals that fell in this battle.


    Even so, Merio smiled.


    "Even if I die here, you bastards won''t achieve what you wanted."


    He said those words, fearlessly staring at the demon''s glowing eyes.


    "Hahahaha!" The demonughed. "Are you putting your hope on that dragon? Who said that we don''t have anything that could rival that?"


    Of course, demons had all kinds of ursed things. They also had demonic creatures that could rival dragons.


    Still, Merio shook his head confidently.


    "You will never understand."


    That attitude seemed to have irked the demon. He did not speak any further and brandished his other set of ws to tear Merio apart.


    The demon swiped his arm. Merio closed his eyes, epting his end. The other warriors around tried to help, but they were also overwhelmed by the other demons and infected. But then...


    CLANG!


    A loud metallic sound echoed by Merio''s ear.


    "Looks like you have a plot armor General."


    And a familiar voice came along with it.


    "Who-who are you?!"


    The demon''s shocked voice was heard as Merio opened his eyes.


    Standing before him was the person he was expecting, blocking therge ws of the demon with his armored arm.


    The man did not reply to the demon and kicked the demon''s body away while pulling Merio off from its ws.


    "Thank you."


    Merio said as the man, Mark, put him down. He was still not safe, though, and his shoulder was bleeding profusely.


    "Don''t thank me. I''m getting paid for this, you know?" Mark retorted. "Still, I''m surprised. I didn''t expect to encounter a Demon Mutator here."


    Mark stared at the demon that he just kicked away. On the other hand, the demon was also wary of Mark.


    "Well, first of all, I better deal with the forest fire, first."


    He said as he raised his hand with a glowing crystal in front of his palm.

 Chapter 605 Marks Intervention, Rescuing The Remaining Warriors Of Eastern Mountain

    <strong>Day ¨ƒ¨ƒ - ¨ƒ¨ƒ:¨ƒ¨ƒ ¨ƒ¨ƒ - Foot of Eastern Mountain, Spirit Dimension</strong>


    Mark''s sudden appearance on the battlefield did not escape the attention of everyone around him. And in fact, demons and ck Duendes were quite surprised. After all, the one that he had just repelled was not just some random demon. The metal-bodied Demon was actually one of the individuals leading this attack.


    It meant thatpared to most of the demons here, this guy''s abilities were the strongest. Without saying, in this battle, a lot of the warriors from the Stone Fortress perished in this guy''s ws. However, none of them noticed his kills since this Demon was more specialized in sneak and stealth attacks while staying hidden in the middle of the battlefield.


    Demons loved to y with their enemies. Whether it be physical or mental pain, they would do that so their victims, their toys, would plummet to the bottom of their despair first before killing them.


    That was why, slowly, they were reducing the number of the warriors from the Stone Fortress, pushing them to break down. By their character, it was very likely that they would kill Meriost to show their dominance.


    However, the ns had changed because of the sudden arrival of the Char. Although they had means to counter the dragon if it participated in the battle, it was better if they did not deal with such a dangerous situation.


    They came here to y and inflict terror, not tomit suicide. They would retreat without hesitation if necessary.


    Nevertheless, since the time they had be shorter, their target switched to themanders of the warriors, especially Merio. They must at least take down the heads, leaving the rest helpless.


    But then, Mark appeared to ruin the fun.


    The worst part, however, was that they were confused.


    Mark looked human to them, but for some reason, he had a strange aura that definitely felt demonic.


    On the other hand, Mark did not know any of this and just sensed their surprise. He stared at the Demon in front of him, assessing the enemy while activating the crystal on his hand.


    That was when almost everyone on the battlefield paused. Even some almost died to the infected that did not care about the surroundings but the living.


    It was because the sky started to grow darker.


    The sky was quite dark because of the thick smoke that drifted to the east. This time, however, it was different because it was the thick clouds that started to cover the sky and swirled above in a threatening manner.


    But then, the first drops of rain fell, quenching the thirst of the raging mes. It was not only a drizzle but the start of heavy rainfall.


    Their eyes grew blurry as the rain obscured their sight. It was when the demons realized that this amount of rainfall would soon extinguish the mes that trapped the Stone Fortress.


    None of them expected this. Everyone did not know how this happened, but one thing was for sure, it was Mark who was did this.


    Mark did not care about their stares. Instead, he kept the crystal once more and turned to Merio.


    "Mr. General. You should get someone to check your wound. Also, gather your soldiers and get ready to retreat. The forest fire will be gone soon."


    "Good."


    Merio was also surprised by Mark''s disy. He knew that this person was powerful from what happened with the gigantic infectedst time. Still, no one here expected that Mark also had the ability to control the weather and to this degree. Nevertheless, Merio was a battle-hardened general. He might be surprised, but he did not stop paying attention to the surroundings. His reply even came as quickly as Mark ended his words.


    The General of the Brown Duendes immediately called for the retreat, gathering his warriors further in one ce.


    Of course, not everyone would be able to with the demons blocking their way. It was when Mark appeared and disappeared here and there, paving the way for the tired warriors of the Stone Fortress.


    Almost none of them were still in the state to be able to continue fighting.


    CLANG!


    Amidst his work, someone appeared and blocked Mark''s sword.


    It was another Demon, and surprisingly another mutator. And instead of ws like the first one, this one hadrge curved des attached to this Demon''s both arms.


    "¨ƒ¨ƒ¨ƒ¨ƒ¨ƒ¨ƒ¨ƒ."


    The Demon spoke.


    However, Mark did not pay any attention to it. In fact, the other Demon earlier spoke to him, but likewise, he could not understand it and ignored it.


    Mark was interested in these Mutator Demons. However, he still had work to do, and he was going to get morepensation for it. Thus, using his [Shadow Mist Movement], Mark turned into a surge of ck mist that quickly moved about to save the other soldiers from the stone fortress that were still trapped fighting.


    Unexpectedly, the moment that Mark appeared, a pair of des came hacking towards him.


    It was no other than the very same Demon just now. Unexpectedly, this Demon could catch up with Mark''s movements without problems. Well, it was not exactly surprising. Demons were strange beings from the start.


    Mark had just appeared, but his body blurred immediately, letting the des of the Demon pass through his body. The Demon was surprised at what he had seen and immediately jumped back before Mark could do any counter-attack.


    "Tsk."


    Mark clicked his tongue. He was really aiming to sh his sword at the Demon, but it jumped away before he could even do it.


    "Who are you? Why are you meddling with our fun?! Why is a Demon like you siding with them?!!!"


    Someone shouted at Mark. It was no other than the metal-bodied Demon from earlier and arrived to aid the other one. He might have heard Mark speaking in humannguage to Merio.


    Suddenly, Mark was facing the strongest two among the Demons. In fact, the presence of these two was just a bit less than Diwata Danaya. If he did not go for a sneak attack, Merio might have lost his life already.


    Still, this situation was of the best. With these two going to face Mark, the retreat of the warriors became much safer.


    And of course, Mark tilted his head.


    "Demon? I looked human, don''t you think?"


    Mark replied. Of course, he was just bluffing.


    "Don''t joke with me!" The metal-bodied Demon shouted. "You might look human, but you can''t hide your presence of a high-ss Demon, especially from me!"<sub> </sub>


    Mark shrugged. It looked like he could not trick this one. The other one did not seem to realize, though. That was right, Mark was a Pure-Blood Blood Demon. A high-ss Demon. He could even be considered as a Royal Demon following the standards of these Demons.


    That was why the metal-bodied Demon could not understand why someone like Mark was siding with the Spirit Races.


    "Daellum, don''t bother talking now. This Demon is an enemy. Capture him and present him to our King."


    The ded Demon said to the other.


    "Good. It''s fine to injure. Just don''t kill."


    The Metal-Bodied Demon replied.


    Mark frowned. He could not understand the two as they reverted back to speaking thatnguage. Nevertheless, he could sense that these two were aiming to fight him.


    And then, Mark''s eyes opened wide.


    The ded Demon appeared beside him. It was fast that all he was able to see was a blur.


    Mark then kicked the ground, crushing the rocks under his foot. The de of the ded Demon aiming to cut off his leg hit nothing but air.


    "That''s a close call."


    Mark murmured as hended several meters away. If he did not consume the crystal before, that sh would surely hit him. But as his speed was upgraded, Mark was able to react in time. It was now no wonder how this guy was able to keep up and chase his speed even when he activated his [Shadow Mist Movement].


    The ded Demon did not give Mark a breather, charging at him once more with that insane speed. Furthermore, the Metal-Bodied Demon also joined the fray.


    To the eyes of the surroundings, Mark was in a predicament now. Even the demons were in glee for this meddler''s demise.


    But as the ded Demon charged at Mark, a bad premonition entered his mind. He just saw thetter smile.


    Without a second thought, the ded Demon stopped his charge and kicked the ground to go in another direction. The Metal-Bodied Demon, on the other hand, had no idea what was going on. He only saw the ded Demon suddenly stop his attack. It then urred to him. But it waste.


    BAM!


    ck Lightning fired from Mark''s hand towards the direction of the two demons. As the ded Demon already rushed out the way, off the lightning went towards the other.


    "GGGGGGRAAAAAAAA!!!"


    The Metal-Bodied Demon roared in pain. But he was not the only one.


    It was raining. Everyone was wet. Then, high voltage lightning was fired in the middle of the battlefield.


    The smile on Mark''s face could not be hidden as hundreds of demons and infected fell to the ground as charred corpses. Most of them immediately turning to charred dust.


    Mark did not hesitate to fire it as he sensed that thest of the warriors, at least thest one alive, were rescued and escorted by hisrades to the edge of the burning forest.


    That was why right now, only the Demons, Infected, and Mark was left in the middle of the battlefield.


    Well, the two Demons that Mark aimed for were still alive, though. Nevertheless, the Metal-Bodied Demon, Daellum, was badly injured. If he turned his whole body to metal, he could have passed it through safely. However, it was impossible for him to turn his organs into metal, or he would end up dying for it. That was where the injury was concentrated.


    SPURT!


    ck blood spurted out of Daellum''s mouth as he fell on his knees due to the injuries he received. On the other hand, the ded-Demon seemed tobe still fine. This guy''s intuition was top notch.He was even able to reduce the damage he received by jumping off the ground, removing the contact of his body from the wet ground and rainwater.


    "Daellum!"


    The ded Demon rushed towards Daellum in less than a second.


    Without thinking twice and without even looking at Mark, the ded Demon picked up Daellum and turned into a blur as they retreated.


    "Smart."


    Mark said as he watched the two Demons bolt away. After all, he created the perfect environment to use his lightning and the ded-Demon realized how dangerous it was to continue fighting.


    With Mark''s disy and the retreat of the two Mutator Demons, the remaining Demons started to retreat. Because they had arger number, most of the remaining infected ended up chasing after them.


    While all that happened, Mark just shrugged his shoulders. He was being paid to rescue Merio and the others, not chase after the troublesome Demons.


    But then, he heard some annoying shouting.


    "What in the world are you bastards doing?! It''s just a single human! COWARDS!"


    Mark could not understand what that guy was shouting while he was being pulled away to retreat by some other people. Looking at the group, however, Mark realized who they were.


    "That guy must be that arrogant prince, huh?"


    Mark said as he turned into a surge of ck mist, flying towards the group of ck Duendes.


    The shouting suddenly stopped as the prince, Tierio realized that a hand grabbed him by his neck and dragged him into the abyss. The moment he returned to reality, he was already far away from his soldiers, being dragged on the dirty mud up the Eastern Mountain.


    Tierio tried shouting, grumbling, and roaring. Every time he did, however, the hand choking his through tightened until the color of his face was drained from theck of air.


    The prince of ck Duendes almost passed out. However, he realized that he was already at the camp of the warriors of the Eastern Mountain that was waiting for the mes to subside. All of them were ring at the prince with intent to kill.


    If not for Mark telling them to not make a move, Tierio''s body would have been shed to pieces now.

 Chapter 606 The Return Of The Brave Warriors, A Warning And The Reward He Wanted

    Day ¨ƒ¨ƒ - ¨ƒ¨ƒ:¨ƒ¨ƒ ¨ƒ¨ƒ - Stone Fortress, Eastern Mountain, Spirit Dimension


    The mes that engulfed the forest was still not extinguished but was already weakened enough by the rain for the warriors to force their way through. Tired, injured, and heavy-hearted, they pushed their way up the mountain why Mark covered their rear.


    Mark faced the horde of infected Spirit Races. Even though most of them chased after the retreating Demons, there was still a lot left to tail Mark and the warriors of Stone Fortress. Among them, a few infected Demons could be seen here and there. Facing all these enemies alone, Mark was forced to use his miasma to block magical attacks that came his way. Fearless and with a grin on his face, he tainted the charred forest with blood and dust of the disintegrated bodies of the infected.


    The warriors saw how Mark fought and wanted to join him. However, with their current condition, they would be more baggage than help.


    Nevertheless, to Mark, it was the best scenario. He was not covering the rear just for everyone to retreat safely. The actual reason that he did this was because he would be able to gather more crystals without getting too much attention. With thisrge amount of magical infected, Mark was bound to get more crystals than he would expect.


    Unfortunately, his fun ended soon as the reinforcements arrived halfway up the mountain. They helped the injured and faced the remaining infected together Mark. He could only shrug at this. Fortunately, he already got a number of crystals that he was satisfied with.


    Even Diwata Danaya came with the reinforcements and gave treatment to the injured soldiers. Because of this, their pace sped up as they climbed the mountain. Of course, even though the warriors were healed, they were still far from being able to join the fight.


    Unexpectedly, not all the warriors were healed. A few remained injured and weakened. It was no doubt that they were bitten. Even so, the bitten warriors were still brought up the mountain. If they turned, in the least, they would die in thend they protected.


    Soon, they reached the Stone Fortress and killed all the remaining infected. To no surprise, no one celebrated the return of the warriors. It was not like they did not want to. It was more of that they could not.


    The number of warriors from different races that went down the mountain to fight the infected horde was more than enough for a safe return. Even if some idents were to happen, it would be minimal. This time, however, less than a third of the warriors returned, and if not for Mark, it was possible that none of them would be able to return at all.


    Not to mention, the whole mountain was devastated. The forest had yet to stop burning, but everyone could see that everything was charred. They tried their best to stop the fire, but they could barely extinguish the area around the fortress, not to mention the whole mountain.


    The result of the forest being burnt to charcoal was an enormous setback to everyone living in the Stone Fortress. Not only the forest served as a natural defense and catalyst for the illusion magic of the Tikbngs, but it also attract beasts that could serve as food for its people. There was also a lot of herbs, fruits, and vegetables that could be picked around the mountain.


    Now, everything was gone.


    They could only wish that they had anyone that could use water magic. Unfortunately, all of the people here were either forest or mountain dwellers. Races that were capable of water magic lived nearrgekes and the ocean. Not in the middle of the mountains.


    In this situation, there was more to mourn than to rejoice. One thing that everyone here regrets at this moment was that they could not tear Tierio into pieces on the spot.


    ***


    After their return, Mark was escorted by a servant to a room where he could change his clothes. He fought under the heavy rain. It was no surprise that he was dripping wet, and his clothes and armor were stained with blood and mud.


    "I''ll be waiting outside. Please call me if Sire needed something."


    The servant said as she closed the door after Mark entered.


    Mark could not help but look around the room. Rather than a simple dressing room, it was quite extravagant. It was clear that it was another guest room. He would notin if he was brought to an empty room since he only needed to change clothes.


    Changing clothes, that was what Mark only needed to do. Yet, he could not bring himself to remove his clothes at all. He could not help but sigh.


    "What do you need from me?"


    Mark suddenly spoke, facing an empty corner of the room. There was nothing at that corner but the shadow of the curtains from the adjacent window.


    But as Mark asked his question, that very shadow distorted and seemed to have moved from its two-dimensional ne to a three-dimensional one. The shadow formed a humanoid silhouette before a person''s features appeared. Looking at it, it was a woman.


    The shadow turned into a dark-brown skinned woman with pitch-ck hair, ck eyes, pointed ears, and two short horns on her forehead. Her below shoulder-length hairplemented her dark colored skimpy-looking tight clothes. Her body was quite proportional, except for her chest that was on the t side.


    "Just what the hell are you looking at."


    The woman insecurely asked as she covered her front.


    Mark, on the other hand, did not care about her question as he was only observing the intruder in front of him.


    "I asked first. What do you want from me? I''m going to change my clothes so you better leave."


    He had no interest in interacting with her at all. The only reason he called out was only that this Demon was inside the room where he was supposed to change.


    Still, it was quite a surprise to find a demon woman lurking inside the Stone Fortress.


    The woman frowned as she noticed Mark''sck of interest in her. She was quite proud of her figure and appearance even as a demon. He did not even introduce himself or ask her name. With an annoyed snort, she went straight to the point.


    "What is a Pureblood Demon like you doing? Why are you helping the Spirit and Elemental Races?"


    Of course, that would be the question. This woman was obviously in cahoots with the Demon Army that ambushed the warriors of the Stone Fortress and set fire to the whole mountain. And Mark, a Pureblood Demon, was the one that stopped them.


    Furthermore, Demons and the Spirit and Elemental Races were enemies. It was quite unbelievable that Mark was helping them.


    "Why should I answer that?" Mark frowned. "It''s none of your business. I won''t say it again. Leave while I''m still not inclined to kill you."


    Mark was already emitting killing intent that made the woman shiver.<sub> </sub>


    "Tsk." The woman clicked her tongue. "We will retreat for now but you won''t be able to stop us."


    As she said that, her visage turned shadowy once more as she drifted out of the window.


    Sensing that the woman really left, Mark shrugged.


    "A Shadow Demon, huh. For them to send a spy here, their goals are not just to cause trouble for sure."


    Mark stared at the window that the woman used to exit. The window was closed, and she just drifted through the tiny space under it. It was an ability that the denizens of the shadow could do.


    He could have killed the woman in one go. She was strong but notparable to the two Mutator Demons that he encountered earlier. However, letting her go would serve as a warning. She would definitely report that Mark could sense her despite hiding in the shadows. It would be harder for them to send spies and infiltrate the Stone Fortress because of this. This situation would dy the demons of whatever goals they had and would give the fortress a little more time to prepare.


    ***


    After changing his clothes, Mark was led towards the throne room. There, Diwata Danaya and the representatives of the races were already waiting for him.


    "Our gratitude is yours for your help once more." Diwata Danaya, the guardian of these mountains, bowed towards Mark despite her status. "Although many lives were lost and only few managed to return, it was way better than none. Even though I am the one guarding this ce, at times like this is when I could realize my weakness."


    Diwata Danaya was crestfallen. As she said, she was the guardian of this ce. However, she could barely do anything at times like this. After all, she was just a young Diwata. Her abilities were limitedpared to others.


    The representatives were also the same. Having this position, they could not step unto the frontlines at all except for emergencies. If they were there in the first ce, this situation might have been avoided.


    "I don''t need your gratitude. Give that to those that died. I''m getting paid for the help I gave, remember?" Mark shrugged. "It''s a fair trade. I''m just upholding my end of it."


    Hearing Mark''s words, everyone did not know what to feel. Should they be annoyed or d? Who knows?


    Since the start, every time that Mark helped them in their troubles, it was because he needed something from them. There was something he wanted in exchange.


    It was the same in this situation.


    When Mark''s group arrived and learned the situation, Diwata Danaya implored him for his help. Given that she saw his capabilities, she knew that he could handle this situation. And of course, Mark wanted something in return.


    This time, however, they were d that it was not something material. It was information.


    Diwata Danaya nodded to Amayana, the representative of the Anggitay and the Tikbngs. With that signal, she stepped toward Mark and handed a square piece of animal skin rolled like a scroll.


    Mark opened it, and it was a rough map of the mountains that were under the protection of Diwata Danaya, exactly the same mountains in General Nakar, Quezon. On the map, several points were marked along with raggedly written roman alphabet letters that most humans currently use around the world. Whoever wrote this was familiar with the letters but was not used to writing them. Still, the effort was much appreciated even though it was really not necessary since he had Amihan with him.


    "There''s quite a lot, huh?"


    Mark said while looking at the map. There were twenty-eight markings all over different mountains.


    "But isn''t that what you wanted?" Diwata Danaya smiled. "That is one of the reasons all of us are gathered here. Everyone contributed their knowledge to finish that. In fact, we are reluctant if that is enough for your help this time."


    "Okay then. I recieved the payment." Mark shrugged. "Can I leave already, or am I still needed here?"


    "No, it is fine to leave. The rest of the agenda for us gathering here is our problem. If possible, we did not want to trouble you anymore than this. A servant will lead you to where your group is."


    Diwata Danaya then called for the same servant that brought Mark here to lead him back.


    With that, Mark left the throne room with a smile as he looked at the animal skin he grasped in his hand.


    What was this map? It was something he needed to progress his research.


    Back then, when they came here for the first time and saw the trade area, one thing urred to Mark. There was no form of currency that was being used here, and instead, it was barter trade. Among the items being traded were materials that only some races offered and not the others. It meant that some items were only avable to certain areas and were managed by different races.


    And it was what Mark wanted. The possible location on where to get those materials, for example, magical gemstones, metal mines, old Spirit Trees, or even medicinal herbs that did not exist on Earth. If Mark had these materials, maybe, he would be able to find alternative materials that could be used to recreate the equipment that Freed invented.


    Actually, Mark did not expect that it would be easy to get this map. However, it seemed that Diwata Danaya and the representatives already realized that the state of the world would never go back to the way it was before. Even if they did not give the locations to Mark, whatever was found there would end up rotting, unused for eternity.


    Furthermore, they already knew about the iing event after Teremillio and Felenia brought back the news. The news about the Second Wave and the fusion of Dimensions. Although believing it or not was another issue, there was nothing wrong with thinking about the worst-case scenario. If that really happened, there was no way that they would be able to go back to those locations at all in the future. The possibility was too slim.


    Besides, giving the locations to Mark was not a bad decision. If he was able to bring things back, there was a chance that they could trade for it if they needed some since Mark was more or less allied with them at this point.


    No, they were definitely allies considering that the Princess of the Stone Fortress was already one of Mark''s people.


    Mark reunited with the group. Unexpectedly it seemed they were given a permanent ce in the Stone Fortress. It was arge hall with different branching rooms. Even the decorations in the room were pleasing to look at. It was simple but luxurious.


    And here, everyone with Mark would start to talk about their future ns.

 Chapter 607 Plans And Countermeasures, The Clues About The Black Duendes And The Demons

    Day ¨ƒ¨ƒ - ¨ƒ¨ƒ:¨ƒ¨ƒ ¨ƒ¨ƒ - Stone Fortress, Eastern Mountain, Spirit Dimension


    "Does anyone have any suggestions?"


    Diwata Danaya asked everyone present in the throne room. However, none of them were able to answer.


    Currently, Diwata Danaya and the representatives of the races in the Stone Fortress were conducting a meeting. They were discussing their future movements to deal with the dire situation that they were in at this moment.


    The heavy rain that Mark called upon was still ongoing. Nevertheless, the forest fire that was ignited by magic would not die out that easily. The moment that the fire was put out, however, the Stone Fortress would beid bare to the eyes of the enemies. Whether it be the infected or the demons, it would be easier for them to attack as they could see the fortress that was embedded on the face of the mountain.


    The Stone Fortress, which became the shelter for the survivors of the apocalypse, would be in grave danger.


    Their primary line of defense that used the forest as the medium was now rendered unusable. Without the trees, the Tikbngs would not be able to use their illusion to stop the intruders from going forward. Now, they could only rely on the walls of the fortress for defense.


    However, that was not the most pressing issue at this moment. There were also other problems. One was about the food source for the fortress. The people here relied upon the graces they could get from the mountain, whether it be fruits or games. With the forest being burnt, they would have no other choice but rely on other sources. Most likely, they would have to go to other mountains to hunt and gather food. Not only would it be dangerous, but they would have to allocate more people to do the task.


    More than everything else, the most pressing issue was about the current enemies that appeared. Of course, it was not about the infected. It was the Demons.


    They suddenly appeared out of nowhere and came attacking. No one here knew what the Demons had in mind for ruining their currently hard but stable lives.


    The only lead that they had so far was the Fifth Prince of the ck Duendes, Tierio, that was caught by Mark and was forcefully brought back for questioning.


    And of course, they would not resort to pacified questioning at this point. Back then, when Tierio came here and acted like an arrogant bastard, they still had no reason to resort to violence. However, now that they lost a lot of people because of the ambush, they would not hesitate to cut off Tierio''s arms if needed.


    Even Diwata Danaya agreed with resorting to violence. Most of the time, she was a peaceful being that disliked it. That was how Diwata''s were created and raised. However, Tierio already crossed her boundaries. If she could, she would snap Tierio''s neck herself to appease the souls of the departed.


    There was no need to say that the reason that the Demons managed to pull such an effective strategy was because of Tierio and his entourage supplying information about the fortress when they escaped.


    Now, they needed to know the reason why the Demons resorted to such means to attack them.


    "Diwata, it seemed like we have no other options but to resort to sending our remaining Dryads to recreate the forest."


    Hieromano, the King of the Stone Fortress, said as they had no other options.


    "It seemed to be the only thing we can do at that part." Diwata Danaya sighed. "Even so, it will take months before we can create a forest to a state where we can use it as a medium for the Tilkbngs'' illusion. Still, it will take months even if I lend my help. It is better that we prepare other means of protection while the forest is not ready yet."


    Everyone agreed with that n. As said, the residents of the Stone Fortress did not have that many options left.


    Still, to be able to recreate a forestrge enough for the Tikabngs to use for their illusion and protect the whole mountain in just several months was a feat itself. Usually, it would take decades to hundreds of years for the same thing to happen naturally.


    The only thing left to discuss, aside from the Demons, was food. For the people of the Spirit Dimension, it was a difficult topic to tackle.


    Compared to the Mortal World, the Spirit Dimension was verycking in terms of technological knowledge. Thus, unlike humans, they could not preserve food for too long.


    Some tribes knew how to preserve food using a primitive way. However, it wasckingpared to the needs of the Stone Fortress. Also, unlike humans, where the whole settlement managed the majority of the food and distributed it to its people, here, food distribution was minor, and everyone had to prepare it on their own. While it was less problem with the ones in higher positions, it risked more danger.


    Moreover, the current food management was only working because they could rely on the Eastern Mountain for almost everything. Now that the forest was burned, they would have no other choice but to travel far to gather food. Searching and hunting individually among the tribes would pose more danger than necessary. Thus, they decided to organize a unified hunting schedule. Those that wanted to find food could go together with everyone.


    This move would have both pros and cons. However, the priority was everyone''s safety at this point, considering that the Demons were also lurking about.


    ***


    While Diwata Danaya and the representatives of the races were discussing their future ns, Mark''s group was the same.


    Well, it should have been that way.


    However, before anyone could speak, Mark gave his orders.


    "Everyone should prepare." Mark then turned to Teremillio. "You will lead the way. We are going to your Kingdom."


    Everyone was speechless.


    "But Boss, hasn''t it fallen from the infected?"


    Edzel asked.


    "Are you sure about that?" Mark asked Edzel before turning to Pearl that was sitting beside him. "How about you Pearl. What do you think?"


    Pearl was surprised to be posed with a sudden question.


    "I-I..."


    Pearl stuttered. She did not know how to reply at all.


    "Take a deep breath. Don''t panic." Mark said jokingly. "Don''t worry. I''m just asking for your opinion. Just straightly say what you have in mind. It''s not like you''re going to get killed if you answer incorrectly."


    Pearl followed Mark and took a deep breath. She also felt Edzel''s hand grasping on hers.


    And there, she answered.


    "I... I think it''s not true. That prince should be lying."


    "And why do you think so?"


    Mark asked once more.


    "Um... It''s because of his actions." Pearl recalled the things she witnessed back then. "If their Kingdom had really fallen, I don''t think that he would be able to act like that. He could still act arrogant, but I don''t think that he would be able to call himself the Fifth Prince conceitedly without backing."


    "Bingo."


    Mark smiled.


    Hearing that, Teremillio and his wives were enlightened.


    Even Teremillio, also a prince of that Kingdom, never called himself a prince needlessly because he already left that ce. He was someone without the backing of that Kingdom.


    Then, what of a person whose Kingdom had fallen? It was even worse. How could they act as an important person when they had nothing else left? The only thing that could resort to that was either the person was nightmarishly dumb arrogant or someone who did not know how to act their role.


    However, Duendes were smart but also simple-minded. Not only the Duendes but many Spirit Races were the same due tock of experience and knowledge. Even the dumbest royal would not dare unt their nonexistent position, especially if they needed help.


    The best example of this was Buhawi and Banaya. They were the King and Queen of the Sylphs, whose Kingdom had fallen. Although they were still called King and Queen by the Sylphs, their position was just representatives of their race now. They did not behave arrogantly, considering that they were only seeking shelter at this point.


    But Tierio, it was the exact opposite. His ims and actions were too contradicting.


    "So, what is your answer?" Mark asked Teremillio. "Do you want to save your mother or not?"


    Teremillio''s eyes lit up. If Tierio was really lying, then it was very likely that his beloved mother was still alive.


    "Of course!"


    Teremillio regained his lively self. His wives were d for hiseback. They were also happy toe along and help.


    But then, Mark dropped a bomb, making them all frozen.


    "By the way, prepare as if we are going to war. You all better think that the Kingdom of ck Duendes is now air of Demons."


    They looked at Mark, asking for an exnation.


    "Why are you all looking at me like that? Remember where Demons came from, right? I don''t think that there is any passage nearby for them to use, so how can they amass an army like that and n an ambush? They likely managed to secure a ce to stay nearby. Considering the clues we had, there is only one ce, right?"


    And of course, with Tierio being the clue, there was only one ce the Demons could gather.


    "Alright, we will prepare."


    Teremillio said with a resolute expression. He did not care about Demons or anything. He just wanted to save his mother at this point.


    "Good expression." Markplimented Teremillio. "I just wish that someone else could show that kind of resoluteness and decide to fix his problems."


    They were confused as to what Mark was talking about. However, they did not notice that Pefile was choking behind either.


    ***


    And there, they started to prepare. Following Mark''s instructions, they would leave the moment the sun rises tomorrow.


    The interrogation of Tierio also resulted in the same conclusion that Mark''s group had. The Kingdom of the ck Duendes had never fallen, and it was only a set up for Tierio and his people to gain clearance to enter the Stone Fortress.


    And Tierio''s goal for entering the Stone Fortress was to gather information. The actual reason he tried to enter the inner walls was for the same reason. However, as he was not given ess to it, he tried to use his position, and it backfired. Yes, he was both dumb and did not know how to act his role.


    Aside from those, there was one thing that was confirmed right out of Tierio''s mouth.


    The ck Duendes formed an alliance with the nearest Demon Kingdom. Everything that unfolded was actually their ns.


    As for their goal, unfortunately, even Tierio had no knowledge of it.


    In fact, Tierio barely knew anything at all and was just following their father''s orders. The only thing he knew was that the Demons appeared proposing an alliance.


    The alliance was subjected to the current crisis, the apocalypse. Sooner orter, the Kingdom of Duendes would fall. Unlike the Stone Fortress that most races had no problem approaching, the ck Duendes were avoided like the gue.


    Unfortunately, just their race alone would have limited ways of protecting their own. They had no choice but to ept the help of Demons. Besides, the disposition of the ck Duendes and these Demons were quite alike, which made the alliance form quickly.


    The actual goals of the Demons were still uncertain. However, there was no doubt that they wanted something in the Stone Fortress.


    Soon, night came.


    Everyone was resting while the lookouts and warriors kept protecting the now vulnerable fortress.


    At this moment, someone appeared in the dungeons of the Stone Fortress. Not long after, another two figures appeared.


    "So, you actually noticed."


    One of the neers said to the first person. He was no other than the King of the Stone Fortress.


    "I don''t think that it''s a surprise anymore."


    The other person said. The person was Diwata Danaya.


    And the first one to appear replied.


    "I just wanted to investigate a bit but it seems like you two noticed me."


    He was no other than Mark.


    While most people were unaware of the Demon''s goals, These three people had some clues.


    And the clue was one thing that this ce had and the others did not.


    It was the legend and the reason why this fortress was built in the first ce.


    ***


    Day ¨ƒ¨ƒ¨ƒ - ¨ƒ¨ƒ:¨ƒ¨ƒ ¨ƒ¨ƒ - Dungeons, Stone Fortress, Spirit Dimension


    ording to the legend that was the origin of this fortress, a Demon d in mes attacked. It forced the ancestors to build this ce to hold out until a Diwata came and banished the Demon.<sub> </sub>


    Although the story was passed down, it was but the skeleton of what actually happened.


    A Demon that strong could not get banished that easily. For a Diwata to be able to do that, an intense battle between good and evil would unfold. Only when the Demon lost its fighting intent or had been injured to be incapable of continuing to fight was when it would retreat or get banished away.


    Besides, there was also the possibility that the story was not true all along. As the legend of the past was being handed to the future, a lot of details would get distorted. Things within the story would change, whether it be unintentional or intentional.


    Did the Diwata really banish the Demon? Or was it killed in the first ce?


    If it was not banished or killed, it could be sealed too. Was it not?


    The possibilities were a lot, considering that there was no one alive to tell that tale anymore.


    Following the clues, Mark found himself at the dungeons, waiting for the other two that was also looking for answers, Hieromano and Diwata Danaya.


    "So, you two knew nothing about this either, right?"


    Mark asked the two as they crossed the long hallway of lined up cages.


    "Yes, unfortunately," Hieromano replied. "I might be the current king, but not everything of the past was handed down for future generations."


    "Why are you two here, then?"


    Mark asked another question.


    "Is it not the same as you?" Diwata Danaya answered. "For generations, Demons did not attack this fortress. There is no reason for them to do so. But now, an attack came out of nowhere, even utilizing the aid of the ck Duendes."


    Hieromano agreed with what the Diwata said. This attack definitely came out of nowhere.


    And now, their clues led them up to this dungeon, like Mark.


    "But why this dungeon?"


    Mark asked.


    Actually, the reason he came to this ce was purely based on his Otaku instincts. It was a trope for something to be sealed within the depths of dungeons in either anime or novels. There was also a dungeon in this fortress. It was very likely that what he was looking for was here.


    Furthermore, when the first time he entered this ce, he already noticed the change of atmosphere on every floor of the dungeon. Although it could be attributed to what kind of creatures were imprisoned on that floor, it was still a bit odd that the pressure and atmosphere could get heavier the lower floor they entered.


    "You are already here. I don''t think that it is bad to hide this from you anymore."


    Hieromano took a deep breath.


    "No one had ever entered the lowest floor of this dungeon. Even I, the current King, never stepped there. Even my ancestors did not pass on any story about entering that ce. That is why if there is something that the Demons wanted in my fortress that I did not know about, it would be there at the lowest depths of this dungeon."


    Mark''s eyes lit up as he heard that. It seemed that he was on point in his deductions.


    There, the three of them, together with several warriors that served as guards, made their way through the dungeon floors to find the answer they were seeking.


    Along the way, Mark even saw the imprisoned Tierio in a small cage. It looked like that he looked fine, but he was drained of his magical energy. There was no way for him to erge himself back to human size or even move. It was the torture that he went through, and getting drained of their magical energy was very painful to Spirits and Elementals. When they passed by, the Fifth Prince was unconscious. It seemed that he really suffered.


    Nevertheless, in the eyes of Hieromano, Tierio''s current state was far from enough for their loss. If possible, they wanted to execute this traitor of the Spirit Races.


    From the first floor to the second, the second to the third, they continued to travel to the lower floors. Along the way, Mark would look around to see what kinds of creatures he would see on the floors that he had not entered before.


    And to say, after the fourth floor, the creatures were already sinister. Fewer cells were upied, but each one that had imprisoned a strong creature. There was a variety of them from Spirits, Elementals, Cryptids, and even Demons. Each of them seemed to have the strength just a bit below than Diwata Danaya. And if it came to a fight, the Diwata thatcked fighting prowess would definitely lose.


    Apparently, these criminals took a lot of sacrifices to subdue. They were those beings that terrorized people in their time.


    Yes, in their time. Some of these creatures were imprisoned here for hundreds of years. Some were even more than several millenniums after this fortress was built.


    Fortunately, after being imprisoned for too long, most of these creatures had already lost their powers and will to fight. However, their sins were too heavy for them to be let go. A lot of them had sentences that spanned their whole lifespan. If they were immortal in terms of aging, they would be imprisoned here for eternity along with those chains that sealed them.


    As Mark and the others passed by, some prisoners would nce at them, but none of them would try to beg for mercy or anything. No one would hear their pleas anyway.


    Though it seemed that being imprisoned on this floor and below was quite rare. Thest one that was sealed here was about two hundred years ago, and it was in the time speed that the Spirit Dimension had. That two hundred year was probably already more than thousands in the Mortal World.


    The scene was the same for the fifth floor, though the atmosphere was heavierpared to the upper floors.


    Arriving on the sixth floor of the dungeons, the creepiness and the pressure in the surroundings took a sudden change.


    "This ce reeked of death."


    Mark could not help but say.


    "It''s no surprise. Look."


    Hieromano said as he pointed at the cells on this floor. It was not like the ones on the upper floors that were separated with metal bars and seals. The prison cells on this floor were mostly sealed with a strong magical barrier.


    And in the prison cell that the King pointed at, a gigantic frog reeking of deadly poison was chained. The visage of the frog was too blurry because of how much poisonous fog was inside the prison cell.


    "This is where what we call [Creatures of Disaster] are being imprisoned," Hieromano exined. "Specifically, it''s those creatures that we can''t kill because of the repercussions. This frog for example. We call it the [Poison gue Frog]. Its body is filled with gaseous poison that will kill anyone that made contact with it. In order to seal it, we had to sacrifice a lot of people. Unfortunately, we can only seal and not kill it. ording to the records passed down to us, killing this frog will release all its poison in the surroundings. I believe you can understand how much damage that could bring to us."


    Mark nodded at the King''s exnation. Creatures like this were better sealed than killed.


    Aside from the [Poison gue Frog], there were also other creatures of the same category. Most of them were poison carriers, though.


    One creature, however, took Mark''s attention.


    "I knew that this will interest you."


    Diwata Danaya stood beside Mark as he stopped in front of the cell.


    Inside the magical barrier, a ck, smoky creature was flying about. It was not only encased by the magical barrier but was also trapped inside a crystal-like coffin.


    "It''s a Formless Demon, isn''t it?"


    Mark asked.


    "That''s right. This one is something I painfully caught myself. I''m just lucky that it''s a newborn, but if it''s left alone, it will be a huge disaster."


    That was right. Remembering how the Deity of Bloodshed ended up, Mark knew how much of a disaster a formless demon could be.


    As someone who could use Miasma, this creature would really interest Mark.


    "I''ll ask about it next time. We have other things to do."


    Mark said as they continued on.


    Unexpectedly from the seventh floor, the dungeon was empty.


    "We don''t really use these parts for imprisoning criminals." The King exined. "I wonder if you can feel it. The strange energy on this floor. All those that we imprisoned here either died after a while or got stronger for no apparent reason. The ones getting stronger were mostly demons, though."


    And that was where it was getting suspicious. Why could Demons get stronger while being kept in these parts of the dungeon?


    They continued on and went further, lower into the dungeons.


    On the eighth floor, however, the guards could not keep up with Mark, Hieromano, and Diwata Danaya. The pressure in these parts was far heavier than the floors above. Only those with enough strength would be able to continue on.


    The guards were reluctant but they had no choice to obey when their King told them to wait.


    Traveling two more empty floors with the pressure getting heavier and heavier, the demonic aura also became thicker and thicker.


    And soon, they stood in front of an ancient door that was locked with strong magic.


    This kind of magic, however, could not be any familiar to anyone.


    "So, this is the ce. It''s simr to your magical energy."


    Mark said, looking at Diwata Danaya.


    "It is very likely that this lock is made by another Diwata. It is far stronger than I have."


    Diwata Danaya replied before looking at Hieromano, who was already struggling.


    "Hieromano, I think that it is better for you to return."


    "I wish I could, Diwata Danaya," Hieromano replied. "But as the King of this ce, I needed to know what was happening here."


    Markmended the King''s persistence. He was a King, who worried for his Kingdom.


    "In any case, the two of you can''t open this door, right?"


    Mark asked with a shrug.


    The two could not reply to that. No one was really able to open this ce since the start.


    "Oh well, I''ll try to open it. But is it fine to destroy this magical lock?"


    Mark said, knocking on the door that actually bounced his fist away. In most circumstances, breaking seals like this was the most dangerous thing to do.


    That question made Diwata Danaya hesitate. Hieromano was the same. The two of them wanted to know what was behind this locked door, but it might also be a threat once it was opened.


    But without a doubt, the demonic aura wasing from behind the door.


    "I wonder if there anyone alive inside," Hieromano said. "If there is, we should drop this idea and return."


    Return after going all this way? Mark could not help but question if there was something wrong with this guy''s head.


    "Well, if you worry about something living inside, there''s none."


    Mark replied.


    Diwata Danaya took a long pause with her eyes closed. It seemed that she was weighing the situation.


    "Please, open it." The Diwata finally decided. "We needed to know the threats we are facing right now, and this might be one of those threats."


    Mark smiled as he took his stance. With his two palms facing the magical lock and the magically sealed door, Miasma surged out of his hands.


    CRASH!!!


    Both Hieromano and Diwata Danaya could not help but retreat as the Miasma, and the door made contact with each other. The two opposing forces caused the whole ce to vibrate.


    However, Miasma was superior. With a loud crash, the seal was destroyed, and the door lost its magic.


    They thought that they could open the door at this moment.


    "Whose impertinence hath broken mine own seal?!"


    An angry ethereal cry of a woman echoed in their minds.

 Chapter 608 Inside The Door In The Depths Of The Dungeon, The Imprint And The Thing Sealed Within

    <strong>Day ¨ƒ¨ƒ - ¨ƒ¨ƒ:¨ƒ¨ƒ PM - 10th Floor, Dungeons, Stone Fortress, Eastern Mountains, Spirit Dimension</strong>


    Mark stared at the door with a frown while both Diwata Danaya and King Hieromano took a step back and a defensive stance. No one had expected this to happen at all. Especially thetter two, they had seen this ce before, and no voice had spoken to them even once.


    Was there someone alive on the other side of the door? Both Diwata Danaya and Hieromano could not help but look at Mark. After all, it was him that said that he could not detect any sign of life on the other side of the door.


    But then, as they looked at Mark, he had an odd expression on his face.


    Of course, Mark would feel odd. He could hear the voice and understand it. However, Mark was aware that it was spoken in anguage that Mark did not know at all. Furthermore, he was not lying when he said that he could not detect anything alive behind the door. The angry voice itself was ethereal, indicating that whatever it was that the voice wasing from was not something living.


    "This feeling..."


    Mark murmured as his eyes lit up. Suddenly some memories from the cultivator elder that he absorbed resurfaced.


    "I see, now."


    He said with a smile. Without hesitation, he pushed therge, heavy door. It was too heavy that he even enhanced his strength, making the veins in his body glow red.


    "INSOLENCE!!!"


    The voice roared in anger. Mark did not only ignored the voice but dared to open the door without care.


    A strong gust of wind blew inside the enclosed hall. The sudden gust made Diwata Danaya and Hieromano shield themselves.


    Mark still ignored it as he forced the door open.


    BAM!


    The doors banged loud as it was fully opened.


    Behind the door was a vast hall filled with dark mist. It was kind of hard to see what was inside without entering. Along with the door''s opening, the thick demonic aura was also released to the surroundings.


    "THOU!!!"


    The voice roared once more, both speechless and furious as to what Mark had done. At the same time, it had a little pint of fear.


    And as Mark pped his hands to for a job done, he finally decided to answer the voice.


    "You don''t have to be furious. An imprint like you can''t do anything aside from threats anyway."


    Both Diwata Danaya and Hieromano were surprised at how Mark was behaving. The two could feel the heavy pressure from that voice alone.


    "..."


    Unexpectedly, the voice went silent in an awkward manner.


    "This can''t beest happening." The voice echoed once more. This time, itcked the ferociousness that it had before. "How didst a demon liketh thee reached this ce."


    And there, with a bright light, a ghostly silhouette of a woman appeared in front of them. She had greenish-ck hair, crystal blue eyes with a face akin to a goddess. Her body was garbed with a white flowery dress and a crown of magical flowers. On her left hand, she held a two-meter tall staff made of winding wood adorned with a baseball-sized green crystal at its tip.


    Seeing that ghostly apparition, Diwata Danaya and Hieromano were shocked to their cores. Without any other words, the two fell to their knees and respectfully bowed to that beautiful figure.


    "Diwata Luwalhati, we had been graced by your presence. Please pardon our impertinence as we were unaware."


    Diwata Danaya voiced out towards the figure in utmost respect.


    Hearing those words, however, the figure showed a sad expression.


    "A young Diwata and a descendant of the brave Duendes. Standeth up. As this Demon hadst hath said, I''m nothing but an imprint unworthy of such worship." The figure then started to walk towards the two. "I''m depressed to sayeth but the real Luwalhati hadst longeth been gone from this world."


    Diwatas might be long-lived, but they would never live forever.


    Still, despite that truth, Diwata Danaya and Hieromano did not dare raise their heads. Without any choice, the ghostly figure approached the two and helped them up, making them unable to resist.


    Mark watched that scene unfold from the sidelines. It was a bit unexpected, though, that the imprint of that being called Diwata Luwalhati could actually interact with the physical world. This just meant that Diwata Luwalhati was a very strong being that was likely at the level of a Deity nearing Godhood. Furthermore, it was more than the usual imprint. It seemed to be sentient on its own.


    Diwata Danaya and Hieromano were now standing. However, both of them did not dare raise their head and look straight at the imprint of Diwata Luwalhati.


    And there, the imprint of the great Diwata from this fortress'' legend posed a question to the two.


    "Please bid me the reason. Why hadst thee hath brought this Demon to this forbidden ce?"


    Along with that question, Diwata Luwalhati red at Mark.


    Her personality seemed to be an amicable person. However, it looked like that she had unusual prejudice towards Demons.


    With Mark being treated as an enemy, Diwata Danaya and Hieromano feltplicated. As such, they had no choice but to exin the current circumstances, not only about the demons but also the apocalypse.


    Learning about the circumstances, the imprint of Diwata Luwalhati was thoroughly troubled. Even so, she still looked at Mark the same way.


    "It hadst been thousands of years. The truth shouldst hadst been buried along with the fabricated lore. Why? Just why wouldst this befall at this time yond the world wast in crisis?"


    The imprint was in a dilemma.<sub> </sub>


    Since Mark was being disregarded at the side, he shrugged his shoulders and turned around. Without saying a word, he entered the chamber, waving through the ck mist and the thick demonic aura.


    "STOP!"


    The imprint noticed Mark, but it was alreadyte. He already saw what was inside.


    At the center of the chamber, a ming red orb was suspended in the air. It was a bitrger than a basketball. The demonic aura that they were feeling was alling from this thing.


    Aside from the ming orb, nine pirs were surrounding it filled with magical runes. It seemed to be the central sealing formation that kept that thing in this ce.


    At this point, the imprint of Diwata Luwalhati appeared in front of Mark, blocking his way.


    "Step back!"


    The re from her eyes was too piercing that it felt quite painful.


    Even so, Mark just shrugged as he turned around and nonchntly walked back to the door. His business here was already done. All he wanted to know was what was the thing being kept here. Now that his curiosity was already filled, it was time for him to leave.


    That gesture from him, however, surprised the imprint. After he saw what that thing sealed in the chamber was, his interest vanished all of a sudden. Was there really no other reason for him toe to this ce but to fill his curiosity?


    But then, Mark stopped in front of Diwata Danaya and Hieromano.


    "I''m not wee here, so I''ll go back. I already saw what''s in there, and it''s enough for me."


    Mark said those words and vanished into a surge of ck mist that flew back to the upper floors of the dungeons. He did not even give the two a chance to reply as he left.


    It was not like the two had any reason to stop him. This situation, after all, was a problem that they needed to find a solution on their own. It was for the sake of everyone here in the stone fortress.


    ***


    Mark arrived back at the entrance of the dungeon. It was quite a pity that he had no chance to hear the true story about the legend. Although he already had a vague idea, hearing it straight from the source was a different kind of experience.


    However, even if he wanted to hear it, Mark doubted that that imprint would speak while he was around. She was extremely prejudiced towards Demons, after all.


    Nevertheless, he was sure about one thing. The part of the legend mentioning the Demon being banished was nothing but a lie. It was dead, and what remained of its body was sealed within the depths of the Stone Fortress.


    It was that ming orb.


    And without a doubt, it was the reason why the Demons suddenly started attacking this ce.


    With those thoughts in mind, Mark started to walk away from the entrance. But then, he shrugged his shoulders as he waved his hand with a chopping movement.


    SNAP!


    The sound of a hand hitting a bone was heard, and a figure that lost bnce appeared beside Mark out of nowhere. It all unfolded in the eyes of the guards hidden outside the dungeon. And of course, despite being trained soldiers, they were surprised by this event.


    Mark then looked at the slim-bodied man that fell beside him. He had two short horns on his forehead, dark skin, and ck hair. It was, without a doubt, a Demon.


    "You guys can hear me, right?" Mark suddenly spoke, facing the guards that were supposed to be hidden. "Imprison this guy and tell your King that some Demons already snuck inside the fortress when hees out."


    After saying that, Mark bent down on the unconscious Demon and took the pair of daggers strapped on his waist before leaving. The Duendes that appeared to apprehend the Demon looked at Mark''s back, both amazed and looking strange.


    After all, not only Mark captured an intruder without effort but also stole the Demon''s weapons without care.


    If the unconscious person was not a Demon and there were no witnesses, it would be hard to pinpoint who was the real criminal here.


    ***


    But then, an uproar within the Stone Fortress started.


    Several Demons were found either unconscious or dead within the premises of the fortress. The guards of the fortress were alerted to this fact. They immediately went to capture the unconscious Demons and cleaned up the remains of the dead ones.


    Even so, the fortress being infiltrated by this number of Demons rmed everyone that came to know about it while yapping rumors about the mysterious person that captured them all. No one knew it, after all, aside from the guards that were present outside the dungeon.


    ***


    Morning soon came with the uproar not calming down. Warriors of the races could be seen running here and there searching for any suspicious individuals. Demons were already captured, and everyone knew that they managed to infiltrate the fortress. Without a doubt, they needed to bolster their security.


    Mark''s group did not care about this, anyway. They were currently busy doing theirst-minute preparations before they left.


    And of course, Mark was visited by Diwata Danaya and the King. They came to personally thank Mark for apprehending the intruders. They had no idea that the Demons had already snuck into the fortress this early. It seems like they started to prepare countermeasures for this.


    Unfortunately, the two did not mention anything about what happened in the depths of the dungeon. It seemed that they were strictly forbidden to say anything about it outside.


    Concerning that, Mark did not ask anything either. He only told that his group would be leaving soon, and their daughter would being with them.


    Of course, Hieromano did not like it. However, there was no point in shackling his daughter either, and could only consent to it with a heavy heart. But of course, they would not let her go without receiving sermons about safety and stuff.


    In the end, Felenia had to meet her parents before departing and returned looking tired. It seemed like the usually good wife also had her bad side towards her strict parents.


    That morning, the people of the Stone Fortress bid farewell as the ck Dragon flew away with Mark''s group on its back.

 Chapter 609 The Journey South, A Dangerous And Fun Sightseeing

    <strong>Day ¨ƒ¨ƒ - ¨ƒ¨ƒ:¨ƒ¨ƒ AM - Eastern Mountain, Spirit Dimension</strong>


    After leaving the Stone Fortress, Char flew down the mountain following Mark''s instructions.


    From the sky, the aftermath of the events yesterday was too clear to see. Starting from the foot and around it, more than half of the mountain was turned into a burnt forest. Even though Mark called upon the rain to extinguish the fire, there was barely anything left. The only things that could be seen in the affected area were the charred trees and the nket of ash on the ground.


    It was quite scary to think that more than half of the ten-kilometer mountain became like that in less than a day.


    Along the way, Mark''s group also saw the team of warriors that were sent to hunt animals in the nearby mountain. It was not hard to spot as it was arge group of individuals with varying appearances. They were carefully marching down through the charred forest, being cautious towards any potential danger.


    Looking at that group, Mark could not help but contemte how different the society of Spirits here in the Philippinespared to modern human society. No, not onlypared to humans, but it was also different from how themunity of the same races was portrayed in other countries.


    "Master is thinking about something deep again."


    Amihan''s voice entered Mark''s ear. And of course, it would. As usual, she was sitting on his shoulder.


    "It''s not really deep, you know that." Mark gently knocked on Amihan''s forehead with this finger. "I''m just thinking how the Spirit Races looked barbaricpared to humans and other countries."


    That was right. Even the conduct of individuals in the higher ss was not refined at all. The Diwatas, the Royals, the Representatives of the Races, and even Bath, all of them behaved the way they wanted, not keeping up any pretenses. Just like how that imprint did not keep up face and tantly showed her hate towards him, who was a Demon.


    Holding unto her forehead with both hands, Amihan was confused.


    "But... isn''t it just the same as humans in Master''s country in the past?"


    "Hmm... Now that you said it..."


    Mark realized the part that passed his mind.


    The societal structure that the Spirit Races had reflected the same of ancient Filipinos. Or at least, how they were portrayed by modern people.


    "That''s true, huh." Mark shrugged. "I totally forgot."


    Well, it was not that Mark forgot. He was suppressing some memories in his mind that had some connection with the Deity of Bloodshed. After all, most of it was unpleasant. However, since it all happened in that same era of Ancient Filipinos, it just got suppressed together.


    While talking about that topic, they reached the foot of the mountain where Mark ordered Char to continue traveling onnd.


    They were traveling towards enemy territory. Even if they wanted to arrive as soon as possible, they could not risk getting found by them too early. Besides, even if it was not the Demons, the infected would definitely see them if they continued to fly along the way.


    Although they could not guarantee that therge-bodied Char would not be seen, the gigantic trees of the Spirit Dimension would hide them while traveling onnd.


    They continued moving south through the forest. And sure enough, it was not a pleasant experience.


    Because they were hiding as much as possible, they had away from trails through the forest. Due to that, the path they were taking was too uneven. Not only trees but overgrown bushes and grass that was taller than a human blocked most of the way.


    It was more or less a fantasy world, after all. Even in the Mortal World, ces untouched by human civilization also looked the same.


    Well, in the least, Earth did not have mushrooms as tall as trees and trees that moved every time a living creature passed by.


    "Papa, look!"


    Miracle called out, pointing at a huge tree that was riddled with small glittering stones. It looked beautiful, and that was why the little girl looked amazed.


    "Just look and never approach one, alright?"


    Mark said, patting Miracle''s head.


    "Why?"


    "That''s a monster. It might eat you alive."


    Mark replied with exaggerated gestures.


    "Ooohh."


    Miracle''s amazed reply made Mark sigh.


    "Don''t even bother doing that. Your children are abnormal."


    Pefile remarked from the back. Everyone knew that Mark was trying to scare Miracle on purpose, but it would not work. Although the little girls were obedient children, these kinds of things would not affect them.


    "The children are the same as their parents. That''s what people say."


    Amihan added, and none of them could refute it.


    Looking at the girls and Mark, no one would be able to refute it. Mei was the same too. Although she was still afraid of contact with the opposite gender aside from Mark.


    Traveling with a family of fearless Demons was a different experience itself for everyone. It was also the reason everyone here was able to sit down on Char''s back with ease.


    The journey south became more or less sightseeing. In fact, it was the first time for the humans in Mark''s group to actually enter a forest here in the Spirit Dimension.


    During the first time that they entered this dimension, what they traveled through was a dead forest that barely had anything. The forest around the Eastern Moutain could not even be counted as they only passed through the trail that people mostly used.


    And now, they were able to see sceneries that they had never seen in reality.


    Of course, it was not all fun and games.


    SLASH!


    Green blood sttered on the ground as Mei shed the monster in front of her. With a wave of her gun sword, she rushed towards another enemy.


    On the other hand, the little girls also had their share of blood rush.


    BAM!


    Miracle''s opponent flew towards the trunk of arge tree with the echo of its cracked carapace.


    To the side, Abbygale could be seen jumping on her invisible barriers as she dealt with three enemies at the same time.


    Monitoring the safety of the two was I. She was keeping watch on her little sisters to make sure that they would not be harmed.


    The rest of the group also had their opponents. Although they could not contend with Mei or the little girls, they were able to take down enemies as a group.


    Andstly, Mark, who wasmitting ughter on the nest of the enemies, leaving carcasses at every step.


    What were their enemies?


    It was gigantic crab spiders. The smallest was about the size of a dog, while thergest that Mark was currently facing was asrge as a two-story house.


    "Tsk. There''s too many of these pests."


    Mark grumbled in annoyance. How many had they killed already?


    Around Mark, there were already about a hundred decapitates bodies of spiders. However, there was still a lot of them appearing to surround him.


    Mark''s group did not intend to fight these enemies. However, after they killed the one that tried to ambush them, more and more appeared. It seemed that these giant spiders had some mechanics on searching someone that killed their kind.


    It would be troublesome if these insects tried to chase after them while they continued their journey and decided to end this predicament at once.


    BAM!


    A loud sound echoed as the Spider Queen''s foot hit the ground where Mark stood just now.<sub> </sub>


    Mark red at the spiders as he avoided the attacks that rained on him.


    "IGNIS!"


    Mark shouted as Ignis flew towards the face of the Spider Queen.


    SPLAT!


    "ROOOARR!!!"


    The giant spider roared in pain as one of its eyes were pierced and burned by Ignis.


    At the same time, Mark called out a crystal. And with a wave of his hand, des of wind scattered throughout the surroundings. The attack only did not fell the spiders but also some smaller trees.


    The Spider Queen was still alive, though.


    "That big one had a very tough skin, doesn''t she?" Markined. "Well then, let''s see about this!"


    Mark opened his wings as Ignis flew back to his hand. Without hesitation, he drove Ignis into another eye, and there...


    CRACKLE!!!


    ck lightning seeped into the body of the Queen Spider in a torrential flow. No matter how big it was, once its brain was fried, it would fall.


    And as expected, the Queen Spider''s stance crumbled as itsrge armored body fell to the ground.


    At this moment, the remaining spiders froze. It did not take long, and all of them ran towards different directions like panicking people.


    With the battle ending, everyone gathered inside the nest littered with dead bodies.


    "Everyone alright?"


    Mark asked, and fortunately, aside from being sttered with green blood, no one was injured.


    "Seriously, you''re a family of monsters."


    Pefile remarked once more. Their group could barely handle several spiders at a time, but Mark''s family was already on a rampage.


    "Aren''t you d, though?"


    Mark retorted, making Pefile speechless.


    It was not wrong, though. These spiders were already more than enough to ughter a whole tribe of experienced fighters. If Mark and his family were not here, the oue would be different.


    "Hmmm? Isn''t this..."


    Suddenly, Teremillio''s surprised voice was heard.


    "Is something wrong?"


    Felenia asked.


    "When we got attacked earlier, I thought that the spiders looked familiar. Now I remember."


    Teremillio''s words took everyone''s attention.


    "If I remember correctly, these spiders live in a cave near our kingdom back when I was still there. It''s strange that we found a nest on the way. We are still far away."


    His words made everyone feel strange.


    "In any case, we should leave this ce already. The ruckus we made might get the attention of anyone around here."


    Mark suggested. It was the best move to avoid moreplications.


    And there, the bloody scene was left without any witness to tell what happened.


    Unknown to Mark''s group, several hours after they left...


    ***


    Two figures appeared in the nest of the spiders. When the two appeared, the creatures that were currently feeding on the carcasses fled the scene in fear.


    "Dua, what in the world happened here?"


    One of the figures eximed, looking at the bloodbath in front of him.


    "Why are you asking me? I only urged you to rush here because my connection with my tamed pet got disconnected. To think that she died."


    The second figure, Dua, replied with a heavy voice. He then approached the dead Spider Queen, caressing its head gently.


    "If I knew that this would happen, I would not have followed that Dregor''s orders. I will ask that bastard for an exnation for this."


    "Dua, you should calm down."


    "Then tell me, what should I do, Vol''ur. My pet died. You''re telling me that I should let this slide? Remember how hard it was to tame her?"


    "I''m not telling you to let it slide. But first, we should report this situation. You know how tough your pet is. Not just anybody could kill it."


    After hearing Vol''ur''s voice, Dua snorted.


    Finishing that exchange, the two figures flew away.


    ***


    Mark''s group arrived at the foot of the next mountain. It was about nine kilometers away from the Stone Fortress.


    "We are already near. Its just on the other side of this mountain, but it''s better if we camp out for the night."


    Termillio said while he showed the way to everyone. His suggestion was epted without question. Even if he did not say it, Mark would say the same.


    Without knowing the current situation of the Kingdom of ck Duendes, it was not possible to just barge in blindly.


    "Is there any ce we can camp out?"


    Mark asked Teremillio.


    The Duende thought for a bit before nodding.


    "To the west of here. There should be a cave. It should be safe there since no onees to that ce at all."


    And there, they traveled west. Now, it was no wonder that no one wasing here. The ce was actually littered with poisonous nts.


    It was good that Chalfar was armored and did not bother to charge onto the poisonous vines.


    Soon, they arrived at the cave that Teremillio was talking about. Everyone prepared to camp out, except Mark.


    "The night will be long, I guess."


    He murmured while watching the dusk loom over the sky.

 Chapter 610 Entry Into The Base Of The Enemies, Discovering A Stomach Churning Scene

    <strong>Day ¨ƒ¨ƒ¨ƒ - ¨ƒ¨ƒ:¨ƒ1 PM - ck Duende Territory, Spirit Dimension</strong>


    The sun had set about two hours ago. And now the surroundings were very dark for most people to be able to traverse the forest-covered mountains.


    For Demons and creatures of the dark, however, it was the best time to roam around freely.


    And Mark was not an exception to this.


    Mark patrolled around the cave and securing that there was not a single threat nearby. He then returned to tell everyone about his ns while he grabbed a bite of dinner.


    "I''m going to scout the situation. Teremillio, you''reing with me this time."


    Mark said, slurping some cup noodles.


    "Okay."


    Teremillio agreed without hesitation. His wives were worried, but at least they understood the reason as to why Mark needed him.


    Their target was Teremillio''s homnd. No one in this group other than him was familiar with its structure. Of course, for the long time that he left that ce, some things were bound to change. At least, he would know which areas they needed to check.


    After eating dinner, Mark made another round of patrol before bringing Teremillio away.


    Everyone that was left was worried about the two. It was not surprising since Mark and Teremillio would infiltrate the enemy base.


    In any case, this was not the actual rescue mission. The goal of the infiltration was to scout the situation first. Of course, if it was possible to snatch away Teremillio''s mother in one go, why not?


    Still, Mark told Mei to pay attention to her ring. He would contact her if things went awry.


    "Okay, you ready?"


    Mark asked Teremillio, who was now sitting on his shoulder.


    "Why do you have to ask, of course! Not!"


    Teremillio grumbled. Who would be ready in this situation? Several decades had already passed since he left his homnd. No one would be ready to return by being forced because of the current circumstances. He just had no choice. To secure the safety of her mother in the now crumbling world, he needed to return and take her away.


    Among his family members, his mother was the only one that treated him as a family. The others more or less bullied him for being a halfbreed, although it was their father who was at fault.


    Mark did not say anything else as he opened his wings and soared towards the night sky. Teremillio''s insecurities were suddenly blown away as he held onto Mark''s clothes tightly.


    "Hey! I almost fell! I''m not like Amihan who can fly!"


    "Then, hold on tighter. It''s not my problem if you fall for being careless. Also, close your mouth if you don''t want to bite your tongue."


    Teremillio wanted toin some more, but as Mark elerated further, he almost bit his tongue.


    After leaving the area that was filled with poisonous nts, Mark and Teremillio entered the airspace above the mountain.


    "Should Ind?"


    Mark asked. Even though it was already night time, Mark was not confident that no one would see them in the sky.


    "Fly until midway the mountain. Our kingdom usually had detection magic deployed around our kingdom. It''s more clustered at the foot of the mountain. This way, our kingdom can monitor who and how many people entered and exit the mountains. The ck Duendes have a lot of enemies. They are always cautious."


    Mark followed Teremillio''s instructions. He even flew as high as he could so that he would be hard to see from below.


    It did not take long, and theynded where Teremillio said they should.


    So far, there were no problems.


    From there, they continued on foot. Unexpectedly, there were people roaming the mountain. And all of them were...


    "Demons huh."


    Mark murmured as patrols entered his range of detection.


    They had to carefully thread up the mountain, and avoiding the patrols was not that easy. If not for Mark being able to detect them, they might have been caught already.


    With all the trouble they had been through, they finally reached the other side of the mountain where they would be able to see the Kingdom of ck Duendes.


    And there it was, situated in the middle of a valley encircled by several mountains.


    "Is this how should it look like?"


    Mark asked Teremillio, but no reply came from the Duende. It seemed that Teremillio did not expect this either.


    The Kingdom of ck Duendes measured about the size of arge town, or maybe, a small city. As the Stone Fortress was alsorge itself, the size was not the issue. The problem was the appearance. A description that would perfectly fit its appearance was a Demon City in fantasy novels. It was medieval-like with a gothic twist.


    The whole ce was surrounded by tall walls, and at the center of the town was a huge tree wrapped around a castle made of stone. It was quite a sight.


    However, looking at Teremillio''s expression, it was not like this when he left this ce in the past.


    Then, it just meant that the whole structure of the town was influenced by the Demons, not only during the apocalypse. To fully develop arge town into something else was not easy. It should have taken several years.


    It meant that even before the apocalypse, there was already cooperation between the ck Duendes and the Demons.


    And it was not a good piece of news.


    "Now, what are we going to do next?"


    Mark murmured, observing the town inside the valley.


    "Huuu, haaa..." Teremillio took a deep breath. "Let me."


    At Teremillio''s words, he started chanting anguage unrecognizable to Mark. An then, he snapped his fingers.


    But...


    "Nothing happened?"


    Mark said, looking around and at himself. All he noticed was Teremillio''s magical energy enveloping their bodies.


    "I cast it on us. You won''t see anything." Teremillio replied. He seemed to want to look smug but he had not recovered from the shock yet. "It''s magic to change our appearance to the eyes of others who see us. It will be easier for us to enter like this and we can''t really show our faces either."


    "So, you have something like this all along."


    Mark said, still trying to see if he could spot any change at all.


    "I''m still a ck Duende, alright? We are masters of trickery and illusions."<sub> </sub>


    "No, what I mean is you that you have something like this but never used it before."


    Those words made Teremillio re at Mark.


    "It''s a kind of magic with a lot of limitations, you know that? I can''t just cast it whenever I wanted." The Duende grumbled. "Also you need to release more of your demonic presence. I made you appear like a traveling Demon. As for me, I look like a bird on your shoulder so I won''t talk too much."


    "Will this be enough? We didn''t pass through the foot of the mountain, remember?"


    Mark reminded Teremillio.


    "I''m not sure but it should be fine as long as we don''t encounter warriors or those that are monitoring the detection magic."


    "Okay then, that''s what you said. If this fails, it''s all on you."


    "Hey!"


    The two bantered as they stealthily approached the vicinity of the town.


    As expected, it was hard to infiltrate the ce without getting noticed. Not only the warriors of the ck Duendes were atop the walls, but there were also some lower Demons roaming outside. Even using his [Shadow Mist Movement] would not guarantee a safe infiltration at this point.


    Carefully, Mark and Teremillio circled around the town, trying to find an easier way in. Actually, Mark was already tempted to use the [Photokinesis Mental Crystal]. However, it was likely to cause more harm since the enemies were not humans but Duendes and Demons.


    They had no choice but to be patient, unfortunately.


    Finally, after an entire two hours of lurking and sneaking, they managed to find a lightly guarded area all the way on the south side of the Kingdom ofck Duendes.


    It was entirely the opposite direction of where Mark''s group came from.


    Nevertheless...


    "It''s strange. Why are there fewer guards here than other areas?"


    Mark whispered.


    "Maybe, this area is not important at all?"


    What Teremillio said was the same as what Mark had in mind. However, if they were protecting this ce, it was quite odd that they would not designate the same number of people to guard this area.


    Nevertheless, it was a good opportunity for Mark and Teremillio to sneak inside.


    They monitored the movements of the guard for a bit from afar. After finding the right timing, they decided to scale the walls and move in.


    But then...


    "Ugh!"


    Mark fell on his knees. They were not even close enough to the wall for the guards to spot them.


    "Hey! What''s wrong?!"


    Teremillio panicked as he looked at Mark.


    Mark was holding his head in pain. His face even looked pale despite the darkness.


    Sadness, loneliness, fear, anger, pain, despair... All of these emotions in condensed form came entering Mark''s mind like a tsunami. The feeling was even worse than the time that Elise''s mind had gone chaotic.


    "Hey!"


    Teremillio called out once more as Mark was not responding to him.


    "Don''t shout, you idiot!" Mark growled at Teremillio. "Just shut up and wait until I get used to this."


    Mark then dragged his body somewhere else that was hidden from the guards on top of the walls. Even so, he did not retreat back as he tried to get ustomed to these condensed negative emotions.


    Now, Mark understood why there were fewer guards in this area.


    This ce was not that important nor the things that were inside. After all, it seemed that this ce was where...


    The human ves were being kept in custody.


    Mark would never mistake it. That flood of emotions that entered his mind just now was definitely emotional fluctuations that came from humans.


    And there was not only a few. There must be a few hundred people being held in this ce.


    Just how much suffering had they experienced to have negative emotions that were enough to make Mark fall on his knees?


    It was no wonder that there were a few guards here. These few guards were enough to handle the human ves and if the infected attacked in this area, they could use the ves as a meatshield.


    "Let''s go."


    Mark said after ten minutes of adjusting himself to the suffocating emotional pressure. If he was any weaker of an Empathpared to now and if he did not have this unique trait as a mutator, that flood of emotional energy could have driven him insane already.


    As the gap between the patrolling guards widened, Mark turned into a surge of ck mist with Teremillio and they swooped up the walls and into the town.


    And here, the awful scene was all spread out for Mark''s and Teremillio''s eyes to see.


    Sure enough, this was the area where human ves were being kept.


    However, were they inside houses? Or at least, cages?


    No.


    The humans were being kept in arge cramped pigpen reeking of both pee and feces. There was not even enough space to lie down to sleep and if there was, what they would end up lying down on was their own secretions.


    It was an awful situation that could make anyone puke at a slight nce.


    As Mark stared at this scene, the despair that was entering his head became clear and understandable.


    Mark''s eyes were on the verge of glowing red. He wanted to kill. Tear everything to pieces. It was not because of the scene before him but the negative emotions that continued to flood his mind started to affect him.


    The only thing he could do was to clench his chest.


    "Teremillio, let''s get out of this ce, quick."


    Mark said as he took his attention away from the pigpen. He was not here for these people. However, if a chance came, he might free them from their suffering...


    In the least painful way.

 Chapter 611 In The Throne Room, The King Of The Black Duendes And The Ninth Queens

    <strong>Day ¨ƒ¨ƒ - ¨ƒ¨ƒ:22 PM - Spire Tree Castle, Kingdom of ck Duendes, Spirit Dimension</strong>


    A castle made of gray-colored stone, decorated with arge tree with its trunk and roots circling the structure, it was the abode of this Kingdom''s Royal Family.


    Thisndmark was one of the few ces that were not changed after the Demons influenced the development of this Kingdom. It was not just some regr castle.


    It was a castle that was built, specifically, following the tastes of the current King of the ck Duendes.


    Simr to the Stone Fortress of the Brown Duendes, this castle was also built withrge-sized. Even a four-meter tall giant would be able tofortably walk through its hallways.


    However, the two ces had different reasons. The Stone Fortress was built like that to amodate guests. On the other hand, the Spire Tree Castle was like this because of the King''s lust.


    He was a person driven by an interest in beauty. And thus, he made a harem filled with beautiful women. Their race did not matter as long as the King had an interest in a woman. The King had great control of his abilities, being able to change his size. No matter what race the woman was, he could make them give birth to an offspring.


    Fortunately, this King was very picky with women. So far, there were only nine women in his harem, and all of them were top-ss beauties.


    The unfortunate thing, however, was that not all of those women wanted to be here in the first ce.


    Some of them were abducted, while some were ckmailed. Among the nine, only two were the ones who really loved the King, and one became his for benefits. As for the others, they were only following the King''s bidding to continue living. Fear for their lives.


    It was because there were already instances that the King did not hesitate to kill a woman that defied his orders. And that did not only happen once but several times already.


    And from those women that became his queens, fifteen children were born, ten princes and five princesses.


    Of course, due to being born from different mothers, siblings from the same mother looked uniquepared to others.


    And without a shred of doubt, this family was a troublesome one.


    For the cause of it all, the King named Luserio, it was all just fun and games.


    And as such, he was dubbed as the yful Tyrant by his subjects.


    Currently, the yful Tyrant, Luserio, was in the throne room with one of his Queens. The Ninth Queen. Among the Queens, she was thetest. And without a doubt, the bridge between the cooperation of the ck Duendes and the Demons.


    After all, this woman was a Subus.


    The Subus. These female Demons were alluring creatures. Most men would not be able to resist the temptation of embracing one even if the Subus looked like a child.


    Even so, Luserio was strong enough to resist the temptation. In fact, the Subus Race did enter his eyes in the past. What he was looking for was beauty among the race. Since all Subus was beautiful, it did not interest him at all. Until he met this woman.


    Il''ve, she was a Subus among the Subus. In fact, she was among the princesses of one of their Demonmunities.


    In exchange for cooperation between the two races, Il''ve became Luserio''s ninth Queen. And also the most important one.


    The King sat on the throne while the Ninth Queen stood beside him. Luserio and Il''ve received the reports of the Demons under theirmand.


    "Dua''s Armor Queen Spider is killed, you say?" Il''ve asked the Demon in front of her. "Dregor, it was your order to send it out at the border, am I right? What happened?"


    Dregor, he was one of the Demon Generals currently inmand here. He was a Demon with a lizard-like appearance. He had green scales and light yellow skin. Although his face looked human, the irises of his eyes were slits, and his tongue was forked and long.


    "My apologies, but we are still investigating. Almost the entire nest had been killed, with all the survivors escaping. So far, what we found out is that the culprits were a group of individualsposed of at least eight people. Three of them seemed to be small-sized, while they also have arge creature with them being used as their mount. We tried to follow the tracks left by it, but it seemed to be capable of flight."


    "Arge creature capable of flight. And yet, none of you managed to see it. What use are your soldiers? First, the ambush had failed to kill all of those warriors due to interference. Then the Fifth Prince was captured. Ane then returned to report she was spotted. That is why we tried to recall the spies we sent there. But before that happened, we suddenly lost contact with our spies. We found out that they were all killed! And now, this?"


    Il''veined while rubbing her forehead.


    "Any more of this, and I will not have any face to show our lord!"


    "You should calm down, my dear Il''ve. Wrinkles are not good for your face."


    King Luserio appeased his Ninth Queen. He pulled her to his body and made her sit on hisp. He then gently caressed her head. Il''ve did not resist and seemed to be enjoying this show of affection.


    On the other hand, the other people in the room seemed to be disgruntled about his. However, it was not a new sight for them, and they could only ignore it.


    Besides, even them, the Demons, it was not a good idea to get on the King''s bad side. Their rtionship with this Kingdom was an alliance. Why? Because the yful Tyrant was also a powerful being. If not for his existence, taking over this pitiful Kingdom would not even pose a challenge.


    If one was to think, how could this King get away with his crimes? He abducted women and threatened enemies. And yet, he was still living. No one wanted to cross King Luserio face to face.


    Those that did had already fallen to ruin just by his prowess alone.


    Of course, it was not because of war orbat. King Luserio did not have that physical ability. Instead, he would use his magical prowess to put a peaceful tribe into a nightmare of illusions, killing each other until none was left.


    King Luserio might be a lustful King, but he had the power to back it up.


    Even a lot of Demons that knew his power feared him.


    While Il''ve was enjoying his disy of affection, King Luserio turned to Dregor.


    "Any information about my unfilial son?"


    Unfilial son. The Thirteenth Prince, who left the Kingdom several decades ago, Teremillio.


    Before the ambush on the warriors of the Stone Fortressmenced, Tierio sent a message that they found Teremillio in that ce.


    "I''m very sorry, but nothing so far. All the spies had been killed in the previous night, and the new ones we sent had not sent any finds yet. Please wait until midnight as it was when we recieve their intelligence on schedule. Unless it was an emergency."


    "Is that so, then be sure to give me the information I neededter."


    The Kingmanded, and Dregor vowed in response.


    "Yes, your Majesty."


    Then, Il''ve turned to Dregor.


    "Prioritize the information about that Thirteenth Prince, but the most urgent is to monitor that Demon that disrupted our ns. I have a hunch that all of this that was happening had a connection with him."<sub> </sub>


    "Yes, Queen Il''ve."


    "Then, dismiss. I still have to y with my dear, here."


    King Luserio shooed the others away as he pulled Il''ve to her chamber. The nights were always long for this King.


    As the two left the throne room through the back door, they passed by someone.


    "My Dear Lumeria, what are you doing here?"


    King Luserio asked.


    "I''m just taking a walk, your Majesty."


    Lumeria respectfully replied.


    "Is that so? Then don''t take too long. Staying upte will be bad for your beauty."


    And with that, Luserio and I''lve, who did not even greet Lumeria, left.


    They did not notice how Lumeria was gripping her fist hard.


    "Teremillio, why did you return?"


    She whispered in a voice that only she could hear.


    She was the former princess of one of the Kingdoms of the White Duendes, Lumeria. Now, the Seventh Queen of this Kingdom and the mother of the Thirteenth Prince, Teremillio.


    Teremillio left this ce because of various reasons, and she helped him attain his freedom. After years and years that there was no news from him, although she was worried, it was better than being in this ce.


    But now, news about her beloved son suddenly surfaced. She could not help now but worry about his safety.


    Unfortunately or fortunately, the Thirteenth Prince in question was currently roaming their Kingdom in incognito.


    ***


    "Is this really safe?"


    Teremillio asked Mark while hiding in his pocket.


    After stealthily leaving the area where the pitiful human ves were being kept, Mark observed the surroundings and noticed something.


    Demons, like the Spirit Races, came in various forms and appearances. There were some that looked like mutated humans with different colored skin, there were also those that appeared to look exactly like humans but with horns and bat wings. Moreover, there were even some that looked like humanoid animals, and even some that did not have a humanoid body at all.


    Along the streets, Mark even saw a Demon that looked nothing else but a talking ball of mes.


    And thus, Mark had an idea.


    Mark created a pocket on his armor and made Teremillio hide inside it. And then, they dispelled the illusion that disguised them.


    Instead, Mark adorned his cloak that was made with Miasma and reced his mask with a more sinister one.


    Now, he looked like a formless Demon taking on a humanoid form.


    With that appearance, Mark and Teremillio openly entered the streets.


    And to Teremillio''s question...


    "Looks like its fine."


    Mark replied.


    The streets had many individuals roaming around. Whether it be Demons the citizens of the Kingdom, nighttime did not affect their activities too much.


    Mark''s current appearance would take some attention from people, but none of them even had the slightest urge to approach him. Miasma Demons were the worst creatures to deal with, and no one wanted to get in their way if possible.


    Along with the "get away from me" aura that Mark was exuding, no one bothered him as they strolled across the town.


    Even so, Mark was already frowning behind his mask. Structural-wise, this ce was beautifully made. A town with a gothic-medieval look was definitely interesting to see.


    However, the problemy with the inhabitants.


    A lot of Demons had human ves with them. And to say, all of the ves were in the same state as the first ones they saw after entering this ce. Some were using their ves as baggage carriers while others as pets.


    Seeing a good looking human woman naked and being made to lick a Demon''s dirty shoe while on all fours was a really ufortable scene to see. The woman was even delighted to do this. This woman''s mind was already broken to an irrecoverable degree.


    If this ce was already like this, then without a doubt, the Demon Realm was a representation of hell itself.


    "Are you alright, Boss?"


    Teremillio asked as he noticed that Mark was stealthily ncing at human ves that they passed by.


    "I''m fine. Just point the way where your mother should possibly be."


    "Alright. My mother''s chambers are on the east side of the castle. Unless they changed it, it should be there."


    Mark then followed Teremillio''s directions.


    But of course, saying that he was fine was a lie. He was not really affected by the pitiful fates of these humans, but their negative emotions were flooding into his head constantly. His head was throbbing from time to time.


    All he wanted now was to finish their goal here as soon as possible.

 Chapter 612 Lumeria, The Silent Reunion Of The Mother And Son

    Day ¨ƒ¨ƒ¨ƒ - ¨ƒ¨ƒ:52 PM - Central Area, Kingdom of ck Duendes, Spirit Dimension


    "Looks like it won''t be that easy, huh."


    Mark whispered as they reached the walls that separated the outer and central area of the town.


    Like most medieval-themed cities, it seemed the current Kingdom of ck Duendes also practiced the separation of people by caste. The lower ss lived in the outer areas while the upper ss lived at the center.


    "It was already like this in the past. The higher ranks are separated from themon popce. But at least the security is not this tight."


    Teremillio replied, looking at the guards at the entrance and the ones patrolling outside the central area.


    The central area was heavily guarded. And Mark''s goal, the Spire Tree Castle, was at its center.


    "We have no choice. Hold on tight."


    Mark said as he made his way to an empty alley. And there, he and Teremillio vanished, turning into a surge of ck mist that was moving across the ground. Compared to the outer walls, there were a lot of blind spots on the inner walls due to the different structures built around it. This time, even if more guards were roaming the ce, Mark would have enough leeway to sneak through.


    And as such, he seeded.


    Mark''s [Shadow Mist Movement] being able to slip through tight spaces became handy. Even if there were some Demons around with enhanced eyesight or those that were sensitive to psychic fluctuations, it would be hard to spot Mark through those tight spaces.


    Unfortunately, Mark could not stop and had to use [Shadow Mist Movement] repeatedly. There was no way that he would be able to travel the streets in the central area freely. Someone would definitely approach him to ascertain his identity.


    Thus, from alley to alley, from a roof to another, from wall to wall, Mark traveled repeatedly. He appeared and disappeared without even a second interval. Using this [Empathic Detection], he avoided any possible encounter on the way prematurely.


    Of course, it took quite a toll on Mark, considering that it had not been long since he absorbed the [Lightning Mental Crystal], and he was being affected by the emotions of the suffering ves.


    Fortunately, they reached the castle grounds without problems and managed to sneak into an area devoid of people. That gave Mark a short moment to rest as he leaned his back on a wall.


    "You really don''t look good."


    Teremillio said, sensing Mark''s condition.


    "I''m fine," Mark replied as he looked at the structure in front of him. "Still, this castle is bigger scaled than expected, huh?"


    "And that this tree..." Mark tapped on a nearby root that was protruding on the castle wall. "It thought it should be at least a regr spirit tree, but it''s not."


    "No, it''s not. It''s a magic tree. Magic trees have different kinds and use, but this one is nted by Father to concentrate magical energy in the surroundings around the castle."


    Teremillio exined.


    "I see. No wonder the magical energy here is thicker than before. Well then, where are we going next?"


    "Hmm... It should be..."


    Teremillio looked around, digging up his memories in the past.


    But then...


    "Nevermind, found her."


    Mark said as he opened his wings, and soaring up before he and Teremillio turned into mist once more.


    ***


    In one of the bedrooms at the northeast chambers of the castle, Lumeria stood in front of the window. The window overlooked the Kingdom, but it was not what she was staring at. Her eyes stared nkly at the mountains the surrounded the valley, thinking about her son that she had not met for a long time.


    "Hah..." Lumeria sighed. "I wonder how he is doing now."


    This was one of the things she frequently did in the past since her son left this ursed ce. This time, however, the feeling was several times multiplied after hearing about her son from the mouths of the Demons.


    Lumeria''s eyes were nkly staring outside until she noticed some movements in the corner of her eyes. She could not help but step back as she saw a surge of ck mist flying towards her window.


    Thinking that it was an attack and the window would be definitely broken through, Lumeria put her hands in front of her, murmuring a few enigmatic words.


    And then, a ss-like chime echoed as a barrier of light formed in front of her. It was to protect herself from the mist and the shards of ss that might st off from the sealed window.


    But then, to her shock, the mist did not hit the window but seeped into the tiny space that separated it from the wall.


    Because of her shock and fear, she almost screamed for help.


    However, the mist flew faster towards her, tearing her barrier apart to her utter disbelief. Before she knew it, a hand had already blocked her mouth, stopping her from calling for help.


    "Don''t make any loud noise. We''re not here to harm you."


    The owner of the hand that covered her mouth said.


    And, of course, Lumeria did not believe the voice. Those words were what every intruder would say before they do something with ill intentions.


    But then, she froze. Lumeria heard another but a smaller voice behind her that sounded very angry. It was apanied by several sounds hitting metal with a fist.


    "OI! YOU BASTARD! GET YOUR HANDS OFF MY MOTHER!"


    That voice was awfully familiar to Lumeria.


    And then...


    "Ouch! Why did you flick me?!"


    The familiar voiceined.


    "Shout louder that the whole castle can hear you. Let''s see what you will do."


    The first voice said, making the familiar voice lower.


    "Still, let go of my mother!"


    Lumeria''s heart was pumping loudly at this moment. The familiar voice had called her mother twice already. She would be an idiot if she did not understand what it implied. However, she was also a bit doubtful. It was because there was an aura of a Demon behind her. This might be a ploy of the Demons to fool her.


    Then, the voice of the man blocking her mouth spoke to her once more.<sub> </sub>


    "I''m going to release you. Don''t make any loud sounds."


    It was not a question but amand. The man holding her did not even wait for confirmation and released her.


    Being released, Lumeria immediately took several steps away from the intruders and leaned her back to the window. If it was a ploy aimed at her, she would jump out without hesitation.


    But then, what she saw after turning around was a man that looked human, except for his sinister-looking armor. On the chest of his armor, there was an out of ce metal pocket could be seen with someone small poking his head outside.


    Seeing that small person, however, she could not believe her eyes.


    "My son... My son. Is that you?"


    Lumeria could not help but step forward with her hands in front of her. However, she stopped as the intruders might just be trying to fool her. ck Duendes were masters of trickery and illusion, after all.


    "Mother..."


    The man inside the metal pocket voiced out as he jumped out. His visage then blurred mid his fall before he turned into a human-sized person.


    Seeing that appearance, Lumeria did not know what to do or what to believe. This man in front of her seemed older, but he definitely looked like her son, Teremillio.


    And then, with one knee on the floor, the man in front of her kneeled towards her.


    "Mother, I came back."


    Seeing this, Lumeria was already on the verge of tears.


    They were the son and daughters of an arrogant King. The Princes and Princesses of this Kingdom were not allowed to vow to anyone. That was one of the reasons the older Princes bullied their younger siblings and humiliated them in this way.


    Teremillio, however, was different. He was humbly raised by Lumeria''s influence, making him better than most of his siblings in terms of conduct. And because of that, while Teremillio would not kneel to anyone, he would do it to only one person. And that was his mother.


    Of course, it was a total secret that no one should know.


    "My son... is this really you?"


    Lumeria was stuttering. Her beautiful face was filled with disbelief and longing.


    Slowly, she lowered her body and touched the face of the man kneeling before her, raising his chin to take a better look. The man did not resist and hardened his expression. His eyes were already moist, though.


    Feeling his face and seeing it up close, Lumeria affirmed that it was not an illusion. With shaking hands, she slowly grabbed Teremillio''s shoulders and pulled him to her embrace.


    No words followed as Lumeria''s tears flowed out of her eyes. Teremillio did not say anything either while he felt the warm embrace of his beloved mother.


    While the two were having their dramatic reunion, Mark made his way towards the door. He was monitoring the surroundings, making sure that no one would barge in.


    Mark then continued to watch the silent reunion of the mother and son that had not met each other for several decades. Moreover, for Teremillio that was living in the Mortal World, it might even be more than a hundred years already.


    No words were exchanged by the two as they embraced each other.


    They longed to see each other too much that no words could represent their emotions.


    A silent reunion seemed dull. However, at times, it was the most dramatic, especially to those that could understand their pain.


    This scene, however, made Mark feel a bit of envy somehow.


    Lumeria and Teremillio were in an embrace for about five minutes before recovering. The mother and son were absolutely happy to see each other.


    However, Lumeria snapped out of happiness quickly.


    "Millio, why did you return here? It is dangerous! You should go back and escape! They will capture you if they see you here!"


    Lumeria became worried as she remembered the danger that Teremillio would face just by being here. Not only Teremillio was already treated as a traitor, but the Third Queen, Tierio''s mother, was very angry about the capture of her beloved son. In fact, the soldiers that apanied Tierio at that time and fled were publicly executed the moment they returned.


    If anyone were to find Teremillio here, he would be captured, or worse, killed on sight.


    "Mother, I won''t leave this ce without you. We came here to bring you back with us."


    Teremillio replied resolutely. They were already here, and there was no guarantee that they would be able to do the same next time. That was why he decided to bring his mother away at once.


    "What are you saying? I''m still safe staying here. You should not burden yourself about me and escape as soon as possible!"


    Lumeria worriedly said. However, by Teremillio''s expression, he would not budge from his decision.


    And by this time, a voice chimed in between the two.


    "You two should cut it short and decide. There''s amotion below, and people are gathering. They likely found out that there are intruders in the castle."


    Teremillio was surprised to hear that.


    "Boss, did someone see us when we entered?"


    "I''m sure that no one saw us. But this is a castle. They might have some measures to find out if intruders managed to sneak in. Don''t you know about it?"


    "Damn it! I don''t know anything about that!"


    Teremillio grumbled in frustration.


    "Don''t worry. It seems like the soldiers only know that there are intruders, but they don''t know where we are. They are all panicking below."


    At this time, Lumeria was staring at Mark. This person came with her son, and she did not even bother to greet him. More than that, this person seemed to be powerful, even being able to monitor the movements of the people that there was no possible way of doing.


    "My son... Who is he?"


    Finally, Lumeria asked in a low voice.


    "Oh right," Teremillio scratched his head. "He is called Mark. I''m currently working under him. He''s my Boss."


    And was it not a surprise? Her son was working under a Demon. She could not say whether it was a good or bad thing, though.

 Chapter 613 The Power Of Illusions, Escaping The Spire Tree Castle

    <strong>Day ¨ƒ¨ƒ - ¨ƒ¨ƒ:16 PM - Spire Tree Castle, Kingdom of ck Duendes, Spirit Dimension</strong>


    rm bells suddenly rang throughout the castle, alerting everyone of an emergency.


    At this point, there was an uproar in the castle. Most of the soldiers and guards stationed inside its premises were called to assemble in the castle''s za. A lot of them were still running out of the barracks. They slowly and sloppily gathered into two groups of lines in front of Dregor and another person.


    It seemed that the training regime of this ce was not polished, and the soldiers were not that organized. No, it was not like they were an unorganized army. It was more like it seemed that they were not used to dealing with sudden emergencies inside the castle.


    Furthermore, the two groups were not organized because of ranks. It was by their races. The soldiers of the ck Duendes were in one group while the Demons were in the other.


    The difference between the two groups was also apparent in their armors. Demons wore heavy and intimidating armors while the ck Duendes were wearing light and ssy-looking ones.


    "You imbeciles! Howe that all of you are this slow! There''s an intruder in the castle, and not all the soldiers are here to receive their orders! Damn it!"


    The man beside Dregor mercilessly berated the sloppy soldiers in front of him. He did not hold back even towards the Demons that were already ring at him.


    "Ellio, my soldiers are not for you to insult. Your ssy soldiers are much worse." Dregor coldly said, making Ellio grit his teeth in annoyance. "Even so, this is not good."


    Dregor then turned to a robed Demon soldier that had arrived. Unlike the other soldiers that came from the barracks, it seemed that this one came from another ce.


    "Ol''fir, did you find any other traces?"


    "No, Sire, unfortunately. The trace left in the barrier is too small as if it was just a ball. If not for the ripples I felt from it, no one would immediately notice that something went through. There was also a pair of footmarks left beside a part of a wall. However, it was too light for us to recognize, and there are no traces left after that."


    "Tch. How useless."


    Dregor grumbled.


    "It seems like the intruders are skilled. And here we are, still waiting for these imbeciles to gather."


    Ellio added to the side.


    Without any other choice, the two generals dispatched the soldiers that were already gathered. Waiting for everyone was a waste of time, and they immediately needed to start the search for the intruder.


    The soldiers searched for the intruder, while on the other hand, the two generals, Ellio and Dregor, went to report to their King about the situation.


    ***


    Inside Lumeria''s room, a bit of silence ensued.


    Lumeria was staring at Mark, observing him due to Teremillio''s introduction. Thetter, however, only half-paid attention to her while sensing the situation around the castle.


    A few secondster, Mark broke the silence with a skeptical expression.


    "Are the soldiers in this castle a bunch of clowns?"


    Mark could not help but say that as he sensed the unorganized search happening inside the castle.


    Those words from Mark, however, made Lumeria show aplicated expression.


    "It''s better if you two leave already. You might beughing at the soldiers'' ipetence, but it is because they are mostly for disy. Luserio is the owner of this castle. Someone powerful like him doesn''t need any kind of protection from others."


    Mark looked at Lumeria and could not help but agree with her words. In fact, he could already sense Teremillio''s father ever since they entered the castle. Someone with that strong presence was a person that was impossible to ignore.


    "No, mother." Teremillio shook his head as he grabbed his mother''s hands. "We are here to pick you up. We won''t leave this ce without you."


    Seeing Teremillio''s resolute expression made Lumeria touched.


    But then...


    "Oi, don''t drag me with you. Even if you two won''t go, I would."


    Mark just had to destroy the atmosphere.


    "Hey, don''t look at me like that," Mark added as the mother and son looked at him, annoyed. "In any case, Lumeria, right? You better go with your son already. The more you hesitate, the more you are putting him in danger. You understand that, right?"


    Those words from Mark hit Lumeria quite hard. She worried about her son''s safety. But at this point, it was she who was putting her son in more danger.


    Lumeria then took a deep breath. It might be dangerous, but it was also her first and only chance to leave this forsaken ce.


    "Alright, I will go with you." Lumeria tightened her grip on Teremillio''s hand. "But promise me that if you need to leave me behind, don''t hesitate to do so."


    At those words, Teremillio smiled with a shake of his head.


    "Sorry, mother. I can''t promise that."


    "You..."


    "Mother. It had been a long time, so you might have forgotten already." Teremillio smiled. "But you have a hardheaded son."


    Lumeria shook her head with a sigh, unable to refute her son.


    And there, Lumeria hurriedly packed up a few things and decided to leave together with Teremillio and Mark.


    The pair of mother and son being Duendes became very convenient at this point. The two reduced to their original sizes and managed to ride unto the pocket that Mark made on his armor.


    "You two hold on tight. Don''t bite your tongues."


    Mark warned the two as he covered himself with a cloak of Miasma once again.


    Still, while Mark looked calm, he was actually quite annoyed about the situation.


    The whole castle was being searched by the soldiers, and it would be hard to sneak out without getting detected.


    Mark moved towards the window to look outside. And now, he could not help but notice the barrier that was now covering the entire castle.


    "Lumeria. Is that barrier always there?"


    Mark whispered to Lumeria.


    "It''s always there. But it is hidden with illusion magic, and that is why it''s not detectable in normal circumstances. But it''s not really for protection but detection. That is why I am quite surprised that you and Millio managed to find me without getting detected immediately."


    "Then why is it visible now?"


    Mark asked once more.<sub> </sub>


    "They might have increased the function of the barrier to ensure that they will detect it if you tried to escape."


    Mark now realized where he messed up. However, that did not matter now. He just needed to find a way to leave this ce.


    "Hmmm?"


    Mark then noticed. The soldiers were already searching in this area of the castle. And because of that, the only way out would be the very same window that they entered earlier.


    Without any other choice, Mark turned into a surge of ck mist that seeped out of the window.


    With his shadow mist form, Mark flew towards the hidden part of the roof above Lumeria''s room. It was because he had an idea.


    Mark opened his palm, creating a ball made of [Blood Metal]. With a smile, he encased the ball with Miasma. And with a baseball pitch, he threw the Miasma covered metal ball through the barrier.


    He did not hesitate to use a bit of adrenaline in that throw, ensuring that it would fly far away.


    And then, Mark hid by the roof.


    "THERE! THE INTRUDER WENT THAT WAY!"


    Those enraged shouts echoed as the barrier reacted to the metal ball that Mark threw out. Ripples appeared on the barrier as if it was water. The center of the vibration pinpointed where the metal ball went out at its center. And there, Mark saw flying demons chase towards the south, where Mark threw the ball.


    With the metal ball as bait, Mark then flew in the opposite direction.


    The majority of the soldiers were now searching where the metal ballnded. That was when Ol''fir, the demon monitoring the barrier, detected another fluctuation that escaped the barrier.


    Unfortunately for Ol''fir, the soldiers that could fly were already searching at the south. There was no one that would be able to chase in the opposite direction.


    Mark continued to appear and disappear, reaching the outer area as fast as possible.


    He thought that they would be able to escape now without problems.


    But then, Mark could not help but stop mid-air.


    It was because Mark could not see the surroundings any more.


    All of a sudden, everything was covered with thick fog.


    That was when Mark detected a presence approaching them at fast speed. It was the presence of someone he did not want to encounter at all.


    "Where do you think you are going to take my dear Lumeria?"


    A chilling voice echoed as a figure appeared in front of Mark amidst the thick fog.


    Without a doubt, it was Luserio.


    Even without wings, Luserio was floating mid-air. Standing steadily without anything to step on.


    Lumeria could not help but shiver inside Mark''s pocket. Even though the wording was quite light, she was sure that Luserio was very angry at this moment.


    But then, Mark sneered.


    "Teremillio, you''re father really is a master of illusions."


    Both Teremillio and Lumeria were both surprised as Markplemented Luserio''s ability. It was quite sudden and felt unnecessary.


    But then, they realized why Mark said that.


    "How unexpected. You noticed."


    Luserio said, looking straight at Mark.


    "Sorry, but some illusion won''t be able to stop us."


    Mark said as he charged through Luserio''s body, passing through it like a ghost.


    And to say, Mark had quite a cold sweat there for a second. Luserio was definitely a master of illusion. Even the presence was there. Unfortunately, for the King, however, Mark was unable to detect any emotional fluctuations from the illusion. It was really strange considering how he showed his expressions and anger.


    Leaving the illusion of Luserio behind, Mark flew straight without changing directions. However, he was still unable to see the surroundings because of the fog that without a doubt, Luserio''s doing.


    The fog was not an illusion as Mark could wave through it. It seemed that the King of ck Duendes had other abilities in his arsenal aside from his illusions.


    Mark flew straight as fast as he could. However, he could not tell where he was using his eyes. All he and the two Duendes inside his pocket could see was the thick fog everywhere.


    But then, Mark could not help but stop.


    It was because he felt something familiar as his head started aching once more.


    "Why did you stop???"


    Teremillio asked.


    "We fell into another illusion," Mark grumbled in an annoyed tone. "Even if I continue flying, we''re just fly in circles."


    Teremillio was surprised while Lumeria was really worried.


    And how did Mark notice?


    Right at this moment, Mark could feel the emotional fluctuation of the ves that they saw when they sneaked inside this ce.


    Mark flew towards the north after exiting the barrier. However, the ves were in the southern part of the valley.


    Without realizing it, Mark already flew half a circle around the valley, arriving at the starting point of their infiltration.


    "It seemed that you are skilled." The chilling voice of Luserio echoed into their ears as another of his illusions appeared before them. "You realized it without even making a wholep around my Kingdom. I canmend you for that."


    "I am tempted to recruit you into my ranks. However, you dared intrude into my castle and take away my dear Lumeria. I will need you to die at this moment."


    Just as Luserio spoke those words, the fog started to lighten.


    Mark, on the other hand, drew Ignis from his sheath.


    The fog disappeared and around Mark, there were already about a hundred winged Demons surrounding him and countless soldiers waiting on the ground.

 Chapter 614 Predicament, The Struggle Of The Demon Army

    <strong>Day ¨ƒ¨ƒ - ¨ƒ¨ƒ:26 PM - Outer Area, Kingdom of ck Duendes, Spirit Dimension</strong>


    Looking at his surroundings, Mark could not help but frown.


    Luserio having the title of a King and being the strongest among the ck Duendes was well deserved. Mark had not met him face to face, but it was, without a doubt, his magic that led Mark to this situation.


    Making images appear from thin air,dulling their sense of direction, and even obscuring the presence of the soldiers, they had been affected by several of Luserio''s illusions in a short period.


    The only different one was the fog, as it was not an illusion but an actual thing. Still, the ability to conjure fog and make it disappear quickly was another feat itself.


    Fortunately, Mark was not entirely oblivious to the illusions. He noticed that he had already gone half ap across the town and stopped. He also detected the flying Demons before they got too close.


    The fog only vanished because the soldiers that hid inside it already got detected, and a surprise attack was already impossible to achieve. In that case, even to the Demons, the fog would end up obscuring their sight.


    At this point, Mark could only p his wings, waiting for the right time to attack. Mark took a deep breath, and his frown eased. His grip on Ignis tightened as his eagerness for battle heightened.


    Mark observed the winged Demons that surrounded him. They were different from the ones at the castle. These soldiers seemed to be experienced in dealing with these kinds of situations. Now, it made sense how they suddenly got surrounded. These Demon soldiers were from the military barracks outside the town. They all got ready because of the rm and rushed in at once after locating the intruder.


    Nevertheless, none of them moved blindly to attack Mark. Both sides were observing each other. These Demons were not careless to charge at the enemy they knew nothing about.


    Furthermore, they had to make sure of one thing.


    Lumeria must not be harmed at any cost.


    In this moment of stalemate, someone arrived. It was the Lizard Demon, General Dregor together with four other people.


    Unexpectedly, two were familiar to Mark. One was one of the two Demons that led the ambush on the warriors of the Stone Fortress, the ded Demon. The other was the spy that Mark detected first and let go. Both of the two were riding on arge bat-like creature.


    "Release Queen Lumeria at once and we will give you a painless death!"


    Dregor, who shouted those words, pointed his sword at Mark as he pped his green-scaled wings.


    Of course, they were not here for negotiation. That was a threat towards Mark.


    And this time, Mark started to move.


    "Hold on tight."


    He whispered to Teremillio and Lumeria.


    Mark took everyone by surprise as he charged towards Dregor without any sign of hesitation.


    However, surprised they might be, but it did not hinder their assessment of the situation.


    Given that Lumeria might identally get harmed if they all charged towards Mark, only the group of Dregor prepared to engage.


    Being Mark''s target, Dregor readied himself to defend and counter-attack. Behind him, the other four high Demons aimed to support. Unfortunately for the Demons, the ces they could attack in Mark''s body was limited due to his body being covered with a cloak of Miasma. They could only aim for physical attacks as magical ones had a low chance of doing harm and had a chance of harming Lumeria instead.


    Fortunately, they knew where Lumeria was being kept in his body. That was why they knew where they would aim their attacks.


    CLANG!


    Ignis and Dregor''s sword, which was as thick as a machete and was shaped like a half-meter long cleaver, shed with a loud sound.


    At that sh, a shockwave pushed everyone back aside from Mark and Dregor.


    Dregor could not help but grunt as he witnessed something unexpected. Comparing the two weapons by size, his was a finger while Mark''s was a toothpick. It was expected that the odd but thin sword would break when the two shed.


    However, not only Ignis held on...


    Dregor''srge de was chipped.


    Still, it was not enough for Dregor to stop his movements. His counter-attack came as he twisted his de, making Ignis stuck at the chip before waving his de backward.


    The sword in the enemy''s hand was thrown away because of the force to the Demon''s delight.


    But then....


    "AGH!"


    A death cry was heard from behind Dregor.


    They could not help but look behind. And to the Demon''s shock, the ded Demon''s heart was impaled by the sword that got thrown behind Dregor. As his life started to get snuffed out, he fell from the creature he was riding on.


    No one could believe this sight.


    Mark, on the other hand, smirked under his mask. It was ording to his n. Even if Dregor did not make that move, he would feint losing grip of Ignis after a few swings. After all, it was not Dregor who was his actual target but that troublesome ded Demon. It was better to get rid of him immediately as he had a highly sensitive intuition.


    And for sure, even his intuition did not expect Ignis to fly towards him and pierce his heart after being thrown away by Dregor.


    Everyone''s eyes were on that dying Demon. Thatpse of their attention gave Mark an opportunity.


    A ck hole appeared before Mark as he took out the [Slicer] and [Divider] from it before charging towards Dregor with the two whip-des.


    It was a bad match-up for Dregor as hisrge de could not keep up with the fast-moving des.


    "All of you! Attack!"


    Dregor shouted furiously as the enemy before him pushed him back relentlessly.


    And with thatmand, the Demons were delighted.


    They did not care about Lumeria''s well being any longer. Blood rushed to their heads as they saw one of theirrades die for no reason.


    Suddenly, everything became chaotic.


    Mark could not help but smile.


    Chaos was what he wanted to happen. What was more was that he had not used his Emphatic abilities yet to start this riot.<sub> </sub>


    Magic attacks flew towards Mark. However, most of them vanished upon contact with his cloak. Nevertheless, there were still magical attacks that were needed to watch out for. It was the magical attacks with physical properties like [Stone Bullets] and [Ice Spears] that were also flying towards him.


    In any case, Mark did not n on getting hit by those.


    Timing the collision of the magic attacks fired at him, Mark vanished. The explosions in the air obscured everyone''s sight as he turned into a surge of ck mist. He then appeared behind the nearest Demon, as the [Slicer] sliced off the Demon''s neck like tofu.


    Blood spurted like a fountain as the head and body of that Demon got separated. ck blood rained towards the ground as the Demon''s dead body fell.


    That was only the start, however.


    Mark appeared and disappeared in different ces. Every time he appeared, a Demon''s head would fly off, separated from their bodies.


    Seeing this spectacle, Dregor was growing more and more furious. He could not understand what was going on. The enemy was only a single person. Howe that they were having a hard time taking him down? They could not even touch a hair from him, but they were steadily losing people.


    Dregor looked behind him.


    "Dua, Vol''ur. Take the enemy down."


    The Demon called Dua red at Dregor. His pet just died today because of this idiot''s orders. And now, this humanoid lizard was ordering him again.


    "Don''t wanna."


    Dua said, disregarding their general''s orders.


    "Dua!"


    Vol''ur called out to his friend. Insubordination was one of the things that had heavy punishment in the Demon military.


    However, Dua was not fazed at all.


    "As if I will care for this thing. I had nothing to do with this unless someone is going to give me another pet."


    Vol''ur could not help but sigh. Dua''s ability was quite unique, but he had a very childish personality.


    "Tch." Dregor clicked his tongue. "I''ll fine you another er! Just do your job properly."


    Hearing that, Dua''s eyes lit up.


    "You better not forget what you said, or the next target of my magic will be you whether you are my superior or not."


    Vol''ur ignored the two and started to attack the enemy.


    With a wave of his hand, several magic circles appeared in front of him. From each magic circle, a living chain was summoned.Each chained shot forwards towards the target, moving like homing missiles.


    On the other hand, Dua also joined in. He started waving his hand in front of him with his index finger extended out. It was clear that he was writing something in the air.


    As he finished the strokes of his hand, ancient letters glowed in front of him.


    "Curse of Ill Fate!"


    Dua shouted as the ancient letters crumbled in front of him. Some sort of invisible energy was released from the ancient letters and flew towards the target.


    Mark continued with the one-sided battle. Yes, having more people in a battle was an advantage. However, it would only be applicable if the quality of the soldiers were the same. Here, however, Mark was obviously superior to most of the enemies. His skillset was also their bane.


    For Mark, there were many enemies to kill while the other side only had one. It gave him more advantage as he could move quickly from ce to ce, destroying the enemies'' formation and defense.


    But then, Mark felt some danger as the nging of chains entered his ears.


    About a dozen chains were already flying towards him. It was evident that the goal was to restrain him. Mark maneuvered, evading the chains but they were too persistent. However, this also gave Mark another advantage over the enemy army.


    The chains were chasing him and did not care whether there were other obstacles on their paths. And there, the chains ended up blocking or hitting the other Demons, making it easier for him to eliminate them.


    Vol''ur was shocked as his chains were used by the enemy in this manner. It was hateful but also amazing.


    Still, there was something strange.


    "Dua, you already casted your curse, right?"


    Vol''ur asked Dua only to see him frowning.


    "My curse is ineffective," Dua replied with his hands shaking. "You remember, right, Vol''ur? My unique ability is to alter fate, forcing bad luck and misfortune. But our enemy... he''s someone without fate."


    A being without fate. Someone detached from destiny.


    Vol''ur could not help but slowly retreat as he came to a realization. Without hesitation, he grabbed Dua and started to fly away. Because of this, his chains disintegrated without achieving any goals at all.


    "You bastards! Where are you going?!"


    Dregor shouted in anger as he saw the two Demons flying away."


    "If you want to die, then don''t drag us with you! Idiot!"


    Those were Vol''ur''s final words as he took Dua away to escape.


    "General, the situation is not in our favor. The intruder is too strong."


    The female spy that was the only person left in Dregor''s group spoke.


    "Also by the looks of it, your order angered the King of ck Duendes. He is not helping us at all."


    Her words made Dregor realize. There was no supporting from Luserio. There was no way that the King of ck Duendes could not see what was happening.


    In this case, the female spy was spot on.


    Luserio was angry about the Demon''s careless actions. The main goal for intercepting the intruder was Lumeria''s safety. However, the Demons disregarded it. And thus, the King stood at the highest balcony of his castle, watching the demise of the Demons in the sky.


    Beside him, Il''ve could only shake her head. She wanted to appeal for Luserio to aid them but because of their actions, it was unlikely. Now, she could only wait as to when the yful Tyrant would step into battle.

 Chapter 615 An Incompetent Waste, The Death Of General Dregor

    <strong>Day ¨ƒ¨ƒ - ¨ƒ¨ƒ:37 PM - Spire Tree Castle, Kingdom of ck Duendes, Spirit Dimension</strong>


    The battle between the intruder and the Demons were entirely one-sided. Everyone in the town was now paying attention, and they all could see how the dead bodies of Winged Demons fall from the sky one by one.


    Everyone under the area of the battle fled far as blood and body parts rained from above. A lot of decapitated heads crash on the roofs far from their bodies. Sometimes, it would be sliced off wings, at times, limbs. In the worst scenes, internal organs as they fell out of bodies sliced in half.


    Imagine a body that was cut on its abdomen, flipping in the air as it fell from the sky, sttering its intestines everywhere. It was definitely not a pleasant sight.


    It was still better for the bodies that turned to dust after hitting the ground. However, not every Demon had a body that was made of magical energy, especially those with mixed bloodlines. And thus, those dead bodies were left on the streets, the roofs of the houses, and even on people.


    At this unpleasant sight, however, a certain ss of people was delighted.


    It was the human ves.


    The Duendes were known to take humans away from the mortal world. However, it was limited to either those that they liked or those that offended them. However, due to the influence of the Demons, very of humans and other races becamemon in this ce. It caused some of the unexinable missing cases of people from the past until the present.


    It was all because of these ursed Demons.


    Even now, most of the operations involving very in this ce were supervised by these Demons. The ve''s pain, ill-treatment, and broken minds were all because of these Demons.


    And now, they were all watching the battle in the sky with their lifeless eyes.


    They did not know who their enemy was.


    They were not making any unnecessary noise out of fear.


    However, they all rooted for the being that was killing all those Demons.


    ''Kill them all! Kill them all!''


    Their hearts shouted. Unfortunately, their minds had been deeply scarred that their bodies remained unmoved.


    ***


    At the highest balcony of the Spire Tree Castle, Luserio was smiling at the sight of the Demons falling from the sky.


    That smile, however, made Il''ve very ufortable.


    "Your Majesty. Shouldn''t we need to help them?"


    Il''ve could not hold it anymore and asked Luserio. Those Demons, after all, was their soldiers. Furthermore, she was a Demon herself.


    Luserio nced at her and spoke.


    "My dear Il''ve. Do you remember the orders I gave them?"


    "Safely secure Lumeria and kill the intruder."


    Il''ve replied without any hesitation. She remembered the orders clearly as she was together with Luserio in her chambers when Dregor received the orders.


    "You remembered my exact words." Luserio nodded and turned his head back to the ongoing battle. "Then tell me, is there any sign of them following the orders I gave?"


    Il''ve could not reply. There was no way to defend the Demon soldiers. The way they attacked relentlessly and fired off their magic towards the intruder was not safe at all. If the enemy was any weaker, those attacks were enough to harm Lumeria. The only thing in their mind at this point was to kill the intruder.


    "I don''t need soldiers that did not know how to follow orders correctly." Luserio continued. "This is a good opportunity to get rid of them without dirtying my hands."


    Luserio''s eyes then fell on the only Demon that was not doing anything in the battle, takingmand of his subordinates.


    "Especially that Dregor. He is being too ambitious as ofte. I just gave him a bit of freedom to act, but he had already done many things to hinder thepetency of his peers while being ipetent himself. It was his idea to relocate the nest of Daellum''s pet spider, and now, it is dead. I would have turned a blind eye on that if he showed any value. But with his current disy, I better choose a new general to manage the Demon soldiers soon."


    Those were some harsh words from the heartless King. He might have worded it differently, but those words had already put Dregor and his subordinates unto the execution block.


    Luserio just dered that they better died here.


    That, however, did not sit well with Il''ve.


    "But Your Majesty, won''t their deaths anger the Lord? These soldiers were sent by him."


    Finishing her words, however, Il''ve realized that she messed up.


    Luserio grabbed her chin as he closed his face to hers. It was not in a romantic way, however, as he was exuding a suffocating killing intent. The yful Tyrant was not ying this time.


    The kind of expression Luserio had made the subus fear for her life.


    "My dear Il''ve... I value you as one of my Queens. You have the beauty, the body, and you are quite obedient. However, it seemed that you have yet to understand who you should please."


    Luserio then grabbed her waist, puller her body towards him in a violent manner.


    "The moment Iid my eyes on you, you are mine. That Three-headed Lord of yours already gave you to me as a tie for the alliance they wanted.You should worry about serving me and not anyone else being something that I own. Do you understand my words?"


    "Y-yes... M-my apologies."


    Il''ve replied, stuttering in fear.


    "Then, good. I will expect more from you," Luserio let go of Il''ve. "I really like you, my dear Il''ve. Please don''t force me to add another gravestone in the Royal Burial Ground."


    Il''ve bowed while shaking. The pressure that apanied Luserio''s killing intent was too hard for her to endure. When he mentioned the burial grounds, she became even more afraid.


    The Royal Burial Grounds was different from the Ancestral Grounds, where thetter had the empty tombs of former members of the Royal Family of ck Duendes rested in peace. It was a graveyard that was built under Luserio''s orders. In this burial groundid the gravestones of the women that dared to defy Luserio''s orders. The former supposed Queens that died by his own hands.


    Il''ve never wanted to be among those women.


    "It looks like the time for me to step out ising soon."


    Luserio said, making Il''ve turn her head towards the battle once more.


    There, barely around twenty of the Winged Demons were left, along with the heavily injured Dregor.


    ***


    Mark pped his wings while smiling under his mask. Around him, only eighteen and a half Demons were left to surround him.


    Why was there a half? It was because Dregor was there, only left with one arm and one leg. His wings were missing too. He had to rely on therge bat that the female spy was riding on in order to stay on the battlefield.


    "You bastard, you think you already won?"<sub> </sub>


    Dregor grunted in pain.


    St! St!


    Dregor''s wounds made disgusting sounds as his missing limbs and wings suddenly grew back, sttering his greenish-ck blood everywhere like a certain green alien species.


    With his new limbs and wings, Dregor flew once more, returning the number of enemies back to neen.


    Mark only stared at him incredulously, though. His ability was quite absurd considering that lizards could only regenerate an inferior tail after it was cut off. Well, not like Mark was someone who couldin.


    Even so, Mark was not really amused. Dregor was the leader of these soldiers, but he was definitely dumb. He could have feigned his injury and let himself fall before regenerating his limbs and make his escape. Instead, however, this Lizard Demon decided to show off his regeneration to Mark. As if it could change anything, consider that...


    SLASH! SLASH!


    Mark could overwhelm him in terms of speed and slice off his limbs without any effort.


    "AAAAAAARGH!!!"


    Dregor cried out in pain as he watched his newly grown arm fall to the ground once again. In the least, he retreated from Mark, who appeared behind him.


    "RAAARGH!!!"


    Dregor cried out as he regrew his arm. However, it was obvious that every time that he regrew a missing part of his body, it was consuming his energy. He already lost. However, he did not want to admit it. And thus, continued to fight, despite their imminent death.


    It was the same for the remaining Demons around Mark. The only exception was the female spy that was already hesitating whether to continue supporting Dregor or flee.


    "DIE!"


    Dregor roared, charging towards Mark together with the other Demons.


    But then, they all froze without even closing onto Mark.


    "Dregor, that''s enough." Luserio''s voice echoed in everyone''s ears. "Don''t disgrace yourself any further."


    At this point, a visage of a person suddenly appeared standing in front of Dregor.


    It was no other than Luserio himself.


    Mark stared at this King of ck Duendes. Different from the illusion that he saw earlier, the King was now wearing a fancy robe with metallic armor-like pieces.


    This time, Mark was sure that it was not an illusion. Luserio was here himself. And to say, seeing a Duende capable of hovering mid-air was a bit surreal.


    "Your Majesty, I-!"


    Facing Luserio''s back, Dregor tried to reason. However, he was met with his King''s re over his shoulder.


    "I thought of giving you another chance. However, it seemed that you are really unfit to serve me. Your service is not needed any longer."


    BADUMP!


    At Luserio''s re, Dregor''s eyes widened.


    "URK!"


    Dregor tried to resist. However, his right hand started to approach his chest.


    SPLURT!


    Unable to resist Luserio''s power, Dregor pulled out his own heart. With Luserio as thest image in his mind, Dregor''s lifeless body plummeted to the ground.


    Everyone that witnessed was surprised, not to mention that almost the entire town was watching. However, the surprise was a bitckluster that it did not amount to their shock from watching Mark fight a hundred Demons alone.


    After all, it was not the first time for them to witness Luserio killing a subordinate.


    Just recently, during the time that the infected came into the Spirit Dimension, one of Luserio''s previous generals made a mistake. It was still not known that the infected could turn others into one of their kind. The general brought back an injured soldier that already got bitten.


    In the end, that soldier, along with other injured soldiers and civilians in the healing facility, became infected. It caused chaos to the southwest part of the town.


    The general had to hold responsibility and was executed for ipetence.


    There were also other cases before. That was why Dregor''s death was not that much of a surprise considering what happened.


    The other Demons retreated after Dregor''s death. Their general was killed mercilessly, not to mention them, who were mere soldiers.


    At this point, only Luserio and Mark were left in the sky of the town. Well, Teremillio and Lumeria were also present, but there were hidden.


    "Imend you for being able tost this long, Demon. Now, hand over Lumeria, and I might consider you to rece Dregor as my new general." Luserio proposed while scrutinizing Mark. But then, the King noticed. "Though I am puzzled. How can a Miasma Demon like you have a physical body to hold a sword or even hide Lumeria inside your body?"


    Mark, who was disguised as a Miasma Demon surely intrigued the tyrant King. And to say, he was interested in turning Mark unto his subordinate.


    To all the King''s words, however, no reply came. Not a single word.


    Mark only pped his wings while observing the King in ck Duendes in front of him. Not even a sign that he would reply could be seen.


    This made the King of ck Duendes frown.


    Not only Luserio. Even Teremillio and Lumeria were looking at Mark from his pocket since he was not uttering a single word since earlier.


    "Boss, have you gone mute? Why are you not replying?"


    Teremillio whispered.


    And then, the reply came to Teremillio''s question.


    "What should I reply? I don''t understand what they are saying."


    Teremillio almost fell from Mark''s pocket.


    It was no wonder why Mark was silent until now.


    He was disguised as a Demon and had an aura of a Demon. That was why Luserio and Dregor spoke to him in Demonic Language.


    And Mark, who grew up in the Mortal World, had absolutely no way of understanding their words.

 Chapter 616 Starting The Chaos, The Predicament The Kingdom Of Duendes Had To Face

    <strong>Day ¨ƒ¨ƒ - ¨ƒ¨ƒ:47 PM - Kingdom of ck Duendes, Spirit Dimension</strong>


    Luserio stared at the intruder in front of him, frowning deeply. Towards his offer, there was no reaction aside from whispering that he could not hear properly. There was, in fact, the feeling that this Demon was not paying attention to him at all.


    And to a King that made his way out to confront an intruder himself, being ignored was an absolute insult. In any circumstance, when a King spoke to a person, not responding in kind was a crime.


    "Why won''t you speak?"


    Luserio asked, irritated. However, it also seemed that he realized that it was no use talking to this intruder. And instead...


    "Lumeria, why don''t youe out now? Let me bring you back home."


    He switched his attention to Lumeria, who was hiding on the intruder''s body.


    "I will promise you that nothing will happen to your homnd if youe back to me at this instant."


    Those words of Luserio made Lumeria''s heart falter.


    Mark, who felt Lumeria''s unsteady mind, whispered to Teremillio to trante it for him. Learning the meaning of Luserio''s words, Mark whispered to Lumeria.


    "You don''t have to falter. There''s no way that I will let you return after we''vee this far. I won''t let my efforts go wasted. Besides, if you agree to that, you''re basically giving up on your son."


    Lumeria could not help but look up to Mark. He was right. Even if she followed Luserio, Teremillio would be in danger.


    At this point, Luserio was getting impatient. However, he caught some words from Mark''s whispers and realized an odd thing.


    "Howe that a Demon like you is too fluent in humannguage."


    This time, Luserio spoke to Mark without using the Demonic Language from before. It seemed that he was being suspicious whether Mark was a real Demon or not.


    As Mark finally understood Luserio''s words, he could finally reply.


    "Because I''m not?"


    With those words, Mark was smiling behind his mask. With a p of his wings, he charged towards the King of ck Duendes.


    This took everyone, as in everyone watching, by surprise.


    Even Luserio did not expect that Mark would suddenly attack in the middle of the conversation.


    It was what Mark was aiming for at this time. In the first ce, there was no need to listen to the words of the enemy from the start. He just had to wait for Luserio to either lower his guard or get preupied with thinking about something confusing.


    Being confused as to why Mark was using humannguage despite appearing like a Demon was a good one. As the opportunity showed itself, Mark charged in to attack.


    Mark''s movements were swift and relentless. He appeared in front of Luserio almost instantly and hacked his swords aiming to split the King''s body in half.


    Both the [Slicer] and [Divider] passed through Luserio''s body.


    "Tsk." Mark clicked his tongue. "It looks like it won''t be easy."


    Unfortunately, what the swords hacked was nothing but an afterimage.


    It was one of the abilities inherent to Duendes. That absurd movement speed that at its peak could bend light enough for their image to multiply.


    Luserio might have some dy in his reaction due to the unexpected attack. Still, his speed hadpensated for that dy, and managed to dodge.


    Even so, Mark was no disheartened. He looked at Luserio that was now hovering several meters further away. The front of Luserio''s gaudy robe had an X-shaped cut, showing that the King did not entirely avoid his swords.


    "Y-YOU!"


    Luserio was utterly furious. Someone with good imagination would be able to see the fumesing out of his nose and the mes on his eyes.


    "INSOLENT BASTARD!"


    The yful Tyrant roared in anger.


    With that roar, an oppressive aura enveloped the surroundings. Teremillio and Lumeria that were inside Mark''s pocket felt suffocated. Not only them, but everyone in the Kingdom felt the same.


    And as for Mark, who was the target of that aura, he was frozen still, staring nkly in the void.


    "Hahahaha! Lumeria, you bettere with me before it''s toote. Even if this helper of yours is a Miasma Demon, he won''t be able to do anything against my illusions!"


    Luserio was sure proud of his powers. Physically, ck Duendes might be inferior to other races. However, pretty much like the White ones, their magical abilities were outstanding. And to deal with Miasma Demons, illusions were one of the best methods, specifically, an illusion that would manifest the target''s inner emotions.


    Miasma Demons had one trait that was inherent to their race. They were emotionally unstable. They easily get riled up as Miasma itself was born from negative energies. It would make them seek destruction wherever they go.


    Using illusions to make their emotions chaotic was to turn their very existence itself unstable.


    And to Luserio, that very kind of illusion was a piece of cake to pull off.


    Lumeria and Teremillio became afraid of the situation. If Mark was really affected by that illusion, even if he was not a real Miasma Demon, his mentality would be severely affected.


    But then, a voice entered the ears of the two, putting them in utter disbelief.


    "Hey, what is he saying. I can''t understand it. Trante it."


    "B-boss! What?" Teremillio stuttered. "D-didn''t you get caught in an illusion? You froze just now!"


    "Huh? What illusion?" Mark was confused. "I stopped since I''m waiting for what will happen. But aside from that aura just now, there''s nothing. I''m pretty disappointed. Really."


    Lumeria and Teremillio could not believe what they were hearing.


    And, of course, Luserio, who was proud of his illusions, was the same. And this time, Mark did not whisper at all. Luserio finally confirmed that Mark was unable to understand Demonic Language. It was truly strange. Furthermore, another voice was heard by him clearly.


    "You are not a Demon."


    Luserio said, this time, in humannguage.


    "I had just said that I''m not. Have you gone senile?"


    Mark replied in a ridiculing manner as he absorbed the coat of Miasma that covered his body.


    It revealed Mark''s appearance, which was, in no doubt, human.


    He might be wearing a sinister armor and mask. He even had the wings of a bat. However, the skin that was exposed on his neck, and his body shape revealed it all.


    "Human? No. You''re not. You have the aura of a Demon. And to have the ability to control Miasma with a human body. You''re an unknown being."


    Luserio deduced as he raised his cautiousness. To anything and everything in all dimensions, the worst enemy to fight was the unknown.


    Those words from Luserio made Mark quite surprised. It was unexpected that, for the first time, someone immediately went to the conclusion that he was an unknown being instead of asking what he was.


    "Well, whatever you think doesn''t really matter. In the end, I''ll have to kill you to prevent more troubles."<sub> </sub>


    Mark said, pointing his swords at Luserio.


    "Do you think that being an unknown being gives you what it takes to kill me?" The yful Tyrant dered. "I am Luserio. I am the King of this Kingdom. This Kingdom will get destroyed first before I fall!"


    But then, Mark replied.


    "Good, that''s also my intention."


    And with those words as the signal, ck mes burst out in the streets of the Kingdom. Like wildfire, it spread from street to street as if it was being led by something.


    "AHHH!!!"


    Bloodcurdling screams of Demons and Duendes entered their ears as those beings burned to dust in a matter of seconds.


    And to the humans that were engulfed in mes, they did not even scream. They watched their bodies burn, finally embracing their freedom after death.


    But while everyone was getting burned by mes, some ves unexpectedly came out unscathed. They were in shock and relief that they were still alive.


    And then, the uprising started.


    One of the ves that survived found the weapon that his master that had just burned to ashes carried. Even though the ve was emaciated, he picked up the weapon and started to attack the nearest Demon to him. That scene made the other ves do the same. They all found weapons and started the rebellion against the Kingdom that enved them.


    On the sky, Luserio stared at the situation that his Kingdom was in. He was in utter disbelief.


    ROOOAR!!!


    At this time, a loud roar echoed as a ck Dragon came approaching the Kingdom.


    "Boss! They are..."


    Teremillio called out, realizing who that roar came from.


    "I called them," Mark replied. "I can''t fight properly if you two are on my chest."


    Mark looked at Char that swooped down on the soldiers at the walls, breathing fire on them.


    But then, Mark''s attention suddenly focused on Luserio.


    The King of ck Duendes was staring at Char''s direction in utter amazement.


    Of course, it made Mark frown.


    Luserio turned to Mark with a smile.


    "Is that woman yours? I don''t care if you take Lumeria or my Kingdom. Even my other queens. No even my daughters. You can do whatever you want to them! Just give that woman to me!"


    Sure enough, this lustful bastard was aiming for Mei. And by the looks of it, it seemed that Luserio had a good estimate of Mei''s value, enough that he was willing to give everything he had in exchange for her.


    "I''m not interested."


    Mark said as he signaled his hand. At this time, Ignis flew back to Mark, after setting the Kingdom on fire.


    It was one of the reasons why he let go of Ignist after killing the ded Demon. It was to cause chaos below.


    "Teremillio, Lumeria. Ride on Ignis first and join the others. I''ll deal with things here."


    Luserio saw what Mark was doing and his attention was focused on the familiar Duende beside Lumeria. The two Duendes look at Mark and Luserio as they were taken away by Ignis.


    "So, it''s actually my unfilial son. It''s no wonder why it was Lumeria that was taken away by you." Luserio then red at Mark. "It doesn''t matter. I will take Lumeria back to punish her. I''ll also take that woman."


    "Unfortunately, I won''t give you any chances."


    Mark said as he vanished from his initial position.


    Teremillio and Lumeria were not in his pocket anymore. His movement restrictions had been lifted.


    BAM!


    "GAH!"


    Luserio gasped in pain as both of Mark''s feet connected with his abdomen in a relentless kick.


    The Kingdom was engulfed in ck mes.


    A Dragon was rampaging by the west walls.


    The whole city was in chaos because of the ves.


    And those left watching the scene in the sky...


    ? ...Saw how their King turned into a meteor that crashed into his castle.


    "This is way better."


    Mark said as he stretched his body.


    He was holding back on his speed until now and only relied on his [Shadow Mist Movement]. It was because there was no way that Teremillio and Lumeria would be able to handle his movements while inside his pocket.


    Now that the two were brought to safety, he could fight to his heart''s content.


    "Well then... Let''s activate this too."


    Mark said as his metal armor started to change shape. Bone like protrusions fused with his [Blood Metal] armor. His wings also changed in appearance and became covered in bone-like armor.


    His veins then glowed brightly. The light even seeped on the open parts of his armor.


    Andstly, the [Wind Maniption Mental Crystal] glowed brightly while floating above his arm.


    With all the preparations done, Mark pped his wings hard.


    BOOM!


    Everyone heard the explosion of air in the sky as they saw space distort due to the shockwave.


    Mark, who was the cause of that event, could be barely seen, as he charged towards the castle where Luserio fell.


    At this time, Duendes had already gathered to protect the castle and the Royal Family.


    In unison, they chanted.


    And a barrage of magic flew towards the intruder''s direction.

 Chapter 617 Against The Black Duendes, The Fall Of The Spire Tree Castle

    <strong>Day ¨ƒ¨ƒ¨ƒ - ¨ƒ¨ƒ:57 PM - Spire Tree Castle, Kingdom of ck Duendes, Spirit Dimension</strong>


    Chaos suddenly enveloped the Kingdom of ck Duendes.


    A flying sword spread ck mes that scattered almost everywhere. These mes that could not be extinguished by normal means continued to spread out to anything it touched, mmable or not. It was as if it had a mind of its own as it sought ces where most of the Demons and Duendes concentrated.


    The ves that survived the mes escaped from their cages and restraints. Some of them fled, while some aimed for revenge. With their stolen weapons, they charged towards the Demons and Duendes that was already injured by the ck mes. Even so, the Demons and Duendes still had the advantage. Many of the ves died fighting. However, it did not dissipate their thirst for revenge for their lives that were ruined by these ursed creatures.


    And the main reason for all of this chaos, Mark, was facing the barrage of magical attacks aimed at him without fear.


    The army of ck Duendes stationed at the castle was now in formation. The sudden intrusion might have caught them off guard. The battle between Mark and the Demons, however, gave them enough time to prepare for the defensive.


    And Luserio''s meteoric crash towards the castle prompted everyone to activate all the castle''s defenses.


    The tree that spiraled across the castle started to emit an eerie glow as a magical barrier covered its entirety. It seemed to be a one-sided barrier that prevented anything from entering but not from going out since the Duendes were firing magic from inside without being hindered.


    Flying at breakneck speed, Mark opposed the magical attacksing at him.


    [Fire Balls], [Lightning Arrows], and even [Wind des]. It was not surprising that the Duendes were able to unleash different kinds of elemental attacks.


    However, with a wave of Mark''s hands, he released a shield of Miasma, dissipating the attacks that were entirely made of magical energy.


    Still, there were some attacks that Mark had to evade. It was the [Rock Bullets] and [Ice Spikes] that had substance than being purely made of magic.


    A fire would not burn without fuel, electricity would scatter without a steady source and a conductor, and the wind would not take shape without a container. The moment that Mark absorbed the magical energy that formed these attacks, the attack itself would dissipate.


    Stone and ice, however, could hold shape after it was formed. It was a solid substance capable of maintaining it. Magic was only involved in conjuring the projectiles andunching it. After the bullets and spikes were shot, it would not stop even if the magic was gone unless it was destroyed or lost its momentum.


    BAM! BAM! BAM!


    Mark evaded the stone and ice with the p of his wings. Every change of direction he did would cause a visible ripple in the air as his figure would suddenly shift in different ces.


    "This is pretty hard to control."


    Mark murmured. Even he was quite surprised as to how each p of his wings would throw him in a different ce midflight. Nevertheless, Mark was starting to get the hang of it.


    In every p of his wings, his control became better and better. It was until to the point that his movements became controlled in a matter of seconds.


    Mark waved through and avoided the magical attacks and almost managed to reach the barrier around the castle.


    It was when a wave of ferocious energy surged towards him.


    And at this time, Mark noticed the surroundings darken.


    "That guy won''t just give up."


    Mark grumbled. It was one of Luserio''s illusions.


    At this time, Mark could not help but change the direction of his flight. It was because all of a sudden, the iing attacks suddenly multiplied not just twice or trice, but maybe, even five times the initial number.


    However, illusion or not, Mark could not tell. Even for him, trying to figure out which were real or not among the thousands of magical attacksing to him was impossible.


    But then, Mark stopped in ce. All of a sudden, he was surrounded by magical attacks from all directions. Front, back, above, and below, Mark faced an enclosed wall of a magical barrage. Mark could not see anything else but the attacks that were about to hit him. Furthermore, his sense of direction was obscured once more. In the middle of the illusion, he lost his way once more.


    What an annoying ability.


    ***


    In the castle, everyone watched Mark as he was about to get engulfed by the thousands of magical attacks. Even so, they did not stop.


    The soldiers continued to fire their magic, making sure that the enemy would have nothing, not even ashes, left.


    Luserio, who was now out of the rubble, smiled sinisterly. Without a doubt, there some of his illusions that could not affect Mark. However, it did not mean that everything he had would not work. And furthermore, the illusion he used just now was not a simple one.


    It was an illusion that would multiply the magical attacks, and despite being illusions, it would deliver the same effect as the original.


    This meant that all of the magical attacks the enemy was facing were just as real as they could be. And once Mark was engulfed by it, it would be his death.


    "DIE!"


    Luserio roared, releasing anger.


    But then...


    SPURT!


    "What?!!!"


    Luserio coughed out blood as he fell on his knees. Not only him but every soldier around him were in the same condition.


    The worst thing to happen was that Luserio''s sudden state caused his illusion to dissipate before it could even hit the enemy.


    It was when they noticed Mark, looking at them from above, with his eyes glowing red and releasing sparks of electricity.


    Without any magical attack to hinder him, Mark flew towards the barrier.


    CRASH!


    The barrier crumbled to nothingness with a fist from Mark that was covered in Miasma.


    And there, hended in the middle of the soldiers that were all unable to stand up. All of them had their eyes, nose, and ears were profusely bleeding as they clutched their heads in unbearable pain. Some even died in the spot, turning to dust as they could not withstand the suffering they were currently feeling.


    Of course, they would not be able to. What these people were feeling right now was the pent up suffering from the ves that Mark had been absorbing since he entered this ce.


    "GACKH!" Luserio coughed out a mouthful of blood while Mark approached him. "Wha-what did you do?!!!"


    It was unexpected for everyone.


    Mark was about to die just now, but the battle suddenly reversed in an instant.


    "Protect his majesty!"


    Shouts suddenly came from the castle as more people came out to protect their King. It was a group of ten heavily armed Duendes.


    Mark could not help but turn his head towards the leader of the new group. Unexpectedly, it was definitely one of the Princes as he had a simr mental fluctuation to Luserio.


    "Well, I guess it doesn''t really matter."<sub> </sub>


    Mark shrugged as his figure shes towards the Prince and his group.


    The group then froze on their steps as Mark appeared behind them.


    "Just how stupid can you guys get?" Mark asked. "You guys shouldn''t havee out and hid instead."


    As Mark finished those words, that Prince''s group all fell down to the ground before turning to dust. Mark then raced his arm towards the disintegrating bodies, absorbing their precious energies.


    "Firrio!"


    A woman''s cry was heard as she rushed towards the ash of the Prince.


    Without a doubt, this woman was one of Luserio''s queens.


    Grabbing the ashes with her eyes brimming with tears, the woman turned to Mark in hatred.


    "DIE!"


    She shrieked as her voice caused the surroundings to rumble. Even Mark could not help but wince in pain as her voice entered his ears.


    "Stupid."


    Mark grumbled as his figure shed.


    The woman''s shriek turned to croaks as her head separated from her neck.


    "Really stupid."


    Mark ridiculed as he absorbed the woman''s energy into the [Psycrystal].


    Everyone that was still alive stared in disbelief. Mark, without hesitation, killed a Prince and a Queen of their Kingdom.


    "MERENA! FIRRIO! ACK!"


    Luserio roared as he saw one of his Queens die pitifully.


    "Can you not act like that?" Mark said as he approached Luserio once more. "It makes me feel like I''m the viin here."


    "Y-you!!!"


    Luserio was speechless. But before he could say more, he was picked up by Mark.


    "You don''t have to worry. You will join your people soon. Of course, after I kill the others."


    Mark said as he waved his free hand. Miasma enveloped the surroundings, killing all the soldiers still alive.


    Their bloodcurdling cries echoed across the castle as their bodies turned to dust slowly. Unfortunately for them, none of the soldiers present in this part of the castle walls could move at all and could only helplessly watch theirrades die before they followed.


    "TCH! YOU BASTARD!"


    Luserio roared, trying to resist Mark''s psychic attack. If this battle happened before Mark stepped into this Kingdom, with Luserio''s mental strength and abilities, he would be able to resist it.


    Unfortunately, there was no way for him to resist the umted negative emotions of the ves that made even Mark kneel.


    "You can only me yourself, you know that?" Mark sneered. "If you just let us leave from the start and did not insist on taking back Lumeria, this would not have happened. And even with that, I might just have ended up killing you."


    Mark then threw Luserio to the ground and stepped on his head.


    "But no. I don''t know how you knew that Mei is my woman. It is your mistake for targeting my precious wife. You said it, right? The things you wanted to exchange for her. Then, what about I destroy all of those. I''ll make sure that you will have nothing else left before I kill you."


    Luserio stared at Mark. Although he had a mask on, Luserio felt like he was looking at a Devil.


    For the first time in several hundred years, Luserio felt fear.


    At this time, loud ps of wings were heard. Mark looked above and saw Char flying towards the castle.


    The Dragon thennded, blowing away the ashes of the Duendes left in the surroundings.


    "Gege."


    Mei jumped down from Char together with the others. It was the same for Lumeria and Teremillio, who turned back to their human sizes.


    Luserio looked at Mei. He was still mesmerized by her appearance, despite his current situation and the pain he was feeling. That gesture, however, made Mark strengthen the concentration of negative energy into Luserio''s mind, causing him to wail in pain.


    It was when Luserio''s eyes fell on Lumeria.


    "Lumeria, help me... I loved you..."


    However, Lumeria just shook her head.


    "My apologies, but I never did."


    "I gave you a lot of things before..."


    "I never wanted those things! What I wanted is my freedom! I begged you countless times!" Lumeria shouted from the bottom of her heart. "I had to keep up with your nonsense and live in fear! Do you really think that I will help you?!"


    "Mother, calm down. From today on, you will be free from this bastard."


    Teremillio tried to calm his mother.


    Luserio wanted to speak more and it was obvious that he wanted to curse Teremillio. After all, it was obvious that he was the one that brought Mark here to get Lumeria.


    However, no more words came from Luserio. Mark had already covered his mouth with a jaw cover made of [Blood Metal], disabling him from moving his mouth.


    "No more nonsense. I still have to eliminate everyone else."


    Mark''s words, however, made Lumeria grab unto his arm, stopping him.


    "What now?"


    Mark asked, frowning at Lumeria.


    "I-I have a request."


    Lumeria replied.

 Chapter 618 Request And Gratitude, The End Of The Kingdom Of Black Duendes

    <strong>Day ¨ƒ¨ƒ¨ƒ - ¨ƒ¨ƒ:11 AM - Spire Tree Castle, Kingdom of ck Duendes, Spirit Dimension</strong>


    Everyone''s attention now focused on Lumeria. She did not notice it, though, as her attention was entirely on Mark.


    Lumeria was hesitating whether she should continue or forget what she wanted to say. In the start, although she was amazed that Mark managed to bring Teremillio and find her in the castle, she was skeptical whether they would be able to escape at all. However, she was wrong.


    Alone, Mark defeated both the army of Demons and ck Duendes, and now, Luserio''s life was literally in his hand.


    It was unbelievable.


    Because of these thoughts, she wondered if she deserved to ask him a request at all.


    However, by Mark''s actions and words, it was clear that he wanted to eradicate every living being in this castle, and probably, the whole Kingdom.


    And a kind-hearted White Duende like her would not want such a thing to happen.


    Without a doubt, this Kingdom was inhabited by corrupt, evil, and malicious beings. In fact, the majority of the people in this Kingdom was raised and living that way. Proud and arrogant, while looking down on other races and enving them. However, not everyone was like that. Some were victims too.


    And in this circumstance...


    "Can you please spare the other Queens?"


    Everyone was not surprised. Mark and the others already expected that she would ask of this. What was surprising was that she specifically asked for the Queens only. It meant that the Princes and Princesses were actually not included in her plea.


    Of course, Luserio red at Lumeria with eyes filled with hate. He was already done for. Even if he wanted to deny it, there was no hope for him. And Lumeria''s request was basically cutting off Luserio''s lineage, only leaving Teremillio, who he had the least influence with.


    Luserio wanted to curse Lumeria. It was just he was not able to as Mark tightened his grip on the King''s neck before he could let out a single letter.


    "Just the Queens? What about Teremillio''s half-siblings?"


    Mark asked for confirmation.


    "Yes," Lumeria replied. "Among us, only two are willing to be with His Ma- Ahem...Luserio. The others were only forced by the circumstances. About the Princes and Princesses... I don''t know."


    Lumeria sighed as she nced at Luserio.


    "I want to save them too, but his influence on them is too deep. I''m afraid that its toote for them to change. Leaving them alone might create another Tyrant in the future."


    That was Lumeria''s fear. The birth of another tyrant that would oppress other races. After all, they were Luserio''s children. They inherited his abilities that could possibly grow stronger in the future.


    And unfortunately, unlike her, the other Queens did not care for their children, making them hate their mothers. It was not a surprising situation considering that they were children of an unwanted rtionship. Not to mention thatpared to humans, rtionships between Spirit Races were far feebler. That situation, however, made the influence of Luserio towards his children far greater.


    On the other hand, Teremillio, who had a kind mother, was both fortunate and unfortunate. He did not be like his siblings. Thi situation, however, gained the ire of his siblings due to both Luserio''s influence and their jealousy.


    The only exceptions were the First and Third Princes that were born under the same mother and the Fourth Princess. These three were children of the two Queens that followed Luserio wholeheartedly. Thus, they were not jealous of Teremillio but only loved to make fun of and bully their siblings. Not only Teremillio but also others.


    And to Lumeria''s request...


    "Well then..."


    Mark smiled. His smile, however, made the others uneasy.


    "What can you give me in exchange for their lives?"


    "HEY!"


    Of course, it was Teremillio who was the first to react. Pefile on the side shrugged with a sigh while the others shook their head slightly.


    Mark was Mark, especially in these kinds of situations.


    Lumeria could only look at Mark incredulously. She was speechless and did not know what response she should give.


    There was one thing that she was sure of, however. It was that Mark''s glowing eyes were not joking.


    In the first ce, it was easier to kill everyone in the castle in one sweep by how Mark handled the ck Duendes. And to fulfill her request, it would take more effort, especially now that the members of the Royal Family of ck Duendes and the other officials might already be hiding in their secret passages.


    Unfortunately, Lumeria had nothing to give at this moment. Well, aside from one thing...


    "Then... I..."


    Lumeria replied. However...


    "No, Mother. You don''t have to say anything."


    Teremillio cut her off and turned to Mark.


    "Boss, don''t be like this."


    To Teremilio''s gestures, Mark rolled his eyes.


    "Just what are you getting riled up about? I just want your mother to work under me, pretty much like you. It''s not anything bad, right?"


    "Haahhh..."


    Teremillio could not help but feel helpless. There was no way he could refute that. It was not bad. In fact, it was too good. Every time that they were with Mark, he was more or less babysitting them. Of course, when it came to working, they could not ck.


    Still, Teremillio wanted toin about how Mark would always do this kind of thing during times when the other party had no way to refuse. He had already done this several times in the Stone Fortress, after all.


    Hearing the conversation between her son and his Boss, Lumeria could not help but smile.


    "Millio, don''t worry. If it''s just working, I don''t mind." Lumerai grabbed her son''s arm and pulled him to her side. "This is much better as a change. Tryparing it to how I had been imprisoned in this castle for more several decades."


    Lumeria said all that, looking at the ursed castle in front of her.


    "Mother..." Teremillio sighed with a smile. "Alright."


    Finally, Lumeria agreed to Mark''s conditions. As long as he spared the other Queens. She would be working under him together with her son.<sub> </sub>


    "Well, then." Mark looked at Luserio. "Since I don''t have to kill the remaining Queens anymore, I have no need for this guy."


    And these words were the yful Tyrant''s death sentence.


    "AAAARRRHHH!!!!!"


    Luserio''s eyes widened as he screamed out loud. Fear, indignance, pain, his face twisted with different expressions as Mark started to erase his existence.


    The King still tried to resist as he tried to create illusions. However, hisst-ditch effort amounted to nothing as Mark riled up his subconscious.


    Amidst his roars, Luserio turned to dust in Mark''s hands.


    At the same time, Mark smiled as the [Psycrystal] on his arm glowed brightly.


    And there, a crystal appeared on Mark''s hand.


    "What a pity. It''s just a attributed crystal."


    Mark examined therge marble-sized crystal between his fingers. It was a crystal with a foggy gray color. There was no glowing orb inside, which meant that it was a crystal simr to those that Mark gathered before from the infected Spirit Races.


    Still, this crystal wasrger in size and had higher potency than the others.


    "Here."


    Mark said as he carelessly threw the crystal towards Teremillio. Caught by surprise, Teremillio almost dropped it.


    "This... Boss?"


    Teremillio was confused as to why Mark gave it to him.


    "Don''t tell me that you forgot what that is?"


    "No, I definitely remember. But... are you really giving this to me?"


    Teremillio could not believe it. It was the first time that he received one from Mark, after all. He had seen Amihan, Aephelia, and Spera absorb a crystal before and strengthening their powers. However, they were Mark''s direct subordinates. The people that were devoted to serving him.


    "Stop asking questions if you don''t want me to take that back."


    Mark said as he turned around to enter the castle.


    And to say, Teremillio was happy. Not only he reunited with his mother, and the threat of the ck Duendes was almost over, he even received a crystal from Mark.


    As he looked at the crystal, Teremillio wholeheartedly pledged to meet Mark''s expectations.


    Mark did not know this but to everyone in the base, receiving a crystal from Mark was a sign of recognition. And here, Teremillio''s wives swarmed towards him, happy at his current achievement.


    Though, it seemed like Lumeria was quite troubled by this. Not by the crystal, of course, as she did not know about it.


    What troubled her was the totally unexpected number of wives that her son had. Furthermore, all of them came from different races. However, she understood that it was different from Luserio and the Queens he gathered by force.


    All of her son''s wives looked happy and free.


    ***


    Mark''s group entering the castle started the final phase of the purge. At this time, Mark let Mei and the girls participate in killing the remaining unnecessary people inside.


    In truth, Mark wanted to do this on his own. However, Amihanined as Mark totally finished the battle with Luserio too fast. They barely had to do anything at all.


    However, it was not like Mark wanted to end it fast in the first ce. He was even training to get used to his current speed. It was just Luserio showed something dangerous and had to end it as fast as possible.


    What Mark mentioned was thatst attack of Luserio before he was forced to use his Empath Abilities to kill and disable every enemy. He was quite sure that it was not just some illusion magic but actually using an illusion to copy a currently existing object. In that case with Mark, Luserio used the iing attack and replicated it all to surround him.


    Mark could not confirm it for sure, but it felt dangerous.


    Although he might be able to deal with it to some extent, Mei and the others would surely fall victim to that attack. It was better to end it and not gamble.


    Now that Luserio was gone, Mark could let the others y.


    And to say, it was a massacre.


    The ck Duendes never stood a chance after their magic and illusions had been rendered useless.


    Like as they thought, they found the Queens and other important people hiding in a secret room below the castle.


    And as Lumeria requested, the Queens were spared. Well, just five of them. Aside from the Queen that Mark killed outside, the Third Queen was also killed. The moment that Mark''s group entered the secret room by force, the Third Queen attacked together with the remaining Princes and Princesses.


    Mark actually wanted to keep a few of them if they showed promise. But the way they behaved in front of Mark''s group, he decided to spare none.


    The important people of the castle, like the other General, Ellio, and the one that maintained the barrier, Ol''fir, were also there. And, of course, Mark ended their lives.


    Unexpectedly, that Demon, Ol''fir, also gave Mark a unique attributed crystal after his death.


    Lastly, the Subus, Il''ve. Mark kept her alive. ording to Lumeria, she was more or less the bridge of the alliance between the ck Duendes and the Demons. If Mark wanted information about what the Demon''s ns were, Il''ve was the best person to investigate.


    And there, the end of the Kingdom of ck Duendes was secured.


    Outside, the battle was still raging as the remaining ves fought for revenge. Char, who was left outside the castle, also joined the fray, killing every enemy it saw with a breath of its mes.


    Mark''s group also joined in,ying the whole Kingdom to a huge pile of rubble.


    It was far better to kill as many Demons here as possible. Not only the army of Demons would weaken, but theck of soldiers would dy their ns further.


    After another two hours of battle, only a handful of humans were left in the Kingdom. All life had been extinguished, and the Kingdom of ck Duendes was no more.


    All that was left was to plunder the treasures of the Kingdom. And then meet with the ves that did not give up despite the circumstances.

 Chapter 619 Remnants, The Nine Slaves And The Spire Tree Castles Treasury

    <strong>Day ¨ƒ¨ƒ¨ƒ - ¨ƒ¨ƒ:59 PM - Kingdom of ck Duendes, Spirit Dimension</strong>


    The scorched street, walls, and buildings burnt and engulfed by the mes of darkness.


    The ashes and dust of beings of the night littered the streets, blown by the cold breeze of midnight.


    The bodies of the mortals that littered the ground, looking at the sky with face dawned of satisfaction.


    These mortals might have died, but it was also their release. In the least, they died fighting, not cowering.


    Among the inhabitants of this small Kingdom...


    The Duendes, the Demons, the other races, and the human ves, all had died but a few. However, all the other races that managed to survive long had fled.


    And in the middle of the raging mes of darkness, only a few human ves remained. All of them sat on the ground, tired, injured, hungry, and lost. After all the suffering, the sadness, the despair, these ves finally achieved freedom. But now that they had it, none of them knew what they should do next.


    Escape? Leave this ce? But after that, what? This dimension was filled with danger. A few of them, humans, that were heavily malnourished and injured would notst long in the wilderness of this dimension.


    Going home? Where? To Earth? How? None of them even knew whether they would be able to live their lives here. If they did manage to get back, would they be able to go back to their old lives?


    p All of them were lost, not knowing what to do.</anda>


    "Hmmm... There''s only nine left, huh."


    That was when the ves turned their heads as they heard the voice nearby. At first, they thought that it was an enemy. But as they saw the man that started this bloody battle, they all rxed. It was not like they were not wary of the man. It was just that even if the man wanted to do anything to them, there was no way for them to do anything to retaliate.


    Nine weakened humans, against the being that destroyed this ce in a few hours? Only a fool would start a fight against this man.


    In the least, this man let them take revenge into their hands. If he wanted to take their lives at this moment like the others that were engulfed in mes, they would not resist.


    The ves were tired. If there was no decent future for them, they would rather die here. Unfortunately, like most people, they were afraid of taking their own lives.


    It was when they noticed, the man was not alone. They did remember that during the battle, they saw several people, even children, fight the Demons. That, however, was from a distance and thought that they were all Demons.


    Now, however, they could not help but look at this group.


    Aside from the wings and the sinister-looking armor, the man was a human. The little girls and the beautiful woman beside him also appeared to be human.


    But then, humans that were too powerful to be able to trample over this ce into ruin was quite unbelievable.


    The man then approached them. All they did was stare in silence. Not only were they tired, but it was better to stay silent than identally offend this Godly being.


    Unexpectedly, the man just passed by the ones nearest to him and approached a pair of male ves. The older man was quite heavily injured with a w wound that almost sliced his entire left forearm. The man''s bones were even exposed if not for the younger man desperately tying the injury with the torn cloth they had that was already heavily soaked with blood.


    The man stared at the two ves for a bit. He seemed to be checking the wound, or maybe, another thing.


    To the shock of the ves, the man stretched his hand forwards, and a small ck hole appeared in front of him. His hand entered the ck hole for a few seconds, and when he pulled his hand out, he was already holding a sealed test tube with a questionable-liquid in it.


    That was when he spoke to the two.


    "Use this. Make him drink it."


    The man said as he offered the test tube to the wounded ve.


    The younger ve hesitated whether he would ept it for the old man or not.


    "It''s for his wound. Take it or he will die from blood loss sooner orter."


    The man urged, and his words made the younger ve take the test tube. It was better to gamble than to let the older man die. The older ve drank the contents of the test tube, and miraculously, the bleeding slowly stopped. The wound was still there, but it seemed that it healed to some extent.


    Due to this act, the ves started to look at the man with hope. Perhaps, just perhaps, he was not like the Demons that enved them.


    But then, after the old ve drank the miraculous medicine, the man that gave it started to return to his group, thwarting their hopes away.


    However, the man spoke once more.


    "If you people still want to live, follow me. I don''t mind bringing you all back to Earth, though it might not be the Earth that you all know anymore."


    Without waiting for any reply, the man walked away.


    The ves were confused about what he meant by his words. However, they wanted to live. They wanted to go home. That was all that mattered.


    ***


    Mark walked back with the girls. The ves were slowly following behind them.


    It might be faster to just fly back to the castle where the others were waiting. However, Mark wanted to see the remains of the town as well as find things that might interest him.


    And along the way, Mark would wave Ignis, absorbing the ck mes that it unleashed before. These mes were special and under their control. It was better if the ck mes were contained to find things in the rubble easier.


    Unfortunately, there were very few things to collect. A lot were either burned or damaged by the battle. Aside from the weapons and armor of the soldiers that were left on the ground after they turned to dust, Mark only took a few items that looked stran-interesting.


    What made Mark happy was how he was able to extract magical energy from the dead bodies that did not turn to dust after they died. Although it was not too much, a few crystals were still valuable.


    They arrived back at the castle with the nine ves in tow. Sure enough, they were quite surprised to see Edzel and Pearl. Compared to the whole group, these teens were the ones that appeared human the most. Well, they were human, technically, and Edzel had yet to awaken his father''s blood.


    Aside from the members of the group, another person was waiting. It was no other than Il''ve, who already resigned to her fate as a prisoner. Well, she did not want to die, and all she could do was to behave.


    As for the other Queens, they were not present. They were already given their freedom and they were all preparing to return to their homes, or at least, try to find them. By the looks of it, they would be traveling together for safety.


    Actually, they could travel together with Mark''s group. However, they rather not. They were all afraid of Mark, especially he caused the destruction of this ce with only a small group in tow.


    ''


    Those things aside, Mark had onest thing to do in this ce.<sub> </sub>


    "Prepare for the night while we scout the ce one more time. We will leave in the morning. "


    Mark said as he led the three girls, Mei, and Amihan away.


    They were going back to the secret room where the Queens hid before with the other people of the castle. It was because that ce was also the hidden treasury where the most valuable things of the ck Duendes were stored.


    It was quite a hassle to go down a long flight of stairs. Fortunately, like the Stone Fortress, the ck Duendes used glowing stones to illuminate the ce.


    It did not take long and they reached the chamber where they fought the Princes and Princesses. The dust and blood were still fresh, together with a few bodies of dead Demons that remained.


    Leaving that chamber, they faced a door deep inside it. Unfortunately, they were immediately stopped by something.


    "Gege, the door smeed to be sealed with magic."


    Mei said, looking at the door that was about three meters tall with exquisite design.


    This door was obviously the treasury that even the Queens were not allowed to enter.


    "Let''s try this."


    Mark said as he touched the door.


    CRACKLE!


    A strong electric charge entered Mark''s body.


    "KYAA!!"


    Amihan, who was sitting on Mark''s shoulder cried out as she flew instantly while massaging her bottom.


    "MASTER! Why would you do that?!"


    Amihanined.


    "My bad," Mark snickered. "You all get away first. I''ll try to destroy this seal.


    Amihan, with her numbed bottom, flew away instantly. Mei and the three girls also retreated.


    And there, Mark sent a surge ofMiasma unto the door.


    CRACKLE!!!


    Surges of electricity spread out like lightning from the door as it tried to resist the Miasma that Mark was using to break it.


    However, its resistance was not enough for the Miasma that started to absorb it.


    CRASH!!!


    With a loud sound of ss breaking, the magical seal of the door was broken.


    "Alright, let''s go."


    Mark called the girls as he pushed the doors open. It was unexpectedly heavy, and he had to enhance his in order to open the door enough to let everyone inside.


    And there, Mark and his group were quite amazed.


    Bars of gold was piled up on one side. This might worth several million if sold back then before the outbreak. Now, however, these gold bars were worthless.


    Fortunately, there were other things, and the most valuable ones were on disy.


    First was the heads of monsters that Mark had never seen before. Like how hunters would disy the heads of their game, the heads of the magical animals were hanged on the walls the same way.


    And, of course, this was of no value to Mark, and they had to continue on.


    The disys were quite interesting. There were exquisitely made swords and armor. There were even some that were imbued with magical properties. A good example was one armor that could create a magical barrier to its wearer. There were also some magical weapons. Unfortunately, none of the swords were on par with Ignis.


    For now, however, this equipment did not matter. Not only Mark but the girls were also paying attention to something else.


    At the furthest end of the treasury, there was a huge humanoid figure. Of course, it was not an enemy, and Mark''s group approached it. It was huge with its four-meter height.


    With a body made of an unknown metal, the hulking humanoid figure looked like a statue.


    But for Mark, it was not a statue. Definitely not.


    "A golem, huh?"


    Mark said as he knocked on the metal legs of the figure.


    That was right, it was a golem. Looking at its strange design, the magical carvings on its armor, and even the sensation where it seemed to be able to channel magical energy in its body.


    Unfortunately, the golem was not moving.


    For something like this to be stored here and not deployed for something else, this thing might be broken.


    Mark looked around the golem and noticed the stack of papers that was ced near the broken golem.


    And to say, Mark was right. The papers had something to do with the golem.


    The magic circles that were engraved inside its body, the missing parts needed, and even its origins were written.


    Unexpectedly, this golem was already fixed by the ck Duendes. However, they werecking one thing to make it move.


    The ck Duendes did not have a core that would serve as the golem''s brain and allow it to move.

 Chapter 620 Relic, Riches And Instability, The Golem, The Treasures, And The Slaves Minds

    Day ¨ƒ¨ƒ¨ƒ - ¨ƒ¨ƒ:25 AM - Treasury, Spire Tree Castle, Fallen Kingdom of ck Duendes, Spirit Dimension


    Mark held the rough papers containing the records about the golem as he started at the humanoid contraption.


    ording to the records, this golem was made way before this Kingdom was established. They found it within the ruins where the Spire Tree Castle currently stood. That was right, the ancestors of the ck Duendes built this Kingdom upon the ruins of an ancient civilization within the Spirit Dimension.


    Unfortunately, the ruins were too destroyed to the point of recognition, only leaving a few things for the current people to see. Among those relics was this golem that the ck Duendes tried to restore for hundreds of years.


    They did their best and managed to fix the golem. Researching and tinkering, the ck Duendes recreated its whole body.


    The sad thing, however, theycked the most crucial thing. A core to make the golem move. And to the dismay of the researchers, there was no known method to create it. At least, not in their knowledge.


    And then, the reign of Luserio came. As the new King reigned as the most powerfulpared to his predecessors, he deemed the golem worthless. And such, the research on it stopped, and the researchers that were deprived of their passion left the Kingdom.


    All of these happened more than two hundred years ago. It was such a long time.


    Fortunately, everything was preserved well in this treasury, and even the golem and its records were kept in good condition. Although it could be seen how Luserio saw this thing as worthless as the valuable documents about it were left in the open near it and not stored somewhere safer.


    The stack of old papers on Mark''s hands was quite thick that it could be bound into a textbook already. There was no way that he would be able to read everything in one go. And thus, he focused on the four-meter tall contraption.


    "Mei''er, do you have any space inside your ring?"


    Mark asked, measuring the size of the golem with his eyes.


    "Umm... Let me see." Mei replied as she closed her eyes and activated her [Spatial Ring]. "About a quarter left. It''s filled with the things we picked from the street."


    Mark smiled wryly at that. The storage space in their rings that was as spacious as an extrarge hotel suite room was filled with items they picked up in this Kingdom. Most of it was the armors and weapons of the soldiers that littered the street after they turned to dust. Not all of it was magical weapons, as it was also rare within therge number they managed to get. It was just that the items were made of strange materials that Mark found interesting. In fact, there should be more of these items. However, they left the armor of those dead bodies that did not turn to dust after they died.


    "I''ll free up mine then. Store the things I take out in yours."


    Mark said as he started emptying his ring.


    "Master, you''re going to take this big thing back?"


    Amihan asked as she flew towards the face of the golem, poking where the eyes should be located. She could not understand it, after all. Like how Luserio disregarded this thing, once one was powerful enough, this thing would be useless.


    And Mark, who easily defeated Luserio, was far more powerful. Even the base might have no need for this as it was doing fine with severalyers of defenses. In fact, Amihan thinks that it was currently overprotected.


    "Why not?"


    Mark asked Amihan.


    "It''s missing a core, though."


    Amihan replied, circling at the golem.


    But then, Mark smiled.


    "We have three, though?"


    "Huh?"


    Amihan turned to Mark, confused.


    It was when the three girls took out something from the bag that I was carrying. Each of them showed a different colored stone ball on their hands.


    "AH!" Amihan finally remembered. "The gifts from Bath!"


    It was the gift that the three girls received from the God of Creation of Philippine Mythology. The hearts of living dolls. This might have a different name in Bath''s words, but living dolls were, without a doubt, golems.


    And now, they one in front of them that was missing its own.


    "Master! Let''s try it! Let''s try it!"


    Amihan danced around, exited. Shepletely forgot about the t gifts that the three received.


    "Let''s try itter. Or else, I might have done that already." Mark rolled his eyes while he waved the stack of documents he had. "I haven''t read all of this yet. It''s better to understand everything they knew before trying it out."


    That was right. Mark knew almost nothing about this thing. Just because they found one did not mean that they should immediately jump in to try something idiotic.


    What if the core could not be retrieved anymore? Or what if this thing could not be customized at all?


    Even Mark would feel bad if his little girls received something they did not like.


    In any case, this golem they found as the base, Mark would be able to study it and create his own golems in the near future.


    "Okay..." Amihan grumbled. She might not find the significance of having a golem, but in the least, she wanted to see if it could really move. "By the way, are you three always carrying those?"


    Of course, Amihan would ask that. Such precious items were being carried everywhere, and not even inside Mark''s or Mei''s [Spatial Rings].


    "Because we want to?"


    I replied.<sub> </sub>


    "Don''t bother asking them." Mark interjected. "I asked them the same before, but they always kept it inside I''s bag. They don''t even want to keep it inside our rings unless necessary."


    Amihan could only scratch her head. The little girls were really the same as their adoptive parents, strange people that were hard to understand.


    It took about half an hour to tidy things up. With a bit of effort, Mark forcefully opened a wide ck hole to make the golem enter his ring. After storing the golem into his [Spatial Ring], they continued to tour the treasury and see if other things would interest them.


    Unfortunately, the contents of the treasury, while having a wide variety, had no value for Mark''s group. Weapons made of gold, essories with beautiful gems, and even the softest cloth that existed in this Kingdom. Well, thest one made Mark interested, but most of the items were just for pure luxury.


    Among the essories, Mark only found five that exuded a magical aura. And, of course, he kept these things immediately. There were also two sets of gaudy magical armor and three weapons.


    Sadly, both armors were for heavy infantry. As for the weapons, there was a sword, a bow, and a spear. Mark tried to look for a shield, but there seemed to be none to his disappointment.


    Those things aside, the rest of the space avable inside Mark''s ring was filled with materials. There were horns of magical beasts, metal ingots that seemed to be what the armor of the soldiers was made of, and also some magical stones. The materials were quite in a variety. And it seemed that they were keeping these things in preparation for something.


    Unfortunately for Mark, there was no way to carry everything. Their rings were already full, even the bags they were had. And yet, there was still arge pile of unrefined ores and other things inside smaller rooms. Making Char carry all these was not advisable as they still had to travel back. They would need to fly, without a doubt, as this ce would definitely be swarmed by the infected because of the earliermotion.


    "It seems that we can''t carry everything."


    Mei said with quite a pity. Now, they could only wish that they brought Spera with them.


    "Gege, are we going back here to get everything else?"


    She asked Mark.


    "I don''t think we need to immediately." Mark shook his head. "Probably, we can after the dimensions fused."


    Mei nodded. It was understandable as this ce would definitely appear on Earth after the fusion. Due to that, it would be easier to transport these things as Spera would need lesser energy to spend to open portals.


    Packing up everything they could, they returned to where everyone was waiting.


    Unexpectedly, there was quite amotion. The ves were feeling down for some reason.


    Mark could not help but shrug. The ves looked better as the smell of cooked food emanated from the surroundings. It seemed that Edzel and Pear cooked some instant noodles for the ves to fill their stomachs. But then, why were they feeling down?


    "What happened?" Mark asked Pefile, who was leaning on the wall, watching the spectacle. "Did they learn that Earth now is facing ruin?"


    Surprisingly, Peflie had a wry smile.


    "It''s worse than that."


    "Hmm???"


    Mark tilted his head.


    "Remember that time here go slower than the Mortal World, right?"


    "A-"


    Mark froze a bit.


    It was true. Although the time was starting to get in line between dimensions, it just started recently. Before, while a bit unstable, time here in the Spirit Dimension was far slower than Earth.


    And thaty the problem for these ves.


    Pefile then started pointing at the ves. Without a doubt, they were unable to ept reality.


    "That wounded old man seemed to be here for about two decades already. Probably more or less. They stopped counting, after all." Pefile Narrated. "He asked us if what happened to the battle in Lamon Bay. But we knew nothing about it. He then said that the Japanese army were attacking when he got lost in the forest. That was when he was captured by Demons and was brought here."


    Mark looked at the old man that was covering his eyes while lying down on a soft carpet. He appeared to be in either the early sixties orte fifties.


    He then racked up his brain a bit as he took a seat at a nearby sofa with Mei and the girls.


    The Invasion of Lamon Bay. It happened from 1941 to 1942. It meant that while it was just two decades that this man had been here, already about seventy-nine years had passed on Earth.


    And by the looks of it, the other ves were in the same circumstances. Of course, they did note from the old man''s time, but they still came from years way in the past.


    Knowing that they had been lost in time after being abducted, it was no wonder that these ves undergone another episode of a mental break. What would happen if they learned that Earth now was nothing but a ce filled with infected trying to kill the living?


    Mark started to wonder if he really had to let these people go with his group. However, these people were quite hard to let go of.


    Why?


    Just think how these nine managed to survive a battle against Demons with their emaciated bodies. That was right. Compared to the other ves, these nine were not the same. Or at least, not anymore.


    From what Mark felt from them, they were Evolvers. Mutagen had invaded the Spirit Dimension, after all. But different from Evolvers on Earth, these people were emanating magical energy from their bodies, albeit weak that most people would not notice.


    It was not surprising since they Evolved in an environment filled with magical energy. Mark wanted to see if he could keep them and nurture them to be magic users. If that seeded, not only Mark could save on crystals, but he would have a very versatile group of magic users.


    However, it seemed that they had to ovee their unstable minds first. ept everything, their past, the present, and their possible future.


    In any case, Mark could only wait and see. Not everything could be forced.

 Chapter 621 Icy Waters And Ash Sky, Events Around The People We Knew About

    <strong>Day 143 - 7:31 PM - Arctic Ice Cap</strong>


    Under the Arctic Ice Cap, the cold sea flowed without any unusual changes. However, further below, a hidden ce was afloat, moving across the underground icy waters.


    A strange cube made covered in ice and frost was how would look like to others. Inside the cube, however, was a structure that most humans in the world would not imagine.


    It was a strangely magical structure, while at the same time, it appeared to be constructed by futuristic science.


    The gray walls were clean as a hospital''s corridors. Tiles as shiny as gems. And lights as bright as day. The phosphorus tubes that lined the walls showed a mystical aura filling the ce. No one would think that such a structure like this would exist in one of the most unexplored ces on Earth.


    Now, however, two people entered the widely opened entrance that, strange enough, blocked with some an invisible barrier that did not allow ice and water to enter. Even small animals like strange-looking crustaceans and fishes could not enter.


    "We finally arrived."


    The man said as he let down the gorgeous woman he was carrying and protecting in his arms.


    "Master, is your body okay? The water in these depths is very harsh. You also had to protect me."


    The woman said as she worriedly grasped the man''srge hand.


    "Don''t worry, Illia," The man smiled while caressing the woman''s hair. "You know what my body is. This much won''t harm me."


    "But Master still used up a lot of energy. You also had to fight all those monsters while searching for this ce. It''s better if we rest here at the entrance first before entering. Who knows what the Creator had left here."


    Illia insisted.


    "Then, as you wish."


    The man, the anti-god chimera, agreed with the woman''s proposition.


    These two were no other than Chimetrice and Illia that went to the icy arctic region in search of their ce of origin. Theboratory of the Creator, the mad researcher that wanted to contend against the gods of that time.


    Chimetrice might be something made to be powerful. However, he was not invincible or omnipotent. To find the ce they wanted to go, they had to spend a lot of time and struggled quite a bit. He had to fight and kill monsters that were unfathomable to humankind. Kinds of monsters that were not even listed in any form of literature in the past and the present.


    Furthermore, Chimetrice''s body was not made to withstand the pressure in the deepest depths of the ocean for too long. That was one reason that they took too long to find this ce that they had just entered. What was more was that this ce was not something built steadily on any surface but floated, drifting under the icy sea of the arctic.


    Finally, they managed to step into the ce of their birth.


    The ce that many unfathomable creatures were born. This structure went by the ingenious name of [The Ice Cube]. It would sound funny, but it was not given by the Creator but the people of the past. Of course, it was because the whole structure was made to be a perfect cube that was covered ice, but not only that. This structure had defenses that would use the icy energy within the surroundings to destroy enemies.


    In fact, it was one of the things that Chimetrice was afraid of. Even he would get harmed by these defenses that were mercilessly designed by the Creator. The Creator was aiming to go against the gods. And, of course, the defense weapons of [The Ice Cube] were also at that level.


    When Chimetrice was looking for this ce, he came alone and was cautious about everything. Fortunately, when he found [The Ice Cube], it seemed that the defenses did not activate as he checked. He did not know why. Maybe, it was broken after thousands of years without maintenance.


    And now, Chimetrice brought Illia with him, thwarting all dangers, just to explore more about what happened in the ce of their origin.


    "It''s good that we finally found this ce."


    Chimetrice said, looking at the surroundings.


    "That''s right. It took us many days just to find this ce. It drifted too far from its original location after thousands of years." Illia sighed in tiredness. "Just my did our Creator make this thing drift following the northern maic pole?"


    "Don''tin too much." Chimetrice shrugged. "By the current Earth''s standards, it was already too fast for us to find this ce."


    That was right. It might have taken several days for them to find it, butpared to humans that did not even know about its existence, it was already fast.


    And now, after a quick rest, they would explore the remains of their ce of origin.


    ***


    <strong>Day 144 - 7:31 AM - Bay City Settlement, Para?aque City, Metro Man</strong>


    With the Philippine Military, its people, and the Superhumans, the Bay City Settlement was still standing strong. Though for the most part, it was the Superhumans that was keeping it that way for the most part.


    Superhumans, the term had not been used until two weeks ago. It was the term categorizing both Mutators and Evolvers as a whole. Of course, the difference in strength and abilities were still there between the two. However, the terminology had to be used as there was a sudden increase in Evolvers from the general popce. And for the most part, soldiers that were always participating in battles held the majority of the numbers.


    At the moment, the effects of Mutagen on people became apparent for the popce. Their bodies were stronger than before the outbreak, with some exceptional people. It was the best circumstance considering that the infected were growing stronger for every single day that passed.


    And, of course, it did note without any trouble. Having more power than in the past made some people gain confidence, well, in a negative way. They became unruly, and some, making more uncontroble groups that tormented other people while the military was not looking.


    In fact, just this week, dozens of instances were reported, and they had to exile ten people for disregarding the rules. Not to mention some that they had to kill on the spot as they tried to kill people for the meager conflicts they had.


    Looking at this situation, it was quite apparent that the stress of surviving in the crumbling world was already getting affecting many people. For the worst part, receiving more power was a trigger for them to release it.


    This situation was not really helpful, considering that the scope of the military''s activities was getting wider and wider. Resources in the close vicinity of the settlement were getting scarcer and scarcer. To gather more supplies, they had to move further away from Bay City. Not only that it would pose more danger to the soldiers, but it would also weaken the defense of the settlement.


    The situations where scavenging groups, private or military, had to spend a day or two outside was also increasing.


    But as if this was not hard enough to survive, today, Randy Rando- ahem, the world decided to add another hurdle for everyone.


    Ashes brought by the wind covered the sky. The ash fell like snow, together with the smell of burnt cement in the air.


    It was not a good thing as not only visibility was affected, but it would also pose respiratory inflictions to many people.<sub> </sub>


    All of these wereing from the south.


    And from what it looked like...


    Taal Volcano had erupted.


    Currently, the higher-ups of Bay City were in an emergency meeting to conduct measures to the current situation.


    "Just what in the world is going on... Does the god really want to kill us all?"


    An officer could not help butin as he slumped on his seat. It was quite obvious that this man did not have enough rest due to the eyebags under his eyes.


    "General, should we recall all the scavenging groups?" Another officer suggested. "Continuing with the current situation would be dangerous."


    "I also have that notion." General Perez nodded. "It is better to tighten our supplies a bit than to lose people. Still, just why does Taal had to erupt now?"


    Everyone was disgruntled at that question. It was when Professor Co spoke.


    "You all can''t me anything for the eruption. It would happen sooner orter. In my opinion, it''s alreadyte. The Earth''s temperature had gone down a month after the apocalypse. With global warming getting addressed, it will also affect the volcanos, dying the eruption."


    They all stared at the Professor. Of course, no one could refute him. It was a natural cmity, and no one would be able to me nature.


    "We really can''t do anything about the falling ash. Instead, we should focus on the people. I don''t think that the tent city will be able to endure the ashfall."


    Captain D Rosa interjected.


    That was also another problem. Everyone could not help but give a deep sigh as to how problems were piling up one after another.


    At this time, they could not help but envy the New Infanta Settlement. Although they had experienced a disaster not long ago, their situation was getting betterpared to Bay City.


    In thetest report that they received through the radio, the New Infanta Settlement was already cultivating mutated crops and herding mutated animals. In the future, their state would just be more and more stable.


    Still, there was also another problem they did not know whether to believe or not. Also, from the New Infanta Settlement, the intel that the second wave of the apocalypse woulde. It was quite serious if it was a joke. However, in the current situation, it was doubtful if General Faustino would allow false information to go through just like that.


    And the most important part, it seemed that the root of information was someone they knew and could not ignore, Mark. Of course, it did note directly from him but from someone in his group. It was from Karlene Bautista, a rather famous actress in the past and the daughter of Major Bautista, which was one of the important foundations of the New Infanta Settlement.


    The day was still early for Bay City Settlement, but they had a lot of hurdles to face for survival.


    ***


    <strong>Day 144 - 8:11 AM - Ind Cove, Covndia Rd, Binakayan, Kawit, Cavite</strong>


    At the same time, ten kilometers southwest of Bay City, there was a settlement of about two hundred people.


    Being seven kilometers closer to Taal Volcano than Bay City, they experienced the ashfall much earlier.


    nd Cove was a resort hotel in Cavite surrounded by waters with only a single hundred-meter bridge leading in and out of thepound. It was a strategic ce to hold out in the apocalypse as long as they had enough supplies.


    And to say, they were in the same dilemma because of the ashfall.


    Even so, it seemed that their scavenging group was still preparing to head out.


    "Leader, are we still going to scavenge in this situation?"


    A man from the scavenging group asked their leader.


    "It''s better to scavenge now while the ask fall is still thin. We should get as many supplies as while we still can."


    The leader replied, making everyone understand. Well, even if they did not want to, their leader would still go out alone.


    After all, he had a deep grudge towards the infected that he would kill any infected on sight. The stronger the infected, the stronger their leader also became. At the same time, the more bloodthirsty he grows until he defeated the enemy.


    It was quite a strange ability. However, it was the same ability that kept the people here alive. After all, the road was too dangerous for them to travel to Bay City anymore.


    Still, their leader was a strange one. From what they knew, he came from Bay City but left.


    "Leader!"


    Suddenly someone called out, entering the room where the scavenging group was preparing.


    "What is it?"


    "A horde wandered by the other side of the bridge."


    "Good."


    The Leader replied, not even asking the number of infected as he rushed out immediately.


    And there, their Leader, Joseph Macaraeg, made another bloodthirsty massacre.

 Chapter 622 Into [The Ice Cube], The Disaster Of Magi-Science

    <strong>Day 143 - 8:10 PM - The Ice Cube, Arctic Depths</strong>


    Replenishing some of the energy he used up to reach this ce, Chimetrice led Illia to enter the door that led to the interior of [The Ice Cube].


    Approaching the door, the two could not help but raise their heads and look upward. There was a feeling of nostalgia in their eyes. After all, even though it might be less time in their sense of time, it was still several thousand years since they been here. However, it was not the only reason. It was because the door was gigantic.


    In front of them was a seven-meter tall double door that was five meters wide and had a thickness of half a meter. Not to mention that it was made of metal several times harder than titanium. Its weight was unfathomable that this pair of doors alone would make anyone question as to how this ce was kept afloat. It was such a door that even most Deities could not force open. And due to that, it did not even need any kind of lock to keep it in ce.


    Because it was such a kind of door, a piece of machinery that could open it automatically did not exist. Back in the days, there was a pair of golems that stood guard in front of this door. The two were tasked to specifically open these doors to its owners and invited visitors. There were two golems not because of aesthetics. It was because these two doors would not move unless both were pushed at the same time.


    And to say, just those two golems were quite a topic of envy due to the fact that while those two were not flexible in other aspects, their raw strength was on par with Higher Deities. Imagine how that kind of monstrous power was just being used to open and close these doors.


    Now, however, no signs of the two golems could be seen. Who knows what happened to them. Even so, it was questionable that the two golems were destroyed as there was no sign of previous battles were present at the entrance.


    "I''m opening it."


    Chimetrice spoke as he ced his palms on the doors.


    Forcing all the physical strength in his body, Chimetrice groaned as he pushed the doors open. He might struggle to open these doors, but an anti-god weapon like him would not be stopped by it.


    Nevertheless, it took arge amount of effort to open the doors. Chimetrice only needed to make an opening enough for him and Illia to slip through. Even so, it took him twenty minutes of continuous pushing to create enough gap between the doors.


    As the gap between the doors was created, they could feel the air was colder inside for some reason. Even so, the freezing temperature did not deter them as Chimetrice enveloped himself and Illia with a protective aura.


    Finally, they managed to enter the door. And to say, Chimetrice and Illia were surprised.


    The whole ce was...


    Wrecked.


    It was unexpected, considering there was no sign of fighting outside the doors. Furthermore, the doors were closed. Which enemy would close a door after wrecking the whole ce, anyway?


    Nevertheless, looking at the well preserved dead bodies lying everywhere, the conflict came from inside theboratory.


    The dead bodies did not belong to any human, Deity, or God. It was monsters that were unfathomable to people of both the past and the present.


    Chimetrice and Illia walked along the corridors dimly lit by phosphorus lights. While moving, they could not help but look at the preserved bodies.


    Near the door, there was a feline covered in metal scales. Its back was deeply dented, which might have caused its death.


    Not far from it, they saw the body of arge bird with gills. It was kind of hard to deduce what bird it was as its head already turned into meat paste with its beak lying in front of it.


    Another scene was a nine-meter-long snake with a body as thick as a human. However, instead of scales, it had wire-like fur covering its body. Its body was coiled unto another monster with an appearance that was hard to exin.


    It could be a bear with a turtle shell or a turtle with a bear''s head and limbs. The fur-covered snake coiled around it, crushing its turtle shell causing its death. It killed the snake, though, as its fangs were still deeply rooted at the snake''s neck.


    The abominations did not end there. While Chimetrice and Illia continued deep into theboratory and passed by empty rooms with broken ss chambers, they saw more and more dead bodies.


    One was a cobra with a nt-like body.


    Another was a scorpion with bat wings.


    Next was a dragonfly with pincers.


    And there was also a big green caterpir with hundred legs of a beetle.


    There was arge variety, and all of them were of monstrous size.


    The smallest one they saw so far was a crystal pillbug that was about the size of a basketball.


    "The Creator had a lot of fun after we''re gone, didn''t he?"


    Chimetrice said as he walked under the frozen body of an octopus-legged lizard that was stuck on the ceiling.


    "To create all these things. The Creator must have nned something."


    Illia replied with a frown.


    "That''s right. That man is always scheming something. These creatures might just be a preparation for a huge n. Unfortunately, it seemed something happened for each and every single one of these creatures to be dead and outside their chambers."


    Going through the freezing corridors, they continued. The goal of this journey was the core area of [The Ice Cube]. It was the ce of birth for both Chimetrice and possibly, all these dead monsters.


    As they continued, the dead bodies did not decrease at all. In fact, it increased further, making it harder to wave through the dead bodies.


    "Master, looks like the cold ising from that chamber."


    Illia said as she pointed at an open room.


    The two peeked into the room. And there, Chimetrice and Illia saw the cause of this freezing temperature.


    Unexpectedly, the impregnable walls of [The Ice Cube] was broken through by who knows what. There was a huge gap in the wall. Fortunately, the whole fortress was still covered with a barrier, and the seawater did not enter. However, also because of that, a thick sheet of ice covered the gap. It was causing this freezing temperature inside theboratory.


    Just what in the world was able to punch through this wall? Even Deities and Lower Gods would not be able to make a hole like this easily.


    This hole in the wall might also be the reason why Chimetrice encountered a lot of monsters while looking for this ce. All of those monsters might either be those that managed to survive or their descendants.


    "We can''t do anything about that right now." Chimetrice said. "Let''s go."


    The two then continued, changing floors and moving towards the core of the structure. [The Ice Cube] was not toorge. However, its corridors were designed to be a maze filled with experimental chambers making the travel take too long. Furthermore, a lot of things in [The Ice Cube] changed from what they remembered, making it harder to find the core room.


    The way to the core was quite uneventful. Everything inside theboratory was dead, after all.


    And soon, they reached the core of theboratory and was about to enter its broken down metal doors.<sub> </sub>


    At the door, however, they finally saw where the two golems that were supposed to be at the entrance.


    The two golemsy near the center of the core room, smashed into pieces.


    Not only the golems but a lot of apparatus in the core room were destroyed.


    And there, Chimetrice and Illia''s attention became focused on something.


    The Creator''s old body dangled on the wall with a metal spike embedded in his heart.


    Chimetrice and Illia finally entered the core room, wanting to investigate what in the world happened here.


    But then...


    WHIRL!!!


    Whirling sounds echoed as if a machine was suddenly powered up. The dim core room was suddenly lit up, along with the remaining apparatus inside.


    Both Chimetrice and Illia were surprised by the sudden event. The two of them readied their battle stance, waiting for any possible threat.


    It was when several beams of light were shot in the middle of the core room, converging into an image.


    That image, however, made Chimetrice frown and made Illia shocked.


    "I never thought that you wille back here, Chimetrice. It seemed that you were properly able to recreate your body after thousands of years."


    The voice of an old man echoed into their ears, as the lights converged into an image of a person.


    Of course, the image was no other than The Creator, the master of [The Ice Cube] and the maker of Chimetrice and the monsters in this ce.


    "It seems you''re consciousness is still alive, Creator."


    Chimetrice spoke with a cold tone.


    "Hahaha," The Creatorughed. "Alive? No, unfortunately. The true body died and his soul was eaten by hisst creation. As for me, I''m nothing but a piece of consciousness. You can consider me as an imprint. Of course, the true body is not powerful enough to create one so hebined the power of magic and technology to create me."


    The Creator exined as he floated towards Chimetrice and Illia. That, however, caused the two to raise their guard.


    "You two don''t have to be on guard. I can''t do anything but speak. And even though I''m created by him and was a piece of his consciousness, I''m different from the true body."


    The Creator, no, The Creator''s Imprint, exined further. Of course, the two still did not let down their guard.


    "I guess I can''t me your suspicions." The image turned around and floated back to the center of the room. "I won''t tell you two to rx. Even so, I will answer your questions if you have any."


    With those words, Chimetrice and Illia also walked to the center of the room.


    Of course, the two could not help but look around, estimating the extent of destruction in this ce.


    Finally, Illia could not hold it any longer.


    "Just what happened to this ce?"


    She asked, turning to the projection.


    The old man then smiled and replied.


    "It''s a long story which spanned several years. And whether you two believe it or not, it had something to do with the two of you."


    Those words took the attention of Chimetrice.


    Seeing that Chimetrice was now listening, the imprint continued.


    "You two should know the true body''s ambition, right?"


    "To create a godly being that can contend against gods. Fame and riches did not matter to him as long as he could create the ultimate being."


    Chimetrice replied.


    "You are correct," The old man nodded. "And you are his first sessful creation that should have fulfilled his ambition. A chimera based off an arch angel,posed with bodies of divine and mystical creatures. A body resilent and almost indestructible, together with a soul that could not be vanquished. Not even by the gods in that era."


    Chimetrice closed his eyes. Everything that the projection said was true. Although he was defeated, he could not be killed. And thus, they sealed him with a powerful curse.


    "However, there was a problem with you," And then the old man continued. "At first, you were an obedient child, following his orders. Nothing but a puppet. However, you slowly gained awareness because of her."


    The projection then turned to Illia.


    "Soon, you started to disobey his orders. Fortunately, you were sealed before you start to rebel."


    And at this point, the projection turned his head away, looking at the empty air in front of him.


    At the same time, a broken projection simr to a screen started to y a fuzzy recording.


    "Chimetrice, you being sealed and gaining awareness drove him to create another one."


    Then, the image of a creature shed on the screen.


    "Unlike you, however, that was modeled from an Archangel..."


    "The second one is of an Archdevil."

 Chapter 623 To The Deepest Depths, The Last Moments Of The Ice Cube

    <strong>Day 143 - 10:15 PM - Core Laboratory, The Ice Cube, Arctic Depths</strong>


    The fuzzy image shed unstably, revealing a creature that was, albeit the same as Chimetrice but was also too different.


    Like Chimetrice, it was a humanoid Chimera with body parts that came from different creatures. Unlike those of Chimetrice, however, just from the image alone, they could tell that each body part had a sinister aura of its own.


    It had skin covered in red scales, a mouth with severalyers of pointed teeth, red eyes covered in mes, muscr arms covered in wolven fur, and two legs that seemed to havee from a bull. On its head, instead of hair, it had red mes as if it was an Elemental Diety. And also different from Chimetrice that had six wings, it only had a pair of blood-red wings that emanated an aura of a dragon.


    And, of course, a characteristic that was present on Arcdevils, the spiraled horn of a ram.


    Compared to Chimetrice, it seemed that there were fewer body parts used in the creation of this one. However, the entirety of its body appeared to be far more powerful than Chimetrice in terms of raw strength.


    That, however, was what made it even stranger.


    Howe that something like this had wasposed of fewer body parts could give out such a menacing powerpared to Chimetrice?


    "Can you see this?" The hologram spoke. "This is your younger brother, Trimera."


    Chimetrice did not say anything and continued to observe the fuzzy screen, making the old man continue.


    "Don''t be fooled by its appearance just because it had fewerponents. I can tell that you feel it even just by this image. The explosive power that thisd had."


    The old man then turned to Chimetrice.


    "Your body had unfathomable resilience, endurance, and hardness. Even if you get hurt, you will heal perfectly fine after a while. Trimera is different. His body is not as resilient as yours, but it might be possible that he can destroy your body if you got careless."


    "I am sure that you already saw the hole in one chamber on your way here. Trimera was the one that made that to escape. An explosive strength that even this impregnable ce could not withstand."


    "How did that happen?" Illia interjected. "Even Gods could not easily enter this ce, where would The Creator get body parts that can disy such strength?"


    The old man smiled and asked.


    "Do you remember what you saw along the way after entering this ce?"


    Illia grew silent as she realized.


    The strange hybrid monsters that no one had seen before. Back then, before they left this ce, although The Creator had experiments regarding such a subject, it was still in infancy. And using the methods to preserve the body parts and patching them out together to form a creature, Chimetrice was born.


    Because of the creation of Chimetrice, it became easier for The Creator to create more hybrids. Body parts fused in a Chimera would either reject each other during failure orplement each other at sess. It was like the sess of Chimetrice, whose body parts functioned together, creating a stronger and more resilient body.


    "At that time, the true body only used mythical and divine creatures for experimentation." The old man said. "But after you, Chimetrice, was sealed, he found a few things wrong with his research."


    "About me having awareness?"


    Chimetrice asked.


    "While that was one, it was not all," The old man shook his head. "What the true body wanted is a weapon that could kill ruthlessly, whether it be a god or not. Unfortunately, that was one thing that youcked. Even that subus, beside you, had more bloodlust than you. The true body thought that it was a failure to use mythical creatures alone. And that is why he started to dabble in the experimentation of Demonic Creatures for his next anti-god weapon."


    Of course, it was not easy. Using body parts of Demonic Creatures caused more failure than sess. It was especially because these body parts had a vtile naturepared to non-demonic creatures.


    But then, as he continued on the experimentation, The Creator identally found something.


    The Creator saw a circumstance that only happened during failure and only when using body parts from certain Demonic Creatures. Using a stronger body part on a weaker body could result in that body part draining the vitality, causing imbnce and rejection on the subject and would likely result in death.


    However, that dead body itself could be used for experimentation of other things. And that was when The Creator noticed that the body part that caused death became stronger than before as he put it on other creatures.


    And thus, The Creator started to create hybrids for such purpose, cultivating the Demonic Body Parts and making them grow stronger. The stronger it grew, the stronger the experimental subject was needed, and he created more. It was to the point that he created hybrids far stronger than most creatures in the world. It was only to cultivate certain body parts that he would need to create the next anti-god weapon.


    After a few years of painstaking experiments and the creation of hundreds to thousands of hybrid monsters, he reached the point where the body parts he wanted to use, became on par with each other in terms of vitality and strength.


    Putting all those things together, Trimera was born.


    The creature of pure strength and speed. An Arcdevil Chimera.


    And to prevent the past failure from Chimetrice gaining awareness, The Creature made sure to wipe out any sign of consciousness on his new creation.


    Without it, Trimera should be nothing but a mere puppet, right?


    But that was where it went wrong.


    At this point, the screen showed thest scene of Trimera''s creation. It was the time for the Creator to wake up the new Humanoid Chimera. The two golems that were supposed to safeguard the entrance was there to secure the safety of the Creator. After all, there were times that new hybrids would react violently. Of course, he was confident that it would not happen as he did not give Trimera any capability of thought.


    The Creator pushed the buttons on his apparatus, draining the liquid in the ss chamber Trimera was in. Soon, it woke up, not peacefully, but filled with rage.


    It broke out of its capsule and charged unto the first moving object it saw, the golems.


    With a blurred sh, the two golems were suddenly smashed into pieces. Even the Creator was not able to see how that happened.


    The Creator immediately activated the security measures, activating the barrier to protect him while deploying weapons to subdue Trimera.


    But it was all useless. Trimera picked up a metal part from the smashed golem, twisting it into a spike, and threw it towards the Creator. The barrier shattered like ss, and the metal spike pierced the Creator on his chest. Although he was wearing protective clothing that stopped the metal spike from turning him into meat paste from the impact, it caused the force to throw him unto the wall, nailing him mid-air.


    Of course, he died there. There was no way that he would be surviving after his heart was destroyed.


    After that, Trimera went on a rampage, attacking and killing every creature it came across in [The Ice Cube]. The frozen bodies all over the halls and rooms were the remains of that onught. After a while, Trimera seemed to want to go out of this ce but did not know where the exit was. Thus, he punched a random wall, continuously, for several days. He was like a beast digging a way out of a cage. That was how therge hole in that chamber was created and where Trimera escaped out.


    "It was a total failure."


    The hologram said with another shake of his head.


    "Just what happened?" Illia asked. "Didn''t he erased any ability of thought from that guy?"


    "That was the cause of failure, my dear." The old man smiled. "I analyzed the data of the true body''sst research and found the reason. Removing any ability of thought on Trimera was the reason. It might have been fine if Trimera was made of the same creatures that Chimetrice had. However, his body was made of cultivated Demonic body parts, and these Demonic Creatures were malicious and violent in nature. A body without thoughts made out of body parts from vicious creatures. It was nothing but a violent beast."<sub> </sub>


    "We can''t deny that he seeded, though..." Chimetrice spoke. "... in creating a creature capable of destruction and killing gods. Even the wall that most gods could not even dent was broken by him."


    "Hahaha!" The old manughed. "You don''t have to be sarcastic. It was a failure through and through."


    RUMBLE!


    Suddenly, Chimetrice and Illia felt some shaking.


    "What is going on?"


    Illia could not help but panic.


    "So, we are out of time."


    The old man said with a sad expression.


    "What do you mean?"


    Chimetrice asked with a frown.


    "What do you think?" The old man shrugged. "You saw the destruction that Trimera did after waking up. A lot of things in thisboratory were destroyed. For several thousand years, everything that remained here was in a dormant state to preserve its condition."


    "However, you two came, and I had to wake up. This drained the remaining energy that kept this ce afloat."


    "You!"


    Chimetrice could not help but me the hologram. After all, they barely got in here, and there were things they needed to do. And all of that just to know that it would soon sink into the bottom of the icy ocean.


    "You can''t me me, Chimetrice. Sooner orter, this would happen. It was already a miracle that after thousands of years, it still managed to keep afloat. In the least, it is good that I managed to ry thest moments of the true body''s life."


    "And to say, warn you two of a possible threat."


    Chimetrice grew silent. There was no way to refute the old man.


    "Wait, is that thing still alive?"


    Illia asked.


    "Unfortunately, yes."


    The old man shrugged as a hidden cab opened nearby. Inside was a ss capsule containing an odd me inside.


    "This is a part of the mes on Trimera''s head. If this me was extinguished, it meant that he died. However, as you can see..."


    "He''s still alive somewhere, isn''t it?"


    Chimetrice said, closing his eyes.


    "Yes." The old man nodded. "Unfortunately, there was no way to tell where he is right now. Also one thing. If he is still alive, there is a high chance that he gained intelligence after several thousand years. You two should be careful since he might target you two, especially you, Chimetrice."


    "Why is that?"


    Illia asked.


    "You two might not know it, but a Chimera without a soul is nothing but a dead body. Both Chimetrice and Trimera were two pieces of one soul. I''m sure that you understand what that meant."


    Chimetrice took a deep breath and wanted to ask another question.


    However...


    RUMBLE!


    The whole ce shook once more. And now, it was stronger.


    "You two should leave already." The old man''s visage started to stutter. "Take the capsule. It will warn you two if Trimera is nearby."


    "Alright. Thank you."


    Chimetrice said as he took the capsule from the cab.


    "Go to the top floor of theboratory-"


    The old man instructed in thest second. And like an unplugged television, the old man flickered and vanished.


    RUMBLE!


    The shaking started to intensify. However, it seemed that it was still being controlled. Without a doubt, the old man was still doing his best to keep the ce afloat until the two left.


    And as the old man instructed, Chimetrice and Illia rushed to the top floor. It was called the Landing Chamber. A part of [The Ice Cube] that could detach like a ship and be used at times when the Creator had to gather more specimen onnd.


    "Illia, do you remember how to operate this?"


    Chimetrice asked Illia, who already rushed to the control panel.


    "Master, there are some changes but it seemed that we can still use it. The energy reserve is quite low, though. It can only operate for a day or two."


    "Good, let''s leave."


    And there, cracking the ice that covered [The Ice Cube], the Landing Chamber detached from the main structure for the first time in several thousand years.


    At the same time, the main structure of [The Ice Cube] started to lose altitude. It was the final moments of theboratory where two anti-god weapons were born before it sunk into the deepest depths of the icy ocean.

 Chapter 624 Observations, The Revenger And The Researcher

    <strong>Day 144 - 9:26 AM - Covndia Road, Binakayan, Kawit, Cavite</strong>


    The survivors of Ind Cove Resort watched their leader as heid the whole horde to waste. It was quite arge one, and it took more than an hour for the battle to end. Although what made it take that long was not the initial horde but those infected that were attracted to the ongoing fight.


    As usual, the battle was a bloody one. Leading the fight was, of course, their leader. He was a strong person in their eyes, capable of eliminating hundreds of infected alone. If there was something a bit disturbing about his qualities, it was his method of killing the infected.


    Every kill he made was as bloody as possible.


    At times, he would chop off the infected''s limbs first, causing the limbless infected to squirm on its umting pool of blood before killing it. There were also times that he would stab the Biters to the point that it bled to the point of dying. And at the moment that it became an Eater, that was only when its life would end by their Leader''s de.


    There were various ways of killing their Leader disyed before. All of it was bloody. However, among all of it, there was one that seemed to be his favorite.


    It was to split the bodies of the infected in half, bisecting their bodies right at the stomach. It would cause the infected''s organs to stter everywhere like candies in a jar that fell to the floor.


    Now that the battle had ended, the survivors had no choice but to go out. The corpses of the infected littered the bridge and the road connected to it. If they wanted to use this road, they had to remove the dead bodies no matter how they were repulsed to do so.


    After all, every battle that their leader led was always a bloody mess. However, despite how their leader was towards the infected, he never pointed his bloodlust towards his allies. In fact, it felt like he was two different people in one bodyparing his personality towards humans and towards the infected.


    "Leader, are we still going out? The ashfall is starting to pick up."


    A teenager approached Joseph and asked while covering his nose with a handkerchief. This boy was also part of the scavenging team. No one knew his real name, but he went by the alias Ace.


    "It''s more the reason that we should go out as soon as possible," Joseph replied, wiping off the stter of blood on his face. "If this ashfall continued, it will be more dangerous."


    "But still... Did a volcano erupt, or it''s another strange thing?"


    Ace said, looking up at the darkened sky.


    "Who knows?" Joseph shrugged. "Normally, ashfalls apanied volcanic eruptions, but we don''t have any way of knowing. There''s no T.V. or inte anymore."


    At this point, several people approached the two.


    "Leader, we''re ready to go."


    One of them said, calling to Joseph. And by their appearance, all of them were part of the scavenging group. It was a group of fourteen people.


    "Hmmm?" Ace looked around. "Where''s Wally?"


    The boy asked. It seemed that the group was missing a person.


    "I''m here! I''m here!" A scrawny looking teenager came running. "Seriously! All of you! Why did you leave me behind!"


    "Because you''re too slow!"


    The muscr bodied man among the group, Andres, said, pping Wally on his back jokingly.


    "OW!"


    Wally winced in pain, causing the group to burst out inughter.


    "Alright, it ends here." Joseph pped as he ended themotion. "Let''s go."


    And here, while the other survivors cleaned up the bridge of the bodies, dumping the bodies unto the river, the scavengers left on foot.


    It was not like they could not afford to use a vehicle. However, with the limited gasoline that the group could use now, it was better to reserve those for emergencies.


    Passing through the dead bodies, Joseph took a nce south of the bridge. There, he could see a high flyover.


    To others, it might be nothing but a normal contraption. A now deste road littered with infected and abandoned vehicles.


    To him, however, it was the very same flyover that changed his life entirely. It was the very same exact ce where his father took hisst breath.


    That was why Joseph was here. After recovering, he left Bay City. It was to retrieve the remains of his father that he was not able to see at all after he fainted that night.


    In the least, he wanted to give his father a proper burial.


    Unfortunately, bad things always happen in the apocalypse.


    With his newfound strength, he managed to reach the very same ce on foot, with a trail of blood behind him.


    However, while the remains of the destroyed military vehicles were there, all he found were pieces of gnawed bones and wandering mutated infected.


    It was the scene he expected, although he still hoped to find his father''s body. Or at least, his bones.


    However, with the hundreds of broken pieces scattered around, there was no way to identify what belonged to who. Thus, he gathered all the bones around the scene and buried them altogether, hoping that at least one of those bones was his father''s.


    On the burial, that was when he encountered the survivors of Ind Cove. From then on, he stayed at this ce until one day, he was appointed as the leader of the group.


    Of course, he knew that it happened because these people wanted to rely on his protection. He was not as naive as before to believe that it was given to him because he deserved it.


    In any case, it was his life now. Continuing to ughter the infected while protecting those that had been relying on him.


    "Dad, I''m going."


    He murmured as he led his group out into the chaotic city.


    ***


    "It''s amusing that a human can emit that amount of bloodlust. It''s a bit unsettling at the same time. Fortunately, the target of that bloodlust is only the infected. Most humans would not be able to handle it if they were targeted by that."


    Unexpectedly, someone was watching Joseph''s battle with the infected. Furthermore, the person was watching while sitting on the railing of the very bridge where the fight happened. In fact, the survivors that were removing the corpses from the bridge were passing in front of her.


    "Hah... Unfortunately, that guy did not pass the criteria. He had potential, though. But seriously. This is why potential gods are troublesome. Just theirck of destiny can affect people''s lives drastically."


    The person, who appeared to be a little girl, grumbled.


    "Hmmm... seriously. Just why is the territory I''m in charge of terriblycking talents."


    She said as her three eyes closed in resignation.


    "Just when is that guy returning here? It''s getting boring here."


    The girl sighed as she looked at the sky. She could not help but frown.


    "These visitors are here again. Can''t they just stay put somewhere else? They are too annoying. They even took an interest in that red Pure Spirit Tree."<sub> </sub>


    The girl then stood up, patting the dust on her skirt.


    "I better warn that thing to stay away from his base. He will surely not feel happy being spied by those visitors."


    And with that, the girl vanished like a ghost. She was heading towards that invisible unidentified flying object that was flying towards the direction of General Nakar, Quezon.


    ***


    <strong>Day 144 - 12:49 AM - Unknown space</strong>


    "The infected are evolving fast. It is very unprecedented. No, not only the infected. Even humans."


    The Greyling Professor muttered, looking at the data of his research since the start of the outbreak. Several translucent data windows floated around him, filled with letters, symbols, and even pictures.


    This alien was no other than Professor Alphfa Alston. The alien professor who was observing the infected in the containment zone, aka Antic City.


    "It is strange. The other instances did not evolve that fast."


    He murmured as he waved around his hands, shuffling the data windows around.


    Looking at the data windows, surprisingly, it was not only about Earth. The other data windows contained information about others, living or not, that was affected by what they called Universal Cataclysmic Pathogen, Infector.


    Of course, it was the name that it went by in generalization. In terms of subtypes, it was called differently. Mutagenic Pathogen, Mutagen, was only one of those subtypes.


    Each was affected differently by the Infector.


    Star System 218743. Enveloped by Infector subtype called VarSyn. One of the strangest pathogens due to being controble by songs of certain individuals.


    Experimental Eriellis. Affected by the PsyPathogen, turning creatures into mindless infected psychics and some immune people gained psychic powers. Unfortunately, no specimen was recovered as the whole exploded more than a thousand years ago.


    These were just three among hundreds and thousands ofs and star systems that were conquered by Infector.


    And now, Earth. And strange enough, Mutagen was something that behaved differently on every individual depending on their mindset, emotions, lifestyle, and genes. Among the types of Infector, it was the hardest to predict.


    "Is it because of the stagnant evolution state of creatures on Earth?"


    Stagnant Evolution State. It was the state where the creatures of a reached the peak state and could not evolve any further. Was it something all gic? Unfortunately, no. As the ease of life developed, it became more and more unnecessary for humans to find the need to evolve.


    However, when the apocalypse came, that ease and peaceful life vanished in an instant. As there was danger in every corner, humans found a strong reason to evolve. To grow stronger. And strangely enough, Mutagenplemented that need. Unfortunately, not only on humans but also the infected and other creatures on Earth.


    Reading the data windows, Professor Alston slumped on his chair.


    "I was tasked to analyze what pathogen will appear on Earth. But how am I going to do it? The pathogen on Earth is divided further into countless subtypes. Are they going to tell me to examine all the existing creatures and infected on Earth?"


    "Let''s put this forter."


    Professor Alston waved his hand outward, causing all the data windows to pile up before vanishing. Then, he pulled another data window out of nowhere.


    "Well then, what are we going to do with this?"


    He said, looking at the image of a huge red glowing tree in the mountains in South East Asia.


    At this moment, a small prompt appeared to his side, blinking with a red light.


    "Hmm?"


    His beady eyes blinked as he lightly touched the prompt.


    "Professor."


    A voice echoed in his mind.


    "What is it now? Betha. Your group is supposed to investigate that tree, isn''t it?"


    "Professor. We have an issue regarding the investigation. We are stopped from investigating by one of this''s guardians."


    Hearing that, Professor Altson rubbed his hairless head.


    "Then abort it." The Professor sighed. "We are only here to investigate. If we are stopped by the guardians, we can only retreat. It''s not worth it to provoke them."


    "By your orders, Professor," Betha confirmed. "By the way, I found something odd."


    "What is it?"


    "Do you remember the energy fluctuation in Camden in New Jersey some time ago? That one with your acquaitance?"


    "What suddenly brought that topic?"


    Professor asked, intrigued.


    "The Human DNA signatures of some people in the nearby school at that time appeared here for some reason. They were in the human settlement exactly under the investigation target. I believe you know these DNA signatures."


    At that, several data windows appeared in front of Professor Alston. Sure enough, it surprised him.


    "Professor? Is something wrong?"


    Betha''s voice echoed as the Professor went silent.


    "No, it''s nothing. I''ll check on these DNA signatures. For the meantime, I need you to investigate something else. I''ll send you the location coordinates."


    "I received it, Professor. We will head out right away. This country is being covered by as right now because of a volcanic eruption. It might be bad to our reactors."


    "Alright, I''ll cut it off. I still have a lot of work to do."


    "Yes, Professor."


    And there, the conversation ended. Professor Alston, however, was now staring at the data windows in front of him. It was the data windows of several survivors from Bally''s Casino that escaped.


    "Is that tree connected to that strange creature, somehow?"


    Professor Alston could not help but mutter.

 Chapter 625 Dropping Off The Loot, A Day Stop At The Mountain Base

    <strong>Day 145 - 10:15 AM - Mountain Base, Mount Mbito, General Nakar, Quezon</strong>


    Mark''s group had returned to the base once more. Everyone was definitely happy to see them safe and sound. Their worry was not surprising considering that the workers that cleared up the dried trees around Chiyo in the Spirit Dimension witnessed the danger of facing the magical infected from there.


    Of course, Mark''s group did not return without conveying the news to the Stone Fortress about the destruction of the Kingdom of ck Duendes. Without a doubt, they were shocked by the news. Mark''s small group managed to take down a whole Kingdom of Duende''s? It was not easy to believe. Well, if they knew that Mark did most of the work and it was just because they were caught while escaping, they might nt their faces on the ground.


    However, with the presence of Lumeria, it was hard to deny it. Not to mention that King Hieromano and Diwata Danaya would definitely not doubt Felenia, who was the princess of Brown Duendes that was Teremillio''s first wife.


    This news, however, put the representatives of the races in the Stone Fortress in an uneasy situation. They started to be more humble to Mark and his group, especially to Mei and the three girls. It was not out of respect, however, but fear. Their group that took down the dreaded Luserio and his Kingdom could do the same to their tribes with ease.


    It was extremely lucky of them that Mark''s group were their allies.


    Nevertheless, not all of the news was good. It was because of the threat of the Demons that was still lurking in the dark. The destruction of the Kingdom of ck Duendes would only dy them at most but would definitely not stop their ns and goals.


    Unfortunately, even though Mark''s group brought back Il''ve for interrogation, there was not too much to learn from her. Yes, she was thetest Queen of Luserio and the bridge between the alliance of Luserio''s Kingdom and the Demons. However, that was all. There was nothing more to her role. She was not even versed in battle or privy of the Demon''s ns. And in fact, she was nothing but a Subus with outstanding appearance until she was given to Luserio.


    For most of the Demon''s activities in the Kingdom of ck Duendes, it was Dregor that held the highest authority. And unfortunately, Mark already killed that Demon Lizardman.


    All they managed to get from Il''ve that dly cooperated to preserve her life, was information about the leader of the Demons that allied with Luserio and their primary goal.


    Unexpectedly, the leader of these Demons was the infamous Trinity of Demons that reigned in the Bicol Region''s darkest depths, Nagined, Magkabarubak, and Arapayan. These three Demons had a form of powerfully built handsome men filled with tribal tattoos on their bodies. But why just a leader but not leaders when there were three of them? It seemed that in the current situation, the three were in their true form of a Three-Headed Demon and was leading the Demons in search of something.


    Sure enough, although Il''ve did not know what it was, the target of the Three-Headed Demon was located under the Stone Fortress. And there was only one thing sealed in that ce.


    Fortunately, as Mark destroyed the Kingdom of ck Duendes and killed all the spies he detected in the Stone Fortress, it would take some time before the Demons could make another move. It would give the Stone Fortress more time to prepare.


    If lucky, the things that were predicted to happen would make the Demons not be able to make a move at all in the future.


    Even so, there was no time to let their guards down. When Mark''s group left the Stone Fortress, the representatives of the races were discussing methods to avoid Demons spies from entering the fortress in the future.


    As for the imprint of Diwata Luwalhati, there were no words about her. It was not like she could leave the sealed area, and there was no reason for Mark''s group to meet her either. Though as it seemed, as the imprint woke up because of Mark, Diwata Danaya started to seek advice from the ancient Diwata about many things.


    Il''ve, on the other hand, begged for Mark to bring her with his group. She had nowhere to go anymore. Leaving her in the Stone Fortress would lead her to get killed for revenge. In fact, many of the races were asking for her execution. It was not surprising since many warriors of the Stone Fortress died in the ambush the Demons orchestrated. Even if she was let go and returned to where her race lived, she would be killed without a doubt. There was no reason to


    Unfortunately for the races, Il''ve was captured by Mark. Only he would be able to decide her fate. And to that, Mark chose to bring the Subus with him. In fact, this decision made some of the races think that Mark was being manipted. It wasmonly known how a Subus could control men using their charm and abilities.


    Of course, it was not the case. It was quite impossible to happen to Mark. Not only Il''ve was extremely afraid of Mark, but he was also surrounded by girls that would not get affected by her abilities. Mark was immune to mental attacks, especially against emotion controlling ones. He was wearing one piece of the pair of Agimats that he got with Mei during their datest time. Just this piece alone could ward off mental attacks.


    But why did Mark bring her back? It was a question to many, even in Mark''s group.


    Lumeria was quite ufortable with Il''ve around. It was not surprising considering their situation before. The only difference now was that their positions were reversed entirely. Even so, now that she was also under Mark''smand, there was nothing she could say about it.


    Their return sure surprised the new members and the nine ves.


    Just the fact that Mark had his own Pure Spirit Tree filled Lumeria and Il''ve with awe. While the two knew that they would be following Mark to the mortal world, no one told them about this. Furthermore, it was a kind of Spirit Tree that they had not heard about.


    However, what amazed them the most was Mark''s base. A ce where people gathered under the Night Everred Spirit Tree.


    They had never seen a ce that looked so dark but filled with vitality. The reddish-ck walls made of unknown metal made the base appear to be impregnable, but the glow of lights and the leaves of the tree had filled it with life.


    And now, the residents of the base were in awe as they stared at the humanoid contraption sitting in front of Mark''s house.


    "You brought something amazing again, Boss."


    Huey said while observing the detail of the golem.


    "We just found it abandoned inside a treasury."


    Mark replied, making the others look at him with a sigh. Just where would you find something like this abandoned?


    "What''s wrong with you all? It''s true."


    Mark said, sensing their thoughts. What he said was true, after all.


    "Mark, can this thing really move or it''s just props?"


    p na asked, knocking at the arm of the golem.</anda>


    "I don''t really know. I''ll study it first."


    Mark replied once more, looking at the whole golem.


    The golem was too big that he could not find a ce to put it. That was why he took it out in front of his house. The only ce in the base where it would fit was Aimee''s house, but it would be inappropriate to store this huge thing inside another person''s home.


    "By the way, is there still space in the warehouse?"


    Mark asked Huey.


    The warehouse. It was one of the new additions to the base.<sub> </sub>


    Initially, it was just a small building on the north side of the base where they nned to store the harvest once the crops had fully grown. However, because of the attack of The Great One that ruined the crops they painstakingly nted, the building was rendered useless.


    In the preparation for the second wave, however, the warehouse was renovated into arge one where they housed the supplies that they gathered.


    At Mark''s question, Huey turned to Ed, the person in charge of the construction.


    "Ed, it''s almost full, right? Is the new room in the warehouse finished?"


    "Not yet. I still need to do some fixes on the roofing." Ed replied, scratching his head. "The room can be used already, though, as long as no fragile items are ced. A few things could fall while fixing the roof and it''s not good if things broke because of that."


    "It''s enough," Mark interjected. " We just need a ce big enough to dump the things we found."


    And there, Mark and Mei dumped the things they still had in their rings. Sure enough, that made the others gawk. Weapons, armor, even other strange stuff.


    "Boss, did you raid a castle or something?"


    Huey asked as he picked up a sword embedded with a yellow shining gem.


    "We did, right?"


    Mark replied, looking at Pefile, who could only shrug.


    After that, they returned home. Teremillio led his mother to their new abode while Il''ve was called to follow Mark. On the other hand, the still confused ves were brought by Huey to the dwelling and to brief them on the current situation of Earth.


    At this moment, eating lunch early, everyone gathered at the dining table.


    "Master, you still have another trip to do, right? Are you all going to stay for the night?"


    Odelina asked.


    "I wish I could." Mark shrugged. "We still have at least two trips to do."


    "Two?"


    Everyone turned at Mark, even Mei. From what they knew, only Pefile''s request was left. Of course, it was not the quest to find the inheritors of the Crystals that Freed wanted to find. That would count as more than one trip. Who knows how many trips would it take to find all the inheritors.


    "I just want to visit somece. There''s something I should check out."


    "Is that so?"


    Jaeya said, hearing his reply. Most of the time, she would ask annoying questions. But this time, managed to notice that Mark did not want to say it.


    "By the way, Master," Aephelia spoke. "Did Miss na and Miss Karlene tell the news?"


    "What news? I saw na but Karlene is not here right now, right?"


    "Ah, right," Aephelia remembered. "Miss Karlene asked Spera to bring her to Infanta to see her father. Then, Miss na might have forgotten to tell you. They received news that Taal Volcano Erupted yesterday. Bay City Settlement seemed to be heavily affected by the ashfall."


    "I see. That''s another hurdle for them, huh."


    Mark said with a sigh. Sometimes, things were already hard but life would just throw more rocks on you.


    Still, Mark could not help but wonder if his friends there were still fine. Also, General Perez'' wife, who seemed to have connections to Freed''s bloodline.


    In any case, there was nothing he could do about that. There was no way that he would be able to blow away all the ash or block the volcano with the crystals he currently had.


    "Well, Odel," Mark turned to Odelina. "Well stay for the night and leave in the morning."


    "Yes, Master." Odelina smiled. "I''ll make sure to make a good dinner."


    ***


    After the early lunch, time to deal with another business.


    "Come with me."


    Mark told Il''ve. There was only the two of them as Mark led the subus to the lowest chamber of his house.


    This made Il''ve a bit nervous. At ces like this was where dark things happen, after all.


    "Don''t worry. As long as you behave, nothing will happen to you." Mark said, looking at the Subus behind him from above his shoulder. "I just brought you here to show something and ask your opinion."


    Il''ve nodded as they headed at the furthest cell. Sure enough, this ce was a prison. However, what was imprisoned were not humans but infected.


    And at that furthest cell. The moans of pleasure echoed. Even Il''ve that was a Subus could not help but shudder at those noises.

 Chapter 626 The Lost Pureblood, Vems Possible Bloodline

    <strong>Day 145 - 12:13 PM - Underground Chambers, Cliff House, Mountain Base, Mount Mbito, General Nakar, Quezon Province</strong>


    Il''ve was quite unsettled as to where Mark had brought her. She started thinking about the worst things that could happen, even more since she was a beautiful Subus.


    The Subus and Incubus Races were Demons dreaded by many because of their ability to charm people and drain their vitality for consumption.


    A person whose vitality was absorbed would likely have a shorter life span, be sickly, and die from illnesses in the worst cases. That was why humans, a race that had short life spans, were afraid of these lust-invoking demons.


    However, while humans feared them, it was different in the Demon Realm, the darker depths of the Spirit Dimension.


    In the ce where most Demon Races resided, the Subus and Incubus Races were among the weaker ones. They did not have the physical or magical strength of other demons. That was one of the reasons why their race could never be independent and was always under the rule of someone stronger.


    If they were not under someone''s protection, the worst things could happen. After all, among the Demon Races, the Subus and Incubus Races possessed the beauty that other races did not have. It was not hard to imagine what things their race would undergo in a ce where the onlyw was someone''s strength.


    And hearing those unsettling noises behind the closed door in front of her, Il''ve could not help but feel afraid.


    What if Mark nned to do something like that from the start? What if that was the reason he brought her back?


    She did not know what to think of it.


    Yes, she was used as a bargain and became Luserio''s woman. It was not all because she wanted to do so, but it was her task. It was her mission. And even if that was the case, just by standing beside Luserio, she had freedom and luxury. Unless everything fell, no one could threaten her.


    Unfortunately, the n failed. Moreover, most of the Demons in the Kingdom of ck Duendes died. No, they got massacred than just dying.


    And now, would she be a ve for pleasure?


    While those negative thoughts stormed her mind, she heard an audible sigh from in front of her. That was when Il''ve realized that Mark was already looking at her with an annoyed expression.


    "Don''t think about unnecessary things. I already said earlier. Behave, and nothing will happen to you. Are you not listening?"


    "Y-yes, sorry."


    Il''ve replied.


    "What is behind the door is not what you think. Take a look."


    Mark said as he opened the door.


    Immediately, the unpleasant whiff entered their noses. It was a smell that was not unfamiliar to a Subus like Il''ve. However, the scent was too strong and seemed to have a very potent effect on increasing someone''s vigor. Even of Il''ve, just a single sniff and her face already turned bright red.


    Il''ve''s body started to feel hot. Of course, she knew why. She tried to contain it in. However, it was too potent for her.


    That was when she flinched as someone''s touch on her shoulder stimted the effects of the scent on her body. She was about to lose it.


    But then, a strange sensation entered her body from that hand. Thatfortable sensation made her release a seductive moan as the effect of the scent vanished from her body. Il''ve could not help but fall on the floor with her legs weakened.


    "Can you stop that?"


    Mark asked, totally annoyed.


    "I-I-I''m sorry!!!"


    Il''ve panicked. She also noticed that Mark was not letting go of her shoulder.


    "I didn''t expect that it will have a stronger effect on you. Odel and Aephelia can still handle it." Mark said, not minding the smell that was entering his nose. "I''ll hold onto your shoulder for now so you won''t get affected too much. Let''s go in."


    Il''ve struggled to stand up a little. Her legs were a bit numb. And to frankly say, a bit wet in between. That was a Subus for you.


    After they entered the door, the moans continued from inside. Even the squishing sound was now audible.


    As Il''ve peered inside, she could not help but feel surprised.


    There, a woman was present, sitting in the corner of the room, busy poking her insides with her sticky fingers. As the woman saw someone enter the room, she raised her head. Her hand was not stopping, though. However, as she saw that it was Mark that entered, a male, the woman stood up and tried to charge towards Mark.


    Unfortunately for the woman, a chain attached her right foot and to the wall stopped her. With a weakened growl, her face nted unto the floor. Even so, she did not stop. She tried to tug into the chains, trying to approach Mark with high sexual vigor. However, the chains on her foot were not just for show. She could tear down normal ones in a jiff, and thus, the ones on her foot were several times thicker and sturdier.


    This woman was no other than Vem. She was one of the raiders that attacked them back in Perpetual Help University and were one of the subjects of Mark''s experiments together with herpanions, Gifre and Logan. The result turned her into a lustful failed Mutator.


    Mark approached Vem, lowering his body to touch her head. Vem caught his hand, though, and tried to lick his fingers. As she did that, Mark raised his two fingers and...


    ...Poked Vem''s eyes.


    Vem was jolted by the pain and let go of Mark''s hand. Covering her painful eyes with her hands, she growled and rolled on the floor.


    That was when Mark grabbed her head and put her to sleep. As she had fallen asleep, the scent that wasing from her also stopped, allowing Il''ve toe closer.


    The Subus could not help but be curious at the woman that seemed to be the embodiment of lust because of her behavior.


    "Is she what you want to show me?"


    Il''ve asked, poking on Vem''s face. She could not help but look at Vem''s body. Her body was covered with armor at some parts, but her perky chest and strangely shaved under was exposed.


    "That''s right."


    Mark said as he picked up Vem andid her on the barely used bed.


    Il''ve saw that happen and felt strange that she could not detect any sign of lust or arousal from Mark. He was basically holding onto a creature begging to be used, after all.


    "Just what are you thinking?"


    Mark turned as Il''ve was not responding.


    "N-nothing!"


    She hastily replied and approached Vem once more.


    "Um... Can I take a look at her first?"


    Il''ve asked.


    "Go on." Mark made way. "That''s what I brought you here for."


    Il''ve took ast look at Mark before concentrating on Vem.<sub> </sub>


    And to say, Il''ve herself was curious about this woman. In fact, she could sense something familiar with Vem.


    Il''ve held unto Vem. Her right hand was on thetter''s forehead, while the left was on Vem''s lower abdomen.


    Mark watched the scene, unsure about what Il''ve was doing. What he could tell do was that Il''ve seemed to be injecting her magical energy into Vem''s body.


    "This..."


    Il''ve muttered with surprise. She then stood up and faced Mark.


    "How is it?"


    Mark asked.


    "Can I ask something first?"


    Il''ve replied with another question.


    "You can," Mark replied. "But whether I will answer, depends on your question."


    "This woman. What happened to her?"


    Such a simple question. There was no reason for Mark to not answer. As such, he told her what happened. Mark started about Mutators and Failed ones, to his experiment, creating the current Vem. Of course, he did not forget to say that they were enemies that tried to attack his group first.


    Il''ve could not help but look away from Mark after hearing what he did to Vem. She was even more scared to be his enemy now.


    "I already told you what happened." Mark did not seem to care about her reaction. "Now, tell me what you found out."


    Il''ve took a deep breath as she looked at Mark and started to exin.


    "I''m not really an expert at this kind of stuff, so I''m not too sure. But I think... This woman might have a Subus blood on her."


    Il''ve''s words confirmed Mark''s suspicion about Vem. Although he told her about Mutators, he did not mention anything about Mutagen mutating people in certain aspects because of their family''s bloodline. For Il''ve to say it, albeit being unsure, it was already a concrete assessment.


    "Um... There is another thing." Il''ve added. "This woman had the perfect body for a Subus. If she really had Subus blood, she might havee from the lineage of the ancient Subus."


    "You say ancient." Mark frowned. "They don''t exist anymore?"


    To that question, Il''ve lowered her shoulder with a sigh.


    "As far as I know, they are already gone. You can say that they are our pure blood ancestors. Right now, us Subus did not have any purebloods anymore."


    "It''s not like our lineage got mixed or something. It could not be helped considering our nature. However, that is not the reason why our purebloods got extinct."


    At this point, Il''ve sat down on Vem''s bed, lifting her arm.


    "You see this?" Il''ve pointed at Vem''s exposed skin and lined up her own arm beside it. "Our purebloods had lighter skin. Mine is darker because I''m not a pureblood. Even the Subus Races from other countries don''t have this light skin at all. Also, that smelling from her body, its a trait of our purebloods. That, however, caused them to be favorite ves. They were hunted down and caught, turning into toys of other races. But into entertainment establishments for the rest of their lives."


    And then, Il''ve looked at Vem with a sad look.


    "I''m surprised that I''m able to meet a possible pureblood. Unfortunately, you broke her mind already."


    "Don''t say it that way." Mark shrugged. "That''s way out of context."


    To say that he broke her mind. Although Il''ve could not understand what was wrong with what she said, Mark was disturbed by it.


    "Then, this will be your job."


    Mark smiled.


    "Job?"


    Il''ve asked, confused.


    "That''s right. Your job. I can''t have you staying here without doing anything, right? Besides, only a Subus knows what another Subus needs. About the aphrodisiac she emits, well lend you some equipment to deal with that."


    "That''s..."


    Il''ve was quite unsure. After that insane disy of Vem earlier, it would be questionable if she would be confident about it.


    "You can do it." Mark urged. "Aside from her insatiable lust, she''s not harming anyone. We already had one of her kind running about in the base and getting schooled properly. So if you are lucky and managed to teach her, you might have a pureblood in your race in the future."


    Mark''s words made Il''ve gulp. Her race having a pureblood once more. It was a great temptation.


    As there was nothing to do here anymore, Mark and Il''ve left the sleeping Vem. Il''ve still needed time to think about it and Mark was not in a hurry.


    However, before they stepped out of the chambers, Il''ve made up her mind.


    "Um, Sir."


    "So, you wanted to take care of her?"


    Mark said, without looking back.


    Il''ve was quite surprised as Mark seemed to have known before she could say anything. It was not the first time. Earlier, she noticed that it seemed that Mark had the ability to read her mind.


    Even so, it did not matter. She already decided.


    "Yes. I''ll do it. But... Will I really be safe here?"


    "Don''t worry. As long as you behave and do your job properly, you will be fine here."


    And there, Mark secured another caretaker for one of his experiment subjects.


    Mark tasked Joleen in briefing Il''ve of things around the base and to bring her into the ce she would stay in the future.


    "I wonder if Il''ve can turn Vem into someone like Ka."


    Mark murmured as he watched Joleen take Il''ve away excitedly.


    "In any case, there was nothing much to worry about in the base for now. I better prepare for tomorrow."

 Chapter 627 To The Next Destination, An Unexpected Addition To The Group

    <strong>Day 146 - 7:11 AM - Mount Mbito, General Nakar, Quezon Province, Philippines</strong>


    The sun had barely risen when Mark''s group left the base. Even so, almost everyone was present to send them off.


    Well, at least those that were currently present in the base. Spera and Karlene, along with other people, were not here, after all. The former was busy gathering supplies from everywhere she could with the team tasked with it while Karlene was together with her father in New Infanta Settlement with Ka.


    Seriously, being able to travel back and forth to see their family and friends was a privilege that only the people in this base had. At least, to a certain degree, as it was not like Spera could open a portal to anywhere she wanted. Also, it was only possible if there was an extra opportunity to open a portal as her ability was critically needed by the base.


    When Mark''s group left, it wasposed of lesser people. Teremillio''s business was done, and he already reunited with his mother. And thus, he, his mother, and his harem had to stay behind in the base.


    Although Teremillio insisted that he wanted toe and be of help to Mark to return the favor, thetter did not allow it. No, his abilities would be even more needed in the base than Mark''s group. Together with Lumeria, the protectiveyers of their home could be enforced further.


    Furthermore, the reason for the reduction of members was because the next journey was unlike the ones before.


    The Stone Fortress and the Kingdom of ck Duendes were not far from the location of their base. There was just a mountain or two that was needed to travel to get to those ces.


    The location of Pefile''s request was not that close to this ce.


    Was it in Infanta? After all, that was the ce where Mark met Pefile and Edzel.


    Unfortunately, no.


    The Tamawo was a tribal Spirit Race that originated from the Visayas. Meeting one in Infanta, Quezon, a part of Luzon, was utterly unexpected.


    Of course, it was not without any reason. The only thing was that Pefile did not want to say anything until the time was right.


    Furthermore, this time, they were not going to travel in the Spirit Dimension. Not only the destination was too far, but traveling on the other side would consume more time and would be even more dangerouspared to the Mortal side of Earth.


    Where did they need to go?


    The Province of Cebu, in the Municipality of Badian, to be exact. In that ce, the Kawasan Falls was located. That was where the entrance to the Kingdom of Tamawos could be found.


    It was not surprising considering the tales and legends that bound the Tamawo and the Kawasan Falls. The only question was what Pefile doing in Infanta and how in the world did he have a family there?


    In this journey, Teremilio was left behind even though he wanted toe. On the other hand, there was someone in the group that was questioning the reason why he was here in the first ce.


    It was no other than Edzel. Although he did not dare voice it.


    Edzel and Pearl were still among the group. It was not surprising that he was confused since Pefile and Mark did not say anything to him yet about the situation.


    Cebu was their final destination on this journey. However, they were not going there yet.


    From the location of the Mountain Base, traveling straight to Cebu would need them going towards the south and a little bit southeast direction.


    However, the direction they were going at the moment was directly east.


    Before going to Cebu, Mark wanted to pass by somewhere else.


    Of course, it was not where they would be going at this moment. This direction was towards New Infanta Settlement.


    The flight was not too long, and the New Infanta Settlement was in sight. Sure enough, there were a lot of changes since thest time that Mark went here.


    The dpidated houses were now fixed, and the barely finished walls now stood tall. Of course, this was nowhere nearpared to the current state of Bay City. However, it was way better than nothing.


    Well, while the defenses had been reinforced, it seemed that life here was still not that easy. Everyone had to work hard if they wanted to have their next meal. It was not like the Military would not provide it, but if they ran out, there was no way they could do anything but hunt for themselves.


    Sure enough, the appearance of Char, arge dragon,ing from the mountains alerted the people. The soldiers were calm, though. It seemed that they had been informed of the arrival of Mark''s group.


    However, it seemed that some people were panicking. It was clear that these people were new here and never saw Char before.


    Charnded in the Military camp without problems. Although there were quite many people trying to see what was going on from outside.


    Nearby, General Faustino was already waiting alongside the Supersoldier Mercenary, Jones Galley.


    "Nice to see you again."


    General Faustino greeted with a handshake.


    For formalities, Mark epted the handshake with a sigh.


    "We won''t stay long. Is the package ready?"


    Mark asked.


    The General could only shrug as he beckoned Jones to step forward. In the Mercenary''s hands were tworge briefcases, very identical to the one that Mark brought to Bay City Before.


    "I apologize for relying on you again with this, but I can''t help but take on the opportunity after hearing that you will go to Catanduanes."


    General Faustino smiled bitterly.


    Last night, Mark used the radio to contact the General to ask for any kind of information about Catanduanes at the moment. After all, it was one of the locations where a Military Settlement was built.


    But of course, the question of whether Mark would go there came up. And to get enough information, Mark had no choice but to say his n. Thus, the General took the opportunity to rely on Mark once more.


    Like back then, when Mark went to Bay City to fetch Mei and the girls, General Faustino wanted Mark to deliver one of the two briefcases to the Catanduanes Settlement. There was no need to ask what was inside the case. It was clear what it contained.


    Of course, Mark waspensated like before. In the other briefcase was printed information of Catanduanes Settlement along with a rmendation letter and several vials of [Regeneration Medicine]. This way, Mark''s group would not have any problems entering the settlement there.


    "You are really in a hurry, huh?"


    Jones said as he handed the briefcases.


    "I bet you guys are too."


    Mark replied.


    Both General Faustino and Jones Galley could only shrug.


    "We had been preparing since na and Karlene contacted us." General Faustino sighed. "But I want to hear it straight from you. Is this second wave really happening?"


    "I''m not sure either." Mark shook his head. "Unfortunately, the source of information is not someone we can''t ignore."


    "Who?"


    Jones asked.<sub> </sub>


    "Let''s just say that its someone like a God''s apostle."


    "You are serious, right?" Jones could not believe it easily. "I didn''t think that you''re someone religious."


    "No, I''m not religious myself. I barely prayed, and thest time was when I''m seven."


    Mark exined, making everyone around him look at him incredulously. But then, he added.


    "It doesn''t really matter who is the source. It''s not like there''s something bad in preparing for anything bad that could possibly happen."


    To Mark''s words, everyone could not help but agree.


    There was nothing wrong with preparing for the worst. What was wrong was when you already knew and did nothing until that worst came and you could not do anything but regret.


    In the middle of the conversation...


    "Hey, Smelly Uncle!"


    A shout was heard as the green-haired girl ran into the za. Of course, it was no other than the brat dryad-girl Emika. Behind her was her little brother, Mikio, together with Karlene and Ka.


    "Who are you calling smelly?" Mark shook his head. "Look, I''m even cleaner than you."


    Emika could not help but stop on her steps, looking at Mark and at her clothes. That was right. Mark looked cleaner than her. Even though they were VIP''s here in the settlement, it did not mean that they could squander resources like food and clean water. Right now, the clothes she was wearing were only lightly washed in the river.


    "Ugh."


    Emika could only groan in defeat.


    But at this time, Mark noticed that Emika had a backpack on her back. Furthermore, she was wearing some child-sized protection gear.


    Instead of asking the girl, however, Mark turned to Karlene.


    "What''s going on?"


    "This girl heard that you will being today. She said that she wanted toe with you."


    Karlene said, rubbing her forehead. It seemed that she was also nagged by this girl.


    "And she went on like this?"


    Mark asked, pointing at her attire that was ready for battle.


    "Hey! I got permission from Mom!"


    Emika interjected, jumping in front of Mark, trying to block his line of sight.


    "But you didn''t get any permission from me. Right?"


    "Uugh..."


    The bickering of the two could not help but receive hidden giggles and smiles from the soldiers around them.


    At this time, Emika''s mother, Rosamie, appeared, carrying arge backpack together with the mischievous dryad girl''s uncle, Professor Chervil.


    As it seemed, Emika really got her mother''s permission. By the looks of it, Rosamie was here to ask Mark to bring Emika with him.


    "You want me to bring her with us?"


    Mark asked before Rosamie could even say anything.


    "Actually, yes." Rosamie was embarrassed. "She had been begging sincest night. I can only allow her. Of course, only if you agreed."


    "You trust me that much to leave your daughter in my hands?"


    Mark asked.


    And, of course, Rosamie shook her head.


    "Not totally. However, I trust my daughter. I know her. You can''t underestimate her. She won''t interact with anyone that she can''t trust. Even here, our family aside, she''s only interacting with Jones. She doesn''t even y with other children. That''s why I think, you, that can make her behave like a brat like this will be fine."


    Mark was quite surprised by that. Who would think that this bratty little dryad would not interact with other people? Now that Rosami mentioned it, he barely remembered Emika talking to other people back then. Only to him.


    It was strange.


    And to say, Mark felt his nose a bit itchy.


    Mark turned to Mei, and she nodded. There was no need to ask her. She would go with anything Mark arranged.


    "Hah, alright. You can go with us. But remember to behave or this will be thest time. We are not going out to y."


    Hearing those words made Emika smile from ear to ear.


    "I know! I''ll behave! I promise!"


    Emika then raised her pinkie finger towards Mark. With a sigh, Mark epted it.


    And there, with a bit more farewell and words, Mark''s group left New Infanta Settlement with an unexpected additional member.


    And to say, this journey would be noisy, at least, towards Mark.


    Even so, Emika''s abilities could be of help, considering that they would deal face the Tamawo, who were forest dwellers.


    While riding on Char''s back, Mark started to read the files on the case given to him. Behind him, however, everyone now knew where he wanted to go next.


    The ce was the Catanduanes Settlement. And unfortunately, none of them why Mark wanted to go there. No one dared to ask either. As for Mei, there was no reason for her to ask at all.


    Well, no one dared to ask... Aside from one person.


    "Nee, Uncle! Why are we going to Catanduanes?"


    The other could only smile bitterly as to how this girl was such a brat towards Mark.

 Chapter 628 Above The Shoreline, How Emika Convinced Her Mother

    <strong>Day 146 - 9:01 AM - Mount Romelo, Real, Quezon Province, Philippines</strong>


    Leaving the New Infanta Settlement, Mark directed Char to fly towards the south, maintaining their flight over the eastern coastline of Real, Quezon.


    From Infanta, it would be faster if they flew southeast, over the ocean, following Pollilo Strait and soon, Lamon Bay. However, flying straight towards the direction of Catanduanes would lead them to a hundred-kilometer flight over the ocean waters. That was even farther than flying from New Infanta Settlement to Bay City, which only had a seventy-five-kilometer distance.


    There was no way that Char would be able to fly that far in one go. Going through a few inds was also an option. However, it did not remove the fact that it was far more dangerous to travel above the ocean than onnd.


    Well, it might be safer in other kinds of a zombie apocalypse, but not in this one.


    Onnd, one could encounter infected flying animals, infected humans, feral evolved animals, and humans. In most circumstances, these things were threatening enough to drive people to travel on water. The humans that one could meet might also be hostile. In Mark''s group, however, that was not the case. Flying on a dragon''s back, they would only encounter infected and feral birds. As for humans, only idiots would try to go and approach a gigantic flying lizard that was passing by. And since Mark was here, there was no way that humans would be able to sneak at them without knowing at all.


    On the ocean, however, although the main threat would be infected and feral birds, under the waters, however, everything was unknown. Infected fish? Maybe. However, who knows what kinds of mutations they might have undergone. It would not be hard to imagine a school of mutated fish that could snipe birds from the sky.


    And thus, Mark yed it safe. On their left was the ocean, while on their right were the mountains. He went between the two, making it easier to change direction whenever needed.


    The flight was peaceful... Well... Not exactly. They got attacked by flying insects several timesing from the mountains. As there was just one or two at a time, Mei shot them down without getting close.


    Along the way, Mark kept on reading the papers he was handed. The information he asked about. Although most of it was the list of survivors they currently had, some of it contained some crucial information.


    One paper, in particr, made him frown a bit.


    "Gege, what''s wrong?"


    Mei asked as she noticed this.


    "Look."


    Mark handed Mei the paper he was currently reading.


    "The New People''s Army?"


    Mei asked, reading just the first paragraph written on the paper.


    "Yep. It looks like some of their people found the outbreak an opportunity to rise into power."


    Mark sighed. It was not really unexpected.


    The New People''s Army was the armed wing of the Communist Party of the Philippines or the CPP. It was a principal organization, aiming to consolidate political power from "bourgeois reactionary puppet government" as what they saw. There were several provinces under their influence in the Philippine Countryside.


    They had been peace talks in the past, though it had reached an impasse with the current Philippine Government shutting it down.


    Presently, the Philippine Government and other foreign agencies designated it as a terrorist group, along with the CPP.


    There had been quite a few known encounters between the Government and the NPA, with most of it resulting in blood being shed by either party.


    Now, however, it looked like some of them decided that it was their time to take over the country. At least the Catanduanes, where one of their basesy, for now.


    Well, not everyone as it seemed. It looked like among NPA, factions were also present. For now, there were three that were known. One aimed for peace talks, the second nned to drive the Government out of the ind, andstly, the third was focusing on their own preservation.


    So far, the peace talks faction was not seeding, with the second faction creating conflict every time. Unfortunately, the second faction seemed to have the most members, rendering the first helpless. As for the third, they did not care what will be the oue of the two other factions as long as they could stay alive.


    In the past months, it seemed that the second faction was rolling, creating conflict with the Military at any possible time they could. Contesting for supply locations, ambushing Military Transport Convoys, and even soldiers and kidnapping refugees for ransom. Because of this, the Military Stationed there could not have even just a day of peace without worrying when those bastards would attack again.


    Unfortunately, the Military there could not just go and wipe them out. Not only that it would risk the soldiers being on the enemy''s home ground, but the soldiers were undermanned. If that really happened, it would end up with armed refugees having to fightbat-trained enemies.


    A direct confrontation was not viable to the Military''s current situation. All they could do was apply countermeasures and minimize the damage.


    "It looks like the paper is missing some details."


    Mei said, reading the paper halfway.


    "General Faustino said that themunication there is quite rough. They''re not able to buildmunication ry antennas over such a long distance. Every time they managed to establish connections, it''s fuzzy and short." Mark then showed the other paper in his hand. "Look, thest transmission is more than a week ago."


    It was one of the most unfortunate things. Sattelitemunication was down, and the Philippine Military had to rely on their third world equipment to transmit information andmunicate with other Military Settlements. There was no way that they would be able to establish clearmunication.


    Even so, the information that General Faustino gave was more than enough for Mark to have a proper insight into the current state of the Military Settlement in Catanduanes.


    At this moment, Emika suddenly yelled out.


    "Uncle! Look!"


    Not only Emika was but Abbygale, I, and Miracle were looking in the same direction. The girls were bored and decided to sightsee while flying. Of course, they were the first to spot that thing in the distance.


    What thing? Nothing, just a four-meter tall blob of humanoid walking meat. Yes, that was the exact description. Looking at it, it seemed to be a skinless humanoid filled with disgusting toad-like boils all over its fat body.


    "Ugh."


    Emika groaned as she took a closer look at the creature. It was far more than just disgusting.


    "That came out of nowhere."


    Mark said, looking down at the creature.


    "Smelly Uncle, is that a joke?"


    It looked like Emika got what Mark did.


    This creature was definitely out of nowhere. After all, they were currently flying in a ce where there''s only an uncemented road by the shoreline. Basically, nowhere.


    "This is the first time we encountered a Failed Mutator after a while."


    Mark said, ignoring the noisy little girl.


    That was right. It was not an infected by a Failed Mutator.


    Thest time that Mark encountered one when he turned Vem into one of them.


    It seemed that inside heavily popted areas, seeing Failed Mutators was next to none. That circumstance was not surprising since both Failed Mutators and the infected attack each other on sight. Inside cities where the number of infected was overwhelming, there was no chance that an insanely behaving Failed Mutator would survive.


    Here in the outskirts of the country, where the infected were lesser in number, the Failed Mutators could thrive and grow. And now, there was this disgusting looking thing roaming the barren outskirts of Real, Quezon.<sub> </sub>


    GROOOOAAARR!!!


    A gargling-like roar was heard as the creature spotted Char flying over it. Its mouth drooling with puss opened wide as it tried to catch up to the flying dragon. Unfortunately for this guy, there was no way it would be able to with its unsightly body.


    "I don''t think I will be able to eat lunch because of that."


    Emika remarked as the Failed Mutator roared in fury as its prey got away.


    "Good, we can save on food then."


    Mark said, going back to the papers he was reading.


    "HEY!"


    Of course, Emika took that offensive. There was no way that she would skip food on the road.


    "Emika." Suddenly, Mei spoke to the green-haired girl. "Just how did you manage to make your mother allow you toe with us?"


    Mei asked the question that everyone here was wondering about. By the looks of it, Rosamie loved her children too much. There was no way she would let her go around at times like this.


    "I told Mom that I will do what I did back then."


    Emika replied. Though she did not seem too proud of it.


    However, it just made everyone even more curious.


    By everyone''s stares, Emika gave in.


    "Um... Last year. I ran away from home." She stated. "You see, Dad''s too overprotective, and it''s choking. We can''t y outside, he chooses who we should befriend, and once he met our friends from school, he will start saying backhandments about them. Saying we should stay away from who. Even during my birthdays, I can''t invite who I want to invite even though Dad would invite the children of his coworkers that we don''t even know. Then, he will start drinking with their parents."


    "At my birthdayst year, I sneakily invited some of my schoolmates. Of course, my Dad can''t just drive them away to maintain face, but when my birthday party was over, he started scolding me. That''s why I ran away."


    Mei and the others could not respond at all. Who would expect something like this? What kind of parent was that?


    And then, Emika continued.


    "I packed up some leftover food from my birthday party and left home when everyone is sleeping. I can''t really go to my friends since I''m sure their parents will call home. That''s why I stayed in the streets. I don''t know how long, about two months, I think?"


    "Cough!"


    p Edzel choked after hearing that.</anda>


    Not only him, but everyone was looking at Emika like a strange child.


    "How did you managed to do that?"


    Pearl could not help but ask.


    "Oh! I dug through restaurant trash cans and slept with other homeless children. I didn''t even beg! Not even once!"


    She replied proudly.


    "I got good friends there. We all start running away every time welfare workers wanted to bring us away. Sadly, I got caught and they called home. Though it seems that Dad lessened his attitude after that."


    "Now we know where you got that bratty, hard-headed attitude."


    Mark remarked to the side.


    "Hey! I only pester a few people!"


    Emika retorted.


    "At least you know that you are pestering them, right?


    "UGH!"


    Emika groaned, ring at Mark.


    "You told your mother that you will run away again?"


    Mei asked.


    "Yes..." Emika replied sheepishly. "It''s boring there. The soldiers are always following us wherever we go and will wait outside the house. It''s even hard to y with other children since the soldiers are always watching. The other children are afraid of them, you know?"


    "This girl..."


    Mark shook his head.


    In any case, being under the Military''s list of people of priority was suffocating. It was not that different from being in a house arrest. No wonder her mother allowed her to join Mark''s group. And since she already had a record of running away from home, she might really do it. That would be dangerous. In the least, she will be safe on their side while traveling.


    "Seriously, don''t make your mother worry about you."


    Mark said, making Emika shut up.


    "I just want her to have time for herself," Emika said. "Mom is very busy taking care of us and doing some work. If I''m not there, she might have more time for herself."


    "Can''t you do things yourself so that your mother will have more free time?"


    Mei asked.


    "I can! But I''m bad at housework! I always end up worsening things than helping! That''s why I wanted to participate in fighting but they won''t let me either!"


    Sheined.


    No wonder, no wonder.


    If this girl was around helping at home, their mother might end up doing more work.

 Chapter 629 A Day Journey, Afternoon And Evening

    <strong>Day 147 - 12:22 PM - Barangay Pandan, Real, Quezon Province, Philippines</strong>


    Alternating flying and running, Char managed to bring them to this smallmunity located on the southeast coast of Real, Quezon. They reached this location, which was more than sixty kilometers away from New Infanta Settlement pretty fast, because of their Dragon Mount. If it was by road, it might take them the whole day just because of the danger they might encounter alone. Being able to travel through the air was an advantage at this point.


    The journey was quite noisy, though, because of Emika. The lively girl could not zip her mouth at all, although most of her topics and questions were aimed at Mark.


    Nevertheless, even though the peace and quiet were gone, Emika''s antics gave liveliness to the group.


    At this point, they stopped by the shore for lunch. And to save supplies that they were carrying, they went to search a seemingly untouched resort. Sure enough, there was no one here, and there was some canned food left in storage.


    On the other hand, Mark allowed Char to fly away to search for food. There was no way that they would be able to feed the huge lizard with the human food they were carrying. Besides, the evolved animals suit Char''s diet andrge appetite more. There might be ack of evolved animals in the middle of the city but not in the countryside.


    In fact, while they were eating, they just saw a dog-sized green crab pass by the shore. It did not seem hostile and even ran away when Emika tried to approach it.


    One thing was strange, though...


    "It''s strange that there''s no infected, but there are no people either."


    Pefile said as he looked around the area.


    "The ce is a mess, though."


    Mark said, looking at some overturned things and items thrown here and there.


    Even so, the ce might look like a mess, but there was no sign that the ce was looted. If it was, Mark''s group would not find food not only in the resort but also at some houses nearby.


    "It looks like everyone left in a hurry."


    Emika deduced. Everyone could not agree more.


    Unfortunately, there was no way to know what really happened here.


    And, of course, their lunch was not uneventful either.


    A loud crash was heard from the shore, making them run out of the room that they were eating. And there, they saw what another surprise.


    "Octopus?"


    Emika blurted out, seeing the huge octopus that seemed to be catching somerge crabs to eat by the shore. Well, more than shock, she was drooling. She could not help but turn to Mark.


    "Uncle, can we eat that?"


    She asked, making the others shake their heads with a sign.


    Unexpectedly...


    "I don''t know. Why don''t we catch it first?"


    Mark replied positively.


    And without waiting for anyone, both Mark and Emika jumped out. The two went to catch that octopus that was asrge as a Volkswagen Beetle.


    "Those two really get along well, don''t they?"


    Pefile remarked, seeing the two that ran out with the same goal. And everyone could not help but agree with what he said. Miracle was puffing her cheeks, though. It seems that the youngest of the girls was starting to get jealous.


    It did not take long, and the octopus was captured alive. It was overkill for both Emika and Mark joining hands to catch it.


    "Nee, Uncle, how do we know that it''s edible?"


    Emika asked, poking at the octopus'' slime body. The poor octopus that was only catching its lunch got entangled by both [Blood Metal] and the [Hair Vines] that Emika made.


    "Let''s ask Char when he gets back."


    Mark replied.


    It was not wrong to ask the Dragon since animals had the natural instinct to know which prey was edible or notpared to humans.


    The poor octopus was struggling as it tried to escape from its restraints. Unfortunately, Mark and Emika were both cruel. There was no way for it to escape without tearing all of its tentacles off.


    "You two, why don''t you just kill that?"


    Pefile could not help but ask. If they were going to eat it, why not kill it already?


    "It won''t be fresh if we kill it now."


    Mark replied. Pefile was speechless.


    Soon, Char returned. Even the Dragon was confused as to why there was a squirming thing with its Master now. However, Char deemed that the octopus was edible. It was good that there was someone to ask before trying it out.


    Well, Mark was not really afraid of poison as he would be able to push it out using his blood. Still, it would not be a pleasant experience.


    With lunch being dealt with, they continued on the journey. The only difference was there was arge octopus strapped on Char''s body. It was a strange sight.


    ***


    Day 146 - 7:21 PM - Caramoan Feeder Port, Guijalo, Caramoan, Camarines Sur


    The Caramoan Feeder Port. It was a fish port mostly used by fishermen back before the outbreak. Now, however, the port was barricaded by, no other than, the Philippine Army. Currently, this port was being used by the soldiers to travel from Catanduanes to the maind.


    This was not the closest area of Camarines Sur to the ind of Catanduanes. However, there were no properly built ports that the military could use on other nearer ces than this one. Furthermore, because of the smaller poption of the nearby residential area, the number of infected that they encountered was easily controble, and they reimed this port without any problem.


    From here, they would receive lucky survivors that managed to reach this ce and wish entry to the safety of the ind. And even though thest group of survivors that they received was more than a month ago, there were still soldiers stationed in this ce.


    It was not to receive survivors anymore, though. They were stationed here in case that the NPA tried to use this port.


    Of course, it was not like the NPA could not use other ces to anchor their boats. However, here was where the easiest ess to the main road was located.


    As usual, the soldiers werezing around. They only needed to respond to infected and evolved animal attacks. Fortunately, those did not happen a lot in this ce.


    But then, there was a sudden event at this moment.


    "Who are you people?"


    The soldier atop the walls questioned the group of people that arrived outside. It was very unexpected for them, and most of the soldiers were interested in the sudden event.


    Who would have thought that there were still people that would arrive at this ce?


    Furthermore, what surprised them was the appearance of the group. It was because most of them were females, and four were even children.


    To the soldier''s question, the not-so-good-looking man in front answered.


    "Here."<sub> </sub>


    Yes, that was the answer. Unexpectedly, the man stretched out his hand, holding a small envelope.


    The soldiers were confused. The current guard received the envelope through a slip between the barbed gates and opened it. As it was already dark, he beckoned hispanion to point a shlight on the contents of the paper.


    After skimming through the letter, the two soldiers guarding the gates looked at each other.


    "Please, wait a minute. We''ll call our superior."


    p The tone of the soldiers changed after reading the contents of the letter.</anda>


    The soldier then picked up his radio and started calling.


    It was just a short call. However, it still took five minutes before the person actually arrived. Even the two soldiers at the gates and the gallery were already apologetic to the group outside the gates. However, without the go of their superior, entering these gates would not be easy.


    "Where are the people iming to be hired by General Faustino?"


    A grouchy voice echoed as the person they were waiting for arrived.


    Unexpectedly, it was a soldier with a rather big belly. By the looks of it, he seemed to be sleeping when the call arrived. He was already sleeping even though it was still this early.


    "Captain, here."


    The guard at the gates handed the letter, and the fat soldier started to read it with his shlight. He then inspected the seal that was stamped on the letter that signified the authority of the person who gave it. Of course, it was no other than General Faustino.


    "Is this real?"


    The fat soldier frowned, waving the letter in front of his eyes. He then turned to the group outside, looking at them one by one.


    "You people are delivering something from General Faustino? Where is the package?"


    The man outside sighed took the briefcase that the beautiful girl beside him was carrying. He then raised it forward.


    "Here."


    The man said.


    "Alright, give it to me. Let me check."


    The gate then opened as the fat soldier tried to take the briefcase. However, his hand reached nothing but air as the man outside pulled the case back.


    "What are you doing?"


    The fat soldier almost screamed.


    "Didn''t you read the letter? It should have said there that I can only hand this to General D Pe?a. Besides, it''s number coded with a secret code that only in high positions knew. Don''t tell me that you are General D Pe?a? I just heard them call you, Captain."


    The fat soldier froze. Even if the man in front of him really gave him the briefcase, there was no way that he would be able to open it without the code. Either way, he would embarrass himself.


    "Are we allowed to enter now?"


    The man asked, turning to the guard instead of the fat soldier.


    No reply was heard, though, as the fat soldier''s permission was still needed.


    Here was when the fat soldier hurriedly replied.


    "Enter! Enter!" The fat soldier went out of the way. "Geronimo, lead them to the quarters first."


    As the fat soldiermanded, one of the soldiers stepped forward to escort the group to the quarters. It was a building being used as a barracks for non-soldiers that were here. It was mostly survivors that reached the ce that had used this building.


    While passing through the gates, however, the fat soldier''s eyes were glued unto someone.


    That was when the man leading the group turned his head behind.


    "Watch your eyes."


    He warned.


    Not only that, but the green-haired girl gave the fat guy a tongue, infuriating him further.


    However, the fat soldier held it in. If these people were really hired by General Faustino, there was no advantage in offending them.


    "What are you all looking at? Go back to your posts!"


    The fat soldier yelled as he drove the soldiers that were attracted by themotion away.


    ***


    "I''m sorry about that. Please just don''t mind him."


    The soldier that was guiding Mark''s group, Private Geronimo, apologized for their Captain''s behavior.


    "You don''t have to worry about it."


    Mark replied, although his expression did not change at all.


    Private Geronimo was a bit taken aback. It seemed that he managed to perceive what Mark meant by his reply. He did not have to worry about it. It was that person who should worry about himself.


    "So, we have to stay here for the night?" Mark asked. "Is there a fixed schedule for the boats?"


    "Yes, unfortunately." Private Geronimo replied. "There is only one boat your group can ride tomorrow at nine in the morning. That boat is scheduled daily."


    "Good."


    Mark nodded and did not ask anything further. Even Mei and the others were silent. Soon, they arrived at the barracks right beside the pier. It was just arge makeshift hut, though.


    "This is the ce?"


    Mark asked, seeing the dpidated structure.


    Private Geronimo sighed.


    "Please make do for now. This isn''t really the initial ce but... Hah. You already saw our captain."


    Private Geronimo was already waiting to be scolded. After all, who would want to stay in these dpidated barracks?


    "Alright, this will do," Mark replied, surprising the soldier. "Just be sure to call us if the boat arrives."


    Mark then tossed something towards the soldier making him catch it by reflex.


    With those words, Mark''s group entered the dpidated structure, leaving the surprised soldier outside while staring at therge can of tuna in his hands.

 Chapter 630 The Dinner, The Torture For The Hungry

    <strong>Day 147 - 7:38 PM - Barracks, Caramoan Feeder Port, Guijalo, Caramoan, Camarines Sur</strong>


    Mark''s group entered the makeshift building that was not any more than pieces of construction materials patched together. It was clear that this building was hastily made back when the outbreak started but was never built into a proper structure.


    "What kind of ce is this?"


    Emikained as she blew away the dust above some bedside tables.


    Not only the old tables and chairs, but even the ragged beds were dusty. It seemed that this ce had not received proper cleaning for a long time.


    "You don''t have toin. At least, it''s not as dusty as an abandoned house."


    Mark said, ruffling Emika''s green hair.


    What he said was true. An abandoned house would be even dustier and, for the worst situations, had dead bodies lying about.


    Still, for a dwelling inside a Military Encampment, this kind of thing was not eptable. But what could they do?


    "Gege, should I take out the beddings?"


    Mei asked.


    "Take it out. We can''t use these dirty beds as it is."


    Mark replied.


    Of course, Mark''s group was prepared for this journey. They knew that they would not be able to travel along the way in just one day. It was already surprising that they reached this ce in one go. Actually, at a regr pace, they would need at least one and a half days to arrive here. However, they rushed it, going straight at this port even though the sun had already set.


    Why?


    They wanted a proper ce to butcher the giant octopus. At best, they wanted it to be alive and fresh. Unfortunately, the shortest way to reach this ce was going over several mountains where seawater was nonexistent. Thus, halfway through the journey, the food they wanted to stay alive already died and had to be stored inside Mark''s ring. Although time was not stopped inside the ring, in the least, its body would be away from other elements that could hasten its loss of freshness.


    After all, who would not want fresh seafood to eat?


    As Mark agreed, Mei activated her ring, taking out several beddings made of soft fur. These were tailored from the skins of evolved animals that were hunted in the mountains. Most wererge mountain rats and deers, though, and while some came from the same animal species, it had different colors due to the difference in their evolution characteristics.


    "Let me help."


    Pearl said, volunteering to help Mei cover the dusty beds with the fur beddings she took out.


    "Wow, those rings are really convenient."


    Emika remarked. It was the second time she saw this as Mark had shown his when storing the octopus. In the least, she was not spoiled enough to say that she also wanted one. Still, she was amazed at how Mark''s group had such magical items. Nevertheless, it was not surprising considering Mark had Amihan, and there was also Pefile that was now in disguise.


    Speaking of Amihan...


    "Puha! Master! Are you not going to let me out?!"


    Amihan yelled as her head popped out of Mark''s backpack.


    This sylph had already lost her ability to hide from the sight of humans. Thus, she could only hide inside the bag.


    "My bad."


    Mark replied as he put down the backpack and let Amihan out. Aside from Amihan, there was also Ivy that Mark had brought this time. As the two got out, the bag was practically empty. It was just something for disguise, after all.


    "Why does she have to hide anyway? Uncle, didn''t you just let her sit on your shoulder back then in Bay City?"


    Emika asked, and she was not wrong. Back in Bay City, Amihan was out for everyone to see. That was also the case in the New Infanta Settlement. Now, however, he was making her hide. Not only her, but even Char was also left in the mountains, waiting for his orders.


    "It''s because we don''t know who is an ally and who is an enemy in this ce yet," Mark replied. "The situation in this ce is different from the other two settlements you had been before. It is better to hide our cards in the beginning just in case."


    "Ah! A wolf in sheep''s skin!"


    Emika eximed. It seemed that she was rather enjoying it.


    It was not hard to do, actually. Their group wasposed of three men, two women, and four children. It appeared to be a pretty harmless group. Of course, that was if the opposite party forgot the part that this group actually traveled from Infanta to this ce. A group that could do such a thing, even with a vehicle, was not your typical group of survivors. It was quite impossible to do in these times, even if all the members of the group were all grown men.


    It did not take long, and the beddings were fixed. They even cleaned the ce a bit.


    "By the way, Uncle," Emika remembered something. "I''ve read manga and novels giving packets of cigarettes and a pack of noodles to their guides. You''re the first one I saw throw a can of tuna."


    "Seriously, you can''t zip your mouth, do you?"


    Markined.


    "Not everyone smokes, and a pack of noodles is not that good when the person can''t boil water. Unless the guy wanted to eat it crunchy. Even if he managed to cook it, he won''t be able to eat it alone since the smell would scatter everywhere. You should know whates next after that. There''s no way a good soldier would be able to reject hisrades if they asked him for some. In the least, an easy-open can of tuna could be eaten immediately in a corner."


    "Ah, I see."


    Emika nodded. She agreed with what Mark did.


    "Gege, what should we do about dinner?"


    Mei asked. In fact, there was no mention of dinner being given by the soldiers at all.


    "Of course, we are cooking." Mark said as he pulled out a tentacle of the octopus from his ring. "Takoyaki would be good but we can''t really cook something like that here. Let''s just marinate it a bit and cover it with breading."


    And with that, they started cooking inside the dpidated barracks.


    ***


    "How is that group that arrived earlier?"


    The fat soldier, Captain Zacaria, asked one of the soldiers that were on patrol.


    Captain Zacaria was currently sitting in the office area, looking closely at the letter that was still with him. He was trying to examine if this letter was real or not. Unfortunately, from the format to the seal, there was no doubt that it was authentic.


    "Sir, that group is now at the temporary shelter."<sub> </sub>


    The soldier replied.


    "They didn''te out or ask anything? How about food? Most survivors that arrived here before were like starving dogs asking for food the moment they arrived."


    Captain Zacaria said with eyes filled with contempt.


    "Nothing of sorts, Sir."


    The soldier replied with a little shake of his head.


    "Oh well, no matter. It''s better if they don''t ask. We can conserve more food that way. You can go now."


    The fat captain said as he drove his subordinate away.


    With those words, the soldier turned around and left. The moment the captain could not see his face anymore, his expression changed, gritting his teeth in annoyance.


    Captain Zacaria did not notice that since his mind was preupied with something else. As the soldier left his office, he started to rummage on his things. He soon found a radio. Strangely, though, it was not a model that was currently being used by the military.


    He was supposed to report to the higher positions about the arrival of the messengers from Infanta Settlement. But for sure, it was not them that this fat man was trying to contact.


    ***


    "Conserving food, my ass. You''re the one who should conserve on food, you pig."


    The soldier grumbled after he closed the door of the office. He then left, looking for his close friend.


    Unexpectedly, the soldier did not find his friend in the usual spots. Looking around some more, he found his friend, Private Geronimo. He was hiding at the sandy part of the port below the deck.


    The soldier was confused as to what his friend was doing here, sitting in the corner.


    Geronimo did not notice him. As such, it was time to sneak on the guy.


    "BUAH!"


    The soldier cried out as he grabbed Geronimo''s shoulders.


    "SH*T!" Geronimo jumped, shocked. "F*CK! Padua! You scared me!"


    Geronimo''s face was pale as he received the scare of his life. However, he noticed that it was not only him who was surprised. Padua was staring at him, no, his hand. He noticed that he was still holding onto what he was eating sneakily.


    "You want?"


    Geronimo said awkwardly.


    "S-sh*t, dude. Give me some!"


    Padua said without shame. The two were friends since they were just cadets. Having a face between the two was history.


    With that, the two sat down, sharing the can of tuna together.


    "Damn! This is good. It''s been a long time I got to eat something like this. The rations we recieves tastes like sh*t."


    Padua said, munching on the kes of tuna in his spoon.


    "Seriously, pipe down." Geronimoined. "You''re already a soldier. Stop spewing curses everywhere and have some decorum."


    "Who minds decorum in a private matter? Even our president curses in his speeches."


    Padua replied, making Geronimo sigh.


    "You really got this from those guys? If I knew, I would have volunteered to guide them"


    Padua added after hearing where the can of tuna came from. At first, he thought that his friend stole it somewhere.


    "It''s not like I volunteered myself, alright?" Geronimo shrugged. "I just got lucky."


    "Lucky, my ass." Padua retorted. "You''re just being bullied by that fat bastard, and that is why he always calls you to do menial tasks."


    That was right. While Padua was a person that was giving a decent front but was hard to control in the back, Geronimo was the opposite. Thus, he was easy to be targetted by bullying even back in the academy. Fortunately, Padua was there to shield him at those times. Unfortunately, even Padua could not do anything to the fat bastard that was ordering them right now.


    Well, Geronimo was also right, though. Amidst the bullying, he received arge can of tuna to snack on. In fact, he only wanted to eat half of it and gave the other half to Padua sneakily.There was no need to do that now, however.


    While the two were eating sneakily, a suddenmotion entered their ears. Along with the noise, a fragrant smell entered their noses, making their stomachs grumble.


    "What the f*ck?!" Padua cried out. "Is someone cooking?"


    Without thinking, Padua stood up, sniffing the direction where the smell wasing from.


    "It ising from there!" Padua started to follow the smell before turning back to Geronimo. "Let''s go!"


    Geronimo could only scratch his head and followed behind his friend.


    Soon, they arrived at the ce where the smell wasing from. To no surprise, not only the two friends were here, but there were also other soldiers. It was not wrong to say that all of the soldiers currently not on duty were attracted to the smell. It was expected since the port was just small.


    The unexpected thing, however, the smell wasing from the dpidated barracks.


    And thus, everyone was confused. Mass hallucination? Maybe. After all, that ce had no cooking equipment at all. And right now, only that group that arrived earlier was inside. However, none of them saw the group havingrge baggage at all. There was no way that they could have brought cooking equipment.


    "What is going on here!"


    A grouchy roar was heard and the soldiers parted to make way. Of course, it was no other than the pig captain, Zacaria.


    The soldiers became silent, but themotion did not die down. After all, the smell of freshly fried food continuously entered their noses.


    It was torture on their stomachs that was used to eating tasteless food.

 Chapter 631 The Bait, Determining The Power Balance In The Military Encampment

    <strong>Day 146 - 7:59 PM - Barracks, Caramoan Feeder Port, Guijalo, Caramoan, Camarines Sur</strong>


    "It''s getting noisy outside."


    Mei said with a frown.


    Together with Pearl, she was frying the breaded octopus cuts using a portable stove. Even with the sizzling sound of the oil in the saucepan, she could hear the noiseing from outside.


    "Don''t mind them."


    Mark ruffled Mei''s hair as he stood behind her to see the octopus inside the saucepan. By Odelina''s teachings, Mei, who barely had experience in the kitchen before, could now cook dishes perfectly. She was even careful that both sides of the octopus cut were evenly fried, flipping it every now and then.


    "Big Sister Mei, how long will it take? I''m hungry."


    Emika asked while sitting on her bed. Just from the smell, it looked like she was about to drool.


    "Wait patiently, will you." Mark shrugged as he pointed his daughters with his eyes. "Look, they are younger than you, but they are waiting patiently."


    Emika turned to the three girls that were also waiting for the food. Well, only two of them since Miracle could not eat anything aside from blood. This made Emika a bit embarrassed. She was two years older than I, the oldest of the three who was just eleven, and yet, she appeared to be the most childish. Her face turned a bit sour as she finally chose to zip her mouth and wait.


    Still, the smell of fried food was just that appetizing.


    It was too appetizing that even the soldiers, who were supposed to be disciplined people, could not help but gather outside the barracks.


    But then, Mark shrugged as he suddenly turned around and approached the door to everyone''s confusion. On the other hand, Pefile sighed. Mark was up to something evil again.


    Mark pulled the door open without warning, wearing a nd expression on his face.


    Outside the door was the fat captain, with his right hand, awkwardly stretched out, about to push the door open. The surprise on the fat guy''s face was phenomenal as his small eyes surrounded by fat were opened widely.


    "Is there a problem?"


    Mark asked, purposely ignoring the fat guy''s posture, making him even more embarrassed as he retracted his hand.


    Who knows who it was, but some giggling could be heard among the soldiers. Their fat captain''s face was twitching, but he tried hard to hide it. Unfortunately, his shaking face fat exposed his fury.


    "Ahem." Captain Zacaria faked a cough. "We are just checking if the amodation is fine. If not, we can relocate you somewhere else."


    The fat captain smiled as he gave the offer. He tried to be amicable as possible, showing that he cared about the well being of General Faustino''s messengers. It also seemed that by the current state of this temporary shelter, anyone would want to go to a better one.


    But to his further surprise...


    "Oh, thank you for the offer, but we are fine right here. But checking, really? With all of you here?" Mark replied, panning his eyes to the soldiers outside, slowly retracting his expression to a frown. "Why do I feel like you''re here to rob us instead?"


    The fat captain choked. He turned around, panning his eyes to the soldiers behind him.


    "What are all of you doing here! Go back where you all came from!"


    Captain Zacharia yelled at his subordinates. And with sour faces, they all turned around to leave with drools on their mouths. Although none of them actually expected to be shared with the food that lured them here, being chased away like this was different. Even so, none of them wanted to offend this fat superior of theirs, and as such, they could do nothing but leave,


    But suddenly...


    "Wait! You two!"


    Mark shouted, making the leaving soldiers look back. Unexpectedly, he was calling unto two soldiers. And, of course, one of them was no other than their guide earlier.


    "Us?"


    Padua and Geronimo could not help but look at each other in confusion. Geronimo was one thing, but why Padua too?


    "Come here and wait for a bit."


    Mark beckoned the two to everyone''s confusion. No one knows what was going on. And thus, while the other soldiers left the vicinity, they still stayed where they could see what was going on.


    As the two approached, not understanding what was happening, Mark closed the door and headed in.


    Sure enough, Captain Zacaria was already boiling inside. After calling the two, Mark did not pay attention to him at all.


    It took only a minute or two, and the door opened again with Mark holding a clear stic box.


    "Here, for you two."


    Mark handed the stic box with the contents in for everyone to see. It was not really dark here in the encampment because of the sr-powered lights installed here and there.


    And to say, everyone that could see the contents were envious. Not to mention Captain Zacharia, who was standing closest to the two. Who knows what it was, but it was obviously a piping hot crispy fried food.


    ? "Sir, you''re really giving this to us?"


    Geronimo asked, unable to believe what was going on. Before, it was a can of tuna, and now, this. It was strange, though, that Padua''s share was included in this. It was as if their guest knew that he shared the tuna with his friend.


    "That''s right," Mark replied. "You two better eat it while it''s still hot."


    "Really, thanks!"


    "Sir, thank you."


    Padua and Geronimo thanked respectively. After they did, they left, as if running away.


    Mark then turned to the fat guy that was still waiting for some reason.


    "Do you have any other business with us? I already said that we''re fine here."


    Captain Zaharia did not know what he should use as an alibi now. Thus...


    "No, nothing. That''s all."


    "Alright then, good night."


    Mark said as he closed the door in front of the fat soldier.


    Sure enough, Captain Zacharia was fuming with rage inside. He stared for half a minute at the door before leaving, stomping the ground all the way to his office.


    Of course, his fury would not subside just like that. Unfortunately, these people were messengers from Infanta Settlement. He could not make a move on them at this moment.


    "Those bastards can wait forter," Captain Zacharia murmured. "For now, I should deal with those two pests."<sub> </sub>


    Those two pests, there was no need to ask who.


    ***


    "You totally infuriated that guy."


    Pefile said as Mark closed the door.


    "What can he do then?" Mark shrugged. "We are here as messengers carrying a package sent by a Military General. They can''t do anything until we hand over the package."


    It was true. As long as they had the package, even if the recipient was the enemy, they could not do anything. Well, at least if they want to receive the package intact. If they made a move and the carrier destroyed the package or threw it in the ocean, it would be a loss. Anything set by a high ranking person at these times would not be just some trivial items.


    "Uncle, you''re bad!" Emika said,ughing. "That fat guy wanted to invite us, so we don''t have any choice but share our food, huh? Dream on!"


    Emika was spot on. Captain Zacharia tried to use the issue with the dpidated barracks to invite them and receive a share of the food. What a thick faced bastard. Unfortunately for him, Mark''s group would not fall to such schemes easily.


    "But Master... Will those two be fine?"


    Amihan asked.


    Those two did not seem to be bad people. The other guy sounded quite frank, though. Mark gave them food in front of everyone. Who knows what could happen.


    "Don''t worry. They''ll be fine." Mark smiled. "Come on, let''s eat and not worry about those people. They are not worth our time."


    And there, with many things in mind, they had their dinner. Sure enough, fresh seafood tasted good.


    ***


    At the same time that Mark''s group were eating, Geronimo and Zacharia became everyone''s target. Those that were quite close to them asked for a bite of their food, and the two dlyplied. Unfortunately, some were thick faced enough to ask for a share despite not being close to the two. And some were under the fat captain that was among the people bullying Geronimo.


    "Hey, you two are being called by the Captain."


    A muscr man called out to the two that had not yet gotten a proper bite of their food.


    "Can we eat first?"


    Paduained.


    "You two need to be there ASAP. Move!"


    Being urged to go like that, the two had no choice but to obey.


    "Let me carry that."


    The muscr man tried to reach out to the stic box on Gernonimo''s hands, but Padua snatched it first.


    "I''m carrying this. We''re poor people. We can''t afford a baggage carrier."


    "What did you say!"


    The muscr man was infuriated. After all, even though it sounded like Padua was describing his status in life, he tantly just called the other guy a baggage carrier.


    Padua got thrown unto the ground. He was punched brutally. Padua might be a soldier, but an average-bodied person like him would not be able to handle a sudden attack from a muscle-buffed person.


    "Padua!"


    Geronimo immediately came to his friend''s aid. However, Padua''s eyes were glued unto something else. When the former turned to what his friend was looking at, he saw that their food was thrown to the ground, lid open, and the fried slices of food covered in dirt.


    "F*CK! I haven''t gotten a single bite of that yet!"


    Padua roared as he drew the pistol on his waist.


    BANG!


    The roar of a gunshot echoed in the pier as Padua fired his gun without hesitation.


    "F*CK!"


    The muscr man cried in pain, grasping his bloody left shoulder. Fortunately, he evaded at thest moment. Padua was aiming to kill him, aiming directly to his heart.


    Due to that, Padua was jumped over by hisrades, restraining him from his rampage. At the same time, Geronimo was also forcefully brought back by the soldiers that came with that muscr guy.


    It seemed that at this time, the two of them were going to face insubordination.


    All of this was just because of food.


    ***


    Unknown to the soldiers participating in themotion, the devil is monitoring the whole pier.


    As he sat on the bed with Mei leaning on his shoulder, his eyes were glowing red, and sparks could be seen around it.


    That conflict was not supposed to happen. However, Mark threw some wood to fuel the fire. Channeling the rage of that fat bastard to those two that were involved, the conflict was created.


    It was not like he had a grudge against those two friends to do this to them. However, he needed some people to serve as bait to lure out the enemies.


    And Mark seeded. Monitoring the emotional fluctuations of the soldiers in that conflict, he decerned who was together with that fat captain and who was not. Unfortunately, even among the friends of those two soldiers, there were some wolves in disguise.


    But the most unexpected thing, however, it seemed that the soldiers here did not only belong to two parties. A third one was watching themotion unfold.


    Mark started to wonder.


    The first faction was the ones following the military conduct. They were serving as per their duty.


    The second was following Captain Zacharia, who, for obvious reasons, smelled like rotten potato among the potato stack.


    The third faction was questionable, though. Who were they following? It was odd.


    In any case, Mark already got what he wanted. Of course, he would not let those two soldiers suffer just because they became bait in his ns.


    After all, aside from just being a messenger to deliver a package, he had other reasons to be here.

 Chapter 632 Inside The Dark Cell, The Two Friends And The Devil

    <strong>Day 146 - 9:21 PM - Detention Room, Military Office, Caramoan Feeder Port, Guijalo, Caramoan, Camarines Sur</strong>


    Growl...


    "Ouch..."


    Paduained, holding his growling stomach while facing the dark ceiling as hey down on the cold floor.


    His whole body was aching too much that he could not move. On his face and hands, bruises could be seen. Just by his current appearance, there was no need to ask what happened after thatmotion.


    It was a great offense for Padua to shoot another soldier, even before the outbreak. What was worse was that the guy was one of theckeys of the unreasonable Captain Zacharia. The right-hand man, in fact. Since Padua shot him out of rage, they were punished.


    Well, it was more than a one side beating than an actual punishment. Held by two other soldiers, Padua was pummeled with punches and kicks by several other soldiers. And the captain in question was watching at the side filled with satisfaction on his face.


    The two were already fortunate that they were not killed. From the personality of that fat bastard, it was not far off. They were lucky that they were still a part of the soldiers under him. If two people suddenly died because of this, even he would have a hard time keeping his current post. After all, they were soldiers. Their punishment needed toe from the higher-ups. It was unless they resisted, which did not happen upon their arrest.


    If they resisted, being shot on the spot was not surprising.


    Still, they were not put in detention scot-free, and that resulted in Padua''s current state as the perpetrator.


    At the corner of the room, Geronimo sat, sighing at the current state of his friend.


    "Just why did you have to shoot that guy? You could have just given them that food. It''s just food, not worth exchanging your life for."


    "I don''t know, dude." Padua raised his head slightly to look at his friend. "I don''t know. I just did it. My sight just grew dark. The next thing I knew, already shot the gun."


    Padua''s voice was a bit weak, and there was a bit of air in between his words. His body pain right now was not a joke. His cracked lips made it even harder to talk.


    "Not only we didn''t get to have even a bite, but I got beaten up instead. That fat bastard will have his day in the future."


    "I wish too."


    Geronimo sighed.


    Unfortunately, the two were not expecting that to happen any time soon. This guy had close ties with one of the higher-ups, after all.


    If not, there was no way that someone as ipetent as that fat bastard would be posted in this encampment to lead the soldiers.


    If not, the other soldiers would not be afraid of him.


    If not, it would be easy to throw that fat guy off the deck.


    There were a lot of ifs. Unfortunately, it would remain as ifs.


    "I wonder what will happen to us now?"


    Geronimo said, wondering about their future.


    "Probably, forced intobor. That''s where are those who broke thew are going these days."


    "But I didn''t do anything," Geronimoined. "You did."


    "You are seriously saying that?" Padua red. "Want me to give you the same bruises I have?"


    "Go on. Do it. You can''t even stand up from there."


    Geronimo taunted.


    Then, there was silence...


    Before the two burst outughing.


    "Ouch! Don''t make meugh! It hurts!"


    Paduained, holding his stomach in pain.


    "Really? It hurts?" Geronimo approached his friend and started poking on his bruised arm. "I don''t feel anything."


    "F*ck! Stop it!" Padua pulled his arm away. "Seriously, if you are like this to other people, you won''t get bullied."


    "They would probably punch me, so, no."


    "Sh*t."


    The two went on their antics, trying to forget the predicament they were currently facing.


    Soon, silence enveloped the dark, cold room once more.


    "Hah..." Geronimo sighed. "Dad will surely punch me if he knew that I got detained as a soldier."


    Padua looked at his friend before looking back at the dark ceiling.


    "Your family members are dead already. Get over it."


    "Want to sit down?"


    Geronimo asked.


    "F*ck you."


    Padua cursed his friend. His whole body was in pain, and the cold floor was helping him reduce it a bit. Besides, it would ache more if he sat down.


    Geronimo then went andy down on the cold floor like his friend.


    "We are here, protecting other people as this country''s soldiers, but when our family needed us, we are not there to protect them. Now, we are here being treated like this. What''s the point?"


    Like most soldiers on service during the outbreak, these two young soldiers lost their families to the infected.


    Once more, silence enveloped the room covered in darkness.


    But then...


    "Why not leave the military, then?"


    A voice from the dark made the two young soldiers jump. Well, only Geronimo. Padua could not even move from the pain. Nevertheless, the poor soldier did not need to lift himself up at all.


    The two soldiers were surprised. They did not hear the door open at all. It was impossible not to notice it as it was a cranky metal door that barely had maintenance. Even just opening the lock would create too much noise.


    Despite the surprise, the two could not help but squint their eyes. Even if their eyes adapted to the darkness already, it was still hard to see a person''s face.


    But then, like magic, a crystal appeared and floated above the shoulder of their guest. It illuminated the room, making their eyes hurt a bit.


    As their eyes adapted to the light, rather than the floating crystal, the person itself surprised them further. Out of all people that could possibly appear here, it was actually the man that gave them the fried food earlier. It was the person that introduced their group as messengers from the military settlement in Infanta.


    They could not believe it as there was no way that anyone not a member of the military stationed here would be allowed to enter this ce. Well, not even the soldiers not close to their fat captain. And considering what happened earlier, there was no way that this person would be allowed here at all.


    "How did you..."<sub> </sub>


    Geronimo asked in wonder.


    "Does it really matter how I got here?"


    The person asked back.


    "I don''t think it matters anymore, but just who the hell are you, really?"


    Padua replied.


    "Aren''t I a messenger from New Infanta Settlement that came here to deliver a package?" The man replied. "If you''re asking for a name, then just call me Mark."


    The two soldiers stared at Mark like a weirdo. Well, that was not wrong either way. Compared to all the people they met before, Mark was giving them a mysteriously weird vibe.


    "What do you need from us?"


    Geronimo stopped thinking about how Mark managed to enter this ce. What was more important was why he was here talking to them.


    "Hmm..." Mark tapped his chin. "Because I owe you two a bit?"


    Those words made the two very confused. Mark did not mind their expressions. And out of who knows where? He took out another stic box.


    "You two haven''t eaten a single bite yet, right?"


    Mark approached Geronimo and handed the thing in his hand. Unexpectedly, the contents of the stic box were another serving of that fried food.


    This made the stomach of the two young soldiers grown without control. But then, it finally entered Geronimo''s mind.


    "You did it on purpose, didn''t you?"


    "Dude, what are you talking about?"


    Padua asked his friend. However, Geronimo''s eyes were focused on Mark.


    "Giving us food in front of everyone... You did that on purpose. In the first ce, it was strange that you also called Padua. I won''t be that surprising if you called me and gave it to me alone but calling him... It''s as if you knew that we are close friends."


    Geronimo was now ring at Mark. The more he thought about it, the more things became clearer. Well, at least in some parts. After all, he could not think of how Mark knew that he and Padua were friends. Even his intention was a huge question mark.


    And Mark...


    "Yep, I did it on purpose."


    Did not even deny it. It made the two soldiers look at with frowns on their faces.


    "Don''t look at me like that. That''s why I said that I owed you two a bit."


    "You owe us? Look at Padua right now!"


    Geronimo stood up in anger.


    "Are you really going to shout like that? You want to get the attention of that fat guy?"


    Mark said with a shrug.


    "And so?"


    Geronimo replied. He was really angry at Mark for putting them into this mess.


    However, it seemed that Padua was calmer than Geronimo at this moment.


    "Dude, calm down," Padua called out. "This guy can enter this ce without being caught. Your shouting might not matter to him at all. Instead, we will get in more trouble for making too much noise."


    The words of his friend made Geronimo pipe down a bit.


    "If you are angry at me because of his injuries, then make him drink this."


    Like before, Mark seemed to be taking things out of nowhere as now, he held a sealed test tube-shaped vial. He then threw it to Geronimo, forcing the soldier to catch it.


    "What is this?"


    Of course, the soldier would ask.


    "One of the things I''m supposed to deliver."


    "What?"


    Of course, the two were surprised.


    "Don''t worry. That''s mine. I didn''t touch the contents of the package at all. I already said at the gates earlier. The case had a passcode." Mark exined. "As for what that is, just make your friend drink it, and you will see. It''s not harmful and even though the production is quite slow, that liquid is already being used in Infanta."


    Geronimo stared at Mark for a bit. However, he could not tell whether Mark was lying or not. In fact, it felt like the things he was nothing but the truth.


    The young soldier looked at the item in his hand before turning to his friend.


    "Want to drink this?"


    "Just let me drink it." Padua gritted his teeth as he forcibly lifted his body up. With Geronimo''s help, he drank the contents of the test tube.


    And there, the magic ensued.


    Padua''s face slowly eased as the pain in his body started to vanish. His bruises started to heal at an rming rate. Even his cracked lips and gums healed perfectly. Well, he was still feeling some muscle aches at the parts that were rather heavily injured.


    "See? It''s not harmful." Mark spoke. "It can immediately heal light injuries. Heavier ones will take time, though. And it can''t heal fatal injuries, unfortunately."


    "To give us something this valuable..."


    Geronimo looked at the empty vial in his hand. He definitely knew the value of this thing in these times where a single scratch might lead to death.


    "Just why are you doing all of this?"


    Geronimo asked.


    "I have my reasons," Mark replied. "But for now, I want to ask you two some questions."


    "What questions?"


    Padua asked this time.


    "About the current situation of Catanduanes. The information I have is quite outdated. Also by the looks of it, there are some things that are not reported at all. I want to know everything you can tell me."


    At Mark''s request, Geronimo and Padua looked at each other.


    Geronimo was still angry at Mark for using him and Padua. However, since Mark went ahead and gave them valuable medicine, he had no choice but toply. There was nothing to lose if what Mark only wanted was information.

 Chapter 633 The Next Morning, Onwards Catanduanes Island Province

    <strong>Day 147 - 12:02 AM - Barracks, Caramoan Feeder Port, Guijalo, Caramoan, Camarines Sur</strong>


    Hearing what he wanted to hear from the two young soldiers, Mark decided to return. Just like how he appeared too suddenly, with Mark turning into a clump of ck mist and disappearing from their sight gave the two soldiers quite a scare.


    Mark appeared at the roof of the office building, looking over the surroundings. He could only sigh as he now knew how the reported information vastly differed from the actual situation.


    Shaking his head at how humans behave even in this situation, Mark decided to return to their dwelling.


    The moment that Mark entered the door, he saw Mei waiting for him.


    "Still awake?"


    Mark could not help but ask.


    "It''s hard to sleep."


    She replied with a deep sigh.


    Mark shrugged. He could tell that she was feeling insecure sleeping in an unfamiliar ce. It was even more because it was a ce where it seemed that not a single female soldier was in sight.


    Looking around, Pefile was still awake while the others were already asleep.


    "You should rest too."


    Mark told the Tamawo as he made his way towards Mei.


    "Don''t worry about me. Unlike humans, we Spirit Races don''t need that much sleep."


    "You sure?"


    Mark asked as he turned to Amihan that was already drooling on a makeshift bed made of folded fur ced on Mark''s backpack.


    "That little girl is different, alright? Even among entrics, she''s a strange one."


    Mark could not agree more. Among the Spirit Races that he saw before, all of them appeared to be detached from others. Family members were even included. That was why Amihan, Teremillio, and his harem, appeared to be strange with their odd behaviors and bonds with people around them.


    "Alright, then."


    Mark said as he took a seat beside Mei and pulled her close.


    "I''m back, so sleep already."


    "Un."


    With that, Meiid down on the bed.


    The bed was small. Two or three children might be able to share, but two adults would not fit at all. Well, Mark did not n on sleeping at all, so it was no problem. They were currently in an unfamiliar and pretty hostile environment. Resting without care might result in bad situations.


    Thus, for the remainder of the night, Mark would sit down beside Mei. He would watch over her and the little girls.


    With Mark''s warm right hand caressing her hair, Mei fell asleep while holding onto his left.


    It was when Pefile suddenly asked a question.


    "You look bad. Did you learn something?"


    Mark could not help but look at Pefile. He was wearing his usual poker face. Just how did this guy notice?


    "Your expression might be empty, but your eyes looked deep."


    Pefile said, understanding Mark''s stare.


    "A lot is going on in Catanduanes right now. But the military stationed there did not report most of it."


    "And the reason?"


    Pefile asked.


    "Who knows?" Mark shrugged. "Though, one reason is most likely because of pride."


    "Pride?"


    Pefile asked.


    "Despite the setbacks, Bay City and the New Infanta Settlement is doing well. Tell me. Tamawos are prideful races, so you might be able to answer it. If you are a leader of one of the Military Settlements and the situation is bad,pared to the others will you tell them?"


    "Probably no, unless there''s no way of controlling the situation anymore."


    Pefile replied.


    "Bingo." Mark nodded. "Though for now, it''s just our spections."


    "Is the situation really bad?"


    Pefile asked another question.


    "More than half of the ind is already under the control of the rebels. Tell me if that''s bad or not."


    "No matter how you look at it, that''s pretty bad already."


    Pefile was right in his answer. The situation was already bad.


    The ind province of Catanduanes had an area of more than five-hundred-seventy square miles. As the twelfthrgest ind in the Philippines, half of it falling to the control of the rebels was already a big deal. And yet, the Military branch stationed on the ind chose to hide this fact.


    Thetest data in the papers Mark received was more than a week ago. However, it was already more than a month when the rebels gained control of half the ind.


    They deliberately hid the information to keep face, even though they were already endangering the people they should be protecting.


    And that was not the worst part. As Mark had thought, the Military in Catanduanes was also broken into different factions. Three factions, to be exact. It was still unknown whether it had something to do with the NPA also having three. Nevertheless, it was what Mark noticed earlier. The soldiers here in this encampment were also divided into three.


    "The world is already ending, but humans still chose to divide themselves despite being the most affected ones," Pefile said, scratching his head. "Well, it''s not like the Spirit Races were any different."


    That was right. With the case of the ck Duendes, the Spirit Races were not that different from humans in this regard.


    Pefile then looked at Mark directly.


    "Are you going to meddle in the situation here?"


    "Depends on the situation," Mark replied with a shrug. "If things ovepped with my business here, then I will not have any other choice but to join in."<sub> </sub>


    Mark then took a deep breath as silence enveloped the barracks.


    His reason foring here was to check how his family was doing. He was not sure whether he would take them with him. After all, his rtionship with them was rather on the bad side.


    Furthermore, he was now doing well without them. Taking them away might be against Mark''s favor.


    In the least, if Mark chose not to bring them away, he might still be able to make things better in this ce for them.


    However, before everything else, there was another problem with them.


    It was because none of his family members were registered in the list of refugees given to him.


    ***


    With those thoughts, the night passed rather quickly.


    At nine in the morning, the soldiers in the port became busy. It was because the boat from the Catanduanes Settlement finally arrived.


    The soldiers were busy running around, loading and unloading supplies and equipment into the boat.


    At the same time, Mark''s group was also called to the dock, with Captain Zacharia introducing them to the person-in-charge of the boat.


    However, it seemed that the identity of Mark''s group was already reported to the higher-ups as the soldiers on the boat were not surprised that there were people that arrivedst night to enter the ind. Still, they were surprised to see children, and, of course, Mei''s appearance.


    "First Lieutenant Hernan Ignacio."


    The person introduced himself, stretching his hand towards Mark who was introduced as the group''s leader.


    "Mark."


    Mark returned the gesture.


    "Your group came from Infanta, yes?" First Lieutenant Ignacio said. "You must be strong to lead them to this ce."


    The Lieutenant smiled,plimenting Mark. However, it seemed that while heplimented Mark and looked favorably at Pefile and Edzel, it seemed that he viewed the children and women as nothing but baggage to be protected.


    Mark did not mind it, though. It would be better if this person thought that way.


    Then, Lieutenant Ignacio continued.


    "Please wait first until we finish loading the cargo. Then, well set off."


    At this time, a few soldiers came. They were bringing not only the cargo to be loaded on the boat but also a muscr man carried on a stretcher. There were also the two young soldiers, Geronimo and Padua, being escorted with their hands cuffed.


    When Captain Zacharia saw Padua, however, he was shocked.


    "YOU! How did you?!"


    The fat captain could not voice out his question properly. After all,st night, he made sure that Padua was not even in a condition capable of moving. Yet, not only Padua could move properly, all his wounds were gone.


    "Thanks to you, I became an Evolver. Happy now?"


    Padua taunted. There was no need for him to hold back anymore as he was going to get transported by boat back to Catanduanes.


    But bing an Evolver? That was nothing but a ruse. After all, there was no way that they would tell what healed Padua. Well, that suggestion itself came from Mark before they parted. Saying that Padua became an Evolver would be more usible.


    Well, there was another reason why Padua taunted the fat guy. Mutators and Evolvers were highly valued in Catanduanes Settlement due to the threat that the rebels brought. Even the rebels had such people in their ranks, both Mutators, and Evolvers. That was why the settlement needed more to bnce things out.


    And if Padua became an Evolver, what happenedst night would be dismissed, and the schemes of Captain Zacharia against the two would be in vain.


    Although it was not true, it was enough to turn Captain Zacharia''s face blue. That was what Padua wanted to see as heughed, infuriating the fat guy even more.


    The cargo loading took about a half-hour before it finished. Now, Mark''s group, together with the two young soldiers, and the injured muscr man boarded the boat.


    Mark looked at the boat. It was not too big but enough to carry supplies around. From what he remembered, it was a coast guard patrol vessel, a Par-ss one.


    Soldiers guarding the boat also boarded as Mark''s group took a seat inside. And there, without making too much noise, they set off to Catanduanes.


    Leaving the port, the boat moved, following a route near the coastline. Since the waters near the coast were shallower, it would be easier to spot dangersing from below.


    The soldiers were being extra careful in monitoring the surroundings. In fact, this schedule that the boat was taking was the safest so far as they knew.


    Most of the evolved animals in these parts would hunt food at night and would be asleep during the day. Traveling in the morning was more ideal as it was the time where the most dangerous creatures go deeper below the ocean to rest.


    And to say, the journey along the coast was strangely uneventful. Even at the safest hours, there would be one or two evolved fishes trying to gnaw on the boat. Now, however, none appeared.


    It was strange.


    Soon, they reached the tip of the maind, closest to Catanduanes. From here, the mountainous ind grew bigger and bigger, in everyone''s eyes. The lush green mountains were refreshing to see together with the salty breeze of the morning sea.


    From the tip of the maind, they traversed the northern part of Langonoy Gulf, going straight to the dock in the small vige in Codon, Catanduanes.


    Well, it was not just a small vige anymore.


    With the military making it as the headquarters on this ind, along with the influx of refugees that entered this ce, it had grown bigger, and well, less secure. With too many people in this ce now, it would be hard to maintain everything in bnce.


    The soldiers were starting to feel at ease with no danger in sight as they entered the gulf. They could even see the port from the distance.


    Unfortunately, it would not be easy.


    "Enemies!"


    One of the soldiers shouted.


    From the north, a group of motorboats came rushing towards the patrol vessel. It seemed that they had been waiting,ying an ambush while hiding behind an ind nearby.


    "One, two... Hmmm, seven boats, huh."


    Mark murmured, counting the number of enemy boats approaching.


    At this moment, First Lieutenant Ignacio spoke to Mark''s group.


    "Please sit and wait. The boats are not shooting at us yet, We would try to negotiate."


    Lieutenant Ignacio then grabbed the mouthpiece of the open-channelmunication radio, trying to contact the enemies.


    However, no answer came to his calls and the enemy boats were still rushing. With the Lieutenant''s instructions, they tried to dy the enemies. However, there were just no escaping the motorboats with the huge patrol boat they were riding on. It did not take long and their boat was surrounded by the enemies.

 Chapter 634 No One Left Alive, The Quick Remorse Of The Ambushers

    <strong>Day 147 - 9:58 AM - Langonoy Gulf, Caramoan, Camarines Sur</strong>


    A Military Par-ss Patrol Vessel being surrounded by eleven tourist speedboats. This was the current scene in the middle of the sea strait that separated the penins of Caramoan and the ind of Catanduanes.


    The Military boat might be a bit big, but the standardplement size in these boat models was only twenty-five people, five officers, and twenty enlists. That was the current number of soldiers on board, excluding Mark''s group and the three that boarded the boat only for transport.


    Comparing that number to ten eight-seater tourist boats filled with armed men, the side of the Military was definitely in a disadvantageous position.


    Lieutenant Ignacio stepped out, facing what seemed to be the boat leading the enemies.


    "What is the meaning of this?" The Lieutenant shouted. "Our camps had an agreement about this!"


    Mark listened to the Lieutenant. Those that were not in the know would think that the Military was working with the rebels. But fortunately, that was not the case here. Land encounters on the ind were one thing since it was already the circumstances even before the outbreak. On the other hand, there was an agreement between the Military and the NPA when it came to the encounters on water, especially in this area. As long as there was no ongoing skirmish, water transports were free to go in and out of the ind. It applied to both parties. After all, supplies were needed by both parties, and those would onlye from the maind.


    Cutting off supply routes would not be beneficial to both parties as it would impact their survival heavily. Thus, as long as the other party did not intrude on each other''s ship docks, no one was supposed to attack the other party''s supply boats. Both partiesplied with this truce. It was because once one party started to cut off the supply route of the other, the opposite would do the same. It would lead to both perishing meaninglessly due tock of supplies.


    Not to mention that there were more things to worry about while traveling across these dangerous waters.


    Thus, until now, nothing of this sort happened.


    It was one of the things that Mark learnedst night from Padua and Geronimo. And likewise, not reported to other settlements. Why? It was while smart people would allow this truce, the narrow-minded politicians in other settlements would not.


    Of course, even if they knew, there was nothing they could do. However, in the minute chance that things go back to normal, there would be repercussions to face. That was why they decided to keep things like this for now without reporting it.


    Unfortunately, there was no need to mention reporting. It seemed that the rebels already decided to break the agreement.


    After the Lieutenant shouted, a man wearing a camouge jacket stood up from that boat the former were facing.


    "Lieutenant! It''s nothing personal! We''re just following orders!" The man shouted back with a snicker. "We heard that a group came carrying a package! Surrender that group and the package, and we''ll let everyone else pass!"


    Lieutenant Ignacio frowned. No wonder this situation happened at this time. Different from before, they were carrying people from Infanta carrying a package. And, of course, these rebels were not aiming for the supplies they were transporting.


    "What are we going to do, Lieutenant?"


    A soldier beside Lieutenant Ignacio asked. The situation was not favorable for them. It was either give up the people they were supposed to bring or fight to their deaths.


    The Lieutenant closed his eyes, pinching his sinus due to stress. This was a tricky situation. In the first ce, the fault herey on the Military. It seemed that the spies in their ranks ratted out the arrival of this group and the package they were carrying.


    If Lieutenant decided to give up the group and the package, the group would not end well, especially the beautiful girl. The package might also be crucial as it was sent by a General from another settlement.


    To the side, Mark was waiting for the Lieutenant''s decision. He then looked at his group.


    "Get ready."


    He said calmly.


    The soldiers heard that and were confused. Get ready for what?


    At this moment, the Lieutenant was at a total loss.


    "Lieutenant! Hurry up! We don''t have all day!"


    The leader of the enemy group shouted from his boat.


    But then, someone came out, standing beside the Lieutenant. He could not help but look and saw Mark, who came out.


    "What are you doing here? It''s dangerous. Please go back inside."


    The Lieutenant warned.


    "Don''t mind me," Mark replied. "Just decide already."


    Lieutenant Ignacio turned to Mark. The pressure in his mind strengthened.


    Finally, Lieutenant Ignacio took another look at the enemies before making some signals with his hand behind his back. Receiving his orders, the soldiers stealthily prepared.


    Seeing a person that did not seem to be a soldier came out, the leader of the enemies shouted.


    "Are you the one carrying the package? Just go with us, and no one will get hurt!"


    Mark stared at the guy with his eyes half-closed. He could tell that the guy was bluffing. Even if his group came with these guys, there was no way they would let these soldiers go. After all, the agreement was still in effect. If these soldiers died here, no one would be able to report what happened.


    In any case, Lieutenant Ignacio already decided, and it was a positive decision.


    As such, Mark shouted back.


    "If you idiots leave now, no one will get hurt!"


    Everyone froze.


    What the hell was he saying?


    Lieutenant Ignacio wanted to pull Mark away as the preparation of his men would be noticed if he continued.


    On the other hand...


    "Hahahaha! You all heard that?!"


    The manughed out loud, ridiculing Mark. A series of insultingughter ensued as the rebels followed suit with the boisterousughter.


    And then, Mark spoke.


    "Stomach."


    At the drop of his word, a gunshot was heard from behind. With a beam-like sh, blood had sttered. The leader of the enemies was frozen stiff as all his body sensation was filled with pain. He managed to take ast look at his body and saw a fist-sized hole on his stomach. Shivering in fear, he touched the hole. He was hoping that it was just an illusion. Only when his hands were filled with his warm blood was when he realized that he was dying.


    The leader of the enemies fell to the water. Everyone then saw that it was not only him. Three more people that were seated behind had already perished.


    Everyone was in disarray as they searched for who made that shot. It was when the soldiers saw Mei with her snow-white sniper-sword poking out of the boat''s window.


    On the other side, the rebels lost their leader suddenly. Without someone leading them and with very little time for someone to take over, they all decided on one thing.


    "SHOOT! SHOOT! KILL!"<sub> </sub>


    The rebels shouted as they aimed their guns and fired.


    "Take cover!"


    Lieutenant Ignacio shouted in desperation. The events were too sudden. There was no time for anyone to hide at all.


    Fear enveloped the soldiers. A rain of bullets was shot towards their boat along with the roars of the rebels to kill everyone.


    It was all over for them. Even if some managed to survive the first volley and counterattacked, a boat filled with holes would not bring them to safety anymore.


    As the soldiers scurried to find cover, some of them managed to nce at Mark. Unexpectedly, he did not move from the spot at all. Some thought that he was frozen stiff until he called out a name.


    "I!"


    Mark called out.


    And there, the bullets...


    Did not hit their boat. In fact, not a single metallic nging or screams of pain were heard. As the soldiers came to their senses, their eyes opened wide.


    They saw the rain of bullets stopping mid-air before falling to the water like a downpour. That was when everyone noticed that the whole boat was covered in some sort of invisible barrier.


    On the other side, the rebels were frozen stiff.


    What kind of technology was this?


    That question filled their minds, thinking that the Military deployed some sort of futuristic weapon.


    However, that was not the end of it.


    Mei, like an agile cat, jumped onto the roof of the boat.She then started shooting the rebels with her sniper-sword, one by one.


    The rebels tried to retaliate more. But like before, their bullets did not even reach the boat of the Military until each plopped into the water.


    "SH*T! RETREAT! RETREAT!"


    Screams were heard as the remaining rebels decided to escape. The engines of their motorboats roared loudly as they started them once more.


    But then, Mark tapped his foot.


    BAM! BAM! BAM!


    With ck sparks of electricity, the engines of the motorboats exploded one after another.


    Shock, fear, and despair filled the hearts and minds of the rebels. The smarter ones immediately abandoned their boats. They started jumping into the water to evade the shots that Mei was firing.


    The soldiers stared at the spectacle. They were not even able to do anything at all. Before their eyes, the situation took a drastic turnaround in their favor.


    And it was all because of Mark''s group. It was without a doubt.


    "L-Lieutenant! What are we going to do now?"


    A soldier called out to their frozen superior. Lieutenant Ignacio was staring at Mark, reevaluating him and his group. He was sure that he made a mistake during their introductions, thinking that the other members of their group were just baggage. Especially that beautiful girl with a sniper rifle, none of her shots were wasted.


    Being called by his subordinate, the Lieutenant looked at the surroundings and noticed the rebels that were swimming away.


    "Capture them! We should squeeze out who tipped the information!"


    The Lieutenant gave his orders.


    But then, Mark stretched out his arm, blocking the soldier that received the order.


    "What are you-"


    The soldier tried to ask Mark about his problem. But before he was able to finish, Mark cut him off.


    "Restart the engine and go full speed if you still want to live."


    The soldier was confused and turned back to his superior.


    Lieutenant Ignacio was also confused until he saw Mark ncing at the water. He was suddenly filled with dread.


    "Quick! Restart the engine! Full speed!"


    With the urgent order of their leader, the soldiers moved. The engine was restarted, and the boat moved away as fast as possible.


    The rebels that jumped into the water were relieved after seeing the Military boat leave.


    But then, screams started to ensue, turning their relief into fear.


    "AAAAHHH!! HELP!!!"


    A rebel cried out as he desperately waved his hands. Nevertheless, it was futile. The rebel was dragged underwater by who knows what.


    It did not end with that one guy. All those in the water were pulled underwater.


    One rebel tried to swim back to the boats they abandoned. But then, he felt a painful sensation on his foot as his body was dragged into the water.


    That was when the rebel saw what was happening.


    Hundreds of fishes, about the size of a truck wheel, were attacking everyone. They were not just being bitten, but the mouths of the fishes wererge enough to swallow a human limb in one go. It was the reason why everyone was being pulled into the water.


    Some rebels were lucky and managed to return to their broken boats. Some even sacrificed their limbs, wailing in pain with their missing hand or foot.


    However, it looked like they were destined to be killed here.


    It was because, one by one, those that returned to the boats had their heads explode by the shots of a sniper rifle.


    Soon, there was nothing left of the rebels but their broken boats left to drift aimlessly with the ocean current.

 Chapter 635 Arrival At Codon, The Busy Port Settlement Of Catanduanes

    <strong>Day 147 - 10:15 AM - Langonoy Gulf, Codon, Catanduanes</strong>


    The soldiers in the patrol vessel had their eyes pinned to the dying rebels as they made their escape. Looking at the demise of the rebels, some of them could not help but turn blue. It was not because of what happened to them, though. It was because of the school of gigantic fish that tore the bodies of those people like tofu.


    Some of the soldiers could not help but turn to Mark. He seemed to have predicted this to happen in advance. They did not know how he did it. However, it was, without a doubt, the case since he stopped the Lieutenant from capturing the rebels and told them to leave right away.


    Mark aside, there was also the beautiful girl that had just jumped down from the roof of the boat. To these soldiers'' envy, she went straight to Mark with a look asking if she did well. As if it was natural, Mark caressed her head for the job well done. The soldiers could only stare at Mei''s cute face as she wasplemented by Mark.


    No, no, no... That was not what they were looking at.


    They were amazed by her shooting abilities. Although not all of them were experts, they noticed that Mei handled her gun amateurishly. Even so, while the form and posture werecking, the important thing was that she did not miss a single shot. There was no point in a perfect posture if the shots missed the target after all. In the worst cases, a single mistake was a matter of life and death.


    There was also Mei''s strange looking gun that who knows where it came from. All these soldiers were sure that she did not bring anything as big as that when they boarded the boat.


    Thest thing that they could not fathom was the invisible shield that was currently covering the whole boat. The soldiers only heard Mark shout "I" before this shield appeared. What was "I"? A name? A chant? What was this shield? New technology? Magic?


    There were a lot of questions. However, with the brutal end of the group of rebels that ambushed them, only an idiot would dare ask Mark.


    Nevertheless, the most important question...


    The soldiers thought that it was just a group of people tasked to deliver a package at first. But now... Just was kind of powerful beings, did they let ride their boat?


    Putting all of the things that happened on a mental note, Lieutenant Ignacio decided not to ask any question. At first, in his eyes, Mark''s group was just a band of lucky people. But now, they were mysterious and unfathomable. It was better to get on their good side instead. Now that he thought about it, it seemed that Captain Zacharia''s future would be bleak now.


    "It looks like we owe your group this time."


    Lieutenant Ignacio said to Mark, looking at the boats of the rebels. The boats already started to drift away, following the ocean current.


    "If you didn''t tell us to leave, things might be dangerous."


    The Lieutenant added.


    "Are those fishes that dangerous?"


    Mark asked.


    "You might not know since you are not from here, but those fishes are the most dangerous predator in these parts currently. Those are evolved Sardines always found in schools of several hundred fishes. Now, we call them steel-teeth fish because theirrge mouths can pierce metal. Look at how they easily bit off the limbs of those bastards as if they did not have bones at all. If we did not manage to get away in time, in the worst case, our boat will sink. If we are lucky, we''ll still get stranded in the middle of the sea for who knows how long."


    "Stranded?"


    Mark asked. After all, while it was not strange that the boat would sink from those ferocious fish, but why stranded?


    "Because those fishes are pretty much blind and highly sensitive to sunlight. That is why they are mostly active at night." The Lieutenant exined further. "They don''t hunt using their eyes but by feeling their surroundings. Those fishes target things that make a lot of vibrations on water."


    "So, that was the case."


    Mark nodded.


    It was no wonder those fishes targeted the limbs of the rebels first. While swimming, a human needed to move their hands and feet to keep afloat. Well, at least while alive. The dead only had to stay dead and start would floating after some time.


    The fight had already ended, and there was no need for Mark to stay outside. Together with Mei, they entered the boat once more.


    "I, you can remove the shield now."


    Mark said, patting I''s head.


    "Okay."


    The girl smiled. This time, she was the most helpful.


    Of course, Abbygale and Miracle were both sulking. They did not have to do anything at all. Or rather, there was nothing they could do. They were in the middle of the sea, after all.


    Mark could only shake his head.


    He had a family of battle maniacs. It was not a bad thing, though, as it was better than being weak while in the middle of the apocalypse.


    ***


    "We''re almost there!"


    The voice of the soldiers could be heard after traveling for some time. Even though the distance here between the twondmasses was shorterpared to the regr route back before the apocalypse, it still took about more than an hour journey. It included the time spent during the ambush of the rebels.


    Mark''s group came out to see their destination. Sure enough, the scene was way too different from before the apocalypse. In a bad way, of course.


    The deste vige in this part of the ind was no more. It was reced by a noisy and boisterous refugee camp.


    "There''s a lot of people."


    Mei said, looking at the pier.


    She was not referring to the number of people inside the settlement. What she was literally saying that there was a lot of people waiting at the pier.


    Were they here to wee Mark''s group? Of course, not.


    "They are people who are still hoping that their rtives or friends made it here. Even though it is very unlikely."<sub> </sub>


    Mark replied to her.


    "You are right about that."Lieutenant Ignacio chimed in. "Those people are still waiting for their rtives, friends, lovers, or even just acquaintances. They would wait here every time we depart and arrive only to leave disappointed. Though this time, it is not only those people were here to wait."


    That was right, there was quite a number of soldiers present at the pier too. It was a number that exceeded the workforce needed to unload the cargo. And by the looks of it, they were ready to depart at a moment''s notice.


    "Did they notice the ambush?"


    Mark asked, ncing at Lieutenant Ignacio.


    "Probably." The Lieutenant replied. "Although we are ambushed pretty far away, it''s not impossible to see with the right equipment."


    That was true. If there were many people here waiting for the boat, some of them might be carrying binocrs or just had better eyesight for being an Evolver or a Mutator.


    "Why didn''t they depart, though?"


    Pefile asked, looking down on the Military. If they were already here, why did they not depart to aid the boat or, at least, escort it for the rest of the way?


    Lieutenant Ignacio looked at the man who was wearing a hood and covering his face. He was a bit bitter that their force was being belittled by him. However, he could not get angry at all. It was better not to.


    "It is not like they are not willing to depart. The response boats are already on stand by." Lieutenant Ignacio replied, pointing at the boats already manned by soldiers. "However, due to fuel constraints, they would not depart without receiving an emergency notification from us. I was about to tell my men to send the notification when you people quickly dealt with the problem."


    "I see, then."


    Pefile shrugged and returned inside the boat. He was not that interested in seeing those humans, and there were still several minutes to arrive at the pier.


    Those minutes passed like sh, though. It did not take long, and Mark''s group was already disembarking at the dock.


    As expected, the eyes of everyone was on the boat. Since Mark''s group was not wearing any disguise aside from Pefile, they took quite an attention from the gallery, especially Mei. Of course, there was a lot of disappointment. It was because the people that disembarked the boat were not who they were hoping for.


    On the other hand, the soldiers that were waiting immediately asked the Lieutenant for the sitrep. Receiving the report without any lie, however, made the soldiers in front of the Lieutenant look at Mark''s group. Their faces were filled with a bit of disbelief.


    Soon, a man, probably in his early fifties, approached Mark''s group together with his entourage.


    "I am Lieutenant General Alfonso Padi. Is your group really here to deliver a package from Faustino?"


    The man introduced himself and asked that question, showing the letter that Mark gave to Captain Zachariast night.


    Mark was not really surprised. He already saw this guy''s face in the papers that General Faustino gave him.


    "You haven''t received any notification?"


    Mark asked. His tone, however, did not seem to be weed since he was already receiving res from some soldiers.


    "Themunication is still down for the moment. We can''t establish any connection to other settlements because of some radio interference."


    A man beside the general replied with an annoyed expression.


    By the looks of it, a lot of these people were not convinced that Mark''s group was really here for the purpose they stated. It was not surprising since there was no way that a very important package from another settlement would be handed to a group of people without any military escort.


    Mark nced at the man for a second before taking out another letter.


    "Then, this should affirm it, right?"


    He handed the letter to the General in which thetter checked immediately. Though this time, it seemed that this General was more convinced. It was the standard procedure, after all. There would be several letters handed to the private courier to ascertain his identity. Not only just the letter he showed to gain entry.


    "Good, this proves your identity."


    The General nodded. There were two letters with different formats and contents with the same military seal. There was no doubt now that Mark''s group was sent by General Faustino.


    "Then, can you receive this already?"


    Mark said unceremoniously as he almost shoved the briefcase on the General''s face.


    "No, not here." The General raised his hands. "There are standard procedures to be followed. I''ll officially receive that in the office,ter."


    That was the correct thing to do. After all, they would need to check the contents of the package. It was not appropriate to do that here in the open where a lot of people could witness what it was.


    "How troublesome." Mark shrugged. "General Perez received his on the spot without care."


    What Mark said was rather rude, but he could not be med. He was only stopping by these guys because of the package and had other things to do. That was why he wanted to give the package immediately.


    On the other hand, the General was also surprised. From what Mark said, he had delivered a package to Bay City before here. It meant that this group not only traveled to this ce but also traversed the highly infected cityscape?


    Although it was unbelievable, the General could not detect any lie on Mark''s face or voice.


    Well, the general aside, it seemed that not everyone had the same insight.


    "How can a courier like you show that kind of attitude to your superiors?"


    Another man in the General''s entourage yelled.

 Chapter 636 Loyal Arrogance, The Commotion At The Pier

    <strong>Day 147 - 10:45 AM - Port Area, Catanduanes Military Settlement, Codon, San Andres, Catanduanes</strong>


    The pier was brimming with people. There were the ones that were waiting for the return of the boat. There were the soldiers. And some other people were also present just because the General and his entourage were here.


    Having the settlement leader show himself in public was more or less like seeing a popr actor or actress in these times. This case even more inrger settlements like Bay City and this ce. It was due to the fact that both the two locations were facing more dangers. There was almost no time for the leaders to show their faces in public while nning countermeasures they needed to implement while facing those dangers.


    It was, specifically, the case here in Catanduanes Military Settlement. The ind wasrge. Most ces inhabited by people were built by the coast. It left the central areas of the ind, the mountains, and forests, mostly untouched. Although it was where the ind inhabitants rely on their needs like wild fruits, vegetables, and firewood. There was still arge number of animals and insects living there.


    Now, those animals and insects posed a lot of danger to humans after they evolved. Not to mention that the ind was surrounded by ocean waters, where evolved fishes mighte ashore at any given time.


    And there was also the rebels on the northern side of the ind.


    The only thing that made this ce a little better was that the ind was free of the infected. Well, at least, as far as they knew.


    Now, the general and his entourage were actually here at the pier. Of course, some people would not pass the opportunity to see them.


    Unexpectedly, as some arrogant shouting was heard, not only those that came to see the general but also those with other purposes had their attention locked on the drama.


    Mei''s appearance was already gathering attention, and now, Mark was too. In the worst way, though.


    "Who is that guy Sir Andrew is yelling at?"


    Someone in the gallery asked the person beside him.


    "Don''t, but the situation won''t be good for him. Sir Andrew is an arrogant one, especially since he is a Mutator. The only good thing about him is he''s loyal to the General." The person replied. "Too loyal, in fact."


    That was right. This guy called Andrew was too loyal to the General. He might be an arrogant one but the thing that would drive him angry the most was when the General was being disrespected.


    As he received such unnecessary attention, Mark''s mood soured. He might not have cared if it was not for this because he was sure that General Faustino stated their rtion to the military. However, this guy just had to do it here.


    That was why before General Padi could even make his subordinate shut up, Mark already took a step forward.


    "What is your basis in saying that? Tell me." Mark asked, tilting his head to his right shoulder. "What attitude do I have? What attitude should I show? And why should I show it? Based on what?"


    The man called Andrew was taken aback by the sudden bombardment of questions from Mark. But even so, he thought that he was in the right here. Although he faltered a bit, he still answered arrogantly.


    "Because it''s us, the military, who hired you! You''re just a courier! You should show respect to your superiors!"


    That was what this Andrew thought. After all, it was already the norm for workers to show respect to their bosses. It was due to the fact that a single disrespect could lead the person to be fired from his job.


    Mark, however, did not show a respectful attitude.


    "You must have been paid to bring this package, right? For someone receiving payment, you show that kind of attitude?"


    Andrew added.


    "So, you are saying that someone receiving something from the military should kneel down and show respect, am I right? After all, we are just leeching off supplies from you guys while all of you did the hard work."


    Mark said with a smirk and with his eyes with a hidden red glow.


    General Padi did not see the glow in Mark''s eyes, but he realized what Mark was trying to do. He attempted to stop Andrew...


    Unfortunately, he was toote.


    "That''s right!"


    Andrew replied. His voice and attitude were devoid of hesitation.


    But then, he snapped out as he covered his mouth. He realized what he just said.


    "What did I just..."


    Andrew turned around. The res of everyone in the gallery towards him were colder than winter.


    It was alreadyte. All Andrew could do was turn back to Mark andsh out.


    "You f*cker! You did this on purpose!"


    "I didn''t. You did." Mark shrugged. "While I did receive some payment to deliver that package, I was by request. My group is not hired by anyone. General Faustino specifically requested for us to bring this package because I have some business to do here."


    Mark then stepped forward even more, almost invading the guy''s private space.


    "In the first ce, I''m not a dog of the military. I''m not a subordinate of any of you. My group don''t even live inside a settlement you guys manage. We don''t leach anything from the military. What made you think that I should be bowing down in front of you people?"


    "Y-you bastard!"


    Andrew raised his hand about to punch Mark.


    "Andrew, stop it!"


    General Padi shouted, making Andrew freeze.


    "Tch."


    Mark clicked his tongue. He was waiting for his guy to attack first. Since the General finally decided to intervene, there was no way for that to happen anymore. He turned around, joining Mei and the others. Of course, not without a word of warning.


    "General, we''ll just roam around. Just find us if you want to receive the package already. Don''t prepare amodation for us. This dog might bark at us again if you did. Also, leash that dog. A car might hit in the middle of the road. It will be a pity if one of your loyal dogs suddenly died."


    "You bastard! Who are you calling a dog!"


    Andrew roared and tried to charge at Mark, but he was restrained by the other soldiers.


    "Bring him away."


    The General ordered his men to take Andrew away. He could not help but rub his temples.<sub> </sub>


    "Are you fine, general? Is it really okay to let that guy go away freely?"


    A woman beside General Padi asked. He was the General''s secretary, Vanessa.


    "Take a look at this."


    General Padi gave the second letter to his secretary to check.


    Vanessa skimmed the letter quickly and was surprised.


    "Is this true?"


    Vanessa asked with her eyes glued to Mark''s group that was already leaving the port. Normally, people that came here would need to be checked and were given an escort.However, his group just left like that and was allowed to by the General.


    "I don''t know if that is true, but I don''t think that Faustino will lie."


    The General replied.


    "Andrew just provoked someone he shouldn''t have. If the contents of this letter are true, then Andrew is totally out of the line. Who would think that it was not that group of survivors are indebted to the military, but it was the two settlements that owe them a lot?"


    "In any case, it''s better not to antagonize them any further. It also stated in the letter to not provoke them in any manner, or we don''t know what consequences we will be facing." The General sighed. "That man called Mark also said that they had another business foring here. We should try to know what that is."


    "That person is dangerous, isn''t he?" Vanessa said, returning the letter to the General. "If you did not stop Andrew, it will give that man a reason to retaliate physically."


    To those words, General Padi did not reply.


    The General was thinking carefully. After all, none of them knew the reason for that dangerous group toe to this ce. They should at least try to know since it might turn out to be a bad thing.


    Furthermore, there were several pages of the letter that they had not read yet. It might exin some circumstances about that group of people.


    ***


    Mark joined the group and left the soldiers. The gallery parted like the red sea, letting the group pass.


    "Papa, should we kill that bad person?"


    Miracle asked while gesturing Mark to carry her up.


    The people around were rather shocked at that. How old was the girl? Three? Four? Those bloodthirsty words were truly unfit for a cute girl.


    Mark carried Miracle with a smile.


    "If he tried to do it again."


    That reply surely made the people hearing it shiver as they started to move further away from Mark''s group.


    "Boss, what are we going to do now?"


    Edzel asked.


    "Let''s roam around the ce first. Then we''ll find a ce to camp out."


    No one questioned Mark''s decision. For everyone here, camping out felt morefortable than staying in a ce filled with people. It seemed that staying in the Mountain Base adapted them more into this kind of lifestyle.


    Wandering around the settlement was quite ufortable. There were a lot of people, and most people they pass by on the road would stare at the neers.


    It was already fortunate that no one came to stop them and ask or offer things. They did not need such a thing to happen. Well, it was mostly because of Mark''s natural dark aura that the people that would normally go and encircle neers to ask questions stay away.


    Mark turned his head in a certain direction and sighed. He did this from time to time, and the others could not help but notice it.


    "Gege, are you looking for someone?"


    Mei asked as she noticed that there would always be a person where Mark would suddenly turn his head to.


    "No, let''s go."


    Mark shook his head as they continued to roam the ce.


    Of course, Mark was looking for clues as to where his family was. And without a doubt, they were not here in this settlement. Instead, what he was detecting were his rtives from his mother''s side. After all, San Andres Catanduaness was his mother''s hometown.


    He had a lot of rtives here, but it was not like he knew any of them.


    And thus, he just continued to roam around the settlement, wondering if he would find someone he knew. It was not like he did not want to ask them. However, things would be a bit troublesome in terms of familial rtionships in the outbreak.


    He was doing well in the apocalypse. It would not be surprising if the rtives started asking for a share of it. That was why he would rather not associate himself with them than to receive these kinds of troubles.


    From time to time, Mark would also stealthily nce from behind. He could only shrug.


    It was not surprising that they were being followed.


    Mark could recognize one as it seemed to be one of the General''s people. It was not really a problem since the General had to do this. The problem was the other party, though. Mark could not recognize them.


    In any case, Mark had no reason to let them know that he knew that they were following behind his group. It was not the time yet to stir a bigmotion. Still, if they made a dangerous move, Mark would not hesitate to dispose of them.


    While roaming around, they heard a growl.


    Well, it was not some animal. It was Emika''s stomach. She had been quiet since there were a lot of people around. However, it seemed that her empty stomach could not.


    "Alright, let''s find somewhere to eat."


    Mark said. He remembered that they had not gotten a proper breakfast yet.

 Chapter 637 Going For Brunch, A Picnic By The Western Coast

    <strong>Day 147 - 12:22 PM - West District, Catanduanes Military Settlement, Codon, San Andres, Catanduanes</strong>


    "Gege, what is this ce?"


    Mei asked Mark as he brought them here after talking about wanting to eat something.


    It was not surprising that she would ask. After all, Mark brought them to a ce with a lot of people. And to say, A LOT. This ce was not any less poptedpared to the pier this morning.


    Nevertheless, this number of people indicated that Mark brought the group to the correct location.


    "This should be the trading area. Remember? Bay City also had something like this. The same for Infanta if I''m correct."


    Mark said, pointing at a few buildings surrounded by military tents. Outside the buildings, there were a few groups of soldiers on guard duty. It was pretty much the same set up that other military settlements initially had with their trade posts. It was where the workers could use their contribution points to exchange for food and other necessities.


    But of course, other people also started to trade here. They were bartering their personal belongings in exchange for things they might need. A good example was people that managed to bring more clothes than food. They could trade their extra clothing to other people in exchange for another meal. Another example was survivor groups that could hunt animals from the mountain or fish from the sea. They also went here to trade their items.


    They could trade their extra belongings to the military. However, the military had a fixed price for things, and no profit could be obtained by more desperate people and people that wanted more.


    "Nee, Uncle. What are we doing here? Aren''t we going to eat?"


    Emika asked, tugging on the hem of Mark''s clothes.


    "We''re just passing by," Mark replied. "We''ll go to the west coastal area to eat."


    <o>,m Emika nodded after hearing Mark''s reply. She understood why they would go to a secluded location to eat. If they did not, it was likely that what happenedst night would happen again. And this time, it could be much worse.</o>


    Along the way, the people''s attention was on their group like before. It was even worse because there were a lot of people. New faces, Mei''s appearance, and even Emika''s hair color, all these were more than enough for their group to be the center of attention.


    The most annoying part was when they passed by a group of unruly people, whistling at Mei.


    Of course, their whistles suddenly turned to coughs of blood, which horrified everyone around. No one knew what happened. The only thing they understood that it might have something to do with the group that they offended. This also caused the people that witnessed that to mind their own business.


    In the first ce, a group able to keep a woman with that kind of beauty meant that they were likely to be strong people. In the state of the world right now, a beauty like that was trouble. Anyone that had even a little bit of it could have been broken by animals in human skin already.


    With the regr people staying away, however, the stronger ones appeared.


    "That''s just cruel, don''t you think?" A man that Mark had just passed by spoke. "There''s no harm done with just whistling."


    There was no need to ask who he was talking to as he was staring at Mark. Even so, the man was right. That whistling might be offending, but it did no harm. Mark did not hold back and scarred those men''s subconscious. In the future, even if a beautiful woman stripped in front of those men, their Spear Heroes would not rise.


    What was surprising, though, was this man talking to Mark could sense that.


    Mark nced at the man.


    "Why don''t you let them whistle at your wife or girlfriend then. No, you must be single. That''s why you think that it''s cruel."


    With those words, Mark led his group away. The man they left behind was twitching. He was a little angry and very embarrassed. Mark definitely hit a nail. What was worse was that the man was probably five or more years older than Mark. Definitely a wizard.


    Well, Mark was also the same before the apocalypse. He never had a girlfriend, and Mei was his first rtionship. But in the least, he understood people''s emotions, and he had seen such circumstances before.


    That man was just a dense one.


    Passing by the trading area under the eyes of almost everyone, it did not take long, and they reached the western border of the settlement. That was when they were stopped by the soldiers guarding the area.


    "Where are you people going?"


    "Outside, fishing."


    Mark replied.


    The soldiers were confused. After all, they had never seen this group among the usual groups that go out by the coast to fish. Nevertheless, there was no need for them to ask more questions than necessary.


    "Passes."


    The soldier in front of Mark stretched his right hand out, asking for something.


    Mark could not help but look back to his group.


    "We forgot to ask for passes, didn''t we?"


    "Won''t our passes in Bay City work?"


    Edzel asked. It was a reasonable question since the military belonged to a single organization.


    "It won''t work," Mark replied. "The settlements had different implemented systems."


    Their conversation was heard by the soldiers. One of them could not help but ask.


    "Did you all just arrive here?"


    "We arrived this morning."


    Mark replied.


    "No wonder." The soldier replied. "Let me make a call and see if we can let you out."


    It seemed that this soldier was a considerate one. It was not new that anyone arriving in this cecked food, and the rations from the military would be far from enough to satiate their hunger. And since they were new here, they did not have the contribution points to exchange for supplies. In fact, this was not the first time refugees went out hunting or fishing the very day they arrived.


    The soldier was mistaken about Mark''s group, though. Nevertheless, there was no need to stop him.


    However, before the soldier could make a call on his radio, it made a noise.


    "West Guards, West Guards. CC to West Guards."


    The soldier was surprised as their post was suddenly being called on the radio. Furthermore, the call was actuallying from the Command Center. Did something happen?


    "This is the West Guard. Over."


    The soldier answered.


    "We''ve been advised about the group currently wanted to pass the gates."


    Everyone heard this. The radio was loud, after all. Of course, the soldiers were surprised. Had this group done something? The soldiers gripped their guns just in case.<sub> </sub>


    But then, the soldiers rxed, although a bit confused.


    "Let them pass. The Entry and Exit Passes are not needed. Over."


    The soldiers looked at Mark''s group. What kind of gods were they to have such privilege. Even the Command specifically gave the order.


    Mark just shrugged about it, though. He could not help but nce behind. The person sent by the General to tail them should be the one that informed the General about the situation.


    In any case, this was convenient.


    "Affirmative."


    The soldier replied to the radio and with another few words, themunication ended.


    "You may pass."


    The soldier said as he opened the gate. What he did not expect, however, was that Mark put a bar of chocte in the soldier''s chest pocket. It was clear why. And to say, the soldier was surprised. Choctes were such a luxury nowadays, even the low-quality ones. The bar of chocte that he received, however, was obviously imported.


    This made the soldier even more confused. Why would this group go out to fish if they had such a luxury item to give out? Even just one bar of this kind of chocte could be traded for a few meals already.


    The soldier could only stare at the backs of Mark''s group with the bar of chocte in his hands. Who would think that being considerate would reward him today? His children would be delighted when he went home with this.


    The other soldiers could only stare at that bar of chocte out of envy. It seemed that they decided to be more respectful the next time they saw that group.


    "Nee, Uncle," Emika called out. "I''ve seen guys in movies and anime, also in manga, giving packs of cigarettes in these kinds of events. You''re the only one I saw giving a can of tuna, slices of fried octopus, and a bar of chocte."


    That made Mei, Edzel, and Pearl almost giggle. Even Pefile smiled.


    It was true, after all.


    "Not everyone smokes, alright." Mark shrugged. "Observe the person you are talking to and give the proper reward or bribe. I also have some packets of cigarettes just in case, you know?"


    "Ehhhh..."


    Emika tilted her head. Would she be able to do that?


    ***


    Without any hindrance, they reached the coast.


    There was no danger in this area since it was frequently inhabited by people. There were even some groups at the beach, looking for shellfish and other edible stuff. If some evolved animals came ashore, the military would be able to handle it. It was because north of the coast was another small vige that was turned into a military outpost.


    The arrival of Mark''s group did not seem to be too weed, though. It was not surprising since another group appearing here would mean anotherpetitor for the things that could be found here.


    But to everyone''s surprise, Mark''s group did not go to the shore but picked a t area near the tall rocks and started to prepare...


    Prepare a pic...


    "What in the world..."


    A man digging on the sand to find ms could not help but blurt out.


    They had been here all before the sun even had risen to find food. It was already noon, and they barely managed to get anything.


    And there, a group of people going on a pic.


    What a drastic contrast.


    "Bro, mind your own business." Another man spoke to the one digging ms. "Those people might be Mutators. Don''t try to offend them."


    The man digging ms shrugged. If they could only be Mutators and Evolvers too. Unfortunately, they were just regr people struggling to survive.


    The man then shook his head. Instead of getting envious, he better focus on getting more food instead.


    It was the same for other people by the shore. They all put their attention into their work instead of getting distracted.


    Well, it was until the smell of food scattered everywhere.


    For the love of God, Mark''s group was grilling some octopus meat heavily marinated for the whole night.


    "F*ck, my stomach is growling."


    A guy cursed.


    Nevertheless, no one tried to approach them. None of the regr people were brave enough.


    Yep, regr people.


    At the entrance to the beach, an armed group arrived. Seeing the group, the people immediately evaded eye-contact.


    "Sir Liden, look."


    A skinny man spoke to who seemed to be the leader of the group. He was pointing at the group having a pic not far from the shore.


    "Hmm?"


    The middle-aged man called Liden looked in that direction.


    "Sir, it seems that those people had a lot of food with them to be thisx." A muscr man with a heavy rifle spoke. "Maybe they will be willing to share."


    Of course, that sharing did not mean voluntary.


    These people were definitely up to no good.


    With a little nod from their leader, the group of ten armed men made their way towards Mark''s group.


    The other people immediately left the immediate vicinity. After all, this group was filled with ill intentions.


    Normally, the Military would stop these kinds of conflicts. Unfortunately, that man called Liden was the brother of a high-ranking officer of the Military.


    To be exact, the brother of the leader of the second faction in the Miltary Settlement. Even the other factions would not offend this guy unless they wanted to start an internal dispute at the current situation.

 Chapter 638 Interrupted Lunch, Never Offend A Hungry Devil

    <strong>Day 147 - 12:58 PM - Western Coast, Codon, San Andres, Catanduanes</strong>


    Beautiful scenery by the ocean, a rxing atmosphere as they ate, and the tasty food in front of them. It felt like the world was not in the threat of the infected. This scene would have been perfect if those people at the shore, staring at their group, would leave.


    Emika enjoyed her delicious food. This taste was not something that she would get even as a VIP of the settlement in Infanta. Even though the military had a lot of food in stock, their priority was not quality but quantity. They did not have seasonings in stored aside from necessary ones like sugar and salt. The amount of those used in food was also limited.


    Well, at least, they were not handing goop to their refugees.


    Mark''s group, on the other hand, did not give up on such leisure. They had seasonings in stock, and even the usual food in the base was restaurant quality. The cook, Trisha, was from a hotel, after all.


    "Hey, eat slowly."


    Pefile could not help but tell Emika, who was eating ravenously.


    "Oops. Hehe."


    The girl smiled awkwardly.


    It was not surprising that she was too hungry. They did not eat a lot this morning since their very first activity was to ride a boat. The waves and instability of travel on water could make a lot of people''s stomachs feel ufortable. It was, even more, when full.


    Their lunchtime would have been this good. However, after some time, Mark could not help but sigh.


    Some people could not keep trouble to their selves, after all.


    "Hoho, what avish lunch! Would you people mind sharing?"


    A thin guy wearing some military bulletproof vest and armed with an assault rifle and a pistol on his waist appeared. This guy closed in without any hesitation and behind him was his whole group. His voice was a little rough and irritating to the ears, even more, because of the way he spoke.


    Emika frowned. This guy ruined her lunch.


    No one in the group replied. They all turned to Mark, waiting for his orders. But before Mark could even say anything, another member of the thin man''s group spotted Mei and approached.


    "Look, there''s even a beauty here!"


    That member shouted to his group. He even walked behind Mei before turning to Mark, who sat beside her.


    "Scram. Why is someone ugly like you sitting beside this beauty here? That seat is more suited to our leader." The guy said, panning to everyone. "Everyone aside from this woman, leave! Also, leave those food behind!"


    This guy was more direct than the thin one.


    "Hah..." Mark sighed one more. "Can''t we have a peaceful lunch here?"


    "Peaceful lunch,you say?" The rude guy replied. "You are in Sir Liden''s territory. You have to pay respects first if you want a peaceful lunch here. Haha!"


    The guy was rude and irritating.


    But then, Mark replied.


    "So, you''re saying that if this guy called Liden is gone, we can have a peaceful lunch here, right?"


    The two rude guys froze. But soon, it turned into a burst of boisterousughter.


    "Hahahahaha! Sir! This guy wanted you gone!"


    The thin manughed out loud and turned to the middle-aged man leading the group behind them.


    "You wanted me gone?"


    Sir Liden stepped forward, staring at Mark with amusement.


    At this time, Mark did not even stand up and just stared at the group like he was looking at insects. The other members of Liden''s group did not notice it, but the leader did.


    "It seems like you are not afraid of us at all."


    Liden stared at Mark with his eyes sharp.


    "I don''t think anyone would be afraid when flies appeared while they are eating. They just have to shoo the flies away and if they did not leave, kill them, right?"


    Liden frowned. It was a Threat. The guy in front of him was threatening them.


    If they did not leave, they would be killed?


    "HAHAHAHAHA!"


    The loudughter of several men echoed throughout the beach.


    Liden then sinisterly spoke.


    "It seems like you all are new here. You don''t know who you are speaking to. Since that is the case, we will let you know... The hard way."


    Liden then waved his hand, ordering his group.


    "Capture them. Just don''t harm the women. We''ll have a fun time tonight."


    And there, the group of ten armed men ganging up on a groupposed of only three men, two women, and four children. To the eyes of the gallery, thetter group would not end well.


    ***


    In the woods nearby, the intelligence soldier that was sent by General Padi was contactingGeneral Padi already.


    "What?! What in the world is Liden''s group doing there?!"


    The General''s panicked voice could be heard on the radio.


    "Sir, I don''t know. They probably just returned from hunting. But by the looks of it, they were not lucky to find any this time."


    "So that is why they are trying to extort other people again?"


    The General replied.


    "Most likely, Sir." The soldier replied. "Are we going to interfere?"


    There were a few seconds of silence on the radio.


    "General?"


    The soldier asked.


    Finally, the General replied.


    "No, don''t make a move until thest minute. We''ll use this opportunity to test that group and if possible, get rid of that Liden at once."


    "Sir, are you sure about this?"


    The soldier was rather hesitating about this n.


    ***


    Inside his office, the General took a deep breath.


    "You don''t have to worry about this." He said on his private radio. "If there might be a good chance to get rid of those pests, it might be now."


    The General was quite sinister with his words. It seemed that this Liden''s group had given him nothing but trouble.


    He then turned to his table. It was the letters that had proven Mark''s identity. Among the contents were other important information about Mark''s group. If the contents of the letters were true, then Liden''s group kicked a steel te this time around.


    ***


    And, of course, the General was right.<sub> </sub>


    Liden ordered his group to move. But unexpectedly, after their first steps, all of them were rooted in ce.


    "What are you idiot''s doing?!"


    Liden yelled in anger. What were his men up to this time? Although there were a lot of times that they were hard to control, there was no way they would y this time.


    "L-Leader... W-we can''t move! Our legs are shaking too much!"


    The closes one to Liden cried out. That was when Liden noticed the legs of his men shaking for unknown reasons.


    "RAAAHH!!!"


    One of Liden''s men roared, trying to take another step forward. But then...


    BAM!


    The uncontroble shaking of his legs dumped him t to the sand.


    "What in the world is going on with you all?!"


    Liden shouted in anger and confusion. That was when he noticed the man that threatened then a few seconds ago, eating another slice of grilled food. It was the same for the other members of the man''s group. After ncing at the statues that tried to surround them, they started eating once more.


    "You bastard! Are you the one who did this?!"


    Liden roared at Mark, though he did not have the courage to charge forward.


    "I did," Mark replied, chewing on his food. "So, what can you do?"


    Liden did not know what to do. The situation was really strange. The only thing he noticed was Mark''s eyes glowing red and nothing else. And it was obvious that Mark exempted him from the attack as he was the only person in his group that could move right now.


    Retreat? That was what he should do. Even if he had to abandon his men, he should make his escape.


    However, Liden''s ego did not allow it. He was confident that his brother''s standing was more than enough to scare these measly refugees.


    "Release my men right now!" Liden roared. "I''m Major General Seguerra''s brother! Offending me won''t do you any good!"


    Mark nced at Liden.


    "From the Marines?"


    It seemed that Mark recognized the person.


    "That''s right! Release my men right now, and I will give you a way to live!"


    Liden boasted.


    But then, Mark snickered.


    "You think I care?" Mark put a slice of octopus into the grill. "Even if you are the president, don''t think you will leave this ce alive. I just don''t want to end our lunch here, you see. That''s why..."


    Mark''s red eyes shed.


    "Stay put."


    And there, Liden''s eyes dted. His body was shaking from unexinable fear, and his legs were shaking uncontrobly. He could not move at all.


    What was worse was Liden and his men. They were forced to watch Mark''s group ignore them as they ate lunch.


    Everyone watching was appalled by this sight. Liden''s group were like statues standing in the sand while a group ate lunch in front of them.


    However, it did not take long and Liden and his group started roaring and cursing. All the curses were targeted to that group they tried to target.


    Finally, Mark could not handle it anymore.


    "You all are really idiots aren''t you?" Mark stood up. "We can yter but for now, shut up."


    He said as he grasped the neck of the thin man that came close to them earlier.


    "ARRGG!!!"


    The thin man roared in pain. His arms and legs were squirming for some reason. And then, to everyone''s shock, the thin man''s arms and legs detached from his torso. It was strange that no blood sshed around as the limbs fell to the group. Nevertheless, everyone was already shocked enough to notice that.


    All that was left on Mark''s hand was a limbless unconcious guy.


    Without any mercy, Mark threw the thin man away. He crashed to the ground, leaving a long trail mark on the sand.


    Liden''s group could not help but shut up. What happened to theirrade was horrifying.


    But did it end there, unfortunately no.


    Mark gathered the cut limbs, picking them up from the sand.


    "Hey, uncle. What are you going to do with those?"


    Emika asked curiously.


    Mark only nced at her and did not reply. With a smile, Mark approached the pointy rock that was just a few meters away from where they were eating. It was a tall four meters pointed boulder that was about three meters wide.


    And to everyone''s confusion, Mark knocked on the rock like someone with a mental illness.


    "Hey, have some food."


    Mark said as he dropped the limbs in front of the rock and retreated.


    And to everyone''s shock, the earth tremored.


    The rock started to shake, and it began to rise from the sand.


    "EHHHH!!!!"


    Emika screamed in shock. Not only her but the others were also surprised.


    Some people started to run away, thinking that the rock was actually a monster that no one knew. The soldiers in the outpost that noticed themotion also began to move.


    It was slow, but it did not take long, and the monster was revealed.


    There was a gigantic hermit crab. That rock was its house.


    Like an intelligent creature, it nced at Mark before moving to the limbs that he dropped. And there, the thin man''s limbs became this creature''s lunch.


    "Please leave the location! It''s dangerous!"


    The soldiers shouted at Mark and Liden''s groups. Unfortunately, Liden and his men could not move at all. Well, they could do a step, but they would immediately fall to the ground.


    Mark, on the other hand, did not mind the soldiers and went back to eat.


    "Are you all deaf!" A soldier shouted with a megaphone. "Vacate the area immediately!"


    But then, nothing else was heard from that soldier as he also followed the steps of Liden''s group.


    It was confusing for the soldiers that only responded because of that hermit crab.


    But then, another surprise came. The hermit crab did not even eat all the limbs and left a leg. It then dragged the leg underneath it and went back into bing a boulder, digging itself into the sand.


    Nevertheless, themotion did not die down.


    Before Mark''s group could finish eating, two groups of armed soldiers came to respond to the situation.

 Chapter 639 The Orchestra Of Pain, The Arrival Of The Two Generals

    <strong>Day 147 - 1:15 PM - Western Coast, Codon, San Andres, Catanduanes</strong>


    Even after creating such amotion, Mark decided to sit down and eat. He focused on his stomach more than troubling himself with the current state of the surroundings.


    And, of course, the soldiers were troubled. Their squad leader was also rooted in the spot like Liden''s group. Without knowing what was going on, the soldiers did not dare make any threatening moves. After all, the unknown was the most terrifying.


    "Have you always known that there''s something under that rock?"


    Pefile could not help but ask. He was also surprised after that rock started to move.


    "No?" Mark replied. "I just noticed it when we arrived here. I became curious as to why that is here."


    "No wonder you picked this rocky area when there are other better ces to eat."


    Pefile nodded understandably.


    In the first ce, the rocky area was not that good of a ce to eat. However, Mark led the group here.


    It was still strange, though, and that was why Edzel asked a question.


    "Boss, is that Hermit Crab intelligent?"


    It was a question that everyone in the group was interested in. After all, it was strange that this creature was here lying dormant despite the people around. It was not the case of not being a carnivore either as everyone just watched it eat the poor guy''s limbs.


    "It is," Mark replied. "Not as intelligent as Char, though. It''s staying here exactly because there are people around. It is much safer here."


    While the first part of Mark''s reply answered the question, thetter part gave more.


    "Safer?"


    Emika asked.


    "Yeah. Safer." Mark nodded. "This Hermit Crab here must have drastically mutated that it can''t keep its eggs inside its shell. It is protecting its eggs under it."


    That answered the question. As it could not keep the eggs inside its shell, the Giant Hermit Crab buried itself in the sand to keep the eggs safe. With the people and soldiers around, this ce was free of possible predators, which made this creature stay in this ce.


    "Papa, another pet?"


    Abbygale asked.


    Out of the three girls, she was the one really fond of animals. She was even taking care of Laps personally whenever they were home.


    "Probably not."


    Mark patted the little girl''s head.


    "Why?"


    Abbygale asked once more.


    "It''s too big to move around. Its home is also the ocean. There''s nowhere we can put it at home."


    Mark replied, and the little girl nodded in understanding. Abbygale was a smart girl, after all.


    While they were chatting without even a bit of care towards the surroundings, several vehicles arrived.


    The General? It was not.


    A tank-like vehicle came roaring with its engine as it led a group of offroad military jeeps entered the scene.


    One of the jeeps stopped in front of the others, with a man close to his fifties went out.


    Seeing that person, Liden could not help but cry out loud.


    "B-BROTHER!"


    "Liden!" The man called out. "What is going on here?! Where is the monster?"


    That was right. It was Major General Antonino Seguerra from the Philippine Marines. Unfortunately for Liden, though, it seemed that this group was here for the Hermit Crab instead of him. Nevertheless, it was an opportunity for Liden to ask for help.


    "Brother! Help!"


    Liden cried out one more. This drove his brother and his men into confusion. Help at what? Liden and his men were there, standing. There was no danger in sight at all.


    It was when General Seguerra noticed the thin man nearby, unconscious and with his limbs missing. Of course, the Marines General was familiar with the men of his brother. Finally, it registered in his mind that there was something odd going on.


    Finally, a soldier from the outpost came to fill in the details. Sure enough, the newly arrived soldiers were surprised to know that Liden and his group were stuck and unable to move. However, when the soldier pointed at their squad leader, also stuck and unable to move, the General and his men could only believe it.


    With a signal from the Marines General, his men moved.


    Raising their guns towards the group having their lunch, one of the soldiers called out.


    "All of you, raise your hands up! You''re all under arrest!"


    To their surprise, none of the group''s members raised their hands and only took a pitiful nce at the soldiers.


    "Arresting us? What for?" Mark asked out loud. "For not letting these pests eat our food or y with the women in my group? The Marines had gone low these days, huh?"


    That was said all out loud, and everyone in the vicinity heard it. The Marines Soldiers might be loyal to their General, but those words still made their faces heat up.


    "Shut up!" The leader of the soldiers shouted. "You are under arrest for impeding military operations!"


    "Oh, I see." Mark nodded, hitting his left palm with his closed right hand. "Thewless activities of these guys are now military operations, huh?"


    The soldier that had shouted just now choked. It was not he was talking about. It was about the monster and Mark''s group not leaving the area after the Squad Leader from the outpost made them vacate the area.


    However, it was alreadyte. Mark''s twisted words made the stares from the surroundings as cold as it could be.


    The Marines General frowned. Mark had been ying with them. He then decided to step forward himself.


    "You." General Seguerra called out to Mark. "Release my brother and his men from whatever witchcraft you did, and we will let you go."


    "Release them?" Mark tilted his head. "I''m sorry, but I already said it before. They will die today. I don''t care whoever came to vouch for them."


    "Do you really have to make this hard?"


    The Marines General asked.


    "Not changing my mind here."


    Mark replied nonchntly.


    With that, General Seguerra was fed up. He raised his hand, signaling his men to get ready to fire.


    "I will give you one more chance."


    General Seguerra threatened.


    But this time, the sounds of several vehicles roared once more. It was not from the group of Marines, but another group. Soon, the second group arrived. It was the Army, led by General Padi.


    General Padi alighted his vehicle with the same entourage he had this morning when he met Mark''s group at the pier. That Andrew was here too. Although he was still ring at Mark, he seemed to be more subdued at this time.<sub> </sub>


    "Seguerra, you better stop what you are doing right now."


    General Padi warned the other General.


    "Padi, what are you doing here? This is none of your business!"


    General Seguerra roared.


    "Of course it is my business." The Army General calmly replied. "The group you are pointing your guns right now is the group that had the package from Faustino."


    That should have been enough to stop the Marines General in normal circumstances. However, he was angered at this moment.


    "If the package is what you all care about, we can take that after we subdued these criminals."


    At this moment, an audible sigh could be heard.


    "Criminals, he said. What a thick face." Mark shook his head before turning to General Padi. "You''rete, you know that? The guy you sent to tail us had beenmunicating with you, right? Howe that these thick-faced guys appeared first?"


    Thatint made General Padi surprised. After all, Mark knew all along! It was even more surprising since the soldier he sent was a Mutator with stealth abilities that was the top among their intelligence spies.


    Before General Padi could say anything, Mark dropped a threatening question.


    "Well, it''s good that you''re here, though," Mark said as he finally stood up from his seat. "Say... Can I kill them all without any consequences from you guys?"


    That was right. Mark was asking General Padi for permission to kill. However, it was not only Liden''s group but also the soldiers of the Marines.


    However, before the Army General could answer that question, the Marines General made the first move without hesitation.


    "SHOOT!"


    General Seguerra shouted.


    The order was given, and the soldiers of the Marines were ready to pull the triggers. It would definitely impact their reputation, but the words of the General came first in priority.


    And there, the volley of bullets flew off towards Mark''s group.


    General Padi could only rub his forehead. There was one crucial thing that General Seguerra did not know. Mark''s group could create a shield that could block bullets.


    And thus, it was disyed here as Mark''s group was enveloped with a hazy barrier, stopping all the bullets from hitting their targets.


    The soldiers emptied their magazines to no avail. All their bullets stopped suspended in the air for a few seconds before falling down.


    At this time, Mark gave ast look at General Padi.


    "Sorry, General, but I''m fed up with these insects."


    And there, Mark''s eyes glowed bright red, releasing sparks at the corners. A cold sensation enveloped the surroundings. The soldiers that fired just now entered a frozen state with their bodies shaking uncontrobly out of fear. One by one, their guns fell from their grips as their hands grew numb.


    General Seguerra was not an exception to this. With his dted eyes, he watched Mark step out of the barrier. Mark approached and stopped in front of him.


    "Isn''t it nice to feel how your brother felt? Since you seem to value brotherhood too much, why not share his pain?"


    General Seguerra could not speak. His teeth were ttering violently. The only thing he could do was watch Mark approach Liden in a threatening way.


    As Mark went full throttle already, Liden could not speak either. He could only watch Mark approach fearfully.


    And there, Mark grasped Liden''s arm.


    And then...


    SNAP!


    "AARRRGGHHH!!!"


    It was an orchestra of pain.


    Mark broke Liden''s arm. His wrist and hand dangled before his elbow.


    In pain, Liden roared. However, it was not only him. General Seguerra and his soldiers all screamed with him as his pain was fully transmitted to all of them.


    The witnesses could not help but step back in both awe and fear after hearing more than fifty fully grown men cry out in pain at the same time.


    But it did not end there.


    Mark walked to the other side of Liden, grasping his other arm.


    SNAP!


    "AAAAHHHH!!!"


    Liden roared with his eyes flowing with tears. Of course, his backup singers sang the painful song with him.


    This, however, made some people snap from the effects of fear that Mark induced in their minds. They fell on their knees, grasping their arms in pain although there were no injuries present at all.


    Mark turned at those people with a shrug. It was not surprising. There were many circumstances that pain could outdo fear. Even a person frozen in fear could start running after they felt pain.


    At this moment, General Seguerra knew that they were in great danger. He bit his lip, causing it to bleed. The pain made him at least able to speak. However, he did not beg for mercy or apologize to Mark.


    Instead, he called out.


    "BERRAK!"


    General Seguerra yelled out loud.


    Everyone was confused as to what he was saying. They thought that he was trying to say something but choked.


    But then, Mark sensed a presence appear in front of the Marines General.


    "You called?"


    A voice was heard as a visage of a person manifested in front of General Seguerra.


    There, a man appeared out of thin air. The moment he materialized, though, the man immediately frowned.


    "What the f*ck did you run into, old man?"


    He asked the frozen General. He then made a tap on the General''s shoulder, unexpectedly freeing him from his current state.


    The man panned his eyes unto the surroundings, letting the freed General fall on his knees and breathing hard. That was when the man''s eyes fell on Mark.


    "It''s you?"


    The man asked in surprise.


    Of course, Mark was the same.


    This person was the very same man that Mark''s group passed by in the trading area. The wizard.

 Chapter 640 Not A Wizard, The Arrival And Escape Of Berrak

    <strong>Day 147 - 1:21 PM - Western Coast, Codon, San Andres, Catanduanes</strong>


    A human phasing into existence out of nowhere, everyone who would witness that would be shocked beyond belief. Was this a Mutator ability? Or maybe, magic?


    No one would be able to tell among the people watching.


    One thing was for sure, though. This man appeared here toe to the Marines General''s aid.


    When this man arrived after his call, General Seguerra''s confidence rose.


    "Berrak! Kill him!"


    The General roared, pointing at Mark.


    Thatmand made the gallery anticipate a fight to happen. But to everyone''s dismay, Mark and the man stared at each other for a few seconds. Then, that was when he turned back to the General.


    "This guy? You sure."


    Berrak strangely asked General Seguerra.


    "That''s right! With your powers, you should be able to kill that bastard!"


    But then, Berrak pped his forehead.


    "F*ck."


    After cursing, Berrak finally made his move.


    In the blink of an eye, he grabbed the General''s shoulder before the two suddenly teleported beside Liden. Without waiting for anything else, Berrak''s free hand reached towards Liden.


    But then, with a surge of ck mist, Mark appeared beside Liden, grabbing his broken arm.


    Unfortunately for Mark, his fast speed was still notparable to an instant movement. He only managed to touch Liden''s arm before the three teleported several meters away, leaving Mark standing in ce.


    "Sorry man," Berrak spoke to Mark from far away. "I know these two offended you but I can''t let them die here."


    "You really think that I will let those two escape?"


    Mark replied as he waved his hand. A sh of ck lightning shot towards the three.


    With a loud sound of chirping birds, the sh of lightning traveled in an instant. However, Berrak extended his hand, and a magic circle appeared in front of him, shielding the three from Mark''s attack.


    At this point, the gallery started to run away. The scene in front of them was not just some unfolding drama. It was a battle of the unknown.


    The two forces, lightning and shield, dissipated at the same time. Mark''s lightning got nullified, but Berrak''s arm was clearly shaking from the impact.


    "Damn. Even escaping won''t be easy."


    Berrak cursed. He might be able to teleport some distance away alone, but carrying two people with him would be different. After all, teleportation, a kind of space magic, was not his forte.


    He was not a wizard. He was...


    "Hou! Tepes! Terran! I''m sorry, but you three will have to sacrifice yourselves!"


    Berrak shouted out loud, making threerge magic circles appear on the ground in front of him.


    From the magic circles, three creatures appeared.


    One was a ck hound with skeletal armor on its body and a me-like mane. It was asrge as a motorcycle.


    The second one was a red lizard spurting out mes from its mouth. It was not any smaller than the hound.


    Lastly, the third was gigantic. It was a four-meter giant made of stone.


    With a wave of Berrak''s hand, the three charged towards Mark. It was not to kill him but stall for time.


    The appearance of three monsters alerted the people and even the soldiers. They got their firearms ready in case these creatures started to harm people. However, they did not carelessly plunge into the battle as it was not theirs.


    The three creatures moved differently. The hound moved the fastest, even turning into a blur at its every step. The lizard was slower, but it was still as fast as a speeding vehicle. As for the stone giant, it wasgging behind. Its heavy body made it move slower than the two. Its duty, however, was not to charge but be Berrak''s shield.


    These three might have been able to hinder Mark a little. That very little time should be enough for Berrak to escape. Unfortunately, Mark was not alone.


    A white sh passed by Mark''s side, facing the hound. It was no other than Abbygale that already transformed into her catgirl form. She started to fight the hound, with both of them turning into ck and white blurs that the people could barely see. In a second, however, everyone saw the hound got shot away by a kick from the little girl.


    Lagging slightly behind, Miracle also charged in. To everyone''s surprise, the smallest among the four girls was aiming for the stone giant. The giant smashed its huge fist towards the little girl. This scene made the remaining bystanders look away. Those that continued to watch, however, was in for a shock. Miracle faced the giant''s fist with her own. With a loud bang, the rock giant''s arm cracked open, making the mouths of the people agape.


    Last was Emika, who came running whileughing. Her opponent was the lizard, which she should have a disadvantage fighting. Fortunately, there was I to protect everyone. The lizard blew mes at Emika, but a barrier protected her. Facing those mes, Emika waved her green hair, turning each strand into a thick thorned vine. The lizard tried to burn the vines, but its mes could not keep up with the river of green thorns. Soon, it was entangled, unable to move.


    "Sh*t. It''s a family of monsters."


    Berrak cursed as he sang a chant.


    A wide magic circle appeared in the sky about the size of a basketball court.


    And from the magic circle, a gigantic fish-like flying serpent appeared.


    Berrak grabbed General Seguerra and Liden with both arms and teleported to the back of the serpent.


    However, Mark, who was not hindered by the three creatures at all already appeared in front of the serpent from an explosion of ck mist.


    That was when Berrak roared in urgency.


    "BAKU! ESCAPE!"


    With thatmand, a wave of unexinable energy was discharged from the serpent. Even with that, Mark should have been able to reach the three with his current speed. However, all of a sudden, the surroundings went ck, pitch ck. It was as if the sun was swallowed away by something, forcing Mark tond back at the sand.


    The people and the soldiers panicked. Fortunately, the darkness onlysted for about half a minute.


    At that time, however, Berrak, General Seguerra, and Liden had already vanished along with the giant serpent.


    "Gege, did they escape?"<sub> </sub>


    Mei approached Mark and asked. She already had her sword sniper rifle out but the sudden darkness disabled her from shooting.


    Mark smiled it was a sinister one.


    "Not yet."


    Mark then turned to the girls. They already decimated the three creatures by themselves. The thought of capturing the creatures came to Mark''s mind. After all, these were unusual ones.


    Unfortunately, as the creatures stopped moving, they all turned to particles as their lives were extinguished.


    "Mei''er," Mark turned to Mei. "Take care of the girls first."


    "Un," Mei nodded. "Leave them to me."


    Some people heard Mark, including General Padi and his entourage. They thought that Mark would chase the three that escaped immediately. But then, they were up to a gruesome sight as all the people, Liden''s men and the soldiers of General Seguerra, had their heads detach from their bodies as Mark appeared at the center of themotion.


    Mark did not give any chance for General Padi to negotiate for the lives of the soldiers. He immediately ended them there. It was obvious that Mark was angry.


    And then, in front of everyone, Mark disappeared.


    ***


    At the same time, Berrak, General Seguerra, and Liden were already flying several kilometers away, southeast of Catanduanes. The flying serpent could really move fast. It had just been a few minutes, but they could already see the northern coast of the province of Samar.


    "Berrak! Why did you bring us to escape?!"


    General Seguerra asked Berrak for an exnation.


    However, what the General faced was Berrak''s anger instead.


    "WHAT DO YOU WANT ME TO DO? FIGHT THAT THING? F*CK!"


    Berrak was definitely furious.


    "If I did not owe my life to yourte wife, do you think I will put my self in danger and save you two against that thing?! Damn! I already sacrificed three of my summons! Do you think the lives of you two are enough to exchange for that? Sh*t!"


    General Seguerra and Liden could not say anything as they received Berrak''s anger.


    Still, the General forced out a question.


    "I-is that man really that strong?"


    "Strong? You ask me if that thing is strong? F*ck! If that thing goes wild, he could sink your small country! Out of all things, you two tried to offend something like that?"


    "Y-you must be exaggerating..."


    Liden said, covered in a cold sweat.


    "Exaggerating? Exaggerating my *ss! I already told you two before toy low since secret masters are everywhere, especially now that most humans are dead! Most of the people capable of living leisurely now are those with overwhelming strength! Tell me! What is that man doing before?"


    Berrak asked, but Liden did not dare answer. However, with the furious stare from the former, thetter could only give his answer.


    "A-a pic at the seaside."


    "See?" Berrak pped his forehead. "Think about it! You think just anyone can afford to have a pic at this time? You think just anyone can keep a woman like that safe? Damn, just where did your brain go?!"


    Berrak started to throw ridicule after ridicule towards the two for their meager intelligence and overflowing ego. In this event, he was the one that sacrificed the most.


    General Seguerra only received some mental damage, while Liden had his arms broken. Those were notparable to the three creatures he captured and raised to be his summons. He spent years taming them, even putting his own life in jeopardy. Now, those three were gone, and he was left with two idiots that did not know their ce.


    The two went quiet while Berrakmanded the flying serpent. He could not help but nce at the two behind him for his loss.


    Berrak was not a wizard nor a sorcerer. He was a summoner. Of course, it was not like the summoners in fantasy stories that could summon creatures from another world or out of thin air. He needed to search for demonic and spiritual creatures, capture and tame them before he could summon them freely. In a sense, he was more like a magical tamer.


    One time, he almost died while chasing a spiritual creature in the Philippine mountains. It was General Seguerra''ste wife that found and saved him from the brink of death. That was why he pledged to protect her family in exchange for the favor. Unfortunately, the General''s wife had already passed away from an illness. Nevertheless, he was still fulfilling his promise.


    Luckily, General Seguerra never had any children. Or else, it would have been harder to escape this time. As for Liden, Berrak could not care less. This did not have a fixed family and had children from different women. In any case, he would not go all the way to save them all.


    "Where are we going now?"


    General Seguerra asked Berrak.


    "Anywhere. As long as it''s far from here." Berrak replied, trying to calm himself down. "I don''t know what you two did, but that thing is keen on killing you two. If we just settled down somewhere close, you should start praying that you two will not encounter that thing in the future."


    "Why do you call that man, "thing.""


    Liden could not help but ask, groaning in the pain of his arms.


    "Because that''s not human. Get that?"


    Not human. The two brothers could not fathom what Berrak was talking about.


    "You two don''t get it?" Berrak frowned. "That thing had no ties with destiny and life. He''s a living dead being. Sooner orter, if he continued to grow, an existence like that can be a Diety, or even an Earth God. Get what I''m saying?"


    Berrak then turned to Liden.


    "I ran into that guy earlier, but I think, he''s not the type of person to care about things. Just what did you do to offend him, huh?"


    Liden heard the question. But he did not dare answer.


    However, an answer came from a very unexpected direction.


    "He justughed out loud with his men while saying that they will y with my wife tonight."


    A cold chill touched the back of their necks as they heard that voice.


    They looked behind. At first, they could not see anything.


    But then, as if the curtain of light opened, the figure of Mark standing at the back of a ck dragon appeared.

 Chapter 641 The Fate Of Those Who Fled, A Battle Above The Philippine Sea

    <strong>Day 147 - 1:27 PM - Philippine Sea, 16 Kilometers North of Semirara Inds</strong>


    "How in the world..."


    Berrak was speechless.


    Although Berrak was not confident of fighting the enemy, he was sure that he could escape, albeit with a few sacrifices. The ability of his pet, Baku, was not just turning day into a pitch-ck night. It was capable of dulling the senses of everything engulfed by that darkness, erasing any chances of being tailed.


    Berrak never expected that the enemy could still follow them. The enemy even brought his mount into the fray.


    One more thing. Berrak learned what offense that Liden did to deserve his death. To say that he and his men would y with that thing''s wife? Really? Liden and his men were courting death. That was, without a doubt.


    When Berrak saw Mark for the first time earlier, he psychologically disabled the manliness of that group of men after they lustfully whistled at his wife. And Liden had the guts to say that to the very same person.


    There was nothing that they could do now. Liden did the act, and the older brother supported the other instead of apologizing. Both of them were marked for death and dragged him in.


    "Damn it."


    Berrak cursed.


    He had been into many dangerous situations and almost lost his life several times. This time, however, was the first time he felt the most hopeless.


    What could they do now? Berrak racked the deepest parts of his brain. Could they escape? Not. There was no way. His flying serpent, Baku, could use that ability as much as its energy could handle. However, there was no way that it would work on the same opponent twice in a row.


    Could he offer something in exchange for the lives of these two arrogant idiots? Maybe treasure? Maybe a pet?


    Unfortunately, when it came to treasures, he had none. Berrak had been a noman all his life. The only time he stayed in one ce was when he was still a child learning things from his master. Since his master vanished, he had been moving around, putting the things he learned into practice.


    Searching for astray spiritual and demonic creatures was not easy at all. It was even harder to find clues about their whereabouts. Berrak would spend months to years to find one, and taming it was not a piece of cake either and sometimes life-threatening. There were even times that he had to abandon the thought of taming creatures that he found just because they were too strong for him.


    Living as a nomad disabled him from being able to amass any kind of wealth. Even if he found some valuable things in his endeavors, he would end up selling the items to fund his worldwide journey.


    That was why Berrak was dirt poor. It was just a few years ago that he settled down in this country. It was after he almost died after chasing a


    All Berrak had was his pets. However, aside from Baku, none of the remaining ones would beparable to that ck demonic dragon that the opponent was riding. Besides, there was no way that he would be able to give any of his tamed creatures. They were bound to him by a contract, and the only way to severe that was when either party dies. If he wanted to give him any of his pets, he would need to kill himself.


    There was no way he would choose that end.


    Berrak was out of any options. Maybe thest thing he could do was plead. Nevertheless, he was more convinced that they would die here.


    "Is there no way that you will let these two go?"


    Berrak shouted in a respectful voice.


    "You..."


    General Seguerra was rendered speechless. He never expected that his trump card was actually this useless. He had magical abilities and these fascinating summons. Yet, he could not or even dare do anything against the enemy.


    Of course, that gesture from the Marines General did not escape Berrak''s attention. With a sigh, he yelled.


    "Shut up!"


    Of course, General Seguerra was not happy being constantly scolded like this. A person like him that climbed up the ranks of the Military was now reduced to this. Unfortunately, he could not do anything but flinch. His position as a Marines General had no use in these circumstances. At least, he knew that much.


    On the other hand, Liden had no ability to speak orin anymore. Mark''s sudden appearance behind them took a toll on his mind. He started to reach his limit in enduring the pain of his broken arms.


    Actually, Berrak was not expecting anything as he asked that. In any case, if there was no hope at all, he did not mind making ast-ditch effort. Although he might die in the end, in the least, he fought.


    Berrak stared at the enemy. Although he had Baku, a flying serpent with fish-like characteristics, the ck dragon in front of him appeared to be far more intimidating despite being smaller. Despite the current situation, he could not help but feel a bit of envy.


    To Berrak''s question, Mark replied with another.


    "I''m curious. Why is someone like you so keen on protecting lowlives like them?"


    Berrak was surprised at that question. He thought that he would be faced with an answer that was filled with hostility. However, what he received was something filled with curiosity instead.


    ***


    Mark, on the other hand, observed Berrak and his pet named Baku. He could tell that this guy, although not innocent, was not a bad person. It was why Mark was confused as to why Berrak was protecting those two.


    Berrak stared at Mark and answered.


    "Because of a promise. That''s why I can''t back down here."


    "A promise? Then, you will protect them even if you die?"


    Mark asked another.


    "I don''t really want to die here." Berrak bitterly smiled. "But even if I have to."


    After those words, Berrak tapped Baku''s back and jumped off.


    With another surge of energy, the surroundings went ck once more.


    Unlike before, it was shorter this time. However, by the time the surroundings returned to normal, the flying serpent was gone together with General Seguerra and Liden. All that was left was Berrak, riding on top of a Thunderbird, and two more flying creatures. One was a wasp about the size of a motorcycle, while the other was unexpectedly a ck-colored pegasus.


    "You actually stayed behind."


    Mark said.


    "As if would have any other choice," Berrak replied before ncing at his summons. "Espa, Greos, Trua, this might be ourst fight together. Go all out!"


    With thosemands, the three creatures flew in different directions. By their movements, it seemed that Berrak wanted to surround Mark and Char at the center.


    This way, not only that Mark would not be able to chase after Baku but would have to be wary of attacksing from different directions.


    Mark watched the three flying creatures as they surrounded him and Char without any intervention.


    And finally, they started to attack after reaching their positions in almost an instant.


    With ps of their wings, the Thunderbird, Trua, and the Pegasus, Greos, sent bolts of lightning towards Mark and Char. Different from the two, the Wasp called Espa buzzed its wings, creating sound distortions in the air.


    The three attacks flew towards Mark at the same time. Furthermore, Berrak started to chant, making the space around slow down. It was not some sort of time magic, but he waspressing the space using magical energy.


    In order to not die here, Berrak was betting on his abilities, even the ones that he was not really good at using.<sub> </sub>


    With the space around himpressed, Char could not move, and there was no chance to evade the iing attacks.


    But then, without even Mark doing anything, a strong wind blew. Suddenly, the bolts of lightning shot off away from Mark while the wind created a barrier, blocking the sound quakes from the wasp.


    That was when Berrak saw something fly out of Mark''s bag.


    "Sh*t."


    There was a Sylph there. It was no other Amihan. She already started to learn the ways that Mark used the [Wind Maniption Mental Crystal]. This time, she used the colloids in the air to create an invisible conductor that diverted the directions of the lightning bolts. Even the barrier of wind that stopped the sound quake was created by her as the attack traveled with the wind as the medium.


    Berrak began to hate the situation more and more. The longer he fought this guy, the more he realized that there was no escape.


    Nevertheless, Berrak could not give up. He kept the space around Markpressed as he called upon his other summon.


    At the ocean below them, a huge magic circle appeared by Berrak''smand. And there, a blue serpent appeared. It was Berrak''s only summon that could be called in the ocean.


    "Mare! Attack!"


    Berrak bellowed.


    The Sea Serpent roared. The seawater around it began to swirl as water spouts were created under the blue sky. The tornadoes made of water rose towards Char, intending to swallow them and pull them down to the ocean.


    Finally, Mark made his move.


    Mark waved his hand, and a hazy ck smoke covered them. With the appearance of that smoke, thepression of space that Berrak painstakingly maintained shattered.


    PUFF!


    Berrak spat out blood as the bacsh hit him. However, he barely felt the pain from it. It was because he was overwhelmed with shock.


    There was no way he would not recognize that ck smoke like energy. A type of magical energy that swallows others, and could destroy any living matter. It was no other than Miasma.


    A living being with a physical body that could wield Miasma. This was the very first time he had ever heard or seen something like this. Even formless demons that possessed a living body could not wield Miasma without destroying their possessed bodies. And yet, this thing in front of him tantly used that very same kind of Miasma to shatter the magic he cast.


    With thepressed space shattering, Char flew up, evading the water spout from below.


    Now, Char flew higher than Berrak''s group, making Mark look down from above.


    This made Berrak feel that he was really small.


    "Anything else?"


    Mark asked as if he was waiting for more.


    However, Berrak was already injured by the bacsh. Even his summons could not do anything to Mark.


    He finally chose to give up. In the least, the two that he promised to protect should have managed to get away, right?


    With those thoughts, Berrak plopped t on the back of his Thunderbird. His body was aching from the bacsh and there was not a chance of winning this. Not even escape was usible.


    Without any other orders from Berrak, the four beasts moved closer to each other, wanting to protect their master. Strange enough, the enemy was not making any threatening moves.


    "Say, you''re dead now, right?"


    Mark asked.


    Berrak did not reply. There was nothing else to say anyway.


    Then, Mark smiled.


    "You''re dead now, so your promise already ended, right?"


    Those questions made Berrak really confused. What did Mark want to say?


    "Then, how about I let you live, but your life is mine, now."


    Mark proposed.


    "What do you mean?"


    Berrak forced himself to speak, although blood was leaking from the corner of his lips.


    "Exactly that." Mark tilted his head. "If we continued here, you will die. That''s why consider yourself dead, and you already fulfilled your promise. I will give you a new life, and you will have to be one of my subordinates. I value people with strong abilities, you see."


    "You will let an enemy freely follow you around?"


    Berrak asked.


    "Of course not."


    Mark said as he threw a surge of Miasma into Berrak''s body.


    Berrak was extremely scared, thinking that Mark made his body rot.


    "Don''t worry, that won''t harm you. Well, unless you did something undesirable."


    Mark''s words made Berrak contemte. He did not want to die here. Even his pets were showing concern towards him right now.


    With a sigh, Berrak gave up.


    "I had no other choice, do I?" He said. "It''s either follow you or die. I guess I''ll choose the one where I''m still alive."


    "Good choice," Mark smiled. "Well then, you''re dead, and the promise you are saying earlier should have ended already... So..."


    With those words, Berrak suddenly froze.


    "You..."


    Berrak was in disbelief. Just now, Baku sent a message in his mind.


    General Seguerra and Liden were both beheaded by a flying sword.

 Chapter 642 The Wait, The Third Faction And General Padillas Troubles

    <strong>Day 147 - 2:05 PM - New Building, Port Area, Codon, San Andres, Catanduanes</strong>


    In a newly built building in the east part of the port area, several people were in attendance while discussing something. Looking at how these people seemed to be in a hurry, some even arrived a bitte, it appeared that the meeting was called in all of a sudden.


    "So, Seguerra was forced to escape, was it?"


    A woman sitting behind an office table asked while she stared at the messenger standing in the middle of the room.


    She was Elma Marcos. A member of a very influential political family in the Philippines and was a provincial politician. Now, she was leading this group, the third faction within this settlement that was led mainly by politicians residing in this ce.


    It might have been already the end of the world. However, there were still those people that did not want to lose their power and influence. A good example of those kinds of people were politicians and sessful businessmen. Losing all they had and reverting to regr people was not eptable for them. This was even more to those that came from families whose power and prestige was built over generations.


    Even so, despite their status and influence back before the apocalypse, their current standing was hard to maintain.


    And thus, like-minded people decided to bond together, strengthening their overall influence and power over the settlement.


    Of course, the leader of this coalition was no other than the person with the greatest influence among them. Who would that be other than the person that came from the lineage of a previous president?


    And now, that person was receiving urgent information from their messenger while the other members of the coalition listened to the side.


    There was no way that any of them would miss this information. It was because one of the factions within the settlement took a big hit all of a sudden. There was also the events that transpired today, along with the arrival of the couriers from Infanta.


    This group had many ears and eyes within the settlement. Almost no events that happened in it go unnoticed by them. It was even more since General Seguerra went out full force, bringing his loyal men and even a tank. They were supposed to respond to a call that a monster was by the west beach. However, the news that they received now was quite unexpected.


    And to Elma''s question, the messenger replied.


    "Yes. However, no one knows if he did manage to. The surveince target seemed to have chased after the General and his brother."


    "Chased? How?" The leader asked. "You just said that Seguerra and his brother flew off on the back of a flying serpent. Did that person fly too?"


    "No, madam." The messenger shook his head. "He just vanished, leaving his group by the coast. They were still there at the moment, and number two is still monitoring them."


    "This sounds like bullsh*t." A thin old man at the side chimed in, ring at the messenger. "Magic? Summoning monsters? Such things don''t exist! What did you sniff, huh?"


    It was a rude remark. Of course, the messenger did not take it nicely. However, there was no need for him to speak.


    "Mr. Alcantara." Elma red, widen your narrow mind, please. He is my person and not yours. A big event like this sooner orter will reach the ears of everyone. Besides, just because you never witnessed or believed it, it did not mean that it doesn''t'' exist."


    The rude politician shut up with a low inaudible grumble.


    Elma then faced her messenger.


    "Is that all?"


    "Yes." The messenger replied. "Before I returned here, the members of the group we were tailing did not leave the beach area, and General Padi also stayed with his men. So far, there were no other notable things that happened."


    "Good." Elma nodded. "Return for now and continue observing them. We need to keep an eye on those people for various reasons."


    "Yes, madam."


    The messenger bowed slightly before leaving.


    After the messenger left, a short meeting followed. It was about what steps to take if the Marines General never came back and his faction crumbled. Besides, even if he dide back, their faction lost a good amount of people.


    Unfortunately, without the aftermath of the event being disclosed, there was not much they could do but wait. Thus, the meeting ended without achieving anything.


    As almost everyone left the room, Elma turned to the man standing beside her. It appeared to be her personal guard, but there was some kind of mysterious aura around him.


    "What do you think, Panther?"


    "About what? The situation, General Seguerra or the courier?"


    The man called Panther asked back.


    "Everything."


    The woman replied.


    "Then, I think that the power bnce here will shift drastically with General Seguerra''s faction crumbling."


    "You don''t think that General Seguerra wille back?"


    "That courier killed the General''s men without any regard to the military. Even if the General dide back, he would still die. For a long time now, his bastard brother had been his weakest link. He was unlucky that his brother offended the wrong person this time."


    Those words from Panther made Elma nod.


    "About that courier," Panther continued. "It''s better if we don''t interact with them at all."


    "Why is that?" The Coalition leader asked. "I was thinking trying to win them over to our side."


    "You won''t likely seed in that endeavor, Madam." Panther shook his head. "A person, no, a group that could cross almost half of Luzon to get here would not be just anybody. Just refrain from making contact or you might identally follow General Seguerra''s steps."


    Hearing that, Elma went silent.


    "I see." She soon said. "Unfortunately, we can''t just ignore them. Although it might offend them slightly, we should continue the surveince over them."


    "I agree with that." Panther nodded. "So far, we only knew that they were here to deliver that mysterious package. However, the reports we had earlier indicated that there might be some other reason."


    Then, Elma asked.


    "What about strength, Panther? Can you win?"


    "I don''t know yet, Madam." Panther shook his head. "Just the reports won''t be able to fully describe a person. It''s better for me to see them personally before making an assumption."


    "Then, go to the beach," Elmamanded. "See them for yourself and give me a good evaluation."<sub> </sub>


    "As you wish, Madam."


    With those words, Panther turned into a blur as he left the room.


    Alone in the room, Elma stood up and stared outside the window.


    She could not help but sigh.


    Getting rid of Liden might be a good thing but the power bnce would now crumble. It will give the NPA a hole to exploit and create trouble.


    "We better prepare for the worst."


    She murmured.


    Although she was quite surprised that the Marines General had someone behind him that could summon and control monsters, such people were not new to her. Being in a family that was revered as the most powerful political dynasty in the country, their members were bound to see those kinds of people from time to time. Their family had knowledge that most regr people and politicians did not have.


    In fact, her current personal guard, Panther, was one of those people.


    "But it appeared that Panther was weaker than a courier sent by General Faustino, huh." She sighed again. "I''m really curious about those people."


    It was impossible for her to not be curious. The reports they received earlier was too intriguing. But in any case, she would heed Panther''s suggestion. Unless it could not be helped, she would refrain from any contact with that dangerous group of people."


    ***


    Day 147 - 2:15 PM - Western Coast, Codon, San Andres, Catanduanes


    "General, how long are we going to wait here?"


    A soldier in General Padi''s entourage asked.


    "You can go first if you don''t want to wait anymore."


    The Genera replied.


    "No, General. I did not mean it like that. It was just it''s already been more than an hour."


    That was right. It was already more than an hour since the Marines General had fled the scene, and Mark went after them.


    The shock from the events had not died down, though. It was the very first time for the majority of the people that saw the event to witness actual magic. Even though the world was already facing zombie-like creatures, its progression and effects were still more or less scientific. Magic, on the other hand, was still unbelievable to them.


    That was why, even though the battle had ended long ago, there were still people here, waiting. They were the same as the General. They were all waiting for when Mark return.


    Why here?


    Well, Mei and the girls refused to go anywhere else until Mark returned. The group was still in the same spot, not minding the leftover blood on the sand.


    General Padi tried to invite Mei and the others to wait somewhere else more suitable. However, they refused and insisted on waiting here. The only thing that the General could do was to order his men to do some cleanup. The dead bodies and the disembodied heads were already removed. But of course, the blood still remained. The soldiers tried to wash it away with seawater, but not everything would be removed instantly.


    And like Mark''s group, the General decided to stay here and wait.


    Still, it had been more than an hour. Everyone that stayed behind curious was wondering what happened. There were even those that started to leave already.


    At this moment, a messenger came and whispered something to the general. Hearing the message, General Padi could not help but frown.


    "Alright, you can go."


    The General said and the messenger left.


    "General, what is it about?"


    The General''s secretary asked as she noticed the General''s expression.


    "It is the families of the soldiers that were killed. They started to make a ruckus." The General replied. "They were gathered in front of the base crying out for justice."


    "For f*cks sake."


    The secretary could not help but curse.


    They were already dealing with a lot of matters, and here came the unreasonable troublemakers.


    The Marines General''s camp had been unreasonable for a while now, and their soldiers also took advantage of it. Those families also benefited as the soldiers abused their post, causing displeasure to other parties. Now, they had the guts to cry out for justice when the justice to the people their families had stepped on never happened.


    All of these things aside, there was also the matter of the monster on this beach. It was that rock that was sitting still near Mark''s group. The General had yet to decide what to do with it.


    Trouble, trouble everywhere.


    General Padi could not help but give out a deep sigh.


    "General, what are we going to do about those troublemakers?"


    Andrew asked. He was pertaining to the families of the killed soldiers.


    "It would be good if we can just chase them away." The General replied. "However, that will heavily impact our prestige and influence here. There might be those that witness what happened here but it is just a fewpared to the whole poption of the settlement. Not everyone will believe the things that transpired here, and if we did not do anything to address the issue, the people would lose trust in us."


    Everyone became silent. It would be a tough decision to make. The only thing that they decided to do right now was not to offend Mark''s group at any cost.


    They could not help but nce at Andrew. It was a close call this morning.


    If they could not make Mark''s group among their people, in the least, they should not turn them into their enemies.


    It was at this time that the General noticed Mei stand from her seat. She was staring in a certain direction. Unexpectedly, the direction was the forest.


    Only a few seconds passed, and Mark came out of the forest. Unexpectedly, behind him was General Seguerra''s supposed helper.

 Chapter 643 The Return And The Rumors, Finally Handing The Package To The Recipient

    <strong>Day 147 - 2:11 PM - Western Coast, Codon, San Andres, Catanduanes</strong>


    To the people that stayed around to wait, Mark''s return was, without a doubt, attention-drawing. Not to mention that he did not return alone. The Marines General''sst hope, Berrak, returned with Mark, looking like a wet chicken. Well, not in a literal sense. His behavior made him look more like a prisoner facing the execution block.


    It was not surprising behavior for the poor Berrak, however. He was horribly defeated, his promise was broken, and he was now a ve that could be killed because of a slight mistake. Of course, with all of thesebined, he would feel down.


    Berrak was following behind Mark, but the Marines General and his brother were nowhere to be seen. There was no need to ask what happened to them. Everyone here knew that. Both Liden''s and General Seguerra''s men died in the hands of Mark. The two brothers might have already faced the same fate.


    And to say, there were quite a number of people that were happy at that oue. The two had far too many crimes. Their deaths were not unwarranted.


    Mark returned to his group, weed like a father that had just got home from work.


    The contrast to the scene where these people just decimated a group of armed men along with three monsters and the scene at the moment was too astonishing.


    But of course, their eyes could not help but pan towards Berrak behind Mark.


    "Seems like you got a new one to follow you."


    Pefile remarked.


    "He''s lucky."


    Mark vaguely replied.


    Berrak could not help but look at Mark''s back. He was definitely questioning what was lucky about his situation.


    At this point, General Padi and his entourage approached Mark''s group. Before any of them could speak, however, Mark already asked a question.


    "Ready to receive the package?"


    The troubled General could not help but sigh while the people behind him looked at each other.


    The way that Mark asked that question was as if nothing bloody happened earlier. Nevertheless, the General was not new in these kinds of things. He understood that Mark was giving the General a reason to legitimately invite them without looking like they were being arrested.


    In fact, although what Mark did could be considered a crime, trying to arrest them was not the best course of action this time. The people that died hadmitted crimes themselves. If Mark''s group appeared to be arrested, public opinion of the people would definitely shift against General Padi''s camp. Not to mention the people that were now crying at their loss. Their egos would definitely rise unreasonably, thinking that they were being favored as their deceased family members were soldiers.


    Thus, the General replied in kind.


    "If possible. The meeting room is ready."


    That exchange was heard not just by a few people. As Mark''s group boarded the vehicles, the things that transpired here, and the fact that it seemed that Mark''s group got away without consequences after that killing, would soon spread across the settlement.


    The General''s entourage and Mark''s group prepared to leave the area. The vehicles were already prepared, and the only thing needed was to board them.


    "General, wait."


    It was when a soldier hurriedly stopped the General.


    "What is it?"


    General Padi stopped and asked.


    "What about the monster under that rock?"


    Sure enough, it was one thing that got thrown in the background due to General Seguerra prioritizing his brother''s circumstances over the matter they were supposed to respond to.


    And in response to the soldier''s question, General Padi turned to Mark. It was no secret that Mark was the one that revealed the true nature of that rock. And from the report, Mark seemed to have some "interactions" with it. Thus, the General wanted to ask Mark''s opinion.


    There was no need for the General to voice anything. Mark already started to speak before the question was thrown at him.


    "Leave it be. It won''t harm anyone as long as it is not harmed first. If you can, give it food and make it think that humans are its allies. It might start protecting people while in this area if tamed properly."


    Mark''s words came to be a surprise for everyone around.


    "Are you sure?"


    General Padi asked for confirmation.


    "Some animals gained a higher level of intelligence after evolving. That is one of the things that scientists in Infanta managed to find out. They even had some specimens. Even if you can''t count on my words, you might believe their research, right? It''s also included inside the briefcase."


    Mark replied.


    Putting scientists of Infanta in front. It was a smart move for Mark. Even if they did not want to believe Mark, there was no way that they would deny the research done by another settlement without a good reason. It was unless they wanted to tantly discredit them.


    Nevertheless, to be able to tame a huge creature like that would be a good thing.


    It also proved another thing. Mark was privy to the military endeavors in Infanta, including the ongoing research happening there.


    General Padi decided on the spot and turned to the soldier.


    "You heard that, right? Set up a perimeter and guard it. Make sure that no one is to approach it. Follow that procedure until further instructions are given. Is that clear?"


    "Yes, Sir!"


    The soldier saluted.


    "Dismiss."<sub> </sub>


    General Padi sent the soldier away to fulfill his duties.


    Finally, under the eyes of the bystanders, the General''s entourage and Mark''s group left.


    ***


    Day 147 - 2:35 PM - Military Base, Catanduanes Settlement, Codon, San Andres, Catanduanes


    The ride back was rough as the road between the two locations was not paved. It was way better when Mark''s group just walked along the way. However, it could not be helped.


    Inside the settlement, the rumors and the events that transpired at the western coast of Codon had already spread. Without any kind of entertainment avable, rumors and stories spread much faster from person to person. As such, more than half of the current poption inside the settlement had already heard bits and pieces of what happened.


    Was it a good thing? Unfortunately, not everything.


    Many people would not believe such rumors without witnessing the events with their own eyes. Furthermore, the rumors gave different effects depending on what kind of people heard them. The courageous ones felt quite regretful not being there when those things happened. As for the weakhearted people, they felt fear, thinking about those monsters that now existed.


    The more the rumors spread, the more it became distorted from the truth.


    And the families of the soldiers that Mark killed were making the situation a lot worse.


    When the vehicles arrived at the base, some of those weeping family members tried to stop the General''s car. Fortunately, the soldiers on duty were fast enough to prevent them from doing so.


    Inside the vehicle behind the General''s, Berrak watched the people outside, weeping at the loss of their family members. He then looked at Mark with eyes filled with questions.


    "Just ask what you want to ask."


    Mark said, not minding Berrak''s stare.


    "Do you really have to kill those soldiers?" Berrak asked. "I admit, it was the old man''s orders but the soldiers were just following him."


    "That''s the point there." Mark shrugged. "They are not kids. They knew what''s right and what''s wrong. They should not follow the wrong orders."


    ? Berrak could not help but fell silent. That was a good point too. Nevertheless, he still felt insecure about it. It was when Mark added something that made Berrak frown.


    "Besides, if I did not kill them, you would be the one dying."


    Mark said.


    "Why?"


    Berrak asked.


    "To vent, of course." Mark nced at Berrak with eyes half-closed. "Since you are following me now, you will know this soon. I''m a person that could barely feel emotions of my own. Since you can use magic, I bet you heard about Empaths, right?"


    That question made Berrak stare hard at Mark. No wonder now. No wonder that Mark could kill people without batting an eyelid. Mark was, without a doubt, a high-level one.


    "That Seguerra and Liden made me angry. And then, you came to help them escape. That just threw oil into the fire. If I did not manage to deploy some measures, you might have been able to escape. But I took interest in your abilities. That is why I needed to vent my anger or I might identally kill you."


    Berrak could not help but shiver after hearing that.


    "So just be d that they died instead of you."


    Mark added.


    Berrak looked around the vehicle. Everyone was listening to their conversation. However, by the looks of it, it seemed that everyone in Mark''s group did not bother about his actions at all. The children were the same. It was a group that had no qualms about killing other people.


    With a sigh, Berrak could only imagine his impending future.


    But then, Pefile, who was sitting in front of Berrak, spoke.


    "Don''t think too much." Pefile shook his head slightly. "They might be like this but it''s not bad following them. If you see the base, you might beg to stay even if they wanted to let you go already."


    Berrak could only frown. What Pefile said was clear but was also hard to understand at the same time.


    As soon as they arrived inside the Military Base, Mark''s group was led into a meeting room. And there, the proper procedures of Mark handing the package happened.


    General Padi checked the contents of the package himself. And to say, not only him but everyone that was present in the meeting room was astonished.


    The most important thing was the samples of vials called [Regeneration Medicine]. As long as it was not a bite wound of an infected, this concoction could heal mild injuries in seconds while lessening the severity of fatal ones. Although there was a limit as to how much a person could ingest in a day, it was an absolute game-breaker in their current situation where shes with the rebels would cost casualties to their side.


    There was also the seeds of [Energy Rice] that could be nted. As long as a ntation was developed, this kind of rice would end the food shortage after at least three to six months.


    The medicine came from Infanta, while the seeds came from Bay City. General Padi was both happy and embarrassed as he received such valuable items. Those two settlements already managed to develop things that could help with the survival of their people. The Catanduanes Settlement, on the other hand, had no such thing.


    While they did have a few scientists on duty, they werecking in both equipment and manpower. And rather than developing things, they were more focused on the behavior of marine life after the apocalypse started. Besides, Catanduanes was a provincial area. Research institutes were almost non-existent here. As such, there was no way for them to procure the necessary equipment to bolster their research.


    Aside from the [Regeneration Medicine] and [Energy Rice], the briefcase also contained information about Mutagen, the infected mutations, abilities, and how to tackle them. Although the possible mutations of the infected were infinite, this information would at least help when tackling simr mutations and would reduce possible casualties due tock of knowledge.


    While the General checked the contents of the case, Mark''s group had to sit down in the same room for about two hours. Of course, they got bored.


    That was when Mark took out a fully chargedptop and started watching anime with the little girls. The soldiers could only stare incredulously. First, who would be able to think of watching cartoons at these times? Furthermore, howe someone with a bloodstained hand like Mark likes to watch a children''s show?


    Luckily for them, none of the soldiers actually voiced out such questions. Or else, they would be facing a begrudging revtion. After all, what Mark and the girls were watching was not some kid''s show but a gore-filled horror.

 Chapter 644 After The Delivery, Going Out Of The Settlement And A Hidden Threat

    <strong>Day 147 - 4:23 PM - nning Room, Military Base, Catanduanes Settlement, Codon, San Andres, Catanduanes</strong>


    General Padi, his secretary, and his other trusted men were taking the evaluation of the papers seriously. After all, even though Mark and his group seemed to be trusted in both Infanta and Bay City, it was different here. Furthermore, what Mark did here was to cause deaths so far. Of course, they would be warier than trusting.


    Mark noticed this but did not bother to refute their thoughts. It was not like their wariness would do any harm in any way. Still, the General''s group looked silly checking if the documents wereplete considering even Mark did not know the password to the lock. If he really wanted to tamper with it, he would have no choice but destroy that digital lock.


    And as far as everyone here knew, the lock was fully intact.


    Instead, Mark focused on rewatching anime with the little girls. It was while they were waiting for the go signal for his group to leave. Well, he did not forget to nce at the twitching eyebrows of the soldiers. It was because they could hear the screamsing from theptop in front of him. The volume was not loud. Nevertheless, Mutagen enhanced the bodies of humans. Thus, even the low volume sounding from theptop was still audible in this enclosed room.


    The soldiers could not concentrate. At first, what they heard from what Mark and the girls were currently watching was happy giggles, although there was a bit of scared screaming. It was until the one hour mark that the soundsing from the anime started to turn horrifying. The happy giggles became screeches along with panicked shouting and despaired crying.


    Just what in the world were they watching? Some of the soldiers that were just standing guard were curious. On the other hand, the ones checking the documents were getting distracted.


    Another half of an hour passed. Finally, General Padi was done checking the documents.


    "Done?"


    Mark asked, seeing the General arrange the documents.


    "We are. My apologies for the wait. We just had to thoroughly examine the contents of the package as per protocol."


    General Padi replied while returning the documents back into the briefcase.


    Those words made Mark shrug his shoulders a little. That was the General''s softer way of saying that they were careful about the package since they did not trust him or his group. Not like he cared about their trust at this point. In fact, the way that they handle things here was way more untrustworthy.


    A lot of things that Mark noticed while roaming around this settlement was not reported to Infanta. It included the current division between the higherups and the rough situation between the Army and the Marines. When Mark returned to their base, he would need to stop by Infanta once more to tell these things. It was not like General Faustino would be able to do anything, but in the least, they were not kept in the dark. Besides, he was getting paid for this. Having more [Regeneration Medicine] at his disposal would not hurt.


    "Then, can we go now?"


    Mark asked.


    Inside this room, Mark, Mei, and the little girls were present. The others were in another room. Of course, there was no need to ask why. Even if one was to ask, they would only reply that it was ording to protocol. In truth, however, it was one of their ways of being careful.


    To Mark''s question, the General replied.


    "Definitely. Are you sure that there''s no need to prepare a ce for your group to stay?"


    "There''s no need." Mark shook his head. "Just prepare some passes so we can enter and exit the settlement without getting stopped by your soldiers."


    Those words made General Padi nod his head a bit. He heard about what happened this afternoon. He then turned to his secretary, Vanessa.


    "Vanessa, go lead them to the registry. Give each of them special passes and a group pass."


    "Yes General." The secretary replied. And without anything else, she walked towards the door near Mark''s group. "Please, follow me."


    With the invitation, Mark patted the girls'' heads as he closed theptop. They then met up with Pefile and the others as they headed to the Registry Office.


    The Registry Office was where any person that arrived in the settlement was supposed to go first. Their names and personal information would be registered for reference. The most important part of this was stating both the specializations and previous upations of a person. It would likely dictate what jobs in the settlement that the person could do. Office workers back before the outbreak could be hired in different department offices whileborers such as farmers and construction workers would also get the same jobs.


    It might not sound that appealing. However, having secured a work designation in the settlement meant a secure flow of food and necessities. It was not only for the person working but also for his family.


    In every settlement, there were at least two Registry Offices. One was for public use, while the other would usually be the main office located in the military area.


    The one that Mark''s group was led into was the main Registry Office. The other one was at the Trade Area, but that was still quite a distance away from herepared to the main one. Besides, Mark''s group was, more or less, VIPs at this point.


    Inside the office, the group sure took everyone''s attention. There was Mei, as per usual. This time, however, it was more because the General''s Secretary was guiding them personally. Unless it was someone who was either had high standing or very important people, such privilege was impossible to happen.


    Thus, everyone in the office engraved the faces of Mark''s group into their minds. But of course, it was not because they did not want to identally offend Mark''s group. It was because there might be chances that they could curry favor on these people. This was something, although notmon, that would happen quite frequently in government offices. Bribes and stuff, as long as they would have some benefit from people with high standing.


    Of course, this nasty thought of these people did not escape Mark. Unfortunately for these people, what they had in their minds would never happen as his group would not stay here for too long.


    The process did not take too long, and Mark and his group got their passes. It was fast considering the usual time wasted waiting in government offices in the Philippines back in the days. Was it because there were no other people than Mark''s group? Not really. There were times that being the only person inside the government office would still cost more than an hour or worse, more than that.


    The people issuing the cards were quite baffled, however. Unlike the usual registration process wherein all information was required, Vanessa stated that it was not necessary. Mark''s group only needed their names, signatures, and thumbmarks.


    Mark received his card and examined it. It was nothing fancy. It was just a printed card written with their names and was signed by them before it wasminated and cut. The only thing that stood out was the embossed stamp since it was gold in color.


    It looked very different from the one from Bay City. As for Infanta, Mark never really received or needed one.


    "Good, we are leaving."


    Mark said, making everyone nod.


    "If you are leaving, your group better use the back door." Vanessa suggested. "There were still those people out front. It would be hard to pass by without getting into trouble."<sub> </sub>


    "Where''s the back door?"


    Mark asked.


    "Let me guide you."


    With the lead of Vanessa, they arrived at the rear area of the Military base. The rear was facing an area outside the settlement. Although it was still within the vicinity of the settlement, it was already behind the walls. Thus, there were almost no people that dare linger here.


    "Alright, we''ll be on our way." Mark said to Vanessa. "Send our regards to General Padi."


    From there, Mark''s group made their way north of the settlement. It was already five in the afternoon, and the sun will set soon. They better find a good ce to camp near the coast.


    ***


    Vanessa and the guards at the rear gate watched the mysterious group of travelers walked away. Only when they were already out of sight that Vanessa turned around and walked away.


    As she arrived at a ce unseen by the guards, however...


    "The package had been delivered to the General. Are we still going to tail them?"


    It was a man leaning his back on the wall of the building that spoke to Vanessa, who stopped without looking.


    "Continue watching them."


    Vanessa closed her eyes and replied.


    "What for?"


    The man asked.


    "Their group are too mysterious. More than that, too strong. If we can unveil their secrets, it will be good for our organization. Especially that Mark. Who knows what method he did to make General Seguerra''s trump card follow him. As for the contents of the package, I''ll handle it."


    "Good."


    The man replied.


    "Remember," Vanessa added. "Just watch. Don''t confront them. There''s too much unknown about that group."


    "Don''t worry, I''m not stupid like that Seguerra and his bastard of a brother."


    With those words, the man turned into a blur as he climbed up the wall of the building like a wall lizard. No, maybe a cockroach? In any case, he reached the rooftop of the building in no time and vanished from everyone''s sight.


    Sensing that the man was gone, Vanessa shrugged.


    "The Military here at the south, the NPA at the north. What a chaotic ind. Now, there''s that group of abnormals. Things will be more and more chaotic soon."


    Leaving those words to the void, Vanessa returned to the office to continue her work.


    ***


    "A third party, huh."


    Mark murmured.


    They might already be out of sight but Vanessa and that man were still inside Mark''s detection range. There would be no way that Mark would not notice it since that man was one of the people that was tailing them ever since they arrived here in Catanduanes. At first, he thought that the man was a part of the NPA. Considering the difference in the movements of this manpared to the others, however, it was likely that he came from a different and more professional group.


    Besides, the likely spies of the NPA had not caught up to his group yet. They went out of the rear gate, after all. That guy with Vanessa, however, was quite fast to catch up with the situation. It did not seem like he was afraid of the military either.


    "I guess. It''s because this guy is a third level that he sees the military far below him."


    ? In any case, it was better to be cautious. It was even if the enemy was the same.


    The situation here in this ce was really chaotic. The things that General Padi did not report aside, there were even things that he had no idea either. Just how long would their settlementst in this case?


    ***


    Making their way to the northern coast, they found an area at the border of the beach and the forest. It was more than half a kilometer north of the Catanduanes Settlement. As remote as it might sound, it was only about a hundred and sixty meters away from civilization.


    To the east of this beach, just on the other side of the forest, was another farming vige. Of course, it was already abandoned as it was far outside the settlement walls. The only people in that vige were hunters and a military outpost simr to the western coast of Codon.


    The sun was about to set when they arrived. Thus, they started to prepare for the night. Though it seemed that the night would not be a peaceful one for the Catanduanes Settlement.


    <strong>-VOLUME 10 END</strong>

 Chapter 645 Questions Of The Summoner, Berrak Wanting To Learn About Mark And His Group

    <strong>Day 147 - 1:25 PM - Tiwi Beach, Tigbi, Tiwi, Albay</strong>


    The noontime sun lit up the day in thisrge town.


    A rural town in the maind of Bicol Region, about forty-three kilometers southwest of Catanduanes, was Tigbi in Tiwi, Albay. If one wanted to get straight to Catanduanes from here, anyone would need to cross Langonoy Gulf.


    Though at this time, no one would attempt that, even by boat. The town had been deserted months ago, leaving nothing but the infected to roam the rural area. There were military activities here until a month ago since the infected from Legaspi City, Albay, one of the ground zeros in the Philippines, reached this ce.


    The infected here had grown stronger because of a [Leader Type] taking this ce as its territory. That was the reason the scavenging group from Catanduanes abandoned any activity in this ce.


    Without any disturbance or prey aside from lost evolved marine animals at the beach ornd animals from the forest, the town became dormant.


    It was until today.


    An hour after noon, the infected turned their heads to the east. It was not like they decided to look that way on their own. Something attracted them. The urge started to overflow, not only the regr ones but even their leader.


    Because of that urge, they all moved.


    Some ran, some walked, some stumbled, and some even crawled.


    Even the roar from their leader could not stop them as they moved.


    With their bloodcurdling gurgles and screeches, whether it be regr or mutated infected, they took their step into the ocean waters.


    The [Leader Type] from Legaspi City roared in anger. Not because he was not getting obeyed by his horde. It was because that source of urge they felt should be his.


    Thus, it ran. The gigantic bodied leader did not care about the ones in front of him. Some infected were kicked out of the way while some were smashed by it its feet.


    The [Leader Type] rushed into the ocean water, submerging itself as it made its way for the source.


    Unfortunately, even if some of them managed to live while being submerged in water, the ocean was still not their territory.


    Evolved fishes living in the gulf attacked them without too much means to fight back.


    Nevertheless, the infected still outnumbered and had higher mutationspared to the fishes.


    Because of that, an underwater battle urred.


    Blood started to mix with the saltwater as evolved fishes and infected shed.


    Soon, the tide started to turn in favor of the infected. It was because the infected began to bite the fishes they caught, turning them into their own.


    But more importantly, being submerged in the water, the infected started to change.


    Changed to be an even greater threat to humanity.


    ***


    That event did not only happen to Tigbi, Albay. A lot of coastal areas surrounding Langonoy Gulf had the same event happening at the same time.


    Even the infected in Legaspi, Albay started to move despite the distance.


    This all happened while the dragon chased after the fleeing flying serpent.


    ***


    <strong>Day 147 - 5:41 PM - North Codon Coast, Codon, San Andres, Catanduanes</strong>


    The warm, dry air from the ocean and the cold, humid air from the mountains blew, making the temperature not too cold or not too hot. It was quite a nice ce to camp for the night.


    Berrak silently followed behind Mark''s group to this ce. He was observing every member of the group. Of course, not to n an escape but to avoid offending any of them. In a flick of a finger, he could die. There was no way he would attempt to leave either unless he wanted to end his life prematurely.


    Nevertheless, so far, what his observations gave him was nothing but more questions.


    One of the things he learned in his travels was to see the auras of people.


    The auras of people could show emotions, experiences, and also a bit of fate.


    It was how he knew that Mark and Mei were, in fact, supposed to be dead people. And to say, because of Mark and Mei''s influence, the fate of everyone in the group was obscured. He could not see anything aside from the whole group being together, following Mark''s words without question.


    Nevertheless, he also noticed that there were some odd things in the group. To be specific, it was Pefile and Edzel. The aura of the two was strangely simr as if they were direct rtives. However, he could see that the two did not seem to behave that way. Furthermore, it clear that Pefile was not human while the other was. It was definitely strange.


    When they reached the area where Mark chose to camp, Berrak was even more confused. In the first ce, it was strange that Mark''s group decided not to stay inside the settlement. Without a doubt, they were VIPs there and would definitely be given a better dwelling than others. And instead, here they were, in the middle of nowhere, going to camp for the night.


    Another thing that made Berrak scratch his head was the meager amount of luggage the group was carrying. All of them, even the girls, had backpacks of their own. Even so, there was no way for any kind of camping equipment to fit inside those almost empty bags.


    How were they going to sleep here in the wilderness? Using makeshift tents made of branches and leaves? Although he was also used to that kind of living, there was not enough time to gather materials since the sun was close to setting. It might have been fine if they started preparing several hours ago, but they had just arrived here.


    And that was when his eyes turned wide in surprise.


    Mark and Mei stretched out their hands in front of them, making two ck holes appear. From those holes, the two pulled out several folded camping tents and other things necessary for camping.


    "S-Spatial Rings..."


    Berrak murmured with a stutter as he noticed the spatial energying from the rings of the two. He never expected this. No wonder the backpacks that Mark''s group had did not seem to be packed with anything important. It appeared that these backpacks were mostly props to make people less suspicious.


    The Summoner could not help but focus on the rings that Mark and Mei were wearing. Both the two had two pairs on their hands, but one pair emanated the spatial energy as Mark and Mei took out the camping equipment.


    Those reddish-ck rings looked simple but with intricate carvings. The ring itself did not seem magical. It was the stones embedded were the fundamental part of the item.


    ording to Berrak''s knowledge, depending on the methods and materials, making these kinds of equipment could either be easy or extremely difficult. Some materials required intricate refining, while some only needed to be iid and dripped with blood. But what made Spatial Equipment really rare was not the method of manufacturing. It was the scarcity of materials with the Spatial Attribute.


    This world was not any kind of fantasy world despite its rare fantasy elements. It was Earth. Magically infused materials were not easy toe by on this unless one had ess to the other dimensions. Still, it did not ensure that there would be Spatial Attribute materials among the things they could collect from there.


    That was why Berrak was too surprised that Mark''s group actually had Spatial Equipment. And not only one but two. This was way too shocking for him.


    "Your jaw is dropping."<sub> </sub>


    Berrak flinched as he heard Pefile''s voice. Embarrassed, he sighed as he took a seat under a nearby tree. It was not that he chose the tree randomly. It was where Edzel and Pearl were also sitting.


    In the whole group, these two seemed to be the most normal.


    "Hey, I want to ask." Berrak looked at the two and asked with a low voice. "What kind of person is your leader?"


    Berrak wanted to learn what kind of person caught him.


    Edzel nced at Pearl before turning to Berrak.


    "Why do you want to know?"


    Edzel asked back.


    "I''m already stuck here with you all. I wanted to know what kind of people am I going to follow now."


    That was sound reasoning from Berrak. Edzel could only agree with that.


    Along the way, the group already learned that Mark forced Berrak to join him. Of course, the method was not disclosed, but it did not matter to them at all. Now, it was more reasonable if Berrak wanted to know more about the group, especially Mark.


    "About Boss..." Edzel looked at Mark and Mei, sorting out the things they took out with the little girls. "He''s not a bad person. But not a good one either."


    "What do you mean?"


    Berrak asked for an exnation.


    "You see, Sir Berrak..."


    "Just Berrak is fine. Being called Sir sounds stuffy."


    Berrak interjected.


    "Okay, then... Berrak." Edzel shrugged. "Boss is not a good one since he won''t care about what would happen to people unrted to him. He can watch unrted people die without batting an eyelid and kill those that stepped over the line he created without hesitation. Like what happened earlier."


    Those words made Berrak remember the scuffle this afternoon. Furthermore, Mark killed the soldiers under General Seguerra without remorse.


    "In the least, Boss really values the people under him," Edzel added. "Look at us. While everyone is suffering without enough food and clothes, here we are, eating delicious food and wearing new clothing."


    Edzel opened his arms, showing the clothes he was wearing.


    This made Berrak a bit embarrassed. He did not care much about this stuff before. That was why even if he had the capability to gather new ones, he was wearing ragged clothing that the settlement had. Really,pared to what Mark and the others were wearing, his was severelycking even just with cleanliness. The only one close to what he had was the green-haired girl.


    "How did you join this group?"


    Berrak changed the topic out of embarrassment.


    "I did not join it on my own." Edzel shook his head. "Boss found me at my lowest times when I''m feeling helpless. He promised me strength, and here I am now. Although I can''t say that I''m strong physically, at least I think, I grew mentally from when I started to follow him."


    That was right. It was one of the strengths that a person should have. Even if a person was weak, being mentally and emotionally stronger could still give way to things that one wanted to achieve. It was what Edzel learned while watching Mark.


    Berrak then noticed Edzel, holding Pearl''s hand tightly. The girl with an ugly scar on her face seemed to be feeling down for some reason.


    It made Berrak assume things.


    ''What if this girl was also forced to follow like him? Maybe, this Edzel was not as good as it seemed.''


    The Summoner thought.


    He decided to ask herter when no one was around.


    It was when Mark''s voice was heard by them.


    "Edzel, unfold some of the tents and choose where you want to sleep. Pefile, can you get some firewood for the campfire? Also, Pearl, help Mei''er prepare dinner."


    With those words, everyone started to move. Well, one had aint, though.


    "Hey, didn''t you have a stove? Why do you need firewood?"


    Pefile asked.


    "The stove is only for cooking. The campfire is for keeping the ce lit up. We can''t work in the dark, right?"


    Mark replied.


    "Don''t you also had those instablemps?"


    Pefile retorted.


    "Seriously, just get firewood and stop asking questions."


    Mark argued.


    With a roll of his eyes, Pefile made his way into the forest. He was a forest person, after all. Getting firewood would be a piece of cake for him.


    As the little girls were also helping with things they could, only Berrak was left without anything to do.


    "What about me?"


    He asked Mark.


    "Take one tent and build yours. Then, you can continue asking questions, no one will stop you."


    Mark replied, making Berrak frozen.


    He had cold sweat now. He did not expect that Mark could actually hear them, despite the low voice.

 Chapter 646 Pearls Heart, Berraks Advice And The Arrival Of The Threat To Catanduanes

    <strong>Day 147 - 6:21 PM - Langonoy Gulf, Bicol Region, Philippines</strong>


    With a step after another, the army of infected unsteadily traversed the uneven seafloor. The evolved marine animals or the mutated corals and nts might have hindered them, and the strong underwater currents swept a lot of them away. Nevertheless, nothing stopped the infected''s advance.


    Many of the Type-1As, the Biters, and their mutated variants had drowned and died. With their bodies still living, theck of breathable air was enough to kill them. But of course, they would not just lie down under the ocean floor. As they died, it allowed them to turn into Type-1Bs, the slower but living dead Eaters.


    Unfortunately, while the Biters dying and turning into slow Eaters sounded like a good thing, it was the opposite. If they died in other ways, blood loss or injury might only turn them into their Eater variants. Their death under salty ocean water, however, hugely opened them an opportunity.


    It was a dreadful opportunity for them to mutate ording to their surroundings.


    That was what was currently happening under the waters of Langonoy Gulf.


    Most of the infected started to adapt underwater, mutating in different. Not only the saltwater became the catalyst of the infected''s mutation. The corpses of the evolved marine animals, the water nts, and even the corals contributed to each unique changes.


    To be able to move faster underwater, some started to grow webbed feet. Some Biters that survived became able to extract oxygen from seawater. Those that could not handle the strong currents had their bodies growing bigger.


    As their bodies changed, their instincts followed.


    Some started to swim like fish. Some learned to float. The infected gained new abilities as they traversed the gulf towards their destination.


    ***


    Day 147 - 6:34 PM - North Codon Coast, Codon, San Andres, Catanduanes


    At the campsite, the tents were pitched quickly. Unfolding and securing the tents were not some kind ofplex task. It was even faster with everyone working together.


    It also did not take long for Pefile to return with firewood. But it was not only firewood that he brought back. He returned, carrying a freshly killed boar on his back. This boar was definitely mutated with its tusk having a ck color. However, it seemed that it was not powerful enough for Pefile as it was killed with a stab of a wooden spear on its neck.


    Without a doubt, the menu for dinner was decided.


    There was no need to process the whole boar. They only needed to cut a portion of its body for dinner. Draining the blood was not an issue either with Miracle around. Of course, she did not like absorbing blood from other sources aside from her Papa.


    Slicing the parts and dipping them in seasoning, the wild pork was ready for grilling.


    "Hey! Smelly uncle! Give me that slice!"


    Emikained as Mark took the meaty slice of meat from the grill over the campfire.


    "It''s mine." Mark retorted. "You can have the next one."


    "But that''s bigger!"


    Emika pouted.


    "Can''t you just eat quietly? Look at my daughters. They are eating quietly. You should take them as an example."


    Mark said, ncing at the three little girls sitting on a log by his side.


    "But Miracle isn''t even eating!"


    As usual, Emika and Mark bickering over trivial things. Everyone weed these kinds of events with smiles. One of the very few times that Mark would show genuine emotions rather than his usual fake ones.


    Berrak watched this scene, feeling amazed in his heart.


    ''Was this the very same guy that killed without second thoughts?''


    That question passed by Berrak''s mind as he saw this kind of yful Mark in front of him.


    Nevertheless, what bothered him the most was the extreme difference of this grouppared to most people he encountered since the apocalypse started.


    Since the apocalypse started, everyone that Berrak saw was always at the edge. It did not matter whether they were just regr survivors or people like General Seguerra. No matter how they appeared outside, they were all afraid of the current Earth.


    This group, Mark''s group, however, looked like they were just on a fun vacation.


    Nevertheless, it was not a bad atmosphere. Berrak felt more rxed with this kind of thing around.


    Slowly, Berrak''s fear of Mark was lessening. Nevertheless, he was still not letting his guard down.


    At the same time, however, Berrak could not help but notice someone who looked a bit sad in her eyes. Even her aura was a bit unstable.


    ***


    As per usual, sleep time in the apocalypse was early. The little girls wanted to watch anime a bit more, but Mark told them that they would need to wake up early tomorrow. They obedientlyplied, well, aside from Emika, though. Unfortunately for the green-haired girl, she could not do anything since Mark was the one keeping theptop.


    Around the campfire, four tents were pitched. In thergest one, the four girls slept together. Mark and Mei were in another and the same for Edzel and Pearl. Thest and smallest tent belonged to Berrak. As for Pefile, he was not using a tent but was resting on the branch of arge tree nearby.


    Was everyone asleep? Not exactly. Mark was half-asleep while Pefile was keeping guard. Since it was Berrak''s first night with the group, he could not sleep properly either.


    There was also another person.


    When she felt that Edzel was already asleep, she left the tent and sat on a rock while looking at the sea.


    It was no other than Pearl. Of course, she knew that Mark, Pefile, and Berrak were still awake, but she knew that she would not bother them by going out like this.


    To Berrak, however, he thought that it was already a good chance to ask her some questions.


    And thus, he came out of his tent and followed her.


    Unexpectedly, however...


    "Sir Berrak, do you need something from me?"


    Pearl asked, without even turning her head behind her.


    This situation made Berrak surprised and embarrassed. It seemed that the most normal person in Mark''s group was not some girl, either.


    Berrak stood a few meters behind, not saying anything. That was when Pearl finally turned her head.<sub> </sub>


    "Do Sir Berrak have questions for me too?"


    She asked.


    "Are you not afraid that I''m nning to do something bad?"


    Berrak could not help but ask back as he saw her calm demeanor.


    "My ability is to detect vibrations in the surroundings," Pearl replied. "Your heartbeat tells me that you are not thinking about something like that. And even if you would, Boss will stop you before you can do anything."


    That reply made Berrak sigh. This group definitely bore a lot of trust in their Leader. They were not only following him for benefit. They were putting their lives in his hands.


    Berrak was already caught. Scratching his head, he took a seat on another rock several steps away.


    Without waiting for anything, Berrak asked his first question.


    "I''m curious. Everyone is having fun, and that boy, Edzel, seemed to like you a lot. Yet, you don''t seem to be too happy."


    Pearl nced at Berrak before turning her eyes back at the waves on the ocean.


    "It''s not like I''m not happy. I just don''t deserve to be."


    Those words made Berrak confused. At the same time, his heartbeat changed. Before he could ask his question, Pearl already started to answer.


    "I did some stupid things in the past. I chose luxury over Edzel''s love. I left him in front of many people." Pearl unconsciously touched the scar on her face. "Then, I paid a heavy price for it."


    "Yet, even his life started to be better, he returned to me, wanting me to return to his side. I hurt Edzel''s feelings before, dumped him away like trash. I became ugly and became the trash myself. And yet, he did not change his feelings. I just feel like I don''t deserve all the happiness around me currently."


    It was not hard for Berrak to understand what happened. He witnessed such happenings while traveling around the world. It was women choosing luxury over pure love. Sometimes, it was discreet. But there were also those thick faced ones that would humiliate their dumped partners for things that the man could not give them.


    Berrak now understood while Pearl would make such a face whenever Edzel gave her affection or the group as having fun.


    "So, you are saying that you would not mind if that boy hurt you because of what you did in the past?"


    Berrak asked.


    Pearl did not reply, but her answer was obvious.


    "Don''t be that stupid, you idiot girl," Berrak said, standing up as he decided to return to his tent. "The boy doesn''t want to punish you for what you did. In the least, you knew your mistakes and already suffered from them. You''re not some thick-faced b*tch that could not ept the stupidity of your actions. If you are really guilty about what you did to him, then the best thing you can do is be happy."


    Those words made Pearl look at Berrak. That was when Berrak turned around, leaving Pearl with thest words.


    "The more you show those sad eyes, the more you are hurting him. He wants you to be happy. So show him that you are happy. That is the best thing you can do for him to atone for your sins."


    Berrak left, reentering his tent.


    As the words sunk into her mind, tears fell from Pearl''s eyes. She sobbed alone. She was facing her past with remorse, not thinking that she was hurting him more. It was the realization that camete but was not toote to amend.


    ***


    At the side, two shadows watched the scene.


    "That went well."


    Mark said at Pefile.


    "You actually used that guy''s curiosity to your advantage, huh."


    Pefile grumbled.


    "To our advantage." Mark retorted. "That is your daughter-inw that we are talking about here."


    Pefile fell silent. He wanted to retort back, but he could not find any words to argue with hisst sentence.


    "We can tell her those words ourselves," Mark continued. "But she would not take it seriously unless it came from a stranger."


    At that, Pefile could only nod.


    If they were the ones that told them the same words, the impact would not be too much. Pearl would subconsciously think that they were doing this for other reasons. On the other hand, Berrak had nothing to benefit from her situation. A total stranger at this point in time. Thus, albeit the words being a bit harsh, the impact was several times stronger.


    ***


    Realizing her faults, Pearl contemted a bit more before returning to Edzel''s side. At this time, her heart was lighter as she found her goal. With those thoughts, she fell asleep.


    Mark and Pefile also returned to where they should be, not minding the surrounding eyes that continuously watched the spectacle.


    But then, in another one and a half hours of rest, everyone was thrown awake.


    Mark, Pefile, and Berrak aside, everyone was a bit groggy being wakened up too suddenly. They all hurried out of their tents, trying to find the cause of the disturbance.


    What woke them up? It was the sound of gunfire.


    Not only one, not even a dozen. A lot of guns started firing from afar. From what they could tell, the sound came from the Settlement.


    At the same time, Mark, Pefile, and Pearl noticed the people observing them started to withdraw. It was obvious that they were called back by whoever they served due to the sudden situation.


    "Just what in the world is going on?"


    Berrak blurted out. It was still peaceful just several hours ago. But now, it sounded like chaos.


    That was when the Summoner froze as Mark told him something unbelievable.


    "You don''t know what is going on, huh?" Mark asked. "The infecteding for you probably arrived already."


    Those words did not sink in Berrak''s mind immediately.

 Chapter 647 Onslaught From The Sea, The Attack Of The Infected At The Catanduanes Settlement

    <strong>Day 147 - 8:44 PM - Western Coast, Codon, San Andres Catanduanes</strong>


    It should be just any regr night of the apocalypse for the soldiers stationed at the outpost at the western beach of Codon. Those scheduled for the night watch held their torches as they patrolled their designated locations.


    From time to time, evolved animals from the sea woulde ashore. Those events were of no issue except for asionalrger animals. Nevertheless, it was the soldiers'' job to get rid of such threats.


    This time, however. The soldiers did not know that they would be facing something that never happened in this settlement before.


    CLANG! CLANG! CLANG! CLANG!


    The continuous sound of the rm bell echoed along with the gunshots from the western coast. Although the gunshots alone could already put the entire settlement on alert, the bell''s rhythm would identify the current threat that they were facing.


    And sure enough, the continuous sound of the bell portrayed an extreme threat to the settlement.


    "SHOOT THE FASTER ONES FIRST!"


    The officer in charge roared to his subordinates. The soldiers were frantic as the enemies came ashore from the gulf.


    And the enemies were no other than the infected, of course.


    It was not just one or two.


    There were hundreds.


    The worst part, however, was not their number. It was that all of these infected were mutated.


    There were hundreds of mutated infected charging from the gulf. It was a scene from a nightmare.


    There were different variants of mutation, but one thing was consistent in them, all of them were able to run fast.


    "Sh*t. Are all these attack type infected?"


    One soldier said in a shaky voice as he fired his assault rifle.


    "Who the f*ck cares what they are?! Just shoot! Shoot the head!"


    Another soldier retorted the first one.


    Shooting the heads, that was the standard and most effective way to kill the infected. Nevertheless, it was easier said than done in this kind of situation.


    Only a few would be able to maintain his calm and urately shoot while facing an army of mutated infected. Even the soldiers were the same. Although some of their shots would hit the target, not all of them would.


    In the first ce, the fifty soldiers stationed at the outpost by the beach was nowhere enough to deal with this situation.


    "AHHH! HELP!"


    Finally, the first casualty happened.


    It was due to the darkness of the night and the shes of their gunsbined. A camouged infected managed to slip their sight.


    It was a naked infected, with skin that looked simr to sand. Unlike most of the others that came ashore that ran on two feet, it ran on the ground like a wall lizard. Spotting this creature among its horde was no easy task in these conditions of the environment.


    More than anything else, it was a [Predator Type]. It was the kind of infected that would not charge upfront and ambush its prey when it was unprepared. While the soldiers were focused on the other infected in front of them, it slipped at the side, scaling the outpost''s walls. It then attacked the soldier furthest from everyone else.


    The soldier fell on his back, arms pinned down, his gun was rendered unusable. He cried for help as he tried to resist the enemy. Unfortunately, despite the enhancements of Mutagen to people, he was just a regr human. He was neither an Evolver, much more a Mutator. There was no way for him to fight against an infected that traversed the strong underwater currents of the gulf.


    In the first ce, this infected was not just at a [Level One] Mutation. It was currently at [Level Two]. There was no way a regr human would be able to contend against it with just raw strength.


    The soldier''srades that heard his cry immediately tried to help. Unfortunately, it was toote.


    One thing that could differentiate [Predator Types] from others was their fast movements and sharp ws. Those characteristics were far more than enough for the infected to pierce through the soldier''s unarmored neck and kill him before the others could help.


    The soldiers started shooting the sand-skinned infected. With it being busy with its prey, its body caught all the bullets. It staggered away from the soldier''s body before its head was prated by a clean shot of an assault rifle.


    One of the soldiers that tried to help hurried to check the victim''s body. That soldier could only shake his head towards the other soldiers as he sensed to pulse. With a heavy heart, he grabbed the blood-covered dog tag on the victim''s neck before unleashing a ruthless kick on the dead infected''s head.


    The first casualty impacted the other soldiers heavily as they returned to the battlefield.


    Unfortunately, that was not the end of their remorse.


    Despite being outnumbered, these soldiers were still holding onto their post. Although a few infected managed to reach the outpost''s walls, it was still far from being destroyed.


    But then, from the gulf, the second batch of infected arrived.


    The new ones were far slower than the first group that emerged from the seawaters. Nevertheless, among them were, without a doubt, [Armor Types]. Although the outpost was not ill-equipped against armored monsters from the sea, there was no way they had enough explosives to deal with more than fifty heavily armored infected. Some of them were even asrge as a bungalow.


    That scene by the sea made the soldiers start to lose heart.


    "Where the f*ck are the reinforcements?!"


    One soldier cried out loud.


    There was no answer to that question for a while. It was until the newly stationedmander angrily stomped out of themunication room along with the soldiers stationed there.


    "God damn son of a f*cking b*cth." The outpostmander cursed under his breath before he started shouting. "Abandon post! I REPEAT ABANDON POST! THERE ARE NO INCOMING REINFORCEMENTS! WE ARE ORDERED TO RETREAT BACK TO THE SETTLEMENT ASAP!"


    Those words caused confusion to the soldiers holding the line of defense.


    "SIR! WHAT IN THE WORLD IS GOING ON?"


    One soldier bravely asked back.


    "THE PORT IS ALSO UNDER SIEGE BY THE INFECTED! IF YOU ALL WANT TO LIVE, HURRY UP AND RETREAT!"


    Themander replied as he led the preparation to leave.


    "Sh*t."


    The soldier that asked the question cursed which those that heard him could only agree.


    The event they were facing was definitely a sh*tty situation.<sub> </sub>


    As per orders, the soldiers started to leave the outpost.


    But of course, not without leaving a gift.


    BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!


    To cover their retreat, the soldiers fired rockets and threw grenades unto the horde. Apanied by explosions, blood had sttered, and body parts had scattered.


    That was when the sound of several vehicles could be heard, moving out of the outpost. Leaving the threat behind them, the soldiers hurried back to the settlement.


    ***


    <strong>Day 147 - 8:51 PM - Port Area, Catanduanes Settlement, Codon, San Andres, Catanduanes</strong>


    The current situation at the port was not that different from the western coast of Codon. In some parts, it was even worse.


    Atop the walls, the boardwalk, and even the buildings'' roofs, the soldiers found defensive positions. They all faced the port, which had the least defense in contrast to the other parts of the settlement.


    In the first ce, aside from evolved marine animals, it was where the least attacks were expected from. Even the rebels would not go this way as there was no cover for them to take.


    Unfortunately, it became a threat this time as infected capable of traversing the seawaters came. And not only a single individual but an organized horde.


    Yes, that was right. It was organized.


    "Damn it! Find the [Leader Type]!"


    Andrew shouted fiercely while firing his M60 Heavy Machine Gun atop the walls.


    The infected that was attacking the port was moving in an organized pattern. The [Armor Types] stood in front while the other types of infected would slip out at every opportunity.


    With remorse, soldiers could only watch the boats parked at the port sink as the gigantic infected mauled the obstacles broken.


    There was no doubt that there was a [Leader Type] leading this group. Furthermore, the [Leader Type] appeared to have developed intelligence to pull an attack like this.


    The worst part, however, there was no sign of the [Leader Type] among the infected that was invading the port. It was very likely that it was hiding somewhere whilemanding its minions.


    SWISH! SWISH! SWISH!


    Suddenly, several sshes appeared from the ocean water as several mutated infected with long distorted limbs shot out of it. Like gigantic arrows, they threw themselves from the water towards the soldiers standing at the boardwalk.


    Some attentive soldiers managed to dodge. Those that were unfortunate, however, the long-limbed infected clutched unto their bodies and instantly dragged them unto the seawater. With their bodies constrained, they could not even il their limbs as the soldiers were drowned and bitten to death.


    The appearance of the long-limbed infected forced the soldiers to abandon the boardwalk, retreating their whole line of defense towards the boundary of the coastline. That, however, allowed the infected to step onnd and charge faster towards the settlement.


    At the same time, gigantic infected, about the height of seven meters, emerged from the sea. Two rock-skinned infected started walking towards the beach, makingrge sshes on the seawater.


    "Open the gates! Deploy the tanks!"


    General Padi saw the situation and ordered in his radio. Opening the gates to the port might be risky with the infected charging at the beach, but it would be even more dangerous if those two infected reached the walls.


    The loud nging sounds of the old tanks echoed as four FV101 Scorpion tanks drove into position.


    TOOM! TOOM!


    With the roar of the 76mm cannons, the four tanks shook. Four balls of light flew towards the two giants.


    BAM! BAM! BAM! BAM!


    Two shots for each giant, the four cannons hit different parts of the two giants'' bodies.


    One giant was hit on its shoulder and stomach, causing it to stagger backward. The other was not that lucky as one cannon prated its eye, exploding inside its skull. Itsrge body caused a huge wave as it fell.


    Unfortunately, the fell of that giant was not the end It was just the start.


    ***


    In the sky, a thunderbird flew, overseeing the scene below.


    "What in the world." Berrak could not believe what he was seeing. "Did I really cause this mess?"


    He then asked, turning his head to the people with him behind his flying pet.


    Of course, he was not asking anyone else but Mark.


    "You don''t seem to know but the infected are highly sensitive to magical energy," Mark replied. "That is why we''re not using too much of it while traveling. When you summoned your flying serpent this afternoon, you caused quite a ripple. It''s no surprise that the infected would feel it."


    "Did you expect this to happen? Is that why we camped out instead of staying in the settlement?"


    Berrak asked with suspicion.


    However, Mark titled his head.


    "No really. We already nned to camp out even before the thing this afternoon happened. But yeah, I somehow anticipated this."


    Mark then looked below, watching the war at the port as he added.


    "I did not expect this scale, though."


    Although Mark expected that the infected would be alerted by the magical fluctuation this afternoon, this scale was toorge. With Catanduanes being surrounded by the sea, even though there would be those infected that would make it, there should only be a few.


    In hindsight, Mark could not help but look towards the western beach. He understood what really happened.


    Like a wave in the ocean, without obstacles, it would reach far. And at the western beach, the west direction waspletely clear of obstacles. It was very likely that the ripples of Berrak''s magical energy reached farther than anticipated.


    Berrak looked below once more, feeling guilty about what was happening. He then turned to Mark.


    "If this is my fault, can I go and help?"

 Chapter 648 Battle At Two Fronts, The Catanduanes Settlement In Dire State

    <strong>Day 147 - 8:59 PM - Port Area, Catanduanes Military Settlement, Codon, San Andres, Catanduanes</strong>


    The whole settlement was now in an uproar. Because of the gunshots and all the other noises, even those under medication would not be able to sleep tight. The brave Mutators and Evolvers moved out to assess the situation and help out if necessary. Of course, not only those that wanted to help but those people that only wanted to watch came to the line of defense.


    "Please, do not obstruct the Military Operations! All those that do not intend to participate, please return to your dwellings! There is no show in this ce but danger!"


    Of course, it was the soldiers'' duty to push these idiotic people away. Nheless, like the usual humans they were, it was hard to make them go away. Some might leave the area where the soldier blocking the path were only to move to another.


    The soldiers maintaining the safety perimeter were getting annoyed by these people. Time and time, people like these would appear. Not only during attacks of evolved animals but even during confrontations against the rebels. And if they identally get caught by the crossfire, they would me the military with various nonsensical allegations.


    ***


    At the port area, General Padi himself led the defense. So far, the casualties were minimal. Nheless, the situation was not too optimistic.


    "Tanks! Take that giant as soon as possible!"


    The Generalmanded on his radio with exasperation.


    They were lucky that one giant had fallen in the first volley of tank cannons. Unfortunately, the other was no that easy to take down.


    Due to the stony growth on the giant''s skin, even their eyes were hard to hit. It was just a slit that was protected by stone covered eyelids. That was why the shot that came from the tank and went through the other giant''s eyes was just too lucky. Snipers might be able to damage the eyes. Nheless, it would be far from being able to kill the giant just because of its sheer size.


    Unfortunately, destroying the eyes was not usible either. Yes, it would deprive the enemy of their sight. However, it would also cause it to be berserk.


    It was not the first time that these soldiers fought gigantic threats. They also experienced a giant infected go berserk because of its loss of sense of sight. That event took a lot of lives.


    Armored infected, especially the gigantic ones, had very few weak spots. Most of the time, the weak points were the eyes, the mouths, and in very few instances, the joints. However, once it went berserk, targeting these weak spots would be horribly difficult.


    The soldiers here were trying their best not to let that happen. That was why the tanks were the only ones targeting the giant while the soldiers dealt with the other threats.


    "General, the soldiers from the beach outpost, had returned. They incurred a single casualty and a few injuries, but they were still in fighting shape."


    Vanessa, the General''s secretary, reported.


    "How is the situation in the west side?"


    The General asked.


    "ording to the scouts, the infected had reached half the forest area. It seemed that the battle here at the port was drawing them to the settlement."


    Vanessa replied.


    "Damn it. Just what in the world is going on?"


    The General smashed his fist on the table in front of him.


    At this time, a messenger arrived.


    "General, the Mutators and Evolvers that wanted to help arrived!"


    Those words put a bit of relief to the General''s heart. He turned to Vanessa.


    "Vanessa, you lead the volunteers to the west side."


    "Yes, General."


    Vanessa replied resolutely before leaving.


    ***


    Leaving the wall where the Generalmanded the defense, Vanessa pped her cheeks. She might be a spy from another organization but it did not matter this time. The defense of this cees first.


    "Are we joining the fight?"


    A voice was heard as Vanessa stepped near a hidden area. It was no other than the same man this afternoon that was sent to watch Mark''s group.


    Vanessa paused. Then, without looking at the direction the voice wasing from, she replied.


    "I''m tasked with leading the volunteers at the west wall so I can''t join you. Still, take the other four with you and help. Just do it within the shadows."


    "Good, I''ve been itching for some action for a while."


    The man replied before vanishing. However, before he actually left, he dropped some crucial information.


    "The situation here at the settlement had already reached the rebels. If this situation is not resolved fast, it might get even worse."


    Those words made Vanessa frown. The violent faction of the rebels did not care for the lives of the people. All they wanted was to drive the military off this ind. In that case, the rebels might take this opportunity to attack. The chances would heighten if the battle with the infected was stretched for far too long.


    With those thoughts, Vanessa hurried to fulfill her job.


    ***


    Seconds and minutes passed. Bullets flew everywhere, explosions bloomed in the darkness, bodies piled up at the sandy beach. Nheless, there was no end to the number of infected in their sight.


    It felt like they were fighting all the infected in the Bicol Region. A region that was supposed to have at least six million, including the tourists. Of course, the horde was still far from that number. Yet, there were too many.


    The worst part of the battle was, they could not spot a single non-mutated infected among the horde.


    With great efforts, they managed to kill the giant. They chipped away its armor at every 76mm shell they fired. But of course, that was not enough to end the battle.


    "If we can only find that f*cking [Leader Type]."


    Andrew cursed the only thing that all the soldiers here wanted to happen.


    What made the situation far more difficult was the organized attacks of the infected. Without the leader, it would be easy to kill the unarmored infected as they would charge forward and move faster than the heavier armored ones. But that was not what was happening here.


    Like a medieval army, the far slower [Armor Types] were leading the lines of the infected. They protected the others while the supposed to be fast-moving ones stayed behind their meatshields.


    The assault rifles could barely do any damage to the armored infected in front. It was quite impossible since a lot of the infected were already at their [Level 2] and [Level 3] Mutations. The [Level 3 Armor Types] even had some resistance against explosives. At this point, only the soldiers atop the walls and the mortars they started to deploy could deal solid damage to the ranks of the infected.


    ***


    At the west side of the settlement, the infected might be unorganized without a [Leader Type]manding their ranks. However, it did not make things any easier.


    The west side of the settlement was quite forested. It disabled the soldiers on the walls to kill at very long distances. It was not like the soldiers did not make efforts to clear this area of trees. However, they focused more on the east and north side of the settlement, where the attacks of the rebels woulde from.<sub> </sub>


    Fortunately, the Mutators and Evolvers did their best to hold the line below the walls. A few casualties happened because of carelessness but they were holding fine overall.


    Within the shadows, a few people were also moving. Body after body, the infected died just because of a few powerful people. Unfortunately, no one could see their endeavors.


    Unfortunately, the efforts of these people in the shadows were also far from enough. A few Mutators could not possibly deal with thousands of infected easily.


    ***


    At the sky, Berrak stared below with remorse. He asked Mark for permission to help. However, although he was not denied to do so, he was told to wait.


    Wait, for what? For many people to die because of him? Berrak might be abrasive, but he was not a cold-hearted person. Thinking that many people would die because he wanted to fulfill his promise made his stomach churn.


    Berrak was a person who valued life, no matter what form. It was something from the teachings of his master, a requirement to be a sessful Summoner. Valuing the life of his summons was one his training paid attention to. It was why despite his current state, his life being held by Mark, what made him even sadder was the sacrifice of his three summons this afternoon.


    Nevertheless, the lives of people, himself included, were the most important.


    From time to time, Berrak would turn to Mark. Thetter was now sitting with this eyes closed. It had been like this for a few minutes already.


    ***


    Another minute passed, the battle below was intensifying.


    It became more and more worrying for the soldiers as the battle started to chip away their ammunition reserves heavily. To conserve bullets and explosives, some soldiers started to fight the infected in melee. Of course, it was not a good thing as they were more exposed to danger.


    At this point, however, Mark opened his eyes.


    "Found it." He murmured as he turned to Berrak. "Let everyone off the thunderbird first. You can start helping after that. Focus on the [Armor Types] if you can. It is those that are hindering the soldiers the most."


    Hearing those words made Berrak eager. He immediately made the Thunderbirdnd not far from the northern side of the settlement.


    After theynded, without further ado, Berrak rode on the Thunderbird''s back and flew off to battle.


    "That guy is really good-hearted, isn''t he?"


    Pefile said, staring at the visage of the leaving Berrak.


    "That''s right. Or else, even with his powers, I rather not "invite" him to join our camp."


    Mark replied, emphasizing the word "invite" in a strange way.


    "Nee, uncle. What about us?"


    Emika tugged on Mark''s clothes and asked.


    "I will go with Mei''er. We will be dealing with that sneaky [Leader Type] at the port." Mark replied. "Then, you all go to the northwest forest."


    "The northwest?" Emika tilted her head. "But that''s far from the battle?"


    "No, a battle will happen there soon, enough."


    Mark shook his head.


    "The rebels, isn''t it Boss?"


    Pearl asked.


    "That''s right. The rebels might take advantage of this. You all will hinder them. Emika and Pefile are the best for this job since it''s a forested area there. Pearl, you will detect the iing rebels while the others deal with things while hiding. Understand it?"


    Mark said, patting the heads of his two younger daughters.


    "Yes." "Un!"


    Abbygale and Miracle replied with smiles. Mark then turned to the eldest daughter.


    "I, I leave their protection to you."


    "Please, don''t worry."


    I replied with resolute eyes.


    "Boss, what about me?"


    Edzel asked.


    "Go with Pefile and learn his methods. It will be of use to you in the future."


    That made Edzel confused. Nevertheless, he would follow. Thatmand made Pefile a bit perplexed, though. He could only stare at Mark with askance. Mark did not n to answer his eyes, though, and urged everyone to move.


    In any case, Mark called Crimson, Amihan, and Chalfar to support the group.


    "By the way, onest thing," Mark said before everyone departed.


    "Try not to kill any humans for now."


    "Why?"


    Pefile asked.


    "I just had a hunch. If you can, capture them. If not, just make them retreat."


    Everyone was confused but decided to follow his words.


    And there, the group separated into two different directions with different goals.


    ***


    At the port area, everyone was shocked as the loud caw of a gigantic bird was heard. Because the sky was dark, no one was able to see it. It was until the bird showed itself, d with lightning.


    The people thought that it was another threat and started to panic. After all, it came from an entirely different direction from the infected.


    It was until, like a judgment from God, a sh of lightning befell unto the infected.

 Chapter 649 Their Salvation, Strange Occurrences In The Middle Of The Dire Situation

    <strong>Day 147 - 9:04 PM - Port Area, Catanduanes Settlement, Codon, San Andres, Catanduanes</strong>


    Twenty minutes after the ordeal started, there was still no sight to its end. At the beach area around the port, hundreds of bodies of the infected had already piled up.


    Gunshots and explosions continued to echo. The ranks of the infected had been broken and reformed several times. Their bodies bled riddled with holes. Limbs were twisted or missing from the impact of the explosions. And yet, the infected continued to march forward, stepping over the dead bodies of their fallen kind.


    "General, the situation is not looking good."


    One of the General''s trusted soldiers monitoring the situation beside General Padi could not help but say.


    "We can only persevere," The General replied with a frown. "How is the ammunition supply?"


    "Pretty bad, General." The soldier replied exasperatedly. "We already used up a fourth of our current reserve. At the current pace, we might end up using more than half in another hour or so."


    That was not a piece of good news. The ammunition reserves were very important, especially since the settlement was facing different threats recently.


    Although they already managed to set up a small manual ammunition factory, its rate of production was not exactly optimal. At this rate, ones arge confrontation between the military and the rebels or another attack at this scale ensued, they would not have enough ammunition supply.


    "What about the west side?"


    The General asked.


    "Let me inquire, sir."


    The soldier replied, rushing towards themand center. It did not take long, and he returned with a bad expression.


    "General, the situation was not any better." The soldier reported. "There was already quite a number of casualties."


    In certain aspects, the situation in the west wall was worse than in the port.


    At the port area, the sandy beach itself was a natural barrier to slow down the infected. Unlike solid soil, the beach sand was way softer. For the infected that had a bad sense of bnce, it was a great obstacle. The only issue they had here was the intelligent movements of the infected and their number.


    On the west wall, however, the infected were stepping on solidnd. It would be easier for them to approach the walls and deal some damage to the personnel stationed there. Not to mention that while the intelligent movements of the infected were hard to deal with, it was predictable to some extent. The infected on the west wall, on the other hand, moved erratically and was hard to predict.


    "Tsk!"


    The General clicked his tongue. It was getting harder and harder to choose which area they should reinforce.


    ''Should I recall our forces stationed at the east and northeast areas?''


    The General was contemting. However, he was not ignorant of the threat that it might ensue, considering that the rebels might use this opportunity to conduct a surprise attack.


    "Should we deploy the aerial units?"


    General Padi murmured.


    "General, you can''t!" The soldier beside the General reacted immediately. "The aerial units are reserved for emergencies."


    "But isn''t this an emergency?"


    The General said, making the soldier unable to reply with any words.


    The aerial units they were speaking about was nothing too extravagant. This settlement had four helicopters, of which three were used for aerialbat support while thest one was a supply helicopter for carrying cargo over the mountains.


    Unfortunately, due to fuel constraints, these crucial vehicles could only be used during the worst times. There was no way that the military would be able to procure jet fuel when the world was already overwhelmed by the infected. Furthermore, these helicopters shined the most on battles in the middle of the mountains wherend vehicles were useless.


    The General looked around him. The other soldiers also seemed to be against the idea. After all, the walls were still holding on. And the most important part, these aerial units could be used to flee once there was no hope left for the settlement.


    The General sighed. Nevertheless, they also had a point. Still, what could they do to improve the current situation?


    But at this time, cries of surprise could be heard, not only from the soldiers but also for the uneasy people of the settlement.


    Even General Padi the soldiers beside him spotted the reason immediately.


    There was no way that they would not see it, considering the shes of light in the darkness of the night sky.


    A gigantic bird with a body that was the size of a minivan and had wings span twice the length of its body flew over the settlement d in shing lightning.


    What did everyone felt the moment they saw that?


    Amazement? Yes, anyone would feel amazed to see such a creature d in lightning.


    Shock? Of course. It was shocking to see such a creature.


    Nevertheless, those two emotions were not what the people felt at this moment.


    It was fear. Although there was the fear of the unknown included within, everyone was more scared of the possibility that this unknown creature would attack the settlement while it was currently facing a dire situation.


    What if this creature was drawn here because of the battle and attack? What if it was able to shoot those lightning bolts like some yellow rat?


    There were a lot of possibilities.


    Unfortunately, none of them thought of the possibility that it was an ally.


    After all, everyone was bound for another shocking event as they watched the lightning d bird in the sky.


    With the roar of thunder and loud crackles, the gigantic bird in the sky bloomed with light.


    And like the strike of judgment from the heavens, pirs of lightning rained down from the sky. And to everyone''s shock, the rain of lightning went straight towards the meatshields of the horde.


    The soldiers in defense watched the scene with awe.


    One by one, the [Armor Types] that led the horde fell, oozing with the unpleasant stench of burning rotten flesh.


    Bullets might not be able to prate their armor properly and explosives could do less damage. Electricity, however, could enter their bodies directly and fry their brain.


    There might be a chance where the infected could adapt to it and mutate further. However, the high voltage of those pirs of lightning did not give that opportunity.


    Furthermore, it did not end there.


    Ignoring the settlement, the gigantic bird flew above the horde, circling in the sky while raining pirs of lightning over the horde.


    The unbelievable scene in front of them made the soldiers stare widely. Then, their frustrated faces slowly turned into smiles as they started to cheer for the unexpected help.


    Without the [Armor Types], the horde became faster but easier to fell. They had no protection while running at the beach, and the bullets buffeted their fragile bodies.


    The battle suddenly became much easier, and the gigantic bird in the sky continued to fire pirs of lightning towards the horde.


    General Padi and his entourage were confused for a short period of time. They questioned where the bird came from, and why it was helping them. But then, they remembered the event this afternoon.


    "General! It''s that man earlier! The one that tried to save General Seguerra escape!"


    Andrew came running to tell everyone his findings.<sub> </sub>


    "Are you sure?"


    General Padi asked.


    "General, I can''t be mistaken. You know what ability I have."


    Andrew replied, pointing at his eyes shining with a golden color.


    This was Andrew''s ability and his pride. Among the soldiers, here, in terms of nightbat, his eyes were unparalleled. During the day, he could see far away, while the darkness of the night could not hinder this ability in any way.


    Because of this ability, he was able to see Berrak atop the Thunderbird. If Andrew''s attention was not focused on the horde they were fighting, he might have spotted it far earlier.


    Hearing that affirmation, everyone cheered. This help came really unexpected.


    General Padi immediately grabbed the radio.


    "To all the troops defending the Port, that gigantic bird is an ally. I repeat, it is an ally! Do not shoot and concentrate on the horde below!"


    The words from the General lifted everyone''s morale. Their desperation turned into hope as they valiantly fought the infected with greater vigor.


    But then, as Andrew paid attention to Berrak once more, he froze.


    "What the hell..."


    Andrew murmured. He rubbed his eyes, thinking that he was hallucinating. But what he saw never changed at all.


    "What is wrong Andrew?"


    The General asked as everyone around noticed his strange behavior.


    "It''s that Mark and that wife of his."


    "Hey, we know you had beef with the guy but why are you mentioning them now?"


    One soldier jeered at Andrew.


    "Shut up!" Andrewshed out. "What I''m saying is those two is flying towards the bird right now!"


    Everyone froze.


    Flying? Did they hear Andrew correctly?


    "You guys don''t believe me? Why not use some thermal or night vision binocrs?"


    Andrew insisted as he pointed in a certain direction.


    Being in themand center, they had such equipment ready. As such, they immediately saw what Andrew was talking about.


    "A-are they Mutators capable of flight?"


    A soldier stuttered in surprise.


    Mutators capable of flying was very rare, after all. In this settlement, they had none, but the rebels actually had two within their ranks. They also heard about it from the reports from other settlements. Who would have thought that Mark and Mei were actually among those rare people?


    General Padi, on the other hand, was not that surprised. This piece of information was in the letter that was given to him about Mark. What he did not expect, however, was for their group to move and help. From the letter, Mark would ask for payment if they wanted him to help.


    Well, it was not like General Padi would deny such a request. Right now, it was anyone''s help that they needed the most.


    General Padi continued tomand his army while paying attention to Mark and Mei. When the two approached the gigantic bird, it stopped for a bit before continuing to attack the horde.


    To the confusion of the General and his entourage, Mark and Mei flew past the horde but not that far that they could not be seen by the binocrs. It was about half a kilometer away from the edge of the port.


    But it was when they saw balls of light flying around Mark.


    Suddenly, the dark night had grown even darker.


    Like the end of the world, thick ck clouds came swirling in the sky.


    Once more, the whole settlement was enveloped in chaos.


    All of the sudden, the soldiers defending the settlement were baffled.


    The horde that was supposed to charge towards their walls started to turn around, running back at the sea.


    At this time, a piece of crucial information came from the radio.


    "General!" Amunications soldier cried out. "The infected in the west walls were also changing their route!"


    The General and his entourage could not help but feel strange about the situation. Nheless, they seemed to have the same thoughts of what caused this.


    However, not only that as another soldier in charge ofmunicating with the south and east areas reported at the same time.


    "General, rebel activities were detected at the southeast edge! But..."


    "What about the rebels? Don''t cut your report halfway!"


    The General reprimanded the soldier.


    "General, it was just strange. The scouts said that the rebels were spotted, but they vanished soon after."


    The report made everyone that heard it confused.


    A strange situation after another. Just what in the world was going on?


    Unfortunately for them, it was not the end of the surprises.


    "GGRROOOAAARRR!!!"


    A loud roar echoed causing pain to everyone''s ears.


    Every person''s attention was pulled to the direction that the roar came from.


    Their eyes turned wide.


    "What in the world is that!"


    Andrew voiced out the very question that was in everyone''s mind at the moment.


    At the sea, a gigantic creature, about thirty meters in height, surfaced with that ear-piercing roar.

 Chapter 650 The Hellish Amalgamation, The Uncanny Mutation Of A Type-0

    <strong>Day 147 - 9:10 PM - North Langonoy Gulf, Bicol Region, Catanduanes</strong>


    Berrak was delighted to receive permission to help. He immediatelymanded his Thunderbird, Trua, to cast down a rain of lightning towards the horde.


    Like what Mark suggested, Berrak concentrated the lightning attacks at the [Armor Type] infected. Of course, not all his attacks hit the intended targets directly. Lightning magic was hard to control, even for creatures that were capable of using it by instinct. Nheless, the missing attacks still did damage because the infected that rose from the sea were all soaking wet.


    The lightning attacks were extremely sessful in felling the armored infected. It was unlike the bullets from the guns held by the soldiers atop the wall.


    The defense line of the infected crumbled slowly. The other infected that did not have armor faced a barrage of bullets.


    Just with Berrak''s slight intervention, the situation at the port eased extremely.


    As this was supposed to be his fault, helping this way made Berrak feel lighter in his heart. Still, he was not satisfied until the threat were all eliminated. Thus, hemanded Trua to continue attacking the infected below.


    While circling in the sky, raining pirs of lightning towards the infected below,Berrak was off for a surprise.


    "WHAT THE F*CK!"


    Berrak cried out as he saw Mark and Mei flying towards him and Trua.


    "You two can freaking fly?!"


    Berrak asked out loud as Mark and Mei arrived before him.


    Mark turned to Mei first before replying.


    "We can. So?"


    Berrak was speechless. For some reason, he felt frustrated. In any case, now was not the time to talk about this kind of thing.


    Mark had the same thoughts and went to the point.


    "You continue helping the soldiers. We''re going to lure out the leader."


    The two then left without letting Berrak say anything else. Scratching his head, Berrak took ast nce at Mark and Mei. He thenmanded Trua to continue the attacks.


    It did not take a few seconds, however. Berrak''s full attention fell on Mark and Mei once more. There was no way he would not, as he felt a strong surge of magical energying from Mark.


    Barrak noticed several crystals emitting bright glows while floating around Mark. He was sure that the surge of magical energy came from those crystals alone.


    But then, it started.


    Dark clouds started to cover the starry sky, swirling with Mark and Mei below its center.


    Being on the magical part of the current society, it was not the first time he saw something at this scale that was caused by magic. Even the tribtions of Chinese cultivators he saw before were far more eye-catching since some could happen in the middle of the city. Nheless, Berrak never expected to see something like this to happen at this moment.


    ***


    Mark and Mei flew to a part of the gulf not too far from the shore. There, Mark stared at the water below before he called forth for the crystals.


    There was no way to fight the enemy that was staying underwater. They needed to lure it out. In any case, Mark had the best bait here. And thus, he activated the crystals. He was not only preparing to lure it out but also something else, just in case.


    And like what Mark wanted, the leader of the horde surfaced from the sea.


    Well, what Mark did not expect was for this monster to be this big.


    Mark and Mei could not help but fly upwards in a hurry as the water heavily sshed, apanied by a loud, piercing roar. Unlike anything that they heard, however, it sounded like a choir of suffering souls.


    The [Leader Type]''s body rose thirty meters from the water surface, and to say, it was likely that its size was far bigger, considering how a part of its body was still underwater. Not to mention, they were currently in the deep parts of the gulf.


    As the water subsided, the appearance of the monster was revealed. What no one expected, however, was its appearance.


    It was a hellish amalgamation.


    Unlike other infected, even the giants from before, whose bodies grew bigger because of the mutation their bodies went through, this one was totally different.


    It had grownrger, not on its own. Its entire body wasposed of hundreds to thousands of different bodies fused together, wobbling unsteadily. While the part of its body that came out of the water appeared to be shaped like the head of an octopus, its true visage was rather hard to describe.


    It was a gigantic body of bodies.


    And that piercing roar? It came from hundreds to thousands of mouths on its body that cried out together. It was not wrong to say that this whole infected could be considered as a horde that was bound by flesh matter. There was no limit as to what creature formed its body. There were animals and fishes. There were even some infected birds in it.


    The creature wobbled up and down until it managed to shoot a part of its body. It was like a tentacle that whipped towards Mark as its target.


    Mark and Mei hurriedly flew out of the way. The tentacleposed of bodies stuck arm and toe, roaring in pain and fury, missed, whipping back towards the enemy. It hit its own body. Many of the bodies were crushed to an unrecognizable degree, and the pain made all of it roar ear-piercingly.


    Nheless, it was not damaged overall, only that tentacle and the part it hit. But then, like shedding its skin, the damaged bodies popped off the main fused body, falling unto the sea and dying it red with both flesh and blood.


    "Mei''er, ready the [Crystal Converter]. This guy seems to be a tricky one."


    Mark said, with a frown.


    There was no way he would expect this. He could only sense a faint consciousness in this monster, simr to those with small bodies. But as it appeared, its mutation might have been something that enabled it to construct its body using different kinds of flesh living matter.


    After shedding off the damaged bodies, the [Leader Type] attacked once more.


    It was surely an intelligent one. When Mark managed to evade its first attack, and it hit itself instead, it attacked differently. Wobbling unsteadily a few times, it shot several tentacles. It increased in number, and instead of whipping violently, it switched into trying to constrain Mark and Mei. The movements of the tentacles also became faster. It was at the expense of the painful roars of the bodies used to form those tentacles.<sub> </sub>


    Mark could not help but observe the bodies. As it appeared, not only that they were bound by a fleshlike matter, their bodies seemed to be under the control of the [Leader Type]. While it was trying to constrain Mark and Mei, the arms of the bodies would stick off the flesh matter while trying to reach their target. On the other hand, the heads were moaning and roaring differently. It was as if they were struggling to break free.


    With a p of his wings, Mark finally counterattacked. He charged forwards, not even evading the tentacles. The hands of the bodies of the tentacles tried to reach Mark, but like a ghost, his body blurred, making all those hands touch nothing but thin air.


    It seemed that the [Leader Type] flinched at the sudden unexpected event. The tentacles were retracted, trying to chase after Mark. Aside from that, the [Leader Type] detached more bodies from its huge body, forming more tentacles, trying to pincer Mark, front and back.


    But then, at thest moment, Mark vanished into a puff of ck mist. Instead, the converged tentacles were rained bullets from Mei''s sniper rifle.


    Each shot of Mei''s sniper that was imbued with magical power could make a punch size hole even in an inch thick iron te. And with her eyes, zooming and slowing her sight, she could urately shoot the tentacles in the same area.


    With that rain of magic-imbued bullets, several tentacles were severed. As Mark had thought. When the tentacles were detached from the main body, although still stuck together, the living bodies of the infected gained the freedom to move their arms on their own.


    Unfortunately for them, being stuck together that way, there was nothing else that would happen to them aside from sinking under the sea.


    While Mei started severing the tentacles, Mark circled the huge octopus head-shaped body. What he wanted to do was to find at least a small gap on the body to slip into. As long as there was even a tiny space, his [ck Mist Movement] would allow him to slip through. He needed to keep the brain of the [Leader Type] intact. However, its real body was deep inside the gigantic fused one.


    Unfortunately, Mark could not see any gap in its body that was above the water. Maybe there was somewhere underwater. But Mark did not want to try that. There were various risks in doing that, after all.


    Mark then drew Ignis from his back, shing the body violently.


    The strong wide swing from Mark hacked through several bodies and opened a deep wound among the disgustingly fused bodies.


    Unfortunately, the whole thing was not hollow at all. Inside the wound were the same as the surface, filled with wailing bodies of infected, trying to reach Mark with their blood-covered arms.


    "Tsk!"


    Mark suddenly clicked his tongue and retreated without hesitation.


    The infected just shot a huge clump of its fleshy membrane, trying to swallow Mark into its body like a.


    "It seems like trying to enter its body also came with risks."


    Mark grumbled.


    The [Leader Type] could clearly control its whole body, changing its shape at will.


    And there, the huge wound that Mark opened was patched instantly, shedding the bodies that Mark severed. Well, at least some of them but not all.


    But at that scene, Mark noticed something.


    "So, that''s how it is, huh."


    Mark murmured.


    Like when this monster hit itself with its own tentacle, it shed those smashed bodies into the sea. But not every single damaged body but only those with specific injuries.


    As such, Mark decided to try it once more.


    Wielding Ignis, Mark shed several bodies horizontally and retreated as several clumps of flesh membrane tried to capture him.


    Mark did not kill the infected bodies. They were Eaters, after all. Even if their bodies were fatally injured, they would still move as long as their brain was intact. Even so, Mark made sure to leave a specific injury with that sh.


    And as he expected, the [Leader Type] shed those bodies off.


    "Looks like I''m right. It can''t ept those with damaged spinal columns into its body."


    Mark deduced as he started to devise a n.


    He needed to force the real body out of this hellish amalgamation. It was an intelligent infected and would surely give him a crystal to obtain.


    It was at this point that Mark noticed Berrak on his Thunderbird approaching.


    "What are you doing here?"


    Mark asked.


    After all, Berrak was supposed to be supporting the soldiers at the shore.


    But then, Mark noticed that the gunshots and explosions had died down. He did not realize until now since his attention was fully concentrated on the [Leader Type].


    "Sir," Berrak replied. "All the infected attacking the settlement had withdrawn! Both the port and the west side!"


    Of course, with the battle there ending prematurely, there was nothing Berrak could do but to approach Mark and Mei to join the fray.


    But then, Mark was confused.


    Although the infected were attracted to Magical Energy, they would not turn around when they basically had prey in front of them. In this case, it was the soldiers and the settlement that was the prey.


    So, why were they withdrawing?


    And here, Mark''s eyes fell on the [Leader Type].


    "Darn, it. It''s you, isn''t it?"

 Chapter 651 The Tricky Monster, Finding The Weakness Of The Hellish Amalgamation

    <strong>Day 147 - 9:11 PM - Port Area, Catanduanes Settlement, Codon, San Andres, Catanduanes</strong>


    Along the walls overseeing the port area, the soldiers watched the spectacle happening at the gulf. The infected mysteriously retreated. The only thing the soldiers could do now was to observe the battle between two people and a gigantic monster.


    Of course, they could try and shoot the infected that were still in sight before they reenter the waters. However, the General already ordered to cease firing. If the infected were retreating, let them be, and the settlement should not incur unnecessary aggression from them.


    Still, it was imperative that no one should let their guards down. In this kind of situation, no one knew what could happen.


    That was why everyone that could had to pay attention to the battle above the sea.


    And to say, everyone had veryplex emotions at this scene.


    ***


    Fear


    What if that gigantic abomination came and attacked the settlement? Would the walls even hold for a second? No, it would instantly fall, without a doubt.


    There was not even a chance to think about it.


    There was no need to think about resisting.


    Even if they deployed all of their explosives and blew everything up altogether, there was no assurance that they would win.


    Even if it did, there was no future to be seen for the settlement.


    Only explosives could damage highly mutated infected and a lot of evolved animals. Using up all their explosives would cause the settlement to face destruction sooner orter.


    But that was if the settlement itself managed to go unscathed by the intensity of explosion needed to eliminate that thing.


    Definitely not. There was no way that they would win or even have a good ending.


    ***


    However, despite the fear, there was also...


    ***


    Relief


    Those in the know felt relieved that, whatever that abomination was, it was a [Leader Type] Infected.


    If that gigantic amalgamation of bodies attacked the settlement directly, it would have fallen immediately. However, it did not and would not.


    Among the infected, there was a nature that was quite unique to [Leader Types].


    It was, no matter what their abilities were or what size they had, [Leader Type] Infected tend to stay either behind or at the center of their horde. This type of infected would not move and attack unless certain conditions were met.


    The first condition was if the [Leader Type] was under a stronger and more intelligent one. It could be another [Leader Type], a [Parasitic Type], a [Breeder Type] or maybe, the rumored [Monarch Types].


    The second was when their horde was already wiped out or on the verge of copse. Without other infected tomand, the [Leader Type] would start attacking by itself. On the other hand, more intelligent [Leader Types] would likely flee when that happened.


    And the third condition they knew was if the [Leader Type] was forcibly dragged out of hiding. This condition could happen if [Leader Type] was identified and was attacked directly, incurring its rage in the process or if it was lured out by any means possible.


    As it appeared to be, the third condition was fulfilled by Mark, luring the [Leader Type] out of hiding. None of the soldiers knew what he did, though.


    Another thing that made them feel relieved that it was Mark that lured it out and not them. Who knows what would happen if it was them that forced it toe ashore.


    Even Andrew, who was shouting to find the [Leader Type] earlier, could only stay silent after finally seeing what he wanted to kill.


    And despite the fear and relief, there was also...


    ***


    Amazement


    The people were amazed as to how Mark and Mei could confront that frightening creature face to face.


    It did not matter that the two were capable of flight. It was because that alone would not give anyone the confidence or bravery to stand in front of that terrifying thing.


    Even if they were capable of flight, they were unsure whether they could muster the courage. There was no need to say just having two people. Even if there were dozens of them, they would not have the guts at all.


    There was no way they would try to face a being that was as tall as a building with their weak human bodies.


    And yet, Mark and Mei were there, circling around the body of that infected and cutting off its disgusting tentacles.


    And with that amazement, then came...


    ***


    Envy


    If they could fly like Mark and Mei and had the courage to face such an abomination, maybe, they would be the ones everyone was watching.


    Maybe, they were the ones receiving everyone''s admiration.


    And yet, here they were, standing atop the walls with shaking knees.


    Wishing and praying that that creature would just vanish and leave this settlement alone.


    With meager abilities and very little courage, the only thing they could boast here was their cowardly will to survive.


    ***


    Back at the gulf, Mark could only frown seeing how the infected returned to the sea.


    Of course, there was absolutely no way that they were retreating. They were called by this [Leader Type] for a single reason.


    And without a doubt, it was to forcefully erge its body further. Without a doubt, it realized that it would not be able to catch Mark at its current state. It might have thought that if it had arger body, it would also be powerful. At the same time, it would rece the bodies that it discarded because of Mark''s attacks. It was desperate to catch Mark to the extent that it widened the scope of its control, including the infected at the west side of the settlement.


    "What a troublesome guy."


    Mark murmured.


    If it was like this, whitling away its body would take quite a while doing it manually.


    WHOOSH! WHOOSH!


    Several tentacles shot towards Mark''s group, forcing everyone to get out of the way.<sub> </sub>


    And for sure, Mark was right. This [Leader Type] already started to absorb the horde underwater. The sudden increase in the length of the tentacles was totally noticeable.


    Unfortunately for this huge thing, however, it wascking what it needed the most. It was speed. Therger its body became and the longer its tentacles grew, the more sluggish it moved.


    Even though its tentacles reached Mark''s group above, it already lost a lot of its momentum.


    Well, it was only in Mark''s perception, however. In fact, the tentacles just now were as fast as a raging truck. Regr people would have a hard time reacting to that, especially with how numerous those tentacles were.


    Mark did not care about that speed, however. He was more concerned about thinking of an easier way to get the real body out.


    p "Sir, what do you n to do with that thing?"</anda>


    Berrak asked out loud. He could not move any closer to Mark because of the tentacles continuously swaying around them. His Thunderbird was way bigger than a human and was an easier target than Mark and Mei. Thus, he did not daree too close.


    Mark turned to Berrak. The Summoner had nothing that he could do here aside from one thing.


    "How many of your pets can fly and attack at long range?"


    Mark asked back.


    "The ones I summoned this afternoon. That''s all."


    Berrak replied hurriedly.


    "Then, summon them all and fly up. All you need to do is have your pets attack that thing as much as possible. Also get rid of the bodies of any infected you see, at least, destroy their spines."


    Berrak could not understand what Mark was up to and why there were some specific orders. However, he could only nod. It was his fault as to why this humongous creature was here. Thus, he would do anything to help.


    And with that, Berrakmanded Trua to fly higher. At the same time, he began to summon.


    Everyone that was watching was surprised as magic circles bloomed like small fireworks in the sky. Their shock grew even more as magical beasts appeared around the bird that shot lightning before.


    Except for the flying serpent named Baku, the other flying pets of Berrak were here once more. With a few words from their Summoner, the barrage of magic attacks towards the [Leader Type] infected began.


    Bathed by harmful attacks, the choir of painful roars ensued. It was a wave of agonizing screams of pain, telling everyone what kind of torture they were suffering.


    Mark frowned at the irritating sound entering his ears.


    Each of the bodies thatposed this gigantic amalgamation was connected by the [Leader Type]. Since the main part of the connection was the spine, it was likely to be a connection within the neuralwork of each body. It also allowed the [Leader Type] to control the bodies fully.


    However, it came with a cost.


    Even one body that felt extreme pain, every single body in this amalgamation would share it. The more its huge body was damaged, the more the bodies thatposed it cried in pain.


    Mark could not help but notice those details as Berrak continued attacking without pause.


    And there, Mark had an idea.


    If the [Leader Type] was this intelligent, then it was very likely that it was a Mutated Biter. A type of infected that had a body that was still functioning as a living human. It could definitely feel the same pain as the others had. In fact, Mark could sense its tiny consciousness slightly fluctuate at every heavy attack that its body received.


    It appeared that it had high pain tolerance, however.


    "Then, all we have to do is inflict too much pain that it could not endure."


    Mark said, letting Mei hear his thoughts.


    With a nod at each other, Mark and Mei also prepared.


    "Mei''er, you can use up to two [Crystal Converters]," Mark spoke. "But avoid the center of the octopus-head-shaped part. That''s where our guy is."


    Mei nodded once more at Mark''s instructions. While Mark used himself as a distraction, Mei set up the [Crystal Converter] on her sniper rifle.


    And then, with a momentum that made everyone tremble, a huge beam of light, not any less bright than the sun, shot from Mei''s sniper rifle.


    The gallery could not help but cover their eyes, turning their faces away from the battle. It was painful to their eyes that already adjusted to the darkness of the night.


    Nheless, a wave of ear-piercing cries forced their aching eyes to look back at the battle.


    And to say, their mouths were hanged open.


    The amalgamation started tossing around, causingrge waves in the middle of the gulf. The movements of the monster were too strong that people watching on the walls that were about half a kilometer away from the battle felt droplets of water hitting their faces.


    That violent reaction turned the calm gulf into a stormy looking one.


    Even so, everyone felt that its reaction was not exaggerated, considering that it had a dump truck-sized hole at the bottom center of its body.


    However, it was just starting.


    THOOOOM!


    Another beam of light forced everyone''s eyes away from the monster.


    Mei fired another [Crystal Converter].


    Another wail of thousands of voices ensued. Those that heard it could not help but feel their hearts tighten. The voices of suffering and pain that were like it came from hell stirred up their conscience.


    Even Berrak was severely affected, causing his summons to stop attacking.


    Mark, on the other hand, could only frown deeper.


    He stretched out his hands, activating [Wind Maniption Mental Crystal].


    Suddenly, it became quiet. The wails of pain vanished, and everyone snapped out of its uncanny effects.


    "To think that this thing can do something like that..."


    "Gege, is it a mental attack? But I''m wearing it..."


    Mei asked as she was also affected a bit. It was strange considering that she was wearing half of the Agimat that could block mental attacks.


    "Sort of," Mark replied, not letting his eye leave the giant trashing the gulf below. "It''s not a magical one, though. That''s why our Agimat could not block it. It seems to use irregr soundwaves like how music and sound effects can affect the mood of a scene in a drama."


    What a tricky creature.


    That was what Mark thought as he started at the amalgamation.


    Fortunately, he already found several weaknesses. The only thing left was to force the true body out.

 Chapter 652 Capturing The Main Body, An Explosion Of Wind, Blood, And Flesh

    <strong>Day 147 - 9:15 PM - Langoyon Gulf, Codon, San Andres, Catanduanes</strong>


    ording to the weather prediction equipment installed in the Military Base of Catanduanes Settlement, no rain, even a drizzle, could be expected to happen.


    Since the outbreak started, the weather had been calm around the world except for the first month and second. It was only because of the burning houses, crashed cars, and rotting corpses. It increased the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. When that phase passed, however, the weather had been consistent despite the slight drop in temperature.


    Since the nts around the world received the same benefits from Mutagen as humans, it started to fix the issue of Global Warming. And thus, while rain and storms could still happen, it was reduced by a whole lot.


    And yet, the situation at the gulf was more than just a raging storm.


    Dark clouds swirled in the sky as if marking the end of the world. Waves raged violently enough to capsize medium-sized boats.


    And there was also a drizzle of red...


    "What? Why is the water red?"


    One soldier at the settlement walls noticed. It also had a heavy, unsetting smell.


    Hearing that soldier made others check the water that drizzled over them. And in horror, everyone immediately ran for cover. It was not just seawater that was sshing towards them. It was mixed with blood and even some small chunks of unidentifiable flesh.


    Without a doubt, these disgusting things came from that monster thrashing around at the gulf.


    Although everyone was still confused about why the painful cries and roars suddenly vanished, it did not matter anymore. The first they needed to do right now was to seek shelter.


    The majority of the people left the open. However, as the soldiers could not vacate their posts for obvious reasons, they donned their raincoats instead.


    Even so, a lot of them wanted to leave. It was due to the surroundings starting to smell awful, along with the chunks of flesh that were a sight for sore eyes.


    They could only turn their eyes back to the ongoing scene. Who would think that even though the creature was quite far away, the settlement would still be affected?


    ***


    At the gulf, Mark, Mei, and Berrak, along with the summoned creatures, watched the amalgamation as it rampaged. It was like a gigantic earthworm salted alive. The only differencepared to earthworms was the size, and the worms could not emit a cry that could affect the emotions of those that heard it.


    The [Infected Amalgamation] continued to trash around. Its huge body already had two about three-meter-wide holes. One was below the center of its octopus head-shaped part above the water and the other even lower.


    Even though the wounds caused by the [Crystal Converter] were supposed to be burnt and melted, making it unable to bleed, its violent movements caused the burns to crack open, making it feel even more pain. It dyed the seawater red, and chunks of its flesh started to fall off.


    Nheless, despite the extreme pain it felt, it seemed that the [Leader Type] learned what it should do to ease the pain. Its huge tentacles shot off in erratic ways. Not towards its enemies above, however, but towards itself.


    It looked really disgusting. It was as if an octopus made of infected bodies started piercing itself with its own wiggling tentacles.


    And then, it started tearing off the burnt parts of its wounds. It was using the hundreds of hands of the tentacles brutally peeling off the eschar surrounding the hole.


    The thick burnt eschar on the holes stopped it from being able to heal itself and made the damaged bodies stuck in ce. It was one of the things that caused the [Leader Type] severe pains since it was not able to automatically remove the damaged bodies.


    Now, it started tearing off its own flesh, causing more blood to spill and more unusable bodies to fall into the water.


    "Tsk."


    Mark clicked his tongue as they saw the monster started healing. Without a doubt, although it was subjected to more pain, its actions were effective.


    "Mei''er." Mark''s eyes turned serious as he called her. "Use one more."


    That order made Mei look at Mark in askance.


    "Sure?"


    Of course, she would ask that.


    After they returned from America, Mark spent some time making a few [Crystal Converters] whenever they had free time at the base. As Mark had said before, making it was not easy. Since Mei already knew about it, Mark did not make it secretly anymore, and she was allowed to watch.


    Mei saw how many he made and how many were wasted. Among those hundreds of wooden tes, he only seeded five times. That was right. Mei only had five [Crystal Converters] on hand, and they already used up two. Aside from the [Crystal Conveters], the [Non-Attribute Mental Crystals] were also limited in number.


    She did not want valuable things that Mark owned to be wasted.


    "You don''t think that it''s worth it?"


    Mark asked as Mei seem to be hesitating.


    And to that question, Mei nodded.


    "Don''t worry," Mark said, approaching her and patting her head. "It might be a gamble, but I think, it''s totally worth it."


    Those words made Mei nod as she started to prepare the next shot.


    Mark, on the other hand, also prepared his next move.


    "It''s been quite a while, I guess."


    He murmured as [Blood Whips] came out between his back and wings. The [Blood Whips] then immediately formed ded spider-like limbs.<sub> </sub>


    Berrak, to the side, watched the amazing spectacles that Mark and Mei disyed. Although he already continued tomand his summons to attack, his eyes were still glued to the two. It could not be helped. It was because the more time he spent with Mark''s group, the more their mysteriousness deepened.


    Just now, two of those things the two showed was enough to shock him. One was that shot that Mei''s weapon did. And that metal des that protruded from Mark''s back. Questions in his mind began piling up since this afternoon after Mark dragged him into his group.


    THOOOOM!


    Without warning, the third beam of light shot from Mei, piercing another huge melted hole into the amalgamation''s body.


    Of course, the leader type''s thrashing had gotten worse. The waves it created started to be higher and higher. The worst part for the [Leader Type] was that the third shot doubled unto the first shot that Mei fired, burning all the tentacles crammed unto the hole into smithereens.


    Then, Mark made his move before the [Leader Type] could conjure more tentacles to fix the hole. And what he did was surprising to everyone watching. pping his wings with a red glow, Mark charged into the hole on the amalgamation''s body.


    Sensing that there was an intruder inside the hole, the [Leader Type] trashed around even more. Unfortunately, it could not shake Mark out as his concentration was at a maximum at this moment.


    And there, Mark did the unexpected. And that was to dig into the enemy''s huge body and force out the main one. That was why he prepared the metal limbs that he had not used since the encounter with Snow, turning him into a Spider King Candidate.


    Using Ignis to open the first wound, blood scattered around and even on Mark''s face and body. But he did not care as his arms moved faster and faster.


    But Mark did not stop there. He was not holding back anymore. Not allowing the wounds to regenerate, Ignis started to burn with ck mes. Even Mark started releasing ck mes and lightning as he tore through the amalgamation''s body.


    Although the ck colored energies could not be seen from afar, especially in the middle of the night, everyone could see how the amalgamation go berserk. It even started trashing its whole body underwater, intending to drown Mark, who was tearing into its body.


    Unfortunately for the [Leader Type], that instinctual move had no effect on Mark, who was now enveloped with a sphere of wind. Furthermore, the wind that circled around Mark was apanied by wind des that helped to tear through the enemy''s fleshy body.


    Along with the waves, the cries intensified, trying to stop Mark from his assault. However, it did not have any effect at all. Mark could sense that [Leader Type] was getting desperate.


    Covered in blood and guts, Mark already tore through half the distance from the hole and where the main body was. But then, the [Leader Type] did a move that it did not do before. And surely, this move would make it harder for Mark to reach the main body.


    Mark could only frown as he felt the consciousness of the [Leader Type] started to move, differently from how its huge body moved.


    "Tsk." Mark clicked his tongue. "This guy can change locations."


    Like Mark had said, the main body started to swim inside its humongous constructed body. If it continued, it would not only take Mark more effort, but there might be a possibility that it could escape while Mark was still trapped inside.


    As if Mark would let that happen. He already wasted three [Crystal Converters] and three [Mental Crystals] to capture this guy.


    And as such, Mark fully activated the [Wind Maniption Mental Crystal]. This move would definitely use up all its energy, rendering it unusable for some time. But Mark did not care this time. He wanted was to catch the [Leader Type], or at least, get the head intact. Then, absorb its ability into a [Physical Crystal].


    There was no way he would give up on a potentially useful ability.


    Mark stretched his hand forwards. A sphere of wind started to form in front of his palm. The wind in the sphere spun violently, even trying to rush out of Mark''s control. Nevertheless, Mark started to gather more, causing the sphere to grow bigger and bigger.


    But then, Mark controlled its growth, making it smaller and smaller instead. He converged a huge amount of wind into the sphere while making it as small as he could.


    Mark''s arm started shaking. Even in his state, his arm could not handle the pressure. With that, his arm started to glow bright red, returning into its steady posture.


    Finally, the [Wind Maniption Mental Crystal] dimmed. The converging of wind slowly came to a halt as Mark left a little amount of energy just in case.


    And then, Mark released it.


    "Let''s call this. [Spiral Gale Bomb]."


    He murmured.


    ***


    RINNGGGG!!!


    No one knew what happened. Everyone''s ears suddenly rang causing everyone to flinch.


    And those that managed to endure, their eyes turned wide as the strong gust of wind assaulted their faces.


    More than half of the amalgamation''s body exploded from within, turning the majority of its bodies and flesh to pieces.


    In the sky, even Mei and Berrak''s summons were pushed by the strong burst of wind.


    Aside from the top part of the amalgamation''s body that wasunched into the air and was left underwater, nothing else remained.


    And then, a red light shot from underwater towards the remaining part of the amalgamation that wasunched up in the air. The light pierced through it, along with a spatter of flesh and blood.


    The red light was no other than Mark, looking like someone that jumped into a sea of barb wires. His clothes were ripped here and there, even his hair turned ragged with uneven cuts. The worst part was his right arm. From his hand to his shoulder, the skin was ripped off, leaving his bare muscles exposed.


    But Mark did not care. His attention was focused on the iling man he was holding with his left hand. It was a very thin-looking infected, too thin that the idiom skin and bones literally described its appearance.


    Who would have thought that this thing was the main body of that huge amalgamation?


    The infected iled for a bit. However, it could not get itself free from Mark''s grasp on its neck. Thus, it tried to counterattack, trying to absorb Mark instead.


    But then, with a ck sh of a metal limb, its body stopped moving. Its body then fell, leaving nothing but a decapitated head in Mark''s grasp.

 Chapter 653 Threat Subsiding, Flying Back Under The Watch Of Many

    <strong>Day 147 - 9:18 PM - Langonoy Gulf, Codon, San Andres, Catanduanes</strong>


    The strong winds, the violent waves, the rain of blood and flesh, and the darkened swirling clouds, it was not that farfetched to call it a storm.


    Pulled by gravity, the sted remains of the infected got swallowed by the raging waters. The waters of the gulf that was supposed to reflect the sky had lost that property. At this moment, the water was already murky red because of the blood from the infected. The color even began to spread out further away.


    In the sky, Mark stared at the head of the infected he was holding until it slowly died. Even as a severed head, it still managed to live longer than other infected. It was something to expect from a mutated infected capable of fusing infected bodies using a flesh membrane. It even tried to cover its bleeding neck at thest moment, but Mark did not let it do so.


    And with this, Mark sessfully secured a potentially valuable ability. After seeing the things that it could do, there was no way that Mark would let it go away.


    While Mark hovered in the air, holding his bounty, Mei and Berrak returned in a rush, pulling his attention.


    "You two okay?"


    Mark asked. What he did was nearly a suicide attack. With that explosion of extremelypressed air, it was no surprise that Mei and Berrak got blown away.


    On the other hand, Berrak gawked at Mark''s words. No matter how anyone saw this situation, it should be Mark who should receive such a question.


    Mark''s body was blood-covered, his clothes were almost ripped to shreds revealing wounds on his skin, and his right arm barely had any skin left. And yet, he was the one who had the gall to ask if they were okay. If not for the fact that he was afraid of Mark, he would not hesitate to ask the question back.


    Mei, on the other hand, approached Mark without disregard for his appearance. If not for Mark stopping her, she might have gone and embraced him. She was really worried when Mark just went and dived into the infected''s body without saying anything. And now, although Mark would not seem to feel the pain in his current state, Mei would.


    Mark could only bitterly smile as he saw her expression. But it could not be helped. This much injury was worth the sacrifice, not to mention that it would heal immediately. The only actual damage done to him was his clothes.


    In fact, his body already started healing.


    Berrak''s eyes widened as he saw Mark''s skin started to slowly return. With that inhuman healing speed, no wonder he did not mind getting such a catastrophic injury.


    But still, why would Mark go so far? Even injuring himself to such extent?


    Mark nced a bit at Berrak and shrugged. From the [Psycrystal] that was now fully exposed at the back of his wrist, an [Empty Physical Crystal] flew out. The crystal then floated in front of the forehead of the decapitated head that Mark was holding.


    And with a few minutes of silence and Berrak gawking at the spectacle, the crystal finished its work with a sh of blinding light. Mark then tossed the head away like he was throwing away garbage.


    "What..."


    Berrak wanted to ask. As a practitioner of magic, this kind of thing interested him a lot. But of course, he could not openly ask Mark. Although he was almost, he still managed to hold his curiosity inside. Instead, he focused on returning his other summons, only leaving Trua, who he was using as a mount.


    Despite the questions, there was no doubt that the battle here had already ended. There might still be a whole lot of infected underwater. But without the [Leader Type] and the magical energy in this ce to attract them, the threat they could give was way lower. It was unless the people in the settlement were stupid enough to do something to lure the infected back to shore.


    In that case, however, it was not their business any longer.


    There might also be the remaining part of the [Leader Type] that was still underwater. However, while the infected that became part of it were freed from the controls, they were still stuck together. Those infected could only wait until they were helplessly eaten by evolved fishes of the gulf.


    "Let''s go."


    Mark said, which became the signal for them to return.


    Leaving the scene of the battle, Mark''s group flew away. As they did, the waves started to calm down, and the clouds began to dissipate.


    ***


    <strong>Day 147 - 9:19 PM - Port Area, Catanduanes Settlement, Codon, San Andres, Catanduanes</strong>


    The port had gone silent.


    Everyone saw that the greatest threat was gone. Surely, they were supposed to cheer in glee. However, the things that happened were just too surreal that it was hard for them to take in immediately.


    They all knew that they should be happy. However, what was with theplex feeling that was boiling in their hearts and minds?


    "General, did he just..."


    Andrew, whose eyes were better than most people here, could not believe what he had just witnessed. He clearly saw that it was Mark who finished off that huge thing. As the thought sunk into his mind, he could not help but gulp.


    That person that destroyed that amalgamation was the very same person he tried to subdue this morning. He could not help but feel lucky that he was stopped by other soldiers. If not, who knew how he would have died.


    Although there was the event this afternoon, the impact was lesser than what they witnessed just now.


    On the other hand, General Padi was frowning. No wonder now that the letter he received from General Faustino said to never try to provoke Mark and his group.


    Those beams of light, that eerie formation of clouds, and that unknown force that destroyed the majority of the monster''s body. Aside from those, there were also the girls that showed their prowess this afternoon. Not to mention that the man called Berrak was now with their group.


    A power like that, even the whole settlement might not be able to handle their wrath.


    Peering at the sky with his night vision binocrs, the General''s eyes followed Mark''s group that was already flying away from the scene of the battle.


    And there, he started to move.


    "General, where are you going?"


    Andrew asked.


    That was also the question in the minds of all the other soldiers around them.


    General Padi stopped and looked back.


    "To convey our gratitude for their help. Andrew, keep an eye on the direction they are flying to. We are going to meet them."


    The General replied before he continued to leave.


    Since the General left before he could reply, Andrew could only stare at the General''s back. Nheless, he still followed the orders and carefully watched Mark''s group as they flew.


    ***


    "Just what in the world are those people?"


    A yful voice could be heard inside the forest not far from the port area.<sub> </sub>


    There, several shadows were lurking, watching the battle against the amalgamation after the infected retreated from the settlement.


    Among them was no other than the man that was talking with Vanessa.


    "Hey Roach, are you listening?" The yful voice pestered. "Vanessa tasked you into tailing them, right? You should have some information."


    Annoyed, the man called Roach replied.


    "There''s barely a day that I''ve been observing them. What do you expect me to know?"


    With that, the yful guy finally shut up.


    On the other hand, a calm sounding voice asked a question to Roach, instead.


    "Do you think we can recruit them to the organization?"


    "I don''t know about that. We still don''t know their intentions."


    Roach replied.


    "I''m not asking about them." The calm voice added. "I''m asking about your opinion."


    Roach looked at the man that asked that question. Then, shook his head.


    "I don''t think so. Being a member of the organization is being under it. However, that guy called Mark. Rather than someone serving, it felt more like he is someone to be served."


    "Someone who is born to be a leader, is it?"


    The calm man deduced.


    "No," Unexpectedly, Roach disagreed. "Not a leader. That Mark could be at the border of being a Tyrant."


    "It doesn''t matter if he''s a leader or a tyrant."


    And this point thest member of the group chimed in.


    "Just don''t unnecessarily provoke them. We are just here to observe things."


    To those words, everyone agreed. As their business here was also done, they all vanished into the shadows, returning to their posts.


    Unexpectedly, one of them, the yful one, returned to an unexpected ce.


    It was towards the southwest direction, outside the settlement.


    ***


    At the sky, Mark, Mei, and Berrak flew over the settlement once to see the situation. Seeing that most of themotion had settled down, Berrak could finally breathe in relief as they flew away.


    "Gege, is that really good?"


    Mei asked, looking at Mark that was still holding the new crystal he acquired.


    "Very likely." Mark smiled. "Do you know why?"


    Of course, Mei shook her head. She would not ask that question if she knew.


    "Remember Elona?"


    Mark asked.


    Mei nodded. Of course, there was no way Mei would forget the most unique girl in the base. Her eaten arm was reced by Mark, after all.


    "Back then, we managed to create a new arm for her with Miracle''s help. But we can''t do that anymore, right?"


    That was right. Although they managed to do that once, it did not mean that they could do it again in the future. Of course, it was not because Miracle''s ability changed or anything. It was because the arm was created with the help of Aephelia, who was inside Miracle''s body at that time.


    Just Miracle alone would not be able to properly create a simr thing. Especially since she was a child thatcked knowledge. In the future, there was a possibility. But definitely not too soon.


    "If I''m correct, this ability''s potential did noty on fusing bodies."


    Mark said, raising the crystal.


    And with that, the idea dawned on Mei.


    "Is it a simr ability to Miracle?"


    Mei asked.


    "Not exactly." Mark shook his head. "Miracle''s body is made of flesh-like blood, so it''s not simr. Remember how the flesh membrane of the [Leader Type] look like? It''s like a roughly created muscle tissue. What if we give this ability to someone with proper knowledge, maybe we will someone that could deal with threatening injuries at the base."


    Mei finally understood why Mark would go so far for this ability. If he was really right, then injuries that could not be healed with [Regeneration Medicine] would have a remedy now. Missing tissues could be reced, and very deep wounds could be patched.


    It would be a good thing for the base as a whole.


    The only question now was who would they give the ability to. So far, they only had one doctor in the base. It was Phillip, the old medical instructor from Perpetual Help University. Unfortunately, they did not know if he had expertise in muscles and skin.


    While talking about the crystal, they closed into the southwest area outside the Catanduanes Settlement.


    Sure enough, while the presence of the little girls and the other members of their group, there were other people. Unexpectedly, though, it was just a few with about fifteen people.


    For sure, as these people were captured, they were from the rebels. But by their number, they must be a scouting group to check the situation of the settlement before attacking. In fact, Mark could sense anotherrger group from quite far away. The second group seemed to be waiting for something, possibly the signal from the first group.


    Still, that was not where Mark''s attention was focused. It was at the captured group. In fact, in Mark''s eyes, there was a little bit of genuine surprise.

 Chapter 654 A Meeting In The Forest, Seeing A Family Member And The Odd Situation Among The Rebels

    <strong>Day 147 - 9:25 PM - Southeast Catanduanes Settlement, Codon, San Andres, Catanduanes</strong>


    Mark and Mei''s return were happily weed by the girls like usual. Only this time, there were no hugs or head pats since Mark''s body was covered with blood.


    "Wee back, Smelly Scary Uncle!"


    Emika greeted while giggling. It was clear what she was going at. She mostly called Mark either Scary Uncle or Smelly Uncle depending on the conversation and mood. This time, however, the blood-soaked Mark was both.


    "You want a hug?"


    Mark asked as he opened his arms and faked to run towards the green-haired girl.


    "Eeeek!"


    Emika could not help but retreat in panic.


    But then, Mark started to run towards her.


    "Come on, don''t be shy."


    "NOOO!!!!"


    She started to run away. With Mark''s expression, there was no way to tell whether he was joking or not.


    The others could only sigh while Berrak could only gawk. He was not prepared to see this yful behavior of Mark towards Emika.


    Of course, Mark did not really go and hug Emika. There would be various implications if he did that. Not only Emika would get dirtier, but she might annoyingly ask Mark for hugster on.


    Hmm? Something else? Of course not. Just whose mind was too dirty to think of that.


    Still, Emika was definitely scared that Mark might actually do it.


    Leaving the jokes aside, Mark turned to Edzel and Pefile.


    "They really came, don''t they? Are they scouts?"


    Mark asked before turning his head towards the unconcious people lying around tied with ropes.


    "Rather than scouts, they might be an advance party."


    Pefile replied.


    "Why did you say so?"


    Mark asked.


    "Scouts should only be in the vanguard to look for enemies and note their positions. As for these people, they were preparing to ambush the soldiers on the walls before we caught them." Pefile then pointed at the weapons the captured people had on the other side. "Look."


    Since Mark did not pay attention earlier, he did not notice the weapons that Pefile hid on the other side. Looking at those, Pefile was definitely right. There were the M16 rifles that weremonly used by both military and the rebels. However, there were also sniper rifles and even two M60s. Although snipers might be, thest kind was definitely not equipment for scouts.


    It was quite strange. Why would the rebels send a small party to ambush the soldiers while having a muchrger one on stand by? It was just suicide.


    Or maybe, that was the goal?


    Unfortunately, there were a lot of things that they did not know to draw a concrete answer to the situation.


    In any case...


    With those thoughts in mind, Mark approached one of the unconcious men and sighed in front of him.


    "Just what are you doing here anyway..."


    That gesture made everyone confused.


    "Gege, you know him?"


    Mei could not help but ask.


    "I sure do. This guy is my younger brother, after all."


    That came as a surprise.


    Why? Mark did not have a single resemnce to the guy at all!


    Mark had a regr, below-average appearance. The shape of his face was oval,plementing his above-average height.


    The unconscious man, on the other hand, had a small face. It was even though he was just a bit shorter than Mark. And more than that, this guy actually was above-average in terms of looks.


    "I know what you all are thinking. We don''t look like brothers, even a little. I have three siblings, and none of us look like we are rted to each other. My youngest brother might have the same eye shape as me, but it was also mirrored."


    "Is this the hunch you had before?"


    Pefile asked. After all, they had never heard Mark tell them to capture people instead of obliterating them in one go.


    "Well, I guess you all already noticed that I''m looking for something in this ce. That''s my family. But as you all can see, they are not in the settlement."


    They all went silent. Berrak aside, everyone noticed Mark looking around while in the settlement. Of course, it was not in a tourist-like way at all, even though he appeared to look like sightseeing.


    "Then Boss, your family is with the rebels?"


    Edzel asked. It was somehow unexpected.


    "It''s not really surprising."


    Mark shrugged, looking back at his brother.


    "Why is that?"


    Pefile asked.


    "One of my close Uncles, the husband of my mother''s younger sister. He had quite a position there. I just don''t know which faction he belonged to, right now."


    Mark just dropped another bomb there.


    While Mark was working together with the military, he actually had a direct rtionship with the rebels.


    What a surprising contrast. The group thought that Mark''s family were seeking refuge there or joined for some reason. But it was actually none of those two at all.


    Was that why his brother with the attackers?


    But before anyone could ask, Mark already spoke.


    "It''s surprising, though. I don''t think my overprotective parents will allow my brother to participate in these kinds of dangerous things. My Uncle is more or less a boastful but peaceful one. I don''t think he will join the aggressive faction of the rebels, either."


    Listening to Mark, there was one thing that everyone understood.


    There was something odd that was happening involving his family.


    "What are we going to do next, Boss? Are we going to meet them?"


    Edzel asked immediately. Things about family were a sensitive topic to Edzel, considering his circumstances. As a person that lost his mother when he was young, he knew the feeling of losing a family member. If Mark''s family were still alive, he wanted them to reunite.


    Amihan was the same, looking at Mark eagerly.


    But then, confusion took over.


    "Who?"


    Mark asked.


    "Your family, of course."


    Pefile interjected.<sub> </sub>


    "What are you talking about?"


    Mark replied.


    "Huh?!"


    Of course, they were surprised. Aside from Mei and the little girls, no one here knew about Mark''s rtionship with his family.


    "I''m just going to see them but not meet them," Mark added. "My family rtionship is an oddly undesirable one, you all see. Or else, why would you guys think that I''m somewhere else while all my family members are here."


    The atmosphere had be odd. No one knew what to be said next. It was the first time the group learned that Mark also had family circumstances he was hiding.


    "So, you''re not going to bring them back to the base?"


    Pefile asked.


    "No." Mark shook his head. "I only came here to check on them. The most that I can do is to make their environment safer and help them in the shadows. I did not even have a tiny bit n of meeting them."


    Everyone fell silent. Although some of them still had questions, they respected Mark''s decision.


    "But Gege, what are we going to do with your brother?"


    Mei asked.


    At that question, Mark turned his eyes to Pefile, Emika, Edzel, and Pearl.


    <o>,m "How did you knock them all unconcious?"</o>


    Then, the three turned their heads at Pefile.


    "I used some sleeping powder." Pefile took out a satchel made of animal fur. "Our kind would use this powder on humans whenever they got lost inside our forest, then bring them out."


    "Does it have side effects?"


    Mark asked.


    "Just a minor one," Pefile replied. "Those made to fall asleep with this powder will forget everything that happened about an hour before they fell asleep. Its not an intended side effect when it was created, but it was convenient since the people that entered our forest will forget things that they saw inside. You know what will happen if magical things they saw got leaked out to the mortal world."


    That was sound reasoning. It seemed that the first person that created the powder only wanted a sleeping powder. But then, the side-effect came in a convenient form.


    "Can I have some of that?"


    Mark suddenly asked.


    "I don''t mind."


    Pefile replied, throwing the satchel at Mark.


    "You won''t ask me what I''m going to use this for?"


    Mark asked another question as he caught the satchel.


    "I''m not stupid. It''s obvious what you are going to do with that."


    Pefile replied with a scornful eye, making Mark shrug.


    "Let''s move these people somewhere else." Mark said. "But first, let''s deal with our visitors."


    The visitors that Mark was talking about arrived a few minutester while they were loading the unconscious rebels on Char''s back. It was no other than General Padi and his entourage.


    Of course, the sight of the dragon terrified the soldiers more than the fact that they were loading unconcious people on its back.


    Nevertheless, they were not that surprised. Berrak''s existence definitely became a good excuse at this time. At this point, it seemed that only the General and his secretary that checked the letter knew that Char was Mark''s pet from the Infanta Settlement.


    "So, what do you all want this time?"


    Mark asked. Of course, he already knew what they were here for. However, he still asked.


    The appearance Mark had this time definitely surprised the soldiers. But considering the fight earlier, this might have been the result. It was surprising, though, that while his clothes were tattered and covered in blood, there were no visible injuries on his body.


    The one that was surprised the most, however, was Andrew. He definitely saw Mark heavily injured, with his arm''s skin being peeled off. And yet, what was this?


    It was the same for General Padi that received Andrew''s report about what he saw. The General could only turn to Andrew in askance. Thetter nodded, affirming that something was odd.


    What made them even more confused as they were sure that the [Regeneration Medicine] could not heal such heavy injury that fast. However, they could only stay silent about that topic.


    To Mark''s question, General Padi replied.


    "We came here to convey our gratitude."


    Then, soldiers saluted.


    "On behalf of the soldiers and the people in the settlement, thank you. If not for your help, who knows what would have happened to the settlementter on. If there is something you need, we''ll try our best if we are capable of doing it."


    Hearing that, Mark smiled. Although he understood that the General was trying to get on his good side, thest sentence was more than enough to make up for it.


    "Then, I actually need a few things."


    Mark replied unceremoniously.


    That caused some murmurs among the soldiers.


    "Don''t worry, I won''t take advantage of all of you."


    Mark added as he turned to the General.


    "How are those two soldiers that were transported back this morning?"


    "They are still in detention." The General replied. "It''s already judged that they did nothing wrong, however. They will be released tomorrow morning and get reinstated to new posts. Is there something wrong with them?"


    "There''s no need to reinstate them. Bring them to me tomorrow. I''ll meet them at the west gate."


    "What are you going to do with them?"


    The General asked.


    "Don''t worry. I already had a talk with those two. They are joining our group."


    Mark''s words came as a surprise to the soldiers. The shock aside, there was also a tint of envy. Just what did those two soldiers do to be invited to Mark''s group?


    "If they already consented to it, then there''s nothing we can do. I''m not going to force everyone to stay as a soldier if they already wanted to leave."


    The General replied with a sigh. It was a rather undesirable thing to lose some promising soldiers. Unfortunately, it seemed that the harsh treatment that the captain had given the two forced them to quit.


    "Another thing." Mark then said. "Can I have every information you have about the rebels? Including confidential ones."


    That request came out of nowhere.


    "Why would you want something like that?"


    Of course, the General would ask. After all, there was supposed to be no rtion between Mark and the rebels at this point.


    Mark then pointed at the people they were loading at Char''s back.


    "These guys are members of the rebels. Though as it appeared, they were forced into a suicide mission. I happened to know one of them, so I want to know the actual situation there."


    Learning about that, the General frowned. It looked like that the rebels did try to attack but Mark''s group intercepted them, fortunately. But then, he took notice of Mark''s words. These few men were forced to do a suicide attack. There was no way that these few men would be able to do much damage to the settlement. It meant that there could be hidden circumstances.


    As such, General Padi nodded at the request. If Mark could clear the rebel problem on this ind, then it would be very advantageous to the settlement.

 Chapter 655 As The Night Deepened, The Dispute Among The Rebel Leaders

    <strong>Day 147 - 10:21 PM - San Pedro Pocion, Municipality of Viga, Catanduanes</strong>


    A middle-sized settlement surrounded by farm fields, that was the Town of San Pedro. Back then, it was a location centered on agriculture and a ce where the Municipal Hall of Viga, Catanduanes, was located.


    It was located in the middle of the nds and was a central location between three more towns. And to say, it was a ce filled with potential to be dug up.


    Now, however, this ce was a location that most unaffiliated people would not dare go to.


    Unaffiliated to who?


    Of course, the aggressive faction of the Rebels.


    Being in the middle of the t farming fields served as an advantage for the rebels. It was a strategic ce that was hard to infiltrate without getting spotted.


    As such, the aggressive faction took the opportunity to secure this ce, turning it into their own fortress.


    And to say, the aggressive faction did not dilly dally on developing this area. From walls to new buildings and training facilities, this ce was packed. Although its development was slower due tock of heavy equipment, it was notgging behind. It might even have the most changespared to the Codon after the outbreak started.


    Unfortunately, unlike the Catanduanes Settlement that was built bybined efforts, this one was by sheer forcedbor.


    Almost all the previous residents of San Pedro, no, it could be even the majority of Viga, had fallen into the hands of the rebels.


    Capable men were trained and drafted to the ranks of the rebels, while women and children were put to other necessary things like agriculture and crafts. As for the rest, they were the ones that were made to build the current state of the town.


    But of course, not everyone would dare try to join their ranks voluntarily. Thus, those people had some of their family members held by the rebels for assurance, especially for the most capable people.


    For the majority, though, they had no choice but to obey. It was not like the survivors could go somewhere else. In this ce, only the fortress the rebels own was the safest ce. Leaving and venturing to the mountains was suicide. It was the same for living outside.


    The only good thing, however, the rebels had some line drawn that they were not crossing.


    The NPA wanted a change of governance. They were not bandits. As such, they had their ownws to be obeyed. As such, no women were forced to give their bodies to the rebels. Nevertheless, it was another thing if the women decided to sell themselves for extra food and supplies.


    Of course, there were some bandit minded people among the rebels. However, those that broke thews were subjected to inhumane punishment.


    Once, there was a member that molested a child. And then, ended up killing the poor girl in the process. Unfortunately for the guy, he was caught while trying to dispose of the body.


    The perpetrator was then hanged naked in the central za to be an example for everyone. His confessed deed was posted on a sigh with a small rack containing a stingray tail. Anyone was free to pick up that stingray tail to whip the criminal.


    And, of course, the criminal died in that event.


    That was why no one would dare break thews at present.


    Why was that? Well, it was because the leader of the aggressive faction was also a woman. That was why.


    But of course, being a woman, she did not hold the authority over the whole faction.


    And that was why, even though the leader seemed to be a decent person herself, a suicide attack was conducted.


    The culprit for that was no other than the in-charge of their military forces. He was called Lorenzo Esperanza, going by the alias Renz.


    Renz heard about what was happening a the settlement and sent some strike forces over. In fact, he had been waiting for this chance for a long time. He already deployed his army in advance and could be moved at a moment''s notice.


    That was why the soldiers of the rebels arrived too early during the attack at the Catanduanes Settlement. If they had to deploy their forces from the base, it might take a half-day to traverse the road, after all.


    And now, Renz was spending time with his women, waiting for the good news to arrive.


    While the giggles and moans of pleasure could be heard from his quarters, the messenger finally arrived.


    "Sir! A message from the field had arrived."


    The messenger knocked on the door, reporting at the same time.


    "Come in."


    Renz''s voice was heard.


    The messenger came in, only to see that Renz was still in the middle of ying with two women, unashamed that one of his men could see them.


    Fortunately, it seemed that the messenger was already used to this scene and could keep hisposure. He could only sigh inside as he stared at the middle-aged man ying with two decades younger girls.


    "How is it? Did those the government settlement fall already?"


    Renz asked, confident at the fall of the settlement. He already heard that the situation was not good at the infected''s side. The soldiers of the government were having a hard time defending their walls and port. If their n to attack seeded, the government settlement would be destroyed. Even if it did not fall, it would be severely damaged.


    Their n was to send an assault party to ambush the walls. Of course, it was a suicide since it was only a small number of people. But that was the point. When the soldiers thought they won after killing the assault party, the actual ambush would finally start. It would send the government forces in disarray, without a doubt.


    "S-Sir Renz..." The messenger stuttered as his attention was now back to the report. "The attack had not begun..."


    "What?!" Renz stopped humping in utter surprise. "What time is it already?! Why haven''t they started?!"


    "W-wait, Sir!" The messenger hurriedly said. "They already sent the assault party. B-but..."


    "BUT WHAT?!"


    Renz roared.


    "The assault party strangely vanished after entering the forest near the government settlement."


    The messenger exined.


    Renz could not help but frown. He turned to the two girls lying on his bed.


    "You two, get out."


    Without saying anything, the two girls grabbed their scattered clothes and scurried out of the room, naked.


    Renz donned his clothes, and it seemed that he was going to take things seriously now.


    "We are going to thems center. Tell me what happened along the way."<sub> </sub>


    Renz said as he went out of his room, followed by the messenger.


    "Actually, Sir, there''s nothing much to report." The messenger said. "Aside from a few noises from the forest, no one noticed anything else. There was no battle that happened either along the walls."


    "So, are you saying that they vanished just like that?"


    Renz asked, making the messenger fall silent.


    With a frown, Renz asked the messenger another question.


    "What is the possibility of them escaping or turning over to the military?"


    "Very low, Sir." The messenger thought about the answer for a second before replying. "The members of the assault party consisted of people who had rtives under our custody. We also handpicked those that seemed to have stronger bonds to ensure that they will not mess things up."


    That was how the assault party, which was obviously a suicide mission, was created. The members could not decline, escape, or betray them. If they did, their loved ones would be implicated.


    Then, the assault party vanishing like that was definitely an odd situation.


    Renz and the messenger made their way towards thems center of the base. The ce wheremunications between the deployed armed squads were centralized.


    Opening the door, however, Renz could only frown.


    "You are finally here, Renz." A woman was already waiting inside. "What is this assault party I''m hearing about?"


    The atmosphere inside thems center was quite cold. It was clear that it was because of this woman.


    This woman, without a doubt, was the leader of this faction, Emellynn Aguillera. She was a woman in her early thirties with a strict looking face. Just a stare from her fierce eyes could shake a person with a weak heart.


    Being started by those questioning eyes made Renz feel unpleasant. However, being an older man with a trained body, Renz would not back down from such a stare.


    "A n I made to ensure sess in our attack at the settlement," Renz replied, staring straight at Emellynn''s eyes. "This time, the settlement is under attack by the infected. It is the perfect opportunity to deploy such -URK!"


    Renz was not able to finish his exnation. It was because, by the time he knew, his neck was already grasped tightly by Emellynn''s cold right hand.


    More than just a woman with stature, she was also an [Evolver] and a [Level 3 Mutator]. That was why, even though she had lesser influence over the rebels, no one would try to confront her face to face. It was especially because of her hot temper in contrast to her cold abilities.


    "Calling it an assault party like an icing in a cake even though you just pushed them to suicide. I already told you, Renz. I don''t want unnecessary deaths in our camp. Our goal is to overturn the government. Not to dispose of people who would be under us after we achieve that."


    Emellynn''s tone was extremely chilling. No, it was not just her tone. Even the surrounding temperature was decreasing.


    "I-I understand." Renz tried to reply even though he wascking air. "I will recall them."


    But then...


    BAM!


    "AGH!"


    Renz was mmed into the wall beside the door.


    "You really think that I''m stupid? They are already missing. How the f*ck are you going to recall them."


    "Ma''am. Please calm down."


    A few people started to appease the angry woman.


    Emellynn took a deep breath and begrudgingly released Renz, causing him to copse to the ground and release a few loud coughs.


    "Recall the remaining soldiers there," Emellynn ordered. "As for the disappearance of the assault group, send someone to investigate it."


    "Recall?" Renz argued. "The settlement is under attack at the north and west sides! It''s our opportunity to take them down!"


    "You''re alreadyte." Emellynn red. "The people I nted in the settlement already sent a message. Their battle already ended. The government settlement is safe. That is why there is no point in attacking anymore."


    Renz was surprised as he turned to his messenger.


    "Didn''t you say that the government settlement is under threat?"


    "I-I did, Sir!"


    Renz could tell that his messenger was not lying. Then, as he looked at the other people in the room, their expressions showed that something odd had happened.


    "I tell you," Emellynn spoke once more. "Recall our forces that you mobilized."


    With thatmand, their cold tigress left thems center, leaving Renz disgruntled. He was also a Mutator. However,pared to Emellynn, he was weaker. That was why he could only scheme behind her.


    "This is not over..."


    Renz murmured as he grit his teeth. But for now, he told the people in charge of themunication to recall their soldiers. There was no point in making them attack anymore.


    ***


    <strong>Day 147 - 11:26 PM - Abandoned Farmhouse, Catanduanes Circumferential Road, Codon, San Andres, Catanduanes</strong>


    It should be just an abandoned house near the roadside in a small vige northeast of Catanduanes Settlement. Now, there seemed to be human activities at present in the middle of the night.


    A shadow of a huge winged lizard could be seen guarding the ce, especially a small cottage where several men were tied up inside.


    Inside a room in the farmhouse, Michaely down on a slightly dusty bed. Soon, he abruptly opened his eyes, remembering that they were supposed to be on the way to attack the government settlement. It was a suicide mission, but there was nothing else he could do.


    As he woke up abruptly and immediately sat down, he felt a little dizzy. That was when he noticed that he was in an unfamiliar environment. And at the opposite side of the room near the door, he saw a silhouette of a person.


    And then, while recovering from his dizziness, he heard the person spoke.


    "Hey, you. You''re finally awake."


    In an odd voice.

 Chapter 656 A Talk With His Brother, His Familys Circumstances During The Outbreak

    <strong>Day 147 - 11:26 PM - Abandoned Farmhouse, Catanduanes Circumferential Road, Codon, San Andres, Catanduanes</strong>


    As his dizziness from his sudden actions from waking up subsided, Michael''s eyes turned away from the silhouette that he could barely see in the dark. He then let out an audible sigh.


    "Just what''s up with that greeting, Big Brother."


    Hearing that reply made the silhouette shrug his shoulders.


    And then, with a flick of his hand, activating the crystal hidden inside his pocket, Mark lit up the whole room, showing himself to his younger brother.


    It was one of the few reasons why Mark did not want any, even a slight, contact with his family.


    There was a trait that was inherent to his family. It was more specific to his mother, Mark, and his siblings.


    And it was...


    They were all bad at remembering the faces of people. It did not matter even if they knew the person for a very long time. As long as there was little contact, it would be hard for them to recall the person''s face. It was unless the person left a strong impression, no matter it was good or bad.


    Then, how could they recognize people?


    Except for the face, other different things could help them identify people. It could be the person''s body shape, voice, clothing, movements, or even just the person''s aura or by instinct. While thest two might be vague, it did help them recognize people.


    That was why jokes like someone covering their eyes to guess the other person would not work on them. Even if the person that covered their eyes and the person asking the question were two different people. It would not work at all.


    And now, it was shown here that even just Mark''s silhouette allowed his younger brother to recognize him.


    Mark even made some effort to change his voice slightly.


    Actually, Mark was not any different, being uninterested towards people. He only relied on his Emphatic abilities to recognize people before he gained ess to his subconscious.


    Due to the sudden brightness, Michael could not help but cover his eyes. Nheless, he asked.


    "Are you here to bring me to the afterlife?"


    Mark almost stumbled from where he stood.


    No wonder his brother wascking expressions. It seemed that he thought that he was already dead and Mark was here to fetch his soul.


    "Do I look like a grim reaper to you?"


    Mark asked back.


    "Not really," Michael replied. "But even if you''re a total zombie apocalypse fan, there''s no way you should have survived this sh*t and make it all the way here."


    That...


    That was reasonable.


    Before the outbreak, Mark was nothing but a shut-in thatcked exercise in their knowledge. Even if he had some abilities, it was not enough to let him live this long and make it here alive. Back then, he only had emphatic abilities and his control with his adrenaline. The first one was only usable towards living people, while the other had a life-threatening side-effect. Although it would allow him to live for some time, it would be extremely challenging tost any longer.


    That was if Mark did not have his fair share of fateful encounters, before and during, the outbreak.


    "Don''t curse me dead." Mark rolled his eyes. "I''m still alive and kicking, you idiot."


    Michael looked back at Mark as his eyes recovered and asked.


    "So, I''m still alive?" He then pinched his cheek. "Ow, I guess I am, huh."


    Michael sighed in relief that he was still alive and not dreaming.


    "I thought, I suddenly died in that freaking suicide mission."


    Mark stared at his brother and hiscking expressions. It seemed that the situation was still surreal for him. This was very likely because of the effects powder that Pefile used and the fact that they could not remember things before they fell unconscious.


    Of course, something was surprising. The attack on the settlement did notst too long. It meant that the preparation time of the rebels was much shorter. Even so, Mark''s brother still remembered being on a suicide mission.


    "How much do you remember before passing out?"


    Mark could not help but ask.


    Michael fell silent and thought about it a little.


    "Thest one was before we were about to enter the forest near the government settlement?" Michael then replied. "I don''t really remember anything after that."


    Mark scratched his head. It seemed that the effect of the powder was too little on his brother. It just meant that he had to shorten his conversation even more.


    "Well, you know that it''s a suicide mission. Why the hell are you even there?"


    Mark asked, not giving his brother any chance to ask about him instead.


    Michael looked at Mark, confused. He wanted to ask questions too, but his older brother was not giving him a chance at all.


    Nevertheless, the question he was given was rather important too. As such, he could only answer with another sigh.


    "Who wanted to? But we can''t really disobey those people, especially that man called Renz."


    Michael then looked down.


    "Marian is under their custody, working in their factories. If I disobeyed the rebels and got her harmed, Mom won''t forgive me, right?"


    Those words made Mark frown.


    Marian was their younger sister. And by the looks of it, she was the leash that the rebels used to force his brother into dangerous stuff.


    Before Mark could ask the next question, Michael continued.


    "We''ve been caught while hunting in the mountains about a month ago. Since then, we''re living under the roof of the anti-government faction of the rebels."


    Mark felt a bit relieved to hear about this. As Mark asked questions to the two soldiers yesternight, he already had some information. The leader of the aggressive faction was not unreasonable, except for her extreme hate towards the government.


    That was why he did not have any vision about his siblings getting in harm. And probably, even if Mark did not interfere this time, this brother of his would definitely survive this suicide mission due to various factors.


    "How about Mom and Dad? Also, Thaddy?"


    Mark asked.


    "They''re being sheltered by the Neutrals since the start of the outbreak," Michael replied. "They would be fine there since Mom is a VIP there. We are also living there before... Before we got caught by the Antis."<sub> </sub>


    That was a surprising thing. Their mother was a VIP in the neutral faction?


    "What do you mean by VIP?"


    Mark, of course, asked.


    "It''s her Tarot Card Reading." Michael shrugged. "By the day, her readings are getting more and more urate to the point that it was kind of terrifying. The Neutrals are consulting Mom in order to keep the safety of their base."


    "Then why the hell did you two got caught?"


    Mark could not help but notice that detail. As for their mother''s fortune-telling abilities rising, it was not surprising to Mark in the least. He was the same in that regard. However, his two siblings were still caught by the other faction.


    "That..." Michael sighed. "It''s our fault. We sneaked out to hunt. Remember Thaddy''s birthday? We wanted to give the kid a surprise birthday party. It became a surprise farewell, though. If we asked Mom that time, things won''t be like this."


    Mark clicked his tongue. Thaddy was their youngest brother and was just eight years old. It was quite a gap considering their sister was already twenty-three despite her size and appearance. The little guy was a goofy one with ADHD. They probably wanted to distract him with a surprise birthday party in the apocalypse.


    As Mark was thinking, Michael finally found the opportunity to ask a question back.


    "How about you Big Brother? We all thought that you''re already dead. Mom can''t even tell anything about you with her cards. Only the death card appears over and over. What in the world happened to you?"


    At that question, Mark stayed silent. He did not want to answer. It was not like his answers would be remembered after this conversation.


    "You''re being silent again. Just as you always do." Michael red. "As if everything else around you had nothing to do with you at all."


    Mark shrugged, not answering Michaels''s grumbles. Instead, he diverted the topic.


    "Do Mom know where you two are?"


    "Avoiding the topic, are we?" Michael sighed with a frown. However, he knew that he would not be able to squeeze anything from his older sibling even if he continued. "Mom probably knew where we are. But we didn''t let the Antis find out that we are her children."


    Mark nodded to that.


    If enemies knew that Michael and Marian were their mother''s children, they could be used to ckmail the neutral faction of the rebels. It was quite a smart move, albeit being a dangerous one. After all, Michael''s safety was put into jeopardy. If the aggressive faction knew about it, both Michael and Marian would be safely secured for future cooperation.


    In any case, both situations had good and bad sides.


    "I want to ask." Mark decided to ask a question that was bugging him. "Why is everyone with the rebels instead of the Military Settlement? Is it because of Uncle Bert?"


    That question was bugging Mark since he noticed that his family was not in the Military Settlement. Even if their Uncle had ties with the rebels, it was more rational to evacuate to the military in these kinds of emergencies.


    "You think we didn''t?"


    Michael''s eyes turned furious.


    "During the evacuation, the leader of the soldiers took a fancy at our sister, you know that? When he tried to hit on her and got rejected, he threw us out. We had no choice but to ept Uncle Bert''s invitation. We are d we had that option at that time or we might have ended up like the others that did not make it to the evacuation."


    Mark frowned, hearing that. It looked like he needed someone else to dieter.


    At this point, Mark already got the answers to the things he wanted to know. As such, he prepared to move out.


    "Where are you going?"


    Michael asked.


    "Leaving. Don''t worry, I will drop you back at the neutral faction."


    Mark replied, looking at Michel over his shoulder.


    "I can''t!" Michael yelled. "Marian''s still at the Antis'' base."


    "Don''t worry about her. I''ll fetch herter. In any case, all the people with you that were sent on the suicide mission vanished during the mission. It''s not wrong to say that those guys proimed you dead or missing. Returning will only make our sister''s situation worse."


    Mark replied.


    Michael was at a loss. Nevertheless, he could tell that Mark was not joking that he was going to take their sister out of that ce.


    But then, Michael voiced out thest question.


    "Don''t you have any intention of joining us?"


    And to that question, Mark did not reply and went out of the room.


    "I guess not." Michael sighed. "It can''t be helped, I guess."


    And at this time, the wind blew inside the enclosed room. As the glittering powder fell unto Michael and vanished, so as his consciousness.


    ***


    "Done?"


    As Mark went out of the room, Pefile''s voice echoed.


    Mark did not reply and just threw the satchel on his hand back to its owner.


    "You seem to be in a bad mood."


    Pefile asked another question.


    "Not exactly," Mark replied. "I''m just thinking of something else."


    Mark then turned to Pefile.


    "By the way, your powder did not work that effectively on my brother."


    "Is that so?" Pefile said, shaking his satchel and sniffing it a bit. "I don''t think that the efficacy was reduced. It''s probably because your brother is not normal, pretty much like you."


    That was probably right. Who else could Mark get his bloodline as a Blood Demon? Then, his siblings might be the same, albeit the purity was different.


    "Then, what are we going to do with these guys?"


    Pefile asked another question. However, he was not talking about the other rebels they caught.


    Instead, he pointed at the five little people that Pefile caught while Mark spoke with his brother.

 Chapter 657 The Little People, The Unknown Creatures And The Way To The Neutral Faction

    <strong>Day 147 - 11:36 PM - Abandoned Farm, Catanduanes Circumferential Road, Codon, San Andres, Catanduanes</strong>


    Mark stared at the five little people shivering behind Pefile.


    With little people was said, one would immediately think of the well-known ''Nuno sa Punso'' in Philippine myths and legends. However, the little people here were definitely not those old-looking mischievous dwarves on mounds,


    They were described as ''little'' since they all appeared to be children about three to six years old. However, it was not wrong to say that they were all adults with childish appearance. They wore clothes that did not look different from humans. But at a closer look, the materials their clothing was made of were something that humans did not have.


    And the most noticeable thing about these little people was their unnatural ck color. Their skin was pitch ck, making it hard to see their facial features. Even their teeth and nails were the same, leaving their eyes as the only white thing on their bodies.


    The little people shivered even more at Mark''s stare. It seemed that these creatures were aware of how frightening Mark was, not just as a Demon but as an individual. Not to mention that Pefile was also here that had unnatural pure energy of his race.


    As lower beings, these little people were naturally afraid of higher ones like Pefile and Mark.


    "Are you five the ones protecting my brother in secret?"


    Mark asked, making the little people stare fixedly at him. And to say, it seemed that they were shocked.


    The five''s reaction was quite amusing. Despite the fear, the little people moved into a circle. Pefile and Mark could hear them talking in an iprehensiblenguage. Furthermore, aside from their high pitched voices, they spoke too fast. The two felt like they were listening to a recorded narration being fast-forwarded.


    Mark waited for the five to finish their discussion with interest. It seemed that these creatures did not only look like children but also behaved likewise. After all, only children would do something like an emergency meeting in front of others while their voices could be clearly heard in the surroundings. Of course, it was not like anyone could understand them. Even Pefile, who was also of an elemental race, could not.


    "You can''t understand them?"


    Mark asked Pefile, who seemed to be in confusion as he listened to the five.


    And in response to the question, the Tamawo shook his head.


    "What are these people, anyway?"


    Unexpectedly, even Pefile could not recognize what race these five belonged to.


    Pefile was not the only one. Mark was the same in this regard. There were many mythological creatures in the Philippines that could be found in written documents and the inte. However, nothing that he had seen before urately portrayed these five''s appearance.


    Nheless, Mark was not ignorant of the existence of these creatures.


    How?


    Considering how Mark had a family with unnatural characteristics, they were not new to the paranormal. Even Mark grew up with experience and interest in these kinds of things. And most of these characteristics originated from his mother''s family.


    There were a lot of stories that he heard from his mother when he was younger. Some were weird, and some were interesting. All of them, however, was about the unknown.


    One short story revolved around the day his mother was going home alone from the church when she was young. And for some reason, while she was walking home after the mass finished, there was nothing but children walking along the road, the same way she was going.


    And those children had the very same characteristics as the small people in front of them now.


    His mother was confused, hearing the children with odd appearances talking in anguage she could not understand. And then, one suddenly spoke to her in the same way.


    As she stared in confusion, the child that talked to her was the same. Thetter realized that his mother was not the same as them. And as if the scene had shifted, everything around her blurred before returning to normal.


    Yes, normal.


    It was the very same road, but the ck-skinned children were nowhere to be seen. Instead, there were the people that were going home from the church all around her.


    That was one of the unforgettable experiences that their mother shared with them when they were little.


    Considering how his mother described the creatures, Mark had searched for them on the inte before. However, nothing came up in his search. While it was strange, it was also possible that this race of elementals was rare or only present in Catanduanes, causing theck of its presence. And by their disposition, they were a shy race that would not show themselves to humans if possible.


    And now, the very same kind of creatures was present, protecting his brother in secret. It would not be surprising if even his sister had the same bodyguards in the shadows.


    After the five talked, one timidly stepped forward, looking at Mark. It was a boy who seemed to be the oldest among the five.


    "???????????? ??¡õ?¡ô????????? ????¡ô????? ??¡õ?¡ô? ?????? ??????????¡õ???????????"


    The boy spoke.


    "Yep, I can''t understand you."


    Mark shrugged.


    It seemed that while they were at least capable of understanding humannguage, they could not speak it. Not only that it wasprehensible, but it also finished over a dozen sybles in two seconds.


    Even the most popr rappers would shrink on how fast these little people spoke.


    "Can you speak Filipino? Humannguage?"


    Mark asked. Even if he could tell that this guy was asking a question, there was no way he would be able to answer without understanding what it was.


    "????????¡ö??????"


    The boy replied, tilting his head shyly.


    Mark sighed. This would go nowhere. Furthermore, it seemed that the issue was not because these little guys could not speak humannguage. It was more like their physiology did not allow them to. It was like when Pefile introduced himself for the first time. Pefile was not his exact name at all but an alias that he used. It was because his real name could not be pronounced in humannguage.


    Mark sighed. He was interested in these little people, but he would not waste time deciphering theirnguage.<sub> </sub>


    As such, Mark could only turn to Pefile.


    "Does that powder work on other elementals?"


    Understanding what Mark wanted to do, Pefile replied.


    "It depends. It won''t work on elementals without bodies, after all. I think it will work fine on these people."


    "Then use it on them. We''ll send these five back together."


    Of course, the five little people became scared as the oldest one tried to step back.


    However, while they might be able to protect Michael from harm and other humans, there was no way that they would be able to do anything to Mark and Pefile.


    As such, the glittering powder was thrown unto them, causing the five to copse.


    Mark poked the cheek of one of the five little people, confirming that the powder worked.


    "I really did work. I thought it''s only for humans at first."


    "It''s made with nts from our forest. Of course, it had magical properties that can also affect other elementals and spirits as long as they had a body." Pefile proudly dered. "Still, you decisively took action on these guys, huh? Arent'' you interested?"


    "I am interested. However, there''s no time to spare. And since we don''t know why these five were protecting my brother, it''s better if they knew nothing about our interference."


    Mark replied, on which Pefile nodded.


    Then, they loaded the people, both the forced members of the rebels and the five little people, on Char''s back. Securing them with blood metal chains and fixes, Mark made sure that none of them would fall off. Well, some of them would get bruised by this, but it was better than dying.


    "Pefile, you go back to camp. I''ll throw these guys near the neutral encampment."


    Mark said to Pefile as he brought out his wings.


    "If you say so," Pefile replied. "Just be back soon."


    Mark nodded as he and Char took flight in the darkness of the night. Since the effects of the powder would only take a few hours before they wake up, there was no time to waste.


    ***


    Char carefully flew while following behind Mark. Their destination was the northernmost part of Catanduanes. The Municipality of Pandan.


    Mark learned it from the two young soldiersst night. The neutrals upied the northernmost areas of the ind. It was the same for the faction that wanted to make peace with the military.


    Why was that?


    It was because the aggressive faction prevented the other two camps from setting up near the Military Settlement. The reason was not surprising. The Antis wanted to stop the other two from joining forces with the military. In fact, some shes happened between the factions before because some tried to move out.


    All of them were members of the rebels. There was no way that the aggressive faction would let their members join their enemies even if it caused infighting.


    And as such, to avoid more unnecessary bloodshed, the other two factions stayed put to where they were currently. Of course, it was not like they did not want to resist. However,pared to the members of the two factionsbined, the aggressive faction had more manpower and firepower. There was nothing they could do if they wanted to survive.


    Luckily, the leader of the aggressive faction was not unreasonable. They just had to stay put and nothing would happen. Their enemies were the government and its soldiers and not their own people.


    This made the bases of the other two factions hard to reach. After all, they were located on the opposite side of the ind, furthest from the Military Settlement.


    Although there was a road that connected both ends of the ind that passed through the ind''s coastline, it was still a dangerous endeavor.


    Even Mark and Char''s journey over the mountains was not safe at all.


    Char wasrge. Although its ck-colored scales hid it in the night, it still did not escape the eyes of more sensitive creatures.


    Because of that, Mark had to defend Char from enemies.


    Giant insects like arm-sized mosquitos and moths that were asrge as a small mountain bike, and even a single literal firefly. Each was dangerous in their own ways.


    The mosquitos were notrge enough and were hard to hit, not to mention that they flew too fast.


    The moths had numbing powders scattering everywhere from their wings.


    Lastly, the firefly actually shot fire from its anus. It was quite dangerous since the mountain was covered with trees. Even Mark was caught off guard and was almost singed by the fist-sized fireball. And looking at the german shepherd-sized firefly, its thorax was literally burning. Even after Mark killed it, the thorax was still ignited inside and continued to burn.


    And as such, Mark stored the corpses of the insects after killing them. He would not pass up the opportunity for such rare materials.


    The proboscis of the mosquitos alone could be used for many things. For example, needles or hidden weapons. After all, it was almost as strong as metal. As for the numbing powder from the moths, there was no need to ask what it could be used. Andstly, the burning thorax. There were a lot of possibilities to use this. Even just as a light or fire source, it was helpful.Although it was possible that the light could go off, just the thorax alone was a good fireproof material.


    Mark did not expect quite a harvest although he was just bringing unconscious people back. He could not help but anticipate what kinds of other creatures he would encounter along the way.


    Unfortunately, aside from a fewrge pungent-smelling bats that even he would not try eating, he did not encounter anything interesting.


    Finally, Mark reached the base of the Neutral Faction. How was he sure?


    Well, he could detect his mother and father in one of the buildings together with their youngest sibling.

 Chapter 658 Being Surrounded, Not By Humans, However

    <strong>Day 148 - 12:27 AM - San Roque, Pandan, Catanduanes</strong>


    The Barangay of San Roque. It was where the Neutral Faction of the Rebels resided. Before the outbreak, San Roque was one of the most popted Barangays in Catanduanes. It was even more developedparing other ces like Codon and Viga, where the Military and the Antis currently resided.


    Although right now, the situation was theplete opposite. At this moment, only less than a third of its previous upants and the members of the Neutral Faction of the rebels lived here.


    During the start of the outbreak, the Military came here to evacuate people. Of course, not everyone would want to leave their homes. As there was also ack of manpower and vehicles, the soldiers could not enforce a forced evacuation. Furthermore, unlike typhoons and earthquakes, there was barely any sign that the world was ending. Many people did not believe and refused to believe. As such, a lot of people remained.


    Actually, it was the same for the rebels that were stationed in Catanduanes. At first, they thought that the evacuation and end of the world stuff were just government propaganda.


    It was until the hard truth struck everyone when evolved animals soon attacked, and everyone was unprepared.


    The remaining poption of the barangay drastically lessened, forcing everyone to hole in their houses. It was all while the evolved animals roamed the streets. With barely any supply in hand, many more people died.


    It was until the Neutral Faction of the Rebels upied the barangay. They secured thepound of the Pandan District Hospital as their base.


    And now, every person living in this barangay was inside thatpound.


    ***


    At the edge of the forest, east of the Pandan District Hospital, Marknded with Char.


    Since the District Hospital was at the east edge of the Barangay, the only things that stood between the east forest and the barangay were a wide patch of farm fields and a river. As such, the base of the Neutral Faction was already within Mark''s detection range. As Mark picked a ce with higher elevation tond, he could also see arge part of thepound.


    And to say,pared to the state of the Military Settlement, the state of the base here was disappointing.


    Of course,paring the two using manpower was unreasonable.


    Ifparing a small faction and the Military, there was no doubt that thetter surpassed the former. But of course, that was not what Mark was using as a basis.


    It was just...


    The walls that surrounded thepound looked sloppy.


    It was tall, alright. Probably about five meters in height. However, everything seemed to be made of scrap.


    That was right, scrap.


    It was like those kinds of cheap walls one would see when ying zombie-base building games. The one that would make anyone question whether their base would be safe with those walls.


    Nevertheless, since the base was still standing strong, these walls might actually serve their purpose, in the least.


    However, it did not hide one fact. The Neutral Faction was not only undermanned but alsocked building materials to build a proper base.


    Even in Mark''s point of view, he could see many structures that appeared like something you would see in a squatterspound.


    Fortunately, as Michael mentioned earlier, their parents, specifically their mother, was held in high regard. They were currently in one of the most secure ces in thepound.


    What surprised Mark, however, was that it was not only his family members who were here. He could also detect their other rtives. To be specific, their mother''s siblings and their families. It was kind of strange for some reason. After all, from what he knew, they were all living scattered all over Catanduanes. Since the outbreak came too sudden and the Military conducted an evacuation, it was almost impossible to see them all in one ce.


    Mark could not help but think that there were other powers at y here. However, there were hidden circumstances of his family, specifically on his mother''s side. As such, this situation was not impossible.


    And to say, it seemed that the answer was not far from Mark at all.


    Since theynded, Char was already uneasy and was on tight guard.


    Why?


    "Is there really a need for all of you to surround us?"


    Mark spoke using the localnguage, Bo. He asked that question while panning his eyes in the surroundings.


    That was right. It was not only Mark, Char, and the unconscious guys who were here. The moment theynded, they were slowly being surrounded.


    It was not like Mark cared about it, though.


    Nheless, there was something that even he did not expect.


    And who surrounded Mark and Char? No, what should be the more appropriate question.


    They were already found out. As such, those that surrounded Mark and Char slowly showed themselves.


    Some slowly emerged from behind the trees. A few actually popped out of the ground. While some appeared like ghosts.


    And to say, none of them were humans.


    There were those ck-skinned children that were lurking at the side. Some were races that Mark had seen before in the Spirit Dimension were also present. There were also Tamawos like Pefile among the crowd. However, Mark could tell that they were not rted to Pefile at all. It was because they had the different colors and styles of the tribal markings on their bodies.


    But the most unexpected were some creatures that looked totally out of ce.


    An example was ady in white, a shadowy figure wearing western medieval armor, and even a ball of blue mes hovering in the air.


    Nheless, while they were unexpected, their existence did not surprise Mark that much. The thing that surprised him the most was the woman standing beside one of the Tamawos that seemed to have a high position in this group.


    Mark observed the surroundings. About fifty different creatures were surrounding him and Char.


    And there, slowlying into existence, a beautiful woman donned in a white dress and flower essories appeared. There was no doubt that she was the leader of these people.


    Looking at the Diwata that appeared, Mark remembered one of the folklores he heard before.


    There was a mountain in Catanduanes that locals call "Hiraya." And to say, it was a mountain filled with stories of wonders.


    Even their closest Aunt shared her own story of how she identally entered an unfamiliar ce in the mountain which looked like a sanctuary.


    If such a magical sanctuary existed in the mountains, there was no doubt that it would be managed by a Diwata. Mount Banahaw was the same, after all.


    And now, Mark was being surrounded by that Diwata and her entourage.


    As the Diwata opened her eyes, the first thing she panned her eyes to were the five little people that were unconscious and tied on Char''s back. And another surprise came. She actually included Michael in her attention.


    "What have you''ve done to them, Demon?"


    The Diwata asked with hostility.


    That question was more than enough to make Mark realize the issue here.


    Most Spirit and Elemental Races were hostile to Demons. The opposite was also the same. It was not surprising that they concluded that Mark had done and nned to do some ill things as a Demon.


    Mark looked at the Diwata straight in the eye and shrugged. Taking his eyes away from her, he approached Char. The movements he made surely pushed the surroundings to be on guard.


    But then, Mark took off the chains that affixed the unconscious people on Char''s back.


    Mark then looked at the Diwata.


    "If you''re worried about them, then take them back."<sub> </sub>


    That gesture made the surroundings confused. They could not fathom what in the world was going on.


    The Diwata was also wary. But as Mark removed the chains, she began to move.


    She waved her hands like a conductor of an orchestra. And then, strong winds enveloped the surroundings before the wind focused on the five little people on Char''s back. Slowly, the five floated towards theirpanions, who eagerly received them.


    And then, unexpectedly, Michael was also lifted away from Char''s back before he was caught by the Spirit wearing the Medieval armor.


    But then, Mark spoke.


    "Can''t you take all of them?"


    "Hah?"


    The Diwata was appalled, staring at Mark incredulously.


    "I came here to drop them off to the people there," Mark added while pointing his thumb at the base of the Neutral Faction. "Since you already took those, why not take them all?"


    Sure enough, Mark''s words were taken with confusion in the surroundings. Thus, Mark repeated.


    "I just came here to return them. Can you take these other people too?"


    The Diwata frowned.


    "You don''t have to repeat what you said using different words. I understood what you wanted to say."


    "Then?"


    Mark asked.


    "Those humans are not our responsibility."


    The Diwata said, ncing at the other unconscious men.


    Mark shrugged. Sure enough, things were getting more and more interesting.


    "I see."


    Mark said before panning his eyes to the surroundings once more. Every individual that his starended on seemed to put on their guard in one way or another. They were definitely wary of Mark.


    "Seriously, you all don''t have to be that wary."


    Mark said. He did not want to be in a hostile rtionship with these people. After all, it was obvious that they had some connection with his family. There was no doubt about that.


    Then, the Diwata spoke.


    "If you really want to just drop off those humans, leave them in the field. We will make sure that the humans in that settlement will find them."


    The Diwata pointed her finger at the open farnd.


    She surely was also not fond of humans, it seemed. After all, the farnd was filled with mud since it was used to nt rice. There was no need to exin what would happen if these people were left there.


    Well, Mark did not care either. As such, in his mind, hemanded Char to drop the unconscious people there without hesitation.


    As Char moved forward, the encirclement also opened. It seemed that they were really afraid of Char too considering their panic as they moved out of the way.


    Now, Mark was the only one left in the encirclement. Nevertheless, it was hard to say who was at the edge here. After all, the one being encircled was calm, and those surrounding him were the nervous ones.


    "Say, I want to ask something."


    Mark said as his sight turned back to the Diwata.


    "We are not answering any question from a Demon."


    The Diwata firmly replied while frowning.


    Mark did not entertain her words and still asked.


    "I understand why you took them," Mark nced at the five little people. "Then, why also him?"


    Mark then nced at Michael.


    The Diwata did not reply, only ring at Mark.


    "You''re really not going to answer?"


    "This has nothing to do with you, Demon."


    The Diwata replied with her frown deepening.


    "I have, though?" Mark tilted his head. "That''s my younger brother he is carrying there."


    BAM!


    The atmosphere froze.


    Even the Diwata''s eyes turned wide.


    "W-who?" The Diwata seemed to have lost herposure. "Who is your younger brother?"


    "Him." Mark pointed. "Michael."


    Mark''s confirmation turned the atmosphere even more panicked. No one expected and could ept the bomb that Mark had just dropped.


    "NO. That is impossible! How can a Demon like you... You must be trying to trick us!"


    Sure enough, they would not believe Mark easily. But then, Mark decided to say something that would very likely confirm his identity.


    "Even though I can recognize my Aunt there?"


    Mark nced at the woman standing behind one of the Tamawos.


    The Diwata turned to the woman.


    "Is what this Demon said true?"


    The woman could only shake her head. Of course, she did not recognize Mark.


    "Don''t ask her." Mark shrugged. " She won''t recognize me. Thest time she saw me was when I was five when we took a vacation here. I wasn''t able to go to her funeral either."


    Hearing those words, however, made the woman''s eyes go wide. The more Mark spoke, the more his identity became credible.

 Chapter 659 Gennie, The Woman That Was Supposed To Be Dead

    <strong>Day 148 - 12:39 AM - East Area Forest Border, San Roque, Pandan, Catanduanes</strong>


    In the middle of the night, a reddish-ck dragon was dumping unconscious men on the mud. In the forest not far from it, a Demon was surrounded by different magical races.


    It was quite a surreal scene, a scene that almost no human in modern times would believe.


    Mark shrugged at the silence that enveloped the surroundings.


    There were no lies in what he said. It was also true that the only time he met this Aunt of his was when he was just a small boy. Nevertheless, it seemed to be hard for these races to believe him.


    But then, Mark''s Aunt stepped forward with an unsure expression.


    "You are... Mark?" She asked. "That boy that suddenly got lost for no reason and then just appeared in front of the house after sunset?"


    "Ah..."


    Mark could not make ae back to that.


    That event did happen. But for some reason, even in his subconscious, Mark had no recollection of what really happened that time. Still, out of all things, that was what she remembered.


    Well, it was no like Mark did anything remarkable to remember when they went on vacation here at that time.


    "That''s me."


    Mark shrugged as he replied.


    Of course, as the reply started to sink in her mind, her eyes grew wide. It seemed that it was really shocking that the Demon standing in front of her was the very same kid back then.


    On the other hand, Mark was a bit less surprised to see her here. Not as a human but as a half-spirit.


    Gennie d Providencia, that was her maiden name. She was the third child among the six siblings and the third female too. Well, they were supposed to be seven, but one child was not only born odd but also died shortly after birth.


    She was married to a rather unfaithful man. But even so, she lived her life like normal with her children.


    But then, when neither her husband nor her children were at home, they came home only to find a cold corpse in the living room.


    And to say, while it was announced as cardiac arrest, her death was quite mysterious.


    Not to mention that there were rumors of her being courted by something inhuman. It was not just a rumor in the family, but it seemed that it was secretly known by the neighbors too for some reason.


    Furthermore, that was not the first instance. There were others way before that.


    In their family, Gennie was the most attractive woman. Well, towards non-human beings. It was not wrong to say, though. Among her siblings, her looks were far better.


    But even so, she married a human and had children. She was also faithful. It was very unlikely that she would follow her non-human suitors and leave her family. And yet, here she was, already turned into a non-human being.


    And why could Mark tell that she was just a half-spirit? It was because she was alive. She was not just a soul at all.


    It made Mark think that whatever the thing that was buried in her grave, there was no way that it was her at all. Probably it was just a trunk of a Banana Tree, like how the folklore went.


    After all, there were various stories of people being kidnapped by elementals but were proimed dead. It was because their bodies were found. However, that body was not a real one but just a banana trunk covered with illusion. Once the body was buried in their graves, the illusion would be dispelled.


    And once the family members or other people dug the grave, they would find nothing inside the casket but some dried nt matter.


    Gennie''s death was too mysterious. After all, she had no history of having heart problems, although it was true that her body was getting weaker as time went by. That was why even though they were present at her funeral, some people believed that she was not dead and was taken away instead.


    And since she was present here, it seemed that it was true that she was taken away by spirits and elementals instead of dying.


    Gennie stared at Mark, scrutinizing his appearance. Nheless, she was not saying anything. She was quite a shy person. Furthermore, the strange circumstances around her fueled this trait of hers. And even though they were rtives, it was the first time she saw Mark after twenty-four years. Trying to confirm Mark''s identity was the best she could do.


    Finally, after about half a minute of staring contest, Gennie opened her mouth.


    "You''ve grown big."


    She said.


    Mark could only smile bitterly. It was also true, after all. Back then, Mark was just a small child, evenpared to his cousins of the same age. It was even though the shortness of stature ran strong in their family.


    But now, Mark was a tall man, probably taller than any of their rtives here in Catanduanes. Even Gennie standing straight was just up to his chest. That was how short she was.


    Gennie slowly took a step forward. After all, it had been years since she was able to talk to any of her rtives. She might be shy, but her longing for familial interaction seemed to have taken over.


    But of course, it would not happen just like that.


    Gennie could only stop as her arm was grabbed by the Tamawo that stood in front of her earlier.


    "Ordulk, what are you..."


    Gennie turned to the Tamawo only to see him shaking his head.


    "He might be your nephew but don''t forget that he''s a Demon. Those Demons nearly caused you to die."


    Gennie could only clench her fist dejectedly.


    On the other hand, Mark''s interest was piqued.


    It seemed that his Aunt became a Spirit, not because she wanted to. Also, by how it appeared, these Spirits did not want it either. However, it seemed that they had no choice, and it was only the way for her to live.


    "Can you not associate me with those Demons?"


    Mark spoke to the Tamawo called Ordulk.


    "What are you talking about?" Ordulk said, with hostility. "Demons are Demons. All of them are the same."


    "Wow, what a prejudice."


    Mark could not help but say.


    Of course, those words only made Mark gain more hostility from the surroundings. It seemed that these bunch had the worst experiences with Demons.


    "In any case, I''m not interested why you people as too hostile." Mark shrugged as he turned to his Aunt. "Aunt Gennie, are you the reason why they are protecting my brother, no, probably the whole family, right?"


    Gennie immediately understood what Mark was talking about. And in response, she hurriedly shook her head.<sub> </sub>


    "I-its not me."


    And then, she turned to the Diwata.


    With that gesture, it not hard to understand. His family was actually under the protection of this Diwata.


    "Why?"


    Mark asked the Diwata. He was really curious.


    And there, the Diwata could only sigh. She was obviously hostile to Demons. But as it was confirmed that Mark was rted to Gennie and Michael, her hostility lessened drastically.


    "Here is not a good ce to talk. Follow me."


    The Diwata said as she turned around, facing the deeper areas of the forest.


    "But Diwata!"


    Of course, there would be some opposition. It was the very same Tamawo, Ordulk, that shouted.


    "It''s fine." The Diwata said with a beautiful smile. "He might be a Demon, but he''s also their rtive. It is not the race that matter here but our vow."


    With those words, Ordulk finally closed his mouth. Of course, the Spirits and Elementals were still looking at Mark with eyes filled with hostility. One wrong move from Mark and these guys would definitely jump for his neck.


    And then, the Diwata started to lead the way.


    It was when Mark suddenly spoke.


    "Wait."


    "What is it?"


    The Diwata turned her head and asked.


    "My Dragon is still dumping those guys."


    The Diwata froze a bit. Her mind was too preupied with the revtion that the Demon in front of her was a rtive of the people they were protecting. That was why she forgot about Char that was still dumping the unconcious men in the middle of the muddy farm field.


    ***


    After Char was finished with his task, they finally left the ce.


    They went deeper and deeper into the forest. Mark then realized.


    Even though they were just walking leisurely, it seemed that they covered a veryrge distance already. In just a few minutes, they already reached the next mountain, even though that distance would normally take about half an hour of walk.


    By the looks of it, it was the very same ability they used to surround Mark and Char when theynded. It was a very good ability and what was more was that it could be used on a group of people.


    The journey took quite a while. Probably, about half an hour or so. Mark could not tell at all. Furthermore, even though he kept track of the direction they were taking, he had no idea where they were now.


    And then, as they stepped foot unto another forest at the foot of the next mountain, the surroundings changed drastically.


    "The Domain."


    Mark murmured.


    They already entered the sanctuary the Diwata was managing. It was the home for the good Spirits and Elementals in Catanduanes.


    Still, to bring him here, it could be either the Diwata was not cautious of him anymore, or she was confident.


    However, it was most likely thetter.


    After all, it was their territory. It would be surprising if they were not confident that they could win if Mark suddenly changed his mind and attacked.


    And to say, even though it was not a part of the Spirit Dimension, there were a lot of Spirits and Elementals residing in this ce. If Mark made a bad move, he would be swarmed by these people.


    The hostility aside, Mark could only admit. The ce looked beautiful.


    The trees had lustrous green leaves that were very noticeable even in the dark. There were huge mushrooms here and there and some were even emitting a bright glow. There were also some night time flowers that were emitting light likemps.


    Mark kept looking around, trying to see if he could find some interesting things.


    As for Michael, he was still being carried by the armored spirit. Since it was troublesome for everyone present if he suddenly woke up, one of the spirits applied sleeping magic on Michael. It was really convenient.But of course, that magic was not capable of erasing memories, unlike the powder of Pefile''s tribe.


    A few more minutes passed. They finally reached a destination.


    And unexpectedly, their destination was a seating area under a huge Spirit Tree. This tree was just a regr magical tree, though, unlike Chiyo, the Night Everred Pure Spirit Tree that Mark owned.


    In any case, this Spirit Tree seemed to be unique on its own. Its leaves seemed to glitter in the darkness of the night.


    "Take a seat."


    The Diwata said, pointing at a half-cut log behind a tree trunk table. At the same time, she dismissed a lot of the Spirits and Elementals, leaving only a few necessary ones.


    "Do we really have to go all the way here just to talk?"


    Mark asked as he took the seat.


    "Yes." The Diwata answered without hesitation. "The question you asked is quite a troublesome one. If some unnecessary beings caught wind of the conversation, it might put everyone in danger."


    Hearing that reply, Mark could only nod. It was rather obvious that she was talking about Demons when she said unnecessary beings.


    "Then, can you already exin what was going on?"


    Mark urged.


    "You don''t have to be worried. The time here is slightly slower than outside. There is no rush."


    The Diwata said as she called unto some people to join the conversation.

 Chapter 660 A Strange Ancestry, The Reason Their Family Fell Into The Protection Of The Spirits

    <strong>Day 147 - 1:12 AM - Mountain Sanctuary, Catanduanes</strong>


    When the Diwata called unto some Spirits and Elementals, Mark did not expect the ones that stepped out.


    There were four people. Three Spirits and one Elemental.


    First was the very same armored spirit before. The more Mark saw this guy, the more it felt that it was out of ce.


    It was the same for the second one, another existence that was out of ce. It was a woman wearing a white dress. Her appearance resembled the White Lady that wasmon in Philippine Horror stories. However, unlike what was depicted in those stories, this woman did not look like something scary at all.


    The third one was actually one of those ck-skinned children. Compared to the ones he saw before, however, not only this boy appeared to be more mature and had stronger magical power.


    Andstly, the Elemental. It was just a ball of light that floated down from the branches of the Spirit Tree. At first nce, it might just appear like that. However, Mark could sense intelligence from this ball of light.


    With the arrival of the four, the Diwata sat down in front of Mark. The armored spirit and thedy in white stood behind her while the ck child stood beside her seat. The ball of light hovered over her left shoulder. Lastly, the Tamawo, Ordulk, and Mark''s Aunt, Gennie, took the empty seats beside the Diwata.


    On the other hand, the others that were present earlier dispersed, although they kept a close watch while waiting hidden in the surroundings. Without a doubt, all of them were still wary of Mark.


    As for those that the Diwata called, Mark was quite confused as to why these people were here. He was only asking a question, after all. Was it for protection?


    Finally, the Diwata began.


    "Let''s start this by proper introductions." The Diwata sternly said. "I am Iraya, the Diwata of Catanduanes."


    Hearing her name, Mark could not help but realize why the locals call this mountain that name.


    After introducing herself, she then introduced the people surrounding the table one by one.


    The Armored Spirit was called Morlkil. He was a person incapable of talking. Why? Apparently, the armor was not just a form of equipment. It was his very existence. He was cursed armor that gained sentience, simr to Ignis that was on Mark''s back. Still, what was a cursed medieval armor doing here? Mark wanted to ask, but now was not the best time for that.


    The next one was Aliya, thedy in white. And as Mark had thought, she was really a White Lady. Though right now, more than a ghost, she was already a full-blown spirit. However, that was not the shocking part there.


    "If you really are Gennie''s nephew, then Aliya should be one of your ancestors."


    That was what Iraya said.


    Both Mark and Aliya were surprised to hear that as the two stared at each other. They held the same curiosity towards each other.


    Not minding the gesture of the two, Iraya continued.


    The ck-skin child was called Deriellio. A Yasaw. It was the first time for Mark to hear their race. And apparently, the ability to move fast came from them.


    Then, the ball of light. It was called Bituin. The name meant Star, although there was no way that it was one. It seemed to realize what was in Mark''s mind, and it seemed to be shivering. Of course, it was angry.


    "Now is not the time for that Bituin." Iraya sighed as she turned to Mark. "And don''t be rude about her name. It is a sensitive topic for her."


    Well, of course, it would be. Everyone probably noticed that detail.


    And there, Bituin started shivering again, making Iraya give out another sigh.


    Thest person to be introduced was the Tamawo named Ordulk. Apparently, he was Gennie''s suitor.


    "Lover?"


    Mark could not help but ask while looking at his aunt. After all, she was a married woman despite her husband being unfaithful. She also had three children.


    "N-no!" Gennie immediately denied it with an embarrassed face. "He''s only a friend!"


    Unfortunately for the guy, Mark''s aunt did not fall for him. And until now, he was still pursuing her, although she saw him as nothing but a friend.


    Those words made Oldulk a bit dejected. However, it seemed that giving up was not in his vocabry.


    Mark, however...


    "Heh."


    He smirked.


    Ordulk''s pale face could not help but go red in both embarrassment and anger. Gennie immediately tried to pacify the Tamawo. After all, she did not want her friend and nephew to fight.


    "Can you please stop trying to rile them up on purpose?"


    Iraya''s voice started shivering. It seemed that she was also losing her temper since Mark did not seem to be paying attention at all.


    "This is why Demons are troublesome to interact with."


    Deriellio remarked at the side, making the others agree somehow.


    "My turn, right?"


    Mark asked, ignoring the little guy. And to answer his question, Iraya nodded.


    "As you heard from my aunt, I''m Mark."


    Then, there was silence.


    It was a bitte when they realized...


    "That''s it?"


    Gennie asked.


    "What am I supposed to say?"


    Mark asked. It was not like he was here to be chummy with everyone or anything. He just wanted information.


    "You can at least tell us your full name or current race as a Demon, right?"


    Iraya said. Although she was hostile to Demons, she held some curiosity towards Mark.


    "His full name should be Mark Anthony Dequi?o."


    Gennie suddenly said.


    Mark could only stare. He also did not expect her to just say it all.


    That stare, however, made Gennie feel that she did something unnecessary.


    As such, he added.


    "I already threw my full name away. I just go by Mark."


    He stressed out that he did not want to be called with something else.


    It was something that these people could not understand. To Spirits and Elementals, names were the root of their existence.


    Once they were given a name, they would not be able to throw it away like humans. In fact, even humans would be able to take control of a Spirit or Elemental''s will once they learned about their true names.


    Seeing that they understood what he meant, Mark decided to disclose his race.


    "I''m a Blood Demon and a pureblood."


    That, however, made the people around both confused and surprised.<sub> </sub>


    It seemed that none of them knew about Blood Demons at all. But what surprised them was that Mark was a pureblood.


    "Are you kidding with us? A pureblood? That''s impossible! Do you think that you can trick us with a lie like that?"


    Ordulk voiced out.


    And in response, Mark shrugged as he stood up. Then, he released his demon form.


    Everyone started to shiver. Even Iraya was not an exception.


    Horns, fangs, his eyes, the markings on his body, the two pairs of reddish-ck wings, and the most important part, the pressure that wasing from him.


    Mark was not lying. He was a pureblood.


    It onlysted a few seconds, and Mark returned to normal, taking his seat once more. He would not release it for long in this ce. He could see that a lot of the Spirits and Elementals could not endure the pressure from him and fell unconscious. Even the night animals and insects started fleeing in fear.


    "How is this possible?"


    Iraya said, could not believe it.


    "Is it impossible?"


    Mark asked. The reactions were quite unnatural.


    "Humans that became demons can never be purebloods. Unless..."


    Iraya replied contemting deeply.


    "Unless?"


    Gennie asked to the side.


    "Unless that human had a pureblood Demon''s bloodline."


    As Iraya said that, her eyes panned to Mark, Gennie, and even to Aliya behind her.


    "However, humans that had a pureblood Demon''s bloodline could not be spirits either..."


    That was what confused the Diwata.


    After all, there were two people here that came from Mark''s ancestry that became Spirits.


    Mark nodded as he heard that. He now understood why they were confused. Nheless, Mark knew that there were no issues here. After all, Blood Demons were a versatile mixed race, carrying both Demon and Spirit Bloodlines. It was also possible that their ancestor was a Blood Demon and a Spirit, allowing this scenario to happen.


    Well, Mark had no n to exin. Blood Demons was a hated race, after all.


    "That aside," Mark decided to change the topic. "I want to know why the Spirits are protecting our family."


    Iraya turned to Mark with a cough. She lost herposure. Surely, they came here for a different topic.


    But before all that, Iraya turned to Bituin. She looked like she was confirming something. The ball of light then released a brighter glow for a second, making the Diwata release a confused sigh.


    "It seems that you are not lying."


    She said.


    "Is that a lie detector?"


    Mark asked.


    Being treated as some sort of tool, Bituin bounced in the air angrily.


    "Bituin''s ability is to see through the intentions of people in front of her. Her glowing brightly just now indicated that you are telling the truth and had no other intention aside from asking for information."


    "How convenient."


    Mark said, staring at Bituin.


    Being treated as an item again, Bituin continued to bounce in anger. If not for Mark releasing that frightening pressure earlier, she might have charged at him already.


    "Bituin, settle down."


    Iraya reprimanded the ball of light, making it sulk as it floated to Aliya''s shoulder.


    Releasing another helpless sigh, Iraya turned to Mark.


    "As you can see, Aliya and Gennie are here. That is the very reason why we are protecting your family."


    At first, Mark would think that it was their request or the like. However, the Diwata''s expression told Mark that it was not the case and it was something deeper.


    "I don''t know if you knew about this but not just any human can be a Spirit or Demon. Or else, humans would have gone extinct long ago, turning into either Spirits or Demons."


    ording to the Iraya, even if a human wanted to, it did not mean that they could turn into one. It was like how Demons like Aswangs and Mananangals, who were half-human Demons, could not increase their poption that easily.


    Aswangs and Mananangals were not a race. Their ancestors were humans that had undergone a disease-like Demonification. That was why like a disease, these Demons could turn other humans into their kind. Of course, it was only possible if the criteria were fulfilled. Like humans with highpatibility with magical energy.


    "And your family had been producing those kinds of people for a very long time now. It was already like this before we even realized that it was happening."


    "So, your people are protecting my family, so they don''t fall into the hands of Demons?"


    Mark asked.


    "That is right."


    Iraya nodded.


    "Of course, we won''t force them to be Spirits either. Besides, not everyone that had magicalpatibility could be one. In the least, we ensure that none of them join the sides of the Demons until their lives ended."


    Iraya then looked at Gennie.


    "Though Gennie''s generation was quite exceptional."


    "What do you mean?"


    Mark asked.


    "Five among the seven siblings exhibited magicalpatibility. One was even born with a spiritual body. Unfortunately, he died shortly after birth because of someplications. Even we could not do anything about it."


    That was quite a surprise.


    Now that Iraya mentioned it, Mark''s mother and some of her siblings exhibited strange abilities.


    Mark''s mother, Grace, had a talent for reading the future using various mediums. She even managed to sessfully cast various household spells at home.


    On the other hand, there was his uncle, Roy, that had a weak kind of healing hands. He could relieve pain and minor illnesses with his massages.


    There was also his youngest aunt, Belen, that had various experiences with the unknown.


    And of course, Gennie, that was now a Spirit.


    As it turned out to be, Mark bing a Blood Demon was not just a pure coincidence.

 Chapter 661 The Lonely Ancestor, A Short Walk Out Of The Sanctuary

    <strong>Day 148 - 1:22 AM - Mountain Sanctuary, Catanduanes</strong>


    Bloodline. It was an idiomatic way of to refer a family history and ancestry and gic heritage. It could also pertain to one''s Lineage.


    To most modernmon people, the term itself was not widely used, as such, irrelevant.


    However, to people of the hidden side of the world, it was a very important word.


    After all, it could dictate the capabilities of a person.


    Some families had unique traits that could only be passed on to their children. To families of magicians and cultivators, it could either be a talent or a trait.


    In the case of Mark''s family, one of Mark''s ancestors might have been a pureblood that managed to escape the culling of the Blood Demon race.


    And to avoid the sight of the Observer and the Eyes, that ancestor lived a normal life of a human. Thus, that person might have married a normal human. However, as the partner was not turned to a Blood Demon, it became the start of the decline of the bloodline of Blood Demons.


    As the ancestry went further without any Blood Demon among the family, their blood of the Blood Demon race inside them became thinner and thinner. It was until it could not be recognized anymore, like how the race ended up.


    However, even though it was already thin, it still caused some differencepared to other humans. And the fruit of that was the members of the family like Mark, Gennie, and Aliya.


    p Mark was not an exception to this rule as before he even became a Blood Demon, and even before the Psycrystal found him, he was already an Empath. He was also capable of controlling his adrenaline. It must be their hidden bloodline at work there.</anda>


    Looking at these Spirits and Elementals, Mark could tell that they absolutely had no idea what was going on. Nevertheless, while their goal was to prevent the Demons from increasing their numbers, they still protected the family for generations.


    Thus, Mark decided on something.


    "Say, if the Demons here in Catanduanes are gone, are you Spirits and Elementals here going to continue on protecting them?"


    "Don''t joke around." Instead of Iraya that was being asked the question, it was Ordulk that replied. "If the Demons here are gone? We''ve been fighting them for generations, and their numbers never dwindled at all."


    "Can you shut up? I''m not asking you." Mark said. "Besides, I only asked if."


    "You!!!"


    Ordulk stood up from his seat. From his disy, this Tamawo was quite a feisty one. Though by what it appeared to be, his own actions were also the reason he was being thrown with rude words.


    "Ordulk, settle down."


    Iraya said, ring at the enraged Tamawo.


    Since Iraya was the leader of this ce, Ordulk could only get back on his seat. However, it seemed that he was still discontented.


    "What a narrow-minded guy."


    Mark remarked.


    "I already said before, please stop riling them up," Iraya said with a sigh. "As for your question, the answer is yes. Even if there are no Demons left here in Catanduanes, we will continue. While preventing the Demons are our primary goal, we also had a promise to keep and a debt to pay. Though I hope that you won''t pry about these things."


    Mark nodded. Although he was curious about that promise and debt, he was satisfied with the answer.


    "By the way, since my brother had some of you guarding him, my sister should be the same. They how did they fall on the hands of the other faction of the rebels?"


    That question made Iraya shrug.


    "It''s because we have rules. We can''t just jump into everyone''s business, especially if it only involved humans. Also, it was not like they were currently in grave danger. Of course, we will take action otherwise."


    "I see."


    Mark understood their reasoning.


    At this time, Mark stood up.


    "Can you lead me out?"


    Mark said to the Diwata.


    "Are you leaving already?"


    Gennie also stood up and asked.


    "I have many things to do, Aunt Gennie," Mark replied to his worried Aunt. "And since you guys can''t do it, I''ll be going to retrieve my sister from her captors."


    "I see." Gennie smiled. "It might be a short meeting, but I''m d to see a nephew of mine seem to be doing well."


    Mark smiled back. What a kind aunt.


    At this time, Aliya stepped forward.


    "I will go lead him out."


    She said.


    "Then, I will leave it to you."


    Iraya agreed.


    Leaving the shade of the Spirit Tree, Mark and Char followed Aliya. However, it was not just the two of them. Bituin was also here, hovering above Aliya''s right shoulder.


    "It''s a pity that you''re a Demon."


    Aliya suddenly spoke. The way she said her words had quite an old intonation, despite using slightly modernnguage.


    "Why is that?"


    Mark asked.


    At Mark''s reply, however, Aliya''s shoulder drooped.


    "You''re calling Gennie, Aunt. But nothing for me, huh?"


    This made Mark scratch his head.


    Although they had not met for a long time, Mark knew that Gennie was his Aunt from his memories. On the other hand, while Aliya was supposed to be a long lost rtive, it was the first time Mark met her to call her any name. Besides, what should he call her? Great to the nth power Grandmother? There was no way for him to know which Generation she belonged to. By her behavior, it was also possible that she even lived way before Spanish Colonial times.


    However, Mark could tell that Aliya was just being lonely. Being a Spirit, her loved ones had been long gone, and none of her current descendants knew about her. Only Gennie was present here too.


    Guarding her descendants without being able to interact with them, she would definitely be lonely.


    And Mark thought that it would not take much to grant a little request from her.


    "Then, should I call you Grandmother?"


    Mark asked.


    Normally, being called Grandmother would receive ire, especially if the woman looked young. In fact, Mark looked olderpared to her in terms of both appearance and behavior.


    However, hearing Mark calling her Grandmother, her eyes lit up.


    "Grandmother, can you tell me now why is it a pity?"


    "Ahem," Aliya cleared her throat. "It''s because if you''re not a Demon, you could have be a Spirit like us. If you did, you could likely stay here with us. No one would ept Demons here, you see. You''re even the very first Demon to step here as a guest."


    Mark could not help but sigh, hearing that. This woman was really lonely. Mark could imagine him being pampered by Aliya as her grandchild. While it would not be bad, it would not suit him at all.


    "I''ll refrain from that," Mark replied. "I have my own family that I can''t leave."


    "Huh?" Aliya stopped walking and looked at Mark. "If I remember correctly, you''re Michael and Marian''s older brother, right?"<sub> </sub>


    "I am, is something wrong?"


    Mark was confused.


    "I heard them talking about you before when I visited them. They said that it was quite impossible for you to find a wife because you''re are something called a shut-in."


    Mark rolled his eyes. Although it was true, he wanted to punch someone.


    Holding in the retort he wanted to say, he replied.


    "That''s outdated news. I already have a wife and three children to take care of."


    Mark''s words jolted Aliya. Her eyes started to shine.


    "Where are they? Are they with you? Will you let us meet them? What about your parents, did they know about it? Can you bring them here next time?"


    Aliya started to bombard Mark with questions like a typical Grandmother that was excited about her grandchild. Mark felt troubled though. Even Bituin started to float away from the agitated woman.


    "I won''t be able to bring them here without resistance, Grandmother."


    Mark said.


    "Why?"


    Aliya was confused.


    "They are also of the same race as I do."


    Mark''s reply made both Aliya and Bituin frozen.


    "Did this have to do with you bing a Demon?"


    Aliya asked with concern.


    However, Mark shook his head.


    "It''s the opposite. I''m the one that turned them."


    "Huh?"


    One more time, Aliya and Bituin froze.


    "Are you perhaps something like Aswangs? I have never heard of Blood Demons before."


    Aliya''s concern was getting deeper and deeper.


    "No, Blood Demons are different," Mark assured the concerned woman. "Rather than a disease-like one that can turn humans into Half-Demons, we are real Demons. Besides, like elder Aswangs and Mananagals, the other party''s consent is needed for me to turn them into one. We also don''t crave anything and can continue living like usual. Nothing had changed aside from having abilities of a Blood Demon."


    "That is... That is quite unusual..."


    Aliya said though she understood that Mark was not lying from Bituin. A Demonic race that could spread but have no side effects. It was definitely unusual.


    After all, the humans that became Aswang and the like would start craving for human flesh and blood. It had a heavy impact on both their manners and lives. That was why even if they did not want to, their instincts as a Demon would take over and force them to hunt whenever they could.


    But now that Mark mentioned it, aside from a cold attitude, Mark definitely behaved no different from a human.


    Aliya could believe that Mark was saying the truth even without Bituin''s help.


    On the other hand, Mark only shrugged. The bloodline of Blood Demons flowed in their veins, both Gennie and Aliya, included. However, it was better not to disclose that information since it might cause a lot ofplications.


    Soon, they reached the border of the sanctuary. Although the topic about Blood Demons made Aliya quite awkward, she recovered soon and started prattling at Mark about a lot of things. She even started to call Mark Grandson halfway.


    Mark listened to her all the way. This lonely ancestor of his was definitely blowing off her loneliness this way, and there was no harm done.


    Was this how it was like to have a good grandmother? That was what Mark had in his mind. After all, his grandparents that he met so far left bad impressions on him, both on his mother''s and father''s sides.


    That was why it was the first time that Mark felt a grandparent wanting to pamper him.


    It was not a bad feeling, although he did not have time to enjoy it.


    "Hah..." Aliya sighed. "I can only bring you here, Grandson."


    From her expression, it was obvious that she wanted to spend more time with Mark.


    "No, it''s fine already." Mark smiled. A genuine smile. "By the way, Grandmother, do you know where the Demons here in Catanduanes are lurking?"


    "Where they are lurking?" Aliya tapped her chin. "From what I heard recently, they moved at the southeast edge of the ind. They had been capturing humans that went there under the guise of evolved animals."


    "I see."


    Mark nodded, taking note of it.


    "Why did you ask?"


    "I just want to know so I can avoid that area."


    Mark replied.


    "I see." She smiled. "Then, you better be careful."


    Suddenly, Mark was embraced. He could not help but froze a bit.


    "Visit again soon. Next time, bring your family. I''ll try to convince the others to let them in."


    It was kind of awkward for Mark. However, he could also feel the warmth from her.


    "I''ll try to visit again, Grandmother."


    He said as Aliya let go.


    From there, Mark stepped out of the border, turning the surroundings hazy.


    The moment his sight turned to normal, the sanctuary was gone, and he was standing at the foot of a wide mountain.


    Mark could not help but sigh.


    "If I met her when I was younger, my life would have been bright."


    That was what Mark felt, meeting Aliya.


    With those thoughts in mind, Mark jumped onto Char''s back and flew towards the west direction.


    ***


    Back inside the border of the Sanctuary, Aliya stood for a bit before turning back.


    "Let''s head back."


    She said with a sad smile. Surely, she was happy to meet a descendant of hers. And of course, sad to see him leave.


    With those emotions, Aliya headed back to the center of the Sanctuary. She did not notice, however, was Bituin, hiding its gloomy color.


    Bituin definitely detected that Mark was lying when he asked about where the Demons lurked here in Catanduanes. However, the ball of light did not want to ruin the atmosphere and tried to hide it.


    It was suspicious of Mark as to why he would lie there.

 Chapter 662 Abbygales Fear, The Circumstance Of The Little Girl And Marks Plan For Tomorrow

    <strong>Day 148 - 2:34 AM - North Codon Coast, Codon, San Andres, Catanduanes</strong>


    Back at the camp, the little girls had already fallen asleep. Not inside their tent, though, but inside Mark and Mei''s tent. It included Emika that did not want to sleep alone inside their tent. Amihan was also here, sleeping on an extra pillow.


    Edzel and Pearl also slept inside their tent. Their sleep was not too deep, and they would readily wake up when needed.


    As usual, Pefile stayed on guard right away after he returned. Berrak was also awake. It was not like he did not want to sleep, but he was still digesting all the things that happened.


    Mark defeated Berrak overwhelmingly. He also knew that Mark was strong. Still, there were things that he did not expect that happened earlier.


    Aside from his urring thoughts, there was another thing that kept Berrak awake. It was the sharp attributed energy that was gathering in the surroundings, centered around Mark and Mei''s tent.


    Inside the tent, Mei was still awake. It was her habit, every time that Mark was away. Except for this time, however. While watching over the sleeping girls, she started to practice the basic cultivation technique Mark taught her.


    The event earlier gave her a bit of a sense of urgency. After all, the infected were growing fierce by the day. And at this point, practicing Chinese Cultivation would help her a lot. Of course, she did not want to be a cultivator, but no one would be able to deny that even the basics of it could enhance a person''s body.


    Nevertheless, her main goal for this was to keep standing beside Mark and not drag him behind.


    The waiting took awhile after Mark took away his unconscious brother and the members of the rebels they caught. But then, before the sound of Char''s pping wings reached them, Mei had already stopped her meditation and rushed outside.


    Berrak was confused by that gesture. He could not help but look at Mei as she stared in a specific direction. And soon, he realized what she was doing when he vaguely saw the dragon''s silhouette in the northern sky. He could not help but turn back to Mei in both confusion and surprise.


    "You don''t have to be surprised," Pefile said to Berrak. "For some strange reason, her ability to perceive her husband is absurdly high."


    As Mark and Charnded, everyone woke up, well, except Emika and Amihan.


    As usual, Mei and the little girls weed Mark back.


    Well, Mei was looking at Mark strangely, though. Before Mark could ask her what was wrong, she started sniffing him.


    There was no need for him to ask now. He had seen such gesture from a lot of anime to be unable to understand what was going on.


    "Smells like flowers, doesn''t it?"


    Mark said with a bitter smile as he pulled Mei into his embrace.


    "Who?"


    Mei asked, staring at Mark''s eyes.


    This situation made Mark shrug.


    "Let''s sit down first."


    Mark said.


    There, they sat around the campfire as Mark told everyone what happened. Of course, while he told them about his family producing magically inclined people, he left out the actual circumstances behind his lineage.


    "What an odd family you have."


    Pefile said while the others could not help but agree. Even Berrak was the same.


    Mark was a Demon, and now, his Aunt and Grandmother from an unknown Generation got revealed that they became Spirits. Their circumstance was veryplicated.


    Looking at Mei, Mark ruffled her head.


    "So, don''t get jealous, alright?"


    "Un," Mei replied with a red face. "It just didn''t smell like a human, so..."


    Mark could only smile bitterly.


    Mei would not react if it were a human, but it was the opposite if it was not. Pretty much like when Snow was targetting him in New Jersey as a mate.


    "By the way, Grandmother wants to meet you and the girls next time."


    Mark said.


    "Meet your Grandmother?"


    Mei asked.


    "Yeah, she seems excited to meet my wife and children, you see."


    Hearing Mark''s words made Mei even redder and nervous.


    "I-I don''t mind..."


    Mei said, twiddling with her index fingers.


    What a cute reaction.


    Still, Mark could not help but look at someone. It was Abbygale.


    "What''s wrong with her?"


    Even Pefile noticed it.


    Abbygale was shaking. The calm Abbygale seemed to be afraid of something.


    Mark could only shake his head as he stood and picked her up. He then came back to his seat, letting the scared girl sit down on hisp. The little girl could only curl up in the body of the person she recognized as her father, trying to regain her calm.


    Mei and the others could only watch in concern. Even Miracle, who would alwayspete with her sister for that position, remained quiet.


    "Don''t worry, Gale. She''s a very kind Grandmother, alright?"


    Mark whispered to the girl.


    Slowly, Abbygale raised her head and looked at Mark''s face.


    "She won''t hit me?"


    "No, she won''t."


    Mark replied, caressing her head hair.


    That exchange gave Pefile and the others the idea of what was going on.


    "Boss..." Edzel called out. "Does her real Grandmother..."<sub> </sub>


    Edzel could not finish his question, though, looking at Abbygale that would shiver just by hearing the word.


    Everyone here knew that none of the girls was Mark''s actual daughter. Even the new member, Berrak, was not a fool to not realize it. Looking at Mei, who did not seem to be past twenty, there was no way that she would have I as her daughter unless she gave birth as a child less than ten years of age.


    Mark continued caressing the girl''s head gently as he recalled the story. It was a circumstance that none of them tried to dig up in front of Abbygale.


    And as everyone could tell from the little girl''s question, she was indeed abused by her grandmother. Of course, this information did not onlye from Abbygale but also her blood-rted Aunt, Jaeya.


    From the start, it was one of the things that Abbygale said to Mark. She did not have a father, and that was one of the reasons she wholeheartedly cherished Mark.


    Abbygale came from a rich family. A family that Jaeya''s mother, Isolde Delos Reyes, raised from the dirt on her own after their father left them for another woman. Although her husband leaving led Isolde to be a strong woman, she also became an extremely strict mother to her two daughters.


    It ended up with Isolde dictating her daughters about things. About what they should do and should not. Even to the point of matchmaking her daughters to men that she approved of. Sons of rich people in her field of business.


    But as if destiny dictated, her first daughter, Aica, got pregnant with an unknown man as a father. What was worse was that the man actually ran away after knowing about Aica''s pregnancy.


    As such, Isolde was infuriated.


    She urged her daughter to abort the child. However, Aica begged to keep the child. In exchange, she would follow her mother''s words from then on.


    In the end, Aica managed to make Isolde agree. But of course, it did not mean that the grandmother epted her bastard of a grandchild.


    The child was born. Of course, it was Abbygale.


    And as it seemed, whenever there was a mishap, like Abbygale behaving the child of her age, identally knocking off things, she would get unreasonably scolded, or worse, hit. The worst was the words that Isolde would hurl towards the child that was inappropriate for her age.


    At an early age, Abbygale knew that her supposed father left her and ran away. It was because he did not want Abbygale.


    Aica knew what was going on. However, the only thing she could do was to endure and take care of Abbygale as much as she could. She had thoughts of running away with the little girl. However, there was nowhere they could go. Even their rtives hated her mother and no one would definitely ept them.


    What added to the fire was when Jaeya ran away from home, eloping with a man. Isolde became more distraught that Aica could not take away her eyes from her daughter.


    If not, Abbygale would receive all the brunt of her grandmother''s anger.


    And thus, while Aica was not home, Abbygale could only stay inside their room.


    And then, the event came. The expensive ragdoll cat that Isolde was raising sneaked into Abbygale''s bedroom. As Abbygale knew that it was her grandmother''s she was afraid of going near it. As such, she tried to chase it out.


    However, like its grumpy owner, the cat was as hateful. It started to rampage inside the room, knocking off a lot of things in the process.


    In desperation to get the cat out of the room, the little girl grabbed it after it was cornered. However, it resisted and in the end, Abbygale got bitten.


    It all happened while Aica was not home as she needed to attend to their business.


    That bite caused one of the cat''s fangs to be broken. And of course, Abbygale got hit for that.


    Due to implications in the business, Aica went home the next morning. Only to find their room had be a mess and Abbygale was burning with fever due to the bite. The mother immediately rushed her daughter out, going to the hospital.


    That was when the outbreak struck.


    With the little girl''s experiences, it was no wonder that the word Grandmother struck her negatively. To her, it was far scarier than the infected.


    As Mark told everyone the story, they could not help but look at Abbygale withplicated expressions.


    By this time, the little cat girl had already fallen asleep, curled in the embrace of the father she recognized.


    "You really have a prettyplicated family, don''t you."


    Pefile remarked.


    "You''re thest person I want to hear that from."


    Mark retorted to everyone''s confusion. After all, aside from Mark, no one here knew about this Tamawo''s circumstances.


    "Ahem." Pefile coughed. "What is your next n, now?"


    Mark thought for a bit and nodded as the idea entered his mind.


    "I want to clean this ind."


    Mark dered.


    "What do you mean?"


    Berrak could not help but ask.


    "I already confirmed that my family is in a good situation. The only thing left was to make their environment safer."


    "You don''t intend to wipe out the infected and evolved animals on the ind, do you?"


    Pefile asked.


    "That one is impossible, of course," Mark replied. "Unless we tten the whole ind, we won''t be able to do that."


    "But it didn''t mean that we can''t do anything about other things."


    Mark added.


    "The rebels and the Demons..."


    Mei spoke.


    "That''s right. The neutral and peaceful factions of the rebels aside, the aggressive ones and the Demons don''t need to exist on this ind anymore."


    As Mark said that, Berrak could not help but feel chills on his back. Without a doubt, Mark was nning to conduct a massacre on this ind. Furthermore, there would be no discrimination between humans and non-humans. Even though Mark and his family were Demons themselves, they would not hesitate to eliminate other Demon Races.


    "You care a lot for someone who did not want to meet his family," Pefile said. "Isn''t that being a hypocrite?"


    "You really have a sharp tongue, seriously." Mark shrugged. "But you are wrong about something. I might have some disputes with them, but they are still my family. It''s not like I care but they are still a responsibility I have to fulfill. I don''t intend to take them in or directly help them. At least, they can''t say that I did nothing for them."


    Pefile shrugged back. Mark''s line of thought was very hard to understand.


    "Are we moving immediately?"


    Mei asked.


    "Tomorrow." Mark nodded. "We will spend a day to clean this ind and then move on."

 Chapter 663 The Dug Up Mistake, A Simple But Agonizing Long Term Punishment

    <strong>Day 148 - 07:01 AM - North East Gate, Catanduanes Circumferential Road, Catanduanes Military Settlement, Codon, San Andres, Catanduanes</strong>


    The sun had risen in the east. It was another day in the apocalypse.


    This time, people were gathered at the North East Gate of the Catanduanes Settlement. While most of them were soldiers, there were also a lot of bystanders. As usual, they were there to just watch what was going on. After all, they were curious about why the General was here in the first ce.


    Of course, the soldiers tried to drive these people away. However, it was not like use force and could only keep them some distance away.


    Even though General Padi, Vanessa, Andrew, and the rest of their entourage were here, none of them were the center of attraction. It was the two young soldiers talking with the group.


    As the gallery knew that these two soldiers were not usually seen around the General, they took the people''s attention. Some were just curious, but some had other goals for remembering their faces.


    The two were no other than Ernesh Geronimo and Joules Padua. They were the two Privates that were detained due to the ill will of Captain Zacharia in Caramoan Feeder Port.


    They were already freed as the investigation deemed them as the victims. Furthermore, the soldier that Private Padua shot had already confessed what happened. However, the two did not have any reason to continue being soldiers anymore.


    To say, the General and the higher-ups of the military in this Settlement were toote to take action. The damage had already been done because of the holes in their management.


    As such, they lost two promising young soldiers in their camp.


    General Padi talked to the two young soldiers with pity. The more he interacted with the two, the more he saw how decent they were evenpared to some veterans in their field.


    Unfortunately, they were toote, and Mark got the full allegiance of the two.


    "General, are we really letting go of these two?"


    Vanessa, the General''s Secretary, asked. She had been in this field for a long time and could see the same thing as the General about the two. The two might need some nurturing, but they were definitely good seeds.


    "That Mark had already beaten us to the punch." The General sighed. "If not for Seguerra, we could have gotten rid of that Zacharia soon. That pig brought us more damage than help."


    That was right. Zacharia was one of General Seguerra''s direct subordinates. In fact, after the death of the Marines General, they learned from his subordinates that his appearance at the beach yesterday was not just because of the report of the monster.


    Since the night before, even before General Padi knew, General Seguerra already knew about the arrival of Mark''s group and the package they were carrying.


    That was why it was totally odd that General Seguerra arrived too fast at that time. Aside from his brother''s situation, one of his goals was to capture Mark''s group and take the package away from them.


    Unfortunately for the Marines General, his greediness horribly backfired.


    As the crimes had gone to light, they actually wanted to recall Captain Zacharia and capture him by surprise.


    Well, that was if they could still do it. However, the military could not and would not be able to do it in the future.


    It was because the Military Camp at the Caramoan Feeder Port no longer existed as ofst night.


    The reason was not hard to assume. After all, everyone in the Settlement knew the threat that appearedst night.


    Allmunications to the Military Camp was gone, and all the soldiers there were dered MIA. Thest radio exchange they had was them reporting arge scale attack at the camp. It was very likely that a lot of the infected that attacked the Military Settlementst night passed by that area.


    Ten minutes after everyone was gathered here, the people they were waiting for finally appeared.


    A lot of people were shocked. Some even tried to run away.


    After all, who would not be afraid to see a huge winged lizard flying towards the Settlement''s gates. Some of the soldiers also flinched and moved into battle positions. However, they saw General Padi signal them to be at ease. That was when they saw people riding on the dragon''s back.


    Without attacking anyone, the dragonnded outside the gates.


    The two young soldiers were surprised at the spectacle. Even more when they saw Mark jump off the back of Char.


    General Padi approached Mark, beckoning the two young soldiers to follow him.


    "You guys are pretty early. I won''t be surprised if you guys came here a few hourster. I didn''t set any exact time, after all."


    Mark said as the General''s group approached.


    Some were confused why Mark said that. There were also those who frowned. As for the General, he could only sigh.


    Ignoring Mark''s sarcastic remark, the General replied.


    "We decided at this time since it''s not too early but not toote in the morning." The General then made the two soldiers step forward. "As you requested, we brought these two."


    The two soldiers looked at each other and nodded. They then made their way towards Mark.


    "Boss, you really came for us, huh?"


    Padua said to Mark, rubbing his nose.


    "Dude, be respectful. He''s our Boss now."


    Geronimo reprimanded his friend.


    "It''s fine," Mark said to Geronimo. "I don''t mind how you speak as long as you two behaved properly."


    "See, it''s fine!"


    Padua nudged his friend, who could only let a troubled sigh.


    Ignoring the antics of the two, Mark turned back to the General.


    "Then, I''ll be taking away these two."


    "It''s fine," The General nodded. "They also requested to leave already. As I said before, we are not going to force anyone to stay."


    Of course, the General did not make any effort to hide his pity from the loss of some good seeds.


    "Though to say, I''m quite dissatisfied. I don''t think that it''s enough of a reward for helping usst night."


    The General said. After all, he would allow the two soldiers to leave the military if they did not want to continue. Because of this, even though they fulfilled Mark''s request, it still felt that they owed him.


    At this point, Mark smiled. An eerily ufortable smile.


    "Then, General," Mark spoke. "Actually, there is something else."


    "I''m listening."


    The General replied, unsettled by that smile.


    "I want to ask about the person in charge of the evacuation in Baras."


    Everyone heard Mark''s request and felt that something was wrong.


    "I heard something. It seems that whoever that was, he tried to hit on a woman and chased away the people with her when she rejected his invitation."


    Mark added.<sub> </sub>


    The General could not help but frown. He heard about this situation. However, it was buried in the mud because of the need to rush on securing the settlement. It was totally unexpected for it to be dug up at this point in time.


    General Padi had already opened his mouth to ask what was the matter. However, before he could do so, Mark was already gone.


    "ACK!"


    A loud painful choking was heard, turning everyone to the source of the sound. They were shocked to see Mark, who was already choking the officer that was leading the crowd control with his right hand.


    "How convenient. I thought I have to search the whole settlement. Unexpectedly, you are here. Nice."


    Mark said in a chilling tone.


    "Mark! What is going on?"


    The General quickly asked. He was in a bit of panic. Mark was giving out thick killing intent. He could tell. And as far as the General knew, this was bad news.


    Mark then turned to the General, not minding the iling officer as he started tock oxygen. Even though it was obvious that the officer was trying to break free and grab Mark, for some reason, he could not, and his movements were strangely stiff.


    "I won''t hide it since several groups sent people to tail us yesterday. You all probably noticed that I was looking for something."


    "I''m looking for my family."


    Mark confessed.


    "Then!"


    The General tried to interrupt.


    "You don''t have to say anything, General. They are not here. I bet you can deduce it from what I said earlier."


    Mark said.


    The General and the other soldiers could only freeze as the situation sunk into their minds. Mark just said about that event that happened during the evacuation in Baras, Catanduanes. They were not dumb to not realize know what was going on.


    "That woman this guy tried to hit on... That''s my sister, you see..." Mark dered. "This guy chased away my parents, siblings, and rtives."


    "General, I''m kind of disappointed," Mark said, staring at the officer''s insignia on his uniform. "Master Sergeant, huh? Why is this kind of garbage still in this position?"


    The General could not say anything to that. Even though he reasons was because there was a lot of more urgent situations to do in the Settlement, it was a fact that he also neglected a lot of things.


    Who would have thought that it would backfire today?


    Mark nced at the General before turning back to the officer that was already turning purple on his hand.


    "Do you want to say anything?"


    Mark asked, loosening the grip of his hand.


    "F*CK YOU!"


    The officer spat on Mark''s face to everyone''s horror.


    He already knew that he was going to die. He was there when the soldiers under General Seguerra were killed yesterday. Thus, he knew that Mark was a person that would not hesitate to kill.


    "ACK!"


    The office tried to let out more curses only to start choking again.


    Mark then swiped the saliva on his left cheek with his free left arm.


    "Initially, I thought of giving you a quick death. But it looks like you''re more stupid than I thought."


    Then, the officer''s eyes dted in horror. He could feel that something pierced his neck, entered his body, and was now flowing all over it.


    Slowly, his body became stiffer and stiffer. Without his control, his lives began to stretch out.It was until he could not move anything else aside from his neck and above. He also felt weak, as if his body did not have enough blood circting anymore. The worst part, it was painful as hell. He was screaming in agony but almost no voice could be heard because Mark was choking him hard.


    Everyone watching could not understand what was happening. They could only see the officer struggle as his limbs behaved as if he was having seizures.


    The soldiers were concerned about what they were seeing After all, the officer was still a soldier, one of theirrades. However, none of them wanted to be a hero and rescue the officer. Even the General had no such notion.


    And then, Mark opened his hand, letting go of the officer. And like a metal stick that was dropped on the grown vertically, the officer fell with his body frozen like a statue.


    "COUGH! COUGH! AGHHH!!!"


    The officer coughed hard, only to cause him more pain as he screamed. His body seemed to be frozen stiff with only his head capable of moving.


    Everyone could not imagine what happened to the officer and what kind of agony he was going through.


    At this time, Mark turned to the General.


    "General, you still felt indebted to me, right? Then, I have a good request."


    "What is it? Do you need us to find your family?"


    The General asked?


    "Find them?" Mark smiled. "Don''t bother, they''re all dead already."


    Everyone''s hearts started pounding loudly. They could not help but curse inside their minds as their eyes fell on the suffering officer.


    "What I want you to do is to keep this guy alive."


    Mark ordered.


    "What?"


    Of course, the General was bbergasted. But Mark did not care.


    "I don''t care how you guys do it. Just leave him as is or put him on life support or something. Just keep this guy alive as long as possible. If you think that it will waste food and water, then you can feed him dirt or infected meat and make him drink piss. I don''t care as long as he''s alive."


    "I believe, you can do that, right?"


    Mark said as he turned away, walking back to Char.


    "Let''s go."


    Mark said to the two young soldiers.


    The two looked at each other once more, seemingly hesitating. In the end, the two made another voiceless agreement as he steeled themselves and hurriedly followed Mark.


    And there, under everyone''s watch, Mark left taking the two young soldiers with him as they rode on the Dragon''s back.

 Chapter 664 Morning Till Noon, The Looming Chaos In The Camp Of The Rebels

    <strong>Day 148 - 7:45 AM - Military Base, Catanduanes Military Settlement, Codon, San Andres, Catanduanes</strong>


    Inside the Military Base, the soldiers off-duty from their shifts gathered around the infirmary instead of resting. It could not be helped as something absurd was going on.


    Many of them witnessed as Master Sergeant Lucerio Bay was being transported to the infirmary while screaming in agonizing pain. All those that heard his cries shivered as goosebumps enveloped their bodies. It was a scream of a person that wanted to die but could not.


    While being transported in a stretcher, the Master Sergeant was as stiff as a mannequin, with only his head seemed to be capable of moving. Due to the pain that he was feeling, his eyes were already red with tears that seemed to be slightly red because of blood. His nose was overflowing with bloody snot as that only the medics would dare wipe off.


    In the end, doctors decided to administer general anesthesia because of an unexpected action from the officer. Extreme pain was known to lead anyone to make unnecessary actions. In more usual cases, it would cause a person to grab the source of pain while rolling in the ground, instinctually trying to relieve the pain. And in cases where the person could not move, it might lead to more absurd actions.


    While wailing in pain, Master Sergeant Bay forced to move his arm. The soldiers managed to stop him. However, it still caused his arm to rupture a bit, letting metal that solidified in his veins protruding out of his skin. His blood, of course, sttered, leading the doctors to scramble to stop the bleeding.


    Soon, while the doctors were taking care of the officer, General Padi, who seemed to have quite a headache, arrived with few of his usual assistants.


    "Has the bleeding stabilized?"


    The General asked the head doctor after hearing what happened.


    "We managed by reducing the blood pressure on his arm. If possible, we wanted to do an operation. However..."


    The doctor did not finish his sentence and only looked at the protruding metals on the unconscious officer''s arm.


    "This metal substance seemed to be embedded in the blood vessels in his entire body. The only exceptions are the major arteries near the heart and his head." The doctor whipped out some x-ray sheets, showing the eerily clustered metallic substance upying half of the officer''s bloodstream. The metal is also unexpectedly hard. We tried to cut it with a bone saw, but we only managed to take off this little piece."


    The doctor then ced a sealed stic bag on the table. It contained a grain of salt sized metal fragment.


    "I rmend analyzing this metal fragment if we want to save him."


    But then, to the doctor''s surprise, the General shook his head.


    "He is not brought here to be saved. Just keeping him alive is enough. Just make sure to stop the bleeding and constrain him so that it would not happen in the future."


    The doctor hesitated as he confronted General Padi.


    "General, I heard about the situation. Are we really going to do this inhuman thing? If there''s no saving him, isn''t it better to Euthanize him?"


    "I know that." The General replied. "Leaving Bay in that state could also cause repercussions in terms of trust and welfare among our soldiers. However, there''s nothing we can do. He offended someone that he should not have."


    "Is that courier that frightening, General?"


    The doctor asked, seemingly privy of some circumstances in the settlement.


    "It''s not undisclosed to the public yet, but that very same courier you mentioned is the one that saved us from the infectedst night. At first, I did not exactly believe the letters from Faustino. However, the events yesterday afternoon andst night led us to believe it."


    The General then let out a deep sigh.


    "It is better to assume that his group might have the ability to wipe out this settlement off the face of Earth. Between the life of an immoral soldier and the popce, you already knew what to choose, right?"


    "That is why you should not ask or do anything unnecessary. Just keep Bay alive as much as possible."


    The General added.


    "Yes, General."


    The doctor nodded. It might be heavy in his heart to see a patient suffering like hell, but there was nothing they would be able to do in the face of a far greater threat.


    ***


    <strong>Day 148 - 8:05 AM - Mt. Obi, Obi, Caramoran, Catanduanes</strong>


    Flying over the forest-covered mountain of Obi in Caramoran, the two young soldiers smoothly integrated into the group.


    Unlike Berrak, who was mostly silent because he was afraid of Mark, the two were more outgoing. Of course, they felt goosebumps due to the punishment that Mark gave that officer. But considering the reason, they really could not me Mark.


    But then, the truth came to light soon enough.


    "It''s really amazing how you can lie straight-faced, like that," Pefile remarked. "But it''s a very clever move to dere that your family is already dead."


    "Wait, Boss..." Padua immediately asked. "You''re family is still alive?"


    "Dude!"


    Of course, Geronimo started jabbing his friend with his elbow to stop him from asking.


    "It''s fine," Mark said to the two before turning to Pefile. "It''s better that way, right? Dering them dead is a good way of protecting them. There are a lot of rats in that settlement, after all."


    By confessing what he was looking for at the settlement, he answered the suspicions of the people tailing them at that time. Then, telling them all what happened, dering that his family had already passed on, and punishing the culprit with something worse than death would force everyone to go to conclusions that he expected them to.


    If he did not confess that he was looking for his family, some smart brains might start investigating it, and it could lead to his family being found by unnecessary people. The military trying to make a connection with them was one thing, but the other rats might instead try to capture them and use his family to tie him up.


    Mark did not want that to happen.


    At this time, Mark then looked at the two young soldiers. It was when the two soldiers could only open their mouths in shock and amazement as Mark opened a ck hole in front of him and took out two M16 Machine Guns and several ammunition cases.


    "You two divide these."


    Mark said to the two.


    Aside from their things, the only weapon the two currently had were pistols. Their other military equipment had to be surrendered after they were relieved from their duties. Of course, they had credits in the settlement that could be exchanged for other things since they were soldiers.


    However, deciding to follow Mark meant leaving the settlement from the start. The credits they had in this settlement would be rendered useless. They could have exchanged the credits for weapons, but Mark already told them not to when he invited them. Instead, after exchanging for some necessities, the two transferred their remaining credits to their close friends in the army who had families to feed.


    Now, they knew why Mark told them that.<sub> </sub>


    But still, there was one thing that confused the two. Why did Mark give them weapons at this moment?


    Not minding their reactions, Mark spoke.


    "I need you two to prepare. We are going to storm the rebels'' camp soon."


    "HAH?!"


    Of course, the two were shocked even more.


    "You two don''t have to be surprised like that."


    "B-but Boss!"


    Padua voiced out, stuttering. Even though he was a courageous person, it would be hard to find the courage to storm an enemy''s base with just a few people.


    Beside Padua, Geronimo could only stare at Mark, not knowing what to say.


    "Don''t worry." Mark shrugged. "It won''t be that dangerous."


    ***


    <strong>Day 148 - 12:11 PM - San Pedro Pocion, Municipality of Viga, Catanduanes</strong>


    The sun was already high up in the sky. Most of the rebels were amidst their lunch break.


    At a warehouse in the factory area, the workers were lining up, getting their barely filling ration. A bowl of watered-down soup as a side dish for a half cup of rice was not really that bad, though. In the least, they were being fed.


    It was the regr daily urrence here. Though this time, there was an unusually sad atmosphere among some workers.


    They were those whose rtives and friends went missingst night during that suicide mission.


    Among them was a short but quite boyish woman. She was slowly eating her food with a dull expression.


    "Marian, don''t be sad. Your brother is just missing. There''s a chance that he''s still alive."


    Another woman sitting beside Marian said, rubbing thetter''s back tofort her.


    "That''s easy to say," Marian replied. "With how things on Earth are right now, the percentage of surviving is much lower than dying. If someone went missing, it''s more reasonable to think for the worse than have false hope."


    The women sitting with Marian at the same table could only smile bitterly. They wanted to cheer her up, but it seemed to have backfired.


    "Come on, don''t be like that." Another woman chimed in. "We are just worried about you."


    A lot of people''s true colors were revealed during the hard times. While some would end up with the worst, the opposite was also the same. People suffering the same fate without any other way out could bond easier, sometimes leading to good friendships. But of course, it was hard to determine which one was true and which was false.


    Drowning under the ufortable atmosphere, everyone continued to eat with bitter faces. They had to finish as soon as they could since their time for lunch was limited.


    But then, a strange event happened.


    Someone entered the warehouse. At first, only a few people facing the wide-opened door noticed the person. Then, the ones that saw how the first ones reacted followed suit. It only took a few seconds, and everyone''s attention was already on that person.


    Why?


    The person was wearing a sinister-looking mask, paired with a simrly looking armor.


    No one recognized that person, especially that appearance. At first, the workers thought that the person was among the rebels with quite a hobby.


    But then, the guards that were keeping their eyes on the workers readied their weapons and approached the masked person.


    As it appeared, even the rebels did not recognize the person.


    "Who are you?!"


    One of the rebels aggressively asked, pointing his gun at the armored person. This rebel was the person-in-charge of the workers. As such, he was privy to things around the base. And, of course, there was no information or notification about this armored person. Furthermore, unauthorized entry was not allowed in the factory area. Only the members that were stationed here were allowed to enter. It was to secure the supplies and other important things to be properly monitored.


    That was why the arrival of this armored person was extremely suspicious.


    But then, ignoring the armed man in front of him, the armored person turned his head towards a specific direction.


    "Looks like she''s fine."


    The armored man could be heard.


    Of course, being ignored like that left an extremely bad taste to the rebels. As such, the person-in-charge exerted more pressure on his voice.


    "I''m asking a question here! WHO! THE! F*CK! ARE! YOU! ARE YOU DEAF!" The rebel then started poking the armored person with the nuzzle of his gun. "And what the f*ck is this appearance? Did you go to a children''s party?"


    The rebels startedughing like hooligans. Sure enough, they found it funny, thinking that the armor was just some sort of costume"


    But then, theughter was cut short.


    The armored man waved his hand.


    Everyone watching was confused as to why the rebels suddenly went silent. It was until their bodies fell with their heads separated.


    The chilling sensation enveloped the bodies of the workers. As most of them were weak-hearted women, this scene made many of them scream in fear.


    Inside the warehouse, chaos began.


    Well, that should have been the next events that happened. However, it did not as everyone froze in their tracks, unable to move with their shaking legs.

 Chapter 665 Cleaning The Warehouse, The Way The Rebels Deal With Dangerous Situations

    <o>,m <strong>Day 148 - 12:15 PM - Warehouse, Factory Area, Rebel Base, San Pedro Pocion, Municipality of Viga, Catanduanes</strong></o>


    Like mannequins, everyone inside the warehouse was frozen stiff. There was no distinction whether they were the rebels or the forced workers. All of them were under the frightening effect of Mark''s Emphatic Ability.


    Even his sister included. Of course, unlike the others, he controlled the effect on Marian.


    Nevertheless, it did not remove the fact that it was a frightening situation simr to everyone experiencing sleep paralysis at the same time.


    But Mark did not care.


    Shaking, they could only watch as Mark started walking around the warehouse. The first he approached was another group of rebels at the corner tasked to guard the workers.


    Of course, they were panicking.


    They wanted to flee, but their bodies refused to move. There were those with a stronger will. However, the only movement they could make was to fall t on the floor.


    Mark waved his right hand. Those that still stood fell with their heads rolling away and blood creating a pool on the floor. Mark then looked down and waved his hand a few more times. The rebels that fell to the floor in resistance followed the demise of theirrades.


    They died with eyes opened wide, unable to voice out their horror.


    Sure enough, their voiceless deaths stirred up everyone present. They started to believe that Mark was not a human but a monster.


    Nheless, some thought otherwise. After all, Mark was walking past the panicked women.He was only aiming at the rebels that were supposed to keep an eye on them.


    But then, the confusion came as Mark raised his hand at the next group of the horrified armed men and stopped a bit before waving his hand once more. However, while most of these men fell with decapitated heads, one remained standing, shaking violently in fear.


    Mark stared at the man for a second before turning back. That was when the sensation on the man''s body returned. He fell kneeling to the pool of blood of the killed rebels beside him. The man could only look at Mark''s back without even a shred of will to raise the weapon on his hands. But then, to the surprise of everyone, a woman at a table nearby regained the ability to move. Instead of running, however, she unexpectedly rushed towards the man spared by Mark.


    Fearing for their lives, the two could only embrace each other. It was clear that they had an intimate rtionship.


    "If you two want to live, don''t move from that spot."


    The people around heard Mark spoke to the two. Of course, there was no response aside from their confused stare with eyes filled with fear. But even so, the two did not want to die. Thus, they could only stay put, even if they were kneeling on the blood of the dead rebels.


    Ignoring the two, Mark made his way toward thest group of rebels in the warehouse.


    It was the group guarding the workers in charge of cooking and distributing lunch.


    And, of course, they all died without resistance. Now, aside from the spared man, the only ones remaining in the warehouse were all women. After all, it was the area where the captured women were all forced to work.


    As for the men, those that were capable got forced into the ranks of the rebels. On the other hand, the ones incapable of fighting got sent to the field for farming. Thus, none of them were here.


    After clearing the warehouse of rebels, Mark spoke out loud.


    "I''ll let all of you move now! Stay put, and don''t make a ruckus, though I don''t mind if any of you want to follow these guys."


    As Mark said his threat, he kicked a severed head into the air like a ser ball, sttering blood at the trajectory it traveled. And to the horror of some, the blood fell on their bodies.


    "URPH!"


    Some of the women could not help but feel nauseous, getting her face sttered with blood. It was not surprising since some of them here were not used to such gore. They wanted to vomit out the food they had just eaten. However, the fear of Mark forced them to hold it in.


    Mark monitored everyone''s emotions. Knowing that they decided to stay put, he released his coercion, allowing these women to regain their movements.


    "W-what are you going to do with us?"


    A courageous woman asked Mark.


    "Don''t worry," Mark replied. "I''m only here for the rebels. After this, you are all free to go wherever you wanted."


    When Mark said that, it immediately exploded into amotion.


    "HMMM?"


    Mark then tilted his head threateningly, causing a sudden silence to enveloped the warehouse.


    This silence should have allowed Mark to speak more.


    But then...


    BAM!!!


    The metal wall of the warehouse was punctured by a sniper bullet.


    At the same moment, Mark swiftly moved his right arm, making his right hand block his temple.


    CLANG!!!


    Mark''s armored hand closed and shook violently with a loud metallic sound.


    The women panicked. It was obvious that Mark was shot at.


    It was when Mark opened his hand, letting a ttened tip of a sniper bullet fall to the floor.


    "Damn it. My hand hurts," Mark said, shaking his hand because of the pain. "Looks like they had some experts, huh."


    Mark turned his head, looking at the punctured metal wall near the entrance of the warehouse.


    ***


    In the watchtower at the walls, a man equipped with a sniper rifle could not believe what he had just seen. He was a Mutator with thermal vision. Furthermore, his sight could pass through thin metal walls like the ones used to build the warehouse. Although the sun could affect his eyesight, it was still usable as the temperature in the surroundings was cooler even during noon. As such, he could see what just happened clearly.


    "Jules, what happened? Did you kill the intruder?"


    Another man asked the frozen sniper.


    "Shit! No! The bastard caught the bullet with his hand!" The sniper hurriedly said as he snapped back to reality. "Quick! Report to the others that we are not dealing with just some intruder right now! I will go ring the bell!"


    "Good!"


    The other man replied without question.


    Well, that was hisst word, though.


    PANG!<sub> </sub>


    Before the man could jump off the watchtower, his head was blown off.


    "WHAT THE F-!!!"


    Jules'' eyes turned wide as he saw hisrade''s body fall in front of him. He cursed as he tried to duck. Unfortunately for him, it was toote. A bullet pierced through the wall of the watchtower and hit him. The bullet punctured his lungs and liver, indicated that the shot came from higher ground.


    ***


    Back at the warehouse, everyone was silent.


    "Looks like they''re dealt with." Mark shrugged. "But the others were already alerted, huh. Do they have someone with abilities like Huey, I wonder."


    Mark was murmuring as he detected arge number of rebels started to surround the warehouse.


    ***


    All over the rebels'' base, the watchtower bells were all ringing violently. These rebels were a proper organization. The rings of their bells indicated a message. Usually, they had rhythmic ones indicating iing infected or military. The violent ringing, however, indicated urgent emergencies like the base being infiltrated.


    It was not the first time that this happened. As such, the rebels were quite fast to respond. Most of them ran to a designated ce to learn the situation before rushing to the area where the intruder was located.


    Because of this system, although most of them did not arrive at the scene together, they gathered fast. In hindsight, arge number of the rebels gathering at one ce might sound overkill. However, since thest one was actually a mutated animal that was hard to kill, it could not be helped.


    Right now, about half of the armed forces of the rebels were already gathered outside the warehouse. They were being led by theirbatmander, Renz.


    "THE INTRUDER INSIDE! GO OUT OF THE WAREHOUSE AND SURRENDER! OR ELSE! WE WILL SHOWER THE WAREHOUSE WITH BULLETS!"


    Renz shouted using a megaphone.


    Normally, they would not do this kind of threat. It was because the ones that infiltrated them so far were mutated tricky and mindless creatures. But now, it was clear that the intruder was sentient. From what they knew, the workers inside were still alive.


    "Are you sure that the workers are still alive?"


    Renz turned off the megaphone and asked the man beside him.


    "Aside from one, our men inside the warehouse are all dead. All the workers we captured as all fine."


    The man closed his eyes, sensing the situation inside the warehouse as he replied.


    "TSK." Renz clicked his tongue. "It could have been easier of those are dead."


    If the workers were already dead, they could just storm the warehouse and riddle the intruder with bullets. However, the workers were still alive. If they just shot their guns recklessly and killed the workers in the process, their leader with her stupid virtues would definitely skin them alive.


    Renz hated that woman to the bones. However, it was not worth it to confront her over some worthless people. It was not the right time, either.


    Suddenly, amotion started among the rebels. It was because the intruder actually went out of the warehouse. That sinister appearance gave them nothing but bad news.


    ***


    Mark walked out of the warehouse without care. Of course, he made sure to warn the women inside to lower themselves to the floor just in case.


    Looking at the rebels that had their guns pointed at him, Mark smiled.


    "Just like I wanted. It is easier to eliminate these guys if they gathered like this."


    Mark then stretched both his shoulders to the rebels'' bewilderment.


    Renz saw those actions and raised his megaphone once more. Like a third-rate viin, it seemed that he was about to start a useless chatter.


    And Mark was not really fond of that.


    As such, without waiting for any words toe out the mouth of the guy with the megaphone, Mark leaned forwards.


    BAM!


    A loud sound was heard as the cement under Mark''s foot cracked. And then, with a blur, Mark appeared in front of the nearest rebel.


    SWISH!


    Unable to react to Mark''s fast movements, a slit appeared on that rebel''s neck after Mark''s hand swiped at it.


    But that was just the start.


    The other rebels beside the first one followed suit.


    Most of the rebels froze, unable to process what just happened. It was until someone fired his gun. Unexpectedly, it was no other than Renz that had already thrown his megaphone away in irritation.


    "WHAT ARE YOU F*CKERS DOING STARING LIKE IDIOTS! SHOOT!"


    Renz roared as he stared shooting Mark like a madman.


    The other rebels followed the order and shot Mark without hesitation.


    Unfortunately, for some reason that none of them could understand, all their bullets missed. They continued shooting, emptying magazine after magazine. But not a single bullet made contact with their target''s body.


    On the other hand, the intruder had already killed more than a dozen of theirrades.


    "SH*T! WHAT THE HELL IS THIS?!"


    A rebel cried out as he started retreating. Mark was already close to his position, and he could feel death looming over him as he entered Mark''s line of sight. In the end, he could not help but abandon his position, and run away like a chicken.


    However, it waste.


    One thing that a person should not do was to turn his back to the enemy.


    That rebel could only gape his mouth as he lost the sensation of his body. That was when he realized that he was now nothing but a dying head that was about to roll to the ground.


    Finally, the rebels realized that their guns were useless. Some started to abandon their weapons and transformed while the others made their retreat.


    "These rebels sure had some organized way of dealing with enemies, huh."


    Mark smiled under his mask as he saw the Mutators of the rebels charge at him.

 Chapter 666 Streaks Of Black Lightning, Whittling Away The Ranks Of The Rebels

    <strong>Day 147 - 12:21 PM - Factory Area, Rebel Base, San Pedro Pocion, Municipality of Viga, Catanduanes</strong>


    It might be a bitte because of Mark''s fast movements. However, even without instructions, the armed rebels that were not Mutators already moved out of the way. It was for them not to drag the Mutators as they fought the threat.


    This voluntary act of the rebels proved both theirpetence and experience. And as it appeared, they had a set of actions to take at different circumstances.


    Mark watched the Mutators charge at him with interest. Furthermore, although the Mutators were already moving towards him as fast as possible, they seemed to be waiting for something.


    "GET INTO PREDATOR FORMATION!"


    Renz shouted at his megaphone.


    As it seemed, that was what they were waiting for.


    The armed rebels retreated further but not too far away before moving into different directions. They then hurriedly formed ranks around the area. Most of them moved into higher grounds. The whole ce had scaffoldings connected by bridges everywhere, which was likely a precaution against infected attacks.


    On the other hand, the Mutators also changed their movements. Instead of charging at Mark and started attacking, they separated, moving around Mark.


    Almost immediately, Mark was surrounded by the rebels in all directions.


    It was not hard for Mark to understand what was happening. The name Predator in this formation might be about the [Predator Type] infected. The type of infected that would attack brutally while moving fast. It also had a tendency to retreat andmit unexpected movements and ambushes.


    And the best way to stop a [Predator Type]''s unexpected actions was to surround it as fast as possible if it was not subdued immediately.


    By the looks of it, the Combat Commander deemed Mark simr to a [Predator Type] and applied such actions.


    It was kind of funny, though, since it was clear that Mark was not an infected. This kind of tactic would only work at the infected since they were brainless for the most part. Of course, it would also work against humans since it was a tactic to overwhelm the enemy.


    But to Mark, he could not see how this would affect him at all.


    In any case, Mark stopped in ce, watching the rebels with a shrug.


    Mark''s action, however, made the rebels think that they cornered him. It was amazing that they were optimistic, but unfortunately, they were mistaken.


    At this time, Renz took the opportunity to speak on his megaphone.


    "WHO THE F*CK ARE YOU, AND WHY ARE YOU MAKING TROUBLE IN OUR BASE?!"


    Mark could not help but frown. He was a person that mostly spent time in silence. Thus, one of the things he hated the most was megaphones. The loud ringing in his ears felt irritating and unpleasant.


    As such, he did not hesitate to reply.


    "It''s obvious, isn''t it? I''m here to trample some insects. As for who I am, there''s no need for the dead to know."


    It was a bold deration for someone currently being surrounded by more than a hundred armed men. Not to mention that more of them wereing and gathering to this ce to kill the intruder.


    Nheless, the rebels could not make themselvesugh and ridicule the person that threatened them. It was because there were already several people that fell just a few seconds after the confrontation began. And none of them could prevent it from happening. They could not take this intruder lightly, even if they wanted to.


    "You!" Renz furrowed his eyebrows and stared at Mark ferociously. "TSK! KILL HIM!"


    Themand was given, and the Mutators surrounding Mark fell back at the same time. Then, from more than a hundred guns pointed at Mark, bullets rained with a loud uproar.


    Immediately, Mark ran forwards, avoiding the gunshots. He could not stay at that spot since it would cause a lot of bullets to fly into the warehouse. That would be a dangerous thing that Mark would not let happen.


    As he ran, Mark''s first target was the Mutator in front. Why? Within the rebels in the surroundings, there were about thirty Mutators. Fifteen of them were among the ones that surrounded Mark. Compared to the others, the one in front was a burly man with quite slow movements. However, his bright green colored skin gave Mark a bad feeling. This man was most likely had the ability to use poison and must be eliminated first.


    Mark stretched his hand forwards, causing the Mutator to look confused as he retreated. After all, he was far from Mark''s reach at all.


    But then, the green-skinned Mutator''s eye dted when he saw a ck spark of electricity on Mark''s hand.


    ROOAR!!!


    With a thundering roar, a whip of ck lightning tore through the Mutator''s body and the ranks of rebels that stood behind him.


    Dozens of rebels fell as life was snuffed out of their bodies instantly while more fell incapacitated, violently convulsing with their mouths foaming.


    The whole ce fell silent with extreme horror grasping their hearts.


    They could notprehend what happened immediately. The rebels understood one thing, however. The person they were dealing with this time might not be a human but a monster.


    The rebels started to step back. Their courage to fight suddenly waned.


    Being able to move fast and kill people with a few waves of his hand was still considered normal since the apocalypse started. But that ck lightning that shot from the intruder''s hand and killed many of theirrades, it could be anything but normal.


    Among all kinds of fear, the fear of the unknown was the most horrifying. And now, something they could not fathom stood before them.


    "M-MONSTER!"


    A rebel cried out as he threw away his gun and ran for his life.


    With one starting it, the others followed suit. In the least, not all of them were stupid to let go of their weapons before running with their tails between their legs.


    The rebels were already in chaos, and the chain ofmand copsed. Aside from Renz, only a small portion of the rebels stood their ground.


    "STUPID IDIOTS! DON''T RUN AWAY!!!"


    Renz yelled in his megaphone. Unfortunately, barely anyone listened to his shout.


    And there, Renz raised the machine gun dangling on his body. Then, he fired. Not at Mark, but at his fleeing subordinates.


    With a few rounds of indiscriminate firing, some of the Rebels fell either dead or injured. This caused the majority to be frozen in their steps.


    "FIGHT OR I WILL BE THE ONES KILLING YOU ALL!"<sub> </sub>


    The rebels became torn between the fear of Mark and the fear from theirbatmander.


    This scene proved something. While these rebels werepetent and experienced in fighting, their minds and hearts were stillcking in resolve. They could efficiently move when they thought that they were still at an advantage. But now that they were all swallowed by fear, their heads stopped working properly.


    And to say, freezing in their steps was the worst thing to do in front of a fierce enemy.


    ROAR!


    Another roar of thunder was heard, tearing through the rebels with Renz as the primary target. Killing the head would turn an army into a headless chicken. And the more chaotic it was, the easier it would be to destroy everything.


    However, Renz was not amander just for show. The moment he felt the threat, he jumped out of the way, throwing his gun at the trajectory of the ck lightning. As the gun was directly hit but the lightning, it bent away from Renz.


    To be able to move out swiftly and throw a heavy machine gun without problems, Renz himself was not just a regr person either.


    Renz turned his head to Mark. The former could feel that thetter already locked unto him. Thus, he activated his Mutator ability, making his arm and legs covered in gray fur.


    It was a partial mutation, but it was enough for Renz to get out of the most dangerous situations.


    ROOAR! ROOAR! ROOAR!


    Mark shot ck lightning consecutively at thebatmander of the rebels. But like a hard-to-kill insect, Renz managed to avoid it using his subordinates as shields.


    And as it appeared, not all the rebels lost morale in fighting the intruder. The Mutators started to attack Mark using their abilities while snipers began firing from the surrounding watchtowers.


    Compared to the ones near Mark, the rebels further away were stillposed.


    However, to that overwhelming firepower aimed at him, Mark''s response was a satisfied smile.


    Since the time he absorbed the [Lightning Maniption Mental Crystal] and one of the two [Speed Bone Mutation Physical Crystal], this was the very first time he was able to fully utilize both abilities.


    Using lightning attacks was the most efficient in dealing with these rebels. Because all of them were holding metal conductors, a.k.a. guns, it was easier for the lightning bolts to bounce from target to target.


    And using the speed he acquired from that mutation, it became easier for him to react to attacks and bullets flying towards him.


    Apanied with his [Emphatic Detection] made both abilities utilized even further.


    Thus, in the middle of these humans, he was like an invincible war god.


    Without hesitation, Mark eliminated the Mutators around him, grabbing some of them and using their bodies as shields against iing gunfire. After their deaths, he would make sure to decapitate them and store the heads inside his ring. There was no way he would waste resources, after all.


    Not far from Mark, Renz, who managed to take advantage of the situation and hid, could not believe what he was watching. Their precious Mutators were getting ughtered one by one, and their manpower was losing a huge fraction after every roar of thunder.


    And yet, the intruder was still unscathed.


    "Just where in the world did this monster came from!"


    Renz red at Mark with extreme rage. There was their leader that he hated and could not surpass in terms of strength. And now, there was this monster that was demolishing the foundation that he was slowly building.


    Getting these rebels to follow hismands without question was not easy. And now, the very same people were dying in front of him. What was the most annoying thing was that they seemed to disy a simr ability.


    "HATEFUL!"


    Renz growled. However, despite his rage, his mind was still clear. He was not stupid to charge forwards andmit suicide.


    Instead, he waited for an opportunity.


    Luckily for Renz, what he was waiting for did not take long to arrive.


    ROAR!


    Another roar of thunder echoed across the rebel base. This time, however, it was not a ck streak of lightning but a normal looking one. Furthermore, it was not a formless attack as the lightning seemed to gather at a single point like a huge ball.


    And that point was charging at Mark at rming speeds.


    BAM!


    Mark and that ball of lightning shed, creating bolts of both ck and yellow lightning to scatter into the surroundings.


    Stretching his right arm forwards, Mark looked at the enemy whose fist met his.


    It was a woman in her early thirties with flowing golden hair and a body d in bright surges of electricity.


    Looking at this woman, her appearance definitely fits a certain person. Without a doubt, she was the leader of the aggressive faction of the rebels, Emellynn Aguillera.


    BAM!


    Mark and Emellynn had their other fists sh, causing both of them to retreat backward.


    And to say, Mark did not expect something.


    It was not a secret that the leader of this faction was a female Mutator. But as there was no established level differentiation among Mutators, such information was nowhere to be found.


    But to Mark, he could tell that this woman was already a [Level 3]. And the most surprising was that she was likely to be very close to reaching [Level 4].


    While Mark was observing Emellynn, she was doing the same. Unlike Renz, however, it seemed that she had some idea who Mark was.


    "You must be that courier that arrived yesterday... What is your reason for attacking us."


    Mark was not surprised that she knew. After all, there was one person among the rebels that he was quite familiar with.


    Emellynn''s right-hand man, who was called Felix. He was one of the people in the group that General Padi''s Secretary, Vanessa, belonged to.

 Chapter 692 The Yasaws Ambush, Dragging The Demons From A Mountain To Another

    <strong>Day 151 - 8:30 PM - Gigmoto Mountains, Barangay Biong, Municipality of Gigmoto, Catanduanes</strong>


    The Demons continued to move through the mountains in droves. The more Mark observed, the more he understood what was going on with the Demons.


    They were not only unorganized. What caused these utterly scattered groups of Demons was the more powerful ones wanting to be the first to the frontlines. It was not surprising for races that loved the scene of bloodshed.


    Nheless, the more they scattered around the mountain, the more things went in Mark''s favor.


    Since Mark already sent the go signal, the creatures he took under hismand began to make their moves.


    It was one of the conditions Mark told Diwata Iraya after agreeing to help. He took some of the Diwata''s people to take under hismand. Mainly, the Yasaws, which were deemed to be harmless and useless in battle.


    Yasaws were not elementals and not exactly a Spirit Race. They were creatures of the night and were known to be among the minions of Aswangs. However, they were not exactly Demons either. They were unlike the other Demon Races that could kill enemies, especially humans, without remorse. The Yasaws were the opposite. The worst that they could do was y harmless pranks on people. They were never known to harm humans unlike other minions of the Aswang.


    That was why when a portion of the Yasaws in the ind decided to join Diwata Iraya''s side several decades ago, the Diwata did not hesitate to ept them. Being epted into the Diwata''s sanctuary, they did not let her down and they soon managed to get a concrete position among the Spirits and Elementals.


    Their origins were unknown and no one knew about the past of Yasaws. Nheless, they were prominent creatures in Bo Folklore.


    It was not a secret that the Demons also had Yasaws in their camp. But, of course, they were treated as the lowest of the low. They were never included in battles and served asckeys and servants for the more powerful Demons.


    Unfortunately for these Demons, the Yasaws they belittled would be the tide turners here.


    Mark closed his eyes, putting his entire concentration on the terrain below. Soon, arge portion of the mountain was already monitored by him.


    "HU-ACK?!"


    Suddenly, a muffled cry echoed from a Demon. However, not only that the Demon''s cry was not heard by others, his presence vanished afterward.


    Mark smiled. The ambush was starting.


    The Yasaws were not really built to fight. They might have ws on their fingers but their childish bodies brought them a great disadvantage in almost every aspect. The only thing that they had over others was their ability to travel fast.


    Actually, saying that it was some kind of fast travel was an understatement. It was not wrong to say that they were capable of distorting space, allowing themselves and some people with them to move in fast paces despite appearing to be traveling at normal speeds.


    Today, instead of resting, Mark experimented instead. He took some Yasaws as volunteers to test this unique ability of theirs.


    Unexpectedly, this [Fast Travel] ability had some limitations. One, they could only travel in a straight line while using it. The only way they could turn was to stop the ability and use it again after facing the right direction. Next, they could only allow people to be included in this ability if they were moving in the same direction as Yasaws were.


    Mark remembered when he first met Diwata Iraya and her people. Surely, they only moved straight, and Mark and Char followed behind the Diwata Iraya and the Yasaws at that time.


    It also made Mark remember his mother''s story about encountering the Yasaws while going home from the church. ording to what his mother said, she was walking along with the ck Children while they were talking. It meant that she was likely to be moving in the same direction as the Yasaws and got caught in their ability.


    With that as a clue, Mark found out something unexpected. He remembered that his unconcious brother was brought with them at that time. He was included in the ability while being carried along. Normally, one would just pass that by as a normal mechanic. But then, thinking about it, Mark''s brother was being carried in the same direction as the Yasaws using their ability.


    There, Mark tried something.


    Mark tried to jump backward and told the volunteer Yasaws to activate their ability in the same direction that he was moving.


    As a result, Mark got dragged in and was moved along with the Yasaws.


    Mark''snding at that time was unsightly as he lost bnce due to sudden movement. However, Mark could only smile as it was the key to utilizing the Yasaws in battle.


    And now, the same tactic was being used by the Yasaws as Mark taught them.


    On the opposite mountain of the one being traveled by Demons, the groups of Elementals and Spiritsid in ambush.


    They formed groups with Mark''s instructions.


    The main formation was two to three Yasaws and a Sylph in each group, along with any Elemental or Spirit that had enough strength to push or stagger an enemy.


    Mark turned towards the opposite mountain. Another ambush group found their target.


    As they rehearsed, the whole group moved towards the target using the Yasaw''s [Fast Travel]. However, the intention was not to block the target''s path. Instead, they appeared to the east side of the target.


    When everyone appeared, the first thing the group did was turn around, all of them. It made them all face the very same mountain where they came from, the mountain west of Gigmoto.


    Then, the Slyph activated her magic, stopping any sound from leaking out.


    The target Demon noticed the people appearing beside him and yelled in surprise. However, the Sylph already blocked the sound, and no one else was able to hear the Demon.


    Before the Demon could fully react to the situation, the Spirit Race, this time, a Kabn, which was a centaur-like creature, charged and tackled the Demon.


    Unable to react, the Demon was flung away. The moment that happened, the Yasaws activated their ability.<sub> </sub>


    The next thing that the Demon knew, as he lost bnce. He was already on a different mountain. His eyes turned wide as he saw the enemies surrounding him. Before he could react, spears pierced his body, sttering ck blood to the ground.


    Without understanding anything that happened, the Demon died miserably. However, its body did not turn to dust. As it seemed, it was one of the humans that was turned into a Demon using the ritual. Their bodies would be left intact until the sun rose in the morning and turn it to dust.


    Mark looked at the situation with satisfaction.


    There were several dozen groups moving in unison on that mountain. They were dragging the stray Demons one by one, killing them without letting the enemies know.


    Mark could tell that the Yasaws were still nervous. It was the first time that they would join a battle like this at all. However, as they seeded more and more, dragging enemies away from their groups, the confidence of these child-like creatures rose.


    "Whoops."


    Mark murmured as he turned into a surge of ck mist and charged into the forest.


    One of the groups messed up and failed to notice that their target had anotherpanion nearby. Even if they seeded in dragging their target away, they would be seen by the other Demon.


    And there, it was Mark''s duty to avoid that situation.


    Sure enough, the group was seen dragging their target away. The group also noticed the other Demon. However, it was alreadyte, and they could only run away.


    But then, before the Demon could shout anything, Mark appeared in front of him, grabbed his neck, and the two of them turned into a surge of ck mist that flew away.


    No one else among the Demons noticed anything.


    Mark managed to catch up with the group that messed up. Their target was already killed by the warriors on stand-by. Still, the group was nervous because of what happened. They did not want to be the cause for the enemies to know what was going on.


    As he arrived, Mark threw the suffocated Demon on the ground. It made the group relieved as they recognized the Demon that Mark caught.


    The warriors around immediately killed the Demon, making sure that it would not get up anymore.


    "Be careful not to mess up again."


    Mark said as he flew off, going back to monitoring the surroundings.


    Aside from some mistakes like that, the n was going smoothly. Going back and forth, the forces of Spirits and Elementals already managed to kill more than two hundred scattered Demons without others noticing.


    It was an amazing feat, considering that they did not even lose a single person.


    What attributed to this was the Yasaws'' ability. Furthermore, since they were weak creatures, it was easier for them to discern the more powerful Demons and avoided them. Surely, what they dispatched were just regr, low-strength Demons. Nheless, every single enemy they killed would lessen the number of enemies at the main battle.


    One and a half hours passed. The kill count of the ambush reached half of a thousand.


    There were dozens of close calls, but Mark managed to do his best to remedy the situation.


    In one instance, Mark had to kill three Demons on the spot. It was one of the things he wanted to avoid since the smell of Demon blood might alert the others because it had quite a different stench on it. Fortunately, Mark managed to do ast-minute move. He stored the dead bodies of the Demons inside his ring and threw several dead evolved animals in the scene. These carcasses were just lying around everywhere in the mountain because of the Demons and were easy to find.


    Because of that, the next Demons that passed by the area noticed the smell of the blood of their brethren. However, since they saw dead animals at the scene, they thought that the owner of the blood got injured because of the beasts but still managed to kill the enemies before continuing on.


    The trickiest one was when one group tried to drag away their target, a female Demon. Unexpectedly, the target turned out to be a Manananggal. The group managed to tackle their target, but as they moved to drag the enemy away, the torso of the woman detached in a panic.


    Normally, Manananggals needed to undergo some chants and rituals before their upper and lower bodies detached from each other. By what it seemed, this Mananaggal was quite a veteran to be able to detach her body instantly.


    Because of the sudden separation of the Manananggal''s body, what the group dragged away was only the target''s lower body while the upper body was left in confusion.


    Mark had to rush to the Manananggal as it almost flew away to alert all the Demons. It was quite tricky since a Manananggal could not be killed easily once they transformed. It was not wrong to say that they were semi-immortal beings. The only thing that could kill them in this form was magical attacks or the light of the sun.


    However, they could not do either in the current situation. Using a magical attack that was needed to kill a Manananggal would cause quite a huge fluctuation. It would alert the higher-ranked Demons.


    The only thing that they could do was to capture the Mananaggal and kill itter. Fortunately, Mark''s [Blood Metal] could do the trick.


    After killing half a thousand low-ranked Demons, Mark signaled the retreat.


    Mark noticed from the sky that arge group of the Demons wasing. Many of them had powerful fluctuations from their bodies. There was even a guy fully d in mes. It made Mark question if it was alright for a guy like that to walk across the forest.


    Unlike the first groups, this group was far more organized. It was likely to be the leader''s main troops.


    There was no way that the same trick would be sessful against these guys.


    In any case, the ambush was already a sess.


    Mark could not wait to see the reactions from these Demons after knowing that they were missing arge fraction of their army.

 Chapter 668 Impenetrable Ice, Emellynns Rage And The Saving The Captured Males

    <strong>Day 148 - 12:25 PM - Factory Area, Rebel Base, San Pablo Pocion, Municipality of Viga, Catanduanes</strong>


    Smoke screened, obscuring everyone''s sight.


    Intense heat surged across the ce.


    Blood painted the scorched ground.


    Dismembered body parts littered the surroundings.


    In the middle of it all, Emellynn stood.


    Emellynn''s golden hair was now clear blue like icicles. Instead of surges of electricity, thick ice armor covered her body.


    Renz and his men stared at Emellynn in utter shock. Even the surviving rebels were surprised to see their leader still alive from that devastating explosion.


    It seemed that no one here, aside from Felix, knew about Emellynn having this ability. As it appeared, she hid it well.


    "H-how is this possible?!!"


    Even if Renz did not want to, only those words coulde out of his mouth.


    "Wow, surprised Pikachu face."


    Another voice echoed.


    Those that heard that voice could not help but turn and saw Mark sitting on a scaffolding not far from Felix.


    This scene poured another bucket of icy water on Renz and his men.


    It was unbelievable that both the targets engulfed by the explosions of hundreds of rockets were still alive.


    "RENZ!!!"


    Emellynn roared in a burst of fury.


    The surroundings felt colder and colder. Renz could not help but flinch.


    "FIRE! FIRE!"


    Renz yelled in fear.


    Rocket Launchers were not easy to reload, especially for peoplecking experience. The only thing that the rebels could fire was their guns.


    And by Renz''s order, more than a hundred people caused a war-like rain of bullets to the rebel leader.


    The deafening sound of gunshots echoed throughout the rebel base.


    In response to that, however, Emellynn punched the ground with both her ice-covered fist.


    CREAK! CRASH!


    With ss-like sounds, walls of ice rose around her.


    No bullet managed to reach her at all because of the walls of ice.


    Furthermore, the bullets could barely leave a crack on the walls, showing how resilient the walls of ice were.


    More and more bullets buffeted the walls of ice, cracks umted here and there. But there was not a single sign of it shattering.


    How long was it, a few seconds, or maybe a few minutes. The continuous gunfire did notst long and died down. The ammunition of every single rebel was limited after all.


    Yet, the walls of ice stood still...


    "RENZ!!!"


    Emellynn''s roar was heard once more, causing the cowardly Renz to panic.


    CRACK!


    One portion of the walls shattered, revealing Emellynn that destroyed it with her own fist.


    Slowly, she walked forwards. At the same time, a meter long icicle started to form on her right hand.


    "DIE!"


    Emellynn shouted, throwing the icicle at Renz.


    The icicle flew at the speed of a cannon, with the sound of the wind being ripped apart.


    On the other side, Renz''s eyes dted as he tried to evade. He jumped out of the jeep as fast as he could, and he managed to seed. After all, speed was his forte aside from his brain.


    Unfortunately, Renz''s men were not as fast as him. The time they saw Renz leave the jeep, the icicle was already in front of them.


    BANG!


    The icicle tore through the vehicle, causing the jeep that carried weapons and explosives to burst into mes.


    BOOOM!


    The jeep then exploded. It caused Renz, that was still in the radius of the explosion, to get blown away.


    Lifting his injured body, Renz stared at the mes as they consumed his closest henchmen.


    But of course, it was not the end.


    Creaking ss sounds could be heard as Emellynn continued to move. The rebels that went to antagonize their leader could not help but retreat in fear, firing their guns as much as they could.


    That was when it sunk into their minds. The ice armor that Emellynn was wearing was far stronger than those walls she conjured. The bullets could not even leave a scratch on the armor. It was not surprising considering how it managed to protect her from dozens of rockets. The impact of the bullets made Emellynn freeze for a bit, but it did not stop her from advancing.


    "AAHHH!!!"


    Some of the rebels gave out their cry of death, as Emellynn threw another huge icicle, with an impact that tore their bodies apart.


    Before, it was Mark.


    Now, it was Emellynn that was conducting the ughter of the rebels.


    Sitting atop the scaffolding, Mark watched Emellynn do his work. It was unexpected, but this situation was definitely in his favor.


    Furthermore, the only reason he was dally dallying here was to ensure that the majority of the rebels move to this area. With Renz calling unto the reinforcement group to deal with their own leader, the condition for the next phase was met.


    Mark then took out a re gun from his belt and fired to the sky.


    With the re in the sky, the second phase finally started.


    BANG! BANG! BANG!


    Suddenly, the snipers on the watchtowers fell one after another. With the ongoingmotion below, however, no one managed to notice.


    ***


    At the same time, anothermotion began at the west side of the base.


    On this side, the farming area was located. While the captured females were in the factory, the men incapable of fighting were sent here to farm.


    They were also having their lunch break when themotion in the factory area started. Knowing that the women were there, to who many of them were rted, a lot of them panicked. They wanted to rush there to check the safety of their loved ones. But of course, the guards that the rebels posted in this area prevented them from doing so.


    One man tried to force the guards to let them check on their rtives. Only to get bashed by one of the guards with the stock of his assault rifle.


    As much worried as they could be, they could not do anything.<sub> </sub>


    The explosions shook their hearts, even more, fearing for the lives of the women in the factory area.


    It was when they saw the re shot towards the sky. It was noontime, and its light was not visible. However, it would be hard to miss something that was literally shot above them.


    That was when they saw a dragon flew up to the sky, from the forest west of the farming area.


    Everyone was horrified, whether it be the workers or the guards.


    The workers ran away like ants, trying to go into the base to escape. However, during working hours, the gate was locked down. They could only knock on the gates frantically with none opening it from the other side.


    At the side, the guards did the same instead of fighting the monster that popped out of nowhere.


    Yes, they could have used their guns and shoot. However, their current numbers were too low, with most of them joining themotion at the factory area. Shooting the dragon could only draw its attention to them. Their lives were more important than these ves working in the field.


    Some of the men fell on their knees. With the gates closed, they could only pray for their lives. They wished that the dragon would just fly over them, attracted to the loud explosions in the factory area.


    That was where they were wrong, as the dragonnded in the middle of the fields.


    Without a choice, the guards readied themselves to fire their weapons.


    BANG! BANG!


    And the first shots echoed in everyone''s ears.


    Unexpectedly, it was not from the rebels. In fact, it was the rebels, who were hit by the bullets.


    That was when the people on the ground realized, there were people riding on the dragon''s back.


    Two men wearing armor jumped off from the dragon''s back and started shouting to the terrified workers.


    "DON''T PANIC! WE ARE HERE TO FREE YOU ALL!"


    "What?..."


    "Free us?"


    The workers were bbergasted to the sudden development.


    "HURRY KILL THEM!!!"


    Shouts broke the confusion as the guards took action.


    But then, the guards were suddenly faced with an unexpected adversary.


    Yes, it was totally unexpected. It was because a little girl with white hair and cat ears appeared before them.


    Their surprise and confusion became their weakness as the girl''s figure blurred. The next thing they knew was their necks being snapped backward in an impossible angle before they fell, lifeless.


    The same was happening to the other groups of guards, as a girl with a burning barrier, a girl with incredible strength, and a girl with vines as hair confronted them all.


    Seeing how the guards were being subdued one after another, the situation finally sunk into the minds of the workers.


    It was time to rise against their captors.


    Some of the men rushed to the dead guards, picking up their weapons and equipment. They already forgot the fear they felt when they saw the dragonnd before them.


    It did not take long. The guards at the farming area were all either killed or subdued.


    "YYEAAAHHH!!!"


    The men roared in vigor, seeing the rebels that captured and separated them from their loved ones finally receiving their just deserts.


    "TAKE DOWN THE BASTARDS!!!"


    "INSIDE THE BASE!! GO!!!"


    Finally having the chance for freedom, the men could not wait and wanted to fight the rebels. They wanted to reunite with their rtives and friends in the factory area as soon as possible. Especially now that there seemed to be a threatening event happening there.


    But then, unexpected, the dragon flew up andnded before the gates, preventing anyone from breaking it or passing through.


    "W-What are you doing?!!!"


    "You two said that you are here to free us! Why are you blocking our path?!"


    The men were clearly afraid of Char, but their longing to save their loved ones took over their fear.


    As such, the workers questioned the two men that dered to help them earlier.


    On Char''s back, Padua and Geronimo looked at each other and nodded.


    "Unfortunately, we can''t let you all pass!" Padua dered. "Our leader is already there to save the women in the factory area! I''m sure that you all can hear the explosions! It''s likely caused by the rebels fighting our leader!"


    "T-then, we wanted to help! Those are our rtives!"


    One of the workers cried out.


    It was when a man with pointy ears and was holding a spear appear beside Char, dragging the body of a dead rebel that hid nearby.


    "Help you say?" Pefile arrogantly said. "With your thin arms and a hungry stomach, what help can you give? If all of you go there, you all will only drag our leader down. What can any of you do there aside from dying?"


    The workers that spoke just now was at a loss of what to say. It was true, after all. They might have been able to subdue the guards here because there was a lesser number left because of themotion in the Factory Area.


    Once they entered the base, however, they would probably have to face arger number of rebels.


    With their bodies that were out of shape, they would be of no help, after all.


    "Y-your leader." One younger worker spoke out. "Can he really save my mother?"


    That question was asked to Padua and Geronimo. As the two were only new members, they did not know what to answer. They could only turn to Pefile.


    As everyone''s eyes fell back on Pefile, he shrugged.


    "Can''t you all tell? Those explosions and gunshots. The rebels should be having a hard time."


    Hearing that, the workers were still not at ease. However, their agitation died down slowly. For the rebels to be worked up to use explosives in their own base, the ones the rebels were fighting might be strong people.


    "Please, just wait here," Geronimo spoke out. "Our duty here is to save and protect you all. We can''t let you all enter since we won''t be able to protect any of you if you all did."


    Compared to Padua and Pefile, Geronimo was more amicable while talking. It made the workers feel more at ease.


    "Are you from the military?"


    One of the workers asked.


    Geronimo hesitated to answer. It was Padua that did.


    "We are not."


    "Then why are you people helping us?"


    The question arose. After all, there was a very high chance that there were ulterior motives to this.


    And then, both Padua and Geronimo looked at each other once more. Then, they both looked at Pefile.


    "Don''t look at me. I don''t know either."


    Everyone was speechless. Apparently, they were sent to help these people without knowing why.

 Chapter 669 A Story From The Past, The Root Of Revenge For A Poor Girl

    <strong>Day 148 - 12:28 PM - Factory Area, Rebel Base, San Pablo Pocion, Municipality of Viga, Catanduanes</strong>


    Emellynm had already gone on a bloody rampage, killing her former subordinates, those that took the courage to revolt against her rule.


    Knowing that they had no other choice to take, the rebels started to fight back. There was no going back when they chose to follow Renz and his ns.


    Emellynn was not an unreasonable person. Her rules were all within reason of moral standards. The problem, however, was how she handled punishments. An honest mistake might be forgiven. But intentional ones were immediately given capital punishment.


    Their leader killing their members for their mistakes was not an unfamiliar scene in this base. In truth, some of the members even started to get used to it.


    And that was what Renz and those that sided with him could not ept. After all, they did not want to be bound to such strict rules.


    Now that they tantly went against her, there would be no future for them unless they killed this monster of a woman.


    RATATATATATA!!!


    Gunshotsing from different calibers of guns continued echoing nonstop.


    However, their efforts were never enough to take down the enraged Emellynn.


    Emellynn continued to throw her conjured icicles as she traversed the field. One of the icicles tore a rebel''s leg. He was still alive, but he was already out ofmission to continue fighting. While screaming in pain, he did not notice that Emellynn was already in front of him until she picked him up.


    "M-MISS EMELLYNN!!! LEADER!! F-FORGIVE ME! P-PLEASE SPA-"


    SPLURT!


    Blood sttered, dyeing Emellynn''s ice armor in red. Without mercy, she tore the rebel''s body into two with her ice-covered hands.


    Emellynn turned to the other rebels that followed Renz''s orders.


    The sight of her bloodthirsty eyes and body tainted with blood was enough to give them nightmares.


    "FIRE! FIRE!"


    Renz ordered as he picked up an assault rifle lying nearby and started firing at Emellynn.


    But of course, the bullets he fired did not do anything to their faction leader at all. Instead, an icicle came flying towards his direction that he frantically evaded.


    "Wew..."


    Mark could not help but whistle, seeing how Emellynn was brutally killing her former men. There was no remorse or hesitation. There was only pure burning rage from the bottom of her heart.


    Nevertheless, Mark was not surprised.


    Mutators had mental traits, after all. And Emellynn''s Mutator Trait was [Revenge].


    The urge to make Renz and his men pay for their sins fueled Emellynn''s rage to an unbelievable degree. Mark could tell that even if he tried to use his [Emotion Induction] to Emellynn and try to convert her fury into something else, nothing would happen.


    Emellynn''s killing intent was already off the charts and was still increasing at this moment.


    "Revenge, huh..."


    Mark murmured.


    "I''m surprised. How can you tell?"


    Suddenly, a voice asked Mark. It was no other than Felix that was sitting not far from Mark.


    Mark turned to Felix, but instead of replying, he took the opportunity to observe him.


    Felix appeared to be a young man in his mid-twenties. His fringed up hair was ash-colored that looked natural despite not being a Mutator. It was also impossible that he was an albino since, aside from his hair, he looked like a regr person. There was also his eyes that had red pupils.


    Mark could not help but think that Felix was some sort of demon. However, it felt that it was not the case. This man had no demonic aura at all. There were no traces of him emitting magical power either.


    Felix let out an interesting smile, sensing that Mark was sizing him up. However, he did not say anything about it. Instead, he turned his eyes back at Emellynn and started to speak.


    "Miss Emellynn is such a pitiful woman, isn''t she?"


    ''Pitiful? What the hell is this guy talking about?''


    Mark could not help but think.


    "Establishing power is the least of her goals. However, to actually fulfill her goals, she needed to establish power first. But despite what she looked like, she valued her position as it didn''t only protect innocent people in this ce, but she was also holding unto the goals of the people following her sincerely."


    Felix then shrugged.


    "She must be distraught now, seeing that the people following her are now dead bodies scattered around her."


    Mark finally understood. This guy was exining what was happening to Emellynn right now. No wonder that woman was getting increasingly furious as time went on. The more she saw the bodies scattered around her, her urge to seek revenge umted deeper.


    "Do you want to know why Miss Emellynn became a member of the rebels?"


    Felix asked Mark.


    Like before, Mark did not reply. However, Felix still continued.


    "Miss Emellynn did not share the same visions of the leaders of the NPA before the outbreak. Establishing a new government? Miss Emellynn did not care for any of that. What she wanted is to get revenge on the current Government."


    ***


    A long time ago, there was a family living in the mountains of Catanduanes. It was a family of four. A father, a mother, their son, and the youngest, their daughter.


    Yes, it was far from civilization. It was literally at the foot of the mountains, after all.


    However, life was good. Their family was able to use their surroundings, farming vegetables and fishing at the river flowing near their house. They also managed to rear a few pigs that they could sell from time to time.<sub> </sub>


    Selling vegetables and freshwater shrimps to the nearest Barangay that was about two hours away gave funds to their necessities.


    Entertainment was not an issue as people living a simple life like this was not hungry for such luxuries.


    But of course, the parents had better dreams for their children. But unfortunately, their poor family could not afford to give the son proper education and only finished high school. Because of that, they focused on the education of the daughter.


    Putting all their extra ie into savings, they managed to enroll the daughter into a university, with a course in agriculture. It was chosen by the daughter in order to help her parents in the future.


    Because there were no colleges nearby, the daughter had to go to Virac, Catanduanes to study. It was too far from the mountain where they live and the daughter had to live in a boarding house.


    Her studies were going smoothly and she was even a candidate for a spot of the Magna Cum Laude. It was just half a year left and she would finish her studies. She could not wait to bring the magnificent news to her parents and brother.


    But before she managed to send the magnificent news, news about her family came to her first.


    While eating in a cafeteria outside her school, a piece of certain news on the television took her attention as it happened in the area where her family lived.


    It seemed that there was an encounter between the military and the NPA. And as the military reported, they managed to kill the group and identify the culprits.


    Furthermore, the military was being praised for managing to eliminate the threat in the area, with some of the soldiers receiving medals. Apparently, it was a huge encounter with a group of rebels that were ambushing the military convoys in the area.


    And then, the list of casualties was shown on the local news channel.


    The eyes of the daughter dted as she saw that among the list of dead rebels, her father, mother, and brother were included.


    It was impossible to happen.


    She copsed after seeing that news.


    As soon as she recovered, she did not care whether she had sses or not. She did not even tell the school about anything. Instead, she rushed home, traveling almost overnight.


    The next morning, tired and sleepy, she reached her home at the foot of the mountains, only to see it being cordoned by the military.


    Rushing towards her house, she was immediately stopped by the soldiers. They immediately recognized her as a college student since she was still wearing her school uniform.


    But when she yelled that it was her family''s house, the expression of the soldiers changed. Their faces did not show vignce, but instead, pity.


    She was still not allowed to enter her house, but she was instead brought to where the corpses of her family were being kept.


    Crying, she shouted and yelled to the soldiers. She asked what in the world happened. She exined that it was impossible for her family to be members of the rebels.


    The soldiers did not exin anything. They just looked at her with distraught expressions.


    She was broken at her loss. She did not know what to do and what to expect of the future without her family.


    She did not know what in the world happened, and no one was exining anything to her.


    The only thing that the military said to her was that the military would take over the expenses of the funeral and burial of her family.


    That itself was really odd.


    The funeral came. It was an empty room with only her sitting in front of three caskets. After all, they had no known rtives. And who woulde to the funeral of people branded as rebels?


    At the funeral, awyer from the military approached her. It was not to talk aboutws and stuff, but instead, she was given an envelope.


    Her eyes are empty. She did not even eat properly during the duration of the funeral. It was only by reflex that she received the envelope, not even understanding anything of what thewyer was saying.


    She opened the envelope while thewyer continued to talk. That was when she saw several checks, with a value totaling half a million Philippine pesos. She was also being urged to sign some paper packed with words that she could not bother to read.


    That was when it clicked into her mind.


    Hush money.


    She was being paid to keep silent about what happened to her family.


    Many assumptions started to flood her mind, and anger began to show on her face.


    Without a second thought, she tore the envelope and its contents, snatched the contract, and pped it on thewyer''s face. She then ran away.


    The girl did not know how long she had been running, but she ended up deep into a forest she was not familiar with.


    That was when she met a strange man with ash-colored hair.


    To her surprise, the man told her the truth about what happened up to the tiniest detail that made it hard to say that he was lying. He even described her family as if he knew them personally.


    And there, the daughter learned that her family was shot to death by a deranged soldier that did not follow the orders from their superior.


    The soldier was also injured, shot by one of the rebels on his leg. Losing blood, the soldier started to lose the capability to think straight.


    The soldier thought that the hut at the foot of the mountain was an outpost of the rebels. After all, who would build a house in such a deste area?


    And then, he fired indiscriminately.


    There was no way that a wall made of nipa palm would stop bullets. Thus, the family that was hiding inside because of the gunshots from the encounter were killed on the spot.


    Of course, the military knew this mistake but decided to cover it up. Apparently, the order came up from above, the Government.


    After all, there were no witnesses, and the military and the Government would not want to face another bacsh.


    And there, the daughter swore vengeance against the Government. She promised herself to kill everyone involved in the death of her family, whether it be the military, the Government, or the rebels.


    That was how the current Emellynn was born.

 Chapter 670 Escaping From The Rebel Base, The Inhuman Felix And His Identity

    <strong>Day 148 - 12:31 PM - Factory Area, Rebel Base, San Pablo Pocion, Municipality of Viga, Catanduanes</strong>


    Emellynn''s rampage continued, causing more and more blood to spill.


    Renz and his men wanted to run away already. However, as Emellynn began to prioritize targeting those who started to run away, they could only stop. If any of them ran first, they could allow others to run away too. But of course, the first ones would definitely die.


    And unfortunately, none of them wanted to be a sacrifice for the others. It created the scene where the majority of them on the ground got pinned down. The only leeway was those at higher elevations continued to fire their guns in hopes of stopping the leader they betrayed.


    Of course, their bullets were just like bb pellets that buffeted a concrete wall.


    While listening to Felix''s storytelling, Mark continued to observe Emellynn. Now that her story was known to him, the strangeness of her behavior vanished in his mind. Instead, he felt that it was just a normal thing for a person thirsty for revenge to go berserk at times like this.


    Emellynn''s behavior aside, Mark also observed her abilities. And to say, her skills seemed to contradict some traits with each other. Of course, it was aside from the visuals.


    During Emellynn''s lightning transformation, her hair was golden and flowed like mes, and her body was enveloped with electricity. When she attacked Mark, she was able topete with him in terms of speed and body strength. But the only attack she used was those des of solidified lightning and did not seem to have any means of ranged attacks. It was probable that she could not fire lightning simr to how Mark did.


    On the other hand, during Emellynn''s ice transformation, her hair turned still and ice-like. Her whole body was also covered in thin armor that seemed to be extremelypact ice. Because of this, not only her body moved slower, but it appeared to be a bit stiff. The ice on her body also seemed to be too heavy, but that weight onlyplemented its sturdiness. Thest thing was that not only Emellynn could burst out ice to form walls, but she could createrge icicles to use as ranged attacks.


    In this observation, Mark concluded one thing.


    Emellynncked perfect control over her abilities. It was something expected of a person like her, overflowing with the desire to take revenge.


    While Mark observed Emellynn and watch her do his work, Felix continued his one-man storytelling. Mark did not request for the story of Emellynn''s past, but Felix just went on and on without minding Mark''s faked reactions.


    Reaching the part where Emellynn started her revenge, Mark interrupted Felix with a frown.


    "Why are you telling me all this?"


    Felix paused, turning to Mark with a wide yful smile.


    "I''m just trying to gain your sympathy. You know that?" Felix then tilted his head, reading Mark''s actions. "Though I failed, horribly."


    Then, Felix stood up.


    "I know we''re not your opponent at all. I rather not confront someone that can subdue a high-level summoner like Berrak. But I can''t just let the daughter of my friend die, fighting a monster like you."


    "That''s not all, isn''t it?"


    Mark asked interrogatively.


    "Woah, you can tell?" Felixughed. "Well, you''re right! What I said before is true. But that aside, I also want to advertise our services."


    "Services?"


    Mark tilted his head.


    "Right, services!" Felix opened his arms forward like a business negotiator."We dabble with information gathering, arms trade, and mercenary work. As long as you have the appropriate payment, we can give services around the globe."


    "You are saying that even though the world is already ending?"


    Mark mocked.


    But then, Felix tilted his head, eyes opened wide with a creepy yful smile.


    "What does the end of the world amount to? Business is business. It is even booming more than before. Who would not want our services in these rough times? We can find where safe ces are, find information about enemies, or rent powerful soldiers to aid their endeavors."


    Mark fell silent. Although this guy was behaving like a crazy maniac right now, what he said was reasonable. The poor survivors might not be able to afford it, but rich people, secret organizations, and other hidden powers around the world would pay a huge amount for things they wanted.


    "So, this is why your group are scattered around the ind, huh? Even the General''s secretary at that."


    Mark smiled behind his mask.


    On the other hand, the creepy smile on Felix''s face turned into a frown.


    "Looks like Roach is right. You''re someone dangerous." Felix''s voice still sounded yful, although the tone was much colder. "Just how in the world did you know this?"


    "You said that you dabble in selling information. Why are you asking something that is obviously won''t be answered?"


    Mark mocked once more.


    "Heh, you got me." Felix shrugged, returning to his yful demeanor. "I won''t pry on how you managed to find out about us. But I''d prefer it if you don''t mess with our business."


    "I''m not messing with you people, though?" Mark shrugged. "Or else, I would have already revealed that Vanessa was not just an ordinary Military Secretary as she appeared to be."


    But then, Mark realized.


    "Maybe, are you talking about that?"


    Mark pointed at the chaos he started below.


    "Since you noticed it, it will be easier to exin. This is a mission Imissioned myself for my deceased friend and her daughter. But you just showed up and destroyed our ns. Why?"


    "Years of nning and resources had gone to waste, just what is your reason for doing this?"


    Felix added. However, even though he was saying as such, he was still in a yful mood. It seemed that he did not really mind that everything was a mess.


    "That''s your fault then. You shouldn''t have let these ants run amok. If your goal is to let that woman get her revenge, you should have stuck to that and not let themy theirhands on other things."


    Mark smiled, not stating the specific reason.


    It led to Felix believing that the rebels had done something to offend Mark, leading to this situation. But he was not stupid. He could feel that while Mark ughtered the rebels without remorse, he left the captured women alive. By the looks of it, the farming area where the captured men worked was also under attack.


    If that was the case. It must have something to do with the rebels capturing and forcing people to do their bidding.


    Felix sighed as his eyes fell on Renz. Capturing people and making them work by force was all that guy''s idea. Emellynn only agreed to it with the premise of the rules she established. However, secretly, Renz had been doing things in the dark, like sending those forced men to a suicide missionst night.


    Since Felix was nurturing Emellynn''s growth, he only provided her needed information and did not dabble in anything else in the rebel base. It looked like it was a mistake on his part.


    Felix shrugged, looking at the rampaging Emellynn.


    "If all you wanted are those captured people, just take them away and leave."


    Felix said, shooing Mark with his hand.


    "Hmm??" Mark smiled. "Why should I?"


    Felix could not help but frown.


    "What do you want to say?"


    "I''m here to destroy this ce and kill all the rebels. Why should I leave without finishing the work? Besides, with how that woman is behaving, I''m already on her list to take revenge on, right? Why should I leave such a threatening person alive? Can you give me a reason?"


    "Heh. I might not be able to give a reason, but there''s no way I''ll let you kill her."<sub> </sub>


    Felix sprang up from his position and jumped off the scaffold. He understood that Mark was not joking and took the initiative.


    Mark watched Felix as he moved towards the rampaging Emellynn. He could not help but feel strange as Felix ran with light steps, yet he was as fast as Emellynn in her lightning form.


    Felix was really a strange being in this regard.


    Knowing that Felix now wanted to take Emellynn and flee, Mark, stretched his hand forwards.


    CRACKLE!


    ck lightning shot towards Emellynn.


    Emellynn, who had lost control due to her rage, did not manage to react to Mark''s attack and would definitely get hit.


    But then, Felix turned his body around, throwing something into the trajectory of Mark''s lightning attack.


    BAM!


    Like a shield, that item that Felix threw blocked the lightning bolt that Mark fired.


    Mark shot two more bolts of lightning, but like before, Felix blocked it without problems.


    Emellynn sensed that someone was approaching her and threw an icicle, not knowing that it was Felix. Nheless, Felix did not need any effort on dodging that cannon-like icicle.


    Then, Felix slipped through the attack and appeared in front of Emellynn.


    "Emellynn, you need to stop now. We''re leaving."


    "Felix?" Emellynn froze. It seemed that she managed to recognize Felix. However, she shook her head. "No, that bastard Renz should die first!"


    CRACKLE!


    Another roar of thunder was heard, making Felix click his tongue.


    This time, however, instead of defending against Mark''s attack, Felix faced Emellynn.


    "Forgive me."


    Felix said as he moved behind Emellynn and lightly tapped her nape. As Emellynn''s nape was also covered with the ice armor, that tap would not be able to do anything.


    CREAK!


    Unexpectedly, that light tap destroyed Emellynn''s armor before she copsed unconscious just in time before Mark''s attack reached them.


    BAM!


    Suddenly, smoke enveloped the surroundings, obscuring anything that was happening below.


    However, Mark was sure that the two were still there and managed to evade that attack of his. Without waiting for anything, Mark prepared to fire another lightning attack.


    That was when a huge figure soared into the sky, surprising Mark. From what it appeared, it was a crow about the size of a car. Furthermore, instead of ck feathers, it had ash-colored ones. On its back, the unconscious Emellynny.


    Even without his Empathic Detection, it was without question that this crow was Felix. Furthermore, it flew too fast. Faster than Mark, using all of his speed to fly.


    Mark''s eyes then turned red, releasing sparks.


    Receiving Mark''s mental attack, Felix staggered in the sky. However, it seemed that he had some resistance to it as he recovered immediately and flew away.


    "Who would expect that that guy is a Natural Therianthrope. No wonder I can''t feel any kind of magical or demonic energy on him."


    Mark murmured as he watched the shadow of Felix flying in the sky vanish from his sight.


    "Oh, well."


    Mark shrugged.


    ***


    At the center of the battle, the smoke started to dissipate.


    Renz stood from his hiding ce, looking around.


    "What happened, did that b*tch leave?"


    Then, Renz realized that Emellynn left as there was no trace of the woman anywhere.


    "HAHAHA! SHE LEFT!" Renz roared in glee! "I''M STILL ALIVE!!!"


    Following Renz, the men following him started to celebrate.


    But then...


    SHING!


    "Huh?"


    Renz voiced out in confusion as his vision suddenly turned around and upside down with the sensation that his head was floating.


    That was when he heard a voice.


    "I thought you''re smart. Howe that you forgot about me."


    Renz wanted to turn to see where the voice came from and realized that he could not feel his body at all. But then, as his vision spun, he finally saw it.


    He saw Mark standing behind a headless body that was already spurting blood.


    "Impossible..."


    Renz voicelessly groaned as color and energy drained from his face.


    With a plop, Renz''s decapitated head fell to the ground.


    And there was silence.


    Renz and his men were too focused and afraid of Emellynn that they totally forgot about Mark that was watching the show.


    "Now, it''s time to relive the nightmare."


    Mark smiled sinisterly.

 Chapter 671 End Of The Aggressive Faction, Two Groups Of People To Two Different Routes To Safely

    <strong>Day 148 - 1:24 PM - Quarters, Rebel Base, San Pedro Pocion, Municipality of Viga, Catanduanes</strong>


    Blood sttered as Mark beheaded a rebel hiding inside the quarters building.


    With Ignis in his hand dripping with blood, Mark closed his eyes.


    "Hmm... This guy is thest one, huh."


    Mark murmured as he could not detect any rebels alive in the vicinity.


    "This is the end of this ce. We better get moving."


    Mark then left the quarters.


    As he stepped out of the door, someonended in front of him. Even without his [Empathic Detection], just those rainbow-scaled wings would tell who the person was. Mark smiled behind his mask.


    "Good work."


    Mark said, patting Mei on her head.


    Mei meekly smiled.


    "Gege, are there no enemies left?"


    "Yep," Mark nodded. "A right, I should fire another re already."


    SWISH! BANG!


    Mark fired the second re to the sky, signaling the end of the operation.


    He ensured that the re would hover directly above the factory area as there would be the meeting ce.


    With that, Mark and Mei walked together towards the factory area.


    Mei then asked Mark a question.


    "Gege, what about those two that escaped? Are we just letting them go?"


    "Then why didn''t you shoot them before they escaped?"


    Mark asked back.


    "Because Gege did not seem keen on catching them. When they escaped, you didn''t even give any effort to chase."


    Mei exined.


    In this battle, Mei''s task was to get rid of the snipers on the watchtowers and those that might be capable of flight. That was why before Mark appeared inside the warehouse, Mei was already in the sky, watching for targets using the sun as cover.


    It was not because they were rushing that Mark chose to attack immediately this noon.


    Nighttime might be the best time for infiltrations, rescue missions, assassinations, and other actions rted to entering or ambushing an enemy base. History had proven such too many times.


    However, in this circumstance, noon, lunchtime to be exact, was the best timing.


    Mark''s goal was to secure the safety of the captured people, including his sister. And during lunch, it was the only time that most people would be gathered in their respective allocated dining areas. It was the case not only here but everywhere where groups of people were being rationed food.


    Even Mark''s base was not an exception.


    And for a ce where people were being forced to work, it would be impossible that it would be a different case.


    Furthermore, with the arsenal of Mark''s group, ability-wise, and equipment-wise, there would be fewer constraints in nning and strategies.


    Even Mei could take advantage of the sun up in the sky to conceal herself and snipe the enemies she could find. After all, who would be an idiot to stare directly at the sun? And since human capabilities were enhanced by Mutagen, doing the same at night would be riskier, making Mei easier to be found.


    Well, in the end, Mei was never detected. After all, Renz and Emellynn hogged the spotlight too much. Even Mark would not expect that Renz would betray their leader at this time.


    While Mark and Mei continued to walk, Mark answered Mei''s question, telling her what Felix had introduced himself and his group, together with the summary of things that he and Felix talked about.


    "Then, Gege let them go because of that?"


    Mei asked.


    "I did." Mark shrugged. "Maybe, we can conduct some business with them in the future."


    "But didn''t Gege threaten to kill that woman? Will they do business with us?"


    Mei assumed.


    "There''s that possibility, but it''s unlikely. That Felix reeked the smell of a businessman. I doubt that he would put private matters and business altogether. Besides, it''s not like he''s the only member of their group, right?"


    At Mark''s words, Mei nodded.


    If Felix did not want to conduct business, then find another avable agent. Now that they knew about the existence of this organization, it was not impossible to find their other members.


    Mark and Mei talked along the way. The two did not mind the bloody scene they were passing through, with bodies of rebels scattered here and there.


    It did not take long and two little girls bumped into Mark and Mei. Of course, it was Miracle and Abbygale, contesting who would get the first hug. Of course, Abbygale won by arge margin. I and Emika also followed after the two with troubled faces as they chased the two younger ones.


    The factory area was at the central most part of this base and was essible through different directions. Thus, it was not surprising that the group that secured the male workers arrived fast.


    Of course, the male workers were pale after seeing the current state of the factory area. The central space and the walls of the surrounding buildings were scorched. Dismembered bodiesy here and there. Dead bodies pinned by melting icicles could be seen embedded on the walls and the ground. And the nauseating smell of a ughterhouse was too thick.


    Some men, especially younger ones, felt their stomachs churning. Fortunately, they knew not to waste the food they ate for lunch. Or else, a lot of them would have stopped to start a vomiting spree.


    The women inside the warehouse were keeping silent as Mark told them to. After all, they wanted to live. Furthermore, what happened in the factory area was more than enough to make them all huddled in the furthest corner of the warehouse and not make any sound in fear.


    But then, silence already enveloped the ce. They did not know what happened but none of them were courageous enough to check.


    It was until some noises were heard outside. It was the sounds of men talking.<sub> </sub>


    One of the women recognized one of the voices and by reflex, stood up and ran to the door.


    That was when that woman saw her husband that she had not seen for a month. As the emotions overflowed, she ran out, not noticing the carnage in the surroundings.


    And there, the husband and wife embraced each other, under the eyes of the cheering gallery.


    The other men started teasing the man, making him and his wife red. Nheless, it was a happy asion as the other women caught up to what was happening and reunited with their loved ones.


    Unfortunately, it was not a happy event for everyone. Some women watched the others with sad faces and heavy hearts.


    After all, while the women were securely kept in the base, a lot of the men were not. Those men that were not here were drafted into the ranks of the rebels and were sent into outposts all around the ind. It was highly possible that many of them had already died. After all, the encounters between the military and the rebels were not just a few times. The soldiers also had no control over who would die and who would live on the battlefield.


    Then, what about the children?


    Many of the families captured had children with them. However, not a single child was in the rebel base at all. No one knew where they were, or if they were already dead. As such, some of the married couples that reunited felt their happiness short-lived.


    Even from the information that Mark received from the military, there was no mention about the children at all.


    Did forgot to capture some rebels and interrogate them? There was only one rebel remaining and it was one of the guards in the warehouse that Mark spared. However, it was questionable if he had any information about it.


    Besides, it was not like Mark cared about the children he never knew.


    "Hey." Rejoining with the group, Pefile called out to Mark. "A question came up earlier."


    "What question?"


    Mark asked back, making Pefile point at the workers they rescued.


    "About them. Why did you save these people? That''s too uncharacteristic of you."


    After being asked about it, Pefile decided to pass on the question.


    It was not surprising that Pefile was curious. Knowing Mark for a while, he knew that Mark was not the type of person that would do charitable work, especially saving people without reason.


    Gathering people to recruit to the base? Not possible either.


    After this, their next stop was Pefile''s homnd. There was absolutely no way that they would be able to transport these many people. Even with Berrak''s summoned creatures, these people were just too many.


    "I''ll tell youter, alright?" Mark shrugged. "By the way, how''s the performance of those two?"


    Mark then turned towards Padua and Geronimo, who were watching the workers with mncholic eyes.


    "They did fine, but that Geronimo needs some work. He hesitated to fire his gun several times. Luckily, there''s Padua to support him. He''s too soft."


    "That''s why I put them in your side."


    Mark replied.


    Given that the two were honest soldiers, the sight of the massacre that Mark did would not suit them in short term. That was why he sent them with Pefile to rescue the male workers in the farming area. Since they needed to protect the victims, they would be forced to fire their guns and kill. Once they got used to that, it would not bete to send them to bloodier missions.


    "Can you call those two?" Mark told Pefile. "I''ll need them to convey our next moves to these people."


    "No problem."


    Pefile nodded and called for the two young soldiers.


    Even though they were young, Geronimo and Pefile still had the aura of a Military soldier. It was easier for them to control the situation among the workers and make them listen to their next ns.


    After these people were rescued, Mark made these people choose where they wanted to go. There were two options. One was the Military Settlement to the southeast while the other was the other two factions of the rebels to the north.


    Of course, by the guise of being rescued by the Neutral Faction, Mark told them what happened to the men that were sent on the suicide missionst night.


    And as Mark had nned, the people were separated into two groups.


    In the middle of the announcement, Berrak, on the back of the Thunderbird, Trua,nded to the shock of the rescued workers. Even Amihan appeared soon after, as well as Edzel and Pearl, riding on one of Berrak''s summons.


    These four were not idling about but were sent by Mark to monitor the situation in the surroundings while themotion in the rebel base was happening.


    With the four of them returning almost at the same time, it meant a bad thing.


    "Boss, the animals from the mountains to the north are on the move."


    Berrak reported.


    "It was the same in our area. Pearl detected some strong vibrations."


    Edzel and Pearl, who came from the Eastern side, reported their findings.


    "Mine''s the same!"


    Said Amihan that monitored the southern area.


    Without a doubt, the animals in the surrounding mountains were disturbed because of what happened here, especially that explosion from the rockets that Renz''s men fired. Not to mention the currently thick smell of blood lingering in the surroundings.


    "You two," Mark called out to Geronimo and Padua. "Tell them to gather everything they can find. Weapons, food, water, anything necessary. Fast. Don''t forget to tell them that the animals from the mountains are going to attack if they did not hurry."


    The two nodded and conveyed the order to the workers.


    Hearing that the evolved animals would be attacking soon, the workers were horrified. Without hesitation, they all started running to retrieve everything they could. On the other hand, Mark and Mei ransacked the armory of the rebels while the others kept an eye on the surroundings of the base from the top of the walls.


    Soon, the animals appeared from the foot of the mountains.


    The number was not really thatrge. In fact, Mark did not consider them as a threat at all. Nheless, because of the existence of these animals, the workers moved without question, as fast as possible.


    It did not take long and two groups of people left the base, with therger group going southwest, and a smaller group going north.


    For this part of his n, Mark decided to go with the group going to the Military Settlement. As such, he let out a slight smile behind his mask as he watched his sister go with the other group.

 Chapter 672 Crystallus Notitia Coetus, The Hideout Inside The Military Settlement

    Day 148 - 3:24 PM - Crystallus Notitia Coetus Hideout, Catanduanes Military Settlement, Codon, San Andres, Catanduanes


    Excusing herself from her duties, Vanessa left General Padi''s side. As she was a hardworking individual that barely took breaks from her duties, she was allowed to leave without question. It was not like Vanessa wanted to go. However, she received a message from Roach using his little underlings.


    This settlement was run by the military. However, it was unknown to everyone. There was a house here being used by a secret organization as a hideout. No one suspected it as the home was listed to a Mutator and his group. And by the records, that Mutator was Vanessa''s brother. That was why no one would find it strange that Vanessa would appear here from time to time.


    The organization was called Crystallus Notitia Coetus. A worldwide secret organization with a simr structure to Auraboros. Its members were not only humans but also beings that lurked in the darkness of modern society.


    However, while being simrly structured, Crystallus Notitia Coetus or CNC, was far too different from Auraboros. Thetter was more or less considered as a terrorist group. The former was more of a ck market organization.


    As long as it could be sold, the CNC had them. From information, illegal firearms, drugs, and even human ves, they had it. For the people of the dark side, they might also sell magical treasures and even non-human ves.


    Another difference between CNC and Auraboros was that CNC had no fixed base for the whole organization. They had businesses and hideouts around the globe. However, no ce could be considered the organization''s central area of operations.


    Instead, all members could manage their own businesses. They could also group up and conduct business in their own ways. The only thing that put the whole organization together was their leader. No one knew who or what the leader was. However, whenever a new member passed the organization''s trials, he would appear like a phantom wearing a mask to give them a mark and a unique way ofmunication with other members.


    The only times that the members of CNC gathering on arge scale were when amissioned mission urred or when the yearly ck market was happening.


    Vanessa arrived at the hideout. It was located in the easternmost area of the settlement. She knocked at the door in an inconspicuous but rhythmic manner, and the door was opened by Roach. Without a word, Vanessa entered. Roach then closed the door after securing that no one followed her.


    The hideout was not too spacious. It was just a bungalow with three small rooms, a kitchen, a toilet, and a living room.


    As Vanessa entered the living room, she was greeted by a woman who vowed to her with respect. With a cor on her neck with the symbol of the organization, she was definitely a ve. She was in charge of the house chores while the members of the organization were doing their job.


    "Elena, you can go back to your work."


    Vanessa said to the maid.


    Without a word, Elena nodded and walked to the kitchen. There was a smell of meat being boiled. It was likely that she was in the middle of cooking.


    Vanessa turned back at Roach with a look telling asking him where. In reply, the man pointed to the innermost room in the house.


    Usually, there was only Roach and Elena in this ce. Because Roach was in charge ofmunications and, from time to time, scouting and tailing people, he would not have much to do and would only stay home. Then, of course, Elena, who could not leave the house without permission.


    Now, however, two people were here in an untimely manner.


    Vanessa opened the door and entered. There, the young-looking Felix was sitting on a chair without care. On the bed, an unconcious woman was lying down.


    "Yo!"


    Felix waved with a smile.


    Seeing that behavior, Vanessa could only shrug. Out of all the members of their group on this ind, Felix was the oldest. And yet, he was the most childish.


    "Is the message Roach sent me real?" Vanessa asked as she turned to the unconcious woman, who was without a doubt, Emellynn. "Is the faction you looked after already gone? What happened?"


    "Heh, that courier got us."


    Felix shrugged with a smile.


    "Courier?"


    Vanessa was confused.


    "Did you forget already? That guy you told Roach to tail." Felix replied and turned to Roach. "What''s his name again?"


    "Mark."


    Roach replied.


    "Yeah, that guy."


    Felix nodded.


    "I didn''t forget, alright?" Vanessa said in annoyance. "I just don''t understand why he would do that. Are you sure that it''s him?"


    "He''s wearing a mask and a full-body armor, but you know my eyes." Felix pointed at his eye. "Even if one put on a disguise, as long as I saw them before, it would be hard for me not to recognize them."


    Vanessa could not retort to that.


    "I talked a bit with him, and he said that our men did something to offend him. Gravely if I say since he just went on killing without saying anything. Probably, the only people left alive at the base now are those people that were captured forbor."


    Felix added.


    "So, your men offended him." Roach chimed in. "Is it possible that it''s connected to what happened this morning?"


    "What happened?"


    Felix asked.


    There, Roach and Vanessa exchanged information with Felix after moving to the living room. In a few minutes, the three had full knowledge of what transpired on both sides.


    "So, from the information, we had so far, it is possible that the rebels ended up killing his family after being driven away by that soldier."


    Vanessa surmised.


    "What do you think?"


    Roach asked Felix.


    "It''s really possible." Felix nodded. "Those bastards of Renz had been doing things behind our backs. I shouldn''t have turned a blind eye to them if I knew this would happen."


    But then, Felix added.


    "That''s if he''s saying the truth when he said that his family members are all dead. It''s also possible that he''s lying to conceal the truth."


    Since that could also happen, Vanessa and Roach could only nod.


    However, it was hard to determine the truth. The clues were too vague. Furthermore, Mark''s actions were erratic and hard to predict.


    Moreover, even though Felix already mentioned their organization, Mark still showed hostility and threatened to kill. Was it worth it to go against a worldwide organization if it was only for mere deception?


    The more the three mulled over the topic, the harder it became to gauge Mark''s intentions.


    What was the truth, and which was the lie?


    If Mark was really deceiving everyone, he made it hard to decern.<sub> </sub>


    "Should we investigate it?"


    Roach asked.


    "Investigate for what?" Felix asked. "It''s not like anyone was paying us to investigate it. Besides, I better not get the ire a monster like that more than this. Just talking to him while he''s not concealing his killing intent makes it hard for me to smile."


    "You don''t want to get back at him?" Roach asked back. "He just destroyed years of your effort. You even paid us this year to gather here and put the whole ind in observation."


    "Well, I didn''t really lose anything." Felixughed. "I only supplied the rebels the routes, and the money came from their funds. Furthermore, I gotmissioned from that since I''m the agent for both sides. That''s where I got what I paid you guys. The years of effort didn''t go to waste too. Emellynn had grown far more powerful than most people on Earth. The only thing left is to let her get her revenge. After that, we can leave."


    "I guess that''s true."


    Vanessa and Roach agreed.


    "However, we can''t do that right now, can we?"


    Vanessa then added.


    And to that, the other two can only agree.


    Their organization had various missions that they were paid for.


    On this ind, they had two missions to fulfill.


    One was the mission that Felix paid for.


    The other was to keep the power bnce in this ce until a specific point in time.


    And who paid for that? It was no other than the political faction in this settlement. To be specific, the political family, the Marcos. Their family had ties everywhere, and it was not news to them about the existence of several secret organizations in the world. In fact, they had connections to some, and CNC was not an exception.


    The political faction was growing their influence behind the military''s back. However, before the political faction could gain enough power, the military should not fall. If that happened, the political faction would not have enough ability to protect the settlement.


    By the looks of it, the political faction wanted to take over the ind soon. Until they managed to reach their goal, Emellynn''s revenge could not be done.


    After all, Emellynn''s main target for her revenge was an important figure in this settlement. And due to an unexpected event, the two missions unexpectedly ovepped.


    Thus, before they could finish the mission Felix paid for, they needed to wait.


    The three continued to discuss things since Vanessa still had time before returning. Elena even served them some coffee while they talked.


    It would not be too long, and the fall of the Anti-Government faction of the rebels would reach the military. The power struggle already tilted to the military''s side, and they would need to do something about this soon.


    But then, in the middle of the discussion, Roach froze.


    "What''s wrong?"


    Felix asked.


    "I lost connection to one of my familiars," Roach replied, turning to Felix. "It''s one of those we sent to the outposts. The outpost might have been attacked, and my familiar died for some reason."


    "It might be that courier and his group," Vanessa mulled. "It looks like they really have the intention of removing the rebels from this ind."


    "They might be only aiming for our faction, though."


    Felix said, which made Vanessa retract some of her words.


    "Which outpost was it?"


    Felix then turned to Roach.


    "Should be the one south of your main base," Roach replied with his eyes closed. "The others are still fine."


    "Is it possible that they found out about your familiars?"


    Vanessa voiced out her assumption.


    However, Roach could not reply. There were a lot of possibilities to conclude a specific one.


    "Let me send another one."


    Roach decided as he let out a short and soft whisper-like screech.


    Then, from the gap in the ceiling, a fist-sized cockroach climbed down the walls.


    Roach then sent out a few more screeches, and the cockroach rushed out of the house through another gap in the wall.


    "Seriously, I can''t really get used to this ability of yours."


    Vanessained.


    Around the world, although it was very rare, some people were born with the ability to decern and understand sounds and noises from certain kinds of animals and insects.


    These people were called Whisperers.


    Roach was one of those people, and he was able to understand andmand, no other than, different kinds of Cockroaches. Thus, he got his current alias.


    It was the method they used tomunicate throughout the ind and the thing Roach used to tail some people. Of course, Roach woulde himself if what they needed to follow was important people.


    Soon, Vanessa''s break time was finished, and she returned to work. It could not be helped if they wanted to maintain her image in this settlement.


    As such, Felix continued to nurse Emellynn while Roach waited for the familiar he sent just earlier.


    But then, Roach was struck with surprise.


    About two hourster from the time he sent it, he lost connection with his familiar once more.


    Felix had just gone out of the room and saw Roach''s frown.


    "What is it now?"


    Felix asked.


    Roach turned to Felix with a click of his tongue.


    "This might be bad. It looks like Mark''s group can distinguish my familiars. I just lost connection with the one I sent earlier. Maybe the first one was not a coincidence either."

 Chapter 673 The Journey South, The Start Of The Long Walk To Safety

    <strong>Day 148 - 4:59 PM - Catanduanes Circumferential Road, Barangay Kilikilihan, Municipality of San Miguel, Catanduanes</strong>


    SPLAT!


    Foul-smelling blood and innards sttered as Mark threw a fist-sized rock at his target. The rock left an indent on the trunk of a tree before it fell, revealing the squashed insect that stuck on the tree.


    Mark frowned as he nced at the ttened cockroach and the disgusting stter of white liquid, a mixture of its blood and innards, around it.


    "This is the second time."


    Mei murmured beside Mark.


    ***


    Leaving the Rebel Base empty with nothing but bloody corpses, it would not take long for the whole ce to crumble.


    The animals that went down the mountain were quite smart and aware of dangers. Instead of going towards the group of people leaving the base, they invaded the empty base instead. Compared to moving prey capable of fighting back, these evolved animals preferred the fresh food already served in a tter.


    It was like what was happening around Mark''s base. Animals that recognized the danger would stay away. Right now, both groups that left the Rebel Base were apanied by powerful beings. Of course, these intelligent animals would try to avoid them.


    While the smaller group went north, Mark led therger group of people going to the south. Together with him was no other than the Mei, the four girls, Char, and Amihan. The others were all assigned to escort the smaller group. Mark even sent Crimson and Ignis to follow the group in the dark. Of course, not only to guard the group but also to monitor Berrak and the two young soldiers. The three were just new members of the group. Furthermore, Berrak was different from everyone since he did not voluntarily join the group. Mark brought him by force and threats.


    Well, it was not like Berrak showed any sign of escaping. By what it looked like, his interest was also piqued by Mark''s group. Nheless, it was better to be cautious.


    The travel was not fast. If Mark was to judge it, it was even slower than normal. It was not surprising since the people they were escorting were either fatigued or undernourished. The only good thing was that they were in higher spirits. After all, they had just been freed from the suffocating grasp of the Rebels.


    Their slow journey along the Catanduanes Circumferential Road was not smooth either, otherwise.


    From time to time, they would encounter feral evolved animals or those with inferior intelligence. Without surprise, the feral ones attacked on sight. On the other hand, even with theircking intelligence, thetter kind of evolved animals were quite tricky to deal with.


    After all, animals had their own methods of hunting.


    One tricky encounter they had was when they were spotted by a group of evolved dogs after more than two hours of walking. It was clear that these dogs were domesticated ones before the outbreak. Some even had characteristics of expensive breeds of dogs. Unfortunately, theck of human interaction and hunger pushed them back to being wild. Not to mention the effects of Mutagen on most animals, turning them more aggressive than before.


    Being animals with natural hunting instincts, the dogs did not attack openly but tried to surround the group like how wolves behaved. With more than a hundred and fifty dogs, it was quite arge pack that could overwhelm the hundred people on Mark''s side. Not to mention that the actual people capable of fighting in the workers'' group were less than half even with guns.


    Well, it was a mistake for these wild dogs to not put Char and Mark in their sights. They might have thought that they could sneak out one or two humans for ate afternoon lunch.


    Unfortunately, the dogs did not even be a challenge as their leader, the Alpha of the pack, was instantly picked by Mark and killed. With their leader gone, the chain ofmand among the dogs was broken immediately, and it became easier to eliminate them all with the help of the workers.


    That, however, brought another threat to the group. After all, the area where the dogs attacked was near an outpost of the Aggressive Rebels.


    Furthermore, it seemed that they were restless after losing contact with the main base and immediately went out in groups to check the gunfire.


    They were unlucky, however.


    Mark could monitor their movements using their mental fluctuations.


    At the moment they saw Mark''s group, Mei''s Sniper Rifle already pierced bullets unto their heads.


    The only ones left were those that appeared to be having simr mental fluctuations to some of the workers they managed to rescue. Without a doubt, they were the men that were forced into the ranks of the Rebels.


    Mark then shouted at the base during the encounter, telling what happened to the Rebel Base. After those men realized that the people in Mark''s group were the very same workers from the Main Base, they began to turn against the Rebels that pushed them into the job they never wanted.


    In the end, some of the men were rtives of the workers that Mark''s group was escorting, while a few were among the group that went north.


    It was a half-hour stop as they eliminated the Rebels in that outpost. They also took everything they could. Food, water, weapons, ammunition, and even some explosives, they took it all.


    The explosives would be proven useful along the way since before reaching the Military Base, they would pass by the vicinity of the most populousnd area on the ind of Catanduanes, the Municipality of Virac.


    While gathering the supplies, however, Mark noticed something odd.


    Mark noticed something emitting a mental fluctuation not too different from a well-trained military dog but did not feel like one. It wasing from the highest watchtower of the outpost.


    Strange enough, Mark did not see anyrge creature. It became even stranger when Mark saw a fist-sized Cockroach hanging out on the wall of the watchtower.


    When Mark approached it, it tried to flee. The way it fled, however, appeared to be imitating the natural behavior of a regr Cockroach. It was even if it was not.


    Mark could not shake off the odd feeling. Thus, when the Cockroach flew away towards the forest, he shot with a bolt of ck lightning. It instantly turned into a crispy fried insect that fell to the ground.


    That was only when the odd feeling vanished.


    In the first ce, it was clearly an intelligent insect. Yet, instead of fleeing the area as most animals and insects did because of Mark''s and Char''s presence, it stayed there instead. It was as if it was watching the outpost, and it only tried to escape when it was found out.<sub> </sub>


    Then, as they continued unto the road, they encountered another one of these Cockroaches.


    The behavior of this one was even stranger.


    Mark detected it immediately when it entered his detection area. He could tell that it was moving across the forest by the roadside at fast speeds.


    But then, when it seemed that it spotted Mark''s group, it stopped. It began climbing a trunk of the tree nearby and behaved like an insect that it was supposed to be.


    Without a doubt, it was suspicious. Mark even felt that odd feeling once more.


    When Mark felt it the second time, he could not help but realize what this feeling was. It was simr to the sensation when a surveince camera was pointed at you while shopping inside a store. That ufortable feeling of being watched beyond the lens of a tool.


    Thus, Mark suspected that these Cockroaches might be sent by someone as a surveince tool.


    That was why Mark killed it as soon as he could, throwing a rock that he had just picked up to kill it.


    ***


    "Looks like there''s someone capable of controlling these Cockroaches for surveince."


    Mark said to Mei, taking his eyes away from the disgusting scene of a sttered fist-sized Cockroach.


    "That group?"


    Mei assumed.


    "Probably." Mark agreed. "So far, aside from the Spirits and Elementals on the northwest and the Demons to the southeast, that group are the only possibility. We can also rule out the Elementals since they won''t have any reason to do this."


    Mei agreed with Mark''s assumptions.


    While being cautious of the surroundings, they continued for another hour of traveling.


    They passed by a few more small viges. Of course, each was empty with nothing else but wild animals.


    But what was worrying for the workers was the sight of infected that they started to encounter as they moved further south.


    It was not that surprising, in fact.


    The Military managed to destroy the only ce where the infected managed to congregate on the ind. It was no other than the Municipality of Viracto the south of the ind of Catanduanes. As it had its own airport, it was expected to be one of the ground zeros where infected-filled airnes crashed during the start of the apocalypse.


    One of those airnes crashed in Virac which started the spread of the infected on the ind. Fortunately, it was not at a degreeparable to NAIA or other areas. The military managed to destroy it, eliminating the immediate threat of the infected to the ind.


    Of course, it did not mean that they managed to kill all of the infected. Despite their records and what the Military dered, there were still some stray infected here and there. It was a very rare encounter, to be honest, as the surrounding mountains and forests were areas hard to be traversed by the infected.


    Furthermore, they were also targeted by the evolved animals for food. That was why it was very rare to see one in the middle of the ind.


    About past five in the afternoon, they arrived at the Barangay of Boton in the Municipality of San Miguel. It was a small barangay with the Catanduanes Circumferential Road going through its center.


    At this point, Mark started to look for ces where they could spend the night. It was gettingte, after all. There was no way they would travel in thisrge group of people on foot during the night.


    Furthermore, the workers were getting tired. Unlike Mark''s actual group, these people were far weaker.


    Unfortunately, the small barangay of Boton could not offer them a good ce to stay. It did have a lot of houses. However, all of them were small. Even worse, only a few were made of concrete, while the majority of the homes were still built with patchy construction materials. It was not a secure ce to stay for the night.


    ? Luckily, continuing past Barangay Boton, they arrived at the area where government structures and facilities were built before the outbreak. In fact, some were still under construction and will never be finished in the near future.


    Here, a suitable ce was chosen by Mark. It was the Healthcare Office of the Municipality of San Miguel. In simpler words, the Municipal Hospital.


    Surely, it was not a clean ce, given that hospitals became the centers of infection during the outbreak. But with the infected mostly eliminated from the ind, it was empty.


    Of course, the horrors that happened inside its walls still left their marks with blood stters and a disgusting stench.


    Nheless, it was a big, secure ce for everyone to spend the night. Fortunately, Amihan was here to help blow out the musty and disgusting smell in the building and the workers helped with cleaning on ces where they would sleep.


    They also had to dump out the hospital beds, however. No one would want to sleep in those, after all, considering that the disgusting smell seeped into the dusty mattresses.


    Inside, Mark also found some decayed bodies. Luckily, there were just a few, and by the looks of it, eaten by animals. It was easy to dispose of the bodies with a few bursts of ck mes.


    Securing the ce, this ce seemed to be a good one. The only thing they needed to do next was to cook dinner and go to sleep.


    Unfortunately, Mark could only shake his head at sundown. It looked like the night would be far from peaceful, after all.

 Chapter 674 The Calls In The Distance, The Threat Lurking In The Middle Of The Ricefields

    <strong>Day 148 - 8:15 PM - San Miguel Municipal Health Office, Quirino Highway, District II, Municipality of San Miguel, Catanduanes</strong>


    The Healthcare Office of the Municipality of San Miguel was not arge one. The entire area only upied about 900 square meters ofnd, with two medium-sized buildings being the entirety of thepound.


    The first building facing the road was a single-floor one that served as an office and clinic for minor health issues. It was the second building at the back that had the other facilities and the hospital ward.


    And, of course, it was the second building that Mark''s group and the workers upied.


    For safety, the workers were to use the second floor while Mark''s group would take the first floor. Knowing the possible dangers, the workers agreed. Of course, they also wanted to be of help, being the ones saved by Mark and the others. However, as they already saw the prowess of Mark''s group along the way, they could not deny the fact that they would be more of baggage than help.


    As such, the workers only did what they could do, and that was to focus on cleaning and,ter on, cooking food for dinner.


    With the beds thrown out, everyone would sleep on the floor. The workersid down the nkets they managed to bring from the Rebel Base. They even offered Mark''s group some nkets, but thetter declined for some reason they did not know.


    Since Mark''s group had children with them, the workers wanted to insist on giving the nkets. However, they did not do so. Unknown to them, they subconsciously developed a servile attitude toward those with power. They questioned things less in fear of being punished or receiving the ire of someone superior. It was a negative side effect from being captured and forced to work. All the while, the workers feared for the lives of their loved ones.


    Thus, even when they were worried about where the children would sleep, they just went off without questioning why Mark declined.


    Well, unknown to them, Mark had better bedding options for his family. He did not want those nkets not washed for who knows how long.


    While the cleaning was ongoing, those tasked with food were also doing their work.


    The workers did not dare im ownership of the food that they managed to collect from the rebel base. As such, they were already expecting something like watered-down porridge for dinner. It was their usual food while living in the rebel base. It was also the reason for being undernourished.


    If not for Mutagen''s positive effects on the human body, things might have been worse.


    The workers were surprised, however. Mark allowed the cooks to use the sacks of rice and canned goods for cooking. He even preparedrge slices of octopus meat. Although they were confused as to where the fresh-looking octopus meat came from in the middle of the mountains, everyone was looking forward to a sumptuous dinner.


    Cooking for thisrge number of people was taxing for the cooks. Nheless, looking at the food they were cooking, they did not feel tired at all. None of them could remember when was thest time they were able to eat a fulfilling amount of food for a meal. That thought alone made the cooks do their best.


    The sun finally set, and the workers on the second floor gathered to get eat meals. Used cooking oilmps and lit up the rooms, and everyone feasted on the best food they had for months.


    Mark''s group, on the other hand, stayed on the first floor for dinner. While Mark preferred this arrangement, it was not the main reason. It would be morefortable for the workers to eat together. While Mark''s group were their saviors, they were still unfamiliar people. Furthermore, Mark did not want to get too familiar with the workers for reasons more than one.


    The food was delicious for the workers. However, for some, instead of bing happy, they felt sadder. While looking at their food, they could not help but remember their children.


    Were they still alive?


    If they were, were they eating good food like this?


    Those kinds of questions entered the minds of the lonely parents.


    Soon, all the food was gone, and everyone''s stomach was satisfied. After the workers sat down and chatted, letting their stomach digest the food for a bit, everyone should go to sleep. They would have an early day tomorrow, and by what Mark deduced, they might arrive at the Military Settlement during the afternoon.


    Mark''s group was the same. They took a small room near the emergency room for a ce to sleep.


    As it was now time to rest, Mark instructed everyone to turn off the lights. Of course, it would be inconvenient to be in the dark. However, keeping the lights on was more dangerous than turning it off.


    If the lights were left on, not only would it waste fuel, but it would draw attention to the hospital. The surroundings outside were extremely dark, after all. Many dangerous things would be attracted to the light. Gigantic insects were only the least of it. It might also draw the attention of the remaining Rebels if there were some to lurk nearby.


    Soon, the Municipal Hospital was dark and dead silent. But of course, not all the workers were asleep. Some volunteered to take shifts and guard near the stairs of the second floor.


    It did not take long for almost everyone to fall asleep. For the first time, the workers managed to sleep freely without fear of what the Rebels could do to them in the future.


    As for Mark''s group, everyone was tired. The several kilometers journey after fighting a bunch of rebels definitely took a toll on them. The girls did not even insist on ying before sleeping and justid down on their beds saying goodnight.


    Like usual, Mark was not entirely asleep. He was watching over Mei and the girls as they sleep beside him. Sleeping together in a few soft and clean mattresses lined up together was not bad. However, Mark could not help but feel a bit d that Emika was sleeping near the wall and kicking it instead of other things.


    But then, two hours after everyone slept, Mark was stricken by an odd feeling.


    Mark could not help but look around. Mei was asleep hugging him, and the girls were also sleeping. Amihan was still there on her pillow above a table.


    Closing his eyes, Mark felt that the workers were still in the same positions aside from the volunteers that already changed shifts. Char was also outside where the parking area for ambnces and was deeply asleep.


    Nothing was odd, but Mark could not help but get overwhelmed by the strange feeling.


    As such, Mark slowly moved Mei away, taking care that she would not wake up. He then walked out of the room.


    Mark did not stop until he reached the emergency door and went out.


    After looking around, everything still appeared normal. But the odd feeling could not be shaken off.


    Mark bent his knees and took two jumps to reach the roof of the hospital building. The elevation of the two hospital buildings of the Municipal Hospital was different. This made it easier to reach the roof of the second one by jumping onto the roof of the smaller building.


    However, even from the roof, everything looked normal. Yes, it was dark. Nheless, that was how it was supposed to be in the middle of the mountains during the apocalypse.


    Mark continued to observe the surroundings. However, instead of lessening, the odd feeling continued to grow stronger.


    It was until...


    "Papa."


    Mark heard Abbygale calling him.


    "So, this is why, huh."


    Mark frowned.


    Abbygale continued to call unto him as if asking for help.


    However, Mark could clearly feel that Abbygale was sound asleep inside their room.


    Furthermore, the voice wasing from the southeast, the area behind the hospital facing the river.


    And as the voice wanted, Mark walked toward it. However, Mark did not forget to wake up Char and told the dragon to keep a lookout.


    Soon, Mark stood in the middle of the muddy ricefields by the riverside. Of course, the whole ce was devoid of rice and was filled with tall wild grass instead.<sub> </sub>


    That was when the call stopped.


    "It seems like you noticed I''m not hypnotized, huh?" Mark smiled. "COME OUT!"


    Mark was feeling ufortable.


    By instinct, he could feel that someone or something was lurking around. After all, he could feel the predatory thirst that could also be felt from feral animals and highly mutated infected. However, Mark could not sense anything from his [Empathic Detection].


    However, it seemed that his shouting triggered the enemies into showing themselves.


    One by one, mounds of mud in the ricefields appeared, bursting out of them were small humanoid figures.


    Mark could not help but frown even deeper.


    The enemies were covered with mud and there were about two hundred of them. But one thing that Mark could tell, they were not infected. And yet, Mark could not sense any emotional fluctuation from any of them. Moreover, by how they were hunched, growling at Mark like beasts, these enemies might not have a mind of their own.


    And the worst thing above all, the enemies around Mark were all children.


    It was not hard to assume things.


    After all, where would one see a whole bunch of children on this ind? From what Mark knew, there was only one event that could lead to this.


    "KRRYYAAAA!!!"


    A loud screech-like cry sounded out from somewhere in the ricefield.


    With that cry, the children began moving.


    Some dove into the mud once more while the others started running.


    In a few seconds, Mark could not see any of them. The only thing that made him sure that he was still surrounded were the sounds of squelching mud and rustling grass. From what it appeared, each child was moving as fast as a cheetah while running across the grass-filled ricefield.


    Running in different directions, they were trying to disorient their prey.


    SWOOSH!


    Mark then heard some fast movements behind him.


    Immediately as the sound was heard, Mark turned around. What he saw was a mud-covered naked little girl already mid-air leaping at him.


    Mark then moved.


    Stepping sideways, Mark dodged the girl''s ws that passed an inch away from his neck. He then grabbed the girl''s wrists with his left hand and grabbed her neck before pinning her to the ground.


    SCREECH! SCREECH!


    The girl screeched loudly and iled violently. However, this girl that appeared to be five years old had no way of getting away from the grasp of Mark.


    Finally, Mark managed to get a clear look at the assant.


    Mark could not help but feel pity.


    The girl was extremely thin. Even though Mark held her on her wrists and neck, it felt like he was only holding at a skeleton. However, that was not the only thing.


    She had yellowish-green pupils that could reflect light like animals. Her teeth were extremely sharp like a piranha. And her nails were like the ws of a cat.


    Suddenly, memories of the Deity of Bloodshed and even the Elder Cultivator whose soul was absorbed by him shed in front of his eyes.


    "TSK!"


    Mark clicked his tongue. He finally knew what happened.


    SWOOSH! SWOOSH! SWOOSH!


    While Mark pinned the girl to the ground, several more sounds rushed towards Mark. Some came from bursts of mud while the others rushed out from the tall grasses.


    Suddenly, about nine more children were already mid-air, leaping to attack his back.


    "You brats."


    Mark murmured as both his [Blood Whips] and wings appeared from his back.


    CLANG!


    nging sounds echoed as the [Blood Whips] that turned metal and Mark''s wings blocked the ws of the children attacking him.


    SCREECH!


    The girl on Mark''s hands continued to screech and il while the others were thrown back from the impact of their attacks getting blocked.


    Conjuring a [Blood Metal] cuffs, Mark restrained the arms and legs of the little-girl before standing up.


    Mark looked around, the children were wary of him.


    "Hah..." Mark sighed. "Just what the hell did the demons in this ind do?"


    Those words came out of Mark''s mouth.


    After all, these children surrounding him were no longer humans.


    From the memories that shed in Mark''s eyes, these children were called...


    "Feral Demons."

 Chapter 675 The Feral Demons, An Irreversible Curse Of A Failed Demonification

    <strong>Day 148 - 11:31 PM - Ricefield, District II, Municipality of San Miguel, Catanduanes</strong>


    PANG! CLANG!


    Bone-like and metallic sounds echoed as Mark parried another two children that tried to attack from behind him.


    Mark observed the movements of the Feral Demon Children. It appeared that their hunting pattern relied on attacking the prey from behind while others did the distraction.


    And to say, Mark agreed that it was quite an effective hunting method.


    Furthermore, these children seemed to have numbers along with their speed and movement abilities.


    It would be hard to fend off these children, even if it was a group of armed people. Not to mention, this was the hunting ground of these children. From the soft mud to the tall grass, they could use it to their advantage.


    CLANG! CLANG!


    Mark received another two attacks, which he parried.


    "These guys are quick to adapt."


    Mark murmured.


    After Mark easily captured the girl that attacked first, the children never attacked alone. Their coordination with each other was far from perfect, but not a lot of holes to take advantage of.


    And after every attack that Mark parried, the next attacks woulde, allowing the previous ones to flee back either into the mud or behind the tall grass.


    These children were very well coordinated.


    The sound of squelching mud and rustling grass continued as the children continued to attack Mark in groups.


    Just how many were there? Mark could not estimate since he could not detect them. It was like with the infected.


    In the first ce, what kind of creatures were Feral Demons?


    Last night, it was exined to Mark.


    Not just any human could be a Spirit or a Demon.


    Compatibility was needed like some of the members from the mother''s side of Mark''s family.


    In this case, Blood Demons was an especial existence that was akin to Vampires that could pass on their Demonic Traits to any human. But of course, only Pure Bloods retained the highest abilities as a Demon.


    As for disease-like Demonification, only a select few would turn into a proper Demon. Not even all human descendants of Aswangs could inherit their Bloodline.


    However, it did not mean that ipatible humans could not undergo such Demonification processes.


    The very fortunate ones could step into being Lesser Demons, but the majority in these circumstances failed the process.


    Those failed Demonification produced being called Feral Demons.


    Compatibility with such race-changing processes was not only determined by a person''s body but mostly by one''s soul.


    While the body was the medium to store and materialize magical energy into existence, the soul held the control and capacity to use that energy. Both things were needed for a person to be able to sessfully be either a Demon or a Spirit.


    In ordinary humans, however, their souls had almost non-existent control to magical energy. As such, their bodiescked it.


    During the Demonification process, their bodies would be transformed into the race of demons they were supposed to be. The transformation was not physical but also magical.


    And to ipatible humans, it was fatal. At least, to their souls.


    Changing their bodies into Demonic forms enabled their bodies to hold and absorb magical energy. However, this process would not change their souls easily. The body would change first, while the soul would slowly change over time.


    This was one of the causes of mental rejection to people that unwantedly turned into Demons. It was because their bodies already changed, albeit still having a human soul.


    Topatible humans, their souls were able to handle such change in their bodies. Slowly, their souls would be able to control the new kind of energy flowing inside them.


    But to ipatible people, that was not possible. Since their soulscked the capability to control magical energies, they would not be able to handle the changes in their bodies.


    Their souls could be caught up in the turbulent energies they now had and had no way of settling it down.


    In the end, the chains that connected the body and the soul would be torn. The souls would be whisked out of their bodies, leaving an empty demonic shell. In the worst cases, their souls would be torn apart by the surging demonic energies inside them.


    And if this happened, the world considered them dead. Their souls were sent to the afterlife, leaving these flesh-eating demons to be a threat to everyone.


    A Demonified empty human husk, that was what Feral Demons were.


    Mark parried another three attackers, with his eyes showing pity on the children. He would feel such if not for the fact that he was also a father of three girls now.


    What would the parents feel if they saw their children had already turned into something inhuman?


    Sadness? Remorse? Some of them might even think that the world was not worth living in anymore.


    Mark suddenly remembered the story of a reincarnated king that fell into a cliff because of bandits. That was such a good story.


    The death of a child could give despair. However, a child bing a Feral Demon might turn out to be worse.


    The worst thing, this kind of Demonificiation was not reversible. And even if a method to turn them back into human existed, they would not live long. After all, they already lost their souls. The best that might happen was for them to be lifelongatose patients.


    "What should I do with these brats?"


    Mark asked himself.


    He mulled over whether he should capture these children and show them to their parents.


    But in the middle of his thoughts...


    Mark sensed something. It was very faint that it was almost non-existent. However, it was there.


    CLANG!


    Mark crouched as his wings and spider-like limbs blocked another group of attacks. The children were still relentlessly attacking, trying to wear him down.


    Suddenly, Mark''s eyes glowed red, releasing sparks at its corners. As his senses towards Emotional Energies heightened, he managed to feel it clearly.


    The lingering emotions of these children before their souls were whisked away from their bodies.


    "Kill us..."<sub> </sub>


    The despaired thoughts flowed into Mark''s subconscious.


    CLANG!


    "Kill us..."


    CLANG!


    "Kill us..."


    Mark parried several more, with each of them releasing the same lingering thought in their bodies.


    Just how much pain did they undergo for all of them to have this kind of lingering emotions?


    "If that''s what you brats wish."


    Mark said as he drew a sword made of [Blood Metal].


    Five children jumped out of the tall grass and mud to attack Mark from behind. Unlike before, however, Mark did not parry the attacks with his wings or metal limbs. Instead, he turned around swung his sword a couple of times.


    SHING! SHING! SHING! SHING! SPLAT!


    The bodies of five children fell to the ground with their heads, limbs, and torsos detached from each other.


    Wary but not scared, another group attacked from behind Mark, only to suffer the same fate.


    This went on for another few times before the attacks died down. Of course, it did not mean that Mark already wiped the children out. It was because they started to view Mark as a predator instead of prey.


    Right now, more than several dozen dismembered bodies of children littered around Mark.


    Was it brutal? It might have been better if that was the case.


    Unfortunately, it was not. Dismembering these Demon children was not even enough to kill them.


    Even now, with their dismembered bodies, each part was still squirming like tails of lizards. They were Feral Demons. Not the infected. Just beheading or destroying their brain was not enough to kill them.


    The only a few ways to dispose of these Feral Demons. One was to...


    BAM!


    Mark waved both his hands and the area around him was covered with ck mes.


    Burn their squirming bodies to ashes.


    That sight made the surroundings quiet. Then, a few secondster, it became noisier. The Feral Demons finally considered Mark as way above their league and started to flee, scattering in all directions.


    But as if Mark would let that happen.


    Mark pped his wings and soared above the ricefield. From above, he could see the movements within the tall grass clearly.


    At that height, Mark managed to deduce where most of the Feral Demons were. He then waved his me-covered hands.


    The Feral Demons continued to run away. However, they could only stop in surprise when they reached the border of the rice paddy. It was because, before them, a wall of ck mes blocked their escape.


    "SCREECH!"


    Suddenly, that loud screech was heard once more.


    "So, there you are."


    Mark smiled as he swooped down into a patch of tall grass. The moment he flew up again, he had a girl iling on his grasp.


    About ten years old, this should be the leader of this pack of Feral Demons. Her screeches were the ones giving orders towards the others. Now that Mark grasped her neck and she could not let out a single sound, the Feral Demons below began to move erratically in confusion.


    Mark could not help but notice the girl.


    She appeared different from the others. The girl also had sharp teeth but had no sharp ws. Mark did not even bother stopping her iling since her strength was weaker too.


    It was probable that she evolved differently as a leader of the pack. In the groups of animals, this kind of differentiation also existed.


    In any case, Mark captured the leader.


    "Well, I''ll let the others have their wish fulfilled, but some of you areing with me."


    Mark smiled, tapping the forehead of the girl he caught.


    Was it not a good opportunity to capture a few?


    <o>,m Mark might better try to study these Feral Demons since there was arge possibility to encounter more in the future, especially when the different Dimensions of Earth began to fuse.</o>


    With the Demons freely roaming the Earth at that time, many humans might be Feral Demons.


    What about their wish to die?


    Mark had less care about that.


    It was true that he granted their wish to die, but it did not mean that he would give it to everyone.


    In the end, arge part of grass-covered ricefields began to burn with ck mes. The loud screeches and roars of the children echoed as the mes slowly turned their bodies to ashes.


    From those mes, Mark came out with three children in tow. One was the girl that was the first to attack him. The second was the leader of the pack. Lastly, a boy about nine-years-old.


    Mark cuffed the three tightly and dropped them outside the vicinity of the mes.


    Since Mark wanted to be sure that no one escaped the mes, he decided to let it burn for a while. And he was right. Some of the children hid under the mud. Unfortunately for them, the mud started to heat up and harden, forcing them out, only to finally be engulfed in mes and turn to ashes.


    While waiting for the mes to burn the remaining Feral Demons, Mark decided to give the three he captured what they wanted. And of course, that was to eat.


    Mark took out a carcass of one of the dogs they encountered this afternoon. He had no ns on eating dog meat, but he could probably give it to other people. Here, it became handy as he began to slice the body of the dog and fed the hungry Feral Demons.


    Sure enough, the three were ravenously hungry. The three Feral Demons ignored their cuffs and dived unto the freshly cut meat in front of them. The three did not care whether their faces were stained with blood or pieces of meat enter their noses. They bit the dog meat and ate like beasts.


    Watching the three, Mark felt like he had three new pets to tame and train.


    Well, aside from that, it was better for Mark to start thinking about how he was going to bring these three with them without being seen by the workers.

 Chapter 676 To The Municipality Of Bato, Entering The Demons Territory In The Island Of Catanduanes

    <strong>Day 149 - 8:02 AM - Catanduanes Circumferential Road, Sipi, Municipality of Bato, Catanduanes</strong>


    Eight in the morning, Mark''s group led the workers on the road once more.


    As usual, the morning in the apocalypse was early.


    But today, their morning was even earlier. After all, Mark''s group and the rescued people still had to travel on the road. They wanted to reach the end of this journey as soon as possible.


    Even before the sun had risen, the cooks were already working on cooking their breakfast. It was the most important meal of the day, and everyone needed as much energy as they could have to reach their destination.


    It was not hard for everyone to wakeup, though. No one managed to sleep deeply at all among the workers.


    Last night, Mark intercepted the danger on his own. It might have been catastrophic if Mark did not detect it beforehand and the Feral Demon Children targeted their parents instead. There was no way that these saddened parents would be able to resist the calls of their children.


    In the worst case, the parents might go berserk due to the mental attack they could receive and end being hard to handle.


    The workers did not receive any direct damage. However, the screeches that the Feral Demons created were too loud. It alerted the ones that volunteered to guard and some of those asleep. Those awakened by the screeches ended up waking the others to enable everyone to act if it became an emergency.


    Fortunately, the workers did not move out without instructions from Mark''s group. They patiently waited until they received any order. Well, they received none in the end.


    Mark dealt with the problem, after all.


    When Mark returned, some of the workers gathered the courage to ask Mark what happened. Of course, Mark did not tell them the truth and just replied with a short...


    "Monsters."


    Well, it was not a lie either. Anyone and anything out of the norm could be called a monster, depending on the context. Feral Demons were definitely one.


    The workers did not ask further as Mark went away to meet with Mei and the girls. In the least, they thought that the danger was dealt with. It was because Mark returned from the direction of the eerie screeches.


    When it was time to leave this morning, though, the workers could not help but notice the three tightly sealed stic dressers that were now tied to Char''s body.


    The workers were even more curious when they heard some muffled growls and thumping from inside the dressers.


    Mark did not bother feeding the curiosity of the workers. It was better to make them imagine things on their own.


    Luckily, the growls that the three children made sounded more like a beast than a child. It made the worker''s thoughts stray away from the truth further. The only one that Mark had to take care of was the leader of the Feral Demon Children. It seemed that the mental attack and the mimicking voice came from her. That was why her improvised shipping crate was also covered with a thin film of Miasma to block her powers.


    For the stic dressers that Mark used to encase the three children, these piece of storage furniture was not hard to find. It was more affordable for them to buy stic furniture for storage and other things. That was why Mark managed to find some since this area of Catanduanes was on the lower economic side. Mark just had to trim some parts of the dressers to make it more like a casket that could fit the three children.


    Of course, the contents of the caskets were not a secret to Mei and the girls. Still, the reaction of I, Abbygale, and Miracle towards the children was quite cute. It looked like even the mature I was wary that Mark would add another daughter. For them, they did not want morepetition. These odd girls... really...


    Nheless, the three were relieved when Mark cleared their misunderstanding. Furthermore, he said to treat the three Feral Demons more like exotic pets. It was not a wrong approach since Feral Demons were more or less feral beasts.


    Aside from the eventsst night and the curiosity of the workers, everything else went as usual.


    They continued following the road south like they did yesterday, leaving the Municipality of San Miguel and entering the Municipality of Bato.


    The more they get nearer to their destination, the workers feel more excited. Soon, they will arrive at the Military Base. All their worries would finally be washed away.


    Mark could even hear some of them talking.


    Maybe, they could find their family members there. If not, they could ask for help in finding their other family members, especially their children,


    Mark could only shake his head. Even if the Military agreed with that, the chance of finding their children was next to none. Even if they really managed to find any, it would be questionable that they could still call those their children. All the children captured by the rebels might have be Feral Demons already.


    Along the way, the workers also began talking about the sea. Being captives for months, none of them had seen the sea for a long while. A lot of the workers were not really farmers but fishermen. The sea was their life, and they longed for it badly.


    The Municipality of Bato was the southeasternmost part of the Ind of Catanduanes. Its north and west side were surrounded by mountains, while the east and south were all seashores. Furthermore, the Catanduanes Circumferential Road would travel along the seaside once it turns west to Virac, Catanduanes.


    While the workers had high spirits, Mark became wary of the surroundings.


    The workers did not know anything. It was not like they could be med for it.


    Right now. Aside from the Anti-Government Rebel Territory, the Municipality of Bato was the most dangerous part of the ind. Even the Military was aware of the dangers. However, the Military had no concrete exnation of what was happening in this part of the ind. They could only dismiss it at unexinable infected activity and told everyone to proceed with high caution while approaching this area.


    Mark, however, knew what was going on in this area. And to say, encountering the childrenst night was not a total coincidence.


    The Municipality of Bato had already fallen to the hands of the Demons in this ind. It was their territory, and anyone entering it could be subjected to their machinations.


    Because of the Apocalypse, these Demons became more active. There were lesser humans to hunt them, and they could always pin the me on the infected. Of course, they were also having a bit of a problem. It was because there were also lesser humans for them to prey on.


    That was why soon enough...


    "Gege."


    Mei whispered with a frown.


    "I know."


    Mark smiled, patting her head.


    Not only the two. Even Amihan, Char, and the little girls, with the exception of Emika, noticed the eerie feeling in the surroundings.<sub> </sub>


    Soon, in the middle of the morning, the road suddenly turned foggy. It made the high spirits of the workers dampen. They could not help but raise their weapons, ready for any battle that could happen.


    The fog was not too thick. The workers could still see the road in front of them. What made them warier, however, was the fact that Mark''s group disappeared behind the mist.


    "[Ocr Obstruction], huh," Mark spoke. "You guys sure are cautious."


    Mark and Mei turned to the side. Mei almost raised her weapon to shoot, but Mark blocked her and shook his head. Mei could only stand down. It was the same for the girls.


    From the thickest area of the fog, two figures emerged.


    One was a handsome man. He had tanned skin, but it justplimented his exotic appearance. This person looked perfectly human at first nce if no one could detect the malicious aura around him. He was also wearing clean clothes.


    The second one was theplete opposite. It was a thin emaciated-looking man with a vulgar-looking face. He walked hunched, and his eyes had a piercing stare as if he was looking at your soul. He was also half-naked, which was a sight for sore eyes as his bony body looked horrible.


    "Esteemed Demons. Your faces are unfamiliar. I assume that you did not know, but you are stepping into the Silvestre''s territory. You all must go back."


    The Handsome Demon said.


    "Before going back, these humans are ours for taking. Take it aspensation for trespassing in our territory. Hehe."


    The Ugly Demon added.


    But then, Mark smiled, to the confusion of the two.


    "You two are mistaken. I know that this ce is the territory of you Demons."


    "Then..."


    The Handsome Demon tried to speak but got interrupted as Mark continued.


    "And I don''t care." Mark took a step forward. "We are just passing by. If you two don''t want any trouble, you better step to the side. I don''t have any business towards you Demons... Yet."


    The two Demons frowned towards Mark''s threatening attitude.


    "Esteemed Demons. I don''t think that it is a good idea for you to oppose us.."


    The Handsome Demon warned but in the least, he was being cautious. The Ugly Demon, however...


    "Hoh..." His vulgar eyes fell on Mei. "We will forgive your attitude just now, but you have to leave that woman. Hehehehe-urk!"


    The Ugly Demon did not finish his creepyugh. His eyes went wide as his face was already grasped by someone.


    "Bad decision."


    Mark whispered to the Ugly Demon''s ears.


    BAM!


    The Ugly Demon''s body lost bnce as Mark smashed his head to the ground without hesitation. With a loud sound, the ground shook. The Handsome Demon could not help but jump away as a two-meter wide crater formed in the middle of the road.


    And, of course, the Ugly Demon''s bodyid there lifelessly with his head smashed to bits and pieces. There was not even a chance for the bastard to scream before his death.


    "Tsk."


    Mark clicked his tongue while flicking his hand. It was covered with disgusting blood and brain matter. He then conjured ck mes on his hand, burning the filthy things away before turning to the remaining Demon.


    "You want to end up like him?"


    Mark asked, kicking the headless body towards the Handsome Demon.


    The Handsome Demon frowned. However, it seemed that he was not that concerned about the death of the Ugly Demon.


    "Please, don''t worry. He deserves it for behaving haughtily while being weak himself." The Handsome Demon replied calmly. "However, the territory is still off-limits to Demons that did not belong to our n. I request for all of you to go back."


    "I don''t care about your rules." Mark shrugged. "We are passing by wherever we want. If you want to follow the steps of that guy, then, continue to block our way."


    The Handsome Demon frowned. However, he was unsure whether he would be able to block Mark''s group at all. He was not even able to react to Mark''s movements at all. Mark already had hispanion in his grasp before he was able to notice him move.


    "Unfortunately, I can only admit my ipetence this time around. But expect to hear more from our n."


    The Handsome Demon warned as his body was enveloped in thick fog. Then, the fog in the surroundings vanished. Even the dead body of the Ugly Demon was missing. The only things left were the crater that Mark created and the blood inside it.


    "W-what happened?"


    The workers noticed the crater that Mark was standing on.


    "Don''t worry. There are just a few bugs lurking around." Mark said nonchntly. "Let''s continue."


    Mark''s group then continued on the way, forcing the workers to follow suit. Still, they noticed the ckish-red blood on the crater and were sure that it was not just some bugs.

 Chapter 677 In The Mountains Of Bato, The Lord Of The Demon Clan

    <strong>Day 149 - 9:03 AM - Carorian Settlement, Barangay Carorian, Municipality of Bato, Catanduanes</strong>


    In the middle of the mountains, there was a small vige. Although a lot of homes were built with concrete, the structures were small. It was an example of a countryside vige in modern times.


    Now, it was turned into a settlement surrounded by walls made of wood from the forest and scrap building materials. The walls were topped by rolls of barbed wires to stop anyone from climbing it.


    Unfortunately, the walls were there, and it was not to stop anyone froming into the settlement but from going out without permission. It was to avoid their livestock from escaping.


    In terms of defense, these walls would not help a lot. However, there was no need to make this ce a man-made fortress. Aside from the southern side of the vige, the other sides were surrounded by forest-covered mountains. The whole ce was already a nature-made fortress against attackers.


    This settlement in the mountains of the Municipality of Bato was the very ce governed by Demons.


    The poption of Demons on the ind of Catanduanes was not thatrge. It was just around two hundred individuals. Before the outbreak, that number was all scattered throughout the ind hiding from human sight. Now that they were gathered together, it would not be long for them to stand up against humans.


    In this settlement, the majority of the Demons were either Aswangs or Manananggals. There were also the asional rarer ones like Sigbins andAndudunos and other Demon races here and there.


    In this ce, humans had no rights. They were treated as livestock. The only exceptions were Mangkukms and Mambabarangs were gifted dark abilities akin to Demons. Furthermore, these two kinds of witches were held in regard as even Demons would have a hard time once they received their ire.


    In thergest house at the center of the settlement, a cloud of fog floated and entered the building.


    The cloud of fog then formed a humanoid shape that humbly bowed before a handsome muscr man having histe breakfast on the dining table.


    That cloud of fog then materialized, showing a handsome-looking Demon. He just stood to the side, watching the muscr man eat.


    And what was the food on the table?


    It was the limbless and headless torso of a young virgin woman with her stomach slit open while the man used his knife and fork as he feasted on her raw innards. The woman''s decapitated head was also served on a te at the side with her fully preserved expression of horror when the Demons cut her alive.


    The handsome Demon patiently waited. It was until the muscr man used his fork to pierce and scoop out the woman''s eye and munched on it with a delightful smile.


    "What is your business here, Muggur? Shouldn''t you be in the north, guarding the border? You should watch out for those pesky Spirits and Elementals since they had been messing with our people whenever they got a chance."


    The man''s deep muscr voice that could make women bow down echoed into the ears of the handsome Demon called Muggur.


    "Lord Seis," Mugguraddressed the muscr man. "A seemingly family of unfamiliar Demons entered our jurisdiction. They came with a group of about a hundred humans. It appeared that they were ushering humans somewhere."


    "Unfamiliar Demons, you say?" Lord Seis used his fork to pluck out the dead woman''s kidney with a bloody snap. "What actions did you take?"


    "As per rules, we blocked their way and told them to go back."


    Muggur replied.


    "Good. We can''t just let anyone enter our territory. If the intruders were humans, capture them. But since those humans had Demons with them, it is better not to gain their ire too much. We are not the only Demon ns in the world. We can''t afford a war with other ns right now."


    "But Lord Seis."


    Muggur interjected.


    "What is it?"


    "Ogon gave out conditions on his own volition."


    "That Ogon..." Lord Seis was exasperated. "Where is that bastard now?"


    "He''s dead, Lord Seis."


    Muggur replied, making Lord Seis put down his knife and fork down with a frown.


    "What happened?"


    Lord Seis sternly asked. That Ogon might look unsightly and had a rebellious behavior. However, that Aswang still had enough strength to kill more than a dozen armed soldiers with his bare hands.


    As the Lord finally asked, Muggur recalled the encounter about an hour ago.


    Learning about what happened, Lord Seis did not seem to be agitated. Instead, he started to mull over the situation.


    "So, they said that they were only passing by, and you said that the one who appeared to be the leader killed Ogon in a blink of an eye. Did you determine what kind of Demons they were?"


    Lord Seis asked.


    "I''m sorry, Lord Seis." Muggur bowed one more. "They sure have a Demonic Aura. Even the giant winged lizard with them shared the same. However, it was the first time I encountered such aura."


    "Demons of unknown race and origin, was it?" Lord Seis nodded. "Keep an eye on them, but don''t make any rash movements. They might be high members of other Demon ns. We can''t afford distractions while we increase our numbers."


    "As youmand, Lord Seis."


    Muggur bowed onest time before turning into a cloud of fog that flew out of the building.


    "Someone, take this away!"


    Hearing what happened made Lord Seis'' mood worse. He lost the appetite.


    As Lord Seis shouted, several women entered the room to start cleaning the table. While the servants cleaned, however, they all had sticky stares towards the dead woman''s body. The smell of human flesh and blood definitely stimted their hunger.


    Lord Seis left the dining room and entered another room. Standing at the center of the room, he closed his eyes and spoke.


    "You heard Muggur, right? What are your thoughts about it?"


    At first nce, no one was present in the room. But then, at a closer look, there was a man sitting on one of the chairs in the corner of the room.


    "I''ll give you a warning." The man spoke. "Don''t mess with those people. Though by how it sounded like, they wille to create troubleter on."


    "What do you mean, Austin?" Lord Seis turned to the man. "Do you know them?"


    "Not personally," Austin replied. "Those Demons did not belong to any n. But it did not mean that they are easy pickings. You definitely felt the explosion of magical energy the other day. That came from their leader."


    Hearing that, Lord Seis frowned deeply.


    "But why would they make trouble with us? Is it because of what Ogon did? No, the threat was said before Ogon offended them. Then why?"


    "Don''t ask me." Austin shrugged. "I''m not them. That''s beyond my scope of information gathering. But it''s likely that your Demons offended them before in some way. The Rebel Base in Viga got destroyed yesterday. It might have some connection with that."


    Hearing all those threatening warnings made Lord Seis'' mood worsened even more.


    "In any case, you better prepare."


    Austin suggested.


    Without saying anything else, Lord Seis walked out of the room, mming the door closed.<sub> </sub>


    "Seriously, he always tries to make a calm face, but his actions do otherwise." Austin shrugged. "But seriously, what is that courier nning, making a ruckus around the ind."


    With those words, Austin satfortably while ying with a fist-sized cockroach on the wall beside him.


    ***


    <strong>Day 149 - 9:12 AM - Catanduanes Circumferential Road, Guinobatan, Municipality of Bato, Catanduanes</strong>


    After the encounter with the two Demons that blocked their way, everyone had been cautious of their surroundings. However, it was not because they might possibly encounter danger. There was definitely danger around them.


    Since arriving in the Municipality of Bato, there was an eerie aura lingering in the surroundings. Even Amihan kept hiding inside Mark''s bag.


    It was the aura that marked the Demon''s territory. This aura covered the surroundings with an unexinable gloomy and ufortable atmosphere that even the densest human alive would feel that something was odd.


    To spirits, this kind of aura was suffocating to some extent. It was the worst for elementals. Fortunately, they were just walking at the border and not at the center of the Demon territory. That was why Amihan could still handle it.


    "Amihan, you okay there?"


    Mark whispered behind him.


    "I''m still okay, Master..."


    Amihan replied with less energy than usual.


    It was better if Amihan stayed inside the bag as the sight of her would definitely irk the Demons in the surroundings. Still, she was suffering. Sylphs were elementals, after all.


    That was when the idea entered Mark''s mind and his eyes fell on Mei.


    "Mei''er, can you carry my bag for a bit?"


    Mark asked Mei.


    Mei tilted her head in confusion. Still, she nodded and took Mark''s backpack.


    The backpack was not heavy. It only contained a few clothes and served as a disguise. Their things were inside their rings, after all.


    When Mei wore the backpack, Mark opened the zipper a bit and peeked inside.


    "Feeling better?"


    Mark asked Amihan.


    "I am! How?!"


    Amihan was confused and peeked her head out of the bag.


    "Just stay inside. We are still in the Demon territory."


    Mark warned.


    "Okay~!"


    Amihan replied as she immediately hid.


    Mark shrugged, seeing Amihan suddenly energetic again. Mei also smiled.


    Mei was not affected by the aura in the surroundings because of her unique physique. And now that Mei wore the backpack where Amihan was hiding, the Sylph was shielded by the ominous aura.


    Continuing on the road, the feeling worsened. It was not because they were moving towards the center of the Demon territory. In fact, the road they were taking was moving further away from the center.


    What made them feel wary and jumpy was the things obviously watching everyone from the surroundings.


    At almost every corner, they could see animals. Not evolved animals but normal-sized ones. Cats, dogs, pigs, and even carabaos and cows. However, all of them were ck in color while having red glowing eyes.


    For the people that grew up on this ind, there was no way that they could not recognize these animals even if they did not want to.


    Aswangs, those were these creatures. They were Demons that prey on humans while being capable of transforming into the aforementioned animals.


    "Gege, aren''t they being careless?" Mei whispered. "Aren''t they supposed to be hiding their involvement in this area? Why are they letting themselves seen by us?"


    "They probably think that these people behind us are our prisoners. Since we are Demons too, they might think that it''s fine."


    That could possibly be why. These Demons, after all, did not know that Mark''s was escorting these people to the Military Settlement. Once that happened, the existence of these Demons would be revealed to the Military.


    Well, it was not like it would be believed immediately.


    On Char''s back, the little girls sat. It was when Emika''s eyes locked onto a boar that was looking at her like a tasty treat. The green-haired girl stiffened and suddenly jumped off Char''s back before running to Mark and hugging his arm.


    "Scared?"


    Mark teased.


    "I''m not!"


    Emika retorted.


    But then, her eyes locked into another ck animal giving her goosebumps.


    "Uwaa!!! No fair!"


    Suddenly, someone shouted.


    It was Miracle pointing at Emika that was holding her Papa''s hand. She immediately followed suit and jumped off Char''s back. She rushed unto Mark''s free hand.


    Unfortunately, her steps were small, and could not properly keep up with the adults.


    With a sigh, Mark could only pick her up.


    Not far from behind, the calm Abbygale would not take a loss. However, since both Mark''s hands were upied, she took their Mama''s instead. Mei could not help but smile. I sighed on Char''s back. But when Mei called her, she happily followed suit.


    The eerie atmosphere was suddenly broken. The workers following behind could not help but look at Mark''s group with warm eyes. Some had jealousy but not in a bad way.


    As for the Demons in the surroundings, there was only one question they wanted to shout while watching Mark''s group.


    "Are we a joke to you people?!"

 Chapter 678 The Santo Domingo Outpost, The Very First Military Outpost In The Island Of Catanduanes

    <strong>Day 149 - 5:47 PM - Port Area, Catanduanes Military Settlement, Codon, Municipality of San Andres, Catanduanes</strong>


    BANG! BANG!


    Sounds of gunshots from sniper rifles loudly echoed across the port from several soldiers atop the walls. Those shots made two [Armor Type] infected copse on the beach, never to stand up again. Since the soldiers urately shot the two through their eyes, it would be shocking if the two [Armor Type] infected managed to survive.


    General Padi watched the scene with a sigh. He was here since several infected were spotted emerging from the sea once again.


    The aftereffects of the massive horde attack the other day had yet to subside. Not all of the infected under the seawater were eliminated. Thus, many would make it to shore from time to time.


    Fortunately, it was not on a scale that could be considered an emergency.


    "General, the shallow areas of the shore had been scanned, and there''s no further infected activity."


    A soldier reported to the General through the radio.


    "Proceed with the clean-up, but don''t stop monitoring the waters. We can''t let our soldiers get ambushed by other mutated infected."


    The General ordered.


    "Yes, General."


    The soldier from the radio replied.


    From the General''s position, he could see his orders being implemented already.


    The clean-up was going smoothly. General Padi thought that he would finally get a breather for today.


    But then...


    "GENERAL! GENERAL! Pleasee to the Communication Center!"


    General Padi''s radio loudly sounded with the voice of one of the operators in the Communication Center. The man seemed to be agitated for some reason.


    "What happened?"


    General Padi immediately responded to the call.


    "We just received a transmission from our outpost in Santo Domingo! Arge group of people arrived, iming that they were prisoners from the Anti-Government faction of the rebels!"


    "WHAT?!" It was the General''s turn to be surprised. "I''ll being immediately."


    Receiving such news would make anyone surprised. It was even more for the members of the military that were trying to subdue those rebels that enved people.


    Howe that the people captured by those rebels suddenly appeared?


    The first thing that entered their minds was that there could be some sort of trap in this situation. Nheless, there was no way that they would be able to ignore it.


    There was absolutely no excuse to ignore this.


    The General and his guards immediately made their way towards the Communication Center.


    To the side of the General, Vanessa was in deep thought.


    "What is that courier plotting?"


    She murmured.


    The General and his entourage soon arrived at the Communication Center and directlymunicated with the outpost to confirm the report. Until then, they were skeptical about the situation and the possibility of it being the scheme of the rebels. But when they heard who brought the people from the rebel base, their suspicion died down to the minimum.


    Nheless, they were shocked for another reason as the statements from the captured people were heard.


    "The Anti-Government Faction''s base was destroyed."


    Those words gave them a whole different impact.


    Whether it was a good thing or bad had yet to register in everyone''s minds.


    After receiving a more detailed report in the Communication Center, the General immediately organized soldiers to form a convoy. The General himself was going to lead the convoy this time. Since they needed to confirm things, it was better for the General to be present at the location. The involvement of Mark''s group bolstered the General''s participation even more.


    Why? It appeared that Mark''s group intended to leave immediately after giving the workers to the soldiers in the outpost. Right now, the Officer-in-Charge of the outpost was doing his best to make Mark''s group stay, at least for the night.


    ***


    <strong>Day 149 - 6:12 PM - Santo Domingo Elementary School, Barangay Santo Domingo, Municipality of Virac, Catanduanes</strong>


    The sun had already set the surroundings had been enveloped by the darkness of the night.


    On the school grounds, emergency tents were pitched, and a lot of people were preparing for dinner. These people were no other than the workers that Mark''s group escorted to this ce.


    The Santo Domingo Elementary School. This school was turned into a military outpost even before the Military Settlement in Codon was built. It was the outpost that held off most of the infected from the most popted areas of Virac. Specifically, San Isidro Vige, where the ground Zero of the outbreak on this ind was located.


    Due to being built earlier before other outposts, it had more facilities. It was enough to consider this ce as a settlement of its own. Furthermore, the vige the outpost was located in was surrounded by a wide curve of the Pajo River. It had a highly defensible terrain that would make it hard for attackers from the east and north sides. It was unlikely for enemies toe from west and south either.


    After the infected were removed from the ind, the outpost remained. It was not only to guard against possible lingering infected but also against the rebels that could use this route to attack the Military Settlement in Codon.


    Well, thest time they encountered rebels in this area was a month ago. Of course, it was because of the mysterious happenings on the southeast side of the ind.


    "Boss, please have some."


    Several workers approached a group separated from the others. They carried soup and rice with them. Of course, it was Mark''s group. They pitched up their own tent further away from other tents.


    "Just leave it there."


    Mark pointed at a concrete fence with a wide top. It was wide enough to act as a table for the food.<sub> </sub>


    The workers left the food and respectfully left Mark''s group. They did not want to bother their saviors too much, knowing how they were quite reclusive.


    Mark and Mei then started to eat dinner with the children and Amihan inside their tent.


    "I can''t believe they don''t want us to leave. Right, Uncle?"


    Emika grumbled while sipping her soup.


    "Aside from making Pefile''s group for another night, there are no other issues, really," Mark replied. "Though, I also preferred if we can leave immediately."


    "Then why did Gege agree?"


    Mei asked.


    "Well, I just thought that this situation can benefit my ns."


    Mark smiled.


    "ns?"


    I asked, joining into the conversation.


    "I''ll tell you allter. It''s just we can''t be sure who is listening around."


    Mark answered, which made the girls agree.


    In this outpost, there were three Mutators. Mark could detect them but, of course, had no idea what their abilities were. Furthermore, there was no way for him to know who was the Evolvers among the soldiers.


    While the topic about Mark''s ns was done, for now, Mark turned to Abbygale that was quietly sipping her bowl of soup. It seemed that she really liked food with either fish or meat. She was really like a cat.


    "Is it good?" Mark asked, and Abbygale nodded in response. "Well, the cooks were quite experienced in this."


    Mark then shrugged. He could feel the soldiers in the outpost having a bit of envy towards the workers. Why? It was because the workers refused the food that was about to be cooked and served to them by the military. It was not like the workers were being considerate or anything, but because the fresh meat they had with them had to be consumed first.


    At first, the soldiers were a bit relieved that they could save supplies. After all, suddenly having more than a hundred people to feed would give their current supplies a heavy hit. Now, however, they were a bit envious that the workers were actually eating soup with meat and rice, while the soldiers only had preserved rations and porridge for dinner.


    Some soldiers even had the thought of extorting the workers. Not all soldiers were good-hearted, after all. However, as everyone was informed that the General would personallye to retrieve these people, the soldiers held back on their thoughts. They did not know the reason why, but it was likely that there were some important people among these refugees.


    Most likely, Mark''s group, which they had been informed of beforehand.


    A group led by a man with a sinister aura with a beautiful woman and four girls by his side. There were also other people missing, but the description fit the current members of Mark''s group. There was also the ck Dragon that was reported with them.


    As such, no one tried to show some disrespect as the order came from the General himself.


    Mark sighed, sensing the discontent of some of the soldiers. Humans surely were fickle beings.


    Laying down on his bed, Mark''s group decided to sleep after cleaning up. The utensils they had, however, were picked up by the workers, and they had nothing else to do.


    And to say, this day was tiresome in its unique way.


    ***


    After the encounter with those two Demons that blocked their way after entering their territory, nothing else of note happened. The road across the Demon territory was smooth sailing, although the aura and the eyes watching them as they travel were ufortable.


    It was as if they were avoiding Mark''s group purposely. Well, it was better than having Demons block their way every now and then.


    Nheless, the Demonic Aura was quite heavy that the workers forgot to enjoy the scene of the sea that they had not seen for a long time. They only managed to recover after they arrived at Virac, exiting the scope of the Demon''s territory.


    Unexpectedly, Mark sensed the same handsome Demon when they left. He did not pay much attention to the Demon, though.


    As for the journey across Virac, it was unpleasant.


    There were no enemies aside from a few evolved animals. However, the aftermath of the outbreak was open for everyone to see along the way.


    The military cleaned the infected, but they had no way of actually cleaning what was left of them in this area.


    Thus, human bones, dried-up blood, and what was left of the humans and infected in this ce littered the road. It was not even surprising that one could identally kick a skull lying in the middle of the road.


    Buildings were dpidated, and some were even demolished to an unrecognizable degree. Even traces of fire and explosions were present here and there.


    It showed the workers the truth of what happened in the apocalypse. And to say, they were still the luckier ones in this situation. They might have been captured by the rebels, deprived of their freedom. Still, they managed to live a life far away from the natural dangers of the current world.


    They continued on with those thoughts and arrived at this outpost before sundown.


    ***


    In deep thoughts, Mark turned to his right. Mei was asleep, tightly embracing him like a body pillow. She was also using his arm as a pillow. Mark did not feel ufortable in this position, though. Others might feel numb due to their blood flow being constricted but definitely not him.


    Unfortunately, Mark could not keep her in this position for too long. There was still another business that was needed to be dealt with even during the night.


    Soon, in the middle of the night, the General and his entourage arrived. It was too uncharacteristic of the military since it was dangerous to travel during the night. However, it seemed that they put heavy emphasis on this situation.


    The General immediately asked for the tent that Mark''s group was using. However, knowing that they might be resting already, the General decided to be considerate and move the questioning for tomorrow.


    However, before the General could even turn away, the tent''s door opened, with Mark heading out.


    "Yo, General."


    Mark waved nonchntly. His eyes were even half-closed.


    The surroundings froze a bit.


    What the hell was that greeting?

 Chapter 679 Revealing Information, A Circumstance The Soldiers Could Not Believe

    <strong>Day 150 - 12:15 AM - Briefing Room, Military Outpost, Santo Domingo Elementary School, Barangay Santo Domingo, Municipality of Virac, Catanduanes</strong>


    In the briefing room where a table was arranged at the center of several chairs, the General''s current entourage sat with Mark.


    "Are you sure that you want to talk already? We can wait for tomorrow."


    The General asked Mark.


    "You guys have time to wait, but we don''t. If not for your soldiers insisting for us to give a statement, we would have left already."


    Mark replied.


    The General had nothing to reply to that. It was true, after all. Unfortunately, there was no way that they would let Mark''s group just leave like that. Furthermore, from the statements that they already gathered from the workers, Mark''s group decimated the Rebels on their own. They needed to confirm the truth from all the parties involved if possible.


    "Then, I''ll ask straight." General Padi took a breath. "Is the Anti-Government Faction of the Rebels already gone?"


    "Gone is not the right word." Mark shook his head. "We only killed almost everyone in their base and in an outpost on the way back. Aside from those, the other outposts are still intact. Their faction leader and her right-hand man also escaped."


    As Mark said that, he nced at Vanessa that was recording the conversation for documentation. Thetter, however, did not establish eye contact and feigned to concentrate on her work.


    "You''re not lying, are you?" A familiar soldier interjected. He was the officer-in-charge of this outpost, Lieutenant Ernesto Macapagal. "Our forces had been struggling against the rebels for months already. There''s no way that a small group like yours would be able to do that."


    Mark looked at the Lieutenant. He did not take the soldier''s words with contempt. While the soldier was unable to believe it, he was not rude either and was just stating facts. Well, that was only if Mark''s group were just a band of regr people, which they were not.


    "You don''t have to believe me." Mark shrugged. "But even if you investigate it, you will end up finding the same answer."


    Lieutenant Macapagal was still unconvinced. However, he decided to finally stay put. It was because the General was already ring at him. It bolstered the Lieutenant''s confusion, though. Were the reports really true? However, his beliefs did not tell him to believe what he heard immediately. He was a person that would only trust what he saw and what was logical.


    And to say, on human standards, it was illogical for a group led by a single man with a beautiful girl and four children to take down the several hundred-member rebel group. It was even if Char''s participation was to be counted. The firepower of the rebels was not to be trifled with.


    If Mark was to hear those thoughts, he would agree that the firepower of the Rebels was nothing to joke at. After all, he saw it all and even looted their armory clean.


    "Then, the people outside really are the people captured by the Rebels."


    The General said.


    "That''s what I said to him before."


    Mark pointed at the Lieutenant.


    "Did you all walk along the Circumferential Road? It''s good that nothing strange happened. We already witnessed your strength, but what was happening in Bato had been mysterious."


    General Padi asked. It was clear on his face. He was expecting a bit of information about what was happening in that area.


    "That was right. We hadn''t been able to use that road for two months already. Those that entered there would vanish without a trace. Even the search and rescue followed the steps of the victims. Eventually, we decided to stop and restrict missions in that area."


    Lieutenant Macapagal added.


    In fact, it would have been easier for the Military to deal with the Rebels. However, the only road they could take was going through Bato, where the mysterious disappearances happened. Thus, things became harder than it was supposed to be.


    "Since you guys will probably hear it from the refugees. I''ll say it." Mark nodded. "Bato is currently the base of Demons on the ind."


    That answer from Mark made the whole room silent.


    Some of the soldiers looked at Mark as he had a screw loose. Those with higher positions like the Genera, however, had serene expressions.


    "Are you trying to fool us? What bullsh*t! Demons?"


    A soldier on guard behind the General yelled.


    With that soldier leading themotion, the other soldiers followed. Most of them spoke negatively of Mark about telling lies and fantasies in a formal and serious meeting.


    BAM!


    "SILENCE!"


    That was when the General shouted in exasperation.


    "But General!"


    The same soldier behind the General tried to argue.


    "I said silence, didn''t I?"


    General Padi red at the soldier, making him meek.


    "I didn''t expect your soldiers to be too narrow-minded, General," Mark remarked, with eyes half-closed. "But it''s not your fault. This is just the result of Governments manipting people to believe such things don''t exist."


    At this point, the General stood up from his seat. His eyes panned towards his soldiers.


    "I believe all of you had heard of the Special Division in the army."


    The soldiers stared with confusion after hearing the General''s words.


    "But General... Isn''t that just rumors?" A soldier asked. "It said that it is a Division that was dispatched on paranormal incidents... But there are no records of it existing at all."


    "It exists." The General replied. "However, their information is only allowed to be essed by higher positioned individuals in the Military and Government."


    This revtion was unbelievable. However, as it was the General who was saying this, it was hard to refute it.


    "Then, if I said that the Special Division exists, then you all should understand why I said it now."


    The General added.


    It made the soldiers contemte. Now that it was the General that was backing up the existence of Demons, they started to have second thoughts about their beliefs.


    Setting the contemting soldiers aside, General Padi sat down once more and faced Mark.


    "You''re telling the truth, right?"


    General Padi asked Mark.


    "There''s no merit for me to lie here. I said it already. If you guys asked the refugees, they will tell the same. They all saw the Aswangs by the roadside watching us as we passed by."


    "If it was true, then how did you manage to pass by without harm? All the soldiers that passed there vanished without a trace this past two months."


    Lieutenant Macapagal asked.


    To the question, Mark shrugged.


    "Who knows?"


    Everyone was speechless at Mark''s answer. However, he did not appear to be lying.


    "Is still don''t buy it."


    The very same soldier that tried to refute Mark earlier spoke.


    "Sergeant Ballesteros..."


    General Padi turned to the soldier.


    "I mean, if those Demons really exist, what would they do to the people that vanished?"<sub> </sub>


    Sergeant Ballesteros asked agitatedly. The other soldiers were ready to subdue him if he started to move threateningly.


    But then, in the middle of it all, Mark stood up.


    "What you want is proof, right? Follow me."


    Without waiting for any reply, Mark walked out of the briefing room.


    Everyone hurriedly followed. General Padi was not an exception. And, of course, the Sergeant followed too.


    It became amotion as all the soldiers in the briefing room followed behind Mark outside. Not all the refugees were asleep, and their attention was now on the events happening.


    "Boss, is something wrong?"


    One guy that was near Mark while passing by gathered the courage to ask.


    "Nothing threatening. Just take some rest."


    Mark replied, making sure that the people still awake would not follow.


    Soon, they reached where the vehicles were parked by the roadside outside the school. But Mark was not after the vehicles. He was heading to Char that was not allowed to enter the school premises.


    Char was awakened by the suddenmotion and saw Mark. The dragon tried to stand up, thinking that Mark was going to bring him somewhere.


    "Just stay down."


    Mark said, making the dragon stay put.


    The soldiers were all wary of Char. After all, who had ever seen an actual dragon, even up close?


    It was when Mark started fiddling with the stic dressers hanging on Char''s body. It did not take long, and Mark was able to take one down.


    Unexpectedly, Mark ced the stic dresser that was modified like a huge storage box in front of the soldiers. The soldiers became even more confused.


    Until...


    THUMP! THUMP! THUMP!


    The stic dresser started emitting thumping sounds from inside it.


    "Ah... right... I forgot to feed them... They might be hungry already..."


    Mark suddenly said, making all the soldiers even more confused.


    Then, Mark opened the stic dresser, lighting it up with a shlight. The soldiers were surprised to see what was inside.


    "WHAT THE F*CK!"


    One soldier jumped towards Mark to attack him. Unfortunately for the soldier, even though Mark only one hand free, the soldier was made to kneel on the ground.


    "WHAT THE F*CK! RELEASE ME, YOU BASTARD! WHAT ARE YOU DOING WITH A CHILD!"


    The soldier iled his body, but Mark''s grasp on both his hands behind him was too strong for him to break free.


    "Are you dumb?" Mark frowned. "Take a look first, you dimwit. You''re the only one acting recklessly."


    That was when the soldier realized that he was the only one moving to attack Mark. The others had all their attention to the naked girl inside the dresser.


    It was when the soldier decided to take a closer look at the child. He was then frozen.


    "This... this is a child?"


    The soldier murmured.


    Mark finally let go of the soldier and crouched down on the dresser.


    "Mark, what is this..."


    The General asked.


    "The proof he wanted."


    Mark replied, looking at the speechless Sergeant.


    Inside the dresser was the first girl that attacked Mark thest night. She had the most prominent Demon traits among the three children and that was why Mark chose to show her.


    "This is a Demon?"


    Lieutenant Macapagal asked.


    "Yes and no," Mark replied. "This girl is a Feral Demon I capturedst night. It''s more urate to say that she is turned into a Demon but failed, and it''s the result."


    The soldiers tried to approach but flinched back when the girl started ring and throwing a tantrum after seeing them.


    "Don''t approach too much," Mark warned. "She only recognizes humans as food. If she''s not restrained and gagged, she will start attacking."


    General Padi contemted a bit and asked.


    "You said that this girl was turned into a Demon... Does it mean that..."


    "That''s right. The Demons in Bato are the ones who did this. It''s possible that they also did this to the people that you guys said that vanished. Well, if not worse."


    "What''s worse than being turned to something like this?"


    Lieutenant Macapagal asked with an audible gulp of saliva.


    "Turned into food, and for women, breeding hosts."


    Mark replied nonchntly.


    It was at this time that Sergeant Ballesteros fell on his knees.


    "You''re lying."


    The Sergeant murmured.


    "I already said earlier, there''s no merit for me to lie here. It''s not like you guys are paying me to hear what you guys wanted to."


    At this point, Sergeant Ballesteros punched the ground hard simultaneously. His fists began to bleed. The other soldiers could not help but restrain him and bring him back to the outpost.


    "What''s wrong with that guy?"


    Mark asked the General, watching the scene.


    However, it was Lieutenant Macapagal that answered.


    "It must have been very hard for him to hear what you revealed." The Lieutenant sighed. "Ballesteros came from a family of soldiers and the youngest of three brothers. About two months ago, his two older siblings were sent to attack the Rebel outpost in San Miguel. However, themunication to their squad was cut off before they could even reach the boundary. They were among the first instances of mysterious disappearances in Bato."


    "So, that''s why." Mark shrugged. "If that was almost two months ago, his older brothers should be long gone now."


    The soldiers around Mark could not help but look at him. They could not understand how Mark could speak such words without a shred of empathy.

 Chapter 680 Information Gatherer: Val Flora, A Business Deal In The Darkness Of The Forest

    <strong>Day 150 - 12:31 AM - Vehicle Parking Area, Military Outpost, Santo Domingo Elementary School, Barangay Santo Domingo, Municipality of Virac, Catanduanes</strong>


    The atmosphere was gloomy after they dug up the reason for the Sergeant''s outburst.


    On the other hand, Mark did not care. Since Mark finished telling the soldiers about the girl and the existence of Demons in Bato, he began to cover the stic dresser once more.


    "Wait." General Padi stepped forward after seeing what Mark was doing. "That girl, what are you going to do with her?"


    "This?" Mark pointed at the girl struggling in her restraints. "I''m bringer her to my base for study."


    "What?" A soldier voiced out his confusion. "Don''t you have any conscience? She''s still a former human."


    "Don''t look at me like that." Mark snickered. "You guys capturing infected specimens for study and experiments are not any different. Remember, the infected are former humans too."


    The soldier froze, unable to retort.


    "Is there no possible way of turning back these... the Feral Demons you spoke about?"


    Lieutenant Macapagal asked.


    "So far as I know, there''s none," Mark replied, covering the dresser. "You can consider them simr to infected, just not contagious with their bites."


    General Padi was in deep thought about the conversation. It was when his eyes fell unto the other two dressers on the back of Char.


    "Does those two dressers contain Feral Demons too?"


    The General asked.


    "Yeah," Mark replied and turned to the General. "But I''ll answer what you have in mind. It''s a no."


    "Is it obvious?"


    The General turned to Vanessa.


    "Yes, General."


    Vanessa replied, making the General shrug.


    General Padi thought of asking Mark for at least one of the three Feral Demons he had. Unfortunately, Mark already declined before he could ask.


    But then, Mark threw a bomb.


    "You can catch one on your own. Just find a muddy rice paddy near a river at midnight outside of Bato. You guys will probably find hundreds of them."


    Mark smirked and then added.


    "But I''ll warn you all. Catching one can cost you a few dozen lives."


    The soldiers frowned, hearing Mark''s warning.


    "Are these children that dangerous?"


    One soldier asked, looking at the dresser that Mark already covered.


    "She might look harmless since she''s restrained." Mark turned to that soldier. "But if I remove her restraints, believe me, she can ughter you all here even if you all have guns."


    The soldiers could not help but step back at Mark''s threat. Who would have thought that Mark was showing them such a dangerous creature without them knowing? This girl was much worse than the infected!


    Mark smirked, seeing the reactions of the soldiers. He was not lying, though. The speed of these Feral Demons was too fast for regr humans. Unless they were closebat experts or [Speed Type Mutators], they would have great difficulties just to deal with the girl inside the dresser. It would be much worse if the soldiers tried to fight these Feral Demons on their home ground.


    There was nothing else to question, and Mark already told all the things he wanted the soldiers to know. It did not take long for the meeting to end, and Mark left the soldiers to their business.


    Returning to their tent, Mark shrugged. Mei was awake, waiting for him.


    It was the usual and was not surprising anymore.


    Still, Mark could not help but smile at her gestures.


    Soon, he joined Mei and the girls inside the tent once more.


    Unfortunately, an hour after heid down, Mark opened his eyes once more.


    "Hah... Seriously..."


    Mark murmured as he turned to Mei.


    Mei was, again, hugging Mark in her sleep. This time, her grip was a bit tighter than before. Mark could not help but feel a bit of pity to peel her off his body. However, there was no helping it this time.


    For the second time in this night, Mark walked out of the tent.


    ***


    <strong>Day 150 - 2:13 AM - Forest Area, Military Outpost, Santo Domingo Elementary School, Barangay Santo Domingo, Municipality of Virac, Catanduanes</strong>


    Behind the Santo Domingo Military Outpost was a small mountain covered in flora. It served as a natural defense on the south side of the outpost. However, since it was quite forested, it could also serve as a good ce to stealthily move around.


    At this time, Mark entered the forest after sneaking out of the outpost. He walked for a bit and stood in the middle of a small clearing surrounded by trees.


    "So, what do you want from me?"


    Mark suddenly spoke, even though no one could be seen in the surroundings.


    That was when a silhouette of a person jumped down from one of the trees. Since the surroundings were dark, it would be hard to make out the appearance of the person.


    Mark, of course, knew who this person was.


    "You really are something else." The person spoke. "You led me here on purpose, huh."


    "Did you follow me here just to give meaninglesspliments Ms. Vanessa?"


    Mark turned to the silhouette.


    That was right. It was the General''s secretary, Vanessa.


    "I just want to talk with you for a bit."<sub> </sub>


    Vanessa replied.


    "Talk to me as who?" Mark tilted his head. "As the General''s Secretary, or that Felix''s aplice?"


    Vanessa stood with her back on the trunk of the tree behind her and her right hand on her waist. Her manners were unlike when she was standing beside General Padi as his secretary. Instead, Vanessa felt more like a wild panther lurking in the dark.


    "Since when did you know and how?" Vanessa asked. "I already heard from Felix that you knew about me, but I believe that I never showed any suspicious behavior in front of you."


    "You think that it''s enough to only act in front of the person?"


    Mark replied with another question. However, Vanessa seemed to understand something from Mark''s reply. She was exposed when she was not acting in front of anyone.


    "Since it doesn''t look like I''m getting an answer with that question, then I''ll move to the next one." Vanessa dered with her eyes looking stern at Mark. "What are your motives for revealing the existence of Demons to the Military?"


    "Motives?" Mark smiled. "Can''t you think that I just want to give a little bit of service to the country?"


    Vanessa frowned. It looked like Mark had no intention of answering her questions at all. It was not surprising, but she still expected to get some information. However, that answer just now wasplete nonsense that did not contain any clue at all.


    "Did you call me out just for this?" Mark asked. "That Felix said that you guys sell information. You should know that it''s not easy, right? Don''t think that just because I came here meant that I will let you get any clue from my mouth."


    "Tsk."


    Vanessa clicked her tongue.


    Actually, Vanessa had many ways of forcefully getting information. She could use seduction. Her appearance and figure were cultivated for that. She could also use poison, ckmail, threats, and other illegal things.


    Unfortunately, the target of questioning was Mark. A person that Roach dered to be too dangerous to offend. If she tried anything that could offend Mark and did not work at all, she might as well slit her throat and die with her own hands.


    Seduction? Vanessa did not dare to either. There was no way that someone that had Mei as his wife would fall for her.


    Vanessa stared at Mark. Since it was alreadyte in the night, she was allowed to rest and had time to do what was needed. She just wanted to observe his group for a bit while she had a chance to. But suddenly, Mark sneaked out of the outpost and entered the forest for some unknown reason. Of course, she followed him.


    To lead her out to this ce, what were Mark''s motives? He did not seem to emit any killing intent, either.


    With Vanessa falling silent, Mark shrugged.


    "Actually, I want to talk to you too. Or rather, do business."


    Mark dered.


    "After meddling with us, you want to talk about business?"


    Vanessa asked with a frown.


    "You''re wrong about that," Mark replied. "Your so-called business meddled with my goals first. I believe, you already know that, right?"


    Vanessa fell silent. That was right. From what Felix said, the rebels might have killed Mark''s family, one of the reasons why he headed to this ind in the first ce. Then, it was their business that interfered with Mark''s first.


    Still, Vanessa was notfortable about it. If Mark continued to meddle about things on this ind, not only one but two deals they had here would fail.


    Mark already destroyed the rebels which tipped the bnce of power on the ind to the side of the Military. Now that Mark revealed the existence of the Demons, shes between the Government and the Demons were not inevitable.


    Of the two factions on the ind, any of them falling would result in theirst mission failing.


    It was a critical thing as their credibility would be questioned after failing two missions in one go.


    In that case, Vanessa decided to take a gamble.


    "You and our group already shed once. Howe that you still want to conduct business with us? Are you not afraid that we will sabotage you?"


    Vanessa asked.


    "Sabotage me?" Mark smiled. "Don''t make meugh."


    "Since earlier, you already showed that you are too mindful of your business here. You guys put your business in the utmost importance. If I paid you guys for a mission, you will do the same, right? Besides, you people are businessmen dealing with things like information. In information trading, the thing you guys needed the most is trust. If others knew that your members sabotaged a client, the credibility of your business will take a hit too, am I right?"


    Vanessa''s frown went deeper. And then, she rxed all of a sudden.


    She then released a sigh.


    "Alright, you got me."


    What Mark said was right. For an information broker, trust and credibility were the most important things. No one would buy information to brokers that could not be trusted or had no credibility. Once this part of their business waspromised, their other businesses would also take a huge hit.


    Besides, there was one thing that Mark did not know. The members of CNC were being monitored by the higherups. Business and private life could not be mixed. The only exception was if a member paid for themission, like how Felix did to support Emellynn and the rebels.


    As such, even if they failed a mission because of Mark, and he conducted business with them, they could not do anything to Mark on a personal level. Furthermore, as a client, they would not be able to harm Mark without grave consequences. It was unless Mark was purposely aiming to hinder their business which he did not.


    The Crystallus Notitia Coetus was a business organization through and through. That was how it continued to exist and would continue to exist in the future.


    "Then, let me introduce myself."


    Vanessa spoke.


    "Information Gatherer: Val Flora, at your service. What kind of business do you want to do with me?"


    Vanessa bowed down respectively. She was already in business mode. It was far different from when she was acting as a Military Secretary and at the start of her conversation with Mark.


    "This is more like it."


    Mark smiled, looking at Vanessa... No... Val Flora with a renewed outlook.


    "I want to buy information. Are you guys still capable of gathering information around the world even if it''s already like this?"


    Mark spoke.


    "Please do not underestimate ourwork." Val Flora replied. "Even if it is from the other side of the world, we can gather information. However, at an equivalent price."


    "Then, good."


    Mark smiled and thought.


    ''Looks like I finally found a better way to find the [Inheritors].''

 Chapter 681 The Deal, The CNCs Point System And Marks Item As Payment

    <strong>Day 150 - 2:29 AM - Forest Area, Military Outpost, Santo Domingo Elementary School, Barangay Santo Domingo, Municipality of Virac, Catanduanes</strong>


    Mark stared at the woman in front of him. The darkness of the night barely affected his sight, after all. And to say, she was a very peculiar woman. She was too different from when she was serving as the General''s Secretary. Also different from her behavior just now.


    This woman... This Val Flora...


    She was a natural actress. No, rather than acting, it felt more like she had a switch inside her head that she could use to change her behavior.


    Mark found it quite interesting. After all, the change in her behavior was not only outside. Her thoughts and emotions also went with the sudden change.


    She did not change her hair or clothes. Mark had also seen her change her demeanor in front of him. And yet, it did not take away the feeling that he was currently speaking with a different person.


    If Mark did not have the ability to sense a person''s mental and emotional fluctuations, he might start thinking that Val Flora had split personalities.


    "Is there something wrong?"


    Val Flora raised her head and asked Mark. It was because he suddenly had a pause while in the middle of the conversation.


    "I''m just thinking about the payment," Mark replied. "What kinds of payment do your organization ept?"


    After hearing what Mark said, Val Flora smiled.


    It was clear that Mark was a first-time customer of their services. Thus, before starting the transaction, the most suitable thing to ask first was the kind of payment they ept.


    It was what Val Flora also hinted at when she replied with the phrase "at an equivalent price" to Mark''s question.


    After all, Val Flora had been in this business since she remembered. There were already countless times that it happened. Dumb clients that went directly to business details without knowing what to pay for the service.


    "There''s no restriction on anything. Whether it be human currencies or barter trade, we ept it." Val Flora replied. "However, at the current state of the world, the human currencies dropped its value to almost nothing."


    From there, Val Flora exined how the direct transactions with the organization worked.


    The organization had its own point system. It evaluates the value of things changes depending on the current affairs of the world. The economic system, supply and demand, stock exchange, foreign exchange, and many other things affect the point system directly. This system created a fair evaluation of transactions under the organization.


    This kind of system gave the organization another level of trust from the sellers and buyers it had. It was because this system ensured fair prices on both sides.


    Of course, this system also made swindlers and scammers afraid of the unforgiving organization. Such kinds of people were "erased" after trying to conduct fraudulent acts. It became easier to discover such acts because of the point system.


    Currently, the human currency fell to almost no value. The value of coins now depended on their material, while bills were worthless. In the apocalypse, paper money could not be recycled for another usage. It was unlike coins that could be melted to create new things.


    Right now, weapons had the highest rise in value within this point system. After all, it was the most in-demand in the apocalypse.


    "How do you guys determine the value of items?"


    Mark asked after understanding how payment works.


    At Mark''s question, Val Flora replied with a smile.


    Then, Val Flora touched the left side of her neck with her left hand while she stretched out her right arm forward. Afterward, she closed her eyes and lowered her face. She then began to mutter inaudible words.


    It was when a mark appeared on her neck, at the area touched by her left hand.


    Because of the darkness in the surroundings, the glowing mark could be seen clearly. Unfortunately, her hand was covering most of it.


    Still, with what was exposed, Mark could make up what the mark was.


    "Scales?"


    Mark murmured.


    That was right. The mark on Val Flora''s neck was a scale. A measuring scale, to be precise. The very same symbol of the Libra Zodiac.


    Of course, the mark was not just some roughly drawn scale. It was more or less appeared to be an art with intricate details. Furthermore, even though it was just a glowing mark, anyone would be able to tell that the scales were made of crystal.


    It was the symbol of Crystallus Notitia Coetus, a symbol portraying bnce and equivalent exchange.


    Val Flora then opened her eyes. At the same time, a magic circle appeared in front of her outstretched arm.


    And to say, Mark was a bit familiar with the magical aura emanating from that magic circle. Without a doubt, it was a summoning magic circle, a bit simr to what Berrak had.


    However, Val Flora was not a magician. There was no way that she was a summoner either since she did not have an ounce of magical energy in her body. Instead, this summoning circle was created using the magic imbued in the mark on Val Flora''s neck.


    The magic circle shed a bright light and a creature flew out of it. Circling once around the clearing, the creature thennded on Val Flora''s right shoulder.


    Mark stared at the creature. It was arge, ck owl with golden glowing eyes. Then, Mark noticed. This owl was not a physical being. Its entire body was made of magical energy.


    "A magical familiar?"


    Mark asked Val Flora.


    "Yes." Val Flora nodded, removing her hand from the mark on her neck. "This is my [Wise Owl] called Odessa. She is connected to our organization''s point system and will evaluate things depending on the current exchange rate."


    "What a convenient thing."


    Mark''s interest was surely piqued.


    "All of us agents of the organization had our own magical familiars connected to the system. It is made so that we can conduct business anywhere and anytime."


    Val Flora exined.


    At the same time, while being introduced, the owl on Val Flora''s shoulder bowed its head. Surely, it was showing a high level of intelligence.


    "Well then, should we proceed to your request?" Val Flora asked. "Normally, we go to a suitable room or office when epting requests. Unfortunately, we did not have such luxury this time."


    "No, it''s fine here," Mark replied. "We don''t much time to change ces anyway."


    Val Flora agreed with that. This meeting was abrupt, after all. In the first ce, she only wanted to observe Mark. She did not expect this to be a business opportunity either.


    Then, Mark took out a small notebook from his pocket. This notebook was already old. It was the very same notebook he had for months, even before the outbreak started.


    Mark then started to write in the notebook.<sub> </sub>


    It took about five minutes after Mark finished. He then tore off the page that he wrote on and approached Val Flora to give it.


    Unlike before, there was no tension between Mark and Val Flora. Even when the two were close to each other, none of them made any suspicious moves. There was nothing but a business atmosphere.


    Val Flora then skimmed over the contents of the paper Mark gave her. She was quite surprised.


    "What a peculiar request," Val Flora spoke. "The events six years ago. Even I knew of it. I never thought that you would be searching for the "victims" of that event."


    "Are you going to ept this or not?"


    Mark asked.


    "There is no reason for me to decline it," Val Flora smiled. "However, the price for this information would be a hefty sum. It will be hard to determine the price right away."


    "I don''t mind the cost," Mark replied. "But since the price won''t be determined, I''m sure you will be asking for a downpayment, right?"


    "My apologies, but yes. In circumstances like this, we would only ept a deal with a downpayment. There is no way that we would be able to start to gather information without capital."


    "Then, how much."


    Mark asked with a shrug.


    At Mark''s question, Val Flora did not reply immediately. Instead, she held up the page of the notebook in front of her [Wise Owl]. The [Wise Owl], Odessa, then began reading the contents of the page like a human being.


    After reading the contents of the pate, the eyes of Odessa shed a golden glow several times. At the same time, the mark on Val Flora''s neck did the same. It was clear that the owl wasmunicating with Val Flora through that mark.


    But then, Val Flora let out a sigh.


    "The estimated downpayment is two hundred and fifty thousand points." Val Flora dered. "At the current exchange rate, it is equivalent to around two thousand five hundred one kilo gold bars."


    "So, a one-kilo gold bar is only about a hundred points, huh."


    Mark estimated.


    "Yes, unfortunately," Val Flora replied. "Before the outbreak, gold had a higher value. But now, it could be considered useless to most people. Even magicians and alchemists that use gold aren''t that many."


    Hearing that Mark nodded.


    "Then, can you determine the value of this?"


    Mark said as he showed a [Wind Elemental Crystal] on his hand. It was smaller than a marble as it came from the infected Sylphs that Mark killed before.


    Seeing the small crystal, Val Flora was not amazed. She just mentioned gold bars before. However, Mark took out a small toy-like crystal that might not even have any value in her eyes. Nheless, Mark was a customer. As such, she epted the crystal and put it in front of her [Wise Owl].


    The [Wise Owl] then started at the crystal. To Val Flora''s surprise, the owl stared at it for a whole minute without moving. Finally, its eyes shed several times.


    Val Flora froze.


    "W-w-w Pure Wind Elemental Energy Crystal worth a hundred thousand points!!!"


    Val Flora blurted out in shock.


    "Hey, you''re breaking character."


    Mark reminded the shocked woman in front of her.


    Val Flora froze once more. This time, because of embarrassment.


    "Ahem. My apologies."


    Val Flora coughed as she handed the crystal back to Mark with utmost care. She was afraid that she would drop the crystal and get med for it if it broke.


    "Is it that shocking?"


    Mark asked.


    "O-of cou-! Ahem... Yes it is."


    Val Flora was red in the face. She could not hide her agitation as she stared at Mark that did not seem to care about the crystal on his hand. She then began to exin.


    "Magical energy crystals are always in high demand but low in supply. However, I never saw something like that. All elemental crystals I had seen so far were rough and filled with impurities. It could not be helped as magical energy on Earth is very thin, and pollution is everywhere. Crystals with perfectly sphere shapes, are to say, none existent. Not to mention an attributed magical energy crystal with pure energy. That was why I identally showed disgraceful conduct in front of you. Once more, my apologies."


    "I see." Mark nodded. " Well, I actually thought that it would fetch a higher price."


    "Sadly, it was not my role to price things."


    Val Flora replied with an apologetic tone. It seemed that she also thought that the crystal should be valued higher. However, the pricing was not her call.


    "Then, this crystal can be used for payment, right?"


    Mark stated the obvious.


    "Yes." Val Flora nodded. "Though I don''t know why you would willingly use such a valuable thing as a payment for this, a single crystal would not be enough."


    "I know."


    Mark replied as he took out two more [Wind Element Crystals]. One was smaller than the other two, though.


    Val Flora''s eyes turned to dots.


    "You know that you''re breaking character again, right?"


    Mark warned.


    However, this time, Val Flora was really shaken inside. She just mentioned the rarity of the item Mark intended to use as payment.


    Yet, he actually had three and Mark was still unfazed about giving the three crystals out. By his behavior, it was very likely that he had more.


    Val Flora had never seen such a customer in her whole life.

 Chapter 682 Late Night And Next Morning, Ending The Business Meetup And Leaving The Outpost

    <strong>Day 150 - 2:45 AM - Forest Area, Military Outpost, Santo Domingo Elementary School, Barangay Santo Domingo, Municipality of Virac, Catanduanes</strong>


    Val Flora received the shock of her life in this meeting. As Mark handed his downpayment to her, she received the item with her shaking hands.


    A single small crystal to have a value equivalent to a thousand kilos of gold bars. It was an extremely valued item. However, the price was not the crucial thing here, but the rarity of something that was not supposed to exist in the current times.


    With the crystals in her hand, Val Flora moved the crystals in front of Odessa. The [Wise Owl] then began to judge the value of the crystals.


    To her surprise once more, the crystal with a simr size to the first one had the exact same value. It was as if the crystals were mass-produced. On the other hand, the small crystal was priced at seventy-six thousand points.


    The value of the three crystals was far more than enough as a downpayment.


    Receiving the intended payment, Val Flora took a deep breath, returning to her business behavior.


    "The value of the items exceeded the intended downpayment. Is it fine for the exceeding points to reflect into the final price of the information?" Val Flora asked. "If not, I can establish a temporary point ount in which you can store the remaining points."


    "Is that point ount simr to a bank ount?"


    Mark inquired.


    "Rather than a bank ount, it is more of a point storage for future transactions." Val Flora answered. "It is a service open to VIPs and possible long-term clients."


    Mark nodded, understanding the exnation.


    "Then, just reflect it to the price of information I needed."


    "If you wish." Val Flora vowed. "With, the transaction between I, Information Gatherer: Val Flora, and the Client Mark, had been finalized."


    Val Flora then put her left hand on the mark on her neck once more, causing it to glow. At the same time, the [Wise Owl], Odessa, flew off from Val Flora''s shoulder and circled above her.


    It was when arge feather from Odessa''s wings fell in front of Val Flora, who caught the feather calmly.


    "Please, ept this." Val Flora handed the feather to Mark as Odessanded on her shoulder once more. "Put a drop of blood on the feather, and it will serve as the proof for this transaction."


    Being told that, Mark received the feather from Val Flora. Without hesitation, he let a drop of his blood trickle onto the feather.


    CRACKLE!


    Suddenly, the feather released red sparks like an electrical appliance that suddenly short-circuited. That even obviously caused Val Flora to panic a little, although she tried her best not to show it. She only heaved a sigh of relief after the sparks were gone and the mark of the organization appeared on the feather with a golden glow.


    "That''s not supposed to happen, right?"


    Mark turned to Val Flora.


    "Dropping blood to the feather should only make the mark appear. Only the red sparks are unexpected." Val Flora exined. "Your blood might be special for such a reaction to happen.


    "I see." Mark yed with another drop of his blood, feigning curiosity on his face. "Don''t you think it might be because I''m a demon?"


    "No." Val Flora shook her head. "We had transactions with different kinds of races. Only people with special blood are likely to cause an unexpected reaction like that."


    Hearing that, Mark shrugged. He did not want to continue with the topic and expose himself in the process.


    "Anyway, since I already gave the downpayment, how long will it take for me to get the information?"


    Mark changed the topic.


    "My apologies but the scope of your request started from six years ago. It would be hard to estimate the timeframe."


    Val Flora replied.


    Mark understood that. Even with a worldwide informationwork, it would not be easy to trace things all the way from six years ago. Nheless, Mark was not rushing.


    "Then, how can I check if the information I wanted is ready?"


    Mark asked another question.


    Here, Val Flora pointed at the feather on Mark''s hand.


    "There''s no need to find me. As yourmissioned agent, I will find you instead."


    There was no need for more exnation. Mark understood what Val Flora was implying.


    "So, this feather also serves as a tracker?"


    "In a sense, yes." Val Flora replied. "Normally, we would ask our clients if they wanted such service. However, we did not have such luxury at the moment. I believe you also know that."


    Mark nodded. This transaction was abrupt anyway. Furthermore, Mark would not have much time to check every now and then. It would be better if the results were delivered to him instead when it was ready.


    Of course, there was the risk that came alongside this situation. After all, Val Flora would be able to know his location at times. However, as Mark could not detect any hostility from Val Flora, he began to think that there would be no risk this time around.


    Furthermore, Val Flora''s group was afraid of Mark. It was seen when Felix immediately fled with Emellynn after his threat.


    In any case, Mark was now their client and someone with a fat wallet. They would definitely not want to lose such a client that could provide rare items.


    Although there was a chance that Val Flora would double-cross him in this deal, it was rather low considering the confidence that she and Felix showed towards their organization.


    Anyway, it was not like Mark was afraid of being double-crossed by these people.


    "So we are done here, right?"<sub> </sub>


    Mark asked.


    "If you had no othermissions to give, then yes."


    Val Flora nodded.


    "Then, I''ll go first. I''ll be waiting for the information." Mark said as he bid goodbye. "By the way, here''s something for you. I don''t know what you guys are nning on this ind, but it''s likely that I will end up standing on your way. So here''s somepensation."


    Mark suddenly threw something at Val Flora in which she hurriedly caught in surprise. He then vanished in a puff of ck smoke, which Val Flora did not expect to happen.


    Val Flora stared at the ce where Mark stood before. She tried sensing the surroundings if Mark was still around, but she could not find any trace. Knowing that Mark actually left, Val Flora''s straight back and shoulders drooped.


    "I feel drained." Val Florained before turning to her [Wise Owl]. "Odessa, you can return now."


    As Val Floramanded, Odessa flew off from her shoulder. Val Flora then tapped the mark on her neck, causing the summoning magic circle to appear once more. There, the [Wise Owl] flew and entered the magic circle before vanishing.


    "I should call for retrieval of the payment and send other information gatherers for this task."


    Val Flora said, looking at the three crystals and folded page of a notebook in her hand.


    She then looked at her other hand. It was the thing that Mark threw to her before leaving. Looking at the item, she did not know how to react anymore.


    Mark actually threw another pure energy crystal at her forpensation. Was he being generous or not? Val Flora could not tell. In any case, it was confirmed that Mark might tip the power bnce on the ind soon. In that case, they would likely fail their other mission and would not be able to do anything to prevent it.


    In any case, the value of this crystal was far exceeding the cost of failure. With this, there was no need to struggle. They might as well cancel the mission, return the payment to the political faction, and also pay the penalty. Even after all those, there would still be a hefty sum for them to share.


    As it appeared, Mark was not heartless to his possible allies.


    "What a mysterious guy."


    Val Flora said as she made her way back to the outpost. This time, she was not in a hurry and took her time to rx along the way.


    As Roach said, Mark was a dangerous person. Now, Val Flora could attest to that. The pressure around him while talking alone was quite intense, even for her that was trained since childhood.


    In the least, it was good that Mark was not their enemy at this point.


    ***


    Finishing the deal, Mark returned to the outpost. He was in a good mood since one of the things he was worried about finally had some progress. Furthermore, the progress was not just a small step but possibly arge one. If it went well, there was also a possibility of locating all the remaining [Inheritors] in one go.


    There was no way that Mark would not feel even a little bit of happiness in this scenario.


    After all, Freed was literally his benefactor. His wish was one of the priorities that Mark had now.


    As Mark returned, he expected Mei to be awake once more. Well, she was. However, it seemed that she was lying down inside the tent, trying to go back to sleep.


    Mark could not help but smile. His beautiful wife was sulking.


    Well, it was not like Mei was against him leaving her side now and then. She only wanted Mark to tell her if he was going out.


    On the other hand, Mark did not want to disturb her sleep just to tell her that he would be going out.


    Thus, it ended up in this situation.


    Mark shrugged and entered the tent. Surely, Mei knew that he was already there, but she was not opening her eyes at all, feigning to sleep deeply.


    With a smile, Markid down beside Mei. And then, gave Mei a kiss on her forehead.


    Mei did not show any movement. She was still feigning to be in deep sleep. However, her face was already red from Mark''s action.


    "Sleep already." Mark caressed Mei''s hair. "We still have a lot to do tomorrow."


    Mei opened her eyes, pouting. Then, she embraced Mark, even tighter than the previous two times this night.


    Finally, she went back to sleep while Mark also took a bit of a nap.


    ***


    <strong>Day 150 - 7:14 AM - Military Outpost, Santo Domingo Elementary School, Barangay Santo Domingo, Municipality of Virac, Catanduanes</strong>


    The sun rose once more in the apocalyptic world.


    Outside the Santo Doming Military Outpost, a lot of people were gathered by the gates. Those people were no other than the workers that were saved from the hands of the Anti-Government Faction of the rebels. Among them, there was also General Padi''s entourage.


    They were all here to bid farewell to Mark''s group that was already climbing up Char''s back.


    For thest time, the workers conveyed their gratitude to Mark''s group for the new leash in life. The world might be harsh at its current state, but they still had the hope which Mark''s group gave to them.


    Even though Mark and Val Flora metst night, the two did not even try to show any sign of deep familiarity. It was the right conduct considering the circumstances.


    It did not take long that Mark''s group were done with their preparations. Soon, on Chalfar''s back, they flew off, towards the mountains to the north.


    Even after Mark''s group flew away, the workers did not leave immediately. They watched the silhouette of the flying dragon until they could not see it anymore as it flew over the trees and hills.


    Only when the silhouette of Char could not be seen anymore was when the workers left. They also had to do their own preparations. Like Mark''s group, they also needed to leave the outpost together with the General''s convoy.


    They would be starting their new life in the Catanduanes Military Settlement in Codon.

 Chapter 683 Layers Of Deceit, Making Others Hands Dirty And Reap The Rewards After

    <strong>Day 150 - 12:41 PM - Military Settlement, Codon, Municipality of San Andres, Catanduanes</strong>


    Lunchtime came in the Military Settlement. But instead of eating lunch, many soldiers were busy preparing things.


    The General''s convoy had just arrived with more than a hundred refugees. Although the preparations startedst night after confirming the number of refugees, the time they had was still not enough to prepare dwellings for those people.


    Usually, they would only create a tent area for the new refugees. They would use small camping tents since the refugees only needed ces to sleep. The other facilities were already provided by the military.


    However, it was different this time. For some unknown reason, General Padi ordered the living spaces to be properly made this time.


    It was the reason why the soldiers were now setting uprger tarpaulin tents. These tents had two-meter by two-meter space. It was enough for a small family to live in. However, it did not end there was each tent was ced with a double-size folding bed and mattress.


    Thisrge-scale development sparked the curiosity of everyone in the settlement. Soon, the news about the refugees spread out to everyone.


    Their sudden arrival led to different opinions from the popce, both good and bad. And the obvious difference in treatment of these refugees from the military caused most of the negative ones.


    Some people were happy the see that there were still survivors on the ind. Unfortunately, it was only a minority. More people were concerned instead. After all, before these new refugees could adapt to the life inside the settlement, they would need to rely on the military for food and other necessities. As such, the supplies would take a hit for the sudden influx of people. Furthermore, there would be more work for the people in charge of taking care of people that were yet to be capable of taking care of themselves in the settlement.


    However, the previous issues were not the gravest circumstances.


    The greater issue was the obvious difference in treatment of the new refugeespared to the previous ones. In fact, there were still a number of refugees still living in small tents as they were incapable of working for a living in the apocalypse. For example, people with disabilities, orphaned children, and the elderly that did not have any remaining rtives.


    There were still a lot of people relying on the military''spassion to keep living. For the neers to have a more privileged treatment would definitely impact those people.


    It was the military that controlled the settlement. Thus, none of the bottom feeders dared voice theirints about the situation.


    Nheless, it did not mean that some people would not use this to their advantage.


    ***


    "General Padi. What is happening? The people are already spreading rumors about this unfair treatment!"


    An angry voice could be heard shouting inside the office of General Padi.


    The Army General had just returned to his office after the tiring travel. It was not exaggerated that he was very tired. Yesterday, they rushed a convoy to Santo Domingo Outpost. At night, they had a meeting with Mark. After about only three hours of sleep, they had to wake up early. They had to see Mark off and prepare to bring the refugees back to the settlement. Then, there was another hour of travel on the danger-stricken road.


    General Padi''s eyes were already droopy. He was not getting any younger as time passed by.


    And yet, here he was, listening to someone''sints with a shrug.


    "General, are you listening?"


    The soldier in front of the General asked aggressively.


    General Padi looked at the man. If he was not trying to maintain his image and status, he might have ordered his men to throw this garbage out of the room.


    The soldierining inside General Padi''s office was Colonel Sergimiano Sabino. Being a General from the Army, none of his subordinates would have the guts toin like this.


    And that was right. Colonel Sabino was not from the Philippine Army but from the Marines. In fact, he was thete Marines General''s, right-hand man.


    Now that the Marines General was dead, the Marines were now following the instructions of General Padi. However, it did not mean that they were already under him.


    Now, being the second inmand of the Marines in this settlement, Colonel Sabino had the guts and position toin about the circumstances.


    The worst thing about this guy, however, was that he was extremely cunning.


    Colonel Sabino was against General Padi for sure. However, he was not doing it like how the Marines General Seguerra faced the Army General directly. Instead, Colonel Sabino would only move with rational things that were hard to refute or would not put him in a tight spot.


    Right now, Colonel Sabino was taking advantage of theints of the popce. Being on the side of the popce, it would be hard for General Padi to just push away this guy without any answer. If General Padi did such a thing, it would not take long for it to reach the people, and he would lose face.


    This was how this Colonel work.


    With a sigh, General Padi stared at Colonel Sabino.


    "I know what you are getting at." General Padi replied. "However, this situation could not be helped."


    "General, what do you mean?" Colonel Sabino cried out. "The people areining about this unfair treatment and you say that it could not be helped?"


    General Padi red at the colonel. He was getting annoyed with this person since the start. Going back to the past, a lot of the things that the deceased Marines General did had Colonel Sabino lurking in the background.


    However, Colonel Sabino always worked clean. It was hard to make him take responsibility, especially since he mostly avoided direct involvement in those activities.


    In short, this Colonel Sabino was a cunning bastard.


    If there would be no repercussions, General Padi would not mind eliminating this guy. If there was no evidence, then make one. The armed forces of the Philippines were not spotlessly clean. Such things happen every now and then.


    "Colonel Sabino, you already heard who took down the Antis and rescued the captives, right?" General Padi replied to the Colonel''s question. "The very same person requested the new refugees to receive this treatment. He even offered [Mutagen Stones] in exchange."


    "Are you saying that it''s because of that criminal that killed General Seguerra?" Colonel Sabino bellowed. "General Padi, you are still cooperating with that criminal?"


    General Padi could not help but frown.<sub> </sub>


    "Yes, byw, he is a criminal by killing a Military Official. But you should remember, General Seguerra is the same. You KNOW that, right? Besides, thatw is in the past. Right now, we won''t even hesitate to cooperate with the former rebels. You know that our situation is already dire. Offending a person that can kill and infected that we can''t even imagine killing won''t do us any good."


    Colonel Sabino frown back at the General. Without saying anything else, he stormed out of General Padi''s office and mmed the door.


    With the Marines Colonel out of the scene, General Padi finally rxed on his chair, pinching the bridge of his nose.


    "Seriously, how troublesome."


    The Generalined.


    "General, are you really letting that bastard from the Marines prance around like a clown?"


    Andrew, who was doing his best to hold himself back, asked the General.


    "Calm yourself down, Andrew." The General replied. "Colonel Sabino is more useful alive than dead. With him around, it is easier to monitor the remainingckeys of General Seguerra since they are all gathering under him."


    It was true. After General Seguerra and his brother died at the hands of Mark while the influence of the Marines grew smaller, there were still those that were loyal to him. Most of those people were now gathering under Colonel Sabino.


    "That man is good at acting."


    Vanessamented to the side.


    "What do you mean Vanessa?"


    Andrew asked.


    "Colonel Sabino is just acting. He''s not here toin about the situation but is trying to get information from our mouths. After all, we never disclosed why we are taking better care of the new refugees. Now that he got what he wanted, he left."


    It was General Padi that replied to Andrew''s question.


    "Then, General... You knew?" Andrew was surprised. "Yet, you told him the reason?"


    To Andrew''s question, the General nodded.


    "You must be thinking why?" General Padi added. "Actually, I''m also curious as to why Mark would pay too much care about the refugees. There is a possibility that he is lying about the deaths of his family members and just did not want us to know. There is also the chance that among the refugees were his rtives. Of course, we had no evidence. However, we also had no evidence that what Mark said is true."


    "But why would he not take them away if they were among the refugees?"


    Andrew asked an obvious question.


    "I also don''t know why." General Padi shook his head. "But you know one thing, Andrew? You''re not there so you did not see it but none of the refugees knew Mark''s face. He appeared to be wearing a mask all the while he was with them. Even if his family is among the refugees, it is likely that they did not recognize Mark."


    "In the first ce, it was very suspicious for Mark to attack the rebels and rescue the refugees. You know that, right?"


    The General added.


    Andrew could only nod hearing those words.


    "That Mark does look like someone, who would not bother saving useless people at all."


    Andrew affirmed his image of Mark.


    "That is right." General Padi agreed. "It''s likely that he helped us with the horde because we will fall in debt to him. But for the refugees, it was impossible for them to serve him any purpose. And yet, he went all the way to the Santo Domingo outpost to escort them to safety."


    That was right. Mark''s actions were totally odd. However, the truth and the lies were hard to determine.


    "Furthermore... As the Officer-in-Charge of this Settlement, and a person in debt for their help, I''m not in a concrete position to search for the truth." General Padi exined. "In that case, I won''t be able to conduct an investigation without getting in Mark''s bad side. I''m sure that none of us would want that."


    At this point, Andrew came to a realization.


    "Then General, you baited Colonel Sabino to do the investigation instead?"


    General Padi nodded.


    "Sooner orter, after we cracked down and took control of the remains of Seguerra''s faction, that Colonel would not be of use anymore. We can focus on finding faults in him and take him down from his position. If possible, get rid of him to avoid future issues. When we do that, we wille across Colonel Sabino''s investigations, and it could not be helped if we learned the details."


    What a clever n. Making dirtying another person''s hand while reaping the benefits after.


    Vanessa secretlymended General Padi for his n. However, as an Information Gatherer herself, she knew that it would not be easy. Even for her, if she wanted to get that same information, it would take a long while.


    Why?


    Vanessa recognized that Mark put severalyers of deceit in his moves. Although it was clear in her eyes that Mark was hiding something, it would be hard to determine what it was.


    There might also be the possibility that everything that Mark did was to deceive the eyes of those people that had ideas against him.


    In any case, General Padi was not a clean person himself. It was a good reason why Mark would not trust him.


    Furthermore, if the General''s circumstances in the past came to light, a lot of people would lose trust in him.

 Chapter 684 Waking Up In Enemy Territory, Conversations Inside The CNC Hideout

    <strong>Day 150 - 1:23 PM - Crystallus Notitia Coetus Hideout, Catanduanes Military Settlement, Codon, Municipality of San Andres, Catanduanes</strong>


    While the military was busy with their matters, the hideout of the CNC in this settlement still stood unnoticed.


    "Mmmm... Hm?"


    Inside one of the rooms, Emellynn, the leader of the Anti-Government Faction of the Rebels, opened her eyes for the first time since they escaped from their base.


    Of course, the moment she opened her eyes, confusion overwhelmed her because of the unfamiliar surroundings.


    Furthermore, the surroundings were quite dark. Emellynn could tell that she was inside a room, but there was barely any lighting in for her to see clearly.


    CLICK!


    Emellynn heard a clicking sound, making her turn her head. That was when she saw the door open. With the lighting from the door, the only thing she could see was a dark figure of a person. Nheless, it was a familiar silhouette.


    "As I felt, you''re already awake."


    The usual happy-go-lucky voice of Felix entered Emellynn''s ears.


    After hearing his voice, Emellynn tried to sit on the bed. But then...


    "Ugh!"


    Emellynn let out a painful voice.


    "Don''t get up yet," Felix spoke, stopping Emellynn from getting up. "You might seem fine outside, but your insides are pretty messed up."


    While saying those words, Felix approached the bedside table and started lighting up a match. That was when Emellynn noticed the oilmp beside the bed that Felix was now lighting up.


    That made Emellynn look at the window. From the lights seeping in from the tiny gaps, it was very likely that it was midday outside. Yet, here Felix was, lighting up an oilmp instead of opening the windows.


    Emellynn watched Felix. She wanted to talk, but she was unable to do so because the pain from trying to get up had yet to subside.


    "Don''t push yourself." Felix flicked Emellynn''s forehead. "Even if you can withstand all those rockets, who the hell told you to take on them head-on."


    Emellynn winced at that flick. It was uncalled for. The muscles all over her body were aching. Like Felix said when he entered, her insides were messed up.


    Although Emellynn''s ice armor managed to protect her from the rockets that the traitors fired. However, it did not mean that she was able to go unscathed. Her armor took the brunt of the impact, along with the shrapnel from explosions. Still, the impact and shockwaves rattled her muscles and organs.


    At that time, she was too angry, and her adrenaline was on high levels to notice it all.


    It was good that Emellynn was a Mutator with an enhanced body. Any regr person that would have suffered the same circumstances would have died soon.


    Finally, the pain subsided for the most part. Being careful of her movements, Emellynn finally managed to open her mouth.


    "...Where are... we?"


    "Don''t be surprised, alright?" Felix replied. "We''re currently inside the Military Settlement."


    "Wha-ugh!"


    Of course, Emellynn would be surprised even if Felix warned her. She''s literally inside the enemy base.


    "I told you not to get surprised. Seriously, you''re always agitated." Felixined. "We already observed that Mutators had some odd changes in their personalities after they became one, but why did you have to be like this. You''re better the way you are before."


    Emellynn looked at Felix, who was scratching his head in frustration. She could not understand what this guy was talking about.


    "In any case, don''t worry. We''re not captured or something." Felix continued. "This the hideout of our organization here. We''ll be safe here as long as no one recognized us. That''s why the windows are closed."


    "Organization?"


    Emellynn managed to squeeze out a question.


    "Oh right, this is the first time I''ve told you this, didn''t I?" Felix smiled yfully. "Well, it''s some sort of worldwide organization. I''ll tell you more about itter after you recover. Just rest for now, alright? Ah, you must be hungry. I''ll get you some easy-to-eat food."


    With those words, Felix yfully stormed out of the room and closed the door.


    Emellynn stared at the door filled with questions. She had long been with Felix since she lost her family. Although he had been too mysterious, she did not bother asking since he was the only one that supported him when she lost it all.


    Now that Felix himself brought it up, Emellynn could not help but raise the questions she had all this time in her mind. Unfortunately, she was not in the best condition to ask questions and listen to the answers.


    In any case, Emellynn was still agitated. Since she was here, it meant that her faction was already done for. More than that, at the hands of a single person.


    The worst of it all, Emellynn was currently recuperating inside the enemy territory.


    "Tsk! I''ll kill you soon you f*cking General."


    Emellynn murmured in an almost inaudible voice.


    ***


    "She already woke up?"


    As Felix reached the living room, a woman''s voice asked him.


    "What are you doing here? Shouldn''t you be working beside that General?"


    Felix asked back. He did not expect to see Vanessa at this point. It seemed that she returned while he was checking on Emellynn.


    "General Padi cleared his afternoon schedule, so I also managed to get a break until tomorrow. These past days had been too busy."


    Vanessa said, stretching her back.


    "Where is Roach?"


    Felix asked while instructing their maid to prepare some soup for Emellynn.


    "I sent him out," Vanessa replied. "I told him to contact the others and warn them."


    "Warn them for what?" Felix frowned. "Are you hiding something?"


    "I''m not really hiding it." Vanessa shrugged. "It''s just that Sir Mark had other ns on this ind. It''s likely that we''ll end up failing our deal with the Political Group. In that case, I want the others to know not to do anything to obstruct him or put themselves in danger."


    "What are you talking about?" Felix was confused. "I know we are no match for that guy, but shouldn''t we at least try to stop him? If we fail, not only we will have to return the payment, but we will have to pay a penalty, you know that."


    "No worries," Venessa replied in a rxed manner. "I got a goodmission. The penalty was also reimbursed with far more than the supposed value."


    "Huh?" Felix was even more confused. "You got amission? From who? Wait, why are you addressing that courier with ''Sir''?"


    "Sir Mark is my client, so why not?" Vanessa exined. "Besides, he gave me a bigmission and gavepensation for our mission that is going to fail."


    "Are you serious?" Felix was frozen. "I won''t ask for the specifics of themission since it''s not allowed, but how much?"


    "Themission had a downpayment of two-hundred-fifty thousand. Thepensation he gave is a hundred thousand points."<sub> </sub>


    Vanessa replied.


    Then, there was silence. Vanessa turned to Felix only to see him looking at her incredulously.


    "What''s wrong? Did your screws finally fell out?"


    "You''re not joking, right?"


    Felix asked.


    "Do you think I''m joking?"


    Vanessa asked back.


    "I think you''re not..." Felix sat down on the sofa. "You''re not the type to joke around. If you did, it means you''re in a good mood."


    Scratching his head, Felix stared at Vanessa with a frown.


    "Sh*t... I''m the one that introduced us to him! Why didn''t he gave me thatmission instead! Damn! Two hundred fifty? Just what the hell did you pay you?"


    "Don''t ask, you idiot. You know that unless it''s a groupmission, most of the details are confidential." Vanessa warned. "Besides, with what happened before, I doubt he would be hiring you at all."


    Felix fell silent. It was true that his meeting with Mark was an unpleasant asion. It was already good that Mark was notpletely hostile.


    "Still, a hundred thousand points aspensation, huh? We only had to return the forty-thousand points that Ms. Marcos paid us and another twenty-thousand as a penalty. There''s still an extra forty for all of us to share, huh. Not bad at all, considering we only epted it as an extra job."


    It seemed that Felix was also fine with Mark''spensation, albeit regretful that he was not the one that got that huge transaction.


    "All that aside, what are you nning with that woman?"


    Leaving the topic, Vanessa asked Felix about Emellynn.


    "After we get to kill her main target, I n on making her join us." Felix dered. "Though by her current temperament, she can only go as a mercenary."


    "I guess that''s good." Vanessa agreed. "After most people seded in their revenge, they be nothing as empty shells and their lives lose direction. It would be a pity for someone you raised to end up like that."


    "That''s right." Felix nodded. "In any case, it won''t happen soon. She needed to recover first and I still need to make the best stage for her."


    "Seriously, why didn''t you adopt her as your daughter since you''re acting like her father?" Vanessained. "Well, it will be odd since she looks older than you."


    "You talk like you''re young, yourself."


    Felix said, only to receive a fierce re from Vanessa.


    With that, Felix shut his mouth and ran away after he received the soup for Emellynn.


    "Seriously, that guy." Vanessa sighed at Felix. "He had no delicacy towards women at all."


    It was not like Felix was lying, however.


    Vanessa, also known as Val Flora, had an appearance of a beautiful woman in her early thirties. However, her actual age was far older than that. It was not like she belonged to any long-lived race. It was her unique physique that stopped her body from aging.


    In fact, in their group that was currently in Catanduanes, it was neither Felix nor Val Flora that was the youngest. It was actually Roach, who was the youngest even though he looks like the oldest because of his face and muscr body.


    ***


    <strong>Day 150 - 2:11 PM - Bagong Bayan, Municpality of Panganiban, Catanduanes</strong>


    "We''re finally here!"


    Emika shouted, seeing the town that was supposed to be the meeting ce of the group.


    The Municipality of Panganiban was the next municipality north of Viga where the main base of the Anti-Government faction of the rebels was located.


    That was why their designated meeting ce was literally further north of the rebel base.


    Why was this ce chosen? It was because, in this area, almost all the longest roads that travel across Catanduanes intersected. It was a good ce to set up an outpost if one wanted to monitor the roads for people passing by.


    Well, it was not like anything other than evolved animals would pass through.


    Soon, Mark''s group saw the others inside the school north of the town. They were not hard to spot considering they had a huge bird with them, the Thunder Bird Trua.


    "You guys took your time."


    Pefileined immediately after Mark''s groupnded. He seemed to be in a foul mood.


    "What''s wrong?" Mark asked. "We just got dyed for a whole night."


    "Boss," Edzel interjected. "We''ve been waiting here for a whole day and a half already."


    "Hmm? That''s odd." Mark was confused. "Howe?"


    If they went for the estimated time, Pefile''s group would need a day at least to escort the refugees in their group to the base of the Neutral Faction of the rebels.


    It was odd since if they had been waiting here for a day and a half already, it meant that they returned the very same night of the day they took down the Anti-Government Faction.


    Soon, Mark learned the reason. He could not help but scratch his head.


    Apparently, Pefile''s group had an unexpected encounter two hours after leaving the Rebel Base. They crossed with a convoy of armed people along the road.


    Unexpectedly, it was actually a convoy from the Neutral Faction that was there to pick up the refugees and invite their saviors to their base as guests.


    The saviors were no other than Pefile''s group, of course.


    Without hesitation, Pefile turned down the invitation. They had no reason to ept it at all. Instead, it was good that they finished their task early.


    Sighing, Mark asked.


    "It''s my mother, isn''t it?"


    "Should be," Pefile replied. "There was a woman with the armed men, who was called mom by the girl you told me to protect at all cost."


    Sure enough, Mark did not put this into ount. It looked like that their mother managed to foresee the situation about his sister and set out in advance.


    In any case, it was good.


    "Boss, what are we going to do next?"


    Berrak asked. It looked like he already embraced his role as a member of Mark''s group.


    "Nothing today and tomorrow." Mark shrugged. "You guys managed to rest but we haven''t yet. We are going to take a break before setting off to eliminate the Demons in Bato."


    With that, Mark was looking forward to a good rest. Well, he was still fine for the most part. However, it did not mean that the girls were too. They should at least need a break.

 Chapter 685 Sitting By The Staircase, A Huge Surprise For Mei And Mark

    <strong>Day 150 - 1: 48 PM - Panganiban Central Elementary School, Bagong Bayan, Municipality of Panganiban, Catanduanes</strong>


    Deciding to take a day and a half break, Mark''s group finally had the opportunity to rx.


    Mark sat on the foot of the staircase of one of the school buildings. He was observing the scene in front of him.


    This school seemed to be a decent one. Compared to Queens Row Elementary School, the grade school Mark attended in the past, this ce may not have more buildings, but it was a farrger school. By his estimate, two Queens Row Elementary Schools could fit in the plot ofnd the Panganiban Central Elementary School had.


    There might be a lot of students that attended this school. But now, the whole ce was empty and dpidated.


    From what it appeared, the school became an evacuation center. Since the outbreak started during Christmas break, schools were supposed to be empty. However, there were a lot of traces of human inhabitation in this ce, albeit old.


    There were destroyed tents on the school grounds. A lot of trash was also left behind.


    And, of course, the stains of blood in the walls along with the traces left by the assants.


    By how it appeared, it was not the infected that devastated this ce. It was either evolved animals, or worse, demons.


    "Hmm?"


    Mark looked up, detecting his connection with Ignis. The Demon Sword was flying in the sky, from the southeast direction of the town. And from how it felt like, Crimson was also with Ignis. He began to wonder why he did not see these two here when his group arrived.


    Ignis stopped in front of Mark. Crimson also materialized, bouncing off from Ignis'' de towards Mark like a child. Mark immediately caught Crimson in his hands.


    "Where did you two go?"


    Mark asked while poking Crimson''s jelly-like body.


    "Master, wee back." The voice of Ignis echoed inside Mark''s head. "We found some settlers in the southeast side of the town, so we investigated a bit."


    "Settlers? That''s odd."


    Mark tapped his chin, thinking.


    "Yes. I thought the same, Master."


    Ignis replied. Even Crimson agreed, bouncing on Mark''s palms.


    "Considering this ce is not too far from the Antis'' Base, it''s surprising that there are settlers." Mark surmised. "Are you sure that they are just normal settlers and not members of the rebels?"


    "I thought that at first too, Master," Ignis replied. "However, I dropped the thought when I saw that they only had cold weapons with them, not a single firearm. Furthermore..."


    "Furthermore?"


    Mark asked as Ignis paused.


    "We weren''t able to go close to observe them closer. When we tried to approach, the settlers immediately detected us. We can only flee."


    "Even when Crimson is his Miasma form?"


    Mark asked once more.


    "Yes, unexpectedly." Ignis shook as he replied. "They can''t see Crimson, but they were searching around the area where he was even when he moves around."


    Crimson also bounced several times, understanding what Ignis was saying.


    "Strange..." Mark nodded. "You two can''t tell whether they are humans or not?"


    "Hard to say, Master," Ignis replied. "They all looked humans, so I needed toe close to confirm."


    "But you can''t."


    "Yes, unfortunately."


    "And Crimson can move close to them, but this little guy can''t distinguish the difference without attacking them first."


    Mark frowned. He did not expect toe across something like this when he decided to take a break.


    "By the way, you two can understand each other?"


    Mark asked, noticing that Ignis and Crimson seemed to understand each other while talking to him. This was the first time he saw this happen.


    "Hmm... Master," Ignis spoke. "I think we are able to since I became your Demon Sword. It''s just we didn''t have any chance to notice it since Crimson always hid in the shadows."


    "But Ignis," Mark tilted his head. "You can''t understand the other [Blood Children], right?"


    "Maybe it is because the two of us had the closest connection to you Master," Ignis exined. "I''m your contracted Demon Sword while Crimson shared your blood and Miasma."


    Mark fell silent. It was surprising that Ignis and Crimson could actually understand each other. Of course, understanding did not mean aplete conversation. As it appeared, Crimson could not understand everything that Ignis was saying, considering that he was just a baby at mind. Also because of Crimson''s age, it was easy for Ignis to understand his simple thoughts even if he could not speak.


    In any case, this was a good discovery. Since the two could converse to some extent, it would be easier to send the two together for scouting things. It would be safer for the two if they went in pairs.


    "It''s good that we now know this." Mark patted Crimson. "Still, we should check those people the day after tomorrow. We''re taking a break, so you two should rx too."


    Before Ignis and Crimson could reply, however, Mark suddenly turned his head as he sensed someone suddenly popping out behind him.


    "You don''t have to check on them. Those are good people."


    A sweet voice entered their ears from where Mark was looking.


    There, a woman in a white dress and flower crown stood. Behind her were a few ck children that were the ones likely to be the cause of the woman suddenly appearing out of nowhere.


    Seeing the woman, Mark sighed.


    "Grandmother, what are you doing here?"


    The woman that appeared was no other than Mark''s ancestor, Aliya.


    "Can''t Ie to see my Grandchild?" Aliya smiled. "This area is within Diwata Iraya''s territory, so she knew what is happening around here. Actually, we detected an unfamiliar presence of a Tamawo. That''s why we''ve been watching his group since they entered the area. We didn''t expect that he''s part of your group, though."


    Hearing that, Mark understood. The mountain he ended up exiting when he left Diwata Iraya''s domain was not too far from here. It was not surprising that this fell into her territory and was able to observe the events here with the abilities of the spirits.


    "What are those people, anyway?"


    Mark asked, changing the topic.


    "They are Half-Demons. They were descendants of Demons from Human partners. However, they did not turn into Demons and retained humanity, albeit having abilities from their Demon parents and ancestors."


    Hearing the words of his Grandmother, several thoughts entered Mark''s mind. He remembered that in some pieces of Japanese literature, Otaku-oriented or not, Half-Races were utterly subjected to spite of Pureblooded races.


    "Are they exiled by Demons because they are just failed offsprings?"


    Mark asked.<sub> </sub>


    "Exiled? No." Aliya approached Mark and sat beside him. "Those poor souls are people who escaped. Demons are not nice enough to just exile them. Most Half-Demons are killed immediately after the ritual that was supposed to turn them into Demons failed."


    "Don''t they turn into Feral Demons if the Demonification ritual failed?"


    Mark asked another.


    "Did you encounter Feral Demons already?"


    "I did. I captured three."


    Mark pointed at the room they cleared to store their baggage.


    "My Grandchild managed to capture three." Aliya looked at Mark with worry. "It''s good that you''re alright. Feral Demons are hard to deal with because they hunt in groups and had various uncanny abilities."


    "About the ritual," Aliya added. "The ritual that creates Feral Demons is different from what human descendants of Demons usually take. Turning normal humans into Demons, that is the [Demoniciation Ritual]. As for Demon descendants that already showed Demonic abilities since birth, they undergo an [Awakening Ritual]."


    "I see." Mark nodded. "It looks like what I know is iplete."


    Mark frowned. Sure enough, not all the memories he got from the souls he absorbed were reliable. In the first ce, his source of information he got was the memories of the Elder Cultivator and the Deity of Bloodshed. One was a human cultivator, and the other was a Formless Demon. Both had no concrete experience or first-hand knowledge of Demonic Rituals and such.


    While Mark and his Grandmother were talking, Crimson was bouncing on Mark''s palms, curious about Aliya.


    "What a cute child." Aliya smiled. "But what kind of creature is this?"


    Aliya poked Crimson, causing the [Blood Child] to jiggle. It seemed that it wasfortable of Aliya''s touch and actually jumped to herp.


    The ck children panicked. While they could not sense the Miasma in Crimson''s body, the [Blood Child] was still an unknown creature to them.


    Fortunately, Aliya did not mind and actually patted Crimson like she was facing a cute small animal.


    At this moment, someone entered the scene, making Mark turned to the door of the building behind him.


    ? "Gege, who?"


    Mei asked, seeing the woman sitting beside Mark, who had an exotic-looking beauty.


    "I told you about her the other night." Mark smiled at Mei. "Mei''er, this is my Grandmother, Aliya."


    Hearing Mark''s introduction, Mei''s eyes turned wide. It was too sudden for her, after all. Flustered, Mei turned around, fixing her hair and wiping her face. She looked a bit haggard since she was preparing lunch with Pearl.


    "My grandchild, are you not going to introduce her to me?" Aliya smiled at Mei''s behavior. "Who is she? Your girlfriend?"


    Seeing Mei all flustered, Mark smiled with a sigh. He stood up and approached her. Since she was panicking, instead of fixing herself, she was turning herself more into a mess.


    This was the very first time Mark saw Mei like this. She did not even flinch while fighting the infected, but she was about to have a heart attack just meeting his Grandmother.


    "Let me help."


    Mark said,bing Mei''s hair with his hand.


    When done, Mark turned the stiff Mei around.


    "Grandmother, this is Mei. My wife."


    Hearing the introduction, Aliya stood and approached the two. She then started to observe Mei closely like she was examining a piece of art.


    Mei, who could not even establish proper eye contact, could only look down with a reddened face. She was all embarrassed and flustered that she did not know what to do anymore.


    "Hmm... Hmm..." Aliya nodded. "Looks like you got an outstanding wife."


    "No, she''s far more than outstanding."


    Mark argued.


    The conversation of the two made Mei even redder.


    Mark and Aliya were smiling. The two were both teasing Mei because of her reaction.


    "What is happening here?"


    Unfortunately, the teasing could not continue. Berrak suddenly appeared, confused at the atmosphere between the three. Furthermore, his eyes fell on Aliya and the ck children, noticing that they were not humans.


    "What''s wrong?"


    Mark turned to Berrak and asked.


    "Umm... The food is ready, and the Miss did not return with you immediately, so they sent me to check."


    Berrak replied.


    At it appeared, Mei was here to call Mark for lunch. However, she was caught up with the situation, forgetting what she came here for.


    Turning back at Mei, Mark almost let out augh. He gently pinched Mei''s cheek.


    "Rx, Grandmother is not going to eat you, you know."


    "B-but..."


    Mei replied, sneaking a look at Aliya.


    Finally, Aliya could not help but burst outughing. She then gave Mei an embrace.


    "Don''t be too stiff. Do I look like a monster to you?" Aliya asked, and Mei shook her head in reply. "Then rx."


    "Hah..."


    Mark sighed. It was fun to tease Mei, but she looked too pitiful panicking like this.


    "Here," Mark smiled gently, patting Mei''s head with his hand covered in a white glow."


    Without surprise, Mei calmed down. However, Aliya released Mei from her embrace with a surprised look as she stared at Mark.


    "Is there something wrong?"


    Mark asked, noticing Aliya''s unsteady emotions.


    Aliya did not reply. Instead, she raced her hand in front of her, showing it to Mark.


    It was when Mark became the one surprised, especially when Aliya''s hand was covered in a white, milky glow.


    Who would not be surprised, considering Mark had been always bothered by what in the world was this ability of his, capable of soothing andforting people he embraced and touched.

 Chapter 686 Sitting Under The Tree, The Granddaughters And The Story Of Love In The Past

    <strong>Day 150 - 2:05 PM - Faculty, Damaso D. Salvador Building, Panganiban Central Elementary School, Bagong Bayan, Municipality of Panganiban, Catanduanes</strong>


    Inside the office that appeared to be the teacher''s faculty, everyone gathered to have lunch. Lining up office tables side by side and taking the non-broken chairs from other rooms, they created a dining area enough for everyone to eat.


    Aliya''s sudden arrival surprised everyone. None of them expected Mark''s ancestor they heard about the other day to appear before them without notice.


    The only ones feeling strange were the young soldiers, Geronimo and Padua. After all, they were still new in Mark''s group and had not heard about Mark''s encounter with Aliya. Furthermore, the two were new to the mysterious things around Mark''s group. At first, they could not believe that the young-looking Aliya was not just Mark''s Grandmother but his ancestor far in the past. If not for the ck Children with Aliya, the two would not believe that Aliya was not human anymore.


    And because of Aliya''s presence, the dining table was mostly silent.


    It was not like they were ufortable with Aliya being there to share lunch with them. Their curiosity was not the issue either. The problem was they could not help but stare at her because she gobbled her food like a hungry ghost.


    Aliya did not even bother touching her spoon and fork. She was using her hands to eat instead. It was like how it was back in the past when the people in the Philippines were nothing but primitive tribes.


    Of course, there were still people in modern times that preferred to eat using bare hands. It was said to bring out the vor of some local cuisines.


    Nheless, the way Aliya ate was like she never really used a spoon and fork before.


    "Hmm? Gulp." Aliya paused, noticing that everyone''s eyes were on her. "Is something wrong?"


    That question made everyone watching her awkward. They did not dare answer that question. Well, aside from someone.


    "Grandmother, you looked like someone that hasn''t eaten for decades."


    Mark said, making everyone turn at him forcking courtesy.


    However, Aliya did not seem to mind.


    "Sorry about this." Aliya wiped her lips and smiled. "I haven''t really eaten cooked human food for decades. All we had at home are raw fruits, flowers, and vegetables."


    Everyone fell silent at Aliya''s reply. Who would have thought that Mark''s words would be spot on for the most part?


    Because of that, everyone went to eat without minding Aliya''s behavior. Mark even took out some canned food for his Grandmother to eat. It seemed that she really liked it.


    Having their fill, everyone went to do what they could.


    First was cleaning a room for Mark''s group to stay the night. It did not take long since they only needed to sweep the dust in one of the rooms and add some temporary partitions.


    After that, everyone was free to do what they wanted.


    Edzel and Pearl decided to look around the school together. The two were both at high school age. The two were reminiscing the time they were still at school.


    Pefile, on the other hand, waszing around. He found an overgrown tree near the entrance of the school. Then, heid down on its thickest branch to sleep. As it seemed, it was also how he spent the rest of the time while waiting for Mark''s group to arrive.


    As for Berrak, he decided to summon his weaker pets and groom them. He made sure not to cause too much magical fluctuation and avoided calling unto his stronger pets.


    The newest recruits, Geronimo and Padua, were yet to recover from the surprises in Mark''s group. However, they knew that they were still not in the position to ask too many questions. Instead, the two decided to borrow some items from Mark. The two went and did some maintenance on their weapons.


    Amihan and Emika also decided to look around the school. It was good that Amihan was now able to y with other humans, even if it was just the little girls.


    Thest ones were Mark''s family members. Since it was quite awkward to do during lunch, Mark decided to properly introduce the little girls to their Grandmother.


    They set up some chairs and a table outside the building under a tree. It was so that they could take a rest after lunch while enjoying the cold breeze outside.


    "This is I, Abbygale, and Miracle." Mark introduced the three to Aliya. "Go on, greet your Grandmother."


    The first one to step forward was I.


    "My name is I. It''s a pleasure to meet you, Grandmother."


    It was a perfect introduction. It was too perfect that Aliya was not able to reply immediately and turned to Mark in askance. It was not the type of introduction that you would hear from a child.


    "She''s pretty mature, you see..."


    Mark said with a bitter smile.


    "Then, it is my pleasure to meet you too."


    Aliya smiled at I, patting her head gently.


    Next was Miracle who curiously approached Aliya.


    "I''m Miracle! Gra-Grandmader!"


    Miracle then embraced Aliya. It seemed the little girl was having a hard time pronouncing Grandmother being a long word. Besides, it was already surprising to a seemingly three-year-old to be able to introduce herself.


    Aliya returned the embrace and even lifted Miracle up in her arms.


    As for thest one...


    Abbygale was not stepping forward. She was hiding behind Mark, peeking at Aliya.


    "Sorry about this." Mark was also troubled. "Abbygale had a bad experience with her real Grandmother."


    Hearing that, Aliya turned to Mark.


    "As I thought. They are not your real daughters, right? Little Miracle aside, I and Abbygale''s ages did not fit your wife''s age. I also don''t feel the familial attachment at first sight."


    To that question, Mark shrugged.


    "Yeah, they are not." Mark patted Abbygale''s head. "Though rather than me adopting them, it''s more like they chose me to be their father."


    Aliya looked at Mark and nced at the girls.


    "Well, they are your daughters now, so they are also my Granddaughters."


    Aliya smiled as she approached Mark. She then lowered her body at Abbygale''s eye level.


    "Do I look scary?"<sub> </sub>


    Aliya asked the little girl.


    Abbygale did not speak but shook her head.


    "If I''m not scary, then can you give Grandmother a hug?"


    Aliya asked another, putting down Miracle and opening her arms at Abbygale.


    Abbygale looked at Mark, not knowing what to do. However, when she saw Mark nod, she slowly went out of hiding and approached Aliya.


    The little girl was still hesitating. It was when Aliya took the initiative and caught Abbygale in her arms.


    "Caught you!"


    Aliyaughed.


    Abbygale was surprised and was about to try to escape. But then, a familiar sense offort began to calm her. The little girl could not help but calm down and turn at Mark in confusion.


    Mark shrugged. Aliya was being sly. Since it seemed that it would be hard for Abbygale to open up, she just went and used it. The very same ability he had. It was the nameless ability that caused the little girls to ask him for hugs or head pats at any given opportunity.


    As Aliya showed before lunch, she had the same ability that he had.


    With the introductions done and Abbygale calming down, they sat around the table.


    Unfortunately for Abbygale, Aliya was not letting go of her. That was why she was now sitting on her Grandmother''sp, getting some gentle head pats.


    "It looks like you have a good family."


    Aliya said to Mark, satisfied with the family that her Grandchild had.


    Still, there was something that bothers her.


    "But howe that all of you were Demons with the same aura..."


    "There are some unique circumstances," Mark replied. "I possible, don''t ask for now."


    "Then, I won''t ask." Aliya smiled. "But be sure to tell me in the future."


    "By the way, Grandmother," Mark spoke. "You also had this ability. But what is it?"


    Mark then let his hand get covered with white, milky light.


    Looking at Mark''s hand, Aliya had a nostalgic expression in her eyes.


    "It is a power present in our tribe," Aliya replied. "Back then, we call it [Relieving Light]."


    Aliya then began to tell the story.


    It was a story that circted in the tribe even before Aliya was born.


    Tribes had a reason for existing. Some were familiesrge enough to form a tribe. There were also those that gathered under the same banner in order to survive.


    As for the tribe that Aliya was born into, it began from faith.


    Apparently, the first tribe leader that Aliya belonged to came from apletely different tribe. Furthermore, the eldest son of the tribe, who was supposed to inherit the position of the Tribe Chief.


    <o>,m However, the eldest son met a woman in the woods while hunting. Both of them started to meet from time to time after the first meeting and ended up falling in love with each other.</o>


    Unfortunately, as the eldest son of the tribe and the next Tribe Chief, he was supposed to marry the daughter of the Chief of an allied tribe. That was something that he went against with all his heart.


    Nheless, the Tribe Chief did not falter and insisted to follow the tradition. What he did not expect... The eldest son decided to abandon the tribe and left for the woman he loved.


    Life was harsh at that time.


    Angered, the Tribe Chief took his warriors to chase after his son. They needed to take his son back and kill the witch that seduced his son.


    It became a harsh fight as the eldest son did his best to protect his beloved woman.


    The Tribe Chief and his warriors tried their best not to harm the eldest son. However, one of the warriors, the second son of the Tribe Chief, had another goal. Without hesitation, the second son stabbed his spear at his elder brother, piercing his stomach. It was a fatal wound.


    That was when the frightened woman finally removed her disguise, despite the possibility that her existence might not be epted by her beloved man.


    The woman was a young Diwata wearing a disguise of a human.


    The Diwata''s anger almost killed the Tribe Chief and the warriors.


    It was when the dying man called unto her to stop and forgive his tribe, saying that he still loved her even if she was not a human.


    The Diwata''s anger subsided. In the end, she embraced the man, and enveloped in bright light, the two vanished from the sight of the Tribe Chief and the warriors of the tribe, never to be seen again.


    Due to what happened, the second son was exiled from the tribe and ended up dying, identally falling into a cliff.


    The position of the Tribe Chief was seeded by the third son, who married the woman that was supposed to be the eldest son''s bride.


    Unknown to that tribe, the eldest son survived, traveling across thend with his beloved wife. The wife was no other than the Diwata, who was punished to be human after meddling with the mortals.


    Being the eldest son of a Tribe Chief, he had the charisma and heart of a warrior. It did not take long, and he managed to gather followers who soon became members of his tribe after they settled down.


    The eldest son and the former Diwata lived happily. They had children who were all humans. Soon, they became the future pirs of the tribe.


    However, even though the Diwata became human, an odd thing happened to her descendants. Unexpectedly, from generation to generation, someone with the ability to heal would appear among the future children, albeit very rare. It was the unique ability of the Diwata which also caused her husband to fall in love with her.


    It was not some absurd ability that could close wounds or save lives. Instead, it had the effect of calming the unsteady mind and relieving the fatigued.


    And from the story, they were people who awakened the full extent of this ability could envelop their hands in white, milky light.

 Chapter 687 [Magical Healing Hands], The True Usage Of The [Relieving Hands]

    <strong>Day 150 - 3:21 PM - School za, Panganiban Central Elementary School, Bagong Bayan, Municipality of Panganiban, Catanduanes</strong>


    Aliya gleefully told the story that came from the heritage of her ancestors.


    Back in the past, there was barely any variety of things that people did to pass their time. For men, they hunted animals and participated in contests to prove their strength. As for women and children, most of them felt content with just telling and listening to stories.


    Aliya, who came from a tribe in the past and served as their tribe''s shaman, telling stories she learned from their elders was her hobby.


    Seeing her grandchildren intently listening to her story made her happy and enthusiastic.


    On the other hand, Mark was having quite a headache. Before, he thought that this ability was a byproduct of his high level of [Emphatic Abilities]. The possibility was not zero, after all. It was considering that it affects the mind of those he touched, albeit positively. Now, however, it was actually not the case.


    "Gege, your ancestry is getting richer and richer as time went by."


    Mei remarked, considering the things she knew about Mark.


    "It''s getting weirder and weirder if you ask me."


    Mark replied with a shrug.


    Nheless, this kind of thing was not impossible to happen. Even with human families, there was a possibility for their ancestry to have different human races mixed in. It was even more usible in this country. After all, Phillippines fell into the hands of several countries. Furthermore, it had connections to many countries around it even before Spain came to conquer.


    And now, the existence of magical beings got revealed. Some of them appearing in human ancestries was not impossible too.


    It was even more usible because Mark''s ancestry was unusual, to begin with, with one of their ancestors being a Blood Demon.


    "Grandmother," Mark turned to Aliya. "How did that Diwata''s powers got passed on to their descendants? I''m pretty sure that Diwatas that became human by punishment were entirely stripped of their magical capabilities."


    Mark''s question made Aliya smile.


    "That detail is not passed down in the tribe," Aliya said. "However, I knew that was supposed to be the case. The Diwata in the story, our ancestor, lost all her magical powers and lived as amon human woman. Both she and her husband died of old age after leading the tribe to prosperity. It was only after a few generations that the first case of this ability appeared. Among the descendants known to have this ability, I am the third, and I''m among the sixth generation of descendants after the story started."


    "Furthermore," Aliya added. "Among the past and following descendants, I''m the only one to awaken to this level. The others were far weaker. Some of them were able to release light from their hands but rather than being thick and milky, theirs were rather thin."


    Looking at Mark, Aliya continued.


    "Actually, your uncle is one of us, having this ability. But unlike all the others, you are the second person that attained the level closest to our ancestor when she was still a Diwata."


    Because of Aliya''s words, Mark fell into deep thought. He remembered that his uncle, Roy, had a warm hand. It was not literally warm. Instead, he was able to relieve pain, fatigue, and other things with his massages using herbal oil. His services were even sought by some people who knew, bringing their sick children to him for some healing.


    But then, Mark noticed something. At first, Aliya said that it was a story passed down in her tribe. However, it was noticeable that her story was too urate for a story that was passed down. It was almost at the level of first-hand knowledge. If not, how was it possible that Aliya knew that her ability was close to their ancestor when she was still a Diwata.


    "Say, Grandmother," Mark decided to ask directly. "You seem to know a lot for a story Generations older than you. It was like you were there to see it first hand."


    "Hahaha." Aliyaughed. "Did I really sound like that? Then it''s good!"


    Mark and the girls were confused.


    "This is how stories are told in our tribe before," Aliya exined. "We tell it like we were present when everything happened to the extent of fabricating things. I thought I''m getting rusty but I''m still capable. Actually, the story passed down in the tribe is iplete that those that told the story after had to add a few things here and there. It did not take long and the story became more and more exaggerated and far from what really happened."


    "Then..."


    Mei was about to spoke, thinking that what Aliya told them was not the truth.


    "Oh, don''t worry." Aliya smiled. "What I told just now is the real story, not those that had been passed down the tribe."


    Mark and Mei paused. Even the little girls were confused.


    "It''s like this," Aliya exined further. "The story I told you came from someone that witnessed it all."


    Aliya then turned to Mark.


    "You met her already."


    "Diwata Iraya."


    Mark answered the only possible person in his mind.


    "You are right." Aliya nodded. "The Diwata who became our ancestor, Diwata Arya, she is Diwata Iraya''s... what do you call that again? Student? No... more like an apprentice, I think. It was also Diwata Iraya that punished her to be human."


    That exined it. With Diwata Iraya being the superior of Arya, there was no doubt that she witnessed everything first-hand. She would have the most correct and most urate version of the story.


    "As for why Diwata Arya''s ability appeared in her descendants, even Diwata Iraya doesn''t know why." Aliya continued. "What we had in mind was that it had something to do with why people in our family could awaken magical abilities. But of course, that is not a proven answer."


    Mark fell silent for a bit. While Diwata Iraya and his Grandmother could not prove the reason, he had a hunch that it had to do with their bloodline as [Blood Demons]. It was a unique bloodline, after all.


    And as for why all these kinds of abilities from his ancestry were appearing on Mark, he could not help but stare at his right arm. There was only one thing that made his world turn around.


    It was the [Psycrystal] that was now embedded on his arm.


    Although it was Keeper that created the [Psycrystal], it was still a magical crystal created from [PsyPathogen].


    [PsyPathogen], the very same pathogen that awakened psychic abilities in creatures from the Eriellis. It had some simr properties as [Mutagen], like mutating people using their genes.


    If that was the case, it was usible that it was the cause why Mark awakened abilities present in his ancestry.


    At first, Mark only noticed his [Emphatic Abilities] being enhanced by the [Psycrystal]. After all, it was the only ability he had at that time that was active without control. It was possible that at the very same time, his [irevoyance] and this [Relieving Hands], were already at development. However, as a shut-in that barely interacted with people, he never had the chance to use these abilities even by ident.


    Pushing it further, it might also be the reason that Mark''s bloodline as a Blood Demon resurfaced, albeitte.


    Now that Mark thought about it, it was also the [Psycrystal] that made him use that crystal that enabled him to mutate further, allowing him to use Miasma.


    "By the way..." Aliya suddenly spoke. "We call it [Relieving Hands] in the tribe before since it had such effects. But actually, this ability only had those effects since it was being used on humans."


    "So, it''s not supposed to be used on humans?"


    Mark snapped out of his thoughts and asked.<sub> </sub>


    "I can be used like how we did." Aliya shook her head. "However, think about it. Diwata Arya is a Diwata. Although Diwatas could interact with humans under certain conditions, they could not just go and meddle with them. It meant that there was very little chance for her to use it on humans. Then, who was she using her abilities on?"


    That came the question. There was no way that a Diwata''s unique ability would be used for humans. There was no need to think. The answer immediately entered the minds of Mark, Mei, and I.


    "Spirits and Elementals."


    Mark answered.


    "Yes, although there were specific conditions." Aliya nodded. "It also had effects on Demons too under the same conditions."


    "And that condition?"


    Mark asked.


    "Spirits, Elementals, and Demons, whose bodies were created using magical energy," Aliya answered. "If [Relieving Hands] is used on those kinds of creatures, it would have a different effect. And that effect is [Healing]."


    Mark was surprised. He never thought about this. In his entourage, only Amihan was the elemental to fit such criterion. However, as Mark prioritized the safety of everyone around him every time, Amihan never got injured while staying by his side. Thus, there was no opportunity for him to discover this usage of this ability.


    "Diwata Iraya said that they called this ability [Magical Healing Hands] instead." Aliya continued. "Actually, it''s also the reason why Diwata Iraya convinced me to be a Spirit. They lost Diwata Arya because she fell in love with a human. As such, when it was discovered that I had almost the same strength as her, all sorts of Spirits, even Demons, approached me."


    "And Demons also targeted me to make me one of them, since I had thepatibility to be one."


    Aliya added.


    As it seemed, her human life was not a peaceful one. Looking at how she looked young, it was likely that she died young before she became a Spirit.


    "Then, my uncle could also be targeted, right?"


    Mark asked.


    "Ah, yes." Aliya nodded. "But his [Magical Healing Hands] are too weak so he''s only targeted because of his Magical Compatibility and not a priority. Besides, it was not like just any hostile entity could approach your mother''s generation."


    "Is it the Spirit Guides?"


    Mark asked with a frown.


    "Huh?" Aliya was surprised. "How did you know?"


    "I just knew." Mark shrugged. "Aunt Gennie''s should be that guy in armor, right?"


    "Wah?" Aliya was surprised even more. "Seriously, how? No, I won''t ask anymore. Hah..."


    Aliya gave up. By the looks of it, Mark would not answer. It was not like she wanted to force the answer out of her Grandchild either.


    "By the way..." Something entered Mark''s mind. "Diwata Iraya is several hundred years old, huh?"


    Mark was suddenly distracted by the absurd fact. As it seemed, it was very likely that Aliya came from a tribe way before the Spanish upation.


    It meant that Aliya would be at least five-hundred years old.


    Then, there came Diwata Iraya, who already had something like an apprentice, generations before Aliya was born.


    "Ah, that''s right." Aliya nodded. "Diwatas don''t really count their age since their appearance barely changes even if hundreds of years passed by. But Diwata Iraya is a Very Very Old Granny."


    CRACKLE!


    THOOM!


    Suddenly, the sound of lightning and thunder was heard from the sky.


    Everyone suddenly looked at the sky. Not only Mark''s group under the tree but also the others that were minding their own business. Even Geronimo and Padua, who were cleaning their guns inside the office, ran to the windows to look. That was how loud it was.


    Odd enough, the sky was clear and blue. There was barely any cloud either.


    Mark then smiled.


    "So, she''s a VERY VERY Old Granny, huh."


    CRACKLE!


    THOOM!


    Another sound of lightning and thunder echoed. This time, it was obvious that the sound came from the tall mountain in the west direction.


    "Hahaha!" Aliyaughed. "Right! She''s a VERY VERY OLD Granny."


    CRACKLE!


    THOOM!


    CREAK!


    Another echo of lightning and thunder creeped out everyone. This time, it was a bit different since a tree in the middle of the schoolyard was hit. However, even though the tree was split into two, it did not catch fire.


    The tree was not too far from Mark''s group. However, the distance was not too close for them to be affected. Still, the little girls were creeped out. Abbygale transformed and jumped into Mark''sp. Miracle also shook in surprise.


    On the other hand, the other members of the group could not help but run in the direction of the ruckus, thinking that it was an enemy attack.


    "Gege, Grandmother..."


    Mei stared at the culprits. It was not hard for her to understand what was happening.


    On the other hand, Mark and Aliya only smiled at Mei.


    This caused Mei to sigh. These two were definitely rtives.

 Chapter 688 At The Magical Lake, The Conversation Of The Diwata And The Spirits

    <strong>Day 150 - 4:10 PM - Clear Lake, Magical Domain, Northwest Mountains, Municipality of Panganiban, Catanduanes</strong>


    "Diwata Iraya! Please calm down!"


    Ordulk, the Tamawo, yelled out in fluster. Beside him was Gennie, who was smiling bitterly.


    Currently, the prominent figures of the group of Spirits and Elementals gathered around the Magical Lake in this domain. It was a small springke with clear water surrounded by beautiful scenery.


    However, while it appeared like nothing but a scenic attraction, it was one of the core ces in this domain.


    "Don''t fret too much, Ordulk." The fuming Diwata Iraya rubbed her temples. "I''m still calm."


    Diwata Iraya, being a Diwata, had no choice but to stay calm. She did cause those lightning and thunder. However, while it was on impulse, she made sure that nothing got harmed. Well, except for that tree that was identally hit. Trees attract lightning as a path for it to reach the ground. It was an unavoidable circumstance.


    If Diwata Iraya was not calm enough, a disaster far graver than those three lightning strikes and thunder could ensue. After all, her age was not just for show.


    Even among all the Diwata''s remaining in the Philippines, she was the highest in the ranking. Unfortunately, beings like her had a lot of rules to follow, disabling her from being able to exert the best of her abilities.


    If she suddenly ran amok and began to hurt mortals, not only Diwata Iraya would be denying her existence, but the protectors of the world, the Eyes, would hunt her down.


    Still, Diwata Iraya had a headache.


    Diwata Iraya looked at the water of theke, showing the scene where Aliya wasughing with satisfaction.


    Back in the days, Aliya was already an oddball in her tribe. She had an odd urge to look for things that seemed to be fun. It was to the extent that she learned to use swords and bows that were only supposed to be learned by men in her time. It was a time where women were only supposed to stay in their houses, do house chores, and be decorations for their husbands.


    And yet, there Aliya was, having the fun of her life.


    Bing the shaman of their tribe at the age of thirteen did not stop Aliya. As she was able to see Spirits, Ghosts, and Demons, she began creating stories that scared even adults of their tribe.


    It was unfortunate that Aliya died of young age.


    At the age of sixteen, as the wife of the strongest warrior of their tribe. Aliya died while giving birth to her first child.


    Of course, it was not a natural death.


    Demons took advantage of her delivery to weaken her to the point of dying.


    At that time, Diwata Iraya was fighting with Demons, not knowing that it was a diversion. It was alreadyte when they knew what was happening.


    Luckily, Aliya''s child was fine, a perfectly human boy.


    At her death, the Demons tried to steal her body and capture her soul. They intended to turn her into one of them.


    Fortunately, Diwata Iraya managed to deal with the situation. At that time, Diwata Iraya might be powerful, but the Demons also had their leader as powerful as her. The battle for the body and soul of a single human had caused great losses on both sides. The spirits won. However, a lot of them received injuries. Diwata Iraya was among the injured.


    The injured magical beings with physical bodies might be fine. Their bodies would heal over time. Those with bodies made of magical energies, however, were different. They needed magical energy to repair their bodies. Unfortunately, magical energy was extremely thin in the mortal world.


    If they had a Pure Spirit Tree that could connect to the Spirit Dimension, things would be different. However, as rare as the tree was, even the renowned Diwata Iraya did not have her own.


    Unfortunately, Diwatas had bodies made of magical energy. Diwata Iraya''s injuries at that time would take decades to heal. But as the deity that maintained the bnce on this ind, it was the worst thing to happen.


    Demons would definitely take advantage of the fact that Diwata Iraya was weakened to erase all traces of their enemies.


    Thus, there was only one answer they came up with. It was to turn Aliya into a spirit. After bing one, she could heal Diwata Iraya in a short time.


    That was what happened. And now, Aliya was living side-by-side with Diwata Iraya.


    And of course, while she behaved most of the time, there were a lot of times that she would be the cause of everyone''s headaches. Very much like what was happening at the moment.


    The problem, now, however, was that Aliya even managed to have an aplice in making fun of Diwata Iraya. Who would not be infuriated by that?


    "Hah..." Diwata Iraya sighed, staring at Mark in the image disyed on the water of theke. "Who would have thought that this rare ability would suddenly appear once more? Moreover, on the hands of a Demon... Aliya did not even hesitate to say everything."


    "But Mark did not seem to be a bad person."


    Gennie spoke.


    "You are saying that because he''s your nephew," Ordulk interjected. "I don''t think that someone like him capable of murdering other humans without blinking is a good person."


    Gennie fell silent since Ordulk did not say that without reason.


    During the time that Mark attacked the Rebel Base, they were all watching. They all saw how Mark ended the lives of the rebel without a shred of conscience. In fact, Gennie found it terrifying and did not know whether she would be able to face her nephew without fear.


    On the other hand, Aliya did not seem to mind it and even went to meet Mark and his group. Back in her time, tribal wars happen from time to time. And from the long time she lived as a Spirit, she had already seen a lot of people dying in different ways. Furthermore, as someone that wasn''t even able to take care of her own child, she was very eager to meet Mark''s group.


    Beings like them had a very strict rule. They could not meddle with human affairs only unless it was the humans first that did so. As such, after Aliya became a Spirit, she was only able to interact with her family until they once. It was when they died and before their souls passed on.


    In the case of Mark''s group, however, it was different. Mark was a Demon. So as his wife and children. And because of that, the rules did not apply to them. Aliya was very eager to spend time with Mark as she was seeing her son on him.


    Gennie watched the image on the water of theke. There was a tint of envy on her face. Aliya was having fun, finally able to find a rtive they could interact with. Yet, here she was, only watching from far away.<sub> </sub>


    "I wish I can join them."


    Gennie could not help but murmur.


    "You know that you can''t go out of this ce yet." Diwata Iraya spoke with a sigh. "It''s only been a few years since you became a Spirit. Your body is still unstable. There is no need to mention that the magical energy outside is too thin, and negative energies can easily affect you."


    "I know," Gennie looked down at the water. "I just can''t help it looking at them."


    To say, Diwata Iraya and the others could understand Gennie and Aliya. They were humans before and, as such, they needed human touch. While bing a Spirit dampened their bodily desires, the desires of the soul and mind were still there. And to say, a human stepping into the path of bing a Spirit was a rather lonely one.


    The orb of light, Bituin, bounced on Gennie''s shoulder, trying to console her.


    "Still, it is surprising how that Mark is too strong." Deriellio, the leader of Yasaws, the ck children, spoke at the side. "Although Bituin confirmed that he was not lying when he said that he''s a pureblood, seeing his abilities in action is frightening."


    Everyone could only agree with the Yasaw''s words. They all watched what happened and saw how Mark faced hundreds of armed humans alone. Of course, they were also amazed about the human leader of the rebels. However, Mark''s abilities overshadowed her.


    "We are lucky that he''s not an enemy."


    Deriello added.


    Their first encounter with Mark was definitely not a good one. They surrounded him and his dragon, thinking that they were enemies. If it really ended up in a battle, it would be catastrophic for their side.


    "You all did not have to worry." Diwata Iraya spoke, staring at Mark at the image in the water. "He might not be a good person, but he is definitely not evil."


    Mark did not harm any innocent people in that battle with the rebels. Although it was quite strange how Mark was able to urately differentiate those people who were forced to be a rebel.


    Diwata Iraya and the others continued to watch the situation. Knowing that they were being watched, however, Mark and Aliya became more yful. The two began saying things that would rile up those who were watching them.


    Surely, Aliya would be scolded when she returned. However, it seemed that it did not matter to her at all as long as she was able to enjoy herself.


    "Hmmm?"


    Suddenly Diwata Iraya frowned.


    Not minding the others watching the image on the water of theke, she waved her hand. The image on the water changed and was focused on somewhere else.


    There, the Spirits were surprised.


    In the image, dark clouds began to envelop the sky. However, these clouds were not gathering, but instead, was rising from a mountain.


    "Those damn Demons are conducting another ritual," Ordulk said, knowing the image that they were seeing. "Did they manage to catch more humans?"


    Ordulk and the others were confused. The humans were now gathered at the southwest of the ind, at the settlement the human government created. Although there were also humans at the north of the ind, the Demons would not be able to go there unnoticed without passing by their territory.


    "Is it the remaining rebels?"


    Gennie said, thinking that there were still some outposts of the rebels remaining around the area.


    With Gennie''s words, Diwata Iraya began waving her hands, switching the image on the water consecutively. The images showed the outposts of the rebels that Mark''s group did not encounter.


    "It''s all empty," Deriellio said, noticing that the outposts had no people at all. "It didn''t look like they got attacked. Did those humans leave?"


    "Those humans must have left." Diwata Iraya said. "Knowing that their base is destroyed, they might havemunicated with each other to gather their remaining members."


    "But where did those humans gather?" Ordulk spoke in turn. "Did they leave our territory? We didn''t notice any Demon activity, after all."


    "Look."


    Diwata Iraya waved her hand and caused a specific ce to appear on the image in the water.


    It was an empty road. The very same road that Mark''s group took as they went south. It was at the border of their territory. As such, the image could not go any further. However, they noticed several vehicles abandoned on the road. Some were even overturned. They were sure that these vehicles were not there when Mark''s group passed by this road.


    "We should have monitored those idiots," Deriellio pped his forehead childishly. "Because we did not care about those humans, we ended up letting them bolster the number of those damned Demons."


    "No one expected this at all," Gennie said with a frown. "I''m sure that the rebels were supposed to know that the area was off-limits. We watched them being briefed by their leaders about that, right?"


    "That''s why I called them idiots," Deriellio said angrily. "Just because their leader is gone, they did not bother about the rules they were given anymore."


    "Let''s just wish that most of those humans failed to be Demons. Or else, we would need to get ready for a bloody battle."


    Ordulk chimed in.


    "Whether they seeded or not, everyone should prepare," Diwata Iraya spoke strictly. "I am convinced that they would begin to move after this."


    "It is because those are thest group of humans they could get their hands into without moving out of their territory."


    Diwata Iraya added.

 Chapter 689 Black Clouds And Red Light, The Demonic Ritual In The Middle Of The Witching Hour

    <strong>Day 151 - 3:00 AM - Ritual Grounds, Demon Territory, Southeast Mountains, Municipality of Bato, Catanduanes</strong>


    The Witching Hour. It was the time between twelve midnight to four in the morning. Also known as the Devil''s Hour, it was the time of the day when Demons, Witches, and Ghosts appeared or were believed to be more powerful.


    In Western Christian Tradition, the Devil''s Hour was between three and four in the morning. It was the exact inversed time of the time of death of Jesus Christ on the cross.


    No matter what tradition, however, they all had a simr description of the Witching Hour.


    During this time, it was believed that Rituals and Sacrifices had a better effect. It also causes heightened activities of malignant ghosts and evil spirits. Poltergeists were also observed to be more active during the Devil''s Hour.


    Paranormal activities such as ghost hunting, Ouija Board sessions, and even dangerous ritual challenges had the best returns. In fact, some of these sessions were required to be done at this time to be effective.


    But why was this happening? After all, it was a world supposed to be ruled by modern science. It was strange for such a magical phenomenon to happen every day.


    What most creatures in the world did not know...


    This phenomenon was caused by the instability in the barrier that separated the mortal world and the Spirit Dimension.


    There were four main dimensions created on Earth.


    First was the Mortal World. It was the only dimension originally created to house the world''s inhabitants in its intended route of evolution. It was one of the tworgest dimensions.


    The second dimension was the Spirit Dimension. It was a replica of Earth to a certain degree. It was where most magical creatures born on Earth were sent after the purge to make the Mortal World dominated by humans.


    The Higher Dimension was the third one. It was where the servants of the ousted Gods that were born on Earth were sent to. As such, it was primarily inhabited by Holy Spirits and Angelic Beings. In many religious beliefs, they also called this dimension Heaven.


    Lastly, the Lower Dimension. It was the dimension that housed the evilest creatures born on Earth, the Devils and Higher Demons. To say, it was the literal Hell of this.


    What had the four dimensions had to do with the Witching Hour? The dimensions themselves were stable, being created as literal worlds for creatures to live in.


    However, the barrier that was separated the dimensions was another thing. It was made of energy and was not a perpetual existence. Thus, to maintain a barrier that separated four literal worlds, arge energy source was needed.


    To maintain this barrier, the four worlds needed to contribute magical energy. It was not a problem except for the Mortal World. A world that could not generate magical energy would not be able to contribute the energy needed to maintain the barrier.


    Thus, a solution came up. Unlike the three dimensions, there was something that only the Mortal World had, being the main dimension. It was the direct light from the sun. Light was a form of energy itself, and the light from the sun also contained positive traits.


    In Chinese cosmology, they called it Yang energy.


    Not only it was able to substitute the energy for the barrier, but it also purified the energy leaking from the barrier.


    But of course, it was not a perfect solution. Only the ces shined by the sun had the strongest state of the Dimensional Barrier. During the night when the sun was not present, the barrier also weakened to some degree.


    The weakened barrier enabled energy from the other three dimensions to seep into the Mortal World. And without the purifying energy from the sun, more of the energy that leaked was negative.


    That negative energy would cause beings with evil tendencies to grow empowered. It also gave more magical energy for rituals to seed.


    Thus, it caused the Witching Hour to happen.


    ***


    In the wide and open space in the middle of the mountains of Bato, Catanduanes, quite a number of people gathered even though it was still this early. The temperature in the mountains during this time was cold but these people did not bother despite some of them wearing clothing that only covered their private parts. Well, the unconscious ones could notin of the cold even if they felt it.


    Most of these people were not humans. They were Demons. A lot of them had features like fangs, ws, and even fur-covered bodies. Although many of them looked-like humans, they had a cold and suppressing aura around them.


    The only humans around were about a hundred and fifty unconcious people. All of them were lined up together, lying on the ground in the middle of the open space.


    As for the Demons, they were all gathered at the edge of the space, encircling the unconscious humans.


    Looking from above, one would be able to see what was happening.


    Arge sinister drawing was painted on the ground. With the red color that the outlines had, it was clear that it was painted using fresh blood. What kind of blood it was... There was no need to ask. With the nature of these Demons, the blood used was likely from a recently killed human.


    The drawing as a Ritual Circle. A magic circle specifically used for sinister rituals, especially ones involving bloody sacrifices.


    Dark clouds covered the sky, showing the preparations that the Demons made. These clouds appeared before sunset and continued to persist until now. Unfortunately, because of its distance to human settlements and the tall mountains that surrounded it, no mortal was able to witness this bad omen.


    And now that the peak of the Devil''s Hour came, it was time for the ritual to start.


    ''Ugh!''


    In the middle of the Ritual Circle, a young man named Harris woke up with an ufortable groan.


    Harris was feeling cold. It was like he was freezing to death.


    Suddenly, his eyes jolted open. Memories flooded his mind.


    Harris was one of the men forced to be a rebel. The bastards had his girlfriend so he had no choice if he wanted to keep her safe. But yesterday, for some reason, their superiors had been edgy. Soon, he and those with the same circumstances as him came to know that the main base was attacked and was destroyed.


    What about their loved ones, then? They were told that they were evacuated south. Of course, Harries and his friends did not know whether it was true or not. Afraid that their loved ones would be implicated, they just followed.


    Yesterday, they left their outpost with themand of their outpost leader. It did not take long and the group from their outpost joined with the others.


    Apparently, everyone was going south, though Harris heard that they would pass by an outpost they lost contact with.


    As it appeared, the outpost they went to was already abandoned. Their leaders said that the people in this outpost must have joined the evacuation already.


    Harris felt that it was odd, considering the marks of bullets that were scattered everywhere.


    Continuing south, they were attacked.<sub> </sub>


    Was it the military? At that time, Harries felt that it was bad if the military ambushed them. Many people among them were just forced to obey the rebels, after all.


    But when Harris saw what they were going against, he could not help but wish that it was the military instead.


    It was because instead of humans, it was monsters that stood within their way.


    The battle did not evenst long. It was a one-sided fight with the rebels on the losing side.


    It was a nightmare.


    "My Lord. It appears that one of them managed to resist the hypnosis."


    Suddenly, voices registered in the ears of Harris. He could not help but try to stand up and face the source of the voice.


    That was when Harris realized. He could not move anything aside from his head. He could not feel anything binding him one the ground. Yet, he could not move even a muscle of his finger. It was like sleep paralysis, but several times much worse.


    In a panic, Harris turned his head around. He then saw his friends and the rebels lying around him. All of them seemed to be asleep. They were all naked to their underwear. That was when he noticed that he was the same. No wonder it felt too cold.


    Harris tried calling out, opening his mouth, shouting as loud as he could.


    But no voice came out.


    That was when another voice entered his ears. It was deep and for some reason, made his heart tremble.


    "It does not matter. We will continue with the ritual."


    ''Ritual? What ritual? Is this some kind of f*cking joke?!''


    Harris cried out in his mind.


    "Though I''m looking forward to what that man will turn out."


    The deep voice was heard once more.


    And then, the deep voice started speaking.


    Harris could not understand what the man was saying. It felt as if it was anguage not of this world.


    Suddenly, Harris'' eyes were filled with a surge of red light. He turned his head around in panic. He realized that the light wasing from the ground.


    And that was where the horror started.


    Harris'' eyes turned wide as he saw his friend beside him convulsing. It was like those horror movies where the actress was being possessed. He noticed that it was not only his friend but everyone lying around him. The intensity was varied, but all of them were definitely undergoing some crazy event.


    ''Urk!''


    Suddenly, Harris'' body was filled with pain. It was as if his body was being torn from inside. Soon, even though he could not move his body voluntarily, he was already convulsing violently like the others.


    Harris bit his lip. Tears on his eyes, he tried to bear with the pain. However, his perseverance did not take long after the pain intensified to the point that he wished to die.


    With his mouth wide open and his saliva pouring out, the mind of Harris gave way because of the pain.


    His body continued to convulse, his head fell to the side. His pupils dted.


    The body of his friend beside Harris started to tear open. His skin was cracking, showing muscles being torn apart. His body already had a distorted shape, as if he was an inted balloon.


    BURST!


    Suddenly the body of his friend burst open. Blood sttered on his face, but he could not care at all. With wide eyes, he looked at the monster in front of his eyes.


    ''Will I also end up like him?''


    That was thest thought Harris had. His mind suddenly went nk in a literal sense.


    His body started to heat up, dispersing all the coldness he felt before. The convulsing of his body stopped. Instead, it started pulsing.


    Harris could hear the sounds of amazement around. Unfortunately, all his consciousness and memories were already gone.


    The temperature of his body continued to rise. Soon, the mysterious force binding Harris was gone, and he stood up.


    Well, Harris was already gone. Instead, what stood there was a new being...


    "This is unexpected. We managed to get a me Demon."


    The man with a deep voice was heard once more. It was clear in his tone that he was in glee.


    "Unfortunately, only fifty became Demons, my Lord." A calm voice was heard. "The rest only became Ferals."


    "It doesn''t matter." The Lord replied. "Throw away the Ferals outside like the others."


    The Lord then faced the audience, and the new Demons staring nkly at him.


    "Our sacred ritual tonight ended with an unexpected addition to our ranks. Today, we will prepare. We already gained enough power to conquer. Tomorrow, we will move north. We will ughter those Spirits and take revenge for our brethren they killed in the past! This is mymand!"


    "Yes, my Lord."


    All the Demons kneeled towards their Lord.

 Chapter 690 Asking For Help, Marks Early Morning Visitors

    <strong>Day 151 - 4:06 AM - Faculty Building, Panganiban Central Elementary School, Bagong Bayan, Municipality of Panganiban, Catanduanes</strong>


    A cold early morning, though unlike in the mountains where it was cooler in the night, the vicinity of the school was warmer. It was because not that far northeast of the school was the estuary where the Oco River and the Philippine Sea intersects.


    Being inside the territory monitored by some allies made Mark feel at ease. For several days, it was the first time Mark managed to get to some good sleep. Although he was not sure that Diwata Iraya and her people would make an effort to look after their group, his Grandmother, Aliya, would. That was why he did not hesitate to take a breather for this night. Even someone like him would feel tired after a few days without proper sleep.


    Still, Mark''s body clock woke him up too early.


    It was not a bad thing, however. In the apocalypse, the earlier one woke up, the more they could do for the day. It was not an era where one could just daddle around even if they were powerful.


    Well, unless one had people working under him.


    Mark was one of those who had people he could push around. In the least, he was not doing so. It was not like he could not do it, but he had more trust in doing things on his own than leaving it to others.


    Looking around after opening his eyes, Mark smiled.


    Mei was hugging him on his left side, using his arm as her pillow even though she had one that was already tossed aside. The girls were also with them with I beside Mei and Miracle and Abbygale to his right.


    On top of their bags, Amihan had her own bed. It was just some folded nkets, but it was more than soft enough to make herfortable. Like usual, Amihan was deep in her dreand despite the fact that Pefile said that Elementals like them did not need too much sleep.


    All of them were still deeply asleep. It looked like even the girls let down their guards, knowing that this was a safe ce to sleep.


    Since he was already fully awake, Mark decided to leave the girls in their dreand. At least now, Mark would not go anywhere far, and Mei would not wake up abruptly. He was just going out of the building to take a stretch and prepare things to wash up.


    On the way out of the building, Mark paid attention to the others.


    Edzel and Pearl also seemed to be asleep in their partition of the room.


    The two young soldiers, Padua and Geronimo, took a small room near the door to rest. The two also volunteered to be the lookout for the night, with the two taking turns. It was even though Mark already said that it was unnecessary.


    As for Berrak, Mark could feel him on top of the building. Yes, on the roof. Apparently, he slept together with his pet Thunderbird. Since he knew that magical fluctuations attract the infected, he began to summon and return his pets lesser and lesser. Since the Thunderbird, Trua, was his primary transport, he decided to just keep it out all the time.


    Stepping out of the building, Mark saw Pefile. He was lying down on a thick branch of therge tree in front of the building. It looked like it was where this Tamawo slept. Sensing that someone went out of the building, Pefile nced at the door. He then retracted his gaze, seeing that it was Mark.


    Mark did not bother greeting Pefile. He was not used to morning greetings anyway, and Pefile himself did not need it. Instead, he found a good ce to do some stretching.


    Afterward, Mark took out a few water containers from his ring, preparing the water they needed to wash their bodies. Some people might say that this was a waste if they heard about it. After all, what Mark took out were containers of drinkable water. Furthermore, there was a river not far from the school. Most people would think of going there instead.


    However, thinking rationally, using the water from the river should only be used as ast resort. That was what Mark thought. After all, before the outbreak, the river water downstream was already not too safe to use because of contamination. What was more in the apocalypse? It was not even surprising to see a dead body of a human floating down the river at these times.


    If one wanted to use river water, find the source or, at least, be sure to get water upstream.


    Mark then washed first, wetting a small towel to scrub his body. It was cold but regting his blood for a bit, he could not feel the cold anymore.


    It did not take long, and the surroundings began to brighten. The morning sunlight finally appeared on the horizon as the sun began to rise. Unfortunately, the sunrise could not be seen in their current location.


    But then, Mark noticed something.


    The sky began to brighten in every direction...


    Well, except in the southernmost direction.


    It was as if there was a storm brewing in that direction. This situation was strange since there was no irregr change in the temperature and humidity in the air to signal an iing storm.


    However, instead of storm clouds, Mark felt that it was different. The scene made him remember the polluted sky in Man. Unfortunately, it was too far for Mark to be able to take a good look. In any case, he decided to pay attention to the situation. If possible, he would go check it out after everyone woke up.


    "So much for a rest day..."


    Mark grumbled. He wanted to rest for today. And now, something strange popped up.


    However, as Mark thought that, he felt some energy fluctuations in front of him. Sensing such fluctuation several times already, Mark was already familiar with it. It was the energy fluctuations whenever the ck Children, the Yasaw, used their abilities to travel.


    At first, Mark thought that his Grandmother came early to spend time with them. But then, when the people appeared, Mark frowned.


    Aliya was here, but so were Diwata Iraya and the leader of the Yasaws, Deriellio. It was strange for the two to appear here. Furthermore, they seemed to be in a bad mood.


    "What happened?"


    Mark asked as the three approached him.


    "The Demons in Bato showed signs of preparing to invade."


    Diwata Iraya answered straight to the point.


    Mark frowned hearing that. He nned to eliminate those Demons soon enough but it seemed that they had some unexpected movements.


    "Just how in the world did that happen?" Mark asked and pointed at the darkened sky at the south. "Does it have to do with that?"


    "Unfortunately, it is."


    Diwata Iraya answered.


    The Diwata and the Leader of Yasaws then began to exin what happened yesterday. About the remnants of the rebels that disappeared from their outposts and the wreckage left at the road leading south.


    "Tsk." Mark clicked his tongue. "Those rebels are basically destroyed already but they still caused trouble."


    It was totally unexpected for the rebels to do such a dumb move. It was not a secret that mysterious disappearances were happening in Bato and those idiots actually went there.


    "So, they are going to move north, which is here, right?"


    Mark inquired.


    "That is right. After all, this ce is directly north of the Demon''s territory."


    Deriellio answered. It seemed that even this childish-looking man deemed this important that his childish voice was strained.


    "The Demons would not dare make a move against humans right now." Diwata Iraya added. "Even though they managed to increase their numbers, the humans still far outnumbered them. As such, the only thing they could do right now was to move North."<sub> </sub>


    "Then, you guys are preparing to intercept them?"


    Mark asked further.


    "Yes." Diwata nodded with a grave look. "However, some problems cropped up."


    "And that is?"


    Mark raised his eyebrow.


    "Not all of our forces wanted to participate in this battle." Diwata Iraya replied with a grieved look. "The likely to be the primary goal of the Demons was to increase their numbers. Thus, their targets were the humans up north. Knowing that intercepting the Demons was equal to protecting those humans, many of our people lost the urge to fight the Demons."


    Hearing that, Mark understood the situation. And all of it was the fault of humans, in particr, religion.


    From Amihan''s story before, their kind was hunted by Spanish Missionaries in the past. It was very likely that it also happened here. With the experience that the Elementals and Spirits had with those humans, it was not surprising that many of them did not want to help.


    However...


    "How stupid," Mark remarked without holding back. "They did not want to participate in the battle because it would be protecting humans. Don''t they understand that after the humans were done in, they would be the next ones to follow?"


    Hearing that, Diwata Iraya and Deriellio fell silent. They understood the situation well and even if many of their people did not want to help, these two would still be present in the frontlines. That was how the hatred towards humans was also deep-seated among magical races.


    "Can''t you two force those that did not want to help in the battle?" Mark asked. "You two are leaders of the group, right?"


    And to that question, Diwata Iraya shook her head.


    "Us Diwatas were born to represent freedom and justice. Forcing people is more or less denying our existence." Diwata Iraya replied solemnly. "The only thing we could do was try to convince them. We can''t force anyone except for the judged."


    The judged. It was those thatmitted crimes under the jurisdiction of the Diwatas.


    "Then, you two are here to ask my group to help, isn''t it?"


    Mark understood the situation. His frank question made Diwata Iraya and Deriellio quite awkward. Even Aliya that was being silent since they arrived smiled bitterly. By the looks of it, if Mark declined the two, Aliya would step forward to try and convince him. It was quite a sly trick for the two who imed to be righteous.


    However, instead of telling them his answer, Mark asked another question.


    "Then what will those idiots do?"


    "Who?"


    Deriellio asked back.


    "Those that did not want to fight. Who else?"


    Mark sighed in annoyance.


    "They will be waiting inside my domain until the battle passed by."


    Diwata Iraya answered Mark''s question.


    "So, they won''te out and just hug their knees waiting, is it?"


    Mark mocked.


    The two leaders sighed. Luckily, Ordulk was no here or that guy would end up getting riled up by Mark''s words. After all, that guy was actually one of those that did not want to stand in front to protect humans.


    Mark then turned to the two with a serious look.


    "How many individuals will fight with you two?"


    "About three hundred."


    Diwata Iraya replied.


    "Isn''t that too little?"


    Mark was at a loss for words.


    "The majority of people in my domain are Yasaws. By stature and magical abilities, they werecking for battle and only a few dared to."


    Diwata Iraya exined with Deriellio nodding in agreement.


    "How about the enemies?" Mark asked again. However, the two fell silent as they could not give a concrete number.


    "Any estimate?"


    Mark changed the question.


    "About a thousand or two."


    Mark stared at Diwata Iraya incredulously. It looked like they were going to fight a losing battle. The Diwata might be powerful. But if she was asking Mark for help, it meant that the enemies might have someone as powerful as her to tie her down.


    "Alright, I''ll help," Mark said with a sigh. "But with some conditions."


    "What conditions?"


    Diwata Iraya asked warily.


    "Don''t worry, it''s not anything bad," Mark replied. "I''ll tell you guys while preparing."


    Diwata Iraya and Deriellio frowned. However, as the people asking for help, they could not say a word at all.


    "By the way," Mark turned back at the two. "Since you two said that the Demons were still preparing, when do you think are they going to attack?"


    "We don''t really know. It could be tomorrow or the next day." Diwata Iraya shook her head. "However, there is one thing for sure. They will start moving at midnight when they were the most powerful."

 Chapter 691 The Darkened Skies, Arrival Of Unexpected People And The Movement Of The Demons

    <strong>Day 151 - 5:21 PM - Catanduanes Military Settlement, Barangay Codon, Municipality of San Andres, Catanduanes</strong>


    After the arrival of the refugees and the difference in treatment the Military gave them, things were quite restless for the soldiers. Because of this, there was only one way to make the noisiest people quiet. It was to reveal that the treatment of these people was vouched by someone.


    Sure enough, it made the people quieter about the situation. People being vouched was not a new thing in this settlement. As long as there was someone with high stature paying for better treatment of people, anyone could have the privilege.


    Of course, having someone in position back you up was not an easy matter. Connections and luck were also required in which both were hard to acquire.


    If one was a Mutator and was recruited by the Military or the Politicians, they could get better treatment. Well, it was not easy to be a Mutator, anyway.


    The people relying on the rations of the Military and were still living in their shabby tents could only feel jealous of the neers. It made them wonder who was the mysterious person that vouched for all these people.


    Unfortunately, while the problem about the refugees just started to die down, another problem cropped up. Well, not just one but two.


    First was the dark clouds in the southeast of the ind. The situation could not be seen in the settlement. However, they knew of it since the ominous scene was witnessed by the soldiers in the outpost in Santo Domingo. As such, the reports immediately reached the ears of General Padi.


    The second problem...


    Seven aircraft of unidentified originnded on the west beach of Codon. The aircraft thatnded all seemed to be American models of modern helicopters. However, there were distinct differences in appearance which made the situation too dubious. Furthermore, it was unlikely for their government to have such kinds of military vehicles.


    At this moment, General Padi stood at the entrance of the forest facing the west beach. Around him were his soldiers, ready to attack if needed. Because of a lot of things happening on the ind, their response was quicker this time. The soldiers managed to make a secure perimeter before the suspicious aircraft arrived.


    "Got visuals, Andrew?"


    General Padi asked Andrew using his radio. Andrew, who had the best eyesight here was not positioned in a hidden area with his sniper rifle.


    "Not yet, General," Andrew replied. "No one is alighting the vehicles yet. The windows on the vehicles were also strangely tinted. "


    "Tch." General Padi clicked his tongue. "Why are we getting all these troubles at the same time."


    Then, the soldiers stiffened. Finally, the door of one aircraft opened. It was the centermost aircraft and the one that looked like a V-22 Osprey from America. However, instead of three tiltrotors, in had four instead. It looked like an Osprey turned into a giant drone.


    The person that came out seemed to be a woman past her fifties. She wore a traditional dress, even though it was something not fit to wear in the apocalypse. Her hair was tied up into arge bun, and a rich air emanated from her.


    "Hold fire!"


    General Padi immediately called out. There was no way that he would suddenly order his soldier to attack. After all, he recognized that woman.


    "What the hell are they doing here?"


    General Padi said with a frown as he signaled his entourage and a few soldiers to follow him forward.


    The woman waited for more people toe out of the aircraft and did the same as the General.


    Soon, the two groups met in the middle of two camps.


    "Good Afternoon General Padi."


    The woman greeted, offering the general a handshake.


    General Padi met the woman''s eye straight and epted the handshake.


    "It is a surprise to see you here, Mrs. Marcos."


    Melda Marcos. She was one of the former presidential firstdies in Philippine history. Furthermore, she was one of the most controversial women in politics. Well, not only her but her whole family.


    Behind her were her family members, including the two senators, Erdin and Maria Josefa.


    The Marcoses, being one of the richest families in the Phillippines, there were tons of controversies around them. And now, they suddenly appeared aboard suspicious aircraft, and with their own armed soldiers, it was far too strange.


    Before the satellitemunication got cut off, every military General in-charge of leading settlements was informed about many things. One of those was the locations of settlements and the important people residing in them.


    However, in the middle of the situation when all politicians were evacuating and was recorded in various settlements, this family vanished. Although some of their rtives were left in some settlements, the members of the main family were not in records.


    Then, for them to suddenly appear here... General Padi felt it was suspicious.


    "It is also a surprise for us to reach this ce safely," Melda replied to the General. "The ce we evacuated to got overrun by monsters. I hope we are weed in this ce."


    "Don''t worry Madam." General smiled. Of course, it was a facade. "Anyone is wee in our settlement."


    "Of course, except for people that wanted to cause trouble."


    The General subtly added. He said it in a joking manner but he was subtly warning all the people that could hear him.


    The Madam''s face remained the same, smiling. However, although unnoticeable, the people behind her felt sour, ring at the impertinent General.


    General Padi then took out his radio.


    "Prepare vehicles. We are bringing our guests to the settlement."


    No one questioned the General, and vehicles were prepared soon. However, the soldiers were all unnerved about the situation. It was too fishy that even a regr soldier could notice.


    The guests were brought to the settlement. However, they left a group of armed men to guard their aircraft that was left at the beach. Because of their sudden arrival, anding area near the settlement was not prepared for that number of aircraft. Even the military only had a few helicopters that would soon be unusable because of the fuel turning bad. None of them would expect for any aircraft toe now.


    While the guests left their private soldiers to guard the group of aircraft, the General also assigned people to secretly monitor the beach for strange activities.


    Along the way, General Padi and Madam Marcos chatted. Unexpectedly, the first topic they had was the phenomenon at the southeast of the ind. It seemed that the darkness enveloping that area could be clearly seen in the sky.


    Unfortunately, General Padi had nothing to reply about the topic yet. Instead, he diverted the subject to the ce where the Madam and her group came from.<sub> </sub>


    At the General''s side, Vanessa was listening quietly. It was until her eyes fell onto one of the people that came with the Marcoses. The other person was also staring at her. Once their eyes came in contact, they both subtly nodded at each other.


    ***


    <strong>Day 151 - 8:22 PM - Gigmoto Mountains, Barangay Biong, Municipality of Gigmoto, Catanduanes</strong>


    The Municipality of Gigmoto. It was a municipality north of Bato after the Municipality of Baras. It was a municipality with only six Barangays and small towns as the majority of the terrain was upied by mountains and wide forests.


    On the ind of Catanduanes during the apocalypse, it was the least visited ce even for the rebels. After all, there was nothing much to do here aside from facing danger. The Catanduanes Circumferential Road also did not pass by its territory. Instead, it had one road at the east coast, the Baras-Gigmoto-Viga Road, that could not be used at all since it would also pass through the dangerous area of Bato at its southern route.


    Because no people came to this area, it was popted with ferocious evolved animals and nts instead. It was a peaceful ce governed by nature.


    Now, however, the peace was broken.


    The animals,nd or air creatures, fled the mountains and forests of Gigmoto. It was a scene that could only be seen before a natural disaster struck a ce.


    It was an odd thing to see the ferocious animals asrge as cars run away in fear.


    The only ones left in the area were feral animals that had no sense of danger. They were the kinds of creatures that would attack others on sight and without any fear.


    However, those feral animals did notst at all. They were ughtered like rabbits in front of the actual danger.


    SPLAT! THUD!


    An evolved feral dog about the size of a macho bike was torn in half and thrown away.


    The culprit was a humanoid creature running in all fours with its elongated arms and legs. It looked like a flesh beast with tightly packed muscles about the size of a minivan.


    "What the hell is this creature... I haven''t seen something like that before. Wait, I guess I did. It''s that low-rating movie, isn''t it? The one with great visuals but poorly written plot and in-movie advertisements."


    Mark murmured.


    Flying up high in the sky, Mark was observing the mountains and forests in question.


    After tearing the feral dog apart, the monster continued to run north with its pack. Mark also noticed that there were people riding on the back of the disgusting monster.


    "In any case, those monsters surely are pets of the Demons."


    Mark said with a frown.


    The Demons moved earlier than Diwata Iraya predicted. While not organized, groups of Demons already left Bato when the moon began shining.


    Faster Demons left the slower ones behind. All of them did not march altogether as a human army would.


    Nheless, Mark could understand why. There was barely any danger for them to meet in these mountains. The territory of Diwata Iraya was still far up north and bordered around the Municipality of Viga. Because of this, it was very likely that they allowed the faster and stronger Demons to lead the way before they all meet up near the border.


    Mark smiled.


    Many Demon Races were born and lived through fighting and bloodshed. Nheless, most Demons in the mortal world avoided humans. It was either because the Demons saw humans nothing as prey or because they were simply afraid of human weapons. If they tried to live in ces filled with humans, once their identity waspromised, their lives were forfeit.


    And also because of that...


    Most Demons in the human worldcked proper military education.


    In a march towards war, clearing the way and making sure it was safe was the work of scouts and a small group of elites. Not half of the army that the Demons were currently doing.


    An Army needed to stick and march together to maintain order and avoid massive losses once something went wrong.


    Unfortunately, in a certain way, Demons in Rural areas like this could be considered uneducated barbarians.


    Well, it was the same for the Spirits and Elementals since they behaved the same way.


    The only way they knew to fight a war was a frontal fight. Of course, there were also schemes and ambushes. However, their strategies were severelycking.


    It was one of the reasons that even if they had magic and physical prowess, magical races still lost against humans.


    Well, Mark was now in glee.


    The Demons moved earlier than expected. However, it did not mean that Mark''s camp could not do the same.


    Mark moved around, observing the positions, speed, and even strength of the Demons for a few more minutes.


    As silently he flew in the sky, Mark silently took out his radio.


    "Go."


    It was just a single word with two letters.


    However, it was the start of a nightmare for the Demons.


    The scattered Demons was perfect of Mark''s machinations. Of course, he would not just go and kill them. The blood and magical fluctuations might rm the enemies.


    Well, it just meant that it was not Mark that would do the first moves.


    Instead, it was the Yasaws.

 Chapter 692 The Yasaws Ambush, Dragging The Demons From A Mountain To Another

    <strong>Day 151 - 8:30 PM - Gigmoto Mountains, Barangay Biong, Municipality of Gigmoto, Catanduanes</strong>


    The Demons continued to move through the mountains in droves. The more Mark observed, the more he understood what was going on with the Demons.


    They were not only unorganized. What caused these utterly scattered groups of Demons was the more powerful ones wanting to be the first to the frontlines. It was not surprising for races that loved the scene of bloodshed.


    Nheless, the more they scattered around the mountain, the more things went in Mark''s favor.


    Since Mark already sent the go signal, the creatures he took under hismand began to make their moves.


    It was one of the conditions Mark told Diwata Iraya after agreeing to help. He took some of the Diwata''s people to take under hismand. Mainly, the Yasaws, which were deemed to be harmless and useless in battle.


    Yasaws were not elementals and not exactly a Spirit Race. They were creatures of the night and were known to be among the minions of Aswangs. However, they were not exactly Demons either. They were unlike the other Demon Races that could kill enemies, especially humans, without remorse. The Yasaws were the opposite. The worst that they could do was y harmless pranks on people. They were never known to harm humans unlike other minions of the Aswang.


    That was why when a portion of the Yasaws in the ind decided to join Diwata Iraya''s side several decades ago, the Diwata did not hesitate to ept them. Being epted into the Diwata''s sanctuary, they did not let her down and they soon managed to get a concrete position among the Spirits and Elementals.


    Their origins were unknown and no one knew about the past of Yasaws. Nheless, they were prominent creatures in Bo Folklore.


    It was not a secret that the Demons also had Yasaws in their camp. But, of course, they were treated as the lowest of the low. They were never included in battles and served asckeys and servants for the more powerful Demons.


    Unfortunately for these Demons, the Yasaws they belittled would be the tide turners here.


    Mark closed his eyes, putting his entire concentration on the terrain below. Soon, arge portion of the mountain was already monitored by him.


    "HU-ACK?!"


    Suddenly, a muffled cry echoed from a Demon. However, not only that the Demon''s cry was not heard by others, his presence vanished afterward.


    Mark smiled. The ambush was starting.


    The Yasaws were not really built to fight. They might have ws on their fingers but their childish bodies brought them a great disadvantage in almost every aspect. The only thing that they had over others was their ability to travel fast.


    Actually, saying that it was some kind of fast travel was an understatement. It was not wrong to say that they were capable of distorting space, allowing themselves and some people with them to move in fast paces despite appearing to be traveling at normal speeds.


    Today, instead of resting, Mark experimented instead. He took some Yasaws as volunteers to test this unique ability of theirs.


    Unexpectedly, this [Fast Travel] ability had some limitations. One, they could only travel in a straight line while using it. The only way they could turn was to stop the ability and use it again after facing the right direction. Next, they could only allow people to be included in this ability if they were moving in the same direction as Yasaws were.


    Mark remembered when he first met Diwata Iraya and her people. Surely, they only moved straight, and Mark and Char followed behind the Diwata Iraya and the Yasaws at that time.


    It also made Mark remember his mother''s story about encountering the Yasaws while going home from the church. ording to what his mother said, she was walking along with the ck Children while they were talking. It meant that she was likely to be moving in the same direction as the Yasaws and got caught in their ability.


    With that as a clue, Mark found out something unexpected. He remembered that his unconcious brother was brought with them at that time. He was included in the ability while being carried along. Normally, one would just pass that by as a normal mechanic. But then, thinking about it, Mark''s brother was being carried in the same direction as the Yasaws using their ability.


    There, Mark tried something.


    Mark tried to jump backward and told the volunteer Yasaws to activate their ability in the same direction that he was moving.


    As a result, Mark got dragged in and was moved along with the Yasaws.


    Mark''snding at that time was unsightly as he lost bnce due to sudden movement. However, Mark could only smile as it was the key to utilizing the Yasaws in battle.


    And now, the same tactic was being used by the Yasaws as Mark taught them.


    On the opposite mountain of the one being traveled by Demons, the groups of Elementals and Spiritsid in ambush.


    They formed groups with Mark''s instructions.


    The main formation was two to three Yasaws and a Sylph in each group, along with any Elemental or Spirit that had enough strength to push or stagger an enemy.


    Mark turned towards the opposite mountain. Another ambush group found their target.


    As they rehearsed, the whole group moved towards the target using the Yasaw''s [Fast Travel]. However, the intention was not to block the target''s path. Instead, they appeared to the east side of the target.


    When everyone appeared, the first thing the group did was turn around, all of them. It made them all face the very same mountain where they came from, the mountain west of Gigmoto.


    Then, the Slyph activated her magic, stopping any sound from leaking out.


    The target Demon noticed the people appearing beside him and yelled in surprise. However, the Sylph already blocked the sound, and no one else was able to hear the Demon.


    Before the Demon could fully react to the situation, the Spirit Race, this time, a Kabn, which was a centaur-like creature, charged and tackled the Demon.


    Unable to react, the Demon was flung away. The moment that happened, the Yasaws activated their ability.<sub> </sub>


    The next thing that the Demon knew, as he lost bnce. He was already on a different mountain. His eyes turned wide as he saw the enemies surrounding him. Before he could react, spears pierced his body, sttering ck blood to the ground.


    Without understanding anything that happened, the Demon died miserably. However, its body did not turn to dust. As it seemed, it was one of the humans that was turned into a Demon using the ritual. Their bodies would be left intact until the sun rose in the morning and turn it to dust.


    Mark looked at the situation with satisfaction.


    There were several dozen groups moving in unison on that mountain. They were dragging the stray Demons one by one, killing them without letting the enemies know.


    Mark could tell that the Yasaws were still nervous. It was the first time that they would join a battle like this at all. However, as they seeded more and more, dragging enemies away from their groups, the confidence of these child-like creatures rose.


    "Whoops."


    Mark murmured as he turned into a surge of ck mist and charged into the forest.


    One of the groups messed up and failed to notice that their target had anotherpanion nearby. Even if they seeded in dragging their target away, they would be seen by the other Demon.


    And there, it was Mark''s duty to avoid that situation.


    Sure enough, the group was seen dragging their target away. The group also noticed the other Demon. However, it was alreadyte, and they could only run away.


    But then, before the Demon could shout anything, Mark appeared in front of him, grabbed his neck, and the two of them turned into a surge of ck mist that flew away.


    No one else among the Demons noticed anything.


    Mark managed to catch up with the group that messed up. Their target was already killed by the warriors on stand-by. Still, the group was nervous because of what happened. They did not want to be the cause for the enemies to know what was going on.


    As he arrived, Mark threw the suffocated Demon on the ground. It made the group relieved as they recognized the Demon that Mark caught.


    The warriors around immediately killed the Demon, making sure that it would not get up anymore.


    "Be careful not to mess up again."


    Mark said as he flew off, going back to monitoring the surroundings.


    Aside from some mistakes like that, the n was going smoothly. Going back and forth, the forces of Spirits and Elementals already managed to kill more than two hundred scattered Demons without others noticing.


    It was an amazing feat, considering that they did not even lose a single person.


    What attributed to this was the Yasaws'' ability. Furthermore, since they were weak creatures, it was easier for them to discern the more powerful Demons and avoided them. Surely, what they dispatched were just regr, low-strength Demons. Nheless, every single enemy they killed would lessen the number of enemies at the main battle.


    One and a half hours passed. The kill count of the ambush reached half of a thousand.


    There were dozens of close calls, but Mark managed to do his best to remedy the situation.


    In one instance, Mark had to kill three Demons on the spot. It was one of the things he wanted to avoid since the smell of Demon blood might alert the others because it had quite a different stench on it. Fortunately, Mark managed to do ast-minute move. He stored the dead bodies of the Demons inside his ring and threw several dead evolved animals in the scene. These carcasses were just lying around everywhere in the mountain because of the Demons and were easy to find.


    Because of that, the next Demons that passed by the area noticed the smell of the blood of their brethren. However, since they saw dead animals at the scene, they thought that the owner of the blood got injured because of the beasts but still managed to kill the enemies before continuing on.


    The trickiest one was when one group tried to drag away their target, a female Demon. Unexpectedly, the target turned out to be a Manananggal. The group managed to tackle their target, but as they moved to drag the enemy away, the torso of the woman detached in a panic.


    Normally, Manananggals needed to undergo some chants and rituals before their upper and lower bodies detached from each other. By what it seemed, this Mananaggal was quite a veteran to be able to detach her body instantly.


    Because of the sudden separation of the Manananggal''s body, what the group dragged away was only the target''s lower body while the upper body was left in confusion.


    Mark had to rush to the Manananggal as it almost flew away to alert all the Demons. It was quite tricky since a Manananggal could not be killed easily once they transformed. It was not wrong to say that they were semi-immortal beings. The only thing that could kill them in this form was magical attacks or the light of the sun.


    However, they could not do either in the current situation. Using a magical attack that was needed to kill a Manananggal would cause quite a huge fluctuation. It would alert the higher-ranked Demons.


    The only thing that they could do was to capture the Mananaggal and kill itter. Fortunately, Mark''s [Blood Metal] could do the trick.


    After killing half a thousand low-ranked Demons, Mark signaled the retreat.


    Mark noticed from the sky that arge group of the Demons wasing. Many of them had powerful fluctuations from their bodies. There was even a guy fully d in mes. It made Mark question if it was alright for a guy like that to walk across the forest.


    Unlike the first groups, this group was far more organized. It was likely to be the leader''s main troops.


    There was no way that the same trick would be sessful against these guys.


    In any case, the ambush was already a sess.


    Mark could not wait to see the reactions from these Demons after knowing that they were missing arge fraction of their army.

 Chapter 693 Incredulous Situation, The Arrival Of The Group Of Lord Seis

    <strong>Day 151 - 10:11 PM - Mountain Area, Barangay Sioron, Municipality of Gigmoto, Catanduanes</strong>


    After the scattered group of Demons ran across the mountains, a fairly organized group passed by afterward. It was a group of about two hundred individuals, each emanating auras far different from the first groups.


    A whole lot of them appeared to have a human appearance. It was the trait that only those that were born human but inherited the Demonic abilities of their ancestors had. It was unlike the failed Feral Demons and even lesser Demons.


    These descendants were reborn as Demons through inheritance. They were not forced to be Demons using a ritual. It was also the very reason why they had higher intelligencepared to lesser Demons, that were close to beasts in behavior.


    At the center of the group was the leader of the Demons on this ind, Lord Seis. He was riding on a ck stallion with red glowing eyes. It was obvious that this horse was not ordinary but a transformed Aswang. It was unexpected, however, as these Demons were never seen to take a form like this.


    In rural legends, literature, and folklore, Aswangs were only seen to take forms of boars, dogs, and carabaos. All of which were extraordinarilyrge with ck skin and red glowing eyes. That was why it was unusual that an Aswang that took the form of a horse.


    Nheless, while it seemed that it was strange that an Aswang would allow anyone to ride it, it was likely to be an honor for them to be the mount of their leader.


    Walking beside the horse, there was the Mist Demon, Muggur.


    The two were surrounded by a variety of creatures. The one that stuck out the most was an old woman with a beggar-like appearance. Furthermore, she was one of the few that was riding on a mount. While the others were riding on different kinds of animals, however, she was the only one riding on a giant insect. Her mount was a gigantic grub about the height of a motorcycle and as long as two motorcycles connected front and back.


    In every way, she looked strange among the group. Furthermore, while the others were riding on transformed Aswangs, she was the only one riding on an evolved insect.


    Yes, therva of a beetle she was riding was not a Demon. It was a tamed insect.


    That insect, however, proved what this old woman was. She was not a Demon, either, but someone deeply associated with their kind. Furthermore, from all the known creatures associated with Demons, there was only one prominent figure capable of taming bugs.


    A Mambabarang, that was what this woman was.


    Nheless, it was strange that she was appearing here.


    Mambabarangs were known for their sinister curses that could bring forth disgusting effects on their victims. Because their curses needed to be done with preparations and a ritual, it was unexpected that she would appear in the frontlines where there was no chance of doing it.


    And yet, she was here.


    The group of Demons traveled across the mountains at their own pace. They all look forward to the anticipated war with the Spirit and Elemental Races that inhabit this very same ind.


    Along the way, they passed by dead bodies of evolved animals. The scent of blood began to make them feel the blood rush.


    But then, they came across a scene with several dead animals and the smell of the blood of their brethren.


    "It seemed like some of our brethren got injured." The Mist Demon, Muggur, voiced out beside their Lord. "Is it really fine to let them clear the way?"


    "Kekeke, you are being a worrywart, aren''t you, Muggur?"


    The old Mambabarang chuckled.


    "I am not, you old hag." Muggur retorted with a frown. "It is just anything that could happen while they were all out of our supervision."


    "That is what you call being a worrywart. Kuku."


    The Mambabarang ridiculed Muggur. Of course, thetter was infuriated.


    "Muggur, Legra. You two want to go back?"


    Lord Seis spoke without looking at the two.


    "Legra, you stop trying to start a fight with Muggur at every possible asion. I told you that several times already."


    "And you, Muggur. You don''t have to babysit everyone. Even I would prefer to make all of us travel in one group. However, you know the nature of Demons. We all long for the blood of our enemies. We who were powerful enough could suppress this urge, but it is different to our new brethren. Remember that most of them were new to our side. If they could lessen this urge by killing animals along the way, it would be easier to control themter. Furthermore, it is better if they can get any battle experience along the way."


    Muggur nodded in silence. He understood what Lord Seis was saying. Furthermore, he was not stupid to forget his past self. Not all Demons were born strong. He was one of those that struggled with his urges several decades ago. It was fortunate that he was a Mist Demon, with the ability to turn into mist. He was able to escape the anger of humans. The other weaker Demons at his time, however, were killed by missionaries and human hunters.


    It was also true that it was better if the new Demons gained some fighting experience. While many Demons were hot-headed and would get into fights often, it was far from the actual battle experience needed.


    Nheless, Muggur could not shake off the odd feeling that something wrong would happen. This area and the ce where they designated as a gathering point was still far from the enemy territory. Yet, he was feeling restless.


    The whole group continued on their way. Up until now, nothing of note happened or was seen along the way. In another half hour, they would reach their destination. They would see the other groups that gathered there already.


    Maybe Muggur was just being paranoid.


    "By the way, that Brat, Austin. He''s still missing, isn''t he?"


    Legra suddenly asked.


    Those that heard her could not help but frown. Lord Seis and Muggur were no exception.


    Austin was a high Demon that appeared on the ind some time ago. And to say, aside from Lord Seis, there was no doubt that he was the most powerful in the group of Demons on this ind. However,pared to other individuals, Austil was aloof and did not interact with others in any way. Because of his behavior, he was ired by many Demons.


    Nheless, no one could deny his strength. There was one time that a Demon challenged Austin to a fight. The Demon was killed in a blink of an eye. No one, whether it be the Demon or the audience, understood how Austin killed the challenger. From then on, while most Demons in their group did not trust Austin, no one openly showed their dislike to the outsider.


    There was one thing that made Austin stood out and be an important member of their group. It was not his strength but knowledge. Unlike the Demons on this ind that was uneducated, Austin had a deeper knowledge of humans and Demons alike.


    Compared to his intelligence, the Demons on this ind were, more or less, barbarians. That was why he became the person that Lord Seis would ask about things when there was uncertainty.


    He was an adviser, as Austin called himself after getting such a position.<sub> </sub>


    The odd thing, however, during the ritualst night, Austin vanished from their settlement. It was a bad thing since he was one of the crucial pieces in this war. The Demons would need his strategies and knowledge. Yet, when they needed him the most, he vanished without a word or even a trace.


    Nheless, Austin''s disappearance did not really matter to most of the Demons. Even more, to some of them, Austin''s disappearance was a blessing. Since they would not be overshadowed by the mysterious outsider, they could show their prowess instead.


    "It doesn''t matter if he''s here or not," Lord Seis replied to Legra. "We will still take over this ind."


    Less than half-hour passed and the main forces of the Demons crossed thest mountain. Being able to traverse the mountains in a short time showed their difference to humans.


    Finally, Lord Seis and his group reached the area where everyone was supposed to gather.


    It was a secluded farming vige in the middle of the mountains in Viga. Since there were wide farnds in the vige that surrounded the Tambog?on River, there was a vacant area wide enough to contain all their troops.


    But then, everyone was ovee with confusion.


    The Demons that were already waiting in the area, eating the flesh of the dead evolved animals, turned towards the main group with eyes filled with incredulity.


    On the other hand, Lord Seis and his entourage had the same expression. There was no need to count. It was clear that arge portion of the Demons that went ahead was missing.


    At the arrival of their leader, the Demons left everything they were doing and gathered in groups, kneeling before Lord Seis.


    That gesture, however, did not make Lord Seis feel any better.


    "Where are the others? Did they go somewhere else?"


    Lord Seis asked a higher-ranked Demon from the first group. It was the leader of the riders of those flesh beasts.


    "M-My Lord. Forgive me. I had no idea." The group leader of the riders replied nervously. "We arrived here first to clear the ce of any danger. Then, we just stayed put waiting for the others to arrive. We are also bewildered that My Lord arrived already when the others had yet to."


    The leader of the Demon riders was very nervous. He cautiously picked his words to reply to Lord Seis. If he made a mistake, it would not be surprising if his head suddenly flew off.


    Fortunately, Lord Seis had more important matters to consider than lopping off the head of this innocent Demon.


    "What in the world is happening?" Legra voiced out. "Did they get lost or something? It won''t be surprising since those lesser Demons had low intelligence."


    The other Demons frowned at the Mambabarang''s remark. However, what she said was true. Lower-ranked Demons had limited intelligencepared to higher-ranked ones.


    "That'' can''t happen." Muggur red at Legra before turning back to the leader of the riders. "You are still carrying the censer, right?"


    "Yes."


    The leader of the riders replied to Muggur, pointing at his flesh beast that had a censer attached to its body. Even right now, the censer was releasing smoke with an attractive smell to Demons.


    Low-ranked Demons had lower intelligence. As such, something was needed to guide them. This censer was not an ordinary one but something used tomand low-ranked Demons. The smell it was releasing could scatter a few kilometers away and could only be sensed by Demons that knew its smell.


    Because of this censer, even if the low-ranked Demons got lost in the mountains, they could easily find the way as they only needed to follow the smell.


    Yet, even with this thing, they were missing arge portion of their troops.


    This was impossible to happen. Just what in the world was happening?


    None of them could fathom how arge portion of their troops would vanish into thin air.


    But then, there was only one possibility.


    "That Damned Diwata learned to use tricks, doesn''t she?"


    Lord Seis was furious.


    Diwatas were an embodiment of righteousness and justice. That was why they were known to be straightforward individuals that would not y sly tricks on their enemies. It was not like they could not, but the way they were created would deny it out of their minds.


    And yet, the only possible thing that could have happened was that the Diwata and her warriors did something out of the norm.


    "DAMN IT!"


    Lord Seis roared. The whole ce shook from his furious voice.


    "What are we going to do now?" Legra asked. "Retreat or continue?"


    "We are already here." Lord Seis grit his teeth. "We will continue forwards. We only lost low-ranked Demons. Most of our brethren were still here."


    In the view of Lord Seis, the low-ranked Demons were, more or less, just cannon fodder. Their disappearance would not impact the overall strength of their army.


    When the time struck midnight, they would rush towards the territory of their damned enemies.


    But then, Muggur stiffened. He was releasing mist from his body, searching the area around them.


    "Muggur, what happened?"


    Lord Seis immediately noticed the Mist Demon''s strange behavior.


    "Lord Seis," Muggur replied with a bitter smile. "It looks like we won''t be able to wait for midnight. We are already surrounded."

 Chapter 694 Plans And Tricks, Beginning The Battle In The Mountain Village

    <strong>Day 151 - 11:15 PM - Mountain Farming Vige, Barangay Mabini, Municipality of Viga, Catanduanes</strong>


    "GATHER UP AND PROTECT THE LORD!"


    Some higher-ranked Demons shouted in urgency. It was not only because they heard Muggur, but they also began to feel the presence of living beings in the forests surrounding them.


    It was strange. These Demons all arrived here and did not detect anyone. Many of them had a keen sense of smell. Although they would not be able to instantly detect their enemies, they would be able to smell them to some extent.


    Odors linger around longer and would stronger while the source stayed in ce. There was no way that the Demons would not smell anything if there were enemies hiding in the surroundings. And yet, none of them detected anything until thest minute.


    Did the Elementals and Spirits learn a way to conceal their presence? That was impossible. Even Nature Spirits that could meld into their surroundings would leave traces for the keen-eyed. It was impossible that different races of Spirits and Elementals would suddenly have the very same ability to hide.


    Muggur and Lord Seis looked at each other. They thought differently from the majority.


    Why?


    It was because even the path that they just passed through had presences of enemies in hiding. Those enemies were definitely not there when they passed by.


    Rather than hiding in ambush, it was more like they the enemies suddenly appeared out of nowhere.


    Due to the immediate response, the Demons seeded in gathering around their precious leader. They looked unorganized, but they, at least, tried their best to make a perfect circle around Lord Seis.


    At the center of it all, Lord Seis smiled. He was not fazed by the situation at all. Instead, he felt thrilled. To be surrounded by enemies like this was the first for him. Nheless, he knew that aside from being surrounded, the side of the Demons was in a disadvantageous position.


    After all, even if the Spirits and Elementals surrounded the Demons, the Demons still had the greater number.


    It would be easy for them to break through the encirclement just through brute force.


    The eyes of Lord Seis were glowing red. His excitement was intensifying his aura.


    "IRAYA, YOU BITCH!" Lord Seis roared with augh. "I NEVER THOUGHT THAT SOMEONE LIKE YOU WOULD STOOP LOW AND LEARN TO DO THESE KINDS OF PETTY TRICKS!"


    The shout of the Lord of Demons came with a surge of his aura. The air was shaking, and the leaves of nts and trees a few hundred meters around him swayed violently. Surprisingly, even the Demons under Lord Seis shivered in fear from his voice.


    What was odd, however, was the intense hatred that he had when he called the Diwata''s name without any shred of respect. Was this battle only because of the circumstances and millenniums of antagonistic rtions between the magical races?


    At Lord Seis'' call, a woman walked out of the forest on the west side of the clearing. It was nighttime, and the only light wasing from the full moon. Yet, everyone could clearly see her beautiful appearance despite the darkness of the surroundings.


    "It''s been a while, isn''t it, Argrellius. But I didn''t think that I would hear that kind ofint from one of the Demon Race that was known for such so-called petty tricks."


    Diwata Iraya spoke, looking straight at the Lord of the Demons. Even though the Diwata was speaking from afar, everyone could clearly hear her voice, echoing like a Goddess.


    However, like the Lord of the Demons, Diwata Iraya had a strange behavior. She was speaking calmly to the enemy, yet, there was a subtle feeling of regret hidden in her voice.


    "Don''t call me with that name, you worthless woman. "


    Lord Seis replied, ring hard at the Diwata.


    ***


    At the roof of a house in the nearby vige, several people sat, watching the situation.


    It was no other than Mark''s group, including Mark himself.


    They were currently within some kind of barrier, preventing the Demons from detecting them even when they were nearby. This barrier was created by Berrak, who drew a magic circle inside the house.


    And as for why... It was nothing else but to watch the show as close as possible.


    Padua and Geronimo were both shocked and excited by what they were seeing. Although they already saw Mark''s ancestor and even Berrak''s magical creatures, the impact of those was far different from seeing two thousand mixed races of Demons gathered together. Never in their life did they expect to enter this hidden side of the world.


    Edzel and Pearl sat together with Pefile near them. Although the two teenagers had seen a lot already, it was the first time they would actually see a war between good and evil. As for Pefile, he was not that interested. His life as a Tamawo was filled with life and death battles. This kind of thing was not new to him.


    Berrak also sat at the side. He was looking forward to the battle. However, rather than the people involved, Berrak was more interested in the Demonic animals that the Demons had brought with them. It was clear that Berrak would get the opportunity to catch one or two if some managed to survive tonight''s battle.


    Lastly, Mark and the girls. They sat together with a camera set ready. It looked like Mark prepared to record this situation. Actually, the girls wanted to join this battle and not just watch at the sidelines. After all, Mark was going to the battlefield soon. Unfortunately, Mark declined them for now. Only Mei and Amihan would be allowed to participate in this event with him. Well, there was also Crimson and Ignis, but that was already obvious.


    The scale of this battle was far different from the battles they previously had. The enemies were not humans, and definitely not the infected. The enemies were Demons. It would be dangerous for the girls to face the uncanny magic of the Demons with their current strength.


    Because of this, Mark decided to give the girls some upgrades when they return home. Of course, it would be hard to say if he would be giving the children new Mutator abilities considering the painful experience they needed to go through. Maybe, he would give them some upgrades in other aspects like equipment.


    "Those two had some history, didn''t they?"


    While Mark was thinking, the silent Pefile spoke.


    The others could not help but nod. Even those with no ability to read minds and emotions would be able to pick things up from how Diwata Iraya and the Lord of Demons spoke to each other.


    "Maybe, they''re lovers?"


    Padua chimed in, making the others look at him. Sure enough, what he had said was incredulous considering the behavior of the two people in question.


    Ignoring Padua, Mei spoke to Mark.<sub> </sub>


    "Gege, aren''t we going to join them?"


    "Yeah, Master." Amihan agreed while lying down atop Mark''s head. "They are going to start soon."


    "We are joining them, but not immediately," Mark replied to the two. "We are more or less the trump cards of Diwata Iraya. It won''t do us good if we joined at the start when the enemies probably had their hidden cards too."


    In the first ce, Diwata Iraya did not ask Mark''s help to be their proxy in this battle. Her pride as a powerful being did not allow her to request such a disgraceful thing to Mark.


    Moreover, this battle was supposed to be faced by the Diwata and her people. It was their duty that they could not pass onto others. It was even if they were on the losing side.


    That thought made Mark give this Diwata some respect. She had her own pride and dignity. While Diwata Iraya asked for help, she was not like some useless Role-ying Game Non-yer Character that would let the yer do the quest all on his own.


    In fact, Diwata Iraya asked Mark to only join in if there was no hope for them to win.


    And that was why Mark gave them some suggestions that would help turn the tide of the battle among his conditions in epting Diwata Iraya''s request for help.


    ***


    "I don''t know how you learned or how you did it. You managed to reduce our numbers and even surround us." Lord Seis smiled with ridicule. "But Spirits aren''t born every day. Do you really think that your numbers would be enough to trap us here? This is the end for you and your weak subordinates."


    That was right. Diwata Iraya''s side severelycked numbers. In the first ce, they only had three hundred warriors, and the Demons still had more than one and a half thousand people at most. Maybe, they had even more hiding somewhere.


    Compared to Demons, Spirits and Elementals were not born just because they wanted to. While some of Spirit Races had the ability to procreate, it did not mean that they would have their offspring just because they could do so.


    It was unlike Demons that could turn weaker races like humans to their side using rituals and sacrifices. While a person''spatibility was still a deciding factor, it was not as strictpared to the conditions of turning a human into a Spirit. A human turning into an Elemental was even rarer considering that it could only happen as a course of nature.


    That was one of the reasons why,pared to humans and Demons, Spirits and Elementals were far fewer. Furthermore, most Elementals were born by umting magical energy in nature, and magical energy was what the Mortal World severelycked.


    "Fate is unpredictable." Diwata Iraya replied with a stern look. "No one will know who is going to face their end."


    And as Diwata Iraya said that, she raised her hand.


    SHING!


    ? A blinding light surged fort in the area.


    Since all the Demons were focused on the single enemy that showed herself in front of them, their light-sensitive eyes were all blinded by the sudden bright light.


    SWISH! SWISH! SWISH!


    "ARG!"


    "ACK!"


    Suddenly, swishing sounds were heard all over the ce followed by the painful grunts and roars of the Demons.


    ***


    "Oooh..." At the roof, Mark smiled. "I didn''t think that this would be too effective."


    "Boss, is this your idea?"


    Berrak asked Mark because of his remark.


    At Berrak''s question, Mark shrugged.


    "From the start, everything is my idea, you know? You dabbled with magical things, so you probably know how simple the mindsets of these races."


    At Mark''s reply, Berrak nodded. He had encountered secluded magical races in the mountains while finding magical creatures to tame. And to say, their mindsets were too simple.


    "They didn''tck the skills, but they severelycked innovation."


    That was right. Since the world turned in favor of the humans, the Spirits, and Elementals that did not migrate to the Spirit Dimension continued to live in fear and survival. Because of that, they did not have the chance to properly develop, and their mindsets stagnated.


    These races became stuck to their ways of the past,cking many things that humans managed to learn throughout the years.


    And because of that, Mark did not hesitate to give Diwata Iraya and her warriors some ways to win this fight.


    First was utilizing the abilities of the Yasaws as they did before. The Yasaws were just rough gems waiting to be polished. They were not weak as others deemed them to be.


    The second was this encirclement. Initially, Diwata Iraya and her warriors wanted to stay inside their territory and fight a defensive battle. However, by then, it would be the witching hour and the Demons would already be empowered by its effects. It would be a bad situation especially with the Spirits and Elementals having a wall behind their backs.


    That was why Mark convinced them and even utilized the Yasaws once more to form a sudden encirclement that no one would expect.


    Next was Diwata Iraya showing herself. Even if the Lord of the Demons did not call for her, she woulde out. Mark told her to do so. At first, the warriors around her insisted that this was dangerous. However, once Mark said that it would lessen the possible deaths of their people, she immediately agreed.


    As she showed herself alone, all the attention would be on her. That was when she would use the opportunity to release a blinding light in the middle of the night to steal the enemies'' vision for a period of time.


    And then, that would be the time when the rain of arrows would strike the enemies.

 Chapter 695 War Is Like A Game Of Chess, Setting Up The Table And Predicting The Enemies Moves

    <strong>Day 151 - 11:19 PM - Mountain Farming Vige, Barangay Mabini, Municipality of Viga, Catanduanes</strong>


    From the forests, the arrows rained on the army of Demons. Many of the Demons could only let out wails and grunts of shock and pain as arrows pierced their bodies while they were devoid of their sight.


    The weaker ones of the Demons were the most affected. Some of them immediately fell as the arrows pierced their heads and vital organs.


    Unfortunately, the rain of arrows was more akin to a drizzle than a downpour. Even in this case, the numbers mattered a lot.


    Diwata Iraya''s side had three hundred warriors at most. However, in that number, not all of them were capable of wielding bows as weapons. The best example for these individuals were the Sylphs and other small-bodied Spirits and Elementals. Even the Yasaws present had no way of using a bow to shoot arrows that would hit the Demons at their current distance.


    Furthermore, these archers were not trained in this kind of strategy. Far from the showy volleys of arrows shown in movies, this scene was more like a rapid-fire contest. Since there was no time to practice, Mark also suggested this action. It was to fire all the arrows they could before the enemies began to retaliate.


    Beauty and style did not matter as long as the arrows reached their target. And to say, it was a bit hard to miss since the Demons were packed together, protecting their Lord at the center. As long as the arrows reached the Demons, it was likely to hit.


    ***


    "It''s amazing that those arrows worked on those Demons," Emika remarked, watching the show. "Back in Japan, many people say that powerful Demons can''t even be hurt by bullets."


    Japan had a deep culture about Spirits and Demons. Many were true, and many were false. But of course, it was true that many Demon races were impervious to regr human weaponry. That was why special and hidden divisions exist in the military. Those highly trained soldiers were also equipped with special weaponry against these creatures.


    "Those are not regr arrows, though."


    Mark exined as he took out a sample from his ring.


    Everyone looked at the arrow on Mark''s hand. Pefile and Berrak seemed to be familiar with it, but everyone else was not.


    Looking at the arrow, it was unexpectedly not simr to what they knew. It was not a wooden stick with a pointed, metal, or stone tip. It was actually a thin twisted root-like wood with a clear crystal tip. Even the feathers used as fletching did not appear to be normal at all.


    "So, they used enchanted arrows." Berrak nodded. "Regr arrows would not really work, but this should be able to kill the weaker guys and even injure some stronger ones."


    "It just looks like some weird arrow, though?"


    Emika said in confusion. Well, she was not wrong. It was really a weird-looking arrow.


    "That crystal is a magical stone imbued by a pure being''s magical energy," Berrak exined. "In this case, the magical energy should be from that Diwata, isn''t it?"


    To Berrak''s words, Mark nodded.


    "This kind of magical energy is one of the banes of Demons. Once these crystals enter their bodies, they will create a deadly reaction due to contradicting energies inside their bodies. The weaker Demons won''t be able to resist the reaction and will immediately die."


    ***


    It was just less than a minute after the arrows started firing from the forest. Yet, more than a hundred Demons already fell to their deaths after being struck by the magical arrows.


    As for the slightly stronger Demons, many were injured by the arrows.


    The only difference was the main group of Demons that arrivedst. They were beings with strong bodies. This kind of attack would not kill them.


    "TCH!"


    Lord Seis clicked his tongue as an arrow bounced off his tough skin. He was the strongest among these Demons. These arrows were not effective against him at all.


    Even so, Lord Seis was infuriated.


    "IRAYA!!!"


    Lord Seis roared on top of his lungs. His voice caused a massive shockwave that spread out with him at the center.


    The shockwave caused the arrows to lose momentum and fall. Many that were close to the Lord of these Demons even flew back from the strong impact.


    At this point, the arrows were now ineffective.


    Strangely, the moment the arrows were deflected, no other arrows were fired. It was as if the Spirits and Elementals knew that this would happen and decided not to waste more arrows.


    Finally, Lord Seis'' eyes recovered. Even though he was only affected for less than a minute, it already showed that what Diwata Iraya did manage to affect him a lot. After all, they were creatures of the night. They were sensitive to light. Lord Seis was not an exception to this.


    Lord Seis turned his eyes back to where Diwata Iraya stood before. However, she was already gone. It showed that blinding them was her only purpose for showing up.


    Gritting his teeth, Lord Seis looked around. Not all of the Demons had recovered their sight and everyone was in disarray. Since the arrows already stopped, it was an opportunity for them to reorganize.


    Inside his mind, Lord Seis admit. Diwata Iraya got them good.


    However, it was not enough.


    Once everyone regained their sight, they would force themselves out of this encirclement. Even with the remaining Demons they had, their numbers were still far greater than Diwata Iraya''s side.


    But then...


    ROAR!!!


    A Demon suddenly roared in pain.


    Lord Seis immediately turned his head only to see a Demon impaled with a spear on his chest.


    "A spear?!" Lord Seis was starting to lose his temper. "How in the world."


    Lord Seis was confused. How in the world would a spear suddenly appear and impale one of his subordinates. Furthermore, it was not a low-ranked Demon but a stronger one among his troops. There was no sign of the spear being thrown at all. A spear was bigger than an arrow and a thrown spear would make more sounds as it tore the air apart. But none of those sounds were heard by him at all.


    Suddenly


    "ARRG!"


    "GROWL!"


    One after another, the Demons in the outer perimeter had spears embedded on their bodies. However, even though Lord Seis was already wary of the surroundings, he saw not a single one spear fly out of the forest.


    "My Lord..." Muggur seemed to have recovered his eyes and was also observing the situation. "It was the Yasaws!"


    "What?" Lord Seis was confused. "What''s with that weak children?"


    "It''s them that making the spears appear!"


    Muggur replied in urgency.


    Hearing Muggur, Lord Sies heightened his senses. At first, he was looking for flying spears, but it never came to his mind that a weak race like the Yasaws would be responsible for this.


    Knowing what to look for, Lord Seis finally saw what was going on.


    Yasaws were appearing in front of his Demons, however, they were not doing anything else aside from appearing and running away. Instead, when they appear, there was a spear just above their head containing the full strength of being thrown.


    ***


    "You really utilized the little kids to their full extent, huh?"


    Pefile remarked. His tone was quite positive,plementing Mark''s idea.


    The ability of the Yasaws did not only work on people. They could also use their ability on items that moved parallel to the direction they were traveling. This time, the other Spirits would throw a spear forward with full force, and the Yasaws would carry the spears with their ability and appear in front of the target Demon. That was why it looked like the spears were appearing out of nowhere when it was actually transported by the Yasaws.<sub> </sub>


    "They are quite a work, though," Mark said. "Their abilities were not a problem but their mindsets. These guys won''t just try to do something dangerous as this as before since most of them were scaredy cats."


    Of course, it was a given. The Yasaws were a weak race that was kicked around by those that were more powerful. They grew shy and easily scared. If it was before, none of the Yasaws would try this because of the potential danger as they appear before the Demons.


    "A lot of them had a grudge at you now."


    Suddenly, a voice echoed from behind. There, Aliya appeared, escorted by a few Yasaws that were ring at Mark with both fear and hate.


    "It can''t be helped, Grandmother," Mark shrugged. "They needed to ovee their fear for all of this to work."


    "But you didn''t need to make them feel something far scarier than death, you know?"


    Aliya reprimanded Mark with a bitter smile.


    "They should be d I didn''t turn them like a certain Isekai rabbit race."


    "What?"


    Aliya was confused with what Mark said.


    "No, don''t mind me."


    Mark shook his head. Among everyone here, it seemed that only Emika understood what he said.


    In any case, it was true that the Yasaws both fear and hate him now.


    During the preparations and nning, Mark did something horrible to the Yasaws. Using his [Emotion Induction], he channeled extreme fear to the poor child-like creatures. Now that they knew what death felt like, facing Demons was now not as hard as before.


    "Grandmother, you''re not going to join them?"


    Mei asked Aliya respectively. After all, Aliya was also among the warriors of Diwata Iraya.


    "I want to, but Diwata Iraya won''t let me waste my energy fighting."


    Aliya replied to Mei as she sat beside her.


    "It''s obvious." Mark chimed in. "This is a dangerous battle where people are bound to get injured, and only Grandmother had the ability to heal them."


    Aliya nodded, agreeing with what Mark said.


    "Though I really think that I''m going to get useless this time," Aliya grumbled. "From when the battle started, only a few people received scratches. They don''t even need my healing."


    Aliya then turned to Mark.


    "The Yasaws might hate you now, but no one would be able to deny that you brought us this kind of battle where no one had yet to die."


    Mark smiled with a shrug. He was not something special in this kind of thing. It was just the Demons were caught off-guard by things they did not know that was possible.


    Still, Mark applied something that he knew. War was like a board of Chess. If you want to win, you have to throw the bait and anticipate the opponent''s moves.


    SHOOM!


    Suddenly, an event on the battlefield took everyone''s attention.


    The army of Demons was not shrouded with thick mist. There was no way to see them at all.


    At the same time, the Yasaws also retreated. At this point, even the spears were rendered unusable.


    Seeing the situation, Mark smiled.


    "This is the next phase," Mark said. "At this point, there are three possible moves for the Demons."


    Hearing him, everyone began to listen.


    "First, they will stay put and start to counterattack. Second, rush in every direction and tear the encirclement apart." Mark then tilted his head. "Last, they will move together and charge out of the encirclement."


    "Nee Uncle," Emika called out. "How did you know that they will pick one of the three?"


    At that question, Mark smirked.


    "Because I created this scenario from the start."


    Holding the initiative. That was what Mark did. Because if he had the initiative, it became easier to predict the movements of the enemies.


    And if it was hard to predict their movements, then make a scenario that would make it predictable.


    "Then what are the Demons going to do now?"


    Padua chimed into the conversation.


    And to everyone''s surprise, Mark replied.


    "The second one."


    "Huh?" Padua was confused. "Isn''t it better if they chose the third? They would have a better advantage after getting out of the encirclement. If they did, no one would be able to stop them."


    "That is also what I thought before." Mark shrugged. "But when I saw their leader, I know."


    "That guy is an intelligent madman."


    Mark added as he pointed at the scene on the battlefield.


    The mist suddenly tore apart. Demons upon Demons scattered, charging at the forests surrounding them. They aimed to eliminate the Spirits and Demons.


    Everyone looked at Mark. He really predicted it right.


    Mark could only shrug though. He would have preferred if the Demons either stayed put or rushed out. Out of the three possibilities, the second one was the most painful to deal with.


    After all, even if they were surrounded, the Demons still had their advantage. It was their numbers.


    There was no way that the Spirits and Elementals in the surroundings would be able to eliminate all the Demons before they reached their positions.


    At this point, Mark stood up.


    "Gege, are we going now?"


    Mei asked, following Mark. Amihan also left Mark''s head and flew beside him.


    "Yep." Mark nodded. "We can''t just watch anymore since aside from that Lord guy, there are three other troublesome guys."


    That was right. There were a lot of strong Demons among Lord Seis'' group. However, there were three that were more troublesome than the rest.


    Those were the Mist Demon, the me Demon, and that Old Woman beside their Lord.

 Chapter 696 Declaration Of War, Eliminating The Most Troublesome Foes

    <strong>Day 151 - 11:30 PM - Mountain Farming Vige, Barangay Mabini, Municipality of Viga, Catanduanes</strong>


    "Scatter! Kill them all!"


    Lord Seis roared,manding his minions.


    This Lord of Demons might be surprised by the unexpected movements of Diwata Iraya and her forces. Nheless, he was not someone who would lose his wits because of something like this.


    If one got surrounded by enemies, a leader would likely gather their remaining forces. And then, they would charge, breaking out of the encirclement together in the safest direction. That was amon thing toe into anyone''s mind first as being surrounded was a dangerous situation.


    At the spur of the moment, it was also possible for the leader to be confused, disregarding the information they had and act based on which action was the safest.


    Lord Seis, however, was not a person like that.


    From the start, Lord Seis never forgot. The enemy''s numbers were far lesser than they were. If he ordered to gather everyone and rush off towards the safest direction, he would end up exposing their backs instead, causing more casualties in the process.


    The most suitable approach was to attack the enemies surrounding them instead.


    It was not the safest approach. Charging towards the enemies would likely cause more casualties.


    But who cares? Lord Seis did not mind if many of his minions die. They could be reced once the obstacles led by Diwata Iraya were eliminated.


    When these pests were dead, the humans up north would not be able to stand the Demon''s onught. After the humans up north were the ones in the south.


    Soon, this ind would be theirs.


    With themand of their Lord, the Demons scattered like rabid beasts that found their prey. They tore through the fog that Muggur created and rushed towards the forests surrounding them.


    Once more, arrows flew towards the Demons. But this time, the Demons were not blind. They could see iting, and many of them were fast enough to avoid many of the attacksing towards them.


    As expected, some of the Demons were hit by the arrows and died. However, a single death was not able to stop the dozens that were stilling.


    A hundred meters, fifty meters... Just a few seconds passed, and some of the raging Demons were already at the border of the forest. The Demons were fast, especially those Flesh Beasts and the Aswangs in animal form.


    But then, the smaller-sized Demons were suddenly blown away while therger ones slowed down.


    The leaves of the threes loudly rustled, and the grass violently swayed.


    It was now the time for the Sylphs to shine.


    Together, the Sylphs released their magic. Strong gusts of wind blew towards the Demons, making it hard for them to continue forward.


    SWOOSH! SWOOSH!


    Frozen by the gusts of wind, the Demons became easy targets. Since the direction that the arrows and the blowing wind came from was the same, the arrows hit their targets faster. Spears also began to fly with the wind. Some of therger-bodied Demons could not help but fall as spears pierced their bodies.


    Seeing this, Lord Seis smiled sinisterly. However, rather than angry, he looked more like he was amazed and excited.


    This encounter was full of surprises. Diwata Iraya and her people employed tactics that they never did before.


    Lord Seis knew Diwata Iraya too well. He knew that these kinds of tricks were far below her. They, the Demons, lived hidden within the human society. Even for them, it was hard to acquire these kinds of knowledge. What more for the Diwata and her people that stayed inside their secluded domain for most of their lives?


    It was without a doubt. Lord Seis knew.


    "These bastards got some help, don''t they?"


    Lord Seis spoke.


    "My Lord," Legra, the Mambabarang, spoke. "They might have gotten help from humans. Only humans know how to apply these kinds of tricks because of their weaknesses. Maybe, there are humans mixed in within their people."


    At Legra''s words, Lord Seis turned to Muggur.


    "Search whether there are humans in the vicinity."


    "My Lord, I already did it," Muggur replied. "I can''t detect any humans. But..."


    Since the ambush started, Muggur had been spreading his mist. At this time, he already had the position of the enemies in his mind.


    "But what?"


    Lord Seis asked.


    "I managed to detect two unfamiliar Demons within the ranks of the enemies."


    "What?!"


    Legra was surprised. Not only her, but even the other high-ranked Demons around them were also shocked.


    Just what in the world were Demons doing there within the ranks of Spirits and Elementals? Did they ally themselves with other Demon ns?


    The Yasaws was another thing since rather than Demons, these ck-skinned children were more like Dark Spirits.


    Actual Demons was another thing. It was impossible to happen.


    However, the fact that Muggur detected two Demons within the ranks of the Spirits and Elementals hinting something.


    "It is possible that they were the ones that taught these tricks to the enemies." Lord Seis smiled. "Since they meddled in our business, we should respond in kind."


    At this point, most of the Demons were still struggling with the gusts of wind and arrows flying at them as they charged towards the forests.


    But then, Lord Sies raised his hand. Balls of unstable ck energy formed atop his palm. The ball grew to a size of a basketball before it divided into countless small balls of energy.


    Lord Seis waved his hand. The balls of energy flew towards all of his minions.


    ROAR!


    The Demons roared in glee as their bodies started to emit a dark aura. Their struggle suddenly vanished as they charged against the gusts of wind like nothing.


    With red glowing eyes, the bloodthirsty expressions of the Demons yelled with murder. They wanted to tear apart the bodies of the enemies that made them struggle just now.


    ***


    One of the fastest to reach the forest was a Demon riding his Flesh Beast. The two entered with excitement as they charged towards the direction where a spear was thrown unto them.


    Unexpectedly, what the rider and the Flesh Beast saw were a pair of humans.


    The two were surprised as they expected a Spirit or an Elemental in this direction. Not two humans. In any case, these Demons were here to kill. Whether it was humans or not, they would die in the hands of these Demons.<sub> </sub>


    Unfortunately, the two were drunk with the power that their Lord lent them. They failed to notice that the pair of humans, a man, and a woman, were both wearing armor and were armed with swords.


    The two were unable to react as the two humans vanished in front of them. Then, with a sh of light, the woman was already atop the rider. On the other hand, the man appeared beside the Flesh Beast with a surge of ck mist.


    And the next thing that the two knew, their heads were already separated from their bodies. With a loud thud, the body of the Flesh Beast fell while the headless rider was thrown far away by the inertia.


    As the two Demons died, the Spirits and Elementals around went out of hiding. They looked at the two helpers with amazement as the two killed one Demon each with one swing of their swords.


    "Get back to position and continue shooting arrows and throwing spears." The man ordered the Spirits and Elementals. "Don''t stop unless the arrows and spears are all used up or a powerful Demon you all can''t kill came. Understand?"


    The Spirits and Elementals nodded and hurried back to their positions. At first, they were all skeptical about this n. Now that they saw that it was truly effective, they did not hesitate to continue.


    As the Spirits and Elementals continued the fight, the two helpers hurriedly left. There were also other Flesh Beasts in other areas.


    ***


    pping their wings, Mark and Mei soared across the surrounding forests. After a long while, the two were using Crimson and Oracle as their armor once again. Aside from the armor, the two were also wearing masks.


    By hiding their faces, unexpectedplications might be thwarted if there were any. It was even more for Mark, who had his family now living on this ind.


    Of course, finding Mark''s connection to his family would not be easy. Nheless, there was no issue being careful.


    "Gege, there''s another one on the north side."


    Mei said, with her eyes zooming her sight across a wide distance.


    "Let''s go. We''ll do the same move."


    Mark replied.


    Right now, the Demons were buffed by their leader. As such, the Spirits and Elementals began to struggle to kill the enemies. Fortunately, it was only the lower-ranked Demons that were attacking. Even if they were empowered by their leader''s powers, their strength was still manageable to the Spirits and Elementals.


    The only problem at this moment was the empowered Flesh Beasts. Among the current attackers, they were the strongest. Arrows could not do any harm to these fleshy giants, and spears could only pierce its muscles shallowly. The worst part, the Flesh Beasts had absurd regeneration. The wounds they got from the attacks would heal almost immediately.


    These Flesh Beasts were basically unkible machines for the weak Elementals and Spirits.


    The stronger Spirits and Elementals seemed to be able to kill these Demon monsters in the past. However, killing one was an endeavor that required some sacrifices.


    Fortunately, this time, Mark was present.


    The ck mes of Ignis could stop the regeneration of these monsters while Mark''s strength could lop off its head in one go. With this, the Spirits and Elementals would be safer until the higher-ranked Demons finally make a move.


    BAM!


    With a loud sound, a Flesh Beast mmed into a tree before copsing. Its head had already rolled off somewhere while its rider, also missing its head, was already crushed under the dead monster.


    "Fourth one."


    Mark said, waving off the blood from Ignis.


    "How many left?"


    Mei asked, inspecting the dark-colored blood on her white-colored sword.


    And to the question, Mark sighed. He concentrated his mind, counting the enemies with the same mental fluctuation inside his detection range.


    "Forty-nine left. No, forty-eight."


    Mark said as his eyes lit up a bit. It seemed that Diwata Iraya and her warriors also started prioritizing taking down the Flesh Beasts.


    "Alright, let''s go to the next one."


    Mark said as he was about to take flight. But then, he paused, causing Mei to also stop.


    In front of them was a silhouette of a person made of misty substance. It was someone familiar.


    "So, it was you."


    The silhouette spoke.


    Mark shrugged. It looked like this guy managed to recognize him.


    "You''re that Mist Demon, right?" Mark asked. "Don''t you need to stay beside your Demon Lord?"


    Ignoring Mark''s question, the Mist Demon threw back another question instead of an answer.


    "You''re a Demon like us... Why are you helping the enemies?"


    Mark did not mind that his question was ignored. Instead, he smiled at the silhouette in front of him.


    "I don''t think that there''s any written rule that we can''t, right? It was even more since I have the same goal as Diwata Iraya."


    "Goal?"


    The Mist Demon asked.


    "Yep." Mark nodded nonchntly. "Remember what I told you before? At that time, we don''t have business with you guys, yet. Now that we''re done with other things, it''s time to address that business."


    Without waiting for the Mist Demon to ask another question, Mark added.


    "It is to eliminate all other Demons on this ind."


    The Mist Demon was definitely shocked at Mark''s deration of war. However, he was not able to say anything more.


    It was because Mark already fired a ball of ck mes towards his silhouette, dispersing the already unsteady mist.


    "Alright, let''s go."


    Mark turned to Mei and thetter nodded.


    They needed to eliminate as many Flesh Beast as they could.


    After all, it was very likely that Mark''s deration would stir those Demons. It would not take long and the stronger Demons would make their move.

 Chapter 697 Releasing The Darkness, The Raging Demons And The Legras Army

    <strong>Day 151 - 11:40 PM - Mountain Farming Vige, Barangay Mabini, Municipality of Viga, Catanduanes</strong>


    At the center of the clearing, the Demons began to rampage. Being empowered by their Lord, it became more difficult for the Spirits and Elementals to hold them back.


    That was why the next phase of the n started.


    The number of individuals fighting under Diwata Iraya''s banner was already small. A loss of single life from their forces would be heavy. They could not afford it.


    Thus, as the Demons reached the forest, the Yasaws appeared to take the Spirits and Elementals to retreat.


    By the time the Demons entered the forests, ready tomit ughter, not a single soul was present. Instead, strange vines enveloped the forest floor, crawling and twisting up their limbs. The strange vines began to constrict anything it caught. Even in their empowered state, the weaker Demons had no way of getting free from their constraints. Even the stronger ones were struggling.


    It was not surprising. These vines were made by Dryads and were empowered by Diwata Iraya.


    Most Diwatas were born of nature, and Diwata Iraya was not an exception. Her abilities had the mostpatibility with nts and trees. With Diwata Iraya empowering the Dryads, their vines became as strong as thick steel tubes.


    Being constricted by vines as hard as steel was not easy to escape from. It was even for the Demons.


    The weaker Demons, the ones forcefully turned from humans using the rituals, fell after the vines twisted their bodies into mush.


    As for the stronger ones, like the Flesh Beasts, the vines could only constrict them. Once the Demons were safely secured, it was only when some warriors would appear to end their lives if they could.


    Unfortunately, not just any warrior would be able to end the lives of the Flesh Beasts. That was how troublesome these giant flesh monsters were.


    Aside from Diwata Iraya, only one person could kill these monsters. Surprisingly, it was the cursed armor Morlkil. With a great sword in its hand, Morlkill rushed towards the Flesh Beasts and beheaded them in one swing of its weapon.


    The loud nging sound of Morlkil''s body did not matter. The most important thing was among the warriors under Diwata Iraya. Morlkil was one of the strongest.


    ***


    While the Flesh Beasts were being eliminated by thebined efforts of Mark, Mei, Diwata Iraya, and Morlkil, Mark''s deration finally reached the Lord of Demons.


    Muggur''s body turned into an ethereal state and formed a mist avatar that he used to meet Mark and Mei. Upon the destruction of his avatar, Muggur was forced to return to his real body.


    With a gasp and frown, Muggur ryed Mark''s words.


    "How absurd," Legra remarked after hearing Muggur''s report. "Demons working together with Spirits and Elementals to eliminate us? And just with the two of them? Something must be wrong with their heads."


    "Old hag, you better not underestimate them," Muggur replied with a frown. "Ogon was killed by that Demon you''re calling crazy."


    Hearing that, Legra frowned. Ogon was one of her closest partners, and his sudden death was something she disliked.


    "You two, it''s not the time to argue," Lord Seis spoke while smiling sinisterly. "I don''t care what they are, but since they are working with the enemy, we will make sure to make them face the consequences!"


    At this point, Lord Seis took a deep breath.


    "Legra. Time for you to move. Muggur, take the me Demon with you."


    "IT IS TIME!" Lord Seis roared. "TURN THIS WHOLE PLACE INTO OUR HUNTING GROUND!"


    As the shout of the Lord of Demons permeated into everyone''s ears, the already dark night began to grown even darker.


    Dark thick clouds began to appear in the sky, circling sinisterly as if it was going to summon a cyclone.


    It was not only the sky. A dark knee-high mist began to spread, covering the ground like a flood.


    The Demons roared loudly. The mist they stood on made them far stronger than before. However, it seemed that most of them lost their sanity. Without receiving any order, they left the side of their Lord, rushing towards the forest.


    Unlike the weaker Demons, these ones were way faster. In a blink of an eye, they were already inside the forest, even overtaking the spreading mist. The Yasaws were unable to react fast enough to make everyone escape.


    Finally, since the start of this encounter, several lives of Spirits and Elementals were taken away.


    However, it was only the start.


    Legra raised her tool. It was an old wooden staff that looked like twisted vines. It was dyed with blood. And instead of a gem on the tip, it had a skull of a newborn infant.


    She raised the staff and began to chant inaudible words.


    Then, the earth began to shake.


    A gigantic worm as thick as a bus and as long as a train rose up from the ground. It had a wide gaping mouth that was more than enough to swallow a small vehicle whole.


    BAM!


    With a loud and strong tremor, the body of the worm mmed to the ground before it opened its mouth.


    Then, a group of a few hundred dog-sized worms and insects rushed out of the worm''s mouth. However, that was not all. There were also dozens of Small Demons, which appeared to be infants, crawling on all fours.


    Tiyanaks. They were Demonic remnants of babies buried without any holy rites performed on its burial.


    Fast and agile, the Demonic Babies rushed out of the worm''s mouth and sought their prey. And with the knee-high mist on the ground, these Tiyanaks were basically invisible to everyone as they moved.


    Aside from Legra, Muggur also made his move.


    With the me Demon, he began to assist the constricted Demons inside the forest. With theva-like mes of the me Demon, the vines of the Dryads were burned to ashes.


    ***


    "Tsk. They are going all out now."


    Mark clicked his tongue.


    He did not expect that someone within the ranks of the Demons to be able to summon a giant worm. Mark noticed that he could not detect any mental fluctuations from the insects. However, the Tiyanaks did have some. If the worm had been here all this time, Mark would definitely detect those little Demons.


    Nheless, Mark was sure that this gigantic thing just appeared out of nowhere.


    Furthermore, there was this ck mist on the ground. It gave an eerie feeling even for Mark. It was very likely that anyone that touched this mist would lose their minds.


    In fact, some of the Spirits and Elementals identally touched it. They were now charging at their enemies like madmen. And since they already charged towards the mist-covered area, there was no saving them. Anyone that would try to would also fall into madness and follow their steps.<sub> </sub>


    "A strategy breaker, huh."


    Mark frowned.


    It was one of the reasons why human war strategies barely worked against Demons. The weaker ones might only rely on their sturdy bodies and physical prowess. However, the stronger ones had nasty abilities that could affect their enemies physically and mentally.


    There was nothing to joke about this. Some of the victims of Aswangs that managed to survive the attack would likely sumb to illness and die soon after.


    It was a good thing that Mark did not let the other members of his group participate in this fight. After all, in terms of mental maniption, the Demons in the Mortal World were far more adeptpared to the ones in the Spirit Dimension.


    In the Mortal World, if Demons wanted to survive, they must be able to manipte humans. Thus, they gained and trained these types of abilities. It was unlike the Demons in the Spirit Dimension. They always relied on the brute force since most Spirits and Elementals there also had resistance to these kinds of skills.


    And, of course, the worst factor here was the Demon, Lord Seis. So far, he was the strongest Demon that Mark encountered.


    Back then, at the battle in the Kingdom of ck Duendes, none of the Demons gave Mark an eerie sensationpared to Lord Seis.


    Mark looked at the sky. This ck sky sure was eerie. Just a little more, and it would be as ck as his Miasma.


    At this point, the only source of light was the mes that already covered parts of the forest. The moon and the stars could not be seen any longer.


    "KEEEK!!!"


    Suddenly, a cry entered Mark and Mei''s ears.


    A small shadow jumped towards them, which Mark mercilessly swatted to the ground.


    SPLAT!


    A naked infant with rotten-colored skin crashed to the ground with a loud st. Its head turned to mush.


    "Tiyanak?"


    Mei asked Mark.


    "Yeah," Mark replied with a frown. "These guys are too fast, huh. Be careful not to get bitten. These guys had poison on their bodies."


    Mark warned Mei. It was because he could see the murky and bad-smelling liquid oozing from the dead Tiyanak. The grass where the Tiyanak fell immediately withered as a sign of deadly poison.


    Looking at this scene, a sinister thing entered Mark''s mind.


    These Tiyanaks were not born naturally. These were babies turned into Demons and were raised to bear deadly poison


    Since these Tiyanaks came from that worm''s mouth, it was very likely that the master of those insects was also responsible for these infants.


    "Let''s go."


    Mark said as he soared to the sky with Mei. He then held her left hand as he let out a crystal. Before they flew over the trees, their bodies could not be seen outside anymore.


    From the sky, Mark observed the ground of Demons that had yet to move from their spot. The leader was easy to find since he was releasingrge amounts of magical energy at the center of their group.


    However, the leader was not Mark''s aim.


    Mark was looking for the master of the insects and Tiyanaks. Right now, they were the most dangerous.


    It just took an instant. Mark found the culprit. She was not hard to find, considering she was riding on a giant insect herself.


    Mark let go of Mei''s hand and pointed at the old hag. At this distance and elevation, there was no way that Mei''s sniper rifle would miss.


    However, before Mei could aim her gun, the attention of the two was taken away by something.


    Around the forest, light bloomed like the sun during sunrise.


    "Diwata Iraya also made her move, huh."


    Mark murmured as the ring of light surrounded the clearing where the Demons stood. The ring of light stopped both the fire and the ck mist from spreading further.


    Unfortunately, Diwata Iraya''s position could not be hidden because of this. Her magical energy was already released like a dam. Even those not sensitive enough to feel magical energies would detect her by instinct.


    Thus, Diwata Iraya soared, floating above the forest.


    "IRAYA! You finally showed yourself!" Lord Seisughed as he suddenly turned his head behind. "And you two there. How long are you going to hide!"


    Mark frowned. Unexpectedly, the Lord of Demons could detect them.


    It was pointless to waste the crystal''s energy in this case. Thus, Mark hid the crystal, showing his and Mei''s appearance to the Demons below.


    Nheless, the Demons were surprised.


    It was because, on Mark''s and Mei''s backs, there was more than one pair of wings. An indication of Pureblooded Demons.


    "So, what Muggur said is actually true. Hahaha!" Lord Sies wasughing hard. "What an opportunity!"


    Mark frowned. He did not know what was going on with Lord Seis'' mind. However, it was clear that it was something sinister.


    In any case, Mark had nothing to say. Since the guy below did not stop talking, Mark gave the signal to Mei.


    BANG!


    Mei fired her sniper rifle.


    Everyone was frozen. No one expected that Mark and Mei would not show any courtesy and attacked while Lord Sies was still talking.


    The Demons examined their bodies and their Lord to see if anyone was harmed.


    It was when they saw Legra fell off from her ride with a bloody fist-sized hole that tore through her head.

 Chapter 698 Three Sides, The Three Ongoing Battles In The Mountains

    <strong>Day 151 - 11:45 PM - Mountain Farming Vige, Barangay Mabini, Municipality of Viga, Catanduanes</strong>


    The sudden gunshot from Mei made the center of the battlefield silent. It made the rampaging individuals even louder than before.


    Legra fell with a gaping hole on her forehead. That fist-sized hole tore through her head from front to back.


    And to that sneak attack, Lord Seis'' reaction was to, unexpectedly,ugh out loud.


    "Pfft! HAHAHAHAHA!"


    Like a madman, the Lord of Demons let out his boisterousugh.


    "As expected of Pureblooded Demons!" Lord Seis turned to Mark and Mei. "The kinds of Demons that see everything else below them! But it''s unfortunate. Don''t ever think that your sneak attack seeded!"


    At the sky, Mark did not say anything. Everyone saw that Mei''s attack hit that old had that was riding that giant grub. However, the old hag''s mental fluctuations did not vanish at all.


    If she did die, the mental fluctuations that Mark was sensing would start to wane before vanishing. But it never happened.


    It was when the old hag with a broken head stood up.


    "Well, that hurt. Kekeke."


    Legra''s voice sounded bizarre. It was as if there were several of her talking at the same time. There were also grating and snapping sounds in her voice. It was as if her words were not spoken with a human mouth.


    Unexpectedly, the torn hole on her head was not bleeding. It was strange. Even a Demon''s wound would bleed before turning to ashes after its death. And yet, this woman that appeared to be a human was not.


    But then, she raised her hand towards her broken head. At first, it looked like she was trying to touch her wound. However, it was not the case as she put her hand over her head. Her left hand started to lose shape, revealingyers andyers of small maggot-like insects.


    One by one, the maggots detached from Legra''s hand and began pouring into the gaping hole on her head.


    Legra''s left hand was slowly reduced to a stump up to a few inches into her wrist. On the other hand, the maggots that filled the hold on her head wriggled into shape.


    It took only a few moments, and Legra''s head was as good as new.


    "It looks like I have to raise more to restore this hand," Legra said, looking at her missing hand before turning to Mark and Mei. "How hateful."


    As Legra said those words, dozens of stting sounds echoed across the battlefield. It sounded like some squishy toy filled with sticky goo that suddenly exploded after being inted.


    However, no one could see what the sounds came from because of the ck mist covering the ground.


    It did not take long, though, and they saw what created those sounds.


    Buzzing sounds echoed as dozens upon dozens of winged-insects as big as three months old baby rose from the ck mists. Most of them were still covered with sticky green goo, while some had the skin of worms still stuck on their bodies.


    The insects looked bizarre. They had three pairs of dragonfly wings, a body of a wasp, two pairs of hind legs of a beetle, the fore of forelimbs of a mantis, the head of a fly, and the proboscis of a mosquito.


    They were hybrid insects bathed in Demonic energy. And sure enough, their bodies were oozing with deadly poison like the Tiyanaks.


    "So, it won''t be easy, huh."


    Mark murmured, staring at the old hag.


    A body made of shape-shifting insects was what Legra had. It was no wonder that someone like her, a Mambabarang, was not afraid at all to join the battlefield.


    It was very likely that she already left her human body and became a Demonic existence.


    At the current situation, Lord Seis smiled even more.


    "Since none of you wanted to listen, then let''s fight!"


    In that deration, the division of the Demon army was decided.


    Lord Seis faced Diwata Iraya.


    Legra was already staring at Mark and Mei.


    Lastly, Muggur would lead the remaining Demons to ughter the Spirits and Elementals.


    "RAAAAAAHHH!!!"


    Lord Seis roared. His muscled body started to bloat and pulse. Oozing with Demonic Energy, his body began to change.


    His skin became covered in fur while his face started to contort. His two-meter tall body began to growrger.


    It took just a few seconds. The handsome-looking, buff-bodied Lord Seis turned into a four-meter tall ram-horned creature with monkey-like features, saber-tooth fangs, and batwings with a span of six meters.


    With his gigantic appearance, Lord Seis became the ginormous centerpiece of the battlefield.


    Lord Seis smiled sinisterly. His red glowing eyes were staring at Diwata Iraya with unfathomable hatred.


    On the other hand, Diwata Iraya showed regret after seeing the transformation of Lord Seis.


    This was his true appearance and not the other way around. That handsome and muscr human-like body was something he acquired after he became a Demon.


    It was the appearance that Diwata Iraya was familiar with.


    "Argrellius." Diwata Iraya opened her mouth. "Do we really have to end things like this?"


    Diwata Iraya''s voice was filled with remorse. She wished that things would have led to this situation where she was going to fight with a former Spirit. Not to mention one of her closest aides in the past.


    "If only that incident did not happen."


    Diwata Iraya murmured after.


    "It''s alreadyte, Iraya." Lord Seis replied. "You kept siding with humans, protecting them from my vengeance. Since you kept it that way, I can only kill you!"


    ROOAR!


    Lord Seis opened his mouth. A beam of ck energy fired towards Diwata Iraya.


    On the other hand, Diwata Iraya stretched her hands forward. Like Lord Seis, she let out her own energy beam, which shed with the enemy''s Demonic Energy.


    The two energies started pushing each other back, trying to overwhelm their opponent.


    "Wow, a Beam-O-War."


    Mark could not help butment as he avoided the sting of the insect around him.


    BANG! BANG! CLICK! SLASH!


    Mei fired her sniper rifle, destroying two insects in her sight. As another tried to attack her from behind, she transformed her sniper rifle into a sword and shed the attacker.


    "Gege, focus."<sub> </sub>


    Mei reprimanded Mark, who was not taking the situation seriously.


    "Alright, alright."


    Mark shrugged as he waved Ignis, killing several insects around him with both the sh and the sword''s ck mes.


    It could not be helped that Mark got distracted by the disy of Diwata Iraya and Lord Seis.


    A Beam-O-War was amon trope in every entertainment genre. Whether it be film or literature, even video games, had a fair share of this trope.


    Still, seeing the trope happen in front of your eyes was an entirely different experience. Mark, an Otaku, could not help but feel amazed, genuinely.


    In any case, it was really not a time to be distracted.


    Mark and Mei were currently flying around, surrounded by hundreds of insects, each oozing with poison and flying as fast as bullets.


    Because of these insects, Legra alone might be able to eliminate all the Spirits and Elementals on the ind. However, that was not possible with Diwata Iraya around.


    Both Diwata Iraya and Lord Seis were strong enough to eliminate each other''s army. However, because of the same reason, the two leaders were destined to fight each other, leaving the warriors to fight by themselves for the most part.


    BOOM!


    A shockwave enveloped the whole ce, disrupting every battle that was happening.


    The beams of energy that Diwata Iraya and Lord Seis continued to release reached their highest point and exploded.


    Nheless, the two did not stop. Diwata Iraya took the initiative to charge forward, conjuring balls of light with her hands. As she flew, however, the gigantic arm of Lord Seis punched at her.


    BAM!


    The punch missed, creating a shockwave that uprooted several trees. Diwata Iraya circled around the arm and shot the balls of light towards Lord Seir''s chest.


    Hitting the body of Lord Sies, the balls of light exploded.


    Unfortunately, aside from burnt strands of fur, the lord of Demons was unscathed.


    Lord Seis, with his free left hand, tried to grab the Diwata flying in front of him. Fortunately, Diwata Iraya managed to rush under the Demon''s arm and wings, circling behind his back.


    WHOOM!


    The sound of energy being gathered sounded and Diwata Iraya threw a ball of lightrger than her body on the back of Lord Seis.


    BAM!


    Lord Sies'' right foot caused the ground to quake as he staggered forwards because of Diwata Iraya''s attack. Unfortunately, the Diwata''s attack was far from enough to hurt the gigantic Demon.


    ***


    While the two leaders fought, their minions were at a full-blown war. For the most part, they still followed the hit and run strategy that Mark told them to do. However, with the higher-ranked Demons joining the fray, skirmishes could not help but happen as the two sides shed here and there.


    BOOM!


    An explosion of mes echoed inside the forest. mes scattered as the me Demon fired balls of mes towards its opponent.


    The me Demon''s opponent... It was no other than the Cursed Armor, Morlkil.


    Being a heavy armor, Morlkil could not dodge the balls of mes. Most of the attacks that the me Demon hurled at Morlkil hit the target.


    However, Morlkil''s body was an armor. It could not feel pain or heat. As such, it continued to charge at the me Demon without any shred of fear.


    The me Demon, having low intelligence, just continuously hurled attacks at the Cursed Armor without any thought of retreating. It did not even notice that Morlkil was unaffected by its attacks.


    Soon, the me Demon was already within the reach of the Cursed Armor''s Greatsword.


    And there, Morlkil unleased wide sh at the me Demon.


    Unfortunately, the fog suddenly blurred Morlkil''s vision. The me Demon vanished in front of it because of the veil of fog. However, the fog did not stop the Cursed Armor''s charge. As if waiting for this moment, Morlkil''s sword released a faint glow.


    SWISH!


    The sword shed through the fog.


    "ARGH!"


    A pained voice echoed as the wall of fog vanished in front of Morlkil. A few meters away in front, the me Demon stood. Beside it was Muggur with his left arm dangling because of a wound.


    "You!"


    Muggur was definitely surprised at this situation. He was actually wounded while he was in his mist form.


    And to respond to Muggur''s anger, Morlkil, with his left hand putting the heavy sword on its shoulder, stretched his right arm forward. Pulling its fingers upwards, Morlkil was provoking the Mist Demon to a fight.


    ***


    At the sky, Mark and Mei''s troubles continued. Well, it was not really called trouble in a sense. Even though the hybrid insects were flying as fast as bullets, Mark and Mei could evade them. If they were about to get hit, Mark would turn into a surge of ck mist while Mei would appear somewhere else with a sh of light.


    Below, Legra was already frustrated at this situation. She was controlling hundreds of her insects to kill two flying Demons. Yet, not to mention killing them, the insects could not even touch a strand of their hair. And instead, her insects were slowly being reduced by the two.


    Like mosquitos pped in flight, Legra''s insects fell one by one. Whether it be Mark''s sword or Mei''s gun, their attacks could urately hit their target.


    Nheless, the situation was a bit annoying.


    "There''s no end to this, huh?"


    Mark grumbled as he shed three insects in one go. Well, it was not like Mark was not at fault here. He was stalling and not taking it seriously. He knew that since these insects had no thoughts of their own and were being controlled, he only needed to attack Legra below.


    In any case, it was not like what Mark was doing was without purpose.


    Since the start when Legra did not die from Mei''s gunshot, he knew that Legra would not die easily. Thus, with his red glowing eyes, he was purposely making the old hag frustrated.


    "ATTACK!"


    Legra roared in frustration as shemanded her insects to all attack Mark and Mei at once.


    Then, Mark''s eyes lit up.


    "Found you!"


    Mark smiled as he turned to a surge of ck mist, charging towards the grub Legra was riding on.

 Chapter 699 The Disgusting Insect, The Death Of The Old Hag

    <strong>Day 151 - 11:51 PM - Mountain Farming Vige, Barangay Mabini, Municipality of Viga, Catanduanes</strong>


    Turning into a wavy surge of ck mist, Mark charged towards the giant grub, which was supposed to be the old hag''s mount.


    It was an entirely unexpected move from Mark. Even Legra, or what she appeared like, was shocked.


    Legra was a Mambabarang, not only a regr one but an elder that lived since mid-colonial times. At that time, because of her fame, the church was already hunting her.


    After a few years of cat and mouse chase, Legra got severely injured by her pursuers. Although she managed to escape soon after, she was already dying.


    On the verge of death, that was when she received enlightenment about her demonic powers.


    Her human body, a bag of useless flesh, was already facing death. At first, Legra thought that it was the end. But then, she came to a realization. If her body was dying, Legra just needed a new one. At that time, she did not know whether it was possible or not. However, she had no choice but to gamble.


    Unfortunately, the only thing Legra had at that time was her Demonic Insect Queen. It was her catalyst in her curses and the medium to control the insects she raised. And to say, it was not a good-looking insect. It was a red-colored maggot about the size of an adult''s fist.


    Nheless, Legra had no choice.


    Invoking a curse with thest ounce of her demonic energy, she bound her soul to her Demonic Insect Queen.


    Usually, bounding a person''s soul on an insect in her possession was meant to curse that person. Once the curse seeds, Legra could use the insect to affect the target with unsightly things. One of those effects was making the victim vomit small creatures like cockroaches, maggots, and worms.


    In Legra''s desperation, she revised the bounding curse. Instead of just connecting her soul and the Demonic Insect Queen, she made it that her soul would be pulled into it instead.


    Using all her energy on the verge of death, Legra cked out.


    After Legra woke up, she was not human anymore. Furthermore, without the restraints of her human body, her abilities became more open to other things.


    Legra developed her abilities, bing not only someone that controls insects but also someone that could create monsters that were not supposed to exist.


    And now, Legra was unexpectedly facing a threatening situation. It was the first time since she almost died years ago.


    Legra did not know how Mark found her. It was true that the old hag was her appearance back when she was human. Now, however, it was only a replica made out of shape-shifting insects Legra created. It also became her vessel as her current body was not something convenient to use for the things she wanted to do.


    When her vessel was shot down by Mei, Legra took a careful move. She left the vessel and hid inside the grub she was riding. It was no problem since she could stillmand the vessel like her own body.


    Seeing Mark charging at the grub where she was hiding, Legra focused her concentration.


    Waves of cursed energy surged out of her body to block Mark. Although it seemed that physical attacks would miss Mark in his current form, there was a possibility that raw energy attacks might hit.


    A reddish surge of light attacked Mark. Sure enough, he was hit.


    The cursed energy came at Mark like a torrential flood. There was no space to sneak into for him to avoid.


    Thus, Mark was forced out of his subspace, appearing midway through his charge towards Legra. Furthermore, because of the cursed energy, Mark could feel the searing pain on his skin. If he was not a Demon, this energy would be enough to give him third-degree burns on his whole body.


    "GOT YOU!"


    p Legra roared as dozens to hundreds of flying insects charged at Mark. The cursed energy froze him in ce for all the insects to attack him at once.</anda>


    The wasp stings of the insects pierced Mark''s body, and the mantis-scythes shed his skin...


    Or that was what was supposed to happen in Legra''s mind.


    Legra''s eyes dted. It was because Mark was smiling.


    A ck surge of energy enveloped Mark, allowing him to turn into ck mist again. Entering his subspace once more, Mark charged towards the grub, unobstructed like a fish in the sea. All of the attacks of the insects did not hit anything but air.


    Legra could not understand what happened. She knew that her cursed energy affected Mark for a brief moment. But what happened?


    Unable to believe it, Legra intensified the cursed energy she was releasing. It was too powerful that even the nearby Demons fell to the ground with their skin turning red as if it was being melted. It was worse for some Spirits and Elementals nearby. They immediately turned into melted corpses before they turned to ashes.


    As for Mei, she already retreated. Mark ordered her to prioritize her safety. In this situation, staying beside Mark would only make her more of a hindrance than a helper. Thus, she could only watch him at the side while eliminating the insects around her.


    Legra was agitated as the surge ck mist continued to charge at her. She was already reaching the limits of her energy reserves. Yet, she was not able to stop Mark at all.


    And for fear of her life, Legra finally decided to flee.


    Legra burst out of the giant grub''s body, revealing a bright red wasp-like creature. It was not big at all, about the size of an open palm of an average adult. It had the appearance of a queen wasp if not for its nightmarish characteristics.


    Although it had a triangr head that a queen wasp had, the twopound eyes it was supposed to have had a human''s instead. Its tiny limbs were actually tiny human arms and legs filled with thorny spikes and had red-colored skin.


    As it appeared to be, although she seeded in her life and death gamble and lived, she turned into an imperfect being. It was no wonder that she used a human-shaped vessel instead of showing this unsightly appearance.


    Legra pped her wings at sonic speeds. Even with her unsightly appearance, her flying speed was still unparalleled. In a second, she was already at the border of the forest with all her flying insects protecting her.


    However, it was of no use.


    Mark appeared before her, blocking her path of escape.


    "NOO!!!"


    That was herst word as the mberge d in mes bisected her disgusting body vertically.


    BOOM!


    Legra''s magical energy exploded, causing a shockwave in the surroundings. Even the mist that was released by her Lord was swept away by the shockwave.


    Mark was almost swept away by the explosion too. It was too sudden, after all. Who would have thought that Legra''s magical energy would explode after her body was destroyed? It seemed that she was forcefully containing magical far greater than her body should be able to.


    pping his wings, Mark managed to stay in ce. He would not waste the chance to get some harvest from this kill.<sub> </sub>


    Legra had a lot of magical energy. It meant more magical energy for the [Psycrystal] to absorb. Maybe, Mark would also be able to get Legra''s ability. Mark was not sure, though, as Legra''s body was thoroughly destroyed by the explosion.


    ***


    The sudden shockwave of energy took the attention of the whole battlefield.


    Lord Seis frowned as he felt Legra''s energy explode. It seemed that even the Lord of Demons was frustrated upon losing a powerful subordinate. Unfortunately, he could not help the old hag at all. His hands were also full with Diwata Iraya before him.


    ''Tsk. It seems Legra was not able to handle a Pureblood.''


    Lord Seis thought.


    However, in his mind, it was a situation that could not be helped at this point. They were caught in a battle before the Witching Hour. Although Legra would still not be able to kill the enemy since they were also Demons, Lord Sies would at least be able to give assistance.


    In any case, a loss was a loss.


    Legra was weaker, and that was why she died.


    ''In any case, it was not like her death was useless.''


    Lord Seis smiled as he shot several balls of Demonic Energy towards his opponent.


    ***


    Legra died. Was it a good thing, though?


    Because of their master''s death, the insects and Tiyanaks lost control. In the first ce, these creatures were nothing but stringed puppets without their own will. Now that the string was cut, they had gone haywire.


    Whether it be Demons or Spirits and Elementals, the insects and Tiyanaks attacked.


    The already chaotic battlefield became even more chaotic with the insects and Tiyanaks rampaging.


    All of it happened while Legra''s vessel slowly disintegrated as the shape-shifting insects began to die one by one.


    ***


    Inside the forest at the east side of the battlefield, Morlkil faced both the me Demon and Muggur. As a Mist Demon, Muggur could switch into a mistlike and physical body at will. Because of that, his forte was scouting and assassination.


    However, it was just...


    Morlkil was the worst enemy for Muggur.


    Although Morlkil was something that had a soul, it was still not a living being. It was a moving set of armor. Something that was not alive at all could not be subjected to any kind of assassination techniques.


    With his sinisterly-looking dagger, Muggur appeared behind Morlkil and stabbed between the gaps of the armor. The attack connected, but of course, it was not effective. Instead, Muggur was almost shed in half as Morlkil counterattacked.


    The me Demon continued to hurl balls of mes towards the Cursed Armor. However, aside from a few scorch marks, Morlkil was still unscathed.


    Muggur and the me Demon were fighting a battle that they could not win.


    Yet, why were they still here? Would it not be better if they just left and ughter weaker enemies?


    The unintelligent me Demon aside, Muggur tried to escape. It was better to use his time on other things that waste it here.


    However, as it was called a "Cursed" Armor, it actually released a curse upon Muggur and the me Demon.


    An illusory chain was tied on the ankle of the two. The other end of the chain was connected to the chest of Morlkil. The two were tied to the Cursed Armor with these chains. The worst part was that the chains were slowly draining their energy. Furthermore, the further away they were from Morlkil, the greater the amount of energy being drained from them.


    As it was a curse, the only way to dispel it was to kill the source. It was what exactly Muggur and the me Demon were doing.


    Unfortunately, it was a hopeless endeavor.


    ''DAMN IT! I shouldn''t have fallen from this guy''s provocation!''


    Muggur cursed in his mind. This situation came about after he became offended by Morlkil''s provocation.


    Nheless, there was nothing they could do but try to destroy this Cursed Armor before their energy was drained entirely.


    Legra was already dead. He would not want to follow her steps at all.


    Turning into mist and appearing above Morlkil, Muggur wanted to knock off the Cursed Armor''s helmet with a kick. Maybe if he could see the insides of the armor, he might find anything that could help with the situation.


    CLANG!


    Muggur seeded. Morlkil''s helmet was flung away by the former''s attack.


    As he was about to look into the armor, however, Muggur could not help but retreat. The Cursed Armor actually managed to attack back even without its head!


    That was when Muggur noticed that the helmet that was flung away actuallynded facing its body. It could clearly see what Muggur was trying to do and stopped him.


    "Damn it!"


    Muggur cursed out loud. But then, hopelessness overwhelmed Muggur. To the side, he saw two figuresnd on the ground.


    "Well, We''re here."


    One figure said.


    It was actually Mark and Mei that was already finished with their business with Legra.

 Chapter 700 Their Last Struggle, The End Of Muggur And The Flame Demon

    <strong>Day 151 - 11:55 PM - Mountain Farming Vige, Barangay Mabini, Municipality of Viga, Catanduanes</strong>


    Muggur cautiously stared at Mark and Mei. These two Demons appearing here was never a good thing for him.


    He wanted to flee.


    As a Mist Demon, Muggur had the confidence to be able to escape this deadly situation. He could turn into mist and scatter as if he had never been in this ce at all.


    Well, that was only if the illusory chains on his ankle were never there.


    Muggur was careless when he fought Morlkil. He thought that it was just an ordinary armor that gained sentience. What he did not know... Morlkil was a set of armor worn by a torturer during medieval times.


    It was an armor bathed with blood, filled with agony and suffering.


    Because of how Morlkil umted these emotion-filled energies, it gained this ability. It was a chain that would tie its enemies and slowly drain them of their ability to resist. It was a chain that would not let go of the target unless Morlkil wanted to or if the target died.


    There was also another way to dispel these chains. It was when Morlkil''s magical energy reserves were emptied. If that happened, Morlkil might also die. Cursed Items became alive and gained sentience due to umted energy, and losing all of it could cause its soul to perish. However, it was the most unlikely thing to happen. After all, Morlkil''s magical energy was being replenished by the chains.


    In other words, there was no escaping these chains.


    Of course, there was no way for Muggur and the me Demon to know all these things. The two struggled to fight the invincible Morlkil, not knowing that their fates were already sealed.


    It might be a long battle since Muggur and the me Demon had a lot of magical energy. The two were high-ranked Demons, after all. Nheless, they would die soon.


    Mark and Mei also did not know that fact. That was why they appeared here to eliminate the possible threat.


    When Mark dered his and Mei''s arrival, he could not help but turn to Morlkil. Although the Cursed Armor could not talk, he could sense its emotional fluctuations. It actually wanted Mark and Mei to leave and help the others.


    It was not hard for Mark to see what was going on. Even though it looked like they were in a stalemate, he could feel the frustration of the Mist Demon in this battle.


    And to Morlkil''s emotion, Mark shook his head.


    "I understand that you can handle this on your own and want us to leave. But we''re running out of time."


    Mark then took out a phone from his ring and showed the screen to Morlkil, pointing at the time.


    They only had five minutes left before midnight.


    Morlkil looked at the phone with confusion. It did not understand what Mark was pointing at. After all, there was no way that a cursed armor would learn to read modern human time measurement. In any case, Morlkil understood when Mark said that they were already running out of time.


    Thus, Morlkil''s empty helmet nodded at Mark.


    Muggur, on the other hand, realized that he only needed to stall for time. It was almost midnight. When the clock struck twelve, he would gain more power and possibly, release himself from the illusory chain.


    Thus, there was only one thing that Muggur could do.


    With a wave of his hand, his figure vanished.


    Muggur turned himself into a fog that enveloped the area. The chain was still connected to him, however. It showed the position of the magical energy that was used to materialize his feet. Nheless, there was no way for attacks to hit him since his physical body was nonexistent.


    The Mist Demon thought he was safe in this form, leaving the me Demon to fend for itself.


    ? Mark looked around. It was kind of hard to see the surroundings because of the thick fog. Not only that it obscured everyone''s vision, but it also applied some sort of illusion.


    It made Mark remember the time they encountered Muggur for the first time when they entered Bato. The fog that enveloped them separated the refugees from his group at that time.


    As it appeared, Muggur was trying to do the same. However, it seemed that because his magical energy was spent fighting Morlkil, it was visibly weaker.


    Looking around, almost everything was blurry. Mark could not even see too far outside the forest.


    This situation, however, made Mark smile.


    "Mei''er, deal with that me guy. But don''t kill him. Removing his arms and legs will do."


    "Yes."


    Mei replied with a nod. Turning her sniper rifle into a sword, her figure shed towards the struggling me Demon.


    The me Demon felt the sudden danger and turned away from Morlkil. It was when it saw Mei charging at it with her sword. Panicked, the me Demon conjured dozens of fist-sized balls of me. Each ball shot towards Mei at fast speeds consecutively.


    Mei''s eyes dted. In front of her, the scene where dozens of fireballs approaching her slowed down.


    With a sh of bright light, Mei disappeared before appearing amidst the balls of mes. As the first shots flew past her, the next ones were about to hit her. That was when Mei swung her sword in front, slicing the balls of me in half.


    [sh Move], then sh. It repeated several times. The range of Mei''s teleport-like ability was short. Thus, she could only do it several times until she reached the enemy.


    While charging at the me Demon, Mei realized that the fog in the surroundings was getting unsteady and wild. However, she did not pay much attention since it was the me Demon who was her target.


    Seeing that Mei was still unscathed despite the barrage of mes it was firing, the me Demon became desperate. It conjured more and more balls of mes of different sizes and shot while retreating backward.


    Unfortunately, its movement could not contend with Mei''s speed. It did not take long and Mei was already in front of it.


    In ast-ditch effort, the me Demon summoned a wall of mes in front of it to stop Mei for a bit. It then turned around to escape.


    But then, what it saw when it turned around was Mei, halfway through a vertical sh of her sword from above.


    "GRROOOAAARR!!!"


    The me Demon''s gargling voice of pain echoed as its left arm was lopped off.


    Of course, it did not end there.


    Mei followed the initial attack with two more shes.


    BAM!


    The limbless torso of the me Demon fell to the ground. Instead of blood, oozing mes leaked out of its cut-off stumps.<sub> </sub>


    Of course, the me Demon was in a lot of pain. Despite that, it tried to squirm around. Its instinct for survival was kicking in. If it was left like this, it would be able to roll its body away. Well, it would not be able to. The chain that was tied to its bisected limb disappeared before appearing on its neck. There was no way for it to escape.


    In any case, it would be troublesome if it managed to roll and squirm to a certain distance. As such, Mei took out two unused swords from her ring. Without hesitation, she stabbed the two shoulders of the me Demon and pinned it to the ground.


    Mei was done with her work. She then turned to Mark.


    Mark stood not far from her. He was stepping on something. It was no one else but Muggur.


    ***


    Mark was hiding his cards as much as possible. And among his cards, the thing he was hiding the most was his Miasma. After all, not everyone was capable of sensing it and could be used as his trump card.


    The environment that Muggur created, allowed Mark to freely use his Miasma without the enemies seeing him. And the worst of the situation, it was one of the things that were the most effective on the Mist Demon.


    Mark waved his hands. A thin veil of Miasma began to mix with the fog.


    Suddenly, the fog became chaotic.


    Mark snickered. Although there was no voice, Mark could feel that Muggur was screaming in pain.


    Muggur was a Mist Demon. It was a kind of Formless Demon and had a body made up of energy. For something with a body like that, Miasma was the worst thing they coulde in contact with, especially the kind of Miasma that Mark controlled.


    The fog began to disperse. Muggur was losing control of his own body and began to scatter. If he did not gather this body, he would disperse for eternity.


    Thus, Muggur was forced to recreate his physical body, only to fall under Mark''s foot.


    Unlike before, Muggur''s body was iplete. His arms and legs were not even fully fleshed out. It was the effect of Miasma on Muggur. Parts of his body were eaten away in the short time that he was exposed to the Miasma that Mark released.


    "H-How..."


    Muggur voiced out. He was already out of energy to retaliate.


    The illusory chain of Morlkil drained a lot of his magical energy. Mark''s Miasma was even worse.


    What Muggur could not understand was how Mark was able to use Miasma while being a Demon with a flesh body.


    Looking at Muggur, whose chest was being stepped on, Mark raised his right hand in front of him. The thin veil of Miasma in the surroundings swirled, making a surge of ck smoke above Mark''s palm. Then, the smoke entered Mark''s hand and vanished.


    "Sorry, but not telling."


    Mark said as he crouched down and grabbed Muggur''s head.


    Muggur struggled, but it was already futile.


    Mark concentrated, and the [Psycrystal] on his wrist began to glow brightly.


    "AAAAHHH!!!!"


    Muggur panicked. He struggled in fear.


    What Mark was doing was far worse than just killing him.


    Muggur''s body was made up of magical energy. And, of course, it was something that the [Psycrystal] could absorb.


    Continuing to struggle, Muggur''s body became more and more transparent.


    A few secondster, Muggur vanished without a trace.


    The only thing left of Muggur was a crystal that popped out of the [Psycrystal].


    When Mark saw the crystal, he was genuinely delighted.


    Mark expected some sort of attributed elemental crystal. After all, that was the mostmon product when Mark was absorbing magical energies from Spirits, Elementals, and Demons.


    Yet, the crystal from Muggur was asrge as a marble and actually had a misty glowing orb inside it.


    It was a magical ability crystal. Of course, there was no way that Mark would not be happy at this unexpected harvest. As for the old hag, it only gave him a ckish red-colored crystal. It was even small. That was why Mark did not expect too much.


    On the side, Morlkil looked at Mark with both amazement and fear. Amazed because Mark took care of Muggur fast and without problems. Nheless, it was afraid since it was unable to understand how Mark did it.


    Well, Mark did his best to hide his Miasma, after all. Only Muggur understood what happened to him.


    Not paying attention to Morlkil, Mark approached Mei and her prey. As Mark arrived, he gave the finishing blow on the me Demon and absorbed the remnant energy from its body. Unfortunately, all he managed to get was a me attribute crystal. Well, it was already a good thing since it was a rare item.


    There were only a few fire element magical creatures that they encountered since the start.


    BOOOM!!!


    Suddenly, a loud boom echoed. Mark and Mei could not help but turn their heads towards the direction it came from.


    "HAHAHAHAHA!"


    That was when they heard the boisterousugh of Lord Seis.


    "It looks like there are only a few of my people are left. How frustrating."


    Although Lord Seis said that, he did not appear or sounded frustrated at all.


    "It did not matter." Lord Seis dered. "I will make use of their sacrifices!"


    Lord Seis roared. The ck sky turned red. The surroundings felt eerie.


    It was when everyone realized...


    Midnight had struck.

 Chapter 701 The Storm Of Energy, The Unique Ability Of Lord Seis

    <strong>Day 152 - 12:03 AM - Catanduanes</strong>


    As midnight struck, everyone on the whole ind witnessed a night they had never seen before.


    The people in the Military Settlement in the southwest...


    The members of the Neutral and Peaceful Factions of the Rebels on the north...


    The exiles of the Demons in the east...


    And even the Demons left in their base in the southeast...


    ...All of them went out in the open to gaze at the ominous disy in the sky.


    The night should have been dark. It was supposed to be that way, especially on this provincial ind. However, the entire ind was now being illuminated by a red lighting from the sky.


    In the sky, the thick dark clouds had begun to turn reddish as they spread out across the ind and the bodies of water around it.


    It was an ominous sight that made most of the people that witnessed it afraid.


    In the Military Settlement, the General called for an emergency meeting. Everyone important, even the politicians were called out due to the unexined phenomenon.


    It was not only the people in charge of the Military Settlement that was on the move. Even the officers and important people among the two remaining factions of the rebels called a meeting of their own.


    Even the exiles in the east, the people closest to the center of the phenomenon, could not help but think of any possible measures.


    The only different ones were the Demons in Bato. Witnessing the ominous sight in the sky, they all kneeled and prostrated.


    The humans were in panic. None of them knew what was happening. In the meetings of the different factions of the ind, everyone was in a heated discussion.


    But then, another strange sight came before them as a ck-skinned child appeared in each meeting room in the different parts of the ind.


    Of course, due to their agitation to the unknown situation, some of them took threatening measures to the child. Backing away from the child, they aggressively asked who they were. Unfortunately, the children did not open their mouths. It was not like they could not. But even if they spoke, the humans would not understand them.


    That silence, however, was taken offensively by some. A strange ck-skinned child wordlessly standing in one ce. Especially in a room that they were not supposed to be in. It was a scene often seen in horror movies.


    Some people took out their guns. The idiots even fired. However, were they unable to do anything. An invisible wall blocked their bullets before falling to the ground.


    The only ce that took the event differently was the Neutral Faction of the rebels. It was true that some people almost took out their weapons. However, Madam Grace, their fortune teller, told them to stand down.


    Unable to do something to the strange children, they finally took their time to observe.


    Of course, cautiously.


    Then, at the same time, the children took out a crystal ball. No, rather than a crystal ball, it was more like a crystal flower.


    But then, the children shattered the crystal ball by their feet.


    Another surprise came as a figure of a beautiful woman appeared from the shattered shards of the crystal. The woman with a flower crown and a white dress stared at everyone in the room.


    Of course, the people felt wary.


    "Fret not." The woman spoke. "We have no ill intentions."


    Well, the people did not believe her immediately.


    "I am Diwata Iraya, the Diwata protecting this ind for generations."


    The woman introduced herself to the people before her. It led to different reactions, of course.


    Some tried to ask questions, but Iraya shook her head.


    "I''m not here to answer all of your specific questions. I''m just here to say that the cause of what was happening on the ind was the Lord of the Demons that dwelled in the south. We are amidst fighting him, and I dere that none of you should step into the fray. We know that you humans might send people to investigate the situation, but it better not happen. All you have to focus on are the iing threat from the bodies of water around the ind."


    "That''s all I have to say."


    And there, the figure vanished. Unexpectedly, the children were already gone, and none of the people noticed at all. Some tried to pick and see the shattered remains of the crystals but the shards soon vanished like magic.


    The humans were left confused. There were a lot of questions that were left unanswered.


    However, if what that Diwata said was true, it meant that there were strong forces currently fighting on this ind.


    Nheless, everyone was confused. What was the iing threat that she spoke about?


    However, it did not take long at all.


    rms rang from all three human settlements.


    Once more, the infected were rising from the sea.


    ***


    <strong>Day 152 - 12:09 AM - Mountain Farming Vige, Barangay Mabini, Municipality of Viga, Catanduanes</strong>


    "Hah."


    Diwata Iraya inhaled deeply as she opened her eyes.


    "Done?"


    A voice came in front of her. It was Mark that was standing before her.


    "It''s done. I informed the humans of the iing threat and not to try and investigate what was happening here."


    Diwata Iraya replied.


    "Good then. It''s better if none of them appear here and strengthen that guy even more."


    Mark said with a frown.


    Since the phenomenon in the sky covered the whole ind, it was very likely for humans to send people to investigate. However, they could not let that happen right now.


    It was because of Lord Seis.


    Currently, all the Demons on the battlefield were annihted together with the majority of the forces under Diwata Iraya. However, it was neither Mark nor Diwata Iraya that was the culprit.


    All of it was done by Lord Seis himself.


    No one knew why he killed his own minions at first.


    The only thing Mark and the others saw was that everyone was swallowed by the torrential storm of energy that Lord Seis released.


    Now, that storm of energy enveloped the whole battlefield, forcing everyone to retreat outside its vicinity.<sub> </sub>


    As for those that were swallowed by the storm, they all turned to unrecognizable pieces of flesh before turning to dust.


    The storm of energy continued to rage, disabling everyone froming close. It was not wrong to describe it as a tornado about a kilometer in diameter. The only difference was there was no wind at all. All everyone could see was a dark mist surging around at fast speeds.


    At the center of the storm, Lord Seis floated still.


    That was when Mark noticed. Lord Seis was absorbing the energy of everything in the vicinity. He was able to notice it since he had Miasma which had the same ability.


    The answer became clear.


    Lord Seis was raising an army not because he needed them to fight. He only needed them as disposable batteries that could give him the magical energy he needed in the future.


    And now was one of the times that he needed it. It was because aside from Diwata Iraya, a few more strong beings were present.


    This answered the question as to why Lord Seis did not seem too affected by the death of his subordinates. Even at their death, he could take their energies for his own.


    With Lord Seis absorbing these energies, Mark told Diwata Iraya to inform every settlement on the ind not to approach this ce. It was not a desirable situation if humans came were because of their curiosity and ended up bing fuel for Lord Seis.


    Of course, it came with the risk of exposing Diwata Iraya''s existence. But for Mark that knew that the fusion of Dimensions would happen soon, this thing did not matter anymore.


    "Do we really need to do that?" Diwata Iraya asked Mark. "I don''t think that humans would be able to reach this ce in a short time."


    "Many humans gained various uncanny abilities," Mark replied. "Who knows if they had someone capable of reaching this ce before we could even finish the fight?"


    At those words, Diwata Iraya fell silent.


    It was true. With the current situation, it would be hard to say that they would be able to finish Lord Seis quickly.


    "In any case," Mark turned to Diwata Iraya. "You never told me that that guy had this kind of troublesome ability."


    And to that question, Diwata Iraya frowned.


    "I''m sorry, but I had no idea either. The past Lords definitely did not have this ability. It might be something that Argrellius awakened on his own."


    Mark could only shrug. In the first ce, this was the first time that Lord Seis and Diwata Iraya fought each other. Lord Seis had not been the Lord of Demons on this ind for too long. It just had been about forty years since he became the Lord. At this time, most magical races were already in hiding, and there was no way that they would be able to have a direct sh like this without being found out by humans.


    All the information that Diwata Iraya told Mark was about the past Lords of Demons. After all, being the Lord of Demons was not just a title for the strongest. It was actually being inherited from person to person. In this case, the abilities of the previous Lords were being transferred to the next one.


    Since Diwata Iraya did not have any idea about what was happening right now, it was very likely that it was something that Lord Seis learnedtely.


    In any case, it was a rather powerful ability. If Lord Seis continued this and managed to absorb all the energy that created the storm, his abilities would rise further. Probably, he would be even more powerful than Diwata Iraya.


    And, of course, Mark could not let that happen.


    "Boss!"


    At this time, Berrak arrived, riding on his Thunderbird.


    "Have they retreated?"


    Mark asked.


    "Yes!" Berrak replied. "They were brought away to the Sanctuary."


    Sanctuary. It was what Berrak call Diwata Iraya''s Domain.


    Mark made everyone retreat when Lord Seis began rampaging. It would be bad if any of them got caught with the energy storm. The only ones left here were him, Mei, Diwata Iraya, and unexpectedly, Morlkil.


    "Then you should go back."


    Mark told Berrak to return.


    "No, I''m staying." Berrak shook his head. "I might not be able to help to fight that Demon. At least, I can provide support. Remember, I might be a summoner, but I also have other magical skills."


    "Do what you want."


    Mark said, making Berrak smile.


    "The question here is, what are we going to do?"


    Diwata Iraya said with a frown.


    Fighting Lord Seis was one thing. However, they still needed to get past this energy storm. Unfortunately, none of them had the ability to do that. Everything that the energy storm touched turned to minced meat instantly. Although they were stronger beings, the most that they could wasst for a few seconds.


    "The only thing we can do is wait." Diwata Iraya added. "But at that time, it would be questionable if we can still fight him.


    "We might not be able to enter." Mark smiled. "But it did not mean that we can''t do anything."


    Mark then turned to Mei.


    "Look for a good position and prepare to snipe. I''ll give the signal."


    "Okay."


    Mei nodded and flew away.


    Diwata Iraya then approached him.


    "What are you going to do?"


    "Just watch and prepare to fight."


    Mark said as he pped his wings. He then flew forward to the storm andnded just in front of it.


    And there, Mark released his trump card.


    Diwata Iraya and Berrak were shocked. Being people that had a strong connection with magical energy, it was impossible for them to not recognize what Mark was doing.


    At the ground, Mark smiled with both hands stretched forward.


    Miasma began to envelop the outer perimeter of the storm while the [Psycrystal] on his wrist began to absorb the energy crazily.


    The storm was made of rampaging energy. What Lord Seis was absorbing was also energy.


    And to Mark that had two means of absorbing energy...


    "It is a grand buffet."


    Mark grinned.

 Chapter 702 Transformations, The First Clash After The Energy Storm

    <strong>Day 152 - 12:09 AM - Mountain Farming Vige, Barangay Mabini, Municipality of Viga, Catanduanes</strong>


    Inside the storm of energy, Lord Seis''rge body floated steadily. The spiraling energy was surging towards his body. As it did, his ape-like body was noticeably getting smaller and smaller.


    Like Diwata Iraya thought, this ability was something that Lord Seis gained after he inherited the powers of the previous Lord of Demons on this ind.


    It was an ability that allows Lord Seis to absorb the energy of the dead.


    Whether it be humans, Demons, animals, Spirits, or Elementals, it did not matter. It was an ability without too many restrictions.


    Unfortunately, Lord Seis could not do it on arge scale until now. If he could, he would have stepped into Deityhood years ago.


    However, as shown now, doing it on arge scale would evoke noticeable phenomenons in the surroundings.


    The red sky, the energy storm, and even the strong magical fluctuations, just one of it would attract danger towards Lord Seis.


    Although a Lower Diety could kill hundreds to thousands of humans in one move, they were still not impervious to current human weaponry.


    Besides, the protectors of Earth, the Eyes, would not let it happen.


    But now, it did not matter.


    Lord Seis might be able to kill Diwata Iraya in a long fight. However, Mark and Mei were also present. Once the three joined forces to fight him, he would be on the losing side.


    Thus, before the fight started, he used his strongest card.


    With his eyes closed, Lord Seis absorbed the torrential energy. This violent energy that came from more than two thousand Demons and a hundred Spirits and Elementals would be more than enough to make him win this fight. Not to mention that there were also hundreds of insects and Tiyanaks that Legra created.


    His whole body felt hot. It was as if Lord Seis was burning and was definitely painful. However, for Lord Seis, it was proof that he was changing.


    "Hmm?" But when Lord Seis felt the energy around him, he frowned. "Howe that the energy is lower than expected?"


    It was strange. After all, Lord Seis had about a hundred high-rank Demons that he sacrificed. But the most important were Legra, Muggur, and the me Demon. The magical energy from each of those three was more than the energy of the high-rank Demonsbined.


    Yet, not only Legra''s magical energy was too thin, but he could not feel any shred of energy from Muggur or the me Demon.


    Lord Seis wanted to know what happened. However, he still needed to focus on absorbing the energy he collected.


    Nheless, although Lord Seis was still confident that the energy he gathered was enough to win this fight, it was still concerting that arge portion of the energy that was supposed to be his vanished into nothingness.


    While he continued to absorb the energy, Lord Seis could not help but smile. He knew that his body was getting smaller the more energy he absorbed. Nheless, he was not concerned about his size. Although being a gigantic being had an intimidating appearance, it had a lot of inconvenient points.


    Being in an efficient body with an intimidating presence was far better. Besides, the body of Lord Seis bing smaller was proof that his body was being reconstructed. His muscles were being remodeled to contain thisrge amount of energy.


    There was nothing for Lord Seis toin about his size changing.


    Aside from his size, there were other noticeable changes in his body.


    The dark brown fur on the body of Lord Seis was turning grayish white. His ears were bing pointed. On his forehead, two horns started growing. Even the bones on his body began to distort and protrude out of his body. And although it could not be seen right now, his eyes also changed color to a reddish hue.


    "Huh?"


    Suddenly, amidst his transformation, Lord Seis sensed something strange.


    "Is it just me, or the energy suddenly got thinner?"


    Of course, Lord Seis was extremely confused.


    With the amount of energy he gathered, it would take him at least thirty minutes to absorb it in the shortest time. If not, and he needed more time, it would take him about an hour or more in the longest.


    Because of that, the energy would only get noticeably thinner at the mid-phases of his absorption of this energy storm.


    Yet, he had just started taking in this energy, and the energy was already thinning out rapidly.


    Lord Seis stimted his energy absorption. Sure enough, be absorbed energy faster than before. However, it was far slower than he expected.


    Finally, Lord Sies could not hold it back anymore. Although it would impact his concentration and speed of absorption, he opened his eyes to look around.


    That was when he realized. The energy storm he gathered was already surrounded by ck misty fog.


    Lord Seis was startled badly.


    "What in the world?"


    He looked around. That was when he noticed that the ck mist was actually slowly eating away the energy storm.


    That was when he realized...


    "Impossible!" Lord Seis roared. "Howe that there''s a thick veil of Miasma in this ce!"


    The emotions of Lord Seis began to rage. This Miasma would definitely mess with his ns.


    In the first ce, howe that a thick veil of Miasma appeared out of nowhere?


    "THIS CAN''T BE HAPPENING! NO!"


    Lord Seis continued to roar as he frantically took in more and more energy into his body. He did not bother to refine it while absorbing. He just gobbled it all into his body.


    Unfortunately, it was of no use. The thick veil of Miasma at the energy faster than he could absorb.


    Another minute passed. The spiraling energy could not be called a storm any longer. A breeze would even be an exaggeration.


    Lord Seis was heavily disgruntled.


    The transformation that his body had undergone was far iplete. From the energy that Lord Seis gathered, he only managed to absorb less than half of it.


    The seven-meter tall body that Lord Seis had only shrunk to three meters. His horns grew too short, and the bony thorns and armor on his body did not fully develop.


    Nheless, the demeanor and pressure that Lord Seis exuded were far different.


    Unlike before, where he only looked like a scary gigantic monkey, he definitely looked more like a Demon Lord now.


    It was a pity, however. Lord Seis failed to reach Deityhood because of theck of energy.


    Soon, the spiraling energy was entirely consumed.


    At the center of the veil of Miasma, Lord Seis pped his wings, gritting his teeth to the point that his gums bled.


    There was no way that Lord Seis could ept this oue. Finally, he lost his cool.


    Without any energy to devour, the Miasma began to recede.


    Lord Seis noticed something. The Miasma was receding to a single point instead of scattering as it was supposed to be.<sub> </sub>


    The red eyes of Lord Seis dted as he stared at the point where the Miasma receded to.


    "YOU-! YOU BASTARD!"


    Lord Seis roared, causing a shockwave the shook the entire mountain.


    It was unbelievable. It should not be possible for a Demon with a physical body to control and absorb Miasma. It was a feat that could only be seen from Formless and Miasmic Demons.


    Yet, a Pureblooded Demon with a physical body actually used Miasma to snatch the energy he gathered.


    With the evidence in front of him, there was no way that Lord Seis would be able to deny it.


    "DIE!!!"


    Lord Seis roared as he shot towards Mark below.


    BOOOM!!!


    A simple punch from Lord Seis the entire hundred-meter terrain around him into ruins. There was a fifty-meter-wide and two-meter deep crater with Lord Seis at the center.


    Unfortunately, as if mocking him, his punch did not reach the target like how he did not reach Deityhood.


    ***


    "Whoops."


    Mark voiced out as he turned into ck mist in front of the punch from Lord Seis.


    "This guy... I managed to snatch more energy than he could absorb, but he''s still on a different level now."


    From the ce, Lord Seis floated and up to where Mark stood, it only took a blink of an eye. It was as if Lord Seis moved instantly. Even his punch was too strong to affect a wide area.


    "Prepare to fight!"


    Mark said as he appeared beside Diwata Iraya.


    There was no time for the Diwata to respond. Lord Seis already looked up and opened his mouth. There, a beam asrge as an adult arm shot towards Mark.


    Like what happened before, Diwata Iraya replied to the attack of Lord Seis in kind. She stretched out her hand and shot a beam of her own.


    However...


    Diwata Iraya''s beam was instantly torn apart and the attack of Lord Seis shot towards the Diwata without any resistance.


    Without warning, Mark grabbed Diwata Iraya''s shoulder and dragged her out of the way. The two appeared several meters away from where they were before.


    "Thank you!"


    Diwata Iraya said to Mark. She was a bit nervous as she did not expect that her beam was torn like paper.


    "Thank meter! He''sing!"


    Mark replied as he pushed away Diwata Iraya.


    His eyes glowed from red to violet, watching the iing figure of Lord Seis. Mark saw that another punch wasing. Thus, he dared try to face it directly.


    Adrenaline, [Blood Metal Armor], [Blood Enhancement], Mark poured everything in his right arm as its veins began to glow brightly. He did not forget his wings, also causing them to glow.


    Then, Mark shot towards the iing Lord Seis.


    BOOOM!!!


    Two fists collided with each other.


    A powerful shockwave shook the air, forcing Diwata Iraya to retreat away. Even Berrak that was already circling on his Thunderbird in the sky felt the shockwave from two hundred meters away.


    Mark was thrown up to the sky, reaching about three hundred meters before he managed to stabilize his flight.


    On the other hand, Lord Seis barely moved from the point of impact.


    "Ignorant!" Lord Seis mocked. "Although I don''t know how you can control Miasma to snatch the energy that is supposed to be mine, you are crazy to think that you can contend with my strength!"


    Of course, Lord Seis was delighted. From that collision, the arm of Mark was ruptured, and some of his bones were broken. The Lord of Demons was not staring at Mark''s dangling arm, confident that it would be a liability from this time onwards.


    Diwata Iraya turned at Mark. She also thought that he was crazy for shing with Lord Seis like that. Now, his arm would be unusable.


    At the sky, although Berray would not dare say that Mark was crazy, he was confused as to why he would do such action and got injured instead.


    But then, the eyes of all the three widened.


    "Ignorant? Crazy?" Mark smirked. "I''d rather be called daring instead."


    Mark then started stretching his newly regenerated arm. It was as good as it was never injured in the first ce.


    "But I admit..." Mark''s eyes turned serious. "It would be dangerous if I don''t go all out."


    At his words, the air in the surroundings began to shake.


    Mark began to transform into his [Demonic Form].


    Fangs, horns, and his hair grew. The markings on his wrists and neck began to cover his whole body, including parts of his face.


    Diwata Iraya, Berrak, and even Lord Seis were surprised as Mark did not only reveal his Miasma and absurd regeneration. Now, he even disyed a Demon transformation.


    It was not unexpected that the three were surprised. Lord Seis transformed after absorbing that torrential energy. On the other hand, Mark could actually do something simr at will.


    But then...


    "Huh?"


    Mark became confused. He could not help but feel the sensation on his back.


    "What the heck."


    Now, Mark was also surprised.


    Out of nowhere, another pair of wings sprouted on his back during his transformation.


    Furthermore, unlike his transformation from before, now, his wings were also covered with ck markings like the ones on his body.

 Chapter 703 Besieging, The Explosive Battle In The Mountains

    <strong>Day 152 - 12:16 AM - Mountain Farming Vige, Barangay Mabini, Municipality of Viga, Catanduanes</strong>


    "Seriously, what the hell happened?"


    Mark was baffled by this sudden change.


    Usually, every time his abilities evolved, it would be a painful experience. It was not only once. Mark had experienced it several times already.


    Yet this time, the only pain he felt was when his arm got broken and during his transformation.


    ''Wait... Transformation?''


    Mark had a sudden thought.


    What if this change only happened in his transformed state? Now that he remembered, he gained a partial state of this transformation after absorbing the Deity of Bloodshed that tried to take over his body. Then, it fully awakened when he awakened his bloodline and turned into a Pureblood Blood Demon.


    At both times, Mark did not remember it to be extremely painful, unlike when evolving or gaining new abilities.


    It was because this transformation was more or less an innate form of his body for being a Blood Demon.


    "WHAT ARE YOU SPACING OUT FOR?!"


    A roar came towards Mark, along with a huge figure charging at him.


    "Watch out!"


    Diwata Iraya''s voice followed suit along with a blinding sh of light. She shot another beam of magical energy, trying to intercept Lord Seis.


    "F*CK OFF!"


    Lord Seis roared as he shot a beam from his mouth.


    Like before, the white beam was torn effortlessly by the ck beam. Diwata Iraya could only retreat hurriedly, unable to hinder Lord Seis in the slightest.


    BAM!


    Lord Seis punched Mark, causing the air to shake fiercely.


    With his outstretched arm, Lord Sies'' eyes dted. His punch hit nothing but air.


    Lord Seis felt a huge threat from Mark and charged with an attack. It was unfortunate because, against Mark, he could not use his energy attacks. It would be a foolish move to use energy attacks on someone capable of controlling Miasma.


    Even so, Lord Seis arrived almost instantly in front of Mark and attacked. He was sure that it would connect. Yet, Mark vanished without him noticing at all.


    "Who said that I''m spacing out?" A voice came from behind the Lord of Demons. "I just had something in mind. It''s not like I''m not paying attention."


    Lord Seis immediately turned around with his armshing at Mark. On the other hand, Mark effortlessly avoided the attack by somersaulting in the air before counterattacking with a kick.


    ck mes suddenly covered Mark''s right foot and connected with Lord Seis'' chest with a loud boom.


    CRASH!


    The ground below was even more destroyed as the huge body of Lord Seis plummetted down.


    "Ooops, I did a Kuuga kick by ident."


    Mark said with an amazed tone.


    He opened and closed his hand while staring at it. Mark could feel overflowing energy inside him. Even though he absorbed energy with his Miasma before, he never felt anything like this.


    BOOM!


    An explosion suddenly urred below, making dust and debris shot everywhere. From that explosion, Lord Seis shot up towards Mark, turning into a blur that was very hard to see.


    Mark, however, could see the guy clearly. Unfortunately, it seemed that while his kick took Lord Seis out of the air for a bit, he was not hurt at all. The kick he gave only left a slight burn mark on the fur of the Lord of Demons.


    "DIE!!!"


    Lord Seis roared once again. This time, it was not just a simple punch. He was exerting pressure with his aura towards Mark.


    Mark felt stiff. Even in this transformation, the pressure from a being near Deityhood was not something he could nonchntly ignore.


    Nheless,pared to the pressure that the Deity of Bloodshed, The Great One, and even Chimetrice exuded, no,pared to the Eyes, the Lord Seis was nothing.


    It was one advantage that Mark had after getting in contact with powerful beings.


    Thus, even if the pressure from Lord Seis had some effect, it would not be able to stop Mark.


    BLAM!


    Mark opened his wings. The markings on his body began to exude a reddish glow. Suddenly, his wings were covered with ck, hazy mist.


    Lord Seis arrived and attacked.


    But the only thing that the Lord of Demons hit was a trail of ck mist as Mark flew away like fish in the sea.


    "Seriously, this feels strange," Mark murmured as he nced at the reddish glow on his body. "But... it doesn''t feel bad at all."


    p Unfortunately, Mark was aware that while it seemed that his movement and flying speed grew exponentially, he stillcked the physical strength to contend with Lord Seis.</anda>


    Well, it was not like he nned to do so. Mark only did it once to gauge the physical strength that Lord Seis had.


    And to say, one slight mistake could bring severe injuries to him. No matter how brave and daring Mark was, he would not gamble letting Lord Seis hit his body.


    It would not be surprising if a single punch from Lord Seis tore a hole in Mark''s body. That was the difference in their physical strength.


    In any case, Mark did not n on a physical fight. Furthermore, he was not fighting alone.


    BANG!


    PSSSK!!!


    "ACK!!!"


    Lord Seis grunted in pain. Now, there was a bloody gash on his shoulder.


    With Mark''s signal, Mei, who was waiting for the opportunity, opened fire.


    Mei aimed for the left wing of Lord Seis. To be exact, at the part of the wing that ovepped with his heart.


    However, it seemed that Lord Seis sensed the attack and tried to evade it. That was why the bullet hit his shoulder instead. Even so, it seemed that the magically enhanced bullets from Mei''s sniper rifle could not even pierce his body. The bloody gash that he received was nothing more than a scratch.


    Even so, it did not mean that Lord Seis was unaffected. At first, he thought that he should only watch out for Mark and Diwata Iraya. Now, there was also Mei that was hiding somewhere.


    Lord Seis turned to where the shot came from. Unfortunately, Mei was already a seasoned sniper. Knowing that her shot did not kill the target, she immediately made her move and left her initial position. Furthermore, with her movement ability, there was no way that her traces would be followed easily.


    But then, when Lord Seis that it was just three people, another attack came.


    SLASH!


    A gust of wind apanied by invisible des blew towards Lord Seis.


    Like Mei''s shot, the wind des barely did anything. Nheless, Lord Seis could not pinpoint where the attack came from aside from iting from somewhere below.


    Of course, it would be hard. Compared to the usual Sylphs, Amihan that started to receive scientific education about wind and air was not someone to ignore.


    And then...


    CRACKLE!


    Another attack hit Lord Seis out of nowhere.


    Up in the sky, Berrakmanded his Thunderbird to shoot a lightning bolt towards the enemy.


    Unlike the attacks from Mei and Amihan, however, the lightning attack from Berrak seemed to have affected Lord Seis more.<sub> </sub>


    It was not surprising. In some myths, Lightning had a bit of purifying energy that was effective against evil beings.


    "RAAAHHH!!! ALL OF YOU PESTS!!!"


    Of course, Lord Seis was infuriated.


    The Lord of Demons of this ind was actually being toyed with by ants.


    His thoughts were not wrong. Among everyone here, only Diwata Iraya could be considered as the one in the same standing with him. Diwata Iraya was a Deity. Unfortunately, she was a Deity of Nature and someone with abilities not oriented for battle. That was why she came short against Lord Seis in terms of fighting prowess.


    Yet, he was being besieged by the ants he could crush with his raw physical strength.


    Being the only one exposed, Lord Seis aimed for Berrak and his Thunderbird.


    pping his wings, Lord Seis was about to charge towards the target in the sky.


    "Oi, don''t forget that I''m here."


    A voice entered the ears of Lord Seis from behind.


    Suddenly, a searing heat hit the back of Lord Seis, causing him to plummet to the ground once more.


    BAM!


    Another crater formed on the ground as Lord Seis brutally crashed.


    This time, Mark was not holding back with his kick any longer. Aside from the mes and the markings on his body glowing red, even his veins all over his body started to glow.


    But even so...


    "Tsk." Mark clicked his tongue. "This guy is like a world raid boss."


    It was a reasonableint.


    The arsenal of abilities of Lord Seis might becking. In fact, aside from his voice shockwaves and energy beams, the only magical ability he showed was that energy storm. However, the body of Lord Seis was unbelievably resilient.


    At this point, it would not be surprising if it needed a nuclear missile to instantly kill this guy. No, Lord Seis might even be able to survive a single nuclear strike. At least two would be needed.


    In any case, Lord Seis was having a hard time fighting multiple enemies at the same time.


    CRASH!


    Lord Seis stood up from the crater, ring at Mark.


    He was still infuriated. However, he knew that this battle was going against his favor. The enemies were like cockroaches. Although he could squish under his foot, they were excellent in scurrying about to avoid him.


    Thus, although it might be shameful, Lord Seis decided.


    BOOM!


    Lord Seis punched the ground, causing dust and debris to scatter in a wide area. Then, Lord Seis charged...


    ...Towards the forest.


    Lord Sies decided to escape. He was not stupid to fight a losing battle. It was not toote to get revenge in the future. At that time, he would be even more powerful. Powerful enough to squish these ants between his fingers.


    But then...


    "Don''t think that I''ll let you escape."


    A voice entered his ear from upfront.


    The wind suddenly blew strong, blowing away all the dust that scattered in the air.


    There, Mark stood on the way of Lord Seis. It was as if he knew that the Lord of Demons would escape.


    "I wanted to conceal some cards since there are pests watching but it''s better showing them than letting you escape."


    Mark said with a frown.


    Lord Seis did not try to understand what Mark was saying. Instead, he concentrated on trying to escape.


    The Lord of Demons charged towards Mark.


    There was no way that Mark would be able to receive his attack. He would not have any other choice but to dodge.


    Unexpectedly, Mark did not dodge.


    With his whole body glowing red, Mark received the punch of Lord Seis with both hands.


    CRACK!


    Sure enough, Mark''s arms got injured. However, he did not get thrown away and managed to take his stand.


    BAM!


    At this point, several attacks rained towards Lord Seis that were caught by Mark.


    Several gunshots echoed.


    Wind des flew.


    A Lightning Bolt fell from the sky.


    A Light Energy Beam shot down.


    "RAAAAAHHH!!!"


    Of course, even if his body was resilient, he was not numb to pain. Getting hit by enchanted bullets from Mei, [Wind des] from Amihan, [Lightning Bold] from Berrak, and an [Energy Beam] from Diwata Iraya consecutively would hurt bad.


    Suddenly, a magic circle appeared under Lord Seis. It started to sap his energy out.


    Furthermore, a chain shot out of nowhere, tying the other arm of Lord Seis.


    Lord Seis roared in pain. He tried his best to resist and escape from Mark''s grasp.


    However, Lord Seis noticed several sources of light in front of him.


    That was when he saw two crystals floating behind Mark, glowing brightly. One was white while the other was green. It gave out the feeling of light and wind energy consecutively.


    Furthermore, Mark''s body also began to release two types of energy. [ck mes] started to soar out of his body, apanied by crackling streaks of [ck Lightning].


    Danger. Lord Seis'' instincts were telling that he was in extreme danger.


    In an attempt to retaliate, Lord Seis opened his mouth, shooting a beam of energy at Mark at point-nk range.


    However, as Lord Seis expected. An energy attack had no effect on Mark.


    Like a hungry predator, a veil of Miasma swallowed the energy beam that Lord Seis released.


    The pressure around Mark was suffocating. Even for Lord Seis, it felt harder to breathe.


    Finally, Mark released four attacks at the same time.


    BOOOM!!!


    A huge explosion swallowed Mark and Lord Seis. The shockwave from the explosion reached several mountains and blew the clouds away.


    Tons of trees were uprooted, and even Diwata Iraya that was floating nearby was swept away by the wind.


    Veiled with thick dust and debris, the conclusion was yet to be revealed.

 Chapter 704 Almost Forty Years Ago, The Story Of A Manangilaw Named Argrellius

    <strong>Day 152 - 12:21 AM - Mountain Farming Vige, Barangay Mabini, Municipality of Viga, Catanduanes</strong>


    The explosion caused the dark clouds to be swept away from the sky. While the shockwave only reached several mountains, the sound was heard all over the ind of Catanduanes.


    If not for the absence of a mushroom cloud, some people would think that a nuclear explosion happened nearby.


    Unfortunately, the Military Settlement in Codon could not bother about the sound at all. Like the Diwata had warned them, all of the remaining infected under the gulf began toe ashore. However, there were no highly intelligent [Leader Types] left to lead the infected. Although it was dangerous and the soldiers could not let their guards down, it was not too troublesome, unlike the previous instance.


    In the other coastal areas, infected marine animals also began toe ashore. Fortunately, not many of them were capable of moving onnd. Because of this, the supposed infected free ind was bing infested by them once more.


    ***


    At the ground zero of the explosions, dust, smoke, and other debris caused the visibility all over the area lowered to zero. It was not a surprising sight considering the intensity of the explosions.


    Inside the thick smoke and dust, Mark stood still. Once more, his body was ragged to the bone. Although his [Blood Metal], [Swift Bone Armor], and even Crimson managed to protect the majority of his body, the impact of the explosion still gave Mark painful internal injuries.


    PUFF!


    Mark vomited out blood. His injuries were not fatal, but it was still severe. He might need to rest for several minutes to recover from this.


    Still...


    Mark stared at what his hands were holding.


    "What a cockroach-like vitality..."


    On his hands, Mark held onto a gigantic severed arm. It was no other than the arm of Lord Seis that Mark held to hold him in ce.


    As for the body, however, it was nowhere to be found.


    Did Lord Seis die and turn to dust because of the explosion?


    Mark sighed. Unfortunately, no.


    "MASTER!!!"


    A tiny cry was heard,ing closer to Mark''s position. He then sensed that it was not only Amihan. Even Mei wasing.


    "Haah."


    Mark sighed as he threw away the arm he was still holding. He sat down on the ground with his aching body.


    At this moment, Crimson detached himself from Mark and appeared on his shoulder. The little guy was also worried about Mark.


    "Ah, right. You two, return inside."


    Mark said, ncing at the two dimmed crystals unsteadily floating above his shoulders.


    Both the [Photokinesis Mental Crystal] and [Wind Maniption Mental Crystal] had their energies used up entirely. The two would be unusable for a day or two from now.


    SWOOSH!


    Suddenly, the dust and smoke were all blown away from Mark''s vicinity. Without a doubt, it was Amihan''s work.


    "MASTER!"


    Amihan charged at Mark, extremely worried. She hugged Mark''s head, crying.


    "Gege..."


    Mei also arrived with a distraught look as she stared at Mark''s current state. Without minding the dust on Mark''s body, she gave him a tight embrace.


    "You two, I''m fine." Mark coughed. "Don''t hug too tight. It hurts."


    "Also, you two. Before closing in the area, make sure that the enemy is already defeated. What you two did is dangerous."


    Mark added, reprimanding the two.


    Both Mei and Amihan nodded. But they did not take it to heart right now as they were more worried about Mark.


    "Did he escape?"


    Those were the words that came out of Diwata Iraya''s mouth as shended. Her eyes were fixated on the two severed arms on the ground. One was the arm that Mark threw, while the other was still chained to Morlkil that was already running towards the group.


    Berraknded with his Thunderbird. Looked at Mark with a troubled look while assessing the destruction that Mark caused.


    Well, the whole ce was leveled. What they were standing now was a crater about half a kilometer wide and five meters deep. The farming area of the vige was all gone. Even the flowing river nearby was blocked by the debris and began to overflow on the abandoned ricefields.


    "Well, that guy is pretty decisive."


    Mark replied to Diwata Iraya, also looking at the arms on the ground.


    "But it''s not like I''ll let him escape just like that."


    Mark added with a satisfied smile.


    ***


    In a forest more than one and a half kilometers away, Lord Seis was running as fast as he could.


    In thest moment, Lord Seis severed his two arms to escape Mark''s grasp and Morlkil''s chains. He used his own energy beam to sever his arms. Because of this, the Lord of Demons managed to escape the direct hit of Mark''s attack.


    But even so, Lord Seis did not manage to avoid the attack entirely. Since it was already at thest moment that he decided to sever his arms, it was alreadyte to entirely avoid the attack from Mark.


    Thus, even though he did not die, Lord Seis was fatally injured.


    The wings of Lord Seis were both gone. It left only the root of his wings on his heavily burnt back. Of course, both his arms were missing. The bones on his right leg were cracked. Lastly, there was a bloody hole and a chunk of flesh missing from the left side of his stomach.


    "DAMN IT! ACK!"


    Lord Seis cursed as he violently coughed out a mouthful of blood. Even his organs were severely injured, and his lungs were starting to get clogged with blood.


    However, Lord Seis did not stop running even with his current condition. In his current state, even Diwata Iraya would be able to kill him. He needed to run as far as he could before he could feel safe.


    Lord Seis continued to run for minutes and managed to cross several mountains. He was not far from the vicinity of Bato. Just another mountain or two, and he would reach a ce where he could slowly heal his injuries using the Demonic energy that enveloped his territory.


    Still, for some reason, Lord Seis could sense danger.


    It made him think that the battle left a trauma in his mind, making him paranoid.


    CRACK!


    The bones on his right leg finally gave way, causing Lord Seis to tumble down the mountain.


    "ACK!"


    The sudden ident made Lord Seis spit out another mouthful of blood.


    Lord Seis looked at his right leg. With its bones broken, it was twisted in a horrible way.


    Even so, even with just his remaining left leg, Lord Seis continued to escape.<sub> </sub>


    Of course, it caused him to fall now and then. This body was not in shape for him to jump around in one leg.


    Finally, his body could not hold out any longer. After he fell down, Lord Seis could only drag his body under a nearby to sit down. He needed to rest a bit and continue to escape.


    Lord Seis was already far from where the fight happened. This ce should already be safe.


    But then...


    SWOOSH!


    A sound of wind being torn apart entered his ears.


    Being tired and injured, Lord Seis waste to react.


    PSSH!


    Lord Seis'' eyes turned wide. A strange-shaped de was embedded on his chest from his back. And then...


    BAM!


    "KACK!"


    Blood sprayed from the mouth of the Lord of Demons. The sword burst into ck mes, frying his organs and heart.


    ''Damn it...''


    Lord Seis cursed in his mind. He had no energy to let out a voice anymore.


    Then, he let out a smile.


    ''My wife... my child... I regret not being able to avenge you two, but... I''ming now.''


    ***


    Argrellius. It was the name that Lord Seis had until about forty years ago.


    It was at the time that Lord Seis was still not a Demon.


    He was not an elemental or a spirit. He was just a humble cave giant called Manangw.


    Manangws were creatures known as hairy humanoid giants. Their bodies were covered in ck fur, they had deep voices, and their faces were vicious-looking. In modern times, their kind fell into the category of cryptids, like the well-known Bigfoot.


    Despite their scary appearance, however, these gigantic creatures were shy and harmless. They only hunt animals, fish, and shrimps for consumption and never humans.


    The life of Agrellius was just as described as he lived with his family of three. He was together with his wife and child, living in Mount Isarog. It was quite far away from the ind of Catanduanes if one was to say. Mount Isarog was located in Camarines Sur, after all.


    It all changed in the 1980s.


    Argrellius left their humble abode to hunt for food on that tragic day, only toe back to their cave to see it filled with human soldiers.


    Hiding in the dark, he waited for the humans to leave. That was when Argrellius realized.


    His wife and child were nowhere to be found.


    They were caught by the humans, and the soldiers were scouring the mountains for him.


    After all, if there were a mother and child present, there should be a father.


    As a creature with low intelligence and afraid of humans, the only thing that Argrellius had in mind was to flee. And to say, his escape was not a smooth one. The soldiers found him and chased him to the point that he had no choice but to flee the maind, swimming across the Langonoy Gulf.


    That was when he found himself on the ind of Catanduanes. The ind where a Diwata was still known to reside.


    Argrellius tried to seek the Diwata and ask for help. He wanted to rescue his family from the hands of vile humans.


    He did manage to meet her.


    However, Diwata Iraya was not convinced to do what he wanted. A Deity that was supposed to help the creatures of nature actually declined to help a poor creature like him.


    The reason? Because it would cause a conflict against the humans.


    Compared to two cryptids, the lives of more creatures weighed heavier.


    Distraught, Argrellius wandered the ind. He was angry at the humans. He was also furious towards the Diwata that abandoned him and his family.


    That was when he met a powerful being.


    The previous Lord of Demons on this ind.


    Due to an injury caused by a conflict between the Demons and Diwata Iraya''s side a long time ago, the Lord of Demons was weakened and was only waiting for a suitable sessor.


    Argrellius was the one he was waiting for. A creature filled with hatred and malice towards humans and the Diwata that had forsaken him.


    Inheriting the powers of the previous Lord of Demons, Argrellius became Lord Seis.


    The first thing he did was to try and rescue his family. He ended up killing the soldiers that invaded his previous home.


    After torturing some of the soldiers, a piece of awful news reached him.


    His wife and child died after being experimented on by humans.


    In a fit rage, he ughtered humans in the mountain, whether it be soldiers or not.


    However, that caused arge-scale assault of humans to be sent to dispose of him.


    As Lord Seis had only received that ability at that time, he was still weak.


    Thus, he was forced to flee back to this ind and slowly build up the powers to dispose of the humans.


    ***


    "So, that''s his story?"


    Mark asked Diwata Iraya while looking at the dead body of Lord Seis that Ignis painstakingly transported back.


    "Unfortunately, yes." Diwata Iraya nodded with a regretful look. "I want to help him at that time... But..."


    "You can''t risk more lives only for the sake of two people."


    Mark said, making the Diwata nod.


    It was a pitiful story.


    Mark knew a part of this story. There had been a rumor circting during the 1980s where the soldiers caught two Manangws in Mount Isarog. Of course, the details were vague, and no records were known even on the inte.


    It was very likely that the government erased and covered up the events that happened at that time.


    In any case, the revenge that Lord Seis longed for remained unfulfilled. It was unfortunate. If only Lord Seis did not stand on the opposite side of Mark''s camp.

 Chapter 733 Changes And Growth, Edzels Transformation And New Abilities

    <strong>Day 154 - 8:14 PM - Matutinao Elementary School, Barangay Matutinao, Municipality of Badian, Province of Cebu</strong>


    The seventeen-year-old Edzel. He was a bit taller than his peers of the same age. His body had built up quite a muscle, and his skin was tanned. It was an appearance that resulted frombor since he was little.


    Edzel was a fisherman and also a baggage carrier at the fishing port. Most people in this field, since their young age, had these characteristics.


    But now, in front of everyone''s eyes, those characteristics of Edzel were slowly fading away.


    Edzel''s tan skin was turning into a pale shade of white. The muscles he umted began to shrink, being condensed tightly.


    Aside from those changes, Edzel''s hair also began to change from ck to tinum silver. His dark brown eyes turned into a light shade of gray.


    More than all of that, Edzel face was already above average. However, the change of Edzel''s skin color suited his face more than before.


    Pearl''s eyes could not help but turn at Edzel''s face. Since he was not wearing any cover on his face, she could see how handsome he turned out to be after his transformation.


    <strong>BANG!</strong>


    Pearl suddenly shot her gun, causing another man to fall. The man tried to grab her pistol when she was not looking, thinking that she could not feel them at all. Unfortunately for them, as long as their hearts were beating, creating vibrations, Pearl could detect their movements even without looking.


    The ves shivered as Pearl did not hesitate to shoot and kill. Nheless, it was because these bastard men made her remember her distasteful decision to sleep with that guy before when she left Edzel. That was the first time she felt like a toy in a man''s eyes. The women being toyed by these male ves should feel the same as her if they were not charmed.


    At the center of the encirclement of Tamawos, Edzel red at Terville, not noticing the changes in his body.


    More than anything, he wanted to tear off Terville''s eyes for trying to use [Charm Magic] on Pearl. It made him remember the hopelessness and regret he felt back when she left him for another guy. It was a sickening urge that made him feel like dying, pushing him to think ofmitting suicide.


    Edzel did not want to feel it again. Never again.


    "<strong>HA!!!</strong>"


    Edzel roared. Charging towards Terville.


    The Tamawos around Edzel snapped out of their stupor. They were all shocked to see the man they were fighting turned out to be one of their kind. The thing that made them shocked was his process of awakening. So far, they had never seen something different as this.


    In any case, they were not mistaken. The Tamawos could smell the same blood of their race awakening from Edzel.


    "<strong>STOP HIM!</strong>"


    Terville roared with a frown. The bacsh he received was too powerful, and he was not in shape to immediately sh with the enemy.


    Hearing theirmander, the more experienced Tamawos that came with Terville jumped into action.


    Unlike the Tamawos left to guard this ce, these veterans were faster and more powerful. They were standing behind Terville just now, but they were suddenly among the encirclement around Edzel.


    A spear came hurling towards Edzel. However, the changes in Edzel''s body were not just on his appearance. Reflexes, strength, speed, and other aspects were enhanced drastically.


    <strong>BAM!</strong>


    Edzel waved his spear to his right, not only blocking but changing the course of the spear to another Tamawo.


    <strong>PSK!</strong>


    Surprised, the Tamawo did not manage to block or avoid the spear redirected to him. He ended up being impaled on his stomach, staring wide-eyed as he fell down in pain.


    <strong>CLANG! CLANG!</strong>


    Spears shed as Edzel charged forward. He received a few wounds on his arms and sides. The injuries were nothing but just scratches as Edzel reacted immediately upon contact with the spears of the enemies on his body. Edzel had nothing to worry about because of the burst of power he currently experienced.


    On the other hand, the Tamawos were now looking at Edzel like a monster going berserk.


    In their every sh with Edzel''s spear, the Tamawos felt their hands go numb. Edzel might be a Tamawo like them, but it was clear that he was an anomaly in terms of strength.


    Nheless, Tamawos were unhesitating warriors. Many of them had fallen to Edzel''s spear in a short time, but they did not stop at all.


    "<strong>BOWMEN!"</strong>


    Terville shouted as he saw the situation turning against them. When they received the message that the town was attacked, they severelycked any detail and information.


    They thought that the humans who stayed in the school not far to the south finally decided to attack. Although those humans had guns, it would be nowhere enough to put everyone down. Yes, there would be deaths in their tribe. But they still had the advantage in terms of terrain and physical abilities.


    Who would have known that the attackers were not that group but a different one? Not to mention that it was a group of monsters in human skin.


    In fact, Terville''s group had arrived much earlier before he came out. They were assessing the situation and running in the dark to suitable ces. When the woman in front of the ves, Terville thought that they got the upper hand. Heughed and came out with the remaining warriors behind him.


    He was mistaken, however. Tergville thought that Pearl was just some female human he could charm and take as a hostage.


    It was a grave mistake.


    Pearl was not just a female human. She was not just a female human marked by a simple Tamawo, either.


    Even if Terville tried to use [Charm Magic] on a woman marked by another Tamawo, he would only feel dizzy as a bacsh from the failed magic. There was only one instance where he experienced his eyes bleeding and vomiting blood.


    It was when he tried to use [Charm Magic] on the woman their current king fell in love with, Celine.


    This was not something he confirmed yet, but he had an idea. The [Charm Magic] and [Mark of Love] left by members of the royal family of their tribe were higher than the members. The proof of that theory was when their current king tried to use [Charm Magic] on Celine several years ago. At that time, the king only felt dizzy. Yet, Terville had a worse bacsh on the same target.


    Terville red at Edzel as the warriors that hid in the surroundings came out. Drawing their bows and nocking their arrows, they aimed at Edzel.


    "<strong>SHOOT!</strong>"


    Terville roared. He did not know why Edzel had a blood of a royal Tamawo. However, he did not want to know. He only wanted this bastard son of someone to die.


    Thirty bowmen in the surroundings fired their arrows towards Edzel. None of the projectiles were going to miss their mark and were all flying straight at Edzel.


    Even if Edzel managed to survive this with his armor, he would still be a blood bin cushion.


    Unfortunately, Edzel disyed another thing that was out of their expectations.


    <strong>BA-DUMP!</strong>


    A loud sound echoed, apanied by waves of vibrations in the air. Edzel''s right arm shivered as he turned his body around, swiping his open parm three hundred and sixty degrees around him.<sub> </sub>


    The strong vibrations were unbearable. Those Tamawos closest to Edzel felt warm in their ears and noses as their orifices began to bleed. On the other hand, the arrows flying towards Edzel lost momentum as the vibrations Edzel made behaved like an invisible shield around him.


    Seeing what happened, the Tamawos retreated a bit, wary of Edzel.


    None of them knew what happened, but they understood that it was something dangerousing from Edzel.


    On the other hand, Edzel was also surprised. He did it by what his instincts told him. When he became a [Evolver] because of the crystal Mark gave him, his ability was not this strong. Although he could knock down enemies with the vibration he created, it was not without direct contact.


    Now, not only Edzel could make the air vibrate strongly, but he could also use it for both offense and defense.


    With more confidence, Edzel charged at Terville once more. Anything on his way would experience his new strength.


    Seeing that Edzel defended himself against the arrows, Terville felt angry. Then, if it would not work on Edzel...


    "<strong>BOWMEN! TARGET THE OTHERS! LEAVE THIS BASTARD TO OTHERS!</strong>"


    Terville roared as he picked himself up. He was still in pain from the bacsh, but the most painful time was already over.


    Pearl and the others could not understand what Terville was roaring about. Still, they knew it soon after when they saw the bow-wielding Tamawos point their bows at them.


    Edzel noticed that Pearl was in danger. However, she was far away from him to protect. As for the girls, they had the two oldest ones, Emika and I, for protection.


    At this point, Pearl was truly in danger.


    Unfortunately, there was no time to wait at all. Upon Terville''smand, the bowmen shot their bows at everyone except Edzel.


    Edzel was shaken. He was already on the way to protect Pearl, but there were still Tamawos blocking his way. This made him wish that Mark would protect Pearl at this point. It was impossible for that guy to let his people face danger, after all.


    But then, Edzel felt dismayed. What was he thinking? Yes, he could rely on Mark. Still, he had not done something by himself yet.


    That was when Edzel and Pearl''s eyes locked unto each other, ignoring the spears and arrows around them.


    They felt a weird but warm andfortable sensation. Edzel and Pearl felt a magical connection between them. At the same time, Edzel''s instincts told him that he could do it.


    <strong>BA-DUMP!</strong>


    Edzel released a vibration around him, with most of it directed at Pearl.


    The flight of the arrows might be fast, but the vibrations Edzel created were much faster.


    Pearl was surprised as to why Edzel would do something like this. She could feel the vibrations approaching her like a sh flood. If she were to get hit by it, she might experience worse than the Tamawos that Edzel fought before.


    Without anything she could do, Pearl could only crouch down to protect herself.


    Finally, the vibrations hit her before the arrows could.


    Unexpectedly, she felt nothing harmful. Instead, it was as if the vibrations were being absorbed by her body.


    Then, an urge was felt by Pearl.


    It was as if her connection to Edzel was telling her to release it.


    <strong>HONG!</strong>


    Trusting that sensation, Pearl did release it, creating a shockwave around her, not only knocking the arrows that were about to hit her but also pushing away the ves close to her.


    Pearl opened her eyes and stood shocked. Everything around her was pushed away by force. About two meters around her was cleaned of almost everything, including sand and dust. The only things left were heavy things like arge piece of cement debris.


    "Edzel... You..."


    Pearl could only mutter, realizing that it had something to do with Edzel.


    Edzel, however, was just as surprised as Pearl. Nheless, it was a good surprise. That aside, everything else that the vibrations he sent Pearl hit were harmed, including the few Tamawos, who nowy lifeless on the ground.


    "<strong>F*CK!</strong>"


    Terville could only curse, seeing what happened. Not to mention that the kids had a wall of thorny vines and an invisible burning barrier around them.


    "You should retreat now..."


    Suddenly, the gruff voice entered Terville''s ear.


    "What are you saying?! Where are you just now?"


    Terville argued at his invisiblepanion.


    "Where I was doesn''t matter." The voice replied. "What I know is that you will die here if you don''t escape."


    "What?! Are you serious?"


    Terville was shaken.


    "Whether I''m serious or not, can''t you just judge the situation? You might have a numerical advantage, but your opponents were not normal humans. But that is if you can consider them as humans at all."


    "Don''t beat around the bush! Just say it!"


    Terville was furious.


    "Hah..." The voice sighed. "Demons, powerful ones. Those children, aside from the green-haired one, were Demons. If the children were here, their parents should be too. You are no match for them."


    "Can''t you do anything about this? You''re also a Demon!"


    Terville argued.


    "In my current form, I can''t." The invisible Demon replied. "Unless you are finally willing to ept my blessings."


    Terville fell silent with a frown. Behind him was a shade of darkness that no one else was able to see.

 Chapter 706 The Bad News, The Announced Arrival Of The Second Wave

    <strong>Day 152 - 12:30 AM - Ruined Mountain Farming Vige, Barangay Mabini, Municipality of Viga, Catanduanes</strong>


    The arrival of the two people, Bath and Fourth, was very surprising. It was even more for Mark, Mei, and Amihan. After all, they knew that the two were not supposed to be together.


    "HEY! What happened here?!"


    Fourth''s eyes fell on the group below.


    BAM!


    The surroundings felt heavy. Berrak and Morlkil fell on their knees immediately.


    Although Diwata Iraya did not go down like the first two, she was having a hard time just standing up. However, despite the situation, her attention was more focused on the old man than the source of the coercing pressure around them.


    As for thest three, Mark, Mei, and Amihan, Mark took quick action fast. When he felt that Fourth was agitated, he immediately put his glowing hands on their heads to protect them from the pressure.


    Mark then raised an eyebrow as he stared at Fourth.


    "Who do you think can answer your question if you don''t control that strong pressure from you?"


    That was right. It was one mistake that would happen to a lot of beings in power. Asking questions while releasing out heavy pressure or killing intent. Then, getting angry because no one was able to answer.


    It was in stupid. The idiots were not the ones unable to answer but the ones asking the question.


    In any case, it was different in this circumstance.


    "Who else? You, of course."


    Fourth proudly replied to Mark with her hands on her waist.


    Mark could not give ae back here. Fourth knew that Mark could withstand the pressure from the Eyes in the first ce.


    "In any case, calm down and retract your aura." Mark shrugged. "I''m not in the state to talk a lot right now. Ask her instead."


    Mark then pointed at Diwata Iraya.


    Beside Fourth, Bath stared at the two while sweating bullets. He was afraid that Fourth would get angry because of how Mark, a lower creature, behaved in front of her. Unfortunately, he was not really in the position to meddle here.


    It was kind of amusing to see an actual god to be afraid of a little girl.


    Unexpectedly, Bath saw Fourth withdraw her pressure and actually floated down in front of Mark.


    "You got injured?"


    Fourth asked, looking at Mark''s state.


    "Isn''t it obvious?"


    Mark said, pulling at his clothes.


    "Torn clothes are not an injury." Fourth retorted. "But I''m not gonna argue. Your voice sounds rougher than before. I''m pretty sure that you''re suppressing the pain right now."


    But then, Mark nced at the sky.


    "Before asking questions, shouldn''t you better deal with that first?"


    "AH!"


    Fourth looked at what Mark was ncing at and eximed in panic. Without waiting for her to forget once more, the little girl rushed towards the sky.


    As the little girl flew, Mark stared with interest. It seemed that he was right. The Eyes could mend this kind of trouble. In fact, Fourth began to close the holes in the sky. Of course, despite the distance, Mark could hear her annoying grumbles about making temporary repairs.


    At this time, it was Bath''s turn to go down to Mark''s group.


    And then, it was Diwata Iraya''s turn to go down. She was not just kneeling. The Diwata was actually prostrating.


    "Mahabaging Bath."


    Diwata Iraya respectfully greeted.


    Being greeted like that, Bath let out a bitter smile as he helped Diwata Iraya up.


    "You don''t have to do that, my child. I am nothing but a Forgotten God now."


    "I cannot do that." Diwata Iraya replied. "Forgotten or not, you, Bath, is our creator."


    Likewise, even if the majority of humans in this country had forgotten him, his creations would not.


    Although the Diwatas were not the direct creation of Bath, he had some hand in their existence. In the first ce, it was odd that the descriptions of Nature Deities, the Diwatas, were more or less endemic to the country of the Philippines.


    It was Bath''s influence in this country that caused the birth of Diwatas in the past and in the present.


    To Diwata Iraya''s respect, Bath smiled. Then, he turned to Mark.


    "I''m surprised. When I met you before, you don''t even know anything about the Eyes. Now, you actually have a good rtionship with one."


    Mark could only shrug slightly.


    "We''re not close. She just finds my existence amusing."


    "You''re mistaken." Bath shook his head. "Do not think that the Eyes would just follow the words of anyone. She even showed concern for your injuries."


    Mark did not reply. In the first ce, even as an Empath, it was kind of hard for him to exactly pinpoint the emotions of the Eyes.


    Instead, Mark asked back a question to Bath.


    "How about you? Did you get caught?"


    At Mark''s question, Bath smiled.


    "You can say that. Though I don''t really have any choice but to turn myself in."


    Bath then turned to the holes in the sky.


    "As you can see, the walls are weakening. Just my existence in the Spirit Dimension is causing it to copse. That''s why I can only enter the Mortal World where it is stable. Of course, the Eyes immediately found a foreign God like me."


    "You''re not going to get killed, right?"


    Mark asked. It was alright for him to show concern about this. Bath not only gave them giftsst time but also blessed his rtionship with Mei.


    "No, fortunately." Bath shook his head. "I already learned the truth. I might get erased if it was the past, though. I was just lucky this time."


    By the looks of it, Bath had no choice but to leave the Spirit Dimension. It was in fear of it copsing because of this existence. He was putting himself at risk for his people. It was his known character since the past. However, it seemed that the circumstances changed now.


    "We need them to contribute their energy. Then, we''ll send them out to the upper realms where they should go."


    At this point, Fourth that was already done with her work just went down and chimed in.<sub> </sub>


    "Them, huh?" Mark noticed. "So, there are also others."


    "That''s right." Fourth nodded. "They had no choice but toe out of hiding because of the Dimensional Instability. If they did not and the space in the Spirit Dimension suddenly copsed around them, they might lose their lives even if they call themselves gods."


    From there, a round of information exchange happened.


    At first, Diwata Iraya looked at Fourth with a bit of a condescending expression. It could not be helped as she did not know who Fourth, who looked like a strange little girl, was. Furthermore, she showed no respect at Bath, who was worshiped by the Diwata. Fortunately, Bath there to manage the Diwata.


    As Mark suggested, Diwata Iraya did the exining, pointing at the dead body of Lord Seis. She told that the dimension holes that appeared were all the fault of the Lord of Demons.


    Well, although it sounded like pushing the me on the dead, it was the truth.


    Realizing that Mark''s group was just preventing the worse, Fourth''s mood lightened. It was true that it could have gotten worse if Lord Seis was not defeated.


    While the exchange was happening, Bath took the opportunity to greet Amihan and Mei. The amicable god sure was fond of interacting with people.


    To the side, Berrak watched the scene in utter silence. It was not like he did not want to join in. It was more like he should not. After all, in front of him was the actual god of creation in Philippine Mythology. Furthermore, even though he did not know what Fourth was, for a god to be afraid of her, she would be someone higher.


    And that pressure from earlier... It made Berrak quite afraid of this little girl. That was why he decided to stay silent beside Morlkil.


    In any case, Berrak''s view of Mark''s group changed drastically. It was even more to Mark, who could casually converse with these godly figures.


    As for Mark, he intently listened to Fourth and Bath. As it appeared, they were in the middle of a conversation when Fourth noticed that there were issues with the Dimension Barrier in this area. That was why the two were together.


    "By the way," Mark spoke. "Why do you guys need the energy of the gods? It''s not to repair the Dimension Wall, right?"


    "If that can happen, we''ll do that." Fourth sighed. It seemed that the situation was not amusing for her. "It''s good that you are here. I''m looking for you, actually."


    Mark was confused. But then... He realized the only reason that an Eye would be looking for him.


    Then, Fourth pointed upwards to the dark sky.


    Mark could only follow the direction pointed by her finger. Looking at the sky intently rather than just a nce.


    The others did the same, but it seemed that only Bath understood what Fourth was pointing at.


    As for Mark... His eyebrows could only make a frown. He saw what Fourth was pointing at immediately.


    Mark had full ess to his subconscious memories. Even just a nce would make him remember things as long as the details were seen clearly. And from what he had seen in the past nights...


    Something had changed.


    Mark was sure that at the direction where Fourth was pointing, there was no star.


    But now, there was something twinkling there.


    "That''s not a star, is it?" Mark spoke. "And for sure, not a meteorite either. I''m pretty sure they don''t twinkle like that."


    "That''s right." Fourth replied. "It''s not a star or a meteorite. Absolutely not aet either. It''s a huge chunk of metal. That''s why it''s twinking."


    "Metal?"


    Mark was confused.


    Well, it was not only Mark. Everyone here was.


    Did ite from some sort of mothership?


    Fourth knew their confusion. Thus, she began to exin.


    "That''s a huge chunk from an artificial that exploded. As for the reason why it exploded, I guess I don''t have to exin it to you, right?"


    Fourth said, staring at Mark.


    And, of course, Mark could only frown.


    There was only one that he knew why it exploded. And it was likely what Fourth was implying to.


    "The got infected..."


    Mark murmured.


    "That''s right." Fourth nodded. "It came from an artificial that got destroyed after an outbreak struck the inhabitants."


    And then, Fourth showed a serious expression.


    "It will be the cause of the Second Wave."


    "Well, damn it..."


    Mark''s shoulders fell.


    "Are you telling me that another variant of this outbreak wille from that chunk?"


    Fourth did not reply. It was a sign of agreement.


    Mark''s head started to ache.


    "As it is a foreign matter, we barely had any information about that or this chunk of metal approaching Earth." Fourth exined further. "All I can say is we only have another week before that thing hit Earth, probably less."


    "So, you are going to use the energies of the gods to stop that thing?"


    Mark asked.


    "Unfortunately, that won''t be enough." Fourth shook her head. "The gods of the past already lost most of their powers. The most that we can do is to prevent it from directly destroying Earth after it hit. While we use the energy from the gods to do that, us Eyes will prevent anyrge catastrophe from happening inside our territories."


    And then, Fourth dropped a bomb.


    "It''s unfortunate but South America might probably sink."


    "?"


    It was surprising. Fourth said that the Eyes would protect their territories. Then, why would she say that South America would likely sink?


    Mark, Mei, and Amihan fell silent. They knew the reason.


    South America lost its protector after one of the Eyes vanished. It was very likely that the Eye that Mark fought before was the protector of that ce. However, that Eye was turned into a puppet by the Great One. And then, Mark disposed of the puppet.


    Who would have thought that it would cause a whole continent to get destroyed in the Second Wave?


    In any case, it was not Mark''s problem.


    Right now, what was on his mind was to hurry up with their ns. It was good that his business here on this ind was almost finished already.


    Then, they could leave to get Edzel''s mother from the grasp of the Tamawos.

 Chapter 707 A Discussion In The Sanctuary, A Loophole In The Ability Of Nineteenth

    <strong>Day 152 - 1:24 AM - Sanctuary, Cataunduanes Mountains, Municipality of Bagamanoc, Catanduanes</strong>


    The aftermath of the battle in the mountains was not a good ce for people to talk. There was nothing else left there but ruins of the vige and the forest that surrounded the area.


    After Mark recovered enough to be able to walk, he suggested changing the ce for the conversation. Of course, the only ce suitable for them to talk was the Sanctuary managed by Diwata Iraya. There were no other ces on this ind that would do.


    The way back to this ce was rather silent. The Yasaws that helped everyone traverse the long distance in a short time were shivering at the presence of Fourth. The other spirits that managed to survive and remained near the area did not want to travel with Mark''s group at all. It was also because of her.


    Fourth had already controlled the godly pressure around her. Even so, the Spirits and Elementals around were still afraid of her. Unlike humans, Spirits and Elementals were far more sensitive to the presence of Fourth.


    Unfortunately for Bath, Fourthpletely overwhelmed his supposed godly presence. In the first ce, he was a forgotten god. It was already good that the Diwatas, his creations, did not forget about him at all.


    Returning to the Sanctuary, Mark was weed by the little girls. This time, there were four girls, though. It seemed that even Emika seemed really worried about Mark. There was also Aliya, who did not mind the others, and intently checked Mark''s body for injuries.


    It seemed that they were using the magicalke to watch the fight. The area where the battle happened was a bit outside the Diwata''s territory. They could not watch it clearly. However, it was more than enough for them to see what was happening, especially that suicidal attack that Mark did to try and kill the enemy.


    While the youngest, Miracle, did not seem to mind it a lot, Abbygale and I seemed to be showing displeasure at Mark''s suicidal attack. It could not be helped. After all, their beloved father was injured by his recklessness.


    At the side, Gennie, Mark''s Aunt, watched the scene with a bitter smile. She was happy that her nephew seemed to have made a happy family. It was unlike hers, unfortunately.


    Looking around, the atmosphere in the Sanctuary was not exactly good. While they won the battle, there were a lot of deaths due to the unexpected ability of Lord Seis. Still, it was way better than the expected oue. After all, three hundred warriors against thousands of Demons would be considered suicide.


    In any case, they all died a glorious death. It was unlike the ones still alive, ashamed to show their faces to Diwata Iraya. They were far worse than the supposedly weak Yasaws.


    After Mark changed his clothes, he, once again, was seated at the seat he had the very first time he had been to this ce. Unlike before, however, there were only a few people around the table.


    In Mark''s group, there was only him, Mei, Amihan, and the little girls. Emika was not included, though. It seemed that she could not handle the presence of Fourth and joined the others that had the same circumstances as her. On Diwata Iraya''s side, there was Diwata Iraya, Aliya, and Morlkil. Unexpectedly, Aliya seemed to be more tolerant to Fourth''s aura and managed to stay. Andstly, of course, Bath and Fourth, the guests of honor.


    Diwata Iraya had a lot of questions. After all, it was the first time that she heard about this Second Wave of the apocalypse. She could not help but pay attention to Mark, who seemed to be wary of it. It was too strange, after all. Not only that, but he actually had connections to both Bath and Fourth. It made her reassess Mark, not just a Demon, an ally, and Aliya''s grandson, but as someone who could possibly be above her in position.


    Normally, Fourth would not allow a third party to listen. She was here to address the sudden dimensional holes and speak to Mark. However, at Bath''s request, the Diwata was allowed to do so. Of course, Fourth would not answer the Diwata''s questions, and Bath would be the one to entertain her.


    Mark, on the other hand, had been in deep thought since receiving the initial information from Fourth. When he was informed about the Second Wave, he thought that the already existing Mutagen would likely evolve drastically to affect Earth itself. However, he was mistaken. Who would have thought that the Second Wave would be caused by the arrival of a new variant of the pathogen that Mutagen branched from?


    Although Mark had only known about two variants of that pathogen, while both had simrities, it was majorly different.


    Then, what kind of pathogen would it be?


    How would it affect the current pathogen on Earth?


    What effects would it bring to the whole?


    Unfortunately, to these important questions, Fourth had no answer.


    The Eye of Interest, Neenth, had a book that would record everything and anything on Earth. However, it had one weakness. It could not record anything that was outside Earth until it entered the. It meant that the Eyes had no information about the iing disaster at all. What they were preparing for was the only possible impact of theary chunk that was currently traveling towards Earth. It was all for humans to not face the fate that dinosaurs saw millions of years ago.


    "So, aside from the time of the crash and knowing that it''s a chunk from an infected artificial, no other information?"


    Mark grumbled. He was a bit distraught about it. After all, while they managed to do some preparations for the iing dimension fusion, there was no way that they would be able to prepare for that iing debris from space. At least, not in a very short timeframe.


    "Yes, unfortunately," Fourth replied with a shrug. "We might be strong, but we are not omnipotent to know everything, especially from outside this."


    Fourth was not bothered by Mark''s questioning tone. After all, she was long aware of this weakness of theirs.


    Mark fell silent, tapping his temple. He was racking things in his mind. Then, his eyes lit up. It seemed that racking up his mind worked.


    "What about the aliens?" Mark spoke. "Those Graylings in America?"


    Everyone turned at Mark in askance. Why were aliens suddenly brought into the topic here?


    Mark did not mind their confused eyes, and he stared at Fourth.


    "Neenth''s book records everything that is inside Earth, right?"


    "It does, except for a few asions." Fourth then nced at Mark and Mei. "Like you two."


    "Don''t mind us." Mark shook his head. "What I''m talking about is those Graylings in America. Since they are currently on Earth, they could be recorded, right?"


    "They should be." Fourth tilted her head, confused at what Mark wasing at. "But what do those visitors had to do with this right now?"


    "A Grayling who calls himself Alphfa Alston," Mark said, showing a bit of eagerness. "That guy is researching about the Mutagen on Earth. It is possible that he also had data and information about other infecteds. If he did, it should also be recorded in Neeth''s book, right?"


    Hearing an unexpected loophole in Neenth''s ability, the Eyes of Fourth lit up. If it was true that the Grayling called Alphfa Alston had this information, they could also see it.


    "Let me ask her!"


    Fourth replied excitedly and was about to stand up from her seat.<sub> </sub>


    However, before Fourth was able to stand up, her shoulders were pressed down, making her unable to.


    "There''s no need to call me. Don''t forget what you are. Seriously."


    The calm but a bit exasperated voice of a teenage girl was heard. No one had noticed when she appeared, but they could see the door in space open behind her.


    "So, you guys are watching."


    Mark said to the girl. Without a doubt, her calm demeanor that had no pressuring ripples, she was Neenth.


    To Mark''s words, Neenth smiled.


    "Anywhere where one of us is present, we are always watching."


    "Another one..."


    To the side, Bath could not help but gulp his saliva. His demeanor as a god had long been overshadowed by Fourth. Now that Neenth appeared, he did not bother hiding his fear of them anymore. He could not be med though. The Eyes were responsible for the death of many gods in his time. Because of that, many misunderstandings rose, and many weaker gods like him thought that the Eyes were discriminately killing the trespassing gods. Well, the misunderstanding was cleared now, though.


    Still, Bath could not help but turn to Mark. This guy that had no clue about the Eyes when they met before really became acquainted with the Eyes. It was surreal. Furthermore, the Eyes really seemed to value his existence.


    It was not only Bath who was rmed by the appearance of Neenth. The others were the same. Berrak that was watching, not too far away, had already frozen stiff with therge characters suddenly appearing out of nowhere. Even Diwata Iraya''s group grew silent at the appearance of another godly existence.


    "In any case, can you do it?" Mark asked Neenth. "I don''t think there is any rule that prevents you from doing that."


    "Yes, there are no such rules." Neenth shook her head. "As long as they entered Earth as visitors, they should be under our jurisdiction. What I''m surprised about is for you to actually establish contact with one of them."


    "Ah!" Fourth suddenly eximed. "Some time ago, a space vessel tried to approach your base. It seemed that they wanted to investigate it. I chased them away, though."


    Hearing what Fourth said, Mark could not help but frown. It seemed that his base had already gotten some attention from the extraterrestrials. It was good that Fourth chased them away.


    "Then, you have my thanks. You did great."


    Mark said to Fourth without any pretense. After all, she did Mark a good favor this time.


    Unexpectedly, Fourth was frozen stiff. She then suddenly looked away, blushing.


    "I-it''s nothing..."


    Everyone started at Fourth. Who was this adorable girl who was weak topliments?


    To the side, Neenth smiled.


    "Fourth is quite a hardheaded and unruly one. It''s hard for her to getplimented by anyone. That is why she''s too weak to these kinds of things."


    "YOU DON''T HAVE TO TELL THEM THAT!"


    Fourthined out loud. However, Neenth was still pressing on her shoulder and she could not move that much on her seat.


    This scene made everyone take the Eyes in a new light. They might be exuding a godly aura around them. However, they were no different from living beings in terms of behavior.


    Mark understood this the most. The Eyes were created by the emotions of humans on Earth. Because of this, it was not strange for them to exhibit human emotions. And to say,pared to humans, the Eyes exude more emotions without schemes and pretense.


    "Let''s just leave Fourth at that," Mark spoke to Neenth. "I think, it''s better to see the information we needed immediately."


    "Ahem." Neenth coughed as she fixed her behavior. "Pardon my unsightly behavior. Let me see."


    With those words, Neenth conjured a book on her hands. Her two hands held the front and cover of the book as it flipped itself on its own.


    Unexpectedly, all the flipping took almost half a minute before it stopped.


    "I''m sorry for the wait." Neenth apologized. "It took a bit of time since extraterrestrials were in the least of priorities we had, especially since we are looking about a specific information."


    It was not surprising. After all, these aliens were not from Earth. Their safety was thest in the priority of the Eyes.


    Then, Neenth let her book float from her hands to a space where everyone could see.


    And from the nk page of the erged book, letters began to appear.


    It was not Professor Alston''s profile and information, however. Instead, it appeared to be some sort of document.


    "This is..."


    Mark could not help but stare at the document.


    "Yes, what you have in mind is right." Neenth nodded. "This is the information about the iing disaster."

 Chapter 708 Mechid Pathogen, The Nature Of The Incoming Disaster

    <strong>Day 152 - 1:42 AM - Sanctuary, Catanduanes Mountains, Municipality of Bagamanoc, Catanduanes</strong>


    After Neenth confirmed what the writings on her book were, everyone''s attention became focused on it. It was information about the thing that was going to hit Earth soon. There was no way that anyone would not feel the urgency to know anything about it.


    However, the first few pages had unexpected information.


    Instead of the information about the the debris came from, it was a report of the first sighting ofary debris.


    "Wait a minute..." Mark''s eyes fell on the date of the documentation. "They knew about it more than two months ago?"


    That was right. The documentation dated about two and a half months ago, and it seemed that even Fourth and Neenth were surprised by that fact. At the time that the Eyes knew nothing about the second wave yet. However, by the looks of it, the aliens knew about theary debris. It was even before the inhabitants of Earth knew about it.


    Then, why did Professor Alston not tell Mark about this when they exchanged information with each other.


    At that thought, Mark shook his head.


    It was not that Professor Alston did not know. Mark never asked anything about something that he did not know would happen. That alien professor only answered Mark''s questions, after all. Furthermore, it was not his duty to tell anyone about the iing catastrophe.


    Mark continued reading further. The report continued with the order to investigate the spotted debris.


    "Hmm?" Diwata Iraya''s eyes fell on some illegible words. "What did that mean?"


    Neenth''s book did not disy a concrete document in a singlenguage. In fact, to the reader, it showed anguage that they could easily understand. In Mark''s case, the book was written in English. However, in the eyes of Diwata Iraya, it was written in the Spirit Language.


    Still, Mark was also focused on the same word. No, rather than a word, it looked like random symbols packed together.


    "My apologies." Neenth lowered her head. "The document was written in anguage barely known to anyone on Earth. While I managed to trante it into anguage everyone could understand, some words had no equivalent trantion in anynguage on Earth."


    "Those symbols were the raw words from the document, then?"


    Mark asked, and Neenth nodded.


    Knowing this fact, Mark could only shrug. Even differentnguages on Earth had some words that were hard to trante into anothernguage. It should not be surprising that there were untrantable words on a document written in an aliennguage.


    Because of the trantion error, everyone could only skip those words. It made Mark remember the time when he was reading badly tranted manhua. There was a whole lot of it, after all. When everything of those was gathered and counted together, it would make anyone think if the bad trantions were done on purpose. It mostly happened on those Chineseics, after all. The Japanese and Koreanics, manga and manhwa, barely had these issues after being tranted.


    Back to reading the documents, Mark reached the part where the result of the investigation came in.


    Unexpectedly, the first result report was about casualties. As it appeared, the investigation team that Professor Alston sent actually had casualties upon investigating the debris.


    This made Mark frown.


    Thatary debris did not only carry a different pathogen. It was actually carrying infected in space. Furthermore, the infected were actually capable of destroying a few investigatory space ships of the Graylings.


    This was bad news.


    Even so, Mark did not start to discuss that and continued to read instead.


    Finally, Mark reached the concluded information. It was the report of where theary debris came from and what pathogen it carried.


    Commercial Star - CS-11 Orbital Trade Station


    It was an artificial intended to house an artificial race called Mecinas. While it housed the artificial race, the station was also to serve as a Space Trading Hub for space travelers andary merchants.


    Mark had shivers. It was actually sounded too much from a Sci-fi story. However, he did not stop reading.


    The artificial was quite small. It had a radius of just a little bit more than two thousand kilometers. It meant that it was just a bitrger than Earth''s moon.


    However, five hundred years ago, the CS-11 faced a catastrophe after its artificial atmosphere was breached by arge meteoroid.


    This information made Mark remember what happened to Earth during the start of the outbreak.


    As Mark expected, the meteor contained the pathogen that infected the inhabitants of the artificial.


    Since it was a Trading Station, it was not only its first inhabitants, the Mecinas, were the ones infected. There were various races that became infected, causing the whole artificial to immediately fall into chaos.


    It took only a month and all life was wiped out in that small artificial.


    Being artificially made, however, the had its measures.


    At the time that all life was extinguished due to a pandemic, the artificial was designed to self-destruct.


    As such, it immediately exploded, trying to kill all the infected on its surface. It was unlike Eriellis. The that Freed came from exploded for unknown reasons, after all.


    Unfortunately, there were some miscalctions in the self-destruct sequence. One part of the did not explode into smithereens after the supposed explosion did not happen in that area. Because of the explosion from the other areas of the artificial, it caused thatrge part to get hurled into space intact.


    Many space organizations went to track that space debris. After all, it was a dangerous thing to be destroyed. However, it seemed to have entered a turbulent space area, causing everyone to lose sight of it.


    Now, the very same lost debris reappeared and was hurtling towards Earth, with the surviving infected specimens on its surface.


    Mark began to digest all this information as his eyes fell on the data about the Mecinas, the inhabitants of CS-11.


    The Mecinas were artificial intelligent creatures created by an ancient race of aliens called Devinas. These artificial creatures were specifically made to monitor the Space Stations created by the Devinas.


    Mecinas were half-organism, half-machine creatures. Although they appeared to be humanoids with bodies made of muscle tissues, their bodies had mechanical parts that allowed them to have various functions that a regr organism could not do.


    This made Mark quite interested.


    "In short, space androids, huh."


    Mark murmured.


    He was not wrong.


    But then, the worst part came.<sub> </sub>


    It was the nature of the infection that caused the destruction of CS-11.


    The Mechid Pathogen.


    It was a pathogen that would cause the infected to show aggressive tendencies towards uninfected and would try to infect them through bites. This was generic among these zombie-like pathogens.


    However, the abilities that the pathogen would give the infected made Mark frown deeply.


    Mechid Pathogen would turn the infected''s muscle mass unstable, turning body parts of their victims into tissue-covered blobs. However, these blobs enabled the infected to integrate mechanical parts into the infected''s bodies. Depending on the parts of the bodies of the infected that turned into blobs and the kind of mechanical part that the infected acquired, it would cause the infected to turn into various kinds.


    From the records, the mostmon were infected with mechanical arms or legs. However, there were a lot of ounts of stronger infected like a spider-type humanoid and even a mechanical golem-type. Furthermore, due to the type of infection being unstable, there were a lot of shapes it could take on depending on the infected individual.


    At this point, Mark was rubbing his temple.


    It was a very troublesome kind of pathogen.


    "Mechid Pathogen, huh."


    Mark was having a headache. It seemed that in the future, not only mutated infected would terrorize Earth. There would also be mechanical infected. In the worst case, the two pathogens might also fuse, giving birth to mutated mechanical infected.


    Surely, it was a headache.


    However, at the same time, Mark felt excited. It was something that could not be helped by someone like him. He was both an Otaku and a Zombie genre fan, after all.


    Mark was the first to read all of the information. Actually, it only took him a few minutes. While he was already at the end of the document, almost everyone else barely reached half of it. Because he was the first to finish, Mark had time to think about things while he patted Miracle, who was sitting on hisp. Aside from I, both Miracle and Abbygale were not reading the document. It was tooplicated to the young Abbygale, and Miracle did not know how to read, after all.


    It was not surprising that Mark was the first to finish. He only needed to nce at the document, and it would be stored in his subconscious. He could review it anytime he needed.


    At this point, Mark felt a gaze. It was from Neenth. She did not need to read it at all since it was her book.


    "Thank you for your cooperation."


    Suddenly, Neenth''s voice echoed inside Mark''s mind.


    "So, you can also do this, huh?"


    Mark replied inside his mind, making Neenth nod slightly.


    "Even if I could ess any information on Earth, it would be impossible for me to read every single one of them. Even for me, there is a lot about Earth to learn. Since you managed to point us to the correct information about the iing disaster, you have my gratitude."


    "You guys didn''t know about Professor Alston''s research?"


    Mark asked.


    "No, unfortunately." Neenth sounded apologetic. "We barely cared about the visitors as long as they did not cause any trouble. So far, Alphfa Alston and his group are behaving fine to our standard. In fact, they were helping survivors in America to some extent. We can only be grateful to them for that fact."


    Hearing those words, Mark thought differently. Mark was sure that that Grayling Professor was not someone who would show good without anything in exchange.


    "I''m pretty sure that they were only doing that for benefits."


    Mark said in contempt.


    "Even so, it did not change the fact that there were a lot of human survivors that were saved because of them."


    Neenth replied.


    It was not wrong, after all. Even if it was for benefits or a deal with the American Government, they did save people.


    "By the way." Mark closed his eyes and spoke in his mind. "From what Fourth said, you Eyes can''t do anything about thatary debris? In terms of powers, you guys are stronger than the lost and forgotten gods. Yet, you guys needed their help for some reason."


    "So, we can''t hide it from you now." Neenth bitterly smiled. "We are protectors and guides of Earth. We are created from the emotions of humans on Earth. We can only show our prowess and abilities inside Earth, because of that. Even an inch that we step outside Earth, we lose all our strength. Some of us might be able to create beams of energy to destroy and kill but these beams can''t extend outside the Earth''s atmosphere and would instead dissipate. That is why the only thing we can do is to prevent our designated territories from sinking when the disaster struck."


    Those words from Neenth were heavy. In a way, they were prisoners of Earth while being its protectors.


    "Are you pitying, us?"


    Neenth spoke in Mark''s mind, sensing his thoughts.


    "You don''t have to."


    With those few words, Mark understood what the girl in front of him wanted to say.


    It was the reason they exist.


    It was their duty.


    It was their fate.


    Furthermore, it might not be in the most ideal state. Earth, even in its peaceful days were chaotic. There were a lot of people leading their lives astray.


    Now, everything was in chaos. Lives became cheap and many people had be evil.


    Even so, despite their grumbles and personalities...


    The Eyes...


    They liked Earth... They loved Earth...


    And most and foremost...


    They will protect the humans inside it as much as they could.

 Chapter 709 End Of The Meeting, A Privilege Only Given To Mark

    <strong>Day 152 - 4:21 AM - Sanctuary, Catanduanes Mountains, Municipality of Bagamanoc, Catanduanes</strong>


    Hours passed by since the meeting started. The talk was long. Unfortunately, aside from the ns that the Eyes had, no other ns were made. It was something that could not be helped. Dealing with gigantic extraterrestrial debris was not something within the scope of what Mark''s group could do.


    The only thing everyone could focus on was the countermeasures in the aftermath of this disaster. Even if the lost gods managed to destroy the debris into smaller pieces and avoid a greater catastrophe, there was one thing that would happen for sure.


    It was the Mechid Pathogen invading Earth.


    Furthermore, the pieces of theary debris would definitely cause destruction in every part of Earth. These pieces were not just some space rocks, after all. They were metallic pieces that could withstand the heat in the atmosphere and fall onto thend. The already declining poption of humans would decrease further.


    There was no need to mention that the Fusion of Dimensions would also happen. Earthquakes would shake the entire as the dimensions fused. Human cities would copse, creating ruins filled with trees and nts.


    The human-created settlements would get destroyed along with this event. Humans would lose theirst safe havens in facing the Mutated Infected and the iing Bio-Mechanical Infected.


    In addition to the Bio-Mechanical Infected, the Magical Infected would also start roaming the Mortal World. With both kinds of infected appearing alongside the Mutated Infected, Earth would be thrown into further chaos, with most humans having nowhere to run to.


    The Eyes would want to help humans with this. However, the rules the world had would not let them. The most they could do was warn the selected individuals about the iing disaster.


    Unfortunately, everything would start in a week from yesterday. There was no time to idle.


    The most unfortunate part was that Mark''s group did not manage to conclude nts. It was aside from strengthening the defenses of their base. It could not be helped as even the aliens with higher technological advancements did not manage to defeat the infected without causing the artificial to blow up.


    Furthermore, aside from thinking of ns and countermeasures, the rest of the meeting was spent trying to decipher the documents that Neenth showed them. Aside from the general information about the Mechid Pathogen, there were actually documents of concrete studies about the pathogen. However, the documents were on the more scientific and extraterrestrial side. None of the people here could understand the tranted scientific terminologies, and there were even a lot of untranted symbols that filled the whole document.


    In the end, everyone could only give up on the specifics of the documents, although Neenth promised to study thenguage as much as she could. It was the first time that an Eye would learn anguage that did note from Earth. However, it was not out of curiosity but necessity. Even if Neenth was the Apostle of Interest, she was never interested in things that did note from Earth.


    However, looking at more documents that Professor Alston had, they found something horrifying.


    Aside from the Mechid Pathogen, he had documents about two hundred mores with different kinds of unique, infectious pathogens.


    About a hundred and fifty of suchs were already dered destroyed. It was clearly a horrifying fact.


    However, Mark''s eyes were actually focused on a specific name of a.


    Experimental, Eriellis.


    Without a doubt, it was the that Freed and his group came from.


    Mark wanted to read about it. However, they had more urgent things to focus on. If Mark was to take even a glimpse of those document, he would not be able to concentrate more on the iing events.


    Thus, Mark decided to calm the urge to know and decided to leave it forter.


    "Looks like it''s already morning." Neenth said, noticing the time. "We had to go."


    "So, the meeting ends here."


    Mark replied, making Neenth nod.


    "Because of you, we had more information about the iing disaster. You have our gratitude."


    Neenth slightly bowed to Mark.


    "Are you two going to tell the other representatives about this?"


    Mark asked. Unexpectedly, both Neenth and Fourth shook their heads to everyone''s surprise.


    "We already told everyone else about the iing disaster about the heavens." Neenth spoke. "That would be enough. Even if we told things in detail, most of them would not understand it and forget."


    This made Mark confused. It was when Neenth asked Mark a strange question.


    "So far, how do you think we are telling the other representatives about the iing disasters? Do you think that we are telling them in person?"


    "Wait... You don''t?"


    p Mark was surprised about this. After all, Mark was personally told about this by the Eyes.</anda>


    "Usually, we enter their dreams and warn them." Neenth exined. "We use oracles as forms of warnings. You should know that most creatures on Earth could not withstand our presence even if we tried to hide it for the most part."


    Mark fell silent. It was a good reason. If they just appeared and talked to anyone about things, the person would probably fall unconscious before they could say anything.


    However...


    "Then what about me?" Mark asked. "So far, you guys personally brought the information to me. Not only you two, but even Ninth also did the same."


    Mark remembered his first encounter with Ninth. The boy told him about things personally and exined.


    "It''s true that he told you about the fusion of dimensions." Neenth nodded. "But remember, he only told you about vague things and never the specifics. In the first ce, it is you who found him and made him show up. He did not intend to show up at all and would probably contact you in your dreams if you did not find him at all."


    Mark fell silent. Then, his eyes fell of Fourth. This girl just appeared during their meeting, after all.


    "Don''t look at me!" Fourth harrumphed. "I didn''t try to appear before you at first. I did try to enter your dreams the night before. But who would have thought that you''re someone who had detached destiny? There is no way for me to enter your dreams at all. I had no other choice but to show up and bring the news personally."


    Even at the time that he met the other two eyes, it was him who found them first and made theme out of hiding.


    So, in the end, it was Mark''s fault.


    In the first ce, the Eyes were existences not known to humans. They would try not to show themselves to unaffiliated people. In the first ce, if they did show themselves to humans, the religious beliefs of humans would take a drastic turn as humans might likely mistake them as gods instead of protectors.


    It was something that the Eyes never wanted to happen.


    At this point, Neenth smiled and added.


    "Do not think about it too much. Just treat yourself as someone special."


    Mark did not mind what Neenth said. However, to everyone else present, it was a deration.


    The Eyes. The beings who were higher than the gods in myths and legends.


    They were giving Mark a special privilege.


    It was not a wrong thought. After all, Neenth just told Mark that to others, they were giving oracle-like messages. These kinds of messages were vague, and it was kind of hard to urately determine their meanings. It would be up to the recipient and the people to give their own meanings to these oracles.


    However, Fourth and Neenth gave them urate information. Even Fourth told Mark the exact day that theary debris would hit Earth which was a weekter.


    Aside from Mei, Amihan, and Bath, the others were questioning in their minds as to why Mark seemed to be highly valued by the Eyes.<sub> </sub>


    "What are you going to do next?"


    Mark asked Fourth and Neenth.


    "Search if there are still other foreign gods in hiding." Fourth replied. "So far, we haven''t had enough strength topletely obliterate that space debris. That is the most ideal oue we intended to happen."


    "Of course, it would not stop the Mechid Pathogen from entering Earth." Neenth added. "In the least, destroying that debris as much as possible will lessen the possible damage it could bring to Earth. If we could, we wanted to stop South America from sinking due to the absence of one of us. The only way to do that, however, was topletely destroy that debris."


    And to say, the Eyes werepletelycking in that part. After all, the gods of the past were severely weakened in the present times.


    "Should Ie too?"


    Bath at the side asked the two Eyes.


    "Not really." Fourth nonchntly replied. "I intend to bring you to where we are gathering the other foreign gods."


    "Then, can I just request to stay here for the time being?"


    Bath asked.


    "Hmm?"


    Fourth tilted her head before turning to Neenth. Thankfully, Neenth nodded.


    "Bath is known for hispassion for his people and creations. Now that the world is in danger and his help is needed, he will not try to flee."


    Neenth exined. Those words made the old man smile.


    "Then, I''ll let you stay here." Fourth finally agreed. "I''ll pick you up when it''s time."


    "Good."


    Bath nodded.


    Then, the two Eyes turned to Mark.


    "Then, we''ll see youter."


    Fourth and Neenth then entered the door that popped out of nowhere before vanishing from their sight.


    As the two Eyes disappeared, the scary pressure inside the Sanctuary vanished. It made the Spirits and Elementals feel relieved. It was also the same for Berrak and the other humans in Mark''s group.


    Mark sat on his chair with a sigh. He was patting Abbygale''s head as she was sitting on his thighs all this time. The little girl had long fallen asleep though. Miracle was still awake. She was not human and did not really need sleep at all. I, on the other hand, was also awake but would not hold out for too long. Her eyes were already droopy. Children were not suitable for staying up for the whole night, after all.


    Aside from the little girls, Amihan was already asleep on top of Mark''s head.


    "Do you have somece where they can sleep?"


    Mark asked Diwata Iraya.


    The Diwata looked at Amihan, Abbygale, and I. She then nodded and turned to Aliya.


    "I''ll guide you."


    Aliya said to her grandchild with a smile.


    And there, Mark''s group left the table, led by Aliya. The other members of Mark''s group also followed to finally take a good rest for today.


    At this point, it was only Diwata Iraya, Morlkil, and Bath. They were all silent.


    "This is surprising."


    Diwata Iraya broke the silence with an exasperated sigh.


    "What is surprising?"


    Bath looked at the Diwata with a kind smile.


    "Everything."


    Diwata Iraya''s shoulders drooped.


    It was not unexpected that things were hard to take in for Diwata Iraya. Everything that happened after the battle would be shocking to anyone.


    Even now, it was hard to believe that Bath was sitting before her at the same table.


    "You don''t have to be that surprised, my child." Bath stared at Diwata Iraya with amicable Eyes. "This happens for a reason. Just always keep an open mind."


    "Bath..." Diwata Iraya turned to the old man. "Can I ask something?"


    "Just ask. You don''t have to hesitate."


    "Then, please pardon me." Diwata Iraya straightened her shoulders. "Bath seemed to know Mark before. Just who is he?"


    At this, Bath smiled even more, seemingly expecting this question toe out of the Diwata''s mouth.


    "He is someone that could overturn anyone''s destiny."


    "Overturning one''s destiny..."


    Diwata Iraya mulled.


    "That is impossible, isn''t it?" Bath suddenly said, knowing what was in the Diwata''s mind. "A person can only change his own destiny and affect others slightly. To overturn another''s destiny... There''s only one kind of people that could do it."


    And here, Diwata Iraya came to a realization.


    "Is he..."


    "No," Bath shook his head. "Not yet. But in the future, he could be."


    "No, he will be. The next god born of this."

 Chapter 710 A Short Farewell, Leaving The Island Of Catanduanes

    <strong>Day 152 - 1:21 PM - Mountain Foot, Catanduanes Mountains, Municipality of Bagamanoc, Catanduanes</strong>


    The time after lunch. Some individuals gathered at the foot of a mountain at the center of the ind of Catanduanes.


    Of course, they were Mark''s group along with Diwata Iraya and some of her people. Even Bath was also present.


    And why was everyone here?


    It was now time for Mark''s group to finally leave this ind. Although it might have already been midday, they could not dy it any longer. Well, it was not wrong to say that it was actually ahead of schedule.


    Mark was not finished with his ns here on this ind. He also wanted to eliminate the Demons here himself. Lord Seis and his army were already dead. Even so, there were still many Demons lurking in their territory.


    Even a single Demon could pose a threat to many.


    However, there was no time for Mark to handle the small fries anymore. For him, a week was too short to prepare for an iing worldwide disaster.


    Sometimes, it was really better if one was innocent of the iing danger. Those people would not feel this kind of pressure. Well, they would not have any preparations either and would likely die.


    Luckily, with Bath''s presence here on the ind, the Demons would be weakened further. It would be good to leave the Demons in the hands of Diwata Iraya. Besides, she had long been eager to eliminate the evil Demons on this ind. However, because of the presence of a Lord that always led the Demons, she never achieved this goal.


    This was a chance for Diwata Iraya to achieve her lifetime goal. Well, at least for a short time.


    When the Dimension Fusion happened, more Demons would begin roaming the surface of the. Most of them might die because of the fusion. However, those that survived would definitely terrorize the remaining humans living on Earth.


    No, not only the humans. Even the Spirits and Elementals that survived the fusion would be subjected to the same horrors.


    Without a doubt, the second wave was just the start of chaos.


    At this moment, Mark was struggling on the tight embrace that Aliya was giving him. He was thest to receive this embrace, with Mei and the little girls getting it first. However, Mark was sure that it was not this tight when she embraced the girls.


    "Do you have to be that rough?"


    Mark could not help butin after Aliya finally let go of him.


    "Don''tin like that. You''re a man. You''re not as delicate as the girls."


    Aliya said, ruffling Mark''s hair. Since she was shorter than Mark, Aliya was tiptoeing as she reached for her grandson''s head.


    Mark could only shrug as he stared at Aliya''s eyes. She was just doing this to mask her sadness. After all, after a very long time, she met Mark, one of her descendants, with his family. It was just a short time. Now, they were leaving.


    "We''ll stop by before going home when we get back. If you want to, you cane with us."


    Mark said, making Aliya smile. However, she shook her head.


    "This ce is my home. Most of my descendants are still on this ind. I can''t just leave this ce like that."


    Aliya was keen on protecting her descendants as much as she could. Even more, now that the restriction for magical beings meddling with mortals was lifted.


    It meant that Aliya could directly help humans if needed.


    But, of course, it was a dangerous thing too. After all, humans were always afraid of the unknown.


    "Aunt." Mark turned to his aunt Gennie. "I''ll leave Grandmother to you."


    "Rather than leaving her to me, I might end up the opposite."


    Gennie smiled bitterly. Unlike Aliya, who was now a several hundred-years old spirit, she was way weaker. At this moment, Gennie was not even that different from a ghost.


    Mark did not say anything. He just mysteriously smiled as he nced at Aliya. Thetter noticed his nce and also smiled.


    What the others did not know was that Mark left five [Empty Mental Crystals] for his Grandmother to keep. Yes, he had a limited number of these clear empty crystals that could absorb human psychic abilities. However, for him right now, the safety of Aliya was far heavier than the value of the crystals.


    Saying goodbye to his Grandmother and Aunt, Mark turned to Diwata Iraya and Bath.


    "I guess I don''t have to say anything else about the Demons."


    Mark said.


    "We will take care of the Demons." Bath smiled. "You all did not have to worry."


    "With Bath present with us, we will have more than enough people to deal with them." Diwata Iraya spoke. "There is no way for them to show cowardice in the face of a god."


    Sure enough, Diwata Iraya was disappointed about the warriors that did not participate in the previous battle. Now that Bath was present, however, they would not be able to maintain their careless attitude.


    While Mark talked to Bath and Diwata Iraya, Mei and the girls also bid farewell to Aliya and Gennie onest time.


    The goodbyes were done. It was time to leave.


    With the sun up high in the sky, a huge ck dragon and a gigantic bird of storms flew from the foot of the mountain.


    On the back of Char, it was the original members of Mark''s group. The three new members were on the back of Trua, the Thunderbird.


    Even though the number of members of the group increased, Mark expected the travel to be faster because of Berrak. It was really good that he managed to get this guy into his group.


    In normal circumstances, one would worry about betrayal. It was the same situation with Berrak since he was initially an enemy before.


    However, Mark had no need to worry about it any longer.


    At first, Berrak was afraid of him and followed. However, he slowly adapted and turned his misfortune into an opportunity after seeing Mark''s strength.


    Now, it was different. Berrak was following Mark with reverence. It all startedst night after it became known that Mark''s group personally knew a living god while Mark was being given special treatment by beings stronger than gods.


    It was not only Berrak. Both the two young soldiers were the same. Their eyes were now opened to the truth of the world. With the look in their eyes, it was clear that they would never regret joining Mark''s group even if it was a dangerous trip.<sub> </sub>


    "Boss!"


    Suddenly, Berrak''s voice was heard. It was from the radio hanging on Mark''s belt. Unfortunately, the signal was a bit hazy. After all, they were flying, and the strong winds were messing with the radio frequency.


    "What is it?"


    Mark answered the radio.


    "We are going to Cebu, right?" Berrak replied. "Where exactly in Cebu?"


    It could not be helped that Berrak asked. After all, Mark did not give any concrete exnation to everyone about what they were going to do next. In fact, it was only Mark and Pefile that knew the exact details.


    Furthermore, with the meetingst night about the iing disaster, there was no time for Mark to exin the circumstances to his group. Besides, they were being careful that Edzel would not know what was going on. Pefile did not want to tell the truth even now.


    In any case, the exact destination was not something that was a secret.


    "Kawasan Falls."


    Mark replied.


    "Huh?"


    Berrak seemed to be confused, and his gaze fell on the back of Pefile since they were flying behind Char.


    "That''s right," Mark spoke to the radio before Berrak could ask further. "It''s Pefile''s homnd."


    "Hey, Uncle." Emika suddenly spoke behind Mark. "Isn''t Cebu too far from here?"


    Mark nced at Emika.


    "More than four hundred fifty kilometers."


    Emika winced.


    The distance from Infanta to Catanduanes was about two hundred and fifty. It took them more than a whole day to reach the port in Caramoran, and it was with them already rushing it.


    If they left in the middle of the afternoon, they might need about two days in this case. It might be faster if they had an airne, but it was different now.


    Besides, traveling in the sky during the apocalypse was not safe either.


    "Don''t worry," Mark spoke. "I don''t intend to fly there in one go. Char won''t be able to handle that. We cannd somewhere before dark and camp out. We might reach our destination tomorrow if we are lucky."


    "Boss, do you have a beef with the Tamawo''s there?" Berrak''s voice was heard from the radio once more. "From what it looks like, we are not just going there to visit."


    "Of course, we are not." Mark smiled. It was a disturbing smile. "We are going there to cause trouble."


    Mark nced at the silent Pefile. He seemed to be in agreement with what Mark said. In fact, he was also smiling sinisterly. Pefile could not wait to make a mess of his former homnd.


    From the ce where they started this journey to the southwest, the direction they were flying to would allow them to fly over the military settlement in Catanduanes.


    As they flew closer to the settlement, Mark told Berrak to fly higher. If Char and Trua flew too low over the settlement, things might be troublesome. It would be bad if the soldiers in the settlement panicked and just opened fire on them.


    Looking down from the sky, everyone could see the current state of the Military Settlement in Codon. It was quite a disaster.


    Although small, like ants, they could see a lot of people busy cleaning the surroundings of the settlement. It was not just soldiers but even civilians. And the reason was the mountains of dead bodies that littered the surroundings outside the walls.


    As it appeared, the soldiers seemed to have a rough timest night.


    It was not surprising. The fluctuation from Berrak''s summoning already called hundreds of infected from across the gulf. Of course, the energy fluctuation from the battlest night was much worse.


    Fortunately, the chance of another intelligent [Leader Type] infected appearing once more was quite low. If another one existed nearby, it could have appeared back then because of Berrak.


    Still, it seemed that all of the infected stuck under the gulf came ashore. There were a whole lot of dead bodies. The numbers might even be more than half of the previous time.


    Flying at the sky, it seemed that some people below also saw Chalfar and Trua. However, they were having a hard time trying to stare because the sun was right above, blocking the view from below.


    In any case, Mark had no ns to stop by the settlement. His business in the settlement was all finished. The only thing left was his deal with Val Flora. However, there was no need to find her as she would be the one going to find him in the future.


    Soon, they flew past the settlement and away from the ind.


    Mark could not help but look back. The very first rtive that gave him unconditional warmth was on this ind.


    "Gege, we''lle back here again."


    Mei, who was sitting beside Mark, said as she leaned on his shoulder.


    "Yeah, we''re going back here."


    With those thoughts, they left the ind.


    The scene below alternated between water andnd. After some time, Char would need to go down to the ground to rest a bit. Of course, they did not stop but continued moving onnd.


    Fortunately, the journey until sunset was quite uneventful. Aside from a few infected on the ground, no notable event happened on the way.


    They continued with the journey until the sky changed color.


    Flying over mountains, towns, and viges, Mark found a ce for them to spend the night.


    It was a small farmhouse by the shore in the Municipality of Cawayan on the Ind of Masbate.

 Chapter 711 Magical Fortune Telling, The Fate Of The Island In The Near Future

    <strong>Day 152 - 11:21 AM - Pandan District Hospital, Salvacion (Tariwara), Municipality of Pandan, Cantanduanes</strong>


    At the base of the Neutral Faction of the rebels, the people looked tired. Most of them had not gotten any sleep since yesterday. However, it could not be helped.


    <o>,m It would only take a nce at the northern part of the base, and anyone would know what happened. After all, there was no way to hide the hundreds to thousands of dead bodies thaty there.</o>


    The previous night was tough for everyone. It was fortunate that they received a warning from a magical entity before everything happened.


    "Wew... I can finally take a break." Bert sat down on the pavement by the roadside as he looked at the other men working. "You all take care that there''s no infected still alive!"


    "We got it, Boss!"


    One worker replied with the others in agreement.


    Bert Barwel. He was just azy fisherman before the outbreak despite secretly being a member of the rebels. Now, he received a pretty high position, allowing him to order a group of people.


    It was all thanks to him being the husband of the Madam''s sister.


    That was why even if he was still feelingzy, Bert could not let down his men.


    "Taking a break?"


    Suddenly, a younger man called Bert.


    Bert looked behind. It was the man named Marvy, the husband of the Madam.


    "Yeah," Bert replied. "Last night is such a mess!"


    Bert wasining. It was confusing as to why too many infected suddenly crossed the gulf to get into the ind. Luckily, they were prepared for this kind of situation. If not, they could only abandon this base considering the number of the infected.


    "It is good that we bolstered the defenses by the shore long ago."


    Marvy said as he took a seat beside Bert.


    "It''s all thanks to Grace." Bert turned his head towards the piles of dead bodies in front. "This must have been the situation she predicted before. It was lucky that she can read the future using different methods. If not, we''re done for."


    Marvy could only smile bitterly. His wife had turned into the pir of this base while he could only stand at the side.


    "Any change inst night''s reading?"


    Bert ignored Marvy''s silence and asked.


    When they received the warning from the Diwatast night, the Madam, Grace, immediately did a prediction reading using her cards.


    The result was undesirable, with the Death card on her Tarot Card Set appearing consecutively.


    As a result of her reading, everyone was mobilized to defend against the iing danger. And because of that, they seeded with minimal casualties.


    "Not even a slight change," Marvy replied. "The death card is still appearing for some reason."


    "The situation is still dangerous, then." Bert nodded. "We better keep vignt."


    "Papa!"


    A boy''s voice was heard calling towards the two.


    Knowing whose voice it was, Marvy turned his head to see a chubby boy calling from atop the wall. It was his youngest son, Thaddy. Behind the boy was his older brother, Michael. Looking at his second son that miraculously returned unscathed, Marvy could not help but smile.


    "What is it?"


    Marvy asked.


    "Aunty is calling you and Uncle!"


    The boy replied.


    Looking at each other, both Bert and Marvy stood up. If the two of them were being called by Grace, it was likely that something major happened.


    Marvy and Bert went into the base and met up with Thaddy and Michael. Together, they went to the main building of thepound.


    They went straight to the area designated for their family.


    Their family was important to this base. This privilege was not unjust.


    Inside the quarters, both Marvy''s and Bert''s family members were gathered. It was their area, after all.


    Marvy''s eyes fell unto his daughter, Marian. Like his second son, she also returned safely after a long time that she was held up by the Anti-Government Faction.


    On the other side, there was Bert''s family. Bing, his wife and was Grace''s younger sister, and his two young boys, Christian and John.


    Aside from their family members, several people were also present. The person leading them all was no other than the leader of the Neutral Faction, Ismael Florencia.


    "What is happening?"


    Marvy asked.


    "Madam Grace just did a reading. She''s currently looking into more details."


    The one that answered Marvy was Ismael.


    Marvy then turned to Grace. She was sitting on the chair in front of a wide table.


    On the table, it was littered with Tarot and ying cards, arranged in corresponding groups. At the moment, Grace was writing sets of numbers on a piece of paper. She seemed to be in a full trance as she wrote everything like ghostly scribbles.


    In that state of his wife, Marvy fell silent. It was better not to disrupt her in her. Thest time she was disrupted while in a trance, she fell unconcious for a few days.


    At those times, Marvy could not help but think that Grace''s ability to see the future was more of a curse. Before the outbreak, it was not like this. However, as time went on, her abilities were getting stronger since the apocalypse started.


    It took about an hour. Finally, Grace let go of the pen in her hand. She looked tired.


    Everyone looked at the paper she was writing on. All they could see were sets of numbers, symbols, and lines. The entire thing was iprehensible.


    "How is it, Madam?"


    Ismael asked respectfully. Even though he was the leader of this base, they were all relying on Grace for their safety. Ever since the start that she arrived here, her predictions have never missed the mark.


    Grace turned to Ismael.


    "It is better that we don''t contact the military settlement anytime soon."


    Her words made Ismael frown.


    The Anti-Government Faction was no more. Due to that, the two other factions beganmunicating with each other, nning to contact the Military Settlement and join forces with them.


    Unlike the Anti-Government Faction which nned on overthrowing the Government, the Peaceful Faction only wanted independence. The Neutral Faction sat between the two and would only go with the flow. It was the safest position between the factions.


    Now that the Anti-Government Faction was destroyed by some unknown force, it was decided that the Neutral Faction would join hands with the Peaceful Faction.<sub> </sub>


    And with just a few words from Grace, all these ns would end up useless. In the worst case, the Peaceful Faction might turn on them for not following the arrangement.


    "Why is that?" Ismael asked. "With what is happening on the ind, we better ally ourselves with the military. Even though we managed to survive the previous night, it would be hard for all of us to undergo the same situation several more times."


    "Another force is intending to struggle for power in the Military Settlement. It is possible that they would end up controlling the Military Settlement in the near future."


    "Then, we are going to ally with them instead?"


    Ismael asked.


    However, Grace shook her head. Then, she gathered her Tarot Cards on the table and shuffled the deck. Then, she presented the deck in a fan shape towards Ismael.


    There was no need to say what Ismael needed to do. It was not the first time that they did this.


    Ismael chose a card from the deck and took it. It was the answer to his question.


    Looking at the card, Ismael shivered. He then ced the card on the table for everyone to see.


    "The Death Card."


    Bert said with a low voice.


    There was no need for Grace to exin the meaning of the card. It meant that the new force, that was going to overthrow the military, would be extremely hostile to the rebels. Trying to ally with them would end in the worst-case scenario.


    Then, what were they going to do? The room fell into silence. Even the three boisterous boys did not dare say anything because of the heavy atmosphere inside the room.


    "This card had been around too much these days, isn''t it?"


    Bert said, trying to break the silence.


    "It''s because we''ve been facing deadly situations."


    Bing retorted to her husband.


    "Is there no other way?" Ismael asked. "We won''t hold long like this. Even Terorio''s faction is already at wit''s end."


    Ismael was distraught as he brought the name of the leader of the Peaceful Faction into the talk.


    "Wait, maybe we can help the Military defend against the enemy?"


    Ismael added the thought that entered his mind.


    Unfortunately, Grace still shook her head.


    "Helping the military resist the enemy will only lead to us getting eliminated with them," Grace said with all seriousness. "The enemy will be too strong for everyone. In the first ce, even if we managed to help the military, we won''t be able to avoid the main reason for their defeat."


    "What is it?"


    Ismael asked.


    Grace then turned to Michael.


    "Give me your knife."


    Michael had a butterfly knife in his belt. He handed the knife to his mother.


    Grace then opened the butterfly knife while gathering her deck of ying cards.


    Unexpectedly, she threw the deck into the air and threw the knife at the same time.


    The butterfly knife dangerously spun in the air together with the cards. It was until the knife fell de first onto the table.


    Unexpectedly, there was a card under the de which the knife pierced through.


    "The King of Spades stabbed by a knife," Grace spoke at that scene. "General Padi will die due to being assassinated."


    And then, by everyone''s surprise, a cardnded in between the caps of the butterfly knife. It looked as if that card drove the knife unto the King of Spades.


    And the knife was the Queen of Hearts.


    "Seems like Emellynn did not die and was still alive. She will definitely be the one to kill the General."


    Grace said, to Ismael''s surprise.


    Silence enveloped the room once more, leaving the sound of the cards still falling unto the table.


    If the General was killed, the Military on this ind would crumble.


    Suddenly, Grace spoke once again.


    "Look''s like the enemy would really take advantage of the assassination."


    Everyone turned to Grace, only to see her staring at the table.


    A surprise was waiting for them after they turned at what Grace was staring at.


    At the side of the butterfly knife that stabbed the King of Spades, a group of Diamond cards gathered. Atop the group of cards was the Queen of Diamonds, indicating the female leader of the enemies, together with her people.


    Then, they finally noticed. It was not just the cards around the knife. All the other cards scattered around the table as if running away from the chaos that happened because of the General''s death.


    "The people loyal to the General would flee the settlement. We can take them in."


    Grace said, pointing at the group of spade cards that was blown away the furthest on the table.


    "I guess, that is the best thing that we can do."


    Ismael decided to heed everything that Grace said. Just the scene of the cards reenacting the whole situation looked like sorcery. It all happened in front of him and there was no way to deny it.


    With this, the meeting this time was supposed toe to a close.


    However, just as Grace was about to pick up the Death Card that Ismael chose earlier, it was suddenly blown away by something.


    It was strange considering that the whole room was closed so that the cards would not get identally blown by the wind.


    But then, Grace saw the Death Cardnd on a map of the ind of Catanduanes that was pinned on the table as a decoration.


    There was a sh in Grace''s eyes. She was sure that the ce that the cardnded was where the red light fromst night originated.


    But then, as if leaving the ind towards the sky, the Death Card was blown away by a nonexistent wind once more.


    It was a strange scene for everyone.


    The Death Card then fell to the floor. As Grace picked it up, she could not help but notice a few cards gathered on the floor like another group. It was actually the King and Queen of Clubs with a few number cards.


    It was strange as Grace could not read any future from that group at all.

 Chapter 712 Under The Starry Sky, The Story Of Marks Childhood

    <strong>Day 152 - 7:21 PM - Farmhouse, Coconut ntation, Labingan, Municipality of Cawayan, Province of Masbate</strong>


    The province of Masbate. It was a province made up of arge ind, two inds smaller than thergest, and a few even smaller ones in the southernmost of the Bicol Region. It was also located at the crossroads of the ind groups of Luzon and Visayas.


    Since it was an ind, it was detached from the maind. And unlike Catanduanes, it was lucky to not have an airne crashing into itsnd to create a Ground Zero when the apocalypse began.


    Unfortunately, it was not a lucky ce to be unaffected by the outbreak.


    Being an ind, many thought it to be safer than the maind. There were also people from the surrounding inds filled with infected that came to this ce for safety.


    Even if Masbate had more than eight hundred thousand people living in it, the poption was widely divided into its inds. This left a huge part of the ind mostly untouched by the civilization along with its abundant grasnds.


    In many ways, it was a nice ind to dwell in the apocalypse. The wide ins would allow others to see threats far before they came. The mountains and seas around the ind would provide people with food. Lastly, as said before, no ground zeros of the outbreak were located on this ind.


    Those very reasons put this ind in more danger.


    People flocked into the ind, urged by the government''s announcements.


    And they brought along the infected with them unknowingly.


    Even before the animals could evolve or the marine animals managed to leave the sea, the ind was already mostly dead.


    Despite the government announcements, this ind was not really among the ces they set up a military settlement. Thus, everyone was left to rely on local police, military forces, and even the anti-government militia.


    They did notst long. The longest was a little more than a month. These local forces were defeated, and the people were left to fend for themselves.


    Only a small number of people was left on this ind. They were left to struggle to survive in the threats that surrounded them.


    It was good that arge patch of the ind wasposed of grasnds. They managed to survive in these ces more than running into the mountains.


    After all, not only were the infected the threat they needed to face.


    Today, however, a lot of the survivors on this ind were shaken.


    Before sunset, they saw tworge monsters flying in the sky. They were sure that the two creaturesnded on the southwest side of the ind.


    No one suggested by everyone decided. The survivors of Masbate would do their best to stay away from that part of the ind.


    Unfortunately for those survivors, they would never know. While they were shaking in fear, the culprits for their fear were not really interested in them even in the slightest.


    The two monstersnded by the southwestern coast, obeying the orders of their masters.


    Of course, they were Mark''s group, finding a ce to spend the night. What they found was a group of structures in the middle of a coconut ntation.


    Despite the ce being surrounded by wide empty farnds on the north and east sides, its west and southern areas were nothing but seawater. It was not an ideal ce for people to stay, considering no one would know what kind of monster would suddenlye ashore.


    To Mark''s group, however, that thing did not matter. While regr people would pray to their gods when an evolved marine animal appeared from the seat to attack their settlements, it was theplete opposite if it was Mark''s group.


    The ones that would need to pray were the evolved marine animals.


    Fresh seafood was a delicacy, after all.


    From the structures, only the farmhouse that belonged to the owner of the ntation was habitable.


    Some were just storage and equipment sheds. There was also a processing area. None of those were ces that one would stay for the night.


    The farmhouse did not seem to be rich-looking. It was just a in, modern structure with a few decorations. However, the house was huge enough to house arge family, not to mention Mark''s group.


    Unfortunately, while it was looking neat outside, the inside was trashed. It seemed that the ce had long been looted by scavengers. Nothing of value was left in the house. For some reason, even appliances were missing. It was likely that rather than scouring the ce for supplies to survive, it was more a case of theft.


    The only good thing was that there were no signs of people being killed inside the house. In the least, there would be no need to clean some disgusting remains of dead people before they eat dinner and sleep.


    Since the group would continue their journey early in the morning, everyone went to sleep early. Mark, Berrak, and Pefile had their own methods of securing everyone''s safety. There was also Berrak''s summons and Char to lookout outside.


    It was fine to take a good rest for tomorrow. Even Pefile was taking advantage of the situation and was sleeping. It seemed that he wanted to be in top shape once they reached their destination.


    However, while everyone was already asleep, there was one person that could not.


    "Gege?"


    Mei softly called out as she climbed onto the roof of the farmhouse. There, Mark was lying down, gazing at the moon and the stars.


    Mark nced at Mei with a slight smile.


    "Climb up."


    Like usual, Mei was up when Mark was missing. It was not like she could not sleep without Mark by her side. However, she wanted to spend as much time as she could with him. With the little girls around, she could not monopolize Mark. In the least, nighttime was her time with him, even if it was just sleeping together. Of course, she would not force it if Mark found it troublesome. In the least, it did not seem so. In fact, Mark appreciated her eagerness to spend time with him more than she thought.


    Mei sat down beside Mark. The two were silent for a moment. In a regr situation, one would ask why the other was still awake. As for Mark and Mei, there was no need to. They were used to this kind of situation.


    However, it was quite different tonight. Mei was suspiciously ncing at Mark, seemingly hesitating about something.


    "Want to ask me something?"


    Mark finally spoke. It was impossible for him not to notice Mei''s hesitation. Although she was hesitating, her emotions were filled with curiosity, indicating that she was interested in something but not sure if she should ask.


    Finally, Mei mustered the courage.


    With a deep inhale, she spoke.


    "I hated my family. I don''t want to be involved with them anymore. But Gege, you don''t seem to hate yours. You took great lengths to at least remove the greatest threats for them. But even so, you don''t want to meet them. I''m curious. Well, you really don''t have to answer if it''s troublesome."<sub> </sub>


    Mei was really curious. However, it seemed that she was hesitating to ask Mark because it might bother him instead.


    Still...


    "I just want to know more about you."


    Mei added, staring at Mark''s eyes.


    Those words and her sincere expression...


    "That is foul y, you know?"


    Mark smiled bitterly. There was no way that he would be able to reject that.


    Mei became troubled. Did her question really troubled Mark? If that was the case, she should not have asked.


    But then, Mark started talking as he gazed once more towards the starry sky.


    "You''re right. I don''t hate my family. But it doesn''t mean that I like them either. It was more towards dislike, to be honest, though."


    Mei fell silent as she intently listened to Mark. She was like a little girl waiting to be told her favorite fairytale.


    Mark could only shake his head slightly, seeing Mei''s behavior.


    "You see, even as their child, I can list more bad things about my parents than good things."


    ***


    Mark''s parents, Marvy and Grace, had a pretty outdated outlook on life. It was something that could not be helped because of the environment they grew up in. Both his parents came from rural provinces, where it wasmon for a child to end up doingbor to help their parents. Furthermore, their parents were not good ones either.


    The bad thing, however, Mark grew up while his parents alwayspared their lives when they were his age. Thus, he was forced into an outlook that he had it better than his parents and must do things better. The same thing happened to Mark''s siblings, with the exception of the youngest.


    However, the intensity was overwhelmingly different. For a child of Mark''s age at that time, he could not help but think that his parents were ying favorites. Of course, he was not the favorite one. It was his younger siblings.


    Mark''s parents were also strict and overprotective. It was very hard to get out of the house unless it was something rted to school. They would always say that it was dangerous outside and something bad could happen.


    Thus, Mark and his siblings never ever made friends among the children in the neighborhood. In fact, the other people saw Mark and his children as odd children that did not want to socialize with others.


    It was even if it was actually their parent''s fault.


    This continued for a long time.


    Too long that even though Mark was already in college, the furthest ce that Mark reached alone with his parents knowing was just at the border of the province. It was utterly surprising to know since Bacoor was literally at the border of Northeastern Cavite. It meant that he did not actually go that far.


    Secretly, though, Mark managed to reach further ces. Even other municipalities nearby. Of course, if it was known by his parents at that time, he would be subjected to a frightening intensity of sermons and scolding.


    It was hard for Mark to keep those secrets. After all, his mother could more or less see through shallow lies.


    Mark grew being scolded a lot. It was even at times he was doing his best but did not reach the standards that his mother wanted. The scolding was too much to the point that Mark grew up afraid of being scolded at all.


    Although he became used to it after a long time and Mark learned to tighten his expressions, his heart would always intensely pound whenever he heard his mother''s angry voice.


    It was even if he was not the one being scolded at all.


    Because of this, Mark learned to shift mes as much as he could or even throw excuses to avoid being scolded a lot.


    But of course, it was not the worst thing.


    Asian mothers were known to scold and hit their children when they did something wrong or even if they were just angry. It was not all of them but there was a lot.


    Mark''s mother was just like that. Fortunately, his mother was not the type to always hit them. But when she did, there would be another broken stic hanger in the trash soon.


    From these kinds of things, Mark grew up afraid of his parents. He followed their instructions as much as he could, rational or not.


    In fact, at an early age, rather than helping with house chores, Mark was doing the house chores by himself. It was because he was tasked by his parents to do it once.


    And for some reason, it became his duty alone.


    Mark did not question it, though.


    Washing the dishes, cooking dinner and lunch, washing the clothes, sweeping the yard, and other chores. Mark did all of this alone with very few questions.


    He was thinking that when the time came, it would be the turn of his siblings to do this kind of work or at least help.


    Years passed and Mark realized.


    His siblings were already past the age of the first time he took the chores. Yet, none of them were even pushed to his role or even help him.


    And he also realized...


    Mark''s mother stopped doing most of the chores that were supposed to be her duty as the woman of the house.


    All of it was thrown unto him for some reason.


    ***


    "It was the time that I thought." Mark sighed. "Maybe, I''m adopted."

 Chapter 713 Rather Too Late, Marks Struggles While Growing Up

    <strong>Day 152 - 7:59 PM - Rooftop, Farmhouse, Coconut ntation, Labingan, Municipality of Cawayan, Province of Masbate</strong>


    "But that''s not the case, right?"


    Mei asked, hearing the grave thought that Mark had as a child.


    "Of course, it''s not true." Mark shrugged. "If I''m not their child, I wouldn''t have been a Blood Demon and never had weird powers. I might have died since the outbreak started. Well, probably not. I still have Freed at that time, I guess."


    Mei red at Mark. She was notfortable with Mark talking about his death jokingly. Smiling bitterly, he could only sit up and pat her head.


    "I realized when I grew older." Mark continued. "When that thought popped up in my mind, it is pretty much a bad sign."


    ***


    Children were feeble and innocent creatures. Their minds were simple. It was not because they were incapable of thinking of slightlyplex things. It was just theycked the experience and knowledge.


    These experiences and knowledge would be supplemented by their surroundings. And the first source that children had would be their parents or guardian.


    Thus, the first people for the child to trust the most would be the people that raised them.


    For Mark to start thinking that he was adopted...


    It meant that he began to lose that trust.


    Mark began to question things more. At times, he wouldin and ask why he had to do everything while his siblings did not. At first, it was because he was the eldest and had the responsibility to take care of his young siblings. But when his younger siblings had grown up enough, these questions mostly fell to deaf ears.


    The worst thing that happened was when he received the answer.


    "Because your siblings did not want to do it."


    They answered with aplicated expression.


    Mark could not ept that answer. In his mind, he wanted to ask why his parents did not forcefully push the responsibility to his siblings, pretty much like how they pushed these things to him.


    The first time, his parents told him that he needed to learn about these things. It was because when they were his age, they already had it harder. And then, it suddenly became all his duty.


    Why did his siblings not receive the same treatment?


    However, Mark was already afraid of his parents could not muster the courage to ask such disrespectful questions.


    Slowly, Mark found staying at home less and less enjoyable.


    Unlike at home, he barely had anything hard to do outside.


    Unlike at home, he would not get scolded unless he did something bad.


    Unlike at home, he could y with other children.


    Mark began to try to spend as much time as possible outside the house, specifically, at school. Studying might be boring. At least, it was something that kept him away from home.


    But then, spending more time outside, Mark realized something. He began to learn more about things that he would not learn at home.


    And...


    Compared to other children, he actually had it a whole lot worse.


    In terms of daily school allowance, he actually had a lot less than other children. Well, he did not question this part too much. He knew thatpared to other families, his was not that well off.


    However, that topic became a huge issue to Mark in the future.


    Unlike private schools where school tests were paid beforehand, photocopied texts and test papers on public schools were paid on the spot. Scheduled and announced tests were fine. Mark could ask for money from his parents before the schedule.


    But for surprise tests and other study materials, Mark''s allowance was never enough. He learned how to endure hunger and how to earn debts this way in school.


    Mark mentioned this issue to his parents several times. However, he never had a raise until he grew tired of asking. It continued until college, where it went to the point that Mark would only eat twice a day because his allowance was not enough for daily expenses school. After all, studying at college needed a whole lot of money.


    Because of this, Mark learned to leech off from his richer ssmates, even just to get a stick of fishballs for lunch during days when the subjects needed more stamina to attend. Physics and Trigonometry on the same day for the whole day were the worst.


    It all happened with another urring issue.


    At the same age, his siblings had several timesrger school allowance than him.


    When Mark was in the fourth year of his college course, Michael was already in the first year.


    Michaels daily allowance was way higher than he had, even if they were attending the same school and he was older.


    Mark could only swallow that in as he already asked the reason for this, years before.


    The answer he got was that because the prices of things now and then were higher. Of course, it was nothing but an empty excuse. The prices of things in and outside school barely changed in the years. The only time the prices actually rose was when he already graduated college.


    Mark, who already lost trust in his parents, did not bother asking anymore. It was not like anything would change, anyway.


    As Mark seemed to stop caring about home and spent a lot of time outside with all sorts of school-rted excuses, it was not surprising that at one point, he got caught. His father was a tricycle driver, after all. There would be a time that they would identally see each other on the road.


    Mark received another level of scolding at that time. He felt it funny when his mother started with the topic of not caring about his family and spending time with his friends. She proceeded to tell him that they were bad influences and stuff. That he needed to stay away from them in the future.


    Unfortunately, Mark had no choice but to reduce the time he spent with them. He valued his friends, but it would be bad if his raging mother just went and confronted them unreasonably.


    However, it had a bad effect.


    Mark''s rtions with his friends started to drift away.<sub> </sub>


    It reached a point that Mark did not know what was going on anymore. Once he met with his friends from time to time, they could talk about things he had no idea about. Furthermore, new people would keep popping out into the group with Mark having no idea who they were.


    Mark began to lose his ce in his circle until it reached the time that he thought that they were his not true friends at all.


    Well, in the least, he had some good times with them in the past.


    Unable to keep up with his friends any longer, Mark finally decided to stay away for good.


    Mark managed to graduate in those conditions.


    But then, Mark, who thought that he would be able to finally leave the grasp of his parents, found a dilemma.


    That graduation was the start of his stagnated life.


    Mark did not know at that time. He had long developed anxiety towards people. It became extremely hard for him to meet new people, not to mention actually applying for a job.


    He did not learn anything useful in college. Mark was anxious about his abilities not up to par with the job and getting on the bad side of people.


    In the first ce, the school and college degree that Mark had was not his choice in the first ce. What Mark wanted before was to take a two-year course at a certain Japanese-oriented school. Furthermore, the course was actually centered onputer programming and video game development.


    It was something that Mark liked and would allow him to actually earn money in a shorter period.


    Unfortunately, as Mark''s parents had outdated outlooks, they saw a two-year course as trashpared to a four-year bachelor''s degree.


    They enrolled him in a newly opened state university in the area. It was too new that Mark''s batch of students were actually the pioneers of the school.


    And that was the problem.


    A new school did not have experienced instructors for the subjects and courses they offered.


    The course that Mark managed to choose was Computer Science. It was the closest to the course that Mark wanted initially.


    However, who would ever think that instead of an experiencedputer programmer, their first programming instructor was actually a pastor? Not to mention to actually teach programming, the pastor did not even have any programming experience. While he was teaching the course, the pastor was also learning the subject.


    At first, no one paid attention to this detail. This issue persisted over the years even if the instructors were already reced. After all, actual programmers were already earning bucks with their work. There would be no one willing a low wage work at a school that did not even have a good reputation.


    The only time that Mark managed to get an opportunity to actually have the time to reasonably learn video game programming in school was when they were asked to start their thesis proposals. As a Computer Science student in a new school, the choices were a bitxer.


    Making a video game was one of the options and Mark and this groupmates immediately jumped on the wagon. Although there were some restrictions and rules to follow since it was a thesis, Mark managed to make an eptable proposal that even their thesis advisor managed to approve off.


    Unfortunately, the guest jury for the proposal defense was an old woman. There was no need to question her unreasonably strict look or her knowledge about video games. Without even starting the defense, Mark''s proposal was rejected. There was no doubt that the jury was someone that viewed the video-game industry as trash. There was a whole lot of them in this backward country. Her unreasonable outlook towards video games was obvious. It was not only Mark''s group that had that kind of thesis proposal. There was actually more than expected.


    Not a single video game-themed proposal was approved.


    The worst was that the dean gave that old hag full authority to judge the students. Mark''s thesis advisor, also among the jury, could only apologize to him as she did not expect this to happen either.


    Mark was forced to a thesis that he never wanted to do, nor actually had cooperative clients.


    After Mark''s graduation, those issues came to haunt him.


    Mark did not have even slight confidence in facing people ornding a good job.


    Of course, he managed to muster some courage to apply at somepanies.


    All of his applications did not make it. Most of them failed in the interview. It was a reasonable oue for someone with anxiety towards facing people.


    Mark gave up and stayed at home.


    It was a bad idea.


    Instead of getting encouragement, Mark received more scoldings for not getting a job. It became a daily urrence for him. In fact, he received more sermons than actually being able to eat breakfast at home. He skipped breakfast most of the time since he had no appetite in the morning.


    Well, it was not like anyone else would make breakfast for him. In the first ce, Mark had already forgotten thest time that he actually ate breakfast that his mother made.


    Mark''s father managed to arrange some things and made Mark try out some jobs from people he knew. Unfortunately, none of it worked out at all. It was either they did not find Mark suitable for the job, or the job was just way out of Mark''s field.


    p In the least, Mark''s father was better than his mother, who did nothing but nag at home, draining all that was left of his trust in them.</anda>


    This made Mark realize.


    What was happening to him at that moment was all that his parents paved for him. The worst part, they never realized it and always med it on Mark for being ipetent.


    Mark was not ipetent. In fact,paring the four siblings, Mark was the most talented.


    He could draw, write stories, make crafts, and even had an excellent memory for things he was interested in. In fact, Mark''s thesis advisor found him capable of writing good business proposals and other simr documents. His third-year high school P.E. teacher also praised Mark for his dancing skills.


    Mark''s siblings had no notable talents, in fact. They might appear smarter than him in terms of school studies but that was it.


    Well, it was not like Mark was not smart at all. If he could, he couldpete with the top cers in school. Mark even had the highest in high school during their National IQ and achievement tests. Though, no one seemed to know it since most of the teachers and students were focused on the grades of the star students of the school.


    Unfortunately, none of Mark''s talents managed to develop.


    It was because Mark had to do all the chores at home alone. Not to mention that his parents were not that supportive in him developing his talents at all.


    They told him to focus on his studies and do all those useless stuffter after he finished his studies.


    That ter" was rather toote for Mark.

 Chapter 714 Commendation Instead Of Pity, The Last Few Years Before The Present

    <strong>Day 152 - 8:11 PM - Rooftop, Farmhouse, Coconut ntation, Labigan, Municipality fo Cawayan, Province of Masbate</strong>


    Mark told his story while watching the stars. Mei beside him could only stare at his face in silence.


    Mei grew up being treated as an object to be traded off at the right moment. A political tool to expand their family''s business drastically. It made her like a bird trapped in the cage with no one beside her.


    She understood that feeling of not being loved by one''s parents. Mei watched in loneliness while they valued her brother like the most valuable gem in the world.


    Even so, she was rich and beautiful. People would flock like flies towards her, wanting her friendship in one way or another. All of it was fake, though, for the very same reasons.


    Nheless, despite all those, she never experienced hunger due to ack of money.


    Mei might have felt that she was all alone in the world. She had no freedom and had no right to decide for herself. Butpared to Mark, Mei was way well off. She could not imagine what she would end up if she had those kinds of experiences.


    It might not be surprising for a person to give up midway through those experiences.


    Mei could not believe that the most important person to her went through that experiences while growing up. She felt frustrated and wanted to cry for him.


    However, Mei did not let a single tear off her eyes. Mark might have gone through all that, but what he needed right now was not pity.


    Mark''s mind was fleeting through his past experiences. He did not notice until Mei''s hand was already on his head, caressing his hair gently.


    "Gege did great."


    Mei''s voice entered his ears.


    Mark could not help but feel his eyes a bit watery.


    Mei was right. What Mark needed right now was not pity butmendation. He was already past the time he needed anyone''s pity and help. He persevered alone and was now, here beside her.


    And from here, Mark continued with the remaining bits of his story.


    ***


    Crippling anxiety was hard to recover from, especially for Mark, who was receiving neither support nor treatment.


    Mark became a shut-in for a few years, enduring more and more sermons and scoldings.


    It was until finally, they grew tired as Mark also stopped listening.


    They thought that Mark was already a lost cause.


    And from there, Mark was truly alone, spending all day in the confines of the four walls of his small room. Although he still had some interactions with his family, it was kept to a bare minimum.


    In the least, he did not stop doing house chores. After all, it was all that someone like him that had no job could do to help. Mark might have the disability to work, but he did not want to entirely be a burden.


    But of course, his parents turned a blind eye to his remaining effort and deemed him useless.


    In any case, they left him alone.


    Unexpectedly, being left alone without interference gave him more opportunities.


    One day, a vocational school opened up just on the opposite side of their housing subdivision. It was just a ten-minute walk away from his house. It was his father that subtly told him about it.


    The best thing about this was that the school was free. Anyone with interest was free to attend. It was funded by the government. However, would that vocational school be flocked with people because of this? No. Even if the slots for the school was limited, it was never filled.


    Why?


    The only course that the school provided was NCII Pen and Paper Animation. It was an industry not highly valued in this third-world country.


    However, as an Otaku, it was one of Mark''s few aspirations.


    Thus, even though Mark was a bitte to enroll, he managed to enter the school''s six months program.


    Mark managed to actually pass the exam six monthster with flying colors. With the help of the instructor that taught them for six months, Mark managed to finallynd his first job since graduating college.


    It was on an animation studio in Man, affiliated with a children''s channel in America. Animating cartoons was not really Mark''s goal, but it was already a big step for him.


    At that same animation studio was where Mark met Halley and Nicole and became friends with them.


    In his first weeks on that job, Mark came across an incident that changed his life a bit. It was his encounter with the PsyCrystal that fell from the sky. He thought that his life was getting better. He even kept the strange crystal not only because it was strange but maybe, it would bring him good luck.


    Unfortunately, as if it was never meant to be, Mark had to leave the studio after working for about five months. Not only Mark left but also some of the animators that entered the studio together with him. It was not an issue with them, but an issue with the studio being unprepared for new employees even though they hired them.


    Was Mark unlucky? Maybe he was.


    And like before, Mark was back to being jobless once more.


    In the least, this time, Mark felt that there was still some hope for him.


    Although he left the studio, he still had some contact with the instructor that rmended him there. The instructor called him back to the school because of the new course they had. It was NCIII of the same course that Mark had before. While NCII was a course for in-betweeners and assistant animators, NCIII was a higher one for actual animators of scenes from the storyboard.


    Well, it was alreadyte, though. While Mark was spending time in the studio, the new course already started. Instead, Mark was invited to participate in the exam without actually attending the training course. It was because they were short of attendees and needed Mark to fill in the numbers. Mark had no reason to refuse. If he did not pass the exam, in the least, he had the idea.


    Nheless, Mark passed the harder exam without the training at all. It did not take long, and he got the certificate. And to say, it was Mark''s most important treasure.


    ***


    "I even always carried it with me until now."


    Mark said, taking out a printed certificate from his ring and offered Mei to take a look.


    Mei took the certificate with a look of amazement. She was careful as Mark said that it was his treasure.


    "By the way, I also had this."


    Mark said, taking out another certificate.


    Mei also took a look at the next certificate and was stupefied.


    "Civil Service Commission Certificate?"


    Of course, Mei knew about this. Her family had connections to the government.


    Passing the Civil Service Exam would grant a person eligibility for a position in a government office. While what Mark had was just a sub-professional examination certificate, it did not remove the fact that it was an exam that not just anyone could pass.


    It was an examination with a ten to twelve percent annual average passing rate nationwide.


    "I had nothing to do while jobless, so I took that on a whim. I barely passed. My score is right on the passing mark of eighty percent."


    Mark exined.<sub> </sub>


    Mei did not care about the score. It did not erase the fact that Mark passed such a hard exam.


    ***


    Unfortunately, Mark never had the opportunity to use these two certificates at all.


    It would be hard for Mark to actually get a job as an animator since he would need more experience. There were also no animation studios nearby.


    As for a job in the government office? Mark would never dream of that.


    Government offices were always filled with a huge number of people. Someone with anxiety, like Mark, would not be able to handle such a ce.


    Not to mention that Mark''s abilities as an Empath started to develop faster at that point in time.


    That was when Mark just decided to spend time doing things he liked while at home. Taking inspiration from the inte, he began to make his own props and crafts.


    At one time that who knows what entered his mind, he actually posted pictures of his working anime props on social media.


    Unexpectedly, it became quite popr in the field.


    Until one day, someone contacted Mark.


    ***


    "It''s Mizuki."


    Mark said to Mei.


    "na?"


    Mei asked to confirm.


    "Yep," Mark confirmed. "She contacted me online if I''m eptingmissions on cosy props. Since I had nothing to do, I epted it. It took quite the courage to actually meet up, though. She was also satisfied with my work and not only paid above the price we agreed on but continued to give memissions."


    ***


    To say, na was Mark''s savior at that time. She did not mind Mark''s odd aura but valued his work more. Although it was not really a constant flow of money, he was getting some, nheless. She also referred him to other customers, giving him more chance to earn money.


    With Mark earning money, he began to have more freedom at home.


    However, it seemed that he was destined to be unlucky.


    One day, while going home, Mark came across a kidnapping incident.


    ***


    "That''s the first time I met you, I guess?"


    Mark said, ncing at Mei. Of course, Mei was stupefied. She never mentioned to Mark that she was kidnapped a few years ago. But then, she realized.


    "Don''t tell me..."


    Mei stared at Mark, only to see him shake his head.


    "I did see you getting taken out of the vehicle, but it''s not me who saved you. It''s Freed, who took over might body at that time. I also almost died at that time, you know? No, actually, the two of us should have died at that there. It''s just Freed interfered."


    ***


    Was it something destined? No one would be able to tell.


    It was that time that the things that Mark thought were getting better became worse.


    Mark''s connection to his family felt stifled even more than before. It was fortunate that he was already used to it and the connection between him and his family was already thin in the first ce.


    And from there, it was the story that Mei knew.


    ***


    Mark finished telling Mei his past. It was no wonder now that he did not want to associate with his family at all. Although he still made a bit of effort for them, there was no way that he would try to appear before them.


    Without them, Mark was doing fine.


    Mark''s past experiences were what made him what he was right now.


    As someone who could not eat enough in the past, it was not surprising that Mark would not pass good food at any possible time.


    Since he experienced being under and leeching off someone, Mark never wanted to be under anyone once again.


    It was a past filled with limitations and struggle. That was why Mark wanted to be free this time around. Uncaged by anything that wanted to trap him.


    And most of these... Were things that the apocalypse gave to Mark.


    ***


    "Should we go to sleep?"


    Mark asked Mei while he returned his certificates inside his ring.


    "Let''s go."


    Mei nodded with a smile.


    Knowing each other''s story made their hearts closer to each other. It made them understand each other, and know what shaped their current selves.


    Unlike the previous nights, this one was special. It was since Mark finally opened his past to someone.


    ***


    A pair of people contrasting each other in many ways. One was beautiful while the other was below average. The first was rich and the second was poor.


    Yet, they were also simr.


    Unbound by destiny, freed from the cages called their past.


    They were now able to write their own fates, and affect others instead of being affected.


    The night was deep and they embraced their rest.


    Tomorrow would be a new adventure.

 Chapter 715 Onwards Cebu, The Travel Along The Coast Towards The South

    <strong>Day 153 - 7:41 AM - Farm House, Coconut ntation, Labigan, Municipality of Cawayan, Province of Masbate</strong>


    Another night had passed. This time, in an unfamiliarnd.


    Fortunately, the rest of the night was peaceful. Without anything to take them away from their sleep, it was easier to prepare for departure after waking up the following day.


    By the coast, Char and Trua stood side by side. It was quite an intimidating sight. It was even if the two magnificent beasts had their bodies lowered, letting the whole group ride unto their back.


    "Everyone ready?"


    Mark asked as he sat onto Char''s back.


    "Were good, Boss!"


    Berrak replied on the back of Trua.


    Behind Berrak were Geronimo and Padua. It seemed that they were still a bit nervous about riding on the back of a giant bird. Butpared to yesterday, they looked way better.


    On the other hand, Mark''s group was ready to go. All of them, with Emika as an exception, were used to riding on Char''s back. Well, Emika was more eager to ride than being nervous. There was no problem with her either.


    And thus, under the morning sun, the two gigantic beasts flew from the southwest shore of Masbate. Of course, some of the survivors living in the ins nearby witnessed the departure of the two beasts. Those people could only sigh in relief, thinking that the potential danger had left their ind.


    Leaving the ind province of Masbate, they only needed another half the distance of their journey from Catanduanes. If things go smoothly, they might reach their destination a little bit past noon.


    The most peaceful part of the journey was during the time they were flying across the sea. It was also the best time for the group to talk about what they were going to do first when they arrived at their destination.


    Mark''s group began to talk about the situation while Berrak and the two soldiers on the back of the Thunderbird listened through the radio. Mark then took out his tablet that had the offline map saved.


    Turning on the tablet and putting the map on disy, Mark manually searched the map. There was no inte service avable, after all. All had Mark was the map data along with the ces already disyed on the map.


    "Kawasan Falls... Found it." Mark said as he turned to Pefile. "Where exactly is the ce your tribe is living at?"


    Pefile looked at the screen of the tablet. Even if he was a Tamawo, he understood how to use these things. Not only he lived near humans for years, but he was also influenced heavily by Mark''s group.


    Searching in the satellite image of the map, Pefile easily identified the area.


    "It should be here."


    Pefile pointed at the thick forest southeast of Kawasan Falls.


    Kawasan Falls was one of the ces where the myths about Tamawos centered. Not only one story but many unfolded at this location.


    The Tamawos were known to abduct people around this area. It was mysterious abductions that people never managed to unfold aside from tracing back to the myths of the ce.


    It was said that Tamawos of Kawasan Falls choose their victims by beauty or those that polluted the waters of Kawasan Falls and the rivers around it. It supported the myths of Tamawos abducting women to be their wives and give birth to their children. As for the undisciplined people that dirtied the waters of the ce, they were unlucky. The myths said that they were meant to be sacrificed. It was for their sin of polluting the sacred grounds of the Tamawo.


    Regrettably, the beautiful waterfalls already became a tourist attraction. Not only it defiled the Tamawo''s sacred grounds, but it also lessened their activities in the area.


    It was unfortunate to the Tamawos as humans encroached on their territory. However, with the current world being ruled by humans, the Tamawos could only swallow this setback. It was better to endure than let their tribe be extinct because they gained the ire of humans to an irredeemable degree.


    Looking at the area where Pefile pointed, Mark nodded. It was an area thick with forests and had a wide river flowing through its center. The very same river was connected to the Kawasan Falls. The surrounding area seemed to have high cliffs, which could serve as a natural defense against threats.


    And considering that the Tamawos were spirits of nature, it was likely that they used the trees by river and cliffs as their dwellings.


    "The Tamawo''s there had their own sanctuary, right?"


    Berrak''s voice came from the radio. It seemed that he really knew something about the Tamawo''s there.


    "Have you been there?"


    Mark asked.


    "I encountered some of them a few years ago around that area," Berrak replied. "They are pretty hostile. I don''t really rmend establishing contact with them. I don''t think that any peacefulmunication is possible with those guys."


    Berrak''s words made Mark look at Pefile. Thetter could only shrug.


    "Don''t look at me like that. I may be from that ce, but I''m different."


    "It seems that you already forgot that you''re pretty hostile to me when we met for the first time."


    Mark retorted.


    Pefile could not make anyeback to Mark. At that time, he only showed a threatening attitude to Mark because he seemed dangerous and was enticing his son. Pefile wanted to say that, but it would put him in a tight spot.


    Unable to answer, Pefile turned to Mark, only to make his eyebrows twitch in annoyance.


    It seemed that it was Mark''s goal to make Pefile slip. Mark could only click his tongue as it failed.<sub> </sub>


    "Anyway, we are not establishing any peaceful contact with them." Mark smiled, going back to the topic. "The person we are going to retrieve is being held prisoner by them. Thus, a conflict won''t be avoided. We are not aiming to eliminate them all but don''t hesitate to kill if there''s no choice."


    Mark then turned back to Pefile.


    "That''s fine, right?"


    "Don''t worry, I don''t have any strong lingering sentiment for the tribe anymore. While it would be ufortable if my kind went extinct, killing a few won''t affect me."


    Pefile stated firmly. He already severed his connection with his tribe long ago. If not for the fact that his wife was in their hands, Pefile would not go back to this ce at all.


    "Then, what we are going to do is notnd at any area near the waterfalls or the area where Pefile''s tribe live."


    Mark estated as he drew a circle on the map with his finger. His finger passed through several areas surrounding the waterfalls and the river. The notable thing about the areas his finger passed along, it included a lot of ces that seemed to have human activity.


    One was the town northeast of Kawasan Falls, another was a vige in the mountainous area in the east, andstly were the viges south of the Kawasan Falls.


    Everyone''s eyes fell on Mark while Berrak''s team listened closely on the radio.


    "We can''t blindly attack the moment we arrived," Mark exined. "If possible, we needed to establish contact with the locals. If not, look for elementals and spirits in the area. It won''t be too hard for us to look for them. We need as much information as we can get."


    "Nee, Uncle." Emika raised her hand. "Can''t we just ask this silent uncle about his tribe?"


    Emika pointed at Pefile. Like Mark, the guy received a nickname from the greed-haired girl.


    Pefile did not mind. At least, he was not being called Smelly Uncle by this girl. And to answer Emika''s question, the Tamawo shook his head.


    "It''s been seventeen human years since I left that ce," Pefile spoke. "The passage of time might be slightly slower inside the sanctuary, but it is still long enough for many things to change. And instead, the information I had might put us to risk."


    Pefile''s exnation made the others understand why Mark proposed a different approach. Old information, after all, was unreliable. If Pefile knew about a piece of certain information about the tribe, the members of the tribe would also know about it. Since Pefile was in a hostile rtionship with the tribe, they could use that information to their advantage.


    It was not like the information they would get from the locals would be reliable. However, there was still the chance of it being helpful.


    "I''ll allocate about three to four days at most to this goal." Mark dered. "We only have a week before everything goes crazy. We can''t really spend a lot of time. Before that thing in space hits Earth, we needed to return home."


    Everyone could feel the pressure. It was hard to work on a deadline, especially when the deadline was a worldwide disaster. In any case, it could not be helped. It would be harder to do this after theary debris hit Earth. It might even be questionable if Pefile''s tribe would still exist after that.


    Still, there was a question lingering in everyone''s mind.


    Who were they going to save from the Tamawos?


    It was a question that would not be answered until they saw the very person they were going to save.


    They continued with the ns as they flew southwest. It did not take them long, and they arrived at the ind of Cebu. However, instead of lying over thend, Mark instructed everyone to continue flying along the coast.


    Flying over the mountains of any ce on Earth was a huge gamble. Who knows what would suddenlye flying out of the mountains and forests to attack them? Better y it safe than encounter more hindrance along the way. It was not like the possibility of encountering any flying infected or evolved animal along the coast was zero. At least, the chance was lowered greatly.


    In fact, Mark''s group encountered a group of evolved seagulls flying along the northern shore of Cebu. The birds were about the size of an eight-month-old human baby. Regr travelers would be horrified by such a sight. However, it was not a feral group, and the birds all scampered away as they noticed Char''s and Trua''s presence.


    They also saw a pair of butterflies flying above the mountains not too far away. It seemed to be Paper Kite Bufferlies that were endemic to Cebu. However, these two were way far away from their supposed habitat in the southern parts of Cebu.


    Butterflies were a beautiful sight. Well, the small ones at least. A butterfly with a wingspan about the size of a family van was horrifying instead of being beautiful.


    Like before, they had to take some short breaks. Char had limited time flying, after all. Maybe, after Char grew stronger, it would be able to fly longer and faster.


    During breaks, Mark would go around structures by the shore. Looking for supplies was never unnecessary at any given time. If there was an opportunity to look for food or usable items, one needed to grab it.


    In exchange, however, Mark managed to encounter some infected here and there. The ind of Cebu was never safe from the threat of the infected.


    Cebu might only have a single airport, but it was one of the most popr ces for people to go during holidays, the start of the apocalypse. With a busy airport like that, having one or two airnes crashing onto the ind was not surprising.


    Well, there was no need to wonder.


    "Papa, look!"


    Miracle eximed, pointing at the mountain rock formation at the center of the ind. It seemed to be the peak of a mountain with a strange appearance.


    Mark could only frown at the scene. Embedded at the rock formation was a huge passenger ne. The ne was already cut in half with only the tail left on the rock formation. The other parts of the airne should be scattered around the mountain, along with its uncanny mutated passengers.


    In any case, it was not their business. Mark''s group continued traveling south.


    Two hours past noon, Mark''s group reached their first destination.


    The Coastal Town in the Barangay of Balhaan. It was the nearest town to Kawasan Falls, and the river that flowed down from the falls flowed across the center of the town.


    And unexpectedly, there seemed to be non-infected activities within the town, forcing Mark''s group tond further away north.

 Chapter 716 A Strange Reconnaissance, The Two Giant Beasts "Fighting" Each Other

    <strong>Day 154 - 2:14 PM - Ta?on Strait, Central Visayas</strong>


    Flying along the Ta?on Strait that separated the provinces of Negros and Cebu, it became easier for Mark''s group to travel towards their destination.


    However, as they reached the distance where they could view the Coastal Town in Balhaan from afar, they noticed something.


    As someone with the ability to see clearly from far away, Mei noticed it first.


    "Gege, there''s smokeing from the town."


    Mei stated.


    In the middle of the apocalypse, the scene of smoke rising towards the sky was not rare. idents would cause a lot of fire due to the chaos everyone was facing.


    This time, however, it was different.


    Smoke from a burning car or house would be dark and thick. It would be clearly visible from afar as long as there was nothing to obstruct the view. The smoke that Mei noticed, however, was too thin for a fire of that degree.


    "Is a house burning?"


    Edzel said the first thing that came out of his mind.


    "No, it''s too thin. It might be some kind of bonfire," Mark said, observing the smoke. "If not, it might be someone burning something."


    Everyone became alert. From what Mark said, no matter which it was of the two, it meant that there were people there. The question was whether they were peaceful or hostile.


    "Should wend somewhere?"


    Berrak''s voice was heard from the radio. The line was always kept open, so Berrak and the two soldiers could listen and join the conversations.


    At the question, however, Mark frowned.


    In fact, Mark did not expect this scenario.


    The reason he chose that coastal town as their first stop was the fact that it would be a dangerous ce. Coastal areas were dangerous because of evolved marine animals. It was a fact that had been proven many times. Unless it was a group with high firepowers like the Military or the Rebels, no one would want to live near coastal areas due to constant danger. Thus, Mark thought that it would be the same here.


    Mark was mistaken. There seemed to be people in that town. And from where Mark''s group was flying, it was very likely that they were already spotted if there were lookouts in that town. He did not want to show that his group had tamed monsters towards strangers that early, especially since he did not know those people at all.


    And there, a brilliant idea appeared on Mark''s head. He could not help but smile.


    "Berrak, listen to me."


    Mark spoke at the radio in a hurry.


    ***


    In the sky, the Dragon flying in the sky suddenly elerated, flying in unsteadily. Behind it was the Thunderbird that began to shoot lightning towards the Dragon, only to miss because of its erratic flight.


    Loud roars from the Dragon and screeches from the Thunderbird were heard, scaring the hell out of everyone that heard it.


    The Dragon evaded another lightning strike from behind, but it seemed to have lost bnce and began to unsteadily glide from the ground.


    BAM!


    The sand by the beach exploded high towards the sky as the Dragon crashed. The sounds continued towards the foot of the mountain, toppling trees along the way.


    Soon after, the Thunderbird soared towards the ground. It seemed to be chasing the Dragon that crashed.


    There seemed to be quite a struggle. Roars and screeches could be heard continuously as trees and structures were toppled by the two gigantic creatures.


    ***


    At the ce where Char and Trua were "fighting," everyone had their ears covered with their hands.


    ROOAR!!!


    SCREECH!!!


    Char and Trua continued to make loud sounds while they let Mark''s group safely down to the ground. The two were just standing beside each other.


    CREAK!!! BAM!!!


    Trees loudly fell, and sand scattered away violently.


    It was Amihan and Ignis that was responsible for those.


    Mark helped the girls off Char''s back while seemingly holding back hisughter.


    This scene was hrious. Aside from enduring a little bit of noise, Mark''s group was fine. However, those that did not know what was happening might be shaking in fear. Those people might be thinking that there was a monster battle happening in this area.


    "Just what kind of idea is this?"


    Pefile was looking at Mark ufortably.


    Usually, Mark would take a silent approach towards things. However, it was the exact opposite this time.


    "We might have been seen us already. No, it''s just Char and Trua. There''s no way that someone would see us on the back of the two," Mark replied. "In any case, they were already seen. Might as well take advantage of it."


    Everyone was definitely confused. However, there was no time for Mark to exin.


    "Everyone except Pefile and Berrak, stay there for a while. Just clear threats if there''s any."


    Mark pointed at what seemed to be a vacation home nearby. He then turned to Pefile and Berrak.


    "We''ll continue the act."


    ***


    ROAARR!!!


    The roars and screeches continued. It was until the visage of the Dragon and Thunderbird were seen rushing towards the sky once more. The same as before, the Dragon was fleeing as the Thunderbird chased behind it.<sub> </sub>


    Those that upied the town were now on high alert. Everyone was ready for battle. But, of course, they would prefer not to. There was no way that they would be able to escape unscathed fighting those two monsters.


    SCREECH!!!


    Bolts of lightning were shot by the giant bird only to be evaded. In return, the flying lizard turned its neck towards the back and spewed fire. Of course, the bird was not hit by the counter-attack at all.


    The people in the town were terrified. It was because the two beasts were heading towards the direction of the town.


    But then, they saw the two beasts fly over their heads. Their flight was a bit low, and everyone could see the bottoms of the monsters clearly.


    They all gripped their weapons in fear. Everyone was silent, watching the horrifying scene. Although they felt the danger, none of them struck first. It seemed that they knew that it was better not to provoke the monsters. After all, the monsters were only chasing each other and not them.


    It only took a few seconds, but it felt like an eternity. Fortunately, even though the two monsters were shooting lightning bolts and spewing fire, they only passed above the town. The people could only sigh in relief as they saw the two monsters fly away, chasing each other.


    Well, not all were happy. It seemed that there were many individuals in the town wishing for it to get destroyed instead.


    ***


    Char and Trua flew away from the town, still pretending to chase each other. It was until it was sure that they were far enough from the town that they stopped.


    On the back of the two beasts, figures emerged out of thin air. It was no other than Mark and Pefile on Char''s back and Berrak on Trua''s.


    Mark reached towards the gloomy crystal flying in front of him. It was the [Photokinesis Mental Crystal] that did not have too much energy in it. After all, it was only the other day that hepletely depleted its energy to kill Lord Seis. Not only this one, but the other crystals he used at that time were also still in the middle of recovering their energies.


    Unfortunately, Mark had no choice but to use a portion of the energy in this crystal once more. It was to hide their bodies while riding the two beasts. There was no need to regret, though. The reconnaissance was worth it. They managed to see the town and the things in it closely.


    In fact, it was too much of a sess that behind Mark, Pefile was deeply frowning.


    Why would Pefile not frown? The town was actually upied by his tribe. The defenses of the town were not human-made barricades but trees with roots and branches woven together. It was a living wall, to be exact. The insides of the town were filled with wooden structures and even magical nts.


    It was not only Tamawos who were present in the town. There were also humans. However, as Mark detected from his empathic abilities, the humans seemed to be divided into two groups.


    The first group and the smaller one seemed to be women. Most likely, the wives who were charmed by the Tamawos. They seemed to be in a lovestruck state as Mark felt.


    On the other hand, therger group was the exact opposite. Most of them seemed to be in low spirits. Mark saw some in the streets as the Tamawos did not seem to care about the safety of those humans. They wore ragged clothing and had traces of injuries in their bodies.


    There was no need to guess. Those humans were ves to the Tamawos that upied the town.


    The worst thing that they saw... Was the source of the smoke they saw from afar.


    It was a pile of corpses, chopped up like butchered livestock. It could not be confirmed whether the corpses were infected or not. The bodies were already burning, after all. However, the way they were chopped up was quite suspicious.


    Mark nced at the silent Pefile behind him.


    "Do you guys eat human flesh?"


    Mark asked.


    Unexpectedly, while Pefile heard the question, he did not reply.


    It was a silent yes.


    Finally, Pefile spoke after a few more seconds of silence.


    "We might be a tribe of forest dwellers but we don''t eat weeds and grass on a regr basis. We prefer meat. Raw meat. Besides, we are not like humans, our sharp teeth and ws can tear flesh without problems. Our tribe did have the culture of cooking, but we did not really practice it for our consumption. We only cook for our wives. They were human, after all."


    "So, human meat is also included."


    Mark said.


    "Yes." Pefile finally answered. "But it is not like we are hunting humans for consumption. You seemed versed in different races. You must have heard about us abducting the sinners that defiled the waters of Kawasan Falls, right?"


    "I know about that."


    Mark replied.


    "Those sinners are destined to fill the te of the offering feast," Pefile said with a sigh. "It''s only the time our tribe would usually eat human flesh."


    "So, you already tasted human flesh."


    Mark said as a fact.


    "I did," Pefile did not deny it. "It''s our culture. I had to. But it''s something I didn''t really like. The others don''t mind it but it made me feel like a beast."


    Pefile was not wrong in that statement. Even their kind condemned eating each other. And not only their kind looked simr to humans but their mothers were also mortals.


    As it appeared, it seemed that Pefile had a different mindsetpared to his tribe.


    It made Mark wonder about Ordulk that was with his Aunt. However, while having the same race, there were different tribes of Tamawos. That Ordulk might havee from a race friendly to humans.


    Silence enveloped the three. Berrak did not ask anything and was only listening on the radio. Mark did not push more questions either as he felt that Pefile was getting a bit distraught.


    In any case, Mark got the information he needed. This town was, without a doubt, a hostile one. As they flew across the center of the town, Mark also managed to count how many individuals were inside. There were not many. There were only fifty Tamawos. The humans were numbered to a hundred and thirty-two.


    Unfortunately, Mark did not detect anyone directly rted to either Pefile or Edzel. It meant that Edzels mother was not inside the town.


    It was safe to say that they were still in the sanctuary of the Tamawos.


    Well, it was now time to return to the group. They circled around the mountains, avoiding the sight of the town. They also went around the territory of the Tamawos.


    As they flew, Mark paid attention to the view below. His eyes lit up.


    It was another unexpected thing as they flew above another settlement by ident. The ce another town was about three kilometers south of the previous town. Unlike the previous one, however, this one was governed by humans.


    The people on the next settlement were also surprised by Char and Trua flying over them. Fortunately, no one attacked first in fear of provoking the beasts.


    Still, Mark saw something. There seemed to be military personnel present in this settlement.


    Mark decided. Their next stop would be this one.

 Chapter 717 Through The Gates, Entering The Military Outpost In Madrijelos

    <strong>Day 153 - 3:11 PM - Madrijelos National Highschool, Barangay Madrijelos, Municipality of Algeria, Province of Cebu</strong>


    "Sir, I''m back to report."


    A soldier entered the Principal''s office. He spoke, looking at a military officer standing at the center of the room.


    The military officer did not look old. He was just around his early thirties. It was strange as military-led groups of survivors usually would have their older veteran soldiers lead them. He was standing behind a table with a drawn map pinned on it. Around him were several more soldiers with ages not far from the officer''s age.


    It seemed that they were in the middle of a meeting. The soldiers were discussing things while pointing at many parts of the map on the table.


    The room fell silent at the arrival of the soldier. They knew that this soldier was among those that were sent to trace the two beasts about an hour ago.


    "Speak."


    The officer spoke, allowing the soldier to report.


    "Sir, it looks like there is no sign of the two monsters anywhere." The soldier estated. "We went about two kilometers east to track them. It seemed that the two continued flying eastward and did notnd anywhere close."


    Hearing the report, the soldiers inside the Principal''s Office were relieved. It was a shock to everyone when two gigantic monsters suddenly flew above their settlement out of nowhere. It was fortunate that the two monsters seemed to be in the middle of a chase and were not interested in the humans below them.


    Now that it seemed that the two monsters that passed by were not a threat anymore, they could get back to their initial goal.


    It was to find out a way to travel north. However, they were unable to because of the hostile settlement on the way.


    The drawn map on the table was actually something they made while trying to find a safe route towards the north.


    Unfortunately, up until now, they were stuck in this ce.


    It was already a month since they ended up in this ce, unable to continue on.


    The soldier that reported already left after finishing his duty. There were other things to be done. He could not idle around.


    "Sir! Sir!"


    Not long, however, the office was alerted once more. Another soldier came to report. However, as the report was not transmitted through the radio, it might not be something urgent.


    "What is it now?"


    The military officer asked with a frown, wondering what was going on today. They had been here for a month. Although animal attacks happen, it was nothing to fret about. For the lookout soldiers to report directly to him, there was something unusual that was going on.


    "There''s a group of survivors that arrived at the gate. We let them in and are under surveince status. Two men, two women, and four children. The man who seemed to be their leader asked for you, Sir."


    "Did he ask for me specifically? Mentioning any name or anything of the sort?"


    The officer asked.


    "No, Sir." The soldier replied. "Their leader only asked tomunicate with the person in charge of this outpost. There were also other strange things about the group, especially since it seemed that only one person among them can speak Cebuano. They were using Tagalog as they conversed. They don''t seem to be locals."


    After hearing the soldier''s report, the officer frowned. He could not help but feel suspicious.


    "Had they been checked if there are any infected with them?"


    The officer asked.


    "Doctor Reyes had already been called." The soldier replied. "She might already be there at this moment. There was one thing to note, Sir. One of the girls might be a Mutator. She had green-colored hair."


    The soldiers in the room were surprised. With that, they concluded their meeting and went to check the survivors that arrived together.


    ***


    Inside a heavily guarded house near the gates, Mark''s group were waiting. Right now, the only ones here were his family, Emika, Edzel, and Pearl. Amihan was also with them but was hiding inside Mark''s backpack. The rest were left outside. They were told to standby in case that something went wrong.


    After all, even if the outpost was run by soldiers, there was no guarantee that they were not hostile.


    Mark''s group approached the outpost from the western area of the road. The school''s main gate was facing north along the curve of the main road. If they were to approach from the other side, it would be even more suspicious since that direction was heading towards the north where the settlement of Tamawos was located.


    Upon arrival near the school, guns were pointed at Mark''s group. It felt stifling. However, as Mark''s group did not show any signs of hostility, they were let in with some conditions.


    The weapons they carried were temporarily confiscated. It was something that did not bother Mark since the ones they had outside were just for appearances. The weapons they actually use were now stored inside Mark''s and Mei''s rings.


    Mark''s group was then brought to this room near the gates. This ce was quite strict. The room was heavily guarded. It seemed that the soldiers were too cautious about outsiders.


    A few minutes after Mark''s group was brought to this room, a woman came in with a few soldiers as her guards.


    "Hello, I''m Doctor Janice Reyes." The woman introduced herself while keeping enough distance from Mark''s group. "Your group must have gone a long journey to find us here. Sorry that we had you all waiting here. They wanted me to examine you all. We needed to assure that none of you are infected."


    It was the correct protocol to practice. Mark had no qualms about it. Still, he could not help but stare at the doctor. Unexpectedly, this doctor was actually a Mutator. He could not help but wonder what ability this doctor had.


    That was when Mark noticed. Although Doctor Janice just said that she would examine his group. However, he could not see any medical tool on her that would help her do that.


    But then, Doctor Janice nced at the soldier to her right, and thetter nodded. She then turned to Mark''s group. Her eyes released a slight glow.


    Mark could not help but look interested. It seemed that her Mutator ability was her eyes. Was it some sort of x-ray or detecting vision?


    Doctor Janice stared at Mark''s group. All of them were sitting on a row of wooden desk chairs, so it was easier for the doctor to just pan her eyes on everyone.


    But then, Doctor Janice could not help but step back. Her face was pale in both shock and fear.


    Stepping back, the doctor almost fell.


    "Doctor!"


    A soldier eximed and caught the doctor.


    The other soldiers nocked their guns and aimed at Mark''s group in unison. When considering the doctor''s reaction, it was reasonable for them to do so.


    Edzel could not help but react, putting his arm in front of Pearl, protecting her. Emika also paled. Even if she was a mature-minded girl, having several guns pointed at her would feel frightening. It was only Mark''s family that seemed to be unfazed about the situation. Miracle was even tilting her head in confusion as to what was happening.


    "Stop! Lower your guns!"


    Doctor Janice frantically shouted as she saw the action of the soldiers with her. Her eyes fell on Mark, and she gulped her saliva. Mark was just staring there...


    Menacingly...


    One wrong move from any of the soldiers here and everyone would be wiped out.


    Doctor Janice knew that.<sub> </sub>


    "But Doctor!"


    One of the soldiers tried to argue.


    "<strong>PUT. DOWN. YOUR. GUNS!</strong>"


    Doctor Janice emphasized her words while keeping her eyes on Mark and the girls beside him.


    The soldiers hesitated to obey. However, with how agitated the doctor was towards their action, they could only put down their guns. Still, they made sure not to put down their guards. After all, the doctor''s reaction just now was suspicious.


    "What is happening here?"


    Suddenly, several soldiers entered the room. They were wearing officer uniforms. There was no doubt that they were the higherups of this ce.


    "Doctor Reyes, why are you shouting?" The officer then noticed the doctor''splexion. "What happened to you?"


    "Sir D Rosa..." Doctor Janice approached the leading officer and whispered. "Can we talk outside? Let''s get your soldiers outside first."


    The officer seemed surprised. Nheless, he trusted the doctor and ordered everyone to go out. Not a single soldier remained inside the room. The only ones left were the ones guarding the door outside.


    Inside the room, everyone was left confused.


    "Just what happened?"


    Edzel asked.


    "Who knows?" Mark replied, shrugging his shoulders. "Maybe she saw something that she''s not supposed to."


    Still, it was not what Mark''s attention was focused on. Instead, he was quite surprised. The group of military officers just now, there were eight people. Unexpectedly, six of them were Mutators. It was a record considering that there were very few Mutators among the military in other settlements he had been to.


    ***


    Outside the room, quite a distance away, Doctor Janice and the officer were talking. The other soldiers were also nearby but only waiting for orders from the officer.


    "Just what happened there?" The officer asked. "What did you see?"


    The officer was surely aware of the doctor''s ability.


    "That group." Doctor Janice took a deep breath. "The young man and the girl beside him, they were Evolvers. The rest, they were all Mutators."


    The officer was surprised. It was a group of powerful people. Still, why did the doctor had that reaction?


    "Sir Emilio D Rosa," The doctor stared at the officer with serious eyes. "No matter what, do not provoke that group."


    Officer Emilio frowned.


    "Are they dangerous people?"


    The officer asked in urgency.


    "I don''t know." Doctor Janice shook her head. "What I know is that this group had the most powerful Mutators I had ever seen."


    "How powerful are they?" Officer Emilio asked. "We also had Mutators here. Don''t say that we can''t win. We had more people."


    "I don''t really know." The doctor red at the officer. "And I don''t want to know."


    The doctor then leaned her back on the wall beside her, facing the room they just got out from.


    "They came to our gates despite their strength. Although they might have motives, they might not be hostile. Just make sure not to provoke them."


    Doctor Janice strictly warned.


    "Their leader called for you, right?" Doctor Janice turned to the officer. "Don''t be arrogant in front of him. He''s the strongest among them."


    Then, the doctor started to walk away.


    "Where are you going?"


    Officer Emilio called out.


    "My job here is to check if there''s anyone infected among them, right? I already confirmed that there''s none. I can go now since I don''t want to stay any longer. If something went wrong, it''s all on you soldiers."


    Officer Emilio watched the doctor walk away in a hurry. He could not help but want to smack the head of that woman. She just left after giving them something to be scared out.


    Nheless, Officer Emilio could not ignore her warnings. Doctor Janice was an unruly and jolly person. It was rare for her to be as serious as this.


    "Sir, what are your orders?"


    Another officer came close and asked after the doctor left with her guards.


    "I''ll meet the leader of that group."


    Officer Emilio dered.


    "Then, should we prepare or do something as we go back in?"


    The other officer asked, only to see Officer Emilio staring at him.


    "I''ll meet their leader. Alone."


    "But Sir..."


    The soldiers around seemed to be concerned.


    "There''s no need to fret. Doctor Reyes just gave me a bit of a warning. It should be fine. It''s just better if I meet them alone. You all wait here."


    "But Sir!"


    Of course, the soldiers did not want to leave their leader alone with seemingly dangerous soldiers.


    "This is an <strong>order</strong>."


    Officer Emilio spoke with a stern expression.


    Since their leader insisted, the soldiers were left outside as they saw their leader enter the room. Even so, they prepared for the worst as they readied their weapons once something unexpected happened.

 Chapter 718 Inside The Waiting Room, A Conversation With The Leader Of The Outpost

    <strong>Day 153 - 3:58 PM - Madrijelos National Highschool, Barangay Madrijelos, Municipality of Algeria, Province of Cebu</strong>


    Mark''s group patiently waited inside the room after everyone else left after themotion. Well, it might not look like it, but Mark was strictly monitoring the emotional fluctuations of everyone outside.


    There was no doubt that the doctor saw something she did not expect. Although she was trying to be calm, Doctor Janice was extremely terrified inside. A regr person might have fallen unconscious on the spot if they received the same level of fright that she felt. The doctor wasmendable in this regard.


    However, from what Mark saw, it was not like she wanted to hold it in. She had to hold it in. Doctor Janice was here to examine Mark''s group, who came to this ce peacefully despite their abilities. If she disyed any extreme reaction, the soldiers might suspect that Mark''s group had something to do with it and act aggressively.


    That was why Doctor Janice had to act like everything was alright despite her initial slip-up. She did her best to recover the tension created because of her reaction.


    It was even if, in her mind, Doctor Janice was more than ready to copse.


    Mark could understand why the doctor immediately left after talking to the military officer. She needed to calm herself up before her facade copsed.


    Still, Mark could not help but feel interested as to what the doctor saw. Sooner orter, whether it was allowed or not, he would meet with that doctor and ask.


    Soon, a person entered the door. Of course, Mark already expected who it was. The person was the leader of this outpost who seemed to have the surname D Rosa. Furthermore, he came alone. It seemed that whatever the doctor told this guy, he believed it without hesitation and took action.


    Considering themotion earlier, the military officer came in alone. It was to make sure that there would be no trouble happening once more.


    The military officer was here for a serious talk. It was visible from his expression and mental fluctuations.


    If that was the case, there was no reason for Mark not to give what he wanted.


    The officer panned his eyes towards the group seated in front of him. His eyes were neither arrogant nor mocking. Instead, his eyes measured Mark''s group at an equal level.


    "Let me introduce myself. I am Captain Emilio D Rosa from the Philippine Marines, currently leading this ce. You can call me Officer Emilio or Officer D Rosa. That is what everyone here calls me."


    The military officer introduced himself. Mark was not surprised that he came from the Philippine Marines. The word itself was sewn on the officer''s uniform.


    Still, Mark''s group could not help but show some odd reaction now that they noticed it. After all, the first and only time they got involved with the Marines was a bad experience.


    Officer Emilio could not help but notice the odd reaction and was confused.


    "Don''t mind their reaction." Mark suddenly spoke. "The previous time we got involved with the Marines, we were surrounded by a bunch of hoodlums that wanted to take advantage of the women in our group."


    It was not exactly what happened but it was close. Mark just did not want to say too much about that situation.


    Mark''s words made the officer feel a bit awkward. The military might should be protecting the people of the country. But even so, the military itself was a mix of good and bad people. If one was unlucky, it was possible to run into those people who only thought of being a soldier as a way to earn a living. Soldiers that became one just because of the power they could hold also exist.


    Besides, the woman beside the leader of the group was exceptionally beautiful. It would be hard for her to not receive any ill intentions in the apocalypse.


    What he heard, however, gave Officer Emilio a piece of information. Mark''s group had interacted with the military before. And, of course, survived the hoodlums they mentioned.


    Hoodlums they might be, they were still soldiers. They had numbers, weapons, and abilities they trained over the years. Not just some group of survivors would be able to escape that.


    That information just bolstered the words of Doctor Janice even more.


    "And you are?"


    Officer Emilio turned to Mark and asked.


    "Mark. That''s what everyone calls me." Mark introduced himself without any fake politeness. Just straight to the point. "And since our cover is already blown, it''s not necessary to introduce the rest of my group, right?"


    Officer Emilio frowned. However, it could not be helped. Introductions were one''s will, after all. There was no need to force someone to tell their name if they did not want to.


    Besides, names were not really important during the apocalypse. Government records barely exist anymore, and there was no reason to follow them.


    Now, anyone was free to what name they wanted to have and be called with.


    Officer Emilio looked straight at Mark.


    "What is your purpose foring to our ce?" The officer frankly asked. "Are you all here to infiltrate or spy on us?"


    "Considering how afraid that doctor is, you think we need to do those?"


    Mark replied, which made the officer frown even more.


    Officer Emilio did not expect Mark to realize that. It made the group even more mysterious and suspicious.


    At the thoughts of the officer, Mark stated their business in this ce.


    "We needed intel."


    "Intel about what?" The office was taken aback. "We are the military. We don''t just give our intelligence to anyone, especially suspicious people."


    "And that is why we are trying to do this covertly, you know that?"


    Mark shrugged.


    That was right. Mark''s group entered this ce in the guise of a survivor group to gather information discreetly. With their abilities, it would be faster that way.


    After all, getting the information from the soldiers would lead to a lot of processes before the information he wanted would be given to them.<sub> </sub>


    Might as well get the information directly without the soldiers knowing. It was not like Mark needed to take their records or anything. He only needed a nce at the contents, and it would be saved in his subconscious memory.


    "Besides, we are not enemies," Mark said, finally whipping out the identification papers he had. "You can refer to this if you don''t believe me."


    Officer Emilio was surprised as he saw Mark take out arge envelope from inside his jacket. It was odd since there was no way that it would fit there.


    In any case, the military officer cautiously received the envelope and opened it. Then, he took out the papers inside and skimmed at the contents.


    Officer Emilio was also a Mutator with enhanced senses. Although he was just skimming, it was more than enough for him to understand the contents of the documents.''


    And surely, the military officer was shocked as he alternated his eyes towards the documents and Mark.


    Mark had a direct connection to two Generals in the Army. The documents also contained the feats that Mark and his group did to help the settlements led by those Generals.


    The information in the document was too good to be true. It was too good that a regr soldier would think that it would be fake.


    However, aside from the signature of General Faustino, there was also the military seal used for highly confidential documents. It was a seal that only those with high positions in the military knew about, and no one outside the military would know about it. Even Officer Emilio just learned of this seal recently. His rank was not high enough to know of this before.


    Because of the seal, these documents were, without a doubt, genuine.


    Officer Emilio looked at Mark. Who would think that this person in front of him was a big shot?


    Finally, the military officer carefully returned the documents into the envelope and returned them to Mark with shaking hands.


    "You could have just shown these in the first ce."


    Officer Emilioined.


    "It''s not like anyone would believe what is written here, right? Someone with connections to Military Settlements in Luzon is right here in the Visayas sitting in front of you." Mark replied. "Besides, not just anyone knew of the seal stamped at thest page. I don''t even know if someone of your rank would know something that is only known by those with stars on their shoulders."


    "I''ll believe it because of the seal, but I''ll frankly say that I won''t let my guard down to you people."


    Officer Emilio stated.


    "That''s better," Mark nodded. "Only stupid people would let their guard down just because of some papers."


    Then, Mark went straight to business.


    "By the way, it''s not like the intel I want is something confidential. I won''t ask anything about you guys in specific detail."


    "Then give me an example."


    The officer requested.


    "Then, first and the main reason we are here," Mark spoke, staring at the officer. "That town near Kawasan Falls. Howe that something like that exists?"


    Officer Emilio was stunned at the question. He was surprised that Mark''s group was here because of what happened in the town up north.


    "But don''t you all came from the south? You people were spotteding from the west side of the school," The officer asked but then realized. "I see. So, that''s also a guise."


    "That''s right," Mark affirmed. "With the situation in the town north, it would be even more suspicious if we came from that direction."


    "If what you want is intel about that town, then we had quite some things to talk about."


    Officer Emilio said with a sigh.


    "That town is also our problem." Officer Emilio took a nearby seat and sat down. "We also want to deal with that inhuman town. We hadn''t known that it existed until a month ago. Who would think that the Tamawos of Kawasan really exist and took over that town as their own? They even captured and enved any human that came close to that town. We also got into a scuffle with them, but they were afraid of our guns and told us to leave. But of course, even if we had guns, we can''t just attack them either. Their magic and stuff inside their territory is nothing we can defend against."


    Mark watched the officer as he told some information about the town. He could not help but feel something odd.


    "Can''t you ask for reinforcements from the settlement?" Mark asked. "There''s one here in Cebu should be in Liloan, Santander, right? There''s also one in Bantayan Ind, but that''s far up north..."


    "Wait..."


    Mark paused as he realized something odd from the things he had just said.


    The Barangay Liloan in the Municipality of Santander was way down south of the ind of Cebu. That ce was designated to be the location of a settlement because of its short distance from Dumaguete City in Negros Oriental. There was a four-kilometer wide distance between the two where Ta?on Strait flowed through, but the military boats should be able to handle a fast trip between the two ces. This way, they could gather supplies and save survivors from Dumaguete.


    On the other hand, this outpost was far up north from Liloan. It was about forty-three kilometers away. It was too far to be an outpost of that settlement.


    It was when Mark noticed Officer Emilio having an odd emotional fluctuation as thetter realized what Mark was saying.


    Then, the military officer opened his mouth. There was a slight tint of grief in his voice.


    "All of us here are from Liloan Settlement." Officer Emilio shook his head. "Now, we are the Liloan Settlement. Or at least, what is left of it."


    Those words rang into the ears of everyone in the room. Even for the little girls, it was not hard to understand what the soldier in front of them was saying.


    From the thousands of soldiers and survivors of the Liloan Settlement, the people in this outpost were the only ones left.


    The Liloan Settlement had long been gone leaving only a few hundred survivors after its fall.

 Chapter 719 The Fall Of Liloan, A Monster From The Strait And The Raging Tidal Wave

    <strong>Day 153 - 4:15 PM - Waiting Room, Madrijelos National High School, Barangay Madrijelos, Municipality of Algeria, Province of Cebu</strong>


    The Liloan Military Settlement was long gone. It was a piece of unexpected news. Nheless, it was not actually that shocking.


    Mark''s group had been to many ces since the apocalypse started. They had witnessed too many things. People dying was frequent to see, although most of those deaths were by their hands. They were also there when the three settlements in Infanta had fallen by a single incident.


    Although it was good that aside from the ce filled with criminals, the other two settlements managed to start anew as a single one.


    In this regard, the Liloan Military Settlement was just unfortunate.


    No one knew what kind of madness would crop up in any corner of the world. Those kinds of things would cause deaths and chaos. Even if humans managed to gather and try to survive this together, there was no guarantee that they would seed.


    Over time, people would die, and settlements would fall. It was just Liloan''s turn.


    Besides,pared to the debris in space that was about to hit Earth, the fall of a settlement was something small.


    Officer Emilio could not help but feel confused and frustrated at Mark''s group. They hadckluster reactions upon hearing what he said. The young pair on the side seemed to have shown a bit of concern. Mark''s side, however, did not seem to care at all.


    "Don''t mind us."


    Of course, the military officer''s reaction did not escape Mark''s senses.


    "As you can see, we are a bunch of people traveling here and there. We''ve seen and known worse. Just the other day, the settlement in Catanduanes was besieged by thousands of mutated infected that managed to travel underwater. They managed to survive, though."


    Officer Emilio could not help but look at Mark with a skeptic expression. Of course, he did not believe what Mark said immediately. Still, if that was true, then the reaction of this group in front of him was not strange at all.


    To be able to travel in this world filled with dangers. They would be able to see things that regr people could not. And, of course, it was something that only the powerful would be able to do.


    "So, what happened?" Mark asked. "Our country''s military might be weakpared to other countries, but I don''t think that arge settlement like the one in Liloan would fall easily."


    Thinking that Mark finally showed interest, Officer Emilio did not hesitate to tell the reason.


    "It''s a giant monster."


    ***


    Compared to many of the other settlements that the military managed to build all over the country, the one in Liloan was built quitete.


    In the first ce, the evacuation orders and protocols to be followed arrivedte to the soldiers of Visayas and Mindanao. By the time they received the orders, everything was already in chaos.


    The military stationed in Cebu and other defense forces had no time to prepare at all. All they could do was to move without preparations, gather as much supply, and evacuate as many people as they could. Then, the soldiers led the evacuees to Liloan, where they all had to build the settlement from scratch.


    Fortunately, one of the reasons why Liloan was chosen because it had one of thergest warehouses of the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) in the province. It meant that there would be avable construction supplies and equipment for them to start with.


    <o>,m With the warehouse at the center of it all, the soldiers began the construction of the settlement. The refugees did not let themselves idle either and did their best to build their new home in this chaotic world.</o>


    The main reason Liloan was chosen was definitely that it was just four kilometers from Dumaguete. Using boats, it would be faster to transport supplies from the city into the settlement.


    Of course, gathering the supplies was not easy. Dumaguete had already fallen into the hands of the infected. In fact, there was a ground zero directly at the center of the city, making it even more dangerous.


    But they never gave up and managed to gain stability in the following weeks. They had to deal with wandering hordes, evolved animal attacks, and even marine animalsing ashore. Even so, they managed to deal with those situations with the least casualties possible.


    Approximately two months ago, everything was just the usual to the residents of Liloan Military Settlement.


    Securing supplies, hunting animals, patrolling around the walls, and distributing rations. It was the usual daily routine.


    In the middle of the night of that same day, however, everyone was awakened by a beastly roar. There was no need to receive any order. Everyone began to prepare for an oing battle.


    However, not to mention a battle, not a single person even managed to prepare at all.


    The beastly roar was followed by the sound of roaring water.


    And the next thing that people knew... No, there was no next thing. Everything just went ck for most people. As for those that managed to stay conscious a few seconds longer, they all felt horror as they suffocated from being swallowed by the surging water.


    ***


    "A tidal wave?"


    Edzel could not help but ask as the story reached this point.


    "That is what a person would first think after hearing this." Officer Emilio said with a dismayed sigh. "But I was on night duty when everything happened. I saw the cause of the wave that swallowed the whole settlement in one go."


    "As I said before." Officer Emilio took a deep breath as he recalled that night. "It is a giant monster."


    ***


    Officer Emilio was leading the lookout that night. He was inspecting the soldiers assigned to the southern areas of the wall facing the strait when it happened.


    The monster slowly rose from the waters. Its red eyes shined in the darkness of the night. Although it was hard to see what it actually was, Officer Emilio thought that it appeared to be somewhat the shape of either an alligator or a crocodile. The problem, however, the monster appeared to be asrge as a RORO Passenger Ferry or maybe evenrger.


    Officer Emilio and the soldiers around him tried to sound the rm but they were all overwhelmed in fear. Before they could even pull the rm on, the roar already sounded all over the settlement.


    The monster then stomped unto the water, causing a several dozen meters tall wave toe ashore.


    In an instant, the whole settlement was swallowed by the raging water.


    ***


    "There''s not even a chance to run. The wave came faster than we can even react. The water hit like a truck. It''s already lucky of one only fell unconcious. Many of us woke up with broken bones all over our bodies."


    Officer Emilio recalled what happened. Even though he avoided describing his personal and emotional experiences at that time, his heavy tone and slight expression were more than enough to see what horror it was.


    In the face of a tidal wave that swallowed the settlement instantly, the feeling of facing death was imminent.<sub> </sub>


    From this information, it was now clear how a settlement with several thousand people was turned into a few hundred survivors struggling to live.


    Food, medicine, weapons, vehicles, and many other important things. All of those were swept away by the water with barely anything left to salvage.


    It was the reason this ce was struggling more than it should have been.


    ***


    When the people of Liloan began to regain consciousness, it was already morning.


    The settlement was already in ruins.


    There were traces of a gigantic creature all over the remains of the settlement. The worst thing was that they soon found out that arge number of people were missing, with many dismembered body parts left lying near the shore mixed in with debris.


    Without any need to think, those missing people were definitely eaten by the gigantic monster.


    Of course, with the settlement having several thousand people, there was no way that the monster had eaten all the people. Still, only a small portion survived. Most of them died when the wave hit the settlement.


    There was no chance to defend themselves at all.


    Death came hitting them all like a truck.


    ***


    "All of us here are those that luckily survived." Officer Emilio shrugged. "We are all alive just because of luck. Nothing else."


    ***


    That very day, everyone that survived hurried to salvage what they could and leave the ce as soon as possible. Despite their injuries, wounds, or even if they lost their loved ones, they had to move.


    There was no time to mourn for the dead. Those that wanted to survive must leave the ce in case that the monster that caused their misery came back.


    Of course, not everyone was eager to leave. In that disaster, there were a lot of people who lost all they had.


    A lot of people remained to either look for their missing loved ones or bury the dead members of their family.


    In the worst case, somemitted suicide on the spot as soon as they saw the dead bodies of their family members.


    From there, the survivors left the ce aside from those that wanted to stay.


    ***


    "So, you all went from Liloan to this ce on foot?"


    Mark asked.


    "Is there any other way?" Officer Emilio asked back. "None of the vehicles we had could be salvaged or repaired in a short time. We had to abandon them and go on foot."


    "Then, your goal is to continue moving north and eventually find a way to reach Bantayan Ind."


    Mark said as a matter of fact. It was something that Officer Emilio could not deny.


    The Bantayan Ind Settlement was thest hope for Officer Emilio and the survivors traveling with him. It was the reason they were here.


    Unfortunately, they hit a roadblock in this area. It was the town up north, which was now upied by the hostile Tamawos.


    "You guys are really lucky." Mark suddenly spoke. "You all survive the sudden fall of your settlement, and soon, the blockade in your path will be gone."


    "W-what do you mean?"


    Officer Emilio was confused.


    "Did you already forgot why our group is here? I just asked the question earlier."


    Mark raised an eyebrow at the military officer.


    "Don''t tell me..." Officer Emilio was speechless. "Your group n to eliminate those monsters in that town?"


    "Sort of." Mark nodded. "We had some ill business with those people. Although we don''t really n to, we might end up clearing that town of any danger."


    Officer Emilio stared at Mark. He could not understand where thetter was getting his confidence from.


    "With just your group?" The military officer asked. "There''s even little girls..."


    "What is wrong if it''s just us?" Mark questioned. "The little girls you are talking about might even be several times stronger than your soldiers."


    Officer Emilio fell silent. He should not question Mark about this. Rather, he better support them instead for the benefit of his people. Once that dangerous town was gone, they could finally continue heading north.


    There was no way that Officer Emilio would pass this chance.


    "Then, please let us help." The military officer decided on the spot. "We won''t feelfortable only waiting at the receiving end."


    If Mark''s group wanted to deal with the enemies in that town, then, they should join hands. Besides, Officer Emilio''s group had long been making ns to deal with the problem. They would be more than ready to start removing the threat blocking their path.


    Officer Emilio felt a bit enthusiastic about this. After all, they had been stuck in this ce for a month already. It was already time to move on.


    But Mark just poured a bucket of cold water on the head of the military officer.


    "There''s no need for your help," Mark replied. "We are more than enough to do the job. You and your people will only hold us back. Just give me all the information you can give about that town instead and just wait here for the results."


    Officer Emilio did not like what Mark said. However, he took the warning of Doctor Janice to heart and did not voice out his displeasure.

 Chapter 720 To The Furthest Classroom, Surprising The Soldiers Out Of Their Wits

    <strong>Day 153 - 5:11 PM - Madrijelos National High School, Barangay Madrijelos, Municipality of Algeria, Province of Cebu</strong>


    It had almost been an hour since their leader entered the waiting room. The soldiers around were bing a little impatient.


    Since the waiting room was initially a ssroom, the soldiers could see what was happening inside. They could see that their leader was talking to the group.


    Strangely, though, the soldiers waiting could not hear anything at all from the conversation. It was even though the room was small and average speaking voices should reach outside.


    It was one of the reasons why the soldiers were bing impatient.


    The only time they heard Officer Emilio''s voice was when he drove the younger soldiers away from peeking through the window. The young buggers had been peeking and staring at the beautiful woman in the group. It was clear that it was inappropriate. That was why the younger soldiers were now waiting further away.


    As for the older soldiers, they were more concerned about the situation than paying attention to appearances. If something dangerous were to happen inside, they would bust in guns upfront.


    But by what it looked like, that would not happen.


    From the window, they saw Officer Emilio stand up from his seat. He then walked toward the exit. The group also followed behind him.


    The soldiers outside the room surrounded their leader.


    "Sir." An older but lower-ranked soldier spoke. "They are?"


    "We will talk about thister." Officer Emilio replied. "Arrange for another meeting an hourter. This meeting will be important. I''ll meet you all there."


    "What about you, Sir?"


    The soldier asked.


    "I''ll personally guide our guests to where they will be staying. They are important guests. Make sure that everyone is informed not to cause them trouble."


    Sure enough, the soldiers were taken aback at their leader''s words. First was Doctor Janice. Now, it was Officer Emilio that was behaving oddly. Without a doubt, something was strange about this group that they let into this ce.


    However, they could not just ignore the words of their leader. As such, they followed Officer Emilio''s orders, leaving a few trusted soldiers as his guards.


    "Let''s go." Officer Emilio turned to Mark. "I''ll bring you where your group can stay."


    Mark nodded without a word. He led his group to follow the military officer while was observing the surroundings. After all, he was not able to properly assess the ce when they entered.


    As Mark looked around, he could not help but shake his head. The whole ce was a mess, well, not in a literal sense. The school was a mix and match of both good and bad things to live in during a zombie apocalypse.


    The school was arge one in terms ofnd space. It was more than enough to house several hundred people. However, it was toorge than necessary for the people currently living here. It was likely that the soldiers were struggling to monitor the perimeter around the school. Aside from the school upying a wide area, its walls were nowhere enough to defend against argescale infected attack.


    There were even parts of the walls that were already destroyed. The destroyed parts were blocked with barricades that were also questionable if they couldst against another attack.


    The rooms of the school were also too close to the walls in the back areas. It caused the rooms there to be unusable and was left vacant. After all, it would be too dangerous to live there.


    Instead, the residents built makeshift houses in the middle of the school grounds. They might look shabby, but in the least, it was safer than living side by side with danger.


    What made Markmend the people was that they cared about the weak, old, women, and children. Most of the men in this ce seemed to have taken the makeshift houses while the usable ssrooms were designated to the weaker people. Especially the injured, they were left to recuperate in the mostfortable ces.


    Mark might not care too much about these things about strangers. However, it was still nice to see these gestures from time to time.


    Nheless, these things might notst too long. In the current state of the people in this ce, they would soon experience breakdowns.


    Monitoring the mental and emotional fluctuations of the people in the surroundings, many of them were on the verge of giving up. They had lost their settlement in a very helpless manner, along with their loved ones. In an event where the whole ce was swallowed by a raging tidal wave when no one was prepared, surviving with your entire family was like winning a million-peso lottery.


    After losing their loved ones, they had to experience a dangerous march north in hopes of reaching the closest settlement.


    Now, they were stuck in this ce with limited supplies and living in a dangerous environment. It was not surprising if the people already began to riot a long time ago.


    While following Officer Emilio, he was dly being greeted by the residents along the way while having curious nces at Mark''s group. Some even bravely inquired about their guests. However, the military officer tried his best not to linger on the topic too much.


    There was no doubt. Despite iming to be allies, Mark''s group was still a dangerous bunch. It would not be good if they were identally offended by the residents.


    Looking at how the residents interacted with Officer Emilio, Mark understood why this ce had not copsed yet. There was a single soldier that kept the ce intact with his honesty and virtue. It was hard to see people with this quality.


    Officer Emilio aside, Mark''s group was definitely gathering attention. Being the first new people they saw for a long time was more than enough for the residents to feel curious. However, Mark''s group also had a beautiful woman with them. In fact, a lot of the residents were young males. Some of them were among the people that greeted Officer Emilio and inquired about the group. Their goals were more than obvious.


    There were even some idiots who were insistent on introducing themselves to the group, and Officer Emilio and the soldiers were having a hard time making up excuses.


    Of course, Mark was also getting annoyed. These bastards were targetting his wife. Mei was also getting ufortable. She could not help but grab Mark''s arm.


    That gesture of Mei, however, made the men''s attention shift to Mark in annoyance.


    And, of course, Mark would not just ignore those stares.


    A heavy feeling enveloped the ce. It felt like everyone was being eyed by a ferocious beast. Everyone in the surroundings felt ufortable. The idiots were even sweating bullets. Still, no one realized what was happening. The only thing that entered their minds was to leave the ce.


    Seeing the people in the surroundings leave, Officer Emilio''s back was filled dripping with cold sweat. As a Mutator, he was more sensitive towards his surroundings. He could feel that the heavy feeling wasing from behind him.


    The soldiers around them were also confused as to what had just happened. It was extremely odd.


    ? "Finally, the pests left. Can we get going already?"


    Mark''s voice entered the ears of the soldiers around him. It confirmed Office Emilio''s hunch about what happened. He could not help but gulp his saliva.


    "Let''s go."


    Officer Emilio forced a smile as he continued to lead the group.


    ***


    "Really... That man is a monster."


    On the second floor of a school building a distance away, Doctor Janice was watching the event unfold.<sub> </sub>


    The existence of Mark''s group sure instilled fear in her. However, it also made her curious. Howe such beings exist? She wanted to know. Nheless, she was not someone suicidal to just go and ask. She needed to know their personality first before trying to inquire about her curiosities. She already experienced being on the verge of death twice. She did not want to repeat that again.


    "Well, shit..."


    Doctor Janice blurt out a swear. She just saw Mark turn his head towards her. It seemed that she was not the only one curious. The opposite party was the same.


    "I just hope this will end well for me."


    The doctor could only let out a sigh as she watched Mark''s group follow Officer Emilio.


    She caught the eyes of the devil. That was what she felt.


    ***


    "This will be the ce." Officer Emilio spoke, stopping in front of the ssroom at the southwestmost area of the school. "It is not the best, but at least it is spacious enough for your group."


    Mark looked at the ssroom, then at the surroundings.


    "The ssroom furthest from everyone, huh."


    Mark said, making Officer Emilio smile bitterly. The military officer''s intention was clear. He wanted to make the residents stay clear of Mark''s group.


    "Well, it''s good." Mark nodded. "I also don''t want to stay around ants who don''t know their ce."


    Mark''s voice was filled with contempt. This made the faces of the soldiers change.


    The ants that Mark mentioned were still their people. It could not be helped if they wanted to argue with him.


    However, before they could even let out a voice, they felt Officer Emilio''s gaze. Then, the officer slightly shook his head. This gesture was more than enough to tell them to stop.


    Mark just nced at the soldiers as he entered the ssroom with the others.


    "It needs cleaning."


    Mark said, wiping theyer of dust on the teacher''s table with his index finger.


    "Sorry about this. It''s been a while since thest time we used these rooms." Officer Emilio spoke. "Should I call someone to clean?"


    "No need," Mark replied as he nced at his backpack. "Amihan, you cane out, now."


    And there, with shocked faces, the soldiers saw a small winged girl fly out of Mark''s bag. There was no way they would not feel shocked about this.


    "Ugh... Master, do we need to always do this? I didn''t have to hide back in Infanta." Amihanined. "The bag is too stuffy."


    The bag Mark had on his back had metal bracings inside. It kept the bag in shape despite not having a lot of things inside. It also kept Amihan from being suffocated inside the bag. Still, hiding inside an enclosed space was not somethingfortable.


    "Not all ces are safe. We can at least have you as backup, right?"


    Mark replied to Amihan, making her shrug.


    "S-Sir... That is..."


    Officer Emilio could barely keep his calm.


    "One of ourpanions," Mark replied. "Is there a problem?"


    "No, there''s none."


    Officer Emilio answered Mark''s question while his eyes were glued to the fairy-like creature beside Mark.


    Ignoring the stupefied soldiers, Mark turned to Amihan.


    "Can you gather all the dust in the room in one ce?"


    "No problem!"


    Amihan replied as she began to manipte the wind inside the ssroom. The wind started to blow in one direction, sucking all the dust in the room into one ce.


    The soldiers watched the spectacle in both amazement and shock.


    "Magic! Real Magic!"


    A female soldier let out her excited voice. Despite being a soldier, she was still a maiden that grew up with fairytales. She seemed really excited to see true magic for the first time in her life.


    "Private Monterosso. Please pipe down."


    Officer Emilio warned as the female soldier''s voice was getting loud.


    Mark then turned to the group of soldiers by the door.


    "Don''t you guys have to attend a meeting? We can take care of ourselves. We also haven''t eaten lunch yet. It will be ufortable to have you all watching while we eat."


    Being chased away in their own turf felt awkward and strange for the soldiers. However, because of the surprise from Amihan''s appearance, none of them were in the state to argue back. Besides, they had other things to do than babysit people.


    "Then, I''ll leave a soldier to stand guard. Just let them know if you need something."


    Officer Emilio said as he picked a soldier to stay behind with Mark''s group. Without surprise, the excited female soldier was the one to volunteer.


    Mark had no problems with the arrangement. It was also better to have someone to ry messages if necessary.


    Now that their dwelling was secured, Mark only had to wait. First was the information that Officer Emilio would provide. The second was the result of Ignis and Crimson doing some reconnaissance work on the town upied by the Tamawo.


    Mark expected to receive the reports before night time. And after the sun had set down the horizon, he would also do his work.

 Chapter 750 Sitting By The Portal, Another Sign Of The Incoming Catastrophe

    <strong>Day 154 - 1:15 PM - Reading City, Pennsylvania, United States of America</strong>


    As Louis stood atop the ragged wall of concrete he created, Felicia also did her share of work. There was not only the infected within the horde in the area but also some wandering stragglers. She might not be much of help in handlingrge amounts of infected at once. Nheless, she was the most effective in one-on-one battles.


    "Felicia, Louis, how is the situation there?"


    The radio strapped on the waist of Felicia sounded with Huey''s voice as she twisted an infected''s head with a powerful kick.


    Without letting her attention stray away from the infected, Felicia picked up the radio.


    "The situation here is pretty much under control," Felicia replied on the radio. "Louis already blocked the road, and there is only a small number that can climb up or jump. If needed, we probably can eliminate them, but it will take some time and effort."


    "There is no need to kill them all," Huey replied. "Just deal with those that can possibly be a threat. If not possible, just leave them be. Don''t waste too much time and energy since we only need to dy them for another two to three hours. We might even need to pull back earlier than expected."


    "Okay, got it," Felicia affirmed and turned to Louis atop the ragged concrete wall. "You heard that, right? So don''t push yourself too much."


    "Hah... Alright." Louis replied with a shrug and murmured. "We haven''t evenmitted ourselves to each other, but she nags like we''re married for years..."


    "Did you say something?"


    "I didn''t!"


    ***


    <strong>Day 154 - 1:20 PM - Warehouse, Lombard St., Reading City, Pennsylvania, United States of America</strong>


    At the warehouse southeast of the school where na was positioned, Huey was overseeing their final operations in this ce. Since their base was the Pagoda atop Mt. Penn, it would be a waste of fuel and time to go back and forth, especially if the scavenging run did not fill their vehicles. Thus, they decided to use this warehouse as a dropoff. Then, they would move the supplies up the mountain.


    There was also another problem. The only road that would lead up to the Pagoda was on the east side of the mountain. It became an issue since the main city areas were on the opposite.


    They had no choice but to make this ce a drop point for the supplies they collected. It also allowed them to manually carry the supplies up the mountain through the trekking paths behind the Pagoda.


    "Hurry up! Move faster!"


    A loud voice urged the workers to move faster. It was no other than Ed, the masculine man among Huey''s group. He was watching the workers as they filled his metal cart with supplies.


    "Yes!"


    The workers replied with serious faces.


    "Don''t push them too hard. It would be a problem if the workers copsed."


    Huey called out to Ed from the roof of the warehouse.


    "We are fine, Sir!" Instead of Ed, it was the workers that replied. "We do need to move faster, or we might have no choice but to waste some of the supplies."


    "You heard them"


    Ed added.


    Huey could only shrug, but it was with a good expression.


    Ed and the workers continued on their work while Huey resumed monitoring the surroundings. It was at this time that some people climbed up the roof.


    "Wee back. The infected in front had been dealt with fast."


    Huey greeted, looking at the group.


    It was Jolleen, Halley, and Nicole. They had just returned after killing a small group of infected that wandered near the warehouse.


    "We''re back. It''s not a big horde so we managed to dispatch them quickly."


    Jolleen greeted back.


    "Ugh... I smell bad." Halleyined as she sat down on a nearby chair. "I want to take a bath."


    "I told you not to burn the infected you are fighting," Nicole replied to Halley. "But you still went and did it."


    "I can''t help it, alright?" Halley argued. "Something disgusting tried to jump on me."


    Huey shook his head as the two bickered.


    Following the return of the three, another two people climbed to the roof, carrying two stic containers filled with lunchboxes and water bottles.


    It was Trisha and Ron.


    "We brought lunch for you guys!"


    Trisha announced as she put the container that she carried on a table.


    "Here''s the water."


    Ron said as he put his container by the leg of the same table.


    Huey smiled, looking at the noisy group around him and also ncing at Ed below.


    Who would have thought that the remaining people in the group of animators chased up the mountain by a feral tiger would end up like this? That group of afraid, dying regr people was no more. Now, they were powerful people capable of fighting the infected without fear.


    It was fortunate that they chose the right decision when they met Mark.


    With those things in mind, Huey suddenly whipped his head to the sky. He detected something.


    "Something wrong, Huey?"


    Jolleen asked, noticing the odd expression of Huey.


    "Those guys from Auraboros are watching again."


    Huey replied, staring at the Red-Tailed Hawk that was circling in the sky.


    "They aren''t even hiding it anymore, huh."<sub> </sub>


    Jolleen said, also staring at the hawk.


    It was not the first time that the group from Auraboros who stationed themselves at an apartment building south of mount pen spied on them. First, they tried stealthily infiltrating the Pagoda but got caught many times. Then, they began sending animals.


    However, all of the attempts were either caught by either Huey or the illusion of Tikbngs. Soon, they stopped trying to infiltrate the Pagoda and started tailing the scavenging groups using small birds. It was quite hard to discern the birds, but, once seen, it could be easily deduced that the birds were being manipted.


    In recent days, the manipted birds stopped hiding and would tantly circle in the sky, watching their activities in the area. It was effective as the birds were quite hard to hit, even with guns.


    It was an extreme annoyance. No one would feelfortable being watched like that. However, since they had more important things to do, Huey and the others stopped intercepting the birds.


    And as it seemed, the members of Auraboros were just watching. They seemed to have no intention to even have a proper interaction with them, peacefully or hostile.


    "In any case, we''re leaving this ce," Huey said with his eyes leaving the hawk in the sky. "Today will be thest time we will see their birds spying on us."


    "True."


    Jolleen nodded.


    "Hey, you two." Suddenly, Trisha called out. "Eat your lunch immediately while we are free. If another infected horde came again, it would bete to eat."


    The two could only agree to what Trisha said and grabbed their lunchboxes.


    ***


    <strong>Day 154 - 1:25 PM - The Pagoda, Mt. Penn, Reading City, Pennsylvania, United States of America</strong>


    Inside the first floor of the Pagoda, a wide portal floated at its center. Piles of boxes and cases were umting in front of it. It was because the workers were dropping the supplies they carried from the warehouse in here.


    As for transporting the supplies through the portal, another group was handling it. Those workers were currently passing back and forth, carrying carts of items, through the portal connected to the warehouse on the other side.


    At the corner of the first floor, near the stairs, Spera sat watching the portal.


    Because of the crystals that Mark gave her, she was now able to maintain the portal open for an extended amount of time. Her current longest record was five and a half hours straight. However, the time would shorten drastically if the portal did not remain open continuously. It was no surprise since opening a portal cost her more effort and energy than maintaining an already opened one. There was also the condition that she could not move away from the portal or it would close immediately.


    If Spera could move away from her portal, she would not be here watching other people work.


    At this time, tworge creatures arrived outside the Pagoda. The two were toorge that they could only stand by the door. One was had a snake body while the other a giant, fat man adorned with an orange armor-like exoskeleton.


    It would have been a frightening sight if none of the people here knew who these creatures are. Not to mention the two were carrying boxes of food that made them less scary. It was Gifre and Logan, the mutated infected controlled by one of Mark''s maids, Aephelia. The maid that just appeared out of nowhere with only Mark''s closest people knowing where she came from.


    At the arrival of the two monsters, the workers immediately approached to move the boxes they were carrying. The maid, herself, entered the Pagoda.


    "Bored?"


    Aephelia approached Spera, who was sat hugging her knees.


    "...Yeah." Spera stared a few seconds at Aephelia before replying. "There is nothing to do but watch or sweep the floor. I already cleaned it several times, but the others stopped me since it''s just going to get dirty again."


    That reply made Aephelia shake her head a little. This girl in front of her was a ve at birth. Then became a tool of Auraboros after she gained her powers. Spera was a girl that did not know how to enjoy life.


    Since Spera was the inheritor of Maurellfel, a good friend of Aephelia back in Eriellis, she could not help but look after her.


    "Why not borrow one of Master''sptops?" Aephelia suggested. "I''ll ask Miss Odelinater. Let''s borrow the one with anime movies in it."


    "Anime? That''s cartoons, right? Isn''t that for kids?"


    Spera replied, tilting her head.


    "If master heard you say that, he will be disappointed." Aephelia shrugged. "I do not think that an entertainment medium that involved gore and other sensitive topics are for children, though? And even cartoons had their own show of violence. Well, Master said before that there is a fine line differentiating violence anime and cartoons."


    "Aren''t you too enthusiastic about what Master likes?"


    Spera said, staring at Aephelia.


    "I can not be helped. It''s a duty for us maids to know our master''s preferences."


    Aephelia replied.


    Spera could only shrug as she epted the suggestion. After all, watching childish stuff was better than staring at empty air. The question was when would Odelina return, though. She was current outside, also dealing with another horde. Her children, Seigfried and Odette, and her niece, Hannah, were with her.


    Remembering that, Spera could not help but think of how strange of a person Odelina was. Not only was she capable of many things, but she was also adamant for her children to follow her steps. Now, she brought her children to fight a horde and train them at the same time.


    ***


    "<strong>WH-WHAT IS THAT?!</strong>"


    At this time, amotion was heard from the workers outside the Pagoda.


    Actually, it was not just around the Pagoda. Even Huey''s group in the warehouse, the pair of Felicia and Louis, and even the group led by na saw the event.


    Aephelia and Spera heard themotion and went to see what was happening. Then they saw everyone outside was looking up at the sky.


    Aephelia and Spera did the same, and their eyes opened wide in surprise.


    In the sky, they could see several groups of circr objects floating. They were moving together synchronized. Some even had blinking lights that could be seen clearly despite the brightness of the afternoon sun.


    The scene looked threatening, not to mention one of the objects should be asrge as a cruise ship.


    "An alien invasion all of a sudden?"


    Spera blurted out. As a former member of Auraboros, she was not new to the existence of extraterrestrials on Earth. But to see them move like this all at once was a first.


    "No, I don''t think so."


    Aephelia replied, observing the movements of the unidentified flying objects. Eriellis itself had its oddly shaped spaceships. Thus, she could tell what was happening by the flight pattern of the UFOs.


    "Instead of an invasion, it''s more like they were leaving this in a hurry."


    That was Aephelias words as they watched the UFOs fly up the clouds all at once and vanish from their sights.

 Chapter 722 Night At Madrijelos, The End Of The Meeting And The Village In The Forest

    <strong>Day 153 - 6:12 PM - Principal''s Office, Madrijelos National High School, Barangay Madrijelos, Municipality of Algeria, Province of Cebu</strong>


    The meeting continued after Doctor Janice briefly exined her findings and Officer Emilio summarizing the crucial points of his conversation with Mark.


    Nheless, it all boiled down to one single question.


    "Can we trust them?"


    The fisherman, Caudillo, asked.


    Even though Doctor Janice said that they were a powerful group...


    Even if their goal was to deal with the Tamawos, as Officer Emilio mentioned...


    There was still the issue of trust.


    And Officer Emilio''s answer, of course, was...


    "I can''t say for sure that we can trust them."


    Officer Emilio shook his head.


    It made everyone sigh but also relieved. Officer Emilio was a cautious leader. He would not just trust anyone they met shortly. He was not careless towards himself or his people.


    Nheless, Officer Emilio continued with an argument that none of them would be able to deny.


    "I don''t know if we can trust them, but... They are our only chance of getting past that ursed town. And maybe save the people enved there along the way."


    Everyone fell silent in a disheartening way.


    After their settlement in Liloan suddenly fell because of that monster leaving less than ten percent surviving the tidal wave, everyone could barely cling onto any hope that was left.


    They manually carried all the supplies they could find. They even put the injured into ragged carts and carried some on their backs. They used what was left of their strength to travel north.


    Using vehicles before the outbreak, the distance between Liloan and Madrijelos would only take a little bit more than an hour to traverse. But for the survivors of Liloan Settlement after its copse, it took them more than two weeks.


    They could not travel continuously because of the injured and their limited supplies. The survivors had to stop and find shelter at different intervals to have rest and replenish their supplies. It was hard to maintain enough water and food for several hundred people, especially with most of them injured because of the settlement''s destruction.


    And the attacks they received from both infected and evolved animals in their journey made everything worse.


    After those hardships, they reached this ce. It was barely halfway their estimated route north. But no one expected that the road would be blocked by some hostile creatures from the urban legends.


    The group tried to reason that they would only want to pass by, only to have spears pointed at them. Luckily, those Tamawos were also afraid of the soldiers'' guns and did not provoke any kind of battle. Nheless, the survivors were not allowed to pass through and were driven away.


    It had been about a month since that happened. Since then, the survivors were stuck in this ce. They had no choice but to find an opportunity to pass through that town upied by the Tamawo.


    Fighting their way through? It was easier said than done. They observed the Tamawos stealthily using various methods. They learned that the Tamawos enved the people that lived in the town. They also used their legendary charm ability to beguile the women to be their partners.


    The worst part was that... The useless people were actually turned into food for these vicious creatures.


    Learning about what happened to the residents, the soldiers and the survivors were angry. However, they were also helpless about the situation.


    The survivors in this ce were in the worst situation.


    There was also no way for them to go on a different route. From this school, instead of going north, they could take a detour eastward. However, it was far more dangerous than staying stuck in this ce.


    Although it was a paved road, the route east would go through the mountainous center of the province. It would be expected for them to encounter evolved animals on a regr basis. Furthermore, safer ces where they could stay would be far distant from each other. It would be likely that they would need to camp out every now and then.


    That would be the worst thing to do in the middle of the mountains during this apocalypse.


    Not to mention that going east would bring them closer to the territory of the infected. Having too many people traveling near the infected territory would definitely draw the infected to their group.


    That was why they were here, stuck.


    Now, Mark''s group appeared. Trustworthy or not, that strange group was their only hope in their hopeless situation.


    "Even if they are powerful, will they be able to seed against those human-shaped monsters?"


    Denver asked.


    "We can''t say for sure." Officer Emilio replied with a sigh. "Even so, we will have nothing to lose in supporting them. We all know that, sooner orter, we will have to take even more dangerous measures to survive. Our supplies won''tst forever either. This might be ourst chance."


    The meeting continued on with this decision. And even though Mark''s group said that they only needed information, Officer Emilio and the others decided that they would prepare as a backup in case something unexpected happened.


    ***


    Unknown to them all, just outside the window of the principal''s office, Mark was listening to their meeting.


    "They''re pretty decent, aren''t they..."


    Mark nodded inmendation. The leaders of this group were pretty decent ones, although one seemed to have some hateful quirks.


    "I might want to take some of them in, especially that doctor. She had such an interesting ability. To think that she could see Mutagen forming patterns. Her ability is useful for studying Mutagen. It''s a pity, though. She seemed to be unable to see Psypathogen. Probably because it''s an entirely different pathogen despiteing from the same root."


    But then, Mark shook his head.


    "I''ll just let nature take its course."


    Recruiting people with concrete goals will be hard unless there was a good opportunity. It was like with Berrak, Geronimo, and Padua. The three joined his group due to circumstances around them. It would not have happened if there were no good opportunities at that time.


    "I don''t need anything else from this meeting. I better go back. Crimson and Ignis are about to return."


    With those words to himself, Mark turned into a surge of ck mist. The ck mist then flew across the window in the darkness of the night.


    ***


    "Huh?"


    BANG!


    Suddenly, Doctor Janice stood up from in the middle of their meeting. Her chair even fell causing a loud bang on the floor.


    Everyone fell silent and looked at her only to see her rubbing her eyes while staring at the window.


    "What happened?"


    Officer Emilio asked the doctor.


    "I thought I saw something outside the window." Doctor Janice said as she picked up her chair. "I must be seeing things."


    Someone went out to check. However, they saw nothing.


    "Then, let''s get back to the topic."


    Officer Emilio said as they continued after the slight intervention.


    However, Doctor Janice was silent, still staring at the window.


    ''What in the world is that?'' Doctor Janice thought. ''Mutagen? No... It looks too different!''<sub> </sub>


    Of course, Doctor Janice was out of her wits. Although she said that she might just be seeing things, she was sure that she saw something. She saw a mist emitting bright light that flew past the window. And rather than a pattern, it was more like it was emitting waves of bright light.


    It was strange as it was the first time Doctor Janice saw something like that.


    ***


    "Huh? Did she saw me?"


    Mark said as he appeared on the roof of the building. He could feel that Doctor Janice seemed to be shocked.


    "It doesn''t matter, I guess. I''m not invisible when turning into mist, after all."


    And there, Mark vanished once more, finally returning to the room that Officer Emilio brought them to.


    ***


    In the middle of the forest northeast of Mardrijelos, a shadow was traveling from tree to tree.


    The shadow thennded near a strange group of trees that seemed to encircle a wide patch of clearnd.


    Moonlight shone on the man''s body as he walked into the open.


    With a spear in his right hand, it was a handsome man with white skin, pointed ears, and tribal tattoos on his body.


    It was Pefile.


    Pefile stopped for a bit but then proceeded to step forwards with his left hand stretched in front of him.


    Suddenly, his hand touched something invisible. As he touched it, it caused water-like ripples in the air.


    And there, he walked through the ripple, making the scenery change.


    The clearing turned into a small vige with houses made of misshapen trees and fauna.


    "It had been a long time I''ve been in this ce," Pefile murmured as he observed the surroundings. "Barely anything changed."


    Vige of the Exiles. That was what this ce was called.


    As the name stated, it was where the exiled go. To be specific, the exiled Tamawos of his tribe.


    Unlike their tribe''s homnd concealed into a pocket of space, the vige was only hidden using an illusory barrier. Furthermore, it was a barrier that would make mortals stifled and stay away.


    As Pefile entered the barrier, the vigers immediately noticed his presence. The ripples on the barrier spread out across the entire vige. It was a defense mechanism that would allow everyone to react to intruders and danger.


    Tamawos went out of their houses. There were also human females present hiding inside their homes. With spears on their hands, they were ready to confront the intruder.


    But then, they saw a Tamawo standing at the border of the vige. It was the intruder.


    "<strong>WHO ARE YOU?! HOW DID YOU FIND OUR VILLAGE?!</strong>"


    A young Tamawo leading in front of the group bellowed at the intruder.


    Along with the question, the group of young Tamawos was ready to attack if the intruder made any threatening movement.


    Unexpectedly, the question was ignored. The intruder did not pay attention to the young Tamawos at all. Instead, he was looking around nonchntly.


    The young Tamawo could not ept that and led the attack. The other young Tamawos also charged towards the intruder.


    What the young Tamawos did not realize was that their fathers and the other older Tamawos were staring at the intruder in shock. It was alreadyte when they noticed that the younger ones began attacking.


    The older Tamawos wanted to stop the young ones, but they saw the intruder nce at them with a slight shake of his head.


    BANG! BANG!


    Within a few seconds, the group of young Tamawos,posed of thirty individuals, was lying down on the ground with shocked faces.


    "These young onescked discipline don''t they, Erille?"


    In intruder spoke, mentioning a name that everyone in this vige knew.


    "You don''t have to be that harsh, Pefile."


    An old Tamawo stepped forward from the crowd. This Tamawo was too old that the handsome features of their race already wrinkled with time.


    Everyone heard Erille, the chief of this vige, call the intruder''s name.


    All of them, even the young Tamawos, were shocked. Despite the pain after being beaten, the young Tamawos forced themselves up.


    Pefile stood there with a frown as he watched everyone kneel in front of him.


    "<strong>WE GREET OUR RIGHTFUL KING!</strong>"


    Everyone bellowed in unison with Erille leading them.


    "Erille," Pefiel red at the vige chief. "I am not your king. I am nothing but a wanderer."


    "No matter what you say, you are the only king in our hearts! Not your brother that forced himself into the throne of our tribe!"


    Erille cried out.


    It was not only the chief, the other older Tamawos were looking at Pefile filled with reverence.


    "That is all in the past," Pefile argued. "I''m here for a different matter."


    "It is for the queen, I presume?"


    Erille asked.


    "She''s not your queen. She''s just a regr human."


    Pefile frowned.


    "Mortal or not, she had the king''s marking. The king''s other half."


    Erille stood strong in his belief.


    "I don''t care about what you think," Pefile grumbled. "How is she?"


    And to Pefile''s question, Erille looked down.


    "Because of the king''s marking, not a strand of her hair was harmed. However, I can''t say that she''s doing good."


    Those words made Pefile grasp his spear tightly.


    "What happened?"

 Chapter 723 Inside The Village Of Exiles, The Story Of The First Prince That Left The Tribe

    <strong>Day 153 - 8:16 PM - Vige of Exiles, Barangay Mardrijelos, Municipality of Algeria, Province of Cebu</strong>


    "Shouldn''t we talk about this somewhere no one could hear?"


    Erille replied to Pefile''s question while ncing at the surroundings.


    Pefile could not help but loosen his tight grip on his spear. He was pretty agitated at the topic of his abducted wife that he forgot that this was not the right ce to talk about private matters.


    "Lead the way."


    Pefile replied to the old Tamawo.


    Erille then turned to the people around them.


    "All of you return to what you are doing. Don''t be a bother to our King."


    "Yes!"


    The people replied, respectfully bowing to Pefile and Erille before they left.


    "How many times should I need to tell you that I am not your King?"


    Pefile frowned.


    "Unfortunately..." Erille smiled. "No matter what you say, it is not something you will be able to change."


    Pefile fell silent. He had already grown tired of refuting the old man in front of him.


    Following Erille, Pefile was brought into thergest house at the center of the vige. It was a house built under the roots of a giant tree. Most of the furniture was made using smaller roots and was even embedded on the walls. It was a living house.


    Pefile entered the house without hesitation. He had entered this ce a lot of times than he could remember. Thest time, however, was already more than a decade ago. It was at the time that his wife was abducted by his brother.


    It was also when Pefile was forced to escape this ce, unable to save his poor wife.


    "Please, take a seat."


    Erille said, preparing a hot drink using some leaves unknown to humans. The leaves emitted a sweet fragrance and had a slight fluctuation of magical energy. It was a magical herbal tea.


    A cup made of wood was ced in front of Pefile as he took the seat. He did not hesitate to take the cup and drank a bit of the tea.


    "Can you tell me what happened already?"


    Pefile asked as he put down the cup.


    "To tell the truth, no one knows what exactly happened to her," Erille replied after taking the seat in front of Pefile. "From the message my son sent us, it seemed that her health is deteriorating."


    "How is that possible?" Pefile was agitated. "My brother... Artile fell in love with her. There''s no way that he would let this happen."


    "It is true that there was no way that he would let this happen." Erille agreed. "He even used precious herbs to improve her health as much as possible. However... None of it worked properly. She would get better because of the herbs, but it would get worse after a while. From thest message that my son sent, it seemed that her condition was getting worse that she was unable to get up from her bed anymore."


    "This... Did I take too long..." Pefile murmured, looking down at the table. "No, I''ll make sure that I will take her back this time."


    "My King... That would be dangerous." Erille warned. "Back then, you weren''t able to take her and had to escape. You almost died. Now, the young ones had grown. There would be more of them to stop and capture you. Forcing you into a disadvantageous duel with your brother. If you fell into their hands now, there would be no escape anymore."


    "That might happen," Pefile said.


    Erille looked at his respected King. He believed that he would be disheartened by the truth. But the old Tamawo was surprised.


    Pefile actually looked calm.


    "Right. I might get caught if I went there." Pefile raised his head. "That''s if it was the same as the past. Now, I have measures to take. And this time, I''m not alone."


    This made Erille surprised. Just what gave Pefile the confidence this time?


    However, if Pefile did seed this time, there would a great change within the tribe soon.


    ***


    Several hundred years ago. It far before the people of the West colonized the country.


    A tribe of beautiful men already existed. They were magical beings, spirits of nature and water that gained physical bodies due to the blessing of a goddess.


    In return for the blessing they received, they guarded the sacred bodies of water, keeping them clean and free of contamination.


    Many of them split up from the main tribe, searching for other sacred bodies of water. Those that found theirs founded their own tribes, spreading their kind all across the country, especially the Visayas, which were surrounded and separated by different bodies of water.


    Unfortunately, their existence had a fatal w. They were unable to have women among their race, unable to increase their number. This was only addressed by taking in mortal women to be their wives.


    Unfortunately, mortal women of the past would not want to be brides of creatures they deemed as inhuman. Even with their beautiful appearance, only a few of them seeded in winning over the hearts of their partners.


    Because of this, they were unable to increase their numbers to protect the sacred ces they guarded. Being inhuman creatures, they were chased away by humans. Worse, they were killed.


    Many branching tribes perished because of this.


    The goddess that created them felt pity. However, while she was able to create their tribe, she had no ability to alter their current state. That was why she asked for the help of another god. That nameless god gave the beautiful tribe the ability to charm humans in order to continue their race.


    And that was when another problem was found. As for how nature went, creatures with long lives tend to have a hard time increasing their numbers. Their fertility was low and it was up to chance whether they would have children.


    Some of these beautiful tribes were already at the edge. Their numbers were dwindling and were barely increasing.


    And because of that, many of their tribes began to abuse the ability that was taught to them. They stopped charming mortal females because of love. Instead, they charmed them to continue their race.


    The deranged race began to hoard mortal females, taking more than one female as their wives. Some even began to kill each other due to the fact of targetting another member''s females.<sub> </sub>


    It created distraught between them and the humans. Thetter began to wage war against the creatures that took their women.


    But more than everything else...


    The goddess that created them was enraged by their unscrupulous act.


    Thus, after the war was quelled, the race was cursed. It did not matter whether who was the culprit or the innocent. The entirety of their race was cursed to prevent the event from happening once more.


    That curse was the root of the restrictions that the tribe currently had.


    And from there, they could only continue the life that the goddess that created them paved for them.


    The curse kept their number from increasing too much or even from perishingpletely.


    That continued until the present.


    That was how the present Tamawos came to be.


    The Tamawos had very low fertility. It was rare for anyone to actually have siblings. Those that managed to have more than one child were deemed lucky.


    One of those lucky people was the previous king of the main tribe in Kawasan. A mortal woman''s fertility was shortpared to the lives of the Tamawo. Even so, despite therge gap between their births, two princes were born in that king''s era.


    Unfortunately, that king was quite old already. His life wouldst only for the next hundred years when he had his second son. Still, the queen, who was a mortal, still died earlier than the king. It was something that could not be helped due to the difference in races.


    The two princes had a gap of twenty years in age. By the time the second child was born, the first was already an adult. During childhood, a Tamawo''s growth was simr to humans. They would only start aging slower once they reached adulthood.


    Everyone valued the first prince. He was deemed to be the next king as the older one.


    Unexpectedly, the valued heir to the throne grew entrically. His thoughts were outside the norm of their tribe. His thoughts were farfetched, and there was a lot in the tribe that he disagreed on.


    Nheless, he was the best warrior at the time. It was what mattered the most to their race. A splendid warrior would be a splendid king as they said.


    It was until...


    The first prince fell in love with a woman. She was pretty, kind, and gentle.


    They met by ident when the woman was lost in the woods of Kawasan. She saw the first prince in his undisguised form. Normally, a person would feel afraid seeing a beautiful but inhuman being. However, it was not the case for that woman. She asked Pefile about directions without any shred of fear.


    The fascinated first prince decided to guide the woman out of the woods. She safely got out of the forest, thanking the first prince with a beautiful smile.


    From then on, the two met with each other from time to time for the span of two months.


    It all happened with the first prince not telling anyone.


    Unfortunately, the kind woman was just a tourist in this ce that came with her parents and siblings. They came to visit some rtives and would leave afterward.


    The first prince was distraught. He definitely fell in love with that woman.


    He could have charmed her and abduct her.


    But the entric prince did not want to follow the steps of his tribe.


    He did not want for his beloved to be like a puppet. Albeit able of thinking independently, their priority was always their husband. They had no freedom at all.


    It was not true love at all.


    The first prince wanted to follow her. However, he was the first prince, the heir to the throne. There was no way that the others would let him leave and would force him to charm the woman instead. After all, he already fell in love. If he did not get the heart of the woman, he would die sooner orter.


    Even so, he could not force her toe with him.


    He decided to confess on thest day that they were together.


    Unfortunately, it was too sudden. The woman was unable to sort her feeling yet. It was regretful. If the first prince had done this sooner, there might have been a chance to make her stay.


    Theirst meeting ended with the woman running away. It was a bad ending.


    However, the first prince was unable to let go. He remembered where the woman''s hometown was. Since he would die soon anyway, he decided to take the gamble.


    Throwing away the title of the first prince, he left the tribe in search of the woman he loved.


    There, the first prince disappeared without a trace. It caused the whole tribe to turn upside down. Worst, the king was already in hisst years. Soon, they would need another king to lead them.


    The search for the missing prince began. Unfortunately, no one was able to find him.


    Even so, the old king decided to wait for the return of the first prince.


    That, however, gave a bad taste in the mouth of the second prince.


    After all, it was always the first prince and not the second. The second prince was already sick of it. Since the first prince left, he should have the throne instead. However, no one thought of such a thing.


    Soon, the king died, leaving an empty throne.


    Without anyone to take over, the oldest Tamawo took the lead temporarily.


    They were still waiting for the first prince.


    Unfortunately, the second prince was having none of it any longer.


    Allying himself with the enemies of the previous king, he took the throne by force.

 Chapter 724 Accepting The Ones Weakness, The Abduction Of The First Princes Wife

    <strong>Day 153 - 8:39 PM - Vige of Exiles, Barangay Mardrijelos, Municipality of Algeria, Province of Cebu</strong>


    "I better go now. I have to prepare things on my side."


    Pefile stood up from his seat after drinking the rest of the tea.


    "Then, let me lead you out."


    <o>,m Erille said, also standing from his seat.</o>


    "There''s no need to. I''m not the child you always have to usher in the past."


    Pefile replied as he walked towards the door.


    Erille watched Pefile''s back. About a hundred years ago, Pefile was just a child that called him uncle. Now, there was no trace of that child anymore. What was left was a pitiful wanderer forced to be alone.


    "Is there anything we can do to help?"


    Erille asked.


    Pefile stopped and turned his head above his right shoulder to look at the old Tamawo.


    "There is one thing you can do," Pefile replied. "Your son and all those still loyal to my father. Make them leave the tribe before the day after tomorrow. If they didn''t leave, I would not be able to ensure their safety."


    With those words, Pefile walked out of the door.


    Erille wanted to ask why. However, even if he was loyal to the previous king and Pefile, it would be suspicious if he pressed for details. Instead, he fell silent and took Pefile''s advice to heart.


    The old Tamawo walked towards the door to take a peek at the leaving Pefile. Unexpectedly, even though it was just a few seconds, Pefile was already gone.


    "It looked like he had gotten stronger after these years," Erille murmured with a smile. He was happy to see the growth of their king. "I should hurry and send a message to my son. A day is barely enough for them to leave the tribe."


    Erille then rushed towards the window behind his house. The window was opened wide with a potted nt. The nt was strange as it was not something that could be seen by humans. Nheless, its twelve inches tall stem bore a huge bud at its end.


    "Tenaya, I need you to wake up."


    Erille spoke to the flower. No, not to the flower but the creature residing inside it.


    The voice of the old Tamawo made the bud shake as it slowly bloomed into a beautiful red flower. Inside the flower, a little girl sat in a fetal position, stretched her arms up, and yawned. The cute little girl with blond hair then shook her glowing dragonfly wings and opened her golden-colored eyes.


    It was a Lambana. A Spirit Race said to have been born from the tears of the Philippine Goddess of the Moon, Bn.


    "What is it Erille, I''m still sleepy..."


    The Lambana, Tenaya,ined to the old Tamawo.


    "I''m sorry, but this is urgent," Erille replied. "I need you to send a message to my son as soon as possible."


    "Urgent?" Tenaya asked as she stood on the flower. "How urgent is it?"


    "Their lives might be at stake." Erille truthfully answered. "We can''t dy this message."


    Hearing the old Tamawo''s answer, Tenaya shook herself awake. She listened carefully to Erille''s message and flew out of the window in a hurry.


    "I wish that Pefile would seed." Erille voiced out as he saw Tenaya leave. "Even if he did not ept being our next king, it was better than living under the rule of his brother."


    ***


    The second prince allied himself with the enemies of the previous king. They were the Tamawos who were exiled aftermitting crimes and spheming their culture and tradition.


    They were the previous ones thrown in the Vige of Exiles.


    The Vige of Exiles was a vige built by those who were exiled by the tribe. To be exiled from the tribe was something grave for the members as it was basically cutting off their blood and knot for the generations they served the tribe.


    As exiles, they were outcasted not only by the members of the tribe but also by the other races living nearby. It made it hard for them to live without the support of the tribe.


    Experiencing the hardships living as an exile made the hearts of the criminals curse the previous king.


    The only way for an exile to return to the tribe was to receive the king''s forgiveness. Thus, they took the opportunity to aid the second prince and gain the freedom they wanted.


    And in the end, a bloody coup ensued led by the second prince and the exiles. It all started in a sneak attack in their ancestralnd, killing all those unprepared warriors along the way.


    The second prince seeded in taking over the throne in one night. Those exiles that aided him had their status restored. While those who were loyal to the previous king were exiled in return.


    However, even though the coup seeded, the second prince, no, the new king, was unsatisfied.


    In the end, he never felt the aplishment of surpassing his entric brother. He just took over an empty throne, nothing else.


    And the worst thing, the treasure of their tribe that was the symbol of the king, did not respond to the new king''s call.


    Frustrated, the new king thought that it might have something to do with his brother.


    Thus, the new king gave his order.


    It was to find his missing older brother.


    The Tamawos might not have any ability to locate a person. However, there were other races in existence that might be able to do so.


    In the end, they found a witch. The witch was not able to locate the exact location of the missing prince. However, she managed to give the general location.


    And there, the new king himself led the search.


    They reached Infanta, a ce very far from their homnd. However, they were not able to find a trace of the missing prince.


    One day, however, while looking for the traces of the missing prince, the new king saw a mother and a child buying food in a seaside market. The new king was stunned at the beauty of the mother.<sub> </sub>


    Without a doubt, the new king fell in love with the mortal woman. He stalked the mother and child to their home and infiltrated the home during the night.


    There was no hesitation on the new king''s mind as he tried to mark the woman and use his charm magic.


    Unexpectedly, the king''s mark and charm magic did not work and bounced off. Instead, he smelled a familiar scent from the mother.


    It was the scent, the marking of his missing brother.


    The new king was enraged. Once again, his brother was ahead of him.


    Nheless, the new king was not one to give up, especially with his life at stake.


    With his brother not around, the new king decided to wait and abduct his wife. It was not something that happened immediately. With a curse that Tamawos use to slowly weaken a human, the new king brought the woman to the brink of death.


    And soon, in human perception, the woman died, leaving the orphaned child. The woman was buried without anyone knowing what actually happened to her.


    But in truth, she was there as she watched her fake body buried, unable to escape from the new king of Tamawos and his warriors.


    Finally, the first prince returned, only to see his wife getting abducted by his brother.


    It led to a battle. Of course, not that duel needed to be fought by the two Tamawos that fell in love with the same woman.


    The first prince was at a disadvantage. Once he lost all this energy fighting the warriors, the new king would initiate the duel. It was one of the loopholes in their curse. There was no rule that both parties should be in the best state nor they could disagree. After all, the rules were not made by them.


    Being called a duel was just sugarcoating the whole process. In fact, rather than a duel, it was more of a fight to their deaths. The method did not matter as long as one of the two candidates defeated their killed or made their opponent submit.


    In that case, the first prince would lose, not only his life but the love of his wife.


    The wife of the first prince also knew what was going on. She epted the first prince''s love knowing what he was. Thus, the first prince did not hesitate to tell stories about himself and his race.


    And the woman was a smart person. Knowing that she would be fine as long as her husband was not defeated by the new king, she decided on something.


    The woman took advantage of the situation. Since the warriors were not there to protect their king and were surrounding her husband instead, she tackled the new king down.


    It caused the warriors to be distracted. However, it was not enough for her and the first prince to escape together.


    Thus, the woman roared towards the first prince. She was willing to wait for him. He should escape for now.


    Heavy-hearted, the first prince had no choice but to follow his wife''s bidding. Once he was caught and defeated in that situation, everything would be lost.


    His wife was one thing, but they also had a young child that lost his mother and did not know who his father was.


    It was already lucky that the new king did not care for the child and left the kid alone. But...


    If he was defeated here, not only his wife would fall into the hands of his brother, but the future of the orphaned child would also be bleak.


    There was no other choice.


    Before the warriors managed to recover from the distraction, the first prince escaped.


    A chase happened, but the first prince managed to hide eventually.


    Nheless, the new king was not disheartened. His brother would return for sure to retrieve his wife. It was unfortunate that he would not be able to do anything with her. In the least, he would not die since both candidates for her partner were still alive and had not given up.


    And as the new king thought, the first prince did return.


    The first prince tried to sneak into their territory and save his wife. Unfortunately, many things had changed since the new king sat on the throne. As such, the unexpected things led to the first prince almost get caught.


    With the help of the remaining people loyal to the previous king, the first prince managed to escape once more.


    Unfortunately, it caused the lives of those that helped him.


    Since then, the first prince had gone missing once more.


    The first prince returned to his son, waiting for a chance to take back what was his.


    Unfortunately, he could not face his son until he got his wife back. There was no way that he would tell that his mother was taken away because of his weakness.


    He could only take care of the child in the shadows, putting food in the kitchen and protecting him from dangers.


    A decade has passed by since then.


    And now, the first prince finally found a chance. It might cost him his loyalty. But it was better than waiting longer.


    Besides, being under a potential god recognized by the higher beings was not bad at all...


    Even if the one he had to serve might be the God of Chaos in the future.


    ***


    Pefile left the Vige of Exiles. Standing under the tree that overlooked the valley where their tribe resided, Pefile took out an item from his leather bag.


    It was a crystal with a glowing orb inside.


    "I''m hesitating to use this before. But it''s not the time to hesitate any longer. I''ll be willing to sell my soul to the devil if it would give me a higher chance to save her... Save Celine."


    Pefile then left to a certain ce. It was a cave that only he knew since he was a child. Here, there was no one to disturb him until he gained the new power bestowed unto him.


    Unknown to Pefile, however, his eptance of weakness caused amotion in the tribe.


    It was because the mark of the King that never epted the new king suddenly began to resonate.

 Chapter 754 The Journey Back, Witnessing The Volcanic Clouds From Afar

    <strong>Day 155 - 11:21 AM - Visayan Sea, Central Visayas, Philippines</strong>


    About half an hour before noon, three creatures flew over the dangerous Visayan Sea. One was an enormous reddish-ck dragon, another was a giant ck ash-colored bird with silver primary, secondary, and tail feathers, and thest one was a ck horse with wings. On the back of these creatures, people sat while carefully watching over the surroundings.


    Of course, it was no other than Mark''s group. They were already on their way home.


    "Uncle, can I ride on the Pegasuster? Please?"


    Emika cutely tried to request Mark as they rode on Char''s back.


    The Pegasus, Greos, was asrge as a regr horse. Only two people could safely ride on it. Three if one was a small child. At this moment, it was Edzel and Pearl that was on its back.


    "Later." Mark strictly replied. "With how ''lively'' you are, you''ll likely end up falling from its back for no reason."


    Hearing that, Emika pouted. However, she could not refute him either. There was no way that she could promise to sit still on the back of Greos. Besides, she had no experience riding on the back of any animal alone. The back of an animal like a horse was easy to fall off, after all. It was unlike the backs of Char and Trua, who wererge creatures.


    It was also the perfect timing for Edzel to separate from the group. Although the peak of his anger had already passed throughout the night, he was still awkward towards Pefile and Celine.


    That was something that could not be forced, no matter how much Celine wanted to spend time with her son. They should take it slow. After all, only time could heal the wound of the heart.


    In any case, Mark had many things in mind to bother with other people''s family problems.


    The encounter with the Visayan Goddess of the Sea and Underworld, Magwayen, had given Mark quite an amount of information to digest.


    First was more clues about the existence of realms.


    Mark had already heard a bit of this subject from Bath. The fact that Bath himself came from not just another dimension but another realm. It was a realm lower than the one that Earth''s Universe belonged to and the same reason that Bath was weakerpared to other Gods of Creation that came from a higher realm.


    From the conversationst night, it seemed that one of the goals of the gods was to ascend to a higher realm. It was also the reward that the Eyes decided to give the remaining gods hidden on Earth to make them help with the iing disaster.


    It meant that there was something to it that made the gods want it. Even a supreme god, like Magwayen, was tempted to that offer.


    Mark wanted to ask more about it as he was curious. Although he had some theories, most of them came from things he remembered from novels, manga, and the like. He was not sure whether it was the same as the actual thing.


    However, before Mark could ask Neenth, who had the authority over such information, the Eye in question had already left.


    When Mark and Pefile went out of the chambers after meeting Magwayen, the only person left outside waiting for them was Fourth. As for Neenth, she already left without a single word for Mark. It was quite strange considering how she seemed to want to maintain a suitable behavior in front of Mark.


    It was not surprising for Mark, however. During the conversation with Magwayen, Neenth was already showing signs of unnatural irritation. Though rather than prejudice towards foreign Gods as an Earth''s protector, it was more like she hated them to the bone.


    This might be one of the reasons why Neenth was the only one among the Eyes who was not tasked with personally handling the hidden gods and was left to support in the background instead.


    Neenth leaving the ce, however, removed the chance of Mark learning about it. On the other hand, Fourth seemed to have no authority to divulge the specifics of the topic. It was like before when Mark inquired Fourth about Aimee.


    The second thing was about the happenings never told within the myths. Kaptan''s death because of a fatal injury, for example.


    It was not a shocking thing, of course. It was just most humans never paid attention.


    Most myths told and passed from generation to generation were not necessarily from the people subject of the myth. A whole lot of these legends and stories, possibly all or at least the majority, were renditions of the events told by the mouths of ancient people. Not everything was true, while some were exaggerated.


    The third thing was about the existence of Kahilwayan.


    One would think that such a ce would exist in another world only connected to Earth through the so-called gates. It was simr to how Asgard and Mount Olympus were depicted in many works of literature.


    However, it seemed that, by what Magwayen had said, Kahilwayan was actually a god-created sub-space that was made on Earth. It gave Mark more work to do in the future, but it could end up as a good thing.


    While those thoughts lingered in Mark''s mind, Mei called him.


    "Gege, something is odd."


    "Hmm?" Mark turned to Mei. "What is it?"


    What Mark saw was Mei''s eyes dting, indicating that she was using her abilities. Her attention was on the shallow area of the water.


    "I don''t know, but doesn''t the water look too low."


    Mark also stared at the area where Mei was looking. There, they could seerge corals sticking out of the water. The water nts were also crumpled on the water surface. It indicated that the leaves of these nts were longer than the height of the tide.


    At this moment, Berrak spoke on the radio.


    "Boss, it seems like the Earth''s maic field is going haywire."


    "Now that you mention it."


    Mark picked up the radio with a frown. Now that Berrak mentioned it, he also began to pay attention. He had lightning abilities, and electricity and maism had a direct corrtion. It was rather faint, however, for Mark to feel it immediately.


    As for Berrak, it was actually not him but his Thunderbird, Trua, who noticed. Animals had higher sensitivity to their surroundings, and birds, especially migratory ones, use maic fields to navigate.


    "It should be an effect of the nteray Debris," Mark stated. "It might also be the one messing up with the tide."<sub> </sub>


    Then, something entered Mark''s mind, which made him pause.


    "Master, is something wrong?"


    Amihan, who was sitting on Mark''s shoulder, noticed his silence immediately.


    "I just thought of something bad." Mark shrugged. "Earth''s maic field going crazy can cause a lot of problems. If the maic field in some parts of Earth thinned, space radiation could enter those areas. If it was before the apocalypse, that problem would only cause health problems to people and EMP effects on appliances. But now, it''s likely that the space radiation will cause the infected to mutate instead. Who knows what kind of mutations irradiated infected would end up with."


    That surely was a problem.


    "Let''s just wish it''s not anywhere near us."


    Mark shrugged.


    With those things in mind, the group continued traveling.


    Initially, Mark wanted to fly back to Catanduanes to check before going home. However, considering how far it was to take a detour, Mark dropped the idea. In any case, his family was under the protection of Diwata Iraya. There should not be any problem there.


    Mark just wished that they could fly continuously without breaks. However, Char still had his maximum flight limit. Although he could fly long distances, it was not continuous. Thus, they still had to make their way throughnd every two hours.


    At these times, Mark could not help but wish that Char was a magical dragon instead of a giant mutated lizard. Well, that was wishing for too much.


    Amihan was also helping with regting wind resistance and other wind-rted problems. Thus, Chalfar could fly faster than its regr speed without fear of making Mark and the others fall off. Of course, the dragon was not careless. If one of them fell because of it, Mark would surely punish it.


    Following that flight routine, they reached the ind of Marinduque before sunset.


    However, as they flew closer to Luzon, they could not help but see the odd scene in the northwest.


    The northwest sky was covered in thick ck clouds, exuding lightning at a frightening frequency. There was also a burnt smell in the air. Not to mention that the same direction was blurred by what seemed to be grayish-brown mist in the distance.


    "That looks dangerous..."


    Mark muttered as they made their way to the ind. Although Mark was in a hurry to go home, it was dangerous to fly throughout the night. The travel also made everyone tired. Everyone needed to rest, and they only had to continue their journey early in the morning tomorrow.


    "Boss! Where are we going to camp?"


    Berrak called from the radio.


    There was silence for a bit. Mark was also choosing where to go.


    "Let''snd on the summit of that mountain first," Mark replied, looking at the mountain in the southern area of Marinduque. "If it''s suitable, we can camp there. If not, it''s easy to look for other ces from there."


    The groupnded on the summit of the mountain, and before they could evennd, they already found a vacant area to camp in. Mark monitored the area and did not detect any living creature in the immediate vicinity. The grass and nts that covered the area were lush, but there seemed to be no mutated ones either.


    "Looks like this ce is good."


    Geronimo said after searching around for a bit together with Padua.


    "Let''s set up camp here," Mark said as he took out tents and other stuff from out of nowhere.


    This scene was still magical for the two soldiers, and they could only watch with bitterly amazed expressions. It was a good thing, however.


    Most people in the apocalypse were struggling with stuff. They might be able to find a good amount of supplies. However, not all people had the ability or resources to transport everything.


    <o>,m Mark''s group, on the other hand, had magical storage rings that could store a whole lot of stuff without problems.</o>


    Night came, and they had an early dinner. Still, their attention was not on their food but the thick thunderous clouds in the northwest sky. It was a worrying sight.


    With Mark''s offline map, they managed to deduce that those clouds were volcanic clouds that likely came from the Taal Volcano. It was quite surprising since they did not expect a volcanic eruption to happen. Nheless, nature''s fury was totally unpredictable without proper people and equipment to monitor it.


    Still, the appearance and spread of the volcanic clouds were too strange. It seemed that the eruption was too strong for the clouds to be visible for over a fifty-kilometer radius of the volcano.


    Rather than worrying about it, however, Mark focused more on the more important things.


    The Taal Volcano was on the southwest side of Luzon. Quezon was on the east. It would be unlikely for these volcanic clouds to travel about a hundred kilometers away and reach their base.


    That was why they only need to travel on the east side of Luzon and avoid those dangerous clouds and the veil of volcanic ash.


    And there, the group spent their night on the summit of Mount Malinding in Marinduque.


    The night was not all peaceful, though.


    Mark detected some animals lurking in the shadows. Nheless, they did not receive any kind of attack throughout the night. It seemed that the animals deemed them dangerous, especially with Char sleeping outside the camp.


    The night felt short, and the sun rose soon.


    After having breakfast and tidying up the camp, they finally theirst day outside before the second wave came.

 Chapter 726 Morning In Madrijelos, A Suddenly Busy Time For The Residents

    <strong>Day 154 - 8:21 AM - Madrijelos National Highschool, Barangay Madrijelos, Municipality of Algeria, Province of Cebu</strong>


    Early in the morning, someone knocked on the door of the ssroom where Mark''s group stayed. It was Officer Emilio and a few soldiers. The female soldier that was assigned to Mark''s group, Private Tanya Monteroso, opened the door.


    Opening the door, however, Officer Emilio and his soldiers were a bit surprised.


    "Sir!"


    Private Monteroso saluted. She might look like a dignified soldier as her salute had perfect timing and precision. Even her expression was in the best form. As expected of the role model of her graduating ss.


    However, Officer Emilio and the soldiers behind him could not take the female soldier seriously at her current appearance. Her mouth was covered in oil, and her clothing had stains left by drops by the same kind of oil. Not to mention that her left hand was still holding onto arge bowl of instant noodles, and the other hand she used for saluting was still holding onto a spoon.


    Officer Emilio could ignore her breakfast, but the other soldiers could not. They could not help but stare at the bowl of instant noodles while remembering what they ate for breakfast a few minutes ago.


    What they had was just a bowl of salted rice porridge with fish slices and wild herbs. It was heavy and filling but was never as tasty as instant noodles. When was thest time they ate instant noodles or even any delicious food? They could not remember at all.


    The whiff of smelling from inside the room did not help at all. Even though the soldiers just ate, they somehow felt hungry.


    Now, some of the soldiers felt a bit jealous. They should have volunteered to be the ones to attend this strange group. It was clear that what Private Monteroso was eating was from them.


    "Haah..." Officer Emilio sighed. "Private, next time, you should put down what you are eating before saluting."


    "Ah..."


    The female soldier''s face turned red in embarrassment. It passed her mind as it was a long time that she managed to eat something like this. However, she already saluted. It was toote.


    Officer Emilio entered the room and saw Mark''s group just having their breakfast. The unity within the group sure was admirable for them to eat together in one ce.


    Admiring this scene was not the officer''s goal here, though.


    "Are you here to give what I asked yesterday?"


    Mark turned to the officer and asked.


    "Here it is."


    Officer Emilio handed an enveloped piece of paper. Even though there was only one page of hand-written information, the officer still put it in a suitable container for appearance''s sake.


    In any case, Mark had noment as to how little the information was. It was hard to do a proper recon on magical creatures without suitable equipment. The risk was just too high.


    Furthermore, it just had what Markcked. The schedule followed by the Tamawos in guarding the town they upied. It would allow Mark to minimize unnecessary deaths of innocents while raining chaos unto the enemies.


    "You don''t really want our assistance?"


    Officer Emilio asked as Mark was reading the hand-written document.


    "I already said it before. It''s not necessary. In the worst case, you guys would end up as a setback instead."


    Mark replied. There were no roundabouts and straight to the point. That, however, made the soldiers show negative expressions. If not for the fact that they were briefed not to cause any trouble, some of them might actually argue with Mark. The charm of their leader sure was admirable to be able to keep a leash on them.


    At Mark''s answer, Officer Emilio did not falter.


    "Then, I want to ask something."


    "What is it?"


    Mark tilted his head a little and asked back.


    "What do you intend to do with that town upied by the Tamawos? Will we be able to pass through afterward? If not, we would like to take advantage of your ns to force our way through while you deal with your business."


    Since the goal of this group of survivors was to travel north, Officer Emilio asked this question.


    "What I intend to do? Isn''t it obvious?" Mark smirked at the question. "Kill all enemies that stood in front. If all the whole tribe of Tamawos dared to stand against us and not run away, they better prepare to be extinct."


    The soldiers shivered at Mark''s deration. They were all looking at him when he answered. One thing they all noticed was his eyes emanating the killing intent of a predator. Although the soldiers did not know whether Mark could actually do it, they could feel that he would for some strange reason.


    "Also, by the way." Mark suddenly retracted his smirk and showed a strict face at Officer Emilio. "I have serious advice for you guys."


    "What is it?"


    Officer Emilio took a deep breath and asked.


    "Instead of going north, you guys should prepare to leave this ce today and head east. Find a t clear area and set camp for the next few days."


    "What are you talking about?"


    This time, Officer Emilio was definitely upset. All this time, they were persevering to travel north. Now, Mark was telling them to divert the single goal they were chasing.


    "I can''t tell you the details." Mark shrugged. "You don''t have the privilege."


    "What? Privilege?"


    The officer and his soldiers were taken aback in confusion. They could understand what Mark was talking about.


    "You all won''t understand anyway and will only think we''re crazy." Mark did not entertain their confused questions. "You guys don''t have to follow my advice. But I''ll tell you, officer. You all will probably get killed if you don''t listen to me."


    "Can''t you just exin? Earlier, you''re being blunt. Now, you are going around in circles, not exining anything."


    One of the soldiers could not hold it anymore and stepped forwards.


    However, before the soldier could say anything more, Officer Emilio grabbed his shoulder.


    "Don''t say anything else."


    The officer warned, making the soldier silent.


    "We''re leaving." Officer Emilio told Mark with a sour expression. "If you need anything else, just tell Private Monteroso."


    And there, the officer and his soldiers left, leaving the awkward female soldier still holding onto her bowl of instant noodles.


    "Um, Sir." Private Monteroso suddenly spoke. "Miss Mei and Miss Pearl, are they also going with you to attack the town?"


    "They are. Why do you ask?"<sub> </sub>


    Mark asked back.


    "Um... Won''t it be dangerous? The Tamawos can charm women, after all. I don''t know but maybe the girls too?"


    The Private stated.


    To that question, Mark smiled.


    "The Tamawo''s charm magic only affects human females capable of bearing children. Their magic won''t work on children, non-humans, and those already marked by their kind. So, we''ll have no problems."


    Mark''s answer made not only the female soldier but also Pearl and Edzel confused.


    ***


    An hour passed, another emergency meeting was held under Officer Emilio''s call.


    "Officer Emilio, what is it this time?"


    The fisherman, Caudillo asked, quite bewildered. His group was just about to head out to the coast when he was called for a meeting.


    It was not only Caudillo but everyone inside the principal''s office. All of them were called by Officer Emilio for a meeting at an awkward timing, especially when they just held one yesterday.


    "I want all of you to announce to everyone. Prepare immediately since we will leave this ce before sundown. We will be heading to the t areas east of this ce."


    "What?!"


    Caudillo could not help but m his hands on the desk of his chair as he abruptly stood up.


    Of course, it was not only the fisherman. The other people around were also shocked at Officer Emilio''s sudden announcement.


    "What is going on with you?" Doctor Janice asked. "I know you''re not someone to make abrupt decisions like this."


    As Doctor Janice asked, the military officer was forced to tell what Mark said just an hour ago.


    "Just because of what that guy said, you are telling us to leave this ce?" Denver surely was unable to stand the nonsense. "He didn''t even give a proper exnation. You know how dangerous it is going east. Are you trying to get us all killed?"


    "Denver is right." Caudillo agreed at the handsome man this time. "If that Mark did not want to let us go with the initial idea, we can just wait here until they finish. We have to reason to risk traveling across forests and mountains and leave the safety of this ce."


    "Are you going to insist, Officer Emilio?" Doctor Janice asked the officer that fell silent. "If you insist on leaving, this group we had might end up splitting apart."


    Officer Emilio panned his eyes to everyone inside the room. They were all waiting for his answer. He could only close his eyes as this was a kind of problematic decision on his part. However, he had been to a lot of battles as a soldier. He had a lot of close calls in his life. It was when he learned something important.


    It was to trust his survival instincts. It was natural instincts not affected by confusion and ill thoughts.


    Officer Emilio was too focused on traveling north that his instincts somewhat dulled. However, when Mark gave his advice, that survival instinct kicked in. He knew that even though Mark was unable to give any specific exnation, he was not lying or joking when he said those words.


    The officer knew that even though many of the survivors looked up to him, he would not be able to convince everyone this time around. It was an unreasonable decision in the eyes of many, after all.


    However...


    "I insist." Officer Emilio announced. "Tell everyone to prepare to leave... If won''t force anyone, but I will leave with those who want to follow me."


    Everyone was surprised by his decision. He stuck to it. It was unknown whether it was guts or he was just being a fool.


    But then...


    "All right, then." Doctor Janice smiled. "Count me in."


    The doctor''s words gave another round of surprise.


    "Doctor, you''re not serious, aren''t you?"


    Caudillo asked Doctor Janice.


    "Then, I''ll ask you all something." Doctor Janice stood up and pointed at Officer Emilio. "Had any of his decisions failed us so far?"


    That question made everyone contemte.


    Since the fall of their settlement, Officer Emilio took charge of this group.


    And so far...


    None of his decisions were wrong.


    It was unsettling that they could not refute the words of the doctor at all. It just meant that while it seemed unreasonable, there might be a high chance that this was one of the times that Officer Emilio''s decision would be the right thing to follow.


    However, not everyone would just buy that.


    In any case, as long as the majority agreed, the others would likely follow.


    <o>,m "Then, let''s vote immediately. We can''t really drag it along if we need to leave by sunset. Who''s in favor of leaving?"</o>


    Doctor Janice suggested as she raised her hand to vote.


    And because of the words of Doctor Janice, the majority was convinced to follow Officer Emilio''s decision.


    Officer Emilio could not help but look at the doctor, only to receive a wink from her.


    Surely, this entric doctor was aiming for this. In any case, it was decided that they would leave. It was even if they had to travel during the night.


    ***


    Soon, the whole school became busy. The sudden announcement for departure was, of course, questioned by many of the survivors. However, as what the government was good at, twisting some of the details and removing some while keeping most of the truth convinced the people.


    It was not lying to the people. Just not telling everything.


    ***


    Mark watched the rushing people around the school through the window of the ssroom. On his hand was the radio. He was rying the ns to Berrak''s group that had just reunited with Pefile.

 Chapter 727 Visiting The Four Men, Meeting The Rest Of The Group For A Briefing

    <strong>Day 154 - 10:11 AM - Madrijelos National High School, Barangay Madrijelos, Municipality of Algeria, Province of Cebu</strong>


    "Everyone is so busy..."


    Private Monteroso murmured as she peeked out the window. She could not help but nce at Mark, who was the reason for all of this. At the same time, she seemed to have something to say but was hesitating.


    Of course, it did not escape Mark''s [Empathic Detection].


    "Want to ask something?"


    <o>,m Mark turned to the female soldier while he was arranging some items into his bag.</o>


    "Uhm..."


    The female soldier hesitated.


    "You''re a soldier. What are you hesitating for?"


    Mark raised an eyebrow.


    Private Monteroso could onlyin inside. She would not hesitate if not for the fact that it was Mark''s group that she was facing. Especially earlier. The way that Mark said that they would kill anything blocking their path was rather frightening, even for a soldier like her. It was not fear on a physical level but a mental level.


    Taking a deep breath, the female soldier finally spoke.


    "I want to be excused from this post. Everyone is already preparing to leave. I need to help my younger sister prepare too. She''s just a child."


    Mark then shrugged. This soldier was unable to leave her post because Officer Emilio put grave importance on their group.


    "Just go. As you can see, we don''t need any babysitting. If anyone asked why you''re not here, just tell them that I chased you away."


    "I-is that okay?"


    Private Monteroso was surprised. If she did say that to people, it would not be surprising if they saw Mark as a bad person.


    "Just go already. Or do you want to stay here all day?"


    Mark red at the soldier, making her flinch. And as if she was really chased out, Private Monteroso came out of the room half running.


    "Finally, she''s out."


    Mark smirked as he watched the soldier run away. He then closed the door of the room, only leaving the higher windows of the ssroom to light up the room.


    "Master, you''re only finding a way to chase her away, right?" Amihan flew andnded on Mark''s head. "It''s good that she''s gone. She kept on staring at me. It''s ufortable..."


    "Don''t worry. She doesn''t have any ill intention." Mark tapped Amihan''s head. "She''s just someone simr to Mei and me, in one aspect."


    "Simr?"


    Amihan asked as she looked at Mei, who was helping the girls wipe their bodies. There was no way for them to take a bath at this time, after all.


    On the other hand, Mei understood what Mark said and nodded at Amihan''s nce.


    "She''s also a person without childhood."


    Mei stated, on which Mark nodded in agreement.


    It was very likely that Private Monteroso was also the eldest child in their family, causing her childhood to be cut short because of expectations put on her shoulders.


    And if Private Monteroso came from a family of soldiers, it would have been worse. Fathers who were either soldiers or policemen were known for their unreasonable strictness to their children. Of course, it was not every one of them. However, this circumstance was quitemon.


    It was very obvious to the soldier''s childish fascination with Amihan and her magic. She even had some knowledge about Tamawos since she asked that question earlier. It was likely that she was a lover of fairy tales but was reprimanded because of it in her childhood.


    "Anyway, there''s no eyes watching us now. I''ll go check on those four." Mark said as he stood up, making Amihan fly away from his head. "I already wrote the ns on this paper. Everyone should read itter."


    Mark then ced the paper beside Mei.


    "Take care."


    Mei said to Mark, as she snuck a kiss on his cheek as he bent down.


    Mark froze a bit at it was unexpected. He could not help but nce at Mei.


    Mei''s face was a bit red as she turned away in embarrassment. It seemed that she did it without thinking since Mark''s face was close to hers.


    Mark shook his head as he patted her head.


    "I''ll be quick. I just need to tell them what we are going to do tonight."


    "Papa, bye-bye!"


    Miracle said while being wiped by her Mama. Abbygale and I then followed suit before Emika snuck a request.


    "Uncle, bring some souvenirs back!"


    "Geez... I''m just going to a nearby forest. What do you expect me to bring back? Alright, I''m going."


    Markined before he turned into a surge of ck mist the flew through the window behind the room. Then, he went out through the backside of the school.


    ***


    Leaving the school, Mark appeared not too far from the walls. The distance of his [Shadow Mist Movement] was limited, after all. He needed to appear and disappear at fixed intervals.


    Soon, he reached an abandoned house southwest of the school. It was where Berrak, the two soldiers, and Pefile were left to hide.


    What Mark saw when he arrived, however, was a tree by the side of the road, waving its branches unnaturally.


    And then...


    BAM!


    The thickest branch suddenly shot towards Mark at fast speeds. It was as if a spear was thrown towards him at full force. Furthermore, the target was his face.


    Mark tilted his head to his left, and the branch passed an inch away from his ear. But then, the branch whipped towards his face after it failed its first attack.


    It would be hard to avoid it as the movements of the branch were too fast. The only thing Mark could do was kick the ground and to a cartwheel to his left, making the branch miss due to its speed.


    "I know I''m ugly, but do you really have to target my face?"


    Markined to the tree in front of him.


    To Mark''sint, however, the tree replied.


    "The head is a smaller target and is better for practice."


    The voice was no other than Pefile.


    The branch that attacked Mark then started to wilt as Pefile showed himself,ing out of the tree. At the same time, many branches of the tree began to wither, leaving the original appearance of the tree behind.


    "If you want to practice, find other things." Mark frowned at Pefile. "How does it feel bing a Mutator?"


    "Strange," Pefile replied frankly. "It''s as if I had more limbs to control which should be strange, yet it felt natural."


    "Where did you get this anyway?"


    Pefile added, wondering where the ability within the crystal he received came from.


    "It''s from one of the criminals in that Death Valley Settlement," Mark replied. "It''s one of the strangest abilities I saw there."<sub> </sub>


    That was right. It was a strange ability.


    It was an ability simr yet different from Emika and her younger brother, Mikio''s abilities.


    Yes, it was a nt-based ability. To be exact, the ability to turn a nt into an extension of the user''s ability by fusing a part of his body into it.


    Mark saw it being used against the Failed Mutator Whale at that time. The criminal touched a tree, and his hand began to change, simr to that tree''s appearance. Then, the tree''s branches started to move, attacking the whale. When Mark saw that, he immediately beheaded the criminal, taking his head away while the tree he used returned to its original appearance.


    It was the perfect Mutator Ability for Pefile. He had the ability to phase into trees either for observation or transport. Not all Tamawos had this ability. It was not unique to him as this ability seemed to be existent in their family since the past. Not everyone in their family had it though and was considered something rare.


    In fact, it was one of the reasons why many Tamawos insisted on making Pefile the king despite his absence.


    With this Mutator Ability, Pefile could enter a tree andy ambush to enemies. No one would even know what actually hit them.


    Mark and Pefile were conversing outside when the other Padua and Geronimo noticed Mark.


    "Boss!"


    Padua greeted with a wave of his hand.


    "Is everything I made you two do already finished?"


    Mark asked as the two soldiers approached.


    "We already checked everything, Boss," Geronimo replied. "We checked and configured the explosives, loaded the non-disposable rocketunchers, and also loaded all the vacant gun magazines."


    "Yeah, we finished everything for the whole night," Padua added. "We deserve some sleep."


    "Hey!"


    Geronimo immediately elbowed his friend.


    Mark was not offended at Padua''s attitude at all. In fact, it was way better than having people under his wing being afraid of him.


    "Then, you two should restter after I brief everything. We will be moving tonight since we don''t have much time."


    Hearing that, the two soldiers could not help but look at the sky. After all, they knew the reason for the limited time they had. They just wished that they could tell other people about this. However, not only were they not allowed to tell other people, even if they would likely turn intoughingstock if they did.


    "Is Berrak tending to his pet?"


    Mark asked. He could detect Berrak a bit away from the house and was in the nearby forest.


    "He said that he saw a magical creature so he''s trying to see if he could tame it."


    Geronimo replied.


    "What kind of creature?"


    Mark asked, interested.


    "We don''t know," Padua answered. "We didn''t really see it and Berrak did not describe it either."


    "Should we call him?"


    Geronimo asked.


    "No need," Mark replied. "I''ll go find him. Just wait inside."


    Pefile, without saying anything, returned to the house. The two soldiers followed after the silent guy.


    Mark then made his way towards Berrak''s direction and saw him standing outside the forest. As Mark did not hide his presence at all, he was immediately found by Berrak.


    "Boss!"


    Berrak greeted but with a whispering voice.


    "The two said that you found something you wanted to tame."


    Mark stated immediately.


    "Yes, there is," Berrak replied. "But there''s a disguising barrier in this forest. What it looked like is different from what we can see. I''m currently trying to figure out how to enter."


    "A barrier huh..."


    Mark murmured as he covered his right index finger with Miasma. Then, he poked forward.


    SIZZZ!!!


    Suddenly, a sizzling sound was heard as if something was melting.


    Actually, there was. It was the disguising barrier. A hole was made unto it as Mark poked it with Miasma. Having a hole on its surface, the barrier became unstable.


    And then...


    CRACK!


    Like a mirror cracking, the barrier copsed, revealing a sight that a normal human would not normally see.


    "This..."


    Berrak could only scratch his head at the sudden situation. Furthermore, the creatures he saw wereid bare into their eyes. Unexpectedly, there were three.


    The creatures were also shocked beyond measure. They were allughing at the two men outside the barrier and also did not expect that it would copse.


    Now, it was a staring contest of awkwardness.


    "GYA!!!"


    The creatures screamed as if they were women identally seen by a man while bathing. They were not naked at all though.


    "Lambanas, huh."


    Mark murmured, seeing the little childish-looking girls with dragonfly wings and glowing bodies. They were all sitting on the petals ofrge flowers before they all flew and tried to fly away.


    But then, the three escaping Lambanas froze as Mark spoke using a broken Spirit Language.


    "You three don''t want your flowers anymore?"


    The three shivered in fear.


    While the past Lambanas were created by gods, the current ones were born in nature, especially inside these magical flowers. It was not wrong to say that these flowers were not only their homes but also their parents.


    And Mark just threatened them with those flowers, not allowing any attempt to escape. After all, while the Lambanas could flee, there was no way that a nt would be able to run away.


    Mark then turned to Berrak.


    "There they are. I''ll leave them to you. Just hurry up since I''ll brief you guys on what we will be doing tonight."


    Mark then left the awkward Berrak that was staring at his back.


    Berrak then turned to the three and spoke in Spirit Language.


    "Sorry, have you three seen a cat-like beast pass by herest night?"

 Chapter 728 Starting With A Bang, The Explosion In The Town Enslaved By The Tamawos

    <strong>Day 154 - 6:42 PM - Mountain area, Municipality of Algeria, Province of Cebu</strong>


    Up the mountains northeast of Barangay Madrijelos, fierce beastly roars and loud sounds of gunshots echoed loudly.


    "Damn! This is really a bad idea!"


    Denver shouted as he sidestepped to evade an iing attack.


    And their enemies? It was a pack of evolved feral dogs that ambushed their group as they went up the mountains in the middle of the night.


    "Just shut your mouth and fight!"


    Caudillo roared as he grabbed the neck of a dog muchrger than him. He then jumped over the dog''s neck, twisting the dog''s head clockwise. The huge body of the dog fell, and the fierce fisherman rushed towards the other enemies.


    Following the arrangements that they decided on, the survivors of Liloan Settlement left the Madrijelos National High School and made their way up the mountains before sunset.


    It was a tough endeavor and a huge gamble.


    Normally, no one would want to travel through the mountains during the night ever since the apocalypse started. It was the time when more evolved animals hunt food, and for humans, the surroundings were hard to see. Thus, it would be easy for humans to fall into ambushes from packs of evolved animals.


    However, they had to go under such a predicament at this moment. If not for them having guns and people from the military, things might have gone worse.


    BAM!


    Officer Emilio caused a loud sound as his stone-covered fist punched one of the dog''s head into pulp.


    "<strong>PUSH FORWARD! DON''T FALTER!</strong>"


    The military officer roared, increasing everyone''s morale.


    "Damn..." Denver looked at Officer Emilio. "That guy''s charisma as a leader is at an all-time high."


    "That is why he is our leader, isn''t it?" Caudillo smiled. "He was never able to show this talent of his back then, though."


    "Yeah, I heard that one." Denver nodded. "One of his superiors saw this talent of his and tried to push him down due topetition in the army, right?"


    "That''s what they say." Caudillo replied. "We can''t really know what happened since that superior died because of the tidal wave. What we know is Officer Emilio do have this talent."


    Everyone was fighting fiercely to clear their way up the mountain. As their leader, Officer Emilio, was fighting in the front, none of them even tried to ck.


    But all of a sudden...


    BOOOM!!!


    A loud explosion overshadowed the sounds of roars and gunshots. It was too loud that the feral dogs were startled frozen. The feral then became prey to the bullets as an unmoving target was easier to hit.


    Still, after thest of the dogs fell dead, the people did not feel relieved. A lot of them were staring in one direction. It was the direction where the explosion came from.


    The new moon had just passed, and it was early in the evening. The crescent moon still gave out a bit of light for everyone to see the thick wall of smoke floating up to the sky.


    "Isn''t that direction that town upied by the Tamawos?"


    Doctor Janice voiced out, making everyone in the know realize what was going on.


    "They really did it," Denver spoke. "They really are attacking those vile creatures."


    "What, you didn''t believe it before?"


    Caudillo questioned the handsome man.


    "Just who in the right mind would believe that kind of thing, huh?" Denver retorted. "It''s all of you guys who are weird to believe that a small group like that would storm a base of enemies with several times greater numberpared to their members!"


    No one was able to retort Denver. In the first ce, the only reason they were inclined to believe was because of Doctor Janice and her findings of the strength of that group. If not for her, they would be like Denver, who was still skeptical.


    In any case, they could only hope that those vile creatures that enved and ate humans were destroyed by Mark''s group.


    ***


    <strong>Day 154 - 6:50 PM - Town of Matutinao, Municipality of Badian, Province of Cebu</strong>


    Up the sky of the town upied by the Tamawos, Mark stared at the scene below. Using miasma to cover his body, he was basically undetectable under the night sky.


    He turned towards the south, the direction of the high school that was now abandoned.


    "They should be up the mountains, now, right? There is a slight sound of gunfire echoing in the mountains. If they were that far already, it''s unlikely for them to get caught in the trouble we are going to start."


    Mark then turned his eyes back to the town. In a few moments, the ves would gather inside the elementary school for dinner before they go back to their dwellings. It was the best time to strike since most of the humans in the town were gathered in one ce. After dinner, they would disperse once more since their dwellings were scattered all over the ce. It was a countermeasure so that the humans would have less time interacting with each other and lowers the chance of them plotting an escape.


    Soon, guarded by Tamawo Warriors, groups of human ves arrived at the school for their rationed dinner.


    "Well then..." Mark smirked. "It''s time to start everything with a huge bang."


    Mark then took out something huge from his ring. If anyone was to see this, they would feel their scalp feel numb in fear.


    What Mark took out was a cluster of dynamites stuck together with duct tape. There were even other types of explosives mixed in. These were explosives that Mark''s group took from the rebel''s armory. It was not that many, but this amount could definitely blow up a house or two.


    Yet, half of the explosives that Mark''s group had were used to make this abomination of a disaster.


    However, Mark had no regrets about doing this. In the first ce, they were not doing anything like a covert operation in this town. He needed to get as much attention as possible.


    Why?


    The moremotion he created here, the higher the chance that the tribe of Tamawos would send their warriors to this ce.


    And thus...


    Mark lit up the fuse of the frightening cluster of explosives. His eyes were gleaming sinisterly as his hands let go.


    A few sharp-eyed Tamawos saw therge thing that was falling in the sky, specifically, its fuse that was emitting light like stars.


    The cluster of explosives fell on the area where most of the houses in the town were grouped.


    And then...


    <strong>BOOOM!!!</strong>


    mes rose up in the sky, engulfing several houses made of mmable materials. The explosion created a shockwave that was felt meters away. Tamawos guarding the ce died immediately, without even knowing what was going on.


    As the town was now covered in trees and vines because of the Tamawos, the fire began to spread out. Not to mention that the houses that were engulfed by the explosion immediately burst into mes, spreading to nearby structures.<sub> </sub>


    All of a sudden, in a span of seconds, the whole town was in chaos.


    The human ves were scared to the core. The explosion happened just across the river and the school where they were eating was built by that same river. Some of the debris from the explosion flew in their direction. However, something strange happened. The debris flying towards them suddenly changed directions mid-air as if they were blown away by the wind.


    But as if one explosion was not enough...


    <strong>BOOM! BOOM!</strong>


    More explosions happened all over the town.


    It was because Mark flew around in the sky, throwing grenades and sticks of dynamites at ces where he could see Tamawos running away.


    That was when the Tamawos that witness the death of their tribesmen realized what was happening.


    "<strong>WE ARE UNDER ATTACK!!! SOUND THE ALARM! SOUND THE ALARM! QUICK! SOUND THE-</strong>"


    <strong>BOOOM!!!</strong>


    One Tamawo issued orders to his tribesmen. It was clear that he had a higher position. It was hisst order, however, since, after a sudden clunking sound by his feet, he was engulfed by a grenade explosion.


    Mark threw thest explosive he intended to throw with satisfaction. Of course, he made sure to let go of some Tamawos to inform their tribe about what was going on.


    And then...


    <strong>TTUUUUUUUUOOOOOOMMMM!!!</strong>


    The loud sound of a horn was heard. It was the rm that the higher-ranking Tamawo that died ordered to sound.


    Now, everyone in the town knew that they were under attack. Without further ado, Mark removed the Miasma that covered his body andnded on the roof of one building near the bridge of the town.


    Everyone could see him in that location, whether it was the Tamawos scattered everywhere or the human ves in the school.


    And with their enemy showing himself, the Tamawos began to surround Mark. This, however, made him smile. So far, it was going ording to n.


    ***


    <strong>Day 154 - 7:21 PM - Tamawo Ancentral Tribe, Hidden Realm, Municipality of Algeria, Province of Cebu</strong>


    Inside the castle of the tribe of Tamawos, the current king, Artile, was walking back and forth in front of his wood-woven throne.


    It had been several hours since the mark of the king started resonating with something. Yet, no answer was found out about the situation.


    Not long, someone entered the throne room. It was the tall Tamawo and the right-hand man of the current king, Terville.


    "How is it? Did that old bastard give an answer about the situation?"


    Artile immediately asked as Terville entered.


    "My apologies. That Erille might be old, but he is one of the people that is toughest to crack."


    Terville answered, kneeling on the ground on one leg.


    "Tsk..." Artile clicked his tongue in annoyance. "Did he even say anything that we can use as clues?"


    "His mouth is tight shut, my King," Terville replied. "However, he seemed to be delighted after learning about what happened to the mark. And considering that old man, there might only be one possibility that could make him that happy."


    Those words of Terville made Artile clench his fist in anger. The tall Tamawo was definitely correct. There was only one thing that could make that old man happy, and it was Artile''s older brother, Pefile.


    The current king''s eyes almost turned red in anger. This situation was angering and humiliating.


    He was the king at this moment. Yet the mark that he was supposed to wield never responded to his calls. And now, was it resonating with his brother? This situation meant that the mark recognized Pefile as the new king and not him!


    "Where is that old man?"


    Artile asked.


    "In the dungeons, my king."


    Terville replied immediately.


    "Good. Make sure to make him suffer and regret his impertinence."


    "Yes, my king."


    With this exchange, the faith of the old man was sealed in the stone. It was way worse than being exiled, without a doubt.


    But then...


    A Tamawo warrior came running into the throne room without any regard to the people around him.


    "My king! My king!"


    The warrior repeatedly called out even though he was already standing in front of the king. It was clear that he was not in the right mind and was heavily panting in panic.


    "You bastard, where is your respect? You are in front of the king!"


    Terville pushed the warrior away. As the warrior was already tired, he immediately fell on his bottom. Nheless, he did not seem to feel the pain, and his eyes were focused on Artile.


    "M-my king! The town! The town we upied is under attack..."


    And as the warrior felt relieved after rying the news to their king, he copsed. It seemed that the warrior forced himself to run from the town to here as fast as he could. Now, his stamina was fully depleted. After all, the distance of their realm from the town was not a short one.


    "What in the world is happening this time?!" Artile growled as he stared at the unconscious warrior and turned to Terville. "Terville, gather our strongest warriors! I''m going to lead them to battle. Who or whatever is attacking our territory, I''ll make them pay!"


    Terville was silent for a bit, looking down at the unconscious warrior. He then raised his head and turned to the king.


    "My king, let me lead the battle. It was better for you to stay here. I''m sure that whatever is happening in the town, it would reach our people. They would need you to pacify their worries."


    Artile fell silent at Terville''s words. He could not refute it, however.


    "Alright, I''ll heed your words." Artile nodded. "I''ll stay here. Make sure to make my wordse true. Make the enemies pay with their flesh and blood."


    "Yes, my king."


    Terville made ast kneel before storming out of the throne room.

 Chapter 729 Tears In The Cave Prison, A Reunion After More Than A Decade Of Separation

    <strong>Day 154 - 7:42 PM - Kawasan Falls, Municipality of Badian, Province of Cebu</strong>


    The attack in the coastal town in Matutinao began more than half an hour ago. And here in the middle of the woods, engulfed by the night sky, four men were patiently waiting. They were atop the steep area of Kawasan Falls, overseeing the path to the south side and below.


    Of course, these four were Pefile, Berrak, Geronimo, and Padua. Being the group with only men experienced in battles, they were the best people to infiltrate the home of the Tamawos.


    ? It was unfortunate that they could not just storm into the tribe like this. After all, the goal on this side of the n was not to destroy but to save a person.


    If they just stormed in, making everyone aware of them, things might face a wrong turn. The Tamawos were a long-lived race. Even after almost two decades without contact with the tribe, many of them would recognize Pefile at one look. Although disguising could work, it was not for long. Tamawos had ways to decern individuals from the same tribe. His disguise would surely get blown after some time.


    When Pefile''s brother recognized him, it would be a bad thing. It would be clear why Pefile was back, and his brother would use that information against him. In the worst case, Celine''s life would be put in danger before they could even save her.


    That was why it was better to stealthily infiltrate as they entered. Once the group managed to find Celine and get her out of the dungeon, it would be fine if they started to kill everything on sight as they escaped. Of course, they would rather avoid it if possible.


    "How long are we going to wait here?" Padua whispered. "Boss is already having fun there for sure."


    "Just be patient, will you?" Geronimo scolded his friend. "This is why you are never dispatched for covert operations. The officers definitely noticed that you''re not cut for the task."


    Berrak and Pefile were just listening to the banter of the two, but they agreed with Geronimo''s words. Padua was quite a hot-blooded individual. Being patient was likely to be thest in his vocabry.


    "Shhh." Berrak suddenly hushed the two. "Some people areing."


    The two immediately shut their mouths. And as Berrak said, a ratherrge group of people were seen at the woody path on the other side of the waterfall.


    Men with wooden spears, pale-skinned bodies with tribal tattoos, white hair, sharp nails and teeth, and handsome-looking faces, there was no doubt that this was a group of Tamawos.


    Looking at the leader of the group, however, Pefile could not help but narrow his eyes.


    "You know that guy?"


    Berrak noticed Pefile''s expression and asked.


    "An enemy of mine."


    Pefile answered with a grim tone.


    The Tamawos, in general, were just like how they were usually described. However, like Pefile, some individuals were born different from others.


    Unlike most people in Pefile''s family, he had the highest affinity to flora, especially trees. Some Tamawos could also use trees as transportation. They could move from tree to tree as long as trees were intertwined with each other, whether it be branches or roots. However, how long they could do it consecutively was limited.


    Pefile, on the other hand, did not need that the trees he would use to be connected. Instead, the trees he could use to travel should be the same kind of tree. If he entered an acacia tree, he must also exit in another acacia tree. The only problem was that the distance he could travel was shorter than others if the trees were not connected.


    While Pefile had that kind of special ability, there were also others kinds of special people within their tribe.


    That tall Tamawo, Terville, was one of those special people.


    Terville was different in the sense that his existence bent the current state of the Tamawos. Terville did not bear the curse that the angry god put unto them. And yes, Terville could charm and mark more than one woman, even if he did not fell in love with them. It was unknown, though, whether he would die if he actually fell in love and did not seed in taking the woman''s heart for himself.


    That, however, was the cause why Terville was exiled from the tribe. It was already good that he was only exiled. It would not be surprising if he was executed instead. After all, his existence itself was taboo to the current Tamawos and orders that were given to them by their creator.


    There was no need to mention that Terville''s personality itself was somewhat rotten.


    Among the people he liked to charm, his type were those who were already married and already had children. Furthermore, he would not use the method to slowly weaken the woman and feign her death. Instead, he would make the woman leave her family, breaking it to pieces.


    Others would have turned a blind eye to him if he actually fell in love with the woman. There were also others in the same circumstance, falling in love with a married woman.


    But Terville... did not. He was doing it for fun, indulging himself in pleasure, finding fun in wrecking families of humans.


    And when the previous king learned about his deeds, Terville was exiled and was stripped of his powers to charm human females.


    In the coup that Pefile''s brother did, this vile Tamawo was the mastermind. And with the current situation, it was likely that it was Terville who charmed the women currently held in the town of Matutinao. After all, it would be impossible for the other Tamawos to do it without falling in love with those women.


    "Hurry up! We need to get to the town as fast as we can!"


    Terville shouted to his men in Spirit Languange as they ran through the riverside.


    On the other side of the waterfall, the four men silently watched the group pass by.


    "There''s seventy of them, right?" Berrak murmured, counting the Tamawo Warriors. "They seem confident to just send that number of people to face Boss."


    "They probably didn''t get the correct information," Pefile replied. "The one we saw earlier to ry the news looks like out of breath and about to copse."


    Remembering the young Tamawo earlier that ran from the town, the other three could only nod. The Tamawos in the town let a young Tamawo run and deliver the news. It was very likely that he was of no help in the battle. That, however, left a warrior with low stamina to ran about two and a half kilometers of uneven terrain as fast as he could.


    "They are gone," Pefile said as they saw the backs of the group disappear from their sight. "Let''s get moving."


    "Are we fine going like this?" Berrak asked. "I don''t think that those seventy is the major force of your tribe."


    "Likely." Pefile nodded. "Thest time I knew, that number should be a third. But now, there are probably more warriors in the tribe. The experienced ones I mean."<sub> </sub>


    "The experienced ones?" Padua interjected. "Then how about the rookies or something like that?"


    Pefile turned to Padua with half-closed eyes.


    "Don''t ask something that would make you nervous. Just keep your mouth shut and follow behind me."


    That, however, made the two young soldiers more nervous. Just how many warriors were still present in their tribe? It was hard to say whether knowing or not knowing was more frightening.


    "Don''t worry, we will take a back door. There might be guards, but we should be able to bypass them."


    Pefile assured the two.


    The four crossed the forested riverbank. They moved as stealthily as possible, avoiding anything that could alert the enemies. Being a Tamawo himself, Pefile was able to detect the magical wards ced to detect intruders. On the other hand, Berrak used his magical prowess to disable the wards that they could not avoid.


    After another half hour, they reached the valley in the middle of the forest. It looked nothing spectacr. In fact, it looked eerie to their eyes.


    It was when Pefile stood in front of a pair of oddly shaped trees. He touched one of the trees, creating some ripple in the air, which was surprisingly visible to their eyes.


    Pefile them moved, bing the other three to follow him, and entered the ripple.


    As they entered, the scene in the valley changed entirely. The dark eerie scene turned into a scene in a fairytale. The forest was lush, and fireflies illuminated the ce. Huts and bridges made entirely of trunks of giant trees were everywhere. There were even flowers and nts that emitted light here and there.


    The three remembered the Diwata Iraya''s Sanctuary in Catanduanes. It felt very simr.


    "Don''t just stand gawking there," Berrak warned the two young soldiers. "We will leave you two."


    With those words, Padua and Geronimo held their amazement back and hurried to follow behind the Pefile and Berrak.


    Pefile guided the group in the most difficult areas of the vige to traverse. They had to pass under arge treehouse with the cliff below, jump over a bridge and cross it as fast as possible, and they even climbed tree branches like monkeys to avoid the patrols.


    The worst part was for them to climb down the roots of anotherrge tree on the side of the cliff above the river. One wrong move and they would fall into the water.


    It was something that could not be helped. Pefile was aiming for the hidden entrance to the dungeon of the tribe. It was a hole on the wall of the cliff, far above the river.


    After a few minutes, they reached the hole.


    Suddenly...


    "URK!" Padua''s nose was filled with an unpleasant smell. "Don''t tell me... This hole..."


    As they all dangled on the roots of the tree, none of them could cover their noses. The smell entered their noses even when they tried their best not to breathe.


    "It''s the hole where cleaners dump the feces of prisoners," Pefile exined, seemingly ignoring the smell. "Look below."


    As Pefile said that, the other three looked down. Their eyes grew wide, not because of the height, but the pit below them.


    It was the area where the river bent away from the face of the cliff. Below them was a pit dug to catch the secretions of prisoners dumped through this hole. Inside the pit, however, was not only the secretions but dozens of arm-sized worms squirming about.


    "Make sure not to fall," Pefile remarked. "If you did, the feces would be the least of your problems."


    The face of the two soldiers paled. They were also carrying guns and bullets in their bags so it was quite heavy. They immediately feared that they may fall.


    Luckily, none of what they feared happened. They managed to reach and enter the whole Pefile was talking about. The hole was also different from what they initially thought. They thought that it was like sewage, but it was just arge window where cleaners use to manually dump buckets of feces. Aside from the smelling from below, the window itself was quite clean.


    Pefile and the group entered. They silently searched the ce.


    The inside was a series of caves and caverns turned into prison cells. The whole ce was quite empty, though. This ce used to serve as a prison to humans caught desecrating the sacred waters. Nowadays, it was barely used.


    Each room was barred with thick tree roots as the surface above the prison was actually the ancestral castle of the tribe. These roots came from the very same trees that made up the walls of the castle.


    Soon, Pefile stood in front of a certain prison cell. Grasping the root of the tree that served as the prison cell bar, Pefile stared at the woman lying on the bed. She was not asleep, but by what it looked like, she was too ill to notice that there was someone standing in front of her prison cell.


    "Celine."


    Pefile whispered.


    But with the whole prison being silent, Pefile''s voice echoed into the prison cell and into the woman''s ear.


    The woman froze a bit, hearing Pefile''s voice. Her droopy eyes opened wide, and she slowly turned her towards the direction where the voice came from.


    Seeing the man standing before her prison cell, the woman, no, Celine, could not help but let her eyes drop some tears on her bed. Nheless, she smiled.


    "You idiot... Why did you take so long..."


    Celine whispered back with her dry sickly lips.

 Chapter 730 Inside The Cave Prison, Reunion And A Lifetime Farewell

    <strong>Day 154 - 9:21 PM - Root Cave Prison, Tamawo Ancestral Tribe, Municipality of Badian, Province of Cebu</strong>


    For Celine, it might be just a few years.


    And for Pefile, it was about two decades.


    The amount of time might be different.


    But the two of them longed for each other deeply within their hearts.


    Now, they finally met after years of loneliness.


    And only the prison bars made of sturdy roots separated the two.


    Without hesitation, Pefile grabbed the prison bars made of tree roots. The Root Cave Prison was not just a cave but a living one. These prison bars could bemanded by the shaman of the tribe to open and close if needed. And by right, it was the shaman who was the warden of this ce.


    In normal circumstances, no one would be able to open these prison cells without the shaman''s presence. Cutting the roots was also impossible. These trees were special as they were some variant of a Spirit Tree. The trunk and roots of these trees were as tough as stone. Even the king or any other person with royal blood was not an exception and would not be able to open the prison cells.


    However, there was something that Pefile had now that he did not back then.


    As Pefile touched the roots, he activated his Mutator Ability, forcing him to control the roots and the tree.


    And Pefile seeded as the tough roots bent, opening a path for Pefile to enter the damp prison cell.


    Celine was surprised as Pefile opened her prison cell just by touching the prison bars. Spending a long time in this prison, she knew that it was something not possible.


    Nheless, Celine was happy. She wanted to wipe her tears that did not stop flowing. However, Celine was in an extremely weakened state. Although she could still move a little bit, it would take a toll on her body.


    As Pefile entered the opened prison cell, the three men stood back.


    "You two, guard the entrance, and I''ll search the prison," Berrak ordered the two soldiers. "Let''s leave the two for a bit. We have a bit of time for their little reunion."


    Padua and Geronimo nodded and rushed to guard the entrance they had long seen earlier. They positioned themselves in the area where they would be able to see the barred entrance before anyone that entered could see them.


    On the other hand, Berrak opened a small magic circle. He was being careful not to create any magical ripple in the surroundings. The magic circle was just about the size of a basketball, and the creature that came out was a lively two-tailed ck cat, eagerly staring at its new master.


    That was right, it was the magical beast living inside the barrier that Mark destroyedst afternoon. To be precise, it was a dead household cat that became a spirit after living around magical races for a long time. It was quite intelligent and was eager as Berrak was the first human to see it. There was no need for a long time of taming as it was domesticated beforehand.


    "Kiel, go scout the surroundings," Berrak ordered. "Return to me if you saw people."


    "Nya!"


    With a single meow, Kiel''s body turned transparent. As its new master, however, Berrak could feel it start running at fast speeds. However, no one would be able to notice it as it was silent as it was agile. If not for Berrak''s affinity with beasts, he might not be able to detect itst night.


    In the cell, Pefile approached Celine.


    "I''m sorry." Pefile kneeled down beside Celine''s bed and wiped her tears with his hand. "I didn''t mean to make you wait this long, but... hah..."


    Pefile was having a hard time exining himself. It was something unusual as he was a man of few words and little vocabry.


    Nheless, Pefile could not help but feel torn inside at Celine''s condition. Although she was not on the imminent verge of dying, even an innocent child would be able to tell that something was wrong with her. Her body was on the thin side, and even though it was pretty dark inside the prison, the paleness of her skin was apparent.


    Celine looked like a pale ghost if one was to honestly say.


    <o>,m "How did you turn out like this?" Pefile could not help but ask. "With the curse of our race, my brother should have taken care of you more than himself."</o>


    It was the truth. After all, the emotion called love was a life and death sentence to them. If Celine died because Artile neglected her, he would die too. Pefile, on the other hand, would live since he had long received back her love in exchange for his.


    "He did care about me in the start," Celine replied. "But after some time, he stopped and let other women take care of me."


    The women Celine was talking about might be the human wives of other Tamawos. As there was nothing much to do in this ce, unlike the mortal realm, some of the women were tasked to do chores in the pce instead. Taking care of prisoners, however, was not included in those chores. However, Celine was special in a sense as Artile would not let other men take care of her.


    Still, the state that Celine was currently in was the result of Artile''s neglect.


    "Can you move?" Pefile asked. "I''m getting you out of this ce. No one will be able to stop us today."


    Pefile''s eyes were filled with determination. Although he was confident that no one would be able to stop them now, he would be willing to die if it still failed this time.


    "Have you gotten blind after all these years?" Celine smiled as she asked Pefile. "What part of me can you see that can move properly?"


    Pefile shook his head. Celine had never changed even after these years. She was still the honest and lively girl he met back then. Still, her jokes and honesty were really inappropriate this time as it meant that her condition was worse than it appeared.


    "But before we escape..." Celine added, ncing outside her prison cell. "Someone that seems to know you were brought here yesterday... I heard him being tortured asking for information about you and something like a mark."


    Those words of Celine made Pefile surprised.


    "Do you know where?"


    Pefile asked, gently brushing Celine''s hair off her face. The warmth of his hand made her squint and smile.


    "I... don''t really know. The shouts and yells just echoed outside. I can''t really get up to look... Maybe in the torture chamber or something?"


    Celine replied.


    "Torture chamber?" Pefile frowned. "Nothing of such exist in this ce. Torture is not our method for getting information."


    Pefile then got up and looked outside the cell. He then saw Berrak, searching for other prison cells nearby.


    "Berrak, can you search of a cell with a tortured person inside?"


    "Tortured?" Berrak was taken aback. "My cat already found it. It''s way on the back. The opposite direction of the hole we entered."


    Hearing that, Pefile immediately returned to Celine.


    "Celine, I''ll check on that person, first. I''ll quickly return, and we''ll get out of here."


    "Don''t worry about me." Celine stared at Pefile. "I waited here for years. A few more minutes won''t matter."


    "Hah..."


    Pefile could only sigh as he bent down and kissed Celine on her lips. Celine was a bit surprised but closed her eyes soon after as she epted his affection.


    "I''ll return fast," Pefile said as he then went out of the cell and turned to Berrak once more. "Guard my wife for a bit."


    "No problem. Kill me if even a mosquitonded on her."


    Berrak assured Pefile only to have a refute returned at him.<sub> </sub>


    "There are no mosquitos in this ce."


    Rushing towards the direction that Berrak told him, Pefile reached the intended prison cell in no time.


    And his eyes grew wide.


    "Erille!"


    Pefile shouted as he opened the prison bars without thought.


    The prison cell was filled with the smell and stains of blood on the floor. Affixed with roots on the wall was the old Tamawo that Pefile met yesterday.


    Butpared to thest time that Pefile saw him, Erille was far different...


    In the worst sense.


    The old man''s arms and legs were broken and skinned like an animal. His eyes and face, and body were filled with bruises and cuts. And with his limbs in that state, just being hanged on the wall would make him feel constant pain.


    "My... King?" Erille weakly voiced out. "Is... is it you?"


    Erille then raised his drooping head towards the direction he could hear the iing footsteps.


    That, however, made Pefile freeze in remorse.


    "Erille... Your eyes..."


    Even the emotionless Pefile was shaken. In the ce where Erille''s eyes should have been, was nothing but bloody sockets. Pefile could not help but look around the cell. On a small table in the corner of the room was the rolled skin and eyeballs nonchntly ced.


    "I''m sorry... my king..." Erille spoke in a dismayed voice. "I won''t be able to serve you in the future."


    "Erille! What happened to you?!"


    Pefile approached the old man and tried to help him.


    However...


    "Stop, my king." Erille''s voice sounded strong as he drained all of hisst will and energy. "My time ends here. Leave immediately with the queen. Your brother must have known that you are here."


    "But Erille..."


    "LEAVE!"


    The old Tamawo''s voice stormed inside Pefile''s ear.


    "I don''t care anymore whether you will lead our tribe or not. But promise me... Live... Not only for your sake but also mine..."


    And with those words, Erille''s head dropped once more. Pefile felt remorse as he knew that the old man breathed hisst.


    Erille was loyal to the previous king and the first prince from the past to hisst breath. Nheless, it was also this loyalty that robbed him of his life.


    Still, it was the old Tamawo''s conviction that was highly praiseworthy. He remained loyal and valued Pefile''s life over his.


    Erille was the perfect retainer at heart.


    Pefile shook his head and left the prison cell of the dead old Tamawo. There was nothing he could do now but promise that he would live not only for himself but also for Erille.


    Suddenly, Geronimo came running towards Pefile.


    "Sir! The gate of the prison is surrounded!"


    It was a grave situation in a sense.


    There was no way that they would be able to transport Celine out of the hole they entered. They would at least need to use the front gates before taking off with Berrak''s summons.


    Pefile hurried back to the cell where Celine was in.


    "You really came back quickly... I thought you would take longer."


    Celine said.


    "Don''t joke around this time, Celine. Seriously..."


    Pefile shook his head in exasperation. Celine''s body was already in a bad state and she could still let out such jokes and sarcasm.


    "Hehe."


    Celineughed a little, seeing Pefile''s exasperated face that she had not seen for a long time.


    "Celine, let''s go." Pefile then began to carry her. "Hold onto me tightly."


    "I can''t, you idiot."


    Celine retorted with one of her arms dangling weakly to her side.


    This time, Pefile just chose to stay silent.


    "What do you n to do, now?" Berrak asked and gave his suggestion. "I can summon Baku if you want to. We can use the hole we entered."


    Baku, the flying serpent. If Berrak was to summon that gigantic flying snake, there would be no way for the Tamawos to block their escape.


    However, Pefile shook his head.


    "We are going to confront them," Pefile replied with eyes filled with hatred and determination. "Get ready to fight."


    Berrak shrugged and smiled. Even Padua and Geronimo felt the emotions raging from Pefile and readied their weapons.


    "Before we escape, I need to make sure that my brother will suffer for the things he did."


    Pefile said.


    "Then, let me summon something to carry your wife," Berrak suggested. "I don''t think you will be able to fight while carrying her."


    With Berrak''s suggestion, Pefile could only nod.


    What they did not expect was that Berrak would summon something that they had never expected.

 Chapter 731 Distraction, The Battle At The Coastal Town Of Matutinao

    <strong>Day 154 - 7:11 PM - Barangay Matutinao, Municipality of Badian, Province of Cebu</strong>


    Two hours before Pefile''s group found Celine within the prisons of the Tamawo''s Ancestral Tribe...


    The explosion that engulfed buildings spread mes on the northern part of the town. In its current state, several firetrucks would be needed to be dispatched. Yet, it would still be hard to determine how long the fire would be put out. If it continued, nothing would be left of the northern area of the town after several hours.


    And, of course, the culprit had no care for the aftermath.


    With the raging mes behind him, Marknded in the middle of the road that passed by the center of the town. He made sure that his wings were hidden and were not seen by anyone.


    Why?


    Mark wanted to draw the attention of the Tamawos in the town as much as possible. Allowing them to know that he could fly and escape at any time he wanted would wane the urge for the enemies to surround him.


    And besides...


    He was currently portraying himself to be a regr human.


    "There is the culprit! Surround him!"


    A Tamawo with a body covered in tribal tattoos shouted as he saw Mark.


    Surely, the Tamawos and humans in the town were utterly confused by the situation. As their minds could notprehend what just happened, they immediately concluded that Mark had something to do with it as soon as they saw him.


    The response from the Tamawos was fast. A single call from their superior gathered the warriors nearby to surround Mark. In a single minute, about fifty Tamawo warriors already gathered around Mark.


    Mark watched the situation, tapping his foot as he waited.


    Finally, the very same tattooed Tamawo stepped forward with his spear. He seemed to be cautious about Mark''s behavior. It was no surprise since they already surrounded him without any means of escape, but he still behaved nonchntly.


    "Are you the one responsible for this?"


    The Tamawo asked, pointing his spear at Mark.


    And...


    Mark stared at the Tamawo awkwardly.


    ''Well damn... I can''t understand him.''


    The Tamawo spoke in Cebuano, the localnguage of the province of Cebu. It was anguage that Mark definitely had barely any knowledge of.


    Mark might have been able to understand a bit if the Tamawo spoke in Spirit Language. However, if Mark did the same, it could blow the cover that he was no ordinary human.


    "Hah... Whatever..."


    Mark sighed as he threw away any notion of conversing with these Tamawos.


    The Tamawos were still waiting for Mark to answer. They were brave warriors that would not attack unless their superiors allowed them to. That was why...


    They were caught off guard as Mark ignored their leader and ran towards the side.


    Drawing Ignis from his back, Mark shed the Tamawo he ran towards.


    SPLAT!


    The wavy de of Ignis, like a giant saw, ran diagonally on the Tamawo''s body. Blood sttered. The Tamawo''s upper body, from his left shoulder to his right armpit, slid off from the rest.


    "<strong>ATTACK! ATTACK!</strong>"


    The Tattooed Tamawo roared with fury. Not only that Mark ignored his question, but he also disregarded the warrior''s etiquette.


    Mark smiled. Dying the Tamawos by conversing was not usible. Thus, it would be easier to keep them here by causing a bloodbath.


    With about fifty Tamawos rushing at him at once, Mark approached the closes and beheaded the poor guy. He then turned around and ran along the road.


    The second death before their eyes definitely angered the warriors. However, as they saw Mark ran away, their ego was bolstered, thinking that the enemy would not be able to handle their numbers at all.


    Of course, Mark was just deliberately showing weakness.


    Unknown to the Tamawos, Mark was picking them off one by one.


    At random intervals, Mark would slow down, allowing a Tamawo to get closer behind him. But when the Tamawo charged in for the kill, Mark would avoid the attack. The missed attack caused the attacker to have an opening, and Mark did not hesitate but to give a killing blow in whatever way he could.


    As mes danced in the background, a dark shadow covered Mark''s smile.


    The Tamawos kept chasing him as Mark continued to run. Soon, more and more joined the chase. The less than fifty Tamawos soon bloomed into about a hundred. As their numbers grew, so as their confidence in taking down the cursed enemy.


    So far, none of them realized that Mark deliberately ran into ces where the rest of the Tamawos were gathered to make them join the chase.


    ***


    "Gather the ves! Don''t let anyone escape!"


    At the southern part of the town across the bridge, the Tamawos moved to secure the ves first. The attack in the town was the best opportunity for the ves to escape. It was something that they could not let happen.


    The Tamawos reached and surrounded the school where the ves were supposed to be gathered for their rationed dinner.


    What they found, however, was the dead bodies of the Tamawos, who were supposed to guard the dinner of the ves.


    The Tamawos that arrived at the school were enraged. Their eyes fell on the humans gathered within the school grounds. They thought that the ves were the ones responsible for this situation.


    However, they could not help but notice the group of little girls standing at the center of the school grounds.


    It was odd.


    There were no children among the ves. The children they captured were all brought back to their tribe. That was why it was odd to see four little girls at the center of the dead bodies of their tribe members.


    In any case, they were just children. What could they possibly do?


    "Capture them!"


    The leader of the Tamawos to secure the vesmanded. With their spears ready, the warriors approached the girls.


    "Stay put! Don''t move, or we will be forced to harm you!"


    One of the Tamawos spoke to the girls.


    However, like Mark, the girls had the same problem. Thenguage barrier.


    "Kill?"


    Miracle asked I. It was kind of strange to hear such a question for a seemingly three-year-old girl.


    But before I could answer...


    "I''m first."


    Abbygale said as she ran towards the nearest Tamawo.


    The Tamawo was surprised at the speed that Abbygale showed. He immediately brandished his spear, throwing away the order to catch the girls alive. His spear was precise on the target despite Abbygale''s speed. It showed how the Tamawo warrior was trained.


    However, despite being precise, its speed was far from enough.<sub> </sub>


    Abbygale elerated further, almost turning into a blur. What the spear pierced was nothing but air. Abbygale then jumped, tapping the rear of her right shoe on the ground at herst step.


    <strong>SHIIING!!!</strong>


    The sound of metallic friction was heard as a three-inch de protruded out of the little girl''s shoe. Abbygale then appeared beside the Tamawo''s right shoulder at the act of kicking the back of the Tamawo''s head.


    <strong>SPLAT!</strong>


    The de stabbed the Tamawo''s head. His eyes opened wide as he felt the cold de enter his head and pierce his brain. With the impact of the kick, the Tamawo''s head was pushed forwards, causing him to fall face down.


    Abbygale retreated away from the Tamawo.


    And, of course, the Tamawo never stood up once more.


    The other Tamawos approaching the girls were stunned at the sudden unexpected development.


    A little girl ran at a speed that they could barely see clearly and killed one of their tribesmen in cold blood.


    The leader of this group of Tamawos reacted immediately.


    "Forget capturing them alive! Kill them!"


    It was a sane decision. That fast-moving girl was more ferocious than the beasts they hunted in the forest.


    "Wahh! No fair!"


    Miracle cried out as she also rushed towards the Tamawo nearest to her.


    The target that Miracle ran to was frozen stiff, thinking that this little girl would also move fast as the first one. However, seeing that Miracle actually ran slower, the Tamawo was relieved.


    Without hesitation, the Tamawo in front of Miracle stabbed his spear at the little girl.


    Unfortunately for the Tamawo, Miracle might be slower than Abbygale but she was not a pushover.


    Miracle dodged the spear that was about to pierce her head, causing it to pass over her left shoulder. And then, she stopped in ce, grabbing the spear with both hands.


    With a ridiculing face, the Tamawo looked at Miracle. Did a little girl like her want to pull out a tug of war with his spear? Thus, the Tamawo pulled his spear without hesitation.


    And he was frozen stiff.


    The spear he was pulling did not even move a centimeter.


    With utter shock, the Tamawo pulled his spear once more... Only to get the same result. He could only stare at the little girl, no, the monster in front of him. She was definitely the reason why he could not pull his spear back.


    Miracle seemed to be waiting for the Tamawo to pull the spear once more. However, as he did not, she pouted as she pulled the spear out of the Tamawo''s hand.


    Although he was not pulling his spear any longer, he was still holding it tightly. The pull Miracle made caused the Tamawo to fall out of bnce. A trained warrior would not fall that easily. As such, he regained his bnce by stepping his right foot forwards.


    However, before he could recover, he saw a blurry object approaching his face from his right.


    <strong>BAM! CRACK!</strong>


    The Tamawo''s spear, held by Miracle, struck the Tamawo''s head with her full swing. The impact did not only cracked the Tamawo''s skull but also broke his neck.


    Miracle looked at the spear that was far taller than her. She was like a child that got a new toy.


    But suddenly...


    <strong>SIZZLE!!!</strong>


    Miracle heard a sizzling sound beside her. A Tamawo tried to sneak attack her but was blocked and was currently being burned by an invisible barrier.


    "<strong>AAHHHHHHHH!!!</strong>"


    The Tamawo cried out as his body became covered with burning heat out of nowhere. There was no fire but his skin began to be charred and distort as if he was covered in deadly mes.


    "<strong>Miracle!</strong> Pay attention, and don''t y around!"


    I scolded her little sister for not paying attention to her surroundings. If not for her barrier, Miracle would have been hit by that Tamawo''s sneak attack.


    "Sorry..."


    Miracle''s shoulder drooped and ran towards I.


    "Hah..." I sighed like an adult. "It''s fine. Just don''t do it again. Papa and Mama will get sad if you get hurt, alright?"


    "Un!"


    Miracle nodded as she turned towards her next target.


    "Now, I wish I had a sister."


    Emikained as she saw how the sisters interacted with each other.


    "You have a brother, right?"


    I said to the green-haired girl.


    "That''s different!"


    Emika yelled as she used her hair to constrict several Tamawos that tried to attack her.


    Suddenly, the attack on the little girls was stopped. None of the remaining Tamawos dared approach the monsters in front of them.


    "Forget these monsters! Some of you get their attention! The others secure the ves!"


    The Tamawo leader roared at their sudden predicament.


    It was a rather effective tactic. The girls did not seem to be paying too much attention to the ves behind them.


    Some of the Tamawos passed through while the others too the attention of the girls. However, before they could reach the ves, an unfamiliar man stood in their way.


    "<strong>Die!</strong>"


    Without a doubt, this man should be with those girls. Since it was just a single person, they should be fine if they attacked the man in unison.


    But then, the man, Edzel, brandished his weapon. It was a reddish-ck spear that seemed to have an odd shape.


    Edzel pointed the spear unto the iing Tamawos. Then, he pulled the handle and pushed a button that popped out by his finger.


    <strong>SHING!</strong>


    The de at the tip of the spear opened up, revealing holes hidden within the de.


    And then...


    <strong>SWOOSH!</strong>


    More than a dozen poisoned needles fired towards the iing Tamawos.

 Chapter 732 Tapping Unto His Strength, Edzels Growth And The Proof Of His Ancestry

    <strong>Day 154 - 7:59 PM - Barangay Matitunao, Municipality of Badian, Province of Cebu</strong>


    Buffeted by the needles, the Tamawos charging toward Edzel froze for a second. They felt the slight pain of needles piercing their bodies. However, none of them had immediate fatal injuries.


    The Tamawos immediately looked for the source of pain, and they saw the greenish-ck needles stuck on their skin.


    "Such a flimsy trick... Attack!"


    A Tamawo with slightly more tattoos on his bodymanded the others while removing the needles and threw them on the ground.


    The Tamawos were even more enraged to fall to what they thought was a useless trick. They tried to continue charging at Edzel once more.


    But after a couple of steps, those Tamawos who got hit by the needles began to slow down. The others slowed down in suit, noticing the oddity of the event.


    "What is happening..."


    The tattooed Tamawo grumbled in pain as he was one of those hit by the needles. His face became filled with grim as pain enveloped his body, starting from the area where he got hit.


    That was when they noticed that the skin around ces where the needles hit them began to have an ominously greenish hue. And from the center of impact, their blood vessels started to bloat and turn ck.


    It was a scary sight to those who were watching. Since the fire from the burning buildings illuminated the area, everyone could see how the poison spread out of the bodies of the Tamawos. Furthermore, with their pale white skin, the changes in the color of their blood vessels were horrifyingly clear.


    Half a minuteter, those Tamawos hit by the needlesy on the ground lifeless. Their eyes turned white, and their bodies filled with web-like ck-colored blood vessels. Even their whole bodies had a greenish hue as if they already began to rot.


    Because of the horrifying fate of those Tamawos, the others froze in their tracks. The fear made them unable to approach Edzel once again.


    Edzel steadily held his spear, not taking his eyes away from the enemies in front. He tried to intimidate the other Tamawos, making them think they would have the same fate if they continued to approach.


    But, of course, this one was just a ploy.


    The spear that Edzel held was something Mark hastily made overnight. It was capable ofunching those poisonous needles, as disyed earlier. Unfortunately, as said, it was made hastily. Itcked the function to reload in a short time as it had to be done manually in each hole in the de of the spear.


    In a sense, that needle spread shot was a one-time thing in a single battle.


    Nheless, it achieved its purpose in this battle. It was to give the Tamawos something to get distracted on.


    The poison in the needles this time was not that fast-acting. Furthermore, its effects were too showy. It was made this way to instill fear unto those that saw its effects. The enemy, fearing being hit by the projectiles, would get distracted by Edzel''s spear. They would try to specte when Edzel would make another shot and would not be able to erase it from their minds, unable to fully concentrate on Edzel''s attacks.


    Edzel stared at the Tamawos in front of him. His role was already done with this as he managed to stop the enemies from approaching the ves. All he needed to do was dy further until Mark arrived to dispose of the enemies on one go.


    However...


    Was it what he wanted?


    Edzel wanted to be strong. Strong enough that he could protect Pearl and make her not leave his side once more.


    If he just stood here, things would be fine. But he would not grow either.


    Edzel tightened his grip on his spear. He nced behind him. There was Pearl, speaking with the ves, making them prepare for escape.


    Pearl... She was always his reason for living in this cruel world.


    "I want to grow stronger."


    Edzel murmured as his eyes returned to the enemies in front.


    It was what Mark promised him when they first met. And the promise was not broken. Mark turned him into an Evolver, gave him a bit of training, and taught him some advice inbat.


    However, Mark''s self-taught style was not suitable for Edzel. That was why he was also instructed by other people in the base in different kinds of fight styles. However, the thing that he felt the most natural was Pefile''s teachings. Specifically, how to fight using spears and bows,


    Thinking about it, he was like this ever since the start. Unlike kids that yed using fake swordfights, he preferred something like a wooden spear. Even when fishing in the river, he would use a spear instead of sitting down with a fishing rod in his hands.


    And now, for some odd reason...


    Mark made him a spearst night.


    Feeling the spear on his hand, the feeling to be strong intensified.


    "<strong>HAH!</strong>"


    Edzel shouted, charging towards the Tamawos in front of him. He would not let the teachings and training he had to go to waste.


    In the group, it was just him and Pearl who were the weakest links. In the least, he wanted to carry both his and her value in the group.


    The fight inside the school on Edzel''s side finally began. In no time, however, he became surrounded by the Tamawos.


    It was not surprising. Even if the little girls were holding back most of the Tamawos in this area, Edzel was still disadvantaged in terms of numbers.


    Edzel fought with his spear and managed to take down a few. Compared to Pefile that taught him to fight with a spear, these Tamawos around him were much weaker.


    <strong>PSSK!!!</strong>


    The spear on Edzel''s hand took another life. However, he was not without an injury. As it was a fight with spears, his arms were more susceptible to attacks. Thus, his arms were already dripping with blood, being hit by the des of the spears of the Tamawos. Even if he was wearing armor, not every part of his body could be protected by it.


    Pearl noticed Edzel''s predicament. She could not help but worry. He already looked tired and was heavily panting as he fought. However, she was without any fighting capability. She had a pistol hidden under her clothes. However, she was told to only use it in emergencies.


    Seeing Edzel''s struggle, she could not help but reach for her gun.


    It was when she noticed. Edzel''s eyes were filled with determination as he fought a disadvantaged battle. It was the determination to grow stronger.


    Pearl could only shake her head, realizing that it was not her position to intervene in Edzel''s growth. She did not want to drag him back because of her worry. In the first ce, Edzel was still not losing.


    In any case, she also had her role to fulfill.


    "Is everyone alright?" Pearl turned to the ves, specifically towards the old ones. "Just wait a little more, and you all can finally escape this ce."


    The old ves seemed to be thankful to Pearl. However, Pearl noticed something strange. As the heart created the strongest vibrations on a human''s body, she could sense their heartbeats, albeit faintly. The heartbeat of a human differed ording to the emotions they had.


    And for some reason, some of the ves seemed to have odd heartbeats.


    Unfortunately, it did not take long for Pearl to learn about it. Furthermore, it happened the hard way.


    "<strong>STOP! HUNONG!</strong>"


    A loud voice of a man echoed across the school speaking in both Tagalog and Cebuano. The sudden distraction took everyone''s attention and stopped the battle abruptly.


    Edzel turned around, and his eyes grew wide.<sub> </sub>


    Pearl was being held by a fat-bodied ve with a knife pointed at her neck.


    "What are you doing?! Let go of her!" Edzel bellowed. "We are here to save your people, you bastard!"


    "Who asked you to save us, huh?" The fat ve roared. "We are already living fine in this ce! There are no zombies, no monsters! All we had to do is work, and we will have food! Don''t ruin our lives!"


    "That''s right!"


    The fat ve aside, more men among the ves protested.


    But then... An old man among the ves stood against the others.


    "You ungrateful bastards!" The old man bellowed. "Ruin your lives, you say?! You all say that after ruining the lives of the women, these inhuman bastards charmed?"


    "<strong>SHUT UP!</strong>" Another ve bashed the old man on his head, causing the old man to fall. "You''re old already! Just go rest in peace!"


    And then, blood had sttered as the ve bashed the old man''s head with arge piece of broken cement from the school fence.


    "Hahahaha!" Suddenly, boisterousughter echoed. "Good work!"


    Everyone''s attention shifted once more. This time, it was arge group of Tamawos that arrived. They were lead by a tall Tamawo, who also was the source of thatughter.


    "To think that this town was done in by a group of bastard humans." The tall Tamawo said as he panned his eyes around the surroundings. "You useless imbeciles! You call can''t even handle children and had to rely on a ve to stop the fight?"


    The Tamawos that valiantly fought against the four monster girls and Edzel hung their heads in shame. Nheless, they were also assured by the arrival of the group of the Tamawos.


    "And you ve. As I said before, Good work." The tall Tamawomended. "Because of this, I''ll let you y with the women for a whole day after this."


    Hearing that, the fat ve''s face bloomed in glee, while the other male ves were in regret for not stepping out first. On the other hand, the ves that actually wanted to leave this ce were in dismay.


    And then, the tall Tamawo took steps closer.


    "You woman, why don''t you look at my eyes?"


    The tall Tamawo said, looking at Pearl. His eyes released a reddish-pink glow, the sign he was using magic to charm the opposite sex.


    "<strong>STOP!</strong>"


    Edzel could not help but roar. He tried to rush towards the tall Tamawo. However, he was blocked by the rest of the enemies.


    Pearl, on the other hand, was caught off guard. She froze as the charm magic tried to infiltrate her mind.


    "<strong>NO!</strong>"


    Edzel bellowed in dismay. As far as he knew, the charm magic of Tamawos was unerasable.


    But then...


    <strong>SPURT!</strong>


    "<strong>ACK!</strong>"


    The tall Tamawo''s eyes opened wide as his mouth spew out blood. His eyes were also tearing up with blood.


    "Terville!"


    The other Tamawos rushed unto the tall Tamawo in shock.


    "What in the damn world!"


    Terville cursed as he wiped the blood on his lips and face.


    And then...


    <strong>BANG!</strong>


    "<strong>EEEKKKK!!!</strong>"


    A sound of a gunshot echoed with a pig-sounding screech following it.


    Turning to the source of the gunshot, they saw Pearl, ring with killing intent as she pointed the pistol at the ves. In front of her was the fat ve rolling on the ground and squealing in pain as his stomach bled from the gunshot.


    "Pearl! Are you okay?!"


    Edzel shouted.


    "Yes! I don''t know why, but I''m fine! Don''t worry about me!"


    Pearl answered back. Strangely, though, her answer sounded happy and more confident.


    "So this is what Boss is hinting about being marked..."


    Pearl murmured.


    When Terville''s charm magic tried to invade her mind, Pearl felt strange. But then, her mind was suddenly filled with Edzel''s image. At the center of it, was a strange energy that seemed to have connected her and Edzel.


    In the past, Mark hinted at it several times. Furthermore, Pearl was not blind. Edzel''s face had some resemnce to Pefile and as someone that looked at his appearance since they were little, it was impossible for her not to notice.


    <strong>BANG! BANG! BANG!</strong>


    Pearl did not hesitate. She pulled the trigger of her pistol, killing those that tried to support the fat ve. Now, she was angry. Not only at these hateful ves but also at herself for not realizing it before she made a mistake.


    On the other hand, Edzel was truly enraged.


    "How dare you try to charm Pearl!"


    Edzel spoke coldly. He began to approach Terville despite the other Tamawos surrounding him.


    <strong>BOOM!</strong>


    Suddenly, a loud vibration was felt by everyone.


    In every step he took, he did not notice. His body was undergoing a huge transformation.

 Chapter 733 Changes And Growth, Edzels Transformation And New Abilities

    <strong>Day 154 - 8:14 PM - Matutinao Elementary School, Barangay Matutinao, Municipality of Badian, Province of Cebu</strong>


    The seventeen-year-old Edzel. He was a bit taller than his peers of the same age. His body had built up quite a muscle, and his skin was tanned. It was an appearance that resulted frombor since he was little.


    Edzel was a fisherman and also a baggage carrier at the fishing port. Most people in this field, since their young age, had these characteristics.


    But now, in front of everyone''s eyes, those characteristics of Edzel were slowly fading away.


    Edzel''s tan skin was turning into a pale shade of white. The muscles he umted began to shrink, being condensed tightly.


    Aside from those changes, Edzel''s hair also began to change from ck to tinum silver. His dark brown eyes turned into a light shade of gray.


    More than all of that, Edzel face was already above average. However, the change of Edzel''s skin color suited his face more than before.


    Pearl''s eyes could not help but turn at Edzel''s face. Since he was not wearing any cover on his face, she could see how handsome he turned out to be after his transformation.


    <strong>BANG!</strong>


    Pearl suddenly shot her gun, causing another man to fall. The man tried to grab her pistol when she was not looking, thinking that she could not feel them at all. Unfortunately for them, as long as their hearts were beating, creating vibrations, Pearl could detect their movements even without looking.


    The ves shivered as Pearl did not hesitate to shoot and kill. Nheless, it was because these bastard men made her remember her distasteful decision to sleep with that guy before when she left Edzel. That was the first time she felt like a toy in a man''s eyes. The women being toyed by these male ves should feel the same as her if they were not charmed.


    At the center of the encirclement of Tamawos, Edzel red at Terville, not noticing the changes in his body.


    More than anything, he wanted to tear off Terville''s eyes for trying to use [Charm Magic] on Pearl. It made him remember the hopelessness and regret he felt back when she left him for another guy. It was a sickening urge that made him feel like dying, pushing him to think ofmitting suicide.


    Edzel did not want to feel it again. Never again.


    "<strong>HA!!!</strong>"


    Edzel roared. Charging towards Terville.


    The Tamawos around Edzel snapped out of their stupor. They were all shocked to see the man they were fighting turned out to be one of their kind. The thing that made them shocked was his process of awakening. So far, they had never seen something different as this.


    In any case, they were not mistaken. The Tamawos could smell the same blood of their race awakening from Edzel.


    "<strong>STOP HIM!</strong>"


    Terville roared with a frown. The bacsh he received was too powerful, and he was not in shape to immediately sh with the enemy.


    Hearing theirmander, the more experienced Tamawos that came with Terville jumped into action.


    Unlike the Tamawos left to guard this ce, these veterans were faster and more powerful. They were standing behind Terville just now, but they were suddenly among the encirclement around Edzel.


    A spear came hurling towards Edzel. However, the changes in Edzel''s body were not just on his appearance. Reflexes, strength, speed, and other aspects were enhanced drastically.


    <strong>BAM!</strong>


    Edzel waved his spear to his right, not only blocking but changing the course of the spear to another Tamawo.


    <strong>PSK!</strong>


    Surprised, the Tamawo did not manage to block or avoid the spear redirected to him. He ended up being impaled on his stomach, staring wide-eyed as he fell down in pain.


    <strong>CLANG! CLANG!</strong>


    Spears shed as Edzel charged forward. He received a few wounds on his arms and sides. The injuries were nothing but just scratches as Edzel reacted immediately upon contact with the spears of the enemies on his body. Edzel had nothing to worry about because of the burst of power he currently experienced.


    On the other hand, the Tamawos were now looking at Edzel like a monster going berserk.


    In their every sh with Edzel''s spear, the Tamawos felt their hands go numb. Edzel might be a Tamawo like them, but it was clear that he was an anomaly in terms of strength.


    Nheless, Tamawos were unhesitating warriors. Many of them had fallen to Edzel''s spear in a short time, but they did not stop at all.


    "<strong>BOWMEN!"</strong>


    Terville shouted as he saw the situation turning against them. When they received the message that the town was attacked, they severelycked any detail and information.


    They thought that the humans who stayed in the school not far to the south finally decided to attack. Although those humans had guns, it would be nowhere enough to put everyone down. Yes, there would be deaths in their tribe. But they still had the advantage in terms of terrain and physical abilities.


    Who would have known that the attackers were not that group but a different one? Not to mention that it was a group of monsters in human skin.


    In fact, Terville''s group had arrived much earlier before he came out. They were assessing the situation and running in the dark to suitable ces. When the woman in front of the ves, Terville thought that they got the upper hand. Heughed and came out with the remaining warriors behind him.


    He was mistaken, however. Tergville thought that Pearl was just some female human he could charm and take as a hostage.


    It was a grave mistake.


    Pearl was not just a female human. She was not just a female human marked by a simple Tamawo, either.


    Even if Terville tried to use [Charm Magic] on a woman marked by another Tamawo, he would only feel dizzy as a bacsh from the failed magic. There was only one instance where he experienced his eyes bleeding and vomiting blood.


    It was when he tried to use [Charm Magic] on the woman their current king fell in love with, Celine.


    This was not something he confirmed yet, but he had an idea. The [Charm Magic] and [Mark of Love] left by members of the royal family of their tribe were higher than the members. The proof of that theory was when their current king tried to use [Charm Magic] on Celine several years ago. At that time, the king only felt dizzy. Yet, Terville had a worse bacsh on the same target.


    Terville red at Edzel as the warriors that hid in the surroundings came out. Drawing their bows and nocking their arrows, they aimed at Edzel.


    "<strong>SHOOT!</strong>"


    Terville roared. He did not know why Edzel had a blood of a royal Tamawo. However, he did not want to know. He only wanted this bastard son of someone to die.


    Thirty bowmen in the surroundings fired their arrows towards Edzel. None of the projectiles were going to miss their mark and were all flying straight at Edzel.


    Even if Edzel managed to survive this with his armor, he would still be a blood bin cushion.


    Unfortunately, Edzel disyed another thing that was out of their expectations.


    <strong>BA-DUMP!</strong>


    A loud sound echoed, apanied by waves of vibrations in the air. Edzel''s right arm shivered as he turned his body around, swiping his open parm three hundred and sixty degrees around him.<sub> </sub>


    The strong vibrations were unbearable. Those Tamawos closest to Edzel felt warm in their ears and noses as their orifices began to bleed. On the other hand, the arrows flying towards Edzel lost momentum as the vibrations Edzel made behaved like an invisible shield around him.


    Seeing what happened, the Tamawos retreated a bit, wary of Edzel.


    None of them knew what happened, but they understood that it was something dangerousing from Edzel.


    On the other hand, Edzel was also surprised. He did it by what his instincts told him. When he became a [Evolver] because of the crystal Mark gave him, his ability was not this strong. Although he could knock down enemies with the vibration he created, it was not without direct contact.


    Now, not only Edzel could make the air vibrate strongly, but he could also use it for both offense and defense.


    With more confidence, Edzel charged at Terville once more. Anything on his way would experience his new strength.


    Seeing that Edzel defended himself against the arrows, Terville felt angry. Then, if it would not work on Edzel...


    "<strong>BOWMEN! TARGET THE OTHERS! LEAVE THIS BASTARD TO OTHERS!</strong>"


    Terville roared as he picked himself up. He was still in pain from the bacsh, but the most painful time was already over.


    Pearl and the others could not understand what Terville was roaring about. Still, they knew it soon after when they saw the bow-wielding Tamawos point their bows at them.


    Edzel noticed that Pearl was in danger. However, she was far away from him to protect. As for the girls, they had the two oldest ones, Emika and I, for protection.


    At this point, Pearl was truly in danger.


    Unfortunately, there was no time to wait at all. Upon Terville''smand, the bowmen shot their bows at everyone except Edzel.


    Edzel was shaken. He was already on the way to protect Pearl, but there were still Tamawos blocking his way. This made him wish that Mark would protect Pearl at this point. It was impossible for that guy to let his people face danger, after all.


    But then, Edzel felt dismayed. What was he thinking? Yes, he could rely on Mark. Still, he had not done something by himself yet.


    That was when Edzel and Pearl''s eyes locked unto each other, ignoring the spears and arrows around them.


    They felt a weird but warm andfortable sensation. Edzel and Pearl felt a magical connection between them. At the same time, Edzel''s instincts told him that he could do it.


    <strong>BA-DUMP!</strong>


    Edzel released a vibration around him, with most of it directed at Pearl.


    The flight of the arrows might be fast, but the vibrations Edzel created were much faster.


    Pearl was surprised as to why Edzel would do something like this. She could feel the vibrations approaching her like a sh flood. If she were to get hit by it, she might experience worse than the Tamawos that Edzel fought before.


    Without anything she could do, Pearl could only crouch down to protect herself.


    Finally, the vibrations hit her before the arrows could.


    Unexpectedly, she felt nothing harmful. Instead, it was as if the vibrations were being absorbed by her body.


    Then, an urge was felt by Pearl.


    It was as if her connection to Edzel was telling her to release it.


    <strong>HONG!</strong>


    Trusting that sensation, Pearl did release it, creating a shockwave around her, not only knocking the arrows that were about to hit her but also pushing away the ves close to her.


    Pearl opened her eyes and stood shocked. Everything around her was pushed away by force. About two meters around her was cleaned of almost everything, including sand and dust. The only things left were heavy things like arge piece of cement debris.


    "Edzel... You..."


    Pearl could only mutter, realizing that it had something to do with Edzel.


    Edzel, however, was just as surprised as Pearl. Nheless, it was a good surprise. That aside, everything else that the vibrations he sent Pearl hit were harmed, including the few Tamawos, who nowy lifeless on the ground.


    "<strong>F*CK!</strong>"


    Terville could only curse, seeing what happened. Not to mention that the kids had a wall of thorny vines and an invisible burning barrier around them.


    "You should retreat now..."


    Suddenly, the gruff voice entered Terville''s ear.


    "What are you saying?! Where are you just now?"


    Terville argued at his invisiblepanion.


    "Where I was doesn''t matter." The voice replied. "What I know is that you will die here if you don''t escape."


    "What?! Are you serious?"


    Terville was shaken.


    "Whether I''m serious or not, can''t you just judge the situation? You might have a numerical advantage, but your opponents were not normal humans. But that is if you can consider them as humans at all."


    "Don''t beat around the bush! Just say it!"


    Terville was furious.


    "Hah..." The voice sighed. "Demons, powerful ones. Those children, aside from the green-haired one, were Demons. If the children were here, their parents should be too. You are no match for them."


    "Can''t you do anything about this? You''re also a Demon!"


    Terville argued.


    "In my current form, I can''t." The invisible Demon replied. "Unless you are finally willing to ept my blessings."


    Terville fell silent with a frown. Behind him was a shade of darkness that no one else was able to see.

 Chapter 734 Observations, Marks Theories And Interference

    <strong>Day 154 - 8:25 PM - Matutinao Elementary School, Barangay Matutitnao, Municipality of Badian, Province of Cebu</strong>


    Sitting atop the concrete utility pole on the other side of the road in front of the school, Mark watched the current happenings inside its premises.


    Mark could not help but nod in interest, seeing the unexpectedly strange abilities that Edzel disyed. Even Edzel''s awakening towards his father''s race was something that no one expected to happen right now. While it was something that would happen, it should be after Edzel''s eighteenth birthday. Yet, Edzel awakened prematurely.


    "No, this is not just awakening... It''s evolution."


    Mark muttered, observing Edzel''s appearance.


    Unlike regr Tamawos, Edzel did not seem to have their iconic long ws and sharp teeth. Those parts on Edzel were still human. In any case, these inhuman appearances were the subproduct of their creation and lifestyle. As for Edzel, he did not need it, living as a human in the modern era.


    However, these inconvenient things were not something that anyone in their race could just get rid of on a whim.


    Of course, Edzel was different.


    [Evolvers] were not just called [Evolvers] without reason. It was because they evolved and were continuously evolving.


    The process was still uncertain, and the evolution was different from person to person. Nheless, growth and change were its results.


    [Mutators] were simr because they could also grow further but different since the changes were outside the norms of the human''s natural expected evolution route.


    Still, the greatest factor in Edzel''s changes was that he evolved using an [Empty Physical Crystal] from Mark. It became the catalyst of Edzel''s evolution, causing his growth to be more advance than expected, facilitating his human and Tamawo genes into one.


    The most unexpected, however, was that Edzel''s mark on Pearl interfered with their evolution. It caused their abilities to look simr.


    However, from what Mark observed just now, there was a deeper exnation.


    Edzel''s ability as a [Evolver] was to create vibrations. On the other hand, they initially thought that Pearl''s ability was to detect vibrations.


    But no, they seemed to be mistaken.


    Pearl''s ability was not to detect vibrations. It was just an aftereffect of her real ability. That was ability was to...


    "Is her ability actually absorbing vibrations and releasing them?"


    Mark muttered.


    It was disyed just now. Edzel sent a strong wave of vibrations towards Pearl. It was something that should be expected to be harmful even for her if her ability was only to detect. However, not only the force entered her body. It was even released in a form of a shockwave that protected her and blew away everything around her.


    "Wait... Something is not right..." Mark frowned. "Vibrations... Force... Don''t tell me..."


    Mark turned to Edzel and Pearl, who were still dealing with the situation around them.


    "Vibrations are not the cause but the effect. It is the result of inertia traveling through an unstable medium such as water, air, stic solid, and even electromaic wave. There are also vibrations due to energy spreading from the source, like how I perceive Emotional Energies from people. But it''s not applied in their case. Instead, theirs is an oscition caused by the disturbance of the parts of the medium. And that disturbance should be caused by something..."


    Mark''s eyes stared at Edzel. Currently, he was still emitting vibrations around him, making the enemies unstable and easier to kill.


    "Fus... Is it? No, I mean... Force. Right... Force. Edzel''s ability is not to create vibrations but to release force to create those vibrations using the inertia from the force he released. A bit confusing but somehow makes sense..."


    Mark''s eyes then fell on Pearl.


    "Then, hers is to absorb the force carried by the vibrations and then release it, avoiding the supposed repercussions by facing that strength. What created our misconception about Pearl''s ability is because she never had to face such a kind of vibration carrying a force strong enough for her to absorb and release."


    "Wait... Maybe, she had been releasing it without knowing but since the vibrations were too weak, none of us managed to detect it. After all, humans always create vibrations around them. From their heartbeat, brain waves, voice, and even just by walking. If that is the case, it will be really hard to discern Pearl''s ability until now."


    "It''s better to do some more testing of itter..."


    Mark muttered continuously, watching Edzel and Pearl with interest. At his side, pping her rainbow-colored wings, Mei had arrived quite a while ago.


    Mei could only wait and watch Mark mutter his observations with a troubled face.


    Finally, Mark was done with his deep thoughts.


    "Anyone escaped?"


    Mark asked as he turned to Mei.


    "No one escaped." Mei nodded. "Even those that fell into the river."


    "Nice."


    Mark smiled.


    While Mark created the biggest distraction and Edzel''s pair and the children secured the school, Mei''s duty was to deal with anyone that could and tried to escape.


    During the explosion, some Tamawos fell into the river. Mark had no time to make sure that they die since he had to gather the attention of the enemies. It was Mei''s role to deal with those. There were also those that were frightened by the explosion and fled instead of fighting. It was also Mei that made sure that they breathe theirst with their cowardice.


    "I''ve dealt with my side when I detected that the reinforcements came," Mark said. "But what is this?"


    Of course, Mark was dismayed by the situation.


    Mark created the biggest explosion they could make, wasting explosives and resources. It was all to make sure that the Tamawos would send an army here and let Pefile''s group do their job smoothly.


    However, the reinforcements that arrived were a measly number. Surely they were stronger than those Tamawos staying in the town. But their number was too small that the girls, Edzel, and Pearl, were more than enough to overpower them.


    "Maybe something wrong happened with the messenger we let escape?"


    Mei deduced.


    "Maybe..." Mark sighed. "Or else, they would just send this number of people. We don''t even have a problem dealing with a group of the same number with guns. Don''t even mention people with nothing but spears and bows. They should have sent their whole tribe. Or at least, their whole army as intended."


    Mei could only shake her head at Mark''s grumbles. However, it was the truth.


    "Gege, not everything goes ording to n."


    "Hah..." Mark sighed. "That''s true. That is why "n B" and "n C" exist for unexpected situations."


    And then, Mark''s eyes fell on someone.


    "At least, they had someone interesting."


    "That guy?"


    Mei asked, looking at the leader of the reinforcements and the very same person that caused Edzel''s sudden awakening.


    "Yeah." Mark nodded. "That guy seems to be possessed by something."


    "Ghost?"


    Mei asked.


    "No." Mark shook his head. "It feels like a Demon. Probably a Demon Spirit or a Formless Demon. I''m looking forward to what crystals we can get from them. The Tamawos I gathered barely gave enough energy to make two crystals."


    Mei turned to Mark with a sigh. It seemed that in his eyes, enemies were turning into energy sources for his crystals. It was not wrong, though. Furthermore, the more crystals Mark collected, the more secure their future would be.


    At this time, Mark''s eyes fell on the waters of the strait on the west coast of the town.


    "Well, then... ytime''s over."<sub> </sub>


    Mark said as he told Mei to follow him.


    ***


    "<strong>NO!</strong>"


    Terville shook his head, disagreeing with the voice''s proposal.


    "What are you hesitating for?" The voice grumbled. "If you don''t want to, then run away already! Don''t wast- sh*t! Because you''re too indecisive, it''s alreadyte to escape!"


    The voice echoed loudly inside Terville''s ears. However, he could not pay any attention to the voice any longer.


    Not only Terville. All the Tamawos in the area froze as two individualsnded at the center of the schoolyard.


    To be exact, the eyes of the Tamawos, even the ves, fell on the female.


    ***


    Mark and Meinded, entering the fray. However, only silence enveloped the scene.


    Everyone''s attention was on Mei. Her beauty,plemented by her crystal armor and rainbow-colored wings, was too eyecatching.


    The Tamawos admire beauty as it was something that their race did notck. Among the Tamawos, the majority of them were still single. Without a doubt, they fell in love at first sight.


    Sensing the fluctuation of the emotions of the Tamawos, Mark showed a deadly smirk.


    To other humans and races, falling in love with Mei would not have that much of a side effect. Of course, that was if they managed to live through Mark''s attacks.


    For the Tamawos, however, it was a death sentence.


    Mei had an special Physique. The [Charm Magic] of the Tamawos would not have an effect on her as it was a form of invasive energy that her body would reject. Not to mention that Mei was no longer a human.


    These Tamawos would never get her to return their love, causing their deaths after a while. It also disabled them to love others as Tamawos could only fall in love once in their lives. This also cuts the possibility for them to have children, cutting off their future lineage and race.


    It was a savage move for Mark to make Mei appear here.


    Of course, Mei felt ufortable, making her hide behind Mark''s back.


    The Tamawos found that gesture cute and charming. But then, their eyes fell on Mark. It was obvious that they were treating Mark as their rival in love.


    "<strong>Bastard! WAKE UP!</strong>"


    The voice echoed inside Terville''s ear once more, loud enough to make his head hurt.


    "<strong>Don''t shout!</strong>"


    Terville bellowed, causing some eyes to gather on him.


    "I will shout whenever I want!" The voice argued. "<strong>But now is not the time! ESCAPE! THOSE TWO ARE LIKELY TO BE THE PARENTS OF THOSE CHILDREN! RUN AWAY IF YOU WANT TO LIVE!</strong>"


    The panicked shouts of the voice made Terville frozen. He had never experienced this voice panic like this. It just showed him the intensity of the situation.


    "Sh*t!"


    Terville finally decided.


    "<strong>ATTACK! THEY ARE WITH THE INTRUDERS!</strong>"


    Terville''smanded the Tamawos. He wanted them to cover his escape.


    However, themand was met with silence.


    p The hearts of the Tamawos here were caught by Mei. There was no way that they would attack her.</anda>


    And then...


    "<strong>PAPA! MAMA!</strong>"


    The girls ran towards Mark and Mei, calling them as such.


    Papa and Mama... Even the Tamawos know those human terminologies.


    The situation became even more apparent seeing the girls approach Mark and Mei.


    Mark almostughed while he patted Abbygale''s and Miracle''s heads. He could sense what was happening with the Tamawos.


    "I guess I heard some hearts breaking."


    Mark said. Of course, the Tamawos could not understand him.


    "Gege..."


    Mei stared at Mark, ming him for this ruse.


    "Alright! Alright! I''ll end this."


    Mark shrugged as he turned to Edzel and Pearl.


    "The next enemy ising. Gather those ves that deserve to live."


    At Mark''smand, Edzel and Pearl moved. Ignoring the Tamawos, they gathered those ves that did not revolt earlier. Surely, the ves left behind were enveloped with confusion.


    "Time to start the cleanup."


    Mark said as the pressure in the surroundings suddenly became heavy.


    The Tamawos and the immoral ves felt suffocated. The Tamawos managed to hold, but the remaining ves all fell to their knees.


    "Boss! These are all!"


    Edzel called out to Mark, gathering those who deserved to be saved.


    "<strong>Char!</strong>"


    Mark called out, causing the forest outside the town to shake. There, the reddish-ck dragon flew up to the sky under the fearful eyes of the Tamawos and the ves.


    "T-that dragon..."


    Terville''s eyes grew wide as he remembered the news about the gigantic bird and dragon chasing each other the other day.


    Now, escape became even more impossible for Terville.


    Without any choice left, he murmured.


    "Terrae... Take over my body."


    Terville finally decided to agree to the Demon''s contract.

 Chapter 735 Demonic Possession, Tervilles Transformation And Several Century-Old Demon

    <strong>Day 154 - 8:32 PM - Matutinao Elementary School, Barangay Matutinao, Municipality of Badian, Province of Cebu</strong>


    Facing an overwhelmingly powerful enemy, Terville decided not to flee but to fight. It was even if he had to sell his body to the demon whispering in his ear.


    Tamawos was a prideful race in terms of battles. Their seasoned warriors would not prone to flee from a fight. Even if they were facing a losing battle, they would use any means left and try to win instead of escaping. It was until they used up all their cards that they would try to flee or surrender. Of course, most often, it was alreadyte.


    In the least, they died a warrior''s death.


    With his body still shaking from the bacsh, Terville stood up, wiping the blood on his face. He gave Mark and his group a hateful stare.


    "Why are you Demons meddling with our ns? Are you helping that son of an exiled bastard?"


    Terville spoke. This time, however, it was not Cebuano but in Spiritnguage.


    This made the other Tamawos stare at Terville as they had yet to realize that the group of humans in front of them were not humans but Demons.


    The human ves, and even Emika and Pearl, could only be confused while hearing Terville speak.


    Spirit Language, Demonic Language, and even othernguages used by magical races were something that regr humans would have a hard time understanding. Thesenguages were not just like Chinese or Japanese being spoken in an English country. Instead, it sounded like gibberish they could not hear clearly, even if it reverberated inside their ears with an echo.


    It was like what Pefile said to Mark when they first met. Mark, at that time, would not be able to understand his real name and introduced himself using his mortal name. After all, back then, Mark was still not a Demon.


    The reason for this was because thesenguages were not just spoken in a physical tongue. These magicalnguages were intonations imbued with magical energy to transmit intention, meaning, and emotion. To creatures with no magical affinity, most humans, for example, would not be able to understand thesenguages even if they studied them forever.


    And to Terville''s question, Mark replied.


    "Why are you still asking that question? If you already realized whose son he was, then there''s no need to ask."


    "So, that''s the reason the King''s Mark was resonating. This is just a diversion, isn''t it?" Terville smirked. "That cowardly prince must be in our tribe already, right? How stupid. He won''t get out from there alive."


    "You should worry about yourself first." Mark smiled sinisterly. "Don''t think that a contract with a Demon Spirit can save you."


    Those words from Mark made Terville step backward. It was not Terville''s reflex but Terrae that had already fused with his body.


    "Tsk..."


    Terville clicked his tongue, no it was not Terville. His expression had already changed, and ck pigments already started to cover his pale skin.


    "I didn''t expect this, but you actually noticed me," Terrae spoke in which shocked all the Tamawos around them. "But you shouldn''t be too full of yourself."


    The shocked Tamawos watched their leader as his body transformed. The already tall Terville grew even taller with his arms and legs stretching out of proportion. His skin bloated and popped as his bones stretched and elongated. The ck pigmentations started to grow metallic protrusions which appeared to be iplete armor pieces on his body. His silver hair changed into a sinisterly blood-red color. The pale pupils in Terville''s eyes grew into a horizontal golden line across his eyeballs.


    It took only seconds of grotesque transformation until Terville turned into a five-meter giant with a slumped posture and imperfect body proportions.


    "Damn," Mark raised his head to observe the abomination that Terville turned into. "He looks like a naked Evangelion."


    Mark was not wrong in a sense. Terville''s current body proportion looked like an EVA unit, with his arms, legs, and abdomen being unnaturally thinpared to his shoulders, chest, waist, and head. It would give anyone that saw it the thought that it could not stand on its own with that kind of thin limbs.


    "<strong>Hahahaha!!! FINALLY!!!</strong>" Terrae roared in glee. "Then, I''ll grant yourst wish Terville! Kill the enemies that ruined your ns!"


    SWOOSH!


    Terrae, without warning, made a grabbing gesture towards Mark.


    In everyone''s eyes, however, it looked like his arms vanished all of a sudden, and all they could feel was the air current created by his extremely fast movements.


    BAM!


    All of a sudden, Terrae was kneeling on the ground with his right hand mming on where Mark stood. The impact caused the ground below his hand to crumble. Debris flew everywhere, and the Tamawos were thrown around by the force of the attack.


    However, Mark, the girls, and Mei were nowhere around the hand that fell to the ground.


    "You''re incredibly fastpared to your size, Demon Spirit."


    Mark''s voice was heard, and the dust caused by Terrae''s attack was blown away.


    Away from Terrae''s attack, Mark''s group was already standing together with Char, Pearl, and Edzel.


    Mark then turned to everyone.


    "All of you retreat. I''ll deal with this guy here."


    None had questions, and the girls silently followed their Papa''s orders.


    The only ones who had something to say were the ves that they decided to bring away.


    "Wait! My daughter! She''s still charmed by these monsters! Please... Save her..."


    It was a middle-aged man that spoke Tagalog. By his looks, he was not a local and was most likely a tourist. His voice started strong. But as he remembered the state his daughter was in, his voice began to crumble.


    Mark then looked at the man.


    "The charmed women are already out of this ce." Mark then tapped Chalfar''s head. "This guy will bring you all to them."


    Those words made not only the middle-aged man but also some other ves shed tears. Finally, they were leaving this ce, and their beloved rtives charmed by Tamawos were also saved.


    "Wait! What about us!"


    The thick-skinned ves that sided with the fat ve earlier cried out, seeing that Mark''s group were already prepared to leave. Some of them tried to run towards the group in fear as they looked at what Terville turned into.


    But before they could even reach half the distance...


    "<strong>ACK!</strong>"


    They all fell on their knees.


    Mark was ring at them with his eyes glowing red.


    "Just be d I didn''t kill you people in the spot. Heh, your current fate, you all earned it."


    Suddenly, Mark brandished his shield, the [Defier], out of nowhere. His arms and legs glowed red as he dashed forwards.


    <strong>BAM!</strong>


    The impact caused a shockwave in the surroundings blowing everything around. Mei and the others were unscathed as they were behind Mark. Nheless, they felt the wind around them blowing as strong as a tornado.<sub> </sub>


    In front of them was Mark, holding the [Defier] in front. Against the shield was the fist of Terrae, still outstretched. The ground under Mark''s feet crumbled from the impact, yet he still stood without moving from that gigantic fist.


    "It''s been a long time since I used this shield."


    Mark murmured with a smile. Clicking sounds then ensued as Mark''s fingers triggered one of the functions of the [Defier].


    <strong>CLICK! SHING!</strong>


    "<strong>ARRRGHH!!!</strong>"


    Terrae pulled his fist away by reflex, scattering blood and roaring in pain.


    Mark stood his ground. The shield on his arm changed its form, looking like a hedgehog''s back. Then, with clicking sounds, it turned back into a regr turtle shell.


    "Boss! We''re ready!"


    Edzel shouted as everyone boarded Char''s back. The dragon''s back seemed a bit overloaded. However, of all the ves in this ce, only twenty were worthy of being saved as the others shared the same sin.


    "Just go!"


    "Yes!"


    With Mark''smand, Char flew away.


    "Don''t think I''ll let you escape!"


    Terrae roared as he jumped toward Char. His gigantic body turned into a blur in the night sky. By the time that everyone knew, Chalfar was already flying in front of Terrae''s chest who was ready to grab all of them.


    "And who said that I''ll let you catch them?"


    Mark''s voice was heard as he appeared above Terrae''s head. And with a spin of his body and leg releasing a red glow, he unleased a kick, forcing Terrae back to the ground.


    <strong>BAM!</strong>


    With the five-meter giant falling with great force unto the school grounds, the whole ce turned into a pile of ruins. Many of the Tamawos and ves left behind were thrown away by the explosion-like impact. Some even turned into meat paste as Terrae''s body fell unto them.


    "RRRR!!!"


    From the ruins, Terrae growled while lifting his body. The Demon still tried to look for the dragon. However, it was already too far away. The one left was Mark.


    "This guy is annoyingly sturdy."


    Mark grumbled, seeing that Terrae did not even receive any devastating injury from his attack. Even so, the hand that Mark pierced using his shield was still bleeding.


    "So, a body resistant to blunt trauma but more susceptible to des and piercing attacks, isn''t it?"


    That was Mark''s conclusion, seeing the injuries on the Demonic Terville''s body.


    While Mark was thinking, Terrae already vanished from the wreckage of the school. The Demon''s shadow then loomed over Mark as its gigantic body appeared behind him in a sh.


    Mark was taken by surprise. Terrae''s movement was faster than before that his [Empathic Detection] could not perceive the Demon''s movements.


    BAM!


    A gigantic palm struck Mark like swatting a fly.


    Mark still managed to react, raising his shield against the palm.


    BOOM!


    Still, Mark was thrown to the ground. This time, it was him who created a crater in the middle of the central road of the town of Matutinao. The only feat was that he fell feet first, unlike the unsightly fall of Terrae earlier.


    "Sturdy body, extreme speed, super strength... This guy isn''t just some lost Demon Spirit, isn''t he?"


    Mark murmured with a frown. He shook his legs as they felt numb from the impact. The force even tore the lower part of his pants into tatters.


    "This is annoying," Markined about his tattered pants. "I better ask the guys back in the base if they can manufacture a stronger type of fabric from mutated nts."


    "This bastard..."


    Terraended with a huge bang across the bridge from where Mark stood. He was enraged and surprised. Even though he had just taken Terville''s body a few minutes ago, it was enough for him to harness a third of his abilities before his original body was destroyed hundreds of years ago. Yet, the young Demon he encountered this time could not only survive these devastating attacks but was not even taking him seriously.


    "Had Demons grown this strong since the hundred years I roamed without a body."


    Terrae murmured.


    The Demon wanted to know more. However, Mark was an enemy that should be eliminated as soon as possible.


    Without further ado, Terrae prepared to attack Mark one more time. If it was not enough, then he would attack more.


    It was when Terrae noticed that Mark showing a serious expression. However, he was not looking at the Gigantic Demon. Instead, he was facing the coast.


    <strong>BOOM!</strong>


    Suddenly, an unbelievable pressure enveloped the ce. It was a pressure that even Mark and Terrae felt suffocated.


    "It''s here."


    Mark murmured. It was the reason he made everyone retreat as soon as he felt iting.


    "What... What is this..."


    Terrae was shaking. This kind of shaking... He had not felt this kind of fear ever since he was born several hundred years ago.


    Mark and Terrae were shaking. There was no need to say anything about the ves and Tamawos around them. All of them had fallen to the ground. Most had fallen unconcious.


    <strong>RUMBLE!</strong>


    <strong>ROAR!!!</strong>


    Apanied by a growling roar, the waters on the coast rose several meters high.


    A tsunami. It was a tidal wave high enough to swallow a medium-sized city, not to mention a tiny coastal town.

 Chapter 736 The Battle In The Tribe, The Impossible Event That Only Pefile Could Pull

    <strong>Day 154 - 9:32 PM - Root Cave Prison, Tamawo Ancestral Tribe, Municipality of Badian, Province of Cebu</strong>


    The confrontation outside the prison cave was nigh. If Pefile wanted to fight freely, he had to hand the care of Celine to others. As such, Berrak summoned one of his tamed creatures to do the job.


    With a bright magic circle, the creature was summoned. However, what it was made the three other men surprised.


    Geronimo and Padua were surprised as to how such a magnificent creature from the legends actually existed.


    Pefile, a knowledgeable member of the royal family of Tamawos, however, was surprised for a different reason.


    What Berrak summoned was a majestic white steed with a silver glowing mane and a pearl-like crystal horn.


    It was no other than a Unicorn, the mystical symbol of freedom, hope, healing, innocence, and, of course, purity. The very same creature that stories told to be very elusive and only allowed pure maidens to touch them.


    Because of that knowledge, Pefile could only stare at Berrak in askance. Just how the hell could a man like Berrak tame something like this? It also made Pefile unsure if he could entrust Celine to such an arrogant creature.


    "I know what you are thinking." Berrak said, being used to that kind of eyes whenever he summoned this "Unicorn"-like creature. "Look closely before judging me. I''m a man and definitely not a maiden, alright?"


    Berrak then pointed at three parts of the creature''s body. That was when everyone noticed that it was not a regr Unicorn as they thought it to be.


    Like what they had seen before, it had a silver mane. However, its tail was pitch ck in color. On its forehead, besides its crystal horn, it had two smaller and less prominent horns that were also ck. These smaller horns were kind of hard to see because of the creature''s thick mane.


    Thest part was the creature''s eyes. Its right eye that faced Pefile and the others had a pupil that was golden-colored. The other, however, had a bright red pupil.


    "What the hell is this? Some kind of Tricorn?"


    Padua asked.


    "Can be." Berrak shrugged as he caressed the creature''s fluffy mane. "But to be more specific, it''s a half-breed of a Unicorn and a Bicorn. I don''t really know the details of how it happened, but I found this poor girl dying after being cast out of their herd. It seems like both the herds of her mother and father did not want her."


    Berrak then turned to Pefile and Celine.


    "Also, you don''t have to worry about her getting wild while carrying your wife. She''s not picky about who she will carry. Just don''t try to hurt her. It will also be beneficial since your wife is sick. Being a half-breed, she had both destructive abilities of Bicorns and healing abilities of Unicorns. She could help heal your wife while also protecting her."


    "Right?"


    Berrak turned to the half-breed creature, and it neighed confidently.


    Those words from Berrak made Pefile relieved. Celine really needed immediate treatment. Although it was unlikely that Celine would get cured since her illness was not a disease but more ofck of body nutrients, a Unicorn''s healing should still help her recover her vitality.


    And besides, the creature was a female. It made Pefile less hesitant to let his wife be carried by it.


    Helped by Pefile, Celine was put on the creature''s back. It would already be fine if she was put face down on its back. However, it was also experienced in letting people ride on it and let Celine lean on its neck instead. Because of its clean, fluffy mane, she feltfortable. Celine also felt warm and a bit more energized. Without a doubt, it was the work of the magical horse she was riding on.


    "What is her name?"


    Celine could not help but ask Berrak.


    "Alineart." Berrak smiled. "It came from the crystal gemstone with ck veins called Tourmaline Quartz which also had healing properties."


    "Alineart, huh." Celine looked at the fluffy mane in front of her face. "I''ll be in your care for now."


    <strong>NEIGH!</strong>


    Alineart neighed with confidence. Everyone around could tell that she meant "leave it to me."


    "Then, let''s go."


    Pefile said, making the other three men nod.


    Padua and Geronimo readied their assault rifles while Berrak began to circte his magical energy.


    As for Pefile, he was ready to fight any time.


    The group reached the exit. It was not unexpected that the gates were already open.


    Stepping outside the dungeon, the scene was quite intimidating.


    About a hundred Tamawo Warriors surrounded the only entrance and exit of the Root Cave Dungeon. Many of them encircled the entrance with their spears while the others were scattered in different positions with their bows.


    A setup like this was quite an overkill as the enemies were just four people.


    But, of course, none of them cared. These warriors were following the orders of their current king. And that was to eliminate the intruders that tried to abduct their king''s beloved.


    And that king in question...


    "Brother, brother... You finally decided toe home. Howe that you didn''t even greet me?"


    Wearing a crown made from the core of their sacred tree, a cape adorned by colorful feathers, and holding a Spearstaff, a scepter-like spear that only the current king could wield.


    It was Pefile''s younger brother, the acimed current king of the Tamawos, Artile.


    The face of the two was quite simr to each other. No one would be able to deny that they were two individuals that came from the same father and mother. However, their expressions differed greatly. Pefile appeared to be reserved and aloof. Artile, on the other hand, looked condescending and outgoing. The two were definitely siblings but also the two opposite sides of the same coin.


    "Still calling me brother after everything you''ve done. It seems that your face grew thicker as time went by."


    Pefile ridiculed.


    "Everything I''ve done?" Artile tilted this head. "So far as I know, I''ve done nothing against the rules of our tribe. You abandoned your position as the next king, so it should be mine. It was those old farts that were not ying by the rules."


    Artile then tapped the Spearstaff on the ground.


    "If you are talking about Celine, then it''s not against the rules either. We have to decide who she will belong to after one of us were defeated. You can''tin about letting others fight you first. The rule is that we fight one on one to determine Celine''s ownership, but it was never said that others can''t challenge you before we battle."


    "Ownership... Celine is not an object." Pefile red at Artile. "You im to have fallen in love with her. Yet, you failed to monitor her health and harmed her. The thing you call your love is nothing but a flimsy excuse to get what is mine, you jealous bastard."<sub> </sub>


    Jealousy...


    That word made Artile''s eyebrows twitch.


    Since the start, his older brother was always better than Artile. Spearmanship, archery, magicalpatibility, knowledge, and even the support of the tribesmen. It was even though Pefile was someone that rarely interacted with others and was deemed to be a weird one, many stood behind him and watched his back.


    On the other hand, Artile, the younger brother, had almost nothing. It would have been alright if he had even just the love of their mother. However, their human mother became the queen not out of pure love but because of their race''s [Charm Magic]. Because of that, she blindly followed the thoughts of their father, supporting Pefile and barely giving Artile any affection.


    But that was all in the past. Artile was the king now and not that prince that had everything.


    "Jealous? Who is jealous of someone like you?" Artile argued. "There is no point in arguing. From this day, Celine will be mine. It''s not toote to fix her up when that timees."


    "You..." Pefile was extremely irked as to how Artile treated Celine like an object. "Don''t think that you will win this time."


    "And what can you do? Rely on humans and their weapons?" Artile smirked. "Attack!"


    With that word, the warriors surrounding Pefile''s group readied to charge. Before the Spearmen, however, the Bowmen made the first move.


    Drawing the strings of their bows, dozens of arrows flew towards the direction of Pefile''s group. Fortunately, Alineart, who carried Celine, was left inside and would be far from this kind of danger.


    Still, Padua and Geronimo felt the pressure and danger. Without hesitation, the two fired at the most important person among the enemies, Artile.


    Pefile never mentioned anything about leaving his brother to him. Thus, the two did the most rational thing to do.


    But then, several warriors rushed in front of their king. King was unharmed but blood still sttered. Those warriors in front had just sacrificed themselves to protect their king.


    "Impertinent humans." Artile red and began chanting. "<strong>¨ƒ¨ƒ¨ƒ¨ƒ¨ƒ¨ƒ¨ƒ¨ƒ¨ƒ</strong>"


    The chant in Spirit Language reverberated in everyone''s ears. Suddenly, roots began to entangle the bodies of the fallen Tamawos.


    On the other hand, as the arrows rained towards their group, Berrak released his magic.


    "Barrier!"


    Berrak shouted and raised his palms upward.


    An invisible magical forcefield enveloped Pefile''s group, blocking all the arrows.


    The sudden usage of magic surprised the warriors. They did not expect that one of the humans with Pefile was actually a user of magic.


    However, Berrak was not the only one in this battle.


    Artile finished his chant, and the dead bodies were now enveloped with the nt-like matter. The bodies then stood up, moving like mindless wood golems.


    "Oi... Pefile... We never heard of this..."


    Berrakined as the few dead bodies turned into wood golems.


    "Artile... You said that you didn''t break any of the tribe''s rules." Pefile red. "You should know that tampering with the Ancestral Scepter is taboo."


    "Tamper? What are you talking about?" Artileughed. "I didn''t tamper with this. This is its hidden power that was long forgotten. Don''t tell me that my knowledgeable brother already forgot the historical records?"


    Pefile frowned, unable to refute. In one of their ancestral records, it stated that in many of the tribe''s battles in the past, dead warriors woulde back to life, protected by the powers of nature. That part might have been referring to this.


    However, as the newer records stopped depicting simr events, it might have been lost.


    No, it was not lost. The powers of the scepter were used too much that it became unusable afterward. Then, that fact was buried. Now, it seemed that the Ancestral Scepter regained its powers.


    "Using wood and dead bodies to make golems, huh." Pefile shrugged. "What a disrespectful method."


    "But don''t think that you''re the only one with new things," Pefile added. "Do you really think that I returned here just to rely on the people in my group?"


    "Wrong."


    Pefile stretched his arms forward as ifmanding something. That was when everyone noticed that his both hands were holding onto something like arm-sized roots.


    To the Tamawo''s, however, these roots were familiar.


    Those roots were the very same roots of the cluster of trees that made up the Ancestral Castle and the Dungeon beneath it.


    And by Pefile''smands, the branches of the gigantic trees shook violently.


    BAM!


    As if it were the arms of the giants smashing to the ground, the thick branches attacked the warriors.


    "<strong>GAHAAA</strong>!!!"


    The warriors tried their best to dodge the attacks, but some still got smashed to the ground. The unlucky onesid lifeless on the ground with their bones crushed that most of the fragments protruded out of their bodies.


    "<strong>WHAT!</strong>"


    Artile was utterly shocked by what was going on. Not only him but even the shaman that was in charge of manipting these trees into shape.


    These trees that were as strong as metal was not something that could move freely like that. Yet, it was clear that Pefile was manipting the trees to utterly impossible flexibility.


    "This is impossible..."


    The shaman uttered as if he had seen a ghost.


    "<strong>PEFILE! YOU BASTARD!!! WHAT DID YOU DO?!!!</strong>"


    Finally, Artile threw away all the pretenses and called his brother by his name. The impossible thing in front of them was just too much to take. To them, this was more impossible to happen than seeing a god descend from the heavens.

 Chapter 737 Their Sacred Duel, Pefiles And Artiles Last Fight

    <strong>Day 154 - 9:39 PM - Tamawo Ancestral Tribe, Municipality of Badian, Province of Cebu</strong>


    The Ancestral Trees at the center of the realm of Tamawos were quite old. It had been there even before their race was created by the Visayan Goddess of the Sea, Maguayan. Their appearance was close to Acacia Trees but grew in a cluster simr to a Birch Tree. The bark was as hard stone, and the wood was as hard as steel. Spears and arrowheads that the Tamawos used were mainly made from their peeled-off bark.


    While the Ancestral Trees were not Spirit Trees, it was blessed to have the ability to choose the shamans of the tribe. Those shamans were the only ones capable of moving the trees that created the Castle with the trunks and the Dungeons with the roots.


    But even with the maniption of the shamans, the process was not easy because of the trees'' hardness. While moving the small roots was easier, controlling the other parts was done slowly.


    And yet, Pefile was here, holding the roots of the Ancestral Tree. He was controlling the gigantic branches of the tree as if it was an extension of his hands.


    Those stone-like bark and metal-like wood...


    They were all moving like stic rubber whips as they disyed their hardness to smash the Tamawo Warriors into pieces.


    The symbol of the Royal Family of their tribe was being used to kill their own people.


    Such a scene was something everyone deemed impossible. Even the shaman in all their history was incapable of doing such feat.


    At this moment, some of them could not help but think that Pefile was doing a miracle of a god.


    "<strong>STOP HIM!</strong>"


    Artile roared as he slowly retreated back.


    The current king was confident that he could eliminate the only obstacle left in his life this time around.


    With his loyal warriors, they surrounded the only ce where Pefile could escape.


    He managed to use their Ancestral Scepter and used the dead bodies to create wood golems. These undying minions should be enough to capture Pefile for their final showdown.


    In there was no need to say anything about the warriors. Even the supposedly undying wood golems would stop moving after being smashed to pieces.


    The worst thing, there were no dead bodies left to create more wood golems as every single warrior that died was literally turned into clumps of meat paste.


    Nheless, at themand of their king and to avenge the deaths of theirrade, the warriors attacked. Because of Berrak''s magical barrier blocking the arrows, the only thing they could do was to charge forward. They roared with bravery with their spears pointed towards their opponent.


    They were not afraid to throw away their lives. Dying in battle was more feasible to them than losing their lives from the curse of their race.


    These warriors charged, evading the branches smashing towards them from above. Some got hit and died, but many of them survived, still charged towards Pefile.


    Unfortunately for these brave warriors, Pefile had no desire to hold back. If the pair of thick branches above was not enough, then just make more.


    This afternoon when Mark arrived to brief them of the n. Pefile said that his new ability felt like he gained new limbs. It felt natural, yet not.


    Later on, after telling them the n, Mark told Pefile that his [Blood Whips] had a simr sensation. And since Pefile had just acquired it, the ability would feel strange.


    It was not surprising. Even Pefile''s race only had four limbs. Suddenly getting new limbs would feel awkward, strange, and ufortable.


    That was why it was better not to treat them as new limbs at the start. Instead, it should be like holding a controller while ying a video game, align the actions of the ability to the movements of his hands and fingers.


    Mark''s advice sounded absurd. However, it did give Pefile a sudden breakthrough.


    From a single wooden whip that he could control, it turned into eight "limbs" soon after. Unfortunately, the size varied. He could not turn all into simr sizes if he wanted all to berger. Two "limbs" could grow big like the two thick branches, but the rest remained as thick as whips.


    That was why while the Tamawo Warriors were charging at Pefile, three pairs of pointed roots shot out of the ground. The Tamawos in front immediately died with their hearts impaled.


    Moreover, Pefile would not let them turn into Artile''s golems as he used the [Root Whips] to tear the dead bodies into pieces.


    Pefile''s brutal act made some of the Tamawos waver. The ones most affected by the gruesome death of theirrades were the younger Tamawos. They began to hesitate on advancing against Pefile''s brutal attacks.


    Moreover, the smashing of the thick branches of the Ancestral Tree did not only affect the warriors. The heavy attacks also damaged the surroundings, causing other trees and structures nearby to copse.


    And the worst case. Since the castle was made of the Ancestral Tree itself, its unprecedented movements caused parts of the structure to be destroyed. Even the dungeon underneath began to copse.


    "<strong>PEFILE! ARE YOU TRYING TO DESTROY OUR TRIBE?!!!</strong>"


    Artile roared, witnessing the copse of his royal abode.


    The destruction of the castle was not something that would be repaired shortly. It would take ages for the shaman to return it to its previous state.


    But to Artile''s question, Pefile stared with contempt.


    "Our tribe, you say. Are you surely saying that? I already cut off my ties from this ce. If not for Celine, there is no reason for me to return here. You should remember that you''re the one who intruded in our life. If I destroyed this ce, it''s all your fault."


    "<strong>You!!!</strong>"


    Artille was at a loss for words. Whether he would ept it or not, it was true. Everyone present also knew that.


    Nheless, Pefile already said his intention. He did not care if this tribe was destroyed. It was something that they would not let happen, even at the price of sacrificing their lives.


    "<strong>HA!</strong>"


    This time, someone attacked Pefile. The Tamawo threw away his bow and grabbed a spear. He then charged. Dancing away from Pefile''s attacks, the Tamawo closed in swiftly.


    <strong>CLANG!</strong>


    The spear and a pair of whips shed against each other. Pefile stared at the Warrior, and the Warrior also stared at Pefile.


    "<strong>Urille.</strong>"


    Pefile called the Tamawo''s name.


    "I''m sorry, Pefile. I know that the tribe did you badly, but I can''t just let you destroy it."


    The warrior, Urille, replied.


    Urille was someone that both Pefile and Artile knew since their childhood. Among the Tamawos of this generation, he was considered to be the most talented warrior. He was too talented that even Artile kept him around even if Urille''s father was already exiled for being loyal to Pefile.


    <strong>CLANG!</strong>


    Pefile controlled another root to attack Urille but thetter dodged.


    "I can''t believe that you''re still working under Artile. You''re even risking your life."


    "I''m just doing my best. I want my father to receive a pardon and return from being exiled from the tribe".


    Urille replied with a serious expression.


    However, those words made Pefile sigh.


    "Oi, Artile," Pefile called out with a frown. "Are you really going to honor that promise? Is there a point in giving a dead person a pardon?"


    Those words caused Urille''s heart to be enveloped in turmoil.


    "W-what are you saying?!"


    Urille questioned Pefile.


    However, instead of exining, Pefile replied.


    "Enter the dungeon, the furthest cell near the dump hole."<sub> </sub>


    Pefile replied, retracting the roots in front of Urille. With a nod from Pefile, Berrak and the two soldiers also stepped aside, allowing Urille to pass through.


    Suddenly having the path opened in front of him made Urille extremely anxious. It was as if a horrible truth was beingid before him. Giving the speechless king onest look, Urille rushed into the dungeons, even passing by Celine and Alineart, but he could not care.


    Losing their greatest warrior made the morale of the Tamawos even lower.


    However, Pefile was already done with the farce. Manipting the Ancestral Tree, Pefile swept all the warriors away. Artile tribed to flee, only to find out that he and Pefile were now enclosed by a [Physical Barrier] created by Berrak.


    It was one of Mark''s suggestions in the n he made. It was for Berrak to secure a barrier where there was only Pefile and his brother inside.


    This would be where the duel between the two brothers would happen. A duel to decide and end things.


    "Now, Artile. It''s only the two of us in here." Pefile stepped forwards. "It is time for our sacred duel, my brother."


    Pefile''s voice sounded cruel. His pent-up anger and helplessness when Celine was taken away from him flowed through his voice.


    "<strong>Y-YOU!</strong>"


    Sure enough, Artile had already lost the will to fight.


    Since the start, he was only relying on numbers to try and overwhelm Pefile. It was the same back then when he took away Celine. It was the same now when he blocked Pefile''s escape.


    But now that the others could not interfere, Artille was nothing but a cowardly king.


    In the first ce, Pefile was considered a prodigy in their tribe. On the other hand, he was not. It was not something without basis as Pefile did excel in many fields, especially fighting.


    There was not a single time that Artile managed to win against Pefile in a one-on-one fight.


    Ignoring those facts, Pefile picked up a spear from a dead Tamawo from the ground. Then, he threw it to Artile.


    CLANG!


    "Pick that up. A Sacred Duel is always done with spears."


    Pefile said.


    At this time, Pefile revealed a rather rare expression for him. It was contempt. He was looking at Artille with eyes filled with ridicule.


    And to Artile, that kind of look was infuriating. It was the eyes of people that looked down on him after beingpared to his older brother.


    With shaking hands, Artile threw the Ancestral Scepter away and grabbed the spear.


    Filled with fury, Artile roared and charged towards Pefile.


    "<strong>RAAAAAHHH!!!</strong>"


    <strong>CLANG!</strong>


    The spears of the two brothers shed.


    Artile stabbed his spear multiple times, roaring in fury. Each attack was fast and deadly. On the other hand, Pefile only kept defending.


    And here, the disparity between the two was clear to everyone.


    While Artile was desperately attacking, Pefile was effortlessly blocking the attack. The worst for their king, Pefile had yet to take a step backward or forwards after their king started attacking.


    Finally, Pefile was full of Artile''s disappointing disy.


    <strong>BAM!</strong>


    "<strong>GAHAK!</strong>"


    Artile wailed as Pefile''s spear mercilessly bashed to his side.


    "Is this all you can do?"


    Pefile asked as he rotated his spear and stabbed its non-pointed end unto Artile''s forehead.


    <strong>BAM!</strong>


    "<strong>ACK!</strong>"


    Artile fell from the attack, sitting on the ground with eyes filled with fury.


    "It seems that after all these years, the only thing that grew is your ego. What a useless thing."


    Pefile said, ring at Artile like he was looking at an insect.


    Those words, however, echoed loudly inside Artile''s ears. "What a useless thing..." It was something that he heard a few times while other tribe members were discreetly gossiping about him and his brother.


    It was the set of words that Artile hated the most.


    "<strong>AAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!!!</strong>"


    Driven by craze, Artile grabbed brandished his spear at Pefile like a mad man. All his arrogance as the king was gone. Now, what was left was the pure anger of a wild beast that wanted to tear Pefile apart.


    But, of course, it was nothing but a futile attempt.


    BOOM!


    Pefile also brandished his spear. Putting all his emotions in this strike, Pefile widely swung his spear towards Artile''s face.


    The attack connected. Artile did not even utter a sound as he was sent flying to the other side of the barrier and fainted with blood on his head.


    With this, Pefile was without a doubt the winner of this duel. No, rather than a duel, it was nothing but a one-sided fight.


    "Berrak, we should go."


    Pefile said, telling Berrak to finally summon something that they would ride away.


    "You''re not going to destroy this ce?"


    Berrak asked. After all, it was something that Pefile could possibly do in his current strength.


    Unexpectedly, Pefile shook his head.


    "This tribe is already done for. I just don''t want it to be by my hands."


    "If that''s what you decided, then I won''t say anything."


    Berrak nodded. It was the same for Geronimo and Padua.


    Finally, Pefile escorted Celine out of the dungeon. Now, that their king was defeated, the will to fight the Tamawos plummeted to zero.


    And when Berrak summoned Trua, the Thunderbird, the Tamawos were frozen still. Some of them recognized the bird and felt it was unbelievable.


    Riding on the back of Trua, the work of Pefile''s group here was done. As they finally left, the ce was enveloped by an unsettling silence. The only sound they could hear was the wailing sadnessing from inside the dungeons.

 Chapter 768 The Arrival, Marks New Weapon And A Bad News For The Major

    <strong>Day 162 - 10:47 AM - Agos River Riverbank, New Infanta Settlement, Infanta, Province of Quezon</strong>


    The injured soldier was down in shock while another frantically pulled him to cover. With the two out in the open, there was no way that they could avoid the next attack without another casualty.


    Another? Well, yes. The morale of the soldiers was already down. They already lost two people without even giving the enemy any significant damage.


    However, they could not just retreat.


    Thesers that the enemy fired could reach long distances. The walls were down, and what remained of the settlement wasid bare without cover. If they left the enemy alone, civilian casualties would not be avoidable.


    Thus, they could only fight, even if they were about to lose anotherrade before their eyes.


    Nheless, they would not just go and watch.


    With the mechanical shark mid-air, they only need to give enough force to push its body away and make its attack miss.


    As such, the soldiers sent a volley of bullets towards the enemy.


    They could not do this for the first two soldiers that fell as they were caught off-guard. However, it was the third time. There was no way that trained soldiers would not think of measures to defend.


    And they could only try.


    <strong>BANG! BANG! BANG!</strong>


    <strong>CLANG! CLANG!</strong>


    Sounds of guns and metal loudly sounded as the bullets collided with the mechanical shark''s body in just a second.


    Unfortunately, there was no damage like before. There still was no significant damage dealt on the enemy. And the worst part, while they did manage to shift its position mid-air, its head was actually able to lock onto its target. The mechanical shark was about to fall back to the water after the volley of bullets, but its head was still facing the wounded soldier.


    There was no hope. They were going to lose anotherrade.


    They wanted to use explosives. They had grenades and even a rocket-propelled gun on standby. However, these weapons were difficult to use on fast-moving enemies, especially this mechanical shark that could dive underwater.


    But then...


    <strong>SHOOOM!!!</strong>


    The whistling sound of air being torn apart entered the soldiers'' ears.


    Before everyone could react, they vaguely saw a foot-long stake being driven into the mechanical shark''s body with a loud bam.


    Only a third of the stake lodged into the mechanical shark''s body. However, the force was more than enough to bash it out of mid-air back into the water.


    With a loud ssh and a strong ssh of water, the mechanical shark was forcefully submerged. It was still able to release itsser. However, it was fired towards the sky with nothing to hit at all.


    The soldiers could not help but turn to the direction that the stake seemed to havee from.


    And to their confusion and fear, all they saw was a ball of ck smoke approaching their direction from the sky.


    Seeing the mysterious ball of ck smoke, the only reasonable reaction the soldiers could have was to ready their weapons.


    But then, among the soldiers...


    "Isn''t that?"


    A soldier eximed at the familiar ck smoke.


    And it seemed that the leader of this squad had the same thought as he gazed at the mysterious object in the sky.


    "Men! Focus on the robot shark! Ignore the thing in the sky for now!"


    The squad leader shouted.


    "But sir!"


    Another soldier hesitated.


    "That shark isn''t dead yet! The one in the sky should be an ally!"


    The squad leader added.


    Most of the soldiers were skeptical. However, the shark was in the river in front, while the ball of ck smoke was still far in the sky. Of course, the priority was the closest one, considering they could not go out of the safe border.


    ***


    At the sky, Mark aimed the weapon in his hands.


    It was arge, ck-colored RPG-sized gun with a rectangr barrel aimed like a sniper rifle.


    "Mark... isn''t that..."


    Major Bautista was worried about the situation below. However, he could not help but feel shocked as Mark took out his new weapon.


    "A railgun?"


    Karlene finished the Major''s words as it was also the first time she saw Mark use this weapon.


    "Pretty simr to a railgun but not the same."


    Mark replied, not taking his sight unto the waters below.


    The weapon in his hand had the name [Shadow Piercer]. It was the weapon he had been nning to make for a while now through trial and error.


    In a sense, it was a railgun as it used maic fields and kic energy to propel the projectile at high speeds.


    However, it was different since it did not have any power source attached to it.


    Furthermore, the experimental railguns in the current needed time to charge energy before the railgun could fire the projectile. The one in Mark''s hand could fire a projectile in an instant.


    How? Because instead of using a power source, Mark was using his [ck Lightning] to generate the maic field and fire the projectile at will.


    After all, Mark did not need to charge his ability and just release it in any amount he could possibly do.


    "It still needs some tuning and testing, though," Mark grumbled. "I''m aiming for the head, but it hit the side instead."


    Even though it was not Mark''s intended result, it did save a life of a soldier, nheless.


    What annoyed Mark, even more, was how sturdy the body of that shark was.


    With the velocity and strength of the projectile he shot, it was more than enough to puncture a fully armored tank.


    Did all [Mechids] have a strong body like this? Now that Mark thought about it, this was the first time he actually tried to damage the body of a [Mechid]. In the first two encounters, all he did was capture them.


    Mark shook his head. Now was not the time to think about unnecessary things. He just needed to focus on shooting that mechanical shark once it showed itself once more.


    ***<sub> </sub>


    Everyone waited, weapons ready to fire. Unexpectedly, no mechanical shark surfaced from the river.


    The soldiers were also wary of the ball of ck smoke. They were ready to fire towards it once it showed any sign of aggression.


    However, as the ball of smoke entered the safe border, the ck smoke moved, being sucked into one ce.


    That was when the true appearance of the ck smoke was revealed, showing the familiar dragon that all these soldiers saw several times before.


    It was only then that they let down their guard and focused on the lurking threat in the raging river water.


    The soldiers were even more delighted when they saw Major Bautista aboard the back of the dragon.


    ***


    Charnded quite a distance away behind the front line. As the passengers alighted, the squad leader and a few soldiers hurried to greet them.


    "Major! Sir Mark!"


    The squad leader saluted to the two.


    The squad leader also noticed the strange weapon Mark was carrying on his shoulder. He was sure that it was Mark who shot the mechanical shark and helped them.


    "Sir Mark. Thank you for saving my subordinates earlier."


    The squad leader, 1st Lieutenant Baller, said with sincere gratitude.


    "You don''t have to thank me."


    Mark replied.


    The squad leader did not bother Mark anymore after hearing that reply. He was thankful for the help, but he knew that Mark was not someone talkative. Instead, he went to converse with Major Bautista.


    Mark appreciated the 1st Lieutenant''s actions. Well, it was not surprising that he somehow knew his personality. 1st Lieutenant Baller was the leader of the soldiers that came from Bay City. Some of them were also present here. It should also be the reason why they were familiar with Mark''s [Miasma] despite not knowing what it was.


    "Major, it''s good to see you safe." 1st Lieutenant Baller said to Major Bautista. "Many of us were afraid that you and the others might have died already. The mountains were the most dangerous ce to be in that catastrophe. Thank goodness we are wrong."


    It was not an ill guess. The mountains were one of the worst ces to be in a huge earthquake. Parts of the mountains could copse and cause andslide. In fact, many mountains around Mt. Mbito were affected by this and were reshaped. Mt. Mbito was the only exception and was less damaged because of Luis Morgan doing his best.


    "I know you''re happy, but now is not the time to chat. We need to deal with the problem first."


    Major Bautista reprimanded the squad leader.


    "Yes, Sir!"


    Lieutenant Baller nodded and turned his attention back to the battle.


    Well...


    The battle they were supposed to continue...


    ...Would not continue without the enemy.


    "Be on guard! I mighte out if we start cking!"


    Lieutenant Baller called out loud, urging everyone to keep their guards up.


    On the other hand, the soldier who lost his arm was now given a [Regeneration Medicine]. Although it would not regenerate his arm, it would at least lessen the pain. He was not bleeding profusely, however. Theser that cut of his arm burned the wound, leaving fewer wounds than expected.


    The soldiers were on high alert, all eyes on the water of the river.


    Mark also made his move.


    "Ignis."


    As he uttered the name, Ignis, sheathed on his back, flew off, surprising some soldiers. Not all of them had seen the flying sword, after all.


    Ignis dove into the river. It was clear that it was searching for the shark underwater.


    However, after a few seconds, Mark frowned.


    "Major," Mark called out. "The shark already escaped."


    Those words sure surprised the soldiers. Well, Mark himself was the same.


    "Are you sure?"


    Major Bautista asked.


    There, Ignis flew out of the water and return to Mark.


    "Yeah. Pretty sure." Mark replied. "I might have given it some damage, but I did not expect it to actually flee."


    "No, I guess, I should have expected it."


    Mark added with a slight shake of his head.


    "Right, you mentioned it before." Karlene chimed in. "When you showed us that Latcher. You said that it tried to flee after its sneak attack missed."


    Mark''s frown just got deeper.


    The [Mechid Latcher] did not seem to have great fighting capabilities. As such, its behavior to flee was not that surprising. Especially if its host was damaged. That shark, however, was a whole robotic creature. No one would really expect it to flee after getting a single damaging hit.


    And the worst part, there was no way to find it while it was underwater. The river was wider and deeper than before. It was basically that mechanical shark''s home.


    "In any case, we can''t let it end here." 1st Lieutenant Baller said out loud. "Spread out across the riverbank! Always move behind cover! Quick!"


    The soldiers moved as fast as they could. That mechanical shark was too dangerous and needed to be guarded against.


    "We''ll get moving." Major Bautista told the soldiers. "I need to meet the General to ask about the situation."


    Those words, however, caused the soldiers to show some sad expressions. There was no way that the Major would not notice it.


    "Did something happen to the General?"


    Major Bautista could not help but have a bad foreboding.


    "Major," 1st Lieutenant Baller spoke. "It is better to see for yourself. Our tents are in the southern area. Sir Jones should be there, acting as the General''s proxy."


    Major Bautista could not help but worry. He was quite close to General Faustino, after all. The two of them were direct superior and subordinate for a long time. And now, something happened to him in Major Bautista''s absence.


    "We should go."


    Mark tapped the Major''s shoulder, urging him to move. Major Bautista nodded, and they hurried towards the settlement.


    Considering that someone had to act as the General''s proxy, he must be in a condition where he could not lead the soldiers by himself anymore.

 Chapter 739 The Giant Crocodile, The Legend Under The Waters And A Predator Lying In Wait

    <strong>Day 154 - 8:51 PM - Santander-Barili-Toledo Road, Barangay Matutinao, Municipality of Badian, Province of Cebu</strong>


    Standing at the center of the cracked road hended at, Mark stared at the several-meter tall wave that was about to engulf the whole town.


    "<strong>H-Help!</strong>"


    "<strong>NO... I DON''T WANT TO DIE!</strong>"


    "<strong>UWAAAHHH!!!</strong>"


    Those helpless screams echoed into Mark''s ear.


    Enveloped by the pressure that made their bodies unable to move, the ves could only wail in fear as they watched the iing disaster.


    The situation was not too different for the Tamawos left in the area. Although many of them managed to not fall because of the pressure with their sheer will, there was no way for them to move freely.


    This unknown pressure enveloping everyone was akin to a quagmire slowly dragging everyone to their deaths.


    All of them could only watch the tall waves rapidly inching closer and closer to the town in horror.


    What was the most horrifying thing in the world?


    Was it a fatal ident? Bandits? Guns? The Infected? Torture?


    No.


    The answer was a natural disaster or any event at its scale.


    A natural disaster could happen at any time, like an ident. It could be lurking around like a bandit and could kill like a gun. It could even lead to deaths worse than being eaten by infected or torture.


    The worst part, no mortal could prevent it from happening.


    And to say, being swallowed by a tsunami was one of the worst death a living being could possibly experience.


    A tsunami''s raging waters could lift and push heavy structures and vehicles, not to mention a human. The victim swallowed by would likely get bashed into debris and obstacles carried or standing against its raging currents. Wounds, broken bones, and many other injuries, many things could kill a human swallowed within a tsunami, not to mention that it could drown a person to death by its raging waters alone.


    Now, the male ves left at the school were facing this kind of predicament. The horror in their eyes as they helplessly watch the tsunami approach the coast could not be exined by words.


    <strong>RUMBLE!!!</strong>


    As sudden as it appeared, the raging waves hit the coast with a loud rumble quickly.


    The houses and structures by the coast were destroyed and swallowed by the waves like toys. Whether it be made of concrete or wood, any building did not stand a chance against the raging waves.


    The mes caused by the explosions were immediately extinguished as the waves, like a hungry beast, devoured the burning houses.


    With the raging waves approaching, Mark opened his wings and soared to the sky. The pressure made him feel sluggish, but it was not enough to keep him in ce. After all, if it was godly pressures that he should talk about, he experienced worse from the presence of the Eyes.


    Terrae, on the other hand, was panicking.


    "<strong>MOVE! MOVE! DAMN IT!</strong>"


    The demon roared loud as he forced his body to move.


    Terrae might be a powerful demon. But currently, he was just possessing a body of a Tamawo. Like others, the pressure was affecting him strongly.


    "<strong>TSK! HOW USELESS!</strong>"


    Terrae roared in fury as he left Terville''s body and escaped. In his soul form, there was no way that these raging waters would harm him.


    That decision of Terrae, however, was fatal to Terville.


    Terville suddenly woke up from his possessed state, confused as to what was going on. Unfortunately, there was no time for him to think at all as the pressure began to weigh him down as his body returned to normal.


    And then, as he raised his head in his final struggle, all he could see was water, swallowing him and everything around him. There was not even a second for him to scream out his horror as water flooded his mouth and nose.


    At the sky, Mark watched the scene with rare excitement.


    It was like he was watching a disaster movie, except it was happening in reality.


    From the sky, he could see how the tsunami swallowed everything.


    Tall trees, buildings, and even utility posts, everything that was in its path was swept away like stic toys.


    Since the tsunami was on arge scale, it was not only the town of Matutinao that got affected. The areas more than two kilometers north and south of Matutinao were swallowed by the raging waves.


    It included the high school at the south, where the survivors from Liloan stayed until today.


    Everything was swallowed by the tidal wave.


    Terrae floated upwards. In this form, mortals would not be able to see him, and the water did not do him any harm. However, the pressure was still affecting him. He felt constricted and was having a hard time maintaining his mist-like form.


    "You actually left that guy to die, huh?"


    Suddenly, a voice appeared behind Terrae.


    Of course, it was no other than Mark. He could detect Terrae''s presence even without seeing its soul form.


    "<strong>You! How!</strong>"


    Terrae''s gruff voice echoed in shock.


    Unfortunately, Mark was not in the mood to talk any longer.


    "It''s good that you left that guy." Mark shrugged. "It''s easier to absorb you this way."


    All of a sudden, Terrae felt something pulling his body. Terrae tried to resist, but it was too strong. That was when he realized that the suction wasing from Mark, who unveiled a crystal embedded on his arm.


    "<strong>WHA-! WHAT IS THAT, CRYSTAL? ABSORB, YOU SAY?!</strong>"


    Terrae panicked.


    "You know." Mark tilted his head, ignoring the soul''s panicked questions. "Souls, ghosts, anything paranormal that doesn''t exist in physical form is made up of energy. So, it''s actually a mistake for you to abandon your host."


    Terrae was a demon soul that had no physical body or existence. Or else, he would not need to rely on a host and behave like a parasite. Now that he left Terville, he was nothing but a clump of energy for Mark to collect.


    "<strong>STOP! STOP! WHAT DO YOU WANT! I CAN GIVE YOU MORE POWER! RICHES! WOMEN!</strong>"


    Terrae roared in panic.


    "Really?"


    Mark suddenly lessened the suction of the [PsyCrystal] and asked.


    "<strong>I''M TELLING THE TRUTH!</strong>"


    Terrae hurriedly replied, thinking that Mark would let him free.<sub> </sub>


    However...


    "Sorry, but I hate liars."


    Mark smirked as he activated the [Psycrystal]''s suction to a maximum.


    "<strong>NOOO!!!</strong>"


    That was Terrae''sst roars as the [PsyCrystal] absorbed the energy that made up the demon''s existence. And now, without anything for its soul to hold onto and keep existing, the dead demon would go back to the cycle of life and reincarnation.


    In other words, the demon called Terrae was not Mark''s problem anymore.


    Instead, he should focus on the predator that caused the tsunami.


    "Hmm..."


    Mark scratched his head as he realized that the energy from that demon was quite abundant. The crystal was taking time to create the new crystal.


    In any case, he was not in a hurry about this and turned his eyes towards the coast.


    With a shadowy silhouette standing by the waters of Ta?on Strait, the predator was lying in wait.


    Mark remembered Officer Emilio''s story about how the settlement in Liloan fell in a single night. The military officer himself said that he saw the monster and that when it appeared, he and the soldiers on duty was frozen in fear.


    However, it was not fear that froze them. Officer Emilio was mistaken. Now that Mark experienced it, it was not fear. It was a kind of pressure from an existence much higher than humans or even demons.


    Mark stared at the silhouette in the waters.


    "Officer Emilio said that it''s a crocodile asrge as a Roro passenger ferry orrger... But damn... Isn''t it asrge as Queen Elizabeth?"


    What Mark was talking about was a Vista ss Cruise Ship named MS Queen Elizabeth. It was an about three hundred meter length cruise ship with a two thousand passenger capacity. A Roro Passenger Ferry was nothingpared to it.


    "Did it grow that much more than a month after destroying the settlement in Liloan?"


    But that was not the issue here. It was the pressure it was emitting.


    As someone that encountered Bath and the Eyes, Mark was sure that it was a pressure created by a godly presence.


    "I had a hunch, but seriously? I wish I was wrong instead. This guy should be <strong>Sinogo</strong>, right?"


    Mark kept on murmuring as he watched the gigantic silhouette of the crocodile.


    The being called Sinogo. He was one of the three winged-giant messengers of the Sky God Kaptan in Cebuano Mythology. He was a handsome man and was the so-called "favorite of Kaptan" among the messengers.


    In Cebuano Mythology, Sinogo stole a unique sacred shell from the Sky God. It was a shell that allowed its possessor to transform into anything they pleased. Of course, this treachery did not go unwarranted as the Sky God ordered to pursue Sinogo. Sinogo fled and eventually decided to turn himself into a crocodile, a sacred animal by Visayan beliefs, so he could dive as deep as he could in the body of waters between Negros and Cebu.


    However, the faithless messenger could not hide forever and was struck with lightning by Kaptan. The shell was lost for a while but was still retrieved by another messenger.


    As for Sinogo, he was imprisoned under that body of water, now called the Ta?on Strait. Because of Kaptan''s love, he let Sinogo retain his crocodile appearance as it was a sacred beast respected and feared by humans of that time.


    And since then, when whirlpools appeared within the strait, people believed that it was Sinogo, trying to break free from his imprisonment.


    Mark observed the unmoving predator. It was behaving like how crocodiles idled in their swamps and rivers, waiting for prey toe near for them to feed on.


    And then, Mark noticed.


    "So, this is how he hunts food."


    Mark murmured as he nced at the tsunami that swallowed the towns in several kilometers radius. If not for the mountains that were seated in this ce, the affected area would be much wider.


    And while the tsunami would cause the seawater to enter thend, it would soon return to the sea. As it returned, it would drag a lot of things back, including the dead bodies of the victims.


    When the water return to the sea, the gigantic crocodile would now be able to feed on everything the water brought back.


    Still...


    "Why is a messenger of a god behaving like an animal?"


    Mark could not help but ask himself.


    An imprisoned godly being would definitely begin to wreak havoc after it escaped. It would vent its frustrations for the very long time it was imprisoned and cause chaos without regard for anything.


    However, that was not what was happening.


    Instead, this giant crocodile was hiding in the waters of the strait and would onlye out after it detected activity on thend.


    In curiosity, Mark activated the [Photokinesis Mental Crystal] to hide his appearance. Then, he flew towards the shadowy silhouette in the strait.


    As Mark flew closer, the gigantic creature became more and more visible.


    It was a giant crocodile with dark scales that had a golden sheen. It was definitelyrge as Mark was not anyrger than an antpared to it.


    But when Mark got close enough, he was frozen. His eyebrows could not help but twitch at what he discovered.


    "You got to be kidding me... No wonder this guy is not behaving as one would expect an imprisoned godly being to do."


    What stood within the waters was not just a godly creature. It was an infected gigantic godly crocodile.


    The worst part...


    It was a [King Type].


    Mark could detect a consciousness from it but it was no different from the one he encountered and captured in Bay City.


    No wonder it was not behaving like a regr infected, either.


    And then, while Mark was observing it...


    The left eye of Sinogo''s, no, his husk, moved.


    It was staring at Mark.


    "You got to be kidding me," Mark murmured. "It can see me even when I''m invisible."


    And then...


    SHING!!!


    "<strong>SH*T!</strong>"


    Mark could not help but swear as he took evasion in a hurry.


    It was because the giant crocodile had just shot an energy beam at him without warning. It was the very same kind of energy beam that Diwata Iraya used when fighting Lord Seis.

 Chapter 740 To Fight Or Not To Fight, A Decision Towards A Situation Where He Could Not Win

    <strong>Day 154 - 9:02 PM - Ta?on Strait, Matutinao Coastal Area, Municipality of Badian, Province of Cebu</strong>


    A beam of light pierced through the heavens under the darkness of the night. To those that witnessed this astonishing scene, it looked like a beacon of hope, lighting everyone''s path in these dark times. Being shot at an angle, it did not soar straight up the sky. Instead, it flew miles away towards the northeast of the country.


    The beam of light illuminated the skies over Central Visayas and Southeast Luzon. The light was even visible in the eastern coastal areas of Central, South, and the southeastern areas of North Luzon.


    Their already chaotic night in the Philippines became even worse as people witnessed this phenomenon.


    The beam of light might have onlysted a few seconds. However, it was more than enough to shake the hearts of the already dismayed people.


    To Mark, on the other hand, it was a beacon of death rather than hope.


    It was good that his speed and reflexes were heightened. If he did not manage to evade that attack, he would have been pulverized instantly.


    That beam of light was created by the raw discharge of magical energy. It was simr to the magical beams that Diwata Iraya used to fight.


    Nheless, the strength of the two attacks was notparable.


    Diwata Iraya''s light beam was refined, while the crocodile''s attack was crude. However, the energy discharge from this infected godly being was, without a doubt, more than a hundred times stronger.


    Mark managed to dodge it in thest second. Nheless, his already tattered clothes and skin were scorched by the heat that the beam emanated.


    The parts of his skin unprotected by his armor had turned ck and crusty.


    "<strong>TSK.</strong>"


    Mark clicked his tongue as he winced in pain. He might be used to feeling pain, but he never experienced having half of his body burned like this. It felt like he was suddenly doused in boiling water fresh from the stove while being grilled in charcoal at the same time.


    Frowning, Mark tapped the core of his armor. The armor he was wearing was Crimson in his [Armorized] form. The poor little guy was also suffering from pain as the armor''s core was almost scorched. It was fortunate that the armor''s core where Crimson''s remaining liquified body resided was on the left side of Mark''s chest, above his heart, or else, it might have turned out worse.


    Slowly, Mark''s regenerative abilities kicked in. The crusted skin began to fall off, revealing newly healed skin.


    However, even with this [Regeneration] Ability, Mark was sure. He was not an opponent to this giant crocodile.


    For the first time since the apocalypse started, Mark found an enemy that he was unsure if he had any chance of winning.


    Even though Mark had encountered godly beings before, it was the first time that it was an actual enemy. Furthermore, it was someone that could not be reasoned with.


    Mark''s instincts were screaming for him to escape. He might be a powerful individual in many aspects and was still growing. However, it was too early for him to contend against something like head-on.


    Unfortunately, while Mark was unsure about his chances of winning, there was something else he was sure about.


    This giant crocodile who stood on the waters...


    It would not let him get away that easily.


    After all, even if a person already had a te of food ready to eat, one would still aim at a more delicious one once it was served.


    Being the more delicious food, Mark had been marked by the enemy.


    Mark observed the enemy, getting ready for any iing attack.


    However, no attack came.


    Instead, Sinogo, or his infected husk, stared in Mark''s direction without moving.


    It caused confusion towards Mark. Furthermore, he could not read its emotional fluctuations clearly as it was an infected creature even if it was a [King Type]. Not to mention that it was barely inside his range of detection.


    ''Is it going to attack or not?''


    Mark questioned in his mind. If not, he would not hesitate to escape this ce. He was not stupid to jump into a battle that could cause his death without reason.


    Well, Mark had a reason. Just what kind of [Mutagen Stone] and [Mental Crystal] would he get from an infected godly being? He was curious.


    Even so, it was an extremely dangerous case of curiosity. One mistake, and Mark could get vaporized in an instant.


    "Nevermind. Let''s just leave."


    Mark decided.


    But before he could make a single move, the gigantic crocodile did.


    It slightly opened its mouth, which made Mark thought that it would speak. So far, all [Monarch Types] he encountered knew how to speak humannguage, albeit most of them were broken.


    However, the only sound that this gigantic crocodile let out was a slight grunt.


    Mark was confused even more. This [King Type] did not know how to speak? Well, even if thenguage was different since the infected would only use the leftover memories of their host, it should at least be able to utter an audible word.


    But then, Mark remembered.


    Humans suffermunication problems after not having any human contact in just several months up to a few years. There was no need to mention Sinogo, who had been sealed for hundreds to thousands of years under this deep body of water.


    In the first ce, while Sinogo was given breath by a god and had strengthparable to lower gods, he was still not one of them. Gods themselves were imperfect, not to mention their creations.


    Within hundreds to thousands of years of istion, it was very likely that Sinogo''s mind deteriorated. There was no need to mention that he was kept with a body of an animal.


    If that was the case, then this infected creature had no clear memory to inherit from its body, not evennguage.


    Nheless, for a [King Type] infected,nguage was not always necessary.


    Even without talking, they could rule their horde.


    And what horde should be talked about this time?


    <strong>PSSH!!!</strong>


    "What the hell."


    Mark evaded in a hurry once more. This time, however, it was not a beam of light that attacked him.


    <strong>PSSH! PSSH! PSSH!</strong>


    Countless sounds of water sshing echoed all over the ce. Blurry figures were shooting out of the water, aiming to take down Mark.


    Even in Mark''s eyes, the speed of these blurry things was too fast.


    Without hesitation, Mark''s eyes glowed purple. His senses heightened, and the trajectory of the attacks was predetermined.


    That was when he saw the actual appearance of these things shooting at him from the water.


    "Flying fishes..."


    Mark murmured as he evaded another volley of attacks.<sub> </sub>


    Flying fish, scientifically named Exocoetidae. It was a family of marine fish known for their powerful leaps and ability to glide above the water.


    Now,manded by the gigantic crocodile, a school of infected flying fishes asrge as cannonballs were shooting at Mark at the speed of a sniper rifle bullet.


    Mark had barely recovered from the burns he received and yet, he was being attacked once more.


    "Tsk." Mark clicked his tongue. "I really need to leave."


    And there, Mark pped his wings before turning into a surge of ck mist that floated away swiftly.


    Mark escaped without doing any unnecessary provocations. It was the best decision he could make in these circumstances.


    Of course, the infected group was confused as to where their prey suddenly went. Nheless, as Mark barely gave out anything for these infected to track him, they were left unable to find him.


    The giant crocodile released a grunt as the prey it detected suddenly vanished into the shadows. However, it did not seem to have any notion to chase or find Mark.


    It was pretty much like the actual behavior of a crocodile.


    Depending on the situation or climate, crocodiles were barely seen actively chasing prey outside their territories. Instead, they would sit still hiding in the water until they were approached by the unknowing prey. That was when they would strike in a sudden attack to hunt.


    It was like how the giant crocodile made a surprise attack at Mark the moment he got close enough. And now that Mark retreated and escaped, it had no notion to chase at all. Instead, it concentrated its attention on the water it sent ind. It was waiting for the dead bodies the water would bring back to its mouth.


    ***


    "Gege! Are you okay?! Did you get hit by that beam?"


    "Master!"


    Mei and Amihan eximed, seeing Mark''s state as hended before them.


    "Papa!"


    "Uncle!"


    It was the same for the girls as their faces were filled with worry as they approached Mark.


    Of course, everyone in Mark''s group was concerned. When they left, the worst he had was his tattered pants. Now, half of his body was scorched and was amidst healing.


    "I''m alright. I didn''t get hit. I just need a few minutes to heal. If I actually got hit by that, I won''t even be here anymore."


    Mark said as he sat down.


    Those words of Mark, however, made Mei frown. If what he said was true, then he was in danger earlier. And yet, he had the guts to joke around.


    "Okay, okay... I won''t joke about it." Mark understood Mei''s thoughts. "Can you help me remove the burnt skin? It''s slowing the healing process."


    While Mark requested help, he was already tearing the burnt skin off his right arm. The way he did it, however, made everyone winch in pain. He was literally tearing his skin apart, causing more damage than necessary. Mark was not perturbed about it, though, since it would heal soon enough.


    Even so...


    "Gege... I''ll do it alone."


    Mei said, grabbing Mark''s left hand. Since she insisted with a serious face, he could onlyply. And there, Mei took out a knife and carefully scraped off the burnt skin. By her expression, she seemed annoyed that Mark got injured like this.


    As had nothing to do, Mark watched the events still happening at the coast.


    Their current location was a small mountain southeast of Matutinao and southwest of Kawasan Falls. This mountain was not a very high one and even had a road going through its ttened top. Still, it was high enough to oversee both the two key locations in the previous events.


    Nheless, even though it was a mountain, the water from the surge of the water actually reached half its height. That was how devastating the tsunami the gigantic crocodile unleashed.


    At the coast, the gigantic crocodile was still waiting like a statue. After all, its food had yet to arrive.


    "Boss, are we going to fight that thing?"


    Edzel approached Mark and asked while looking at the same scenery.


    "What do you think?"


    Mark asked.


    "I think, we better leave this ce. That creature feels too dangerous."


    "I have the same thoughts." Mark agreed to Edzel''s words. "Depending on the situation, we''ll leave immediately after Pefile and the others arrive."


    "Depending on the situation? What situation, Boss?"


    Pearl could not help but interject, noticing what Mark said.


    "Well, that crocodile there is likely to be Sinogo from the Visayan Myths. A messenger of a Sky God Kaptan, who is someoneparable to Bath. If it''s gods we are talking about, then someone will likely arrive here to assess the situation."


    "And also look there."


    Mark added, pointing at the sky where the beam of light passed through.


    "Ah..."


    Mei, Amihan, Edzel, and Pearl could only have the same reaction as they saw what Mark pointed at.


    At the sky, cracks were present. It was the very same phenomenon the other day in Catanduanes.


    It was the scene of the Dimensional Barrier cracking.


    If it was cracked like this, then that girl would definitely appear here.


    Of course, it was no other than Fourth, the Eye of Amusement, and the one in charge of Southeast Asia.


    Nheless, before the Eye could even appear, Pefile''s group arrived. This time, it was not only the four of them. They had someone else, a woman being carried by Pefile.


    But then, time froze.


    Edzel froze as he saw the woman. Even if he was small when she supposedly died, he still kept her pictures with him. There was no way he would forget that appearance.


    On the other hand, Pefile was also frozen as he saw Edzel. Without a doubt, the expressionless Pefile was shocked at Edzel''s transformation.


    Andstly... the woman. Amidst the frozen atmosphere, she spoke.


    "Why are you two being too dramatic? Seriously... Like father, like son..."


    Well, even if she said those words, her eyes were already overflowing with tears of joy.

 Chapter 741 Edzels Denial, A World Turned Upside Down

    <strong>Day 154 - 9:50 PM - Mountain Area, Municipality of Badian, Province of Cebu</strong>


    With the miraculous reunion of the mother and child at the center, the whole ce was enveloped in silence.


    Of course, the cause for the silence was not only because of Edzel''s reaction. The exact reason was what Celine said just now.


    Celine mentioned those words as she stared at Edzel, with the fact that everyone here knew that the person they were going to rescue was Pefile''s wife.


    There was nobody else that Pefile''s group brought back from the tribe aside from Celine.


    "<strong>M-Mother? No, this is impossible!</strong>" Edzel yelled out loud, with his voice shaking in disbelief. "<strong>Mother died when I was a child! Who are you?!</strong>"


    Far from a dramatic, sweet reunion, what filled Edzel was denial.


    Edzel''s mother died when he was little. Since then, he was living alone, scraping with what he had left. It was the kindness of Pearl''s parents that helped him live at that time.


    It was because his mother suddenly died and left him alone with bare anyone to rely on.


    And now, someone who looked like his mother appeared, even uttering nonsense about him being the same as his father.


    As if Edzel had met this father of his even once.


    No. Considering the current circumstances, Celine was saying that Pefile was his father.


    Father? This guy that he barely even knew?


    Edzel could not believe this nonsense.


    Those words of denial turned the atmosphere sour. Without a doubt, Celine was happy to see the child she was separated from for a long time. Nheless, it was undeniable that those circumstances led to a child living his life without relying on anyone he could call a parent.


    "Edzel. Listen."


    Pefile spoke, trying to calm his son.


    "Listen to what?" Edzel yelled. "What is this? A prank you all prepared for me? If it is, it''s not funny!"


    At this time, everyone could tell that Edzel was agitated to the point that he would not listen to reason.


    Mark stared at Edzel and could not help but nod.


    Ever since Mark met this boy, he was pretty much independent. Although everyone around him knew that he was an orphan, not a single time he mentioned that he was longing for them.


    The life of an orphan was never easy.


    However, while an abandoned child could me their parents for their hardships, Edzel could not. The only parent he knew, Celine, died. There was no way he would me a dead person as death was not something one could avoid.


    Edzel could only me himself and wallow in self-pity for his ill fate.


    And yet, his supposedly dead mother suddenly appeared before his eyes.


    It was too sudden for him to ept immediately. He could not help but feel angry.


    "Edzel..."


    Celine sobbed.


    She had no idea what to do. Celine''s experience as a parent was too short. Not to mention that she did not even see her child grow up. Although she was happy to see him, it was not wrong to say that Edzel was also a stranger to her at this point.


    Seeing his mother''s crying face and hearing her sobs, Edzel''s ring anger was doused. Even if she was not his mother, seeing her crying was not something Edzel would be able to stand seeing.


    "<strong>TSK!</strong>"


    Edzel clicked his tongue. And then...


    "<strong>EDZEL!</strong>"


    Pefile could not help but shout as everyone saw Edzel dash away from them.


    "Edzel!"


    Pearl also called out before chasing after him.


    It was not only Pearl. Pefile also wanted to give chase. However, he was carrying Celine in his arms. He could not run like this.


    "Don''t bother chasing. You''ll only make things worse."


    That was when Mark decided to intervene.


    "Are you telling me to just let them go? We are still in a dangerous ce."


    Pefile turned to Mark and asked.


    But before replying, Ignis already shot off by Mark''smand to protect the two.


    "Happy now?" Mark asked. "Although we don''t have much, we can give him a bit of time to breath. I didn''t expect this either, but he took quite a shock. I guess. Seeing that his mother is still alive and learning that he actually had a father turned his world upside down. I don''t need to exin that, right? After all, you had been watching him in the shadows all this time."


    At Mark''s words, Pefile could only look down in guilt.


    It was true that he never left Edzel''s side ever since Celine was taken away. However, he never showed himself to his son either until now. The very first encounter between the two was when Pefile told Edzel about Pearl''s karma. It had not been long since that happened.


    Nheless, it was something that could not be med at Pefile entirely.


    Both Pefile and Celine decided to let Edzel live the life of a human until he reached adulthood. As a Tamawo, it was not appropriate for Pefile to appear in human society and affect Edzel''s life as a human.


    If the apocalypse did not happen, up until now, Pefile and Edzel might not have met face-to-face even once.


    "Haahh..."


    Pefile could not help but sigh. Mark was right. It would not do good if it was him who chased after Edzel.


    "Still..." Mark said as he turned his head towards the direction Edzel ran to. "That boy still had to learn things. It might be confusing for him but running away in this kind of situation is just in stupid. As if the enemy out there was not enough of a problem already."


    "Don''t call my son stupid!"


    Of course, a retort came. There was no need to say who that came from.


    "You don''t have to retort me like that, Madam Kidnapped by her husband''s brother." Mark shrugged at Celine that was ring at him. "If you don''t agree with me, look at that first."


    Mark then pointed in the direction of the sea.


    Being prompted, Pefile and the other three that returned with him looked at what Mark was pointing at.


    Seeing that gigantic crocodile by the shore, there was no need to ask how dangerous the situation was.


    "Damn... So that is the reason why Trua refused to fly all the way here!"


    Berrak eximed.


    Their group arrived on foot. It was something that Mark wanted to ask about. Hearing Berrak, however, answered the question in his mind.


    Actually, it was not only Trua. Even Char was in a bad state and was actually hiding behind the mountain.<sub> </sub>


    As Celine gazed at that creature by the shore, she also came to understand what danger Mark was talking about. Just seeing the creature made her weaker than she was already. It was as if there was some kind of force directly shaking her soul.


    It was the same for Geronimo and Padua. As humans, gazing at that godly being brought forth negative effects on them.


    This was the very same effect that Officer Emilio experienced when he saw the giant crocodile before their settlement fell.


    Suddenly, a veil of Miasma blocked the front.


    "Don''t look too much," Mark spoke. "Prolonged exposure to that will be bad for regr humans."


    With their eyes away from the giant crocodile, they finally managed to breathe. Nheless, both Geronimo and Padua fell to their knees. Celine would be in the same state if Pefile was not carrying her.


    "Just what in the world is happening there?" Pefile turned to Mark and asked. "In your ns, it should only be a diversion. Why is something like that present?"


    "Well..." Mark shrugged his left shoulder. "A slightly expected uninvited guest?"


    "What the hell are you saying?"


    Pefile grumbled.


    "I mean, it''s not really nned. But it''s among my expectations that that creature might appear. It could have been better if it did not, though. Look at what I ended up with when I tried to approach it."


    Mark replied, pointing at the scorched parts of his skin that Mei was carefully scraping away.


    "Then shouldn''t we leave already?" Berrak interjected. "We already finished what we came here for. That creature is way outside our capabilities."


    "I know that we have no chance of winning against it. But we''re not really in an extremely urgent situation."


    Mark said, making everyone pay attention to him.


    "Please exin."


    Pefile spoke.


    "That thing is a [King Type] infected. One of the two known subtypes of [Monarch Types] alongside [Queen Types]. So far from my experience, [King Types] are extremely territorial. They won''t go out of their territory unless there''s a special circumstance. That guy''s territory is likely the entirety of the strait. Look at how it was hunting food using the water instead of going ind."


    "So, as long as we don''t provoke it, we should be fine here."


    Mark added.


    Hearing Mark''s words gave everyone a feeling of relief.


    "You''re sure about that, Boss?"


    Padua asked to confirm. After all, even them, who were soldiers, were not aware of this.


    "I''m pretty sure." Mark nodded. "Besides, once the people we are waiting for appear, we might even stand a chance against that."


    "Which people?"


    Geronimo asked in confusion.


    "Hmmm?" Mark suddenly raised his head to the sky. "Those people."


    ***


    "Edzel! Wait!"


    Pearl called out to Edzel, who was running away. However, their physiques were far different from each other. Even if Pearl tried her best, she could not catch up at all.


    Still, Pearl did not give up. As long as she could see Edzel''s back, she continued to chase.


    However...


    "<strong>AH!</strong>"


    <strong>BAM!</strong>


    Pearl fell. Her foot got stuck at a protruding root of a nearby tree and lost bnce. It was not a surprising event considering they were running inside the woods in the middle of the night.


    Fortunately, her painful cry was more than enough to stop Edzel from running. He could not help but rush to her to help.


    "Are you alright?"


    Edzel worriedly helped Pearl stand. Although his emotions were still stirred from the previous events, Pearl''s well-being still topped all of it.


    "Got you."


    However, that was Pearl''s reply as she grabbed Edzel''s wrists. Now, he could not run away.


    Edzel could only sigh as his expression became filled with confusion and anger once more.


    "Why are you even chasing after me?"


    Edzel asked.


    "I should be the one asking questions here," Pearl said. "Why are you running? You never give up and chased after me even after I did you wrong. Why are you the one running now?"


    At Pearl''s questions, Edzel had no answer.


    And there, Pearl looked down.


    "Remember when I left you?"


    Pearl asked, making Edzel surprised at the sudden shift in topic. Furthermore, it was a painful memory for Edzel.


    And there, Pearl continued.


    "I have no reason to exin aside from me being blinded and stupid. I brought bad karma for myself because of that. And that''s not a proper exnation at all. It further bolstered how stupid I am."


    Edzel tried to speak, but Pearl blocked his mouth.


    "You don''t have to say anything to defend me. I already realized my faults. That is why I hesitated if I really deserve to return to your side. Yet, you allowed that, and here I am."


    "So why not do the same to your parents?" Pearl continued. "Everyone could tell that it''s not some prank. You too, right? You just don''t want to ept. I know why since you had been living alone by yourself since we were little. Your hardships, you don''t want to me anyone for them. If you suddenly have parents, then there were the ones to me. It is something you don''t want to happen."


    To those words, Edzel remained silent. He could not refute what she was saying at all.


    "I''m not saying that you should ept it blindly." Pearl closed her eyes. "Just listen to their exnations first. Maybe they have better reasons than me just being stupid."


    "Why are you calling yourself stupid over and over..."


    Edzel could not help but voice out.


    "Because I am!" Pearl argued. "You are listening to me, a stupid girl. Why not listen to your parents? They looked like they are willing to exin. But you ran away. I''m not saying this for me, but for yourself. Please, listen to them first. At least, you still have your parents. Your family. As for me..."


    ''I don''t have them anymore.''


    Pearl continued her words in her mind.

 Chapter 742 Arrival Of Fourth And Nineteenth, Planning To Deal With The Infected Godly Creature

    <strong>Day 154 - 10:08 PM - Air Space, Municipality of Badian, Province of Cebu</strong>


    The Dimensional Barrier was, once again, damaged. The Observer and the Eyes were immediately alerted by the situation. There was no need to mention that the damage this time was immense, and the sky was torn for miles.


    And as the one currently overseeing Southeast Asia, Fourth, the Eye of Amusement, was not amused.


    This was the second time in the span of a few days, furthermore, in the exact same country.


    With the barrier between the Mortal Realm and the Spirit Dimension weakening, it could not be helped that fractures appear every now and then. Even in other ces on Earth, many incidents like this happened in the past two months. However, it was mostly by ident.


    Thergest fracture so far happened in Oaklyn, New Jersey, in the United States, after a sealed Humanoid Chimera finally escaped from his, several thousand years, slumber. The events, however, unfolded in front of one of the Eyes. Thus, the fracture was mended before anyone could notice.


    This time, the fracture was definitelyrger than the one in New Jersey. The previous one only spanned across a small vige, while the current one basically shed half across the country.


    "What a headache!"


    Fourth grumbled in frustration.


    With theary debris in space closing onto Earth, they were rushing to find the remaining hidden gods. There were a lot of Gods in the past era of Earth, thousands of years ago. Some of them went down in texts and history, while the lesser ones were totally forgotten. Among all of those gods, many did not leave or did not get killed during the time the Observer was changed.


    Due to many factors, many local gods misunderstood the new Observer and the Eyes.


    Thus, many gods went into hiding.


    Even for the Observer and the Eyes, it would be difficult to find those gods. They were gods, after all. Thus, until now, many of them remained hidden. On the other hand, some managed to stealthily leave the ne in one way or another.


    Of course, some of them also died. Some were found by the Eyes and were killed. Some were killed after losing their powers after the world was returned to its original path.


    Now, to find the remaining hidden gods, the Eyes were doing their best. Time was now limited, unlike before.


    And yet, Fourth had to deal with this situation.


    Fourth was all the way in Indonesia when this happened. She was in the middle of tracking traces of a hidden god there, possibly the Goddess of Lakes, Dewi Dani.


    In the middle of her search, Fourth had to fly as fast as she could and return to the Philippines. Then, she had to see the sky cracked for miles. She was really annoyed.


    The worst part, it would take a while to fix this Dimension Crack if she had to do this alone.


    And there was no time to do that. Fourth should be looking for the hidden gods to help save the world instead of doing this.


    Fourth immediately arrived at where the cause of the crack should be. What Fourth saw was a gigantic crocodile standing by the coast like a statue.


    And, of course. Fourth was shocked to see a gigantic mutated infected crocodile radiating a godly aura.


    There was no need to think or investigate.


    This monster was definitely the one behind this mess.


    Fourth wanted to deal with this problem immediately. The Eyes needed to remove this creature before it caused more problems.


    But before Fourth could make a move, a door of light appeared out of nowhere in front of her.


    "Don''t be so hasty, Fourth."


    A strict voice entered Fourth''s ears as a figure stepped out of the door.


    "Neenth! Why are you stopping me? We need to deal with that creature!"


    Fourthined with a frown as she gazed at Neenth, the Eye of Interest.


    "I''m not stopping you for no reason," Neenth replied. "Just before you do any rash action, calm down and observe what you are about to attack."


    "What do you mea- ah."


    Fourth''s mood dampened down as she realized that she almost made a grave mistake.


    Thus, Fourth could only look at the gigantic crocodile below with dismay.


    Except for a few strict asions, the Observer and the Eyes could not directly interfere with the world.


    One of those asions was when...


    A foreign god wanted to invade or interfere with the world.


    It happened several times before and also the reason they had to drive out the foreign gods that inhabited this before. At these times, they could deal with the gods and their minions if they deniedplying. They also had the authority to deal with traces that could lead to the possible invasion of foreign gods in the future.


    This rule was the very same reason why Blood Demons, who were born from the drop of blood of a foreign Evil God, had gone extinct due to the machinations of the Eyes. It was because their existence could lead to the rebirth of the god they defeated in the past.


    And this very same rule was what caused Neenth to stop Fourth from attacking the gigantic crocodile.


    True, the gigantic crocodile was emitting a godly aura. Even if it was not a foreign god, it could have a direct rtion to them. Thus, the Eyes could have dealt with it directly.


    That was if...


    It was still alive.


    Unfortunately, the gigantic crocodile was an infected. It had long died with its soul and consciousness popping out of existence like a bubble.


    And an infected, no matter how dangerous they were, were considered as [Earthborns]. It was an existence born in thends of Earth.


    Thus, the Eyes now lost the authority to directly deal with it even if it still had a godly aura as an infected.


    If Fourth attacked the crocodile just now, she could be subjected to punishment. Luckily, Neenth stopped her.


    "Damn it... What are we going to do? This is not amusing at all, you know? What if it caused the Dimensional Barrier to crumble further? We don''t have a lot of time just to do the repairs!"


    Fourth grumbled in annoyance.


    "First, it doesn''t seem to be keen on doing anything for now." Neenth said, assessing the gigantic crocodile. "We can leave it be for a bit and ask our friends below."


    "Friends?"


    Fourth was confused as she looked down where Neenth was also looking.


    "Heeh?"


    The three-eyed little girl was frozen stiff.


    ***


    "You people again?! Just what in the world are you doing?!!! Just why is there always a problem when you all are around? HUH?"


    Fourth immediately threw a tantrum as shended on the ground.


    After all, she saw the culprits in the previous incident in Catanduanes being involved here too.


    "Can you not shout?" Mark yelled back with a frown. "Also, pipe your aura down. We got a sick person here."


    Mark pointed at Celine, who was already having a hard time breathing just because of Fourth''s presence. The others, like Padua and Geronimo, could not help but step back too.


    Suddenly being scolded was actually effective. By surprise, Fourth followed Mark''s words.<sub> </sub>


    "Hey! Why should I follow you?!"


    Of course, she immediately realized it.


    "In any case, he is right, Fourth." Neenth said, standing behind Fourth. "If this female human died just because you didn''t control your aura, you''ll definitely receive a scolding from Master."


    Hearing Neenth''s reasoning, Fourth could only concede. Stopping her tantrum, she finally got to take a good look at Mark.


    "Pfft! Hahaha! Did you jump into a grill or something?"


    That was Fourth''s reaction seeing half of Mark''s body charred ck. Although Mei had already cleaned his right cheek of the burns, his arm was still far from cleaned properly. His clothes were also burned.


    "You think this is amusing?"


    Mark sighed.


    "Yeah?"


    Fourth replied without hesitation.


    Seeing that the three-eyed girl would not stop soon fromughing, Mark turned to the more dignified Neenth instead.


    "What are your ns regarding that infected monster?"


    And the reply was...


    "Nothing." Neenth shook her head. "No n at all."


    And then, she exined the circumstances.


    "So basically, you are saying that you can''t deal with it since it''s already a new entity and not the one that a god created?"


    Mark summarized.


    "Yes. Nicely put."


    Neenth nodded at Mark''s words.


    "But isn''t it still a god''s creation?" Mark asked. "After all, it''s only the soul that is changed or removed."


    "That is true if we are talking about magical zombies, possession, or transmigration." Neenth replied. "Unfortunately, we are talking about the thing you call Mutagen."


    "Mutagen, you say..."


    Mark could not help but mull, digging the memories inside his subconscious.


    Mutagen affects its victims gically. Especially for those affected with the [Unstable Pathogen], so-called the Infected, their bodies undergo some restructuring after they mutated.


    "So, it''s not the very same body that a god created, is it?"


    Mark said, making Neenth nod in agreement.


    "Then, it''s up to us inhabitants of Earth to deal with that thing?"


    Mark added, which also received a nod in reply.


    "How can we deal with that?" Mark could only ask. "Just the heat from an attack that missed turned me into a grilled potato."


    "Pfft! Grilled Potato! Hahaha!"


    In the background, the three-eyed girl was on another round ofughs.


    "Can you do something about that?"


    Markined to Neenth.


    "There is nothing I can do about her. That is just how we, existences created by emotions, work. Fourth, as the Eye of Amusement, found your situation amusingly funny and could not help butugh it out. It is good for her since she had no way of "receiving" amusement from humans in these dire times."


    Neenth shrugged helplessly.


    It was good for Fourth that she found Mark''s situation amusingly funny? Although Mark understood, he could not help but feel slightly conflicted.


    "Before anything else, can you tell me what happened first?"


    Neenth asked Mark as she could not see his information from her book. Since it was not hard to do, Mark exined without hesitation.


    "I see... So it just happened to appear here attracted by the battle. Then it attacked you when you tried to get close to it to investigate. Furthermore, it attacked without actually seeing you, is that right? That attack was the cause of the fracture."


    At Neeth''s affirmation, Mark nodded.


    "So, it''s all an ident, huh." Fourth, who finishedughing, joined in. "I thought you caused it directly like the previous one."


    "What are you talking about?" Mark frowned at Fourth. "I didn''t cause the previous one either."


    "It''s the aftermath of your war with those ind Demons!" Fourth argued. "That is the same as you causing it directly!"


    With that, Mark could not argue back and turned to Neenth.


    "Then, we can only leave that monster alone for the meantime and you Eyes will repair the fracture?"


    Mark asked.


    "That is the only thing we can do, unfortunately." Neenth helplessly sighed. "It would be a different thing if we had his creator around."


    "Hmm?"


    Mark stared at Neenth, asking her to borate further.


    Neenth then turned to the silhouette of the crocodile at the coast.


    "You all can feel it, right? The unrestrained godly aura. It is actually not because it is releasing it on purpose or did not know how to control it. It felt more like its godly aura is leaking. A god''s magical powers are theirs alone and would not leak. For it to leak like that, meant that the godly energy it had in its body did not belong to it at all, and it is experiencing some sort of rejection. It probably got that godly energy from an external source. Besides, even if Sinogo is a messenger of Kaptan, it is very unlikely for a messenger to be bestowed with such power."


    "The seal..."


    Mark blurted out, remembering the myth.


    "That is probably right." Neenth agreed. "Previous instances showed that the infected are attracted and can absorb magical energies to mutate. It likely is one of those circumstances. If Kaptan is with us, he should be able to extract his own magical energy from the body of that creature. Godly energies are unique to their owners, after all."


    "So, we needed the sky god Kaptan to kill that thing..." Mark murmured. "Can we just look for a needle in a haystack instead?"


    At Mark''s words, even Fourth and Neenth agreed. Finding gods that hid themselves were much harder evenparing to finding a grain of rice in a bucket of sand.


    But then...


    Pefile, who was listening silently all this time and carefully holding Celine, spoke.


    "What about the Goddess Magwayen? She always go side-by-side with Sky God Kaptan."


    Those words from Pefile could not help but put him in the center of attention.

 Chapter 743 Pefiles Suggestion, The Connection Between Kaptan And Magwayen

    <strong>Day 154 - 10:15 PM - Mountain Area, Municipality of Badian, Province of Cebu</strong>


    With Pefile suddenly joining into the conversation, the attention became focused on him.


    As a Tamawo, it would not be surprising if Pefile mentioned Magwayen, the Visayan Goddess of the Sea and the supposed creator of their race. However, he said her name at this time. It meant that he might hold some clues or information about her.


    It would be crucial at this time since if they could find Magwayen, they would likely find clues about Kaptan.


    ***


    In Visayan Myths, the God of the Sky, Kaptan, and the Goddess of the Sea, Magwayen, were connected in different ways.


    The two gods were said to be counterparts. One ruled the bright sky while the other ruled the dark deep oceans. The two were also believed to have contradicting personalities. These things led to the belief in the existence of the two to maintain bnce in early Visayan faiths.


    Magwayen was also believed to ferry the souls of the dead to the underworld. Thus also making her the Goddess of Death and Underworld, while Kaptan was also deemed the God of Skyworld.


    However, there was not only one story that depicted the connection between the two.


    Ancient Cebuanos pictured them to be husband and wife. The two quarreled, causing the Goddess of the Sea to leave and return to the Sea.


    In Negrense myths, they were believed to be rivals contesting who would inherit the world that the Supreme Ruler, Kan-Laon, made. It was until the children of the two, the God of the Wind, Lihangin, and the second Goddess of the Sea, Lidagat, fell in love with each other. The marriage of the two ended the war between the inheritance and also caused the birth of four deities, Licalibutan, Liaw, Libn, and the only female, Lisuga.


    There was even another folklore that deemed both Kaptan and Magwayen to be both males.


    Nheless, there was one thing that was simr to all these stories.


    None of these myths ended happily. The starts might be different, but it all converged to the attack of the three grandsons of Kaptan, who all stormed the kingdom in the sky, Kahilwayan, and destroyed its gates. The three intended to usurp the Sky God''s throne, with Licalibutan being the leader of the attack.


    In anger, Kaptan sent bolts of lightning which killed the three instantly. Both Liaw and Libn turned into balls energy while the ringleader of the attack, Licalibutan, his body made of rock, crumbled into pieces.


    The innocent Lisuga visited her grandfather after the incident. She was unaware of events. Kaptan, blinded by anger, also struck her with lightning, breaking her body into thousands of pieces.


    This myth led to the creation of the sun, moon, and stars, as believed by the ancient Visayan people. And soon following the myth of creation after Magwayen nted a bamboo, where the first man and woman of the Philippines came from.


    With these various myths, the connection between Kaptan and Magwayen could not be denied.


    ***


    "Are you saying that you have a way to find Magwayen?"


    Fourth immediately asked Pefile. If she could find another god within her territory, she would be happy. Not to mention that finding Magwayen could also lead to finding Kaptan. It meant that she could possible find two gods in one go.


    Pefile was overwhelmed by the sudden enthusiasm of Fourth, whose aura suddenly burst forth. Celine, who Pefile was carrying, could not handle it anymore and fainted.


    "Celine!"


    Pefile could not help but panic.


    "Ah... Sorry..."


    Fourth''s enthusiasm died down after seeing what happened. Even Neenth was ring at her for her carelessness.


    "Let me see."


    Neenth approached Pefile to check on Celine.


    Pefile wanted to back down. However, there was really nothing he could do in this situation. Besides, unlike Fourth, Neenth was properly reigning in her aura.


    Neenth ced her right hand on Celine''s forehead and solemnly examined her body. Then, she conjured a thin book in her hand, and the book automatically flipped its pages. The book''s pages were empty but were suddenly filled with words.


    "What a pitiful human." Neenth could not help but remark, reading Celine''s history from the book. "She had not seen the sun for several years. She is not malnourished, but she severelycked what humans called Vitamin D. Her deficiency in that vitamin caused her muscles to grow weak."


    Neenth then pressed her thumb on Celine''s forehead, causing her body to slightly glow for a few seconds. She then turned to Pefile.


    "It''s not a treatment, but it will allow her to recover faster. You should take care of your wife more and let her bask in the sun."


    Hearing those words, Pefile was moved. Celine''s condition bothered him too much, and with the current state of the world, there would be no hospital to check her state properly.


    "Thank you."


    Pefile said wholeheartedly.


    "Don''t thank me." Neenth replied. "If you could really give information that could lead us to other hidden gods, it would be just a small reward."


    "You should ce her down first."


    Mark said as he told Mei to take out a folding bed from her ring.


    After Pefile put Celine down, he was now free to talk.


    "Actually, it''s not a piece of solid information. Is that fine?"


    Pefile asked.


    "It''s fine. Even if it''s just hearsays and a drunkard''s rambling, we can''t be picky at all."


    Fourth said.


    "Then, I''ll start." Pefile nodded. "Our race is created by Goddess Magwayen, or at least, the first Tamawos. But the incident out our race overusing the magical powers happened. She came back and put a curse on our race. But she did not only do that. Through a certain artifact, the goddess kept in contact with the race once a century and would always bestow her grace to the new king to inherit the throne and lead our tribe. Furthermore, the artifact was said to be the one to choose the next king by the goddess'' standards."


    "We call that artifact the [Mark of the King]."


    Pefile added.


    "If you had such a concrete exnation, why did you say that it is not a piece of solid information?"


    Neenth could not help but ask.


    "Actually, no one had seen it work at all aside from the king that triggered the artifact. At most, other Tamawos saw the artifact shine and pulsate. But that was it. I don''t even know if my father, the previous king, actually conversed with the goddess. So, it is more like a rumor within the tribe."


    "So, the contact should probably be done in private," Mark spoke. "It''s not surprising. If it was done publicly, she would have been long found by the Eyes."


    "Then, where is this artifact?"


    Fourth asked impatiently.<sub> </sub>


    "It should be within the tribe. It was always sealed in a chamber where only the current king could enter."


    Pefile replied.


    "It looks like we will have to visit your tribe after you caused chaos within it."


    Neenth said.


    "How did you..." Pefile was surprised at first, but he remembered. "Is it also recorded with the book?"


    Pefile''s eyes fell on the book created after Neenth touched Celine''s forehead.


    "It is." Neenth smiled. "Though I''m surprised that a realm of your race existed. It is not within my records. It is very likely the work of your goddess that stopped us from detecting it. As it appeared, your goddess really loved her creations and let your tribe live within a sub realm inside the Mortal Dimension."


    "Their race is something that relied on humans to continue on," Mark spoke. "If their race were also thrown into the Spirit Dimension, they could onlyst a few hundred years before getting extinct."


    "That is true."


    Neenth agreed.


    "Anyway, let''s go!" Fourth yelled out loud. "We need to get that artifact!"


    "Can you wait a bit?" Mark interjected on the three-eyed girl''s enthusiasm. "I want to go too, but we are not done here yet."


    They could only turn at Mark, who was still in the middle of healing his scorched burns.


    "Your regeneration slowed down." Neenth noticed. "It''s not surprising. You got scorched by energy belonging to the God of the Sky. Gods like him are the bane of people like you who had the thick blood of an Evil God."


    "<strong>HUH?!</strong>"


    With Neenth''s words, some people around listening were frozen. After all, not everyone in Mark''s current group was in the know of the situation. Especially for Berrak, who was a user of magic. It was a very shocking piece of information.


    "Do you really have to say that out loud?"


    Markined with a frown.


    "Is something wrong?" Neenth smiled. "I believe that it would just be a matter of time. Besides, there should be nothing wrong with people you trust to know about it. We need as much help that we can get when that time came."


    Mark fell silent. The deal with him and the eyes, it could only be a matter of time.


    "Okay, we''ll wait," Fourth said begrudgingly as she turned to Neenth. "Should we fix that fracture first while waiting? We can''t leave it for too long."


    "We?" Neenth tilted her head. "I believe that it is your duty to fix that."


    "<strong>HEY!</strong>" Fourth pouted. "That fracture is toorge! It will take me half a day to close that alone!"


    "Hah..." Neenth sighed. "Alright. I''ll help. I''ll also request Master to ask help from the others."


    Fourth could not help but smile as Neenth agreed to help her.


    Neenth then turned to Mark.


    "We will fix the fracture first. It would be a bad situation if minor assimtion urred before the intended time."


    With those words, the two Eyes left Mark''s group temporarily.


    It was when Mark was swarmed with questions from the others.


    "Boss, are you a descendant of an Evil God? No wonder you''re too powerful!"


    Berrak voiced out curiously.


    "Hah..." Mark sighed. "I''m not. She only said that I have the blood of an Evil God. It doesn''t necessarily mean that I''m a descendant of one."


    "I see..."


    Berrak nodded. Still, he was pretty excited knowing that the person that recruited him was not just some powerful demon.


    To the side, Emika was silently staring at Mark with glittering eyes. Thetter could only ignore the green-haired girl.


    It was when Amihan spoke to Mark.


    "Master, isn''t our goal here only to retrieve Pefile''s wife? I believe that it''s not necessary for us to fight that monster since we already achieved our goal."


    That question made the others agree. After all, it was clear that Mark almost died just by one attack of that creature. Yet, here he was, wanting to deal with that creature.


    None of them here had the courage to face such a creature. Comparing them to a godly existence was likeparing an ant to a whale.


    "You''re right about that. We can just leave already." Mark replied. "But don''t think that it''s unnecessary for us to fight that. Remember that it''s an infected. Moreover, one that mutated by absorbing the magical energy of a god. If we leave it alone, it will get stronger and stronger. Soon, it could turn into something that could sink the whole country, or worse, the whole world. We need to deal with that now that it is still weaker. Especially since we can get help right now."


    Mark then turned to the direction that the two Eyes flew towards.


    "After the second wave, the gods would not be able to stay in this world anymore. We will have fewer cards to y to deal with that thing. Not to mention that it will definitely get stronger."


    Those words from Mark made everyone realize how urgent it was to kill that gigantic crocodile. They had not thought about the things Mark mentioned.


    As for Mark, he had a different reason for thinking that way.


    With Freed''s memories clear in his mind, he remembered the origin of the monster that destroyed Eriellis.


    It was a monster that was left alone because no one was able to deal with it. Freed''s group left it, thinking that they could be stronger in the future and would be able to deal with that creature.


    However, reality betrayed them.


    That very creature grew faster than they imagined and became the cause of their''s destruction.


    Mark did not want to make the same mistake.


    Though for the most part...


    Mark just wanted to see what kind of [Mental Crystal] and [Mutagen Stone] could he get from that monster.

 Chapter 744 Another Eye, A Short Conversation With A Calm Gentleman

    <strong>Day 154 - 10:31 PM - Mountain Area, Municipality of Badian, Province of Cebu</strong>


    Gazing at the sky, everyone could see the dimensional crack slowly mend. Ordinary humans could not see it, but many figures currently worked as fast as possible to fix the problem.


    Right now, it was not only Fourth, the Eye of Amusement, and Neenth, the Eye of Interest, were present. Aside from the two, there were basketball-sized creatures donned with tentacles flying about near the crack.


    As Fourth had said before, they called for reinforcements. These ball-like creatures were, actually, floating eyeballs, known as the Lesser Eyes called [Scouts].


    The members of Mark''s group present during the attack of the infected Bungisngis in the Spirit Dimension remembered these creatures. Small they might be, but their prowess could not be underestimated.


    Apparently, these [Scouts] were under Neenth''s control. It was also why, among the Eyes, she was the most knowledgeable about things. This was also the reason Fourth earnestly asked for her help since if Neenth did not, this huge dimension crack would be all for Fourth to fix alone.


    The [Scouts] aside, there were another two Eyes present to help.


    Looking at the Eye, Mark could not help but wonder what he was doing here.


    The first one was a boy. The Eye that barely had any existence, the Eye of Boredom, Ninth. It looked like he came to help all the way from East America.


    On the other hand, the other Eye was another little girl. This was the first time Mark had seen her, but as it appeared to be, she seemed to have a close rtionship with both Fourth and Ninth.


    The four Eyes worked on the Dimension Crack together with the [Scouts], but it looked like that they would still need some time to fully fix it.


    While waiting, Pefile was taking care of Celine while being worried about his son.


    "Edzel and Pearl haven''t returned yet."


    Pefile said as he looked in the direction the two ran to.


    "Don''t worry, they''re not too far from here. Let Edzel think it out first. The situation is a huge shock to him."


    Mark told Pefile, detecting Edzel and Pearl staying in one ce.


    "Boss, isn''t it better if Sir Pefile told Edzel beforehand?"


    To the side, Padua could not help but ask.


    "That would cause a situation worse than this." Mark shook his head. "Imagine you''re Edzel, who lived his life since he was five without any parents. You don''t know who your father is, and your mother died of sickness long ago. Then a strange man that did not look human suddenly appeared and said, he is your father, and your dead mother is still alive. How will you react?"


    "Ah..." Padua pictured what Mark said and realized. "I''ll think that the man is a freak and will feel angry four trying to desecrate my mother''s memory."


    "Yes, and it will be unbelievable. Especially since there is no evidence that your mother is actually alive, unlike now where Edzel saw his mother."


    Everyone understood what Mark was saying, and even though Edzel''s reaction was negative, it was a better option.


    "Ah! Master Look!"


    Amihan eximed, pointing at the shore.


    Everyone could not help but look in the direction she pointed at. What everyone saw was the gigantic crocodile opening its huge mouth with its lower jaw submerged underwater.


    And then, as the water from the tsunami returned, all debris the water carried were sucked into the monster''s mouth.


    "It''s eating."


    Mark said.


    The giant crocodile was sucking everything. It did not matter whether it was floating debris or other things. But, of course, its aim was the corpses of living beings swallowed by the tsunami. It was the very same disaster that happened in Liloan Settlement.


    "AHHHH!!!"


    Suddenly, a loud scream was heard. It came from where the ves of the Tamawos were left to rest for a while.


    Mark could only shake his head. It was the same for Pefile.


    That scream came from one of the victims of Terville''s [Charm Magic].


    The [Charm Magic] was not permanent. Once the caster of the spell died, the [Charm Magic] would be dispelled. It would be fine if the woman had been under its effects for too long. Because they had been under its effects for a long time, it would be hard to reverse its effects even if the magic was already dispelled.


    However, it was different if the woman was only affected by the magic for a short time.


    The Tamawo''s [Charm Magic] would not affect the woman''s memories. It only affected their emotions. Thus, a woman under the effect of [Charm Magic] would still remember everything even after the magic was dispelled.


    And with how the victims of Terville were treated, now that they were freed from his magic, they began to suffer mental problems.


    These charmed women became ythings for the male ves. It was something that was confirmed before. But why did that happen? What was Terville''s reason for doing that?


    Unexpectedly, Terville''s reason was noble. At least, for their tribe.


    Tamawos were reliant on human women to continue their race. However, with the apocalypse happening, the number of humans were drastically decreased. If all humans were killed, the race of Tamawos would soon follow extinction.


    Thus, with Terville''s anomalous [Charm Magic], he decided to breed humans. And, of course, very few men among the ves would decline such an offer.


    Now that Terville died, all those female ves remembered how they became tools for human breeding. The nights when they were used, unable to resist and even loving the deed. It was all fresh in their minds.


    Something like that would cause trauma and mental breakdowns for the poor women.


    "Can''t we do anything for them?"


    Geronimo voiced out his concern. Even though he was already part of Mark''s group, he was still a brave soldier. Someone who protected the weak. It was heartbreaking for him to see such a scene.


    Everyone fell silent. There was nothing they could do to help.


    Well, there was someone who could. Unfortunately, Mark had no intention to.


    ***


    About an hour passed, and the crack in the sky was still far from being fixed. Mark estimated that the Eyes fixed barely past half of the fracture. In the least, it was much faster than Fourth''sints before.<sub> </sub>


    Still, for it to take this long, it meant that the prowess of that beam from the giant crocodile was extremely powerful.


    At this time, Mark was already in top shape once more. Mei was already done carefully removing his burnt skin from his body. He also changed clothes as his previous one was already torn and burnt.


    "Looks like it''s leaving already."


    Mark said, looking at the shore.


    The giant crocodile was already done eating. As it could not find any corpses in the water any longer, it began to retreat back underwater.


    "Uncle, is it fine to let that leave?"


    Emika asked.


    "There''s nothing we can to make that stay, anyway." Mark shrugged. "Besides, it probably won''t leave the strait anyway. We can just lure it out again if we already have a way to deal with it."


    Everyone agreed to Mark''s words. There was really nothing they could do but watch it leave.


    Mark looked at the sky once more. The Eyes were still doing their best to fix the fracture as fast as they could.


    "Boss," Padua called out, looking at the same scene as Mark. "From what I learned since we joined your group, our world and the Spirit Dimension will fuse soon, right? Why bother fixing it? Shouldn''t they just leave it alone?"


    It was a good question. Actually, Mark was also wondering about that.


    "It''s because the fusion of the two Dimensions is not something simple."


    Suddenly, a voice was heard by them, answering a bit of Padua''s question.


    No one noticed, but another person was already sitting near them while they talked.


    Not even Mark.


    No, it was not that Mark could not detect the person. It was just that Mark relied on Mental and Emotional Fluctuations to detect people. But the person that spoke barely had fluctuations. It was not there was none but it was just too calm for Mark to detect immediately.


    After hearing the voice, Abbygale could not help but jump from her seat. It was because the person was actually sitting beside her. Running away from the stranger, she hid behind Mark.


    Everyone turned to the neer, and to say, they were surprised.


    "Good evening, everyone." The person greeted the group before turning to Mark. "You must be Fourth''s candidate, am I right? Nice to meet you. You can call me Eighth. I believe you already know what emotion I represent from your look."


    "The Eye of Calmness, is it?" Mark replied with a frown. "Do you need anything from us?"


    Of course, Mark was wary. After all, instead of appearing to help Fourth, the person was here among his group instead.


    Looking at Eighth, he had an appearance of a man in histe forties. If there was a word to describe his appearance, it was ssy. He looked like a nobleman from the past,plete with a brown coat, a cane, and even a top hat. If not for his two pairs of eyes, he would look like a time traveler from the past.


    "You don''t need to be wary." Eighth smiled gently. "I just appeared here since I detected a person with strong calmness among your group."


    The others were confused and could only turn to Mark and Pefile. After all, among everyone here, the two were the most expressionless and calm.


    But, of course, it was not the two. Mark knew that this Eye called Eighth was talking about Abbygale.


    Eight then looked at the sky.


    "Like the others, I just came here to fix the fracture." Eighth then turned to Padua. "But since I heard an interesting question, I can answer it for you all."


    Then, Eighth turned to Mark once again.


    "If you will allow me. After all, it seemed that you made your own preparations for the fusion. I heard everything from Fourth, even your theory for the Spirit Dimension being the copy of the mortal world and its effects during the fusion."


    Mark did not reply, but his silence was already more of consent as Eighth saw.


    "The Spirit Dimension is a copy of the mortal world. That is true. However, that was several thousand years ago. Since the time it was created, its changes have already strayed away from its original copy. Erosion, the fauna, the creatures, many factors contributed to the changes. Thus, while things that exist in both dimensions will merge, things that did exist in both dimension was very few. Thus, when the two dimensions merged, it is expected that the whole world will copse."


    These words stirred Mark''s group. It just meant that Mark''s preparations around the base were useless. And once the dimensions merged, there was a huge possibility that the mountain where their base was built would end up copsing. After all, two mountains existing in a single ce would cause the volume to overflow, destroying the two mountains in the process.


    And this scenario would not only apply to their base but everywhere on Earth.


    "That is why we are trying to prevent even a small dimensional fusion until the day our master designated."


    "During the time thatary debris would hit Earth, is it?"


    Mark voiced out, making Eighth nod.


    "At that time, we will rely on the help of the remaining gods to destroy it. Still, the impact will tear the dimensional barrier apart. At that time, it is our duty to protect Earth and its structure from copsingpletely."


    "We can only do it once." Eighth added. "That is why the dimension fusion can''t happen earlier orter."


    "Is it fine for you to tell us this?"


    Mark asked.


    "Hoho." Eightughed. "There is no need to worry. Remember that you already had a deal with us for the future. You are entitled to our support, although it''s mostly for small things."


    "Well, then. If you will excuse me."


    With that sentence, Eighth stood and flew towards the other Eyes. He did not even wait for any other inquiry from Mark''s group.


    In any case, the question was answered properly. No wonder now why Fourth was too frantic about the fracture.


    Ending the short conversation with another Eye, another hour passed. With Eighth joining the repairs of the fracture, their speed elerated further.


    Finally, the fracture was fixed and the Eyes returned to Mark''s group.

 Chapter 745 Back To The Tribe, The Inevitable Future Of The Tamawos

    <strong>Day 155 - 12:32 AM - Mountain Area, Municipality of Badian, Province of Cebu</strong>


    It was already past midnight. Even if the Eyes were Godly beings and there were already five of them present, it took them more than two hours to repair the fracture. It was proof of how immense the damage caused by a single attack of the infected Sinogo was.


    This scene also made Mark''s group scale the difference between the strength of an Early Deity and a servant of a God.


    In Catanduanes, Lord Seis nearly stepped into Deityhood. The energy he released also caused fractures within the Dimensional Barrier. Yet, Fourth only needed a few minutes to fix the damage.


    Yet, it took two hours for five Eyes to fix the fracture this time. Not to mention therge number of [Scouts] that Neenth called to help. It showed that the strength of the Lord Seis and the infected Sinogo were iparable.


    By the time the Eyes returned, their attention became focused on Mark, especially Fourth and Neenth.


    "Seriously, what an absurd regenerative ability..." Fourthined, looking at Mark. "It would be understandable if you''re a being with a body constructed by magical energy, but you''re a mortal with a physical body..."


    "So, he''s your candidate, huh?"


    The unfamiliar Eye excitedly eximed.


    "I found him first, though."


    Ninth interjected with a bored expression.


    "It doesn''t matter who found him first!" Ninth''s words made Fourth agitated. "He was living within my area even before you found him! It just happened that he''s in your area when he met the criterion!"


    "I know. I know." Ninth shrugged. "It''s not like I''m iming him. I''m just saying that I found him first."


    "Grr..."


    Fourth red at Ninth while audibly growling.


    "Can you not talk about someone in front of the person?" At this time, Mark interjected with a re. "Also, stop making loud noises."


    At Mark''s words, the Eyes could only turn to the adorable creature sleeping while in Mark''s embrace.


    With her head rested on her Papa''s shoulder, Abbygale was soundly asleep. It was not surprising. It was already past midnight, after all. Even I and Emika were about to doze off if the Eyes had not returned yet. The only one that was staying strong was Miracle, who did not need to sleep at all.


    Hearing Mark speak like that, the unfamiliar Eye turned to Fourth.


    "It''s as you said. He really doesn''t fear us, huh?"


    The little girl said with an excited look.


    "It''s not that he does not fear us. He is just incapable of feeling it."


    Neenth corrected the little girl''s assumption.


    "Is that so?"


    The little girl cutely tilted her head. Then she realized that Mark''s group was sizing her up.


    "Why won''t you introduce yourself first?"


    The Eye of Calmness, Eight, suggested.


    "Ah, right!"


    The little girl replied as she excitedly skipped forward.


    The girl looked about the same age as Fourth''s appearance. However, she had a hime haircut, not to mention the traditional Japanese Kimono she was wearing. She looked like a young priestess from a temple.


    Among the eyes, however, she appeared to be a bit different. Instead of having extra eyes on her face, it was her pupils that had extra instead. Her eyes had three pupils each, forming a triangle.


    "I''m Sixteenth! The Eye of Excitement! Let''s get along!"


    Sixteenth loudly introduced herself.


    However, what returned was Mark''s fierce re. Her voice just now almost woke up Abbygale.


    "Geh..." Sixteenth turned back to the others. "He''s angry."


    "Because you''re too loud."


    Ninth said with a shrug.


    "Do all of you have such exaggerated personalities?" Mark asked. "Two girls high on caffeine, a sleepy boy, and an old guy popping out of nowhere. So far, only Neenth had shown proper behavior."


    Mark''sint sure stabbed the Eyes savagely. However, what was noticeable was the four of them strangely looking at Neenth.


    "Neenth is proper?" Fourth blurted out at Mark. "Among us Eyes, she''s the most twisted, you know?"


    Fourth then turned to the others.


    "Right?"


    However, no one replied to Fourth. The old man, Eight, turned his head away. Even the other two were frozen stiff.


    That was when Fourth felt cold behind her.


    "Just what do you think you are saying?"


    The cold feeling definitely came from Neenth that was now creeping behind Fourth.


    Fourth was not wrong, however. Among the emotions in existence, interest hovered between both positive and negative. Depending on the purity and intensity of one''s interest in things, it could turn either good or bad.


    Pure interest could turn into passion or even love. Unpure interest, on the other hand, could turn into obsession and greed.


    Interest was such an unstable emotion, not to mention that it could give birth to other emotions.


    That was why among the Eyes, it was unmistakable that she was the most powerful and the most unstable.


    "I already know that." Mark suddenly spoke to Fourth. "And I said, she''s the only one that behaved properly. Nothing else."


    "Kuh..."


    Fourth fell silent, unable to refute Mark. Neenth, on the other hand, retracted her cold chilling aura at the unexpectedpliment.


    "So, are we going or not?"


    Mark shifted the topic. After all, they still had things to do.


    "Ah, right! We still need to follow that Tamawo''s information!"


    Fourth eximed as she turned to Pefile.


    "Then, I will be going back." The old man, Eight, said. "Much like Fourth, I''m also searching for gods in my area."


    "Me too," Ninth added with a yawn. "I need to put more effort in searching since my area barely had any gods in existence."


    Ninth surely wasining. It was not surprising. Although the eastern side of North America had a lot of myths and folklore about mythical creatures and cryptids, the stories of gods there were severelycking. It was as if the gods that existed and ruled over America did not leave many traces behind after they left or went hiding.


    "I''m joining!"


    Sixteenth raised her hand, wanting to join.


    "NO." But Neenth swatted the little girl''s enthusiasm right away. "Go back to your territory and try to find if there are other gods that we haven''t found yet."


    Being ordered like that, Sixteenth pouted. Nheless, she did not argue.


    With that, the three Eyes left in different ways.


    Eight''s figure shed and vanished without a sound or even a ripple in the air.


    Ninth just faded out of existence.<sub> </sub>


    Lastly, Sixteenth, who glowed with a bright light before vanishing.


    In an instant, it was just Fourth and Neenth who were left.


    As the Eyes were ready to go, Mark gently handed the sleeping Abbygale to Mei.


    "Just stay here and set up camp," Mark told Mei. "Contact me through the ring if something happens."


    "Yes."


    Mei nodded as Mark patted her head.


    Mark then turned to Pefile.


    "Let''s go."


    At this time, only Mark and Pefile would be going with the two Eyes. It was not surprising since not everyone could handle standing side by side between the two godly beings. Even Pefile did not want to. After all, he also wanted to take care of Celine.


    However, only Pefile could serve as a guide, this time. Thus, Pefile had no choice but go.


    "Don''t worry, I''ll guard mother."


    As Pefile looked at Celine, Edzel''s voice sounded.


    Edzel returned with Pearl after two hours of clearing his mind.


    Pefile was about to speak, but Edzel raised his hand to stop the former.


    "I''m not ready to hear your reasons yet. Leave it forter. Just go."


    Pefile could not help but feel downhearted. However, it was better than before. Edzel did not say that he would not listen.


    "This kind of drama is pretty amusing itself."


    Fourth could not help but murmur.


    "Close your mouth, Fourth."


    Only to get reprimanded by Neenth.


    "Berrak."


    Mark turned to Berrak and the two soldiers.


    "What is it?"


    "The ves of the Tamawos. Can you send them off?" Mark replied. "I don''t really n on taking them with us but leaving them here would be bad. Send them to the survivors from the school that went up the mountain. Just don''t startle them with your summons."


    "No problem, boss." Berrak nodded. "I will get it done before you return."


    And with that, four individuals left the group to follow the clues that Pefile had.


    ***


    <strong>Day 155 - 12:40 AM - King''s Chambers, Tamawo Ancestral Tribe, Municipality of Badian, Province of Cebu</strong>


    "Do not worry about emptying the storage! Use as many herbs as needed to treat the wounded!"


    The voice of Elkile, the Shaman of the Tamawos, echoed within the almost ruined castle.


    The tribe was in left chaos after the events that transpired a few hours ago. Many warriors died, and there were more who were wounded.


    Much worse, their king, Artile, was unconscious.


    Since their king had banished all the elders in the tribe, managing this chaos was left in the hands of Elkile. As the tribe''s Shaman, he had authority just a step below an elder of the tribe. There were even circumstances where a Shaman''s decision was prioritized over the elders.


    As such, the Tamawos and other residents within the tribe obeyed Elkile''s words without question during the absence of their king.


    However, Elkile was at a loss.


    After giving out his orders to treat the wounded, Elkile entered their king''s chambers. The chamber was a mess, with its walls tilted and the floor uneven. The whole ce was built using the Sacred Tree''s trunk. As such, no one expected that their castle would turn out like this.


    Inside the chamber, Artileid on his bed, unconscious.


    No one was allowed in this chamber aside from the king and the shaman. Especially in this situation where the consequences of Artile''s defeat began to show.


    Being a direct descendant of the tribe''s royal family, Artile inherited a more handsome face than most people of their tribe. His silver hair had and pale-colored eyes had an unusual luster. Every Tamawo with royal blood had these features, including the first prince, Pefile.


    But now, Artile began to lose his shine.


    Artile was defeated in a fight and lost the right to im the woman he fell in love with. As such, the curse began to kick in.


    The luster of Artile''s hair began to fade. Some of his hair even began to fall off. His smooth skin started to wrinkle, and his lips began to crack. After some time passed, it was expected that Artile would be weakened, further and further.


    It was until he breathed hisst.


    Sometimes, Tamawos thought that it was better not to fall in love at all. There was even a rule that one should not show their woman to those who had no partners to prevent this kind of thing from happening.


    But no one would be able to stop fate.


    Artile fell in love with his brother''s woman and lost.


    That was just how it was to be.


    With a sigh, Elkile walked out of the king''s chamber. Outside, a messenger was waiting to give a report.


    "What is it now?"


    Elkile asked.


    "Another child was killed."


    The messenger reported.


    Elkile could only shake his head. Some of the women, the wives of the warriors that died, began killing their children after the [Charm Magic] was dispelled. It was an inevitable event, especially for women who were kidnapped from their human families to be the wife of a Tamawo.


    ? "What a mess."


    Elkile dragged his staff murmuring about the problems.


    Sooner orter, their tribe would face their inevitable demise.


    But then, as if another bucket of water was poured unto him, another messenger burst into the castle in panic.


    "<strong>SHAMAN! SHAMAN!</strong>"


    The messenger called loudly.


    "Don''t shout within the halls of the castle!"


    Elkile could not help but reprimand the messenger.


    "I-I know, Shaman! But this is urgent!" The messenger did not wait for permission and spoke. "The first prince returned! And he- he brought the Eyes with him!"


    Elkile was frozen in both anger and fear.


    "Damn that Pefile! Is defeating the king and getting his woman back not enough?! Is he this keen on destroying the tribe!"


    Elkile then stormed out of the castle to meet Pefile. The Eyes might be fearful existences.


    However, there was no way he would just stand and watch while their tribe faced destruction.

 Chapter 746 Futile Defiance, Entry Into The Castle Of Tamawos

    <strong>Day 155 - 12:58 AM - River Valley, Municipality of Badian, Province of Cebu</strong>


    Leaving the group, Mark, Pefile, Fourth, and Neenth moved towards the location of the Tribe of Tamawos. Since none of them wanted to waste time, all of them moved as fast as they could.


    And to say, Mark could not help but feel the difference in his and Eyes'' strength. Pefile was also frustrated. He could cover a long distance quickly with his ability to travel through trees within a certain distance. Yet, both Fourth and Neenth were always on his tail. Even Mark, who was using his [Shadow Mist Movement], appearing and disappearing now and then, was the same.


    It was not like they were in a race against each other. However, both Mark and Pefile could tell that the two Eyes were holding back to match their speed.


    With their speed, it did not take long to arrive at one of the entrances of the Tamawo''s realm. The border was a pair of curved trees nted right beside the top of the cliff. Suspecting humans would only feel that the trees were strange. As for Mark''s group, they knew that it was something magical.


    Nheless, even if the pair of trees were eyecatching, no regr human would be able to see it. It was because the area was cast with magic that would make humans lost without a guide.


    With Pefile''s lead, they walked past through the middle of the trees. They were supposed to fall since it was a cliff in front of them. But upon passing through, instead of a cliff, they stepped on a bridge made of roots and vines.


    "To think that there''s a realm hidden here..."


    Neenth could not help but murmur as she looked around.


    "It''s a realm crafted by a god. It''s no surprise that it managed to avoid our sight."


    Fourth said in reply to Neenth''s words.


    WHOOOM!


    Suddenly, a pulse of magical energy enveloped the entrance as if something detected their arrival.


    "A [Ward Magic]," Pefile spoke with a frown. "Berrak already broke the previous one. It looks like they cast another after we left."


    Following the pulse from the [Ward Magic], Mark detected many individuals approaching their location.


    But then, something strange happened.


    Some of the Tamawo''s attention was immediately focused on Fourth and Neenth. It was strange considering that the existence of the Eyes was not really known to many.


    Then, upon seeing Fourth and Neenth''s faces, the Tamawos retreated. It would not be surprising if they went and tried to stop them. However, the Tamawos actually fled.


    It was as if they knew the Eyes.


    "Pefile?" Mark turned to Pefile. "You and your tribe knew about the Eyes?"


    "Don''t ask me," Pefile replied. "I don''t know either. I might have heard about your race but not the Eyes until we met Bath."


    It was really strange.


    "Perhaps, something happened during the years you left your tribe."


    Neenth spoke, remembering the details of the book about Celine.


    Those words made Pefile silent. After all, he had no way to confirm it.


    "Thinking is just a waste of time!" Fourth yelled. "Let''s just go and ask them!"


    Of course, the Eyes would be interested in this. After all, their existence was not supposed to be known until now. Although they were the ones that administrated the relocation of magical creatures to the Spirit Dimension, they erased everything that could reveal their existence, including memories of people and creatures.


    Only the Gods and Deities of the past should know about the Eyes since even the Eyes would not be able to easily erase the memories of such godly beings.


    Being urged by Fourth, Pefile immediately led them to the castle at the center of the realm.


    And, sure enough, Mark''s group was blocked by Tamawos.


    "Pefile! Are you out of your mind? How dare you bring the Eyes to our tribe! Do you want to destroy the tribe too badly? You already got Celine back! The king would also notst too long! Is it not enough?"


    A Tamawo roared in fury. It was the current Shaman of the Tamawos, Elkile.


    "So, you are ming me for this?"


    Pefile surely was annoyed. By how Elkile spoke, it was as if everything was his fault.


    "I left the tribe, leaving my position as the heir to Artile. Yet, none of you were content about that. You all tracked me all the way to the other side of the country. Then, with the help of all of you, Artile took away Celine. Think about it. If you all just left me alone with my family in that ce... Will this happen?"


    Elkile was unable to refute. It was Artile that was too greedy about getting recognized as the King. If they did not track Pefile, Artile would not fall in love with Celine.


    And the tribe would not face the current grave situation.


    "All of you brought this unto yourselves," Pefile added. "Besides, we are not here to destroy the tribe. Just get out of the way if you really didn''t want that to happen."


    "As if I will believe you!"


    Elkile roared.


    "Believe my words or not, there is nothing you all can do anyway. Though I wonder. How the hell did all of you know about the Eyes?"


    Pefile asked.


    "There is no need to ask." Suddenly, Neenth spoke. "I''ll take a more detailed information from him directly."


    And without warning, Neenth''s body blurred. Before anyone could react, there she was, lifting the Shaman by grabbing on his neck.


    The Shaman iled, trying to resist. He even tried some of the magic he knew to escape Neenth''s grasp.


    But all of it was for naught. Neenth''s right hand grabbed on Elkile''s neck like a steel mp.


    A book then appeared on Neenth''s left hand. Surely, it was the book that would state everything about Elkile.


    Getting what she wanted, Neenth was done with Elkile. Without any change in her expression, she threw the Shaman towards the Tamawos blocking their way.


    And Elkile lost consciousness. It was not like Elkile was weak. It was Neenth that did not hold back at all. Even those Tamawos that tried to catch Elkile ended up with grave injuries like broken arms and crushed ribcages.


    That show of prowess caused the remaining Tamawos to step back in fear.


    "See that?" Fourth spoke to Mark. "I told you she''s the most twisted among us."


    "You''re saying bad things about me again, huh."<sub> </sub>


    Fourth could not help but flinch. Neenth was already back and was standing behind her.


    "Is it fine for you to do that?" Mark asked Neenth. "I remember you saying about not harming Earthborns, right?"


    "That is usually the case." Neenth nodded, but then she let out an unsettling smile. "But currently, we are doing our job to find a hidden god. Anything that tries to get in our way of doing our job is subject to elimination even if that person is a human."


    Mark could only shrug. It was their job protocol.


    But then, Pefile interjected.


    "Please, don''t eliminate them. Disabling them should be enough to get them out of the way, right?"


    It made Neenth quite surprised.


    "You want to spare them even after what they did to you?"


    But at the question, Pefile turned to the Tamawos with his eyes filled with fury.


    "No. I''m not sparing them. My brother will die soon. The human poption also lessened because of the outbreak. This tribe is already moving towards destruction, at the very least, disbandment. When the tribe disbands, they will need to leave this ce. With the situation outside, they will likely die. It would be mercy if we kill them now without them being able to witness how the tribe ends."


    A cruel fate. It was what this tribe awaits. It was all because they chased after Pefile.


    At Pefile''s reasoning, Mark and the two Eyes agreed. It would be an easy way out if they were killed right now.


    "Then, I''ll disable them." Mark volunteered while looking at the two Eyes. "You''re auras could stop them but will also affect me and Pefile. It might also end up destroying this realm. So, I''ll do it."


    "If you say so."


    "As you wish."


    The two Eyes agreed to Mark.


    The Tamawos around were already getting ready to fight, even if the Shaman was unconscious and some warriors were injured. But before they could make a move, an unsettling pressure fell on their bodies.


    Mark released his [Emotion Induction], forcing the Tamawos to be enveloped with fear, anxiety, and horror. Their bodies froze, with their legs shaking fiercely. Their view of Mark''s group changed. It was as if they were looking at a group of monsters.


    "Pefile, lead the way."


    Mark told Pefile with his eyes brightly glowing red.


    Pefile nodded and led the group into the castle under the watch of all the Tamawos gathered here.


    None of them could stop the four. They were powerless against the group of the first prince.


    Who would have thought that the first prince would end up with such powerful backing? If he became the king instead, would the end had been different?


    Unfortunately, it was toote. They all supported the wrong prince to be the king. And now, it was their fate to face destruction.


    Even if they regret it now, it was useless.


    Mark''s group entered the castle. The sight was interesting as the whole castle was made from a set of gigantic trees. If not for the fact that the whole castle was now a mess after Pefile controlled the trees, the ce might have looked beautiful.


    While walking, Neenth was reading the book she extracted from Elkile. She could not help but frown.


    "It looks like a Demon Spirit gave away our existence. That Demon possessed a Tamawo called Terville and used him to ry the information. But it seemed that none of the Tamawos knew about the Demon Spirit. They just believed that possessed person."


    Neenth spoke, summarizing the information. On the other hand, Mark and Pefile could not help stop on their steps.


    "Is there something wrong?"


    Neenth asked the two.


    "Did you say Terville?" Pefile replied first. "He''s my nemesis. As far as I know, he''s the one that urged my brother to rebel against the elders. He''s also behind most of the mess the tribe is facing."


    "You''re probably talking about that tall Tamawo, right?" Mark spoke next. "I already killed the Demon possessing him. The possessed guy should be dead too."


    "Heeeh... What is that Demon called? I don''t think that it''s just any Demon for it to know about us."


    Fourth asked.


    "It''s Terrae." Neenth replied to Fourth. "If I am correct, you''re the one in charge of that Demon."


    "Huh... That Earth Demon Deity?" Fourth was surprised. "He''s a pretty troublesome one. His body and spirit are two separate beings so, he''s hard to kill. He managed to escape me several times in the past before he just vanished without a trace. Who would have thought that he''s hiding here!"


    Fourth then turned to Mark.


    "You managed to kill that guy? Good job! If I had more authority, I might have given you a reward directly!"


    Those words of Fourth made Mark feelplicated. First, because he was beingplimented by a little girl. Second, it meant that he was actually in possession of energies from a Demon Deity that even an Eye had a hard time eliminating. No wonder that a crystal was not created yet, and the [PsyCrystal] was still working hard to condense it.


    It made Mark anticipate what kind of crystal would be created from that Demon called Terrae.


    While conversing, they passed by the chamber of the king. It was the same room that all kings of this tribe used, and Artile was very likely resting in that ce.


    Pefile gave the doors of the chamber aplicated look before leading the group deeper into the castle.


    Soon, they reached the core of the castle, a single room at the center of a circr hallway.


    And there, Pefile manipted the Sacred Trees to open the door.


    At the center of the room, there was a pedestal. Atop the pedestal was an item about the size of a police badge.


    It was the artifact called [Mark of the King].


    Seeing the artifact, Pefile could not help but feel shocked.


    It was because the artifact was pulsating and glowing.


    Then, under the group''s eyes, the artifact began to float.


    And it shot towards Pefile at an rming speed.

 Chapter 747 Contact, The Conversation With The Visayan Goddess Of The Sea And The Underworld

    <strong>Day 155 - 1:05 AM - Royal Chamber, Castle, Tamawo Ancestral Tribe, Municipality of Badian, Province of Cebu</strong>


    The artifact called the [Mark of the King] flew towards Pefile.


    An item that was moving on its own, it was akin to paranormal experiences involving poltergeists. Furthermore, a supposedly static object shot towards Pefile the moment they entered at fast speeds. One would usually think that it was something dangerous.


    However, no matter how fast it was, none of them felt danger.


    Instead, it gave the feeling of excitement. It was like the artifact was a dog that was waiting for its master to return. Or a child that saw their parents after a long time of separation.


    That was why even though the artifact shot towards Pefile at a dangerous speed, none of them felt any kind of danger. It was most likely that it would stop even before it hit Pefile.


    But then, as the artifact reached a close distance to Pefile, it was suddenly flung even faster towards the opposite side of the chamber. The [Mark of the King] bounced on the floor several times and on the wall once. Then, finally, it came to a stop.


    "He swatted it."


    "Yep, he swatted it."


    Fourth and Mark respectively spoke as they saw the scene in front of him.


    It was the scene of Pefile with his outstretched right arm after he swatted the artifact away like a disgusting bug.


    Even Neenth was also speechless at the sudden unexpected scene in front of her.


    It was a hrious scene. And to say, the two Eyes actually felt satisfied seeing an artifact left by a foreign god to be tantly rejected by a creature created by the same god.


    Nheless, after the [Mark of the King] was flung away, it did not remain on the ground. It immediately floated. This time, however, it did not try to approach Pefile. Instead, it faced Pefile like a confused person.


    "Is this an item that gained sentience?"


    Mark could not help but ask. At first, when Pefile said that it could choose a king, he thought that it only followed certain conditions. Now, however, he was sure that he was mistaken. For an item to behave like this, it should be either being controlled or had gained sentience.


    The artifact being sentient did not surprise Mark, however. It was not the first item he saw that had an ego. The first one was the [PsyCrystal], although its ego was next to nonexistent, and the second was [Ignis], which even formed its own spirit.


    Something created by a god had more chance of being sentient in the first ce.


    "It did not gain sentience." Neenth replied to Mark''s question. "Instead, its creator left her will, forming an artificial spirit inside the artifact. This spirit on its own should not be able to form its own ego. Instead, it is only capable of forming the connection between the artifact and its creator."


    "Am I correct?" Neenth added, suddenly facing the floating artifact. "Do not try to pretend. I know you are already listening."


    At Neenth''s words, the artifact that focused only on Pefile turned to her.


    And there, the room suddenly bloomed with bright light. Strangely, however, the bright light was not blinding.


    Mark stared in the direction of the artifact, feeling weird. After all, it was strange to be able to stare at a bright light without hurting your eyes and feeling blinded. In fact, there was a tinge of darkness from that supposedly blinding light.


    Then, a surge of energy enveloped the whole chamber as the bright light slowly vanished. It was apanied by the sudden appearance of a figure appearing out of thin air.


    It was a gorgeous woman wearing a bluish-white gown. The gown had a gradient color which turned darker as it went down to the ground. While the color of the upper part of the gown felt serene, the part that touched the ground felt ominous.


    The woman was also wearing a simr gradient-colored semi-transparent veil on her face. Her head had an exquisite calcite crystal crown adorned by both white and ck pearls. She also had a ne, armbands, earrings, and bracelets, all decorated with opals and pearls.


    It was an appearance different from what Mark had from illustrations. Nheless, without a doubt, the godly aura around the woman introduced who she was.


    Magwayen, the Visayan Goddess of the Sea and the Underworld.


    Nheless, Mark could not help but frown. Not only him but both Fourth and Neenth had the same expression.


    It was because, despite the godly aura that enveloped the ce, the woman in front of them was not the real thing.


    It was nothing but a projection. And avatar that served as a means ofmunication created by the goddess.


    "I never thought that for the first time, my blessing was rejected by the newly chosen king of Tamawos."


    The projection of Magwayen stared at Pefile, who was now having a hard time breathing. Although she looked calm, she was not controlling the pressure exuded from her avatar, making anyone weak enough to feel suffocated.


    It was very likely that she was angry by what Pefile did. It sure was disrespectful to swat an artifact bestowed by her like a disgusting bug, after all.


    Nheless, Pefile was a Tamawo. A descendant of her creation and the newly chosen king. There was no way that she would make it too hard for him. The kind goddess retracted the pressure around Pefile, allowing him to breathe. However, it was clear that Pefile was severely impacted by her godly aura. He staggered backward and only managed to stand after he leaned his back on the wall.


    Magwayen then turned to the other three. There was no sign of fear or contempt in her eyes as she stared at the Eyes and a Demon. All there was present was calmness.


    "The two protectors of Earth and a Demon, no, a potential God. What an unexpectedbination, not to mention a potential Demon God originating from a supposedly magicless world." Magwayen serenely sized the group. "Is it now time for the Tamawo''s existence to cease? It would be a pity, but it could not be helped if they were already found."


    "You seem unfazed by us. How strange."


    Neenth spoke with a frown. Usually, foreign gods would show a variety of expressions and emotions after they were faced by the Eyes.<sub> </sub>


    "Was it?" Magwayen replied. "Do not be mistaken. I would be afraid if we were to fight in that world. But that was it."


    With those words, there was no need to ask.


    "You are currently not on Earth."


    Fourth, with a serene face, spoke. It was kind of uncanny to see her looking seriouspared to her usual behavior. This just showed how powerful the goddess in front of them was, despite being just an avatar.


    However, the strength of Magwayen was not the problem here. It was that the goddess was not on Earth any longer. It meant that it was unlikely for her to be of help on the iing disaster.


    "I had long returned to our realm when the Eyes began hunting the gods," Magwayen stated calmly. "It seemed that you, Eyes, are still unaware. It should not be surprising. Despite your unrivaled strength as Earth''s protectors, the Eyes are not omnipotent. It was the same for us gods. But with how you two are here looking for me, there should be other gods still hiding in that world. How long has it been?"


    There was no contempt in Magwayen''s voice. However, both Fourth and Neenth could not help but feel insulted.


    "Actually, we are not here only for you specifically," Mark interjected as the atmosphere between the goddess and the Eyes was getting sour. "The Eyes already stopped hunting the remaining gods. Instead, in exchange for their help, the Eyes and the Observer will allow them to ascend peacefully."


    "Is that true?" Magwayen was surprised as she turned to the Eyes for confirmation.


    "What he said is true." Neenth nodded. "Earth is currently facing a disaster that would need the help of the remaining gods. That is why we are gathering them for their help in exchange for a peaceful ascension."


    "An ascension to a higher realm. What a tempting offer." Magwayen dejectedly shrugged. "Unfortunately, the gate from our realm to yours had long closed. Or else, I would have epted that offer."


    "A disaster that needed the help of gods. Is it connected to the overflowing stench of death in this world right now? It seems to be a very serious one." Magwayen added.


    "Actually, we had another reason for searching for you," Mark spoke once more after getting Neenth''s permission. "We want to ask about Kaptan''s whereabouts."


    Magwayen turned to Mark. Suddenly, the atmosphere turned dark, with a tinge of sorrow.


    "Why do you seek for the Supreme Sky God?" Magwayen asked.


    "It''s Sinogo, or at least, his empty body," Mark replied. "You can say that the dead areing back to life in the form of undead monsters. The dead Sinogo absorbed the magic from the seal that confined him and is currently a great threat that the Eyes can''t intervene with."


    "Sinogo, you say?" Magwayen was quite surprised. "If he did be an undead creature bearing the Supreme Sky God''s magic, it would definitely be a disaster. So you wanted to extract the Supreme Sky God''s magic from it, I presume."


    It seemed that Magwayen understood the consequences of the infected Sinogo''s existence. This made Fourth a bit hopeful. Even if Magwayen was not here, she might be able to give crucial information about Kaptan''s whereabouts. This could lead to removing a great threat within her territory.


    "Then-"


    Fourth was about to speak, but Magwayen immediately interjected her.


    "Unfortunately, there is nothing we can do about it."


    "What do you mean?"


    Mark asked with a frown. After all, if Sinogo continued to grow, there was no doubt that the home he created would be impacted.


    "Do none of you find it strange that Sinogo, a being highly valued by the Supreme Sky God, was left to rot in his seal under the sea?" Magwayen asked. "The Supreme Sky God would definitely take him away the moment that the Observer was reced and the Eyes started to oust the gods."


    It was a good question.


    The Sky God Kaptan was a ruthless God. Without hesitation, he killed his grandchildren because of the sin theymitted. Even killing his granddaughter without basis because of his anger. Yet, Sinogo was just left in a seal despite stealing a valuable artifact from him and being nothing but one of his three messengers.


    It was also stated in the myths that Kaptan valued Sinogo highly.


    Thus, Kaptan definitely would take Sinogo away first before going into hiding or returning to their realm like what Magwayen did.


    But with how Magwayen spoke, it was unlikely that Kaptan returned with her.


    Nheless, it was unexpected that Magwayen actually managed to return to their realm. There was no myth that stated that they had the ability to freely travel through dimensions. Or maybe, unlike Bath that entered Earth after ascending from his realm, the Visayan Gods could enter and leave their realm like the gods in western myths.


    In any case, their ability to traverse dimensions was not the problem right now.


    The problem was that Sinogo was left despite being highly valued by Kaptan.


    Or maybe, Kaptan never had the opportunity to retrieve Sinogo in the first ce.


    "Wait..." Mark spoke while he racked his brain. "You still appeared within the Visayan Myths of man''s creation. There were even the myths of Tamawo''s creation. But after the rebellion of Licalibutan and the myths of heavenly creations, there was no mention of Kaptan anymore."


    "Don''t tell me..."


    Mark turned to Magwayen, only to see her nod, understanding his assumption.


    "The Supreme Sky God, no, my beloved Kaptan... He had long departed the living."


    Magwayen stated with a sad expression.

 Chapter 748 A New Quest, The Hidden Details Of The Myth And A Clue Given At The Last Moment

    <strong>Day 155 - 1:09 AM - Royal Chamber, Sacred Tree Castle, Tamawo Ancestral Tribe, Municipality of Badian, Province of Cebu</strong>


    The myths about the Ancient Visayan Gods were too vague. It was the truth that no one would be able to refute in the modern era. Most of these myths were nothing but passed down hearsays with almost no written or illustrated records. Because of this, the exact details of the events were buried in the past without anyone to remember.


    In the first ce, what could a mere human understand about the actual circumstances of the gods?


    Some of the details could be true, but being passed on from one mouth to another would cause changes that would make it stray far from the truth.


    Not to mention that the Spanish colonization of the Philippines in the past literally erased most of the culture left by the Ancient Filipinos.


    ***


    After stating that Sky God Kaptan was dead, Magwayen relieved the details in her mind.


    It all started during the rebellion of Licalibutan.


    The myths said it simply.


    The three grandchildren of Kaptan, Licalibutan, Liaw, and Libn, tried to usurp the Sky God''s position with the eldest leading the rebellion.


    Nheless, it ended with the three being killed by the lightning smite of the angry Kaptan, and even the innocent Lisuga perished soon after.


    It was too simple. Too simple to the point of being suspicious. It was as if it was told in a way that would favor the winner despite the odds.


    A battle of Supreme Beings would not end in such a manner. Not to mention that despite having a body made of stone, Licalibutan was no beast. He was an intelligent being capable of thought.


    Even with his arrogance, Licalibutan knew that he was not an opponent to his grandfather in a face-to-face battle. Even if his two brothers were with him, there was no way that they would win.


    That was if they were to fight directly.


    As the myth stated, the siblings did blow up the gates protecting the sky world, Kahilwayan. However, that was nothing but a way to lure the Sky God into an ambush.


    They blew up the gates in a stealthy manner and pretended that someone else did it. It was not surprising since gods in that era had many enemies, and the contest was tight. At the time that the Sky God lowered his guard, the three lower gods made their move.


    It turned into a bloody battle. A mysterious storm raged above Kaon and caused the volcano to erupt prematurely.


    In the end, Kaptan killed his three grandsons with his lightning. But even so, Licalibutan''s ambush sessfully managed to fatally injure the Sky God. His [Source], the gathering of his magical energy, was broken by Licalibutan.


    And to a god, a broken [Source] was irreparable. It was one of the causes of a god''s death. Their [Source] weighed as much as their lives. As a Supreme Sky God, his broken [Source] pushed him to utter madness. It was the same rage that caused him to kill his remaining grandchild.


    The unfortunate thing, all of it happened during Magwayen''s absence. Everything could have been prevented if she was there. However, as a God of the Underworld, she had her duties to fulfill. She could not stay by their side all the time.


    As Kaptan calmed down from his rage, thest thing he did was to use his remaining energy to envelop the bodies of his grandchildren, except Licalibutan, with evesting light. And as said by the myths, the three formed the sun, the moon, and the stars.


    Was it true? Did the three turn into those heavenly bodies? Yes. But not in this realm.


    ***


    Inside the Ancestral Chamber, there was only silence.


    The Supreme Sky God of Visayan Myths, Kaptan, was dead.


    It was a piece of information that neither Mark nor the Eyes wanted to hear at this moment.


    They needed Kaptan to at least remove his magical energy from the infected Sinogo. That way, Sinogo would be weakened enough for Mark to fight him. It was the only obstacle that blocked Mark from confronting the creature. Without Kaptan''s magical energy, all that Sinogo would have left was his gigantic size and his infected army of mutated marine animals.


    It could be difficult, but Mark was confident that he could kill Sinogo as long as the monster did not have that magical energy from Kaptan.


    Now, that thought went all down the drain.


    If Kaptan was dead, there was no way for them to remove his magical energy from Sinogo. In the end, he would be a threat in this country.


    "So, we came to this ce for nothing..."


    Mark shrugged his shoulders with a sigh.


    If it was possible, Bath could likely suppress Sinogo even if his powers were severely weakened. However, the Eyes would not let that happen. Although Earth was in danger, its rules came first. A foreign god should not intervene with Earth''s affairs. Furthermore, the Observer and the Eyes already made an exception and proposed a deal to the remaining gods. Their remaining powers were far more needed to deal with the iingary debris that would hit Earth.


    In any case, there was nothing they could do. Mark was extremely interested in the infected Sinogo. However, he would have no choice but to suppress his gamer tendencies.


    Maybe in the future, they will find a way to deal with Sinogo even without Kaptan. No, Mark already had an idea. He had someone promised to meet in the future. It was likely that he will meet them soon.


    "Unfortunately, we did waste our time."


    Neenth agreed with Mark. They thought that they would find a god that could help with Earth''s current predicament. However, Magwayen had already left Earth, and Kaptan actually died.


    It was in these situations that Neenth would feel frustrated. After all, she had no grasp on information about anything directly rted to gods. They were foreign beings, after all. Not to mention that all gods were not tied to any string of fate.


    If Neenth could use her book to find information about gods directly, they would not have a hard time, unlike what they were experiencing currently.


    "You''re also a goddess that ferried the dead, right?" Mark asked Magwayen. "You''re not able to do anything?"


    At Mark''s question, the goddess looked at Mark strangely.


    "You... Know nothing, did you?" Magwayen asked Mark back. "But it is not surprising. Even the people of the past knew nothing but assume things about us."


    Mark fell silent. Should he feel insulted? It was true, however.


    "Foreign gods of death and underworld don''t work the way you might be thinking." Fourth spoke to Mark with a jeering look. "They are not gods from this world. They had no grasp of this world''s cycle of life and death. Besides, gods, no matter what realm, don''t follow the normal reincarnation cycle. Even if a god died, one would not find their soul among the ferries sailing to the afterlife."


    "Then, if they had no grasp on our world''s life and death cycle, where do they bring the souls their ferry?"


    Pefile, who was silent until now and hiding his presence, could not help but ask.<sub> </sub>


    "Where else?" Fourth answered. "Back to their realm, of course."


    Fourth''s answer made Mark turn towards Magwayen. The goddess did not deny it and nodded.


    "I did not know about the others, but I have the duty to repopte the souls in our realm. Due to theck of birth of new souls, the human poption in our realm is waning. We had no choice but to get souls from other realms if we wanted to increase our realm''s poption."


    "So, basically, those souls god Isekai''d?"


    Mark suddenly blurted out.


    "Isek- what?"


    Magwayen was confused at the sudden unknown word that Mark spoke.


    "No, don''t mind me." Mark shook his head. "Something in my mind just leaked out."


    "Are you not an interesting one?" Magwayen spoke with her eyes smiling. "To keep calm and think of unnecessary things in front of a goddess, I do not know if you are brave or just a fool."


    "He''s both."


    Fourth replied without hesitation, gaining Mark''s re as a result.


    At this time, Neenth spoke.


    "It is better for us to leave already. We gained nothing here, and we should not waste more time."


    Surely, Neenth was being grumpy. Their time was wasted, and their hope was raised for nothing, after all. Even if Kaptan was dead, if Magwayen was still on Earth, it would be worth the trouble.


    However, the goddess they were talking to was just a projection. It would not be of help to any of the problems Earth was facing right now.


    "No one is stopping you if you wanted to leave." Magwayen savagely replied to Neenth.


    Neenth red at Magwayen. It was obvious that she already had the urge to attack the projection. However, Fourth stopped her.


    "You already said that we wasted time going here. Don''t waste more time and energy on a mere projection."


    And there, both Neenth and Fourth began to leave. It did not take them long to leave the chamber since they moved pretty fast.


    Mark could only shrug. It was a pity that he would not be able to deal with Sinogo immediately. He then looked at Pefile, who was already itching to leave.


    However, Magwayen suddenly spoke, facing Pefile.


    "The new king of Tamawos, I implore you to stay."


    "My apologies, but I am no king."


    Pefile replied.


    "There is no mistake." Magwayen stared at Pefile. "You are the next king of your tribe. Why are you trying to push away your destiny? You should know that without the chosen king, your tribe would begin to decline."


    "Why should I care about the decline of this tribe?" Pefile sure was beginning to be angry. "They could all die for all I care."


    Without a doubt, Magwayen felt Pefile''s words offensive. However, the unexinable rage inside Pefile''s heart piqued her interest more.


    And there, Magwayen''s projection shed and appeared in front of Pefile almost instantly. By the time Pefile realized what was happening, Magwayen''s right hand was already on his head.


    Pefile wanted to resist or, at least, retreat. However, he felt powerless as the goddess grasped his head.


    To the side, Mark was watching. He could tell that Pefile was feeling afraid right now. However, Mark did nothing. Even though it was just the projection of the goddess, he could detect her emotions clearly. While her movements seemed threatening, he felt no ill intent at all.


    And then, Magwayen''s expression took a turn for the worse. Her eyes showed anger and pity at the same time.


    That look made Mark understand what was happening. Magwayen was reading Pefile''s memories.


    It seemed that she finally understood why Pefile, the supposed king of Tamawos, was too adamant about declining that honorable position. She saw the reason why Pefile did not care about the wellbeing of the tribe any longer.


    Finally, Pefile managed to regain his strength. The first thing he did was to leap back, away from the goddess. But when he looked at her, her eyes were filled with helplessness.


    "I now understand what happened," Magwayen spoke. "It is a pity, but I won''t force you any longer. In the least, take the artifact with you. It can help you in many ways. Aside from the chosen king, no one else would be able to use it."


    With those words, the [Mark of the King] floated from Magwayen''s hand towards Pefile.


    Pefile stared at the artifact and turned to Mark. Thetter nodded, prompting Pefile to take the artifact.


    "To think that the current king of the race I created would be working under a Demon. I did not expect this to happen." Magwayen turned to Mark. "I saw the things you did. I hope that you will continue to support Pefile and his family. With the king of Tamawos following your steps, the new tribe will flourish under yourmand. I just hope that you continue to treat them well."


    "You don''t have to ask me," Mark replied. "I know how to take care of my people."


    "I hope so."


    Magwayen stared at Mark''s eyes.


    Then, the projection of the goddess began to vanish.


    "It seemed that I''m all out of time," Magwayen stated, looking at her body before turning back to Mark. "Find Kahilwayan. It still exists in that realm. Although I am not certain, there might be something there that could help curb the threat of Sinogo."


    "I bid the two of you farewell."


    And there, Magwayen''s projection vanished with an explosion of bright light.

 Chapter 749 Back In Reading Pennsylvania, The Events Occurring During The Supply Collection

    <strong>Day 154 - 1:09 PM - Reading City, Pennsylvania, United States of America</strong>


    The abandoned city of Reading in southeastern Pennsylvania was currently bustling with activities.


    While, without a doubt, most of the activities involved the infected, some of them were people. These people were none other than the survivors living in Mark''s base, currently led by Odelina and Huey.


    It would be unexpected if the American government witnessed survivors from the Philippines here to scourge for supplies. This ce was basically on the other side of the globe. Fortunately or unfortunately, there was no one else to see these survivors except for the infected and the members of Auraboros.


    As per Mark''s orders, they scoured the city and other nearby areas for supplies and equipment.


    Of course, it was not an easy endeavor.


    The number of teams they could dispatch was limited, not to mention that they only had a few vehicles to use to transport the supplies they collected.


    And before they could even transport the supplies, they needed to fight the infected every time. They took caution as their priority. Nheless, not everything would always go ording to n. While they managed to avoid casualties which were fortunate, they still had some people injured. And sadly, one of survivor that volunteered to join the teams lost an arm.


    They were also under pressure. Everyone knew that they were preparing for the second wave but none of them knew when it wasing. Thus, they needed to move fast as they could and get ready if it suddenly came.


    Despite the few bumps along the road, one could not deny that they were doing better, unlike most survivors in the apocalypse.


    <o>,m Well, that was until the other day.</o>


    ***


    <strong>ROAR!</strong>


    A roar could be heard shaking the eardrums of anyone around. It attracted all the infected in the vicinity to chase after the source of the sound.


    Along that very same street where the roar came from, a three-meter tall dog with golden fur ran across the road.


    <strong>GROOOAR!!</strong>


    Loud growling, roaring sounds followed the golden-furred dog as hundreds of infected, both mutated and not, chased after it.


    There were different kinds of Infected present. Most of them were [Biters] since the slower [Eaters]gged behind. There were a lot of mutated ones, however. There wererge-bodied ones with thick muscles, bashing through the obstacles on the street. There were also thin-bodied infected, running and jumping across walls and roofs.


    "Hahaha! Go! Laps! Attract more of them! We need to dy them from reaching the foot of the mountain!"


    A girl''s voice could be heard talking to the dog. A teenage girl was riding on its back.


    The girl appeared to be around fourteen, with a very lively demeanor. Despite riding on a giant dog while being chased by the horrendous horde of infected, she still had the time to enjoy things.


    "Annica, don''t y around too much." A static-covered voice of a woman could be heard as the radio strapped on the girl''s arm sounded. "If you''re too careless and get injured, uncle and auntie will chew me off."


    "Geez, Sis na! I know! I''m not a child anymore, alright!" Annica replied on the radio. "If there is someone you should worry about, it''s Sis Karlene and Lil Sis Ka! Those two make more trouble than me!"


    "Since you know, then don''t make trouble too! Seriously!" nained.


    "Okay! Okay!" Annica sighed at na''s nagging. "You really sound like my Mom, you know!"


    As Annica said that, she told Laps to make a right turn at the next corner. They needed to gather and dy as many infected as possible. It was their mission here.


    ***


    Atop the roof of Central Middle School a few blocks away from the foot of Mount Penn, na shook her head. Although Annica was doing a good job while being partnered with Laps, she loved to horse around. Being around the childish pair of Karlene and Ka did not help in relieving her stress either.


    What was the source of their stress, and what was going on with the city?


    Just the other day, the infected began acting weird.


    ***


    So far, they had started to identify infected hordes into two categories, [Territorial Hordes] and [Wandering Hordes].


    [Wandering Hordes] was self-exnatory. They were nomadic hordes that wander around all over the ce. There were also two types of [Wandering Hordes], [Unorganized] and [Organized].


    [Unorganized Wandering Hordes], also called [Leaderless Hordes], were groups of infected that gathered just by chance. They might have grouped up by coincidence and traveled together, or the infected in the horde shared simr traits. They tend to just continue traveling together but could also break apart at any time. Once they encountered another horde with a leader, they tend to get absorbed into thetter, however.


    [Organized Wandering Hordes] were the opposite of the previous type of horde. They wander around with a [Leader Type], going to ces that the leader of the horde wanted to go. They tend to growrger as a [Wandering Hordes] were most likely to encounter each other. They would absorb [Leaderless Hordes] into their ranks.


    The other category of infected hordes was the [Territorial Hordes]. Also self-exnatory, they were hordes that frequent a certain ce without going too far from it. Unlike [Wandering Hordes], [Territorial Hordes] were not divided into sub-types, at least, currently. So far, [Territorial Hordes] tend to have one or more [Leader Types] within them.


    Why was this information brought up suddenly? It was because it had something to do with the strange behavior of the infected.


    A few days ago, they only had to scope and map the ce, and they would be able to maneuver across the outskirts of the city without too much confrontation with the infected. [Territorial Hordes] tend to not wander off too far from their territory. As such, if those territories were avoided, they only had to deal with the infected that did not belong to any hordes.


    But the other day, the [Territorial Hordes] they mapped began moving away from their territories. In fact, they started behaving like [Wandering Hordes]. The difference, however, was that the hordes were all moving towards Mt. Penn.


    It was the worst thing, of course. After all, their base of operations here was The Pagoda, situated atop Mt. Penn.


    Although they had countermeasures scattered across Mt. Penn, like the illusion magic of Tikbngs and walls of vines made the Dryad, it would still be questionable if these defenses would be able to withstand hordes with tens of thousands of infected.


    Thus, once the phenomenon started, they all considered pulling back the operations from this ce. And today, they began to transport all the remaining supplies they gathered towards the portal Spera opened.


    But, of course, it would be hard to do all of it quickly. They had little manpower, after all. Thus, they needed to dy the iing hordes as much as possible. If it came to a point that they could not handle it any longer, they would have no choice but to abandon the remaining supplies.


    Nheless, what was the cause of this strange phenomenon?<sub> </sub>


    No one had a concrete exnation aside from one suspicion.


    At the center of Reading City, one of the [Ground Zeros], a tower of flesh appeared overnight. At night, its tip would emit a red glow like a telmunications tower. And at those times that it was lit, the infected across the whole city seemed to behave more aggressively. Without a doubt, it was some sort of infected mutation. Unfortunately, there was no way for them to check it as extremely dangerous.


    ***


    "Another horde is spotted at the northwest near the high school!" na''s radio sounded with Huey''s voiceing through. "It''s a horde with approximately three hundred infected! They are moving south in your direction na!"


    "Should I go?" na replied to her radio. However, before Huey could give approval, another voice spoke.


    "Leave this to me." The voice of a man spoke. "The road there is wide. It will be hard to keep them in ce if anyone else came, but my ability can take advantage of the concrete road to block them."


    "Are you sure?" Huey''s voice sounded on the radio. "It hadn''t been long since you woke up. You should concentrate on recuperating."


    "I''ll be fine." The voice replied. "I can recuperate all I want after this. I can''t just stand to the side while the people that saved us were facing a crisis. Besides, I have Felicia with me. It''s not like we are going to fight the horde to death."


    "It''s still far to be considered a crisis, though," Huey replied. "Okay, you''re free to go. Just take care. Boss with hit me if something happened to you before hees back."


    "Don''t worry." The voice confidently spoke. "I don''t n on going into anothera before I met the person that saved us that day. Alright, we''re going."


    Hearing the exchange on the radio, na shrugged. It seemed like she was still stuck here to babysit Annica. There was also Karlene and Ka not far from her position dealing with another horde.


    "Seriously, why do I have to babysit children. I''d rather go fight too."


    nained.


    ***


    "Let''s go."


    A man spoke as he rode a motorbike. On his back seat, Felicia sat worriedly.


    "Is your body already fine?"


    Felicia asked.


    "Well, not really." The man replied. "But I have to earn my keep. If I don''t work, I don''t deserve to eat. I learned it at the time I''m still a refugee."


    "Okay, just don''t push yourself too much, Louis."


    Felicia sighed with a shrug. Nheless, she seemed happy.


    And there, the man pulled the gas and drove the motorbike to the location of the horde.


    ***


    It did not take the two too long, and they arrived at the location.


    The horde was slowly wandering towards the south, passing in front of the Reading Senior High School Campus. Once the horde spotted the motorbike and the pair that rode it, the infected all turned aggressive and rushed towards their prey.


    Looking at the iing horde, the man did not waste time. He jumped off while Felicia took the handle of the motorbike. Landing at the center of the street, the man bravely faced the horde.


    <strong>ROOAR!</strong>


    The fastest mutated infected rushed towards the man the moment hended. It was too fast that it could likely chase the motorbike at top speed with ease.


    However, when the mutated infected was about to w the man into two, a huge chunk of cement hit the infected''s face, crushing it into meat paste.


    "<strong>None of you are going any further you bastards!</strong>"


    The man dered as he lowered his body and touched the concrete road with both hands.


    <strong>CRACK! CRACK! CRACK!</strong>


    Loud cracking sounds were heard, but the infected were not intelligent enough to pay attention.


    And as the horde thought that they were having a feast, they lost sight of their pray as something blocked their path.


    What appeared in front of them was a wall made of stone and concrete. It looked as if the concrete road suddenly folded upwards to block their way.


    "Alright!" The man roared. "As I thought, my powers grew stronger!"


    The man then pped the ground causing the concrete road he stepped on to rise up. Standing atop the tower of stone, the man looked down on the horde. Some of them were already trying to climb the wall he created. But before any of them managed to climb or jump over the wall, the man waved his hands.


    <strong>BAM! BAM! BOOM! CRASH!</strong>


    Different sounds echoed as chunks of stone and concrete flew to bash the heads of the climbing and jumping infected.


    The chunks of stone floated around the man, ready to strike any iing enemy.


    This man no other than Louis Morgan, the Inheritor of the ability of General Gordilius, [Geo-Telekinesis].


    A few days ago after the departure of Mark''s group, he woke up from hisatose state. Instead of recuperating, however, the moment he managed to regain enough strength, he began to actively help in any way he could. He wanted to repay that debt that was saving not only his life but also the lives of the people with him back in Antic City.


    And now, here he was, exhibiting his prowess that was strengthened after he used [Earthen Resonance], which far surpassed his limits and survived.

 Chapter 750 Sitting By The Portal, Another Sign Of The Incoming Catastrophe

    <strong>Day 154 - 1:15 PM - Reading City, Pennsylvania, United States of America</strong>


    As Louis stood atop the ragged wall of concrete he created, Felicia also did her share of work. There was not only the infected within the horde in the area but also some wandering stragglers. She might not be much of help in handlingrge amounts of infected at once. Nheless, she was the most effective in one-on-one battles.


    "Felicia, Louis, how is the situation there?"


    The radio strapped on the waist of Felicia sounded with Huey''s voice as she twisted an infected''s head with a powerful kick.


    Without letting her attention stray away from the infected, Felicia picked up the radio.


    "The situation here is pretty much under control," Felicia replied on the radio. "Louis already blocked the road, and there is only a small number that can climb up or jump. If needed, we probably can eliminate them, but it will take some time and effort."


    "There is no need to kill them all," Huey replied. "Just deal with those that can possibly be a threat. If not possible, just leave them be. Don''t waste too much time and energy since we only need to dy them for another two to three hours. We might even need to pull back earlier than expected."


    "Okay, got it," Felicia affirmed and turned to Louis atop the ragged concrete wall. "You heard that, right? So don''t push yourself too much."


    "Hah... Alright." Louis replied with a shrug and murmured. "We haven''t evenmitted ourselves to each other, but she nags like we''re married for years..."


    "Did you say something?"


    "I didn''t!"


    ***


    <strong>Day 154 - 1:20 PM - Warehouse, Lombard St., Reading City, Pennsylvania, United States of America</strong>


    At the warehouse southeast of the school where na was positioned, Huey was overseeing their final operations in this ce. Since their base was the Pagoda atop Mt. Penn, it would be a waste of fuel and time to go back and forth, especially if the scavenging run did not fill their vehicles. Thus, they decided to use this warehouse as a dropoff. Then, they would move the supplies up the mountain.


    There was also another problem. The only road that would lead up to the Pagoda was on the east side of the mountain. It became an issue since the main city areas were on the opposite.


    They had no choice but to make this ce a drop point for the supplies they collected. It also allowed them to manually carry the supplies up the mountain through the trekking paths behind the Pagoda.


    "Hurry up! Move faster!"


    A loud voice urged the workers to move faster. It was no other than Ed, the masculine man among Huey''s group. He was watching the workers as they filled his metal cart with supplies.


    "Yes!"


    The workers replied with serious faces.


    "Don''t push them too hard. It would be a problem if the workers copsed."


    Huey called out to Ed from the roof of the warehouse.


    "We are fine, Sir!" Instead of Ed, it was the workers that replied. "We do need to move faster, or we might have no choice but to waste some of the supplies."


    "You heard them"


    Ed added.


    Huey could only shrug, but it was with a good expression.


    Ed and the workers continued on their work while Huey resumed monitoring the surroundings. It was at this time that some people climbed up the roof.


    "Wee back. The infected in front had been dealt with fast."


    Huey greeted, looking at the group.


    It was Jolleen, Halley, and Nicole. They had just returned after killing a small group of infected that wandered near the warehouse.


    "We''re back. It''s not a big horde so we managed to dispatch them quickly."


    Jolleen greeted back.


    "Ugh... I smell bad." Halleyined as she sat down on a nearby chair. "I want to take a bath."


    "I told you not to burn the infected you are fighting," Nicole replied to Halley. "But you still went and did it."


    "I can''t help it, alright?" Halley argued. "Something disgusting tried to jump on me."


    Huey shook his head as the two bickered.


    Following the return of the three, another two people climbed to the roof, carrying two stic containers filled with lunchboxes and water bottles.


    It was Trisha and Ron.


    "We brought lunch for you guys!"


    Trisha announced as she put the container that she carried on a table.


    "Here''s the water."


    Ron said as he put his container by the leg of the same table.


    Huey smiled, looking at the noisy group around him and also ncing at Ed below.


    Who would have thought that the remaining people in the group of animators chased up the mountain by a feral tiger would end up like this? That group of afraid, dying regr people was no more. Now, they were powerful people capable of fighting the infected without fear.


    It was fortunate that they chose the right decision when they met Mark.


    With those things in mind, Huey suddenly whipped his head to the sky. He detected something.


    "Something wrong, Huey?"


    Jolleen asked, noticing the odd expression of Huey.


    "Those guys from Auraboros are watching again."


    Huey replied, staring at the Red-Tailed Hawk that was circling in the sky.


    "They aren''t even hiding it anymore, huh."<sub> </sub>


    Jolleen said, also staring at the hawk.


    It was not the first time that the group from Auraboros who stationed themselves at an apartment building south of mount pen spied on them. First, they tried stealthily infiltrating the Pagoda but got caught many times. Then, they began sending animals.


    However, all of the attempts were either caught by either Huey or the illusion of Tikbngs. Soon, they stopped trying to infiltrate the Pagoda and started tailing the scavenging groups using small birds. It was quite hard to discern the birds, but, once seen, it could be easily deduced that the birds were being manipted.


    In recent days, the manipted birds stopped hiding and would tantly circle in the sky, watching their activities in the area. It was effective as the birds were quite hard to hit, even with guns.


    It was an extreme annoyance. No one would feelfortable being watched like that. However, since they had more important things to do, Huey and the others stopped intercepting the birds.


    And as it seemed, the members of Auraboros were just watching. They seemed to have no intention to even have a proper interaction with them, peacefully or hostile.


    "In any case, we''re leaving this ce," Huey said with his eyes leaving the hawk in the sky. "Today will be thest time we will see their birds spying on us."


    "True."


    Jolleen nodded.


    "Hey, you two." Suddenly, Trisha called out. "Eat your lunch immediately while we are free. If another infected horde came again, it would bete to eat."


    The two could only agree to what Trisha said and grabbed their lunchboxes.


    ***


    <strong>Day 154 - 1:25 PM - The Pagoda, Mt. Penn, Reading City, Pennsylvania, United States of America</strong>


    Inside the first floor of the Pagoda, a wide portal floated at its center. Piles of boxes and cases were umting in front of it. It was because the workers were dropping the supplies they carried from the warehouse in here.


    As for transporting the supplies through the portal, another group was handling it. Those workers were currently passing back and forth, carrying carts of items, through the portal connected to the warehouse on the other side.


    At the corner of the first floor, near the stairs, Spera sat watching the portal.


    Because of the crystals that Mark gave her, she was now able to maintain the portal open for an extended amount of time. Her current longest record was five and a half hours straight. However, the time would shorten drastically if the portal did not remain open continuously. It was no surprise since opening a portal cost her more effort and energy than maintaining an already opened one. There was also the condition that she could not move away from the portal or it would close immediately.


    If Spera could move away from her portal, she would not be here watching other people work.


    At this time, tworge creatures arrived outside the Pagoda. The two were toorge that they could only stand by the door. One was had a snake body while the other a giant, fat man adorned with an orange armor-like exoskeleton.


    It would have been a frightening sight if none of the people here knew who these creatures are. Not to mention the two were carrying boxes of food that made them less scary. It was Gifre and Logan, the mutated infected controlled by one of Mark''s maids, Aephelia. The maid that just appeared out of nowhere with only Mark''s closest people knowing where she came from.


    At the arrival of the two monsters, the workers immediately approached to move the boxes they were carrying. The maid, herself, entered the Pagoda.


    "Bored?"


    Aephelia approached Spera, who was sat hugging her knees.


    "...Yeah." Spera stared a few seconds at Aephelia before replying. "There is nothing to do but watch or sweep the floor. I already cleaned it several times, but the others stopped me since it''s just going to get dirty again."


    That reply made Aephelia shake her head a little. This girl in front of her was a ve at birth. Then became a tool of Auraboros after she gained her powers. Spera was a girl that did not know how to enjoy life.


    Since Spera was the inheritor of Maurellfel, a good friend of Aephelia back in Eriellis, she could not help but look after her.


    "Why not borrow one of Master''sptops?" Aephelia suggested. "I''ll ask Miss Odelinater. Let''s borrow the one with anime movies in it."


    "Anime? That''s cartoons, right? Isn''t that for kids?"


    Spera replied, tilting her head.


    "If master heard you say that, he will be disappointed." Aephelia shrugged. "I do not think that an entertainment medium that involved gore and other sensitive topics are for children, though? And even cartoons had their own show of violence. Well, Master said before that there is a fine line differentiating violence anime and cartoons."


    "Aren''t you too enthusiastic about what Master likes?"


    Spera said, staring at Aephelia.


    "I can not be helped. It''s a duty for us maids to know our master''s preferences."


    Aephelia replied.


    Spera could only shrug as she epted the suggestion. After all, watching childish stuff was better than staring at empty air. The question was when would Odelina return, though. She was current outside, also dealing with another horde. Her children, Seigfried and Odette, and her niece, Hannah, were with her.


    Remembering that, Spera could not help but think of how strange of a person Odelina was. Not only was she capable of many things, but she was also adamant for her children to follow her steps. Now, she brought her children to fight a horde and train them at the same time.


    ***


    "<strong>WH-WHAT IS THAT?!</strong>"


    At this time, amotion was heard from the workers outside the Pagoda.


    Actually, it was not just around the Pagoda. Even Huey''s group in the warehouse, the pair of Felicia and Louis, and even the group led by na saw the event.


    Aephelia and Spera heard themotion and went to see what was happening. Then they saw everyone outside was looking up at the sky.


    Aephelia and Spera did the same, and their eyes opened wide in surprise.


    In the sky, they could see several groups of circr objects floating. They were moving together synchronized. Some even had blinking lights that could be seen clearly despite the brightness of the afternoon sun.


    The scene looked threatening, not to mention one of the objects should be asrge as a cruise ship.


    "An alien invasion all of a sudden?"


    Spera blurted out. As a former member of Auraboros, she was not new to the existence of extraterrestrials on Earth. But to see them move like this all at once was a first.


    "No, I don''t think so."


    Aephelia replied, observing the movements of the unidentified flying objects. Eriellis itself had its oddly shaped spaceships. Thus, she could tell what was happening by the flight pattern of the UFOs.


    "Instead of an invasion, it''s more like they were leaving this in a hurry."


    That was Aephelias words as they watched the UFOs fly up the clouds all at once and vanish from their sights.

 Chapter 751 The Decision, Leaving Reading City Ahead Of Schedule

    <strong>Day 154 - 1:24 PM - City Park, Rose Garden Road, Reading City, Pennsylvania, United States of America</strong>


    "They''re gone."


    Odette uttered as she gazed at the cloudy sky.


    Standing beside the girl was her brother, Siegfried, and their cousin, Hannah. Not far in front of them was their mother, Odelina, who was still fighting a couple of infected.


    The City Park was about two hundred meters southwest of the warehouse. This ce was not within the directions where most of the infected wereing through. Nheless, it was too close to the warehouse for them to ignore. As such, Odelina took her twins and her niece here to get some battle experience. It was hitting two birds with one stone since they also eliminated any threat that mighte to the warehouse.


    With Odelina holding the line of the infected, Hannah with aposite bow, and the twins both with crossbows, they were doing well. The children missed a lot of shots with their crossbows, and their shooting speed was also quite slow. It was not surprising as they were both children. And to say, they were already better than most children their age.


    Hannah, on the other hand, was very good with her bow. Her posture and behavior as she released her arrows showed that she was trained well with this weapon.


    As they were about to finish, that was when the UFOs flew up the sky.


    All of them saw the clusters of unidentified flying objects soaring up the sky. The children felt a mix of fear, amazement, and confusion. After all, it was a strange and horrific sight to behold.


    BAM!


    Odelina, with her fist covered with bone armor, bashed the head of thest infected to the ground. With a loud cracking sound, the infected stopped moving.


    Odelina looked around, ignoring the dozens of dead bodies they before her.


    Seeing that there was no moving infected in the immediate vicinity, Odelina gazed at the sky. All she could see was the holes left in the clouds after the UFOs pierced through in sonic speeds.


    "The aliens are leaving... Are they going to cut off their connection to the US government and other countries?" It was a question that Odelina could not help but wonder. "Once they left Earth, allowing it to face disaster on its own, it will leave a scar on their rtionship to Earth''s countries."


    And then, Odelina shook her head.


    "It''s not the time to wonder about these things. It is not within my business anymore. Besides, those aliens leaving in a hurry is not a good sign."


    Odelina surveyed the surroundings. There were still some infected in the distance. All of them were [Eaters] as they moved slower than the ones they just killed. There were even some that seemed to have been attracted to the sound of fighting.


    However, the remaining infected did not seem to pose any immediate threat to the warehouse.


    "We''re stopping here," Odelina said as she approached the three. "Let''s return to the warehouse."


    Hearing that they were done here, Odette and Siegfried sighed in relief. Their mother was quite the spartan if she was training them. The two could not help how their cousin, who was just a few years older, could keep up with their mother.


    What the twins did not know was what their mother was thinking. Odelina thought of making the children help with the supplies. Carrying a few boxes of food up the mountain was a good way to build up their stamina and sense of bnce.


    ***


    Day 154 - 1:30 PM - Norfolk Southern Reading Yard, Reading City, Pennsylvania, United States of America


    The Norfolk Southern Readin Yard. It was a rail yard located within the central areas of Reading City.


    Now, however, instead of parked trains, it was flooded with infected. It was also where the tower of flesh was rooted.


    Five meters wide at the base, a meter wide at the top, and about forty meters in height. That was howrge and tall this tower of flesh was. Appearing like it was made of a pile of disgusting pulsating meat, one would wonder how it was standing up that high.


    In the sky near the location of the tower of flesh, a silhouette of a woman was surprisingly present. With wings like a pigeon''s, the woman flew around, surveying the vicinity of the rail yard.


    "Au---- ca--- *SHHHHKK!"


    Suddenly, the radio strapped to the woman''s belt sounded. The sound transmission was broken. Thinking that she was outside the range of the radio, she flew back.


    "Audrey! Can you hear me! Audrey!"


    The radio sounded loud and clear as she finally established contact.


    "I''m here. Please, Sir Huey, don''t shout." Audrey replied to the radio. "The signal was unstable earlier. Maybe the tower is outside the range of the radio."


    She was Audrey Ocampo, one of the three people capable of flight within Mark''s group. The other two were no one else but Mark and Mei.


    She became a spy of Death Valley Settlement after her younger sister was caught by the criminals. After the attack of the infected horde in Real Militar Settlement, she was tasked to rile up the survivors and mutators together with another spy, only to get caught by Mark.


    With her younger sister, Tullia Ocampo, rescued by Mark and joining his base, Audrey was also brought back and loyally served Mark''s group ever since. Being the only other person in the group capable of flight, she was mostly tasked with reconnaissance through the sky.


    Now, her task was to recon the tower of flesh. As it could possibly be the cause of the unusual behavior of the infected in the city. She was also the one in charge of scouting the waves of hordes that were behaving oddly.


    Hearing what Audrey said, there was a slight pause on the radio. Finally, Huey replied.


    "That should be impossible." <strong>Huey retorted.</strong> "The radio we are using right now had a maximum range of about twenty-nine kilometers. Even if the signal diminished because of the obstacles like buildings, we should be able to establish clear contact since that tower should be just around two kilometers from the warehouse."


    "Did you do something different this time?"


    Huey added.


    "Nothing..." Audrey mulled. "Wait, I flew closer to the tower than yesterday. That is why I thought I flew out of range. Maybe it had something to do with the tower?"


    Audrey could not help but look back at the tower as she spoke to the radio.


    "Possibly," Huey replied in a serious voice. "Is there any change with the tower?"


    "Seems to be the same since it appeared," Audrey replied.


    "Good then. At least, we can predict that its only hordes that wille to us." Huey seemed to be a bit relieved. "You should return now and just scout around the warehouse. Miss Odel told everyone to return and get ready to leave."


    "Got it."<sub> </sub>


    Audrey replied as she took onest look at the tower of flesh before flying back to the warehouse.


    ***


    <strong>Day 154 - 1:42 PM - Trekking Path, Mt. Penn, Reading City, Pennsylvania, United States of America</strong>


    The people under Mark diligently carried the supplies from the warehouse up to the mountain. The refugees that stumbled across the base, the ves who were freed from Death Valley Settlement, and even the members of the tribe that joined following a prophecy. All of them worked altogether in unity.


    Among all those people carrying supplies, there were three young adults. Together, they pulled and pushed arge cart up the mountain.


    "Aaron, pull the cart properly." Naomi, who was pushing behind the cart with Tullia, reminded Aaron who was pulling the cart. "If you slipped or let go, we might get crushed here."


    "I''m doing my best, you know?!" Arronined. "Just push better if you don''t want to get crushed."


    "As if I''m not doing it properly!" Naomiined back and turned to the woman pushing beside her. "Right, Tullia?"


    Tullia, on the other hand, could only shake her head and sigh. Both Naomi and Aaron were on another bickering spree. They were always like this, even back at the time when they were still ves under the criminals of Death Valley Settlement.


    "As usual, Tullia is just staying silent," Aaronmented on Tullia''s behavior. "You better smile more, or you''ll not find a man to marry in the future."


    ? "I''m not keen on finding one, so just shut up."


    Tullia red at the man pulling the cart in front, making him shiver.


    "Alright! Alright! Don''t re!" Aaron sighed. "Seriously, you''re re gives me shivers."


    "Hahaha! You''re such a wimp." Naomiughed. It was a kind ofugh that none of them would expect to see back in the days that they were still ves.


    "Anyway, it''s hard carrying all these supplies up the mountain." Naomi shifted the topic. "Miss Spera can just open a portal inside the warehouse, right?"


    "Apparently, they can''t," Aaron immediately retorted. "I don''t know the specifics, but there seemed to be a reason."


    This made Naomi turn to Tullia.


    "Hey, do you know why? You''re closer to Sir Huey and the others than us. You and your sister are even joining Sir Huey''s group when doing thins outside."


    Pushing the cart, Tullia sighed.


    "It''s not really a secret, so I can tell you. But still, don''t spread it unnecessarily."


    "Okay. Okay. Why?"


    Naomi curiously asked.


    "They said that it had something to do with their magic and psychic power," Tullia exined. "I was there when Boss Mark told Miss Spera not to carelessly open portals in ces the infected can easily ess afterward. He said that their magic and psychic powers leave magical residue in the surroundings when used inrge amounts or for a prolonged duration. And the infected might absorb that residue and mutate into something outrageous."


    "Something outrageous?"


    Aaron asked.


    "Yeah. Something like an infected with magical powers. For Miss Spera''s case, an infected jumping through portals."


    Tullia''s words made Naomi''s and Aaron''s spines shiver. An infected jumping through portals? Might as well kill them now.


    Then, something came into Naomi''s mind.


    "Then isn''t it bad that we are using the illusion magic of the Tikabng''s to protect the base and the Pagoda?"


    She asked.


    But the answer from Tullia, who also participated in clearing the area on the other side of Chiyo, the Night Everred Spirit Tree, was something that Naomi and Aaron feared.


    "I think the illusion magic didn''t really matter," Tullia said. "Infected Tikabngs already exist, so... yeah, it didn''t matter."


    "Geh..." Naomi groaned, only to hear Tullia add more salt to the wound.


    "Also, other infected folklore creatures exist. Like infected Sylphs remember? Miss Aephelia had a few under her control, and all of them can use wind magic. Only not to the extent that Miss Amihan could."


    "Well, at least, those ones can be guarded against as long as one is careful." Aaron sighed but understood what Tullia was saying. "An infected jumping through portals is another huge issue. No one will expect that, and it will be able to easily destroy survivor settlements. No wonder they were being strict with Miss Spera''s psychic powers."


    "Haaahhh..." Naomi could not help but give out a long sigh. "Mutated infected, magical infected, folklore creatures, and now, even UFOs. The Earth we know before no longer exists, huh. I wish I can go back to the time when I''m just a college student unnecessarily studying physics and algebra."


    "There''s no point crying over spilled milk, Naomi."


    Aaron said, causing him to receive a re from the back of his head.


    It was when they suddenly heard the voice of something talking through a megaphone.


    "<strong>Everyone, those heading up with supplies, that will be yourst trip. Those that are going down to the warehouse, please turn back and return to the Pagoda. We will be leaving ahead of schedule. I repeat. We will be leaving ahead of schedule.</strong>"


    And then, the shadow of someone with wings flew across the path.


    "It''s your sister." Naomi turned to Tullia, who was staring at the woman that flew by. "Seriously, I also wish I had wings like her."


    "You better not." Aaron suddenly interjected. "Who knows what you will do with your wings."


    "You!"


    And there, Tullia could only sigh as her two close friends started another round of bickering. With this scene here, no one would think that the three of them were mistreated ves that almost died before.

 Chapter 752 Events And Results, Once More In New Jersey

    <strong>Day 154 - 3:11 PM - Rooftop, Audubon Highschool, Audubon, Camden County, New Jersey, United States of America</strong>


    The Audubon High School. It was one of the ces where survivors took shelter in New Jersey.


    It was one of the ces where Mark''s group passed by, and some of the survivors from Antic City split up from the group.


    The ce still managed to hold up against the dangers of the apocalypse.


    Well, that was the circumstances of the past.


    The supposedly secured school was now brimming with the infected. School grounds used by the soldiers to train, or the school building upied by the survivors, all of those ces had ceased to exist.


    "How did ite to this..."


    Captain Morrison, the leader of the soldiers that upied Audubon High School, could only mutter as he leaned his back on the barricaded door.


    The Audubon High School Settlement was no more.


    Just yesterday, a horde of infected wandered into the area. No one knew where these infected came from, but these infected all moved here from the west.


    It was no news to the upants of the high school that the infected tend to gather in areas where there was a human presence, especially if it was arge group of survivors. Every time that an infected wander around the high school, or any settlement, the survivors had no choice but to deal with the threat before it grew bigger.


    But in yesterday''s case, fighting the horde was the worst decision the survivors of Audubon High School could make.


    The horde they saw was only had around a hundred infected. In the face of the soldiers armed with heavy guns, it was nothing. Even if the infected had mutated ones with them, the soldiers could dispatch them while hiding behind the walls.


    What they did not expect was another massive horde following the first one. The sounds of the battle attracted the iing infected.


    The massive horde of infected came like a raging tsunami.


    It was a horde that possibly had more than a thousand infected, with a sizable percentageposed of mutated infected.


    The survivors were caught off guard without preparations or chance to abandon the school.


    They tried to resist, but the firepower and defenses of the survivors were far from enough.


    Audubon High School was overrun by the infected in less than an hour. Most of the survivors died, leaving only thirty lucky people that managed to reach the rooftop.


    Among these survivors, there were only five soldiers, including Captain Morrison.


    "Captain, do you have any n in mind?" A disheartened soldier asked Captain Morrison. "Although we managed to salvage some food and water from the supplies, it can onlyst us three days at most."


    It was the worst problem. Even if the number of survivors severely dwindled, the supplies they managed to save would notst them long. Most of their food and water was stored on the first floor of another building. Even their weapons and ammunition were the same.


    But who would want to go down?


    Captain Morrison stood up and took a peek below the school building.


    It was a sea infected, with numbers more than when the horde arrived yesterday.


    They were lucky that there were only a few infected that could climb walls. Captain Morrison also blew up the stairs leading to the rooftop. It was because of this that they managed to survive.


    But going down there? There was no need to mention returning with supplies in hand. One step in the floor below would likely kill them all.


    p "I''m sorry, but I had no idea either."</anda>


    Captain Morrison replied, disheartened. It was a hopeless situation for them. Either eaten by the infected. Due to starvation and dehydration. Or by their own hands. Everyone would die here.


    Unless a miracle happened.


    Some of the survivors could not help but wish that the UFOs that passed by had taken them instead.


    ***


    <strong>Day 154 - 3:25 PM - Antic City High School, Great Ind, Antic City, New Jersey, United States of America</strong>


    "Damn it! That Alston!"


    Major Samuel McGuire mmed on his desk the moment he returned to his office.


    The military research institute built to monitor and study the infected in the now isted Antic City. It was what this ce stood as.


    But, now, the whole ce was in turmoil.


    It was already shocking that they saw a bunch of unidentified flying objects leaving Earth. The worse thing was, in front of everyone, Professor Alphfa Alston was beamed up into one of those motherships.


    Thinking that the Professor was being abducted, it was not surprising that some of the soldiers opened fire at the alien ship. It was fortunate that the aliens aboard the ship did not even care about the bullets and just left without retaliating. Nheless, it was a grim experience.


    After the unsettling event, Major McGuire immediately led the investigation inside Professor Alston''s office. It was a ce that was off-limits since the start. There was no need to exin as Professor Alston had the same standing as the other two heads of this research institute. Not even Professor Alston''s assistant was allowed in his office.


    Only to find out that all of his research was gone.


    The documents, the data inside hisputers, and even anything that could store information. None of it was present. It was as if everything was snapped out of existence.


    No.


    Did those things exist in the first ce?


    The whole office appeared to be mostly untouched. Aside from the footprints and the cleaned-up desk, there was no trace that anything inside was used by anyone. Some even umted dust on them.


    It was as if Professor Alston never really used anything inside his office and just stayed there just because the office existed.


    And the truth dawned into Major McGuire.


    It was likely that Professor Alston was not abducted. Instead, he actually returned to where he belonged.<sub> </sub>


    "Sh*t!" Major McGuire sat down on his chair in dismay. "Just what the hell is the government thinking? Why did they allow an alien to lead the research here?"


    Of course, it was not surprising that Major McGuire would think as such. In the first ce, it was suspicious that the government sent a young scientist, not to mention cing him in a position equal to his.


    As someone that came from a long-standing family of soldiers, Major McGuire was a bit privy to the hidden connections of the American Government. Unfortunately, his current standing was not enough to know the specifics, although he was given hints by histe father, a military general in the past.


    The information about the US Government cooperating with extraterrestrial beings was not new. But who would have thought that Professor Alston was one of those outworlders?


    BAM!


    While his heart was in turmoil, the door of his office was burst open.


    "Major McGuire! What in the world is happening? Professor Alston was taken by those aliens?"


    A roaring voice of a woman followed the sound of the door violently opening. It was the second inmand in this facility, Captain Sherry Yorkshire. She was personally overseeing the mission of her troops. But had to return as soon as she could after the sightings of UFOs.


    And immediately after returning, it was the news of Professor Alston being abducted by the UFOs that entered her ears. Being the head scientist in this facility, the Professor''s value was far exceeded everyone here. If Professor Alston was gone, all of the things they did since the start would end up useless.


    Ignoring Captain Yorkshire, Major McGuire turned to his secretary.


    "Did we manage to establish contact with the HQ?"


    "Hey! Don''t ignore m-!!!"


    "Wait for a second."


    Captain Yorkshire tried toin about being ignored, but she was faced with the Major''s hand and his grim, serious expression.


    Taking the silence as the cue, the secretary finally managed to answer. Nheless, it was not a positive answer.


    "Unfortunately, Sir, all forms of long-distance radiomunication are facing interference. Even our top-notch radio equipment could only achieve clearmunication within a one-kilometer radius. Any distance further would cause a decline in transmission until nothing could be transmitted and all that was left was static."


    "F*ck."


    Major McGuire cursed.


    A few days ago, they lostmunication with the HQ. At first, they thought that something happened there until they realized that it was equipment failure. Still, it was strange that all the radio equipment they had was facing the same issue. There was definitely something happening around the world at this moment.


    ***


    <strong>Day 154 - 4:02 PM - Chestnut Neck Boatyard, Old New York Road, Port Republic, New Jersey, United States of America</strong>


    A good and popr ce for boat owners and enthusiasts of water activities. Their service was pleasant, and their staff was friendly. It was what the Chestnut Neck Boatyard was known for.


    Now, of course, it was nothing but a dpidated ce that became a graveyard not only for boats but also for people.


    After quite a long time that the ce had nothing but roaming infected, two people moved in.


    "Lady Amelie, you should eat some fish."


    Hawker spoke as he handed a grilled fish pierced with a metal pick to the woman in front of him.


    "Fish again... Can''t we have something else today?"


    Lady Amelieined as she stared at the barely appetizing fish held by Hawker.


    "Lady Amelie, I know you''re sick of this, but we can''t really splurge on our supplies. We don''t have the luxury anymore."


    Hawker tried to convince Lady Amelie.


    With a sigh, Lady Amelie took the fish dejectedly.


    "Don''t call me Lady anymore." Amelie decided. "I''m no longer the leader of the Hamilton Raiders."


    The Hamilton Raiders, a ragtag band ofwless people that stationed themselves in Hamilton Commons. It was until they provoked a monster that led to the death of all but three members of the group.


    Now, the three surviving members had no choice but to live in this remote ce, twenty-three kilometers away northwest of their former base. It was a ce away from most of the dangers of the infected but not too far from a few towns where they could get supplies.


    "Are you sure?" Hawker asked. "That''s the only thing left from when the time you are leading us."


    "It''s just a title." Amelie harrumphed as she took a bite of fish. "The group no longer exists. Besides, sooner orter, it will copse. Being divided by factions wanting to take over won''t make itst that long. Although I did not hope for it to end this way."


    Amelie had the n to leave the group when the friction between factions got too severe. She nned to at least take a good amount of supplies with her when she escaped with Gregor.


    Unfortunately, not only they had to escape sooner than nned, but they also took nothing with them aside from a few guns and several magazines of ammunition. Amelie could not help but reminisce the time she could enter a room filled with weapons, from guns to swords.


    "If it''s just a title, then... Don''t call me Hawker. It''s Randy."


    Randy also decided to throw away the title he had. It was nothing but an Alias that was given to him because of his ability as a Mutant.


    "Randy, huh?" Amelie took a strange look at the guy. "Your request came in too random."


    "I''m just copying you."


    Hawker retorted.


    Amelie shook her head and turned towards the river. There, a bulky man was busy catching fish. He was not using any tools but only his bare hands. Yet, the fish he targeted had no choice but to get caught by those hands that moved at insane speeds.


    "Gregor! That''s enough. Join us and eat. Our lunch is alreadyte!"


    Being called by Amelie, Gregor meekly nodded and hauled in his catch.


    At that scene, Randy could only wonder how Amelie managed to tame the Jersey Devil.

 Chapter 753 Three Days Left, Bay City, Catanduanes, And Auraboros

    <strong>Day 155 - 8:21 AM - Bay City Military Settlement, Central Business Park, Pasay City, Metro Man</strong>


    <strong>*COUGH! COUGH!</strong>


    Coughing sounds could be heard here and there. All around the settlement, most people''s faces were covered. Whether it be face masks or just in folded clothing, almost everyone seemed to be protecting their faces from something.


    Fortunately, there was no pandemic happening within the walls of the settlement. However, it did not mean that the situation was any better.


    To some, it was even better if a pandemic happened instead. In the least, the military would be able to address that and provide countermeasures.


    Unfortunately, even the military was powerless in the current situation.


    It was early in the morning when the sun should be up in the sky. Yet, it was rather dark in Bay City. There was no storm, although they got a drizzle of rain the other day. Instead of clouds in the sky, what covered it was a thick veil of ash. The surroundings had lower visibility as if everything was covered in a thin mist.


    The roads, roofs, and many other things were covered with ayer of brown ash, inside or outside.


    Many people were starting to have breathing difficulties because of the ash.


    Even the drizzle of rain they experienced the other day was acid rain. Although it onlysted for half an hour, it caused substantial physical and mental damage to everyone.


    It was all due to Taal Volcano''s eruption several days ago.


    Volcanic ash covered a wide area around the volcano, reaching even the northern parts of Metro Man. The visibility in the streets was not optimal for travel, causing a stop in all activities, military and private, outside the settlement.


    It was not a good situation, considering that the military was in charge of feeding their several thousand refugees in Bay City. If this continued for a prolonged duration, it was very likely for the settlement to face food and water shortage.


    "This situation is not making any sense."


    General Miguel Perez said, looking at the ash-covered skies from the window of his office.


    Thetest recorded eruption of Taal Volcano was in 1977, and it was not this devastating.


    It was different in 1911, though. That was when the strongest eruption of Taal Volcano urred, affecting even Metro Man and had a death toll of more than a thousand and three hundred casualties. Nheless, it was not to the degree where the city was immobilized.


    Did the current eruption of Taal Volcano exceed the one in 1911?


    "It''s not the strongest eruption of Taal Volcano, isn''t it?"


    Angeline Perez, know as Ange by her friends, voiced out. Within the room was not only the father and daughter.


    Everyone with important roles and positions in Bay City Settlement was present to discuss the situation.


    "It is not."


    Someone interjected Ange. It was Professor Isaach Co, the head scientist in the settlement.


    "What do you mean, professor?"


    The General asked.


    Professor Isaach then prompted Nia, his adopted daughter, and assistant, to distribute the documents she was carrying to almost everyone inside the office. The people immediately checked the information as Professor Issac began to exin.


    "Since we concluded that Taal Volcano erupted, we began a few observations and tests. It''s not really our field of expertise, so the results took longer than expected. We alsopared the results with the data of previous eruptions. We concluded that it might be stronger than thetest eruption but definitely far weaker than 1911''s."


    "If the eruption is weaker, then howe that almost the whole capital is covered in volcanic ash right now?"


    Another person asked. It was Major Alfred Lopez. The head officer in charge of the military rescue squads.


    "Please refer to the third page." Professor Isaach replied. "There, you all can see theparisons of the 1911 eruption and the current one. One clear difference is that the ash cloud during the 1911 eruption was witnessed to reach and spread over Metro Man. I''m pretty sure that none of us here saw such a scene. We are now directly affected by the volcanic eruption. What we are experiencing right now was more of a severe Ash Plume instead. The volcanic ash that Taal Volcano spewed is being carried over by the wind towards Metro Man in extremelyrge amounts. That is what caused our current problems."


    "This still makes no sense." General Perez rubbed the bridge of his nose. "We are currently amidst summer, and the southwest monsoon should be blowing. The ash should be blown towards the northeast. Not directly north."


    "You are correct, general." The Professor nodded. "But it is better to throw logical thinking away in the current state of Earth. Please refer to the fourth page. At first, we assumed that there is a high-pressure area near the country, causing the wind to deviate from its natural direction. But, as you all can see there, our equipment detected irregr maic spikes in the surroundings. We don''t know for sure, but there might be some unnatural phenomenon that caused this. We even believe that it is the cause for the weird changes in the wind''s direction."


    "Furthermore, please look at the graph below the page." Professor Isaach continued. "In the previous days, we observed extreme changes in the heights of low tides and high tides. The deviation reached about two to three feet more than the norm. Furthermore, it seemed to be swiftly increasing."


    "Does this have to do with the moon?"


    Ange asked. After all, high tides and low tides were directly caused by the moon.


    "I wish that have to be the case." Professor Isaach shook his head to everyone''s shock. "The unusual tide height I mentioned seemed to happen without the effect of the moon''s gravity. High tides happen during the moon''s presence, while low tides are theplete opposite. The change in the unusual tides only urs day and night, disregarding the moon''s position. In fact, it seemed the gravitational pull of the moon is also struggling to maintain itself by how the tides behaved."


    This exnation gave everyone in the room a bad feeling.


    "Just say what you want to say directly."


    General Perez urged with a serious expression.


    "There is something in space that is affecting Earth''s maic fields. And by how the high tides continue to increase every night, that thing... ising closer and closer to Earth."


    <strong>***</strong>


    <strong>Day 155 - 11:21 PM - Catanduanes Military Settlement, Codon, San Andres, Catanduanes</strong>


    As prophesized, the Catanduanes Military Settlement was now enveloped in turmoil.


    The previous night, General Padi was found dead in his room. Leaving the General half-frozen and electrified to death, there was only one person capable of doing this. Of course, the person herself did not try to hide her doing.


    Everyone in the military base was suddenly alerted by loud sounds of crackling electricity. It was apanied by the agonized screams of the General. The soldiers tried to respond to the situation as soon as they could. But none of them were able to enter the General''s room because of the shockingly thickyer of ice.<sub> </sub>


    By the time the imprable ice melted and the soldiers managed to enter, all they saw was the dead General Padi and a woman standing in front of his charred corpse.


    It was Emellynn. The leader of the rebels, that was destroyed a few days ago.


    Instead of escaping, however, her empty eyes afterpleting her revenge against the General turned towards the soldiers. And there, she killed.


    Several dozens of soldiers that responded to the General''s aid were killed on the spot. While she killed the soldiers, the witnesses said that she roared about the government and the military should cease to exist. It was as if she learned something she did not know before.


    The situation could have turned into an uncontroble situation. Emellynn was keen on wiping out all the soldiers from the settlement.


    Fortunately, she was stopped by a group of strange people. And unexpectedly, the General''s secretary, Vanessa, was with them. After pacifying Emellynn, however, the group left with the criminal. The soldiers were not able to do anything to them as they vanished under a veil of mist.


    Now, the settlement was left without someone to lead it. The remaining factions took this opportunity to take the reign.


    And, of course, there was no way that the Marcos Family would pass up on this situation.


    An emergency meeting happened early in the morning. They needed to decide on who would lead the settlement quickly before anyone else snatched the position.


    However, as quick as they tried to usurp the position, the falling out between the factions came faster.


    The emergency meeting ended without proper result, and the factions started to gather their people.


    Since it was not possible to get the position using diplomacy, they decided to use force.


    As for the poor soldiers sandwiched between the fighting factions, they were lost. The military factions became the weaker ones due to the loss of the two military leaders. There were also the deaths that happenedst night, further weakening their side.


    The soldiers had no choice but to choose a side to join. However, the soldiers loyal to their duty decided to be neutral. They wanted to just stick to protecting the citizens.


    Unfortunately, the factions had no ns of keeping soldiers who were not loyal to them. After a faction took the leadership of the settlement, it was very likely that they would be either chased out or had to flee for their lives.


    <strong>***</strong>


    <strong>Day 155 - ¨ƒ¨ƒ:¨ƒ¨ƒ ¨ƒ¨ƒ - Hidden Pce, Auraboros Japan Branch, Japan</strong>


    The luxurious pce inside a hidden subdimension. It was the base of the Japan Branch of Auraboros.


    In the mess hall, many members of Auraboros gathered for their meals. Most of them were definitely not humans, although were humans also present.


    A certain group with three people gathered. They seemed to be tired as if it was not too long after they had a very long journey.


    These three were no other than the group of Shin, Yoko, and Tsukiko. A well-known group in this branch for their unusual abilities, especially Shin. Someone who could cut anything with his sword.


    "Haaah... Sh*t."


    Shin slumped his back on his chair, sighing and cursing.


    "Stop sighing." Yoko annoyedlyined. "Also, your curses are irritating."


    "Just let him be, Yoko," Tsukiko shrugged. "You should understand since we all are in the same situation."


    Yoko could not argue with that and fell silent.


    Their previous mission failed horribly. The person that contracted them died. Although they managed to escort the me Demon Gar''m to Japan, all they managed to save was his spiritual body.


    The worst part, they lost Spera.


    Because of that, the portal that was hastily opened malfunctioned and brought them to the southern region of Japan. Without Spera, they had to journey their way back to Yamanashi, where the entrance to this ce was located.


    There were no vehicles, trains, or airnes they could use. They could only travel on foot, gathering supplies as they struggled against the infected.


    It was the worst experience they all had in their lives.


    Fortunately, it seemed that they still managed to gain recognition after they brought Gar''m back. Even as a soul, a Deity level me Demon like him was a good asset.


    While discussing their miseries, they were suddenly approached by a woman. It was a Demon Fox. She was Yukine, the vice leader of Japan Branch''s intelligence group, Yuki Kitsune.


    "What does the vice leader of the intelligence group want with us?"


    Shin tiredly asked as the Demon Fox approached their group.


    "The Empress granted you three an audience."


    What Yukine said surprised not only the three but all the other people and creatures nearby.


    Getting invited by the Empress, Tamamo no Mae, was a very rare and honorable event.


    <strong>***</strong>


    <strong>Day 155 - ¨ƒ¨ƒ:¨ƒ¨ƒ ¨ƒ¨ƒ - ¨ƒ¨ƒ¨ƒ¨ƒ¨ƒ¨ƒ¨ƒ¨ƒ¨ƒ¨ƒ¨ƒ¨ƒ¨ƒ¨ƒ¨ƒ</strong>


    In an enclosed space with nothing but darkness, a single figure stood facing the nothingness.


    "My spiritual body is still damaged. But soon, the Mortal and Spirit Dimensions will merge, and my recovery wille faster."


    "I cannot help but anticipate." The figureughed. "I wonder how far that bastard had grown after killing my puppet. Although it would have been fun if he was caught by the Eyes, which did not seem to be the case."


    "And that [Body of Void]... Let us see if I can im you the next time we all meet."

 Chapter 754 The Journey Back, Witnessing The Volcanic Clouds From Afar

    <strong>Day 155 - 11:21 AM - Visayan Sea, Central Visayas, Philippines</strong>


    About half an hour before noon, three creatures flew over the dangerous Visayan Sea. One was an enormous reddish-ck dragon, another was a giant ck ash-colored bird with silver primary, secondary, and tail feathers, and thest one was a ck horse with wings. On the back of these creatures, people sat while carefully watching over the surroundings.


    Of course, it was no other than Mark''s group. They were already on their way home.


    "Uncle, can I ride on the Pegasuster? Please?"


    Emika cutely tried to request Mark as they rode on Char''s back.


    The Pegasus, Greos, was asrge as a regr horse. Only two people could safely ride on it. Three if one was a small child. At this moment, it was Edzel and Pearl that was on its back.


    "Later." Mark strictly replied. "With how ''lively'' you are, you''ll likely end up falling from its back for no reason."


    Hearing that, Emika pouted. However, she could not refute him either. There was no way that she could promise to sit still on the back of Greos. Besides, she had no experience riding on the back of any animal alone. The back of an animal like a horse was easy to fall off, after all. It was unlike the backs of Char and Trua, who wererge creatures.


    It was also the perfect timing for Edzel to separate from the group. Although the peak of his anger had already passed throughout the night, he was still awkward towards Pefile and Celine.


    That was something that could not be forced, no matter how much Celine wanted to spend time with her son. They should take it slow. After all, only time could heal the wound of the heart.


    In any case, Mark had many things in mind to bother with other people''s family problems.


    The encounter with the Visayan Goddess of the Sea and Underworld, Magwayen, had given Mark quite an amount of information to digest.


    First was more clues about the existence of realms.


    Mark had already heard a bit of this subject from Bath. The fact that Bath himself came from not just another dimension but another realm. It was a realm lower than the one that Earth''s Universe belonged to and the same reason that Bath was weakerpared to other Gods of Creation that came from a higher realm.


    From the conversationst night, it seemed that one of the goals of the gods was to ascend to a higher realm. It was also the reward that the Eyes decided to give the remaining gods hidden on Earth to make them help with the iing disaster.


    It meant that there was something to it that made the gods want it. Even a supreme god, like Magwayen, was tempted to that offer.


    Mark wanted to ask more about it as he was curious. Although he had some theories, most of them came from things he remembered from novels, manga, and the like. He was not sure whether it was the same as the actual thing.


    However, before Mark could ask Neenth, who had the authority over such information, the Eye in question had already left.


    When Mark and Pefile went out of the chambers after meeting Magwayen, the only person left outside waiting for them was Fourth. As for Neenth, she already left without a single word for Mark. It was quite strange considering how she seemed to want to maintain a suitable behavior in front of Mark.


    It was not surprising for Mark, however. During the conversation with Magwayen, Neenth was already showing signs of unnatural irritation. Though rather than prejudice towards foreign Gods as an Earth''s protector, it was more like she hated them to the bone.


    This might be one of the reasons why Neenth was the only one among the Eyes who was not tasked with personally handling the hidden gods and was left to support in the background instead.


    Neenth leaving the ce, however, removed the chance of Mark learning about it. On the other hand, Fourth seemed to have no authority to divulge the specifics of the topic. It was like before when Mark inquired Fourth about Aimee.


    The second thing was about the happenings never told within the myths. Kaptan''s death because of a fatal injury, for example.


    It was not a shocking thing, of course. It was just most humans never paid attention.


    Most myths told and passed from generation to generation were not necessarily from the people subject of the myth. A whole lot of these legends and stories, possibly all or at least the majority, were renditions of the events told by the mouths of ancient people. Not everything was true, while some were exaggerated.


    The third thing was about the existence of Kahilwayan.


    One would think that such a ce would exist in another world only connected to Earth through the so-called gates. It was simr to how Asgard and Mount Olympus were depicted in many works of literature.


    However, it seemed that, by what Magwayen had said, Kahilwayan was actually a god-created sub-space that was made on Earth. It gave Mark more work to do in the future, but it could end up as a good thing.


    While those thoughts lingered in Mark''s mind, Mei called him.


    "Gege, something is odd."


    "Hmm?" Mark turned to Mei. "What is it?"


    What Mark saw was Mei''s eyes dting, indicating that she was using her abilities. Her attention was on the shallow area of the water.


    "I don''t know, but doesn''t the water look too low."


    Mark also stared at the area where Mei was looking. There, they could seerge corals sticking out of the water. The water nts were also crumpled on the water surface. It indicated that the leaves of these nts were longer than the height of the tide.


    At this moment, Berrak spoke on the radio.


    "Boss, it seems like the Earth''s maic field is going haywire."


    "Now that you mention it."


    Mark picked up the radio with a frown. Now that Berrak mentioned it, he also began to pay attention. He had lightning abilities, and electricity and maism had a direct corrtion. It was rather faint, however, for Mark to feel it immediately.


    As for Berrak, it was actually not him but his Thunderbird, Trua, who noticed. Animals had higher sensitivity to their surroundings, and birds, especially migratory ones, use maic fields to navigate.


    "It should be an effect of the nteray Debris," Mark stated. "It might also be the one messing up with the tide."<sub> </sub>


    Then, something entered Mark''s mind, which made him pause.


    "Master, is something wrong?"


    Amihan, who was sitting on Mark''s shoulder, noticed his silence immediately.


    "I just thought of something bad." Mark shrugged. "Earth''s maic field going crazy can cause a lot of problems. If the maic field in some parts of Earth thinned, space radiation could enter those areas. If it was before the apocalypse, that problem would only cause health problems to people and EMP effects on appliances. But now, it''s likely that the space radiation will cause the infected to mutate instead. Who knows what kind of mutations irradiated infected would end up with."


    That surely was a problem.


    "Let''s just wish it''s not anywhere near us."


    Mark shrugged.


    With those things in mind, the group continued traveling.


    Initially, Mark wanted to fly back to Catanduanes to check before going home. However, considering how far it was to take a detour, Mark dropped the idea. In any case, his family was under the protection of Diwata Iraya. There should not be any problem there.


    Mark just wished that they could fly continuously without breaks. However, Char still had his maximum flight limit. Although he could fly long distances, it was not continuous. Thus, they still had to make their way throughnd every two hours.


    At these times, Mark could not help but wish that Char was a magical dragon instead of a giant mutated lizard. Well, that was wishing for too much.


    Amihan was also helping with regting wind resistance and other wind-rted problems. Thus, Chalfar could fly faster than its regr speed without fear of making Mark and the others fall off. Of course, the dragon was not careless. If one of them fell because of it, Mark would surely punish it.


    Following that flight routine, they reached the ind of Marinduque before sunset.


    However, as they flew closer to Luzon, they could not help but see the odd scene in the northwest.


    The northwest sky was covered in thick ck clouds, exuding lightning at a frightening frequency. There was also a burnt smell in the air. Not to mention that the same direction was blurred by what seemed to be grayish-brown mist in the distance.


    "That looks dangerous..."


    Mark muttered as they made their way to the ind. Although Mark was in a hurry to go home, it was dangerous to fly throughout the night. The travel also made everyone tired. Everyone needed to rest, and they only had to continue their journey early in the morning tomorrow.


    "Boss! Where are we going to camp?"


    Berrak called from the radio.


    There was silence for a bit. Mark was also choosing where to go.


    "Let''snd on the summit of that mountain first," Mark replied, looking at the mountain in the southern area of Marinduque. "If it''s suitable, we can camp there. If not, it''s easy to look for other ces from there."


    The groupnded on the summit of the mountain, and before they could evennd, they already found a vacant area to camp in. Mark monitored the area and did not detect any living creature in the immediate vicinity. The grass and nts that covered the area were lush, but there seemed to be no mutated ones either.


    "Looks like this ce is good."


    Geronimo said after searching around for a bit together with Padua.


    "Let''s set up camp here," Mark said as he took out tents and other stuff from out of nowhere.


    This scene was still magical for the two soldiers, and they could only watch with bitterly amazed expressions. It was a good thing, however.


    Most people in the apocalypse were struggling with stuff. They might be able to find a good amount of supplies. However, not all people had the ability or resources to transport everything.


    <o>,m Mark''s group, on the other hand, had magical storage rings that could store a whole lot of stuff without problems.</o>


    Night came, and they had an early dinner. Still, their attention was not on their food but the thick thunderous clouds in the northwest sky. It was a worrying sight.


    With Mark''s offline map, they managed to deduce that those clouds were volcanic clouds that likely came from the Taal Volcano. It was quite surprising since they did not expect a volcanic eruption to happen. Nheless, nature''s fury was totally unpredictable without proper people and equipment to monitor it.


    Still, the appearance and spread of the volcanic clouds were too strange. It seemed that the eruption was too strong for the clouds to be visible for over a fifty-kilometer radius of the volcano.


    Rather than worrying about it, however, Mark focused more on the more important things.


    The Taal Volcano was on the southwest side of Luzon. Quezon was on the east. It would be unlikely for these volcanic clouds to travel about a hundred kilometers away and reach their base.


    That was why they only need to travel on the east side of Luzon and avoid those dangerous clouds and the veil of volcanic ash.


    And there, the group spent their night on the summit of Mount Malinding in Marinduque.


    The night was not all peaceful, though.


    Mark detected some animals lurking in the shadows. Nheless, they did not receive any kind of attack throughout the night. It seemed that the animals deemed them dangerous, especially with Char sleeping outside the camp.


    The night felt short, and the sun rose soon.


    After having breakfast and tidying up the camp, they finally theirst day outside before the second wave came.

 Chapter 755 Returning To The Base, Emikas Request And The Overwhelming Welcome

    <strong>Day 156 - 11:42 PM - Barangay San Jose, Municipality of Mauban, Province of Quezon, Philippines</strong>


    Leaving the ind of Marinduque as early as possible, Mark''s group flew straight north towards Infanta.


    Compared to yesterday, it was not afortable journey, however.


    Flying across the sea had its shorings. The air was humid, especially around noon, even if the whole world had cooled down after a few months in the apocalypse. Other factors made the journey ufortable too.


    One would expect that reentering the maind of Luzon would be a bit morefortable.


    However, it was not the case this time.


    The seemingly strong eruption of the Taal Volcano caused a wide area around it to be covered in volcanic ash. And even though Mark''s group already flew far from the volcanic clouds, the wind still carried some ash. It was ufortable in many ways.


    It was lucky that Amihan was here to reduce the problem. Mark also used the [Wind Maniption Mental Crystal] to cover everyone with a [Wind Barrier].


    Looking at how far the afflicted areas of the Taal Volcano''s eruption made them think that the apocalypse must have been the factor that severely affected this situation.


    At this time, everyone was quite tense. It was not hard to know why. The aforementioned catastrophe was alreadying close, and everyone was running out of time.


    Among the group, however, someone was uncharacteristically troubled. It was Emika. From time to time, she would look at Mark, seemingly hesitating about something.


    One would not notice it, given her lively attitude. However, it was no surprise that she was worried about something.


    Once more, she nced at Mark in front of her as she sat behind him on Char''s back.


    At this time, however, Emika flinched.


    Mark was already staring at her.


    "Out with it already." Mark sighed. "You really think I won''t notice?"


    "Eheheheh..." Emika awkwardlyughed as everyone on Char''s back turned to her.


    Taking a deep breath, Emika smiled bitterly.


    "Uncle... It''s... I have a request." Emika spoke. "You''re dropping me back in Infanta first, right? I''ll convince Mom and Uncle Chervil, so can you take us to your base?"


    Even Emika''s request was not surprising.


    She already knew that the world would face an inevitable change a day from now. It would not be strange if she wanted to secure the safety of her family. Or, in the least, have a better choice in facing that cataclysm.


    At Emika''s request, Mark shrugged. Nheless, there was a smile on his lips.


    "You''rete," Mark replied. "I already thought up of a reason to "invite" your uncle and family, you know that?"


    Emika was already sure that Mark would agree to her request. After all, although Mark could be considered evil towards his enemies, he did value his allies. Not to mention that she also had an amicable rtionship with him. Even so, Emika was still troubled. She did not know how she would convince her mother and uncle toe to Mark''s base. Her mother might agree after some urging, but convincing her uncle would be hard. Chervil was working with the military and was receiving their benefits.


    But hearing what Mark said, Emika''s eyes grew wide. If it was Mark that woulde up with a way to bring her family to his base, it would definitely work.


    "<strong>UNCLE! YOU''RE THE BEST!</strong>"


    Emika eximed as she threw herself and hugged Mark from behind.


    "Hey! Be careful!" Mark reprimanded her since what she did actually shook Char and everyone riding on its back.


    "Sorry! Hehehe!"


    Emika apologized, but her expression did not seem like she was repentant about it at all. It showed the extent of how happy she was about what Mark had said.


    Mark sighed. Sometimes, Emika was maturepared to her age. But there were also a lot of times that she behaved like a five-year-old kid.


    And then, Mark spoke, ncing at Emika''s face resting on his right shoulder.


    "You better get off now."


    "I... I know."


    Emika immediately agreed as she noticed three pairs of eyes looking at her strangely.


    As Emika said down, she smiled bitterly.


    "You three... Don''t look at me like that. I''m not stealing your Papa or anything..."


    That was right. It was the three daughters of Mark, who was looking at Emika. Even the really mature I seemed to be wary.


    Sitting beside Mark, Mei was smiling at this scene. As it appeared, the three girls that became Mark''s daughters did not want another one to get a share of his attention.


    "Seriously..."


    Mark did not know what to do about this.


    <strong>***</strong>


    <strong>Day 156 - 2:30 PM - Mount Mbito, General Nakar, Province of Quezon, Philippines</strong>


    Another two hours passed. They stopped a little for lunch and continued on the way.


    Different from what Emika thought, however. Mark decided to stop by the base first instead of dropping Emika at the Infanta Military Settlement.


    And as the group approached the location from the sky, Emika, Berrak, Geronimo, Padua, and Celine, the new members of the group, gazed upon a magnificent sight.


    A ck-walled fortress veiled by the leaves of a gigantic red-leaved tree.


    None of them would think that such a ce existed in this country.


    "B-Boss... This is your base?"


    Berrak''s voice echoed from the radio. The shivering in his voice told everyone that he did not expect that Mark''s base would be a sight to behold.


    It was totally unexpected. After all, if a person was told about a base in a zombie apocalypse, it would likely look like a ce build from scraps. Metal sheet walls, and hardly built watchtowers, even unkemptly made houses would be what a typical civilian base in the apocalypse would appear to have.


    That thought was not exactly wrong. Many safehouses, bases, and settlements made by people in the apocalypse were made of things they managed to scavenge and built in a hurry. Not everyone had enough time and resources to build a huge, secure ce in one go. Even some military outposts were the same. What they would do was scavenge more building materials and slowly secure the perimeter of their safe-havens.


    But Mark''s base was different. One could see that all the buildings and the walls were made with the same materials. Some structures might have wooden or cement walls, but their foundations and frames were also made of that ck metal-like thing.


    Not to mention the towering tree at the center.


    "What? You have an issue with it?"


    Mark replied to the radio.


    "Issue? No! It''s just..." Berrak''s voice continued to shiver. "It''s unbelievable... And that tree, is that a Spirit Tree?"


    "Yeah," Mark replied to the question. "A pure one."


    "Sh*t..."<sub> </sub>


    Berrak could only curse at the pile of unbelievable things that Mark had. Just how many surprises would Berrak see from Mark and his group? It was regrettable that he lost three pets due to the initial conflict between him and Mark, but now, it did not matter anymore. He just wanted to see more.


    The arrival of Mark''s group did not go undetected. Starting with the leaves of Chiyo, the Night Everred Spirit Tree glowing gleefully, the people keeping watch of the surroundings saw the familiar silhouette of Char from afar.


    As Mark''s groupnded near the southern gates of the Mountain Base, almost the entirety of the base was there to wee them home.


    "Master. Miss."


    Odelina led the greeting as one of the two leaders left in charge of the base while Mark was gone.


    "Boss! Ma''am!"


    Huey followed suit.


    After the two leaders in charge greet Mark and Mei, the other people followed suit.


    "Wow... What a reception..."


    Padua eximed, speechless.


    "It''s as if Boss is a country presidenting back from a foreign meet."


    Geronimo muttered, feeling like a country bumpkin that had his first steps into the city.


    As for Berrak, he just fell silent. He looked at Mark. Who would have thought that this ruthless person was highly respected by his people?


    "Do you all have to do this?"


    Markined. This scene was definitely not something he was used to or would not want to.


    Nheless, this kind of scene reminded Mark of something. This made his eyes fall on Aephelia, that was hiding behind Odelina.


    "It''s your idea, isn''t it?"


    Mark asked, making Aephelia hide even more.


    This scene was simr to how Freed was received when he returned after a great battle. That was why it looked too familiar. It was also a tradition that started in Eriellis, especially when a member of the Royal Family arrived home from a long journey.


    Aephelia approached, looking down, guilty.


    "I''ll talk with youter..."


    Mark sighed and turned to the others.


    "You all should all go back to work. We don''t have much time."


    That was a simple sentence, but it was received with silence. Everyone knew that they were going to face a disaster soon. With Mark saying that there was not much time, it might be sooner than they expected.


    "Boss, is it happening soon?"


    The muscr Ed stepped forward to ask.


    "I''ll make an announcementter. For now, all of you should go back."


    Mark ordered, making the people follow. Of course, they all felt anxious about what Mark would announce.


    "Elder Brother!"


    Suddenly, a yell came with a figure rushing towards Mark with another person chasing after her.


    "Elise! Don''t run!"


    BAM!


    And there, Elise embraced Mark because of his several days of absence.


    Mark could only look troubled while looking at the man chasing Elise. Roan, her real brother.


    Normally, Mark would tease Roan about how Elise saw him as her elder brother than him. But Mark was not in the mood to do that right now.


    "Are you causing trouble for your parents and siblings again?"


    Mark asked Elise.


    "I-I didn''t..."


    Without a doubt, Elise was trying to lie her way out of the situation.


    Mark shrugged. This girl had her mental age regressed, so this could not be helped. In the least, she was doing better than before. Back then, she was akin to a time bomb that could explode any time. Now, she looked calmer, albeit more childish.


    "Stop hugging me. We still have important things to do." Mark said, patting her head.


    "B-but..."


    "We still have things to do outsideter. I''ll take you with us. Is that fine?"


    "Okay..."


    Finally, Elise agreed to stop hugging Mark. She was still holding onto the hem of his jacket, though.


    "Sorry about this."


    Roan apologized for the whims of his younger sister.


    "It''s fine," Mark replied, ignoring the stare of Emika, Berral, and the two soldiers. Even Celine, who was carried by Pefile, was looking at Mark strangely.


    "Smelly Uncle..." Emika could not hold it anymore. "Are you building a harem? There''s a lot of women around you."


    It was a straight question.


    Berrak and the two soldiers did not understand the word harem, but they agreed that there seemed to be more women around Mark. Not to mention the groups waiting for them that wereposed of mostly women.


    It was not a surprising one. One of the groups that were left was the one led by Odelina, together with Spera, Aephelia, Jaeya, and Hannah. There was also na, Karlene, and Ka. Ka also wanted to rush towards Mark but was currently held by na and was now iling around. There was also, Huey''s group, that had Nicole and Halley. Felicia also arrived, chasing after Roan and Elise. Not to mention that there were more women in the base than men.


    And to Emika''s question...


    "I''m not," Mark answered without hesitation. "I''ll only have one wife in this life, and she''s standing here."


    Mark caressed Mei''s hair, making her blush. It was a deration in front of everyone, after all. Mark and Mei received some teasing, but it did not matter. He was serious about it.


    "Anyway, let''s stop the useless chatter." Mark flicked Emika''s forehead. "Don''t you want to bring your family here? We still have to prepare some things."


    Hearing that, Emika nodded.


    And there, the group entered the base.

 Chapter 756 A Request, Returning To New Infanta Settlement Once More

    <strong>Day 156 - 3:21 PM - New Infanta Settlement, Barangay Banugao, Municipality of Infanta, Province of Quezon</strong>


    Late in the afternoon, the temporary peace of the New Infanta Settlement was disturbed. It was no surprise if the people in the settlement were on edge as the ce was prone to constant attacks. The infected from the south would wander from time to time, and mutated animals would go down from the mountains in the west to try and prey on them.


    These past few days, however, the military noticed the sudden decrease in attacks of mutated animals. Thus, the people could not help but feel at peace, despite feeling strange.


    A temporary peace indeed, although the air was a bit dustier for some unknown reason.


    But with the usually eye-catching arrival of Mark''s group, it was no surprise that the people would be stirred up. After all, they were the only ones that would use a dragon as transport every single time they arrived at this settlement.


    The people in New Infanta Settlement would likely not get used to such a scene of a dragon entering andnding inside the settlement for a long time.


    While the entire settlement was filled with murmurs, the cause of themotion had justnded inside the military base. And as per usual, it was General Faustino who personally weed the group together with the mercenary Jones Galley and a few other soldiers as his personal bodyguards.


    Mark jumped off Char''s back before assisting Elise down. Emika just went down on her own. Karlene was also present, following Emika. This time, it was only the four of them that came here.


    While Mark prepared the items he had to give the General, Elise was sticking close to him. She seemed to be curious about the surroundings but was very afraid of the soldiers keeping watch.


    "Nee, Uncle. I''ll go ahead!"


    Emika informed Mark before running off, not even waiting for a reply.


    "Wait for me!"


    Karlene followed suit, chasing after the green-haired girl. The two left without letting the General call for them at all.


    Mark could only nce at the two as they left. It was a part of their ns.


    ? "Nice to see you again."


    General Faustino greeted Mark with a relieved tone. This was not surprising, considering the journey that Mark''s group must have gone through. They had been gone for more or less a week. In a world where the person you just met might die the next hour, it was definitely a relief to see them alive.


    "Is it only you four? And who is this? I believe it is the first time we saw her."


    The General asked. One part, he wanted to know if something might have happened to the others. The other was just curiosity.


    It was when Jones chimed in, looking at how Elise was closely beside Mark. Not to mention her holding onto the hem of his clothes.


    "Is this your new wife? Did you rece the first one already???"


    And... There was no reply.


    All there was were Mark''s eyes ring coldly at the guy.


    "Calm down with those eyes, alright? It''s just a joke."


    Jones awkwardly said, taking a step back. Mark''s eyes were saying that he could kill anytime.


    It was all a joke, of course. But it sure was an inappropriate one.


    "I believe we''re not that close to exchange such jokes."


    Mark dered, drawing the line between him and Jones. He knew that, while good at acting during missions, Jones was never a serious type of person. Jones was the type of person that could easily blurt out jokes and nonsensical stuff.


    It was just the joke he thought of this time was not a good one.


    "Hah... Jones." The General sighed. "We are on official business right now. Take this seriously..."


    "Okay, General." Jones awkwardly replied. He knew that he stepped out of the line this time.


    "I dropped my <strong>wife</strong> and everyone home first beforeing here." Mark finally replied to the General''s question. He emphasized the word "wife" however while ncing at Jones.


    "They are tired after a long journey."


    Mark added.


    "That is good then." General Faustino nodded. "Let''s go to my office. I''d like to hear some things along with the documents you brought from the settlement in Catanduanes."


    And with that, the General led Mark and Elise to his office.


    ***


    Inside the office, Mark handed the documents. Most of it contained the reports of events in Catanduanes after themunication was cut off. As for the other information that was not included in the documents, the fall of the rebels, for example, was supplemented by Mark instead. After all, it all happened after the documents were handed to Mark.


    Of course, Mark only told the information directly rted to the military and nothing else.


    Mark was also handed the copy of the research papers, following the deal with taking this job. Aside from those, Mark also received another case containing another set of [Regeneration Medicine]. Something that only this settlement could provide him so far.


    "To think that Padi tried to hide these for the sake of face."


    General Faustinoined, seeing that there were a lot of discrepancies between the actual report from Mark and the ones from back then.


    "In any case, that won''t be your problem soon." Mark shrugged. "With the leader of the rebels still alive, I doubt that he would still live for too long."


    That was a cold way to say it, but there was really nothing they could do. Not to mention that the politicians in Catanduanes were trying to wrestle control from the military.


    Sooner orter, the Catanduanes Settlement would fall unto another person''s hand. Unfortunately, there was no way that other settlements would be able to help.


    "Seriously, these crocodiles are a pain," Jonesined. "These politicians don''t really contribute much within the settlement. What''s worse is that they are the loudest ones when ites toining."


    It was a horrible truth. There were barely any decent people with a political position in the apocalypse. And when things took a turn for the worse, they were the ones to nag the military the most. Not to mention them having more influence than the military.


    "That''s not my problem." Mark shrugged. "If they were just freeloaders, you just better throw them out of the settlement."


    "It''s not that easy, alright?" General Faustino sighed.


    "It''s not easy because you people are still clinging to the belief that Earth will go back to how it was before."


    Mark said, just stabbing everyone in the room.<sub> </sub>


    What he said was true, but most people were just unable to let this hope go.


    "Anyway, I handed the reports and documents. So I''m done here, right?" Mark asked.


    "Yes. Thank you for doing this."


    General Faustino nodded. Although what Mark did was just a part of a deal, having more information was crucial to the military in many ways.


    "Actually, I think that the payment we can give is too little with all the things you''ve faced along the way. From the documents, you also saved the Catanduanes Settlement from a giant infected. You''re group even decimated the aggressive faction of the rebels."


    The General added, which anyone in the room could only agree.


    Hearing that, Mark stealthily smiled. It was what he was waiting for.


    While he did not lie with his reports, he exaggerated pieces of it, making the General feel that Mark''s group was getting a loss instead.


    "If you think like that, then I actually have a request," Mark spoke, taking the opportunity.


    "What is it?"


    General Faustino asked, thinking that the deal should at least be equal. After all, Mark''s group did many things for this settlement, including during the attack of people from Auraboros.


    "I want to borrow Chervil Sandoval for a while."


    Mark told his request, causing a deafening silence in the room.


    "Professor Sandoval? Why?"


    Of course, the General would ask.


    "We''ve found some strange samples of nts near the base. I want an expert to take a look."


    Mark then took out his phone, showing photos of strange-looking nts.


    "You could just take those samples here, right?"


    Jones interjected. He was not wrong, though, as it was the standard protocol.


    "Would you try and approach, not to mention transport, nts that you knew nothing about without the aid of an expert?"


    Mark asked, making Jones silent. There was a possibility that those nts would be poisonous or had allergens. It would be safe to study those nts on-site to avoidplications. Even the soldiers scouring the vicinity would take pictures or drawings first before bringing a team to transport it.


    Nheless, the other soldiers were against it. A scientist was precious personnel in the settlement. Even more for someone with achievements as Professor Chervil Sandoval.


    However, it seemed that General Faustino was different.


    "Alright. I''ll allow it."


    General Faustino nodded.


    "General, are you serious?"


    Some soldiers could not help but ask because of the unexpected answer.


    "We don''t really have any problem here." General Faustino insisted. "So far, Mark had been a trustable partner. His base might be hard to reach but is not too far from here either. If Professor Sandoval''s safety is what you people are worried about, I doubt that we can do better than him and his group."


    Those words struck everyone in the room to silence. No one was able to refute it, despite their disagreement.


    "In any case, I''m just borrowing him," Mark spoke. "If you people want, you can send someone to guard him. Preferably, Major Bautista. In the least, we knew each other. I won''t bother to get along with people I don''t know, so it''s better to send someone we knew."


    "Is that also the reason why you chose Professor Sandoval instead of asking for any scientist we had?"


    General Faustino asked.


    "Yep." Mark nonchntly replied. "Scientists are entrics so, I rather not entangle myself with those that I''m not familiar with."


    With Mark telling them to send other people to guard Professor Sandoval, the opposition became weaker. In the end, they agreed, although the General told Mark to return him as soon as possible.


    Of course, Mark had no problems and agreed.


    All of them did not know that it was Mark''s n all along.


    By allowing them to send escorts but limiting them to people that Mark knew, it allowed Mark to bring people he knew back to his base. It was likely that the members of na and Karlene''s former group would be sent together with Major Bautista.


    Even the nts that Mark showed were actually nts from the spirit dimension. He needed to show pictures of more insane and unstable-looking nts for this to work smoothly.


    Emika and Karlene running off were to tell their families to prepare early. Mark also urged the military that he needed the people by sunset. There was really no need to prepare much as Mark already guaranteed to have science equipment avable.


    And before sunset, Mark''s group left the settlement with everyone he expected.


    ***


    "Don''t you think that he is behaving oddly?" General Faustino said, watching the silhouette of the dragon fly away. "He also rushed in taking them away, giving the best conditions he could give. If it as if he was nning something."


    "If you noticed, why did you agree?" Jones asked the General.


    "We don''t really have a choice, don''t we?" The General replied. "If we wanted to keep an equal connection with them, we can only agree. We can only rely on Mark''s group for things we can''t do. We can''t burn the bridge because of a single request. Besides, he did promise to return Professor Sandoval. It''s not like we are losing something."


    "Still, Mark sure is a hard-to-read person." Jones shrugged. "We can''t even tell if he is lying or not. How can he keep a poker face andposure like that all of the time? It''s impossible to see if he is lying or not. Not to mention trying to deduce his true intentions."


    "Since you know that he''s someone that keeps to himself, you better stop with those jokes." General Faustinoined.


    "Hahaha." Jones scratched his head. "It just came out."


    With that exchange, everyone went back to their duties, unaware that it would be thest night that Earth would remain the way they knew.

 Chapter 757 The Last Night Before It Strike, A Gathering In The White Space

    <strong>Day 156 - 6:51 PM - Mountain Base, Mount Mbito, General Nakar, Province of Quezon</strong>


    Arriving at the base, the reaction of everyone from the New Infanta Settlement was the usual surprise and amazement. They were just regr humans before the outbreak, and they would think that something magical as Mark''s base could exist.


    However, the moment they arrived, Mark led everyone from New Infanta Settlement to the meeting room. Although Mark brought them here by the guise of a request, they still needed to know the actual reason, considering the ones present were connected with the people from his base in one way or another. Of course, the only thing Mark told them was about the iingary debris hitting Earth. Other information about the Hidden Gods and Eyes intercepting the debris were not included, however.


    The ones present were the people Mark had in mind to bring here.


    First and foremost, Emika''s family. Her mother, Rosamie, her younger brother, Mikio, and her uncle, Chervil.


    The second one was Major Alfonso Bautista, Karlene''s father.


    Lastly, as a pair of bodyguards, the two former teammates of Karlene and na were present, Joash and Tyson. They were the ones that General Faustino sent as escorts. Well, they volunteered upon hearing what was happening instead of being ordered by the General. These two werepetent enough and passed Mark''s criterion of being familiar to him.


    After the two volunteered, General Faustino decided not to push any other soldier as escorts. It was evident here that he did not want to be on Mark''s bad side. Giving too many escorts on a supposedly safe endeavor would offend Mark was definitely what the General had in mind.


    The two seeing Karlene and na after a while surely was a happy asion. By what it seemed, Joash had already given up on trying to chase after Karlene. The way he looked at thetter was different from before. It was a good thing, considering that the man had no chance of seeding.


    Mark revealed what was really happening to the people in question. It was not surprising that they were shocked by Mark''s announcement.


    "Are you telling the truth? Why are you just saying this now?! Shouldn''t we announce it to everyone? What about the people in the settlement?!"


    That question would surely pop out in such a situation. This time, it was Joash who asked it.


    However, before Mark could answer, Major Bautista stopped Joash from asking more with a shake of his head.


    "There is no point in it." Major Bautista spoke. "This is a catastrophe on a worldwide scale. There is no way we would be able to do anything other than making people panic if it was known to everyone. In the worst case, the settlement would fall before the catastrophe even struck. Knowing that something they could not do anything about was to happen, it would create chaos."


    That made Joash fall silent. What the Major said was true. Even so, he was unsatisfied with the answer.


    Still, the Major had one question for Mark.


    "Where did you get that information?"


    "It''s not something I can tell you." Mark shook his head. "While what you said is true, it''s not the main reason why I did not report such a thing to the military. It''s because someone else would have done it if any of you fit certain criteria."


    This made Major Bautista and the others confused.


    "Why so secretive? Is the person that told you this some sort of oracle giving God or something?"


    Tyson, the most carefree of the group, spoke out loud.


    His words, however, made the people in the know inside the room react. Those reactions served as a clue.


    "No, way." Tyson was surprised. "You guys are joking, right?"


    Of course, no one answered. However, it was clear to their reactions that Tyson was getting unto something.


    Ignoring what was going on, Mark spoke.


    "In any case, there''s nothing we can do about it this situation. It''s not like anyone of us can stop space debris from falling on Earth. All we can do is wait for a miracle. In the least, here, you guys are safer."


    "If it''s safer here, can''t you rescue people from the settlement?"


    Tyson added another question. This question, however, made Mark look at him as if he was an idiot.


    "Why are you looking at me like that? I''m asking a proper question."


    However, it seemed that even Joash understood the answer to this question, and he tapped Tyson''s shoulder, shaking his head.


    As Mark had better things to do than exin things to people who were technically not under him, he decided to end it here.


    "I already told everything that you all needed to know," Mark spoke. "Just stay here for a few days. That is if we can pass the day tomorrow safely."


    Seeing that Mark had no ns on telling more, Major Bautista urged Joash and Tyson that they should just stop here. With the conversation ending, Karlene and na guided everyone to where they would be staying.


    Of course, there was someone who did not question Mark at all. She approached Mark with a slight bow.


    "Thank you for allowing us to stay here."


    Rosamie said before bringing her children with her and following Karlene and na.


    Seeing the group leave, Mark sighed. He then turned to Mei.


    "Mei''er, did you tell Odelina everything?"


    "I did," Mei replied. "She also went and announced it to everyone while you were gone."


    "Good." Mark made another sigh. "I''m already tired. I don''t want to go gather everyone and tell them everything."


    Hearing that, Aephelia, who was waiting at the side, spoke.


    "If you are already tired, Master, I should then tell Morgan to meet you another time. It seemed that he wanted to personally thank you for saving them."


    "Yeah, you do that." Mark nodded. "After a while, I wanted a peaceful sleep."


    Receiving the order, Aephelia immediately left the room to inform Morgan, who was the inheritor of her former ally.<sub> </sub>


    "Earth is facing another destructive disaster, and what you wanted is a peaceful sleep. You''re really something..."


    Jaeya, who was also present with her adopted son, Theodore, spoke to Mark with a judging eye.


    "What is wrong with that?" Markined. "Don''t you think it''s better to face the iing worldwide change well-rested?"


    "I guess I can''t argue with that."


    Jaeya shrugged as Mark had a point there.


    Soon, Mark had a sumptuous dinner with everyone inside his house. It had been a while since they all ate at the same table. And to say, while Mark preferred to be alone most of the time, it was not bad to share the same table with a rowdy bunch.


    And after a long while, Mark had a peaceful sleep inside his own home.


    A home he created with everyone.


    ***


    This night, the surroundings were suspiciously quiet.


    Animals were nowhere to be seen outside the base.


    The animals inside were staying in their pens and cages without making any noise. Animals were far more sensitive than humans. It was very likely that they were feeling the iing danger. Still, they were supposed to be noisy, knowing how animals should behave in front of danger. It might be Annica''s influence, but they might also know that they were already in the safest ce they could be.


    However, that was not the case in other ces.


    Animals were agitated, running everywhere like headless chickens. All of them wanted to find a safe ce to avoid the danger they were feeling. However, no such thing existed, causing them to panic even more.


    And around the world, a faint, almost nonexistent humming sound was present.


    ***


    At a certain unidentified realm surrounded by nothing but brightness, an uncanny group of individuals gathered.


    Some of them looked like ancient medieval soldiers, while others looked like tribal chieftains. There were a few that exhibited non-human characteristics, such as tails and wings. Some even had animal heads.


    These existences far surpassed humanity. There was not a slight need to ask what they were.


    Gods of the ancient eras. They were those that came to Earth due to the neglect of the previous Observer.


    These Gods gathered inside this sub-dimension, but barely any of them were talking to each other. It was not hard to understand why. Gods of different realms and religions were known to not act together at all. It was already good that none of them appeared to be hostile.


    This was not surprising. Most of the Gods that fought in the previous eras were well-known and powerful Gods. The ones gathered here were those from lower realms. Most of them were even lower and mid-level Gods.


    The higher Gods, for example, Bath, could be counted in one hand.


    All of them were Gods, but all of them were weakerpared to their prime.


    At this time, there were all waiting. They were gathered here for one purpose. It was to protect Earth for onest time. In exchange, they would be given the opportunity to leave this realm towards the higher realms.


    Amidst the silence, a group of people phased into existence before them.


    There were twenty-eight of them, being led by a woman standing at the center.


    The woman was wearing a white robe that had a hood covering her head. However, even though her face should be clearly seen, all that once could see was pitch-ck darkness.


    As for the other individuals that arrived, they were all different in stature. Some wore modern clothing, some wore ancient ones. There were children, while one seemed to be an old man.


    One thing stood out consistently among the group, however. It was their unusual eyes. Some had more than a pair, while some had oddly shaped pupils.


    These people were the Observer and the Eyes.


    "The time ising near." The Observer''s voice echoed inside everyone''s ear. "I implore everyone to give thy utmost efforts in this endeavor. As agreed, we will allow thy ascension."


    "Are you certain that all of us are enough?" A man with a crocodile head spoke. "Although I did not mind helping as it was also to the good of those still believing in my faith, we are severely weakened. We might be able to produce meager miracles but not destroying a structure nearly the size of the prevailing moon."


    At the crocodile-headed man''s question, the Observer replied.


    "It did not matter. All thee needed to do is to release enough energy with everyone present here. Although thebined might would not be enough topletely vanquish the threat, it should be able to minimize the damage. From there, it would be left to us."


    Then, the Observer exined.


    "We might not be capable ofpletely eliminating the threat of the aftermath, but we should at least be capable of protecting our world from utter destruction."


    "If only our powers did not dwindle, we might be able to do more than what you expect."


    A handsome man with a shoulder made of ivory spoke. He might not be a known god in the myths, but he was still a son of a god. It was even if he was kicked out of the mountain because of his crazy father''s deed.


    "I believe that my apostles already recapitted that it was not within our ountability." The Observer replied. "Thy only believed the ill words of other gods and stood against us instead of leaving this world in the past."


    Many Gods were known to be arrogant beings. Even in this situation, some bothered to fearlesslyin to the Observer.


    To the side, however, the Philippine''s God of Creation only watched with a troubled expression. A kind God like him would not join such a troublesome banter.


    Instead, Bath sat in meditation. Even if it was just a tiny portion, he must recover more of his energy. If it could help this world before he left, it would be a good thing.

 Chapter 758 The Hell Rain, The Day That Marked The Worlds End

    <strong>Day 157 - 7:32 AM - Mountain Base, Mount Mbito, General Nakar, Province of Quezon</strong>


    On the balcony of his house, Mark sat alone. With a cup of coffee in his hand, he gazed at the sky.


    Today was the threshold. The final day that Earth would be seen as it was before the apocalypse. At any time, the world-changing catastrophe would happen.


    However, none of them knew when it would happen. It might be today or might happen tonight. It might even be tomorrow.


    One thing was definite, nheless. Today would mark the start of another era on Earth.


    An era not ruled only by science but also magic.


    But, of course, it was not the humans nor the magical races that reigned the new era.


    It was the infected who would rule it.


    There was nothing to do now but wait. At these times, it made one think about how powerless an individual could be in the face of such a catastrophe.


    "Gege?"


    Mei peeked out of the door with a soft call. She then came out after seeing Mark sipping his coffee while looking at the sky.


    "Are you going to wait here the whole day?"


    She asked.


    "Yeah?" Mark replied. "It''s a once-in-a-lifetime event. I don''t want to miss such a thing."


    Mei noticed that tinge of excitement and could not help but tilt her head in confusion.


    Mark, in turn, noticed her asking expression and exined.


    "Well, I always have a strange fascination with disastrous scenarios, especially world-ending ones. For some reason, I think that this world is the most beautiful when it is struggling. And after that, the world would grow without humans, turning everything into breathtaking sceneries. So, I want to see it with my own eyes. The event that would end the previous world."


    "Sounds crazy, right?" Mark asked, knowing how absurd this interest was. "I don''t watch too many movies, but I probably watched all disaster and apocalyptic ones in the world no matter whatnguage once they became avable in pirate sites."


    Mei ignored how crazy it sounded and sat on the chair in front of Mark.


    "That''s illegal," She remarked with a smile.


    "Haha, what can I do?" Mark shrugged. "I don''t have money. Even if I have extra, it all goes to video games. I also don''t feel good going into crowded cinemas and finding distributed copies of non-mainstream movies in our country is like finding a needle in a haystack."


    "I guess that''s true."


    Mei smiled.


    With this, Mei fulfilled her goal for this time. Mark looked like a lonely traveler waiting for the end of the world while gazing at the sky. That was why she came out. It was good that there was something they could chat about as she apanied him.


    And there, the two waited together.


    Fortunately or not, nothing happened early in the day, aside from the surroundings being too quiet. Everyone in the base knew what was going to happen. Afraid, most of them decided to stay within the safety of their homes, onlying out to get food during breakfast and lunch.


    Lunchtime ended,te afternoon came. Nothing was happening.


    Some people thought that it might not happen today. Some began to doubt the information they had.


    Mark, on the other hand, began to feel a bit restless.


    The more it camete, the more dangerous it could be.


    It would be better if it happened tomorrow. However, if it happened during nighttime, things could get awry.


    During the night, the eastern countries would be on the side of Earth furthest away from the sun. It meant that the eastern countries, including the Philippines, would be facing the direction where theary debris woulde from.


    When that happened, the Eastern countries would face the brunt of the catastrophe.


    But as Mark considered the worst-case scenario, a humming sound entered his ears. Just when he thought that he was just hearing things, he felt that everyone inside the base was confused.


    Everyone was hearing the same humming sound in Mark''s ear, and they were looking around for the unseen source.


    The animals in the base were all scared. Even Char and Laps were not exceptions.


    Even Crimson appeared in front of Mark, only to rest on his shoulder because of fear.


    Mark heightened his senses and turned to the sky by reflex.


    What they were hearing was not a hum. It was the vibration of air due to some cause.


    That cause, without a shred of doubt, should be the iingary debris as its arrival affected Earth.


    "Gege, this sound!"


    Mei and the others rushed to the balcony where Mark was still waiting. All of them saw Mark staring at the sky.


    "It''s starting," Mark said as he opened his wings. "All of you stay inside. Do not go outside unnecessarily. Odel, I''ll leave them all to you."


    "Yes, Master. Leave everyone to me."


    Odelina nodded and urged everyone to heed Mark''s words.


    "Gege, I''ll go with you."


    Mei said, and Mark nodded.


    The two of them flew off towards the sky, flying above the base.


    ***


    In the space above the western side of Earth, several individuals floated. It was a magical sight, considering that all of them were hovering without any protective suit that humans required to traverse space.


    They were the ancient Gods gathered for this event. There were twenty of them, with three being Supreme Gods from lower realms. However, none of them even could contend to a Lower God back in their time with their current strength.


    Hovering at their positions, they started at the adversary in front of them.


    A chunk of debris from an artificial that was about the size of the moon.


    "Is everyone prepared?"


    A male Supreme God, wearing a gold chain armor, whose eyes looked like Beryl and had an Emerald pupil, asked. However, almost no one replied to his irritation.


    "Just don''t mind them." Bath sighed as he replied. "Let us start."


    With the Georgian Supreme God Armazi, and Philippine God of Creation, Bath, leading the group, they started gathering their energies into a ball of blinding light.


    ***


    The entire world was enveloped in confusion and fear. The humming sound began to grow louder and louder without anyone knowing where it wasing from.


    It did not matter whether it was the humans or the animals. Everything was panicking on the unknown event that no one could run away from.


    However, in the western night sky, everyone saw a chilling sight.


    There were three moons in the sky. The real moon was already setting, but there were still two ovepped together.


    Therger moon had a darker huepared to the real one. On the other hand, the smaller moon was emitting light too bright that one could mistake it for a miniature sun.


    Fear overcame the confusion as the people watched the phenomenon with their own eyes. The humming in their ears did not stop and began to drive people crazy.<sub> </sub>


    Pray. It was the only thing that the people could do. Unfortunately, those prayers were addressed to a different God than those who needed it at this moment.


    But then, the western night sky turned as bright as day.


    Everyone was shocked as they covered their eyes in pain.


    And then...


    BOOOOOM!!!


    The loud rumbling sound of explosion enveloped the entire.


    Everyone turned to the sky as the brightness was reced by the sight of an explosion in space.


    The witnesses were all terrified. Many of them ran to hide while others were stunned in ce.


    Chaos ensued as the moon that had just appeared in the sky shattered to pieces in front of everyone''s eyes.


    The shockwave of the explosion traveled towards Earth. Everyone saw the clouds in the sky being blown away into nothingness. Even with the atmosphere protected Earth, it was not enough to stop the shockwave.


    The rumbling sound traveled nearer and nearer to the ground. Many people fell to their knees facing their impending doom.


    But as they thought that they were going to die, the rumbling sounds vanished. The shockwave they expected never came.


    The fear diminished, with confusion enveloping everyone once again.


    However, the explosion was just the start.


    Everyone gazed at the sky. Those people who ran into their homes stepped out and did the same.


    There they saw...


    Hundreds, thousands, even millions of fragments of the exploded heavenly body rained down to Earth like a barrage of shooting stars.


    It was a spectacr sight. It was amazing.


    That was until some saw the fragments demolish everything as theynded.


    The humans and animals could only scream as they tried to run away.


    ***


    Mark and Mei pped their wings in the sky above their base. Both of them were gazing towards the east. It was where most of the eerie sounds in the air wereing from.


    It was until they turn their eyes back to the sky.


    Silhouettes of objects covered in mes flew past over their heads.


    Just how many were there?


    It was countless.


    Mark nodded to Mei as they flew higher. It was until the point that they could see the sea in the eastern part of Quezon.


    SPLASH!


    Large space debris covered in mes, about the size of an aircraft carrier, crashed into the sea.


    The impact caused a terrifyingly high tidal wave that traveled towards the shore.


    If the two settlements in Infanta and Real, Quezon still existed, both settlements would be swallowed whole by the waves.


    "They said that they were going to protect Earth, right?" Mei asked in dismay. "If this continued, everything will be destroyed."


    Mark had the same thought. With how many pieces of space debris raining down into this, everything would be obliterated in no time. Not to mention the heat created as the debris entered the atmosphere continuously. Soon, the surface of the Earth would turn into a burning wastnd.


    But then...


    WOMP!


    An almost inaudible sound entered Mark''s ears.


    Mark reacted by reflex as the entire Earth was enveloped by a monochrome color.


    At a split second, Mark''s eyes dted as he covered his and Mei''s bodies in Miasma. The world turning monochrome had traces of magical energy in y.


    And then, there was nothing but silence.


    Mark opened his eyes. Everything was frozen. He looked at Mei, and he was immediately filled with dismay.


    Like everything else, Mei was also frozen in a monochrome hue, even if he tried to protect her.


    Mark was about tosh out to question what was going on. It was when a transparent silhouette of a woman in white robes appeared in front of him like a ghost.


    "Please do not fret. We had no choice but to stop Earth''s time temporarily."


    Mark gazed at the being, feeling the pressure from her simr to a God. It was when Fourth and Neenth appearing behind her like servants was when he realized who the woman in robes was.


    "Are you the Observer?"


    Mark asked.


    "Yes." The woman in white robes nodded. "We did not expect that thee were able to resist this world''s will. Nevertheless, it just proves thee as a unique being."


    "Seriously, what is happening?"


    Mark asked with a frown.


    This time, it was Neenth that replied.


    "Some mishaps happened. Two of the Gods that were supposed to cooperate tried to plot evil. We had no choice but to eliminate as a priority, or worse could have happened."


    Hearing the reason, Mark could not me them. Looking at how transparent the Observer was and the amount of magical energy leaking from her body, it was likely that she was supplying the energy to stop time on her own.


    "Well then, we have no time to lose." The Observer spoke. "Fourth, thee should go."


    "Yes, Master."


    Fourth bowed in respect as she left the side of the Observer. The moment she did, both the Observer and Neenth vanished from Mark''s sight.


    With the Observer gone, Fourth returned to her usual childish demeanor.


    "Okay, let''s start!"


    She eximed.


    Nheless, Mark was looking at Fourth strangely. Fourth, right now, was not a little girl but a fully grown beautifuldy.


    "That appearance did not suit your attitude."


    Mark said nonchntly.


    "What is wrong with my appearance and attitude, huh?!" Fourth screamed. "Just go home already!"


    Just as Fourth screamed those words, the monochrome hue that enveloped Earth faded as time flowed once more.


    And, of course, the rain of hell also ensued.

 Chapter 759 Reshaping, The Dusk Of The Old Earth

    <strong>Day 157 - 3:17 PM - Mountain Base, Mount Mbito, General Nakar, Quezon</strong>


    Time began to flow once more, so as the wake of destruction.


    Gigantic chunks of unknown metal continued to rain all over the entire Earth.


    Buildings copsed, homes crumbled, even lives were not spared.


    Settlements were crushed, survivors faced their helpless deaths.


    Humans screamed in terror as they watched the sky.


    The oceans overflowed with tidal waves, swallowing everything near the coast.


    Seawater began to heat up, causing marine animals and nts to perish.


    Mutated marine animals dived deeper and deeper into the ocean to escape.


    Mountains and hills turned into craters, and forests were ignited aze.


    Roars of mutated animals could be heard as they fled in utmost fear.


    Parts of cities turned into piles of rubble, burying anything inside, alive or not.


    And the infected, of course, watched the sky in curiosity until their bodies turned into scattered pieces of meat or even dust.


    It was all because of the pieces ofary debris that rained from the sky.


    All of it happened during the time that the Eyes werete.


    ***


    As the time freeze ended, Mei flinched. As someone whose eyes were enhanced, she immediately realized the sudden changes in her surroundings.


    Mark was flying in a different ce, while an unknown woman was now shouting at him like a child.


    "Gege? Who?" Mei asked, not realizing who the woman was until she saw the woman''s familiar eyes. "Ah..."


    It was not surprising that Mei did not recognize Fourth immediately. Compared to her body as a little girl, her current richdy-like appearance was too different. Not to mention her attitude that did not change even a tiny bit.


    After shouting at Mark, telling him to go home, Fourth immediately faced the sky.


    There was no time to waste further.


    Fourth raised both her hands, her three vertical eyes glowed.


    Mark and Mei raised their heads. They could see a faint light slowly cover the entire sky.


    Then, the two frowned. Mark released the [Mental Crystals] from the [PsyCrystal]. Mei took out her sniper rifle, the [Shooting Moon de]. They were ready to attack as they saw arge, ming red chunk of metal falling towards their home.


    The fallingary debris was about seventy meters in diameter. It was more or less the length of a passenger airne. Not only was its surface entirely red because of its entry through the atmosphere, but it was also falling too fast.


    It would definitely turn the base into a heat-filled hell even if it could not entirely tten it because of the [Blood Metal] structures.


    But before the two could act, Fourth''s voice rang into their ears.


    "Just stay put if you two are not going home!"


    With her words, the two immediately knew that Fourth was going to handle this problem.


    The enormous debris collided with the veil of light above the base as soon as the two rxed.


    Then, the three people trembled at the explosion-like collision. They all watched the debris as it crumbled into smaller pieces, raining towards thend. Furthermore, those pieces fell not towards the base but in different directions, unprotected by the veil of light.


    Nheless, those smaller pieces of debris had various sizes. Thergest ones were the size of a passenger bus. Their fall towards thend still caused substantial damage to the surroundings.


    At that scene, Fourth took the initiative to exin, ncing at Mark and Mei behind her.


    "You two don''t have to worry. This barrier extends all over Southeast Asia, which is the area under my protection. I can guarantee that as long as there are no unexpected circumstances, none of these useless pieces of metal will fall unto your base."


    When Fourth said those words with confidence, a few morerge chunks of metal were falling towards their direction.


    And as Fourth had said, all of them crumbled as they collided with the veil of light. Therge ones split into smaller pieces before scattering, while the smaller ones were obliterated entirely.


    But then, Mark asked a question, looking at arge piece of debris that created a wide crater by the foot of the mountain.


    "You said that it covered your whole territory, but those fell not too far. And you''re not only protecting our ce, right?"


    "Duh, of course not!" Fourth yelled with hands raised and eyes glowing. "Our powers are limited given that the number of humans on Earth dwindled drastically! There is no way that we will be able to cover the entire Earth and maintain it while facing all this falling debris! Besides, our duty is to protect humans! Other thingse second!"


    Several explosions were heard as several gigantic chunks of space debris crashed onto the barrier that covered the New Infanta Settlement. The space debris also broke down into pieces and fell away from the settlement.


    However, Mark noticed something.


    "Isn''t Infanta Settlement''s barrier weaker than ours?"


    It was not hard to notice. The chunks of space debris that fell from the ones that were supposed to hit Mark''s base were thrown far all the way to the foot of the mountain. Those in New Infanta Settlement fell quite close, enough that the dust and tremors from the crash reached the settlement.


    "It can''t be helped!" Fourth irritatingly replied. "The strength of the barrier corresponds to the humans inside it!"


    That statement made both Mark and Mei confused.


    It was not surprising that the strength of the barrier would scale with the humans since the existence and powers of the Eyes also rely on humans. Specifically, the collected emotions of the entire human race.


    However, the poption of the New Infanta Settlement was within several thousand. Mark''s base could notpare to it, considering it only had around two hundred people.


    And yet, the barrier around Mark''s base was more powerfulpared to the one that covered New Infanta Settlement.


    As if knowing what was inside Mark''s mind, Fourth added.<sub> </sub>


    "Not everything is about quantity! The strength of the people, their unity, emotions, and even their trust in their leader. All of it matters! A group of several hundred people united to build a new home under the leadership of someone they trust cannot bepared to several thousand people in a settlement just staying there to leech off their leaders!"


    "That is why I am here!" Fourth confessed. "The strength I can gain from your base is more than enough to protect it! If I positioned the foundation of my barrier here, I could distribute the excess energy to other ces that needed it!"


    "<strong>OI!</strong>"


    Mark called outining. Of course, anyone would be displeased to hear something like this.


    "Don''t worry!" Fourth assured. "I''m not doing it blindly! I prioritized distributing the energies at those ces we knew you had a connection to! For example, Bay City Settlement and the NPA Settlement where you''re parents are staying! Those ces needed more energy since they built their settlements beside a huge body of water! A single tsunami can wipe out those ces entirely! The remaining went to those ces that your people had rtions to in one way or another within Southeast Asia."


    With that said, Mark''s displeasure died down immediately. Although he did not know whether Fourth was being considerate or if it was a privilege given to him, it was a good thing.


    After that, Mark stayed silent and did not bother Fourth anymore. Fourth was putting effort into maintaining the barrier, and she needed to put her attention to it more instead of answering his questions.


    That was why with Mei by his side, Mark watched the rain of hell from the sky.


    The red hot chunks of metallic space debris from an artificial. Countless of these things left ming trails as they all pass through the Earth''s atmosphere. It was truly a scene of destruction only seen in movies. But now, Mark was witnessing it with his own eyes.


    Streaks of red light painted the sky. It was a scene that was engraved permanently in Mark''s memory.


    For Mark, a scene within a zombie apocalypse sure was exciting. This, however, looked beautiful and amazing, despite how destructive it was.


    ***


    The rain of hell continued on for several minutes. However, the whole thing felt longer, especially for the panicked people, praying for safety and thanking the miracle that happened.


    People around the world cheered, seeing the end of the frightening rain of ming space debris. They did not mind the destruction left by the event. The most important thing was that all of them were miraculously alive.


    Outside the barriers, the miraculous shell that kept humanity alive, there was nothing but destruction. Melted craters, ruined buildings, ttened mountains, burning forests, and of course, dead people.


    Not every human survived the catastrophe. Many people, both unlucky and foolish, perished. Although Fourth made it clear that quantity was not everything, there was no mistake that small, weak, and ununited settlements would have a smaller and thinner barrier to protect them.


    Small settlements and hideouts were obliterated, along with everyone living inside. Those that were gathered by nothing but fear of the apocalypse were unable to support a barrier enough to make them survive.


    The already dwindling human poption of the world decreased drastically even further.


    Unfortunately, for those that survived, it was only the beginning.


    Earth''s temperature continued to increase. That countless pieces ofary debris that entered the atmosphere and burned caused the drastic rise.


    Soon, Earth would begin to burn. This drastic increase in temperature was more than enough to start forest fires and even melt the pr ice caps.


    However, before the world began to see that temperature increase as a threat, the true danger started.


    As if the sky was a delicate globe made of ss that fell to the ground, the sky began to crack.


    The cracks slowly grew as if intending to spread anxiety and fear to those seeing the spectacle.


    Between the cracks was another world, unknown to most people on the surface of the Earth.


    This horrifying sight was not only witnessed on the Mortal Dimension. Those in the Spirit Dimension also watched the same scene with utmost fear.


    Then, as if it was already nned, the magic-filled cold air from the Spirit Dimension blew into the Mortal Dimension. The magic-filled air started to quench the increasing temperature caused by theary debris.


    Earth''s temperature began to cool down once more, even a bit colder than before.


    But, of course, while it brought fort an unexpected fix to a problem, the cracks in the sky did not mean a good thing entirely.


    Slowly, the cracks continued to cover the entire sky.


    Soon, the cracks were no more, and all the witnesses could see were the reflection of the other side, divided by a mirror-like visage.


    ***


    Mark and Mei stared at the sky, seeing theplete replica of the mountain they were flying over. They could even see the familiar Stone Fortress that the Brown Duendes ruled over in the Eastern Mountains.


    "Brace yourselves!"


    Fourth yelled to the two, still keeping the barrier as strong as possible.


    And then, with a blinding sh, the sky glowed bright evenpared to the sun.


    Everyone could not help but cover their eyes due to the blinding light. It did not matter whether they were Human, Demon, Spirit, Elemental, or Cryptid.


    The bright sky deprived everyone of their sight for a moment.


    Before their eyes could recover, those who stood onnd fell to the ground. They all lost their bnce.


    There was an Earthquake.


    The entire Earth, both the Mortal and Spirit Dimensions, was shaking violently.


    As if the craters from the disaster from space a few minutes ago were not enough. Thend cracked open and separated.


    Then, new, unfamiliarnd filled the cracks.


    Countries became vaster and the coastlines extended to the waters.


    Old mountains grew, and new mountains appeared.


    Chasms appeared on oceans and seas, cliffs opened across the borders.


    Countries and Continents became separated and isted from each other.


    The old Earth was no more.


    Earth was reshaped.

 Chapter 760 Reshaping, The Dawn Of New Earth

    <strong>Day 157 - 6:11 PM - Mount Mbito, General Nakar, Province of Quezon</strong>


    Being capable of flight sure had its advantages.


    While everyone was bracing the violent shaking of Earth, screaming and enveloped in fear, Mark and Mei, instead, were watching a spectacr scene from the sky.


    Mark and Mei watched the terrifying tremors on the ground. Everything was shaking, even mountains as if they were small trees rooted in unstable soil.


    The two watched mountains moving as if they were living giants.


    The base of the mountains was torn apart, forming unfathomably deep cliffs and crevices. Only to get filled with soil and rocks, once more, appearing from thin air with a whisk of bright light.


    Those narrow and shallow rivers widened and deepened.


    Lakes turned into small seas.


    New trees also appeared, along with animals that did not exist in the Mortal Dimension before.


    The familiar structures in the Spirit Dimension popped out of nowhere, along with everyone alive inside them.


    Even the sky was changing as the cracks slowly vanished. The sky was never this blue, even after the apocalypse started.


    Mark and Mei were watching the birth of a new Earth. It was a once-in-a-lifetime scene that most people on Earth had no way of seeing.


    Nheless, the Earth''s change did not only give birth to the new. It also brought destruction to the old.


    Most of the things humans and other races created and existed before in both worlds were destroyed.


    Cities and towns that survived the rain of hell turned into ruins. It was even worse for man-made structures. There was no way any building created by humans would withstand an earthquake with a magnitude higher than ten.


    Even buildings inside settlements protected by barriers copsed, causing a massive amount of deaths among the survivors.


    The barriers might have protected everyone from the dangers outside.


    But the dangers from within were a different issue.


    Even if the Eyes wanted to protect humanity from an outside threat, natural disasters were not something they could put their hands into.


    Yes, the current change, the fusion of different dimensions on Earth, was considered by the world as a natural disaster. It was an inevitable event that would happen due to Earth''s current situation.


    As the change progressed, Mark and Mei were actually worried about their base. But unexpectedly, it barely felt the brunt of the earthquake.


    The earthquake sure was not a regr one. An earthquake would usuallyst a few seconds to a few minutes. Of course, not including unusual ones like the earthquake in Sumatra, Indonesia, in 1861, whichsted thirty-two years.


    The earthquake that was the result of Earth changing its topographysted for about three hours. It was already sunset when the changes began to stop.


    After even a whole hour of the earthquake, something that demolished cities in a few seconds, the base stood still.


    And it remained safe even after Earth''s change finished.


    This made Mark and Mei felt relieved.


    "This is unexpected." Fourth''s voice entered the two''s ears. "Your base escaped the world''s transformation unscathed. I thought there would at least be a few buildings copsing. You guys did some preparations, didn''t you?"


    The two turned to Fourth, only to see her weakened state. She behaved the same, but her body was as transparent as a ghost.


    Sensing the stares, Fourth shrugged.


    "Don''t mind my state. It''s a small price to pay, considering we had to stop Earth from destruction." Fourth exined. "I''ll recover in the future. Considering how many humans are left and if it did not decrease too drastically anymore, it''ll probably take about a hundred years or so."


    That made Mark wince. A hundred years was too long.


    "Stop staring at me pitifully." Fourthined. "Quick! Tell me! How did you manage to pull it off?"


    Of course, Fourth was interested.


    The whole world was devastated except for ces where powerful beings resided. Yet, Mark''s base, where only a few hundred humans lived, managed to remain unscathed.


    And to Fourth''s question, Mark answered.


    "Not telling."


    That answer made Fourth pout in displeasure. Even if she looked like a beautifuldy, Fourth still behaved like a child.


    "Tch. I''ll ask Neenth instead."


    It was just a gamble. That was why Mark did not want to say it.


    For the base to avoid the earthquake, there were two cards that Mark put into y.


    First was Chiyo, the Night Everred Spirit Tree. Her roots already had consolidated the entire Mount Mbito. Because of it, it would be harder for natural disasters to deform the whole mountain. It would also stopndslides from happening and even nourish thend around it slowly.


    The second card was no other than Louis Morgan. The inheritor of [Geokinesis] Psychic Ability. Mark had not had a proper talk with the guy yet and only gave him an order for now. That order was to use his psychic ability to keep thend around the base intact. With his current level, it would be hard to do it for the whole three hours. However, Mark had given all his [Earth Attribute Crystals] to the guy. Mark did not have many of it, but it was something that he did notck.


    They managed to pull it off because of these two cards, leaving the base as is even if almost everything in the world was destroyed.


    Mark looked around and noticed that the barrier that Fourth created was still up.


    "What about that?"


    Mark pointed at the barrier in the sky.


    "Want me to remove it?"


    Fourth asked with a smug look.


    "I''m just asking."


    Mark did not mind her trying to take advantage of the question and just turned away uninterested.


    Seeing that move by Mark, however, Fourth pouted even more and exined.


    "Hmmph! The barriers around every ce on Earth with surviving humans with be up for about another month." Fourth harrumphed. "It''s to allow them the opportunity to prepare and rebuild as things would soon get even more dangerous. Remember, those space debris are not the only threat. The danger is what those chunks of metal carried."


    "Besides..." Fourth added as she turned her head towards the sky. "Not all the debris had already fallen."


    As Fourth said those words, they saw a streak of red light in the sky as another ming debris flew above their heads.


    It was not a surprising thing. Given that the giganticary debris exploded in space, not all its fragments would fall into Earth immediately. Many of the chunks ofary debris would float and orbit around Earth for some time before being pulled by Earth''s gravity.


    This meant that the rain of hell had not truly ended. From time to time, a chunk ofary debris would enter Earth and cause massive destruction.


    However, that was not all.


    The actual threat was not those chunks of space debris but the thing they carried.


    It was the second pathogen that entered Earth through space. The [Mechid Pathogen].<sub> </sub>


    Not much was known about it and its effects on Earth. Would this new pathogen create another army of creatures that would threaten humanity? Would they work hand-in-hand with those infected with [Mutagen]?


    There were a whole lot of questions to ask, and there was no answer to find at the moment.


    "You two better go home and start your preparations." Fourth spoke the two in a serious tone. "Who knows when those machine creatures would appear outside your doorsteps. I''ll also have to return too."


    And with those words, Fourth flew off, vanishing from the sight of Mark and Mei.


    The expression of the two was quite serious too. The change of Earth was not the end. It was just the beginning of a new struggle for survival.


    ***


    <strong>Day 156 - 7:25 AM - Rio de Janeiro, Brazil</strong>


    While the rest of the world had the chance to rebuild and prepare, South America was already going on itsst stand.


    Without an Eye to protect them, more than half of the continent turned into a dead man''snd. Seawater flooded arge part of the continent, sinking coastal areas to the ocean floor. Even the fusion of dimensions did not help, as those ces were swallowed by the ocean before it happened.


    As there were no barriers created in any part of South America, whole chunks of space debris crashed to the ground. Thergest ones were a size of a skyscraper, ttening an entire city into a deep crater.


    ***


    <strong>Day 156 - 7:31 AM - Amazon Rainforest, State of Amazonas, Brazil</strong>


    Many ces in South America faced the same fate. Even the Amazon was not spared.


    The wet and cold rainforest was already enveloped in mes. At the center of the forest was another crater with towering space debris at its center.


    It was thergest chunk of space debris that crashed into Earth without any hindrance. Although the fusion of dimensions filled some parts of the crater with a newnd, the destruction that the crash left was still visible for everyone to see.


    The worst thing, however, was not only that the space debrisnded intact. Its so-called "passengers" managed to survive as well for the most part.


    Yes, most part.


    CLANK! BAM!


    Arge part of theary debris fell off, causing a loud crash. It revealed a hollow interior on the space debris.


    And there, stepping under the light of the sun for the first time, was a creature with four legs.


    Was it an organic monster? A destructive robot?


    It was hard to say with just a nce.


    A creature with four metallic legs and a humanoid upper bodyposed of pulsating flesh.


    As it stepped through the door of its hollow, dark prison, its red, bulged right eye scanned the surroundings.


    The rotation of its eye revealed wirings behind its eyeballs, covered in greenish rotting flesh.


    SPURT!


    Its left eye just spewed ck goo with a strong smell of infectious pus. The creature staggered, showing that the crash also caused damage to its horrendous body.


    The creature stared at the burning forest. Living trees nketed in mes. It was the first time this creature living in space had seen such a scene.


    CLANK! CREAK!


    Slowly, one step at a time, it moved out of its prison.


    CLANK! BAM!


    The creature fell. It did not realize that the door it opened was far above the ground.


    Staggering, it slowly lifted its body up.


    CLANK!


    One of its four limbs fell. The fall did more damage to its already broken robotic body.


    But the damage did not deter the creature. Using its three remaining legs, it moved forward, scanning the surroundings.


    It approached the burning forest. The curiosity in its eyes was clear.


    One step at a time, it advanced.


    Until its rotting body felt the scorching heat that it stopped.


    As its receptors received the heat...


    "<strong>CRUUAAAAKK!!!</strong>"


    It roared in pain as it hurriedly retreated. Its robotic voice echoed into the surroundings.


    The pain transmitted was perceived as a danger.


    The creature looked around. The crater was surrounded by a burning forest.


    "<strong>CRROOOAARRRR!!!</strong>"


    The creature roared, thinking that it was surrounded by a danger that it could not face alone.


    And as it did...


    CLANK! CLANK! BAM! CLANK! BAM! BAM!


    Countless pieces of theary debris fell off, each one revealing a hollow interior. Some appeared to be rooms, while others looked like hallways.


    The appearance of the interior was the least to be concerned about, however.


    As pieces of theary debris fell like it was being shaved off, one after another, rotting creatures, half-metallic and half-organic, stepped out of their space prison.


    All of them appeared to be damaged. Some of the creatures pulled their hind legs as their wiring released sparks. Others dragged their bodies with their hands on the floor with their entire lower body smashed to pieces.


    They all observed the new world they crashed into, a that was totally unfamiliar to them.


    The that they would conquer soon.


    Seeing its alliese out of their "prison," the first creature tried to move forward. It staggered and fell to the ground. As it stood up once more, it looked at its broken leg.


    It knew that it needed to find something that could rece its leg soon. It did not matter, whether it be a machine or an organic limb.


    <strong>-VOLUME 12 END-</strong>

 Chapter 761 The New Earth, The First Problems

    <strong>Day 160 - 11:21 AM - Agos River, General Nakar, Province of Quezon</strong>


    It was already three days after the consecutive events that changed the entire world.


    Gliding down from the sky, Marknded on arge rock by the riverside. After a long while, Mark stepped on this river area by at the base of Mount Mbito once more. When was thest time he went around its vicinity? It should be at that time when Mark and Amihan made their way to Real Military Settlement, just before encountering Karlene and na''s group for the first time.


    But to say, the appearance of the river, then and now, drastically differed.


    The current Agos river had its width doubled. The flow of the water was more violent than before. It was also quite deep at its center. And to say, it looked better than its dried appearance in the past. Of course, also more dangerous.


    If a regr human fell into this river by ident in its current state, there was no need to even imagine getting back up without a miracle.


    Many things changed in the terrain around the mountain. Even Mount Mbito had grownrger. It was troublesome since the dirt road they painstakingly created was covered with trees and grass once more, not to mention that it was a longer trek down the mountain.


    Sad to say, almost nothing was familiar in the surroundings any more.


    The world''s change definitely brought forth good and bad oues.


    With the New Earth''s Currentndmass, overpoption would not be an issue for the next hundred or thousand years. Of course, that was if humanity could repopte the, considering how dangerous it was now.


    And the biggest problem at the moment was not the [Infected] nor the [Mutated Animals]. Not even the [Mechids] that had yet to make its appearance in front of Mark.


    It was radiation.


    This was something that no one had expected. It seemed that theary debris containedrge amounts of radioactive materials inside it, which scattered across the globe. That might have to do with the power source of the Artificial.


    Although the amount of radiation did not seem harmful for a short time, it was better not to take any chances. Even more so, considering that [Mutagen] was present in everyone. It might use the radiation to do something unexpected, like mutating a perfectly healthy human into a monster.


    This also made Mark expect to see radioactive [Mutated Infected] in the near future.


    The only ce safe from the radiation was inside the barriers that the Eyes created.


    Although humans without protection could step out of the barriers, they would soon feel nauseous. The time for the symptoms to appear would vary, but it seemed that [Evolvers] and [Mutators] couldst longer outside. And to say, even regr humans now could stay longer under this amount of radiationpared to humans before the apocalypse.


    This was one of the things that proved that [Mutagen] was capable of enhancing humans, even without being an [Evolver] or a [Mutator].


    Another thing was that [Magical Creatures] seemed to have some immunity to the radiation. It might be surprising at first. But if one was to think about it, [Magical Energy] could also be considered a form of radiation. It might be the reason they could withstand radiation.


    Mark, however, had no problems going outside.


    Radiation was a form of energy. As a person capable of using [Miasma], Mark was like a fish released into the sea. Any radiation that would touch his body would be absorbed by his [Miasma]. Not only this caused Mark to be immune, but it was also increasing his strength slowly.


    And that was why Mark was outside, scouting the surroundings.


    As for why Mark was only doing the scouting three days after the event, they were busy organizing the base these past few days.


    While the base remained intact because of Chiyo and Luis Morgan, it still felt the earthquake. Many things like in the warehouse got toppled. Even in houses, utensils and pieces of furniture were disced.


    Luckily, the supplies stored in ss jars and bottles were not stored in the warehouse. Instead, those were all hidden inside Chiyo''s subdimension. That was why any fragile supplies they had were safe. Many of their canned goods got dents, though.


    <strong>ROAR!</strong>


    Suddenly, a [Mutated Animal] rushed roaring towards Mark.


    Mark already anticipated the attack as he already detected it beforehand.


    The animal brandished its ws towards Mark''s back ferociously.


    Mark turned his head over his shoulder. With a swift swing of the [Divider], one of his whip-des, the blood of the animal sttered. Its head fell off mid-air.


    Stepping back, Mark avoided the falling body of the animal and the stter of its blood.


    The body of the dead animal fell onto the rocky riverside. Mark took a look at it with a frown.


    It seemed to be a mutated household cat about the size of arge dog. However, its body was covered in disgusting boils, and it strongly smelled like pus.


    As Mark had thought, mutations because of the radiation had appeared.


    However, Mark was suspicious. With the amount of radiation in the surroundings, it should take more time for animals to mutate. The radiation was also dissipating as time went by. Mark did not think that it would be a crisis, especially in terms of food.


    Of course, radiated mutated animals would appear, but it was likely to be rare cases.


    Unless...


    The mutated animal made contact with the source of radiation.


    It was not surprising. The broken chunks of theary debris were scattered everywhere.


    The existence of this cat might indicate that there was a radiation source nearby.


    Mark deduced the direction that the mutated cat came from and started to fly downstream. It did not take long, and he found the location. There, a pointed chunk of space debris was half-buried in the soil.


    It was not hard to find. Even if the craters were filled by new soil because of the [Dimension Fusion], the traces of destruction that the debris caused could not be erased that easily. In this case, topped trees and the broken riverside rocks.


    Not to mention that Mark could feel the radiation getting stronger and stronger.


    The ckish grey chunk of melted metal was about the size of a small four-seater car. What Mark immediately noticed was the hollow interior of the debris. There was also the fallen part of it on the ground. This reminded Mark of scenes from video games where an alien lifeform forced its way out of its broken pod.


    However, it did not seem to be alive in this case. Mark could see a non-moving half-mechanical, half-organic body in front of the debris.


    Covering his body with [Miasma], Mark approached the space debris. He wanted to remove this thing from this mountain as it could spark dangerous effects from the surroundings. If left alone, it might affect his base in one way or another.<sub> </sub>


    First, Mark cautiously observed the dead creature on the ground.


    His eyes were filled with curiosity, in contradiction to the usual empty expression.


    Mark took out a piece of rebar from his ring. He had these kinds of things in his storage. In a zombie apocalypse, anything could happen. Who knows when he would need these things, like now.


    Using the rebar, Mark poked different parts of the creature''s body. He even turned the body around as it seemed to be facing upside down.


    Although far from human, the upper body of the creature was humanoid. It seemed to have four legs, but Mark could see that three were broken in this one. Half of its head and torso were crushed, which might be the cause of its death.


    The more Mark observed the creature, the more he felt curious.


    Its exterior body was organic. However, it did not seem to be natural. It was appeared to be synthetic.


    The skeleton, or rather, skeletal frame, was definitely made of a metal unknown to Earth. It also seemed to have blood vessels, although not made of tissue. Instead, it had something simr to clear silicon tubes apanied by wirings.


    Without a doubt, it was an alien robot. Even calling it an alien android might not be wrong either.


    In any case, it was an artificial lifeform.


    "This is a [Mechid], isn''t it."


    Mark surmised.


    As far as Mark knew, theary debris carried no lifeform aside from [Mechids], if they could be considered as one.


    <o>,m Mark wanted to study it further. However, its artificial flesh seemed to be rotting already. It was melting into ck pus-smelling liquid. He did not want to carry something like this, not to mention the risk it could bring to others.</o>


    "Maybe, I should build aboratory or workshop, far from the base just in case."


    Mark murmured, considering the circumstances.


    Taking his attention away from the dead [Mechid], Mark turned to the broken space debris. The radiation wasing from this thing instead of the dead [Mechid]. It was a relieving thing.


    As the cause of radiation was from the space debris, Mark cautiously poked and tapped it using the rebar in his hand.


    "It was all made of metal."


    Mark murmured.


    And then, with all his strength, Mark swung the rebar at the space debris with both hands.


    <strong>BAM!</strong>


    Mark''s hands felt numb as he let go of the rebar that was split in half.


    His swing was strong, but the space debris was too. The rebar did not even leave a mark on its surface and got split instead. The rest of the rebar bounced off and flew, spinning far into the distance.


    "Just what kind of metal is this?"


    Mark said with great interest. Even the metal matrixposites in the more advanced Eriellis were not this strong.


    Then, an idea entered Mark''s mind as he took out a [Blood Whip] on his hand.


    One property of his blood was to be able to turn into metal and vice versa. Nheless, the base of that metal was also iron. Turning back into blood means that it was melting the ironposite and other properties of the [Blood Metal].


    Mark tried it before, and his blood could melt anything that had the sameponent as his blood. Iron, for example. It was just until now, Mark had not found any use for this thing.


    If this space debris had iron in its makeup, Mark might be able to melt it. Of course, he would not dare absorb it in his body. He was not foolish.


    And as Mark thought, the metalposite of this space debris had iron. It was too little, though, as he could only leave a few marks on the surface.


    Nheless, it made Mark capable of dismantling this thing. It was rather slow, though. While his blood could melt [Blood Metal] fast, other metals were far different. It was even slower on this absurdly strong metal.


    Mark did not give up, however. Even if it took him days, he would dismantle this thing.


    Fortunately, Mark only had to spend the rest of the day and managed to find where the radiation was leaking from.


    It was in apartment inside the debris. It might have been easier to open it if not for the fact that thepartment was melted shut. It was very likely to be the result of it entering Earth''s atmosphere.


    Creating a pair of tongs with [Blood Metal], Mark carefully took out the radiation source.


    What Mark got was a ss capsule about the size and shape of an American football. Both ends had metal nodes, which made Mark think that it was some sort of battery.


    "Huh? This is not kryptonite, right?"


    Mark tilted his head, seeing the green glowing crystal inside the capsule. It was where the radiation wasing from.


    The ss capsule should be able to contain the radiation. However, the capsule already had arge hole and more cracks on it, causing the radiation to escape.


    "Even though I want to, I can''t bring this home."


    Mark thought.


    But all of a sudden, another thing caught Mark''s attention. It was not something or somewhere else. It was on his right wrist.


    The [PsyCrystal] was glowing.

 Chapter 762 Samples, [Mechid Crystal] And [Mechid Latcher]

    <strong>Day 160 - 5:32 PM - Riverside, Agos River, Base of Mount Mbito, General Nakar, Province of Quezon</strong>


    While Mark held the cracked capsule containing the radioactive green crystal, the [PsyCrystal] began to glow.


    Mark could not help but stare at the crystal embedded on his right wrist, trying toprehend what was going on.


    Of course, this was not the first instance that the [PsyCrystal] glowed.


    The first reurring time was when the [PsyCrystal] was creating a [Mental Crystal] yearly ever since Mark got it.


    The second time was when the [PsyCrystal] reacted to a pair of [Mutagen Stone] creating the first [Physical Crystal] that fell unto Mark''s possession.


    The third time was when there was a heavy concentration of paranormal energy in the surroundings that the [PsyCrystal] could absorb.


    This situation was the fourth and new instance that the [PsyCrystal] released this kind of glow.


    And this glow should indicate that the [PsyCrystal] wanted to absorb this radioactive crystal.


    At this point, Mark started to gather and put the pieces of the puzzle.


    [PsyPathogen] from Eriellis and [Mutagen] on Earth. The [PsyCrystal] reacted the same to both pathogens with the very same origination.


    And right now, the [PsyCrystal] was giving out the same reaction to this radioactive green crystal.


    Mark looked at the capsule and then to the dead body of the half-robot half-organic creature.


    "So... This is a concentration of the [Mechid Pathogen]?"


    Mark surmised.


    However, why was a concentration of the pathogen inside this battery-like capsule? It was also ced in apartment filled with wirings. Anyone that saw this could tell that it was some sort of power source.


    "No, that''s definitely it..."


    Mark murmured.


    As strange it might be, it was not that surprising.


    Weaponizing a virus or pathogen was not a new concept. Not to mention using these things as tools.


    Even in Eriellis, Freed and Keeper used the [Mental Crystals] as the power source to the things they called [PsyWeapons]. The [Crystal Converter] that Mark managed to recreate was one of such things.


    Here on Earth, the scientists were also trying to use [Mutagen Stones] for scientific purposes. For example, the [Regeneration Medicine] from the already destroyed Real Military Settlement.


    This capsule that Mark found might be created by the survivors in CS-11, trying to harness this crystal as a power source. And by the looks of it, they seeded.


    Mark stepped back, looking at the space debris in front of him.


    "This might be a broken part of a space pod or something."


    It was a reasonable assumption. There was no way that a smallpartment like this would be a power station of a big spaceship. It was even more impossible for it to be the artificial''s main power grid.


    Unfortunately, Mark could only assume. The hollow interior of the space debris in front of him was mangled to an unrecognizable degree. Even thepartment where the capsule was installed would be hard to find if Mark did not melt it off.


    While Mark was thinking, the glow that the [PsyCrystal] exuded blinked several times.


    "It''s getting impatient..." Mark sighed. "Alright. Here you go."


    Mark them shattered the capsule. The green crystal inside then flew towards the [PsyCrystal] and was absorbed into it.


    That scene made Mark even more sure that the green crystal might be a high concentration of the [Mechid Pathogen]. It was absorbed into the [PsyCrystal] without resistance, pretty much like a [Mutagen Stone].


    After absorbing the crystal, the light on the [PsyCrystal] waned and brightened at fixed intervals. Without a doubt, it was doing something to the green crystal.


    In any case, Mark could only shrug. As time went by, the [PsyCrystal] was getting more and moreplex. Even back in Eriellis, it was showing faint signs of sentience. It was rather strange since even Keeper, the person that created the [PsyCrystal] with her Psychic Ability, did not know why or how it happened. She just knew that it seemed to have a mind of its own, even capable of choosing its master.


    Well, it was not like it was the only time Mark saw a crystal that had sentience. Both the [Oracle] ability of the tribe''s elder and the [Stormcaller Crystal] from the King of Merpeople seemed capable of choosing their owners.


    In any case, the dead were already roaming the Earth. There were also the magical races. And now, the mechanical zombies appeared. It was not strange to see a magical ability choosing its owner.


    "It looks like it will take time."


    Mark said, watching the [PsyCrystal]. It gave out the same feeling when it absorbed the demon in Cebu several days ago.


    "I wonder if this thing had a crystal."


    Mark turned to the dead body. Nheless, he was also skeptical, even though he was the one that said it. The [PsyCrystal] did not react to the dead body, after all.


    At this point, Mark was already thinking of going home. It was almost dark already. It was enough scouting for today, considering he got a good find.


    However, Mark frowned as he suddenly turned his head to the side.


    It was a feeling as if someone or something was watching him. As someone with heightened senses, Mark knew that there was no mistaking it. However, he could not detect anything, well, anything alive.


    Mark was already thinking that it was an [Infected]. After all, Mark could not detect them unless they were highly mutated and started to form consciousness or if they were [Monarch Types].


    As Mark got ready to fight, a shadow rushed at him from behind.<sub> </sub>


    Mark immediately sidestepped, avoiding the four-legged creature that was asrge as an adult lion.


    After missing its target, the creature stopped a few meters away from Mark. It turned around, staring at Mark as if it was studying him.


    On the other side, Mark also managed to take a good look at his assant.


    And after seeing the creature, even Mark was supposed to be emotionless, he felt a genuine surprise as he frowned deeper.


    What stood in front of Mark was a giant dog. By what it looked like, it should be a mutatedbrador. What made Mark frown was the round metallic thingtched unto its head like a Headcrab. From that thing, several metal tubes extended, pierced on different parts of the dog''s body.


    There was no need to specte. Given its appearance, that metal thing should be controlling the dog, considering its behavior that was far different from normal. Besides, that dog was already dead. Mark could not feel any sign of consciousness from it. It did not seem to be an [Infected] either.


    For something like this to exist, it definitely had something to do with the [Mechids].


    Mark took out his sword-whips, getting ready to eliminate whatever creature this was in front of him.


    But then, the dog did an unexpected action.


    As Mark readied for the next attack, the dog turned tail and fled.


    "Tsk!"


    Mark clicked his tongue as he chased in pursuit. There was no way he would let this thing escape. It could be a dangerous thing. Furthermore, it definitely had the intelligence to deduce that Mark was not prey but a predator and fled without even fighting.


    Rushing at a fast speed, Mark immediately caught up and appeared beside the dog. Without hesitation, Mark swung his swords, intending to behead it.


    However, the dog jumped sidewards, avoiding Mark''s sh. Then, it fled in a different direction.


    It was surprising. However, Mark also felt something familiar as he chased after the dog.


    Along with that feeling, a scene from his memories ovepped with the current situation.


    The dog, being capable of dodging, was one thing. However, the pattern in fled made Mark remember some things.


    It felt like Mark was chasing after an animal inside a game with a preprogrammed [Escape AI].


    The dog was not fleeing from Mark because it detected that he was strong. Instead, it was escaping because its preemptive attack was dodged by Mark.


    Furthermore, every time that Mark caught unto it, it would not continue running in one direction. Instead, it would turn in the direction that Mark was facing and continue to flee. It happened several times. If Mark positioned himself to the dog''s right, it would turn left and vice versa.


    "Strange..."


    Mark murmured as his aim shifted to the dog''s legs instead of its neck.


    As he murmured those words, Mark turned into a surge of ck mist that blended into the shadows of the forest.


    The dog stopped, as it was unable to see Mark anymore. It looked around in a steady pattern, panning its head from left to right. Rather than looking, it felt more like it was scanning the surroundings.


    Unfortunately, the moment it stopped, its fate was sealed in the stone.


    PSSK!


    The dog lost its bnce as its four legs were bisected horizontally.


    It seemed to be confused as it tried to kick its legs. The next thing the dog knew was Mark standing behind its helpless body.


    Mark, on the other hand, could only frown.


    Instead of blood, a ck, rotten liquid that smelled like pus was flowing out of the bisected legs of the dog. It was the very same substance that was on the dead body of the [Mechid] earlier.


    But then, knowing that its host was already useless, the metallic thingtched on the dog''s head detached, pulling its tubes off from the dog''s body.


    Using the tubes as limbs, it tried to run away from Mark.


    Unfortunately, it could not, as all it saw was a wall of ck mist surrounding it. Unable to find a path out or even analyze the wall of ck mist, the metallic thing circled around like a glitched NPC.


    Mark watched that scene, tilting his head. Whatever this thing was, it must be some robot with AI. Because of its safety program kicking in, it was not trying to rush through the wall of [Miasma], which was perceived to be dangerous.


    Seeing that the metal thing could not go anywhere, Mark turned to the body of the dog. He then shook his head. The entire area of the dog''s head, from its eyes to the back of its ears, was missing. It was the part where the metallic thing wastched unto. And right now, it was oozing with the very same ck liquid, along with the holes left by the tubes attached to its body.


    "I should bring it back to study."


    Mark was determined to study this metal thing he caught. It could be a source of valuable information about [Mechids]. It was one of the things they needed in order to not fight a war they knew nothing about.


    And thus, Mark took out a box made of [Blood Metal] from his ring. There were already two times that he encountered things that he wanted to bring home. One was the [Parasite Queen] that attacked Real Military Settlement in the past. The other was the [Spider Queen] that wastched on Snow''s head in Antic City. As such, it was reasonable that Mark prepared something like this in case there was a third time.


    Of course, the third time was already here.


    Carefully immobilizing the metal thing, he sealed it into the box to bring home with him.


    Mark also went back to the crash site of the space debris to take a few chunks of metal. He also took the dead [Mechid] as a sample for experimentation. Of course, Mark would not experiment inside the base. Maybe, he would build a hut outside to avoid idents tomorrow.


    And here, Mark''s first day outside the barrier after the catastrophe ended. It was already dark when he got home. He immediately organized his finding so that it would be ready for everyone to know by tomorrow morning.


    Information exchange and distribution were crucial at this time. It was better if everyone in the base knew about what was happening outside for their own safety.

 Chapter 793 A Discussion In The Observatory, The Supposed Future Prevented By Marks Intervention

    <strong>Day 197 - ¨ƒ¨ƒ:¨ƒ¨ƒ ¨ƒ¨ƒ - ¨ƒ¨ƒ¨ƒ¨ƒ¨ƒ¨ƒ¨ƒ¨ƒ¨ƒ¨ƒ¨ƒ¨ƒ¨ƒ¨ƒ¨ƒ¨ƒ¨ƒ¨ƒ¨ƒ¨ƒ¨ƒ</strong>


    Inside the white space that oversees the entire Earth, the hooded figure of the Observer stood, watching the dying before her eyes. Currently, it was only her, and the Eye, Neenth, was present in this lonely space.


    An Observer''s duty was to preserve the world it was tasked to guard until the day it was supposed to end arrived. Depending on the circumstances, whether they did poorly or due to some outside intervention, they could be reced. However, the very same duty applied to the next Observer to take the position.


    That cycle could repeat over and over until the world they had to preserve ceased to exist.


    Preserving the world did not only mean that the Observer should make the worldst as long as possible. It also included managing things happening inside it. A good example was when the poption of a species reached more than the world could tolerate in its current state. When a time like that came, the Observer could cull their numbers.


    Another circumstance that an Observer could act on the was once it reached the end of an era. Like during the end of the Mesozoic Era, where the Observer of that time created a catastrophic event to kill the poption of the current species to allow a new one to rise.


    There were very few instances that an Observer could directly interfere with the they were guarding.


    If such instances were not present, all the Observer could do was watch. Or, at least, allow their apostles to guide the current civilization in the shadows.


    That was why the current Observer of Earth was frustrated as she watched the she was guarding die slowly. She could not interfere directly.


    It could be considered that Earth entered a new era. At this time, the Observer had one chance to interfere and set the world on a new path. And the Observer of Earth already used up that once chance.


    During the [Fusion of Dimension], the Observer used her authority and the powers of the Eyes to protect the remaining humans as much as they were allowed to. That was the one and only chance she could interfere in the current era. And now, she could only watch in frustration at how poorly humans handled the current situation.


    All of a sudden, a surge of ck smoke appeared in this white, empty space. The ck smoke began to form a humanoid figure with barely any distinguishable features. The only things that could be discerned were its glowing eyes and the aura of death that lingered on this being.


    Despite the sudden appearance of this being, both the Observer and Neenth did not seem perturbed. Instead, Neenth stepped back respectfully, making way for the eerie individual.


    "You seem to be extremely bothered, Observer."


    The eerie being spoke. Its voice was ghostly and gruff, and even though it did not sound androgynous, it was still hard to discern whether it was a male or a female.


    "You are already aware of the circumstances, Guide."


    The Observer finally turned around, facing their uninvited visitor.


    "Yes, I am aware." Guide replied. "You are not the only one. Other Observers are facing the same difficulties as you. Some were already dismissed from their duties after the worlds they observed ceased to exist prematurely. But even with that, there are rules."


    "What are you trying to imply?"


    The Observer asked, definitely confused.


    "The cycle of souls. Even if you are this world''s Observer, it is something that you should not tantly interfere with."


    The Guide iterated.


    And to that, the Observer and even Neenth became even more confused.


    The only time the Observer directly interfered with Earth in this era was during the fusion of dimensions. And thus, the Observer could not understand what the Guide was talking about.


    Sensing the confusion of the two, even the Guide became slowly engulfed in confusion.


    At this time, the Observer finally spoke.


    "We believe our recent interference, using our privilege, had been recorded in the Akashic Records. We believe that it is within the duties of you Guides to cope with. Or are you trying to find faults with our current actions?"


    "That is not what I am here for." The Guide exined. "In the following days on Earth, a few thousand dead souls are supposed to pass on. All of them had the end of their lives tied to one enormous event. As such, it was easy for me to notice."


    For a few thousand people to suddenly die because of one event, it sure was hard to pass. Even the Observer would notice such an event once it began.


    However, for the Guide toin about it...


    "Their fates changed all of a sudden." The Guide continued. "This is not something that could just happen. I believe you know that, Observer."


    For the fates of that many people to change all of a sudden, it should be something that only godly beings could influence. The Observer and the Eyes, for example. Even deities were still within the scope of the Akashic Records. All the foreign gods had been chased off the surface of the Earth. Only the Observer and her apostles should remain to have such capabilities. As such, the Guide came here toin about the unusual circumstances.


    That exnation, however, made the Observer and Neenth realize something.


    "Neenth."


    The Observer voiced out, and Neenth nodded in understanding.


    Neenth opened her book that contained the information of all things on Earth, or at least, most of it. Neenth flipped the pages of her book. Unfortunately, since the pair of people in their mind was beyond their watch, Neenth could only search for the circumstances of people around them.


    And, without a doubt, Neenth found it in no time. She even managed to perceive the supposed future and the changed one.


    Blood Demon Kin na Garces, Mutator Karlene Bautista, and the Halfbreed Tribe Leader Artenaris. The cause was exposure to sr highly radiated energy influenced by the mechanical, infectious agent, [Mechid Pathogen].


    The three survived a deadly explosion of the unreleased energy of a [Mechid], receiving minor burns and injuries. A few dayster, Karlene Bautista would fall sick, followed by na Garces after a week. In three weeks, the Halfbreed Artenaris would show the same symptoms.


    The three showed symptoms of radiation poisoning at first. Unknown to everyone, their bodies were releasing high amounts of radiation that would affect every individual that had contact with them. By the time the radiation emission from their bodies was detected, a third of the settlement''s poption was already showing the same symptoms with the rest of the settlement being affected.


    It was not a simple radiation poisoning. Medical practices humans knew were not applicable. In a month and a half, the entire New Infanta Settlement would be devoid of life. With the three survivors of the [Mechid] explosion as the root, all living creatures, human or not, in the New Infanta Settlement would perish in an extremely slow and agonizing death.<sub> </sub>


    The symptoms of the illness began simr to radiation poisoning. As it developed further, their bodies would slowly liquify. They would liquify beginning from their flesh slowly and painfully to the rest of their bodies. In the end, their organs would turn into ck puss, which would also be the cause of death. Even after their death, the process would continue until only the bones, which did not liquify, to be the only remains.


    As Neenth iterated the supposed future, the Guide nodded as it was the same future that he knew.


    "What caused that illness to appear?" The Observer could not help but voice out. "Any harmful pathogens on Earth should have gone extinct due to [Mutagen]''s presence."


    At this time, Neenth flipped the page of her book, seemingly looking for the answer to her Master''s question. However, she was not really expecting anything. If it was something undiscovered so far and in the near future, her book would not be able to find the answer.


    But then, Neenth was surprised.


    "It was caused by a violent reaction of [Mutagen] to the high radiation energy influenced by [Mechid Pathogen]." Neenth read out loud. "A simr circumstance happened in Japan when a medium-sized Miltiary Settlement was attacked by a [Mechid] just a few days after the fusion of dimensions. Fortunately, they had a [Mutator] that managed to identify the anomaly right after it happened. They only had a loss of three people."


    Neenth then faced the Observer.


    "I''m sorry if this even passed our eyes."


    At the apology, the Observer shook her head.


    "It is not something that needed an apology. Although it is our duty, we can''t pay attention to everything at once. Especially now."


    Then, the Observer let out a sigh.


    "The change of the future, is it Mark and Mei?"


    "It is Mark." Neenth nodded. "It seemed that he managed to foretell the ill fate of his people and prevented it."


    As Neenth said those words, the Observer turned to the Guide.


    "That is the answer you had been looking for."


    The Observer said to the Guide.


    "What do you mean? And who are those individuals you mentioned?"


    The Guide was confused. Who were those two and how was it possible that they influenced the change of fate on arge scale.


    "They could be Earth''s hope in this predicament." The Observer said with an anticipating tone. "Fortunately, two candidates for Godhood were born in this era."


    "God Candidates, you say?" Surely, the Guide was shocked. "Howe that I had only heard of this just now?"


    "We had our reasons." The Observer replied. "You should know that even other Observers do not just blindly dere a candidate born in the world they were observing."


    Those words made the Guide nod. Considering that the change of fate was caused by God Candidates, the Guide knew thatints were futile.


    "It seems that we have to cope with this situation once more." The Guide murmured before turning to the Observer. "Since it involved God Candidates, I''ll keep my lips sealed. I will be going now."


    Without even waiting for a reply, the smoky apparition of the Guide vanished.


    The Observer did not say anything and just stared at the empty space where the Guide stood just now. However, Neenth did not want to stay silent.


    "The Guide just left without apologizing for the usation that it made to you, Master."


    "Just let it be." The Observer said as she returned to observing Earth. "The Guides all across the universe are also upied. It is not only Earth that is undergoing such dire circumstances. Unlike us who only need to watch and influence the civilization in the shadows, the Guides needed to ferry the souls of the dead themselves."


    Hearing the consideration of her Master towards the other entities managing the universe, Neenth fell silent. Nheless, she was still annoyed by the Guide''s disrespect to her Master.


    In any case, the Guides were truly busy, even busier than the Observers.


    The Guides were also godly entitiesparable to the Observers. However, their dutiesy among the dead and not the living. The Guides did not have physical bodies and had no concrete appearance. People see them differently and they go with different names in different cultures.


    With Earth in its current state, the Guides of Earth were also busy with their tasks. However, they were also diligent that they did not want to pass such a fate-changing event, preventing the destined deaths of a huge amount of people, without exnation.


    But as it seemed, things spiraled outside of their jurisdiction, leaving the Guide to have no choice but leave and continue with its work.


    ''Unfortunately for the Guide, this would not be thest time.''


    Neenth thought.


    Unlike figures of faith that gave birth to different religions of the past, Mark and Mei were not devoted to being a figure of worship. They would not stop in one ce to strengthen the people''s religious faith in them and would roam adventurously.


    The life of a God Candidate was not easy. While they were outside the influence of fate, the world itself would give them countless tests until they reach the level where they were above the world.


    With Mark''s personality, it was very likely for many of those tests to turn into a bloodbath instead.


    ''The Guide should be prepared for many untimely deaths they had to ferry in the future.''


    Neenth chuckled inside her mind.

 Chapter 764 Around The Base, Checking The Supplies And Another Problem

    <strong>Day 161 - 1:22 PM - Warehouse, Mountain Base, Mount Mbito, General Nakar, Quezon</strong>


    After lunch, Mark made his way to various areas of the base.


    While Mark left most of the management in the base to Odelina and Huey, he was still the leader. He had responsibilities that he should, at least, fulfill now and then.


    It was definitely, one of the reasons why Mark did not n to be a leader from the start. However, to survive in this apocalypse and remain self-sufficient, being alone, and even leading a small group, would not suffice. Even if he knew many things that he could use to survive, there was no denying that hecked the expertise.


    And thus, it led to him not only being a leader of a group but a whole settlement.


    The good thing was that he was able to choose who could join and who could not. He was not running a charity. And it was not a ce for people to cause trouble in. Only those he deemed capable, worthy, and could be of use could live in this ce.


    And as such, Mark managed to create a thrivingmunity in the apocalypse.


    "Boss!"


    "Boss, good afternoon."


    Greetings came towards Mark from everyone he passed by. Respect, gratefulness, and even fear could be felt from them.


    Respect for he had power. Gratefulness for letting them live in this safe ce. And fear for Mark since a single word from him could banish them away. There was no need to mention that almost everyone here in the base knew how ruthless Mark could be to his enemies.


    Mark entered the warehouse. This time, he was going to check the supplies everyone gathered.


    The moment he entered, Mark saw the busy people organizing everything. The one in the lead was Darren Bryce Salvador, the head of the Salvador Family. One of the three leading families in the already destroyed East Port Settlement in Infanta.


    Being a businessman back before the apocalypse, organizing the supplies, recording the inventory, and overseeing the process was a responsibility tasked to Darren. His helpers were no other than his two sons. As for his daughter, Annica, she was on another task more suitable for her abilities.


    "Mark."


    Darren greeted Mark with a smile. His authority here was not as highpared to when he was in East Port Settlement. However, it was far more peaceful here that he seemed to have gained weight, despite eating the same food as everyone.


    "How is it?"


    Mark asked, looking at the stacks of boxes in this not-sorge warehouse.


    Darren looked towards the stacks of boxes of supplies and replied.


    "If we continue our current consumption, this amount of food we had in the warehouse willst for another six months. Less if we had water issues, but that''s not existent in this ce so far."


    "That''s only the food and water here, right?"


    Mark asked.


    "Yes. We still have two of the more batches inside the Spirit Tree. All-in-all, we canst for a year and a half without needing to rely upon outside sources. We would likely have more if we were not forced to leave supplies behind in Pennsylvania."


    Darren replied, showing regret for the supplies they all painstakingly collected but had to leave behind.


    Mark already heard about it. They gathered supplies in Reading, Pennsylvania, and were in the middle of moving the rest back to base. It was when they saw the UFOs leaving Earth in mass that Odelina made an immediate decision.


    It was a good call, actually. Things had already gotten out of hand there, even with just the [Infected] behaving oddly. The supplies left behind might be a pity, but their lives were far more valuable.


    Panning his eyes towards the surroundings, Mark noticed datebels on some of the boxes and could not help but ask.


    "The supplies don''t have issues with expiration dates, right?"


    "Fortunately, no." Darren shook his head slightly. "We did some initial inventory back in the warehouse in Pennsylvania. We managed to prioritize the items with longer expiry dates over those that willst shorter. That is why there is no point in going back for the supplies we left there. Most of them might have expired before we can retrieve them."


    Mark nodded in satisfaction. It was good that Darren and Odelina led the management of supplies while he was gone. Darren was an owner of a Coconut ntation, while Odelina''s husband owned a Car Dealership Business. Both of them had experience in the field, making their work more than just being efficient.


    While talking with Darren for a few more details, they made their rounds inside the warehouse.


    It was when Mark''s eyes fell on a group of young women who were making nces at him. When they saw that Mark noticed them, they nervously scurried away.


    "What is wrong with them? They''re the new ones, right?"


    Mark frowned.


    Being called the new ones, those women belonged to the small group of survivors from Pennsylvania. They managed to pass Odelina''s few trials and were deemed worthy enough to take into the base. Of course, being brought back by Odelina and not Mark, they had a different view of himpared to the others.


    At Mark''s question, Darren made a stifledugh.


    "Don''t frown about things you started."


    Darren replied.


    "I started?"


    Mark was confused.


    "Remember what you said the moment you returned here? The answer you gave the Green-haired girl? Although most people here don''t know what a harem is, they understand that you will not take any other woman as a mistress even in thiswless world. Moral standards are very low in these times. Many women here won''t hesitate to answer yes if you want them as a mistress."


    "Me? With this looks?" Mark pointed at his face. "You got to be joking. Besides, I already said that I will only have Mei''er in my entire life."


    "That''s the point." Darrenughed. "Many women, especially the young ones, found your answer too dreamy for the situation the world is in. Even more, since you boldly stated it in front of everyone. Now, you''re the content of small talks of women in the base. Even my wife is talking about it. Saying that I should follow your steps."


    "So, you yed with women before even though you already have a wife."


    Mark stated with a nk look.


    "Ahem..." Darren awkwardlyughed. "That''s a thing of the past. I just got swayed by someone who wanted to take advantage of my money. Anyway, what about your looks? It''s not bad at all."


    "I know my face." Mark shrugged. "You don''t have to try hard andpliment me."


    At that reply, Darren shook his head.


    "Compared to your high confidence in your strength, your self-esteem about your appearance is just as low, huh. Tsk."


    Mark did not reply to that and continued going their rounds around the warehouse.


    Amidst checking the supplies, Mark turned his head to the door. He was sure that someone came for him.<sub> </sub>


    "Something might have happened."


    Mark told Darren and made his way towards the door of the warehouse. Thetter also followed in concern.


    There, what was waiting for Mark was not a human.


    It was a Dryad. One of the ves that Mark chose in the stone fortress.


    "Master," The Dryad greeted. "There''s a situation in the north side. The Tikbngs were calling for you."


    The arrogant Dryad at the start was now showing Mark respect. The situation now and when they first met was different. She already saw Mark''s strength, and Spirit Races highly respect the strong.


    "I''ll leave this ce to you."


    Mark told Darren.


    "Don''t worry. Just go."


    Darren nodded with a smile.


    "Let''s go."


    Mark told the Dryad, and they made their way towards the north side of the base.


    The north side was the area facing towards the peak of Mount Mbito. Thus, it was not unusual that [Evolved Animals] would attack from this direction. However, with the Tikbngs creating illusions with the help of the Dryad, those attacks were not a huge threat at all.


    For the Tikbngs to call for Mark, something odd might have happened.


    "Master."


    The Tikbngs in charge of the [Illusion Magic] on the north side greeted Mark. They were standing at the border of the barrier. The illusion magic of the Tikbngs needed to be used on forests to take full effect. The forest was outside Mark''s base, and thus, the illusion was outside the barrier.


    However, the actual problem was, now, knocking on the barrier, watching everyone inside in full aggressiveness.


    It was a creature with a half-metal, half-organic body.


    Yes, it was an actual [Mechid].


    It was the first for everyone to see one, especially something that was moving.


    Mark was sure that it was a [Mechid], as he already saw a dead one before. However, it had slight differences. This one had a high-tech ss-like sword on its right hand while it had a mantis-like w on the other. Using both weapons, it was banging on the barrier, staring at the Tikbngs with its glowing reticle-like eyes.


    Of course, it could not enter the barrier. The barrier was made by the Eyes to stop any extraterrestrial danger. The radiation from the space debris and the [Mechids] to be exact.


    But then, the issue here was apparent. The [Mechid] in front of them passed through the [Illusion Magic] without any problem. Then, it came knocking on the barrier after seeing everyone inside.


    "We should have expected something like this."


    Mark rubbed his temple at the new problem.


    The [Illusion Magic] of the Tikbngs work by using the forest as a maze and hindering the victims'' sense of direction, making them feel lost and walk in circles. It was not news that [Illusion Magic] was something that fiddled with the victim''s minds.


    However, the minds of [Mechids], a robotic being, work differently from humans, animals, and even the [Infected].


    The minds, the brain of the [Mechids] were programmed Artificial Intelligence, highjacked by the [Mechid Pathogen]. Thus, the [Illusion Magic] that was supposed to affect a person''s mind had no effect on them.


    To think that the first problem that Mark''s base would have from the [Mechids] was them bypassing the first line of defense without effort at all.


    "There''s only one?"


    Mark asked the Tikbngs.


    "Yes." They nodded. "There is only one so far."


    Yes, so far. It meant that there might be more in the future.


    "What a headache."


    Mark sighed.


    Luckily, this [Mechid] seemed to be a physical fighter. It would not be strange if some [Mechids] began firing offsers or methrowers, but it was just a sword and a scythe this time.


    In any case, this gave Mark the opportunity to actually capture a living [Mechid]. Of course, Mark would make sure that it was not carrying anything radioactive if he was going to bring this in.


    How though? Extraterrestrial dangers were not allowed to pass through the barrier.


    Well, Mark found a loophole for that. In the first ce, he would not be able to bring the [Mechid Latcher] back to the base if he did not find this loophole.


    Mark stretched his hand towards the [Mechid]. A surge of [Miasma] shot wards the robotic creature. It made the Tikbngs and Dryad step back in fear. They were magical creatures and more susceptible to Miasma. It was a natural fear that was hard to ovee.


    The [Miasma] covered the [Mechid] without damaging it. Surely, a contact with [Miasma] would cause an organic thing to rot. But of course, that was if Mark did not control it.


    This time, Mark was using Miasma to absorb any radiation from the [Mechid]''s body before bringing it inside. The [Mechid] iled around, taking the [Miasma] as an unknown danger in its receptors.


    However, how could it hit a raw form of energy? It did not take long, and the [Miasma] covered the entirety of the [Mechid].


    Of course, even with the [Miasma], it was impossible to just pull it in. Mark''s [Miasma] was not considered extraterrestrial, and it could pass back and forth the barrier without damaging it. Thus, it could not make a hole in the barrier to pull the [Mechid] inside. In the first ce, it was dangerous to make a hole in the barrier. That kind of thing was just asking for death.


    And thus, Mark made his move and jumped out of the barrier. The [Mechid] was unable to see him because of the [Miasma] and continued to il randomly.


    Mark, taking the opportunity to sneak behind the [Mechid], Mark touched it.


    To be specific, Mark made his [Spatial Ring] touch it.


    There, the [Mechid] was sucked into the hole that opened in front of it.


    One rule about the [Spatial Ring] was that living creatures with consciousness could not be put inside. While it was impossible for Mark to put the [Infected] inside since even [Eaters] was considered as a "living" being, it was different for [Mechids].


    There were just robots hacked by the [Mechid Pathogen] after all.

 Chapter 765 The Next Rounds Around The Base, Imprisoning The [Mechid] And A Favor From The Major

    <strong>Day 161 - 2:21 PM - Barrier North Side, Mountain Base, Mount Mbito, General Nakar, Province of Quezon</strong>


    Storing the [Mechid] inside his ring, Mark observed the scene outside the barrier. The newly appearing forest looked as normal as possible. Not just any person would notice how strong illusion magic enveloped it. It served as the base''s first line of defense and something that protected it from direct confrontations against the [Infected] and [Feral Evolved Animals].


    During the attack of [Auraboros''] China Branch, this [Illusion Magic] had been proven to be extremely useful. Half of the enemies'' ns did not work because the [Infected] they controlled ended up getting stuck within the illusion.


    The current issue was quite unexpected.


    With the Tikbngs'' [Illusion Magic] ineffective towards the [Mechids], they better start nning to strengthen the defenses of the base.


    "Who noticed the [Mechid]?"


    Mark asked.


    And in answer to Mark''s question, the oldest of the Tikbngs raised his hand. He was in charge of the [Illusion Magic] at the north side of the base.


    "I sensed something moving inside the area covered with my magic. Victims of our [Illusion Magic] would end up moving unorderly and in different directions. Something moving in a straight line will immediately get our attention. I gathered everyone to take a look first, but we did not expect that it saw us through the [Illusion Magic], and it started attacking the barrier."


    So, the [Mechid] saw them first before it began to attack.


    The [Mechids] were still unknown beings to anyone on Earth. Who knows if they had the same tendency as the [Infected] to gather around ces inhabited by survivors. Was this [Mechid] drawn to the base, or was it just a coincidence.


    "Haah..."


    Mark sighed with a frown. They needed to study these things as much as possible, especially their behavioral patterns.


    "You all go back. Next time any of you sense something odd within the forest, try to check it stealthily. Don''t let any of them see any of you. If it is a [Mechid], immediately call us."


    Mark ordered the Tikbngs and the Dryad, and they all responded with a respectful yes before returning to their posts.


    The only one left with Mark was the Dryad.


    "You haven''t imed the forest around the base yet?"


    Mark asked the Dryad.


    Dryads were Spirits of the Forest. They could im an ownerless forest and be its guardian. Previously, the Dryad already imed the forest around the base. Unfortunately, that forest got ground into dust because of The Great One''s unique powers. Thus, she needed to start anew, iming this new forest that sprouted because of the fusion of dimensions.


    It was kind of surprising that a forest appeared. The other side of Mount Mbito in the Spirit Dimension was a barrennd because of the [Mutated Berberoka] in the former kingdom of Sylphs.


    However, here they were. New trees out of nowhere.


    Mark wanted to know what happened here, but the only ones that could fill in the answers were the Eyes. And after the fusion of dimensions, Mark had not seen any of them.


    As for Mark''s question, the Dryad answered.


    "These trees aren''t normal at all. If Master looked closely, while these trees looked normal, they are not the same trees that grow here. Furthermore, these trees contain magical energy. Even at the same level with the garden where I got caught."


    "Really?" Mark turned to the forest in curiosity. "I didn''t really notice. They all looked like the same trees at one nce. I didn''t feel the magical energy you are saying either."


    "Well, these trees looked normal outside, but their roots and core had magical energy. It makes me feel like they all grew because of magic. It will be hard to see unless it''s a Dryad or another kind of Forest Spirit."


    "Then, how long do you need to secure the new forest around the base?"


    Mark asked.


    "Sorry, Master." The Dryad lowered her head. "It is really hard to say. I don''t want to give a duration I''m not sure I can fulfill. The vile energy in the air is also hindering me further."


    Mark shrugged. He was not forcing her to hurry. As long as it could be done, it was good enough. He just wanted to know when she couldplete it so Mark could employ another security measure in the meantime.


    Once the Dryad finally secured the forest around the base, there would be no need for the Tikbngs to check any anomaly they sensed within their [Illusion Magic]. The Dryad could do it without even actually going out. Furthermore, she could also see things outside the influence of the [Illusion Magic].


    The Dryad''s abilities were the thing they needed the most this time.


    "Alright. Don''t force yourself but do it as fast as possible."


    Mark gave his order, receiving another confirmation.


    ***


    Mark returned to the basement for the second time today. It made the three people inside quite surprised. In the past days, Mark was really busy managing and checking things in the base. He was also going out every other day to check the surroundings outside the barrier. It was quite unusual to see Mark two times going inside the basement.


    When they saw Mark carrying the [Blood Children] with him and making another secured cell inside the basement, the two scientists immediately knew what was going on.


    Even without leaving the base, Mark found another specimen of some sort.


    The two were not wrong as they saw a half-mechanical, half-organic creature inside the cellter on. It kept attacking the cell with its de and w. However, the sturdy ss-like metal only received a few scratches.


    "This is an actual [Mechid]?"


    Ernst asked, staring at the odd creature.


    "Can it be anything else aside from a [Mechid]?"


    Chervil answered sarcastically since the answer to that question was too obvious to ask.


    Ernst did not mind the sarcastic remark and was more interested in the [Mechid] inside the cell.


    "Want to study it?"


    Mark asked Ernst since he looked interested.


    "I want to. but I rather not." Unexpectedly, Ernst declined. "I''m a Biologist. Although these things might have organic parts, they are still robots. That belongs to the Roboticists. I would rather not go out of my field even with my curiosity unless I cause something irreversible due tock of knowledge."


    "It''s the same for me."


    Chervil agreed with a nod.


    Mark could only shrug at their answers. It was reasonable and preferable, though.


    Ernst was a Biologist, while Chervil was a Botanist. Their expertisey in apletely different field. Studying organic creatures was very different from studying artificial ones.<sub> </sub>


    "At most, we can record its behaviors while we are here."


    Ernst gave a suggestion.


    "That''s more than enough." Mark agreed. "We should at least study their behaviors since do not know how their AIs were programmed to behave, even more since they are infected too."


    The two nodded at Mark''s words. They might not be able to conduct a deep study about it but observing it from the other side of the cage was more than needed.


    With that, Mark did another check of the cage before leaving the basement. He did not want to let that [Mechid] out identally at all cost, or it could spell trouble.


    Leaving the basement, Mark called for Huey. Another meeting would be unnecessary. He just told Huey to ry a message to everyone. It was to not wander near the barriers since the [Mechids] are starting to appear.


    ***


    <strong>Day 161 - 5:22 PM - Mountain Base, Mount Mbito, General Nakar, Province of Quezon</strong>


    At Mark''sst round of checking for today, he met Major Bautista. He was walking home with Karlene and Ka.


    Considering that Ka was the consciousness that was born from Karlene''s forced mutation, it was not wrong to say that Major Bautista got another daughter.


    "Mark!"


    Of course, Ka charged towards Mark, giving him a hug around his waist. Ka''s mind was not too different from an infant, even if she had the learning capability of a five-year-old child. Seeing Abbygale and Miracle asking for hugs from Mark, she just went and copied it.


    Nheless, Ka could only speak a few words for now, although the first name she perfectly remembered aside from hers was Mark''s.


    Mark patted the violet-haired girl and turned to Karlene and Major Bautista.


    "Going home from training?"


    Mark asked.


    "Yeah, it just ended," Karleneined, having less energy than usual. "My legs hurt..."


    Almost everyone in the base was justmon people before the outbreak. And thus, Edward, the retired soldier due to injury, was tasked to train those people who wanted to learn. Now, with both Geronimo and Padua added to the fray, Edward got two assistants. Even Major Bautista joined in since there was nothing for him to do in his stay here.


    Hearing thatint, Mark could not help but turn to Major Bautista, inquiring what happened. It was usual to see the trainees getting tired, but Karlene was a [Mutator]. It was unexpected.


    "Edward made her squat for two hours."


    Major Bautista shrugged with a helpless but also funny smile.


    "Ugh..." Karlene groaned. "Don''t make me remember. You also didn''t help me."


    "I can''t do anything about that." Major Bautista ruffled the hair of his daughter. "You volunteered to join the training yourself, but you''re not paying attention and even started horsing around."


    Mark shook his head, learning what happened. It was not surprising, considering the childish train that Karlene had. She just joined the training on a whim and ended up suffering.


    Major Bautista then turned to Mark.


    p "Actually, it''s good that we met here. It''s hard to talk to you while you are running around busily. I want to ask you about something."</anda>


    "It''s about New Infanta Settlement, right?"


    Mark asked first, knowing what the Major might want to talk about.


    "Is it obvious?"


    Major Bautista asked back with a bitter smile.


    "There''s really nothing you might want to ask me aside from two things." Mark raised his right index and middle fingers. "One is New Infanta Settlement. The other is about Ka."


    So far, Major Bautista only knew that Karlene was already cured of the uncontroble outbursts she had after bing a [Mutator]. And the cure was the new consciousness being removed from her and bing the violet-haired girl they have now. Of course, the process and everything else about how that happened were kept a secret.


    And since Major Bautista did not seem too interested in the process and was only d that Karlene was cured, only the other thing was what he might want to talk about.


    "You want me to check?"


    Mark asked.


    "Actually, I want to return even for a brief moment." Major Bautista sincerely spoke. "I want to stay here safe with my daughters, but I also have my subordinates and friends there. I want to meet them and see how the settlement is doing right now."


    If it was somebody else, it would be an absurd request. The distance between the Mountain Base and the New Infanta Settlement had more or less doubled. Furthermore, with the amount of radiation outside the barrier, regr humans would copse before they even get to the foot of the mountain.


    However, Major Bautista knew that Mark and his people had means that were far away from the norm. Thus, it was not surprising for him to ask such a request.


    "Hmmm..." Mark tapped his chin. "Actually, I''m also curious about their state right now. Can you wait for another day? I still have things to do here, so let''s go together the next day after tomorrow."


    "Good."


    Major Bautista nodded, d that Mark agreed to his request.


    "We''re also going, right?"


    Karlene suddenly interjected. Even Ka was raising her hand.


    "Go! Me!"


    The violet-haired girl yelled childishly.


    "I guess there shouldn''t be any problems."


    Mark agreed, to the two girl''s delight.


    "I guess I''ll check how we will go there first, though."


    Mark remarked while considering their method for travel.

 Chapter 766 Before The Next Journey, A Problem With Speras [Warp Portal]

    <strong>Day 162 - 1:21 PM - Kitchen, Cliff House, Mountain Base, General Nakar, Province of Quezon</strong>


    The next day, Mark used the morning and did another survey outside the barrier. As for the afternoon, he nned to do a few more checks around the base about what else they needed to do and the state of new structures they were currently building. Then, he would prepare since he was going to New Infanta Settlement with Major Bautista, Karlene, and Ka.


    This time, he was only going with a few people. Radiation was still a problem outside, and it would be hard to protect too many people from it at the same time.


    At this moment, Mark sat in front of the dining table, spending time with everyone as they had just finished lunch.


    Since managing the base and thinking about improvements was far too stressful, it was a good time for Mark to rx with his daughters and Odelina''s children, ying a multiyer game on their phones. Although, unlike the previous times, another two extras were ying together with them. Of course, it was Emika and Mikio, burrowing phones from Mark to join in.


    Amihan was also around, sitting on Miracle''s shoulder, watching her y.


    Elise was also present. It had been this way since they returned.


    It was pretty noisy, but it was rxing and fun. Mark preferred this kind of environment instead of going around talking to people and checking for problems.


    At this time, Spera passed by, taking the empty dishes off the dining table.


    "Spera, wait for a second."


    Mark put down his phone and called for her.


    "What is it? Need something?"


    Spera asked, confused. Both she and Mark were awkward people in terms of talking. Even if she was now living in his house, helping with chores, and now being one of Odelina''s apprentices, they barely talk about personal things. Most of the time that Mark would talk to her was when he needed her to do something. In the least, he was not ordering her like a servant. It was more like a younger sister like Mei wanted. Of course, she was not too childish to seek attention from Mark, unlike someone.


    "Have you tried opening a portal in the past few days?"


    Mark asked.


    Spera paused, thinking when was thest time.


    "Thest time is when we returned from Pennsylvania. I haven''t really tried opening another one since there is no need to."


    Mark shrugged. He should have told her to constantly practice since this ce was not the Auraboros anymore. Back there, she always had to conserve her powers since it was the only thing she had and was needed there from her.


    "Can you try opening a small one? I just want to confirm something."


    Confused, Spera ced the stack of dishes back on the table.


    "Where to?"


    Spera asked.


    "Anywhere as long as it''s outside the base. Wait, try one in New Infanta."


    Mark replied.


    It should be a piece of cake for Spera. Without any other question, she tried to open a fist-sized portal between her two hands.


    But then...


    "Huh?"


    Spera was confused.


    There was a fist-sized hole that indicated that the portal was created. However, it was pitch ck. It was not connecting to the ce Spera intended to and could not be opened.


    Spera thought that she made a mistake and concentrated deeper. However, the longer she tried to open the portal, the paler her face got. It was not because her magical energy was being drained drastically. She was increasingly getting nervous because her [Warp Portal], her only value, was failing.


    "I knew it..."


    Mark nodded with a sigh after seeing what happened.


    And then...


    "No... Why is it not working?!"


    Spera began to panic. Her emotions were still uncontroble. Fear and frustration were apparent on her face as tears fell from her eyes.


    "..."


    Mark turned to Spera, almost cursing.


    Spera continuously tried to force open a portal. The color drained from her face as both panic and exhaustion of her energy began to kick in.


    "Spera, stop!"


    Mark yelled, but Spera was not listening. She was having a panic attack. He immediately stood up and rushed to her, grabbing her hands and stopping her from exerting her powers further.


    It was like when Spera woke up with Mark taking her psychic ability away. An outburst of anxiety, thinking that she was nothing of value without it.


    "No... No... I''m useless without it..."


    Spera struggled.


    "We''ll dammit."


    Mark groaned as his right hand glowed. He then grabbed her head, making her calm down. Unfortunately, the sudden outburst after a long while took quite a toll on her mind, and she fainted.


    "What happened?"


    Due to the noise, Mei, Odelina, and Hannah, who were in the kitchen, rushed into the dining room. Only to see Mark holding onto the unconscious Spera.


    At the table, the children watched everything. Siegfried, Odette, and Mikio seemed concerned. I and Abbygale were the same but looked calmer. Miracle was more curious than concerned as she did not understand what was happening. Amihan and Elise were staying quiet, but both of them were also worried. Lastly, Emika...


    "Smelly Uncle made her cry!"


    Emika yelled out loud.


    Mark could only re at the troublemaker, making her sit back on her chair quietly.


    "Gege?"


    Mei approached Spera and checked her with concern. She was like a younger sister to her, after all.


    "Well, it''s kinda my fault," Mark admitted. "Let''s bring her to her room first."


    Mark and Mei brought Spera to her bedroom, leaving the others to their businesses. He then told Mei what happened.


    "She can''t open a portal?"


    Mei asked in surprise.


    "It''s not that she can''t open one. It''s just not connecting to the ce she intended," Mark replied. "I should have exined things to her first if I knew that she will have a panic attack."


    Mark was thinking of what way he would bring Major Bautista back to New Infanta Settlement. The most convenient way should be Spera''s portal since there would be no need to worry about the radiation if she was able to.


    But as Mark expected, she could not connect the portal.<sub> </sub>


    It was not a problem with her psychic ability, however. The problem was the current Earth.


    Spera''s portal could only be opened to ces where she had been. Or she had personally seen. She should have a clear image of the location opening the portal in the coordinate she intended.


    But why was that? Why does she have to see the ce in person? If it was just a clear image, a picture could have worked.


    However, that was not the actual case.


    There was a reason why Spera could only open portals in ces she had personally been or seen before. It was because she had to have a concrete spatial awareness of the location.


    Distance, maic field, longitude, andtitude, those sorts of things.


    In short, spatial awareness, albeit on a moreplex level.


    Not everyone could take notice of suchplex and hard-to-determine details. It was one of the reasons why using warp portal-rted abilities was not easy to use.


    It was also the reason why people with no sense of direction were highly ipatible with spatial abilities.


    And that was what Mark meant when Spera had talent towards spatial psychic abilities. Unlike others that had to pay attention to such details, Spera could actually record such information subconsciously and open portals at the exact location she wanted.


    The only problem now was that Earth had changed.


    Although Spera remembered the direction and distance, the image of the location she had in mind was no longer there.


    After Earth changed, the New Infanta Settlement was more or less twice the distance from the Mountain Basepared to before. In its previous location, there was nothing but a forest and even a new small mountain.


    There was no need to mention that the ces Spera saw in New Infanta Settlement were already destroyed.


    Thus, Spera''s portal could not connect to the other side.


    Mark had a hunch that this would happen. There was the same issue in Eriellis before.


    He should have exined it first before making Spera open a portal. It was such a blunder this time.


    "You should exin it properly to her when she wakes up."


    Mei told Mark strictly.


    "Alright."


    Mark shrugged.


    He then looked at Spera.


    "I guess I''ll bring her with us tomorrow," Mark decided. "That way, she would be less anxious. It will also be easier to return."


    "You better be."


    Mei replied.


    "You''re angry?"


    Mark asked.


    "I..." Mei hesitated. "A little. Gege is too careless this time... Sorry..."


    "Why are you sorry?" Mark sighed. "It''s fine to be angry at me. It might be an ident, but it''s my fault. Don''t think that I will leave you just because you''re a little angry. Geez."


    Mark scratched his head. Most people in his ce had mental problems... Well, including himself.


    ***


    The rest of the day passed by, and Mark did exin what happened to Spera the moment she woke up. Hearing about the problem, Spera felt better. However, it seemed that she would not be able to sit idly while her psychic ability was unusable.


    When Mark told her that he would be bringing her to New Infanta Settlement with him tomorrow, she was more than willing. To her, these [Warp Portals] were her lifeline. She felt worthless without it, even if she already found a ce where she could live even without it.


    ***


    Still, Spera''s warp portal being unusable brought fort a few problems.


    They would not be able to go to other ces unless Spera revisited them.


    Earth was changed and reshaped. All the things that existed before were either destroyed or disced.


    It would be quite a hassle, but there was no way around it.


    ***


    p <strong>Day 163 - 8:15 AM - Mountain Base, General Nakar, Province of Quezon</strong></anda>


    The night passed by rather quickly.


    At this time early in the day, Char stood at the southern gate of the base. People gathered with Mark, Spera, Major Bautista, Karlene, and Ka, at the center.


    The leader of the base was going on a dangerous journey once more. There was nothing wrong with everyone seeing them off.


    In fact, almost everyone here was scared to explore the new Earth. It was the same familiar but now unfamiliar to them. Dangers were everywhere, and even a short journey was arduous.


    They felt respect for Mark, who did not fear any danger outside. Every single time he discovered something outside that the people in the base should know, he would tell either Huey or Odelina to spread it to everyone. Or like when Mark found the [Mechid Latcher], he showed it himself.


    Even if Mark''s reason to go out this time was to bring Major Bautista and see the situation in New Infanta Settlement, he would definitely bring any news back, whether it was a piece of good or bad news.


    In any case, everyone here was also curious about the situation outside.


    Was there any intact sign of civilization left?


    Or was it already infested by things not human?


    Whether they were curious or not, they had no courage to just go outside the barrier and check.


    They could only wait for any information that Mark would bring back.


    ***


    With a little bit of goodbye, Mark''s group for this journey boarded Char''s back.


    Everyone stepped back as Char began to p his wings. With the surging wind from the giant wings of the dragon, they soared towards the sky.


    Before passing through the barrier, Mark waved his hand. Miasma formed around Char.


    Mark only left a small window in front for them to see where they were going. And in this gap, Mark would use his new item to absorb the iing radiation.


    In front of Mark, a new crystal floated. It was different from other crystals he had before as it had an entirely greenish hue.


    With all the preparations ready, they flew through the barrier, braving the new world outside.

 Chapter 767 The Scene Of Dismay, The Longer Journey Back To New Infanta Settlement

    <strong>Day 162 - 9:03 AM - Harvek Nature Preserve, General Nakar, Province of Quezon</strong>


    From Mount Mbito, a gigantic ball of ck mist flew eastward and turned northeast. Of course, it was no other than Mark''s group, riding Char towards the direction of New Infanta Settlement.


    Through the gap that Mark kept open in front, Spera, Karlene, and Major Bautista stared at the sceneries of the New Earth.


    It was no surprise to see how shock they were as they saw it for the first time.


    What they were seeing was no longer the Earth they knew.


    The numbers of mountains in the vicinity had doubled, covered with lush forests filled with vitality. Even if Karlene and Major Bautista were not magically sensitive, they could feel the mysterious aura that these mountains exuded.


    They were even more surprised to see that the new appearance of the Agos River.


    The river that flowed from the southwest mountains of the Barangay San Marcelino to the coasts at the border of General Nakar and Infanta only had about a hundred and fifty meters distance in its broadest areas. Now, however, with more than two hundred to even half a kilometer distance from both riverbanks, it was more or less a moving sea to anyone''s eyes from the ground.


    What devastated the father and daughter was the sight of the only remaining traces of civilization of the past.


    The well-known Marikina-Infanta Highway that even had two other names, Marcos Highway and Marque Highway, was now nothing but extremely long fragmented ruins of civilization.


    As Earth changed, the ground shifted, causing the entire highway to separate, moving in different directions. Many parts of the road got scattered separately. Some even maderge clumps of rocks as its pieces collided with each other.


    It was like the entire highway was a broken jigsaw puzzle, never to be pieced whole again.


    Far from being just broken, many parts of the highway were missing. There were ces on the road entirely swallowed by the new mountains. They even saw arge part of the highway half sunk in the middle of the Agos River, more than a hundred meters away from where the rest of the road was.


    The structures by the side of the highway? Barely any could be seen. And none of them were intact. It was already lucky if they even saw a part of a wall standing.


    A familiar ce took Karlene''s attention near the riverside of the Agos River. If she was correct, that area should be where she met Mark for the first time. That was an unpleasant experience because of the situation but also a memorable one. Now, she and na were proud parts of Mark''s group. She was also separated from Ka, giving them both a new life.


    Sometimes, it just needed an uncanny twist of fate to turn everything around.


    As they continued to look at the surroundings, the more uneasy Major Bautista became.


    Just with all the things they had seen so far, the change was horribly drastic. And this happened to the entire Earth? He could not help but worry about how the New Infanta Settlement could hold up in this situation.


    Not to mention that earthquake with a strength that had never been felt before. There was also the space debris that fell onto Earth. And the new threat called [Mechids].


    Just how could the New Infanta Settlement brave against such dangers in session?


    "Worried?"


    While Major Bautista was in deep thought, Mark''s voice entered his ears.


    The Major turned to Mark, who nced at him above his shoulders with Ka sitting right in front. The girl requested to sit there, curiously looking at the sceneries they were passing by.


    "How can I not be? With how much Earth changed and the sceneries of destruction in front of my eyes, there was no way that I will not worry." Major Bautista sighed. "I know you''re not the one to me, and I''m thankful that you brought us to your base to ensure our safety. However, can''t you even just give a subtle warning to the General that this would happen?"


    "Hmm..." Mark tilted his head, patting the head of Ka that was leaning on his chest. "Maybe I could. The person that told us all this did not really say that we can''t spread rumors or give subtle hints."


    "Then why?" Major Bautista asked. "If you did, the General could have listened even to a nonchnt warning."


    "Really?" Mark was a bit unconvinced. "Will he really listen to an outsider like me? You should know that just a word from an outsider will never be enough to move the entire military."


    "You might be an outsider, but you''re not just anybody." Major Bautista sighed. "With how much we owe you, General Faustino won''t be able to ignore your words. You think that he agreeing for you to borrow Professor Sandoval is just a fluke?"


    "It might not be a fluke," Mark replied. "But he''s not entirely willing either."


    Of course, Mark noticed that. It was as exactly as Major Bautista said. They owe Mark a lot and could not just burn the bridges.


    And then Mark added.


    "Then, let''s say that General Faustino will listen. But you think that those crocodiles would?"


    At Mark''s words, Major Bautista paused a little. Mark had a point, after all.


    Currently, the military might have the ruling of the settlements. However, the power inside was not entirely theirs. The crocodiles Mark mentioned were those politicians that prioritized themselves over the masses.


    Not all politicians were crocodiles, of course. Nheless, it was those useless ones who dabble and interfere more with the things inside the settlement.


    It could have been reasonable to ignore them. But as politicians, they share power within the settlement. They had private armed groups, and many people look up to these men in position without even knowing what was going on.


    The worst part, unlike the military, politicians were experts in coercing the poption. They would not need weapons. Just their words could turn an entire settlement upside down.


    Even if Mark did try to warn them and General Faustino took measures to prepare, there was no guarantee that those crocodiles would not interfere.


    One thing these crocodiles were good at was making assumptions. If General Faustino began to take measures and they learned that the reason for this was Mark''s subtle warnings, they would not believe it. Instead, they would assume that the General was nning something behind their backs, causing them to make their own moves in the dark.


    Then, it would cause an annoying conflict within the settlement, causing more chaos than it should.


    And if the catastrophe happened while the settlement was in conflict...


    Major Bautista sighed. He could imagine a far worse situation.


    Mark had a concrete point. There was no need to refute.


    "Have you''ve taken all these into consideration?"


    Major Bautista asked Mark, sensing that he had the same thought.<sub> </sub>


    "Not really." Mark shrugged. "But it''s not hard to assume the worst, considering how those crocodiles tightly cling to their position even if the government barely exists anymore."


    "Not to mention." Mark continued. "I worked with the military several times, and those crocodiles likely knew about my strength. Yet, I never really entertained or tried to meet any of them and never had any intention to. Thus, they might take my actions in a hostile manner if I tried to interfere deeper into the settlement''s business."


    Major Bautista shook his head. Mark was on point with that.


    In fact, there were several inquiries about Mark and his group already from those crocodiles he mentioned. However, the military never entertained those either, as General Faustino knew their intentions to rope Mark in. It was not likely that Mark would fall for their ploys. But he would definitely find it annoying, considering his personality. That annoyance could put a bit of crack between the military and Mark''s group if things got out of hand.


    "I guess you''re right." Major Bautista conceded. "For now, we already got the best-case scenario. I just wish that everyone could pull it through."


    Mark shrugged. Major Bautista sure was a man loyal to his duties as a soldier. Well, he was also quite doting to his daughter, turning her into quite a troublesome person.


    "Why are you looking at me like that?"


    Karleneined, seeing Mark nce at her.


    "Nothing."


    Mark turned his head back to the front.


    "Hey! I know it''s not just nothing!"


    Karlene grabbed his shoulder shook Mark in a childish fit. Yep, she was a troublesome one at times.


    As Major Bautista made his daughter behave, Mark turned to Spera that was keeping silent.


    "You feeling okay?"


    Mark asked.


    "I''m good," Spera replied. "Please don''t mind me. I''m focusing on etching the surroundings into my mind."


    "Okay then."


    Mark shrugged. This girl sure had a fear of being deemed useless. Probably because in her whole life, she was treated as nothing but a tool. If she was not needed, her existence would be in vain. It was her trauma and mentality. Mark and Mei just wanted her to drop that kind of thinking now, but it would not be easy.


    ***


    Before, the distance between the Mountain Base and the New Infanta Settlement was about fifteen kilometers. If they were not in a hurry, it would take them about an hour of leisurely travel. At a faster pace, it would take them about thirty minutes. And about fifteen if they were in a hurry.


    As there was no extreme emergency at hand, Mark just let Char fly at his regr speed. It was also because Spera was doing her thing, etching ces into her memory.


    Still, they were already flying for thirty minutes. And they could barely see the silhouette of civilization far in the distance. New mountains also hampered their view, making things harder to see.


    And after about an hour of flying, they finally found traces of civilization.


    Well, the previous civilization, that is.


    The things they saw were the traces of the towns and viges on the side of the Agos River that were within the territorial borders of General Nakar.


    And sure enough, everything was turned upside down.


    Houses and buildings were demolished. The entire farnd was engulfed by the river.


    There was also the beautiful scene of a Catholic Church broken in half with a gigantic tree growing out of the cracks.


    And from here, there was the New Infanta Settlement far on the other side of the Agos River.


    Sure enough, Major Bautista was enveloped in dismay.


    It was within the barrier, and the area around the settlement was mostly the same.


    However, the new walls everyone painstakingly built already copsed. Almost the entirety of the settlement wasid bare to any iing threat.


    The bridge on the northwest of the settlement connecting Infanta and General Nakar was gone. The only thing left was the base of the bridge on the riverside. And arge hanging piece of concrete from what was left of its pathway.


    In the settlement, the flimsy structures all copsed. Even the school that the military took as their headquarters were toppled to the ground. It was not surprising, considering none of these structures were built to withstand an earthquake more powerful than the mythical magnitude ten.


    And at the center of the settlement, there were makeshift houses built with everything they could salvage from the ruins. A whole lot of tents were also installed, making the entire ce a tent city.


    The worst part, the crops they were expecting to harvest in a few months. All of the farm fields turned into a wastnd with nothing but dust. Before the earthquake, the shockwave from the impact of space debris already devastated the ce.


    And as they focused on the devastating scene, Mark''s group noticed something.


    People seemed to be gathered near the barrier on the riverside, entangled with something threatening on the river.


    And as Mark watched, they saw a beam ofser shot from the water towards the soldiers.


    The soldiers hurriedly took cover, but one was hit, obliterating his entire arm.


    With the soldier''s cries, the enemy jumped out of the water.


    It was a mechanical shark, with its jaws wide open. It could not enter the barrier, but itsser beams seemed to be able to.


    With the enemy mid-air, the soldiers fired their guns. However, aside from a few scratches, no fatal damage was done.


    The shark was still there, pointing its throat towards the soldiers. And a ball of light it gathered inside its jaws.

 Chapter 768 The Arrival, Marks New Weapon And A Bad News For The Major

    <strong>Day 162 - 10:47 AM - Agos River Riverbank, New Infanta Settlement, Infanta, Province of Quezon</strong>


    The injured soldier was down in shock while another frantically pulled him to cover. With the two out in the open, there was no way that they could avoid the next attack without another casualty.


    Another? Well, yes. The morale of the soldiers was already down. They already lost two people without even giving the enemy any significant damage.


    However, they could not just retreat.


    Thesers that the enemy fired could reach long distances. The walls were down, and what remained of the settlement wasid bare without cover. If they left the enemy alone, civilian casualties would not be avoidable.


    Thus, they could only fight, even if they were about to lose anotherrade before their eyes.


    Nheless, they would not just go and watch.


    With the mechanical shark mid-air, they only need to give enough force to push its body away and make its attack miss.


    As such, the soldiers sent a volley of bullets towards the enemy.


    They could not do this for the first two soldiers that fell as they were caught off-guard. However, it was the third time. There was no way that trained soldiers would not think of measures to defend.


    And they could only try.


    <strong>BANG! BANG! BANG!</strong>


    <strong>CLANG! CLANG!</strong>


    Sounds of guns and metal loudly sounded as the bullets collided with the mechanical shark''s body in just a second.


    Unfortunately, there was no damage like before. There still was no significant damage dealt on the enemy. And the worst part, while they did manage to shift its position mid-air, its head was actually able to lock onto its target. The mechanical shark was about to fall back to the water after the volley of bullets, but its head was still facing the wounded soldier.


    There was no hope. They were going to lose anotherrade.


    They wanted to use explosives. They had grenades and even a rocket-propelled gun on standby. However, these weapons were difficult to use on fast-moving enemies, especially this mechanical shark that could dive underwater.


    But then...


    <strong>SHOOOM!!!</strong>


    The whistling sound of air being torn apart entered the soldiers'' ears.


    Before everyone could react, they vaguely saw a foot-long stake being driven into the mechanical shark''s body with a loud bam.


    Only a third of the stake lodged into the mechanical shark''s body. However, the force was more than enough to bash it out of mid-air back into the water.


    With a loud ssh and a strong ssh of water, the mechanical shark was forcefully submerged. It was still able to release itsser. However, it was fired towards the sky with nothing to hit at all.


    The soldiers could not help but turn to the direction that the stake seemed to havee from.


    And to their confusion and fear, all they saw was a ball of ck smoke approaching their direction from the sky.


    Seeing the mysterious ball of ck smoke, the only reasonable reaction the soldiers could have was to ready their weapons.


    But then, among the soldiers...


    "Isn''t that?"


    A soldier eximed at the familiar ck smoke.


    And it seemed that the leader of this squad had the same thought as he gazed at the mysterious object in the sky.


    "Men! Focus on the robot shark! Ignore the thing in the sky for now!"


    The squad leader shouted.


    "But sir!"


    Another soldier hesitated.


    "That shark isn''t dead yet! The one in the sky should be an ally!"


    The squad leader added.


    Most of the soldiers were skeptical. However, the shark was in the river in front, while the ball of ck smoke was still far in the sky. Of course, the priority was the closest one, considering they could not go out of the safe border.


    ***


    At the sky, Mark aimed the weapon in his hands.


    It was arge, ck-colored RPG-sized gun with a rectangr barrel aimed like a sniper rifle.


    "Mark... isn''t that..."


    Major Bautista was worried about the situation below. However, he could not help but feel shocked as Mark took out his new weapon.


    "A railgun?"


    Karlene finished the Major''s words as it was also the first time she saw Mark use this weapon.


    "Pretty simr to a railgun but not the same."


    Mark replied, not taking his sight unto the waters below.


    The weapon in his hand had the name [Shadow Piercer]. It was the weapon he had been nning to make for a while now through trial and error.


    In a sense, it was a railgun as it used maic fields and kic energy to propel the projectile at high speeds.


    However, it was different since it did not have any power source attached to it.


    Furthermore, the experimental railguns in the current needed time to charge energy before the railgun could fire the projectile. The one in Mark''s hand could fire a projectile in an instant.


    How? Because instead of using a power source, Mark was using his [ck Lightning] to generate the maic field and fire the projectile at will.


    After all, Mark did not need to charge his ability and just release it in any amount he could possibly do.


    "It still needs some tuning and testing, though," Mark grumbled. "I''m aiming for the head, but it hit the side instead."


    Even though it was not Mark''s intended result, it did save a life of a soldier, nheless.


    What annoyed Mark, even more, was how sturdy the body of that shark was.


    With the velocity and strength of the projectile he shot, it was more than enough to puncture a fully armored tank.


    Did all [Mechids] have a strong body like this? Now that Mark thought about it, this was the first time he actually tried to damage the body of a [Mechid]. In the first two encounters, all he did was capture them.


    Mark shook his head. Now was not the time to think about unnecessary things. He just needed to focus on shooting that mechanical shark once it showed itself once more.


    ***<sub> </sub>


    Everyone waited, weapons ready to fire. Unexpectedly, no mechanical shark surfaced from the river.


    The soldiers were also wary of the ball of ck smoke. They were ready to fire towards it once it showed any sign of aggression.


    However, as the ball of smoke entered the safe border, the ck smoke moved, being sucked into one ce.


    That was when the true appearance of the ck smoke was revealed, showing the familiar dragon that all these soldiers saw several times before.


    It was only then that they let down their guard and focused on the lurking threat in the raging river water.


    The soldiers were even more delighted when they saw Major Bautista aboard the back of the dragon.


    ***


    Charnded quite a distance away behind the front line. As the passengers alighted, the squad leader and a few soldiers hurried to greet them.


    "Major! Sir Mark!"


    The squad leader saluted to the two.


    The squad leader also noticed the strange weapon Mark was carrying on his shoulder. He was sure that it was Mark who shot the mechanical shark and helped them.


    "Sir Mark. Thank you for saving my subordinates earlier."


    The squad leader, 1st Lieutenant Baller, said with sincere gratitude.


    "You don''t have to thank me."


    Mark replied.


    The squad leader did not bother Mark anymore after hearing that reply. He was thankful for the help, but he knew that Mark was not someone talkative. Instead, he went to converse with Major Bautista.


    Mark appreciated the 1st Lieutenant''s actions. Well, it was not surprising that he somehow knew his personality. 1st Lieutenant Baller was the leader of the soldiers that came from Bay City. Some of them were also present here. It should also be the reason why they were familiar with Mark''s [Miasma] despite not knowing what it was.


    "Major, it''s good to see you safe." 1st Lieutenant Baller said to Major Bautista. "Many of us were afraid that you and the others might have died already. The mountains were the most dangerous ce to be in that catastrophe. Thank goodness we are wrong."


    It was not an ill guess. The mountains were one of the worst ces to be in a huge earthquake. Parts of the mountains could copse and cause andslide. In fact, many mountains around Mt. Mbito were affected by this and were reshaped. Mt. Mbito was the only exception and was less damaged because of Luis Morgan doing his best.


    "I know you''re happy, but now is not the time to chat. We need to deal with the problem first."


    Major Bautista reprimanded the squad leader.


    "Yes, Sir!"


    Lieutenant Baller nodded and turned his attention back to the battle.


    Well...


    The battle they were supposed to continue...


    ...Would not continue without the enemy.


    "Be on guard! I mighte out if we start cking!"


    Lieutenant Baller called out loud, urging everyone to keep their guards up.


    On the other hand, the soldier who lost his arm was now given a [Regeneration Medicine]. Although it would not regenerate his arm, it would at least lessen the pain. He was not bleeding profusely, however. Theser that cut of his arm burned the wound, leaving fewer wounds than expected.


    The soldiers were on high alert, all eyes on the water of the river.


    Mark also made his move.


    "Ignis."


    As he uttered the name, Ignis, sheathed on his back, flew off, surprising some soldiers. Not all of them had seen the flying sword, after all.


    Ignis dove into the river. It was clear that it was searching for the shark underwater.


    However, after a few seconds, Mark frowned.


    "Major," Mark called out. "The shark already escaped."


    Those words sure surprised the soldiers. Well, Mark himself was the same.


    "Are you sure?"


    Major Bautista asked.


    There, Ignis flew out of the water and return to Mark.


    "Yeah. Pretty sure." Mark replied. "I might have given it some damage, but I did not expect it to actually flee."


    "No, I guess, I should have expected it."


    Mark added with a slight shake of his head.


    "Right, you mentioned it before." Karlene chimed in. "When you showed us that Latcher. You said that it tried to flee after its sneak attack missed."


    Mark''s frown just got deeper.


    The [Mechid Latcher] did not seem to have great fighting capabilities. As such, its behavior to flee was not that surprising. Especially if its host was damaged. That shark, however, was a whole robotic creature. No one would really expect it to flee after getting a single damaging hit.


    And the worst part, there was no way to find it while it was underwater. The river was wider and deeper than before. It was basically that mechanical shark''s home.


    "In any case, we can''t let it end here." 1st Lieutenant Baller said out loud. "Spread out across the riverbank! Always move behind cover! Quick!"


    The soldiers moved as fast as they could. That mechanical shark was too dangerous and needed to be guarded against.


    "We''ll get moving." Major Bautista told the soldiers. "I need to meet the General to ask about the situation."


    Those words, however, caused the soldiers to show some sad expressions. There was no way that the Major would not notice it.


    "Did something happen to the General?"


    Major Bautista could not help but have a bad foreboding.


    "Major," 1st Lieutenant Baller spoke. "It is better to see for yourself. Our tents are in the southern area. Sir Jones should be there, acting as the General''s proxy."


    Major Bautista could not help but worry. He was quite close to General Faustino, after all. The two of them were direct superior and subordinate for a long time. And now, something happened to him in Major Bautista''s absence.


    "We should go."


    Mark tapped the Major''s shoulder, urging him to move. Major Bautista nodded, and they hurried towards the settlement.


    Considering that someone had to act as the General''s proxy, he must be in a condition where he could not lead the soldiers by himself anymore.

 Chapter 769 Bad Luck And Good Luck, General Faustinos Story Of Survival

    <strong>Day 162 - 11:01 AM - New Infanta Settlement, Infanta, Province of Quezon</strong>


    Major Bautista was extremely worried about the reaction of the soldiers. Thus, following the direction given by 1st Lieutenant Baller, they went straight to the current military encampment at the south of the settlement.


    "I don''t think that it''s the worst situation yet." Mark suddenly spoke as he walked side by side with the Major. "If it is Jones that is standing as a proxy, it means he''s still receiving orders from General Faustino. I don''t think the crocodiles would allow a mercenary to rece the General tomand the military."


    With a sigh, Major Bautista nodded. Although Mark did not seem to be trying to console him, he was stating facts.


    If General Faustino certainly was in an unrecoverable state, those crocodiles would be racing on which puppet would take the reigns of the military.


    With those thoughts in mind, the group continued walking. Karlene was staying quiet this time and was not pulling any childish antics. In the least, she could read the mood of her father. On the side, Ka was curiously looking around the surroundings while holding onto Mark''s hand. Char followed behind the group like an obedient dog. Lastly, Spera, who was still on Char''s back, watched the surroundings meticulously.


    By the time they arrived near the clusters of tents, soldiers were already waiting for the group. In the lead was Jones Galley, who was now standing as the General''s proxy.


    It was not surprising since Char could be seen in the sky as hended no matter where a person was in the settlement.


    If Char appeared, Mark and his group should be there. And if they were safe, then it was also likely for the people that left with Mark thest time he came here to be the same.


    Seeing Major Bautista walking beside Mark, the expression of relief floated in the faces of the soldiers. It was undeniable that among the high-ranking officers of the military in this settlement, Major Bautista was the most popr. He was a good-natured soldier and a responsible superior. Not to mention that his daughter was an actress back before the apocalypse began. This fact added to his poprity even from the refugees that knew about it.


    Even Jones had an amicable rtionship with the Major as he weed thetter with a brotherly hug.


    "Good to see you back, Alfonso."


    Jones said as he tapped the Major''s back.


    "I can''t say that I''m not happy too, but..."


    Major Bautista reluctantly replied as he nced in the destroyed surroundings of the settlement. After all, who would feel happy that everything was going fine when he left but was now destroyed with he returned.


    "I can''t say I don''t understand you. The whole settlement got toppled to the ground. Many died and got injured. But hey, look at the bright side. We are still alive."


    Jones replied as he let go of the Major.


    A positive outlook. That was what anyone needed the most in these dark times. It was not wrong to wallow in sadness and mourn the dead. But a positive outlook was what was required to continue moving forwards.


    "Good to see you too."


    Jones extended his hand towards Mark while also nodding to Karlene.


    With a sigh, Mark returned the gesture. He did not say anything, though, and had a grumpy look.


    Thinking that Mark was displeased about something, Major Bautista pushed the topic.


    "What about the General?"


    Major Bautista asked.


    At that question, Jones shrugged. He also did not mind Mark''s attitude. It was the same every time.


    "Follow me."


    The mercenary said.


    They entered the settlement, or what remained of it.


    Before the catastrophe, the militarypound was situated in the elementary school northwest of the settlement. It was to ensure that they could respond to dangers that woulde from the direction of the mountains in General Nakar.


    Now, the military encampment was built in the southernmost area of the settlement. With the Agos River widened and deepened, the dangers from that direction lessened considerably.


    On the other hand, the dangers from the south grew.


    There was no only the infected. It was likely that the soldiers also encountered the [Mechids], as the settlement was in a tnd area. And considering how the soldiers behaved as they fought the mechanical shark in the river, they did not only fight the [Mechids] once or twice.


    While walking, Karlene caught up to Mark and walked beside him.


    "What''s wrong?"


    She asked.


    Of course, Karlene would ask. Since they arrived, Mark was oozing with a "don''t talk to me" aura. His mood was still fine a few minutes ago. Even Ka was confused as she was staring at Mark, forgetting her curiosity about the surroundings.


    "Just don''t mind me."


    Mark let out another sigh.


    Karlene became even more confused. Mark seemed to be feeling heavy for some reason.


    And, of course, it was not surprising that Mark''s mood would be foul and heavy.


    It was because the entire settlement was oozing with negative emotions. This was the worst ce for a [Empath] to be going into. The negative energies that Mark was absorbing were too heavy that his trait as a [Mutator], erasing his emotions, wasgging behind.


    This atmosphere was not unexpected to a whole ce devastated by a disaster. Even if many died, there were still a few thousand people living. The collective negative emotions they all had were too much for Mark to handle immediately. Furthermore, the negative emotions were continuously generated as long as the people felt remorse for their loss.


    The feeling was sickening.


    Mark''s state made Karlene and even Spera worry. They had no idea what was going on, after all.


    Soon, they arrived at thergest tent in the military encampment. It was not thergest because it was the General''s quarters. It was because the tent was the infirmary.


    Many injured soldiersy on makeshift beds. There were even those thatcked beds. They could onlyy down on sheets of wood and ttened cardboard boxes.


    The group entered, and Jones led them to the innermost area of the tent.


    There, General Faustinoid on the bed. Since a group of people entered at the same time, the General noticed them immediately. The relief on his old face was clear as he saw Major Bautista and his daughter both safe and sound.


    However, Major Bautista''s face was theplete opposite. He was shaking as he approached the General''s bed.<sub> </sub>


    The General seemed to be in good condition, albeit seemingly needing rest. Aside from his legs.


    General Faustino''s left leg was all bandaged and even braced with metal sheets. It was tightly tied up from leg to foot, ensuring that it would not be moved even a little.


    On the other hand, right leg...


    The General''s right leg was missing. All that was left was a bandaged stump cut about four inches from the pelvis.


    "General, your legs..."


    That was what Major Bautista first uttered upon arriving beside the General''s bed.


    General Faustino could only sigh as he saw the dismayed face of his subordinate, no, his friend.


    "It just happened." General Faustino sighed and shrugged. "I''m just d that I''m still alive to see you in one piece."


    It was the same as what Jones said before. The journey might be hard, but even if he was now handicapped, the General chose to move forwards.


    "Just what happened?"


    Major Bautista asked.


    The General had no reason to not tell the incident.


    ***


    Apparently, General Faustino, several military officers, and two squads of soldiers were outside the settlement when the catastrophe struck.


    Their scouts found an [infected Nest], just a kilometer south of the settlement. They all went there to assess the situation on-site before taking action. After all, the [Infected] that could cause a nest to appear could not be taken lightly.


    They were already on the way back after assessing the situation. They needed to n the attack and deal with the threat as quickly as possible.


    But then, the disaster struck.


    From the sky, metallic debris rained after the sound of an explosion.


    Many of the space debris rained onto their convoy. The soldiers tried their best to rush back to the settlement, trying to escape the catastrophe.


    However, their speed was not enough.


    Arge piece of space debrisnded not far from the road. The impact blew away the vehicles of the convoy, buffeting them with stones as fast and as strong as a sniper bullet.


    The military trucks were pushed to the roadside and overturned. The smaller vehicles were blown off the road, rolling and crashing on anything that blocked their paths.


    And General Faustino was riding on one of those small vehicles.


    The vehicle that General Faustino rode was thrown off to amercial building. Then, arge piece of metal came flying from the debris, shing through the vehicle, even causing the building to copse.


    The entire three-story building copsed on the military vehicle. There was no way that the vehicle would remain intact with all that. Even more for those riding inside the vehicle.


    That piece of metal did not only slice the vehicle. It sliced off General Faustino''s right leg off. It was already a good thing, considering that the four other people inside the vehicle got sliced through their waists. The General only managed to avoid death because he tried to jump off the vehicle immediately after it crashed, despite how disoriented his head was.


    Nheless, he still got caught by that piece of metal. The building then copsed onto him and the vehicle. General Faustino was buried alive, bleeding to death. Luckily, one of the foundations of the building shielded the General from being crushed to death. His left leg was not lucky, however. As a concrete wall fell unto it as he tried to drag himself to safety. The General also received other injuries. His right ear was torn, and he dislocated his left arm. There was also a long gash on his back.


    ***


    "If not for Jones, I don''t know if I can still be here."


    General Faustino said, looking at Jones with gratitude.


    ***


    Jones Galley was also with the General at that time. He was only riding on a different vehicle. It was because the vehicle the General was on was for higher-ranking military officers.


    A [Super Soldier] would not die easily from that. He even managed to dig the General out of the rubble and carried him towards the settlement on foot. Unfortunately, the tourniquet that Jones made did not stop the bleeding of the right leg entirely. By the time they arrived, the General was already unconscious.


    Upon arriving in the settlement, they made preparations for emergency treatment for the General. He lost a lot of blood. They needed to stop the bleeding as soon as possible.


    Jones also rallied the soldiers for a rescue mission. After all, there were still injured soldiers at the site of the ident.


    But then, the earthquake came, destroying everything.


    Not only did the General''s treatment got interrupted, but they were unable to conduct the rescue mission.


    The only good thing was that the General''s life was saved, thanks to the [Regeneration Medicine] that the scientists in this settlement developed.


    ***


    "Aside from Me and Jones, everyone else in the convoy is either dead or MIA."


    General Faustino said with a sigh.


    "And among the military officers in charge of this settlement, there''s only you and me left, Alfonso."


    General Faustino added.


    "There are only three officers with you that time, right?" Major Bautista asked in surprise. "What happened to the other two?"


    "The earthquake took their lives, unfortunately." It was Jones that replied. "They took shelter inside the school when those things fell from space. Then, the earthquake suddenly came and copsed the school building unto them. They were just two of many people that got buried inside their dwellings."


    "As such, the military, we, are in dire traits right now."


    General Faustino dered, panning his eyes to the scene inside the tent.

 Chapter 770 The General And The Major, A Talk Inside The Infirmary

    <strong>Day 162 - 11:42 AM - Infirmary, Military Encampment, New Infanta Settlement, Infanta, Province of Quezon</strong>


    The military lost all its high-ranking officers but two. Major Bautista was absent from the settlement. It was only General Faustino who was holding up the military from copsing thoroughly. And he was severely injured.


    Without a concrete foundation, the military would slowly copse. It would already be good if that was all. However, it was very likely that the people lurking in the dark would hold power with what remained, putting everyone''s safety to risk.


    That was why even if General Faustino was not in shape to lead at all, he was still doing so, using Jones as his hands and feet.


    It was not like there were no capable people left within the ranks of the soldiers. Nheless, being in the position of leading a group and being one of the settlement''s pirs could not be based on a soldier''s rank alone. They needed experience was a very crucial aspect for a person to lead people. It was one reason why only those who aged enough were in those positions.


    In the current situation, it would be hard to just pick anyone from the remaining soldiers and promote them. After all, a soldier''s rank was earned and not just given abruptly. Giving a soldier a rank unbefitting would cause more trouble as it would nt discord among the soldiers.


    Still, Major Bautista returning alive would cause the situation to turn for the better. It would be hard to lead the soldiers with nothing but a disabled General and his proxy.


    At this time, General Faustino turned to Mark.


    "Looks like your managed to fulfill your end of the deal, bringing Alfonso backpletely fine, despite what happened in the world. How about Chervil and the others?"


    General Faustino asked.


    "They are fine. Chervil is busy studying new things in the base. The others are also enjoying their stay."


    Mark replied, causing those that heard his words to stare at him.


    After all, he said that they were enjoying their stay. Who would enjoy what in this world at its current state?


    Major Bautista could only smile bitterly. Mark was not joking, after all. Joash and the others were indeed enjoying their stay there. There were many new things that they had not seen in Mark''s base and a few facilities unavable in the settlement.


    Especially a bathhouse.


    Looking at it, every soldier here did not seem to have any proper bath for a long time. However, Mark''s group, even Major Bautista, looked neat and clean. Even his uniform was washed properly.


    "Ahem." General Faustino coughed a bit, making those staring look away. "It is good then. But it looks like it''s only Alfonso who you brought back."


    "It''s not easy to go here, you know," Mark replied. "The amount of radiation in the surroundings is not safe for travel. Although I have methods that I used to go here, that can only be used on a small number of people. Or did you not know?"


    "Of course we knew." General Faustino said. "Although we haven''t known yet why the area around the settlement seemed to be protected. It was as if we are covered by a barrier we cannot see."


    Mark shrugged to the General''s words. He was right, but not just anyone would be able to sense this barrier. The only indication of the barrier was the difference in the state of thend inside and outside.


    Inside the barrier, everything remained the same as before. It might already be destroyed, but the farnds,ndmarks, and even otherndforms remained the same.


    Outside the barrier, however, everything was changed. It looked like a world alien for everyone in the settlement.


    There was no need to see the actual barrier as the border could easily be seen.


    Mark kept his silence at what the General said, which made Major Bautista sigh inside.


    Noticing that Mark did not seem to want to talk too much and appeared to be in a bad mood for a long conversation, he diverted the topic.


    "Actually, Mark, we need your help with something."


    General Faustino said.


    "What is it?" Mark asked. "I''m willing to hear, but it doesn''t mean I''ll agree to it right away."


    "We know." The General nodded. "Though I''m quite confided that you will also be interested."


    Then, General Faustino turned to Jones Galley and nodded.


    "A group of people... Well, I don''t know if we can call them people, really." Jones stated. "They arrived the other day. But they were speaking anguage none of us knew. They set camp inside the safe area. We don''t want to just chase them away since they seem to have strange abilities and didn''t seem to intend to bring any harm. But the people were being too wary of them."


    Jones exined.


    "Hmmm?" As the General stated, Mark would be interested in this. "Strange people? So, what do you guys want me to do with them? Chase them away?"


    "No. It''s not that." General Faustino replied. "We just want to know their intentions. They did not do anything aggressive to us so far. We actually suspect that they also helped us when some robots appeared outside the safe area. Wait, did you already know about those robots? In any case, we just want to converse with them. I don''t really know if you can help us with this, but I feel that you could do something."


    "Well, let me see them first." Mark shrugged. "Although I can''t just promise that I will be able to do something."


    "That is enough." General Faustino replied with a grateful tone before turning to Jones. "Bring Mark to where those people are staying."


    "Okay, General." Jones nodded. "Follow me."


    As Jones began to take the lead, Mark turned to Major Bautista and the others.


    "You''re going to stay here, right, Major?" Mark then turned to Karlene. "How about you?"


    "Why are you only asking me?"


    Karlene grumbled.


    "Your father will stay behind. Spera and Ka will surelye with me. So you''re the only one to ask."


    Mark exined.


    "Of course, I''m going!"


    Karlene eximed as she went to push Mark to follow Jones.


    Soon, it was only General Faustino and Major Bautista who were present. Along with the injured soldiers and medical workers in the infirmary.


    "Your daughter is the same as ever, huh." General Faustino said with a smile. "It is a good thing. If not for the side effect of the experiment, she could stay here without problems. It''s just the people were afraid that she would just lose control and began to kill."


    "Actually, General..." Major Bautista spoke hesitatingly. "My daughter is cured. Although I doubt she would want to go back here anymore."


    "Really? How?"<sub> </sub>


    Surely, that statement was a surprise to the General.


    "Yes." Major Bautista nodded. "Although they did not want to exin how. In any case, we already knew that my daughter''s condition before was simr to biprity, having two personalities. I was just that the other personality was created due to [Mutagen]."


    General Faustino nodded. It was no secret to them what happened to Karlene.


    "What I know is that they just removed the other personality, that new consciousness, from her."


    Major Bautista then took a breath in.


    "That girl with violet hair with Mark. She seemed to be that consciousness they removed from my daughter."


    General Faustino was speechless. It was not wrong to say that what the Major said was unbelievable.


    "Are you sure?" The General asked. "I know that Mark seemed to have a lot of strange things with him. But it''s still hard to believe."


    "I know, General." Major Bautista shrugged. "But with how their personalities were simr, they even had the same [Mutator] abilities. Not to mention that when Karlene was younger, she looked exactly like that girl, Ka. It might be unbelievable, but it''s hard to argue with the evidence."


    General Faustino fell silent. It was surely unbelievable but undisputable with the evidence present. Mark was really someone unfathomable.


    The General then turned to the Major once more. This time, with a serious look on his face.


    "Tell me... Did Mark knew about what is currently happening in the world?"


    Major Bautista could not help but sigh at that question.


    "What made you think that, General?"


    "His sudden arrival that day. Taking you, Chervil, and even Emika''s family with him. Both Karlene and Emika had a tight connection with Mark, which made me think that he did it for them. To ensure your safety. It is too much of a coincidence that all these catastrophes happened after Mark took you and the others. Jones had a few deep wounds, braving the falling space debris to save me. Everyone in the settlement had a least a few bruises, rolling on the ground because of the earthquake. Then, you came back here, not a single scratch on your body. Not only you but everyone with you and Mark. With the intensity of the disaster a few days ago, it is impossible to achieve unless Mark prepared for it."


    Major Bautista could only shrug. Who would have thought that just being uninjured would give such clues? The General was not wrong. If someone fell badly, they could use their hands and arms to protect them from their fall. In that case, falling from an earthquake higher than magnitude ten would definitely cause bruises and scratches on hands and arms. Well, unless the person was a dunce, then the injury would be on their face.


    There was no need to mention that the disaster came with most of the world unaware. One disaster came from the sky. Another turned thend upside down. Unless it was luck, no people would go unscathed. Even more for a whole group of people.


    "I don''t know if I should be saying this..." Major Bautista hesitated. "Hah... I''ll just apologizeter."


    "There is no need to apologize. I''ll take the me." General Faustino shook his head. "In any case, if you are saying that..."


    "Yes." Major Bautista nodded. "Mark knew everything. Not just the disasters. Even the barrier and the [Mechids]."


    "[Mechids]?"


    "It is those robots you mentioned earlier." Major Bautista answered the question. "They seem to be robots from an artificial in space. And what is causing them to attack seems to be another pathogen simr to [Mutagen]."


    "What?"


    Surely, that piece of information was a surprise to the General. They were speaking in whispers until now. That exmation from the General took everyone''s attention.


    "General, is everything alright?"


    A doctor came immediately and asked the General.


    "No, I''m fine. I''m just surprised about something."


    The General replied to the doctor.


    "It''s good then." The doctor replied. "Don''t force yourself too much. You''re still recovering."


    "You too, Major. I know you just returned but don''t strain the General too much."


    With those warnings, the doctor left to tend to other soldiers.


    "That guy is really diligent."


    Major Bautista said, looking at the doctor''s back.


    "Doctor Jeremy? He really does."


    General Faustino nodded.


    Then, the General went back to whispers.


    "Is what you said just now true?"


    "Sorry, General. I don''t really know." Major Bautista shook his head. "In the least, that is what Mark told everyone in his base."


    "Tell me everything." General Faustino asked in all seriousness. "I will sincerely apologize to Markter. I know this might counted as us betraying his trust, but there is no way I will ignore this if it is for the sake of everyone''s survival."


    Major Bautista suddenly fell silent. Then, a thought came to his mind.


    "No, General... He might have already considered this to happen."


    "What do you mean?"


    General Faustino was bewildered.


    "Since the start, Mark never told me that I can''t tell anything I learned from him to anyone."


    Then, Major Bautista added.


    "And he actually allowed me to stay here without me asking to. He likely knew that I will be asked about things, but he did not do anything to prevent it..."


    This made the two silent for a bit, wondering what Mark really was.

 Chapter 771 The Strange Group, A Group Of Half-Races

    <strong>Day 162 - 12:11 PM - Outskirts, New Infanta Settlement, Infanta, Province of Quezon</strong>


    Leaving the infirmary, Jones guided the rest of the group towards the southwestern outskirts of the settlement.


    "Are you sure leaving Dad there together with the General?"


    Karlene slightly whispered to Mark as they stepped out of the military encampment.


    "I''m pretty sure that Dad won''t be able to refuse if General Faustino asked him about your ce."


    She added.


    "Yeah, I already expected that would happen."


    Mark answered nonchntly.


    "But..." Karlene was confused. "Didn''t you dere before that no one should disclose details about the base outside? You gave that rule yourself. That''s why I never actually mentioned anything about the base to Dad before we brought him there."


    Of course, it was reasonable for Karlene to be confused with Mark''s nonchnt attitude. After all, he strictly dered those rules himself in front of everyone. She did not want that if something bad happened due to leakage of information, her father would be the one to take the me.


    "I did give those rules." Mark shrugged. "But all that is way before we even knew about the second wave or the fusion of dimensions. At that time, there is still a high possibility of those things happening. Now, the situation is different. Don''t even mention spreading the information. Just leaving or reaching the base without being able to fly is near impossible. The route in the sky is not exactly safe either. Even if the information leaked and someone wanted to bring us harm, they might even die before they reach the foot of the mountain. There was also the widened Agos River. The strong current isn''t safe for boat travel either."


    Mark''s words made Karlene think. Sure enough, he was basically right.


    Before, even if it was slim, there was a possibility for people to climb up the mountain and find the location of the Mountain Base. It actually happened thrice. First was Huey''s group, fleeing from an evolved tiger. The second time was the group of survivors that camped outside the base. Lastly was the tribe led by the old Oracle.


    Now, there were various threats that would stop people from finding the base. The [Infected], [Evolved Animals], [Mechids], and even the change in terrain alone was more than enough to stop people.


    In that case, Mark''s rules from before did not matter much anymore. It was also unlikely for anyone to betray the base and leave now, considering it was the only safest ce they knew.


    Karlene would admit it, and even her father would do the same. If they were to choose where to live at this moment, Mark''s base was an indisputable choice. Not only that the base was intact, but it also had enough supplies tost them a long time.


    One obvious problem in New Infanta Settlement right now was food and water. The Mountain Base did not have those problems currently.


    Soon, they left the tent city and stepped onto the outskirts of the settlement.


    Looking around, it seemed thatpared to the Mountain Base, the area covered by the barrier in this settlement was far wider. It was not surprising considering the great difference between a few hundred people base and a few thousand people settlement. It seemed that everything, including the farming areas, was considered as part of the settlement. Those areas were included within the barrier, although there was nothing left of the crops. Now, depressed farmers could be seen slowly working on the farnds from zero.


    Unexpectedly, the farming areas in the southeast were devoid of humans. Instead, there was a small group of makeshift houses made of scrap wood and gigantic leaves. It was surrounded by a palisade made of cut wood and vines. It must be the group of people mentioned by General Faustino.


    "That''s the ce." Jones pointed out the small encampment. "The people there were weird, and they speak anguage that none of us can understand. That is why the farmers want to farm near them. They seem peaceful and did help around against the [Infected] and those robots. They also don''t try to proactively interact with us, so we just decided to leave them alone."


    It was still quite a distance away from where Mark''s group was walking. The encampment was literally at the edge of the barrier. It indicated theirck of intention to interact with the people of the settlement.


    But before Mark''s group could get close...


    <strong>"PUT ME DOWN! DO YOU KNOW WHO I AM? I CAN GET YOU ALL KILLED!"</strong>


    A loud outcry of a male could be heard from the encampment.


    Marks'' group could hear the yelling loudly, and that definitely did not sound like someone with an unknownnguage.


    "Sh*t..." Jones cursed. "That bastard really did it."


    Karlene''s expression also looked strange. She seemed to be familiar with that voice.


    Soon after hearing that voice, several figures walked out of the encampment, carrying three men. Two of the three seemed to be unconscious, while the one yelling out loud was trying to break free from the person carrying him.


    <strong>BAM! BAM! BAM!</strong>


    The three were thrown out like dirty kittens, rolling on the ground. The people that carried them out went back to the encampment without a single word and closed the gates of the palisade.


    <strong>"F*CK YOU, YOU BASTARDS! LET''S SEE HOW LONG YOU ALL CAN F*CKING STAY HERE!"</strong>


    The man then stood up, patting the dirt off his body, when he noticed Mark''s group watching from afar.


    <strong>"F*CK!"</strong>


    He cursed onest time as he left, half-running away. The man did not even bother picking up the two unconscious men and left them lying on the ground.


    Mark did not bother looking at the escaping man at all. On the other hand, Jones and Karlene shook their heads.


    "Who is that troublesome person?"


    Spera asked Karlene, seeing their reactions.


    "I''m not really that familiar with him," Karlene replied. "All I know is that he''s called Jackson. A son of a Congressman. He had always beenpeting with Joash about many things. We had a few interactions before, and he''s an extremely annoying person."


    "What a stupid idiot..." Jones grumbled, feeling the headache that mighte in the future because of that scene. "Just what are they trying to achieve by doing this..."


    A son of a politician and one of the most influential people in the settlement. They had been trying to gather forces for a while now. Those politicians likely heard about the prowess of that group of strange people and wanted to rope them in. However, there was no need to mention enticing them. They had to ovee thenguage barrier first.


    It was very likely that Jackson tried tomunicate but failed and instead stormed into the encampment and resorted to threats.


    What a foolish bastard.


    "Don''t bother about unnecessary things," Mark spoke, hearing the conversations behind him. "We are here for a different reason."


    Mark took the lead and approached the encampment. He even ignored the two unconscious men lying on the ground and made a knock on the gates, loud enough for anyone inside to hear.


    The people inside the encampment were in a rather bad mood. It was clear who the reason was. As such, a guard of the encampment abruptly opened the door and yelled at Mark while pointing a spear at him. The spear was directly below Mark''s neck, and a short jab would pierce him on his throat.


    Even without understanding thenguage, the action and the spear were more than enough to tell what the person was yelling.


    But Mark was unfazed. He even pped the spear away from his neck.


    "I don''t like being threatened like this," Mark spoke. "I''m here to talk, so don''t make me turn this into a ughter."


    Mark spoke, but Jones and Karlene had question marks on their faces. Spera seemed to be a bit interested, while Ka was just as clueless as ever.


    On the other hand, the guard whose spear was pped away was stunned.<sub> </sub>


    "You... You can speak ournguage?!"


    The guard eximed. Of course, it was only Mark and Spera who understood it.


    "Yeah. I can." Mark stared. "So, can you lower your spear now?"


    The guard was in surprise, and he was still in a stance that was ready to stab his spear at any time. However, it seemed that Mark being able to speak theirnguage was far more important than his anger that he nodded and pointed the spear down immediately.


    "Are you not with those humans?"


    The guard asked and pointed at the unconscious men on the ground behind Mark''s group.


    "I''m not." Mark stared at the guard. "I guess it''s obvious."


    That was true. If Mark''s group was with the idiot earlier, they would havee together.


    "I want to talk with your leader. Can we enter?"


    Mark told the guard.


    At this time, several more guards arrived, looking at Mark like a disy in a museum. So far, they never encountered anyone that could converse with them from this human settlement. It was clear why there were both wary and interested.


    Mark''s inquiry, however, met some hesitation. After all, Mark was a stranger. It was reasonable for them to be cautious.


    But then, a wave of energy was felt by everyone.


    "Let them in."


    A voice of a woman echoed inside everyone''s ears. The voice was soothing like a gentle wave by the shore.


    Without question, the guards opened a path for Mark''s group to pass through. The same guard that pointed a spear at Mark took charge to lead them.


    "Amazing..." Jones murmured as he tapped Mark''s shoulder. "The General was right for informing you about these people. But whatnguage are you speaking with?"


    Jones and Karlene sure were curious. After all, it was a newnguage to them.


    "It''s [Spirit Language]."


    Spera was the one who answered.


    "[Spirit Language]?"


    Karlene asked.


    At Karlene''s question, Spera looked at her in confusion.


    "Why are you also asking? I''m sure you heard it before. Terremillio and his wives converse like this. You are also there in the [Spirit Dimension]..."


    "A..hahaha..." Karlene let out an embarrassedugh. "I''m not really paying attention."


    Mark then spoke to Jones, who was being confused further at Spera and Karlene''s banter.


    "It''s thenguage used by [Magical Races]. I''m sure that''s already a good exnation."


    Jones was a Super Soldier and an escapee from [Auraboros]. Of course, he knew what [Magical Races] were. It was just that he never had any concrete familiarity with thenguage.


    "I see." Jones nodded in understanding.


    But then... Jones realized.


    "These people are not humans?"


    This was something that did not enter Jones'' mind before. After all, he might be a strong person but he was not magically sensitive. It would be hard for him to just realize if a person was a human or not based on their magical auras.


    "Not exactly."


    Mark tilted his head and replied.


    "What do you mean?" Jones was confused. "Are they human or not?"


    "Both, I guess," Mark replied with a nod.


    "Huh?"


    Jones was even more confused than before.


    Mark just shrugged. He was not joking.


    As the entire encampment was far smaller than his detection radius, Mark already got a feel of all the people in this encampment.


    All of them were not entirely humans but not entirely [Magical Races] as well. Some of them might be a newer generation. But all of them were half-breeds of humans and [Magical Races].


    That was why it became hard for Jones to realize that they were [Magical Races]. It was because the majority of them looked more human than not.


    Even the guard that was leading them inside only looked like a caveman with a bushy beard and unkempt hair. He was on the taller side in stature, though. And his skin was a dark shade of brown.


    If one was not sensitive enough, it was easy to mistake them as humans, especially now that [Mutators] with beast-like abilities exist and looked a lot less human than the members of this group.


    Soon, Mark''s group was brought to the hut at the center of the encampment. Unlike most of the huts and shelters, it was entirely made of vines and living nts.


    "Come inside."


    The soothing voice echoed once more. The guard stood outside and let Mark''s group in.


    Inside, a beautiful woman sat on a flower seat.


    Mark realized why her voice was quite soothing.


    The leader of the group was actually a half-Diwata.

 Chapter 772 Inside The Hut Of Vines, A Conversation With Artenaris

    <strong>Day 162 - 12:29 PM - Ragtag Encampment, New Infanta Settlement, Infanta, Province of Quezon</strong>


    With only Mark''s group and the woman sitting on the flower seat inside the hut, there was no distraction from observing the half-Diwata.


    Half-beings were not unheard of in myths and folklore. However, there was a difference between races that needed other races to continue and races that did not need such conditions.


    Tikabngs may have a female counterpart, the Anggitay. However, they were known to make female humans bear their children instead. There were also the Tamawos, who did not have any females in their race. They had to rely on human females to procreate.


    In these two cases, all of their race could be considered as half-races. However, the blood of the race was too strong that they override their human blood. After some time, they would transform into the race of their fathers.


    Other races, however, did not have such capabilities. It created true half-breeds that were scorned by the rest of their races.


    This group of half-races was likely formed after those half-breeds were cast out of their respective tribes.


    And if front of Mark''s group, was one of the rarest kind even in folklore. A half-Diwata. Of course, not a Diwata who was half-human. Diwatas were kind, and stories about them falling in love with a human male were not zero.


    What made the Diwata in front of Mark''s group rare was because she was a half-Demon. There was no need to describe how much Diwatas shaped by Bath hated the beings of the underworld.


    And yet, the woman in front of Mark existed.


    Was she born from true love? Or was she a result of a heinous experience?


    The woman sat on her flower seat, with her long, silver hair, golden pupils, and ck-colored gown. She had pointy ears and even had fangs. Each of such were definitely not the characteristics of a Diwata. Yet, she had the aura and appearance of one.


    Mark could not help but feel curious.


    The half-Diwata received Mark''s stare with the same action. It seemed that she was trying to measure Mark, only for her eyes to dte in surprise.


    "You..." The woman spoke first. "What are you? Are you really a Demon?"


    Just how many times had Mark heard that question? Although it was the first time that Mark heard it from a being far weaker than the previous ones. She managed to see through him not because she was strong. It was because of her insights.


    The woman''s soothing voice was definitely filled with shock and confusion as she asked Mark that question.


    "I don''t think I have to answer that question," Mark replied. "Just consider me an unusual Demon."


    That nonchnt attitude did not offend the woman. Instead, she felt more curious.


    "You smell like a pureblood, yet had the insidious aura of Miasma. Quite unusual indeed." The woman nodded. "This one is called Artenaris. Consider me as the leader of this tribe. The tribe of outcast half-beings."


    Artenaris respectfully introduced herself. There was no haughtiness that a Demon usually had or even the high regard of herself that was a quality of most Diwatas. She was talking to Mark as an equal, not lower, and definitely not higher.


    "Then, call me Mark," Mark replied. "As for the ones behind me, there''s no need to introduce them. They can''t even understand us talking."


    "I know." Artenaris smiled with a smile that looked like blooming flowers. "But thatrge man behind you, this one had already seen him before. He was among the leaders of humans in this ce, is he not?"


    "Is she talking about me?"


    Jones tapped Mark''s shoulder, seeing that Artenaris was talking while staring at him.


    "She said that she saw you before and thought that you''re one of the leaders of the settlement."


    Mark replied to Jones before turning back to the half-Diwata.


    "He''s not one of the leaders. He''s just the right hand of the leader who got injured."


    "This one understands." Artenaris nodded. "This one wants to inquire. What is your purpose in wanting to converse with us? Are you with these humans? That is odd on its own, but I haven''t seen you before. This one will never neglect to greet someone as powerful as you if we entered this ce before."


    As it appeared, Artenaris knew that Mark was more powerful than her. Even more than anyone in her tribe. Thus, she took the initiative to invite him and his group inside. It was all before any conflict arose from the tribe members trying to chase anyone away.


    "I''m just curious," Mark replied. "Rather, the leader of this human settlement wanted to know the purpose of your group and why you all appeared here. You should know that it''s human territory. Any wrong move can cause them to make make a move against your tribe and put you all in danger."


    At Mark''s inquiry, Artenaris sighed.


    "It was not like we wanted to be here. We had no other choice." Artenaris answered. "This one would like to share our story. Would you please hear it? At the moment, all of you could take a seat. It must be ufortable to stay standing."


    "I don''t mind."


    Mark replied to the delight of Artenaris.


    And as the half-Diwata waved her hand, vines andrge leaves extended from the walls and ceiling, forming chairs and tables for everyone inside the hut. It was one of the abilities of Diwatas to control nature in one way or another.


    The rest of Mark''s group was surprised to see a lot of things moving around them. Seats and tables formed in two ces, with a single chair and table forming in front of Artenaris.


    "You guys take a seat, she said."


    Mark told the rest while he took the seat in front of the half-Diwata.


    Everyone sat down, and Mark began to listen to the story of Arternaris and her tribe.


    ***


    As she said, they were a group of outcasts from different races. It was all because they were half of another race. Unpure blood. Cursed beings. Filthy creatures.


    There were a lot of things that they were called. Most of these things were not favorable to the ears.


    As outcasts, they would live their tribes, either ending up traveling or living alone somewhere secluded.


    And if one outcast met another, it was not hard to see what would happen. Outcasts living together was not really an impossible sight to see.


    Artenaris was the same. Her mother was a young Diwata, while her father was an Arch Demon.


    All of them gathered together, and being a half-Diwata, she was the strongest of the group and became its leader.


    All of them had been living secludedly in the mountains between Infanta and Real. However, they were chased away from their initial home. It was when the ck Duendes in the South became more and more active. Not to mention they colluded with Demons, making contact even more dangerous.


    The tribe traveled far, losing many members as they braved the dangerous Spirit Dimension.


    They all took a new ce as their home near the coast of Infanta.


    That was when suddenly, thend broke into pieces.


    Artenaris protected her tribe as much as she could. But they still lost many. The remaining ones woke up in a new ce, unknown to them.


    Unfortunately, the new environment was not friendly.<sub> </sub>


    They were attacked by various dangers just in a single day. They were forced to move.


    It was until they noticed the barrier from afar.


    When they reached the ce, they saw that it was inhabited by humans. The first time they arrived, the humans were fighting with metal monsters outside the barrier.


    Artenaris tasked some of their warriors to help the humans despite the danger. In exchange, they would like to upy a piece ofnd inside the barrier.


    Unfortunately, there was anguage barrier. All of them being outcasts that were never raised by their parents, none of them learned anything about the humannguage.


    Thus, there was no negotiation that happened.


    Even so, Artenaris had no choice. They still upied the area as small as they could, hoping that the humans would not get offended.


    Fortunately, it seemed that the human soldiers did not make trouble with them. The other humans were also avoiding them. That was the best scenario they could have.


    Well, until this morning.


    ***


    "It sure had to do something with that guy earlier, right."


    Mark asked.


    "Unfortunately, yes." Artenaris nodded gracefully. "Although this one mostly spends time inside the hut, This one also goes outside from time to time. Apparently, that man seemed to have seen me. We don''t really understand what he was saying and yelling, but this one could at least tell that it was about this one."


    Arternaris then sighed.


    "It was always like this."


    Her troubles were not unwarranted. Artenaris sure was a beautifuldy. The contrast between her kind face and her fiery-looking eyes was just alluring. She also had a soothing aura around her despite having a body as attractive as a Subus. Not to mention her voice that was like a cold breeze in the warm night.


    "This isn''t the first time, is it?"


    Mark asked.


    "Yes." Artenaris nodded. "This one had told you about the ck Duendes. Their king tried to forcefully bring this one as one of his wives back then. We had no choice but to flee."


    Mark could not help but cough a bit. Teremillio''s father sure was a great womanizer. In any case, the Kingdom of ck Duendes did not exist anymore.


    "Well I guess, I indirectly helped you with one thing."


    Mark dered.


    "Hmm?" Artenaris was confused. "Helped with what?"


    "The King of ck Duendes is already dead. And his Kingdom had already fallen. We destroyed it, after all."


    "Huh?" Artenaris stared at Mark in annoyance. "Please, do not joke with this one''s problems."


    "Do I look like I''m joking?"


    Mark stared at Artenaris, making her waver.


    "You did not seem so," Arternaris replied with a bit of hesitation. "If that was truly the case, This one will have to thank you. This one did not know what to do if the King of ck Duendes chased after us. He was a relentless one, after all."


    It seemed that Mark''s group coincidentally got rid of one of the problems that Artenaris had. But of course, it was not thest.


    "So, your tribe only wants to stay here for safety, right?"


    Mark asked.


    "Yes." Artenaris nodded. "If possible, please ry it to the leaders of the humans. We did not want any trouble. We just want to live. It makes us wonder why the humans were being protected while we were thrown out in the open, waving through dangers."


    "It seems you''re not privy about the Eyes, huh."


    Mark said.


    "Eyes?"


    That question from Artenaris alone answered Mark''s statement.


    "My curiosity is a bit filled, so I''ll ry what you said."


    Mark said.


    "You have this one''s gratitude."


    Artenaris bowed her head.


    "Although I have a proposition," Mark added, making Artenaris stare at him. "Why don''t your tribe move to my ce."


    "Your ce? What do you mean?"


    "I don''t mean anything else. Just exactly what I said. You and your tribe can move to my ce. All you have to do there is to help with things like farming and fighting dangers. I believe you can do that."


    And to Mark''s proposition, Arternaris answered.


    "This one is interested in your suggestion. However, this one believes that it was not easy to just follow the words of someone you just met. This one could see that you did not harbor any ill thoughts. But it did not mean that we could trust you unconditionally."


    "It''s fine." Mark shrugged. "I''m not forcing anyone. Besides, the leader of this settlement does not pose your people any threat for now. But you know. Not all humans can be controlled even by their leader."


    Mark suddenly smiled. And in the eyes of Arternaris, it appeared to be a bad omen.


    <strong>"YOU BASTARDS! LET''S SEE HOW YOU ALL GROVEL IN FEAR!"</strong>


    A loud roar of a man could be heard from outside the encampment.


    It was then followed by...


    BAM!


    A sound of a gunshot.

 Chapter 773 Retreat Of The Troublesome, Reaching Some Agreements Between The Tribe And The Military

    <strong>Day 162 - 12:45 PM - Ragtag Encampment, New Infanta Settlement, Infanta, Province of Quezon</strong>


    With that sound of a gunshot, there was no way that anyone would be able to ignore it.


    "Is this your doing?"


    Artenaris could not help but ask Mark, considering his ominous smile and the timing of themotion.


    "You think I would need to resort to something like this and associate myself to idiots?"


    Mark asked back.


    Artenaris stared at Mark before shaking her head immediately. While she could not measure Mark''s exact strength, she knew that he was powerful. Powerful enough that even the entire remaining members of the tribe would not hold a candle against him. Just with his strength alone, he could capture them and force them to be his ves. There was no need to resort to a roundabout method like this.


    "Just what in the world is that idiot doing now?" Jones stood from his seat and turned to Mark. "Mark, I think we better address the situation first. You can continue the talkter."


    There, Mark also stood up.


    "It''s fine. We''re already done here." Mark replied and nced at Artenaris. "You''re also going to check the situation, right? Why not go together with us."


    "Then, this one will ept your invitation."


    Artenaris replied.


    The half-Diwata slowly stood from the seat she never left since the start. Then, her body was covered with light. It was not blinding. However, it was enough to obscure everyone of her appearance.


    It just took a second or two, and the light immediately dimmed.


    There, a young woman in her teens stood. She looked like a beggar in tattered tribal clothing. There were even marks of dirt smeared all over her body.


    If not for the fact that her face looked simr to Artenaris, one would think that it was a different person. Her aura was also non-existent. Even if she was a beauty, no one would easily notice her within a crowd of people.


    Karlene and the rest could not help but stare at the absurd scene. After all, it was too magical.


    Artenaris then stepped forward beside Mark.


    "Should we go?"


    She asked, still calm about the situation outside.


    "If you had this form, you should have used it every time you went out, or that guy outside had not seen you."


    Mark spoke.


    "I do use this form every time I go out. However, I don''t think that even humans would dress up when just walking around their backyards."


    Artenaris replied.


    "Well, that''s true." Mark shrugged. "But it looks like not only your appearance changed but also the way you talk."


    "I don''t know?" Artenaris widely smiled. "It just changes naturally. But I think that it is not the issue right now."


    With those words, the group went outside. They reached the gates, only to see a group of about thirty people lined up outside.


    And, of course, the person in the lead was the same man thrown out earlier, Jackson.


    "I said... <strong>GET THE FUCK OUT OF THE WAY! OR THE NEXT SHOT WILL BE INTO YOUR BRAINS!</strong>"


    Jackson yelled out loud. It seemed that he was not entirely stupid to just force things immediately. He seemed to be using numbers and weapons to intimidate the guards into opening the gates and letting them in.


    Unfortunately, it was not working.


    The cavemen-looking guards stood in front of the gates with their spears ready. They were not afraid of a fight. Even if they died, they would take a whole lot of enemies with them.


    "Boss, intimidation is not working." A well-built man standing beside Jackson spoke. "These cavemen don''t even understand what we are saying for them to feel intimidated. Just kill one of them to say that we mean business."


    "Do I need you to tell me what to do?"


    Jackson snarled at the man, even pointing his pistol at the man''s head.


    The man did not seem afraid but raised his hands and took a step back.


    "I don''t mean that. But we won''t be achieving anything just by standing still."


    The man urged Jackson even more.


    "Hmpf." Jackson. "I know."


    At those words, Jackson pointed his pistol at one of the guards, causing the cavemen to be even more prepared to retaliate.


    This time, Jackson was ready to spill blood. It was just a single pull of the trigger.


    However, before he was able to do so, the gates of the encampment opened.


    Jackson thought that these weird people finally felt fear, but his face changed, seeing the group that came out of the gates.


    "Just what do you think you people are doing?"


    Jones Galley asked with an intimidating stare.


    The group of hoodlums was confused seeing the General''s right-hand maning out of the encampment. Even more, seeing Karlene, the Major''s daughter and someone well known in the settlement. Well, not all in good light, though. Karlene was more known due to her rampage episodes, causing a huge amount of damages and even almost caused deaths in both military and civilian poptions.


    Jackson stared at the group in surprise. After all, he could not understand how they were able to enter the ce without problems while he was thrown out.


    "Why are you all inside there? How did you get in?"


    Jackson asked in an irritated tone.


    He saw a beautifuldy earlier and could not help but wanted to meet her. However, as he forced himself in, even trying to slip through the gates, he was thrown out instead. To experience that humiliation was something that a son of a politician like him could swallow.


    Nheless, meeting that woman was more important to him than the humiliation for some reason. Even if he had to kill, he must meet her.


    "I don''t think that that''s the problem here, Jackson," Jones spoke, stepping forward. "Causing amotion like this... Did your father know about it? You know that mobilizing an armed group inside the settlement would cost you some consequences?"


    "Tsk!"<sub> </sub>


    Jackson clicked his tongue, hatefully staring at Jones.


    "Boss, we better step back this time." The well-built man whispered to the Congressman''s son. "I don''t think we can win against the General''s dog in an upfront confrontation even with our current numbers."


    <strong>"SH*T! This is not over!"</strong> Jackson cursed at the guards before flipping a finger at Jones. "All of you, let''s go!"


    Jones frowned but did not say anything else. The guards did not do anything, and everyone just watched them walk away.


    At this time, Mark spoke.


    "Geez... Just kill them. What is the point in doing this?"


    Of course, Mark would grumble. He wanted to take action and shed some blood. After all, there was no use for a source of trouble like that to continue existing. However, before they came out, Jones requested him to just stay put. That was why Mark was just watching the scene together with Ka, Spera, and Artenaris at the back while Jones and Karlene took the front.


    "Hah... Easy for you to say." Jones replied. "He might be troublesome, but he''s still the son of a Congressman. Not to mention a Congressman that held a bit of power in the settlement. He had his own supply stock and even a private armyposed of [Mutators] they managed to rope in. We can''t just start a conflict with them. Even more, this time when everything is uncertain. If you ask me, I really want to squeeze that idiot''s head to a pulp. But I still represent the General. I can''t."


    By the looks of it, Jones had his fair share of troubles being in his current position. A mercenary like him who was living by shedding the blood of others must be having a hard time holding back while dealing with these troublesome people.


    "Human lives sure areplicated," Artenaris remarked to the side, realizing what was happening. "They have a whole lot of unnecessary things to consider."


    "I can''t deny that," Mark replied.


    Mark then turned to Jones.


    "Hey. Then, you better take responsibility for that, right?"


    "Responsibility? What are you talking about?"


    Jones frowned at Mark talking riddles.


    "I mean, if we got rid of that guy now, she would have one less problem." Mark pointed his thumb at Artenaris. "That guy is targeting her, after all."


    "But since you don''t want to kill them, he will surely cause more trouble in the future. So you must take responsibility for that."


    Mark smiled.


    "You..."


    Jones was speechless. Mark just dumped a whole lot of work on him all of a sudden.


    Then, scratching his head, Jonesined.


    "You should know that killing that guy will only invite more trouble, right? That doting father of his won''t just stand idly after his son was killed."


    "Then, just kill them all." Mark shrugged. "What are you afraid of? The government? As if that still exists. Those politicians are taking matters into their hands. Why don''t you guys do the same? You guys are afraid of infighting. There wouldn''t be any infighting if the military did not let the opposing parties exist in the first ce."


    "Hahaha." Jones could not help butugh. "You really have a blood-thirsty mindset. If it was just me, I''d prefer what you are saying. But, the say in this is not on me."


    That was true. Jones was just following orders. In the end, the decision of the General would still prevail in this situation.


    "In any case, I get your point," Jones added. "I will post some soldiers nearby to stop that idiot from causing trouble here. Of course, if we knew their purpose in the first ce."


    "A right." Mark tapped his chin. "I need to tell you."


    Closing the gates once more, Mark told Jones about the current situation of the tribe. Especially that they just wanted to stay peacefully in this area since they did not have anywhere else to go. In exchange, they would help guard the area against enemies from the outside.


    Mark served as the trantor as Jones and Artenaris conversed with each other. It was tiring, but it was a new experience. In the end, Jones said that he would convey the conversation to the General, and he was sure of a positive response. After all, who would deny help from a small but powerful group of people? Only an idiot would not ept that kind of help in these trying times. Not to mention that they were not asking for any kind of rations. They only wanted to have a ce to stay while they provide themselves with their own food for consumption.


    It was a win-win scenario for both the tribe and the military.


    The meetup and conversation spent more than an hour. It ended with Artenaris conveying her gratitude.


    "You have this one''s gratitude," Artenaris said to Mark in her true form. "We are having a hard time because of thenguage barrier. We are lucky that you came today. With this, we might have more peaceful days toe."


    "It''s fine," Mark said. "Usually, I will ask for remuneration for my work, but satisfying my curiosity is fine this time."


    "In any case, my proposition still stands. If your tribe can''t live here anymore, you''re all wee in my ce."


    Mark added.


    "This one will keep that in mind." Artenaris nodded. "Still, this one is confused as to why you seem adamant to invite us. Don''t tell me... You too..."


    Artenaris seemed to hesitate to continue her words. Nheless, she seemed to be blushing a bit.


    But then...


    "Ah..."


    Artenaris voiced out ufortably as she snapped back. She then noticed that Mark''s eyes were releasing a bit of red glow.


    "Don''t tter yourself too much," Mark said. "I''m not interested in you in that way. Also, I already have a wife. I''m not looking for others."


    "Hmmm..." Artenaris took a deep breath. "Then, she must be lucky."


    "Well... Maybe..." Mark replied. "Anyway, we already spent a lot of time here. We still need to go home."


    "Then, this one will see you all out."


    There, Artenaris watched Mark''s group as they walked away. She could not help but shiver at her experience just now.


    Artenaris might be a half-Diwata, but she was also a half-Demon. It was not wrong to say that rather than face, strength appeal more to her. She could not help but blush at the thought that someone as strong as Mark could be interested in her. She would prefer a in-looking but strong Mark than a handsome-looking but weak Jackson.


    That thought might have bloomed some feeling if left alone.


    But then, the feeling of budding interest was suddenly reced with fear and uncertainty.


    Artenaris was sure. Mark did something.


    If that was true, then Mark''s wife was lucky.


    Because he was willing to erase any other woman''s interest in him as the opposite gender just for her.

 Chapter 774 Farewell For Sometime, Leaving The New Infanta Settlement Once More

    <strong>Day 162 - 2:21 PM - Infirmary, Military Encampment, New Infanta Settlement, Infanta, Province of Quezon</strong>


    After leaving the encampment of the tribe of half-races, Mark''s group made their way back to the encampment of the military. Mark already nned to go home since there was nothing else left to make him stay. He wanted to leave as soon as possible. The depressive environment of the settlement was suffocating for an Empath like him. Furthermore, there was not only the emotional fluctuations of the people that affected him. There were also other things troubling him that were far more annoying.


    "Is it just me, or is it getting cold?"


    Karlene voiced out as they traced back the way they walked before.


    By the looks of it, it was not only her. Even Jones realized the sudden drop in temperature.


    At this time, Mark spoke.


    "Just don''t mind it."


    They were confused. However, since Mark did not want to borate, they just shut their mouths.


    It did not take too long, and they were already in the vicinity of the military encampment. It was when Ka tapped on Mark''s hand.


    "What is it?"


    Mark asked the little girl.


    "Hungry."


    Ka replied.


    Mark shrugged and took out his phone to check the time. Seeing that it was already almost half an hour past two in the afternoon, he could only nod.


    "Let''s stop by the General onest time. Then we''ll eat before we leave."


    Mark told Ka, making her nod in reply.


    "Want me to tell the cooks to prepare something?"


    Jones asked. After all, Mark''s group were guests. He could at least offer some hospitality.


    "Just save your food for yourselves," Mark replied. "We have our own."


    "If you say so." Jones shrugged. "But if you are going to cook something, please cook somewhere hidden. We are gettingints about the rations these past days."


    That statement made Mark give Jones a shrug.


    "I''m pretty sure that those peopleining are those who don''t really do anything but wait for food to beid before them, right?"


    Jones could also wear a bitter expression at that statement. After all, Mark was on point.


    They reached the infirmary and met the General one more time. He was still in a serious conversation with Major Bautista when they arrived.


    "All of you are back." General Faustino greeted. "How is it, Mark?"


    "They sure are an interesting group," Mark replied. "I tried to invite them to my base, but they declined for now."


    "Huh?" General Faustino was surprised. "It looks like my hunch is right. You could converse with them. I thought that some of them resembled creatures from folklore and myths. Since you came here with a fairy with you before, I thought you might be able to understand theirnguage."


    Mark knew that the General was talking about Amihan. However, Amihan was using humannguage since the start and did not have much to do with Mark being able to speak the [Spirit Language]. Nheless, Mark did not bother to exin as it was unnecessary.


    And since it was already the topic, Jones ryed a bit of the conversation with Artenaris to the General, making him nod in understanding.


    "We will talk about thister and n it all out. We should also announce their cooperation with us so that the people would be less wary."


    General Faustino said.


    "Anyway, that will be the job for you soldiers," Mark interjected. "We just came here once more to say that we will leave after we eat lunch."


    "Is that so?"


    General Faustino looked at Mark and then to Major Bautista.


    Major Bautista then nodded and turned to Mark.


    "Mark, can I ask you a favor."


    "What is it now?"


    Mark replied.


    "It''s nothing much. I just decided to stay here and fulfill my duties. So I will leave Karlene and Ka to you once more. As for Professor Sandoval and his family, let them stay in your base for a while. It will be Joash''s group who would take over my duties as the professor''s escorts."


    "Well, there''s no problem with me."


    Mark replied.


    "Then, thank you." Major Bautista nodded and turned to his daughter. "Sorry if I have to separate from you again."


    And to those words, Karlene shook her head.


    "I already expected this. Even momins a lot because you always prioritize your duties in the military over your family. So, it''s fine."


    "I''m sorry."


    Major Bautista approached his daughter and gave her a hug.


    "Don''t worry. I''m not angry." Karlene replied. "Mom is the same. She alwaysined, but she also said before that your diligence in your work is one of the reasons she loved you."


    Major Bautista shook his head and silently smiled. Karlene also returned the embrace. After all, it might be thest them they would be with each other for quite a long time.


    While the father and daughter were in their own world, General Faustino spoke to Mark.


    "Actually, I have a question."


    "What is it?"


    Mark asked.<sub> </sub>


    "Is it possible for you to take refugees from here to your base?"


    The General inquired.


    And to that inquiry, Mark replied with a frown.


    "I''m pretty sure that you already expected my answer to that."


    "So, it''s impossible." General Faustino shook his head bitterly. "I know this would be your answer, but I still want to take my chances."


    "You don''t have to take chances." Mark crossed his arms in annoyance. "There is no way I will take in leeches into my ce."


    Those words from Mark''s mouth spoke about the greatest problem in the settlement.


    People being leeches.


    It was not wrong to feel helpless in the face of an unavoidable catastrophe as long as the people had the urge to take their steps and continue moving forward. However, the majority of the people did not have that urge. And instead, relied on other people to give them sustenance.


    In this case, it was the military who was being relied upon.


    However, even the military had its own problems. Yet, they had to help people who were not even trying to help themselves.


    One example of this situation was the current state of the farnds in the New Infanta Settlement. While it was true that people needed some knowledge to nt crops, there was not much knowledge needed to be able to plow the fields. Even children could do it.


    Yet, there was only a handful of volunteers currently working in the fields. If everyone were to help, even just in plowing, these farm fields should have long been ready for nting new crops.


    The settlement was struggling, and the people were not helping at all.


    There was no way Mark would take in those kinds of people.


    "Anyway, I''m pretty sure you are asking me that because of the things you heard from Major Bautista."


    Mark nced at the father and daughter that were already finished in their talk.


    "Don''t me him. It''s me who should take responsibility for asking him."


    General Faustino spoke with a serious face.


    "Don''t worry. I''m not looking to me anyone. I don''t care anymore about these things. There''s nothing you guys will be able to do anyway with the information you got."


    Mark jeered.


    Those words from Mark turned the General''s serious expression into a bitter and helpless one. After all, Mark was speaking facts here.


    "Anyway, we should end it here." Mark continued. "I made some time to bring the Major here, but I''m also a busy person."


    "Well, I won''t hold you any longer. But just onest question."


    General Faustino stated, having his serious expression once more.


    "Say it. But I''ll only answer depending on the question."


    Mark replied.


    "Within your knowledge. Does Earth have any possibility to recover from these disasters?"


    The question from the General made everyone confused. After all, why would he ask that kind of question to Mark of all people?


    However, Mark stared at the General with a sigh. This guy was asking him, knowing the possibility that he had information that even they from the military did not have.


    In any case, any answer to this question would sound like a piece of personal opinion. Thus, there was no reason for Mark to hold back.


    "Earth recovering from this mess? That''s only a fleeting dream. Expect things to get worse than getting better. The [Infected] will continue to get stronger, and there will be more and more encounters with the [Mechids]. Humanity is doomed if wegged behind even a single step. Is this the answer you want from me?"


    "That answer is fine. Thank you."


    General Faustino thanked Mark, but it was clear in his face that he was troubled. However, he was not troubled by the answer he was given. It was more like he was thinking about the steps to take from hereon based on Mark''s response.


    "Then, we''ll have lunch first before we leave. Oh, we will cook our own, so don''t bother your volunteers to cook for us."


    With that, Mark''s group left the infirmary. Major Bautista still apanied them, however. After all, they were not leaving yet, and he wanted to spend more time with his daughter before the separation.


    Mark''s group cooked lunch within the outskirts of the settlement. And to say, it was not afortable one. The lunch was some instant spaghetti that Mark had inside his ring. And unfortunately, the smell was more than enough to get the attention of people passing by.


    And the stares they were getting were definitely annoying. The soldiers were fine, but the refugees might have approached them and begged if not for Char resting beside them.


    There were also some annoying people who were watching in the shadows. It seemed that these people should be affiliated with the politicians and were trying to observe Mark''s group as close as possible.


    Mark was annoyed and wanted to strike down those people. Unfortunately, he already gave his word to not cause any trouble this time. In any case, they were leaving after eating. It was still tolerable to just ignore them.


    While eating, Mark was also paying attention to the surroundings. He was keeping track of the soldiers. However, it seemed that nothing notable was happening. Rather, they were perplexed that the mechanical shark from this morning did not return at all. Some were worried that the shark would attack when they least expected. It was better to deal with it as soon as possible.


    Mark also tried to survey the river by sending Ignis to patrol while they were still in the settlement. However, even the Demon Sword found no traces of the mechanical shark. It was as if it did not exist at all.


    This made Mark a bit more annoyed. The possibility that [Mechids] could perceive danger and escape from it was troublesome. It was extremely different from most [Infected], who only knew how to charge and use any ability they had towards their target. What if the majority of [Mechids] had this function?


    And since they were robots, they should be capable of remembering things. Which meant that a [Mechid] that escaped could remember any danger they encountered and escaped from and could possibly formte any form of revenge.


    If that was the case, that mechanical shark coulde back in an absurd way that would cause arge number of casualties.


    Mark could only keep a mental note this time.


    That was not to let any [Mechid] they encounter escape, no matter how many or what size it had.


    Soon, they finished lunch.


    Before going, Mark told his thoughts about the [Mechids] to Major Bautista. For sure, this information would reach the General.


    It was better that way. It would be bad if their neighbor got done in by [Mechids] just because the things from his theories happened. After all, the existence of this settlement still served some purpose for Mark. Karlene''s father was also staying here.


    And with that, the rest of Mark''s group left, riding on Char''s back, leaving Major Bautista in the settlement.

 Chapter 775 Rest Time, Afternoon In The Living Room Of The Cliff House

    <strong>Day 163 - 12:21 AM - Cliff House, Mountain Base, Mount Mbito, General Nakar, Province of Quezon</strong>


    "We''re here!"


    "Sorry for intruding."


    Karlene and na said respectively as they entered the door of the Cliff House.


    Morning training had just finished, and it was already lunchtime. Since Karlene was still tired from the journey yesterday, they decided to just skip the afternoon training. After taking ate morning bath, the two went to the Cliff House as it was the best ce to spend time in the Mountain Base.


    It was not like there were no other ces to hang out. There was the Garden Pool right at the center of the base. It was where Miliel, the Mermaid, was living. She already opened up to humans and could converse to some extent. Thus apanying her while wasting time was not a bad idea.


    There was also the Recreation Area. It was a park-like open area also at the center of the base but just on the north side of the Night Everred Spirit Tree. Although it was mainly a facility with park furniture, benches, and even a yground for children, it also had a mini-theater where people could watch avable movies in their free time.


    Entertainment facilities like this might seem unnecessary in the apocalypse. However, everyone agreed to build one. It was a very good way to relieve stress. After all, stress was something that everyone needed to get rid of to maintain a positive outlook and productive performance.


    The other two ces were good. However, Karlene and na preferred to spend time in the Cliff House. Spending time with friends was a pretty nice way to rx.


    "You two are always wee here," Odelina said as she let the two enter with a smile. "But don''t make too much noise this time."


    Question marks were clear on the expression of the two. It was until they arrived at the living room that they understood why.


    The living room was thergest area in the house that Mark made. It was because it also served as a multipurpose room. It had enough chairs, a long table, a writing board, and even small tools to serve as a meeting room. It was also being used as the dining room to save some space. Most and foremost, the room was also equipped with a few items for entertainment for both children and adults alike.


    On one of the sofas, Mei sat with a subtle smile and caring eyes. On herp was Mark, sleeping like a log.


    On the opposite sofa, Elise sat, reading a pocketbook. She was silent, obviously because she did not want to wake up Mark.


    In the southeast corner of the living room, the dining table was upied by Mark''s daughters, along with Odelina''s children and even Ka. They were all ying a board game together. They were a bit noisy, but it was strange that it was not waking Mark up.


    Aside from them, there was also Jaeya and Pefile present. The former was spending time with her adopted son, Theo. Thetter, on the other hand, was just sitting down, unexpectedly reading a cookbook.


    Mara was also here, obviously with her sister, Jte. And since Jte was here, and so as Snow.


    There were a whole lot of people in the living room. Yet, Mark was able to sleep fine and undisturbed.


    "Woah. This is odd." Karlene said as she took a seat next to Elise. "Mark can actually sleep like there''s no tomorrow?"


    "Please don''t make too much noise."


    Elise put down her pocketbook and strictly reprimanded Karlene.


    "I haven''t even made any noise yet..."


    Karlene grumbled.


    "Amihan is tuning down the noise around Master. But if you are this close, you might wake him up."


    Odelina reminded as she passed by, going to the kitchen.


    It was only when Karlene and na noticed Amihan sitting on the armrest beside Mei, obviously using some kind of magic.


    "So, that is why." Karlene nodded in understanding and then turned to Elise. "Though I can''t believe you can reprimand people now."


    Elise flinched. She just did not want her Elder Brother to get disturbed in his rest that she acted out of character. Now that she was reminded of it, she could only shyly cover her face with her pocketbook.


    "Bessie, don''t make fun of her... Seriously..." na said to her childish best friend with a sigh. "Still, I didn''t expect that almost everyone is here this time."


    na said that as she turned her head around the room. The children were not surprised to be here and ying. The same was to be said for Jaeya and the two [Queen Type] infected. They were, after all, the most behaved when Mark was around.


    But what about Pefile?


    "Hey, Pefile," na called out with a bit silent voice. "Shouldn''t you be taking care of your wife?"


    "Edzel and Pearl are there right now." Pefile put down the cookbook in his hand and replied. "You know that my rtionship with Edzel is stillplicated, so it''s better for me to leave them alone."


    "That''s true..." na nodded. "But what''s with the cookbook?"


    "This?" Pefile waved the cookbook, showing that it was actually about nutritious deserts. "I''m just looking to see if there''s a dessert I can cook for Celine for dinner. Alright, please also don''t disturb me. I''ll get back to reading."


    Hearing him, na shrugged and did not pester the Tamawo any longer. Pefile was not that talkative and could sound rude at times. Everyone was already used to it, though.


    "A handsome man, cooking for his wife... I wish I also had someone like that."


    Karlene grumbled.


    "It''s too early for you, Bessie."


    na tapped Karlene''s shoulder.


    "Huh?" Karlene was confused. "You might be a few months older than me, but we''re basically the same age, you know? Why is it early for me?"


    "Bessie..." na sighed. "We might be the same in physical age, but your mental age is young enough to have the FBI called on someone."


    "What?"


    Karlene was bbergasted. However, the ones that heard na were just nodding or shrugging in agreement.


    "HEY!"


    Karlene eximed, noticing everyone''s reaction.


    And, of course...


    "SHHH!"


    Karlene was reprimanded while they pointed at the sleeping Mark.


    "Be quiet. Please." Mei stared at the two. "Gege had been really busy these past few days and was really tired because of yesterday. I finally forced him to rest, so please don''t ruin it."


    Mei was angry, and the two could only shut up.


    However, it was clear now that Mark was not resting because he wanted to, but Mei forced him to.


    Still, the two could not fathom how Mark was still asleep even at this time. After all, this guy was too sensitive to his surroundings. He would detect anyone staring at him, even from a far distance. Yet, Karlene and na arrived, made a bit of noise, and were even staring at Mark. Yet, he was still asleep.


    "Don''t be too confused." Odelina returned and spoke to the two. "I also don''t know why but Master can only sleep like this because of the Mistress."<sub> </sub>


    Then, Odelina handed a few things to Mei. It seemed that she was on the way to get these when Karlene and na arrived.


    "So, it''s only something that Mei can do, huh..."


    na said, looking at Mark''s sleeping face.


    It was when they saw what Odelina gave Mei. It was actually a pack of cotton buds. Mei then began to clean his ear as he sleep.


    "Heh... It looks like he liked it... That''s unexpected."


    Karlene said as they saw Mark look way more rxed than before.


    "Gege might not look the type, but he really likes this kind of stuff." Mei gently spoke. "He also likes getting his head getting patted and scratched. He also likes cute things."


    "Is that so?"


    Karlene sure was surprised.


    "No, no. Mark liking cute things really isn''t surprising."


    na interjected, getting Mei, Karlene, and even Elise''s attention.


    "How can you say so?"


    Karlene asked.


    "Mark''s an Otaku, right? That alone exins it."


    na exined.


    "Well, you Otakus are weird people."


    Karlene remarked, gaining na''s annoyed-looking eyes.


    "These two always try to insult each other when they get the opportunity. Are they really the best of friends?"


    As the two bickered, Amihan muttered while sitting on Mei''s side.


    "Some human friendships go like that, Amihan," Mei replied. "They were so close that they had no fear of falling out with each other from such jokes."


    "Is that so?"


    Amihan replied, still could not understand Karlene''s and na''s friendship.


    "Don''t think about it too much," Mei said to Amihan. "Even I don''t understand it thoroughly since I never had such kind of friendship with other people."


    "Me too." Elise agreed. "I... I don''t really understand their kind of people."


    Elise, a neglected child and bullied in school, definitely had no understanding of such rtionships.


    "You three are being rude."


    Karlene said, looking at the three, whispering.


    "Anyway, it is really good that we can rx like this here," na said, panning her eyes throughout the room. "Back in the Military Settlement, we can''t rx even a second."


    "We can only take a breather because there is nothing much to do at the moment," Mei replied. "We can''t go out of the barrier without getting sick. What we can do is limited."


    "Yeah, that''s true." Karlene agreed. "It actually feels kind of boring. I guess we are already used to living in this world."


    What Karlene said was what everyone here could agree on. Back before the apocalypse, life was peaceful for most people. If peace felt boring now, it just meant that they already adapted to the chaotic state the world had right now.


    "You all should treasure the peace we currently had."


    At this point, Jaeya''s voice echoed in their minds. They could not help but turn to Jaeya, who was ying with Theo.


    "Once the barrier is down, we might not get rest even if we wanted to."


    Jaeya added.


    That was also true. The barrier that the Eyes created would notst forever. It might be protecting the base from foreign elements for now. But when it wore off, who knows what would happen.


    Jaeya''s words caused silence in the room. Those words were worth the time to think about.


    "Still, at this point, it''s only Mark who had interesting things to do."


    na mentioned.


    "Now that you mention it, that''s true."


    Karlene agreed.


    Patrolling around the base might not be that interesting. However, when Mark was not on patrol, he was designing weapons and testing things. He was even studying the golem they brought back from the Kingdom of ck Duendes.


    And to say, Mark was making good progress with things he was doing.


    Especially that weapon Mark used yesterday to prate that mechanical shark''s body that even hot weaponry of the military could not damage. Mark did say that the aim was off and it needed more adjustment. However, it was already a sess when it could damage an enemy that modern weapons could not.


    Even Mark''s study of the golem was progressing faster than they thought. He was already near the process of designing golems where the [Golem Cores] that Bath gave the little girls could be used on.


    Now that they thought about it, Mark sure was doing a whole lot of things. They were sure that he was also unto stuff they did not know about.


    "For some reason, I''m feeling bad right now."


    Karlene murmured as she nced at the sleeping Mark.


    "If you feel that way, stop skipping training." na jeered at her best friend. "Just because Uncle Alfonso is not here doesn''t mean you can bezy."


    "You know that I''m still tired from yesterday''s travel, right?" Karlene grumbled. "Riding on a Dragon''s back sounds cool, but it''s not exactly the mostfortable ride, all right?"


    "They are at it again... Bickering..."


    Elise murmured as she tried to scoot away further from the two, although she could not because the three of them sat on the same sofa.


    Fortunately, the bickering did not wake Mark up, with Amihan working hard to stop the noise from reaching him.

 Chapter 776 Workshop And Private Training Area, How The Two Spent The Time They Currently Had

    <strong>Day 169 - 5:21 PM - Workshop, Cliff House, Mountain Base, Mount Mbito, General Nakar, Province of Quezon</strong>


    <strong>CLANG! CLANG! CLANG!</strong>


    The sound of a hammer echoed as it hit a piece of metal inside the workshop. No one could hear the noise from outside as it was a room inside the rocky wall of the cliff. As such, almost no one from outside knew of the things happening inside.


    Inside the workshop, Mark held arge hammer as he pounded a sword affixed on the worktable. He was not fixing the sword, however. He was ttening it from the edge while it was tightly mped unto a bench mp.


    The sword was not just any regr sword, either. It was a magical sword. If anyone in the know saw Mark bend the perfectly fine sword like this, they would scream in dismay.


    A magical sword sure was an extremely rare item in the realm of humans. Yet, Mark was on the verge of breaking it for reasons he solely knew.


    <strong>CRACK! CREAK!</strong>


    The sword slowly began to make uncanny noises as its metal de cracked into pieces.


    <strong>CLANG!</strong>


    And soon, the part being hammered broke, scattering pieces of metal all over the work table.


    Seeing the mess, Mark did not show any reaction. He only let go of the hammer and put it on the table as he searched the fragments of the sword.


    It did not take long, and he found what he was looking for. Carefully picking up the things he looked for, it was actually small pieces of metal that looked different from the metal that should haveposed the sword he broke.


    The de of the magical sword had a grayish silver sheen. The pieces that Mark picked up appeared to be crystal despite being metal in texture.


    "It also contained too little."


    Mark murmured as he looked at a small clear container in a disy cab not far from him. He thenpared the contents of the container and the metal pieces he had in his hand.


    The contents of the container were actually pieces of metal simr to what he currently had on his hand.


    Seeing that it was the same, Mark put the metal pieces in his hand into the container.


    Then, he proceeded to break the rest of the sword.


    It was not the first magic sword that Mark broke in these past days. It was actually the tenth.


    This number was more than enough to drive people crazy. Rare artifacts of the Mythological Era were actually being destroyed into pieces by Mark. One after another.


    Even Berrak might have a heart attack if he heard what Mark did.


    However, Mark looked at the container in dismay.


    "It''s not enough yet..."


    With this thought, he would not stop soon. Even if he had to break most of the magical equipment they managed to get from the Kingdom of ck Duendes, he would do it.


    But what were these crystal-like pieces of metal that Mark was looking for inside the broken magical weapons?


    It was the magical energy conductor used for the magic circuits inside the weapons. This conductor was the base of these weapons, so it could circte and even store magical energy for its magical enchantments and effects.


    An example was the sword Mark was currently breaking. The materials of the sword were not entirely magical. Although it was made of alloyposing some magic metal that did not exist in the Mortal Dimension, arge portion of the alloy was steel. The very same kind of steel that humans used in things in their daily lives.


    Yet, the sword could disy a hard to rival sharpness that regr steel weapons should not be capable of. Even if it was made of an alloyposed of magic metals, its sharpness was still incredible. It was all thanks to the magic circuits carved inside it and was filled with this magical energy conductor.


    As for why Mark wanted the magical energy conductors, it was not hard to tell. It had many uses, mainly for crafting magical equipment and weapons. And most importantly, building a magical puppet,monly known as a Golem.


    Mark''s research of the broken Golem had a breakthrough the other day. The body of the Golem was actually made of magical alloy with regr Iron as its base. It was not wrong to say that it was an Iron Golem. However, it was simr to modern gadgets and appliances. There was some sort of circuitry that ran all across the Golem''s body. Nheless, instead of copper wiring, it had these magical circuits engraved inside. All were made of the very same magical energy conductors.


    In this case, Mark could start learning about the circuitry since he could follow the ancient documents he was using as a reference. Although there was no way to decipher the wordings in these old papers, they had diagrams. All of which appeared to be magic circles and circuits. If Mark could recreate and experiment on these diagrams, he would be able to see their functions.


    However, there was a big problem.


    Mark had no way of making these magical energy conductors by himself. He tried asking Teremillio and his mother, even the other magical races he currently had in his base.


    No one had a clue to recreate it.


    From what Mark learned from them, the method for crafting magical items was a lost art in the first ce. That was why magical weapons were almost extinct, and most humans had no idea that these things existed. And, of course, it was the same for the magical energy conductors.


    Considering that the method to make the item Mark needed was lost, he had to resort to a drastic measure.


    It was to salvage the item from the magical equipment they had.


    Apparently, it was the same reason why the king of the ck Duendes amassed such arge number of magical weapons in the first ce. It was all for them to create a golem. After all, while a magical weapon was incredible on its own, there was no way it could be used without anyone wielding it. Golems, on the other hand, could move on their own. And was proven to be even more destructive.


    Actually, destroying these rare items hurt Mark too. After all, as a gamer, Mark was a hoarder. He liked to collect things, even unnecessary ones. Not to mention these extremely rare items.


    Unfortunately, Mark had no choice. If he wanted to develop his own items and create a Golem, he had to make some sacrifices.


    If he seeded, not only Mark would be able to create a Golem. But he would also be able to create his own magical weapons.


    It would be his first actual magical creation.


    Although he already made the [Shooting Moon de] that Mei had, and even the [Shadow Piercer] that he created recently, it was not exactly his magical creations.<sub> </sub>


    In the first ce, the [Shooting Moon de] was already a magical weapon of its own. Mark only changed its shape to suit Mei more.


    On the other hand, the [Shadow Piercer] was not really a magical weapon. It was only a minified railgun. As long as there was enough power source, it would not even need Mark''s [ck Lightning] to fire.


    Due to this reason, Mark was really eager to finish this research. Not to mention that they would need suitable weapons more after the barrier vanished.


    It was fortunate that nothing much happened around the barrier this past week. The worst was a few [Mutated Animals] wandering to the base, fleeing from the radiation. Both Berrak and Annika captured the animals to train.


    With theck of events around the base, Mark was able to concentrate on his research.


    ***


    <strong>Day 169 - 5:24 PM - Private Training Area, Mountain Base, Mount Mbito, General Nakar, Province of Quezon</strong>


    <strong>CLANG! CLANG! CLANG!</strong>


    In the Private Training Area just beside the Cliff House, there was also the sound of metal shing several times.


    Different from a magical sword being smashed with a hammer, however. The sound here came from several weapons shing with one another.


    This Private Training Area was something that only a few people from Mark''s group could use. Well, it was specifically built by Mark so that Mei could train on her own.


    Mei could join the training that the others were participating in. However, it was difficult considering her circumstances.


    As the wife of the owner of the base, no one would mess with Mei. Nheless, she was still the most eye-catching female in this ce. The others would not be able to concentrate in training if she was around. It was even worse for men, who would not be able to resist but ogle at her.


    Thus, Mei did her training privately like she always did back in Bay City. From time to time, Karlene and the others would join her. Pretty much like what was happening this time.


    With arge dull sword held with her both hands, Mei stood at the center. Around her were Karlene, na, Hannah, and, unexpectedly, Feng Zhiruo.


    Feng Zhiruo. She was the female [Chinese Cultivator] that Mark and Mei brought back from their encounter in New Jersey. She had been living in this base for a while already and had already adapted to her current life. Compared to when she arrived here, she was now stronger. From her own words, she seemed to have risen three levels of cultivation in the short time that she was living here.


    And to say, instead of wanting to leave, Feng Zhiruo was happy to stay here and serve the base. Not only that the base was too suitable for her cultivation, but even though she was more or less an offender because of what happened before, she was treated better in this ce. Even betterpared to when she was living in her sect.


    Now, Feng Zhiruo was not only helping with Mei''sbat training but was also teaching her in terms of cultivation.


    <strong>STOMP!</strong>


    Hannah jumped sideways and threw a dull dagger towards Mei.


    However, Mei did not even block the dagger but dodged it just by looking at the side of her eyes.


    It was unexpected that the timid Hannah was an expert at throwing daggers. She was not exactly an expert in terms ofbat, but her dagger throwing skills were top-notch. She could even hit a target with a kitchen knife a dozen meters away without missing. As it appeared to be, Hannah only fell into the hands of the raiders due to being outnumbered and having bad luck.


    As Mei dodged the dagger, Feng Zhiruo and Karlene made their moves. Karlene using a makeshift w on her hands swiped towards Mei''s head. Feng Zhiruo, on the other hand, aimed for Mei''s legs.


    The movements of the two were fast. A regr human would have a hard time following them. After all, one was a powerful [Mutator] while the other was a moderately leveled [Chinese Cultivator].


    A bitter than the two, na, with her hands covered with gauntlets, punched towards Mei''s stomach.


    With a three-pronged attack like this, it would be hard to dodge or block.


    However, Mei, with her eyes dted, stabbed her sword to the ground and blocked Feng Zhiruo''s attack. She then used the sword as a bnce to position herself horizontally, avoiding Karlene''s attack. Lastly, in that position, she kicked na''s gauntlet, not only blocking the punch but also pushing herself out of the encirclement of the three.


    It just happened in an instant. But Mei was already outside the range of the three.


    "Geez... I hate this." Karlene grumbled with a sigh as she looked at Mei. "Closebat with you having those eyes is just unfair."


    na could only shrug. Feng Zhiruo, who could barely understand what Karlene said, also agreed. Hannah did not say anything, but she seemed to be in the same opinion.


    Well, Mei''s eyes could not only zoom but could also make everything in her sight seem slower.


    However, while the other four seemed amazed, Mei seemed disappointed.


    "This won''t do."


    Mei shook her head.


    "What is wrong? I think you did well."


    na, who trained in some martial arts, thought Mei did well avoiding the attacks and escaping the encirclement.


    "I think I could have done some sort of counterattack at the same time, but all I managed to do was to dodge and block," Mei replied. "I got overwhelmed with four attacksing almost at the same time and could not think properly."


    "Seriously... You''re quite the spartan to yourself, aren''t you?"


    Karlene grumbled.


    "No..." Mei shook her head. "I have to improve more if I wanted to continue fighting by Gege''s side."


    Hearing the reason, the other four could only shrug.


    Of course, the only reason Mei wanted to improve her abilities was Mark.

 Chapter 777 Golemancy Progress, Marks Goals In Building A New Golem

    <strong>Day 172 - 2:14 PM - Night Everred Pure Spirit Tree Subdimension, Mountain Base, Mount Mbito, General Nakar, Province of Quezon</strong>


    Another three days passed. Mark''s research was progressing smoothly.


    Since yesterday, he moved his working area inside Chiyo''s subdimension. It was due to various reasons, although for the most part was because the five-meter tall golem would not fit inside his workshop.


    If Mark just needed it for a work reference, he did not need to work in front of the broken golem. He could perfectly recall everything he already saw and observed from his subconscious. However, it was not what Mark needed the broken golem for at this moment.


    "How is it?"


    Mark asked as he touched the golem''s arm with his right hand and a glowing diagram on a table with his left.


    In front of Mark, it was Annica and Berrak. They were his assistants for his work since yesterday.


    After breaking more than half of the magical equipment his group brought back from the Kingdom of ck Duendes, Mark was confident that he collected enough [Magical Energy Conductor] to make three small golems or one human-sized one. The only thing Mark needed to do was figure out the functions of the [Magic Circuits] and how these things work in technical ways in particr.


    In that case, one of the things that Mark needed to know was the flow of magical energy within these [Magic Circuits]. And the best people to get help from, in this case, was the two people in front of Mark.


    Annica was recognized in the base as its animal tamer and animal handler. However, only a few knew that her eyes could see more than a regr human or even a [Mutator] could. As her eyes could see energy as colors, she would be able to see the energy flow within the [Magic Circuits] without problems.


    As for Berrak. He was here due to his familiarity with [Magic Formations], also known as [Magic Circles]. He might not be a fully established magic user since he was a [Summoner], but, in the least, he was the most familiar with these kinds of things here in the base.


    Mark also tried asking Teremillio and other magical races in his base if they had familiarity with [Magic Circles] and stuff. Unfortunately, none of them had a positive answer. In the first ce, magical races could use magic naturally. They had no reason to rely too much on [Magic Circles]. However, it seemed that some of them knew some [Ritual Magic] in the least.


    Nheless, [Ritual Magic] had nothing to do with Mark''s current research. Mark also wanted to hear the details about this stuff, but definitely not now.


    At Mark''s question, Annica was concentrating on both the arm of the golem and the small replica on the table. As Mark poured magical energy into both mediums, Annica carefully observed the flow.


    "The energy flow looks identical, but the consistency of the flow in the replica is unstable," Annica said and pointed at a certain part of the replica. "Right here. The flow weakens."


    "It doesn''t get cut off or scatter?"


    Mark asked.


    "No." Annica shook her head. "It just weakens from this part, but the rest looks the same."


    "Then, it''s good," Mark said as he stopped pouring magical energy on both items. "The consistency can be fixedter on. The most important thing right now is if the flow is correct."


    "I guess that''s true." Annica agreed. "But this is better than yesterday. The flow yesterday goes either backward or scatters out of the medium."


    This was the second day that they were testing the [Magic Circuits] that Mark replicated. And the results yesterday? It was bad.


    Mark''s first attempts in recreating the [Magic Circuits] that he copied from the golem''s body, and the documents went wrong in one way or another. Like what Mark had mentioned, some circuits got the energy flow cut off while some scattered out of the circuit causing disrupting the flow heavily.


    One of the reasons was either the circuit in the golem being damaged because of its age. There were also errors within the diagrams in the documents.


    And that was where Berrak''s duty here started. Using his knowledge about theplex symbols of [Magic Circles], he would try to draft recements on the broken parts of the non-functioning [Magic Circuits].


    From the cooperation of the three, they managed to fix and recreate some of the [Magic Circuits] sessfully. Well, of course, not everything.


    Berrak''s knowledge was not enough. The [Magic Circuits] used in the golem and the documents were also old enough to be called lost knowledge. That was why there were some of the circuits that had no sess yet.


    After testing and seeding in recreating the replicas, the next part was determining the [Magic Circuit]''s specific function. Each part of the golem had different circuits interconnected with each other. It was not wrong to say that the golem''s circuitry was asplicated as the motherboard of aputer.


    For the golem to function correctly, each specific [Magic Circuit] had to be in the proper ces. It was a hard endeavor if one had no experience in electronics or programming.


    Fortunately, Mark had experience in both. He was a Computer Science Graduate. As such, Mark studied several programmingnguages. Although he did not learn anything useful in college, in the least, he could follow the programmingnguage and syntax as a reference.


    As for electronics, Mark had basic knowledge. He had to learn it to make some props he created as a living to function properly.


    It was an unexpected but really good thing that he could make use of this knowledge with studying and building a golem.


    "Bro, this is a new one, right?" Annica said as they tested another [Magic Circuit]. "The energy gets cut off in half. There is no energy flowing on the other."


    "I thought so too when I''m making it," Mark said. "Is the energy stopping at this point?"


    Mark then pointed at a certain part of the circuit. He then put his other hand on another part of the circuit.


    "How about now?"


    Mark asked.


    "Ooooh!" Annica said, amazed. "The whole thing is glowing now."


    "Knew it..." Mark nodded as he let go of the circuit. "This one needed two inputs at the same time to function."


    Mark then looked at another circuit.


    "This one also has two inputs. But one input is just enough to light the whole thing." Mark mentioned. "It''s like logic gates."


    Finishing the test on another circuit, Annica looked at the broken golem.<sub> </sub>


    "Do these things really make this golem move? It''s hard to find the logic. How can justbinations of lines and symbols be able to move this thing?"


    "From the perspective of a regr modern human, magic won''t really make any sense." Berrak chimed in. "But think about it. Most humans don''t know how technology works. They just knew that it works, and ept the fact without question."


    "Hmmm..."


    Annica fell silent, looking at Berrak with eyes annoyed by his words.


    "Don''t look at me like that, little girl. I''m telling the truth."


    Berrak reacted, having the same annoyed expression.


    The two were now the animal handlers of the base. Annica for the [Mutated Animals] and Berrak for the [Magical Creatures]. Thus, it was already expected for the two to work together. However, with Berrak''s straightforward nature being relentless with his words and Annica being a somewhat annoying energetic girl, the personality of the two did not really match each other as a team.


    There was no need to mention that Berrak was an old-school middle-aged man while Annica was a modernized teenager. The two really would not mix well.


    Thus, the two would always end up getting annoyed with each other. It was not to the extent of being impossible to cooperate, but the two better work separately than working together.


    "You two should stop quarreling in front of me." Mark sighed. "If you two don''t behave, I''ll make sure to make you two as a team from now on."


    <strong>""NO!""</strong>


    The two eximed at the same time.


    "Then behave," Mark warned. "I don''t want my work to be hindered because you two keep quarreling."


    And at Mark''s words, the two looked at each other onest time and just stopped interacting. There was really no need to as they only needed to respond to Mark''s orders and questions.


    Because of the two concentrating on the work, it became faster. It seemed that the two really did not want to be lumped together, despite both Berrak and Annica having talent and skills with animals.


    In any case, there was really no need for the two to be forced to work together. Both [Mutated Animals] and [Magical Creatures] might be considered as animals. But the two kinds were still extremely different in nature. The taming procedure and even the way to care for them were also different. Thus, even both kinds of animals needed to be put in separate ces.


    And in terms of value, both Berrak and Annica had pros and cons.


    Annica could transfer her contract with animals with other people. Thus, anyone who wanted and could care for an animal helper could benefit from it. In this case, Berrak lost as only he could make use of the creatures he tamed.


    However, Berrak could call upon his tamed animals anywhere, anytime. It was something that Annica could not do, of course. Thus, in terms of fighting capability and utility, Berrak won.


    If the two could only work together, it would be better. However, there was no need to force the two as it would only impact things negatively.


    As the quarreling stopped, Mark''s study of the golem progressed further. From what they found out, there seemed to be three kinds of [Magic Circuits] within the golem. One was to rymands from the core. The other was to transfer themands. Andstly, the circuits that execute the function of a certain part.


    Looking at it, the [Magic Circuits] were installed following a certain syntax. It was really simr to programming.


    And with the knowledge they acquired today, Mark was sure that he would be able to start making prototype golem parts in the next few days.


    "Say, big brother," Annica called out. "Are you really making something like this?"


    Annica was currently looking at the broken golem. She was thinking that Mark was going to make an exact copy of this giant piece of metal.


    "Definitely not."


    Mark bluntly replied.


    "Why not?" Annica asked. "Won''t it be easier to just copy this thing? Since you are steadily figuring out how these circuits work, isn''t it just fine to make a copy or just rece the broken parts?"


    And in this thought, Berrak also seemed to agree.


    "I think making a new golem would be really hard. From what I learned from my master, crafted golems like this are really rare because of the difficulty to build one."


    Mark looked at the golem. Both Annica and Berrak had a point here. However, Mark never intended to fix or make a simr one to this broken golem.


    "I''m making a new one because this thing is extremely outdated." Mark sighed. "I already checked the insides of the golem. While the mechanisms inside the golem are state of the art in the past, it''s nothing but antiquepared to simr mechanisms made with modern technology. So, I''m making a golem powered by [Magic Circuits] and had modern mechanisms. That way, the result won''t be some clunky piece of metal that can barely move."


    Berrak and Annica fell silent. They could not fathom how Mark could think of such things. However, what he said did make sense.


    Golems portrayed in literature and any other media wererge, clunky, and slow-moving. But why was that the case? Remember the settings of such pieces of entertainment. It was either the era of gods or a fantasy world. Both had low technological advancements, and the golems were either made of magic or the old technology they had.


    However, there was one thing identical to golems in more futuristic settings.


    That was right. Robots.


    And what Mark was aiming for was the fusion of a high-tech robot and a crafted golem.


    But what was the main reason for Mark to attempt such an ingenious but almost impossible idea?


    Well, it was the [Mechids].


    From what Mark knew, [Mechids] could take over and other hack robots. Well, robots made with modern and future technology in the least. If Mark used a magical system of a golem and the mechanical parts of robots, then he would be able to create something that was as strong as the [Mechids] but immune to their hacking.

 Chapter 778 The Floating Cube In The Sky, The Arrival Of The Awaited Guests

    <strong>Day 174 - 10:21 AM - Mountain Base, Mount Mbito, General Nakar, Quezon</strong>


    Another two days passed. It was almost two weeks since the Second Wave of the Apocalypse happened. Another three days, and it would mark the end of the second week.


    With the barrier only expected tost for a whole month, it was no surprise that it began to show signs of weakening. After all, it nearly passed half of its lifespan.


    Time was running out.


    Fortunately, there were no encounters of either [Infected] or [Mechids] around the base. It made everyone able to concentrate on things they were supposed to do.


    Mark focused on his research together with Annica and Berrak.


    The fighters were receivingbat training.


    The farmers were already amidst restoring the farm fields.


    And, of course, the workers. They also had things to do. And to say, it was the most important one.


    The base was surrounded by ck, fortified, sturdy walls made of [Blood Metal]. However, it was literally the only protective wall the Mountain Base had. Although it was extremely sturdy, there was no guarantee that it would not fall in the future.


    Thus, the n to make an outer wallmenced.


    The outer wall would surround three-fourths of the cleared area around the base, still inside the barrier.


    Building the outer walls around that distance was not that practical in everyone''s thought. After all, it would cut a fourth of the farnd and clear areas around the base. It meant that there would be lessnd for farming.


    However, it also allowed expanding the base and building outside the existing wall, which would be the inner wall in the future. In the first ce, the farming areas were only located on the northern side. While the west side was a cliff behind Mark''s house, the remaining east and south sides almost had nothing on it.


    After the outer wall was built, the east and south cleared areas would be secure to build more structures and necessary facilities. Of course, the dwellings and supply warehouses would remain inside the inner walls for safety.


    Nheless, the new wall was unlike the currently built walls. It was not nned for the new one to be made entirely of [Blood Metal].


    In the first ce, while [Blood Metal] was an extremely sturdy material, it was not the only reason the wall and structures in the base were built with it. [Blood Metal] was easy to shape as Mark and the [Blood Children] could make it in any shape they could. The source of [Blood Metal], of course, blood, was also renewable.


    Furthermore, Mark''s group had no way of bringing concrete or heavy types of machinery to build walls up the mountain in the past. Thus, the only materials they could use at that time were either [Blood Metal] or wood. Of course, the choice was clear between the two.


    Still, [Blood Metal] was not the easiest thing to work with. Building walls with it would take time and arge amount of blood. Even the current walls took almost a month to build. The area inside the walls was not toorge either. The currentnd area inside the walls of the Mountain Base was not too different from thend area of the Philippine General Hospital. Yes, it was quiterge. But notrge enough for every facility they needed.


    And if they wanted to build a new wall that was much wider than the first one, not only would it take more time and blood, but they might not make it before the barrier went down.


    Fortunately, they had more options now.


    The lead of the current building project was no other than Louis Morgan. Using his [Geomaniption], building sturdy walls made of stone would be a piece of cake.


    It was impossible to surround the whole base with the wall in one go with Loius'' current level and amount of [Psychc Energy]. But in the least, finishing the walls before the barrier vanished was more than usible.


    And using [Blood Metal] as the foundation and supports for the wall, the walls that Louis would build would be far sturdier than just regr stone or concrete walls.


    With the new ns for the base in y, the workers were busy preparing the locations where they would build the walls.


    ***


    Everyone was busy with work and preparations. Still, it was not hard to notice how peaceful the past few days were.


    It was too peaceful that it was simply unnerving.


    It was almost six months since the end of the world began. While not everyone was used to it, they were now familiar with the chaotic life of the apocalypse.


    The peace they had now was just too good to be true after all the horrendous things they experienced.


    Sometimes, it was good to see that something was happening in their front than getting nervous about things that could possibly happen.


    ***


    But as if trying to prove the uneasiness in their minds, something happened this day.


    Everyone paused from their work and gazed at the sky.


    Without waiting for anyone to order them, the workers and farmers hurriedly retreated back inside the wall. It was already their protocol to do so in case any of them discovered any possible danger. It was the course of action if the Tikbngs, the Dryad, or even Huey failed to detect it before them. At the same time, Mark and the others would be informed what was happening while the guards on the lookout would prepare to intercept.


    At the time that the workers spotted the potential danger, Mark and Huey were already alerted. Huey could hear the voices of the people retreating while Mark could detect their emotional fluctuations. Furthermore, Chiyo was here to tell Mark that something was going on.


    Mark was currently inside his workshop with Annica and Berrak. They were in the middle of recreating some other circuits to try outter.


    Then, without any warning, Mark turned into a surge of ck mist that soared out of his workshop. Annica and Berrak were surprised and chased after him. There was only one thing that could make Mark behave like this. It meant that there could be a sudden danger that appeared. And Mark rushed out to deal with the situation.


    In no time, Mark was already above the highest point of Chiyo''s branches and leaves.


    For the possible danger to be undetected by the Tikbngs and the Dryad, it only meant it was in the sky. That was what Chiyo also told him.


    And as Mark pped his wings, Mark saw it.


    Flying at the same altitude as a jet fighter, it would be a bit hard to spot. However, with its size, it was no wonder that the workers saw it.


    Mark stared at it. It seemed to be a floating, gigantic cube. Seeing something like this that appeared to be out of the extraterrestrial, it was no surprise for everyone to suspect that it had something to do with [Mechids].


    WHOOSH!


    At this time, a sh of light appeared beside Mark.


    "Gege, is it an enemy?"


    It was Mei who arrived by Mark''s side. She already had the [Shooting Moon de] on her hands, ready to fight any threat that came.


    Mark could only frown as he stared at the floating cube. After all, it might be a dangerous situation. He already saw a mechanical shark shootingsers. It would not be surprising if something this big was capable of that or even something stronger.


    "Just stay on standby. Don''t go out of the barrier." Mark said to Mei. "I''ll give you a signal if you need to shoot. Prepare a converter for the first shot."


    "Okay."


    Mei solemnly nodded.


    And there, Mark soared towards the sky. As he exited the barrier, he covered his body with Miasma, protecting him from the radiation in the surroundings.


    Mark carefully flew towards the cube. An enemy like this could damage the base. That was why if he wanted to lure it away first.<sub> </sub>


    It did not take Mark too long to notice, but the cube was descending in his direction. It seemed to be also trying to approach him.


    This was odd. If it was a [Mechid], it would definitely try to attack Mark from afar. Maybe it had no long-ranged attacks?


    Thus, Mark continued to fly upward, tightening his guards up the closer he got.


    But then, at some point, Mark paused. The floating cube entered Mark''s detection range.


    And immediately, Mark''s caution dissipated. He could not help but also release a sigh of relief.


    While he watched the cube descend, Mark tapped on the ring he received from Bath. The pair of the ring that was on Mei would receive the message he wanted to tell.


    ***


    Below, Mei received the message through the ring. She lowered her gun and flew down.


    On the ground, the fighters were already gathering. Of course, it would be hard for them to deal with a flying opponent. Nheless, they still readied for battle.


    They were all looking up the sky, watching Mark and the gigantic floating cube.


    "Mistress! How is it?"


    Odelina immediately inquired as she saw Mei fly down.


    And to everyone''s surprise, Mei replied.


    "It''s a false rm. Everyone can go back to their duties."


    "Mei, are you sure?" na asked. "That huge cube is still there."


    "I''m sure," Mei answered. "Gege said that the guests we were expecting finally arrived."


    "Guests, you say..."


    na was speechless as she turned her eyes back to the floating cube in the sky. It was just in time to see Mark actually enter the strange thing.


    ***


    Mark and the cube were now close to each other. It was trulyrge, about the size of a bungalow.


    As the floating cube stopped in front of Mark, a door actually opened. Mark could tell that the two people inside wanted him toe in.


    Mark did what the visitors wanted and entered. The door immediately closed, showing the wariness towards the radiation in the environment. After entering, Mark went through a security hatch and entered the main hallway.


    There, a person stood, waiting for him.


    "Hey, long time no see!"


    It was Illia. The Subus that Mark and Mei met in New Jersey. She was as seductive looking as ever. Not like Mark would care about her, though.


    Before Mark could open his mouth, Illia spoke.


    "Master is waiting for you. Sorry, he can''t greet you here since he''s operating this huge thing."


    "Lead the way then."


    Mark said, and Illia gestured to follow him.


    Following behind the Subus, Mark took time to scan the surroundings. Unexpectedly, while it looked like nothing but a floating cube inside, it actually appeared to be some sort of flying vessel.


    "Curious about this, what do modern people call this again... ah, spaceship, is it right?"


    "Can this thing fly into space?"


    Mark suddenly asked, making Illia a bit awkward.


    "I... I think so?" Illia answered with an uncertain expression. "I mean, it can enter the deep waters of the sea without problems, so I think space would be usible. Although I don''t think we can ride it to space since it doesn''t have any function to generate air in space."


    "It''s technically a spaceship, then."


    Mark said with interest.


    Although Illia was uncertain because of the function she said that wascking, a rocketship that humans built did not have such functions either. Generating oxygen in space with the current level of Earth''s technology was impossible, after all.


    Since the ship was not extremelyrge in the interior, Mark and Illia reached the room, which appeared to be the deck, in no time.


    There, a man stood in front of the control panel. He looked behind as he sensed the arrival of the two.


    "We finally found you." The man, Chimetrice said, as he saw Mark. "We had to spend some time searching for you."


    Mark stared at Chimetrice for a bit. The [Humanoid Chimera] actually looked like a human at this moment. His monstrous features and body parts were nowhere to be seen. Even his face was different from before. If not for Mark sensing the mental fluctuations from Chimetrice and the presence of Illia, he would think that it was a different person.


    And at the words of Chimetrice, Mark was confused.


    "Didn''t you give me this to locate me?"


    Mark took out the golden feather from his [Spatial Ring].


    "Now we know the problem."


    Illia said with dismay as she looked at Mark.


    "What''s wrong?"


    Mark asked.


    "Master can''t detect the feather when he tried to. We knew that you won''t die easily, so we thought that it was broken or lost. No wonder Master can''t find it. It''s inside a subspace."


    "Ah..." Mark understood what happened and could not help but feel a bit apologetic. However... "You guys never told me that I should keep it outside, either. You two just left immediately back then."


    Silence enveloped the deck. Awkwardness then filled it as the floating cubended outside the Mountain Base.

 Chapter 779 Conversation With The Guests, Acquiring Two New Powerful Allies

    <strong>Day 174 - 10:38 AM - Mountain Base, Mount Mbito, General Nakar, Province of Quezon</strong>


    The appearance of the floating cube in the sky sure caused amotion in the Mountain Base. With the [Mechids] arriving on Earth from space, something that resembled an Unidentified Flying Object could cause an uproar among the popce.


    However, thatmotion turned into a surge of curiosity. It was Mark''s base, after all, where his words were trusted more than other things. Knowing that the ones that arrived were not enemies, they could not help but be interested in that gigantic floating object.


    As the floating cubended, many of the people of the base were around to take a look. Of course, they did not swarm towards the cube. In the first ce, the people could only look from above the walls as the cubended outside.


    Mark went out of the cube as itnded. He was followed by two rather good-looking people. Especially the woman, she was gorgeous.


    As the woman went out, however, someone began to release killing intent.


    Of course, Mark immediately detected that and could only shrug as the owner of the intent retreated away.


    "Seems like someone is unhappy with me... Not really surprising."


    Illia coquettishly said. A Subus like her would definitely sense that ill intent towards her. However, she did not know who the ill intent wasing from. Furthermore, when she was living, posing as a human in America, she had always been the target of jealousy from other women because of her natural charm and seductive body.


    "This one is entirely your fault."


    Mark said, giving the confused Illia a bad sigh.


    "Me?"


    Illia asked.


    "Follow me."


    Mark ignored Illia''s question and told the two to follow.


    As Mark did not answer, Illia could only look at Chimetrice, who nodded and followed Mark.


    Following Mark, Chimetrice and Illia entered the Mountain Base for the first time. Behind the gate were the core members of the base, with Mei, Odelina, and Huey at the front.


    "Ooh! Long time no see!"


    Illia eximed, seeing Mei.


    Of course, Illia''s enthusiasm in meeting Mei once again was met with a silent stare. After all, they were not close with each other at all since they only met once. Furthermore, that meeting was not exactly in good light.


    "How cold..."


    Illia sulked and pouted. Her seductive appearance sure affected the male audience.


    "Stop ying around."


    Chimetrice scolded Illia. It seemed that even Chimetrice was irked by her behavior.


    "Au... Okay, Master."


    Illia said as she grabbed Chimetrice''s arm. Chimetrice did not give any reaction to that and just allowed her to do so. The men around, however, seemed displeased as they decided to go back to work.


    Seeing some of the people leave, Mark turned to the remaining people.


    "You all should go back to your duties. We only have around two weeks left before the barrier vanishes. There is no time to ck around."


    Mark said, which everyone obeyed. The only ones left were Odelina and Mei, who would definitely go with Mark to the Cliff House.


    The group led the two guests to the Cliff House. It was the best ce to wee guests, after all.


    As they walked towards their destination, both Chimetrice and Illia could not help but look around. There were a whole lot of interesting things around the base that was definitely unique to this ce.


    "Your ce looks unique..."


    Illia said to Mark, staring at the Night Everred Spirit Tree that covered more than half of the base.


    On the other hand, while Chimetrice had the same thought, he did not say anything.


    Soon, they arrived in front of the Cliff House. Both Illia and Chimetrice could not help but look up because of the rather weird house they were brought to. It was, after all, a house that was made on a literal face of a small cliff. Well, the back of the house was an unclimbable cliff. The house would look even more strange if they saw it.


    "Odel, give them something to drink," Mark said to Odelina as they arrived at the living room. He then turned to the two. "Have a seat. Although I''ll have you two wait for a bit. I need to change clothes."


    "Okay."


    Illia answered, and Chimetrice nodded. The two then took a seat on the sofa, and Odelina asked them what drinks they would want.


    As for Mark, he left with Mei towards the bedroom.


    Mark did need to change clothes for a reason. As themotion began without warning, Mark was still in his work clothing when he spread out his wings and flew off. Although not ripped entirely, his shirt had three pairs of holes on the back. It was not somethingfortable to leave alone at all.


    ***


    It did not take long, and Mark returned, sitting down with the two.


    "Where''s your wife?"


    Illia immediately asked, noticing that Mei did not return with Mark.


    "She had other things to do," Mark replied and immediately shifted the topic. "Anyway, I don''t think that you two only arrived now because you can''t detect the feather, right? Did finding your Creator''sboratory take too long?"


    It was a good question from Mark. Considering the very long time that Chimetrice was sealed, it would not be surprising if they did not find theboratory. The geographical changes from that time and now were tremendous, after all.


    However, considering that Chimetrice managed to change his face, it looked like that they did find it. They even had that flying vessel.


    "It didn''t take us too long," Chimetrice replied, shaking his head. "Using the clues we had, we managed to find the general location. Although it took some effort to find the exact location."


    Chimetrice and Illia then began to exin to Mark what happened.


    ***


    Apparently, they only spent about four days searching for Mark''s whereabouts. It was not easy considering the drastic change on Earth.


    There was no one to me about it, however. Still, for Chimetrice and Illia, four days were not that long.


    What made Mark frown was the reason for the dy in Chimetrice and Illia''s arrival.


    Chimetrice did not hide the findings they learned after reaching theboratory, especially the creation of another [Humanoind Chimera].


    A [Humanoid Chimera] simr to Chimetrice, yet theplete opposite.


    Chimetrice was created to be something that could face against Gods and live. And it was a sess, considering that Chimetrice could not be killed by the Gods, and they could not do anything but seal him instead. However, even though Chimetrice had a semi-immortal body, hecked the prowess to kill a God. His attacks and abilities were powerful. But what it could do was deal damage to them but not enough to kill.


    On the other hand, the other [Humanoid Chimera] created was designed with nothing but destruction in mind. It was a creature capable of breaking a wall that even gods were not able to. However, it also came with a cost. The Creator was not able to control it and died in its hands.


    The two also exined the circumstances of theboratory. It was already lost in the bottom of the ocean, and the flying vessel they were using was a part of it used for emergencies.


    ***<sub> </sub>


    "What we had been doing in the past month was to search the traces of Master''s younger sibling."


    Illia exined.


    It was not wrong to say that the other [Humanoid Chimera] was the younger brother of Chimetrice. They had the same Creator, who was, in a way, their father.


    "But what are you two going to do if you found it?"


    Mark asked.


    "Kill him, of course."


    Illia dered without hesitation.


    "The Creator seemed to have done something with that sibling of mine," Chimetrice spoke. "It seemed that he was made iplete. By the Creator''s personality, it is done with only one thing in mind. He likely intended for my sibling to consume me to be aplete being."


    Mark stared at Chimetrice, a bit speechless. It looked like his Creator was a total madman.


    "But you are sealed, and that did not happen."


    Mark said.


    "Yes, fortunately," Chimetrice agreed. "However, we don''t know whether my sibling is dead or where he vanished to. We tried to follow some leads that were left by the part of the consciousness of the Creator, but we soon reached a dead end."


    "Furthermore, the world suddenly changed too much. All the remaining leads we had vanished."


    Illia added.


    And what pushed the two to finally find Mark. Without any leads left to follow, it was better to give up for now and focus on other things.


    "What are your ns?"


    Mark inquired.


    Both Chimetrice and Illia looked at each other for a second and nodded. They then faced Mark.


    "Is your offerst time still avable?"


    Illia asked.


    "About staying in my ce?"


    Mark replied back.


    "Yes." Illia nodded. "If it''s possible, we want to stay here. We really had no ce to go now. Of course, we will contribute to the base."


    "That''s not a problem. But I think that''s not all, right?"


    Mark sure would not decline. Having someone as powerful as Chimetrice in the base would bolster its safety.


    And even if The Great One came back to cause more trouble, what happened in the past would never repeat itself.


    But, of course, there would be a catch, now.


    "Yes," Chimetrice answered. "We want your help in case that my sibling reemerged. Which hopefully won''t happen."


    It was a gamble. If that sibling of Chimetrice was still alive, it could implicate the base.


    Mark fell silent. He was racking his brains for all the knowledge he had about myths and legends. However, he never came across anything that might possibly lead to that [Humanoid Chimera].


    In the least, the tree where Chimetrice was sealed had some eerie background to it. As for something simr, there were many. However, none of them seemed to have any resemnce to something like a destructive [Humanoid Chimera].


    Thus, this gamble was rather hard to win. But, in the least, it would benefit the base in the long run.


    "I agree." Mark epted the two. However... "But I need some help from you too, Chimetrice."


    Mark said, looking straight at the [Humanoid Chimera] in front of him.


    "Can we hear what it is first?"


    Illia asked as Chimetrice would likely agree to it without asking.


    At that question, Mark told them the circumstances, especially the enemies that they might need to deal with in the future. The most urgent one was Sinogo, who became a gigantic [Mutated Infected Crocodile] with Godly powers.


    "Damn..." Illia voiced out. "You''re making enemies with Deities, huh."


    Mark looked at Illia, annoyed.


    "They are the ones making enemies with me."


    Those words were not wrong. Mark was not the one to cause trouble first but them.


    "Hmm..." Illia thought about it and turned to Chimetrice. "I guess we won''t have any problem with it, right? Master?"


    And to Illia''s words, Chimetrice nodded.


    "They are just Deities."


    Chimetrice said in a noncaring tone.


    It might sound arrogant. But to Chimetrice that fought with Gods thousands of years ago, Deities were definitely nothing.


    "If you two agree, then wee to my base."


    Mark said with a lightened tone.


    It was rare for Mark to show courtesy, but these two would be helpful allies for a very long time.


    Mark then scratched his head.


    "Looks like we need to prepare a dwelling for you two."


    "There is no need for that," Chimetrice interjected. "We can live in our transportation vessel."


    "You sure?"


    Mark asked.


    "It only had a few rooms, but it is spacious enough for a small group of people. And there are only the two of us, me and Illia. If there is something we need, it is likely a ce where the vessel couldnd and would not disturb people."


    "I see..." Mark nodded. "If you say so."


    And there, Mark gained two new people for the base. They might be the source of trouble in the future, especially Illia, in many ways. However, their value and strength were more than enough to make up for the trouble.


    Not to mention a flying vessel and some of the research that the Creator had in the past. Both these things would bring great benefit to the base, considering that the world was going back to the same state as it was in the [Lost History] the [Era of Gods].

 Chapter 780 The Third Week, The Mountain Base, The Bay City, And The World

    <strong>Day 184 - 8:21 AM - Mountain Base, Mount Mbito, General Nakar, Province of Quezon</strong>


    Another ten days passed. It was already the third week since the world changed.


    The feeling of urgency was now in the air. Even if no one can see the barrier, the people somehow feel that the peaceful time was already running out.


    Fortunately, the renovations of the base were going smoothly. The outer wall already had its foundations built around the entire location, while Louis finished building the northern and northeastern areas of the walls.


    The start of the construction of the walls was slower than expected. However, as Louis became familiar with the process, the speed started to elerate. At the current pace, the construction should finish several days before the barrier vanish.


    Both Chimetrice and Illia sure adapted fast to their new surroundings. Their interactions with others were limited, especially Chimetrice. It has not been long since he broke out of his seal. There was a wide cultural gap between humans in the past and now. In the first ce, a powerful being did not have that many chances to interact with humans. It was like this even in the past.


    On the other hand, Illia had better interactions with the residents. It seemed that disguising as a human and living with them benefited her in this regard.


    Illia became another headache to Mark, however. She was a [Subus] and was bound to get attention from men. Furthermore, the [Subus] were naturally coquettish in their mannerisms. Thus, she was prone to making misunderstandings.


    There was already someone else that caused this problem in the past. It was Kate. She was one of the [Mutators] they brought back only their journey home from Bay City. Now, everyone knew that it was her usual mannerisms and the misunderstandings subsided. She even became one of the crucial people in the base because of her ability to see using temperatures. Her thermal sight was the bane of invisible and camouged enemies.


    For now, there were two confirmed [Subus] in the base. The first one was the former Ninth Queen in the Kingdom of ck Duendes, Il''ve. However, as Il''lve was focused on training Ver inside theboratory, she never caused such trouble as Kate and Illia.


    And there was one unexpected thing that happened when Il''ve met Illia.


    Il''ve was utterly shocked. The [Subus] were also Demons, and they did measure hierarchy depending on the purity of their blood. Il''ve might be someone high-ranking among their race, but she was not a [Pureblood Subus]. In fact, [Pureblood Subus] had gone extinct a long time ago.


    The [Subus] and [Incubus]e in pairs, having the very same origin. A child born from a pair would be either a [Subus] or [Incubus] depending on their gender.


    However, because of their nature, it was extremelymon for them to choose another race as a partner. Because of that, as time passed, the number of [Pureblood Subus] and even the [Pureblood Incubus] decreased further and further.


    There was also an event that caused the death of the remaining ones, especially the leaders of the race.


    And that was the cause of shock that Il''ve had.


    Illia was a [Pureblood Subus].


    It was not surprising since Illia was a [Subus] from way back five thousand years ago. It also exined why Illia had way more beauty and appealpared to Il''ve.


    The problems aside, Mark''s golem research gained arge leap because of the arrival of Illia and Chimetrice.


    It seemed that the [Creator] did not only dabble in creating [Chimeras] and [Alchemy]. He also had his hands on [Golemancy], which were applied in creating hisboratory and the floating vessel. It seemed that the [Creator] also created [Giant Golems] to guard hisboratory. Unfortunately, those golems had already sunk to the bottom of the ocean.


    Fortunately, scientists, even the mad ones, valued their research more than their lives. Thus, the consciousness of the [Creator] kept the research records and put them inside the floating vessel.


    Those research documents contained processes of creating [Chimeras], making alchemical concoctions, and many other things. However, Mark only had an interest in one thing.


    The research about making [Golems].


    Mark had quite a problem reading it since it was written in a lost ancientnguage, but Illia happily tranted the contents of the documents for him.


    What made Mark really happy was the detailed exnations of [Magic Circuits] and the correct methods to create them. Furthermore,pared to the research of the [Creator], the documents that Mark''s group got from the [ck Duendes] were rubbish and were even outdated. It seemed that the [Creator] made huge modifications on the [Magic Circuits], not only improving the functions but also the efficiency of the circuits.


    The past few days of Mark was spent making parts for the [Golems] he intended to make. It was unfortunate that while they now knew how to make the [Magical Energy Conductors] used to make the [Magic Circuits], they stillcked the materials. As such, Mark could only stick to his previous ns.


    In another day or two, the first [Golem] crafted by Mark''s own hands would see the light of day.


    ***


    <strong>Day 174 - 12:21 PM - Bay City Military Settlement, Pasay City, Metro Man</strong>


    In thergest military settlement in the Philippines, things were not going well.


    Bay City was chosen as an evacuation site because it was a reimed area surrounded by water. But that fact itself turned out to be the worst setting during the world''s change.


    The earthquake caused a moderate-sized water surge, swallowing the western areas of the settlement. If not for the fact that newnd appeared out of nowhere and spread out to the sea, that water surge could be a tidal wave that would kill the whole settlement.


    However, the earthquake alone already caused a severe catastrophe that swallowed the entire settlement. The tall buildings copsed, causing deaths in the upper areas of the settlement.


    Who would have thought that the upper area where the privileged lived would be the deadliest area, and the tent city became the safest in that catastrophe?


    The poption of the entire settlement reduced by half all of a sudden. Most of the deaths were caused by the copsing buildings from the upper areas. Many of the buildings were either office and condominium buildings that were converted to dwellings. The residents were buried under the rubble.


    Only the powerful managed to survive the copse.


    But that was not the worst problem they had after the world changed.


    As newnd appeared out of thin air, the ditches that became the settlement''s natural barrier were filled. Now, the entire settlement was connected to the maind.


    In the past two weeks, the remaining forces of Bay City had been continuously fighting hordes upon hordes of [Infected]. The wreckage of the buildings became a hindrance to the infected, but it was not enough to stop them froming.


    As for the original walls that the settlement had, all of those already turned into useless debris.


    The military managed to set up a new wall, albeit shorter and not as sturdy as their previous one. It was made with the remaining resources and scraps they gathered from the remains of the settlement. It also only covered a smaller area of the settlement, mainly the remains of Mall of Asia, where their resources were stored before.


    Although the mall already copsed into ruins, there were still salvageable food supplies under its rubble.


    Now, the entirety of the Bay City Military Settlement only circted around thepounds of the destroyed mall.<sub> </sub>


    Swarmed by the [Infected] day and night, the whole settlement was moving slowly to its end.


    ***


    It was not only the Bay City. Almost every single settlement on Earth turned into a pile of ruins.


    Settlements built in the middle of the ocean, inds and such, were swallowed by tidal waves. Those that were built in the middle of cities became piles of rubble.


    The death toll rose, and the poption of the entire Earth drastically reduced even more.


    Without any defenses left, the [Mechids] could wipe the remains of these settlements. Fortunately, the barrier protected them from such alien threats.


    However, the invisible barrier might have protected them from the radiation and the threat that the [Mechids] brought, but that barrier did not protect the remaining humans against the [Infected].


    Without the defenses they built before, the people could only make do with what they had remaining. They tried to fight back, doing the best that they could.


    Even so, more settlements fell as time went by.


    Some got wiped out. But more decided to abandon the settlements they tried to protect with their lives in line before.


    A ruined settlement was no different than living in a decrepit house in the middle of the apocalypse. Those that were capable took up the decision and chose to gamble.


    Leaving the settlements was not an easy decision. In the past few months since the apocalypse started, these ces served as the new home for everyone.


    Abandoning their homes, even if it was already destroyed, was still a hard decision. Besides, leaving the settlements did not also guarantee any safety to anyone.


    It was all up to chance, and it was a gamble that only the capable could take.


    As for the weak people, their survival was the hardest to foresee. Whether it be staying or abandoning the settlement, their chances of survival were very low.


    Unfortunately, those that decided to leave could only hold out inside their ruined settlements for now.


    The environment outside was still filled with radiation. The survivors learned it the hard way. They did not know when the radiation would dissipate, but they could only wait.


    All because staying in their settlements for the rest of their lives was not usible anymore.


    Still, day by day, the remaining poption of humans on Earth was decreasing.


    ***


    It was not only the humans that were struggling now, however.


    With the [Spirit Dimension] now merged with the [Mortal Dimension], the remaining [Magical Races] were facing a much worse situation.


    Their tribes, families, and friends all appeared in the new world without warning. They had no barrier to protect them or even a wall that they could rely on.


    The [MagicalRaces] were just thrown into the new world without any protection.


    Although the radiation would not affect them as much as humans, they were vulnerable to many other threats that infested the new Earth.


    That was why some desperate tribes decided to do something that they never thought that they would do.


    It was to cooperate with humans for survival.


    That was a gamble that the [Magical Races] decided to take. There was no guarantee that humans would ept them or their cooperation. It would not be surprising if they were seen as a threat and could be killed on the spot.


    But they had no choice. Same as the humans.


    ***


    <strong>Day 184 - ¨ƒ¨ƒ:¨ƒ¨ƒ ¨ƒ¨ƒ - ¨ƒ¨ƒ¨ƒ¨ƒ¨ƒ¨ƒ¨ƒ¨ƒ¨ƒ¨ƒ¨ƒ¨ƒ¨ƒ</strong>


    In the dimension that oversaw the entire Earth, the cloaked figure could only sigh as she watched the''s current situation.


    However, she, herself, was helpless in this situation. Bound by the rules of Earth and the God Creator, what she could do was limited.


    Now, her only hope that humanity would be preserved was the very same people that they decided to restrict in the past.


    The people who were beyond humanity.


    In fact, despite the disaster and the majority of the world suffering, there were some ces that were doing well.


    And it was the ces where the chosen people by the Eyes controlled.


    It might have been better if the remaining humans just go under themand of these people.


    However, humans were born arrogant, not wanting to sumb to anyone''s rule. It would not be easy to unite them under someone''s wing, not to mention that the chosen people also had their own quirks and personalities.


    The Observer made another sigh.


    "I do not want this to end under my jurisdiction."


    She said under her distressed breath.

 Chapter 781 The Break Of Peace, The Sudden Attack Towards The Mountain Base

    <strong>Day 185 - 3:21 PM - Mountain Base, Mount Mbito, General Nakar, Province of Quezon</strong>


    It had been peaceful for quite a while. No attacks from [Evolved Animals], no appearance of [Mechids], and most of all, no [Infected] had ever been seen around the base for a long time.


    The location of the Mountain Base was surely hard to reach. It was in the middle of the mountains, after all. Dangers was also in every corner.


    But with enough preparations, supplies, and personnel, it was one of the better locations to settle in during the apocalypse. Of course, it was not the best. It was only because of the abilities of those that settled in this ce. Or else, it might have been wiped out with the arrival of [Mechids] from space. If not, the dimensions fused together could have caused its destruction.


    Very much most of the remaining settlements in the world.


    Although at this time, the peace that the Mountain Base had for a while was finally disturbed.


    "Quick! Inform Master!"


    One of the [Tikbngs] cried out as a presence suddenly entered their [Illusion Magic] around the base.


    Usually, the [Tikbngs] would not panic upon detecting the presence of an intruder. After all, the [Illusion Magic] they cast around the base would cause intruders to be lost inside the forest that it covered. However, not every single creature could be caught by the illusion.


    For example, the [Mechids]. The [Illusion Magic] of the [Tikbngs] directly affect the minds of the victims, fogging their eyes and distorting their sense of direction. However, the [Mechids] did not have an organic brain that the [Illusion Magic] could affect.


    But it was not only [Mechids] who were unaffected to the [Illusion Magic].


    There were others. One kind of those unaffected creatures was, of course...


    People of the same race as the user of the [Illusion Magic].


    <strong>CLANG! CLANG! CLANG! CLANG!</strong>


    The sound of rm sounded from the eastern area of the base. And as rehearsed, the workers immediately made their way back inside the inner walls.


    However...


    The intruders this time were not just some [Infected].


    <strong>"AHHH!"</strong>


    One of the workers screamed as he saw several humanoid figures rushing towards him. With the upper bodies of a human, horse heads, and lower bodies, the intruders were definitely [Tikbngs], [Infected Tikabngs], indicated by the open flesh wounds all over their bodies.


    Infected they might be, they were still among the infamous race when they were still alive. All of these [Infected Tikbngs] still ran too fast. Regr people, and even most [Mutators], had no way of outrunning the group.


    Even if the rms were sounded early and the workers immediately retreated, it was not enough. The [Infected Tikbngs] already caught up to the workersgging behind.


    Of course, the workers could not help but feel afraid. Even though they experienced fighting the [Infected] while gathering supplies in Pennsylvania, none of them moved as fast as the [Infected Tikbngs]. All the workers could see was the vague shape of the intruders because of their speed.


    <strong>RUMBLE!</strong>


    Suddenly, the ground shook. A wall rock rose from the soil, blocking the way of the leading [Infected Tikbngs].


    <strong>BAM!</strong>


    Three of the intruders mmed onto the walls. Living [Tikbngs] would not make this kind of mistake. They were used to their unparalleled speed and would not have any problem avoiding the wall. The brainless [Infected], however, could not. As they mmed onto the wall, the force caused the three multiple injuries, even disfiguring their horse heads.


    But it was not enough to kill them. Furthermore, there were more than just three.


    "Quick! Retreat!"


    Louis shouted towards the workers as he created more walls of stone to block the enemies. Luckily, he was working on the walls on the northeast side of the base. He managed to quickly respond to the threat.


    With Louis present, however, the [Infected Tikbngs] shifted their target to him. It was no news that the [Infected] were more attracted to beings with [Magical Energy].


    Still, it was the better scenario. Most of the workers had no way of defending themselves against these extremely fast enemies. Louis could at least slow them down, even if his speed also had no match against them.


    <strong>WHOOSH!</strong>


    A shadow moved past Louis, rushing towards the closest [Infected Tikbng].


    <strong>SLASH!</strong>


    The shadow swiped her hand, her long ws shed towards the neck of the enemy.


    <strong>NEIGH!!!</strong>


    Unfortunately, unlike those of humans, the neck of [Tikbngs] was muchrger. The [Infected Tikbng] with its wounded throat tried to attack the shadow with a loud neigh. It moved its head, trying to use its long neck as a blunt weapon, sttering its blood around it.


    "Tsk!"


    The shadow retreated immediately, clicking her tongue in annoyance. Her identity was no one else but Felicia, the feline [Mutator] with a pitiful past. She was currently in her cat form, giving her enough speed to match the [Infected Tikbngs].


    <strong>BAM!</strong>


    "Felicia! Are you okay?!"


    Louis shouted as he hurled a basketball-sized stone towards the [Infected Tikbng] that attacked Felicia. Using its head as a weapon while heavily wounded caused the [Infected Tikbng] to stagger. The stone smashed unto the head of its target. The [Infected Tikbng]''s head exploded from the impact. Its headless body fell to the ground.


    But the battle was not over yet.


    "I''m fine!" Felicia shouted as she retreated. "I''m just surprised my ws weren''t able to cut off its head."


    "You two should concentrate on fighting first."


    A voice entered the ears of the two as another shadow joined them.


    "Roan!"


    Felicia eximed as she saw her older brother arrived.


    "Don''t space out!" Roan shouted. "The intruders are fast!"


    Roan shouted since the remaining [Infected Tikbngs] already managed to go around the walls that Louis made.


    Louis immediately retreated to the back while Felicia and Roan took the front. They were showing good coordination and understanding of each other''s abilities.


    SLASH!


    Roan rushed forward to lead the battle. Unexpectedly, unlike Felicia, his w swiped through the thick neck of his target. This was the difference in the strength of the two, considering that Roan was a [Level 3 Mutator].


    "Damn it... their necks are tough!"


    Roan eximed as he avoided an iing attack. While he did manage to kill one in one swipe of his ws, it seemed that he had to exert a good amount of strength to do so.


    By the looks of the situation, Felicia''s attack before did not work not only because the necks of the [Infected Tikbngs] were thick, but their bodies were also toughened when they turned.


    As for Felicia, since attacking the neck did not work for her, she changed her attack method. Instead of beheading the enemies, she aimed to pierce their heads. It was more dangerous, however, as she had to attack a specific spot. It was far different than aiming for the more obvious parts of the enemy''s body.


    Around Louis, several pointed stones floated. Unfortunately, attacking the fast-moving [Infected Tikbngs] by hurling stones was hard. Louis had no way of aiming for the heads, and most of his attacks were missing.<sub> </sub>


    Even so, the attacks from Louis served as a good distraction for the enemies. It allowed Roan and Felicia have more openings to attack.


    ***


    Above the east side of the inner walls, several people were watching the situation.


    "You have good people here," Chimetrice spoke to Mark, who stood beside him. "They have good coordination."


    "I know. I handpicked them." Mark replied. "But just the three of them won''t be enough."


    That was true. The three managed to kill a few already, but it was quite a sizable horde of [Infected Tikbngs].


    How many were there?


    With five dead, there were still twenty-two remaining, trying to attack the three people. And there, from the forest, a few more wereing, shambling with their heavily injured bodies.


    "We should move already."


    Mark suggested as he was about to jump off the wall.


    "Wait." Chimetrice stopped Mark, making him look back. "Leave this to me."


    "You sure?"


    Mark asked.


    "No problems." Chimetrice nodded. "I know that the people here have epted us to some extent, but I want to show my worth."


    "If you say so."


    Mark agreed.


    And there, Chimetrice took off his shirt, revealing his heavily sculpted body. His wings then spread out, surprising the people around, aside from Mark and Mei, who had seen it before.


    Soaring fast from the walls, Chimetricended in front of the trio, surprising them.


    "Hah..." Ilia sighed. "I already told Master that he doesn''t need to prove himself to humans. Yet, he still did it."


    "It might not seem necessary to you, but it''s a must for him since he''s not a socialite like you. He needs something as a leverage people to treat him that he belongs with them."


    Mark replied.


    Illia fell silent. Maybe it was something she overlooked even though she had nothing but Chimetrice in her eyes.


    ***


    In the middle of the battle...


    <strong>"Who?!"</strong>


    Roan eximed as someonended in front of them without warning. Those wings were not familiar to them, after all.


    "It''s me."


    Chimetrice turned his head.


    <strong>"Watch out!"</strong>


    Louis shouted. The moment Chimetrice turned to Roan, a pair of the [Infected Tikbngs] was already in front of him to attack.


    But to their surprise, without even looking, Chimetrice grabbed the necks of the two attackers.


    The two iled as they lost the mobility of their heads. Their hands and nails hit the arms of Chimetrice, while their wild kicking hit Chimetrice''s body.


    Being a half horse, a [Tikbng''s] kick was not something that just anyone could receive. It had twice the force of a kick from a real horse or more.


    Yet, to everyone''s surprise, Chimetrice did not even flinch from the kick. There was not even a scratch from the hooves of the [Infected Tikbngs].


    "I''ll handle this."


    Chimetrice said.


    And before the three could respond, a strong gust of wind was felt around Chimetrice.


    Then, the two [Infected Tikbngs] in the hands of Chimetrice were beheaded with an invisible force. Chimetrice then threw the two heads away as their bloody bodies plopped to the ground.


    At the same time, the remaining enemies were already on the move to attack the new target. Compared to Louis, Chimetrice was exuding more [Magical Energy], not to mention that he was closer than the other.


    But then, Chimetrice waved his hands.


    Everyone watching was shocked at the scene that unfolded before them.


    A surge of unseen energy was felt by everyone together with a breeze of wind that brushed through their faces.


    And there, all the [Infected Tikbngs], even those that were still behind the stone walls that Louis created, stopped on their tracks. A line of blood appeared on their necks before each head started to slide off their necks.


    Almost at the same time, all the [Infected Tikbngs] fell down with their heads detached from their bodies. Unexpectedly, even the stone walls that stood before some of the enemies were bisected.


    ***


    Everyone stared at the scene. The battle just ended like that. None of them even knew what happened.


    The only ones that knew were Mark, Mei, Illia, and the Sylphs in the base.


    "His [Winddes] is stronger than before."


    Mark said to Illia. Back when Mark fought Chimetrice in New Jersey, those [Winddes] were far smaller. But now, it covered an entire area.


    "Master already recovered his abilities," Illia replied proudly. "Master''s state back then was nothingpared to now."


    Mark could only nod. In fact, Mark also sensed this already. If he and Chimetrice fought now, there was a huge chance that he would lose.


    But then, Illia suddenly whispered.


    "Master already recovered, but he said before that he had no confidence in beating you. You also improved drastically during the time we haven''t seen you. But by the looks of it, you''re not aware, huh."


    Mark could only look at Illia. Was he mistaken about his current abilities?


    In any case, the sudden threat to the base was already dealt with, and Chimetrice had proven his strength to everyone. It was hitting two birds with one stone.


    Still, it also proved that the defenses of the base were stillcking, and there were many unexpected dangers that they coulde across. This time, it was lucky that Louis and Felicia were nearby, or there would be casualties among the workers.


    Andstly, everyone learned that the [Magical Infected] were more dangerous than they thought, especially when they were inrge groups.

 Chapter 782 The Birth Of A Golem, Its First Steps After Its Creation

    <strong>Day 189 - 4:23 PM - Mountain Base, Mount Mbito, General Nakar, Province of Quezon</strong>


    Thest days of the barrier were alreadying. It was already a month since the world changed.


    While it would not be surprising that the barrier just vanished without warning as it had been waning for a few days now, it was still holding on.


    It might be that the Observer and the Eyes tried to make a few days leeway. This thought was just spection, however. Fourth or any other Eyes never made an appearance since the day the world changed to confirm it.


    As far as everyone in the base was concerned, they were now ready to face the uing events. Yesterday, Louis and the workers finished building the outer walls. Everyone cheered as they watched the finishing touches of the walls, more than doubling the safety of the entire base. As it had been expected, Louis and the workers worked more efficiently as they got used to building the walls, and it was finished even faster than expected.


    With the outer walls finished, it could be seen that the residents of the base had more confidence in surviving this dying world.


    Aside from the walls, there was another good event that happened.


    The amount of radiation outside the barrier was practically gone. Even regr people could go outside without experiencing the side effects of radiation. It showed that even if the barrier had yet to vanish, people could already travel outside. Of course, that was if they could wave through the dangers that they would need to face upon leaving the barrier.


    In fact, there were signs of radiation in the air thinning. There were more and more instances that animals were seen near the vicinity of the Mountain Base. Furthermore, not all the animals were that were seen were mutated. Some were animals that had never been seen on Earth, or at least, in the [Mortal Dimension].


    It was a mystery where these animals went during the time the radiation was high. However, it was a bit nice to see non-hostile creatures wandering the mountains.


    And today, another good thing happened.


    "DONE!"


    Inside the subdimension of the Night Everred Spirit Tree, Mark''s voice echoed loudly.


    After about three weeks of research, trial, and error, Mark''s efforts finally bore fruit.


    At the side, both Annica and Berrak also watched in anticipation. Even Illia and Chimetrice were present, considering that they were more familiar with actual golems than everyone else present. And to say, the two were both amazed at the current situation.


    In the lost era, creating golems was not something that could be done in a few weeks. It was even more impossible if one started from scratch. Yet, Mark achieved something that the people of the past were never able to.


    Yes, Mark relied on the research started by the [ck Duendes] and the Creator and used the broken golem and the floating vessel as a basis. However, even with that, Mark''s current achievement was still outstanding.


    Mark stood in front of his first creation.


    Following his tastes as an Otaku, the golem had a rather unique design.


    It was a humanoid, less than five feet in height, with a rather feminine shape. Yes, it was a female golem. In fact, Mark did not hesitate to make it look human. He even used the skin-like [Blood Metal] from Miracle to make the skin of the golem.


    If one did not know, they would think that what stood in front of Mark was a human. Well, if they looked from afar. If one was to look closely, the clothing of the golem was a part of its body, although detachable. Furthermore, the clothes were made of different kinds of [Blood Metal] stiched together.


    "Annica, onest check before we activate it."


    Mark called Annica as they began the final check of the circuits inside the golem.


    Stretching his hand towards the back of the golem, Mark released his [Magical Energy] into its circuits.


    At the side, Annica observed the flow of [Magical Energy] inside the golem.


    "It''s all good! Everything is flowing perfectly!"


    Annica eximed, making Mark remove his hand.


    "Then, it''s thest step."


    Mark said as he held out an orb in his hand. He then walked towards the front of the golem.


    "I still can''t believe that you had a working [Golem Core]. Three at that. Even the Creator only had five of those, which he had to sacrifice many of his creations to obtain. All of them were broken now, though."


    Alia spoke, to which Chimetric agreed.


    Mark was not paying attention to Illia, however. He was focused on the final step of bringing this golem to life.


    The [Golem Core] in Mark''s hand was, of course, one of the gifts they received from Bath. Specifically, this one was the [Golem Core] that I received.


    That was Mark''s goal for making a female humanoid golem. Since he was making golems for his three daughters, he asked them what they preferred to have. Both Miracle and Abbygale gave their requests. The two little girls wanted something simr to pets. However, I did not seem to have any preferences. Just like Keeper, she was not choosy and was fine with anything given to her.


    And since that was the case, Mark made something that I would definitely need.


    With those thoughts, Mark pressed a button on the center of the golem''s chest. It opened the chest of the golem, revealing a spherical indent surrounded by several circles of mechanisms with different [Magic Circles] carved unto them. The mechanisms then separated, opening enough space where the [Golem Core] could fit into.


    Mark then put the [Golem Core] into the space. It began to glow brightly as the mechanisms began to close. Then, the glow from the core slowly spread to the [Magic Circuits].


    Taking his hand away from the chest of the golem, everyone watched it close.


    Like the tests, Annica observed the flow of [Magical Energy] across the golem''s body. And like the few tests before, she did not see anything going wrong.


    And under everyone''s anticipation, the lowered head of the golem began to move up. The golem then slowly opened her eyes, revealing her crystal eyes.<sub> </sub>


    With Mark standing in front of her, he was the first person that the golem saw. Of course, it was not something that mattered. As the maker of the golem, he was already registered inside of its database.


    Yes, database. As magical as it might be, the [Golem Cores] from Bath were made with user-friendly mechanisms. A regr [Golem Core] from the lost era was rather hard to use. A golem builder back then needed to imprint their will into the core using magic circles which were then stored inside the core. The core then served a database, executing those will asmands, making full use of every [Magic Circles] connected to the core.


    The golem stared at Mark, recognizing him as her creator. And as Mark programmed the core, the golem lowered her head, acknowledging his presence.


    "WOW!!!" Annica eximed happily. "She moved!"


    Not only Annica. Berrak, Illia, and Chimetrice were d to see the first movements of the golem.


    And here, Mark executed themand that would mark the birth of the golem.


    "Your name is Brynhildr," Mark spoke. "Alias, Hild."


    As Mark executed themand, the crystal eyes of Brynhildr glowed. She then nodded in acknowledgment, recording her name and alias into her database.


    "She can''t talk, can she?"


    Annica asked, stepping beside Mark.


    In response, Brynhildr stared at the unfamiliar presence in front of her.


    Yes, presence. The golems would not recognize only the appearance of a creature in front of them. They also record the creature''s magical energy and, for Brynhildr, even their [Mental Fluctuation]. This way, even if the person in front of them looked the same as their master, they would not follow their orders. It was a way to prevent golems from epting orders from other beings aside from their maker and master.


    It was a locking mechanism that was also present in golems in the past. After all, many creatures were capable of shapeshifting. One could shapeshift and take control of their golems if this mechanism was not created.


    At least, for [Crafted Golems].


    Summoned and natural golems did not need such function since they only responded to the owner of [Magical Energy] that created them.


    "She can''t talk." Mark shook his head. "The core can probably handle that function, but none of the [Magic Circuits] and the [Magic Symbols] in the documents and the broken golem had that function."


    It would have been awesome if Mark managed to create a golem capable of speech. It would make Brynhildr look more human. Still, the current creation was not bad at all.


    "This is really different from the golems we saw before," Chimetrice spoke, observing Brynhildr closely. "The golems in our time are bulky and rough-looking. Even their movements were slow and gruff. This is the first time I saw a golem this intricate. Not to mention, small."


    "It''s not surprising, really," Mark replied. "Talking about your time, golems are probably treated as nothing but destructive weapons. They were used either to guard something or attack something. They don''t need to be intricate since their purposes are simple, and they are bound to be destroyed and repaired sooner orter."


    "That''s true."


    Chimetrice nodded. Even their Creator did the same thing, although he made the golems as sturdy and as strong as possible.


    In any case, they saw how Mark made this golem piece by piece. Compared to the lost era, the parts that Mark made looked advance and iparable to the past. Those small butplex parts made the difference. Since in the past, those kinds of mortal technologies did not exist.


    While Mark and the others were talking, Brynhildr was looking around, following the voices that entered her ear. She seemed to have been recording the appearance and presence of the people around her creator.


    "Well then... Now that she activated without problems, I should start some more testing."


    Mark said.


    "Hild." Mark then called out to his creation. "Take several steps forward."


    As Brynhild heard themand, she immediately followed. Since it was her first activation, it seemed that her core was still calibrating the functions of her body.


    It took a few seconds. Finally, Brynhildr moved her right leg. It was slow. She looked like a human trying to get used to her body as she took her first steps.


    The right led then was lifted andnded forward. Brynhildr''s body then followed the momentum. Then, the next was the left leg.


    At first, her momentum and movements were slow. But as she took more steps, her movements became faster,parable to a human of her size. It was a bit stiff, considering that her insides were made of metal. Nheless, it was far better than what a modern robot could do.


    "Stop," Markmanded after he saw the results of the first test. "Move backward back to your initial position. Then walk in circles. Twice both towards left and right."


    Mark gave themands as he began testing the results of his work. Everyone also watched in anticipation.


    Something amazing was born in this ce. It might still be in the testing phase and still far from the final product. But the fact that it was moving and responding to orders was a big step all in all.


    Furthermore, this was not thest that Mark would make. There were still two golems in line to build.


    The parts and circuits were already made. The only thing left was to piece up everything together.


    Although only Mark knew of what the other two would be, the other still anticipated the oue of his work.


    Furthermore, it might not look like it, but Brynhildr was not just some humanoid golem. She had a far moreplex function that would address one of I''s weaknesses.


    The testing of that function wouldeter, however.

 Chapter 783 Vanishing Barriers, The End Of One Month Given By The Eyes

    <strong>Day 192 - 3:32 PM - Night Everred Spirit Tree Subdimension, Mountain Base, Mount Mbito, General Nakar, Province of Quezon</strong>


    Two days after the birth of Brynhildr, Mark finished assembling the other two golems.


    While building the remaining two, Mark also tested the capabilities of Brynhildr by making her his assistant. And to say, even Ilia and Chimetrice were surprised by the results. It seemed that the three [Golem Cores] the girls received from Bath were not just regr ones.


    Brynhildr was capable of learning things and not just follow what Mark programmed in her core beforehand. Unfortunately, she was not some extremely intelligent being. While it was considered learning, it was more or less just the process of memorization.


    As a test, Mark made Brynhildr learn a fewmands that he did not program in her core. At first, Mark showed her how to perform themands. Afterward, she was capable of doing it on her own.


    However, there were limitations. As a creation incapable of free will, Brynhildr could not perform what she learned on her own. Well, unless amand was given beforehand, she would respond depending on the condition given.


    Furthermore, Brynhildr was unreliable in following intricate andplex orders. It was not surprising, considering she was a model of golem that was not made for creating things.


    In any case, the fact that Brynhildr could learn was already a huge thing for a golem. All of the crafted golems that both Illia and Chimetrice had seen before were incapable of that.


    On the other hand, summoned golems seemed to be an exception. These kinds of golems were practically living beings. They might be dumb, incredibly dumb, but they were capable of learning on their own.


    After piecing up the two remaining golems, it was now time to activate the two.


    Now, what stood in front of Mark were two, rather uncanny, golems.


    One was a rabbit, about a meter tall. It wasrge enough to let a three-year-old child ride its back. There was no need to think. This golem was for Miracle.


    Both Abbygale and Miracle requested pet-like golems. In particr, Miracle had quite an interest in rabbit-like creatures. When a rabbit-like creature appeared in an anime they were watching from time to time, her attention was pasted on the monitor.


    It was the reason Mark built this one. Furthermore, Mark also used the pelt and skin of animals they hunted before to make the rabbit golem. While it looked a bit strange, not only its size, but it had features that did not belong to rabbits, for example, horns, it did not look anything else but a [Mutated Animal].


    On the other hand, the next golem was a canine-feline hybrid. It looked a lot like a domestic dog, a Shiba Inu, to be exact. However, it had the ws of a cat as its primary attack method. It was also made with agility in mind. It was all so it could catch up with Abbygale''s speed even a little.


    Of course, aside from its appearance, these golems hid other functions. After all, while Mark took the request of the little girls, he aimed for their safety with the help of these golems.


    Thest thing to do was put the cores of the new golems and test their bodies for adjustment. In fact, even Brynhildr needed some parts to adjust. There was some uncanny stiffness in her arms, and Mark wanted to make her arms a bit more flexible because of her second function.


    Not only Mark but the other four people were waiting for the two golems to move.


    But as Mark held the two cores, he froze.


    "We should get out."


    It was not only Mark. Chimetrice also sensed what Mark felt and spoke.


    The other three were confused. They were, after all, in the middle of an exciting event. But then, for Mark and Chimetrice to react oddly, something might be happening outside.


    Even the orb of light, the consciousness of the Night Everred Spirit Tree, appeared and circled around Mark, conveying its panic.


    As Chimetrice suggested, the five of them went out of the subspace as fast as they could. The moment they went out, what they saw was the people staring in the sky.


    "Gege, the barrier."


    Mei was also outside, seemingly just arrived to call Mark.


    "I felt it too."


    Mark replied as they moved to a location that they could see the sky.


    Regr people could not see the barrier. Those that had [Magical Energy] could sense it.


    This time, however, everyone could see the barrier. It looked as if a gigantic cellophane sheet covered the base like a bowl.


    "What in the world is going on?" Jaeya eximed as she joined Mark''s group. "Bro, do you know?"


    Jaeya asked Mark, who was observing the sky silently.


    "The barrier is vanishing."


    Mark replied.


    Like electronic gadgets, sometimes these items show malfunctions at the end of their lifespan. In theory, the scene that was happening at the moment was the same.


    The barrier was exerting thest of its energy, causing the distortions at its final moments.


    And as expected, the cellophane-like scene began to blur even more.


    Slowly, under everyone''s eyes...


    The odd scene in the sky vanished.


    At the same time, the feeling of safety that everyone had reduced. No one could understand why they were feeling nervous that the scene in the sky vanished. They should have calmed down since it was gone, but they were feeling the opposite instead.


    "Boss..."


    Huey approached Mark, unable to voice out what he had in mind.


    Mark, on the other hand, took a deep breath. Unlike before, the air felt ufortable.


    "Tell everyone to stay alert," Mark spoke. "The protection the Eyes gave us ended. The days from now on won''t be as safe as yesterday."


    "Yes, Boss"


    Huey nodded.


    ***


    <strong>Day 192 - 7:00 PM - Recreation Area, Mountain Base, Mount Mbito, General Nakar, Province of Quezon</strong>


    It was time for dinner in the base. But now, everyone was gathered in the recreation area for an emergency meeting.


    Currently, everyone''s attention was on Huey and Odelina, who were both Mark''s left and right hands in the base.


    There was nothing much to brief everyone. Nheless, knowing that the leeway humans had ended and the real threats of the new world would be felt was more than enough to make everyone a bit nervous.


    It was the natural reaction. No one knew what would happen from now on.


    And the unknown was what humans feared since the olden days.


    In the least, the preparations that everyone gave their efforts in gave them the confidence to survive.<sub> </sub>


    Still, no one could forget the feeling they had when the barriers finished. The feeling that no one was protecting them anymore, despite not actually knowing what was going on at first.


    Mark, on the other hand, was just keeping his silence on that phenomenon. Nheless, he had a vague idea.


    The magical abilities of the Eyes originated from the emotions of humans. As such, it was the same power that made those barriers. When the barrier vanished as it drained thest of its energy, the emotions from the energy were released. Those fluctuations were what everyone felt.


    In the first ce, humans could not handle a heavy concentration of different emotions at the same time. Those that felt as such would feel paranoid and threatened, not knowing how to handle such.


    Watching the people gathered in front of him, Mark sighed.


    "Looks like it begins here."


    Mark murmured.


    Even Mark was unsure of what would happen from now on. Surely, the base was safe due to theyers of defenses that it had. But like the other day, a group of [Infected Tikbngs] managed to get near the base. If not for Felicia and Louis present at that time, there might be some deaths among the workers.


    Unexpected things could happen at any time. No matter how prepared a person was, it was not sure that they prepared for every event that could happen.


    While those thoughts lingered in his mind, Mark felt someone hold his right hand. The soft sensation made him give another sigh as he looked to his right.


    Mei was looking at him, nodding slightly.


    There was no need to say some cheesy dialogue like "you are not alone" or "we are here, everything will be fine."


    Just her clear eyes made Mark stop thinking about negative things.


    Look towards the future and charge through all the walls.


    After all, none of them wanted to lose what they had at this moment.


    Mark shook his head. He might have be an [Evolver], a [Mutator], and a [Blood Demon]. His demeanor had undergone drastic changes.


    Nheless, he was still the same old depressive Mark, who did not even know how to face the future.


    ***


    Unfortunately, while the Mountain Base was just doing a meeting, the other human settlements on Earth were facing a huge dilemma.


    With the barriers gone, the [Mechids] could now attack them.


    In most ces, the [Mechids] might not be many. However, not all the settlements had the firepower to fight against these high-tech invaders from space.


    Most of the [Mechids] were impervious to smaller firearms, while those that were easier to kill could shootsers from a distance. In the worst, it was thebination of the two.


    In just a few hours after the barriers vanished, hundreds of small and medium-sized settlements were either destroyed or abandoned.


    Those that managed to salvage their vehicles or those that were capable of running fled their settlements.


    Those who were weak fell prey to the metal des andser weapons of the mechanical menace.


    The scenes that happened in the first few days of the apocalypse were renewed in everyone''s minds.


    The fear...


    The helplessness...


    The regrets...


    The pain...


    Everyone was questioning the heavens.


    Why was this happening to them?


    Unfortunately, those questions would remain unanswered as only a few would be given the answers.


    Their cries of agony that echoed towards the night sky would vanish along with the wind.


    All that was left were their lifeless bodies, eyes wide open, and the expressions before their death frozen on their faces.


    However, the current fight was not only for humans. Magical races had already been fighting the [Infected] and the [Mechids] long before the barriers for the humans vanished.


    Some of the good-natured tribes provided shelter for the humans they decided to save.


    Now was not the time for the magical races to deal with their prejudice against humans. Both were in the same boat, fighting the [Infected] and the [Mechids].


    With the help of the magical races, many human groups managed to survive the copse of their settlements and bases.


    Now, most of the living humans learned a lesson.


    The most dangerous ces on Earth at the moment were where the human cities were before.


    Those cities were not only infested by the [Infected] at this moment. For some reason unknown, there were more activities of [Mechids] in such locations.


    Thus, many human groups were forced to take a gamble.


    Fleeing their settlements and bases near cities, they traveled through forests and up the mountains.


    Surely, they would encounter [Evolved Animals] and [Mutated Animals] along the way. But it was not as bad as the current situations within the ruins of the cities.


    ***


    In the dimension that oversaw Earth, the hooded figure let out a sigh.


    She turned towards her back. Twenty-six figures stood waiting for her orders.


    "The one month we gave humans had ended." The Observer spoke. "This event will mark the start of human extinction if it was left alone."


    The Observer panned her eyes to the twenty-six figures.


    "Go forth, my apostles. Guide your chosen people. It is still not the time for Earth to end, so as humanity."


    Those words echoed into the ears of the twenty-six figures as they vanished from the white world that they were in.

 Chapter 784 Tasks And Plans, Marks List To Do After The Barriers Vanished

    <strong>Day 193 - 12:15 PM - Night Everred Spirit Tree Subdimension, Mountain Base, Mount Mbito, General Nakar, Province of Quezon</strong>


    It was early lunchtime, but Mark was inside the Chiyo''s subdimension with Brynhildr.


    Yesterday, the activation of the two remaining golems was dyed due to the barrier reaching the end of its protection. Now, Mark was watching the two new golems move around and test their capabilities.


    Like Brynhildr, he gave the two animal golems names and alias. The giant rabbit was given the name Inaba and alias Naba, while the canine-feline golem was given the name Cavall and the alias Vall.


    The naming pattern of the three golems was quite clear. It might sound unnecessary at first, giving them aliases. However, it was something that Mark thought to be important. Crafted golems were not autonomous in most cases. In order for them to move, they needed to receive an order from either their creator or master. However, there could be situations that their longer names could be a hindrance. For example, emergencies. Even just a syble short with their names could save time and be a huge thing to influence the situation because the golems moved a millisecond earlier.


    As the two animal golems moved around, Mark closely observed their movements. Their legs, necks, joints, and even their tails, he stared at every part scrutinously. While the [Magic Circuits] might be functioning correctly, it did not mean that the body parts were the same. For example, a small nick of metal stuck in the joints could make the golem a bit stiff as it moved. However, the golems themselves would not know that was the case. As such, it was the creator''s duty to observe and adjust the parts of the golems.


    Mark wanted that when he presented the golems to the girls, they were perfect.


    And now that the barriers were gone, he had to work on these golems more. Mark had to finish working on them as soon as possible.


    With the barriers gone, there were fewer reasons for Mark to stay around. And there were more reasons to go out.


    Yes, go out.


    Staying in the base was fine and all.


    The insides of the walls were safe, there was food and water, and taking baths was not a problem. Mark could even y games with hisptop and the fewputers that Odelina and the others brought back.


    However, Mark was blessed or maybe cursed to do things. Things that he did not imagine that he had to do in the past.


    First was the task that Freed gave him. It was to find the remaining inheritors and determine if they were worthy of the psychic abilities that they received.


    Freed also gave him an impossible task to find the source of the dilemma guing the gxy at the moment. Of course, it was not something that he could do anytime soon. And as said, it could even be impossible. Besides, he already knew from the Eyes. The situation was a blunder created by the Observer of another. The mystery was already answered if Mark was to be asked. There might be no need to leave this anymore.


    Aside from the tasks that Freed left him, Mark also needed to deal with the problem with Auraboros. So far, Mark''s group had experienced four hostile interactions with this dark-world organization.


    The first was when the individual called "The Great One" and his minions attacked Bay City''s forces in Ninoy Aquino International Airport and even tried to abduct Mei.


    The second time was when the very same forces attacked Bay City, sacrificing people and resurrecting the [me Demon] Gar''m.


    The third time was when the forces of Auroboros'' China Branch located the Mountain Base and attacked it, with one of the Eyes that became "The Great One''s" puppet joined the fray.


    Andstly, during Chimetrice''s resurrection, where several groups from different branches of Auraboros attacked them. Although it was instigated by Ninth as a test for Mark and Chimetrice, there was no doubt that the members of Auraboros were hostile from the start.


    With such a worldwide organization lurking in the shadows, Mark could never feel safe. Not only for himself but for those that he cared for. It was especially since "The Great One" had a serious interest in Mei.


    Sooner orter, Mark would make sure that this organization would vanish from the surface of this. Of course, it would not be easy, but it was not as impossible as flying to space to find the source of the pathogen where [Psypathogen] and [Mutagen], even the [Mechid Pathogen], came from.


    These three tasks might already cost Mark a lifetime. But it was not all.


    And in the far future, or maybe soon. Mark was expected by the Eyes and the Observer to be the incarnation of an Evil God. The very same foreign god whose drop of blood was the origin of the Blood Demon Race. When that time came, he would need to deal with the spirit of the Evil God for good. Of course, it was not something that he would tackle alone. However, it was still one of the tasks he was given. And the possibility of dying in this onepared to fighting the Auraboros was much higher.


    Lastly, the situation in the Visayas. The mythological Deity, Sinogo, became a gigantic infected crocodile with godly powers. He needed to be dealt with as soon as possible to prevent him from growing stronger. In the process, Magwayen told him to find the location of Kahilwayan, which was now supposed to be an abandoned kingdom of Supreme God Kaptan.


    It was not a task that anyone else gave him. He imposed it on himself. However, it was necessary if he did not want the events on the of Eriellis to repeat on Earth. It was not like he wanted to be a hero or something. He just did not like Earth to get destroyed now that he found a life he wanted to live in.


    Aside from those things, Mark also thought of visiting Infanta and, more importantly, Bay City. With the barriers down, the situations in those ces could be much worse.


    Karlene''s father was still in Infanta. Although she was not mentioning it, she extremely worried about her father''s situation since yesterday.


    As for Bay City, Mark''s friends were still there. But more importantly, General Perez and his family. The General took good care of Mei and the others in his absence. He would not hesitate to return the favor and help them now.


    Of course, there was still a problem. While New Infanta Settlement was just a few hours of flight from the base, and now, Spera could open a portal to go there instantly, Bay City Settlement was theplete opposite.


    "Hahh..."


    Mark sighed.


    After all, he had a lot of things he wanted to do but also had difficult things that he had no choice but to do.


    But thinking about it, these things were on his list because he was capable of doing them. Mark was unlike most people in the apocalypse. Most people could only freeze behind their walls in fear of the infected, questioning their possibility of surviving and live on for tomorrow.


    Mark and his people had more leeway for survival than others. Thus, they had more opportunities to do things other than just trying to survive.


    With those things in mind, Mark continued to do his work with the golems, keeping in mind what things he should take note of and what he needed to adjust. Pretty much things like recing the springs on Inaba''s right hind leg or adjusting Cavall''s neck joints.


    While on his work, however, someone entered Chiyo''s subdimension.<sub> </sub>


    Mark turned his head and saw Mei with a lunch box in her hands.


    "You''re trying to skip lunch again."


    Mei said in aining tone the moment she arrived beside Mark.


    The guilty Mark did not reply, making Mei sigh. He then received the lunch box from her and immediately ate under her watch. His eyes did not stop observing the two animal golems. The two walked around in the shape of an 8 repeatedly under his orders.


    "They all looked good already. Gege should present them to the girls already. They were eager to see the golems you made."


    Mei said as she looked at Brynhildr and the other two golems.


    "They still need some more adjustments." Mark shrugged. "These are not just toys. They will help protect the girls."


    Mei could only nod as she took a seat beside Mark. If these golems would keep the girls safe, there was no way that Mark would do careless work.


    "You don''t make it obvious, but you really love those three, don''t you?"


    Mei asked with a smile.


    "Will youugh if I say that I thought of wanting to have a daughter in the past?"


    Mark suddenly said, making Mei look at him.


    "Is it funny to beughed at?" Mei asked back. "I think it''s a good thing thinking about the future."


    "A pretty impossible future at that time," Mark said. "Thinking about wanting a daughter is just stupid if I never even had a single girlfriend in my entire life."


    "Now, you have three daughters, though," Mei said as she started to blush. "And someone to call your wife."


    Mark then smiled. It was a genuine smile that carried his true emotions.


    "Yeah, I guess I got lucky because the apocalypse came," Mark said. "If it didn''t happen, I might be still stuck inside my house alone, waiting for anyone to contact me to make costume props for them. And then having problems whether I have enough budget for other things after I paid the house bills."


    At Mark''s remarks about himself, Mei could only smile. She was the same. If the apocalypse did note, Mei might still be some puppet of her family waiting for her wedding to a person she never liked for the sake of money. Mei might have had some traumatic experiences at first, but that became the start of her better life in the apocalypse.


    p Sitting side by side, Mei leaned her head on Mark''s shoulder. The two then watched the golems for some time.</anda>


    After a while, Mark already finished checking the golems for what to adjust. Soon, he would start readjusting things and creating new parts to rece those bad ones.


    But before that, Mark spoke to Mei.


    "After finishing the golems, I n to leave the base."


    Mei turned to Mark, but her expression showed that she was not surprised.


    "Then, we will wait here. Leave the base to us."


    Mei said. She did say that she wanted to be with Mark in his journeys. But she would not force it if Mark said that he wanted to be alone.


    "What are you saying?" Mark asked, confused. "Odel and Huey can lead the base just fine. Although Odel will probably grumble being left behind again."


    "We areing too?"


    Mei asked. After all, Mark''s future travels would probably end up more dangerous than the ones in the past. It would not be surprising if Mark decided to leave them behind to be safe.


    "Of course, you and the girls are," Mark said as if it was a matter of fact. "Although things are more dangerous, you and the girls are also getting stronger. I''m pretty sure we can just treat it as a kind of spicy outing."


    Mei could only look at Mark with half-closed eyes. He would probably be the only person that would call his dangerous travels an outing.


    In any case, Mei was happy. If it was dangerous, then just be more careful. And Mark would definitely not let them get into harm.


    "But where are we going first?"


    Mei asked so that she could prepare things for the journey.


    "First would be New Infanta. Then we will go back to Bay City."


    Mark replied.


    Mei nodded in response. In fact, she was also worried about Pa and Angeline in Bay City. Those two were her first friends in the apocalypse, after all.

 Chapter 785 [Brynhildr Armor], One Of The Golem [Brynhildr]S Forms.

    <strong>Day 194 - 9:21 AM - Mountain Base, Mount Mbito, General Nakar, Province of Quezon</strong>


    Two more days of arduous and meticulous adjustments and recements, Mark finally said that the three golems were ready.


    At this moment, Mark was leading the three girls into the subdimension of the Night Everred Spirit Tree. Together with them were Mei, Odelina, Jaeya, who was carrying Theodore, Emika, and the four people involved in the creation of the three golems.


    The people they passed by greeted the group, being the leading figures of the base. Those greetings, however, were filled with curiosity and confusion.


    None of these people were in the know of what Mark was doing at the moment. And even more as to why this group was gathered right now.


    All they knew was that their mysterious leader was working on something.


    The group soon arrived at the base of Chiyo, the Night Everred Spirit Tree, and the portal opened, weing them as soon as they arrived.


    As usual, the portal of a Pure Spirit Tree and its subdimension was mysterious. Even though the Major Dimensions of Earth already fused, it was unaffected aside from the fact that its other side, the door that was supposed to go to the [Spirit Dimension], turned into a pitch-ck portal that who knows would go where.


    In the meantime, Mark told Chiyo not to open that portal in any case. After all, who knows where it would lead to or if it would have any effect on the Spirit Tree.


    Entering the portal, the three girls walked first by Mark''s urging. After entering the subdimension, it was the three girls who saw the things that waited inside first.


    When they saw the rabbit and the dog golems, Abbygale and Miracle''s eyes went wide.


    Abbygale might be a [Cat Mutator], but in fact, she was quite afraid of cats and more of a dog person. It was the very same reason why she asked Mark to take Laps as a pet when they saw it. Her fear of cats was reasonable, though, as her hostile grandmother was a cat owner, and that very same cat bit her. To say, that cat contributed to the death of Abbygale''s mother. After all, they were caught in the middle of the apocalypse while bringing Abbygale to a hospital because of that bite. Well, while a dog person, Abbygale did not seem to like wolves or any wild kind of dog for some reason.


    As for Miracle, it was no news that she liked rabbits.


    When the two saw the animal golems, they could not help but look at Mark. Even the calm Abbygale had her eyes filled with anticipation. They knew that Mark was making the golems for them, but they had no idea what he made them look like.


    "Go on," Mark said. "Gale, the dog hybrid is called Cavall. She''s yours. And Miracle, yours is the bunny, Inaba."


    Getting Mark''s go signal, the two little girls ran off to meet their newpanions. On the other hand, it seemed that the two golems also recognized their masters without problems. Their cores absorbed the blood of the two little girls, and there was no way that they would fail in this one.


    When the two girls arrived in front of their golems, the golems behaved like tamed animals. Rubbing their faces on the hands of the girls, making them even happier. It was just how Mark programmed the cores of the two. As they were modeled as animals, they should have the same behavior.


    It was wonderful to see the two happy. It was even funny since Miracle was smaller than her rabbit golem. But instead of being afraid, she happily climbed up its back,


    Andstly, I. Given that the two animal golems were for her younger sisters, the one left was the female golem, staring at her and waiting for her to approach.


    I could not help but look at Mark in confusion. Although she did not mind what kind of golem her father would make for her, she did not expect to make a humanoid, not to mention the golem being something cute-looking. Her crystal eyes were even more interesting to look at. Considering that her younger sisters got golems modeled after animals, it would not be surprising for hers to be the same.


    "What''s wrong?"


    Mei asked, seeing I''s confused looks.


    "Why a beautiful girl?"


    I asked, making everyone turn to Mark. In the first ce, no one knew why she chose a humanoid and something that looked too human. Not to mention, the golem, although she was not as beautiful as Mei and the other good-looking people in the base, she had some sort of surreal cuteness in her appearance. Maybe it was her crystal eyes, but it was kind of hard to pinpoint the reason.


    That aside, the golem was also wearing something akin to french maid clothing, but just not made of cloth but metal.


    And as Mark was questioned, Mark shrugged as he patted I''s head.


    "Don''t you like that old anime where girls turn into weapons?" Mark said. "You even rewatched a few episodes yesterday."


    At those words from Mark, I''s confusion in her eyes turned into sparkles as she turned towards her golem in anticipation.


    "Really?"


    I turned back to Mark, asking for confirmation.


    "Well, it''s not as magical as the anime," Mark replied. "Also, not just a weapon. Maybe we can call it more a power armor instead."


    Hearing Mark''s reply, I followed her younger sisters and approached her own golem. Even the mature I could not hide her excitement, hearing what her golem was.


    "Even if she''s mature, she''s still a child."


    Odelina said, looking at I. Mark and Mei could only agree. Sometimes, it made the two worried about I. Keeper''s memories made her too mature for her age. It kept her away from interacting too much with other children. Seeing her behave like a child of her age was refreshing.


    I approached her golem. The two stared at each other. As the golem recognized her master, she bowed slightly, as a servant would do.


    Then, I realized.


    "Papa! What''s her name!"


    I called out something that Mark did not tell her yet.


    With that excited tone, everyone in the group could not help but smile. I did not even realize how she was behaving at the moment.


    The group approached.


    "Brynhildr," Mark answered I''s question. "It might be quite hard to pronounce. You can also call her Hild."


    "Hild?"


    I said, looking at her golem. And in response, Brynhildr looked at I, lilting her head. It made I pretty confused, though.


    "That''s how she asks if you need something," Mark said. "Unfortunately, we haven''t found any [Magic Circuit] for voice emtion, so she can''t speak. It''s the same for Inaba and Cavall. But not being able to make noises can''t affect their capabilities."


    Mark then patted Brynhildr''s shoulder and spoke to I.


    "Aside from being a weapon, you can treat her as your personal servant. You can do simple stuff for you like carrying things."


    I listened to Mark. But in her expression, she was more eager to hear about Brynhildr being a weapon.


    "Wanna try it out?"<sub> </sub>


    Mark asked, knowing what I wanted.


    And in response, I nodded fiercely.


    Mark shrugged as he made the rest of the group stand back. Abbygale and Miracle also joined in with their new pets tagging beside them. As it looked, there was no need to teach the two how to handle their golems. It was like taking care of pets, anyway. Just more intelligent than regr animals, however, and were capable of understanding humanmands.


    In front of everyone, Brynhildr and I stood, waiting for Mark''s instructions.


    "I, tell her [Execute 3]. Then stand on the stepping tes and ce your hands on her back where the shoulder tes should be."


    Mark told I.


    I was confused about the stepping tes that Mark mentioned as she could not see one. However, she still followed Mark''s instructions.


    "[Execute 3]."


    Imanded Brynhildr.


    At the givenmand, Brynhildr made her move. The female golem seemed to have kneeled down. However, it was not just simple kneeling. From her knee to her foot, it began transforming. tes of metal moved around, opening her calves and revealing a pair of t tes.


    Here, I understood that it was the stepping te that Mark mentioned. And as instructed, I stepped on the tes and ced her hands on Brynhildr''s back.


    But then, nothing happened. It made I turn to Mark once more.


    "[Form Valkyrie]."


    Mark said.


    Copying Mark, I said the same.


    "[Form Valkyrie]."


    And as I gave themand, Brynhild transformed.


    I panicked a bit as both her hands were suddenly stuck as the shoulder tes deformed.


    "Don''t move," Mark said. "It''s part of the process. Just let it move and follow."


    Hearing Mark''s voice, I stopped struggling. She then let Brynhildr move her hands, arms, and even feet.


    Everyone watched the spectacle that only Mark had seen before. Even the four that helped in making the golems did not see this one as Mark kept it secret. Not even Annica that was helping see the [Magic Circuits] work. All she saw were the parts and not the testing.


    Before their eyes, the female golem, Brynhildr, transformed. They noticed that her entire body was turning inside out. Some of the mechanisms even folded and flipped, revealing her hollow inside.


    Finally, Brynhildr''s face split into two, moving towards the side like a sliding door.


    At the process of transformation, I''s body appeared to be being encased into Brynhildr. Her arms and legs became Brynhildr''s too.


    By the time she realized, she was wearing the very same golem that kneeled in front of her like a high-tech mechanical armor.


    And as finishing touches, I''s face fitted into Bryhildr''s head that turned into a helmet.


    The processsted about thirty seconds. In the end, everyone was looking at I, who now looked like a mechanical valkyrie, holding a sword.


    I could not help but feel strange and excited at the same time.


    Moving her hands, or rather, the mechanical hands that did not belong to her, it felt odd. Even more strange was that even though she was wearing what was supposed to be a heavy thing, she was not feeling anything at all. It was as if the new armor was nothing but an extension of her body.


    "How does it feel?"


    Mark asked as he approached.


    "I feel odd."


    I replied.


    "Well, it''s the first time you used it," Mark smiled. "You will get used to it with practice."


    Then, Mark added.


    "Remember themand? [Form Valkyrie]? In this form, you can float about a foot above the ground. The speed is not that fast, though. Also you can only fly for a minute for the whole day. Power is quite a problem. Still, why not try it?"


    "How?"


    I asked.


    "Just think of it. The helmet you wear right now should be able to sense your mental signals and send them to the core. If you need tomand Hild in this form, just say it with your mind."


    I nodded and thought of floating.


    And as her thoughts were transmitted, several clear tes extended behind her back and released light.


    This scene was quite familiar to Ilia and Chimetrice. It was the very same circuit that made their floating vessel fly.


    There, I could be seen hovering from the ground. It juststed some time, however, as I almost lost bnce and fell to the ground.


    Mark created an amazing thing for I, but it would take some practice and effort to fully utilize it.


    Everyone surrounded I, looking at Mark''s unique work. At the same time, Miracle and Abbygale asked if their golems could do the same. Unfortunately, there were dejected when Mark said no.


    In the first ce, the two were already above human standards in terms of physical abilities. Making them simr golems would just hinder them instead.


    However, their dejection did notst long as Mark taught them the other capabilities of their golems.

 Chapter 786 Return To Infanta, The State Of New Infanta Settlement After A Month

    <strong>Day 197 - 10:21 AM - New Infanta Settlement, Infanta, Province of Quezon</strong>


    Seven days after the barrier vanished, the military settlement of Infanta, Quezon, was now in a better state.


    Using the information that Major Bautista brought back from Mark''s base about the barrier and the [Mechids], the General pushed military efforts to the maximum. General Faustino wanted to ensure that there would be at least a barricade between the threats and their people once the day no one looked forward to came.


    But the time they had, even if the duration was extended by a few extra days from the estimated date, was not enough.


    There was no need to mention that the settlement was nowcking in construction materials. It was the second time that the military had to build a settlement, with the first one getting destroyed by the storm surge. They managed to salvage materials from the ruined settlement and transported them. However, it was already used up in making walls and houses in the new location.


    Unfortunately, all those new walls and structures all went down during the earthquake a month ago, even taking the lives of more than a thousand people. Large amounts of their food and water supplies were wasted along with all the destruction, making their situation even more difficult.


    A good thing was that they had their scientists monitoring the radiation levels and were knowledgeable enough to know the tolerable level that humans could endure. They also had doctors to help treat the symptoms and protection gear that was still intact. Due to this, they were able to dispatch people to gather materials way before the barrier vanished.


    The group was just small, and going outside was dangerous. However, it was way better than doing nothing and regret when the worse came.


    Still, with the whole country... No, the whole world changed for the worse. It was impossible to gather construction materials, especially those used in modern structures.


    Modern materials might be impossible to gather, but there was one material abundant nowadays. Trees, to be exact, wood.


    The dimensions fused, and all the untouched forests in the [Spirit Dimension] were transported into the new Earth. There were trees, literally everywhere. Furthermore, these were not just regr trees. These were trees at least hundreds of years old. Some even might be in their thousand years, seeing how towering they were.


    With all these trees, it became possible to at least build palisades around the entirety of the settlement. Of course, it would not be easy. In the least, they had to prioritize the east and southern areas of the settlement, considering that the north and west areas were backed into the Agos River.


    It was not like the current Agos River was free of danger. In fact, it was even more dangerous than before. It was also still unconfirmed whether the mechanical shark from before was dead or was just in hiding.


    At least, it did not make any appearance since the time it was shot down by Mark. The soldiers that fought the mechanical shark that time wished that it died for good. Still, the military was not letting their guards down, keeping their eyes at the river 24/7.


    Despite the danger, the river also provided the settlement with fish. The kinds of fish they caught looked nowhere like the fish they knew before the apocalypse, however. The fish were toorge, with the smallest ones sized around an adult''s forearm.


    Furthermore, the fishes looked unappetizing, having horns, thorns around their bodies, and some even had fangs. Even so, the scientists confirmed these ugly fishes to be edible, solving the issue of food slightly.


    And now, with everything nned by General Faustino and Major Bautista, the rest of the time that the barrier was still up was spent in logging and constructing the palisades.


    Getting enough manpower was not easy, however.


    At first, all the work was done with the construction workers and the soldiers.


    General Faustino decided to disclose some information about the barrier, especially the estimated time it wouldst. The announcement was led by Major Bautista.


    However, it did not go smoothly.


    Although not everyone, many people knew that Major Bautista was not present in the settlement during the catastrophe. Some even saw it when he returned with Mark''s group riding on the back of a dragon.


    And looking at the Major''s state andparing him with everyone here in the entire settlement, he was in apletely fine state. It was the same state that Mark''s group was in when they visited. No wounds, clean, and wearing decent clothing.


    It was as if they knew that the disaster wasing and was prepared.


    This made a rumor spread that Major Bautista and the other people that came with him left to save themselves. It was not really something that they had proof to justify. But people in peril were good at putting the me on anything just to make them feel better.


    The announcement was not received positively, and Major Bautista was even doubted about how they managed to get the information they were disclosing.


    With all the doubts and rumors, it was not wrong to say that the announcement was a failed event. Even the credibility of the information was questioned. Some did not believe the barrier that they could not even see.


    Still...


    The people might have doubts, but it was true that they needed to move and help the military at this moment.


    With the settlement all ruined, they were all prone to facing danger without any protection.


    Thus, from one person, it slowly grew. With the remaining number of people, it would not be too hard to build the palisades that General Faustino and Major Bautista wanted to build.


    While it was true that the credibility of the military was getting low, it was also proven that people would move as long as there was someone to lead them.


    With the return of Major Bautista, the only military officer left together with the injured General Faustino, things were getting back on the track to survival, albeit slowly.


    Furthermore, with the strange tribe beginning to work with the military, getting manpower became easier. There was no need to say that the magical tribe could move outside the barrier despite the radiation. They became the main manpower cutting trees for the palisades.


    Still, despite the work being done, many people questioned the existence of the barrier.


    It was until they saw the cellophane-like dome that appeared a few days ago. The dome covered the entirety of the settlement, enveloping everyone in fear. It was when they remembered the announcement about the existence of the barrier.


    That was the first time they believed the military.


    However, it was alreadyte. That event was the time the barrier vanished. Everyone felt it when the air of danger blew all over the settlement once more.


    Fortunately, the palisade on the southern side of the settlement was already finished, and the eastern side was halfway done. The settlement was still notpletely safe, but these huge wooden stakes should at least hinder enemies, allowing the military to have more time to prepare against threats.


    Major Bautista stood on the southern side of the settlement, watching the newly built walls. He could only sigh. These walls would notst long, especially against the [Mechids]. However, it was the only thing they would build for now.


    In his eyes, he could not help butpare these palisades to the walls of the Mountain Base.


    "Damn it... Our walls cannot bepared to that..."<sub> </sub>


    Major Bautista whispered, trying to erase the unnecessary thoughts in his mind.


    "Compared to what?"


    All of a sudden, a familiar voice was heard from behind him.


    Major Bautista turned around. It was his daughter, no, daughters.


    "Dad!"


    Ka yelled, running towards the Major and hugging him.


    "Compared to what, Dad?"


    Karlene asked, repeating her question.


    "It''s nothing." Major Bautista shook his head, returning Ka''s embrace. "What are you two doing here?"


    It was a surprise to the Major. After all, it had been a while since he chose to stay here and separate from his daughters. He did not expect that they would just appear here all of a sudden.


    "We came to visit," Karlene said with a suspicious smile. "I was worried, but the ce looks better than before."


    Karlene panned her eyes on the palisade. People were working on the new walls diligently, making sure that the walls would not just fall instantly.


    "Things are getting better." Major Bautista nodded. "But if we want this ce to be safe, we need to do more than just this."


    It was not only Major Bautista. All the people involved in building the walls knew that it was just a temporary measure. They need to more and develop further than this.


    "By the way, the General is calling for you," Karlene said. "Mark is with him right now."


    p "Let''s go then."</anda>


    Major Bautista said as he called for another soldier to temporarily take his post.


    Walking back from the construction area to the military camp did not take too long. The military camp was on the south of the settlement now, after all.


    This time, however, instead of the infirmary, they went to a separate tent. The tent was quiterge, but it did not only serve as the General''s private quarters. It was also the current meeting ce for the nning they were making for the settlement.


    The three entered the tent and saw several people inside.


    Mark was there, together with Mei and Spera. na was also present, and so was the rest of Joash''s group. It was the group that went to the Mountain Base together with Major Bautista because of Mark''s request to borrow Professor Chervil Sandoval.


    "Why are all of you here?"


    Major Bautista could not help but blurt out, seeing the group supposed to serve as Professor Sandoval''s bodyguards here.


    "Ask thatter ande in."


    It was not anyone from the group that answered the Major but General Faustino.


    Together with General Faustino was, of course, the mercenary Jones Galley. In the middle was Artenaris, the leader of the tribe of [Magical Races] in the settlement.


    Major Bautista came in with his daughters and heard about the reason they were here.


    Apparently, there was no reason for them to stay in Mark''s base any longer. Professor Sandoval''s safety was not an issue in the first ce, and they only came for formalities. The Mountain Base sure was a good ce to stay. However, they were needed more here in the settlement where they came from.


    Surely, General Faustino and Major Bautista were touched by that thought and were definitely happy to wee them back.


    Professor Sandoval and Emika''s family decided to stay in the Mountain Base, however. It was not an issue considering their safety was a priority.


    "Actually, I''m also staying here with na and Ka for a while. Is that alright?"


    Karlene said to her father.


    "Are you sure? You know the state of the settlement. The people might not wee you here too."


    Major Bautista asked Karlene. After all, the New Infanta Settlement was not like the Mountain Base. There were a lot of things missing here. Not to mention the current state of the settlement.


    "Who cares about them?" Karlene replied. "You already said it. The settlement is not safe. Your job is to keep the people safe, then it will be our job to keep you safe."


    Major Bautista could not reply to that. His daughter was being resolute at this time for him to deny it.


    However, there was another reason as to why Karlene and the others chose this time to return.


    "This is the best time for them to go back here," Mark said. "I n to go to Bay City to check on the situation there. I will take some people with me, including her."


    Mark pointed at Spera, who some of them knew was capable of opening portals.


    Those words from Mark exined the reason. With both Mark and Spera away from the base, there was no way for these people to go back here. It was really the best time, as Mark said.

 Chapter 787 A Sudden Blessing, Giving Things To Those Who Deserved It

    <strong>Day 197 - 11:21 AM - Central Tent, Military Camp, New Infanta Settlement, Infanta, Province of Quezon</strong>


    The return of Karlene and the others touched the hearts of Major Bautista and General Faustino. Right now, manpower was what they needed the most. And although uncontroble in the past, Karlene was a powerful [Mutator] that needed dozens of soldiers to subdue. Since her powers were now controlled, it would not be wrong to say that she could be one of the most powerful individuals in this ce.


    With the help of Karlene and the others, they might have more chances to withstand the dangers that the settlement would face in the future.


    While it was true that Karlene''s case made people from the ruined Real Settlement hate her existence, they would not have any say in this case now. They could only ept her return as the settlement needed it.


    Of course, General Faustino was sure that not everyone would see this situation in a positive light. It would definitely be the case in the Political Faction of the Settlement. With the return of this group, the military would have more strong people in their lines. It would be harder for the Political Faction to make any movements against the military, even in the dark.


    Furthermore, the people from the also ruined East Port Settlement had no grievance towards Karlene. If they knew how strong she was, those people would choose to cooperate with the military more than before.


    It would be nothing but a win scenario for the military in this case.


    With those thoughts, General Faustino felt a gaze. He turned and saw that it wasing from Mark. The general could only nod, realizing that Mark might also have these things in consideration.


    "By the way," Mark spoke to the general. "Do you guys have any ce to store supplies?"


    "Store supplies... You mean a warehouse?" General Faustino replied in thought. "Unfortunately, no."


    "Most of the supplies recovered are ced in a specific area outside, only covered by stitched up tarpaulins."


    Jones Galley chimed in.


    "That is right." General Faustino nodded with a sigh. "We prioritized the construction of the palisades since thest time your group visited. Even dwellings for the refugees and soldiers weregging behind in schedule that we are receivingints already. In the least, we put more important necessities like food, water, and medicine, inside tents."


    It was not surprising. Everything was ruined, after all. Still, Mark asked just in case.


    "Why did you ask that suddenly?"


    Major Bautista asked.


    It was when Mark said the surprise.


    "We brought some supplies," Mark answered. "Well, it''s not really a donation or anything. Both Karlene and Mizuki worked hard to gather supplies for the base together with everyone. It''s only natural for me to bring their share since they are returning and staying here."


    Then, Mark turned to Major Bautista.


    "We brought some for you too."


    Mark said to the major''s surprise.


    "For me?"


    Major Bautista asked, speechless and confused.


    "It''s your sry, Dad."


    Karlene answered her father with a smile.


    "Sry?"


    The major was even more confused.


    "You helped instruct the training this past month, right?" Mark said. "That''s a payment for instructing my people."


    The surprise of Major Bautista intensified.


    "But I didn''t really..."


    The major was about to deny, but Mark did not let him continue.


    "I know you didn''t expect to receive something. But just ept it. I don''t want to owe favors to people."


    Major Bautista fell silent. Mark did not say it directly, but he knew the meaning of Mark''s words.


    Mark did not want to owe anything to outsiders.


    It was quite a frustrating thought, but it was true nheless.


    "Alright, I''ll ept it."


    Major Bautista sighed. Even so, he looked a bit happy about the unexpected things he would be receiving. How long had it been since he positively received a surprise? The surprises during the apocalypse were mostly negative, after all.


    "Well, there''s still a problem on where to ce them."


    Mark said.


    "I think it''s fine to put them behind this tent," Jones suggested. "We should still have some unused tarps to cover it."


    "Is his suggestion fine?"


    General Faustino asked Mark.


    "Don''t ask me." Mark shrugged his shoulders. "These supplies aren''t mine."


    That turned the attention to the people Mark mentioned to receive the supplies. And, of course, they did not have problems with it.


    There, everyone wanted to move to the back of the tent. They all wanted to see what Mark brought as even na and Karlene had not seen it.


    "Then, Alfonso, Jones, you two oversee the things."


    General Faustino said to the major and the mercenary. After all, he was now a disabled person. There was no way for him to move on his own from ce to ce unless he was being carried by someone. He could ask Jones to carry him, but it would look shameful, especially since he needed to keep his pride as the leader of this ce.


    "Oh, right." Mark suddenly spoke. "General, this is for you."


    Mark then stood, facing an open space at the side of the tent. He then stretched his hand forward and caused a ck hole to open. It was not a new sight to everyone here, except for Artenaris, who looked really surprised.


    And out of that hole, a prettyrge item came out.


    As he saw the item, General Faustino''s eyes started to get wet.


    General Faustino lost his right leg while his left leg was already diagnosed to be permanently broken. His left leg was severely injured, and his bones were broken into pieces. It was too severe that even the [Regeneration Medicine] had no effect on it.


    To a dedicated soldier, the loss of his legs was simr to losing the life he knew. Still, what made the general not lose his mind and heart was his duty to the people of this settlement.<sub> </sub>


    Even so, it could not be said that he was mentally healthy after the incident. Losing his legs, not to mention being cooped up in either the infirmary or this tent, made his mental health even worse.


    In fact, Jones and Faustino began to worry about General Faustino. Although the general was fine outside and was smiling when facing other people, he was already showing signs of depression when left alone. The most that the two could do, however, was give General Faustinopany inside his tent.


    Going outside for a walk might have helped. However, as said before, General Faustino did not like the idea of being carried around. Not only would it show others that he was not in a good state, but it would also harm his dignity as the leader of this settlement.


    It would have been good if they had a wheelchair. However, where were they going to get one? Everything was destroyed, after all. The thought of making one was also scrapped since they did not have the right equipment.


    But as Mark took out the item, even Jones and Major Bautista could not help but be shaken in delight.


    The usually indifferent Mark took out a finely made wheelchair.


    It had wheels and even other rubber and none-metal parts that a wheelchair had. However, the frame and other metal parts were all ck-colored.


    The color made Jones remember the first time he and Mark met. This reddish-ck sheen was the very same metal that was used in his weapons at that time.


    It meant that this wheelchair was personally made by Mark''s hands.


    "This..."


    General Faustino was speechless. He was also trying to hold back his tears.


    This scene made Mark sigh. He could tell how grieved the general was since the first time he saw him injured. No one might be able to see it since General Faustino was good at hiding his emotions. But an [Empath] like Mark would see through it clearly.


    And here, General Faustino was extremely delighted to the point that he could tear up at any time. Mark just gave him hope, after all.


    The atmosphere in the tent turned sour but in a good way. Seeing General Faustino unable to say anything as he stared at the wheelchair while holding up his tears was heartbreaking. Just how much depression did this man shoulder up to now?


    "Why not try it?"


    Mark suggested.


    "Can I... really?"


    General Faustino asked.


    "Just try it." Mark insisted. "Or do you want me to take it back?"


    That question made everyone speechless. And by what it looked like, Mark was not joking either.


    Mark''s sudden change of attitude made General Faustino shaken that his emotions turned from delight to fear that Mark would actually take it back. His tears vanished as he turned to Jones.


    "Help me get into that."


    Of course, Jones happilyplied.


    Everyone''s attention was now on General Faustino as he tried the wheelchair.


    "It''s a perfect fit."


    General Faustino said in surprise. There was no feeling of difort at all as he sat in the wheelchair. It was as if this wheelchair was made solely for him. This made him wonder how Mark got his measurements.


    "Then, you can go out now," Mark said. "It''s better if you also oversee the supplies since I also brought some extra things."


    General Faustino nodded. It would also be the first time he would be able to go out without being carried by anyone.


    And there, everyone in the tent was present as Mark and Mei took out the supplies from their rings.


    The space in the rings was not exactly a cube. Each item was separated inside if it was not put in a container. The shape of the item was also measured by its surface area, which meant that an irregrly shaped item would not take extra space. But by Mark''s estimate, both the rings had a five-meter by five-meter space inside if measured in a cube.


    These [Spatial Rings] could sure fit a whole load of items.


    And both Mark and Mei emptied both their rings, filled with boxes upon boxes of supplies divided into several groups stacked together.


    na, Karlene, Ka, and Major Bautista had their shares.


    Even the other members that returned had some supplies grouped together as they also worked in the base, albeit not a lot.


    But what made them wonder was an extra stack of boxes. Furthermore, a few boxes were not stacked together and sounded like they had ss bottles inside.


    "What about these?"


    Major Bautista asked since no one could tell what the boxes contained with the boxes turned inside out.


    "The stacked boxes are food and drinks," Mark said, opening one box containing cans of c. "These will expire soon, and we are sure that we can''t consume these before they expire. So we decided to give these to you guys."


    Those words made the soldiers happy. It might be expiring soon, but with how many people here, relying on the military, it might not even be enough. Even so, it was a big help.


    "And these..."


    Mark opened one of the boxes that were not stacked.


    And to the surprise of General Faustino and the others, the contents of the boxes were liquor. A high-quality liquor at that.


    "Some idiots took boxes of liquor back to the base instead of carrying food and water," Mark said as his eyes looked to the side towards Karlene and na, making them blush. "I''m not really against it, but they took too much, so I''m giving some here."


    Mark then turned to General Faustino and Major Bautista.


    "I''m pretty sure you need something to motivate the people into work. You can use these. There are also a few boxes of cigarettes there. Just look for it."


    "Are you sure we can have these?"


    General Faustino asked. For sure, it was too much that they were receiving all these from Mark all of a sudden.


    "You can have it," Mark replied with a nod. "Besides, it''s not a donation or something. I''ll be borrowing Professor Sandoval for a prolonged time, so I thought I need to give somepensation."


    Mark''s words made the three heads of the military look at each other. With a shrug, they could only nod. It was not really necessary. After all, even if Professor Sandoval returned, there would not be a lot of work to do for him. Most of theboratory equipment they had was destroyed, and they were only able to salvage necessary ones.


    However, what Mark said was true. They needed something to drive the people to work more. For example, liquor and cigarettes, which were now luxuries. It would definitely help a lot, and they could only agree to ept.


    In any case, General Faustino managed to show a smile he could not for a long time. He was really grateful for the sudden blessing that came unexpectedly.

 Chapter 788 Inside And Outside, Dangers In New Infanta Settlement

    <strong>Day 197 - 11:52 AM - Military Encampment, New Infanta Settlement, Infanta, Province of Quezon</strong>


    After delivering the supplies, there was no reason for Mark, Mei, and Spera to stay. They also had other things to do, specifically, preparing for their journey towards Bay City.


    "Be careful on your travels, alright?"


    Karlene said, hugging Mei and Spera.


    This emotional but childish embrace was expected from Karlene, and Mei did not mind it. Spera, however, was extremely embarrassed and was looking at Mark, asking for help. Although she was trying her best to gain control of her emotions, Spera was still far from it.


    Mark had no intention to help, however, looking away while slightly shaking his head. It did not take too long, though.


    <strong>"YOU TOO!" </strong>


    Karlene let go of the two and immediately jumped to also give Mark an embrace.


    Even to Mark, it was unexpected, especially with many people, including her father, watching. Well, it should not be surprising either, considering that Karlene did worse back at the time they first met.


    ? "That''s what you get."


    Spera murmured to the side.


    "Mee too!"


    And there, Ka also jumped in. Giving the three leaving people short hugs.


    The others also gave their farewell and thanks for the hospitality in the Mountain Base. Joash and the others could say that staying in the Mountain Base was the best experience they had since the apocalypse came. The safety, the baths, the food, and even the people. It waspletely different from any military settlement they had been to.


    But, of course, it was not their home, and they had to return. It might be a pity, but they should not get used to the good life in the Mountain Base when their own settlement was facing struggles.


    With the farewells done, it was time for the three to depart.


    Spera opened a portal in front of everyone, where Mark, Mei, and Spera entered and vanished in.


    Although they had seen it before, it still left General Faustino and the others in awe. To them, the existence of magic was still an unfamiliar thing.


    Still, no one would be able to deny how convenient it was. Using Spera''s portals, Mark''s group could go anywhere in a blink of an eye. There would be no need to travel across the dangerous apocalyptdscape, and there was no need to fight extremely terrifying dangers.


    Even if they would not admit it, they knew they wished they had someone like Spera in their ranks.


    In any case, there was no need to mull over such useless thoughts.


    "There they go." na voiced out, shrugging. "We''ll definitely miss the base."


    Looking around, even though it was said to be better than before, na could see how the settlement was still in tatters. Living here was not the same in Mark''s base and was not evenparable to their life back in Real Settlement.


    "Don''t say that..." Karlene said to her best friend. "You''re just going to remind us if you say that."


    "You two..." Major Bautista scratched his head. "If you two are going to say those things, you should have stayed there instead."


    This conversation turned into a short friendly banter afterward. It only stopped as Jones Galley dropped a question.


    "Mark seems to be in a good mood," Jones said, looking at the supplies. "I don''t think he would just give out supplies for no particr reason."


    "That is right." General Faustino nodded. "He might say that it''s because of Professor Sandoval, but Mark is a smart person. He should know that it is unnecessary since just keeping the professor safe was more than enough."


    "It''s a father''s mood, I guess?"


    Karlene said, making Jones, General Faustino, and her father look at her in askance.


    "Mark made something absurd for his daughters, and they really liked their new toys," na exined. "He''s not showing it in his face, but he seemed really happy to see his daughters like his creations."


    "Yeah, he''s like you, Dad," Karlene said to her father. "It''s like back then when you brought home a stuffed toy and was worried if I didn''t like it. Then you looked really happy with my reaction to the toy."


    Relieving those memories, Major Bautista was a bit embarrassed.


    "Do I really look happy that time?"


    Major Bautista asked.


    "I didn''t really notice it." Karlene shook her head. "But Mom saw it and told meter."


    Those words gave a bitter smile to Major Bautista''s face. It was, after all, a memory of his deceased wife.


    That reaction created silence in the group. It was no news to the people here what happened to Major Bautista''s wife and son. And only Karlene being the only remaining member of his family, and well, of course, the new addition, Ka.


    With those thoughts in mind, they all moved to do things they had to do.


    First of all, to arrange the dwellings of the people that returned. The soldiers could just join in the already built barracks, but Joash''s group was different. Not only was Joash an important member of the settlement, but they were also precious [Evolvers].


    Even other groups of [Mutators] and [Evolvers] in the settlement were given their own tent to use.


    As for Karlene, na, and Ka, they also needed a separate tent.


    Most importantly, they needed to build a storage area for the supplies that Mark brought back. All of it was precious, especially the luxury items.


    With those arrangements, the arrival of the returnees ended.


    ***


    <strong>Day 197 - 3:15 PM - Military Encampment, New Infanta Settlement, Infanta, Province of Quezon</strong>


    Soon, however... It did not take long, and the existence of the newly acquired supplies reached the masses.


    "Who is it?"


    General Faustino mmed on the table, looking at the newly assigned officers of the settlement. It was supposed to be a happy day for the general, receiving a wheelchair and supplies from Mark. Yet, in a few hours, here he was, with his mood fouled as he looked at the new officers.


    The qualifications of these new officers were stillcking in military standards. However, they needed somepetent people to help organize the settlement.


    But their qualifications were not the issue this time around.


    The supplies they received from Mark were a lot but not a whole lot. That was why they could still not splurge on it and intended to continue on the current amount of rations. If not, these newly acquired supplies would notst long and would be used up way before the expiry dates.


    That was why the general decided to hide the existence of the new supplies and kept it as military knowledge.


    Yet, the news about the supplies already reached the masses for some reason and spread fast. And rumors being rumors, it blew up, turning into false information.<sub> </sub>


    The quantity of the supplies in the rumors was way higher than what they actually received from Mark. Not to mention that not all of it was owned by the entire military but was the private property of the people Mark gave the supplies to.


    Furthermore, the soldiers knew the distribution of the supplies, considering many soldiers were also present around to watch when Mark and Mei took out the supplies.


    Many soldiers heard Mark say which belonged to who.


    And yet, the rumors that reached the masses werepletely different.


    It was as if it was deliberately spread.


    If this continued, things would get out of control.


    And to the general''s question...


    None of the new officers could answer.


    "It''s no use asking them, General." Jones, standing behind the general, spoke. "They are new to their positions. They still need to get used to it. They might not even know every single person that belonged to their toon."


    "Hah..." The general sighed. "It may be true, but there is no doubt that one of us leaked the information. Your men are your responsibilities."


    General Faustino turned to the new officers.


    "Investigate who is the one that leaked the information outside. You are all dismissed."


    With salutes, the new officers walked out of the tent, leaving the distressed General Faustino. The only ones left with the General were Major Bautista and Jones Galley.


    "What a headache."


    General Faustino rubbed his wrinkled forehead.


    "It is not hard to see who caused this."


    Jones said, making Major Bautista agree.


    "I know." General Faustino sighed. "What I can''t ept is that one of us became their spy."


    General Faustino was right to feel dismayed over this situation.


    The only pir that keeping his settlement in control was the military. There was another pir, the Political Faction, but they were not really contributing as much as the former.


    Nheless, it was not new that the Political Faction was unhappy with the military taking control of everything. There were no shes in the open. But the Political Faction had done many things against the military in the dark.


    It was very likely that this was also their hands in work in this situation.


    And the worst of it, one, or possibly more, of their soldiers were working with the opposing faction.


    General Faustino could not ept it.


    While in deep thoughts, however...


    <strong>CLANG! CLANG! CLANG! CLANG!</strong>


    The sounds of rm bells echoed across the military encampment.


    There was no need to think about it. The three heads of the military moved out of the tent to see what was happening. It was really nice that General Faustino received the wheelchair this morning. Instead of being carried on Jones'' back, he was now being pushed on it.


    Just as the three went out of their tent, a young soldier was came running to them just in time.


    Major Bautista could not help but frown, however. He recognized this soldier. He was one of the soldiers in the scouting squad. Their group was supposed to be scouting the area at this time. It was not hard to forget this soldier since he was one of the few [Evolvers] in the military, Private Dimnta. His ability was focused on speed, being the best as a scout and as a messenger.


    "General!" The soldier called out. "A monster is on its way here. We spotted a four-meter tall quadrupedal monster moving in the settlement''s direction. The rest of my squad was still monitoring the monster, but we expect it to arrive in six, no, five minutes."


    "Alfonso." General Faustino turned to Major Bautista. "Alert the soldiers and lead them to intercept the possible threat. I know they just arrived this morning, but if possible, let your daughter and Miss na participate."


    "Yes, General."


    Major Bautista immediately replied and left.


    Then, General Faustino turned back to the young soldier.


    "Monster, you say?" The general asked. "It''s not an [Infected] or a [Mechid]? Not even an [Evolved Animal]?"


    "I''m sorry, but we are not sure, Sir." Private Dimnta apologized sincerely. "It only looked like a gigantic animal, but it seemed to have tentacle-like appendages all over its body, and we can''t confirm whether it had a head or not as there was nothing to resemble such parts on its body."


    "An [Unknown], huh... It''s been a while since we have to use this term."


    General Faustino murmured.


    "In any case, we should also get ready."


    General Faustino said.


    "But General, you..."


    Jones tried to stop the general. He might already have a wheelchair, but he was still not in perfect shape tomand in the field.


    "I know, but I can''t just stay behind. We are going to encounter an [Unknown]. We don''t know whether our methods to deal with the threats we know would work."


    "Alright, General." Jones agreed with a sigh. "But I will always stay beside you."


    "That is fine. But when things became dangerous, I will retreat safely and send you to battle."


    Everyone readied for battle while the rms made the nonbatants cower in fear.


    They nned to intercept the threat outside the walls. Not only that the walls were still iplete, but there was no way that a wall that did not even reach three meters would stop a four-meter tall creature.


    Luckily, a wide area south of the settlement was already cleared of trees and other debris. It was a good ce to intercept the danger.


    Soon, the rest of the scouting squad arrived. There was no need to report the arrival of the monster as it was already in sight.


    And everyone''s reaction...


    "Holy sh*t..."


    It sure was a monster.

 Chapter 789 Absurd Creatures, An Unforeseen Threat To New Infanta Settlement

    <strong>Day 197 - 3:31 PM - Southern Outskirts, New Infanta Settlement, Infanta, Province of Quezon</strong>


    It was a creature that was at least four meters tall, about twenty-two meters long, and about two and a half meters wide. This four-legged thing sure was a gigantic monster.


    However, its appearance did not make much sense. As the scouts reported, it did not have a head or a neck, making it hard to identify. Furthermore, its cucumber-shaped body looked like a cluster of pulsating flesh, extending more than a hundred flesh-like tentacles all over it. It had four legs that seemed to belong to a bovine animal, considering its gigantic more than half-meter tall hooves and the proportion of its fatty legs.


    But even with the appearance of its legs, it would be hard to determine whether it was a cow or any other bovine animal. Not like it mattered anymore.


    The monster shambled continuously towards the direction of the settlement. Its way of walking was rather wobbly as if it was struggling to maintain bnce. But no matter how it walked, whether it was slow or fast, it would be a threat to the New Infanta Settlement in no time.


    "General!"


    The leader of the scouting squad saluted as he met General Faustino.


    "How is it?" General Faustino asked. "Any new reports about that monster?"


    The duty of the scouting squad was not limited to just searching for any possible danger and informing the settlement. While one of the squad members served as a messenger, the others would continue to observe the threat and, if usible, do some tests.


    The most important test was to try and deviate the threat away from the settlement''s direction.


    "Sorry, General, but there''s very little we could gather."


    The scout squad leader, Lieutenant Domingues, replied to the general''s question,


    Following the reply, Lieutenant Domingues gave his report.


    The creature did not seem to be an [Infected], or possibly, it was some sort of a deviant mutation. The scout squad determined it by trying to use themselves as bait to lure the creature towards another direction. It was a dangerous endeavor, but it would be worth it if they could lead the creature away or buy a little bit more time.


    However, it failed and ignored the small group of soldiers, continuing on its way towards the settlement.


    The lieutenant reported their other observations, like how seemingly unstable the creature walked. In fact, it stumbled several times on its way.


    Using the observations of the scouting squad, the general formted the ns. Even if the time they had was too short, they needed to create a n to coordinate the movements of the soldiers and everyone participating in this defensive operation.


    They could tackle the situation as is. However, it was not only manpower that the military wascking but also weapons and ammunition. Their machinery to produce bullets was long destroyed along with their remaining materials. What they have currently was limited,


    They had to make use of every single bullet as efficiently as possible.


    After formting the n, General Faustino immediately ryed it to his soldiers.


    From their current position, they retreated back as much as they could while leaving a safe distance from the newly built walls of the settlement. However, they did not withdraw without leaving a few gifts for their unwanted iing guest.


    Everyone hid behind trees and bushes, weapons held tightly in their hands, waiting for the time to strike.


    <strong>BAM! BAM! BAM!</strong>


    The thumping sounds came closer and closer. The creature continued its shambling strides towards the settlement''s direction. Wiggling its undeterminable number of disgusting tentacles all over its body.


    And then...


    <strong>BOOM! BOOM!</strong>


    The sounds of several chained explosions echoed into everyone''s ears.


    Normally, the sound of explosions would make anyone perplexed. But this time, the soldiers were delighted to hear such loud booming sounds enter their ears.


    Those sounds meant only one thing. The creature stepped on the gifts they left on its way.


    What gifts? Landmines, of course.


    Landmines were reliable traps against enemies. However, depending on the situation, it could also serve as a double-edged sword.


    These explosive traps could be used to surround the settlement. But since the settlement was still recovering and had yet to establish a proper border, thesendmines were still unusable as they could harm civilians and workers.


    Furthermore, while making a minefield was a good method of defense, there was no guarantee on who would step on thendmine. It could be a gigantic [Infected], or it may be wasted on a shambling [Eater]. That was why it was better to keep thendmines for certain determined situations.


    This was one of those situations.


    Using thendmine on the creature in front of them was a good strategy. In the first ce, it was already moving unstably. If the soldiers could take off or, at least, damage the monster''s legs, it would be easier to deal with this thing.


    <strong>THUD! SQUISH!</strong>


    As the general intended, the gigantic creature fell to the ground with a loud sound. And as if telling everyone of how sticky and fleshy its body was... the disgusting sound of meat being squished also entered their ears.


    The creature fell, but the soldiers did not move from their position. They were waiting for Major Bautista''s signal.


    <strong>THUMP! THUMP! THUMP!</strong>


    Because of the explosion, dust and smoke covered the area around the creature. However, everyone could hear the thumping sounds of its struggles. Who knows what was going on. Maybe, it was still trying to stand up, or it could be violently squirming its body to move.


    "Stand by."


    Major Bautista''s voice echoed into the few radios they still had working. Those that had the radios ryed the instructions to the other soldiers.


    It was a waiting game for now. There was no way that they would just storm an enemy shrouded in the veil of dust and smoke.


    But before the dust and smoke dissipated, everyone noticed that the thumping sounds suddenly came to a stop.


    Did the creature die? Maybe it stopped struggling?


    Before everyone could make more spections, however...


    They were subjected to a sight they did not expect.


    <strong>SPLAT!</strong>


    The sound of a loud stter entered their ears. It was as if arge mound of flesh suddenly exploded.<sub> </sub>


    <strong>"AHH!!"</strong>


    Before everyone could react, screams and shouts echoed as they noticed the sky above them.


    <strong>"Fall back! FALL BACK!"</strong>


    Major Bautista hurriedly ordered as they faced the unexpected situation.


    It was raining withrge elongated things they had yet to identify. What they were sure of, however, these things flew off from the veil of dust and smoke to the sky.


    The soldiers quickly abandoned their positions. Some of them moved even before the order came. They could not be med, however. There were countless of these elongated things that came flying everywhere.


    Major Bautista''s order and the response of the soldiers were quick. But even with that, their speed was not enough. Many soldiers closest to where the creature fell were hit by the elongated things.


    And there, they realized what these elongated objects were. About as thick as an adult''s arm and about two meters long with a flesh-like appearance and texture. The soldiers were sure these things were the tentacles of that creature. But why did these things go flying all of a sudden?


    Knowing that these things were the creature''s tentacles did not make the did make the situation any better, although it gave the soldiers courage to take off the tentacles thatnded on their bodies and throw them away as they retreated.


    That was when the horror started.


    A soldier had a tentaclend on his right shoulder. He immediately grabbed it to throw it away when he felt something wrap on his neck. The squishy and sticky feeling on his neck and the smell of rotting flesh was not something pleasant to experience. But that was the least of his concern as he was unable to remove the tightening grip of the tentacle as it began to constrict his neck.


    The soldier fell down, unable to breathe. His mouth was wide open as he tried to gasp for air. Two of hisrades stopped to help the poor soldier. But they werete.


    The widely opened mouth of the soldier was suddenly assaulted with the taste of rotting flesh. That was when the soldier noticed that the tentacle that was constricting him began to make its way into his body through his mouth.


    With his eyes wide open, the soldier struggled. He pulled hard on the tentacle that was entering his mouth but failed to do so. Even so, he continued to pull it out.


    It was when his eyes dted in pain.


    The tworades of the soldier could only stop on their tracks as they saw the soldier''s head get torn from his neck and fall to the ground, making the rest of the tentacle slip through his mouth.


    <strong>"Sh*t!"</strong>


    One of the two cursed, seeing the death of the soldier.


    It was not only that soldier who experienced such a painful death. There were others who were just as unlucky as him.


    They were mistaken. These things were not just tentacles. It became apparent when each soldier was beheaded the same way, with the supposed tentacles constricting their victims and entering their mouths.


    The beheaded soldiers fell on the ground, lifeless. However, it did not take long for all of them to slowly stand up once again. The tentacles that entered their bodies pierced bloody holes and coiled in and out of their flesh, with both ends dangling out of the holes disgustingly.


    "What the f*ck is this."


    Jones cursed out loud, seeing the unfortunate spectacle before them. They just lost many soldiers in a short time without any of them being able to react at all.


    The dead soldiers aside, there were also arge number of those tentacles squirming around, obviously chasing after the retreating soldiers.


    "Retreat and regroup!"


    Major Bautista urgently ordered through the radio.


    With what was going on, they needed to stop these creatures even more.


    "Dad, look."


    Karlene called out to her father, pointing somewhere.


    Major Bautista turned to his daughter and saw that she was pointing at where the explosions of thendmines urred.


    The smoke and dust had not dissipated entirely, but it was now easier to see through it. Those that saw that were shocked.


    There was nothing there was but a headless rotting corpse of a cow, filled with holes, and its legs missing from the explosion. It was far different from what they saw before, with it being a fleshy creature.


    It also appeared that the body of the cow somehow blew up, seeing how ragged it was, having arge hole on it. It might have been the cause of the sudden spread of these things.


    "Are those parasites..."


    na, who was also present to participate, muttered. Being an Otaku herself, she had seen such kinds of motifs for creatures and stuff.


    "Parasites... How did youe to that conclusion?"


    Major Bautista heard na''s mutter and asked in dismay.


    "I''m not really sure, but it''s just how it looked like. When the previous host lost its legs, it''s rendered unusable so these parasites began to seek new hosts. That huge creature before might be a cluster of parasites and not just one creature."


    na exined, not mentioning her actual reason to deduce the situation. Who would ept that she spected as such because of a zombie game?


    In any case, there was no doubt that na''s deduction was the closest to the current situation.


    <strong>"Major! What are we going to do next?"</strong>


    A soldier called towards Major Bautista in desperation. They just saw theirrades die and turn into shambling worm-coiled monsters. It was not surprising that they were all desperate for many reasons.


    If it was the normal circumstances, just firing their guns would be usible. But worm-like creatures of this size were hard to aim at, at a distance. However, getting up close was also not a good thing, considering how fast these worms move after closing in towards a potential host.


    It was a dilemma. But all they could do was face it.


    Finally, Major Bautista gave the order.


    <strong>"Men! Take aim and fire! Don''t bother conserving bullets! If these things reach the settlement, we will be done for!</strong>"


    And there, the sounds of gunshots finally ensued.


    The parasites became riddled with holes. But to everyone''s surprise, none of them seemed to be dying at all. Even with their bodies damaged, some torn into two by the bullets... Both ends of the parasites would move towards the direction of their potential hosts.

 Chapter 790 Drawn In By The Battle, Another Group Of Enemies After The Parasites

    <strong>Day 197 - 3:51 PM - Southern Outskirts, New Infanta Settlement, Infanta, Province of Quezon</strong>


    Far behind the frontline, inside the newly constructed walls, General Faustino, who retreated first with the tired scouts, was listening to the reports on the radio with a grim expression.


    With the loud sounds of gunshots far outside the walls, General Faustino knew that the situation had gone from bad to worse.


    The members of the scout squad were also in dismay as they heard the report of the sudden deaths of many of theirrades. Being scouts, they should have investigated more about the creature even if it put their lives in danger.


    By what it looked like, General Faustino''s n to leavendmines to disable the creature became the trigger for the current situation to happen. However, the n was formted with the scout squad''s initial reports. If there was someone to take the me for this failure, it was the scout squad.


    While the scout squad thought of taking the me, General Faustino thought otherwise. It was not like the scout squad did anything outside the protocol. In the first ce, no one would have thought that the situation would end up like this. He also saw the creature from afar, and if he was with the scout squad, he might have given the same report.


    If there was something to me in this, it was the goddamn source of all this mess, [Mutagen].


    [Mutagen] had no specific effect or line of mutation to follow. It made everything a pandora box for anyone still surviving in this chaotic world.


    <strong>"Major! These things are not dying!"</strong>


    A desperate call from the radio was heard by General Faustino and the others, clearly asking for further instructions from Major Bautista that led the soldiers in the field.


    ***


    In the area of the battle, the soldiers were desperately trying to push the enemies back. However, as they already knew, these parasites did not seem to be dying at all.


    No, the soldiers actually managed to blow up many of the parasites using grenades. Their bullets were also able to tear the bodies of the parasites piece by piece.


    But why did it feel that the parasites were not dying at all?


    <strong>BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!</strong>


    Another volley of grenades being thrown caused a cluster of explosions in front of the soldiers.


    More of the parasites were blown to pieces.


    But as the smoke from the explosions dissipated, they could seerger parasites approaching them.


    Yes,rger.


    As it appeared, after the parasites in front were blown up, the parasites behind would continue to charge forward. Along their way, their sticky bodies would pass by the pieces of their dead kin. Those pieces of parasites would then stick to the passing ones, getting absorbed in their bodies making them appear to grow.


    And thoserge parasites could be torn into two or morerge pieces by the bullets, with each piece still alive and creating more parasites to restore their number.


    Of course, the parasites could not keep their numbers the same. It was because the explosions would pulverize parts of the parasites into smithereens that could not be absorbed anymore.


    Nheless, with how this was going, it would be hard to say whether the soldiers would be able to kill all the parasites before they ran out of explosives and bullets.


    Furthermore, they could see parasitized dead soldiers began to undergo mutation. Their bodies were bing simr to the appearance of the previous host, being flesh-covered creatures donned with many fleshy tentacles.


    Before everyone''s eyes, the bodies of their deadrades were bing parasitic nests. If left alone, they might end up increasing the number of the already hard-to-deal parasites.


    With the difficult situation they were facing, a question came from na.


    "Uncle," na called out to Major Bautista. "Does the settlement have extra gasoline to spare?"


    "Gasoline?"


    Major Bautista was confused at first at the sudden question, but as his eyes fell unto the parasites, he immediately understood na''s inquiry.


    "General!" Major Bautista called out to his radio. "We need gasoline, A.S.A.P!"


    At the other line of the radio, there was no reply. What Major Bautista could hear was General Faustino''s voice, immediately ordering the avable soldiers. There was no need to question the major''s request. The general already understood and moved without hesitation.


    "Men! Just hold on a bit more!"


    Major Bautista shouted, also firing his gun up from the watchtower


    Everyone heard Major Bautista''s request through the radio. And there was no doubt that setting these pesky parasites on fire could be the answer to this dilemma.


    The low morale of the soldiers was rising as they formed their defensive lines firmer.


    "That''s a good suggestion, na."


    Major Bautistaplimented na. Thetter did not reply, however, as it was not really her own idea.


    Just a little more time and they would win this.


    But it seemed that luck was not on their side.


    "Major! There are suspicious movements at nine o''clock!"


    A soldier that was in charge of monitoring the battle shouted.


    And to their surprise, the suspicious movement was far from the direction of the parasites they were currently fighting.


    Major Bautista stopped firing his gun and turned in the direction of the reported movement. It was an area still heavily covered in trees and bushes. And yes, those bushes were moving strangely.


    <strong>SHING!</strong>


    The source of suspicious movements stepped out of the bushes, violently cutting the leaves.


    Major Bautista''s expression turned even more serious than earlier.


    <strong>"[Mechids] iing at nine o''clock!"</strong>


    Major Bautista yelled out on his radio.


    The sudden turn of events made the soldiers perplexed. It was not a good time for [Mechids] to suddenly appear.


    Furthermore, there was not only one or two [Mechids]. There were five of them moving out of the cluster of bushes and trees. One looked like a walking metallic jellyfish, with a rounded body and four elongated limbs. Two were humanoids having two legs and arms, but one had its left arm being a long de. The other humanoid appeared to be equipped with some sort of gun on its shoulders. As for thest two, they were both animal types, being quadruped but having a model different from any animal on Earth.


    It seemed that they were drawn in by the sounds of the battle. And unlike the [Infected] or [Failed Mutators], not all [Mechids] attack or charge towards the things that drew their attention.


    Like what was happening now, the [Mechids] seemed to be still in a scouting state. They had yet to see the soldiers, nor the parasites.


    But here, a voice entered Major Bautista''s ear.<sub> </sub>


    "Dad, let us handle those things."


    Karlene suggested.


    "What are you talking about?" Major Bautista asked, a bit agitated at his daughter''s suggestion. "Those [Mechids] are different from the [Infected]! Even explosives could barely damage them!"


    "Dad," Karlene''s expression turned serious. "We can''t get the soldiers distracted at this time. Don''t worry. Remember the [Mechid] that Mark caught? We managed to get some experience fighting that after you left the base to stay here. So we are the best people to fight them here."


    "But!"


    Major Bautista was hesitating.


    And here, na chimed in.


    "Uncle, just concentrate on the parasites. Bessie already said it. We already have experience fighting the [Mechids]. Besides, even Mark said it. Our [Gemini] are among the banes of the [Mechids]."


    "[Gemini]?" Major Bautista was confused. "What are you talking about?"


    "There''s no time to exin, Dad," Karlene said as the [Mechids] spotted the soldiers. "They are already charging at us."


    Without waiting for Major Bautista''s reply, Karlene held Ka''s hand.


    "Ka! Bessie! Let''s go!"


    Karlene shouted as she jumped off the watchtower they were at. She jumped with Ka, with na following closely behind.


    The three charged towards the five [Mechids], who immediately saw them. With the three girls closer than the soldiers, the target of the [Mechids] switched to the three.


    And as the three ran...


    ? "Ka! Transform!"


    Karlene yelled, not with urgency but with excitement.


    In fact, it was not only her. Even Ka had an excited smile.


    And as Karlene gave the cue, Karlene and Ka transformed at the same time.


    Karlene''s body became covered with dark-violet metallic armor. Her ck hair and eyes glowed in violet color, with her hair waving like water. Unlike in the past, however, only the nails on her right hand turned into sharp ws, glowing in violet sheen. Her left hand held on to Ka''s right hand, who was also undergoing her transformation.


    Major Bautista watched his two daughters, and his eyes were filled with shock. Karlene''s transformation was not new to him. But it was the first time for him to see Ka transform. And to say, Ka''s transformation was absurd even to him.


    Ka ran with Karlene, holding each other''s hands. But as they ran, Ka''s body started growing, simr to Karlene''s size. Her body was covered in ck armor that also looked extremely identical to Karlene''s. Her violet eyes and hair began to turn ck, with her hair flowing with the wind. And opposite to Karlene''s right hand, which nails that turned into ws, it was the left on Ka.


    The colors of their hair and eyes were the opposite. And while Karlene was glowing, Ka was pitch ck as if it was sucking all the light around it.


    But the most unexpected thing of all, they looked identical. It was not only their armor or transformation but also their faces and stature.


    Major Bautista already thought that Ka really looked like Karlene when she was still young. But who would have expected this?


    It was not wrong to say that there were two Karlenes in the field right now.


    At this point, it dawned on Major Bautista. This was the [Gemini] that na mentioned just now.


    Behind the two, na was not letting herself get overshadowed by the two.


    na, who was only known as an [Evolver] in the past, suddenly transformed. The white of her eyes turned yellow, with her hair turning orange with ck and white highlights. There were also roundish cat ears growing on her head. Even a long orange-furred tail with ck spots extended on her behind.


    "I''ll go ahead!"


    na shouted as she suddenly overtook Karlene and Ka. In the past, na was far slower than Karlene as she was a [Strength-Type Evolver]. Now, however, Karlene could not even chase after her best friend anymore.


    <strong>SHOOM!</strong>


    A greeting came towards na in the form of a brightser beam.


    It came from jellyfish-like [Mechid]. Theser beam came from atop its head as it bowed its body forward, extended its forelimbs upwards, and bent its forelimbs downward.


    Theser came fast. If it was na in the past, she might get hit even if she managed to react. But it was different now. With the new strength she received from Mark, her abilities increased further.


    na kicked her right foot, jumping towards the left. Theser from the jellyfish-like [Mechid] missed her. But then, the humanoid [Mechid] with guns on its shoulders began firing at na too. Unlike the first one that seemed to only firesers in long intervals, this one firedsers like an assault rifle.


    A rain of short beamedsers came towards na. But instead of na trying to find cover, she began to move erratically. Before anyone knew it, her figure was already blurred as she charged against the rain ofsers. Each shot missed na.


    At this point, the other three [Mechids] also began to move. They charged towards na despite the rain ofsers behind their backs. But being robots with highly advanced artificial intelligence, none of thesers hit their allies at all.


    It took a few seconds. na and the sword-wielding [Mechid] shed amidst the rain ofsers.


    The sword-wielding [Mechid] swung itsrge sword at na. na, on the other hand, swung a hook with her gauntlet-covered right fist.


    <strong>BAM!</strong>


    The sword and the fist collided. Sparks bloomed like fireworks as the two metal weapons shed with each other.


    na could not help but retreat due to the impact. Nheless, the [Mechid] was the same.


    But as na regained her bnce, the two animal-like [Mechids] already pounced on her. The metallic fangs of the two seemed really eager to bite her to pieces.


    Instead of immediately retreating, however, na smiled.


    <strong>SHING! SHING!</strong>


    Two silhouettes, one glowing with violet light and one as pitch-ck as the night sky, shed in front of na.


    <strong>CLANK! CLANK! BANG! BANG!</strong>


    The two animal-like [Mechids] slid across the ground, both with heads flying off to another direction.


    na stood up, with the figures of Karlene and Ka standing in front of her.


    Like what na said, before...


    "Our [Gemini] sure are the bane of [Mechids]."

 Chapter 791 A Fight Against The [Mechids], A Battle Ending In A Blinding Danger

    <strong>Day 197 - 3:59 PM - Southern Outskirts, New Infanta Settlement, Municipality of Infanta, Province of Quezon</strong>


    The beginning of the fight of Karlene, Ka, and na against the five [Mechids] was witnessed by many. Even the soldiers fighting the parasites could not help but put a bit of their attention on the three. The soldiers knew that it could be dangerous for their concentration to stray away from their battle. But given that it was literally rainingsers, they had to retreat further for them not to be idental casualties.


    In fact, some of thesers came flying towards the line of soldiers, forcing them to hurriedly break formation. It was already lucky that none of them were hit since the distance between the soldiers and the [Mechids] was pretty far away. But if they did not pull back their line of defense, it would be more dangerous for them.


    It was not only the soldiers that were faced by the barrage ofsers. Despite their smaller sizes, a lot of the parasites were hit. The smell of burning flesh could be whiffed off from the air due to this.


    And to the surprise of the soldiers, thesers were quite effective against the parasites.


    The parasites hit by thesers had parts of their bodies burnt to a crisp, causing the movements of the parasites to be stiff. Furthermore, the injuries the parasites received did not seem to heal or cause them to multiply further.


    It was strange. But looking at the burnt injuries of the parasites, the cause might be the extremely high temperature of thesers.


    "Major, you knew nothing about that?"


    Jones Galley asked Major Bautista, seeing the major''s appalled expression.


    "No. This is the first time I''ve seen this." Major Bautista replied. "na''s strength is one thing, but Karlene never even mentioned anything about this even slightly."


    "So, they even hid it from you..." Jones said, confused. "But why?"


    At that question, Major Bautista could only shake his head slightly. But inside his mind, Mark and the people in his base shed in his eyes for some reason. They were a mysterious group of people. During the time he stayed there... While he learned many things, he also felt that many things and secrets did not reach his ears at all.


    In any case, Major Bautista could only sigh in relief as he saw Karlene and Ka behead the two animal-like [Mechids]. Looking at that, it seemed that they really had the ability to fight against [Mechids].


    Nheless, his relief was short-lived as the following scenes happened.


    ***


    <strong>CLANG! CLANG!</strong>


    The sounds of metal echoed as the headless bodies of the two animal-like [Mechids] hit and slid on the ground. Their heads were also flung away in different directions.


    And for some reason, this made the other three [Mechids] pause, with red glowing lenses on their bodies focused on the three girls.


    This exhibit of behavior waspletely different from the [Infected]. The [Infected] would not care whatever happened to the members of their horde and continue to attack their prey as much as they could.


    The [Mechids], however, paused, seemingly assessing the situation.


    <strong>"KKWWRREEAAKK!"</strong>


    Suddenly, the jellyfish-like [Mechid] released sounds that one would not expect from a robotic creature. It sounded like a roar of a monster and the sound of creaking metal at the same time.


    Then, the two humanoids [Mechids] stood in front of the jellyfish-like [Mechid]. The [Mechid] with the long de in the foremost and the other withsers in the middle.


    At the same moment, the jellyfish-like [Mechid] made a tumble backward. Now, it was exposing the underbelly of its rounded body, facing na''s group. Parts of the [Mechid]''s underbelly moved, opening as if it was a blooming flower. And to everyone''s shock, the [Mechid]''s underbelly had a biggerser inside its body. The parts that opened up also seemed to have ss-like parts, and it all started to glow, together with the barrel of theser.


    It was the first time they fought a group of [Mechids], but as how it looked like, [Mechids] were also different from the [Infected] in group battles. The [Mechids] appeared to be able to utilize formations and strategies to some extent. It was something that could not be denied at this point.


    But as if the three [Mechids] in formation was not enough...


    <strong>SPLAT! SPLAT!</strong>


    The sounds of dripping sticky fluid sttering on the ground were heard together with metallic nking sounds.


    na''s group hurriedly turned behind them and saw the headless bodies of the animal-like [Mechids] slowly standing up. ck, foul-smelling liquid dripped from their necks like oil. But, of course, it could be anything but oil, considering how it smelled like rotting flesh. There were also the neatly cut wires protruding from the [Mechids''] necks, releasing sparks of electricity every now and then.


    But the point here was that the [Mechids] would not die just by decapitating their heads like how the [Infected] should be dealt with.


    Nheless, it was not like decapitating their heads did not have any effect. While it was still a mystery how [Mechids] could still move and fight without their heads, their sight still relied primarily on their [Ocr Sensors] installed where their eyes should be. With those sensors missing, their senses, especially sight, were impaired to some extent. It could be seen how the animal-like [Mechids] were moving slower than before, seemingly having a harder time sensing their surroundings.


    "Seems like Mark''s right," Karlene said, seeing the headless [Mechids]. "We really need to destroy their processors or the core of their AI if we want to kill them. But how can we know how to do it or where to hit?"


    Karlene remembered the few days Mark allowed them to train to fight the [Mechid] he caught. He gave them some of his ideas to fight the [Mechids. That was also the time Mark gave the alias [Gemini] to Karlene and Ka. He was a bit annoyed, though. In the middle of training, Karlene cut off that [Mechid]''s de arm.


    Mark liked his new toys. So, he was annoyed that the [Mechid] he caught got damaged. In the least, they knew that Karlene and Ka''s ws could slice through the bodies.


    "Killing themester," na replied. "That thing on the back is doing something suspicious. We need to deal with that first."


    The two humanoid [Mechids] were protecting the jellyfish-like [Mechid] behind them as it transformed. There was no doubt that the [Mechids] now saw na''s group as threats and were preparing for a stronger dangerous-looking attack.


    "Ignore the headless two. I''ll take care of the one with thesers on its shoulders. You two take care of the other two in front."


    na said.<sub> </sub>


    "Okay!"


    Karlene replied while Ka nodded in understanding.


    As they replied, the two headless [Mechids] jumped in their direction. The two sure could still sense them despite not having their heads anymore.


    However, the two injured [Mechids] missed as the three girls already charged forwards.


    With na being the fastest among the three, she arrived first in front of the [Mechid] with the long de. The [Mechid] swiftly shed towards her. Unfortunately for the sh received no feedback as na avoided the attack and ran past through it.


    And that was the worst timing for the long-ded [Mechid]. With its attack missing na, it was open to any iing attack. That was when Ka arrived in front of its already swung arm. The [Mechid] tried to retract its arm as fast as it could. However, Ka pushed its arm further with a bash of the armor on her right arm.


    SHING!


    Ka''s pitch-ck ws shed. The next thing that everyone saw was the long-ded [Mechid''s] head shed off and falling to the ground.


    But knowing that the [Mechid] would not just die from being beheaded, Ka swung her ws a few more times, leaving after-images of her ws at every swing.


    And leaving a kick as herst gift as she retreated, the [Mechids] body was sliced to pieces, sttering the ck liquid around the bits and pieces of its body.


    Ka retreated immediately. It was because another rain ofser wasing in her direction.


    In front, na was already locked in battle with theser-mounted [Mechid]. The rain ofsers was the result of the [Mechid] trying to shoot na and missing miserably.


    Although it was missing, there was no doubt that every shot of the [Mechid''s]ser was urate. However, na was moving too fast that she was able to avoid thesers before any of them hit her.


    In a moment, na was dodging thesers. In the next, she already stood in front of the [Mechid]. However, that was not all. Although it could not be seen because her arms were covered by her clothing, veins of red light were glowing through her arms.


    It was the racial ability of [Blood Demons], capable of either buffing either their strength, defense, or speed. Hers, however, could only increase her strength and defense. na was one of the descendants of [Blood Demons] since the start. She was one of the two that naturally awakened during the birth of the [Night Everred Spirit Tree], with Emi being the other one. It was also not the first time she used this ability, but it was definitely the first time she used it outside the activities of Mark''s base.


    And with na''s buffed strength and her new speed, na grabbed theser guns mounted on the [Mechid]''s shoulder and tore them off the poor robot. She quickly threw thesers away and clenched her gauntlet-covered fists tightly.


    BAM! BAM! BAM!


    In an instant, several punches were unleashed at an inhuman speed. At every punch, a mark of a fist was left on the [Mechid''s] body. The damage in every punch did not seem fatal, considering. It was no surprise, regarding [Mechids] could be barely damaged by small explosions and needed high explosives to kill.


    But with each punch stacked one after another, the damage and dents on the [Mechid''s] body umted fast. Soon, the rotten ck liquid was already spurting out its joints and gaps of its metal ces as its body dented and broke from na''s punches.


    Andstly, the jellyfish-like [Mechid], which Karlene chose to face.


    Unlike the two humanoids [Mechids], thest one was in apletely immobile state. Its body was glowing as if it was absorbing energy from somewhere. The ss parts of its body seemed to represent something like sr panels, which might exin why it appeared to be facing the afternoon sun.


    But without anything else to protect it, this state it was in was fatal. Karlene was already charging towards it with her ws ready to dismantle it to pieces.


    Nheless, the smart [Mechid] knew that it could not continue charging its energy any longer. It moved, directing the energy it gathered into the barrel. The [Mechid] decided to fire its weapon earlier than it was supposed to, but it should be enough to kill the enemy in front of it.


    The [Mechid] aimed the barrel at Karlene. It was glowing, close to firing. But even if it had an advanced AI, it seemed that its reaction was dyed due to mispredicting the situation. Although it was ready to fire, Karlene''s w was already an inch away from its body.


    SHING!


    Karlene''s w reached the [Mechid] first. It was unable to fire its weapon as she shed the [Mechid] in half.


    A smile crept up Karlene''s face as she sliced through the [Mechid''s] body, avoiding the seemingly dangerous attack from happening.


    But then...


    <strong>"WATCH OUT!"</strong>


    na''s frantic shout entered Karlene''s ear.


    That was when Karlene realized that the [Mechid] she sliced began to glow intensely.


    <strong>BOOM!</strong>


    The intense surge of light bloomed, covering an area about ten meters in radius instantly. It was as if the sun suddenly bloomed in that particr area.


    Everyone was blinded by the sudden surge of light. Not only the humans were affected. It seemed worse for the parasites, which all appeared to start squirming like earthworms showered in salt.


    The explosion of light spread further, making everyone feel the surge of heat enveloping them.


    <strong>"KARLENE!"</strong>


    Major Bautista eximed, worried for his daughter''s safety. Even the major was deprived of sight, but he began feeling his surroundings and hurriedly made his way down the watchtower.

 Chapter 792 Savior In The Shadows, His Strange Vision That Did Not Explained Anything

    <strong>Day 197 - 4:02 PM - Southern Outskirts, New Infanta Settlement, Infanta, Province of Quezon</strong>


    The sudden bloom of light enveloped everything. And as instant, it happened, the explosion of light vanished. Still, even though blinding surroundings only existed for a few seconds, it felt longer for everyone that witnessed it.


    It felt even longer for Major Bautista.


    Karlene was inside the radius of the explosion of light. As a father, Major Bautista was worried to death about the safety of the only family he had left.


    Major Bautista frantically made his way down thedder of the watchtower. His eyes could not see yet because of the light, and he was literally a blind person feeling his way down the structure. The major managed to get down the watchtower but ended up tripping down.


    Fortunately, Jones did not seem to be as blinded by the light as the other people and chased after the worried major. He caught the major mid-fall.


    "Major! Calm down! Your daughter is safe!"


    Jones said to the panicked major, looking in front.


    The light had already vanished a few seconds ago. Everything inside the ten-meter radius that the light engulfed was burned to a crisp. Even the soil was charred, and the rocks were melted, looking like droplets of magma.


    As for the [Mechids], none of them remained to be a threat any longer. The sturdy robotic menace that even explosions could barely harm were turned into melted pieces of debris, nowhere resembling their appearance just a few seconds ago. It was even impossible to tell that they were dangerous robots before.


    Even with just a few seconds that the bloom of light existed, its destructiveness was apparent.


    The only different ce within the scorched area was where na and Karleney down on the ground.


    na immediately noticed something was wrong when she saw the jellyfish-like [Mechid] glow after Karlene cut it in half. As an Otaku herself, na knew the possible event that could happen if something absorbed or charged high amounts of energy and was unable to discharge it properly.


    Yes, the result of that was an explosion as the energy stored was released into the environment.


    At that, though, na used all her abilities and rushed towards Karlene. na grabbed her best friend and dragged her away. They needed to get away from the explosion as fast as possible.


    But when the light exploded, it was too fast. na knew that they would not be able to get away unharmed. In the worst case, this would be their end.


    na did not give up. At thest moment, she threw herself and Karlene down to the ground. It was thest measure that na could think of.


    Looking at the area swallowed by that explosion, however, na and Karlene did not manage to leave the area of effect entirely. Both their legs were within the radius of the explosion, looking at the difference of the scorched soil.


    na and Karlene opened their eyes. Since they were facing away from the light, they were not severely blinded by it. What the two saw first was the contrast between the soil they lie on and the soil affected by the explosion. The grass under them might have wilted because of the heat, but it was not burnt at all.


    The two best friends sat up, and what they immediately saw was the silver-haired woman standing in front of them with her back, facing them. That silver hair, Karlene would be able to forget it easily.


    "Artenaris..."


    Karlene voiced out in her daze.


    The silver-haired woman looked back with a smile.


    "I... I came to... help?"


    The beautiful half-Diwata-half-Demon said in an awkward voice. It had almost been a month after her tribe decided to cooperate with the military under Mark''s suggestion. Since then, she slowly learned the humannguage and could nowmunicate despite her awkward grammar and pronunciation.


    "You saved us?"


    Karlene asked and realized that they were safe and sound. Her skin felt a bit sunburned, but that was it.


    Ka came running towards the two, worried. She was further away from the two and managed to retreat quickly. Her eyes seemed to be hurt, but she was also fine. The little girl deactivated her mutation, turning back to her child body, and quickly embraced Ka.


    "We''re fine, we''re fine." Karlene tried to pacify the worried child. "Why did you immediately turn back. You''re naked again."


    It was one of the drawbacks of Ka''s transformation. Since her usual appearance was of a child, her transformation tears all her clothes to pieces. They brought extra clothes for her, but all of their things were inside the settlement.


    Leaving the sisters aside, na slowly stood up and faced Artenaris.


    "Thank you for saving us."


    It was heartfelt gratitude from na. They were careless and almost died. Even though they managed to slightly get out of the race of the explosion, both na and Karlene might have lost their legs. And it could be the lightest consequence of their carelessness.


    But to na''s gratitude, Artenaris shook her head.


    "Barely did anything..."


    Artenaris said as she nced in front of her. On the ground, traces of ck mist had yet to dissipate, although it would be hard to see because most of the people here were blinded by the explosion of light just now.


    The half-Diwata then nced at the forest not too far away. There, a silhouette stood behind the trees. If Artenaris was not a powerful entity herself, she would not be able to see the shadow at all with his eyes glowing purple.


    After he was seen, the silhouette stared at Artenaris before moving out of sight. The meaning of that stare was clear. It was for her to not say anything.


    "Now I''m regretting it." Artenaris murmured in Spirit Language. "If I knew that he was this protective of his people, I might have epted his offer back then."


    But there was no use crying over spilled milk. That was what Artenaris thought. It was her fault for not being perceptive enough.


    na was confused at the reply of the silver-haired woman that saved them. And even more when she saw their savior gaze at the forest when there was nothing there at all.


    <strong>"Karlene! Are you okay!"</strong>


    The silence was broken by Major Bautista, who arrived with Jones. He could not help but embrace his daughters together.<sub> </sub>


    "I''m fine."


    Karlene said, feeling awkward. But she did not say anything else since she knew that her father was extremely worried. Well, she already know that she would get scolded after this, and it was better to keep silent.


    At this moment, the gates of the settlement opened, with soldiers led by General Faustino storming outside. That explosion of light was seen all over the entire settlement. The general had been trying to contact anyone, but no one was answering the radio. Thus, they could not help but make their move and go out in case that something bad happened.


    Of course, General Faustino did not forget another thing. Some of the soldiers came out, pushing wooden carts that contained a few metal barrels. These barrels contained gasoline, and the entire stock that the military had left.


    And there, things began to settle down.


    na''s group was safe, although the three of them would not be exempted from any sermon because of their carelessness. Nheless, their contribution, managing to kill the [Mechids] without any casualties, was something no one would be able to ignore. If it was the soldiers that faced those [Mechids], who knows how many more of them would have to sacrifice their lives.


    The issue with the parasites also fell under control. Dangerous at it may be, that explosion of light sure dealt with the parasites for the most part. It seemed that the parasites were sensitive to extreme concentrations of light and heat, which caused them to be fatally injured and immobilized. The explosion of light became a great help in this regard.


    However, the parasites did not die and were definitely beginning to recover, albeit slowly. Without giving the parasites any chances to be a threat once more, the soldiers set the damn parasites aze.


    The soldiers saluted as the mes burned in front of them. Within those mes were not only the parasites. Inside were also the bodies of theirrades that died in this battle. Because of the circumstances, a proper burial for those soldiers was unlikely. These parasites might have left eggs within those bodies, which could turn into another threat in the future. It was better to get rid of any potential threat within these gloomy mes.


    Artenaris also received the gratitude of Major Bautista and General Faustino for helping. Of course, she was reluctant to ept that gratitude. As she said before, she barely did anything.


    While Artenaris jumped to save Karlene and na and was confident to save them, they would all still be injured afterward. That explosion exceeded her capacity, although not enough to kill her. The injuries would also be superficial, and that was why she did not hesitate to help. But as everyone could see, aside from barely distinguishable burns on their skin, they were perfectly fine.


    Before Artenaris could do anything, there was already someone present to interfere.


    Of course, Artenaris did not say anything.


    With this, however, Artenaris received a heightened level of trust from the soldiers. This would be beneficial for her and her tribe, especially with their interactions with the humans.


    And while everyone was dealing with the effects of the battle that happened, no one was able to notice the western sword with a wavy de overseeing the settlement from above.


    ***


    <strong>Day 197 - 4:08 PM - Mountain Base, Mount Mbito, General Nakar, Province of Quezon</strong>


    "I''m back."


    Mark said as he passed through the portal that Spera opened. Everyone could see that his eyes were still had a tint of purplish glow, but the glow was about to fade away.


    "How is it?"


    Mei asked.


    "They faced some troublesome things," Mark replied. "They were careless."


    "But I guess they were lucky."


    Mark added, closing his eyes and touching his eyelids softly. The moment he opened his eyes once more, it already turned back to normal.


    "You''re really absurd, you know that." At the side, Spera chimed in, looking at Mark as she was gazing at an absurd being. "I thought, we already knew you. But it looks like you are hiding many other things."


    Spera sure was surprised as Mark urgently called her with his eyes glowing intensely in purplish light. And it was only Mei who was around him at that time. By the looks of it, it was only Mei who know the reason for Mark''s eyes glowing purple uncontrobly.


    For Mark to make Spera open another portal back to New Infanta Settlement was strange, especially since they just left that ce this past noon.


    When Spera arrived, she overheard Mark telling Mei that Karlene and na were in danger.


    How was he able to know? That was a question that Spera had until she managed to deduce that Mark might have an ability to see the future. And it was confirmed after Mark allowed Mei to tell Spera what was going on.


    After all, if these kinds of things happened in the future, Spera''s help was needed if things became urgent just like this time. It was better for her to know so that she would not ask questions.


    "Are they supposed to die?"


    Mei asked. Of course, she was asking about Mark''s vision.


    "No," Mark shook his head. "I didn''t really understand it either."


    From Mark''s vision, na and Karlene did not die, and Artenaris did manage to save them despite receiving injuries. However, for Mark to have this vision, there should be something worse to happen. Unfortunately, his vision only showed him the scene where the three were enveloped in that blooming light and the scene after they emerged from it.


    It was very likely that the deadly part of the vision had something to do with that bright light. Unfortunately, Mark had no way of knowing since he could not control his visions even a tiny bit.


    In any case, it was better to prevent it from happening. And if another simr event urred in New Infanta Settlement, Mark left Ignis to help in the shadows.


    "By the way, what is that?"


    Spera asked, pointing at the thing that Mark had on his hand.


    "Some sort ofser gun," Mark said, raising the metallic weapon he held. "There''s two of this, but one got melted to scrap. I just wondered if I could study this, so I took it home."


    Mei and Spera shrugged at Mark''s genuine enthusiastic eyes as he gazed at his loot. It looked like he had a new toy to spend time on.


    Anyway, they should continue on their tasks. They were still preparing their things since tomorrow, they would depart for a long journey through this now unfamiliar Earth.

 Chapter 793 A Discussion In The Observatory, The Supposed Future Prevented By Marks Intervention

    <strong>Day 197 - ¨ƒ¨ƒ:¨ƒ¨ƒ ¨ƒ¨ƒ - ¨ƒ¨ƒ¨ƒ¨ƒ¨ƒ¨ƒ¨ƒ¨ƒ¨ƒ¨ƒ¨ƒ¨ƒ¨ƒ¨ƒ¨ƒ¨ƒ¨ƒ¨ƒ¨ƒ¨ƒ¨ƒ</strong>


    Inside the white space that oversees the entire Earth, the hooded figure of the Observer stood, watching the dying before her eyes. Currently, it was only her, and the Eye, Neenth, was present in this lonely space.


    An Observer''s duty was to preserve the world it was tasked to guard until the day it was supposed to end arrived. Depending on the circumstances, whether they did poorly or due to some outside intervention, they could be reced. However, the very same duty applied to the next Observer to take the position.


    That cycle could repeat over and over until the world they had to preserve ceased to exist.


    Preserving the world did not only mean that the Observer should make the worldst as long as possible. It also included managing things happening inside it. A good example was when the poption of a species reached more than the world could tolerate in its current state. When a time like that came, the Observer could cull their numbers.


    Another circumstance that an Observer could act on the was once it reached the end of an era. Like during the end of the Mesozoic Era, where the Observer of that time created a catastrophic event to kill the poption of the current species to allow a new one to rise.


    There were very few instances that an Observer could directly interfere with the they were guarding.


    If such instances were not present, all the Observer could do was watch. Or, at least, allow their apostles to guide the current civilization in the shadows.


    That was why the current Observer of Earth was frustrated as she watched the she was guarding die slowly. She could not interfere directly.


    It could be considered that Earth entered a new era. At this time, the Observer had one chance to interfere and set the world on a new path. And the Observer of Earth already used up that once chance.


    During the [Fusion of Dimension], the Observer used her authority and the powers of the Eyes to protect the remaining humans as much as they were allowed to. That was the one and only chance she could interfere in the current era. And now, she could only watch in frustration at how poorly humans handled the current situation.


    All of a sudden, a surge of ck smoke appeared in this white, empty space. The ck smoke began to form a humanoid figure with barely any distinguishable features. The only things that could be discerned were its glowing eyes and the aura of death that lingered on this being.


    Despite the sudden appearance of this being, both the Observer and Neenth did not seem perturbed. Instead, Neenth stepped back respectfully, making way for the eerie individual.


    "You seem to be extremely bothered, Observer."


    The eerie being spoke. Its voice was ghostly and gruff, and even though it did not sound androgynous, it was still hard to discern whether it was a male or a female.


    "You are already aware of the circumstances, Guide."


    The Observer finally turned around, facing their uninvited visitor.


    "Yes, I am aware." Guide replied. "You are not the only one. Other Observers are facing the same difficulties as you. Some were already dismissed from their duties after the worlds they observed ceased to exist prematurely. But even with that, there are rules."


    "What are you trying to imply?"


    The Observer asked, definitely confused.


    "The cycle of souls. Even if you are this world''s Observer, it is something that you should not tantly interfere with."


    The Guide iterated.


    And to that, the Observer and even Neenth became even more confused.


    The only time the Observer directly interfered with Earth in this era was during the fusion of dimensions. And thus, the Observer could not understand what the Guide was talking about.


    Sensing the confusion of the two, even the Guide became slowly engulfed in confusion.


    At this time, the Observer finally spoke.


    "We believe our recent interference, using our privilege, had been recorded in the Akashic Records. We believe that it is within the duties of you Guides to cope with. Or are you trying to find faults with our current actions?"


    "That is not what I am here for." The Guide exined. "In the following days on Earth, a few thousand dead souls are supposed to pass on. All of them had the end of their lives tied to one enormous event. As such, it was easy for me to notice."


    For a few thousand people to suddenly die because of one event, it sure was hard to pass. Even the Observer would notice such an event once it began.


    However, for the Guide toin about it...


    "Their fates changed all of a sudden." The Guide continued. "This is not something that could just happen. I believe you know that, Observer."


    For the fates of that many people to change all of a sudden, it should be something that only godly beings could influence. The Observer and the Eyes, for example. Even deities were still within the scope of the Akashic Records. All the foreign gods had been chased off the surface of the Earth. Only the Observer and her apostles should remain to have such capabilities. As such, the Guide came here toin about the unusual circumstances.


    That exnation, however, made the Observer and Neenth realize something.


    "Neenth."


    The Observer voiced out, and Neenth nodded in understanding.


    Neenth opened her book that contained the information of all things on Earth, or at least, most of it. Neenth flipped the pages of her book. Unfortunately, since the pair of people in their mind was beyond their watch, Neenth could only search for the circumstances of people around them.


    And, without a doubt, Neenth found it in no time. She even managed to perceive the supposed future and the changed one.


    Blood Demon Kin na Garces, Mutator Karlene Bautista, and the Halfbreed Tribe Leader Artenaris. The cause was exposure to sr highly radiated energy influenced by the mechanical, infectious agent, [Mechid Pathogen].


    The three survived a deadly explosion of the unreleased energy of a [Mechid], receiving minor burns and injuries. A few dayster, Karlene Bautista would fall sick, followed by na Garces after a week. In three weeks, the Halfbreed Artenaris would show the same symptoms.


    The three showed symptoms of radiation poisoning at first. Unknown to everyone, their bodies were releasing high amounts of radiation that would affect every individual that had contact with them. By the time the radiation emission from their bodies was detected, a third of the settlement''s poption was already showing the same symptoms with the rest of the settlement being affected.


    It was not a simple radiation poisoning. Medical practices humans knew were not applicable. In a month and a half, the entire New Infanta Settlement would be devoid of life. With the three survivors of the [Mechid] explosion as the root, all living creatures, human or not, in the New Infanta Settlement would perish in an extremely slow and agonizing death.<sub> </sub>


    The symptoms of the illness began simr to radiation poisoning. As it developed further, their bodies would slowly liquify. They would liquify beginning from their flesh slowly and painfully to the rest of their bodies. In the end, their organs would turn into ck puss, which would also be the cause of death. Even after their death, the process would continue until only the bones, which did not liquify, to be the only remains.


    As Neenth iterated the supposed future, the Guide nodded as it was the same future that he knew.


    "What caused that illness to appear?" The Observer could not help but voice out. "Any harmful pathogens on Earth should have gone extinct due to [Mutagen]''s presence."


    At this time, Neenth flipped the page of her book, seemingly looking for the answer to her Master''s question. However, she was not really expecting anything. If it was something undiscovered so far and in the near future, her book would not be able to find the answer.


    But then, Neenth was surprised.


    "It was caused by a violent reaction of [Mutagen] to the high radiation energy influenced by [Mechid Pathogen]." Neenth read out loud. "A simr circumstance happened in Japan when a medium-sized Miltiary Settlement was attacked by a [Mechid] just a few days after the fusion of dimensions. Fortunately, they had a [Mutator] that managed to identify the anomaly right after it happened. They only had a loss of three people."


    Neenth then faced the Observer.


    "I''m sorry if this even passed our eyes."


    At the apology, the Observer shook her head.


    "It is not something that needed an apology. Although it is our duty, we can''t pay attention to everything at once. Especially now."


    Then, the Observer let out a sigh.


    "The change of the future, is it Mark and Mei?"


    "It is Mark." Neenth nodded. "It seemed that he managed to foretell the ill fate of his people and prevented it."


    As Neenth said those words, the Observer turned to the Guide.


    "That is the answer you had been looking for."


    The Observer said to the Guide.


    "What do you mean? And who are those individuals you mentioned?"


    The Guide was confused. Who were those two and how was it possible that they influenced the change of fate on arge scale.


    "They could be Earth''s hope in this predicament." The Observer said with an anticipating tone. "Fortunately, two candidates for Godhood were born in this era."


    "God Candidates, you say?" Surely, the Guide was shocked. "Howe that I had only heard of this just now?"


    "We had our reasons." The Observer replied. "You should know that even other Observers do not just blindly dere a candidate born in the world they were observing."


    Those words made the Guide nod. Considering that the change of fate was caused by God Candidates, the Guide knew thatints were futile.


    "It seems that we have to cope with this situation once more." The Guide murmured before turning to the Observer. "Since it involved God Candidates, I''ll keep my lips sealed. I will be going now."


    Without even waiting for a reply, the smoky apparition of the Guide vanished.


    The Observer did not say anything and just stared at the empty space where the Guide stood just now. However, Neenth did not want to stay silent.


    "The Guide just left without apologizing for the usation that it made to you, Master."


    "Just let it be." The Observer said as she returned to observing Earth. "The Guides all across the universe are also upied. It is not only Earth that is undergoing such dire circumstances. Unlike us who only need to watch and influence the civilization in the shadows, the Guides needed to ferry the souls of the dead themselves."


    Hearing the consideration of her Master towards the other entities managing the universe, Neenth fell silent. Nheless, she was still annoyed by the Guide''s disrespect to her Master.


    In any case, the Guides were truly busy, even busier than the Observers.


    The Guides were also godly entitiesparable to the Observers. However, their dutiesy among the dead and not the living. The Guides did not have physical bodies and had no concrete appearance. People see them differently and they go with different names in different cultures.


    With Earth in its current state, the Guides of Earth were also busy with their tasks. However, they were also diligent that they did not want to pass such a fate-changing event, preventing the destined deaths of a huge amount of people, without exnation.


    But as it seemed, things spiraled outside of their jurisdiction, leaving the Guide to have no choice but leave and continue with its work.


    ''Unfortunately for the Guide, this would not be thest time.''


    Neenth thought.


    Unlike figures of faith that gave birth to different religions of the past, Mark and Mei were not devoted to being a figure of worship. They would not stop in one ce to strengthen the people''s religious faith in them and would roam adventurously.


    The life of a God Candidate was not easy. While they were outside the influence of fate, the world itself would give them countless tests until they reach the level where they were above the world.


    With Mark''s personality, it was very likely for many of those tests to turn into a bloodbath instead.


    ''The Guide should be prepared for many untimely deaths they had to ferry in the future.''


    Neenth chuckled inside her mind.

 Chapter 794 Aboard The Floating Vessel, Their Journey Back To Bay City

    <strong>Day 198 - 3:21 PM - San Jose, Antipolo City, Rizal Province</strong>


    Thend was chaotic. It was something that could be easily seen in areas more embraced by the previous civilization.


    Ruins of houses, buildings, broken roads, and even vehicles were scattered about. All of which were mostly hidden by lush trees and vines of the Spirit Dimension.


    Because of the fusion of dimensions, newnds appeared, stretching thend that already existed beforehand. Many ces were torn apart, even causing some of the human structures to be torn apart. It would not be a surprising sight to see parts of a single building located far away from each other.


    However, even with the ruins of the previous civilization still present on the new Earth, it was almost impossible to determine which ce was which on the map. The terrain was nowhere the same as before, whether it wasnd or water.


    The maps that existed were now mostly useless. All it served now was to show the general direction.


    One of the only ways to properly and safely navigate the current world was by traveling through air. But, of course, not everyone was capable of that. Many magical races might be capable of that feat, but for humans, only a select few. That was if the secret side of the Mortal Earth was not included.


    And at this time, traveling across the sky of Luzow was a gigantic ck cube, barely seen from thend below.


    That floating cube hovering across the sky was no other than the floating vessel of Chimetrice and Illia with the rest of Mark''s group aboard.


    This time, the group wasposed of Mark, Mei, and the three girls. Of course, Chimetrice and Illia were here, considering the vessel was theirs. The remaining members were Spera and Amihan. The three golems were also present along with the two [Blood Children], Crimson and Oracle, who were always brought along by Mark and Mei in their adventures. Lastly, and the unusual member this time, was Feng Zhiruo.


    Traveling through the sky in a secure vessel sure was safe. However, it was also undeniable that it was kind of boring. Although the vehicle wasrge, it was asrge as a two-story bungalow at most. However, a fourth was upied by magical mechanisms and circuits, and another fourth was intended for cargo. It made the area passengers could move around limited.


    But Chimetrice already said it before. It was mostly an emergency transport vessel of the Creator''sboratory. As it was not built for luxury, the most they could expect wasfortable travel. Furthermore, the average speed of the vessel was around thirty kilometers per hour. It was slow, for sure. But did not matter much since it was traveling across the sky.


    The floating vessel could actually go faster. But as its speed increased, so was the energy consumption. At its fastest, they could likely reach Bay City in just ten minutes, using the past map of the Philippines as measurement. Unfortunately, that speed would drain the energy reserves in just five minutes. Considering that the efficiency of the self recharge of the energy was rather low, such speeds were only applicable during emergencies.


    Fortunately, as boring as the travel was, it was a nice opportunity to rx. As usual, Mark, who was about to start tinkering, was stopped by Mei. Right now, he was helplessly lying on Mei''sp as she brushed his hair. It was not a bad thing as it did feel good for Mark, and it was a nice way for Mei to pass her time.


    Spera was also nearby, ying on the phone that Mark lent her. With her past as a ve and a member of Auraboros, Spera did not have any experience ying games. As such, she took an interest in things Mark was ying on his phone in his free time.


    On the other hand, Amihan was lying on Mark''s stomach, sleeping, making it harder for Mark to move around as hey down. Out of all ces, she decided to sleep there. It was not exactly bothering Mark, so he let her be.


    Feng Zhiruo was sitting beside Spera, watching her y. It seemed that she also developed an interest in these things. Apparently, she was born and raised in her sect and barely had any interactions outside. Furthermore, her talents for cultivation were deemed mediocre, causing her to spend more time cultivating and not doing anything else. Now, however, she took the opportunity to learn about the world and asked toe with the group this time. Mark had no problems with it and did not reject her. Besides,pared to most people in the base, a cultivator like Feng Zhiruo could be more useful within the group than their base.


    As for the three girls, children were easier to please. They did not look bored as they looked down the ss wall of the vessel. Although it was also possible to look around while riding on Char''s back, it was not a steady andfortable ride. It was kind of hard to focus their eyes while Char pped his wings up and down. In this vessel, however, everything was steady. Thus, the girls could watch the sceneries below clearer.


    The girls seemed to be liking the view, even the mature I included. Once they were tired, they could y around with their new toys.


    Still, although the girls were enjoying the view, the view below was not exactly enticing to watch.


    As they got nearer and nearer towards Metro Man, more scenes of destruction could be witnessed below.


    There was no need to mention the current inhabitants of Earth that could be seen even though the floating vessel was flying high in the sky.


    From their current height, vehicles like city busses were just about the size of a medicinal capsule.


    Yet, they could see many [Infected]-looking creatures, muchrger in size. Without a doubt, many [Infected] had advanced their mutation during the previous month after the catastrophe.


    Without a doubt, life within the highly popted ces on Earth before had now be hell itself.


    The higher the poption of [Infected], the more chances of mutation happening. Just how it looked like below. Since the poption of the [Infected] within the cities was higher, there was more presence of [Mutated Infected].


    It was good that Mark chose a good spot for the base. And even though they faced some dangerous events, the New Infanta Settlement had a good locationpared to many parts of the Philippines.


    The boring travel continued. Along the way, they encountered a few groups of [Flying Infected]. Most were groups of [Infected Insects] such as flies and mosquitoes. There were also groups of [Infected Birds].<sub> </sub>


    These [Flying Infected] ignored the floating vessel and just passed by. The reason was that inside the floating vessel, everyone''s presence could not be felt from outside. Well, that was how it should be. Unfortunately, it would not affect Mark at all since he was using a different kind of presence to sense others.


    As it seemed, as long as they remained inside the floating vessel and remained unseen, the [Infected] would just treat it as nothing but an uninteresting obstacle to their path. Well, the [Infected] had no sense of space and would not try to evade obstacles most of the time. In fact, several of the [Flying Infected] they passed by ended up colliding with the vessel and fell to the ground.


    There was one [Flying Infected] that they did not let go, however. A regr [Flying Infected], whether it be a bird or a fly, did not really matter that much. Mark might pay a bit of importance if they were mutated animals and insects with redeeming features such as strong armor or sharp ws. Those parts might be useful in being crafted into armors and weapons.


    A humanoid [Flying Infected], however, was of critical importance for Mark. There was a high chance that Mark could get a [Physical Crystal] with a mutation capable of flight from one with a high level of mutation. It was like how Mark and Mei gained wings due to a highly intelligent [Mutated Infected] with bat wings back then.


    Furthermore, these humanoid [Flying Infected] were quite rare. Thus, if Mark encountered one, he had one protocol in mind. Kill on sight.


    And today, they did encounter one. Unfortunately, it was only had a low-level mutation. It even bumped into the floating vessel as it passed by. Nheless, Mark jumped off the vessel to kill it. Even though he did not manage to get a crystal out of it, its blood was still precious.


    In I''s case, Mark had already proven that blood could be a catalyst for a human to be an [Evolver]. It could be the same to create [Mutators]. It was just that Mark had not fully tested it yet. If he could create a group of areal soldiers in the future, why not?


    Aside from those things, the journey was uneventful. And to say, because thend widened after the fusion of dimensions, it seemed that they had to travel more than twice the distance they did before.


    By the time they reached the supposed ruins of Quezon City, it was almost nighttime. They were still a few hours away from Bay City if they managed to guess the distance right.


    What took their attention, however, was how Quezon City did not seem to be torn to pieces. Well, the outskirts were separated from the central areas of the city, but most of the terrain of the city was intact even though all the buildings had been turned into ruins.


    "Looks like some survivors stayed here."


    That was what Mark said, seeing the strange sight below.


    Considering that the only ces that remained intact after the fusion of dimensions were those ces inhabited by humans, it was likely to be the actual case here. Even though the city was dangerous, it seemed that a group of survivors managed to live through it.


    The only question now was, were those survivors able to survive the earthquake.


    The possibility of that happening was next to impossible, however. During that earthquake, the city centers were the most dangerous, especially in Quezon City, where many high-rise buildings were located.


    "If they survived by living on the rooftops of the buildings, they are likely to be dead now."


    Speramented to the side. She had a point there.


    Inside cities, the safest ces could be the building rooftops as it would attract less attention from the [Infected] below. The problem with food and water could be sustained for some time if the building was an apartment type one or a hotel.


    But now that all the buildings were toppled to the ground, anything living on the rooftops should be buried under the rubble now.


    In any case, it was not the problem of Mark''s group. Their goal this time was to reach Bay City and check on their situation.


    It was unexpected, but they reached the point where they could see the familiar outline of Bay City''s roads after another hour and a half. Everything along the way between Bay City and Quezon City was destroyed and filled with unfamiliar terrain.


    Mark''s group entered the bridge of the vessel where Chimetrice and Illia were controlling it. It was the best ce to see what was in front. Nheless, it was already dark. They could barely see anything from afar.


    It was strange, however. Even though it might attract some attention from the [Infected], the military would still set up lights for their convenience. It was not only the soldiers that would need the light but also other people. It was even more needed near the border of the settlement so that the soldiers would be able to see any iing threat.


    Yet, not a single speck of light could be seen in Bay City.


    Soon, the floating vessel arrived above Bay City.


    And to everyone''s surprise, what they found was...


    Nothing but rubble.

 Chapter 795 As They Landed Within The Ruins, The First Battle Of The Girls And Their Golems Together

    <strong>Day 198 - 6:41 PM - Bay City Ruins, Pasay City, Metro Man</strong>


    <strong>SPLAT!</strong>


    The sound of blood sttering followed by the thud of a dead body falling to the ground echoed one after another. It was apanied by the sounds of fighting and metal shing.


    Seeing that what was left of the Bay City Settlement was nothing but rubble, Mark told Chimetrice and Illia tond immediately.


    Landing on sight was not really within their ns. Beforehand, Mark intended tond somewhere far, where the people from the settlement would not notice the floating vessel. After all, witnessing such a sight would lead to many questions andplications.


    But since the settlement, they were supposed to avoid getting seen, was not here at all, the first n was immediately scrapped.


    For now, the most important thing that they should do was to find out what on Earth happened here.


    Of course, saying that there was nothing but rubble was more or less a figure of speech. Even without the settlement here, other things were present, roaming around.


    And the moment theynded and stepped out of the floating vessel, the group became the center of attention.


    The center of attention of the [Infected] and [Mechids], that was.


    And, of course, the battle immediately began.


    <strong>CLANG! BAM!</strong>


    Mark tried to sh a humanoid [Mechid] with his whip des, the [Slicer] and the [Divider], but did not manage to sh through its body. As the [Mechid] struggled to fight back, he ended up kicking it away, heavily denting its torso instead. Nheless, it was far from enough to stop the metallic creature from moving.


    "The bodies of these [Mechids] are annoying..." Mark said with a frown. "The strength of their bodies is inconsistent. Some are weaker than [Blood Metal], some are sturdier."


    <strong>BOOM!</strong>


    Another loud sound was heard. It was Chimetrice, punching another [Mechid] and sending it flying with its crushed body.


    "It will help a lot if you stop holding back," Chimetrice said to Mark. "You''re not putting any effort at all."


    Mark shrugged. Chimetrice was right. It was not like he did not want to. However, he was amidst resisting something. Furthermore, a part of his attention was on his three daughters and their golems. This would be their first actual battle together. As such, he had this urge to watch.


    While Mark and Chimetrice were dealing with the [Mechids], Mei, the little girls, and Feng Zhiruo were in charge of fighting the [Infected]. It was not like there was any difference in the levels of danger between the two kinds of enemies. It was just that the pattern that the [Mechids] attack was far different from the dumb [Infected].


    At this time, Abbygale was leading the fight of the girls like usual. With her speed, she could run towards the enemy faster than most people in their group. But now, she was not alone charging towards the infected. This time, the canine-feline golem, Cavall, was running by her side.


    The pair of a catgirl and a feline dog turned into blurs under the night sky. Because the surroundings were dark, normal people would have a hard time seeing Abbygale and Cavall running through the darkness. But, of course, the [Infected] was the same. They were not only using their eyes to hunt, but they were adept at sensing living beings.


    However, the speed of the two overwhelmed their target, even though it was a [Level 3 Mutated Infected].


    It was about two meters tall, moving on all fours. Despite its height, its entire body looked like dried twigs. It also moved fast. Without a doubt, it was a [Predator Type] capable of hiding in tree branches and would ambush its victims. While it was strange as to why a [Predator Type] was in the open, this [Infected] became Abbygale''s target.


    Speed versus speed. It was Abbygale''s reason for attacking this [Mutated Infected] first. Besides, one of the most dangerous types of [Infected] were [Predator Types]. It was due to the fact that they were rarely seen fighting upfront. Just like now, Abbygale''s target was actually trying to run away amidst the crowd of [Infected]. If it was left alone, it might attack when they did not expect it to.


    Sensing that it was being targeted, the [Mutated Infected] stopped retreating. Instead, it faced Abbygale and tried to stab her with its twig-like fingers.


    The [Mutated Infected''s] attack connected... Well, with Abbygale''s afterimage. The little girl already kicked her body to her right and maneuvered to her enemy''s nk. And with good momentum, Abbygale gave the [Infected''s] ribs a nice and powerful kick.


    That kick would not kill the [Mutated Infected]. Still, the kick was powerful enough to make it lose bnce and fall to its right side. The moment it fell, Cavall appeared and bit the [Mutated Infected''s] nape. And with a tug of its de-like teeth and metallic jaws, Cavall cut off the [Mutated Infected''s] neck, dealing the killing blow.


    Slightlygging behind Abbygale, there was Miracle with Inaba jumping in front of her. The rabbit golem''s speed and leg strength were a bit superior to Miracle''s. It was no surprise that it was leading in front of her. However, in terms of strength, Miracle was way superior to her golem. With those in factors mind, Mark programmed Inaba to fight like this.


    Since Miracle was slow, especially since her trots were short, it was better if the enemies were brought in front of her. Of course, in a manner that they did not expect at all...


    ...Like getting kicked by a giant rabbit on their backs!


    As nned, Inaba jumped over the [Infected] closest to it andnded behind the target. And then, with a short jump, about the height close to the target''s neck, the rabbit golem kicked both its hind legs to the [Infected''s] unguarded back. And as expected, the [Infected] was kicked towards Miracle as it lost its bnce.


    Depending on the enemy that was kicked by Inaba, the result might be different. Some heavier [Infected] might only stagger, while some might actually get thrown away and ragdoll on the ground. This time, the [Infected] was a regr, non-mutated [Eater]. Its bnce was almost nonexistent, and it immediately fell towards Miracle without resistance. It fell to the ground and actually tried to stand up to shamble towards Miracle. But before it was able to do so, the little girl''s right foot stomped on its head. And then...


    <strong>SPLAT!</strong><sub> </sub>


    While tainting the little girl''s metallic shoes with blood and brain matter, the [Infected''s] head exploded just by the strength of Miracle''s stomp.


    That was one down for Miracle. There were a lot more to go.


    As for I, she was standing behind her two younger sisters as usual. Her duty was to provide support, making barriers to protect Abbygale and Miracle at times they were about to get attacked.


    This time, however, I had someone to assist her. Brynhildr stood by I''s side. The maid golem was already in her so-called [Combat Mode]. Brynhildr''s right hand had a sword while her left had a shield. She was pretty much like a valkyrie that was sworn to protect I.


    Any [Infected] that approached I was not only met with her burning barrier but was also killed with Brynhildr''s sword. It was more efficient than needing anyone else to finish the [Infected] blocked by I''s barrier.


    With the help of the golems that Mark created, it opened more styles of fighting for the girls, not to mention being safer and more efficient.


    The little girls were not the only ones on the battlefield. Mei and Feng Zhiruo were also there as their guardians.


    This time, Mei was not using her [Shooting Moon Edge] as a sniper rifle but as arge de. Furthermore, her way of fighting was far different from before, which only looked like a beautiful woman wildly swinging her sword blindly.


    At this moment, Mei looked like a dancer, dancing with the [Shooting Moon Edge] on her hands as she decapitated the heads of the enemies around her.


    Near Mei was Feng Zhiruo. Her sword shed under the sky of the night as she also danced while fighting the [Infected]. Her way of dancing was simr to Mei, although also different. In fact, she was the one that taught Mei the sword stance that she was using right now. It was the same sword stance and fighting style. The cause of the difference was that while Mei was using the [Shooting Moon Edge], which was arge sword, Feng Zhiruo''s sword was a thin and shorter one.


    There was also the fact that Feng Zhiruo could only teach Mei the basics as she was not an expert in it either. As such, Mei developed those basics into a stance that wasfortable for her. Nheless, it looked more rough around the edgespared to Feng Zhiruo''s style.


    "Look''s like they were doing fine."


    Chimetrice said to Mark.


    "I know." Mark shrugged, looking ufortable. "Alright, let''s just get rid of these pests."


    At those words, Chimetrice noticed that something was wrong with Mark. He looked fine just now. But the next thing he saw as he looked at Mark was the sudden foul mood out of nowhere.


    Furthermore, Mark would usually see the [Mechids] and the [Infected] as research specimens. It was the first time that Chimetrice saw Mark really ufortable to the point of treating [Mechids] as pests.


    And as Mark said, he stopped holding back. His body blurred, turning into ck mist. The [Mechid] that was about to attack Mark froze as it suddenly lost its target.


    But then...


    <strong>CRACK!</strong>


    The [Mechid''s] neck bent to the side as Mark shoved his armored fist onto its head. But, of course, while the [Mechid] staggered due to the impact and was confused due to the sudden breakage of its sensors, it was still moving.


    ? Unlike dealing with the [Infected], just destroying their heads would not stop [Mechids] from moving.


    And before the [Mechid''s] AI recovered from the unforeseen attack, Mark gripped his fist tightly as the veins of his arm glowed brightly. At the same time, a greenish crystal floated around Mark''s wrist, glowing while gathering des of wind around his fist.


    <strong>BOOM!</strong>


    Mark''s fist collided with the [Mechid''s] body. However, instead of just getting blown from the impact, the [Mechid''s] body spun like a washing machine as the des of wind spiraled inside it like a small tornado.


    The [Mechid''s] body was not instantly broken. But the repeated spinning of the wind des slowly shredded its body until it turned into bits and pieces of scrap metal.


    Finally, the [Mechid] stopped moving. Mark did not stop there, however. He then threw ck mes unto the broken [Mechid], burning the ck puss-like liquid that began to spill out of the [Mechid]''s body.


    As for Chimetrice, he had no problems dealing with the [Mechids]. He was not trying to dodge the attacks either and just let the attacks touch his body. The fully recovered Chimetrice sure had an invincible body as the attacks, even thesers, barely scratched his skin. And using his plethora of abilities, he quickly dispatched his enemies while letting Mark burn the ck liquid afterward.


    After about fifteen minutes, the ruins of Bay City were already devoid of both the [Infected] and [Mechids]. The traces of battle that ended just now was still scattered all over the ce, however.


    How many enemies were there? Mark''s group failed to count. There were probably several hundred. It was not surprising since the location was previously a settlement that should attract the attention of enemies.


    If it was regr people, they would probably die with such numbers of enemies, not to mention there were dozens of gigantic [Mutated Infected] among the horde. The most memorable one was an obese-looking [Infected]. It was about the size of a three-story house. The moment Mark dealt with it, exploded into a rain of acidic goo. Luckily, Mark already put into his considerations that bloated-looking [Infected] had the possibility of exploding and made the others retreat as he killed it from a distance.


    There were still [Infected]ing from other ces, attracted by the battle. The [Mechids] was nowhere to be seen, however.


    With the enemies already dealt with, they could finally start the investigation of what possibly happened to the Bay City Settlement.

 Chapter 796 The Lingering Emotions, Another Cause Of Marks Pain

    <strong>Day 198 - 7:09 PM - Bay City Ruins, Pasay City, Metro Man</strong>


    The battle finished causing hundreds of dead bodies to pile up in the ruins of Bay City Settlement. While it was dered finished, it did not mean that all of the [Infected] and [Mechids] were dead. In the first ce, it was impossible to kill all existing [Infected] and [Mechids] in the area in one go. In the least, Mark''s group managed to reduce the number of the loitering enemies to a number where they could investigate the surroundings safely.


    After all, they were in an area in the middle of several cities in the past. Even if they managed to clear the ce of most of the enemies, for now, others woulde wandering sooner orter.


    In fact, it might not take long if not for Amihan. The smell of blood and the sounds of the battle would likely attract more enemies. That was why while Amihan was not participating in the fight, she was making sure that the sound and the smell would not spread out too much.


    That was why they needed to investigate the ce as fast as they could. It was unless they wanted to entangle themselves with a neverending battle.


    But before everything else...


    "Ugh!"


    Mark painfully groaned with a frown. He was already holding onto his temple as if he was suffering a severe headache. Hisplexion was also pale. And although he was still able to stand, he seemed to be already losing strength.


    "Hey, are you alright?"


    Chimetrice stood beside Mark and asked.


    Since the battle finished, everyone was already gathering outside the floating vessel. Even Illia and Spera, who stayed inside, came out.


    Mark did not answer Chimetrice, seemingly looking irritated. He then picked up a part of a [Mechid] he was really interested in and made his way towards the vessel, with Chimetrice following behind in confusion.


    But even though Mark was still far away, everyone noticed something wrong as Mark unstably walked slower than usual.


    "Gege!"


    Mei realized what was happening. She immediately rushed towards Mark.


    And then, Mei embraced Mark without hesitation.


    Both of them had the blood of the [Infected] on their clothes. It was sticky and smelled foul. But that was not important at this moment.


    "Thanks, Mei''er."


    Mark put up a small smile as he felt Mei''s embrace.


    With Mei''s assistance, Mark reached the group faster. And knowing that there was something wrong with Mark, everyone gathered around him as he sat beside Mei on arge piece of rubble.


    Seeing the state of their father, the three girls also looked worried. I and Abbygale were silent, but the youngest could not help but ask Mark.


    "Papa, are you sick?"


    Miracle asked, imitating Mei, trying to hug Mark with her short arms.


    "Master, did something happen to him? Did he get injured by something?"


    Illia embraced and asked Chimetrice, who fought together with Mark. But Chimetrice''s initial response was a confused shake of his head.


    "I don''t think it''s an injury," Chimetrice replied. "I just remembered, but hisplexion did not seem good before we started fighting. It just got worse over time."


    Chimetrice''s reply added to the confusion. No one could understand what was happening. Well, aside from two people.


    Everyone''s eyes fell unto Mark and Mei. Within her embrace, Mark''splexion and state were clearly getting better.


    And at this time, Spera stepped upfront.


    "Mark... can you exin what is happening to you?" Spera asked straight up. "I remember you have the same state back in Infanta."


    "I''m fine."


    Mark replied.


    "You''re obviously not!" Spera angrily replied. "Everyone is worried, especially since we don''t know what is happening! At least, tell us what is going on!"


    Spera was being pushy, which was very unlike her. But knowing that Spera lost her control over her emotions, it was clear what was going on with her.


    "So, you are worried about me?"


    Mark looked up to the angry Spera with a sly smile.


    "Wha-! No! I!"


    Spera fumbled her words. As she closed her mouth, not knowing how to reply, she angrily stared at Mark, pouting with her embarrassed blush.


    "Gege, don''t tease her."


    Meiined to Mark. She had an expression of an older sister trying to protect her younger sibling.


    And in response to Mei''sint, Mark shrugged. He would not be able to promise anything about teasing Spera.


    Nheless, Spera had a point. The people around Mark were worried because they did not know what was happening. The only person who knew was Mei, and that was why she reacted fast when she saw Mark''s state.


    There was a bit of silence as everyone was waiting for Mark''s response. But as if she felt ufortable with the atmosphere, the always silent Abbygale spoke.


    "Papa, Mama, I''m hungry..."


    Abbygale said, rubbing her stomach.


    Mark and Mei looked at each other. Mark gave another shrug.


    "Let me rest for a bit. Then let''s clean up and have dinner." Mark suggested. "Also, let''s find a better ce to eat."


    Mark looked around, and the others did the same. And considering the dead bodies scattered all over the ce, it sure was not a good ce to eat. There was also no proper space inside the vessel to eat dinner for the whole group. As such, after cleaning up themselves and changing clothes, they should have dinner somewhere else.


    With Mei''s help, Mark recovered fast. They all cleaned up and changed clothes. As for the ce for dinner, they chose the area of Bay City facing Man Bay.


    Fortunately, while Man Bay was now reduced in size, there was still a part of it that was water. And it seemed that the barrier of Bay City kept a wide area of the waterfront intact.


    And here, they managed to peacefully prepare dinner.<sub> </sub>


    It was strangely fun. It felt very much like a pic in the middle of a destroyed city. It was all because of the ruins of Bay City.


    Unfortunately, it was alreadyte. As there was no time to cook, the group had to make do with canned food. It was not like canned food was bad, but because the main cook in the Mountain Base, Trisha, was a professional cook, even simple porridge was delicious.


    Anyways, Mark started to exin what was happening to him while they ate.


    "What''s happening to me is a strong side effect of being an [Empath]."


    Mark said.


    "But how? There are no other people here."


    Spera could not help but ask.


    Everyone in this group knew that Mark was an [Empath], especially Spera, who learned it while being threatened by Mark. But they were unable to understand how it was a side effect.


    [Empaths] were known to be sensitive within crowds of people. However, Bay City was literally empty. They were the only people here. So why did Mark have a reaction that was way worse than when he was visiting Infanta Settlement, where there were still people?


    But as it seemed, Chimetrice and Illia immediately understood what was going on just when Mark said it was a side effect of him being an [Empath]. Furthermore, Mark was more or less a transcendent [Empath]. He might be the very first [Empath] to reach this level as a mortal.


    To Spera''s question, Illia asked Mark.


    "It''s the lingering emotions of the dead, isn''t it?"


    And to that question of the [Elder Subus], Mark nodded solemnly.


    [Empaths] were sensitive to the so-called [Emotional Energy]. They react to it and absorb it without control. This kind of energy could be emitted by anything that was capable of feeling emotions. It was not limited to humans. Even animals and insects, and sometimes, nts.


    However, that [Emotional Energy] did not need toe directly from the source to be felt. And pretty much like every other energy, there were things that could be a medium or trigger to be absorbed by something.


    One example was art. A painting could be made sloppily or professionally. However, even professional works of art could feel dull without the proper emotions of the artist, while a child''s art could be more emotional than an adult''s.


    And since emotional energy could be absorbed by things, of course, it could also spread unto the surroundings.


    The worst thing, however, was that, unlike most energies, [Emotional Energy] had a tendency to linger. The stronger the emotions, the higher it was likely to linger in the surroundings.


    Unfortunately, most of the time, the strongest surge emotions happen at a single event. And it was during a person''s death. The more brutal and fearsome a person''s death was, the stronger the emotions released to the surroundings. Furthermore, how unexpected the death was also strengthened it in most cases.


    And at those times, those strong emotions carried negative traits.


    Fear, helplessness, despair, regret, there were various emotions that could spread out during a person''s brutal death.


    During the fusion of dimensions, everyone watched the sky in fear as the debris from space rained on Earth. And the earthquake demolished buildings, destroyed thend, and killed people.


    In Bay City, many people lived inside the buildings. The feeling they had as they tried to escape to safety but found out the floor beneath them crumbling was something horrifying. As they fall to the ground and get buried under the falling rubble, their emotions would intensify.


    With the poption that Bay City had, considering it was a ce with many tall buildings, the death toll would be extremely high.


    All of those people died at the same time, covering the entire Bay City with their emotions as their [Emotional Energies] scattered upon their deaths.


    For an [Empath], ces like this would be an enormous torture chamber.


    It was the same for the New Infanta Settlement. That time, however, the negative [Emotional Energy] in the settlement was only enough to make Mark''s mood sour.


    In Bay City, however, the effect on Mark was overwhelming.


    That exnation made everyone understand what happened to Mark.


    "You should have been more careful."


    Sperained.


    "I didn''t expect it to be this intense, either."


    Mark bitterly replied.


    But then, another question entered Spera''s mind as she looked at Mark and Mei alternately.


    "But howe that you got better when Sister Mei embraced you."


    At this time, it was Illia that replied to Spera''s question.


    "You didn''t know, huh. Mei had a unique physique. It''s what they called [Body of Void]."


    "Void? as in Empty?"


    Spera asked in surprise. It was the first time she heard about Mei having a unique physique. She was not new about physiques as there were people with unique bodies in Auraboros. But it was the first time for her to hear about the [Body of Void].


    "Usually, void means empty," Illia exined. "But in the case of the [Body of Void], it means more like ''clear''."


    They then exined to Spera that Mei could deflect or remove any negativities from her body. This time, she was using her body to protect Mark from the negative [Emotional Energy] in the surroundings.


    "I see..." Spera said, looking at Mei. "You didn''t tell me about this..."


    It was obvious that Spera felt a bit disappointed. Illia and Chimetrice seemed to know Mei''s [Body of Void] but she did not.


    "Don''t me them," Illia interjected. "They did not tell us either. We just knew since we had seen a simr physique in the past."


    That consoling from Illia made Spera feel better. It was not that Mei did not tell Spera. Mark and Mei were actually hiding it from everyone.


    The dinner became a talk about Mark and Mei and their uniqueness. But it was not exactly peaceful because some [Infected] would wander nearby from time to time. Nheless, they managed to enjoy the dinner.


    As it was gettingte into the night, everyone decided to camp. With Spera here, they could just return to the Mountain Base to sleep, but it would destroy the atmosphere.


    Of course, while it was time for the little girls to sleep, Mark did not n to join them.


    They needed to find clues as to where the people in Bay City went, after all.

 Chapter 797 Investigating The Ruins, Searching The Southern Areas Of The Ruins Of Bay City

    <strong>Day 198 - 8:22 PM - Bay City Ruins, Pasay City, Metro Man</strong>


    The group set up the camp and put the little girls to sleep. None of the three wanted to, but it was clear that they were tired from both the travel and the fighting they did today. I and Abbygale fell asleep shortly, while even Miracle, who did not need to rest, went and hibernated for the night.


    Amihan also followed the three girls to bed. It was not unusual since she''s a creature that only had sleeping, eating, and ying in her typical schedule.


    As for Spera and Feng Zhiruo, they were on guarding duty for now. They were being apanied by the golems that only needed to standby to replenish their used energy.


    It was a good advantage of Mark''s group that they had three golems at their disposal. The golems did not need sleep and could keep watch for the whole night. If it was a regr group of survivors, they would need to have a person or two to stay on the lookout for a portion of the night.


    As for the remaining four people, Mark, Mei, Chimetrice, and Illia, they went off to investigate. They formed two pairs. There was no need to ask who was a member of which group in this case.


    Mark and Mei went to the southern parts of Bay City to investigate. It included the Lower District, where the civilians were supposed to be living in the past. They chose this area, considering that they were more familiar with Bay City than Chimetrice and Illia.


    Chimetrice and Illia went to the northern side, of course. The scope of their search was smaller. It was something that could not be helped for the same reason of familiarity with the ce.


    Going to the southern areas, Mark and Mei walked while holding hands. It was to lessen the burden on Mark as they investigated the area. There was no need to say that the Lower District of Bay City had more poption than the Upper District. And, of course, the death toll in this area could be much higher. No, there was no need to doubt it. As they went closer to the Lower District, Mark could feel the lingering emotions much thicker than the ce they currently stood.


    The two of them walked carefully, making sure that any suspicious detail would not escape their eyes. Along the way, they had to deal with a few wandering [Infected] in the area. They might have killed several hundred before, but with howrge the Bay City was, it was impossible to clear just by fighting in one location.


    "Gege, the bridge..."


    Mei spoke, seeing the sight before them.


    It was the bridge that connected the northern and southern sections of Bay City. The names were changed when the military turned Bay City into a settlement, however. The areas to the north were now the Upper District, and the two southern sections became the Lower District. The two districts were separated by a moat where only two bridges connected them.


    Of course, there was no way the bridges would withstand the earthquake during the fusion of dimensions. All that was left was the ruins of the parts of the bridge that did not fall into the moat.


    Unlike the eastern and northern areas, the moat here did not get filled up with the newnd appearing from the Spirit Dimension. This, however, likely caused a great disturbance to the people. Without the bridges, the military, which had its main stations in the Upper District, would have a difficult time saving the civilians in the Lower District. This should have caused more deaths to ur in the Lower District due to the dy with the rescue operations.


    Mark removed his attention from the broken bridge towards the other side of the water-filled moat. He could almost see the fog of negative energy that gathered there.


    And this feeling was familiar.


    "Gege..."


    Mei muttered as she looked in the direction Mark was staring at. She could not help but feel the ufortable chill on her back.


    At this point, it was not only the lingering negative [Emotional Energy] that gathered there. Other negative energies also began to gather. It included [Magical Energies].


    "If left alone, a [Formless Demon] will be born in that ce."


    Mark said with serious eyes.


    It was not the first time Mark saw this scene. The sealed Demon he absorbed in the past, the Deity of Bloodshed, had the same circumstances at its birth. Ignis, his Demon Sword, was born in the same manner.


    "Are we going to stop it?"


    Mei asked.


    "I don''t really know what should be done there," Mark replied. "I have a few ideas to try, but let''s concentrate on investigating where the people here went first."


    "Okay."


    Mei nodded.


    Since the bridge was destroyed and that thick negative energy lingered in the Lower District, Mark and Mei decided to continue their investigation eastward.


    "Hmm?"


    Mark noticed something and urged Mei to go in a certain direction.


    "Gege, there''s nothing but piles of rubble here."


    Mei said as they arrived.


    "That''s what I noticed. The rubble." Mark pointed at the pile of rubble. "Don''t you think it''s piled up to be a makeshift wall?"


    At Mark''s assumption, Mei understood. The pile of rubble was actually a long pile that continued north. It might seem unstable, but the pile of rubble was actually about three meters high.


    Mark and Mei climbed up the rubble. They noticed that there were stable footsteps in a few ces. The top was ttened as much as possible, seemingly created to be parapets. There were even knee-high barriers. Furthermore, the east side and west side of the rubble had different steepness. It was steeper on the west side and would be hard to climb from this direction.


    And from atop the rubble, Mark and Mei saw traces of battle. There were only bones left, but there were definitely lots of dead bodies in this ce before. There were also traces of blood on the ground together with holes left by bullets.


    It was a trace of a bloody battle. The remains of the struggle of the people of Bay City to survive.


    Since constructing new walls would be hard, they used the rubble from the ruins to build a makeshift barrier. A wall of rubble might seem insignificant, but it was a line between life and death for them.


    Although there were still no clues as to where the people here went to, Mark and Mei found traces of the survivors that were here not long ago.


    "Did they leave after the barrier went down?"


    Mei asked in thought.


    "Maybe, even before," Mark said. "The radiation levels went down even before the barriers disappeared. That''s why it''s also possible they left way earlier."<sub> </sub>


    It was hard to tell how long these traces of battle were here. If there were at least a few dead bodies intact, it would be easier to guess. However, the [Infected] seemed to have eaten the dead bodies, leaving those scattered bones.


    "Why don''t we check the previous military headquarters?" Mei suggested. "It should be destroyed already, but we might be able to find some clues around there."


    "Alright, let''s go."


    <o>,m Mark agreed.</o>


    The two left the wall of rubble and made their way north once more. They were heading to the central areas of the Upper District.


    They could have searched in the central areas first. However, it would be easier to find traces of people leaving if they searched the outskirts of the ce. Now that Mark and Mei determined that there were no clues of people leaving through the south and east, they could move north.


    Arriving at the location, Mark and Mei saw nothing but rubble. They still had memories of the buildings here. In fact, the building where Mei''s group lived before was just in the other corner. Everything was destroyed, giving Mei a fewplicated feelings. One of the best memories she had was the rooftop where she and Odelina often sparred with I, Abbygale, Odette, and Seigfried studying at the side. Those were the good but also sad old days.


    Sad because it was also the time they were worriedly waiting for Mark''s return.


    Remembering those memories, Mei''s grasp of Mark''s hand became tighter. Mark did notin, knowing that Mei was having some reminiscence of the past.


    They continued searching the area soon after. Like before, all they found were traces of people living here.


    The makeshift cooking area where pieces of coal and ashes were left.


    Holes on the ground which were left by the tents the military used.


    And also the garbage dump where the trash was gathered.


    However, the worst thing that Mark and Mei found was a wide area of recently dug-up soil.


    At the side of the dug-up area closest to the footpath were many makeshift crosses. Some of the crosses had dog tags dangling on them.


    "A mass grave, huh."


    Mark murmured while Mei stared in silence.


    It was a mass grave. It was not surprising since making separate graves for the dead was not something usible in Bay City Settlement''s situation. In truth, making graves was not really something they could waste time with. The fact that they even made this was clearly to appease their own minds while remembering the dead.


    A certain dog tag on one of the crosses took Mei''s attention. With her enhanced eyes, she noticed the familiar name on it. She could not help but bend down to take it off the makeshift cross.


    Looking at the dog tag, Mei was a bit shaken. Mei brought the dog tag to Mark and gave it to him.


    Mark had a frown, looking at the name in the dog tag.


    "So, Captain D Rosa is dead."


    Mark murmured.


    Captain Edmundo D Rosa, the leader of the 7th Rescue Squad under General Miguel Perez. He was the middle-aged soldier that weed Mark''s group when they arrived at Queens Row Elementary School back in the first few days of the apocalypse.


    That captain was one of the good people that Mark would not forget. Their meeting might be short, but Captain D Rosa had proven himself to be a good soldier, leader, and father to his son.


    Furthermore, while Mark was gone, Captain D Rosa was one of the people that helped Mei and the other people connected to Mark in Bay City.


    To think that Mark and Mei would know of his death this way. It made the two wonder if Captain D Rosa''s son, Keene D Rosa, was still alive. So as the captain''s trusted aide, Irene McCarran.


    Mark let out a sigh. Instead of returning the dog tag, he decided to keep it as a memento. In return, he created a simr dog tag using his blood and reced it on the cross.


    "Let''s continue looking around."


    Mark said as to Mei nodded.


    As the two left, the new reddish-ck dog tag dangled without wind. It was as if it was saying goodbye to the two.


    Mark and Mei continued the investigation to no avail. It might have been a while since the people in Bay City left, and the traces they wanted to find were already gone.


    It might have helped if they could find footprints or wheel tracks left on the ground. But with the [Infected] wandering aimlessly all over the ce, those things might have been erased too.


    "They didn''t even leave a note or something simr."


    Meiined.


    "They definitely did not think that someone would still arrive here after everything that happened."


    Mark stated the fact.


    All Mark and Mei found were traces of people and the fact that it looked like they left, bringing everything they could, like tents. But any clue about where they went was nowhere to be found.


    As Mark and Mei continued the search, they suddenly encountered Illia, flying in the sky. She seemed to be looking for the two in a hurry.


    "So this is where you two are!" Illiained. "Master and I found traces of people that left towards the northwest."


    Those words from Illia made Mark and Mei nod at each other. The two brought out their wings. The three flew to the northwest with Illia in the lead.

 Chapter 798 Findings, The Direction And Possibility Of Where The People In Bay City Went

    <strong>Day 198 - 8:58 PM - Upper District, Bay City Ruins, Pasay City, Metro Man</strong>


    Flying over the ruins, Mark and Mei could see a lot further. However, flying had its disadvantages. All they could see from above were exposed locations below, and it would be hard to see things hidden under the rubble. It was disadvantageous for Mark''s group to investigate from the sky since they were specifically looking for small clues of where the people of Bay City went.


    It was also nighttime, making it harder to see the ground below from the sky due to the darkness.


    Mark''s group reached Chimetrice''s location for more or less a minute. Flying was definitely more convenient in terms of speed. Moving onnd would take more time, given how many obstacles were left in the ruins of Bay City.


    Led by Illia, Mark and Mei saw Chimetrice standing on the northwest edge of the Upper District of Bay City. Here, the moat was covered, unlike the southern area of the Upper District. The location where Chimetrice stood was clearly the boundary of the barrier. It was distinguishable by the sudden change of terrain that was different from the ruins of Bay City.


    From the sky, Mark and Mei could not see anything strange. Chimetrice was just standing at the edge of what seemed to be a forest. Although there was a bit of space between the trees, all they could see under the shade was the overgrown grass.


    "Master~ We''re here!"


    Illia gleefully called out as she began tond. As usual, she had this carefree behavior even in the current situation. This made it questionable if the woman that ruined Felicia''s life was really the same person.


    "What did you find?"


    Mark asked.


    "There."


    Chimetrice replied, pointing at the very same overgrown grass that Mark and Mei saw from above.


    Mark turned his attention to the overgrown grass. To say, it did not look any different from most of the grass and bushes they could see nowadays.


    But the point was there. The overgrown grass one could see everywhere did not exist before. Many just appeared during the fusion of dimensions. However, a lot grew recently at a fast pace due to the changes in Earth.


    Mark kneeled down and pushed the grass aside. And there, covered by the grass and ruined by the roots of the nts. A footprint under the overgrown grass.


    If it was just a single footprint, it would notst long and be covered by erosion and other factors of nature. However, there was not just one. In just the patch of grass that Mark pushed away, there were several footmarks under it. Some of the prints even ovepped each other, having different sizes and depths.


    "Step aside for a bit."


    Mark said as he brought out a crystal floating around his wrist. Both Chimetrice and Illia were familiar with this crystal, the [Wind Maniption Mental Crystal]. After all, it came from the guy that Illia sacrificed to create a new body for her Master.


    The [Wind Maniption Mental Crystal] glowed with Mark''smand. With a wave of his hand, a de of wind flew from him, cutting off the overgrown grass in front of them. Andstly, Mark created a small vortex of wind, causing the leaves of the trees to sway. The vortex began to vacuum the cut grass away, revealing the ground underneath.


    After Mark pushed the grass away, it was easier to investigate the location. And to say, in just the small area they cleaned, hundreds of different footprints could be seen.


    Looking around further, Mark was a bit bewildered. There were also tracks left by the wheels of a vehicle. It was not just one car either but a few different ones.


    "Cars?"


    Mei voiced out, also surprised. Their surprise was understandable. The earthquake a month ago did not only destroy buildings. Even vehicles were badly damaged for various reasons. Some were buried in the rubble, while others were swallowed by thend. The changes in the topography during the fusion of dimensions caused lots of damages. It was not only to the vehicles but every existing in the mortal ne.


    "It must be that guy," Mark said. "Their head mechanic, Reymond."


    "I don''t know him," Mei replied, making Mark look at her in askance. "I don''t really interact with the people that much before. The transactions for the repairs when our car got damaged were always handled by Odel. And I really can''t go out that much back then."


    ? That was true. Because of Mei''s circumstances, her interactions with the people in Bay City were kept minimal. Even if the man called Reymond was an important figure in Bay City, Mei never met him.


    "But maybe their cars did not get damaged that much." Mark suddenly said, changing the topic. "They managed to create that [Super Metal] for their vehicles, after all."


    Mark remembered the modified Humvee that he saw in the workshop of Bay City before. If they had more vehicles refitted with that metal, they should be able to salvage more vehicles to fix and use.


    Mei also heard of that. Unfortunately, that new metal was exclusive for military use and was not given to civilians to modify their vehicles. If it was allowed, Odelina might have requested the MB Sprinter to be refitted like so.


    At this time, Illia and Chimetrice joined the conversation.


    "If they went this direction, where could they be heading?"


    Chimetrice said, looking at the expanse of the forested area before them.


    "I have a guess, but let me look for a bit."


    Mark said before opening his wings and flying up to the sky.


    Above, Mark observed the area where they found the footprints and vehicle tracks before panning his eyes to the locations beyond. Mark also flew down, going a bit north and northwest, investigating the forest thoroughly.


    Mark even flew above the newnd that now upied arge area of Man Bay.


    As Mark flew, he noticed something.


    There were some differences between the overgrown grass in the area where Chimetrice found the footprintspared to other ces. Mainly because the grass there appeared to be shorter than others.


    Looking around, Mark found the trail of shorter grass. It made it easier for Mark to determine what direction the people of Bay City went to.


    But why was this trail of grass short? It was definitely because it was the ce where several hundreds of people and vehicles passed through. The people might have tried to cut off the grass as they passed by. Even if they did not, those hundreds of people were more than enough to trample the grass, half-dead if not entirely dead. It would cause a dy in the growth of the grass, causing this scene that Mark was now following.


    In fact, it was also possible to find trails where the [Infected] often passed the same way.


    After about five minutes of flying around, Mark returned to the ce where Mei, Chimetrice, and Illia waited. Compared to when Mark left, however, the ce became bloody. A few dead corpses were lying here and there.


    Marknded and looked around.


    "Did the some [Infected] appear?"<sub> </sub>


    Mark asked.


    "They likely got attracted here when you used wind magic earlier."


    Chimetrice replied.


    Mark nodded in understanding. It could not be helped, however.


    "Gege, did you find anything?"


    Mei approached Mark and asked.


    "I did," Mark replied. "Looks like the people moved west."


    Mark turned in the direction of the newnd over the past Man Bay as he said that.


    "West?" Illia spoke. "Is there something there? Or did they just flee from the city?"


    "I don''t really know," Mark replied with a shake of his head. "But there''s a possibility..."


    "Possibility of what?"


    Illia asked further.


    "Southwest of here, directly on the other side of Man Bay. There is the Corregidor Ind. It''s one of the locations of the main military settlements in the country."


    Mark answered.


    "Southwest, huh... But why did they go northwest?"


    Illia could not help but say, considering they were currently on the northwest side of Bay City.


    "It might look roundabout, but Corregidor Ind is closer going through the Province of Bataan, which is on the north side of the ind. Also, half of Man Bay is now upied bynd. It''s easier to travel through here than going south." Mark exined. "The question here is why they decided to go there."


    It was the real mystery here. Why would the people of Bay City go there? Bay City was destroyed. It was more likely for the people to think that other ces had the same state. Furthermore, Corregidor Ind was surrounded by water. An earthquake of high magnitude would have many effects on those kinds of locations.


    Yet, it was highly possible that the people of Bay City went there.


    Of course, it was also possible that they just fled Bay City due to danger. However, it was better to start with a possible lead than look blindly.


    "Looks like we found our lead."


    Chimetrice said.


    "It''s not a concrete lead, but it''s better than nothing," Mark replied. "I don''t know whether we will leave immediately tomorrow, but we should rest for the night."


    That was the end of the investigation. At least, for today.


    They already had the lead, but it did not require Mark''s group to hurry. At this moment, there was another point of interest here in Bay City for Mark to investigate.


    Yes, it was the Lower District of Bay City.


    Currently, the ce was negative energy was threateningly concentrated there. Sooner orter, it would cause the birth of a [Formless Demon]. A [Formless Demon] might not sound threatening, but it could spell disaster in many ways. Even more, if a [Formless Demon] capable of controlling [Miasma] was the one to appear there.


    In any case, that was the work for tomorrow. For now, it was time for the group to rest.


    The four returned to the camp. Spera and Feng Zhiro weed them back. Mark ryed the findings of the investigation since Spera asked. Feng Zhiruo also listened carefully.


    And for Mark''s ns for tomorrow, there was no opposition when Mark mentioned dealing with the negative energy in the lower district. In fact, Chimetrice, Illia, Spera, and Feng Zhiruo strongly supported Mark''s idea. They all agreed that it would be dangerous to leave it alone now that Mark and Mei found it.


    It was as expected for people with mysterious backgrounds. They all knew the intensity of danger of letting the birth of a new [Formless Demon].


    ***


    <strong>Day 199 - 7:02 AM - Upper District, Bay City Ruins, Pasay City, Metro Man</strong>


    The night passed, well, not peacefully. Past midnight, a few [Evolved Animals] attacked. It was hard to determine what kind of animals the attackers were, although they looked canine, even close to wolves. However, knowing that there were no local species of wolves in the country. It was very likely that they were evolved dogs.


    There were ten of the evolved dogs, but they were dealt with without problems. Since these were [Evolved Animals] and not [Infected], Mark just used his [Emotion Induction] on the attackers and froze them with fear.


    The corpses of the animals were not thrown away, however. They might be dogs in the past, but now, they were a good source of meat. It became a bit of work in the middle of the night, but Mark drained the blood of the evolved dogs nicely.


    After waking up, Mark and Mei stored the blood-drained carcasses inside their rings. They also ate breakfast first.


    And then, they rode the floating vessel. It then flew directly above the Lower District.


    When they arrived at the location, everyone could feel the swirling negative energy below.


    Even the Anti-God Weapon, Chimetrice, could not help but say as he saw and felt the situation below.


    "This is bad," Chimetrice warned and turned to Mark. "It''s good that you found this. The negative energy is already solidifying. It will only take a few days before a [Formless Demon] is born from this ce."


    Hearing that, everyone could not help but feel lucky. A [Formless Demon] would definitely cause a disaster, especially now when [Magical Energy] was now abundant everywhere on Earth.

 Chapter 834 Glittering Dust, A Small Test Orchestrated For The Two Sisters

    <strong>Day 206 - ¨ƒ¨ƒ:¨ƒ¨ƒ ¨ƒ¨ƒ - Old Vige, Secret Real, Mount Madia-as, Panay Mountain Range, Province of An</strong>


    To have someone running into other''s mealtime, running off his mouth and shouting, that person was bound to attract everyone''s attention.


    It was the same for Mark and the members of his group. They could not help but stare at the man that barged into their mealtime. The man sure was a rude one, disturbing other people''s mealtime.


    But the most important thing...


    Ilia turned towards the sisters, who were both showing exasperated expressions.


    "What is he saying?"


    Ilia asked in confusion.


    That confusion was the main reason that everyone stared at the man. After all, none of Mark''s group members were locals of this province. Even if they were a bit familiar with one or two words of everything that man said, there was very little chance they would understand the message.


    Thus, whatever that man shouted at them, it did not matter. Aside from the fact that he was rude, they could not understand him.


    The question towards the two sisters made the two show a bitter smile. From the start, the two sisters realized that the new people that arrived were not locals of this province. Furthermore, three of the group were clearly foreigners.


    And, of course, the guy that barged in without thinking had no way of knowing this.


    "Um... We''re sorry." The older of the two sisters replied to Ilia, not answering the question knowing that it would cause more trouble. "Can you please leave this to us?"


    Ilia turned to Mark, hearing the older sister''s reply. Mark gave her a nce and a slight nod.


    "Then, please deal with it quickly while no one is dead yet."


    Ilia said to the two sisters, making them a bit flustered. What did this gorgeous woman mean by "while no one was dead yet?"


    Nheless, that reply made the two sisters feel a bit relieved. The two of them did not survive this apocalypse for nothing. A little misunderstanding could cause a lot of trouble in the current world, not to mention reckless aggressiveness. To the two women, this group of strangers was still dangerous people. It was aside from the fact that they were kind enough to share food with them.


    Kindness begets kindness. The inverse was the same.


    The two sisters nodded at each other, putting this problem into their hands.


    ***


    "What does it matter to you?" Donna stood up, returning the man''s aggressiveness. "We can eat anything we want!"


    "You!!!"


    The man sure was infuriated even more. He was not that affected by Be''s retort. However, what made him mad was how these unfamiliar people were literally ignoring him. They even continued to eat, watching him as if he was an attraction in a circus.


    "This is our vige! Letting outsiders inside... Who in the world is sane to do that?" The man yelled. "Then, that food... We are all eating strange fruits and boiled vegetables all this month! Eating food on your own... You selfish women! Isn''t it the duty of you two to distribute food in the first ce?"


    Be and Donna stared at the man incredulously. Just what in the world was this idiot talking about?


    "You''re out of your mind, aren''t you? Are you still dreaming? Wake up, will you?" Now, even the calmer Be stood up, putting down her te of food on an old table nearby. "Since when was this vige ours? We are nothing but freeloaders here. And why would youin about the food? You chose that. Aren''t you the one who did not want to leave this ce the most, you coward? And our duty to distribute food? That''s only when we can actually find something to distribute. In this ce? Can we find food in this ce? We can''t even step outside this vige. We can only wait when the food arrives, and it is already distributed evenly for us."


    Both Be and Donna knew their ce. It was one of the reasons they wanted to leave. This vige was not theirs. They had no freedom here.


    Unfortunately, the other survivors of their group took the kindness of the [Diwata] for granted. It seemed that peacefully staying in this ce made them forget who they were in the first ce.


    The actual owner of this vige was the [Diwata] and the creatures living in this realm. Not them who were only allowed to stay out of pity.


    And these people the man called outsiders were brought here by the [Diwata] herself. Both Be and Donna saw them approaching the vige with the [Diwata] leading them after all. It was not something they, people who begged to stay here, could question.


    Yet, this narrow-minded man who just woke up from sleep blurted out nonsense without thinking about his position.


    "You two! Who cares about that?! Why are you two even siding with outsiders?!"


    The man sure was not getting any of it into that thick skull of his. He was not even listening to reason. His eyes focused on the food at the center of the group of strangers instead.


    That was right. The man''s reason was already consumed by his worldly craving.


    "He''s not listening, is he?"


    Donna sighed, ncing at her sister. Be replied with a nod at that nce.


    "There''s no choice then."


    Be said as she bent her right arm, putting her right hand beside her left cheek.


    The man saw that stance, and his eyes dted.


    "Y-YOU! What are you doing?!"


    The man took a step back and made a stance of his own.


    Unfortunately, the man could not do anything after that. Be waved her right arm, now covered in glittering dust, towards the man. The man froze and slowly fell to the ground as if he lost all his energy.


    "Yo-urk! Yo-u bit-ch-es!"


    The man was still conscious, spitting curse after curse at the two sisters with his unstable voice.


    "Hah... He''s not stopping."


    Be gave another sigh as she approached the weakened man. She stood beside him, looking down at the man lying by her feet. Slightly stretching her hand over him, she began whisking her fingers, sprinkling glittering dust on the man.


    This time, the man froze entirely. Even his mouth was left open, saliva overflowing. His eyes were still open, but it was clear that he already passed out.


    "Let''s drag this garbage out."


    Be said to her sister, grabbing the man''s leg and preparing to drag the man away.


    "Wait!" Donna said, grabbing their tes of food and turning to the gorgeous woman and the others. "Thank you for the food and sorry for the trouble. We''ll return the tester!"<sub> </sub>


    And there, the two sisters dragged the nuisance away. Well, while leaving a meaningful nce at the man they presumed to be the leader of the group.


    ***


    "Looks like they are sensible people."


    Mark remarked, watching the twodies dragging the man away, with the slight red glow on his eyes fading.


    "You orchestrated it, didn''t you?" Spera asked Mark, with her inquisitive eyes piercing holes on him. "There is no way you didn''t detect that guying here. Yet, you didn''t say a word."


    "Gege, did you find something interesting to do that?"


    Mei also asked Mark. There was no way that the slight glow in his eyes would pass Mei''s attention.


    Those questions made Ilia and Feng Zhiruo curious about Mark''s intentions.


    "Well, that guy is bound to cause us trouble anyway, so I just put him to use," Mark confessed. "Though I didn''t expect that he can''t even retaliate against those two even though the three of them were [Mutators]."


    It would be a lie if Mei and the others said they were not surprised that both the two sisters had some sort of strange ability. Now that Mark confirmed it, they could only wonder what kind of ability they had. All they saw was their hands releasing those glittering dust, and the man could not retaliate anymore.


    "But they actually used their abilities in front of us, huh?" Spera said. "Are they stupid? They should be hiding their cards in front of strangers."


    "No, they are not stupid," Mark said, actually refuting Spera. "Although they showed it like they were just disciplining their own people, it''s also a warning for us. They were thankful for the food and sorry for the trouble, but they would not just stand back if we try to harm their own. I guess you guys didn''t see them nce at me before they left."


    "That nce was for you? I thought it was for the food in front of you."


    Spera said, looking at the rest of the food Mark had disyed in front of him.


    "That''s what I will also think if I can''t read their emotions," Mark stated. "Well, the nuisance is gone. Let''s continue eating."


    ***


    "Be," Donna called her older sister. "Won''t this guy make a fuss about it when he wakes up?"


    "It can''t be helped," Be replied. "This is way better than having him get killed."


    "Huh? Killed?"


    Donna was confused at the words of her older sister.


    "It seems you didn''t pay attention," Be exined. "Remember what the woman said when we asked to deal with the situation. Also, when we used our powers, those people barely reacted."


    "The woman''s warning aside, what is wrong with their reaction?"


    Donna asked.


    "Did you forget how the others reacted to us when we used our powers in front of them for the first time?"


    Be asked back.


    It made Donna silent as she remembered.


    Everyone... They were afraid of Be and Donna. Even so, many clung to them for protection since their powers helped people around them survive.


    Yet, that group barely reacted. It was either they had seen others with powers before, or they had powers of their own.


    In the first ce, there was no way that a small group of people like that, even having children with them, would be able to survive this world without enough strength.


    If not for the fact that they were also craving to eat actual food, Be would not allow Donna to approach that group of strangers at all.


    They were strangers, after all. Although they showed kindness, it might just be a facade. Who would know what those people really were? Well, definitely not Be and Donna.


    It was better to be cautious than regret that they did not.


    "I don''t think they''re bad, though," Donna said, raising the tes of food in her hands. "They gave us food, after all."


    "Hahh..."


    Be sighed at how simple her younger sister was.


    ***


    The night of the realm slowly passed without many events happening. It was not surprising, considering the ce they were in.


    Since the vige was upied by humans, the other residents of the realm would not approach it. That was why it was so quiet.


    After the incident with the man, the two sisters also made sure not to let anyone from their side wanter into the eastern side of the vige. It was for the safety of both sides.


    With the peace and quiet they got, Mark''s group had nothing much to do. Instead, Mei spent time ying with the girls while Mark began drawing things. Those drawings were not just some artistic stuff, however. He was drawing blueprints and designs of weapons he could make in the future.


    Soon, the night of the realm passed with its own sun rising.


    Seeing the sun and moon of this realm and even its stars, Mark finally understood what Magwayen said before.


    The myths of ancient Visayas did have some truths in them.


    It was the remains of the grandchildren of Kaptan and Magwayen.


    This realm was not just a small dimension. It was a small butplete universe of its own.


    Unfortunately, to stop this realm from affecting the world outside, it was made limited. And even if there were things they could see from afar, not all of them were obtainable or even reachable.


    ...Like the sun, moon, stars, and the silhouettes of the inds they could see from afar in this realm.

 Chapter 800 Following The Trail, The Path That The People Of Bay City Took

    <strong>Day 199 - 1:49 PM - Man Bay Forest, Man Bay Area</strong>


    After Mark''s group ate a simple lunch, just some instant cup noodles with bottled mineral water, they proceeded to continue their journey.


    As said, their lunch was simple, at least to Mark''s group. If some regr survivor of this world saw them, they might die of envy. There was no need to mention having food. For many people still alive, just getting something into their stomach already was an extremely tedious task. Dangerous, most must even say.


    Mark''s group did not eat that much this lunch, however. They finished their food as fast as possible and departed. Although it could not be called waste, they still used up half of the day staying at the same ce.


    Although the shelter was not exactly a problem, they still wanted to at least find a good ce to stay when the night came.


    Shelter for the night was the most priority for them. While they were looking for the traces of the people of Bay City, there was no guarantee that Mark''s group would find them today.


    After all, who knows if the people of Bay City did really go to Corregidor Ind.


    Well, Mark wished that they did so. That way, Mark and his group would not waste more effort and time blindly finding people.


    At this moment, the floating vessel, they now decided to call [The Mini Cube], was hovering over the newnd over Man Bay. Why the sudden name? Apparently, the floating vessel was not really given a name by the Creator. It was due to the fact that it was a part of theboratory [The Cube], despite being an emergency vessel at the same time.


    While eating lunch, Mark''s group was discussing this. They had not really thought about it in the past, but now, the floating vessel being nameless was bing a bit of a nuisance during talks. Since they were using the floating vessel as transport, it was better to give it a name and make it easier to indicate. And due to that, it was given the name [The Mini Cube] despite itsrge size. It was because of the fact that it was also shaped like a cube and was a small part of [The Cube].


    [The Mini Cube] hovered carefully over the trees. It was not flying high up the sky at this moment as they were following the trail that could possibly lead them to the people of Bay City.


    Since the view of the outside inside [The Mini Cube] was limited, Mark was currently sitting outside the tform in front of the vessel''s door. Here, he could see things outside clearly. More importantly, the trail they were supposed to follow.


    What they needed to follow was the trail of shorter grass. The grass had been affected by the people of Bay City when they passed by. However, no matter how enhanced their eyes might be as [Mutators] and non-human beings, it was still hard to differentiate the grass from above. There was no what to determine something''s height just by looking at the top, after all.


    That was why they were carefully traversing the way, making sure that they would not lose track of the trail and be lost.


    From where Mark sat, it was not only the trail that he could see. From time to time, he could see wandering [Infected], either stray individuals to a ratherrge hordes. Once Mark spotted one, Mark would enter the door and hide inside [The Mini Cube]. This way, there was no chance of attracting unwanted attention from the [Infected] and end up spending more time fighting the [Infected].


    It was the same for [Mechids]. And worse, [Mechids] were more curious about [The Mini Cube] than the [Infected]. The [Infected] would not pay much attention as long as they did not see Mark. The [Mechids], on the other hand, would follow for a bit before giving up. There was even one time that a [Mechid] capable of flight using some sort of rocket booster flew up andnded on [The Mini Cube''s] roof. Mark had no choice but to deal with the annoying robot. Of course, not by destroying it but catching it instead.


    While watching the sceneries below, Mark managed to not only follow the trail but observe the [Infected] and the [Mechids] below.


    By what it looked like, the [Infected] and the [Mechids] were not working together. The [Infected] did not seem interested in the [Mechids]. On the other hand, the [Mechids] had the tendency to follow and observe the [Infected]. Nheless, there did not seem to be direct interactions between them.


    Even during the fight in the ruins of Bay City, while it was true that Mark''s group fought a horde of [Mechids] and [Infected], the two groups were not together as one. The horde of [Infected] was together, well, most of them. The [Mechids] also performed as a different group. And different to the [Infected], all the [Mechids] in that area were grouped up.


    That was why Mark''s group was able to deal with the threat more efficiently because Mark and Chimetrice did not have to worry about stray [Mechids] joining the fight of the girls.


    This observation, however, even more, showed how dangerous the [Mechids] were. These alien robots could focus their whole group on a single target and even choose their target. This could be both an advantage and disadvantage depending on the situation.


    "Hmmm?"


    Mark noticed something below. He immediately tapped on his magic ring, sending a message to Mei, who was inside.


    [The Mini Cube] stopped from moving and hovered in ce. Mark then jumped off the tform, turning into a surge of ck mist to mitigate the impact of the fall.


    Mark appeared below, trampling the overgrown grass with his feet. His attention was on something left in the middle of the trail. It was covered with overgrown grass and vines.


    Without hesitation, Mark called forth the [Wind Maniption Mental Crystal]. Like yesterday, he created des of wind, immediately cutting the grass and vines over therge debris.


    There, the true appearance of the debris was revealed. And to say, it was something familiar to Mark.


    "The modified Humvee."


    Mark murmured.


    Back in Bay City, when Mark began the modifications of their vehicles, he saw something like this at the parking area of the workshop. It was a modified Humvee that was refitted with the new metal that Bay City created with their research. Mark was not sure whether this vehicle was the same one or another, but there was no doubt that it was from Bay City.


    And it was left here, in the middle of the trail for some reason.


    Observing the abandoned vehicle, Mark noticed that three of the wheels were missing, leaving only one which was obviously t. It could be the reason why it was abandoned. The military might havecked recements for the ttened wheel and decided to salvage everything they could from the vehicle before they abandoned it.<sub> </sub>


    Mark also noticed that the hood was not locked and opened it. There was no engine either. It looked like his guess was really close.


    Still, it was a pity. Mark was clear that the military highly valued their refitted vehicle. It was obvious when Mark''s eyes fell on the refitted Humvee back in Bay City, and he was declined before he could ask. Well, it was not like he wanted one back then.


    "Let''s see..." Mark tapped his [Spatial Ring], asserting the remaining space inside. "Looks like there''s enough."


    And without hesitation, Mark immediately stored the remains of the refitted Humvee into his ring. Even if it could not be repaired anymore, it could be scrapped for the new metal, which could be useful in many ways.


    Mark returned to [The Mini Cube] and told everyone what he found. They then continued following the trail.


    And as they continued further, they could not help but notice the irregr directions that the trail went to. At some point, it went ind, while at some, they went to the coastal direction. But looking at the terrain, the irregr directions became understandable.


    What the people of Bay City traveled on was not a cleared road. There were ces packed with trees. Unless they intended to cut the trees to make a way through, they would not be able to travel straight. Cutting the trees was impossible in their circumstance, however. They would need heavy equipment to cut and uproot trees of several hundreds of years old.


    Worse parts of the trail were rocky areas whererge rocks protruding from the ground blocked the way.


    Mark''s group could see the difficulties of the road that the people of Bay City took. In some areas, Mark found traces of battle. There were even times where one or more graves were erected in the locations they possibly took a rest.


    Worse, Mark found dead bodies. Some were eaten to the bone, while others were left rotting unfinished. By the looks of it, the ones eaten and left with only bones were the work of the [Infected]. As for the rotting ones, it might be either [Mechids] or [Evolved Animals].


    Mark''s group continued to follow the trail, stopping at times when Mark found something. At this time, Mark noticed that even though the people of Bay City traveled ind several times, they tried to move near the coast as much as possible. It was very likely that the reason was that Corregidor was an ind. It would save them a lot of time traveling if they followed the coast of Man Bay or what was left of the bay.


    Soon, Mark''s group found themselves already closing into the Province of Bataan. How could they tell? Since they were flying above the trees, they could see the terrain better. And to the east, they could see a mountain.


    Mark had his phone out and was looking at the map he downloaded when the outbreak started. If he was right, the mountain they were seeing was Mount Mariveles.


    The time Mark''s group took to reach this point sure was short. The sun even barely set, and the sky was still bright. On the other hand, the people of Bay City might have taken more than a day or two to traverse the same trail. It was obvious since there were a few camping sites left by them along the way.


    Reaching the Province of Bataan, specifically the Municipality of Mariveles, Mark found more traces of civilization. Unlike thend that now covered Man Bay, where there was nothing but trees and rocks, the Municipality of Mariveles had more ruins of houses and many other structures.


    And there, Mark''s group reached the part of the trail that answered the question of where the people of Bay City went to.


    As the trail went south, it was, now without a doubt, the Military Settlement in Corregidor Ind.


    There was no need to follow the trail any longer. They just needed to fly straight south.


    Without needing to follow the trail as carefully as possible, the journey became faster. Mark was sure that they would reach Corregidor Ind in just a little past sunset.


    But, of course, Mark had no n on going there straight and showing [The Mini Cube] to the people there.


    As such, Mark took out the [Photokinesis Mental Crystal]. With this, he covered [The Mini Cube] with optical camouge entirely. It would notst long since covering arge thing with optical camouge was draining the energy of the crystal rapidly. However, it was more than enough tost until nighttime.


    At night, it would be fine even if [The Mini Cube] was exposed as the darkness of the night sky could hide it.


    Mark told Chimetrice and Illia to fly higher. They could not risk anyone or anything to detect them even with the optical camouge. It would also allow them to see further and observe the Corregidor Ind from afar.


    But as they arrived near the ind just a few minutes past sunset, everyone was in for an unexpected surprise.


    "What the hell is this?"


    Mark voiced out, and others had the same question.


    Corregidor was not an ind anymore as the newnd created a bridge towards it. But that was not the issue.


    It was the settlement on the ind.


    Well, that was if it was still a settlement.


    A fewyers of several-meter tall stone walls, structures standing tall, and even slums outside its gates...


    It was not a settlement. It was a gigantic fortress city.

 Chapter 801 The Scene From The Sky, The Current State Of Corrigedor Island

    <strong>Day 199 - 7:21 PM - Barangay Cabcaben, Municipality of Mariveles, Province of Bataan</strong>


    The Corregidor Ind. It was an ind that was part of the Province of Cavite, located at the entrance of Man Bay. It was in the northwest of Ternate, Cavite, and directly south of Mariveles, Bataan.


    Looking from the sky, the entirety of this small five-square-kilometer ind had a simr shape to a tadpole. But as strange as itsnd formation had been, this ind had a great significance to Philippine History, making it a national shrine.


    Long since before, the ind with its rockyndscape was considered a natural fortress. The Spanish administration fortified this ind during the eighteenth century. Afterward, it was used by both U.S. and Philippine Soldiers to fight the overwhelming numbers of Japanese soldiers during World War Two.


    All those days were of the past. Corregidor Ind had long been a popr destination for tourists, both local and foreign.


    Well, of course, it was all before the apocalypse.


    When the apocalypse began, the iconic ind was chosen as one of the locations of Military Settlements built all over the country. And the settlement nned here was second among thergest. The Bay City Settlement only became thergest due to the ce already built with structures and only needing walls for security. The Corregidor Ind, on the other hand, needed more things to construct. The already existing buildings made for tourists would not be enough for the expected number of refugees.


    Considering that it was an ind, the military would need to transportrge amounts of resources to build the settlement. This would limit their construction efforts even more. Due to these reasons, even if the Military Settlement nned in Corregidor Ind seeded, it would not be thatrge of a ce.


    Furthermore, the fusion of dimensions and the arrival of the second wave caused so much destruction that everything that humanity built copsed. Even the Military Settlement in Corregidor Ind would not withstand such a cmity and should have been destroyed.


    ...That was what it should have been.


    Right now, Mark''s group stood at [The Mini Cube''s] Flight Deck, staring at the scene in front of them.


    The current Corregidor Ind did not look like a giant tadpole anymore and was more or less an irregr oval. Now, it was not only that the ind doubled in size, but the Caballo Ind slightly southeast became connected to it.


    But the change in the size of the ind was expected. Every piece ofnd in the entire Earth more or less doubled in size, reducing the area covered by the sea.


    What Mark and the others did not expect was the fortress existing on the supposedly ruined ind settlement. And it was not just a small and simple fortress. It was an entire fortress city. Although the structures inside the walls were clearly on a small scale, the several meters tall and a few meter wide wall was more than enough to call it a fortress.


    Furthermore, the area surrounded by the walls was likely more than a kilometer square. Small size for a city but a city nheless.


    There were also the slums outside the walls near its gates. The size of the slums would not lose to the fortress city at all. Who knows how many people were gathered just within the slums filled with scrap-made buildings.


    Another surprising thing was that the fortress city clearly had working electricity, considering the spotlights atop the walls and the lights in many of the buildings inside.


    The scene in front of them was totally absurd, even by their non-human standards.


    Although the Mountain Base withstood the cmity during the past month, it took preparations, effort, and luck. Louis Morgan''s [Geokinesis] and the existence of the Night Everred Spirit Tree yed vital roles in that event.


    It meant that the same feat was not possible just by any group of humans.


    And yet, there it was. A ce that was clearly not something that could be built in just a single month.


    There were a lot of questions that popped up into Mark''s mind. But, of course, voicing out those questions right now would not yield any answer.


    "Hmm?" Mark''s attention was suddenly peeled off the fortress city, and he turned to Illia and Chimetrice. "Fly higher. There are people below."


    The two were a bit confused as to why Mark suddenly wanted to fly higher. Yes, he said there were people below. But weren''t they under [Optical Camouge]? Nheless, the two controlled [The Mini Cube] and flew higher.


    [The Mini Cube] flew up high. It reached the point they could see both the entirety of Mariveles and Corregidor. It was when Illia asked Mark.


    "Why do we have to fly up? They can''t see us, right?"


    "Normal people won''t see us," Mark replied with his eyes glued to the settlement in Corregidor. "But we can''t gamble in front of a group of [Mutators]."


    "I see..." Illia nodded, seductively tapping her lips. "Then, what''s your n now?"


    That was a good questioning from Illia. If she could only ask a question normally.


    "I''ll go gather information."


    Mark replied.


    "Alone?"


    Illia asked another, looking at the little girls.


    Mark shrugged. It was obvious that they wanted toe with him. Even I was not an exception. Mei was not saying anything and would very likely follow Mark''s n. But, of course, she was the one who wanted to go with him the most.


    At this time, Feng Zhiruo spoke.


    "Can''t we all just go together?"


    The suggestion took everyone''s attention. After all, it came from the person that talked the least in the group.


    "A-actually, I''m also curious about the ce."


    Feng Zhiruo stuttered a bit. After all, the reason why she wanted to go was that she wanted to look around.


    Well, who would not be curious?


    Mark wanted to say that it would be dangerous. After all, it was an unknown ce. However, with how strong this group was, the danger was the least of their concern. Unless some sort of Deity-like being appeared, only then would they be in actual danger. Not to mention the group had all sorts of danger prevention methods. Mark would lose the argument immediately if he was to mention the ce being dangerous.<sub> </sub>


    Furthermore...


    Mark turned to Illia. It was clear that she wanted to chase Mark and the others out.


    "Ah..."


    Mark realized. Illia was a subus. Even though she could supplement her energy with food, she still needed to absorb a man''s vitality. And ever since Chimetrice woke up, Illia did not look for other men. Furthermore, Chimetrice''s vitality would not run out and even recover, unlike an ordinary human''s. Absorbing a man''s vitality could be done either by using a dream or doing the deed.


    And, of course, if it was Chimetrice, Illia preferred doing the deed.


    Since it was already the second day of their travel, Illia must be starting to get hungry. And that was why she was asking for some privacy.


    In the least, Illia had the conscience to not do it with children around.


    "Alright." Mark shrugged. "Let''s all go together. Only Illia and Chimetrice will stay here in [The Mini Cube] since they needed to operate it."


    Mark''s decision sure made everyone happy. But, of course, they would not leave without any nning.


    ***


    <strong>Day 200 - 7:23 AM - Slums Gate, Corregidor Military Settlement, Corregidor Ind, Province of Cavite</strong>


    It was the two-hundredth day since the apocalypse started. Well, to most people still alive, the number of days and dates did not matter anymore. While to some, the number of days indicated how long they survived, it was more about how long they had been suffering.


    Early in the morning, the people were already up. Getting more sleep was the least of their concern as they needed to find ways to get food into their stomach.


    As such, at this early time, the slums were already as noisy as a wet market.


    With a poption of a few thousand, it was not surprising that it was packed with people.


    The ce might be noisy, but there was no doubt that the atmosphere was not as lively as a wet market. Most people had a gloomy look. A whole lot of them looked malnourished. Surely, there was not enough food to enter everyone''s stomach.


    The worst part of the slums, security wasx.


    The military soldiers were watching above the walls of the fortress city. However, they were not inclined to monitor the slums that much. It was not like every soldier did not want to help the people of the slums. However, without orders given to them, they could not move on their own.


    As such, because of thecking security, the slums were managed by several gangs. They divided the slums into different gang territories, enforcing their own rules among the popce.


    And the poor refugees could not do anything.


    The only thing that kept these people of the slums going was the possibility to enter the gates of the actual settlement.


    Not everyone could enter the gates. The only way into the gate was to either be an [Evolver] or [Mutator] or to buy your entrance to the gates. Bing [Evolvers] or [Mutators] could be a deadly gamble. It was the same for buying their entrance.


    Furthermore, the payment through the gates was not food or water. Not supplies either. It was [Mutagen Stones]. The stone that was rarely found in the heads of the [Infected]. Each person needed a thousand of that mysterious stone to gain entry. It was a hard thing for regr people.


    But some people were not giving up. Being inside the walls was far safer than the slums.


    The slums themselves were also surrounded by their own walls. Unlike the main settlement area, the walls it had were nothing but a bunch of scrap pieces together. These walls were not even provided by the military. It was built by the dwellers of the slums just to give them a bit more sense of safety.


    Of course, these walls meant nothing much during attacks. Whether it was the [Infected] or the robots that appeared, they could easily tear down these flimsy walls.


    It was one of the reasons the slums were allowed to exist. It was because they could cause dy against the attackers before they could reach the walls of the settlement.


    In fact, many people from the slums died because of such attacks.


    Even so, the people of the slums were staying. It was not like they had other ces to go.


    VROOOM! VROOOM!


    At this time, the sound of a vehicle could be heard. It was one of the signs of the few times the gate of the settlement would open.


    Many people in the slums gathered to watch. These sounds meant that either a squad of soldiers or a group of scavengers would go out.


    It was the daily routine of the people to see who would go out of the gates of the settlement. Most of the time, it would be the scavengers. At those times, some of the people would be able to beg for food or anything of value upon their return.


    There were also times when the scavengers would hire people from the slums as either baggage carriers or baits during hunting. Sure, it was dangerous. But they had no choice if they wanted to continue living.


    As time passed, the number of people in the slums was slowly decreasing. Death was already a regr urrence to them.


    How long had it been since new people arrived here? Probably there were no other people still alive outside.


    That was their thoughts until today.


    All of a sudden, the rumor spread out fast. Because of theck of entertainment, most people entertain themselves using hearsays.


    It seemed that a group of survivors arrived at this ce, managing to traverse the dangerous new Earth. Having new arrivals to this hell hole, of course, the people were interested in the rumors. And more than anything else, the group in question consisted mainly of females.

 Chapter 802 Entry Into The Slums, Setting Up The Place And Plans To Proceed

    <strong>Day 200 - 8:11 AM - Slums, Corregidor Military Settlement, Corregidor Ind, Province of Cavite</strong>


    "Here is the ce."


    A man with ragged clothes said, leading a group of survivors in front of a dpidated structure.


    The man leading the group opened the door only made of torn tarpaulin and peeked inside.


    That peek was more than enough to assess the ce. The ce was not big at all, and it only had one room. It was only enough for the whole group to sleep side by side on the floor. Yes, only sleep. Saying that it was not big was wrong. The ce was freaking small.


    Moreover, the entire structure was made of scrap metal sheets and moldy plywood. The walls and roofs were haphazardly built that there were holes here and there. Not to mention the materials were scrap, obviously having holes and broken parts here and there.


    The worst of all. A part of the back was destroyed, from the wall to the roof. That broken hole made everything exposed outside.


    But it was not like there was any other choice. All the structures in the slums were literally built the same. Many people did not even have a ce to live and were clearly camping outside, sleeping on cardboard and scrap wood as bedding.


    "Alright. This will do." The leader said to their guide. "By the way, I have a question."


    "Just ask."


    The guide in ragged clothes eagerly replied.


    "There are many people who live outside." The leader said, looking at the sleeping spots not far away. "Why didn''t anyone move in here?"


    It was a reasonable question. Why was this empty when there were a lot of homeless people in the slums?


    "That''s..." The guide bitterly smiled, closing into the leader''s ear, and whispered. "It''s because of the gang running this area. They collect protection fees once a week, and they ask more from those living in shelters. Many people can''t afford the protection fee, and they decided that it''s better to live homeless instead."


    "A gang, huh."


    The leader murmured.


    "Yes. It''s called White Snake Gang. They run the northern areas of the slums near the gate." The guide continued. "Actually, the rules here are better than the other three sides. That is why there were more homeless people here than in the territories run by other gangs. Here was more dangerous, though."


    "I see. Alright, here."


    The leader sneakily handed the guide a single can of sardines for his work.


    As he saw the payment, the guide immediately grabbed it and hid it inside his ragged clothes. It was just a single can, not even a big one. That single can, however, was more than enough for the guide''s eyes to twinkle and his mouth to salivate.


    "Thank you, Boss! If you need anything else, just call me. I live by the gates, and the guards know me."


    And with his work done, the guide cautiously looked around and scurried off. It was as if he was afraid that the can of sardines would be stolen from him.


    "What a strange person."


    The petite woman in the group murmured as she watched their guide run away.


    "Strange? I guess not." The leader said. "Just desperate."


    "Gege, let''s enter already." The woman in the group wearing a hooded jacket and facemask urged their leader. "It feels like we are an attraction in a zoo."


    That was the right feeling as they stood outside the house. Although they were not doing it tantly, the attention of the people in the surroundings was on them. They were curious and cautious about the unfamiliar people that moved into their ce.


    "Alright, let''s head inside."


    The leader said, letting everyone else in their group enter first. After everyone was already inside, the leader looked around first. It caused the onlookers to look away. Then the leader followed the others into the structure.


    The ce was empty. There sure was nothing inside, not even a single chair. All it had was dust and the debris from the broken wall and roof.


    The leader secured the torn tarpaulin door. He then began removing his hood and mask.


    Of course, it was no other than Mark.


    Everyone else followed suit, removing the jackets and masks they were wearing. Everyone was wearing different clothespared to their usual clothing. There was no armor at this moment. Only thick jacket and facemasks to cover their mouths. They even deliberately wore dirty and torn clothes outside.


    To most people, they looked like regr survivors that worked hard to get here.


    "This is ufortable..."


    Sperained as she lessened her clothes. She was not a fighter type and preferred light clothing. It was not like she hated wearingyers of clothes, but her petite body could not handle it.


    "Won''t anyone see us removing these?"


    Feng Zhiruo said while removing her one outeryer of clothes. She was cautiously looking around, specifically, the gaps on the walls.


    "It''s fine," Mark said as he helped Abbygale remove her jacket. "The people outside might be curious, but they are warier of strangers. Besides, we only wore disguises to make sure no one would bother us."


    "They would be more cautious of people whose faces are hidden, after all."


    Mark added.


    "Sounds like you speak from experience."


    Spera remarked, but Mark ignored the arrow hitting his back.


    "Anyway, I''m surprised we managed to get in without problems." Spera continued and stared at Mark. "How did you know that you can bribe the soldiers at the gates to avoid more questions? They even called that guy to guide us somewhere we could stay."


    Mark shrugged and remembered their entry to this ce moments ago.


    The main gates of the slums were guarded. There was a small military encampment right beside it. However, only two soldiers were posted at that time.


    They were definitely surprised to see new people still alive. Without a doubt, Mark''s group would be bombarded with questions.


    However, Mark sneakily put a packet of cigarettes on the hand of the soldier that was asking him questions, telling him that they were already tired from their journey. The soldier understood that Mark did not want to be questioned any longer and stopped the other soldier from asking more questions.


    Afterward, Mark exchanged a few sentences with the bribed soldier, and it led to the current situation.


    "Sometimes, you should observe the faces of the people in front of you," Mark replied to Spera. "Those guys were clearly not that happy with their current work. Who would want to guard the gates of the slums, after all? They were also the closest to danger. If they could lighten their work and receive a small benefit, they would dly do so."


    "Really?"


    Spera asked.


    "Yep, really," Mark replied. "But well, I also made sure that I''m right and read their emotions."<sub> </sub>


    "In the end, it''s because you''re an [Empath] that you seded."


    Spera yapped.


    "I can''t deny that." Mark shrugged. "I''m not an expert in reading faces either."


    "MMM! MMM!"


    A small noise could be heard.


    "A..."


    Mark bitterly voiced out as he let out Amihan from the bag he was carrying.


    "Master!"


    Amihan shouted in aining tone. She clearly heard Mark and the other talking since they already arrived at their destination, but she was still stuck inside the bag.


    "Sorry," Mark said, patting Amihan''s head with his finger. "Spera had a lot of questions I forgot to let you out."


    "Why did the me fall unto me!"


    Spera blurted out, pouting.


    While continuing their banter, they cleaned and prepared their current dwelling. No one had problems sharing the whole ce. Women usually would not want to share a room with men. When they spent the night in the ruins of Bay City, Spera and Feng Zhiruo stayed together in a separate tent. It was the same when they campedst night. Unfortunately, there was no choice this time.


    It was not like there was really an issue. The two girls knew that Mark was not interested in them at all and would not do something hical in their sleep. Even if he was a perverted monster and forced himself unto them, they would not be able to protect themselves because of the disparity in strength. It was all just for the sake offort and the fact that they did not want to bother Mark''s family during the night.


    "Gege, what are we going to do with this?"


    Mei asked Mark, pointing at the broken wall and roof.


    As said before, even if they were inside, Mark and the others were still exposed from outside because of the broken wall.


    Fortunately, that wall was actually right beside the wall of the slums. The distance between the walls was also tight. Thus, no one could pass by that direction unless they forced themselves through the small gap of the walls.


    "Hmmm."


    Mark tapped his chin. It was not only the destroyed wall and roof, but he was also observing the small gaps on the walls here and there.


    "Maybe we can use the tarpaulin from the tents we had," Mark suggested. "Wait, why not just build the tent inside? With the size of this ce, we can fix two tents, tightly side by side. We just need to fix it a bit."


    Although it would be a bit of work, everyone agreed with Mark''s suggestion. Aside from Mark, everyone here was girls. None of them would want people peeking into the house through the gaps on the walls.


    It took them until almost noon to fix up the ce. It was small, but the work that needed to be done was a lot.


    In any case, they managed to set up their base of operations in this ce.


    Why base of operations? It was because they would probably need a few days to achieve their goals here.


    As they ate their lunch of canned food, Mark was closing his eyes from time to time.


    "How is it?"


    Mei asked Mark after he opened his eyes.


    Mark shook his head as his initial reply.


    "I found some familiar fluctuations. I''m pretty sure they are people from Bay City. But I didn''t find any of the people we are close with yet."


    "They might be inside the walls," Mark added. "I can''t reach them, though, since we are still pretty far from the walls."


    What Mark said was true. The fortress city was prettyrge for a settlement, but the slums surrounding it were farrger. And since the house they were brought to was right next to the wall, they were literally just a step from outside. They were on the edge of the slums and the furthest ce from the fortress city.


    "What are your ns now?"


    ? Spera asked.


    "Well, for now, you all stay here and rest," Mark replied as he ate a spoonful of canned tuna. "I''m going to spend the rest of the day gathering information. It will be good if I can find people we are familiar with."


    Not everyone was happy with Mark''s n. After all, they would be staying put while Mark did all the work. However, they understood that they had no choice, at least for now. They were women, after all, and would be subjected to some unpleasant things in this ce with poor security.


    But then, Mark added.


    "But well, I might go outter and stay for a bit, though."


    "Hmm? Why?"


    Spera asked.


    "The guide earlier said that the slums are run by gangs asking for protection fees and stuff. I''m sure that our arrival reached them already, and they will pay us a visit immediately."


    Then Mark nced at his right hand. He was currently holding arge feather with a mark of a weighing scale, a bnce.


    "There is also another person, unexpectedly."


    Mark added as he stared at the feather.


    Those words made the rest confused. What did Mark mean? There was another person who woulde to visit them?


    Unexpectedly, their questions were answered not long after.


    Just while they were cleaning the things they used to eat, Mark suddenly spoke loudly.


    "Don''t just stand outside ande in already."


    And surely, someone entered.


    "As expected, you knew that I''m going to arrive."


    A voice of a mature woman was heard as the tarpaulin door opened.

 Chapter 803 Information Delivery, Val Floras Visit In The Dilapidated Shack

    <strong>Day 200 - 1:02 PM - Dpidated Shack, North Slums, Corregidor Military Settlement, Corregidor Ind, Province of Cavite</strong>


    Mark called out the person waiting outside toe in all of a sudden. The person in question entered, pushing the tarpaulin door slightly to the side.


    Even though Mark called the person toe inside, everyone else was on guard. But why?


    Inside this dpidated shack, everyone was not just a regr human. Mark, Mei, and the three little girls were [Blood Demons]. Amihan was a spirit of the wind, a [Sylph], while Feng Zhiruo was a cultivator. And although she might be the weakest, Spera was still an [Esper].


    Each of them had enhanced senses and would surely detect someone that was standing right outside their doorstep. Moreover, with how small the shack was, they were literally just a few steps near the door.


    Yet, none of them detected any presence of the person until the person spoke.


    The mature voice gave it away that it was a woman. However, what entered had an unexpected appearance.


    With a torn, dirty white dress and long hair covering her face, one would think that the woman came from a Japanese cursed tape. She was even barefooted toplete the package.


    "It looks like everyone is wary of me."


    The woman said, sensing the cautiousness of the members of Mark''s group.


    "All of you should rx," Mark spoke. "This woman is an information dealer, and I have a previous deal with her."


    "Information dealer? Then she''s... Vanessa?"


    Mei voiced.


    "Yep, that secretary of General Padi. But her name''s not really Vanessa."


    Mark affirmed.


    Mei stared at the woman. If she remembered correctly, this woman''s name was supposed to be Val Flora.


    Still, she could not help but notice theplete contrast between the Vanessa they met before and the Beggar standing in front of them now.


    Vanessa was a gorgeous woman and someone definitely garnering attention. The current Val Flora did not only look like someone who lost her mind but felt more like a pebble on the road that no one would pay attention to.


    "What''s with the get-up?"


    Mark asked frankly.


    "Please, pay no mind to my current appearance." Val Flora replied with a smile hidden under her hair. "People like me needed to blend in the surroundings while avoiding as much attention as possible. It was unless we needed to garner attention based on the job we had."


    It was a reasonable answer. After all, Mark''s group was currently in the slums. Beggars and even crazy-looking people were pretty muchmon here. But to still wear a disguise even if she could perfectly hide her presence, she was thorough in her line of work. This way, even if there were people who would manage to see her through, they would only think that she was nothing but a crazy beggar.


    "If there are no more questions, I suggest going back to business." Val Flora said to Mark. "I am also a busy person, considering I have yet to fulfill our contract."


    Those words from Val Flora were more than enough for Mark to understand what she was here for. While she was here to give Mark the information he wanted, it seemed that it was only a part of it.


    "Here it is."


    Val Flora said, pulling the neck of her loose clothing and pulling something from between her breasts. She then presented what seemed to be a ck-colored tube container to Mark.


    Sure enough, the women in Mark''s group looked strange as they gazed at the information dealer in front of them. Noticing those gazes, Val Flora spoke in a mischievous tone.


    "I apologize if you all felt ufortable by this. But in my current appearance, there was no ce as secure to hide such an important item."


    The reply would have been fine alone. However, Val Flora was clearly looking at the chests of the women in Mark''s group that were not as ample as hers.


    "I don''t think that teasing my members is part of our deal," Mark said as he took the tube container. "By the way, even though you said you are busy, do you have time for a side-job?"


    Val Flora looked at Mark. She was definitely kind of eager to work with a client that would pay for the service handsomely. However, she shook her head.


    "My apologies. I wish to work with you on another deal, but my current schedule is tight." Val Flora replied. "But I can guess that the work you wanted to give me is about this settlement. Is it not?"


    Val Flora sure was not an information dealer for nothing. She already analyzed the situation of Mark''s group and why they were in the slums. With the capabilities of Mark''s group, it would be easy to enter the walls of the settlement legitimately. However, as they were wary of the strange situation, they decided to hide first and gather information.


    "Unfortunately, I can''t really offer much information instantly as I only arrived here to meet you." Val Flora continued. "But I can at least say that this ce existed due to your government''s cooperation with our organization."


    That piece of information answered the biggest question. If a worldwide underground organization was involved, it might really be possible for this ce to exist. But another question popped up.


    How?


    <o>,m The CNC was not some cheap organization. It was an underground business organization and would surely want to profit from the current situation of Earth. To build this fortress with the help of the CNC would definitely cost an astronomical sum. Furthermore, it would not be money but valuable resources.</o>


    And as far as Mark knew, the Philippines was not a rich country to be able to afford it.


    So... How?


    "You must be confused as to how your country managed to pay the services of our organization." Val Flora said, seemingly reading Mark''s thoughts. "Unfortunately, even I had no idea. The transaction between our organization and your government was overseen by another group. We have our own rules for confidentiality, and those not involved in the transaction could not inquire about the information without paying a suitable price."


    "I see." Mark nodded. "But are you sure saying these things to us? Don''t tell me that you will ask for payment for this small piece of information?"


    "Please, do not worry. I won''t do something that distasteful, especially to an important client." Val Flora replied. "This information is free. To begin with, it is not valuable at all to people who knew the existence of our organization."


    That was true. To the people that knew of CNC, it would not be long for them to realize its involvement in this settlement. To those that never heard of the organization, they would need effort and might still not find the answer, making the information more valuable to those people.


    "In that case, I delivered the information I had for now." Val Flora dered. "The rest of the information would be delivered at a future date. Just please make sure to have the feather close at all times and never lose it."


    And without waiting for any inquiry or words, Val Flora turned around, facing the tarpaulin door.


    "I am going. Until next time." Val Flora began to step out of the shack but paused and gave ast nce at Mark. "One piece of advice before I go. Be cautious about the current leaders of your country."


    And with those words, Val Flora passed through the door. Once she did, her presence vanished once more. Only Mark was able to still find her, walking along the street towards the gates of the slums.


    "That woman, she''s like a ghost."


    Feng Zhiruo remarked, finally removing her hand from the hilt of her sword. Even though Mark told them to rx, she could not help but feel wary of the strange Val Flora.


    "You should really rx," Mark told Feng Zhiruo. "She might be suspicious, but as long as I''m her client, she''s our ally."<sub> </sub>


    "You have a point, but it''s also not wrong to be cautious."


    Spera said, siding with Feng Zhiruo.


    Mark just shrugged. Unlike him, who could read a person''s intention using their emotions, the others were relying on their instincts. And, without a doubt, Val Flora was a dangerous person. That was why these girls were against lowering their guards.


    In any case, it was now time to open the tube container. Mark wanted to see what information Val Flora brought to him.


    "Papa, let me see too."


    I approached, interested in it. Her interest was understandable. She had Keeper''s memories, and she surely wanted to know the location of the other [Inheritors].


    "Okay,e here."


    Mark said, taking a seat on a mat on the ground. I sat down beside him as he opened the tube container.


    Opening the tube container, it contained a strip of paper about half the size of an A4 paper. It was neatly folded, and strange enough, the curl and folds of the paper vanished as Mark unfolded it.


    It was not just a regr piece of paper.


    Mark and I frowned, however.


    "Is something wrong?"


    Mei asked, seeing the frown on the face of the two.


    "Mama, the paper is nk."


    I replied.


    Surely, that was strange. There was no way that Val Flora would deliver a nk piece of paper.


    However, it was not exactly nk. On the center of the paper was a watermark, showing the symbol of Crystallus Notitia Coetus.


    "Wait."


    Mark realized something as he took out the feather that Val Flora gave him. He then put the feather onto the paper. Unexpectedly, the symbols on both the feather and the paper glowed for a bit. Once Mark removed the feather, the symbol on the paper was gone. Instead, there were letters written on it.


    "Well, isn''t that amazing..." Mark voiced out. "They sure are strict, making sure that only the client would be able to read it."


    It was a foolproof transaction. Even if the information was somehow lost or stolen, no one would be able to read it. It was a good feeling, knowing that the information you paid for would not be leaked to others easily.


    "I just wished she exined it."


    Mark sighed.


    "She probably thought that Gege would figure it out easily."


    Mei said.


    "But how did you figure it out?"


    Spera asked.


    "The aura of the feather and the symbol on the paper is the same. It''s Val Flora''s aura. So I thought that it was some sort of lock, and the feather is the key."


    Mark replied before proceeding to read the information on the paper.


    "Hmmm..." Mark seemed to be thinking deeply. "Four people, huh... One of them is someone you know, Spera."


    "Shin, right?"


    Spera asked.


    "Yeah." Mark nodded. "One in China, two in Japan, and one in Indonesia. Looks like we will be going overseas again soon. I don''t know why they seemed to be concentrated here in Asia, though."


    "The piece ofary debris that carried the crystal exploded near this country," I said. "Because of that, the spread of the crystals started here in Asia."


    I''s exnation had a point. And since Keeper was the creator of the [PsyCrystal], her words had more validity in them.


    "Well, let''s deal with the trouble in this country and go abroad as quickly as possible."


    Mark decided. He still had a lot to do, after all.


    But before everything, Mark turned to Mei.


    "What are you doing with that?"


    Mark asked as Mei took the tube container away.


    "I''m going to dispose of it."


    Mei replied.


    "You don''t really have to," Mark said, scratching his head. "We can still use that for something."


    Then Mark added with a sigh.


    "You don''t have to act like that. It''s not like I''m going to sniff and lick that or something. And if I''m going to sniff or lick something, I won''t do it on a metal container, when I have someone."


    Mark just said that without thinking too much about it. However, Mei was frozen stiff, with her face red as a tomato.


    "If you two are going to flirt, go get a room."


    Sperained, ncing at Feng Zhiruo whose face was also red.


    Unlike Spera, their cultivatorpanion was still not used to Mark and Mei''s shenanigans from time to time.

 Chapter 804 Waiting Within The Shack, Feng Zhiruos Cultivation And The Protection Fee Collectors

    <strong>Day 200 - 4:21 PM - Dpidated Shack, Northern Slums, Corregidor Military Settlement, Ind of Corregidor, Province of Cavite</strong>


    After Val Flora''s visit, everyone stayed inside the shack, including Mark. They took the opportunity to rest and do some things, like cleaning their weapons. Unfortunately for Feng Zhiruo, while cultivating her inner energy was how she spent her time, it was impossible to do so currently. Cultivation needed deep concentration. Although Mark and the others would likely allow her to do so, the noise from outside would not.


    In this case, Feng Zhiruo could only meditate lightly. She was pondering about her techniques and how to improve them.


    Feng Zhiruo sure was a hardworking [Cultivator]. However,pared to the group of [Cultivators] she was with when she met Mark and Mei, she was severelycking. In talent, that was.


    Fortunately, while their first encounter was awful, meeting Mark and Mei became the best opportunity for Feng Zhiruo''s life.


    The aura emitted by Chiyo, the Night Everred Pure Spirit Tree, was highly beneficial for Feng Zhiruo''s cultivation. And now, although it was just in terms of inner strength, Feng Zhiruo was already strongerpared to her elder disciples that Mark killed.


    That leap of cultivation was unexpected since with her talent, measured in her sect, she would need at least ten more years to reach the level she was currently in, probably, more. That was how hard cultivation was in the magicless mortal world.


    Although now that the magical energy on Earth was restored, regr cultivation became a bit faster. Nheless, it could not bepared to the cultivation speed that Feng Zhiruo had while inside Mark''s base.


    Without a doubt, one of the things that boosted Feng Zhiruo''s cultivation was not just Chiyo''s aura. The environment in the Mountain Base also helped a whole lot.


    Back in her sect. The poor talent that Feng Zhiruo had shoved her to be an errand girl for those better than her. She came timider and timider and was pushed around without being able to retaliate. She even belonged to the lower caste of disciples tasked to do menial things around the sect.


    In the Mountain Base, the treatment of people towards Feng Zhiruo was far better, even if she was nothing but a prisoner that Mark brought back. The nice environment and interaction with people led her to a better outlook both in mind and body. It was a kind of mindset that was needed for her to be able to cultivate faster.


    And now, here she was, tagging along with Mark and Mei to gain experience outside the new world with her current cultivation.


    The [First Step of Human Transcendence].


    In Feng Zhiruo''s sect, the Gutianjiangong or Ancient Sky Sword Pce, there were four levels of cultivation. Each level had two divisions, while each division had was divided further into five steps.


    First was [Human Level], divided into [Human Transcension] and [Human Transcendence].


    Next was [Dietyhood], divided into [Deity Transcension] and [Deity Transcendence].


    The third was [Godhood], which was divided into [Godly Transcension] and [Godly Transcendence].


    Lastly was [Immortality], being divided into [Immortal Transcension] and [Immortal Transcendence].


    Each level was divided into two, indicating the process of transcending and having transcended that level.


    In Feng Zhiruo''s case, she was now at a level that transcended the limits of humans. Back when she met Mark and Mei, she was only at the [Second Step of Human Transcension]. Yes, she was stronger than regr humans at that time, but she was still within the limits of what regr humans could achieve. Her level rose by three after she was captured by Mark.


    And at the age of 21, Feng Zhiruo, having reached the [First Step of Human Transcendence], could be regarded as one of the best talents in her sect.


    "Don''t forcefully try to cultivate." All of a sudden, Mark''s voice entered Feng Zhiruo''s ears, forcing her to open her eyes. "If you managed to enter Deep Cultivation and got disturbed by the noise, you''ll receive a bacsh."


    "I know." Feng Zhiruo respectively nodded and replied. "I''m just pondering my techniques."


    "In that case, it''s fine."


    Mark said, turning around and going back to his work.


    At this point, Feng Zhiruo could not help but stare at Mark''s back. This man in front of her sure was a mysterious person with a lot of secrets. It was not the first time that Mark gave Feng Zhiruo some pointers and guidance. It was not only on her cultivation but also her sword techniques. In fact, he greatly helped her in reaching her current level.


    The strangest thing that Feng Zhiruo could not fathom was how Mark was able to teach her. No, not only her but also Mei. Both Feng Zhiruo''s cultivation and sword techniques were exclusive to her sect. Yet, Mark showed deep knowledge of it for some reason unknown.


    But did that really matter? At first, yes. Feng Zhiruo mulled over this for quite a while. Then, after some time, she stopped thinking. What mattered was that she was receiving pointers from Mark from time to time. In fact, she learned more from Mark than the elder that taught her in the past. And yes, it was that elder that Mark killed.


    Mark was more or less her Master now. However, she could not call him that, as a Master and Disciple rtionship should be mutual. There was no need to mention that Mark was not a part of her sect.


    With those thoughts in mind, Feng Zhiruo closed her eyes, going back to pondering over her sword techniques.


    Mark nced at Feng Zhiruo, knowing that her inquisitive gaze was gone. He knew that she had a lot of questions, but he was not inclined to answer. After all, there was no way he would tell others that he could absorb the minds and souls of those who tried to take over his body, taking over their memories and some of their abilities.


    Of course, with that elder''s case, Mark was also kind of bummed over it. The elder had quite a cultivation at the [First Step of Deity Trancension]. But all those cultivation and techniques were unusable by Mark for some reason. More because his body had [Miasma], disabling him to gather and use his inner energy.


    As an Otaku, Mark was also a fan of Chinese Manhua and Novels, both Wuxia and Xianxia. Now that he knew those things actually existed, it would be a lie if he said he did not want to learn it. Now, he had knowledge of it but was unable to use it. It was quite a disappointment for him, who did not really feel much emotions.


    Mark sighed as he continued cleaning his weapon set. It might not be long before he used these once more. After all, the ce they were currently in was not a peaceful one.


    "Hmm?"<sub> </sub>


    Soon enough, Mark noticed something and turned to the others.


    "Stay inside."


    Mark said as he stood up, wore his facemask and jacket, and went out.


    Just as he walked out, a group of people wasing from the west direction. They were walking on the path between the shelters and camps.


    It was clear that they were heading towards the direction of the dpidated shack that Mark''s group was staying.


    Mark stood to the side of the door, leaning his back on the frame of the nonexistent door.


    The iing group saw Mark go out and became confused. Mark did not hide that he was looking at the group. It meant that he knew they wereing and was waiting. Surely, this situation was confusing for them.


    Soon, the group arrived in front of Mark. There were seven of them wearing clothes different from the rags that most of the people in the slums wore. They were also armed with weapons, ranging from knives to pistols. One even had an assault rifle on his hands, while another had a machete. Both the assault rifle and the machete were military grades to boot.


    A rather bulky man, supposedly the leader of the group and the one with the machete, stepped forward.


    "Are you the leader of the group that arrived this morning?"


    The man asked Mark.


    Without a doubt, the news of Mark''s group arriving this morning spread out. They might have worn disguises, but a small group of people surviving the new Earth and arriving in this ce was more than enough to cause gossip.


    And by the looks of the people in front of Mark, they were definitely the members of the gang controlling the northern slums and the very same people collecting the so-called protection fees in this area.


    "I am," Mark replied, not moving an inch from his position. "Are you the members of that White Snake Gang?"


    It was not odd that these neers knew of their gang. Any person nearby knew about it. Nheless, Mark''sck of fear and disrespect towards the group sure made them frown. Only the leader of the group did not show any reaction and instead was looking at Mark as if he was measuring him.


    "If you know who we are, then there is no need to exin." The leader spoke. "Then, should also know that we are here to collect the fees. But since you people are new here, we can give an extension and collect it another day."


    It was quite unexpected, but these gang members were behaving reasonably. Usually, when one said that it was a gang, they would do anything just to force the person to pay on the spot. It made Mark remember thatpared to the other gangs ruling the slums, these people were the ones asking the lowest fees. Not only that, but they were not forcing the homeless to pay.


    "Before everything, I want to ask something." Mark stared at the leader and replied. "What is this fee for? Are you people really protecting the people here, or is it just some sort of extortion?"


    Mark was quite frank with his question. It would not be surprising if it ended in a fight. The people around watching started to hide, fearing that it would happen. And to say, it was what Mark wanted. If it was just protection fees, Mark did not need to pay for it. They could protect themselves without anyone''s help.


    If a fight started and Mark beat them singlehandedly, it would be proof that Mark''s group did not need any protection. Of course, it could end up bing worse with the other members of the gang attacking Mark''s group as reinforcements. Nheless, Mark was not afraid.


    Unexpectedly, the members of the gang group did not make any moves. Instead, they nced at their leader, waiting for orders.


    The leader did not say anything for a few moments and just stared at Mark. Mark did the same.


    Knowing that Mark would not budge and was waiting for the answer without a shred of fear, the leader took a step back. The leader of this group did not want to start a fight against Mark''s group at all. Knowing that they survived the new Earth, along with its dangers with just a small group, there was a huge chance that they were [Mutators].


    The gang had its own [Mutators], and the leader of this group was one. However, a fight between [Mutators] could end up terribly for both parties involved.


    Besides, this group was here to say a reminder. Not to fight.


    After a long silence and staredown, the leader of the group spoke.


    "Men, let''s go."


    The leader then turned around, with his men following and ncing at Mark.


    Then, as the group began to leave, the leader left a few more words.


    "It''s useless to answer using words. Tonight, go at the gates and see for yourself."


    Mark watched the group leave, looking a bit disappointed. He knew that two of the members of the group were [Mutators]. The rest were [Evolvers]. The seven of them sure were a group of strong peoplepared to the regr people around here. Mark wanted to know the ability of that bulky man.


    Of course, Mark had no ns to kill the guy. In fact, Mark''s question, while frank, was not with dislike or anything. He really wanted to know what the fee was for.


    After all, there was no way that a [Mutator], with a subconscious trait of righteousness, would join or lead a merciless gang.

 Chapter 840 A Good Life, The Fourth Year And Beyond

    <strong>D¨ƒy -¨ƒ¨ƒ¨ƒ¨ƒ - ¨ƒ¨ƒ:¨ƒ¨ƒ ¨ƒ¨ƒ - C¨ƒ¨ƒit¨ƒ St¨ƒ¨ƒe Un¨ƒve¨ƒs¨ƒty, B¨ƒr¨ƒ¨ƒga¨ƒ Q¨ƒe¨ƒns Ro¨ƒ Ar¨ƒ¨ƒ A, Ba¨ƒ¨ƒo¨ƒ Ci¨ƒy, Pro¨ƒin¨ƒe of ¨ƒav¨ƒte</strong>


    After the title defense, the main event of Mark''s third year in college, the lives of the students returned to normal. Of course, it was only the case if the stress the students had because of their thesis was not mentioned.


    Their thesis, after all, was the most important requirement for these students to graduate.


    And to say, it would not be an easy task.


    It was already fortunate that Mark managed to chase away that guest panel. If not, things might have gotten worse.


    The best thing, however... Since Mark''s thesis proposal was approved, everyone in the group was interested in working on it. After all, the three proposals that Mark''s group had were things the group discussed and agreed on before passing the documents.


    It was also a bad thing for Mark, however. Mark''s family did not have aputer at home. In fact, everything that Mark had to do in school was all made inside inte cafes. Worst, Mark had to use his own allowance, neglecting his lunch and only consuming water for the most part. Every single day, Mark was only eating twice a day, with his breakfast being nothing but a cup of instant coffee and a few pieces of pandesal, which was the only food intake he had for the day until dinner.


    In a sense, it was amazing that Mark could go on with that kind of lifestyle.


    Now that they had their thesis, Mark had to spend more time in front of aputer. However, there was no way to do that without spending too much money.


    And among Mark''s group, the only one with theputer that could run the game engine properly was Carren. And she was also the person with the furthest house out of the four.


    Mark had no money to supportmuting to Carren''s house. Although the four of them gathered money, that money was all going towards the thesis and would probably still be short of how much they needed in the end. As such, during weekends and their free days, Mark would walk several kilometers towards Carren''s house, to and fro.


    No matter who was asked, they would definitely say that Mark''s lifestyle was worrying. Unfortunately, it seemed his family did not even know a tiny bit of his circumstances.


    Mark sure was doing better. However, he did not change that much. He was still someone that would rather stay away from people, including his family.


    The only thing that the others could see was how Mark sure was happy doing this thesis. Unlike the others, who were struggling, Mark''s group was still smooth-sailing inparison. It was because they were working on something they liked, and not just somest-minute, final resort thesis.


    Time passed further. Mark entered his fourth year as a college student.


    Unfortunately, the four-man group they had for their thesis was reduced to three. Saime, their close friend and fourth member, dropped out of school. She hooked up with a man and got pregnant. Because of the circumstances, Saime''s parents decided to stop supporting her studies.


    Even so, Mark''s group would still hang out at Saime''s house. It was just a couple of blocks away from school, after all.


    Aside from the three, their circle actually had gotten bigger. Gathering the participants of the cosy event during the Acquaintance Party, a group in school was created. It was amazing that it was a circle of the most popr people in the school, even though it was actually nothing but a gathering of like-minded people.


    It was actually proposed to be an actual club in the school. Unfortunately, the management would be left to the younger members since Mark''s group of three, the oldest of the group, had their thesis and graduation to worry about.


    At the end of the first semester of the fourth year, the game Mark worked on reached a releasable degree. It was not a full game. After all, there was no way they would be able to do as such in just a few months.


    Instead, Mark divided the entire story he had in mind into several episodes, with the thesis scoping the first and second episodes of the game.


    As a first step, Mark uploaded a short trailer on social media. Of course, they did not expect much from it.


    A month after the trailer was posted, Mark released the game on a certain tform for free.


    The game did not garner much attention after being released. It was not a surprising thing. It was a game released without much publicity, not to mention it was made by students.


    Still, Mark''s life as a student continued. They also had to work on the documentation and other parts of the thesis. It was already good that the downloads reached a few hundred. And since it was stated at the start of the game that it was a thesis project and there would be a survey at the end of the game, many people dlyplied and left a review on the game on the tform. Of course, not everyone was kind enough to do so. Nheless, the turnout was quite rather good.


    The reviewing of gathered surveys and reviews of the game was divided by Mark, Carren, and Markron. And the reviews turned out to be mostly positive.


    Mark really felt relieved. Who would not be? After all, what if the yers did not like it? It was his first game.


    But then, after three weeks of being released...


    Mark''s email became overflowing with reviews. It was to the point that there were a few hundred to more than a thousand reviews in a single day.


    And at school, the news came from Carren. A popr inte icon yed the game they made and was watched by thousands of people. And the result was the current events. It was to the point that even the instructors of the school learned about it.


    The thesis of Mark''s group was a sess. With this, as long as they did the documentation properly and seeded in the final thesis defense, their graduation was set in stone.


    Of course, Mark could only shrug when the reviews of the game were mostly asking for the next episode. Darn, as if that would be easy.


    ***


    The end of Mark''s college years arrived.


    A graduation ceremony in a certain expensive resort.


    Mark graduated with a few special awards. Unfortunately, he was unable to step onto the stage as a Cum Laude and above. After all, Mark had a rather bad record during his first year and half of the second year.


    Even so, he had the loudest ps when he received his diploma, even louder than those who received higher honors and awards than his.


    It was such an honor.


    Mark graduated. His parents gave him a smartphone as a congrattory gift. It was just a cheap onepared to what his ssmates had. But it was a phone, nheless.


    At this time, Mark''s family had already left the privatend they were taking care of. Thend was finally bought and was up for development. As for his family, they were given half a million pesos as an incentive. After all, it was more than a decade since my father received hisst sry as thend''s caretaker. And because of that, they had some rights over thend. The new owner needed to pay them to leave.


    With that money, they managed to find a new ce to call home. They even managed to afford aputer of their own.


    Thatputer became Mark''s workstation as he worked on the continuation of the game he started.


    Mark just graduated, and he already had a distinct path to follow. He also kept a close connection with his friends, especially Elsa and Charmaine, who he treated as his own younger sisters. Perhaps, even more than his actual sister.<sub> </sub>


    Rough events happened within the group of Elsa and Charmaine. The two even left the group in the end. Nheless, Mark did not leave their side.


    ***


    Years passed.


    Mark was now well known in the game industry as an indie game developer. He even managed to afford to rent his own office. Elsa and Charmaine became his assistants and even voice actors for the games he made. From time to time, Carren, Markron, and Carlo would visit the three and join the fray.


    Along the way, Mark also epted some animation vocational courses after a government-funded vocational school opened nearby. Mark had new friends, and some became contributors to his mini-game studio.


    ***


    From time to time, Mark was receiving emails from foreign gamepanies. Some were trying to recruit him, while others wanted to hire his studio to develop games.


    However, Mark declined the offers. He had his own ns for his business.


    ***


    Sometimes, Mark would go to conventions with his friends.


    There was even one time that Mark was invited to be a guest in a video game convention. It was not surprising. At the current time, his studio was the most sessful video game developer in the country among the independent studios.


    Mark was sessful. It was something that no one would be able to deny. The games he directed and developed gained a rather hefty amount of fame internationally.


    In fact, his sess was the word of his alma mater even after several years. He was also invited several times as a seminar speaker for the new students.


    Mark, who had already ovee his introverted personality, was having a good life.


    And he was still young.


    ***


    After graduating and being self-employed, there were very few events to take note of Mark''s life. Well, there were some weird things, however.


    Once, he met a little girl, which called him Papa, for no reason. It caused the girls'' parents to feel flustered.


    When Mark managed to save money and tried to buy a car, he could not help but stare at the wife of the owner of the store. It was an awkward encounter.


    There was also one night when he was walking home. He stared at the sky for no reason, as if he was waiting for something, but nothing happened.


    ***


    A few more years passed. Mark''s studio had gotten bigger. He reached the point where he did not have to do anything and leave the things to his employees.


    And here, Mark started a new but unexpected business. It was creating and selling cosy props. After all, creating things was one of the things Mark loved the most.


    Using his savings from his first business, Mark managed to invest in better tools and equipment for the second one.


    First was the video game industry. Next was the Otaku industry.


    Who would have thought that the famous Mark would go and sell handmade props despite his current status?


    ***


    One day, Mark was on his way home after meeting with one of his clients. He was runningte and had passed thest ride he was supposed to ride on to get home. He had no choice but to walk home, taking a shortcut.


    On the way, he passed by a construction site on a road that was pretty much devoid of people.


    It was when Mark noticed a strange event. A van suspiciously stopped in front of the site.


    Mark could not help but feel that it was something that he should not see. Things became worse when he saw the mene out of the van. They were all armed with guns and were carrying an unconscious girl.


    As Mark was not a hero, he tried to avoid a confrontation. Slowly and sneakily, Mark tried to leave, walking around the site. After leaving the area, only would he try to contact the police.


    Unfortunately, it was toote.


    A lookout on the construction site saw Mark before he could leave.


    By the time that Mark knew, sounds of gunshots entered his ears. Pain enveloped his body as he fell on the grass-covered soil.


    Mark stared at the night sky as his sight grew dimmer than the darkness of the night.


    "It was a good life."


    Mark muttered with a smile.


    As Mark closed his eyes, his body began to feel cold.


    And it was when he uttered the words.


    "This is the end, right?"


    The dead Mark spoke, opening his eyes once more to see a ck-dressed woman standing beside his dead body.

 Chapter 806 Charity, What The Husto Wanted Mark To See

    <strong>Day 200 - 6:59 PM - Main Street, Northern Slums, Corregidor Military Settlement, Ind of Corregidor, Province of Cavite</strong>


    Without stepping out of the dark alley, Mark observed the scene in front of him.


    As the location was just a branching path from the main street, it would not be surprising that it had a lot of people.


    However, it was different from the main street where the people were returning from outside. The reason was, instead of adults, there were more children in this ce.


    Yes, children. Since the emotional fluctuations of children were weakerpared to adults, Mark would find it hard to count the number. Still, there would be around a hundred, probably more.


    At first nce, one would think that it was where children, most likely orphans, were staying. But that was not the case here. Most of the children stood in line, while those who were not were sitting anywhere they could.


    Those that sat down were voraciously consuming the thing on their hands.


    It was servings of watered-down soup, using coconut shells as bowls and a chip of the coconut shell as spoons.


    The food might not sound appetizing, but these children did not care. They were hungry and were very likely thankful for the food.


    "So, this is what that guy wanted me to see."


    Mark murmured as he stared at the small shack where the watered-down soup was being served.


    The shack was built like a fast food stall, with arge window and a counter. It was clear that this structure was created for the purpose of serving food, and very likely, for these children.


    And who were the ones behind it?


    Looking at the armed people around the shack, it was not hard to know who.


    The White Snake Gang.


    Even the bulky man and some of the members of the gang Mark met earlier were present to guard the location.


    Who would have thought that an armed group whobeled themselves a gang was doing such charity work?


    No wonder now why a [Mutator] with a righteous subconscious was among the gang members.


    Furthermore, by the looks of it, the gang was not only serving orphans. It did not matter whether they still had parents or not. As long as they were children, they were free to line up for a bowl. Mark could even see parents, who were clearly emaciated, waiting for their children. Of course, not to snatch their share, but let the children have their fill. There were also children who shared their food with their parents. But it seemed that the children were strictly required to eat half of their bowl before they could share and were strictly watched by the gang members.


    Now that Mark saw this, he remembered the guide they had earlier. While the man lowered his voice when mentioning the gang, he did not show much fear about their existence.


    It meant that this so-called White Snake Gang was not an armed group known for threatening the people in their territory. Still, they seemed strict to their rules, and no one was trying to take advantage of the children to get a meal for themselves.


    Mark did not expect to see such a warming sight today, especially when everything was going downhill. In any case, Mark understood why that bulky man told him toe here instead of answering his question. No one would believe the answer even if they told the truth.


    Well, Mark would have believed them, though.


    While watching, Mark noticed someone. It was the guide this morning. It seemed that he was not alone and brought a child along. Mark saw the guide urging the child to line up before going to the side of the street and to wait.


    The man that guided Mark''s group stood at the side, watching the child he brought with a helpless smile. That was when someone stood beside him, making him nce at the person cautiously. And he was surprised.


    "B-Boss!"


    The guide eximed at the familiar man that he met this morning. He sure was respectful, considering that this man gave him a precious can of food just for the meager task of guiding them.


    Mark stepped out of the alley and approached the man. There was no need to hide this time. There were a lot of people in the area. Walking in the open would not gather much attention at all. Furthermore, standing in a dark alley would be more suspicious if someone was to find him somehow.


    Besides, when gathering information, there were times that it was better to ask people than just to observe the surroundings.


    "Your child?"


    Mark asked the guide as an opening remark. This way, the awkwardness of the guide would lessen due to Mark''s sudden appearance here.


    Unexpectedly, the guide shook his head with a bitter smile and pitiful eyes.


    "That''s my niece, Boss." The man replied. "My younger sister''s child."


    "I guess I don''t have to ask where her parents are now," Mark said, knowing the man''s emotions inside. He then switched the topic. "Have they been doing this all along?"


    The man was confused at first. But when he saw Mark looking at the armed men, he understood the question.


    "Not exactly." The man answered Mark''s question. "The White Snake Gang only took over this area after the survivors from Bay City Settlement arrived. The previous gang in charge of this area was just the same as others. It''s good that they disbanded after the earthquake since most of their members died."


    "Are they from Bay City?"


    Mark asked another question.


    "I don''t know if all of them came from Bay City." The man answered once more. "Many settlements converged here after the world changed and when that invisible barrier vanished. What only know is the leaders of the gang came from Bay City and had rtions with General Perez."


    This was not unexpected. For a gang to continue operating here, they must have some connection inside or with the military. In fact, if one was to see the situation objectively, the government allowed these gangs to exist in order to minimize their resource expenditure in managing the survivors in the slums.


    Since the slums were handled by the gangs, there was no need to continuously send soldiers to control the masses. After all, if the people of the slums acted up and forced themselves into the fortress city, even the government would have a hard time subduing them.


    But if the White Snake Gang was doing some charity work, it would not be surprising that they had General Perez behind them.


    The question now was who were the leaders of the White Snake Gang.


    "Hah! They''re doing this sh*t again. What is the point of wasting food on these worthless twerps."


    A rather loud voice was heard while Mark and the man were talking.


    The voice was filled with ridicule and sure was heard by many people nearby. Those that heard the voice looked at who spoke, only to avert their gazes with fearful expressions.


    Mark did the same as the others and nced at the loud bastard. What he saw was a group of armed men. Since they were not wearing any covers on their faces, their mocking expressions were open for everyone to see. Nheless, none of those who heard wanted to reprimand that group.


    "They are members of the gang from the west slums, The Powder Gang." The man spoke to Mark, knowing that he had no idea who those bastards were. "They were a gang of drug addicts. If youe across them outside, it''s better to run. They are notorious for extortion. They won''t even hesitate to kill if they were offended."<sub> </sub>


    "People still live in their territory?"


    Mark asked.


    "Not as many as here, but there are. Most of them were those with addictions to drugs." The man replied. "No one knows who is backing them, but it seems that they were being supplied with illegal drugs from their backer."


    Mark nodded in understanding. With illegal drugs as bait, those with addiction would definitely be at their disposal. And looking at the current situation, the members of that gang sure were *ssholes.


    "Drac, this is not the ce for you addicts to voice your opinions." Another voice was heard. It was the bulky man that Mark spoke to earlier. "Go back to your waste of a drug den."


    The bulky man stepped forward, followed by some of the members of the White Snake Gang. However, the group of the man called Drac did not seem to be afraid.


    "What are you talking about, Husto? We are a democratic country." Drac sneered. "We are free to voice our opinions. And my opinion is you... and your group... are a bunch of idiots."


    Surely, there was friction happening at this moment. It was clear that the guy called Drac was provoking a fight.


    Because of the heated situation, the children lining up began to back away. Even the bystanders and those just passing by started to retreat.


    If a fight between the two groups suddenly happened here, it was the civilians who would suffer the most.


    Of course, the members of the White Snake Gang did not want that to happen. Although they were standing with a brave front, they were not doing anything to start the fight.


    Instead, the group led by the bulky man named Husto stared at Drac''s group without words.


    "What''s with those stares?" Drac smiled. "If you don''t like what I said,e at us!"


    At the side, Mark also retreated, following the man he was talking to. The man also pulled his niece away and hid somewhere safer.


    "What''s with the long staredown?" Mark voiced out nonchntly. "And that Drac guy, if he wanted to fight, why not attack first? Is he stupid?"


    "B-Boss! Lower your voice!" The man beside Mark fearfully warned him while hugging his niece. "There''s a tacit rule between the gangs to not get involved in fights inside the settlement. If they did, the people backing them and the military will get involved. In that case, the side that attacked first might get punished."


    "Not the one that provoked the fight?"


    Mark asked.


    "Apparently, no." The man replied. "They said that verbal provocations don''t really cause harm. That is why all they could do was provoke but not attack first."


    It was a stupid rule. That was what Mark had in mind after hearing that. Furthermore, the members of the Powder Gang were provoking the members of the White Snake Gang inside their territory. Yet, they could not do anything.


    "Hmmm?"


    But all of a sudden, Mark felt a familiar fluctuation. It was not only one, but two at that.


    The provocation was still ongoing. There were even soldiers in the area now. However, the soldiers did not seem to be taking action to stop the two groups but were just watching at the side as if they were watching a movie shoot. By the looks of it, it seemed that they knew that no fight would start and were just watching for the show.


    Still, as soldiers, watching idly at the side in this situation sure was a bastardly action.


    "What is going on here?"


    A woman''s voice was heard.


    Finally, the fluctuations Mark felt arrived. And to Mark''s surprise...


    "Boss!"


    Husto and his group retracted their stares at Draco''s group and greeted the woman that arrived.


    "Tsk." Draco clicked his tongue. "Let''s go."


    Without even saying anything to the people that arrived, Draco''s group left the ce. Of course, they did not leave without giving the woman a sticky look.


    Still, with the group of bastards leaving, the situation began to return to normal.


    "I''m leaving," Mark said to the man standing beside him. "By the way, what''s your name?"


    "It''s Liam, Boss."


    The man introduced himself.


    "Then, here''s something for answering my questions."


    Mark tossed something to Liam, making him catch it frantically.


    Liam almost missed catching it as the item was heavy and had to bend his body down to the ground. Then, Liam saw that it was actually arge can of tuna, making him nervous. He just answered a few questions anyone here could answer. He did not deserve such a luxury.


    "B-Boss! I can''t ept th-! Boss?"


    Liam was confused. The man in front of him was already gone.


    "Lillin, where''s the man with uncle just now?"


    Liam asked his nine-year-old niece. But to his confusion...


    "I don''t know."


    Lillin replied, hiding a few candies with her closed fists.


    Leaving the uncle and niece, Mark appeared in the sky once more. Now, he had a proper direction to take with his investigation as he watched the people below.


    And his next stop would be...


    The base of operations of the White Snake Gang.

 Chapter 807 Reunion With Friends, Meeting The Bosses Of The White Snake Gang

    <strong>Day 200 - 9:12 PM - Meeting Area, White Snake Gang Base, Northern Slums, Corregidor Military Settlement, Ind of Corregidor, Province of Cavite</strong>


    "Those drug addicts are getting worse and worse over time." An extremely annoyed voice of a young man echoed inside the room. "Are we really not going to make a move against them?"


    "Just calm down, will you?" A woman''s voice argued back. "Just going out there and blindly attacking them won''t do us any good."


    The handing-out of food for the children continued after the situation caused by the members of the Powder Gang led by Drac. However, everyone''s mood soured from then on. The moment that thest bowl of soup was handed out, those in position within the White Snake Gang returned to their base to conduct a meeting.


    But, of course, no matter what argument they had right now, there was no answer to find.


    "As always, it''s because of those politicians." Another voice, a man who was cleaning his gun, spoke. "The rule of who attacked first taking the me was clearly made for their advantage."


    It was a rather bothersome fact. This rule had been here ever since the gangs began ruling the slums and existed way before the White Snake Gang was founded. It was because even the gangs before were actually backed by high-standing people of the government. Those people behind the gangs did not want to entangle with one another in a bad way. Thus, they prevented their minions from causing them trouble.


    In the first ce, none of those politicians knew who backed the other gangs. They were just afraid that they would end up offending someone with a higher position or manpower and end up losing.


    The situation with the White Snake Gang was different, however. General Perez did not hide the fact that he was the one backing the newly established gang. It was to ensure that the people from Bay City would know that the White Snake Gang was different from the other existing gangs.


    It might be a gang, but it was just in name. It was actually a group of people supporting General Perez''s cause. A gathering of people that had yet to sumb to the inhumanity of the current world.


    In fact, it was not named White Snake Gang in the first ce. The current name was just given as a deterrent for those who would think that they were just a group of pushovers. After all, names did give the first impression.


    Unfortunately, that first impression was already beginning to fade. It was because of the other gangs, especially the Powder Gang, trying to push their limits.


    The harassment itself was not personal, however. The Powder Gang was being ordered to mess with the White Snake Gang for a specific reason.


    It was because they had General Perez behind them. The backers of the other gangs were unknown. It was only a circumstance that the White Snake Gang had. And since their backer was clear, they were being targeted by the General''s enemies.


    "When will Miguel contact us?"


    Husto asked the female boss of the gang.


    "Tomorrow, in the least." The woman replied. "General is also busy inside. He and his men are trying to track who is the backer of those drug addicts, after all. It might also be the reason why the harassment is intensifying."


    "Just what is Miguel doing..." Husto scratched his head. "He is putting us in a tight spot because he can''t find the source of the drugs."


    "Those that deal in the illegal drug business as are slippery as eels, after all."


    The man cleaning his gun chimed in.


    Dealing with the illegal drug business was just as criminal as it was before the apocalypse. Even more so since the politicians, holed up in fortress city, were still trying to implement the kind of government the country had in the past.


    But, of course, it was only within those tall walls.


    In fact, they did not care much about the things left outside. Even the movements of the military were restricted because of them. They wanted the military to only protect their hides.


    "So, we are just going to wait?" The young man asked. "Those guys from the Powder Gang are already getting into everyone''s nerves."


    "As I said before, there''s nothing else we can do."


    The woman replied, getting annoyed with the young man.


    This time, the young man stepped back and went silent.


    But with the silence of the young man, a voice chimed in all of a sudden.


    "You guys having a hard time?"


    Everyone was surprised by the voice that did not belong to anyone inside the meeting area. Currently, there were only the two bosses of the gang, two younger members, Husto, and a pair of armed guards present. As such, they were sure that none of the members had that voice.


    Nheless, some of the people inside the room felt the voice rather familiar.


    They all turned to the chair that was supposed to be empty. Right now, a person sat there. A man wearing a ck hooded jacket with his lower face covered with a face mask.


    Husto and the two younger members were surprised. They knew this man. This man was the one they talked to this afternoon. The leader of the group that had just arrived in this ce today.


    Of course, the sudden appearance of the man incited almost everyone to raise their weapons. Even Husto, while did not unholster his weapon, his hand was already touching the handle of his machete.


    However, contrary to the reactions of the rest...


    <strong>"DUDE!"</strong>


    The female boss of the gang rushed to the man and jumped at him. Not to attack, however.


    <strong>BAM!</strong>


    The man''s chair fell as he stood up immediately. He could not help it. After all, if he did not stand up, he might have fallen on his back as the female boss of the gang hugged him tightly.


    That action left everyone but the man cleaning his gun, the second boss of the gang, bbergasted.


    "Carren, there are other people here..."


    The male boss sighed.


    "Then, everyone but Husto is dismissed!"


    The female boss eximed as she peeled herself off the man.


    With the sudden appearance of an unknown stranger, there was an opposition to leave their bosses alone. But, of course, they could not do anything but leave after they were scolded.


    "Seriously..." The man said as he removed his face mask. "How did you two know it''s me?"<sub> </sub>


    "Then next time, cover up your eyes too."


    The female boss said.


    "Don''t be absurd." The man sighed. "You are telling me to wear sunsses in the middle of the night?"


    Husto watched at the side, seeing the unexpected situation. The two bosses of the gang knew the leader of the group that arrived this morning. Furthermore, it was clear that their rtionships were rather close. In fact, the female boss had some assets that were gathering her some unwanted attention. One reason why the female boss was careful with interactions with males recently. But here, she was the first to jump and put the man in her embrace.


    The man was clearly Mark. He was here since the meeting started. He just decided to show himself after hearing the things the members of the gang spoke.


    And the two leaders of the gang? They were Mark''s close friends and ssmates during their four years in college, Carren and Markron. They were among Mark''s friends present in Bay City. They were also two of the few that received crystals to be [Mutators] from Mark.


    Mark could only sigh with the reason how the two recognized him even when he was wearing a hood and had his face half-covered. It was because Mark had a rather unique pair of eyes, which were clearly opposite in terms of shape. His right eye always looked tired and sleepy, while his left could devour someone with a wide-eyed stare. It might not be apparent for those that only saw Mark a few times. However, for those that apanied Mark for a long time, and years at that, Carren and Markron would easily identify Mark just by his eyes.


    In any case, Mark looked at Carren. This boyish woman was still the same, not minding giving him hugs. Well, it was not like she was doing the same just with anyone. It was just a select few. Unfortunately, Markron, who had a crush on her in the past, was not one of those.


    These two were like Mark''s older sister and older brother back in their college days. They were several months older than him, after all, with Carren being the eldest, and they were the greatest influence to him in terms of Otaku culture.


    "If you are here, then where Mei and the others?" Carren excitedly asked. "Did youe here alone?"


    "Wait..." Markron spoke exasperatedly at Carren. "Let''s all sit down first. And there is a group that arrived here this morning. It should be Mark''s group, right?"


    With Markron''s urging, the group finally sat down properly.


    "You two know him?"


    Husto, who finally had the chance to ask.


    Unexpectedly...


    "Sir Husto, I''m pretty sure you also heard about him," Markron told the bulky man. "From General Perez. You heard his name, right?"


    "Mark, right?" Husto looked at, thinking about something. It took only a second, though.


    "That Mark that fought [Auraboros] in Bay City?"


    "He knew about it, huh?" Mark muttered and turned to Carren and Markron. "He''s not just ackey within the gang, right?"


    "Hehe, outside, we are showing that he''s under us," Carren replied. "But actually, we are equal here in standing. He''s even superior to us in many aspects."


    "Well, he''s a former soldier, after all." Markron chimed in. "And he''s actually at the same batch of graduates with General Perez. He''s even higher ced than the General."


    "Stop that." Husto could not help but cough in embarrassment with his past beingid in front of a stranger. "It''s all in the past. I''m nothing but a retired soldier now."


    "By the way, why are you here?" Markron asked Mark. "I''m pretty sure that you went the east coast, to Quezon Province. This ispletely the opposite side of the country."


    "We just went to check on the situation in Bay City but did not find anyone," Mark replied. "We followed the clues and ended up here."


    Husto at the side found the conversation inconceivable. The only military settlement in the Quezon Province was in Real, Quezon from what he knew. From there to Corregidor Ind, it was more than a hundred and twenty kilometers if one was to travel straight, which was impossible unless one traveled on a ne. With the current situation of Earth, it was an impossible journey.


    Yet, they were saying that this Mark''s group came from all the way on the other side of the country? It was really inconceivable. What are they? Ghosts?


    "Anyway," Mark spoke. "You guys are having problems with that Powder Gang?"


    Mark shifted the topic. A reunion between friends might be a good thing to celebrate, but it was not possible with the current situation.


    "Wait, did you see what happened earlier?"


    Husto could not help but ask.


    "When you guys are handing out food for the children?" Mark replied. "You''re the one that told me to go there, right?"


    "I''m sure you heard our discussion just now." Markron sighed. "Well, that''s the situation. If possible, we wanted to deal with them. But those guys are too slippery to deal with."


    "That''s right." Carren rubbed her forehead. "Fighting inside the settlement is not possible. The only way to deal with them is by ambushing them outside. But not only do their members go outside rarely, but they are slippery to trap."


    Mark looked at the two. It seemed that they were really used to the current world and would not hesitate to kill to deal with the trouble. Well, Otakus were the fastest to adapt to this kind of situation.


    "Well, if you two wanted to catch them outside, you should deal with the spies first, you know?"


    Mark voiced out, leading to the other three people in the room making serious faces.


    "We already considered that possibility, but we haven''t found any evidence on who is the spy."


    Markron grimly said.


    But then, Mark dropped a bomb.


    "I know, though?" Mark said. "The guy just contacted who seemed to be a messenger outside just now. The messenger is currently moving away from this ce. I''m pretty sure they are sending information about me, who appeared out of nowhere."


    The three looked at Mark, who did not seem to be lying at all. If that was the case, they should stop it.


    "Which direction did the messenger go to!"


    Markron suddenly stood up in a hurry, grabbing his gun, which was his favorite gun in a certain FPS game. Carren seemed to also have a grim expression.


    Mark could not understand the grim reaction of the two. In any case, he began to give the right direction to Markron.

 Chapter 808 After The Messenger, A Chase Within The Streets And On The Roofs Of The Northern Slums

    <strong>Day 200 - 9:19 PM - White Snake Gang Base, Northern Slums, Corregidor Military Settlement, Ind of Corregidor, Province of Cavite</strong>


    Getting urged by Markron and Carren, Mark followed the two as they made their way to the roof of the base of the White Snake Gang. Then, as Mark pointed the direction, they went to the south watchtower of thepound.


    Husto followed behind the three, but he did not climb up the watchtower. The watchtower was only built for one to two people. Three people atop it were already tight, not to mention four right now.


    One would think why there were watchtowers in apound near the walls. With the gang having enemies here and there, it was reasonable to have defenses in their base.


    The guard at the watchtower was surprised to see their bosses climb up in a hurry. Furthermore, there was an unfamiliar person with them. But before the guard could ask what was happening, Mark spoke.


    "It''s that guy, the one with the bottle in his hand."


    Mark pointed the spy to Markron and Carren.


    The watchtower was right beside the street, and the entire street could be viewed from there.


    The person Mark pointed at was walking in the middle of the street. He blended in with the survivors he was passing by. He had a bottle in his hand, clearly a bottle of alcohol. Not to mention that the man was walking rigidly as if a bit tipsy from drinking.


    Of course, that drunk walking was nothing but a ruse. The man was not drunk. It was just an act to fool people.


    "Sir Husto! Follow me! We''re going to catch the guy!" Carren said as she jumped off the tower. "Markron! Standby first!"


    "Good!"


    Markron replied, already aiming her sniper rifle at the target.


    Mark watched his two friends as they frantically chased after the messenger. It was fine to be serious since they were dealing with spies at the moment. However, there seemed to be a different cause for the reaction of the two. He could really not understand what could be the reason. After all, while he could guess simple things from reading emotions, deep,plex things were far from his reach if he did not have even the slightest clue about it.


    Carren and Husto jumped over the walls of thepound and ran through the street. The people that saw them were quite surprised. Even if the night was dark, the moon was out. Furthermore, the two were well known in the area. And looking at their actions, something unusual was happening.


    Of course, it caused quite amotion. It was impossible not to in this situation.


    And thatmotion...


    ...Definitely alerted the messenger.


    Seeing two familiar people running in his direction, the messenger lost hisposure. He stopped his drunk act and began to run away, showing that this guy was not some professional.


    Nheless, the messenger seemed to be not just some random individual either. He ran fast, as in fast. In the darkness of the night, his figure was hard to trace because of his speed. Unfortunately for the guy, he was panicking, or probably, inexperienced. Instead of running across the street and using the people as obstacles, he went to jump onto the roof of a shack, leaving the street and his possible cover.


    "Sir Husto! I''ll be going first!"


    Carren said to Husto as she prepared her legs. And then, she jumped onto the roof of the shack near her.


    The structure Carren jumped on was not as sturdy as the one the messenger jumped onto. The roof might even crumble if someone else was to jump on it. However, the moment Carren''s foot touched the roof, she sprang off to another structure, leaving the shack as if it was untouched.


    It was the [Mutator''s] ability that Mark gave her. It was one of the [Mutator] abilities he collected from the criminals of the now destroyed Death Valley Settlement. Mark had not given the mutation any specific name due to its nature, and it did not cause any specific change in appearance, either.


    What the mutation did, however, was mutate the muscles of Carren''s lower body. Surely, it sounded weak, considering [Evolvers] could have the same enhancement in their bodies.


    However, the enhancement that [Evolvers] received had limits.


    Some [Evolvers] became fast at running, some gained more flexible legs, and there were also those whose kicking power rose sharply. However, [Evolvers] could only have one specific enhancement on their bodies.


    Carren, on the other hand, gained all those after she received the [Physical Crystal] from Mark. In the first ce, her lower body was already on the flexible side in the past. Although she would have a hard time doing splits, she had less effort in doing different angles of kicks. Of course, it wascking power, considering she was not really trained to fight.


    With Mark giving her that [Physical Crystal], the flexibility, strength, and speed of Carren''s lower body were enhanced altogether.


    Running and jumping from roof to roof, the chase continued. Soon, the fleeing spy would reach the border of the territory of White Snake Gang towards the western slums.


    However, it was unlikely to happen in the current stage of the chase. Carren was way faster and nimbler than the messenger and would catch up in just a few seconds.


    And as the messenger feared, as he was just a few steps before reaching the western slums, Carren appeared in front of him.


    <o>,m "Sh*t!"</o>


    The messenger cursed, pulling out a knife to stab the woman in front of him.


    Unfortunately for the messenger, even if Carren''s feet had justnded unstably on the roof they stood on, her enhanced leg muscles were faster than the speed the messenger pulled out his knife.


    One kick on the messenger''s right wrist caused the knife to fly away, and with a spin, another kick to the messenger''s abdomen caused him to fall to the street below.


    Falling into the street, the man was not inclined to give up. He tried to stand up as fast as he could while holding his painful abdomen. Before he could stand up, however, a shadow loomed behind him. Husto already caught up, just a few steps behind the messenger.


    "Just surrender if you don''t want to get hurt."


    Carren warned the enemy, but he did not reply.<sub> </sub>


    Even so, the messenger was trapped. Carren was in front, and Husto was behind. There was only one way he could escape, and that was to jump onto the roofs once more.


    And as expected, the messenger did. Taking out several more knives from his body, the messenger threw the knives to Carren and Husto with a spin to distract them. With the dy of the two avoiding the knives, the messenger jumped up high to the roof to his right.


    The messenger was already smiling. The dy should be more than enough to let him escape to the territory of the other gang.


    But as the messenger was about tond on the roof.


    <strong>PAK! PAK! PAK! PAK!</strong>


    Four sounds of impact were heard after four almost inaudible swooshing sounds.


    The next thing that the messenger knew was his body losing bnce, along with the pain in both his legs and hands. He failed hisnding on the roof and fell to the ground due to the impact. Blood sttered as he fell, yelling in pain and agony. He was shot and with extreme precision.


    With the scene of the messenger being shot, the people that witnessed it began to flee the area. They did not know what was happening, but it was better to shut up and leave.


    Soon, the messenger passed out due to pain and shock, and probably blood loss.


    "Sir Husto, carry him," Carren ordered. "We should leave the area before those drug addicts sniff out the situation."


    "Yes, Boss."


    Husto replied, reverting to calling Carren, Boss, because of the people that could hear them.


    Back at the watchtower, Markron and Mark were already heading down.


    Of course, those four shots were made by no one else but Markron, with the help of his [Mutator] ability. Among the group of friends that Mark had in the past, Markron was the so-called Gun Otaku. He was also one of the few people that introduced Mark to FPS gun games.


    Markron''s knowledge and interest in guns were deep. As such, Mark gave him an ability simr to birds of prey had. When he was shooting just now, Markron''s eyes transformed. However, the transformation was not just an eagle or hawk''s eye, either. It was more or less a hybrid, allowing Markron to have a bird of prey''s sight, whether it was day or night. Furthermore, Markron was a [Evolver] himself before bing a [Mutator]. His arms were strengthened by the evolution he underwent.


    With Markron''s abilities as an [Evolver] and [Mutator]bined, along with the practice he had, he could now disy such feats, like shooting four simultaneous shots with a rotating bolt sniper rifle at pinpoint uracy. Not to mention that his target was moving pretty fast.


    These abilities and skills made Markron and Carren known within the slums. It was one of the reasons they were seen as a thorn in the necks by other gangs, especially the Powder Gang.


    And there was no need to mention that Carren and Markron were just two of the [Mutators] within the White Snake Gang.


    Carren and Husto returned with the bleeding messenger in tow. The unconscious messenger was then put down on the ground inside thepound of the White Snake Gang. The guy was still bleeding, and if this continued, he would die of blood loss. However, Carren, Markron, and Husto did not seem inclined to seek medical treatment for the dog of the enemy.


    The situation sure caused amotion, and the members of the gang inside thepound were wakened up and gathered in the vacant area. They all circled the dying messenger, and all of them had ruthless faces after learning the situation.


    Well, not all of them.


    <strong>"URK!"</strong>


    All of a sudden, three people began to bleed from their noses, eyes, and ears. It only took a few seconds for them to pass out. One of them was the young man that was with Husto''s group.


    "Take these away and lock them up." Carren issued the order to her confused gang members. "These guys are spies working with our enemies."


    Surely, not everyone believed the sudden usation. The three men that fell unconscious had some close friends within the gang, after all. However, they could not go against the Boss'' orders and were just satisfied that the state of their friends was unlike the dying man in front of them.


    Without a doubt, Carren, Markron, and Husto were letting the messenger die. The person might have lived if he surrendered when Carren told him to, but he continued to fight and flee. This was the result of his actions.


    "Take care of this guy. Make sure that no one sees him."


    Markron coldly ordered some members. Unlike most of the gang members, these ones seemed to be more experienced in dealing with "dirty" stuff.


    After themotion had been dealt with, the gang members dispersed under the order of their Bosses. The only ones left were those that were called by Carren and Markron into the meeting area.


    Those members were confused why they were called but still followed the two.


    Entering the meeting area, those members saw someone they were sure was not a member of their gang. But when they saw his familiar face, their faces lightened up.


    <strong>"Big Bro!"</strong>


    Two of the members called out. While the rest called his name.


    <strong>"Mark!"</strong>


    Surely, these gang members were surprised but extremely happy to see Mark.


    Well, Mark was the reason they were all still alive and kicking. If not for Mark, some of them might have died long ago, trapped and sick. Worse, they might have been eaten or turned into [Infected].


    And most of all, they managed to pass the cmity safely because of the abilities Mark gave them.

 Chapter 844 Leaving Kahilwayan, A Sudden Crisis In Mount Madia-As

    <strong>Day 237 - 12:00 PM - Sacred Gates, Kahilwayan</strong>


    Mark''s group spent time gathering as many items as they could take from Kahilwayan. Even Mark''s and Mei''s [Spatial Rings] were full to the brim, mostly of logs and branches from the [Spirit Trees] they cut down. Even with both the rings full, the group still had bags they carried where the lighter herbs and crystals were stored. Andstly, Chimetrice, who was pulling a makeshift cart, carrying a cage with a few animals inside it.


    They barely spent a week and a few days in Kahilwayan. However, on Earth, it was already exactly a month after they entered the abode of the Ancient Visayan Gods.


    And today was the next time the passage between Kahilwayan and the Secret Realm in Mount Madia-as could be opened.


    Going down from Kahilwayan was not asplicated as going up. The protective barrier of Kahilwayan was only working one way, and they could pass through it from inside. Thus, if one was capable of flight, they could go down from the floating inds, although it required effort due to the actual distance of Kahilwayan to the peak of Mount Madia-s.


    Mark''s group could do that at any given time. However, they still picked the time when the passage would be opened. After all, the passage would only make them a bit dizzy, and it would take them to the peak of Mount Madia-as almost instantly. It was even more preferable, considering they had heavy backpacks and a cage containing the animals.


    Unfortunately, they could not use Spera''s [Portal] to leave Kahilwayan. As Magwayen exined before, there was a protective barrier around Kahilwayan. It disabled entry aside from the designated passage. Teleportation from inside Kahilwayan was possible to exit it, but it would not work trying to enter the ce. A portal, however, would not work, no matter what, as a portal connects both inside and outside. It was considered a form of entry even if used to exit Kahilwayan. Even so, using the portal going from ce to ce within Kahilwayan worked fine.


    It was unfortunate for Spera, knowing that her abilities were barely of use inside ces created with its own rules.


    The group walked out of the gigantic gates, which immediately closed on their own after they all exited.


    "It still moves on its own?"


    Spera could not help but voice out. After all, Magwayen practically drained the [Magical Energy] in the ce. Yet, the magical, gigantic gates still worked.


    At that question, Magwayen answered.


    "Do not treat these gates as a mere structure but as a living being."


    That answer sure made the group look back at the gates. They did not expect that it was something alive.


    "You can open the passage now, right?"


    Mark asked Magwayen. She nodded before floating in front of everyone and facing the cliff in front of the gates.


    Magwayen gave the same hymn that they heard from Silim before. It did not take long, and the simr mirage that reflected the scene at the peak of Mount Madia-as instead appeared.


    Without further ado, the group entered the mirage.


    ***


    The mirage, of course, transported them instantly to the peak of Mount Madia-as.


    But before they could even make out their surroundings, the smell of something burning assaulted their noses.


    And instead of a clear noon sky, what they saw was a darkened sky, covered by the rising ck smoke.


    Immediately, everyone ran towards an area that gave them a clear view of the mountain.


    From there, they saw the zing fire that had already swallowed the north and eastern side of the mountain.


    <strong>BOOM!</strong>


    An explosion of energy ensued above the burning forest mid-way the mountain. Because of the distance, Mark''s group could barely make out the silhouettes of two humanoids flying around the smoke-covered area.


    This sight made Magwayen clearly disturbed. This mountain was one of the ces she cared for the most. However, it was definitely in peril at this moment, and as an illusory avatar, there was nothing that she could do to help.


    At this point, Magwayen turned to Mark behind her, who immediately noticed her actions.


    There was no need to ask what she wanted. Mark shrugged and turned to his group, who were already waiting for his instructions.


    "Spera, open a portal to the [Mini Cube]. Ilia, Chimetrice, go with Spera and get our stuff into the vessel. Then, bring the vessel here. We will need it."


    "Okay."


    Spera replied.


    "No problem."


    Ilia also answered while Chimetrice replied with a nod.


    "The rest, we''ll go down the mountain while assessing the situation. We don''t know the full situation yet. We have to be careful."


    Mark continued and then turned to Feng Zhiruo.


    "You can fight, right?"


    That question would have baffled anyone. After all, Feng Zhiruo was a Chinese Cultivator and a Sword Practitioner, and she was not injured or anything either. There was no way that she could not fight, and Mark clearly knew that.


    However, Mark''s group immediately understood that he was not questioning her in terms of ability but her mental state. Ever since she exited the [Trial of Regrets] and failed, she was already feeling down. No one within the group asked her why as what they encountered during the trial was something private. Not to mention that a person''s regret could also be their greatest weakness.


    Although Feng Zhiruo was doing her best to show that she was alright, it was not hard to see that she was just pushing herself to do so.


    "I''m fine."


    Feng Zhiruo replied to Mark. However, she was not looking at him but at the zing mes swallowing the forest below the mountain. Fortunately, her eyes were firm as she stared at the mes as if something was ignited inside her.


    Mark watched her, looking at her eyes. Feng Zhiruo was not looking at the mes in front of her. Instead, she was seemed to be looking at the mes in her memories.


    However,pared to her expressions in the past few days, her expression right now was far better.


    "Alright, leave the backpacks, and let''s move."<sub> </sub>


    Mark said as he began taking off his backpack.


    Everyone aside from Spera, Ilia, and Chimetrice put down the things they were carrying and began heading down the mountain. Spera immediately opened a portal towards where they left the [Mini Cube] outside the Secret Realm.


    Mark picked up Miracle in his arms and let out Cavall, the canine-feline golem, to let Abbygale and I ride on its back. With this, they all could increase their speed without anyonegging behind.


    Running down the mountain was much faster than climbing up. Coupled with the inhuman speed and strength of the people in Mark''s group, they scaled down the mountain faster than one would expect.


    As they went further down the mountain, the more they realized how dire the situation was.


    The mes were spreading fast since a third of the mountain was covered in lush forests. It would not take long, and the mes from the northeastern side of the mountain would encircle the entire. The residents of the mountain would have no other choice but to climb further up. In the end, everyone would get trapped in the higher parts of the mountain without anywhere else to flee.


    As Mark''s group rushed down the mountain, they could see many magical races fleeing from the mes. Most of them seemed to be [Sylphs] and smaller fairy-like creatures, who were races unfit for battle.


    Mark wanted to stop any of them to ask what was going on. However, the sight of Mark''s group, which were already known to be [Demons], caused the creatures to flee from them instead.


    There was no time to chase those fleeing magical races. Instead, Mark focused on going towards the location where they saw two silhouettes flying in the sky. He was sure that one of those two was actually Silim, the ck-dressed [Diwata] and the guardian of his Secret Realm.


    <strong>BOOM!</strong>


    A shockwave enveloped the area, making Mark''s group stop to brace themselves. From the aura contained within the shockwave, Mark became even more sure that they were heading towards Silim.


    <strong>"FUUUWOOOOH!!!"</strong>


    <strong>CRASH!</strong>


    Suddenly, a loud air-filled roar entered everyone''s ears along with the sounds of trees crashing down.


    Because of that roar, the thick smoke from the burning forest was disturbed and blown away slightly. It allowed Mark''s group to see what caused that roar and saw a gigantic, four-legged creature. It seemed to be a tortoise due to its shape, but its shell was filled with holes releasing thick gray smoke. The five-meter-tall giant''s body was also filled with cracks, but due to the high temperatures of its body, the cracks were glowing like burning magma.


    Mark concentrated and expanded his detection range forwards. And there, he managed to conclude what the enemies were.


    "[Infected]."


    Mark said out loud as he did not detect any sign of consciousness from the gigantic creature in front of them.


    By the looks of it, the [Infected] managed to reach Mount Madia-as and found a way to breach the illusory wall of the Secret Realm. It was not something too surprising. Sinogo managed to break and absorb the seal that Kaptan created after turning into an [Infected]. It meant that the other [Infected] had the possibility of doing the same.


    Furthermore, the main defense of the Secret Realm of Mount Madia-as was its maze-like forest at the foot of the mountain. However, even that forest would not work if the enemy was a giant tortoise that burned everything around it.


    Worst, the residents of the Secret Realm had no way to subdue the fire. The magical races in this ce were mostly nature, wind, and fire elementals. Thus, the mes reached an uncontroble degree in no time without anyone tobat it.


    The wind elementals like [Sylphs] might have been able to stop it. However, theycked the proper knowledge to do so.


    <strong>GROAAA!!</strong>


    Eerie roars could be heard alongside the sounds of battle.


    Mark''s group finally reached where the forces of Mount Madia-as were fighting the horde of [Infected] that breached the barrier.


    p Looking at the horde, Mark''s group could not help but feel surprised.</anda>


    There were at least a thousand [Infected] in front of them. Possibly more. Furthermore, all of them were mutated into something like moving charred creatures that could endure the mes without dying. It was clear that each of them had bodies with extremely high temperatures as their bodies released smoke after every step they took.


    "This [Infected] horde mutated using that big guy as their catalyst."


    Mark surmised the very possible scenario immediately.


    A single [Mutated Infected] caused its entire horde to mutate. It was something with low possibility but not impossible to happen. It was even more likely to ur if the [Mutated Infected''s] mutation could affect the entire horde constantly.


    Looking at the situation, Magwayen could not help but feel remorse. There was nothing she could do to help at all. As they said, Gods were not omnipotent. They could even feel helpless on some asions.


    Magwayen was in her own world. There was no way she could affect Earth from where she was right now.


    Fortunately, Mark intended to help. He was not a person who would forget favors. Although Magwayen was somehow irritating on how she seemed to manipte and anticipate Mark''s actions, she was still the one that guided them here and let them reap benefits.


    It was unexpected that the chance to repay the favors came too soon. However, this opportunity was a fairly weed one as Mark did not want to owe anyone favors for too long.


    <strong>BOOM!</strong>


    Once more, a shockwave enveloped the area, blowing away the mes and the smoke rising towards the sky.


    Silim was definitely in a heated fight with someone or something. It was surprising that something that could contend against Silim, a Deity, appeared.


    <strong>BAM!</strong>


    Suddenly, Silim''s figure shot nearby Mark''s group and crashed to the ground, causing dust and dirt to scatter.


    Unexpectedly, Silim was the one on the losing side.


    "Hoh? What do we have here?"


    A voice speaking in Spirit Language entered everyone''s ears making them all look at the sky.


    There, a handsome man floated with an annoying smirk on his face while he stared at Mark''s group with eyes filled with interest and surprise.

 Chapter 845 The Opportunistic Enemy, The Incarnation Of Natures Hate And The Enemy Of [Diwatas]

    <strong>Day 237 - 12:15 PM - Secret Realm, Mount Madia-as, Panay Mountain Range, Province of An</strong>


    The mes zed, spreading fast across the forest.


    Growls and gargled moans entered everyone''s ears as the [Infected] marched, invading the magicalnd they found.


    Sounds of battle echoed as the inhabitants of the Secret Realm tried their best to fend theirnd against the [Infected].


    All these things happened in the background as Mark''s group raised their heads and stared at the enemy before them.


    Hovering in the air, it was a handsome man that could make anyone envious. He had hair that reached a little below his shoulder while wearing a tribal cloth bandana on his forehead. His top was half-naked with only some sort of animal leather draped on his body. It showed his finely chiseled body and pale-white skin tone. The right part of the man''s face, right arm, and torso had arge tribal tattoo covering it. Below, he was wearing what seemed to be a tribal loincloth adorned with fangs and bones of predatory animals on his belt.


    The strange, handsome man held a spear made of bone, with a spiky tip made of crystal.


    With the presence of Mark''s group, the enemy sure was curious. He was looking at the group in arrogance while also seemingly angry.


    "I was denied entry to this ce while Demons and humans were allowed inside. Talk about double standards."


    The man realized whatposed Mark''s group andined in anger while staring at Silim, who now stood up from her fall.


    Silim''s fall was not a soft one. The ground around her was heavily dented, even causing cracks in therge rocks of the mountain. Being a powerful person, Silim was not harmed. However, she was clearly weakened after the encounter.


    "It is not about race," Silim argued, not reverting her attention away from the handsome man. "There is no way I will let an incarnation of evil like you into our home."


    The reply from Silim made the handsome man tilt his head.


    "Demons who are not evil, you say?" The handsome man scanned Mark''s group. "Well, those freaks do exist."


    Demons were evil creatures. It was not only humans who shared such ideals. Though, in truth, Demons were just like any other race. There were good and evil amidst their ranks.


    However, as Demons were evil in general, with most being the manifestation of distorted emotions and desires, good ones were considered freaks among the Demon race.


    As the handsome man panned his eyes on the group of Demons before him, his eyes caught the sight of a woman wearing a veil to cover her face. Somehow, he became curious about the Demon woman.


    "You, take off your veil."


    The handsome man said to the Demon woman in amanding tone.


    Thatmand did not only make Mark''s group frown but also made Silim stare at the inconceivable attitude of that man. They were in the middle of battle, yet, he had the audacity to focus his attention on something else.


    Silim was not defeated yet. Even so, the man seemed to think that he had won already. He also behaved as if the group of Demons was beneath him.


    "I did not think to see such audacity."


    The handsome man was interrupted by a woman''s voice. It was only then he realized the figure of a ck-dressed woman that appeared beside Silim.


    Surely, the man was surprised that he never noticed the woman at all.


    "Mother."


    Silim greeted as she regained her footing.


    Magwayen did not reply, however. Her attention was fully on the intruder.


    Still, hearing Silim call the woman as her mother made the man extremely shocked beyond disbelief.


    "How... All gods should have disappeared from this world already. Why is someone like you still here?!"


    It seemed that the man was aware that Silim was Magwayen''s daughter in the first ce.


    At first, the man thought that he did not detect Magwayen because she was a God and the difference in their strength. But immediately, he noticed. Magwayen was not exuding the Godly aura that she was supposed to have as a God.


    "No, you''re not the real body. Damn, that scared me."


    The man surely feared that Magwayen was still here. But a simple projection that Magwayen had in this ce would not be able to do anything.


    Even so, this man behaved differently from most. He did not pay respect to a God in front of him. It was even though he was the same as Silim. A [Spirit of Nature].


    The handsome man was not an [Infected] nor a Demon.


    [Diwatas] had another term they were called with among the residents of this country. Spirit races such as Elementals and even some Demons were locally called "Encantos." From there, the highest among the Encantos were the [Diwatas], which also referred to as [Encantadas].


    And although not have a different name, the male counterpart of the [Encantadas], the [Encantados]. They were the rare kind of Spirits of Nature, as the more powerful Spirits were mostly born as females.


    However, different from the [Diwata''s] good alignment, the [Encantados] were known as vile beings. They were known to trick humans using various methods. And worse, killing the victims in the process.


    [Encantados] always had fun at the cost of others'' torment. It made it even questionable if they were Demons in disguise, but their origins were far different from Demons as they were born in a simr way to [Diwatas].


    And that was while they both came from the same origins, being [Spirits of Nature], [Diwatas] and [Encantados] were known to be mortal enemies.


    Well, in this case, it was different. Silim was a [Diwata] created by Magwayen with Bath''s help. She was not a normal [Spirit of Nature]. Even so, Silim shared the same sentiment as others towards [Encantados].


    [Encantados] were enemies. They were the culmination of nature''s hate while the [Diwatas] were the representation of nature''s love.


    It was what was being portrayed here, as the [Enkantado] in front of them led a horde of [Infected] into the Secret Realm to attack it.


    "Do not think that you already won."


    Silim said with a slight growl. She intended to continue fighting.


    "Do not force yourself." The [Encantado] arrogantly smiled at the [Diwata]. "I don''t know why you''re weakened, but you are no match for me in your current state. I rather not kill you since I want you as one of my wives."


    There, the [Encantado''s] true goal was revealed. He was not only aiming to seize this ce as his own. He was also aiming to turn Silim into his wife. Well, as he said, one of his wives.<sub> </sub>


    Suddenly, the [Encantado] turned to the Demon woman wearing the veil on her face.


    "Why not join Silim? Be my wife and I might think of sparing the others."


    Mark stared at the enemy with a frown. It seemed that the [Encantado] was drawn unto Mei''s beauty, even though she was already covering her face to avoid attention.


    "Oi," Mark called out to the [Encantado]. "Bold of you to court someone else''s wife in front of her husband."


    The [Encantado] was arrogant, and Mark spoke with the same arrogant tone.


    Finally, the [Encantado] turned to Mark for the first time. Yes, he did not acknowledge Mark''s presence at all. Only when Mark said the words that implied that he was the Demon woman''s husband that the [Encantado] put Mark in his eyes.


    "So, she already had a husband?" The [Encantado] smirked. "You think I would care? A lowly Demon as ugly as you would not be able to keep her."


    "You sure?" Mark said, not minding being called ugly, and turned to Mei. "Mei''er, you tell him."


    Mei was surprised, but she was clearly pissed at how the enemy was ridiculing Mark. Although she could barely understand Spirit Language, she could piece out the words that the enemy spouted.


    And with her limited vocabry of the Spirit Language, Mei, who was always afraid of men, yelled out.


    "SHUT UP! YOU UGLY!"


    Mei yelled with momentary courage before running behind Mark and hiding.


    <strong>"Y-Y-YOU!!!"</strong>


    The enemy was stunned, speechless. To be called ugly with his heavenly appearance was a first for him.


    Silim, on the other hand, became nervous.


    "Watch out!"


    Silim yelled as the figure of the [Encantado] blurred.


    The [Encantado] had an extremeplex for his appearance. Yes, this man was a narcissist, and to an absolute degree.


    And those that thought otherwise were immediately crushed under his overwhelming strength.


    <strong>BOOM!</strong>


    A shockwave enveloped the ce, with Mark''s group at the center.


    But outside Silim''s expectations, the [Encantado] was blown back to the sky, shocked and disheveled as he stared at the leader of the group of the Demons.


    "Who said that you can touch my wife with your filthy hands?"


    Mark said in irritation. His eyes had both the red and dark-violet glow, with his fist in front of him, with veins glowing bright red.


    As the battle finally started, Mark issued orders.


    "Mei''er, Zhiruo, go with everyone and deal with the [Infected]. Leave this ugly bastard to me."


    Mei and Feng Zhiruo nodded as they brought the little girls and Amihan to run in a different direction. Mark also took out the remaining two golems to go with the group.


    "Y-Y-Y-Y..."


    The [Encantado] shivered as he floated in the sky. He did not care whether the rest of the Demons were running away. His attention was on his handsome face as he frantically felt it with his hands.


    He immediately felt something wet as he touched his nose. It was a drop of red blood with a sheen of gold.


    The [Encantado] was extremely furious. His eyes were now focused on Mark in extreme rage.


    It was because out of all ces, Mark, without hesitation, punched the [Encantado''s] face when he defended from thetter''s attack.


    The handsome face that a narcissist valued the most...


    Even Silim was reluctant to do that as it would throw the [Encantado] berserk.


    But Mark did not care for that. Before the [Encantado] could react, Mark opened his wings and began to transform.


    The transformation of a [Pure-Blood Blood Demon]. It was the first time Mark did this after the Fusion of Dimensions. Of course, it was the first time for Magwayen to witness it either.


    Mark''s ck hair grew longer, having the reddish tint and sheen. His fangs grew, and the nails on his hands turned to ws. The veins on his entire body glowed red as a powerful aura exuded from his body unto the surroundings.


    But then... Mark noticed some differences that he had never seen before.


    Mark had three pairs of wings, with the third and lowest pair being smoke-like and ethereal. But now, the ethereal wings materialized. Not only that, but his wings grewrger, with each having the span of almost a meter.


    Furthermore, and the most noticeable thing... The markings on his body had actually turned golden. And it was exuding an aura both familiar and unfamiliar to Mark.


    But Magwayen immediately noticed that aura. It was the aura of the protection that those that passed the [Trial of Regrets] acquired. But when Mark transformed, the aura became concentrated on the markings on Mark''s body, turning the ck markings gold.


    At Mark''s transformation, the enemy sure was taken aback. The person he thought to be a lowly Demon was actually a Pure-blood, not to mention the possibility of being a monarch among his race.


    Even, so, the [Encantado] was not feeling fear. In his mind, he was still superior to Mark, being someone at the level of Silim, who was a Deity.


    Putting the unexpected changes aside, Mark concentrated his attention on the enemy. This guy was strong. Although Mark managed to counterattack just now, it was due to the enemy underestimating him and his group. Now, even though the enemy was still looking arrogant, he already had his guard up.


    If Mark did not transform and unleash all his strength, he would not be an opponent to this [Enkantado] at all.


    After all, with the exception of [The Great One] and Sinogo, this [Encantado] was the strongest enemy he had met so far.

 Chapter 811 Morning Commotion, An Interrupted Meeting With General Perez

    <strong>Day 201 - 8:21 AM - Dining Area, White Snake Gang Base, Northern Slums, Corregidor Military Settlement, Ind of Corregidor, Province of Cavite</strong>


    Early in the morning, well,te for most people, the dining area was bustling with activity. After all, it was time for breakfast.


    The members of the White Snake Gang already had theirs and left to do their duties. Unlike the usual gangs thatgged around doing nothing and behaving like thugs, the members of the White Snake Gang were theplete opposite.


    Like soldiers of a private army, they patrol their territory, maintaining security and protecting their people.


    With the lower members of the gang absent, the dining area was all for the higher members to use. Right now, most people present were pretty much the people Mark knew, along, of course, Mark and his group.


    The people that Mark did not meetst night were here. Like Carlo''s sister and girlfriend, Carren''s son, and Markron''s girlfriend. They were not that close to Mark like the others, after all. To be exact, they were just Mark''s acquaintances. Nheless, it seemed that they were happy to see Mark and his family. After all, while Mark was gone, they got close to Mei and the little girls back in Bay City.


    It even seemed that Carren''s son was hanging around Abbygale. Unfortunately, thetter did not care about anything other than her breakfast. Abbygale''s a cat, after all. A cat should not be disturbed when eating.


    As for the other people present, they were rtives of the members of the White Snake Gang. Some were wives and children. Others were siblings and parents. While the members of the gang did their job, their rtives helped within the base, doing menial tasks such as cooking and cleaning.


    However, their attention was currently focused on the unfamiliar guests of the gang leaders. Well, the reason was two of the guests were still wearing masks on their faces, with only their mouths exposed to eat.


    Well, of course, it was Mark and Mei. Mark created a pair of [Blood Metal Masks] for them to wear. After all, Mark was wanted by the government while Mei was basically a beacon to find Mark easily. Thus, they could not go out without anything to cover their faces. As for the three girls, there would be less attention on them since they were children. Feng Zhiruo and Spera, on the other hand, were not familiar to the people of Bay City.


    Thest one, Amihan, could only stay hidden. After all, she was the same as Mei, who could point out Mark''s location, and having a mask would not help on a Sylph. That was why even though it was lonely, Amihan could only eat inside the bedroom where Mark''s group stayedst night.


    The breakfast was not much. It was rice congee with pieces of ground meat, although a bit too watered. However,pared to regr rice, the rice used in the congee was dark-colored. Furthermore, it was energizing and filled their stomach heavily.


    Apparently, the White Snake Gang mixed regr rice and the modified [Energy Rice] in their breakfast. It was not like Carren and Markron ordered it specifically for today. They do this at least once a week for breakfast, and it just happened to be one of those days.


    Unfortunately, they could not indulge in eating this way better kind of rice. Although it was avable for trade by the military, it was extremely expensive due to limited stock. Even Carren and Markron only managed to procure half a sack for the gang for a sky-high price.


    "When will General Perez arrive?"


    Mark asked as he pushed his now-empty bowl.


    "They should arrive pretty soon," Carren replied, wiping the mess around her son''s mouth. "When the General checks on us, he always goes during mornings since he had other things to do during afternoons. He''s a really busy person."


    And as Carren said those words, Mark felt the familiar emotional fluctuation entering his detection. It was no other than General Perez, who was now likely exiting the gates of the Fortress City.


    The process of entering and exiting the gates seemed to be tedious. General Perez''s fluctuation stagnated around the gates for about ten minutes before going out.


    Although a bit dyed, General Perez arrived at the base of the White Snake Gang.


    Once the General entered the meeting area with Carren guiding him, he was, of course, surprised. No one would expect Mark and his group to be present here.


    Commanding his guards to stay outside, General Perez began the conversation. He soon learned why Mark''s group was here, and he could only let out a sigh.


    "You people really are irregrs." General Perez stared at Mark''s group. "We are here, struggling just to survive, and can only reach one or two kilometers away from the settlement before reaching the limit without casualties... And you people? Going all the way from the other side of the country with a small group just to visit your friends. It was as if you were just going on a vacation."


    Mark did not say anything to that. It was true in a sense. Still, the disparity in strength was too vast.


    Feeling a tug on his sleeve, Mark nced at Mei. He knew what she wanted to say and turned to the General.


    "How''s Angeline and Pa?"


    Mark asked.


    The General noticed the exchange of nces of Mark and Mei. He understood that the question came from Mei instead of Mark.


    "You''re still as silent as possible when around men, huh."


    General Perez said in disappointment.


    Angeline, General Perez''s daughter, was really close with Mei. Together with Pa, Angeline''s best and childhood friend, the three of them could be said as the young flowers of Bay City. Because of that, General Perez did not think of Mei as a stranger. He treated her more like his niece or rtive. Unfortunately, Mei did not seem to have the same thoughts.


    In any case, General Perez answered the question.


    "They are fine, and they would be happy to see you two." General Perez sighed. "They should have been with me today, if not for a sudden change in the orders just this early morning."


    "Sudden change in the orders?" Markron, who was a bit privy with military routines here in the settlement, could not help but chime in as it felt odd. "What orders, General?"


    Mark could not help but frown, sensing the uneasiness in the General''s mind.


    "I don''t know, but while new orders were implemented for everyone inside, it seemed to be aiming at me." General Perez spoke. "The order was for an indefinite emergency lockdown. Only those with official business outside could go out. Even I had some problems at the gates, causing today''s dy. Luckily, I did not hide my status as this gang''s backer, and it was considered official business. Not to mention I''m not really leaving the settlement. Just outside the walls."


    "Did you know what''s the reason for the sudden lockdown?"


    Carren asked, worried about their friends inside.


    "Unfortunately, I don''t know. We were also surprised by the orders we received the moment we woke up. It may be beyond mywork, but something must have happenedst night."


    Something that happenedst night... Carren, Markron, and Mark could not help but look at each other.


    Noticing the reaction of the three, General Perez asked.


    "Do you three know something?"


    And with that question, they filled in the General of the things that happenedst night.


    "So, you captured a spy within the gang and dispatched the messenger?" General Perez said in surprise. "No wonder now."


    General Perez then turned to Mark with a serious face.


    "Your group should leave already. Those spies report at regr intervals. If they did not receive the report, they should know that something happened to the spy." General Perez sternly warned. "In that case, making my children stay inside while I''m outside stops me from fleeing once things go awry. Those bastards are nning to catch all of us in one swoop."<sub> </sub>


    "But Miguel, they don''t have any evidence that it was us." Husto, who was also present, spoke. "We also took care of the body discreetly. There are some witnesses, but I''m sure those people will not talk."


    "With evidence or none did not matter to them." General Perez replied. "If that spy''s duty is to solely report if anyone that was possibly Mark happened to appear here, then that was more than enough to catch all of us for helping a wanted man."


    "Ah, right... There''s also that wanted thing..."


    Mark nonchntly spoke.


    "I know it''s unfair, but greed knows no bounds." General Perez said. "But in a democratic country, the majority vote always wins."


    "So, you all better be going." General Perez continued. "We will be fine if they did not find you here."


    "Well, it''s already toote, though?"


    Mark said to everyone''s surprise.


    "Wh-what do you mean?"


    Carren asked, fearing the worst.


    And despite the other''s fear, Mark answered without care.


    "I mean... The wholepound is already surrounded just after the General arrived. Once any of us go out that door, they will see."


    Mark pointed at the closed door.


    Luckily, the meeting room had no windows and only one door. It was to ensure that the ns of the gang would not be seen from outside at any angle. But now, the room became a trap for everyone inside.


    "Damn it..."


    General Perez cursed.


    Soon one of the soldiers that came with General Perez came in panic and informed the General that there were marine soldiers at the gates of thepound.


    They were carrying an official search warrant.


    "Only a search warrant, huh." Mark voiced out. "It seems they were still unsure."


    "But even if there''s no arrest warrant, they can arrest us if there''s enough probable cause." General Perez said with a frown. "Although there''s still not enough evidence or cause for us to be arrested, we will be if they saw you here."


    Mark could only shrug. Who would have thought that they would be talking about arrest warrants and stuff in the middle of the apocalypse? It really sounded dumb. However, greed knew no bounds. Laws could be bent by those atop if it would benefit them... especially now.


    "Just go and meet them," Mark said to General Perez, Carren, and Markron. "If you dyed, they would suspect you guys more."


    "How about you guys?"


    Carren said, looking at Mark''s group.


    "Don''t worry, we can handle ourselves."


    Mark assured them.


    Although none of them were too convinced about Mark''s words, they could only nod. The best they could do was stall for time until Mark''s group managed to sneak out.


    The General, followed by Carren and Markron, came out to meet the marines soldiers outside their gates. By the looks of it, if the three dyed any further, the soldiers outside would force their way through.


    "General Perez, good morning."


    A soldier greeted General Perez the moment the gates opened. Unexpectedly, however, it was not just any soldier. It was a Marines Commandant and the one who was the most antagonistic towards General Perez. He was Major General Connor Calcedo.


    That greeting, definitely, was not in good intention.


    "To have a search warrant all of a sudden, you people are itching to get rid of me, are you?"


    General Perez did not return the greeting with pleasantry. Instead, he went to the point. There was no need to wear a mask in front of these people.


    "Be careful of what you are saying, General." General Calcedo smirked. "We are only doing our duties."


    And without waiting for anyone to allow them in...


    "Go inside and start the search."


    General Calcedo ordered his men.


    General Perez remained silent. Markron and Carren did the same and let the bastards in. At first, they thought that they would be able to buy some time. But with the Marines Commandant present, the thought was rendered impossible.


    However...


    "Search that building first."


    General Calcedo pointed at the main building of thepound. Specifically, the meeting area. The evil grin on the face of the Marines Commandant was clear for everyone to see.


    Thatmand made the three nervous. However, saying anything at this point would only make them seem guilty of something.


    Without dy, the main building was searched first. The meeting area was locked, making the Marines Commandant smile even more. Furthermore, they could hear some rustling inside. General Calcedo was almostughing as they kicked the door open.


    The door was busted open, and the soldiers stormed in guns first.


    And to their shock, the neatly designed meeting area, a room with no windows and only one door, was empty.

 Chapter 812 Mind Play, Disappearing Like Ghosts Before The Storm Came

    <strong>Day 201 - 10:02 AM - Meeting Area, White Snake Gang Base, Northern Slums, Corregidor Military Settlement, Ind of Corregidor, Province of Cavite</strong>


    The situation immediately caused amotion inside and outside the base of the White Snake Gang. Inside and outside the ce, the people went out to watch the scene. Whether it be regr civilians, the members of the gang, or the rtives of the members, they were watching. Of course, the displeasure was evident on the faces of the members.


    Among the civilians, there were also those who were privy to the situation. Well, even those who know nothing were worried about the gang. Named as a gang they may be, they behaved like one entirely. In fact, there were even some people who received help from the gang, more than equal to the protection fee they pay.


    It was not wrong to say that there were many civilians that preferred the White Snake Gang to the military.


    Since many were paying attention to the situation, specifically the general leading the raid, many of them saw General Calcedo''s expression as they found the meeting area empty.


    General Calcedo''s face showed shock with a mix of confusion before reddening into a burst of anger.


    <strong>"CHECK THE ROOM! CHECK EVERY NOOK AND CRANNY!" </strong>The Marines Commandant bellowed in a fit of rage as he turned to a person nearby. <strong>"YOU! WHERE ARE THE PEOPLE INSIDE!"</strong>


    The person the Marines Commandant called was thest person toe out of the meeting area. Still, when the man stepped forward, General Calcedo could not help but flinch, seeing the bulky body of the man who was a head taller than him.


    Husto, who was suddenly called, stepped forward. Initially, he was worried. He was thest toe out of the meeting area before it was locked and saw Mark''s nonchnt attitude towards the situation. Now, although bewildered, he changed his attitude, seeing that the room was empty.


    "What do you mean, General?" Husto spoke. "It was only us with General Perez in that room before you arrived."


    Of course, that answer would not satisfy the enraged Marines Commandant.


    "General! There''s nothing suspicious inside!"


    A soldier that led the search of the meeting area did not take long and returned. In the first ce, the only furniture inside was a set of tables and chairs used in meetings. There was nothing else inside, no hiddenpartment or room. As such, the search ended quickly without their intended oue.


    <strong>"F*CK! FORM A SMALL TEAM AND SEARCH THAT ROOM OVER THERE!" </strong>General Calcedo pointed at the supposed guest room of the White Snake Gang. <strong>"The others search the whole ce!"</strong>


    Leaving Husto, General Calcedo apanied the team that went to the guest room. Unexpectedly, it was not locked, and the room was easily entered.


    The soldiers hastily entered with General Calcedo. They could not help, but cough as the dust umted in the room assaulted their faces and mouths.


    As they relieved themselves of the dust, they saw the neatly organized but dusty room. Yes, dusty. It was as if the room had been untouched for a long while.


    General Calcdo could not believe what he was seeing. He came here confident of the information he received from the lookout sent after the messenger did not reportst night. Something must have happened to the messenger that was assigned to this ce. The guy might be an amateur but he was not someone that would be found out easily.


    And from the lookout, General Calcedo and his allies knew that the rumored group that arrived here yesterday was somehow inside the White Snake Gang''s base. It led to the suspicion that the person the government put in the wanted list actually arrived despite the odds.


    Yet, despite the supposedly concrete information he received, not even a shadow of the rumored group was here. Not to mention a shadow, not even a footprint in the dust-covered room.


    The search continued for a while to no avail. General Calcedo and his men did not find anything suspicious at all. Even so, the Marines Commandant was far from giving up, or all the effort and time they spent here would be wasted.


    It was until a situation happened that forced General Calcedo and his soldiers to leave.


    The members of the White Snake Gang, the onlookers, and General Perez were relieved and happy to see enemies leave.


    Still, the members of the gang were quite displeased. As far as search operations always went, the soldiers left the base a mess. They did not find anything but still left a whole lot of things to clean and fix.


    Even so, there was nothing else to do but fix the things back to how they were before. Well, the fixing wouldeter. They better hide first.


    The situation in the White Snake Gang ended. Even so, many were bewildered as they looked at the sky, running in fear.


    <strong>RUMBLE! CRACKLE!</strong>


    The weather seemed to be angry for some reason.


    ***


    <strong>Day 201 - 10:07 AM - Northwestern Outskirts, Ind of Corregidor, Province of Cavite</strong>


    Near the northern beach of the new Corregidor Ind, on a tall hill of stone, a group sat down. It was a new location that appeared after the fusion of dimensions. A gigantic tall sea stone rumored to be a shell of a gigantic crustacean buried under the sand.


    The people atop the hill were no other than Mark''s group. They were watching the situation unfold within the base of the White Snake Gang.


    Although the hill was pretty far from the walls of the slums, it was tall enough to allow them to see a wide area of the north slums, even some areas of the west slums.


    "You''re really thorough, you know?" Spera said to Mark. "You even thought of blowing dust from the beach into the room we stayed in the previous night."


    "Well, it worked, right?"


    Mark smirked akin to a yful god.


    With the group they had, they had various ways of escaping.


    Mark and Mei had their movement psychic abilities, allowing them to move people with them. There was also Mark''s [Photokinesis Mental Crystal], which would allow them to cover themselves with optical camouge.


    However, Mark went for the safest option, especially since it allowed them to leave the ce without a trace. Not to mention they had to pick up Amihan, who was left in the guest room.


    Of course, it was Spera''s portal.


    And with it, not only did they manage to escape sessfully but made a ploy to mess with the minds of the enemy soldiers. It was to blow dust from the beach inside the room they stayed in.


    It showed the illusion that the room had been left untouched for a long time. That situation, especially for General Calcedo, would make it as if the information he had was just an illusion. The Marines Commandant was confident with the information he had, but what he found was nothing, making him doubt the information and the integrity of the people that gave it.


    "You''re ying mind games, now, huh..."


    Spera murmured, but it was not like she hadints about it. The reception within the gang was good and it was spoiled because of those soldiers.


    "Gege, they''re not giving up, are they?"


    Mei said, seeing that even though the guest room was found as Mark left it, the soldiers were not stopping their search. She could see the situation clearly because of her eyes zooming in.<sub> </sub>


    "That''s expected." Mark shrugged. "The leader of those soldiers arrived confidently with the information he had. He must be thinking that we are just hiding somewhere within the base. Well, there were lookouts outside the base, after all."


    "Wait..." Spera rigidly turned to Mark. "So, you know that we are being watched all this time?"


    "Yeap." Mark nodded slightly. "After that messenger guy diedst night, a new one arrived after we all went to sleep. The guy had been watching all morning and made contact with a few people before General Perez arrived."


    "You..."


    Spera was speechless. Mark knew everything but did not say anything.


    "Did you n this to happen?"


    Feng Zhiruo asked Mark.


    "Not entirely." Mark smiled. "There are possibilities but it did not mean things will go the way I had in my mind. Besides, it''s a perfect opportunity."


    "Opportunity for what?"


    Spera asked.


    "Well, the best reason they were targeting General Perez intently is his current actions. Like searching for the backer of the Powder Gang." Mark exined. "Which meant that with those soldiers going to the base of the White Snake Gang, there won''t be any immediate reinforcements when something happened to the Powder Gang."


    "Don''t tell me, you n on attacking them..." Spera spoke. "We will end up exposing ourselves that way."


    "Ah..." Mark turned to Spera, scratching his head. "You don''t know about it."


    "Know about what?"


    Spera asked and Feng Zhiruo was also curious.


    And without exining, Mark stretched out his right hand.


    Several Crystals flew out of the [PsyCrystal], floating and rotating around his wrist.


    The [Wind Maniption Mental Crystal], [Photokinesis Mental Crystal], [Lightning Mental Crystal], andstly, the [Stormcaller Mental Crystal]. The crystals flew around Mark''s wrist as they began to emit intensifying light.


    Spera and Feng Zhiruo could not help but flinch as they felt the heavy wave of magical energy around them. They could not understand what Mark was doing at first, until they raised their heads, looking at the sky.


    "It''s slower than before."


    Mei said, looking at the dark clouds slowly gathering in the sky.


    "I''m not making it too conspicuous," Mark replied. "You see, I''m even gathering it from only one direction."


    As Mark said, the clouds were gathering from the west, as if a storm was brewing from that direction. Slowly, the clouds gathered ominously as if heavy rain woulde.


    Following the movement of the clouds, the gray clouds moved over the Corregidor Military Settlement. Many people began to panic as many of them were not prepared for heavy rain, especially the homeless ones.


    RUMBLE!


    The first sound of thunder was heard, signaling the iing storm.


    And soon, the center of the dark clouds loomed the settlement.


    But different from what the people thought, not a single drop of rain fell.


    Instead...


    <strong>CRACKLE! BOOM!</strong>


    A sudden bright sh of light blinded everyone''s eyes. A thick branch of lightning fell from the sky as if a god angrily threw it towards the mortals.


    It was just a sh in a millisecond. However, all that saw it knew that the lightning struck the ground.


    <strong>"AHHHH!!!"</strong>


    Soon, the screams ensued.


    <strong>BOOM! CRACKLE! RUMBLE!</strong>


    The lightning strikes hit the ground several more times in various ces of the settlement. As the people fled, none of them noticed thatpared to the scattered lightning, more hit a particr ce in the western slums.


    Hit by lightning several times, the ce soon caught fire.


    It was the base of the Powder Gang, with its members inside either dead or paralyzed after being hit by lightning several times.


    Many people started fleeing, and even the soldiers searching the base of the White Snake Gang were rmed. The search was canceled as the news of the fire in the base of the Powder Gang reached the soldiers.


    The soldiers led by the Marines Commandant left the ce in a hurry, cursing his luck and the information given to him. Even so, he needed to respond to the situation, even more so because his backer would be pissed by the situation.


    ***


    The storm passed as quickly as it came. However, the situation was far from over. The base of the Powder Gang was slowly burning to ashes, along with its members, dead or paralyzed, trapped inside.


    Carren, Markron, General Perez, and Husto waited in the meeting area. They were thinking that Mark and his group would return after some time.


    Unfortunately, what they found was a letter left under the table.


    By the looks of it, Mark and his group would not be returning. After all, they only came to check the situation of their friends and it was already fulfilled.

 Chapter 813 Destruction Of The Powder Gang, The Backer In The Shadows And His Plans

    <strong>Day 201 - 12:23 PM - Administrative Office, Safezone, Corregidor Military Settlement, Ind of Corregidor, Province of Cavite</strong>


    The strange thunderstorm passed to everyone''s relief. Still, the wariness and fear became deeply engraved in the hearts of those that experienced it.


    There were the [Infected], the earthquake that changed the world, the robots from space, and now, this unexinable weather phenomenon. No one would know what could happen next in this world now far from what people knew.


    Would humanityst long if these kinds of things continued to happen?


    Well, although the dark clouds that loomed over the sky a few minutes ago had dispersed, the cmity was far from over.


    At the west slums, rising towards the sky, was a pir of thick, ck smoke. The mes continued to burn as they engulfed the entire base of the Powder Gang. Thepound made of plywood, cloth, and stic would not be able to stop the fire until everything burned to ashes...


    ...Along with the members of Powder Gang that were trapped inside it.


    Whether it be the members who were just regr humans, [Evolvers], and even [Mutators], all those inside were unable to escape.


    Inside the Safezone, the city enclosed by the fortress walls, many people were watching the pir of smoke. It included people from the government, the military, and, of course, the backers of the Powder Gang.


    Inside one of the office rooms in the Administrative Building, a man seething in anger sat on his chair while looking through the window.


    "What is the situation there..."


    The man spoke to the radio on his office table. His voice was shaking, barely managing to contain his calm.


    "It is hard to say, Chairman." A familiar voice replied from the radio. "But the casualties can be estimated. And it is not a good piece of news."


    "Just report."


    The man said, rubbing his forehead.


    "T-that''s..." The voice from the radio hesitated before a deep breath was barely heard. "From the leaders to the middle members of the gang, all of them are inside the burningpound. Only the lower members who were tasked to do their jobs around the slums are fine."


    "So, are you saying that everyone but the useless ones is dead?"


    The Chairman spoke, sounding stern.


    "Y-Unfortunately, it is hard to say, Chairman..." The man on the radio replied. "There might be some still alive but trapped inside, but there is no way to confirm. The whole base is burning, and it is definitely suicide to jump inside. We might have been able to save anyone if we managed to respond early, but even the earliest toe, General Calcedo and his men, are alreadyte."


    "Okay, this is it for now." The Chairman spoke to the radio. "Report to me once something important happened."


    "Yes, Chairman."


    And there, the radio went silent.


    "F*ck..."


    The Chairman cursed his luck. Because of this disaster, everything he built and his future ns turned to ashes, literally.


    Of all ces, why was it the base of the Powder Gang? There were many ces where the lightning strikes hit, but only the base of the gang caught on fire.


    Yes, the man called Chairman, currently known as Pedro Kakahuyan, 66, was the secret backer of the Powder Gang. He was a rich entrepreneur in the field of medicine business. He owned an entire chain of pharmacies nationwide.


    Known as a great man, he had several foundations under his name. Not to mention the news of him donating to other foundations to help the poor and the sick.


    At the moment, he was working with the remains of the Philippine Government to manage the settlement, being the medicine distributor for the military.


    Who would have known that under this guisey a corrupt individual? A man who led the distribution of illegal drugs in the shadows.


    "Crowell..."


    The Chairman called out, even though there was no one but him inside and outside his office.


    Hearing no reply, the Chairman spoke once more.


    "I know you are here."


    "Hah..."


    A sigh was heard inside the supposedly empty office. It was then that a crow appeared out of nowhere, flying around the ceiling beforending to the side of the wall.


    Once the crownded, however, it was not a bird that stood there but a man wearing a ck hooded robe that covered his face.


    "What do you need from me?"


    The hooded man, Crowell, asked. From his voice, it sounded like he was young, around his early twenties.


    "I''m pretty sure you know what is happening." The Chairman said with a frown. "What are we supposed to do now?"


    To the question that was asked back to him, Crowell only shrugged.


    "Why are you asking me? I''m only your supplier, that''s the extent of our contract. Whatever you do to the product, whatever happened to it, or whatever your n is had nothing to do with me."


    The Chairman frowned even more. He was already in an extremely foul mood. And now, the man in front of him was not helping. However, he decided to hold his anger inside.


    He might be able to cuss on anyone in the settlement, including the president if he was not holding onto his current image. Anyone but Crowell.


    Crowell had a huge organization behind him and his only lifeline. He could lose anything but not his connection to Crowell.


    "Anyway," Crowell spoke all of a sudden. "Who did your men piss off this time?"


    The question came out of nowhere, making the Chairman livid.


    "What did you say?"


    The Chairman asked Crowell.


    "I said. Who did your men piss off this time?"


    Crowell repeated.<sub> </sub>


    However, the Chairman was still confused and could not answer the question.


    Seeing that the old Chairman was confused, Crowell let out another sigh and exined.


    "What happened to your Powder Gang is not just some natural phenomenon," Crowell exined. "Someone powerful attacked them. A powerful being capable of controlling the weather. That''s why I''m asking you who did your men angered to receive such a retaliation."


    Confusion and shock. That was what the Chairman felt after hearing the words from Crowell. It was unbelievable that such a terrifying event was made by someone and not just some strange coincidence.


    Without minding the Chairman''s expression, Crowell continued to speak.


    "I already warned you before. The current Earth is different from the Earth in the past. The dimensional wall between the mortal world and the spiritual world was gone. Both dimensions are already fused. That is why hidden masters and powerful beings are beginning to appear. Be careful on who you are trying to make enemies of."


    "That''s impossible!" The Chairman finally snapped and replied in agitation as he stood up from his chair. "Aside from the gangs in the slums, my men never shed with anyone! And so far, the only enemy we had with status is that pesky Perez. And he''s amon enemy with many of us. So far since he arrived, nothing like this happened!"


    As he heard those agitated words from the Chairman, Crowell could not help but tap his concealed chin.


    "Now that you mentioned General Perez, I think I heard about you and your allies nning somethingst night. Didn''t that n involved someone else?"


    That question made the Chairman froze. Crowell was right. Everything was going the same until today when they nned something different. A factor that they did not think of initially. After all, all the stories about that guy sounded like fairytales.


    "That can''t be," The Chairman slowly sat down on his seat. "Are you saying that this is caused by that wanted man?"


    "Hmm? I don''t know." Crowell replied, shaking his head and gesturing with empty hands. "I''m just specting. However, it''s only the odd factor so far."


    As he heard the spections from Crowell, the Chairman immediately grabbed the radio. He contacted his men near the burning base of the Powder Gang and inquired the report from General Calcedo, who was on site. Since the n had justmenced a couple of hours ago, he and his allies had yet to receive the report of the result of the n.


    And after hearing the report from the frustrated Marines Commandant''s mouth, the Chairman slumped on his chair.


    "The n did not yield any result." The Chairman spoke. "There''s no trace of the target despite the lookouts saying otherwise."


    "Then, you people are screwed, in that case," Crowell said with a shrug. "You guys are blinded by greed, neglecting the other factors."


    "But those are nothing but rumors! All the information about him sounds exaggerated! Unbelievable and no basis!"


    The Chairman emotionally said as he slumped down on his table, holding his head in agitation.


    "Haaahh... Seriously." Crowell looked at his client with a troubled tone in his voice. "Rumors, folklore, legends... All might sound unbelievable, but none of them start without a basis. Seriously, it seemed that you already forgot how you got into a mess in the past. It all started with a rumor until your shady deals were exposed and you had to change persona to keep your freedom."


    The Chairman fell silent. All the ridiculousness of the report about the target was something none of them believed to be true. Now that this happened, it was better to reconsider their ns in the future. Even more, so since the Powder Gang, he supported in the shadows, was now destroyed.


    After a moment of silence, the Chairman stood up.


    "Where are you going now?"


    Crowell asked.


    "I need to gather my allies and discuss the situation." The Chairman replied and turned to Crowell. "As for our deal, stop the supply of drugs for now."


    "It''s fine with me," Crowell replied. "But what are you going to do with the excess points you have from the deal? I''m telling you that I can''t return it."


    The Chairman stopped for a bit to think and replied.


    "Are those points enough to buy information from you?"


    "It depends on what information."


    Crowell replied.


    "Then, what about information about the wanted man."


    The Chairman asked.


    "Well, it won''t be enough," Crowell replied negatively. "We are talking about a possibly powerful being here. The puny excess points you have don''t weigh as much as the danger of investigating such a being."


    The Chairman could not help but frown. However, he understood that Crowell would not lie about prices to a client. It was a rule within Crowell''s organization.


    "Then, how about information about the people close to that man in this settlement? I believe that is enough."


    The Chairman changed his target.


    Crowell thought for a bit and nodded.


    "It should be enough. Is that order final?"


    "There''s nothing I can do. Just draw the contract."


    The Chairman replied decisively.


    And there, Crowell began to recite an incantation, causing a small magic circle to appear in front of him, summoning a magical owl.


    Of course, it was a [Wise Owl] of the merchants of the Crystallus Notitia Coetus.


    With the [Wise Owl] as a witness, the new contract was drafted between the merchant and the client.


    And without further ado, Crowell turned into a crow, disappearing from the room to fulfill his end of the deal.


    On the other hand, the Chairman went on his way to gather his allies for a meeting.


    All of this happened discreetly with only the merchant and the client in the know.


    For now, the Chairman''s ns were put into a defensive stance. Before, he nned to slowly put the settlement under his control through the use of the illegal drug trade. Now knowing that they might have taken more than they could chew, he was thinking of ns to preserve his safety.


    Unfortunately, greed knows no bounds.


    Wanting to get ahold of power, there were those who would resort to drastic measures.


    And now, the situation within the settlement was turning into a direction that no one expected.

 Chapter 814 Under The Guise Of The Night, Sneaking Into The Safezone To Meet Some People

    <strong>Day 202 - 9:21 AM - Marivelles Bay, Vige of Sisiman, Municipality of Mariveles, Province of Bataan</strong>


    The Bay of Mariveles. Far different from what it looked like in the past, it was now smaller as thend epassed its boundaries. It was about eight kilometers away northwest of Corregidor Ind in the past. Now, it was only around six kilometers away from the northwestern beach of Corregidor Ind.


    With the Mt. San Miguel and Sisiman Lighthouse at the southmost beach of the vige, it was a pretty popr tourist spot for those who wanted a scenic view of Mariveles Bay and Corregidor Ind further away.


    Of course, everything was now abandoned. The foundation of the lighthouse managed to survive the earthquake, but more than three-fourths of the structure fell and got buried beneath the newnd.


    Right now, however... This abandoned ce was inhabited by arge metallic cube. It was no other than the [Mini Cube]. The floating vessel of the [Humanoid Chimera], Chimetrice, and the [Elder Subus], Illia.


    Well, the [Mini Cube] just stayed here for no more than a day so far. But as it seemed, the group they were waiting for returned too early somehow.


    And now, using the destroyed base of the lighthouse, a campsite was erected for the group to rest in. Since Mark''s group returnedte at night yesterday, the discussion was rescheduled for the next morning. Apparently, they watched the entiremotion in the settlement, which did not calm down even before they left.


    Surely, Mark''s deed was not something that could be easily forgotten by those that witnessed it, not to mention that the fire from the burning base of the Powder Gang had yet to burn outpletely.


    "You all returned too early. Did something go wrong?"


    Illia asked Mark and his group as they settled down to their seats.


    The one to answer was not Mark, however.


    "The remnants of this country''s government are so messed up," Spera spoke. "They had Mark on their wanted list and are proactively hunting him."


    With Spera''s words as the start, Illia and Chimetrice heard the details from Mark.


    "Woah. Are those people idiots?"


    That was Illia''s reaction.


    "People in the past are considered barbarianspared to modern humans. Still, they are way better in returning favors."


    Chimetrice voiced his disappointment.


    In Bay City, Mark saved the settlement from the hands of [Auraboros]. There were casualties beforehand, especially those sacrificed to revive the [me Demon], Gar''m, which could not be helped. However, things would have gone worse if not for Mark''s interference.


    While it might just be in Bay City, it was still a part of the remnants of this country, not to mention governed by the military. And it was under the government.


    Mark did a good thing for them, only to be turned into a wanted criminal for killing a few politicians that schemed against his family. Yes, vignte justice was shunned by thew, but that was the past. The remnants of the government were even letting drug addicts rule a portion of their territory. Yet, they were chasing after the man that saved their asses.


    And it was all because of greed for something they did not have. The greed for the ability to turn people into [Mutators] and [Evolvers] without any consequences.


    "What are the ns now?" Illia asked. "Are we heading south already?"


    At the question, Mark nced at Mei.


    "Not yet," Mark answered. "We''ll stay here for today to cool down the situation. Then, we will sneak inside the fortress walls tonight."


    "You and Mei?" Illia asked, looking at the two. "What for?"


    "We''ll just meet some people," Mark replied. "It won''t take that long, so everyone should just stay here."


    Everyone understood Mark''s words, even the little girls. Since Mark and Mei would need to sneak inside a heavily guarded ce, they could note.


    As for why Mark and Mei would go infiltrate the ce, it was for personal reasons. Although they did manage to meet Mark''s friends in the White Snake Gang and learn about the situation of the others, there were still some people they wanted to meet.


    For Mei, it was Angeline and Pa. They were her first true friends, after all.


    And for Mark, it was actually the wife of General Perez, Angelise. He did not intend to meet her personally but just see her current state. Mark did not know why he wanted to check, but it may be because she resembled Freed''s mother. There was no need to mention that Angelise should have a direct connection with Freed''s ancestry.


    With these ns in mind, Mark''s group spent the day around the ruins of the lighthouse. They got attacked a few times by either the [Infected] or [Feral Evolved Animals]. But with the whole group together, these threats did not even stand a chance.


    ***


    <strong>Day 202 - 8:11 PM - Marivelles Bay, Vige of Sisiman, Municipality of Mariveles, Province of Bataan</strong>


    Time sure passed fast while idling around. It was already a couple of hours past sunset. After Mark and his group ate their dinner, it was time for Mark and Mei to depart.h


    "I''ll leave the girls to you two, alright?"


    Mark said to Spera and Feng Zhiruo.


    "There is no need to worry."


    Feng Zhiruo nodded.


    "Yeah, just go." Spera chimed in. "And return quickly."


    "You three behave while we are gone, alright?"


    Mei said to the three girls, making Mark shrug at the side.


    There was no need to tell the three to behave. The most childish one, Miracle, was not even as willful as human children.


    And there, the two left while being watched by the rest of the group.


    "Seriously, why won''t they leave their children to me?"


    Illiained while watching Mark and Mei fly away.


    And to Illia''sint, Spera replied.


    "You should look at yourself first before asking."<sub> </sub>


    That was right. There was no way that Mark and Mei would leave their daughters to a Subus. What kinds of odd behaviors would they learn if they were left under a lusty being''s care.


    ***


    Leaving the campsite at the ruined lighthouse, Mark and Mei flew hidden by the darkness of the night sky. Since it was a cloudless night, the two flew high as they possibly could.


    "Gege, do you know where they are staying?"


    Mei asked Mark as they flew over the waters of western Man Bay.


    Of course, Mei could not help but ask. Their conversation with General Perez was cut off too short. It was barely even a conversation.


    "It''s at the northwest side near the northern gates," Mark replied. "General Perez is renting a whole building for his family and loyal subordinates. Carren and Markron said that the rent gets more expensive the closer it is to the center of the Safezone. Since General Perez doesn''t have much to offer, they could only get a building near the walls."


    It was a piece of information that Mark learned from Carren and Markron when they talked the other night on the roof of the base of the White Snake Gang. After they apologized for the past events, they talked about several things that night. It included why the gang was named as it was. The name was definitely not in Carren nor Markron''s taste from what Mark remembered.


    In any case, Mark learned the general area of where General Perez and his entourage stayed.


    "Rent..." Mei murmured. "It''s definitely not paid with money."


    "Of course not." Mark nodded. "The payment varied from supplies to materials from [Evolved Animals] or [Mutated Infected]. Everything is converted to credits, though. They started using those materials to make weapons and armor sold at the trading area near the gates. From what I know, General Perez actually used the research papers I brought from Infanta as initial payment."


    "Aren''t they gathering [Mutators] and [Evolvers] inside?" Mei asked as she thought of something. "What if those people can''t pay the rent."


    "Well, I don''t know about that." Mark shook his head. "Maybe they have some free space for those people but not enough to livefortably. Or else, renting houses and buildings won''t have meaning."


    Mark could only make an assumption as he did not have any information to answer Mei''s question. However, what he thought was actually on point. The enticement of the Safezone was not exactly the dwellings but the safety behind the walls. Thus, most people inside did not mind the small rooms they were given initially as they could move once they had enough to pay the rent somewhere else.


    Flying across the sky, Mark and Mei reached the sky above the Safezone rather quickly. The only things left for them to do were to find a secluded ce and the right timing to fly down.


    It was easy to find a good ce tond. After all, they were looking from the sky. The timing also came fast. The patrols were doing their rounds and left the vicinity of the area.


    With that, Mark and Mei held hands and dove down to the ground. And once they reached a height, where they could be seen by the guards atop the walls, Mark used his [Shadow Mist Movement] to turn into a surge of ck mist with Mei. The twonded safely without getting any unwanted attention. It was rather nerve-racking since Mark''s [Shadow Mist Movement] had limited distance. The two of them repeatedly appeared and disappeared beforending.


    Mark could use the [Photokinesis Mental Crystal] to use optical camouge, but he went against it. Using the crystals emit quite a ripple of magical energy into the surroundingspared to using their own abilities. Since they were sneaking into an unfamiliar ce, who would know if someone with high enough magical sense was present inside.


    Landing safely, the two hid their wings. It was unneeded and would only serve as a hindrance while moving behind buildings and alleys.


    And from here, Mark would use his abilities as a [Empath] to search for the right location.


    With Mark''s abilities, it only took a second. The familiar emotional fluctuations of people they knew were just a couple of buildings away.


    Mark and Mei began moving. With Mark''s [Empath] abilities serving as a radar, it was easy to bypass the patrols roaming around the streets.


    Soon, the two stood behind a walledpound. Mark wondered if everyone inside thepound was with General Perez since the building where the emotional fluctuations wereing from was inside.


    Nodding to Mei as a signal, the two of them jumped over the wall and went straight to the tallest building inside. The building was not one built vertically. It was a three-floor structure built horizontally like amercial apartment building.


    However, now that they were close, Mark could not help but frown.


    "Gege, is something wrong?"


    Mei noticed the sudden change in Mark''s demeanor.


    "I didn''t realize since I''m only paying attention to the fluctuation from General Perez... Angeline and Pa aren''t here. Elsa is not here either," Mark exined. "More importantly, everyone is agitated."


    Mei could not help but worry after hearing Mark''s words. Those were definitely not good signs.


    "Let''s go."


    Mark said as he held Mei''s right hand. The two of them then turned into a surge of ck mist that crept up the walls of the building into a particr room.


    ***


    "Dad, what are we going to do?"


    "Are we not going already?"


    "We should start searching!"


    "Where are we going to search then?"


    "It''s already past the night curfew! Do you all want to get caught?!"


    Inside the room, a tense discussion was ongoing. Angry, worried, and panicked voices ovepped one another.


    "Damn it... Just why in the world is this happening..."


    General Perez''s weak voice could be barely heard among the noise. However, he was clearly worried sick about something.


    "Miguel...Dear..."


    A weak voice of a woman entered the General''s ear as his wife sat beside him with a worried face.


    <strong>BANG!</strong>


    The noise was suddenly ovepped by the loud sound of someone punching the wall.


    "Sh*t..." There, the General''s eldest son, Rafael, stood with his blood-covered hands. "Just where the hell did those three go to?"


    All of a sudden, the noise died down with a loud bang. It was when everyone realized that the people inside the room increased by two.

 Chapter 815 The Chaotic Plans, Marks Offer To The General At A Loss

    <strong>Day 202 - 8:51 PM - Northwest Military Compound, Safezone, Corregidor Military Settlement, Ind of Corregidor, Province of Cavite</strong>


    Slumped on his chair at the building''s meeting area on the third floor, General Perez was at a loss. It was not only him. All the people present were in a simr state.


    Nheless, General Perez and his family were in the worst state of mind, along with two more people. One was Cielo, and the other was Pauline.


    What happened?


    Last night, when everyone less expected it, three people disappeared from thepound they were in.


    One who was missing was Angeline, the only daughter of General Perez. She went missing with her childhood friend, Pa, Pauline''s daughter, and Elsa, Cielo''s eldest sister.


    No one knew how or when it exactly happened. It was only put to everyone''s attention after Cielo started freaking outst night.


    The rooms of the building General Perez rented were limited. Because of this, everyone was obligated to share rooms. In the case of the three missing women, they were sharing the same room together with Cielo.


    Last night, however...


    Cielo went out a bit to go to the toilet before midnight. It took her a little while since there were no proper water facilities installed in this ce and the outhouses were outside the building.


    Once Cielo returned to the room, the other three were already gone. At first, she thought they went out for a bit since they were still chatting when she left. It was not new since they would sometimes gaze at the stars to try and forget how chaotic the current world was, even for a moment.


    Cielo could not make herself fall asleep and waited. However, the three never returned. It made Cielo extremely suspicious. She began knocking from room to room and asking anyone she came across if they saw her sister or the other two.


    But none, no one saw them.


    With no result to her search, Cielo went straight to General Perez. Her heart was filled with nervousness.


    Knowing that his daughter was suspiciously missing, General Perez immediately conducted a search within thepound. The search continued until the following day. However, not a single clue was found.


    Nheless, they knew they were very likely to be kidnapped. It was shameful to admit. Three women vanished without a trace from theirpound. A ce where soldiers lived and somewhere supposedly secure.


    General Perez wanted to conduct a search outside thepound and around the [Safezone]. Even the tiniest clue of where the three were brought to or who could possibly be the mastermind would help.


    Unfortunately, the emergency lockdown from yesterday was yet to be lifted. No one was allowed outside their homes or out of the gates without official business. General Perez tried to lead a group of his men to personally lead the search, but they were blocked by other soldiers under the directmand of the government.


    Although it was not wrong to say that General Perez and his soldiers were also under the government, they were currently on the opposition''s side. That was why the security of the [Safezone] was handled by another branch of the Philippine Armed Forces. And they were receiving direct orders from the government.


    And due to these circumstances, General Perez was not as free to roam the [Safezone] as he pleased, not to mention other people he was allied with.


    It was a clear ploy against him and his allies. And probably, a way to stop him from searching for his daughter.


    If this was the case, it was very likely that the one that took his daughter and her friends was someone high up the top brass.


    General Perez was on edge...


    Of course, General Perez could consider rebelling against the current government. However, no matter how his daughter could be in danger, he could not push himself to start a rebellion.


    Doing so would cause a bloodbath. A civil war within the fortress walls of the [Safezone]. General Perez would not mind the deaths of the enemies as much. However, he could not lead his men to their deaths on an uncertain endeavor.


    The decisions General Perez would take would not only affect his or his family''s lives. It would include the lives of everyone following him and their loved ones.


    Moreover, while they could not take direct action, the current government''s forces were far superior inparison to General Perez and his allies.


    The stakes were higher for General Perez and his allies to lose if a direct confrontation was to happen.


    And because everyone understood this fact, no one knew what to do.


    Furthermore, without any ims or messages, no one knew why the three girls were kidnapped all of a sudden. In the worst case, they could be used to put a cor on General Perez.


    Everyone stormed their brains and proposed ideas. However, none were usible at the current state of things.


    General Perez and his faction were backed into a corner because of this incident.


    In the first ce, if they wanted to save the three girls, they needed to find where they were being held at. But they could not do any searching, making everything else dangerous to do.


    And during the time they were backed into a wall of despair, a rather familiar voice echoed in the room.


    "General, what happened?"


    Everyone''s attention was immediately thrown towards the windows of the meeting area. It was not surprising that their first action was to take their weapons out of their holsters and aim at the sudden intruders.


    Many of them were rather surprised, however. Two people appeared out of nowhere as if they went in from outside the window. However, there was no sound or any hint that they entered. They just appeared out of thin air.


    However, even though the room was only lighted by a few oilmps, General Perez gazed at the intruders and immediately recognized the male one.


    "Put down your weapons."


    General Perez ordered everyone as he stood up from his chair.


    "But, General!"


    A soldier hesitated, which was reasonable due to the sudden appearance of the intruders.


    "I won''t repeat what I said."


    General Perez warned his men before turning to the intruders, approaching them.


    Of course, General Perez would recognize the intruders. In the first ce, there were only a group of people that General Perez knew to possibly have the ability to just appear like this.<sub> </sub>


    Seeing the General''s reaction, Mark nodded to Mei, and the two removed the masks they were wearing. Having their appearance seen now did not matter anymore. Besides, Mark understood that everyone in this room was, without a doubt, a loyal ally of General Perez.


    And to say, most of the people here recognized the two. It was impossible not to recognize Mei, who was well known during her stay in Bay City. There was also her partner, Mark, who just appeared one day, saving Bay City from the threats several times.


    In this dimly lit room, it was as if everyone suddenly saw the light.


    If they could not do something, these two possibly could.


    "B-Bro!"


    Cielo saw hope at Mark''s sudden arrival. She could not help but rush to him, holding his hands.


    "My sister! S-she''s missing! W-we don''t know what to do!"


    Cielo began to cry. She seemed to be holding it until now, keeping a tough front and searching for answers. She could not cry if she wanted to find a way to find her sister.


    But now, her effort to hide it crumbled. Cielo was really worried. Well, who would not?


    Mark could not help but flinch a little. Cielo called him Bro because both her older sisters did. Nheless, he was not that close to Cielo, and they were just more or less acquaintances. Getting his hand being held like this by Cielo while crying was kind of ufortable. However, he understood her worries, so he did not show any negative reactions.


    Instead, Mark turned to General Perez.


    "I''m sorry." The General apologized, despite being in front of everyone. "We should be protecting your friends here, and yet, Elsa was kidnapped under our noses."


    Mark stared at General Perez silently. This General still apologized, even though he was simrly a victim in this event.


    From the General, Mark''s eyes fell on Pauline. Mark met this woman a few times in Bay City since she was Pa''s mother. However, Mark did not proactively interact with her. After all, this woman had the same ability as her daughter, the ability to see lies. That mother and daughter sure were tricky people to deal with.


    Pauline also stared at Mark. She was not saying anything but her eyes were particrly begging.


    Andstly, Mark''s eyes fell on Angelise, the wife of General Perez. Seeing her appearance, Mark''s mood became a bit lighter. After waking up from hera, it seemed that she was recovered steadily. She looked healthy now. Well, physically, at least. She was definitely mentally exhausted due to the kidnapping of her daughter.


    From here, Mark decided to hear the details of everything that happened. Not only about the kidnapping but also some topics that Mark wanted to hear during his meeting with General Perez at the base of the White Snake Gang.


    It included the current structure of the so-called government and the enemies of General Perez.


    And after hearing enough, Mark posed a question towards General Perez. It was a question that made the room deadly still and filled with silence.


    "General... Do you want to lead this settlement?"


    It was a question that no one expected. No, rather than a question, it was a proposition.


    Mark was proposing for General Perez to be the leader of the Corregidor Military Settlement.


    The General could not help but stare at Mark. Unfortunately, Mark did not seem to be joking. However, General Perez could not answer such a question all of a sudden.


    Yes, he had been the leader of Bay City Military Settlement. However, that and this werepletely different things. In Bay City, he was the leader since the apocalypse started. Everyone already saw him as the leader as they arrived, and it continued until its copse.


    Here, it was different.


    If the current leadership of the settlement was suddenly handed unto someone else, loyalty and support would be a major issue. After all, not everyone here came from Bay City. Most of the poption in this settlement either the original survivors or came from a different military settlement. There would likely be a lot of opposition and power struggle.


    Everyone around could not me the General''s silence. It was too much of responsibility even for him to lead this settlement.


    But to the General''s silence, Mark pushed on.


    "I can possibly save your daughter and without shedding too much blood. But what after that? This could happen again. And at that time, I will not be here. Things like this will happen again and again. Not only to your loved ones but also to those people connected to me. I left their protection to you because I know you can be trusted. And you won''t be able to protect all if the root of the problem isn''t cut."


    And the root of the problem was the remnants of the government leading this settlement.


    Once Mark cut off the root, it was likely for this settlement to be leaderless.


    Unfortunately, General Perez was still hesitating. And here, Mark spoke his true intentions.


    "Well, you didn''t have to think deeply. Whether you answer yes or no, I already nned to cut the roots, anyway."


    "!"


    General Perez sure was speechless. It meant that his answer did not really matter at all. But that was the problem. If he said no, Mark would leave the settlement leaderless. If no one was to im it immediately, various powers would try to take it, even by force.


    At that time, even if General Perez wanted it or not, a war for leadership would happen, causing an unreasonable number of lives to be sacrificed in order to gain control of this ce.


    And no matter what his answer was, General Perez and his faction would likely get dragged into this.


    Considering that while General Perez and his faction could not contend with the government, they would likely win against other factions here in Corregidor Military Settlement. He had Mark''s friends and people with him, who were all [Evolvers] and [Mutators].


    In the end, while more blood was shed, General Perez would end up its leader.


    "You..." General Perez sighed. "You''re not really giving me a choice in this matter, are you? You''re just warning me of what''s going to happen."


    And to that, Mark smirked.


    "Yep. Well, it''s not absolute. Mishaps can happen here and there, like right now. In any case, you don''t have a choice. The only choice you have is whether you are going to take the easy route or the hard route."


    At this point, there was no point in thinking. The only option was to ept it.


    Finally, the "weeding" of the Corregidor Military Settlement began, instigated by the embodiment of chaos.

 Chapter 816 Infiltrating The Central Safezone, A Facility Under The Corregidor Military Settlement

    <strong>Day 202 - 11:24 PM - Presidential Mansion, Central Area, Safezone, Corregidor Military Settlement, Ind of Corregidor, Province of Cavite</strong>


    It was almost half an hour before midnight. Usually, because of the rules of the [Safezone], the night should be as silent and peaceful as possible. Tonight was different from others, however.


    The Presidential Mansion. It was the most secure ce in the entire settlement. Not only was the mansion the center of the [Safezone], its facilities prioritized safety instead of aesthetics.


    All types of security measures were installed around the mansion. From soldier-manned watchtowers to security cameras, it was not hard to think that the people that made this were highly paranoid.


    Tonight, even though it was already near midnight, the mansion was bustling with activity. And the tension could be perceived by everyone inside.


    Inside the presidential office, the highest authorities of the settlement gathered. Of course, at the center of it all was the current president, Roderick Deroa. Standing in front of the window behind his seat, he was watching the night sky.


    "It''s almost midnight. Miguel Perez should be really anxious by now." President Roderick spoke before turning towards the people behind him. "How are his movements?"


    The president''s eyes fell on a man who had just arrived, wearing some sort of military uniform. It was different from those known for the soldiers of this country to wear. Instead of either greenish or grayish military camouge, he wore apletely ck suit paired with a ck mask to cover his face.


    "General Perez had yet to make any forceful movements. Although it was suspicious that the soldiers following him were gathering inside theirpound."


    "It looks like he finally decided." President Roderick nodded before his eyes locked onto one of the people inside the room. "Manuel, is our troops ready to skirmish?"


    The Military Chief of Staff, Major General Manuel Bautista, replied to the president''s question.


    "Our soldiers are stationed inside and outside the Presidential Mansion and within the surrounding buildings. We have the geographical advantage once a skirmish happens."


    "Good." President Roderick turned towards the window once more. "Everything is all going ording to n. All that is left is for our target to appear."


    The Chief of Staff stepped back to his position. His face, however, had aplicated expression.


    Three women were kidnapped under the president''s orders. It was an intolerable act considering they were supposed to be the pirs protecting their citizens. Yet, because some people became an eyesore for those in positions, they resorted to these criminal acts.


    Unfortunately, the president is the Commander-in-Chief of the armed forces byw. Even the Chief of Staff had to follow the president''s orders.


    Even though the orders went against the way of justice, they wanted to follow.


    Many soldiers hated the government and the way it managed the country. Behind every good thing, there were a couple more bad things within the government.


    However, not all soldiers had the bravery to go against the government and follow their own sense of justice.


    Not everyone was like General Perez and his followers.


    General Perez was brave enough to face the people on top and follow his ideals. Thus, he was seen as an eyesore. Unfortunately for those that hated General Perez, taking him out was not an easy thing to do.


    The Philippines was a democratic country. Themon popce might not have the power alone, but the Filipino people were known to bond together against injustice.


    There were already three times where the popce caused the president to step down from their position during the country''s history of democracy. The power of the masses in this country was not something easy to abolish.


    And currently, General Perez was the one who had the support of the masses at this time. If he was suddenly assassinated, it would be easy to pinpoint the perpetrators. It was no secret that the General was shing with the current government, after all.


    Furthermore, as they try to reestablish the government and itsws, it would be harder to start things against the existing rules.


    And it was the reason why they had to kidnap the General''s daughter. A simple kidnapping could be med on anyone. Furthermore, there was no concrete evidence on who did it. However, the only goal of this was to rile up the General. To force him to take up arms and go head to head with the government.


    If General Perez did that, he would be legally charged with rebellion. Even with the support of the people, a criminal was a criminal. Even if the people still wanted to support General Perez, many of them would hesitate to do so.


    And now, it seemed that General Perez began to gather his troops and allies.


    A bloody encounter this time would be inevitable.


    ***


    <strong>SWOOSH!</strong>


    Inside the very same mansion, a surge of ck mist lurked along the hallways.


    The ck mist then turned into a corner before turning into a humanoid being.


    Of course, that surge of ck mist was no one else but Mark.


    After giving General Perez the proposal to lead this settlement, Mark began discussing what they could do in the current situation. The discussion and preparation took some time. Some even feared that the lives of the three kidnapped women were getting into more danger as time passed by.


    However, Mark thought otherwise. The very likely reason for the three to be kidnapped was to lure him out along with General Perez. But, of course, General Perez must be their primary goal at the moment. Since even though Mark deliberately showed that he and his group were here, their whereabouts were still an unknown variable.


    They might be thinking that Mark would be drawn by the battle they were expecting to happen. But by the looks of it, they were not too sure of it to happen.


    Thatpse, however, made it easier for Mark to infiltrate the ce.


    It was a good thing Mark never showed his cards to anyone back in Bay City. The people there might know of his existence. However, there was barely anything they knew about his abilities.


    None of the current government would expect Mark could move through the smallest gaps by turning into a surge of mist. And now, he infiltrated the supposedly most secure ce inside the Safezone without breaking a sweat. It was literally a piece of cake.


    Nheless, Mark was being careful.


    It was unexpected, but Mark could detect some powerful beings around the mansion. Although it would not be surprising if he detected someone who could be a member of CNC. However, it did not seem to be the case here.


    Since his primary goal in this infiltration was to save the three kidnapped girls, he wanted not to cause anymotion if possible.


    But another unexpected thing...


    Mark looked at the floor beneath him. He was standing right above where he was detecting Elsa, Angeling, and Pa. About nine meters or so below him.


    It was odd. Who would have a basement that was nine meters deep?


    But thinking about it, the mansion might have had some sort of bunker under it. It would not be surprising considering that this was a Presidential Mansion.


    This was a rather clever move by the government. No one would find the kidnapped girls if they were put in such a location.


    Unfortunately, it was kind of troublesome for Mark too. Now, he had to find where the entrance of that bunker could possibly be.


    Scratching his head, Mark turned into a surge of mist once more. There was no time to idle around. General Perez and the others were also waiting.


    "Wh-Ugh!!!"


    Mark appeared in the most luxurious room inside the mansion. The first thing he did was to knock out the only person inside. It was a woman.


    "The firstdy, huh..."


    Mark said as he put the woman on the bed. He remembered the woman''s face since he had seen her on the inte. However, he could not recall her name for some reason. He probably did not pay much attention.<sub> </sub>


    In any case, if the firstdy was here, it must be the bedroom of the president. It was one of the best locations to put the entrance of a bunker.


    And Mark was not mistaken.


    It took some time to search the room. But Mark found the electronically locked entrance under the bed. He found it suspicious that the bed seemed to be oddly high. At it appeared, the space under the bed was a crawlspace to the entrance.


    And... Mark did not have the passcode.


    "Seriously... they nned this cautiously..."


    Mark murmured.


    The entrance in front of him surely was not the sole entrance to the bunker. After all, there was no way they would bring the three kidnapped women all the way into the presidential suite.


    In any case, it was the entrance easiest to find.


    Turning into a surge of ck mist, Mark pushed himself into the gaps of the keys of the panel into the wiring system of the entrance.


    In a second, Mark popped out from the keypad on the other side of the entrance.


    Turning back into his original form, Mark carefully traversed the hallway. He even took out the [Photokinesis Mental Crystal] and covered himself with [Optical Camouge].


    Although it might alert some of the powerful beings if he was not careful, it was better than getting caught by the numerous cameras all over the hallway.


    "This really is unexpected..." Mark murmured while looking around. "It feels like I''m exploring some sort of properly maintained Vault."


    Mark was not wrong with this feeling. Contrary to the apocalyptic atmosphere outside, inside the bunker was theplete opposite.


    The walls and floor of the ce were clean, lights were installed everywhere, and it was very secure.


    As Mark continued along, he noticed facilities necessary for survival underground.


    However, it was very empty.


    There were very few people inside. Most of them seemed to be scientists conducting research inside this ce.


    "This ce is not something constructed after the world changed..."


    Mark said.


    It was impossible for this underground facility to be built in a month. It meant that this ce managed to survive the over magnitude ten earthquake during the fusion of dimensions.


    It was really surprising.


    But most of all...


    "Did our country have the budget to build something like this?"


    The Philippines was a country with a whole lot of debt. Although Mark was unsure, he did not think that this country was capable of building something like this.


    With those thoughts, Mark avoided the security roaming the facility, along with the scientists that appeared tock sleep.


    Soon, Mark stopped in front of another electronically locked door. The three women, Elsa, Angeline, and Pa, were inside.


    The three of them were still awake. Furthermore, they were not restrained in any way. However, there was no way for them to escape this ce. They very likely tried tinkering with the keypad inside. However, it would be hard for them to guess the passcode.


    Using the gaps of the keys once more, Mark entered the room.


    The three women sure were surprised by the sudden ck mist that seeped out of the keypad. Furthermore, the ck mist transformed into a masked man in ck clothing.


    But when the man removed his mask...


    "Mark?!"


    "Bro!"


    The three women eximed, seeing the familiar face.


    "Shh!" Mark hushed the three. "Not too loud."


    The three understood and covered their mouths. They began ncing at the surveince camera in the ceiling.


    Mark looked at it too. Well, Mark was already ahead, though.


    He already expected that there would be a camera inside. Thus, aside from the three women, the light in front of the camera was already manipted by Mark.


    Using the [Photokinesis Mental Crystal], he caused some extreme white noise to block the camera from transmitting a clear video. This was way better than destroying the camera since the person managing the camera would only think of this to be some sort of camera malfunction.


    It was the first time the three met Mark for a long time. However, the pleasantries wouldeter. For now, the most important was...


    "Mark, are you here to get us out?"


    Angeline fearlessly asked Mark in a whisper while looking in the opposite direction.


    "Yeah, I am," Mark replied. "The three of you are fine, right?"


    "Yeah, we''re good."


    Pa answered.


    "Then, let''s go. We don''t have much time."


    Mark urged the three.


    "But Bro..." Elsa looked at Mark. "How are we going out?"


    Of course, they saw Mark enter using a strange method. But they could not do the same.


    "Just hold unto me tight."


    Mark said.


    The three girls could not understand what Mark wanted to do. However, there was no choice, really. Not to mention that Pa knew that Mark was not lying. Just holding unto him tightly would let them get out of this room.

 Chapter 817 Unexpected Help, Getting Out Of The Underground Facility

    <strong>Day 203 - 12:11 AM - Underground Facility, Central Area, Safezone, Corregidor Military Settlement, Ind of Corregidor, Province of Cavite</strong>


    Getting the three women out of their holding cell, they began to carefully traverse its almost empty hallways.


    All Mark needed to do was retrace his steps back to the entrance he used. Still, he could not believe that such a facility existed under this settlement.


    Mark found the three on the third floor down. But it did not mean that this facility only had three. In fact, there seemed to be seven floors, as Mark saw the number of keys from one of the elevators he passed by.


    In any case, no matter how unexpected things were, it was not Mark''s problem. He only needed to bring Elsa, Angeline, and Pa out onto the rooftop of the Presidential Mansion.


    The three women, on the other hand, stuck closely behind Mark. The three of them were brave people, which made them look like they were fine. However, being kidnapped was still a traumatic experience. Now that someone came to save them, they followed his words without questions and by instinct.


    In fact, the minds of the three girls were filled with questions. One of those questions was the magic-like ability that Mark used. Turning into a surge of mist to get in and out of the room. It was the first time they saw it, after all. Nheless, the three did not voice any questions. They knew the situation they were in and decided to stay silent.


    Mark was quite pleased with the demeanor of the three. He could not have another Spera following him around. That girl did not know how to hold back and questioned him a whole lot after seeing what Mark did to the base of the Powder Gang.


    As Mark led the three across the facility, he could not help but notice something strange. The guards patrolling the halls were getting lesser and lesser.


    Furthermore...


    "What are you two doing here?"


    Mark said after they climbed the second floor.


    Although Mark was still covering his group with [Optical Camouge], he was sure that the two people in front of him knew he was here. After all...


    "So, you''re really here, Sir Mark."


    Nia smiled at the empty space in front of her.


    Both Nia and Allen, the two [Inheritors] from Bay City, stood before Mark. It was not surprising that they could find Mark since there was a subtle connection between the [Inheritors] of the [Psycasts]. It was even stronger around Mark, who had the [PsyCrystal].


    And these two were already inside the facility before Mark even infiltrated it.


    "Please, follow behind us."


    Allen said as he and his sister turned around.


    Mark was confused. Nheless, he followed the two since they did not have any ill will. And since Mark did not deactivate the [Optical Camouge], it looked like Nia and Allen were only having a stroll, or probably on a break.


    "Sir, Mark. You entered the facility through the Presidential Suite, correct?" Nia voiced out without looking behind her. "They already found out that someone intruded after the firstdy''s servant returned. However, they have yet to know that you managed to enter the facility without triggering the rm on the keypad. Still, you should exit through another entrance."


    Without a doubt, Nia and Allen were here to help Mark. It was also very likely that Professor Isaach Co was behind the movements of these his foster children. After all, the Professor was a close friend of General Perez.


    However, since he was a mere Scientist, what Professor Co could do in this situation was limited, especially considering he was inside the enemy''s territory. In the least, they could assist Mark in saving the kidnap victims.


    "I know you two had been in here since the start. How did you two know that the firstdy was knocked unconscious?"


    Mark asked.


    "The guards had been informed of the possible infiltration. They are currently searching all over the ce."


    Nia replied.


    As Nia said, Mark could detect the guards moving around the area underneath the Presidential Mansion. On the contrary, Nia and Allen brought Mark and the rest in apletely different direction to leave the facility.


    "Where does the entrance you two will bring us to lead to?"


    Mark asked another question. He was hoping that the entrance was somewhere near thepound of General Perez and his allies.


    "Unfortunately, we can''t bring you too far. There are seven locations for entrances to this facility, the same number of buildings around the Central Area of the [Safezone]. Where we can bring you is the entrance to theboratory on the surface."


    Allen exined.


    From there, they made their way to the southwest area of the facility. As expected, the entrance here was heavily guarded. It was unlike the one in the Presidential Suite. That one was only used during emergencies. This entrance was used by employees and scientists, requiring more security.


    "Ms. Nia Co and Mr. Allen Co." A guard greeted. "Already clocking out? Professor Co is not with you?"


    "We are," Nia replied as she let the guard scan her identification card. "You guys know the Professor. He''s a research maniac. He''ll probably continue researching until tomorrow afternoon."


    The guards could only shrug. Professor Isaach Co was pretty well known here, and his research antics were also understood by the people.


    With that, Nia and Allen passed through the entrance, arriving at a secured hall of theboratory. The two then walked towards the entrance without saying a word.


    "Alright, thanks, you two. Anyway, you two better hide. Things will get chaotic from here."


    Those words entered the ears of Nia and Allen as they felt a gust of wind pass by. They felt Mark''s presence dwindle as his group moved away from the two.


    The two understood what Mark said before he left. General Perez was now gathering his troops, and it was the same for the President. This night was expected to be bloody.


    Leaving Nia and Allen, Mark and the three women appeared on the rooftop of theboratory. Being able to carry people with him using his [Shadow Mist Movement] sure was handy. Unfortunately, he only had two hands he could use to grab. That was why when they appeared, Angeline was hugging Mark tightly from behind.


    "Bro... What are we going to do here?"


    Elsa asked, noticing the surroundings. It was understandable if Mark brought them somewhere secluded like a back alley before running away. However, to move them onto the rooftop of a four-story building was theplete opposite of that. It was a dead end.


    "Wait a bit."


    Mark smiled as he turned his head towards the sky.


    Elsa, Angeline, and Pa did the same. It was then that they realized that something was floating, hidden among the clouds in the sky. They could not tell what it was, but they were sure that it was some sort of object.


    And that thing was what Mark was staring at.


    Mark stared at the [Mini Cube] floating among the clouds. He then began tapping one of his two rings. It was the ring from Bath, the one with a pair that Mei was wearing.


    It was the signal.


    And receiving the signal, something appeared not far from the group, making the three women jump back in surprise.


    "Don''t worry, it''s your way out."


    Mark said.


    What appeared was Spera''s portal. It was connected to the [Mini Cube] where the rest of Mark''s group was waiting.<sub> </sub>


    The three women looked at Mark in askance. One after another, Mark was showing them weird things since earlier.


    "I don''t have time to exin." Mark shrugged. "Mei''er is on the other side of that portal. You three can ask her the questions. So you three should enter already."


    "Only us? What about you?"


    Pa asked, noticing that Mark did not intend on going with them.


    "Well, I have other things to do here," Mark answered. "Unfortunately, I can''t have you three here to drag me down."


    The three women frowned at Mark''s words. However, they could not deny it either. They were even kidnapped from their bedroom, unable to resist or even make a single sound.


    "You should be careful," Pa warned. "Those people that took us did not seem to be regr humans."


    "Okay, I''ll be cautious."


    Mark replied.


    Those words from Pa implied that the people that took them were not just regr humans, [Evolvers], or [Mutators]. The [Mutators] and [Evolvers], despite their inhuman abilities, still counted as humans. What Pa meant was that those people were possibly beyond human.


    "Bro, be careful. And thank you."


    Elsa said before nervously entering the portal.


    "Follow us quickly, alright?"


    Angeline said as she jumped into the portal without fear.


    Lastly was Pa, who only nodded at Mark before entering the portal.


    And there, the portal closed, leaving Mark alone on the rooftop of theboratory.


    Mark stood on the ledge of the rooftop. He looked around the ce, specifically the Central Area of the [Safezone].


    "I guess it''s time."


    Mark shrugged.


    With a wave of his right hand, the [PsyCrystal] glowed. Several [Mental Crystals] appeared, floating and circling around his wrist.


    "Let''s get the party started."


    Mark smiled.


    ***


    "President! The hostages are missing!"


    The President''smunication device on his desk sounded out, bringing a piece of surprising news.


    "What do you mean they are missing?! What are you idiots doing?!"


    The President roared unto the device. The news came all of a sudden after his wife was knocked out inside of their bedroom. It was understandable that the President was agitated.


    And to the President''s question, the man on the other side of themunication device could not answer. The three kidnapped women just disappeared from their holding cell. The keypad was untampered, and not a single camera caught the three escaping. It was as if they vanished like ghosts after the camera in the holding cell malfunctioned.


    Even so, the man on themunication device tried to exin as much as he could to no avail.


    "Son of a b*tch!" The President cursed before turning to the other people waiting in his office. "All of you, send some search parties! They shouldn''t have gone too far!"


    The President sure had the reason to be agitated. Those three women were their cards in case that things went against their favor. They could not let those women escape at all costs.


    But before the people inside the Presidential Office could reply...


    <strong>BAM!</strong>


    Everyone in the settlement felt shaken. A surge of magical energy overflowed all over the ce. The magical energy was too powerful that even regr humans could feel the threat instinctively.


    <strong>"MR. PRESIDENT! LOOK!"</strong>


    Major General Bautista eximed, pointing at the window of the office.


    The President, who was facing away from the window turned immediately.


    Outside the window was a pir of light. A beacon during the darkness of the night.


    Instead of feeling fear, however, President Deroa was calm.


    "Manuel, mobilize our Elite Special Forces. I have the feeling that this and the missing hostages are the works of that man. Tsk... Looks like the rumors aren''t exaggerated, even a little bit."


    ***


    Outside the walls, the night was also busy. The events from the other day had yet to die down, and the Gangs were busy iming the territory left by the Powder Gang in its destruction.


    However, the White Snake Gang was also busy with something else.


    "Do you know? The General''s daughter was kidnapped. It seems the culprits were the government?"


    "What? Are you serious? It''s not just a rumor, right?"


    "Apparently, it''s true. I heard it from the members of the White Snake Gang who is being backed by General Perez."


    "Now that you mention it, those guys from the government don''t like the General."


    "Yeah, because the General cares for us, unlike those greedy bunch."


    "How is General Perez, now? I hope he''s alright. I probably won''t be if my daughter got kidnapped."


    These kinds of conversations started to spread more or less three hours ago. It was the work of the members of the White Snake Gang, who were finally informed of the situation inside the walls. And, of course, they were also agitated, hearing that Elsa was among the kidnapped. If this was the case, they would do anything to take down the current government.


    And before midnight, the rumors spread all over the slums, whether it was the territory of the White Snake Gang or not. Even the other two remaining gangs temporarily stopped shing with the White Snake Gang and took the watcher''s stance in the current situation.


    It was until everyone felt shaken for no reason, gazing at the pir of light towering towards the sky.

 Chapter 818 Arising Chaos, Beginning The Battle At The Corregidor Military Settlement

    <strong>Day 203 - 12:42 AM - Corregidor Military Settlement, Ind of Corregidor, Province of Cavite</strong>


    After the strange thunderstorm the other day, another unexinable phenomenon engulfed the Military Settlement of Corregidor Ind.


    The sleeping woke up and joined the awake. The people of the settlement all gazed in the direction of the Central Area of the [Safezone].


    A pir of light towered towards the sky, circled by ominous clouds darker than the night sky.


    Confusion? Fear? Most of the witnesses did not know what to feel about the situation. Their minds had yet to digest the scene before them.


    Was something dangerous happening inside the walls of the [Safezone]? If that was the case, should they run away?


    Even though this kind of thought shed in the minds of the people, running away was the veryst thing they would likely do. If they ran, where would they go? This settlement was the safest ce they knew.


    The military struggled to traverse even a kilometer or two away from the settlement without incurring injuries, or worse, casualties. There was no way regr people could reach further than that.


    And thus, the confused people stood still. They watched the pir of light, hoping that they would be fine in the end.


    ***


    Inside the fortress walls of the [Safezone], the situation was not much different than outside.


    In the northwestpound of the [Safezone], General Perez stared at the pir of light, recalling Mark''s words a few hours ago during their nning.


    ***


    "Gather your forces and follow the n. Then, wait for my signal."


    Mark said.


    "And what signal?"


    General Perez asked.


    "I haven''t thought of it, actually," Mark answered. "Don''t worry. I''ll make sure it''s noticeable."


    ***


    Seeing the pir of light, General Perez could only shake his head. The signal sure was noticeable. In any case, it meant that his daughter was already in safe hands.


    "Attention!"


    General Perez stood on a podium, gathering the attention of his soldiers and allies.


    "All of you had already been briefed of the outlines of the n. Many of you should have questions, but now is not the right time to answer those. Some of those questions might even answer themselvester on. What I ask of you all was to follow my lead one more time."


    "Don''t worry, General! We''re on your side!"


    "Yeah! Down with those crocodiles!"


    The soldiers voiced their unyielding support towards their General. Unlike those politicians that only showed themselves for pretense, they saw General Perez devote himself to the masses.


    And with the overwhelming support, General Perez could not help but feel touched.


    "Men! Ready!" General Perez shouted out loud. "Mobilize!"


    There, leading more than five hundred soldiers, volunteers, and allies, General Perez marched out of hispound.


    ***


    With the forces of General Perez mobilizing, there was no way it would not reach the eyes and ears of the President.


    "Mr. President. General Perez and his troops began to march. However, there''s an issue."


    Major General Bautista reported. However, his expression seemed strange.


    "Then we''ll deal with it as nned." President Deroa ordered while still gazing at the pir of light. "Tell our troops to prepare for sortie. Perez should already know that his daughter is already safe and had nothing to fear anymore."


    "Mr. President. There''s something wrong with the situation."


    Major General Bautista repeated, making President Deroa turn around.


    "Then what are you waiting for? Just say it."


    A senator present inside the office told the Chief of Staff in agitation.


    Not minding the impudent senator, Major General Bautista spoke.


    "General Perez and his troops marched not towards here. From the report, they forced themselves through the north gate instead."


    The report caused a deafening silence in the room. The report had yet to sink into their minds.


    "What did you say?"


    President red at Major General Bautista, wishing that he reported incorrectly.


    "General Perez and his troops are marching out of the [Safezone] instead of going here."


    Major General Bautista repeated.


    The confusion ensued within the Presidential Office. No one could understand why General Perez was doing this. Were they nning to leave? Where would they go in this situation?


    "Continue monitoring General Perez." President Deroa said with a frown. "How about our Elite Special Forces?"


    "They are already en route, Mr. President. They already found the target standing on the rooftop of theboratory. They are amidst securing the perimeter before initiating the attack. They are also evacuating the personnel around the perimeter."


    Major General Deroa reported.


    "So, is it really the target?"


    The President asked.


    "Apparently, yes." Major General Bautista replied. "It seemed to be the very same person the scouts saw within the base of the White Snake Gang the other day."


    At this point, the radio on Major General''s belt sounded.


    "Mr. President, our Elites are ready to sortie."


    "Then, begin. Make sure to capture him alive. Having a torn limb or two or two should suffice. If not possible, take all of it."


    "Yes, Mr. President."


    ***


    On the roof of theboratory, at the center of the flood of torrential magical energy, Mark stood calmly.


    Mark stared at the floating crystal in front of him. Its glow began to dim.


    "As expected of the magical ability of the King of Merpeople. Its released energy alone can affect arge region."


    That was right. The crystal that began to dim was the [Stormcaller Mental Crystal]. While Mark used the [Photokinesis Mental Crytal] to create the pir of light, that was it. Instead, the raging magical energy in the surroundings was all the [Stormcaller Mental Crystal].


    Mark released the energy without manipting it to summon a storm. Yet, its energy alone affected the weather and called upon the swirling dark clouds and in the sky.


    Plop! Tap!


    One drop, two drops...


    One after another, raindrops began to fall. The start of the rain marked thest bit of energy from the crystal to be drained.


    The [Stormcaller Mental Crystal] fell on Mark''s palm. Its glow was all gone and would probably need a day or two to fully recharge.


    It did not matter, however. In terms of fighting, it had fewer uses. However, the [Stormcaller Mental Crystal] was good at setting the stage.


    Even though Mark did not n for it, a rainy stage sure was more advantageous for him...


    ... Especially since the ce he stood at was now surrounded.


    "There''s around a hundred, huh," Mark murmured. "They don''t seem like regr soldiers."<sub> </sub>


    Mark monitored the movements of the enemies as they stealthily surrounded him. They moved efficiently, and there was barely any time wasted as they proceeded to take their positions.


    "Twenty snipers, thirty ready for infiltration, and aside from ten, the rest are ground troops. All of them are fully equipped."


    Mark closed his eyes...


    "Those ten... They are not just some regr humans."


    Mark knew these people since General Perez exined it to him before.


    The Elite Special Forces. However, they were not just soldiers trained to be dispatched on elite missions. They were mainly in charge of paranormal anomalies in the country.


    They were the aces of this country against problems that could not be solved by normal means.


    TSST!


    Overshadowed by the sound of the rain, muffled gunfire could be barely heard.


    "Hmmm?"


    Mark was suddenly thrown to the floor. His right leg was pierced by a bullet which caused him to fall violently.


    However, it was not just one shot. Following the first one, several more gunshots urred. All the nine remaining Snipers took their shots at Mark, targeting his limbs.


    Marky on the wet rooftop, blood spilled onto the floor.


    With his fall, the pir of light vanished. He then stopped moving.


    No movements were observed on Mark, causing the soldiers to be bewildered. Five shadowy figures jumped from roof to roof before arriving at theboratory''s rooftop to check on their target.


    "Is it done? I thought he''s someone powerful."


    A woman''s voice could be heard as one of the five figures spoke.


    "Don''t let your guard down."


    A man warned the woman.


    The five cautiously approached Mark. One of them began using his assault rifle to nudge their unmoving target.


    "Is he dead? We''re doomed if he is."


    The same woman asked.


    "He''s not. I can sense his heart beati- Get away from him!"


    One of the five seemed to have keener senses than the rest. He could tell that Mark''s heart was still beating without getting close. However, he noticed that the rate of the heartbeat of their target had was not the same for an unconscious or injured person.


    The man warned the other four, but it was toote.


    <strong>BAM! BAM! BOOM! BAM!</strong>


    Out of the five, only the man with keen senses remained standing. As he detected the anomaly first, he managed to jump away.


    The other four, each of them were hit by a sudden attack. One became embedded to the floor, one was thrown off the rooftop, the other blown to the edge of the roof, while thest one was flung away to another building.


    <strong>"SH*T!"</strong>


    Thest man cursed. They were caught off guard. This was the first time they encountered someone that managed to stay alive and conscious after getting hit by ten fifty caliber sniper rifles, not to mention using their special bullets.


    "Tch. Why the hell did it hurt this much?"


    Mark said as he stood up. The holes left by bullets on his limbs began to heal rapidly. Even the bullets stuck inside his arms and legs after hitting his bones were pushed out.


    "So, this is why."


    Mark said, catching one of the bullets from his arm.


    It was a silver bullet, not to mention a blessed one.


    "A bullet against Demons..."


    Mark wondered if these guys knew that he was a Demon. However, that was impossible. He never revealed such information to anyone from outside his base after all. It may be their standard bullets.


    As Mark wondered, the two he attacked that were still on the roof stood up.


    "You guys alright?"


    The man with keen senses asked hisrades.


    "I''m fine, but damn, that hurts. My arm got dislocated. If its others, they''re dead by now."


    One soldier, the noisy woman, replied with her dangling arm. The other did not bother answering. Instead, he stared warily at Mark, who baited them.


    However, the dislocated arm of the woman did not stay that way as she twisted her arm back into ce before stretching it.


    "Quite a resilient bunch."


    Mark shrugged.


    What the woman said was right. The attacks he did would probably punch a hole through the chest of a regr human. Yet, the four that Mark managed to attack did not sustain any heavy injury at all.


    "I didn''t expect that the country had the kind of people like you all."


    Mark spoke to the three in front of him.


    "Don''t worry, we didn''t expect you to be fine after that, either."


    The woman replied to Mark.


    "Stop talking to him. We are here to do our job."


    The man with keen sense reprimanded the woman.


    <strong>SHOOSH!</strong>


    Suddenly, the sound of wind being torn apart entered Mark''s ears. He took a step back, and the guy thrown to another building flew past his initial position. The speed was very fast, probably as fast as a bullet. It was literally a human-sized bullet.


    Unfortunately...


    <strong>BAM!</strong>


    Mark mmed his palm on the back of the man before he whizzed past him. Although Mark was not targeting their vitals, he was holding back.


    <strong>GAHACK!</strong>


    The man spurted blood from his mouth as he was mmed to the floor. Due to the strength of Mark''s attack, the floor gave way, creating a huge hole two floors below.


    "How rude. We are still talking." Mark said as he gazed at the hole. "Anyway, that''s one down."


    This time, Mark was sure that the man was incapacitated, at least till the end of the battle.


    The three soldiers in front of Mark began concentrating on him. They did not say anything about the plight of theirrade that fell down the hole. Instead, their attention was all on Mark.


    Suddenly...


    <strong>"DODGE!"</strong>


    Another woman''s voice could be heard. As her voice entered the ears of the three soldiers in front of Mark, they jumped off the roof.


    <strong>BOOM!</strong>


    All of a sudden, the entire rooftop was engulfed in mes.


    Unexpectedly, it was not explosives.


    The woman that shouted just now conjured mes out of nowhere and made it explode.

 Chapter 819 Attracting Chaos, A Propaganda Against The Enemies

    <strong>Day 203 - 1:01 AM - North Military Outpost, Ind of Corregidor, Province of Cavite</strong>


    About half a kilometer north of the northern gates of the slums, a Military Outpost was located. This outpost was the first line of defense the Corregidor Military Settlement had against the enemiesing from up north. Considering that the ind of Corregidor was now and only connected to the southern part of Mariveles, Bataan, this installment of defenses was rather good.


    And this outpost was one of the reasons the guards of the gates of the slums could keep themselvesx.


    One hour past midnight, the soldiers stationed at the outpost kept their concentration up high. Danger coulde at any time, and staying here in the front line was far different than being in the settlement.


    Different from most days, however...


    "You guys think things will be fine?"


    A soldier on watch spoke to his partner.


    "About the current situation in the settlement? Don''t ask me. I don''t really do well with politics and stuff."


    The other soldier replied.


    "The world has ended, and the guys up there are still as greedy as f*ck. If you ask me, I''d rather follow General Perez. He really cares about the people, like us, unlike those who only wanted to stuff their pockets with everything they wanted. Those guys only see us as tools at their disposal."


    The first soldier sighed.


    "Not like we can do anything. We have our families to feed and protect, so we can''t go against the leaders easily. At least, we are here. We don''t have to join the mess inside the settlement. I would rather not fight with General Perez either."


    The second soldier shrugged.


    Yes, the soldiers in this outpost were lucky did not get dragged into the scuffle between the current government and General Perez''s camp. In the end, whether who won, the soldiers following the government''s orders were the ones to suffer. At least, those here in the outpost only needed to continue their usual work.


    "I wonder what''s with that pir of light, though?" The first soldier said, turning his head towards the pir of lighting from the settlement. "I wish they would at least inform us of what is happening there."


    "We can''t expect that kind of privilege. We''re just at the bottom."


    The second soldier said, also curious about the events there.


    But then...


    "SHHH!"


    The second soldier closed his mouth and signaled to his partner.


    Receiving the signal, the first soldier turned serious as he turned towards the northern direction.


    "URRGGG...."


    <strong>*GARGLE!*</strong>


    A plethora of sounds entered the ears of the two. However, none of the sounds sounded pleasant to the ear.


    Instead, it began to instill horror towards the two.


    "HOLY SH*T..."


    The first soldier muttered in shock.


    In front of them was a clearing devoid of trees or nts. It was to ensure that they would see anything approaching before they got too close to the outpost. And using sr panels, they had enough electricity to have a couple of spotlights to light up the clearing.


    What they wouldmonly see passing by in this area was scavengers and soldiers on a mission. There would be one or two dangerous entities from time to time, but not too many as the military continuously sent squads to do clearing missions.


    And that was why the first solder on lookout could only curse as fear overwhelmed him...


    <strong>"WHAT ARE YOU STANDING FROZEN FOR?! SOUND THE ALARM!"</strong>


    The second soldier said as he picked up his gun.


    BANG! BANG!


    CLANG! CLANG! CLANG! CLANG!


    With the first soldier snapping out of his fear, the rm bell on the watchtower sounded.


    The second soldier started shooting. His expression was in utter seriousness.


    Why?


    Coming out of the forest border. Numerous [Infected] came flooding into the clearing.


    The [Infected] ran, wildly rushing towards the direction of the outpost.


    Since the rm sounded off, the other soldiers in the outpost, asleep or not, immediately caught onto the situation. Equipping themselves with guns and explosives, they went to the defense lines as soon as possible.


    But even with the fifty soldiers stationed at this outpost... There was no way for them to fight toe to toe with the number of [Infected] in front of them.


    <strong>"SH*T! Contact the headquarters! Call for backup!"</strong>


    The Outpost Commander shouted, knowing that their firepower was not enough.


    All they could do here was dy the [Infected] as much as possible, even if the backup was to arrive.


    But before the soldiers could even see the good percentage of the horde in front of them...


    <strong>ROOOAARRR!!!</strong>


    The soldiers stood frozen as their faces raised up high.


    ***


    Day 203 - 1:07 AM - Presidential Office, Presidential Mansion, Central Area, Safezon, Corregidor Military Settlement, Ind of Corregidor, Province of Cavite


    "What did you say?!"


    President Deroa shouted at thatmunication device on his table.


    "Mr. President. The Northern Outpost is now confronting an undeterminable number of [Infected]. They urgently needed backup, Sir."


    "Damn it. Why now?!"


    President Deroa shouted in anger, making all the people inside his office silent.


    Of all times such an event could possibly happen, it happened now.


    Aside from the soldiers in the outposts and those stationed at the gates of the settlement, all the remaining soldiers were deployed at the Central Area. They needed the firepower to overwhelm General Perez and his allies, especially since the General had many [Mutators] in his camp.


    Now, the President should decide.


    Would he keep the soldiers around him in case that General Perez and his camp attacked? Or would he prioritize the settlement over his and his allies'' safety?


    President Deroa and his allies were now stuck between a rock and a hard ce.


    But before they could arrive at any decision...


    "MR. PRESIDENT! THIS IS AN EMERGENCY! Our soldiers on the North Outpost opted to abandon their post! They were now regrouping to make another defense line near the northern gates!"<sub> </sub>


    Themunication device suddenly sounded with an urgent message.


    "What?!" President Deroa roared. "What the hell are they doing?!"


    "Two [Behemoth ss Infected] were witnessed among the horde! The outpost is ill-equipped against such monstrosities!"


    Hearing the reply from the headquarters, President Deroa slumped on his chair.


    [Behemoth ss Infected], different from [Infected Types], it was the general term they gave for [Infected] over a certain size, whether it be length or height. They were rare even among the [Infected] in the current times. But no matter how rare they were, they existed.


    Seven meters. That was the shortest measurement of a [Behemoth ss Infected] could have. That size of the enemy would need at least two or three soldierpanies to kill. All of them needed to be armed to teeth with guns and explosives. And even after the threat was subdued, the casualties would be enormous.


    Following the President''s silence, Major General Bautista inquired on themunicator. He did not care whether the President permitted it or not. The whole settlement was currently facing a crisis.


    "This is the Chief of Staff. What size did the [Behemoth ss Infected] have? And what type?"


    "Therger one is a [Humanoid Behemoth ss Infected]. Around nine meters in height. It had a stone-like body and is presumed to be a [Tank Type Infected]. The smaller one is a [Beast Behemoth ss Infected], seven meters in height with undetermined length. Its type is also undetermined as of yet. The reports said that it seemed to be supposedly quadruped but it only had its front limbs as it dragged its rear across the ground."


    "One is a [Tank Type], and the other did not have hind legs. Those two would take some time before reaching the settlement." Major General Bautista said before turning to the President. "Mr. President. You have yet to choose, but I don''t think I''ll be hearing it. I''m going."


    Major General Bautista then turned around, intending to leave the office. Unlike the Chief of Staff, the rest of the people here were the same as the President, undecided.


    <strong>"Bautista!"</strong>


    President Deroa eximed. However, the Chief of Staff had no intention to listen any longer.


    But just as the Chief of Staff was about to hold the door''s handle, themunication device sounded.


    "Mr. President! Major General! We received some updates from our soldiers that retreated from the outpost."


    This time, Major General Bautista could not help but turn around to listen.


    "General Perez sent soldiers to aid the retreating soldiers! They were currently establishing a defensive line outside the northern gate of the slums! The refugees in the northern slums were being evacuated by the White Snake Gang into the emergency shelter!"


    The atmosphere in the Presidential Office was frozen still.


    "This that Perez bastard knew this will happen? Did he cause this?


    President Deroa said. It was clear that he stopped thinking straight.


    "Call the [Infected] to attack?" Major General Bautista asked, now clearly having no respect in his tone. "You think it''s possible? Forget it. I''m not hearing your answer. I''m done with you greedy f*cks."


    <strong>SLAM!</strong>


    Major General Bautista mmed the door on the President and his allies.


    As the Chief of Staff left, the only ones left behind were mostly politicians, except for a few people, who were rich businessmen back then.


    "Don''t you think it''s a good opportunity for us, Mr. President?" One of the Businessmen spoke. "If General Perez fought those [Infected] with his allies, they would incur casualties even if they won. Once the situation outside is dealt with, we will have the advantage."


    "Mr. Xiao is right." A younger senator chimed in. "We are talking about a [Behemoth ss Infected]. And it''s not just a single one."


    "You two are smart, but you surelycked political experience." President Deroa shook his head in dismay. It seemed Major General Bautista''s outburst woke him up from his delusion. "Whether they did cause the horde toe or not, with Perez charging first into the frontline, the base for propaganda had been concretely established. Propaganda that is not to our favor."


    President Deroa then stood up, looking outside the window facing theboratory''s rooftop covered in mes.


    "It''s not our loss yet."


    If they managed to capture the target, even if they lost to General Perez, they would have enough ability to survive if they became [Mutators]. They could just escape, and live off somewhere else.


    ***


    Day 203 - 1:03 AM - Rooftop, Laboratory, Central Area, Safezone, Corregidor Military Settlement, Ind of Corregidor, Province of Cavite


    "Did it do it?"


    The noisy woman among the Elite Special Forces said as shended on the roof of the adjacent building with her allies.


    mes surged on the rooftop of theboratory. Even they, who had stronger bodies than regr people, would not be able to withstand such high-temperature mes.


    Unfortunately...


    "You shouldn''t ask questions like that. You''re just jinxing yourself."


    The noisy woman felt goosebumps. The voice came from behind her.


    <strong>CLACK!</strong>


    The woman did not panic, however. Taking out her pistol from its holster, she turned around with a kick. Mark agilely avoided the kick with a single step back. However, as the kick missed, the woman followed with several gunshots, before she retreated with a few jumps backward.


    With that single exchange, the three soldiers, no, now four as the one that fell off the building joined them...


    The four soldiers that initially checked on Mark regrouped. Another woman stood on the roof of a higher building, and another four Elite Soldiers were waiting to strike within the shadows.


    They were ready to continue the fight with their target. Unexpectedly...


    "Hmmm... It already started, huh?"


    Mark was not paying attention to the Elite Soldiers as he faced the north direction.


    "A General whose daughter was kidnapped by the country''s President and his allies came to aid and protect the popce despite his daughter still missing. Such a valiant story. Who wouldn''t want such a person to be their leader instead?"


    Mark smirked.


    "What are you smiling for?!"


    <strong>BOOM!</strong>


    A shout entered Mark''s ear before it was overshadowed by an explosion. One shouted to get his attention while another threw a grenade at him. These Elite Soldiers sure were well coordinated.


    Unfortunately...


    "Seriously... You guys are lucky... General Perez asked me to not kill any of you soldiers..."


    The target''s voice was heard by the soldiers. Not from within the explosions, however.


    All of them looked up. There, Mark, with his three pairs of wings, flew.


    Looking down on the country''s finest soldiers, he spoke.


    "Well, I only need to keep your attention for some time. Now, I''m done ying."


    With those words, Mark''s eyes glowed. The right eye glowed red and the other with violet.


    All of a sudden, the pressure on every human in the vicinity heightened.


    Elite forces they might be. In the end, they were just human.

 Chapter 820 Unexpected Resistance, Encountering A Type Of Weapon That He Never Saw Before

    <strong>Day 203 - 1:15 AM - Central Area, Safezone, Corregidor Military Settlement, Ind of Corregidor, Province of Cavite</strong>


    "W-What is this..."


    The noisy woman among the Elite Soldiers muttered as their entire group slowly sumbed to the pressure.


    Whether it be those elite soldiers lying in wait or the abnormal ones surrounding Mark, all of them slowly fell onto their knees.


    <strong>"ACK!"</strong>


    Some began to wail in pain as their head felt like splitting. A plethora of emotions they did not own began to corrode their consciousness, pulling them down to the floor.


    The weaker ones began to bleed from their noses and ears. Unexpectedly, the majority was still far frompletely copsing.


    Those who could still move a bit could only gaze at Mark, who hovered above them. It was not the first time. The members of the Elite Special Forces already saw individuals with wings before, especially ones shaped like the wings of a bat. They had dealt with problems involving paranormal anomalies in the past. Some of those incidents include the appearance of demons.


    And even though they were just humans, their experiences with their job was more than enough to allow them to know.


    The target the government intended to capture was not just some [Mutator], and definitely not an [Evolver].


    Their target was Demon, but not just some Demon either. The target known as Mark might have been a Demon far outssed the ones the Elite Special Forces of the Philippines had encountered since the day it was founded.


    Hovering above the mostly incapacitated soldiers, Mark was rather surprised. His goal here was not to kill but stall time and render the enemy soldiers incapable of fighting temporarily. After all, it would be useless even if General Perez began to lead this ce if its manpower became severely incapacitated.


    Still, Mark did not expect this. Compared to the enemies he used mental attacks before, these members of the Elite Special Forcessted longer. Some of them could even move even a little bit when the people he used the same attack in the past already passed out by the same amount.


    Most surprising of all...


    "Demon..."


    The noisy woman''s eyes red with hate as she concluded that Mark was a Demon.


    <strong>"DEMONS SHOULD NOT EXIST!"</strong>


    The noisy woman roared as she stood up.


    This really made Mark surprised. This female soldier was forcefully resisting his mental attack due to her pure anger.


    "Tunia!"


    The other female soldier, the one that conjured mes, called out to the noisy woman. Unexpectedly, she also began to resist Mark''s mental attack. No, not only her. Two more soldiers, both among the five hiding in the dark, began to stand up.


    "L... Can you still move?"


    The noisy woman, Tunia, whispered to the me user.


    "A little."


    L replied.


    "Capture is not possible," Tunia said, ring at the opponent in the sky. "Then we can only do our job."


    There, Tunia grabbed a different gun from what she initially used. The first gun she had earlier was a standard-issue pistol. A Rock Ind Armory 1911 Series Semi-Automatic Pistol.


    The weapon Tunia took out from the holster behind her waist was a gun with a model Mark had never seen before.


    It seemed to be a customized weapon. Unexpectedly, Mark felt ufortable after it was unholstered.


    <strong>"GO!"</strong>


    Tunia shouted.


    At the same time, the me user, L, waved her hand.


    <strong>WHOOM! WHOOM! WHOOM!</strong>


    Balls of me, asrge as basketballs, flew towards Mark,


    Mark could only evade the mes. Even though he would not be harmed by the attack, his clothes would definitely burn.


    <strong>CLANG!!!</strong>


    <strong>SWOOSH!!!</strong>


    At the same time, the other two soldiers waiting for the opportunity to attack moved.


    One attacked with a very long chain, while the other shot a crossbow bolt at Mark.


    Of course, both attacks missed as Mark evaded despite the speed of the attacks.


    What made Mark frown, however, was the weapons used just now gave the same feeling at the noisy woman''s pistol, making Mark rather ufortable.


    The attacks from the two men hiding did not bother Mark too much. The most troublesome one was the barrage of fireballs flying his way.


    <strong>BANG!</strong>


    Finally, Tunia made her attack, shooting the strange-looking pistol at Mark. She timed it at the time Mark evaded one of the fireballs.


    Unexpectedly, the gun sure was strange. It shot at a speed that normal guns should not be able to. Even Tunia was blown back as she shot her weapon.


    Due to the speed, even though Mark evaded the attack, the left one of his third pair of wings was pierced. If Mark did not activate his [Future Prediction], causing his left eye to glow violet, he would not be able to avoid the attack at all.


    "What the hell?!"


    Mark was surprised. His third pair of wings was different from the other two pairs. It was actually ethereal, made of [Miasma]. It existed, yet not at the same time. Thus, although it helped Mark during flight, it could not be hit by most attacks as if it was made of gas.


    Yet, the wing hit by the bullet actually tore through it like he was hit by a cannon. He could even feel the searing heat left by the bullet after it passed through. Good thing that Mark activated his [Future Prediction], causing his left eye to glow violet, allowing him to see a few moments in the future. He managed to avoid the attack that was about to punch arge hole through his stomach.


    At this point, Mark turned to Tunia, who finally passed out. It seemed that she was betting on that single shot that she could barely do. Although she was able to shoot her weapon, she could not handle its power.


    It was the same for the other two soldiers still standing. Mark evaded their attacks, but the more they attacked, the weaker they became.


    In the end, only thest one standing was L. She slumped to her knees as she saw all herrades either injured or unconscious.


    Marknded in front of L. His torn misty wings had already recovered.


    Surely, L was scared. It was not surprising. The Demon in front of her knocked out everyone without even attacking directly. Even right now, she could feel the mental attacking from the enemy.<sub> </sub>


    Mark wanted to approach L to ask a question. But before he was able to...


    "Stop right there you Demon!"


    A small man appeared and stood on L''s shoulder.


    Wearing green clothing, a green hat, and a pair of pointed shoes while standing near a foot tall. It was a Green Duwende.


    "If you''re going to do something bad to her, I''ll be your opponent!"


    The Green Duwende eximed.


    Mark squinted. The Green Duwende was saying all those, but his legs were actually shaking mad.


    Shrugging, Mark turned towards the woman called Tunia before turning back to L and the Green Duwende.


    "Don''t worry, I''m not here to kill," Mark said. "If I am, all of them should be dead by now."


    Mark then left L and the Green Duwende as he spotted the thing he was looking for.


    It was the gun that Tunia used before she passed out.


    After Tunia was blown away after she attacked, the gun was thrown to the ground, covered in rainwater and mud.


    Mark did not care, as he squatted down and picked up the gun.


    <strong>SIZZLE!</strong>


    "Tch!"


    Mark clicked his tongue, enduring the painful burning sensation on his right palm. Despite the pouring rain, he could smell his flesh burning.


    "Hey! What are you doing?! Are you stupid?! Why is a Demon like you trying to hold a [Blessed Weapon]?!"


    L shouted, forgetting her fear after she saw what Mark was doing.


    "Why are you warning him?! He''s an enemy?!"


    Even the Green Duwende reprimanded L for saying something stupid herself.


    Mark could only smile. This L sure was different. So different that she managed to have a contract with a Green Duwende that was only supposed to appear before children.


    Nheless, L''s words answered Mark''s suspicion. The gun in his hand, the crossbow and its bolts, and even the chain earlier. All of these were the so-called [Blessed Weapons].


    "A [Blessed Weapon]. This is the first time I saw one."


    Mark said as he inspected the weapon he picked up, ignoring the fact that his palm was smoking badly. It actually had a name engraved on it with its intricate carvings. Its name was actually Beatrix. It looked like a pistol, but the impact sure was like a hand cannon.


    But while watching Mark, L concluded something.


    "You... You''re not an Evil Demon."


    L voiced out, with her fear disappearing slowly.


    "How can you say so?"


    Mark asked in ax manner.


    He did not expect to hear anything more, but L actually exined.


    "[Blessed Weapons] are the bane of Demons and Evil entities. However, it reacts differently depending on how evil the entity is. A normally evil being would burst into mes after touching one. But you, you''re only getting seared. It''s only reacting to the fact that you are a Demon."


    Mark thought about it. Was he evil or not?


    Well, he might be a bit evil. In the least, he would not attack innocents and kill them for entertainment, unlike most known Demons.


    With those in mind, Mark approached L.


    "Here, take care of these kinds of weapons properly." Mark handed the [Blessed Pistol Beatrix] to L. "You guys will definitely need it in the future."


    L and the Green Duende could only stare at Mark bbergasted. Mark actually handed them the weapon that could potentially kill him and turned his back on them.


    However, L had no capability to fire this gun at all. Among their group, even though she was noisy, only Tunia could fire it at least once.


    L watched Mark as he began to walk away. Looking around as if checking something. Suddenly, he turned back, looking at her.


    "By the way. Have I seen you before somewhere?"


    Mark dropped a line which made L even more confused. She could only shake her head as she definitely did not meet someone like Mark before.


    Seeing her answer, Mark scratched his head. With a shrug, he flew away, leaving the area littered with unconscious people.


    Mark actually wanted to take at least one of those [Blessed Weapons]. However, he endured the urge. This ce needed these weapons once Demons started getting active. As for him and his base, something like this was not that needed. They could defend themselves properly against Demonic entities.


    That was why Mark could only leave. The battle here already ended. Thest thing to do was to confront the masterminds.


    Mark looked at his palm. It was seared ck. It was quite unexpected but the recovery of the burn on his palm was recovering rather slowly than normal. It seemed that his regeneration was affected by the fact that his body was now of a Demon''s and the injury came from a [Blessed Weapon]. Fortunately, his wing that was hit was not among the two first pairs. It would have been troublesome to fly if his physical wings got blown off. After all, flight needed bnce.


    Flying towards the Presidential Mansion, Mark suddenly stopped as something shed on his mind.


    "Now I remember where I saw her. No wonder she looked familiar."


    Mark murmured as he turned back in the direction of L.


    From what Mark remembered, there was one time where a little girl was shown on television for a very unusual phenomenon. Many things around her would get caught on fire for no apparent reason, without anything to cause the fire. It caused quite a stir, and many so-called "paranormal specialists" were called to investigate, saying rumors and stuff without proper evidence.


    Yet, one day, the coverage about the girl suddenly stopped. They said that the parents of the girl were concerned about the attention they were getting and requested privacy.


    But by what it looked like, thest statement seemed far from the truth. The girl was taken away by the Philippine government to be trained as a soldier because of her psychic abilities.


    And that girl was L.


    Well, now that Mark remembered, that was thest thing to think about before confronting the masterminds. He also needed to end it now. The guys outside might need his help.

 Chapter 821 A Winning Battle, The Frontline Against The Infected Horde

    <strong>Day 203 - 1:21 AM - Defense Line, Northern Slums, Corregidor Military Settlement, Ind of Corregidor, Province of Cavite</strong>


    "A [Tank Type] at two o''clock! We need explosives here!"


    "A [Predator Type] is making a detour towards the beach! Dispatch it quickly!"


    "Watch out! There''s an Acid Belcher at the back! Kill it before it gets close!"


    "Quickly dispose of the smaller [Infected] before the [Behemoth ss Infecteds] arrive!"


    "[Infected] bats at ten! Bring them down!"


    Along with the sounds of gunfire and rain, those shouts from the team leaders of General Perez''s soldiers mixed in with the noise. However, it was something that could not be helped. In front of them, a horde of hundreds, maybe even thousands, of [Infected] rushed in like a torrential flood.


    The [Infected] horde came in with different appearances, abilities, sizes, speed, and attack patterns. Although most of the [Infected] ran towards the soldier''s gunfire, there were some that behaved far differently. For example, the [Mutated Infected].


    As time had passed, the mutations of [Infected] had gotten worse andplicated. Their strengths increased while some developed unique methods to hunt their prey.


    [Tank Types] were very hard to deal with regr firepower. Their mutated skin was hard to pierce through. Worse, those with higher mutation levels could even withstand explosives to a certain extent.


    [Range Types] were ratherplicated to fight. Although these types of mutation had obvious changes in the [Infected''s] body, like an acid sack below their throats or bloated chests, it was hard to find them within hordes of [Infected]. There was also the issue with these types where different mutations have different attacks, and there was a wide variety of them.


    [Hunter Types] was the fastest kind. At first, these mutations were not that much of a pain to deal with. Although they were faster than most [Infected], they had smaller statures and were easy to kill because they behaved no different from a regr one. As time went on, however, these [Mutated Infected] developed new behaviors. From what the military observed, the ratio of [Hunter Types]pared to other [Mutated Infected] was way higher. Their kind was alsomonly found in concentrated areas. Since many of them with the same mutations gathered in a single ce, they began forming groups, hunting together. They were extremely catastrophic against smaller survivor groups since these [Mutated Infected] hunt in packs.


    [Predator Types] were the hardest ones to deal with among themon mutation types of [Infected]. Their number was not that greatpared to most [Mutated Infected]. However, they were the most intelligent in hunting prey. They tend to stray away from their horde, hiding around and ambushing their unsuspecting victims. There were even instances of these [Mutated Infected] circling around defense lines and attacking from the back. What made it worse was that many of them could climb trees and other surfaces, making their ambushes even harder to detect.


    [Mixed Types] were a bit rarer. They were [Infected] which underwent at least two different types of mutation. The good thing about this was that they were unlike single mutations that strengthened over time. The term "Jack of All Trades, Master of None" applied greatly to this mutation. However, having more types of mutation allowed these [Mutated Infected] to have a variety of attacks that was quite harder to predict.


    Moving towards the rarer types of mutations. There were the [Leader Types] and the [Breeder Types].


    From their types of mutation, it was not hard to exin what kinds of mutations they had.


    [Leaders Types] lead hordes of [Infected]. They were the smartest kind of [Infected], able tomand the horde at their will. Of course, it was a rare mutation, and not all hordes had their type leading it. However, if the horde was clearlyrger than normal hordes, with a lot of [Mutated Infected] in it, it was good to expect a [Leader Type] leading it.


    [Breeder Types] were one of the hardest to deal with in a different way than others. These types would not join hordes. They create hordes of their own. They birth what the military now called [Infected Abominations]. Although these [Infected Abominations] might look more or less the same race as their mother, they looked extremely deformed and barely recognizable as the same race. The worst thing was that most [Breeder Types] would not roam around. They would stay in one ce, birthing her minions one after another until the ce overflowed with them. This was what made it harder to kill these [Breeder Types] since their nest was always filled with disgusting creatures.


    Worse, both [Leader Types] and [Breeder Types] were always [Mixed Type Infected]. It meant they always had the characteristics of other mutation types. For [Breeder Types], those secondary mutations could even be inherited by their offspring.


    Andstly, the only [Infected ss] so far. The [Behemoth ss Infected]. It was still unknown what the cause was, but although extremely rare, some [Mutated Infected] grew into unfathomable sizes. As the word "Behemoth" meant, [Behemoth ss Infected] were [Infected] of gigantic proportions, having at least seven meters in height. Although four to six-meter tall [Infected] was already big on its own, the disparity of strength between the smaller ones and those ssed as a behemoth was far wider. The reason the [Behemoth ss Infected] were ssed differently was not just their sheer size but their strength after reaching that size.


    And now, General Perez, his allies, and the volunteers among the survivors were facing such adversaries.


    "Dad, will we be fine after this?"


    1st Lieutenant Rafael Perez, General Perez''s oldest child, said, watching the situation before them.


    General Perez and the people inside the meeting area during the discussion of the n knew that Mark was the one that attracted these [Infected] here. None of them could fathom how Mark would attract the [Infected], but no one expected this situation. They thought it would just be a small horde. But no.


    It was a thousand [Infected] horde with countless [Mutated Infected] and two [Behemoth ss Infected] to boot.


    What made the people even more perplexed was the fact that this horde existed somewhere near the settlement, and none of them knew about it. After all, this [ Infected ] horde would not reach the settlement this quickly if they were not nearby.


    "We will be." General Perez replied to his son. "We have no choice but to be fine."


    General Perez was right. There was no other way but to survive this.


    "Still... Just where did they get these weapons..."


    Rafael said, looking at the boxes of guns, ammunition, and explosives that Mark gave them for this mission. For Mark to have this much arsenal, it would make one think he raided some foreign military base or something. Not to mention that some of the guns were actually not legal in the Philippines.


    Even so, they could notin about the things Mark gave them. These weapons were what General Perez and his allies needed since the President had the monopoly of weapons in the settlement.


    <strong>BOOM! RUMBLE! CRASH!</strong>


    Different sounds of destruction could be heard from a distance. Now, even with the darkness of the night and the rain, they could see the gigantic looming shadows.


    "Here theye!"


    A soldier shouted with fear clear in his face.


    No one would not feel fear while facing those gigantic creatures that could wipe out a settlement in one go.


    And the worst of it, the [Infected] still continued to flood towards them with no end in sight.


    "The [Infected] reached melee distance! Prepare to engage!"


    General Perez shouted.


    This was their final defense line before the slums. They could not just retreat from here even if they needed to fight the [Infected] in close quarters.


    But all of a sudden...


    THOOOM!!!


    A beam of light illuminated their front as it mowed a line of [Infected] in front of them. All of the [Infected] in the close distance were obliterated to ashes. The beam of light also left a dry line of soil on the ground and water vapor in the air.


    "Reinforcements are here!"


    A lively, excited voice was heard. It was Carren, leading the members of the White Snake Gang into the front line.


    BANG!


    Two flying [Infected] fell with just one bullet. Markron, who arrived with Carren, positioned himself on a high tree and started sniping the enemies.


    "Is the evacuation finished?" General Perez asked Carren as she arrived. "It''s all done, General. We left the rest of our forces outside the shelter just in case."


    "Good. Thank you for cooperating." General Perez breathed out in relief. "But that beam..."<sub> </sub>


    Before General Perez finished his question, he saw Carren pointing at the sky.


    There, it was not only General Perez. Everyone saw her. It was not hard to see the person flying in the sky since her weapon was still glowing, and its light was reflected on her rainbow-scaled wings. The familiar visage was clear. It was Mei.


    "Everyone! Be careful! The humanoid behemoth is doing something!"


    Markron''s shout took everyone''s attention.


    Like Markron shouted, the humanoid behemoth was behaving strangely. It was bowing down for some reason.


    <strong>RUMBLE!</strong>


    And everyone was enveloped in horror. Along with the rumbling sound of the ground and tree branches snapping, the humanoid [Behemoth ss Infected] pulled a gigantic tree from its roots, raising it over its head.


    <strong>"EVADE! QUICK!"</strong>


    General Perez shouted, ordering everyone to leave their positions. It was clear what the humanoid behemoth was doing. It was going to hurl that gigantic tree towards the front line.


    "Just stay put!"


    A woman''s small voice entered their ears, contradicting the General''s order.


    Even so, many still abandoned their posts immediately after seeing the humanoid behemoth throw the gigantic tree in their direction.


    "Tsk, cowards."


    The petite woman, who appeared from nowhere, said before actually running towards the trajectory of the tree.


    "Watch out!"


    Everyone eximed towards the woman. But before the three even reach here, the woman extended her hand forward.


    Before the woman, a hole in space appeared, swallowing the tree entirely.


    And before their eyes, a simr hole appeared behind the humanoid behemoth. From that hole, the very same tree shot out, hitting the humanoid behemoth''s back, causing it to fall over.


    General Perez looked at the petite woman before them. He realized who she was.


    "You''re Spera, right?"


    General Perez remembered one of the members of Mark''s group. Although Mark did say that his group would help here, he did not expect this at all.


    "It''s a bitte because of the [Infected] appearing from the waters of Man Bay, but we came to help as nned," Spera spoke to the General. "We''ll deal with the enemies to the side and the giants. Go deal with everything else."


    Because of the tree that the humanoid behemoth tried to hurl, the defense on the front line stagnated. The soldiers still had to return to their posts after they tried to run away from the tree, but the [Infected] continuously attacked and were now closing in.


    At this time, several figures charged towards the [Infected]. What most people here in the front line did not expect was that three of the figures were actually children. Not to mention a giant rabbit, a cat-like dog, and a...


    "A maid?"


    One soldier muttered after seeing a teen-aged girl wearing a European Maid Clothing charge behind one of the children.


    The most unexpected of all, these children were actually doing better than adults as they fought dozens of [Infected].


    "What are you all gawking for? Are you letting children beat you all?"


    Husto, who also arrived, shouted. Although he was only saying it to the members of the White Snake Gang, the soldiers around him received coteral damage.


    <strong>BOOM!</strong>


    All of a sudden, another loud sound enveloped the battlefield.


    And to those that witnessed the scene, their mouths opened agape in shock.


    They saw the beast [Behemoth ss Infected] topple to its side.


    "What happened?"


    General Perez shouted to the soldiers on the watchtower since they could see things further from up there.


    "G-General! A-A man just threw the beast behemoth to the ground barehanded!"


    Before General could utter another word, Spera spoke to the side.


    "I already said we''ll deal with the giants. Just focus on the small ones."


    General Perez and those around did not know how to react to this sudden development. However, they knew one thing.


    <strong>"EVERYONE! HERE! WE WILL WRITE HISTORY!"</strong>


    General Perez roared.


    <strong>"OOOHHHHHHHHH!!!"</strong>


    Every fighter on the frontline followed suit with a roar of their own.


    Writing history at this moment was not wrong. The forces of the [Infected] they were against right now would require countless sacrifices to win. Worse, destroy their only home left. However, how many casualties did they have so far? None. And yet, they could see themselves winning without a single person dying in front of them.


    Who would not feel ted to participate in such an event that would go down this settlement''s history?


    With those thoughts, they continued fighting.


    The morale now had shot through the roof. It felt like they could even fight against the world at this moment whether their enemies were [Infected] or not.

 Chapter 822 A Countrys Secret, A Card For The President To Keep His Life

    <strong>Day 203 - 1:25 AM - Presidential Mansion, Central Area, Safezone, Corregidor Military Settlement, Ind of Corregidor, Province of Cavite</strong>


    After finishing his battle against the Elite Special Forces soldiers, Mark made his way towards the Presidential Mansion.


    The distance was not that far, and along the way, Mark could detect hundreds of soldiers, both hidden and not.


    However, unlike when thismotion began, the regr soldiers did not have any notion to tangle with Mark.


    All of these poor soldiers saw how Mark overpowered this country''s strongest elite soldiers. Those elite soldiers could defeat regr soldiers even with a numerical disadvantage, not to mention some of them having superhuman abilities.


    There was no way these regr soldiers would win against Mark even if they all tried. They all knew that it was a fruitless endeavor even if they tried to do so.


    And the most important thing was that these soldiers did not receive any order to fight Mark anymore. The higherups had gone silent all of a sudden.


    That was the reason why when Mark passed through, all these soldiers could do was watch. Unlike the police that was given the privilege to move more freely, the soldiers were more or less trained to only follow orders from their superiors. nning and following it was crucial on battlefields, after all. A single mishap because a single soldier strayed away from the orders could cause the whole n to copse. And now that the line ofmand was frozen, none of them had the intention to move.


    However, the frozen line ofmand was not the greatest factor in the actions of these soldiers. Comparing the side of the current government and the camp of General Perez, these soldiers would rather choose thetter. Did had no positive outlook towards people who only treated them as cannon fodder and tools at their disposal.


    Unfortunately, they were soldiers. They could only follow orders from those superior to them in military positions and keep their current status. After all, soldiers had higher stature than refugees in any way in the current situation.


    And from today onwards, the status of the current government and General Perez''s camp would be reversed. These soldiers would rather not incur the ire of the new ruling by provoking Mark.


    Soon, Mark arrived at the Presidential Mansion without any resistance on the way.


    Mark stared at the mansion from outside its doors.


    "The sure fled fast."


    Mark murmured.


    When Mark infiltrated the mansion earlier, Mark detected many individuals in a particr room of the Presidential Mansion. It included a few individuals he was rather familiar with. He was quite sure that it would be the center ofmand of the current government, led by President Derioa.


    Now, however...


    There were only four people left in that very same room.


    Nheless, two of those four people were emitting a very different aura than those of humans. And those two were also the two most powerful presences he detected in this settlement.


    Mark looked at the central window of the mansion on the second floor. Although the window was tinted, preventing anyone from outside from seeing through it, he was sure that someone was standing there watching him.


    Without further ado, Mark entered the mansion and rushed towards that room.


    And as Mark arrived in front of that room, the door was opened by someone else.


    Knowing that he was being invited inside, Mark stepped in.


    "It''s quite surprising. You did not even hesitate to enter. It was as if you knew that we did not prepare any trap."


    A voice of an old man entered Mark''s ears.


    Mark nced around the room. It was a room with only one desk with the central window of the mansion behind it. On that window, a middle-aged man stood, with his back facing Mark.


    Aside from that man in front of the window, there was an old gentleman wearing formal clothes at the northeast corner of the room. To the west side, two people stood, staring at Mark. The second one, wearing hooded clothing, seemed to be behaving like an attendant as he stood behind another middle-aged man.


    That voice that entered Mark''s ear was from the old gentleman at the corner of the room, looking at Mark with great interest.


    "It is our loss, isn''t it?"


    The man by the window, President Deroa, turned around and faced Mark. His face was filled with resignation to the unfavorable oue of this event.


    And to add salt to injury, Mark spoke.


    "I could have helped this settlement, turning you into a [Mutator] which you seemed to want for a proper price. I did the same with General Perez in Bay City. Why do you have to antagonize us? Putting me into a wanted list and stuff?"


    President Deroa stared at Mark in surprise. He did not really expect Mark to say this. However, Mark did not seem to be lying. And thus, the president who seemed to be older could only sigh.


    Mark was not lying. He had a bunch of [Physical Crystals] lying around unused. Most of these had abilities that were rather undesirable for Mark to use on his people, like mutations that give humans permanent animal parts and stuff.


    Well, it was just Mark''s preference and him having a hoarder mentality to collect stuff. In the current time, no one would bother having those parts as long as it allowed them to survive. It was the same for the president and his allies. They only wanted to be [Mutators] and [Evolvers]. However, their decisions overstepped their bounds.


    If it was in exchange for a suitable price, Mark could let go of one or a couple of those crystals.


    And with that sigh, Mark continued.


    "Greed, isn''t it?"


    President Deroa let out another sigh.


    "I guess we really are blinded by greed. Fear of dying from the [Infected]. Having our position jeopardized. And the stress to keep this ce running. We didn''t think things properly and lost miserably."


    Then, the president looked at Mark.


    "I sacrificed a lot of things to get into this position, whether it be mary wealth or other important things. Don''t you think I would be able to let go of this position easily? I, no, we wanted to use your power to solidify our position even during the apocalypse. Who would not think so? Especially when there is some general who could jeopardize it?"


    "You could have done the same as him, you know that, right?"


    Mark asked.


    "It seemed that you didn''t know." President Deroa shook his head. "Perez is a natural-born leader, adored by the people. Even without his personality, he is someone naturally loved by those around him. And his personal ideals, putting others'' lives before his, multiplied that natural talent. It is not something that most of us politicians have. Why do you think that we had to spend millions on propaganda and empty promises to just get the people to put us into this position?"


    President Deroa took a deep breath.


    "But it all doesn''t matter now. It''s our loss. I''ll have to vacate this position."<sub> </sub>


    "Isn''t itte for that? You should have vacated it before all of this." Mark tilted his head with a frown. "Now that you ordered people to attack me and kidnap important people to me, you should know that I''m here to kill you and all those in cahoots with you."


    "I know."


    President Deroa nodded before turning to the old gentleman standing in the corner of the room.


    "My apologies, but I would rather have you refrain from killing the Sir. Deroa."


    The old gentleman said as he stepped forward.


    "And who you are you anyway?"


    Mark asked with a frown. It already became a policy for Mark to kill whoever attacked him first. The Elite Soldiers were just lucky since they were ordered by someone else. Furthermore, their strength was needed by this settlement.


    As for the president his allies, who were the mastermind, there was no point in keeping them alive. The settlement should be able to function with or without them.


    "Oh, where are my manners." The old gentleman said carefreely. "I am Subsinctus. Most people call me "The Shifter" or just Shifter."


    Hearing the name, along with this old man''s powerful presence, Mark understood who this guy was.


    "A Latin name. An agent of the CNC, correct?"


    Mark voiced out.


    The four people in the room were surprised. None of them expected Mark to know of this underworld business organization, not to mention pointing out the old gentleman as one.


    "Well... This is an unexpected development." The old gentleman, Subsinctus, gazed at Mark in surprise. "Are you someone with a hidden background to know of us?"


    This was the right question. All over the world, only those with a high position, power, wealth, or fame knew of the Crystallus Notitia Coetus. Even among the other smaller underworld organizations, only a few knew of the CNC.


    Yet Mark here knew of them.


    "I''m just a regr person, no, a Demon, now," Mark replied truthfully. There was harm revealing this much. "But I just happened to have my own contracted agent."


    Mark took out the feather that Val Flora gave him to show proof. And here, even the calm-looking Subsinctus looked like he swallowed a bug.


    "Now, this is awkward," Subsinctus said. "We nned of proposing a contract with you in exchange for keeping Sir. Deroa''s life. But since you are in contract with someone else, this card we had in our hands had been rendered useless."


    This made Mark confused. A contract with the CNC was very valuable. Even more valuable than a person''s life. Yet, Subsinctus wanted to give Mark a contract for the president''s life?


    "If you are confused, allow me to exin," Subsinctus spoke. "Each country around the world had an agent assigned to them. Here, I am the agent of the CNC in charge of this country. However, the only person that could give the agents requests and transactions are the leaders of the country. In this country''s case, the president. That contract could only be renewed after every presidential election, approximately every six years."


    Subsinctus turned to President Deroa.


    "Currently, Sir Deroa is my contractee. That willst until the next four years, whether he is dead or alive. Business-wise, that will be unfavorable to me and this country as the transaction will be frozen. You should know that in business, such a thing is very detrimental. More importantly, the one supplying materials to this settlement is me, and the only person that could procure the materials by request is Sir. Deroa."


    "Can''t I just ask my agent to do that?"


    Mark asked.


    Subsinctus turned to Mark.


    "While I have no idea who is your agent, but I believe that they would not be able to provide things at the scale of a country''s agent. Us agents had our designations and specialties within the organization if your agent did not exin it to you. Furthermore, establishing another route to transport materials is not easy as you are thinking, especially now."


    Mark could only fall onto a pondering silence, looking at President Deroa.


    "Then, you are saying that he will be the bridge between General Perez and you as long as I leave him alive?"


    "It is not like we have any other choice in the matter," Subsinctus replied. "Even if he already lost and would be stepping down, he is still my current contractor. Our organization''s contracts are absolute."


    Mark frowned. It looked like that this old gentleman was keen on protecting President Deroa because of the contract. It would also be a bad thing for the settlement if the supplies were cut off because of this.


    "What a blunder," Mark murmured as he turned to President Deroa. "So, he''s the only one needed to live, correct? Then, I''m free to kill the others."


    Everyone in the room could feel Mark''s bloodlust.


    "You better keep your word. Now, step down and be a nobody." Mark said to President Deroa tly. "From now on, this settlement is led by General Perez. Be sure to support him fully. You''re only keeping your neck because of this."


    And here, Mark turned around and left the room immediately.


    "Wait!"


    The other middle-aged man tried to catch up to Mark as he went out. However, he saw nothing but an empty hallway outside.


    "Tch. I''ve been ignored."


    The middle-aged man, Chairman Pedro Kakahuyan, clicked his tongue.


    "Looks like he didn''t see you even as an ant."


    The hooded man, Crowell, jeered at his contractor.


    Looking annoyed at Crowell, the Chairman reentered the room.


    "It''s good that I refrained from jumping into the bandwagon, am I right, Mr. President?" The Chairman spoke to President Deroa. "No, it should be Mr. Ex-President now."


    "Haah..." Roderick Deroa slumped into his chair. "Stop it. I''m not even in the mood to argue with you anymore. I did my best to send away the Marcoses and seeded there. In the end, I still lost. Just now, I''m already ready to give up on living. Luckily, he decided to let me live."


    "You people overdid it." The Chairman said. "By the looks of it, it would have been fine for a while. But you and those greedy f*cks just had to kidnap people. You all are at fault for your loss."


    And here, blood spilled all over the [Safezone]. Those allies of Ex-president Dero that fled were all found dead afterward. Among those who plotted the kidnapping, only two managed to survive.

 Chapter 823 The New Reign, The Outcome Of The Events In Corregidor Military Settlement

    <strong>Day 203 - 1:42 AM - Defense Line, Northern Slums, Corregidor Military Settlement, Ind of Corregidor, Province of Cavite</strong>


    The defense against the [Infected] had yet to settle down even after more than half an hour since it started. However, the situation had stabilized and became under control.


    It was not only the arrival of Mark''s group that led to the current situation. The Chief of Staff, Major General Bautista, abandoned the president''s camp and led his loyal subordinates to aid the defense line.


    Still, no one could deny that the members of Mark''s group were crucial to this defense. Many people who saw their prowess as they fought the [Infected] could not believe what they were seeing.


    Even the Chief of Staff had the same notion towards the members of Mark''s group. Furthermore, many people here, soldiers or not, did note from Bay City. None of them knew who the little girls or the rainbow-winged woman in the sky were. Most of them thought these strong people were hidden among General Perez''s people. It was bolstered by the fact that the young woman who knocked down the humanoid [Behemoth ss Infected] with the thrown tree was talking to General Perez.


    What shocked the people the most was, of course, the man who knocked down the beast [Behemoth ss Infected] just with his brute strength. Since that very same man jumped into the middle of the horde to attack the gigantic [Infected], he was swarmed immediately. However, to make the witnesses even more ck-jawed, the attacks of the [Infected] could not even leave a scratch on his chiseled body. It did not matter whether it was a bite, scratch, or even acidic bile. The man was uninjured as he began attacking the downed behemoth.


    With all thesebined forces, both [Behemoth ss Infected] were killed without a single casualty among the people. Even the horde showed signs of thinning out.


    Reports of [Infected Marine Creatures] also urred, with these kinds of [Infected] surfacing from the waters of Man Bay. However, their numbers were far fewer than the hordeing from the north. These [Infected] were dealt with by Mark''s group and the members of the other gangs.


    After another half hour, the horde of [Infected] was now nothing but a mountain of corpses. This would be quite a hassle to clean up since it was literally blocking the way to the maind. However, this mountain of corpses was also a trove of opportunities.


    The people of Corregidor Military Settlement would refrain from butchering any human [Infected]. However, the ws and other mutated parts of the [Mutated Infected] could still be used for many things, such as weapons and traps. As for the [Infected Animals], their bodies were filled with materials that people could recycle.


    In this mountain of corpses, a third wasposed of [Mutated Infected Animals]. Since the horde wasposed of more than a thousand [Infected], the number of animal corpses would be plentiful.


    Of course, it was a pity since the meat of [Infected Animals] could not be consumed without repercussions. But it was no problem to use their body parts for armors and weapons. Some leather from [Infected Animals] was even harderpared to cheap bulletproof ss. Just how much could they harvest from this heap of corpses?


    Another opportunity here was that...


    The smell of blood would definitely attract [Evolved Animals] into the vicinity.


    Hunting was one of the sources of food in this settlement. However, it was not easy since all the non-infected animals they could encounter nowadays had already evolved. It was hard to catch non-hostile animals while it was deadly to encounter hostile ones.


    But if the animals were attracted to the smell of blood, they could justy traps and ambush the animals.


    The supposedly catastrophic event ended safely and turned into an opportunity.


    And more than anything else...


    The reign of the tyrants of the government has ended.


    At the closing of this event, no one would object that General Perez was more suitable as a leaderpared to those greedy politicians.


    ***


    After the battle against the horde concluded, General Perez wanted to see through the clean-up operations. Even with the supposed benefits, they could not just leave the corpses of the [Infected] very near the slums. Although it would take a while to remove those corpses, they could at least separate the human corpses from the animal corpses that they could butcher.


    The human corpses would be thrown into a pit and burned to ashes before getting buried. This way, they could at least remove the possibility of something strange happening, like the dead bodies mutating or some magically reviving from the dead. After all, the current Earth was not the non-magical one they knew in the past.


    General Perez wanted to oversee these things. However, his loyal subordinates disagreed. Some of them were privy to the ns that were unveiled tonight. Thus, they told the General to go home immediately.


    And with his son, Lieutenant Rafael Perez, General Miguel Perez returned home.


    "DAD! BROTHER!"


    As the two soldiers entered the door, they were weed by a warm embrace of Angeline.


    Even though Angeline was behaving like usual, she was definitely afraid when they were kidnapped. Even though she was safe already safe, she was still uneasy inside. This embrace was not only to assure her family but also herself.


    "They didn''t do anything to you, right?"


    General Perez asked his daughter.


    "I''m alright."


    Angeline replied with a smile.


    Inside the room, every member of the Perez family was present to celebrate Angeline, Elsa, and Pa''s safety. Of course, Pa''s mother, Pauline, was also present. She was alongside a few more important people.


    "Is everything fine?" Angelise asked her husband. "We heard the horde was ratherrge, with two behemoths."


    "It should have been disastrous." General Perez smiled. "But it''s thanks to our friend there."


    General Perez turned to Mark, who sat at the corner of the room with Elsa.


    All of the things that happened were Mark''s idea. The release of magical energy to attract the [Infected]. Spreading the rumors of the kidnapping among the people. Even the fact that he refrained from participating in the battle against the horde was an idea of his.


    In fact, upon returning, Mark could have joined the defense together with Pa, Elsa, and Angeline. They were [Mutators], after all. However, Mark forbid them from doing so.


    Having them join the battle would implicate things a bit. After all, they were supposed to be kidnapped. The propaganda that Mark nned first would have less effect if they suddenly appeared in the front lines.


    And the reason why Mark did not participate was that he was still a wanted man. Although he could wear a mask, there were already people who knew that he was here. It could spread in one way or another. Most importantly could implicate the image of General Perez they seeded in crafting tonight.


    After all, the current government was not the only enemy of General Perez in this settlement. And even if some were not his direct enemies, there were those who were vying for the position of this settlement''s leader. It was better to prevent things that could possibly be used against the General that was now going to be its leader.


    In the least, since Mark did not appear in the front line, most people that would only hear rumors about him would think it was nothing but a hoax.


    Besides, his interference was not needed. His group handled the horde just fine.


    "What happened to your side?"


    General Perez asked Mark.


    "Don''t worry, I didn''t kill any soldier or members of the special forces. One of them might be lying on the hospital bed for quite a while, though." Mark replied nonchntly. "As for the remnants of the self-proimed government and their allies, all are dead but two."


    "Two?"<sub> </sub>


    General Perez asked. Although he was not really fond of Mark killing them all, he was still surprised that Mark left two alive.


    "There''s more merit in leaving that Roderick alive. He''ll be stepping down and will give the position to you. Have him by your side and keep an eye on him."


    Mark then exined the situation, which made everyone in the room rather surprised. By the looks of it, it seemed none of them knew about the contract between the countries and the CNC. If this was true, then Mark was right in keeping the president alive.


    "As for the other one..." Mark shrugged. "He''s crap but he''s still Mei''er''s father. I let him keep his life, but I made sure that he won''t be a nuisance anymore."


    That was right. One of the allies of President Deroa was actually the head of Xiao Industries and Mei''s father. Even if he was an enemy, it would leave a bad taste in his mouth to kill one of his wife''s parents. The best he could do was to imnt [Bloodmetal] into the man''s legs, causing him to be permanently disabled. This way, there was little to no chance that he would cause more trouble.


    In the first ce, they were nowbeled as traitors as someone who also came from Bay City. No one would lend them a hand anymore.


    "Where is the rest of your group?" Rafael asked Mark. "We should at least thank them for the help. But immediately after the fighting ended, they all left."


    And to that request, Mark shook his head.


    "There''s no need to," Mark replied. "We already overstayed. Unlike you guys who only needed to worry about surviving, we still had things to do."


    "What do you mean?"


    General Perez asked, noticing the hidden message in Mark''s words.


    Mark looked around, he was unsure about the others, but it was fine to let General Perez know.


    Noticing Mark''s eyes, Pa spoke.


    "Should we all leave?"


    "There''s no need to," Mark replied. "General, just get closer."


    General Perez approached Mark. Then, Mark let out a crystal causing the wind around him and the general to stagnate, forming a sound barrier.


    From here, no one could hear what Mark and General Perez were talking about. However, they could see the general''s changing expressions as the talk went on.


    The talk took about fifteen minutes. Afterward, Mark removed the barrier with a gush of wind from the surroundings.


    At this point, General Perez was already feeling exhausted.


    Mark turned to the others, specifically, the three kidnapped girls.


    "Well then, I need to get going. We might visit from time to time so make sure to stay alive."


    "You better take care of Mei, alright?"


    Angeline voiced out and Pa agreed.


    "Do you really have to tell me that?"


    Mark shrugged as his visage slowly vanished, using [Optical Camouge] and [Shadow Mist Movement] to leave the room. Before he left, however, he gave the general''s wife, Angelise, a vague smile.


    "He''s gone."


    Pa said as she could not sense any of Mark''s presence any longer.


    "Dad, are you okay?"


    Angeline asked her father who slumped at the chair thinking.


    Instead of replying to his daughter, however, General Perez turned to Pauline.


    Before General Perez could say anything, Pauline already spoke.


    "I know what you want to ask. It''s the usual, isn''t it? We can''t hear anything but I can tell you. Whatever he said to you, none of it are lies."


    Hearing that from the walking lie detector, General Perez could only sigh. He felt a heavy pressure on his back.


    "Dear, what did he tell you."


    Angelise approached her husband and asked.


    "How should I call it..." General Perez replied. "I guess, we can call it the truth of the world."


    Those words from the general made everyone present even more confused.


    ***


    The next day, President Deroa announced the abdication of his position. Stepping down as the president and the leader of this settlement, he handed the position to the new leader, General Miguel Perez.


    Many people witnessed it since the speech was done a day after the night a horde attacked.


    Surely, people were shocked by the oue, especially when the news about the rest of the members of the president''s faction was found dead and the only other survivor was disabled.


    Nheless, the General stepping into position was supported by the majority. The merits he had and his actions so far warranted such support.


    Of course, not everyone was happy about this oue. There were still other factions vying for the leading position. Unfortunately, General Perez had beaten them by andslide. In the least, they would not do anything troublesome for a while.


    The president''s abdication aside, everyone waited for the general''s speech.


    However, no one expected that his speech consisted of unbelievable facts about the current state of Earth.


    <strong>-Volume End-</strong>

 Chapter 824 A Little Bit Of Warning, A Mischievous Message From The [Eye Of Interest]

    <strong>Day 204 - 8:21 AM - Molino III, City of Bacoor, Province of Cavite</strong>


    Flying over the sky of Bacoor Cavite, it was the floating vessel, the [Mini Cube].


    On the tform outside the door of the floating vessel, Mark sat down with Mei and the little girls, looking down at the scenery. Even Amihan was with them, sitting on Mark''s head. Of everyone in Mark''s group present in this vessel, it was only Mei and Abbygale that had seen this ce before. Below them was thend where Mark grew up. Although Mark was not born in this ce, he lived in Bacoor since he was five.


    Mark witnessed how this ce turned from a developing municipal area into a thriving city. Well, not thoroughly. Under his parent''s watch, the ces he could go were very limited in the past. In the least, he saw many crucial changes during the development of this ce.


    It was not like Mark was being sentimental or anything to pass by this ce. However, he was indeed curious as to what changes happened to his hometown after the Fusion of Dimensions. Besides, their next destination was south towards the Visayas. Going on a slight detour southeast would not hurt.


    And to say, Mark was kind of disappointed.


    Mark wanted to see the current state of his hometown andpare it to the past. However, how could he do so when he could not tell where was what exactly?


    Thend changed too much. ces shifted, new mountains and hills appeared, forests covered most of thend, and all that was left of the past civilization were ruins.


    Even if Mark had perfect memory due to being able to ess his subconscious, it was useless. Finding an exact ce now was extremely hard unless one was able to see a rather recognizablendmark.


    However, whatndmark could they find after an earthquake surpassing magnitude ten? All that was left from structures, even from the sturdiest buildings, were nothing but destroyed walls.


    All that Mark could find was the general direction of Bacoor using Bay City as andmark, but it was still not enough to pinpoint exact locations.


    Too much had changed that this ce did not feel like Mark''s hometown any longer.


    As the people said in the past, "it is what it is." There was nothing else that could be done. All that was left was to ept it.


    Without anything else to do, Mark and the girls just went sightseeing. The [Infected] and [Mechids] aside, there were a lot of things to see from the sky. There were beautiful ones, ugly ones, but the most interesting things were those that came from the [Spirit Dimension].


    Trees with crystal-like leaves, multi-colored glittering birds, and snakes with wings were just a few among the good examples.


    Even though Mark did not manage to see what he was looking for below, it was not bad to just look around and appreciate the view.


    While sightseeing, however...


    "And what do you want now?"


    Mark spoke, ncing at the roof of the [Mini Cube].


    Of course, everyone''s attention was turned to who Mark was talking to.


    Sitting on the ledge was one of the [Eyes]. The [Eye of Interest], Neenth. No one noticed when she appeared. She even looked like she was joining Mark and the girls while sightseeing.


    It had been a while since the [Eyes] appeared before Mark. It should be more than a month already. Thest time was when Fourth showed up in her adult form during the arrival of the Second Wave.


    Since then, the eyes did not make any appearance. For Neenth to appear here right now, something important might have happened.


    It was not only Mark that noticed her, though.


    "Is everything alright?"


    From the door of the [Mini Cube], Chimetrice appeared. He immediately stared at Neenth the moment he stepped out. It was clear that he was ready to fight. After all, the aura emitted by the [Eyes] was simr to those of a god''s.


    However, to Chimetrice''s readiness to fight, Mark replied.


    "It''s fine. That one is an [Eye]."


    Chimetrice stared at the woman sitting on the ledge. She indeed had the features that only the [Eyes] had. Mark already mentioned to them before that the [Eyes] were their allies. However, as a weapon created to antagonize gods, Chimetrice was ufortable around one. It was even if they were not hostile.


    "You don''t have to worry. We are on the same side. I''ll give my and my master''s word for it." Finally, after staring back at Chimetrice, Neenth spoke. "You are someone created to fight godly beings. But as someone born in this world and created by its citizen, please direct that hostility to foreign gods trying to invade this world."


    "For you to say that... It seems the issue about foreign gods and stuff aren''t over yet."


    Mark chimed in.


    "It is something that will never be over." Neenth replied to Mark''s words. "Not all gods can make a world of their own. However, many of those gods needed a world to rule. The only way for them is to invade another god''s creation. And something like Earth that is not directly managed by its creator is a nice target for them."


    "Even now, we have yet to find and oust all the hidden gods." Neenth continued. "I''m afraid they might start moving soon. That is why we are rather busy."


    Then, Neenth stared at Mark.


    "So, please. As someone not bound by destiny, don''t create too many ripples."


    Those words became a source of confusion for Mark and everyone present.


    "What do you mean?"


    Mark asked.


    "Hahh..." Neenth sighed. "Are you really doing it without knowing? This is already the second time in one month. As it is something that could not be helped, we don''t really mind you changing people''s destinies. However, to change the destiny of several thousand people at once, there was no way it would not have drastic effects."


    At this point, it dawned unto Mark what Neenth meant.


    Due to the circumstances in Corregidor Military Settlement, Mark decided to take the settlement''s matters into his own hands. In order to make sure that his friends and allies would live a better life there, he made the president step down before Mark killed his allies. Lastly, he put General Perez as the new leader of the settlement and was likely to be considered as the acting president of this country.


    However, Mark was someone not bound by destiny. By doing all those things, he affected and changed the destinies of everyone involved.


    Then, it meant that Mark''s actions on a greater scale were affecting the destinies of people and drastically changing their futures.


    But then, something entered Mark''s mind.


    "But why only now?" Mark asked. "I did the same when [Auraboros] tried to take Bay City under their control. It''s not only me who got involved but also Mei''er. You and Fourth did not say anything about that."<sub> </sub>


    "Because back then, it is different." Neenth answered. "You have yet to notice since it is still minuscule. But you''re already gaining a very little amount of [Existential Energy]."


    This made Mark even more confused. This was the first time he heard about this so-called [Existential Energy]. Was it a type of [Magical Energy]? Like [Mana], [Ether], and [Miasma]?


    "[Existential Energy] you say?" Chimetrice spoke, seemingly surprised. "Isn''t that the source of the powers of gods?"


    Except for Neenth, everyone abruptly turned to Chimetrice. What he said was a bomb. Definitely a bomb.


    And to supplement the words from Chimetrice, Neenth exined.


    "[Existential Energy] is something that defines the strength of someone''s existence. Most gods needed this energy to maintain their strength."


    "Wait," Mark interjected. "Don''t gods gain more energy through people''s worship?"


    Here, Neenth smiled.


    "Seems like you got the gist of it."


    "Oi, don''t joke around like that." Mark frowned. "Since when did I present myself as a figure of worship?"


    "The other [Eyes] might, but I am someone who doesn''t find jokes as something interesting."


    At this point, Mark was racking his brain. When? Where? How? Who?


    Mark was really confused. He had never been confused like this even when his [Empath] abilities had yet to bloom.


    "It looks like that it would be a good punishment for you." Neenth nodded. "I would not divulge any other information about this to you. So, make sure to contemte."


    After saying those words, Neenth stood up. It looked like she only appeared to tell Mark that message and warn him about his actions.


    "You''re just leaving without exining further? Seriously? You''re just here to give me a warning?"


    Mark hurriedly spoke.


    "I am done with my work here, why can''t I leave? Besides, it is not really a warning but more of telling you the effects of your actions. We also have other things to do, but the ripples you are creating made it a bit harder for us to do our work." Neenth sighed once again. "Think of Earth as a pail of stagnant water. In order to find the other gods who are also not bound by fate, we had to find the minuscule ripples they might create. But then, arge ripple just appeared, drowning all the other ripples. And that ripple is you."


    Neenth continued further.


    "The hidden gods were trying hard to hide their ripples. Obviously, your ripple will stand out and drown theirs. I believe you understand how important for us to find those stragglers from other worlds. We do not mind you creating ripples from time to time but refrain from creating really big ones."


    Knowing that Neenth had no intention to tell Mark about him getting worshipers and changing the topic, Mark gave up. Instead...


    "Why are you the one here anyway?" Mark asked. "Isn''t fourth the one in charge of me?"


    "Since you can''t get the answer from me, are you thinking of getting it from Fourth?" Neenth stared at Mark mischievously. "You don''t have to worry, Fourth won''t appear in front of you a long while. You are doing great but her other candidate isn''t. Thus, she is there to guide her other candidate. And in any case, Fourth did not have even a single idea about your current state, so you will not get any answer from her."


    Mark was getting annoyed. As someone that did not really want too much attention, knowing that he was a center of worship somewhere felt really ufortable.


    "By the way." Something entered Mark''s mind. "Our next n is to deal with Sinogo. Won''t that create the ripples you are talking about?"


    "You have no need to worry about that one." Neenth replied. "Since it is something that we already knew beforehand, we could prepare things on our side. It is just the things you had done so far are too abrupt for use to do anything."


    By the looks of it, things would be fine as long as the [Eyes] were informed beforehand. However, how would that be possible every time? The [Eyes] would only appear whenever they could, after all.


    "Well then, I should depart." Neenth said. "Until next time."


    And there, Neenth stepped backward with a door of light opening behind her.


    "They really juste and go."


    Amihan, who hid behind Mark the moment she saw Neenth, spoke.


    "Well, I just got informed of something annoying."


    Mark was not d, however.


    "It seems I don''t have to congratte you if you are that annoyed."


    Chimetrice, who stood by the door said to Mark.


    "Don''t... Just don''t..."


    Mark was getting a headache.


    "Gege, isn''t it good?" Mei said. "If you are getting that [Existential Energy], doesn''t it mean you''ll get even more powerful?"


    Mark turned to Mei. She was right. However, Mark really felt ufortable knowing this.


    And if Neenth really wanted to punish Mark for making their work harder, she did seed horribly.


    "Haahhh..."


    Mark let out an empty sigh. He wondered how this situation would end up.


    Then, Mark scratched his head as he forgot to ask something.


    Neenth said that what he did in Corregidor was the second one. Then, when was the first?

 Chapter 825 At The White Space Once More, The Changes Brought By Marks Abrupt Actions

    <strong>Day 204 - 11:02 AM - ¨ƒ¨ƒ:¨ƒ¨ƒ ¨ƒ¨ƒ - ¨ƒ¨ƒ¨ƒ¨ƒ¨ƒ¨ƒ¨ƒ¨ƒ¨ƒ¨ƒ¨ƒ¨ƒ¨ƒ¨ƒ¨ƒ¨ƒ¨ƒ</strong>


    Inside the white space that looked over Earth, the [Observer] watched the changes it went through.


    And sadly, every day that passed by, the number of humans dwindled even more.


    Contrary to the grim expectations of the [Observer], however, many ces on Earth began to gain stability. Many smaller settlements joined together to build a ce they could call home.


    They began to develop defenses, equipment, and even food that did not exist back before the apocalypse started. Humans were adapting and at quite a fast pace.


    It was a good thing for humankind.


    Unknown to these people, it was not the sole work of humanity. At some of the most sessful settlements in different countries, the [Eyes] manipted things behind the scenes.


    Sometimes, the leaders of the settlements would gain insights on how to defend their homes. There were also times that people eerily felt danger before it came. There were even times where a scout would get lost and return, carrying information about a source of food and water they stumbled upon "identally" while lost.


    With the help of the [Eyes], many ces gained the safety and stability they needed.


    Did these actions of the [Eyes] create ripples in the river of fate? Yes. However, it was within the control and a certain expected oue.


    If it was the Flow of Destiny that one was to talk about, it was the appearance of [Mutagen] that changed the fate of the world and all the lives inside it. By affecting the lives of the people a little bit, the [Observer] and the [Eyes] were only returning bits of their destiny to them.


    In the first ce, many people who died when the apocalypse started were not supposed to in the original timeline. Many of them would live longer lives, and some even die of old ages after a few more decades.


    But the lives of those people ended drastically as [Mutagen] arrived on Earth.


    The whole book of fate, the [Akashic Records], of Earth changed. The lifespan of humans increased, but their survivability in this world decreased.


    Everything was all the effect of [Mutagen] on the world.


    Next was the arrival of [Mechids]. It was supposed to clean Earth of more humans. Its arrival would not only destroy thend but rip open the already unstable barrier between dimensions. This event would not only cause a global disturbance in terrain. It would also return Earth to its state when the foreign gods still roamed itsnd.


    To cope with the situation on Earth, the [Observer] decided to use drastic methods. And it was to gain the help of the foreign gods still hidden on Earth and send them to where they wanted to go.


    Using the [Fusion of Dimensions] as the medium and the power of hidden gods as an energy source, the [Observer] managed to save most of humankind. However, it also caused some mishaps as a few of the gods tried to interfere during the process.


    Although the [Observer] and the [Eyes] seeded in their goal, the [Eyes] became severely weakened. That was why the [Observer] was making sure to watch the ripples if a hidden god was to create one. They needed to prepare to deal with these gods preemptively if they wanted to seed.


    At the current state of the weakened [Eyes], they would need everyone to deal with a single weakened god.


    But at the moment, there was also someone that was busy makingrge ripples himself. It was not an unweed event. After all, the ripples he created caused the destined deaths of many to be pushed far into the future.


    However, those ripples made it harder for the servants of the world to do their work. It was not only the [Observer] and the [Eyes]. Even the [Guide] had a lot toin about in this situation.


    The [Guide] was preparing to receive the souls of hundreds of people in a few days. It was due to a civil war within the settlement on the ind of Corregidor to break out. Many soldiers and volunteers were supposed to lose their lives. Those deaths came alongside the lives of many refugees. It was due to the hordes of [Infected] being drawn by the noise of the battle.


    Because there were not enough soldiers to fight the hordes of [Infected] and two [Behemoth ss Infected]. Many more people died. More than half of the settlement got destroyed by the [Infected]. It was abandoned by its survivors afterward.


    Yet, those supposed hundreds to thousands of deaths were reced by a few souls marked for the fourth circle of hell.


    The settlement remained standing strong, and the horde of [Infected] that was supposed to cause its demise turned into a gigantic pile of corpses without taking a single life in return.


    These kinds of changes sure caused a gigantic ripple in the river of fate, overshadowing any other ripple that may appear.


    "Master, I have returned."


    While watching the ripples of Earth that started to calm down, the [Observer] heard the voice of one of her [Eyes].


    "Have you given him the message?"


    The [Observer] asked the [Eye of Interest], Neenth.


    "Yes, I have." Neenth replied. "But I doubt this will be thest time."


    The [Observer] could only nod. It was to be expected.


    At this point, the [Observer] turned her eyes to a particr ce in the Eastern United States. It was a set of brick buildings with red shingled roofs. Back in the day, it was called the St. Gabriel''s Hall. Now, however, it turned into a fortress filled with people.


    The odd thing about this cepared to other settlements was that it was run by a cult. The Cult of the Shadow Demon. The barriers during the [Fusion of Dimensions] were determined by the unity of the people it protected. The stronger the bond and unity of the people, the harder the barrier was. For his ce to survive with just a few people at the start, the unity of the members of this cult was extremely high.


    And there was no need to tell who this cult was worshiping. It was no one else but the Demon d in a shadowy mist that saved them from the group of cannibals that inhabited this ce in the past.


    The god they prayed to did not help them. But when they gave up, a Demon came, freed them, and gave them weapons to fight back. Although there was a possibility that he was not an actual Demon, these victims did not care. It was him who saved them and not some nonexistent god.


    "They are not proactively recruiting people to their cult, but it is growing at a steady pace."<sub> </sub>


    The [Observer] said, looking at the people in that fortress.


    "Master, are you looking at that ce again?"


    Neenth respectfully asked.


    "It is hard not to." The [Observer]. "It had been a very long time since a new religion was born on this. And this one is worshiping a real potential god. Although it is disappointing that they veered away from worshiping the [Creator God], their pure and unwavering faith is beautiful to look at."


    Neenth fell silent with a smile on her face. Since immemorial, her Master, the current [Observer], observed the world as her duty. She had seen many good, bad, disgusting, ugly, and many other things. However, the current [Observer] loved to watch the pure and unwavering. How long had it been since thest time the [Observer] had such interest to observe something?


    Sighing, Neenth spoke.


    "Master, this is a bad thing, is it not? The [Exitential Energy] received by the focus of worship varies depending on how the worshipers saw them. If he is being worshiped as a Shadow Demon, would it not turn him into a Demonic God in the future?"


    "It is true." The [Observer] agreed. "But with the minuscule amount he currently receives, it will take a very long time. If he became worshiped by another group with a different view of him, the effects might offset. We still have a lot of time before we can see what kind of god he might be."


    Here, the [Observer] turned somewhere else. It was the floating vessel currently flying south of Cavite in the Philippines.


    Of course, it was Mark and his group.


    Since Mark and Mei were not bound by fate any longer, the [Observer] could not observe the two directly. However, it was different for those around them. Right now, using Feng Zhiruo, the [Observer] could see all those around this female Chinese Cultivator.


    Among Mark''s group, Feng Zhiruo was the easiest for the [Observer] to observe. Amihan was a [Sylph], the little girls were now [Blood Demons], Spera was an [Inheritor], Chimetrice was a [Chimera]posed of many mythical and demonic creatures, and Ilia was an [Elder Subus]. Each of them had either a constitution or power that could obstruct the [Observer''s] observation every now and then. It was unlike Feng Zhiruo, whose power was cultivated inside herself. She was the most human among Mark''s group right at this moment.


    Using Feng Zhiruo as the medium, the [Observer] decided to watch the group a little bit. And to say, it was rxing to watch them. Unlike most of the people around the world living a tense life, Mark''s group was among the few enjoying it. They even had the time to sightsee while eating their lunch. They sure were a bunch of weird but people with a nice atmosphere around them.


    <strong>***</strong>


    <strong>Day 204 - 12:11 PM - St. Mary Mountain, Barangay Bs, Municipality of Talisay, Province of Batangas</strong>


    Atop the St. Mary Mountain, north of Taal Lake, Mark''s groupnded for lunch. It was already past noon, so they decided to eat lunch before they continued on their journey. And since Mark had never really seen Taal Lake before, he chose this location.


    Well, the scenery was far different from what everyone expected, however.


    The sky above the Taal Lake was dark and thick, filled with ash and dust. It was as if this ce had different weather on its ownpared to the rest of the country.


    As for the reason...


    Taal Lake was not ake filled with water, any longer.


    In front of Mark and his group, they were watching a giganticke ofva with the barely recognizable Taal Volcano at its center.


    "What a hellish but amazing scene."


    Mark murmured, watching theke while waiting for lunch to be served. Above his shoulder, there was the [Wind Maniption Mental Crystal] glowing brightly. At the same time, Amihan was also using her magical abilities to control the wind around them. If Mark and Amihan did not do this, they would have been all covered with dust and ash already along with their food.


    This ce sure was a good location to sightsee. But, of course, if one could protect themselves from the ashes, dust, smoke, and even the smell of rotten eggs.


    "Earth had gotten a veryrge and painful pimple, isn''t it?"


    Spera spoke, looking at the same scenery as Mark.


    Mark looked at Spera with half-closed eyes. She was right, but there was no need to voice it. What she said just ruined the nice scene.


    But before Mark could reprimand Spera, she spoke, pointing at something.


    "Wait, what''s that?"


    Of course, Mark also turned to where Spera was pointing at. He did not see anything else stranger than thevake earlier. If Spera was ying around, he would go smack her head.


    However, Spera was not ying around. As Mark turned to look, there was indeed something strange.


    "Is that ava monster?"


    Spera voiced out.


    At the foot of what was left of Taal Volcano, a gigantic creature surfaced from theva. It looked humanoid, although it was walking on all fours which made it look like a giantva gori. If not for the proportions of its body, one would think it was.


    Was it a [Magical Creature] or a [Mutated Infected]? It was quite hard to know. Although Mark and Spera could see the creature due to its size and the height of the mountain they stood at, the creature was actually more than six kilometers from their location. It was too far for Mark''s detection range.


    In any case, none of them expected to see some creature rise from thevake. Should they go check it out after lunch?

 Chapter 826 Killing The Lava Monster, Discovering An Unexpected And Confusing Mystery

    <strong>Day 204 - 1:25 PM - Taal Lake, Municipality of Talisay, Province of Batangas</strong>


    After eating a simple lunch, sumptuous considering Earth''s current state, Mark''s group was ready to go. But before continuing towards their journey south, Mark decided to stop by the giganticva monster they saw surface from thevake of Taal Lake.


    Whether thatva monster that appeared was a magical creature or a [Mutated Infected], who would not feel curious what it was? It was not every day that one would see a moving creature with ava-like exterior.


    The [Mini Cube] floated high up in the sky while Mark jumped down to look. He did not intend to engage the creature immediately. Mark just flew close enough that it was within his detection area. If it was some sort of magical creature, Mark might leave it alone. After all, magical creatures were not mindless beings. They would not pose much of a threat unless provoked first.


    It was different if it was a [Mutated Infected], however.


    And when Mark reached enough distance for him to sense the creature''s emotional fluctuations...


    There was none.


    It meant that this giganticva monster was a [Mutated Infected].


    These gigantic [Infected] werebeled as [Behemoth ss] from what Mark learned in Corregidor Military Settlement. A rare kind of [Infected] that mutated into ginormous proportions, enhancing their mutations and abilities far beyond other [Infected].


    But as someone with knowledge of Freed and the mutation tiers from the Eriellis, Mark had a different term for these creatures. These gigantic [Infected] was called a [Variant Level 6 Infected] in Eriellis.


    What made these giant [Infected] different and called variants was the line of mutation they went through.


    After reaching [Level 4 Mutation], there was a chance for the mutation to jump off to [Level 6 Mutation], entirely skipping [Level 5 Mutation]. The reason was yet to be known, even in Eriellis. This, however, would result in the [Infected] growing differently. This would cause the body of the [Infected] to growrger to contain the mutation that their previous body would not handle.


    And to say, these variant mutations were rare for a reason. It was because they were extremely dangerous beings. From the growth spurt of these [Infected], the mutations on their bodies would just grow stronger, and their bodiesrger.


    The mutated [Eye] that destroyed Eriellis was actually suspected to be the variant mutation that was left to grow alone.


    That was why like what Mark intended to do with Sinogo, Mark decided to deal with this [Lava Infected] immediately. Something like this with ava-like body would pose a great threat, especially to the current Earth.


    Earth was now mostly covered with forests and grasnds from the [Spirit Dimension]. If this [Lava Infected] started roaming within those forests, there would only be one expected oue.


    An uncontroble forest fire all over the country.


    Well, the trees from the [Spirit Dimension] seemed to have more resistance to fire than regr trees. There would be no need to worry if the source of the fire was something normal. However, this [Lava Infected] could move. It was basically a walking source of forest fires.


    Although the reason was unknown, it was good that this [Lava Infected] had yet to leave its nest. Who knows what disaster it would cause if it left sooner before Mark''s group stumbled upon it.


    With those thoughts in mind, Mark returned to the [Mini Cube].


    "How is it?"


    Mei asked Mark upon his return.


    "That thing is a [Mutated Infected]," Mark replied. "We should deal with that immediately before it starts to cause trouble."


    Everyone here, of course, except Abbygale and Miracle, understood the threats that such a creature could bring.


    However, considering that it was a [Mutated Infected] d inva, how would they kill it?


    Bullets would have no effect on a gigantic creature like that. Even explosives probably would not. Looking at the creature, it seemed to be evenrger than the ones they encountered the other day.


    One of their options that could possibly do this time was Chimetrice, causing Spera and Feng Zhiruo to look at him. After all, this [Humanoid Chimera] showed his prowess during the fight the other day by toppling a [Behemoth ss] with his bare hands.


    However, Chimetrice was not responding to those gazes. He was pretty confident that Mark understood that he was not that omnipotent. While he had quite a sturdy body, there was no way he would go unscathed touching a bunch of molten rock. In the first ce, the creatures used in his creation did not have much resistance towards fire-based enemies.


    In the first ce, Mark was not looking at Chimetrice.


    Instead...


    "Huh?" Spera noticed Mark staring at her to her surprise. "No, wait. Why are you looking at me?"


    "Isn''t it obvious?" Mark tilted his head. "You''re going to deal with that thing there."


    "Whe-wha?! Wait! I know I''ve been annoying you these past days but are you really going to make me fight that? I''m going to die, you know? OUCH!"


    Spera panicked until something hit her forehead. She stared at Mark, only to see him looking at her strangely as his right hand was still outstretched after flicking her head.


    "Use your brain, alright? Who said that I''m making you fight that?" Mark said. "You didn''t learn anything from school?"


    Spera stared at Mark. Her eyes looked angry but also helpless.


    "Well, I''m sorry," Spera red at Mark. "I''ve never gone to school so how would I know what you have in mind?"


    The atmosphere took a dive.


    Amihan, Ilia, Chimetrice, and Miracle aside, everyone here was human, at least in the past. Since school was a mandatory thing even to poor families, it was amon thing to assume that Spera had gone to school. It was coupled with the fact that Spera barely shared her past with anyone here. In the first ce, who would be proud to say everything of their past when they were nothing but a helpless ve?


    In any case, whether he was on the wrong or not, Mark did step on and mine here.


    Suddenly, Spera felt someone embracing her.


    "Why are you hugging me..."


    Spera asked Mei, who embraced her while giving Mark aining eye.


    "Alright, my bad."


    Mark took a step back here. There was no way he would resist Mei''s stare. Besides, although there was no one to directly me here, he was the one who said the wrong things.


    "What I wanted to say, is there''s no need to fight that thing below." Mark continued. "You know your best ability, right? That''s what we needed."


    ***


    Finishing up the n, everyone got ready. Well, it was not much of a n, really.<sub> </sub>


    There was only one thing to do, after all.


    Below, the [Lava Infected] was moving around rather slowly. Although it might just be the exterior, its entire body was covered with hot, boiling, semi-liquidva. Its body was too heavy and stiff to move around faster than it could right now.


    Still, speed was the least of this [Infected''s] concern. With its body structured like that, there were very few things around that could actually harm it. Not to mention that it was staying at the remains of Taal Volcano at the center of Taal Lake that turned into a giantvake. No dangers coulde to it at all.


    Well, none until now.


    The [Lava Infected] was oblivious that it was about to get thergest shower of its life.


    All of a sudden, a shadow loomed over the [Lava Infected]. It could not help but wonder why it suddenly became dark and looked around. Even the dumbest [Infected] would notice such a drastic change, not to mention something that mutated this advanced.


    And then, the [Lava Infected] noticed the rather strong fluctuation of energy. The [Lava Infected] could only look up and finally found the reason for the sudden darkness that loomed over him.


    A gigantic hole opened up in the sky. At first, it was all darkness inside the hole. It was until a torrential burst of water covered the darkness as it began to pour down.


    Just in that initial burst of water, just how much was there? It was hard to tell. It was as if a metal drum with a mouth as wide as four city busses bunched with two parked side by side and the other two above the first pair had been toppled upside down.


    It did not take long, the burst of water immediately turned into a pir of water that fell unto the [Lava Infected].


    And as dumb as the [Lava Infected] was, it stared nkly at the iing pir of water.


    <strong>BOOOM!!!</strong>


    Finally, the water poured unto the [Lava Infected], causing arge explosion. The heat of the [Infected''s] body caused the water to drastically turn into steam, causing arge steam explosion. The explosion on the [Lava Infected''s] body did notst too long, however, as more water poured unto it.


    <strong>SIZZLE!</strong>


    <strong>BOOM! BOOM!</strong>


    Of course, the water would flow down the remains of Taal Volcano. As the flowing water touched thevake, sizzling sounds and more steam explosions ensued.


    Almost immediately, therge part of theke ofva was covered in foggy steam.


    Finally, the hole in the sky closed down, causing the pir of water to end from overflowing through it.


    ***


    "And, that''s it."


    Mark said as they watched the result of their work. They were kilometers from the ground but they could still feel the searing heat of the steam rising towards the sky.


    Spera sure was quite surprised with this. If it was just her, she would not think of connecting a portal underwater. Because of that, the water on the other side overflowed causing that pir of water that caused themotion below them. And the target of the portal? It was actually in Man Bay since it was the most familiar mass of water to Spera since the world changed.


    "What are we going to do next?"


    Spera asked after closing her portalpletely.


    "Nothing really," Mark answered. "I mean, we need to wait until the steam dispersed. That won''t take a short time."


    That was true. The thick steam that now covered thevake would not disperse any sooner. There was no need to mention that even though the portal was already closed, the water that was poured unto the [Lava Infected] at the foot of Taal Volcano was still flowing down unto thevake.


    <strong>***</strong>


    <strong>Day 204 - 4:21 PM - Taal Lake, Municipality of Talisay, Province of Batangas</strong>


    A few hours passed by. Finally, the thick steam became thin enough. With this, Mark decided to use the [Wind Maniption Mental Crystal] together with Amihan''s magic to blow away the remaining steam.


    And as the strong wind swept across thevake, the result of their doings was unveiled.


    There at the foot of Taal Volcano, a fifteen-meter tall stone statue had fallen unto the burnt ground. Its body parts had damage here and there probably due to the steam explosion, but it was mostly intact. Aside from the remains of the [Lava Infected], a patch of thevake surrounding the doused area had its surface solidified.


    "What''s next?"


    Chimetrice asked Mark seeing the result.


    And to say, Mark was scratching his head.


    "I guess I''ll go down and see if I can get something from that thing. We didn''t get anything from the two [Behemoth ss] the other day, after all."


    Mark was not really sure if he would get anything from this [Lava Infected]. After all, one factor that allowed Mark to know if he would be able to get a mutation from an [Infected] was its intelligence.


    Furthermore, even if they were variant mutations, not all of them had [Mutagen Stones] inside their heads simr to other [Infected].


    And this [Lava Infected] was clearly dumb. Mark was not expecting much from this one. In the first ce, their goal in killing this guy was the threat it could pose.


    Waving through the remaining heat of thevake, Mark half-heartedly flew down.


    Mark observed the [Lava Infected]. It was clearly dead.


    But then, Mark felt something. A familiar aura from the body of the [Lava Infected].


    Mark could not help but touch it. Unexpectedly, the [PsyCrystal] reacted.


    The new crystal formed in front of Mark''s surprised eyes. Yes, a new crystal.


    A crystal with an orb inside glowing like bellowing mes. Mark finally remembered this familiar aura.


    "Gar''m?" Mark murmured in confusion. "That guy''s [Spirit Body] already escaped to Japan. Why did this guy have that [me Demon''s] aura and [Magical Energy]?"


    Mark was really surprised and confused. This [Lava Infected] actually bore the magical energy and aura of a deity level [me Demon].


    This was really unexpected and something that was hard to understand.

 Chapter 827 Guesses And Assumptions, The Possible Circumstances That Led To The Current Scenario

    <strong>Day 204 - 4:30 PM - Taal Volcano, Municipality of Talisay, Province of Batangas</strong>


    "Whew! It''s too hot here."


    Iliained while fanning the front cor of her loose clothes, not minding that in every pull, the deep valley between her ample mounds was being exposed.


    "Just endure a bit," Mark said with a shrug. "I only asked for Chimetrice, and you insisted oning yourself."


    "You wanted to ask about a sealed Ancient Demon, right?" Ilia replied. "In these cases, it''s better that you ask me instead of Master."


    "I agree." Chimetrice chimed in. "Like how Ilia released my seal, she''s more knowledgeable in these kinds of stuff."


    Right now, Mark, Chimetrice, and Ilia stood near the base of the remains of Taal Volcano. In front of them were the nearly broken remains of the [Lava Infected].


    Knowing that something was strange, Mark told the two what was happening after returning. And such, the three of them came back to check what was happening. After all, anything regarding a Deity-level Demon could never be considered as just some trivial thing. Not to mention that it was very likely that it was someone that lived through Earth''s lost history, the era of gods.


    It was the reason Mark called these two. Suspecting that Gar''m and the other leaders of [Auraboros] were individuals of the same era, they might have found out something. It was rather weird that a random [Mutated Infected] bore the aura of a Deity-level Demon of the past.


    Ending the conversation about temperature and expertise, Ilia and Chimetrice took a close look at the remains of the [Lava Infected]. Even the two of them seemed pretty surprised at how badly damaged the body of the [Lava Infected] was. All they did, after all, was pourrge amounts of water on it. Yet, it was damaged as if it was tossed hundreds of explosives. This sure was the advantage of having knowledge. Both Chimetrice and Ilia began to consider learning more things from human knowledge from now on.


    Those thoughts aside, the two carefully observed the corpse. And although it was very faint, they both agreed that it had a powerful aura of a Demon.


    However, the aura was beginning to disperse, likely because Mark had already gathered its essence into a crystal.


    After confirming that what Mark said was true, Ilia began observing the surroundings. It was rather unusual for the unserious [Elder Subus] to show such concentration.


    "Hmm... Maybe, that?"


    Ilia murmured while Mark and Chimetrice watched in silence.


    "You realized something?"


    Mark asked.


    "I can''t really say for sure, but I have a suspicion," Ilia stated. "You said that the [me Demon] with the same aura this body had was summoned using a ritual by sacrificing people, right?"


    "That''s what we know so far," Mark replied. "I already told you two earlier."


    After Mark fought the forces of [Auraboros] and Gar''m in Bay City, the remains of the sacrificed people were found.They were buried among the rubble of the warehouse the ritual urred, charred to a crisp, and none of the bodies could be recognized.


    That was a dark time for the survivors of Bay City. Although General Perez did not show it to Mark, he was really dismayed that the [Auraboros] were doing horrendous stuff under their noses.


    What the military knew about the ritual and other things was fairly limited. After all, no member of [Auraboros] was caught since none of them were humans, to begin with. The only humans within the ranks of the [Auraboros] at that encounter were Spera and Shin, who rescued Gar''m. However, as Spera was nothing but ast-minute transporter, she knew almost nothing about that situation.


    As for Mark, he knew more than the military. He managed to capture the [Cursed Sword] m, who was now named Ignis under Mark''s ownership. Although Ignis was not privy about the specific stuff like the structure of the ritual, he knew the general situation.


    It was from Ignis that Mark knew more than the military. The members of [Auraboros] summoned Gar''m, who was sealed somewhere, using the sacrificial ritual. Since they did not manage to find the exact location of where Gar''m was sealed, they used a revised ritual to summon him instead of breaking the actual seal.


    "From the things you said, I believe we already arrived at the same conclusion."


    Ilia said.


    Mark also had his own suspicion, and that was...


    "Gar''m might have been sealed in this ce."


    Mark said, looking at the dead [Lava Infected].


    And to Mark''s words, Ilia nodded.


    "However, we can only assume," Ilia spoke after the agreeing nod towards Mark. "Aside from the lingering aura on thisva monster, there''s no other evidence left."


    "Still, [Auraboros] failed to find the exact ce when it is this obvious?"


    Mark wondered while looking around.


    "Well, there are different kinds of seals used to imprison powerful beings," Ilia said, tapping her chin. "In this case, the seal might have been hidden carefully, not to mention... This ce is a natural sealing array itself."


    Natural things were the hardest to see. It was a good phrase that could apply to many things. In this case, a [Natural Array]. It was a kind of magical array that was hard to detect as if perfectly blended with nature. If the cover of Gar''m''s seal was this [Natural Array], it would be no wonder that the [Auraboros] was unable to find it.


    A [Natural Array] could only be easily seen by powerful beings, like Deities. However, during the modern times, these powerful beings could not just go around without the [Eyes] detecting them. Unfortunately, the weaker people of [Auraboros] had no way of finding it.


    Mark looked around.


    An Ind within ake on an ind within ake on an ind. This phrase was one of the known descriptions of the Taal Volcano and its surroundings. If one was to think about it, it was as if it was severalyers of terrain on top of one another. However, no one would ever think that there was something hidden beneath this volcano.


    "Even I had no ability to see a [Natural Array]. Even Master could not." Ilia shrugged while ncing at Chimetrice. "We can only assume that it was the case, though from what it looks like, the array is already destroyed."


    The terrain around Taal Lake had been drastically changed. With it now being avake, it was a very concrete sign that its [Natural Array] had already been destroyed.


    And due to the fact that it was destroyed, this [Lava Infected] might have stumbled what remained of Gar''m while he was sealed in this ce.


    "Though what confused me is that I managed to get a crystal out of it."


    Mark said as it was the most confusing part. After all, to create a [Mental Crystal] or a [Physical Crystal], there were rules for it to work.<sub> </sub>


    For a [Mental Crystal] to be created, there should be a strong source of magical energy. It could be the spirit of a magical being, a body of a powerful magical creature, or a high-density concentration of energy.


    And none of these rules was fulfilled when Mark managed to create the [Mental Crystal] that contained Gar''m''s aura.


    It would not be surprising if Mark got a [Physical Crystal] instead, considering that the source was a [Mutated Infected]. However, just as mentioned, he got a [Mental Crystal].


    "I have another assumption, but like before, I have no evidence."


    Ilia said in response to Mark''s confusion.


    "Just say it."


    Mark replied.


    "That Gar''m abandoned his body, right?" Ilia asked. "You even kept his body."


    Mark nodded in response. He did have the remains of Gar''m and was still kept back in the base. Being a body of a Deity-level Demon, it would not dpose. In the first ce, it was not a mortal body but something made of energy.


    A [me Demon] was an elemental being simr to [Sylphs], like Amihan.


    However, Mark had no use for the body of Gar''m so far. The [PsyCrystal] would not even react to it either. That was why it was just sealed within a [Blood Metal] coffin inside Mark''s workshop.


    "That body might be a newly created one. Might even be created during the ritual using the energy from the sacrifices. There are Demons that can survive even without a physical body, after all." Ilia continued. "As I said before, there are various ways to seal powerful and unkible beings. One effective way is to separately seal their spirit and their original body. It is to ensure that even if the spirit of the sealed being was released, they won''t be able to use their full strength immediately. That might be the case here."


    "And you are saying that this guy luckily stumbled upon Gar''m''s original body after the seal broke and ate it?"


    Mark asked with a tilt of his head.


    "Maybe? Who knows?" Ilia replied, knocking on the dead [Lava Infected]''s solidified exterior. "But you have the evidence in this one. The crystal. No matter how it happened, we can be sure that that [me Demon''s] body was eaten by this guy."


    "And you are lucky to extract that body''s essence before it disappeared entirely."


    Ilia added.


    That was right. It was just a lucky coincidence. Who would have known that their lunch today would lead to them finding Gar''m''s possible sealing prison?


    But this even led them to learn one important thing. Even if they encountered Gar''m once more in the future, he would surely still be too far from recovering his full strength. This was a good piece of information.


    "We''re done here then?"


    Chimetrice, who was listening to the conversation of the two, finally chimed in.


    "Well, I guess so."


    Mark replied.


    There was nothing left to do here. While they were talking, the remaining aura of Gar''m left inside the dead [Lava Infected''s] bodypletely dispersed.


    With the slight detour they had, Mark unexpectedly gained a nice item. It was another crystal he could utilize or give to someone. Unlike [Physical Crystals] that could contain mutations originated from [Mutagen] and unusable unless one absorbed the mutation, Mark could use any [Mental Crystal] containing magical abilities.


    The question, however, was what kind of ability it had. And if Mark would actually have a use for it.


    Thanks to Mark''s connection to Ignis, he already had the ability to use magical mes. ck mes at that. Having a crystal that had the ability to control fire would feel really redundant for Mark now.


    "I guess, I''ll be giving this to someone."


    Mark murmured.


    And with those thoughts in mind, their slight detour ended. Unfortunately, it was alreadyte in the day to continue their journey further. Thus, they decided to start searching for a good ce to camp.


    ***


    After finding a ce to camp, their next goal was to prepare dinner and go to sleep.


    As they ate, however, Mark''s head was full of thoughts.


    Those thoughts were mainly about the crystals, specifically [Mental Crystals], he currently had at his disposal.


    Aside from the ones he was using most of the time, he still had the crystal from the [Earth Demon] they killed during their sh with the [Tamawos] that he had yet to try out. Now, he had another crystal that he should at least learn how to use.


    "Should I give this crystal to Miracle?"


    Mark thought at first. Miracle was the only one in his family that did not have a magical ability. But in the end, Mark shook his head. Miracle was too young to hand the responsibility of a magical ability, not to mention something rted to fire.


    With a shrug, Mark changed his thoughts.


    And for some idiotic reason, Mark tapped Amihan, who was lying down on his head.


    "Hey, Amihan," Mark said in a low voice. "Wanna use this new crystal?"


    <strong>"Heh?"</strong>


    Amihan sure was bbergasted at Mark''s question and could not reply. In the first ce, she could not tell whether Mark was joking or not.

 Chapter 828 Sniping Session, A Conversation Towards Their Destination

    <strong>Day 205 - 10:11 AM - Tayabas Bay, Mimaropa Region, Southwestern Luzon</strong>


    Dealing with the [Lava Infected] made them spend a day near Taal Lake. The time they spent, however, was wasted on waiting for the steam to thin out. It was not like it was something to fuss about. Mark got something really valuable out of it. Well, they got more mysteries to think about, though.


    For the nighttime, they chose a location that was pretty far away from Taal Lake to rest. There was no way they would spend the night near the Taal Lake, where the air was filled with ash and the smell of sulfur and molten rock.


    Fortunately, the night was uneventful. All of them managed to get a good night''s rest. By the looks of it, the area they camped in was devoid of [Infected] but had quite a number of [Evolved Animals]. But since [Evolved Animals] were more intelligent despite being highly reliant on their instincts, they stayed away from Mark''s group that wasposed of frighteningly strong people.


    And right after they had breakfast the next day, Mark''s group immediately set off to continue their journey.


    Now, the [Mini Cube] was passing over the waters of Tayabas Bay. Since they came from the direction of Taal Lake, they were passing near the ind province of Mindoro.


    And their destination, the highest peak of Panay Ind, Mount Madia-as.


    "The world really changed."


    Mei said, looking at the scenery outside.


    Mark and Mei sat on the tform outside the door. They had to do as such since they would encounter some [Flying Infected] or [Feral Evolved Animals] along the way. They could just ignore these creatures since they would barely damage the sturdy floating vessel. However, they just had an incident where a group of giant acid-spitting mosquitos ended up crashing in front of the [Mini Cube]. It caused the windows of the bridge to be covered in acid, blocking most of their view from inside.


    They had no other choice but to submerge the [Mini Cube] under the water for a bit, wasting more of their time because of the sticky acid. Fortunately, the acid did no damage to the windows at all. It seemed that the magically created vessel had a good defense against such attacks.


    That was why Mark and Mei were standing by outside. Since they were capable of flight, they were to intercept any flying threat that would block their way.


    While on guard duty, however, Mark and Mei could also do some sightseeing. After all, the new state of Earth had many things to see and discover.


    If they were walking on the ground, it would not be as impacting. But since they were up high in the sky, they could see the changes further away.


    The reason Mei could not help but say those words was because Mark was currently browsing the offline map he installed on his phone. And using the view taken via satellite, the changes became even more apparent.


    Inds had shapes deformed. Some becamerger, while other smaller inds seemed to have been swallowed by the waters. If they had not known, it would not be hard to think that it was a different world.


    This change brought both benefits and drawbacks.


    The fusion of dimensions would inevitably happen sooner orter after [Mutagen] entered Earth. However, the [Observer] decided to use it to counteract the immediate effects ofrge pieces of space debris entering Earth. If they had not done so, while Earth was already overrun by [Infected] and [Mechids], it would be a burning wastnd that no human on the surface could survive.


    Earth turning into a magical magical forest-covered world was way better than turning into a barren wastnd devoid of life, especially humans.


    Now that Earth turned into a magical world, it would not be long before more humans began to develop magical and psychic abilities. It was a good thing since they would need it to survive.


    After all, the [Infected] would definitely undergo simr changes.


    Yes, aside from [Infected Magical Creatures], those human [Infected] would surely have their own magical abilities. It would not be a surprising thought considering the many kinds of [Infected] Mark and his group had encountered so far.


    Even humans that had ancient bloodlines belonging to those magical beings had mutations the resembled the abilities of their ancestors.


    Mark, for example.


    A descendant of a [Blood Demon] having his blood mutated. This did not seem to be a simple coincidence.


    There was also Emika''s family, with both Emika and her younger brother, Mikio, both having abilities rted to nts and trees. There was also their father that turned into a [Trent Infected]. It would not be surprising if they had a [Dryad] in their ancestry since it was hard to determine what catalyst would cause a human, not to mention the rest of their family, to have nt-rted abilities.


    If it happened to them, it could happen to others.


    The question now was, would those people that awakened magical abilities still behave like humans? Or would they think that they were above others?


    Societies centered around these magic users would definitely rise, causing more friction to the already crumbled human society.


    "Gege," Mei called out to his side. "I just noticed, but we haven''t encountered any magical races since we left the base."


    That was true. Since they left to check on their friends in Bay City and arrived at Corregidor Ind, Mark''s group did not encounter any magical race on the way.


    Both the [Mortal Dimension] and the [Spirit Dimension] were already fused. Why was there ack of magical races in the surroundings?


    Since the [Fusion of Dimensions], the only group of magical races that Mark encountered was the tribe of half-breeds in Infanta Military Settlement. That was if Mark was not to include the other guy in hood in the president''s office the other day.


    But in that question, there could only be one answer.


    "They might be hiding," Mark answered Mei''s question. "The current Earth is unfamiliar to us, not to mention to them. Unlike humans that could adapt quicker, magical races can''t easily do the same. And with the dangers everywhere, the only thing they can do is hide until they get used to the new world."


    Mark''s assumption was not that far from the truth. In fact, not only those that came from the [Spirit Dimension] but those magical that stayed in the [Mortal Dimension] with humans were having a hard time coping with the sudden influx of magical energy in the surroundings.


    Amihan was the same, although she was doing her best not to show it. Since the [Fusion of Dimensions], it was clear that Amihan was sleeping more than she was since meeting Mark. It seemed that her body was trying to cope with the thicker magical energy by sleeping. Even at this time, when it was almost noon, Amihan was inside the [Mini Cube] sleeping on her pillow.<sub> </sub>


    At Mark''s answer, Mei nodded. It was hard to think of other reasons. And since humans were still surviving this mess, it was impossible for magical races capable of unfathomable skills to just die against the [Infected] and [Mechids].


    Then, Mei changed the topic, remembering what happened yesterday.


    "Gege, you really n on giving the new crystal to Amihan?"


    Mei asked.


    "I can''t?" Mark asked back. "I can''t really think of using it since I can already make fire because of Ignis. And besides, only I can control the crystals since I have the [PsyCrystal] on me. Although I can give it to you, Abbygale, or I, you three already had psychic abilities, not to mention it all came from the crystals. You three would have a long downtime where you can''t use your psychic abilities after using this crystal, and we can''t have that. Not right now."


    "Besides, I''m not giving it to Amihan immediately either. Probably after we dealt with Sinogo."


    Mark added.


    And to Mark''s question, Mei shook her head.


    "I''m not saying to not give it to her. Actually, she deserved to have some reward. Amihan had been really helpful to us, but she never really asked for anything aside from fruits and sweet food."


    And that was what Mei was worried about.


    Since Mark met Amihan, the little [Sylph] had done many things to help Mark and the rest of his group. Yet, Amihan never really asked for anything, and she was just happily following Mark around. The most she asked was sweet fruits or deserts whenever they managed to get their hands on one.


    "We''re on the same boat then." Mark smiled. "Amihan''s [Wind Magic] is already getting stronger and stronger thanks to the [Wind Attribute Crystals] I got from the [Infected Sylphs]. She''s probably stronger than the king of [Sylphs] we saw back in the Stone Fortress. But Amihan will reach her limit soon as a [Sylph]. Her small body could only store that much energy."


    "Then won''t giving her the crystal cause her harm and overload her body?"


    Mei asked with worry.


    If Amihan''s body was reaching its limits, why would Mark intend to give the new crystal to her?


    "You don''t have to worry about that." Mark shrugged. "You haven''t realized it, don''t you? These crystals do not only serve as a vessel to these abilities and mutations. It can cause the body of the person absorbing it to adapt to the ability it sealed. That was what the downtime was for, to make both the existing and new abilities coexist. Then, it will make the person''s body adapt to the new ability. In Amihan''s case, her magical capacity might double with half of it being the new ability within the new crystal."


    In short, it was a way for Amihan to surpass her limits as far as Mark knew.


    [Sylphs] were not extremely strong beings, to begin with. It was not surprising that Amihan was beginning to reach her limits due to Mark''s help.


    Unfortunately, the enemies were getting stronger. There was no way that Mark would let Amihan just stop at her limit.


    "Hmm?" Mark stood up. "It''s time to work."


    Mark and Mei flew to the roof of the [Mini Cube]. From the west, likely from the ind of Mindoro, a group of birds flew towards the [Mini Cube].


    "How many is there?"


    Mark asked Mei, as the only thing he could see from this distance was small dots.


    Mei stared at the flock of birds with her eyes dted, with her vision zooming into the target.


    "About thirty," Mei replied. "They''re flying too erratically. It''s hard to keep count."


    "It''s fine. We''ll kill them no matter how many they are."


    Mark said, taking out his own sniper rifle. His sniper rifle was not something modified. It was just a standard HK PSG-1 that he took from the group of raiders in New Jersey. It was something definitely illegal to own in the Philippines, however.


    The two positioned themselves on the roof of the [Mini Cube]. Normally, a sniper would be in a prone position when firing for better stability of the gun and uracy. But of course, Mark and Mei did not have to do that. With their bodies enhanced far stronger than regr humans would, their bodies were just as stable as the roof they were on.


    And with Mark and Mei sniping the iing horde of [Infected Birds], the horde fell down the waters of the bay without even reaching the [Mini Cube].


    "Seriously, I need more practice."


    Mark said with a shrug, ncing at Mei. His wife beat him in terms of uracy. She even killed two or three [Infected Birds] with a single bullet several times.


    Among the thirty-seven [Infected Birds] they shot at. Mark only managed to kill fourteen.


    "But Gege is already good, though?" Mei looked at Mark. "Besides, Gege is way better at close quarters than me. You will always be in front while I support you at the back."


    "That''s true," Mark said with a shrug. "But I tend to stupidly min-max stuff in games whenever I can, so I might as well get some practiceter on."


    Mei looked at Mark with a sigh. Sometimes, Mark was just too childish.


    The journey continued with a bit of fighting here and there. But with the [Mini Cube] as their steady transport vessel, they almost reached their destination before sunset. However, setting into the mountain during the night was not viable and they decided to spend a night near its foot.

 Chapter 829 At The Foot Of Mound Madia-As, Encounter At The Entrance Of The Mountains Secret Domain

    <strong>Day 206 - 9:21 AM - Base of Mount Madia-as, Central Panay Mountain Range, Panay Ind, Philippines</strong>


    The Panay Ind. It was one of many inds in the Philippines rich in ancient Filipino culture, history, and mythology. It was where the tribes that worshiped the Ancient Visayan Gods originated.


    Those tribes resisted various terms of foreign upation and refused to surrender their beliefs and religion. It was unfortunate that despite their loyalty to their faith, they ended up scattering to other ces, in the end, burying most of their culture from the current history.


    Nheless, despite most of those tribes leaving their homnd, thendmarks that represented their culture remained.


    It was like how the second highest peak in the Visayas stood tall, the sleeping volcano, the Mount Madia-as.


    This dormant volcano had its name in various spellings. It was either called Mt. Madia-as, Mt. Madja-as, Mt. Madya-as, and internationally, Mt. Madiac.


    But aside from being the second-highest peak in the entire Visayas, this dormant volcano boasts a rich mythological culture.


    Mt. Madia-as was said to be the home of various Visayan Gods.


    Sidapa, the Visayan God of Death, was said to live in Mt. Madia-as. It was the same for the Visayan God of Meteors, Blakaw, before he chose to dwell in the sky to fulfill his role. The Visayan God of Second Chances, Pandaki, was also known to frequent the mountain to visit Sidapa.


    And even the Visayan Supreme Goddess, Kaon, was said to live in Mt. Madia-as for some time before transferring her abode to another mountain, the mountain now called Mount Kaon.


    Lastly, the Visayan Supreme Sky God, Kaptan, was said to pass by this very mountain every time he left his domain, the Kahilwayan, and go down to Earth.


    And of course, the goal of Mark''s group in this mountain, the passage to Kahilwayan.


    But as it seemed, it was not somece they could just go.


    Mark''s group arrived near Mt. Madia-as before sunset yesterday. At that time, they could just go and find a t area near the peak of the mountain if they wanted to camp.


    Yet, Mark''s group decided to camp at the base of the mountain.


    And the reason...


    "A sacred ground is a sacred ground, after all."


    Mark said, staring at the towering mountain before them.


    Like Mount Banahaw, which was rumored to be a sacred mountain, Mount Madia-as was the same.


    If Mark''s group just went straight up the mountain, they would end up finding nothing unnatural. It would be a mountain, a dormant volcano, and that would be it. Nothing else.


    But looking from below, Mark felt the same feeling when he brought Mei to Mount Banahaw. There was a secret domain in this ce that not just anyone could enter.


    "Look''s like there is a barrier," Ilia said, looking at the same scenery as Mark. "Are we going to force it open?"


    "Forcing it open would be easy for you."


    Chimetrice said to Mark, agreeing with Ilia''s suggestion.


    In front of them was an invisible barrier. By the way, it looked, the invisible barrier epassed the entire mountain from base to peak. However, it was not there to stop anyone from entering the mountain. Anyone could enter the mountain while passing through it. However, it would only lead to the physical mountain and not the hidden realm inside.


    Forcing the barrier open was definitely easy for Mark. With a wave of his hand and a surge of [Miasma], he could create an irreparable hole through the invisible barrier. It was a viable way to get to their destination.


    But, to the suggestion of the [Elder Subus], Mark shook his head in disagreement.


    "That will be faster, but it''s better not to increase our enemies, right?" Mark stared in front. "We are not here to fight. The fightingester against that giant crocodile."


    Mark would not mind fighting if it was the easiest way. However, there was nothing wrong with not instigating one in this situation. In the first ce, they better conserve their energy for the bigger fight they would undergo soon.


    The ones that maintained the barrier here were not the enemies. It was the [Infected God''s Servant] they should fight.


    "But how are we going to enter," Ilia asked. "I doubt they will just let us through."


    "Let''s see the situation first. Then take action depending on what happens."


    Mark answered.


    Of course, even though Mark said those words, he was sure of something. Them being Demons would definitely be weed with hostility.


    "Let''s call them first."


    Mark said as he let out a crystal.


    "Wait, you''re not going to let it rain again, would you?"


    Spera hurriedly asked, seeing the familiar crystal with a bluish glowing orb inside.


    "Of course not." Mark shrugged while looking at Spera. "There is no need to, is there?"


    And there, Mark released the magical energy of the [Storm Caller Mental Crystal]. Mark had the same reason as before. This crystal was not that suited for fighting. This made him not hesitate to release the crystal''s magical energy for these kinds of things.


    The strong magical energy enveloped the surroundings immediately. Even the barrier showed vibrations. Of course, it was far from breaking just from this. It was not the intention in the first ce.


    And as Mark wanted, the invisible barrier showed signs of movement.


    Vibrations became visible in the empty space at the base of the mountain. It was as if the air became water, perturbed by a rock that fell in it.


    Mark''s group watched the scene. Slowly, the invisible barrier became visible, and like a very thin veil, it swayed sideward.


    A woman came out, walking on the grassy ground bare-footed.


    Seeing the woman, however, Mark could not help but feel weird.


    It would not be surprising if the woman was another [Diwata]. After all, in Philippine Myths, [Diwatas] were known to rule sacred mountains.


    And the woman''s aura was simr to the [Diwatas] Mark met so far.<sub> </sub>


    However, this [Diwata] also looked and felt different. The [Diwatas] Mark met before all wore light, white dresses resembling purity and beauty. The one in front of them was the opposite, wearing a long, ck gown that was dragged along the ground.


    And more than anything else... While she did have the aura and [Magical Energy] of a [Diwata], she also carried a bit of the chilling aura of death.


    The ck-dressed [Diwata] was not the only one that came out of the barrier. As the opening of the barrier widened, it revealed many creatures following her. There was a wide variety of magical creatures, both known and unknown.


    Among them, there were two magical races with the most number.


    One race appeared to be a centaur. However, while having a human torso, their heads were still of a horse. Furthermore, their horse bodies had wings.


    The other race seemed to be women, each having less than three feet in height. All of them floated in the air, exhibiting their long, ming hair.


    Aside from these strange creatures, there were also [Sylphs] and other races that Mark had seen in other ces.


    By the looks of it, there was no need for Mark to call them. They should have known that Mark''s group had arrived outside their barrier. However, they did not go out immediately since they had to gather their forces for the wee party.


    It also seemed like she was really wary of Mark''s group to call up an army like this.


    "Look''s like they really aren''t friendly," Ilia said with a bitter smile. "What''s with the line-up? Are they going to war or something?"


    Ilia was not really afraid. With Chimetrice standing in front of her, there was no way she would be. Not to mention she was a goodbatant herself. Everyone else could not help but feel a bit intimidated. They immediately readied in case a battle broke out without warning.


    As for Mark, he stared at the magical races gathered in front of him.


    "I kinda expected to see [Bentohangins] and [Burkaws] since they are natives of this ind, but there''s quite a number here."


    Mark murmured. Even so, most of his attention was on the strange-looking [Diwata].


    The bodies of [Diwatas] were like other elemental and spiritual races. It was made of [Magical Energy], and their appearance and clothing would change depending on the [Magical Energy] they had.


    One good example was Artenaris. The leader of the half-breeds. She was a [Half-Diwata] and a [Half-Demon], resulting in her odd appearance and clothing.


    This [Diwata] that was in front of them, however... She did not have an aura belonging to a [Demon]. She literally had the chilling aura of death, which likely caused her unique appearance.


    "What does a group of [Demons] need from our sacred grounds?" The [Diwata] asked with a chilling tone. "For [Demons] to dare brave a God''s abode."


    The [Diwata] sure sounded condescending, even though not everyone in Mark''s group understood her. Like usual, these earthly deities looked down on [Demons]. Even though she was speaking using [Spirit Language], Mei and the others could sense her hostility.


    Nheless, while she was not showing it, Mark could detect a high level of cautiousness in the woman, especially when her eyes fell on him and Chimetrice.


    It seemed that this [Diwata] was quite adept in perceiving the strength of individuals in front of her, which could be why she immediately amassed this army of hers.


    Mark stared at the [Diwata]. There was no need to beat around the bush.


    "We want to pass through. Our destination is the realm of Kaptan, the Kahilwayan."


    At Mark''s statement, it was not only the [Diwata]. Every member of her entourage was surprised.


    "I do not know what your intention in finding the Kahilwayan is, but there is no way we will let you [Demons] enter. Not in our sacred grounds, nor in the realm of the Supreme Sky God."


    "Well, this could be rough."


    Ilia murmured as she nced at Mark. She had heard it from other magical creatures she knew in the past, but the earthly deities of the Philippines sure were stuck-up towards [Demons].


    "Do you really want to fight us?" Mark asked. "I''m pretty sure that you know that you won''t win. You will just uselessly waste the lives of your people protecting the abode of a dead god."


    <strong>"IMPERTINENT! How dare you disrespect the Supreme Sky God!"</strong>


    The [Diwata] sure was angry at Mark for calling Kaptan a dead god.


    And to this, Mark smiled.


    Well, he was not fond of getting shouted at or the like. It was just...


    Mark determined that this [Diwata] was a devout servant of the Ancient Visayan Gods.


    "It makes things easier then."


    Mark said to the [Diwata]''s surprise and confusion.


    While Mark said their intentions in a way that would tell he did not intend to fight, it was easier for [Demons] to fight than negotiate.


    Thus, the [Diwata] readied to give the signal to her people.


    However, Mark thought differently.


    Instead, he outstretched his hand forward, revealing the item inside his enclosed fist.


    "Hey, you''re the one who suggested for us to go find Kahilwayan. Can you get your minions to make way?"


    Mark spoke at the item making everyone, even the members of his group confused. After all, none of them knew of the item and why it was with him.


    But then, the item on Mark''s hand pulsated and began to float above his palm. The aura of death began to envelop the surroundings. It was the very same aura that the [Diwata] with a ck dress bore.


    And surely, feeling the aura, the [Diwata] began shaking. It was not in fear or anger. It was nostalgia.


    At the center of the surging aura of death, a figure immerged. It was a woman, who also wore a ck dress. She carried the same but a stronger aura of death.


    Staring at the figure, the [Diwata] stared with her eyes widely opened in shock. It did not take long before the first tear fell from her eyes.


    <strong>"Mother!"</strong>


    The [Diwata] called out to the figure, causing surprise to everyone present.

 Chapter 830 The Creator And Her Creation, Getting Entry Into The Secret Realm Of Mount Madia-As

    <strong>Day 206 - 9:15 AM - Base of Mount Madia-as, Central Panay Mountain Range, Panay Ind, Philippines</strong>


    The aura of death paired with the non-blinding light vanished. The beautiful woman in a ck dress emerged. Her figure, however, was ghostly. The people could see through her body.


    But that was the least of concern at the moment.


    Everyone was, without a doubt, surprised when the [Diwata] called the woman that appeared Mother. No one would expect such a development, not even Mark, who called upon the woman.


    "Silim." The woman replied to the ck-dressed [Diwata]. "I never thought that you were still in this ce."


    "Mother... You really are Mother..."


    The [Diwata] said, filled with respect and longing. If not for the fact she was wary of Mark''s group, she would have run towards the woman and kneeled in front of her.


    But despite the reunion, there was barely any emotion on the woman''s face. Instead, she turned to Mark with an exasperated re.


    "And you... Aren''t you a rude one, calling me out without prior notice."


    Mark shrugged. He returned the re with a questioning stare.


    "The time you can appear is also limited, right?" Mark asked. "You''re not the only one conserving resources here. What I used to call you is something even Bath deemed precious. In the first ce, we came here because of your suggestion. And we are now being blocked by your worshiper. Or maybe, daughter? I don''t think any story, legend, or myth about you mentioned anything about her, however."


    With Mark''s reasoning, the woman could only stare at him silently. As for thest part of what he said, the woman exined.


    "It won''t be surprising that even if you seem knowledgeable about us, you never heard of Silim. Besides, I only had one daughter, and it is Lidagat. As for Silim, like the [Tamawos], she is one of the creations made under my supervision. But as her entirety is made of my aura and energy, she sees me as her mother. Not like I disliked it considering what happened."


    Mark could only give an empathetic stare at the woman. After all, the story of the Visayan Gods was quite chaotic.


    This woman with deathly aura was no other than the Visayan Goddess of the Underworld, Magwayen. She was called here using the artifact of the [Tamawos], the [Mark of the King]. After all, it was the only item she left that could connect her to Earth.


    Mark borrowed the artifact from Pefile, which thetter did not hesitate to give.


    Pefile never wanted this item which determines who the king of his race was. However, since it was their creator''smand for him to take it, he brought it with him. Even so, he felt that it was a shackle than a treasure. That was why when Mark asked to borrow it, he gave it immediately.


    As for why Mark borrowed it, it was because of their destination, the Kahilwayan. If they needed a guide, the Visayan Goddess of the Underworld would be the best they would be able to find. After all, the ruler of Kahilwayan was herte husband.


    Even so, Magwayen did not expect Mark to call her without warning. In the first ce, such a thing was supposed to be impossible. Despite being a medium tomunicate with her, the [Mark of the King] needed arge amount of energy to function. It needed at least decades of dormancy, and that was why Magwayen could onlymunicate with the kings of [Tamawos] from time to time.


    From thest time that Magwayen used the [Mark of the King] as a medium, only a bit more than a month had passed. It was when Mark and the [Eyes] followed Pefile into the chamber of kings in the ancestral mansion of the [Tamawos].


    Yet, here she was, called by Mark.


    Well, Mark did spend something. Mark had to use one of the empty [Mental Crystals] he had to fill the [Mark of the King] with enough energy to call the Goddess of the Underworld. And Mark was not wrong with his words. Bath deemed the smaller [Attributed Mental Crystals] precious, not to mention therger non-attributed ones. Even Ilia and Chimetrice had the same view towards Mark''s crystals. Unfortunately, the [Mark of the King] would not absorb any crystal other than the non-attributed ones.


    "Anyway, can you tell them to let us pass?" Mark asked Magwayen. "You''re the one who suggested that we should go find Kahilwayan, after all. And yet, a follower of yours is leading the races to block us. You wouldn''t want us to fight them, right?"


    That request of Mark made Magwayen look at Mark''s group. Mark aside, her eyes locked onto Chimetrice and even Mei with a slight frown. It was clear that she could assess Mark''s group with one nce, knowing which ones of Mark''s group pose the worst threat.


    "What a uniquebination of people," Magwayen said as she retracted her stare. "But it is indeed better for Silim not to fight with your people."


    Magwayen looked at Silim, panning her eyes across the army of magical races. Each member felt cold as the eyes of the goddess fell unto them. It was not even for a whole second, and her gaze only passed them by.


    "Silim."


    Magwayen called out.


    "Yes, Mother."


    Silim replied. This time, although she still did not approach Magwayen, she knelt down.


    "I believe you heard our conversation. Retreat and let them pass through."


    Magwayenmanded.


    "But, Mother?!"


    Of course, the ck-dressed [Diwata] would show some hesitation. After all, Mark''s group was mainlyposed of Demons. They were the mortal enemies of servants of non-demonic and non-evil gods.


    "Do not fret," Magwayen spoke. "I am the one who sent them to seek the remains of Kahilwayan."


    "But why, Mother?" Silim asked. "Is it not the abode of the Supreme Sky God? No one has been able to enter it since the Supreme Sky God perished and his Deities vanished. I have been guarding its passage all this time, not letting anyone desecrate the sacred abode. Why would Mother let filthy Demons step inside it?"


    "So, you can reason with me, now." Magwayen stared at Silim. "Back then, you would only follow my words without question."


    "That is..."


    Silim was unable to respond. She indeed respected and worshiped her creator. But it seemed that the passage of time gave her changes that she never realized.


    "No, do not feel dejected. It is a good change for you. One reason I did not give any effort to let youe with me after I retreated was that you showed signs of being a failure of a creation. I created you as a being, yet you behaved like nothing but a puppet. Even Bath could not fathom what went wrong with your creation." Magwayen smiled. "But as it looked like, you only needed time. It might be my mistake for giving up on you."


    "No, Mother, it is not your fault."<sub> </sub>


    Silim, despite being abandoned in the past, still did not me her creator.


    "No, it is a fault of mine." Magwayen shook her head. "And as it looked like, I have to fail you one more time by asking you to guide these people to the passage."


    Magwayen then nced at Mark and exined to Silim.


    "I sent them to seek Kahilwayan in order to find a method to help kill Sinogo. Or in the least, his empty husk."


    Magwayen added.


    "Sinogo?" Silim seemed shocked. "He is still alive? Did he break his seal?"


    Silim''s shock was not surprising. Sinogo''s sin was well known in Visayan Myths. If someone like him was imprisoned all this time, who knows what changes could have happened to him after he broke his seal.


    At the ck-dressed [Diwata''s] words, Mark stepped forward.


    "Sinogo is dead." Mark dered. "But I believe you know what is happening in this world right now. Just like the humans that turned into undead or soulless beings, Sinogo was the same. Being a Deity, he was already powerful. But he also absorbed the seal that Kaptan made to imprison him. Now, he is using Kaptan''s energy to cause destruction."


    Silim stared at Mark. She seemed reluctant to let a Demon chime into her conversation with her creator, but she was doing her best to hold back this time.


    And that information that Mark gave made Silim falter. The thief among the Deities of the Supreme Sky God was actually dead but turned into those living dead creatures while using the Supreme Sky God''s power. For Silim, it sure was something unforgivable.


    "Mother." Silim voiced out, making Magwayen''s attention focus on her. "Are these Demons trustworthy?"


    That question made Magwayen give Mark another nce.


    "I have only known them for a short time. Being trustworthy is not what I can confirm. In the least, I can tell you that they are not evil. There is no way that a Demon that helped a [Tamawo] and his abducted wife reunite would be evil."


    "What a high evaluation."


    Mark murmured.


    Silim, on the other hand, was looking at Mark''s group, one by one. It was clear that she was skeptical about Mark''s group. In the least, she was willing to listen to Magwayen.


    "Then, Mother. I will heed your words." Silim said before looking at the magical races standing beside her. "Retreat. But do not let your guards down."


    Silim made sure that Mark''s group would hear her words as a warning.


    <o>,m "She''s really cautious, isn''t she?"</o>


    Mark said as he stepped forward, standing beside the visage of the Visayan Goddess of the Underworld.


    "I would say that rather than cautious, she was just being stubborn."


    Magwayen replied while watching Silim make her army retreat.


    "How can you say so?" Mark asked nonchntly. "You just said that she was like a puppet when you left."


    Mark received another exasperated stare from the Visayan Goddess of the Underworld. And when her stare returned to Silim, it was now filled with dejection.


    "Silim was created after Lidagat''s death and was shaped with her visage, manner, and behavior. Unfortunately, it only manifested after several thousand years of separation."


    Mark gave Magwayen a side nce and did not ask for more. She must have been really sad after her daughter died, enough to make another being resemble her daughter. In any case, Mark heard a piece of rather interesting information just now.


    [Diwata''s] were Deities of nature as far as Mark knew. However, there were stories that they were servants of Bath and that was why there was more of them in Luzon, Bath''s territory, than in other parts of the Philippines. And for a [Diwata] as unique as Silim, there was no way that she was someone created by Magwayen alone. In the first ce, Magwayen did not have powers over creation. Even the creation of the [Tamawos] required the help of another minor god.


    It seemed that Bath helped Magwayen to create Silim. And knowing that Silim was directly created by the two gods, it was possible that Silim might be the oldest [Diwata] in existence in the current Philippines. After all, the forgotten era of gods ended more than three thousand years ago, with the great flood marking its end.


    While Mark was having those thoughts, Silim spoke after having her whole army of magical races retreat.


    "Mother, I will let them pass as you ordered."


    Silim then turned to Mark''s group.


    "This way."


    And with that, Mark''s group gained passage without needing to fight. It was not like they were totally against forceful methods, but it was more important to conserve their strength for now.


    It was really good that Mark had his preparations. If he did not borrow the [Mark of the King] from Pefile, they would have no other choice but to waste time and energy just to pass through this mountain.


    "Anyway, shouldn''t you return already?"


    Mark said to Magwayen.


    "You really are someone without fear, do you?" Magwayen stared at Mark. "You are already trying to chase me, a Goddess, away right after using me. I don''t know what you did but the artifact is still full of energy. I can stay like this for another half day. You do not have to mind me."


    Mark''s eyebrows could not help but twitch. She was just telling him that she would not hesitate to waste the energy of the [Mental Crystal] that Mark used to charge the [Mark of the King].


    Gods sure were willful beings.

 Chapter 866 Distraction After Distraction, Continuing The Battle Against Sinogo

    <strong>Day 240 - 10:20 AM - Mount Caon, Municipality of Codcod, Province of Negros idental</strong>


    Anger...


    Many [Infected] creatures could show such an expression and emotion on their faces. However, it was due to the effects of [Mutagen] that turned them into such vile creatures.


    Nheless, most [Infected] creatures were incapable of directing their anger towards any specific target.


    It was a clear indication that not only the [Infected] Sinogo was intelligent but also gained sentience.


    Aplete indication that Sinogo had mutated into a mature [King Type Infected].


    However, it was strange.


    In the previous cases, the [Monarch Types] that Mark encountered were capable of speaking. Well, at least, those in the wild. Jte and Trish, who Mark met early and took into custody, seemed to have slower growth. Snow, who Mark acquiredter, was able to utter some words after the [Queen Spider] was removed from her.


    The mental growth of [Monarch Type Infected] was faster in the wild, as Mark observed. Yet, despite having sentience, Sinogo was still behaving like an animal.


    It was rather strange.


    "He is really angry, isn''t he?"


    The younger [Diwata], Binituin, grumbled, feeling the cold, furious aura from Sinogo''s gaze. It was despite the fact that it was Mark and Chimetrice who were on the receiving end of that stare.


    Beside Binituin, her older sister, Tin, was silent. She could also feel the intensity of that stare.


    How would it feel to be Mark and Chimetrice, who was on the receiving end of that furious re?


    "What a cold stare."


    Mark shrugged. He felt like his surroundings were freezing.


    "But staring is all he could do for now," Chimetrice spoke with a serious expression. "We managed to cause such damage to him, and he became warier of us. It is one of the backfires for having high intelligence and sentience for an [Infected]."


    "True," Mark nodded. "Well, the arena is already prepared. We can go all out without worrying."


    The arena... Mark was talking about the aftermath of the explosion. It was the five-kilometer radius around Sinogo where everything was obliterated.


    With nothing left within that area but soil and rubble, Mark and Chimetrice would not have any problems going all out.


    One of Mark''s worries was the energy residue left after a battle fought using magical energy. Back in Bay City, it caused some trouble when the [ming Infected] and the [Miasma King Type] appeared after the battle between Mark and Gar''m.


    But what was the difference now? It definitely was not because magical energy was now abundant on Earth. It was also not because they had no choice since they were fighting Sinogo in this battle. Even in the previous attack, Mark did not use [Miasma] to at least reduce the damage from Sinogo''s attack.


    There was something else different in this particr scenario.


    It was the surroundings.


    Anything, items, structures, animals, or people, whether living or not, would absorb and emit energy from and to the surroundings. Heat and light were the mostmon energy types that undergo this process because these energies were everywhere.


    It was the same for magical energies. They could be absorbed by things or people.


    And this was very likely the reason why in Bay City,rge amounts of magical residue were left after the battle. It was because the location was filled with buildings and people, especially within the vicinity of the fight. It elerated the possible growth of the [Infected] within the surroundings, and the magically mutated [Infected] appeared sooner than expected.


    Now, the explosion caused by Sinogo''s failed attack cleared the surroundings of almost everything. Within this five-kilometer radius around Sinogo, only the ground could absorb the magical residues and would very less likely cause the [Infected] to mutate.


    Thus... There was no need to hold back due to that reason.


    Mark tapped the ring on his finger. Mei had been asking him if he was alright, and he immediately replied to assure her.


    At this point, Mark was ready to continue the fight.


    But then...


    "Bro! We''re here!"


    The familiar voice of Jaeya echoed in Mark''s mind. It made Mark freeze as her voice came loudly and out of nowhere. Mark might be mostly emotionless, but it did not mean that he could not feel surprised from time to time.


    Even so, Mark sighed. With Jaeya and the rest arriving, they could proceed to the next n.


    Mark beganmunicating with Jaeya while they slowly moved towards Sinogo.


    ***


    In the middle of the two opposing armies, the situation became far more chaotic than before.


    Both sides were umting massive casualties rather fast.


    "Retreat! RETREAT! Form the lines! Get the injured to the back!"


    Of course, the magical army was at a disadvantage. Not to mention that most of the deaths they incur were added to the numbers of the enemies present on the battlefield.


    They needed to reform their lines fast, even if it meant they were retreating their line of defense. It was far better than the current situation they were in.


    At the rear of the magical army, the current guardian of Mount Caon, wana, watched the situation with great remorse. She and her people had fought the [Infected] before. Nevertheless, she never expected to face a cmity like this in the hands of the same monstrous creatures.


    Unfortunately for wana, she used up almost all of her energy in the previous attack she made with the elemental spirits around her. That attack was their trump card, herst resort. wana gambled with that attack, yet, she lost the bet.


    Right now, the most that wana could do was to assist the army from the rear and heal those injured and managed to survive.


    The situation of the army aside, wana and her people at the rear witnessed the young woman that left through a portal return, bringing four other people and an infant back here. The three women looked a bit confused upon arrival, and they were clearly human. The other young woman and the infant, however... felt strange.


    wana could not help but stare at the young woman wearing what seemed to be human servant clothing. She was surprised when the young woman beganmanding several [Infected] that nearly reached the rear and used them to fight their own allies. The number she controlled was not that many. However, as those [Infected] were followingmands from a more intelligent master, their movements were far different and more efficientpared to their brainless counterparts.


    But that was not what wana was staring at her for...


    Rather... It was the strange feeling of subservience. wana somehow felt that that young woman was above her.


    wana... she could not understand what was happening...


    While having those thoughts, waya saw the floating vessel take flight. The subus, Ilia, took the floating vessel. She brought the two female humans that were brought here and the young woman that could open portals with her. The others were left on the ground to either provide support in the rear or fight the approaching [Infected].


    ***


    In the rear of the magical army near the foot of Mount Caon, the ones left by the [Mini Cube] performed their duties.


    "Sis... This situation is pretty chaotic." Jaeya spoke, carrying Theodore in her arms. "Are we safe here?"


    "We should be fine here," Mei replied to Jaeya while making sure that there was no [Infected] that slipped towards them. "The danger here is nothingpared to the danger Gege is currently facing."


    "So, big bro is there..." Jaeya looked far to the horizon. "So... That''s Sinogo?"<sub> </sub>


    Mei nodded in reply.


    Jaeya was feeling a bit ufortable as she stared towards the eastern coast. The distance was pretty far, so she could not see Mark and the group that was fighting Sinogo. However, she could see Sinogo even from the base of the mountain. That was how gigantic the golden crocodile was.


    At this time, Jaeya suddenly nodded before turning to Mei.


    "Big bro said that they are already going to engage. They will try to divert Sinogo''s attention away from here, but we should be careful of stray attacks just in case."


    "I doubt Gege will let that happen, though."


    Mei tilted her head, looking in Sinogo''s direction. Jaeya might not be able to see what was happening there, but Mei could.


    "Will that really work?"


    Jaeya shifted the topic with a wry smile. She was amazed how Mei could ce all her trust in Mark, but it was not her ce to question it. Instead, she turned her head towards the sky, where the [Mini Cube] continued to rise.


    "I don''t know either," Mei shrugged. "But it''s worth a try. Even if it failed, there''s nothing to lose. It will be a big help if it seded, though."


    Jaeya nodded as what Mei said was true. Still, it was amazing how Mark could create sorts of ideas like the reason why he told Spera to call Be and Donna to this ce.


    ***


    In the eastern nds near the coast, the staredown between Sinogo and Mark''s group continued.


    No, rather than a staredown, it was more like Sinogo was waiting for Mark''s group to attack first. It was very likely that he wanted to either counterattack or act depending on the movements of his enemies.


    Well... as if Mark would let Sinogo read their movements.


    With a smile, Mark gave his signal to the group.


    Chimetrice immediately went down to the ground.


    Tin and Binituin flew in separate directions.


    Lastly, Mark waved his hand, taking something out of his ring... It was a pair of twenty-five-liter ck liquid containers.


    With a container in both hands, Mark summoned the [Photokinesis Mental Crystal] from the [PsyCrystal]. He then vanished from everyone''s sight.


    Sinogo sure was confused. Instead of the whole group attacking, the enemies separated. Worse, one of them vanished.


    Once Mark vanished, the battle began.


    Sinogo''s attention was taken by Mark''s sudden disappearance. The giant crocodile began looking around while being careful not topletely take away his eyes from the rest of the enemies.


    However, Sinogo''s current state was more than enough for Chimetrice to take advantage of.


    With a p of his crow wing, the presence of Chimetrice suddenly thinned.


    It caused Sinogo to jump back. He already experienced this strategy earlier and suffered greatly. This, however, made Sinogo pay more attention to Chimetrice, giving the two [Diwatas] the chance.


    GROOARR!!!


    All of a sudden, Sinogo let out a painful roar. The roar sounded garbled and unstable due to him losing most of his snout and his flesh and blood clogging his throat.


    And the cause of the sudden pain?


    It was Tin and Binituin.


    Normally, the attacks from the two would not cause any damage to Sinogo at all. It was like before, where they only served as the distraction while their eldest sister served as the main attacker. If described straight, Tin and Binituin were weak.


    But Mark gave the two a certain task.


    Since Sinogo was warier toward Mark and Chimetrice, it was easier for the two men to grab the giant crocodile''s attention. And when they managed to get the attention away from the two [Diwatas]...


    They were tasked to attack the wounds on Sinogo''s legs, especially the open bleeding wounds.


    One of their priorities was to avoid letting Sinogo move around too much. If possible, Mark wanted to immobilize Sinogo. This way, the range of attacks Sinogo could perform would be limited.


    Of course, it would not be easy.


    Even if Tin and Binituin attacked the wounds on Sinogo''s legs, aside from the pain, they were barely doing any damage.


    But that was also enough. While the goal was to immobilize Sinogo, the two [Diwata] also served as anotheryer of distraction for the giant crocodile.


    It was all while Mark did his own task.


    <strong>PLOP! SWOOSH!</strong>


    All of a sudden, a burst of foul-smelling liquid showered upon Sinogo''s body. However, since Sinogo was busy trying to attack Chimetrice and the two [Diwatas], he did not pay the foul-smelling liquid any mind. Besides, the liquid only caused a small part of his body to feel wet and the wet sensation was nothing new to a crocodile creature like him.


    But then...


    <strong>TING!</strong>


    Sounds of metal were heard shing with Sinogo''s scales...


    And then...


    <strong>BOOM!!!</strong>


    <strong>ROOOOARR!!!</strong>


    Several explosions urred on Sinogo''s head and back, causing his wounded body severe amounts of pain.


    And worse...


    The explosions caused the foul-smelling liquid to burst into mes.


    Yes... that foul-smelling liquid was around fifty liters of gasoline poured unto Sinogo''s head and back.


    Mark appeared above Sinogo, ying with the pins of the grenades he threw just now.


    And while Sinogo was squirming because of the explosion and the mes burning his body, Mark shot unto Sinogo''s back.


    <strong>BOOM!</strong>


    Marknded with a loud bang. At the same time, the burst of ck mes exploded on Sinogo''s back. It began to engulf the mes from the gasoline, causing Sinogo''s head and back to be covered with nasty ck mes.

 Chapter 832 Entry Into The Village, The Story Of Two Sisters

    <strong>Day 206 - ¨ƒ¨ƒ:¨ƒ¨ƒ ¨ƒ¨ƒ- Old Vige, Secret Realm, Mount Madia-as, Panay Mountain Range, Province of An, Ind of Panay</strong>


    "How long are we going to stay in this ce?"


    A woman in her mid-twenties asked another woman sitting beside her while kindling the campfire in front of them.


    "I don''t know." The other woman, likely a few years older, answered. "There''s only a few of us wanted to leave this ce. There''s barely anything we can do if we go back with only a few people."


    "I know that, but... This ce isn''t where we should be." The younger woman sighed. "We are humans, and we should be on Earth, not this ce home for those creatures."


    "Damn it." The younger woman continued. "We are already doing fine before that meteor shower and earthquake happened..."


    The younger woman sure was indignant about their current situation.


    These two women were sisters and survivors from Kalibo, An, one of the few ground zero''s of the outbreak in the ind of Panay.


    With inevitable sacrifices and gathering allies, they managed to reach and climb up the highest mountain on the ind of Panay, Mount Madia-as. Due to the mountain''s geographical advantages, the survivors the two gathered managed to establish a smallmunity up Mount Madia-as.


    It was not exactly a safe ce since they would receive attacks from monstrous animals from time to time.


    But with tactics and skills, they managed to live until now.


    It was until a month ago. When Earth suddenly faced another unexpected cmity.


    It was fortunate that none of the things that fell from the sky hit their settlement, but the earthquake that came after destroyed everything.


    Large boulders fell from the mountain crushing their newly built homes. The walls they painstakingly constructed fell without resistance. And when they fled from thendslide, they suddenly fell into the void, filled with fear and dissatisfaction on how their lives would end.


    And the moment they woke up, the sisters found themselves surrounded by creatures they had only seen and heard from fiction, legends, and folklore in a ce they were never familiar with.


    Fortunately, despite their initial fear, those creatures allowed them to temporarily stay to heal their wounds. It was a good thing since none of them that survived the catastrophe were left unscathed. Some of them had broken bones that had yet to heal even now. When the majority of the group were already healed enough regained their strength to leave this ce, however...


    They instead begged to stay in this ce than return home.


    And it led to the current situation.


    It was nice that their food and water were provided to them. The survivors did not have to go hungry anymore and face the dangers outside.


    However, what most of them could not see... They were basically prisoners in this ce. They had no freedom here.


    This was not a ce for humans like them.


    But as people that struggled through the apocalyptic world since the start, this kind of life was better for them. It was better than a life where they could be eaten by the enemies at any moment.


    "Haahh..." The younger woman let out a loud sigh as she nced at the houses near them. "They could only sleep freely since they already took things for granted."


    The older woman did not say anything as she reached for her stick and adjusted the firewood on the campfire.


    "Hmmm?"


    At this time, the two women noticed the silhouettes outside the vige. They could not help but stand from their seats, knowing that anything could happen, both good and bad. Furthermore, as it was nighttime, they could not see the silhouettes clearly.


    But as the silhouettes came closer, they could not hear the voices from what seemed to be a group of people.


    "People?"


    The younger woman voiced out in surprise as she could not see a group of men, women, and children.


    Seeing a group of unfamiliar people, the two sisters could not help but feel both cautious and excited. After all, they would be the first group of people they would meet for a very long time. Thest time the sisters saw new people was more than four months ago, after all.


    What stopped the sisters from approaching, however... The [Diwata] who led the creatures in this ce was guiding the group.


    It was not like the sisters hated the [Diwata]. In fact, they were grateful to her. Most of the creatures in this ce disliked humans and wanted to throw them out. However, it was the [Diwata] who insisted to let them stay in this ce to heal their injuries. She was also the one that allowed them to stay after the majority begged.


    The [Diwata], the two sisters could feel some sort of suppressioning from her. It was not only the two of them but their whole group. That was why even if they were thankful to her, it was hard for them to face her directly.


    And now, that feeling was multiplied, as the two sisters saw the ghostly visage of another woman floating beside the [Diwata].


    ***


    On the other side, Mark''s group walked towards the vige led by Silim. He could feel the stare of the two women they could see standing by the campfire near the entrance of the vige.


    "This is the closest I could lead you all," Silim spoke. "Normal humans, after all, could not withstand my presence at close proximity."


    "Won''t it be the same for you too?"


    Mark asked Magwayen. In fact, she had a subtle aura that Mark''s group needed to endure all the way here despite being a temporary avatar. Fortunately, Magwayen was aware of it and toned down as much as she could. Even so, regr humans would definitely suffocate from her presence alone.


    "Give the artifact to Silim." Magwayen ignored Mark''s question and said. "Now that I am given a chance, there are things I needed to speak to her."


    "I won''t recharge more energy on this."


    Mark tantly said as he handed the [Mark of the King] to Silim.


    "You did not have to fret about it," Magwayen replied. "Just Silim holding it would be enough to keep the connection intact. I would not be able to directly transfer energy unto the artifact, but Silim, who held the same energy as mine, could."


    Mark nodded. That was something he did not put in mind. Silim was born from Magwayen''s [Magical Energy]. She should be able to transfer the same energy since she and the [Mark of the King] had the same origin.


    "Then, I will send someone to contact your group tomorrow morning," Silim said as she began to turn and leave. "You can ask the two humans there which house is currently vacant."


    And there, Silim and Magwayen parted with Mark''s group, vanishing into the darkness of the night.


    Mark''s group then continued on towards the vige after the two left.


    Seeing the two women standing in front of the campfire, Mark turned to Ilia.


    "You ask."


    "Me?"


    Ilia asked, pointing at herself.


    "Yeah, you."


    Mark nodded.


    "Why?" Ilia asked again. "Don''t tell me you''re feeling shy?"


    "No." Mark shrugged. "You''re the only extrovert in this group. So this kind of task should fall on you, alright?"


    Ilia could not help but look at the members of the group one by one. And then, she could only let out an exasperated sigh. Mark was right. She was the only extrovert in this group.


    "Just do it, Ilia." Chimetrice urged. "You are the best in dealing with other people than any of us here."


    "Okay, Master." Ilia smiled. "If you say so."


    And with the rest of the group standing behind, Ilia approached the two women.


    "Hello, to you two."


    Ilia greeted first, which made the two women rather flustered.<sub> </sub>


    Ilia, being an [Elder Subus], was a beautiful and physically attractive woman. Her beauty could mesmerize people of any gender. It could not be helped if the two women felt flustered facing her, not to mention that her beauty looked foreign for them.


    Well, Ilia was not a local, after all. Not to mention that she asked the two in English, just to be sure since the provinces of the Philippines tend to have their ownnguage or two. While there were ces in the Philippines that had people not that proficient in speaking Tagalog, those same ces should be able to speak English.


    "U-um. Hello."


    The older woman managed to recover first and greeted Ilia back.


    "H-Hello!"


    The younger woman also greeted in a hurry.


    "We''re told to rest here for the rest of the night. Which houses are vacant? Or at least, the ones we can use?"


    Ilia asked.


    At the question, the two women nced around for a bit before answering.


    "We only upied the west side of the vige. The houses on the east side are all empty and unused."


    The older woman answered.


    "Is that so? Then thank you."


    Ilia thanked with an alluring smile. There might only be a campfire to light up that smile, but it was more than enough to make the two women stare at her as she turned around.


    "You guys heard them," Ilia said to Mark and the rest. "Let''s go."


    Ilia then grabbed Chimetrice''s arm, and she pulled him towards the east side of the vige. Mark and the others followed suit, not minding the two women watching their group.


    "Gege, I''m pretty sure you already know which houses are vacant, right?"


    Mei asked Mark. After all, it was no secret among their group that he could detect emotional fluctuations and use it as a radar.


    "Yeah?" Mark answered. "But it''s still better to ask. After all, it might be empty now, but what if that house is in use during the day. It would be awkward if they came to the house we chose only to find us there."


    The rest could only agree with Mark''s reasoning. They chose a few houses in the furthest area on the east side of the vige. This way, they could keep their contact with the people staying here to a minimum.


    After all, they were just staying here for the rest of the night of this realm.


    ***


    "What a gorgeous woman." The younger woman said, looking at the group that was walking away. "I''m feeling jealous."


    "Yeah, that woman is gorgeous, but the other one seemed to be more beautiful."


    The older woman said.


    "Which one?"


    The younger asked, looking at the group, searching for who her sister was talking about.


    "The girl holding one of the children''s hands. Unfortunately, she''s standing further away and is wearing a veil on her face. But I can tell, she''s really beautiful."


    "Ah, that one." The younger sister said, finally realizing who her older sister was talking about. And then, she began whispering. "It''s hard to see, so I don''t know. But the guy at the center... he sure looks theplete opposite of how beautiful those women are."


    "Donna... You know that''s rude."


    The older sister reprimanded her younger sister.


    "No, Be. I''m not being rude. I''m just telling the truth."


    The younger sister argued.


    In any case, while they seemed to be arguing, their mood surely was lifted after meeting new people. One of their frustrations was the feeling of being imprisoned in this ce, and seeing new faces sure helped raise their mood.


    ***


    "Haah..."


    Mark sighed.


    "Gege, is something wrong?"


    Mei asked Mark, seeing that exasperated sigh.


    "Nothing. I''m just thinking if there could be a mutation somewhere that allows a person to change their appearance."


    "Hm? What for?"


    Mei asked.


    "You know, disguise and stuff."


    Mark said with a shrug.


    "I''m pretty sure he wanted to be handsome for once."


    Spera chimed in.


    "But Gege looks fine enough, though?"


    Mei turned to Spera, confused.


    It made everyone turn to her, definitely questioning her tastes. Even Mark, who was the person in question stared at her.


    "Papa is handsome!"


    Miracle also chimed in, cutely puffing her cheeks at Spera.


    "No, no. The opinion of a woman blindly in love and the daughter who knew nothing doesn''t count here... Ahem, forget I said something."


    Spera was about to argue, only to feel the cold chill enveloping her.


    "Geez..." Sperained. "You don''t mind having your appearance ridiculed, but you get angry at a single word said about your wife and daughters. Seriously... I''m starting to wish I have someone like you as my father."


    "Nah, I don''t want a daughter as annoying as you."


    Mark made a snidement.


    "Hey!"


    Spera red at Mark.


    Mark''s group made their way to their houses where they would spend the rest of the night. None of them would go sleep, however. After all, it was just past noon outside. What they needed to do was to have lunch.


    Not know to their group, however...


    It seemed that Silim and Magwayen were having some strange conversation.

 Chapter 833 Under The Sleeping Tree, A Conversation Between The Creator And The Creation

    <strong>Day 206 - ¨ƒ¨ƒ:¨ƒ¨ƒ ¨ƒ¨ƒ - Secret Realm, Mount Madia-as, Panay Mountain Range, Province of An</strong>


    At the clearing under the sleeping [Pure Spirit Tree], two figures sat covered in the night''s darkness.


    "It had been a long time since thest I had been here."


    Magwayen calmly said as she reminisced her memories ovepping with the sceneries around her.


    After several thousand years, while this ce remained hidden, many things changed.


    The people Magwayen knew were no longer here. The vige upied by their servants was left abandoned.


    And a new,rger vige could be seen on the other side of the mountain.


    However, some things never changed. One was the [Pure Spirit Tree] that Sidapa owned. The other was this ce where they were currently seated.


    This was the very ce where Sidapa sat under his tree. And as it seemed, it was maintained the way it was even after a very long time.


    "You personally maintained this ce?"


    Magwayen asked Silim, sensing that her presence was etched around this ce.


    "Yes." Silim respectively replied. "As the messenger between Mother and Sidapa, I believe that it is my duty to keep this ce as is despite Mother and Sidapa''s absence."


    That reply from Silim made Magwayen smile. It seemed that she was really satisfied with Silim''s growth. It was a pity, however. She was not there to witness the process.


    Magwayen turned her head, looking at the empty seat surrounded by the roots of the [Pure Spirit Tree].


    "How did the others face that cmity?"


    Magwayen asked.


    "They all faced it valiantly," Silim responded with a meaningful sigh. "Unfortunately, the protectors of this world are backed by itsws. Even if the gods resisted, working together and burned their existence, they still faced their end."


    "..." Magwayen stared at the empty seat in silence for a few moments. "Sidapa is not a reckless being. And being the harbinger of death, she should have ways to escape danger."


    "It is because of her husband, Makaptan," Silim exined. "The God of Sickness had a remarkably elevated pride. He led the resistance, dragging Sidapa into the battle she never wanted. They perished together along with the other Deities of Kamaritaan."


    "It is a pity." Magwayen smiled sadly. "Thews of this world began to change while I was ferrying the dead. It was a fortunate circumstance for me but not for the others."


    Magwayen closed her eyes, remembering the cmity during the end of the era of gods on Earth. As the Goddess of the Underworld and the ferrywoman of the dead, she was always amidst transporting the souls of the departed towards Sd.


    And when the new administrator of Earth, the current [Observer], took the position, Magwayen was amidst her duties as the ferrywoman. She was outside the jurisdiction of the [Eyes] and managed to escape without getting noticed.


    Magwayen might be powerful as one of the principal beings of the Visayan Pantheon. However, her powers were never made for battle. And although she still had her abilities as the previous Goddess of the Sea, it was something negligible against the beings protected by thews of the world.


    "Mother..." At this silence, Silim took the opportunity to ask. "Those people... Do we really have to guide them to Kahilwayan? Their group was led by Demons."


    "It seems that you are still reluctant."


    Magwayen replied.


    "I''m sorry, Mother."


    Silim apologized.


    "You did not have to apologize," Magwayen slightly shook her head. "I am the same. We sealed the passage to Kahilwayan after Kaptan left this world, and the Deities under him decided to return to our world. From that time forwards, no one was allowed to step into the sacrednd Kaptan created."


    "Then..."


    Silim tried to speak, but she was met with a decisive stare from her creator.


    "The circumstances now are different," Magwayen stated, standing from her seat and facing the [Pure Spirit Tree]. "Sinogo finally escaped from his seal after sumbing to this world''s recent cmity. The worst thing... Sinogo absorbed Kaptan''s seal and its remaining energy. At this time, Sinogo might be roaming the local seas, wreaking havoc using my beloved husband''s powers. Even I find that uneptable."


    "But is it really safe?" Silim worried. "I might be less reluctant if it was just regr Demons. But that Demon and his wife... They have the potential to be gods. We might end up helping our potential enemies in the future."


    Magwayen closed her eyes. From her expression, she understood Silim''s worries.


    Even among gods, aside from Evil Gods, Demon Gods were the most painful to deal with. Bing a god was akin to changing their past race to a new one. It was not wrong to say that gods were a race of their own. Although some gods were called Demon Gods, Beast Gods, Human Gods, and the like, their races were all the same as long as they attained godhood.


    What mattered, however, was their origin race.


    While Demons were also divided into countless races, the majority of them were inherently evil. And most Evil Gods were once Demons that attained godhood.


    In the least, however, like Spirit and Elemental races, Demons were not all evil.


    "From what I observed, it is not something you should be worried about." Magwayen opened her eyes. "If they were evil as you think, the incarnation of that gentle girl would not apany them."


    "That..." Silim fell silent since the words of her creator this time were not something she could refute. "I was also surprised. I did not expect to meet another god''s incarnation in the current times, given that the protectors of this world chased away or killed the gods of the past. Furthermore, apanying a group of Demons and Humans."


    "Two of their members were not Human nor Demon, either." Silim continued. "I could not tell what the little girl was, but the other man, he had a mixture of different auras on his body that belonged to both holy and demonic creatures."


    "If you and the residents of this realm fought them, who do you think will win?"


    Magwayen suddenly asked Silim, who could not help but immediately fall into contemtion.


    And after a moment of thinking, Silim answered.


    "We will suffer a devastating defeat."


    The answer made Magwayen smile.


    "It is good that you know how to measure the strength of the people in front of you. Do not antagonize them in any way. What I will say is unbelievable. But their group had direct connections to the protectors. The first time I met that Mark, he was with two protectors standing beside him." Magwayen then stared at Silim. "Right now, you might be the only one left among my people from that era. I do not want you to die in vain."


    "Yes, Mother," Silim said with all seriousness. "I will heed your words."


    Silim looked at her creator. Magwayen might be the Goddess of the Underworld and the ferrywoman of the departed. She was strict and a bit upromising. However, she was one of the kindest gods that appeared in this country in the past. And to her people, she was like a mother.


    "Now, then..." Magwayen spoke. "Should we talk about something else? I wanted to hear your stories."


    "I would love to, Mother."


    Silim delightfully replied.


    ***


    <strong>Day 206 - ¨ƒ¨ƒ:¨ƒ¨ƒ ¨ƒ¨ƒ - Old Vige, Secret Realm, Mount Madia-as, Panay Mountain Range, Province of An</strong>


    At the vige, Mark''s group began preparing.


    It was not to sleep, however.<sub> </sub>


    Mark took out a double gas burner and an LPG tank. They began setting up a ce to cook.


    Although it was nighttime in this realm and hard to tell what time it was already, it was still about past noon outside. Since Mark''s group went hiking up the mountain a few hours before noon and just stopped now, they were unable to eat lunch.


    Thus, they were already hungry, especially the little girls.


    "What do you guys want to eat?"


    Mark asked. Food was not a problem for them. Mark and Mei had a lot of food stored inside their rings, not to mention the portion they left stored in the [Mini Cube].


    "I want some rice."


    Ilia said, and both Spera and Feng Zhiruo agreed.


    Feng Zhiruo aside, it was surprising that Ilia and Spera, both foreigners, liked rice. After all, unlike countries in East, Southeast, and South Asia, most foreign countries did not have rice as their staple food.


    However, Ilia and Spera came to like rice and how it could blend well with any kind of side dish they were offered.


    As for Chimetrice, what kind of food he was given did not matter. It was not like he could not taste anything. But for him, food was nothing but sustenance.


    Mark''s question did not matter for both Miracle and Amihan, either. Miracle would only consume Mark''s blood, and Amihan would only eat fruits.


    Well, Miracle was actually starting to eat other kinds of food. She would not eat as much and would only consume soft food like porridge or sweet fruits, or naturally vored drinks like milk. Nheless, it was a good sign that her body was beginning to adapt.


    And as requested, Mark and Mei began preparing rice, and for the side dish, it would be fried canned meatloaves. Mark also separated some of the rice to make porridge for Miracle.


    There, they began cooking.


    Unfortunately, the cooking could only fall unto Mark and Mei. Both Ilia and Spera were terrible at this, while Feng Zhiruo was only good at slicing ingredients.


    As Mark was amidst frying the sliced meatloaves, however...


    Mark detected a pair of uninvited guests.


    ncing at Ilia, Mark signaled to intercept the two who were hiding behind one of the houses.


    ***


    "*slurp..." Donna slurped the drool at the side of her mouth. "Uhh... The smell..."


    "Donna, why do we have to hide like this?" The older sister, Be, questioned Donna. "We looked like we are doing something bad."


    "But we can''t just approach them, either..."


    Donna answered.


    "Then, we should just return." Be sighed. "It is not like we are starving to death."


    "But..." Donna hesitated. "I''m already sick of eating fruits and boiled vegetables. Those are the only things we receive here. Maybe we can ask even just a single slice of what they are frying?"


    "You... Hah..." Be sighed. "If you want to ask them, then stop hiding. You''re just making yourself look suspicious."


    Be understood her sister''s frustration. Even she was kind of sick of the food they were being given here. However, she had better self-control than her younger sister.


    "That is right. If you want to ask for food, stop hiding. You can get yourselves killed this way."


    Suddenly, a voice was heard behind the two.


    <strong>"HIIH!!"</strong>


    Donna screamed in surprise and jumped back.


    Be was calmer, but she also retreated.


    There, they saw the gorgeous woman that spoke to them at the entrance of the vige.


    The two sisters did not know how the gorgeous woman managed to get behind them. It made them really nervous.


    However,pared to their nervousness, their craving weighed heavier. Despite her defensive stance, Donna asked the gorgeous woman.


    "Can we really ask? Even a slice is just fine. We''ll just share it with each other."


    "Hmm..." The gorgeous woman tapped her chin. "Asking is free. But the call won''te from me. I''m not the leader, after all. Anyway, stop hiding and follow me. He might not look like it but our leader won''t bite. It''s unless you two are nning something bad."


    With those words, the gorgeous woman passed between the two and straight to where the cooking was happening.


    ***


    "So, are they asking for food, right?"


    Mark asked as Ilia returned with the two uninvited guests in tow.


    "Why ask if you already know the answer?"


    Ilia shrugged.


    Mark then turned to the others.


    "What do you guys think?"


    Spera and Feng Zhiruo looked at each other.


    "We don''t really mind."


    Spera said, and the others agreed.


    Food was the least of concern for Mark''s group. That was why they did not really mind giving away some.


    Hearing the decision of the group, Be and Donna were extremely delighted. They became even happier to the point of tears as they were not only given a slice of fried meatloaf but a bowl of rice and a few more slices.


    How long had it been since they ate actual food?


    Nheless, happy times would not always end happily.


    "Wha! Who are you, people?!"


    A man with a haughty face appeared, also lured in by the smell. He then saw the two sisters.


    "You two! What are you eating?! How dare you two eat on your own?!"

 Chapter 834 Glittering Dust, A Small Test Orchestrated For The Two Sisters

    <strong>Day 206 - ¨ƒ¨ƒ:¨ƒ¨ƒ ¨ƒ¨ƒ - Old Vige, Secret Real, Mount Madia-as, Panay Mountain Range, Province of An</strong>


    To have someone running into other''s mealtime, running off his mouth and shouting, that person was bound to attract everyone''s attention.


    It was the same for Mark and the members of his group. They could not help but stare at the man that barged into their mealtime. The man sure was a rude one, disturbing other people''s mealtime.


    But the most important thing...


    Ilia turned towards the sisters, who were both showing exasperated expressions.


    "What is he saying?"


    Ilia asked in confusion.


    That confusion was the main reason that everyone stared at the man. After all, none of Mark''s group members were locals of this province. Even if they were a bit familiar with one or two words of everything that man said, there was very little chance they would understand the message.


    Thus, whatever that man shouted at them, it did not matter. Aside from the fact that he was rude, they could not understand him.


    The question towards the two sisters made the two show a bitter smile. From the start, the two sisters realized that the new people that arrived were not locals of this province. Furthermore, three of the group were clearly foreigners.


    And, of course, the guy that barged in without thinking had no way of knowing this.


    "Um... We''re sorry." The older of the two sisters replied to Ilia, not answering the question knowing that it would cause more trouble. "Can you please leave this to us?"


    Ilia turned to Mark, hearing the older sister''s reply. Mark gave her a nce and a slight nod.


    "Then, please deal with it quickly while no one is dead yet."


    Ilia said to the two sisters, making them a bit flustered. What did this gorgeous woman mean by "while no one was dead yet?"


    Nheless, that reply made the two sisters feel a bit relieved. The two of them did not survive this apocalypse for nothing. A little misunderstanding could cause a lot of trouble in the current world, not to mention reckless aggressiveness. To the two women, this group of strangers was still dangerous people. It was aside from the fact that they were kind enough to share food with them.


    Kindness begets kindness. The inverse was the same.


    The two sisters nodded at each other, putting this problem into their hands.


    ***


    "What does it matter to you?" Donna stood up, returning the man''s aggressiveness. "We can eat anything we want!"


    "You!!!"


    The man sure was infuriated even more. He was not that affected by Be''s retort. However, what made him mad was how these unfamiliar people were literally ignoring him. They even continued to eat, watching him as if he was an attraction in a circus.


    "This is our vige! Letting outsiders inside... Who in the world is sane to do that?" The man yelled. "Then, that food... We are all eating strange fruits and boiled vegetables all this month! Eating food on your own... You selfish women! Isn''t it the duty of you two to distribute food in the first ce?"


    Be and Donna stared at the man incredulously. Just what in the world was this idiot talking about?


    "You''re out of your mind, aren''t you? Are you still dreaming? Wake up, will you?" Now, even the calmer Be stood up, putting down her te of food on an old table nearby. "Since when was this vige ours? We are nothing but freeloaders here. And why would youin about the food? You chose that. Aren''t you the one who did not want to leave this ce the most, you coward? And our duty to distribute food? That''s only when we can actually find something to distribute. In this ce? Can we find food in this ce? We can''t even step outside this vige. We can only wait when the food arrives, and it is already distributed evenly for us."


    Both Be and Donna knew their ce. It was one of the reasons they wanted to leave. This vige was not theirs. They had no freedom here.


    Unfortunately, the other survivors of their group took the kindness of the [Diwata] for granted. It seemed that peacefully staying in this ce made them forget who they were in the first ce.


    The actual owner of this vige was the [Diwata] and the creatures living in this realm. Not them who were only allowed to stay out of pity.


    And these people the man called outsiders were brought here by the [Diwata] herself. Both Be and Donna saw them approaching the vige with the [Diwata] leading them after all. It was not something they, people who begged to stay here, could question.


    Yet, this narrow-minded man who just woke up from sleep blurted out nonsense without thinking about his position.


    "You two! Who cares about that?! Why are you two even siding with outsiders?!"


    The man sure was not getting any of it into that thick skull of his. He was not even listening to reason. His eyes focused on the food at the center of the group of strangers instead.


    That was right. The man''s reason was already consumed by his worldly craving.


    "He''s not listening, is he?"


    Donna sighed, ncing at her sister. Be replied with a nod at that nce.


    "There''s no choice then."


    Be said as she bent her right arm, putting her right hand beside her left cheek.


    The man saw that stance, and his eyes dted.


    "Y-YOU! What are you doing?!"


    The man took a step back and made a stance of his own.


    Unfortunately, the man could not do anything after that. Be waved her right arm, now covered in glittering dust, towards the man. The man froze and slowly fell to the ground as if he lost all his energy.


    "Yo-urk! Yo-u bit-ch-es!"


    The man was still conscious, spitting curse after curse at the two sisters with his unstable voice.


    "Hah... He''s not stopping."


    Be gave another sigh as she approached the weakened man. She stood beside him, looking down at the man lying by her feet. Slightly stretching her hand over him, she began whisking her fingers, sprinkling glittering dust on the man.


    This time, the man froze entirely. Even his mouth was left open, saliva overflowing. His eyes were still open, but it was clear that he already passed out.


    "Let''s drag this garbage out."


    Be said to her sister, grabbing the man''s leg and preparing to drag the man away.


    "Wait!" Donna said, grabbing their tes of food and turning to the gorgeous woman and the others. "Thank you for the food and sorry for the trouble. We''ll return the tester!"<sub> </sub>


    And there, the two sisters dragged the nuisance away. Well, while leaving a meaningful nce at the man they presumed to be the leader of the group.


    ***


    "Looks like they are sensible people."


    Mark remarked, watching the twodies dragging the man away, with the slight red glow on his eyes fading.


    "You orchestrated it, didn''t you?" Spera asked Mark, with her inquisitive eyes piercing holes on him. "There is no way you didn''t detect that guying here. Yet, you didn''t say a word."


    "Gege, did you find something interesting to do that?"


    Mei also asked Mark. There was no way that the slight glow in his eyes would pass Mei''s attention.


    Those questions made Ilia and Feng Zhiruo curious about Mark''s intentions.


    "Well, that guy is bound to cause us trouble anyway, so I just put him to use," Mark confessed. "Though I didn''t expect that he can''t even retaliate against those two even though the three of them were [Mutators]."


    It would be a lie if Mei and the others said they were not surprised that both the two sisters had some sort of strange ability. Now that Mark confirmed it, they could only wonder what kind of ability they had. All they saw was their hands releasing those glittering dust, and the man could not retaliate anymore.


    "But they actually used their abilities in front of us, huh?" Spera said. "Are they stupid? They should be hiding their cards in front of strangers."


    "No, they are not stupid," Mark said, actually refuting Spera. "Although they showed it like they were just disciplining their own people, it''s also a warning for us. They were thankful for the food and sorry for the trouble, but they would not just stand back if we try to harm their own. I guess you guys didn''t see them nce at me before they left."


    "That nce was for you? I thought it was for the food in front of you."


    Spera said, looking at the rest of the food Mark had disyed in front of him.


    "That''s what I will also think if I can''t read their emotions," Mark stated. "Well, the nuisance is gone. Let''s continue eating."


    ***


    "Be," Donna called her older sister. "Won''t this guy make a fuss about it when he wakes up?"


    "It can''t be helped," Be replied. "This is way better than having him get killed."


    "Huh? Killed?"


    Donna was confused at the words of her older sister.


    "It seems you didn''t pay attention," Be exined. "Remember what the woman said when we asked to deal with the situation. Also, when we used our powers, those people barely reacted."


    "The woman''s warning aside, what is wrong with their reaction?"


    Donna asked.


    "Did you forget how the others reacted to us when we used our powers in front of them for the first time?"


    Be asked back.


    It made Donna silent as she remembered.


    Everyone... They were afraid of Be and Donna. Even so, many clung to them for protection since their powers helped people around them survive.


    Yet, that group barely reacted. It was either they had seen others with powers before, or they had powers of their own.


    In the first ce, there was no way that a small group of people like that, even having children with them, would be able to survive this world without enough strength.


    If not for the fact that they were also craving to eat actual food, Be would not allow Donna to approach that group of strangers at all.


    They were strangers, after all. Although they showed kindness, it might just be a facade. Who would know what those people really were? Well, definitely not Be and Donna.


    It was better to be cautious than regret that they did not.


    "I don''t think they''re bad, though," Donna said, raising the tes of food in her hands. "They gave us food, after all."


    "Hahh..."


    Be sighed at how simple her younger sister was.


    ***


    The night of the realm slowly passed without many events happening. It was not surprising, considering the ce they were in.


    Since the vige was upied by humans, the other residents of the realm would not approach it. That was why it was so quiet.


    After the incident with the man, the two sisters also made sure not to let anyone from their side wanter into the eastern side of the vige. It was for the safety of both sides.


    With the peace and quiet they got, Mark''s group had nothing much to do. Instead, Mei spent time ying with the girls while Mark began drawing things. Those drawings were not just some artistic stuff, however. He was drawing blueprints and designs of weapons he could make in the future.


    Soon, the night of the realm passed with its own sun rising.


    Seeing the sun and moon of this realm and even its stars, Mark finally understood what Magwayen said before.


    The myths of ancient Visayas did have some truths in them.


    It was the remains of the grandchildren of Kaptan and Magwayen.


    This realm was not just a small dimension. It was a small butplete universe of its own.


    Unfortunately, to stop this realm from affecting the world outside, it was made limited. And even if there were things they could see from afar, not all of them were obtainable or even reachable.


    ...Like the sun, moon, stars, and the silhouettes of the inds they could see from afar in this realm.

 Chapter 835 Opening The Passage, The Hike Up The Remaining Half Of Mount Madia-As

    <strong>Day 207 - ¨ƒ¨ƒ:¨ƒ¨ƒ ¨ƒ¨ƒ - Old Vige, Secret Realm, Mount Madia-as, Panay Mountain Range, Province of An</strong>


    The morning in the secret realm came. Mark''s group was already wakened up the moment the sun of this small world peeked from its limited horizon.


    Why say they were "wakened up"? Were they asleep?


    It was not in the n, but unfortunately, yes.


    From the time that Mark''s group arrived in this realm, it was around midnight. It would only take around several hours of waiting, and there would be no need to sleep.


    However, after a few hours, Mark''s group, even Mark, who did not sleep that much, already felt tired. There was nothing wrong with the surroundings, and there was definitely nothing that did this to them on purpose.


    Instead, that few hours of nighttime felt longer to them. It was as if their bodies were not adjusting to the sudden slow of time in this secret realm. And instead, their bodies were still counting the time that passed outside.


    It was rather odd.


    Mark monitored the other group on the west side of the vige, and they seemed to be following this realm''s time speed. This meant that there was nothing wrong with the ce itself.


    Back in the [Spirit Dimension], Mark and the others did have the same state. However, not as much as this time, and they managed to adjust soon after.


    Then what was wrong this time? What was different? Was it because this secret realm was different from the [Spirit Dimension]?


    And, from what Mark realized...


    There was one obvious thing that changed.


    It was because they were stronger than before. Mark''s group was far stronger than the time they went into the [Spirit Dimension]. They were strong enough to not be affected by thews of this small world, and their bodies still followed the rules of Earth.


    Thinking about it, Mark also did not feel anything strange when he entered the secret realm of the [Tamawos]. It might be because he did not spend that much time there. If he did, he might have noticed it.


    In any case, due to their body clocks still following Earth''s time, it became easier to guess what time it was outside, and they managed to wake up in time to prepare.


    Well, there''s not much to prepare anyway, considering they just spent half the night in this ce.


    As they finished their preparations, Mark felt the presence of people outside the vige. It made him tilt his head in confusion.


    Mark would not be able to detect Magwayen, considering that she was only here in the form of an avatar made of energy. Thus, it was only supposed to be the ck-dressed [Diwata], Silim, that should fetch them from this ce.


    Yet...


    Mark called everyone in his group, making their way to the entrance of the vige.


    And there, with Magwayen and Silim in the lead, an armyposed of several magical races.


    Surely, this scene surprised the rest of Mark''s group.


    Some members of the group of people at the west side of the vige had seen themotion. They had to wake up everyone and watch in worry. After all, none of them knew what was going on. What if they were chased away all of a sudden? And as such, they all witnessed the strangers that arrivedst night face the monsters outside.


    "What''s the event?"


    Mark nonchntly asked, not minding therge number of creatures in front of them.


    Anyone would definitely feel unnerved at this scene. However, not Mark. He knew that these creatures were not here to fight. However, some red at Mark as they saw how he did not show any respect to either Magwayen or Silim. To them, someone like Mark had no right to speak to their Goddess and Deity, like an equal.


    Silim noticed the reaction of her people and raised her hand. She did not want to get into conflict, especially now that she knew the circumstances of Mark''s group.


    And seeing Silim''smand, the army stayed put, not moving an inch or voicing their thoughts.


    To Mark''s question, Magwayen answered.


    "How long had it been since the [Eyes] chased away the gods from this world? Since then, the path to Kahilwayan had been sealed with no one to witness its glory. And now, after thousands of years, it will be opened once more. These young ones wanted to witness what their ancestors could not."


    Mark nodded, understanding why he could feel that every single one of this magical army felt excited.


    After thousands of years, their holynd would be opened once more. While the reason was not a thing that they could ept, seeing its path open was more than enough to offset their disappointment to some extent.


    Furthermore, it was the Goddess of the Underworld who allowed it. There was no way for them to voice out their discontent.


    "Then, are we going with everyone here?"


    Mark asked.


    "Yes," Silim replied. "There is no need to fret. They would not bother you or your group."


    With those simple exchanges, it was decided that it was now time for everyone to leave.


    "We still have some excess time, but we should make haste."


    Magwayen said as she and Silim led everyone up the mountain.


    The Goddess and the Diwata led the hike up the mountain with Mark''s group immediately behind them. And at their tail, the army of magical races followed in excitement.


    ***


    Back in the old vige, everyone, with the exception of a single person, witnessed the entire event in front of the entrance.


    And without a doubt, they were rather terrified.


    Be and Donna met the group that arrived a few hours ago. It was a short meeting, and they did not even manage to reach the point of being able to introduce themselves before trouble came. However, they did see them arrive while being led by the [Diwata]. That was one reason for them to be cautious since these people could stand side by side the [Diwata].


    For them, they would subconsciously feel chilled and have goosebumps just with the [Diwata''s] presence.


    And now, they saw a woman beside the [Diwata], which made their knees tremble for no apparent reason.


    Yet, that strange groupst night did not seem to be affected by it. Furthermore, the leader of the group could talk to those beings using anguage they had never heard before.


    What was going on? They could not understand. And as such, they were horribly terrified.


    At this point, Be and Donna could only stare at the hut where they left the unconscious man. What could have happened if they did not stop him?


    In the first ce...


    Were those people actually humans? What if they were not?


    Those thoughts made the two sisters shiver.


    ***


    Following Magwayen and Silim, Mark''s group went up the mountain. The vige was halfway the mountain, meaning they still had another half of it to climb.<sub> </sub>


    With the height of Mount Madia-as, it would normally take two to three days hike. It was one of the most challenging mountains in the Visayas to climb. However, they were nning to climb half of it in just a few hours. If it was something mentioned to professional hikers, they would definitely say that it was impossible.


    However, with Magwayen and Silim in the lead, everything went easier.


    Silim, after all, was a [Diwata], despite being created using Magwayen''s [Magical Energy]. She was someone adored by nature, as her race implied. As they climbed up the mountain, nts would make way. Vines would make stairs on steep ledges and lead everyone up without trouble. There was no need to mention that their pace was inhuman in the first ce, considering none of them were simple humans.


    After a while, Mark stared at Silim. Of course, the stare from behind got her attention.


    "Is there something you need?"


    Silim asked Mark.


    "Nothing. You just look pale." Mark replied. "I guess recharging your mother''s artifact is too much even for you. Don''t tell me you did not leave each other all this while?"


    At Mark''s question, even Magwayen had a rather bitter expression.


    "This child wanted to spend time with me, as you see," Magwayen exined. "I did tell her to rest and call me at the appointed time, but she insisted that I stay."


    Mark looked at the two with a sigh.


    "You two are overdoing it. We can''t have our guides copse midway."


    It was true. Mark needed these two to guide their group. Yet, it seemed that their separation for a very long time made them take a few risks.


    "I will not fall just from this," Silim said. "And after this, the artifact would be returned to you, and I might not see mother once again. I am just spending as much time with mother as possible."


    "Well, if you say so."


    Mark shrugged.


    Continuing the hike, they unexpectedly passed by another vige built on the face of the mountain. It was something one could describe what a vige of forest elves would look like.


    However...


    There were actually humans living in that vige.


    As they passed by, some of the humans even went out of the balcony of their houses. They then bowed towards Silim in respect.


    Surely, that scene surprised the rest of Mark''s group. But Mark, Feng Zhiruo, Ilia, and Chimetrice noticed something more than the eyes could see.


    "[Half-Races]."


    Mark voiced out.


    "That is a vige where the lost ones stayed," Silim exined. "From time to time, humans would end up getting lost and entering this realm by mistake. Most of the time, we would help them return. However, there were those that ended up here after getting heavily injured. Some of them would stay until their recovery while there were those that decided to stay after a certain particr reason."


    "Falling in love, is it?"


    Mark asked, and Silim nodded.


    "We do not condemn love between different races. And if it happened, we would allow them to stay within some rules."


    Silim responded.


    After passing by the [Vige of the Lost Ones], the hike took several more hours.


    With nature paving the way, it was a ratherfortable hike.


    And soon, they reached the summit of Mount Madia-as.


    Reaching this part, it became easier to determine how limited this realm was. Although there was a horizon, it seemed to be fogged and the whole ce felt even more isted.


    It was a world the size of a mountain. This was the most urate description of the surroundings they could see.


    Reaching the summit, the army of magical races did not follow closely. Instead, they all stood at the distance, waiting for something.


    "Silim."


    Magwayen called.


    "Yes, mother," Silim responded with a nod, stepped forward, and turned towards Mark and his group. "Do note too close."


    Mark and the others had no problem with that. They even took a step back to watch what would happen.


    And there, Silim closed her eyes, uttering lines that even those that could speak [Spirit Language] would not understand.


    It was a strange feeling hearing her voice. They could hear it but not at the same time.


    "This is thenguage of our world."


    Magwayen stood beside Mark and exined.


    "So, this is how to open the passage?" Mark asked the Goddess of the Underworld. "I remember you did not expect to see her still alive. Then how would we open the passage if she was not here?"


    That was right. Magwayen gave the clue without expecting that Silim was alive. So, how did Magwayen expect Mark and his group to open the passage to Kahilwayan?


    And that question made Magwayen smile.


    "Then there is me," Magwayen answered. "Although this is not my real body, I can still feel the surroundings around it. For you who had many kinds of energy in your body, I expected you to find a way to call me once more. And I am right. The timing was a little off, but you did manage to connect me to this world once more."


    Mark stared at the Visayan Goddess of the Underworld, annoyed. It seemed that aside from Silim being alive, everything that happened so far was within her grasp.


    Surely, one should not underestimate a God.


    Silim continued her chant while the sun in the sky reached its position at noon.


    And there, the surroundings were enveloped in blinding light.


    The magical races kneeled down, eyes closed. Mark''s group, however, could only cover their eyes in a hurry.


    It did not take long, and the light vanished.


    And at the moment Mark and the others opened their eyes, they were surprised.


    The sky was not empty anymore. Above the thick clouds, floatingnd could be seen. Tall structures could be seen from afar. And in front of everything were the gates of Kahilwayan that were mentioned in the Visayan Myths.

 Chapter 836 The Entry, Stepping Foot Into The Abode Of The Visayan Gods

    <strong>Day 207 - ¨ƒ¨ƒ:¨ƒ¨ƒ ¨ƒ¨ƒ - Mountain Peak, Secret Realm, Mount Madia-as, Panay Mountain Range, Province of An</strong>


    After a few thousand years, the passage to Kahilwayan was opened for the first time. The splendor of its gates was witnessed by the descendants of the unfortunate ancestors.


    The army of magical races stared at the kingdom in the sky with excitement in their eyes. Nheless, none dared to raise their bodies from their current kneeling posture. The Gods of the past might have already been gone. However, their fate and respect, their devotion towards those Gods, remained unyielding for generations.


    It was unfortunate, however. These devoted creatures could only see its gates and the clouds underneath their God''s kingdom.


    After all, not just anyone could step through its gates.


    That aside, it made the atmosphere a bit awkward. After all, the army knelt on their knees while the group of strangers stood behind Silim and Magwayen like it was nothing important.


    "What now?"


    Mark spoke, not minding the atmosphere behind them.


    The nonchnt attitude Mark had aside, his question was on point. After Silim recited the hymn, the blinding light revealed the location of Kahilwayan. However, as it was an abode of the Visayan Gods, calling the procedure "opening the passage" was definitely not just was what it was called.


    Magwayen looked at Mark with a smile, understanding what he meant. They did say that they would open the passage, but no such passage could be seen, and instead, the gates of Kahilwayan were there for everyone to see. One would easily think that they could just fly towards the gates this way.


    However, as Mark thought, it was not that easy.


    With Magwayen giving Silim the signal, thetter recited a few more words of the hymn. Those words echoed into everyone''s ears, and finally, the final part of opening the passage ended with a mirage opening in front of them at the edge of the mountain peak.


    "So, this is the actual passage."


    Mark said as he stared at the blurry mirage reflecting the distorted image of the gigantic gates up in the sky.


    "It seemed that you did not take our words as it was, which is a good thing," Magwayen spoke. "Although we can see the gates of Kahilwayan and seem close enough to fly, it is not. Flying will not take anyone there, not even a single step closer. They will be stuck, and the only way is to return here. Not just anyone can enter Kahilwayan in any way they thought to use unless it is a way allowed by its king. Furthermore, reaching it is one thing, but entering the gates is another."


    Not just anyone could enter Kahilwayan. It meant that it was a ce that was supposed to be imprable with manyyers of restrictions and defenses. Even in the myths, the only ones that were able to attack Kahilwayan were the Supreme Sky God''s grandchildren. It might be because while they had the authority to reach Kahilwayan, it seemed that they were not allowed to enter the gates without permission.


    Or else... the myth would not end up as what the people knew today.


    "Mother, we should make haste," Silim said, looking at Mark and Magwayen. "The passage would not stay open for too long."


    "Right, we should."


    Magwayen nodded in agreement.


    With Silim in the lead, they entered the passage, vanishing into the mirage.


    ***


    "URP!"


    Spera gagged as they stepped out on the other side of the mirage.


    Now, they stood outside the gates, although they just entered the mirage just a second ago.


    "Ugh, this is worse than my portal!"


    Sperained in a loud voice. She was the weakest in the group physically and was the one impacted the most by the side effects of the mirage.


    Entering the mirage was a nauseating experience. It was different from Spera''s portal, which connected two points in space. Here, the mirage seemed to be a distortion in space, forcefully connecting two locations without regard for safety. If it was like this, there was no way any regr human would be able to pass through it without vomiting. And vomiting outside the gates would be a grave disrespect and would revoke those people''s opportunity for entry.


    "It seemed that all of you held well."


    Magwayen''s voice echoed in everyone''s dizzy ears. She had a yful expression on her face. There was no way she did not know of this, yet she did not warn Mark and his group.


    Mark stared at Magwayen in annoyance. He could not help but raise his hand, showing the [Mark of the King].


    "You know that I can also remove the energy from this thing, yes?"


    Mark warned seriously.


    "You better not do something like that," Magwayen shrugged, without even a shred of apology in her face. "You will need a guide inside."


    Before Mark could turn to Silim, Magwayen continued.


    "Silim had the authority to open the passage at most. Entry is a different matter."


    "Even I had no right to step into the abode of the Supreme Sky God."


    Silim added.


    This made Mark even more annoyed. It meant that no matter what happened, they would need Magwayen''s help to enter the Kahilwayan. In the first ce, without Magwayen, it was already questionable if they would be able to enter the Secret Realm of Mount Madia-as peacefully, not to mention opening the passage.


    In any case, they finally reached their destination, the Kahilwayan.


    Opening the gates would still fall unto Magwayen''s hands, however.


    "Chimetrice, can you try opening the gates by force?"


    Mark asked Chimetrice. After all, he was a [Chimera] made to contend against Gods.


    Now, it was Magwayen who looked at Mark in annoyance.


    "What you are doing is futile."


    "I just want to try," Mark replied. "There''s nothing to lose even if he failed."


    "Okay, I''ll give it a push."


    Chimetrice agreed. Even he seemed annoyed at the fact that they were being yed by Magwayen.


    Looking at the gates, it sure was gigantic. It was probably around forty to fifty meters, and its walls were the same. One would think that this was actually an abode of giants. Well, some tales told that Gods were titans or gigantic beings. There were even Gods, who were literal giants.


    While Chimetrice approached the gates, Mark had the chance to observe it. Aside from the gates seemingly made of some sort of unknown steel or concrete, it did not look anything special. Even the walls seemed to be made ofrge river stones stacked together and fixed with some sort of adhesive. Yet, the structure felt imprable and indestructible. There even seemed to be a distortion of space above and around the ce, making the gigantic gates the only way in and out.


    Looking behind them, the mirage was still there. But what Mark noticed was that the ground below, the peak of the mountain, was way farther than they saw initially. It really seemed that what they could see earlier was nothing but an illusion.


    <strong>BAM!</strong><sub> </sub>


    A loud sound startled everyone the moment Chimetrice nted his palms on the gigantic gates. It was not that Chimetrice hit the gates on purpose, but it seemed that there was some resistance on the gates. It made him force his strength onto it.


    Finally, it seemed that Chimetrice was enveloped by an invisible force that caused the air to tremble. It might be a defense mechanism ced on the gates, preventing people from pushing them open.


    But Chimetrice had a pride of his own. And given that his forte was his fortitude and endurance, this kind of force would not stop him.


    <strong>BOOM!!!</strong>


    The air trembled even more, as the sh between the strength of Chimetrice and the force defending the door ensued. Even Mark and Silim, the strongest people here, aside from Chimetrice, could not help but step back and defend themselves from the scattering force.


    <strong>BAM! BAM! BAM!</strong>


    The air continued to tremble, and the ground started to shake. Mark could only step in front of his group, using the energy from his crystals to protect them.


    And after a few seconds of struggle, Magwayen''s eyes dted in surprise.


    <strong>CREAK!</strong>


    Slowly, the heavy gates began to move. Chimetrice was not only enduring the invisible force but was actually able to push the gates that even most Gods could not open forcefully.


    <strong>BOOM! BOOM!</strong>


    The tremble became stronger the moment a gap between the gates opened.


    But with thest push that contained all his strength...


    <strong>BAM!</strong>


    Chimetrice forced the gates open entirely.


    Magwayen and Silim trembled at this sight. The sacred gates were forcefully opened. It was not even someone in the realm of Gods that did it. There was no need to even mention the realm of Gods, as the person was not even a Deity.


    "Looks like he managed to open it."


    Mark said. He might not say anything else, but he definitely meant that they opened it without Magwayen''s help.


    "Just what in the world is he?"


    Magwayen snapped and asked Mark. There was neither anger nor discontent that the gates were forcefully opened. Instead, there was only curiosity at something they did not expect.


    Seeing that they actually failed to annoy Magwayen this way, Mark sighed. It seemed that whether they were ying in her hands or not was not a matter of importance to her.


    In any case, there was no need to hide Chimetrice''s background.


    "A human-created weapon to fight against Gods," Mark answered truthfully. "He might have lost to Gods in the past, but they failed to destroy him. And now, he managed to revive with the help of his lover."


    Mark pointed at Ilia.


    "An entity from the Era of Gods, the same as me."


    Silim said, having a bit of surprise and joy in her tone.


    The people from that era that was still alive were very sparse in number. It was even considered luck for the people of that era to meet nowadays. Now, there were actually two of them in front of her. Of course, Magwayen herself was a God of that era, yet she was not really here, but an avatar created from the artifact.


    "To think that a human managed to create such a powerful being."


    Magwayen stared at Chimetrice with interest.


    "Aren''t we going to enter?"


    Chimetrice said as he returned. Ilia immediately hugged him, proud of his strength.


    "We should."


    Magwayen replied to Chimetrice, now speaking to him with acknowledgment in her tone.


    "Then, mother," Silim voiced out in sadness. "I will return."


    "Do not be sad, my child," Magwayen spoke. Unfortunately, her avatar could not touch anything, or she might put Silim in her embrace. "This would not be ourst farewell."


    "Yes, mother."


    Silim replied with the rare smile she never showed anyone.


    The group finally entered the gates. Unexpectedly, after the gates were opened fully, the invisible force vanished entirely. They passed through the gates without any problem.


    Silim stood outside the gates, watching until the group vanished from her sight.


    And then, the gates closed on their own, giving Silim the signal to return to the peak of Mount Madia-as.


    Walking after a few minutes, they all saw whaty inside.


    However, none of them expected the scene.


    If one was to say "Kingdom in the Sky," one would think of a grandiose ce with a castle surrounded by clouds. Not to mention that it was an abode made by the Gods of the past.


    Whaty in front of them, however, was an empty vige. The huts made of wood with overgrown vines were the center of thergest floating ind.


    Trees surrounded the area, and not just some regr trees. Many of them appeared to be magical, with leaves that shimmer like crystals and trunks as sturdy as steel.


    A forest vige in the sky. It was the most urate description of the ce.


    The only different thing was the mountain further back. It had long winding stone stairs leading to what seemed to be a wooden mansion on its top.


    It made Mark remember. Even Bath was living in a shabby shack, was he not?


    In the first ce, the Ancient Gods of this country were portrayed to exhibit a tribal culture. Then, it should not be surprising that the true appearance of Kahilwayan was this.


    "That would be your destination."


    Magwayen said, pointing at the very same mansion atop the small mountain.

 Chapter 837 Familiar And Unfamiliar, A Days End Of A Poor College Student

    <strong>D¨ƒy -3170 - 4:1¨ƒ ¨ƒM - C¨ƒ¨ƒit¨ƒ St¨ƒ¨ƒe Un¨ƒve¨ƒs¨ƒty, B¨ƒr¨ƒ¨ƒga¨ƒ Q¨ƒe¨ƒns Ro¨ƒ Ar¨ƒ¨ƒ A, Ba¨ƒ¨ƒo¨ƒ Ci¨ƒy, Pro¨ƒin¨ƒe of ¨ƒav¨ƒte</strong>


    "...rk. ..ark. Dude! Wake up!"


    "Hmmm?"


    Woken up by a rather hard shake of his shoulder, Mark raised his head slumped on his desk.


    With his blurred vision returning, Mark looked forward. In front of him was a pair ofrge whiteboards with one filled with the basic codes of the C++ programmingnguage.


    Mark stared at the familiar yet unfamiliar sight, confused. He felt he slept for too long and had a very long dream.


    "Dude, are you okay?"


    The familiar voice entered Mark''s ears, making him remember that he was woken up by someone. Looking to his right, Mark saw the woman nine months older than him who he looked up to like his older sister, though she definitely did not know of it.


    She was the one who influenced him about Otaku culture the most ever since a year ago.


    "Why are you staring at me like that? Are you still asleep? Is your head still hurting?"


    The woman asked Mark.


    "No, I''m fine... Ugh..."


    Mark tried to say that he was fine, only to feel half of his head throbbing in pain.


    "Look''s like you''re still not." The woman said with a sigh. "Luckily, Sir Arnell is understanding. You fell asleep after lunch. Sir Arnell let you sleep through his ss when we said you have an awful headache. I woke you up since ss is over."


    "ss?"


    Mark asked, finally looking around.


    The white-walled ssroom and people wearing school uniforms were what his eyes saw.


    "What''s wrong with you, dude? Did your headache damage your brain or something?"


    The woman asked, looking at Mark in confusion.


    "Is something wrong? You two don''t want to go home yet?" A man approached the two and asked since they were still sitting on their chairs. "Your head still hurting?"


    Mark was really confused. But then, he did not understand where the confusion wasing from.


    "Did you have a bad dream? You''re sleeping rather deeply."


    The man asked, seeing Mark''s strange look.


    ? "Dream..." Mark murmured. "It seems I did. A very long one."


    "Hoh? What dream?"


    The woman asked in curiosity.


    "I don''t really remember. It just felt like it."


    Mark replied.


    "Heh... What a bummer. I must be something interesting if it can make you act like that."


    The woman said with a pout of her slightly chubby cheeks.


    "Carren! Markron! Mark!" A man with short curled hair called from the door. "You three not going home yet? Wanna hang out in the inte cafe?"


    "Sorry, Mar. Mark''s not feeling well, so well pass."


    Carren replied.


    "I see. Then I''ll head out first!"


    Mar said before storming off with a short goodbye.


    Slowly, the people inside the ssroom thinned out, with most of their ssmates beginning to go home. Their college course was the one with the least number of students, in the first ce. And since the school was only open for two years, the number of students in the whole college was notparable to others.


    "Can you go home properly? You''re going to walk home as always, right?"


    Carren asked Mark.


    "If you want to, we can escort you at least at the Queens Row gates. If your house is not too far away, we might escort you all the way."


    Markron proposed.


    Mark stared at the two with a strange expression.


    "Don''t be such worrywarts. I didn''t know you two are like this." Mark said, picking up his recycledptop bag as his school bag and standing up. "I can handle myself. In the worst case, I can just stop at the tricycle terminal in Came and wait for my father. You two also have other things to do, right? And Carren, you''ll get scolded by your mom again if you went homete."


    "I''m always getting scolded by Mudra, anyway. But if you say so, it also works."


    Carren nodded in agreement.


    "Well, okay." Markron alsopromised. "I also have to go home early to man my aunt''s inte cafe."


    With the three of them the only ones left inside the ssroom, they left.


    Mark walked through the familiar hallway, with Carren and Markron apanying him on both sides.


    Walking out of the gates, the two said their farewells.


    "We''ll go the opposite way," Markron said. "Go home straight, alright?"


    "Be careful on the way home."


    Carren also chimed in.


    "Y-yeah. You two also."<sub> </sub>


    Mark responded awkwardly, not knowing how to reply to their worried words.


    The two waved their hands as Mark responded with his own, watching the two as they went the opposite road outside the gates of the college.


    Mark watched his two friends vanish from his eyes as they turned into the corner of the main road. He then turned to the gates of the college, observing it, not minding that he was in the middle of the road and was obstructing the students going out of the gates.


    Fortunately, none of the students bothered Mark, who was behaving weirdly.


    "Hey! Mark, what are you doing there?"


    A boisterous voice entered Mark''s ears, making him look at the fishball stall nearby.


    In front of the stall, a few of Mark''s male ssmates were eating with a rather tall but heavy man in the lead. That very same man was also the one that called Mark.


    Mark approached the group. He was very familiar with them. After all, he was also kind of ackey of this tall man.


    "My head is just aching, Glenn."


    Mark said to the tall man.


    "Oh, right. You even slept through Sir Arnell''s ss." Glenn nodded. "Want some fishball? My treat as always."


    Mark stared at Glenn and his other ssmates. As always, Glenn was treating them with food. He was a pretty rich guy in the ss, after all.


    "Next time," Mark shook his head. "I''ll head home and rest."


    "If you say so."


    Glenn replied before bidding farewell to Mark, who began to walk away. Their other ssmates did the same.


    Leaving the school, Mark traversed the familiar road. There was no way that he would not be familiar with it. He had been walking through the same path since he was seven every single weekday after ss. After all, his preschool/kinder, Elementary School, Highschool, and Colledge, were technically in the same block.


    Going to school, his father would always bring him. But when going home, he always had to walk depending on the situation. When he was little, it was just a bicycle cab. After he reached the third grade in Elementary school, they managed to afford the downpayment for a tricycle, although it took years to pay.


    While walking through the streets filled with people, the sky began to darken. However, Mark did not realize as he was walking nkly. His mind was elsewhere.


    Mark was sure he dreamt of something. However, he could not recall it. Not even a single detail of it. Although not a vivid dreamer, Mark could recall dreams if he knew he had one. However, he could not recall it at all. Even so, he could only try to recall as he felt that it was somehow important.


    He continued to walk nkly, not realizing he arrived at his destination.


    Was it his house?


    No. It was a wall.


    Their family was a caretaker of this privatend since he was five years old. At first, there was only a barbwire fence encircling the privatend. However, the adjacentnd was bought and turned into private suburbs. The privatend they cared for was isted and walled off. Because of that, if Mark''s family wanted to go in and out of thend they lived in, they had to climb over this wall.


    It was inconvenient. Fortunately, they were allowed to do so by the home owner''s association without problems. It was not like there were no other ways out of the privatend. However, aside from this wall, the others would lead them out adding more than half an hour of walking for Mark. And the furthest one actually leads to a different municipality since it was at the border of Bacoor City.


    Climbing on the wall, the grass-fillednd was the only thing Mark could see. The tall ded grass that was taller than him blocked the view the moment he jumped down.


    It was already nighttime. Walking in a tight path surrounded by nothing but tall grass was something scary than serene. In a minute or two, Mark reached their house.


    A concrete house with windows blocked off by rusty metal sheets. It was a house that did not even have a ceiling.


    This house was not actually something they built. It was already here way before they came to thisnd.


    Mark approached their yard, the barking of the dogs ensued. They were living in the middle of nowhere. Having dogs was a must for their family. Who knows who would sneak into this ce in the middle of the night, after all.


    Still, who would have more than ten dogs? Even Mark thought that it was too many. However, it was hard to find anyone who would adopt puppies without imported breeds, and they had no choice but to raise those that remained.


    Mark had no choice but to pacify the dogs as their barking made his head hurt even more.


    Approaching the door, Mark realized that there was no one home.


    "They probably went out."


    Mark murmured, and he tried to feel his pocket to check the time.


    He then froze.


    "What am I thinking. I don''t have a watch, not even a phone. Hah... Second-year college and did not even have a phone. I''m probably the only one in the entire school."


    Mark sighed.


    "I wonder if they already reced the batteries on the wall clock."


    With those words, Mark twisted the knob of the door hard. With a click, the lock was undone and he opened it without problems.


    "We should really rece this doorknob. Its lock had been broken for years, already. That is if we had money to buy one."


    Mark entered the door. The front door immediately leads to the kitchen. It was not like they designed it. It was already like this when they upied this house. It had another door which could actually be the right front door. However, it had a smelly canal in front of it and was not fit to pass through every time. This house sure had a poorly thought design.


    Putting his things down, Mark sat down on the monoblock long chair in the living room. The living room was quite empty. The only valuable thing here was their cheap colored TV that was already several years old and the DVD yer that they bought when he was in first-year high school.


    Looking at the wall clock, Mark sighed. It was still stuck at six. The time this morning when it stopped ticking.


    Mark stood up and turned on the TV. The TV was an old one, after all. It was a model without a remote.


    The tune entered Mark''s ears. He was in time for the start of the newscast. There, he saw the time at the bottom left corner of the screen. It was a few minutes past six-thirty in the evening.


    "Michael''s ss will end in eight, so they probably won''t be back until nine. As usual, we will have ate dinner." Markined. "Ugh, my head hurts. I want to sleep. But I better cook some rice first if I don''t want to be scolded."


    With another sigh, while rubbing his temple, Mark went to the kitchen and washed a few cups of rice. Picking up the charcoal-covered pot, Mark went outside.


    They did not have a stove or could afford to buy one. Thus, their family cooked outside using the firewood they procured from the woody areas of this privatend. Sometimes, they would buy trashed coconut shells. It was way cheaper than an LPG tank, after all.


    "Ah, right. I should change my clothes first. I only have two polos for the whole week."


    Putting down the pot, Mark went into one of the two rooms of the house. He took off his clothes and donned his old house clothing. The shirt had a few holes, but it did not bother Mark. He was used to wearing this one. After all, most of his casual clothing were hand-downs from the friends of his father that were about to be thrown away.


    Mark sessfully cooked the pot of rice, though its bottom was a bit burnt. He then fell asleep immediately after cooking.

 Chapter 838 Drastic Changes, Life As A Poor College Student

    <strong>D¨ƒy -¨ƒ¨ƒ¨ƒ¨ƒ - ¨ƒ¨ƒ:¨ƒ¨ƒ ¨ƒ¨ƒ - C¨ƒ¨ƒit¨ƒ St¨ƒ¨ƒe Un¨ƒve¨ƒs¨ƒty, B¨ƒr¨ƒ¨ƒga¨ƒ Q¨ƒe¨ƒns Ro¨ƒ Ar¨ƒ¨ƒ A, Ba¨ƒ¨ƒo¨ƒ Ci¨ƒy, Pro¨ƒin¨ƒe of ¨ƒav¨ƒte</strong>


    The next day, Mark''s life continued on. His daily routine as a college student started around five-thirty in the morning. His daily schedule differed depending on the day of the week. Nheless, his earliest sses at school started at either seven or eight in the morning.


    Waking up early in the morning was a hassle to Mark today, however. It seemed that his headache had yet to subside. And for some reason, the usual medicine for headaches was not working on him this time around. The most that the medicine he took did was to lessen the pain a little.


    Mark already had the idea to skip today''s ss. However, since one of today''s subjects included their thesis preparations before it start in the next semester, he could not just skip. And worst of all, it was thest subject of the day.


    After having a cup of coffee and a few pieces of Pandesal, Mark and his father left the house with everyone still asleep. The sses of Mark''s siblings were still at noon, so only Mark and his father had to wake up early this whole school year.


    Mark went on, following what his daily routines should be. Half-listening to the instructors in ss, not putting much effort into everything.


    Why? Because he found this life of his as something unnecessarily tedious.


    Nothing really drives Mark to have the motivation to do so.


    Every single day was just a fleeting scenario in his eyes, to be forgotten when the next day arrived.


    The only things that still gave him life in this boring world were the urrences of man-made worlds for the bored people to enjoy and explore.


    These worlds were works of fiction. Computer games, anime, manga, and novels.


    That was why it would be no surprise if one would see Mark lurking in inte cafes, either ying or watching others y games.


    With his twenty pesos daily allowance, seventy-five percent of it would go to an hour of ying games a day.


    What about his lunch then? Unfortunately, it was a pretty foreign thing in Mark''s daily schedule. Even if he did not y games, his daily allowance would go to photocopies needed for their lessons. Most of the time, there would not be enough left for Mark to buy food with his allowance. In the first ce, twenty pesos was never enough to buy even a small te of food in the school cafeteria.


    ***


    Time passed, Mark became tired of his daily routines. Well, he was always tired of it. It was just there was nothing much he could do to change it.


    However, the change in Mark''s outlook was too abrupt and confusing. It was because...


    Mark never found the reason for this sudden change.


    It started to Mark having less and less time he spent around inte cafes. Even if Glenn and the gang treated him a session of an hour or two, Mark would rarelye with them. The instances became rarer and rarer that they slowly began to not ask Mark anymore.


    Nheless, no one was ignoring Mark.


    The more he changed, his grades rose.


    For some unknown reason, Mark began to understand the lessons as if he was already familiar with them. He had the feeling of deja vu. This feeling was not new to Mark. He had dreams before where he saw small things he would encounter in the future. Normally, it would just be seeing unfamiliar ces that he would find himself lurking in the future. When the feeling of deja vu hit him, he would remember the dream and piece the puzzle.


    But in his current state, Mark could not remember any dream at all. It was extremely strange, yet, a wee change.


    ***


    The sports season came. Everyone was quite excited.


    It was near the time when several all Cavite State University branches would gather at the Main Campus in Indang, Cavite, for a week-long sports festival. The yers from each campus wouldpete with each other and try to bring glory to their beloved alma mater.


    This season was the best for those with low academic prowess but high athletic skills. Participating in thepetition would guarantee them a passing grade for the semester. It was also why those who were not that sports savvy would also try to participate. It was even if they would just end up as benched yers.


    In the past, Mark was also interested in this. After all, it would be his actual first sports festival. Furthermore, one of the games would be ser. One of the sports that Mark was the most interested in.


    But... For some reason, Mark refrained to apply and join. Something was telling him not to. The feeling of deja vu struck him again. It was as if he participated in something like this in the past. And for some reason... The feeling of failure lingered in his heart for no reason.


    Even so, Mark tried to gather information in the least. The requirements to join and the things needed by the yers. It was something that Mark would not do in the past. However, the irking feeling in himpelled him to do so.


    And it dawned unto Mark. Since the school was new, they did not have the budget to provide every piece of equipment needed by the yers. They would have the general sports equipment such as balls and goalposts. But as for something personal like spike shoes, they could not. The yers needed to provide their own.


    And Mark was sure. There was no way he would be able to afford those. His family barely had enough extra money for their daily needs. His father''s earnings as a tricycle driver were just enough to put food on their non-existent table and save up for the monthly bills.


    There was absolutely no way for his family to afford a pair of spike shoes, not to mention that Mark would only use them for a short time.


    Mark gave up. And instead, focused on his studies. Nheless, he would pass by and watch the ser yers practice with some sort of confusing nostalgia in his mind.


    What Mark was doing was strange, even for himself. In the past, he was sure that he would blindly go chase something he liked to do without thinking about the consequences. Mark was that childish. Nheless, realizing he was childish was strange enough since it happened for no reason.


    ***


    Mark''s days as a second-year college student ended. He became a third-year student with flying colors. And unexpectedly, although it was a bitte, the sudden spike in his academic performance caused the college dean to rmend him for a schrship. It was something unprecedented since schrships should only be bestowed on new students. However, the dean pushed it after learning that he was struggling financially.


    Of course, there was no way Mark would disagree with that. And because of this, the burden of his tuition on his family was gone. It was a wee surprise for the family, and they actually celebrated it.


    Mark''s dull rtionship with his family was getting better.


    And the best change in Mark of all...


    The improvement of Mark''s life began to increase his self-confidence, something that was practically non-existent in the past. The only thing that was keeping Mark from breaking down was his childishness. It was a shell that shielded him. An aspect that kept him going in this boring world.


    But, of course, it was also a shackle that hindered his growth, both mentally and physically.


    And with things finally locking in the correct ces, Mark''s life became better.


    ***


    Mark''s days as a third-year college student did not start without other unexpected events in school.


    It seemed that there were three sisters that enrolled as first years, with two of them being quite popr among the students. By what it looked like, those two cosyers. They were not that popr among the cosymunity, but they sure had the experience.


    Mark felt a bit interested. He was quite an Otaku, after all. Not to mention that Carren, Mark''s best and worst influence, was a member of thatmunity.


    However, it never urred to Mark to actually interact with those people. His self-confidence might have been boosted, but old ways would not change that easily.<sub> </sub>


    It was until the main event of the year came. The once-a-year Acquaintance Party.


    Due to the existence of cosyers in the school, the theme of the party this year was shifted in their favor. It was also a new thing tomon people and surely was an interesting topic.


    A cosypetition,plete with the skit and other things, was nned for the party.


    And of course...


    Carren dragged Mark and Markron into the fray.


    It was not wrong to say that Mark was excited. Even if he was dragged in, it would be his first time cosying. As for Markron, he had gone to cosy conventions before and had enough knowledge to participate.


    ***


    Mark told his parents what was happening in school. They were not against it as could be a good experience for him. Besides, he had done better in the past few months. Mark deserved a reward of some sort.


    The Acquaintance Party was still a month away. However, the preparations were already ongoing.


    Mark''s mother took charge of his clothes for thepetition. On the other hand, Mark had to deal with the other props.


    And because Mark got a schrship this school year, they actually had some extra budget to spare.


    ***


    The skits for the party had to be rehearsed, and there was also the disy and catwalk.


    Although not that unexpected, Mark met the talk of the school, the cosyer sisters, Elsa and Charmaine. There were also other unusual people among the contestants of the Cosy Competition. One was Carlo. The grandson of a popr fast-food chain.


    Another was quite an energetic woman.


    She was Mark''splete opposite.


    Mark was an introvert. Silent, and mostly avoid attention. She was an extrovert, noisy, and attention seeker. Height-wise, they were also the opposite. Mark was on the tall side while she was rather short. Appearance-wise, Mark was below average, while she was above.


    Most of all...


    Mark was a Mark Anthony.


    She was a Mary Antte.


    Even the other people present could not help but notice the funny coincidence.


    What Mark did not expect, however... These people he did not even know, know of him.


    How?


    Mark could not understand. However, after talking with Carlo, Elsa, and Charmaine, it seemed that he was quite a topic among the school instructors.


    A weird guy who was barely passing in his first and second years was now among the top students in his ss. It seemed that his unexpected improvement garnered some attention, making the instructors tell the younger students to follow his steps.


    ***


    Things sure had changed for better or for worse.


    It was making Mark feel ufortable.


    ***


    One day, the music to be used in the skit and catwalk was shown to them.


    Carlo found that the music on his catwalk part was rather long. However, they could not just edit and cut it off abruptly since it would make the transition sound too off. Unfortunately, Carlo was the only person cosying for the anime he was aiming for. Thus, his part was unnecessarily wrong.


    Looking up to Mark, Carlo asked if they could make a small battle skit. It would work since both their characters were battle types. Furthermore, Carlo''s character was a protagonist, while Mark''s was an antagonist.


    Mark did not mind. However, Mark insisted on a proper choreographed fight for some reason he also did not understand.


    And the two practiced on their own.


    Carlo wielded a stick like a sword, while Mark was barehanded. It was because Carlo''s character was a [Shinigami], while Mark''s was a masked blue me user.


    What made Carlo confused was that Mark wore some gadget on his hand, with tubes and what seemed to be a canister.


    "What is that?"


    Of course, Carlo would ask. It was until Mark began to spurt blue mes from his hand that his eyes turned wide.


    "Props."


    Mark replied. He did not really know what urged him to make something this borate. But he just made it after experimenting and searching things on the inte.


    Carlo was amused, asking Mark to improve his props too. However, it was the least of their concern as they began practicing.


    Then, an ident happened.


    Carlo stepped on a pebble and lost bnce mid his attack. However, his hand holding the stick was about to stab Mark in the face. It was an ident, and it happened fast. There was no way for the two to react.


    Or at least, should have been...


    Mark nked out as he saw the point of the stick approaching his face. And then, his body moved on its own. Faster than the two could perceive, Mark, bent his body backward, avoiding the stick before he made a few backflips taking some distance away from Carlo.


    Carlo fell to the ground. He did not feel the pain, as he stared at Mark in surprise.


    Nheless, the person in question, Mark, was also shocked. Just what in the world happened?

 Chapter 839 The Third Year At College, The Worst Enemy Of A College Student

    <strong>D¨ƒy -¨ƒ¨ƒ¨ƒ¨ƒ - ¨ƒ¨ƒ:¨ƒ¨ƒ ¨ƒ¨ƒ - C¨ƒ¨ƒit¨ƒ St¨ƒ¨ƒe Un¨ƒve¨ƒs¨ƒty, B¨ƒr¨ƒ¨ƒga¨ƒ Q¨ƒe¨ƒns Ro¨ƒ Ar¨ƒ¨ƒ A, Ba¨ƒ¨ƒo¨ƒ Ci¨ƒy, Pro¨ƒin¨ƒe of ¨ƒav¨ƒte</strong>


    The sudden event that avoided the ident sure surprised Mark and Carlo. They even forgot the severity of the situation.


    If Mark was unable to avoid Carlo''s stick, who knows what kind of injury would Mark incur. Mark could have gotten an awful bruise under his eye, and that would not be the worst thing that could happen.


    Even so, the possibility of Mark getting injured just now passed their minds. While Carlo did apologize despite it being an ident with no one at fault, the topic immediately turned to Mark''s unexpected response.


    Mark was surprised, but the desire burned more. He never knew that he would be able to do this kind of stuff. In the first ce, Mark never really tried it before, fearing that he would end up unnecessarily injuring himself. After all, he definitelycked practice and training.


    And while his actions could be the result of his adrenaline pumping to respond to the ident, he indeed did it.


    As such, Mark decided to try it a few times. The fear of getting injured was now erased from his mind. He fell several times as he tried. However, out of his ten tries, he actually seeded in doing a backflip four times.


    It was such an amazing feat for Mark, who did not have any kind of practice in this kind of stuff. Furthermore, Mark found an issue. It was his stamina. His stamina was severelycking to perform a stable backflip. What he did earlier was nothing but a fluke. But with Mark having enough self-confidence, he decided to include this stuff in his skit with Carlo.


    Of course, Mark decided to have some training for himself. He did not want to end up embarrassing himself in front of many people when the day of the event arrived.


    ***


    A few weeks passed. The day that everyone prepared for arrived.


    Mark''s and Carlo''s secret skit brought results that the two did not expect. In the first ce, the costumes of the two were of top quality. It was the same for their props despite being handmade.


    Carlo made a rubber and wood sword initially. But with Mark''s help, the flimsy-made sword was now arge kitchen knife-shaped sword created from scrap metal sheets instead. In the anime, the thin sword of this grim reaper was more powerful. However, the sword''s original form, which was gigantic, had more impact on the eyes of those who did not watch the anime.


    As for Mark, his red robe was already eye-catching,plementing his silver-colored mask. His act caught the eyes of the audience more when he began spewing blue mes from his right hand. It was unfortunate that there was no way to actually shape the mes. In the anime, the character''s mes had the shape of either a winged woman or a blue phoenix.


    Even so, the two already stood out among the rest just by showing off their costumes. It stepped up another level. The two began fighting during the unnecessarily long catwalk music during Carlo''s portion after Mark invaded it.


    The two fought, executing some acrobatic moves, which made the audience yell in excitement. It ended with the red-robed ninja abruptly exiting the stage and the ck-robed grim reaper chasing after him.


    This contest was supposed to end with just one winner for each gender category. It was a small school contest, after all. However, because of the amazing performance of Mark and Carlo, the judges decided to ramp it to the top three in each gender category instead.


    Mark, Carlo, and Markron won the top three for men, while Carren, Elsa, and Charmain won for the women. It was not a surprising result. In the first ce, only the six of them had the most dealing with the Otaku culture among the contestants.


    The acquaintance party of this year became a good memory for everyone.


    ***


    With the festivities done, the hardest part of college life ensued. The years where the older students had to dabble with their thesis.


    For this hurdle, Mark grouped up with Carren, Markron, and one of their closest friends, Saime. Because of Mark''s increase in his academic performance, he sure was in demand. Unfortunately, Mark insisted on staying with his friends, in which even the instructors had no way of convincing him.


    At first, the instructors tried to bnce the groups. After all, there were weaker groups. They needed a pir to get a fighting chance and pass. But most of the time, the one that became the pir of that group would end up doing everything for that group.


    Mark understood that fact. And if the instructors forced him, he said that he would rather work on his own instead.


    Of course, it received bad reactions among their ss. It was as if Mark was being selfish. However, Mark, for some reason, was upromising. However, shouldering the expenses alone would cause Mark a great amount of trouble. Even if Mark managed to do it on his own, he would definitely fail on the financial side.


    It would not be a good thing for the school if a good schrship student failed. Furthermore, the reason was the instructor forcing the student to do things he did not want.


    In the end, Mark got what he wanted.


    As students of the Computer Science Course, they were given a few choices to choose from for their thesis. Creating a video game was one, and Mark and Markron immediately jumped for it.


    Their first hurdle would be their thesis title defense. Thus, they needed to make a few proposals for the defense, picking a few categories and ns. Since it was not the time to work tightly together, the four of them decided to create their own proposals.


    Carren and Saime decided to propose some sort of database software. It was basic but ratherplicated.


    Markron chose a proposal for a First Person Shooter game. It involved military stuff, and of course, shooting people.


    Mark, on the other hand, focused on a Horror Puzzle Adventure game. And something with a pretty unique setting.


    Their thesis proposals were going smoothly. It was until an unexpected hurdle came.


    ***<sub> </sub>


    At their title defense, a guest panel was invited. A terror professor from another college. The old professor seemed to be a friend of the dean.


    But that was not the worst thing. Many title defenses failed on the first day. It was because that guest panel put unreasonable remarks on what seemed to be reasonable proposals. Even the instructors were feeling troubled, due to the unexpected result. It seemed that they did not know about the guest at all.


    On the third day of the title defense, it was the turn of Mark''s group. They prepared a whole lot. Carren even took out quite an amount of money for the food of the panels.


    But the moment they stepped inside, without even speaking a single word, the guest panel said that they failed. It was unreasonable that even the two instructors that were part of the panel were appalled.


    Carren tried to appeal, asking what was wrong. Apparently, many other groups already proposed database software. It was out of the question anymore. Furthermore, the proposal for it did not include any specific recipient at all for the sampling process.


    And as the guest panel did not seem to be keen on mentioning the two video game proposals, Carren brought the topic immediately.


    Then, the guest panel agitatedly dumped the printed copies of the two proposals on the table. She began mentioning violence included within the games and even saying about the game maker they decided to use. The guest panel reasoned that the game should be created by the students and not just some drag and drop ready-made thing. And the same with the database software. Itcked specific recipients for the survey and sampling.


    There was silence in the room. Among the students, only their group proposed to create a video game. It was among the categories given, after all. The two instructors in the panel were distraught too. The categories were given by them, after all.


    The silence, however, was broken in the most disrespectful way.


    <strong>"PFFT!"</strong>


    Mark stared at the guest panel, almost bursting out a loudugh. Both the instructors were shocked at Mark''s uncharacteristic behavior. Even his group members were the same.


    And surely, the guest panel was angry and started toin to the instructors if they were teaching students like this.


    But when Mark spoke, the old hag was unable to refute.


    Mark exuded threatening pressure as he pointed out how the guest panel did not actually read his proposal for his game. With a threatening smile, Mark exined that not a single word that could be considered as active violence was in his proposal. The game he proposed was a Horror Puzzle Adventure game. It was mainly a Puzzle Adventure game using the elements of Horror as a time restraint for the yer.


    Standing in front, Mark asked the two instructors to read his proposal. They had yet to read it since they were supposed to while listening to the defense. And the two were surprised how it was borately and professionally made. The details of the game were exined properly. And to top it all, it exined that the game maker was actually a game engine required for the game to run. While it did have default assets, those assets could not pass as a product at all, not to mention that the creator had to do all the coding himself.


    The two instructors looked at the guest panel in askance. The two were young and as such, following the more experienced guest panel for this defense.


    It seemed that the two decided to report what was happening to the dean. Who would have thought that the guest panel was not judging things properly? She did not even read the proposal and just said it was a fail.


    The guest panel tried to argue. But it was futile. Instead, the fact that an old had like her had little to no knowledge about the video game industry came to light instead.


    Recipient? Sample? Why would amercially designed game need to struggle about those? The game would have yers worldwide. The survey could be done in-game, too.


    And to finish it all...


    Mark showed everyone a demo trailer of his game. Yes, a demo trailer. It was what Mark invested on with his allowance, making this game while renting a PC in an inte cafe for a few months. Even the money he got as a prize from the cosy event went into creating this thing.


    Everyone watched Mark''s surprise video. The models might be outdated for a game of this generation. After all, Mark only gathered some free ceholder models. Nheless, the video showed the essence of the game. borate puzzles, the background of the character''s story, and the enemies chasing her. Violence? The character was not even programmed to fight back directly to the shadows chasing her. And if the character was caught, it was programmed to show a ck background game over screen.


    Without even finishing the video projected in front, the guest panel stormed out of the room, red-faced. The old hag lost. She lost horribly. Her facade was broken by a student.


    No one knew what would be the repercussions of this event. However, everyone knew that Mark won this fight. In the first ce, Mark would not mind if his proposal was rejected. In the least, give proper reasons and not just the pure ego and narrow mindset. After all, it was not new that many old people were not fond of video games, thinking it was the source of violence and other things that did not make any sense.


    The defense abruptly ended, and the other title defense for the rest of the day was canceled.


    Mark was called into the dean''s office and was scolded for his disrespectful conduct. However, that guest panel did not appear anymore on the next title defenses.


    From what it seemed, the two instructors reported the event truthfully. Not to mention that the session was recorded in a video for documentation like all the other title defenses that happened.


    And the error also came to light. In the first ce, that guest panel was a major of an entirely different field. She was not supposed to be a guest panel for a thesis defense ofputer-rted subjects as she had no knowledge of it. She was only called because of her connection to the dean and her title as a professor.


    In the end, the guest panel was reced with someone younger but more suitable. The school had to spend more money to invite the new guest, but it was better and more reasonable for the students of theputer courses. The criteria for judging was also revised, differentiating the categories for each college courses.


    Mark''s game was approved. Furthermore, the new panel was actually happy that there were students here wanting to tackle the video game industry. The new panel knew how poor the video game industry of this country was, after all.


    And the most important thing... Mark''s name became more popr in the school. At first, he was just a student that changed for the better, and someone hiding his physical skills. Now, he was also being called the brave student that chased off the witch.


    It seemed that in the few days that the previous guest panel was in this school, she became hated by the entire student body.

 Chapter 840 A Good Life, The Fourth Year And Beyond

    <strong>D¨ƒy -¨ƒ¨ƒ¨ƒ¨ƒ - ¨ƒ¨ƒ:¨ƒ¨ƒ ¨ƒ¨ƒ - C¨ƒ¨ƒit¨ƒ St¨ƒ¨ƒe Un¨ƒve¨ƒs¨ƒty, B¨ƒr¨ƒ¨ƒga¨ƒ Q¨ƒe¨ƒns Ro¨ƒ Ar¨ƒ¨ƒ A, Ba¨ƒ¨ƒo¨ƒ Ci¨ƒy, Pro¨ƒin¨ƒe of ¨ƒav¨ƒte</strong>


    After the title defense, the main event of Mark''s third year in college, the lives of the students returned to normal. Of course, it was only the case if the stress the students had because of their thesis was not mentioned.


    Their thesis, after all, was the most important requirement for these students to graduate.


    And to say, it would not be an easy task.


    It was already fortunate that Mark managed to chase away that guest panel. If not, things might have gotten worse.


    The best thing, however... Since Mark''s thesis proposal was approved, everyone in the group was interested in working on it. After all, the three proposals that Mark''s group had were things the group discussed and agreed on before passing the documents.


    It was also a bad thing for Mark, however. Mark''s family did not have aputer at home. In fact, everything that Mark had to do in school was all made inside inte cafes. Worst, Mark had to use his own allowance, neglecting his lunch and only consuming water for the most part. Every single day, Mark was only eating twice a day, with his breakfast being nothing but a cup of instant coffee and a few pieces of pandesal, which was the only food intake he had for the day until dinner.


    In a sense, it was amazing that Mark could go on with that kind of lifestyle.


    Now that they had their thesis, Mark had to spend more time in front of aputer. However, there was no way to do that without spending too much money.


    And among Mark''s group, the only one with theputer that could run the game engine properly was Carren. And she was also the person with the furthest house out of the four.


    Mark had no money to supportmuting to Carren''s house. Although the four of them gathered money, that money was all going towards the thesis and would probably still be short of how much they needed in the end. As such, during weekends and their free days, Mark would walk several kilometers towards Carren''s house, to and fro.


    No matter who was asked, they would definitely say that Mark''s lifestyle was worrying. Unfortunately, it seemed his family did not even know a tiny bit of his circumstances.


    Mark sure was doing better. However, he did not change that much. He was still someone that would rather stay away from people, including his family.


    The only thing that the others could see was how Mark sure was happy doing this thesis. Unlike the others, who were struggling, Mark''s group was still smooth-sailing inparison. It was because they were working on something they liked, and not just somest-minute, final resort thesis.


    Time passed further. Mark entered his fourth year as a college student.


    Unfortunately, the four-man group they had for their thesis was reduced to three. Saime, their close friend and fourth member, dropped out of school. She hooked up with a man and got pregnant. Because of the circumstances, Saime''s parents decided to stop supporting her studies.


    Even so, Mark''s group would still hang out at Saime''s house. It was just a couple of blocks away from school, after all.


    Aside from the three, their circle actually had gotten bigger. Gathering the participants of the cosy event during the Acquaintance Party, a group in school was created. It was amazing that it was a circle of the most popr people in the school, even though it was actually nothing but a gathering of like-minded people.


    It was actually proposed to be an actual club in the school. Unfortunately, the management would be left to the younger members since Mark''s group of three, the oldest of the group, had their thesis and graduation to worry about.


    At the end of the first semester of the fourth year, the game Mark worked on reached a releasable degree. It was not a full game. After all, there was no way they would be able to do as such in just a few months.


    Instead, Mark divided the entire story he had in mind into several episodes, with the thesis scoping the first and second episodes of the game.


    As a first step, Mark uploaded a short trailer on social media. Of course, they did not expect much from it.


    A month after the trailer was posted, Mark released the game on a certain tform for free.


    The game did not garner much attention after being released. It was not a surprising thing. It was a game released without much publicity, not to mention it was made by students.


    Still, Mark''s life as a student continued. They also had to work on the documentation and other parts of the thesis. It was already good that the downloads reached a few hundred. And since it was stated at the start of the game that it was a thesis project and there would be a survey at the end of the game, many people dlyplied and left a review on the game on the tform. Of course, not everyone was kind enough to do so. Nheless, the turnout was quite rather good.


    The reviewing of gathered surveys and reviews of the game was divided by Mark, Carren, and Markron. And the reviews turned out to be mostly positive.


    Mark really felt relieved. Who would not be? After all, what if the yers did not like it? It was his first game.


    But then, after three weeks of being released...


    Mark''s email became overflowing with reviews. It was to the point that there were a few hundred to more than a thousand reviews in a single day.


    And at school, the news came from Carren. A popr inte icon yed the game they made and was watched by thousands of people. And the result was the current events. It was to the point that even the instructors of the school learned about it.


    The thesis of Mark''s group was a sess. With this, as long as they did the documentation properly and seeded in the final thesis defense, their graduation was set in stone.


    Of course, Mark could only shrug when the reviews of the game were mostly asking for the next episode. Darn, as if that would be easy.


    ***


    The end of Mark''s college years arrived.


    A graduation ceremony in a certain expensive resort.


    Mark graduated with a few special awards. Unfortunately, he was unable to step onto the stage as a Cum Laude and above. After all, Mark had a rather bad record during his first year and half of the second year.


    Even so, he had the loudest ps when he received his diploma, even louder than those who received higher honors and awards than his.


    It was such an honor.


    Mark graduated. His parents gave him a smartphone as a congrattory gift. It was just a cheap onepared to what his ssmates had. But it was a phone, nheless.


    At this time, Mark''s family had already left the privatend they were taking care of. Thend was finally bought and was up for development. As for his family, they were given half a million pesos as an incentive. After all, it was more than a decade since my father received hisst sry as thend''s caretaker. And because of that, they had some rights over thend. The new owner needed to pay them to leave.


    With that money, they managed to find a new ce to call home. They even managed to afford aputer of their own.


    Thatputer became Mark''s workstation as he worked on the continuation of the game he started.


    Mark just graduated, and he already had a distinct path to follow. He also kept a close connection with his friends, especially Elsa and Charmaine, who he treated as his own younger sisters. Perhaps, even more than his actual sister.<sub> </sub>


    Rough events happened within the group of Elsa and Charmaine. The two even left the group in the end. Nheless, Mark did not leave their side.


    ***


    Years passed.


    Mark was now well known in the game industry as an indie game developer. He even managed to afford to rent his own office. Elsa and Charmaine became his assistants and even voice actors for the games he made. From time to time, Carren, Markron, and Carlo would visit the three and join the fray.


    Along the way, Mark also epted some animation vocational courses after a government-funded vocational school opened nearby. Mark had new friends, and some became contributors to his mini-game studio.


    ***


    From time to time, Mark was receiving emails from foreign gamepanies. Some were trying to recruit him, while others wanted to hire his studio to develop games.


    However, Mark declined the offers. He had his own ns for his business.


    ***


    Sometimes, Mark would go to conventions with his friends.


    There was even one time that Mark was invited to be a guest in a video game convention. It was not surprising. At the current time, his studio was the most sessful video game developer in the country among the independent studios.


    Mark was sessful. It was something that no one would be able to deny. The games he directed and developed gained a rather hefty amount of fame internationally.


    In fact, his sess was the word of his alma mater even after several years. He was also invited several times as a seminar speaker for the new students.


    Mark, who had already ovee his introverted personality, was having a good life.


    And he was still young.


    ***


    After graduating and being self-employed, there were very few events to take note of Mark''s life. Well, there were some weird things, however.


    Once, he met a little girl, which called him Papa, for no reason. It caused the girls'' parents to feel flustered.


    When Mark managed to save money and tried to buy a car, he could not help but stare at the wife of the owner of the store. It was an awkward encounter.


    There was also one night when he was walking home. He stared at the sky for no reason, as if he was waiting for something, but nothing happened.


    ***


    A few more years passed. Mark''s studio had gotten bigger. He reached the point where he did not have to do anything and leave the things to his employees.


    And here, Mark started a new but unexpected business. It was creating and selling cosy props. After all, creating things was one of the things Mark loved the most.


    Using his savings from his first business, Mark managed to invest in better tools and equipment for the second one.


    First was the video game industry. Next was the Otaku industry.


    Who would have thought that the famous Mark would go and sell handmade props despite his current status?


    ***


    One day, Mark was on his way home after meeting with one of his clients. He was runningte and had passed thest ride he was supposed to ride on to get home. He had no choice but to walk home, taking a shortcut.


    On the way, he passed by a construction site on a road that was pretty much devoid of people.


    It was when Mark noticed a strange event. A van suspiciously stopped in front of the site.


    Mark could not help but feel that it was something that he should not see. Things became worse when he saw the mene out of the van. They were all armed with guns and were carrying an unconscious girl.


    As Mark was not a hero, he tried to avoid a confrontation. Slowly and sneakily, Mark tried to leave, walking around the site. After leaving the area, only would he try to contact the police.


    Unfortunately, it was toote.


    A lookout on the construction site saw Mark before he could leave.


    By the time that Mark knew, sounds of gunshots entered his ears. Pain enveloped his body as he fell on the grass-covered soil.


    Mark stared at the night sky as his sight grew dimmer than the darkness of the night.


    "It was a good life."


    Mark muttered with a smile.


    As Mark closed his eyes, his body began to feel cold.


    And it was when he uttered the words.


    "This is the end, right?"


    The dead Mark spoke, opening his eyes once more to see a ck-dressed woman standing beside his dead body.

 Chapter 841 [Trial Of Regrets], A World Created From Their String Of Fate

    <strong>D¨ƒy -¨ƒ¨ƒ¨ƒ¨ƒ - ¨ƒ¨ƒ:¨ƒ¨ƒ ¨ƒ¨ƒ - Ab¨ƒ¨ƒdon¨ƒd Co¨ƒst¨ƒ¨ƒc¨ƒion Si¨ƒ¨ƒ, B¨ƒr¨ƒ¨ƒga¨ƒ B¨ƒyan¨ƒn, Ba¨ƒ¨ƒo¨ƒ Ci¨ƒy, Pro¨ƒin¨ƒe of ¨ƒav¨ƒte</strong>


    The woman in ck dress stared at Mark with exasperation. By what it looked like, she never expected this kind of development.


    Of course, the woman was no other than the Visayan Goddess of the Underworld, Magwayen.


    "Just how absurd of a being could you be?"


    Magwayen asked Mark, who was lying bloody on the ground.


    Death in this world might not be harmful, but the pain should be real. In the first ce, Mark was aware all along, even though he was not supposed to.


    "What is with that expression?" Mark asked. "You put me into this mess without warning. I should be the one giving you aint."


    Mark began recalling what happened before this mess started. Their group arrived in Kahilwayan, or at least, its remains. With Magwayen as their guide, they made their way towards the wooden mansion atop the highest hill. The climb through the uneven stone stairs was tedious. They wanted to fly up instead. However, Magwayen told them to climb as it was the rule. Even if it was abandoned for a long time, it was still an abode of the gods.


    There were no qualms about climbing the stairs from Mark''s group. As the saying went, "In Rome, do what the Romans do." Besides, although tiring, there was no harm in following the rules of this ce.


    Although there seemed to be nothing strange about the stairs going up the hill, it was actually thest thing that Mark remembered before being thrown into this confusing mess.


    "Where are the others?"


    Mark asked the silent Magwayen.


    "There is nothing for you to be worried about. All of you went through this trial, and all of them had already exited. It was only you who actually took the time to enjoy this."


    Magwayen exined with a sigh.


    That set of stairs up the highest hill was called the [Path of Reminiscence]. Anyone recognized by the Gods of Kahilwayan would be given the chance to climb it and undergo the trial.


    It was the [Trial of Regrets].


    This trial was not made to bring harm. However, not being able to pass it would cause the Gods to revoke their recognition. Of course, losing the recognition of the Gods in the past was a huge deal. Even so, this trial was rarely held as Gods did not really pay much attention to mortals. It was unless that mortal had qualities that caught their interest.


    And now, it was thest time that this trial would be held. For a very long time, no one was around to maintain the ce. As such, even the mechanisms and magic of the trial were nearing their breaking point. This time, Mark''s entire group went through the trial. It was more than enough to deplete the trial''s remaining functions.


    Worse, Mark actually used this opportunity to enjoy himself. For sure, this instance would be thest time before the trial was finally broken.


    "Since when did you wake up?"


    Magwayen asked Mark.


    "Around the time of my title defense," Mark said. "What kind of trial is this anyway? Although I woke up, I can''t really control myself the way I wanted. It''s like I''m in a dream, but it''s not just some illusion, either."


    Mark had already experienced the [Illusion Magic] of [Tikabngs]. He was pretty sure that this felt different than just some illusion.


    "Of course, it is not an illusion," Magwayen replied proudly. "This trial, the [Trial of Regrets], was created with the help of various Godly beings. It reads the person''s string of fate and simtes the parallel world where the right decisions were taken. In a sense, it was a world that you could have experienced if you took the most optimal actions in your life."


    It was a simtion of a parallel world where everything went right in Mark''s life. No wonder Mark felt that it was an enjoyable life.


    As Mark stared at the sky, he could not help but sigh.


    At this point, Magwayen''s exasperated stare turnedplicated.


    "This trial. The fewer regrets the person had, the faster it would end. It did not matter whether the person passed or failed. The trial wouldst depending on the amount of their regrets," Magwayen spoke. "But you... the amount of regrets you have is equal to half of your life. Just how are you living in that condition?"


    Mark could only shrug.


    "Many people are like me in this world. I don''t know if Gods are different. But we mortals experience many things outside our capabilities. Both physical and mental. It is onlyter on that we realize we actually had options, and the only thing left is regret."


    "I understand that. Not only mortals. Us Gods are also prone to irredeemable mistakes. But you... You are regretting your entire existence. That is not something a normal person could live through. In your state, it would not be a surprise if you ended your life long ago."


    Magwayen replied.


    "Does it really matter anymore?" Mark grumbled. "That''s already the past. I already got over it. My life might indeed have been better if I gave my best and chose the right decisions. But now, I''m already satisfied with what I currently have. I even achieved more than I deserved."


    Magwayen nodded in agreement. Mark indeed had regrets from his past. However, he was doing better now, even if the entire world was in chaos.


    "So, aren''t we going to end this already?" Mark asked. "This body is already dead."


    "It is up to you," Magwayen replied. "This is your trial. You must find a way to end it or else, you will fail."


    "Did anyone in my group fail?"


    Mark asked.


    "It is something that you should ask them. Even as a God, I respect the privacy of mortals."


    Magwayen shook her head.


    "I guess that''s true." Mark smiled. "Then, I guess I understand how to end this."


    And then, Mark stared back at the sky.


    "Goodbye. It was fun."


    And there, the scenery began to distort.


    Mark was lying down. But suddenly, he found himself standing as he was ejected through some sort of mirage-like portal.


    "Gege!"


    A voice entered Mark''s ear as a heavy but warm embrace enveloped his body.


    "Papa!"


    Following the Mei, it was the little girls.


    "Master!"


    Amihan also followed,nding on Mark''s head.<sub> </sub>


    "Mei''er. You girls..."


    Mark said as he sat down on the ground, embraced by his family.


    He then saw Spera, Feng Zhiruo, Chimetrice, and Ilia, standing nearby.


    At this time, Magwayen''s avatar appeared out of thin air.


    "Congrattions. You passed the trial."


    Magwayen spoke, congratting Mark.


    "What''s the prize?"


    Mark suddenly asked, making Magwayen sigh in exasperation.


    "Why not try to feel your body first before asking?"


    Magwayen replied.


    And since the Visayan Goddess of the Underworld said it, Mark did observe his body.


    Now, Mark realized something. It seemed that there was an invisible film of energy covering his entire body. Furthermore, it was not only him. Mei, Amihan, and the little girls were the same. He also felt the same as he panned his eyes to the rest of the group. It was until his eyes fell on the dejected Feng Zhiruo.


    "That is the [Blessing of Protection]," Magwayen exined. "It grants protection to those that passed the [Trial of Regret]. It is not something omnipotent. You can still die if the damage done to you exceeds the capacity of the protection. However, as this energy belonged to Kaptan himself, it would give a huge amount of protection against energies that came from his [Source]."


    "Then, this is what you nned when you suggesteding to this ce."


    Mark spoke.


    "It is." Magwayen nodded. "Although I said before. You might find something that could help. I believe you understood that a trial had a chance of failure. Rather, the chance of failing is rather high. It is just you and your group are a bunch of monsters."


    "I was expecting an artifact of some sort."


    Mark honestly mentioned.


    "Artifact?" Magwayen shrugged. "Do not expect as such. The Gods of the past went against the protectors of this world. They would need all the strength they could get. Those artifacts you wanted are all either used up, broken, or lost after the era of Gods ended."


    Mark fell silent. That did not enter his mind. If that was the case, it would not be a surprise if this ce had nothing left of value.


    In any case, it seemed that they got what they needed, although through unexpected means.


    If they had some resistance against Kaptan''s energy, then, Mark would not experience getting severely burned in an instant like before. Although Mark could regenerate his wounds, it was still a horrible experience.


    "By the way... How long did my trial take?"


    ? Mark asked. After all, he did spend several years in that illusory world. It would be hard to tell how much time passed in reality.


    "Gege, it''s already a whole week since we climbed the hill."


    Mei exined.


    If that was the case, then it was no wonder why Mei and the girls seemed to have missed him. Since they finished the trial before him, they might have been waiting for him for days already.


    Furthermore, if it was already a week that passed here, the time that passed outside should be way longer.


    "If you are wondering about the time outside. The time here passes at around a third of the speed outside. It should be more than three human weeks that passed there already."


    Magwayen chimed in.


    Mark frowned. The trial took him almost a month. He should have finished it quickly instead of trying to live it through.


    "And now, you are regretting spending too much time within the trial," Magwayen said, seeing Mark''s vague reaction. "You really liked living in regret, don''t you?"


    Mark stared at the Visayan Goddess of the Underworld. However, he could not refute her. Instead, he noticed something.


    "Isn''t your vocabry getting more and more modern?"


    Mark asked with a straight face. In fact, before they entered Kahilwayan, Magwayen still speak in an old way, using more old and deep words. Now, she was speaking like your modern-day neighbor.


    It was not hard to notice such a change.


    "I was watching the entire trial and learned about the world you all lived in. I believe there is nothing wrong with adapting to it. In fact, are you not having a hard time when I speak of unintelligible words to the people of this world?" Magwayen reasoned, and she quite had a point. "Still, I can''t believe how interesting to watch the growth of a world without the reliance on magical aspects. Humans even achieved things that magic could not."


    "Isn''t that natural?" Mark asked. "Humans strive to make their lives better. If they had magic, they would rely on it. If not, then find another way. Is it not the case in your world?"


    That question made Magwayen silent. She did not reply and answer Mark''s question.


    Instead, Ilia chimed in.


    "We got what we needed here. What''s the next n?"


    Ilia sure was in a hurry. Well, they did spend quite a long time here.


    "Then, how about letting me rest first?" Mark replied. "You guys finished your trials quite a while ago, but I just finished it. I''m pretty tired. The feeling of getting shot and dying in a vacant lot is also unpleasantly lingering in my mind. I wanna sleep."


    Mark''s words made everyone look at him strangely.


    "You spent a whole lifetime in that trial?" Ilia asked. "Is your head still okay?"


    Not everyone understood Ilia''s question. However, Mark understood her clearly.


    Mark spent a whole lifetime in the trial. He experienced things that were different from his own reality. While it was a fake world, its effects on mental health were real. It would not be surprising if he incurred mental trauma and disorders from living a false life amidst the real one.


    However, Mark was fine.


    And rather, he was doing better than before.


    Mark''s experiences in the trial were a learning material for him. And from now on, he would make sure that he would get fewer regrets as possible.

 Chapter 842 At The Front Porch, A Talk Between A God And A Demon

    <strong>Day 227 - 7:21 PM - Wooden Mansion, Hill of Kaptan, Kahilwayan</strong>


    It was time to cook, and it would be the first meal after Mark''s return. Mei was happy to cook this time, and she wanted to do it alone.


    In front of the set of wooden stairs in front of the wooden mansion''s front porch, Mark sat in deep thought. While one of the reasons for Mark''s current behavior was tiredness, it was more of a hangover from experiencing several years of life he never actually had.


    "You seem distraught," A woman appeared beside Mark like an apparition. "You passed the trial. Or was it a mistake?"


    Magwayen was asking as such due to Mark''s current state.


    The [Trial of Regrets] was created to mirror the times that the person regrets the most. They had to relive that moment and end up in the better fork of destiny. The person undergoing the trial must notice what was wrong or feel off and iplete.


    However, the person undergoing the trial had his memories sealed, making it extremely hard to ovee.


    Even if the memories were gone, the soul and heart should still recognize what was true and what was not.


    A person content in life, despite their regrets, would find the world inside the trial easier to see through. And if it was the opposite, their regrets weighted more than their content and redemption, it was easier to fail.


    It was not wrong to say that the [Trial of Regrets] was a trial to weigh a person''s heart and soul.


    If one passed the [Trial of Regrets], it was rather rare to see them in the same state as Mark currently was. After all, this kind of state was more apparent to those who failed it, as they could not get over their regrets and wanted to change those past events in their lives, even if they had to give up their current lives.


    "You, yourself, confirmed it that I passed," Mark replied without looking at Magwayen. "Besides, I''m not mulling over my life there. I''m just annoyed that even though I''m sessful, I still died like a dog. Even though I lived as a failure in this life, I at least managed to retaliate before supposedly dying."


    Mark finally turned to Magwayen and asked.


    "That end... That is where my life was destined to end, isn''t it?"


    At that question, Magwayen looked at the wooden gates in front of the mansion. It was the very exit of the trial.


    "As I said before, the [Trial of Regrets] work by reading a person''s string of fate. If it showed you your death at that time, it should be the true time where you meet your end. Destiny could be influenced and change minorly, but changing it entirely is impossible. Even if you learned about your future in one way or another, trying to change it would not do much. If you learned about others'' futures and tried to intervene, your efforts would be futile as your intervention is already taken into the ount. That is how destiny works. No one under its supervision can change it."


    "No one under its supervision," Mark murmured. "Then, it means that anyone not under it could influence it drastically. Pretty much what happened to me and Mei''er."


    "Is that the case for you and your wife?" Magwayen asked. "Then you two must be lucky as things destiny could not influence just do not fall from the sky."


    Mark then shrugged.


    "Actually, what changed our destiny literally fell from the sky."


    Magwayen could not help but reveal an awkward expression. Well, she knew nothing about what happened there when Mark''s destiny changed far from what it should be. The [Trial of Regrets] also only showed the supposed possibilities and could not show any variable that fate could not influence.


    Despite not asking, Magwayen sure was curious as to what caused Mark and Mei to escape their destinies. From what she saw, both of them should have died in the same incident. Yet, they were still alive and now had the possibility to ascend to Godhood.


    Mark stared forward without borating further. Magwayen was just an avatar and Mark could not sense her emotions. But even if he could, there was no way he would just tattle to her about his secrets and cards in hand.


    "By the way, how are you still here?" Mark asked, changing the topic. "I don''t think Silim can provide as much energy to make the artifactst this long."


    It was something that Mark noticed. One empty [Mental Crystal] could only make the artifact, the [Mark of the King], connect to Magwayen for half a day at most. Although Mark was unsure about Silim, there was no way for her to supply as much energy for the artifact tost for a whole week continuously.


    "Why not feel your surroundings for a bit?"


    Magwayen replied.


    Mark did as she told. It was when Mark noticed that the energy in the surrounding area was somehow thinning.


    Kahilwayan was the abode of the Gods of Ancient Visayas. Even if it was left empty for thousands of years, it still had the lingering energy of the Gods that created it.


    But now, Mark felt that the energy in the surroundings was considerably lower than the time they entered this ce. It was pretty hard to notice unless one really paid attention.


    Knowing that Mark would ask, Magwayen spoke first and exined.


    "I n on depleting the energy in this ce entirely into the artifact."


    Mark could not help but turn to Magwayen. He saw her looking at the gates, but her gaze seemed to cover the surroundings as she continued speaking.


    "The Kahilwayan is the abode created by Kaptan. It was his kingdom in the sky where he ruled over the other Gods and the people of this territory."


    Magwayen closed her eyes.


    "But now, it was nothing but an empty ce. A ce that gathered the memories of the forgotten past. Without anyone to maintain it, the energy in it would depletepletely sooner orter. Isn''t it better to make use of this energy instead?"


    Magwayen opened her eyes and looked at Mark.<sub> </sub>


    "The depletion of the energy in this ce might possibly prevent some dangers too. Although Silim is guarding the passage, we cannot be sure whether anyone else would not be able to reach this ce. With the current state of your world, it would not be surprising if this ce was breached in some way we had no way of knowing. Then, it would be better to deplete the energy before it was used for something unpleasant."


    "Won''t depleting the energy in Kahilwayan destroy it?"


    Mark asked.


    "Not necessarily," Magwayen replied. "The energy in the surroundings only appeared because Gods lived in this ce for a long time. As someone who was backed by the [Eyes], you should know that Godly beings exude a strong aura. That is why Godly beings could not just live anywhere as they pleased. It is because their presence has a huge effect on their surroundings, as their bodies continuously diffuse energy into the surroundings."


    Magwayen then retracted her stare at Mark.


    "The energy in the surroundings is apletely different matterpared to the existence of this ce. Even without the energy, it would continue to exist."


    As she continued to exin, Magwayen turned her head on a crystal tree nearby.


    "But unfortunately, all living things in this ce that relied on the energy for a very long time could end up dying without it."


    Mark fell silent in understanding. The things that Magwayen said sure were possible. If some evil beings, worse, the infected, reach this ce, it could be a huge problem.


    If some [Infected] managed to sneak into this ce, another Godly being might get born using the lingering energy of the gods.


    There was still the issue of the [Infected] Sinogo. They rather not have another problem to deal with.


    At this point, one question entered Mark''s mind as he turned to Magwayen once more.


    "By the way. Why did the Gods from your world venture into ours?"


    It was a good question. The Gods of the past entered Earth after thex management of the previous [Observer]. But why? It was a question that could never be answered before.


    "Because we had to."


    Magwayen replied, deciding not to hide too much information from Mark about the circumstances. In the first ce, there was nothing that Mark could do even if he knew.


    "Once you ascend to Godhood, your growth will stagnate. Not only in appearance, but even the growth of your power would need to rely on the people that worship you. It was because the world and the universe stops you. If a God wanted to be stronger without the reliance on their worshipers, there was only one way."


    "It is to leave the world we came from and ascend to higher realms. The higher the realm, the higher the limit for a God''s growth. When this world became connected with other realms in the past, many Gods immediately jumped in for the opportunity. After all, the realm your world is at was much higher than the realm we came from."


    Magwayen sighed.


    "Unfortunately, during the sh of the Gods to divide territories, we ended up on the weaker end. There is no way for us Gods of a lower realm to contend against the Gods of the higher realms, especially from those arrogant Gods from Asgard and Olympus."


    "Furthermore..." Magwayen slightly shook her head as she remembered. "Our world is facing a crisis."


    "Crisis you say..."


    Mark was rather surprised.


    "You already knew that I ferried the dead, not to the afterlife but to our realm instead. Our world is run by magic, and the technological level is very low. But that is not the problem. For thousands of years, the human poption in our world had been stagnant. Through the cycle of death and rebirth, the souls of people return to be born as another entity. And as the poption increased, new souls were born."


    "The problem lies not on the reincarnated souls but the birth of the new ones. New souls were barely born in their world, causing a shortage and leading to lesser and lesser instances of pregnancy and birth."


    By what Magwayen exined, Mark understood that the humanity of Magwayen''s world was decreasing instead of increasing.


    Barely any new soul was born, but the count of death was increasing. As peoplemitted more and more sins, their souls would end up getting punished, barring them from rebirth for a long time.


    It was without a doubt a crisis, especially for Gods since their needed worshipers to maintain their strength.


    And if this trend continued, it would not be surprising if Magwayen''s world faced human extinction. And while the other Gods were busy using the humans of Earth to increase their power, Magwayen left her duties as the God of the Sea and became the God of the underworld instead. It was to bring new souls to her already dying world.


    Mark fell silent once more. The reason for Magwayen toe to Earth was rather grim. She was definitely shouldering the future of her world. And with the death of the other Gods, she was now alone to fulfill her duties.


    ***


    While Mark and Magwayen talked, Mei began to call him for dinner.


    By the looks of it, Mei cooked more than normal, implying the celebration of Mark''s return. No one within the group had problems with it. It could also be theirst celebration before heading out and confronting the [Infected] Sinogo.


    Of course, there was one person who did not look even a bit happy. It was Feng Zhiruo. It was not like she was against the celebration.


    Unfortunately, she was the only person within the group to fail the trial.

 Chapter 843 Several Days In Kahilwayan, Gathering Energy, Resources, And Catching A Rare Treasure

    <strong>Day 229 - 8:11 AM - Wooden Mansion, Hill of Kaptan, Kahilwayan</strong>


    Two days passed after Mark existed the [Trial of Regrets].


    In the previous cases, Mark would immediately urge everyone to leave once their goals for the journey were met. Back when they searched for Pefile''s wife, after they finished their business in Corregidor, and after making sure that his family was safe, they immediately left afterward.


    With the current state of the world, there was really no time to dawdle around.


    As for Mark spending more time in the trial, it was not without benefit. Among their group that passed the [Trial of Regrets], he was the one who absorbed the trial''s energy the most due to his prolonged stay inside it.


    The remaining energy within the [Trial of Regrets] was sucked dry, and it all came to Mark. That was why even though Mark used up three weeks inside the illusory world, it was still worth it.


    And, of course, their prolonged stay was the same.


    Magwayen was keen on absorbing the residual energy in Kahilwayan into the artifact of the [Tamawos], the [Mark of the King]. Doing so would aplish Magwayen''s two goals. One was to not let anyone take advantage of the residual energy, and the other was to connect to this world more.


    As only an avatar, Magwayen would not be able to do much. However, as a God, it was a good way to relieve boredom. Her world was stagnant and had lower technological advancementpared to Earth. Besides, fewer souls existed in her world. Thus, her job as the ferrywoman to the underworld did not matter much anymore. She found Earth more interestingpared to hers.


    Of course, the [Eyes] would not see her actions positively. In the least, she would not interfere with the inhabitants of Earth and just remain watching. After all, what she wanted was nothing but entertainment.


    On the other side, Mark''s group was also busy.


    Kahilwayan was the abode of Ancient Visayan Gods under Kaptan''s leadership. Of course, everything inside this space was of extreme value.


    Each tree inside Kahilwayan, even the smallest sapling, were all [Spirit Trees]. They might not be [Pure Spirit Trees] that had intelligence, but [Spirit Trees] were rare existences on their own.


    And for Mark and Ilia, these [Spirit Trees] were valuable materials to create magical items and weapons. Now that the [Mortal Dimension] and the [Spirit Dimension] were fused, magical energy was everywhere.


    Magical items and weapons would be extremely useful in this era, especially when fighting against the [Infected] and the [Mechids].


    Cutting these trees should have been a sphemy to this ce. However, Magwayen allowed and even encouraged them. After Magwayen absorbed all the energy in this ce, everything living inside that relied on magical energy would slowly die off. In fact, Magwayen nned to turn Kahilwayan into a magicless ce, making it have less value than outside. This way, there was less chance for this ce to be desecrated by those with evil intentions.


    Aside from the [Spirit Trees], there were also a lot of magical herbs that Ilia recognized from the past. While Ilia was not that versed in magical medicine and such, she was still a subordinate of a mad scientist in the past. That scientist studied a whole lot of things in order to create beings that could oppose the Gods. That was why Ilia had the opportunity to learn many things. Among those things were different kinds of magical nts that existed around the world in the lost era.


    Another amazing thing about the ce was its structures.


    One would think that wood, while a good construction material, would notst too longpared to modern construction materials. However, it was different in this case.


    The buildings in Kahilwayan, like the houses and the mansion, were all made of wood. However, the wood used was as hard as steel, probably even harder if not for the fact that it was several thousand years old.


    It was no wonder that while looking old and dirty, the huts and the wooden mansion did not really show any sign of crumbling.


    If Magwayen wanted to actually demolish this whole ce, Mark would have taken apart these houses. Unfortunately, it was not her intention, and Mark could only leave the houses intact.


    In any case, gathering the [Spirit Trees] and magical herbs kept Mark and the rest of the group busy. They even managed to find and catch strange-looking animals living in this realm for thousands of years.


    One example was a deer with blue skin and crystal horns. There was even a butterfly with glowing wings and a bird with rainbow feathers. Unfortunately, there were very few animals despite the ce being left alone for thousands of years.


    Magwayen exined that these animals were not really magical ones in the past. These animals were just normal animals that were either caught or offered by their worshipers. However, being exposed to the energy in Kahilwayan evolved their species after generations. It caused these animals to have a longer lifespan but lower reproductivity.


    "You win some and lose some," as the saying went.


    It was the same for magical races with very long life spans. It did not matter whether they were Demons, Spirits, or Elementals with physical bodies. Those that lived longer had a lesser chance of having offspring. Even some races could not actually reproduce and instead were given birth by nature thru luck.


    By Magwayen''s estimate, she needed two to three more days topletely absorb Kahilwayan''s energy into the [Mark of Kings]. They had plenty of time gathering things all around Kahilwayan.


    Still, Mark could not help but feel unfortunate that there was not a single legendary item left they could bring home. It would be nice if they could. Especially since there were very few items known that the Visayan Gods wielded.


    No, it was not just the Visayan Gods. There was barely anything known about the ancient religions of the Philippines after the Spaniards erased most of the records from history.


    Maybe, there were still some records left hidden somewhere no one knew. Unfortunately, what was known about the ancient records and history mostly came from more modernptions from historians and archeologists that did not evene from this country.


    It was ironic that the people of this country barely knew about its origins while idolizing everything foreign, and those who were interested in the ancient facts of this country were actually foreigners.


    ***


    Behind the wooden mansion, Mark was busy cutting a tree using an axe made from his blood. Surely, this axe was sharp enough to easily fell a regr tree. However, a living [Spirit Tree] was much tougher than those. Even the dead [Spirit Tree] that Mark got before was way tougher than normal trees, not to mention living ones.


    While cutting the tree, Mark noticed something fly from the tree from the corner of his eye. It seemed to be a butterfly at first nce, but it made Mark shiver. He kept it at the corner of his eye and did not look at it directly.<sub> </sub>


    <strong>CLANG!</strong>


    And as it flew near him, he dropped his axe, causing a loud sound. Mark did not bother about the axe and jumped on the butterfly as fast as he could. Mark even strengthened his body and his veins could be seen glowing red just to catch the butterfly.


    Mark felt the butterfly on his hand. That was the only then he looked at it directly.


    What Mark had on his hand was not a butterfly. It was a small book that could fit into his palms.


    The noise from the dropped axe caught the attention of everyone nearby. It would be fine if they heard a tree falling, but definitely not a carelessly thrown axe.


    But what everyone saw was Mark staring at his hand, wide-eyed, and excited.


    Yes, the Mark that barely shows his emotion was clearly excited that even the children noticed it.


    Magwayen appeared, also drawn in by themotion. And she immediately noticed what Mark had on his hand.


    "You caught something extremely rare. I didn''t expect to see one after thousands of years."


    Magwayen''s words sure surprised everyone. Well, Magwayen was surprised herself as she saw what Mark caught.


    Mei and Ilia approached Mark with Spera and the rest behind. They were all curious what Mark caught, thinking that it was some sort of animal or insect.


    "Caught?"


    That was what Ilia asked, seeing that what Mark had on his hand was a small book. How would someone catch a book in the first ce? Did it fall from somewhere?


    Furthermore, the book was open in Mark''s palms the pages were empty.


    "Do you know what that is for you to be excited?"


    Magwayen asked, seeing Mark''s current state as he stared at the book.


    "Not exactly," Mark replied. "But I know that it is something that grants paranormal abilities to people. I heard before that there was a witch doctor that gained his healing abilities after catching one of these. Even one of my grandfathers said that they saw one of these before but was unable to catch it since it was hard to notice just by the corner of his eye and he looked at it directly only for it to vanish. Unfortunately, he realized it toote and heard about the myths after he shared seeing a book-shaped butterfly to his drinking friends."


    Hearing Mark say "book-shaped butterfly," the rest finally realized why Magwayen said caught and not found or picked.


    A book-shaped butterfly, or rather, a book flying like a butterfly. One cannot look at it directly as it would immediately vanish. It surely was magical.


    "You are not far from it," Magwayen replied, floating and approaching Mark. "It is a medium or a catalyst for magical arts, rituals, and ceremonies. It is both a living being and an item born from umted magical energy in an area. With that in your hands, your magical and psychic abilities would be enhanced further. The witch doctor you mentioned might have gotten healing abilities since it was already within his knowledge and was just enhanced."


    After hearing the actual use of it, it became another cause for surprise.


    "But how did it have the shape of a book and look like a butterfly?"


    That question came from Spera, who was fascinated by the book''s use.


    And as Magwayen replied, she shook her head as she herself did not know that exact answer to Spera''s question.


    "I also do not know why a book. However, it might be because books are one source of knowledge humans had. There were also simr catalysts that had different shapes, like scrolls or stone tablets, while some were just a piece of paper, folded and shaped like a bird."


    "So, it takes the form of something that provides knowledge, isn''t it?"


    Mark asked.


    "That might be the case," Magwayen nodded. "You are very lucky to catch that. You better not lose it as it should be far more special than the catalysts you heard about."


    Mark stared back at the book in his hand and knew Magwayen was right. The book from the story he heard was actually born on Earth where there was barely any magic and it gave the witch doctor healing abilities. What Mark caught was born in Kahilwayan, an abode of the Visayan Gods. It should be far more valuable and powerful.


    "Would it fly away again?"


    Mei asked.


    It was a reasonable question as it was a flying book before Mark caught it.


    "No." Magwayen smiled and stared at Mark. "However, do not get it away from your body as much as possible as the one that caught it. You can lend it but the person burrowing it should not let go of it either. You can put it in your pocket, even your [Storage Ring]. You can even make it a ne. However, never leave it unattended or away from your body without anyone around to pay attention to it. You will definitely regret doing that."

 Chapter 844 Leaving Kahilwayan, A Sudden Crisis In Mount Madia-As

    <strong>Day 237 - 12:00 PM - Sacred Gates, Kahilwayan</strong>


    Mark''s group spent time gathering as many items as they could take from Kahilwayan. Even Mark''s and Mei''s [Spatial Rings] were full to the brim, mostly of logs and branches from the [Spirit Trees] they cut down. Even with both the rings full, the group still had bags they carried where the lighter herbs and crystals were stored. Andstly, Chimetrice, who was pulling a makeshift cart, carrying a cage with a few animals inside it.


    They barely spent a week and a few days in Kahilwayan. However, on Earth, it was already exactly a month after they entered the abode of the Ancient Visayan Gods.


    And today was the next time the passage between Kahilwayan and the Secret Realm in Mount Madia-as could be opened.


    Going down from Kahilwayan was not asplicated as going up. The protective barrier of Kahilwayan was only working one way, and they could pass through it from inside. Thus, if one was capable of flight, they could go down from the floating inds, although it required effort due to the actual distance of Kahilwayan to the peak of Mount Madia-s.


    Mark''s group could do that at any given time. However, they still picked the time when the passage would be opened. After all, the passage would only make them a bit dizzy, and it would take them to the peak of Mount Madia-as almost instantly. It was even more preferable, considering they had heavy backpacks and a cage containing the animals.


    Unfortunately, they could not use Spera''s [Portal] to leave Kahilwayan. As Magwayen exined before, there was a protective barrier around Kahilwayan. It disabled entry aside from the designated passage. Teleportation from inside Kahilwayan was possible to exit it, but it would not work trying to enter the ce. A portal, however, would not work, no matter what, as a portal connects both inside and outside. It was considered a form of entry even if used to exit Kahilwayan. Even so, using the portal going from ce to ce within Kahilwayan worked fine.


    It was unfortunate for Spera, knowing that her abilities were barely of use inside ces created with its own rules.


    The group walked out of the gigantic gates, which immediately closed on their own after they all exited.


    "It still moves on its own?"


    Spera could not help but voice out. After all, Magwayen practically drained the [Magical Energy] in the ce. Yet, the magical, gigantic gates still worked.


    At that question, Magwayen answered.


    "Do not treat these gates as a mere structure but as a living being."


    That answer sure made the group look back at the gates. They did not expect that it was something alive.


    "You can open the passage now, right?"


    Mark asked Magwayen. She nodded before floating in front of everyone and facing the cliff in front of the gates.


    Magwayen gave the same hymn that they heard from Silim before. It did not take long, and the simr mirage that reflected the scene at the peak of Mount Madia-as instead appeared.


    Without further ado, the group entered the mirage.


    ***


    The mirage, of course, transported them instantly to the peak of Mount Madia-as.


    But before they could even make out their surroundings, the smell of something burning assaulted their noses.


    And instead of a clear noon sky, what they saw was a darkened sky, covered by the rising ck smoke.


    Immediately, everyone ran towards an area that gave them a clear view of the mountain.


    From there, they saw the zing fire that had already swallowed the north and eastern side of the mountain.


    <strong>BOOM!</strong>


    An explosion of energy ensued above the burning forest mid-way the mountain. Because of the distance, Mark''s group could barely make out the silhouettes of two humanoids flying around the smoke-covered area.


    This sight made Magwayen clearly disturbed. This mountain was one of the ces she cared for the most. However, it was definitely in peril at this moment, and as an illusory avatar, there was nothing that she could do to help.


    At this point, Magwayen turned to Mark behind her, who immediately noticed her actions.


    There was no need to ask what she wanted. Mark shrugged and turned to his group, who were already waiting for his instructions.


    "Spera, open a portal to the [Mini Cube]. Ilia, Chimetrice, go with Spera and get our stuff into the vessel. Then, bring the vessel here. We will need it."


    "Okay."


    Spera replied.


    "No problem."


    Ilia also answered while Chimetrice replied with a nod.


    "The rest, we''ll go down the mountain while assessing the situation. We don''t know the full situation yet. We have to be careful."


    Mark continued and then turned to Feng Zhiruo.


    "You can fight, right?"


    That question would have baffled anyone. After all, Feng Zhiruo was a Chinese Cultivator and a Sword Practitioner, and she was not injured or anything either. There was no way that she could not fight, and Mark clearly knew that.


    However, Mark''s group immediately understood that he was not questioning her in terms of ability but her mental state. Ever since she exited the [Trial of Regrets] and failed, she was already feeling down. No one within the group asked her why as what they encountered during the trial was something private. Not to mention that a person''s regret could also be their greatest weakness.


    Although Feng Zhiruo was doing her best to show that she was alright, it was not hard to see that she was just pushing herself to do so.


    "I''m fine."


    Feng Zhiruo replied to Mark. However, she was not looking at him but at the zing mes swallowing the forest below the mountain. Fortunately, her eyes were firm as she stared at the mes as if something was ignited inside her.


    Mark watched her, looking at her eyes. Feng Zhiruo was not looking at the mes in front of her. Instead, she was seemed to be looking at the mes in her memories.


    However,pared to her expressions in the past few days, her expression right now was far better.


    "Alright, leave the backpacks, and let''s move."<sub> </sub>


    Mark said as he began taking off his backpack.


    Everyone aside from Spera, Ilia, and Chimetrice put down the things they were carrying and began heading down the mountain. Spera immediately opened a portal towards where they left the [Mini Cube] outside the Secret Realm.


    Mark picked up Miracle in his arms and let out Cavall, the canine-feline golem, to let Abbygale and I ride on its back. With this, they all could increase their speed without anyonegging behind.


    Running down the mountain was much faster than climbing up. Coupled with the inhuman speed and strength of the people in Mark''s group, they scaled down the mountain faster than one would expect.


    As they went further down the mountain, the more they realized how dire the situation was.


    The mes were spreading fast since a third of the mountain was covered in lush forests. It would not take long, and the mes from the northeastern side of the mountain would encircle the entire. The residents of the mountain would have no other choice but to climb further up. In the end, everyone would get trapped in the higher parts of the mountain without anywhere else to flee.


    As Mark''s group rushed down the mountain, they could see many magical races fleeing from the mes. Most of them seemed to be [Sylphs] and smaller fairy-like creatures, who were races unfit for battle.


    Mark wanted to stop any of them to ask what was going on. However, the sight of Mark''s group, which were already known to be [Demons], caused the creatures to flee from them instead.


    There was no time to chase those fleeing magical races. Instead, Mark focused on going towards the location where they saw two silhouettes flying in the sky. He was sure that one of those two was actually Silim, the ck-dressed [Diwata] and the guardian of his Secret Realm.


    <strong>BOOM!</strong>


    A shockwave enveloped the area, making Mark''s group stop to brace themselves. From the aura contained within the shockwave, Mark became even more sure that they were heading towards Silim.


    <strong>"FUUUWOOOOH!!!"</strong>


    <strong>CRASH!</strong>


    Suddenly, a loud air-filled roar entered everyone''s ears along with the sounds of trees crashing down.


    Because of that roar, the thick smoke from the burning forest was disturbed and blown away slightly. It allowed Mark''s group to see what caused that roar and saw a gigantic, four-legged creature. It seemed to be a tortoise due to its shape, but its shell was filled with holes releasing thick gray smoke. The five-meter-tall giant''s body was also filled with cracks, but due to the high temperatures of its body, the cracks were glowing like burning magma.


    Mark concentrated and expanded his detection range forwards. And there, he managed to conclude what the enemies were.


    "[Infected]."


    Mark said out loud as he did not detect any sign of consciousness from the gigantic creature in front of them.


    By the looks of it, the [Infected] managed to reach Mount Madia-as and found a way to breach the illusory wall of the Secret Realm. It was not something too surprising. Sinogo managed to break and absorb the seal that Kaptan created after turning into an [Infected]. It meant that the other [Infected] had the possibility of doing the same.


    Furthermore, the main defense of the Secret Realm of Mount Madia-as was its maze-like forest at the foot of the mountain. However, even that forest would not work if the enemy was a giant tortoise that burned everything around it.


    Worst, the residents of the Secret Realm had no way to subdue the fire. The magical races in this ce were mostly nature, wind, and fire elementals. Thus, the mes reached an uncontroble degree in no time without anyone tobat it.


    The wind elementals like [Sylphs] might have been able to stop it. However, theycked the proper knowledge to do so.


    <strong>GROAAA!!</strong>


    Eerie roars could be heard alongside the sounds of battle.


    Mark''s group finally reached where the forces of Mount Madia-as were fighting the horde of [Infected] that breached the barrier.


    p Looking at the horde, Mark''s group could not help but feel surprised.</anda>


    There were at least a thousand [Infected] in front of them. Possibly more. Furthermore, all of them were mutated into something like moving charred creatures that could endure the mes without dying. It was clear that each of them had bodies with extremely high temperatures as their bodies released smoke after every step they took.


    "This [Infected] horde mutated using that big guy as their catalyst."


    Mark surmised the very possible scenario immediately.


    A single [Mutated Infected] caused its entire horde to mutate. It was something with low possibility but not impossible to happen. It was even more likely to ur if the [Mutated Infected''s] mutation could affect the entire horde constantly.


    Looking at the situation, Magwayen could not help but feel remorse. There was nothing she could do to help at all. As they said, Gods were not omnipotent. They could even feel helpless on some asions.


    Magwayen was in her own world. There was no way she could affect Earth from where she was right now.


    Fortunately, Mark intended to help. He was not a person who would forget favors. Although Magwayen was somehow irritating on how she seemed to manipte and anticipate Mark''s actions, she was still the one that guided them here and let them reap benefits.


    It was unexpected that the chance to repay the favors came too soon. However, this opportunity was a fairly weed one as Mark did not want to owe anyone favors for too long.


    <strong>BOOM!</strong>


    Once more, a shockwave enveloped the area, blowing away the mes and the smoke rising towards the sky.


    Silim was definitely in a heated fight with someone or something. It was surprising that something that could contend against Silim, a Deity, appeared.


    <strong>BAM!</strong>


    Suddenly, Silim''s figure shot nearby Mark''s group and crashed to the ground, causing dust and dirt to scatter.


    Unexpectedly, Silim was the one on the losing side.


    "Hoh? What do we have here?"


    A voice speaking in Spirit Language entered everyone''s ears making them all look at the sky.


    There, a handsome man floated with an annoying smirk on his face while he stared at Mark''s group with eyes filled with interest and surprise.

 Chapter 845 The Opportunistic Enemy, The Incarnation Of Natures Hate And The Enemy Of [Diwatas]

    <strong>Day 237 - 12:15 PM - Secret Realm, Mount Madia-as, Panay Mountain Range, Province of An</strong>


    The mes zed, spreading fast across the forest.


    Growls and gargled moans entered everyone''s ears as the [Infected] marched, invading the magicalnd they found.


    Sounds of battle echoed as the inhabitants of the Secret Realm tried their best to fend theirnd against the [Infected].


    All these things happened in the background as Mark''s group raised their heads and stared at the enemy before them.


    Hovering in the air, it was a handsome man that could make anyone envious. He had hair that reached a little below his shoulder while wearing a tribal cloth bandana on his forehead. His top was half-naked with only some sort of animal leather draped on his body. It showed his finely chiseled body and pale-white skin tone. The right part of the man''s face, right arm, and torso had arge tribal tattoo covering it. Below, he was wearing what seemed to be a tribal loincloth adorned with fangs and bones of predatory animals on his belt.


    The strange, handsome man held a spear made of bone, with a spiky tip made of crystal.


    With the presence of Mark''s group, the enemy sure was curious. He was looking at the group in arrogance while also seemingly angry.


    "I was denied entry to this ce while Demons and humans were allowed inside. Talk about double standards."


    The man realized whatposed Mark''s group andined in anger while staring at Silim, who now stood up from her fall.


    Silim''s fall was not a soft one. The ground around her was heavily dented, even causing cracks in therge rocks of the mountain. Being a powerful person, Silim was not harmed. However, she was clearly weakened after the encounter.


    "It is not about race," Silim argued, not reverting her attention away from the handsome man. "There is no way I will let an incarnation of evil like you into our home."


    The reply from Silim made the handsome man tilt his head.


    "Demons who are not evil, you say?" The handsome man scanned Mark''s group. "Well, those freaks do exist."


    Demons were evil creatures. It was not only humans who shared such ideals. Though, in truth, Demons were just like any other race. There were good and evil amidst their ranks.


    However, as Demons were evil in general, with most being the manifestation of distorted emotions and desires, good ones were considered freaks among the Demon race.


    As the handsome man panned his eyes on the group of Demons before him, his eyes caught the sight of a woman wearing a veil to cover her face. Somehow, he became curious about the Demon woman.


    "You, take off your veil."


    The handsome man said to the Demon woman in amanding tone.


    Thatmand did not only make Mark''s group frown but also made Silim stare at the inconceivable attitude of that man. They were in the middle of battle, yet, he had the audacity to focus his attention on something else.


    Silim was not defeated yet. Even so, the man seemed to think that he had won already. He also behaved as if the group of Demons was beneath him.


    "I did not think to see such audacity."


    The handsome man was interrupted by a woman''s voice. It was only then he realized the figure of a ck-dressed woman that appeared beside Silim.


    Surely, the man was surprised that he never noticed the woman at all.


    "Mother."


    Silim greeted as she regained her footing.


    Magwayen did not reply, however. Her attention was fully on the intruder.


    Still, hearing Silim call the woman as her mother made the man extremely shocked beyond disbelief.


    "How... All gods should have disappeared from this world already. Why is someone like you still here?!"


    It seemed that the man was aware that Silim was Magwayen''s daughter in the first ce.


    At first, the man thought that he did not detect Magwayen because she was a God and the difference in their strength. But immediately, he noticed. Magwayen was not exuding the Godly aura that she was supposed to have as a God.


    "No, you''re not the real body. Damn, that scared me."


    The man surely feared that Magwayen was still here. But a simple projection that Magwayen had in this ce would not be able to do anything.


    Even so, this man behaved differently from most. He did not pay respect to a God in front of him. It was even though he was the same as Silim. A [Spirit of Nature].


    The handsome man was not an [Infected] nor a Demon.


    [Diwatas] had another term they were called with among the residents of this country. Spirit races such as Elementals and even some Demons were locally called "Encantos." From there, the highest among the Encantos were the [Diwatas], which also referred to as [Encantadas].


    And although not have a different name, the male counterpart of the [Encantadas], the [Encantados]. They were the rare kind of Spirits of Nature, as the more powerful Spirits were mostly born as females.


    However, different from the [Diwata''s] good alignment, the [Encantados] were known as vile beings. They were known to trick humans using various methods. And worse, killing the victims in the process.


    [Encantados] always had fun at the cost of others'' torment. It made it even questionable if they were Demons in disguise, but their origins were far different from Demons as they were born in a simr way to [Diwatas].


    And that was while they both came from the same origins, being [Spirits of Nature], [Diwatas] and [Encantados] were known to be mortal enemies.


    Well, in this case, it was different. Silim was a [Diwata] created by Magwayen with Bath''s help. She was not a normal [Spirit of Nature]. Even so, Silim shared the same sentiment as others towards [Encantados].


    [Encantados] were enemies. They were the culmination of nature''s hate while the [Diwatas] were the representation of nature''s love.


    It was what was being portrayed here, as the [Enkantado] in front of them led a horde of [Infected] into the Secret Realm to attack it.


    "Do not think that you already won."


    Silim said with a slight growl. She intended to continue fighting.


    "Do not force yourself." The [Encantado] arrogantly smiled at the [Diwata]. "I don''t know why you''re weakened, but you are no match for me in your current state. I rather not kill you since I want you as one of my wives."


    There, the [Encantado''s] true goal was revealed. He was not only aiming to seize this ce as his own. He was also aiming to turn Silim into his wife. Well, as he said, one of his wives.<sub> </sub>


    Suddenly, the [Encantado] turned to the Demon woman wearing the veil on her face.


    "Why not join Silim? Be my wife and I might think of sparing the others."


    Mark stared at the enemy with a frown. It seemed that the [Encantado] was drawn unto Mei''s beauty, even though she was already covering her face to avoid attention.


    "Oi," Mark called out to the [Encantado]. "Bold of you to court someone else''s wife in front of her husband."


    The [Encantado] was arrogant, and Mark spoke with the same arrogant tone.


    Finally, the [Encantado] turned to Mark for the first time. Yes, he did not acknowledge Mark''s presence at all. Only when Mark said the words that implied that he was the Demon woman''s husband that the [Encantado] put Mark in his eyes.


    "So, she already had a husband?" The [Encantado] smirked. "You think I would care? A lowly Demon as ugly as you would not be able to keep her."


    "You sure?" Mark said, not minding being called ugly, and turned to Mei. "Mei''er, you tell him."


    Mei was surprised, but she was clearly pissed at how the enemy was ridiculing Mark. Although she could barely understand Spirit Language, she could piece out the words that the enemy spouted.


    And with her limited vocabry of the Spirit Language, Mei, who was always afraid of men, yelled out.


    "SHUT UP! YOU UGLY!"


    Mei yelled with momentary courage before running behind Mark and hiding.


    <strong>"Y-Y-YOU!!!"</strong>


    The enemy was stunned, speechless. To be called ugly with his heavenly appearance was a first for him.


    Silim, on the other hand, became nervous.


    "Watch out!"


    Silim yelled as the figure of the [Encantado] blurred.


    The [Encantado] had an extremeplex for his appearance. Yes, this man was a narcissist, and to an absolute degree.


    And those that thought otherwise were immediately crushed under his overwhelming strength.


    <strong>BOOM!</strong>


    A shockwave enveloped the ce, with Mark''s group at the center.


    But outside Silim''s expectations, the [Encantado] was blown back to the sky, shocked and disheveled as he stared at the leader of the group of the Demons.


    "Who said that you can touch my wife with your filthy hands?"


    Mark said in irritation. His eyes had both the red and dark-violet glow, with his fist in front of him, with veins glowing bright red.


    As the battle finally started, Mark issued orders.


    "Mei''er, Zhiruo, go with everyone and deal with the [Infected]. Leave this ugly bastard to me."


    Mei and Feng Zhiruo nodded as they brought the little girls and Amihan to run in a different direction. Mark also took out the remaining two golems to go with the group.


    "Y-Y-Y-Y..."


    The [Encantado] shivered as he floated in the sky. He did not care whether the rest of the Demons were running away. His attention was on his handsome face as he frantically felt it with his hands.


    He immediately felt something wet as he touched his nose. It was a drop of red blood with a sheen of gold.


    The [Encantado] was extremely furious. His eyes were now focused on Mark in extreme rage.


    It was because out of all ces, Mark, without hesitation, punched the [Encantado''s] face when he defended from thetter''s attack.


    The handsome face that a narcissist valued the most...


    Even Silim was reluctant to do that as it would throw the [Encantado] berserk.


    But Mark did not care for that. Before the [Encantado] could react, Mark opened his wings and began to transform.


    The transformation of a [Pure-Blood Blood Demon]. It was the first time Mark did this after the Fusion of Dimensions. Of course, it was the first time for Magwayen to witness it either.


    Mark''s ck hair grew longer, having the reddish tint and sheen. His fangs grew, and the nails on his hands turned to ws. The veins on his entire body glowed red as a powerful aura exuded from his body unto the surroundings.


    But then... Mark noticed some differences that he had never seen before.


    Mark had three pairs of wings, with the third and lowest pair being smoke-like and ethereal. But now, the ethereal wings materialized. Not only that, but his wings grewrger, with each having the span of almost a meter.


    Furthermore, and the most noticeable thing... The markings on his body had actually turned golden. And it was exuding an aura both familiar and unfamiliar to Mark.


    But Magwayen immediately noticed that aura. It was the aura of the protection that those that passed the [Trial of Regrets] acquired. But when Mark transformed, the aura became concentrated on the markings on Mark''s body, turning the ck markings gold.


    At Mark''s transformation, the enemy sure was taken aback. The person he thought to be a lowly Demon was actually a Pure-blood, not to mention the possibility of being a monarch among his race.


    Even, so, the [Encantado] was not feeling fear. In his mind, he was still superior to Mark, being someone at the level of Silim, who was a Deity.


    Putting the unexpected changes aside, Mark concentrated his attention on the enemy. This guy was strong. Although Mark managed to counterattack just now, it was due to the enemy underestimating him and his group. Now, even though the enemy was still looking arrogant, he already had his guard up.


    If Mark did not transform and unleash all his strength, he would not be an opponent to this [Enkantado] at all.


    After all, with the exception of [The Great One] and Sinogo, this [Encantado] was the strongest enemy he had met so far.

 Chapter 846 Against The [Encantado],The Start Of A Battle Against A Spear-Wielding Deity

    <strong>Day 237 - 12:19 PM - Secret Realm, Mount Madia-as, Panay Mountain Range, Province of An</strong>


    Mark''s sudden transformation, revealing that he was a [Pure-blood Demon], sure made the [Encantado] taken aback. However, the surprise was momentary. The pain on the [Encantado''s] face after Mark punched him caused him to be enraged immediately.


    Without waiting for Mark to take the initiative, the [Encantado] swoop down with his spear in front. In the first ce, he was clearly a seasoned warrior. A warrior knew that the person who would make the preemptive attack would have the slight advantage it gave. Even in his enraged state, the [Encantado] made the preemptive attack as if it was ingrained into his existence.


    It was an attack without holding back. Anyone in front of the [Encantado''s] crystal spear would feel the pressure and fear of death as it approached them at an almost impossible-to-follow speed. Only those in front would be able to see the spear as it closed into their eyes.


    p The [Encantado''s] figure in the sky blurred. And almost in an instant...</anda>


    <strong>BOOM!</strong>


    <strong>RUMBLE!</strong>


    Rocks, dirt, and dust scattered with a loud boom, and the ground shook with an audible rumble.


    <strong>SWOOSH!</strong>


    Suddenly, the cloud of dirt and dust was blown away as the crystal spear swooshed through it, shooting towards the sky.


    Mark, who evaded the preemptive attack unharmed and appeared in the sky, swayed his body to the left. The crystal spear passed by in front of his chest. However, its target was not Mark''s heart as one would expect. Instead, it aimed for Mark''s right arm and second right wing.


    Since Mark could see the crystal spear fly towards him, one way to negate the attack was to catch the spear. However, Mark decided not to, considering the strength that the spear was thrown. If he did try to catch the spear, he would end up getting pulled by it. Worse, his arm would have been severely injured. Or maybe, the worst, his arm getting torn off.


    Thus, Mark could only evade. That was how strong the opponent was in just what seemed to be a simple throw of his spear.


    Although he evaded the spear entirely, Mark could feel the strong wind pressure following behind it. He was blown back a little and had to stabilize his flight.


    However, it was not the end.


    <strong>SWOOSH!</strong>


    The sharp sound of whistling air entered Mark''s ears, making him turn his neck over his right shoulder and suddenly evade to his right. The spear that he evaded just now turned around and tried to skewer his left shoulder from behind.


    As the crystal spear missed its target once more, it returned to its owner. Its return caused the remaining dust and dirt that clouded the area to be blown away.


    The dissipation of the cloud of dust and dirt revealed a gigantic crater where Mark stood before.


    It was as if arge chunk of the mountain''s face was broken off. The crater was wide and deep enough to bury an apache helicopter entirely.


    At the center of the crater, the [Encantado] stood with the spear in his right hand. He was staring at Mark, both enraged and excited.


    "That''s right. Struggle. Do not die easily."


    The [Encantado] voiced out. It was clear that he did not intend to kill Mark in one go. His attacks might have power, but he was clearly avoiding targeting Mark''s vitals. The [Encantado] wanted to toy with his enemy, wanting Mark to suffer before killing him.


    Mark knew the [Encantado''s] intentions as the enemy''s emotions flowed into him. However, Mark did not show any reaction to this. Instead, he thought that it was a good thing.


    The [Encantado] was clearly underestimating Mark. Because of this, it would be easier for Mark to pull a surprise attack under the enemy''s nose.


    At this time, while Mark was still trying to read the [Encantado''s] next more, he spoke. It was not to the enemy, however.


    "Don''t bother trying to help. You''ll just get in the way since I don''t know how you fight. Go and try helping your people instead."


    Those words were clearly for Silim, who was about to join the fight after recovering from her fall.


    Mark''s words resonated into Silim''s ears while also infuriating the [Encantado] even more in the process.


    Creating another tremor, the [Encantado] kicked the ground. It dented the already deep crater as heunched himself towards Mark.


    Once more, the [Encantado] charged at Mark with his crystal spear.


    <strong>BOOM!</strong>


    Mark avoided the spear. And with a counterclockwise spin, Mark did a roundhouse kicked the [Encantado], aiming for the enemy''s neck.


    Unfortunately, the [Encantado] blocked the kick using the shaft of the crystal spear. I caused Mark''s right foot to turn a bit numb as his right forefoot hit the metal-like spear shaft. The sh, however, separated the two more than a dozen meters apart in the air.


    At this moment, Silim turned her head to the burning forest below. She was not sure if Mark would need her help or not, but her people clearly needed her. Then, as she was about to heed Mark''s words and fly down the mountain, she noticed something fall in front of her. The ck-dressed [Diwata] immediately caught it.


    It was the [Mark of the King]. It would allow Magwayen to apany Silim below since the avatar of the goddess could only exist around the artifact. Magwayen would not be of help to Mark. Instead, her presence would bolster the morale of the denizens of this realm.


    Onest time, Silim looked at Mark in gratitude. Then, she and Magwayen flew down the mountain together.


    Mark had no time to watch the two. The [Encantado] was already on another attack.<sub> </sub>


    <strong>SWOOSH! SWOOSH!</strong>


    The crystal spear pierced and iled. Only after images of the spear could be seen as it moved at an extremely fast speed.


    It was amazing that Mark was actually avoiding each attack at a hair''s breadth.


    Seeing that his attacks were being evaded with minimal effort, the [Encantado] was getting increasingly furious. His rage was growing exponentially. His intention to y with Mark before killing him became washed away as frustration began to take over.


    The [Encantado] unleashed dozens of attacks on Mark with his crystal spear in the span of a few seconds. That was how fast his movements were. Not to mention that each pierce, il, and strike were strong, causing shockwaves behind it.


    Nheless, Mark evaded each attack. His left eye glowed bright purple, while his right eye glowed bright red. Each eye left a trail of light in each move he made.


    Mark had a disadvantage in terms of strength and speed against the [Encantado]. Furthermore, Mark was relying on his wings to fly and move in the air. On the other hand, the enemy was floating using his magic. The enemy had more stability in this aerial fight.


    Even so, Mark could still evade the attacks. It was due to his left eye, allowing him to see seconds into the future. Mark already saw the attack even before the [Encantado] moved his spear.


    Furthermore, Mark had his usual strategy. His right eye glowed brighter as he imnted more and more negative emotions into the mind of his opponent. As the opponent''s mind was flooded by these emotions, their reasoning would weaken, and their ability to think be increasingly clouded.


    And worse, the opponent had no way of knowing that his mind was slowly being corroded by Mark. Furthermore, he was careful not to mix in unnecessary emotions as it could alert stronger opponents such as this [Encantado] in front of him, making it even harder to realize.


    The fight went on with Mark doing nothing but evading. He was analyzing the enemy in front of him. But for some reason, he found something odd. The [Encantado] clearly was familiar with using the spear, and each of his attacks, despite his enraged state, was sharp and was a killing blow. But as a magical creature, it was strange that the [Encantado] was not using any magic attacks, unlike the other magical creatures he fought before.


    Mark could feel that the [Encantado] was using his magical energy. However, it was all concentrated within his flight and the attacks of his crystal spear.


    It was kind of a bummer for Mark. One way that Mark could weaken an opponent was to use [Miasma] to absorb their magical attacks. He did it back them in Catanduanes against that Lord of Demons there. Yet, it would be useless if the opponent was not using magic as an attack.


    Worst, the hoarder within Mark did not want to use [Miasma] directly against this [Encantado]. It would make the fight end easily for sure. However, if the [Encantado''s] body got corrupted by [Miasma], Mark would not be able to get a new crystal from this guy at all.


    [Miasma] would corrupt the [Encantado''s] body entirely as his body was made of simr to of an elemental. It was a body made of magical energy. And since the creation of a crystal by the [PsyCrystal] needed magical energy, it would be impossible to get one from this powerful being.


    One may call it greedy, and well, it was true. But Mark also did not want to be wasteful, especially now that any resource could mean life and death to anyone.


    <strong>BOOM!</strong>


    <strong>BAM!</strong>


    As Mark dodged another stab of the crystal spear and it passed over his shoulder, the tip of the spear exploded with magical energy. Mark would not be killed by this, but he was immediately sent falling towards the burning forest below.


    Mark had his cards up his sleeves, but the [Encantado] was the same. It seemed that the crystal spear was not only controble by the [Encantado] but could also channel his magical energy at will.


    Getting his first hit, the [Encantado] smiled manically. His eyes followed the trajectory that Mark was thrown to.


    There, Mark''s fall caused quite an amount of damage to the surroundings. It was not just some explosion after all. It was an explosion created by a Diety-like being.


    Mark''s fall caused damage not only to the already burning forest. There were magical creatures and [Mutated Infected] that were pushed back by the shockwave caused by Mark''s fall.


    But then, the [Encantado] frowned. Mark vanished from his sight and he could not detect his magical energy.


    No, in the first ce, the [Encantado] could not detect any magical energy from Mark since the start. The only thing he felt was the aura that distinguished him and most of his group as Demons.


    The [Encantado] flew over the burning forest, frantically searching for his opponent. However, the only things he saw were the [Mutated Infected] and the magical races locked up in a fight for survival. Some even tried to attack him, only to get exploded to pieces after he shot them with his crystal spear.


    In the middle of the mes, Mark sat down on the ground. His clothes were tattered, and he was almost naked. His body was also riddled with wounds and burns. The explosion that sent him falling could not be joked at. If he was any weaker, he could have died.


    Sitting down on the ground, Mark was thinking of a way to fight the enemy with minimal effort. He did not want to use up the energy of his crystals since the fight with Sinogo was drawing near. As Sinogo had Kaptan''s godly energy, it was better to be prepared for the worse and unexpected circumstances.


    Mark looked up at the sky. His body was healing rapidly to the point that Mark was also surprised. By the looks of it, his [Regeneration] became stronger while he was not aware. At the same time, the golden glow of the markings on his body also seemed to be helping him heal faster.


    From where Mark sat, he could see the rampaging [Encantado]. Both the magical races and the [Mutated Infected] deemed him as an enemy. Both forces were attacking him, only to get brutally murdered.


    Seeing that it would not be a good thing for this to continue, Mark stood up.


    <strong>"Crimson,"</strong> Mark called out as the ck-colored [Bloodchild] appeared out of thin air. <strong>"Armorize."</strong>


    Themand made Crimson change his shape, stretching and covering Mark''s recovering body before turning into a sinister armor.


    Mark stared at the rampaging [Encantado]. Raising both his hands to the side, ck mes enveloped his arms.


    With Mark at the center, a vortex of ck mes was created. Furthermore, the mes that covered the forest around Mark began to turn ck, spreading at a rapid rate.


    <strong>"Let''s get a bit serious."</strong>


    Mark said, finally deciding to put effort into defeating the enemy.

 Chapter 847 Burning Line Of Defense, The Defensive Battle In The Frontlines Surrounded By Flames

    <strong>Day 237 - 12:22 PM - Secret Realm, Mount Madia-as, Panay Mountain Range, Province of An</strong>


    On the other side of the battlefield, the magical races residing in this secret realm were having a difficult time.


    <strong>SWOOSH! SWOOSH!</strong>


    Arrows rained as the winged [Centaur]-like horse-headed beings, the [Bentohangins], flew around the smoke-covered sky and shot their bows.


    <strong>BOOM!</strong>


    Balls of fire stormed the already burning forest as the three-foot-tall, me-haired women, the [Burkaws], shot their magic to their enemies.


    The other magical creatures did their best to fend against the invading [Infected]. Unfortunately, while being called magical or paranormal creatures, not all of these creatures were versed in manipting magical energy. Many still had to resort to weapons. Unfortunately, these weapons were far more primitive than what modern humans had.


    Of course, the [Infected] were doing what they were well known about. It was to use their horde''s overwhelming numbers to swarm their victims. Then, turn their victims into one of their own.


    The situation was dire for the residents of this realm. The poption of the inhabitants of this realm was small, only numbered around a thousand in the entire mountain. It was everyone, including the humans that currently resided in it. Worse, the ones actually capable of fighting did not even reach half of the number, and not everyone was present since the only area affected by the event was the north-eastern side of the mountain. The mountain was big. Most viges of the magical races were scattered about in the entire mountain. There was no way that all of them would be able to gather in one ce in a short amount of time.


    And the worst thing...


    The [Infected] managed to kill many already, turning them all into [Infected] capable of using their magical skills and fighting prowess when they were still alive. This situation caused more deaths among the camp of the defenders, causing the number of the [Infected] ones to increase further, which was stronger and had more dangerous abilities than the initial intruders, who were all [Mutated Infected] humans and animals.


    The worst about this horde, they were hard to fight in a prolonged amount of time. Since the [Mutated Infecteds''] bodies were hot, the temperature around the horde was far above the tolerable degree.


    Being outnumbered, having their own people turned against them, and with the extreme temperatures, the residents of the realm were being pushed back. There was no need to mention that because all of the [Infected] within the initial horde were all mutated, having bodies with high temperatures and burnt crust-like armor, the attacks, especially the fireballs, barely had any effect.


    Furthermore, the forest fire was quickly spreading.


    The residents of the realm could barely defend themselves. There was no way for them to subdue the mes and control the fire''s spread.


    Their line of defense easily crumbled, and the residents could only slowly retreat up the mountain while defending their lives.


    But then, while the army of Mt. Madia-as was slowly retreating the line of defense, a beam of light tore through the frontline of the marching horde of [Infected].


    The magical races looked at the sky, seeing the familiar female Demon, who now disyed her two pairs of rainbow-colored wings. Since most fighters here were present during the time that the passage to Kahilwayan was opened, they knew the familiar-looking Demon.


    Surely, the magical races hated Demons. However, this time, the warriors in the frontline could not help but feel amazed and rejoiced once they saw the frontline of the threatening invaders turn to nothingness in one go.


    Furthermore, it was not only the female Demon in the sky. On the ground, several others also reached the battlefield.


    Right now, the enemies were not the Demons nor the Humans. It was the [Infected], who were the threat to everyone.


    Mei and the others arrived.


    From the sky, Mei swooped down and transformed her weapon, the [Shooting Moon de], from a sniper rifle into arge sword. Unfortunately, although she could shoot those powerful beams more than before, they still have a limited number of empty [Mental Crystals], not to mention the [Crystal Converters] that were hard to make. And since Mark was not present here, she needed to lead the group up front. Every [Infected] present were either mutated or those with magical powers. There was no way she would let her daughters fight on the ground all on their own.


    Mei reached the ground in front of the enemies at great speeds. She could feel the sudden change in temperature, but she did not care that much as she glided towards the [Infected]. Gliding with her sword at her side, the de decapitated several [Infected] before she came to a stop. Unfortunately, the bodies of the [Mutated Infected] were hard and her speed decreased severely after each kill.


    Even so,nding on the ground was Mei''s initial intention. She held herrge sword with both hands as she began to clear the area of the burnt [Mutated Infected]. It was all to set up their battlefield, where their group would face the enemies.


    Being the fastest, Abbigale arrived riding on her rabbit golem, Inaba. The rabbit golem, designed to have strong jumping legs, jumped over and around obstacles without any effort.


    The moment the two arrived near Mei, Abbygale jumped off the rabbit golem''s back. It was a dangerous stunt for an ordinary girl as they were moving too fast. But Abbygale was far from an ordinary eight-year-old. Shended on the ground without any sound or impact like the agile cat that she was. And as soon as shended, she immediately took off to kick the nearest [Infected''s] head, causing its neck to break. Pieces of its burnt skin armor around its neck fell to the ground as its head was flung away somewhere deep within the horde.


    Inaba joined the fight with its master. Together with Abbygale, the two jumped around the battlefield, making heads fly and necks snapped everywhere.


    Soon, Amihan arrived, riding the wind she conjured. She immediately felt the hot temperature exuded by the [Infected] and the burning surroundings. As such, her first move was the use her magic to blow cold air into the surroundings. Since the wind''s temperature control was not her forte, it was not cold enough to counter the heat. However, it was more than enough to reduce the temperature to make everyonest longer in the battle. Not only the temperature but the wind Amihan conjured cleared the area of smoke and steam. It became easier for everyone to fight, not only their group but also the warriors of this realm.


    The next to arrive were I and Miracle, riding on the feline-canine golem, Cavall. Behind the three were the maid golem, Brynhildr. They were just in time as [Flying Infected] swooped down on Mei and the others. Surely, they would be able to avoid it. However, there was no need to with I present.<sub> </sub>


    With a wave of her hand, I conjured a barely visible barrier facing the iing [Flying Infected]. The unknowing [Flying Infected] mmed onto the barrier and immediately started to burn. Since some of them were newly turned ones, the barrier burnt them to crisp. However, the already [Mutated Infected], having burnt bodies with already high temperatures, were still alive.


    The [Flying Infected] that survived I''s [Burning Barrier] fell to the ground. Charging towards I''s barrier at high speeds was not something advisable, [Infected] or not.


    Of course, the [Infected] that fell were still alive and would recover in any second. But before they could do so, Miracle''s small figure together with Cavall appeared to destroy the necks of the [Infected]. The strength of the two was more than enough to crush the burnt skin armor of the [Mutated Infected]. Furthermore, as the two were both non-human, the heat could not bother them at all, and they could perform at their best.


    Finally, thest of the group arrived. It was the Chinese Sword Cultivator, Feng Zhiruo, and the maid golem, Brynhildr. It was not like the two were slow. It was just that the other members of the group moved faster than the two.


    Without waiting for anything, Brynhildr moved in front of her master, I. After all, I''s power was more for defense than attack, and the girl would need her strength as an intelligent weapon. Transforming her right arm into a sword and left arm into a shield, Brynhildr activated one of her forms on her own, the [Assault Defender Mode]. In this form, her specialty was to intercept and kill any threat that would approach her master.


    On the other side, Feng Zhiruo also joined the fray. In each wave of her sword, a head would fly. One could also see a thin film of energy around her body as she used her [Inner Energy] or [Ki] to protect her from the harsh temperature.


    GRROOOAAA!!!


    All of a sudden, arge [Mutated Infected] charged through after spotting the group. Like the others, its body was all burnt and crusted, with cracks glowing likeva. However, while seemingly a mutated human, it was about three meters tall with its body having the shape of a bloated gourd. It unstably tottered towards the group, knocking and killing any obstacle on its way. Whether it was a burning tree or another [Infected] did not matter. Therge [Infected] charged like a crazy madman towards its target.


    The first within therge [Mutated Infected''s] trajectory was Feng Zhiruo.


    One would fear the charge of this [Mutated Infected], as it could mow down trees and arge number of [Infected] in its path. Even crushing some of its allies under its feet.


    But Feng Zhiruo only raised her de in front of her. Staring straight at the [Mutated Infected], she released a breath of air, taking in another breath in a certain rhythm. Her [Inner Energy] circted within her body fiercely and soared towards the de of her sword.


    And then, Feng Zhiruo''s soaring energy stabilized as if it was not flowing fiercely in the first ce. At this point, therge [Mutated Infected] was just a few steps away before grabbing onto her small body.


    Suddenly, just as the [Mutated Infected''s] arms stretched out to grab Feng Zhiruo, her figure blurred before vanishing. Therge [Mutated Infected] froze in this tracks as Feng Zhiruo''s figure appeared behind it, with her sword stretched at her left side.


    "[Noiseless de]."


    Feng Zhiruo muttered.


    Without any sign of being shed, the body of therge [Mutated Infected] began to crumble into pieces. Each of its pieces fell to the ground, finally making noises.


    Multiple shes without making any noise as it cut its target to pieces. It was a [Ki] infused sword technique that Feng Zhiruo could not perform at all in the past. It was named as such because it was a silent killing technique. Nheless, it was not a technique that was made not to make any sound at all. Instead, it was a technique that disyed fast, strong, and urate shes that were more than enough to avoid making any sound of cutting flesh and bones or even the sound of friction between the de and the air in the surroundings.


    After killing therge [Mutated Infected], Feng Zhiruo faced the other enemies near her, releasing a few more techniques which mowed down quite a number of [Infected] at every sh of her sword.


    The arrival of Mei and the others and the scene of them mowing down enemy after enemy. It was witnessed by the warriors of this realm. Their morale rose as they began to advance instead of retreating.


    Furthermore, Amihan''s methods were seen by the fleeing [Sylphs].


    They finally found something where they could help as they tried to copy her. Of course, their strength was nothingpared to Amihan individually. However, there were many of them. Together, they were able to perform the same technique and managed to aid their warriors in this fight for survival.


    Soon, Silim arrived. Just her appearance alone rose the fighting spirit of the warriors even more. And with her killing the [Infected] using her magical energy put the frontline into a standstill.


    Unfortunately, even Silim could not do much to stop the mes from consuming the forest. At most, she could slow its spread as shemanded the unburnt trees to bend away from the mes.


    It was at this time that something crashed in the middle of the burning forest, followed by the [Encantado] that was the cause of this mess. Surely, the [Encantado] was swarmed by attacks of the angry magical creatures and was also targetted by the [Infected] below him.


    Silim and Mei saw who the one that fell. As they knew that it was Mark, they immediately shifted their attacks to the [Encantado], thinking that he was able to overpower Mark.


    Unfortunately, Silim''s magical attacks barely affected the [Encantado], and Mei''s bullets could not even scratch the enemy''s body.


    As Mei was thinking of shooting another beam using the [Crystal Converter], the unexpected scene urred.


    The mes that consumed the forest began to change in color in a certain area. The red hot mes turned into a hellish tint of ck. Those ck mes began to spread, swallowing arge area in the middle of the burning forest.


    This eerie scene was witnessed by everyone, warrior or not. Of course, many of them could not help but feel scared, while the [Encantado] flying in the air was also baffled at the scene.

 Chapter 848 [Miasmic Flames], The True Nature Of Marks Elemental Abilities

    <strong>Day 237 - 12:28 PM - Secret Realm, Mount Madia-as, Panay Mountain Range, Province of An</strong>


    ck mes began to rage around Mark as he stared at the enemy in the sky.


    Currently, the scene in the sky was extremely chaotic.


    The visibility was very low. There was smoke everywhere, not to mention the heat causing the view to be blurred and hazy.


    Even with the low visibility, it was not hard to see the situation above from below. It was theplete opposite from above, however. The smoke and mes prevented anyone from above from easily seeing anything below.


    In the sky, the furious [Encantado] was looking for Mark. However, he could not focus on searching for Mark. Anything that saw him, after all, attacked him. The magical races saw him as an enemy, while the [Infected] saw him as potential prey.


    This situation, however, caused more deaths among both forces. There was no way these magical races or [Infected] would be able to take down this enraged [Encantado].


    In any case, the attacks that the [Encantado] were receiving were more than enough to hinder him from finding his opponent.


    There was no need to mention that even Mei and Silim started firing their own attacks at the enemy.


    Everything happened as Mark watched, surrounded by mes, regenerating his wounds.


    Mark conjured his mes. The ck mes that he got after he and Ignis formed a contract. Ignis initially had normal-looking mes it could conjure. But when the contract between the [Cursed Sword] and Mark formed, Ignis grew into a [Demon Sword]. Mark and Ignis then shared the ability to conjure mes due to the contract.


    But differentpared to ordinary contracts, not only did Ignis evolve to be a stronger magical weapon, but the normal-looking mes became ck in color.


    Even to Ignis, who had knowledge about simr contracts after being a member of [Auraboros], this situation was something unprecedented. Normally, even if the contractor and the magical weapon shared the weapon''s ability, it would remain the same.


    Mark continued to conjure the mes. It began to spread, turning the mes of the burning forest ck.


    What was different from his contract with Ignis? Because there was a unique circumstance that only Mark had.


    Mark held [Miasma] in his body, something that not just anyone would be able to. Since [Formless Demons], also born from [Miasma], had extremely destructive urges, they could not form contracts with magical weapons either.


    Thus, Mark was likely the first person, wielding [Miasma], that was able to have a contract with a magical weapon.


    However...


    What was the main property of [Miasma]? What was its greatest and strongest effect on things?


    [Miasma''s] strongest aspect was [Corrosion]. It was a form of corroded magical energy born by a congregation of strong negative energies and sentiments.


    Everything that [Miasma] touches would be corroded, especially living beings and any form of magical energy.


    Magical energy bing corroded would turn it into [Miasma], which would be a part of the original cause of the corrosion. It was how [Miasma] would absorb other magical energy and grow stronger.


    And Mark, having [Miasma] in his body, caused the mutation of the other magical abilities he acquired. The mes he got from Ignis turned ck due to this. It was also the [Miasma] and Mark''s pure demon blood that caused Ignis to evolve.


    It was not only the mes. Mark''s lightning turned ck because of his [Miasma]. Not to mention that although not that noticeable, Mark''s [Empath] abilities also got affected by the [Miasma], boosting the effects to some extent when he was channeling negative emotions to his targets. Unfortunately, since his [Empath] abilities could not be seen in any form, The change went unnoticed.


    And it was not only the color of the mes and lightning changed because of the [Miasma].


    These ck-colored abilities that Mark had inherited some properties that [Miasma].


    For the first time, Mark put the ability of his mes, the [Miasmic mes], into use.


    Corrode, convert, and absorb. Mark''s [Miasmic mes] corroded the mes in the surroundings, converting it all into ck mes and absorbing the mes into his own.


    As one would know, a person''s magical energy was not infinite. Depending on the usage, it would run out sooner orter.


    But with Mark turning the non-magical mes into his own magical one, he barely used his magical energy but gained more power at his arsenal.


    Mark closed his eyes and took a deep breath. An area of mes a few dozens of meters around him had already turned into his own power. Unfortunately, turning these mes into his own and freely manipting the mes were two different things.


    In fact, both Mark''s [Miasmic mes] and [Miasmic Lightning] could not be manipted freely. Since he got these abilities, he never actually showed that he could directly control them, making them like telekic energy balls in anime, flying everywhere the user willed.


    Mark only used these abilities by either discharging them from his body or shooting them in a straight line.


    It was the same now.


    After all... Acquiring elemental magic never always meant full control over it, especially since it could not be something that one was born with.


    Even if Mark converted the mes around him into his own, although he could make it disappear, he could not freely manipte it on its own.


    Yes, only on its own.


    Atst, Mark''s body healed fully. He also reached the limit of the farthest distance he could convert the mes.


    It was time to attack.


    The [Psycrystal] glowed, and Mark called out the [Wind Maniption Crystal].


    Strong winds began surging, the ck mes swayed violently.


    The fluctuation of energy from the [Wind Maniption Crystal] alerted the [Encantado] of Mark''s position. The smoke was blown away, showing Mark standing with his sinister ck armor and a marble-like crystal circling around his right wrist.


    Seeing Mark, the [Encantado] caused a surge of energy around him, throwing everyone attacking him away by force before charging at Mark like a maniac.


    However, it was toote.


    <strong>WHOOOSH!</strong>


    A vortex of ck mes shot from below, forming a thin fire tornado and blocking the [Encantado''s] path towards Mark. The [Encantado] arrogantly brushed the fire tornado, shing it off using his crystal spear. But then...


    <strong>"AGH!!!!"</strong>


    The [Encantado] froze on his spot with a painful yell. Bits and pieces of the mes that he tried to brush off touched his supposedly undamageable skin. The small ck mestched onto his skin, causing him extreme pain.


    As one would immediately do, the [Encantado] tried to put off the ck mes on his body, which he managed to do. Nheless, patches of his skin were already burnt in the extremely short time that the ck mes touched his skin.


    This situation rmed the [Encantado] greatly.


    The [Encantado] could brush off Silim''s strongest attack without defending. Yet, a small bit of ck me caused him so much pain and burnt his skin.


    And to the [Encantado''s] horror...


    One, two, three... Numerous vortices formed in theke of ck mes.


    The [Encantado] looked at Mark, who also stared back with a smile.


    Mark opened his wings and prepared a weapon for him to use. This time, as Ignis was not present, he brought out his first pair of whip-des, the [Slicer] and the [Divider].


    <strong>BOOM!</strong>


    A shockwave swayed the ck mes as Mark kicked the ground and took flight.


    The scene in front of him immediately gave the [Encantado] a grave chill in his spine.<sub> </sub>


    It was not only Mark that took flight. At the same time, the vortices of ck mes shot towards the sky.


    Mark shed forward with both des as he arrived in front of the [Encantado]. Both suddenly burst into ck mes, causing the [Encantado] to dodge rather than receive the attack.


    However, both des extended forward to the [Encantado''s] shock. At thest moment, he avoided the des with an awkward maneuver.


    But then, the vortices of ck mes arrived.


    Numerous thin fire tornados soared to the sky, trying to hit the [Encantado] one after another. The [Encantado], who was looking arrogant before, was now extremely afraid as he frantically avoided all the iing fire tornados attacking him.


    Not to mention that Mark was also attacking the [Encantado] with his whip-des d in [Miasmic mes].


    The battle between Mark and the [Encantado] hade into a drastic turnaround.


    Before, it was Mark who was on the defensive, avoiding every attack of the [Encantado] with his crystal spear.


    Now, it was Mark who was on the offensive, and the [Encantado] could not even have the slightest time to counterattack.


    <strong>"GAH!"</strong>


    Of course, no matter how strong a person was, it was rather hard to avoid a formless attack. The fire did not have a concrete form or shape. Without anything putting it into ce, it would either scatter or vanish. Worse, an item or even could even cause it to forcefully spread.


    Several fire tornados surged towards the [Encantado] at the same time. The [Encantado] evaded the attacks and managed to go unscathed, making the rest of the spiraling mes pass around him.


    But then, Mark waved his hand,manding the [Wind Maniption Crystal] flying around his wrist to do something.


    The spiraling fire tornados suddenly spun the opposite way. It caused the ck mes following the previous direction of the wind to face resistance and scatter.


    All of a sudden, the [Encantado]''s eyes widened in shock as he found himself in the middle of ck mes scattered everywhere he turned his eyes onto.


    No matter how fast the [Encantado] could fly, there was no escaping this attack unless he had some space bending abilities... which unfortunately he did not.


    <strong>"GAAAAAAHHHH!!!"</strong>


    A nket of [Miasmic mes] covered the [Encantado], causing him to make a spine-chilling scream as almost his whole body burned horribly.


    <strong>CRACKLE!</strong>


    But, of course, despite the pain the ck mes caused the [Encantado], it was not enough to defeat him...


    That was why...


    With several loud crackling sounds, streaks of ck lightning bolts shot from Mark''s swords.


    <strong>"GAAAAHHH!!!"</strong>


    The wails of the [Encantado] intensified as he was hit numb by the [Miasmic Lightning] Mark released.


    Mark did not expect this kind of reaction from the [Encantado]. He used these attacks on other enemies before, but he never saw them wail in pain like they were being crushed to pieces.


    But then, it dawned on Mark.


    [Miasma] corrodes magical energy. This property of [Miasma] was channeled unto his mes and lightning, although not as potent as the origin.


    As a spirit-like being, the [Encantado''s] body was made of magical energy. For every attack that Mark made and hit, the [Encantado''s] body, and worse, existence, were being chipped off painfully.


    The rage that the [Encantado] had started dissipating as he finally realized the danger.


    Flee. That was the only thing the [Encantado] had in mind due to his current predicament.


    <strong>BOOM!</strong>


    A shockwave of magical energy exploded around the [Encantado], forcing the mes, lightning, and Mark away.


    Here, the [Encantado''s] body was now seen, riddled with burns, severe enough to be deadly to humans. His handsome face was also destroyed, but he could not care anymore. His life was now in jeopardy.


    The [Encantado] turned around without looking at Mark. Gritting his teeth to endure the pain, he tried to fly away.


    Mark knew what the [Encantado] had in mind as he could sense his fear after he experienced Mark''s unique abilities.


    There was no way that Mark would let this guy flee.


    <strong>SWOOSH!</strong>


    Turning into a surge of ck mist, Mark overtook the [Encantado] and intercepted his path with shes from both his whip-des.


    Mark''s sudden appearance in front of him took the [Encantado] by surprise. Even so, he tried to defend, moving his crystal spear to block the two whip-des.


    The [Encantado] did not realize. Another crystal already appeared, floating around Mark''s right wrist.


    <strong>BANG!</strong>


    A burst of light exploded from the crystal, immediately blinding the [Encantado] since he was facing Mark.


    The next thing that the [Encantado] felt was the unbelievable pain in his waist. He could not feel his lower body anymore.


    After receiving Mark''s attack, the [Encantado] began to fall. The temporary blindness faded. The [Encantado] saw his lower body falling separately from him.


    Slowly, his eyes began to blur.


    <strong>"HAHAHAHAHA!"</strong>


    He realized what was happening and began tough hysterically.


    The [Encantado] could not believe it. He was dying. After thousands of years living in the secr [Spirit Dimension], he was finally dying.


    <strong>"You won! HAHAHAHAHA!" </strong>The [Encantado] yelled maniacally. "But don''t think I will go down and just ept my fate!"


    At those words, Mark began to shiver. A huge amount of magical energy was gathering at a rapid rate. At the center of it was the dying [Encantado].


    "Well, sh*t..."


    Mark cursed, immediately leaving the location and rushing towards the frontlines of the battle.


    The moment Mark arrived...


    <strong>"EVERYONE! GET DOWN!"</strong>


    Mark roared as he waved his hand, releasing a huge amount of [Miasma] from his body and creating a wall in front of everyone.


    <strong>BOOOM!!!</strong>


    All of a sudden, everything was enveloped in a surge of blinding light as the whole mountain shook from a gigantic explosion.

 Chapter 849 Moutain-Deep Crater, The Aftermath Of The Explosion Of The [Encatados] Magical Energy

    <strong>Day 237 - 12:32 PM - Secret Realm, Mount Madia-as, Panay Mountain Range, Province of An, Ind of Panay</strong>


    <strong>RUMBLE!!!</strong>


    With the booming sound of explosion and rumbling sound of the ground, the entire Secret Realm of Mount Madia-as shook violently.


    As someone with the strength of a Deity, the amount of energy that the [Encantado] unleashed as he self-destructed was massive.


    Mark immediately flew towards the frontline, specifically in front of his group, and unleashed his [Miasma]. The ck wall of corrupted energy stood in front of everyone, protecting everyone from the brunt of the suicidal attack.


    Silim and the other residents of this realm also did their best to fend against the surging energy.


    The [Encantado] might not have relied on magical attacks due to his nature as a spear-wielding warrior. However, the energy he released upon death was not any less than what Silim had in her peak condition.


    And this power...


    It was more than enough to topple a considerablyrge mountain t.


    Thus, even with the actions, everyone did to try and fend against the [Encantado''s] rampaging energy explosion, everyone started getting blown away because of the shockwave spreading from the explosion.


    Mark held his hand forward as he stood in front of his group. He began unleashing all the energy from the [Wind Maniption Mental Crystal]. Right now, only this and his [Miasma] could be used to defend.


    The wall of [Miasma] could defend them from getting hit by the exploding magical energy directly. However, blocking the shockwave was not something it could do. And that was what Mark used the [Wind Maniption Mental Crystal] for. He created a barrier of spiraling wind, defending them from the shockwave and the debris it blew their way.


    Unfortunately, there was no way that Mark would be able to defend everyone. His priority was his family and group members. The others had to defend themselves.


    The wind blew strongly, apanied by the rumbling of the entire mountain.


    Everyone flying in the sky was blown away, crashing on the face of the mountain, toppling trees, and destroying the terrain.


    The terrain cracked, rocks rolled down from the peak, and arge amount of dirt fell down in a massivendslide.


    Destruction ensued all over the mountain. Deaths were numerous, even to those that did not participate at all.


    On the opposite side of the mountain, the vige where the half-breeds and humans lived, most houses were built of cliff faces and trees. The entire mountain shaking caused the houses to copse and the cliffs to crumble, killing a number of people.


    Large trees fell, unable to endure the intensity of the earthquake.


    As they said, the me that burns twice as bright burns half as long.


    With the intensity of the explosion of the [Encantado''s] energy, it vanished after a short time.


    Even so, no one could deny the damage it did in the short time it bloomed brightly.


    The earth''s rumbling ceased and the wind calmed down.


    Everyone hugging the ground stood up one after another.


    Mark''s group was the same. Although Mark cast severalyers of protection, they could only sit down and clutch the ground to keep them from falling over.


    Finally, Mark took down and wall of [Miasma] and the barrier of wind around his group.


    And there, the scene in front of them was horrifying.


    An immeasurable crater was left in front of everyone. The crater formed an almost perfect circle as it was created by the explosion of energy alone.


    Just howrge was the crater?


    One could probably fit more than half of Mt. Madia-as inside it. That was how horrifyingrge the crater was. Furthermore, it was only at that size because Mark''s wall of [Miasma] stopped the energy from moving in their direction. If Mark''s [Miasma] did not absorb the energy that went their way, it would not be surprising of the crater was asrge as the entire mountain itself.


    That was how powerful Deities were. At their will, and even at their death, they could cause such an amount of destruction that no regr person could survive.


    Mark walked forward, standing at the edge of the crater where the wall of [Miasma] was before. From here, whaty in front of him was nothing but a deep pit of death.


    It was good that the [Miasma] absorbed the energying their way. Or else, the wall would only be able to protect the surface and still destroyed everything below them. If that happened, despite the wall of [Miasma] and barrier or wind, many would still end up falling to their deaths.


    As Mark absorbed the [Miasma] back into his body, Mark could not help but feel stronger than before. This result was something he did not expect, but a well-weed one.


    Still, it was not what Mark wanted initially.


    Mark stared at the deep crater and sighed. The damn [Encantado] self-destructed. Because of this, it was impossible for Mark to get any crystal from that guy now.


    Maybe, Mark could have used the [PsyCrystal] to absorb some of the energy unleashed by the [Encantado''s] self-destruction. However, everything happened so fast that there was no time to think about things other than the safety of his family and group members.


    And even if Mark managed to absorb energy into the [PsyCrystal], without the guy''s body, he would only get an [Empty Mental Crystal], or at best, an element attributed crystal.


    Mark went all the trouble not to use [Miasma] on the guy but still ended up with nothing...


    "Gege, you okay?"


    Mei asked Mark, approaching him with the little girls.


    "I''m okay," Mark replied and looked at his family. "How is everyone?"


    "Gale fell because of the tremors and got her knee bruised, but everything else is fine."


    Mark bent down and looked at Abbygale standing beside Mei. The little cat girl''s right knee had a little bit of skin scraped.


    "Does it hurt?"


    Mark asked.


    "No."


    Abbygale replied with a shake of her head.


    "Gale is a strong girl, after all."


    Mark smiled and patted her head, which caused Miracle to grab the hem of Mark''s torn pants to get attention. With a bitter shrug, Mark also patted the younger sister''s head.


    Well, both Abbygale and Miracle were closest to Mark. It was not surprising to have some rivalry between the two for Mark''s attention. But seriously, Mark would have to give them some lectures regarding this afterward.


    At this time, Silim approached Mark''s group with Magwayen floating beside her.<sub> </sub>


    Mark could not help but notice something odd. Silim seemed to be even more cautious towards him.


    "Asking for your help did pay off."


    Magwayen was the first to speak, while Silim just stared at Mark silently.


    "I''m just returning the favor," Mark replied. "Anyways, it''s not over yet."


    As Mark said, the battle had not ended.


    Caused by the shockwave, the fire spread further. Some of the uprooted trees were already burning in the first ce. Some burning matter was carried away by the wind and fell on areas where the fire had yet to reach and ignited.


    Not to mention the [Infected]. The explosion swallowed a good chunk of the horde, probably the majority of them. However, there was still arge number that remained. Some of them even got flung far away from the battlefield and would definitely cause problems soon.


    At this time, a ck hole appeared in the sky, causing some outburst from the surviving magical creatures.


    And there, therge cube-shaped floating vessel entered the Secret Realm.


    "It''s our ride."


    Mark told Silim, as she was already on guard.


    Those words from Mark made Silim look at Magwayen, only to receive an acknowledging nod. This made Silim lower her guard down a bit. She was still cautious of Mark, however.


    No, it was not just Silim. In fact, all the magical creatures nearby that survived were looking at Mark with heightened alert. Mark already noticed the fact. He just decided not to ask any questions for now.


    The [Mini Cube] floated down after finding Mark and the rest of the group. After itnded, the three that returned, Spera, Chimetrice, and Ilia, jumped out.


    "What the hell happened here?"


    Illia asked, looking at the horrifyinglyrge crater.


    "What caused you guys to arrivete?"


    Mark asked the three. After all, the battle was already halfway or more over already. Yet, the three just arrived.


    "We''re not missing for that long, you know?" Spera replied. "Besides, we had to clear a bit of [Infected] lurking around the [Mini Cube] since there was quite a number gathered when we arrived there."


    It was not a surprising thing. In the first ce, the [Mini Cube] was a vessel that run on high amounts of magical energy. This would draw the nearby [Infected] unto the vessel when left alone. By what it looked like, there must be quite a number that gathered since they had to take care of the [Infected] first before living.


    "And then, I can''t open a portal back in until now. There''s some distortion preventing me from connecting the two ces."


    Spera added.


    The excuse Spera made was usible. Mark and the [Encantado] were in a heated battle until just now. Since they were strong beings, their use of their magical energies might have some strong effects on the surroundings, preventing Spera from being able to connect a portal. It also happened before to Spera, when Mark fought Gar''m in Bay City.


    "Is there anything left for us to do?"


    Chimetrice asked, knowing that some kind of battle had already ended after looking at the aftermath.


    "The [Infected] got scattered all over the mountain. We have to kill them all."


    Mark grumbled a bit, knowing how much of work it would be, searching for the [Infected] humans and magical creatures that got blown away because of the explosion.


    "But first, we should deal with the fire."


    Mark said, looking at the mes that continued to rage and swallow the remaining forest.


    "Do you have an idea?"


    Silim finally broke her silence and asked. Right now, the fire was the most troublesome for them. If left alone, the whole mountain would turn into a burnt barrelnd in no time.


    "I have one." Mark nodded. "That''s if you don''t mind getting wet. Probably, gather the [Burkaws] away from the mes too."


    "Getting wet is not an issue," Silim said. "I willmunicate with my people and tell the [Burkaws] to hide. What will you do?"


    "I''ll make it rain a bit."


    Mark replied, making Silim a bit surprised.


    Making rain was not as easy as it was said. Controlling weather was not something that anyone could pull off without a unique power, after all. And it was Mark who said it, after already showing several monstrous abilities in his arsenal.


    Even so, Silim did not question it. Instead, she beganmunicating with her people using her mind.


    Surely, many magical creatures died and more were injured. But after receiving their Deity''s message, they immediately went to work.


    A few minutes passed, Chimetrice had already gone off to eliminate the [Infected]. As for the rest, they stayed in one ce to rest. The battle earlier might be short, but it literally felt like it took a good chunk of their lifespan. After all, they were all just in the face of death after that [Encantado] exploded and Mark was the only one who separated them from that fate.


    The mes still raged and began spreading even more. But this time, everyone seemed calmer.


    Soon, Silim gave her go. All [Burkaws] had already evacuated. As beings of fire, these little girls with fiery hair were not too friendly with water. Rain was one of their adversaries.


    And here, Mark took out the crystal with a deep-blue glowing orb inside it.


    Mark raised his right hand towards the sky, causing the crystal floating in front of his palm to glow brightly.


    The energy was released from the crystal, causing great surprise to Silim and Magwayen.


    "The power of the Eastern Sea King."


    Silim voiced out, recognizing the power flowing out of the crystal.


    The Eastern Sea King. The title of the king of [Mer] people in the eastern seas of the Philippines.


    This revtion made Silim view Mark in an even more cautious manner. After all, not only did Mark had shown the ability to control [Miasma], the most feared power by the magical creatures, but also showed that he had a crystal that contained the power of the Eastern Sea King.


    Why was Mark in possession of such powers?


    Right now, although Mark showed no ill will towards them, they could not help but see him as a threat. And Silim felt ashamed of it, considering they were receiving help from him at this moment.


    These emotions sprouted as the dark clouds in the sky converged and rain began to fall unto the mountain''s burning and devastatedndscape.

 Chapter 850 Talk Over Dinner, The Aftermath Of The [Encantados] Invasion

    <strong>Day 237 - 7:26 PM - Secret Realm, Mount Madia-as, Panay Mountain Range, Province of An, Ind of Panay</strong>


    Nighttime came fast while everyone was left busy dealing with the aftermath.


    Although the battle had ended, it was not over yet.


    The [Infected] scattered by the explosions all over the mountain were hunted down one by one. It was not hard to do so as the [Infected] were rather easy to bait and would not pose much of a threat when they were alone. Still, as they were scattered everywhere, it took a lot of time and effort to find and kill them all. In fact, everyone was still on guard, as they would not know whether there were still some [Infected] that they missed.


    Since the [Infected] could take different sizes and forms, it would be easy to miss some of them. Not to mention smaller magical creatures, such as [Sylphs] and [Burkaws], got infected during the battle. That was why they could not finalize that they had already eradicated the threat.


    To be sure, Silim assigned some of her warriors to patrol the mountain regrly. This way, they could feel safer, although it would likely take days for things to calm down.


    And after the rain ended and all the big fires were extinguished, everyone could finally see the aftermath in a clearer picture.


    On the north and eastern areas of Mount Madi-as, the fire caused by the [Mutated Infected] left a wide area of burnt forests and grasnd. Not all fires had been extinguished yet. Some piles of rocks and rubble seemed to be smoking from beneath them, indicating a possible source of fire that the rain could not put off.


    It was the same for therge trees, as the rain could only touch the surface of the burnt trees. Inside therge trunks of these trees, there was the possibility of still ignited coal. Of course, at the current state, these threes would not pose a threat any longer as long as the coal burnt out before the burnt tree was fully dried up.


    The darkened and burnt forest might be eye-catching. Still, not as eye-catching as the gigantic hole at the north-eastern foot of the mountain. It was wide enough that it literally reached the northeast border of the Secret Realm. Furthermore, the crater was deep enough that a person would definitely die if someone fell into its deeper areas.


    Imagine falling off a crater as deep as arge mountain. And if one did, there was no need to imagine having their bodies intact once they reached the bottom.


    Such power... It was the raw power of a Deity used for destruction.


    What about Gods, then? How much power could they disy?


    This question sure entered everyone''s minds. There was no way no one would question it after seeing the full might of a dying Deity.


    ***


    Under the shade of the sleeping [Pure Spirit Tree] of the Ancient Visayan God of Death, Sidapa, a gathering of people was happening.


    Of course, it was no other than Mark''s group, who were cooking and preparing dinner.


    In normal circumstances, no one would be allowed around this tree. Only Silim and her close confidants could approach this sacred tree.


    Today, an exception was made.


    Due to the events that transpired earlier today, Mark and his group could be hailed as the heroes that saved this Secret Realm.


    <o>,m They were literally on the verge of defeat and destruction and would have to sumb to such fate if Mark was not present.</o>


    Silim was nearing defeat against the [Encantado], and if she had fallen, there were no other people here that could fight a being of his level. Not to mention the event when the [Encantado] self-destructed.


    If Silim did manage to defeat the [Encantado], there was no guarantee that he would not do the same in that circumstance. And if the [Encantado] self-destructed after Silim defeated him, the [Diwata] had no way of stopping the explosion, and it would end up obliterating the entire mountain.


    Mark did them a huge favor. Not only did he defeat the [Encantado], but he also stopped the utter destruction of their sacred mountain and saved the lives of everyone left inside it.


    Letting Mark''s group approach the tree and allowing them to sit under the sacred tree was nothingpared to the favor they now owed him. This tree might not even exist now if the [Encantado] seeded in whatever he nned to do so.


    The whole group gathered under the [Pure Spirit Tree], and the [Mini Cube] could be seen nearby.


    Like before, cooking was mainly left to Mei and Mark. Boiling water intended to make hot chocte was left to Spera and Ilia. The two women untalented with cooking sure could do this much.


    What was the hot chocte for?


    A mountain after rainfall sure was cold. Furthermore, hot drinks would help people calm down.


    And without a doubt, Feng Zhiruo needed some calming down.


    Fighting and killing the [Infected] would not faze this female Chinese Cultivator. However, it was not surprising that she felt fear after experiencing the intensity of the explosion that the [Encantado] caused. Without Mark, that event was more than enough to erase them from existence and the only thing separating them from death was Mark''s wall of [Miasma].


    The fear towards overwhelming power. It was not new to Feng Zhiruo as she felt the same feeling after meeting Mark. Even so, it was not something that she could get used to.


    Well, unless a person was crazy or had some mental problems, no one would get used to the feeling of being on the verge of death.


    That was why only Mei and Mark, who were cooking right now, even though Feng Zhiruo would also help most of the time. She was not in the best shape to do so.


    One surprising thing, however, was Amihan. She, who one would expect to have the same reaction as Feng Zhiruo, did not look too affected. They almost died, yet, she seemed fine. It was really surprising since she was the type to scream and flee just after being seen by a human.


    It looked like even Amihan had grown mentally after all this time, and her trust that Mark would protect them negated her fear towards the frightening situation.<sub> </sub>


    On the other hand, Mark was not in the best mood either. He was chopping vegetables with an annoyed expression that everyone could see.


    The reason for Mark''s foul mood? Well, the [Encantado]. The guy self-destructed, making Mark get nothing after defeating him. Worse, the explosion that the [Encantado] caused swallowed arge area and created a crater, destroying everything in its wake.


    It destroyed everything, including the majority of the [Infected] horde, the giant [Mutated Infected Turtle], and even the already dead bodies of the [Infected]. It meant that all of the possible loots that Mark could have acquired were all erased from existence because of a sore loser who would not just die peacefully.


    Who would not feel annoyed with that? A gamer would feel annoyed losing things in a game, not to mention losing things in reality.


    With all those antics going on, dinner was soon served. This time''s dinner was vegetable and egg soup. Perfect for the cold temperature of the mountain.


    Halfway through their bowl of soup, Silim arrived with Magwayen. The two were away all this time to assess the damage throughout the entire realm of Mount Madia-as.


    And looking at their faces, the damage seemed to be enormous. Well, the burnt forest and the crater were more than enough to assess the damage. However, it seemed that they managed to finalize the unfortunate result.


    The damage in the terrain of the mountain aside, the number of casualties was massive for the realm''s poption. More than half of the warriors that fought the horde died, with most deathsing from the explosion that the [Encantado] caused.


    Those deaths caused by the explosion were not only the ones swallowed by it. Some got buried under thendslides. There were also those that identally encountered the [Infected] that got blown away by the explosions.


    Apparently, there were some magical creaturesing from other parts of the mountain to help when the explosion happened. Not knowing what was going on and what the threat was, they tried to help the creatures they saw that were sent flying because of the explosion... Only to get bitten and killed by surprise.


    The army of Mount Madia-as was reduced by a third in one event. There was no way that Silim would not feel dejected for this.


    Furthermore, it seemed that the barrier separating this realm from the outside world was damaged when the [Encantado] forced entry and let the [Infected] in. With the explosion, the damage to the barrier intensified and it would need a while to fix it since this realm was different from those that [Diwatas] could make. It was made initially by the Ancient Visayan Gods and Silim would not be able to fix it easily.


    Furthermore, although no one was able to notice it, the time flow inside the realm was beginning to catch up to the time flow outside. It was due to the damage to the barrier. If left damaged for too long, the flow of time inside the realm would stabilize at the same speed as outside. It was not something deadly or devastating but it was not something desirable.


    But at this point, a question came from Spera.


    Why was it always that the flow of time within subdimensions was far slower than the flow of time in the mortal world.


    And this question made Mark and the others nod. It was not the first time. All the previous realms they entered, even the [Spirit Dimension] had time flow slower than the mortal world.


    Yet, none of them knew why.


    And here, Silim gave the answer after Magwayen allowed her to do so.


    The main reason for this was because of Earth.


    In the first ce, Earth was a world created without magic. It was a world destined for scientific advancement and lifestyle.


    And when the foreign Gods arrived during the lost era, it was only when that Earth first experienced to have magical energy. The existence of the Gods caused magical energy to be abundant for a long time.


    But when the next era arrived and the foreign Gods were either ousted or killed, the remaining magical energy was transferred to the Spirit Dimension. And without the abundance of Gods, there was no source forrge amounts of magical energy to be created in a supposedly magicless world.


    Unfortunately, magical beings needed magical energy to survive. Thus, the remaining magical energy would be used up quickly if left alone, unless people managed to find means to generate it.


    In order to preserve the magical energy longer, the flow of time inside the subdimensions and the [Spirit Dimension] were slowed downpared to the [Mortal Dimension].


    In the first ce, the difference in the flow of time was one of the factors differentiating the realms from the world outside. If the flow of time was the same inside and outside, both dimensions would revolve together, soon erasing the barrier and fusing the two dimensions immediately without resistance.


    After hearing that, Mark realized something.


    Before the fusion of dimensions, the flow of time inside the [Spirit Dimension] began to catch up to the flow in Earth. This made Mark understand that the change in the flow of time was all a preparation to allow the two dimensions to fuse with fewer repercussions.


    Now that Mark thought about it... What would happen if two dimensions with different time flow merged abruptly.


    Would it cause a rupture in time and space?


    It was such an interesting thought for Mark that his mood raised a bit.


    The talk continued over the non-existent dinner table.


    In the next few days, Silim would dedicate her time to fixing the damage in the barrier of this realm.


    Unfortunately, Mark''s group did not have the luxury to loiter around any further. After another day of rest, they would set off to continue their journey.


    After all, Sinogo would not just stay put and wait while they waste more time.

 Chapter 851 Unexpected Loot, A Weapon Used In A Way It Did Not Seem To Be

    <strong>Day 238 - 8:21 AM - Secret Realm, Mount Madia-as, Panay Mountain Range, Province of An, Ind of Panay</strong>


    The next day.


    It was the day after Mark and hispany exited the Kahilwayan and after they thwarted the attack of the [Encantado].


    Things had yet to calm down. And, of course, it would take even more time for things to return to normal. There was no way that things would turn back perfectly, however. After all, deaths were not something reversible.


    Not to mention that the effects of the battle were littered all over the mountain.


    It was early morning, Mark''s group was amidst their breakfast. They nned to use this day to rest and prepare before they leave tomorrow.


    This night, the group had no choice but to camp near the sleeping [Pure Spirit Tree]. Before, they were allowed to spend the night in the old vige, but that was not possible anymore.


    More than half of the old vige where Mark''s group spent the night before was destroyed. The situation there was not surprising since the structures were rather old. It was already good that some of the houses survived the impact of the explosion that shook the whole mountain.


    Currently, the remaining houses in the old vige were barely able to contain the group of the sisters, Be and Donna. And apparently, some friction was happening in their group due to this. Before, they could have houses on their own. But now, everyone had to share.


    And not everyone wanted to share rooms with some people in their group.


    Eating breakfast, Mark and his group could not help but stop a bit and turn towards the direction of the old vige. It was not too far from the sleeping [Pure Spirit Tree] after all.


    And the reason...


    "Looks like there''s another argument."


    Spera voiced out.


    From the old vige, Mark''s group could hear loud shouting. They could not hear the actual words due to distance, but for Mark''s group to notice the voices from their current location, the people in the old vige should be shouting rather loudly.


    In fact, there had been arguments in that vige since yesterday after the battle happened. It was not a surprise considering that the people in the vige had no way of knowing what was happening and could only panic while specting.


    "Just let them be," Mark spoke. "Those guys there had not been in the best mental states in the first ce. Now that something happened, it would be more of a surprise if those people did not freak out."


    With his [Empath] abilities, Mark already scanned the people there when they spent the night in that vige. There were only a few people with better mental states there. And the two of those people were definitely the two sisters they met at that time.


    Unlike most people in the old vige, the two sisters were sane enough to not let their guards down despite the sense of safety they felt in this ce. The two were also clearly thinking about the future while their other group members took things for granted.


    The two sisters would reach their limit and leave their group. And by the looks of it, they were already on the verge of reaching it.


    "What are we going to do today?" Ilia asked Mark. "Any ns?"


    "Maybe, take the opportunity to take a day off?" Mark replied with a shrug. "We just came out from Kahilwayan and already got into a battle. Even in Kahilwayan, we barely took a rest since we are taking as many resources as we can."


    That was true, and everyone nodded in agreement. In Kahilwayan, they had several days waiting for Magwayen to drain the magical energy in the whole ce. Those days were used to cutting [Spirit Trees], gathering magical herbs, catching animals, and even finding crystals and other stuff hidden everywhere. They did not have any proper rest.


    "Though, Spera, I''ll need you open a portal back home," Mark added. "We collected a lot of things, and our [Spatial Rings] are fully stuffed. We better unload before setting off."


    "Nou pwoblem."


    Spera answered with her mouth stuffed with food.


    "Spera, swallow your food before replying."


    Mei told Spera like an older sister reprimanding the younger one. And surely, Spera could only nod with a bitter expression.


    The group continued eating while talking about things. It was when two people arrived.


    "Why are you two here again? Aren''t you busy?"


    Mark asked, seeing that both Silim and Magwayen returned.


    The two leftst night to continue repairing the cracks on the barrier of the realm. Although Magwayen would not be able to help directly, she was actually able to release the energy within the artifact to aid Silim. In fact, Silim was now back to her peak strength after spending a prolonged time being weakened.


    Well, who told Silim to use most of her energy to let Magwayen spend more time outside anyway. They almost lost their lives and home because of this carelessness.


    Since Silim and Magwayen were busy, Mark did not expect to meet them too early in the morning.


    p It was when Mark saw what Silim was holding.</anda>


    "Wait, isn''t that..."


    Mark''s voice trailed off with Silim''s nod.


    "Yes, it is Salibat''s crystal spear."


    Silim said, moving the spear in front of her.


    "It somehow managed to survive the explosion." Magwayen chimed in. "A [Burkaw] found it under the crater."


    Salibat. Apparently, it was the name of the [Encantado] Mark fought yesterday. The [Encantado] was a minor Deity born near the end of the lost era and hid in the mountains of Panay since then. The troublesome guy seemed to be causing trouble on the ind, not only in the magical aspect of things but also within human society. After all, if a [Diwata] or an [Encantado] wore modern clothing, they looked no different from humans.


    Like his name, Salibat, originating from the word "Sibat" or spear, his prowess with his spear was well known within the ind among the magical creatures. And, of course, it was his only way of fighting either, as Mark had thought during the battle.


    But for Salibat''s signature spear to be left behind despite the devastating explosion, it must be something really powerful.


    "We stopped by to give this to you," Silim said, approaching Mark and handing over the spear. "You are the one that defeated Salibat. This weapon is rightfully yours."


    Mark received the crystal spear. Surely, it looked a bit crude. However, it was more than enough to wash away Mark''s irritation for not getting anything out of that battle.


    Having the spear on his hand, Mark finally managed to observe the spear clearly. After all, there was no way to do so in the midst of a life or death battle.


    It was a spear with a crystal tip. The tip did not seem to be artificially reshaped but was naturally shaped like a short de. The shaft seemed to be handmade, however. Although already burnt, the shaft was made of what seemed to be some kind of magical wood. It also had a few decorations. A rainbow-colored string on both ends of the shaft, for example.


    Mark also remembered seeing a few dangling colorful feathers on the spear before, although the feathers were already missing.<sub> </sub>


    What looked strange was how the crystal tip was affixed on the shaft. It was not tied or anything. And definitely not glued either.


    Curiosity got over Mark immediately as he tried to pry the shaft near the crystal tip, only to see that there was a natural crystal shaft encased inside the wooden shaft.


    The crystal was already a spear on its own. However, a crystal shaft would be hard to hold on to, and it caused whoever made this spear to create a wooden shaft to encase the crystal shaft.


    Everyone was silent as they watched Mark, who entered a tranced state while curiously investigating the crystal spear.


    Mark remembered during the fight. Salibat was channeling his magical energy into his spear while fighting. Thus, Mark began doing it.


    Unexpectedly, Mark felt no resistance at all. The crystal spear absorbed his released magical energy, and its crystal parts began glowing. As Mark stopped, the glow also vanished.


    Then, Mark did the unexpected.


    Releasing [Miasma] in his palms, he began channeling it unto the spear. But then, the crystal parts of the spear began turning ck as it absorbed the [Miasma] that Mark released. Once Mark stopped, the spear also turned back to normal. Furthermore, without any sign of damage.


    It made Mark realize.


    "Darn, that guy used this thing the wrong way."


    Mark voiced out.


    "What do you mean?"


    Silim asked as she knew that Salibat had used this spear for hundreds of years.


    "It''s not a spear," Mark turned to Silim and replied. "It''s more of a wand or staff to channel magical spells into."


    "Are you not mistaken?"


    Silim asked, unable to believe Mark immediately.


    "Then, watch."


    Mark said as he began channeling his [Miasmic me] into the crystal spear using his right hand.


    The crystal spear turned ck, and the crystal tip became engulfed with ck mes.


    On Mark''s left hand, he conjured a small [Miasmic me] about the size of a fist.


    Silim could tell what Mark was doing. She could feel that Mark released the same amount of magical energy on both hands. And there, the difference was clearly shown.


    Mark had a fist-sized ck me on his left hand. However, the mes covering the tip of the crystal spear were about three timesrger.


    "See?"


    Mark spoke.


    "Does it amplify magic?"


    Spera asked.


    "Rather than amplification, it''s more like tuning," Mark replied. "It seems to enhance control and lessen usage and wastage of magical energy allowing more powerful magic at the same cost."


    Of course, not everyone around Mark understood what he was saying, especially the little girls and Amihan, due to the ratherplex topic.


    "Why not try it." Mark handed the crystal spear, or rather, staff, to Spera. "Try opening a small portal from both your hands at the same time, and you will see the difference."


    Spera epted the challenge and received the staff. She then proceeded to create two fist-sized portals with the crystal staff in her right hand and her empty left hand.


    "Huh?"


    Spera was surprised.


    At the tip of the crystal staff, a portal already opened before the portal on her left hand could formpletely. Furthermore, the portal on the staff was about two timesrger and more stable than the portal on her hand.


    Everyone began to get the gist of what Mark was talking about.


    "Wait..."


    Mark said, taking something out.


    <strong>"Hey! Do not dare try what you have on your mind in this ce!"</strong>


    Magwayen immediately stopped Mark in a fit of panic.


    Mark just took out the book he caught in Kahilwayan. It was not hard to tell what was on his mind. He wanted to try out using the two items together.


    The staff could assist while the book could amplify. Who knows what would happen if the two items were used together.


    Without proper testing... It could end up in a ratherrge catastrophe. It was better to stop Mark now before anything strange happened.


    Mark looked at Magwayen, who seemed really mortified by his actions. He could only sigh as he stored the book once more and decided to experimentter on.


    Well, the other people around them agreed with Magwayen. It was fine to be curious and investigative, but Mark was pretty much being reckless this time.


    ***


    After acquiring loot from the battle, the annoyance left Mark entirely. They proceeded to their own ns while Mark and the others returned to the Mountain Base to unload things.


    Their return sure made the people there happy. If not for Mark stopping them, there might have been a small party. Unfortunately, Mark''s group did not have much time for that. Nheless, showing their faces after a prolonged absence livened up the people in the mountain base.

 Chapter 852 Return To Drop Off, The Changes Of The Mountain Base After A Months Absense

    <strong>Day 238 - 4:21 PM - Mountain Base, Mount Mbito, General Nakar, Province of Quezon</strong>


    The Mountain base. A fortress in the mountains at southern areas of General Nakar. A settlement surrounded by thick earthen walls and ck-tinted metal.


    It was a settlement not under the hands of the military or the government. Yet, it might be the safest and most stable safe zone for survivors within the whole Philippines. And probably, one among the best ces to live around the world in its current apocalyptic state.


    Two walls protected and divided the inner and outer areas of the base.


    The outer areas protected by a tall earthen wall were assigned for both agriculture and manufacturing. Fields of crops and farm animals, mutated or not, could be seen here, especially in the northern areas. There were also some structures built within the outer area. The buildings up north were used as barns and crop storage, while the buildings in the southern parts were used as workshops and warehouses for less important items. On the east side of the outer area, training fields wherebatants hone their skills were located.


    On the other hand, the inner area, surrounded by the reddish-ck walls, was now dedicated mainly for housing, storage of important equipment and human necessities, and facilities needed for life improvements such as a medical facility and even a small school.


    From above, the whole base was more or less shaped like a giant rectangle with narrow sides in the north and south directions. However, it was not entirely a rectangle, considering that the western side, a steep hill with a cliff behind it, had no walls. Furthermore, the inner wall, which was a perfect square, was not centered inside the outer wall either.


    There was a wider area on the north side of the outer areas than the southern and eastern sides. Not to mention that there was no inner wall on the west side of the base. Both outer and inner walls were joined together upon reaching the steep hill.


    The shape and cement of the walls might cause those with obsessivepulsive disorder to wince painfully. However, it was not like it was built like this in order to piss them off.


    These walls were built with both terrain and other aspects in mind.


    More space was needed for both agriculture and training areas. And as such, the north and east sides had wider space between the outer and inner walls. But one factor for the distance and designations of the areas was the fact that [Infected] attacks were mostlying from the south. It was only animal attacks, which were rare,e from the north and east.


    Given that the [Infected] were far more dangerous, they need a lesser distance from the inner areas to the southern walls, allowing thebatants to quickly respond to the attack. On the other hand, due to human habitation, animals tend to avoid the base. Only feral ones would be brave, or dumb, enough to do so. It greatly reduced the intensity of attacks from the mountains.


    As for the western side, due to the steep cliff, no attackse from this direction. Flying [Infected] could fly from the west, but it was the same for other directions.


    Currently, the farnds were mostly covered in green. A variety of crops were nted, and every single one of them was growing healthily. It might still take some time before harvest came, but their future food source was already secured with this.


    Nheless, there was one problem. Everyone was beginning to worry.


    It was already past one month since the leader of the base and his group left on a journey. A week of absence was already worrying, not to mention more than a month. With how the world currently was, deaths coulde unexpectedly, after all.


    If this ce was any regr settlement, it would already be chaotic.


    The prolonged absence of a leader could start fights between people vying for that position. Factions would form and contend until one faction remained and take the throne.


    In the Mountain Base, it was different.


    The management was left to Odelina and Huey, along with other trusted people. Nheless, none of them vyed the position of the settlement''s leader. They were following the orders they were given up to this day withoutints.


    Well, there wereints about why their leader would not even show their faces once in a while, considering that they have Spera to open portals for them.


    Of course, they were worried. It was impossible not to.


    Even so, they trusted that Mark''s group would be unharmed and return safely.


    This was the effect of Mark''s actions. He did not let just anyone into the home he founded. Each person was either carefully observed or personally chosen by him.


    Because of this, the people were mostly good in nature. Or at least, they knew what they should and should not do.


    Furthermore, most of these people were indebted to Mark in one way or another. It made them have less urge to do the wrong things.


    Not to mention that in the current state of things, not only they were safe and alive, their stomachs were also filled, and they were properly clothed.


    It was extremely different from the state of the people outside this settlement.


    None of them wanted to lose this.


    ***


    And today... At near sunset...


    Everyone''s worries were washed away.


    After their prolonged absence, a portal opened in the sky, signaling the return of their leader and his group.


    Everyone rejoiced, knowing that their leader''s group was all safe and sound.


    It almost became a celebration. However, Mark stopped it as they only returned to unload the things they gathered. They had yet to touch the tip of the goal of their journey either, as they had not yet found Sinogo''s whereabouts, not to mention eliminating the threat.


    The celebration was for another time when they returned victorious after a dangerous battle.


    Mark''s group returned and they could not help but feel tired. It was the sense where the umted fatigue would suddenly tug onto your mind and body once you step into the safety of your home. They got the feeling of wanting to have afortable rest once after a long time.


    And the first thing that happened?


    Well, Mei and the females of the group gathered together towards the bathhouse. Taking a proper bath was the most difficult thing during travels. They could only wash their bodies with cloth and water, but it was not asfortable as having a proper bath.


    Mark could only shrug as he and Chimetrice were left alone to move the things they brought home into the warehouse. Fortunately, they had a lot of people to help out. Even for Mark and Chimetrice, it would be tiring to move a few tonnes of wood, baskets of crystals and herbs, and even the caged animals.


    And to say, while the trees and herbs did not make the people interested, the shining crystals and beautifully strange animals took the people''s attention. It made the workers wonder, however. Crystals were mostly used for essories, meaning money, which was now useless. They could not help but ask Mark what the crystals were for.


    That was when they began shaking when Mark told them that those crystals were magical and could probably be used to make magical equipment in the future.


    They were literally shaking. After all... Who would not want to dabble into magical things?


    Returning from their journey... A month was too long.


    Mark could not help but see and feel the changes that the Mountain Base underwent while they were gone.


    Rather than a settlement of ragtag survivors, the whole ce now looked more and more like a propermunity. If not for the tall walls affixed with stationary weapons, one might think that this ce was nothing but a rather odd-looking rural vige in the mountains.


    Well, despite the changes, there were many things that did not.<sub> </sub>


    For example...


    "Elder brother!"


    Elise, the poor neglected girl from New Jersey, jumped unto Mark and embraced him the moment she saw him. Of course, it made Roan, Elise''s real older brother, shrug, as Elise basically treated her own siblings more like strangerspared to how she treated Mark.


    There was also Snow and Jte, who now seemed to have grown more intelligent. They came to see Mark, feeling that he had returned. If not for the fact that the two had pale skin, no one would think that these two were actually [Queen Type Infected]. Furthermore...


    "Wel..e? Ba..k?"


    Jate voiced out to Mark. Then, looking back at her sister, Mara, as if asking if she said it right.


    That was right... Jate, due to Mara''s help, started to learn to talk.


    Unfortunately, Snow had yet to reach this stage. After all, not only she was parasitized by a [Queen Type Infected] Spider, but she came to Mark''s custodyter than Jte.


    The two [Queen Types] were learning. Mark would just wish that the two stop asking head pats from him like pets since the people around him could only give him strange looks.


    There was also another one eagerly awaiting Mark''s return. It was no other than Chiyo, the [Night Everred Pure Spirit Tree]. Its red leaves glowed brightly and its branches swayed in joy as it felt Mark''s return.


    Although it was only to drop off their things, the return of Mark''s group was surely a joyous asion.


    But it was not only Mark who could surprise the people of his base.


    Now, it was time for these people to surprise him further.


    A woman arrived at their current location and Mark could not help but stare at her, wide-eyed.


    The woman wore normal clothing, but her clothes did not do much to hide her nice body shape and charm. She looked familiar and unfamiliar at the same time.


    But most of all... She was walking towards Mark, clutching arge stone-like egg on his arms.


    "Aimee?"


    Mark voiced out, feeling the familiar mental fluctuation from the woman.


    Aimee, the gigantic [Infected] woman they encountered in Ninoy Aquino International Airport. The odd [Infected] that remembered her past, despite looking like a thousand-eyed tentacle monster. And it turned out that she was a descendant of a fallen [Eye], causing her odd mutation.


    It would be odd if Mark was not surprised, considering that the woman in front of him was far from looking like a monster.


    Aimee approached Mark, with her hair cut strange above her shoulder and her forehead fully covered with her bangs.


    "Sir. I can finally thank you properly for everything you''ve done for us."


    Aimee said while caressing the egg-like stone, which was supposed to be her child.


    There was no doubt. This woman was Aimee.


    "How?"


    That was the only question that Mark could voice out, as his mind churned, thinking of the possibilities.


    "Actually... I don''t know either..." Aimee replied, understanding Mark''s question. "Two weeks ago, I just woke up like this. But it is not like I returned to being human either."


    Aimee then lifted her bangs, revealing three pairs of eyes arched on her forehead. She had eight eyes on her face, and also indicated that she had others hidden all over her body, totaling exactly eighteen eyes.


    Mark stared at her, realizing something. Her current form did not look different from the human form of the [Eyes]. In fact, the human appearance of the [Eyes] was not their true forms either. Was it possible that Aimee gained the same ability?


    It was a question that no one would be able to answer aside from the [Eyes] themselves. Unfortunately, none of them was present right now.


    Nheless, this was a good thing for Aimee. In her human form, she could take care better of her child, not to mention properly experiencing life inside this ce.


    And when Mark thought that Aimee was the only surprise...


    He was wrong.


    A group of people arrived while Mark and the others were busy moving stuff.


    It was the remaining members of the tribe from the mountain province.


    And Mark could not help but stare as the warriors of the tribe escorted the girl in the middle. It was Mayumi, the granddaughter of the deceased elder of the tribe.


    Mark, for the second time today, was surprised.


    Although it was hard to notice in a passing, Mark could feel that the girl had changed, along with strong magical energy building up inside her.


    "Mayumi... did you inherit it already?"


    Mark asked.


    And the girl nodded, looking proud and thankful to Mark.


    "Yes. I have sessfully inherited my grandmother''s gift. Although I''m still inexperienced, I vow to take grandmother''s ce and protect our new home with the aid of my newfound ability."


    Mayumi boldly dered.


    With Mayumi inheriting the [irvoyance] of her lineage, it would be a great help to keep the base safe. It was an extremely good piece of news for everyone.


    Getting these surprises, Mark could not help but feel really d. Who would expect such things to happen while he was gone. It was a pity that he was absent to know these things firsthand, but having the news as a surprise was not bad either.

 Chapter 853 Dinner Party, A Nights Rest After A Small Party And A Serious Meeting

    <strong>Day 238 - 6:21 PM - Mountain Base, Mount Mbito, General Nakar, Province of Quezon</strong>


    Unloading the loot had already been done. However, properly segregating the items would take more time, so it would be done by the workers.


    There was no grand celebration for the return of Mark''s group since Mark opposed it. However, a small dinner party at home would not be an issue.


    Well, it was just lunch for Mark and the others, though.


    They left the Secret Realm of Mt. Madia-as before noon, after a bit of preparation. However, it was alreadyte afternoon in the Mortal World when Mark and the others exited the portal. It was not a surprising thing, of course. The flow of time outside and inside the Secret Realm was different.


    It was already nice that they seemed to arrive on the same day. This was due to the time inside the Secret Realm catching up to the speed of time outside because of the broken barrier. If not, it would not be surprising that it was already the next day they would arrive, and the sense of time of everyone in Mark''s group would be even more messed up.


    This evening, most of the closest people to Mark and Mei gathered at the Cliff House. It included Emika, her brother, Mikio, and their mother, Rosamie.


    Mark''s best friend, Ron, and his wife, Nikky, were also in attendance. Not to mention the core members of the Mountain Base, such as Huey''s group. The retired soldier, Edward, and his girlfriend, Emi, were also present.


    And, of course, Odelina and her children, Seigfried and Odette, would not be absent, along with Abbygale''s aunt, Jaeya, and her adopted son, Theodore.


    The whole [Tamawo] family was also here, even though Pefile never liked crowds. It was a good change of atmosphere for Edzel''s mother, which was why they attended.


    Elise was also present, not wanting to leave Mark''s side. Andstly, Aimee, who now had her human form.


    Unfortunately, the two [Queen Types] were not here. They might look human, but not everyone wasfortable with the two around. No matter what, they were still [Infected].


    In any case, it was a happy asion.


    Earth was currently a world where anyone could die without warning. Returning home alive and well was more than enough to celebrate.


    Mark was not reallyfortable with parties. But as this one was dedicated for their return, he could not bailout.


    Nothing much happened at the start. There was enough food, but it was not asvish as dinner parties before the apocalypse. There were pasta dishes, however. Compared to meat, grain dishes were the luxury within the mountains.


    In any case, it was nothing but a fun party dinner with a little bit of drinking. Mark only drank a shot ss of liquor as he was not really fond of it. It was the same for Mei. It was unexpected, but the underaged Spera was quite a drunkard. She passed out quicker than others, however.


    The dinner party soon finished. The children were brought to sleep since it was gettingte in the night. Some also returned to their homes to rest and prepare for their work tomorrow.


    Of course, not everyone left, and the more important business began.


    With everyone crucial to the Mountain Base Gathered, it was the best time to catch up and for Mark to receive reports of events that happened around the Mountain Base in the past month.


    ***


    "The sightings of [Infected] increased for the past month," Odelina reported. "Since Master left, there were twenty-two instances of [Infected] wandering around the mountain. Two of those instances were small hordes with several [Mutated Infected], five instances with [Infected Animals], and three instances included [Infected Magical Creatures]."


    Mark was not surprised after hearing that report. A lot of time had already passed since the start of the apocalypse. Earth''s geography also got messed up. With these factors in y, the [Infected] would have long left ces they lurked before and wandered to the most unlikely ces. And since Earth and the Spirit Dimension fused, it would not be surprising to find [Infected Magical Creatures] anywhere.


    "It''s not outside our expectations," Mark responded to Odelina''s report. "There''s no problem with the [Infected] aside from the increased number of encounters, right?"


    "So far, there''s none," Odelina nodded. "The illusion of the [Tikbngs] around the base prevented the [Infected] on the ground froming too close. The [Dryad] also helped in detecting them. The [Flying Infected] were the only possible threat since they attack from the sky. However, Huey could detect them as early as possible."


    "[Flying Infected] are a noisy bunch, thankfully," Huey followed up. "So far, we haven''t seen any [Flying Infected] that could fly silently, which is a good thing."


    [Flying Infected] was the most dangerous threat the Mountain Base had faced so far if the topic were only these undead flesh-eaters. And as Huey mentioned, these aerial types create too much noise while flyingpared to their non-infected countertypes. For example, [Mutated Bugs]. Since the [Infected Insects] had grown farrger in size, the buzzing sound of their wings also became louder. In this case, Huey''s all-around [Enhanced Senses] could detect these threats before they could actually cause harm.


    "How about the [Mechids] and [Feral Animals]?"


    Mark asked.


    [Feral Animals] might be the least of concern depending on what kind of animal they were. On the other hand, the [Mechids] would be the most threatening, despite the rarity of encounters with them.


    "Actually, the attacks from [Feral Animals] severely decreased," Odelina answered. "We only encountered two in the past month. Both were canine animals, although hard to exactly determine what kind of animals they were before because of their mutated appearance."


    "Yeah, the animals seemed to be decreasing." This time, it was Halley who chimed in. "We were also encountering fewer animals when hunting."


    This was a bit of a problem. Surely, overhunting would decrease the poption of animals. However, it was not only them who were the cause of this. The presence of the [Infected] was increasing. It was very likely that the animals were also being hunted down by the [Infected]. And probably, also the [Mechids].


    "As for the [Mechids], we had three attacks so far," Odelina continued with the report. "The problem with the [Mechids] is that they can pass through the illusion without hindrance. Most of our weapons also do not work on them."


    "Luckily, we found an effective way of dealing with them."


    Halley chimed in again.


    "An effective way?"<sub> </sub>


    Mark was pretty surprised. Well, he could not do any deep experimentation on the [Mechids] so far.


    "Yeah, You should give credit to Edzel for this," Halley nodded. "The first attack was kind of troublesome since we had to bombard it with explosives. But the second one, a [Mechid] with de arms, we got a bit of a mishap, and Jolleen almost got her arm bisected. Since it was too sudden, Edzel used his vibrations to attack the [Mechid] by reflex. It was really unexpected, but the [Mechid] froze before bing seemingly confused."


    "We have footage recorded in that battle. Why not show it instead?"


    Huey suggested.


    "So, you guys do record the battles."


    Mark said as Odelina fetched a video camera from another room."


    "Boss, what are you talking about? You''re the one that started it." Huey said, looking at Mark. "You recorded most of your encounters before with your phone, right? Saying that it would be a good record and reference for future encounters with the enemies."


    Mark shrugged. That was true. If he could, he would record or take pictures. If it was not possible, he would engrave the battle in his mind for future reference.


    Odelina returned with the video camera and inserted a different memory card before Mark watched the footage.


    As Halley said, the [Mechid] almost got Jolleen done in. But it froze when Edzel made his attack before looking around, confused. The sudden pause of the confused [Mechid] gave Jolleen the opportunity to escape. They then bombarded it with attacks and defeated it with less resistance.


    "Here is the footage for the third [Mechid]."


    Odelina said, handing Mark a different memory card.


    In the video, Mark saw that the third [Mechid] was a far dangerous one. It seemed to be a four-legged Eyebot, with a pair of long-ranged weapons on its body. It even caused some damage to the weapons mounted on the outer walls after trying to attack the people manning it.


    But employing Edzel''s actions in the previous encounter, the [Mechid] showed the same reaction, getting frozen, before looking around in confusion. When Edzel stopped, the [Mechid] would turn back to normal and continue its rampage. However, it would return to its confused state once Edzel continued attacking.


    "What is happening?"


    Mark could only voice out.


    However, no one could give an answer.


    Why would the [Mechids] react like that while under Edzel''s vibration attack? It did not make any sense unless they knew the reason.


    These findings required further testing. Unfortunately, Mark did not have the time to do it at this moment.


    "By the looks of it, we won''t have any problems with the [Mechids] as long as they don''t appear inrge groups."


    Odelina said, which Mark could agree. Since Edzel''s vibrations could only affect one area at a time, there was no way he would be able to handlerge scattered groups of [Mechids].


    Still, it was a mystery as to why the [Mechids] would react like that because of Edzel''s vibration attack.


    ***


    The meeting continued until near midnight. There were a lot of things to talk about, including the future development of the Mountain Base.


    There were also a few issues with farming livestock. So far, they had a pair of evolved cows, a pair of grebes, and some dabchicks that hatched recently. These animals would not be able to provide much to the base at all since they numbered too few. Since Mark''s group was venturing outside, they received a request to find livestock animals if they could.


    And since Mark''s group already brought some strange animals to the base, bringing home livestock would not pose much of a problem.


    Well, that was if they found some.


    There was a list of potential animals that Mark could gather as livestock. And the most rmendable were chickens and rabbits since these animals did not need much time to reproduce. Not to mention that rabbit meat was actually nutritious, with lower fat and cholesterol, although very rarely eaten in the Philippines.


    As for the crops, there was also a need for variety. So far, they only had Energy Rice, the Giant Potatoes, and some usual crops nted. Having bean crops would be nice. Unfortunately, they were unable to procure seeds before the Earth got messed up and would surely be harder to find now.


    There were also other things to address, such as new facilities. The most important one was a properboratory for their two scientists. It would, after all, help a whole lot if they had a properboratory instead of using Mark''s basement.


    Many things within the meeting could not be addressed immediately, which was unfortunate.


    Nheless, they could not concentrate on all these things while Sinogo was still around. Once the problem with Sinogo was dealt with, it would be easier to think about these things.


    The meeting ended soon. Mark and Mei spent the night together for the first time in a while. There was nothing much that happened but sleep, like the usual. Still, it was far more rxing toy down in their bed than camping outside. Even though the two did not feel sleepy yet, they still fell asleep without problems.


    It was a good thing to have a nice rest tonight. Tomorrow, Mark and the others would leave early and continue their journey.


    ***


    Night had passed. And as nned, Mark''s group would continue their journey. More rxed than the previous days, the group departed with everyone''s wishes for their safe return.

 Chapter 854 Potential Recruits, Return To The Secret Realm Of Mount Madia-As

    <strong>Day 239-1 - 11:18 PM - Secret Realm, Mount Madia-as, Panay Mountain Range, Province of An, Ind of Panay</strong>


    Near midnight, a hole in the fabric of space opened in the sky above the sleeping [Pure Spirit Tree].


    Of course, it was a portal.


    In the first two times, this scene would cause surprise. At the third time, the sudden appearance of the already familiar portal did not cause muchmotionpared to before.


    Those nearby watched the hole in the sky as a familiar gigantic cube-shaped vessel flew through it into the Secret Realm.


    The floating vesselnded near the sleeping [Pure Spirit Tree]. Before, no one would be able to approach the tree without permission. However, no one would question the actions of the owners of the vessel. Or rather, they were afraid to offend them.


    Who would want to offend a group led by a person who defeated a Deity? Only a fool would do something as stupid as that.


    Mark led his group as they went out of the floating vessel. They could not help but look around. After all, they left the Mountain Base early in the morning after breakfast. Yet, by the looks of it, it was barely midnight here. It was most likely the same day they left.


    This kind of journey would surely make anyone''s sense of time awfully twisted.


    In any case, it seemed that the flow of time in this realm had already stabilized. Silim had very likely fixed the damaged barrier of this realm.


    And speak of the devil.


    "You all have returned."


    Silim''s voice entered their ears. The ck-dressed [Diwata] just appeared without warning like a ghost.


    Unexpectedly, the Ancient Visayan Goddess of the Underworld, Magwayen, was nowhere in sight.


    Noticing that Mark and the rest seemed to be looking for someone, Silim spoke.


    "Mother is a Goddess. Although her duties had lessened because of her world''s stagnation, she still had to perform those duties from time to time."


    And there, Silim approached Mark, handing the artifact of the [Tamawos], the [Mark of the King].


    "Mother might be upied for a few days. We had already bid our farewells in advance. We knew that your time was tight for you and your group and would not try to dy your ns any longer."


    Mark epted the artifact. He appreciated the consideration of the two. They were already dyed too much and could not spend more time dilly-dallying.


    Well, Mark was also at fault for the dy. After all, he spent too much time inside the [Trial of Regrets]. Still, it would have been nice if Magwayen gave out a warning before the trial.


    "Now that I got it back, we can leave immediately. We only came back to get this. Also, to check on the situation here. Look''s like the barrier is stabilized already."


    Mark said, looking at the surroundings.


    "I managed to fix the barrier in the shortest time possible because of Mother''s help," Silim said, looking in the direction where the barrier was damaged before. "Although the damage throughout the mountain and the mental state of my people will still need more time to recover."


    "Well, that''s not something you can rush."


    Mark said, understanding the difficulties that the denizens of Mount Madia-as would face from now on in order to bring their lives back to normal. After all, even humans suffer this kind of struggle. Despite humans having more adaptabilitypared to other creatures, they needed a long time to recover from disasters. That was if they managed to not break down mentally, which was something many people were prone to.


    "Then-"


    Mark was about to bid Silim his farewell. But he was interrupted.


    "They''re at it again."


    Spera said with a sigh, hearing the familiar voices shouting due to another argument within the old vige nearby.


    Everyone stared in the direction of the old vige. It could be seen clearly from their current location. But somehow, the argument sounded a bit different. Thest time, it sounded like a heated fight. Now, why did it sound like someone was begging for something?


    "A few members of that group of humans decided to leave," Silim spoke. "What we are hearing now could be some of their members trying to convince them to stay."


    Mark nced at Silim. This development was something he already had expected with that group.


    "Those that wanted to leave asked us to inform them if morning came in the mortal realm, so they could leave safely," Silim added. "Although I don''t believe that a group of two women and three children wouldst long outside."


    Mark and the rest could not help but frown a bit. Silim was right. A group with that kind ofposition would end up as food for the [Infected] in no time.


    There was no surprise that the two sisters were the ones that decided to leave. However, even Mark would not expect that the ones to follow the two were not the adults but three children instead.


    Just how ipetent and untrustworthy were the other adults in their group?


    It would not be a surprise if a child chose the safest option in the state the world was currently in. Of course, the children''s view of the people around them would also influence their choice. In this case, those three children found that venturing outside with those sisters, which was far more dangerous, was way better than staying here with those adults.


    Then... since they were leaving anyway...


    "You want me to recruit them?"


    Ilia asked, sensing Mark''s stare.


    So far, it was only Ilia who interacted with Be and Donna. She was the most suited for recruiting the two.


    "Well, why not."


    Mark replied.


    "I also agree on recruiting them," Spera chimed in. "Those two are [Mutators], right? They don''t seem to have highbat ability, but those powder they could release seemed he useful. They knocked out the rude guy without resistance."


    "That''s what I am thinking." Mark nodded. "They only have three [Mutators] in their group, and the guy could be abat type. Yet, he can''t retaliate against the two. If they only had to rely on that guy, they couldn''t have survived until now. The core of their group is definitely those two sisters."


    "They are the core to their survival, but the others are not willing to follow them."


    Mei murmured.


    "Well, who knows what they are thinking?" Mark shrugged. "It''s also possible that the guyst time already grasped the personality of the other members of their group."


    "With how that guy was yellingst time as if we owe them food, that''s really possible."


    Spera also shrugged, remembering that night they stayed within that vige. It sure was a disturbing experience.


    Silim stared at the group in front of her as they nned to recruit the leaving group of young humans. They sure were a group of weird-minded people.


    A groupposed of a family of unique Demons, a [Sylph], two humans, and two ancient beings.


    They sure were a weird bunch.


    ***


    Be and Donna packed up the meager amount of things they had. They could not even afford a proper bag and only had some stitched-up leather to store the food they saved.<sub> </sub>


    Despite how much some of their group asked them to stay, the two were already keen on leaving. There was nothing that could change their mind any longer.


    The two sisters looked at the three kids going to follow them. They did not want to drag these children into their dangerous future. However, these three kids did not want to leave their side. In the first ce, these three children were already with the two since this apocalypse started. They saved the children, and these children mentally supported them.


    It was the reason that even though it would be dangerous, Be and Donna reluctantly agreed to let these threee with them. They did not want to separate from these children either. In any case, they could not stay here anymore either, especially when that piece of trash was with the group. Since the children wereing, they just have to keep them safe, even if it cost their lives.


    "There''s really no changing the minds of you two, aren''t you?"


    A rather chubby woman said as the two sisters stepped out of their old shack.


    "Ilma, you''re not reallying with us?"


    Be asked. Ilma was thest person closest to them in this group.


    "I''m sorry." Ilma shook her head. "I''m already tired of running away. Although there seemed to be some idents, we can live with less fear from those zombies in this ce. As you see, I''m not really fit for running. I can''t drag you two down any further."


    Ilma emphasized her oversized body in a joking manner.


    "But I really wished you two just stay here with us. I don''t mind separating from those guys." Ilma added. "They''re begging you two to stay, but who begs while shouting? They are stupid."


    "You will be alone here," Donna said. "Those guys are not trustworthy."


    "I don''t mind." Ilma shrugged. "I''ve always been alone until I met you two. Without the help of you two, I might have already been food for those zombies long ago, alone."


    It was a sad parting. But as Ilma said, she already hit her limit. She could not live longer, running away without stopping.


    "Let me see you all, girls and kids, out," Ilma said, urging the sisters and children to leave already. "Seriously, those bastards. They won''t even see you set off. Those ungrateful bastards."


    That was true. Despite everything they did, the other members of their group would not even spend a bit of their time to send off the sisters and see them onest time.


    "Don''t bother them." Donna snarkily replied. "I rather not see them either."


    Be and Donna walked led the children out of the old vige, with Ilma following behind their group.


    With a few hugs and waves, they bid farewell to Ilma.


    Outside the vige, a female [Bentohangin] was already waiting to escort the sisters'' group out of this magical realm.


    But before they could even turn to leave...


    "Do you girls have a minute?"


    A foreign-sounding voice entered their ears.


    None of them noticed her before she spoke. The familiar alluring woman just appeared there without warning.


    <strong>"WAH!"</strong>


    The children eximed in surprise.


    Both Be and Donna also became alert until they realized who the woman was.


    "Please, don''t jump on us like that." The calmer Beined. "It''s pretty dark to see the surroundings."


    "Oh, sorry," Ilia said as she flicked her right hand, conjuring a small ball of light over her shoulder. "Here, it''s not dark anymore."


    Surely, that action surprised the sisters and the children. Even Ilma, who was standing not far away from the gate of the vige, saw the magical scene in astonishment.


    "What do you want from us?"


    Donna asked, stepping forward to shield the others.


    Ilia, showing her magical abilities, caused a negative effect instead. In the first ce, it was already suspicious that she would approach them without warning.


    "You don''t have to be that cautious. I don''t intend to do harm or anything. If I do want to harm you..."


    Ilia''s voice paused as her figure blurred.


    "You girls won''t even have time to react."


    Be and Donna froze with cold sweat. The alluring woman vanished in front of them, and they could hear her voice behind them.


    The sisters immediately turned behind them, but no one was there.


    "Pfft. Where are you two looking?"


    Ilia''s voice entered their ears once more. It made Be and Donna turn around once again, only to see that Ilia was standing at the same ce where she was before.


    "Are you ying with us?"


    Donna, who had a shorter fusepared to her older sister was not finding the situation funny.


    "Alright, alright. Don''t be angry." Ilia said with a shrug. "I only did that to prove that I don''t mean any harm."


    "You girls and those children are leaving this ce, right?" Ilia continued. "Are you sure you will survive outside? The world had changed for the worse since the earthquake happened. You people probably won''tst a day once you stepped outside. Well, you can probablyst a few days, but even if you all managed to survive attacks, you''ll probably die of exhaustion or starvation."


    Be and Donna looked confused. After all, they did not know anything that happened outside after the earthquake that brought them here.


    "Is the world outside that dangerous?"


    Be stepped forward, taking Ilia''s words seriously.


    "I wish I am joking." Ilia shrugged. "But I''m not."


    "Even if that is the case... we have no ns of staying here any longer."


    Donna said, firm to her resolution.


    "I''m not convincing you two to stay here." Ilia voiced out. "I''m here to invite you two and these children to join us."


    "Join you... Your group?"


    Donna asked, remembering Ilia''s group that night.


    "Yes." Ilia nodded. "Well, I''m not telling you to decide right away. Why not follow me and decide after hearing the details?"


    Ilia then turned around, leaving Be and Donna to stare at each other.

 Chapter 855 Recruitment, Convincing The Group Of Survivors Of Aklan

    <strong>Day 239 - 12:05 AM - Secret Realm, Mount Madia-as, Panay Mountain Range, Province of An, Ind of Panay</strong>


    Outside the vicinity of the sleeping [Pure Spirit Tree]. Right at the location where the [Mini Cube]nded.


    Mark''s group gathered, waiting for Ilia to return.


    They were outside the vicinity of the [Pure Spirit Tree] because it would not be nice if they waited under this realm''s Sacred Tree. After all, unlike Mark''s group, the people they were waiting for were not allowed to be under the Sacred Tree''s veil.


    Even Mark was not a distasteful person to deny and defile others'' faith and culture. And even if the people in question were not humans, Mark would still respect it.


    Of course, Mark had no respect to spare towards enemies.


    Ilia was not slow with her task. Before Mark and the rest could properly settle down to wait, she was already on the way back, with Be and Donna leading the group following behind her.


    "I''m back!"


    Ilia greeted everyone with the gleeful attitude she always had.


    "But it looks like you haven''t convinced them yet."


    Mark shrugged, knowing that Ilia did not really finish her task to recruit the sisters.


    Ilia was sent to recruit the sisters, after all. And it was clear that it was not the case yet.


    "Well, I tried measuring the two''s mentality, and I''m pretty sure I won''t be able to convince them on my own. The sisters have quite a hardy mentality. They will need a concrete exnation to convince them and not just simple words," Ilia said with her own shrug. "Besides, I''m not good at dealing with women. I''m a [Subus], remember? I''m best at seducing men."


    Mark looked at Ilia and then at Chimetrice. Unfortunately, even with his intimate rtionship with Ilia, her statement did not bother him.


    Seriously... The rtionship of the two, not only as Master and Servant but also as lovers, were questionable in many ways.


    ''And another thing...''


    Mark thought as he turned towards the confused group that Ilia brought.


    "I thought there were only five of them."


    Mark voiced out.


    That was how many people it was supposed to be. The two sisters and three children. However, there seemed to be an extra that apanied them.


    "She came along when I told the sisters to follow me," Ilia exined. "Well, they don''t really trust us. Who would trust people they just met anyway. It is already good that they followed me without too many questions."


    Ilia''s argument had a point. And it seemed that the woman that tagged along was rather close with the sisters. It was despite not leaving with them. Well, looking at her figure, it was not hard to specte things as to why she decided to stay.


    "You people have been talking in front of us after bringing us here. Can we please get straight to business?"


    Be interjected since they also did not have much time to stay around if they wanted to leave this ce. It was already clear to her that time here flowed slower than outside. In that case, while they were spending time here, they were losing precious daylight outside.


    "Oh, sorry about that." Ilia apologized. "Well, as I said before, we wanted you all to join our group. We''ll also prove what I said before about how dangerous it is outside."


    "And even if what you said about the danger is true, what is the catch?"


    Be asked another question.


    At this time, it was Mark who spoke, finally interacting with the sisters for the first time.


    "Catch? Nothing, really." Mark said, making Be, Donna, and Ilma turn to him. "And if you two wanted a reason, it''s because of your abilities as [Mutators]."


    "[Mutators]? Us?"


    Donna asked, not knowing what the word meant.


    "Looks like you two never learned about it. It confirms that you never managed to interact with the military on this ind." Mark replied and continued to exin. "[Mutators] are people who got bitten by the [Infected], or those that many people like you called zombies. But instead of turning, they mutated, gaining physical abilities that normal people never had."


    "Isn''t that the case for you two?"


    Mark added the question, staring at Be and Donna.


    The two sisters now understood why Mark''s group was interested in recruiting them. It was their abilities. Anyone would be interested, given that it was a power outside the norm.


    "Well, I don''t really reveal this intentionally, but to show our sincerity. I''ll tell you that I, my wife here, and our children are all [Mutators]. Although, I can''t really say that we are normal people even without our mutations."


    As Mark dered that, he conjured a blood de connected to the side of his right forearm.


    The scene sure surprised the group receiving the exnation. After all, the group trying to recruit them had not only one but five of those so-called [Mutators].


    "But what about her?" Donna interjected, pointing at Ilia. "Is she also a [Mutator] or something?"


    "Huh?" Mark turned to Ilia. "Did you show them something unnecessary?"


    "This."


    Ilia said, conjuring another ball of light, making Mark shrug. Since it already came to this, it would not hurt to exin.


    "She''s not a [Mutator]. She''s an [Elder Subus]."


    "Yeah, she''s a Demon."


    Mark added, seeing the surprised but wary reaction of Be and Donna. It seemed that they understood what a [Subus] was.


    "I and my family here are also Demons," Mark added. "I''m already saying this since you will know sooner orter once you join us, and it doesn''t matter if you did not. But we are former humans. It just happened that our ancestors were Demons. The Demon blood in our veins ended up awakening after the outbreak."


    Mark decided to exin. In any case, it was not entirely the truth since only he had the ancestry of a [Blood Demon], and he just turned the others by their request, except for I and Miracle, who became a [Blood Demons] by mistake.


    "And if you have other worries, these two are humans, although not normal either."


    Mark turned to Spera and Feng Zhiruo, who stood at the side.


    Be and Donna stared at Mark''s group with both cautiousness and awe. What kind of powerful group was this? By what Mark said, none of them were normal people.


    At first, the sisters thought that Mark''s group wanted to take advantage of their abilities, being those so-called [Mutators]. But if their group was this powerful, there was no need to take advantage of them at all. Furthermore, Be noticed two more things. On the leader''s shoulder, a small fairy-like creature sat. And the muscr and handsome man at the side did not get any kind of introduction whatsoever.


    But if the others in the group were not normal, it was possible that every member was not.


    "Do you people really want us to join you? It looks like you don''t really need our help. Won''t we just end up dragging you guys down? We also had children with us, and just normal children. Not [Mutators] or Demons like your girls there."<sub> </sub>


    Be asked.


    "So, you''re not going to question us for being Demons?"


    Mark asked back. After all, most people would definitely have a negative attitude once they heard about Demons and stuff.


    "What you are is not really the question here." Be shook her head. "What mattered is the reason why you wanted us to join you and whether you will allow powerless people too and secure their safety."


    "Furthermore..." Donna joined in. "You guys haven''t proven if the world outside really is that dangerous."


    "Well, I guess it''s better to see for yourselves."


    Mark said as he turned his head towards the sleeping [Pure Spirit Tree].


    "We''re going!"


    Mark shouted using the [Spirit Language], sending his farewell to Silim, who was watching from afar.


    "You guys follow us inside."


    Mark said to Be and Donna.


    "You too."


    Mark added, looking at Ilma, who was hesitating.


    Without any choice, Be and Donna led their group. They followed Mark''s group inside the suspiciousrge cube in front of them.


    And to their surprise, it was not some sort of structure. The sisters could not help but exim in surprise when they arrived at the bridge, where what seemed to be Sci-fi controls were located.


    Even Ilma and the children could not help but look around in awe.


    "Please, don''t touch anything and just watch at the side."


    Chimetrice spoke to the group for the first time as he took the central chair and station. Ilia took the seat in front of him, and to the guest''s surprise once more... The [Mini Cube] took off.


    The guests watched as the scene in the windows in front of them changed. They could see that they were really flying.


    "Spera, outside Mt. Madia-as."


    Markmanded.


    "Okay!"


    Spera replied as she waved both hands in front.


    This time, arge ck hole opened, causing the children to feel afraid. Be and Donna were the same, but as they saw Mark''s group did not seem fazed, they managed to calm down a bit.


    The [Mini Cube] entered the hole.


    Everyone inside the floating vessel could not help but wince as their eyes were slightly blinded by the sudden light.


    Once their vision returned, the nighttime of the Secret Realm was nowhere to be seen. Instead, it was the afternoon sunshine of the Mortal Realm that greeted everyone.


    Seeing the outside for the first time in a while, the sisters'' group could not help but run forward to the front of the bridge. None stopped them as they got closer to the window.


    And they were shocked.


    The outside had no signs of any civilization. All they could see were forests and trees for miles and miles away.


    Being locals, they were sure to see roads and stuff at the coastal areas of the inds. However, such roads were nowhere to be seen.


    "The world changed a lot after the earthquake." Mark''s voice entered their ears, but their shock stopped their eyes from turning away from the scene outside. "It''s not just some normal earthquake, after all."


    "Be! Donna! Look!"


    Ilma eximed in fear, pointing in a certain direction.


    There, they could see some sort of creature. They could not measure its actual size because of the distance, but it was definitely taller than most of the trees around it.


    "Are these the kinds of creatures that roam the Earth now?"


    Be finally turned to Mark and the others, asking.


    Mark moved towards the window, looking at the same creature.


    "Around five meters, huh," Mark murmured. "They are pretty rare, but not too rare. If you''re lucky, you can encounter one or two of those monsters every week. Not to mention therger ones."


    Be, Donna, and Ilma could not help but swallow their saliva. What was lucky about encountering such monsters? They now understand a bit of how dangerous the current world was. With their current equipment and number of people... Their journey outside would be nothing but suicide.


    "So, you all want to join us now?"


    Mark asked the women.


    "C-can we think about this for a bit?"


    Be sure was now tempted to ept. Not only that it would be safer to travel with Mark''s group, but they actually had this strange flying thing to travel with.


    However, no matter how tempted she was, it was not for her to decide alone. And now, even Ilma was dragged into this when she already decided to stay behind.


    "Well, it''s fine," Mark said, but we''ll continue our travel this way. "Just let me know your decision. And don''t worry. We can send you guys back if you decided to reject."


    "Then, thank you."


    Be gave her gratitude for allowing them to think about it. Furthermore, Mark conveyed to send them back if they decided not to join them.


    Here, Be gathered her small group to a corner of the bridge. They began their meeting, even asking the children to join.


    Mark watched the group with a shrug. He was already sure that the group would have no other choice but to ept the invitation. Everything already went as nned.


    Well, the chubby woman was outside the n, really. But it did not mean that Ilma could not be included at thest moment. Besides, she seemed to be really close with Be and Donna. Including her in the invitation raises the chance of the sisters joining. It was not like the chances were low, but there was no harm in raising the stakes further.

 Chapter 856 Their Future In Her Hands, Bellas Response To The Invitation They Received

    <strong>Day 239 - 2:26 PM - Barangay Caratagan, Municipality of Calinog, Province of Iloilo, Ind of Panay</strong>


    Mark''s group, along with Be and Donna''s group, finally left the magical realm of Mount Madia-as.


    For Mark''s group, they only spent a little bit more than a week inside both the Secret Realm and Kahilwayanbined. However, more than a month had already passed outside.


    It was worse for the group of the sisters. While they felt that it was much shorter, they had already lost more than two months on Earth. In that two months, a whole lot of things changed.


    Since Spera had only been to the west side of Mount Madia-as, it was also where they exited. Due to their exit on the west side, they needed to fly over the Panay Mountain Range. After all, their next destination should be southeast of the ind of Panay.


    Mark''s group already got what they came for in Kahilwayan. Their next goal was to find where Sinogo might possibly be at this point in time.


    The ind of Panay was situated northwest of the provinces Bacolod, Negros, and the destination, Cebu. Cebu was the second ind away southeast from the ind of Panay, needing them to fly over a whole ind and two straits, the Guimaras Strait and the familiar Ta?on Strait, which Mark''s group had seen before.


    Previously, Sinogo seemed to be moving and attacking around the Ta?on Strait. It would be nice if he stayed there since it would save Mark and the rest the trouble to find him. However, Mark was not relying much on this thought. The [Infected] were unpredictable individuals. No one would know and urately predict their movements without actually influencing them.


    Furthermore, the world had changed after the fusion of dimensions. It was very likely that the Ta?on Strait was affected by the changes, forcing Sinogo to move.


    The Panay Mountain Range was located on the western coast of the ind of Panay. As they flew over the mountain range, the central and eastern areas of the ind were revealed to everyone''s eyes.


    Be, Donna, and the rest of the group could not help but peer through the window once again. One could see in their eyes that they were still hoping that what they learned about the world was not true, or at least, just a fraction of it was untrue.


    Yet, dismay enveloped their faces.


    Was this still the ind they lived on for almost their entire lives?


    They were locals of this ind. Yet, they could not see any shred of familiarity on the ind below them.


    Everything changed. Not only were there no signs of civilization, but thendscape and shape of the ind also did not even match what they remembered.


    Be, Donna, and Ilma turned to the smaller window facing the north. That direction was where they came from. The province of An.


    From this height, they could see the northern coast. The tter ins there, filled with farms, were no more.


    Even their hometown, the entire Municipality of Kalibo, was no longer there.


    What they could see was the hilly forest covering the entire northern coast. The only different colors were the glimpses of the lighter brown sand on the beach that they could barely see. There was also the grayish color of rock pirs and hills that they could see scattered here and there.


    Seeing the world change like this felt so unreal for Be and the rest, who did not witness how the world reached this state with their own eyes.


    For them, it was a whole new world they were unfamiliar with.


    And in a world like this...


    Their small group would not be able to survive at all. As the gorgeous woman, the [Subus] said, they would not be able to survive. And even if they did manage to live a few days, they would die of exhaustion and starvation.


    If the world became this unfamiliar, they would not know where to go. Be and Donna would not know where to get food and water, and there was no way they would know where to stay. Since danger could be everywhere, the two would be forced to be on alert all day long. Be and Donna might endure it for some time if it was just the two of them. But they also had to take care of three children and protect them.


    It was an impossible journey for the sisters and the three children.


    Maybe... the other members of their group were the right ones to stay in that realm despite losing their freedom.


    No... Be and Donna were not entirely wrong.


    Be nced at Mark and the group that invited them. If they did not make the decision to leave, these people would likely not have the intention to invite them.


    A powerful group that could traverse the new world without any problem, Be realized what a great opportunity they had been given.


    "Donna, what do you think?" Be asked her younger sister while looking outside the window. "Should we ept their invitation?"


    "Be..." Donna grumbled. "You know that I''m not the smart type. That''s why Father did not send me to college. If it''s just me, I''ll probably agree. There''s no choice since I won''t make it alone for sure. But I don''t know about you. You''re the smarter one and the decision-maker here since those pretentious guys are not with us anymore."


    Donna was right. Up until now, their group moved and decided things through a majority vote. Be just always followed her decisions and the children had no power.


    "How about you, Ilma?"


    Be turned to their friend, who was dragged along with them.


    "Be... Why are you even asking me?" Ilma sighed. "It''s obvious that I''m just an afterthought here. They are recruiting you two. What I think doesn''t really matter here. If you two sisters decide to ept their invitation, they might let me join you two. But there''s no reason for me to ept or for them to invite me if you two did not."


    Be gave out her own sigh and shrugged. The decision was now all up to her.


    However, given the circumstances shown to them, Be had no choice but to ept the invitation. If she declined, only death would await, not only to her but everyone with her.


    Be took a deep breath. She then stood up.


    "You all wait here."


    Be said as she made her way, walking towards the direction of Mark and the others at the backside of the bridge.


    "Have you decided?"


    Mark asked Be to her surprise.


    As Donna said, Be was rather pretty smart. She immediately realized by Mark''s question that he knew that Be was the one deciding for their whole group. However, she could not tell whether Mark managed to hear their whispers or did he know using other methods.


    In any case, it did not matter to Be after her initial surprise.


    "I want to ask a few questions first."


    Be replied to Mark.


    "Go on."<sub> </sub>


    Mark allowed her without hesitation.


    Be stared at Mark. This guy had a rather eerie vibe around him.


    "You only wanted me and my sister to join your group because we are these so-called [Mutators], correct?"


    "That''s right." Mark nodded. But then, he continued. "Your next question should be about the kids and the other woman, right? Yeah, they are only here because of you two. If you two sisters declined, we have very little reason to keep them around."


    Be stared at Mark. He was definitely not joking.


    "Then, onest question." Be took a deep breath. "Can you guarantee their safety? The children and Ilma? Will you and your group also protect them?"


    But to Be''s surprise...


    "No? There''s no need to."


    Mark replied.


    "What?!"


    Bell was about tosh out. After all, Mark''s reply would make anyone think that the children and the close friend with them were not that important.


    "Wait."


    But before Be could say anything further, Mark spoke, and she felt a cold sweat behind her back, forcing her to fall silent.


    "What I mean is there''s really no reason for us to protect them here. If you and your sisters decided to join us, I''ll send those kids and your friend there to our base where they could safely stay. The base is secure, so there''s no need for such promises. Besides, we are on a dangerous mission here. We can''t bring people who would not be of help."


    As Mark finished talking, the cold feeling on Be''s back vanished. She also calmed down, realizing the misunderstanding she made.


    However...


    "You guys have a base?"


    Be asked.


    "We do." Mark shrugged and pointed to the floor. "Did you really think that we live in this thing? It''srge from outside, but the space we can use inside won''t fit us allfortably."


    Mark could feel Ilia''s stare boring holes behind him. After all, although true, he stillined about the [Mini Cube] in front of guests.


    "Is your base really safe?"


    Be asked another question.


    "Will these pictures suffice?"


    Mark reached to his pocket. He then took out a phone and tapped on it several times before handing it to Be.


    Be was surprised to see a working phone. She had not seen one for months. More importantly... There was the picture that was disyed on the screen.


    "Slide it a few times. There are several photos in that album."


    Mark instructed Be, to which sheplied.


    Be was hooked unto the pictures. That red glowing tree being surrounded by walls, the odd-looking structures, and even the farnd on the upper side of the screen looked so surreal. However, it was clear that the photos were not some CGI or any scene captured from some movie.


    "Is this ce real?"


    Of course, one would ask that question once they see the pictures.


    "That''s a real ce, alright," Mark replied proudly. "Us and every one of the more than a hundred people living there worked to make that ce. There was no point for us to lie since you will all see that ce once you agreed to join us."


    That was right. There was no need for Mark to lie, and Be could understand that. Besides, they could force Be and Donna to join them, but they did not.


    Be gave her group a nce and turned back to Mark.


    "Alright. We ept your invitation."


    Be finally answered. She still seemed reluctant, but they really did not have much choice.


    "Don''t worry," Mark spoke. "The people that joined us so far never regretted it. The regret came from those that did not."


    Mark was speaking the truth here. The evidence was some of the ves that survived from the Death Valley Settlement in Infanta. Most of the ves that Mark saved left when given the opportunity. Now, they were struggling to survive in the Infanta Settlement while seeing Mark''s group, all clean and well-fed.


    After finishing the talk, Be, Donna, and their other members gave their introductions. It was the same for Mark''s group, as there was no proper introduction that happened earlier.


    All this happened while they were flying over the rest of the ind of Panay.


    While the speed of the [Mini Cube] was not exceptional, it was still faster than traveling onnd. In an hour or so, they reached Guimaras Strait and would soon arrive at the ind of Negros.


    In fact, they could already see the tall mountain of Caon on the horizon. It was another so-called sacred mountain in the myths and legends of this country.


    Unfortunately, it was not their destination.


    Before sunset, they reached the sky above the previous city of Bacolod in the province of Negros idental. It was a ratherrge city, and even with the changes that Earth went through, this ce had a lot of traces of the city''s civilization before the apocalypse.


    Unfortunately, there were no traces of any survivors. Not even signs of settlements or bases that withstood the fusion of dimensions.


    In any case, the night wasing soon. They decided to fly past the ruined city and find a tter area to camp for the night.

 Chapter 857 Sunset In The Flatlands, Preparing The Camp And Cooking For Dinner

    <strong>Day 239 - 5:41 PM - Barangay Salvacion, Municipality of Murcia, Province of Negros idental</strong>


    The sun was already near the horizon. It was time to settle down for the day and prepare for the night.


    Surprisingly, while the area near the coast of the Guimaras Strait, there was a wide patch of nds past it. The ce was not entirely t due to the fusion of dimensions causing huge geographical change. Nheless, it was still tterpared to other areas nearby.


    Taller grass and bushes covered the entire area, but barely any trees grew in this ce. Well, until the foot of the two mountains in the east. Both natural towering structures were forested by both magical and non-magical trees.


    Not to mention that the mountain south of the two was Mount Caon. It was one of the few so-called sacred mountains in the entire country. It was also said to be the home of Goddess Kaon in the myths. Well, although locally andmonly called a mountain, it was actually thergest active stratovolcano in the country and the highest peak in the Visayan Region.


    Fortunately, it seemed that the fusion of dimensions did not cause Mount Caon to erupt or copse, unlike the Taal Volcano.


    Mount Caon stood still, as majestic as it could be.


    The [Mini Cube]nded in the middle of the nds. While the area did not give much of a clear view of the surroundings, it was easier to clear than forests.


    With Amihan''s help, a wave of her hand cut off and blew the surrounding grass and bushes away. Although the method left the base stems and roots on the ground, it would be no problem for everyone. Still, Mark made sure to burn away the remaining nt debris in the central area where they would eat and build their tents.


    Stepping out of the [Mini Cube], the new members of Mark''s group stared at Mark and Amihan in awe. Back then, after fleeing the city, no, even now, they struggled to clear the area when camping. For Mark and the [Sylph] on his shoulder, it only took a few waves of their hands.


    The new members became even more surprised when Mark and his wife took cooking utensils and camping equipment out of nowhere. All they saw were two ck holes in front of Mark and Mei, where everything came out.


    "Just who are you, people, really?"


    Be could help but mutter at the scene. It was a question she wanted to ask, but it was better not to pry in other people''s secrets. However, her mutterings were heard by Spera, who was justing out of the floating vessel.


    "It is better for you to not ask."


    Spera said in reply to Be''s mutterings.


    "I-is it a bad question?"


    Be carefully asked.


    "Not really. He will definitely answer if you asked," Spera answered. "But you''re clearly just a regr person before the apocalypse. You won''t be able to understand most of it, and the things you could understand might blow your mind in one way or another. For now, just observe and get used to things like these. Once you are ready to hear the truth of this world, only then you shoulde asking."


    After saying these words, Spera began walking away to meet the others.


    Be fell silent. So as Donna and Ilma, who heard the short conversation. However, while Spera''s words did not answer Be''s question, it gave them an important clue. Mark and his group were not just ordinary people and might have been tied to the side of the world that regr people were oblivious to. Simrly to how magical creatures that were thought to be nothing but fairy tales and legends actually existed.


    In any case, Be agreed to ept Spera''s advice. Be herself did not know if she was already ready to learn more about such things. It would likely be even worse for the younger Donna and Ilma. Not to mention the kids. These three brats would not be able to understand everything.


    "Shouldn''t we try to help?" Ilma spoke while Be was in deep thought. "We can at least help set up the tent we will be sleeping in. Or maybe, cook?"


    "No, maybe I shouldn''t go cooking."


    Ilma suddenly added. It was not like she was a bad cook. In fact, she enjoyed cooking and, of course, eating. She was quite skilled, although only with local cuisines. Unfortunately, in their group, she was forbidden to cook. It was all because of an unreasonable allegation.


    "Come on, Ilma," Donna shrugged. "It doesn''t seem like these people will treat you like those bastards. Let''s go and ask if we can help with anything."


    Donna then pulled Ilma towards Mark and the others while Be and the kids followed behind the two. Be stared at Ilma''s back. Ilma could handle cooking tasks well. However, since she was on the heavier side, the members of their previous group were afraid that she would sneak out food if she cooked. It was nothing but an unreasonable prejudice because of nothing but her body shape.


    "Um, can we help with something?" Donna asked Mark, who was still taking things out of the hole in the air in front of him. "We can at least set up tents or gather firewood."


    Compared to Be and Ilma, Donna seemed to be more rxed in trying to converse with their new group members. She was not even afraid to ask Mark directly, although she could have asked Mei instead. Nheless, it was also a form of acknowledgment and respect since Mark was the leader.


    "There''s no need for firewood," Mark replied to Donna, pointing at the gas tank and stove already on the ground. "You women can help set up the tents... wait, I guess it''s better if you can help cook instead. Can any of you cook? There''s only me and Mei who can cook in this group."


    Mark nced at Mei at his side. She was already taking out some canned meat, canned corn, canned peas, and a pack of rice. There were also some seasonings. Tonight''s dinner seemed to be some rich rice gruel and a few light side dishes. It was a carefully chosen food. While the new group members did not look malnourished, all they ate during their stay in the Secret Realm were nothing but vegetables and fruits. Giving them pure meaty food might end up upsetting their stomachs.


    Nheless, the canned goods and pack of rice were more than enough to make the eyes of the new group members stick to the food. Most importantly, Mark and the others did not really seem to mind letting Ilma help with cooking. This group was really far different from their previous group.


    "We can help cook!"


    Donna immediately bit Mark''s suggestion.


    "Good then," Mark shrugged. "We have more women here, but they can''t really cook for one reason or another."


    "Well, sorry since we can''t cook!"


    Spera shouted while she was setting up one of the tents. Feng Zhiruo also heard Mark''sint, but she could only keep her silence with an embarrassed face. Ilia was still inside the [Mini Cube], so she was not present to hear Mark''sint.


    Mark only shrugged at Spera''s response.


    The new members could only smile awkwardly at the yful banter of this group. This, however, showed how good the rtionships of the members of this group were. This made them feel a bit jealous.


    It was when Donna realized that there were only two sets of tents.


    "There are only two tents, huh."


    Donna said.


    "We joined them just earlier, so it would be more surprising if they have enough tents for all of us."<sub> </sub>


    Ilma said to Donna, which made sense.


    "No, I have extra tents," Mark chimed in. "These tents could get damaged, after all. We need extras if needed."


    "Then..."


    Donna turned to Mark, about to ask where they would sleep.


    "You don''t need the tents, though," Mark said, looking at Be. "I already said that I n to send you all to our base. You haven''t told them?"


    Be scratched her head and replied.


    "I haven''t mentioned it since I don''t really know whether you''re telling the truth or not. You never said where your base was and how you are going to send us there. I don''t want to promise them things I am unsure about."


    "Well, I guess that''s true."


    Mark tapped his chin. Aside from showing the pictures, he never exined it in detail.


    "I''ll exin it then," Mark turned to the new members. "I''ll send you to our base in General Nakar in Quezon Province."


    Of course, this made the three women gawk. General Nakar in Quezon Province? That was hundreds of kilometers away from this ce.


    But before the three could ask any question, Mark continued.


    "Don''t worry. Remember how we exited at magical subspace? Spera can open portals to different ces she had been to. We can send you to our base in an instant. You can sleep in soft beds and take a bath there if you want to. We have many kinds of shampoo and soaps there."


    Beds and bath. Those words made the women shiver. Soft beds were one thing. They were used to sleeping in wooden and bamboo beds since they had poor families. But bath? How long had it been that they had a proper bath? There was a river in the secret realm. But there was no soap or anything. There was no proper ce to take a bath either, without getting peeped on. Thus, they could only stealthily scrub their bodies with water and cloth inside one of the empty huts.


    Without soap and shampoo, they could not really feel clean no matter how much they washed their bodies.


    Aside from those, they were surprised that someone in this group had such a convenient magical ability to open portals to travel from ce to ce.


    "We actually send you all there immediately. However, food in the base can feed everyone full but is still rationed. They probably finished their cooking duties already and were about to ration the food. I can just tell them to cook food for you all, but I''m not the person to disturb people after their work. So, I nned to let you all eat dinner here first before sending you all off to our base."


    Be, Donna, and Ilma could only look at each other. They were bbergasted at Mark''s words.


    "Then, I''ll leave you, women, to my wife," Mark said, not minding their reactions. "I have something to check on."


    Mark then spoke to Mei before going somewhere. The little girls wanted to go with Mark, but he told them to stay in the camp. Without saying anything else, Mark walked through the tall grass. He vanished from everyone''s sight.


    "Where is he going?"


    Spera approached Mei and asked.


    "Gege said he is going to check the ruins."


    Mei replied.


    "Ah, the town." Spera nodded. "I guess it''s why he chose this ce to camp."


    That was right. This ce was not chosen by Mark to camp in for no reason. There were actually ruins nearby, and it was a ratherrge one. It seemed to be the ruins of a whole rural town. How the rural town managed to avoid gettingpletely destroyed sure was an interesting thing.


    In any case, everyone left in the camp had things to do.


    Mei and the three women started cooking. And it was sure easier with more hands to help.


    But then... the curious Donna could not help but ask Mei.


    "Isn''t it hard to cook with that on?"


    Donna pointed at the veil still covering half of Mei''s face.


    Hearing the question, Spera chimed in.


    "I guess you can remove that. It''s only us here, anyway."


    "I wonder if it''s really okay," Mei replied. "I already got used to wearing it."


    "Um..." Be also joined the conversation. "I''m also feeling a bit ufortable seeing you like that. But if there''s a good reason why... Then please, just forget what we said."


    Mei thought for a bit and nodded. It was actually a bit harder to cook with something covering her face.


    And there, she removed it.


    The three new women could not help but stare at the most beautiful young woman they had seen in their entire life.


    And an immediate question entered the minds of the three...


    Just how in the world did this beautiful young woman be the wife of that, not so good-looking, guy?

 Chapter 858 Roaming The Ruined Streets, Being Tailed By Unexpected Stalkers

    <strong>Day 139 - 6:05 PM - Barangay Salvacion, Municipality of Murcia, Province of Negros idental</strong>


    Leaving the camp, Mark made his way through the sea of tall grass. His movements caused quite a noise as he trampled down the grass stalks on his path.


    The further he got away from the camp, the less mindful Mark became of the noise he was creating.


    Mark could wave through the grass without making any sound. He could either fly above the grass or use his [Shadow Mist Movement] to leave no noise or any trace.


    Yet, Mark was being noisy. He was doing it intentionally.


    The camp had light, which was more than enough to gather unwanted attention. However, a light source had less attraction towards the [Infected]pared to noises in the surroundings.


    And with Amihan''s presence in the camp, no noise could be heard from the ce.


    Thus, if there was anything that was around, they would be attracted more to Mark''s location instead of the camp.


    And if there was anything else that tried to approach the camp despite Mark''s distraction, there was Crimson. The diligent [Bloodchild] was guarding the surroundings in his invisible mist-like form.


    Fortunately, or maybe, unfortunately, no one approached or blocked Mark''s path. In no time, he stepped into the vicinity of the ruins of the town.


    The moment Mark was within a certain distance from the town, he immediately realized something.


    There was a distinct difference between the grass of the nd and the town. The grass in the nds had grown old and tall. But around the town, the grass appeared to be younger and shorter.


    This difference was even more distinct once one saw the tall grass forming what seemed to be a natural wall around the town.


    There was only one reason for this. It must also be the reason why the ruins were rather intact.


    People lived in this ce during the fusion of dimensions. The barrier the [Eyes] created to protect humans caused the differences between the nts outside and inside the town''s vicinity.


    Leaving the wall of tall grass taller than a person, Mark stepped unto the grassy patch that barely reached his knees.


    Looking forward, what greeted Mark at the entrance of the town was the ruins of what seemed to be a small department store. Mark could see on the huge signage above the building entrance, which was a characteristic often seen inrge stores. Unfortunately, the signage was already ruined, fallen to the ground, and blocked the doors. Most of the letters of the store''s name were already gone, which only made Mark wonder what store it was.


    Mark walked on the remains of the road in front of the store. Next to it was a small gas station with only one pump. This gas station showed how much of a backwoods area this town was. Having a single pump, this gas station would not be able toply with the demands of petrol in far more developed towns and cities.


    Since Mark and the others flew over the ruins andnded in the southern area of the town, Mark had to make his way north to investigate the ruins.


    With nothing to see but ruins on the outskirts of the town, Mark decided to hasten his investigation. He decided to make his way directly to the most intact area of the town.


    This time, as silent as possible, Mark moved. He jumped from house to house, from tree to tree.


    By using the highest points of the surroundings as his footholds, Mark could make out the surroundings further and clearer.


    The town was surprisingly empty. It would not be odd to see a few [Infected] wandering around. However, none of them could be seen despite the rather clear view of the surroundings.


    Soon, Mark reached his destination.


    It was rather unexpected, but the most intact area was the town center.


    Normally, it would be the most devastated area. After all, a more popted ce meant more [Infected] to wander around its vicinity. No one would take their stand in such a dangerous ce.


    However, since it was the most intact ce, it meant that people lived here and made it their home.


    And the most intact building was unexpectedly the town''s municipal building.


    Mark jumped towards the grass-covered road in front of the municipal building.


    Sure enough, people lived in the area with the municipal building at the center. Broken barricades and other signs of fortification were present. Not only inside the building but also on the streets outside.


    Furthermore...


    Some of the barricades did not seem as old as the others.


    Mark approached the barricades that felt newer. Most of these barricades were concentrated around the close vicinity of the municipal building. The one he approached was ced right at the entrance of the building.


    "There are people present here recently," Mark deduced. "Maybe around a month ago or more."


    Mark tried to peek over the barricade. But he stopped as he stepped on something soft.


    Well, the grass growing over the cement was soft. However, it was a different kind of soft.


    Mark squat down and pushed the grass out of the way.


    Stretching his hand, Mark picked the thing he stepped on.


    Soaking wet from the nighttime moisture, it was a cloth doll. It wore a one-piece dress, had hair made of yarn, and eyes made of buttons. Its right eye was missing, however. Also, the stitch string that made its mouth was already loose.


    "It''s dirty..."


    Mark murmured, not minding that it was wet, andined about the sticky mud that covered its body instead.


    Finding a dirty doll like this in deste, empty ruins felt eerie.


    Especially when...


    Mark looked up the partially closed window right above the entrance of the municipal hall. A shadow of a child just passed by.


    Worse... Mark could not feel any kind of emotional energy in the surroundings. Well, at least, from the living.


    Mark was not new to this feeling. Given his ancestry, he was used to sensing unseen things being around him. And right now, he was having the same sensation.


    This ce was not voluntarily abandoned.


    And maybe... It was not abandoned at all.


    It was just...<sub> </sub>


    None of the survivors in this ce made it.


    Especially when the danger came from inside.


    Mark looked back at the barricade in front of him. The barricade at the entrance was broken. Its broken pieces were scattered outside and not inside, however. It meant that it was broken from the inside.


    With a sigh, Mark patted the mud of the wet doll. Given that the possible owner of the doll was still around, he decided to leave it on a cleaner floor than under the muddy grass.


    But, all of a sudden, Mark felt a strong tug on the nape of his cloth. It was too strong that he was almost lost bnce and fell backward.


    Mark was about toin, knowing that whatever did it was not a human. However, his eyes narrowed as he jumped backward in a hurry.


    He immediately looked in front of him. Several stick-like poles were now standing in the ce he stood just now.


    There was no sound at all. Where in the world did these stickse from?


    Mark immediately noticed that the sticks were standing straight. It was as if these sticks were shot directly from the sky.


    There, Mark looked up...


    No, these were not sticks.


    At the edge of the roof of the municipal building, a three-meter tall humanoid perched. The creature had two legs and six arms. It was tall, but its body was thin.


    And the things that stood in front of Mark were not sticks... These were arms of the creature above, stretched several meters down to the ground.


    Knowing that the attack missed, the creature hurriedly retracted its arms. The scene made Mark remember the retractable antennas that old televisions had.


    However... instead of attacking Mark again, the creature fled the scene fast.


    Mark immediately tried to give chase and jumped to the roof of the municipal hall.


    Unfortunately, there was no sign of the creature anymore after he got up there.


    The creature made no sound during its movements. It was fast, and its thin body blended well in the dark surroundings.


    It managed to escape in the short time Mark spent jumping unto the roof.


    Even so, Mark was sure what that creature was.


    "A [Mutated Infected]," Mark murmured. "Probably a [Predator Type]."


    It was one of Mark''s weaknesses. Aside from gut feeling, he had no way of detecting the [Infected]. Unless the [Infected] was intelligent enough to have a bit of consciousness, Mark would not be able to detect them at all. It was the reason he waste to react this time.


    Worse, [Predator Types] were known for stalking its victims instead of blindly attacking like most [Infected] would do. If a [Predator Type] knew it was detected by its prey, its first reaction was to flee, pretty much what happened just now.


    Mark stood on the roof of the municipal building. He was searching for any clue as to where the [Predator Type Infected] ran to.


    And then, Mark spoke.


    "Are you the one that pulled my clothes just now?"


    While asking this question, Mark turned his head, looking behind him over his shoulder.


    Standing a few meters behind him... a silhouette of a little girl could be seen.


    She was not answering Mark''s question. She just stood there, staring at Mark without any movement.


    Since Mark did not receive any reply, he could only shrug.


    "Is this yours? I''ll leave it here."


    Mark said, putting the doll he was still holding on the floor.


    And there, Mark jumped down, following the direction that the [Mutated Infected] possibly fled to. Of course, Mark was just guessing since the bastard did not leave any clue at all.


    After Mark jumped off the roof, only then that the little girl move. She walked towards the doll and sat in front of it. She then watched the doll, as if she was reminiscing some memories. Only then the girl did notice that the doll had a new right eye made of some sort of metal. She could not help but look at where the stranger was going before picking up the doll and vanishing.


    ? On the other hand, Mark was now on the streets once more. He continued to observe the surroundings while being cautious of any possible surprise attacks he might receive.


    Even for Mark, the feeling of being watched was kind of ufortable. It was worse since he knew that someone or something was watching him, but he could not pinpoint where it wasing from.


    In any case, Mark continued to tour the ruins. Since it was pretty much intactpared to most ces ruins they saw before, there might be things Mark could bring back.


    And Mark was not mistaken.


    In one of the abandoned market stalls, he found some equipment used to raise fighting cocks. There was not a lot left, but it was a good find in this kind of situation, especially the sturdy ropes and medicine for poultry would be extremely useful.


    Mark continued to roam the town. It was unexpected, but he was yet to be attacked by the [Mutated Infected] once more. Nheless, he could feel its presence nearby. Its stare boring holes in his back.


    The annoying thing, however...


    Mark turned to a house on the other side of the street. The girl earlier was there inside, watching him through the window.


    He was being tailed by not only one but two annoying creatures.


    The [Mutated Infected] that was good at hiding and the shadow girl that would not even hide.


    Worse, the girl was not even an actual ghost. She was only a left-over sentiment of a girl before she died. Her soul had very likely passed on already. However, her emotions and intent were left and existed in the form of this shadow-bodied girl.


    "Seriously... this was far more tiring than fighting a group of armed humans..."


    Mark murmured with a sigh.

 Chapter 859 A Request From The Dead, The Terrible Fate Of This Towns Survivors

    <strong>Day 139 - 6:35 PM - Barangay Salvacion, Municipality of Murcia, Province of Negros idental</strong>


    Mark roamed in the ruined streets for about fifteen minutes. He focused on searching the town''s central area, where stores and public establishments were scattered around.


    However, as Mark expected, most stores were already ransacked empty. There were some stores with leftover items. One of which was the store catered for owners of fighting cocks and poultry birds. It was not surprising, considering only a few would think of needing these items during the apocalypse.


    The surprising thing, however, was the emptiness of the ce. While it was expected that no people would be present now, there were also no signs of other things one would expect to be around.


    For example... the [Infected].


    Aside from the [Mutated Infected] that was tailing Mark, he could not see any single [Infected] in the area. There were no animals or magical beings either.


    Well, the little girl might be a magical, paranormal being. But, of course, she was also an exception in this count.


    The closest thing that Mark found that would tie to a living being were the bones scattered around the town. It was rather hard to determine what most of the bones came from, but the skulls were definitely easy to identify.


    Mark did not find anyplete skeletal remains, however. All the bones he saw were pieces and parts he identally stepped on while walking. The darkness of the night made the bones a little hard to see. Furthermore, most of these bones were hidden under the grass that already covered the streets.


    Unless Mark overturned the grass as he walked, he would not spot the skeletal remains scattered here and there.


    The annoying part of this excursion for Mark was the annoying stalkers following him.


    Mark was already showing that he was lowering his guard. Nheless, the [Mutated Infected] did not bite the bait Markid.


    The [Mutated Infected] was already fast and made no noise as it moved. Did it really have to be this intelligent? Mark was getting annoyed.


    As for the little girl, Mark felt less annoyance from her. Although unnecessary, this girl attempted to help him earlier, after all. Still, he was suspicious as to why she kept on following him.


    After getting tired of searching the surrounding stores, Mark finally decided to go back to the municipal building. In the first ce, it should be where he started. However, the sudden appearance of the [Mutated Infected] caused him to derail from searching the municipal hall.


    Using the parking area of the small municipal building, Mark made his entry.


    Sure enough, there were more signs of fortification inside. The windows were barricaded, and there were barbed wires in front of the door. Well, most of the barricades were already destroyed.


    Unexpectedly, the door was closed. It was something that one would not expect, considering the state of the ce outside.


    After waving through the barbed wires and broken barricades scattered in front of the door, Mark pushed the door open.


    Mark did not enter immediately. Not that he could not, but he was forced to stand in ce.


    The moment he opened the door, he was assaulted by the horrid stenching from inside. It was the mixed smell of the stale air, the fishy smell of blood, and the rotting smell of something decayed.


    Mark had already smelled worse things. Thus, Mark only froze for a bit. Then, knowing that the smell would stick to his clothes if he entered, Mark took out the [Wind Maniption Mental Crystal]. He had no ns to air the entire ce. Mark only needed to create a barrier of wind around his body to prevent the smell from reaching him.


    Once Mark used the [Wind Maniption Mental Crystal], he felt two reactions nearby. It was clear that it was his two stalkers. After all, to the [Infected], magical energy was rather attractive. As for the girl, her current existence was nothing but a blob of energy, making her react to the strong magical energy that the crystal released.


    Unfortunately, Mark could still not pinpoint the exact location of the [Mutated Infected].


    Mark made his way inside.


    Mark frowned. The whole ce looked like it experienced a storm. Things were scattered everywhere, from small pieces of barricades to rotting body parts.


    The light-colored walls were sttered with blood. Dead, half-eaten bodies lie here and there.


    "It''s a ughter ground."


    Mark murmured. What confused Mark was the positioning of the bodies, along with the blood scattered on the walls and floors. The bodies looked like they were backed to the entrance of the building instead of being cornered inside.


    There were also more blood sshes near the entrance instead of the inner areas.


    Then... all of a sudden...


    <strong>CRASH!</strong>


    The sound of ss breaking entered Mark''s ears. At the same time, he felt a tug on his clothes, forcing him to duck.


    From where Mark''s head was positioned before, four stick-like things pierced through. Due to Mark being pulled down, the attack missed.


    As fast as the sneak attack came, as fast the stick-like appendages retreated.


    Mark saw the appendages retract outside through the broken window. It was already broken in the first ce, but the attack knocked down the remaining ss attached to the window and caused the noise.


    ncing at the silhouette of the girl standing in the corner of the room, Mark stood up. He then continued investigating the ce.


    The whole first floor was a mess. Just how many people got killed here? There seemed to be quite a lot of rotting bodies.


    Taking the state of the corpses that barely started to liquify in mind, it was barely a month since these people died.


    It gave Mark the thought...


    If Mark and his group did not spend too much time in Kahilwayan... Would it be possible for him to find these people still alive by then?


    It was a rather mind-boggling question.


    In the past, Mark would not have these thoughts. However, after experiencing two lives and having the memories of four more, he began to think of these questions.


    Not to mention that he got scolded by the [Eyes] due to him drastically influencing the lives of people around him and changing their fates.


    Mark shrugged as his body was now pulled to the side.


    Like before, several appendages pierced like spears to where he was positioned before. Once the attack missed, the appendages retracted immediately. The attack came from a window nearby.


    It made Mark think. The [Mutated Infected] was now proactively attacking him while he was inside the building.


    Why?


    And Mark came to a conclusion almost immediately. He could not help butmend how developed the intelligence of the [Mutated Infected] attacking him.<sub> </sub>


    When Mark was outside, he had the opportunity to chase after the [Mutated Infected] if its attack missed. Thus, the [Mutated Infected] did not attack. Now, Mark was inside. The [Mutated Infected] could attack from outside through the small gaps and windows, and Mark would not be able to chase it at all.


    "How clever."


    Mark shook his head, ncing at the girl staring at him from the second-floor balcony.


    He did not need the help of this girl at all. Although the attacks were as fast as a sniper bullet, his reflexes were more than enough to notice and evade.


    However, Mark was letting the girl pull him away from the attacks. He wanted to know what the girl wanted for doing this. Unfortunately, he was far from understanding her intentions.


    Aside from a few scattered makeshift weapons, Mark found nothing else of interest on the first floor.


    Thus, Mark made his way to the stairs. This ce only had two floors, so it would be thest floor to explore.


    But then, as Mark was mid-way up the stairs, four stick-like appendages shot towards Mark from above. There was arge hole on the roof right above the highest steps.


    This time, Mark felt the girl panic.


    Since Mark was mid-way the stairs, she could not nudge Mark out of the way since he would fall. It was also the reason the [Mutated Infected] attacked at this time. It was to push Mark off the stairs, and there was no space to dodge at all.


    Mark, however, was done ying.


    He tilted his neck and waist to the side, causing the four iing appendages to miss his body. And before the appendages could retract, Mark grabbed the thin limbs.


    And then... There was silence...


    The girl was shocked at Mark''s actions. The [Mutated Infected] on the roof was the same.


    Finally realizing that its limbs were grabbed, it tried to pull back in a hurry.


    "KREEE?"


    A confused sound was heard as the [Mutated Infected] realized that it could not pull back its limbs.


    Mark would not waste this chance. While hearing the muffled screeching sounds, Mark took out a portion of his blood and formed chains and shackles that would keep the stick-like limbs in ce. He then tied the limbs to the sturdy part of the intact metal railings of the stairs.


    The [Mutated Infected] was stuck. Its panicked screeching could be heard from outside.


    And using the windows on the second floor, Mark jumped out and went to the roof to see the struggling [Mutated Infected].


    Unexpectedly, the little girl was already here, intently watching the [Mutated Infected]. However, the little girl was exuding a weird emotion this time. A nostalgic and sad emotion.


    Mark approached the [Mutated Infected], only to get attacked by the two remaining arms of the trapped enemy.


    Unfortunately for the [Mutated Infected], its attack was done upfront. Mark did not have to put any effort into dodging and just grabbed the two limbs. This forced the [Mutated Infected] in a rather difficult twisted position which caused it to wail in pain.


    Now that Mark got a clear look at the [Mutated Infected], he realized that it was a woman. Well, the mutation changed her whole body. Her ragged dirty hair also covered her face. If not for the fact that she had breasts uncovered due tock of clothes, it would be hard to determine her gender without observing closely.


    The [Mutated Infected] felt threatened. She tried her best to free her trapped limbs while threateningly growling at Mark.


    It made Mark shrug. This [Mutated Infected] was rather intelligent. Well, in terms of hunting her prey. As for everything else, there was none. She was just your everyday dumb [Infected] that only relied on instincts.


    Furthermore... It seemed that the [Infected] could not see the little girl standing beside her. Even so, the little girl was intently watching her.


    It finally dawned upon Mark and he could not help but ask the little girl.


    "Your mother?"


    And for the first time... the girl responded to Mark''s words.


    The little girl turned to Mark and sadly nodded.


    This reply made Mark ask the girl.


    "What do you want to do with her?"


    This question seemed to have triggered something. Mark could feel the girl''s energy swirl, releasing a plethora of emotions.


    And then, images flowed into Mark''s mind. The scene where the [Mutated Infected] killed the people in the municipal hall. The scene where she got bitten by an [Infected] while scavenging. However, she hid it from everyone because of her daughter.


    Then, the scene of the girl watching her mother kill their allies after turning and mutating.


    All the remaining survivors of this town were killed by the girl''s mother.


    And as those memories were transferred unto Mark. The girl uttered a single word.


    "Kill."


    The girl wanted her mother to die. Not because she bore hatred towards her mother. It was because she did not want her mother to hurt more people.


    It was the reason why the girl tried to save Mark from the attacks of her mother. She did not want her mother to harm others anymore. It would have been easier if she killed her mother. She had the ability to pull Mark out of the way, after all.


    But the girl could not do it. She could not push herself to kill her own mother.


    And thus... she was asking Mark this request now that she had the opportunity.


    Mark sighed. Since he caught the [Mutated Infected], he could have brought it back to the base since he intended to go thereter.


    However, the situation changed. This girl gave him a request with all her existence.


    Thus, with a wave of his hand, Mark took out a crossbow from his ring.


    There was no need to aim at this close distance. Mark just shot the crossbow in front, piercing the forehead of the [Mutated Infected].


    The mother''s body immediately went limp as her tall but thin figure slumped on the roof of the municipal building in front of the remaining existence of her daughter.

 Chapter 860 A Sentimental Reward, Fulfilling The Girls Final Wish And Her Last Moments On Earth

    <strong>Day 239 - 6:49 PM - Municipal Building, Barangay Salvacion, Municipality of Murcia, Province of Negros idental</strong>


    The girl stared at the lifeless body of her mother. She looked sad, but she also emitted a feeling of relief.


    From now on, her mother, that turned into a monster, would not be able to harm anyone anymore.


    Mark watched the scene with a sigh. This girl sure was a good child, and her unlucky mother raised her daughter right. It was something pretty rare to see in this era.


    Then, the girl began to make her move. Well, she was just standing beside her mother''s body. But slowly, little by little, the mother''s body was being nudged away. It was clear that the girl was trying to move her mother''s body. However, even if she could push and pull Mark, there was no way that she would be able to move someone''s body entirely. Not to mention that her mother was now a rather tall mutant.


    The girl was strong despite being an existence created by a strong lingering sentiment. Even so, she had her limits, pretty much like how most poltergeists could move small objects but could not lift the body of their victims.


    Mark shrugged and approached the girl.


    "Let me do it. Where do you want to bring her?"


    Mark asked.


    Of course, he did not receive any reply. Instead, the girl looked at him before suddenly disappearing.


    As Mark tried to sense the girl, it was not hard to find her. The girl appeared on the northwest area of the roof of the municipal building. Without hesitation, Mark carried the corpse of the [Mutated Infected]. He then walked to the girl.


    At the same time, Mark took the opportunity to see if he could get a [Physical Crystal] or a [Mutagen Stone] from the corpse. Unexpectedly, he got both. He did not think of giving this [Physical Crystal] to anyone and decided to only add it to his collection for now. After all, the mother''s mutation looked rather uncanny. Her limbs did not stretch like some aspiring pirate king. It looked more like her arms hadyers that would slip through each other to stretch and contract like a folding umbre or an old television''s antenna.


    The girl looked at Mark. She noticed the light emitted by the [Physical Crystal]. However, she did not show any interest in the crystal, considering the limited range of emotions she could have. She only watched Mark as he approached carrying her mother''s corpse.


    It was when Mark noticed that the girl was standing beside a hole on the concrete roof of the building. It seemed that this part of the roof copsed to what appeared to be an office space below on the second floor.


    And the girl was pointing at a visible door in that very office space.


    The problem was...


    That door was blocked by a ratherrge piece of the copsed concrete roof.


    Mark nced at the girl. He could not help but wonder how this girl nned to carry her mother''s corpse through hat blocked door. He was also curious as to why the girl wanted to bring the corpse there.


    After jumping down the hole, Mark put the corpse down in the northeast corner of the office. This corner was rather clear of debris since most of the broken concrete was on the west side where the door was.


    Mark moved out the debris. It was not that much of a hassle to push away the chunk of concrete that blocked the door for someone like Mark. Of course, it would be really hard for a regr person to do the same.


    The way was clear. Mark opened the door crankily because of the rusted hinges. Even so, he opened it as carefully as possible since he had no idea what was inside.


    And Mark could not help but frown after the door was opened. The room was a small storage space for office supplies. But that was not the issue here.


    At the furthest corner of the storage room, sitting in a fetal position while leaning on the walls...


    It was a rotting corpse of a child that had mostly liquified already. The floor around the corpse was stained with disgusting ck rotting liquid.


    Mark turned to the girl that now stood beside him. There was no doubt.


    It was the girl''s body.


    The girl stared at the corpse. It seemed to trigger feelings of fear, hunger, thirst, and despair in her as memories were transferred to Mark once more.


    Before the mother turned and mutated, she told her daughter to hide if something dangerous happened. And when the mother began ughtering the other survivors, the daughter ran into this storage room to hide.


    Inside the room, the girl covered her ears, trying to muffle the sounds of fighting and screams from outside. She closed her eyes, wishing that things would end soon.


    It was when she heard an explosion from outside the door. The explosion caused the already crumbling building to shake, and the explosion was soon followed by the sound of copsing concrete.


    By the time the girl realized her situation... she was already trapped inside. She managed to open the door. However, the outside was blocked by the fallen debris. The only gaps she could see among the debris could only fit her arms or legs.


    She tried to call for help, only to end up calling her mutated mother, covered in blood.


    The girl closed the door in a hurry. She was afraid that her mother, who turned into a monster, would find her and eat her.


    Unfortunately... she was trapped there, without food or water.


    After two days, out of desperation, the girl even tried to eat the dusty pieces of paper still stored inside the room and even drank her urine that was spilled on the floor. It was all for her determination to survive.


    Even so... there was no way she would make it. In the least... she died in her sleep, slumped in that very corner of the room.


    The memories shed in Mark''s eyes as he noticed the bitten pieces of paper by his foot. He let out another sigh as he turned to get the corpse of the mother.


    Mark carried the corpse into the storage room, carefully walking through the dirty floor. And there, Mark ced the mother''s corpse beside the girl''s corpse and positioned the mother to embrace her daughter.


    Seeing what Mark did, the girl emitted happiness and gratitude unto Mark.


    Mark retreated from the room and closed the door. From now on, the mother and daughter would remain here together forever.


    "Do you know where the food is stored?"


    Mark asked the girl, who did not remain inside the storage room.


    In response to Mark''s question, the girl vanished and appeared at the door of the office that led to the second floor hallway.


    Mark followed the girl, and he was led to another office room, which seemed to belong to the highest official of this building. There, a few boxes were stored with several blue containers containing purified water.


    The boxes contained food. Mostly canned food and packed instant noodles. The quantity was not that much. Even so, it was more than enough tost a small group of survivors a week or two if eaten sparingly.


    Mark stored the boxes of food in his ring. However, he decided to leave the water containers. He was pretty sure that these would not be safe for consumption anymore.


    After getting the boxes of food, Mark searched the second floor a bit. Unfortunately, there was nothing of interest in this ce any longer.


    Thus, Mark decided to return to the camp.


    ***


    After almost an hour and a half of exploring the town, Mark returned to the camp.


    When he arrived, Mei and the others were in the middle of serving the food. It looked like Mark arrived just in time before everyone started eating. This was a good thing since if he did not arrive now, Mei would end up not eating with the others and would end up waiting for him to arrive.


    The moment the new three children received their food, they immediately started eating. It was the first time they had been provided proper food ever since the apocalypse began.


    "Hey! Eat slowly! You kids will choke yourselves with your food!"


    Donna scolded the kids, though it barely had any effect.<sub> </sub>


    After washing his hands, Mark joined the group to eat dinner.


    "How is the town?"


    Mei asked Mark as she sat beside him.


    But before Mark could answer...


    <strong>"HUUUWAAA!"</strong>


    Donna, who was scolding the kids just now, stood up in a panic and screamed. She even almost ended up wasting her food.


    "What''s wrong?!!"


    Be grabbed Donna''s bowl, which almost fell.


    The younger sister did not reply but shakily pointed in a certain direction.


    Mark shrugged as everyone looked in the direction Donna pointed at.


    At that ce, a shadowy figure of a girl stood silently, watching their group.


    Mark''s group watched in surprise. On the other hand, the new members looked at the girl in shock.


    Only Mark did not look surprised.


    While everyone was looking at the girl, she suddenly vanished.


    <strong>"WAH!"</strong>


    Another shout was heard as one of the kids saw the girl standing beside Mark.


    Of course, everyone became cautious. While the new members were afraid, thinking that it was a ghost, Mei and the others did not have a good impression of shadow people either.


    Only Mark remained seated, facing the girl.


    The girl then stretched out her closed hand towards Mark, seemingly wanting to give something to him.


    Mark, without hesitation, opened his palm under the girl''s hand.


    The girl opened her hand, making a pebble fall unto Mark''s hand.


    And there, everyone heard the girl speak. She spoke in the localnguage. But for some reason, everyone could understand her words.


    "Thank you. Bye-bye."


    The girl sounded happy.


    And there, as if her whole body began turning into dusty particles vanishing into the air, the girl began to disappear.


    It took only a few seconds. The girl was gone, permanently.


    "Her time is up, huh."


    Mark shrugged.


    In the first ce, the girl was not a spirit or an earthbound soul. She was nothing but a sentiment, a strong attachment, that was left by the strong emotions of the girl before she died.


    And now that the reason for the girl''s existence was gone... The mother was finally at peace and was reunited with her daughter.


    Her job was done. It was time for the lingering sentiment to disappear.


    "Gege... what is that?"


    Mei asked Mark. It was not only Mei. Everyone was interested in what was going on.


    There, Mark finally answered Mei''s first question. What he found in the town and all he did there. Everyone listened as if listening to a campfire horror story.


    The end was more of a drama, however. Everyone found the girl pitiful, now learning about her demise.


    This story also increased the opinion of the new members toward Mark. It could not be refuted as the ghost girl appeared in front of everyone to thank him before vanishing.


    "You''re really something else," Donnamented on Mark''s story. "I felt chills after seeing her. Did you not feel any fear at all? That''s a ghost, right?"


    "Why should I be afraid?" Mark turned to Donna. "I''m a Demon. I''m far more dangerous than a ghost of a girl."


    Donna could not make a retort to that.


    "Anyway, you guys should finish eating. It''s gettingte and I have to bring you all to the base."


    Mark said, urging the new members to hurry to eat their dinner.


    Spera approached Mark, looking at his hand.


    "What did the ghost give you?"


    It was reasonable that she was interested. It was something from a ghost, after all.


    "Probably, her treasure."


    Mark said, showing the pebble to Spera and the others.


    Yes, it looked like a normal gray-colored pebble that some kid would pick up from the streetside or parks. I looked quite unique, however, considering that it had a single pinkish and a single yellow unbroken line streaked around it.


    "A wishing stone." Mark identified the pebble to everyone''s surprise. "Looks like it also had amethyst and citrine lines. Must be rare."


    A wishing stone was said to grant wishes if one put it in their pocket or around the person as they made their wish. This stone must be in the girl''s pocket when she died.


    And if its lore managed to manifest to the girl, this stone might be the reason such a strong sentiment was born after her death.


    Now, the wish was granted. The girl then passed the stone to Mark before she vanished.


    Mark did not believe the lore of a wishing stone that much. This pebble did not have any sort of magical energy either. It was just a regr pebble that was a bit smelly.


    Even so, Mark did not feel bad about thinking to carry it around. After all, it was an unexpected reward he got for doing a good deed.

 Chapter 861 A New Home And A New Future, Guiding The Survivors From Mount Madia-As

    <strong>Day 239 - 8:02 PM - Mountain Base, Mount Mbito, General Nakar, Province of Quezon</strong>


    In this apocalyptic world, sleep time was early for most human survivors. Without free ess to electricity, the nights were dark, and the people could only go to sleep if they could.


    There were those individuals who still had ess to electricity. However, these people were only a select few and those who had to oversee therger government-owned and military-owned settlements.


    Of course, it was different at the mountain base in Mount Mbito.


    Nighttime here was bright and lively. Most people were already asleep since they had to do work the next day. Still, there were those who wanted to stay a bitte at night.


    At this time, a hole in space opened at the foot of the [Night Everred Pure Spirit Tree].


    Six people went out of the hole, with the familiar man in the lead.


    The man leading the group was, of course, Mark. He came back to bring the new recruits to the base.


    Be, Donna, Ilma, and the three children looked a little nauseous after passing through the portal. It was not surprising as it was only the second time they traveled through a portal. Not to mention that the first time was when they were inside the [Mini Cube], which lessened the effects for first-timers.


    But when they noticed the surroundings... The neers forgot their nausea almost immediately.


    "Wow..."


    The children eximed as they looked up in amazement. Their eyes focused on the gigantic tree before them with its leaves and branches towering over their heads. The tree''s red glowing leaves and the snow-like red lights immediately caught their attention.


    It was not only the three children. It was the same for the three women. They had already seen the pictures that Mark showed them. Nheless, it still gave a different feeling after seeing the real thing.


    The whole group paused in their steps, not only looking at the giant tree but also at the unfamiliar surroundings. This ce was nothing like any ce they had seen before.


    "Boss!"


    The voice of people broke the trance of the group. It was when Be and the others saw people greeting Mark. Some of them seemed confused about why Mark returned, only to see their unfamiliar faces.


    Then, far from the rather rough demeanor of their previous group, Be and Donna saw happy expressions of the people after seeing their group. It was a weing atmosphere that they never knew they would experience in the current state of the world.


    "They are tired, so set the greetings and introductions for tomorrow."


    Mark said to the people passing by that wanted to greet the neers.


    And since it was the order of the leader, everyoneplied. These people were also understanding, knowing how tough it must have been to survive the current world until now.


    "Uwa..."


    One child eximed, immediately taking the attention of the adults.


    "What happened?"


    Donna asked the child. The child could only point at the man-madeke around the giant tree.


    There, they saw a head of a woman peeking at them. When Donna locked eyes on the head, the woman scurried under the water, revealing her fish-like tail.


    "A-a-a mermaid?!"


    Donna eximed. It was not only Donna since Be and Ilma also saw it.


    "Don''t shout." Mark shrugged. "Milliel is still nervous around humans. You''re going to scare her."


    The three women looked at Mark. They did not know what was going on anymore. Was this ce really still on Earth? Well, they did see humans around...


    Mark shook his head as he received the confused stares. It was when a voice echoed in his head.


    "Brother? Why are you back already? Didn''t you all leave just this morning?"


    It was Jaeya''s voice. She seemed to have sensed Mark''s presence using the connection established between the two through her [Telephaty].


    "You''re still awake?"


    Mark asked in response.


    "I''m still putting Theo to sleep. He''s rather hyperactive these past few days." Jaeya answered. "Hey, answer my question too!"


    "We found some decent survivors and brought them back. There''s six of them," Mark finally answered Jaeya''s question. "Can you call Huey and Odel? I need someone to guide these people since I need to go back immediately. Wait, Huey is already on the way. Just call Odel."


    "Sis Odel is with her kids right now. Can I call someone else?"


    Jaeya replied.


    Mark understood what Jaeya meant. Odelina had been fulfilling her duties diligently to the point that she did not have time to spend with her kids. In this case, Mark agreed with Jaeya.


    "Then, who''s avable?"


    Mark asked.


    "Hmm... Aephelia is in the stables to check on the [Infected] under her control. It should be fine to call her."


    "Okay, call her."


    Mark agreed with a sight yawn.


    "I already told her. She''s on the way." Jaeya replied with a slight change of tone. "Brother, are you okay?"


    "I''m fine. Why do you ask?"


    "Nothing. Just asking."


    Jaeya replied, seemingly suspicious.


    "Um... Sir? Who are you talking to?"


    Be''s voice entered Mark''s ears. It seemed that he did not realize that he was talking audibly instead of transmitting his message through his thoughts. He might have looked weird to these confused women.


    "I''m calling someone to fetch you all. I can guide you to some extent, but I don''t have the time to oversee everything. Besides, this ce is developing even while I''m not here. Although I''m sure we have enough dwellings, I don''t know which house or room is unused."


    Mark exined.


    Well, while Be and the other two women understood what he was talking about, it was not what they were confused with. After all, Mark was talking with nothing but air.


    "Master."


    It did not take long, and Aephelia arrived.


    "Boss!"


    Huey also came a littleter.


    Although Huey noticed Mark''s arrival first, his location at that time was further than the stables where Aephelia was. It was no surprise that Aephelia arrived first.


    Still, hearing Aephelia, the good-looking woman in a maid uniform, call Mark master gave the neers a rather weird feeling. The three new women stared at Mark''s back, imagining inappropriate things.


    "I''ll clear it to you girls first, but they are the ones that decided to call me that. So don''t make some misunderstandings here."


    Mark said at the girls behind, looking over his shoulder.


    With Aephelia and Huey present, they left the central area to lead the neers to their dwellings. Since they were a group of three women and three children, it was decided that they would share a singlerge house for now. It was done in consideration of their mental well-being since they were unfamiliar with this ce, especially the three children.


    Be appeared to be calm as they toured the ce. The others could not hold unto their amazement, however.


    They had not seen a ce so bright in the night after the apocalypse started. It was a different ce from the fearful environment they lived in until now.<sub> </sub>


    All the people they passed by looked lively as they greeted Mark, Huey, and Aephelia. It gave Be the idea of how well respected Mark was in this ce. It was the same with those directly under hismand.


    The neers were brought to a house in the southern area of the inner district.


    Be and the others looked at the house. It was made of wood and stone with ck metal supports and foundations. This house was far different from the shabby shelters and old huts they lived in.


    The neers excitedly entered the house. It was only one story, but it was ratherrge for their group. There were even three rooms. One was the living room, and the other two were bedrooms. There was no kitchen, though. Nheless, it was already considered since food was still being rationed.


    "Are we really going to live here?" Donna asked as she sat on one of the beds. "It''s been long since we slept in a proper bed. And this one even had a mattress."


    Be and Donna came from a poor family. They were used to sleeping on wooden and bamboo beds. It could be said that the beds before them were a luxury for them.


    "There are only two beds," Aephelia said in English. "I''ll send people to bring spare bedster. Do you want individual beds?"


    Due to the localnguage barrier, everyone present was speaking English at the moment. It was good since while most Filipinos have different localnguages and dialects, they were familiar with speaking English.


    Be and the others talked for a bit and replied to Aephelia.


    "Just one more bed for Ilma."


    Donna said, looking at their friend.


    It was also Ilma''s suggestion. Her body was on the heavier side, so it would bother others if she shared a bed with them. Besides, the double beds were not toorge. The three children could fit in one and the sisters in another. Well, it was already nned that the other bed would be lined beside Be''s and Donna''s, so the three would still sleep together.


    "Wait... it seems quiet."


    Be mentioned as she noticed that it was only the adults currently present.


    "They''re here."


    Mark said, pointing at the other room.


    Everyone peeked through the door. The three kids were already lying on the bed in rather disorganized positions. It seemed that they were just testing the bed when they inadvertently fell asleep.


    It was not surprising that the kids fell asleep.


    "I''ll be leaving now," Mark told Be and the others. "If you all need something, just ask them."


    "We will. Thank you."


    Donna replied with gratitude. Because Mark decided to invite them, they were now sure that their lives in the future would be far better than they had in the past.


    "Huey, you fetch the bed. I''ll see Master off."


    Aephelia said to Huey as she escorted Mark.


    Huey shrugged and told the neers to wait for the other bed as he also went out.


    While walking towards the portal under the [Night Everred Pure Spirit Tree], Aephelia walked beside Mark, a step slightly behind.


    It was when the loyal royal maid asked Mark.


    "Master, are you okay?"


    Mark turned to Aephelia. It was the second time he was asked this now.


    "I''m fine."


    Aephelia looked at Mark''s face with a frown. There was no way that Mark did not notice. However, he was saying that he was fine.


    Thus, Aephelia shook her head slightly and said.


    "Please, take some restter."


    "I will, I guess."


    After that short conversation, Mark returned to Negros idental through the portal.


    "Is he really fine?"


    Aephelia murmured as the portal before her closed.


    ***


    <strong>Day 239 - 10:11 PM - Barangay Salvacion, Municipality of Murcia, Province of Negros idental</strong>


    It was about an hour since Mark returned. Around the campfire, a few figures sat.


    Well, one was lying down.


    "You look worried."


    Spera asked Mei, who sat on the other side of the campfire. Her eyes then lowered, looking at the person sleeping on Mei''sp.


    Mei caressed Mark''s hair. The guy had fallen deep asleep on herp after being forced toy down.


    "Gege is trying not to show it, but he looks like he''s in a bad shape for a few days now."


    Mei said.


    "Now that you mention it, he''s falling asleep rather easily these past days."


    Spera said with a tilt of her head.


    That was right. Mark, a person who could go for a few days with no sleep, was falling asleep very easily. And everyone had no clue what was going on.


    In fact, Mark wanted to stay up and take guard for the night like usual. However, Mei forced Mark toy on herp and began caressing his hair. And Mark fell asleep in a few moments, which looked really unnatural.


    In the first ce, Crimson was guarding the camp. There was no need to stay up all night.


    "If he doesn''t want to say what is going on, let him," Spera shrugged. "Just make sure to take care of him. He might be overworking himself."


    Mei nodded. Even so, she would prefer if Mark would tell her what was happening.


    ***


    The next day came. Mark woke up and shrugged. He fell into Mei''s trap. Not like he would me her.


    Mei, on the other hand, was carefully observing Mark. She noticed... his state did not recover with sleep at all. It really began to worry her.


    The group had their breakfast. It was a pretty heavy one since they nned to travel the whole day today. They needed to find Sinogo as fast as possible.


    But then... Halfway their meal...


    Everyone shivered as they all turned to the sky southeast of their location.


    A beam of light tore through the sky, passing over the peak of Mount Caon.


    That beam of light and this suffocating feeling...


    "Darn... Looks like the search is over before we even started."


    Mark remarked.

 Chapter 862 Sci-Fi Versus Fantasy, A War At The Grassland East Of Mount Canlaon

    <strong>Day 240 - 9:15 AM - Barangay Salvacion, Municipality of Murcia, Province of Negros idental</strong>


    A beam of light that tore through the morning sky. It was far brighter than the morning sun, causing almost everything in sight to darken. It was too bright that it erased the shadows of the mountains for a few seconds.


    Mark and the others covered their eyes due to the bright light.


    And as sudden as it appeared, the beam of light vanished.


    "Cover the food."


    Mark said as he took the initiative to cover the pot they cooked their food in.


    Everyone else followed Mark''s instructions. It was not hard to see why.


    From the peak of Mount Caon, a cloud of dust and smoke began to spread. It was very likely that the beam of light hit the mountain''s peak to cause some damage.


    "What should we do next?"


    Chimetrice asked Mark. He and Ilia were not familiar with this beam of light. However, they understood who caused it by Mark''s initial words.


    "Let''s prepare to leave immediately. This ce isn''t that safe since we are not too far from the mountain. We can continue eating inside the [Mini Cube]."


    Everyone agreed with Mark''s instructions. It was not like they were at the foot of the mountain. But since they could feel the terrifying energy from their location, it was not safe to stay there.


    Still, it was annoying to be disturbed in the middle of their breakfast.


    Everyone hurried to prepare, folding their tents and storing their belongings. They then made their way into the [Mini Cube] with their food still in hand.


    "Chimetrice, Ilia. Fly around the northern area of the mountain. We will observe the situation first. We can''t let ourselves get dragged into whatever is happening on the other side right now."


    The two nodded as they piloted the floating vessel towards the sky.


    As Mark ordered, the [Mini Cube] beelined towards the northern area of Mount Caon. The floating vessel flew as high as possible to a height they could see the situation on the ground without getting spotted easily.


    "This..."


    Spera voiced out as they saw what was going on.


    If they were still around the west side of Mount Caon, it was impossible to notice it. War was already raging on the other side of the mountain. To be exact, in the ins between the eastern coast and the foot of Mount Caon.


    The ce seemed to be a natural grasnd both in Earth and the Spirit Dimensions. Thus, it remained a nd even after the Fusion of Dimensions. Still, there were small forests here and there, but the majority of thend was filled with grass.


    It was a perfect ce for two armies to oppose each other.


    This time, it was the army of magical creatures against the army of [Aquatic Infected].


    There was no doubt that the army of magical creatures was the denizens of Mount Caon.


    And the army of the [Infected]...


    "There he is..."


    Mark said, looking at the towering creature at the rear of the [Infected] army.


    It was the familiar and menacing golden crocodile, asrge as a United States Aircraft Carrier. The gigantic monster that ate its victims using its tidal waves was now crawling onnd with its tens of thousands of minions.


    The war was raging. Magical abilities from the magical creatures flew here and there while the waves of the [Infeted] appeared unending. There was no doubt that the army of magical creatures was far outnumbered. Even so, they bravely faced the mutated creatures from the sea.


    "To think that this is happening here while we are chilling on the other side of the mountain. I wonder when the battle started."


    Ilia spoke, surprised at this scene.


    "Well, we are pretty far away from the mountain," Mark remarked, looking at the offline map on his phone. "I don''t think we will be able to see anything over the more than three-kilometer mountain when we were around twenty kilometers away from it."


    Mark''s words were correct. The center of the war was also happening around ten kilometers away from the foot of Mount Caon. There was no way they would notice what was going on on the other side of the mountain when they were around thirty kilometers away and with a three-kilometer wall blocking their view.


    "Is that really Sinogo?"


    Feng Zhiruo asked. As a cultivator, she had a rather sensitive sense of danger. She could feel the pressure from the giant golden crocodile despite the distance.


    Well, it was not only her. Everyone in the group was feeling the pressure too. They had some stinging sensation on their skin. Their bodies also felt heavier than normal. It was just worse for Feng Zhiruo, who did not receive the blessing from the [Trial of Regrets].


    "That''s the enemy?"


    Spera had the same reaction as Feng Zhiruo after seeing Sinogo.


    Mark, his family, and Amihan aside, it was the very first time the current members of the group to see Sinogo. Their reactions were reasonable. It was only Chimetrice and Ilia who remained calm. They had seen far worse during the era of the gods. Of course, it did not mean that they were unaffected by the godly pressure that Sinogo exuded.


    This godly pressure, Mark and the others could feel from afar...


    Then... how were the magical creatures faring against this pressure?


    Eating his breakfast, Mark watched the situation on the front lines.


    "Looks like they have some protection on them," Markmented after seeing that the magical creatures seemed to have a glowing aura around them. "Even so, they are not faring well."


    The situation was a grave one for the magical creatures. It was not surprising. Not only the protection they had could not resist Sinogo''s godly presence entirely, but every death in their ranks was another addition to the enemies'' numbers.


    Furthermore, the threat was not only Sinogo. Aside from Sinogo, which was asrge as an aircraft carrier, there were around ten [Behemoth ss Infected] rampaging on the battlefield, all equipped with their uncanny abilities. There were also countless [Mutated Infected], giving the army of magical creatures more to worry about.


    "They are being pushed back."


    I said, describing the situation below. The mature-minded I was assessing the situation seriously.


    On the other hand...


    "It''s like a movie!"


    The calm Abbygale childishly eximed, which no one in the group could refute. This kind of scene involving thousands of magical and sci-fi creatures was definitely something that one could only see in a movie in the past.


    <strong>SHOOOM!!!</strong>


    All of a sudden, another beam of light was fired.


    This time, the shot was fired towards the sky.


    Every time that Sinogo fired a beam of light, the surroundings trembled. Those attacks caused the godly pressure to multiply, weakening the magical creatures further.


    "Why is he firing his attacks like that?"


    Mark murmured, confused as to why Sinogo was firing beams. Not to mention that it was at the rear of its [Infected] army. There was seemingly no reason for it to fire deadly attacks like that.


    "Gege... Someone is fighting Sinogo. There''s two of them."


    Mei reported, with her eyes zoomed in in Sinogo''s direction.


    "Your eyes really are something," Ilia remarked at the side. "I don''t think even Master can see that far. Can you, Master?"


    And to Ilia''s question, Chimetrice shook his head.<sub> </sub>


    "Even I can''t see that far. At this distance, we can only see that golden crocodile due to its size and because we are looking from the sky. Even the creatures further away are nearly dots to us."


    That was right. In the current position of the [Mini Cube], they were more than ten kilometers away from Sinogo. Event he [Infected] around Sinogo could not be seen clearly and only looked like dots.


    "Can''t wee closer?"


    Spera suggested.


    "I wish we can," Mark shrugged. "But that guy shot me with a beam from over three kilometers away while I''m optically camouged. Imagine what will happen if we got too close without a n."


    Spera groaned after her suggestion was shot down. Well, she was not there to witness what happened to Mark back then. If she was, she would not make such a dumb suggestion.


    "Mei''er, what do you see?"


    Mark asked Mei, who was watching the situation around Sinogo.


    "There were two women. It looks like they were [Diwatas]. They are wearing white dresses with a design simr to Silim''s dress."


    Mei replied.


    "I see..." Mark nodded in understanding. "They''re definitely [Diwatas]. Only their kind would be able to resist Sinogo''s presence in close proximity."


    "But Gege," Mei frowned. "They don''t seem to be attacking a lot. They are just flying around Sinogo."


    "So, they are only distracting it," Ilia chimed in. "They are smart."


    Both Chimetrice and Mark agreed with Ilia''s words.


    "It''s good that they are distracting Sinogo," Mark added. "If they don''t, their army won''tst long."


    Those words from Mark made Spera, Amihan, and Feng Zhiruo about what was going on.


    If Sinogo was left alone to do what he wanted in this battle, his beams alone could kill hundreds of people, if not thousands. With the two [Diwatas] diverting Sinogo''s attention, the giant crocodile would not be able to obliterate the magical army in a short time.


    "Though... that''s what I think..." Mark added in an odd tone as if retracting his previous statement. "I don''t think Sinogo used that attack against their army. There''s no sign that it was used at all."


    Now that Mark mentioned it, there was no way that those beams of light would not leave any trace after being used. However, there was no sign of it around the battlefield at all.


    "It seems that the beam we saw earlier is the first one."


    Mark continued.


    "And it''s not aimed at the army, is it?"


    Spera said to the side.


    "Right. There is no way that it''s aimed at the army. That attack was aimed at an angle that only hit the mountain''s peak."


    Mark exined.


    "Gege. There are also people floating in front of the mountain," Mei said as she followed the conversation and searched for clues. "There''s another [Diwata]. She is surrounded by many flying creatures. Seems like [Sylphs] and [Burkaws]. There are also some kinds I never saw before."


    "What are they doing?"


    Mark asked Mei.


    "The [Diwata] is only floating there with her hands stretched in front of her. The others seem to be circling around her."


    Mei described what she was seeing.


    "They are probably doing some sort of [Choir Magic]."


    Ilia chimed at the side.


    "[Choir Magic]?"


    Mei asked.


    "It''s some sort of magical chanting involving two or more individuals," Spera began exining. "The people doing [Choir Magic] are weaving their magical energy likeposing a song to induce a strong magical phenomenon. I''ve seen something simr back when I was still in [Auraboros]."


    "Then... They might be Sinogo''s target earlier."


    Mark mentioned the very likely possibility.


    At this time, Mark and the others felt the sudden rise in magical fluctuations in the surroundings.


    "Looks like they are ready to fire."


    Mark said, watching the scene before them.


    There was no need for Mei to report what she saw this time. Everyone inside could now see a ball of light that began to form in front of Mount Caon. While as if ordered by something, the army of magical creatures began to retreat.


    And, of course, Sinogo noticed it. The gigantic crocodile ignored the two [Diwatas] trying to distract it and faced the mountain.


    The [Diwata] and her entourage fired a beam of raw, destructive magical energy. On the other hand, Sinogo fired a beam of light of his own.


    All of a sudden, there was nothing but blinding light swallowing the surroundings. The air was trembling, and everyone felt the heavy sensation on their bodies.


    <strong>"Hold on tight!"</strong>


    Ilia eximed as she and Chimetrice did their best to maintain the [Mini Cube] in ce. Even so, it was clear that the floating vessel was being pushed away from its initial location.


    <strong>BOOM!</strong>


    The air continued to tremble as the sound of explosions entered everyone''s ears.


    And then... aside from dust and smoke, there was nothing but silence.


    It was until...


    <strong>ROOOARRR!!!</strong>


    A loud roar apanied by a strong gust of wind blew away all the dust and smoke. It revealed the crater where the center of the battlefield just now was located. The crater was toorge that it was likely the size of two to four citiesbined.


    Many [Infected] were clearly eliminated in one go, but that was not the goal of the [Diwatas] that made that attack.


    After all... Sinogo and the majority of his army were still there unscathed. And instead, it was the [Diwata] and her entourage that looked like they were about to copse from exhaustion.


    "That guy grew far stronger than before,"


    Mark said with a serious expression.


    Whatever the reason Sinogo was attacking Mount Caon, he should not seed.


    "We''ll have to step into the scene."


    Mark, making the others feel rather nervous.

 Chapter 863 First Orders, Joining The War In The Eastern Flatlands Of Negros Occidental

    <strong>Day 240 - 10:02 AM - Mount Caon, Municipality of Codcod, Province of Negros idental</strong>


    <strong>ROAR!!!</strong>


    The battle was far from over.


    The magical powers of Sinogo and the group led by the [Diwata] caused enormous damage to the surroundings. Therge crater in the middle of the nds was the evidence of it. And, of course, the same went for deaths from both sides.


    Fortunately, the magical creatures, unlike the [Infected]. They knew when to retreat and managed to reduce the damage to their side. The [Infected]? Not to mention retreating. They charged towards the center of the explosion killing more than countless into dust and injuring a few thousand others.


    Even so... This damage was nothing to the [Infected]. Most of the [Infected] could not feel the pain, and a missing limb or two would not stop their charge forward. And most of all... Their numbers barely dwindled, and the magical creatures were still far outnumbered.


    The worst thing, the leader of the magical army was now exhausted. She used all she had to fire that attack but ultimately failed to defeat the enemy.


    And now, they were in a deep dilemma.


    With the strongest [Diwata] they had exhausted, there was no way for them to fight the rampaging Sinogo.


    But even so... There was no way they would just give up the fight.


    The two [Diwatas] tasked to distract Sinogo flew towards the gigantic Crocodile once again.


    It was the same for the army of magical creatures, who now charged towards the [Infected] army once again.


    Once more, the battle ensued. This time, around and before the scorched crater.


    The only advantage of the magical creatures was that they were far more intelligentpared to the [Infected]. Since the [Infected] continued to charge forward without regard to the terrain, many of them fell unto the crater. Although it was not that deep, its depth was more than enough to hinder the [Infecteds''] advance. The magical creatures used that opportunity. They began baiting the [Infected] into the crater, making it easier to attack the enemies without cover.


    Even so, it was still not enough. Since many of the [Infected] were mutated, making their bodies sturdier and harder to kill, the magical creatures could not kill faster than the crater being filled with more [Infected].


    ***


    On the other side, the spectators of the battle, Mark''s group, received their leader''s orders.


    And although not everyone was happy with Mark''s arrangement, they could onlyply. After all, this battle was not like the previous ones they had. It was a fight against something that acquired a god''s power.


    After the members of the group received the orders, everyone moved with Mark''s words echoing in their memories.


    ***


    <strong>"Chimetrice will go with me to fight Sinogo."</strong>


    ***


    Mark and Chimetrice alighted from the [Mini Cube] and flew towards the battlefield.


    The arrival of the two came almost unnoticed. Most of the magical creatures were focused on the battle to notice them fly over the two opposing armies. Those that saw the two, however, thought that they were allies. It was not exactly wrong, but definitely not right either.


    Mark and Chimetrice soon arrived where Sinogo and the two other [Diwatas] were locked in a battle. And, of course, the two [Diwata], and unexpectedly, even Sinogo showed negative reactions to their arrival.


    Especially Sinogo, Mark was sure the giant crocodile was staring at him after he arrived.


    And...


    <strong>THOOOOM!!!</strong>


    A beam of light fired toward Mark without warning, ignoring the two [Diwatas] trying to distract Sinogo.


    This time, however...


    "Damn, this bastard. You think that will work again?"


    Mark grumbled after turning back from his misty form.


    Unlike the previous time, Mark was carefully paying attention to Sinogo. He already became a victim of Sinogo''s surprise attack once. He would be an idiot to fall unto the same trick twice.


    Even so, it made Mark think. What in the world was Sinogo''s problem? Sinogo shot the same attack at Mark before. Now, he did it again. No one would think that it was odd the previous time. However, there were two [Diwatas] around Sinogo. Why would he attack Mark instead?


    And now...


    <strong>THOOM! THOOM! THOOM!</strong>


    Sinogo shot three more, smaller beams at Mark.


    This made not only Mark but everyone around extremely suspicious about Sinogo. And also, of course, Mark.


    "DEMON! What is filthy spawn like you doing in this ce?!"


    And there it was... The ingrained hostility of [Diwatas] towards the Demonkind.


    The surprising thing, however... Only one of the two [Diwatas] showed such hostility.


    "Chimetrice. Can you stall the guy below? I''ll talk to these two first before they start attacking us from behind."


    Mark said to Chimetrice amidst evading another beam.


    "No problem."


    Chimetrice replied as he actually stood against one of the smaller beams that shot at Mark and blocked it. Not only did he withstand the impact while in the air, Chimetrice only received a slight burn on his arms.


    As expected, Chimetrice could handle this kind of attack. Gods ganged up on Chimetrice in the past and were never able topletely destroy his body. An attack from someone like Sinogo would not kill Chimetrice. Of course, killing Sinogo was one thing. Even if Chimetrice had the strength to fight and kill anything lower than a Deity, it was still questionable if he had enough power to kill those above.


    This scene was a rather shocking surprise to the two [Diwatas]. They would be obliterated to dust the moment they got hit by that beam. Yet, Chimetrice shrugged it like nothing. They could not help but feel warier towards the two.


    It was not only the two [Diwatas] who became surprised. It was the same for Sinogo, who had never seen anyone withstand his attacks upfront. His focus switched from Mark to Chimetrice instantly.


    Sinogo switching targets was the best scenario for Mark.


    ***


    <strong>"Ilia, the [Mini Cube] will be left for you to pilot. Approach the [Diwata] that seems to be the leader of this army. You will also handle themunication along with Zhiruo. Tell them that we are here to deal with Sinogo. That should be enough to tell them not to stab our backs."</strong><sub> </sub>


    ***


    Following Mark''s orders, Ilia piloted the [Mini Cube] towards the central area of the magical army. She lowered their altitude and moved slowly to not rm the magical army in a threatening manner.


    Of course, the magical creatures became extremely wary, seeing the floating vessel that they had never seen before. Flying creatures began to block the path. However, their wariness allowed them to think of not doing any foolish moves.


    While humans were afraid of the unknown, the same went for magical beings.


    The [Mini Cube] slowly came to a halt as it reached the blockade. It made the magical creatures less wary.


    This time, Ilia and Feng Zhiruo stepped out to the tform outside the floating vessel''s door. Feng Zhiruo felt a bit nervous, but Ilia did not seem affected by the threatening demeanor of the magical creatures.


    Even so, Ilia''s appearance increased the wariness of the magical creatures. After all, she was also a Demon. An [Subus] at that. A kind of Demon that could control the minds of males.


    Not to mention Feng Zhiruo, who was a human.


    Most of all... These magical creatures were not that powerful. As such, they could feel a bit of fear as they felt how strong both Ilia and Feng Zhiruo were.


    "We are not enemies! We want to talk to your leader."


    Ilia dered.


    Exhausted from the previous attack, the [Diwata] leading the army was now on the ground to recuperate her energy. She was gritting her teeth in dismay. It was something uncharacteristic for a graceful [Diwata] to do so. And it just showed how much in a pinch they were.


    The [Diwata] watched the odd floating vessel as if flew closer. She wished that it was not an enemy. They were already on the losing side of this battle. She did not want to have another threat to deal with.


    And hearing Ilia''s deration, the [Diwata] floated from her position towards the line of the magical creatures blocking the floating vessel.


    "[Diwata]. Are you going to meet them?" A [Sylph] flying beside the [Diwata] asked. "That is a powerful Demon. They might want to harm you."


    "Do not fret," The [Diwata] replied. "That woman might be a Demon, but I don''t sense any ill intention."


    The [Diwata] floated to a certain distance in front of the floating vessel and dered.


    "I am wana, the protector of this sacred mountain. State your intentions."


    The [Diwata], wana, spoke in a graceful and dignified manner. She was doing her best to hide her current weakness. Allowing strangers to see her current state could spell trouble. Not only to her but to her people.


    However, Ilia had already seen through her facade. Not like she cared.


    <strong>BOOM!</strong>


    Suddenly, the loud booming sound echoed. It made everyone turn to the east. Only to see the giant crocodile and his giant [Infected] proactively fighting something.


    "It looked like Master already started," Ilia said and turned to Feng Zhiruo. "We better do our job too."


    Ilia then turned to Diwata wana.


    "I am Ilia, a [Subus]. As I dered earlier. We are not enemies, though I''ll not say as far as we are your allies. We are only here to participate in this battle, so I would like your people to avoid attacking us."


    "For what reason?" Of course, the [Diwata] was suspicious of Ilia and her group''s intention. "There is no need for you or your people to participate in this battle. Why would you join this fight?"


    And to the [Diwata''s] question, Ilia pointed her finger to the east.


    "That," Ilia answered. "Sinogo is our target. We can''t let that continue to exist. Once you and your people fall here and he reached your sacred mountain, he will grow stronger and attack other ces. He will be unstoppable, and he will end up destroying this country. We need to stop Sinogo before that happens."


    The [Diwata] and everyone listening fell silent. What Ilia said was true. This was not just a battle for their home. This was a battle with everything in this country, or probably the whole world, at stake.


    Whether it be Spirits, Elementals, Humans, or Demons, their race did not matter. Everything would be in danger in the face of the rampaging godly being.


    ***


    <strong>"Spera, go and fetch Aephelia, Jaeya, Be, and Donna. I know Be and Donna just arrived therest night, but we will need their help in this n."</strong>


    ***


    The [Diwata] could only agree with Ilia''s proposition. There, the [Mini Cube] was allowed tond at the foot of the mountain. It was where the final line of defense was being built.


    With the [Mini Cube] being on stable ground, everyone inside alighted, making the magical creatures and the [Diwata] surprised. It was a group of powerful individuals,posed of Demons, Humans, and even a surprisingly powerful [Sylph]. And most of all... Three Artificial beings, in the form of two animals and one humanoid.


    "We managed to secure the area. I''ll go do my task."


    Spera said as she opened a portal, to the surprise of everyone around them.


    "Go faster. Gege is fighting a dangerous enemy there."


    Mei told Spera.


    "Geez, you only worry about your husband. Chimetrice is also there, you know."


    Spera said as she jumped into the portal to call reinforcements.


    "That is..."


    Diwata wana eximed while talking to Ilia.


    "We are calling for a few reinforcements. Unfortunately, we can''t call an army or something. But four people from our side should be enough to lessen the burden here."


    Ilia replied.


    "What do you mean..."


    The [Diwata] was confused.


    "I can''t really give promises since the n isn''t mine," Ilia shrugged. "But just see for yourself once we prepared everything."


    Surely, the [Diwata] and her people were extremely confused about what was going on. However, they were in a pinch, and they would dly ept any help they could find.


    On the other side, what the [Diwata] was worried the most about was the battle currently unfolding at the rear of the soulless horde. From what Ilia said, their leader and her master were there to fight Sinogo. Just how powerful were those two people to cause such havoc within the enemy lines?

 Chapter 864 Defense And Cooperation, The Situations In The Rear Of Both Armies

    <strong>Day 240 - 10:11 AM - Mount Caon, Municipality of Codcod, Province of Negros idental</strong>


    "Mei''er, Amihan. Work together as support. You two already know what to do."


    ***


    Following Mark''s words, Amihan sat on Mei''s shoulder as she jumped on top of the [Mini Cube] to gain a vantage point.


    Under the watch of the still wary magical creatures, Mei aimed her Sniper Rifle Greatsword, the magic weapon [Shooting Moon de], and shot.


    <strong>BANG!!!</strong>


    The loud sound of gunshot sure surprised the audience as they all flinched while covering their ears.


    People thought that noise during new years celebration would drive away evil spirits. But it was not the case, as every magical creature would be driven away by it. Their senses were far higher than humans, and loud noises were more than enough to hurt their ears if they were unprepared.


    <o>,m Fortunately, loud noises were the least of their concern in this ce. The coteral damage done by Mei was not much of a problem.</o>


    And instead...


    <strong>GGUUUAAAKKK!!!</strong>


    The sound of a wail of a dying frog was heard. Everyone saw a giant [Infected] frog about the size of a minivan copse amidst its five-meter high leap of fate. Mei''s bullet punctured a cannonball-sized hole in the frog''s head, killing it from more than two kilometers away.


    "Amihan."


    "Okay!"


    Mei and Amihan exchanged words.


    And then, everyone felt a sudden gust of wind. The magical wind gathered atop the floating vessel and around Mei and Amihan.


    This magical energy surprised everyone in the surroundings, especially the [Sylphs]. None of them could exude such a powerful magical fluctuation.


    The surprise was not exclusive to the [Sylphs]. It was the same for the surrounding magical creatures. After all, [Sylphs] were known as a weaker race of Elemental Spirits and were known to be incapable of using strong magic on their own.


    And yet... The magical fluctuation emitted by the single [Sylph] on the Demon woman''s shoulder was far greater than several dozen [Sylphs]bined.


    Then...


    <strong>BANG!!! SHOOOOOOOM!!!</strong>


    The people in the surroundings could only brace themselves as the strong gust of wind passed by them.


    A bullet empowered by a magical spiral of wind. It flew over the heads of the magical army. It then pierced through the lines of the army of the [Infected].


    The members of the magical army came in various sizes. On the other hand, the [Infected] army wasposed of creatures far bigger than they should be.


    As such, while the magically infused bullet only passed over the heads of the magical army, it tore through the gigantic enemies. Around a hundred [Infected] were pierced by the sniper bullet and torn to minced meat by the surging gust of wind.


    The kill count of the shot might be a small portionpared to the entire [Infected] army. Yet, a single shot killing that many was far more than enough to gain the awe of the magical creatures, who were struggling just to kill a single [Infected].


    This [Infected] army was far different from your usual [Infected] horde. They barely had any humanoid [Infected] and were mostlyposed of animals and aquatic [Infected]. Unlike [Infected] humans, [Infected Animals] tend to growrger than their uninfected counterparts. Thus, it was not just an army of [Infected]. It was an army of gigantic [Infected]. Due to this, even if some of the races within the army of magical creatures had uncanny abilities and magic, it would still need several of them to bring down one enemy.


    It was no surprise that they were in awe of thebined attack of Mei and Amihan.


    ***


    "As for you girls, get the golems and protect your Mama and the others. We don''t know the people below, and we can''tpletely trust our backs on them. Gale, Miracle, don''t run around too much and stay together with your eldest sister. I, sorry, but watching your sisters is your priority this time."


    ***


    With their mother starting the supporting attacks, it was the cue for the little girls to move.


    Together with their golems, the three girls positioned themselves in front of the [Mini Cube].


    Both Abbygale and Miracle were raring to fight. It was within the nature of the two, after all. However, they heeded their father''s words to stay with their eldest sister. The two were smart girls, and they would not ignore Mark''s words without any proper reason.


    On the other hand, I took the position behind her sisters. In the first ce, she was the weakest physically, and her [Psychic Abilities] were only for support and defense. And by standing behind the two, she could keep her eyes on her sisters and the surroundings.


    I understood that their task was given with strict consideration by their father.


    First, they could not just jump into a battle where a godly being was involved. A small mistake could cause their lives. It was better for the girls to be as far as possible from the Sinogo.


    Second, the [Infected] were known to attack the closest prey. In rare cases, they would lock on a particr target and make chase until they died or if they took down their target.


    But, of course, there were also some entric ones among the [Infected].


    For example...


    <strong>BOOM!!!</strong>


    Right in front of the [Mini Cube], the ground burst open. An elongated shadow shot out of the soil, aiming for Mei atop the floating vessel.


    It was a giant [Infected] Bobbit Worm, the width of a motorcycle. Its length could not be measured with most of its left body buried underground.


    Everyone around was shocked to react, and the worm was also moving fast.


    Unexpectedly, while Amihan was a bit flustered, Mei ignored the giant Bobbit Worm, to everyone''s surprise.


    And...


    <strong>BAM! SIZZLE!</strong>


    <strong>CREAK!</strong>


    The Bobbit Worm mmed into a barely visible barrier before its body seemed to catch fire. It began to rampage around out of pain, causing havoc and chaos.


    Finally, the magical creatures and the [Diwata] could react. Even so, they were alreadyte.


    Four shadows moved. Two humanoids and two animals. The four moved, avoiding the rampage of the sizzling Bobbit Worm, and began to attack with kicks, punches, and bites.


    The Bobbit Worm''s exoskeleton was unable to handle the heavy attacks and crumbled. Before everyone noticed, the Bobbit Worm''s body was bisected into several parts before it stopped moving.


    Even in death, the Bobbit Worm''s head continued to burn, killing the giant bugpletely.


    The magical creatures could only watch as they did not have the opportunity to make their move. Furthermore, they were appalled by the fact that the situation was definitely handled seamlessly by the three little girls and their assistant artificial creatures.


    I watched the dead Bobbit Worm. It was one of the reasons they could not just ck off even while staying behind the allies.<sub> </sub>


    As said, there were entric ones among the [Infected]. The Bobbit Worm did not attack the frontlines of the magical army. Instead, this worm aimed its attack at Mei and Amihan for some unknown reason. It may be because of Amihan''s magical fluctuations, or Mei was perceived as a threat by the [Infected]. No matter what reason there might be...


    Among the [Infected], some would behave far different from the norm.


    ***


    "Demon. What is your goal?"


    At the rear of the [Infected] army, the [Diwata] that did not disy any hostility asked Mark. She also deterred the other [Diwata] from facing Mark either.


    This [Diwata] was far more open-minded than most [Diwatas] Mark had met before. Also, the fact that Chimetrice was present and showed how he could withstand Sinogo''s attacks likely contributed to this reaction.


    <strong>BAM!</strong>


    A sound of impact apanied by the air''s tremor came from below. Chimetrice''s punch and Sinogo''s side made contact. Sinogo and Chimetrice began to sh, with Sinogo winning the first round. Sinogo was pushed back for about two to three meters.


    Two to three meters might sound weak if not for Sinogo was asrge as an aircraft carrier, and Chimetrice having the size of a regr human. Being able to push Sinogo already showed his strength.


    Unfortunately, it was far from enough. Sinogo was not even scratched by the attack Chimetrice made.


    <strong>ROAR!</strong>


    <strong>THOOM!</strong>


    Sinogo roared as a beam of light fired at Chimetrice. It counterattacked even before it regained its bnce.


    The giant golden crocodile''s attacks appeared to be relentless and careless. Even if it rolled to the ground due to an attack, it would fire off its counterattack before standing up.


    And it was quite effective. Chimetrice had no time to dodge as he faced a full-blown beam of light from Sinogo''s mouth.


    <strong>SIZZLE!</strong>


    The beam of light vanished as fast as it was shot. All that was left was Chimetrice flying in ce, with his entire body smoking from the heat.


    Seeing that its opponent was practically unscathed from its attack, Sinogo roared, calling its gigantic entourage of tens of [Behemoth ss Infected].


    Mark and the two [Diwatas] watched that scene. Seeing that Chimetrice could hold his ground without problems, Mark turned to the open-minded [Diwata].


    "As you can see, our business here isn''t you two or your army. It''s that guy there."


    Mark pointed at Sinogo, who was now preupied with Chimetrice.


    "What does a Demon like you want from him?"


    The hostile [Diwata] interjected.


    "What else?" Mark tilted his head. "To kill, of course. That thing shouldn''t be allowed to continue existing. If left alone, he will destroy this country, worse, the whole world. You two understand that, right?"


    "Kill..." The words from Mark seemed to dampen the hostility for some reason. "Do you know who you are trying to go against?"


    The hostile [Diwata] asked Mark, trying to confirm something.


    "It''s Sinogo. Or at least his empty husk after bing [Infected]."


    Mark replied with a shrug.


    The two [Diwatas] now understood that Mark and Chimetrice were here to fight Sinogo. They knew who Sinogo was, and the two came here to stop his rampage. Finally, they came to a conclusion.


    "I am Tin, and this is my younger sister, Binituin." The hostile [Diwata] introduced herself and the open-minded [Diwata]. "I will agree to cooperate. But one wrong move and my magic will be aimed at you."


    "The names Mark. That guy there is Chimetrice," Mark responded in kind. "By the way, I''m not really asking for cooperation. If you two want to run away, just go."


    Tin could not help but stare at Mark in annoyance. But then...


    <strong>WHOOOM!!!</strong>


    Mark and the two [Diwatas] heard the loud gust of wind as they saw the enemy lines being moved down to minced meat.


    "Looks like they already started"


    Mark murmured to the confusion of the two [Diwatas].


    It was when the two [Diwatas] froze as the voice of their eldest sister echoed in their ears. Mark also heard the voice, making him pay attention. It was not [Telepathy]. It was [Sound Transmission].


    "Tin, Binituin, I heard what is happening. The Demon in front of you is an ally. The members of his group are currently with us, helping defend our Sacred Ground. Cooperate with the Demon named Mark and vanquish the Soulless Sinogo."


    "We understood."


    Both Tin and Binituin replied in unison.


    "As for the Pure-blood Demon named Mark, I apologize for my sister''s rudeness. I am called wana, the current protector of the Sacred Mountain of Caon. In the name of our Goddess Laon, please assist us to destroy the enemies of ournd."


    Mark tapped his chin as he felt the gaze of Tin. It seemed that she hated the fact that their eldest sister apologized to a Demon due to her hostile attitude.


    "I don''t mind the attitude. I''ve met a few other [Diwatas], and only two did not show hostility upon first meeting. I''m used to it." Mark replied, looking at Binituin. "And for your request, there''s no need to do that. I''m pretty sure Sinogo wanted to reach your mountain and absorb its energy. Once that happens, we''re all doomed. Whether you request it or not, we need to kill Sinogo here."


    "Then, please allow my sisters to help. I do not know if they would be of help to you, but we cannot just run away and watch."


    Diwata wana replied.


    "Well, that depends on your younger sister. She''s still ring at me as if she wanted to boil me alive."


    Mark shrugged, paying attention to the battle below while being pierced by Tin''s pointy re.


    "Please, just ignore her impudence. She might look like it, but as Imanded, she will cooperate."


    Diwata wana replied in a worried tone.


    "If that''s the case, then alright," Mark nodded. "Mypanion below is already being swarmed by giants, so it''s better to end this here."


    "I agree. May the Goddess guide you."


    Diwata wana replied and ended the [Sound Transmission].


    Now that everyone agreed to cooperate, Mark could nowmit to the battle. At least now, he would not be worried that someone would stab them from behind.

 Chapter 865 Early Transformations, The Impactful Start Of The Battle Against Sinogo

    <strong>Day 240 - 10:16 AM - Mount Caon, Municipality of Codcod, Province of Negros idental</strong>


    With the alliance established, Mark and the two [Diwatas] moved to join Chimetrice to fight Sinogo and his minions.


    Below, Chimetrice was pretty much struggling. Not that he could not handle the enemy. However, even if he was powerful, what he could do in the middle of several gigantic opponents was limited...


    Especially since Chimetrice had yet to release his true form.


    Chimetrice''s body was abination of several holy and demonic creatures. Yet, he looked like nothing else but a human with wings of a falcon at this moment.


    It was not like he was trying to hide his real appearance. It was just that his true form was inconvenient to use in one way or another. Pretty much due to its uncanny features. For example, half of his body was made of the Cursed Tree he was sealed in.


    Thus, Chimetrice reshaped his body into a more human-like form. But also, because of this reshaping, he could not exert his original power to the fullest without releasing his true form.


    In the first ce, Chimetrice was following Mark''s example. It was to not use their powers and abilities carelessly. It was due to the residue of their magical energy, possibly causing the [Infected] to mutate into stronger and unfathomable beings.


    Now, of course, Mark had a lesser restriction on this part. Earth and the Spirit Dimension had fused, and magical energy now existed on Earth. Sooner orter, some of the [Infected] would gain magic-type mutations. Still, Mark and Chimetrice''s powers were too powerful to let the [Infected] get ahold of it.


    Well, now was not the time to keep these restrictions.


    Since Chimetricecked power, he needed a stable foothold to exert more strength in his attacks. Hended on the ground and began fighting using his fist. He managed to kill and topple some of the [Behemoth ss Infected]. However, he could not do so continuously due to Sinogo''s presence.


    Soon, Sinogo and the more than a dozen [Behemoth ss Infected] surrounded Chimetrice, and his figure was covered by the enemies'' gigantic bodies... It was then...


    "HAH!!!"


    Chimetrice let out a loud shout.


    <strong>BOOOM!!!</strong>


    All of a sudden, the ground shook. The bipedal [Infected] giants, who had less sense of bnce, were toppled to the ground while the others flinched. Even Sinogo felt odd and jumped back, causing more destruction due to its sheer size and weight.


    The giants fell to the ground causing dust to cloud the surroundings aside from one ce at the center.


    There, Chimetrice stood with his left hand reaching to the ground. His true form was, once more, unveiled. His six wings from different creatures expanded, and the evil aura within him exploded.


    It was a form of a Devil with the appearance of a Chimera. Or maybe, a Chimera made to resemble a Devil.


    A [Devil Chimera] to fight against the Gods.


    The three that were about to join the battle could only pause mid-air.


    Mark could not help but smile while Tin and Binituin shivered in fear.


    "T-that is-!!!"


    The more conservative Tina was in utter shock. As a [Diwata] born from nature and harbored positive energy, they were distraught to feel the negative energy from Chimetrice.


    "Don''t worry," Mark spoke, looking at the [Diwatas] behind him over his right shoulder. "An evil energy doesn''t inherently mean an evil entity. He was created like that and not because he wanted to be one. Besides, it''s not like his aura is harming you two."


    The two [Diwatas] stared at Mark and at the scene below. It was true. They felt fear due to the natural aversion due to the nature of their energies. However, Chimetrice''s evil energy felt rather tame and contained to cause them any harm to anyone aside from the enemy.


    "ROOOARRR!!!"


    Sinogo roared as loud as he could. He then opened his mouth as wide as possible. And there, raw energy began to gather.


    "Well, sh*t..."


    Mark cursed. Who would expect that Sinogo would feel threatened by Chimetrice''s transformation?


    Worse, Sinogo was charging his attack while facing Mount Caon.


    If this attack seeded, everything on the battlefield would be wiped out in an instant, including the entire Mount Caon.


    Everyone that saw the scene began to panic. Even the front line had gone disarray causing the [Infected] to push forward and out of the giant crater.


    "Chimetrice! Stop him!"


    Mark shouted with utmost urgency. He did not even wait for the two [Diwatas] to react.


    <strong>WHOOSH!!!</strong>


    Mark''s body vanished into a surge of ck mist and headed towards Sinogo. As his body appeared and disappeared, he traveled several hundred meters in a blink of an eye.


    Chimetrice also ignored the [Behemoth ss Infected] surrounding him. The ground cracked and exploded as he kicked his legs, propelling him towards Sinogo.


    The two [Diwatas] werete to react but immediately followed. Even so, they weregging behind the two. Mark was using his [Shadow Mist Movement] consecutively. On the other hand, Chimetrice''s leg strength and flight capabilities allowed him to move faster than the two.


    But then, the two [Diwatas] noticed. Mark was moving higher and higher instead of straight towards Sinogo. On the other side, Chimetrice continued his fight as close as possible to the ground.


    And for the second time, the two [Diwatas] froze as Mark stopped his flight. Flying as high as he could over Sinogo''s body, he also unleashed his transformation.


    It was the very same transformation he used just the other day when he fought the [Encantado]. Even so, it was far more than enough to surprise the two [Diwatas] like how they were surprised at Chimetrice''s true form.


    But even so, it was not enough...


    Mark released the [Wind Maniption Mental Crystal]. At the same time, he used his [Blood Enhancement] on his wings, making his three pairs of wings glow red. And then, Mark controlled the wind. Not only did the wind begin to push him, but the wind resistance in front of him vanished.


    And there, Mark began to plummet like a meteor.


    Sinogo felt the sudden influx of magical energy from above. But he did not feel afraid. Instead, he paid more attention to Chimetrice, who was closing in in front.


    But then, Sinogo seemed to panic. Chimetrice''s presence in front of him suddenly vanished. It began to charge its attack faster while beginning to retreat one step at a time.


    In front of Sinogo, Chimetrice continued his flight. However, his second right wing, the wing of the Crow, was emitting some faint energy fluctuations around him. It erased his presence. The ability of a magical crow known as a trickster.


    Chimetrice never really turned invisible or anything. Only his presence was erased.


    However, since Sinogo was opening his mouth too wide. His vision was obstructed by his snout due to his eyes being above his mouth. As he was only relying on his other senses to find Chimetrice, thetter felt to have suddenly vanished.


    Unfortunately, Sinogo had already begun charging his attack. There was no way to stop it.


    And...


    <strong>WHOOOM!!!</strong><sub> </sub>


    The ball of light in Sinogo''s mouth finished forming and was ready to fire.


    But at the same time, Chimetrice arrived under Sinogo''s snout. On the other hand, Mark was the same as he appeared in front of Sinogo''s eyes with a puff of ck mist.


    <strong>WHAM!</strong>


    Chimetricended and kicked the ground, putting his strongest uppercut towards Sinogo''s chin.


    <strong>BAM!</strong>


    Marknded his most ferocious kick on Sinogo''s nose.


    <strong>SNAP!</strong>


    The force from the two attacksing from below and above forced Sinogo''s mouth to close with a loud snap. Several of his gigantic teeth cracked with some even getting torn off from his gums.


    Sinogo could only stare at Mark as his unprable scales got dented over his nose, filling his nasal cavity with his blood.


    Worse, the ball of energy that Sinogo was about to fire became stuck inside his mouth.


    <strong>BOOM!!!</strong>


    The entire province shook as a dome of lightrger than the mountain enveloped the eastern ins along with the eastern coast. Sinogo''s attack exploded inside his mouth, causing an explosion that covered around five kilometers around him.


    Everything was flung away by the strong shockwave that came after the explosion, whether it be trees, [Infected], or even therge amount of water along the eastern coast.


    Luckily, the explosion urred at the back of the [Infected] army. It even swallowed arge chunk of the army, even all the [Behemoth ss Infected].


    The bad thing, however... The shockwave threw all kinds of things away into the middle of the magical army. The magical army was in disarray and many were instantly killed after many gigantic [Infected] crushed everything they fall onto.


    There was no need to rebuild the front line as the [Infected] army and the magical army were mixed all together into a bloody massacre.


    Tin and Binituin were left stunned after they stabilized themselves from being flung away by the shockwave. Everything happened too quickly.


    "Where are they?"


    The younger [Diwata], Binituin, showed worry for their two allies. Both Mark and Sinogo charged in to stop the total annihtion of their army and their sacred ground.


    "The question is are they still alive. With that explosion, it''s not surprising if they died just like that."


    Tin remarked with a frown. She was rather angry. Not because of Mark and Chimetrice, but because she was unable to do anything in the previous scenario.


    "Don''t just go killing us."


    A voice entered the ears of the two [Diwatas] as Mark flew below them from the ground, followed by Chimetrice.


    Both the two of them looked ragged. They even had burns here and there.


    "Are you two okay?"


    Binituin fearlessly approached the two in worry.


    "Do I look like okay?"


    Mark said, pointing at his legs. It was intact, well, mostly. The muscles of Mark''s legs were clearly torn, and his skin was ripped off.


    "Damn, it hurts."


    Markined.


    "You overdid it. Even I would take some damage, falling from that height at that speed."


    Chimetrice voiced out, looking at Mark''s condition.


    "What about you? Is your body alright?" Mark changed the topic and asked Chimetrice. "You shielded me from the direct impact."


    "I''m fine," Chimetrice said as he tore off the burnt bark from the wooden part of his body, which immediately started growing back. "Something like this won''t kill me."


    "Well, same for me."


    Mark said as the wounds he got were clearly starting to heal on their own visible to the naked eye.


    "Monsters..."


    Tin remarked with disbelief. The injuries Mark and Chimetrice got were already healing. It was unbelievable to see.


    "Well, it looks like the blessings we received really protected us. If it was the same as the first time, I would get severely burned by that even if you protected me."


    Mark said to Chimetrice.


    "I also noticed it. The damage I received was unexpectedly low for that kind of explosion."


    Chimetrice agreed.


    "I never expected that Sinogo already gained sentience," Mark grumbled. "I should have checked earlier. Last time, he only seemed intelligent and odd, but there seems to be no sentience yet..."


    And then, Mark sighed...


    "Unfortunately, it''s far from over."


    Mark added with a serious face, turning to the cloud of dust that the explosion caused. Chimetrice was the same. At the same time, both Tin and Binituin also felt it.


    <strong>ROOOAARR!!!</strong>


    The loud roar was heard, causing a soundwave from within the cloud of dust. The roar blew away the dust that obscured everyone''s view.


    And there, Sinogo stood, as towering as ever.


    Nheless, Sinogo did not escape the damage of his own attack. His snout was mostly blown off, with his torn flesh dangling on his face. Even his scales incurred damage all over his body. There were burnt ces, while some were cracked open and bleeding.


    It was unfortunate. This kind of damage was never enough to stop a rampaging [Infected] no matter what size they were.


    If there was something significant that changed, it was the fact that Sinogo''s eyes were glowing fiery red in anger as he stared at the silhouettes of Mark and Sinogo from afar.

 Chapter 866 Distraction After Distraction, Continuing The Battle Against Sinogo

    <strong>Day 240 - 10:20 AM - Mount Caon, Municipality of Codcod, Province of Negros idental</strong>


    Anger...


    Many [Infected] creatures could show such an expression and emotion on their faces. However, it was due to the effects of [Mutagen] that turned them into such vile creatures.


    Nheless, most [Infected] creatures were incapable of directing their anger towards any specific target.


    It was a clear indication that not only the [Infected] Sinogo was intelligent but also gained sentience.


    Aplete indication that Sinogo had mutated into a mature [King Type Infected].


    However, it was strange.


    In the previous cases, the [Monarch Types] that Mark encountered were capable of speaking. Well, at least, those in the wild. Jte and Trish, who Mark met early and took into custody, seemed to have slower growth. Snow, who Mark acquiredter, was able to utter some words after the [Queen Spider] was removed from her.


    The mental growth of [Monarch Type Infected] was faster in the wild, as Mark observed. Yet, despite having sentience, Sinogo was still behaving like an animal.


    It was rather strange.


    "He is really angry, isn''t he?"


    The younger [Diwata], Binituin, grumbled, feeling the cold, furious aura from Sinogo''s gaze. It was despite the fact that it was Mark and Chimetrice who were on the receiving end of that stare.


    Beside Binituin, her older sister, Tin, was silent. She could also feel the intensity of that stare.


    How would it feel to be Mark and Chimetrice, who was on the receiving end of that furious re?


    "What a cold stare."


    Mark shrugged. He felt like his surroundings were freezing.


    "But staring is all he could do for now," Chimetrice spoke with a serious expression. "We managed to cause such damage to him, and he became warier of us. It is one of the backfires for having high intelligence and sentience for an [Infected]."


    "True," Mark nodded. "Well, the arena is already prepared. We can go all out without worrying."


    The arena... Mark was talking about the aftermath of the explosion. It was the five-kilometer radius around Sinogo where everything was obliterated.


    With nothing left within that area but soil and rubble, Mark and Chimetrice would not have any problems going all out.


    One of Mark''s worries was the energy residue left after a battle fought using magical energy. Back in Bay City, it caused some trouble when the [ming Infected] and the [Miasma King Type] appeared after the battle between Mark and Gar''m.


    But what was the difference now? It definitely was not because magical energy was now abundant on Earth. It was also not because they had no choice since they were fighting Sinogo in this battle. Even in the previous attack, Mark did not use [Miasma] to at least reduce the damage from Sinogo''s attack.


    There was something else different in this particr scenario.


    It was the surroundings.


    Anything, items, structures, animals, or people, whether living or not, would absorb and emit energy from and to the surroundings. Heat and light were the mostmon energy types that undergo this process because these energies were everywhere.


    It was the same for magical energies. They could be absorbed by things or people.


    And this was very likely the reason why in Bay City,rge amounts of magical residue were left after the battle. It was because the location was filled with buildings and people, especially within the vicinity of the fight. It elerated the possible growth of the [Infected] within the surroundings, and the magically mutated [Infected] appeared sooner than expected.


    Now, the explosion caused by Sinogo''s failed attack cleared the surroundings of almost everything. Within this five-kilometer radius around Sinogo, only the ground could absorb the magical residues and would very less likely cause the [Infected] to mutate.


    Thus... There was no need to hold back due to that reason.


    Mark tapped the ring on his finger. Mei had been asking him if he was alright, and he immediately replied to assure her.


    At this point, Mark was ready to continue the fight.


    But then...


    "Bro! We''re here!"


    The familiar voice of Jaeya echoed in Mark''s mind. It made Mark freeze as her voice came loudly and out of nowhere. Mark might be mostly emotionless, but it did not mean that he could not feel surprised from time to time.


    Even so, Mark sighed. With Jaeya and the rest arriving, they could proceed to the next n.


    Mark beganmunicating with Jaeya while they slowly moved towards Sinogo.


    ***


    In the middle of the two opposing armies, the situation became far more chaotic than before.


    Both sides were umting massive casualties rather fast.


    "Retreat! RETREAT! Form the lines! Get the injured to the back!"


    Of course, the magical army was at a disadvantage. Not to mention that most of the deaths they incur were added to the numbers of the enemies present on the battlefield.


    They needed to reform their lines fast, even if it meant they were retreating their line of defense. It was far better than the current situation they were in.


    At the rear of the magical army, the current guardian of Mount Caon, wana, watched the situation with great remorse. She and her people had fought the [Infected] before. Nevertheless, she never expected to face a cmity like this in the hands of the same monstrous creatures.


    Unfortunately for wana, she used up almost all of her energy in the previous attack she made with the elemental spirits around her. That attack was their trump card, herst resort. wana gambled with that attack, yet, she lost the bet.


    Right now, the most that wana could do was to assist the army from the rear and heal those injured and managed to survive.


    The situation of the army aside, wana and her people at the rear witnessed the young woman that left through a portal return, bringing four other people and an infant back here. The three women looked a bit confused upon arrival, and they were clearly human. The other young woman and the infant, however... felt strange.


    wana could not help but stare at the young woman wearing what seemed to be human servant clothing. She was surprised when the young woman beganmanding several [Infected] that nearly reached the rear and used them to fight their own allies. The number she controlled was not that many. However, as those [Infected] were followingmands from a more intelligent master, their movements were far different and more efficientpared to their brainless counterparts.


    But that was not what wana was staring at her for...


    Rather... It was the strange feeling of subservience. wana somehow felt that that young woman was above her.


    wana... she could not understand what was happening...


    While having those thoughts, waya saw the floating vessel take flight. The subus, Ilia, took the floating vessel. She brought the two female humans that were brought here and the young woman that could open portals with her. The others were left on the ground to either provide support in the rear or fight the approaching [Infected].


    ***


    In the rear of the magical army near the foot of Mount Caon, the ones left by the [Mini Cube] performed their duties.


    "Sis... This situation is pretty chaotic." Jaeya spoke, carrying Theodore in her arms. "Are we safe here?"


    "We should be fine here," Mei replied to Jaeya while making sure that there was no [Infected] that slipped towards them. "The danger here is nothingpared to the danger Gege is currently facing."


    "So, big bro is there..." Jaeya looked far to the horizon. "So... That''s Sinogo?"<sub> </sub>


    Mei nodded in reply.


    Jaeya was feeling a bit ufortable as she stared towards the eastern coast. The distance was pretty far, so she could not see Mark and the group that was fighting Sinogo. However, she could see Sinogo even from the base of the mountain. That was how gigantic the golden crocodile was.


    At this time, Jaeya suddenly nodded before turning to Mei.


    "Big bro said that they are already going to engage. They will try to divert Sinogo''s attention away from here, but we should be careful of stray attacks just in case."


    "I doubt Gege will let that happen, though."


    Mei tilted her head, looking in Sinogo''s direction. Jaeya might not be able to see what was happening there, but Mei could.


    "Will that really work?"


    Jaeya shifted the topic with a wry smile. She was amazed how Mei could ce all her trust in Mark, but it was not her ce to question it. Instead, she turned her head towards the sky, where the [Mini Cube] continued to rise.


    "I don''t know either," Mei shrugged. "But it''s worth a try. Even if it failed, there''s nothing to lose. It will be a big help if it seded, though."


    Jaeya nodded as what Mei said was true. Still, it was amazing how Mark could create sorts of ideas like the reason why he told Spera to call Be and Donna to this ce.


    ***


    In the eastern nds near the coast, the staredown between Sinogo and Mark''s group continued.


    No, rather than a staredown, it was more like Sinogo was waiting for Mark''s group to attack first. It was very likely that he wanted to either counterattack or act depending on the movements of his enemies.


    Well... as if Mark would let Sinogo read their movements.


    With a smile, Mark gave his signal to the group.


    Chimetrice immediately went down to the ground.


    Tin and Binituin flew in separate directions.


    Lastly, Mark waved his hand, taking something out of his ring... It was a pair of twenty-five-liter ck liquid containers.


    With a container in both hands, Mark summoned the [Photokinesis Mental Crystal] from the [PsyCrystal]. He then vanished from everyone''s sight.


    Sinogo sure was confused. Instead of the whole group attacking, the enemies separated. Worse, one of them vanished.


    Once Mark vanished, the battle began.


    Sinogo''s attention was taken by Mark''s sudden disappearance. The giant crocodile began looking around while being careful not topletely take away his eyes from the rest of the enemies.


    However, Sinogo''s current state was more than enough for Chimetrice to take advantage of.


    With a p of his crow wing, the presence of Chimetrice suddenly thinned.


    It caused Sinogo to jump back. He already experienced this strategy earlier and suffered greatly. This, however, made Sinogo pay more attention to Chimetrice, giving the two [Diwatas] the chance.


    GROOARR!!!


    All of a sudden, Sinogo let out a painful roar. The roar sounded garbled and unstable due to him losing most of his snout and his flesh and blood clogging his throat.


    And the cause of the sudden pain?


    It was Tin and Binituin.


    Normally, the attacks from the two would not cause any damage to Sinogo at all. It was like before, where they only served as the distraction while their eldest sister served as the main attacker. If described straight, Tin and Binituin were weak.


    But Mark gave the two a certain task.


    Since Sinogo was warier toward Mark and Chimetrice, it was easier for the two men to grab the giant crocodile''s attention. And when they managed to get the attention away from the two [Diwatas]...


    They were tasked to attack the wounds on Sinogo''s legs, especially the open bleeding wounds.


    One of their priorities was to avoid letting Sinogo move around too much. If possible, Mark wanted to immobilize Sinogo. This way, the range of attacks Sinogo could perform would be limited.


    Of course, it would not be easy.


    Even if Tin and Binituin attacked the wounds on Sinogo''s legs, aside from the pain, they were barely doing any damage.


    But that was also enough. While the goal was to immobilize Sinogo, the two [Diwata] also served as anotheryer of distraction for the giant crocodile.


    It was all while Mark did his own task.


    <strong>PLOP! SWOOSH!</strong>


    All of a sudden, a burst of foul-smelling liquid showered upon Sinogo''s body. However, since Sinogo was busy trying to attack Chimetrice and the two [Diwatas], he did not pay the foul-smelling liquid any mind. Besides, the liquid only caused a small part of his body to feel wet and the wet sensation was nothing new to a crocodile creature like him.


    But then...


    <strong>TING!</strong>


    Sounds of metal were heard shing with Sinogo''s scales...


    And then...


    <strong>BOOM!!!</strong>


    <strong>ROOOOARR!!!</strong>


    Several explosions urred on Sinogo''s head and back, causing his wounded body severe amounts of pain.


    And worse...


    The explosions caused the foul-smelling liquid to burst into mes.


    Yes... that foul-smelling liquid was around fifty liters of gasoline poured unto Sinogo''s head and back.


    Mark appeared above Sinogo, ying with the pins of the grenades he threw just now.


    And while Sinogo was squirming because of the explosion and the mes burning his body, Mark shot unto Sinogo''s back.


    <strong>BOOM!</strong>


    Marknded with a loud bang. At the same time, the burst of ck mes exploded on Sinogo''s back. It began to engulf the mes from the gasoline, causing Sinogo''s head and back to be covered with nasty ck mes.

 Chapter 867 Sinogos Thoughts, The Tyrant Of The Visayan Waters

    <strong>Day 240 - 10:23 AM - Mount Caon, Municipality of Codcod, Province of Negros idental</strong>


    Sinogo''s anger increased steadily.


    The first goal of the [Infected] was to spread their kind, no matter how intelligent or sentient they were. But once an [Infected''s] mind mutated too far, sometimes, that desire to infect others would get overridden by various factors.


    It was especially the case of [Monarch Types], who developed sentience and various interests.


    In Sinogo''s case, after he became [Infected], he absorbed the power of the seal that imprisoned him. The unique power of the Supreme God of the Sky, Kaptan. This unique power caused his mind to grow far from the usual [Infected].


    This unique power also fueled his desire to gain more.


    However, that desire and Sinogo''s mental and emotional growth were hindered by one thing...


    Sinogo''s current body... the form of a gigantic golden crocodile...


    It intensified Sinogo''s instincts and desires, not as a former Deity but as an Arrogant Beast.


    ...An Arrogant Beast that saw every living thing, not of his kind, as prey.


    ...An Arrogant Beast that saw everything around him as his own.


    ...An Arrogant Beast that saw himself as the strongest... as the king of everything.


    With a stomp of his legs, Sinogo could createrge waves that could swallow thend.


    With a wave of his tail, he could destroyrge hills and small mountains.


    With a single breath, the tallest mountains could be erased in an instant.


    With his scales on his body, he was invincible.


    No one had ever withstood his powerful attacks.


    No one had ever pierced through his tough defense.


    No one...


    Until this very moment...


    Sinogo could not believe it.


    His authority was being tarnished. He was being pushed back into the corner by the pests he saw no more than ants.


    The worst thing...


    Sinogo remembered one of his current enemies. The man with ck armor and clothing with three pairs of wings. It was not like he remembered his appearance. Instead, he remembered the man''s aura.


    That aura gave him a sense of dread. Back then, during their first encounter, Sinogo felt that aura out of nowhere and shot in the direction it wasing from. It was then revealed that the aura wasing from a person concealed within the darkness of the night.


    Sinogo saw that man managed to avoid the brunt of his sudden attack and escaped. However, he did not pursue the man. It was due to the dreadful aura Sinogo felt from him.


    It was an animal''s instinct not to pursue something they felt dangerous. There might be some exceptions, but that was mostly the case.


    And now, while Sinogo was aiming to devour the magical races and attack their home mountain brimming with Magical Energy...


    Sinogo encountered the man with the dreadful aura once more. And like before, he attacked the man without any warning. He did not want to deal with that man and hoped that even if the attack did not hit, the man would leave like before.


    But that was not the case this time. Sinogo''s attack this time was evaded by the man entirely. Worst, the man was not alone. He appeared with someone else who did not get killed by his attack.


    And Sinogo could feel a different kind of dread towards that unfamiliarpanion.


    Sinogo, who viewed himself as the ruler of the Visayan waters, was intimidated by that pair of small ants. He could not understand why it was happening. However, his instincts were ringing danger.


    The dread intensified when the man unharmed by Sinogo''s attack transformed. The aura that that man released chilled Sinogo to the bone.


    That was why Sinogo decided to end it quickly. Even if it would destroy his initial goal in this ce... Even if it would obliterate his entire army...


    Sinogo decided to end this farce with his strongest attack. It was the strongest attack he had ever created since he woke up in this world.


    But to Sinogo''s surprise and fear... The two people he dreaded charged toward him instead of fleeing. He could only step back and bide for his attack to fully form.


    Then, it happened.


    The worst embarrassment Sinogo experienced since he woke up. To be almost obliterated by the strength of his own attack.


    Sinogo''s body was injured. He was bleeding and was in great pain.


    But that was the least of his concern.


    Sinogo was furious to be in such a state. The dread he felt vanished. All he wanted was to trample on the pests that made him like this.


    But that was easier said than done.


    The enemies were full of tricks, aiming for his blind spots and attacking his injuries. He was in great pain and was unable to retaliate.


    Sinogo thought before... Size came hand in hand with power. Therger they were, the more powerful they became.


    But slowly... That ideal Sinogo had was bing overturned by what he thought of as nothing but weak pests he could trample any time he wanted.


    Size did not matter when it came to strength or power. And now... Sinogo''s gigantic size was bing more of a problem than an advantage.


    Because of his size, the burden on Sinogo''s body was greater. He moved slower, and any attacks shot at him would hit. There was no ce to hide or retreat other than the bodies of water. But while he was near the coast, it was still a bit far to reach immediately.


    <strong>ROOOAAARRR!!!</strong>


    Sinogo roared. It was not because of pain but anger.


    If only he was smaller and faster, these pests would not stand a chance.


    ***


    <strong>BOOM! STOMP! THOOOM!</strong>


    Mark and the rest did not stop attacking Sinogo.


    The [Miasmic mes] continued to burn on Sinogo''s back as Mark continued to fuel it. Tin and Binituin flew around Sinogo, attacking the wounds on his limbs at any possible opportunity. It was the same for Chimetrice, attacking Sinogo''s feet and tearing the scales off the gigantic golden crocodile whenever he could. The only thing everyone avoided the most was Sinogo''s tail, as it whipped everywhere, and a single hit could either kill or send them flying miles away.


    Frustratingly... Mark and the others were barely doing any damage.<sub> </sub>


    They were definitely causing Sinogo great amounts of pain, but it was far from being able to kill it.


    At some point, Mark took out his [Shadow Piercer]. It was his precious self-powered railgun. Since the goal was to kill Sinogo, just disabling him would not do. They had to destroy Sinogo''s brain.


    Without wasting time, Mark found the right angles and shot unto Sinogo''s head.


    However, the spikes that the [Shadow Piercer] shot could not pierce through Sinogo''s skin and flesh entirely. The most it could do was burrow half of the one and a half foot arrow spikes, leaving it stuck on Sinogo''s head without even dealing any noticeable damage.


    Nheless, this was bing a one-sided fight. The barrage of attacks at different angles rendered Sinogo unable to counterattack. Once he tried to, he was attacked from a different angle, taking away the chance and his attention. If they continued this, there would only be two possible oues.


    It was whether they wear off Sinogo or they would be the ones worn off first.


    In any case, this was the better scenario than letting Sinogo rampage around.


    But then...


    <strong>ROOOAR!!! THOOOM!!!</strong>


    All of a sudden, Sinogo roared as he released blinding light from his body.


    Mark and the others immediately retreated. To their surprise, the light did not do them any harm. But Mark immediately realized what happened.


    "This guy..."


    Mark murmured as she stared at Sinogo.


    Sinogo discharged his Magical Energy in a way he never did before. Unlike the previous ones where he shot his Magical Energy like beams, Sinogo released them around his body like a wave. The wave of energy only extended a few meters around Sinogo''s body. But it was more than enough topletely put out the [Miasmic mes] burning on his back and make everyone move away.


    An opportunity for Sinogo to retaliate unexpectedly opened.


    <strong>ROOARR!!!</strong>


    And once more, another unexpected attack came from Sinogo. Unlike before where beams of light came from his mouth, smaller balls of light formed around his wounded body.


    Then...


    <strong>THOOM!!!</strong>


    Each ball of light fired smaller beams towards Mark and the other three.


    Chimetrice disregarded the beams and did not even try to evade them. His tough body did not even get scratched by the smaller beams.


    It was theplete opposite to Mark and the two [Diwatas], however. One hit from these beams would tear open a hole in their bodies. A single blow could mean their death. They had no other choice but to evade every single beam of light if they did not want to die.


    But how many beams were there? Ten? Twenty? It was hard to count.


    This was bad. It was clear that SInogo was slowly learning new things in the middle of the battle. It was better if they end this quickly than to let Sinogo grow further.


    "Tsk."


    Mark clicked his tongue as he waved his hand. ck, misty balls of smoke shot off his hand to cover his body. He then pushed both his hands forward,unching surges of the ck mist towards the balls of light floating around Sinogo.


    For the first time in this battle, Mark used [Miasma] to the surprise of both Tin and Binituin. The surprise onlysted an instant, however. They needed to pay attention to the attacksing their way instead of gawking at Mark''s unexpected ability.


    Mark''s [Miasma] immediately reached and slowly swallowed the balls of light in his close proximity.


    The surge of [Miasma] seemed to have caused Sinogo to step back. However, the injuries Mark and the three inflicted hindered the gigantic golden crocodile from doing so. As ast resort, all the balls of light he conjured left the other three and shot towards Mark and his veil of [Miasma].


    Mark''s both eyes glowed violet. With dozens of beams shooting toward him at once, he had no choice but fully utilize his [Future Predictio] to avoid each attack.


    All of Mark''s wings worked to the limit. He also used his [Shadow Mist Movement] repeatedly at any given opportunity. He was facing attacks moving at the speed of light, each one capable of killing him or at least severely injuring him.


    A single hit would determine Mark''s life and death.


    It was a good thing that the veil of [Miasma] Mark conjured could reduce the intensity and strength of the beams that passed through it. It would have been more favorable if the [Miasma] could absorb those attacks. Unfortunately, such thinking was asking for the impossible.


    These beams of light were created by the magical energy of the Supreme Sky God, Kaptan. The magical energy of a god was the bane of Demons and negative energies such as [Miasma].


    The beams of light tore through Mark''s veil of [Miasma]. It was amazing that Mark was still alive and basically unscathed despite the barrage of attacks.


    Even so, dodging the attacks was the most Mark could do in this situation. He could only clench his teeth as he felt the searing heat from each beam passing near his body.


    But with Mark taking all the attacks, Chimetrice and the two [Diwatas] became free to move.


    Chimetrice immediately hid his presence, running under Sinogo''s belly. The two [Diwatas] joined together and created a two-person [Joint Magic] of their own.


    <strong>BOOM!</strong>


    Suddenly, Sinogo fell, creating an earthquake-like tremor as his underside slumped to the ground.


    Chimetrice used his wits and attacked Sinogo''s right forelimb from the inner side before shooting himself towards the other forelimb in an instant. The two [Diwatas] also contributed as they shot their own ball of magical energy unto Sinogo''s back.


    With both Sinogo''s forelimbs thrown outwards by Chimetrice and the heavy impact on his back because of the two [Diwatas], he fell to the ground without being able to resist.


    As they said... Therger they were, the harder they fell.


    Sinogo''srge body crushed the ground beneath him. The impact also stopped his barrage of attacks, and the balls of light around his body vanished.


    The fall might have rattled Sinogo, but it was not enough to stop him. He immediately tried to recover from the fall.


    But unexpectedly... Sinogo found himself unable to move. His body felt paralyzed from the inside.


    ? Mark stopped mid-air and looked at Sinogo below. He then looked above. The [Mini Cube] was flying way far above the area of battle.


    If one was not paying attention, they would not notice. However, small bits of white dust were falling from the sky and covering the entire battlefield around Sinogo.


    This was the best opportunity to finish this battle.


    As such...


    Mark extended his hand, taking two items from his ring.


    The [Butterfly of Knowledge] and the [Crystal Staff].


    Holding the two items in his hands, Mark shouted to Chimetrice and the two [Diwatas].


    "Retreat! I''m going for a big one!"

 Chapter 868 A Destructive Prayer, The Invocation From The [Butterfly Of Knowledge]

    <strong>Day 240 - 10:27 AM - Mount Caon, Municipality of Codcod, Province of Negros idental</strong>


    In the sky, the [Mini Cube] floated up high. On the short tform outside the floating vessel''s door, three women could be seen dangerously hunched over at the edge.


    They were the sisters, Be and Donna, together with Spera, who was keeping an eye on the events below.


    The [Mini Cube] floated up high. However, they could still feel the pressureing from the battle below. Spera could handle it, but it was worse for the sisters. It could not be helped. This was the first time that the sisters actually felt the pressureing from a Godly being, after all.


    Even so, Be and Donna did their best to aplish the task Mark gave to them. It was to use their [Mutator Abilities] to the gigantic golden crocodile below.


    Since it was daytime, it was rather hard to spot the glittering white dust falling from their hands.


    As sisters, the [Mutator Abilities] of Be and Donna were a bit simr. The two could release a glittering powder-like substance from their bodies, especially from their hands. However, the effects of these powders were different.


    Be''s ability was to release glittering powder that could cause paralysis. On the other hand, Donna''s glittering powder could cause a painful numbing sensation. The powders created by the sisters were good on their own. However, when used together, it could make most enemies pass out.


    Their abilities were disyed before in the old vige in Mt. Madias when they dealt with their rude group member. Although at that time, it was kind of hard to determine.


    It also had some limits. One was the enemy''s size. Arger enemy would take longer to sumb to the effects of the power. It was also harder for enemies with strong skin or armor to be afflicted with the powder''s effects. However, if the powder was ingested or sprinkled into wounds, it would show its effects faster.


    These abilities kept them alive until now. While these powders could not kill directly, it allowed them to kill even the supposedly unkible foes.


    It was why Mark decided to recruit these sisters. Whether it was now or in the future, these glittering powders would be useful. Not to mention that they could produce these powder and store it and would still have effects for a week or so.


    Now, the sisters were ordered by Mark to sprinkle these glittering powders on the golden crocodile. It was supposed to be risky since the powder could be blown away by the wind and affect more than what they intended.


    And that was where Spera came into y.


    If one was to look closely, there were several holes floating a distance above Sinogo. These were small portals that Spera opened, and the sisters were sprinkling the glittering powder through them. This way, only Sinogo would be affected by the powder.


    Well, Mark and Chimetrice were also sprinkled with the powder as they fought Sinogo. However, Chimetrice had inherent immunity to poisonous substances. Mark was also barely affected due to the fact that he could control his blood which was supposed to spread the powder onto his whole body. The fact that Mark had [Miasma] in his body also helped negate the effects.


    The [Mutator Ability] of the sisters might have been of great help if was used unto the [Infected] army. Unfortunately, their arrival waste. By the time they arrived, Sinogo had already caused that massive explosion which resulted in the two armies mixing into a chaotic battle.


    Spera and the sisters did not really need to stay on the tform considering the danger. However, they wanted to watch the fight below. While they could not see everything clearly from their current height, they could at least see Sinogo.


    It took a few minutes of amazement as to how Mark and Chimetrice could deal with such a gigantic and powerful foe. And when Sinogo fell to the ground and ended up having difficulty moving, the two sisters rejoiced, knowing that they managed to help.


    But then...


    "You two, enter quick!"


    Spera told the sisters as she pulled the two. They quickly entered the floating vessel while Ilia piloted it away. Spera and Ilia already had a connection with Jaeya and likely received Mark''s orders to retreat.


    And as they left their initial position, the four women inside the floating vessel could only watch the battle between the army since they were facing the mountain as they retreated.


    However...


    Thete morning sky suddenly darkened, making Spera rush to the door to see what was happening behind.


    ***


    Sinogo was not incapacitatedpletely. However, he was already struggling to move due to the numbing and paralyzing power that seeped into his wounds.


    It was the best opportunity for Mark to finish this fight.


    Mark took out the [Butterfly of Knowledge] and the [Crystal Staff]. These two items were his loots during their visit to Mount Madia-as. And this would be the first time Mark would use the book-shaped butterfly, not to mention using the two together.


    From the reaction that Magwayen and Silim showed before, using these two items together would surely yield catastrophic effects.


    And a catastrophic attack was what was needed in order to kill [Infected] Sinogo, the soulless Deity who usurped a God''s power.


    Chimetrice already retreated. And although a bit dyed, the two [Diwatas] followed after.


    With everything set up, Mark began to invoke his [Magical Energy].


    But all of a sudden... Mark felt heavy. It was when he realized that his [Magical Energy] was draining rapidly. This was something Mark did not expect to happen.


    And then, Mark''s attention was pulled away from the heaviness of his body. He could not help but stare nkly in front of him. Through his eyes, words appeared out of thin air. It was words he was not supposed to understand. Yet, as his eyes passed by each word, its meaning was immediately conveyed into his mind.


    Mark was in a deep trance. As if he was hypnotized, he began to read each word aloud.


    "A sh of light of a destructive form. The representation of nature''s anger."


    Clouds began to form in the sky. All witnesses stared, shocked at the spectacle as the clouds swirled with Mark right below its center. The shock caused a few more deaths as the [Infected] could care less about the situation.


    <strong>RUMBLE!</strong>


    "A phenomenon that all feared... Followed by the echoing thunder at its wake..."


    The sounds of thunder echoed from the clouds. Odd enough, not a single sh of lightning could be seen.


    And then... the clouds swirled faster. As if it was water in a ss, being stirred by a spoon. The already dark clouds turned darker... and darker... and darker...


    It became questionable whether the swirling image in the sky were still clouds. It was too dark and too murky.


    <strong>BOOM!</strong>


    All of a sudden, the frightening amount of energy exploded into the surroundings. Its pressure was too strong that many magical creatures on the battlefield were incapacitated. Many were in danger of dying due to this sudden unexpected event.


    But... to everyone''s surprise...


    <strong>ROOOOAR!!!</strong>


    Sinogo roared as he felt the extreme danger.


    All of the [Infected] paused and look back. They all turned and started running towards Sinogo, leaving the surprised magical army.


    The reason became clear soon. The [Infected] capable of flight all soared towards Mark. Those that could attack at range tried shooting Mark down. And those that could not fly or attack from afar began building a tower, trying to reach Mark from below.<sub> </sub>


    Unfortunately for the [Infected]...


    <strong>CRACKLE!!!</strong>


    Mark''s body became enveloped by electricity. It crackled as it shut down all the [Flying Infected] and the long-ranged attack that came his way.


    Ignoring his surroundings, Mark pointed the [Crystal Staff] to Sinogo as it started glowing... No... It only glowed for a moment before the crystal turned pitch ck.


    "Now, light in its destructive form. Tainted by the force of corruption. The taint swallowing everything into its form."


    The air began to tremble. The wind roared, sounding like the cries of agonized souls.


    "Befall upon mine enemy... I call upon thee as I giveth thy name..."


    The pressure in the surroundings reached its peak. Even the Chimetrice and the [Diwatas] felt the chills as they retreated further and further.


    "[Miasmic Judgement]."


    Mark, in a trance, gave the name and called his attack.


    <strong>THOOOOM!!!</strong>


    Everyone''s eyes dted as a pir of ck-colored lightning, several dozens of meters thick and wide, shot from the dark, swirling clouds unto Sinogo, paralyzed on the ground.


    <strong>RRRRRRRRRRRRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!!!!!!!</strong>


    Sinogo''s roar of pain and resistance ensued, mixing with the sound of thunder that almost made everyone deaf.


    A strike of lightning onlysted an instant. But this pir of ck-colored lightning... It continued to rain down from the sky for more than five seconds.


    Destruction ensued, thends crumbled, and the static in the air made everyone''s skin feel numb.


    The pir of lightning exploded here and there, summoning branches that shot everywhere.


    Most of those branches hit the [Infected] army, obliterating each and every single one of them who received the ck lightning''s touch.


    <strong>ROOAAARR...</strong>


    Slowly, Sinogo''s roar decreased. His voice became overwhelmed by the lightning''s force until his struggle stopped. The gigantic golden crocodile tried his best to resist. However, the spikes that Mark shot from his [Shadow Pierce] before on Sinogo''s head made it easier for the lightning to slowly fry his brain.


    <strong>CRACKLE!</strong>


    The pir of lightning ended with a loud crackle and explosion.


    At this time, Mark could be seen unsteadily lowering himself as if he was about to fall from mid-flight.


    Chimetrice immediately flew towards Mark, grabbing him with his woody left arm.


    "Are you alright?"


    Chimetrice asked Mark, who was still conscious but clearly weakened.


    "I''m okay. Just feeling too tired..."


    Mark replied, raising his arms to see the toys in his hands.


    "Damn... No wonder those two panicked..."


    Mark remembered Magwayen and Silim. He now understood why they were in such a panic when Mark thought of using the two items together.


    During the chant, Mark was conscious. However, his body was basically moving and talking on its own. It was as if something powerful took over him. It made him remember the small details he forgot about the story of the butterfly that turned into a book...


    Those faith healers who caught the butterfly looked like they were possessed during their healing sessions. They massage their patients with healing oils while uttering unintelligible words that sounded like hymns and prayers.


    It might be the same situation this time, causing Mark to enter a trance and temporarily lose control of his body.


    Mark turned to the destruction he unintentionally created. The already destroyed area due to Sinogo''s previous attack turned into and filled with rubble, scorched ground, and molten rocks.


    The bodies of the [Infected] littered bellow, with each and every one of them dead, with their brains fried by the lightning branches.


    Most importantly, Sinogo. The gigantic golden crocodile was now scorched ck. Hey there on the ground without moving, looking like a small burnt mountain.


    It was clear that the body of the gigantic golden crocodile was now dead.


    Mark sighed.


    Finally... They could go home and rest.


    But then...


    "Are you sure that it''s over?"


    A woman''s whisper entered the ears of Mark and Chimetrice from behind them. But before they could turn to see who spoke, a sh of light pulled their attention.


    The sh of light wasing from...


    Sinogo''s dead body.


    Mark''s eyes dted. Sinogo''s body began to turn to dust. As if a gigantic sandcastle that lost its moisture and was falling apart, Sinogo''s body, piece by piece, fell to the ground.


    <strong>THOOM!!!</strong>


    Everyone froze, and their bodies felt heavy. It was the familiar pressure they felt before.


    And there, as thest parts of Sinogo''s body fell to the ground and shatter into dust, a gigantic humanoid figure emerged from the ashes.

 Chapter 869 Third Phase, The Rebirth Of Sinogo

    <strong>Day 240 - 10:31 AM - Mount Caon, Municipality of Codcod, Province of Negros idental</strong>


    The dust, the remains of the gigantic golden crocodile, spread onto its surroundings like an avnche. It was no news that upon the death of most magical creatures, they either vanish entirely or turn to dust. This should be one of the many reasons why there was almost no evidence of the existence of magical creatures in the mortal world.


    Sinogo turning to dust was not the issue, however.


    The problem was the gigantic humanoid figure that emerged from his disintegrating remains.


    Slowly, with dust falling from his body, the humanoid figure stood.


    The giant was a man, about four to five meters tall. He had wavy hair that extended a little bit below his shoulders and slightly tan skin. Tribal tattoos and markings with a golden sheen decorated his body while he wore a golden tribal cloth around his waist. Hanging on his biceps, neck, knees, and head were golden ornaments of tribal origin.


    His figure sported the appearance and style of pre-colonial Filipinos. It was how the giant could be described with.


    It was the true appearance of Sinogo.


    And his face... No wonder in some versions of the myths, it was said that one of the reasons Kaptan spared Sinogo''s life was his beauty.


    Sinogo looked beautifully handsome. He had the face of an ancient tribesman mixed with androgynous features. Even in the current world, many would fall for his appearance alone. Not to mention his perfectly chiseled body that would make many women drool. It was neither too bulky nor too skinny. It was literally perfect for his gigantic size.


    However... It seemed that Sinogo''s appearance did not return entirely. Maybe because he was a [Mutated Infected], or because he spent too long in a body of a crocodile, his arms, legs, and even eyes sported the appearance of a lizard. Instead of human hands, he had five-fingered webbed hands and long golden ws. His feet also looked lizard-like. And when he opened his mouth in confusion, he had sharp fangs instead of human teeth.


    Not to mention the tail on his back. It looked totally the same tail he had back in his crocodile body.


    Everyone thought the same. That giant humanoid and the gigantic crocodile were the same entity. Yet, no one could fathom or understand how this could happen.


    Sinogo was expected to die in that final attack. And he clearly did, considering that the body of the golden crocodile turned to dust.


    But why? Why was Sinogo still alive? Even more, in a form no one expected...


    And most of all...


    Sinogo was far more powerful than before... It was clear by the fact that everyone present could feel the unrestrained pressure. It was different from before when the magical creatures could still resist. Now, despite the distance, most of them were feeling suffocated.


    This powerful pressure and restraint were only supposed toe from a Godly being.


    ***


    Mark stared at the giant. The frown on his face could not be disguised. There was no way he would expect something like this to happen. Not to mention that while a humanoid [Infected] turning into something inhuman wasmon, the opposite was never witnessed to happen. There was some powerful humanoid [Infected]. The [Human Monarch Types], for example. However, the [Human Monarch Types] retained their human bodies since they became [Infected], only likely getting some transformative abilities simr to [Mutators].


    Sinogo''s case, the current scene unfolding in their eyes, had no precedents as far as they knew.


    Mark then noticed. It was not only them who were confused. Instead of attacking, Sinogo stood there, looking at his hands and scratching the tattoos on his wrists. He even twisted and pulled some of his hair.


    As Mark saw those actions of Sinogo, he began to speak in his mind.


    "Jaeya. You can hear me, right?"


    "Y-yes. I can hear you, Big Bro."


    Jaeya replied with a shaky voice.


    "Tell Spera to prepare an emergency retreat," Mark gave his instructions. "We don''t know whether we will win this. If just in case things don''t go well, we should retreat immediately."


    "Okay, I''ll tell her immediately," Jaeya agreed. "But... Are you going to continue fighting?"


    Mark shrugged as he heard the question. It was clear that Jaeya knew his current state. Even so...


    "We have no choice. If we can''t defeat Sinogo here, he will just be stronger the next time. Then, we won''t be sure if we can defeat this guy even more. Unless we have other choices, we can only try killing him on our own."


    There was a slight pause on Jaeya''s part.


    "Alright. Just be careful."


    Mark did not reply anymore. There was no time to reply at all. It was because...


    <strong>THOOM!!!</strong>


    Sinogo fired a beam from his right hand, seemingly trying his new body. The beam was fired without a particr target and was fired towards the water of the strait to the east. However, everyone could only stare, seeing the mountain-sized explosion as the water exploded due to the attack.


    The intensity of Sinogo''s beams seemed to have doubled in strength, worse, tripled.


    Sinogo also seemed surprised for a moment. But as he looked at his hands, he disyed a sinister smile.


    Then, Mark shivered as Sinogo turned his head with a snap, staring at him in glee. Why glee? It was psychopathic happiness. The happiness that one could get upon knowing that he gained the strength to obliterate their enemies.


    Sinogo''s vertical pupils stared at Mark. And then, he extended both his hands and immediately shot two beams at Mark.


    Mark and Chimetrice were forced to retreat in separate directions. Since Sinogo had to extend his arms now to fire a beam of energy, it was easier to predict his attacks. However, now, even with the blessings they received, Mark would be obliterated instantly by these strengthened beams.


    The two managed to avoid the beams, predicting the attacks before they were even fired.


    But as the two thought that the beams would only be the problems...


    Mark''s eyes dted as she saw arge webbed hand swatting his way.


    ? There was no way to dodge as his momentum from avoiding the attack had yet to diminish.


    Mark could only cross his arms in front of him and curl his body as much as possible as the giant golden scaled hand made contact with his body.


    <strong>BOOM!!!</strong>


    Everyone''s eyes grew wide as the sound of the sonic boom entered their ears. They all watched in shock as Sinogo jumped from his initial location and appeared in front of Mark. The giant traveled hundreds of meters in almost an instant.


    They all saw Sinogo swat Mark from mid-air. The attack was too strong that it caused a shockwave that everyone felt below. Most of them could not even follow Mark as he shot at bullet speed towards the face of Mount Caon.


    <strong>BOOM! RUMBLE!</strong>


    The face of the mountain crumbled with a crater caused by the impact between Mark''s body and the mountain''s rocky cliff.


    ***


    "GEGE!"


    Mei cried out loud. Her heart was thumping loudly. Her eyes and reflexes allowed her to see as he was flung away. Without a second thought, Mei spread out her crystal-colored wings and flew in Mark''s direction.


    Amihan hung tight on Mei''s shoulder. Her worries were also strong, considering her close rtionship with Mark.


    "Gale! Miracle! Follow Mama!"<sub> </sub>


    With I in the lead, the little girls hopped unto their golems and followed behind Mei.


    Feng Zhiruo, Jaeya, and Aephelia watched the situation in worry. Unfortunately, the three of them could not leave their current position as quickly as the others.


    In the sky, the passengers of the [Mini Cube] saw what happened. Spera clenched her hand as she saw Mark get hit by that attack.


    "Ilia! I''ll leave these two to you!"


    Spera shouted. And without even waiting for a reply, she opened a portal and jumped into it.


    Ilia just stayed silent, shrugging her shoulders. Even though Mark and Spera bicker every now and then, the two basically treated each other as brother and sister as Mei had wanted.


    As for Be and Donna, they were feeling extremely nervous. They know for sure that the situation had turned for the worse.


    ***


    <strong>BAM!</strong>


    After swatting Mark from mid-air, Sinogo''s momentum shot him towards the army of magical creatures. It was clear that he was still getting used to his new body and was still unable to control it fully. Nheless, Sinogo''snding immediately killed dozens of magical creatures either from getting stomped on or getting smashed by the strong impact of Sinogo''s violentnding.


    Still... Sinogo could not care less about the ants beneath his feet. Afternding, he regained bnce as fast as he could and extended his hands towards the direction in which Mark was flung.


    And...


    <strong>THOOOM!!!</strong>


    Without hesitation, Sinogo fired another two beams, intending to destroy Mark as soon as possible. Despite his current state, he did not forget the threat he felting from Mark.


    However...


    <strong>SHHOOOOM!!!</strong>


    The two beams split into smaller beams as if something blocking them. The smaller beams rained all over the ce, destroying thend and causing more casualties.


    "RRRAAARR!!!"


    Sinogo growled in warning, facing the one who blocked his beams.


    There, Chimetrice hovered mid-air. His whole body was covered in different kinds of energies, with all his six wings releasing different colored glow.


    Chimetrice did not pay attention to Sinogo''s roar as his falcon wing released its maximum potential.


    <strong>BOOOM!!!</strong>


    The sound of the wind exploding was heard as Chimetrice shot towards Sinogo.


    <strong>BAM!</strong>


    In an instant, Sinogo was hit by an attack, making him stumble backward. This body was new to him, and his bnce was still subpar. Even so, he managed to remain standing after receiving Chimetrice''s punch to his chest.


    Following Chimetrice''s lead, the remaining magical army joined the fray. They were struggling due to the pressure Sinogo was emitting. Nheless, they had no choice. It was only to fight or die. And, surely, all of them would rather choose to die while fighting.


    Arrows, spears, balls of fire, and gusts of wind shot toward Sinogo. Unfortunately, their attacks did not even leave a slight scratch on Sinogo''s body. Even so, they did not stop.


    Tin and Binituin also joined in. The two joined together, shooting their attacks as one. And unlike the weaker members of the magical army, the two [Diwatas] could at least leave a mark on Sinogo''s body.


    However, the [Diwatas''] attacks were far from enough. The damage they dealt would not be able to help in killing Sinogo at all.


    <strong>BAM!</strong>


    <strong>BOOM!</strong>


    Both figures of Chimetrice and Sinogo blurred and vanished. Every single time their bodies appeared for a fraction of a second, a sound indicating the sh of the two could be heard.


    Unfortunately, every single sh of the two would result in the destruction of the surroundings. If the sh happened to be in the middle of the magical army, countless lives were lost immediately.


    In the least, Chimetrice was able to keep Sinogo upied, even at the expense of using all his abilities.


    ***


    "Cough! Cough!"


    Mark coughed as dust entered his throat. But that was the least of his problems.


    While lying in the rubble of destroyed stone and earth, Mark''s ragged body was on full disy. The attack he received was nothing to joke about.


    His arms were broken, and his ribs were sunken in. His legs clearly had many fractures, and his back was the same. Not to mention his muscles were torn just from the impact of the attack he received. There were even parts of his bones that protruded through his skin.


    Four of his six wings were torn. The back of his skull likely had a crack too.


    Mark''s injuries were very severe.


    If it was a regr person... They would have died instantly. If not, they would immediately begin bleeding to death and would notst long.


    Fortunately, Mark''s [Mutator Ability] was his blood. Bleeding to death was the least of his concern. The problem now was that even with his regeneration, his severe injuries would take time to heal. There was no guarantee that he would be able to rejoin the battle unless Chimetrice managed to hold on for a very long time.


    "GEGE!"


    Mei was the first to arrive together with Amihan. The moment she saw Mark, her eyes immediately became filled with tears. His current state was not something that one would want to see. She kneeled beside Mark''s body. But she definitely did not know what to do in this situation.


    "Master! Are you okay?!"


    Amihan flew towards Mark and asked with teary eyes.


    "Do I look okay to you?"


    Mark joked with a slight groan. Despite his calm face, his voice was raspy and unstable, clearly enduring the pain he had. He was trying to appease the two, and definitely to no avail.


    With a sigh... Mark turned his calm face into a frown. Closing his eyes, he asked.


    "Can you exin what is the meaning of this?"


    A figure emerged out of nowhere. Mark opened his eyes and turned in the figure''s direction.


    "Magwayen."


    Mark called out in a cold voice.

 Chapter 870 Breaking Free, Healing His Body Of The Shackles He Bore

    <strong>Day 240 - 10:33 AM - Mount Caon, Municipality of Codcod, Province of Negros idental</strong>


    The cold tone that Mark used when calling the name of the Visayan Goddess of the Underworld... Mei and Amihan immediately knew that something was going on.


    "Now, now... You don''t have to be that angry."


    Magwayen let out a smile in a teasing way. It was as if this was nothing of importance to her at all.


    Mark stared at Magwayen. It was Magwayen who told them that the fight was not over yet.


    But before Magwayen could continue, a hole in space opened in front of them. There, several people passed through the portal. Aside from Illia, Chimetrice, and the two sisters, everyone else in Mark''s group arrived to check on Mark.


    And once they saw Mark''s state, they could not help but frown.


    The only one unappalled by the scene was Miracle. Being just a few months old, despite her current three-year-old appearance, she could not understand the situation at all. She only knew that Mark was in pain, transmitted through the connection between the two.


    As such, Miracle tried to jump onto Mark and hug him. If she seeded, Mark''s body, which was basically on the verge of breaking, would turn for the worse.


    But before the little girl could do so...


    "Wah!"


    A tug on her cor paused Miracle on her steps.


    "Papa will get hurt more if you do that."


    I reprimanded her youngest sister. She already grasped the behaviors of her sisters and could react ordingly.


    Miracle pouted her lips and blew her cheeks. Nheless, she did not struggle out of I''s grasp.


    Spera approached Mark and squatted down.


    "I can''t believe you got one-shotted like that."


    Spera jeered.


    "Why don''t you try facing that then? I''ll cheer on you."


    Mark grumbled in annoyance.


    "As if I will- ack!"


    Spera tried to argue, but her head was hit by someone.


    "Don''t bother Master," Aephelia scolded Spera. "The mistress will get angry at you if you continue further."


    Spera could only turn to Mei and see her wet eyshes due to the tears she had just now. But most of all, she had a cold expression this time.


    "Sorry..."


    Spera had no choice but to stop and apologize.


    "Why did you bring everyone? We are not finished here."


    Mark asked Spera.


    "Everyone is worried about you, alright?" Spera snarkily replied. "I had to pick them all up. Jaeya, Zhiruo, and Aephelia had stayed behind since they could not move as fast, but they were all worried about you."


    At this time, Abbygale approached Mark.


    "Papa, are you okay?"


    Abbygale asked. The calm girl could not hide her worry at Mark''s current state.


    "I''m fine," Mark let out an assuring smile to his daughter before turning back to Magwayen. "Though it would be better if the suspicious Goddess here would answer my question already."


    Everyone turned to Magwayen. They just realized that something was happening when they arrived.


    "Now, I feel like I''m going to get eaten," Magwayen joked and faced Mark. "About your question, I don''t really have any meaning or ns in this situation."


    "But you knew this would happen..."


    Mark interjected.


    "I can''t say I did not, but I can''t say I did, either."


    Magwayen replied in riddles.


    "Can you go straight to the point?"


    Mark demanded in annoyance.


    "Other mortals would grovel in front of a God, yet, you are brave enough to try and yell at me," Magwayen sure found this situation interesting. "Well then, I''ll answer. It is not like I knew that this would happen exactly. It was just within the possibilities that could ur."


    Magwayen then briefly exined what was happening.


    And the reason why Sinogo turned back into what seemed to be his original body was clearly Mark, to everyone''s surprise.


    If anyone else except Mark, Or if he used another way to kill Sinogo, this situation would have been avoided.


    And the reason?


    It was Mark''s [Miasma].


    Sinogo was never a crocodile in the first ce. He was a giant and one of the three messengers of the Supreme Sky God, Kaptan. During the events of his faithlessness, he managed to transform using the golden shell he stole, but it was temporary. In the end, it was Kaptan who turned Sinogo into a crocodile before sealing him under the waters of Ta?on Strait.


    However, Kaptan was the God of Sky. Although he could change his appearance, he never had the ability to transform something into something else, especially for a very long time. He was neither a God of Creation nor a God of Tricks to pull this off.


    Nheless, there was another way for a God to transform a creature into a different one.


    A Curse.


    Sinogo was cursed by Kaptan into the form of a Crocodile indefinitely. Since the curse was engraved inside Sinogo, it should never be broken.


    Unless... The curse was corrupted and weakened.


    Mark, who shot a pir of [Miasmic Lightning] unto Sinogo, weakened and broke the curse, giving Sinogo the opportunity to return to his original form.


    Everyone listened to the exnation while they helped Mark heal. His wounds were clearly healing at a rapid rate, but it was still slow due to his broken bones and torn muscles. The broken bones were hindering the healing due to being dislocated and protruding out of his skin.


    Seriously, it was amazing that he was still alive. Anyone else in his current state would already die of either shock or blood loss. His organs might have been damaged too.


    Even if he had rapid regeneration, it would not be enough to keep him alive.


    But Mark... He was still alive. It did not make any sense.


    Mark closed his eyes with a frown. The pain was getting into his nerves, but the headache that Magwayen brought was far more annoying for him.


    This was not the first time. Magwayen was someone who just let them walk into the [Trial of Regrets] without even saying a single word about it.


    It was hard to determine, but Magwayen might not be lying about having no ns at all. As she said, the curse was weakened with Mark''s attack with miasmic properties, and Sinogo could have died already if a different attack was used on him.


    Still, it would have been better if Magwayen gave them a warning beforehand.


    But before anyone could give that question, Magwayen exined.


    "I cannot feed you everything. I am a Goddess from another world. If I interfere too much, it will backfire on me."


    At this time...


    "At least, it seems that you know your ce."<sub> </sub>


    A hostile voice was heard, speaking to Magwayen. The voice sounded familiar to the group, however.


    And out of nowhere, a door appeared and opened. There, two familiar figures emerged. The [Eye of Excitement], Fourth, and the [Eye of Interest], Neenth.


    The hostile voice clearly came from Neenth since Fourth was now back to her form of a little girl.


    Instead of replying to the hostile remark, Magwayen faced Mark.


    "See?"


    That was right. The [Eyes] were hostile to foreign Gods of the past. And as a Goddess outside of Earth, Magwayen''s actions were something that would change Earth if it went out of control.


    "Wah... You really got beat up."


    Fourth ignored Magwayen and Neenth and went straight to her candidate.


    "For the two of you to appear here... This turned into a big deal, isn''t it?"


    Mark spoke to Fourth.


    "It had always been a big deal ever since that guy broke his seal." Fourth replied, looking at the battlefield. "You know, all of us [Eyes] were watching the moment he emerged from the waters of the strait. We also saw what you did and how you ended up like this."


    "Still, how can you get beaten up in one hit? The others were jeering at me because of that."


    Fourth grumbled.


    Mark could only give Fourth a dead stare. It seemed that they were having fun watching this kind of battle.


    But if they were still calm about this... Mark noticed something...


    "Is Sinogo fated to return to his original body?"


    Mark asked straight to the point.


    However, both the [Eyes] could not reply to Mark. After all, the answer would be rted to the records that they could not just go and divulge.


    But even so, that silence gave Mark the confirmation. Even without this event, Sinogo would return to his humanoid form sooner orter. It was just his actions that made it happen sooner than it was supposed to.


    "I suggest for you to retreat," Neenth spoke to Mark. "You are not strong enough to fight Sinogo."


    "What will happen if we did?"


    Mark asked Neenth.


    This time, the [Eye of Interest] did not fall silent.


    "The middle and southern areas of this country would be destroyed in a month. Afterward, the remainingnd would be gone by another two."


    "It means even our ce will get destroyed."


    Mark said to everyone''s dismay.


    And to Mark''s words, the two [Eyes] fell silent once more.


    After they retreated in this battle, their country would be as good as gone. The only way to survive was to leave for another country.


    Mark took a deep breath.


    "Well, that won''t do."


    "Do you want to die here?"


    Neenth asked Mark in all seriousness.


    "Of course, I don''t." Mark sneered. "But if we flee to another ce, we have to start all over again. Well, do you know? I hate repeating ythroughs mid-game. It makes me feel that everything I did before was wasted."


    "This is not a game."


    Neenth argued. It was unusual for an [Eye] to be this resolute in trying to convince a mortal.


    However...


    "Yeah. This is not a game," Slowly, Mark lifted his back with Mei''s help. "And that''s one more reason for me to stay and fight."


    "And more than everything..." Mark added. "I already know the feeling of losing everything."


    "I don''t want to experience that."


    Mark said with his eyes closed.


    Thatst sentence reverberated inside the minds of I and Aephelia. The ones that remembered their loss on the, Eriellis.


    "Besides..." Mark smiled. "I haven''t tried everything yet."


    And then... Mark''s body began to glow.


    Mark already finished realigning his bones, and his body had already begun healing. Add to that, Mark downed a vial of [Regeneration Medicine] that he had. This was the fastest healing Mark had experienced.


    But what was the glow for? Everyone was surprised by it. Both the [Eyes] and Magwayen were no exceptions.


    Furthermore, the light around his body was cozy and warm.


    That feeling made the ones that experienced this light before remember. It was Mark''s other ability. The one that gave themfort and calmness. It was the [Magical Healing Hands] that Mark inherited from his ancestor.


    The [Magical Healing Hands] were only supposed to show their healing properties towards Spirits and Elementals. But how was it able to elerate the healing of Mark''s body?


    On here that everyone noticed. Mark was murmuring unintelligible words, and he was actually holding the [Butterfly of Knowledge] in his right hand. He was already in a trance, healing his body at a rapid pace that it looked miraculous.


    That was right. Mark had not tried everything yet.


    But even so... Fourth and Neenth thought that it would not be enough just to heal his body.


    That was then... as if mocking the two, Mark''s body had shown changes.


    Mark had markings on his body ever since he absorbed the [Deity of Bloodshed] and gained the ability to control [Miasma]. When his bloodline as a [Blood Demon] awakened, these markings also changed and grew.


    After Mark received the blessing after the [Trial of Regrets], these markings turned golden during his transformation.


    But now... the golden color of the markings was fading. It faded in a way as if it was being swallowed by the dark color.


    Mark snapped from his trance. His body was still enveloped with the cozy glow. It was like a shell, making everyone step back.


    And there... He uttered...


    "Finally..."


    <strong>BOOM!</strong>


    The light exploded, making everyone step back and cover their eyes.


    As the light vanished, Mark''s figure emerged. He was fully healed.


    But most of all, the golden markings on his body were no more and turned back to ck. Mark spread out his three pairs of wings. Far from looking like a bat''s, it changed. It looked more like a dragon''s now, with the metallic sheen it had.


    The most surprising thing, however... the ck markings on his body now spread unto his wings.


    Mark felt refreshed. His fatigue and tiredness were all gone.


    Most of all, his body evolved further. Getting beaten uppletely was a blessing in disguise.

 Chapter 871 Returning To Battle, Gaining The Upper Hand Against Sinogo

    <strong>Day 240 - 10:45 AM - Mount Caon, Municipality of Codcod, Province of Negros idental</strong>


    Under everyone''s watch, Markpletely healed. They were all surprised, and the Godly figures present were no exception. This event was definitely outside the expectations of the three.


    "Gege!"


    Mei sure was happy to see Mark recover and jumped to embrace him. And seeing their mother, both Abbygale and Miracle also jumped in. Mark''s state before was definitely worrying, and they were now relieved.


    "If you can do that, you should have done it from the start," Spera snarkily remarked. "Don''t make everyone worry."


    "So, you''re also worried?"


    Mark teased.


    "Wha- NO!"


    Spera immediately denied it, but she was already caught.


    "I tried it the moment I crashed, you know that?" Mark exined. "But it did not work properly. It only tried to heal my wounds without realigning my bones. Luckily, the pain made me snap out before anything could heal, or else I might have turned into a bone porcupine that can''t move since my bones are all misced."


    "Ugh..."


    Everyone could not help but groan as Mark described what could have happened.


    So, that was why Mark downed a [Regeneration Medicine] and let his body heal while manually realigning his bones. It was only when his body was in the right state that he fully healed himself.


    What happened might have looked amazing, but it was not an omnipotent ability. In the first ce, it was a healing ability that was supposed to be used on Elementals and Spirits, who had bodies made of energy. And not all of them had physical bodies with organs and bones.


    "Anyway, you have to give another exnation," Mark said, turning to Magwayen. "But that''s forter."


    No one understood what Mark was talking about. They could only turn to Magwayen.


    "Hah..." Magwayen sighed with a bitter expression. "I don''t know what to expect anymore."


    Those words definitely meant that there was something else that only Mark and Magwayen knew.


    "Then..."


    Mark stood up and began to form his blood into an armor covering his whole body. This [Bloodmetal Armor] was not new to everyone since Mark had worn the same armor every time his clothes got tattered. Amazingly, however, the armorplimented the new appearance of Mark''s wings.


    "You''re really going to continue?" Fourth asked. "Some things might have changed on your body, but it will not guarantee you a win against that thing. That''s a Middle Deity with the strength of a Lower God. He might not be able to utilize his full power yet, but it is not something that mortals could fight."


    "I know," Mark replied. "But escaping is not an option for me."


    "Gege." At this time, Mei interjected. "Let me help."


    And surprisingly.


    "Me too!"


    Amihan shouted.


    Mei was one thing, but it was rather uncharacteristic for Amihan. After all, this [Sylph] was someone easily scared.


    Mark fell silent. He could have declined, but he could tell that they were determined. Furthermore, if he agreed, the others mighte too.


    But before Mark could decide, Magwayen spoke.


    "Let those twoe. The others might not be able to help much, but those two might give you a good surprise."


    "What are you saying? Are you nning something again?"


    Mark frowned. Magwayen was again with her cryptic yful words.


    "Are you trying to meddle in the affairs of this world again?"


    Neenth also spoke, questioning what Magwayen was trying to do.


    However, Magwayen ignored the hostile question and only faced Mark.


    "Whether I have ns or not, you will have no choice. Sinogo might be the weakest of my husband''s three messengers, but he was still gifted with godly speed. You will need someone whose eyes could catch up with that speed."


    Mark had no retort to that. Among everyone here, it was Mei who had the fastest eyes.


    "Can you follow Sinogo''s movements?"


    Mark asked Mei.


    "Not too clear, but I can at least see his blurred movements. I can probably see more if I do this."


    Mei replied, and she underwent her own transformation.


    Like Mark, she also shared a Demon''s pure blood and had a [Pure Blood Transformation]. This was not the first time she had this transformation, and Mark was not surprised. Everyone else was surprised, though, as it was the first time they saw her transform.


    With Mei finishing her transformation, she turned to the battlefield. There, Sinogo and Chimetrice were still exchanging attacks at fast speeds and were at a stalemate.


    "I can see it."


    Mei said before turning to Mark.


    Then, Mark could only agree. Amihan''s presence would also help Mei just in case something unexpected happened.


    "Alright, you two wille with me," Mark told Mei and Amihan and turned to the others. "Jaeya, call Ilia. Everyone board the [Mini Cube]. Spera, be alert and prepare an escape route. I don''t really want to retreat, but just in case."


    No one questioned Mark, although they were dismayed by the fact that they could not join the battle due to their weakness. On the other hand, Neenth and Fourth were relieved that Mark still prepared an escape route.


    "Aephelia, hold this," Mark tossed the artifact, the [Mark of Kings], to Aephelia. "I don''t want any distractions."


    Magwayen shrugged. For a Goddess to be called a distraction, this was the first. In any case, she could not do anything about it. Her current form in this world was just an avatar that could only move around the artifact.


    Mark nodded to Mei, and the two soared to the sky. Amihan waved her hand while sitting on Mei''s shoulder. The air resistance vanished, making their flight faster and smoother.


    "Take this," Mark handed Mei his current stash of [Empty Mental Crystals]. "There''s only fifteen, but don''t hesitate to use it."


    "Okay."


    Mei nodded, not intending to waste any shot from her weapon.


    ***


    Mark flew with Mei and Amihan over the battlefield.


    There were more casualties from the magical army than before, although most of the deaths were just coteral damage from the shes between Sinogo and Chimetrice.


    Chimetrice could not care less about the deaths. After all, he had his hands full with just keeping up with Sinogo''s speed. Fortunately, the two were tied in strength. Unluckily, however, they were also tied in terms of defense and speed.


    That was why while the two fought continuously for more than fifteen minutes, there was still no clear winner.


    Worse, Sinogo was getting more and more used to his current body and strength. His movements were getting smoother, while his speed was getting faster.


    <strong>BAM!</strong><sub> </sub>


    Sinogo kicked the ground, causing the ground to copse, hurling debris at the surrounding magical creatures. More of them died, but the magical army continued fighting. They had no choice. Even if a just a tiny bit, even if they lost their lives, they would continue to fight.


    If they lost here, none of them would have a ce to return, even if they managed to survive.


    Mark nodded to Mei and Amihan, and he separated from the two. He would fight Sinogo head-on with Chimetrice while Mei and Amihan would provide support.


    However, Mark''s magical energy was running low. The [Miasmic Judgement] he used against Sinogo used up about three-fourths of his magical reserves. He then used more while healing his body.


    Then, there was only one way left for Mark to fight Sinogo.


    Mark extended his right hand sidewards. The [Psycrystal] on his wrist was stimted and let out a bright glow. Five crystals were summoned, and each let out a different light from the others.


    The [Wind Maniption Crystal] glowed green. It was the crystal that came from Chimetrice.


    The [Stormcaller Crystal] glowed blue. This crystal held the power of the King of Mermaids.


    The [Photokinesis Crystal] glowed white. The crystal Mark used the most and the very first [Psychic Crystal] he got after the apocalypse started.


    The [me Maniption Crystal] glowed bright red. The crystal that Mark surprisingly obtained from the [Magma Infected]. The very same power and energy that Gar''m held.


    And thest one... It was a crystal with a murky brown glow. This crystal came from the Deity level Earth Demon that possessed Pefile''s brother. Mark had yet to figure out the use of this crystal, but Mark had no choice. This would be the first time he would use this crystal and the time he would know of its ability.


    With the five crystals circling around Mark''s wrist, he soared towards Chimetrice and Sinogo.


    And the moment that he reached a certain distance...


    A figure emerged in front of Mark.


    "As expected."


    Mark murmured as the [Wind Maniption Crystal] glowed. He was then flung to the side, and a giant hand passed through his previous position.


    <strong>BAM!</strong>


    Sinogonded on the ground with a loud sound and crushing a lot of magical creatures beneath his feet. This guy just went and pulled another swat at Mark without warning.


    The hatred and fear that Sinogo felt from Mark could not be disguised at all. He was fighting Chimetrice for more than fifteen minutes already, but the moment he saw Mark, he left his current opponent and proceeded to try to kill thetter.


    However...


    "Sad to say, but the same sneak attacks only work once!"


    Mark yelled as the [me Maniption Crystal] flew in front of his hand and released a bright glow.


    <strong>BLOOOOM!!!</strong>


    A cloud of mes shot towards Sinogo''s back before he could even stabilize his fall. The cloud of mes exploded, blooming like a giant flower.


    Many witnesses did not expect much about those mes. Among the magical creatures, many could attack with mes. And those mes did not damage Sinogo at all.


    However, to everyone''s surprise...


    "RAAAAOOO!!!"


    Sinogo roared in pain as his back was slightly burnt. Even his hair was hinged but, unfortunately, did not burnpletely.


    Nheless, for the first time since Sinogo regained his body, he received damage.


    Unfortunately, the pain was temporary. Sinogo waved his right hand and turned his body, extinguishing the mes instantly. And as if copying Mark, small balls of light appeared in front of Sinogo''s palm and shot toward Mark.


    Mark immediately shot sidewards, using the [Wind Maniption Crystal] to aid his flight and speed. Circling and maneuvering across the sky, Mark evaded the beams one by one. However, Sinogo continued to fire the beams of light one after another.


    But then...


    <strong>THAM!</strong>


    Sinogo''s body trembled as his right knee bent forward.


    Below, Chimetrice appeared, unleashing a punch behind Sinogo''s right knee. Sinogo was too focused on Mark that he had already forgotten Chimetrice.


    Sinogo could only stop his attack on Mark because he almost fell sidewards. But as if his loss of bnce was not enough...


    <strong>BOOM!</strong>


    A beam of light shot unto his left temple. The unexpected attack not only pushed Sinogo to fall to the ground but it left a deep burn on Sinogo''s face.


    "RAAAAA!!!"


    Sinogo roared as he released several beams towards the direction the attack that hit his temple came from.


    There... Mei and Amihan worked together, flying at fast speeds, leaving nothing but blurs.


    <strong>BOOM!</strong>


    Sinogo''s face was smashed to the ground, causing an explosion of dust and stone around him.


    Chimetrice left Sinogo''s knee and unleased a kick unto the back of the giant''s head.


    "GGGRAAAAA!!!"


    Sinogo did noty down for long as he raised his head fast enough to throw Chimetrice way up in the sky.


    Chimetrice immediately retaliated and flew down to smash Sinogo''s head to the ground once more. However...


    <strong>BOOM!</strong>


    Chimetrice''s attack hit the ground as Sinogo vanished quickly and appeared at another location.


    "GRRRRRRR!!!"


    Sinogo growled, ring at Mark, Mei, and Chimetrice. All of a sudden, not only did the person he felt afraid of return alive, but another ant appeared. He could feel the throbbing pain in his temple. The attack that hit him sure was not simple, and it came from the new enemy.


    However, Sinogo noticed something.


    Compared to the first two enemies, he did not feel any fear toward the new enemy.


    Sinogo panned his eyes, locking unto Mark once more.


    Then...


    <strong>BAM!</strong>


    Sinogo kicked the ground and vanished. It made Mark brace himself for another attack.


    However...


    Sinogo appeared in front of Mei, ignoring Mark and Chimetrice, who he was supposed to be focusing on.


    This time, they realized. It was not only his body. Sinogo''s mind was also rapidly evolving and mutating. He was beginning to learn to trick his enemies, striking the weakest of them when they least expected it.

 Chapter 872 Retaliation, Pushing Sinogo Into A Cornered State

    <strong>Day 240 - 10:49 AM - Mount Caon, Municipality of Codcod, Province of Negros idental</strong>


    Sinogo was rapidly evolving. He began to adapt to its new body, and his intelligence was rising fast. From the intelligent predator that still behaved like a wild beast, he began learning to trick his foes and attack with feints. The bnce of his body was improving, and his speed was also increasing. Even his use of his magical attacks was getting better.


    Since Sinogo gained the body that the real Sinogo had before getting cursed, it would not be long before he would learn how to speak and utilize his abilities to their maximum. Sooner orter, if left alone, Sinogo would be a threat far worse than he currently was. It was something that would happen without a shred of doubt.


    That was why he must perish here.


    Sneak attacks were not new to Sinogo. He pulled this trick several times on Mark and seeded twice. It was a pity for him that Mark was just as unkible as a cockroach.


    Now, Sinogo learned how to pull sneak attacks while employing new tricks. He stared at Mark before attacking, making thetter brace for the iing attack when the truth was Sinogo was going to attack someone else.


    And that someone was Mei.


    This would have been dangerous. Unlike Mark and Chimetrice, Mei''s body was far more fragile.


    Butpared to Mark and Chimetrice, Mei had the fastest reflexes among the three.


    As Sinogo appeared in front of Mei with barely any gust of wind, Mei''s eyes dted and slowed down everything in her sight. She could clearly see Sinogo moving his right hand over his shoulder to swat her to the ground.


    And as fast as the hand fell on Mei from above, her body shed with bright light.


    Sinogo passed through its trajectory, but nothing was hit by this hand and fell to the ground.


    Instead...


    <strong>THOOOM!</strong>


    <strong>BAM!</strong>


    Sinogo lost bnce as a powerful beam of light hit the very same left temple that was hit before. Not to mention that the attack had far more force than the previous one.


    It was because Mei fired that beam using the [Crystal Converter] at point-nk range.


    Sinogo was unaware, but everyone else saw it. Mei turned into a sh of light, disappearing before his right hand hit her and appeared right beside his head.


    It was the ability Mark gave her from the first crystal he had years before. An ability simr to Mark''s [Shadow Mist Movement], but with different rules and effects to follow.


    At the same time that Mei fired her gun, Amihan on her shoulder made her attack. The [Sylph] conjured a strong gust of wind that pushed Sinogo amidst his loss of bnce.


    <strong>BAM!</strong>


    Sinogo fell to his right side, causing the magical creatures below to retreat quickly. His body might be faster and as strong as his crocodile form. But the smaller body he had was far easier to topple than the aircraft carrier-sized golden crocodile.


    "¨ƒ¨ƒ¨ƒ¨ƒ¨ƒ!!!"


    Sinogo became even more enraged because of his uncanny fall. But most of all, everyone was surprised when Sinogo let out his first words that did not sound like beastly growls.


    It was still unintelligible. Nheless, from growls to something that sounded like words, it was a clear sign of Sinogo''s rapidly developing mind.


    With Sinogo falling down, many magical creatures saw this as an opportunity to attack, especially the scalded-looking back of Sinogo after Mark''s attack. They might not be able to approach the guy too close because of the pressure emitted by Sinogo, but they could at least attack from a distance.


    However...


    "RRRRRRAAAAA!!!"


    The magical creatures could only let out a few attacks before turning into either dust or meat pieces after Sinogo whipped his tail at bullet speed. The shockwave created by the attack even staggered the strongest ones among the magical army, while most were blown away by the force of the shockwave.


    But revenging the deaths, a ball of light shot onto Sinogo''s face, causing him to stagger once more before he could even attempt to stand up.


    There... Tin and Binituin took advantage of the situation, both holding onto a familiar-looking staff.


    "So, that''s where it went."


    Mark said, rxing after seeing Mei and Amihan safe and sound. Like what Magwayen had said, the two would be of great help in this fight. But that was not Mark''s current focus of attention. It was the crystal spear-like staff that the [Diwata] sisters were holding.


    When Sinogo swatted Mark away, while he managed to hold tightly unto the [Butterfly of Knowledge], he lost grip of the [Crystal Staff], and it was flung somewhere. It looked like the two [Diwatas] managed to find it while Mark and his entourage got Sinogo''s attention.


    Holding tightly onto the [Crystal Staff], Tin and Binituin tried to conjure another attack. However...


    "Dodge!"


    Tin pushed Binituin away as she moved in the opposite direction. A beam of light passed through their initial position.


    But before the two could even stabilize themselves in the air...


    <strong>THOOM! THOOM! THOOM!</strong>


    Hundreds of balls of light appeared around Sinogo and started to discriminately fire beams everywhere.


    Everyone hurried to run and dodge. It was the same for the magical creatures in the field.


    The rain of beams of light immediately killed hundreds of magical creatures while Sinogo slowly stood up from his fall. However, the ants below were the least of his concern as he stared at Mark''s group, together with the two [Diwatas], as they all joined up together.


    Sinogo suddenly felt a surge of energy in the surroundings. He noticed Mark raising his right hand up to the sky. What he did not notice was the magical army beginning to retreat, especially the [Fire Elementals].


    The sky darkened further as the clouds began to gather.


    Sumbing to the feeling of threat, Sinogo charged unto Mark. He intended to stop whatever Mark was doing.


    But, of course, that would not be easy.


    Before Sinogo could even kick the ground, Mei already appeared in front of Mark. Her [Shooting Moon de] was already charged up and ready to fire.


    <strong>THOOM!!</strong>


    Sinogo moved at frightening speeds, but he had one w. In his current state, he had very little control over his movements. And thus, he was more prone to moving straight.


    With Mei moving between Sinogo and Mark and firing opposite of thetter, Sinogo faced a full brunt beam shot from Mei right on his face.


    Sinogo did not incur too much damage except for the face on his skin being burnt. But the sudden bright light blinded him to lose his direction and target.<sub> </sub>


    The giant passed by Mark''s group without touching them at all and fell ways behind their position.


    And there, Mark seeded in what he was doing.


    Drop by drop, the rain began to fall. A strong storm was invoked by Mark, and the visibility of the surroundings began to lower.


    No wonder the magical army, especially the [Fire Elementals], retreated. In this kind of storm, they would not be able to do anything. Luckily, Mark informed their leader, wana, beforehand through Tin and Binituin.


    With the storm invoked, Mark''s group was pretty much wet already. But it did not matter as the rain did not hinder them that much. Well, it was pretty much the same for Sinogo.


    The two opposing sides continued the battle. The others became audiences to the battle that would decide their fates afterward.


    Beams of light shot everywhere. Most of the beams came from Sinogo, who was still far from having any serious damage. His energy had yet to show signs of depleting either, and it felt like he could shoot his attacks indefinitely.


    On the other hand, Mark and the others were doing their best to deal some proper damage. Nheless, Sinogo was also struggling to fight the group as they grasped the patterns of the giant''s attacks.


    Everyone watched in awe and fear. As the ancient texts said, Godly beings of equal power could fight for days or months continuously without a clear winner.


    What they were watching might beparable to the fights of the Gods.


    But then... Under everyone''s watch, Sinogo tried to attack once more. And to everyone''s surprise, the giant fell to the ground, creating a gigantic ssh of mud and water.


    None of the audience could understand what happened immediately. Some even though that Sinogo began to weaken.


    But those with keen eyes, such as the [Eyes], Magwayen, and wana, understood what was going on.


    Sinogo immediately tried to stand up, but he was having great difficulty for some reason. The moment he stood up and tried to charge at his opponents, he fell down once again with arge ssh.


    The giant did not understand what was happening either as he went on all fours. He then attacked with dozens of his beams instead. The beams forced Mark and the others to fly and dodge. At the same time, Chimetrice took the opportunity to charge and smashed Sinogo''s back, causing the giant to fall once more.


    And the cause for Sinogo''s current state was not because he became weakened. It was the rain, or to be specific, the muddy ground caused by the rain.


    The battlefield was already leveled into empty, vacantnd with only corpses and craters. There were no trees or grass patches left in close proximity. Because of these factors, the rainwater gathered fast in this location, turning the barrennd into slippery mud.


    Any creature with a weak sense of bnce would sumb to such an environment, causing the mud to weaken their momentum and make them slip to the ground.


    Still, this was far from enough to kill the invincible Sinogo.


    But the setup was done after Chimetricended onto Sinogo''s back with a bang.


    Chimetrice held his left hand, clenching it with force. He then punched Sinogo''s back with all his might. The punch caused Sinogo to embed his body further in the mud below him, but dealing damage was the least of this punch''s intended purpose.


    The left arm of Chimetrice was tree-like. The roots and branches began to move like vines and started to spread around Sinogo''s body.


    Sinogo felt the slithering vines around his body and tried to shake Chimetrice off. He even shot several beams onto his back and also created a barrier of energy around his body. But all those did not faze Chimetrice even if he received quite a few injuries from Sinogo''s retaliation.


    The vines continued to spread and grow. It was alreadyte when Sinogo noticed that his range of movement became more and more restricted.


    Sinogo tried to wave his arms and legs and managed to remove the vines around his limbs. But that was all he could do as Mei and the two [Diwatas] kept him unable to raise his body from his fall. Amihan also helped, conjuring strong wind that pushed the giant''s body to the ground as much as it could.


    It did not take long. Sinogo became literally rooted to the muddy ground. The most he could do was raise his head and saw Mark preparing for another attack.


    Sinogo''s eyes dted. He remembered the attack that Mark made just a while ago, and fear began to creep up his back.


    Death. Sinogo felt that he would die here. A powerful being like him, the one that ruled the waters of his territory, would be killed in this ce.


    At the same time, Mark entered a trance.


    His magical energy might be almost depleted already, but his [Miasma] was different. It never relied on his magical energy and only dwelled inside his body.


    As such, he could still use it.


    Mark took back the [Crystal Staff] from Tin, who reluctantly returned the weapon. He then held the [Butterfly of Knowledge] once more and entered another trance.


    And there, Mark chanted.


    Like before, words entered Mark''s mind. But as Mark spoke...


    "¨ƒ¨ƒ¨ƒ¨ƒ¨ƒ¨ƒ¨ƒ¨ƒ¨ƒ¨ƒ¨ƒ."


    It sounded garbled and unintelligible. Even so, everyone felt chills as the surroundings began to darken.


    "¨ƒ¨ƒ¨ƒ¨ƒ¨ƒ¨ƒ¨ƒ¨ƒ¨ƒ¨ƒ¨ƒ."


    A pitch-ck cloud eerily surrounded Mark, spreading from inside his body.


    "¨ƒ¨ƒ¨ƒ¨ƒ¨ƒ¨ƒ¨ƒ¨ƒ¨ƒ¨ƒ¨ƒ."


    The thick [Miasma] began emitting a chilling pressure in the surroundings, rivaling what Sinogo currently had.


    And there, Mark uttered three words that they could finally understand.


    <strong>"Feast of Darkness."</strong>


    Everyone felt the horror when the cloud of [Miasma] around Mark formed a gigantic mouth that extended towards the immobile Sinogo.


    Sinogo watched the monstrous mouth close in. It felt as if the mouth would lop his head off from his neck.


    This made Sinogo panic for the first time as he began struggling to undo the bindings of roots and vines around his body. However, the bindings were tightly held on, and everything that broke was quickly reced by Chimetrice still standing on his back.


    But then... Sinogo''s eyes widened, with shes of scenes appearing in front of his eyes.


    And there...


    <strong>BOOM!</strong>


    An explosion of light urred...

 Chapter 873 The Wheel Of Fate, A Problematic Turnaround That No One Wanted To Happen

    <strong>Day 240 - 10:57 AM - Mount Caon, Municipality of Codcod, Province of Negros idental</strong>


    Using thebination of [Miasma], [Butterfly of Knowledge], and the [Crystal Staff], Mark had the chance to end this battle. That huge mouth made by thick [Miasma] could have swallowed Sinogo entirely.


    This battle should have ended there.


    However, the worries of Fourth and Neenth were not unwarranted. They had the reason to.


    Before the [Feast of Darkness] touched Sinogo, another explosion of light bloomed around his body. The roots that bound his body were incinerated to ashes instantly. Chimetrice that stood at Sinogo''s back was forced to retreat and not without injury.


    And the worst of it... Mark''s attack disintegrated to nothingness.


    Mark suddenly felt the emptiness inside him. [Miasma was different from a person''s usual energy. It would not replenish on its own and grow by absorbing magical energy from others. Every time Mark released his [Miasma], it remained connected to him. And he could recall the [Miasma] back into his body.


    In this sh, Mark felt arge amount of his [Miasma] vanish. It felt as if he had lost something valuable but could not pinpoint what. Of course, he knew that it was [Miasma], but that was just how it felt for him.


    Mark clenched his fists and teeth as he stared at the blooming dome of light around Sinogo. He now understood the feeling when he stole the energy that Lord Seis umted.


    It was unpleasant.


    However, Mark was not inclined to sympathize with Lord Seiz. After all, it was a battle. Gaining or losing something was inevitable.


    Still... It was unpleasant.


    ***


    Near the peak of Mount Caon, the [Eyes], Magwayen, and the rest of Mark''s group watched the battle. It would normally be impossible to see what was happening clearly from here since the battle was happening several kilometers away. However, Neenth opened some sort of magical distortion that showed everyone around what was happening there.


    Even the [Mini Cube] had alreadynded, and everyone in Mark''s group was present to watch the show. Well, the two sisters, Be and Donna, were rather ufortable. It was the first time the two were around Godly beings, and three at that.


    While watching, Neenth sighed.


    "Sinogo''s potential is reaching its peak. It is getting far dangerous for them."


    And then, the dome of light exploded. It even caused the scene through the distortion to blur and shake.


    The sky cleared up, and the dark rain clouds disintegrated. The harsh weather Mark created was instantly cleared, and even the rainwater on the ground and the slippery wet mud dried up. It was all due to the searing heat that came from that explosion of light.


    In an instant, the advantage that Mark created by calling a storm was gone.


    "It''s better if they retreated now."


    Fourth had the same opinion as Ninteenth.


    "But do you two really think that he will do that?"


    Magwayen asked the two [Eyes] only to be subjected to hostile and silent stares. She could only shrug, turning back at the scene they were watching.


    ***


    When the light exploded, the ufortable pressure spread out into the surroundings.


    Mark immediately flew in front of Mei and Amihan, making a shield of [Miasma] to protect them. On the other hand, while Chimetrice managed to endure the force without getting blown away, the two [Diwatas] were thrown far after getting hit by the surge of energy.


    Tin and Binituin stabilized themselves after getting flung about two kilometers away. Nheless, it was clear that they received severe damage. The bodies of the two turned more ethereal, and their energies were far weakened to continue the battle.


    From here on out, this battle was left to Mark, Mei, Amihan, and Chimetrice.


    The explosion of light began to shrink. Slowly, Sinogo''s figure emerged from the shrinking dome of light.


    Mark frowned. It was the same for the others.


    Sinogo had gone into another mutation.


    The giant man was still around five meters tall. However, the crocodile-like features of his body had spread out. He now looked like he was covered in golden scales and armor. The markings on his body were also glowing brightly. It was simr to how the markings of Mark''s body glowed before.


    <strong>FLAP!</strong>


    Three pairs of gigantic golden wings opened wide on Sinogo''s back.


    Ignoring his current appearance, Sinogo stared at Mark with no expression. The fear he had before was gone, and he saw Mark as nothing but an ant to be crushed beneath his feet.


    Sinogo''s power was surging. His body became covered with a glowing aura while releasing surges of electricity around his body.


    The [Infected Sinogo] had now gained increased control of the power he seized from the seal that confined him. It was still far from full control. It was not surprising as a God''s power cannot be wielded that easily.


    Still, as the Supreme God of the Sky, Kaptan ruled over the clouds, wind, lightning, and the weather.


    And Sinogo now gained a fraction of this power.


    <strong>BOOM!</strong>


    Sinogo''s wings pped. The electricity around him surged.


    Then, his figure vanished, leaving nothing but an explosion of wind and dust from where he previously stood.


    <strong>BAM!</strong>


    A sh was heard mid-air.


    Mark created a thick barrier of wind in front of him before dragging Mei and Amihan out of the way.


    Sinogo crashed into the barrier of wind, causing that loud sound. But the barrier was immediately torn apart without effort.


    Fortunately, Mark already dragged Mei and Amihan out of the way as Sinogo passed through their initial position.


    Even so, the wind that was generated from each p of Sinogo''s wings caused their dodge to be unstable.


    But before Mark and the two gained stability...


    <strong>BOOM!</strong>


    A sonic boom was heard from above as Sinogo''s figure came swooping down on the three.<sub> </sub>


    "TSK!"


    Mark clicked his tongue as he pushed Mei and Amihan away, even pushing the two with a strong gust of wind.


    Mei and Amihan were flung away from Mark, who was currently Sinogo''s sole target.


    Sinogo''s right w came swooping down on Mark as his body turned into a surge of mist, trying to dodge the fast attack. He intended to pass through the gaps of Sinogo''s ws and counterattack at point-nk range.


    But to everyone''s surprise...


    Mark was forced out of his misty state as he made contact with the aura around Sinogo''s body.


    <strong>BAM!</strong>


    Mark was hit by the w and was sent flying down to the ground. He crashed to the ground, causing a cloud of dust to form.


    pping his wings, Sinogo hovered in the sky, watching the cloud of dust below. He only had his sights on Mark, and it seemed that he did not want to repeat his mistakes before.


    Mark was subjected to Sinogo''s sneak attacks twice and managed to survive both times. Sinogo always thought that Mark would not be a problem to him but always returned to be the greatest threat he needed to face.


    Now, Sinogo was intent on killing Mark this time, and he would not let Mark out of his sight. Not even a single second.


    Seeing what happened, everyone watching was shocked. Mark was almost turned into meat paste before, and he was now hit by the far more empowered Sinogo.


    Sinogo then pped his wings. The cloud of dust had yet to dissipate, but he was already getting impatient. He wanted to see what happened to Mark and prepared to soar down to the ground.


    "GEGE!"


    Mei shouted as she fired her [Shooting Moon de] at Sinogo. She could feel that Mark was still fine but definitely not in a perfect state. She could not just let Sinogo attack him again.


    The beam that Mei shot went straight to Sinogo. Sinogo tried to ignore the beam. But unexpectedly... It actually tore through the aura around his body and burnt his scales.


    Sinogo halted mid-way and turned to Mei.


    "Pest."


    To everyone''s surprise, Sinogo spoke using the [Spirit Language]. It was his first word, but it showed that he now had the ability to speak, albeit just a little.


    Sinogo waved his hand. The wind began to spiral in front of him and began to form into several small tornadoes. One would know that tornadoes were vertical or diagonal and not horizontal. That was just what Sinogo conjured. These horizontal tornadoes might be far smaller than an EF 0 tornado. However, the spinning speed might even beparable to an EF 3, considering how they began to greatly affect the surroundings.


    And to everyone''s horror, such a horrifying attack was aimed at Mei and Amihan.


    Mei began flying back, and Amihan was helping her by removing the air resistance in front of her. However, just flying to retreat would not do as the wind began to affect her flight. It was also questionable if her ability to travel instantly would help, considering the distance she could travel was far shorter than the size of the tornadoes.


    And as Sinogo stretched his w forward, the tornadoes shot toward Mei''s direction.


    At this time, a figure shot from the cloud of dust below. It was Mark. He looked dusty, but he did not seem injured at all, unlike before. Mark flew towards the trajectory of the tornadoes, turning into mist every now and then.


    Mark''s intention was clear. He wanted to protect Mei.


    But to his dismay, the figure of Sinogo appeared in front of him. The giant was already attacking with his w.


    Mark turned into a surge of ck mist. This time, instead of passing through the gaps of the ws, he circled around it. The aura could force Mark out of the misty form, and there was no way he would touch it another time.


    Unfortunately, Mark''s idea just would not work. As Sinogo''s first w missed, the other w came crashing down on Mark.


    Mark tried shooting someser beams using his [Photokinesis Mental Crystal], but it could not even pierce through the aura around Sinogo.


    And on the other hand, Mei was struggling to fly away as the tornadoes behind her began to pull her back. Worse, the spiraling wind seemed to follow her movements.


    It was when Chimetrice appeared, charging his way between Mei and the spiraling wind missiles.


    Sinogo''s winds glowed as he summoned his own gust of wind. The wind from Chimetrice formed a wall that halted the tornadoes. But it seemed that the wall would notst long at all.


    Amihan watched the scene behind her. It was shameful that a [Wind Spirit] like her was being threatened by someone else''s wind attack. She gathered her courage, jumping off Mei''s shoulder. Amihan then flew towards Chimetrice, intending to help with her abilities.


    Below, Mark was hit by Sinogo''s attack once more and came plummeting to the ground. However, he was barely injured. The transformation he got earlier surely enhanced his body''s endurance. But most of all, Mark was using a cushion of wind to protect his body from Sinogo''s physical attacks and when he plummets to the ground. Even the cloud of dust when he crashed down was created by the wind cushion instead of his body.


    Still, Mark was not without damage. The force from the impact would still rattle his insides.


    But the pain was the least of Mark''s concerns. Mei and Amihan were in danger.


    Mark stared at the sky. Sinogo was just staring at him while Chimetrice and Amihan were doing their best to negate Sinogo''s attack. Mei also tried shooting a couple of beams at the tornadoes, but it barely had any effect at all.


    <strong>BA-DUMP!</strong>


    Mark''s heart was pumping loudly. Was he getting nervous? What was this sense of powerlessness?


    At this time, Mark saw something on Sinogo''s face.


    The bastard was smiling at him while ncing at the situation of Mark''spanions.


    Sinogo was getting revenge for what happened in the previous rounds of this battle. Furthermore, he clearly knew that magical attacks would barely do anything to Mark and was using his ws instead.


    The situation reached a turnaround.


    The one cornered before was now the one with the advantage.


    It was this time... Mark took out hisst crystal. The one he had never used before. Since it was something he had yet to discover, he wanted to try if it would at least bring any advantage.


    <o>,m Mark stimted the crystal. But to his dismay, it was not activating at all. Was it a dud? He should have tried it before instead of using it here now.</o>


    What a blunder.


    It was a dilemma.


    But a crisis could bring forth an opportunity.


    ...Especially when the voices echoed inside the head of two individuals.

 Chapter 874 Voices Of The Past, The Opportunities To Turn The Situation Around Once More

    <strong>Day 240 - 11:00 AM - Mount Caon, Municipality of Codcod, Province of Negros idental</strong>


    To everyone''s dismay, the battle faced aplete turnaround.


    It was like what Fourth and Neenth warned them about. Sinogo''s strength far surpassed what Mark''s group could handle. It was just that Sinogo had yet to reach his peak potential in the earlier rounds. Now that Sinogo had reached his highest point, Mark''s group was now the ones that were backed in the corner.


    Mei was currently being chased by dangerously spiraling winds. Although Chimetrice was now blocking it with Amihan''s help, it would not take long for the wall of wind they created to be broken. Even if Mei tried to use this opportunity to flee, the attack would just continue following her until she was sucked by the strong winds.


    And Mark, he was now blocked by Sinogo. None of his attacks managed to harm the giant at all, and he was heavily disadvantaged in terms of speed.


    If this continued, the only one who would make it out alive in this battle against Sinogo would be Chimetrice. Furthermore, the escape would be extremely tedious.


    This scene unfolded as the strong winds shook the entire province. Even if it was just a fraction, the power of the Sky God was not something to joke about.


    ***


    At Mount Caon, everyone watched the predicament while enduring the violent winds. They could only have worried or serene expressions while watching the scene before them.


    Worse...


    "They lost the timing to safely retreat," Neenth sighed. "One wrong action would mean the end for them."


    Fourth did not say anything. There was not a single tinge of excitement on the little girl''s face. Contrary to the emotion she embodied as the [Eye of Excitement].


    On the side, the members of Mark''s group began to rack their brains for anything they could do.


    And among them, there was only one that could supposedly help.


    "Spera, can''t you open a portal for them to escape?"


    Ilia inquired Spera, who had her eyes closed in concentration.


    "I''m trying!" Spera shouted in frustration, only to open her eyes a secondter. "But the interference is too strong! I can''t open a portal anywhere near them!"


    "Same for me," Jaeya grumbled at the side, tightly hugging Theodore in her arms. "My [Telepathy] had been cut off."


    "Papa! Mama!"


    Miracle called out loud. If not for Abbygale not letting go of their youngest, she would have already run to try and help their parents.


    Abbygale looked calm, but her eyes were worried and nervous.


    However, contrary to everyone else''s states, Magwayen, I, and Aephelia watched in calmness. The Goddess of the Underworld even seemed to be smiling and anticipating something.


    "The power of a God Being could only be fought by another God Being," Magwayen murmured. "Are you going to wake up or let this end here in tragedy?"


    No one heard Magwayen''s whispered words, especially since the winds were blowing too strong. But what was she saying?


    On the other hand, I and Aephelia watched the distortion, showing Mark failing to use the unknown crystal.


    Aephelia was silent, but I voiced out some words. Not as the girl that lost her memories but as the Keeper.


    "Your majesty... Listen to the crystals..."


    ***


    Back at the battlefield, Mark was gritting his teeth in frustration. Sinogo was tightly guarding his every move while slowly pushing his attack through the wall of wind created by Chimetrice and Amihan.


    Furthermore, Mark was currently subjected to Sinogo''s condescending stare.


    That stare, Mark was familiar with it.


    It was the same eyes that the [Monarch Types] he encountered before had. It was especially for the [King Types], who appeared to be the embodiment of arrogance and superiority.


    Furthermore, Sinogo was clearly executing his revenge on Mark for the things that happened earlier.


    And as if to torment Mark, even more, Sinogo waved his ws. The spiraling winds that Sinogo and Amihan were struggling to block slowly moved towards each other.


    The horizontal tornadoes began to darken as more dust and debris were sucked in. In a few moments, those several tornadoes fused into one, and the wall of wind could barely block its sheer size. It did not reach an extremelyrge size, but the speed of the wind inside it was more than enough to grindrge structures into debris.


    Worse, it began to tear the wall of wind even faster than before, absorbing the wall into its being. Both the tornado and the wall were made of the wind. The only difference was if the two sides were moving or spinning in the same or different directions.


    Mark racked his brains out to try and escape from this situation. But as they said, tricks did not matter against overwhelming strength. Mark knew as such, and the simtions he did in his head were all ending up in failure.


    In the air, Amihan and Chimetrice did their best to block Sinogo''s attack. Amihan even employed the things she learned from Mark but to no avail. Her power was severely overwhelmed by Sinogo''s control of the wind.


    There was no way that a little [Sylph] like her would be able to contend against a power that came from the Supreme God of the Sky.


    But Amihan did not intend to give up. Even if she lost her life here, it would be worth it. Mark and Mei treated her as a family after she spent more than a hundred years with no one by her side.


    And at this point... Amihan lost control of the wall of wind.


    <strong>WOOOOOM!</strong>


    Amihan''s loss of control over the wall caused it to severely weaken. And there was no way that Chimetrice would be able to continue blocking the empowered attack alone.


    The wall of wind they created instantly began to spin and became part of Sinogo''s attack.


    Amihan was the first one subjected to the force of the wind, pulling her into its spiraling maws.


    And the small [Sylph] had no way of resisting as she was thrown off her flight and was swallowed by the moving spiral of wind.


    Amihan was the first, and Chimetrice was the second. And soon, Mei would end up the same.


    Mark''s eyes widened as both Amihan and Chimetrice became prey to the violent winds that Sinogo controlled. But to his relief, the two were still alive somehow. He could still feel their consciousness, although Chimetrice seemed to be in a lot of pain.


    It was clear that Chimetrice was protecting Amihan since she only seemed to be feeling afraid but still unharmed.


    On the other hand, Mei was yet to be swallowed by the wind. She used her all to fly as fast as she possibly could, with her body shing with bright light here and there. However, the spiraling wind continued to chase and was rapidly catching up.


    And Sinogo was having fun watching their predicament.


    Mark clenched his fists. What was he supposed to do?<sub> </sub>


    But all of a sudden, a voice echoed in his head.


    "You''re not giving up now, are you?"


    It was a familiar voice using anguage born of Earth but had been lost in time.


    This voice... It was Keeper''s voice.


    As Mark realized whose voice it was, scenes quickly shed in his eyes.


    It was a scene where Keeper stood in front of him while being trapped in a cave. No, it was not Mark.


    "This is... Freed''s memory?"


    It was a fragment of Freed''s memory. A time when one of their cards failed to work.


    "Listen to the crystal. What does it want?"


    Mark then saw Freed raise his hand, opening his enclosed fist. It was a crystal that failed to work for some reason.


    With thatst scene, Mark snapped back to reality, realizing that he already raised his right fist and opened it in front of him. It was the same scene where a crystal failed to work for some unknown reason.


    Mark then noticed as he turned his arm. The [Psycrystal] was glowing. It was not that the memory coincidentally appeared inside his mind. The [Psycrystal] triggered it.


    It was not the first time that the [PsyCrystal] showed sentience. Not only the [PsyCrystal]. Even the other crystals did the same.


    These items were definitely not sentient beings. However, they seemed to have their own will about things in their surroundings.


    It was the same this time, whether it be the memories or the will of the crystals.


    "Listen to the crystal, you say."


    Mark said, holding the unresponsive crystal between his right index finger and thumb. He was sure that it did not mean that the crystal would magically speak to him. But as he looked at the crystal, he had one urge.


    In that memory, the crystal in Freed''s hand had worked by using it in tandem with another crystal.


    But this one Mark held in his hand...


    To the surprise of everyone watching, Mark swallowed it.


    While his strange action would not mean much to the others, those who knew about the effects of the crystals did not expect Mark''s action. After all, Mark had already consumed a few of these crystals. And each time, the pain due to the changes brought to the body by the crystals would intensify.


    It was not wrong to say that it could lead to death by circtory shock if the pain exceeded the threshold of one''s mind and body. Not to mention that there were crystals ipatible with each other and could cause conflict in the body and kill the user of the crystals.


    Yet, Mark took the risk.


    Mark grit his teeth. The pain began to spread to his whole body, especially his head.


    The previous time, it took Mark several hours topletely consume the [Lightning Maniption Crystal] he had. And it should also take a few hours this time.


    But time was not in Mark''s favor.


    And the fastest way that Mark''s body would adapt to the change was...


    Mark''s blood churned, turning into sharp des inside his body. And to everyone''s shock, Mark fell unto his knees with his flesh and skin being torn and cut by his own blood.


    The wounds healed, but Mark kept repeating the process. At the same time, he used his remaining magical energy to use the [Butterfly of Knowledge] to further increase the process of healing and self-injury.


    Unexpectedly... Sinogo watched with interest as Mark began suffering. In his eyes, there was nothing else that Mark and his group could do.


    In the sky, the spiraling wind continued to chase the distraught Mei. She became even more worried as she felt Mark''s current suffering.


    And inside the violent wind, Amihan opened her eyes. She finally noticed that she was still alive. Around her was a barrier of wind protecting her body. And Chimetrice was shielding the barrier with his body.


    The wind sure was strong and violent that it was slowly slicing through the tough body of Chimetrice.


    Amihan felt helpless...


    However...


    When she lost her parents due to the foreign humans, she was unable to do anything. But now, she was stronger than in the past.


    Although she did not know whether it would be of any help, Amihan began to gather all her energy around her body.


    It was when a familiar but also unfamiliar voice of a woman entered her ears, making her frantically look around.


    The voice asked Amihan...


    "Little embodiment of the wind... Why let the tainted wind restrict you?"


    "Who?"


    Amihan asked back, losing grasp of her gathered energy which could only disperse to nothingness.


    And as the little [Sylph] asked the voice that question, the scene around her changed.


    Amihan was now flying in the middle of a dirt path inside a forest she had never seen before. Yet, the forest felt extremely familiar to her.


    Then, a beautiful woman appeared from one end of the path. The woman wore a white gown that fluttered lightly in the wind. The woman walked towards her, but her feet never touched the dirt below her feet.


    And when Amihan saw the woman''s face... She was shocked.


    The woman then smiled.


    "Who am I? I am you."


    The woman answered the question as Amihan stared at that face that looked extremely simr to hers.


    "To be exact..." The woman continued to speak, looking at Amihan as if she had seen her lost child after a long time of separation. "You are a fragment of me."

 Chapter 875 Awakening Of The Wind, The Incarnation Of The Tagalog Goddess Of The Wind

    <strong>Day 240 - 11:05 AM - Mount Caon, Municipality of Codcod, Province of Negros idental</strong>


    Amihan stared at the woman in confusion. Her reaction was not surprising, considering her unstable mental state and the woman''s cryptic words. Just now, she was in the middle of a deadly situation, and all of a sudden, she was in this ce. And then, she met a woman sharing the same face and telling her words she could notprehend.


    What did it mean when she said that she and Amihan were the same? Why did she say that Amihan was a fragment of hers?


    "Wait! This is not the time for this!"


    Amihan yelled out as she snapped out from her confusion.


    "The person you chose to follow and hispanions are in danger, is it?"


    The woman asked in a gentle tone.


    "If you know, then let me return! I am in this ce because of you, right?"


    Amihanshed out. She did not know how she ended up in this ce, but she was needed more back on the battlefield.


    "You think that you are needed there, but how can you help in your current situation?" The woman then vanished, and Amihan froze as the woman continued speaking behind her. "Trapped inside a wind under someone else''s control when the wind is supposedly your forte. Against the power of a God that ruled over the sky, you will face death."


    "I don''t care!" Amihan turned towards the woman behind her. "I already lost a family once. Even if I exchange my life for it, I don''t want to lose another! Just let me go back!"


    The demanding words and ming tone of Amihan were met with a smile, however. By the time Amihan noticed, she received a gentle pat on her head before the woman walked passed her.


    Amihan touched her head in surprise and followed the woman with her gaze.


    "I am d," The woman spoke with glee. "We definitely are the same."


    The woman then faced Amihan with a beautiful but sad smile.


    "I, too... Sacrificed my life for someone else. That old man hated conflict, and us his followers and his children did not want him to change that. Thus, we all forced him to hide in safety, and we fought the enemies we had to face. Although we lost our lives, we managed to keep him safe. We are happy to fulfill our final goal, but he must have been sad losing all of us."


    As the woman recounted her past experiences, Amihan''s eyes stared at the nk space in front of her.


    Scenes... Memories that she was not supposed to know flowed into her brain.


    The battle between the foreign gods and the [Eyes]. Most importantly, the old man that the woman mentioned.


    Tears began to drip from Amihan''s eyes.


    "I..."


    As the memories flowed smoothly in Amihan''s head, she now understood what the woman meant by her words. Amihan was the woman, and the woman was Amihan.


    "Then, I..."


    Amihan voiced out, bing uncertain of her own existence.


    But before Amihan became lost, a cool gentle wind blew around her.


    "There is no need to question your existence," The woman smiled. "You are I, and I am you. You are my fragment. But despite that, you are also you, and I am also I. Having the same root did not mean having the same existence, especially when you are the fruit."


    "Then... Am I your rebirth?"


    Amihan asked.


    "Given what you showed me so far, I would love to say yes," The woman replied. "But no. You are not my rebirth. As a being from another realm, I cannot be reborn in this realm. You are just a fragment of me. My incarnation."


    "That is the reason why..." The woman added. "We are the same, but also different."


    "It might be confusing. But between worlds, there are still a lot of things we have yet to understand. Even Gods are not omnipotent. Even the Gods of creation did not know everything about the things they created."


    "There are times that knowing is more than enough, and understanding is just an obstacle."


    Amihan continued to listen. And as the woman said, it was kind of hard to understand. However, she made sure to remember.


    Nheless, it made Amihan d. She was the [Sylph] named Amihan and not the woman in front of her.


    And this time, Amihan pulled the courage.


    "We are fighting against a strong enemy. Can you help us?"


    Amihan could feel that this woman was a strong being. And since she was pulled into this ce by her, the woman was likely to offer her help.


    But the woman returned a gentle smile.


    "You are mistaken. You did not need my help," The woman spoke as if reading Amihan''s mind. "You are my Incarnate. A fraction of my strength dwells within you, sealed, for you to live a normal life. It should remain sealed even after you enter the cycle of souls. But there is a time when the seal would be broken."


    Amihan was then surprised as she felt a powerful energy dwelling within her.


    "I believe you understand now. This meeting is the key to unlocking the seal. There is no need for such strength when living a normal life. But the power of a God could only be fought by another God."


    "If an Incarnate was threatened by the power of another god, the seal would break. It will allow the Incarnate to use a fraction of the power of their origin to protect themselves. In your case, you will be allowed to use the fraction of my power inside you."


    Amihan listened as she touched her left cheek. She could feel it was warm, and somehow, it was glowing with a yellowish golden light.


    "Will the power be resealed after?"


    Amihan asked.


    "Resealing an Incarnate''s power required the direct contact of their origin. And in our case, that is impossible."


    The woman replied with a bitter smile.


    "Then... you..."


    Amihan looked at the woman with sad eyes.


    "You should return. The time inside this ce is faster but would not stop the time outside. And so, I bid you farewell."<sub> </sub>


    The surroundings went brighter, and Amihan could only close her eyes. That farewell had a deeper meaning.


    This would be the first andst time the two would meet since the woman was nothing but the memory left inside Amihan''s soul.


    After the seal was broken, the woman''s existence would finally be erased.


    It was because the gentle Goddess of the Wind, Amihan, was long dead and was never reborn.


    ***


    On the ground, Mark''s body continued to break and reconstruct. Even with the emotionless Mark, the pain on his face was impossible to hide. Nheless, his method was clearly working. As his body regenerated repeatedly, the changes in his body elerated rapidly.


    And while Mark was in grave pain, Sinogo watched his suffering in glee. It was pure arrogance, thinking that whatever Mark was trying to do, was nothing to his current power.


    However, even Sinogo did not want to waste time just watching. He made the giant wind spiral to spin and chase Mei faster. Mei, who was already having a hard time avoiding getting sucked into Sinogo''s attack, struggled even more.


    Mark saw that and knew that there was no other choice.


    <strong>BOOM!</strong>


    While in pain, Mark kicked the ground. He then unstably flew towards Sinogo with the crystals rotating around his arm.


    Mark''s sudden action was unexpected and caused Sinogo''s attack on Mei to slow down a little.


    And facing Mark, Sinogo raised his right hand. In the blink of an eye, another swat was already a few centimeters away from hitting Mark.


    But then...


    <strong>BOOM! </strong>


    Mark was thrown back, not by Sinogo''s hand. An explosion urred between Mark and Sinogo, causing the two to separate instantly. Mark had just used thebination of the [me Maniption Crystal] and [Wind Maniption Crystal] to cause an explosion between him and Sinogo. Not only did it make Sinogo''s attack miss, but it gave Mark more time to distract Sinogo due to the smoke the explosion caused.


    The impact still made Marknd on the ground and immediately fall to his knees. He was still in pain, and the point-nk explosion just caused more injuries to him.


    But Mark did not care about the pain. Mei was in danger, not to mention that Chimetrice and Amihan were still trapped inside that wind spiral.


    Unfortunately, the smoke only distracted Sinogo for a second or two as he appeared in front of Mark instantly.


    <strong>BAM!</strong>


    Mark was flung away as Sinogo kicked him like a ball. The kick from a Deity blessed with speed was terrifying. It did not seem that Sinogo exerted much force in that kick, but Mark was flung another kilometer away.


    Once Mark fell to the ground andnded, the impact would definitely give him grievous injuries.


    But to everyone''s surprise... It did not happen.


    A strong wind blew around Mark in mid-air, stopping his fall. He then gentlynded on the ground, only to see Mei and Chimetriceing to support him.


    Everyone was confused. Chimetrice was swallowed by the horizontal tornado with Amihan, and Mei should still be being chased by that same attack. Yet, the two appeared where Mark was supposed to crash and arrived even before hended.


    Sinogo was the one most confused. He turned to see the attack he created, and it was still there in the sky. But it was suspended in one ce, chasing or trapping nothing.


    "Gege, are you okay?"


    Mei asked Mark in worry and sorry. In thiste stage of this fight, she became more of a piece of baggage than help.


    "I''m fine," Mark replied. "My arms are broken again, though. Can you help me hold it?"


    Like what Mark said, his arms were dangling with broken bones. He used his arms to block that kick, which caused the injury.


    Mei immediately helped Mark hold his arms in ce as they began to heal. Chimetrice also stood in ce, recovering from the cuts he received from being trapped inside the wind spiral.


    His injuries aside, Mark turned his attention to someone else.


    It was Amihan, flying between the group and Sinogo. Yellowish-gold markings appeared on her left cheek and shoulder, glowing brightly with her wings.


    Most of all, Amihan was releasing a familiar pressure on her surroundings. It was a familiar pressure of a godly being.


    Who would have thought that a small [Sylph] like Amihan would be able to exude such a powerful aura? A [Sylph] that was supposed to be one of the weakest Spirits of nature. A [Sylph] that did not even have the greenish hair that everyone in their race had.


    To [Sylphs], the color of their hair signified how strong their magical energy was. And Amihan, a [Sylph] with ck hair, should be among the weakest of the weakest.


    Yet, Amihan flew with her glowing body, exuding an aura that couldpete with Sinogo.


    It was an unfathomable scene, if not a miracle.


    However, it was a misjudgment.


    Amihan''s hair was not ck because she had weak magical energy. It was ck because of her true identity.


    ***


    "Looks like she sessfully awakened."


    Magwayen spoke with a smile to everyone''s surprise.


    "Hey, what is going on here?"


    Fourth turned to the Goddess of the Underworld to interrogate her.


    But Magwayen used this opportunity to snarkily reply.


    "As the protectors of this world, why do you not know?"


    The two [Eyes] could only frown. Yes, they did not know. After all, the godly aura around her only meant that it was done by a god. Even the [Eyes] did not have full superiority toward the foreign gods, after all.


    "If you two knew nothing, just watch, then," Magwayen triumphantly smiled. "Let us see how strong the awakened Incarnation of the Goddess of the Wind is."

 Chapter 876 Wind And Sky, The Battle Of Godly Powers Above The Waters Of The Ta?on Strait

    <strong>Day 240 - 11:08 AM - Mount Caon, Municipality of Codcod, Province of Negros idental</strong>


    The sudden change in the situation caused somemotion in the audience.


    It was not wrong to say that it was just a matter of time before Mark and his group were defeated.


    Mei was being chased by an attack that she could barely outrun. Amihan and Chimetrice were swallowed by the same attack. And Mark was barely capable of moving after swallowing the crystal.


    The only thing that kept them from dying was Sinogo''s arrogance, watching his opponents as they struggled for their lives.


    But all of a sudden, all of Mark''s group were safe. They were injured and tired but out of the predicament nheless.


    And it was all due to the small [Sylph]. A creature that was supposed to be barely able to do anything against someone with a God''s power.


    With two Godly auras contending, the pressure on the battlefield increased. One would think it doubled, but it was more than that. If a regr person, even most magical creatures, stepped into the battlefield at this moment, they would immediately freeze out of instinctual fear.


    Chimetrice aside, it was fortunate that Mark and Mei were unique individuals. If not, they would be severely affected just by staying on the battlefield.


    Everyone was surprised to see this sudden change in the situation. Those watching all saw Mark do something and would not be surprised if the change was caused by him.


    But no.


    The change was caused by the most unexpected individual.


    Even Mark was strictly paying attention to Amihan. He was also surprised. He never noticed a single clue that Amihan concealed such power. Since he had [Miasma], he became more sensitive to magical energy and did not see anything strange on Amihan.


    And back in the base, Annica, who could see energies within an individual, never mentioned anything strange about Amihan.


    In fact, Amihan was initially the weakest [Sylph] that Mark had met and seen. But now, she was clearly the strongest among them.


    Of course, Amihan shared the name of the Tagalog Goddess of the Wind. But having such a name was never a recognizable clue as parents tend to give popr or powerful names to their children, hoping to share the fates and future of those individuals.


    Not to mention... Mark did not know whether the Godly aura Amihan was releasing came from that very same Goddess or someone else.


    On the other hand, Chimetrice stared at Amihan. The ant, smaller than the others, was the one to retaliate now. He felt her exuding a powerful aura but did not know that it was a Godly aura simr to his. And,pared to Mark, he did not feel afraid. Instead, he felt more and more excited.


    In Sinogo''s mind... If he devoured this winged ant, he would be far stronger. He could not wait...


    <strong>BAM!</strong>


    Sinogo caused a sonic boom behind him as he flew down towards Amihan.


    But then...


    <strong>SHWOOOOM!!!</strong>


    Sinogo froze a second in the sky before his body was violently flung to the ground. At the same time, dust and wind exploded as the force that pushed Sinogo to the ground crashed with him.


    Everyone was shocked, while some cheered.


    Not everyone saw or realized what happened, but the [Sylphs] and those familiar with magical energy felt a strong magical wind push Sinogo down from the sky.


    Sinogo crashed to the ground in an unsightly manner. The impact would have been more than enough to turn people into meat paste. But, of course, not Sinogo.


    While the violent wind continued to try and pin Sinogo to the ground, Sinogo slowly rose from his fall. He was clearly confused and agitated by what happened, but that was all. His body did not have a single injury, although he was kind of struggling to stand up once more.


    And then...


    <strong>SHWOOOOOM!!!</strong>


    The wind blew stronger.


    Everyone watched as, in a straight line, several kilometers behind Sinogo, everything was being stripped off the ground.


    Large trees flew to the sky while the grass and other nts were ripped off the ground without resistance. Even rocks were not exempted as they were flung off the ground they rest on.


    It was as if a giant hair trimmer passed through Earth''s surface and instantly trimmed its hair up to the scalp, leaving a bald line of skin.


    However, the only one to be able to endure the violent blow was the one attacked by it, Sinogo.


    Sinogo nted his feet on the ground while enduring the strong winds. He was uninjured, and the aura enveloping his body blocked the winds from directly hitting him. But, it did not mean that the force created by the wind would vanish.


    If one was to block an attack with a shield, the attack might not directly hit the person''s body. However, he could still be blown together with the shield he held.


    Sinogo was pinned down and was unable to move. The strong wind he was facing was not as sharp as his tornadoes but blew far stronger. His current state could bepared to a person standing in the middle of a flooded river and trying to go against its flow.


    At this time, Amihan turned to Mark and Mei. With Sinogo pinned down, they could have a short conversation.


    "Master, Mistress. I''m going. Leave him to me for now," Amihan said before turning to Chimetrice. "Thank you for protecting me earlier."


    Chimetrice shook his head, indicating that it was no problem, while Mark asked Amihan.


    "Can you defeat him?"


    The question made Amihan show a bitter smile.


    "I don''t really know. That''s why Master... Hurry up and help, okay?"


    Thatck of confidence, Amihan surely was still Amihan.


    "Hah..." Mark sighed. "I''ll do my best. Be careful, okay?"


    "Be careful."


    Mei wished the same.


    p "Yeah!"</anda>


    Amihan smiled as she turned around to face Sinogo.


    Sinogo was already in the process of breaking Amihan''s attack that pinned him there. In another second or two, it would be his turn once more.


    But Amihan would not let that.


    A sudden gust of wind blew from all directions and converged towards Sinogo. Amihan then made motions with her arms as if gathering something into her hands. Her movements caused the wind to blow stronger towards Sinogo.


    And at the end, Amihan made a throwing motion with her arms, as if throwing something heavy towards the east.<sub> </sub>


    Everyone watching was surprised. Sinogo had already broken through the attack pinning him and was ready to charge. But he suddenly lost his footing, and Sinogo was flung up to the sky towards the east.


    Sinogo spun uncontrobly as his body lost control in the air.


    Amihan then gave onest nce at herpanions before her whole body glowed, and she chased after Sinogo.


    It was clear to everyone what just had happened. Amihan brought the battle above the Ta?on Strait between the ind provinces of Negros and Cebu. It was the very same waters that sealed Sinogo for generations.


    And now, the next round of this battle would happen above these cursed waters.


    Here, there would be less destruction that would ensue during the battle. There would be fewer unintended deaths, and the two could fight freely.


    In the sky above the Ta?on Strait, Sinogo controlled the wind around him and stabilized his body.


    But Sinogo did not have time to rest. He turned back only to see the golden light charging in his direction.


    Of course, that light was no other than Amihan. Well, she was not charging at Sinogo. She was actually gathering as much around her as she flew.


    Sinogo waved his hand and pped his gigantic wings. He gathered his own wind, making several spirals, and shot it at Amihan. This scene looked ominous as the spirals actually sucked in clouds as they formed.


    On the other hand, Amihan suddenly stopped with her hands pushing forward.


    <strong>WHOOM! WHOOM!</strong>


    The deafening sound of air exploding could be heard for miles away.


    In an instant, the spirals Sinogo created dispersed after crashing into what seemed to be a giant invisible wall. Furthermore, the wall went straight toward Sinogo.


    Sinogo pped his wings and used his speed to avoid the iing attack. This was the first time Sinogo had to avoid something ever since he reached his current form.


    Amihan''s attack that did not hit anything flew straight to the sky, tearing the clouds before dispersing into the atmosphere.


    Unfortunately, Amihan''s speed was still below Sinogo''s. When her attack vanished, Sinogo already appeared beside her to catch her.


    But Amihan did not feel afraid. The gigantic hand that could crush him effortlessly did not faze her now, enabling her to react to Sinogo''s speed and attack.


    <strong>BOOM!</strong>


    Amihan caused the wind around her to explode, and it actually pushed Sinogo''s hand away. It even left a slight tear on the aura enveloping Sinogo''s hand.


    But Amihan did not end there. With Sinogo''s hand pushed away, his body was defenseless.


    Amihan punched the air, and arge clump of air formed and solidified before hitting Sinogo''s stomach like a cannonball.


    "GAHAK!"


    Sinogo let out an unsightly sound as his body was, once again, flung up to the sky.


    The giant stabilized himself, holding unto his aching stomach. He was actually damaged by his prey''s attack.


    It was unbelievable for Sinogo.


    And Sinogo was enraged.


    Sinogo began releasing a powerful aura to his surroundings. The sky darkened once again as if a violent storm was brewing. Lightning shed, and thunder roared. The wind then blew stronger and stronger, and the waters below surged.


    The giant waved his hand. Several branches of lightning fell from the sky towards Amihan.


    Air would not be able to block light and electricity. It might be able to scatter the two, but definitely not in this case where the lightning was caused by a powerful being.


    However...


    Amihan flew towards the water below. While her speed was not as fast as Sinogo''s, it was still impressive. She was using wind to push her body while removing air resistance in front of her. She really was flying fast and reached near the water before the lightning could reach her.


    It seemed unbelievable that Amihan could outrun the lightning, but she just did.


    And upon reaching a certain distance from the water, Amihan waved her hands up as she continued flying away.


    It was when several pirs of spiraling waters rose from the water and blocked the strikes of lightning.


    Amihan just created twisters above the surface of the water, which caused it to suck water in. The twisters turned into water spouts, turning into good conductors of electricity and diverted the attacks from Amihan.


    Pure water might not conduct water, but the strait''s water was never pure in the first ce.


    With Sinogo''s attack failing to reach Amihan, it was now her turn to attack.


    Waving her hands like a dance, the water spouts she created to block the previous attack converged into one. It became a gigantic waterspout that was even bigger than the tornado that trapped her and Chimetrice before.


    Amihan caused it to spin faster and faster, causing everything near the coast could already feel the force within the waterspout.


    The water in the strait also began to spin as it followed the force of the waterspout. It was such a horrendous sight, and the one behind it was just a small [Sylph].


    But when everyone thought that it was already done, Amihan clenched her fists.


    The temperature inside the water spout decreased drastically. The water began forming into needles and des of ice, spinning violently inside the spiraling wind. It felt like anything that entered that waterspout, no, the icy tornado, would be shredded to pieces.


    And then, the terrifying weather phenomenon that Amihan created started moving towards Sinogo.


    Of course, Sinogo was not stupid to just let himself get hit. He nned to avoid it. After all, his speed was iparable to a measly spinning wind.


    Or that was what Sinogo thought.


    When Sinogo was about to p his wings to fly away, Amihan turned her back on Sinogo and punched the air behind her.


    <strong>BAM!</strong>


    "URK!"


    Sinogo felt the very same sensation when Amihan''s attack hit his stomach. This time, it was on his back. His wings instantly felt numb from pain.


    And worst of all, Sinogo was flung straight towards the icy tornadoing his way, unable to fly away.


    In an instant, Sinogo was swallowed by it.

 Chapter 877 Storm In Central Visayas, The Chance To Rejoin The Battle Of Godly Beings

    <strong>Day 240 - 11:12 AM - Ta?on Strait, Region VII, Central Visayas</strong>


    It was less than an hour before noon. The sun should be up and shining in the sky.


    But within the vicinity of Ta?on Strait and the nearby coastal areas, it was as if there was an ongoing storm.


    The sky was dark, and the winds blew strong.


    Lightning shed repeatedly, and thunder roared one after another.


    The waves within the waters moved violently, and they swallowed the areas near the beaches.


    Since the apocalypse began, several strange phenomena have started happening in many parts of the world. Many of which were events akin to doomsday scenarios.


    And this time, something simr was happening in the body of water between the ind provinces of Cebu and Negros.


    But who would have thought it was caused by two powerful beings fighting? Not to mention two individuals thatmanded the powers of Gods in the myths?


    Of course, those who did not know would not think of such a possibility. And rationally thinking, such a thing was not possible at all.


    Yet it was happening.


    ***


    Back in the sky above the center of the Ta?on Strait, the icy waterspout continued to spin. Inside the violent winds, Sinogo struggled to maintain his flight while shielding his body with his aura.


    With the wind blowing violently inside the waterspout, anything in flight would have a hard time. And because of the shard of ice flying inside, it was impossible to maintain flight at all. The shards of ice flew at rming speeds. Anything that entered it would likely end up shredded to pieces.


    Even Sinogo was struggling. Not only that he could not fly stably, but also because his aura was being slowly shaved off.


    They said that the eye of a tornado was the safestpared to its edges. However, it was not the case here. With the shards of ice hitting each other, most of them would end up bouncing off towards the center. The vortex of the water spout became where the shards of ice converged, turning it into a meat grinder.


    It did not take long, and Sinogo received his first wounds.


    The shards of ice repeatedly shaved away the aura shielding Sinogo''s body until parts of it vanished. Although the aura was restored as soon as it could, the slight opening was more than enough for the shards to inflict injuries.


    Of course, the wounds Sinogo received were far from something that could kill him. Nheless, staying trapped inside the waterspout for a prolonged period might cause his demise.


    And as one would expect...


    Sinogo gave up on defense.


    No, it was definitely something unexpected.


    In this situation, one''s reflex was to protect their vitals. Even Sinogo initially did as he protected his head and body with his arms and wings. It was his action, even if his body was protected by that film of magical aura.


    And now that Amihan''s attack was actually able to damage him, Sinogo''s current actions became even more irrational.


    Sinogo''s aura vanished and was restored repeatedly. However, his body was also increasingly injured every millisecond that passed by.


    It was when the space around Sinogo began to shake. It was not only Amihan who could control the wind. He was the same. The space around him shook as he took control of the wind inside the waterspout Amihan created.


    Sinogo''s control of the wind was clearly inferior to that of Amihan''s. Nheless, it was more than enough to divert any iing damage.


    And as Sinogo converged his energy and released everything in an instant...


    <strong>BOOM!</strong>


    A loud explosion of air was created as Sinogo tore the entire waterspout apart, scattering strong winds, water, and ice in every direction.


    "WAH!"


    Amihan was also blown away, only managing to stabilize herself after getting thrown a kilometer away.


    The two were separated with a great distance between them. At this distance, it would not be surprising if Sinogo lost visuals of the small Amihan.


    But that was not the case.


    The two were not using their eyes to sense each other but the strong magical energy they were releasing.


    Sinogo was wounded. Even if his aura had already been restored, the wounds on his body were clear for anyone to see. Unfortunately, Sinogo did not have the ability to heal himself, which was in Amihan''s favor.


    Ignoring his wounds, however, Sinogo chased after Amihan. He would not let the pest have the chance to make another powerful attack.


    Amihan, on the other hand, stared at the iing Sinogo. It was not like she was unfazed, but she had no choice but to continue fighting.


    The [Sylph] waved her hands, and the wind around her danced. She then flew at speeds faster than she had ever in her entire life and avoided Sinogo''s frightening charge.


    Missing his target, Sinogo turned his waist around, throwing bolts of lightning towards Amihan, who now flew above him. In this position, there was no way Amihan would be able to use the water below to shield her body from the lightning Sinogo conjured.


    As expectedly, Amihan could only try to evade the attacks. She was almost hit several times. Fortunately, although her body felt the electricity passing in the air, she was able to evade the sudden attacks and remained unharmed.


    ***


    On the previous battlefield, everyone arrived at the location where Mark and Chimetrice were waiting. With Amihan shifting the battle somewhere else, the others could safely reunite with Mark.


    In addition to the members of Mark''s group, Magwayen and the [Eyes], a few more individuals joined in. First was the three [Diwatas] of Mount Caon. And surprisingly, the ck-dressed [Diwata] from Mount Madia-as, Silim, had arrived.


    The moment everyone arrived, Mark''s attention was already on someone.


    "Do you have to stare at me like that?"


    Magwayen returned the stare with a knowing smile.


    "About Amihan... You also know about it."


    Mark replied.


    No one interrupted the sh of stares. Everyone here knew the fault thaty on Magwayen here. Even the newly arrived Silim, who shared the same me, just looked the other way.<sub> </sub>


    The two clearly knew Amihan and her connection to the Goddess of the Wind. However, the two never told anyone, including the person in question. This would not have been an issue. However, Magwayen clearly supported Mei and Amihan''s intention to join the battle because of this reason.


    "Why do you have to question me as if I did something wrong?" Magwayen shrugged. "My intentions saved your lives, mind you."


    Mark could not refute that. As Amihan awakened her concealed power, it saved Mark, Mei, and Chimetrice from immediate harm.


    "That aside," Neenth interjected. "Taking that crystal in front of your enemy is such a dangerous move. Why would you think of doing that?"


    "Do I have any other choice?" Mark replied. "I some Goddess informed me about Amihan, I wouldn''t have done it."


    The me returned to Magwayen in the end. She started to feel annoyed getting all the me. But Mark also had a point there.


    "This is why we warned you before." Fourth grumpily sighed. "It''s too early for you to take on that guy. You are lucky that [Sylph] is actually someone''s incarnation. If not, things could have gone worse."


    "Are we getting back to this discussion?" Mark replied to Fourth. "I already told you two that we can''t just retreat from here."


    Fourth could only stare grumpily at Mark. His head was too hard to change his mind. It was not like his reason was not valid. But still, Fourth felt annoyed at Mark.


    "And why are you here?"


    Mark asked someone who was not supposed to be in this ce.


    "There is no way I should not. The entire region is already affected by what is happening here." Silim replied. "If this ce fell, the next would be our home. In the least, I could prepare my people to leave if the worst came."


    It was true. While Mar and the others could not see it, the entire Visayas could already feel that something was wrong. In fact, droves of [Infected] started moving towards this location, attracted by the strong magical fluctuations in the area.


    On the other hand, animals were already fleeing the vicinity, trying to escape the possible catastrophe they could face if they stayed.


    And for the magical beings, the weak ones could only shiver. The fluctuations released by the battle caused their entire existence to be unstable.


    The only ones who could endure the situation were the ones gathered in Mark''s location.


    "You two want to go back?"


    Mark shifted his attention to two other people. It was the sisters, Be and Donna.


    The sisters were clearly ufortable. Unlike everyone else here, the two were basically just regr people. Fortunately, the presence of the [Eyes] kind of negated the direct effects of the aurasing from Sinogo and Amihan. If not, they should have passed out already just from the pressure emitted in the surroundings.


    Be and Donna looked at each other. In the current situation of the battle, there was nothing that the two could help with. However...


    "Can we stay?" The younger, Donna, asked Mark. "We are already here. I want to see how this ends. It''s just a once-in-a-lifetime event, right?"


    "I want to see it too."


    Be added.


    Donna was a free-spirited woman, and she was quite courageous. Her reply was not surprising. The more unexpected thing was that her older sister agreed with her.


    "Then, suit yourselves."


    Mark nodded. He had no qualms with the two stayings here. It would not change anything whether they stay or escape.


    At this time, the battle in the Ta?on continued to rage.


    With the help of Fourth and Neenth, everyone around Mark could watch everything that was happening.


    "She''s holding out well," Neenthplimented Amihan''s current prowess against Sinogo. "She is using her small stature to her advantage."


    Normally, therger ones had the size advantage. In this battle, however, Amihan had the advantage as the smaller one.


    Because Amihan was small, she was hard to hit even with supposedly precise attacks. It was like how it was hard for a human to hit a fast-flying fly.


    If Sinogo wanted to hit Amihan, he needed to create wide attacks that would affect arge area. Sinogo would have been able to make such using wind attacks.


    However, Amihan had greatermand and control over the wind. Wind attacks became ineffective against her.


    Most of all, Sinogo wanted to eat Amihan for her magical energy. At least, for now, the giant was trying to kill Amihan without destroying her whole body to dust.


    But who knows how long would it stay like this? Sinogo could go impatient and just start a full-blown attack at Amihan without regard for the result.


    At this time, Chimetrice stood up with Ilia clinging to his arm.


    "I have already recovered," Chimetrice dered. "I am joining the fight once more."


    Ilia let go of Chimetrice, and no one tried to stop him. Everyone was also counting on Chimetrice to end this battle.


    With a strong p of his wings, Chimetrice soared to the sky once more. He then flew towards the east, where the battle between Sinogo and Amihan ensued.


    Seeing that scene, Mark sighed. He was the only one left that could join this fight. However, he was still not ready.


    Mark clenched his right arm. He could feel his whole body churning in pain. In fact, it was rather strange.


    When Mark swallowed the second [Lightning Crystal] he acquired, he also felt like being electrocuted, and lightning bolts repeatedly shed out of Mark''s body.


    But now, Mark was only feeling pain after swallowing the dud crystal. This pain was only brought by his self-harm and the ongoing changes inside his body.


    While Mark had those thoughts, the space suddenly shook.


    It surprised everyone, even the [Eyes], as all of them looked at the sky.


    All of a sudden, Mark felt his body churn. He gazed at the sky, looking at the familiar formation of the swirling clouds.


    Finally, the power from the crystal surged inside Mark''s body. It forced everyone to retreat, but the one shocked the most was Fourth.


    "No way! This presence! When did you get that bastard''s power!"


    Fourth shouted in shock as she felt the familiar presence and power getting emitted from Mark''s body.

 Chapter 878 Rejoining The Battle, Marks Underhanded Move That Took Advantage Of The Heavens Might

    <strong>Day 240 - 11:15 AM - Barangay y, Municipality of Vallehermoso, Province of Negross Oriental</strong>


    The agitation in Fourth''s behavior was clear, and it was not surprising.


    From Mark''s body, the strong presence and power of someone Fourth hated were being released.


    Mark''s absorption of the new crystal and the power inside it reached past the middle mark. And now, his body was about to undergo the final changes. This caused the energy inside his body to start circting and transforming body.


    And Fourth definitely recognized this flow of energy. There was no way she would forget the presence of the troublesome and hateful Demon Deity that she had failed to eliminate since immemorial.


    The Earth Demon, Terrae. This troublesome entity escaped Fourth''s judgment and hid from the [Eyes] for millenniums.


    Fortunately, the troublesome entity was killed by Mark during their fight with the Tamawos. It was such a weed coincidence, especially now that two of Earth''s dimensions had already fused.


    Still, Fourth never expected that Mark actually acquired that troublesome Earth Demon''s power.


    Fourth did not know whether having such power would be a good or bad thing for Mark. However, if it worked out... If he could control this power...


    Terrae''s unique power might be one of the best things that Mark could acquire.


    Everyone surrounding Mark started to feel the strange energy Mark was emitting. It included the two sisters, who were not really that ustomed to feeling magical energy, yet, they could feel the energy around Mark. That was how strong and strange it was.


    <strong>PUFF!</strong>


    But to everyone''s surprise...


    Mark suddenly vomited blood.


    "Gege!"


    "Papa!"


    Mei and the girls approached Mark as quickly as they could. This scene waspletely unnatural as this would be the first time they had seen Mark vomit blood after bing a [Mutator].


    "Master..."


    Aephelia was also severely worried, thinking that swallowing that crystal might have been a bad action. She did wish that Mark would listen to the crystals, but she never thought swallowing it would be the answer.


    To the side, Neenth silently watched Mark. The [Eye of Interest] sure was quite interested in the changes that Mark was currently experiencing.


    The other members of Mark''s group were showing worry. Silim and Magwayen watched at the side without making any noises.


    As for the three [Diwatas] of Mount Caon, they watched Mark with wariness. Well, rather than just Mark, it was not wrong to say that they were wary of everyone present. They did receive help, but it did not mean that they wouldpletely trust these strangers. The three were rather surprised to see Magwayen and Silim, however.


    "Hey... You still good?"


    Fourth asked, trying to take a peek at Mark''s face from the side.


    "Do you really have to ask that?"


    Mark responded, annoyed, as he wiped the blood from his lips.


    It was clear that Mark was not okay. The pain just suddenly spiked, twice or thrice as painful as before. Although he should take advantage of his [Regeneration] to hasten the changes in his body, he already chose to stop. Additional pain in his current state would likely cause more harm as he was in a state where he could faint if he had apse in his concentration.


    The sudden spike in the pain he felt in his body was also the reason Mark lost control of his blood and vomited a mouthful of it. That sign was more than enough to show how much pain he was in, considering that he did not even bleed after getting swatted by Sinogo and breaking most of his muscles and bones earlier.


    Enduring the pain in his body, Mark asked the two [Eyes] while pointing at the sky.


    "Say... That would go and smite me again, won''t it? I rather not have that kind of treatment right now."


    "Unfortunately, what you wanted is not possible," Neenth replied. "A [Tribtion] is a fair trial for those trying to surpass things defying existence itself. And defying existence is what you are good at."


    "Tsk."


    Mark clicked his tongue as he gazed at the sky.


    Once Mark fully integrated with the crystal he swallowed, the clouds in the sky would immediately fire a lightning bolt at him. It was a good opportunity for him to get another [Lightning Crystal], but he was not in the best condition to do so.


    Not to mention that arge amount of his [Miasma] got erased. He did not know whether he got enough to block and absorb the lightning strike.


    Mark might be able to endure the [Tribtion], but he would end up in a state where he would not be able to rejoin the battle immediately.


    Closing his eyes, Mark started to feel his body. He could feel his muscles pulsating painfully. It was as if the crystal did not only give him another magical ability but was actually changing his body to a gic level. Considering that he already had the ability to mutate and adapt to catalysts entering his body, the process was proceeding rather smoothly despite the pain.


    If Mark did not have this [Mutator Ability], the very same ability that saved him from being consumed and killed by the Deity of Bloodshed''s [Miasma], that sudden spike in pain should have rendered Mark unconscious.


    Mark opened his eyes, sensing that the process was nearly done. He struggled to get up as the sky started to rumble.


    "Gege, are you leaving already?"


    Mei asked Mark while helping him stand up.


    "Yeah. It''s almost over," Mark replied. "Besides, I can''t face that with all of you around me."


    "You''re worried about the [Tribtion] just now," Neenth chimed in. "Did you already resolve yourself to face it?"


    At Neenth''s question, Mark smirked despite his suffering.


    "I''m not really keen on facing that in my current condition."


    Then Mark stared at Sinogo''s figure in the distance.


    "I''m going to do something I''ll call a pro-Xianxia move."


    These words caused everyone around Mark to look at him with confusion.


    ***


    <strong>Day 240 - 11:20 AM - Ta?on Strait, Region VII, Central Visayas</strong>


    The battle above the waters of Ta?on Strait continued and became more and more earthshaking.


    Lightning bolts rained from the sky and shot from Sinogo''s hands.


    des of wind and small tornadoes were conjured with the movements of Amihan''s dance.


    And with Chimetrice joining the fray once more, his evil aura soared as he used different attacks to try and take down the [Infected Giant].


    The three Godly beings were locked in such a battle.<sub> </sub>


    Amihan was almost hit several times, and a single attack could damage her severely.


    Chimetrice was the same, but he was already hit by a few lightning bolts. But he could rely on the sturdiness of his body. It was something far surpassed even some of the Gods that existed in the past.


    Sinogo, on the other hand, had no choice but to face the barrage of attacksing his way. He could evade most of it using his speed, but Sinogo''s gigantic body, despite its size being smaller than before, was still easier to hit than Amihan''s small stature.


    And since the air was everywhere, Sinogo could not escape Amihan''s attacks entirely. His protective aura had been chipped away and was prated several times already, leaving wounds on his body.


    If this continued, while it would take some time, Amihan could win this fight. That was, of course, if Sinogo did not manage to hit Amihan even just once. Just one hit and this situation could turn around. And it was Chimetrice''s duty to stop that from happening as much as possible.


    While the three were locked in their battle, they did not notice someone sneaking below them.


    Using the [Photokinesis Mental Crystal], Mark hit his body with [Optical Camouge]. He then flew unstably just a few inches above the violent waves of the waters of Ta?on Strait.


    In the sky right above Mark''s position, the clouds brewing the [Tribtion] followed. These strange clouds would have been noticeable, but the dark clouds caused by the battlepletely concealed it, not to mention the rumbling sounds it exuded sounded no different from the thunder caused by Sinogo''s lightning attacks.


    Mark watched the battle above him while unstably maintaining his flight. He noticed thatpared to most magical attacks he had seen from the [Sylphs] before, Amihan was using quite a variety. And this was not because Amihan gained a fraction of the power of the Tagalog Goddess of the Wind. It was because Mark taught Amihan many things regarding wind and even itsposition.


    And to say, Amihan also watched some Animes with Mark, where some characters used wind attacks, which greatly influenced how she battled with her abilities in the present.


    After all, the magical attacks of creatures in this country were nd and undeveloped. For [Sylphs], it was always wind spirals and wind blows and nothing else.


    It was nice to see that Amihan was already deviating from the stagnant path of her race.


    "Urg..."


    Mark groaned. The final stages had arrived.


    As sneakily as possible, Mark positioned himself below. And using the [Wind Maniption Mental Crystal], Mark sent his voice to Amihan and Chimetrice, who were surprised.


    Even so, the two followed his instructions.


    It was to try and constrict Sinogo to one ce in a few seconds or so. Then get away from the giant.


    The two were confused as to why Mark gave such instructions, but they trusted him.


    With the movements of her hand, Amihan gathered the wind in the surroundings. And as she crossed her arms and clenched her fists, the winds around Sinogo blew strong, creating a wall of wind des, encasing the giant inside.


    Sinogo felt the danger and tried to break the cage. However, Chimetrice, with his own abilities, helped strengthen it. After all, Chimetrice also had the ability to control and manipte winds, although not to the extent that Amihan could.


    And if it was not enough, Chimetrice hid his presence. Then, every time that Sinogo managed to tear a part of the wind cage, Sinogo would appear and attack the giant back inside.


    Sinogo was trapped, though the giant was confused as to why the des of wind did not seem to attack him.


    And below, Mark gave the final signal to Amihan and Chimetrice, forcing the chimera to finally fly away from the wind cage.


    Then...


    <strong>THHOOOOM!!!</strong>


    A pir of lightning shot down from the sky. And to everyone''s surprise, Sinogo was directly in its trajectory.


    The instant that the pir of lightning touched the wind cage, it was broken instantly. Sinogo felt the threat and tried to escape.


    However, out of nowhere... Something grabbed unto the base of Sinogo''s wings. It halted his attempt to escape.


    It was Mark who charged toward Sinogo at thest moment and removed his [Optical Camouge].


    And the two were instantly swallowed by that giant pir of lightning from the sky.


    Everyone watched in awe at that pir of lightning. It was akin to a sword that shot from the heavens to smite those below it.


    This was not the first time for Chimetrice and Ilia toy witness to such a terrifying scene. The two were present when Mark received the previous trial of the heavens when he reached the unprecedented level as an [Empath].


    But even at that time, the pir of lightning was not this threateningly strong.


    And if one did not know, they would feel confused at the strength of this [Tribtion]. But Mark and the [Eyes] knew the reason.


    A [Tribtion] should only be faced by the person receiving the trial of the heavens. If someone tried to interfere, it would grow stronger and try to eliminate those interlopers.


    In this case, Mark forcefully dragged Sinogo into the position of the interloper, enhancing the strength of the [Tribtion] and letting it try to destroy Sinogo.


    Everyone lost sight of Mark and Sinogo for a second or two. It was just how bright that pir of lightning was.


    And then...


    <strong>BOOM!</strong>


    A strong explosion urred, covering therge area with smoke, vapor, and residue of magical energy.


    As the pir of lightning vanished, a figure emerged from that explosion.


    To everyone''s dismay and worry, the giant figure of Sinogo appeared. His protective aura was waning, and his whole body was covered in wounds and burns. One of his six wings was also torn off, while the remaining ones were torn and burnt. It must be the gravest injury he received since he gained his current form.


    Amihan and Chimetrice immediately moved. However, it was not to attack Sinogo but to find Mark amidst that explosion.


    But before the two could do so...


    CRACKLE!


    Loud crackling sounds were heard, and sparks of electricity began shooting out of the remaining residue of the explosion.


    And there...


    They heard...


    "GRRR!!!"


    <strong>BAM!</strong>


    Sinogo was suddenly blown away as another giant figure emerged from the smoke.


    It was a four to five-meter-tall figure, d in ck metallic armor and adorned with six dragon-like wings.


    The giant figure stared at Sinogo as electricity crackled all over his body.

 Chapter 879 The Pitch Black Transformation, The Revenge For All The Pain He Suffered In This Battle

    <strong>Day 240 - 11:21 AM - Ta?on Strait, Region VII, Central Visayas</strong>


    Everyone was surprised to see the sudden emergence of another giant into the battle.


    When the new giant emerged from the smoke and attacked Sinogo, almost all of them did not consider the possibility of it being Mark. After all, it appeared without warning, and Mark definitely did not have this kind of ability.


    But when they noticed the familiar-looking armor of the giant, it only then registered in their minds. There was only one person who could conjure such armor.


    And it was Mark, using his blood.


    However,pared to Mark''s usual workmanship, the appearance of the armor looked rather rough and somewhat natural.


    Still, only Mark was present with Sinogo when the pir of lightning fell from the sky. The two were swallowed by that explosion. Sinogo was already out after receiving injuries, and only Mark was left to appear from that cloud of smoke.


    Furthermore, he attacked Sinogo immediately, right after getting out of the smoke from the explosion.


    This new giant could only be Mark.


    The only people who immediately recognized it was Mark, without a shred of doubt, were Mei, Magwayen, and the two [Eyes].


    Mei always had this strange way of finding and identifying Mark. There was no way she would not recognize him. On the other hand, the [Eyes] knew of Terrae and his most unique ability and had foreseen this result beforehand. Lastly, Magwayen, who had more experience than everyone here, would not be surprised by these kinds of things.


    From the distortion that Fourth and Neenth opened to watch the battle, everyone stared at Mark''s current form.


    As everyone watched closely, Mark''s current appearance was strikingly simr to his Pure Demon transformation but erged several times. However, the resemnce could not be seen at first nce due to the changes that urred, especially with how his body was not proportionally covered by the rough armor.


    Mark''s armor was not only odd-looking but did not cover his body properly.


    The armor covered Mark''s torso for the most part, together with the upper part of his lower body. However, his back and the left side hadrge unprotected gaps.


    Mark''s arms and legs were mostly unarmored too. His left forearm seemed to have a gauntlet, and his right shoulder had a shoulder pad. His left leg had what appeared to be a greeve, while the other foot only had a metal shoe.


    Lastly, Mark''s face was only half covered, with only the left side being fully covered, having a slit allowing his left eye to see through. This appearance emphasized Mark''s left eye, which glowed brightly violet inside, and the glow seemed to extend outside the armor.


    One particr characteristic of Mark''s current armor was the glowing red veins on it. It made everyone feel as if the armor was actually part of his body. These red veins extended to his wings, making these three pairs of wings look more sinister.


    Mark''s hair was still pitch ck in color with a red and whitish sheen. However, his skin now shared the same color as his hair. Moreover, his whole body had what appeared to be pointy branches that had a slightly yellowish glow. These branches seemed simr to how lightning appeared in the sky.


    However, aside from size and his current appearance, none of those were the most eye-catching.


    What had caught everyone''s attention the most was Mark''s right arm, which wasrge and did not seem proportional to his body. Compared to Mark''s left arm, together with the gauntlet it wore, his right arm was three to four times thicker.


    The right arm appeared to be mutated, with his right hand looking like a giant crystalized hand with metal ws instead of fingers.


    Furthermore, that had exuded an ufortable aura. That was right... His right hand seemed to exude [Miasma].


    And in Mark''s attack just now... It was the very same right hand that hit Sinogo. The ws actually tore through Sinogo''s aura, although Sinogo managed to avoid getting wounded by it.


    ***


    "With this, they can only win now..."


    Fourth dered with a bitter smile. She was really worried about one of her two candidates dying here. She only had two candidates, after all,pared to the other [Eyes] that had more.


    But her worry was actually unnecessary. Not only that the little [Sylph] that always sat on Mark''s shoulder an incarnate of a Goddess, but he actually got the powerful ability of the Earth Demon Deity, Terrae.


    "He utilized it even better than we thought."


    Neenth said, seemingly interested in Mark''s current form.


    "Is that permanent?" Mei asked the [Eyes] in worry. "He can turn back, right?"


    "You should not worry about his transformation. It''s a magical one and not a physical mutation," Neenth smiled at Mei. "This change is only temporary. What you should think about is when this battle is over. Mark will be extremely weakened after undergoing such transformation for the first time."


    Mei sighed in relief after hearing Neenth''s reply. It was not like she did not like Mark''s current appearance. It was just that being a giant would be inconvenient in many ways.


    That reaction from Mei made those around her shrug. Her priorities were misced, for sure.


    The conversation was cut off immediately. It was because Mark began to move.


    ***


    Mark felt the changes in his body. Strangely, he could not feel his magical energy overflowing. Instead, his body was filled with strength.


    The wings on Mark''s back opened widely, and a powerful explosion of wind urred right behind him. With its help, Mark flew forwards, charging toward Sinogo.


    On the other hand, Sinogo''s aura was definitely thinner than before. He might have been able to resist the lightning from the [Tribtion], but it had a massive cost.


    However, Sinogo''s innate physical prowess was not reduced even a tiny bit. Well, his speed was slightly slower. Even so, it was slower in terms of Gods and not human standards. His movements were still invisible to the human eye.


    Nheless, it was hard to know whether Sinogo could recognize Mark at all. But as Sinogo found Mark to be a new threat, he responded to the iing attack.


    Sinogo''s giant body disappeared, moving at his top speed. In a blink of an eye, he appeared behind Mark, who was still amidst his charge.


    From behind, Sinogo shot several bolts of lightning from his hands towards Mark''s back.


    In response to the sudden attack, Mark strongly pped his wings. A cloud of [Miasma] was released behind him and swallowed the bolts of lightning into nothingness while it concealed his body.


    Sinogo was surprised as he recognized that cloud of ck mist. However, confident in the aura surrounding his body, Sinogo charged toward Mark without fear.


    Once the [Miasma] got in contact with Sinogo''s aura, it immediately dispersed. It was the expected oue as the Godly aura was the bane of the corrupted [Miasma].


    But as Sinogo passed through the cloud of [Miasma], arge hand emerged from the inside it.


    BAM!


    Sinogo was surprised and retreated as fast as he could. His body flickered and appeared several hundred meters away instantly.


    The remaining cloud of [Miasma] dispersed and returned to its origin, revealing Mark with his outstretched right hand with all his fingers pointing forwards.


    Mark''s indifferent expression was open for everyone to see as he stared at Sinogo.


    Then... something dripped down from Mark''s ws, tainting the violent waters below red.


    Blood. Everyone was surprised to see blood dripping from Mark''s ws. Was his hand bleeding?<sub> </sub>


    But it was strange that two areas were being dyed red, and it was a few hundred meters away from each other.


    "GRAAA!"


    It was when a loud roar took their attention.


    There, Sinogo hovered away from Mark. Shockingly... His left arm dangled down, and blood dripped down to his hand and into the waters below.


    Sinogo''s left shoulder had arge hole on it, fitting the size of one of Mark''s ws.


    It was clear. Mark''s ws pierced through Sinogo''s aura and wounded him severely. The surprise came from the fact that it was such an effortless attack, yet it caused such a severe wound.


    Mark also paused, looking at his giant ws, opening and clenching them repeatedly. As he did so, there was a sinister feeling of corruption emanated from the ws. It was very simr to the feeling that a high concentration of [Miasma] could bring to people.


    Lowering his arm, Mark readied to continue the battle. He now knew a few ways to end this farce.


    After all...


    "This farce took too long..."


    Mark murmured.


    "Amihan."


    Mark called to the shocked [Sylph] with a slightly rough voice.


    "Y-yes?!"


    Amihan panicked a bit as she hurriedly replied.


    "Take care of the support," Mark instructed Amihan. "Focus on attacking Sinogo even if it doesn''t hurt him."


    "Okay!"


    Amihan replied with a wide nod.


    "Chimetrice," Mark called the other, taking the [Humanoid Chimera''s] attention. "Whenever there''s a good opportunity, restrain that guy. For now, join Amihan and attack Sinogo as much as possible."


    Chimetrice nodded silently, preparing his next attacks.


    In front of the three, Sinogo''s eyes red at Mark with hatred.


    "It... You... Again..."


    Sinogo surprisingly uttered several words to Mark.


    Unfortunately, Mark was not inclined to give Sinogo his words. In the first ce, it would be questionable if Sinogo would be able to understand Mark''s words.


    Mark, instead, pped his wings, charging at Sinogo for the next attack.


    Sinogo responded in kind. He ignored the pain in his shoulder and flew toward Mark at breakneck speeds. Even if he was injured, his speed did not wane at all.


    And knowing that Mark''s [Miasma] would only erase his magical attacks, Sinogo aimed for a physical one. It was also to get revenge for his wound that was made by a simple poke of Mark''s w.


    The space trembled as Sinogo unleased a punch. It was a punch too fast that no one was able to see iting.


    <strong>BOOM!</strong>


    The wind exploded as the impact of the punch was unleashed.


    Not on Mark, however, but on the empty space behind him. It actually caused the air to shoot down to the waters a kilometer away and caused an explosive ssh.


    Mark, who tilted his head and wings to his right, evaded the attack by a hair''s breadth.


    He evaded an invisible and powerful attack... just by moving his body slightly...


    It was such an impossible feat.


    Unknown to everyone, it was all thanks to his current form. It allowed his [irvoyance] to reach another level, albeit temporarily.


    Mark stared at Sinogo, who became startled by his attack missing. The guy retreated fast, even before Mark could make a slight move.


    Following the hasty retreat, Mark just hovered there, menacingly. It was unknown whether he was doing it on purpose or if it was the effect of his transformation. Butpared to his usual self, the current Mark seemed to be severelycking in terms of expression, fake or not.


    In any case, while Sinogo''s speed was still proven to be troublesome, Mark could now fight on equal grounds.


    Mark''s charge was paused slightly by Sinogo''s fast attack and sudden retreat. As this situation would not do anything well, Mark could only push for another attack.


    This time, Mark moved differently.


    Amihan had already flown higher than the rest. This way, the small her would be able to have a wider view, and it would be easier for her to read Sinogo''s movements.


    At a good angle, Amihan waved her hands, and the wind around her began to gather and dance.


    Dozens of invisible des of wind were conjured and rained towards Sinogo''s position.


    On the other hand, Chimetrice called upon his own wind des and attacked from another angle.


    In an instant, Sinogo found himself besieged by dozens to a hundred des of wind. Most of which did not really harm him after hitting his body, but some managed to strip a part of his aura and leave a few scratches on his body.


    Sinogo had no choice but to evade, realizing that his aura was being slowly chipped away once again. He surely moved fast, and no one was able to see where he would go.


    But as another surprise to everyone, Sinogo actually appeared in front of Mark, with his back facing thetter.


    Mark... had already positioned himself the moment Sinogo decided to move.


    Sinogo suddenly felt the danger behind him and hurriedly tried to flee. And he vanished right away before appearing somewhere else.


    However, everyone watching stared with wide eyes as they saw Mark left in ce with a souvenir in his ws.


    "GRAAA!!!"


    Sinogo growled in pain as he looked at Mark, holding onto one of his torn wings.

 Chapter 880 A Rough Victory, The Death Of The [Infected] Messenger Of The Sky God

    <strong>Day 240 - 11:23AM - Ta?on Strait, Region VII, Central Visayas</strong>


    Sinogo red at Mark with burning pain on his back and burning fury in his eyes.


    With this, Sinogo''s wings were down to four. One was lost to the [Tribtion], and now, another was torn off by Mark. The first loss was the middle left, while the one Mark got was the upper right.


    This kind of injury was, without a doubt, would decrease Sinogo''s flight speed by more or less a third of it.


    And it was clearly Mark''s intention as he tightly sped the wing he tore off from Sinogo.


    Sinogo gained a fraction of the power of The Supreme Sky God Kaptan and the tough half-golden crocodile body provided by the mutation caused by [Mutagen]. But both these things were not exactly the most troublesome aspect of Sinogo.


    It was Sinogo''s speed.


    Despite the current situation of the battle, Mark was still unsure if he could kill Sinogo with a single attack. The fact that Mark only managed to punch one hole on Sinogo''s shoulder despite attacking with five ws was the evidence.


    And one more thing...


    Mark''s body surely was empowered in this form. His enhanced [irvoyance] could help him fight toe to toe. But despite this, the only thing that could pierce through Sinogo''s aura and deal direct damage was his strange-looking right arm.


    Since the damage Mark could deal seemed limited in every attack, he decided to focus on reducing Sinogo''s speed first before everything else. It would be bad if he managed to deal umted damage on Sinogo only for the enemy to flee in the end.


    If Sinogo fled at his current speed, there was no way Mark and the others would catch up to him.


    Mark should cut off the enemy''s way of retreat first. And he needed to do it before Sinogo realized that only Mark''s right arm could damage him.


    As Mark threw away the wing he tore off from Sinogo, he went on the offensive. The wind exploded behind him, and he flew at his fastest speed.


    And Sinogo also charged in rage.


    The flying speed of Sinogo was significantly reduced. Earlier, no one could even follow his movements, and he appeared to move instantly from ce to ce. Now, the audience could see a blurry image as Sinogo flew toward Mark.


    Sinogo was still fast, but not invincibly fast anymore.


    <strong>BAM!</strong>


    Mark and Sinogo reached each other, with Sinogo unleashing the first attack.


    Sinogo swiped his right arm diagonally downwards, trying to tear Mark with his golden ws. However, Mark stopped just a few inches before the attack and pped his wings to fly upwards. Sinogo''s w passed just right below Mark''s left foot, but the force of the attack tore arge line on the waters below.


    The attack missed, and Mark counterattacked with a kick to Sinogo''s face. Unfortunately, the kick did not connect as Sinogo blocked the kick with his left arm and ws. It caused a deafening ng as the armor on Mark''s foot made contact with Sinogo''s golden scales.


    Mark''s attack did not cause as much force as Sinogo''s attacks which causedrge impacts in the waters below.


    However, Sinogo suddenly found his body being forced to move. And it waste when he realized.


    Mark moved his right foot. He did not intend to cause any kind of impact on Sinogo that could force the enemy away. Instead, as his right foot and Sinogo''s ws connected, he made sure that it was the joint between his lower leg and foot that made contact.


    And then, like a w, Mark pulled his leg backward, causing Sinogo''s body to be thrown forwards with a clockwise turn.


    In no time, Sinogo''s back was facing Mark once again, to Sinogo''s horror.


    Sinogo immediately tried to p his wings and evade Mark, but his speed was slower than before. Mark''s right hand already sped another wing.


    Mark''s strange arm and the aura on Sinogo''s wing shed. However, as if Mark''s ws were acidic, they tore through the aura as if melting it. It caused some ck ooze to disperse in the air.


    But now, with a ruthless kick on Sinogo''s back, Sinogo was thrown away once more.


    "GRRRAAAAA!"


    Sinogo wailed in pain. Another one of his wings was torn off from him.


    This time, it was the middle-right wing of Sinogo that was taken away by Mark.


    In Anger, Sinogo charged at Mark. All of his energy churned strongly, and the sky started spewing lightning bolts one after another. The wind also tried to pick up. Unfortunately, Amihan had already taken control of the wind in the surroundings, and Sinogo was unable to stir chaos within the wind any longer.


    The sky began shooting lightning bolts at Mark. However, Mark did not dodge at all. He took all the lightning attacks, which seemed to cause Sinogo some glee.


    Amihan began shooting des of wind unto Sinogo, but the giant ignored it. The most that the des could do was obscure his vision a bit.


    Sinogo then shot forward with both his hands in front. He clearly wanted to pierce Mark with both his ws and end this in one go.


    Nheless, Sinogo suddenly faced a terrifying truth.


    Mark was unscathed by the lightning bolts as his body spewed lightning of its own. After all, Mark''s current body was mostlyposed of the energy from the [Tribtion]. The power of the lightning from the [Tribtion] was far stronger than the ones that Sinogo could call.


    Mark waved his right arm. A veil of [Miasma] was released, absorbing the lightning that hit it.


    Sinogo reached Mark, and his aura tore through the [Miasma]. Just before Sinogo could hit Mark''s chest, he moved sidewards, turning his body to his left. Sinogo''s body passed right in front of him as Mark evaded the iing attack.


    Only Sinogo''s remaining two left-side wings could hit Mark in this situation.


    And Mark unceremoniously swiped his w in front of him, taking away another of Sinogo''s wings.


    Sinogo was now left with only his bottom-right wing and his top-left wing. It was not even a pair.


    This time, Sinogo, once again, felt fear towards Mark. It was just like before. He could not even release any painful growl anymore.


    Even if Sinogo now gained unprecedented power for an [Infected], he suddenly felt at a loss facing this enemy.


    ''Flee.''


    It finally dawned on Sinogo, and survival became his priority.


    Sinogo roared, making it rain lightning bolts at Mark while trying to deter his enemy from moving. Sinogo then turned away.


    But all of a sudden, Sinogo found himself unable to fly properly. He could still fly, but he was unable to muster any speed or even bnce himself.<sub> </sub>


    Sinogo noticed that the wind was blowing rather strangely. His eyes fell unto Amihan, smiling as she controlled the wind blowing unto Sinogo. Having only two wings that were not even a pair and not even symmetrical at all, Amihan''s wind only made Sinogo struggle in his flight.


    Sinogo lost the ability to fly. And knowing that, the smart [Infected] knew what he needed to do.


    While his wings were lost, his feet were still intact.


    Sinogo let himself fall while making sure that he was heading towardsnd.


    With a loud crash, Sinogonded on both his feet. The dust and sand of the beach caused a cloud due to the giant''snding.


    Sinogo now decided to run. But to his shock, he was stuck.


    The giant turned at his right foot. A thick vine now coiled on it.


    Sinogo forced his right foot to move, and the vine was torn apart...


    Only to find out that his other foot was now stuck too.


    Sinogo saw a figure kneeling at the edge of the beach. It was Chimetrice, waiting for Sinogo tond.


    At this time, hundreds of vines shot out of the sand, trying to drown Sinogo with sheer numbers. Sinogo tried to fight back. However, for every dozen vines he destroyed, another dozen shot out of the sand.


    <strong>BAM!!!</strong>


    And from above, the wind des of Amihan began to rain. While the wind des did some damage to the vines, it was negligible.


    Amihan was reducing Sinogo''s aura rapidly, and his resistance towards the vines was lessening by the moment.


    Finally, Marknded nearby, to Sinogo''s horror. Sinogo frantically tried to flee, but the vines kept him in ce.


    "This is the end."


    Mark said, releasing a cloud of [Miasma].


    Sinogo did not understand Mark''s words, but they filled him with fear.


    However, a cornered rat would fight back, as they said. Sinogo mustered all his strength and erupted with a bright golden glow. The vines were all torn to pieces, the wind des were stopped, and the cloud of [Miasma] was erased. All of it happened in an instant.


    But while it all happened in an instant, it was just that instant. As fast as the golden glow bloomed, it also vanished.


    Sinogo was left standing, not understanding what happened.


    Everyone realized. The aura surrounding Sinogo was gone. Even the golden glow of the markings on his body had dimmed.


    Without anything else to protect himself, vines shot from the sand once more and constricted Sinogo''s body. He struggled hard, but he was now losing strength. Even without his aura, Sinogo could still flee with only his speed. But it was toote now.


    And there... Mark spoke as he approached Sinogo step by step.


    "A God''s power is unique. The source of its strength is different from others. Unless you obtained the source itself, the power you can utilize will be limited and, ultimately, run out sooner orter. Using the [Tribtion], the wind des, the vines, and even the [Miasma] you thought you erased without effort. All of those are to slowly deplete your source of power."


    Mark then sighed.


    "What am I saying? I''m sure you can''t understand me at all."


    Mark then stepped in front of Sinogo with his right arm wed around thetter''s neck.


    "As I said before... This is the end."


    Mark said to Sinogo.


    "You... I... Kill..."


    Sinogo growled back before Mark sped his gigantic right arm.


    Without the protection of the aura, Sinogo''s head was easily squished into pieces of meat and stters of blood.


    Getting Sinogo''s head destroyed... It was a fitting death for an [Infected].


    But definitely not a fitting death as a messenger of an Ancient God even as a traitor. Unfortunately, the era of Gods had long ended, and it was now the era ruled by the apocalypse.


    And Sinogo, despite being a former messenger of Kaptan, was nothing but a mere [Infected] in this era.


    Sinogo''s body dangled lifelessly, being constricted by the vines.


    The vines retracted as Chimetrice removed his hand from the ground. It caused the headless body of Sinogo to fall down.


    Mark stared at the lifeless body. He let out a sigh.


    And then, Mark''s body began immitting smoke. His body... it began to disintegrate.


    As if getting snapped out of existence, Mark''s gigantic body slowly turned to dust and vanished. It left Mark falling to the ground in his birthday suit.


    The moment Mark''s feet touched the sand, he immediately fell to his bottom. His body was feeling extremely weak. It was no surprise due to the nature of his new ability.


    Mark opened his hand. There, his [Spatial Stone]y. His [Storage Ring] was destroyed by his transformation and left only the stone. It was still usable as he immediately took out something to wear.


    After he struggled to at least wear some pants, everyone arrived at his location.


    Everyone was celebrating the tough win, but the only thing Mark could appreciate now was the worried embrace from his wife and daughters.


    Mark was really feeling extremely weak right now. He could probably sleep a whole month without a problem.


    This battle would decide the fate of this country, and they managed to im victory. But in the end, it was not without losses.

 Chapter 881 What Was Left, The Losses And Effects Of The Battle Against Sinogo

    <strong>Day 240 - 12:26 PM - Mount Caon, Barangay P, Caon City, Province of Negros Oriental</strong>


    The battle against Sinogo was finally over. However, despite Sinogo''s death, the darkened skies had yet to show signs of returning to normal. It was likely that it would. But since the phenomenon''s cause originated from the power of the Sky God, it might take some time.


    Furthermore, the entirety of the battle had yet to end.


    Since Ta?on Strait and the areas east of Mount Caon became the center of the battle, it was now brimming with residual energies. The battle itself definitely alerted the [Infected] from the surrounding areas. Sooner orter, the residual energies would cause the [Infected] to mutate into powerful creatures that could cause havoc in the future. Although it was less likely that they would reach the level of Sinogo, a huge number of [Infected] at the level of the first [King Type Infected] that Mark encountered would still be dangerous.


    There was nothing wrong with saying that this area would be the most dangerous ce in the entire Philippines in the near future.


    Unfortunately, the whole battlefield could not be walled in, and there was no way to stop the [Infected] froming. There was nothing much that could be done to prevent this from happening.


    ***


    Since the battle was finished, Fourth and Neenth left. There was nothing left for them to keep staying. And as per their usual routine, they departed as fast as they arrived.


    The [Eyes] could not be med, though. They were busy looking over the current state of Earth and could not just stay in a single ce for too long.


    Furthermore, not only that the [Eyes] could not stand the presence of Magwayen, but the others were also ufortable with their presence.


    And with the battle finished and the two [Eyes] gone, wana, the current [Diwata] leading Mount Caon, invited Mark and the others to their Secret Realm.


    It was rare for the creatures of Caon to invite outsiders to their realm, especially not towards Demons, and extremely rare towards Humans. However, while it was not their exact intention, Mark''s group helped and saved their mountain from utter destruction. It was a well-deserved exception.


    That was why right at this moment, Mark and the rest of his group rested under the shade of a magical tree in the Margaha Valley, which was an old crater of Mount Caon.


    Outside, the fauna and flora inside the valley was ratherckluster. It was not surprising due to various factors like volcanic chemicals or temperature of the ground, slowing growth of nts and trees, leaving animals with barely anything to eat.


    Inside Mount Caon''s realm, however, the valley was different. Despite the realm mimicking the outside appearance of the terrain, the valley had a rather rich of nts and animals.


    This was the fourth time Mark had seen a ce that was not supposedly seen by most people. First was in Mount Banahaw, which had a flowery grasnd upied by [Sylphs] and forest elementals. The second was the Hiraya in Catanduanes, a set of hilly and mountainous forests with [Yasaws]. The third was Mouth Madia-as, a mountain with a world of its own. And now, Mount Caon, which also had a different theme.


    It was a forest-covered volcano with what seemed to be a ntation at its base. The residents of the realm were also more diverse than the previous ones.


    Wearing new clothes, Mark sat with Mei and the others around a table made of vines. It was already lunchtime, and they were all hungry after an arduous battle.


    However, even if they had just won a difficult battle, there was no time for celebration. The food on the table was their usual meal of preserved meat, boiled rice, and canned goods. The only different ones were sses made ofrge leaves filled with what seemed to be sweet honey. It was something that wana prepared for their honored guests.


    And while Mark''s group had their lunch, the remaining residents of the mountain did their work. It was to retrieve as many bodies of the warriors that fell in the battle. Elementals and Spirits might turn to dust upon death. However, the other races that did not belong to such categories, such as Cryptids, would have their bodies remain.


    p To those that turned to dust, they could only light a campfire to mourn and respect their brave deaths. Those that still had bodies should be buried properly.</anda>


    Mark nced at the busy creatures passing by from afar.


    It might have ended with a win, but the loss was pretty massive.


    The army of magical creatures that fought Sinogo and his army of [Infected]. Only around a fourth of them returned alive. The poption of the entire Mount Caon was down to less than a third in just a few hours.


    Thousands of those creatures perished. Those creatures who initially lived in this mountain and those who took refuge after the Fusion of Dimensions died. This would leave a great impact on the lives of everyone left to mourn them.


    As for Mark... He could only sigh.


    Although Mark was trying to act normal, he was severely weakened after this battle.


    The injuries and pain that Mark received in this battle caused umted fatigue and strain on his body. Even though his regeneration and the [Butterfly of Knowledge] helped heal him physically, the pain still lingered in his mind.


    As Mark chewed on a spoonful of rice and meat, he was sizing up the current state of his body. And it was not an ideal state.


    Mark lost a lot in this battle. The majority of the [Miasma] he had under his control was lost, to be exact. Even when he first acquired this ability, Mark easily surrounded a whole area in Bay City with [Miasma] and fought Gar''m without problems. He also increased his [Miasma] after various battles he went through. But now, it would be questionable if Mark could even surround a small bungalow with walls of [Miasma].


    And since Mark had no capability to generate [Miasma] on his own, it would take time and effort to return the quantity back to how much it was before. It was a Deity level of [Miasma] Mark had before, and it was all lost because of Sinogo.


    Mark''s magical reserves were also near zero. He could not even conjure a speck of [Miasmic Lightning] at the moment and could only light a candle-fire-sized [Miasmic mes] on his index finger.


    <strong>CLANG!</strong>


    Mark identally dropped his spoon. It bounced off the table to the ground.<sub> </sub>


    "Gege, here."


    Mei immediately fetched a new spoon and gave it to Mark, not questioning why the spoon in his hand fell. She knew that Mark did not want to talk about his current state in front of everyone, and she was being considerate.


    Mark could only smile bitterly as he received the new spoon.


    The transformation left a huge strain on Mark''s body after he returned to normal. Well, normal might not be the correct term here. His muscles were aching, and it was not going away, even with his regeneration. Although Mark could ignore it, it still had effects on his movements and actions.


    Furthermore, his left eye was now permanently purplish, even if he was not activating his [irvoyance].


    And Mark''s right hand now had a darker tintpared to the rest of his body. It was not tan-like tint but literally ckened.


    It was the effect of uncontrobly using the ability of the Earth Demon Deity, Terrae.


    Terrae was the Demon that orchestrated the evil acts of the [Tamawo] and possessed Pefile''s brother. This Demon was notorious in the past. He even got the ire of the [Eyes] and the [Observer] to be eliminated on sight.


    It was not because Terrae was extremely powerful or anything. It was because his actions affect things on a greater scale. Not to mention that he refused to dwell in the [Spirit Dimension] and wanted to wreak havoc in the [Mortal Realm].


    However, Terrae was slippery. He even escaped Fourth in her relentless pursuit. It was because the Earth Demon had the ability to separate his soul from his body. Even though his body was already destroyed by Fourth, he still managed to remain in this world.


    Terrae was notorious in a way that he liked to manipte from the shadows. He would choose a person with great influence as a host and slowly turn the person into a puppet of sorts.


    But Terrae''s unique ability was entirely different. It was not separating his soul from his body and definitely not manipting people.


    Terrae had the ability to physically manifest magical energy. The manifestation may vary, but it was mostly shown in a mutation-like transformation.


    The Earth Demon used this on his hosts and puppets, draining their magical energy and turning them into giant monsters when he was done ying with them.


    Back during Mark''s battle with Terville, the recent King of [Tamawos], Terrae used his unique ability to turn Terville into a giant monster.


    Unfortunately, Mark''s group defeated Terrae at that time, and he took his soul into the [PsyCrystal], turning the energy of his soul into a crystal. The process took some time, not giving Mark a chance to try the crystal beforehand.


    And after Mark integrated with Terrae''s unique ability, he realized why the crystal failed to work. The transformative ability work by gathering magical energy first before transforming the user. However, only one type of energy could exist within a single crystal. Thus, it could not gather the needed energy to trigger the transformation.


    When Mark finished the integration, the energy he had left was also not enough to fully utilize the [Physical Manifestation]. Thus, when Mark faced the [Tribtion] with Sinogo, he actually absorbed a great chunk of its power to trigger the transformation, causing that form of his to emerge.


    And that strange arm he had while transformed, Mark used a good amount of his remaining [Miasma] to create that. Since it was a [Physical Manifestation] of [Miasma], it could cut through Sinogo''s aura without dispersing.


    As for the [Blood Metal] armor, Mark had no idea either. His blood must have reacted to the transformation. However, even if his body lookedrge, the amount of his blood would not increase at all, resulting in the rough-looking and unevenly created armor.


    After everything, the energy used by the [Physical Manifestation] cannot be retrieved. Once the transformation was over, the energy it consumed would be gone for good. As such, it really emptied Mark''s magical reserves that were already low in the first ce.


    And since Mark gathered as much energy for the [Physical Manifestation] past the safe limit of his body, it left some permanent changes such as his purplish eye and darkened right hand.


    Well, these permanent changes were way better. Those victims, which underwent the same circumstances in the past because of Terrae, ended up dying even if they were not intentionally killed. It was either due to a severeck of magical energy or due to their bodies being unable to handle the transformation for too long.


    Mark was still lucky, not to mention that this ability was now in his control and not Terrae''s.


    Still... A loss was a loss. If some powerful creature at the same level as Sinogo appeared at this moment, there was no way that Mark could fight them in his current state.


    That was why even though the battle had just ended, Mark was already racking his brain on how to recover his strength.


    Or at least... The amount of [Miasma] he had.


    ''Oh well... I''ll just enjoy lunch for now.''


    Mark thought as he carefully swallowed another spoonful of food.


    Now that Sinogo died, one of his worries was gone. It was not wrong to take a bit of a breather. Although he was unsure if this country would continue to exist in the future, he at least bought some more time.


    They could only wish that nothing major would happen while Mark and the others were still recovering from this battle.


    <strong>-VOLUME 14 END-</strong>

 Chapter 882 The Next Day In Negros Province, The Circumstances Around Yesterdays Battlefield

    <strong>Day 241 - 10:21 AM - Barangay Bagawines, Municipality of Vallehermoso, Province of Negross Oriental</strong>


    Barangay Bagawines was a coastal barangay far east of Mount Caon. A few months ago, before the apocalypse began, it was only a rural area with a few small settlements surrounded by ricefields.


    When the Fusion of Dimensions arrived, it became a grasnd with barely any ruin of the past civilization left around it.


    And just yesterday, the grasnd turned into a wastnd with nothing but dirt and rocks.


    Now, it had be anding area for a few [Aquatic Infected]ing out of the waters of the Ta?on Strait.


    As expected, yesterday''s battle attracted all sorts of [Infected] creatures into the area. Whether it was from the other parts of the ind provinces of Negros or Cebu, they began gathering near the Ta?on Strait. It was the same for the [Aquatic Infected] that swam from the northern and southern areas of the inds into the strait.


    At this moment, the number of [Infected] gathered was still small. Yet, this small number might still be able to take down a decent settlement or two considering most of these were high leveled [Mutated Infected]. Adding the circumstances and different traits and types of [Infected], the faster ones to arrive were, without a doubt, the mutated ones.


    Past seven months after the apocalypse began, most of the [Infected] had already shown varying mutations. Some might only have their arms or legs changing. Others did not even have any resemnce to their past appearance left. At this point, it was extremely rare to see [Infected] that had yet to mutate.


    And now, a lot of them began to gather on yesterday''s battlefield. While the [Infected] saw nothing but the barren wastnd, they did not wander away from the general area affected by the battle.


    Everyone knew that the [Infected]cked awareness and relied on their instincts. Well, most of them, at least. But with that fact, it was very likely that the [Infected] gathered here did not even know what attracted them in the first ce.


    Of course, the reasons were the energy fluctuations of yesterday''s battle and the residual energies left in the surroundings.


    These residual energies would seep into the surroundings. However, there was barely anything to absorb these energies here. The ce was devastated and the only things left were the barrennd and scorched soil. That was why the likeliness for these residual energies to cause mass mutation among the [Infected] was lower.


    Still, it was better not to becent.


    The ground itself could absorb these residual energies. And in particr locations of the battlefield, some of the [Infected] began to show some rather strange behavior.


    It was to eat dirt.


    ? Who would expect the [Infected] to eat dirt on their own? It was already proven that the [Infected''s] preferred diet was flesh, especially those of the living. No one had seen an [Infected] ingest dirt even if they were deathly starving.


    There were pretty few that showed such behavior. Too few that if it was not weird and strange, no one would notice such actions. Furthermore, they were not doing it continuously. Some would bend down, grab some dirt and shove it in their mouths. Although they would swallow the dirt in their mouths, they became uninterested in doing it once more and would continue wandering around instead.


    As said before, there were certain locations where the [Infected] showed such behavior. One was where Sinogo''s attack exploded in his mouth, and another was where Sinogo was hit by Mark''s lightning attack [Miasmic Judgment]. Both locations were where the ground was exposed to strong magical energies, and it was very likely that both instances left more residual energies on the soil.


    Fortunately, no strange mutations caused by the residual energies had appeared so far. However, the more [Infected] gathering in this location and the more time they spent staying, the higher the chance that some of the [Infected] would mutate due to the residual energies.


    That was why...


    BANG!


    A three-meter tall [Mutated Infected] with elongated limbs and ws fell with a bullet hole on his forehead.


    It was not only a bullet. Dozens of arrows also rained from the sky, killing more of the [Infected] that gathered in this location.


    And the culprit for these kills... It was Mark''s group and the remaining warriors of Mount Caon.


    The residents of Mount Caon did not want another Sinogo to appear and the sacrifices yesterday to be repeated. And as such, they decided to make sure that no [Infected] would gain such power. They chose to eliminate the [Infected] as much as possible before they became too much of a dangerous threat.


    As for Mark''s group, they were not really needed here. As guests, they did not have to interfere with the problems that the residents of Mount Caon were facing. After all, their only business here was Sinogo, and he was already killed.


    No one would me them if Mark''s group just went home already. Even the problem with the [Infected] and the residual energy could be checked from time to time with Spera''s help.


    However, of all people, Mei insisted that they stay here for a bit. And since there seemed to be no problem with it, everyone agreed.


    wana, the current leader of Caon, also allowed them to stay. It would be shameful for them if they declined their saviors for a small favor.


    And since they were staying, they also decided to participate in eliminating the [Infected]. Not only that it would serve as practice, but they could also gather some [Mutagen Stones] without putting much effort. In the first ce, the residents of Mount Caon had no use for these stones stuck in the brains of the [Infected] and would dly give these junk to Mark''s group instead.


    In the fight, however... Mark was excluded.


    Among the members of the group, Mark was the most affected by yesterday''s battle. His body was weakened and fatigued, while his magical energy and [Miasma] were almost drained empty.


    On the other hand, Amihan and Chimetrice were theplete opposite of Mark. Amihan was empowered due to her awakening, while Chimetrice did not really incur anything negative from the battle. It really showed how much of an Anti-God Creature Chimetrice was with his indestructible body.


    And it was the main reason why Mei insisted on staying. Once they returned home, it was unlikely for Mark to get any proper rest. He would need to help on things around the base and would most likely spend his time on other things instead of resting.


    Here, Mark had no choice but to rest since there was barely anything he could do in this ce anyway.<sub> </sub>


    As such, Mei and the others participated in thinning the numbers of the [Infected] gathering in the area. It was all while Mark stayed behind in the Secret Realm of Mount Caon.


    ***


    Inside the Secret Realm of Mount Caon, Mark shrugged his shoulders. If it was Mei and his little girls, he was confident that they would be able to handle a few hundred [Infected] without problems. In the first ce, it was not like the n was to fight face to face. It was to attack from a distance while dealing with those that came near to them.


    Still, being left alone here was rather boring for Mark.


    While sitting beside the very same table they had lunch yesterday, Mark began twiddling his fingers. His fingers began secreting blood that started taking the shape of a ring.


    Without anything to do, Mark decided to recreate his [Storage Ring]. The [Spatial Stone] was intact, but the ring itself was destroyed during his transformation. In the first ce, the stone could work on its own. It was just that it was inconvenient to put it inside his pocket and search for it every time he needed to take something out of its space.


    Since it was not the first time Mark made this ring, it did not take long. It took only a minute or so, and the ring was recreated.


    And now... Mark was left with nothing to do once again.


    "You look really bored."


    Mark was sighing when the annoying voice entered his ears.


    "What do you want now?"


    Mark grumbled, looking at the avatar of Magwayen, appearing from the [Mark of the King].


    "For someone who doesn''t show much emotion, you''re really someone not easy to forgive, are you?"


    Magwayen asked though she was not really asking for an answer.


    The Visayan Goddess of the Underworld had a hand in a lot of things that happened in the battle against Sinogo. In fact, she was part of the reason why he looked too tired these past days.


    After the [Trial of Regrets], those around Mark noticed hisck of energy and would often ask if he was fine. It happened several times, and it was something that was hard to hide.


    The reason for that awful state Mark had was the blessing he and the others received after passing the [Trial of Regrets]. To be exact, the energy within the blessing.


    Since Mark spent more time within the trial and absorbed most of its energy, Mark actually underwent some conflict of energies inside his body. It was his [Miasma] and the blessing, fighting each other.


    It was not surprising since [Miasma] and the energy of righteous Gods were the opposite kinds of energy. And with both existing inside his body caused Mark to suffer. It was not like he was in pain or something, but Mark''s [Miasma] and the energy within the blessing were trying to oust each other.


    This conflict would only stop once one was eliminated. However, Mark could not have that and was holding both energies back. It caused him to get tired as he did it constantly.


    There was no way Mark would let go of his [Miasma]. As for the blessing, it was needed to fight Sinogo.


    But when the blessing was not useful anymore, especially when Sinogo regained his humanoid body, Mark did not hesitate to throw away the blessing and let his [Miasma] reign over it.


    That was the time when Mark was swatted away by Sinogo and ended up getting his body severely injured. At that time, some traits of the blessing were already integrated into his body due to his mutation. There was no problem in removing the remaining energy.


    It was the cause for the markings on Mark''s body that turned golden due to the blessing to return to being ck-colored. The remaining traits of the blessing caused his wings to change, however. This change was apanied by a bit of defense strengthening on his body.


    Magwayen definitely knew that Mark was in that state. However, she seemed more interested in what Mark would do than to give actual advice and help.


    It was the same when Magwayen agreed for Mei and Amihan to join the battle, and Amihan ended up awakening a power she never knew she had.


    In one way or two, Magwayen was an annoying existence. It was not something surprising, however. After all, Gods were bored existences and were looking for ways to entertain themselves. Furthermore, Magwayen barely had any work to do in her world due to it being stagnant.


    Thus, it was only Magwayen finding entertainment in Mark and his group.


    Ignoring Magwayen, Mark thought of things he could do while resting. Magwayen also decided to stay silent, knowing that Mark had no intention of speaking to her.


    In the end, Mark''s attention was targeted to certain items that were already inside his ring.


    It was hundreds of what seemed to be hawk feathers and hundreds of golden scales.


    Where did these thingse from? The feathers came from Sinogo''s wings, while the scales came from his arms, legs, and tail.


    Sinogo died in Mark''s hands. However, being affected by [Mutagen] to a high degree, his body did not turn to dust or vanish like most Deities in the past.


    And that body left some precious materials for Mark to use.

 Chapter 924 The Aura Of Death, The Unexplained Power That Mark Currently Bore

    <strong>Day 253 - 9:11 AM - Mountainous Crater, Municipality of Viga, Province of Catanduanes</strong>


    Something strange was happening to Mark. Not only did the markings on Mark''s body change, but he was exuding the aura and smell of death for some reason.


    Chimetrice stared at Mark with unconcealed surprise.


    There was only one time in a person''s life that they would exude the aura of death. It was when their time living in this world was up.


    At a nce, one who would feel this aura from Mark would think he was about to die. However, Chimetrice knew that this was not the case.


    The aura of death seen on a dying person felt like smoke from a fire about to die out. That kind of aura of death would spread out of their bodies before vanishing. It would not linger too long but would continue to emanate until those people breathe theirst.


    Mark''s aura of death was different, however.


    It was not spreading out and vanishing. Instead, it was lingering around Mark''s body like an invisible veil.


    Mark slowly closed his fists. Was it agitation? Excitement? Mark could not understand what he was feeling. It was as if some unknown power suddenly appeared, bursting inside his body.


    It had a simr feeling watching Levi rage in the OVA or Ryner one-sidedly ughtering the Magic Knights.


    It... It was a wonderful feeling.


    A smile slowly crept up Mark''s lips.


    Mark still could not understand what was happening. However, he had a hunch about who was responsible for this. Confronting the person responsible was for another time, though. Because right now, they have the battle to continue.


    "Chimetrice, deal with the ones below again. Leave those five to me."


    Mark said without looking at Chimetrice with his eyes focused on the five [Fighter Mechids] hovering from afar.


    "If you wish to."


    Chimetrice replied.


    The [Humanoid Chimera] was unsure about Mark''s order, however. It was clear that Mark had yet to fully recover, and he was kind of struggling to fight the first [Fighter Mechid] head-on. Nheless, Chimetrice was not the kind of being to question someone''s decisions and orders. In case the worst happened, he could just go and support Mark.


    Mark did not wait any longer. His wings opened wide with a reddish glow emanating from them. Both his eyes exuded the familiar purplish light.


    <strong>BOOOM!</strong>


    The sound of wind exploded as Mark pped his wings. In the blink of an eye, Mark flew dozens of meters away.


    Chimetrice followed Mark with his eyes, seeing something that normal people would not see. It was the trail of foggy ck smoke that Mark left behind as he flew. That ck smoke was the aura of death leaking from Mark''s body.


    Deciding to pay attention to Mark''s current state, Chimetrice flew forwards, aiming for the enemies left below.


    As Chimetrice suspected, Mark''s state of mind was far from normal. He was under the overwhelming urge. He was seeking the satisfaction of witnessing the end of the enemy before him.


    <strong>THOOOM!</strong>


    Mark''s speed elerated. The five [Fighter Mechids] moved to intercept him.


    As Mark predicted, these [Fighter Mechids] were slower than the first due to them sacrificing speed to wield a weapon.


    Nheless, it did not make them any less dangerous. In fact, facing these five was far more dangerous than facing one moving faster than the speed of sound.


    These [Mechids] were moving under onemand. Their cooperation, while not wless, was well established and calcted.


    The moment Mark reached a certain distance from the center of the Mountainous Crater, the [Fighter Mechids] moved. Furthermore, they moved into a formation.


    Directly intercepting Mark''s path, the [Fighter Mechid] with the sword and shield positioned itself. Behind it was the [Fighter Mechid] with the spear. The one with the gauntlet and the other with the daggers flew in separate directions around the first two. Lastly, the [Fighter Mechid] with the bow stayed a distance behind, aiming its weapon.


    It was a concrete formation. The one with the defensive equipment was to block the enemy while the two closebatants would ambush from different directions. The spear, which had a longer range than a sword, would support the defender from the back. And, of course, the bow would support the whole group from a distance.


    If one heard about these [Mechids] implementing these formations and strategies, they would definitely think of it as a joke. However, it was the truth, and Mark was facing such enemies.


    Did these [Mechids] learn these things from somewhere? Or did they learn about it on their own? It was hard to tell which it could be.


    However, whatever it may be, they needed to die here.


    Mark charged towards the group of [Fighter Mechids]. His eyes glowed brightly with a ruthless re and a merciless smile. With the [Crystal Staff] in his right hand wielded like a spear, he stabbed toward the [Fighter Mechid] that blocked his path.


    Was it a reckless move? Sure it was.


    The [Fighter Mechid] blocked the [Crystal Staff] with its shield. At the moment of contact, the boosters of the [Fighter Mechid] activated, enabling it to withstand the impact of Mark''s powerful attack.


    At the same time, the dagger-equipped [Fighter Mechid] along with the one with the pair of gauntlets appeared on both Mark''s sides with their attacks already mid-way. A spear also appeared right over the left shoulder of the defending [Mechid], aiming for Mark''s face. An arrow was also shot towards Mark, passing over the defending [Mechid''s] right shoulder.


    One defender and four attackers. In an instant, Mark was facing four attacks from different directions.


    However, no sign of urgency was seen in Mark''s expression and movements.


    Instead, the purplish glow of Mark''s eyes became tinged with a grayish hue. His ethereal-looking wings became covered in a gray-colored mist. And the moment the attacks hit his body, it turned all ck.


    <strong>BOOM!</strong>


    All attacks hit the darkness-covered body of Mark. Each attack was fatal, and it all happened in a split second.


    But then... Mark''s body, which turned ck, began to disintegrate into ck smoke.


    Was it [Shadow Mist Movement]? No, it looked really different.<sub> </sub>


    [Shadow Mist Movement] allowed Mark to enter a subspace that also allowed him to move at extremely fast speeds. Outside this ability, the people could only see Mark turning into a puff of ck mist, and although moving extremely fast, strong enough beings would be able to see Mark''s mist for moving about.


    However, it was clear that Mark''s body did not turn into a surge of ck mist. Instead, it looked as if his body was consumed by darkness and disintegrated afterward.


    The unexpected circumstance caused a dy in the reaction of the [Fighter Mechids]. None of them were able to confirm the death of the enemy and began using their other mechanisms to detect the enemy. However, knowing the failure of the first [Fighter Mechid], there was also a dy in the activation of these detection functions.


    When the [Fighter Mechids] activated their motion and thermal detectors, however...


    All of them immediately found Mark and turned their bodies in his direction.


    Where was he?


    <strong>SHING!!!</strong>


    A sound of metal being sliced echoed.


    The bow-wielding [Fighter Mechid] suddenly had its vision vertically split as it slowly fell from the sky.


    Mark''s figure hovered over the falling [Figther Mechid''s] body. His eyes glowed with a mix of purple and gray. But on his hand, the [Crysal Staff] looked different.


    The [Crystal Staff] was still there. But now, it was more or less the base of a different weapon. A tool for harvesting and an iconic weapon that symbolized death.


    A scythe.


    It was the very same weapon that split an entire [Fighter Mechid''s] body into two from head to the lower thrusters.


    With the defeat of the [Fighter Mechid], its bow transformed, and the transformable bits attached to its body all detached and tried to fly towards the remaining [Mechids].


    Mark''s chilling stare fell unto those transformable bits. He was clear about what was going to happen.


    If one [Fighter Mechid] was defeated, the transformable bits that were not destroyed would fly to the remaining ones, empowering them in the process. Once this happened, it was possible that thest [Fighter Mechid] in the group would have the strength and speed of several [Fighter Mechids]bined.


    Mark would not let that happen.


    The scythe in Mark''s hand was swung. Bolts of ck-colored lightning were spread unto the surroundings.


    Considering the effect of this ck lightning was already experienced by the first [Fighter Mechid] and was defeated because of it, the remaining [Fighter Mechids] made a cautious move and retreated.


    The [Fighter Mechids] managed to avoid getting hit by the bolts of ck lightning. However, it was at the cost of the transformable bits from the defeated [Fighter Mechid].


    After being hit by the lightning bolts, the transformable bits were not destroyed. However, they lost some of their energy, and their flight became unstable. It was when Mark appeared before the transformable bits with his right arm outstretched. A hole in space appeared and swallowed the transformable bits mid-flight.


    One [Fighter Mechid] was down. Of course, it was from this group, and the first one before was not included in the count. Aside from one being defeated, Mark prevented the chance for the remaining ones to strengthen themselves.


    Mark turned to the remaining four [Fighter Mechids]. The four of them were already on another round of attacks.


    <strong>BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!</strong>


    Four sonic booms spread out slower than the movements of the four [Fighter Mechids]. Although slower than the first one, all of them could still move faster than the speed of sound.


    All of them instantly appeared, surrounding Mark from four directions and already mid-way through their attacks.


    Mark was about to parry the iing attacks and stage a counterattack. With his [Future Sight] and current speed, he should be able to do it. However, Mark noticed something as his eyes glowed. He could see some sort of ck misty emissions from the spear of spear-wielding [Fighter Mechid]. He could not understand what was going on. However, those ck emissions gave him a bad feeling.


    Once again, Mark''s body was covered in darkness, and the four attacks hit his body.


    <strong>BOOM!</strong>


    The darkness-covered body did not even have the time to disintegrate on its own. The tip of the spear of the spear-wielding [Mechid] suddenly exploded, releasing a fatal amount of energy. That energy was simr to thesers these [Mechids] usually use. However, theser was in a form of a concentrated explosion this time around.


    This gave Mark another thing to be confused about. That explosion of light was clearly not rted to that misty emission he had just seen.


    Wait... That ck emission...


    Mark realized as he nced at his current weapon. That emission was the same as what the scythe in his hand was made of. The grayish-ck energy of death he was currently enveloped with.


    The aura of death. There was no way that these [Mechids] would suddenly wield the aura he currently had.


    "Materialize."


    Mark murmured as a surge of grayish mist slowly covered his right arm. Earlier, he removed his gauntlet after being dented by the first [Fighter Mechid''s] attack. Using the power to materialize magical energy, he created a new one using the energy currently overflowing within him.


    Seeing it manifest, Mark was sure that it was the same as what he saw at the [Fighter Mechid''s] spear just now.


    Mark was confused. But then, Mark suddenly saw the [Fighter Mechids] show that misty emission once again. This time, all four of them emitted the gray mist as they seemingly tried to use their transformable bits tounch a powerfulser barrage.


    As Mark had thought, the barrage ofsers came. However, he was able to react one step ahead, dodging thesers from the smallest gaps possible.


    And to his surprise, all thesers exuded the misty emission around them.


    This time, it all dawned on Mark.


    The [Mechids] was not exuding the misty emissions. It was him, who was seeing those things appear at things that could serve fatal to him.


    And now, Mark understood what was going on.


    Whatever this aura of death that currently enveloped him, it was getting integrated into his current abilities.

 Chapter 884 A Failed Attempt, Their Restless Leader Who Could Not Stay Still

    <strong>Day 241 - 12:36 PM - Margaha Valley, Mount Caon, Municipality of Murcia, Negros idental</strong>


    Right after lunch, the whole group gathered around the table they had just tidied up.


    While Mei and the others wanted Mark to take some rest, they still needed to discuss how long they should stay here and what woulde after.


    Mark actually wanted to return home already. However, no one here wanted him to do that.


    In fact, Odelina and the others back at the base were already informed about Mark''s current condition. And sadly, they all sided with Mei in this one.


    They had the right reason, however. Although Mark might look better now, one slightly hard poke on his darkened right arm and his body would go shaking numb. Returning to the base, it would be fine if Mark spent time ying video games. It could be considered a way of resting and rxation. However, ever since his workshop in the cliff house was built, Mark had been its resident. He spent time inside nning and creating things. He would end up working all day and evente at night without realizing what time it was already.


    And everyone in the base was aware of this behavior of his.


    It was better to get Mark away from his workshop as far as possible because even his current condition would not stop him from doing more than he must.


    After all, one of the things that Mark was the worst at was taking care of himself. Even in his current state, the chance that he would just sit back and rx would be almost nonexistent. Even now, he was not resting properly and was tinkering with things instead.


    "So, how long should we stay here?" Mark asked Mei and the others. "I don''t really think we should stay too long. This isn''t our ce."


    "About a few days to a week?" Mei replied. "We already asked permission."


    Mei then turned to wana, the [Diwata] leading this mountain. Her two sisters were not present, however.


    "There should be no issues, even if we allow you all to take permanent residence here," wana nodded. "This ce would have stopped existing if not for the help of all of you here. A few days of stay was still far smallpared to the favor we owe."


    ? That was right. There was no way the residents of this mountain would chase their saviors away. Mark''s group might have Demons and Humans, but it could not bepared to losing their safe home. And worse, the lives of the residents could have vanished along with it.


    Mark could only shrug. It would have been better for him if any of the residents of this mountain would protest about their stay, but it would be impossible. Not to mention the residents could be more afraid than thankful. After all, they were people who fought and killed a powerful enemy that their army had no way of defeating.


    "You seem too eager to leave despite your condition," Magwayen, who was also present, chimed in. "Although this world''s condition was something you cannot rest with, overworking is no better. Take a breather from time to time as yourpanions wanted you to do."


    "Well, I have no allies here, I guess."


    Mark gave out a sigh in front of everyone. Then, showed a slightly sad expression.


    Everyone was speechless... But it was quite effective as they showed hesitation in their faces. Even Mei, who definitely knew that Mark was faking it, had a bitter expression. Aephelia and Amihan had it harder. These two were extremely loyal to Mark, and it was not surprising if they took his willful side.


    However, no one said anything or sided with Mark entirely. They were doing it for his own good.


    "To think that they would hesitate for your obvious fake act," Magwayen shook her head. "You really got your people under your fingers."


    "But they''re still persistent," Mark stopped the fake act. "Oh well. I''ll justy about for a few days."


    "Don''t joke around. I doubt you''ll actuallyy about and stay still."


    Spera grumbled.


    "Well, there''s a lot for me to do. If you all are not too insistent, I would rather leave immediately."


    Mark replied.


    "Leaving? That''s definitely not going home, right?"


    Jaeya asked while putting Theodore to sleep in her arms.


    Mark tapped his chin. He slipped up. It was not like his slip of the tongue was obvious, but Jaeya, a [Telepathic], was more perceptive of the underlying meanings of people''s words. She was right, though. Going home was the most logical thing in his condition. However, that was thest thing in his mind.


    Since Jaeya''s words already made everyone suspicious, Mark might as well tell them, although some of them might already be aware of it, especially Mei.


    "It''s going overseas. Right?"


    Mei interjected.


    Going overseas. It literally meant going to other countries. While it was something not surprising in the past, this thought could surprise most people in the current state of Earth.


    The sisters, Be and Donna, who were watching silently in the background, were surely surprised. However, as the two already saw many absurd things about this group in the few days they joined them, going to other countries in the middle of the apocalypse was reallycking inparison.


    "That''s one thing. But before that, I want to recover as much [Miasma] as I can," Mark replied. "And I won''t be able to recover any just by sitting here and doing nothing."


    Aside from Be, Donna, and the [Diwata], wana, everyone in Mark''s group pretty much already knew how his [Miasma] worked. And Mark had a point in this one.


    There were different kinds of [Miasma].


    One kind was [Miasma] born of natural corruption. It could appear in areas untouched ces where the decay of nature was prevalent. This kind of [Miasma] could slowly devour everything and spread.


    Another kind was the [Miasma] caused by unpleasant events in a certain location, leaving curses and negative energies there. It was the kind of event back in Bay City which could cause Formless Demons to be born.


    Mark''s [Miasma] was different, considering it was the [Miasma] of a Formless Demon, the Deity of Bloodshed. It would corrupt and transform condensed magical energy into its own and grow.


    While the world was now brimming with magical energy in the air after the Fusion of Dimensions, it was not enough. Back in the immemorial, the time the Deity of Bloodshed was born, the magical energy was far thicker because of the existence of Gods. The Formless Demon in that time fought and conquered continuously, sacrificing lives and making his power grow. Yet, it took the Deity of Bloodshed countless years to reach the strength of a deity before he was sealed.


    Thus, if Mark wanted to recover the [Miasma] he had lost, he needed to be proactive.<sub> </sub>


    "Why not use the crystals?" At this time, Spera had an idea. "Since the crystals are made of magical energy, you can use it to recover your [Miasma], right? The attribute of the crystal doesn''t matter anyway since the energy will get converted."


    "I already tried that."


    Mark replied.


    Earlier, while the others were out and fighting, Mark was not exactly resting. He fixed his [Storage Ring], checked his loot, and also tried a few things. One of those things was to try and absorb a crystal he had using [Miasma].


    "And the result?"


    Spera asked for the result, but she had already noticed that something was wrong.


    "It''s inefficient," Mark answered. "The energy within the crystals is counteracting with the [Miasma] to some extent, and I only managed to absorb energy far less than the crystals are supposed to have. It will only end up wasting resources if I used this method."


    "The energy in the crystals is too pure, isn''t it?"


    Ilia chimed in, and Chimetrice was in the same conjecture. These two had some knowledge about these crystals since they came from far back in the immemorial.


    And in reply to Ilia''s question, Mark nodded.


    The crystals created by the [PsyCrystal] were the solidification of pure and condensed magical energy.


    On the other hand, [Miasma] was a corrupted form of energy. Although it needed to absorb magical energy to grow and expand, a type of energy too pure would neutralize it to some extent.


    The energy that was too pure for [Miasma] to absorb... It was simr to the energy that most Gods had. The very same frequency of magical energy that Sinogo acquired.


    There were better ways for Mark to restore his [Miasma], but definitely not the crystals... And definitely not with Amihan''s help, as she also had a power of a God.


    "Should I let my people offer you their magical energy?"


    At this time, a suggestion came from the side. It was the [Diwata], wana. wana''s suggestion was a pretty good and effective one. After all, Mark only needed magical energy, and the source was not a problem as long as the energy was not too pure. Even if the fraction was small, the magical energy of the magical creatures would suffice. Besides, it was not like Mark needed to kill them in order to absorb their energy.


    However...


    "I know you''re being thankful and want to return the favor, but I won''t really rmend your suggestion," Mark tried to decline. "With what is happening in the eastern areas of the mountain, you will need to conserve your people''s magical energy."


    wana fell silent. Mark was right, after all. With the poption of the magical creatures in the mountain drastically decreased, they would need all the hands they could get to protect their home.


    Mark then felt someone staring at him... and he stared back with a slight tilt of his head.


    Mei was staring at Mark with a stern look on her face and slightly puffed cheeks. She knew that Mark was notpassionate enough to worry about this mountain filled with people he did not know. She knew that Mark was just finding excuses so that Mark did not have to stay here all bored to death.


    "Gege..." Mei softly spoke. "Just a few days. Please?"


    Mark sighed and slumped on the table. There was no way he would be able to say no to that.


    Those around them had funny expressions.


    Mark, a person who fought and killed the near DemiGod Sinogo, could not go against his wife.


    Mei would usually support Mark even in his foolish shenanigans, but definitely not now when the problem was Mark''s health.


    "Then, a few days it is, right?" Jaeya smiled. "About traveling overseas, when do you n to depart?"


    This question was something important.


    "If possible, in a month or so," Mark replied while slumped on the table. "I want to recover as much strength as I can before that. Then, check on Catanduanes onest time. After all that, the first stop will be the closest one, China."


    China was not exactly the closest country to travel to. However, that was where the closest [Inheritor] supposedly was ording to Val Flora, the information broker from CNC.


    "But Gege, can we really trust that woman about that information?"


    Mei asked Mark as he took out the piece of paper he received back in Corregidor Military Settlement.


    "At least I can tell that she''s not trying to trick me," Mark replied. "And whether the information is true or not, it''s our only lead."


    ''The lead to fulfilling the promise to Freed.''


    Mark thought in his mind.


    Freed asked Mark to find the other [Inheritors] and check if they were worthy of having such power. So far, Mark already encountered five, of course not including himself, Mei, and I, whose crystals came as a set.


    And there should be neen crystals all in all. Mark encountered barely half of the number and all was by luck. And so far, only one did not pass the criteria Freed gave and Mark retrieved the crystal back. Two [Inheritors] were together with General Perez while the other two were on his side now.


    Mark had a lot to do, but he could not move around as he wanted because of his current condition.


    It was such a nuisance for him, but it could not be helped at all. It was the result of fighting someone powerful.


    Although they won, they had to take losses and make sacrifices, unfortunately... And Mark, despite incurring these losses feeling weakened, could not just sit still.

 Chapter 926 Inner Fear, A Phenomenon Across The Island As Mark Subdued The [Aura Of Death]

    <strong>Day 253 - 9:16 AM - Mountainous Crater, Municipality of Viga, Province of Catanduanes</strong>


    The battle in the northeast area of the crater continued. It was quite a shock, but it seemed that the [Mechids] released the previous day and night exceeded a thousand. Worse, these numbers were the only ones trying to attack the Diwata Iraya''s forces. There were actually more that had already managed to scale the mountainous walls of the crater in other areas. Those that did immediately came to aid the [Mechids] inside against Mark and Chiemetrice.


    Casualties began to emerge among the warriors. It was something expected in a battle of this scale. It was fortunate that the presence of the members of Mark''s group managed to keep the numbers to a minimum.


    Still, even a single casualty among the two hundred plus warriors was arge loss considering they were against more than a thousand [Mechids] already. Thus, for every casualty they got, the remaining warriors had no choice but to put more effort into fighting the [Mechids].


    But at this time...


    Everyone froze and shuddered.


    None of them understood what had happened, and that suddenpse in their concentration could have caused many of them their lives.


    Strangely, however, it was not only the people fighting the [Mechids]. The [Mechids], themselves, froze a bit for some unknown reason.


    Among those affected by the strange phenomenon, Mei was the most perturbed by the situation. She immediately opened her beautiful rainbow-scaled wings and flew up to the mountain peaks while tapping on the ring on her finger, filled with concern.


    Worse, she was not receiving an immediate reply from Mark.


    As Mei reached the peak, her enhanced eyesight helped to see the situation immediately.


    There, Mei saw a ball of gray mist floating in the sky. Others might have hesitations about the situation, but Mei immediately knew that Mark was within that ball.


    The most dangerous part was that Mei could see four reddish blurs constantly attacking the ball of mist. Unexpectedly, it seemed that the attacks of the [Mechids] were passing through the ball of mist and hitting nothing.


    And then, the most unexpected thing happened...


    The [Mechids] around the crater began rerouting. Those fighting the warriors just now also began to retreat, moving to another mountain and bypassing the intruders to the crater.


    There was no doubt that the [Mechids] abandoned the notion of killing the intruders to theirir to deal with the most pressing threat.


    And that threat was most likely no other than Mark.


    Mei began to worry as she raised her weapon. She did not understand what was going on and why Mark was within that ball of gray mist. It was different from [Miasma], which was ck-colored. Furthermore, it was under constant attack from those extremely fast-moving [Mechids]. And now, a swarm of flying [Mechids] of different variants could be seen taking off from different areas of the crater, flying towards Mark.


    It was dangerous to interfere. Mei knew that. However, the situation did not seem favorable to Mark at all, and she had yet to receive any reply from him.


    Mei began to aim, activating her [Bullet Time]. Her eyes narrowed as her vision enhanced. The barely visible red-colored [Mechids] began to slow down in her eyes. Although still fast, she could now see the movements of the four [Mechids] attempting to kill Mark. After adjusting the distance and reading the target''s patterns, she was ready to pull the trigger.


    But then... Mei shuddered once more. Not only her, but the phenomenon actually reached the entirety of the ind of Catanduanes. The weaker people of the ind even fell to their knees as they sumbed to the innate fear that crept up their spines. There were also those who passed out, while the least courageous among them began to wet their pants.


    In the military outpost in San Andres, southmost of the ind, most soldiers lowered their guns as their bodies shivered uncontrobly.


    In the settlement in Codon, the mercenaries shivered. Their pasts, where they fought against death on the battlefields, shed in their minds.


    In the Rebel Settlement in Napo, the rebels shivered as they hugged their own bodies. Being a rebel did not guarantee them a peaceful life, and they were always at wit''s end due to the fear they felt within their bodies.


    Cries of children could be heard from three settlements, with the adults unable to do anything due to the fear they were experiencing.


    That innate fear...


    The fear of death.


    Life had a start and always an end. That end was death. It was an end that no one would be able to escape.


    The phenomenon continued to loom over the ind of Catanduanes. Although the phenomenon did not carry any killing intent, it still made everyone feel death looming over them.


    Mei immediately turned towards the ball of gray mist. She noticed that it actually grew bigger than before.


    At the same time, the [Mechids] began to act even more frantic. Even those [Mechids] fighting against Chimetrice left amidst the battle and turned towards Mark''s direction.


    Diwata Iraya, Morlkil, and Ordulk left their warriors and hurried up the mountain peaks. Their warriors had lost the will to fight due to the phenomenon. On the other hand, the [Mechids] had already left the battle on the northwestern side of the crater.


    The rest of Mark''s group also went to follow Mei. By the looks of it, the effects of the phenomenon were way lesser for the members of Mark''s group. The effects could also be resisted by powerful beings and, most of all, [Mutators], who had strong mental and emotional traits, had no problem resisting the strong effects on them.


    Atop the peak, Mei saw what was happening clearly. The others might have a hard time assessing the situation, but Mei''s eyes allowed her to see it far better.


    Mei could not help but worry even more. She really wanted to help Mark.


    But then... Mei''s ring vibrated in fixed intervals.


    "Don''t."


    Mei read the message sent in morse code.


    After a worrying while, Mark finally responded to Mei''s calls. Mei put her weapon down. She was still worried, but if Mark said so, she would put her trust in him.


    Then, an unexpected guest appeared with a frantic expression.<sub> </sub>


    "What the hell is going on here!!!"


    A girl could be seen appearing in the sky, looking shocked with her multiple eyes opened wide as she saw the ball of gray mist floating within the crater.


    The girl tried to fly towards the ball of mist, disregarding the [Mechids] around. However, she stopped mid-way as her body shivered uncontrobly. She immediately turned around, and her eyes fell on Mei and the others. Without hesitation, she disappeared from her original location and appeared in front of Mei.


    "What is with that?!!!"


    Thirteenth, the [Eye of Excitement] cried out, asking the frantic question to Mei and the others.


    However, none of them were able to answer. It was not only because the people she asked knew nothing at all but because Thirteenth forgot to turn down the godly aura she was emitting. This showed how agitated she was.


    At this moment, the Deity, Diwata Iraya, moved forward. As Deity like her could at least stave off the powerful aura from the [Eye of Excitement].


    "Please, turn down your aura. No one would be able tomunicate in this case."


    Diwata Iraya said with a bit of hidden hostility. The [Diwata] did not have any favorable impression of the [Eyes]. However, this was not the time and ce for settling grudges and stuff.


    Thirteenth finally realized her blunder. Nheless, she did not even turn to Diwata Iraya to respond and just turned down the aura she was emitting. In the end, she still focused on Mei and with the same question.


    "What happened to him?"


    The tone was a bit calmer, but her expression was not that different from before.


    However, the only question that Mei could answer was...


    "We don''t know."


    ***


    Inside the crater, Mark hovered within the ball of gray mist with his eyes closed. Sweat could be seen forming from his forehead from time to time, only to evaporate almost immediately.


    This gray mist was not mist. It was actually the [Aura of Death]. If [Miasma] was pitch ck due to its corrupted and destructive nature, the [Aura of Death] was gray due to its connection with life and souls.


    After all, death would not exist without life, and the colors of the purest souls were shades of white.


    From the voice that echoed within Mark''s head, he needed to swallow the malevolent nature of the [Aura of Death]. However, getting covered with the ball of the [Aura of Death] was clearly the opposite of swallowing it. It was more like he was being swallowed by it from another''s perspective.


    However, Mark was clear that he was not being swallowed by it. In order to swallow the malevolent intent, he needed to let all of it out first. Letting the intent out meant releasing all of the [Aura of Death] from his body.


    At first, one would think that it would not be easy. After all, Mark had just learned that some freak of a Goddess actually gave him something absurd. However, it was not an issue with Mark.


    Mark had [Miasma] always circting within his body, not to mention that his new ability, [Magical Energy Manifestation] gained from the crystal of the Earth Demon, increased his ability to control energies within his body.


    Thus, letting the [Aura of Death] out did not pose that much of a difficult task. Of course, it still required time. There was no way he could let new energy he barely grasped out in one go. It caused the [Aura of Death] surrounding his body to grow bigger and bigger.


    It was a dangerous task. After all, the [Mechids] would surely not just watch while he did his thing. That was why Mark activated his [Shadow Mist Movement] at the same time. It allowed him to escape into a subspace to evade any possible attacks. However, for some reason, he could not sense any iing attack, which bothered him greatly. Unfortunately, he needed to focus and bring this new power fully under his control.


    Unknown to Mark, the [Aura of Death] already created a defense mechanism of its own. After arge amount of the [Aura of Death] was released in one single spot, it created a domain of its own where only the living and the dead could enter.


    And the [Mechids], who were not living beings, could not pass into the domain at all.


    After all the [Aura of Death] was released, the new markings on Mark''s body dimmed in color.


    Mark opened his eyes. He could not see anything but darkness. However, Mark could feel the [Aura of Death] surrounding him. He had the urge to swallow this energy using his [Miasma]. However, Mark had already noticed. This aura and his [Miasma] did not show any rejection against each other while inside his body. In fact, the two coexisted too smoothly that he never noticed the [Aura of Death] inside his body until it was awakened by his [Demon Transformation].


    With this thought, Mark went against using the aura to recover his weakened [Miasma]. If the two energies could coexist, he could make use of both.


    But for that matter, Mark needed to eliminate the malevolent nature of the aura first.


    Mark raised his head, facing the sky. He closed his eyes once more and let the [Aura of Death] enter his body through his forehead. Mark did not know why he was doing it like this, but he instinctually did it. It was as if the voice was helping him and manipting his body to take the right steps.


    The [Aura of Death] entered Mark''s head.


    <strong>"ACK!"</strong>


    It was painful. Mark felt like his head was about to split. Still, he noticed that the malevolent intent and the [Aura of Death] became separated from each other. The intent was left inside his mind while the aura continued to flow back into his body.


    Mark finally understood. It was the benefit of being an [Empath]. He was able to filter the intent, which carried emotions out of the pure aura.


    The process was painful, but it was working.


    With the malevolent intent beginning to lose the power of the [Aura of Death], it would be nothing but emotion without impact or strength to influence his mind. Mark would be able to subdue it in no time, and the aura that flowed back to his body became purer.


    The process continued for a minute or two. As it went on, Mark felt the energy within his body surging wilder than before.


    And this new power began to stimte new changes in Mark''s highly adaptive body.

 Chapter 886 A Noontime Talk, The Discussion About A Corpses And The [Infected] During Lunch

    <strong>Day 246 - 12:32 PM - Margaha Valley, Mount Caon, Municipality of Murcia, Negros idental</strong>


    Another day passed, five days after the battle on the eastern side of the ind of Negros.


    Compared to the past few days, the changes today were far more significant. It might just be past morning, butparing the same time in the past few days, the number of [Infected] that wandered in the area was far lesser. It was even far from a fourth of yesterday''s number. If this, fortunately, continued, the number of [Infected] they had to deal with today would be less than halfpared to yesterday.


    The most noticeable change was the darkened skies caused by Sinogo trying to manipte the weather. The dark clouds had dissipated considerably, and the area was far brighter than before. Everyone did not have to fight under the darkened weather for the first time in a while, which made it easier for the magical creatures to fight.


    Magical creatures might be considered the denizens of the night by humans. However, it was not something entirely true. There were a lot of them who preferred bright surroundings. It was just they feared humans that were more active during the day, only allowing them to roam the mortal realm at night.


    Now, being seen by humans was the least of concern for the magical creatures. Fighting the [Infected], a danger far greater than humans, was something they should focus on more.


    Since the weather in the eastern areas of the ind was getting better and more stable, it was a great help in fighting the enemies.


    ***


    At the usual lunchtime, Mark and the rest of his group gathered to eat. It was different from the previous days, however. This time, Mark was not the only person present to prepare the food.


    The number of iing [Infected] had decreased, and there was more time to breathe. Mei and the others returned early to clean up and help prepare lunch. Thus, lunch this time was far better than in the past days. It was not like Mark''s cooking was bad. It was decent and delicious. However, hecked cooking experience, and the variety he could make was limited. Because before the outbreak came, he did not have much money to buy lots of food and spices. Furthermore, he mostly ate instant food back then, which was cheap and easy to prepare.


    It was an unhealthy diet, but it was not like Mark had many choices in the matter as a poor person.


    Now, Mark could enjoy better food. Not only that but there were also people that could cook for him.


    Other people''s lives had gone worse since the apocalypse came. But Mark''s life definitely got better in one way or the other. These words had been repeated several times, but these words were the only ones that perfectly described Mark''s life before and after.


    "There''s no other [Behemoth ss] that arrived?"


    Mark asked the rest of the group as they talked about the situation outside the mountain.


    "So far, there''s none today," Ilia, who patrolled the skies with Chimetrice using the [Mini Cube], replied. "We observed a greater distance around this time, but all we saw were smaller ones. Thergest ones were the usual sizes we saw among [Mutated Infected]."


    "Master, I also looked around the opposite side of the mountain, but there''s nothing really scary-looking."


    Amihan chimed in as she ate a strange-looking sweet fruit that seemed to be the staple food of [Sylphs] in this ce.


    With the reports from Ilia and Amihan, it would be fine to conclude that the situation had stabilized. However, it was still not the best time to let their guards down. The residual energy from the battle against Sinogo had yet to dissipatepletely, and the [Infected] was stilling despite the decreased number. It was still possible for something troublesome to appear.


    "By the way, I noticed that there''s barely any [Mechids] on this ind."


    Speramented.


    "Now that you mentioned it, there''s hardly any either in Panay."


    Ilia agreed with Spera.


    "The ones we saw are pretty mangled toopared to the ones back home."


    Spera added.


    "Me-kids? What are these mekids you guys are talking about?"


    Be chimed in, noticing a term she and her sister did not know. The two already learned from the group that the cause of the apocalypse was something so-called Mutagenic Pathogen, or [Mutagen]. However, it was the first for them to hear about the [Mechids].


    "It''s [Mechid], not mekid," Ilia corrected Be. "They are robot aliens under the influence of some kind of hacking virus."


    Be and Donna now knew the correct term. However, Ilia''s exnation just made the sisters even more confused.


    "You two haven''t seen one yet?"


    Spera asked the two making them shake their heads.


    "Spera... Their group was whisked into Mount Madia-as'' Secret Realm during the earthquake right after the space debris exploded. It''s no surprise they had no idea. Not to mention other people. Although they might have seen [Mechids], they might only think that these infected alien robots were just some weird [Infected]."


    Mark exined to Spera with a sigh.


    Be and Donna carefully listened to Mark''s words. They managed to get the gist of it. However, the sisters were still mostly confused.


    The reaction of the two was not really surprising. It had been less than a week since the sisters decided to leave the suffocating safe confines of the Secret Realm in Mount Madia-as. Their group had been there since the Fusion of Dimensions. It made them mostly ignorant of the events outside the realm.


    However, the reaction of the sisters might not be that different if other people listened to the discussions of Mark''s group. Despite being aware of the events around them, most survivors were confused about what exactly was going on in this world.


    None of the people around the world knew what or where [Mutagen] came from. Many people only knew that it was some kind of dangerous pathogen that came from space. Scientists also had limited knowledge and were still trying their best to figure out [Mutagen].


    People who did not know what [Mutagen] was also existed. They were those like the sisters who had been isted from other survivors since the outbreak started. They never received help from the military and had been relying on nothing but themselves to survive. As such, they never received any knowledge about [Mutagen].


    On the other hand, [Mechids]... Among all survivors remaining in the world, only a select few had knowledge about these infected alien robots. Since the distribution of knowledge had long been cut off, those who had information could not share what they had with others, leaving everyone else in the dark.


    It was disyed back when Mark''s group visited the current New Infanta Settlement, who struggled to deal with a [Mechid Shark] since they had no idea what exactly they were dealing with.


    Among those who were not ignorant about the things happening in the world, Mark''s group happened to be among the lucky ones. It was all because of Mark and the lucky things he encountered in his not-so-lucky life and the things he actually had without even realizing he had them.


    And now, this rare chance of luck would benefit the sisters since they joined Mark''s group.<sub> </sub>


    The two sisters took the opportunity to learn more about the things currently happening in the world. Whether they were members of this group or not, this knowledge would benefit them in the long run.


    Acquiring knowledge about the existence of [Mechids] made Be and Donna feel how lucky they were to identally enter the Secret Realm of Mount Madia-as. Even if the abilities of the two could deal with the [Infected], there was no way they would be able to affect robotic creatures like the [Mechids]. Encountering one would definitely mean their end.


    While discussing things about the [Infected] and the [Mechids], the three [Diwatas] of Mount Caon arrived. The three were mostly out these past days to lead their remaining warriors to fight against the [Infected]. After all, they could not afford to lose more just because they were not present during the battles. From time to time, they would return to rest. However, not at the same time.


    "You three are here together this time. Did something happen?"


    Mark preemptively asked the three, wondering if something strange urred for the three to return together.


    "There was none. That is why we returned."


    Tin replied as snarkily as ever.


    "Sister..."


    The youngest Binituin could only sigh at her older sister''s rude behavior.


    "The arrival of the Soulless Ones began to diminish. Thus, we decided to focus on other important matters."


    The eldest, wana, exined.


    "So, it''s about that, huh?"


    Mark shrugged.


    "What do you mean by that?"


    Spera asked Mark.


    "Sinogo''s body. What else?"


    Mark replied.


    Yes, Sinogo''s body. Being a Deity of the past, it would not be a surprise if his body turned to dust after death. However, there were also beings at the level of Deities, even Gods, whose bodies would remain after death.


    Mark already managed to get what he could from Sinogo''s corpse. The golden scales from the limbs and the steel-like feathers from the dragon-like wings. There were also other things and stuff that could be harvested from Sinogo''s corpse. However, even if those things were removed, Sinogo''s body was still mostly intact, with only his head missing.


    Sinogo''s dead body, a corpse of a Deity, was not something they could just leave or bury anywhere. Even if he used up all the remaining godly energy in his body before death, his body was still something that could leave side effects on the surroundings or even on anything that could possibly consume it.


    Worse, it could be eaten by another [Infected]. While it would not make that [Infected] as powerful as Sinogo, who would know what kind of mutation the consumption of Sinogo''s flesh would ensue.


    "At these kinds of opportunities, a sealing ritual would be the most appropriate," wana exined. "However, the rituals to seal dead Deities were not something we had knowledge in."


    "Can''t we just burn it?"


    Spera suggested.


    "It''s usible," Alwana nodded. "However, no ordinary fire could burn the body of a Deity. Furthermore, even the remains after the body was burned would still warrant the same treatment to seal it."


    "So, it would just end up doing twice the work."


    Ilia chimed in.


    Then, everyone turned to Mark. After all, he was the only one here that specialized in powers of corruption. Basically, [Miasma].


    "Don''t look at me," Mark gave another bitter shrug. "I already tried that when I''m taking the scales and feathers. My current [Miasma] isn''t enough. The corpse is also resisting my [Miasma] and [Miasmic mes]. Probably because of the God Energy he had before."


    "It would be nice if some Underworld Goddess would make a suggestion."


    Mark added.


    "But she''s not here."


    Amihan said, making Mark sigh.


    "That''s the point," Mark replied. "When someone needed Gods, that is when they are not present.:


    Mark''s words made everyone wear a bitter expression and make slight giggles. That was pretty much true in many cases. It was themon trope where a person in distress would pray to their God only to receive no reply and die sooner.


    Unfortunately, Magwayen was not really here this time. It seemed she had business to deal with in her world and she disappeared sincest night.


    "Why not turn the corpse into materials?" Ilia made a rather unsavory suggestion. "Why are you people looking at me like that? Corpses of Gods and Deities had been used to make things in the past, you know? Even their skulls could be made as good catalysts for necromantic rituals."


    What Ilia said was true. Back in the era of Myths and Legends, many ugly things happened, and it did not only involve mortals but also the Gods themselves.


    After all, the level of Gods was a pretty chaotic ce to reach. Many Gods were known to do things that would definitely go against the moral standards of modern people.


    And it was the same moral standard that was preventing Mark to agree with Ilia.


    Mark might harvest things like nails, scales, feathers, and hair from humanoid corpses. But butchering the whole corpse and turning everything into materials... Mark was pretty sure he had yet to reach such a deranged psychopatic level.

 Chapter 887 Boundaries And Standards, The Plans To Deal With Sinogos Corpse

    <strong>Day 246 - 12:39 PM - Margaha Valley, Mount Caon, Municipality of Murcia, Negros idental</strong>


    There was nothing wrong with what Ilia was saying. Sinogo was never human, to begin with. However, it was not only Mark. The rest of the group, except for Chimetrice, were not really keen on agreeing with Ilia and her words.


    As Ilia said, people in the past would have no hesitation in taking apart the bodies of the dead for various purposes, whether it be human or human-like.


    Ancient people would decorate ces with parts of the bodies of their victims, like putting heads on stakes outside their gates. Or even feeding the butchered dead bodies to animals they rear.


    And it was worse for the bodies of Godly and magical beings. Humans would find their bodies as a treasure trove. They would show no hesitation in harvesting anything they could get from their corpses.


    However, as time passed and civilization developed, these kinds of practices began to diminish.


    Moral standards were built up by principles, beliefs, society, and religion from nothing. And it was what further bolstered the development of such aspects of humanity. It then helped in the creation of rules,ws, and other things that became the foundations of the current society.


    And it was moral standards that humans developed that dictated whether an action was good or evil.


    In the apocalypse, these moral standards that people had differentiated a human from a monster.


    "It''s not surprising it won''t be somethingfortable for the others, but it''s weird that you''re also against it," Ilia said while looking at Mark. "You have no problems bisecting limbs, beheading people, and even putting your enemies in a state worse than death, but you can''t butcher someone. It''s not even human. Your boundaries are surprisingly in weird ces."


    "I get what you''re saying," Mark slightly shook his head. "But it''s just because I know my tendencies."


    These words took everyone''s attention.


    "I''m the type of person who would sometimes try something a bit, then get used to it, and further down the line, outright not minding it. And worse about it, I won''t even realize it until it''s allte," Mark exined. "If just agreed to butcher a humanoid now, it won''t be surprising if there came a time where I won''t even think anything about butchering actual humans."


    If Mark exined it like that, then his aversion toward harvesting everything from Sinogo''s corpse was understandable.


    "I definitely won''t be against it if Sinogo just remained on his giant crocodile body."


    Mark added.


    The only problem was that Sinogo returned to his former appearance and this form definitely looked human despite his size.


    Then Mark further added...


    "Besides, we can''t question and kill cannibals because of their actions if we are also doing a part of it."


    These words made everyone look at Mark. So, it was just one reason so he would have a justification to kill a certain kind of people, specifically cannibals who abandoned their humanity to feed on other humans.


    "Why are you all looking at me like that?" Mark responded to the stares. "I''m a psychopath with moral standards, alright?"


    A psychopath with moral standards... It soundededic but kind of made sense since Mark was not someone who would blindly kill people just because he wanted to kill. While Mark did show the tendency to have fun stealing lives, he only pointed such killing intent toward his enemies and those low lives who definitely did not deserve to live.


    And despite all that, while Mark would take a thing or two from the corpses of enemies he killed, he would never take their bodies apart as cannibals do. Well, he would not hesitate to take an organ or two if it was for the sake of gathering information like how Mark scooped off the brain matter of the first [Infected] where he found his first [Mutagen Stone]. However, he would not outright butcher a humanoid in a literal manner.


    Even the [Infected] in Mark''s basement, they were never given any butchered humanoid for consumption. They would be given waste meat from hunted animals, and the worst case was limbs cut off from the other [Infected] they killed.


    Whether it was for a reason to kill cannibals or not, Mark would not butcher humanoid creatures for materials. Only things that could be taken externally would do.


    It was one of the principles Mark would never let go of even if was already the apocalypse and even if he became a Demon.


    Well, one factor that bolstered this principle of Mark was actually freed and his memories.


    ***


    After most of the Capital City fell, Freed and hispanions spearheaded an operation to enter the city and gather as many supplies and equipment as they could find.


    While looking for supplies and fighting the [Psychic Infected], no, the [Psy-Crazed], they reached their destination, the most popted area of the rich part of the city. It was the Entertainment District.


    Due to the high poption density of the ce, it was one of the ces that were barely looted after most of the people turned into the [Psy-Crazed].


    Surprisingly, Freed and hispanions found survivors living there after a long time. Freed immediately opted for a rescue operation, and the survivors happily agreed to leave the ce for somewhere safer.


    But while everyone gathered outside for the extraction, Freed felt something was wrong and had the sudden urge to look around the area where the survivors held out without anyone knowing.


    Freed did not find anything unusual for most part of the base. It was until... Freed reached a room deep into the base of the survivors.


    Upon entering the room, Freed, despite experiencing too many killings since the apocalypse started, almost vomited.


    The room was heavily stained with blood, like a butcher''s room. However, there were no animals in this ce. It would be impossible for the survivors to capture animals and butcher them.


    Freed walked across the sticky floor through the room that stank of blood. There was another door further and Freed opened it with shaking hands.


    It was a freezer room that somehow still had working electricity. It was not a surprise, considering the technological level of their kingdom.


    There, Freed stood frozen. Body parts of children and young women were stacked on shelves. Whole butchered corpses of humans hang on hooks, with their organs removed and frozen for consumption.


    It made Freed realize what was wrong from the start. These survivors never looked emaciated despite how long they were stuck in this ce. They all looked healthy and stuffed despite the situation. One would think that they managed to gather as many supplies and food, but Freed found nothing of such while he roamed around the base.


    Freed walked out of the base and was asked by hispanions where he went. But Freed did not answer. Instead, he rushed towards the extraction point and tried to kill all the survivors from the base without hesitation. He was stopped by hispanions but Freed ended up killing most of the survivors that had no fighting experience or [Psychic Abilities].<sub> </sub>


    And after the truth came out, everyone had the urge to kill the remaining survivors. The killing intent intensified when they saw the freezer room and its contents. They also found the ce behind the base where the bones of the eaten humans were thrown out. There should be around a hundred or so bodies that were butchered and killed by the survivors.


    Freed wanted them all killed.


    <o>,m However, the remaining survivors were lucky... or not. They were kept alive as criminal ves that had to work until they died, which did not take too long.</o>


    This experience made Freed hate cannibals as much as he hated the [Psy-Crazed] that killed almost his entire family.


    ***


    As Mark inherited Freed''s memories, the scenes were fresh in his mind. And by the looks of it, both Aephelia and I understood Mark''s aversion to butchering Sinogo''s corpse. Being Freed''s personal maid, Aephelia was also present at that time. Keeper was the same since she was a member of Freed''s group. However, since the two were warned beforehand, they did not receive the same shock as Freed felt when he wandered into the freezer room without knowing anything.


    "If you don''t want to, we won''t," Ilia shrugged and sighed. "Anyway, it won''t change the issue with the corpse, though."


    Ilia was right here. The problem would remain if they did not take action.


    "Well, let''s just take the corpse back."


    Mark suddenly suggested.


    "What are you going to do with the corpse?"


    wana asked, surprised since Mark went against taking apart the corpse for materials. And yet, he suggested bringing the corpse back with them.


    "We can''t just leave it lying around, and there''s no way to safely dispose of it," Mark exined. "Then, we can just store it somewhere safe until we have the opportunity to dispose of it."


    Everyone understood Mark''s point. Sinogo''s body would pose a threat if it was carelessly disposed of. Then, they just needed to keep the corpse somewhere where it would not affect the surroundings until they find a safe method to dispose of it away.


    Then, something popped up in Mark''s mind making him look at Ilia and Chimetrice.


    "Hey, is there a chance that Sinogo''s body will dpose on its own?"


    Ilia and Chimetrice looked at each other before answering Mark based on their knowledge of the immemorial.


    "There is a chance, really," Ilia nodded. "Even Gods with bodies made of flesh will dpose naturally. Since that is the case, Sinogo''s body will definitely dpose."


    "However, the dposition would not ur early," Chimetrice continued Ilia''s words with a slight shake of his head. "Bodies that contained divinity couldst long without dposing depending on their strength when they are alive."


    "Yeah, in Sinogo''s case," Ilia supplemented further. "Since he''s just a Deity, the dposition might ur sooner. However, it might also take longer since his body contained a God''s power before he died."


    "But why did you ask?"


    Ilia added a question as Mark''s inquiry came too sudden.


    "I just remembered something," Mark answered while tapping his chin. "Doesn''t dposing bodies of dead Deities turn corrupted over time?"


    It was Ilia''s turn to ponder a bit and turned to Mark with a nod.


    "They do, I think. Deities, even righteous inclined, had lower divinity than Gods. Their bodies can turn corrupted if left alone to dpose without any intervention. The evil inclined ones had higher chances of bing corrupted, though. Not only Evil Deities, but corpses Evil Gods would turn a hundred percent corrupted upon reaching dposition.


    "Ah, wait... Don''t tell me you''re aiming for that?"


    Ilia eximed in realization.


    "What are you two talking about?"


    Spera chimed in as the rest of the group could not understand the conversation between the two anymore.


    "Well, it seems that Mark here intends to leave Sinogo''s body until it dposes and turns corrupted. Then, he''ll likely take advantage of the corrupted energy emitted from the corpse."


    "Corrupted energy..."


    Spera pondered as she seemed to have heard of such before.


    "[Miasma]."


    Mei spoke.


    "Yep," Mark nodded. "Though I think what I had in mind is impossible. If Sinogo''s body starts to dpose in a week or so, it would be nice. But as Ilia said, Sinogo''s body might take long before it starts to dpose."


    "Maybe we should just get into your idea," Ilia spoke to Mark. "It might not be a quick solution, but I think it''s a good investment. In the future, where Sinogo''s body bes corrupted, you can benefit from it."


    Everyone seemed to be more inclined to follow this suggestion than Ilia''s suggestion to butcher Sinogo''s body for materials.


    "But Master, where are you going to store the body?" Amihan asked. "Sinogo might be dead, but his corpse might still affect the people at home."


    "Well, we have a ce, though?" Mark answered Amihan''s question. "Inside Chiyo''s subspace. Only a small part of it is used anyway and it''s only used for storage."


    That was right. They had a perfect ce to store Sinogo''s corpse safely. It was inside the subspace of the Night Everred Pure Spirit Tree.

 Chapter 931 A Nighttime Decision, Deciding The Fates Of The Potential Danger

    <strong>Day 260 - 4:27 PM - Codon Ruins, Barangay Codon, Municipality of San Andres, Province of Catanduanes</strong>


    "Ugh..."


    Almost an hour after Mark cleared the ruins of Codon of all the [Infected], he finished absorbing the lingering aura in the surroundings.


    Mark was sitting down during the process. As he finished and stood up, he staggered and almost fell. After shaking his head a little and taking a deep breath, Mark stabilized himself.


    Absorbing the lingering aura of death in the surroundings was an unpleasant process. The raw aura was filled with the emotions of those who died in this ce. The stronger the emotion, the more unpleasant it was. And in this ce, the negative emotions were rather intense.


    The feeling of betrayal after being abandoned by the mercenaries...


    The fear of death...


    The fear of turning into an [Infected]...


    The fear and pain as their bodies were gnawed and torn apart before their very eyes...


    And the sorrow as they watched their remaining loved ones die before they did...


    All of these emotions empowered the lingering aura.


    "Pu!"


    Mark spat out a mouthful of saliva. He felt a bit disgusted.


    The raw aura was definitely different from the [Aura of Death] he received from Magwayen''s blessing.


    If the [Aura of Death] from the blessing was a spicy drink due to the malevolent intent, the raw aura was abination of unsuitable random ingredients put into a blender and mixed without a thought.


    And Mark had to filter all those emotions inside his head in a condensed form. If he was not a high-level [Empath], this process of absorbing the lingering aura of death could make him lose his sanity. Even though Mark could endure it, it still left him with an annoying feeling that something was unpleasantly stuck in his throat, and he could not cough it out.


    "Does it have to be this unpleasant?"


    Mark suddenly spoke. If someone saw him, it was like he was talking to air for no reason.


    However, a reply entered Mark''s ears. No, it was more like the reply was transmitted into his head.


    Since Magwayen directly gave her blessing to Mark, she could watch and speak to him without needing the artifact. She could also appear using her avatar around Mark. However, the time she could appear was far more limited, and it would use the energy from the blessing she gave Mark. It was something she could not do too often unless Mark had the artifact with him.


    "There is nothing we can do about that," Magwayen answered Mark''s question. "The aura of the dead contains their final sentiments and emotions before death. Since the people in that ce died in brutal ways, that kind of aura should be expected. Well, if you still have the same blessing I gave, you don''t have to undergo that process. It''s partly your fault that it changed. I''ll say that the change is a rather good one, as no other beings could remove the intent from the aura and refine it as you did. You only have to suffer during the process of absorbing the aura while the others that wield simr powers would be driven mad carrying the burdens of the dead."


    Magwayen rambled a bit. What she said was reasonable, however.


    The [Lower Blessing of Death''s Aura] was just an enhancement and did not grant full control of the [Aura of Death]. But Mark, without his control, changed it and acquired control of the aura, turning the blessing into a higher leveled one.


    From the exnation Magwayen told Mark these previous days, the original blessing she gave would not consume much of its power since it would only augment Mark''s already existing abilities. Once Mark killed his enemies, the used-up aura should gradually recover. Considering Mark''s lifestyle during the apocalypse, recovering the used-up aura should not be a problem.


    However, as Mark gained control of the [Aura of Death], he needed more quantity for it to properly work, or, at least, to Mark''s satisfaction. Furthermore, it gave him the option to grow the blessing far stronger than it was supposed to be.


    Absorbing the lingering aura of the dead was not a pleasant experience, but it sure was worth the trouble.


    Mark shrugged as he swallowed the disgusting feeling. He was done with what he needed to do in this ce. There was no need to linger around any longer.


    Contemting what to do next, Mark turned his head towards the southeast. It was the direction where the Military Outpost should be. He could not help but wonder if the survivors of Codon Settlement had already reached the outpost.


    Initially, the location of Codon Settlement was not that far from the Military Outpost. However, the distance grew further because of the [Fusion of Dimensions], and the way now became hilly and mountainous. Since the survivors also tried to stay away from the coast due to the [Infected]ing ashore, they had no choice but to climb mountains and traverse the forest-coverednd. They also had no food and water since the mercenaries took all the supplies before leaving. Thus, the survivors had to procure food and water along the way. It was no surprise that it was already several days, and they had yet to reach the Military Outpost.


    But from what Mark saw yesterday, those people should arrive there today.


    Mark also noticed the people he interacted with when they arrived on this ind the second time. The old woman was fine and was being helped by the people around her. He also found the kid. Unfortunately, it seemed that the kid''s grandfather was no longer with his grandchild since the kid was now being taken care of by the old woman and her team.


    Those two old people were nice kind of people. Mark had said it before. He might not be a good person, but he did admire good, selfless people. One cared for his grandchild despite all the odds. And now, that child was being taken care of by the old woman when most people in the world in its current state would probably just leave an unrted child and leave.


    Mark opened his wings and began to fly. Since he was still undecided about what he should do about the mercenaries, he chose to do one thing.


    ***


    <strong>Day 260 - 8:21 PM - Napo Settlement, Barangay Napo, Municipality of Pandan, Province of Catanduanes</strong>


    The rebel settlement. It was already past the curfew.


    Michael and Marian snuck out of their rooms. The two met together and stealthily made their way to the training area.


    The two both found letters inside their rooms. It was something unexpected since no one should be able to bring those letters in without anyone knowing. The letters told them to go to the training area at night. Normally, the two would ignore such words, especially if it was from a suspicious letter. However, as the letter mentioned other things, they knew who the sender was.


    Michael and Marian arrived at the training area. As usual, it was dark here at this time of the night. After all, no lights were put in the many areas like the training area to conserve gas and other resources needed to light up ces. And due to this and the curfew, no one was present in the training area at night.


    This time, there was someone, however.


    The sender of the letter that Michael and Marian received.


    Their eldest sibling, Mark.<sub> </sub>


    "Have you two gotten used to your abilities yet?"


    Mark voiced out the moment the two arrived.


    There were no greetings or introductions. Their family was not used to those kinds of stuff. Even "thank yous" and "sorries" were barely heard within their family. Mark and his siblings were raised in this kind of environment. They were used to it.


    Mark never liked it, however.


    "Yeah, kind of."


    Marian replied while Michael nodded in agreement.


    It was just a bit more than a week since Mark gave them the crystals. Although their bodies knew how to use their abilities by instinct, the real application of those new abilities still needed some time and experience.


    "Why did you call us?" Michael asked. "It''s kinda hard to sneak around nowadays, and we will get punished if we get caught."


    The curfew in Napo Settlement became more strict since the [Fear Phenomenon] happened. It was called differently here, however. Nheless, it made everyone paranoid about what happened. Not to mention the sudden increase in the appearance of the [Infected] on the northern coast near the settlement. There was also the explosion of light a week ago. As such, stricter measures were implemented.


    "Don''t worry, I''ll be fast."


    Mark said as he began talking about the mercenaries and private soldiers who were making their way through the ind from the ruined Codon Settlement.


    As Mark finished the rough exnation, his two siblings began to contemte in understanding.


    "So that''s what Mom was talking about."


    Michael voiced out, and Marian exined to Mark.


    Apparently, their mother found from her fortune-telling that a group of armed people might arrive about two to three days from now on from Codon Settlement. It actually caused some discussion among the higher-ups of the settlement. After all, some soldiers from Codon made their way here and settled. Those soldiers were likely chased away by the same people, after all.


    The cards also showed them that the Codon Settlement was no more, which caused more agitation among the former soldiers. Unfortunately, there was nothing they could do.


    Thus, the discussion was centered on what they should do about the arriving group of people.


    And although not yet finalized, the higher-ups were more inclined to not ept them.


    "Why?"


    Mark asked.


    "Because of Mom," Michael answered. "Well, even without her cards, only idiots won''t see the potential danger of taking in people that usurped an entire settlement."


    "You said they abandoned the people in Codon and ran away while it was being attacked, right?" Marian repeated some details Mark mentioned. "Then that''s more of a reason not to ept them."


    Mark listened to the two. He smiled and nodded. Although he was undecided about the situation, he was more inclined to eliminate the potential danger. It was just that the strength of the mercenaries, along with their experience on the battlefield, was rather hard to pass up.


    But if the Napo Settlement was already preparing to decline the mercenaries, it was better for Mark to just eliminate them on his own. Not only would it not consume more time, but it would also prevent unnecessary fighting outside the gates of Napo Settlement.


    "I''ll go eliminate them, then."


    Mark decided with a nonchnt attitude.


    Michael and Marian stared at Mark. However, the two just shrugged it off. Considering how the world was, it would be more surprising if one was still hesitant to kill, especially against people that could endanger their lives.


    "Is that all?"


    Marian asked while looking around. It was better not to spend too much time here, or they might get caught.


    "Onest thing."


    Mark said as he took out three metal boxes about the size of a pencil case. He handed one box each to his siblings first.


    Of course, Michael and Marian immediately opened the boxes in their hands. It was dark, but they should still be able to see what the boxes contained under the moonlight.


    The two were surprised as the boxes contained four sets of crystals neatly ced on cloth lining inside. Four [Empty Physical Crystals] and four [Filled Physical Crystals] inside each case. Furthermore, the filled crystals werebeled with what mutation they contained.


    "Find people you trust and give them one set," Mark said. "You two can form your teams and protect yourselves. I''ll be leaving soon, so I don''t know when I''ll be back here again."


    The two realized what Mark wanted and nodded. It was when Mark gave thest box to Marian.


    This time, the box was smaller than the two and only contained three sets of crystals.


    "These ones are for Dad, Mom, and Addy," Mark said while his siblings read the samebels under the crystals. "Just don''t give those to them immediately, especially Dad''s and Addy''s. You two know Dad''s personality, and Addy''s a hyperactive kid. There''s no good in giving those crystals to those two immediately."


    Michael and Marian nodded to Mark''s words, understanding what he meant.


    Since Mark was finished with his business here, he soon departed. After all, his siblings also could not spend a long time here chatting with him.


    Besides, Mark had to finish his other business now that he had finally decided.

 Chapter 932 The Harvester Of Lives, A Slaughter In The Middle Of The Forest

    <strong>Day 260 - 9:26 PM - Barangay Toytoy, Municipality of Caramoran, Province of Catanduanes</strong>


    On the southern side of an unnamed river in Barangay Toytoy, several campfires illuminated the night, surrounded by arge number of armed people.


    These people were no other than the group of mercenaries and private soldiers that escaped Codon and abandoned everyone else, taking all the supplies they could carry with them.


    The armed group did not have problems with food and water. However, it did not mean that their journey went smoothly. In fact, carryingrge amounts of food and clean water slowed them down a whole lot as they traversed the mountainous terrain.


    Although vehicles were now impossible to have, they actually had a few carts to carry their supplies when they escaped Codon Settlement. Those carts helped them escape Codon quickly as it faced destruction. However, carts could only be used in t terrain. Climbing up unpaved mountains with those carts was impossible. It would have been fine if they could travel through the coast since the coastal areas were much tter than the mountains. Unfortunately, that was also currently the most dangerous area. Not only the [Infected] wereing ashore from the waters surrounding the ind, but enemies coulde from both the sea and the mountains, possibly trapping them in the worst scenarios.


    Picking the safer choice, they abandoned the carts. It may slow them down along the way carrying all the supplies. However, it was much safer than traveling through the coastal area.


    Unfortunately, another problem came to light long after they entered the mountains.


    The private soldiers weregging behind the mercenaries.


    It was not just because it was mostly the private soldiers who carried the supplies. It was more because they struggled to make their way up the steep mountains.


    The issue was theck of experience. It was not like the private soldierscked training. However, theycked on-field experience, unlike the mercenaries who fought deadly battles in different terrains. It was not surprising. All they had to do was train within the training facilities the employer had provided. Furthermore, private armies were illegal, and training them in the open would make it easier for them to bepromised by the public. It was not like mercenaries were legal either in the Philippines, but they were trained in foreign countries where it was more or less allowed or easier to conceal.


    The injuries they incurred from every battle dragged down their speed even more. They needed to make more stops to tend to the injured, and those incapacitated added to the baggage. There were even a few times they had to leave a dyingrade behind or end their lives directly. It was something that could not be helped as they had no way of tending to those fatally injured while on this dangerous journey.


    With those problems, apanied by the dangerous encounters along the way, it was no surprise that they had yet to reach their destination after several days.


    "Rest properly! We''ll leave early in the morning!"


    Parris said to the rest of the group after finishing theircking dinner.


    They did not bring any tents, prioritizing food and water. As such, they could only sleep in makeshift shelters made using things they could gather around the campsite. It was not the mostfortable way to rest, but definitely better than nothing.


    As for dinner, they had to spend their food supply sparingly. It was still far from running out, but it would notst long. They had to reach their destination before they ran out of supplies. It was a good thing there was a river along the way where they could replenish their water stock. Of course, as mercenaries, they knew that just taking some water and drinking it up straight was not a good idea. As such, they prepared a few pots where the nighttime lookouts could boil water while guarding the campsite against enemies.


    Ulric, the leader of the group, sat on arge rock by the riverside. He was looking at the sky while scribbling on a piece of paper. He was using the stars to determine the direction they should take tomorrow.


    These people were mercenaries with survival knowledge. It was hard for these people to get lost even while roaming inside unfamiliar mountains and forests. The only question was how long it would take to reach their destination.


    It was unfortunate. None of these people knew that this would be theirst night.


    ***


    After leaving the Napo Settlement, Mark flew south. He did not know the exact location of the mercenaries right now and would need to search a bit. He could ask the [Yasaws] for help. However, those little magical creatures were preupied with guarding the coasts around the ind to prevent highly mutated [Infected] from sneaking into the ind. It was better to leave them to their job and not disturb them.


    Besides, Mark did not have to put some effort into finding his targets.


    Normally, it would be better to put out campfires during the night to avoid being detected by enemies. However, the mercenaries did not think that was necessary this time. Light did not matter much for [Evolved Animals] and [Infected]. Although putting out the fire would make them less detectable, it would impair the mercenaries and private soldiers more due to theck of sight during these darker nights. Not to mention they needed to boil water for consumption.


    Furthermore, none of the mercenaries would have thought that an enemy woulde at this point, an enemy that was neither an [Evolved Animal] nor an [Infected].


    Mark looked down from the sky. The light in the middle of a mountainous forest shined brightly. He knew that he had found his targets.


    Without a shred of emotion, while looking down on the campsite below him. Mark clenched his hand tightly. Per his own rule, he would not wantonlyy his hands on the innocents. However, these mercenaries and private soldiers were never deemed innocent. Not by the people of Codon and definitely not by their own actions.


    And considering the potential danger and disharmony these people could bring into the now-stable Napo Settlement, it was better to eliminate them.


    Mark wondered why he hesitated initially. Maybe he just did not want to waste any possible resource. After all, despite their conduct, some of these mercenaries were skilled in many ways. Ways that regr people could notpare to, even some so-called professionally trained soldiers, feltcking.


    "Hah."


    Mark shrugged as he shook off the useless thoughts inside his head. He was overthinking again. Mark then looked down, deciding to finish it fast so that he could go home. They still have a few important activities to aplish to prepare something for the day after tomorrow.


    <strong>POOF!</strong>


    Mark turned into a surge of mist as he dove down from the sky.


    Hidden as ck mist in the dark and his body that contained the [Aura of Death]. Mark was confident in doing a wless assassination.


    "Should I go for the leader or the small fries first?"


    Mark mulled a little as he appeared behind a tree south of the campsite.


    In the end, Mark decided to eliminate the sleeping private soldiers and mercenaries firsthand because they posed little to no resistance.


    Mark took out the [Wind Maniption Mental Crystal] and the [Photokinesis Mental Crystal]. Both crystals would help hide his movements.


    While the idea of just bombarding his targets with [Miasmic mes] and [Miasmic Lightning] came into Mark''s mind, he decided against it. Surely, that method was faster. However, it would probably cause more damage to the surroundings, attract more [Infected] due to magical fluctuations, and destroy the loot.


    Since the loss Mark experienced due to the abrupt explosion of the [Mechid Factory], he became more careful in getting returns for his activities.


    After all, these mercenaries and private soldiers did not only have food and water. They also have a good amount of firearms and ammunition. Possibly also explosives. It would be such a waste to let go of such loot.<sub> </sub>


    Mark disappeared, swiftly making his way toward the sleeping targets. Taking out a tanto de made of [Blood Metal], Mark mercilessly slit the throats of his targets.


    Some of the sleeping mercenaries let out a groan as their throat was slit open. However, the [Wind Maniption Mental Crystal] prevented the sounds from being heard by the others.


    But as Mark slit his fifteenth target...


    "ENEMY ATTACK!"


    The leader of the mercenaries, Ulric, roared out loud.


    Without hesitation, the mercenary leader transformed into arge wolfman.


    The mercenaries and private soldiers immediately scrambled into battle stance as they gathered in one ce. They were surely trained and practiced this formation a lot.


    However, it was also when Ulric and the rest noticed that they were missing many of their people. Fifteen people did not respond to the leader''s roar. They could see the bodies of the fifteen mercenaries and soldiers, but none of them were woken up by Ulric''s roar.


    Worse, none of them could see any enemy within the surroundings.


    It was when Ulric raised his ws and pounced in a certain direction. That surprised everyone as Ulric shed his wolfish ws toward an empty location.


    <strong>CLANG!</strong>


    A loud ng was heard, indicating that Ulric''s ws hit something metallic.


    It was when the mercenaries and private soldiers felt terrified. Even Ulric jumped back as the appearance of the assant came to light.


    A humanoid creature surrounded by a ck haze mist. It was wielding a scythe which clearly was what blocked Ulric''s attack.


    On the other hand, Mark was frowning. He could not fathom how Ulric was able to find him. Mark''s body was not supposed to be sensed by living beings because of the [Aura of Death]. It was unfathomable and made Mark curious. In the end, he had to cover his body with [Miasma] and form the scythe using the [Aura of Death]. It would not hurt to fight Ulric directly to understand what had happened.


    "FIRE!"


    Parris yelled. It was an order to their men while a warning for Ulric to retreat.


    The mercenaries and private soldiers were terrified of the creature they were fighting. However, they did not want to die and fired their guns.


    As Ulric moved out of the way, the gunshots began echoing loudly across the mountainous forest.


    Mark frowned as the bullets whizzed through his body. It was such a waste of ammo.


    At this time, Mark opened his wings. It terrified the targets even more. After all, the bullets did no damage to Mark, and right now, he looked like the harbinger of death to them.


    Mark did not care about the emotions he was detecting from the enemies. He zoomed towards the group, ignoring Ulric. His movements, faster than the targets could react to, caused their minds to freeze.


    By the time the mercenaries realized, the de of the scythe was already centimeters before their necks.


    The scythe was brandished quickly, harvesting the lives of those that faced it.


    After a few deaths, the formation crumbled, and the remaining targets began to run away in fear.


    No one tried to speak or negotiate with Mark. All they saw was not a person but a monster in the night.


    Ulric attacked a few more times to no avail. His attacks only passed through the body of the assant.


    The remaining mercenaries and private soldiers began to scatter in different directions. It would be troublesome since it would need more effort to chase and kill them one by one if they scattered.


    With a slight pause, Mark''s eyes glowed red.


    All the targets froze on the spot.


    Ulric, Parris, and those smarter mercenaries realized something.


    The [Fear Phenomenon] that happened a week ago.


    Ulric cursed their luck. It seemed that they ran into the cause of that unexinable phenomenon. Ulric was not new to this feeling. As a mercenary, he faced and wrestled with death several times. As such, he knew that the [Fear Phenomenon] was not just fear but fear of death.


    "Tsk. AWWWOOOOOOOOO!!!"


    Ulric clicked his tongue and roared. It was not the first time he faced death. Ulric was not afraid of it as much as others. As his body was freed from restraint, he jumped away, leaving everyone, and escaped deep into the forest.


    And Mark was surprised. Ulric managed to escape the effects of his [Emotion Induction] that was enhanced by the [Aura of Death].


    Mark shrugged as he waved his scythe. The mercenary leader had no way of escaping him, not to mention it was easier to chase a single person that escaped.


    In this case, it was better to deal with the other enemies first, as they were already on the verge of a mental breakdown from excessive fear.

 Chapter 890 The Unpredictable Detour, A Pleasant Surprise After The Unpleasant One

    <strong>Day 248 - 11:02 AM - Kawasan Falls, Municipality of Badian, Province of Cebu</strong>


    The [Mini Cube] approached the location from the sky. Seeing the giant cluster of trees that had been shaped into a living mansion, the members of Mark''s group who had seen it the first time were pretty amazed.


    As for Mark, he could only wonder.


    Thest time that Mark saw that cluster of trees, he was with Pefile and Edzel to rescue Celine. They had to enter the secret realm of [Tamawos] through a secret passage. At that time, the tree was not visible outside.


    However, Mark and the rest could see the cluster of trees from afar even though was no way they were within the supposed vicinity of the realm where the [Tamawos] lived.


    It only meant one thing. The subspace where the home of the [Tamawos] was located was broken. It caused everything inside that realm to be integrated into the real world, which was what they were currently seeing.


    Mark stretched out his right hand, calling the [Photokinesis Mental Crystal] out of the [Psycrystal] embedded on his wrist. As the marble-sized crystal glowed, the giant silhouette of the [Mini Cube] became invisible to everyone outside.


    The sight of a flying vessel would surely cause trouble, especially when the witnesses were humans. While it was unlikely that the members of Mark''s group would be defeated in directbat, it was questionable about stealth attacks. Mark could also detect any living creature inside his detection range. However, abilities that could affect them silently, like Be and Donna''s, did exist. It was better to cause less reason for conflict and not let down their guards.


    Besides, it was better to investigate the situation from the sky without getting seen by anyone below.


    With the [Optical Camouge] surrounding the floating vessel, the [Mini Cube] flew towards the cluster of gigantic trees.


    They closed in enough that they could see the ground below. However, the [Mini Cube] did not try to fly too close to the ground. The [Tamawo] was still a magical race. The magical fluctuations of the floating vessel might alert them if it got too close.


    But, unfortunately, or maybe, fortunately, it seemed that their concerns were unnecessary.


    Mark told Chimetrice to keep the [Mini Cube] afloat above the vige. He then went out and jumped off to the ground below.


    And what Mark saw was...


    A scene long after chaos ended.


    The huts where the tribesmen lived were all in shambles. The other structures and the parts of the walls of the vige were broken and in tatters.


    Most of all... No one, at least alive, lingered anywhere nearby.


    The vige where the [Tamawos] lived just a bit more than a month ago was utterly abandoned.


    One would initially think that the vige was destroyed due to the earthquake caused by the [Fusion of Dimensions]. The most prominent signs around the vige pointed to that possibility, such as destroyed surroundings and structures.


    However, it might not be the case.


    Mark approached a nearby copsed hut. The hut was already covered in vines and grass. For some reason, Mark found a trace of a strong, lingering sentiment from there.


    And he was not mistaken.


    Mark approached the thick cluster of vines and cautiously cut it to pieces with the whip de, the [Divider], he took out from his ring.


    Underneath the cluster of vines was a pile of bones. Furthermore, it was just a pile of bones belonging to someone''s torso with its whole right arm seemingly missing.


    Mark left the pile of bones and began searching the whole area further. It took him around fifteen minutes, making the others above wonder what was taking him too long.


    Finally, they saw Mark take flight, and he entered the [Mini Cube].


    "Let''s go. There''s nothing to see here."


    Mark said as he entered. By his tone, he seemed a bit disappointed.


    "What happened?" Spera asked the question everyone wanted to ask Mark. "Is it already abandoned?"


    "More than abandoned," Mark replied as he sat down at the corner of the bridge. "It got destroyed."


    "Really?"


    Ilia asked in surprise.


    "Yeah," Mark nodded. "It looks like the people there did not leave peacefully. They were attacked by something. It must have happened right after the fusion. Most of the traces of the battle either got covered by grass or were almost gone already. The blood stains left behind were also washed out a bit."


    "Something, not the [Infected]?"


    Spera asked, noticing Mark''s unsure words.


    "I think it''s not the [Infected]. More like [Feral Evolved Animals]," Mark exined. "There are w marks on the destroyed parts of the walls and sharp teeth marks on the bones scattered around the ce. The marks also varied in size, which is likely because they were attacked by multiple enemies."


    "But it could also be the [Infected], right?" Ilia thought of the possibility. "I mean, after fighting the [Infected] for almost a week, their kinds and mutations really varied. Besides, even animals can be one of those abominations."


    "I know," Mark shrugged and then pointed at the window with a shrug. "But look at the terrain first before saying that."


    Ilia did as Mark told. It was the same for Spera and the others.


    "Ah."


    Ilia came to a realization.


    The vige of the [Tamawos] was built in a strategic location. The south and east sides faced a tall cliff, while the remaining directions were surrounded by steep mountainous terrain.


    This kind of terrain was not something the [Infected] would be able to traverse inrge groups. The only creatures that would be able to traverse this type of terrain inrge numbers would be, as Mark said, [Evolved Animals].


    While it was true that an intelligent [Infected] might be able to traverse the terrain around the vige, it would still go against Mark''s findings that the [Tamawos] were attacked by multiple enemies. Intelligent [Infected] were still rare toe by, and even if they were smart enough to lead hordes, they still would not be able to ovee themon horde''s weakness. Being brainlessly dumb.<sub> </sub>


    As for [Infected Animals], the same logic applied. Yes, [Infected Animals] were more agile and nimble than mostmon [Infected]. However, even the [Infected Animals] would have a hard time traversing terrain that needed careful thinking. This was one reason there were fewer [Infected] in the mountains, including [Infected Animals].


    On the other hand, [Evolved Animals] were getting smarter than before. Although it was still not at the level of trained animals, it would be easy for them to climb up and down hard terrain. Even feral


    Without a doubt, it was more likely that the vige of the [Tamawos] was attacked by [Feral Evolved Animals] than the [Infected].


    And as Markmanded, they left towards their main destination after this short stop.


    Mark found what he was looking for. The end of the antagonists of Pefile''s story. However, he somehow felt a tinge of discontent. It was as if he wished he was there to watch their downfall.


    "Gege, are you okay?"


    Mei asked as she sat down with Mark.


    Mark nced at Mei and then leaned his head on her shoulder.


    "I''m kinda bored, I guess?"


    Mark replied.


    It was not wrong to say Mark was bored. He was cooped up in Margaha Valley for six days to recover his strength.


    Mark had a bit of anticipation to see how the [Tamawos] ended up. And while he did find the answer, it was ratherckluster.


    "Why don''t youy down for a bit and rx?"


    Mei suggested as she presented herp.


    Mark gave Mei another nce and followed her suggestion.


    Then... There was silence. Everyone on the bridge of the [Mini Cube], without a single word, had a tacit understanding to keep silent and avoid that corner.


    Mark felt rxed under Mei''s care. If he could sleep at this time, he would. However, while traveling, they woulde across enemies here and there. In their case, the [Flying Infected]. As such, Mark and Mei would need to deal with those nuisances.


    However, it seemed that Mark''s thoughts were unnecessary. As they flew further away from Mount Caon and Ta?on Strait, the encounters became lesser and fewer in the number of enemies. They also decided to take a path that would make them travel further from the strait to avoid more troubles along the way.


    Mark and Mei did not have to interfere anymore. Since maneuvering the [Mini Cube] was unnecessary when facing an enemy or two, Chimetrice just went out by himself to deal with the troubles, leaving the piloting of the [Mini Cube] to Ilia.


    After leaving the destroyed vige of [Tamawos], the journey was a bit peacefulpared to earlier. If they had known that it would be like this from the start, they might have avoided passing directly above Ta?on Strait or, at least, away from the area the battle urred a week ago.


    With a more peaceful ride, Mark could rx. The others were the same since having enemies while traveling in the sky would surely make people that could not fly a bit on edge.


    However, barely uneventful changed after they reached the mountain ranges in the Municipality of Sibonga.


    As they were passing through the sky west of the mountains, Spera noticed something.


    "Hey, is that smoke?"


    Spera said, looking at the smaller window on the right side of the bridge.


    Normally, such words would not warrant such attention. But in the current state of the world, smoke could either mean survivors or enemies.


    Mark immediately surrounded the [Mini Cube] with [Optical Camouge] while telling Chimetrice and Ilia to move east towards the mountains.


    As Spera said, there was smoke rising towards the sky. It was not the kind of thick smoke that one would witness during forest fires. Instead, it was the kind of smoke that would dissipate soon after reaching a certain height. A smoke that one would see if there was a person cooking using firewood.


    If the [Mini Cube] was flying any lower, Spera would not be able to spot the smoke at all. However, as they were flying high and the mountain near them was a bit low, she managed to get a good look at it.


    The [Mini Cube] carefully approached the source of the smoke. They found iting from a hilly valley in the middle of the mountains.


    And there... They found a small settlement.


    Mark checked the ce using the offline map on his phone. This ce seemed to be a valley between Mount Lanhan and Mount Ktkat, an area with wide ntations and small settlements.


    However, the settlement they were currently seeing was definitely newly built. It was all made of huts using leaves from coconut trees that were plenty in the area.


    On the map, however, a simr settlement was located in the same area as the new settlement was built. It was not surprising. The old settlement would not be able to withstand the earthquake more than a month ago.


    But for a new settlement to be built in the same ce, did people from the previous settlement managed to survive?


    That was what they had thought until they reached the distance where the vige entered Mark''s detection range.


    Mark was genuinely surprised.


    There were familiar fluctuationsing from the people in the settlement.


    Mark told Chimetrice and Ilia tond the [Mini Cube] nearby. There was no way Mark would pass this event.


    More than a month ago, Mark did give a group of people a piece of subtle advice. That group followed that advice and managed to survive the catastrophe Sinogo soon brought in Matutinao. They also followed the other advice Mark told them.


    Nheless, the advice Mark gave had no guarantee of allowing them to survive the iing catastrophe.


    That was why Mark was pleasantly surprised.


    The people they met before fighting the [Tamawos], although reduced by a number, mostly managed to survive. Furthermore, it seemed their group had actually grown in number.

 Chapter 891 A "Coincidental" Encounter, An Easier Way To Enter The Settlement

    <strong>Day 248 - 11:59 - Barangay Sayao, Municipality of Sibonga, Province of Cebu</strong>


    The [Mini Cube]nded behind a hill in the southwestern area of the valley. It was a small clearnd surrounded by a thick forest. After observing the surroundings a little, it was clear that the residents of the settlement would note here often, making the ce suitable for hiding the [Mini Cube] without needing to cover it with [Optical Camouge].


    Of course, it also meant that his ce was dangerous. For normal people, at least.


    As if giving them proof of how dangerous this area was, Mark was immediately attacked by something the moment he stepped out of the [Mini Cube].


    Mark felt something, and he took a step back. It was when he saw some kind of string now extended from the ground in front of him. It led towards one of the trees to his right.


    In retaliation, Mark pointed in the direction of the tree and shot a small ball of lightning. With a soft crackle and a loud thud, something prettyrge fell from the tree to the ground.


    Mark approached the culprit without hesitation. In fact, he already detected the enemy before it he alighted the [Mini Cube]. It was also one of the reasons he took the lead out of the door.


    Right at the exposed root of the tree, Mark shot. He stared at the wriggling phosphorus-colored caterpir. It was about six inches tall and three feet long. The caterpir''s length was definitely longer than Miracle''s height and almost reached Abbygale''s at eight years old.


    Mark controlled his blood and made a constricting leash. He then measured the strength of the still extended string and cut it to tie the caterpir so it would not escape.


    "Gege... What... is that?"


    Mei stepped back as Mark returned with the constricted caterpir.


    It was not only Mei. Even Be and Donna felt goosebumps seeing the thing.


    Mark could only shrug. These women already faced all kinds of abominations. Yet, a single caterpir could make them step back and make disgusted or frowned faces. Well, the caterpir Mark had was about three feet long. Its disgustingly squishy segmented body, wrinkled head, and hairy underside all became emphasized by the caterpir''s gigantic size.


    Still, Mei could fight spiders without problems, even horrendously gigantic ones. It seemed that it was just caterpirs having this unique trait that would make many people feel instinctually disgusted.


    Surprisingly, Spera was fine. As for the little girls and Amihan, they were more interested than afraid. On the other hand, Ilia, a Demon, was more confused about why Mark brought that thing back.


    And to Mei''s question, Mark answered with a shrug.


    "Silkworm."


    That was right. What attacked Mark seemed to be an evolved Silkworm with its diet changed to meat instead of leaves. It was not [Infected] nor feral. When Mark detected it, it seemed to be looking for prey to hunt. It just happened that Mark''s groupnded in front of it, and the silkworm spotted Marking out of the door.


    For an [Evolved Insect], the intelligence of this silkworm did not seem to be high enough. If it developed some intelligence, it would flee after seeing Mark instead of attacking.


    "What do you n on doing, carrying that over here?"


    Spera finally asked.


    It was a reasonable question. Mark could have just killed it just now, but it looked like he only paralyzed it.


    And to answer the next question, Mark only made Spera see the thick string the silkworm shot at him. It was like a web, but soft while also being sturdy. Normally, it was cocoons of silkworms that were used to weave silk. In this case, however, this web-like silk was more than enough to be woven into fabric. Furthermore, a cocoon would be a limited resource, unlike the silk web that the silkworm could secrete.


    Mark''s mind sure was quick in analyzing possible materials. The silkworm only saw him as prey once, and Mark immediately turned it into a resource.


    "I wonder if there are others," Mark murmured, making the three women freeze. "There''s a lot of creatures in the forest, but I can''t detect any simr mental fluctuation nearby."


    Those words from Mark made Mei and the sisters feel a bit relieved, although the sisters could not understand what Mark meant by mental fluctuations. Still, one caterpir was enough. They did not know if they would be able to handle seeing more.


    "Haah..." Spera sighed. "Just why did wend here? Aren''t we going to that vige we saw earlier? Or are we going worm hunting?"


    "It''s a caterpir."


    Mark said to Spera.


    "It''s called a silkworm, alright?!"


    Spera argued.


    "No, it''s not."


    Mark smirked.


    "Are we going or not?"


    Spera pped her forehead, knowing that Mark was trying to tease her again.


    Mark shrugged as he told everyone they were leaving. Of course, it was not literally everyone. Like the usual, Ilia and Chimetrice would be left to guard the [Mini Cube]. Since the two were staying behind, Mark left the caught silkworm in their care. Not like it would be able to escape with the restraints Mark put on it.


    Leaving the [Mini Cube], Mark and the rest trekked through the hilly forest.


    As Mark said, there were quite a number of creatures in the forest. No wonder this area did not seem to be frequented by the residents of the settlement. If people passed through this forest, they would definitely be ambushed by the lurking animals and insects.


    Mark''s group did not face any attack, however. He made sure that they would not be attacked.


    Since the forest inhabitants seemed to be [Evolved Creatures] and not the [Infected], Mark could use his [Emotion Induction] to scare anything alive nearby. After a ten-minute uneventful walk towards the east, the group reached the other side of the hill and exited the forest.


    At the foot of therge forest-covered hill, there were actually remains of the ruined concrete road that passed through this valley. It must be what the survivors followed to get here since the road was still visible despite turning into rubble.


    "Let''s follow the road."


    Mark said as he led the group.


    "Ah, right."


    And Mark suddenly paused.


    All of a sudden, Mark took several weapons he made using materials that Mei and the others brought back this past week. Wrapped spears, sheathed knives, and crossbows. Mark then distributed the weapons to the group. Spears for Be and Donna, knives for the little girls, Crossbows for Mei and Spera, and Mark hung a sword made of bones on his back.


    Mark then told Mei to store the usual weapons they use.


    "What are the weapons for?"


    Amihan asked as she watched him distribute the makeshift weapons.


    "Well, we can''t just roam around without weapons," Mark answered. "Although we don''t really need it, for the most part, it will look unnatural to other people. Also, the weapons we use are too eye-catching for people."<sub> </sub>


    Mei and the sisters agreed with Mark''s words.


    Be and Donna had already seen the weapons Mark''s group usually use. And without a doubt, the white sniper sword of Mei and the ck weapon set of Mark would easily draw unwanted attention.


    After preparing, Mark and the rest followed the road towards the north.


    Going through the forest towards the east and following the road was actually a longer route towards the settlement. They could have just gone through the forest towards the northeast and exited near the gates of the settlement. Yet, they took a longer route as per Mark''s suggestion.


    Actually, Mark had a n that would allow them to enter the settlement faster.


    And it was...


    "WHO?!"


    A surprised shout was heard as Mark''s group traversed the ruins of the road. It was then followed by noises and panic as the voices went to scramble to get their weapons drawn.


    On the other hand, Mei and the others were also surprised that they actually took out the weapons that Mark handed to them.


    There were people seem to be resting beside the ruined road with baskets and water containers in tow. No wonder they had to scramble to get their weapons out. They were carrying other important things. They were startled to see unfamiliar people and were extremely cautious. After all, it could be a group of [Infected].


    "Wha! NO WAY!"


    Among the startled people, however, a man stared at Mark, Mei, Amihan, and the three little girls in utter surprise.


    "Sir Emilio, what''s wrong?"


    The other people with the man were surprised by the man''s reaction. And in response to the question, the man ordered hastily.


    "Lower your weapons!"


    The rest of the group was confused by the order. Nheless, they lowered their weapons, although they kept their guards up. Actually, some of the men found the group before them rather familiar.


    "You people are still alive?"


    Emilio voiced out with a voice filled with disbelief.


    "Although we only met once, I didn''t think that you want us dead."


    Mark replied nonchntly.


    "No! I didn''t mean it like that!" Emilio waved his hand defensively. "It''s just..."


    Emilio did not finish his words.


    A lot of things happened since thest time he saw this group arrive and leave their outpost. Most of the things that happened were catastrophic, and death would not be surprising.


    Yet, this small group of people was still alive. Not to mention looking healthy and fit.


    Emilio could not help but scan the members of Mark''s group. He realized that he did not recognize the two women standing behind the rest and the petite foreign woman standing beside Mark. Furthermore, the teenage couple and the girl with green hair that were with Mark before were nowhere to be seen.


    The first thing that came into Emilio''s head was the worst oue, although he did not dare voice it right now.


    Mark, on the other hand, stared back at Emilio.


    Officer Emilio D Rosa, the leader of the survivors from the destroyed Liloan Military Settlement.


    Thest time Mark saw this guy, he still had the aura of a strict soldier. Now, rather than a soldier, he was only a leader of people surviving the apocalypse. The strictness was already gone from his movements, and his aura had be free and refreshing. For him to have this change, a lot of things must have happened to him and the group he led.


    "Are you guys looking for a ce to stay?" Emilio asked Mark, thinking of the long journey they could have gone through. "We have a vige just a bit up north. You guys can rest there if you want."


    Mark nced at Mei and the girls before turning back to Emilio.


    "If you''ll allow us."


    Mark replied.


    "There will be no problem. Your group will always be wee."


    Emilio said with a smile.


    The former officer clearly remembered that they were still alive because of Mark''s vague but serious advice. Basically, they owe their lives to Mark.


    The group then went together towards the settlement. Emilio spoke to Mark along the way. While Mark mostly listened, he would reply from time to time.


    Apparently, Emilio and his group were resting after fetching water and edible nts and fruits from the forest. Apparently, the nearest water source they had was about half a mile away from the settlement. That was why they had to fetch water outside.


    They all soon reached the settlement. The people guarding the gates were surprised to see Emilio''s group bring back some people. It was until some of the people recognized Mark and they could only stare in disbelief.


    While themotion was happening due to their arrival, Mark was confronted by Mei and Spera.


    "Gege, you know that we will encounter them on the road, right?"


    Mei asked.


    "He definitely knew it," Spera grumbled. "He just deliberately didn''t tell us."


    "Well, you girls can show a better surprised expression if you didn''t know, right?"


    Mark smirked.


    It was part of Mark''s tiny schemes. Before they found a ce tond, Mark already detected the grouping from the forest to the southeast of the settlement. Mark then deliberately led his group to a "coincidental" encounter with Emilio and his group. To make this work better, they should y the part of a group surprised to unexpectedly meet people along the way.


    And as Mark thought, Emilio would invite them to the settlement.


    After all, it was easier to enter invited than asking outside the gates for entry.

 Chapter 892 A Serious Question, The Unexpected Welcome Upon Entry Within The Settlement

    <strong>Day 248 - 1:02 PM - Vige, Barangay Sayao, Municipality of Sibonga, Province of Cebu</strong>


    Led by Emilio''s group of people that gathered water and edible nts, Mark''s group arrived outside the settlement. Emilio and the people who lived here apparently called it a vige rather than a settlement. There was not much difference between the two names, but the term settlement meant more general while calling it a vige gave a homey feel.


    Most of all, calling it a vige implied that they all decided to settle down in this ce and stop traveling. It was to make a home and take a stand against dangers instead of running away forever.


    By the way, Emilio talked to Mark, the former officer seemed to have gotten rid of his nervousness. Back then, Mark''s aura and show of contempt were enough to make Emilio nervous. It was different this time as he spoke with Mark properly.


    They approached the walls and the southern gate. All of which were made from stripped coconut logs, which were abundant in the area. This valley was filled with coconut ntations before the apocalypse, and it seemed that most of the coconut trees in the area survived the [Fusion of Dimensions].


    The guards were surprised to see other people aside from Emilio and his group that left to gather supplies.


    As Mark had thought. It was easier to enter a settlement being invited thaning straight to the gates.


    When arriving at the gates of a settlement, it was no surprise to get stopped by the guards.


    It was the protocol inrge military-managed settlements. They only had such rules for the safety of the people living inside. After the procedure was done and one was let in, that was it. Of course, unless the outsiders caused trouble inside.


    In small secluded settlements, however, the situation was different. They did not have as much fighting power asrge settlements putting them on edge all the time. As such, they would not take outsiders lightly. Most of the time, their entry had to be approved they the leaders of the settlement. And even with that, the people would be wary towards those outsiders.


    Mark still remembered thest time when his group entered the temporary outpost led by Emilio. After entering, they were told to wait in a small room near the gates. The eyes of the guards were ring at them. And with the slightest unnatural event, the guards did not hesitate to point their guns at Mark''s group.


    If Mark and his group did the same thing today, it would not be surprising if the same events happened. After all, there would be no guarantee that the guards would recognize Mark''s group. And even if he used that reason the moment he talked to the guards, he would only be met with suspicion until it was confirmed by those that recognized him.


    Still, while Mark''s thoughts were on point, the results might have been different from what he initially had in mind.


    They did enter the settlement easily because of Emilio, but the guards at the gate actually recognized Mark, Mei, and the three girls. These people were new additions to Emilio''s group, but it was not the first time for them to see Mark and the girls.


    It was because they were among the survivors from Barangay Matutinao. The very same people the [Tamawos] captured and turned into ves. There was no way they would easily forget the people they owed their lives to.


    And the moment Mark stepped into the gates, the guards along the gate approached the group, showering them with gratitude as the poor people they saved were never able to properly give back then.


    Mark was troubled. This situation was something he did not expect. More than a month had passed already. There were also more things that happened on Earth for these people to dampen this kind of enthusiasm.


    But it seemed that Mark underestimated the gratitude that these people felt.


    Back when they were saved, these poor people were still in a state of shock and trauma. Rather than being unable to thank Mark''s group, it was more like they were even questioning whether it was true that they were saved or if they were only dreaming. When the realization finally sunk into their minds, their saviors were nowhere to be seen. Some of them even thought that their saviors died because of them.


    Their lives were saved when their hopes had already sunk to the depths of nothingness. They would bear this gratitude for the rest of their lives.


    Now that they finally have the chance to properly convey that gratitude, they would not hesitate to do so. And it seemed that their gratitude was far stronger than the usual aura Mark had that made people avoid him for the most part.


    Fortunately, these people were not tactless. The guards here were all males. They approached Mark, the only male in the group, the leader, and the person that walked in the lead.


    The victims of the [Tamawos] knew well how it felt for their women to be approached by strangers, especially during the apocalypse. Despite their good intentions, they instinctually avoided approaching the women in Mark''s group. It seemed they mistook the group as Mark''s harem, considering he was the only male currently present. It was a misunderstanding, but it worked rather well in Mei''s situation.


    "Now, now," Emilio approached Mark and the guards. "Our guests just arrived. Let them rest. They must have had a rough journey."


    "Ah... Yes, sir!"


    The guards understood the blunder they had made. They were troubling their saviors, who had just arrived from a long journey.


    After apologizing to Emilio and Mark''s group, the guards returned to their posts, although it seemed that they would not shut up about the things they witnessed during the battle of Mark''s group against the [Tamawos]. It also seemed that they remembered the other members of Mark''s group at that time that were not present today and were wondering what happened.


    Emilio then told the members of his group to store the things they collected while he would bring their guests to the vige center.


    The rumors then spread through the small settlement like wildfire. Many people watched from the side as Mark''s group followed Emilio to the center of the settlement.


    The people were like they were weing celebrities. But with half the current poption being Emilio''s initial group and the other half being mostly the survivors of the [Tamawo''s] invasion, it was no wonder that Mark''s group was weed warmly and reverently.


    It was like a hero''s wee. Even the contempt that Mark showed the soldiers in the past waspletely forgotten.


    Mark being at the center of this kind of attention, felt ufortably itchy.


    "Just what the hell did you guys do in this ce?"


    Spera ufortably whispered at Mark and Mei.


    It was worse for Be and Donna. They did not know anything about what was happening at all.<sub> </sub>


    Mark and Mei only looked at each other with troubled faces and did not reply.


    Now, Mark was kind of regretting stopping by this ce.


    Furthermore...


    Mark stared at Emilio''s back. This guy was purposely slowing down their pace towards their destination.


    After several minutes, they reached a cluster of huts that seemedrger than most of the structures in the settlement. Since these huts were in the center, it was very likely that these structures were used in meetings and as facilities for important matters. And as Mark detected, one of the huts was being used to tend to the injured as he felt several weakened people inside.


    Mark''s group was brought to thergest hut. It was built circrly with wooden foundations with the walls and roofs were made of coconut leaves stitched together with vines. There were no doors, but arge piece of old cloth was used to cover the door entrance. It really looked like some sort of meeting room, considering the number of chairs and therge table at the center.


    "Please sit down."


    Emilio said, inviting everyone to take a seat around the table.


    "Sorry, but we don''t really have anywhere to amodate guests," Emilio apologized. "In the least, this hut had more chairs for you guys to sit down on."


    Then, Emilio turned to Mark. He felt thetter''s stare earlier.


    "Also, sorry for parading your group through the vige," Emilio admitted. "We''re doing better than before, but the morale is still kind of low at the moment. I''m kind of troubled about how to increase our people''s morale for a while now. And today, your group came at the right time."


    It was the reason Emilio slowed down the pace when they arrived. It was to let as many people in the settlement see Mark''s group. The group that fought hundreds of enemies and saved the people of Barangay Matutinao from the [Tamawos].


    Since Mark''s group left immediately after the battle against the [Tamawos], some presumed they died, especially since everyone witnessed that beam of light that tore cracks in the sky along with the tidal wave that swallowed the entire coast. As their deaths were a very possible oue due to their immediate disappearance, many felt dejected while thinking their saviors died because of them.


    And now that Mark''s group was safe and sound, it was a good opportunity to raise the morale of the people that Emilio led.


    At this time, the cloth by the door moved.


    "It''s actually true."


    A middle-aged woman''s voice was heard by everyone as someone entered through the door.


    There were several people who entered, and all of them were familiar faces from Emilio''s initial group of survivors from Liloan.


    The voice just now was from Doctor Janice Reyes. The very same doctor that looked at Mark''s group before they managed to speak with Emilio for the first time.


    At that time, Doctor Janice was terrified of Mark for some reason. This time, it seemed that she was calmer. Probably because she already had seen Mark before and could not be surprised anymore.


    There was also Caudillo Alcoseba, the former fisherman who now led the construction of this settlement. He did not have any interaction with Mark''s group before, but he still came as one of the pirs of this ce.


    Thest one was Private Tanya Monteroso. She was the one who guarded Mark''s group during their stay. Back then, she was just a soldier at the bottom of the grid. Now, it seemed that she shared the same authority as Caudillo.


    Why were they suddenly here?


    "I called for them."


    Emilio said before Mark could ask anything.


    "It looks like you are only weing us," Mark shrugged. "But you have other intentions, right?"


    The people here were not all the pirs of this ce. Mark remembered that there was also that flirty former actor, and other soldiers. However, there were only three currently present. The other leading soldiers were not called. As for that actor, it seemed that he was resting in the infirmary of the settlement.


    Mark took a look at the three people Emilio called as they took a seat around the table. There was clearly one reason why Emilio called them. It was because these people were the ones he trusted the mostpared to everyone following his lead.


    And once everyone gathered around the table, Emilio took a breath. He showed the strict attitude he had before, although he contained it mostly for appearances.


    Emilio then stared at Mark.


    "Thanks to you, the people the [Tamawos] captured were freed. Now, they are all integrated with our group, and I treat them equally as my people... But that was not all. Without any basis and warning, you gave us that advice, which I followed with insight. And thanks to that, we mostly survived. Not only once, but twice."


    Emilio then turned serious.


    "Considering the things which happened afterward, it was too good to be a coincidence. You also mentioned privilege before which I did not have. Then, I won''t be asking about how you predicted such things would happen. But please, answer this question..."


    "Who are you?"

 Chapter 893 The Journey North, The Question To Their Benefactor

    <strong>Day 248 - 1:25 PM - Barangay Sayao, Municipality of Sibonga, Province of Cebu</strong>


    "Who are you?"


    Emilio stared at Mark, asking that question. He was not only referring to Mark but his group as a whole.


    The three people sitting beside Emilio remembered the time after they encountered Mark and his group.


    Back then, everyone was rather displeased due to their sudden departure from Madrijelos. There was no time to prepare, and everyone had to rush. The displeasure grew when one of the soldiers in the meeting slipped up, and everyone learned that the reason for their departure was the words of a mere outsider.


    Fortunately, despite the displeasure, no one decided to split up. It was all due to the trust Emilio built up towards the members of theirmunity. And so far, his instincts and actions never let them down.


    The displeasure was quenched when the battle Matutinao began. Although there was no way they would see the events clearly, the fight was too eye-catching, even from afar, especially the explosions that bloomed towards the sky and the burning mes they left. Such scenes could even be witnessed even in the darkness of the night.


    And then, the tidal wave came when everyone least expected it. There was no need for light. The shadow cast by the tall wave from the horizon could be seen from the hills they passed.


    It was not only Matutinao that was swallowed by the tidal wave. All areas around it, including Madrijelos, were affected.


    They were scared by the thought of what could have happened if they did not leave the school today. They already survived one of these attacks once, and it already left a deep trauma on most of them. To see it happen again before their eyes horrified them greatly.


    The displeasure became gratitude. The people were thankful they were warned by the outsiders and that they followed Emilio''s decision.


    Furthermore, at that time, the survivors from the invasion of the [Tamawos] were brought to their group. It was a good thing since these poor people were finally freed from the grasp of the vile creatures. However, it also made them worried about food and water since they would have more mouths to feed. But to everyone''s surprise, the survivors from Matuinao carried boxes of supplies taken from the [Tamawos]. Not only would it help feed the neers, but the amount wouldst more than a month for everyone if used sparingly.


    It meant that most of the supplies Mark''s group recovered from the enemies were given to the survivors of Matutinao.


    Then, Emilio and the others saw the beam of light that tore cracks in the sky. It shook their minds. What kind of being could do such a thing?


    And as soon that crack was created, it soon vanished for reasons they did not know.


    At the end of these events, they never saw Mark''s group. It gave them the idea that they could have possibly died there. If they did not, maybe they left already, not intending to have any more interaction with Emilio and his people.


    That night, everyone''s minds were deeply shaken by the events. The things they witnessed continued to baffle their minds as they continued their journey for the next day.


    As Mark advised them, they needed to find a t area. No one could understand what he meant at that time. Nheless, they followed it. There was no need to mention that his advice saved them once already.


    Emilio led his group and climbed the hills of Badian the next day. Their pace was not fast at all, considering the state of the survivors from Matutinao. The men were emaciated, while most women were in an unstable state of mind. It was not a surprising oue. After all, the men were treated as ves, while the women were taken away and treated as ythings. After the charm magic cast on the women wore off, all that was left was depression and suffering.


    The only good thing, well, definitely bad in a way, was that there were no elderly among the survivors from Matutinao. The [Tamawos] had no use for the old. Anyone old enough in Matutinao was killed immediately right after the [Tamawos] invaded the town.


    Late during the same day, Emilio''s group found a suitable ce. It was private farnd in the middle of nowhere. The ce was not exactly t as it was in the middle of a mountainous area. However, the slope was not steep, and even vehicles would have no problems driving uphill. There were also houses and buildings, although not that many.


    As for the farm''s inhabitants, all they had left was the stains of blood around their homes.


    Emilio told everyone to prepare the houses and tents in a tight cluster. Thest thing they wanted was to have no defense against possible attacks from either the [Infected] or [Evolved Animals].


    And as Mark advised them, they decided to stay at that ce for a few days. Of course, the reason was unknown.


    Until... A sound of an explosion from the sky roared as if warning everyone of the iing catastrophe.


    Everyone watched as hundreds of meteorites began raining from the sky in horror. At first, they stared nkly in shock, wondering if it was all just a dream. But next came panic.


    It was when they cursed. They were in a tnd, mostly devoid of anything. There was no ce to take cover, and the tents and houses would definitely not hold against those things falling from the sky.


    Many people wanted to run, but there was nowhere to run. It caused them to question whether following that cursed advice was the right thing.


    And then, one of those things from space was hurled toward them, causing people to panic even more.


    It was until that thing they saw the piece of the meteorite get destroyed as if hitting something invisible. It happened not only once but repeatedly as the things from space continued to rain.


    Some of those things crashed into nearby areas, making the people fall to the ground due to the shockwaves. However, they all realized that none of the debris hit them directly despite many supposedly falling towards them.


    They finally realized... They were being protected by something they could not see.


    It caused them to question whether it had something to do with Mark, who told them to find a ce like this.


    The catastrophe from the sky soon ended. Everyone miraculously survived despite some injuries.


    That was when the ground began to shake. Everyone was thrown to the ground once more. It was an earthquake with a strength no one had seen before. Before their shaking eyes, they saw thend in their surroundings shift. Many trees and structures fell, and many steep hills crumbled.


    And them who were in a clear and tter area did not have to worry about things falling unto them.


    A weaker earthquake thatsted a few seconds already felt several hours. An unprecedentedly strong earthquakesting several minutes felt like an eternity.


    But when everything stopped, they were all still alive. Their surroundings all changed except for a circr stretch ofnd around them. Everyone rejoiced they survived not just one but two catastrophes. Three if the one the previous day was counted.


    And then... They all realized their survival was all because of one advice they heavily questioned.


    After that, they noticed the barrier and how dangerous it was outside through trial and error. It cost some lives since some of them tried to investigate the surroundings after the catastrophe but did not make it far and showed signs of radiation poisoning. Those people did not make it due to heavy radiation poisoning.


    They were the first casualties after the catastrophe.


    Realizing that they were trapped in a safety, they did not know whether tough or cry. But as they were alive, they decided to make the best of what they had and try to hold it out.


    They encountered some of those robotic things, although looking mangled. These robots tried to attack them but were unable to pass through the invisible barrier. They took advantage of such and attacked from inside and managed to destroy the dangerous attackers with great difficulty. The robots were hard, but since their metal bodies were already broken from the start, it was easier to disable them through the destroyed parts.<sub> </sub>


    Less than one monthter, they all saw the barrier copse. It meant that their protection was over, and they also realized that it was now fine to go out.


    But they could not stay here any longer.


    The area sure was t and easily defensible. However, there was barely any resource they could gather, especially water. The ce had a deep well pump, but it was destroyed during the earthquake.


    Thus, despite the danger, they all continued north.


    The journey was tedious. They encountered more enemies along the way, and the casualties increased.


    Since the roads were gone, they had no choice but to cut through unfamiliar forests that appeared after the world had changed.


    The casualties increased through the journey until they were tired of it.


    Finally, they found this ce and decided to settle down. They were all tired of running away and tired of continuing further. This ce had everything they needed to live, from clean water to edible fruits and nts.


    And there, this vige was established.


    <o>,m They finally found a ce to call home.</o>


    But at the end of it all... Their chance for survival stemmed from one thing, one person... Mark.


    And now, the person was sitting in front of them. The question in their minds was given by Emilio.


    "Who was Mark?" And the rest of his group... "Who were they?"


    Janice, Caudillo, and Tanya stared at the people in front of them in silence. They were waiting for Mark''s answer. But if thetter would not answer, there was really nothing they could do.


    Still, they want to know. They want to know who the person they owe their lives to really was.


    And finally, Mark opened his mouth.


    "Normally, the script goes like I don''t care who they are, they have our gratitude or something," Mark looked at Emilio and the other three. "But I guess it''s different here, huh?"


    Emilio and the other three could only show a bitter expression. Television Dramas were one of the most prominent hobbies in rural areas, so everyone here understood what Mark meant. They did feel ashamed but retracting the question was the least of their intention.


    Mark then shrugged.


    "I''m just like you guys, surviving this new world. It''s just that I became blessed with luck when everyone faced their downfall."


    Emilio and the other three were confused by Mark''s answer. Not only them, however. Be and Donna, who were curious, were also baffled by it.


    "What do you mean?"


    Emilio asked.


    "Literally what I just said," Mark stared at Emilio. "This apocalypse caused my life to be way better as opposed to most people''s bing miserable. And like most people in their ideal job, I''m just thriving while in the most suitable environment. The apocalypse."


    The answer was a bit confusing, but Mark did not say any lie. The apocalypse changed his life, and it shaped the current him.


    "Will that answer suffice?" Mark asked. "Well, if you''re asking whether I''m human or not, I''m not. I stopped being one."


    That statement surprised Emilio and the other three beside him.


    "A Demon..." Emilio murmured before staring back at Mark. "Are you connected to [Auraboros] or the [CNC]?"


    This time, it was the turn of Mark''s group to be surprised, with the exception of the sisters, who knew nothing about the two organizations.


    "Are you sure you can reveal that with everyone here?"


    Mark asked, confirming his possible connections with the two organizations.


    "That doesn''t matter. There is no point in keeping it a secret anymore," Emilio replied. "So, are you connected with the two? The answer will confirm whether we will treat you as an ally or an enemy."


    Emilio''s expression was serious. And he told Mark in a frank manner even if there was no chance of them winning if a fight was to break out.


    "I''m connected, but not as a member," Mark truthfully answered. "I''m a customer of [CNC], and the [Auraboros] is my enemy."


    Emilio then sighed in relief.


    "I knew it," Emilio smiled. "There is no way a member of [CNC] will help us without payment, and it''s impossible for a member of [Auraboros] to help humans."


    "Then why did you ask?"


    Mark asked with a frown.


    "I just have to confirm because there is still a chance, right?"


    Emilio replied.


    It was true, although it was questionable if Emilio would be able to tell if Mark lied.


    The conversation gave Emilio some rity on the situation and what Mark and his group possibly were. However, the rest of the people inside with them became more confused instead.

 Chapter 894 The End Of The Detour, Leaving The Valley Settlement While Leaving Them Some Trouble

    <strong>Day 248 - 1:30 PM - Vige, Barangay Sayao, Municipality of Sibonga, Province of Cebu</strong>


    "For you to deduce what I am and to know all these things, you''re not just some regr soldier, are you?"


    Mark asked Emilio as the route of their conversation was drifting away from what regr people would have. Mark only said that he stopped being human. And yet, Emilio immediately pointed out what he was. Not to mention that the organizations of [Auraboros] and [Crystallus Notitia Coetus] were not things that a regr person should know even as a soldier.


    As proof, Doctor Janice and Tanya, who had workings with the military, were oblivious to this information. This information was not open to the public, and unless one had a high enough position or someone necessary to the nation, there was no way to know this information. And Emilio definitely did not have such a position to know these things.


    "I had my own circumstances," Emilio replied hesitantly. "Even though it would not matter now, I''m not inclined to divulge it to anyone."


    Emilio answered while staring at Mark, eye to eye. His circumstances were a personal matter that, even now, he would not want to tell anyone else, even the people he knew he could trust. This truth could change how people view him as a person, after all.


    "Well, I won''t dig any further."


    Mark said with a shrug.


    "Sorry if my answer didn''t fulfill your interest, but I want to ask something about another thing," Emilio continued to stare at Mark. "One week ago, something happened on the western coast. Many of us saw the anomalous weather, not to mention that it caused the [Infected] to migrate west. I want to ask if you''re involved."


    Mark did not say anything and only replied with another shrug. However, that silence already gave the answer, making Emilio nod in understanding.


    "Then, how long are you going to stay here this time?"


    Emilio asked Mark, knowing that like before, Mark''s group would not stay here permanently.


    "We''re not going to stay," Mark said with a slight tilt of his head. "The people are currently too enthusiastic to our liking. So, we would rather be on our way. Besides, we only stopped by to check on this ce, seeing that there are people here still alive."


    In short, Mark''s group was just passing by. Emilio and the three people with him understood that much.


    "I want to ask something."


    Doctor Janice interjected into the conversation.


    "Go on."


    Mark gave the doctor a go.


    "Since you gave us that advice, did you already know that all of this would happen?"


    Doctor Janice asked her concern.


    "If you want to ask is why I haven''t told you guys about it straightly... It''s because I don''t really know what exactly is going to happen," Mark answered. "The advice I gave would just increase the probability of you guys survivingpared to following your original ns. So if you ask me, it''s all just a coincidence everything aligned for the best oue. You guys just got lucky."


    The people in this settlement were giving praises and gratitude to Mark. However, it was all a coincidence on his part. The advice he gave was only based on what he originally thought. It just happened to align with what happened afterward, which saved the people of this ce for the most part. In fact, Mark''s advice only ounted for the [Fusion of Dimensions] and possible effects during its duration. He had never predicted anything about the tidal wave or the mishap when the [Eyes] and the [Foreign Gods] tried to block theary debris.


    "Even if we''re inhumanly strong, we have no way of exactly predicting the future."


    Mark said.


    ''Voluntary, that is.''


    Mark had in his mind.


    "I see."


    Doctor Janice said with a bitter nod.


    "It might just be a coincidence, but it is true that your advice saved us all," Emilio chimed in. "You still deserve our gratitude. We are alive because of you."


    The other three nodded in agreement with Emilio''s words. Whether it was a coincidence or not, Mark''s words saved them all. Those words let them survive and reach this far into the apocalypse.


    The conversation within the central hut continued for another hour. Although most of the topic afterward was mainly things around the settlement and a few questions about the [Mechids].


    Learning that the robots were called [Mechids] from Mark, Emilio, and the others understood that he had a deeper connection with things in the background. However, no one asked any further about this connection as it was something likely rted to the privileges they did not have.


    Mark also asked if Emilio''s group knew anything about the [Tamawos] after the battle. However, they never encountered any [Tamawo] at all. Thus, it was still a mystery what exactly happened to the tribe.


    The conversation finally ended due to something Mark and the others forgot.


    "Papa, I''m hungry..."


    Abbygale said, pulling the hem of Mark''s clothes.


    They forgot lunch.<sub> </sub>


    Since Mark''s group had been on a search since this morning, the sight of the settlement in the valley made them forget their lunch.


    As such, they had no choice but to end the conversation. Mark''s group then decided to leave immediately. It made Emilio and the others confused. After all, they were pretty sure that lunch shoulde first before departing as it would be questionable how they would have proper lunch on the way.


    Thus, Emilio and the others tried to invite Mark''s group to lunch. However, Mark declined on the premise of not wanting to consume the limited food that Emilio''s settlement had.


    Well... The actual reason was that Mark was pretty sure that they could eat better food on their own. Since the resources of this settlement were limited, the food they could cook would likely be subpar from what Mark''s group usually ate.


    And thus, with everyone bidding goodbye filled with gratefulness, Mark''s group departed the settlement.


    Many people in the settlement wanted Mark''s group to stay even just a day. However, there was no way they would forcefully do it, knowing Mark''s condescending attitude the first time they arrived back then.


    Faster thaning to the settlement, Mark''s group returned to where the [Mini Cube] was parked. Fortunately, they did not return in the middle of the private activities of Ilia and Chimetrice.


    Immediately, they prepared food and ate ate lunch. Next time, it was better not to let the girls starve despite the situation. Mark and Mei should reflect on this.


    Still, there was a bit rxed atmosphere among the members of Mark''s group this time. Despite being ufortable, receiving the genuine gratitude of people did not feel bad at all.


    It also gave Be and Donna more information about Mark''s group. But what made the sisters curious the most was the information that was not open to the public that they learned today for the first time. However, the sisters were concerned about what Mark said. One of the organizations was his enemy. They would not get dragged between this, right?


    Be was pretty smart. She realized that Mark said that the [Auraboros] "is" his enemy and not was. It meant that the hidden organization was still in operation despite the apocalypse.


    In any case, the sisters already had an estimate of the life they could get in Mark''s basepared to other ces. The current living conditions of the settlement they had just visited were ideal in the current situation of this world. However, it waspletelyckingpared to Mark''s ce. Not to mention the security of this ce. Their rough wooden walls could not bepared to the fortress walls in the mountain base.


    Despite the possible danger, Be and Donna would still choose to stay.


    After eating lunch, Mark and the others immediately set off to continue their journey.


    This time, without covering the [Mini Cube] without camouge, they passed near the vige, allowing everyone below to see the floating vessel.


    It caused some panic. However, those with keen eyes and the soldiers using their still working scouting equipment saw Mark sitting on the small tform at the side of the unidentified flying object.


    ***


    Emilio stared at the sky together with his people. Back then, Mark did introduce himself as someone connected with the generals from Luzon. It made them question many things like how and why someone from Luzon was here in the Visayas Region. Now, their question was answered.


    The existence called Mark had the means to travel around through the apocalypse.


    However, that was not thest thing they understood from this. Mark, showing this to everyone, meant that he was leaving the area indefinitely. They were now left on their own, and the likelihood of Mark''s group visiting again was close to nil.


    Since Mark did not n on returning here any time in the near future, there was no need to hide his means of travel.


    This scene made some people show some discontent, unfortunately. After all, Mark had such methods, but he never showed any sign of wanting to help them more than he already did.


    Since Mark had something like a floating vessel, he should have the capability to bring them somece safer.


    Such kind of thinking was unreasonable. However, it was human as these people could be.


    And this kind of thinking was the least of Mark''s concerns as he had already left. They could think of anything they wanted, but it would not affect Mark in the slightest.


    Emilio understood that fact and could only sigh. He should think of methods to bend how his people think of this situation.


    ***


    Mark sat outside the tform, watching the valley settlement as it vanished behind the mountains to its north. He was sure that the people down there were now having unnecessary thoughts. If they started having bad thoughts, that was what their gratitude was all about.


    It would have been nice if Mark could recruit Doctor Janice or Tanya. But considering that they were now the pirs of this settlement, he retracted those thoughts. It was quite a pity, however. Mark finally managed to learn things about Doctor Janice and her [Mutator Abilities] during the conversation in the hut. It was a rather interesting one. To be able to see the flow of [Mutagen] in people''s bodies, was a unique ability for sure.


    The ability of Doctor Janice made Mark think it was worth it to check on this ce once in a while. If this ce was to fall, which still had a high chance of happening, the survival chance of Emilio and those around him was still pretty high. At that time, he could recruit them if they managed to survive.


    Now, the detour was finished. Mark''s group could fly straight towards the Ind of Catanduanes.


    There would be minor interruptions on the way, especially [Flying Infected] and [Feral Evolved Animals]. It was expected and would not stop their journey. But if something interesting came up on the way, they would not hesitate to stop for a bit and see the situation.


    It would not hurt to find new things, especially ones that could benefit them. Simr to why Mark caught the [Evolved Silkworm], Mark would gather anything that could be of use to them and their base. It would be nice if they came across farm animals since these kinds of animals were not only useful, but they were also less aggressive despite changing due to [Mutagen''s] influence.


    Mark began to wonder. Would [Infected Birds] stilly eggs? If they were still [Biter Types], the possibility of them being able toy eggs was not zero. However, he was skeptical since he had failed his experiments on [Infected] pregnancy in an attempt to create more [Blood Children].


    Maybe, Mark should catch an [Infected Bird] when the opportunity came and feed them someying mash since he managed to procure some from the ruined town in Murcia.


    Leaving the valley settlement that was not visible anymore, Mark looked forward. He wondered what he would next see on the horizon beyond them.

 Chapter 895 Once Again In Catanduanes, Within The Remains Of The Ruined Codon Military Settlement

    <strong>Day 250 - 8:21 AM - Codon Settlement, Barangay Codon, Municipality of San Andres, Province of Catanduanes</strong>


    It was formerly called the Codon Military Settlement. Now, it was just the Codon Settlement with almost all military influence snuffed out of it.


    More than a month ago, even before the catastrophes that changed everything happened, things in Codon already went downhill.


    Lieutenant General Alfonso Padi, the leader of Codon Military Settlement, was assassinated by an unknown assant. As several important people were reported to vanish on the same day General Padi was killed, they became the prime suspects of the crime.


    However, whoever killed the General did not matter afterward. With the leader gone, all those vying for his position began the contest for control over the settlement.


    As soon as the contest began, everything in the settlement was thrown into disarray, and the matters of the Genera''s death became the least of everyone''s concerns. Well, for the regr people, in the least. The General''s loyal supporters tried to uphold his ideals and kept going against those that tried to usurp control to the best of their capabilities.


    Unfortunately, the arrival of the members of the main Marcos family tilted the tide of the contention of leadership to the favor of the Political Faction.


    Soon, the conflict turned from debates into a full-blown gunfight. However, who started it was not the Political Faction but the faction of the Philippine Marines.


    In the first ce, two forces of soldiers existed in the settlement, divided by the factions between the Philippine Army and the Philippine Marines. General Padi was a General from the army and was the leader of the Codon Military Settlement. It was no secret that the General of the Marines, Major General Antonino Seguerra, vied that position.


    Now that General Padi was assassinated, the position of the settlement''s leader was supposed to be handed to him as the next highest military official in the settlement. But with the Political Faction messing things up, he became more and more impatient.


    Thus, General Seguerra could not wait any longer and decided to use force to gain the position he deserved.


    Unfortunately, that was the worst decision that General Seguerra could have made in his entire life.


    The Political Faction was not justposed of people with nobat capabilities. The politicians might be weak in this regard, but they had money and connections in the past that allowed them tomand strong people that followed them even today. And a lot of these people were experienced in things as opposed to the military''s purpose for existing.


    Most of all, the Marcos family that arrived had the most powerful private army in the settlement with them.


    The Political Faction was not a peaceful one. However, they were a scheming group. They would not show their cards as easily as the military.


    They were aiming for the right chance.


    With General Seguerra raising arms to take the leadership of the settlement, the Political Faction followed suit. However, the Political Faction''s actions were made under the guise of restoring peace against the Marines Faction, which started the violence.


    As such, the Political Faction managed to buy the support of the blind popce.


    In a few days, the Political Faction overturned the control of the Codon Militar Settlement into their hands, with General Seguerra also dying in the conflict.


    The Philippine Army Faction, which was left without a legitimate leader, crumbled during the conflict.


    After the Political Faction took over, their private armies took the position of the soldiers as the protectors of the settlement. As for the remaining soldiers of the military, they were asked to choose between turning over to the Political Faction or leaving the settlement on their own.


    The loyal followers of General Padi gathered their families and left. It was a dangerous choice. However, staying was far more dangerous for them. They took their families towards the north, aiming to try to join the Neutral Faction of the rebels.


    It was the same for those loyal to General Seguerra. They left the settlement. However, they went a different route from what the remaining members of the Philippine Army took. They went south, intending to reunite with the military forces stationed there.


    Just a few days. Everything happened in a few days, and the ruling within the Codon Settlement was passed to someone else.


    And then, the catastrophe urred.


    Everything in the settlement crumbled, from structures to the lives of the people.


    ***


    Mark stood in front of a ragged old man as he listened to the story. He was currently standing within Codon Settlement, or at least, what was left of it.


    It was the second day after they departed from the Valley Settlement in Cebu. They spent one day on the journey towards this ce, while another half trying to ascertain the situation on the ind of Catanduanes.


    It was when they saw the current state of Codon.


    The old settlement was gone, only leaving traces of where houses were supposedly built in the past. The remains of the settlement were walled. However, the walls the settlement had were ragged, and the wood was improperly prepared.


    And the living conditions were worse than the state of the walls. Many people were starving, and the remaining people of the Political Faction could not care less about them.


    Mark''s group was confused as to what happened to this ce. Back then, while there were conflicts, it was a bustling ce.


    It was different now. It became a deste area to stay in for those without the courage to venture outside.


    Unfortunately, it was hard to tell what happened without entering Codon. Thus, Mark decided to infiltrate the ce on his own.


    Mark entered Codon Settlement without entering the gates. He then began to gather information as to what happened. Fortunately, it was not hard to get what he wanted. Mark just needed to find a random citizen in the settlement and take out a small can of sardines. They would not care who Mark was or where he came from as long as they could have something to fill their empty stomach.


    Thus, Mark found this old man in front of him now. It was easier to get information from someone who actually cared about their surroundings. Old people, to be exact. Besides, this old man would very likely give as much information as he could since he had his also starving grandson lying beside him, still asleep.


    From what Mark heard, he immediately understood what happened. The reason why this settlement was badly reduced to ruins during the fall of the space debris and the [Fusion of Dimensions].


    Mark remembered what Fourth told him and Mei during that time. The strength of the barrier was based on the unity of the people it was protecting. The more united those people were, the stronger the barrier and the less affected those inside it would be.


    Codon Settlement that had just undergone a change of rule would have no chance to withstand that catastrophe.


    "How many people managed to survive back then?"


    Mark asked the old man.


    "I don''t really know," The old man replied, almost tearing up. "I was also delirious at that time. My son and his wife also died back then, and I was left with my grandchild without knowing what to do. At that time, I had no chance to pay attention to anything else than to gather anything left of our possessions and find a way to bury my son and his wife."


    Mark stared at the old man with a sigh. It was understandable that the old man could recall everything before the catastrophe and everything else afterward was blurry.


    The old man lost two of his three remaining family members while everything else around them was destroyed. It was also possible that he and his grandchild were injured at that time, seeing that he and the child actually had new simr-looking scars on their bodies. They probably got buried inside their home due to the earthquake.


    If it was the other people in the same situation as this old man, they could have gone insane already.


    This old man was strong in his own way.


    "Alright, it''s enough, I guess."


    Mark said, deciding to end the conversation here.<sub> </sub>


    "Sir, are you really giving me food for answering your questions?"


    The old man asked Mark.


    "Don''t worry, I don''t go against my words."


    Mark replied as he removed his backpack and lowered it to the ground. He then opened it and began taking items out of it.


    Then, under the shocked eyes of the old man, Mark took out sixrge cans of sardines, four packs of imported chocte, arge gallon of mineral water, a small pack of meat jerky, three packs of sweet candies, and two jars of peanut butter.


    The old man stared in shock, seeing all the things Mark took out. When he agreed to answer Mark''s questions in exchange for food, he expected at least a small packet of crackers. He never expected this much.


    And most of all, how in the world did all this stuff fit inside this man''s barely filled backpack?


    In the end, Mark took a folded sack out of his bag and handed it to the old man.


    "Can you store this stuff yourself?" Mark said. "I''m pretty sure you don''t want others to see these."


    When Mark said that, the old man snapped back to reality and looked around. Fortunately, they were in a secluded area at the corner of the settlement. It was not the safest ce to be, but there were fewer people bothering them.


    "S-sir... Are you really giving all this to us?"


    The old man asked Mark, still unable to believe what he was seeing.


    "Just think of it as a bonus for answering my questions truthfully."


    Mark replied with a smile.


    "Thank you! Thank you!"


    The old man finally cried as he slowly gathered the stuff Mark gave into the sack.


    Due to the old man''s cry of gratitude, his grandson was woken up.


    "Grandpa, why are you crying?"


    The kid asked his grandfather while rubbing his sleepy eyes. Then, the child''s eyes widened as he saw the food that his grandfather was trying to put into the sack.


    "Fo-!!!"


    The child almost yelled, but the old man managed to cover the kid''s mouth in time.


    "Shhh..." The old man hushed the kid. "Help me put these into the sack. "


    The kid understood why his grandfather stopped him and hurriedly helped store the items into the sack. But the kid was confused.


    "Grandpa, where did the foode from?"


    The kid asked.


    "Why are you asking?" It was the old man''s turn to be confused. "It was given to us by this kind s-..."


    The old man did not finish his sentence. He looked up only to see no one in front of him.


    Surprised, the old man immediately looked around. However, he saw no one. If not for the fact that he had the items given to him just now, he would think that it was a hallucination due to hunger. But no. There was definitely a man here just now, and he gave this food and water in exchange for some information that any people around could give.


    The old man wiped his tears and began praying inside his mind. He was thankful for the charity given to them, no matter who was the man who gave it. Whether it was an angel or a devil, the old man was grateful.


    ***


    Mark left the old man and the kid on their own. He already got most information he needed and paid for it. The only thing left to know was the current state of this ce.


    As Mark walked away from where the old man was, he soon stopped.


    Mark was surrounded.


    "What do you people want?"


    Mark nonchntly said, without a shred of emotion, while ncing at the five men that surrounded him.


    "We saw you giving food to that old man," One of the men said as he raised his knife. "Give us everything you have! Or else!"


    "Or else, what?"


    Mark shrugged.


    "Don''t try to say anything!" Another one of the men argued with the first one. "Just kill him! We will get everything he had after that!"


    "I see," Mark sighed. "Kill me, huh? Like this?"


    As Mark said that, the man that yelled to just kill Mark froze with his eyes opened wide. In front of the other four men''s shocked eyes, the head of that man slid off from his neck. With a thud, the headless body fell to the ground with the bloody head rolling somewhere else.


    The remaining four men were horrified. They knew they offended someone they should not have. And thus, the first thing they had in mind was to run.


    However, their feet would just not move.


    "Unfortunately, I can''t really leave any witnesses. I can''t have anyone stealing the things I gave to that old man, you guys see?"


    Mark said with his eyes glowing bright red.


    The four men began yelling for help, trying to get anyone''s attention to the ce. For some reason, begging for their lives was not something they thought of doing. Maybe, they already knew that begging would be useless.


    Unfortunately for these men, no one would be able to hear them. All sounds were already blocked froming out ever since Mark left the old man.


    The death cries of the four men were left unheard as the five notorious thieves vanished that morning without leaving a trace.

 Chapter 896 Unexpected Change Of Rule, The Timely Strike Of Karma Unto The Greedy People

    <strong>Day 250 - 10:48 AM - Codon Settlement, Barangay Codon, Municipality of San Andres, Province of Catanduanes</strong>


    After removing the trash, Mark continued to wander around the settlement. He tried to be as inconspicuous as he could be, not letting people unnecessarily see him. Mark even called out the [Photokinesis Mental Crystal] and covered himself with [Optical Camouge]. This method might alert magically sensitive creatures and people if he got too close, but it was way better than easily being seen as suspicious by the people of the settlement.


    And as more time Mark spent around Codon Settlement, the more he learned about the things that happened here.


    Although it was known that the Political Faction now ruled the settlement, it was in name only. It was because...


    Most of the members of the faction had already perished, and the main perpetrators of the rule change were no exception.


    Mark found another older person, now a woman without one of her feet. The missing feet seemed to be amputated from the knee downward. She had no rtives left and could not do anything to feed herself anymore. However, the people around her had yet to give up on her. While the people taking care of her were away to find anything to eat, Mark took the opportunity and started a conversation with her.


    The old woman was wary of Mark, a stranger who looked no less than a mercenary or a criminal. However, as Mark remained a proper safe distance between them as they conversed, the wariness slowly vanished.


    This woman knew more than the old man from before. Apparently, she was already left alone long before the catastrophe began and had nothing else to lose. The people taking care of her now were actually people who she tried to save during the earthquake. The people she helped survived, but it was in exchange for her currently missing foot.


    From the old woman, Mark learned of the current situation in the settlement.


    As mentioned before, the settlement was under the Political Faction''s rule only in name. The actual rulers of this ce now were the members of the private armies raised by the deceased politicians, now led by the mercenaries hired by the same people.


    When Mark learned of this, it became clear why the state of this ce was a mess.


    Politicians could be greedy for power, but they would show otherwise to people. As such, to maintain support and power, they would, in turn, make the people believe in them. Since these people could not rise into their positions without using their intelligence, they knew that providing things for the people would help the settlement in the long run. Making the people willingly follow their lead would likely result in a better state of the settlement.


    But because it was now led by the members of the politicians'' private armies and mercenaries with less knowledge about politics and how to manage themon people, the settlement was an utter mess.


    These people only believed in strength and money. They would care less about the weak.


    But what happened? How was it possible that the core members of the Political Faction just all died?


    It was because of selfishness.


    A retreat bunker was constructed under the ground of the military zone of the settlement. The construction was started right after the Codon Military Settlement was established and was prioritized over many things. It was not thatrge of a building, only enough to let around a hundred people inside with a bit of space for emergency supplies. Due to its small size, the military managed to finish its construction in a little bit more than five months since it started.


    If they managed to follow the architectural blueprint correctly, it should be able to withstand a couple of explosions before copsing. It would also allow fifty people to live inside it for a few months in istion.


    It was not wrong to say that it was the sturdiest structure in the settlement, evenpared to the defensive walls outside.


    And when the soldiers were ousted from the settlement, this underground bunker fell unto the hands of the politicians.


    When the catastrophe came, as the space debris fell unto Earth, all the politicians took refuge in the bunker. Well, most of them. Although the bunker could fit a hundred people, the ideal number was actually less than half for afortable and safer stay.


    Thus, the politicians with less power were forced out of the bunker. It was the same for most of the mercenaries and members of the private armies they raised.


    Of course, it was not something that went smoothly. Those already inside did not want to get out. As such, those people had to be forced to move out. It became a violence-filled eviction where the loser could only retreat outside the bunker.


    The violence ended soon. It was not when everyone the intended results were achieved but when the shockwaves forced those inside to close the gates of the bunker.


    Shockwaves from the fall of the space debris destroyed almost everything within the settlement. The defensive walls copsed as they were blown away, while houses and tents were toppled to ruins. Even the docks were torn to pieces by the raging waves.


    Fortunately, the underground bunker would only suffer a few strong shakes since it was built underground.


    Furthermore, while they suffered shockwaves from nearby crashes of space debris, no direct hit happened due to the invisible barrier that protected everyone. This caused the bunker to stay standing.


    And then, the error came.


    The space debris was one thing, but no one expected the iing earthquake of unprecedented strength.


    Before anyone inside the bunker could even go out, it copsed. Even the bunker did not manage to withstand the violently shaking ground despite supposedly being able to endure explosions. It might be due to apse in the hastened construction. No one would know.


    Did all the people inside the bunker die immediately? No one would be able to answer. None bothered to do any kind of rescue either. After all, everyone outside was those who were betrayed and ousted by those inside the bunker.


    In order to selfishly save themselves, they were the ones who died instead.


    Mark had an eerie sneer as he thought of such. Those guys definitely deserved their deaths, and karma struck them when they least expected it. That event must have been a beautiful sight as they all regretted their decision to enter that bunker while they desperately struggled to live.


    When things subsided, more than half of the settlement''s poption was lost. Many mourned the deaths of their remaining family members.<sub> </sub>


    As for the fate of the Political Faction, it was clear to see. Their core members, and all of the Marcos Family, were buried inside the bunker.


    All that was left outside were those powerless politicians who had no control over the remaining mercenaries and private armies of those who died.


    And those mercenaries and private soldiers... They were angry as they were thrown away at thest moment. There was no way they would follow any other politician nor be led by those without strength.


    That was when the remaining mercenaries and private soldiers decided to take control of what remained of the settlement. In the first ce, they were the only ones left who could fight the threats outside.


    For the same reason, all the people left within the settlement had no other choice but to follow the new rulers of the settlement. There was nothing else they could do, and those who opposed the new rule could only face death.


    From then on, the Codon Settlement became a ce where the strong ruled and the weak would follow. If the weak want to live peacefully, they must remain silent and follow those above them without question.


    With that rule being followed, the weak were living silently in their current unsightly conditions. Still, it was way better than being killed. Not to mention that while their living conditions were not optimal, they were not being treated as ves forcefully pushed into dangerousbor.


    Unfortunately, as if this ce was cursed to suffer, history began to repeat itself.


    The Codon Settlement was currently being ruled by the mercenaries and the private soldiers. However, these two kinds of people were different in their own ways.


    Mercenaries were hired using money and other valuable resources. Money was their god, and they could steep low in order to get things they wanted.


    On the other hand, the private soldiers were different. Although they were discarded by the politicians in the worst moment, the innocent people had nothing to do with their anger. In the first ce, not all of them were serving the politicians because they wanted to. Most of them were forced to be loyal due to circumstances they could not handle. Now, they were free, and they were understanding of the current situation of themon people.


    Unfortunately, many of these private soldiers were raised as such, starting when they were young. Their knowledge in other fields was basically nonexistent as they were raised with nothing but the ability to fight. As such, they were barely of any help with the current state of the settlement.


    With the two kinds of people having different ideals, two factions were once more created, contending against each other over the rule of this dpidated ce.


    Not to mention there were also the soldiers from the military that did not leave. Those chose to be under the politicians instead. Although they could not make a faction of their own, they still had some influence over the people now that the politicians were mostly gone.


    "What a mess."


    Mark said as he heard the details.


    "A mess that no one could clean," The old woman said with a little chuckle. "Unfortunately, we can only live like this. Although it might change if someone like you intervened, perhaps."


    The old woman''s words made Mark tilt his head as he asked.


    "So, you recognize me, huh..."


    Mark already realized that the old woman was slowly warming up to him for some reason as they conversed. It was unlike when he first approached her.


    "The savior of that night when the [Infected] rose from the sea, and the dragon rider," The old woman proudly dered. "I was watching that time closely. I lived near the docks before and saw what happened clearer than others."


    The woman then pointed at her eyes, having a bit of a greenish hue. This woman was not a [Mutator], but likely an [Evolver] with a rather unique eye ability like Mei had.


    "I can see better and farther at night due to these eyes, you see. I was also there when you and your people left on the dragon''s back," The woman said. "Although I was unsure earlier, I managed to recognize you as I observed."


    "You''re not asking me to meddle with the situation here, are you?" Mark asked. "The information you gave won''t be enough as a payment for that."


    "Haha..." The old womanughed without regard that her mouth with barely any teeth left was showing. "You can probably make some change, but I won''t ask that. This mess is our problem, brought by ourselves. Outsiders better mind their own business. Just the food you promised in exchange should be enough."


    Mark was rather amazed at this old woman''s outlook. She sure was a mentally strong person. Although she hinted that Mark''s intervention could possibly do something, she was not begging Mark for it.


    Staring at the woman, Mark could only shrug. There was nothing much for Mark to ask now that the outline of the situation here became clear to him. As such, he fulfilled his end of the bargain. He gave the woman food and water, simr to what he gave the old man earlier.


    However, instead of tearing up, like the old man, the old woman smiled and thanked Mark gracefully. Nheless, it seemed this old woman would not keep these supplies for herself. It would not be a surprise if she only shared it with the people taking care of her, but it seemed that she wanted to share it with other people too.


    Mark gave another shrug as some footsteps were heard approaching them. It seemed that the people taking care of the old woman had returned and their voices made her turn.


    In this opportunity, Mark vanished, making the old woman show a bitter smile. She seemed to be hoping to introduce Mark to the people taking care of her, but he just left mysteriously.


    With the investigation basically finished, Mark made his way out of the settlement.


    However, not far from the walls of the settlement, Mark could not help but stop as a child with dark skin came zooming in his direction.

 Chapter 897 The Zooming Messenger, An Unclear Message And Lunch Near At The Beach

    <strong>Day 250 - 11:52 AM - Codon Settlement, Barangay Codon, Municipality of San Andres, Province of Catanduanes</strong>


    Mark was about to leave Codon Settlement and return to where Mei and the others were waiting. It was almost lunchtime, after all, not to mention there was barely any reason for Mark to stay here. He already got most of the information he wanted and did not want to meddle any deeper in some business he was not supposed to involve himself.


    However, Mark could not help but stop when something fast-moving entered his detection range. Furthermore, it was someone he recognized.


    And as soon as Mark detected the presence, it was already zooming towards him, in a literal sense. The person moved with only a blur left on their trail. It was as if they ran without regard to the existence of space, tearing through it.


    Mark understood the principle as to how that person moved. Not only did he already experience traveling with that person''s kind, but he also had a simr ability.


    There was no need to wait. The owner of the presence appeared in from of Mark immediately.


    A ck-skinned child that was not human despite looking like one.


    It was a [Yasaw]. A magical race only found in the myths from the ind of Catanduanes.


    Furthermore, the one that appeared in front of Mark was Deriellio, the leader and the eldest of the [Yasaws].


    Although it was a good question as to how Deriellio knew Mark was here. But for Deriellio toe himself, something important must be going on. Still, it could also be because only Deriellio could properly converse in both Human and Spirit Languages among his kind.


    When Mark looked at the [Yasaw], however... He immediately disregarded thetter thought. Deriellio might not look panicked, but he sure was in a worry. Furthermore, even though they now see Mark and his group as allies, these magical creatures would rather choose not to approach a Demon.


    It just meant that while the reason was important, it was not too urgent.


    "Diwata Iraya needed your presence," Deriellio said as soon as he stopped in front of Mark. "Come as soon as possible."


    And after saying those words, without waiting for any kind of reply from Mark, Deriellio zoomed away.


    Mark could only frown and sigh while scratching his head. The unique abilities of [Yasaws], enabling them to travel fast to different ces, would make them effective messengers. Only if they actually talked properly. Or maybe, just let them deliver letters. It would be way better than an awkward encounter like this one.


    Even if Deriellio did not want to interact with Mark too much, it would not hurt if he answered a question or two. Now, Mark was left wondering if he had to go there immediately or not.


    Although the message seemed to be a request, the way it was delivered sounded like an order.


    Shaking his head and shrugging his shoulders, Mark decided to return to his group first.


    ***


    At the beach west of Codon Settlement, the [Mini Cube] was parked near the edge of the sandy coast. Outside were the members of Mark''s group, preparing lunch.


    This was the same beach where they had a pic lunch thest time they were here in Catanduanes. However, the scenery had already changed. And unfortunately, the rocky area that concealed the giant hermit crab was no longer present.


    It made them wonder where the giant hermit crab went to. Did it manage to survive? Or was it already dead? No one would know since it was not here, nor was any clue left of its fate.


    Mark arrived several minutes after noon.


    Lunch was ready, and they only needed to eat together, as per usual. However, someone was yet to arrive.


    It was Feng Zhiruo, who almost had no presence since they departed Mount Madia-as.


    "She''s out again?"


    Mark asked the others, and they could only turn in a certain direction.


    At the edge of the beach where the waves hit the sand, Feng Zhiruo could be seen. She was waving her sword with the sunlight shing on its de. With every sh of her sword, one could feel how much effort she put in to the things she learned from both her sect and the things she gained from Mark''s teachings.


    Mark was no expert in swords himself. But with fragmented memories that he gained from Feng Zhiruo''s elder, he managed to teach her better than what her sect would teach an errand disciple like her.


    Feng Zhiruo nevercked talent or effort. It was teaching that shecked the most. Something that the sect would not give to disciples below a certain level.


    But currently, a certain event brought a heavy impact on Feng Zhiruo.


    The [Trial of Regrets].


    During the trial that Magwayen orchestrated for them, everyone had to relive their regrets with erased memories, measuring how strong their attachment to their current lives.


    And the only person that did not pass the trial within Mark''s group was Feng Zhiruo.


    It was not surprising. Feng Zhiruo had to relive the past when her vige was ughtered along with her family members.


    The scene of seeing the corpses of one''s family members was not something most people would be able to ovee no matter how many times they relived it.


    And that was the biggest regret of Feng Zhiruo. She was not there when her vige was attacked. And even if she was, her strength at that time was not enough to stop the event from happening. Worse, she would be one of the victims of that massacre.


    The [Trial of Regrets] made Feng Zhiruo relive such a traumatic event, and it opened her past emotional wounds. Now, she became more silent and dedicated to her sword so that nothing of such event would happen once more around her.


    It was both a good and bad thing for her.


    The current mindset of Feng Zhiruo had caused her to want to train more to improve her base strength and skills rather than just raising her cultivation. However, it also made her mind unable to focus on other things, such as the situation like now, lunch.


    Feng Zhiruo also became uninterested in many things unless it was fighting and learning or developing new techniques.


    <strong>BOOM!</strong><sub> </sub>


    An explosion urred, causing the seawater to scatter towards the direction Feng Zhiruo stabbed her sword.


    "She actually managed to do it, huh?"


    Markmented after seeing the stabbing technique that Feng Zhiruo had just disyed.


    Although Feng Zhiruo''s sect, the Ti¨¡nl¨¢n L¨®ngg¨­ng or Heavenly Blue Dragon Pce, was known as a sword sect, their techniques were focused on shing. Even the sword techniques she learned from the sect were low-level shing attacks.


    The stabbing techniques that Feng Zhiruo was disying were actually Mark''s originals. Using the memories from the elder, Mark developed some stabbing techniques, although he could not really use them due to hisck of cultivation.


    However, Mark''s techniques, although self-made, followed the principles of Feng Zhiruo''s way of cultivation. As such, she could use it with practice, just like how she just did the new technique he called [Explosive Sword Stab].


    The simple name was more or less the proof that it was Mark''s original. Most of the techniques that Feng Zhiruo knew had unnecessarily fancy and long names that were both too embarrassing and inconvenient to use in the modern culture, even though all of them were weak techniques.


    Still, Mark''s naming sense was quite peculiar itself. After all, it was influenced by video games, anime, and novels. Sometimes, he would give absurd names to things, especially the equipment and items he created. But in terms of techniques, he chose to be more practical.


    "I''ll call her."


    Mei said as she went to Feng Zhiruo.


    Mark nodded. It was also better if Feng Zhiruo stopped for now. By the looks of it, she was not paying attention to her surroundings and forgot that the explosion could attract unnecessary attention.


    The two girls returned, and Feng Zhiruo apologized for the dy. The group then ate their lunch as Mark shared what he learned about the current situation in Codon Settlement.


    And after learning that the Codon Settlement''s current state was caused by greed and infighting between humans, Ilia could not help but sneer while Feng Zhiruo sighed.


    Humans had both good and bad sides. However, when the bad happened, the no intention of taking responsibility. In this case, however, the perpetrators were already dead. Although they died horribly, they also escaped the suffering caused by the consequences of their actions.


    After talking about the situation in Codon Settlement, Mark told everyone their next move.


    "We''re going to the mountains after lunch," Mark dered. "When I left the settlement, a [Yasaw] told me to meet the [Diwata] on this ind."


    "Another one, huh?" Ilia could not help butment. "Why are there a lot of those nature women in this country?"


    Nature Women. It was what Ilia called those [Diwatas] due to their pure energy that represented nature itself. They had the same energy as [Forest Nymphs] and [Dryads], although much purer and stronger.


    "[Diwatas] are only found in this country as far as I know," Mark shrugged. "Their original race was created by Bath, after all. And their number isn''t reallyrge. Just how many did we meet so farpared to the number of other races?"


    So far, Mark had met six [Diwatas] if the remaining fragment of the [Ancient Diwata] did not count. Compared to other races with members numbering from a few hundred to several thousand, a poption of six was a really small number.


    "Did something happen?"


    Mei asked Mark with a bit of worry. There was no need to say that she was quite fond of Aliya, Mark''s ancestor.


    "Don''t know," Mark shrugged his shoulders. "The messenger did not say anything else and left immediately. You know the magical races here did not like Demons."


    Mei nodded in response. Their group might have been allowed to the Sanctuary due to the fact that they were rted to Aliya and Gennie through Mark. However, most of the magical races on this ind despised Demons.


    "They hated Demons but called for you?" Ilia smirked. "Anyway, how did they even know you are on this ind? We just arrived yesterday and met no one."


    "This area is within their territory," Mark said as he pointed in a direction. "They have eyes everywhere."


    Mark pointed at a patch of trees quite a distance away from them. There really was someone hiding there, and they immediately vanished after knowing they had been noticed.


    "A [Yasaw]."


    Mei said as she got a glimpse of the figure using her eyes. The others only saw a blur, however.


    "What a fast child."


    Ilia said, noticing the appearance of the creature.


    "They might look and behave like children, but they''re not," Mark exined. "I''m pretty sure they''re a race only found on this ind."


    Ilia and Chimetrice looked at each other and seemed to agree with what Mark said. The two had never seen any other race in other countries that had a simr appearance to the [Yasaws].


    The discussion continued as they ate lunch of stewed vegetables and meat.


    Then, after tidying up, they left the beach using the [Mini Cube] and flew ind.


    Although they spent almost a day assessing the situation on the ind, it was hard to say that they saw every nook and cranny of the ind in that time span. At most, they found the locations of settlements of both humans and magical creatures near the coastal areas.


    As for the things ind and in the middle of the mountains, they had yet to see the ce.


    And just when they were halfway towards their destination, they noticed somethingrge moving in the mountains in the east.


    Was it another [Behemoth ss Infected]?


    Unfortunately, no.


    After all, no [Infected] would look like a four-legged, prism-shaped robot the size of a cargo ship.

 Chapter 898 The Giant [Mechid], Witnessing Something Unexpected On Their Way To Hiraya

    <strong>Day 250 - 1:23 PM - Barangay Guiamlong, Municipality of Caramoran, Province of Catanduanes</strong>


    Everyone was surprised by the scene that none of them had expected. Even Mark and Chimetrice were no exception. As for Be and Donna, they were shocked to their core.


    A giant quadruped [Mechid] with a prism-shaped body, more than three hundred meters in length and standing around twenty to thirty meters, was slowly moving around the mountains. Its body seemed to be made of light-colored metal and had a rather sleek design on its shape.


    It was thergest [Mechid] that the group had seen so far, not to mention that it was second to the crocodile form of Sinogo in terms of sizepared to everything they had encountered since the apocalypse started.


    And this scene... Definitely did not make sense in the eyes of those who understood that situation.


    The [Mechids] came crashing to Earth after the space debris exploded to pieces. If this thing fell unto this ce with that size, it could decimate the whole ind of Catanduanes into a sea of mes, and nothing would be left alive. Even the [Fusion of Dimensions] would not be able to stop such an event from happening.


    However, the ind was intact and perfectly fused with its counterpart in the Spirit Dimension.


    But as they were in denial of that possibility, Mark noticed something.


    The mountainous basin that the giant [Mechid] was walking around looked like a crater. It was just that the [Fusion of Dimensions] immediately covered the crater with everything that came from the Spirit Dimension, making it hard to discern that it was actually a crater.


    Then... Did this gigantic thing really fall here from space? If that was the case, how did the ind survive the impact?


    Mark began calcting things in his mind, giving his face a deep frown.


    There were many possibilities, but there was barely any concrete evidence to support any, and most of them contradicted each other.


    It was also possible that this giant [Mechid] didnd on this ind, considering how much destruction the settlement of Codon suffered before the earthquake started. It was just that Fourth maintained the ind from getting destroyedpletely.


    This was the most usible exnation that Mark could think of so far.


    "Doesn''t it look like it''s trapped?"


    Ilia said, noticing something.


    As Ilia said, the giant [Mechid] seemed to be trying to traverse out of the crater but failing to do so. It might have be mountainous, but the crater was still deeper than the normalnd height of this ind, adding to the height of the mountains surrounding the crater.


    Furthermore, the giant [Mechid] was moving sluggishly. It was not wrong to say that there was a chance that the fastest man in history could outrun it on foot.


    "It''s broken," Mei said, with her eyesight clearly zoomed towards the body of the giant [Mechid]. "There''s a lot of parts around its joints that had cracks, and wires are hanging out. There are also holes and missing spaces all over its body."


    <strong>CRACKLE!</strong>


    All of a sudden, everyone had to cover their eyes due to a bright sh of light.


    The giant [Mechid] seemed to be trying to traverse the steep crater, only to cause its right front leg to release bright sparks of electricity. Not only that, but it almost toppled itself to the ground.


    <strong>SPLAT!</strong>


    As they looked once more,rge amounts of ck liquid began pouring out of the broken leg of the [Mechid]. It was something present in all [Mechids].


    It was still unconfirmed as to what this liquid was, but Mark suspected it to be produced by the [Mechid Pathogen]. It was also possibly what was controlling the [Mechids].


    Now that they saw it, they could not help but notice the skid marks all around the crater. Those marks were not hard to see, considering that the areas were bare with trees heavily trampled and broken. It seemed that this giant [Mechid] was trying to escape its natural prison all this time, only to fail again and again. The crater was also stained with that ck liquid, proving how the giant [Mechid] was heavily broken down.


    The ck liquid also showed severe effects on the flora it covered. The trees inside the crater were all dying, seemingly poisoned to their roots.


    "It can''t see us here, can it?"


    Be asked in worry. The sisters had several encounters with [Mechids] while helping fight the [Infected] near Mt. Caon.


    These alien robots were really hard to fight despite their small size and rarity. They could firesers, bulletproof, and the powders the sisters could release had no effect on them.


    If this big thing could do the same, just how powerful would it be?


    "I don''t think it can. We''re currently invisible outside," Mark replied before turning to Ilia and Chimetrice. "Just in case, let''s fly further away. We barely know anything about the [Mechids]. It''s possible that some of them have thermal sensors."


    Everyone agreed with what Mark said. So far, the giant [Mechid] had yet to detect them since they were still far away. However, there was no benefit in risking it. It was better to be careful since they knew nothing about this [Mechid] at all. Who would know? This giant [Mechid] might have an arsenal of hundreds ofsers around its body, or worse, a wave motion cannon.


    "Luckily, it''s trapped," Spera said as they slowly flew further away from the crater. "If not, this ind could be gone long ago."


    The others could only agree to Spera''s words. If that thing was released, it would possibly pose a threat no less than Sinogo, even in its current heavily broken state.


    "Looks like we found another goal to do on this ind."


    Mark shrugged as he said those words. He really did not want to deal with something at a simr scale to Sinogo in his current state. While his body had recovered its strength, his [Miasma], his main weapon, was still too minuscule.


    But then...


    The lightbulb above Mark''s head lit up as he suddenly turned to look at the giant [Mechid] once more.


    The [Miasma] in Mark''s body could convert and absorb any kind of energy into its own. However, the most efficient kind of energy for it to absorb was [Magical Energy]. On the other hand, other kinds of energy, like heat or light, would not really give that much [Miasma]pared to the amount absorbed. It was too inefficient that Mark would not bother at all.


    Mark could probably behave like a nt and just absorb sunlight, but it would be more of a waste of time than actually finding another way to increase his [Miasma].<sub> </sub>


    However, what about that giant [Mechid]? What kind of energy and how much was needed to allow something that big to continue moving? If Mark managed to get a hold of that [Mechid''s] energy source, was it possible for Mark to recover a significant amount of his [Miasma]?


    "Gege, you''re thinking of something dangerous again, aren''t you?"


    Mei''s voice entered Mark''s ears in an annoyed tone.


    It was not only Mei. Everyone in the [Mini Cube] was staring at Mark in exasperation. Be and Donna might be oblivious to it since they were new to the group, but the others could already tell from time to time when Mark had something ridiculous inside his mind.


    Mark shrugged in silence. He had no chance to win here.


    Likewise, they would have to destroy that giant [Mechid] sooner orter. Like Sinogo, it could pose a threat. And not only to this ind but to the entire country if they left the [Mechid] alone for too long.


    In the least, it would not be going anywhere any time soon. It was in a broken state and would definitely not be able to repair its own since it seemed to have stayed that way all this time. Still, it was not right to becent as they had no idea what kinds of things the giant [Mechid] would be capable of.


    While it could be nothing but a giant broken piece of junk, it could also be a gigantic fortress capable ofunching barrages ofser beams.


    It was not like it could pose that much of a threatpared to Sinogo. There was also no way that it would prate through the defensive capabilities of Chimetrice. But now that Mark had something in mind, he would rather n things instead, or they might identally end up destroying everything without getting anything at all.


    The [Mini Cube] flew away from the crater and straight up north. Their destination should be just a few mountains away.


    After a few more minutes of flight, their destination was now in sight.


    Yes, on sight, to Mark and Mei''s surprise.


    Diwata Iraya and the magical creatures of this ind lived in a magical domain away from the prying eyes of the mortal realm. They still lived that wayst time Mark''s group visited this ind.


    But now, the entirety of Diwata Iraya''s secret domain was nowid bare for everyone to see.


    And unlike the beautiful and peaceful mountain sanctuary, it was before, it was now a magical mountain filled with defensive structures and fortifications. Furthermore, all the life in the mountain was now concentrated in arge vige near the peak, unlike before, where the magical creatures under the [Diwata] were living all over the mountain.


    As the [Mini Cube] flew closer to the vige, Mark disabled the [Optical Camouge] that hid it in the sky.


    Of course, the sudden appearance of a floating vessel in the sky alerted everyone below. The vige immediately gathered the warriors to prepare to defend it.


    Even Diwata Iraya and the other core members of this magical group came out in a hurry. And to their confusion, the floating vessel in the sky just floated there without moving closer or leaving.


    It was when two figures alighted from the vessel, alerting the people below.


    But even just the silhouette of the winged man in the sky, Aliya immediately recognized her beloved descendant.


    Mark and Meinded in front of everyone. Only when they recognized the two that they put down their weapons.


    Aliya, Mark''s ancestor, approached the two before anyone else. It was no doubt that she was excited to meet Mark and Mei once again.


    And there, the two were enveloped in a loving embrace.


    "Wee back! I missed you two," Aliya tearfully weed the two. "I am d that you two are fine."


    Mark and Mei could only look at each other with a smile while being embraced by Aliya.


    Aliya was the only person they could call family that could shower them with love this way.


    When was thest time the two remembered being embraced by their parents? The two could not remember. All Mark and Mei remembered were the times they were being scolded for minor mistakes and their lives being dictated to them.


    Aliya''s treatment of them sure gave them a warm and refreshing feeling.


    "Aliya," Diwata Iraya did not want to break the happy reunion, but she had no choice as she called Aliya. "You can spend time with themter, but we have other important things to address right at this moment."


    Aliya turned her head towards the [Diwata] and sighed as she let go of Mark and Mei. Still, she held the hands of the two as if fearing that they would suddenly run away. This time, everyone just let her continue holding the hands of Mark and Mei.


    "Mark," Diwata Iraya called Mark and turned to the sky. "What is that thing?"


    "Our transport. We had the opportunity to get something we can use to travel instead of riding on the dragon''s back which is pretty ufortable."


    Mark nonchntly replied. Theplete opposite of the reaction he gave to Aliya''s embrace.


    "I see..."


    Diwata Iraya did not mind Mark''s nonchnt reply and looked more interested in the floating vessel in the sky.


    "Can I call it down?" Mark asked the [Diwata]. "The rest of our group this time is still there. We just stopped since you guys might attack."


    Diwata Iraya then signaled her warriors to stand down and return to their work, leaving only a few as her usual guards. It was only when Mark signaled for the [Mini Cube] tond.


    But at this time, Aliya suddenly blocked Mark while looking at him with worried eyes.


    "What happened to you?"


    Mark''s great ancestor asked him, seemingly noticing both the good and bad changes in Mark''s body.

 Chapter 899 Into The Village Made Of Flora, Telling The Story That Led To Marks Current State

    <strong>Day 250 - 3:21 PM - Unnamed Mountain, Catanduanes</strong>


    "What happened to you?"


    For Aliya to immediately notice the changes that happened to Mark clearly showed how she valued Mark as her descendant and family.


    However, it was not only Mark who had some drastic changes. Mark and Mei could not help but notice the leader of this ce, Diwata Iraya. While Mark was weakened due to his [Miasma] being minuscule at this moment, Diwata Iraya currently barely had an ounce of magical energy in her body.


    Thus, the question that Aliya just asked Mark could also apply to Diwata Iraya.


    "Can I answer that questionter?"


    Mark gently replied with a bitter smile.


    Aliya stared shortly at Mark''s left eye, which had a tinge of a purplish color, and nodded.


    It should be a long story and something that was not suitable to be shared here in the open.


    The [Mini Cube] thennded with Mark''s signal. Everyone from the vige sure was both curious and wary of the giant floating thing.


    Then, the members of Mark''s group alighted, with the lively [Sylph] in the lead, followed the three little girls some residents of this ce were familiar with. But aside from those four, the remaining five members who came out were unfamiliar to them.


    Not to mention three things.


    Everyone was surprised as they felt Amihan''s strong aura. It was the same for the gorgeous woman and the handsome muscr man that Mark brought.


    Still, Diwata Iraya and those strongest among her entourage could not help but feel wary towards Ilia and Chimetrice. After all, Ilia was a Demon, and Chimetrice was something they could not fathom what he was.


    In the least, Mark''s family already proved that they were not enemies. It was not the same for these two.


    As for Amihan, the nearby [Sylphs] could not help but be awed by the strong aura she was leaking. They were a weak race, and it was something that everyone knew. It was very rare among their race to grow strong, physically and magically. Yet, there was Amihan, who could possibly top everyone else in their race in terms of magical power.


    Unfortunately, the attention she was gathering caused Amihan to be ufortable. Before any of her race could approach her, she flew towards Mark and sat on his shoulder. Now, no one would approach her due to the natural aura around Mark, which caused people to stay away from him.


    Mark could only shrug a little, knowing that Amihan was using him as a shield. However, it was inevitable as Amihan could barely control her current strength, and there was no way to hide her aura. At least, for now.


    Even Mark was finding ways to hide his own aura as it could be inconvenient if just any magical creature they encountered could tell that they were Demons.


    With everyone finally gathered, they were invited into the vige.


    Unlike the usual primitive viges, the vige on this mountain was special. Since they had a few [Dryads] and Diwata Iraya''s primary power was of nature, they used their control over nts and trees to create houses, walls, and other things necessary for the vige. Where could one see a tall watchtower that was built with giant vines? So far, Mark''s group only saw these kinds of structures here.


    In one way or another, the maintenance of this ce was extremely efficient. Any damage could be restored with just a flick of the hands of the [Dryads].


    Unfortunately, fire would be the bane of this ce. However, it was not much of a worry. Most of the races here only eat fruits, vegetables, and herbs, while the meat-eaters were not keen on putting their food over the fire, preferring their high protein diet raw. There were also those who did not need to eat as their bodies only had to absorb energy from their surroundings to live.


    And also, because of the presence of the [Dryads], food was less of an issue in this ce. They could elerate the growth of fruit-bearing nts, although the speed might vary depending on the type of flora. Having more than one [Dryad] sure helped a lot in this. As for those who eat meat, they could hunt for themselves since they had the ability to do so.


    Of course, things would go smoothly if not for the fact that there were threats everywhere in the current situation on Earth.


    Despite the unique appearance of the vige, it still followed the usual defensive formation where the leaders and most important people lived at its center. And it was where the members of Mark''s group were brought.


    Along the way, Be and Donna were curiously looking around. This kind of fantasy-like scenery was the least of the things they expected to see, especially when the apocalypse started. Who would have thought that joining Mark''s group would lead them to such strange but magnificent ces?


    Unfortunately, the house-shaped tree at the center of the vige was off-limits to most people. Here, only those trusted by Diwata Iraya and those who were invited would be allowed to enter unless it was an emergency.


    Aside from Mark''s family of five and Amihan, other members of Mark''s group were people unfamiliar to the residents of this ce. As such, they were not allowed to the [Diwata''s] dwelling. It was reasonable, and they did notin, although Spera showed an annoyed expression while being brought to another hut nearby.


    ? Mark watched the annoyed Spera as they went in a separate direction. She was not saying anything, but she would definitely start rambling herints sooner orter. After all, Spera had no breaks when it came to expressing her emotions ever since Mark took away her inherited [Psycast] in the past.


    Led by Diwata Iraya, Mark and the rest followed inside the house-shaped tree.


    It was a simple house with barely any furniture. But upon entry, the smell of herbs and the crystals that littered the house showed why this ce was prohibited. It was not just the house of Diwata Iraya but also a ce for her to recuperate.


    Diwata Iraya sat on the central seat made of vines and giant leaves. Then, with a wave of her hand, the vines inside the house began moving, forming chairs and a table for everyone to sit around.


    There were only a few people around as Diwata Iraya only called for a select few to join the conversation. There was Aliya, currently doting on the little girls. Mark''s aunt, Gennie. The [Tamawo], Ordulk. The [Cursed Armor], Morlkill, stood at the side. Andstly, the ball of light, Bituin, flying over Diwata Iraya''s shoulder.


    The leader of the [Yasaws] was not present. It was not that surprising since they were creatures that were more of a servant than leading figures.<sub> </sub>


    "Now, answer my question."


    Aliya demanded, wanting to know what her descendant was up to, causing these changes on his body.


    While the changes were not actually noticeable unless one paid close attention to Mark, the one thing that changed a lot was the eerie aura around him. The aura that lingered around Mark due to being a high-level [Empath] was still there. However, the strange feeling he gave out due to the [Miasma] in his body greatly diminished.


    Those with a high level of magical perception, such as the people in this room, would not fail to notice that. Not to mention that the amount of [Miasma] Mark had before was a whole lot after absorbing the energy that Lord Seis conjured. Now, there was barely any trace of [Miasma] on Mark''s aura.


    Mark let out another shrug. He wanted to know why a messenger was sent to him by Diwata Iraya, but it would not hurt to address what Aliya wanted first.


    Thus, Mark recalled the important bits of information in his journey, starting from when he left this ind before the second wave began.


    However, the story Mark began to tell felt too unbelievable that they could not help but turn to Bituin to confirm some things. Unfortunately for them, Bituin confirmed that none of what Mark said were lies.


    Aliya could not help but feel her heart beating louder as she learned of the dangerous things that happened to Mark in their short time of separation. However, Aliya could not reprimand Mark either for his actions or decisions. The existence of an [Infected Deity] was not something anyone could ignore. If left alone for too long, it would be a disaster none of them would be able to handle.


    Mark''s actions were backed by legitimate reasons. Still, Aliya and Gennie could not help but frown, having someone from their family brave such dangers.


    On the other hand, Diwata Iraya felt relieved.


    "More than a week ago, I felt a powerful fluctuationing from the southwest. I was afraid that a strange anomaly was happening. Fortunately, my worries were answered on a positive note."


    From what Diwata Iraya said, it seemed that the magical fluctuations


    of that battle reached far and wide and were felt by powerful beings such as Diwata Iraya.


    It made Mark wonder if there were other beings that felt it. Unfortunately, there was no way for Mark to know.


    "Seriously, why do you have to brave such a thing?"


    Aliya said to Mark, looking at his darkened right arm.


    "It''s not like we have any other options, right?" Mark replied. "It''s either us or someone else. And even though we needed a bit of luck to win, that someone might not be so lucky as us. Besides, if we let that guy swallow up Mount Caon, he might be rampaging here already at this time."


    Silence permeated the room. Although what Mark said was mere spection, it was not unlikely to happen.


    Still, Aliya''s was heavy knowing that Mark and Mei faced such danger.


    It was also a surprise to hear what Chimetrice was. Of course, the surprise was apanied by a bit of fear since Chimetrice was a being created to oppose gods.


    Normally, information like what Chimetrice was should remain a secret. However, if it would ease Aliya''s worry even a little, it should be fine. Besides, it was not like it would matter much whether they knew or not.


    Still, Mark made sure not to divulge the story about Amihan. The anti-god weapon Chimetrice was one thing, but someone rted to a god, even just an incarnation, was a huge thing to [Diwatas]. Thus, he decided not to say anything much about Amihan and avoid taking the attention unto her.


    And with this, they knew Mark''s current state. Unfortunately, there was nothing much they could do to help. They were also struggling to fight dangers around their home. With Diwata Iraya also in a weakened state, every ounce of [Magical Energy] would be important to them.


    "That''s enough about us," Mark spoke to change the topic. "What happened to you all here?"


    Although Mark asked them all, his attention was focused on Diwata Iraya.


    Like Mark, Diwata Iraya was not in the best state either. In fact, she was way far more weakenedpared to Mark. Even though Mark''s [Miasma] right now was minuscule, he had other abilities he could use. As for Diwata Iraya, she was probably limited to only controlling nts at this moment.


    Just what happened for a lower Diety like Diwata Iraya to be reduced in this state?


    Furthermore, why was the sanctuary not hidden anymore?


    The secret realms of Mount Madia-as and Mount Caon were still intact even though breaches through the barrier happen every now and then. Then why was the sanctuary like this? Did the barrier and subspace of the sanctuary break for some reason?


    And Mark''s question made the leaders of this ce feel troubled and uneasy.


    Diwata Iraya stared at Mark and spoke.


    "You honestly shared your story. I have no choice but to respond to it."


    And there, Diwata Iraya began recalling the problems they faced the moment the second wave started.

 Chapter 944 Lunch In Infanta Settlement, The Settlements Urgent Problems And Needs

    <strong>Day 263 - 10:21 AM - Dump Site, Barangay Banugao, Municipality of Infanta, Province of Quezon</strong>


    Seeing Mark do something new and unexpected, it was no surprise that both na, especially the childish Karlene, felt a bit of disappointment and jealousy. However, it was not like those emotions stemmed from ill will towards Mark. Mark getting stronger as time passed by was nothing new. It was just that since the two were stuck here in Infanta to help the settlement, they had fewer opportunities to find ways to be stronger.


    Nheless, staying here was their decision. It was to help Karlene''s father and the people they had spent time with since this worldwide chaos started. And it was already proven to be a good decision since, during their stay, the Infanta Settlement faced many situations where many lives were at stake. More soldiers and volunteers could have died if not for the two being present. While they could not prevent all deaths, it was clearly lessened considerably.


    Of course, it was at the cost of their growth inbat bing slower.


    Since the fighting here in Infanta was mostly defensive, they could only exercise their strengths during those times. And after the [Fusion of Dimensions], hunting became less viable as a stable food source, and the settlement turned to fish instead. Traditional fishing was still dangerous, but using traps made it viable. Thus,bat opportunities became even lesser.


    Thus, seeing Mark, who was already strong, grow even stronger gave those two such emotions.


    Of course, Mark noticed those lingering emotions behind the bitter smile of the two women. Nheless, since it was not filled with ill will, he had no reason to address it.


    Jealousy was not necessarily a harmfully negative emotion. It could be a driving force to raise a person''s motivation to achieve something. A force to keep them moving forward. The only time jealousy would be harmful was when it became unhinged, uncontrolled, and filled with ill will.


    But in the end, it would still depend on the person''s mentality and morality if such emotion would turn harmful. After all, a jealous good-hearted person would be less likely to do something that would harm others than evil-hearted ones.


    As for na and Karlene, they were a tad bit jealous of Mark''s growth, fueling their desire to be stronger in their own ways. It was not bad in any way, aside from their desire to return to the Mountain Base growing stronger.


    That desire to go back to Mountain Base was not unwarranted. After all, although their sense of responsibility managed to keep them here,paring the living conditions in Infanta Settlement and the Mountain Base was akin to the difference between heaven and earth. It might sound exaggerated, but in the current state of the Infanta Settlement, its people would definitely think the same.


    Content with his finds, Mark left the dump hole of destroyed [Mechids]. There, na posed a question.


    "You don''t need those, right? I''ll tell uncle to retrieve some for research."


    na said, looking at the hole from her location. Although Mark took a number of parts and stuff, there was still a number of [Mechids] left inside.


    Even if the current Infanta Settlement was ill-equipped and severelycking after the destruction they faced, there was still a notion for study and research of things. They still had some specialists alive who wanted to study the new threat, the [Mechids]. Unfortunately, the ck goo was harmful, radiative, and basically impossible to manually remove from the bodies of the destroyed [Mechids]. And without the necessary equipment and a secureboratory, which they now heavilycked, research was impossible.


    But now, Mark removed the ck goo. Not only from the dump site but also the bodies of the [Mechids]. It meant that those destroyed [Mechids] Mark left behind were now suitable for mechanical research.


    "Well, it''s not my trash. You can do what you want with those."


    Mark replied.


    "You really have to call it trash, huh?"


    Karlene interjected grumpily. After all, the cleaned destroyed [Mechids] were now valuable specimens for research.


    "Where are we right now?"


    Mark jokingly replied.


    They were in a dump site. A ce to throw waste and trash.


    Karlene had no retort to Mark''s words.


    At this time, someone else spoke to Mark in a reprimanding tone.


    "No bully."


    Ka said to Mark while pulling the hem of his jacket.


    Mark looked away. It would be his loss if he argued with a child.


    To the side, Arternaris was silent, watching the show in amusement. It was clearly not an attitude that a [Diwata] would have, showing something she inherited as a Half-Demon.


    The eyes of Artenaris never left Mark.


    Mark might have used his [Empath] abilities to reduce and restrict her romantic interest in him. She also realized that fact. However, most Demon races were attracted to the strong. Not to mention that many of such Demon races were also beings with strong desires.


    It would not be easy to just erase the desires of Arternaris since she was a Half-Demon. Nheless, it was a good thing that she was also a Half-[Diwata]. It allowed her to be rational with her desires and control them.


    However, if Mark showed any sign of romantic interest in her, she would not hesitate to jump into his bed. Unfortunately, this was unlikely to happen.


    Mark might be emotionless, but he was extremely loyal to his current partner. Artenaris knew that if she pushed things further, she could gain his ire instead. Worst, he might not hesitate to kill her, especially if she caused some undesirable things.


    Thus, Artenaris just decided to maintain the status quo. Hold back her desires and let them stay that way. It was not like she was not enjoying the things she was currently experiencing.


    In fact, Arternaris never thought that humans could be this weing to those who were not humans. Maybe it was because of Earth''s current situation? Before the apocalypse, trying to appear before humans sure was a suicidal thought. Or maybe, it was because na and Karlene were just special.


    "The sun is getting high up," Mark''s voice entered everyone''s ears. "Let''s go back."


    None of them have objections. na was also eager to return to bring the news about the destroyed [Mechids]. Besides, lunchtime woulde soon. Food in the settlement might not be the best. At the least, it could still afford to give at least two meals per day to each person living there.


    Mark''s group made their way back in a leisurely manner.


    Oddly enough, they encountered no danger on the way. It was odd because when the soldiers were transporting things they had to bring to the dump site, they could encounter dangerous animals every now and then. But during their walk, it was eerily peaceful.


    Without a shred of doubt, na, Karlene, and Artenaris knew that it was due to Mark, who was currently walking while humoring Ka''s childish antics.


    The three women were not wrong, though.


    Mark''s presence wasrgely lessened after he got the [Blessing of Death''s Aura]. Even Artenaris felt that change and went to confirm it immediately when she felt the slight presence of Mark when he arrived because she was unsure. While to those with intelligence, his presence was lessened, to the weaker creatures that solely relied on instinct, he felt dangerous.


    Why? Only the predators in nature could never be felt by the prey before they strike.


    As such, the animals that saw them passing by ran away at the sight of Mark.


    Well, feral animals might still attack despite his presence. However, none of such were present today.


    The group returned to the settlement just in time for the rations.


    Mark''s group immediately went back to the military encampment. At the center of it, the portal was still open, securely guarded by soldiers as per Mark''s request.


    There was really no need to leave the portal open. However, Mark did not know how much time he would spend here today. Thus, it was more efficient to maintain the portal and close itter after he left.<sub> </sub>


    To experience life here in Infanta Settlement for a bit, Mark decided to ept the invitation to eat lunch together.


    Unlike the refugees who had to line up to get their food, Mark and the rest only had to wait. It was the privilege of the military and the volunteers to have their share delivered.


    Mark sat down at the dining table with the group. A cup of rice with fish soup as a side dish. It was not bad since having either rice porridge or a bowl of nd soup would not be surprising in these scenarios.


    Or maybe, it was also a part of the privilege, and themon folk might be getting less. There was also the possibility that the Generals were just treating Mark with better food than usual since he was an important guest.


    However, before they could eat, everyone''s attention was on someone.


    "I don''t think you eat here, right?"


    Mark asked Arternaris, who was sitting on the chair to his left.


    Like Mark asked, Arternaris had her own tribe to eat with. As such, she was not supposed to be here. She might be an important coborator for the settlement. Even so, eating at another''s home without getting invited was just shameless.


    "It is fine," General Faustino chimed in. "It isn''t bad to have a meal together from time to time."


    With the words from the old General, everyone epted Artenaris joining the lunch.


    It was not just some simple lunch, however. Mark and the two Generals discussed things about the settlement, what happened to Bay City, the Corregidor settlement, and what the Generals had nned for the future.


    And to say... the two Generals were stumped about thest topic.


    They had some ns, like establishing a proper workshop to equip the soldiers in case they finally ran out of bullets. However, it would be hard to establish shorty, and their weapon supplies would run out if not used sparingly.


    This shortage of ammunition was the main reason why hunting became less of a viable option to feed the settlement, and they resorted to fishing at the river since they were close to it. Fishing in the river was also dangerous on its own. In a previous case, a refugee died after trying to fish using a handmade fishing rod. The fishing method was not the issue. The issue was what he managed to catch.


    The fish suddenly ballooned and shot spikes that pierced through the refugee''s body. He died on the stop because of a spike that shot through his eyes and to his brain.


    Now, even fishing had to be done with protective gear even if they were using dug dams as traps to catch fish.


    The Infanta Settlement was facing quite a lot of problems. Although they already managed to maintain several fields of crops, it would still be months before the first harvest. That was if the field was not destroyed by an attack or other things.


    Still, food and water, Infanta Settlement was still managing.


    Their urgent issue was weapons, equipment, and ammunition, if possible.


    That was why General Bautista had a question for Mark.


    "Can we use the portal to meet General Perez?"


    Directmunication with Corregidor was impossible. The two settlements were literally on opposite sides of the country. However, with Mark''s help, such a feat was not impossible.


    And if that was the case, Mark...


    "Yeah, you can. Actually, if you want everyone to migrate there, I''ll lend Spera."


    He had no problems with it.


    But then, Mark added.


    "I won''t rmend it, though."


    "Why?"


    General Faustino asked.


    "Since you guys wanted to meet General Perez, you can see the reason, yourself."


    Mark replied.


    The two Generals were perturbed by Mark''s words. Nheless, they decided to go with what Mark had said. Besides, he clearly agreed to help connect the settlements.


    "Oh, by the way."


    Mark voiced out, remembering something.


    And in front of everyone, Mark began taking a few things out of his ring, putting a few stic containers on the table. Two wererge, but there were a few smaller containers that were put in front of everyone.


    "Time for dessert, I guess?"


    Mark said as he opened therge containers. Onerge container contained an assortment of unfamiliar snacks. The other contained actually contained spaghetti.


    And then, everyone opened the smaller containers in front of them, with their eyes gleaming.


    "Wha..."


    na and Karlene were both surprised and excited.


    "Wh-why do you have cake?!"


    Karlene eximed in childish excitement.


    "It''s Gale''s birthday yesterday, so we cooked a bit of food?"


    Mark replied with a tilt of his head.


    "Wha... Y-you guys had a birthday party and didn''t invite us?!!"


    Karlene''s shocked voice echoed across the tent and outside.


    Well... For a child, missing a birthday party was such a big thing.

 Chapter 901 The New [Mechids], The Possible Development Of [Mechids] Detrimental To Mankind

    <strong>Day 250 - 3:21 PM - Unnamed Mountain, Province of Catanduanes</strong>


    Mark, Mei, and Amihan went out of the central hut and left, flying towards the open sky.


    The situation was quite urgent. It was not in the way that it was a dangerous one. However, Mark wanted to confirm something, and it was better to encounter the [Mechid] before it reached the vige or got into conflict with its residents outside.


    With the three leaving the ce without a word, Ilia and Chimetrice probably noticed it. It would not be much of a problem since they would know that it would be something urgent. Spera would certainly chirp about it, though. After all, she had the personality of a slightly annoying, needy little sister that did not want to be left out by her siblings.


    Back to Mark''s trio, they already flew towards the southeast direction, straight towards where they saw the [Giant Mechid]. If they went this way, there was a higher chance of encountering the iing [Mechid].


    Amihan waved her hand. It caused the group to fly faster as she removed the air resistance around them.


    But then, Mark could not help but focus below them. A blurry figure could be seen moving even faster than they were flying. The person then overtook them and stopped some distance in front of them.


    It was Deriellio, the leader of the [Yasaw] and the one who reported the situation to Diwata Iraya.


    Deriellio''s intention was immediately conveyed to Mark as the small guy waved his hand as he turned his back on them. Then, the [Yasaw] turned into a blur that shot forwards in a direction slightly away from the original path that the three were taking.


    "Amihan, on my shoulder."


    Mark said to Amihan, who immediately grabbed his shoulder. He then held onto Mei''s right hand with his left.


    And then, Mark''s eyes glowed purple as the three of them turned to a surge of ck mist that followed closely behind the leader of the [Yasaws].


    By the speed that Deriellio was moving, it was clear that he was waiting for Mark''s group to reach him. And when they arrived just about two feet above the leader of the [Yasaws], he fully sped up and engulfed the three with his ability.


    It was the racial ability of the [Yasaws] allowing them to move fast as if they were shortening space itself.


    No matter how many times Mark saw this, it looked amazing. In Otaku terms, this ability could be something akin to [Shukuchi] or [Ground Shrink]. These were skills that would reduce the spatial distance between two points and clearly were what they were seeing right now.


    Without needing to use his [Shadow Mist Movement], Mark''s group moved forwards with Deriellio at inhuman speeds. Despite flying at normal speeds, the scene around them blurred as if it was the world that was moving and not them.


    And in around half a minute, the whole group reached the peak of the next mountain southeast of where the vige was.


    Deriellio immediately stopped at the peak allowing the three tond safely. Then, the leader of the [Yasaws] pointed somewhere at the southern foot of the mountain they stood.


    "Enemy, there."


    Deriellio said with certainty.


    How Deriellio was sure where the enemy was something to be curious about.


    But as Mark concentrated on the surroundings, it became clear how Deriellio knew where the enemy was despite being the person to deliver the news.


    All around the ce. There were over a hundred [Yasaws] watching for threats. Around a dozen of them were keeping their eye on the enemy at a safe distance.


    Being the same race created by the same curse, it was no surprise that [Yasaws] could connect to each other. This must be how Deriellio was certain where the enemy was despite his absence in the field. After all, they were former children lost in the woods, turned into magical beings by Demons as servants, and were granted some abilities. The ability tomunicate with each other even from far away must be one of them. Or maybe, it was Deriellio''s unique skill as the most powerful among their race.


    In any case, how Deriellio did things was not the urgent thing right now. Knowing where the enemy was, Mark, Mei, and Amihan flew down the mountain.


    Mark then called out to the [Photokinesis Mental Crystal] and made the three of them invisible to the surroundings. This would make it harder for most enemies to see them. This made Mark nce at Amihan. It would be nice if she would be able to control the temperature of the air around them. But in her current state, her use of her magical energy would be more of an enemy beacon than concealing them.


    It did not take long for the three to find the enemy. After all, it was moving straight in the opposite direction.


    Like what Deriellio reported, it was a new [Mechid] with eight legs. Even Mark''s group that fought [Mechids] before had never seen such a [Mechid].


    A [Mechid] with eight legs. It was definitely a spider. It was the first time they had seen a [Mechid] shaped like a spider. It was about the size of a family van, having the width of an entire twone street from the toe of the longest leg to the other.


    Attached on the second section of the [Mechid''s] body, the spider''s cephalothorax, was a pair of mounted weapons. It seemed to beser weapons simr to those of most [Mechids]. However, the weapons were bulkier and had two emitters each.


    A huge mechanical spider with bulkyser weapons sure was a menacing sight.


    Mark signaled the two and led the way to an area in the distance where the [Spider Mechid] would likely pass by in a few moments. This way, they should be able to have a closer look while keeping a safe distance as it passes by.


    It did not even take time, and the [Spider Mechid] came. It was fast at moving through rough mountain terrain despite its size due to its spider-like structure.


    Mark frowned as he focused on the [Spider Mechid''s] body.


    The [Mechids] had a distinct feature. It was something present among all [Mechids] they encountered so far.


    It was the ssy smooth white-colored exterior that the [Mechids] had, probably due to the mainponents that made up their bodies.


    From what Mark had seen, thatponent was likely the reason why even normal [Mechids] could withstand bullets and explosions. The very reason why these space robots were hard to fight and destroy.


    But this [Spider Mechid], even Mei and Amihan could tell it was different.


    The [Spider Mechid] had a grayish copper-colored exterior. Its body looked ssy and smooth, but it seemed to be made of mixed metalpounds different from other [Mechids] they had seen before.<sub> </sub>


    This confirmed Mark''s suspicion.


    In fact, Mark already felt weird when he heard about the attacksing from the [Giant Mechid].


    Even the human soldiers, all equipped with high caliber weapons and explosives, were having a hard time dealing with [Mechids]. But from the story they just heard beforeing here, the magical creatures of this forest managed to deal with the [Mechids] while having the least casualties possible.


    These magical creatures were physically superior to humans and had magical abilities. However, these advantages did not necessarily mean they would overpower [Mechids], which had superior technology evenpared to humans that these magical creatures feared.


    With bodies that could withstand explosions, there was no way that these magical creatures would be able to fight [Mechids] with only a few casualties and injuries. There was no way their spears and arrows would pierce through the [Mechids''] bodies. Magic might work, but it would depend on what kind of magic. Unfortunately, the magic of creatures they had seen so far was undeveloped and more like the use of raw magical energy. It was something that would barely deal with [Mechids].


    It was unless there was some other factor. A factor that a [Mechid Factory] could possibly pull.


    Using Earth''s metals to create new [Mechids].


    The appearance of this [Spider Mechid] confirmed Mark''s suspicion. A [Mechid] made up of Earth''s metals.


    And since it was made with materials different from the original [Mechids], it was less durable. But that fact did not diminish the threat that [Mechids] brought. In fact, it was more dangerous than before.


    It was because [Mechids] was now proven capable of reproduction using Earth''s resources.


    If the [Giant Mechid] stuck in the mountains was left alone, it could likely amass an army of its own. Not only that, but it would not stop producing new [Mechids] as long as it could find resources around it.


    But aside from the material that the [Spider Mechid] was made off, Mark also noticed one other possible problem.


    Since the start, Mark did not really pay much attention to this issue. After all, it was not easy to notice, considering they barely had any knowledge about [Mechids]. But as the group fought more [Mechids] during their journey, the issue became more and more noticeable.


    [Mechids] had no resemnce to any creatures on Earth. Bipedal [Mechids], which looked humanoid, did exist, but it did not necessarily mean they were based on humans.


    All the [Mechids] they encountered and fought so far had appearances that looked more inclined to raw geometry than resembling living creatures. For example, the [Giant Mechid] looked like a giant prism with legs.


    There was only one instance where the [Mechid] resembled an animal. It was near the New Infanta Settlement. The [Shark Mechid] in the river stopping the people there from drawing water.


    This [Spider Mechid] was definitely the only other time they saw a [Mechid] closely resembling a living creature from Earth so far.


    If what Mark had in mind was right, it just meant that the [Mechids] were also changing. And the center of that change was the [Mechids] that could serve as factories to create more of their kind.


    But why would they change?


    While the change of materials to build the [Mechids] might change due to the resources avable on Earth, why would the [Mechids] choose to develop into something that resembled creatures from Earth?


    "Adaptability, huh..."


    Mark murmured.


    The body structures [Mechids] had were not that efficient and effective in traversing Earth''s current terrain.


    Since the artificial that the [Mechids] came from might not have these natural features such as mountains, their original designs were not suitable for Earth''s natural geography. Thus, hindering their movements and capabilities.


    Encounter with [Mechids] in the middle of the mountains was also rare since they could not effectively traverse the mountains. It was worse for [Mechids] that use wheels to move. Wheeled kinds of [Mechids] were basically non-existent in mountain areas.


    But since the [Mechid] before them had the form of a spider, the issue with mobility through Earth''s rough terrain was solved. It was moving up the mountain unhindered due to its legs, allowing it to climb steep slopes and uneven terrain.


    Mark, Mei, and Amihan stared at the [Spider Mechid] as it passed by. It did not even spend time under their stares as it rushed up the mountain towards the magical vige.


    "Gege, what are we going to do?"


    Mei asked Mark, waiting for his orders.


    Mark shrugged with a frown.


    "Shoot it," Mark decided. "Just try a normal bullet first. Pierce the head, but try not to destroy the weapons."


    Mei nodded to Mark''s words as she moved to where the [Spider Mechid] passed by just now. She then aimed at the spider''s back and shot.


    <strong>BANG!</strong>


    As Mark ordered, Mei fired a regr sniper bullet first.


    And to their surprise, a hole was punctured through the [Spider Mechid''s] body. The bullet pierced from behind through its body and out of its head.


    Without showing any kind of resistance, the [Spider Mechid] copsed in one shot. It never moved again, indicating that it was basically destroyed.


    ck pungent liquid spurted out of the hole made on the [Spider Mechid''s] body. But that was it.


    The battle against the new [Mechid] ended strangely, leaving more questions and spections for Mark to find answers for.

 Chapter 902 Analyzing The Dead [Mechid], An Unexpected Threat They Did Not Notice

    <strong>Day 250 - 3:40 PM - Central Mountains, Municipality of Viga, Province of Catanduanes</strong>


    "That''s it?"


    Amihan asked, unable to believe what just happened.


    [Mechids] were never this fragile. Even if Mei shot a bullet infused with [Magical Energy], it would usually take a few hits unless it was a fatal shot.


    Thus, a regr bullet from Mei''s [Shooting Moon de] should not be able to end the [Spider Mechid]. Furthermore, it was shot from the back, where the thickest part of its body was. No one expected that bullet to not only punch a hole in its thorax but pierce through its whole body and even the head.


    The bullet even came out of the [Mechid''s] body, hitting a rock in front.


    "Don''t let your guard down."


    Mark warned.


    The [Spider Mechid] might have fallen and was not moving, but as these were mechanical beings, the possibility of it still functioning was quite high.


    After all, [Mechids] was unlike the [Infected] or any living being on Earth.


    The [Infected] was basically dered as killed as long as the brain was destroyed or the head was fatally damaged. It was themon circumstance unless the mutation affected such weakness. For example, a distorted [Infected] where the body parts were all jumbled up.


    As for living beings, a certain amount of damage could render them unconscious if not killed.


    However, the [Mechids] could not feel pain, nor did all of them have their heads as weaknesses. As long as their circuits remained functioning, they would not stop moving.


    There were three ways to stop with [Mechids] known so far.


    The first method was to destroy their power source, which was hard to determine from the outside.


    The second way was to destroy the processing unit, which was much harder than finding the power source.


    Lastly, and the mostmon, was to bombard [Mechids] with attacks until it stopped moving. Basically, it meant to stop the [Mechid] using brute force. While effective, it required much effort and the [Mechid] mostly ended up as unrecognizable scrap metal filled with ck goo.


    In the current situation, it was rather hard to tell what happened. Did Mei hit either the processing unit or the power source? However, if it was the power source of the [Mechid] that was hit, there would be more violent reactions. For example, an explosion or electric sparks violently scattering all over the [Mechid''s] body.


    Then, it was most likely that Mei managed to hit the processing unit, or at least a vital part of the [Mechid''s] body.


    Carefully, Mark led the other two and approached the [Spider Mechid]. Of course, without deactivating the [Optical Camouge] that hid them.


    Sparks of electricity could be seening out of the hole the bullet pierced through while spewing the ck liquid contained inside the [Mechid''s] body.


    And that was it.


    Mark began to cautiously move parts of the [Spider Mechid] while observing it closely. He even pulled the hind leg of the [Mechid], trying to see if it would show any movement.


    Fortunately, the [Spider Mechid]y without any movements. It was clearly broken. Only then that Mark decided to deactivate the [Optical Camouge] hiding them.


    At this time, a shadow came to see the situation. It was Deriellio, who was clearly amazed as to how the enemy was killed too fast.


    "Don''te too close yet."


    Mark warned the leader of the [Yasaws] as he continued to examine the [Spider Mechid]. And knowing why, Deriellio nodded without question.


    It was not only Deriellio who was surprised. There were a lot of [Yasaws] watching the situation. Since Mark''s group was hidden, none of them saw what happened and only saw how something punctured the [Spider Mechid] before it copsed.


    The amazement was clear to these child-minded creatures. After all, they had to painstakingly deal with the constant attacks and having casualties and injuries repeatedly. Yet, the enemy this time was killed instantly.


    Mark could not care about the emotions he was detecting from the surroundings. His focus was on the body and structure of the [Spider Mechid].


    While making sure not to get in contact with the pungent ck goo, Mark tried to measure the thickness of the [Mechid''s] armor through the bullet hole. And as Mark had seen from most of the [Mechids] he saw before, it was the same thickness.


    This meant that the only factor that allowed Mei''s bullet to pierce through its armor was the material used in creating the [Mechid]. Now that they could look at it closely, they could see different discolorations on the [Mechid''s] body, indicating undeveloped use of materials and wrong ratios to strengthen the metal alloy.


    Mei''s weapon sure was something powerful above the guns people normally had. Even so, its regr bullet was far from something that would instantly kill a normal [Mechid].


    It meant that even if the [Mechids] were using Earth''s resources to create more of their own, human weapons could fight them. It was a nice piece of good news over the fact that [Mechids] would presumably never be wiped out of existence after their arrival on Earth.


    The old [Mechids] might be phased out like old gadgets. However, it was not because they were inferior but because the resources needed to make more of them did not exist on Earth. On the other hand, new [Mechids] made of Earth''s resources would appear in increasing numbers.


    While these new [Mechids] could be dealt with by Earth''s weapons, it did not lessen the danger.


    The poption of the [Infected] might not face arge increase in the future. The living poption was already decreased so much that fewer and fewer were joining the ranks of the flesh-eaters. However, the [Infected] was not growing weaker but stronger.


    It was the opposite for the [Mechids]. They might be weaker as time went on. But if there were more [Factory Type Mechids] scattered around Earth and were not found and dealt with, their numbers would only increase as time went by.


    In decades, the threat that could wipe out the living poption of Earth might not be the [Infected] but these virus-hacked robots.


    With those in mind, Mark''s attention was then turned to the weapons that the [Spider Mechid] had. While the armor of the [Spider Mechid] was clearly made from a mix of metals from Earth, the weapons were not. It was installed on the [Spider Mechid''s] body, but it looked too unnatural. It was due to the fact that it had the same color and design as the [Mechids] that originally crashed to Earth.


    By the looks of it, the weapons of the [Mechids] from space could not be recreated using Earth''s resources, or in the least, the resources that could be used as a substitute to create the weapons were not found inside the crater the [Giant Mechid] was trapped inside.


    "We still have time."


    Mark murmured while looking at the [Spider Mechid].


    Yes, they still had time. A leeway until the [Mechids] found a way to utilize Earth resources properly.<sub> </sub>


    Would the [Mechids] continue to develop?


    They would, without a doubt. It was just a matter of time. These new fragile bodies [Mechids] would be stronger as the [Mechids] find the right way to create metal alloys using Earth''s metals. The ones they could create in the future might even be stronger than what humans developed so far.


    And worse, those weapons. Once the [Mechids] finally managed to create energy weapons out of Earth''s resources, they would be more dangerous.


    Mark then turned to Deriellio.


    "Are you guys going to retrieve this?"


    Mark then pointed at the dead [Mechid].


    "Collect? Yes," Deriellio replied as he pointed at the ck gooing out of the [Mechid''s] body. "Destroys forest when left alone."


    Mark already suspected such. Given that Diwata Iraya had weapons of [Mechids] in hand, they were retrieving the bodies of the [Mechids] they defeated.


    Furthermore, it seemed that they managed to find a way to dispose of the ck liquiding out of the [Mechids''] bodies when damaged.


    "I''ll call people," Deriellio said. "Carry dead enemy."


    Then, Deriellio vanished, leaving Mark, Mei, and Amihan to guard the ce.


    It was not a hard task, and it was better to not let anyone approach the [Mechid] carelessly. Not like that the [Yasaws] in the area were stupid to not know that.


    Unfortunately...


    CREAK... CLICK!


    A muffled creaking and clicking sound urred unheard by everyone in the vicinity of the [Mechid].


    No one noticed or heard the click, muffled by the crackles of the electricity on the [Mechid''s] body.


    Unknown to them...


    Someone... No... Something... Something was watching them in the short moment they were discussing things around the [Mechid].


    ***


    In a certain ce somewhere, arge screen monitor reflected a scene on a certain mountain. The scene was ryed by a broken eight-legged robot, showing its assants.


    There was no living thing watching the feed on the screen. Instead, it was the screen itself that was watching what it was showing.


    The camera zoomed in and out of the scene, showing faces, clothing, equipment, and many other things. In each zoom, patterns and what seemed to be letters encased by a dividing electronic window would appear, detailing descriptions, analysis, and even capabilities of the things and people the camera zoomed into.


    But as if frustrated, the scene zoomed in repeatedly on the figures in the scene, unfamiliar to the one analyzing it. Letters and figures shed faster and faster repeatedly, only to show errors here and there.


    The analysis could not be done as there was barely any dater collected about the assants.


    It was because the eight-legged robot was instantly dispatched. As the remaining power within the robot was used up, the camera shut down.


    <strong>CRACKLE! CRACKLE!</strong>


    Sparks of electricity scattered around the screen. Upon closer look, it was cracked in many ces, and its frame was broken.


    ck goo oozed out of the walls around the screen, releasing impulses of energy unto the screen, forcing it to analyze the scene beyond its current capabilities.


    The screen then glowed red, same for the surroundings. The unknown assants at the scene were now marked as dangerous and needed to be urgently eliminated.


    Then, the scene showing the enemies vanished from the screen, reced by hundred to thousands of words, diagrams, equations, and calctions. None of which showed any simrity to Earth''s way of doing such things.


    The ck goo in the surroundings began to boil, slowly gathering towards the screen and the dozens of apparatus around the room.


    As the ck goo engulfed everything, the things currently shown on therge screen began to move at an elerated pace. Words shed and disappeared, moving upwards and vanishing. Diagrams were created, erased, and recreated.


    Graphs showing geographic measurements were drawn, rotating rapidly and selecting paths repeatedly.


    ns were being created, not only to traverse terrains but to fight enemies.


    Programs followed in creation, making an artificial intelligence to install. A dangerous AI to eliminate enemies.


    Then, figures of animals, insects, and even creatures from the northwestern mountain appeared on the screen one by one with each disappearing and reced in a millisecond. From the weakest gigantic worms to the ck-skinned children roaming the nearby areas shed on the screen.


    Sparks spread throughout the room. A blueprint was now shown. A blueprint of something akin to different creatures crammed into one body.


    And from there, the rest of the factory began to move as it deployed its drones to gather resources they could find.


    Robots with drill arms began to dig thend. Some bulky wheeled robots appeared carrying metals that fell from space.


    Inside the structure, the robotic arms moved, ready to create. Old weapons in storage were taken out, ready for use for the new creation.


    The crater became busy due to the sudden appearance of enemies that could not be analyzed.


    And starting here, from the factory trapped inside the crater in the mountains of central Catanduanes. A dangerous individual was about to be born.

 Chapter 903 Curiousity And Frustration, Investigating The New [Mechids] And Their Possible Goal

    <strong>Day 251 - 9:20 AM - Vige, Unnamed Mountain, Province of Catanduanes</strong>


    It was the next day after arriving at the vige of the magical creatures.


    After retrieving the body of the [Spider Mechid], Mark''s trio returned to the vige with Deriellio and those tasked to carry the broken robot.


    The ones tasked to carry [Mechid] were several hairy, bulky, tall creatures that smelled like tobo. [Kapres] that were popr in Philillippine''s myths and legends. Having their muscled bodies, they had enough strength to carry the heavy [Spider Mechid] and were tall enough to avoid getting in contact with the ck goo.


    Furthermore, they brought a crystal that encased the [Mechid''s] body with something like a barrier, stopping more goo from spilling as it was being carried around.


    Mark was curious about the method these magical creatures deal with the broken [Mechids] and could not help but watch. This magical method to carry the dangerous [Mechids] was surely the first for Mark.


    As for Mark''s group, they could just put the [Mechids''] bodies inside his and Mei''s rings. They could do the same this time but let the magical creatures do their work out of curiosity.


    Carrying the [Spider Mechid] back was not time-consuming because of the [Yasaws]. What took longer was the way to purge the ck goo.


    The ck goo would evaporate on its own, leaving not a single drop behind. However, the time it would take for a ss of ck goo to evaporate would be around a day and more forrger amounts. But before it all could evaporate, it would leave damage to the surroundings, such as poisoned nts and corrupted terrain.


    Furthermore, the fumes the ck goo exuded were also dangerous to living creatures in the long run. It was not only pungent but would causeplications if inhaled inrge amounts. And the fumes would intensify during the duration the ck goo evaporated into nothingness.


    The question now was, why were the inhabitants of the magical vige collecting the bodies of the [Mechids]? Was it to stop the bodies from spreading ck goo and corrupting the surroundings? Or did they have other purposes?


    When Mark returned, he learned that it was actually both.


    As Diwata Iraya said, they did not keep the bodies because of the smell. Instead, they dumped all of the bodies into one ce far away from the mountain. It was a magically sealed hole in the ground where both the bodies and the ck goo were securely contained. It was their way of dealing with the ck goo that could cause destruction just by existing.


    But before they threw away the bodies, they harvested parts from the [Mechids]. For example, the weapons. It was also the same for the exterior armor and the end of the legs. These parts were not directly in contact with the ck goo and could be harvested safely.


    The weapons taken from the [Mechids] were then either collected or put to use. It was not like the magical creatures could use the futuristic out-of-this-world weapons, but they could make use of the melee weapons from the [Mechids], such as the de arms and the sharply pointed limbs that could be used as spears.


    As for the metal harvested, it seemed that the magical creatures were melting the metal into usable stuff such as weapons. While they rarely use swords, their spears and arrows could make use of these metals than just in sharpened stones that could not prate the bodies of the [Mechids] at all.


    While the [Kapres] was taking off any usable stuff from the [Spider Mechid], Mark managed to get a good look at the bodies already dumped into the magically sealed hole.


    The hole was prettyrge. It was about ten meters in diameter, allowing Mark what was inside. It was not only the robots, however. It seemed that they also used this hole to dispose of the [Infected] they killed, seeming the distorted bodies of decaying mutated corpses.


    Initially, Mark thought it would not be a good idea to mix broken [Mechids] and dead [Infected] in one disposal area. But to his surprise, he was proven wrong.


    The ck goo from the [Mechids] actually could elerate the dposition of the corpses. It resulted in the release of more pungent gas as the ck goo evaporated, but it was not a problem since the hole was sealed with magic.


    Back to the broken [Mechids], Mark found something odd.


    The first [Mechids] were definitely those that looked sleek with whiter color. These [Mechids] were barely stripped of anything since there was no way the magical creatures would be able to break down and process the extremely sturdy metals that came from space. Thus, these ones were left more intact than others.


    What baffled Mark was the new [Mechids] that had a darker color. Like the [Spider Mechid], their bodies were made of mixed metals, resulting in a rather disorganized coloration.


    But what was with this variety of forms?


    Each of the new [Mechids] looked different from another. Or, in the least, have different parts while having a simr few. For example, there were two bipedal [Mechids] with simr torsos and heads but different limbs. There was also a quadruped one with the same torso, looking like a bacteriophage.


    Mark was confused and could not find a proper guess as to what was going on. Unfortunately, the day was goingte, and it was better to continue with the observation the next day.


    They ate dinner with Aliya and Gennie, who was happy to share a meal with their rtives. Of course, there was Spera chirping about why Mark and Mei left without telling them anything. It was something expected of her, but it made the dinner livelier.


    And now, morning came. Right after finishing breakfast, Mark immediately went down the mountain back to the disposal site.


    Using a long wooden pole, Mark poked into the hole and tried moving the broken robots and decaying corpses to have a better look at the [Mechids]. If he could, he might have flown into the hole. Unfortunately, the fumes inside the hole were pretty thick, although not that visible to the eye. Going inside might not be a good idea since even the wooden pole immediately showed discoloration the moment it entered the hole.


    Mark continued to observe the [Mechids] one by one, as much as he could. It was when Diwata Iraya arrived with Morlkil as her guard.


    "Did you manage to figure something?"


    Diwata Iraya asked.


    It was not surprising that she was interested in what Mark was doing. Knowing more about these space robots would also benefit her and her people in the long run.


    "I need more information."


    Mark asked back without removing most of his attention to the broken [Mechids] inside the hole.


    "What kind of information?"


    Diwata Iraya inquired in response.


    From there, Mark asked several questions and learned more things.<sub> </sub>


    Like what Aliya exined yesterday, the [Mechids] attacked the vige consecutively. The intervals were rather random, between three days to an entire week. However, the longer the interval was, the more they worried.


    If the interval was short, there would only be one or two [Mechids] attacking the vige. Sometimes, there would be three. However, when the one-week interval came, and everyone thought it was over, more than five came, causing more casualties and injuries.


    Fortunately, the longer interval only happened twice so far, with the shorter happening more often. Although the magical vige had to deal with constant attacks, it was way safer fighting smaller groups of [Mechids] thanrger ones.


    Then, Mark asked a question about the simr-looking [Mechids]. And he found the answer quite strange.


    From what Diwata Iraya remembered, the simr-looking [Mechids] were the ones who attacked at the same time. Apparently, [Mechids] attacking in groups would have a simr appearance while beingpletely different to the previous and future attackers that came.


    Furthermore, during each attack, the [Mechids] would have different weapons and attack patterns, making them harder to fight with the same methods they did before.


    Mark scratched his head. It was as if new [Mechids] were being designed and tested, coping with the terrain and other factors. In fact, it seemed that the bipedal and humanoid [Mechids] were the first and older attackers. And as time went by, fewer and fewer bipedal and humanoid [Mechids] appeared, reced by quadruped and multi-legged ones.


    It was not only the legs, but even the shapes of the torso and arms were changing.


    Mark also noticed that the [Mechids] seemed to be bulkier andrger as time went on. It was something odd since if someone wanted to traverse mountainous terrain, a lighter body would be far more suitable.


    Many hypotheses and other information were discussed by Mark and Diwata Iraya until Mark was called for lunch. Time sure passed fast if one was spending time on something they were interested in.


    Unfortunately, no concrete conclusion was derived from the information they had so far.


    After eating lunch, Mark was back again at the disposal site, investigating the broken [Mechids]. He was pretty dedicated in this for some reason. And for him, even a single clue could help a lot in this situation.


    During this time, a huge question popped up in Mark''s mind.


    Why was this vige being targeted by the [Mechids] in the first ce?


    If attacks wereing constantly, it meant that the [Mechids] were specifically targeting this vige for some reason. After all, Mark did not hear a lot of instances of [Mechids] attacking the current Codon Settlement. In fact, it was rare there, and there were more encounters of [Evolved Feral Animals] attacking the settlement.


    Mark already knew that [Mechids] were far more intelligent than themon [Infected]. However, he never expected them to be this intelligent. Was it supposed to be expected of futuristic high-tech space robots?


    But for them toe in groups... And using Earth''s resources...


    "Prototypes..."


    Mark murmured.


    Prototypes were the preliminary models of something, especially machines. These models were not something that could be used to fully fulfill the intended purpose of the machine. And rather, it was the testing phase of the final product.


    "Factory... Prototypes..."


    Mark repeatedly murmured.


    Using the new resources it managed to get on Earth, the [Giant Mechid], a [Factory ss Mechid], started creating prototypes of new [Mechids], which did not only use the new resources. They were also created to cope with the things the other prototypes had gone through and experienced.


    The first [Mechids] were used to test the inhabitants of the vige and the terrain of this ce. Then, the [Mechids] were developed, being able to adjust to the attacks and tactics of the magical creatures, forcing them to change.


    But in the next attacks, the new [Mechids] would cope with the newly devised tactics, forcing the magical creatures to switch to another.


    At the thought of this, Mark''s eyes went wide.


    How could the next models of [Mechids] develop, coping with the predicaments and experiences of the old models? The factory was all trapped inside the crater, after all.


    "Crimson."


    Mark murmured with a frown, and the murky-ck colored [Bloodchild] appeared out of thin air and plopped unto Mark''s head.


    Gently poking the [Bloodchild] on his head, Mark gave his instructions.


    "Search the area. Try to see if there''s any [Mechids] lurking around in hiding."


    After receiving the instructions, Crimson wobbled and vanished in a puff of ck mist. Mark could feel the little [Bloodchild] leave his side and fly around the mountain undetected.


    Crimson returned an hour after with the unfortunate, or maybe, fortunate news. There was no sign of any [Mechids] around the mountain aside from the ones broken inside the hole.


    Mark frowned at this result as it made no sense. But before he could continue investigating the [Mechids] inside the hole, the shadow of the leader of the [Yasaws] appeared behind him.


    "Diwata Iraya asks for your help," Deriellio said in an urgent tone. "The giant enemy spawned a new one."


    This report made Mark frown.


    Diwata Iraya had just said earlier that there were a few days intervals on the attacks of the [Mechids]. Then, why was there a new attack when thest one was just yesterday?

 Chapter 904 The Strange [Mechid], An Enemy Created In Attempt To Counter Mark And His Group

    <strong>Day 251 - 1:32 PM - Unnamed Mountain, Municipality of Viga, Province of Catanduanes</strong>


    Immediately after receiving the message, Mark and Deriellio headed back to the vige. Because of Deriellio, the travel that would take a few minutes only needed a few seconds.


    Mark found the situation to be very odd. Although the attack was too sudden, why would Diwata Iraya need to call for him? It was not the first time, and although casualties were not surprising, the residents of the vige had managed to thwart any dangers so far.


    And given the usual attitude of the magical creatures, it would be uncanny for them to rely on outsiders to protect their own turf unless it was unnecessary.


    However, instead of finding Diwata Iraya waiting for Mark, he found Mei and the members of his group waiting for him, along with Aliya and Gennie.


    "What''s going on? Where''s Iraya?"


    Mark asked his ancestor.


    "Diwata Iraya had already gone to the southeastern foot of the mountain," Aliya answered Mark''s question with a worried expression. "It seems like there''s something different with the enemy this time, and the first group to ambush it was all killed already."


    The people of this vige organized their warriors in groups to fight the [Mechids]. Depending on the kind, shape, number, and possible strength of the enemy present, a different group would be sent to ambush it.


    Although this tactic was not exactly wless, it had worked so far. Having different groups with different strategies had helped in dealing with the [Mechids] attacking the vige. There would be casualties and injuries, but it was something to be expected when fighting a dangerous enemy.


    Besides, even if the first group sent to battle failed in their ambush, they should be able to flee. The forest and the mountains were their homes, and they knew every nook and cranny of the ce to allow them to escape. And then, another group could be sent and fight the enemy using a different tactic.


    But this time, the group sent to ambush the enemy was killed before the battle could even start. It was more than enough to cause worry to the people of the vige. Thus, Diwata Iraya and Morlkil had to go intercept the enemy.


    Unfortunately, in Diwata Iraya''s current state, it was unknown if she would be able to help that much.


    Suddenly...


    <strong>SHOOM!</strong>


    A beam of light pierced the sky from the southeastern foot of the mountain. It immediately took the attention of anyone that could see it as it glowed brighter than the sun in the sky.


    It was hard to tell why that beam was fired to the sky, but it was clear who shot it. A beam of light that was strong without any magical fluctuation in the surroundings, the cause was definitely the enemy.


    The beam disappeared as fast as it appeared. Mark immediately turned to the rest of his group.


    "Mei''er, Amihan, Spera, Chimetrice, we''re going," Mark ordered. "The rest, stay in the vige for now."


    The little girls were quite disappointed with Mark''s decision. After all, they would be left behind again. However, none of themined, knowing that Mark was just worried for their safety. The enemies they had this time were far more unpredictable than humans nor the [Infected].


    Human actions could be predicted by Mark by reading their emotions. The [Infected], on the other hand, was also unpredictable, but this unpredictability was limited by the fact that [Mutagen] could only affect its victims physically. And even if [Magical Infected] already existed, their magical abilities remained the same with only their physical body changing and mutating.


    The [Mechids] was different. They had no idea what they were capable of and what kinds of technology these alien robots possessed until it was seen.


    Thus, a [Infected] Sinogo was actually a more usible enemy than the [Giant Mechid] trapped in the southeastern mountains. Sinogo might be strong as a former deity that gained a fragment of the power of a god. However, Sinogo''s abilities were predictable due to knowledge acquired from the myths and the people Mark encountered beforehand. They only had to match Sinogo''s strength in order to kill him, although they had pretty much struggled with it.


    The [Giant Mechid]? Who knows what that monster was capable of. It could be nothing but a gigantic piece of scrap metal, but it could also be a nuclear bomb waiting to explode.


    All things had to be carefully considered if they wanted to deal with the [Giant Mechid]. It was the same for the minions popping out of it every now and then.


    With the team decided, Mark''s group of five moved together with Deriellio to where the beam of light came from.


    The group immediately arrived at the battlefield only to see an unfortunate scene.


    Arge patch of the forest at the foot of the mountain was cut down, leaving a circr patch ofnd littered with fallen trees and nts. The trees were clearly cut with something sharp, seeing the smooth cut trunks of the trees.


    But with those fallen trees were fallen magical creatures, sliced and diced the same as the trees and nts in the surroundings.


    And the culprit stood tall at the center of it all.


    "An Agrissa? No, it just looked simr."


    Mark could not help but blurt out with a frown on his face after seeing the enemy.


    The [Mechid] wasrge. It stood four meters tall with a t crab-shaped body and legs simr to a spider''s extended underneath its body. On top of its body were the same type of dual emitterser weapons simr to yesterday''s [Spider Mechid]. In fact, its legs also looked the same, although having des extended on both the outer and inner parts of the forelegs. This appearance made the forelegs look simr to a mantis''.


    As Mark''s group arrived, Diwata Iraya was extending her arms wide. Then, a magical barrier was created, simr to the one found in the disposal pit.


    Seeing the light in the surroundings distort a bit, the [Mechid] seemed rmed. It began firing itssers in every direction, only for the rapid-firingsers to vanish upon touching the barrier.


    When thesers seemed to show no effect on the barrier but had done no harm to its body, the [Mechid] stopped moving at the center of it, seemingly waiting for the next move of its enemies.


    Mark''s group arrived at Diwata Iraya''s side, which was quite a distance away from the battle.


    "You have arrived."


    Diwata Iraya said to Mark while her attention was focused on the enemy inside the barrier she created.


    "What''s the situation?"


    Mark asked.


    "It is as you can see," Diwata Iraya answered distraughtly. "Our warriors tried to fight it, only to end up in those conditions. Dead without their bodies intact. The ones you see are only a fraction as some Spirits and Elementals had already vanished or turned to dust."


    Mark looked at the battlefield. Aside from the bodies, he saw a lot of arrows and spears littered around the [Mechid]. These arrows were not just your regr arrows but fired by [Anggitays] with the help of [Sylphs] and [Yasaws]. The prating power of these arrows and spears was pretty high and could probably pierce through a fully armored tank. In fact, this was how the magical creatures of this mountain managed to fight the [Mechids] before.


    Yet, not a single scratch could be seen on the [Mechid] at all.


    "Its body is different from the previous ones."


    Mark murmured as he observed the [Mechid].


    Compared to the [Mechids] that Mark saw in the disposal pit, the [Mechid] before them looked far different. Its body had an unworldly luster despite having a color that looked like a mix of iron and copper.<sub> </sub>


    At this time, a shout could be heard from the remaining warriors.


    "SHOOT!"


    At that signal, a barrage of arrows, shooting as fast as an anti-materiel rifle, rained unto the [Mechid].


    Simr to the barrier in the disposal pit, it allowed entry but not exit, trapping the [Mechid] within but allowing any attack to enter from outside.


    But as the [Mechid] detected movements in the surroundings, slots on its body opened, and something made of light enveloped its body.


    The arrows were deflected as they hit the light enveloping the [Mechid]. Strangely, the arrows did not break upon impact despite their strength and bounced off in different directions before falling to the ground.


    "Like before, it had no effect."


    Diwata Iraya said as she saw the result.


    "A [Kic Barrier]... This is unexpected..."


    Mark said, seeing the light that enveloped the [Mechid''s] body. Something that he did not expect to see in real life.


    "An Agrissa lool-a-like with rapid-firingsers, de forelegs, and a [Kic Barrier]. What an awfulbination."


    Mark added, confusing the ones that could hear him as to what in the world was he saying.


    After the barrage of arrows ended, the light enveloping the [Mechid] vanished. It also closed the slots on its body before remaining still as before.


    <strong>TOOTTOOTOOOOT!</strong>


    A horn sounded, signaling the change of tactics. The warriors hidden in the trees around the battlefield all moved.


    <strong>SWOOOSH!</strong>


    One arrow shot right behind the [Mechid]. Since the barrier was down and it was shot at a blindspot, it should at least hit.


    However, a slot behind the [Mechid] opened, partially protecting its body from the iing arrow. Like before, the arrow was deflected, dealing no damage to the [Mechid].


    Mark and Mei noticed it. While standing still, the [Mechid''s] body had a slight glowing from the gaps of its body.


    While Mark''s group observed, arrows came flying at random intervals, but the result was the same.


    "Gege..."


    Mei whispered.


    "Yeah, I noticed."


    Mark nodded, understanding what Mei was about to say.


    When the warriors moved, the glow on the gaps would be visible as if it was scanning the surroundings. The [Mechid] seemed to have a motion detector, detecting movements in its surroundings and locating where its enemies were moving towards. It was also likely that it had a thermal detector and other searching mechanisms, allowing it to thwart any iing attacks.


    And these functions were clearly not present in the [Mechids] Diwata Iraya and her people encountered in the past.


    "This [Mechid] is made to counter us, isn''t it?"


    Mark deduced to the surprise of everyone.


    Yesterday, the [Spider Mechid] was killed without knowing where the enemy was and was killed by a single bullet shot by Mei.


    Now, the [Mechid] was not only possibly packed with detection functions but a [Kic Barrier] specifically designed to stop small, fast-moving projectiles. It was all to counter what happened on the [Spider Mechid] yesterday, getting killed by a single bullet from an unknown assant.


    This circumstance just bolstered Mark''s theory more. They were being watched, and the new [Mechids] was being made to counter the things the previous ones experienced.


    And if there were no [Mechids] lurking around and monitoring things, there was only one answer.


    They were being watched through the [Mechids] that they were fighting.


    The sound of the horn was heard several more times. Even magical attacks were fired toward the [Mechid]. However, while the magical non-physical attacks seemed to pass through the [Kic Barrier], it was rather impossible to hit the [Mechid] as it moved as fast as the top speed of a race car without needing to elerate and could suddenly stop in ce as if disregarding physics.


    At this point, the warriors were losing options.


    The group then began to listen to Mark. He already formted a n while they watched the magical creatures fight the [Mechid]. After several minutes of discussion, they began to move.


    "It''s time for us to step out."


    Mark said to Diwata Iraya and his group.


    "Please."


    Diwata Iraya said in gratitude.


    Spera stayed with Diwata Iraya while maintaining a clear view of the battlefield. Chimetrice left the area to do the task Mark gave him.


    On the other hand, Mark, Mei, and Amihan would try to fight the [Mechid].


    And at the moment Mark, Mei, and Amihan entered its detection range, the [Mechid] froze and turned in their direction despite not being fully visible due to the nts and trees in their location.


    "Damn..." Mark said with a bitter smile. "Don''t tell me it can even recognize us."


    The thought that these machines could even remember and recognize their enemies was quite chilling and ufortable thought to have.

 Chapter 905 Fighting The Strange [Mechid], A Battler Of Sheer Speed And Wits

    <strong>Day 251 - 1:35 PM - Unnamed Mountain, Municipality of Viga, Province of Catanduanes</strong>


    The moment that the [Mechid''s] attention turned to them, Mark could not help but feel a chill on his back. He was someone who never feltfortable in front of a camera. And right now, they could confirm that they were being watched and definitely recorded.


    It was an ufortable thought, not to mention dangerous.


    This event should also be getting documented through the sensors of that strange [Mechid].


    Thus, it was hard to just go and fight it using everything they got. If Mark''s group used tactics that the [Giant Mechid] could possibly find a counter tactic to it, the future battles on this ind against [Mechids] would only get harder and harder until they get rid of the [Giant Mechid].


    As the attention of the [Mechid] turned to Mark, Mei, and Amihan, the surrounding warriors outside the barrier thought that it was a good chance. They shot their arrows supported by the [Wind Magic] of the [Sylphs], making the projectiles fly faster than a bullet.


    Unfortunately, like before, none of the arrows reached the [Mechid''s] body as everything they shot was blocked by the veil of light surrounding the pathogen-hacked robot.


    Its attention might be focused on someone else, but the [Mechid] never put down its defenses. Instead, its functions increased as it saw the creatures it considered a threat.


    In the current situation, it was clear that their help would be of no use. Thus, Diwata Iraya ordered the [Yasaws] and [Sylphs] to tell the warriors to stand down and not be a hindrance as Mark''s group took the fight into their hands.


    Mark, Mei, and Amihan approached the area encased by Diwata Iraya''s barrier.


    Without a word, Mark and Mei nodded at each other before running in separate directions.


    Amihan went with Mei in a different direction while Mark went alone, running straight into the barrier.


    And the moment Mark entered the barrier...


    <strong>BOOM!</strong>


    The area where Mark entered was suddenly covered with a cloud of dust and dirt, apanied by the loud sound of something powerfully hitting the ground.


    Everyone was surprised, and it was something they did not expect at all.


    All the creatures around could see the towering figure of the four-meter tall [Mechid] extending both its ded forelegs to where Mark stood before, now covered in a thick cloud of dust and dirt.


    Since the start of the battle, the [Mechid] was more or less on the defensive. It attacked and killed anything that tried to approach it while defending against any other iing attack. It only moved while traveling or evading magical attacks. This was the reason the area devastated by its des was rather confined.


    This was the first time they had seen the [Mechid] go on the full offensive, and it was faster than they had expected. It literally disappeared from its initial position and appeared where Mark had just entered.


    While the [Mechid] was definitely not as fast as the [Yasaw], it could definitelypete with the [Tikbngs], the horse-headed humanoids known for their unfathomable speed without the use of magic.


    But before anyone could wonder what happened to Mark, the [Mechid] turned around and swung its des behind it. There, they saw the cloud of dust get briefly blown away by the strong and swift swing, and inside it, Mark''s figure, who evaded the swing by a hair''s breadth.


    Mark then jumped out of the cloud of dust, leaving a trail of it as he moved. However, the [Mechid] was relentlessly following him, swinging its des at barely perceptible speed. In every swing, only a slight blur and the trail left behind by the shine of its metal des could be seen. This speed was clearly the reason the warriors that tried to fight it in close quarters ended up in pieces.


    What was amazing was that Mark was evading the swipes and shes at a hair''s breadth without breaking a sweat.


    Still, the towering four-meter tall metal monster and a barely two-meter tall Demon fighting at such speeds sure was quite a sight to see.


    But then, as Mark was about to dodge an iing attack, some sort ofpartment suddenly opened behind the right foreleg that was about to swing at him.


    <strong>SHOOM!</strong>


    A sudden sound was heard that anyone was barely able to react to.


    Even Mark was caught off-guard as the speed of the swinging de was increased twofold.


    At thest moment, a hole in space appeared on Mark''s right side, and he pulled out a ck-colored shield with his left hand.


    <strong>CLANG!</strong>


    A deafening sound of metal was heard throughout the mountain as the ded foreleg of the [Mechid] and Mark''s [Blood Metal] shield, the [Defier], shed with each other.


    To no surprise, Mark was blown away by the impact, needing to stabilize himself several meters away. However, the [Mechid] did not go unscathed as it staggered backward.


    Mark stared at the enemy several meters away while ncing at the surface of the [Defier]. The [Mechid''s] attack left an awful mark on the surface, but it did not manage to prate the shield''s defenses. The only problem was the difference in their mass, pushing Mark away from the impact.


    It had been a while since Mark had the opportunity to use this strange shield of his, and it was nice to see it holding up to the strength of the [Mechid].


    Mark could just evade the attack by turning into mist, but he was not keen on doing that early in the battle now that he knew that the enemy was learning their abilities and tactics and was capable of finding ways to counter it.


    Besides...


    Mark smiled.


    It had been a while since Mark had an enemy he could fight toe to toe. A fight with just strength and speed without needing to rely on magical things.


    After staggering backward, the [Mechid] stood still as it recovered. The lens of what seemed to be its eye moved, focusing on Mark''s shield and the damage it managed to do. It was clear that it was trying to estimate something, and the likelihood of it being the properties of Mark''s shield was quite high.


    Mark was no different. After inspecting his shield, his attention fell on the openedpartment behind the right foreleg of the [Mechid]. It was not apartment as it was emitting bluish light from inside. If it was the cause for the swing to speed up twofold, that equipment should be a booster or an elerator.


    And as if the booster on the right foreleg was not enough, severalpartments opened all over the [Mechid''s] body, causing its body to be basked with a bluish hue.


    <strong>SHOOM!</strong>


    The [Mechid] disappeared, moving faster than before. It was not even stepping on the ground as it swooshed towards Mark''s position like a hoverboard.


    At this point, the movement speed of the [Mechid] was barely discernable to the naked eye.


    Mark, however, was already prepared. Seeing it boost the speed of its attack earlier, he already expected that it would have other boosters on its body.


    Sure, these supersonic speed attacks were dangerous. But there would be one w.


    It was how hard it was to control.


    This kind of mechanism would work better in space. But on Earth, many factors would affect its control...


    ...Especially in their current situation where they were confined in a small space because of Diwata Iraya''s barrier.


    Furthermore, it would limit the [Mechid''s] attack pattern to two base actions. It was either swoop past Mark with its des or stop before Mark and sh.


    And there would be one indicator of what the [Mechid] chose to use.<sub> </sub>


    <strong>BOOM!</strong>


    The [Mechid] appeared in front of Mark with a loud bang, as it used its legs to forcefully stop its elerated movements. It then swung its des at Mark at supersonic speeds.


    And that loud bang was the indicator.


    Mark preemptively moved backward before the des were even swung, evading the attack with such ease.


    It was surprising how Mark was able to dodge that, but if one looked at his left eye was already glowing purple, indicating that he was already using his [Future Sight], which allowed him to see moments into the future.


    With the des swung down, it was a good time for Mark to counterattack.


    A hole in space opened to his left, where his right hand pulled a long, segmented de.


    <strong>BAM!</strong>


    Mark shed the [Mechid].


    "Tsk."


    However, Mark could only click his tongue as his sh diverted after hitting the activated [Kic Barrier] of the [Mechid].


    <strong>SWOOSH!</strong>


    The [Mechid] made its own counterattack and swung its right de horizontally at Mark''s legs.


    It forced Mark to jump, and its other de was already about to move Mark, who was supposed to be defenseless while mid-air.


    But Mark did not seem flustered as the iing de swung at him from above. He was even smiling.


    <strong>BANG! CLANG!</strong>


    Something hit the de hard, causing it to deviate from its original trajectory. The attack missed Mark, who retreated before another swing was made.


    The sudden situation caused the [Mechid] to pause for a bit. It seemed that despite being a machine, Mark''s peculiarities caused it to deviate its attention away from someone else.


    That someone else was, without a doubt, Mei, waiting for the best chance to fire her weapon.


    <strong>BANG! BANG!</strong>


    Two shots of the [Shooting Moon de] sounded from behind the trees. Unfortunately, like all the other projectiles shot towards the [Mechid], the bullet bounced in another direction upon hitting the [Kic Barrier].


    With those two shots of the sniper rifle, the [Mechid] realized where Mei was positioned. Unfortunately, it could not detect Mei, who was outside its detection range.


    After all, there was no way a sniper would foolishly enter an enemy''s detection range.


    And those two shots were just a diversion as a soundless bullet flew towards the [Mechid] from behind.


    <strong>CHING!</strong>


    However, that soundless bullet ended up like the others, bouncing off the [Kic Barrier]. Even so, it caused the [Mechid] to pause to scan the surroundings as it was odd that the bullets came from different directions in short intervals.


    But there was no time for the [Mechid] to idle around either as Mark began his attacks.


    Nheless, Mark''s attacks were being hindered by the [Kic Barrier]. It did not stop Mark from attacking with his sword, though.


    In fact, everyone started to notice. Mark''s intention was not to defeat the [Mechid] but to stall for time while enjoying himself.


    Surrounded by the [Kic Barrier], the [Mechid] still tried to scan the surroundings to find Mei. However, it failed no matter how many times it did.


    Thus, the [Mechid] could only turn back to Mark, who failed to break through the [Kic Barrier] with his sheer strength.


    Despite failing, there was no discouragement in Mark''s eyes as he stared at the enemy. In fact, he was smiling as if he was anticipating something.


    The [Mechid] was covered with the bluish light once more as it opened its boosters one more time.


    Would it repeat its previous attack or pass by Mark while trying to bisect him?


    This time, no sound of impact was heard as the zooming sound of the [Mechid''s] boosters echoed continuously.


    But instead of dodging...


    <strong>CLANG!</strong>


    Another deafening sound of metal shing entered everyone''s ears.


    At the center of the barrier of Diwata Iraya, Mark could be seen with his shield raised up and his foot heavily rooted to the ground. In front of him was the [Mechid], whose charge attack was stopped by Mark.


    The shield and the de continued to push one another, but no one was budging a single step. But it could be seen that Mark was struggling to maintain the same position and was on the verge of getting pushed back.


    And at this time...


    <strong>BANG!</strong>


    Another bullet was shot, which unexpectedly came somewhere far behind Mark.


    The [Mechid] was about to step away from its sh with Mark.


    "No you don''t."


    Mark said as he kept his shield in contact with the [Mechid''s] de.


    <strong>CLANG!</strong>


    And to everyone''s surprise, a metallic sound not from the shield and the de was heard.


    The [Mechid] staggered backwards with a dent on the front of its torso, hit by a sniper bullet after failing to activate its [Kic Barrier].

 Chapter 906 A Massive Crash, Ending The [Mechid] In The Most Confusing Way

    <strong>Day 251 - 1:39 PM - Unnamed Mountain, Municipality of Viga, Province of Catanduanes</strong>


    For the first time after the battle against the [Mechid] started, the enemy finally received an attack. This scene was more than enough to make the hearts of the observers jump in glee.


    It might just be a single hit, but it was already a huge thing for the warriors. This metal monstrosity killed many of their allies but had yet to receive a single attack until now. It was all because of that damn barrier they were unable to prate with their weapons.


    But now, a bullet hit the [Mechid], causing it to stagger badly. A small dent could be seen on its front just below its lens.


    Unfortunately, it was just a dent that was barely noticeable. This flimsy amount of damage just proved that it did not only have new equipment but its body was constructed far differently than the ones in the past. It had a strengthened armor capable of withstanding a bullet from Mei''s [Shooting Moon de].


    A regr bullet shot, in the least.


    As it staggered from the hit of Mei''s bullet, Mark took the initiative to attack further.


    While putting his left arm equipped with the [Defier] in front of him, Mark charged forwards.


    The [Mechid] definitely detected Mark''s movement and intention as it retaliated despite its unstable footing. It swung its ded left foreleg at Mark, who was already within its attack range.


    However, because of its unstable footing, the attackcked enough momentum. It was something that Mark immediately took advantage of as he caught the de with his shield while avoiding most of the impact.


    As the [Mechid''s] de and Mark''s shield made contact once again, a projectile flew and wooshed right over Mark''s head.


    PANG!


    Another loud sound echoed as another bullet hit the [Mechid''s] body. It resulted in another dent on the [Mechid] and prolonged its unstable stance.


    With a sneer, Mark decided to repeat what he just did, charging unto the [Mechid] and trying to catch its attack with his shield.


    But, of course, given the intelligence of this [Mechid], such a strategy would not work more than twice.


    As Mark tried to charge to the [Mechid] again, the boosters of the [Mechid] opened. Different from before, the boosters that appeared were facing the front of its body. The boosters glowed, and before Mark could take another step, the [Mechid] disappeared in front of him and appeared further away.


    The [Mechid] was pushed by Mark and Mei to the point it was forced to retreat frantically.


    While it was unclear if these alien robots could simte emotion, it was clear that the way it evaded was ast-second action, considering how its escape was forced, leaving skid marks on the ground as it stopped. Even the tree trunks and other obstacles on the way were pushed away, bouncing off the [Mechid''s] now activated [Kic Barrier].


    And even though it moved away from Mark, it continued to activate its [Kic Barrier] as its lens stared at him. On the other hand, its body continued to glow, indicating that it was searching for the origin of the gunshots, Mei.


    Mark rxed his stance and watched the [Mechid] do its thing. He was not here to defeat this thing. He was here to bide for time.


    And that time wasing near.


    But then, something odd happened.


    The [Mechid] just stood in ce, not doing anything. It was something strange to see. A [Mechid] standing still. It kept the [Kic Armor] activated, ensuring that no one could attack it at its current state.


    Its lens stared at Mark while releasing a vague reddish glow. The bluish glow on its body continued to pulse.


    Mark stared back. One might think that it was initiating some sort of self-destruct sequence. However, he was sure that it was not the case. Everyone here was no regr person. They would realize if it was something dangerous. In the first ce, a self-destructing [Mechid] would begin umting energy which was definitely not what this [Mechid] was doing.


    And while everyone was wondering what was going on, Mark had an inkling of what was happening.


    It was like howputers behave when processingrge amounts of data at once. In order to process certain data faster, other processes needed to be halted for a brief moment.


    In this case, the [Mechid] decided to cease its functions aside from the [Kic Barrier] so it could focus on processing something.


    And, without a doubt, it definitely had something to do with Mark, his weird way of fighting, and Mei''s support from the shadows.


    In the first ce, there was no doubt that this [Mechid] was here to specifically counter the two regarding the events with the [Spider Mechid]. But as the counter was already rendered useless, it had to make an impromptu change of tactics. Even if it did not manage to defeat Mark and Mei, which the [Mechids] saw as threats, it could at least bring back more data for the next attack.


    Mark actually wanted to take advantage of this opportunity. However, to break through that [Kic Barrier], it would need some of his cards to be exposed. And that was not something he wanted. At least, not right now, as showing more abilities in front of the [Mechid] meant that the [Giant Mechid] would learn more things and increase the capabilities of the other [Mechids] it would create in the future to cope with the information it gathered.


    The only thing they could do right now was to wait. Either wait for this [Mechid] to move or wait for something Mark nned.


    And after half a minute of silence, the red lens of the [Mechid] finally moved. Its barrier deactivated, and immediately, it pointed the pair ofser weapons on its back at Mark.


    The rain ofser beams began pouring at Mark.


    Mark immediately kicked the ground and moved back, letting the first volley fall to the ground in front of him. But, of course, the attack did not stop with just one volley.


    The [Mechid] continued to shoot at Mark, forcing him to run around the vicinity of the barrier Diwata Iraya made.


    At this time, three gunshots were fired from outside the barrier. The sniper bullets, now enhanced by magical energy, flew at speeds faster than before. These bullets would likely leave arger and deeper dent even if they did not manage to pierce through the [Mechid''s] armor.


    That was if the bullets hit.


    Sensing the fast movements entering its detection range, all boosters of the [Mechid] opened, releasing a bright blue glow all over its body. Leaving only an after image, the [Mechid] disappeared from its original location, evading the enchanted sniper bullets with ease.


    Everyone watched as the [Mechid] left afterimages as it moved from the other side of the barrier to the other. It moved as if hovering in the air, using all its boosters at top performance. At the same time, it did not stop firing itssers at Mark, who was dodging the shots on the side the [Mechid] was before.<sub> </sub>


    Mei did not stop shooting, moving at different locations around the barrier and attacking from those locations. Everyone saw how destructive the bullets were as they tore through the tree trunks lying inside the barrier. Even the ripples each bullet left on the barrier''s walls were strong.


    Unfortunately, none of the bullets hit the [Mechid] at all. It seemed that the [Mechid] switched modes, relying only on its sheer speed after the ws of its [Kic Barrier] were exposed.


    It deactivated its [Kic Barrier] entirely and activated all its boosters continuously. It hovered through the barrier, keeping distance from Mark, rainingsers at Mark, and evading all attacksing from outside.


    Mark smiled as he evaded the attacks. It was not easy to evade all of it while only relying on his physical abilities. However, he found it quite fun since it was as if he was ying a bullet hell type of video game. Furthermore, while Mark enjoyed those games, he was not really good at them. His reflexes could keep up, but his hand-eye coordination sucked badly.


    But this time, Mark was not only evading rains of bullets, but he was evading it with his body that was wayrger than a pixel-sized hitbox.


    Lastly, the [Mechid''s] current actions were in-line with Mark''s intent. To waste time and wait for something.


    And all of a sudden, Mark detected something. He could only sigh since the fun was now going to end.


    The gunshots from Mei stopped, seemingly confusing the [Mechid]. But then, it saw Mark jump back. A hole appeared behind him, swallowing Mark before disappearing.


    At this point, the [Mechid] lost all targets, all of a sudden. It was no surprise that it stood there trying to process what was happening. If there was no enemy present anymore, its only goal now was to break through the barrier confining it.


    But when the [Mechid] was about to do so, it noticed the barrier seemed smaller. No, it was definitely smaller as many of the logs it cut during the battle were now outside it.


    The [Mechid] was capable of detecting movements and temperature, but not magical energy. It did not realize that the invisible barrier surrounding the area was shrinking while fighting Mark.


    It was Mark''s intention. To take the [Mechid''s] attention while the trap was slowly beingid out.


    And then, the [Mechid] noticed the surroundings grow dark. However, its body was not designed to look up vertically, and it failed to see what was happening above it. The shrunken barrier did not help it in any way to see the sky at the right angle.


    Without any other choice, the [Mechid] actually tried toy down. But when it was about to see what was happening above, its surroundings darkened, making it unable to see anything.


    The [Mechid] was trying to discern what was happening, but everyone outside could see it.


    Mark, who now stood beside Spera, Mei, and Amihan, was smiling at the scene. He was currently using the [Photokinesis Mental Crysta] to deprive the [Mechid] of sight while there was a giant hole in space hovered above the barrier confining it.


    "Do it."


    Mark looked towards a direction hidden away from the battlefield and whispered while using the [Wind Maniption Mental Crystal] to send his message.


    There, Chimetrice could be seen, carrying a giant boulder with both hands, asrge as a standard suburb bungalow. This boulder could be destructive, but it was not enough to kill the [Mechid] on its own.


    But who said that they would just throw it on the [Mechid]?


    Under Chimetrice, there was a huge portal. And as he heard Mark''s voice, he threw the giant boulder into the portal.


    However, no boulder appeared above the [Mechid]. Instead, Mark and the others looked up, where the boulder appeared several hundred meters high in the sky through another hole in space.


    At that height and with the weight of the boulder, it began falling at tremendous speeds. It was a frightening sight to see that kind of boulder fall from the sky.


    But the boulder was then caught by another portal below it, ced just a few meters away from the ground.


    And then...


    <strong>BOOOM!!!</strong>


    The whole mountain shook, and a cloud of dust covered its entire southeastern foot. A shockwave was felt, shaking all trees and nts within a wide radius.


    Those unprepared stumbled while some covered their aching ears.


    Still, everyone''s attention was now focused on the cloud of dust that hindered their sight.


    "Amihan."


    Mark called Amihan''s name, and she already knew what to do.


    With a wave of her hand, the cloud of dust was blown away, revealing the sight that everyone wanted to see.


    The giant bouldery inside a crater, cracked and destroyed into smaller pieces.


    Under the destroyed boulder were the bits and pieces of the [Mechid], failing to do anything to avoid its destruction.


    The area erupted in cheers as the formidable enemy was no more. They did not care that the cleanup would be more difficult with the ck goo sttered around the crater. All they cared about was that theirrades that died were avenged beautifully.


    As for Mark, he was sneering as he approached the crater and found the lens that served as the of the [Mechid].


    "Now, try to find a counter for that."


    Mark provoked the enemy, although he did not know whether it could still see him or if it could even understand what he was saying. As he said those words, he stepped on the lens, breaking it into the smallest pieces.

 Chapter 907 A Gamble Won, The Aftermath Of The Battle Against The [Strange Mechid]

    <strong>Day 251 - 1:45 PM - Unnamed Mountain, Municipality of Viga, Province of Catanduanes</strong>


    The warriors under Diwata Iraya''smand cheered as they achieved victory against a powerful enemy. However, their leader did not look happy at all.


    Morlkil, the [Cursed Armor], closely guarded Diwata Iraya as she inspected the remains of the battlefield. The [Diwata] could only sigh.


    Decapitated remains of the perished warriors littered the surroundings. Most of the remains were neatly cut by the [Mechid''s] des, but the battler between Mark and the [Mechid] caused many pieces to be mangled and even destroyedpletely. There were also those remains with burnt parts and melted holes. It was because of the rain ofsers fired at Mark in thetter part of the fight.


    Not to mention there were also remains that got squashed together with the [Mechid] under that giant boulder.


    Diwata Iraya raised her hand, and a group of magical creatures immediately heeded her call.


    "Gather the remains of our people. We will give them a proper farewell. Remember to be cautious of the ck liquid."


    "Yes, Diwata."


    The leader of the group replied in utmost respect.


    With thatmand, the recovery of the remains, both the dead Magical Creatures and the destroyed [Mechid], began. Of course, the recovery of the [Mechid] was strictly supervised by Diwata Iraya since the ck goo scattered everywhere, and she was the only one that could deal with such kind of a mess.


    At the same time the Magical Creatures started clearing the battlefield, the members of Mark''s group arrived and gathered around him.


    "This won''t be the end, right?"


    Mei asked, looking at the [Mechid] crushed to pieces.


    "Definitely not. But we should have bought some time."


    Mark answered while picking up the ded forelimb that managed to remain mostly intact. The limb was barely filled with ck goo, and it was safe to store than the other parts. Of course, Mark took it into his ring for many reasons.


    As for Mark''s answer, while not solid, the possibility was there.


    Mark chose and nned the battle to end like this because he wanted to make it as confusing as possible to the enemy. There was no doubt that they were being watched, recorded, and analyzed. Then, it was better to make it harder for the enemy to find answers and loopholes. This way, it would take more time for the enemy to analyze the data they collected and way longer to construct another prototype [Mechid] to send and fight.


    Well, at least, that was what Mark wished to happen. But with the unpredictability of the [Mechids], the situation could also result in theplete opposite of what Mark intended.


    If the opposite happened, then they were unlucky. In the least, Mark did what he could. And given theg that the [Mechid] showed before starting shower Mark withsers, the chances of it seeding were quite favorable.


    After answering Mei''s question, Mark turned to the currently wobbly Spera.


    "You okay?"


    Mark asked, making the rest of the group notice that she was pretty pale.


    "Of course not," Spera answered with a slight grumble. "Can we go home already?"


    Spera''s state was not surprising. She was stronger than before she joined Mark''s group. Her portals could open more stably, and the distance and energy consumption of her portals had improved. Even the number of times she could open a portal in a day had increased. Nheless, it still had some limitations. For example, how far she could open a portal entrance away from her. It was not like she could not. In fact, it was one of the improvements in her abilities. However, the further she opened a portal entrance from her, the more taxing it would get.


    And this time, not only that Spera have to open a portal entrance several dozen meters away from her, she had to do it twice in session. The size of the portal was prettyrge too. It was no wonder she now looked pale and drained.


    "Good work."


    Mark said with a shrug as he patted the tired girl''s head.


    Spera was surprised and could not help but nce at Mark. However, she did not say anything as she let his hand on her head. This was not the first time Mark patted her head, so it was nothing new. Besides, Mark''s head pats were far from normal due to his abnormal abilities inherited from his ancestor, Aliya.


    "I did well too!"


    Amihan said as she flew unto Mark''s left shoulder.


    "Yeah, yeah."


    Mark said as he patted her head with his right index finger.


    As for Mei...


    "Excuse me for a bit."


    Mei said to Mark as she grabbed his left arm and took a close look at it. That was when they noticed his injured arm that was in the middle of healing.


    "Don''t worry, it''s fine."


    Mark said as he put his right hand on Mei''s head affectionately, different from theplimentary head pats he gave Spera and Amihan.


    It was wrong to say that Mark came unscathed in that battle. Since he was holding back his cards, it was a foreseeable oue. The injury on his left arm came from the hit he received with his shield and sent him flying. Unfortunately, contusions that damagedyers of skin and flesh were slower to heal than a cut, and it had yet to fully heal when the battle ended. Furthermore, while he was not hit directly by the barrage ofsers, parts of his clothing got burnt.


    Fortunately, Mark was mostly fine, and the injury on his arm was on the verge of disappearing.


    While Chimetrice quietly watched at the side and Spera took the opportunity to rest a bit, Mark closely observed the remains of the [Mechid]. At the same time, he looked for parts that could be of interest. Unfortunately, the other ded foreleg and the mountedsers of the [Mechid] were smashed to pieces, and there was no point in salvaging parts of goo-covered circuitry that they would never know the function.<sub> </sub>


    Looking at the internal makings of the [Mechids] was interesting on its own. However, Mark soon grew tired of looking at the broken circuitry that had already be more or less an impossible-to-solve jigsaw puzzle.


    Thus, Mark decided.


    "Let''s go back. I forgot we haven''t had lunch yet."


    "Finally," Spera sighed. "I''m not saying anything, but I''m already hungry."


    As such, they decided to go home, and Diwata Iraya ordered Deriellio to bring Mark''s group to the vige.


    But as they were about to leave, Mark froze. He felt something strange, along with an eerie stare from somewhere. However, Mark could not detect anything using his [Empath] abilities, but he could feel the stareing from nearby.


    Mark nced towards the direction of the where he felt the eerie stare wasing from through the corner of his eye. And to his surprise, he could vaguely see a hazy figure. It seemed to wear a full-body cloak, and, for some reason, Mark could not make up any kind of face under its hood.


    Without hesitation, Mark turned his head and stared directly at the figure. But to his surprise, the figure was not there anymore. The eerie stare also vanished as if it was not there at all.


    Mark felt extremely baffled as to what was happening.


    "Gege, is something wrong?"


    Mei noticed Mark''s strange behavior and asked.


    "No, it''s nothing."


    Mark shook the bafflement off. Even so, he decided to make a mental note about this strange event.


    With that, they vanished from the location, back to the magical vige atop the mountain.


    Unfortunately, Mark was not hallucinating since there was a hazy ck figure floating in the sky without anyone being able to see it.


    "As someone who could affect the book of fate, he is annoyingly active," The eerieining voice came from the figure. "People like them affect my work a lot."


    The ck figure opened his barely distinguishable hand, revealing dozens of minified spiritual orbs.


    "These poor souls were not supposed to die yet, but they found their end one month earlier than it was supposed to," The figure then turned to the cracked boulder that destroyed the [Mechid]. "That enemy was not destined to appear, either. Unfortunately, wherever candidates for godhood go, fate bes twisted. And us who facilitate the world could only cope with the changes."


    The figure seemed to sigh as he closed his hand.


    "Let us go," The hazy figure turned around. "I will send your souls back to the cycle."


    And then, the hazy figure vanished without anyone seeing him directly.


    ***


    In the mountainous crater to the southeast of the unnamed magical mountain, inside the trapped giant alien robot factory, the goo-covered screen was shing images and recordings.


    It continuously repeated the entirety of the recording of a battle at fast speeds, at least a dozen times per second.


    Without a doubt, it was the recording of the battle at the southeastern foot of the unnamed magical mountain. It was a recording shown from the perspective of the [Assault Destructor, AD-07013].


    In the recording, the figure of a lifeform of this could be seen fighting AD-07013. Each of the estimated abilities of the lifeform, like speed and physical strength, was measured in numbers shing on other monitors around the main one.


    But as the machine tried to measure and deduce how the lifeform was able to avoid the attacks of AD-07013, it always ended up with an error. There was insufficient data on the lifeform. All predictions and calctions had to be rewritten over and over to no avail.


    Soon, AD-07013 was defeated by an unknown event. But deducing the damage before most functions ceased, AD-07013 was hit by something heavy from above at high velocity. Unfortunately, no footage of what happened could be seen as everything turned pitch ck, and even the night vision failed to work.


    In thest scene of the footage, the lifeform that fought AD-07013 said something before the lifeform stepped on the Remote Recognition Module, cutting off everything and ending the recording.


    After the recording ended, it immediately restarted from the beginning. The monitors continuously showed data of the events shown in the footage, from the physical abilities of the weaker lifeforms to the speed and trajectory of the bullets that hit AD-07013.


    Unfortunately, the bullets that hit AD-07013 were among the uncalcble aspects of the battle. Predictions were made, but the uracy of the calctions wascking due to the shortage of gathered data.


    Several hours passed with the footage of the battle repeated to the nth time. However, the calctions failed to find a concrete countermeasure against the lifeforms that fought AD-07013.


    For a futuristic A.I., even though it was under the influence of a hacking pathogen, such a result was uneptable. However, as it wascking in both data and materials, it was a result that could not be helped.


    And that was the answer the A.I. managed to find. To gather more resources for the time being and, most importantly, gather data about the lifeforms of this.


    It was notte to eliminate the creatures of this and take over its entirety after getting enough data and resources.


    And as such, the monitors showed several locations on the ind. And the points of interest listed in another monitor were ces where most of the lifeforms on this ind gathered.


    One on the northwest coast, another in the southern mountains, andstly, on the southwest coast. As for the mountain to the northwest of thending site, the A.I. decided to mark it as a danger zone.


    As such, the A.I. began to work, creating more of its kind specifically designed for reconnaissance and stealth.


    Once enough data was gathered for the ultimate Destructor to be created, only then that they would continue to test the inhabitants of the northwest mountain that they were unable to calcte for now.

 Chapter 908 Reunion Of Siblings, A Short Visit To The Settlement In The Northwest Of Catanduanes

    <strong>Day 251 - 7:21 PM - Rebel Settlement, Barangay Napo, Municipality of Pandan, Province of Catanduanes</strong>


    More than eight months into the apocalypse and three months since Earth had changed. The peaceful faction of the New People''s Army managed to maintain its roots in the northern areas of the province of Catanduanes tight and strong.


    With amunity tightly knit not only by everyone''s goals but also a singr belief, it was no surprise that theirnd survived the catastrophe. The settlement might have been damaged by the earthquake three months ago, but they all worked together, united for the rebuilding efforts.


    And now, the newly rebuilt base and itsmunityposed of a few hundred people stood stronger than ever.


    With the Pandan District Hospital at its center, the NPA Settlement expanded, epassing several hundred meters in all directions with securely wallednd.


    There was no doubt. In this ind province, this group of people was the ones thriving the most and not the other two settlements in the south supposedly managed by the military. It was not a surprising result since while the people in the south were busy scheming against each other, the people here were upied by stocking their warehouses with as many supplies as they could gather.


    All because of the predicted iing disaster from the sky.


    Normally, while interesting, people would be skeptical of things that could possibly hint at the iing future. But here, everyone was now gathered under the veil of a forteller, who saved the settlement not once, not twice, but many more times than all their fingers could count.


    And as time went by, her predictions only became more and more on point, and the uracy began to feel scary to some people. Even so, none of them questioned the authenticity anymore as they all witnessed what happened three months ago when the Earth changed.


    In this settlement, the [Forteller] might be more important than the actual leaders of the Peaceful Faction. Nheless, none felt disparaged by that fact, as even the leaders knew they needed her for their own survival. They all follow her predictions and words as priorities since the pros weigh far much more than the cons.


    And today, as night came, lights of torches began to illuminate the whole base once more.


    At the training grounds, two people started their nighttime training. A time when there were no other people to use the training grounds.


    It was a woman and a man. One would think of indecent things if two people of the opposite sex go to a dark ce at this time of the night. However, it was not in this case, as the two were siblings. And they were here to secretly train their newly acquired abilities.


    The woman raised her hands, and the gleam of eight small knives held between her fingers shone. The targets were barely visible due to the darkness of the night. However, she stared straight at the targets a few dozen meters in front of her as if she could clearly see them.


    She waved her hands fast, and the knives in the woman''s hands were released. The throw was pretty clumsy, showing that she was not used to it. Most of the knives did not even fly towards the target, getting thrown towards the ground and other directions.


    But as the three knives falling were about to hit the ground, they suddenly elerated forwards. The knives did not fall to the ground and made a shining curve as they changed their trajectory towards the target. It was the same for the other supposedly missing knives as they all flew into a curve towards the target.


    <strong>TAK! TAK! TAK!</strong>


    The sounds of the knives hitting the wooden target eight times could be heard.


    After all the knives hit, the woman approached the target. She could not help but sigh, seeing that none of the knives hit the center, neglecting the fact that her knives mystically hit the target despite being thrown in the wrong directions.


    The man focused on his own training on the other side of the training grounds. He held a stick in his hands while standing in the middle of a structure. The structure was like scaffolding with dozens of sand-filled cloth balls hung by strings.


    He shook the structure, causing the cloth balls to swing violently towards him from all directions. Then, the man surprisingly closed his eyes. And as the cloth balls swung towards him, he began hitting each one away. Each hit stopped the cloth balls from hitting him, but it caused the cloth balls to wing faster when the gravitational force pulled them back.


    The man hit the cloth balls repeatedly, making the training harder as time went on. Finally, he was hit. That one hit definitely hurt as it caused the man to get hit several more times in session. In the end, the many down on the ground, clutching his head that was hit several times.


    "Training is really hard."


    The woman approached the man with aint. She looked tired. While her abilities consume little stamina, it drains a lot of her mental power. The man was no different, but he was theplete opposite. His abilities might consume less mental power but requirerge amounts of stamina and endurance.


    A regr teacher and an I.T. agent, without a doubt, were the kinds of people unfit forbat.


    "We have no choice but to train if we did not want what happened before to happen again."


    The man replied, still lying on the ground.


    ? But suddenly, the man turned his head in a certain direction. Not towards the entrance of the training grounds, however. He stared at the walls separating the settlement from the dangerous outside world.


    "You''re still alive, huh?"


    The man suddenly said to the woman''s confusion, making her turn to where the man was staring.


    There, a silhouette of a man emerged from the shadows. The woman looked in surprise and disbelief before turning into relief.


    "You want to kill me off that much?"


    The figure that emerged from the shadow approached the two while observing them.


    "Not really," The man said as he stood up. "It''s just if you''re still alive, give us a visit."


    "You know I don''t live anywhere near here," The figure replied. "Don''t ask for the unreasonable."


    "Big Brother."


    The woman greeted the figure with a smile. A smile that was not that easy to be seen within their family.


    This was the first time the woman, Marian, met their eldest sibling, Mark, ever since the apocalypse began.


    It was the reunion of the three siblings, Mark, Michael, and Marian, since the Earth changed.


    "You two got strange powers," Mark said, looking at the targets and the structure with swinging cloth balls. "Did Addy develop one too?"


    Mark asked about their fourth sibling and youngest brother, who was supposed to be around eight years old now.


    "Addy hasn''t developed one yet."


    Michael replied.


    "He''s a scaredy cat and our sheltered brother. It''s not surprising he hasn''t yet."


    Mark said with a shrug.


    "You say that we got strange powers, but the strangest one is you."


    Marian said, looking at Mark scrutinizingly.


    Surprisingly, Marian''s eyes had a slight glow in them.


    "What? You can see magical things now?"


    Mark asked, noticing the glow in her eyes.


    "No," Marian shook her head. "Your aura. I can''t see through your ck-colored aura."


    Mark paused for a bit. It seemed that Marian could see people''s aura, but since Mark''s body had [Miasma], his aura was stained with ck color.


    And surely, a ck aura was a weird thing.


    "Why did youe here?"


    Michael asked.


    "To visit? What else?"


    Mark replied.


    The siblings stared at Mark''s expression. However, there was nothing they could make out of it.


    "That''s all? Really?"


    Michael inquired further, unable to believe what Mark was saying.


    "Yeah?" Mark tilted his head. "I really just came here to see how you guys are doing. But I guess everyone here is doing pretty fine."


    Mark said those words while looking at the surroundings. The ce did not look bad at all, and all nooks and crannies were guarded by guards.


    "This ce looked safe, and it would be hard to enter this ce without getting spotted."<sub> </sub>


    Mark said, looking at the watch tower in the distance.


    "And you are here."


    Marian said, looking at Mark skeptically.


    There was no doubt that Mark entered this ce without anyone able to see him.


    The three took a seat at the corner of the training grounds to catch up. Mark''s rtionship with his family was not that close, but in the least, he had a pretty normal rtionship with his siblings. While Mark would not divulge his secrets to the two, he could at least tell them many things. It was the same for the two.


    An hour passed swiftly as the two listened to Mark''s stories about the [Infected] and the [Mechids]. The two listened carefully as this information should be valuable to them, specifically since they had to deal with such troubles on a daily basis.


    It was also the first time for Michael and Marian to hear that those robotic creatures were called [Mechids]. They wondered how Mark knew or if the name was something he made up. Nheless, the information he had was far more valuable than they imagined.


    <strong>CLANG! CLANG! CLANG!</strong>


    Sounds of bells were heard, taking the attention of the three.


    "It''s time for curfew."


    Marian said, looking in the direction of the hospital.


    "Don''t you two have to go?"


    Mark asked.


    "Nah," Michael shook his head. "It''s only for the others. Because of Mom, we''re above the rules here. Of course, if it''s not anything detrimental to the settlement. Staying outside past curfew is one thing, but we''ll still get punished if we were to slip anything out of the warehouse."


    By the looks of it, having the [Forteller] as their mother came with such benefits.


    "Ah, right," Mark eximed, remembering something. "You two, take these."


    Mark then handed four crystals to the two. Two of the crystals were clear, while the other two seemed to have a glowing orb inside them.


    "What are these?"


    Marian asked as she looked at the two crystals Mark gave her. It was the same question Michael had in mind as he stared at the ones on his hand.


    "Remember Darna? Swallow the stone, and you will be a superhero ."


    Mark said with a serious face.


    Of course, his siblings were notughing at his joke. There was no way they would swallow anything without knowing what it would actually do.


    Mark shrugged and decided to stop the jokes.


    "I''m not joking about swallowing these. Swallow the clear ones first, and it will turn you into an [Evolver]. The ones with glowing orbs turn you into a [Mutator]."


    Marian and Michael were in disbelief. Being [Evolvers] and [Mutators] was a good thing. However, the process of bing one was extremely risky, and there was no guarantee for it to seed. Yet, Mark was saying that these fancy stones could give them those powers. It was unbelievable.


    "Are you still joking?"


    Michael asked.


    "You think I am?" Mark sneered. "I won''t force you two to believe, but that''s what these crystals are for. I already took a few of them, you know?"


    "Where did you get these?"


    Marian asked, starting to believe her older brother.


    "That''s a secret."


    Mark smiled mischievously.


    Knowing that Mark would not answer, the younger siblings did not ask more questions.


    At this time, a figurended near then from the sky, surprising Marian and Michael. And to bolster their surprise further, the one who came was a beautiful girl with rainbow wings.


    Giving a respectful nod to Marian and Michael, the girl approached Mark.


    "Gege, the [Giant Mechid] seemed to have made another move."


    Mei said to Mark.


    Mark looked at Mei, knowing why she was here instead of the usual Deriellio to bring the information.


    "Alright, we''re returning."


    Mark said to Mei before turning to his siblings.


    "Swallow the clear crystal first. Be careful since it will be painful for a few hours. After that, wait another day or two before using the second crystal. I''ll have to leave already."


    "Wait, Big Brother, who is she?"


    Marian could not help but ask.


    Mark turned around, and a pair of wings came out of his back. As he pped his wings, he turned his head.


    "Mei, my wife."


    Then, he flew up to the sky.


    Mei turned to the two and nodded.


    "It''s nice meeting you two, brother and sister."


    Mei then followed Mark to the sky, leaving the petrified siblings.


    "That- that guy''s flexing, isn''t he?"


    Michael said, gritting his teeth.


    "But you have a girlfriend too."


    Marian said to Michael.


    "And you have to find yours."


    Michael snapped back.


    "No, I don''t have any ns to marry anyone."


    Marian snarkily replied.


    In any case, the two stared at the sky where Mark and Mei flew. Then, they turned to the crystals in their hands. Mark might not be close to them as a brother, but he''s not someone who would lie about this kind of stuff. Still, they wondered where Mark got these crystals from.


    Unknown to the two siblings, someone was watching the whole thing.


    "It looks like he''s still alive. It''s all good then."


    The figure in the shadows said with a sad voice.

 Chapter 909 A Swarm, The Odd Response Of The [Mechids]

    <strong>Day 251 - 8:32 PM - Barangay Napo Outskirts, Municipality of Pandan, Province of Catanduanes</strong>


    Due to the news of the [Giant Mechid] making another move, Mark and Mei left the Rebel Settlement. Unfortunately for the guards, they would never have thought that two people came in and out of their settlement without getting detected despite their tight security.


    The two flew southeast, back to the mountain where the magical creatures lived.


    "What did the [Giant Mechid] do this time?"


    Mark asked. It was apparent in his voice that he knew it was not an attack. If it was another attack, especially something Diwata Iraya''s people could not handle, things would be more urgent. In that case, it was most likely that Deriellio would directly call for Mark like before instead of letting Mei go.


    "It''s hard to say if it can be called an attack," Mei replied. "It seems that the [Giant Mechid] deployed quite a number of [Mechids] which dispersed in different directions out of the crater. The exact number is unknown. But the strange thing is... None of those [Mechids] went towards the vige."


    That answer made Mark frown. While it looked like they seeded in temporarily stopping the attacks on the Magical Vige, it caused the [Mechids] to avoid it and focus somewhere else.


    It seemed that the [Giant Mechid] sure was an intelligent one in a very annoying way.


    "Did they manage to pinpoint where the deployed [Mechids] went to?"


    Mark asked.


    "Not all, but they already intercepted several [Mechids] trying to go around the mountain which seemed to be trying to make their way here," Mei answered what she knew. "The first one to actually find the [Mechids] going around the mountain is Zhiruo when she noticed something at the foot of the mountain while meditating."


    "Wait," Mark''s frown became deeper. "Isn''t the [Giant Mechid] being monitored by the [Yasaws]? Did the [Mechids] manage to slip through their surveince?"


    "Probably not," Mei shook her head. "But they did say that there was a lot, so it''s not surprising if a few managed to slip through their detection. The [Mechids] this time were pretty small too. The one Zhiruo found is just the size of an adult dog. It also moves fast."


    "Forsaking defense and strength for agility and stealth... And also numbers..." Mark said while racking his brains out. "I wonder if the [Giant Mechid] is trying to scout the rest of the ind after getting beaten repeatedly."


    Mei replied with silence as she also had no idea. However, the likelihood of Mark''s words being on point was pretty decent.


    "Let''s hurry back."


    Mark urged Mei. There should be a [Yasaw] waiting for them at the nearby mountain to help them return to the Magical Vige as soon as possible.


    But at this time, Mei had something to ask Mark.


    "Gege, is it fine to only give your siblings a pair of crystals each? What about your parents and your youngest brother?"


    Mei asked in wonder.


    It was not a surprising question. After all, Mark gave his two siblings two empty and two filled [Physical Crystals]. He even specified that the two should take the crystals for themselves.


    "It''s fine."


    Mark said, looking like he did not want to borate further. However, since Mei asked sincerely, he sighed and decided to exin.


    "Hah... It''s because in our family, except for me, only my brother and sister had the right mentality to fight. My mother is hot-tempered and reckless, my father is weak-hearted and always takes responsibility for things he should not, and,stly, my youngest brother is a kid with ADHD. Rather than protecting them, giving them crystals would put them more into danger."


    Mark then added.


    "Having the strength to fight is different than actually being capable of fighting. Giving them the strength to fight could lead to the opposite of what we would want to happen. Letting Michael and Marian have that strength should be more than enough. Besides, those two were the ones who liked to go out and needed protection more, so what happenedst time would not happen again."


    The previous time, both Michael and Marian were caught by the Hostile Faction of the rebels. It would be nice if something simr did not happen again in the future.


    Mei understood what Mark was talking about. Even back in Bay City, such an issue was apparent. People who became [Evolvers] and [Mutators] thought that they were on top of the world due to their newfound strength. Some even thought that the training the military provided was unnecessary because they became powerful. But as Mark said, having the strength to fight was different from being capable of fighting.


    Many lives of both [Evolvers] and [Mutators] were lost due to this issue. In other words, those people swallowed more than they could chew and ended up choking themselves to death.


    There were also times when unnecessary responsibilities were put onto the shoulders of those [Evolvers] and [Mutators]. It was all because they were stronger than normal people. And even though those people were unfit for those responsibilities, no one cared. In the end, many of them ended up in the worst ways possible.


    Mark sighed. He was not saying anything wrong. It was just, personality-wise, only Michael and Marian were fit to wield such strength in his family. Not to mention that those two were the same as Mark, Otakus. In fact, it was Marian, the only girl among the siblings, who watched the most gore anime and movies. It was something unthinkable among the siblings since it was Mark who looked like someone more into that kind of thing.


    However, Mark only liked bashing zombies'' heads. Not watching the gore itself, although he did not mind if he had to.


    As for Michael. He was also someone with a lot of unnecessary knowledge from the inte, anime, and video games. Most of which were things that normal people would not bother learning about.


    And most of all, Mark was confident that Michael and Marian would not hesitate to kill if they had to. Of course, as long as it was within reason and their capabilities.


    ***


    By the time Mark and Mei finished talking, they arrived at the base of the mountain where a female [Yasaw] was waiting. It was not Deriellio, so the [Yasaw] just kept her silence. In the first ce, only Deriellio was capable of speaking human and spiritnguage among the [Yasaws], although they could understand thesenguages.


    The problemy in their physiological nature as it was one way of preventing them with other creatures aside from their creators. It was not that they could not learn thenguage. They justcked the ability to speak them.


    It was like teaching a dog some words and receiving barks in return.


    With the help of the female [Yasaw], Mark and Mei returned quickly to the Magical Vige.


    And upon return, despite the night getting deeper, the Magical Vige was quite lively. Of course, in a bad way.


    Mark and Mei walked to the entrance of the vige only to see dozens of shadows dash out of the vige in different directions.


    "You two have returned."


    Diwata Iraya greeted Mark and Mei right after thest [Yasaw] left to obey hermand.


    "Are they going to search of the other [Mechids]?"


    Mark asked.<sub> </sub>


    "Yes," Diwata Iraya nodded as she turned to look at the base of the mountain. "It seemed that the number this time was farrger than the ones we fought in the past. It was an oversight for me to leave only a few to guard the enemy, letting most of them escape our surveince."


    "So, that was the case."


    Mark now understood what happened.


    It was not that the [Mechids] slipped through the surveince unnoticed. It was just that the number was toorge for a handful of scouts to chase every single one of the enemies. And by the time they reported and asked for reinforcements, most of the [Mechids] had already escaped.


    "But they avoided this ce."


    Mark said.


    "However, I do not know if it was a fortunate thing," Diwata Iraya responded. "In return for us being safe, the rest of the entire ind was now in danger."


    Diwata Iraya then turned to Mark.


    "For now, we decided to tighten the surveince around the settlement where your family is. Protecting your family is still our priority."


    Mark did not say anything. He knew Diwata Iraya was being sincere in her words.


    "Then, should we go searching for the [Mechids]?"


    Mark asked Mei. Of course, Mei would follow what Mark wanted to do.


    However...


    "We should check on the girls first," Mei suggested as their daughters were still waiting inside the vige. "Spera will alsoin if we just left like thest time."


    "Okay then."


    Mark replied with a shrug.


    The two entered the vige and told everyone their ns at this time. Of course, the little girls wanted to jump into the fray, but Mark declined them once again. Fortunately, it was not hard to convince them as their daughters were sensible girls.


    But, of course, if the battle with the [Giant Mechid] came, they could join depending on the situation.


    This time, Chimetrice and Amihan were left to guard the rest of the group and the vige. No one would know what could happen while Mark and Mei were outside. Amihan was sulking, however.


    Mark and Mei aside, they would have another member to go out with them in the middle of the night. It was Feng Zhiruo, who was kind of itching to try her progress in her cultivation and put her new techniques to the test. It was actually advantageous to bring Feng Zhiruo this time as they would need someone with strong senses.


    The three left the vige under the darkness of the night as Diwata Iraya, Aliya, and Gennie wished them good luck and a safe return at the entrance of the vige.


    ***


    "Where are we going to search first?"


    Mei asked Mark.


    But instead of replying...


    "Crimson."


    Mark called out his reliable assistant.


    And as it was called, the [Miasma Blood Child] plopped on Mark''s head after appearing from thin air.


    "Crimson, go ahead of us and look for traces of [Mechids] northwest."


    Mark said, patting the little guy.


    Crimson wiggled as a nod and jumped off Mark''s head before vanishing in a puff of ck mist.


    "Northwest?" Mei asked Mark. "But didn''t Diwata Iraya already send her people to guard there?"


    That was right. It was something that Diwata Iraya had just said earlier.


    "I know," Mark replied with a slight nod. "But the [Giant Mechid] stopped attacking this ce not because of the Magical Creatures but because of us. If we appear there, we are basically telling the enemy to f-off this area of the ind."


    With his current attitude, it was clear that Mark did not care much about whatever the [Mechids] try to do as long as they get away from the ces he valued.


    "Let''s go."


    Mark said as he led the group to run across the forest-covered mountains.


    Sure, it was easier to just fly over the uneven terrain, and it was not like they were just trying to apany Feng Zhiruo, who could not fly. Flying over the forest-coverednd would make it harder for them to see the enemies under the trees from the sky.


    Furthermore, while it might be dark, their eyes were different from what normal people had. They could see the environment despite the darkness and it would help them find trails that [Mechid] left behind if they stayed on the ground.


    Soon enough, Mark received Crimson''s call through his connection to the [Blood Child].


    "Let''s hurry up," Mark said as he urged the two to speed up. "Crimson found our first [Mechid]."


    The three elerated their pace and arrived at a rocky area a kilometer north of where they initially were.


    Crimson then plopped on Mark''s head as they looked at the oblivious enemy, a grasshopper-shaped [Mechid].

 Chapter 910 A Death Party, Hunting In The Mountains In The Middle Of The Night

    <strong>Day 251 - 9:16 PM - Central Mountains, Municipality of Viga, Province of Catanduanes</strong>


    It was already gettingte into the night. However, there was no time to rest or sleep for those who wanted to protect the ind.


    At least a hundred [Mechids] of varying sizes and appearances were released all over the ind from the [Giant Mechid] trapped within the mountainous crater.


    With that number, even if these [Mechids] were inferiorpared to the [Mechids] that fell from space, they should be able to decimate a settlement or more. They might also be equipped with the original weapons like the ones that attacked the Magical Vige, which was something that humans would have no way of defending against.


    However, considering that thatrge number of [Mechids] spread out instead of moving in one group, these pathogen-hacked robots might be after a different goal. Even so, it did not make them any less dangerous.


    Furthermore, since the [Mechids] spread out, it became harder to keep track of them all. And now, aside from a select few [Mechids], they have to find the others with their own methods.


    It was not like they had to find and destroy all the [Mechids] since that would be more or less as difficult as finding a needle in a haystack. All they had to do was to prevent the [Mechids] from reaching the important and strategic ces on the ind. The Rebel Settlement, for example.


    And that was why Mark decided to search the northwest areas where the [Mechids] could possibly pass by while avoiding the mountain where the Magical Vige was located.


    For the [Giant Mechid] to deploy this many [Mechids] the same evening thest [Mechid] was killed, it posed some concerning questions. Did the [Giant Mechid] create all these [Mechids] in just a few hours, or did it already have thisrge army since the start? Either way, this fact increased the threat the [Giant Mechid] could pose to this ind.


    With Crimson''s help, they soon found their first [Mechid]. It was one with the shape of a grasshopper, the size of a mini scooter bike. It was quite smallpared to most of the [Mechids] they had seen since they arrived on this ind. But despite its small size, the [Grasshopper Mechid] was not something to be underestimated.


    Mimicking a real grasshopper, the [Grasshopper Mechid] moved pretty fast. It could jump high above the trees and travel long distances in each jump. It was the reason how Crimson first saw this [Mechid] as it repeatedly jumped above the trees while it was seemingly looking at its surroundings.


    "I''ll take care of that."


    Feng Zhiruo volunteered.


    "Alright."


    Mark agreed.


    "Be careful."


    Mei said as Feng Zhiruo took her first step toward the enemy.


    Feng Zhiruo nced at Mei and nodded before going straight at the enemy at her full speed.


    However, the [Grasshopper Mechid], behaving like a real grasshopper, seemingly noticed her after reaching a certain distance. And to their surprise, it tried to flee, opening its back, and showing boosters that the [Mechid] this afternoon had.


    The moment that the [Grasshopper Mechid] activated those boosters, it would be able to escape.


    However, before the unwanted situation could happen, Feng Zhiruo''s body flickered as she ran toward her target. In a blink of an eye, she was already behind the [Grasshopper Mechid], shing her sword down its body.


    SHING!


    With the de of her sword glowing bright with her aura, Feng Zhiruo bisected the [Grasshopper Mechid] from behind, separating the left and right halves of the enemy''s body. As the ck goo exploded from her attack, her figure flickered as she retreated, avoiding getting sttered with the dangerous goo.


    "Okay, that''s one down."


    Mark said as he and Mei reached Feng Zhiruo''s side.


    "Won''t this affect the forest?"


    Mei asked while looking at the bisected [Mechid], and the ck goo sttered all over its remains and the ground.


    The question also made Feng Zhiruo freeze a bit as she did not consider it before she attacked. She could have just pierced the [Mechid] with her sword to minimize the possible damage.


    "It''s fine," Mark said as he took out his phone and opened the offline map app. "I''ll mark the ces where we killed one. We can leave the cleanup to Iraya and her people."


    Feng Zhiruo felt relieved hearing that Mark actually had a n for the aftermath.


    "Let''s go," Mark said after marking the location on the map. "We have to find as many as possible."


    With this, they set off once more to search for the smaller [Mechids] under themand of the [Giant Mechid].<sub> </sub>


    Searching for the [Mechids] scattered all over the forest-covered mountains in the darkness of the night was no easy feat. It would have been something annoying and time-consuming.


    Fortunately, the [Mechids] were not proactively hiding. The natural factors like terrain and lighting might hide them, but the [Mechids] did not care about such. It seemed that they were only focusing on their directives, whatever that may be.


    After the first one, Mark''s group found the second. By the looks of it, the [Mechid] had a body with the shape of a beetle. A click beetle, to be exact. An insect is prettymon on this ind. And this one was actually easy to find as it was flying.


    [Mechids] capable of flight existed. However, they were as rare as intelligent [Infected]. So far, they had only seen flight-capable [Mechids] using thrusters and something akin to anti-gravity mechanisms. Both of which seemed too ipatible and inefficient to use on Earth due to its gravity. Something that the origin of the [Mechids] barely had.


    This gravitational ipatibility might also be the reason why [Mechids] capable of flight were rare to see. And it was a good thing. Having a lot of flying [Mechids] around would pose dangers in more ways than the [Infected] that had arger poption.


    It was because of these anti-gravity mechanisms that this [Mechid] used to fly that it was easy to find. Both thrusters and the anti-gravity mechanism release a certain amount of light when used. It was the same for the boosters that the [Mechid] they fought this afternoon had. And in the middle of the night, that light was nothing but a beacon to draw attention.


    This time, it was Mei who shot the [Mechid] with her sniper rifle. Surely, it caused a loud sound to echo across the mountains. However, it was not done without thought. Seeing that these [Mechids] seemed to be looking around and observing their surroundings, it was better for them to gather as much attention as possible. While there was a chance that the [Mechids] would flee like what the [Grasshopper Mechid] did, there was also a chance they would get attracted instead.


    Soon, the answer came. A number of things began to swarm into the area.


    There were [Mechids] of various shapes and sizes. The only thing simr to most of them was their uneven colors due to their bodies being made up of mixed metals from Earth. There were also some [Mechids] that originally fell to Earth. They were easily distinguishable due to their color and sleek geometric bodies.


    While looking at this lineup in front of them, there was no doubt anymore that the [Giant Mechid] was creating new [Mechids] based on the creatures in its surroundings. Dogs, cats, beetles, and even caterpirs. There was quite a variety of models.


    Aside from the [Mechids], the noise Mark''s group made actually attracted a handful of [Infected]. And all of them were mutated ones with agility to quickly traverse the dangerous mountain terrain.


    Andstly, [Feral Evolved Animals] also joined the fray. These feral, giant versions of their pre-apocalypse counterparts wandered these mountains. From giant insects to cow-sized canine monsters, there was quite a variety to them. It was majorly the thing that made it dangerous to travel the central parts of the ind, making the three main human settlements and other smaller settlements on the ind inessible to one another.


    Looking at this situation, this was the answer to the question of why fighting in the middle of the mountains during a zombie apocalypse was extremely dangerous. It was a safe ce to hide, as long as people would sit still and stay quiet. Once the cover was blown away, it would be very dangerous.


    Fortunately, this was the least of the problems if the fight happened in the magical mountains or areas around it. That ce was under the control of the magical creatures, after all, decreasing the dangers a whole lot.


    And as the guests gathered, the party began without the hosts. It was not surprising that the [Feral Evolved Animals] would start fighting the [Infected] and the [Mechids]. It was what they were known for. Attacking anything they did not deem one of theirs.


    But surprisingly, the new [Mechids] from the [Giant Mechid] were attacking the old and broken original [Mechids]. This was something surprising that no one would expect.


    Of course, the old [Mechids] that were neutral towards the new [Mechids] retaliated after getting attacked. These old [Mechids] were clearly superior in terms of toughness. However, their bodies were broken, and they had lesser numbers than the new [Mechids]. One of the heavily broken ones fell soon after the fight started. And another surprise, the new [Mechids] began butchering the defeated [Mechid], seemingly for parts and materials.


    As for the [Infected], they began attacking the [Feral Evolved Animals]. These animals were, after all, alive and not infected by [Mutagen''s] [Unstable Strain]. It would be more of a surprise if the [Infected] did not try to turn the animals to their side.


    Mark''s group looked at the party they started, unfazed. If it was any other regr person, they would be horrified at the pit of death before them. But for Mark''s group, it was a good opportunity to deal with many problems at once. Sure, it was dangerous this way. Nheless, it was more efficient than scouring the whole ind for these dangerous creatures.


    Besides, there was no rule that they had to step in and enter the fray in the middle of it. Mark''s group could just stay outside, sniping enemies at any given opportunity.


    It was what they did.


    Mei switched to a silenced sniper that she had inside her ring. It was not as powerful as the [Shooting Moon de]. But if Amihan was not around to silence her shots, this suppressed H&K PSG-1 Sniper Rifle they got from the bandits way back in New Jersey would do great work.


    As for Feng Zhiruo, she moved around the outskirts of the battlefield. Every time an enemy was forced back into the forest, it was her turn to snuff out the life out of them. Well, if these space robots were also considered as something alive.


    Lastly, Mark actually jumped into the fray. Using the [Photokinesis Mental Crystal], he stepped into the battlepletely invisible. And with the battle bing a royal rumble, it would be hard for those with motion and thermal detectors to actually pay attention to him specifically.


    Using his enhanced whip-des, [Slicer] and [Divider], he strafed through the battle killing anything thates near him.


    It was just a matter of time, the battlefield became a pile of corpses and broken metal pieces covered in ck goo.


    Mark decided to retrieve intact weapons from the [Mechids] and harvest usable materials from the dead animals. They also decided to bring back some of the animal corpses. In the middle of the battle, Mark actually focused on some animals to kill. For example, a jeepney sized boar.


    [Feral Evolved Animals] were aggressive due to the negative effects of the changes in their bodies. Nheless, their meat could be eaten safely and was one of the stable sources of food nowadays. There was no way that Mark would let that giant boar meat get tainted by the ck goo or escape.


    After that party of death, Mark''s group continued hunting [Mechids], [Infected], and [Feral Evolved Animals] throughout the night. The amount they killed was definitely above hundreds, but the number was the least of their concern.


    So far, it seemed that no [Mechid] had reached the far northwestern areas of the ind, which meant that they seeded in intercepting the [Mechids].


    It was a good thing for the Rebel Settlement, but definitely not in the other parts of the ind.

 Chapter 911 A Disturbed Night, The Attack Of [Mechids] In Codon Settlement

    <strong>Day 251 - 11:58 PM - Codon Settlement, Barangay Codon, Municipality of San Andres, Province of Catanduanes</strong>


    Nighttime should be the time of rest for people. But in the current Codon Settlement, it was when the unrest would escte. The settlement was dark, only lit by torches made from cans containing grass or animal. Of course, these torches barely emitted light and would not contribute much to the people''s mental well-being during the night.


    Despite living in a settlement, many people would rather stay awake at night, looking after their family and belongings. The enemies were not only outside the flimsy walls but also inside, and one slightpse in their guards could result in the loss of their things, or worse, their people.


    Because Codon Settlement had fallen into the hands of the mercenaries, security was not that tight. Worse, those who now ruled this settlement were the ones who would take advantage of its people the most.


    The people of Codon were not unfamiliar with the threats currently looming over the ind. The [Infected] and the [Evolved Animals] were the ones they were the most familiar with. These robots would also attack the settlement, albeit rare, which was fortunate as each time it happened, the walls would be breached, and the nonbatants were the ones to suffer the most during the attack.


    And to their dismay, tonight was the most unfortunate event they would experience after the catastrophe that changed the world.


    <strong>CLANG! CLANG! CLANG! CLANG!</strong>


    The frantic sound of hanging empty cans used as rm bells echoed across the settlement. This not only alerted everyone but also woke up all those asleep and resting.


    And as people grabbed their weapons and came to see what awaited them outside, they could only freeze in horror.


    Veiled by the darkness outside the walls, they could see around a dozen dim red lights, as if eyes were staring at them from the void.


    Those lights made them shiver. The fear was already ingrained in their minds.


    "ROBOTS!"


    The people''s frightened cries echoed throughout the settlement.


    None of them knew what these robots were aside from the fact that they were robots that fell from space. Some people even saw one fall from the sky when the catastrophe came since one crashed near the settlement just before the earthquake started. It was lucky that the barrier that encased the settlement stopped that robot''s attacks or that one alone could cause more damage than the damages the settlement already received.


    Several attacks happened while the barrier was present, allowing them to avoid too many casualties. But when the barrier vanished, everyone was thrown into chaos after a single attack caused several dozen deaths.


    After that, the people of the settlement were very careful when dealing with these robots, although casualties were unavoidable when fighting them. After all, the flimsy walls the settlement had would not stand a chance even against one robot.


    Seeing that the attackers were the robots, the nonbatants immediately escaped their dwellings and ran towards the center of the settlement. They did not care anymore about their other belongings, only taking their weapons and as much food and water as they could carry.


    As for the armed forces of the settlement, they gathered near the walls, stepping on the small scaffolds and watchtowers. They might look brave, but they held their guns and weapons tightly with hearts enveloped in fear. They could run away if they could. However, such a thing was not possible until it was thest resort.


    In the current state of the world, there would be no safer ce than the ce they were currently in. They would try to defend their homes than wander in the wilderness and gamble more with their future.


    But looking at the situation, even if they managed to defend their current home, it would lead to massive sacrifices after the battle.


    "How is the situation."


    A rather bulky man said to the mercenaries and soldiers as he arrived by the northeastern walls of the settlement.


    "Sir Ulric! The robots are staying within distance but had yet to attack for some reason."


    One of the lookouts at the watchtower looked down and reported at the bulky man.


    This bulky man with a crewcut hairstyle and scars on his muscled arms was the current ruler of this settlement. He was Ulric Montgomery. A half-Filipino-half-French mercenary. He was among the leaders of the private army of the Marcos Family before they were abandoned.


    Ulric might not be the best kind of person to rule a settlement. But in terms of strength, he was unparalleled.


    As he heard the report, Ulric frowned. He then lowered his body and suddenly sprung up to the sky. With a silent thud, the bulky man scaled the three-meter tall watch tower andnded on its roof.


    Ulric looked at the scene outside the walls. His eyes that glowed brightly in the dark could clearly see beyond what normal people could in the darkness of the night.


    The leader of Codon Settlement could not help but frown.


    While the people could only see thirteen dim lights in the darkness, Ulric could spot around twenty robots scattered around the forest outside the settlement.


    As Ulric wondered what these robots were up to as they were not attacking, his survival instincts kicked in as he swayed his body to the right, letting him fall on his back.


    <strong>SHOOOM!</strong>


    A beam of light pierced through the space where he was just now. Ulric could feel the heat of theser beam as it passed just a foot before his torso.


    Ulric did not bother to regain his bnce and let himself fall from the roof of the watchtower. When he was about to hit the ground, he rolled his body in the air andnded right back on his feet.


    "SIR!"


    The subordinates hurried to Ulric in worry. Who would not be worried when they saw such a frightening thing happen? If they lost Ulric here because of a surprise attack, the chances of them keeping the settlement would be much lesser.


    "Ulric, are you okay?"


    Anky man with a sniper rifle asked their leader. It was Ulric''s right hand that went with the name Parris. The two had been members of the same mercenary organization before being hired by their previous political employers.


    "I''m fine," Ulric said, patting the heated part of his clothing. "Just tell the lookouts to hide as much as possible. We can''t let them die from sneak attacks."


    The orders were immediately executed, and the lookouts took cover.


    But after that shot Ulric dodged, there was strangely no movement from the robots outside.


    "What in the world is going on?"


    Ulric voiced out the question that everyone had in their minds.


    In the previous instances, these robots would attack straight after arriving. However, the robots were not making any movements at all.


    Then why did these robots attack Ulric? No one could answer this question.


    Things were bing more and more uncertain, and it was putting everyone on edge.


    "Sir! They are moving!"<sub> </sub>


    A cry broke everyone''s silence.


    Everyone took positions in case the battle began. And to their further surprise, the robots seemed to be spreading out.


    This was the first time they had seen these robots move with such precise coordination. And this was definitely not a good sign.


    "Ulric, it seems they are trying to surround us."


    Parris said, predicting the movements of the enemy.


    "It''s possible," Ulric frowned. "And we can''t let it happen. If they managed to surround us, our path of retreat would end up being cut off."


    If these robots surrounded them, there would be no escape.


    "We can''t just sit here and wait. We better take the initiative before we''re surrounded by these f*cking pieces of scrap metal."


    Ulric cursed in frustration.


    It was already hard to keep the settlers fed while dealing with the attacks from the [Infected] and the [Feral Evolved Animals]. And now, these robots that behaved differently from the first two joined the fray.


    "How will we proceed with this situation?"


    Parris asked their leader.


    "Just like in the past," Ulric replied with a frustrated smirk. "I''ll go front, and you go back."


    "Good. It will also lessen the chances of casualties on our side if we bring the fight to them and not to us."


    Parris nodded. It was not like they had any other choice or even the time to n in this situation.


    Furthermore, it would lessen the number of deaths on their side if Ulric could get the attention of the enemies. It was something they were unable to do in the past. It was because the robots before would always charge towards the settlement before they could react, unlike now.


    Under Ulric''smand, everyone began to ready up for the actualbat.


    "AWWOOOO!!!"


    A howl sounded, signaling that the battle would begin.


    And that howl was also Ulric beginning to transform.


    Ulric was already a tall and muscr man. But as he bent his body and went on fours, his body began to double in size. His skin became covered in dark gray fur, and his face became elongated. In a few moments, the muscr mercenary turned into a gigantic wolfman.


    If a person saw this transformation, they would definitely call [Werewolf] without a second thought.


    However, while Ulric''s transformation did have such simrities, he was technically not a [Werewolf] but a [Mutator] with a wolf-like transformative ability. Furthermore, it was the rare full-body transformation that enhanced all his abilities, which also included his natural instincts.


    <strong>BAM!</strong>


    With a loud bam, Ulric kicked the ground and scaled the walls in a blink of an eye. At the same time, the armed forces of the settlement aimed their weapons.


    Alone, Ulric ran across the empty field outside the walls. He was open to any kind of attack, but with his glowing eyes and wild snarls, it seemed that he did not care at all.


    <strong>SHOOOM!</strong>


    As Ulric ran, several red smoky lights flew over his head towards the border of the forested areas.


    The first thing to do was to reveal the location of the enemies. If it was dark to see the enemies, then light the ce. Here, they used res to light up the surrounding area. The light might onlyst three minutes, at most. Nheless, it was better than shooting blindly in the dark as not all the robots emitted that dim red light from their eyes.


    Ulric elerated, running faster than the res could travel. Of course, the robots would not let him approach at all.


    With Ulric in the center, the darkened field bloomed with lights assers flew from different directions.


    However, the agile and nimble Ulric dodged the barrage ofsers by moving side by side and jumping back if necessary. Most of all, he was not relying solely on his eyes to see the attacks and would move his body as his instincts told him to.


    At this time, gunshots began echoing. The armed forces of the settlement began shooting at the robots that were now revealed by the res.


    As Ulric continued to charge forwards, some of the robots also charged at him.


    But seeing the robots up close, Ulric could not help but feel surprised.


    These robots were unlike the ones they fought in the past. Most of all, these robots seemed to mimic animals and insects, which was different from the strange-looking ones they had seen so far.


    Ulric charged with a frown. This was not the time to ponder about these robots. As one of the dog-shaped robots pounced at him, he jumped to the side and jabbed his fist forward.


    <strong>CRASH!</strong>


    To Ulric''s surprise, his fist left a deep dent on the robot''s side. It was something he had never seen before. The robots he fought so far would not even get dented by explosives.


    <strong>SHOOM!</strong>


    The surprisested short as Ulric was forced to dodge backward, unable to chain his attacks. Aser passed by his previous position. It was the very sameser that tried to attack him while he was standing on the watchtower''s roof.


    It was a dangerous shot aiming to kill him, without a doubt.


    But at this time...


    <o>,m "AHHH!"</o>


    A yell came from the walls. The very sameser Ulric dodged just now shot towards the settlement walls, likely hitting some people.

 Chapter 912 The Midnight Battle, The Result Of The Battle Againts [Mechids] In Codon Settlement

    <strong>Day 252 - 12:02 AM - Codon Settlement, Barangay Codon, Municipality of San Andres, Province of Catanduanes</strong>


    The cry of fear and pain stood out from the sounds ofsers and gunfire. Those who were around the man wailing in pain could not help but feel horrified.


    There, a man could be seen lying on the floor, iling in pain. Only his left arm and his legs were iling, however. It was because the entirety of his right arm, with the gun he was using to shoot the [Mechids], were disintegrated to smithereens. All that was left was a burnt injury that even ate a part of his right shoulder. The good thing was that the heat from theser melted the wound, and blood loss was the least of his problem. Nheless, it did not lessen the pain.


    And before anyone could assist the injured man, he passed out from pain shock with his mouth foaming profusely.


    "Take him away!"


    Parris immediatelymanded.


    While it was an unfortunate sight, Parris, who had more experience on the battlefield, would not give pity. The battlefield was as such, and it was the same for the apocalypse. Furthermore, letting that unfortunate guy linger longer would decrease the morale of everyone that would see him. And a situation where the morale of thebatants severely decreased was not an ideal one to have.


    The injured man was immediately brought to the settlement''s infirmary, leaving everyone else to continue the battle.


    On the other hand, Parris fired his sniper rifle with a frown while ncing at Ulric from time to time.


    In the eyes of Parris, Ulric was strong. Since they wanted to rule the settlement through fear, the powerful Ulric was the most suitable centerpiece. However, as a leader in both moral and political standards, Ulric was the most unsuitable for that position.


    There was a description that suited Ulric. A Lone Wolf. He was never a team yer, and as a leader, he always stood in front while the rest only followed behind. No one could stand beside him, or should, in this regard.


    Like what happened just now, Ulric could only care about himself on the battlefield. He would never catch a bullet for someone else. Those who stood beside or directly behind him would likely end up dead.


    This was why even in this scenario, Ulric was the only person outside. Not only would this make the enemies concentrate their attacks on thebat-capable Ulric, but it would also lessen the cases of deaths due to Ulric''s negligence.


    Leaving Ulric''s annoying tendencies behind his mind, Parris focused his attention on the enemies.


    Parris shot his gun, aiming for a flying robot. In this ragtag band of mercenaries and private soldiers, it was not wrong to say that Parris was the brains. While he was not exactly someone who could be called an all-around intelligent person, he was at least knowledgeable in terms ofbat tactics and analyzing the enemies.


    And that was what Parris was doing right now. Analyzing the movements and, possibly, the intentions of these cursed robots. In fact, he had already noticed something odd.


    While it was clear that the robots were trying to surround the settlement, it seemed that their intentions did not include blindly attacking. The robots were raining attacks on Ulric, but not all the enemies.


    For example, the flying robot he shot just now. It was hovering above a tree, not participating in the battle at all. It was strange since the robots that attacked before were more or less like the [Infected], like moths attracted to mes, albeit not as dumb as the [Infected]. Nheless, their intelligence was still limited.


    But these ones... It was clear that these robots were different. They were organized and, as it appeared, had a clear goal. Were these robots being manipted? Was it simr to the [Infected] having [Leader Types]?


    Questions after questions rolled inside Parris'' mind. But without enough information, it was hard toe up with a concrete answer.


    But then...


    "Heads Down!"


    Parris yelled to their subordinates along the walls as he jumped down the watchtower, pulling the soldier beside him.


    Unfortunately, not all of them were able to react to the warning Parris gave.


    <strong>THOOOM!</strong>


    Four beams hit the walls, with another one hitting the watchtower.


    Fifteen people died in an instant, and another ten were injured.


    The watchtower fell covered in mes as theser hit two of its foundations and arge part of the tform. Fourrge holes were also left on the walls and began to burn. Luckily, there were enough people to put out the fire immediately.


    "Sh*t."


    Parris cursed as he saw the damage.


    Those five attacks were not the same as the one Ulric dodged that ended up hitting one of the soldiers. Those were attacks specifically aimed at them.


    "Retrieve the bodies and tend to the injured!" Parrismanded. "Stay alert! The enemies are different from those we previously fought!"


    Parris was irritated. Even the attack patterns of these robots were different. The robots before would try to attack the ones closest to them. In this case, Ulric. However, these robots fired at the walls and the watchtower, ignoring Ulric, who was now on a rampage after destroying a number of these robots.


    Luckily, he noticed the iing attack, avoiding the worst oue. Because if his warning did note through, there would have been more deaths and injuries.


    Parris grabbed his sniper rifle and ran towards the broken part of the wall. He then aimed his gun towards the forest.


    There, Parris could see one of the very likely sources of the attack they received just now.


    <strong>BANG!</strong>


    Parris shot his gun towards what seemed to be a gathering of light. It was what he saw before the beams were fired at them. It was very likely a charging mechanism.


    And to everyone''s surprise...


    <strong>CLANK! BOOM!</strong>


    An explosion urred, causing a giant ball of blinding light to illuminate the forest. That explosion swallowed the robot that Parris shot along with the other robots surrounding it.


    Parris was surprised himself, but more importantly...


    "EAT THAT! YOU F*CKERS!"


    Parris yelled, not only tomemorate his kill but to increase the morale of the soldiers.<sub> </sub>


    And seeing that Parris was actually able to cause a substantial amount of damage to the enemy forces, the morale did increase. While aiming to contribute to the battle, the soldiers shot their guns with renewed determination.


    In the middle of the battlefield, Ulric was hogging the attention of the melee forces of the robots. Around him were the remains of robots he tore to pieces with his own hands. Of course, knowing that the goo from the robots was harmful, he avoided getting tainted by the foul-smelling liquid.


    Ulric saw the explosion in the forest. However, he could not care less. He had his own fight to focus on.


    The battle continued for several minutes more. And to everyone''s surprise, they actually managed to shoot down a good number of the robots. It was too surprising since they struggled a lot when fighting the previous robots despite the lesser number.


    While they managed to destroy a number of robots, the battle was not tipping to their side entirely. It was a battle, and the robots would retaliate to their gunfire. The walls, especially on the northeast side, were badly damaged. They incurred more and more casualties as the battle went on.


    But then... The unthinkable happened.


    The robots began to retreat.


    This scene was far more shocking than receiving a sneak attack from these robots.


    The robots that attacked the settlement before would continue causing damage until they were destroyed. Never once did they see any robot retreat or even attempt to. Yet, this army of robots was retreating.


    Was this a good thing? No. This was far more horrifying.


    It just meant that these robots were receiving orders from someone or something. And who or whatever these robots were receiving orders from, it was something far more intelligent than these robots.


    The soldiers of the settlement managed to thwart the danger. However, none of them could let out a cheer, bewildered by what was going on.


    "Assess the damage and get ready to fix the walls!" Parris yelled, causing the soldiers to snap back to reality. "We don''t know when those bastards wille back. We have to fix the walls before that happens!"


    Everyone immediately moved ording to the orders given to them.


    And at this time, Ulric returned, already turned back to his human form.


    "How many people died this time?"


    That was the first thing that Ulric asked Parris.


    "Fortytwo," Parris straight up answered. "The casualties are smallpared to the scale of the fight."


    Fortytwo people might be a lot. However, considering that they once lost around the same number while fighting a single robot, it was indeed small.


    Parris looked at Ulric''s reaction. However, it was clear that he did not really care that much. Instead, it seemed that Ulric had a different thing in his mind.


    "Is something wrong?"


    Parris asked Ulric.


    "The robots this time... They''re weak," Ulric answered while clenching his hand. "Their bodies dent with a flick."


    Parris could only agree with what Ulric said. He also noticed it after he caused that explosion. The robots before were hard to kill because bullets barely had any effect on their bodies. But the robots, this time, bullets could shoot through their bodies. There was still some resistance, but definitely not as strong as the previous robots they fought before.


    "We should prepare," Parris said to Ulric. "Those robots might return any time."


    "I know," Ulric frowned. "Those pieces of junk... They better note back."


    The current leaders turned towards the forest northeast of the settlement. It would be best if those robots never came back. But, of course, this thought was nothing but a pipe dream, and they knew that.


    ***


    It was not only Codon Settlement that faced such adversity. The Military Outpost in the municipality of Virac faced the same kind of danger.


    Fortunately,paring the two settlements, the Military Outpost handled the situation better.


    The Military Outpost did not have someone powerful like Ulric. However, they had proper weapons, equipment, and the walls that the Military Outpost had been far better than that of Codon.


    And considering that the new [Mechids] were not impervious to bullets, a ce with overwhelming firepower could face them better.


    Unfortunately, while both Codon Settlement and the Military Outpost managed to defend against the attack, the few existing smaller settlements on the ind did not have the same level of firepower.


    This midnight, all but three human settlements in Catanduanes were destroyed.


    As for the Rebel Settlement, they had no idea what was happening in the other parts of the ind.


    No, they actually had an inkling of what was happening as the whole settlement was on high alert. However, no danger came to the settlement even when dawn finally came.


    This caused the people of the Rebel Settlement to wonder if the [Forteller] had a wrong read of the future.


    But then, the hunting party of the Rebel Settlement came with a piece of horrifying news as bodies of [Mechids] were seen littered all over the mountains southeast of the settlement.


    The [Forteller] did not read the future wrong. It was just there was an unexpected factor that protected them from the supposed dangerous event.


    Upon receiving the news, the [Forteller] tried to read the events that transpired during the previous night. However, the cards would not tell her anything for some reason.


    But while in the middle of trying to unveil the mystery, the [Forteller] managed to read a different event.


    The [Forteller] immediately left the meeting room amidst the confused stares of the leaders of the settlement. They followed her and ended up within the quarters where the [Forteller''s] family were staying.


    There, inside their rooms, the [Forteller''s] son and daughtery on their beds unconscious, in pain, and with a high fever.

 Chapter 913 A Rest, The Morning After A Long Night

    <strong>Day 252 - 10:21 AM - Napo Settlement, Barangay Napo, Municipality of Pandan, Province of Cavite</strong>


    Since everyone woke up early in the morning in the Rebel Settlement, or what the locals call Napo Settlement, it was enveloped in uncertainty.


    The settlers spent the night peacefully. Or so they thought. But when morning came, the settlement hunters found many remains of destroyed robots in the nearby mountains.


    It meant that the previous night was not as peaceful as it seemed. Worse, none of them had any idea of what could have transpired in the mountainsst night.


    And other than the mystery of the broken robots, they discovered an rming event within their walls.


    The [Forteller''s] son and daughter were both found unconscious in their rooms, writhing in pain and burning with a deadly-high fever.


    Since [Mutagen] invaded Earth and the apocalypse began, it was not just humanity that was almost wiped out from the surface of the. Of course, animals faced the same circumstances. But not known to many, most pathogens, especially the weakest kind that causemon diseases, were wiped out because of [Mutagen] through various factors.


    And now, only two possible reasons exist that could cause a person or animal to have a fever. One was if a person was experiencing changes, turning into an [Evolver]. The other was if a person was bitten by the [Infected].


    Given that it was rather impossible that both the [Forteller''s] son and daughter were bitten, the most likely reason for this event was both of them bing [Evolvers].


    Furthermore, while the two werepletely unconcious, it was not hard to tell that they were not bitten or [Infected] in any way. And their high fever aside, no other symptoms could be seen. For example, the sudden discoloration of veins present in all people bitten. Even [Mutators] have this discoloration in their veins before their bodies fully change. That discoloration was not present on the bodies of the siblings.


    After realizing that the two were undergoing the process of bing [Evolvers], it was not only their family members, but the whole settlement felt relieved. Back when the two were caught by the other rebel faction, things had not been optimal around the [Forteller]. It was not wrong to say that she had a pretty bad temper, and it was the worse when the two were abducted. Things could be way worse if the siblings were somehow infected.


    The [Forteller] was the pir of this settlement. It remained standing and safe due to her predictions. Things would turn bad for the settlement if they lost her support.


    However, while they were relieved that the siblings were not infected, it was a total mystery why they suddenly became [Evolvers].


    While there were some rare exceptions, the mostmon instance where a person became an [Evolver] was when they survived a deadly event desperately. Like how true evolution worked in the long run, the changes [Evolvers] undergo corresponds to what the person needed the most in that desperate situation.


    A person who decided to flee would have a pair of legs capable of running fast or develop much higher stamina. Those who chose to fight could be gifted with higher strength. And those enveloped in anger could be stronger as their fury deepened.


    It was the very reason why these people were called [Evolvers].


    And for the siblings to undergo these circumstances at the same time, people could not help but feel strange and suspicious. But for now, they could only wait. There was no point trying to get answers from the unconscious siblings.


    Unknown to all of the people in the Napo Settlement. The cause of the current state of the siblings currently stood on the roof of the hospital building, the central building of the settlement.


    ***


    "Looks like them taking the crystals at the same time caused somemotion."


    Mark said with his eyes closed, sensing the situation inside the building below him.


    It was a good thing his two siblings trusted him and took the [Empty Physical Crystals] to be [Evolvers]. They also followed his instruction to take only one crystal each at a time. However, the two taking their crystals at the same time caused themotion.


    "Well, there''s no use crying over spilled milk," Mark shrugged. "I just wish they don''t go tattling on me."


    And with those words, Mark turned into a surge of mist and vanished into the sky.


    Mark appeared far outside the walls of the Napo Settlement. He took ast nce before entering the mountainous forest.


    Right now, the mountains southeast of Napo Settlement were not peaceful, with many soldiers from Napo Settlement roaming the ce to investigate the remains of the destroyed [Mechids].


    As Mark walked around hidden with [Optical Camouge], he came across several patrols of armed soldiers from Napo Settlement.


    Mark then remembered the things that happenedst night.


    The previous night was quite a handful with [Mechids] scouring the entire ind. It seemed that there were actually several batches of [Mechids] after the first one, which increased the number of [Mechids] they encountered. From what Mark remembered, they destroyed around two hundred [Mechids] in this mountain alone and more on the other areas near the center of the ind.


    Due to the number, the warriors under Diwata Iraya did not have enough time for the clean-up, not to mention that the [Mechids] were destroyed in different ces. That was why the hunters managed to find the remains of the [Mechids] before they were removed and cleaned.


    It was a situation that could not be helped any longer. The only good thing was these [Mechids] were far inferior to the ones that the magical creatures fought these past months. They were easy to eliminate. The only problem was the numbers and the time needed to find them.


    That was why before everything turned for the worse, they must deal with the [Giant Mechid].


    ***


    Day 252 - 12:21 PM - Magical Vige, Unnamed Mountain, Municipality of Viga, Province of Catanduanes


    Mark returned to the vige of magical creatures after checking the situation with his siblings.


    "Gege, wee back."


    Mei said to Mark with a smile the moment he appeared. Even at this point, it was mysterious how Mei seemed to know whenever he would leave or arrive. She could even find him despite being unseen within a certain distance.


    Mark did not mind this strange trait that Mei had, however. No matter what, it was a nice feeling to have someone always waiting for him in his return.


    "Papa!"


    Miracle also called out while sitting on a chair around the dining table. It was already noon, and it was time to eat lunch.<sub> </sub>


    Everyone was already gathered around the table when Mark arrived. Ever since the apocalypse began, lunch became a lively asion for Mark with everyone around eating with him.


    Mark took the empty seat at one end of the table. The seat to his right was empty, while Miracle sat to his left.


    "How are your siblings?"


    Mei asked Mark as she ced a wooden te in front of Mark and served him lunch.


    "They should be fine," Mark replied. "Though it also looks like the process of their evolution is taking longer than normal."


    That was what Mark thought when he arrived to check on his siblings. When they managed to clear the [Mechids], he immediately went to check on them, thinking that they already turned into [Evolvers]. It was around six in the morning at that time. Both his siblings were already undergoing the process at that time.


    Mark left the Napo settlement at past ten in the morning. Yet, neither of the two were waking up and were still in the process of evolving. Even the other people he turned into [Evolvers] only took three to four hours, seven hours at most. If not for the fact that Mark could tell that their mental fluctuations were already stable, it would have made Mark think that something went wrong.


    "It''s not surprising something went strange," Spera chimed in. "Your whole family isn''t normal."


    That statement from Spera was not something anyone would deny in this group. Even Be and Donna already realized that Mark''s ancestry was weird.


    Mark''s mother was the Napo Settlement''s [Forteller. His aunt, Gennie, was now a spirit living in this magical ce. His ancestor, Aliya, a spirit from the ancient past. Andstly, Mark, who was now a Demon.


    It sure was a weird family tree.


    After serving Mark his food, Mei took the empty seat beside him. There, they all started to eat lunch.


    "What are the ns now?"


    At this time, Chimetrice spoke to Mark. The guy was not really someone who enjoy food. And to save time, lunchtime was a good time to discuss their future ns.


    And to Chimetrice''s question, Mark replied.


    "The next thing we need to do is to destroy the [Giant Mechid]. We don''t know its intention by sending those number of [Mechids] all over the ind, but we should get rid of it before it can cause more trouble."


    Everyone agreed with Mark''s words. [Mechids] was dangerous, and the situation the previous night made things worse.


    Given that there was also [Yasaws] watching the other human settlements on the ind, they already heard of what happened to those settlementsst night. The tworger settlements managed to defend themselves. As for the smaller settlements, they were all destroyed and wiped out.


    Right now, there were only three ces left on the ind inhabited by humans and one inhabited by magical creatures.


    "But what did that thing want to do by spreading [Mechids]?"


    Donna voiced out a good question.


    "Probably to create a [Mechid] that can wipe out everything in this ind, possibly everything in the whole world."


    Mark replied, making the sisters feel goosebumps.


    The answer Mark gave was the conclusion he arrived at from analyzing the situation and the bodies of the destroyed [Mechids] sent to fight the magical creatures.


    Although it might be not the exact case. However, the possibility was extremely high.


    A [Mechid] that could wipe out everything in the world. Such a thought would terrify most people.


    "I don''t mind fighting it," Feng Zhiruo said to the side. "But won''t it be reckless? We barely know anything about that thing."


    Mark stared at Feng Zhiruo. She looked pretty desperate to get stronger since she failed the [Trial of Regrets]. However, it looked like she had yet to turn into a reckless battle junkie. It was a good thing.


    "There''s nothing much we can do in that regard, really," Mark replied. "We can''t investigate it closely because of the radiation it emits. And from what I estimated, only me and Chimetrice can approach it at this point."


    Mark''s had his [Miasma] to protect him. It might not be enough for arge-scale attack, but it was more than enough to stop radiation from affecting him. On the other hand, Chimetrice was barely affected by radiation. The two of them could closely confront the [Giant Mechid].


    Unfortunately, while they could use this fact to investigate, it was not rmended. The [Giant Mechid] had already disyed a decent level of intelligence, and it would definitely find Mark and Chimetrice if they approached it to investigate. Even the [Mechids] that attackedst time seemed to have detection mechanisms. It would not be surprising if the [Giant Mechid] was also capable of it. If not, its minions certainly would.


    "When do you n to make your move?"


    Suddenly, a beautiful voice entered their ears. It was Diwata Iraya, who overheard their conversation as she arrived.


    Mark turned his head towards the [Diwata].


    "Tomorrow."


    Mark replied.


    They spent the previous night without rest. It was reasonable if they needed on after a long night of battles. However, they could not rest too long or it would give the [Giant Mechid] a chance to make more annoying actions.


    A day of rest before the battle. It was a reasonable decision.

 Chapter 914 A Hidden Blessing, The Island Of Catanduanes The Day Before Another Storm

    <strong>Day 252 - 1:06 PM - Magical Vige, Unnamed Mountain, Municipality of Viga, Province of Catanduanes</strong>


    Now that today was decided to be a time for rest, it was natural to try and be at ease. Well... Who would?


    Tomorrow would be the time they would fight against the [Giant Mechid]. Depending on the situation, it could turn out to be a battleparable to the war against Lord Seis and the Demons from Bato. Who in the right mind would feel rxed knowing this?


    Since Diwata Iraya immediately ryed Mark''s n to fight tomorrow to her people, the magical creatures began to prepare for the battle. They needed to create as many arrows and spears as they could. Not just some regr ones but those that could prate the bodies of [Mechids].


    Why would they need weapons? Would the magical creatures participate? Of course, they would. There was no way they would leave everything to Mark and his group, especially since these [Mechids] killed many of their kind in these past months.


    It was also within Mark''s ns. While a direct confrontation against the [Giant Mechid] would be impossible for these magical creatures due to radiation, they could still attack from afar using ranged weapons.


    Furthermore, given that the [Giant Mechid] was very likely a [Mechid] factory, there was no surprise if the enemy in this battle was not only the boss but also its minions.


    The magical creatures could participate in fighting the [Giant Mechid], but their main duty was to keep the minions at bay.


    Knowing what would happen tomorrow, along with their duties and the possible oues, there was no way anyone should feel at ease.


    But contrary to the nervous warriors, Mark was currently inside the hut they were staying, lying in bed with Mei sleeping closely to his side.


    Together with Feng Zhiruo, Mark and Mei spent the whole night until noon without a wink of sleep. After fighting [Mechids], the [Infected], and [Feral Evolved Animals] for the whole night and spending a busy morning, they certainly deserved a peaceful sleep.


    Well, sleeping was definitely not what Mark was currently doing.


    Mark''s eyes were closed, but he was not asleep. While his body was currently in a rxed state, his mind was running at full capacity. As he essed his subconscious memories, Mark reviewed every single detail of the [Giant Mechid] when they saw it before.


    The [Giant Mechid''s] appearance, broken parts, and even its behavior, Even the [Mechids] that they encountered, along with their weapons and capabilities. Mark was studying these aspects carefully with a clear view of things.


    It was the greatest advantage of someone who could ess their subconscious memories. It was like having a photographic memory, but much clearer and far more versatile. And rather than looking at a photo, it was more like watching an entire video. Of course, what Mark could watch was limited to what he had seen before. Like a video, you could only see what the camera focused on.


    Using his subconscious memories and adding deductions and possibilities, Mark was trying to find ways to make the battle tomorrow easier and safer.


    Unfortunately, this kind of analysis was extremely limited. Since there was barely any concrete information about the [Giant Mechid], all Mark could deduce was the possibility of it having the weapons that other [Mechids] used so far. And there was a high chance of it having weapons and equipment that other [Mechids] did not have. These kinds of things could not be deduced even using Mark''s high imagination.


    If only Mark could use his [Future Prediction] to see far more into the future at will, this kind of analysis would be far easier and more reliable.


    All Mark could do was try to put out some ns and strategies for different possible scenarios.


    After taking several hours to remember and analyze as much as he could, Mark''s concentration was broken. It was because the door to the hut was opened. However, Mark did not feel the need to open his eyes as he felt four presences entering the hut as silent as they could.


    Soon, it was not only Mark and Mei who was sleeping inside the hut. After ying around, it was no surprise that the little girls felt tired and joined their adoptive parents to rest. Of course, Amihan was also here, joining in as a family member.


    As mental fatigue slowly took over, Mark could only stop. With a bit of a rxed smile on his lips, he decided to finally fall asleep.


    ***


    "What a peaceful family."


    A silhouette of a person emerged inside the hut after everyone was deep asleep.


    The silhouette, no, the Ancient Visayan Goddess of the Underworld, Magwayen, floated while overlooking the sleeping family. If it was someone else, her sudden appearance inside the hut would have been detected by this abnormal family. However, she was nothing but an apparition. Not to mention that a [Higher God] like her had the ability to conceal her presence from mortals.


    Although she had not been appearing since Mark''s group left Mount Caon, Magwayen was well aware of the situation around the [Mark of the King] that Mark always carried with him. Thus, she knew that Mark and the people of this mountain nned to confront the currently most dangerous enemy on this ind.


    "Haah..."


    Magwayen sighed.


    "Heroes lived difficult lives because it was their destiny to ovee trials given by fate. Their presence affects the fates of those around them. They were the ones who could turn the world upside down depending on the paths they would take."


    Magwayen stared at Mark and Mei.


    "You two are not heroes. You two are far from one. But having a destiny severed from the river of fate was not any less difficult than the life of a hero. A broken destiny would always try to fix itself and get rid of the variables creating waves in its calm waters."


    "Sometimes, the river of fate would attract two variables together, letting themselves contest against each other. Thus, a trial was formed."


    "These trials were things you two needed to ovee. Not only to survive but also in order to reach the highest possibility in your lives."


    Magwayen turned to Mark.


    "A body of [Miasma]. An embodiment of corruption. The bringer of death and destroyer of everything. The perfect vessel, should I say. You received a part of the blessing of my beloved Kaptan from the [Trial of Regrets]. However, your body is notpatible with it. In the end, you suffered until you managed to break the blessing and turn its power to boost your own strength temporarily."


    "But given that you all are a family, it would be unfair if you, the pir, did not have your own blessing."


    "Thus... received mine."


    As Magwayen said those words, she blew a misty ball of energy towards Mark, which entered his body without him noticing.


    "I perfectly merged as I thought," Magwayen let out a sheepish smile she never let Mark and his group see. "The power of death. It was rare for a mortal to be able to contain such power. It was why I can not just give my blessing at will."


    "It took me some time to be able to pass a blessing through this astral body. Make use of this during tomorrow''s battle."


    "And give me some entertainment."


    And with those words that one would typically hear from a God, Magwayen vanished once more.


    ***<sub> </sub>


    Mark abruptly opened his eyes. He was unsure why, but his body woke him up somehow. It was as if Mark sensed a presence by instinct. However, when he raised his head to look around, there was no one else inside the hut except Mei, Amihan, and the little girls. His [Empath] abilities could not detect anyone in the near vicinity of the hut either.


    Laying his head back down, Mark frowned.


    "Did I dream of something?"


    Maybe, he was dreaming and woke up amidst it. However, Mark could not remember. Even if he had ess to his subconscious memories, dreams were one of the things that were hard to recall.


    While Mark was contemting, Mei woke up. She was embracing Mark in her sleep, and with a slight raise of her head, she could see Mark''s face.


    "Waking up already?"


    Mark whispered.


    Mei looked up and smiled slightly as she looked at Mark. With a slight nod, she replied.


    "It should be almost dinner time."


    Mei then slowly raised her body and sat down. She noticed that the little girls and Amihan were also asleep, making her smile even more.


    "I''ll call Be and Donna to cook dinner. Just stay here and rest."


    Mei said, seemingly aware that Mark did not sleep as long as she did.


    Mark watched his wife go out of the hut with a shrug and followed what Mei said, continuing to sleep.


    ***


    <strong>Day 252 - 5:21 PM - Napo Settlement, Barangay Napo, Municipality of Pandan, Province of Catanduanes</strong>


    While their older brother was sleeping somewhere, Michael and Marian were currently on the hot seat.


    This situation was not surprising, considering the two were unconscious and burning with fever for over twelve hours.


    Fortunately, the two siblings were a bit weak after waking up. It allowed them to avoid the questions temporarily. Still, the two would not be able to escape the strict questioning they would face afterward.


    The question now was would the two be able to hide the truth? Or would they confess about their older brother and the crystals he gave them?


    Without a doubt, the next few days would be hard for the two.


    ***


    <strong>Day 252 - 6:11 PM - Codon Settlement, Barangay Codon, Municipality of San Andress, Province of Catanduanes</strong>


    The sun had set, and the looming sense of fear intensified.


    Although the walls of Codon Settlement were left covered in darkness, it was not devoid of people.


    Considering what happened the previous night, the mercenaries, private soldiers, and all otherbat-capable personnel were on high alert. Another attack from the robots was not unlikely to happen. Thus, they better be prepared.


    Unfortunately, many parts of the walls broken from the previous battle were yet to be repaired. As such, more people were sent to those areas to prevent any breach. Well, as if that would be possible. If the robots reached their flimsy walls, it would definitely be the end of the settlement of Codon.


    ***


    The darkness loomed over the ind.


    Because of the swarm of [Mechids], the settlements were on high alert.


    But to everyone''s confusion...


    The [Mechids] was silent. Not one of them was spotted near any settlement on the ind.


    Although the night was peaceful, it somehow brought an eerie feeling to everyone. It was as if something big would happen.


    It was as if it was the calm before the storm.


    ***


    <strong>Day 253 - 7:22 AM - Giant Crater, Municipality of Viga, Province of Catanduanes</strong>


    The night passed peacefully. It was possible that not a single drop of blood was shedst night on the ind. Of course, except for animals and insects that needed to hunt to survive.


    And as the sun rose from the eastern horizon, the shadow of the mountains moved swiftly. But faster than the mountainous shade, hundreds of silhouettes of creatures could be seen marching under the lush mountainous forest.


    With the little ones in the lead, the groups of magical creatures traveled towards the mountainous crater that imprisoned the ind''s current enemy.


    The sun finally illuminated from above. At the northwestern edge of the giant crater, the army was already waiting to strike the giant metal invader imprisoned within.


    On one of the mountain peaks, Mark stood in full battle gear. Wearing a new armor on his body and his railgun in his hand, he was ready to tackle this battle.


    With a well-rested body and a stable mind, Mark was in a way better statepared to when they fought Sinogo.


    That was why this time, Mark intended to get the upper hand as soon as the battle started.

 Chapter 915 Starting The Battle, The Flight Within The Goo-Covered Crater

    <strong>Day 253 - 8:02 AM - Mountainous Crater, Municipality of Viga, Province of Catanduanes</strong>


    The morning sun shined brightly in the sky. With a man in ck armor in the lead, silhouettes of people appeared on the northwestern peaks at the edge of the mountainous crater.


    Mark and his group led the hike to the peak of the mountain. The ability of the [Yasaws] to shrink the distance of travel sure made it easy to moverge numbers of people. However, it was not without limitations.


    While it would be no problem movingrge numbers of people, it would only be best used if the destination was more or less an even terrain. If the destination had steep geography, it would be only good for a few people. After all, people still needed a proper ground to stand on after reaching the destination, and steep ces would not grant that requirement. It was still possible to move arge number of people into steep locations, but the probability of idents would be pretty high.


    Thus, halfway through the mountain, they could only rely on their physical and magical abilities.


    Because of this, they spent more time climbing up the mountain they needed to reach.


    Of course, it was possible for the [Yasaws] to bring the entire group inside the crater. However, that was not something Mark would rmend.


    After all, everything inside the crater was the territory of the [Giant Mechid]. Although the scouts that Diwata Iraya sent kept watching the enemy, what they could observe was limited due to the fact that arge area around the [Giant Mechid] was greatly affected by radiation. The flimsy amount of information they had could not be relied on concretely.


    Furthermore, these mountain peaks would be the strategic point of the battle. Not only would it hinder enemies from quickly reaching the warriors and entangling them into close-quartersbat, but it would allow quick and safe retreat if necessary.


    BAM! BAM!


    Loud noises were suddenly heard, making the warriors still climbing flinch and go into hiding. On the other hand, Mark and those already at the top stood still as they watched the source of the loud noise.


    The source of the loud noise, of course, was the [Giant Mechid]. It was still trying to ovee the mountains that imprisoned it, only to fail again and again. Even so, as if it was not within its program to stop, it continued to stand and attempt to climb up the mountainous walls of the crater.


    By the looks of it, they were still far from getting detected by the [Giant Mechid]. Not only that, they had chosen a location quite far from it, but Diwata Iraya was also currently using magic to hide everyone''s presence. Although a direct line of sight would reveal their location, it should be fine for now as the scouts already deemed this location safe.


    Mark nced at his group, and with a nod from him, they began toy low. This time, his group wasposed of everyone except for Ilia, Be, and Donna. The three golems were also present for assistance.


    In this battle against the [Mechids], the [Mutator] abilities of the two sisters would be useless since these alien machines could not be affected by their numbing and sleeping powders. As for Ilia, it was not like she had nobat abilities. In fact, herbat skills would be above Feng Zhiruo. However, with only her and Chimetrice being able to pilot the [Mini Cube], it was better for her to be on standby inside the floating vessel just in case.


    Mark turned his eyes toward Diwata Iraya. Upon receiving his gaze, the [Diwata] immediately ordered her warriors to spread out.


    These mountain peaks would be the frontline of the battle.


    The magical creatures moved in different groups. One group, led by the [Tamawo], Ordulk, wielded bows in their hands. The second group, led by the [Cursed Armor], Morlkil, carried spears. Lastly, the [Yasaws], led by Derielio, moved behind the lines.


    In the iing battle, meleebat was not rmended. The terrain in the mountain peaks was not good for closebat battles. Furthermore, although weaker than the original ones, it was still not easy to prate the bodies of [Mechids] using primitive weapons. While the damage could be the same with range attacks, it would at least keep the warriors at a safer distance.


    This was why both the groups led by Ordulk and Morlkil wielded ranged weapons and spears. Spears might be melee weapons, but they could also be thrown and keep enemies at bay.


    On the other hand, the [Yasaws] would not be much of help in thebat scenario. After all, their childish bodies only had their speed as their advantage. However, their magical abilities would be crucial in swiftly moving around the position of warriors and during the retreat. As such, they were assigned to support the other two groups from behind.


    Lastly, Mark''s group.


    Mark and Chimetrice would be the ones to directly face the [Giant Mechid]. The rest of their group present would be focused on supporting the two.


    While waiting for everyone to get into position, Mark took the opportunity to observe the geography within the crater. It was also the first time they saw the crater this close, and it was good to take notice of the surroundings before starting the battle.


    And without a doubt, the geography outside and inside the crater seemed like two different worlds.


    The forest outside, while mixed with unfamiliar trees from the [Spirit Dimension], still looked more or less normal to Earth''s current circumstances.


    Inside the crater, however... While the leaves of the trees seemed natural from afar, the leaves were actually covered in disgusting vein-like growth that would keep on pulsating. Even the trunks of the trees had mutated far from [Mutagen] would affect flora. It was not wrong to say that the inner areas of the crater looked alien-like.


    There was no need to mention that the ck goo normally found inside the bodies of the [Mechids] was everywhere. Usually, this ck goo would evaporate, but it seemed that the prolonged exposure of the area to this substance made it possible for the ck goo to stay in form.


    Mark continued to observe with a frown. However, the time he needed to wait ended sooner than expected.


    It only took ten minutes before everyone got into position. This preparation should have taken longer due to the fact that the warriors had to spread out to different areas. Here, the ability of the [Yasaws] came in handy.


    Mark closed his eyes and felt his surroundings. Everyone was pretty nervous. However, all of them were also determined to end this troublesome situation.


    Opening his eyes, Mark stretched his wings wide open. The three pairs of wings he had were really unique, taking everyone''s attention towards him. It was not only Mark but also Chimetrice. After all, the wings of this [Humanoid Chimera] were made from six different species of both magical and demonic beings.


    Mark nced at Mei and nodded. Mei returned the nod with her own. There was no need for words as the two already knew what each other''s nod meant.


    The nods meant "I am going." replied with "Be careful."


    Mark''s wings pped, bringing him up to the sky swiftly. Chimetrice followed closely behind him.


    Then, the two front liners swooped down from the sky into the alien-like forest below them.


    Flying straight towards the [Giant Mechid] would be faster. However, it would also make them easier to detect, and retaliation would likelye before they even reached the enemy.


    As the two entered the gross-looking forest, Mark could not help but feel his stomach churn. He did not mind the smell of rotting corpses, but the smell of the ck goo concentrated within the crater was extremely suffocating.<sub> </sub>


    After reaching a certain distance within the crater, Mark began to feel a bit nauseous. Without hesitation, Mark released [Miasma] from his body. Immediately, he felt better. This nauseating sensation was not from the smell but because they already had entered the immediate vicinity affected by the radiation the [Giant Mechid] was releasing.


    And as they get closer, the surroundings get worse.


    The [Giant Mechid] continuously excreted the ck goo from the broken parts of its body. As such, the amount of ck goo would only get thicker as they get near it. Of course, it was the same for the corrupted surroundings due to the ck goo.


    Mark and Chimetrice flew as fast as they could while keeping ount of the surroundings. Their current goal was to initiate the first attack before the battle began.


    But would the initial n go smoothly?


    Unfortunately, the answer was no.


    The closer they get to the [Giant Mechid], the chance of encountering its minions would also be higher and higher. And just one of those [Mechids] spotting Mark and Chimetrice would mean stirring out the ho nest.


    And...


    <strong>CREAK!</strong>


    A slight creak to their left made Mark click his tongue.


    Mark immediately aimed the railgun, [Shadow Piercer] in his hand andunched a full-charge shot.


    <strong>CLANK!</strong>


    The sound of metal being pierced through was heard. A [Mechid] was there, wandering about. It was moving in their direction, clearly sensing their arrival.


    Furthermore, there was not only one.


    Chiemetrice increased his speed, moving at speeds where only a blur could be seen. He swooped down some iing figures, bisecting them with his right arm, now covered with vines.


    It was unclear how these [Mechids] managed to locate them. However, looking at [Mechids] seemingly confused, it looked like they managed to detect Mark and Chimetrice, although unsure who or what they were.


    And since Mark and Chimetrice dealt with the enemies before they could see them clearly, it would definitely cause more confusion among the intelligent [Mechids].


    But by now, the [Mechids] would definitely know that some enemies came into their territory.


    <strong>CLANG! CLANG!</strong>


    The loud sound of metal nging was heard. The [Giant Mechid] was changing its movements. Instead of facing the mountain it repeatedly tried to climb, it was the direction of the intruders.


    Mark turned to Chimetrice. He then pointed to the south.


    Chimetrice, seeing Mark''s signal, separated from him, flying south. On the other hand, Mark flew towards the north.


    Since the [Giant Mechid] faced their initial direction, what they could do was nk its sides from opposite directions.


    And as Mark nned, there seemed to be some confusion from the movements of the [Giant Mechid].


    Mark and Chimetrice continuously eliminated the [Mechids] they came across, making sure to change direction for every kill they made. This strategy would make it hard to point out their exact location while confusing the hell out of the [Mechids] trying to find and chase the two.


    The [Mechids] within the crater began to gather. They tried to find and chase the intruders. Some of them were fast, while some were quite tough. However, since most of these [Mechids] were made of experimental metals and were weaker prototypes, they could not do anything against Mark and Chimetrice.


    Nheless, they continued to swarm Mark and Chimetrice.


    Mark started to get quite irritated. The number of [Mechids] along his path was rather plenty. Sure, they were weak. However, because of their number, it was easy for them to find Mark and ry his location to the giant [Mechid].


    The situation on Chimetrice''s side was the same. It forced them to change directions dozens of times already.


    Mark could use the [Photokinesis Mental Crystal] to hide. Unfortunately, he would not easily do so as it would reveal that he could do this kind of stuff to the intelligent [Giant Mechid].


    Chimetrice was the first to reach the [Giant Mechid]. It did not matter who reached it first. However, the one to do so would start the battle immediately.


    As such, Chimetrice clenched his right arm. It began to release a greenish glow.


    And there, Chimetrice punched the ground, disregarding the ck goo covering it.


    <strong>BOOM!</strong>


    The ground shook with a loud boom. All of a sudden,rge vines grew from the ground and began to constrict the [Giant Mechid].


    <o>,m Those that saw it from the mountain peaks knew.</o>


    The battle finally started.

 Chapter 916 The First Volley, A Successful Preemptive Attack Turning Into A Dangerous Situation

    <strong>Day 253 - 8:21 AM - Mountainous Crater, Municipality of Viga, Province of Catanduanes</strong>


    Watching from the northwestern mountains, everyone saw the tree trunk-thick vines quickly making their way up the [Giant Mechid''s] enormous body.


    The battle had finally started.


    Diwata Iraya raised her right hand, signaling the Elementals and Nature Spirits around her to get ready.


    Ordulk, on the other hand, aimed his bow and pulled its string, making the archers under hismand follow suit.


    Mei also aimed her [Shooting Moon de] while Amihan readied to use her magic.


    The remaining people remained on standby, clenching their spears.


    Nheless, no one had fired their weapons yet. While the battle started, it was not yet the signal for them to join in.


    Back within the corrupted forest of the crater, Mark saw the vines that began to constrict the [Giane Mechid].


    "Chimetrice reached it first."


    Mark said with a frown while he waved his [Slicer], wrapping around the head of an [Insect Type Mechid] before decapitating it. He then continued on his way to rush towards the [Giant Mechid].


    It may be a bad stroke of luck, but Mark was encountering more [Mechids]pared to Chimetrice''s side. Or rather, there seemed to be more [Mechids] gathering to intercept him.


    The current situation was making Mark feel strange and annoyed. It was as if he had already been marked as an enemy. Did the [Giant Mechid] recognize him? He was wearing armor that also covered his face, though.


    No... there were more methods to recognize a person other than just appearance. Mark knew that well as he was someone who could recognize a person depending on their emotional fluctuations and aura.


    If this was the case, the possibility of Mark being recognized by the [Giant Mechid] was not zero.


    No. Mark was definitely recognized, considering the amount of resistance he was facing.


    One would be afraid of the unknown. However, the same person would fear something they knew but could not fathom even more.


    It was the situation that Mark was currently facing.


    The [Giant Mechid] deemed both Mark and Chimetrice as an enemy. However, while it had never seen Chimetrice, it already saw what Mark was capable of. Comparing the two, the data it gathered had turned Mark into a priority than Chimetrice.


    This situation gave Chimetrice to give the first blow, however.


    <strong>BAM! BAM!</strong>


    The loud sounds of something heavy falling echoed across the crater. It was the [Giant Mechid], falling over after trying to free itself from the vines creeping unto its enormous body.


    The [Giant Mechid] was trying to pull its legs from the vines. However, the attack Chimetrice made was also nned. Before the battle, Mark had already told him to focus the vines on the less damaged legs of the [Giant Mechid].


    Normally, one would target the damaged legs. It would be the most reasonable approach.


    However, the goal of the vines was not to damage but to constrict the [Giant Mechid]. In the first ce, these vines could not deal much damage to the target''s body made of otherworldly metals.


    With its less damaged legs bing constricted, the [Giant Mechid] could only rely on its more damaged legs to bnce its body as it tried to break free. But with the severely damaged legs unable to hold its weight alone, it fell to the ground without much resistance.


    The [Giant Mechid] fell. However, not much damage was done aside from its body getting covered in ck goo and mud. It was not surprising as its daily routine was falling down and standing back up repeatedly while trying to escape the confines of its natural prison.


    Nheless, with the [Giant Mechid] fallen to the ground, it became easier for the vines to over the body of the enemy.


    With the opportunity he created, Chimetrice waved his hand, which began to release a bright greenish glow, and mmed it to the ground. More vine, thicker and stronger than before, sprouted to the ground and quickly tried to envelop the [Giant Mechid''s] body.


    The ground trembled as the vines moved. As the [Giant Mechid] tried to resist, it shook the ground even more.


    But then, the area opposite Chimetrice was suddenly veiled in mes.


    The mes, forming a gigantic ball, shot towards the [Giant Mechid] while enveloping everything in its path.


    After leaving a trail of burning trees and evaporating ck goo, the bright orange mes hit the [Giant Mechid] with overwhelming heat. Since it was being covered in mmable magical vines, the [Giant Mechid] was immediately enveloped in mes.


    Towards the north of the [Giant Mechid], Mark pped his wings with his hands outstretched. In front of his palm was a [Mental Crystal] with a reddish-orange glowing orb inside it.


    This crystal was the [me Maniption Mental Crystal] that Mark got from the [Lava Infected] in Taal Volcano. The remaining essence of the power of the [me Demon], Gar''m, from his body.


    While the power of this crystal was notparable to the full strength of Gar''m, it was still the mes of a Deity-level [me Demon]. It swallowed Chimetrice''s vines without resistance, enveloping the [Giant Mechid] with these demonic mes as a result.


    The giant torch was lit in the middle of the mountainous crater.


    <strong>SHOOM!</strong>


    A beam of light shot from the northwestern mountain peaks more than two kilometers away.


    BOOM!


    The beam of light pierced through the mes and vines, hitting the enormous body of the [Giant Mechid].


    Mei stared over her [Shooting Moon de] in full concentration. In her hand was another empty [Mental Crystal] and another disposable [Crystal Converter]. Once the result of her shot was clearly observed, she was ready to fire another shot.


    Following Mei''s beam, Ordulk and the archers under hismand released their arrows.


    Looking at the arrows raining from the sky, it actually looked foolish. Although these magical creatures were far stronger than humans, it was still impossible for these arrows to reach the [Giant Mechid] kilometers away, even if these arrows were enchanted by their magic.


    However, as the arrows shot by the archers reached their highest points, Diwata Iraya waved her right hand forward. The [Sylphs] behind her released their magic.


    [Sylphs]. These small wind elementals were mostly weak on their own. However, with dozens of them bonded together, summoning a small raging tornado was not a problem. But this time, their goal was not to summon a destructive weather phenomenon that would impact the battle negatively for them.


    Instead...


    The [Sylphs] waved their hands in unison, with their eyes and wings glowing brightly despite the morning sunshine. The arrows that were supposed to fall after reaching their highest points stabilized and shot towards the [Giant Mechid] engulfed in mes.


    The wind surged, carrying the arrows away. There was no doubt that these arrows would reach their target despite the distance.


    But then, Amihan flew up high in the sky, with her stopping at the height where she formed a long slope with the [Giant Mechid] with the arrows between them.


    Amihan began to release her magic. The markings on her body glowed brightly with her wings. Like a green star in the daytime, Amihan shined in the sky.<sub> </sub>


    Even Diwata Iraya and the other magical creatures were surprised by the amount of magic Amihan began releasing.


    And then, Amihan abruptly raised her hand and waved it forward.


    The sky above the crater shook. The arrows flying towards the [Giant Mechid] became blurs to everyone''s eyes.


    <strong>BOOM! BAM! BAM! BAM! BAM!</strong>


    By the time everyone noticed, the mes and the charred vines around the [Giant Mechid''s] body were blown away, along with the loud sounds of impact hitting its body.


    <strong>BAM!</strong>


    To everyone''s surprise, the [Giant Mechid] was slowly being pushed back by the continuous arrows hitting its body.


    <strong>RUMBLE!</strong>


    The [Giant Mechid] rolled uncontrobly after being pushed, toppling everything behind it.


    It was amazing to see a giant prism actually rolling like a spear.


    After the first attacks, Mark and Chimetrice flew over the trees and reunited. Depending on the damage they did with this attack, they would choose what steps they should make next.


    <strong>SHOOOM!</strong>


    Suddenly, tworge beams of light shot toward Mark and Chimetrice, forcing them to evade in separate directions.


    Mark frowned, facing the direction where the beams came from.


    From the shade of the trees, two odd-looking [Mechids] appeared. And surprisingly, rather than being insect or animal-like, these two [Mechids] were humanoids. Both stood about three meters tall, armed with a variety of weapons. What made them strange was their arms beingser cannons and having track wheels as legs.


    These [Mechids] were clearly not the same as the other ones used for experiments and scouting. These two were clearly made to defend this ce.


    But were there only two?


    Unfortunately... No.


    <strong>THOOOM! THOOOOM!</strong>


    Several more beams shot toward Mark and Chimetrice. There were exactly sixteen more beams fired from the shade of the trees.


    This was not good. The two that appeared were just to distract Mark while the rest hid under the trees. Mark and Chimetrice could do the same. However, it was unlikely that they would have the upper hand by doing that.


    Mark immediately conjured another crystal out of the [PsyCrystal]. Seeing its green glow, Chimetrice understood what Mark nned to do.


    The two both released their wind magic, shooting sharp des of wind towards the [Mechids].


    <strong>CLANG! CLANG!</strong>


    The wind des hit the two [Mechids] in front, causing loud sounds. However, unlike the other [Mechids] they encountered earlier, these ones actually endured the attacks, only leaving slight dents on their metal bodies.


    But damaging the [Mechids] was not the goal of those wind des.


    <strong>CRASH!</strong>


    The [Mechids] could endure a direct hit, but definitely not the trees behind them.


    One after another, the trees where the other [Mechids] hid fell with their trunks cut neatly.


    All eighteen [Mechids] became exposed as they moved along the destroyed trees.


    Mark looked at the [Mechids]. All of them looked the same. It was clear that they all shared the same strength, both offense, and defense.


    <strong>RUMBLE!</strong>


    The ground shook once more. The [Giant Mechid] had already recovered from the attack it received.


    At the center of its body, one could see a hole that was now oozing with ck goo. The attack it received managed to puncture its strong body. It was a good thing.


    Unfortunately, the damage was far from enough for the [Giant Mechid] to cease its function.


    Mark tapped the ring that Bath gave him and Mei. He began sending instructions to her for another volley of attacks.


    However, the [Mechids] began their attack while Mark was giving his instructions. It was not a turn-based game. The enemies would not wait for Mark to finish his turn.


    Like a disco night, beams of light shot towards the sky as the [Defense Mechids] shot theirser cannons towards Mark and Chimetrice.


    Mark also retaliated, aiming his [Shadow Piercer] and shooting it at full charge.


    <strong>BAM!</strong>


    The projectile the [Shadow Piercer]unched pierced through the body of one of the [Defense Mechids]. The damage was not heavy, but as it was shot through the chest of the [Mechid], it damaged its vital circuits. The first of the [Defense Mechids] fell.


    Of course, the defeat of one of the [Defense Mechids] was not taken positively as the remaining [Mechids] intensified their attacks.


    At this time, the [Giant Mechid] made its move.


    Half of its body began dividing. It was as if a stadium was opening its room.


    "TSK!"


    Mark clicked his tongue at that sight.


    More than a hundred [Mechids] took flight from the [Giant Mechid''s] body. These [Mechids] were notrge. In fact, they were just asrge as a basketball.


    However, Mark did not click his tongue because of its size or the number. It was because he was familiar with that kind of [Mechid]. These [Mechids] were the very same kind of [Mechid] that attacked Infanta Settlement the day before they left.


    These flying robots were the kind of [Mechid] that would explode, turning everything within its explosion radius into dust.

 Chapter 963 The Erratic Flow, Marks Newly Created Combat Style And An Unexpected Accident

    Day 318 - 10:42 AM - Testing Area, Registration and Management Bureau, Shibaura Institute of Technology Junior and Senior High School, Toyosu, Koto City, Tokyo


    Finally getting his turn, Mark stepped in front of the weapon rack and picked up the weapon of his choice.


    The rack only contained wooden melee weapons. However, the weapon rack had quite a variety of weapon types, like spears, swords, daggers, and a few othermon weapons, and each type of weapon had at least one variety. Spears, for example, there was a short spear, long spear, javelin, and even a naginata.


    There were only wooden weapons since it was just for examination. The variety of weapons was there to ensure that the examinees would not be hindered and could choose the most suitable fighting style for the test.


    Mark had already taken a good look at the weapons while the girls had their tests. That was why he only took a few seconds before stepping into the field with the weapons he had chosen from the avable selection.


    The audience around the sports field was paying close attention to Mark. After all, he was clearly the leader of this abnormal group of examinees.


    Still, the audience was surprised when Mark took the field, holding a wooden katana in his right hand and a wooden tanto in his left.


    Dual-wielding was quite a shy style ofbat. However, it was more than just being shy. It was a style that favored offense over defense and was pretty difficult to pull off perfectly. One could not just pick two weapons on each hand, waving both weapons around, and call it dual-wielding.


    In actualbat, dual-wielding needed bnce, skill, concentration, and coordination.


    Skill was quite an obvious requirement. One needed enough skill and experience to utilize a weapon and double to make use of two weapons at the same time.


    Without bnce, one weapon would likely end up dominating the other. The dominant weapon would be used more than the other, with the non-dominant weapon being just a burden due to additional weight and fewer defense capabilities. In these cases, when the personcked bnce, it was far more suitable for the non-dominant weapon to be reced with a one-handed shield instead.


    Concentration was a rather important requirement. With a single weapon, a person''s attention was only split between the enemy and the weapon the user was holding. It did not matter whether the weapon was one-handed or two-handed. It only needed enough attention for one weapon. But with dual-wielding, that concentration that the weapon should have was split into two. Since the weapon size, distance, and weapon utilization were factors the user needed to pay attention to, having to pay attention to another weapon makes it harder to concentrate. With a singlepse of concentration, one of the two weapons could be rendered ineffective, also leading to the effects of a person not having the bnce to utilize two weapons at the same time.


    Lastly, coordination. Not everyone could coordinate the movements of both arms, making it even more difficult to coordinate both weapons.


    There were also other factors to wielding two weapons on both hands but most of those involved the types of weapons being used.


    Mark was fully aware of these factors. In fact, he had more characteristics that would make him unsuitable for this style. First, his body was ill-proportioned. The right side of his body wasrger than the left, making his right side the dominant part. However, Mark''s eyes were theplete opposite, with his left beingrger than the right, and his dominant eye was his left one.


    Cross-dominant. That was what described Mark''s condition. It was the reason that Mark was not that effective as a sniper, not to mention being ipatible with many types of sports.


    However, Mark''s current choice of weapons to dual-wield would make proper use of this unusual body trait.


    The tanto, which was shorter and with less weight, could be utilized with his non-dominant arm. And with hisrger dominant eye being the left one, he would have a wider view on the left side, allowing him to utilize the tanto more effectively.


    On the other hand, Mark''s dominant arm had the heavier katana. It would be his main weapon for attacking, which would be supported by the tanto.


    "Are you the father of those little girls?"


    Kenji asked Mark, looking at Abbygale and Miracle in the waiting area.


    "Yeah."


    Mark replied, adjusting his grip on the weapons he was holding.


    "Then, I guess I should look forward to this match."


    Kenji smiled with expectations as he picked up a weapon of his own. It was a wooden dagger. He was not using any weapon earlier when fighting the younger girls. However, fighting the adult Mark was different.


    "Ready!"


    A woman''s voice was heard. It was the same receptionist that registered Mark''s group earlier. She was also the person overseeing the examination.


    "Start!"


    At the starting signal, Mark kicked the ground. He immediately rushed towards the examiner on the other side of the field.


    Mark''s speed was fast. It was not as fast as Abbygale. However, his speed was much faster than an Olympic athlete.


    But Mark''s running posture was odd. It was not your typical running posture. Those that were familiar with it would call it either Ninja run or Naruto run.


    Mark''s upper body lowered as he ran. His left arm holding the tanto in a reverse grip was bent over half his face. On the other hand, the right arm holding the katana was extended behind his body.


    That was what the audience was seeing. However, the examiner, Kenji, immediately took an alert stance.


    Kenji was standing in front of Mark. With Mark''s running posture, the examiner already lost track of the katana behind him.


    Mark twisted his right hand, angling the katana''s de outward. As he reached the examiner, he unleashed a horizontal sh. The examiner was a bitte to respond, but he still managed to parry Mark''s first attack. However, Mark reversed his grip on the tanto with a spin and stabbed it, aiming at the examiner''s right shoulder with the hand that was holding the dagger.


    Kenji immediately deflected the katana while evading the tanto. At the same time, heunched a punch at Mark with his left fist that was free.


    Mark jumped back to evade, causing the examiner''s attack to miss, before continuing on the offensive. He was met with Kenji''s dagger, but Mark reversed the tanto once again and used it to block and redirect the iing de. The examiner''s attack was pretty heavy, but Mark managed to push it away using the outer side of his wrist as support to the back of the tanto''s de.


    The audience watched in silence as the two men in the field exchanged blows. Mark showed an agile fighting style, while Kenji stood firm, deflecting and evading the iing attacks. How long had it been since they had seen such an exciting battle here in the [Frencer] examination?


    "We had been fooled, weren''t we?"


    Ren voiced to the other members of the ck Lotus, who could only shrug in silence. She then asked Tadashi.<novelnext></novelnext>


    "What do you think? Can you identify Mark''sbat style?"


    Tadashi kept silent as he watched Mark fight for a few more seconds. In the end, he slightly shook his head.


    For practitioners ofbat and martial arts, the fighting style could tell a lot of things. A person belonging to a n or dojo would tend to share the same fundamentals and style when they fight. It was the same for trained soldiers of different countries or private organizations.


    "It is hard to tell if he belonged to any martial style. From what I see, he is using several styles at the same time. The flow of his attacks is interchanging after every attack he had let out."


    "I thought the same," Ren said with a frown. "It feels like a self-learned street-stylebat technique. But..."


    "Each move set is connecting smoothly to one another, isn''t it, Miss?" Tadashii replied. "Worse, his flow is changing a lot to the point that it''s disrupting Kenji-san''s flow."


    The flow. Its meaning varied depending on the subject. In this case, it was how the fighter could connect the techniques through attack and defense while fighting an opponent. The smoother the flow, the more the fighter was in control of the battle. And depending on the fighter''sbat style, the flow could be different.


    For example, the flow of Kenji''sbat style was firm. He would not move around too much, relying on his arm and hand techniques to attack, defend, and even disarm and subdue the opponent.


    On the other hand, Mark''s flow was erratic as he changed hisbat style after every attack he pulled off.


    To win a fight with an almost equal contest, one needed to control the flow to be able to render the opponent''s attacks useless. But in this case...


    "Kenji-san is slowly being pushed back..."


    Mako''s words echoed into the ears of everyone around her.


    Kenji was having a hard time reading Mark''s flow. It was due to Mark''s attacks being tricky and erratic.


    On the other hand, Mark was somehow reading Kenji''s flow. Mark was taking advantage of his erratic attacks and disrupting the opponent''s flow in the process.


    Tadashii and Ren were right on point in their assumption. Mark''s currentbat style was abination of different styles. Where did Mark acquire thesebat styles? Well, inside his head, of course.


    To be exact, from the memories that Mark obtained after absorbing a few souls.


    First was the [Standard Royal Dagger Style] from the memories of Freed. It was a militarized close-quartersbat style of soldiers from Eriellis.


    The second was the [Azure Dragon Sword Style] from Feng Zhiruo''s elder. Although Markcked the [Qi Energy] to fully utilize the powerful techniques, he could at least use the basic ones.


    The third one was the [Ancient Filipino Combat Style]. It was actually a style with no name. A style used by ancient Filipino tribesmen during the ancient times. It came from the memories of the [Deity of Bloodshed].


    Andstly, while not actually a battle style, it served a great purpose whilebining the other three styles. It was the knowledge of the human body. A memory he acquired from the [Blood Infected] he absorbed in the University of Perpetual Help Hospital. It was the nurse that became a [Mutated Infected] that helped Mark enhance his abilities after he absorbed her.


    It was not easy to incorporate these four aspects into one. It was one thing Mark spent time creating this past month, aside from other things he was doing. It was not perfected yet, but it was enough to use in these kinds of fights.


    The fight between Mark and Kenji continued. Mark was clearly overwhelming the examiner with the number of attacks they unleashed. After every six to seven attacks from Mark, Kenji could only retaliate once.


    It was a fast-paced battle. Barely a minute had passed. Yet, too many things had already happened.


    And by the looks of it, Kenji was losing.


    In thest ten seconds, Mark pushed the offensive. It was to the point that Kenji began to ept getting hit with Mark''s attacks in favor of evading the stronger attacks.


    But then, something unexpected happened.


    As Kenji tried to do a counterpunch against Mark''s tanto stab, he stepped on a prettyrge piece of stone.


    Kenji lost bnce due to the unexpected event, and his punch lost control. The punch elerated beyond the strength and speed he was supposed to use during the examination.


    "SH*T! WATCH OUT!"


    Kenji yelled out in panic.


    The eyes of those that realized what was happening at that moment widened.


    Kenji was known as the [Human Tank] in the Reimed City. His true strength was far beyond what he was showing during the examination. After all, the examination did not need his full strength to test some beginner warriors.


    That was why some of the audience knew that the punch Mark was facing was something that could puncture a tank''s armor.


    Mark was caught off guard too. After all, if Kenji did not expect the ident, would he?


    The punch, moving as fast as a tank projectile, shot toward Mark''s chest.


    Using it as hisst resort, Mark canceled his stab and jumped back. He then let go of both his weapons and crossed his arms in front of his chest.


    BAM!


    Everyone watched in shock as Mark was flung from one side of the field to the other before crashing to the walls of the field entrance.

 Chapter 918 A Ball Of Destruction, Destroying The [Giant Mechid]

    <strong>Day 253 - 8:42 AM - Mountainous Crater, Municipality of Viga, Province of Catanduanes</strong>


    The blurry figures of the magic-enchanted arrows whizzed across the battlefield. As each arrow passed by, they were apanied by a terrifyingly powerful gust of wind.


    Then, the spheres of light bloomed as the [Flying Mechids] exploded one after another. Some even got caught in another explosion, causing a chain reaction.


    Unfortunately, not only that most of the arrows did not hit anything, but Mark and Chimetrice also got caught in the barrage of arrows. Some arrows passed near them, almost hitting them in the process.


    Mark and Chimetrice were not bothered by the arrows, however. None of the arrows were directly flying toward them. And if one or two flew towards them by mistake, they had enough leeway to avoid it.


    After all, with the arrows destroying the [Flying Mechids], the number of attacks they had to evade decreased. Furthermore, Mark was already aware of the possibility of getting caught in the middle of the rain of arrows.


    This was an impromptu move for them to deal with the pesky [Flying Mechids]. There was barely any practice of Amihan to do this kind of thing. Even her control was barely passable. It was already good that some of the arrows hit and destroyed a number of [Mechids].


    By now, fifteen [Flying Mechids] were destroyed, with five more getting caught in the explosions.


    Like before, after an unexpected attack, there was a slight pause among the [Mechids]. Maybe, there was someg in calctions. Unfortunately, the pause was just a second or two, not giving Mark and Chimetrice much chance to take advantage of it.


    Mark turned his attention to the [Mechids] below. These track-wheeled [Humanoid Mechids] were far sturdier than the flying ones. Some of the arrows actually hit the [Mechids] below. However, the arrows barely damaged them.


    It was another unsurprising thing since the arrows lost a lot of power after Amihan separated them all to attack different targets. There was no need to mention that the arrows hitting the [Mechids] below was purely coincidental.


    Now, things had gotten easier, and the enemies were in disarray.


    Mark and Chimetrice pressed on with their attacks while the [Flying Mechids] was still trying to avoid the barrage of arrows.


    "Chimetrice! Vines below!"


    Mark instructed.


    Chimetrice faced his wooden arm towards the [Humanoid Mechids] below. And then, his fingers, like rapidly growing vines, shot towards his targets. The vines grewrge, as thick as an adult''s arm, as they quickly approached the enemies below.


    The [Humanoid Mechids] immediately tried to retaliate, shooting a barrage ofsers at the iing vines. While facing the barrage ofsers, the vines were damaged, burnt, and cut off. However, each damage the vines incurred only led to more branching vines sprouting from the damaged parts. The more the [Humanoid Mechids] resisted, the more vines they had to shoot.


    It did not take long, and a stream of vines was already pouring unto the [Mechids] below.


    <strong>BAM!</strong>


    The stream of vines reached the resisting [Mechids] with a loud sound. These vines began to slither and curl like snakes, constricting the [Humanoid Mechids].


    And like a lizard cutting off its tail, Chimetrice cut off the vines that he grew from his arm.


    At this time, the [Fire Maniption Crystal] glowed brightly in front of Mark''s right hand. Then, arge burst of mes enveloped the ground below.


    Immediately, the vines caught fire, and the mes quickly spread unto the surroundings.


    It was the very same type ofbination attack that Mark and Chimetrice pulled off to start the battle. However, it was strange to see the vines that Chimetrice released to catch mes. After all, he was an indestructible [Humanoid Chimera] that even the Gods of the past could not kill.


    Normally, these vines were strong. Even the God of Fire that Chimetrice fought in the past could not burn through these vines easily. Nheless, one ability Chimetrice had with these vines was hisplete control of their nature. He could make it sturdy as steel but as mmable as gasoline or as brittle a leaf but mostly impervious to fire.


    With the vines made as mmable as possible, the mes spread and burned way above the melting point ofmon metals on Earth. Although the [Humanoid Mechids] were built with different metals, including the materials from the original [Mechids], many parts of its bodies were still made with metals from Earth. And even if these [Mechids] managed to resist melting, there was no way the meager amount of ck goo inside their bodies would remain intact.


    The mes burned the vines, and they turned to ashes. It freed the [Humanoid Mechids] from being restricted and immediately tried to retreat from the burning mes. However, their movements slowly became more and more sluggish as parts of their bodies, inside and out, melted. They also began to exude the foul odor of evaporating ck goo.


    By the time the rain of arrows ended, the [Humanoid Mechids] below had already turned into piles of unmoving scrap metal.


    Mark turned towards the [Flying Mechids] and the [Giant Mechid] standing behind them. Only two-thirds of the [Flying Mechids] were left after the rain of arrows. It was not a bad result considering it was the first try.


    It would have been nice if the arrows could fall non-stop. Unfortunately, there was no way that was possible. The number of archers was limited, and there was also a limit to Amihan''s control of the wind, or things would go haywire if she overdid something she had no full control of.


    But, of course, Mark would abide by the rule that the same attack would not work twice. At least, not as much as the first one. Giving another rain of arrows might increase the damage to the enemies but would not be that effective. Not to mention that the enemy was an intelligent robot capable of analyzing attacks it had seen before.


    Nheless, another volley would not hurt.


    Mark began tapping on his ring. His nextmands were passed on immediately.


    The [Mental Crystals] were called out, all of them circling around Mark''s right arm. After the next volley of arrows, Mark intended to finish this fight. A prolonged fight was not something he would want now, especially after the prolonged fight with Sinogo.


    After all, the enemy might have more cards to y. It was better to end this before those cards were shown.


    Unfortunately, Mark already realized that burning the [Giant Mechid] might not be usible. After all, these [Mechids], at least the ones that fell on Earth, managed to resist the hot entry into Earth''s atmosphere, after all.


    Mark then slightly nudged his head. Unknown to everyone, something flew from him towards the [Giant Mechid].


    Then, the next volley of arrows was shot just before the [Flying Mechids] began counter-attacking. In fact, Mark and Chimetrice seemed to be the least of concern of the [Flying Mechids]. Not that the two were already disregarded, but the arrows did far more damage to them than Mark and Chimetrice so far. At least in terms of numbers in a short time span.


    Seeing the arrowsing once more, the [Flying Mechids] moved. Not to scatter and evade, but they all flew in front of the [Giant Mechid] and hovered side by side.


    <strong>SHOOOM!</strong>


    All of a sudden, arge barrier was formed in front of the [Mechids].


    In this kind of formation, both attacks using the arrows that they made so far immediately became useless. The arrows would only bounce off this barrier if it was the same as the first volley, and scattering the arrows would not work since the [Flying Mechids] were now behind the barrier.


    These [Mechids] sure were annoying enemies. Just by seeing the attack once, they already moved to make a countermeasure.


    Unfortunately for the [Mechids], however...


    <strong>THOOOM!</strong>


    The beam of light pierced through the daylight within the mountainous crater.


    Mei shot her [Shooting Moon de] for the second time. The shot was timed just before the arrows shot from the sky under Amihan''s control.<sub> </sub>


    The beam shot straight to the middle of the [Fying Mechids], towards the [Giant Mechid] behind them.


    And...


    <strong>BOOM!</strong>


    The beam shot through the [Kic Barrier] that could only block projectiles.


    With the barrier pierced, the [Flying Mechids] behind it was swallowed by the beam.


    <strong>BOOOM! BOOOM!</strong>


    The [Flying Mechids] hit by the beam exploded, and with all the [Flying Mechids] gathered closely together, the first explosions caused a chain reaction.


    In the blink of an eye, the barrier vanished, and the more than seventy [Flying Mechids] were no more.


    Most importantly, the beam shot towards the [Giant Mechid], straight to the already damaged hole on its body. Following the beam, the concentrated barrage of enchanted arrows came.


    Once again, the [Giant Mechid] received a full-blown barrage of attacks without any defenses. Unlike the first time, it stomped its legs to the ground to brace for the attack. However, it seemed the impact of the attack was much higher than it could handle. The front legs were lifted from the ground, and the [Giant Mechid''s] enormous body stumbled and rolled after receiving the attack.


    Then, Mark and Chimetrice followed up.


    Chimetrice punched the ground once again, summoning vines to constrict the [Giant Mechid] and keep it in position.


    Mark, on the other hand, flew where the gaping hole was created on the [Giant Mechid''s] body. He saw how the attack actually damaged the inneryer of its armor, and more of its circuits could not be seen.


    From then hole, something flew andnded on Mark''s head. It was actually Crimson, who Mark sent to investigate for a bit.


    When the [Giant Mechid] released the [Flying Mechids], Mark saw that the insides of the [Giant Mechid] were actually hollow and not filled with ck goo. That was why Mark sent Crimson inside to look. Unfortunately, the investigation did not bear fruit since it was done for a very short time. It was also not easy since Crimson could not navigate through the go, even in his mist form.


    Nheless, Crimson actually confirmed that there were still [Flying Mechids] inside the [Giant Mechid]. This would work in Mark''s favor.


    In any case, the [Giant Mechid] was damaged enough to see its insides, it was constricted, and Crimson had already returned.


    Mark stretched his right hand facing the gaping hole. The [Wind Maniption Mental Crystal], the [Photokinesis Crystal], and the [me Maniption Crystal] all glowed brightly.


    Three attacks of different properties entered the [Giant Mechid''s] body.


    The scorching mes burned the ck goo, paving a way for the wind and light attacks to infiltrate further inside the [Giant Mechid]. The light beam tore through thinner metal parts like aser while the wind infiltrated and passed through every gap it could fill.


    Being attacked from its insides, the [Giant Mechid] struggled. It was not like it was feeling pain. However, it seemed that it knew that it would get destroyed if this continued.


    Unfortunately for the [Giant Mechid], the giant vines held through its struggles. Soon, Mark''s attacks reached its inner areas. And there, Mark released a full-blown attack inside, depleting half of the energy from the three crystals he used.


    <strong>BAM!</strong>


    A muffled explosion was heard from inside. Mark could feel the surroundings bing unstable.


    Mark immediately left the gaping hole.


    "Let''s go!"


    Mark shouted to Chimetrice, and the two of them flew away as fast as they could.


    From behind, Mark could hear and feel the ongoing explosions inside the [Giant Mechid''s] body.


    Then, everything in the surroundings grew brighter. The wind and the ground shook violently.


    <strong>BOOOOOM!!!</strong>


    Apanied by a blinding surge of light, the [Giant Mechid] exploded like a giant bomb.


    But to everyone''s surprise, even though the ground and the wind were shaking, no shockwave happened despite the loud explosion.


    Mark took a look behind him, slightly covering his eyes with his hand.


    Where the [Giant Mechid] was left, a ball of light slowly expanded outward, swallowing everything it touched.


    That ball of light expanded wide, upying about a quarter of the crater.


    Then, after reaching its maximum size, the ball of light suddenly shrunk and vanished as if never existed. It was when everyone felt the aftermath of the explosion as the wind blew towards the space previously upied by the ball of light.


    Everyone tightly held onto their position, resisting the wind pulling them all into the crater.


    When the wind stopped, they all saw the destruction left by the explosion, erasing not only the trees but even the ground and a huge part of the northern walls of the crater.


    In any case, the [Giant Mechid] was gone. All that was left was to deal with the remaining [Mechids] on the ind.


    Or so they thought...


    <strong>THOOOM!</strong>


    Aser beam shot towards Mark from who knows where. The beam was not onlyrge but highly destructive and radioactive.


    Mark has yet to let his guard down and managed to evade the beam, which shot towards the sky after missing its target.


    Frowning, Mark faced the direction where theser beam came from.


    A humanoid object slowly floated from the ground. Not only that, but several more [Mechids] began appearing where the center of the crater was located.


    Mark clenched his fist. It looked like the battle was not over yet.

 Chapter 919 The New Enemy, A Unique [Mechid] With Unique Battle AI

    <strong>Day 253 - 8:49 AM - Mountainous Crater, Municipality of Viga, Province of Catanduanes</strong>


    An explosion of light that swallowed a quarter of the crater. Although there was a sound at the start, all of it went silent, and no shockwave nor shaking of the ground happened. The blooming light then shrunk and vanished. It was only then that everyone felt that the wind in the surroundings was getting sucked violently into where the explosion was before.


    Seeing the aftermath, only then did the witnesses of that scene realize that it was not an explosion but an implosion.


    Even so, no matter what it was, there was only one fact.


    Mark and Chimetrice, with the help of Mei, Amihan, and the archers, finally destroyed the [Giant Mechid].


    Everyone thought that it would be the end. Of course, there were still the other [Mechids] to fight. Nheless, with the leader destroyed, future battles would be far easier.


    But then, another beam of light almost hit Mark before piercing the sky. A beam far brighter and thicker than the previous ones they had seen.


    Luckily, Mark managed to evade the beam in time. If not, who knows what could have happened?


    With their hearts still pounding, everyone''s focus turned to where that beam came from.


    Although they were far away, they could make out a silhouette of something slowly rising up in the air right above the center of the crater.


    But before the warriors on the northwestern edge of the crater could try to observe the new enemy, another sudden change in the tide of the battle urred.


    The [Mechids] trying to return to the crater suddenly became far more aggressive. Worse, not like the frenzied kind of aggressiveness. Before, while moving towards a single goal of trying to fight the attackers, these weaker [Mechids] moved individually, allowing the warriors to fight them easier. But right now, the [Mechids] began to move in formation, and the fight suddenly became several times harder for the warriors.


    Without a doubt, the [Mechids] outside the crater would begin to push through anytime soon.


    ***


    At the center of the crater, a humanoid [Mechid] slowly floated up to the sky. Although humanoid, it was actually without feet. Its legs were cut up to where the knees could have been, and there, the anti-gravity mechanism seemed to have been ced instead.


    Its body was different from the newly created [Mechids] as its color and shape seemed to be the same as those [Mechids] that fell here on Earth.


    What stood out was that its body seemed to be made to actually resemble a human. Its face even had the shape of a nose and lips. Furthermore, the sight mechanisms were ced in its eyes. Even the size of its torso and length of its arms followed human proportions. It even had fingers on its hands, something extremely rare for the [Mechids], which mostly have either des or even mps for hands.


    While those human features already stood out, five elongated objects floated behind it, rotating in a circle. These objects made the humanoid [Mechid] look like it had a windmill spinning behind its back. But, of course, those were no windmills. In fact, theser fired at Mark came from one of those objects.


    Since one of those objects fired that powerfulser, it was not hard to assume that all five were capable of it.


    And aside from the humanoid [Mechid], more [Mechids] suddenly appeared out of nowhere, following the lead of the humanoid [Mechid].


    ***


    Mark stabilized himself in the air after evading the lethalser beam shot at him. Chimetrice also hovered in the air nearby. Both of their attentions were focused on the new enemy that appeared.


    As he stared at the new enemy, Mark frowned. It was already expected that there would still be [Mechids] to deal with after destroying the [Giant Mechid]. Nheless, since it was what they presumed to be the leader of the [Mechids], not only the production of new [Mechids] would stop, but the remaining ones would be in disarray.


    However, Mark was mistaken. It was clear that the humanoid [Mechid] they were looking at was leading the other [Mechids] that appeared. Did the [Giant Mechid] pass on its credentials for leading the [Mechids]?


    Or...


    The [Giant Mechid] was never the leader, to begin with.


    Mark turned his eyes to where the humanoid [Mechid] came from. His frown deepened.


    Due to the implosion created by the destruction of the [Giant Mechid], a quarter of the crater was destroyed. It included the northern part of the center of the crater. And there, Mark noticed the buried piece of structure. Despite clearly getting caught in the implosion, it was still intact.


    As Mark was focused on the unearthed structure, his ring began to resonate, receiving Mei''s message. It was when he received the information about the sudden change in the behavior of the [Mechids] outside the crater.


    The battle outside was getting tougher for the warriors. Tapping unto his ring using his [Magical Energy], Mark told Mei to support the warriors outside together with Diwata Iraya and her remaining people. Of course, his decision faced some contradictions. After all, if they followed Mark''s current orders, only Mark and Chimetrice would be left to fight the new enemies.


    However, Mark insisted, and the members of his group could only follow.


    It was, after all, for their safety.


    There was no information about this new enemy at all. Only the fact that it was able to fire aser beam far stronger than the normal [Mechids] could. There was no way Mark would risk the others to fight this unknown enemy.


    This situation was far differentpared to the battle with Sinogo. That time, even though some unexpected things happened, they had a rough idea of what Sinogo could possibly be capable of.


    But now? None.


    Normally, [Mechids], being lifeless pieces of metal creations, did not have any intimidating aura or the like. This made it hard to gauge the actual strength and capabilities of the [Mechids], unlike magical creatures or even the [Infected]. So far, what could determine the strength of the [Mechids] was their size, weapons, and the materials the [Mechids] were made of. And, of course, even those aspects could still lead to wrong assumptions.


    However, opposite to what they knew so far, this humanoid [Mechid] seemed to give out an intimidating presence. Even without knowing its capabilities, despite its small humanoid size, Mark had his senses for danger roaring loudly.


    "Chimetrice," Mark voiced out. "Ready for the next round?"


    Chimetrice replied with a slight nod. In ancient times, he experienced battles far longer. There was no way that he was not ready with something of this level.


    Mark and Chimetrice, ready to continue the fight, carefully made their way toward the new enemy.


    As for the humanoid [Mechid], it did not do anything after the sneak attack failed. However, it was clearly observing Mark and Chimetrice, probably even scanning them.


    After Mark and Chimetrice reached a certain distance, the battle abruptly began. However, the one that started it was neither Mark nor Chimetrice.


    It was the humanoid [Mechid].


    Mark was taken by surprise. Not because the humanoid [Mechid] attacked first, but by its method of attacking.


    Two of the five objects floating behind the humanoid [Mechid] flew towards the back of its hands. It then flipped and opened, transforming into what seemed to be some sort of ws or ded knuckles. The humanoid [Mechid] then charged at Mark and Chimetrice, seemingly aiming for closebat.


    This was something extremely unexpected. Of course, its transformable weapon looked really cool in Mark''s eyes, but a [Mechid] capable of flight aiming for closebat, this was clearly the first time Mark or his group encountered such a thing.<sub> </sub>


    Furthermore, it was fast.


    In a blink of an eye, it covered more than a hundred meters, flying towards Mark and Chimetrice with its weapons drawn.


    Was this a diversion? Would it suddenly shootsers once Mark and Chimetrice were caught off guard?


    There was no time for thinking. The humanoid [Mechid] was already in front of Mark, swinging its wed fist.


    Mark evaded the first attack and tried to counter with a kick to push the [Mechid] away. However, Mark could only stop his foot when he realized that his foot was about to be shredded since the [Mechid] guarded the iing kick with its sharp ws.


    Seeing Mark falter, the [Mechid] pushed forwards and swung its wed arms wildly. It might be wild, but it was fast. There was barely any opening to counterattack without getting hurt.


    The eyes of the [Mechid] glowed continuously. It seemed to be reading Mark''s movements and wasing up with countermeasures against his attacks.


    Mark was pinned in closebat without being able to make a proper counterattack.


    Chimetrice stretched his wooden hand toward the enemy, and vines shot and extended from his hand. The vines aimed to constrict the humanoid [Mechid].


    However, the humanoid [Mechid] retreated before the vines could catch it. It then waved its ws, actually managing to slice the strongest vines that Chimetrice could create into pieces.


    Having some leeway to breathe, Mark got a chance to observe the humanoid [Mechid] closely. And he became sure that the des on those ws were extremely dangerous. The des seemed to have some property that could split things at a molecr level, allowing them to cut through Chimetrice''s vines.


    <strong>THOOM!</strong>


    Since there was some distance between Mark and the humanoid [Mechid], the [Mechids] on the ground joined the fray. A barrage ofsers was fired at Mark and Chimetrice.


    Chimetrice could brush off thesesers, but Mark clearly could not. He had no choice but to evade, but as he left the trajectory of thesers, the humanoid [Mechid] was, once again, on his tail.


    Mark was getting frustrated.


    Was it malfunctioning? Why was it too adamant about chasing after Mark and engaging in close-quartersbat?


    Unfortunately, Mark realized it soon.


    With the humanoid [Mechid] fighting him closely, he could not his magical attacks at all. Even his [Shadow Piercer] was rendered useless in this kind of battle. Furthermore, for the same reason, Chimetrice could notunch any magical attack, as Mark could get caught in it. All that Chimetrice could do was try to constrict the enemy using the vines, but it was cut off to pieces.


    "Chimetrice!" Mark yelled. "Deal with the [Mechids] below. Leave this guy to me!"


    It was pretty clear that this humanoid [Mechid] was only targeting Mark, and it was ignoring Chimetrice. In that case, Chimetrice was free to deal with the situation below.


    And that situation was not good if it continued.


    The remaining [Mechids] inside the crater were beginning to gather at the center. If all of the [Mechids] were in one ce, flyingsers everywhere, even Chimetrice would have a bad time.


    As such, Mark decided to divide the work. There was no choice.


    "Tsk!"


    Mark clicked his tongue as another of his counterattacks was rendered useless.


    Every time Mark tried to attack the enemy in front of him, he could only stop. His kicks and punches were met with dangerous ws that could slice his limbs apart.


    It was clear that the humanoid [Mechid] was able to read his moves ande up with a solution to defend at an extremely fast pace.


    One more thing that Mark realized was how lifelike the movements of the [Mechid] were. It was as if he was fighting a living being instead of a mechanical creature.


    Mark could not hold back anymore. The veins in his body began to glow red.


    <strong>SWOOSH!</strong>


    With the activation of Mark''s ability as a [Blood Demon], his speed increased drastically. The ws of the [Mechid] that almost hit Mark several times before could not reach him any longer.


    Furthermore...


    <strong>BAM!</strong>


    For the first time, Mark managed to attack. For all the frustration he felt in this battle, Mark mmed the sole of his foot unto the [Mechid''s] face with all the strength he could currently muster.


    <strong>CRASH!</strong>


    Like a meteor, the humanoid [Mechid] mmed to the ground.


    And then...


    <strong>BOOM! BOOM!</strong>


    Using both the [Wind Maniption Mental Crystal] and the [Fire Maniption Mental Crystal], Mark caused explosions where the enemy crashed. Since his first attack finally connected, there was no way he would stop there.


    Then, the explosions were torn apart as a beam of light shot at Mark, forcing him to stop his attacks and dodge.


    After dodging the beam, Mark turned to the burning pit he created below and could only frown.


    The humanoid [Mechid] was already floating above the mes of the explosions. While covered in dust and soot, it was still mostly unscathed.


    What made Mark frown was not that it was still not destroyed. It was the fact that its weapons had changed. Furthermore, the weapons were something he could not be any more familiar with.


    A pair of ded whips like his [Slicer] and [Divider].

 Chapter 920 The [Fighter Mechid], A [Mechid] Capable Of Mimicking Fighting Styles

    <strong>Day 253 - 8:52 AM - Mountainous Crater, Municipality of Viga, Province of Catanduanes</strong>


    A [Mechid] that wielded a melee weapon was not new, and there was a wide variety that these robots had used before. Most of these varieties involved des of different sizes, like mounted daggers or even some sort ofser-ded weapons.


    Nheless, this was the first time Mark ever encountered a [Mechid] that wielded a whip-de.


    A whip-de was a rather unusual weapon. It had an advantage over range and unpredictabilitypared to regr swords and lethality over whips. However, it was a weapon that no one would basically use. After all, it was never a user-friendly weapon. It was a weapon that would take years to learn and master. Furthermore, one slip-up in using this weapon could cause more damage to its user than the enemy. It also had a disadvantage when used in narrow ces, and getting its des entangled around obstacles was a problem too.


    It was unless one was cheating when using it, pretty much like what Mark did with his whip-des. After all, Mark could control the movements of the [Slicer] and the [Divider] using his blood, removing most of the disadvantages when using them. It would have been nice if Mark could move it magically like a certain red-haired Shinigami with his snake Zanpakuto.


    Still, magical or not, seeing a [Mechid] use these weapons was pretty unusual.


    But then, these [Mechids] were not from Earth, in the first ce. Who knows what they could be capable of?


    Mark never let the humanoid [Mechid], no, the [Fighter Mechid], out of his sight. Whether things could have be more dangerous or not would depend on how this [Mechid] would use its current weapons.


    And not only did Mark raise his guard higher, but now that he had gained some distance from the [Mechid], he prepared to use the crystals. At the same time, he noticed a sort of invisible barrier around the [Mechid] after seeing something sh before vanishing. It must be how the [Mechid] remained unscathed after Mark''s bombardment.


    Then, as if trying to match the red glowing veins on Mark''s body, the [Fighter Mechid]''s body began to glow in the most sci-fi style possible. It was as of the [Mechid] had geometrical veins on its body, glowing bright blue.


    Mark braced himself. After all, he was not new to that glow that the [Mechid] was emitting.


    <strong>THOOOM!</strong>


    From the ground it crashed unto, the [Fighter Mechid] zoomed up to the sky. It flew faster than before, creating a shockwave as itunched.


    Aware of the sudden increase in the [Fighter Mechid''s] speed, Mark dodged.


    The [Fighter Mechid] zoomed past Mark, and he even evaded the whip-de that passed where his neck was before.


    That bluish glow. It was not the first time Mark had seen it. It was the very same glow that the [Strange Mechid] used the other day to increase its speed. A trans-am of sorts in Gundam terms. However, it was not the same since the boosters the [Mechids] used only increased their movement speed from what Mark observed. Of course, their attacks would also be faster if the booster was located within their attacking mechanisms. The arms and legs of the [Mechids], for example.


    From the looks of it, the boosters were integrated into the whole body of the [Fighter Mechid]. If this was the case, the overall speed of this [Mechid] was increased substantially.


    As its attack missed, the [Fighter Mechid] quickly turned around. It held both its whip-des in a certain position before it charged at Mark, about to wave its weapons.


    Mark''s eyes dted after seeing that action.


    The whip-des were swung horizontally at Mark, stretching out their length to the fullest.


    Mark flipped his body mid-air, then kicked the two whip-des at a certain angle as they were about to hit. It made the two weapons miss the attack, passing over and under his body as he somersaulted before making a hasty retreat. This way, the two whip-des would likely stretch around the [Mechid''s] body, possibly restricting it in the process.


    However, things did not go as Mark wanted. The whip-des of the [Fighter Mechid] suddenly retracted after missing its target.


    Mark frowned but did not waste the chance.


    <strong>SHOOOM!</strong>


    Mark shot the [Shadow Piercer] towards the [Fighter Mechid] as the two whip-des retracted. It was a well-ced and well-timed shot.


    The possibility of the [Fighter Mechid] also having a [Kic Shield] was rather high. However, the [Kic Shield] was not without weakness. It was like how it would not properly activate if a foreign object that the shield could not cover entirely was present. It happened with the [Strange Mechid] the other day when Mark locked weapons with it.


    And from Mark''s thoughts, another possible timing was when a part of the user was outside the radius of the shield.


    In this case, the whip-des that had yet to retract were clearly outside the radius of the [Kic Shield] if this [Fighter Mechid] had one. The shield it used to block Mark''s magic attacks might not activate either.


    The only thing that the [Fighter Mechid] could do was evade. However, doing so while its whip-des were in the process of retracting would leave it open for another attack since its movement would dy the weapons'' retraction for a bit.


    And as Mark thought, the [Figther Mechid] evaded.


    Mark pped his wings quickly and charged at the [Fighter Mechid] while he charged another shot with the [Shadow Piercer]. He moved to where the [Mechid] was evading and shot his railgun at shorter and harder to evade range.


    <strong>SHOOOM!</strong>


    Mark fired his next shot. He was confident that it would connect. Although the chance of it piercing through the [Fighter Mechid''s] body was low, it should at least leave a good amount of damage.


    But as Mark thought that he seeded in this move, the [Fighter Mechid] made an unexpected move. The final floating bit behind the [Fighter Mechid] flew into the trajectory of the projectile while changing its form instantly.


    <strong>BAM!</strong>


    The transformed floating bit and Mark''s projectile collided, causing a loud sound. However, while the transformed floating bit was pushed back, it sustained barely any damage as Mark''s projectile fell to the ground.


    That transformed floating bit made Mark''s eyes dte even more due to unexpected surprise. It was not because the [Fighter Mechid] managed to defend against his attack once again, but its appearance after it transformed extremely resembled his shield, the [Defier]. There were a lot of differences, Like how the [Mechid''s] shield had what seemed to be a forcefield in front of it or its sleek design that was more sci-fi-like. Nheless, the shape was awfully the same.


    There was no coincidence that this [Mechid] was using a pair of whip-des. It was no coincidence that it made the same stance before attacking.


    This [Mechid] was mimicking his fighting style.<sub> </sub>


    Then, did its previous pair of w des also mimicked from someone? The way it attacked with its ws was awfully alivepared to what a normal [Mechid] would do.


    But now, it was clear why this [Fighter Mechid] was carrying such uncanny weapons. Why mimic Mark, though? This thought was another question that popped up inside Mark''s mind as he retreated due to the whip-des finally making their next attack.


    Mark flew backward and the tip of the two whip-des pierced through where he was before. As he evaded the attack, Mark fired another shot from his weapon, but the shield flew and blocked it.


    Looking at the [Fighter Mechid], Mark had a tinge of difort and jealousy on his mind. Mark only two hands. As such, he could only use either a pair of des or one de and a shield. Although Mark could use his [Blood Whips] to hold a weapon, it was inefficient as it would slow down his [Blood Whips], which had speed as their advantage.


    It was totally unfair that this [Mechid] could use the two whip-des and a shield altogether.


    Worse, it was using the whip-des far more efficiently than Mark.


    It was using an improved version of Mark''s fighting style using the whip-des and the shield.


    Who would not feel frustrated seeing someone mimicking his fighting style but moving better than the original? No one.


    There was no need to mention that Mark''s control of the [Slicer] and [Divider] was limited by what his [Blood Whips] were capable of. However, this [Fighter Mechid] had full control of its whip-des.


    It was kind of frustrating. It was like the [Fighter Mechid] was showing Mark a level of his fighting style that he could probably never attain.


    Mark wanted to take out his own whip-des. However, he went against the temptation. There would be more disadvantages for him to use his whip-des at this moment. Not to mention that his whip-des would not be able to damage this kind of [Mechid] and would likely end up getting entangled with the enemy''s weapon instead.


    <strong>THOOOM!</strong>


    The two other weapons of the [Fighter Mechid], the w des that turned back into their original forms, pointed at Mark. Tworge beams were fired at him at close range.


    Mark could only evade the unexpected attack. This was the first time Mark saw where the beam attacks of this [Mechid] were actuallying from. It just meant that this [Mechid] could fire five of these beams at the same time.


    Still, why did the [Mechid] fire only one beam at a time before and fire two now?


    But as Mark evaded, the reason for firing two beams this time was clear. It was to make him evade in a specific direction.


    The moment Mark was out of the way of the beams, he was already encircled by the two outstretched whip-des.


    Then, the encircle around Mark tightened, trying to slice Mark to pieces within.


    As the des almost touched Mark, he vanished into a puff of ck mist, and the des ended up entangling themselves in an uncanny ball. It was one disadvantage that the whip-des had, and Mark managed to utilize the situation to cause this mess. However, it looked like the [Mechids] had foreseen this situation already and added some functions to the weapons to automatically unentangle themselves.


    The whip-des would return to normal almost after just a few seconds.


    But Mark... did not appear after evading the previous attack.


    Mark clearly became invisible.


    The [Figther Mechid] looked around. After not seeing its opponent, its eyes changed color, likely changing the mode it was seeing into either thermal or infrared or probably something else that humankind had yet to discover. It could also be abination of these functions.


    Using its detection mechanisms, the [Fighter Mechid] spotted Mark. No, it spotted a high-temperature activity a certain distance away.


    In its lens, it looked like a giant ball of mes.


    And it was right.


    Getting out of his [Optical Camouge], Mark appeared along with a ball of mes twice his height. The attack was already shot, and it was alreadyte for the [Fighter Mechid] to evade, and it could not activate its shields with the whip-des still entangled.


    The [Mechid''s] shield immediately floated in front of the [Fighter Mechid], trying to block the attack. Still, even if the shield managed to block the direct impact, the explosion that woulde after would engulf the [Figther Mechid] whole.


    Mark smiled as the mes exploded. After all, it was not just mes that he prepared.


    <strong>BOOM! CRACKLE!</strong>


    The explosion was uncannily followed by a strange crackling sound that an explosion would not make. It was because inside the core of the ball of mes was a concentrated amount of Mark''s [Miasmic Lightning]. The ck lightning was not only destructive but had the slight properties of [Miasma] to devour energy.


    An explosion of mes bloomed in the sky, apanied by the crackles of electricity scattering about.


    A figure flew out of the mes and lightning. Of course, it was the [Fighter Mechid].


    However, unlike before, its body was covered with burn marks, and the bluish glow on its body along with the shield''s barrier were considerably less. It was clear that Mark''s attack just now caused a considerable amount of damage.


    But then, seeing that it was still on the losing end, the [Fighter Mechid] let go of the whip-des, transforming both weapons into their original forms.


    And then, its bluish glow turned red.


    Mark stared with annoyance at that sight. The damn [Fighter Mechid] had a third phase.

 Chapter 921 Changing The Tide, The Battle Outside The Northwestern Peaks Of The Mountainous Crater

    <strong>Day 253 - 8:54 AM - Mountainous Crater, Municipality of Viga, Province of Catanduanes</strong>


    The blush glow of the [Fighter Mechid] turned red after it put away its weapons back to their original forms. The five floating bits rotated behind the [Fighter Mechid''s] like how they appeared at the start.


    But then, Mark saw the floating bits attach themselves onto the [Fighter Mechid''s] glowing body.


    And the moment all of thembined with the [Fighter Mechid]...


    <strong>ZOOM!</strong>


    "ACK!"


    Mark suddenly yelled in surprised pain as he was abruptly flung through the sky.


    With great difficulty, Mark stabilized his flight while clutching his painful wrist. He was barely able to react at all. The next thing he knew was the [Mechid''s] fist closing unto his face. It was lucky that he was fast enough to move his right arm to block, although the powerful impact from the punch still sent him flying mid-air.


    Mark red at the enemy. The bastard just disappeared and appeared in front of him instantly. It was too fast. He did not even see more than a barely visible blur.


    <strong>BOOM! </strong>


    Mark suddenly heard a booming from in front of him. However, it was clear that the [Fighter Mechid] was still hovering idly after its attack.


    But when Mark felt the strong gust of wind hitting his face, he now understood what that boom was. It was the sonic boom after the sound barrier was broken. The sound arrivingte just meant that the [Fighter Mechid] moved far faster than the speed of sound.


    "Tch!"


    Mark clicked his tongue. He could feel his arm tingling. It was the kind of sensation that would only happen if his absurd regeneration kicked in. It just meant that the punch he blocked tore through his flesh and cracked the bones on his right arm.


    This kind of injury would not happen if he had managed to harden his blood in time, but he was unable to do so. However, there was barely any leeway to react at all. Furthermore, even if he managed to harden his blood, it might not work at all, considering his armor was also made using his blood, and it got dented by that punch.


    Mark quickly removed the armguards on his right arm. It might mean less protection, but a dented armor would just get in the way.


    <strong>ZOOM!</strong>


    The [Fighter Mechid] vanished once more.


    Since he had already seen it before, Mark was on full alert. However, he could only see a vaguely visible blur. The figure of the [Figther Mechid] flickered mid-way, allowing Mark to see it in a fragment of a millisecond, but its overall speed was hard to chase using his eyes.


    A blur appeared in the corner of his left eye. Mark immediately bent his neck and body backward.


    The [Figther Mechid''s] glowing red fist passed centimeters away from Mark''s face. He also felt the heat being emanated from the [Mechid''s] body even though his body was still covered in [Miasma]. It just meant that the [Mechid''s] body was extremely hot. A direct contact might burn Mark''s skin. Luckily, the first attack he blocked hit his armor. After all, despite his absurd regenerative abilities, burns were a huge pain to heal, especially if the burnt skin got stuck on his flesh.


    Given that Mark managed to evade the next attack by a hair''s breadth, Mark wanted to take the opportunity to retaliate.


    Unfortunately, there was no such opportunity.


    Mark hurriedly spun his body as another punch passed by over his shoulder. And there were not only two as a third fist came swiftly after.


    <strong>BOOM!</strong>


    Mark used the [Wind Maniption Mental Crystal] to cast an explosion of wind between him and the [Figther Mechid]. Both of them were thrown far from each other upon receiving the impact.


    "TSK!"


    Mark clicked his tongue as he stabilized his flight once more. He did not go unscathed in that exchange. ncing at the time of his top left wing with a fistful chunk missing, Mark racked his brains on how to deal with this troublesome opponent.


    The blue glow before only increased this [Mechid''s] speed. On the other hand, this red glow did not only increase that speed further but also its performance and strength. It was not wrong to say that it was far more dangerous now than when it was armed with weapons before. There was no need for it to hold a sword or even firesers. Its fists were far more destructive.


    Mark had to think of a way to deal with this enemy fast.


    ***


    While Mark was struggling with the most powerful [Mechid] that he had faced so far, it was not that different on the outer defense line in the northwest mountains.


    As if following a hivemind, the [Mechids] were moving as one. Depending on their capabilities, some [Mechids] would push forwards while others would support behind its back. Due to this weird sense of unity among the [Mechids], it became harder for the warriors to fight these pathogen-hacked robots.


    The defense line was being pushed back. From the base of the mountain, the [Mechids] already reached a third of its height.


    It was not wrong to say that they underestimated the number of [Mechids] that came. Right now, there should be around two hundred currently entangled with the forces stationed in the northwest peaks of the mountainous crater. Although they could kill one or two at a time, more would appear to fill in the numbers.


    Diwata Iraya had eyes all over the ind of Catanduanes. However, it was still impossible for her to monitor each and every single enemy there was on the ind. And now, they were facing probably the number of [Mechids] from the west and southern parts of the ind.<sub> </sub>


    After seeing these [Mechids] pouring into this area, it became clear that these pathogen-hacked robots were not aiming to just enter the crater but to deal with the warriors here. It was not wrong to say that their contribution to destroying the [Giant Mechid] was rather substantial. Thus, it was not a surprise that they also became a target for the [Mechids] despite Mark and Chimetrice trying to get as much attention as possible from the enemies.


    <strong>WOOM!</strong>


    Suddenly, more than a dozen [Mechids] were blown away into the air, tumbling down the steep mountain slopes.


    It was the advantage the warriors had over geography. Although they were being pushed back up the mountain, the ground was bing steeper as they went higher. The warriors were used to this kind of terrain. As for the [Mechids]... They were still in the process of developing models to cope with the uneven ground of the ind.


    Thus, one concentrated magic from the [Sylphs] could cause such chaos towards the [Mechids]. Even so, they were still slowly being pushed up the mountain.


    The battle here was in such a state. It was until the members of Mark''s group joined the fray.


    After Mark told Mei to go support the warriors defending the mountain, sheplied without question. While they did have some ns to deal with the [Giant Mechid], it was only up to that point. Any unexpected battle afterward would be on Mark''s call.


    They all thought that it would be the end of this farce after the [Giant Mechid] was destroyed. But when the new powerful [Mechids] appeared out of nowhere, they all understood that they were mistaken. Unfortunately, there was nothing they could do to help at this moment. If anything else, they might end up dragging Mark and Chimetrice down.


    "Gale, Miracle, fight the stragglers. Don''t go too far into the enemies." Mei said to the two youngest girls before turning to I. "Protect your sisters."


    "Yes."


    I replied while Abbygale and Miracle nodded. The three then moved, followed by their golems.


    "Zhiruo, you can go wherever you want. You are fast enough to dance on the battlefield. Just be careful."


    Mei said to Feng Zhiruo.


    "No problem."


    Feng Zhiruo responded while tightening her grip on the hilt of her sword.


    Andstly...


    "Amihan, support the fight. Your priority is the flying ones. Knock them down. Just don''t overdo it, or you might get our allies flying."


    "Okay~!"


    Amihan replied gleefully, trying to hide her nervousness. After all, she might get scolded if she failed to control her current power and cause some idents.


    The group then went down from the peak, followed by the archers and Diwata Iraya.


    Diwata Iraya left while ncing at the battle within the crater. The rest was left in the hands of Mark and Chimetrice.


    When the group arrived at the defense line, it immediately stabilized. It was amazing how a small group of young people could greatly affect the tide of such arge battle.


    The members of the group followed Mei''s orders. Well, as much as they could. Abbygale and Miracle were young, and they could easily get carried away. Although Abbygale was much calmer, she was still prone to getting a bit reckless.


    Where Miracle was, [Mechids] would start flying. Of course, not the kind of controlled flight, but the little girl packed strength enough to throw [Mechids] off the mountain. Not to mention her canine-feline golem, Cavall, who gave Miracle the speed shecked.


    As for Abbygale, she could be seen jumping around with her rabbit golem, Inaba. With both excelling in leg strength, their fighting style was not surprising. What was amazing was Inaba. The rabbit golem was keeping up closely with Abbygale and was picking enemies that would pose a threat to her.


    And I wasgging behind her younger sisters like usual. Her body was already strengthened by many factors, but she was still physically inferior to Abbygale and Miracle. However, it suited her fighting style as a support ability user. Since she could not keep up with either strength or speed, she was able to watch the surroundings and her allies from behind without getting reckless or carried away.


    Furthermore, against [Mechids], I was actually not suited for any kind of offense. The heat of her barrier could ignite most living beings almost instantly and burn them to ashes. However, it was not that effective against [Mechids] since they were made of metal. What her barrier was effective against, however, was theser beams.


    Thesers were being dispersed by I''s barrier upon contact. It was something they learned while fighting the enemies after the fight with Sinogo.


    With I supporting in the backline, the iingsers became less of a threat to everyone around her. And if something managed to sneak close to I, they would face the valkyrie golem, Brynhildr. Transforming her right arm to a sword and her left arm into a shield, this maid-looking golem was able to protect I against [Mechids].


    Feng Zhiruo danced through the battlefield. With her agile but steady stance, the uneven and steep ground was the least of her concern. Unfortunately, no one was able to see her sword dance as she moved fast, using both the terrain and the trees to her advantage while aiming for the weak spots of the [Mechids].


    Mei picked a good spot that overlooked the whole battlefield. With her [Shooting Moon de], she picked and shot the most troublesome-looking enemies. She also made sure that the little girls were safe, prioritizing the more dangerous-looking enemies around them.


    Lastly, Amihan caused a little disturbance when all the flight-capable [Mechids] were suddenly swept by a strong gust of wind that also affected their allies a bit. Her first attack was effective, sweeping away the dangerous enemies from above. However, it was also a bit of a failure since she already failed to control her power. Still, it was good that she did not cause their allies to fly away too.


    Diwata Iraya and the archers also joined in. The defense line that was previously being pushed back gained the momentum to be the ones to push forward. However, they did not. They finally got a stable position, and pushing forward would cause them to lose this advantage.


    And since the [Mechids] were the ones swarming to their location, they only needed to wait.


    With the battle on this side stabilizing, everyone began to wonder. What could be happening inside the crater at this moment.

 Chapter 922 Going All Out, Finally Retaliating Against The [Fighter Mechid]

    <strong>Day 253 - 9:02 AM - Mountainous Crater, Municipality of Viga, Province of Catanduanes</strong>


    Mark was busy fighting the strongest [Mechid], and the forces were holding the line in the northwest mountains.


    On the other hand, Chimetrice was dealing with the ground forces of the [Mechids] inside the crater.


    Lasers rained inside the corrupted forest, and the remaining forces of the [Mechids] within the mountainous crater were now gathered in one area, fighting Chimetrice in an all-out assault.


    There should be at least a hundred [Mechids] fighting Chimetrice, with a third of itposed of the original ones that fell on Earth from space. It was a lineup that could destroy the settlements on this ind and conquer it. However, they were all trapped inside this giant crater due to their space-adapted bodies being incapable of traversing the steep mountains surrounding it.


    Or, maybe rather than wanting to go out, these [Mechids] were protecting something inside the crater instead.


    The possibility that these [Mechids] were protecting something was rather high after seeing their actions when Chimetrice got closer to the center of the crater.


    Chimetrice was only supposed to take care of the reinforcement [Mechids] while Mark fought the [Fighter Mechid] in the sky. However, as Chimetrice fought the [Mechids] on the ground, it could not be helped that the battle of this scale reached different areas of the crater.


    That task was not difficult for Chimetrice, considering he could just brush off thesers without taking any damage.


    Using his [Wind des] from his left hand, Chimetrice took down the weaker [Mechids] that mimicked creatures from Earth. Using his other hand, Chimetrice conjured vines that shot towards the stronger [Mechids], lifting them off the ground and crushing them into metal scrap and stter of ck goo.


    Chimetrice was a being that could withstand the powers of Gods. These kinds of enemies did not have the strength to even injure him. It was unfortunate that Chimetricecked the strength to kill Gods. Nheless, against weaker enemies like this, it would be nothing else but a one-sided massacre.


    And this caused the [Mechids] within the crater to be seemingly desperate in trying to fend off Chimetrice in this ughter of their kind.


    <strong>BOOM!</strong>


    Another explosion urred as Chimetrice pierced a hole in a ratherrge-sized [Mechid]. That [Mechid] was bombarding him with powerfulsers that could actually singe his hair. As such, he prioritized eliminating these rather powerful [Mechids].


    Chimetrice nced at the sky. He saw Mark struggling with the [Fighter Mechid] that was now d in a reddish glow. Although the [Giant Mechid] was quite tough for Chimetrice to destroy with his strength due to how its body was structured, he was pretty sure he could handle Mark''s current enemy without problems.


    However, Chimetrice left that enemy to Mark as thetter wanted. It was not only the reason, however. Although Mark was far from fully recovering, he did not have much time to rest. With how the world changed, more powerful beings would appear whether Mark and his group liked it or not. As such, Mark needed experience that would be the foundation of the strength he needed in the future.


    The [Fighter Mechid] might be a dangerous being. Nheless, it was nowhere as powerful as Sinogo. As such, it was a perfect opportunity for Mark to gain experience.


    Of course, Chimetrice would lend a hand if things go awry for Mark. After all, he was far from his perfect state, and there was a huge leeway for failure.


    Even so, Chimetrice knew that [Mechid] would not defeat Markpletely. After all, Mark managed to fight him toe to toe before. It might not have the same oue now that Chimetrice was mostly recovered, though.


    It was now wrong to say that the most powerful being in Mark''s group was not Mark and not also Amihan, who now wielded a fraction of a Goddess'' power.


    The most powerful being in Mark''s group was Chimetrice.


    ***


    <strong>SWOOSH!</strong>


    The [Fighter Mechid''s] figure flickered with a red glow. It had already happened several times before, and another punch was thrown toward Mark''s face.


    It was not always Mark''s face that was being targeted. As the fight went on longer, even the [Fighter Mechid] seemed to be "learning" and began changing the targets of its attack and the way it moved around.


    Mark moved his body to the side, evading the iing punch by a hair''s breadth. His eyes could be seen twitching as he endured the searing heat emanating from the [Fighter Mechid''s] body.


    However, like before, the punch from the [Fighter Mechid] missed its mark. Furthermore, no sign of panic or urgency could be seen in Mark''s expression anymore.


    Mark was already getting used to the [Fighter Mechid''s] speed. Although contending with speed against something that could move faster than the speed of sound was pretty much impossible, dodging its attacks had gotten easier.


    Of course, counterattacking was also another matter. The [Fighter Mechid''s] speed was still too fast for Mark to be able to give a proper retaliation for its attacks.


    But looking at Mark... It would not be too long.


    While getting used to the [Fighter Mechid''s] speed, Mark also tried some things. Thus, Mark had managed to learn more about this [Mechid''s] capabilities.


    This [Mechid] had the same detection capabilities as the [Strange Mechid] that Mark fought the other day. Using [Optical Camouge] and hiding were useless against it as it seemed to be able to detect him using heat and movements.


    Its transformable weapons could attach and detach at will, depending on the situation. After it turned red, it used itsser beams a few times when Mark had forced to create some distance between them using the [Wind Maniption Mental Crystal] by exploding wind at close range. It meant that creating distance was not that much usible as it was still capable of range attacks despite primarily using its fists for closebat.


    However, ever since turning red, it never used any close-quarters weapons it had before. Not the w des, not the whip-des, and neither the shield. But as Mark noticed, it was not surprising since the transformable weapons were being used to augment its speed further.


    Furthermore, although subtle, the transformable weapons were releasing some kind of particle emission whenever the [Fighter Mechid] moved past the sound barrier. It was just too hard to see since Mark could barely make out the [Mechid''s] movements with his naked eyes. It might also be the cause why these transformable weapons could fire far strongersers despite being smaller than the weapons of most [Mechids] they had seen so far.


    The transformable weapons could not firesers at short intervals. So far, it only fired once per weapon, and it took another minute or two to fire the very same one.


    And onest thing. While it was fast, there was a w in its movements. It could only move in a straight line. Yes, it could change its direction midway, but it would never move in a curve. And when it changed direction, it would vaguely appear, showing that it slowed down whenever that happened.


    Mark was attacked several more times, with him only dodging the attacks. But as it continued, Mark noticed that there was nothing more to learn about the pattern of its attacks.


    Thus, Mark finally decided to move.


    <strong>SWOOSH! BOOM!</strong>


    The [Fighter Mechid] charged at Mark once more. This time, it was attacking Mark''s chest. It was clear it was aiming for Mark''s vitals since the start.


    However, Mark made sure to keep his attention in the direction it was moving. And the moment the [Fighter Mechid] appeared to his left...


    <strong>BOOOM!</strong><sub> </sub>


    Another explosion of wind forced them apart.


    At this moment, one transformable weapon detached from the [Fighter Mechid''s] body and fired a strongser beam. Of course, Mark dodged it, and the [Mechid] charged at Mark again, trying to take advantage that Mark was in the middle of stabilizing his flight after dodging.


    However, another explosion of wind flung the two away from each other once more.


    While using the previous exchanges as a basis, the [Fighter Mechid] was supposed to fire another beam at this point. However, it did not and charged at Mark once again.


    Mark smirked. Looks like thesers were still in the middle of charging.


    Another punch was thrown at Mark, which he evaded by flipping his body. On his right hand, the crystals could already be seen glowing.


    <strong>BOOOM!</strong>


    Before the [Fighter Mechid] could chain another attack, it was blown away again.


    But as the [Fighter Mechid] stabilized itself, it noticed...


    Mark disappeared.


    The [Mechid''s] eyes began glowing brighter, switching to its detection mode. Mark was right. It could use both thermal and movement detection functions.


    But then... The [Fighter Mechid] detected some anomaly.


    The thermal detector could not detect the heat from Mark''s body. Or rather, its detection functions were running at the full process because all it could see was the red. The surroundings of the [Fighter Mechid] were all red due to the fact that its surroundings were at high temperatures.


    Since the surroundings were too hot for some unknown reason, it could not detect the heat from Mark''s body that was being ovepped by the sudden rise in temperature.


    Due to the "malfunction," it quickly switched to the movement detector. It was not detecting actual movement. It was actually scanning for vibrations in the surroundings, especially from the air that could be influenced even by the unseen.


    But as it switched to its vibration scanner, it froze in the air.


    For some unknown reason, vibrations were being detected everywhere. The air around the [Fighter Mechid] was shaking and blowing violently, making any other vibrations and movements hard to detect by its sensors.


    Then...


    <strong>CRACKLE!</strong>


    A sudden surge of electricity was detected behind the [Fighter Mechid]. It tried to react, but due to its sensors not functioning properly, it waste to respond.


    <strong>BOOM!</strong>


    A streak of ck-colored lightning hit the [Fighter Mechid] on its back, sending it flying due to both force and maic pulse created by the impact.


    The [Fighter Mechid] quickly stabilized itself and faced the direction where the lightning attack came from. But like before, it failed to detect its enemy.


    Furthermore, thinner streaks of ck lightning could be seen surging around the [Fighter Mechid''s] body as the reddish glow of its body dimmed a bit.


    On the optical sensors of the [Fighter Mechid], warning signs were blinking. Not only its detectors failed to locate the target, but its energy reserves suddenly experienced a drastic drain after getting hit by that ck lightning.


    <strong>CRACKLE!</strong>


    Once again, a streak of ck lightning hit the [Fighter Mechid] from behind, causing it to be blown away, drained of its energy.


    By now, warning signs filled the optical sensors of the [Fighter Mechid], reminding it both of unexpected danger and malfunctions on its body as its energy began to disappear at a drastic rate.


    The [Figther Mechid] stabilized its body one more time. However, instead of trying to locate its enemy once again, it turned around. Its body glowed brightly once more, and it turned into a blur as it retreated.


    <strong>BOOM!</strong>


    Another sonic boom urred as the [Fighter Mechid] retreated at the speed of sound.


    But then, just as the sonic boom urred...


    <strong>CRACKLE!</strong>


    Another streak of ck lightning hit the [Fighter Mechid] from above.


    <strong>BAM!</strong>


    Finally, Mark''s figure appeared, with his veins glowing bright red, delivering a kick on the back of the [Fighter Mechid].


    <strong>BOOM!</strong>


    A loud boom was heard as the [Fighter Mechid] crashed to the ground. Even the trees and the ck goo covering the soil did not manage to break its fall.


    However, this attack was not something that would finish that [Mechid] off.


    Mark stretched out his right arm towards the location the [Fighter Mechid] crashed. In his right hand, a familiar-looking staff could be seen. ck lightning began conjuring on the tip of the staff.


    And as if it was not enough, Mark stretched out his left hand that was actually holding unto the [Butterfly of Knowledge].


    Mark''s eyes turned a bit empty as his mouth let out the chant.

 Chapter 923 [Life Devouring Sphere], An Magical Attack To Kill But Not Destroy

    <strong>Day - 253 - 9:10 AM - Mountainous Crater, Municipality of Viga, Province of Catanduanes</strong>


    With the two artifacts in both hands, Mark chanted the iprehensible spell. The meaning of words that did not make sense to those who would hear floated inside his mind one by one.


    "Oh, medium of world''s judgment, tainted, turned, and corrupted. Vanquish my enemy, devour its origin of life."


    The ominous-looking ck-colored lighting surged around Mark, flowing toward the ball of lightning that floated in front of the tip of the [Crystal Staff].


    However,pared to the lightning strike Mark used during the fight with Sinogo, the pressure and the surge of magical energy were far more contained in this one.


    Nheless, it did not change the fact that the ball of ck lightning that was currently being condensed felt stifling and terrifying. It did not feel destructive, but even the densest person would sense that a single touch of this attack would likely end their lives.


    The ball of lightning grew and shrunk very quickly and unstably. It was as if the power within the ball was swelling and being forced to shrink.


    Mark''s eyes turned back to normal as the name of the attack was spoken on his lips.


    "[Life Devouring Sphere]."


    Everything happened quickly. The [Fighter Mechid] that crashed below was not given a chance to recover. Before it could even lift its body from the crater itid inside, the ck sphere of lightning, about the size of an adult human''s fist, hit its torso.


    <strong>CRACKLE!</strong>


    A strong surge of ck-colored lightning enveloped the [Fighter Mechid''s] body and the wide area around it, forming a wide lightning field.


    The [Figther Mechid] tried to struggle out of the lightning field created by Mark''s magic attack. However, as if it was submerged in tar, it could barely move.


    In the sky, Mark stared at the scene that was his doing.


    During the time Mark was resting on Mount Caon, he had the time to study the artifacts he acquired by coincidence. The [Crystal Staff] was just a regr staff that increased efficiency and reduced energy consumption of magical spells. There was nothing much to exin about it. Well, aside from the fact that it was also sturdy and sharp enough to be used as a spear.


    As for the [Butterfly of Knowledge], there were still things he needed to discover. So far, Mark found out that the user should have the correct image, enough knowledge, and talent to properly use it. "Image" was how the user could picture the magic they wanted. "Talent" included the person''s affinity to the magic they were trying to cast and also the attribute of their magical energy. Andstly, "Knowledge" represented the user''s knowledge about the magic they were trying to manifest.


    Without the three in tandem, the magic cast using the [Butterfly of Knowledge] would likely fail or have less efficiency. In the worst case, the magic would be unstable.


    And using these aspects, Mark used a new attack using both magical artifacts.


    The [Life Devouring Sphere]. It was a sphere of [Miasmic Lightning] thatbined the speed of lightning, electricity''s properties to maize metal, and the [Miasma''s] nature to devour and convert.


    When the [Life Devouring Sphere] hit the [Fighter Mechid], its body was trapped within a maic field that slowly devoured any kind of energy inside it. And as the maic field absorbed the energies of everything inside, it grew stronger and spread out further from the origin.


    As long as the target, the [Fighter Mechid], still had the energy to spare, the maic field would continue to exist, grow stronger, and spread further.


    The [Fighter Mechid] struggled to escape from the maic bog that it was trapped in. However, the more it tried to escape, the harder it became. The energy within its core was being depleted at a rapid rate, causing malfunctions to ur within its body.


    Being drained of energy, the first ones to fall were the transformable bits that attached themselves to the [Fighter Mechid''s] body. One after another, they fell to the ground, losing their reddish glow. As for the [Fighter Mechid], its reddish glow was bing unstable, flickering to red and blue at random intervals.


    Mark watched the [Fighter Mechid] struggle. It was surprising that it managed tost longer than he expected. After all, aside from the [Fighter Mechid], everything within the electric field was dead. It included the corrupted trees. Even the ck goo on the forest floor had already evaporated.


    In fact, the ck goo evaporating due to the electric field was something unexpected for Mark. So far, only fire had been proven bane to this ck goo that all [Mechids] had within their bodies. Mark already used his ck lightning against [Mechid] more than he could remember. However, it never showed this reaction at all.


    This reaction between Mark''s magical attack and the ck goo should be investigated.


    <strong>CRACKLE!</strong>


    With a loud crackle, the lightning field vanished in an instant after spreading about a hundred meters away from the center. It was as if the lightning field had never existed. All it left was the dead trees, drynd, and the unmoving remains of the [Fighter Mechid].


    Marknded on the death-covered field, looking at the body of the [Fighter Mechid] that waspletely intact. The sturdiness of this [Mechid] was amazing on its own. And seeing this, Mark was satisfied with the result. The [Life Devouring Sphere] erased all the ck goo within the lightning field. Then, the body of the [Figther Mechid] was also now devoid of any ck goo inside it. It would make a great specimen to study.


    Stretching his hand to the body of the [Fighter Mechid], a ck hole in space appeared and swallowed it. Mark sessfully stored the body of the [Fighter Mechid] inside his ring along with its interesting weapons.


    "Looks like you dealt with it nicely."


    A male voice entered Mark''s ear.


    "I won''t say it''s nice. Although it had already healed, my wing still got torn. Are you done with the others?"


    Mark replied, looking at Chimetrice, who had just arrived.


    "The smaller ones are troublesome due to their number, but it was nothing too hard. That aside, you should pay attention there."


    Chimetrice said, pointing toward the direction of the center of the mountainous crater.


    Mark frowned. It seemed that there was some trouble.


    pping his ethereal-looking wings, Mark flew up to the sky with Chimetrice. And looking at the center of the crater, Mark could only sigh while shrugging his shoulders.


    While floating meters above the ground, five [Mechids] hovered in a line.


    "Another five."


    Mark murmured.<sub> </sub>


    Five more [Fighter Mechids]. One was already troublesome and dangerous, not to mention five.


    Nheless, Mark was not that surprised. What they were dealing with here was clearly a factory that created new [Mechids]. If one existed, there would be no surprise even if a hundred more were to appear.


    Mark observed the new [Fighter Mechids]. All of them looked simr to the first one. Furthermore, they were all glowing read, seemingly wanting to start the battle already at their third phase. No, it should be their fourth as the [Fighter Mechids] were actually holding weapons while emitting that reddish glow. The weapons were also different from the first one. One of the five [Fighter Mechids] had a spear, another with a sword and shield, one with a double dagger, one with a bow, and thest with what seemed to be a pair of gauntlets.


    "A fourth phase..."


    Mark murmured, getting a good hint of what could be expected of those [Fighter Mechids].


    The first [Fighter Mechid] had all its transformable bits attached to its body on the third phase, sacrificing attack power for increased speed. Then, these [Fighter Mechids] in the fourth phase should be faster than in the second phase but more deadly than in the third phase.


    Considering that these [Mechids] seemed to copy the fighting styles of people the [Mechids] had seen, the spear and the bow might be the fighting style of the warriors under Diwata Iraya. The sword and shield also looked familiar, seemingly simr to the weapons of the [Cursed Armor], Morlkil. Mark was unsure about the double daggers and the gauntlet, however.


    Now that Mark remembered, the first [Fighter Mechid] used a pair of w-des before, which was also unfamiliar to him.


    "I guess I have to go all out?"


    Mark voiced out to Chimetrice.


    "It''s better to do the best you can. Your body isn''t like mine."


    Chimetrice replied.


    That was right. A single vital hit from the first [Fighter Mechid] could likely fatally injure Mark, not to mention the speed that broke the sound barrier. Although it was possible that these new [Fighter Mechid] were slower, it was better not to treat this assumption as fact. After all, the next part of the battle had yet to start.


    "They are not attacking, aren''t they?"


    Mark noticed.


    "I also noticed they were on the defensive. I got a glimpse of a structure at the center. They might be trying to protect that."


    Chimetrice replied.


    Mark nodded. It was good that the tide turned, and the [Mechids] were now on the defensive.


    It was a good thing since they were given a chance to take a breather.


    Mark held both artifacts in hand. He already took down the first one. The only challenge in facing the next enemies was their number. As for the method to fight them, a well-set magical attack should do it.


    Still, Mark at least needed enough speed to cope fighting more than one [Fighter Mechid].


    Mark closed his eyes. His body transformed.


    It had been a while since Mark transformed into his [Pure-Blooded Blood Demon Form]. Thest time, it was a bit troublesome. His body had golden marks, showing the blessing he got from the [Trial of Regrets], which actually hindered his body. He was unable to use his full strength at that time because of the blessing.


    But this time, Mark was free of that restraint. He should be able to use the full potential of his [Demon Form]. It was even though he had yet to fully recover his strength and [Miasma].


    That was what Mark expected.


    However...


    "Huh?"


    Mark felt strange. There was a certain smell emanating from his body after he transformed. It was not a physical smell of sorts. If Mark was to say what it was, it was the smell of death. It was something Mark was familiar with.


    But why was there a smell of death after Mark transformed?


    "You..."


    By the looks of it, Chimetrice was also surprised.


    Mark raised his hand in front of his eyes. When transforming, Mark had markings on his body, especially the neck, ankles, and wrists. This kind of tattoo-like markings was also present in Chimetrice''s body when he transforms. Even Goddess Magwayen and Sinogo had these kinds of markings, although different looking.


    Simr to tribal people, these markings signified power and status. Although in this case, it was a status in spiritual terms. Gods, Deities, and other powerful beings were mostly depicted with these markings on their bodies.


    As for Mark, these markings on his body did not signified his status as a god candidate. It was also because he was currently the owner of a [Pure Spirit Tree], the current leader of [Blood Demons], and, most importantly, because he absorbed the evil deity, the Deity of Bloodshed.


    And depending on the powers and blessings Mark receive, these markings could change, like what happened before.


    This time, Mark stared at the markings on his wrists.


    The pitch ck markings Mark had on his wrists now had a tinge of gray and red. Not to mention it emanated some sort of barely visible mist that carried the smell Mark sensed.


    Mark could not understand what was going on. But there was one thing that he noticed aside from the smell of death he emanated.


    His current [Demon Form] was way stronger than before.

 Chapter 924 The Aura Of Death, The Unexplained Power That Mark Currently Bore

    <strong>Day 253 - 9:11 AM - Mountainous Crater, Municipality of Viga, Province of Catanduanes</strong>


    Something strange was happening to Mark. Not only did the markings on Mark''s body change, but he was exuding the aura and smell of death for some reason.


    Chimetrice stared at Mark with unconcealed surprise.


    There was only one time in a person''s life that they would exude the aura of death. It was when their time living in this world was up.


    At a nce, one who would feel this aura from Mark would think he was about to die. However, Chimetrice knew that this was not the case.


    The aura of death seen on a dying person felt like smoke from a fire about to die out. That kind of aura of death would spread out of their bodies before vanishing. It would not linger too long but would continue to emanate until those people breathe theirst.


    Mark''s aura of death was different, however.


    It was not spreading out and vanishing. Instead, it was lingering around Mark''s body like an invisible veil.


    Mark slowly closed his fists. Was it agitation? Excitement? Mark could not understand what he was feeling. It was as if some unknown power suddenly appeared, bursting inside his body.


    It had a simr feeling watching Levi rage in the OVA or Ryner one-sidedly ughtering the Magic Knights.


    It... It was a wonderful feeling.


    A smile slowly crept up Mark''s lips.


    Mark still could not understand what was happening. However, he had a hunch about who was responsible for this. Confronting the person responsible was for another time, though. Because right now, they have the battle to continue.


    "Chimetrice, deal with the ones below again. Leave those five to me."


    Mark said without looking at Chimetrice with his eyes focused on the five [Fighter Mechids] hovering from afar.


    "If you wish to."


    Chimetrice replied.


    The [Humanoid Chimera] was unsure about Mark''s order, however. It was clear that Mark had yet to fully recover, and he was kind of struggling to fight the first [Fighter Mechid] head-on. Nheless, Chimetrice was not the kind of being to question someone''s decisions and orders. In case the worst happened, he could just go and support Mark.


    Mark did not wait any longer. His wings opened wide with a reddish glow emanating from them. Both his eyes exuded the familiar purplish light.


    <strong>BOOOM!</strong>


    The sound of wind exploded as Mark pped his wings. In the blink of an eye, Mark flew dozens of meters away.


    Chimetrice followed Mark with his eyes, seeing something that normal people would not see. It was the trail of foggy ck smoke that Mark left behind as he flew. That ck smoke was the aura of death leaking from Mark''s body.


    Deciding to pay attention to Mark''s current state, Chimetrice flew forwards, aiming for the enemies left below.


    As Chimetrice suspected, Mark''s state of mind was far from normal. He was under the overwhelming urge. He was seeking the satisfaction of witnessing the end of the enemy before him.


    <strong>THOOOM!</strong>


    Mark''s speed elerated. The five [Fighter Mechids] moved to intercept him.


    As Mark predicted, these [Fighter Mechids] were slower than the first due to them sacrificing speed to wield a weapon.


    Nheless, it did not make them any less dangerous. In fact, facing these five was far more dangerous than facing one moving faster than the speed of sound.


    These [Mechids] were moving under onemand. Their cooperation, while not wless, was well established and calcted.


    The moment Mark reached a certain distance from the center of the Mountainous Crater, the [Fighter Mechids] moved. Furthermore, they moved into a formation.


    Directly intercepting Mark''s path, the [Fighter Mechid] with the sword and shield positioned itself. Behind it was the [Fighter Mechid] with the spear. The one with the gauntlet and the other with the daggers flew in separate directions around the first two. Lastly, the [Fighter Mechid] with the bow stayed a distance behind, aiming its weapon.


    It was a concrete formation. The one with the defensive equipment was to block the enemy while the two closebatants would ambush from different directions. The spear, which had a longer range than a sword, would support the defender from the back. And, of course, the bow would support the whole group from a distance.


    If one heard about these [Mechids] implementing these formations and strategies, they would definitely think of it as a joke. However, it was the truth, and Mark was facing such enemies.


    Did these [Mechids] learn these things from somewhere? Or did they learn about it on their own? It was hard to tell which it could be.


    However, whatever it may be, they needed to die here.


    Mark charged towards the group of [Fighter Mechids]. His eyes glowed brightly with a ruthless re and a merciless smile. With the [Crystal Staff] in his right hand wielded like a spear, he stabbed toward the [Fighter Mechid] that blocked his path.


    Was it a reckless move? Sure it was.


    The [Fighter Mechid] blocked the [Crystal Staff] with its shield. At the moment of contact, the boosters of the [Fighter Mechid] activated, enabling it to withstand the impact of Mark''s powerful attack.


    At the same time, the dagger-equipped [Fighter Mechid] along with the one with the pair of gauntlets appeared on both Mark''s sides with their attacks already mid-way. A spear also appeared right over the left shoulder of the defending [Mechid], aiming for Mark''s face. An arrow was also shot towards Mark, passing over the defending [Mechid''s] right shoulder.


    One defender and four attackers. In an instant, Mark was facing four attacks from different directions.


    However, no sign of urgency was seen in Mark''s expression and movements.


    Instead, the purplish glow of Mark''s eyes became tinged with a grayish hue. His ethereal-looking wings became covered in a gray-colored mist. And the moment the attacks hit his body, it turned all ck.


    <strong>BOOM!</strong>


    All attacks hit the darkness-covered body of Mark. Each attack was fatal, and it all happened in a split second.


    But then... Mark''s body, which turned ck, began to disintegrate into ck smoke.


    Was it [Shadow Mist Movement]? No, it looked really different.<sub> </sub>


    [Shadow Mist Movement] allowed Mark to enter a subspace that also allowed him to move at extremely fast speeds. Outside this ability, the people could only see Mark turning into a puff of ck mist, and although moving extremely fast, strong enough beings would be able to see Mark''s mist for moving about.


    However, it was clear that Mark''s body did not turn into a surge of ck mist. Instead, it looked as if his body was consumed by darkness and disintegrated afterward.


    The unexpected circumstance caused a dy in the reaction of the [Fighter Mechids]. None of them were able to confirm the death of the enemy and began using their other mechanisms to detect the enemy. However, knowing the failure of the first [Fighter Mechid], there was also a dy in the activation of these detection functions.


    When the [Fighter Mechids] activated their motion and thermal detectors, however...


    All of them immediately found Mark and turned their bodies in his direction.


    Where was he?


    <strong>SHING!!!</strong>


    A sound of metal being sliced echoed.


    The bow-wielding [Fighter Mechid] suddenly had its vision vertically split as it slowly fell from the sky.


    Mark''s figure hovered over the falling [Figther Mechid''s] body. His eyes glowed with a mix of purple and gray. But on his hand, the [Crysal Staff] looked different.


    The [Crystal Staff] was still there. But now, it was more or less the base of a different weapon. A tool for harvesting and an iconic weapon that symbolized death.


    A scythe.


    It was the very same weapon that split an entire [Fighter Mechid''s] body into two from head to the lower thrusters.


    With the defeat of the [Fighter Mechid], its bow transformed, and the transformable bits attached to its body all detached and tried to fly towards the remaining [Mechids].


    Mark''s chilling stare fell unto those transformable bits. He was clear about what was going to happen.


    If one [Fighter Mechid] was defeated, the transformable bits that were not destroyed would fly to the remaining ones, empowering them in the process. Once this happened, it was possible that thest [Fighter Mechid] in the group would have the strength and speed of several [Fighter Mechids]bined.


    Mark would not let that happen.


    The scythe in Mark''s hand was swung. Bolts of ck-colored lightning were spread unto the surroundings.


    Considering the effect of this ck lightning was already experienced by the first [Fighter Mechid] and was defeated because of it, the remaining [Fighter Mechids] made a cautious move and retreated.


    The [Fighter Mechids] managed to avoid getting hit by the bolts of ck lightning. However, it was at the cost of the transformable bits from the defeated [Fighter Mechid].


    After being hit by the lightning bolts, the transformable bits were not destroyed. However, they lost some of their energy, and their flight became unstable. It was when Mark appeared before the transformable bits with his right arm outstretched. A hole in space appeared and swallowed the transformable bits mid-flight.


    One [Fighter Mechid] was down. Of course, it was from this group, and the first one before was not included in the count. Aside from one being defeated, Mark prevented the chance for the remaining ones to strengthen themselves.


    Mark turned to the remaining four [Fighter Mechids]. The four of them were already on another round of attacks.


    <strong>BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!</strong>


    Four sonic booms spread out slower than the movements of the four [Fighter Mechids]. Although slower than the first one, all of them could still move faster than the speed of sound.


    All of them instantly appeared, surrounding Mark from four directions and already mid-way through their attacks.


    Mark was about to parry the iing attacks and stage a counterattack. With his [Future Sight] and current speed, he should be able to do it. However, Mark noticed something as his eyes glowed. He could see some sort of ck misty emissions from the spear of spear-wielding [Fighter Mechid]. He could not understand what was going on. However, those ck emissions gave him a bad feeling.


    Once again, Mark''s body was covered in darkness, and the four attacks hit his body.


    <strong>BOOM!</strong>


    The darkness-covered body did not even have the time to disintegrate on its own. The tip of the spear of the spear-wielding [Mechid] suddenly exploded, releasing a fatal amount of energy. That energy was simr to thesers these [Mechids] usually use. However, theser was in a form of a concentrated explosion this time around.


    This gave Mark another thing to be confused about. That explosion of light was clearly not rted to that misty emission he had just seen.


    Wait... That ck emission...


    Mark realized as he nced at his current weapon. That emission was the same as what the scythe in his hand was made of. The grayish-ck energy of death he was currently enveloped with.


    The aura of death. There was no way that these [Mechids] would suddenly wield the aura he currently had.


    "Materialize."


    Mark murmured as a surge of grayish mist slowly covered his right arm. Earlier, he removed his gauntlet after being dented by the first [Fighter Mechid''s] attack. Using the power to materialize magical energy, he created a new one using the energy currently overflowing within him.


    Seeing it manifest, Mark was sure that it was the same as what he saw at the [Fighter Mechid''s] spear just now.


    Mark was confused. But then, Mark suddenly saw the [Fighter Mechids] show that misty emission once again. This time, all four of them emitted the gray mist as they seemingly tried to use their transformable bits tounch a powerfulser barrage.


    As Mark had thought, the barrage ofsers came. However, he was able to react one step ahead, dodging thesers from the smallest gaps possible.


    And to his surprise, all thesers exuded the misty emission around them.


    This time, it all dawned on Mark.


    The [Mechids] was not exuding the misty emissions. It was him, who was seeing those things appear at things that could serve fatal to him.


    And now, Mark understood what was going on.


    Whatever this aura of death that currently enveloped him, it was getting integrated into his current abilities.

 Chapter 925 The [Lower Blessing Of Deaths Aura], A Weak Blessing That Showed Unprecedented Effects

    <strong>¨ƒ¨ƒ¨ƒ ¨ƒ¨ƒ¨ƒ - ¨ƒ¨ƒ:¨ƒ¨ƒ - ¨ƒ¨ƒ¨ƒ¨ƒ¨ƒ¨ƒ¨ƒ¨ƒ¨ƒ¨ƒ¨ƒ¨ƒ¨ƒ¨ƒ¨ƒ¨ƒ¨ƒ¨ƒ¨ƒ¨ƒ</strong>


    Within the abode of gods in a distant lower realm...


    <strong>"This is unexpected."</strong>


    A woman''s voice could be heard in a voice that was smooth and beautiful but carried an eerie feeling.


    With tribal golden essories, a ck dress with a gradient of blue, and an exotic-looking beauty, it was no other than the Visayan Goddess of the Underworld, Magwayen.


    No, it was better to say that she was this stagnant world''s Goddess of Death, given that this ce was not Earth.


    The abode of gods in this realm was not too different from the appearance of Kahilwayan on Earth. It might not be wrong to say that Kahilwayan was created as an otherworld extension of this abode.


    Magwayen sat on her throne. A throne made of dark-colored wood, adorned with gems and colorful shells. It resembled the status of Magwayen being the current Goddess of the Underworld and the previous Goddess of the Sea.


    The abode of Gods in this world was currently in a peaceful state. Not because the Gods were in harmony but because many positions of Gods were vacant. It was all thanks to the battle on Earth several thousand years ago, where many Gods perished.


    In that battle, many major Gods from this realm died, with only Magwayen as the returnee. Since this realm was currently in a stagnant state, the positions of the Gods that perished remained vacant, even now.


    Currently, Magwayen sat as the leader of the Gods of this realm, given that she was thest Supreme God left in this realm.


    A Supreme Goddess in a stagnant world... It was no surprise Magwayen was bored.


    It was until her connection to Earth was established once again.


    Magwayen rested her right elbow on the armrest of her throne and supported her cheek with her right hand as shefortably sat down. She stared in front of her, watching a mirror suspended in the air. She was not looking at her reflection, however. Instead, the mirror showed a man currently fighting against four powerful artificial beings.


    Of course, the man was no other than Mark, fighting the remaining [Fighter Mechids].


    The Goddess of the Underworld watched the mirror with her eyes filled with interest and a tinge of surprise. It was the first time she was able to watch Mark fight up close. The artifact of the [Tamawos] allowed her to sense the surroundings or use an avatar tomunicate. However, she was never beside Mark during fights, and sensing the surroundings of the artifact never meant that she could see it clearly.


    Then how was it possible that Magwayen could watch Mark right now?


    The reason was no other than the blessing she gave Mark that was now activated.


    While it was true that Magwayen gave that blessing aspensation and support, it also allowed her to monitor the bearer of the blessing. After all, Magwayen was pretty interested in the unique existence known as Mark. Since he was a possible God in the future, along with his wife, it would not hurt to have a strong connection with them.


    Nheless, Magwayen never expected the things that unfolded in front of her.


    The strength of blessings from the Gods varied into three categories. Lower, Middle, and High. Under these categories were countless subtypes. These subtypes were affected by the purpose of the blessing, its attributes, and the God that gave them.


    After passing the [Trial of Regrets], it granted Mark''s group a [Lower Blessing of Protection]. Thus, Magwayen gave Mark a [Lower Blessing of Death''s Aura] topensate for the blessing he lost. It was a blessing that was supposed to empower Mark''s abilities, especially his mes and lightning, both influenced by the [Miasma] he wielded.


    Magwayen chose that blessing to bestow unto Mark due to the fact that while the [Aura of Death] and [Miasma] were powers of different natures, the two would not cause any conflict with each other, unlike the [Lower Blessing of Protection] which counteracted with Mark''s [Miasma].


    In fact, Magwayen wanted to give Mark at least a [Middle Blessing]. However, it was not possible since the blessing was only bestowed through the artifact Mark carried. Without direct contact between the bestower and the receiver, a middle or a high blessing could not be given.


    Besides, it was very likely that Mark would not be able to handle the power of a [High Blessing] with the power of death.


    The power of death was not just for anyone to handle. Even the [Guides] that ferried the souls of the departed to the afterlife were not given such role nilly willy.


    After all, the power of death was rather malevolent in nature. Only those who loved life the most could counteract this nature.


    It was not wrong to say that the grim reapers were the beings that loved the living the most. As such, they could not be controlled by the nature of the power they were given and would dly usher the souls to the afterlife.


    However...


    Mark clearly showed the effects of getting affected by the nature of death despite only receiving a [Lower Blessing]. While the change in the markings on Mark''s body was not surprising for Magwayen, the slight murderous glint in his eyes was unexpected.


    Furthermore, instead of just enhancing Mark''s mes and lightning, the [Aura of Death] that Mark received from the blessing began to integrate into all his abilities.


    It was such a surprise since Magwayen was sure that Mark did not have that muchpatibility with the power of death. The worst thing was that Mark was an [Empath]. His mind could be easily invaded by the emotions and inner intent of others, including the malevolent nature of the power of death.


    Magwayen stared at Mark''s expression. It was a pretty good thing that she was only able to bestow a [Lower Blessing] to Mark. By the looks of it, even just a [Middle Blessing] might end up swallowing Mark''s consciousness.


    While looking at the mirror, a smile crept up on Magwayen''s lips. Mark''s current state and the effects of the blessing unto him were rather unexpected. Nheless, it just made things more interesting in her eyes.


    Would Mark be able to harness the strength given by the blessing, or would he slowly fall prey to its malevolent nature?


    Magwayen wanted to see the results.


    ***


    <strong>Day 253 - 9:15 AM - Mountainous Crater, Municipality of Viga, Province of Catanduanes</strong>


    "Haah... Haah..."


    Mark panted heavily. It was already several minutes after he started fighting the remaining [Fighter Mechids].<sub> </sub>


    In these past few minutes, Mark was able to fight the four [Fighter Mechids] on equal grounds. Unfortunately, he was unable to find a good chance to decrease their number further.


    While Mark managed to kill the bow-wielding [Fighter Mechid] without problems, it was due to the fact that he took them by surprise, and the [Fighter Mechid] was far behind and isted from the other four vanguards.


    After that, Mark fought with the remaining four, fighting them to a tie. It was already a good feat. After all, Mark was currently fighting four [Mechids] that all moved past the sound barrier with almost perfect coordination. If it was other people, they would have died from the start.


    The worst part, Mark''s head started hurting, and he could hear a slight ringing in his ear. It became harder to focus on the battle due to this. It was already a miracle he could fight on equal grounds against the four despite his current condition.


    Mark did gain power, but it seemed that he was beginning to lose control of it.


    <strong>BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!</strong>


    Four simultaneous sonic booms urred as the four [Fighter Mechis] charged at Mark from four directions.


    The purplish glow in Mark''s eyes shed, showing him not only a few seconds into the future but ck four ck hazes moving from four directions. It was the same as before. No matter which attacks from the four [Fighter Mechids], all of them could be fatally dangerous to him.


    Mark''s figure shed with a ck haze. Once more, he evaded the attacks without any problem and tried to immediately counterattack. His goal was to destroy any of the four which showed an opening. After all, despite the almost perfect movements and coordination of the four, it was still far from perfect. Furthermore, there were other factors in the environment that could affect the oue.


    This time, it was the [Fighter Mechid] with the sword and shield.


    Mark appeared behind the target and readily sliced down the scythe in his hands. In this situation, it was clear that the [Figther Mechid] wielding the sword and shield had no way of evading his attack.


    But simr to the previous instances, the issue came not from the target but from the other [Fighter Mechids].


    The dagger-wielding [Fighter Mechid] shed to Mark''s side. The target would not be able to evade Mark''s attack, but if he did continue, the [Fighter Mechid] that appeared beside him would definitely give him a fatal blow.


    Thus, like before, Mark''s body became covered in a ck haze before disintegrating, with him appearing somewhere else to evade the fatal attack.


    Mark was bing more and more annoyed. He could call on Chimetrice for help, and it would be the most efficient and safe move. However, Mark did not want to. It was not a matter of pride. It was just...


    Closing his eyes, Mark sighed. At this moment, the four [Fighter Mechids] took the opportunity and attacked him again from four directions.


    Mark''s eyes immediately opened, evading the four attacks like before. He appeared again in another ce, but this time, he did not try to counterattack but hovered in ce instead.


    A reddish glint appeared in Mark''s eyes.


    That was right. It was not a matter of pride.


    It was just...


    Mark wanted to end these toys with his own hands.


    Due to the nature of the power of death, Mark was clearly not in his perfect state of mind. He was overflowing with bloodlust and was actually on the verge of going berserk. The headache and ringing in his ear were the results of him doing his best to resist the malevolent urge.


    Mark''s current opponent was not only the four [Fighter Mechids] in front of him but also himself. Furthermore, he was far from fully recovering from the battle with Sinogo, and he was far from his perfect state.


    Even so, it was amazing that Mark was able to fight toe to toe with four [Fighter Mechids] despite his current state.


    Mark was sure that this new power overflowing within him was the reason he was on the verge of going mad. This new power was trying to overtake his reasoning.


    And bing berserk right now was not a good thing. The enemy was not just some thugs. They were overpowered robotic beings with an artificial intelligence behind them capable of controlling the four in almost perfect unison.


    Mark''s left hand began to emit a milky white glow. It was at these times that Mark wished that the [Healing Hands] he inherited from his ancestor could affect himself. He really needed some soothing in his current mental state.


    <strong>CLANG!</strong>


    Mark hit his head with his left palm, causing the metallic sound as his gauntlet and helmet shed. His head was hurting too much that he could not feel anything when he hit himself. And, of course, the white glow in his hand did not do anything.


    The four [Fighter Mechids] did not charge at Mark this time. Their artificial intelligence clearly deemed Mark to be doing something it could not fathom and became cautious.


    Mark red at the four enemies. Were they mocking him? Such a nonsensical thought shed in his mind. After all, there was no way these pieces of scrap metal would have any sort of emotions to mock him.


    It was clear that Mark''s mental state was slowly being eroded.


    But at this time, a voice entered Mark''s ear.


    A voiceposed of four different tones.


    It was a voice familiar to Mark.


    Mark opened his mouth, speaking along with the voice at the same time.


    <strong>"Do not let it consume me. Consume it instead. I am not the prey... I am the predator."</strong>


    The malevolent rage in Mark''s eyes intensified. It was as if his entire being was swallowed by the malevolent nature of the power of death.


    At the same time, a ck haze covered Mark''s body as if swallowing him whole.

 Chapter 926 Inner Fear, A Phenomenon Across The Island As Mark Subdued The [Aura Of Death]

    <strong>Day 253 - 9:16 AM - Mountainous Crater, Municipality of Viga, Province of Catanduanes</strong>


    The battle in the northeast area of the crater continued. It was quite a shock, but it seemed that the [Mechids] released the previous day and night exceeded a thousand. Worse, these numbers were the only ones trying to attack the Diwata Iraya''s forces. There were actually more that had already managed to scale the mountainous walls of the crater in other areas. Those that did immediately came to aid the [Mechids] inside against Mark and Chiemetrice.


    Casualties began to emerge among the warriors. It was something expected in a battle of this scale. It was fortunate that the presence of the members of Mark''s group managed to keep the numbers to a minimum.


    Still, even a single casualty among the two hundred plus warriors was arge loss considering they were against more than a thousand [Mechids] already. Thus, for every casualty they got, the remaining warriors had no choice but to put more effort into fighting the [Mechids].


    But at this time...


    Everyone froze and shuddered.


    None of them understood what had happened, and that suddenpse in their concentration could have caused many of them their lives.


    Strangely, however, it was not only the people fighting the [Mechids]. The [Mechids], themselves, froze a bit for some unknown reason.


    Among those affected by the strange phenomenon, Mei was the most perturbed by the situation. She immediately opened her beautiful rainbow-scaled wings and flew up to the mountain peaks while tapping on the ring on her finger, filled with concern.


    Worse, she was not receiving an immediate reply from Mark.


    As Mei reached the peak, her enhanced eyesight helped to see the situation immediately.


    There, Mei saw a ball of gray mist floating in the sky. Others might have hesitations about the situation, but Mei immediately knew that Mark was within that ball.


    The most dangerous part was that Mei could see four reddish blurs constantly attacking the ball of mist. Unexpectedly, it seemed that the attacks of the [Mechids] were passing through the ball of mist and hitting nothing.


    And then, the most unexpected thing happened...


    The [Mechids] around the crater began rerouting. Those fighting the warriors just now also began to retreat, moving to another mountain and bypassing the intruders to the crater.


    There was no doubt that the [Mechids] abandoned the notion of killing the intruders to theirir to deal with the most pressing threat.


    And that threat was most likely no other than Mark.


    Mei began to worry as she raised her weapon. She did not understand what was going on and why Mark was within that ball of gray mist. It was different from [Miasma], which was ck-colored. Furthermore, it was under constant attack from those extremely fast-moving [Mechids]. And now, a swarm of flying [Mechids] of different variants could be seen taking off from different areas of the crater, flying towards Mark.


    It was dangerous to interfere. Mei knew that. However, the situation did not seem favorable to Mark at all, and she had yet to receive any reply from him.


    Mei began to aim, activating her [Bullet Time]. Her eyes narrowed as her vision enhanced. The barely visible red-colored [Mechids] began to slow down in her eyes. Although still fast, she could now see the movements of the four [Mechids] attempting to kill Mark. After adjusting the distance and reading the target''s patterns, she was ready to pull the trigger.


    But then... Mei shuddered once more. Not only her, but the phenomenon actually reached the entirety of the ind of Catanduanes. The weaker people of the ind even fell to their knees as they sumbed to the innate fear that crept up their spines. There were also those who passed out, while the least courageous among them began to wet their pants.


    In the military outpost in San Andres, southmost of the ind, most soldiers lowered their guns as their bodies shivered uncontrobly.


    In the settlement in Codon, the mercenaries shivered. Their pasts, where they fought against death on the battlefields, shed in their minds.


    In the Rebel Settlement in Napo, the rebels shivered as they hugged their own bodies. Being a rebel did not guarantee them a peaceful life, and they were always at wit''s end due to the fear they felt within their bodies.


    Cries of children could be heard from three settlements, with the adults unable to do anything due to the fear they were experiencing.


    That innate fear...


    The fear of death.


    Life had a start and always an end. That end was death. It was an end that no one would be able to escape.


    The phenomenon continued to loom over the ind of Catanduanes. Although the phenomenon did not carry any killing intent, it still made everyone feel death looming over them.


    Mei immediately turned towards the ball of gray mist. She noticed that it actually grew bigger than before.


    At the same time, the [Mechids] began to act even more frantic. Even those [Mechids] fighting against Chimetrice left amidst the battle and turned towards Mark''s direction.


    Diwata Iraya, Morlkil, and Ordulk left their warriors and hurried up the mountain peaks. Their warriors had lost the will to fight due to the phenomenon. On the other hand, the [Mechids] had already left the battle on the northwestern side of the crater.


    The rest of Mark''s group also went to follow Mei. By the looks of it, the effects of the phenomenon were way lesser for the members of Mark''s group. The effects could also be resisted by powerful beings and, most of all, [Mutators], who had strong mental and emotional traits, had no problem resisting the strong effects on them.


    Atop the peak, Mei saw what was happening clearly. The others might have a hard time assessing the situation, but Mei''s eyes allowed her to see it far better.


    Mei could not help but worry even more. She really wanted to help Mark.


    But then... Mei''s ring vibrated in fixed intervals.


    "Don''t."


    Mei read the message sent in morse code.


    After a worrying while, Mark finally responded to Mei''s calls. Mei put her weapon down. She was still worried, but if Mark said so, she would put her trust in him.


    Then, an unexpected guest appeared with a frantic expression.<sub> </sub>


    "What the hell is going on here!!!"


    A girl could be seen appearing in the sky, looking shocked with her multiple eyes opened wide as she saw the ball of gray mist floating within the crater.


    The girl tried to fly towards the ball of mist, disregarding the [Mechids] around. However, she stopped mid-way as her body shivered uncontrobly. She immediately turned around, and her eyes fell on Mei and the others. Without hesitation, she disappeared from her original location and appeared in front of Mei.


    "What is with that?!!!"


    Thirteenth, the [Eye of Excitement] cried out, asking the frantic question to Mei and the others.


    However, none of them were able to answer. It was not only because the people she asked knew nothing at all but because Thirteenth forgot to turn down the godly aura she was emitting. This showed how agitated she was.


    At this moment, the Deity, Diwata Iraya, moved forward. As Deity like her could at least stave off the powerful aura from the [Eye of Excitement].


    "Please, turn down your aura. No one would be able tomunicate in this case."


    Diwata Iraya said with a bit of hidden hostility. The [Diwata] did not have any favorable impression of the [Eyes]. However, this was not the time and ce for settling grudges and stuff.


    Thirteenth finally realized her blunder. Nheless, she did not even turn to Diwata Iraya to respond and just turned down the aura she was emitting. In the end, she still focused on Mei and with the same question.


    "What happened to him?"


    The tone was a bit calmer, but her expression was not that different from before.


    However, the only question that Mei could answer was...


    "We don''t know."


    ***


    Inside the crater, Mark hovered within the ball of gray mist with his eyes closed. Sweat could be seen forming from his forehead from time to time, only to evaporate almost immediately.


    This gray mist was not mist. It was actually the [Aura of Death]. If [Miasma] was pitch ck due to its corrupted and destructive nature, the [Aura of Death] was gray due to its connection with life and souls.


    After all, death would not exist without life, and the colors of the purest souls were shades of white.


    From the voice that echoed within Mark''s head, he needed to swallow the malevolent nature of the [Aura of Death]. However, getting covered with the ball of the [Aura of Death] was clearly the opposite of swallowing it. It was more like he was being swallowed by it from another''s perspective.


    However, Mark was clear that he was not being swallowed by it. In order to swallow the malevolent intent, he needed to let all of it out first. Letting the intent out meant releasing all of the [Aura of Death] from his body.


    At first, one would think that it would not be easy. After all, Mark had just learned that some freak of a Goddess actually gave him something absurd. However, it was not an issue with Mark.


    Mark had [Miasma] always circting within his body, not to mention that his new ability, [Magical Energy Manifestation] gained from the crystal of the Earth Demon, increased his ability to control energies within his body.


    Thus, letting the [Aura of Death] out did not pose that much of a difficult task. Of course, it still required time. There was no way he could let new energy he barely grasped out in one go. It caused the [Aura of Death] surrounding his body to grow bigger and bigger.


    It was a dangerous task. After all, the [Mechids] would surely not just watch while he did his thing. That was why Mark activated his [Shadow Mist Movement] at the same time. It allowed him to escape into a subspace to evade any possible attacks. However, for some reason, he could not sense any iing attack, which bothered him greatly. Unfortunately, he needed to focus and bring this new power fully under his control.


    Unknown to Mark, the [Aura of Death] already created a defense mechanism of its own. After arge amount of the [Aura of Death] was released in one single spot, it created a domain of its own where only the living and the dead could enter.


    And the [Mechids], who were not living beings, could not pass into the domain at all.


    After all the [Aura of Death] was released, the new markings on Mark''s body dimmed in color.


    Mark opened his eyes. He could not see anything but darkness. However, Mark could feel the [Aura of Death] surrounding him. He had the urge to swallow this energy using his [Miasma]. However, Mark had already noticed. This aura and his [Miasma] did not show any rejection against each other while inside his body. In fact, the two coexisted too smoothly that he never noticed the [Aura of Death] inside his body until it was awakened by his [Demon Transformation].


    With this thought, Mark went against using the aura to recover his weakened [Miasma]. If the two energies could coexist, he could make use of both.


    But for that matter, Mark needed to eliminate the malevolent nature of the aura first.


    Mark raised his head, facing the sky. He closed his eyes once more and let the [Aura of Death] enter his body through his forehead. Mark did not know why he was doing it like this, but he instinctually did it. It was as if the voice was helping him and manipting his body to take the right steps.


    The [Aura of Death] entered Mark''s head.


    <strong>"ACK!"</strong>


    It was painful. Mark felt like his head was about to split. Still, he noticed that the malevolent intent and the [Aura of Death] became separated from each other. The intent was left inside his mind while the aura continued to flow back into his body.


    Mark finally understood. It was the benefit of being an [Empath]. He was able to filter the intent, which carried emotions out of the pure aura.


    The process was painful, but it was working.


    With the malevolent intent beginning to lose the power of the [Aura of Death], it would be nothing but emotion without impact or strength to influence his mind. Mark would be able to subdue it in no time, and the aura that flowed back to his body became purer.


    The process continued for a minute or two. As it went on, Mark felt the energy within his body surging wilder than before.


    And this new power began to stimte new changes in Mark''s highly adaptive body.

 Chapter 927 Another Tribulation, One More Trial To Obtain A Power A Mortal Should Not Wield

    <strong>Day 253 - 9:19 AM - Moutainous Crater, Municipality of Viga, Province of Catanduanes</strong>


    Everyone on the northwestern peaks watched their vision darken. It was not because the weather was changing for the worse. The reason was the swarm of [Mechids] that finally returned to the crater. They could see hundreds of [Mechids] swarming from the outer perimeter of the Mountainous Crater, not to mention the flying ones. All these [Mechids] might be the inferiorly built ones, but their numbers were not something to joke about.


    The warriors already had a hard time fighting a portion of these [Mechids]. Facing thisrge number of enemies, while possible to win, would definitely cause arge number of casualties on their side.


    And having casualties more than allowed was not something they wanted. That was why they chose a defensive battle in these mountainous peaks than an offensive one in the first ce.


    They already lost a lot of people in these several months of fighting. Another massive loss among their warriors could spell an end to the vige. They should at least wait for Diwata Iraya to fully recover her lost prowess before they incur such a situation.


    "Shouldn''t we need to help Master fight those?"


    Amihan hovered beside Mei and asked.


    However, thetter shook her head. Mark already told her not to do anything, lest they stir a ho nest they could not win against. It was already fortunate that the [Mechids] decided to ignore them, although it could be a predicament for Mark and Chimetrice.


    It was at these times Mei wished she was stronger to stand beside Mark in this kind of predicament. However, she understood that, while she was stronger way above normal people, her current abilities and skills had their limits. In this kind of situation, the current Amihan would be more of a great help than her. However, since Mark had not called for Amihan, Mei decided not to let the little [Sylph] blindly join the dangerous fray.


    At the side, Thirteenth stared at the situation silently while gritting her teeth. She could only watch on since no one here could exin what was going on. Although it was really not surprising if anyone gained any kind of ability with Earth''s current state. However, Mark getting new powers was not that shocking either, considering Mark had already turned a tribtion into his own strength beforehand. He also had abilities to take away the magical and psychic powers of strong entities he fought and killed.


    Nheless, Mark acquiring the power of death, even just its aura, was something that was not supposed to be possible. At least here on Earth. Even among the Demon species, none of them was able to control the power over death.


    Although death was the end of all living things, it was a natural process. As such, only negative energies left by the death of those with resentment and regrets could form. No other kind of energy would be produced at that time.


    In the current era, the only individuals who governed over the power of death were the [Guides], who managed the souls of the departed.


    Thus, it was impossible to get ahold of the power of death.


    There was only one era where such a thing was possible. It was the lost era converted into legends and myths. The era where the Gods of Death and the Underworld came to Earth along with other Gods from other foreign realms.


    The multiple eyes of Thirteenth squinted in annoyance. Now that she thought about it, there was actually one possibility. The reason why Mark was currently enveloped with the [Aura of Death].


    Magwayen. The Ancient Visayan Goddess of the Underworld. The Goddess who somehow managed to maintain a connection with this world despite the fact that she had already returned to her realm.


    Thirteenth already knew that the members of Mark''s group received a blessing. However, it was a protective one and was only enough to help them not to get killed instantly in unexpected circumstances. It was not much of an issue and was likely received through a trial and not directly given by a foreign God. After all, the energy within the blessing was not pure, weak, and convoluted.


    However, the [Aura of Death] around Mark was different. Not only in level but in terms of purity. Worse, it was getting purer and purer as time passed.


    Everyone began to notice their vision darken once again. But this time, it was in a literal sense. As they all looked at the sky, dark clouds began to gather, and rather eerie-looking lightning strikes could be seen in the sky.


    It was not the first time the people of this ind had seen such a spectacle. Back when the Demons were active on this ind, Lord Seis'' attempt to step into Deityhood resulted in a worse-looking phenomenon where a spiral of Demonic Energy was made.


    As she saw the sky darken, Thirteenth had aplicated expression. It was a sign of a tribtion. Mark already caused three tribtions in the past. They had a hard time pointing out the first, but the second happened when Mark surpassed the limit of amon [Empath] while he was in New Jersey. Thetest one was when Mark decided to take the power of the previous tribtion into his body which also warranted a trial from the world itself.


    Now, Mark was clearly going to another tribtion.


    Thirteenth sighed as she turned her head towards the ball made of the [Aura of Death].


    A blessing, even from a foreign God, would not necessarily trigger a tribtion. A blessing could not be controlled, after all, and more or less just an enhancement, even if it was something that carried the power of death.


    But Mark...


    His existence was all kinds of wrong.


    Mark''s body could handle [Miasma] as his own. He was also an [Empath] that surpassed the limit of what anyone could have. While unexpected, even the not-so-smart Thirteenth understood. It should be no surprise now that his body turned his blessing into something he could control.


    It was probably something that Magwayen did not expect either when she gave that blessing.


    At this time, the ball of mist began to shrink. It meant that Mark was already in the process of taking this power into his own.


    The surroundings rumbled [Aura of Death] slowly shrunk. Strangely, the fear that everyone had felt until now vanished. The disappearance of that fear clearly showed that Mark was slowly getting his new power under his control.


    <strong>RUMBLE! CRACKLE!</strong>


    Thunder could be deafeningly heard while lightning with a deep shade of purple crackled in the sky.


    Those who stood witness to this unfathomable event watched in silence.


    The [Mechids] continued to attack the ball of mist to no avail. In fact, they attacked in a way that could not be described as anything else but frantic. It seemed that despite being machines, they understood the severity of the situation for their kind.


    As the attacks of the four remaining [Fighter Mechids] left no effect, the other [Mechids] joined the attack.


    The spectators could only cover their eyes as bright rays ofsers shot towards the ball of mist from all the [Mechids] capable of firing one.


    However, as the brightsers dissipated, the ball of mist did not show any sign of being disturbed.


    Mei sighed in relief. She could still feel Mark from inside that ball of mist. Nheless, she began to worry. The mist might be protecting Mark from the attacks. But as the mist shrunk further and further, it would soon reveal Mark, exposing him to the attacks of hundreds, possibly thousands, of [Mechids] aiming all over the crater.


    From below the crater, Chimetrice mowed down as many [Mechids] as he could. Since most of the enemies were now concentrating their attacks on Mark, Chimetrice had an easier time destroying them. Unfortunately, the number was just massive. Even he needed a lot of effort if he was to destroy every single one of these annoying pieces of moving metal scrap. And Chimetrice definitely did not have enough time to destroy all the [Mechids] before Mark emerged from the ball of mist.


    Still, Chimetrice gazed at the sky. This was the second time he had seen a tribtion form, and it was on the same person. Furthermore, it was to give a trial to a being that somehow grasped the power of death. Life sure was filled with surprises.


    Sure enough, the ball of mist shrunk to the point that those who watched were getting nervous. Mei wanted to help, but Mark insisted on making them stand by through the ring.


    And then, the ball of mist became small enough that something popped out of it.<sub> </sub>


    As the [Mechids] continued to try to attack the ball of mist, that thing that popped out of it was hit immediately.


    <strong>CLANG!</strong>


    The spear-wielding [Fighter Mechid] managed to get a hit, but its spear was actually repelled.


    Mei and the others stared in surprise and confusion.


    "An egg?"


    Amihan voiced out her unsure thought.


    Now hovering in the sky was something of an ovoid shape. That was why Amihan thought of an egg the first time she saw it.


    However, it was toorge for an egg. It stood about four meters from the tip to the base. It had a pitch ck color and seemed to have a flesh-like texture.


    Seeing that something came out of the mist and the spear-wielding [Fighter Mechid] was repelled, the army of [Mechids] fired another volley ofsers.


    This time, thesesers were sure to hit something.


    But then, the space trembled.


    A pir of purplish lightning shot from the sky, swallowing the "egg" whole.


    The tribtion began.


    With the pir of lightning enveloping the "egg," all thesers were rendered useless. Furthermore, the energy from the pir knocked everything within its radius away.


    Like meteors, the four remaining [Fighter Mechids] close to the "egg" crashed toward different areas of the crater. The impact of the crash of the four [Fighter Mechids] was too strong that several weak tremors could be felt even from the opposite side of the crater.


    The pir caused the space to tremble, also knocking all flying [Mechids] from the sky and damaging many [Mechids] below.


    Everyone covered their ears and strained their eyes. The roar of merciless thunder and the brightness of the powerful lightning began to hurt their senses.


    The pir was several times stronger than the previous ones. Furthermore, rather than a sh, it was more like a pir of lightning poured from the sky.


    "Gege..."


    Mei was extremely nervous now. She tried to watch the situation without turning away, but the scene was too much for her sensitive eyes. If she forced herself, it would not be a surprise if she permanently injured her eyes.


    As such, Mark told Mei that he was fine. Mei''s ring repeatedly vibrated as her beloved reassured her of his situation.


    Then, from within the pir of purple lightning that struck the "egg," ck mist, mes, and lightning began to spread. As if consuming the purple lightning, the ck anomalies grew.


    Seeing that, Chimetrice nodded. Mark was clearly taking advantage of the tribtion to restore the [Miasma] he had lost before. Unfortunately, the energy from the tribtion was a bit of a pure kind of energy. It was not as pure as holy or divine energy, and that was why Mark would be able to absorb it. However, despite how strong the tribtion was, it would not restore Mark''s [Miasma] to full recovery.


    Even so, it was a huge leap for Mark in restoring his [Miasma].


    The pir of lightning finally vanished after who knows how long. It numbed everyone''s sense of time, and it felt like an eternity.


    When the pir of purple lightning vanished, the ck anomalies began retreating back to the "egg."


    With the stolen senses brought back, Mei and the others immediately turned their heads to see the "egg."


    It was still there, floating in the sky. Even after being hit by that powerful lightning, it seemed undisturbed.


    Then, it finally showed movement.


    One after another, a strip of the "egg''s" fleshy shell began to peel off.


    Six times. The shell peeled off six times.


    It was when everyone realized that it was not a shell. Those were six wings, each spanning around two and a half to three meters in length. The wings were toorge it each of them could cover an average human''s body when folded.


    Those six wings were attached to a humanoid figure. It was Mark, of course. There seemed to be no change in his stature. However, he was now half-naked, with most of his armor seemingly broken for some reason.


    Mark''s current half-naked state allowed everyone to see the markings that now spread out all over his arms. At first, it looked like the markings formed mes around his arms. However, it did not feel like mes as the ends of the markings seemed to fade like mist.


    It also seemed that his pitch-ck hair now had a grayish hue, joining the reddish highlights that it had.


    "Hah..."


    Mark breathed out as he finally opened his eyes. His eyes were all ck, except for his pupils, which glowed the same as before.


    He then stretched his back, falling his gigantic wings once. The wings that turned ethereal before gained a physical form once more, but with different shapes and aura. As he did his stretching, the wings swiftly shrunk to their previous size.


    Then, everyone realized and became confused.


    There were few changes in Mark''s body, and they could not feel anything from him at all.


    But Thirteenth stared at Mark with wide eyes.


    It was that thing that was strange. They could not feel anything from Mark. Even her, an [Eye], could not feel anything.

 Chapter 976 An Earnest Request, A Display Of Loyalty Far More Valuable Than Ones Life

    Day 320 - 12:34 PM - Temporary House, ck Lotus Compound, Kachidoki, Chuo City, Tokyo


    Lunchtime came fast when everyone was ying games on their phones together. And it was when Mako woulde to ask Mark''s group if they would like to have lunch.


    Normally, Mako would only need to give what they had in the kitchen. That was the case whenever they needed to take care of the needs of their guests. It was the apocalypse. There was no time to be luxurious or picky.


    However, Mark''s group became far more than just important than mere guests in the few days of their stay. Thus, the ck Lotus could not treat them like other guests they had in the past. Of course, this treatment was not for all good things. Although Mark had been quite helpful, especially in financial stuff, Ren had yet to fully trust them. Thus, Ren also assigned "Guards" to protect Mark''s group from the shadows. While they really would protect them, it was also their mission to make sure that Mark''s group would not do anything that would harm the Reimed City.


    And as the assigned manager, Mako also had the same duties as the "Guards" aside from making sure Mark''s group wasfortable during their stay.


    However, it seemed that Mako was deliberately not doing some of her duties.


    What duty?


    It was to report everything that Mako witnessed while guiding and following Mark''s group around the ce.


    Then, how did Mark and the girls know that Mako was not doing her duty?


    It was due to the fact that even though a whole day had already passed, Ren had yet to appear in front of them to inquire Mark about his skills to create the so-called "Artifacts." Mako knew what Artifacts were. There was no way that her Master, Ren, would not.


    Yet, not a shadow of the busy Ren, or even Tadashi, was seen by Mark''s group in the past twenty-four hours.


    It only meant one thing.


    Mako, who was the only member of the ck Lotus present during Mark''s conversation with Yasuo, did not report that crucial information to the leader of her group.


    But why? That was the question.


    And this afternoon, aside from serving lunch for Mark''s group, Mako had another agenda.


    Mako seemed to hesitate to ask at the start. But her uneasiness did not escape Mark, who asked what she wanted before she could gather the courage she needed.


    Although Mako was surprised by Mark, it gave her the courage to speak up. But, of course, since her intention had something to do with it, her eyes repeatedly nced at the two unknown objects inside the room.


    "I had something to request."


    Mako said, taking an antique-looking box out of her pocket.


    The box was just the size of a fist. But while the box looked interesting and valuable, the more important thing was inside.


    "Yesterday... Your talk with Yasuo-ojii-san. You have knowledge of ancient artifacts, correct?" Mako continued. "I... I wonder if you can fix this."


    "Can I look at it first?"


    Mark said, kind of interested. After all, it was clear what the content of the antique box was. It was an old artifact. Mark had seen a few ancient manmade artifacts like the broken golem, the [Mini Cube], and even the [Shooting Moon de]. While Ignis was also considered a [Magical Artifact] as a sentient sword, he was more of a naturally urring one.


    Mako hesitantly handed the box to Mark. She might be the one asking the request, but to her, the content of the box was far more valuable than her life. Still, it was a gamble in the first ce. The knowledge about the creation of artifacts was lost thousands of years ago. And now, Mako met Mark. There was a chance to fix her priceless treasure.


    The box was pretty light, as Mark weighted it on his hand. He was about to flip the box open, but it would not budge.


    "Press the four indentions at the upper corners of the front and back of the box at the same time."


    Mako said to Mark.


    Mark did as instructed, using his thumb and index finger on both hands to press on the indentions. And pop, the box opened slowly with a few gear-like clicking sounds.


    Everyone in the room stopped ying games and curiously looked at the item in Mark''s hands.


    The box contained a silver-colored circr pendant. It was a pretty thick one, being around a centimeter thick. It was around five centimeters in radius, and its side was adorned with small colorful jewels. And at its front and back were indentions and carvings that did not make sense aside from looking mystical and elegant. The unique part was the front, where the center had the biggest indention. It was clear that something was affixed on that indent, but it was gone now.


    However, it did not look very Japanese. By design, this pendant was more of a western origin, making Mark, and Otaku, a bit confused.


    One would not think much about the carvings if one saw them aside from feeling that it was an antique masterpiece.


    However, Mark could confirm. These carvings were [Magic Circuits] turned into a jewelry design.


    "Can I take it out?"


    Mark asked Mako, to which she nodded.


    After getting Mako''s permission, which was really not necessary, Mark closely examined the so-called broken artifact.


    Mark was right. The [Magic Circuits] were used as the pendant''s design. And he was sure that the circuits were undamaged. However, no trace of [Magical Energy] remained within the pendant. It was no different from a piece of regr expensive jewelry in this state.


    There was one more thing. Mark was unfamiliar with the [Magic Circuits] carved into the pendant. It was the first time he had seen such circuits, pretty much like how he was unfamiliar with the circuits in the ancient blueprint that Yasuo had shown Mark yesterday.


    The [Magic Circuits] that Mark was familiar with were what he called [Mechanical Magic Circuits]. It was obvious with the name as it was the kind of [Magic Circuits] used in the creation of the golems and what made the [Mini Cube] function. And it was the only kind of [Magic Circuits] that Mark had the opportunity to study properly.<novelnext></novelnext>


    Aside from the [Mechanical Magic Circuits], Mark also managed to get some of what he called [Enchantment Magic Circuits]. It was the kind of [Magic Circuits] present within the [Shooting Moon de] and became the basis of some of Mark''s newly created weapons. Some parts of the [Mini Cube] also contained these circuits, especially being used to convert [Magical Energy] into a power source.


    In fact, Mark suspected that the [Magic Circuits] in Yasuo''s broken blueprint contained old [Enchantment Magic Circuits] since the ones in the blueprint were identical to some of the ones he knew.


    But this pendant... Mark waspletely in the dark.


    "What''s the function of this artifact?"


    Mark asked Mako. Although he was also curious as to where Mako got it, he was not senseless to ask for such private information immediately.


    However, Mako shook her head slightly.


    "I don''t know the exact function," Mako replied. "But it was a life-saving artifact. Without it, I should have died several years ago."


    Then, while avoiding some parts she could not disclose, Mako shared a bit of her story while exining the origin of the artifact.


    Apparently, Mako was an orphan. Not only her but the core members of the ck Lotus and the most loyal ones were the same. All of them were taken under by their Grandmaster when they had nowhere to go. And that Grandmaster was Ren''s grandfather, Mitsui Yoshikage. And this was where the loyalty of the ck Lotus originated towards the person designated as their master.


    These orphans were trained through the arts of fighting within the shadows. They were the protectors and loyal retainers of the Mitsui Family that went by the name [Kuroishikaku], which literally meant ck Squares. They were also known as the Shadow Troops.


    Right now, it was clear that their master was Ren, as opposed to the supposed line of session. After all, Ren''s father was still alive and kicking, and he was supposed to be the next in line to be the master of the Shadow Troops.


    Were these pieces of information safe to share? Well, it was not if not for the fact that the world had changed. While the name [Kuroishikaku] was still unknown, people already knew about the Shadow Troops, or what was now called the ck Lotus.


    The artifact was given to Mako by the Grandmaster. At that time, it gave a lovely luster that would make people feel that it was alive. It was a treasure far more valuable than her life. That was why she kept it in her body the whole time.


    But in one mission, Mako made a misstep. The enemies managed to surround and kill her. Thest thing she remembered at that time was the enemiesughing at her before leaving to catch herpanions.


    However, Mako woke up after an unknown amount of time. Her clothes were stained with her own blood, and the hole in her clothes above her chest signified the knife that stabbed her heart.


    But Mako was alive. She, who supposedly died, was the only survivor of that event.


    It was alreadyte when Mako noticed the artifact she carried had lost its luster, with the main gemstone at its center missing. That was when she realized that the artifact had saved her life. The artifact, since then, had be nothing but a piece of broken jewelry.


    Mako had been looking for a way to restore the artifact to its former luster. It was not because she wanted to reuse it for herself.


    "I want to give it to Ojousama," Mako spoke her reason. "Ever since she became our master, her life had always been in danger."


    As expected, it was a political issue within their family.


    Since Ren''s father was the current head of the n, it was no surprise that he became the next master of the [Kuroishikaku]. However, not to mention the current n head, the new master, was not even the first child.


    Mitsui Ren, who was the third child and the first daughter, was designated as the master of the [Kuroishikaku] by the Grandmaster before his deathbed.


    It sparked issues within the family, especially the fact that when Ren was designated as the [Kuroishikaku''s] master, she had already cut her ties with the family and was working as an independent Psychologist.


    And since then, Ren''s life had always been in danger, and the [Kuroishikaku] protected her.


    Now, the threat to Ren''s life was rising. She became the leader of ck Lotus after the apocalypse began and was raking up aplishments that did not include her family. It would not be a surprise if, any day now, Ren would face a deadly situation.


    As such, when Mako learned that Mark had knowledge about artifacts, she decided to take the gamble. He was her only possible lead in restoring the artifact.


    It might just be once. But the restored artifact would definitely save someone from sudden death.


    And here, Mako dered.


    "I''m not asking to repair it for free. I know how artifacts are invaluable. If the artifact was restored, I''m willing to give everything I have, including myself."


    Mako''s deration kind of surprised Mark and Emika since the two were the only ones who could properly understand her.


    "That''s surprising. You''re showing loyalty to Ren, but you''re acting otherwise."


    Mark replied.


    That was right. Mako intended to save Ren, but she had not disclosed everything that happened yesterday in Yasuo''s workshop and was willing to leave her master''s side in exchange for the restored artifact.


    "I know," Mako desperately smiled. "But my loyalty would not matter if Ojousama was dead, isn''t it?"


    One would say that a loyal warrior would follow their master to their death.


    But it was bull to some people.


    Because to them, loyalty would not even be worth a stain of crap if the master they were loyal to died before their eyes without being able to do anything to prevent it.

 Chapter 977 A Millionaire, The Enormous Income In Only One Day

    Day 320 - 1:03 PM - Temporary House, ck Lotus Compound, Kachidoki, Chuo City, Tokyo


    Half an hour after Mako entered the temporary house, she finally went out to fetch the group''s order for lunch. However, she tightly clutched a sheathed dagger with both hands while cautiously looking around with a hint of hesitation on her face.


    Inside the temporary house, the members of Mark''s group discussed what had just happened. After all, only Mark and Emika could understand the entirety of the conversation, although Spera could also make out some details.


    As the group talked, the antique box could be seen in front of Mark while the silver-colored pendant remained in his hands.


    "So, you had just scammed her... That dagger is just a broken prototype you used before."


    Spera asked Mark, remembering the situation moments earlier.


    "Scam? Not really," Mark denied the usation with a shrug. "Something is only a scam if the other party thinks they are losing out on the situation. I already fixed that dagger. It''s a bit weaker than our current weapons, though. Still, people would think it''s an artifact considering its functions. Besides, I''ve been honest with her."


    Spera''s stare at Mark intensified. The first lines of his reply were something only a scammer would say. She knew since she encountered a good number of those lowlives while working under the [Auraboros].


    Nheless, it was true that Mark was honest for the most part of the conversation.


    After Mako exined the circumstances between her and the pendant, Mark could only have one reply. He was not sure whether he could fix the artifact or not.


    If [Magic Circuits] and [Magical Artifact Creation] were college courses, there was no need to mention being a graduate. Mark was barely even a freshman in this regard. He did not know much and had no idea if he could even discover how the pendant functioned.


    That reply surely made Mako quite disappointed. However, given that Mako had been genuinely nice to his group so far, he would not deceive her.


    And from there, Mark gave her a suggestion.


    While Mark was unsure of being able to fix the pendant, there was still the possibility that he could if he had the time to study it. He asked to leave the artifact in his hands for a few days.


    Of course, while that might be a good suggestion, and Mako had no other choices, she was still hesitant to leave her treasure in the hands of someone she had yet to trust wholeheartedly.


    That was when Mark put the pendant back into its box before standing up and going to the back of the room where their bags were. And while disguising it as if he was taking something out from the bags, Mark took out the dagger Spera mentioned from his ring.


    Mark then disyed what the dagger could do, showing the glowing particle edge and dding the de with mes and high-voltage electricity. Compared to their current weapons, it was weaker. Its power source was also different, causing the weakness. Nheless, it was working by gathering magical energy from the air and storing it inside a rechargeable core within its hilt.


    The most probable reason most of the popce could not recognize and use [Magical Artifacts] was that they had no ability to use [Magical Energy]. It was due to these magical items requiring magical input from the user to disy their might.


    But Mark''s creations were in the category that anyone could use as long as they had the knowledge to use them.


    The dagger was Mark''s prototype creation and the original basis of their current weapons. However, in the eyes of Mako, it was another invaluable treasure.


    And there, Mark exchanged the broken pendant with the prototype dagger for a few days. It lessened Mako''s hesitation in leaving the broken artifact in Mark''s hands. Still, while she finally agreed, she had some reluctance. It was not surprising. While the dagger was working, the broken pendant had more sentimental value to her.


    Even so, Mako agreed to Mark''s suggestion. And that brought them back to the current discussion after Mako had left with the dagger tightly in her hands.


    "That''s still a scam, you know?"


    Spera argued.


    "What?" Mark shrugged. "Did you get scammed before or something to be reacting like that?"


    Spera froze and pouted. She got caught with her past experiences. She got definitely got scammed several times when she was still working under the [Auraboros].


    Mako returned a few minutester, bringing the lunch of their choice. It made the girls feel a bit relieved that they could eat a different kind of food for lunch.


    It was rice, tempura, and stir-fried veggies. Without a doubt, it was an expensive meal in the apocalypse. After all, the prices of meat and veggies hade to aplete turnaround in the apocalypse, where fewer vegetables and fruits could be seen, and more meat was avable in the market.


    The same could be said for shrimps that were now asrge as an adult''s wrist. It was rare to get shrimps nowadays, and the ones they were eating must have been cultivated within the Reimed City and sold at unbelievable prices.


    But given the ck Lotus'' ie the day before due to Mark and his group, they were entitled to such avish meal.


    And here, the girls learned something new about Mark.


    Mark could eat shrimp, but he was not really fond of the taste. It was not like he was allergic to it. It was just the taste. While he tried to hide it, it was noticeable when he ate more veggies than the deliciously fried and coated shrimp.


    Well, it did not really matter much. Everyone had likes and dislikes when it came to food. It was just unexpected to learn about Mark''s food preferences now.


    After Mako returned once again to collect the empty dishes, the group returned to their original n for today. It was to y games all day and avoid the impatient eyes waiting outside the ck Lotus Compound.


    ***


    Day 320 - 6:22 PM - Leader''s Office, ck Lotus Compound, Kachidoki, Chuo City, Tokyo


    Early in the evening of the same day, Mark was called and brought to Ren''s office once more.


    Mark finally met Ren and Tadashi after more than a day had passed since the [Mutated Giant Ho] attack.


    And after the greetings, a ck-colored card and what seemed to be a bank book were presented in front of Mark.


    "That''s a VIP Card, and that''s its Transaction Book," Ren exined. "It contained the earnings for the corpses of the hos as well as the earnings at the auction."


    Mark picked up the two items and opened the Transaction Book. It was no different from a Bank Book. What he immediately noticed was the transactions recorded in the book. It recorded two times where an amount was deposited before a portion was withdrawn.


    And Mark noticed what was going on, and it was Ren''s sincerity.


    It seemed that Ren deposited the whole amount to the VIP ount first before withdrawing the share they were supposed to get making everything recorded properly through the Transaction Book.<novelnext></novelnext>


    Here, Ren congratted Mark on something he would not expect in his lifetime.


    "Congrattions on bing a millionaire."


    Ren''s smile went unnoticed by Mark, however. He was fixated on the amount recorded in the Transaction Book.


    In the Transaction Book, the remaining amount was exactly two million credits. By the looks of it, Ren reduced their share a little and just took the extra amount to make the bnce exactly as that. It was Ren''s loss, but she was already fine with the share they managed to get without much effort.


    Given that a single credit''s value was higher than Yen, two million credits would be worth way more than being just a regr millionaire in Japan. Of course, having just a few million Yen in Japan would not make you a rich person. Still, that was a lot of money for Mark, who was financially struggling before the apocalypse.


    Mark frowned a bit. He was pretty skeptical.


    The first transaction on the card should be the payment for the ho corpses. However, it did not even reach a third of the second transaction.


    It meant that...


    "The auctionted this much?"


    Mark asked. It was just chocte and cigarettes. How in the world would it reach millions of credits?


    Looking at Mark''s genuine reaction, Ren understood what was going on. After she left her family, she also had times she had to financially struggle before her grandfather passed away. Mark''s reaction was clearly showing how he was unable to understand the life of the rich.


    "It looks like you''re looking down on how much the rich could waste money." Ren snickered. "Rich people would not hesitate to throw away millions on anything with the "Luxury" tag on it."


    Ren was also rich once. She understood the lifestyle of the rich firsthand.


    And in the Reimed City, the status of the rich and poor sses remained. In fact, the difference even grew further between the two sses.


    It was not that different from the ruined Bay City or Corregidor Ind in the Philippines, where the rich were privileged. Even the old Infanta Settlement did the same. It was just that the scale in the Reimed City here in Japan was far bigger.


    "We could have earned far bigger if there''s expensive liquor and stuff."


    Ren added.


    "Something like this one?"


    Mark suddenly spoke, holding a bottle of Domaine Leroy Musigny Grand Cru out of nowhere.


    No, it was not out of nowhere. Ren and Tadashi had just seen Mark open a hole in space in a split second and take out a bottle of the most expensive wine in the world.


    "I knew it..."


    Ren was speechless as she stared at Mark. He was not blinded by money or anything. It was just that he did not care showing it to Ren and Tadashi that he had a [Storage Artifact].


    In the first ce, it was absurd not to suspect as such. Mark''s group barely had anything when Ren picked them up and brought them here. Yet, he brought a bag of luxury items out of nowhere, not to mention where his group got their weapons and equipment the other day.


    While some idiots thought that Yasuo managed to create new products and swarmed his workshop, Ren and Tadashi were not the same. They had known Yasuo since they were young. There was no way they would not know if he had such kind of products in store.


    Still, confirming such a mystery firsthand was quite a surprise.


    This situation made Ren and Tadashi''s minds create more misconceptions about Mark''s origin. After all, [Storage Artifacts] was too rare and expensive that such items would not even appear in the international underground market. And if one appeared, it would not be a surprise if the price could buy a small country.


    After all, even a [Storage Artifact] capable of storing just a bag-size of items would already have a lot of use, whether the usage was for good or evil. It could even change the tide of war if used properly.


    Yet Mark was here, disying such an item without care.


    Noticing the stare of the two, Mark was nonchnt. It did not really matter since the two already strongly suspected it. Besides, he was not afraid that it would get stolen. Anyone that had the idea would immediately get caught by him. Besides, the [Spatial Rings] was not just some regr artifacts. The [Spatial Stones] came from a God of Creation, and only Mark and Mei could use them.


    Mark only chose to hide the rings because things would be troublesome if used in public. And here, it would not matter. Ren and Tadashi were pretty good people.


    And ignoring the situation, Mark spoke.


    "Can you also sell this?"


    And Ren could only sigh.


    "I want to, but it''s better not to... At least not now. We already caused quite amotion. Creating another one would make people even more suspicious. And such a rare and expensive item would definitely not only cause a small one."


    "Well, true," Mark agreed. "We can''t be greedy."


    And then, Mark pushed the bottle of wine toward Ren.


    "You can have it then."


    Mark said, causing Ren to be flustered.


    "W-what? You''re joking, right?"


    Of course, it was right to be flustered. Even before the apocalypse, the price of this wine was sky-high for poor people.


    "No?" Mark shrugged. "I have more bottles of that. Giving out one doesn''t really matter. And... I really don''t like alcohol."


    Mark looked at the bottle of wine. The glint in his eyes showed how he could not understand what people liked about it.

 Chapter 930 Another Week Past, Seven Days After The Anti-Climatic Battle In The Central Catanduanes

    <strong>Day 260 - 3:22 PM - Codon Settlement Ruins, Barangay Codon, Municipality of San Andres, Province of Catanduanes</strong>


    One week had passed after themotion in the central mountains of the ind of Catanduanes.


    Codon Settlement was no more.


    The Military Settlement of Codon, thriving a few months ago under the leadership of Major General Bautista, steadily fell after he was assassinated. It was taken into the hands of the dirty politicians, but it did not take long before it was reduced to ruins. The leadership was passed once more into the hands of the betrayed mercenaries and private soldiers, turning the settlement into a ce ruled by tyranny. And now, finally, it ceased to exist.


    All that was left of the Codon Military Settlement of the past was the empty ruins near the western coast. All one could see were ruins of its destroyed walls, abandoned tents and huts, and pieces of corpses of both humans and [Infected].


    No dead remains were left intact, and most were bones that were cracked and destroyed to pieces.


    And even now, while no living was left within the ruins of Codon Settlement, humanoid silhouettes could be seen wandering about. Some looked human, while many looked-like something else.


    The [Mutated Infected] that came ashore from the sea.


    Codon Settlement did not fall in one day, however.


    ? Themotion during the night the [Mechids] attacked Codon Settlement had already attracted the attention of many things in the surrounding areas. And the worst example was the [Infected].


    Due to the increased attacks of the [Infected], the repairs and reinforcement of the walls were dyed even more.


    And when after that phenomenon, now dubbed as [Fear Phenomenon] happened, things went downhill even more for Codon Settlement. That phenomenon was followed by the explosion of light witnessed from miles away. Those two events paired seemed to have attracted the [Infected] to the ind.


    The [Infected] that came ashore passing by, bing attracted to the presence of humans, started attacking the settlements.


    Both the Napo Settlement northwest and the Military Outpost south also faced the same situation.


    Since the province was an ind surrounded by beaches, there were many ces where the [Infected] from the waters coulde ashore. Those that came ashore near the settlements immediately set their sights on those ces and attacked.


    Casualties were inevitable. However, the north and south settlements were still managing to hold on with their current defenses.


    It was not the same for Codon, of course.


    They onlysted for another three days before their weak walls finally fell. Chaos immediately ensued among the remaining survivors living in Codon Settlement.


    Knowing it was a lost cause, the mercenaries and most private soldiers decided to leave the settlement. They abandoned the people living there without any hesitation. Most of the food and water within the settlement was taken by them. Worse, these people left while the survivors watched in dismay, not paying attention to objections and pleas. Not wanting any baggage, they did not hesitate to shoot those who tried to follow them without permission.


    A few poor people fell dead from these heartless people''s guns. Only then did those left behind stop in fear, watching the bastards escape into the forest.


    Some private soldiers and those military soldiers that stayed after the copse of the previous reign stayed behind. They tried to help the nonbatants as much as possible and evacuate the ce in a hurry.


    Unfortunately, the number of those that stayed to help was too small to protect everyone. Worse, due to the mercenaries and private soldiers abandoning the defense line, the [Infected] met little to no resistance before they started to destroy what remained of the settlement.


    Many more people died. Only a small number managed to leave Codon Settlement amidst its destruction.


    And right now, those poor people clearly took a gamble with their lives on the line. Making their way through the dangerous forests and hills, trying to reach the Military Outpost in the south was not easy. Not to mention allmunications were cut off after the world changed. There was no way for them to know if the Military Outpost still existed. However, they had no choice.


    After all, their only choices were either to gamble or to die.


    ***


    "That''s a big one."


    Mark murmured as he watched the ruins of Codon Settlement several days after it was abandoned.


    Within the ruins, a [Infected] slug-like creature was moving about, seemingly trying to devour the remaining pieces of corpses scattered in the area. Its fat body was about three meters thick, having a length of around five meters. Its clear pink color did not make it look cute, as anyone could see everything it had eaten while slowly getting digested inside its acidic stomach.


    It was a rather gross sight.


    Many [Infected] of various shapes, sizes, and mutation stages wandered about within the ruins of Codon Settlement. It was not surprising since the strong stench of blood still permeated the area. Unless it rained sometime soon, it would take a few more days before the stench would vanish on its own. It did not mean that the rotting smell would vanish along with it, however.


    Mark shrugged. He had no ties to the people of this settlement. There was not much he could care about the people that left this ce.


    Well, that was how it was supposed to be.


    However, the mercenaries and private soldiers who abandoned Codon Settlement were trying to make their way north. With their status, background, and involvement with what happened in Codon Settlement, there was no way they would be weed in the Military Outpost in the south. Thus, they only had one ce they could try to go.


    The Napo Settlement, where the members of the NPA settled. Of course, it was also a gamble to them, like those people trying to reach the Military Outpost. However, they knew the circumstances of the Napo Settlement before the world changed. As such, there was a huge possibility that Napo Settlement still stood tall, unlike Codon.<sub> </sub>


    Mark stared towards the north.


    Back before the outbreak, it would only take a few hours to travel through the ind from Codon to Napo. However, with how the world changed, it became hard to traverse the ind, especially since people could only travel on foot. They also needed to travel cautiously, which slowed them down significantly. Most of all, the dangers along the way would hinder the travel even more. Furthermore, since there were no roads to follow or even otherndmarks, people could only travel near the coast to avoid getting lost. This caused more hostile encounters with the [Infected], the [Evolved Animals], and the remaining [Mechids] on the ind.


    Right now, Mark knew that the mercenaries and private soldiers were still midway through the distance between Codon and Napo. They were currently camping to recuperate the injuries they umted from the previous battles.


    Actually, Mark had been paying attention to that group of people. His family, after all, was staying in Napo Settlement. They already established their status in that ce, ensuring their safety. However, it was different with these armed people. They had already tasted how it was to have authority. There was a huge chance they would ruin the environment of Napo Settlement and scheme things in the dark.


    With those in mind, Mark monitored those people for a few days with the help of a [Yasaw] under Diwata Iraya''smand. It was all while Mark and his group were dealing with the aftermath of the battle a week ago.


    And there was one thing Mark had realized while observing those people.


    The first [Fighter Mechid] Mark fought had the same fighting style as the leader of the mercenaries during the first phase of the fight. Mark now knew who that [Fighter Mechid] copied with that wild style of close-quartersbat.


    And while Mark observed the group, he had yet to decide whether to eliminate them or let them reach Napo. After all, what Mark had in mind were all spections. If he ended up wrong with what he had in mind, it would not hurt to have more workforce for Napo Settlement to have. Furthermore, there were several [Mutators] among the mercenaries. If these people could reign in their greed, they could be great assets.


    Mark put those things in his mind aside as he came out of hiding and approached the ruins of Codon. It was the time for him to deal with the [Infected] in this area.


    During this past week, Mark explored his new powers. He already had some knowledge of his new abilities, especially their limits.


    Mark could only make full use of the [Aura of Death] while transformed as a Demon. It was not surprising, however. A mortal body had restrictions in terms of magic, while a demonic body had fewer. It was not like he could not use it, but it was not cost-efficient.


    Furthermore, like his [Miasma], the [Aura of Death] could not regenerate on its own. It was a different power, unlike [Magical Energy], which would recover over time.


    Moreover, it also had a differencepared to [Miasma]. Mark could use [Miasma], create a wall or attack with it, and then retrieve it back into his body. The [Aura of Death] could not do that. If Mark infused the aura into his attacks, it was used up for good.


    However, there was one way to recover the used-up [Aura of Death]. It was by killing.


    Mark could use the resentment of the dead to "recharge" his blessing. If he killed a living being, he could recover the aura as long as the being had consciousness or sentience. It did not matter whether it was a human or an animal, even a magical creature, as long as it had a certain level of consciousness. Even some intelligent [Infected] worked as an energy resource.


    There was also another way to recharge the [Aura of Death], ording to Magwayen. It was by absorbing the lingering energy of death in ces where many living beings perished.


    For example...


    The current Codon Settlement, or at least its ruins.


    Many people died here a few days ago, and the lingering energy of death was still thick. It was why Mark was here to finally absorb the lingering energy in the surroundings.


    It was rather unfortunate that Mark could only do this right now. After all, if he hade here the day it was abandoned, the lingering energy in the surroundings would definitely be thicker due to the deaths being fresh. However, Mark was busy in many ways after the battle. As such, he only had the time now toe here.


    Mark stared at the [Infected] roaming the ruins. They had yet to notice him at all. It was one of the benefits of the [Blessing of Death''s Aura]. Mark had very little presence now, simr to a dead person. It helped him hide his aura, even his magical energy. As such, if Mark wanted to, barely anyone would be able to notice him as long as they could not see him.


    Being able to hide his presence and aura was extremely helpful for Mark. After all, many beings on Earth right now could detect that he was a Demon despite having the appearance of a below-average-looking human. It was all because of his natural [Demonic Aura].


    Mark approached the ruins close enough. The [Infected] finally saw him. Without hesitation, they charged at him like crazed madmen.


    <strong>SHING!</strong>


    The moment the [Infected] reached a certain distance from him, Mark''s whip-des began moving, beheading the enemies before him.


    Mark sure had grown stronger. In five minutes, he cleared the ruins of all the [Infected] present.


    The giant sea slug took a bit more effort due to it being big and capable of spitting acid. It was the same for the [Mutated Infected], having troublesome abilities at their disposal.


    Even so, they were all killed, leaving bodies lying on the ground all over the ruins.


    With no interference left, Mark closed his eyes and moved the [Aura of Death] inside his body. He began absorbing the lingering energy of death in the surroundings. It was not a pleasant experience since the lingering fear of those that perished was also entering his head. However, absorbing the remaining intent and separating the [Aura of Death] was something he had already experienced.


    It only needed a bit of endurance, effort, and time.


    And while absorbing the energy of death left in the ruins of Codon Settlement, Mark began thinking deeply.


    "Should I let those mercenaries live or not?"


    Mark murmured.

 Chapter 931 A Nighttime Decision, Deciding The Fates Of The Potential Danger

    <strong>Day 260 - 4:27 PM - Codon Ruins, Barangay Codon, Municipality of San Andres, Province of Catanduanes</strong>


    "Ugh..."


    Almost an hour after Mark cleared the ruins of Codon of all the [Infected], he finished absorbing the lingering aura in the surroundings.


    Mark was sitting down during the process. As he finished and stood up, he staggered and almost fell. After shaking his head a little and taking a deep breath, Mark stabilized himself.


    Absorbing the lingering aura of death in the surroundings was an unpleasant process. The raw aura was filled with the emotions of those who died in this ce. The stronger the emotion, the more unpleasant it was. And in this ce, the negative emotions were rather intense.


    The feeling of betrayal after being abandoned by the mercenaries...


    The fear of death...


    The fear of turning into an [Infected]...


    The fear and pain as their bodies were gnawed and torn apart before their very eyes...


    And the sorrow as they watched their remaining loved ones die before they did...


    All of these emotions empowered the lingering aura.


    "Pu!"


    Mark spat out a mouthful of saliva. He felt a bit disgusted.


    The raw aura was definitely different from the [Aura of Death] he received from Magwayen''s blessing.


    If the [Aura of Death] from the blessing was a spicy drink due to the malevolent intent, the raw aura was abination of unsuitable random ingredients put into a blender and mixed without a thought.


    And Mark had to filter all those emotions inside his head in a condensed form. If he was not a high-level [Empath], this process of absorbing the lingering aura of death could make him lose his sanity. Even though Mark could endure it, it still left him with an annoying feeling that something was unpleasantly stuck in his throat, and he could not cough it out.


    "Does it have to be this unpleasant?"


    Mark suddenly spoke. If someone saw him, it was like he was talking to air for no reason.


    However, a reply entered Mark''s ears. No, it was more like the reply was transmitted into his head.


    Since Magwayen directly gave her blessing to Mark, she could watch and speak to him without needing the artifact. She could also appear using her avatar around Mark. However, the time she could appear was far more limited, and it would use the energy from the blessing she gave Mark. It was something she could not do too often unless Mark had the artifact with him.


    "There is nothing we can do about that," Magwayen answered Mark''s question. "The aura of the dead contains their final sentiments and emotions before death. Since the people in that ce died in brutal ways, that kind of aura should be expected. Well, if you still have the same blessing I gave, you don''t have to undergo that process. It''s partly your fault that it changed. I''ll say that the change is a rather good one, as no other beings could remove the intent from the aura and refine it as you did. You only have to suffer during the process of absorbing the aura while the others that wield simr powers would be driven mad carrying the burdens of the dead."


    Magwayen rambled a bit. What she said was reasonable, however.


    The [Lower Blessing of Death''s Aura] was just an enhancement and did not grant full control of the [Aura of Death]. But Mark, without his control, changed it and acquired control of the aura, turning the blessing into a higher leveled one.


    From the exnation Magwayen told Mark these previous days, the original blessing she gave would not consume much of its power since it would only augment Mark''s already existing abilities. Once Mark killed his enemies, the used-up aura should gradually recover. Considering Mark''s lifestyle during the apocalypse, recovering the used-up aura should not be a problem.


    However, as Mark gained control of the [Aura of Death], he needed more quantity for it to properly work, or, at least, to Mark''s satisfaction. Furthermore, it gave him the option to grow the blessing far stronger than it was supposed to be.


    Absorbing the lingering aura of the dead was not a pleasant experience, but it sure was worth the trouble.


    Mark shrugged as he swallowed the disgusting feeling. He was done with what he needed to do in this ce. There was no need to linger around any longer.


    Contemting what to do next, Mark turned his head towards the southeast. It was the direction where the Military Outpost should be. He could not help but wonder if the survivors of Codon Settlement had already reached the outpost.


    Initially, the location of Codon Settlement was not that far from the Military Outpost. However, the distance grew further because of the [Fusion of Dimensions], and the way now became hilly and mountainous. Since the survivors also tried to stay away from the coast due to the [Infected]ing ashore, they had no choice but to climb mountains and traverse the forest-coverednd. They also had no food and water since the mercenaries took all the supplies before leaving. Thus, the survivors had to procure food and water along the way. It was no surprise that it was already several days, and they had yet to reach the Military Outpost.


    But from what Mark saw yesterday, those people should arrive there today.


    Mark also noticed the people he interacted with when they arrived on this ind the second time. The old woman was fine and was being helped by the people around her. He also found the kid. Unfortunately, it seemed that the kid''s grandfather was no longer with his grandchild since the kid was now being taken care of by the old woman and her team.


    Those two old people were nice kind of people. Mark had said it before. He might not be a good person, but he did admire good, selfless people. One cared for his grandchild despite all the odds. And now, that child was being taken care of by the old woman when most people in the world in its current state would probably just leave an unrted child and leave.


    Mark opened his wings and began to fly. Since he was still undecided about what he should do about the mercenaries, he chose to do one thing.


    ***


    <strong>Day 260 - 8:21 PM - Napo Settlement, Barangay Napo, Municipality of Pandan, Province of Catanduanes</strong>


    The rebel settlement. It was already past the curfew.


    Michael and Marian snuck out of their rooms. The two met together and stealthily made their way to the training area.


    The two both found letters inside their rooms. It was something unexpected since no one should be able to bring those letters in without anyone knowing. The letters told them to go to the training area at night. Normally, the two would ignore such words, especially if it was from a suspicious letter. However, as the letter mentioned other things, they knew who the sender was.


    Michael and Marian arrived at the training area. As usual, it was dark here at this time of the night. After all, no lights were put in the many areas like the training area to conserve gas and other resources needed to light up ces. And due to this and the curfew, no one was present in the training area at night.


    This time, there was someone, however.


    The sender of the letter that Michael and Marian received.


    Their eldest sibling, Mark.<sub> </sub>


    "Have you two gotten used to your abilities yet?"


    Mark voiced out the moment the two arrived.


    There were no greetings or introductions. Their family was not used to those kinds of stuff. Even "thank yous" and "sorries" were barely heard within their family. Mark and his siblings were raised in this kind of environment. They were used to it.


    Mark never liked it, however.


    "Yeah, kind of."


    Marian replied while Michael nodded in agreement.


    It was just a bit more than a week since Mark gave them the crystals. Although their bodies knew how to use their abilities by instinct, the real application of those new abilities still needed some time and experience.


    "Why did you call us?" Michael asked. "It''s kinda hard to sneak around nowadays, and we will get punished if we get caught."


    The curfew in Napo Settlement became more strict since the [Fear Phenomenon] happened. It was called differently here, however. Nheless, it made everyone paranoid about what happened. Not to mention the sudden increase in the appearance of the [Infected] on the northern coast near the settlement. There was also the explosion of light a week ago. As such, stricter measures were implemented.


    "Don''t worry, I''ll be fast."


    Mark said as he began talking about the mercenaries and private soldiers who were making their way through the ind from the ruined Codon Settlement.


    As Mark finished the rough exnation, his two siblings began to contemte in understanding.


    "So that''s what Mom was talking about."


    Michael voiced out, and Marian exined to Mark.


    Apparently, their mother found from her fortune-telling that a group of armed people might arrive about two to three days from now on from Codon Settlement. It actually caused some discussion among the higher-ups of the settlement. After all, some soldiers from Codon made their way here and settled. Those soldiers were likely chased away by the same people, after all.


    The cards also showed them that the Codon Settlement was no more, which caused more agitation among the former soldiers. Unfortunately, there was nothing they could do.


    Thus, the discussion was centered on what they should do about the arriving group of people.


    And although not yet finalized, the higher-ups were more inclined to not ept them.


    "Why?"


    Mark asked.


    "Because of Mom," Michael answered. "Well, even without her cards, only idiots won''t see the potential danger of taking in people that usurped an entire settlement."


    "You said they abandoned the people in Codon and ran away while it was being attacked, right?" Marian repeated some details Mark mentioned. "Then that''s more of a reason not to ept them."


    Mark listened to the two. He smiled and nodded. Although he was undecided about the situation, he was more inclined to eliminate the potential danger. It was just that the strength of the mercenaries, along with their experience on the battlefield, was rather hard to pass up.


    But if the Napo Settlement was already preparing to decline the mercenaries, it was better for Mark to just eliminate them on his own. Not only would it not consume more time, but it would also prevent unnecessary fighting outside the gates of Napo Settlement.


    "I''ll go eliminate them, then."


    Mark decided with a nonchnt attitude.


    Michael and Marian stared at Mark. However, the two just shrugged it off. Considering how the world was, it would be more surprising if one was still hesitant to kill, especially against people that could endanger their lives.


    "Is that all?"


    Marian asked while looking around. It was better not to spend too much time here, or they might get caught.


    "Onest thing."


    Mark said as he took out three metal boxes about the size of a pencil case. He handed one box each to his siblings first.


    Of course, Michael and Marian immediately opened the boxes in their hands. It was dark, but they should still be able to see what the boxes contained under the moonlight.


    The two were surprised as the boxes contained four sets of crystals neatly ced on cloth lining inside. Four [Empty Physical Crystals] and four [Filled Physical Crystals] inside each case. Furthermore, the filled crystals werebeled with what mutation they contained.


    "Find people you trust and give them one set," Mark said. "You two can form your teams and protect yourselves. I''ll be leaving soon, so I don''t know when I''ll be back here again."


    The two realized what Mark wanted and nodded. It was when Mark gave thest box to Marian.


    This time, the box was smaller than the two and only contained three sets of crystals.


    "These ones are for Dad, Mom, and Addy," Mark said while his siblings read the samebels under the crystals. "Just don''t give those to them immediately, especially Dad''s and Addy''s. You two know Dad''s personality, and Addy''s a hyperactive kid. There''s no good in giving those crystals to those two immediately."


    Michael and Marian nodded to Mark''s words, understanding what he meant.


    Since Mark was finished with his business here, he soon departed. After all, his siblings also could not spend a long time here chatting with him.


    Besides, Mark had to finish his other business now that he had finally decided.

 Chapter 932 The Harvester Of Lives, A Slaughter In The Middle Of The Forest

    <strong>Day 260 - 9:26 PM - Barangay Toytoy, Municipality of Caramoran, Province of Catanduanes</strong>


    On the southern side of an unnamed river in Barangay Toytoy, several campfires illuminated the night, surrounded by arge number of armed people.


    These people were no other than the group of mercenaries and private soldiers that escaped Codon and abandoned everyone else, taking all the supplies they could carry with them.


    The armed group did not have problems with food and water. However, it did not mean that their journey went smoothly. In fact, carryingrge amounts of food and clean water slowed them down a whole lot as they traversed the mountainous terrain.


    Although vehicles were now impossible to have, they actually had a few carts to carry their supplies when they escaped Codon Settlement. Those carts helped them escape Codon quickly as it faced destruction. However, carts could only be used in t terrain. Climbing up unpaved mountains with those carts was impossible. It would have been fine if they could travel through the coast since the coastal areas were much tter than the mountains. Unfortunately, that was also currently the most dangerous area. Not only the [Infected] wereing ashore from the waters surrounding the ind, but enemies coulde from both the sea and the mountains, possibly trapping them in the worst scenarios.


    Picking the safer choice, they abandoned the carts. It may slow them down along the way carrying all the supplies. However, it was much safer than traveling through the coastal area.


    Unfortunately, another problem came to light long after they entered the mountains.


    The private soldiers weregging behind the mercenaries.


    It was not just because it was mostly the private soldiers who carried the supplies. It was more because they struggled to make their way up the steep mountains.


    The issue was theck of experience. It was not like the private soldierscked training. However, theycked on-field experience, unlike the mercenaries who fought deadly battles in different terrains. It was not surprising. All they had to do was train within the training facilities the employer had provided. Furthermore, private armies were illegal, and training them in the open would make it easier for them to bepromised by the public. It was not like mercenaries were legal either in the Philippines, but they were trained in foreign countries where it was more or less allowed or easier to conceal.


    The injuries they incurred from every battle dragged down their speed even more. They needed to make more stops to tend to the injured, and those incapacitated added to the baggage. There were even a few times they had to leave a dyingrade behind or end their lives directly. It was something that could not be helped as they had no way of tending to those fatally injured while on this dangerous journey.


    With those problems, apanied by the dangerous encounters along the way, it was no surprise that they had yet to reach their destination after several days.


    "Rest properly! We''ll leave early in the morning!"


    Parris said to the rest of the group after finishing theircking dinner.


    They did not bring any tents, prioritizing food and water. As such, they could only sleep in makeshift shelters made using things they could gather around the campsite. It was not the mostfortable way to rest, but definitely better than nothing.


    As for dinner, they had to spend their food supply sparingly. It was still far from running out, but it would notst long. They had to reach their destination before they ran out of supplies. It was a good thing there was a river along the way where they could replenish their water stock. Of course, as mercenaries, they knew that just taking some water and drinking it up straight was not a good idea. As such, they prepared a few pots where the nighttime lookouts could boil water while guarding the campsite against enemies.


    Ulric, the leader of the group, sat on arge rock by the riverside. He was looking at the sky while scribbling on a piece of paper. He was using the stars to determine the direction they should take tomorrow.


    These people were mercenaries with survival knowledge. It was hard for these people to get lost even while roaming inside unfamiliar mountains and forests. The only question was how long it would take to reach their destination.


    It was unfortunate. None of these people knew that this would be theirst night.


    ***


    After leaving the Napo Settlement, Mark flew south. He did not know the exact location of the mercenaries right now and would need to search a bit. He could ask the [Yasaws] for help. However, those little magical creatures were preupied with guarding the coasts around the ind to prevent highly mutated [Infected] from sneaking into the ind. It was better to leave them to their job and not disturb them.


    Besides, Mark did not have to put some effort into finding his targets.


    Normally, it would be better to put out campfires during the night to avoid being detected by enemies. However, the mercenaries did not think that was necessary this time. Light did not matter much for [Evolved Animals] and [Infected]. Although putting out the fire would make them less detectable, it would impair the mercenaries and private soldiers more due to theck of sight during these darker nights. Not to mention they needed to boil water for consumption.


    Furthermore, none of the mercenaries would have thought that an enemy woulde at this point, an enemy that was neither an [Evolved Animal] nor an [Infected].


    Mark looked down from the sky. The light in the middle of a mountainous forest shined brightly. He knew that he had found his targets.


    Without a shred of emotion, while looking down on the campsite below him. Mark clenched his hand tightly. Per his own rule, he would not wantonlyy his hands on the innocents. However, these mercenaries and private soldiers were never deemed innocent. Not by the people of Codon and definitely not by their own actions.


    And considering the potential danger and disharmony these people could bring into the now-stable Napo Settlement, it was better to eliminate them.


    Mark wondered why he hesitated initially. Maybe he just did not want to waste any possible resource. After all, despite their conduct, some of these mercenaries were skilled in many ways. Ways that regr people could notpare to, even some so-called professionally trained soldiers, feltcking.


    "Hah."


    Mark shrugged as he shook off the useless thoughts inside his head. He was overthinking again. Mark then looked down, deciding to finish it fast so that he could go home. They still have a few important activities to aplish to prepare something for the day after tomorrow.


    <strong>POOF!</strong>


    Mark turned into a surge of mist as he dove down from the sky.


    Hidden as ck mist in the dark and his body that contained the [Aura of Death]. Mark was confident in doing a wless assassination.


    "Should I go for the leader or the small fries first?"


    Mark mulled a little as he appeared behind a tree south of the campsite.


    In the end, Mark decided to eliminate the sleeping private soldiers and mercenaries firsthand because they posed little to no resistance.


    Mark took out the [Wind Maniption Mental Crystal] and the [Photokinesis Mental Crystal]. Both crystals would help hide his movements.


    While the idea of just bombarding his targets with [Miasmic mes] and [Miasmic Lightning] came into Mark''s mind, he decided against it. Surely, that method was faster. However, it would probably cause more damage to the surroundings, attract more [Infected] due to magical fluctuations, and destroy the loot.


    Since the loss Mark experienced due to the abrupt explosion of the [Mechid Factory], he became more careful in getting returns for his activities.


    After all, these mercenaries and private soldiers did not only have food and water. They also have a good amount of firearms and ammunition. Possibly also explosives. It would be such a waste to let go of such loot.<sub> </sub>


    Mark disappeared, swiftly making his way toward the sleeping targets. Taking out a tanto de made of [Blood Metal], Mark mercilessly slit the throats of his targets.


    Some of the sleeping mercenaries let out a groan as their throat was slit open. However, the [Wind Maniption Mental Crystal] prevented the sounds from being heard by the others.


    But as Mark slit his fifteenth target...


    "ENEMY ATTACK!"


    The leader of the mercenaries, Ulric, roared out loud.


    Without hesitation, the mercenary leader transformed into arge wolfman.


    The mercenaries and private soldiers immediately scrambled into battle stance as they gathered in one ce. They were surely trained and practiced this formation a lot.


    However, it was also when Ulric and the rest noticed that they were missing many of their people. Fifteen people did not respond to the leader''s roar. They could see the bodies of the fifteen mercenaries and soldiers, but none of them were woken up by Ulric''s roar.


    Worse, none of them could see any enemy within the surroundings.


    It was when Ulric raised his ws and pounced in a certain direction. That surprised everyone as Ulric shed his wolfish ws toward an empty location.


    <strong>CLANG!</strong>


    A loud ng was heard, indicating that Ulric''s ws hit something metallic.


    It was when the mercenaries and private soldiers felt terrified. Even Ulric jumped back as the appearance of the assant came to light.


    A humanoid creature surrounded by a ck haze mist. It was wielding a scythe which clearly was what blocked Ulric''s attack.


    On the other hand, Mark was frowning. He could not fathom how Ulric was able to find him. Mark''s body was not supposed to be sensed by living beings because of the [Aura of Death]. It was unfathomable and made Mark curious. In the end, he had to cover his body with [Miasma] and form the scythe using the [Aura of Death]. It would not hurt to fight Ulric directly to understand what had happened.


    "FIRE!"


    Parris yelled. It was an order to their men while a warning for Ulric to retreat.


    The mercenaries and private soldiers were terrified of the creature they were fighting. However, they did not want to die and fired their guns.


    As Ulric moved out of the way, the gunshots began echoing loudly across the mountainous forest.


    Mark frowned as the bullets whizzed through his body. It was such a waste of ammo.


    At this time, Mark opened his wings. It terrified the targets even more. After all, the bullets did no damage to Mark, and right now, he looked like the harbinger of death to them.


    Mark did not care about the emotions he was detecting from the enemies. He zoomed towards the group, ignoring Ulric. His movements, faster than the targets could react to, caused their minds to freeze.


    By the time the mercenaries realized, the de of the scythe was already centimeters before their necks.


    The scythe was brandished quickly, harvesting the lives of those that faced it.


    After a few deaths, the formation crumbled, and the remaining targets began to run away in fear.


    No one tried to speak or negotiate with Mark. All they saw was not a person but a monster in the night.


    Ulric attacked a few more times to no avail. His attacks only passed through the body of the assant.


    The remaining mercenaries and private soldiers began to scatter in different directions. It would be troublesome since it would need more effort to chase and kill them one by one if they scattered.


    With a slight pause, Mark''s eyes glowed red.


    All the targets froze on the spot.


    Ulric, Parris, and those smarter mercenaries realized something.


    The [Fear Phenomenon] that happened a week ago.


    Ulric cursed their luck. It seemed that they ran into the cause of that unexinable phenomenon. Ulric was not new to this feeling. As a mercenary, he faced and wrestled with death several times. As such, he knew that the [Fear Phenomenon] was not just fear but fear of death.


    "Tsk. AWWWOOOOOOOOO!!!"


    Ulric clicked his tongue and roared. It was not the first time he faced death. Ulric was not afraid of it as much as others. As his body was freed from restraint, he jumped away, leaving everyone, and escaped deep into the forest.


    And Mark was surprised. Ulric managed to escape the effects of his [Emotion Induction] that was enhanced by the [Aura of Death].


    Mark shrugged as he waved his scythe. The mercenary leader had no way of escaping him, not to mention it was easier to chase a single person that escaped.


    In this case, it was better to deal with the other enemies first, as they were already on the verge of a mental breakdown from excessive fear.

 Chapter 981 Uninvited Visitors, The Annoying Consequences Of Fame

    Day 323 - 9:21 AM - Evernight Base, Kachidoki, Chuo City, Tokyo


    After the group moved to their new base, an entire day passed pretty quickly.


    Mark returned to the breakfast table after chasing away people knocking on their door.


    "Those people just won''t stoping."


    Mei said with a frown.


    "Yeah," Mark shrugged. "We overdid it, I guess."


    The effect of the poprity of Mark''s group was much worse than they had thought.


    Yesterday, most of the day was spent cleaning and renovating the new base. And, well... Chasing away uninvited visitors.


    Through their performances and rumors, it seemed that many [Frencer Groups] and private groups had be interested in taking Mark''s group under their wing. And since they were now outside the immediate protection of the ck Lotus Group, many of those interested took the opportunity to approach them.


    And thus, constant knocking sounds were heard from the door of the restaurant throughout the entire day, which continued even now.


    There were quite a variety of these uninvited visitors. There were some who tried sales talk, others were elevating themselves, there were also those who were full of themselves, and, of course, the extremely rude ones.


    The offers also varied in incentives. Their goals also varied.


    Some were interested in Mark''s group as a whole. Some were only interested in Mei and the girls for obvious reasons. There were also those who were interested in the equipment that Mark''s group disyed during the ho attack.


    And as the visitors varied, Mark also had a variety of responses.


    Mark politely declined those who were nicely talking to Mark. It was the same for those with business attitudes but not unreasonable. As for those that were arrogant and full of themselves, Mark was a bit more aggressive in chasing them away. At times, he would close the door in front of their faces.


    And for those unreasonable and extremely rude ones, especially those with malicious and threatening attitudes, Mark did not hesitate at all. He pulled a gun on their faces, causing them to freeze in fear. It seemed that some of them forgot, but with the muzzle of the gun on their faces, they remembered that one of the first things that Mark did upon their arrival was put a gun on the face of the leader of the Blood Lion Troupe. He even fired the gun despite the presence of Okii-san in front of the Bureau.


    Mark showed the rude ones he had no fear and did not care much about the Reimed City''s rules. Continue to pester and threaten them, and the offenders would receive a bullet in their forehead.


    And as if that was not enough, Mark actually fired a few shots at the most annoying ones. Especially those with third-rate viin dialogues when they were clearly running away.


    Mark''s group did not care what the neighbors would think about the situation. After Mark fired those shots, the neighbors began to avoid the restaurant as much as possible. It would be nice if the uninvited visitors did the same.


    And due to Mark''s violent response, it seemed that thendlords received someints. Ren visited the restaurant in the afternoon. While she did not try to stop Mark from violently chasing the rude ones away, she asked Mark not to shoot guns as it was scaring people. She clearly understood the circumstances, but she wanted to also address the worry of the people under her care.


    Unfortunately, it was impossible for Ren to hold back all the groups that wanted to meet Mark''s group. As such, she could only tell Mark to do it in moderation.


    After gunshots were banned for chasing away rude people, Mark decided to use a crossbow instead. The explosive sounds that guns emit were one of the reasons it was scary to people. On the other hand, the crossbow barely makes sounds when fired. Nheless, the lethality was not that different.


    And if the crossbow or a revolver was not scary enough, Mark could pull out a grenade. Not like he was going to use it, but it was far scarier. Fortunately, there was no need to show a grenade so far.


    But for sure, more kinds of rumors about the group named [Evernight] would pop out in the Reimed City because of this.


    "Seriously, I want to go somewhere today, but if this doesn''t stop, I can''t leave."


    Mark said, clearly annoyed by the situation. However, there was no one to me here but himself.


    And then, with a sigh, Mark finished his breakfast and went around the house, trying to find a wide piece of plyboard. Luckily, there was some plyboard among the old stuff in the restaurant they stored in one of the rooms upstairs. It was a bit broken, but it was good enough for what Mark wanted to do.


    Without any hesitation, Mark controlled his blood and wrote a notice on the plywood.


    "We are not interested in joining anyone. We are also not recruiting new members. We are not entertaining uninvited guests. Leave." Spera read what Mark wrote on it. "Will that work?"


    "If not, I''ll end up not using my blood on the next sign."


    Mark answered before hanging the sign in front of the door.


    It was a sign written with blood. It would surely scare people less brave people. But its effectiveness on blockheads, arrogant, and dense people was questionable. In that case, Mark would not hesitate to beat people up, considering there was already a sign on the door.


    And the sign seemed to have worked. In the next hour, not a single knock on the door came, even though some strangers stopped in front of the restaurant and read the sign before leaving.


    But soon enough...


    TOK! TOK!


    A rather heavy knock on the door sounded to Mark''s annoyance.


    And unlike the previous ones, Mark''s eyes seemed to carry killing intent which was noticed by Mei and Spera as he went to answer the door.


    Mark opened the door and stepped out, looking at the bastards outside.


    It was a group of men with rather bulky builds. There were ten of them. Looking at them, Mark immediately noticed their demeanor and the tattoos hidden under their coats.


    Members of the Yakuza. Furthermore, they were not the disciplined kind but the unruly ones.


    Mark looked at his feet. It was the reason why his eyes contained killing intent. Right in front of the door, pieces of scrap wood could be seen. The sign he made... was destroyed by these bastards.


    Without waiting for Mark to talk, the man in front with a white coat and chain ne spoke.


    "Are you the leader here?" The white coat man said in his deep threatening voice. "Follow us. Our boss wants to meet you."


    Mark met the eye of the white coat man.


    "You didn''t read the sign before you destroyed it?"


    "What sign are you talking about? I didn''t see one." The white coat man answered with a sneer. "Just follow us if you don''t want any trouble."


    "No. That''s my answer."


    Mark replied with a re before turning around to go back inside.


    But arge hand grabbed Mark''s right shoulder before he could take a step.


    "Look here," The white coat man said threateningly. "You think we are asking you? This is an order."


    Mark took a deep breath. He was trying to endure it, but he was already fed up.


    Without saying anything else, Mark grabbed the hand on his shoulder.


    And then...


    CRACK!<novelnext></novelnext>


    "AAAAAAHHH!!!"


    A painful cry resonated in the area, making everyone watching the situation shiver.


    The white coat man took a few steps backward before falling on his bottom in the middle of the sidewalk. His right arm twisted in a literal sense. The bones were not only broken. They were crushed with his muscles spun into a spiral. Just a little more twist and his whole right arm would have been torn off.


    "Who said you can touch me?"


    Mark said, his eyes on the verge of turning red.


    "Aniki!"


    The other men cried as they came to the white coat man''s rescue.


    "F*ck! Kill him!"


    The white coat man had lost his reason due to pain and issued an order he was not supposed to. However, his members followed without hesitation, swallowed by the rage after they saw the white coat man with his arm crippled.


    Nine members took out their handguns of different models. And in a few moments, they were ready to fire.


    Most of the people watching in the surroundings began to run away. If a gunfight ensued, they might get caught in it.


    However...


    The wind in the surroundings suddenly picked up. des of wind formed and shed the arms of the members, causing them to drop their weapons.


    These Yakuza members forgot one important thing.


    The very first reason why Mark''s group gathered attention. They had a [Sylph] with them. While these [Wind Elementals] were weak, they still had some capabilities. And to them, making an enemy drop their weapons was quite easy. Their legs were also shed by the wind des, causing them to fall to the ground.


    Without the weapons and with their arms and legs wounded, the situation came to aplete turnaround. However, the Yakuza members had yet to give up. They wanted to avenge the white coat man.


    But Mark, without any shred of fear, stepped forward. He picked up a gun that was dropped in front of him and pointed it at the white coat man.


    "Kill, you said?"


    Mark said with a creepy smile.


    And here, the Yakuza members realized. What they were dealing with here was much worse than a gang member.


    Mark''s killing intent was overflowing. It had really been a while since he disposed of any trash. The bloodlust of the [Deity of Bloodshed] was getting thicker after all this time.


    But as Mark was about to pull the trigger, a noticeable presence walked near them.


    Mark nced at the owner of the presence.


    A man with white clothes and a ck hat. A Shinto Priest.


    The priest then spoke.


    "Please, put the weapons down and stop thismotion."


    Mark, unfazed by the priest''s presence, asked.


    "Are you with these dregs?"


    "Me?" The priest nced at the Yakuza members before turning back to Mark. "Please, don''t associate a priest like me with these individuals. It is just themotion is affecting the poor people, and they had nothing to do with the problems of the people with power."


    "And besides..." The priest continued. "It is not worth it to dirty your hands further with the blood of these individuals. The wounds you inflicted should be enough of a punishment for their offense."


    Mark stared at the priest as he lowered his gun. His bloodlust had yet to dissipate, and he really wanted to at least cripple this group of injured trash. However, it was not the best time to sh with the Temple and its priests. These priests were far more troublesome than this group of Yakuza members.


    But Mark did not want to end it just like that either.


    "Hey, you," Mark called out to the white coat man. "Take off your coat."


    "What are you..."


    The white coat man tried to argue, but the pain from his arm stopped him from talking.


    "Just take off your coat before I really tear off that arm of yours."


    Mark said with his bloodthirsty re.


    The man already realized that if the priest did not appear, he was already dead. He had no choice but toply here. Since his right arm was twisted, he could only ask his members to help him take off his coat.


    But instead of receiving the coat, Markid the coat t on the pavement in front of the injured Yakuza members.


    Mark then ordered.


    "Write what''s written in the sign you dregs destroyed into the coat."


    The confused members could onlyply, but they had one question.


    "What should we write with?"


    And Mark looked at them like idiots before pointing at their wounds.


    Mark was telling them to write with their blood. They were hesitant, but as Mark began raising the gun in his hand again, they could only scramble to do it.


    It was much incoherent since the people who wrote it were injured, but it was readable enough. Mark then picked up a coat with blood written on it and hung it in front of the restaurant door, with wet blood still dripping from the written letters.


    "Scram."


    Mark told Yakuza members to leave, in which they dragged their injured bodies and hurriedly left Mark''s sight.


    The priest watched the scene with interest. But then, without saying another word to him, Mark opened the restaurant door and was about to enter.


    "Wait!"


    The priest called out to Mark.


    However, Mark only pointed at the coat he hung in front of the door and shut it in front of the bbergasted priest.


    Mark had no reason to pick a fight with the Temple, but it did not mean that he was willing to entertain them either.

 Chapter 934 After A Long Time, A Morning Tour Around The Mountain Base

    <strong>Day 261 - 9:11 AM - Mountain Base, Mount Mbito, General Nakar, Province of Quezon</strong>


    The Mountain Base. A human abode in the middle of the mountainousndscape of the northeastern Southern Tagalog Region.


    It was where a select few humans and magical beings lived in the safe confines of the base''s walls.


    Who would have thought that such a safe ce existed within the dangerous mountains of the municipality of General Nakar? Unfortunately, even if they did, it was not like they would be able to traverse the forest-covered mountains. And even if they did manage to reach it, not just anyone would be able to enter and live within it.


    Eight and a half months into the apocalypse.


    About seven months since its construction began.


    The Mountain Base was thriving.


    Its earthen outer walls and ck-colored inner walls stood tall and strong.


    Food from the farms and hunting. Clean water from the underground spring.


    Lighting and electricity that was avable at any time of the day.


    The gigantic centerpiece tree which did not only serve using its otherworldly beauty but also illuminated the night with its red, glowing leaves.


    And most importantly, the strong individuals that kept the safety of everyone living in this ce.


    Compared to most of the remaining human and non-human refuges locations in this country, the Mountain Base was thriving.


    Its establishment did not start in the most positive scenario. A lost [Mutator] in the mountains encountering the rudest and most annoying bunch of survivors chased by an [Evolved Tiger]. Who would think that it was such a start?


    Nheless, the past was already eclipsed by what it became in the present.


    Now, those bunch of survivors was under that lost [Mutator]. Due to the consequences of their actions, mostly their already deadrades, they could not say no to the [Mutator]. However, that was the greatest thing that happened to them ever since the apocalypse started. They were now revered as the people with the highest hierarchy within the base. A position just below the leader, his family, and his direct servants.


    Enough food to fill their stomachs to the brim and a ce safe enough for other people to envy... It would be nice if one could forget everything outside the secure walls of the Mountain Base and live a carefree life.


    If only that was possible.


    However, as the people living in the Mountain Base gazed more and more unto the walls that surrounded them, the more they remembered how dangerous it was beyond the confines of the base. Every time the hunters returned home, sometimes with injuries, they could see what kind of monstrosity they encountered outside.


    And who would forget the horrible experiences they went through way beforeing to this ce? Despite their current life, the frightening past they had still haunted them from time to time. The scenes where their loved ones turned crazy, craving for their flesh. Having blood on their hands, having no choice but to end their own family.


    Those memories were impossible to forget.


    That was why... within the home they now had, they would all live to the fullest.


    It was the greatest foundation that the Mountain Base had for it to thrive.


    ***


    Mark stepped out of the cliff house right after breakfast with a rather positive expression on his face. A meal at home sure did hit differently than one eaten outside.


    It was the next day after they returned. While the others decided to have a good rest, Mark chose to walk around the base to see its current state, especially the changes while they were gone.


    Since it was more or less like walking after a meal, it was fine if Mark did it alone.


    As Mark thought about it, thest time he actually went back to do something here was more than two weeks ago when they transported Sinogo''s remains. Although they had a few short stops afterward, there was really no time to look around or anything. Were two weeks short or long? Depending on the context, it could be both.


    While two weeks was short forrge structures to be built, it was already long for people to change.


    In fact, the people''s change was one of the first things Mark noticed when they returned yesterday.


    Although the people in the base were happy living here, it was still far from making everyone feel content. It was not surprising. After all, even if they managed to settle in, they were still far from getting used to their new life. It was a life far from what they had before the apocalypse, not to mention a life where many of their loved ones did not make it.


    But right now, although the discontent was still there, it was far more suppressed.


    Mark tapped his chin, thinking of the correct analogy.


    Then, it popped into Mark''s mind.


    If the people here were doing their best to make their lives better before, now, it was more like they were doing their best to not let their lives be worse. They had alreadye to terms with the fact that their lives would never return back to what it was before the apocalypse started. What they could do now was to do their best so that this ce would not fall like what happened to the rest of the world.


    With those thoughts in mind, Mark began his tour.


    As usual, everyone that Mark passed by greeted him a good morning. It was their basic form of respect towards Mark, the leader of this ce.


    Mark nodded silently at the people greeting him as he continued on his way.


    First was the central area, where most workshops, facilities, and storage were located. The only exceptions were the Cliff House and the other houses that belonged to those under Mark''s directmand.


    There were barely any changes within the central area of the base. It was not surprising since the central area was where everything in this ce started. Most of the things here were in the final stages before they expanded. The final addition to the central area was actually Chiyo, the Night Everred Pure Spirit Tree, if the artificialke around its roots was not counted. Well, the artificialke was already nned before Chiyo was nted since Mark wanted it to be more or less a leisure area. As such, Chiyo was still thest addition to the central area.<sub> </sub>


    The only changes in the central area were extensions of facilities like the workshop and warehouse. The warehouse extension was already nned since they needed to stock as many supplies and materials as they could gather. These materials were things harvested from the forest, like wood, but most of the items stored there were usable parts of hunted [Evolved Animals]. For example, bones, leather, fangs, and other kinds of stuff which could possibly be used for creating things.


    It was such an RPG-like thing, taking body parts of animals to make equipment and such. However, it was far more logical to make use of such things since they were far better than your everyday items back before the apocalypse began.


    While walking, Mark passed by therge warehouse. It wasrge not because it had to store a lot of things. Instead, it was actually the temporary housing for Aimee before she was moved to the stables area whererger creatures like Char, the [Mutator Dragon], could restfortably. Now that it was emptied, it became just another warehouse, although most of its interior was unused due to its size and because most of the supplies were inside Chiyo''s subspace for safekeeping.


    "Oh, good morning."


    A surprised beautiful voice entered Mark''s ear.


    Mark nodded in reply as he gazed upon the beautiful-bodied, multi-eyed woman.


    The woman was no other than Aimee, who regained her human form. Her body figure sure was something that would make many women envious if not for the fact that her current face was kind of terrifying.


    Mark did not meet her by ident. He actually detected her and decided to check on her since she was nearby.


    Aimee was sitting near the school house where the children of the base were currently receiving sses of subjects one needed to study in school. She was watching the children through the opened window, being careful not to get caught and scare them.


    Mark shrugged. Aimee''s actions showed her longing and regret as she was supposed to have a child, but the apocalypse messed up everything for her. His eyes fell on Aimee''sp, where therge stone-like eggy while being carefully embraced by her.


    By the looks of it, the egg was still in dormancy, if it was actually alive. Even now, Mark could not detect any consciousness within that egg.


    Mark exchanged a few words with Aimee and continued on his way. His next stop was the artificialke.


    There, Mark found Milliel, the [Mermaid]. The half-girl, half-fish was already used to humans. However, she was still showing her timid side when less familiar people were around.


    Greeting Milliel took an even shorter time than greeting Aimee. There was nothing much to say between the two, after all. However, Milliel seemed a bit lonely. It was not surprising. The two people closest to her, Karlene and na, should still be in Infanta Settlement.


    With those thoughts in mind, Mark decided to check on Infanta Settlement on another day. Besides, he also needed to retrieve Ignis, which he sent to protect Karlene and na.


    While walking, Mark stopped a bit as someone joined him in his walk.


    It was the golden dog, Laps.


    Other settlements definitely would not let animals roam freely within their premises. [Evolved Animals] were dangerous, after all. In the worst case, the animal would turn into dinner once spotted alone.


    In the Mountain Base, some animals were free to roam around. Laps, for example.


    The golden-furred dog was smart enough not to cause any trouble to the residents. In fact, she would even help with tasks she could do, like pulling carts or giving children somepany.


    Laps was the mascot of the base in one way or another. As the first animal under Mark''smand, she did have the right to be one.


    Together with Laps, Mark left the central area of the Mountain Base.


    Mark headed to the north and climbed the ck wall, now called the inner wall.


    The northern area outside the inner wall was the farm fields.


    Among every area of the Mountain Base, the northern fields should be the ones to have the most changes.


    While looking at the fields before his eyes, Mark''s expression lightened.


    The fields were now mostly covered with different shades of green, along with a few other colors.


    There was no doubt. The crops were growing nicely.


    It was such a good thing that these crops grew without problems. Even Mark was initially afraid that the ck dust left by the Great One would affect the soil even after the ck dust was removed. Fortunately, it did not seem to have lingering effects on the soil. Or even if it did, it was minimal.


    Mark looked around. Some fields already had fully grown crops. Some even began to bear fruits already. It looked like the first harvests woulde soon.


    After patting Laps'' head, Mark headed down the wall and walked towards the farm fields.


    The farmers tending the fields hurriedly greeted Mark as he passed by. Simr to what he did with the other people, Mark responded with a nod as he continued to his destination.


    It was the northeast area where instead of farm fields, an enclosed area with a barn and a coop was located.


    Mark remembered the pair of [Evolved Cows] that Char caught in the past. Those two should be in the barn, with the female providing milk to the base. A single cow would not be able to supply everyone with milk. Still, everyone could drink fresh milk from time to time. A luxury that even military settlements did not have.


    Passing by the barn, Mark headed to the coop with a pond. Mark could not help but snicker when the startled grebe saw him.


    It was the grebe that Mark caught when he came to in this mountains. It had already fully adapted to living like livestock. And now, it even had children with the pair the others managed to catch.


    With a fearful quack, the grebe ran into the coop as if running on water. It clearly remembered Mark and was extremely afraid of him.


    Mark shook his head with a smile and left with Laps.


    From the north to the northeast, next was the eastern area. Mark decided to follow the outer walls and continue his tour of the outer areas of the Mountain Base.

 Chapter 935 Continuing The Tour, The Eastern And Southern Outer Areas

    <strong>Day 261 - 9:42 AM - Eastern Outer Area, Mountain Base, Mount Mbito, General Nakar, Province of Quezon</strong>


    Leaving the farming areas at the northern side of the base, Mark made his way toward the outer wall.


    Mark observed the four-meter-tall wall made mostly ofpact mountain rocks supported by sturdy [Blood Metal] supports and foundations. It was such an impossible-looking structure since the rock walls appeared to be one giant stone that naturally epassed the whole base. Even its base extended far underground. If a person that knew nothing about the rock wall saw it for the first time, they might even think that this wall should have predated the existence of the Mountain Base, even though the truth was the exact opposite.


    Although it was impossible using normal means, creating this outer wall was possible with magic and psychic powers.


    These rock walls were made by Louis Morgan. An office worker from New Jersey and the [Inheritor] of the [Geomancy Psycast]. With his ability to control any form of stone, mostly sedimentary rocks, the outer wall that surrounded the base was created. It was initially a rough wall at the start. However, while Mark was busy with things outside, Louis Morgan diligently trained his recovering ability, refining the outer walls. He made the walls not only look better but also studier. Along with Ed constructing the [Blood Metal] foundations and supports, the outer walls became not any less sturdy than the inner walls, mostly made with [Blood Metal].


    Together with Laps, Mark climbed up the stone stairs leading up to the top of the outer walls while responding to the greetings of people he passed by with a silent nod.


    The outer wall was around three meters wide, allowing two to three people atop the walls to walk side by side. It was actually a bit wider than the inner wall, just around two meters wide.


    Mark looked around. One would find it odd since only a few guards could be seen on lookout duty atop the walls. Instead, there were metal posts with bells hanging on them located above the outer wall in fixed intervals. There was also a wall-mounted arrow and needle shooters for each guardpost.


    Since there was an obviousck of human power to guard the settlement, this system was implemented. If a lookout spotted a threat, the lookout was to ring the bell and use the wall-mounted weapons to neutralize or dy the aforementioned threat.


    Besides, there was no need for extremely tight security along the walls.


    Mark looked outside, over the railings. The outer walls were not the first line of defense, after all.


    Further outside was a wall of vines maintained by the [Dryad] under Mark''smand. Then, the forest outside the walls of vines was under the [Illusion Magic] of the [Tikbngs].


    That severalyers of defense ensured that the Mountain Base would face as minimal threat as possible. Of course, it was not a perfect defense. The [Illusion Magic] might fool the dangerous animals and the [Infected] but not the [Mechids]. As such, [Mechids] could still threaten the base. Luckily, their appearance was rare in these parts of the mountains of General Nakar.


    Still, they could not let their guard down. Thest time that a [Mechid] managed to pass through these defenses undetected, it almost caused an ident.


    While looking outside the outer walls, Mark noticed a group of people emerging from the walls of vines.


    It was the hunting group, seemingly returning from a sessful hunt. It was normal for the hunting group to stay outside to hunt untilte afternoon. After all, hunting animals in the current times was never easy. Furthermore, many factors made it even harder to hunt animals too. The hunting group returning this early only meant two things. It was either it was a sessful hunt or something bad had happened during hunting. Of course, it was a sessful hunt this time as the hunters were carrying a crocodile-sized lizard tied on a sturdy tree trunk carried by four people. Since crocodiles were not endemic to these mountains, this spiny game was clearly an [Evolved Lizard].


    Before the apocalypse, most people would wince at the thought of eating lizards. Now? Who cared? It tasted like chicken.


    Mark watched the hunting group led by two handsome men with milky-white skin. One had tribal tattoos on his body, while the younger man had clear-looking skin. Of course, those two were the father and son, Pefile and Edzel. It looked like the rtionship between the two was getting better as the days passed. Now, Pefile led the hunting group as someone with high experience in hunting dangerous animals and traversing mountainous forests.


    Beside Edzel was Pearl, who looked better and happier as she walked beside her lover. Unfortunately, Pearl always walked a little behind Edzel, showing how she still mulled over her past actions, albeit subconsciously.


    Apanying the three were eight more people. Three men and five women.


    Two of the women were Nicole and Hallie, past co-workers of Mark from the animation studio he worked before. These two were now among the so-called founders of the Mountain Base.


    The next two women were the sisters Mark brought back after the troubles in Infanta Settlement and the now destroyed Death Valley Settlement, Audrey and Tullia. The two sure were living a better life here than where they came from.


    The remaining four were actually Mark''s friends since high school. Ron and his live-in partner, Nikky, together with the siblings Arvie and Jason. These friends all came with Mark from Bay City when he returned here with Mei and the others and were now among the well-known people in the base.


    Hunting animals or foraging was one of the best methods to find food nowadays. Even so, it was dangerous just to eat anything, nt or animal, in this mutagenic apocalypse. Some harmless species could have mutated into poisonous ones and it was hard to determine. But that issue was not a problem in the mountain base for various reasons.


    Animals could detect which food was edible. Since they had animals within the base that could intelligentlymunicate with humans, they could determine which food was harmless to eat.


    Another was currently in Nicole''s hands. The [Bloodchild] named Ruby. Ruby could detect and absorb poison due to her mutation. That was why she was brought along on every hunting trip to determine which animal could be turned into food and what was not.


    Mark let out a smile as he saw the group return safely from hunting before he turned around to continue his tour of the base.


    Walking over the outer walls, Mark could see the outer area of the base and outside the walls. There was really nothing much to see outside. It was all just a wide vacant area in the immediate vicinity around the base before the magical walls and illusion-covered forest. However, the inside was different.<sub> </sub>


    As Mark approached the southern areas of the base, more and more structures could be seen.


    The southern outer area was the residential area. It was where the living houses and other facilities were located. It was also where the security was the strongestpared to the other areas of the walls. Before, most of the living quarters were within the inner walls. After all, it was the only wall the base had before. Now, since the creation of the outer wall, the residential area was moved south instead.


    It was actually better if the residential area was within the inner walls for safety reasons. However, it would be impossible for everyone to get their own homes since the space within the inner walls was limited. It was a viable option to let everyone live within the temporary quarters inside the inner areas of the base. However, not everyone would want that. Having a house that they could call their own was something that would raise the morale and living expectations of people. Not to mention it was better for families to live separately.


    The Mountain Base was more of a home than a refugee camp. There was no need to clump everyone in a single ufortable structure.


    <strong>BUZZ!!!</strong>


    A buzzing sound entered Mark''s ears. With a shrug, Mark suddenly jumped back. Arge ck silhouette passed by his front before crashing onto the rampart with a loud metallic ng.


    "Seriously, someone will get killed by you one day."


    Mark said in exasperation while looking at the thing that crashed in front of him.


    A giant beetle. It was the [Mutator Coconut Rhinoceros Beetle], Fein, that joined them when Mark escaped from the strange [Infected] around his house. It was the giant beetle that was afraid of everything except humans.


    "CREAK!"


    Fein faced Mark, creaking itsints.


    This giant beetle was smart. It knew that Mark should be able to catch its charge and did so. But Mark evaded, causing it to crash to the ground. It was not like it was attacking Mark, but ramming at people was one way it showed its affection. It was pretty much controlled, and no injuries shoulde to those that caught it properly. Well, that same action was also how it showed hate, so it was kind of hard to differentiate. After all, Rhinoceros Beetles fought with their strong thoracic horns. Most people would decide to evade after seeing Fein charge at them like that.


    Shaking his head, Mark lowered his body while roughly patting the giant beetle''s head. The horns Fein had sure were something deadly if used as a weapon since it was hard as iron. However, it was impossible with the cowardly Fein. Although it could serve as support, it was impossible for it to serve as a front liner. Talk about a waste of abilities with its iron-like body.


    "RAF!"


    Laps barked, seemingly scolding the beetle for its dangerous antics.


    "It''s fine."


    Mark said, stopping the golden dog.


    Fein was one of the three pets closest to Mark, together with Laps and Char. Since Mark was gone for a while, it was not surprising for Fein and Laps to spend time with him during his return.


    With this, Mark gained anotherpanion on his tour of the base. It would have been nicer if Mark could put Fein on his shoulder. However, it was quite impossible to put somethingrger than his torso on his shoulder.


    Mark continued his walk along the outer wall while also inspecting the security of the southern area.


    The outer wall here had more guards and wall-mounted weapons. All these weapons were his designs. [Blood Metal Needle Launchers] and [Blood Metal Arrow Shooters]. As the names suggested, these wall-mounted weapons shoot finger-sized needle projectiles and arrows. Different from the regr shoot-and-reload weapons like bows and ballista, these weapons fire projectiles consecutively using a rotating mechanism.


    These weapons were made possible only because of the [Blood Children]. Mark could do it himself using his blood, but the [Blood Children] opened more uses to the [Blood Metal].


    Mark approached a storage rack near one of the arrow shooters. There were different kinds of [Blood Metal Arrows] stored there made by different [Blood Children]. A batch had a green poisonous tip, another batch was regr arrows, and there was also a batch of arrows that emitted light.


    The regr and poisonous arrows were self-exnatory. The strange ones were the light-emitting arrows. However, its use was actually ingenious. Nighttime battles were a problem. Lighting was limited outside the walls, and not everyone had evolved or mutated eyes that allowed them to see at night. Night-vision equipment was also impossible to procure for everyone. These were the times when light-emitting arrows came in handy.


    Enemies that get struck by these arrows would reveal their position if they did not die. It was easy to see the light-emitting arrows moving at night, indicating a living enemy. Fortunately, they really haven''t used these arrows so far in a defensive battle. After all, only [Mechids] would be able to pass through the illusion-covered forest and most [Mechids] glow at night through their lens and other equipment.


    It was a good thing that they did not have the opportunity to use the light-emitting arrows. It meant that the base was still safe. If some time happened that they needed to use it, it just meant that the illusion made by the [Tikbngs] was no longer a viable way to defend the base.

 Chapter 936 End Of Tour, Late Morning And After Lunch

    <strong>Day 261 - 10:15 AM - Southwest Area, Outer Wall, Mountain Base, Mount Mbito, General Nakar, Province of Quezon</strong>


    Mark continued his walk atop the outer walls while looking at the residential area.


    Mornings were the busiest time of the day, not only before but also during the apocalypse.


    In other ces, their mornings were spent worrying about how they could feed their family for the rest of the day. Some were preparing to go on a dangerous hunt, while others worked for the meager amount of food they could be rationed with.


    The mornings in the Mountain Base were not that different. However, the level of safety andfort was vastly different. They only had to wonder what would be on the menu as hunting was done by a designated group. Rationed food was also plenty for their stomachs to fill. Work that needed to be done was mostly farming and carpentry. The fruits of the farmingbor would go into their meals in the future, and the carpentry work currently was for everyone''s individual residences. There was no reason to be unmotivated with such tasks that would promise stability in their lives in the uing days.


    Mark observed the residential area. Although there were already many structures here, filled with housing, for the most part, the area was far from finished.


    Most of the houses were still more or less the base structure. A small box with a basic door, windows, and a roof. It allowed people to sleep inside with a bed. However, it was more of a sturdy kind of hut than an actual house. This was not the end of what Mark had nned when he decided to build this ce.


    Mark wanted a ce where people living in it were loyal and unified. That was why the people allowed to live here were strictly chosen by Mark or strict observations like those from Phdelphia. It was to prevent pathologically ill-willed people.


    There were various reasons why Mark wanted such a ce to live. There were already lots of problems to deal with outside. The [Infected] initially and the [Mechids] now, not to mention other dangers such as [Evolved Animals]. Mark did not want to deal with problems inside the base, especially political ones.


    Look at the other ces Mark had been to, for example. The military settlements were gued by political disputes. The rebels in Catanduanes split into two groups and built their own bases, wherein one faction had unstable leadership and structure.


    And when sh*t hit the fan, none of their political problems mattered. They all fell. No unity, no stability, only chaos, and suffering. In the end, it was not those who fought for their positions that suffered. It was those that had nothing to do with those political contests.


    Of course, people could still change over time. However, Mark wanted to be sure that if such a thing happened, the impact on the home he created would be minimal.


    Looking at the people below the walls, Mark thought of many things.


    For example, why Mark was limiting the use of the crystals.


    Turning everyone in the base into [Evolvers] and [Mutators] was not a surprising thought. If everyone here was strong, the less likely it would fall against attacks from the enemies.


    In the first ce, while the filled [Physical Crystals] in Mark''s possession were not that many, he was notcking in the empty ones. He could turn all people living in his base into [Evolvers]. But Mark held on to the crystals instead of doing it.


    It was for one reason. Something that was given freely and inrge quantities felt less valuable. It would stem into more unnecessary and uncontroble outbursts and thoughts. This could lead the people to demand more of what they did not deserve to have.


    Since Mark was limiting the number of people he turned into [Evolvers] and [Mutators], the status became much more important to the eyes of those that did not. Thus, they would do their best for the base and make themselves acknowledged. And this was what Mark wanted. He wanted the people to prove that they deserved to be more powerful while making sure their ties to the base became stronger.


    In the first ce, while it was known that Mark could turn people into [Evolvers] and [Mutators], the actual specifics of the process were only known to those that went through it. It kept everyone guessing while preventing them from getting too greedy.


    But looking at the current state of the base, especially the people, Mark could now safely say that the people had already grown their roots in this ce.


    Mark continued on his walk.


    Although Mark would not do it on arge scale, it was time to let those that deserved it get an upgrade.


    ***


    Soon, Mark reached the end of the outer wall. Yes, the end. The shape of the base, if one looked from the sky, was not really circr but more of an inversed letter C. There was no west outer area or anything like that, and the outer wall would join the edge of the inner wall once reaching the western side of the base.


    It was because of the natural wall on the western side of the base. There was a steep rock formation dozens of meters thick from east to west while epassing three-quarters of the base''s width from north to south.


    It was the rocky cliff where Mark dug what they now call the Cliff House.


    There was no need to build a wall around it. Or rather, there was no way to do without the help of heavy machinery. It was because the western side of the rock formation was a steep cliff straight down half the mountain''s height. It was a natural defensive wall on its own and now doubled as Mark''s home, built by his own hands.


    Mark took a peek down the outer wall where the cliff to the west could be seen. Yes, it was a long way down, and below was a thick forest that definitely would not cushion anyone''s fall. Even just the fall would surely kill since there were bits and pieces of pointy and edgy rocks poking out of the cliff face.


    Even so, it was not like it was left defenseless. While building a wall or a rampart over the cliff was impossible, the vines made by the [Dryad] could properly hold on to the face of the cliff. That barricade made of vines would definitely block anyone or anything that would try to climb up the cliff. Even if the vines did not manage to block whoever it was, the [Dryad] would immediately know if something passed through it.


    ***


    As Mark looked at the sky, it was almost noon already. It seemed that time passed fast without him realizing it while he was observing the residential area.


    Mark walked down the wall with Laps and Fein. They took the route on the west side of the residential area. It was more or less the back side of the area where not many people were passing by. Even so, people spotted Mark and greeted him respectfully.


    Like usual, Mark responded with a silent nod to the greeting.


    It was at this time that a voice echoed inside Mark''s head.


    "Bro, where are you now?"


    The familiar mental voice of Jaeya. Within the settlement, those that were mentally connected with Jaeya could be contacted by her through [Telepathy]. It was such a convenient skill. Unfortunately, it could not be used to contact other people without going through Jaeya.<sub> </sub>


    "I''m on the way back."


    Mark replied.


    "Okay," Jaeya replied. "Lunch is almost ready. Odel told me to call you and Sis. Alright, I''m cutting off."


    Mark tilted his head upon hearing Jaeya''s reply.


    There was actually no need for Jaeya to call him if Mei was around. Just a few taps on her ring and Mark would receive the message. If Jaeya had to contact him, it meant that Mei was somewhere doing something and also forgot about the time.


    Mark scanned the surroundings using his [Empath] abilities, epassing the entire Mountain Base. He then detected Mei together with Feng Zhiruo at the training area.


    "Training again, huh."


    Mark sighed. They now had two training maniacs within the base.


    Feng Zhiruo had her reasons for wanting to get stronger, bolstered by her failure during the [Trial of Regrets]. Mei, on the other hand, was finding her strengthcking to follow Mark in every fight he needed to face.


    Mark appreciated Mei''s sentiment, but it looked like she was overdoing it. They were supposed to rest today, but there she was with Feng Zhiruo at the training area.


    It was not like Mark could stop her from doing what she wanted. Besides, it was he who told her to be a bit more greedy, and this was her form of greediness.


    With a lot of things in mind, Mark made his way back to the inner area and to his home. Mei and Feng Zhiruo were already back when he arrived since the training area was much closer to home than he was.


    Mark looked at Mei and Feng Zhiruo in a bit of relief. It looked like they did not do some extensive training.


    "You two did some training?"


    Mark asked the two.


    "We''re just exchanging ideas," Mei replied with a nice smile. "Zhiruo is trying to imitate a technique from memory, but she can''t do it properly. She wanted me to watch if her posture looked odd."


    Mark looked at Feng Zhiruo, who nodded at Mei''s answer. She could have just asked him. She did not know that Mark had the memories of the elder she was with in the past. Even so, he had already taught her a lot of things to the point of being suspicious.


    With a shrug, Mark said.


    "It''s fine to try things out, but just hold back on hard training for the next few days."


    The two girls agreed without question. It was the n, after all.


    ***


    Lunch came soon. A happy lunch that most of the world right now could not even imagine.


    Today''s lunch was bird soup. The meat came from wild quails caught during yesterday''s morning hunt. Quails about the size of a chicken. It was big, considering the biggest kinds of adult quail before the apocalypse was just a little bigger than an adult human''s fist. There was actually a flock of these quails, which could have been good animals as livestock. Unfortunately, the flock was feral, and [Feral Evolved Animals] were something that could not be tamed safely.


    It was a nice lunch since Odelina cooked it. Her cooking somehow gave a homey feel which everyone liked.


    ***


    Outside, the people of the Mountain Base were having their own mealtime. Unlike the food on Mark''s table, the meal was rationed. Nheless, the rationed food''s taste was no less than one''s favorite street food stall. It was due to the fact that the person leading the cooks, Trisha, was a former hotel chef.


    People from other settlements might probably sell their important belongings for a bowl of this rationed food.


    Well, it was no news how nd the distributed food within the military settlements right now.


    ***


    The happy lunch passed quickly, along with yful chatting. The table might be noisy, but it was a good kind of noise.


    But after lunchtime, back to work time.


    Although Mark said that today would be a day for rest, there were still things that could not be postponed.


    For example, receiving reports of the important things that happened while Mark''s group was gone, especially the state of things outside that the people of the base observed.


    That was why an hour after lunch, a short meeting was scheduled. All the people leading the [Mountain Base] would gather within the living room of the Cliff House to give their report.

 Chapter 937 The Tiring Meeting, Reports, Problems, And Solutions

    <strong>Day 261 - 2:14 PM - Living Room, Cliff House, Mountain Base, Mount Mbito, General Nakar, Province of Quezon</strong>


    After a morning walk around the Mountain Base and a hefty lunch, Mark was now sitting inside the living room of the Cliff House.


    Since it had been a while since Mark and his group were here in the Mountain Base, it was time to decide how things would proceed from now onwards.


    The Mountain Base might be an ideal ce to live during the apocalypse, thanks to Mark and those who created this ce. However, it was far from the perfect ce. It was not like they were aiming to make it perfect, as nothing could be called perfect even before the apocalypse. At the least, they wanted to deal with the problems the base currently had and could possibly have. And most importantly, what it essentiallycked for everyone to continue surviving the apocalypse.


    While Mark had his own ns, he stillcked on-field experience in many aspects. And since he was always away from the base, dealing with stuff that could cause problems from outside, hecked information on the current specifics of the base.


    With those reasons at hand, Mark decided to schedule this meeting between the people he tasked with leading various designations within the base.


    For the first and the most important thing within the base, safety, it was Edzel and Edward.


    Edzel was here to represent the hunting group. The ones tasked with both hunting animals and foraging the mountain for food. He was not really the leader of the group right now, but his father, Pefile. However, everyone knew how Pefile did not like talking too much, making him unsuitable for meetings and such things. That was why his Edzel was here instead. Although the hunting group felt more among the people in the food department, their hunting tasks allowed them to survey the surroundings of the base.


    Next was Edward, a former soldier and the leader of the survivors trapped in the University of Perpetual Help in Las Pi?as. After he joined Mark''s group with his members from the University, he was now in charge ofbat training and the one inmand during defensive battles.


    The two began with their reports one after another, with Edzel being the first one, having both good and bad news.


    "The whole mountain is basically yours now," Edzel dered.


    ording to Edzel, animals in the nearby areas began forming territories.


    Animals forming their own territories was not surprising. Even before the apocalypse, many species of animals and insects were territorial. Now that [Evolved Animals] gained more intelligence than their pre-apocalypse counterparts, the chance of them making territories was something more or less expected.


    However, Edzel was saying that animals began forming territories outside Mount Mbito. Animals seemed to have concluded that the mountain where the Mountain Base was built belonged to humans. That was why he said that Mount Mbito belonged to Mark, the leader of the Mountain Base and the people living within it.


    "But that''s also problematic, isn''t it?"


    Mark said, to which Edzel nodded.


    "There are fewer animals to hunt in the mountain. We are lucky we got one early this morning. The previous days, we would need to reach the foot of the mountain hunting and go backte in the afternoon," Edzel supplemented Mark''s thought.


    Since Mount Mbito was marked as human territory, fewer animals would try to enter it. It was like how it was rare for mountain animals to actually enter a popted town or city before the apocalypse. This was what the bad piece of news was about.


    One would think how funny it was. Before the apocalypse, the meat produce had sky-high prices, and the vegetables that many people hated were cheaply priced. Now, vegetables were a luxury, and meat from dangerous [Evolved Animals] was the staple food.


    But because of the territorial changes around Mount Mbito, the stable flow of food from hunting was reduced drastically. Although animals would still enter the mountain due to uncertain reasons, mostly feral ones trying to attack anything along the way, it would be hard to pinpoint their locations over the mountain''s size.


    If the hunting group wanted to hunt animals more stably, they needed to leave the mountain, risking their lives on unfamiliar terrain.


    "That''s troublesome," Mark said, tapping his chin. "Even though we have food in stock, we can''t just use it all up nilly-willy."


    Mark then turned to someone present in the room. The one in charge of the food supplies and the head cook of the base, Trisha.


    Trisha was one of the so-called founders of the base. She was respected by the residents, especially since she had the natural talent for making even the simplest meals tasty. She was one of the reasons people did not mind the rationed food in the base and were rather looking forward to it.


    "The food supply is still fine, right?"


    Mark asked.


    "It''s still in the green," Trisha replied. "Though we can''t really splurge on it a lot. But it would be nice if we could use more than usual from time to time."


    "And that''s why you are here, right?" Mark asked. "Well, tackle thatter."


    "Okay." Trisha nodded as everyone''s eyes turned back to Mark, who was now looking at Edzel.


    "You have a n?"


    Mark asked Edzel. This, in turn, made Edzel turn his head to Edward.


    "We actually have a suggestion about this," Edward spoke. "It also has something to do with what I want to report."


    Edward then began his report amidst talking about the problem of the hunting group.


    Being in charge ofbat training, Edward was satisfied with the training results the so-called recruits had shown. The two young soldiers from Codon also helped a lot in giving the basic training.


    However, these recruitscked something.


    "They needed on-field training and experience," Edward continued. "In theory, they are already goodbatants. But we can''t still gauge their reactions toward actual threats, especially in unexpected situations."


    It was a reasonable thought. Although the recruits were trained physically, all those trainings would be for naught if they did not have the right mental capacity to back it up.


    After hearing Edward''s words, Mark caught on to what the two wanted.


    "So, you two wanted the recruits to join on hunting sessions outside the mountain as field exercises?"


    Edzel and Edward nodded at Mark''s words.


    It was hitting two birds with one stone. With arger group, the hunters would be safer while also allowing them to bring back arger haul. On the other hand, the recruits would get more experience fighting actual enemies.


    This was not really something they had to ask Mark permission for. However, there was one thing that would need his help. Allowing the recruits to fight outside the base meant they would need more equipment and weapons.<sub> </sub>


    In the base, Mark was the only one who would be able to provide stable armor and ranged equipment. After all, he was the only one who couldmand the [Blood Children] to make those. Although they were gathering animal remains and materials to possibly make armor and weapons, it was still in an experimental phase. And while the warehouse had guns, ammunition and explosives were far limited. Due to that limit, hot weapons were only designated to be used during crucial battles.


    That was why Mark''s help was needed to provide what they needed if they wanted to deal with things quickly.


    "Hmm..." Mark started thinking before turning back to Edward. "I''ll see what I can do. Just bring me the number of recruits along with their measurements. You can do that, right?"


    Edward sternly nodded. Despite the expression, he was quite happy inside. One reason he wanted Mark to make the equipment and weapons of the recruits were for their morale. It was not wrong to say that Mark was idolized by the people of the base due to his strength. The recruits getting personal equipment that was personally made by the leader would bolster their confidence and morale during field training. It would likely end up with positive results.


    "Is that all?"


    Mark asked the two.


    "Actually, there''s one more thing," Edzel replied. "Past the river at the south, we spotted a giant creature yesterday. We can''t determine what creature it was since we didn''t approach it. I don''t think it''s an immediate threat, but it''s better to be sure."


    "You didn''t report it yesterday?"


    Mark asked.


    "I did try to, but Miss Odel said to report it today instead since if I did yesterday, you will definitely neglect rest and fly straight to it."


    Mark turned to Odelina, who was handing out drinks and treats for the meeting. She did not say anything but only gave a knowing smile.


    Odelina''s attitude made Mark sigh. She had loyalty as her [Mutator Trait], but she was not blindly loyal to the point of only following Mark''s words. Instead, she put her master''s circumstances before her own. Since Mark''s group had just arrived home and needed their hard-earned rest, she had decided to tell Edzel to report it today instead of yesterday since the situation was not urgent.


    Mark looked around the room before giving a shrug.


    "Let''s put that on the important list."


    Mark said with a grumble. It was clear that everyone in the room was on Odelina''s side in this one.


    After Edzel and Edward, Mark listened to the reports one by one. Some were positive, while others were issues requiring a solution.


    One of those issues was the one Trisha tried to propose. It was to establish an event from time to time to lift up the people''s spirits and raise morale. Of course, it would consume more food and supplies.


    Mark was not against this, however. In game terms, it was more or less raising the culture stat to raise the happiness stat and morale stat of the people. Since Mark actually had simr ns, he supported them.


    Of course, Trish was happy her proposal was approved. It was actually the first time she proposed something for the base, so she was quite nervous.


    The meeting went on for a while. It was already sunset when the meeting finished.


    Mark felt tired after dealing with stuff. Deciding things, weighing options, and providing solutions, he was not really cut out for things like leadership work.


    This was why Mark was not really thinking of making an entire base initially. Just a group of small survivors was enough. However, this apocalypse was not like most zombie apocalypse concepts he had seen before. The [Infected] mutates, the world changes, things keep on falling from the sky, and other dangers lurk in the dark. A small group of survivors and a small base would not be able to survive such stuff for long.


    Now that Mark had established a thriving base, he found it really troublesome to manage. In the first ce, Mark did not like city or kingdom management games. Colony-building games with a small number of people to manage were fine, though.


    Mark remembered his time as a Tricycle Driver. He really hated attending their monthly meetings even though his father was one of the elected officers of the association.


    As everyone left the room, Mark was left while checking some notes he took while listening to the reports.


    At this time, someone entered the room.


    "Everyone left already?"


    Mei asked Mark.


    "Yeah, the meeting just ended."


    Mark replied, tired.


    "Is anything urgent?"


    Mei asked, approaching Mark and standing behind him.


    "Luckily, there''s nothing," Mark replied before remembering something. "Aside from the giant Edzel''s group saw yesterday south of the river."


    And as said, it was not too urgent, either.


    "Then leave those papers for now," Mei said, patting Mark''s head. "We can let Odel arrange thoseter."


    Mark nced at Mei and sighed.


    "Alright."


    Mei smiled, d she could take Mark away from more work he hated when he was already tired. Mei could not really provide Mark much support in these things. Aside from her beauty and currentbat abilities, she had nothing much to boast about. She was not specially trained in these things and was just an ordinary student if not for her rich background. She did not even know much about managing business and stuff, even though she came from a family known for such things.


    The most Mei could do at these moments was to be Mark''s source of rxation and moral support. And most importantly, the one to stop Mark from overdoing things.


    After all, one odd thing Mark was the best at doing was neglecting his own wellbeing.

 Chapter 938 Rumblings At The South, The Giant Creature Past The Agos River

    <strong>Day 262 - 9:21 AM - Barangay Kiloloran, Municipality of Real, Province of Quezon</strong>


    "Yawn~"


    A subtle yawn came out of Mark''s mouth as he flew over the Agos River south of Mount Mbito. He looked pretty tired, probably more than usual. Although it was no news that Mark would barely sleep most of the time, he still spent most of the night lying on the bed and resting. By the looks of it, Mark did not spend most of the previous night resting.


    While looking sleepy, Mark looked at the river below. It had been a while since he had seen this ce. The first time he came here was before he encountered Huey and his group and a bit before Mark decided to establish the Mountain Base. And thest time? It was when Mark left with his group to deal with the problem in the Visayas a few weeks ago.


    The Agos sure looked different from how it appeared before the [Fusion of Dimensions]. The almost dried-up river from that time was now overflowing. Its calm water in the past was now forming raging rapids.


    It was unsafe to cross using any possible way aside from flying over it.


    As for the reason why Mark was here... While it was mainly Edzel''s report yesterday, he had another goal.


    From Edzel''s report, the hunting group spotted a giant creature past the river around this area. Before that thing became a threat, it was better to deal with it. That was why Mark went here this morning.


    Marknded at the south riverbank. While it was better to search from the sky, it was already mentioned that he had another reason to be here.


    "Hmm..." Mark hummed while pondering as he stared at the raging river. "Is there even any fish in these parts now?"


    What was Mark searching for? Was it fish? Food?


    They had an asion today. That was why Mark wanted to catch some extra food before noon to be processed and cooked for tonight''s dinner. Fish was a good thing for the menu since it was pretty rare to have one these days. If there was no fish, fruits would also do. Meat would be hisst resort if he did not find anything better.


    Before the apocalypse, meat dishes were always present on special asions. Although one could eat meat dishes at any time, it was pretty expensive. Now, most meals contain meat. While it did not taste bad or anything, it had already lost its special status as an expensive food.


    One of the rare food in these mountains was fish. Even Mark''s group did not manage to eat fish while traveling. That was why fish would be nice for today.


    Mark closed his eyes. Not only humans but also animals and insects had mental and emotional fluctuations. The fluctuations that animals had might be weaker, but Mark should be able to detect them if he focused enough.


    Focusing on the deep water, Mark was actually able to detect life underneath the raging river.


    Now knowing that there was something under the water, Mark pondered how to fish them out.


    Electrocuting the water might be usible, but Mark was against using his [Miasmic Lightning] for fishing. As the name suggested, his lightning contained bits of properties that his [Miasma] had. He was pretty sure that anything killed by his ck lightning or mes was far from suitable for consumption.


    While Mark was thinking...


    <strong>RUMBLE!</strong>


    The ground shook, alerting Mark to turn around.


    It was not like the shaking came from the immediate vicinity. However, Mark was certain that it came from far to the south of where he was.


    To be able to shake the ground like that, the cause should be quite big.


    "That should be the giant Edzel''s group saw."


    Mark murmured, deciding to put the fishing forter.


    Extending his wings out, Mark flew to the sky once more. As he flew further away from the river, he noticed some things.


    The area was supposedly forested after the [Fusion of Dimensions]. However, there were clearly unnatural clearings in the middle of the sea of trees. Mark suspected it was unnatural because the ground looked dug up, looking as if something was pulled from the ground with brute force.


    It was as if there were supposedly trees in those clearings but were uprooted by something. Furthermore, all clearings were connected with one another through what seemed a path left by something passing through. Mark could even see the snapped and crushed trees lying around those paths.


    <strong>RUMBLE!</strong>


    Another shake of the ground. It was even audible.


    Mark finally saw what was causing the rumbling and was quite surprised.


    It sure was a giant. No, a humanoid [Behemoth ss Infected]. It was likely around ten to fifteen meters in height from where Mark hovered. If it was before the [Fusion of Dimensions], Mark could have seen it without needing to get closer. However, many ancient trees from the [Spirit Dimension] that appeared on Earth dwarfed the giant [Infected]. The current forests were actually good ces for the [Behemoth ss Infected] to hide in.


    The [Behemoth ss Infected] was rampaging for some reason.


    Mark observed it from the sky. While it had that height, it looked shorter because of its body posture. It walked on fours, seemingly like a gori, while using its knees as hindlegs. However, it did not look animal-like or anything. Though it actually had quite a chubby-shaped body. However, it had growths covering its skin.


    "Metal?"


    Mark murmured as he saw the metallic sheen it had on its body.


    Then, an idea struck Mark.


    The [Infected], especially mutated ones, were known to regrow their mutated traits. For example, a [Stone Armored Tank Type] could have its armor destroyed during its hunt. However, that destroyed armor could regrow over time. The regrowth could even be faster if it managed to hunt prey.


    This trait of the [Mutated Infected] was one of the things that made them frightening creatures to leave alive.<sub> </sub>


    But still...


    Mark stared at the supposed enemy before him. In his eyes, it was not an enemy. It was a mine. A giant infinite metal mine.


    While looking at it, Mark could not determine what kind of metal covered its body. He was not a member of a precious metal club or anything of the sort. But if it could be used, why not? It would not be the first time Mark thought of utilizing the [Infected] and their traits.


    Still... the residents of the base would definitely feel intimidated facing a more than ten-meter-tall [Infected]. Even the only five meters tall they had at the base to eat trash and waste looked scary.


    "Hmmm..."


    Mark pondered. In any case, it was not really an immediate threat or anything. This [Infected] should not be able to cross the current Agos River either. He better discuss it with his people before bringing it back home.


    For now...


    Mark swooped down from the sky towards the rampaging giant.


    It was not rampaging for no reason.


    Around the giant [Infected], dozens of [Evolved Felines] attacking it in unison.


    "Evolved Cats?"


    Mark suspected. After all, there were no endemic species of lions or tigers in the Philippines. The only ones present were those that escaped from zoos or their illegal owners. Those would not be able to make groups thisrge.


    And most importantly, these felines were not feral. They were not attacking the giant blindly and were moved as an intelligent group.


    The other report from Edzel yesterday came into Mark''s mind. Animals began making territories outside the mountain. The [Behemoth ss Infected] probably wandered into the territory of these cats and was now receiving retaliation.


    Still... A few dozen cats the size of a lion and as ferocious as a pr bear... If this feline group attacked a settlement, that unlucky settlement was surely doomed.


    "Let''s chase them away for now."


    Mark decided. Although hunting these cats for meat seems usible, there were too many of them. If he provoked them, it would be a messy fight. Not like Mark would be in danger, but there would be too many cats to put inside his ring. In the end, it would be more work for him. He would rather not provoke a fight.


    Landing in an area nearby, Mark hid atop a tree. His eyes then glowed bright red as his intent suddenly covered the surroundings.


    The [Evolved Cats] suddenly jumped in fright. As they lost concentration toward the fight, some of them got hit by the [Behemoth Infected''s] arm sweep and were flung away along with the trees surrounding them. But the cats did not care about the casualties. Their fur and tail stood on end as they felt an extreme danger to their lives.


    <strong>ROAR!</strong>


    A roar was heard from a white-maned cat as it led its clowder running away in fear.


    They surely were cats. In a few seconds, they swiftly vacated the ce, leaving an extremely confused [Behemoth ss Infected] behind.


    The [Behemoth ss Infected]... No, the [Metal d Giant] tried to chase after the enemies that attacked it first. However, its gigantic heavy body did not allow it to chase far before it lost track of the fleeing felines in the middle of the gigantic forest.


    Back to where the battle between the clowder and the giant happened, Mark got out of hiding. Around were bits and pieces of metal that came from the giant''s body. There was quite a lot. It seemed that in the short time the battle urred, the felines did a number on the giant despite the smaller size of their group.


    Mark found a few corpses of the cats hit by the giant''s arm sweep among the rubble of destroyed trees. He took a few while leaving some for the [Metal d Giant]. People would definitely tell Mark that he was crazy for leaving food for the [Infected]. But would he care? Definitely not. If anything else, Mark liked the [Infected] more than humans.


    The battle ended, and the giant lost its fleeing enemies. It might be instinct or probably showing some intelligence, but the giant actually went back to where it fought the felines... Only to find several bodies of cats piled up as if waiting for it to eat.


    Dumb and unsuspecting, the [Metal d Giant] picked the carcasses one after another and stuffed them into its mouth without even chewing. Only when its mouth was full that it started to swallow everything whole. It then stuffed the remaining carcasses in its mouth, repeating the process.


    Mark watched the giant while hiding. Unexpectedly, after eating its meal, the giant sat down before uprooting a nearby tree and seemingly ying with it.


    That scene confused Mark. So, the reason there were clearings in the forest with uprooted trees was that this giant [Infected] was ying with the trees?


    Mark was not new to the [Infected] exhibiting weird behaviors, but this was the first time he saw one ying with things around them. But then... as it sat down like that, it dawned on Mark.


    This [Behemoth ss Infected] looked like a giant baby. Its chubby-looking body and crawling on fours...


    It was a baby turned into a metallic giant due to its mutation.


    "Now I''m feeling bad about thinking of exploiting this one..."


    Mark said those words, although he did not really look like the part as he looked at the ying giant with a nk face. At these times, his traits as a [Mutator] really made him look like an apathetic serial killer.


    With a shrug, Mark left the area. A giant like this would be easy to find againter as it hung around this ce.


    While talking about this giant to his people was what Mark had in mind, he went back to the river first.


    Finally deciding to use the [Wind Maniption Crystal] to create a barrier of wind around him, Mark dove under the water.


    It was quite an endeavor traveling under the crazy strong water, but Mark actually found a couple of familiar-looking fish to catch. Well, rather than finding, it was more like they attacked him instead. Still, Mark fulfilled his goal for tonight''s party.

 Chapter 939 A Lost Memory, A Surprise For The Calmest Speedy Little Cat Girl

    <strong>Day 262 - 11:21 - Mountain Base, Mount Mbito, General Nakar, Province of Quezon</strong>


    After a bit of fishing in Agos River, Mark flew home just in time to see somethingrge creature flying from the east direction of Mount Mbito.


    A giant ck-colored snake-like creature soared through the sky while waving its long body. Such a sight would frighten most people in the current state of Earth. But, of course, not the Mountain Base.


    Mark continued to fly back to the base, ignoring the giant snake. It was the same for the people down below. After all, the creature was familiar to everyone by now.


    It was the variant magical creature descending from the mythological Bakunawa by consuming a drop of its blood. The Sky Serpent Baku.


    Of course, the master of Baku, the Tamer Summoner, Berrak, could be seen sitting atop the Sky Serpent''s head.


    When Mark''s group returned home the other day, Berrak was not present at the base. Since he was the only one capable of traversing long distances with the help of his summons, Berrak was given the task of being a messenger between the Mountain Base and the two remaining inhabited locations nearby. The Infanta Military Settlement and the East Mountain Fortress.


    In fact, the gang of the [ck Duwende], Teremillio, was also absent from the base and was currently at the fortress. It was simr to why na, Karlene, and Ka were still at the Infanta Military Settlement.


    Since Mark was not really in a hurry, Baku arrived at the Mountain Base before him. The giant serpentnded just outside the southern gate, which served as the base''s main gate.


    The development of structures and facilities within the base, alongside the giant tree at its center, madending arge creature from the sky not usible within the walls. Thus now, the wide clearing outside the southern gates became thending spot forrge flying creatures such as Baku and Char.


    The only exception was the [Mini Cube]. It had its ownnding and parking area within the inner walls. There, it also served as a residential structure for Ilia and Chimetrice.


    As Marknded, Berrak, who had just alighted and unsummoned Baku, looked at him with surprise.


    "Boss?" Berrak called out with a surprised but respectful tone. "When did youe back?"


    The tone that Berrak had towards Mark was not only because he acknowledged thetter''s strength. It was actually with a hint of fear. It was not something surprising. Berrak went under Mark''s wing after witnessing how merciless he could be to those that gravely offended him. Furthermore, Berrak was here because Mark saw value in his abilities. If not, Berrak should have been dead long ago after trying to protect the idiots that tried to harm Mark and his family.


    Berrak might be a decade older than Mark. Nheless, age did not have anything to do with strength. Berrak was a person who knew his ce. Besides, it was actually not bad being under Mark and working with his group. He was just making sure not to get on his bad side.


    "We''ve been back since the other day," Mark replied and asked. "You should have returned yesterday. Why the dy?"


    When Berrak was tasked to send messages, he would return before dusk or before sunset the next day at thetest. However, Berrak left the day before Mark''s group returned, which meant that Berrak was gone for almost three days.


    "Infanta got attacked by a prettyrge horde when I arrived," Berrak exined. "I helped them fight the horde since there are quite a few mutated ones. Your sword you left to guard the girls also helped out, so although the soldiers got some injuries, they got no casualties. Arge part of their walls got destroyed, though. They ended up asking me to help gather and transport wood to fix the walls using my summons."


    "Ignis got found out?"


    Mark asked, focusing on a detail Berrak said.


    "Yeah, your fire sword got caught about five days after Boss left... I think?" Berrak nodded. "The purple girl managed to snuff it out of hiding from what I heard."


    Mark sighed. Out of all people, Ignis was caught by Ka. A literal child. Just what is that demonic mberge doing when he specifically told it to only help in secret?


    "You can go inside already," Mark said to Berrak, who was supposed to be entering the base earlier. "I''ll go ahead since I have things to do."


    As Mark said that, he opened his wings and flew over the walls. People watched him with a little tinge of envy. After all, only three [Mutators] in the base could fly on their own. While being able to fly would not really make anyone stronger, it was a versatile ability that would help in different situations.


    Berrak watched Mark fly away without trying to stop him. He sort of understood that Mark did not ask for the details right now because he would need to report itter anyway.


    After Mark left, Berrak entered the gates. Walking, of course. And unlike Mark, the well-experienced Berrak responded warmly to the greetings he received upon his return.


    Mark, on the other hand, flew straight to where the canteen was located. The first thing he wanted to do after his morning excursion around the Agos River was to hand the extra fish he caught to Trisha for today''s rationed dinner.


    The sight of a few extrarge fishes sure made the eyes of the cooks light up. It was because the hunting group had never brought fish back before. However, no one really med them. With the current state of the Agos River, it was basically suicide to try and fish there unless you have the strength and abilities like Mark or Chimetrice.


    Mark returned home just in time for lunch. It was just the regr lunch where everyone gathered to eat together. But after this...


    I and Mark exchanged nces. From here on until sunset, it was I''s turn to do something quite unusual.


    It was then I stood up. Under the guise of wanting to properly digest the food they had just eaten, she took Abbygale out of the house, with Miracle joining in innocently.


    And here, Mark and the others would start their preparations.


    ***


    Abbygale was utterly confused. Among the three of them sisters, I was the most mature. Yet, here the eldest was, dragging her sisters out to y.


    Nheless, Abbygale did not think too much of it and joined her two sisters'' y.


    Time passed quickly for the three girls, who were soon joined by Laps and a few children as they yed. It turned into quite apetition when Miracle called her golem, Cavall, and the children yed frisbee with their two four-legged friends. Thepetition even increased when Annica joined in with her own dog.<sub> </sub>


    Many people watched the game as entertainment like this was kind of hard toe by during the apocalypse. Those that did not have much work to do decided toe and watch, deciding to do the rest of their work after the game finished.


    Abbygale did not realize that she had started having fun. She began running andughing like the little girl she was supposed to be.


    I watched Abbygale with a smile. She was only supposed to distract her little sister for the rest of the day, but this was much better. It was nice to see Abbygale smiling. Because of her [Mutator Trait], Abbygale always wore a dead calm face, which did not suit her age. It was extremely rare to see Abbygale smile andugh like this.


    Time really passed by fast. It was alreadyte afternoon by the time Abbygale noticed.


    At this time, I suddenly paused as if she was deep in thought. However, it was actually their Aunt Jaeya currently contacting her through [Telepathy]. It was supposed to be the time for her to bring her sisters back home. However, she decided to let Abbygale y a little bit more.


    Soon, ytime ended as the day began to end. As nned, I brought her sisters home. It was not only the girls who headed home. The other children and spectators also went back. It had already spread throughout the day that Mark brought fish for dinner, and they were all looking forward to it.


    The three girls went home together with Laps and Cavall. But to Abbygales increasing causes for confusion for today, I sneakily held Miracle and the two pets back, allowing Abbygale to open the door. Other children might not notice, but Abbygale did. However, she did not think too much of it and opened the door.


    Confusing her even more, Abbygale entered the Cliff House, which had its lights off for some reason.


    <strong>"SURPRISE!"</strong>


    The lights suddenly turned on, and a shout from multiple people entered Abbygale''s ears. Like the cat she was, the sudden loud sound caused her to be startled, making her transform. In her cat form, she immediately found her adoptive father, who was silently watching the situation behind everyone. Turning into a white blur due to her speed, she rushed behind her father and hid behind him.


    "This is why I told you all to not shout."


    Abbygale heard the exasperated voice of her father, likely scolding those that shouted upon her entry.


    It was only then that Abbygale noticed the surroundings.


    Everyone closest to their family was present. Odelina and her family members, Emika and her brother and mother, Jaeya and Theodore, Amihan, Elise, and even Annica, who yed with them just a little while ago, along with a few more people, were present for some reason.


    Then, Abbygale saw the table filled with food and at the center seemed to be a cake with candles on it. On the cake... it was her name.


    Abbygale was stunned. Even her calm trait as a [Mutator] was unable to calm her confused mind.


    It was when a gentle whisper entered Abbygale''s ear as her father lowered his body to match her height.


    "Happy Birthday."


    Abbygale finally understood what was happening. It was her birthday which she already forgot. Understanding the situation made her begin to calm down.


    But before Abbygale could return to her usual demeanor, her father put something in her hands.


    Abbygale looked at what she was now holding. Given that he wished her happy birthday, it was supposed to be a present. He gave her a lot all this time, whether it be equipment or even weapons she could use.


    But this time, it was not any of those things one could use during the apocalypse.


    Yet... Abbygale could not take off her eyes on the present she now had in her hands.


    It was a cloth doll. Nothing special. It was even something kind of poor-looking, unlike those expensive dolls she saw in malls way back before the outbreak. Given that her snarky grandmother was a financially rich woman, it was no surprise she had seen many kinds of expensive dolls.


    Even so... It made Abbygale''s hands shake as the familiarity with the doll overwhelmed her.


    The doll was not just any cloth doll. It looked the same as something she thought she had lost forever.


    ...A ragged-looking doll that she chose from an old toy store over those expensive ones on the shelves at the mall.


    ...A doll she had way back before the outbreak.


    ...A doll that was her most prized possession that she never thought she would see once again.


    ...A doll she lost when everything went downhill.


    ...A doll she liked the most as it looked like her mom.


    ...Her mom who sacrificed herself for her to survive.


    Abbygale''s eyes felt wet as she silently put the doll into her embrace.


    And silence ensued as everyone gently smiled, watching the calmest girl they knew silently tear up, rubbing her face unto the doll her father gave her.

 Chapter 940 Abbygales Birthday, A Party Till Night Watched By A Sentiment

    <strong>Day 262 - 5:59 PM - Cliff House, Mountain Base, Mount Mbito, General Nakar, Province of Quezon</strong>


    Abbygale sobbed in tears, hugging the doll her father gave her. It was a surprising but wee sight as the ever-calm little girl showed a different emotion.


    Mark remembered the first time he saw Abbygale, sitting like a life-less doll under a store counter while drenched in blood. Despite the trauma, fear, and even the loss of her mother, the little girl was calm and silent. Although she sometimes smiled, showed her desires, and disyed agitation and killing intent, she never showed any other emotions. While it may be the result of her being a [Mutator], it still felt abnormal considering her age. They had other [Mutator] children in the base with their [Mutator Traits] reigning over their subconscious. However, none of these children looked as abnormal as Abbygale if it came to expressing emotions.


    Abbygale''s [Mutator Trait] was [Calmness]. It was not like it made Abbygale always calm, but it was more like it was suppressing her other emotions to make her calm. It was far different from Mark, whose trait would erase any emotion that was not strong enough to resist. It meant that Abbygales suppressed emotions could bottle up and explode at any time given.


    Worse, while Abbygale also passed the [Trial of Regrets], her bottled-up emotions increased substantially.


    Since the world changed like how it was currently, beings capable of feeding and manipting such emotions could spring up at any time. For example, another [Empath] like Mark, and there were a lot of Demon races in myths that had such inclinations.


    Thus, Mark actually had nned clear the bottled-up emotions that Abbygale had.


    There was already a few attempts Mark tried beforehand. One was to absorb those emotions using his [Empath] abilities. In this attempt, he actually learned something about his ability to absorb emotions from other people. It was the fact that this ability of his worked the best on emotions being emanated by people and barely had any effect on suppressed and bottled-up ones.


    Mark also tried the [Spirit Healing] ability he inherited from his ancestor. Unfortunately, it could only bringfort and not erase the existing emotions of people. It was something that Abbygale barely needed considering her [Mutator Trait].


    Thus, Mark had to think of a way for Abbygale to release those emotions. Most importantly, to address the cause of the increasing emotions suppressed within her subconscious.


    Considering Abbygale''s [Mutator Trait], it would not be easy.


    And Mark came up with a n.


    Abbygale clearly forgot her iing birthday. In the first ce, due to her status as an unwanted grandchild hated by her grandmother and abandoned by her biological father, she only had birthdays with her mother. A simple and quiet one. It was not bad. But for a child that needed affection, it was quitecking.


    Mark learned about this from Jaeya, Abbygale''s biological aunt and the little girl''s mother''s younger sister.


    With that thought in mind, Mark decided to give the little girl a surprise birthday party.


    The surprise factor was a sess. Even the calmest Abbygale was startled and confused, unfamiliar with the events unfolding before the little girl. And that was when Mark made thest push before she could recover and her [Mutator Trait] began to repress her current emotions.


    Mark gave her a doll. That doll was the reason Mark was tired since he did not sleep the previous night to finish making that doll. It was a familiar doll to Abbygale since it was a literal copy of the favorite doll she lost when the apocalypse began.


    And finally, after almost a year, Mark managed to make Abbygale cry. Of course, not in a bad way.


    In any case, the n was a sess.


    Abbygale''s emotions overflowed. This time, the [Mutator Trait] was the one being repressed by the little girl''s current feelings.


    Mark put the little girl in his embrace. Opening the dam was enough. It was now his turn to do thest part of this act. It was to absorb these overflowing emotions away from the little girl. Of course, he would not drain everything. The little girl deserved enough sentiment to feel the longing she had for her deceased mother.


    Then, Mei approached the two as Mark also pushed Abbygale forward. As Abbygale looked at her adoptive mother, she saw her holding what seemed to be a cake with a lit candle for her to blow.


    Abbygale looked at Mark while wiping off her tears, clearly asking if she had to blow out the candle.


    "Go on."


    "Don''t forget to make a wish!"


    Emika suddenly interjected excitedly.


    Abbygale paused and nced at Emika before finally blowing out the candle after another slight pause.


    As the me of the candle flickered and finally extinguished, cheers ensued. The birthday party officially began.


    Mark led Abbygale, who was still in disbelief, to the master''s seat. That seat was usually Mark''s, assigned to him by both Odelina and Aephelia. It was the seat at the furthest end of the table. A custom that was usually seen in the medieval period among nobles. The seat of the leader of the family.


    However, it was Abbygale''s night. Tonight, she was the master of the house.


    Unfortunately, other than Abbygale, the thing almost everyone present was looking forward to was the food.


    Since the apocalypse began, celebrating birthdays was thest thing everyone had in mind. There was really no need to mention a celebration. Just thinking if they would even reach their next birthday alive was already a hassle.


    But today, the first birthday was celebrated at the Mountain Base. Since Mark was the leader, his family had such privilege. Of course, they did not think of using too many supplies. Furthermore, most of the ingredients used for the food were something Mark acquired himself. For example, the fish for the fish dishes on the table was caught by him this morning. There was also other food he foraged around the mountain.


    However, everyone in attendance was quite confused.


    Half of the food on the table was something they were familiar with. There''s a huge bowl of spaghetti and arge tter of fish fillets. There were also some dishes that were usually seen during Philippine asions, like Menudo and adobo.


    But the other half... There was a steam basket with steaming cupcake-like food while not looking like a cupcake at all. There were also slices of spongecake-like food, but these were not made with flour and looked moist and sticky. There was also other food that was unfamiliar and was mostly steamed food.


    And while pondering about the unfamiliar food, someone took a slice of the spongecake look-alike without hesitation. Surely, that person took everyone''s attention.


    "What?"


    It was Mark.


    "Just eat whatever you want. Don''t mind me."<sub> </sub>


    Mark added.


    It was when Odelina exined with a slight snicker.


    "These unfamiliar food are all taught to me by Master," Odelina looked at Mark, who began to eat the slice of food he took. "It seems like his family ate this food on most asions when he was young. It''s made of cassava master found and dug just down the mountain."


    Cassava snacks. That was what these food were.


    Finally hearing what the food was made of, they finally tried some.


    "Oh, this is good."


    Spera said as she at the same one that Mark was eating.


    And from there, everyone ate, amazed at the unfamiliar food they were eating, and ended up eating less of the food they were familiar with.


    There was food and even cold drinks. It was a nice celebration where everyone could smile.


    It was something that was very rare during the apocalypse.


    Unfortunately for Abbygale, she only received two more gifts. It was not surprising. One could not just go wandering around and find something to give as a present from a random store. There were no stores or malls anymore. If one wanted to give a present, they needed to make it themselves. As such, they could only work together to make those two gifts they gave the birthday girl.


    One gift was a set of battle clothes that suited Abbygale both in her normal and transformed form. It was mostly made by Odelina and Aephelia, while Spera and the others pitched in to make parts of it. The other was a leather belt pouch from Emika and Annica. The pouch was something the two thought of making while putting Abbygale''s fighting style in mind. Since Abbygale moves a lot when fighting, she should not wear backpacks or other bags. The belt pouch would be a good fit, however. Although it would only allow her to carry small stuff, it was way better than nothing.


    All the while, Abbygale was smiling. This was the best birthday she had. And most importantly, the doll Mark gave her. She realized that it was not the same doll she lost. However, for some reason, it did not bother her at all. Rather, she was curious how Mark knew about the doll she never spoke about. Was it her aunt? Abbygale did not know and would not bother asking. She was already happy. That was enough for her.


    ***


    The party finished soon. All they had to do was eat and chat, after all. Karaokes weremon during birthday parties in the Philippines, but that was too much to pull. Besides, they had no Karaoke box or something in the base.


    Abbygale was happy, and everyone was satisfied. After the party, it was time for a nice night of rest.


    On the other hand, Mark sat atop the cliff. The roof of his house while facing the steep cliff to the west side of the base.


    Mark raised his hand. It was the wishing stone he received from the ghost girl in Negros. If one was to see this, one would be surprised. It was because the supposed gemstone emanated a faint glow which a regr gemstone was not supposed to do.


    Since he received it, Mark already suspected that the wishing stone was not just some regr stone. It managed to manifest its previous owner''s strong sentiment into a ghost-like being that stayed until its wish was fulfilled. And now, the stone was doing its work.


    "Is she sleeping already?"


    Mark suddenly voiced out before looking behind him.


    Appearing behind him was not a woman anyone in the base was familiar with aside from two people. Only Abbygale and Jaeya would realize this person.


    "She is..."


    The woman replied with her chilly voice that echoed to the soul.


    Mark stared at the woman whose body was slightly transparent.


    Abbygale was not just saved by her mother. She left a strong sentiment with her daughter, which was left even after her death. Unfortunately, the sentiment was not strong enough to manifest in a ghostly form.


    But ever since the wishing stone was brought into Mark''s hands, it began absorbing the sentiment attached to Abbygale. And a few days ago, the sentiment showed its first manifestation.


    The sentiment never showed itself to Abbygale or Jaeya. However, it visited both during their sleep.


    This sentiment, no, Abbygale''s mother, was the one who taught Mark about the doll.


    Mark observed the sentiment. Compared to the girl, the former owner of the wishing stone, Abbygale''s mother looked too transparent and unstable. The girl could touch and pull Mark, but Abbygale''s mother could not even touch the ground she was supposed to stand on, floating like an apparition. However, the sentiment could speak better instead. It was unlike the girl who could only utter a few words at a time.


    And this time, she looked even fainter.


    "Looks like you''re going to dissipate already."


    Mark said, to which Abbygale''s mother nodded.


    "Thank you for taking care of my daughter and saving my sister," The sentiment said with a smile until she sighed as she took on a reprimanding expression. "Please, don''t put Abbygale in danger. She might have gained strength beyond human standards, but she is still a child."


    "Can''t really promise anything about that..." Mark replied with a shrug. "She''s the one eager to fight. It would be better if she just stayed home, but... yeah, she won''t."


    The sentiment red at Mark for a bit before disappearing. She had yet to dissipate. She went back to watch Abbygale as she slept.


    However, Mark sighed. The glow of the wishing stone was already waning. If what he suspected was right, the moment this stone lost its shine, the sentiment would finally vanish.


    And in this case, the sentiment left by Abbygale''s mother would vanish before sunrise.

 Chapter 941 After The Party, The Farewell Of The Sentiment And Marks Current Plans

    <strong>Day 262 - 11:57 PM - Cliff House, Mountain Base, Mount Mbito, General Nakar, Province of Quezon</strong>


    The sentiment left, and Mark continued to sit down and gaze at the strange stone in his hand. By how the light waned within the wishing stone, Mark expected the sentiment to vanish by morning at thetest.


    But then, to Mark''s surprise, the gemstone''s glow suddenly bloomed.


    Mark hastily stood from his chair, almost toppling it down, and quickly rushed to the room where his daughters were sleeping.


    Moving swiftly and silently, Mark reached the room without alerting anyone.


    Mark silently opened the room and saw the sentiment of Abbygale''s mother sitting on the bed beside the little girl. Unlike before, her body was much clearer and more or less in a simr state to the little ghost girl in Negros. Most importantly, she was caressing Abbygale''s hair.


    Surprisingly, she was touching Abbygale''s hair as if she did materialize. Apletely different state from when she spoke with Mark at the cliff balcony earlier.


    The sentiment''s state clearly had something to do with the sudden surge of the glow within the wishing stone.


    And as Mark watched that scene where Abbygale''s mother caressed her daughter''s hair with a sad smile, he sighed.


    Mark understood what was happening.


    The clock struck twelve... the glow within the wishing stone waned even weaker than before. It was like a candle about to go out.


    It was when Abbygale''s mother, no... Auretta... turned to Mark and whispered.


    "I''ll leave my daughter in your hands..."


    The glow within the wishing stone vanished.


    Mark grasped the wishing stone as all traces of Auretta vanished from his vision.


    Closing the door silently, Mark left the room. He returned to the balcony and gazed at the moon in the western sky.


    Mark gave out another sigh.


    It was amazing how a person''s strong emotions leave traces that even the living could detect. It was a miracle in a way, although most people saw them as ghosts or traces of the past.


    What Auretta wanted the most. It was to witness the happiest day in her daughter''s life. It might be her wedding in the future. Maybe, a lucky day Abbygale could encounter.


    A desire Auretta was unable to fulfill as she sacrificed her life to save her beloved daughter... to save the most important person in her life.


    But today... the happiest day for Abbygale came. A happy birthday that even Auretta was unable to give her daughter due to their circumstances. As the happy asion came, the desire... the of Auretta left attached to Abbygale grew a bit stronger.


    And with the help of the wishing stone that fell into Mark''s hands, that sentiment was able to manifest, aiding Mark to give Abbygale the best birthday in the little girl''s life.


    They seeded in giving the little girl the best day of her life. Unfortunately... The sentiment could not join in the fun.


    The sentiment was aware of what she was. She was not the real Auretta, but her desires and regrets before she left this world. It was not right for the sentiment to appear in front of the little girl in ce of her real mother.


    As such, she could only wait until Abbygale fell asleep and spent her remaining existence by the little girl''s side.


    If the sentiment let it be, she could exist for the rest of the night until dawn. However, her duty was already done. There was no point in staying past midnight as the happiest day of Abbygale had already passed that time.


    As thest act, the sentiment gathered all of her remaining energy to manifest and materialize to give her final goodbye to Abbygale before finally vanishing.


    Emotions were amazing as they could change many things in a person''s life. But to an [Empath] like Mark, the emotions of other people were more of a double-edged sword. It obscured his own while affecting him in the most negative ways.


    It was fortunate that the time when Mark could not control these abilities had passed. But unfortunately, his genuine emotions could only rarely manifest in his expressions despite gaining control of his [Empath] abilities. Worse, his [Mutator Trait] was [Emptiness], where any emotions not strong enough would be erased.


    Being unable to manifest one''s emotions was a good thing in a way that no one would be able to tell what one was thinking. However, people not in the know would think of a person with no emotions as apathetic. Most importantly, one would need to show their emotions to people important to them, or the rtionships would easily drift apart.


    While Mark was mulling about many things in his mind...


    "Gege? You''re not going to sleep yet?"


    Mei appeared. It seemed she had just finished cleaning up the leftovers from the birthday party together with Odelina, Aephelia, and the others that either on duty or volunteered to help.


    Mark nced at Mei amidst his thoughts.<sub> </sub>


    "Yeah, let''s sleep. I''m pretty tired today."


    Mark was really tired. He made the doll all night the previous night and also helped cook the food for the party after spending almost all morning fishing. He also deserved a good night''s rest.


    And from there, the night was mostly silent. The chatting of the night guards could be heard atop the walls. Those who worked at nightshift also created some slight noise. After all, nighttime did not mean that work was done in the Mountain Base. There were people who preferred to work during the night, after all.


    Nheless, despite the slight noise, it was a peaceful night.


    ***


    <strong>Day 263 - 7:21 AM - Mountain Base, Mount Mbito, General Nakar, Province of Quezon</strong>


    The night passed fast, and the morning was early for the dwellers of the Mountain Base.


    Hunting and foraging, tending to the crops, feeding the livestock, building structures, and many other things, there was quite a number of work to do within the Mountain Base.


    As for Mark, he had things he wanted to do. However, a few things muste first.


    Now that they had returned home, Mark needed to confirm the current state of their few allies. First and foremost, the almost ruined Infanta Settlement. Although it was not the one that Mark had not visited the longest, from what he knew, it was the one that was pretty much in the most critical condition. The only exception was Bay City, which was already destroyed and abandoned, but their allies there had already moved to Corregidor Ind.


    Thus, so far, the Infanta Settlement was in the worst condition. Not to mention the report from Berrak, where the settlement was attacked just the other day.


    Mark also had to meet na, Karlene, and Ka. It was not wrong to say that they were his close friends, with Ka actually treating him close to a father figure than just an older brother. It was not a surprising result considering it was Mark who noticed the circumstances of Karlene and Ka and was also the one who gave Ka her name.


    Most importantly, Mark had to retrieve Ignis. If the situation in Infanta calmed down, there was no need for the [Demon Sword] to stand guard there anymore. It would be helpful if Mark could use Ignis in the near future instead of relying solely on the [Crystal Staff] and the [Butterfly of Knowledge]. Both were good, but the two were more used as magic equipment than actual weapons, not to mention that every use of the [Butterfly of Knowledge] was massively draining.


    Next in the n to visit would be the Stone Fortress in the eastern mountains of the municipality of General Nakar. It was also known as the only settlement of magical creatures in the province. When the [Fusion of Dimensions] happened, magical creatures that were already struggling due to [Mutagen] invading the [Spirit Dimension] became even more lost. In that situation, Diwata Danaya did her best to gather the magical creatures that had not found any ce to stay. Of course, except for demons. Despite the good rtionship between Mark''s group and Diwata Danaya, it was clear that demons were still despised. It was not a surprising thing, though. Most demon races were not trustworthy. Letting them enter your home was more or less akin to racing a snake that would bite youter on.


    Unfortunately, going to the Stone Fortress had to be done the traditional way. It was either by foot or through the air by flight since Spera''s portal would not work to go there until she went there first at this time. After all, thest time they visited the Stone Fortress was way before the [Fusion of Dimensions]. After the fusion, Spera''s portals stopped working since many ces on Earth either changed or shifted in geographical locations. It was not like it would take a long journey to get there. However, it was still not as convenient as opening a portal and arriving almost instantly.


    After going to the two nearby allied settlements, Mark would want to visit Corregidor Military Settlement once again. It had already been two months since they left that ce under General Perez''s hands. Since the ind settlement was theirrgest ally, it was more than reasonable to check their current state. Not to mention that they had a workingboratory. It would be nice to get new information about their findings and experiments.


    Only after visiting their three allies that Mark would be able to concentrate on other things, especially the preparations for their future journey north...


    ...Overseas.


    Surviving the apocalypse aside, Mark had a few more goals. The most important one was the mission that Freed left him. To find the other [Inheritors] and judge their worthiness for the powers they received. So far, Mark had encountered seven of them already. Spera and Louis became Mark''s subordinates. Nia and Allen kept their inherited [Psycasts] as they were deemed worthy. Aephelia managed to retain her powers and was given a new body, while one was returned to Mark by Chimetrice. Andstly, Shin, who was already judged as an enemy but was still likely to be in Japan.


    Because of the information broker named Val Flora, Mark had the lead to a few in nearby countries. Thus, he nned to go overseas to finish the mission given to him by his benefactor.


    And while one was in China and was possibly the closest, it was not the first destination Mark nned to go.


    Where else would an Otaku like Mark like to go to? Japan, of course!


    Actually, it was a rational decision.


    The world had changed. And as time went on, Japan would surely change further away than how it was before. After some time, Japan would lose everything that Otakus loved. As such, before everything was lost, Mark wanted to visit it. If lucky, maybe they could find some ruins where they could get figurines that Mark could not afford to buy before the apocalypse. Other people might see those as trash, but Mark would definitely not.


    Well... Finding Shin and contacting the Japan Branch of Auraboros would still be the first on Mark''s list. After all, they did propose to him for an alliance.


    And if Mark wanted to fulfill another of his goals, help from the Japan Branch would help a lot.


    What other goal?


    To end the [Deity of Corrupted Dust], also known as "The Great One."


    Mark had a score to settle with that bastard that was targeting Mei, not to mention the attack he orchestrated on the Mountain Base and the work they had to undergo just to remove the corrupted dust that nketed the area around the base.


    ***


    While the ns filled Mark''s mind, he turned to Spera as she opened a portal for him in the living room of the Cliff House.


    Spera had no n of following him. Mark also decided to go alone this time since he was not really nning to stay in Infanta for too long. His stay there would probably be just a few hours. As such, Spera, who was currently watching a movie with the little girls, would maintain the portal open until Mark returned.


    And there, Mark bid goodbye to Mei and everyone around him as he stepped into the portal.

 Chapter 942 Back In Infanta Settlement, Marks Visit And The Truth Through A Letter

    <strong>Day 263 - 7:29 AM - Military Encampment, Infanta Settlement, Municipality of Infanta, Province of Quezon</strong>


    Another morning had arrived for the struggling Infanta Settlement.


    A new morning in the apocalypse. Was it a good or a bad thing?


    At the least, this morning was far more peaceful than the previous ones.


    Well, until the soldiers near the General''s tent were alerted to a strange phenomenon.


    A hole in space suddenly appeared at the center of the encampment.


    Fortunately, many of these soldiers were already familiar with that scene. Nheless, the current ruling individuals of the settlement were immediately informed.


    The leaders of the settlement and the other important people quickly arrived. They all lived here in the encampment, and informing them required no effort at all. Even if one soldier just went and shouted what was happening, those people would still get the message immediately.


    Just in time for their arrival, a person stepped out of the portal.


    It was a man familiar to the soldiers. It might have been more than two months since this man wasst seen by them, but it was impossible for them to forget about him.


    "MARK!"


    A girl''s voice echoed as a purple-haired girl rushed and hugged the man that stepped out of the portal.


    "Woah, there..."


    Mark responded to Ka carefully. Receiving this girl''s full-on charge was more or less like getting hit by a speeding motorbike. Regr people might get injured in the least and worst, a few fractured bones.


    Aside from Ka, a shadow flew towards Mark excitedly. It was no other than the [Demon Sword], Ignis. After finally reuniting with its master, no wonder it was excitedly flying towards him.


    Patting the excited girl''s head and letting the sword hover by his side, Mark looked at the group nearby.


    "Long time no see."


    na greeted Mark before he could say anything. She looked a bit haggardpared to thest time Mark saw her, but she still had the energy.


    "Yeah, I guess..." Mark replied and added. "Is two months really that long?"


    "Of course it is, you freaking shut in."


    It was Karlene''s turn, interjecting with quite rude words but a happy tone.


    Mark looked at Karlene but did not have any intention to retort on something that was quite true. If one was a hardcore shut-in and introvert, a few months was pretty short.


    "Wee back."


    Mark received another greeting. This time, it was from Karlene''s father, Major Bautista, who stepped forward with a handshake.


    It was an unexpected sight. After all, knowing the protocol, it was most likely for the leader of the settlement to greet Mark first. But as Mark observed, General Faustino was also present, sitting on the wheelchair Mark gave him. Yet, it was Major Bautista that moved first to greet Mark.


    This arrangement... Mark immediately realized.


    "You went up the ranks, huh."


    Mark said as he epted the handshake.


    Major Bautista was quite surprised that Mark noticed and was also a bit embarrassed.


    "He''s now a General and the one currently leading this ce."


    The mercenary, Jones Galley, dered as he pushed General Faustino''s wheelchair forward.


    "It''s just an unofficial rank."


    Major Bautista said with a bitter smile.


    "I''m unfit to continue leading this settlement anymore, as you can see," General Faustino said while looking at his missing leg. "I can still do my duties, but the people needed a figure that can stand in front of them to lead them."


    Mark understood where General Faustino wasing from.


    While it was true that the loss of one leg would not hinder General Faustino in most of his duties, it would still make him look weakpared to his state in the past. To be able to help with many things, especially morale and trust that the people needed in these harsh times, a strong figure was needed as the leader.


    And the most suitable person left in the military of this settlement to fill General Faustino''s spot was no one else but Major Bautista.


    "Is this just decided yesterday?" Mark asked. "Berrak did not say something about this when he returned."


    "That''s right."


    Major, no, General Bautista replied.


    "Morale is getting low after the recent attacks, so we had to make some changes."


    General Faustino exined.


    "Why are we talking here outside?" Karlene interjected. "We''re getting in the way of work."


    Those words made Mark look at Karlene strangely.


    "What?"


    Karlene asked as she noticed his stare.


    "Looks like you grew up in these past two months."


    Mark jeered.


    "Shut it."


    Karlene puffed her cheeks. It looked like she had recovered a bit of her maturity as an adult, but her childish trait was still there.<sub> </sub>


    Still, as Karlene suggested, they moved to somewhere more private. By the looks of it, they moved the officers'' quarters. Instead of a flimsy tent where everyone had stayed before, it was now a neatly made wooden shack.


    But before they could continue the conversation, someone else arrived.


    "Oh? I knew I felt your presence."


    A female voice entered Mark''s ears, and the owner of the voice entered the shack without hesitation.


    In her young human form, it was the [Half-Diwata]-[Half Demon], Artenaris. The leader of the half-breed Magical Creatures that now settled in Infanta Settlement.


    As he looked at her, a question immediately came out of Mark''s mouth.


    "Why do you still look like a beggar?"


    As Mark had said, Artenaris, in her human form, looked the same as before. She appeared as a girl in her teens, which looked ragged and wore torn, dirty clothes. This form of her was more or less a disguise to go around the ce without being suspicious way before striking up a proper discussion with the military. Now, Mark felt this appearance of hers to be unnecessary.


    Artenaris immediately replied, not bothered by Mark''s question and hisck of formalities.


    "It''s the stares. I get a lot of unnecessary stares at my true appearance, while humans would not even waste a nce at me when I look like this."


    It turned out to be an understandable reason.


    There was no surprise that Artenaris'' true appearance would gather unnecessary attention. She had the pure beauty of a [Diwata] and the appeal of a Demon. Not to mention that she''s an unusual being in the eyes of humans. And considering that most Magical Creatures were ufortable with humans, those stares were not something she would like.


    With everyone Mark had to meet present, he decided to start with his reason foring here.


    As Mark nned, he wanted to check Infanta Settlement''s current situation. Although Berrak gave a summary of the situation, Mark still wanted to see it for himself and properly assess it.


    After hearing Mark''s intentions, the two Generals did not have any problems with it. General Bautista even said that he would personally guide Mark around the settlement. His presence would basically give Mark a free pass to any ce in the settlement. Mark could even ask questions without getting any questions asked back to him.


    "But before I take a walk around the ce, here."


    Mark said, taking out a few pieces of folded paper. He then handed the papers to General Faustino without further exnation.


    General Faustino received the papers. The others were also interested, but since it was given to the old General, they decided to wait for him to finish reading it.


    And as the old General went on to read the contents written on the papers, everyone saw his expression change every now and then. This made the curiosity of everyone watching rise even more.


    It was about fifteen minutes of silence, waiting for General Faustino to finish reading. And when he did, he closed his eyes and rubbed the bridge of his nose, clearly digesting the contents written on the papers.


    The moment General Faustino opened his eyes, he immediately turned to Mark.


    "Just who are you, really?"


    The old General asked Mark.


    Everyone was confused by the question the old General posed. But before they could ask what was going on, General Faustino gave the papers to General Bautista to read, and the others, except Ka and Artenaris, rushed behind General Bautista''s seat to read the papers from behind him.


    The papers were actually a long letter from General Perez. It stated everything that happened to Bay City, its survivors, and the events that unfolded in Corregidor Settlement. Of course, it included the change of rule there, with the president being thrown out of his position. Most importantly, things that Mark told General Perez.


    "Is it really fine to share this stuff?"


    Another question was given to Markter. It was from na, who was also privy to some confidential stuff since she and Karlene stayed in the Mountain Base for a while. It was just the two were told to keep silent about this stuff due to the effects of this information on regr people. After all, it included the reality of this world and the origin of the apocalypse. One more reason why the two kept silent was the fact that the [Eyes] could be watching.


    "They never really said to keep it a secret," Mark replied. "It''s just those who know should better keep it to themselves since the truth will cause more trouble."


    Learning about the truth without having an open mind would result in chaos. It would be an inevitable event if the information Mark had on his hands was shared with the public.


    "It doesn''t mean that we can''t share it with the people who needed to know about it," Mark added. "It will help a lot in managing everything that''s happening and preparing countermeasures to possible future threats."


    "So, you two knew about this?"


    Jones Galley asked the two women.


    "Not all of it," na replied. "It''s just Mark told us to keep it a secret. Besides, look at it. Who''s going to believe us if we just went and say it? People will think we are crazy. It will be different if Mark is the one to say it, though."


    The most unsettling piece of information filled General Faustino''s mind as he threw a different question at Mark.


    "Is it true that this mess is happening even on others?"


    "Yeah," Mark nodded. "A fews had already fallen to other variants of [Mutagen]. One of which is the artificial where the [Mechids] came from. They fell here on Earth after their was destroyed."


    "This is quite the information to digest," Jones said with a sigh. "If I didn''t know any better, I''ll definitely think that it''s nothing but fiction."


    "It would have been nice if this was just fiction," na said with a slight shake of her head.


    "General, what about the invitation?"


    At this time, General Bautista asked, changing the topic a little bit.


    The invitation General Bautista was talking about was within one of the papers.


    It was General Perez asking General Faustino for Infanta Settlement to go to Corregidor, joining the two settlements.


    "Deciding on that won''t be easy," General Faustino replied. "We are still far from recovery, but we are steadily getting there. If we epted the invitation only thinking it would be better there, it would be just wishful thinking. We have nothing there."


    The people of Infanta Settlement might be struggling. However, they were already in a state where they were able to feed themselves through various means. Once they joined Corregidor, those means would be gone. Competition for food through hunting and fishing would also be harsh. The soldiers might have preferential treatment, but General Faustino clearly did not want to subject their people to that kind of unstable state of living.


    "It''s not like General Perez is forcing you guys," Mark chimed in. "Though I''ll also advice against it for the same reasons."


    Mark and the two Generals were on the same page regarding General Perez''s invitation.


    It was not like General Perez meant ill. It was just many things need consideration before deciding.


    In any case, Mark already passed on the letter from General Perez. While General Faustino was digesting the information he got, Mark decided to leave and look around the settlement.

 Chapter 943 Observation And Collection, Going Around The New Infanta Settlement

    <strong>Day 263 - 8:36 AM - Military Camp, Infanta Settlement, Barangay Banugao, Municipality of Infanta, Province of Quezon</strong>


    Finishing the short meeting, Mark stepped out of the tent to proceed with his ns for the morning with the [Demon Sword] following behind him.


    However, there was a little bit of change.


    Initially, General Bautista volunteered to guide Mark where he wanted to go around the settlement. However, instead of the newly appointed general, Mark was currently apanied by two women and two girls. There was no need to ask who the four were. It was clear that they were na, Karlene, Ka, and Artenaris. Well, it was actually just the two adults who would guide Mark. Ka could not be left behind, while Artenaris was just doing what she wanted.


    And while it was mentioned that na and Karlene were the adults, Artenaris should be several decades older than the oldest person in the settlement. Even so, her current appearance was of a teenage beggar. It was also questionable whether it was appropriate to call the childish Karlene an adult.


    Due to the contents of the letter, General Bautista decided to remain in the tent to discuss things with General Faustino and the other important members of the settlement. Thus, only the girls could guide Mark.


    In any case, Mark set off from the tent, led by na and Karlene. Of course, Mark immediately became the center of attention. One, he was already well known within this settlement. Two, he was currently with the two most popr women in this ce. This might be several months after the apocalypse. However, it was not easy to forget that na and Karlene were pretty well-known actresses before it all began. Furthermore, their current strength and will to protect this ce had caused their poprity among the people of this ce to skyrocket.


    And another thing...


    Unknown to Mark, bits, and pieces of information about the Mountain Base leaked to the residents of this settlement. Most were spections, but there was a little bit of truth to some rumors circting. How? Well, while not spreading things on purpose, there were two women that would slip their tongues every now and then when they let down their guards. Most of it was when the two were talking about things the settlementcked,paring it to the so-called "Mountain Base." They were not talking to others, but there were times when a third party would hear them by ident.


    The five of them walked southeast and out of the military encampment. And, of course, their group was met with lots of eager stares.


    There was no way Mark would not notice, and he was sure that na, Karlene, and Arternaris also did. They might even know why.


    However, Mark did not say anything. Besides, it seemed that the reason already troubled na and Karlene quite a bit, and they hoped Mark would not ask about it. Mark did not care, though. While the stares felt annoying, he would not care as long as they would not cause him trouble.


    The five reached the first ce Mark wanted to go to pretty quick. It was the southern gate and walls. Since the military encampment was situated southwest of the settlement, the location was quite close.


    Mark stared at the wall and the gates in silence.


    "Looks worse than your ce, right?"


    na nonchntly remarked, despite Mark not saying anything.


    "There''s really no need topare, is there?"


    Mark replied.


    The wall in front of them was abination of riverside boulders, wooden barricades, and scrap material walls. The walls were then bound by a plethora of things. Vines for the wood, some sort of adhesive for the boulders, and wires for the scrap walls.


    The walls might not beparable to that of the Mountain Base. Nheless, it was already quite a feat to be able to surround the settlement with these walls. And most of all, it was the fruit of the cooperation of humans and magical races.


    While the magical tribe that Artenaris led were all outcast half-breeds, all of them had abilities corresponding to the kinds of magical races of their parents.


    There was no way it was only humans who brought these boulders to support the walls, nor could they make these vines tie these walls tightly. Even the adhesive that bound the boulders was neither cement nor y. These walls were built with mixed efforts.


    Unfortunately, these walls were not enough to defend against all types of threats outside its premises.


    And just like the other day when the settlement was attacked by a prettyrge horde of [Infected], the gates and some parts of the walls were broken down.


    From Berrak''s report, a [Armored Type Hybrid] was present in the horde. [Armored Type Infected] had armored bodies, as the name suggested, making them hard to kill. They were also dangerous in meleebat since their heavy bodies packed quite the punch. However, that body also made them slow-moving.


    On the other hand, the one that caused the damage to the walls of Infanta Settlement was a rather fast-moving [Armored Type Infected]. Its speed was notparable to [Predator Types] and was even a bit slower than a regr sprinting [Biter]. However, the speed it had was more than enough to reach the walls and cause damage before the soldiers could kill it.


    The damage done by that [Armored Type Hybrid] was still being repaired. While the broken walls and gate were temporarily blocked off using magically grown vines and nts together with other stuff, it was still far from an actual defensive structure.


    Still, the materials were quickly being gathered and transported to the area as the piles of river rocks, boulders, and newly cut trees littered the area.


    At this time, they spotted a group arriving with newly cut logs for the nned reconstruction. Two men in that group were familiar to Mark.


    "Oh, there''s Joash and Tyson!" Karlene eximed. "Let me call them."


    Karlene then stormed off without waiting for any reply.


    "Does she really have to call them?"


    Mark said in a cold tone.


    "Don''t be like that," na replied to Mark with a bitter smile. "They also owe their lives to you, remember? You can at least ept their gratitude."


    Joash and Tyson. The two men were in a group with Karlene and na when Mark first met them. It was when they were ambushed by bandits on the Marikina-Infanta Highway, and Mark saved them in order to get some information. Of course, that event led to the current situation where the two women became closely rted to Mark in one way or another. And since then, the group disbanded as the members now had different goals.


    "That Joash is a pretty annoying fellow, though."


    Mark said to which na replied with a sigh.


    "That''s because he is aiming for Karlene at that time, remember? Then you came, and Karlene began sticking around you like a kid. It won''t be the same now."


    Those words made Mark turn to na. Then, to what she was looking at.<sub> </sub>


    In the group Joash and Tyson were with now, there was a pretty-looking woman. She might not be of the caliber of actresses like Karlene and na. Nheless, she was quite the eye candy if not for the fact that she looked dirty like most people nowadays.


    "Joash moved on from Karlene to that girl. When we were not around, Joash fell injured from a mission. It looks like she was a nurse who tended to his injuries at that time. You can see what happened next."


    Mark stared at the group, now heading in his direction due to Karlene. It was quite a cliche progress on Joash''s love life. And it was actually a better oue. After all, Karlene was not interested in Joash in any way, and there was less likelihood of the two being a couple, given the childish [Mutator Trait] that Karlene had.


    "Hey!"


    Joash greeted Mark. Compared to his snarky attitude in the past because of his jealousy, his greeting felt free-spirited. While he still sported quite the rich-kid vibe due to his upbringing, he did not have a bad character overall.


    This might not be included in his ns, but Mark faced the sudden meet-up pretty positively. Since the jealousy was gone, Joash''s gratitude and sorry for the past events became more apparent.


    The members of the new group of Joash and Tyson were happy to meet Mark face to face. Well, Mark was now well known in this settlement due to various things, especially his feats in the past. Unfortunately, unlike celebrities, Mark would not fake being an approachable kind of person. Thus, only a few people had the opportunity to meet the powerful man named Mark.


    It was just a short meet-up. After all, everyone had a ce they had to be, work or not.


    Joash''s group went back to work while Mark went to his next destination.


    "Why do you want to see the dump site?"


    Karlene asked in confusion. After all, no one would want to linger around the ce where they dump unwanted things.


    "I have my reasons."


    Mark said, following na''s lead.


    Their next destination was the dump site. Specifically, the ce where destroyed [Mechids] were thrown away.


    Compared to [Infected] and [Evolved Animal] attacks, [Mechid] attacks were, thankfully, rarer in this ce. It was a good thing since the military of Infanta Settlement did not have a lot of resources to constantly deal with these alien robots.


    They went out of the settlement''s premises. It was about half a kilometer away southeast.


    The dump site was far for a reason. Not only the dead [Infected] was also being dumped here, but the ck goo from the [Mechids] was an obvious reason.


    Upon reaching the dumpsite, Mark found a fewrge holes dug in the ground at quite a reasonable distance from one another. It was clear that the military segregated the dumped things, at least.


    "It''s there."


    na pointed at the northmost hole.


    Mark began to approach, only to look back. Aside from Ka, the other three were not keen on approaching the hole at all.


    Seeing their hesitation, Mark shrugged. He could understand their hesitation. The ck goo released fumes that smelled disgusting, which could also cause various effects on humans, simr to radiation.


    Not to mention that the entire dumpsite was not good smelling at all.


    Mark grabbed Ka''s hand and approached the hole with Ignis floating closely behind him. It was while he activated the [Wind Maniption Mental Crystal] to at least block the smell.


    Arriving at the vicinity of the northmost hole, Mark saw the thrown bodies of [Mechids]. The fumes from the ck goo were thick to the point of being visible to the naked eye.


    "Stand behind me."


    Mark said to Ka, and the purple-haired girlplied without question. Not like she could already dish out questions, though.


    And there, Mark extended his right hand.


    With the loud crackling sound, ck-colored lightning shot out of Mark''s hand.


    The ck lightning quickly cleared the fumes and slowly worked on the ck goo. Ka, and even Ignis, watched the ck goo slowly get erased from the hole filled with destroyed [Mechids].


    After a few minutes of continuously dishing out the ck lightning, the ck goo waspletely eliminated from the hole and the bodies of the [Mechids].


    Mark then jumped in to check the bodies of [Mechids], looking around like a scavenger from a sci-fi robot invasion film. His goal was not different than a scavenger, though. He was there to search for intact parts, especially the weapons. It was definitely a scavenger-like action.


    Finding some interesting things, Mark immediately stored the items in his [Spatial Ring].


    Mark went out of the hole after a few minutes, looking satisfied with the things he found.


    Returning to the three waiting women, Mark was met with exasperated stares.


    "As time went on, the more absurd you be, you know that?"


    na asked Mark. There was no way they would not be surprised to see Mark erasing the harmful substance that none of them could fathom.

 Chapter 944 Lunch In Infanta Settlement, The Settlements Urgent Problems And Needs

    <strong>Day 263 - 10:21 AM - Dump Site, Barangay Banugao, Municipality of Infanta, Province of Quezon</strong>


    Seeing Mark do something new and unexpected, it was no surprise that both na, especially the childish Karlene, felt a bit of disappointment and jealousy. However, it was not like those emotions stemmed from ill will towards Mark. Mark getting stronger as time passed by was nothing new. It was just that since the two were stuck here in Infanta to help the settlement, they had fewer opportunities to find ways to be stronger.


    Nheless, staying here was their decision. It was to help Karlene''s father and the people they had spent time with since this worldwide chaos started. And it was already proven to be a good decision since, during their stay, the Infanta Settlement faced many situations where many lives were at stake. More soldiers and volunteers could have died if not for the two being present. While they could not prevent all deaths, it was clearly lessened considerably.


    Of course, it was at the cost of their growth inbat bing slower.


    Since the fighting here in Infanta was mostly defensive, they could only exercise their strengths during those times. And after the [Fusion of Dimensions], hunting became less viable as a stable food source, and the settlement turned to fish instead. Traditional fishing was still dangerous, but using traps made it viable. Thus,bat opportunities became even lesser.


    Thus, seeing Mark, who was already strong, grow even stronger gave those two such emotions.


    Of course, Mark noticed those lingering emotions behind the bitter smile of the two women. Nheless, since it was not filled with ill will, he had no reason to address it.


    Jealousy was not necessarily a harmfully negative emotion. It could be a driving force to raise a person''s motivation to achieve something. A force to keep them moving forward. The only time jealousy would be harmful was when it became unhinged, uncontrolled, and filled with ill will.


    But in the end, it would still depend on the person''s mentality and morality if such emotion would turn harmful. After all, a jealous good-hearted person would be less likely to do something that would harm others than evil-hearted ones.


    As for na and Karlene, they were a tad bit jealous of Mark''s growth, fueling their desire to be stronger in their own ways. It was not bad in any way, aside from their desire to return to the Mountain Base growing stronger.


    That desire to go back to Mountain Base was not unwarranted. After all, although their sense of responsibility managed to keep them here,paring the living conditions in Infanta Settlement and the Mountain Base was akin to the difference between heaven and earth. It might sound exaggerated, but in the current state of the Infanta Settlement, its people would definitely think the same.


    Content with his finds, Mark left the dump hole of destroyed [Mechids]. There, na posed a question.


    "You don''t need those, right? I''ll tell uncle to retrieve some for research."


    na said, looking at the hole from her location. Although Mark took a number of parts and stuff, there was still a number of [Mechids] left inside.


    Even if the current Infanta Settlement was ill-equipped and severelycking after the destruction they faced, there was still a notion for study and research of things. They still had some specialists alive who wanted to study the new threat, the [Mechids]. Unfortunately, the ck goo was harmful, radiative, and basically impossible to manually remove from the bodies of the destroyed [Mechids]. And without the necessary equipment and a secureboratory, which they now heavilycked, research was impossible.


    But now, Mark removed the ck goo. Not only from the dump site but also the bodies of the [Mechids]. It meant that those destroyed [Mechids] Mark left behind were now suitable for mechanical research.


    "Well, it''s not my trash. You can do what you want with those."


    Mark replied.


    "You really have to call it trash, huh?"


    Karlene interjected grumpily. After all, the cleaned destroyed [Mechids] were now valuable specimens for research.


    "Where are we right now?"


    Mark jokingly replied.


    They were in a dump site. A ce to throw waste and trash.


    Karlene had no retort to Mark''s words.


    At this time, someone else spoke to Mark in a reprimanding tone.


    "No bully."


    Ka said to Mark while pulling the hem of his jacket.


    Mark looked away. It would be his loss if he argued with a child.


    To the side, Arternaris was silent, watching the show in amusement. It was clearly not an attitude that a [Diwata] would have, showing something she inherited as a Half-Demon.


    The eyes of Artenaris never left Mark.


    Mark might have used his [Empath] abilities to reduce and restrict her romantic interest in him. She also realized that fact. However, most Demon races were attracted to the strong. Not to mention that many of such Demon races were also beings with strong desires.


    It would not be easy to just erase the desires of Arternaris since she was a Half-Demon. Nheless, it was a good thing that she was also a Half-[Diwata]. It allowed her to be rational with her desires and control them.


    However, if Mark showed any sign of romantic interest in her, she would not hesitate to jump into his bed. Unfortunately, this was unlikely to happen.


    Mark might be emotionless, but he was extremely loyal to his current partner. Artenaris knew that if she pushed things further, she could gain his ire instead. Worst, he might not hesitate to kill her, especially if she caused some undesirable things.


    Thus, Artenaris just decided to maintain the status quo. Hold back her desires and let them stay that way. It was not like she was not enjoying the things she was currently experiencing.


    In fact, Arternaris never thought that humans could be this weing to those who were not humans. Maybe it was because of Earth''s current situation? Before the apocalypse, trying to appear before humans sure was a suicidal thought. Or maybe, it was because na and Karlene were just special.


    "The sun is getting high up," Mark''s voice entered everyone''s ears. "Let''s go back."


    None of them have objections. na was also eager to return to bring the news about the destroyed [Mechids]. Besides, lunchtime woulde soon. Food in the settlement might not be the best. At the least, it could still afford to give at least two meals per day to each person living there.


    Mark''s group made their way back in a leisurely manner.


    Oddly enough, they encountered no danger on the way. It was odd because when the soldiers were transporting things they had to bring to the dump site, they could encounter dangerous animals every now and then. But during their walk, it was eerily peaceful.


    Without a shred of doubt, na, Karlene, and Artenaris knew that it was due to Mark, who was currently walking while humoring Ka''s childish antics.


    The three women were not wrong, though.


    Mark''s presence wasrgely lessened after he got the [Blessing of Death''s Aura]. Even Artenaris felt that change and went to confirm it immediately when she felt the slight presence of Mark when he arrived because she was unsure. While to those with intelligence, his presence was lessened, to the weaker creatures that solely relied on instinct, he felt dangerous.


    Why? Only the predators in nature could never be felt by the prey before they strike.


    As such, the animals that saw them passing by ran away at the sight of Mark.


    Well, feral animals might still attack despite his presence. However, none of such were present today.


    The group returned to the settlement just in time for the rations.


    Mark''s group immediately went back to the military encampment. At the center of it, the portal was still open, securely guarded by soldiers as per Mark''s request.


    There was really no need to leave the portal open. However, Mark did not know how much time he would spend here today. Thus, it was more efficient to maintain the portal and close itter after he left.<sub> </sub>


    To experience life here in Infanta Settlement for a bit, Mark decided to ept the invitation to eat lunch together.


    Unlike the refugees who had to line up to get their food, Mark and the rest only had to wait. It was the privilege of the military and the volunteers to have their share delivered.


    Mark sat down at the dining table with the group. A cup of rice with fish soup as a side dish. It was not bad since having either rice porridge or a bowl of nd soup would not be surprising in these scenarios.


    Or maybe, it was also a part of the privilege, and themon folk might be getting less. There was also the possibility that the Generals were just treating Mark with better food than usual since he was an important guest.


    However, before they could eat, everyone''s attention was on someone.


    "I don''t think you eat here, right?"


    Mark asked Arternaris, who was sitting on the chair to his left.


    Like Mark asked, Arternaris had her own tribe to eat with. As such, she was not supposed to be here. She might be an important coborator for the settlement. Even so, eating at another''s home without getting invited was just shameless.


    "It is fine," General Faustino chimed in. "It isn''t bad to have a meal together from time to time."


    With the words from the old General, everyone epted Artenaris joining the lunch.


    It was not just some simple lunch, however. Mark and the two Generals discussed things about the settlement, what happened to Bay City, the Corregidor settlement, and what the Generals had nned for the future.


    And to say... the two Generals were stumped about thest topic.


    They had some ns, like establishing a proper workshop to equip the soldiers in case they finally ran out of bullets. However, it would be hard to establish shorty, and their weapon supplies would run out if not used sparingly.


    This shortage of ammunition was the main reason why hunting became less of a viable option to feed the settlement, and they resorted to fishing at the river since they were close to it. Fishing in the river was also dangerous on its own. In a previous case, a refugee died after trying to fish using a handmade fishing rod. The fishing method was not the issue. The issue was what he managed to catch.


    The fish suddenly ballooned and shot spikes that pierced through the refugee''s body. He died on the stop because of a spike that shot through his eyes and to his brain.


    Now, even fishing had to be done with protective gear even if they were using dug dams as traps to catch fish.


    The Infanta Settlement was facing quite a lot of problems. Although they already managed to maintain several fields of crops, it would still be months before the first harvest. That was if the field was not destroyed by an attack or other things.


    Still, food and water, Infanta Settlement was still managing.


    Their urgent issue was weapons, equipment, and ammunition, if possible.


    That was why General Bautista had a question for Mark.


    "Can we use the portal to meet General Perez?"


    Directmunication with Corregidor was impossible. The two settlements were literally on opposite sides of the country. However, with Mark''s help, such a feat was not impossible.


    And if that was the case, Mark...


    "Yeah, you can. Actually, if you want everyone to migrate there, I''ll lend Spera."


    He had no problems with it.


    But then, Mark added.


    "I won''t rmend it, though."


    "Why?"


    General Faustino asked.


    "Since you guys wanted to meet General Perez, you can see the reason, yourself."


    Mark replied.


    The two Generals were perturbed by Mark''s words. Nheless, they decided to go with what Mark had said. Besides, he clearly agreed to help connect the settlements.


    "Oh, by the way."


    Mark voiced out, remembering something.


    And in front of everyone, Mark began taking a few things out of his ring, putting a few stic containers on the table. Two wererge, but there were a few smaller containers that were put in front of everyone.


    "Time for dessert, I guess?"


    Mark said as he opened therge containers. Onerge container contained an assortment of unfamiliar snacks. The other contained actually contained spaghetti.


    And then, everyone opened the smaller containers in front of them, with their eyes gleaming.


    "Wha..."


    na and Karlene were both surprised and excited.


    "Wh-why do you have cake?!"


    Karlene eximed in childish excitement.


    "It''s Gale''s birthday yesterday, so we cooked a bit of food?"


    Mark replied with a tilt of his head.


    "Wha... Y-you guys had a birthday party and didn''t invite us?!!"


    Karlene''s shocked voice echoed across the tent and outside.


    Well... For a child, missing a birthday party was such a big thing.

 Chapter 994 End Of Challenge, Purifying Light Against Corruptive Darkness

    Day 234 - 10:19 PM - Flooded Forest Ruin, Forbidden Zone, Oshiage, Sumida City, Ruins of Tokyo


    The gigantic pir of light tore through the darkness of the night. It illuminated everything even outside the already erged boundaries of the ruined Tokyo and was witnessed even far beyond it illuminated. The pir of light was as bright as the sunlight but as gentle as the moonlight. It was such a bizarre and terrifying sight.


    All [Infected] that witnessed the pir growled in utter confusion. And with the growls from their blood-covered mouths, their legs moved toward the pir of light, attracted by something they could not fathom.


    Same as the [Infected], the [Mechids], rarely seen within the ruins of Tokyo, began to approach the pir of light.


    ***


    Day 234 - 10:19 PM - Demon''s Dominion, Inawashiro, Fukushima Prefecture


    The town of Inawashiro. It was a rural town centered on agriculture, mainly rice. It must have been a nice rural town, although now, it was the center of the Demon''s Dominion.


    It became a hellish ce filled with conflict. Knowing how aggressive and violent the Demons of Japan were, this oue was not surprising.


    Yet, on this night, the Demons all went silent as they gazed at the southern sky. Even at this distance, they could feel the power of purification that their kind extremely feared.


    With hostile hearts and minds, they made an oath.


    The time to eradicate the humans in this country woulde soon.


    ***


    Day 234 - 10:19 PM - Auraboros Japan Branch, Aokigahara, Narusawa, Fujikawaguchiko, Minamitsuru District, Yamanashi


    While the north was disturbed, the west was in a state of confusion.


    The members of Auraboros stared at the eastern sky, looking at the very same pir of light.


    They had no idea what was happening. As such, the Empress immediately sent people to gather information about what was happening.


    The Empress looked at that pir of light.


    If the Reimed City was currently facing a crisis, it would be a good opportunity to gain the upper hand in the iing alliance meeting.


    ***


    Day 234 - 10:19 PM - Reimed City, Tokyo Bay, Ruins of Tokyo


    The north was disturbed, and the west was confused.


    As for the residents of the Reimed City, they felt fear.


    Those who were awake stared at the sky. Those asleep were woken by the ones awake. They all stared in fear due to the unfathomable scene before them.


    The pir of light that turned nighttime into daytime was not far from the Reimed City. With such a fact, their fear was not unreasonable.


    With the sudden situation, the army was immediately mobilized. At the same time, the Territorial Groups managing the different districts in the Reimed City also prepared.


    But out of all things, what confused the people of the Reimed City the most was the sudden mobilization of the Shinto Priests from the Temple.


    Themon people would not usually see the Shinto Priests outside the Temple except for a few special asions and emergencies. It was even rarer to see the most powerful ones who wereparable to [Ability Holders].


    But this night, themon people could see a few groups of Shinto Priests jumping from building to building and running through the streets, with their bodies emitting a faint glow.


    The sudden mobilization of the Shinto Priests made the people believe whatever was happening was a serious issue.


    Unknown to everyone, it was not just the Shinto Priests, the Territorial Groups, and the Army who were preparing.


    At the base of the Evernight Group, Mei was already changing into her armor. It was alreadyte, and Mark had yet to return. When the pir of light appeared, she tried contacting him through the rings that Bath gave them, but it did not seem to being through.


    Mei was getting worried. She could tell that Mark was in the same direction as the pir of light.


    As such, Mei decided to find him. And using Spera''s portal, she nned to start the search outside the Reimed City.


    ***


    Day 234 - 10:20 PM - Flooded Forest Ruin, Forbidden Zone, Oshiage, Sumida City, Ruins of Tokyo


    Within the ruins of Oshiage, the pir of light dissipated as fast as it tore through the night sky.


    And seeing Mark still flying in the sky, unscathed, the eyes of the Priestess glittered.


    That pir of light was one of the most powerful attacks the Priestess had in hand. Most Demons she encountered in the past would not be able to receive the attack and remain with an intact body. The Priestess was convinced that Mark would be able to survive it. That was why she used it without hesitation. However, she never expected him to receive the full brunt of the attack and remain unaffected.


    And if there was something that fascinated the Priestess even more, it was the fact that she felt the presence of [Miasma] just before her attack hit Mark.


    Was Mark able to wield [Miasma] of his own volition? The Priestess knew that it was nonsense and that any being with a physical body should not be able to touch [Miasma] without being affected by its corruptive properties.


    However, what else would exin what happened just now?


    Rather than denying the fact, the Priestess was more inclined to believe that the person she was fighting right now was a unique existence.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    On the other side, Mark sighed. With his [Empath] abilities, he could tell from the Priestess'' emotional fluctuations that she noticed Mark''s use of [Miasma]. But this fact confirmed one thing about the Priestess. She had quite a unique mindset. [Miasma] was something feared by many, and it would not be a surprise that a Shinto Priestess like her would begin thinking of eliminating him as a threat. However, that was clearly not the case. The Priestess did not care. She only wanted Mark to fight seriously.


    SHOOOM!


    At this time, the Priestess began her next attacks. It started with a group of talismans that immediately turned into a barrage of light beams shooting at Mark.


    Mark immediately moved, evading the beams as fast as he could. These beams were different from the fireballs and lightning bolts before as these beams carried the same properties as the pir of light just now. He knew that these beams could not be blocked by his wings, and he would get wounded if he got hit by these attacks.


    Unfortunately, the light beams were pretty fast. They shot at lightspeed, after all. Mark had no way of evading all of them.


    And as such, with a wave of his hand, a surge of [Miasma] formed a wall in front of him, which blocked and absorbed the beams of light.


    The barrage of light beams ended, and Mark immediately retaliated.


    Mark stretched out both his arms. Small surges of [Miasma] formed and shot towards the Priestess.


    The Priestess saw Mark''s retaliation and immediately went for defense. With hermand, the tree roots that now littered Oshiage moved to block and swat the surges of [Miasma] that rained from Mark.


    Due to the sheer quantity of the roots, Mark''s attacks were blocked, not even reaching the ground. However, each root that managed to block Mark''s [Miasma] immediately withered, turning into dried roots, which soon crumbled to pieces that rained to the flooded ground.


    Not waiting for the Priestess to release another barrage of dangerous attacks, Mark''s wings showed a reddish glow. His speed elerated even more as he charged at the Priestess.


    With a smile and an excited glint in her eyes, the Priestess waved her arms, and the hundreds of remaining tree roots moved to block Mark''s path.


    At this time, Mark''s eyes glowed with a purplish sheen. He then disyed unexpected movements, in which he actually evaded the hundreds of roots attacking him.


    The Priestess was surprised by that scene. She realized that Mark''s movements were strange. He was not responding to the attacks and evading them. It felt more like he was already evading the attack before it even came.


    As time passed and the Priestess fought Mark more, her view of him became more and more unfathomable.


    While it was true that it was expected for a Pureblood Demon to have some uncanny abilities, what Mark had shown her was already beyond what a normal Pureblood Demon was supposed to be capable of. Furthermore, his move sets did not make sense. In the first ce, how was he able to wield [Miasma]? And if he was able to wield [Miasma], how was he capable of other magical attacks?


    [Miasma] was a greedy energy. [Formless Demons], which weremonly known to wield it, were incapable of any other things aside from using [Miasma]. Yet, Mark, who had a physical body and was able to shoot fireballs, was also using [Miasma].


    The Priestess was excited about her unique opponent. Yet, she was also utterly confused.


    With a serious look in her eyes, the Priestess waved her fans downward. The halo behind her glowed brighter, and the roots around Mark moved differently and began to make unpredictable movements.


    At that sudden change in pattern, it was Mark''s turn to be surprised. The Priestess imbued her aura to the roots as she controlled them. And Mark''s [Future Sight] suddenly became less effective.


    The gears in Mark''s head spun as he evaded the roots to his full abilities. And he arrived at a single answer.


    Gods were outside the influence of fate. The Priestess'' aura, containing the powers of the Goddess of the Sun, Amaterasu, had some resistance against abilities that read the future.


    Mark was stopped on his flight, surrounded by the tree roots under the Priestess'' control. And with a deep breath, Mark shouted.


    "HAH!"


    [Miasma] exploded from his body in all directions. The roots surrounding Mark were enveloped by the expanding surge of [Miasma], immediately withering and crumbling.


    Mark tore through the roots and continued his charge towards the Priestess. Wielding his swords, Mark shed at the Priestess. It was a serious attack, and the Priestess would definitely get injured if she could not defend herself.


    However, the Priestess was already preparing when Mark was surrounded by the roots. A pentagram of talismans was already in front of her, with the talismans already getting shed to pieces. And with the Metal Talisman as thest to crumble, a magical barrier with a metallic sheen formed in front of her.


    BAM!


    The sword in Mark''s hand and the metallic barrier of the Priestess collided with a powerful impact that rattled the surroundings.


    It was a deadlock once again, with the Priestess on defense and Mark on the offensive.


    With her arms outstretched in front of her, the Priestess was reinforcing the barrier. On the other side, Mark''s wings pped stronger and stronger as he tried to sh through the barrier.


    The power the two were emitting was already off the charts as the force between their struggle was transmitted to the surroundings.


    It was clear that this would be the final bout. If Mark could sh through the barrier, he would win this fight. Otherwise, the Priestess would win if she was able to defend herself against Mark''s attack.


    But as the struggle intensified, a barrage of fireballs suddenly shot at Mark.


    Mark was caught a little off guard. It was not because he let his guard down against the Priestess. It was because the fireballs came from apletely different direction.


    As it was too sudden, Mark had no time to use his wings to defend against the fireballs. He would either need to receive the brunt of the attack as he continued his sh to try to break the metallic barrier or abandon it and retreat.


    Most of all, the Priestess was also surprised by the fireballs. It was clear that it did note from her.


    But as the fireballs were about to make Marke to a decision, several muffled gunshots were heard. The fireballs were shot through, causing them to dissipate into nothingness.


    At this time, both Mark and the Priestess looked at each other and came to an understanding.


    ""Let''s end this here.""


    The two said at the same time as they both lowered their weapons.

 Chapter 946 To The Next Tour, Back Once More To The Stone Fortress

    <strong>Day 264 - 7:51 AM - General Nakar Mountains, Municipality of General Nakar, Province of Quezon</strong>


    Early the next day, after visiting Infanta Settlement, Mark was on his way northeast of Mount Mbito. The current destination was the Stone Fortress. Although he was not really in a hurry, he wanted to finish what he wanted to do as fast as possible.


    Unlike yesterday when Mark went to Infanta Settlement a littleter in the morning, he decided to leave early this time. It was because Spera''s portal could not be used to travel to the current location of the Stone Fortress.


    The [Fusion of Dimensions] caused the Earth''s geography to shift and change drastically. It disabled Spera''s portals from working since the ces she had been before were disced from their original locations.


    That was why, right now, Spera was dragged along with Mark for today''s excursion. Yes, dragged.


    After traveling around during the previous month, Spera was feeling pretty tired. Well, she had been traveling around since six years ago after she was sold as a ve and escaped due to luck. It was not surprising that she finally reached the thought of staying put. Not permanently, but at least for a considerable amount of time.


    Because of Spera''s rough past, she never had the chance to think about things like this. But now that she had found a ce she could call home, the thought finally came to her mind.


    Unfortunately, while Spera was able to rest yesterday, she was dragged out by Mark today. And she could not say no.


    Since the Stone Fortress was beneficial to keep as an ally, it would be convenient if there was a quicker way to travel between them and the Mountain Base. Of course, Spera''s portals were the most efficient ones. And if they wanted her to be able to open a portal to the Stone Fortress, Spera needed to visit the ce first at least once.


    The two were currently flying over the mountains northeast of Mount Mbito on Char''s back.


    It had been a while since thest time they used Chalfar to fly to their destination. While the dragon, or technically, Quasi-Dragon, was still afraid of Mark, it already embraced the life of a flying mount and a pet. Thus, Char was pretty excited to apany Mark this time. If not for Mark smacking its head to calm down, it would have been flying quite erratically this whole journey.


    Still, while riding on a fire-breathing winged lizard looked pretty cool, it was not the mostfortable ride. It was fine for quick and short to mid-length travels. For longer traves, Mark would still prefer the [Mini Cube]. It might be slower at normal speeds but much morefortable. However, Mark could not just use the giant flying vessel anytime he wanted. It was not his property, after all.


    It was not nice to get used to using other people''s property even if they had no problems with it.


    Though in the future, Mark would want a flying vessel of his own. It might be impossible in the past. However, he now had Freed''s advanced technological knowledge, materials from space could now be found on Earth through the [Mechids], andstly, the sealed magical past of Earth was now released. With all these factorsbined, what was sort of impossible in the past was now highly possible.


    The creation of new things was for the future, though. Right now, Mark should focus on the tasks before him.


    Mark and Spera silently traversed the sky over the mountains of the Municipality of General Nakar. Both of them had low social skillspared to other people. This kind of silence was not surprising. Of course, if Spera had some questions and stuff to say, she would blurt it out. It was due to her having a hard time controlling her emotions after her first encounter with Mark. But, right now, she had nothing to talk about and was busy etching the surroundings into her mind.


    As for Mark, he had his eyes closed, recalling the reports about the Stone Fortress that Odelina gave him.


    Teremillio, the [Hybrid Duende], a former suitor of Amihan and the former leader of another magical tribe of outcasts, left the Mountain Base to go to the Stone Fortress with his harem and his mother. After all, Teremillio''s first wife was the former princess of the [Brown Duwendes] that ruled that ce. Given the struggles that came after the [Fusion of Dimensions], it was no question that she was worried.


    And since the Stone Fortress was also an ally of the Mountain Base and Teremillio''s group went there, Berrak went there from time to time as a messenger. The same task he had while going back and forth to Infanta Settlement.


    That was why Mark had a clear path to follow to get to his destination.


    Berrak had never been to the Stone Fortress before the [Fusion of Dimensions]. As such, noparison between the distance before and after could be seen in his reports. However, Mark was sure they had already traversed twice the supposed distance before the fusion.


    The geological shift in the north and east was far greaterpared to the southern areas of Mount Mbito. It was likely due to the moderate number of mountains in these areas.


    Mark, Spera, and Chalfar finally reached the mountain just beside the eastern coastline. By Mark''s estimate, the distance increased around four times before the second wave. The mountain ranges now became a wide sea of treesposed of dozens of mountains and hills.


    And there it was. The Stone Fortress...


    Or what was left of it...


    That was right. Most parts of the Stone Fortress were destroyed during the [Fusion of Dimensions].


    It was already mentioned before. The [Eyes] protected humans from utter destruction using barriers fueled by the people''s emotions. The stronger the unity and attachment of people to their current home, the stronger the barrier was.


    However, while the humans were protected, the non-human residents of the [Spirit Dimension] did not receive such protection.


    The residents of the [Spirit Dimension] were left to protect their own.


    Diwata Danaya, the protector of the eastern mountains of General Nakar, might be a strong being. However, she was young. She was less powerfulpared to the older [Diwatas].


    On the ind of Catanduanes, Diwata Iraya managed to protect the whole ind. And it was not only from the fusion but also from the crash of the [Mechid Factory].


    Diwata Danaya did not have such capability, not to mention she had to protect the Stone Fortress as it was transported from the [Spirit Dimension] to Earth. Since Earth''s geography took precedence, thends within the [Spirit Dimension] were torn apart before scattering to form new terrain.


    In that case, it was already an amazing feat for Diwata Danaya to be able to prevent the utter copse of the Stone Fortress and the deaths of most of its residents.


    And currently, the people of the Stone Fortress were rebuilding.


    Mark observed the ruins as they flew closer. By the looks of it, the rebuilding was going slow despite the [Brown Duendes] being known to manipte the soil and stone. However, from the information Berrak brought back, it was because the upper echelon of the [Brown Duendes] contributed to protecting their home. It caused them to have the same weakened status that Diwata Iraya also had currently.


    Besides, the rebuilding efforts were concentrated more on building defenses. The dwellings woulde next while restoring the rest of the fortress wouldest.


    But before everything else, Diwata Danaya and the upper echelon of the [Brown Duendes] made sure of one thing.


    It was to make sure that the chamber that sealed the core of the enemy of the past remained intact, even if it cost their lives.


    Looking at the Stone Fortress, the most intact location was the area where the royal chamber was. The part of the fortress directly above the sealed chambers underneath the fortress.


    As per usual, the sight of a giant winged lizard flying from the sky caused quite a stir among the residents of the Stone Fortress.


    However, themotion died fast before the warriors could grab their bows to aim at the iing monster.


    The residents of the Stone Fortress quickly moved away, creating a clearing within its newly reconstructed walls.


    Mark tapped on Char''s neck and told it tond in the clearing.


    Warriors of the Stone Fortress surrounded the clearing. Nheless, they did not exhibit any hostility. It was probably, only to keep the civilians away and stop them from making any rash actions.


    And there, Diwata Danaya, with a group of warriors, appeared. Her appearance was pretty conspicuous among the hundreds of creatures in the area. It was because she was the only one with a white dress among the magical creatures that wore either brown leather or dark-colored clothing.


    But as they approached closer, Mark realized something unbelievable.


    Charnded in the cleared courtyard without problems. Mark jumped off the [Quasi-Dragon''s] back and helped Spera climb down.


    "It had been a while, Savior."


    Diwata Danaya weed Mark with a greeting.


    Savior. It was now the title that Mark was given in this ce. It was something that came about after Mark''s group left this ce. This title was not surprising considering the circumstances in the past. Not to mention that Mark''s race as a [Blood Demon], a race that maintained the bnce, was now well known in this ce.


    Murmurs came from the gallery after Diwata Danaya called Mark the Savior. Many creatures present were clearly new to this ce. And the most surprising thing, there were Demons among them.


    The Demons were not disguised or anything. These creatures were present in the area in their true forms for everyone to see. Still, most of them were in a group in another area, not mingling much with the other residents of the Stone Fortress.


    Mark ignored the stares filled with either eagerness or disappointment. Those who had seen Mark before were eager to see him. After all, he saved their lives when the corrupted [Lesser Eye] attacked the Stone Fortress]. On the other hand, the new people felt disappointed. After all, the so-called Savior did not look anything valiant. Rather, he was far from it.


    And in response to Diwata Danaya''s greeting, Mark responded with a question.


    "Is that okay?" Mark gestured at the group of Demons lurking from afar since they were the easiest to point at. "Your predecessor isn''t screeching about letting Demons here or anything?"


    Diwata Danaya felt troubled about Mark''s response. After all, her predecessor was extremely hostile when she met Mark within the Sealed Chambers.


    But before the troubled Diwata could make up a response to Mark''s question, amotion ensued.


    <strong>WHOOOOOOOOOOO!</strong>


    The sound of a war horn echoed into everyone''s ears. It came from the north watchtower.


    Due to the sound, the residents were enveloped in subtle tenseness. None of them were blindly panicking, but they were scared.


    A [Sylph] was seen flying from the direction of the watchtower and immediately ryed information to the Diwata.


    "It''s back! The Metal Giant!"


    The [Sylph] reported in a hurry.


    Although the words were in Spirit Language, Mark tranted them in his mind. And the first thing that came to his mind when he heard Metal Giant was...


    A [Mechid].


    And following the words of the [Sylph], it was clear that this was not the first time the enemy attacked the Stone Fortress.


    That was quite odd in that case if it was actually a [Mechid]. After all, [Mechids] also behave like the [Infected]. They attack without retreating. They would only stop if either they destroyed the target or they were the ones that got destroyed.


    Then, what was the enemy?


    As Diwata Danaya was about to tell her followers to guide Mark inside the fortress, Mark spoke to her.


    "We''re also going."


    Mark voiced out.


    Diwata Danaya was surprised at first. But she looked relieved as she thanked Mark as he followed behind her.

 Chapter 947 The Metal Giant, Another Strange And Erratic Creature

    <strong>Day 264 - 9:06 AM - Stone Fortress, Eastern Mountains, General Nakar, Province of Quezon</strong>


    Tension enveloped the ce as Diwata Danaya called for warriors to follow her to the northern walls of the fortress.


    Mark jumped onto Char''s back with Spera. Although they were considered allies, he would not leave Spera alone in this ce. Especially now that different races of Demons were allowed to seek refuge in the Stone Fortress. After all, Spera was human, not to mention one with low control over her emotions. A tasty target for these hungry Demons.


    Diwata Danaya took flight with a few winged warriors and a group of [Sylphs]. They flew with neither noise nor turbulence. On theplete opposite, Char pped his wings, causing a gust of wind filled with dirt and dust. It caused the surrounding spectators to attempt and protect their faces as Char followed closely behind the previous group.


    Before they could even reach the vicinity of the northern walls, the group could already see arrows and magical attacks flying off the rampart. There were not that many soldiers atop the walls. Just around a dozen or so, seemingly being the guards stalling the enemy while waiting for reinforcements. However, something was strange. All the attacks the guards were releasing seemed inclined to flyrge distances than carry raw power.


    As they flew closer, arge boulder was seen hurling toward the walls.


    It was a mango-shaped boulder about the size of a minivan. This size would make it easy for the guards along the walls to dodge it. However, as it was hurled at a speed of around a hundred meters per second, it would not only cause considerable damage to the walls. The broken-off parts of the boulder would fly off into the fortress. It would not only cause more damage but also take lives.


    Diwata Danaya rushed forward, mustering her [Magical Energy] and stretching both her arms in front of her.


    <strong>THOOOOM!</strong>


    A magical barrier was erected in front of the boulder almost instantly.


    <strong>CRASH!</strong>


    The boulder and the barrier collided in a grand fashion. Due to the strong impact, the boulder, which appeared to be solid rock, broke down into pieces. The barrier was shaking heavily, and it was clear that Diwata Danaya had a hard time trying to keep the barrier from breaking.


    Mark and Spera quickly covered their ears. The collision caused a deafening crash and a strong shockwave to spread to the surroundings. Those behind the barrier were not hit by the shockwave, but the trees outside the walls were almost uprooted.


    "Where''s the enemy?"


    Spera voiced out with her right hand on her ear while squinting due to the pain in her ears.


    Mark did not answer as he was also looking for the enemy he had yet to see despite their close distance to the wall. The enemy was called Metal Giant. It should have arge size, not to mention that something that could hurl a boulder thatrge at that speed should be huge.


    <strong>THUMP! THUMP!</strong>


    Faint thumping could be heard from afar. It sounded like the footsteps of a giant creature.


    Finally, Mark and Spera saw the enemy.


    Far down the northern base of the mountain, likely more than two kilometers away from the wall, a humanoid creature stood, towering over the ancient trees.


    "Well... It''s a giant, alright..."


    Mark was speechless.


    It was truly a metal giant. Its skin had a metallic sheen that reflected the morning sunlight.


    And it stood... around thirty meters tall.


    It was the first humanoid creature of this size that Mark had seen.


    With that size, it was no surprise that it was able to throw that boulder over that distance with such destructive power.


    But most importantly...


    Mark''s eyes focused on the head of the creature. While the so-called Metal Giant''s skin had a metallic sheen, its head had a different kind of metallic appearance. To be exact, half of its head seemed to have a different appearance.


    The skin of the Metal Giant had a mix of a greenish and brownish hue. A rusty oxidized copper color. But the right half of its head? It had a dirty white color. It really looked odd.


    Unfortunately, the distance was quite far for Mark to see clearly. He did not have Mei''s eyes, which had a better zoom than the scope of a sniper rifle.


    "Another one ising!"


    A shout from the guards echoed as they saw the Metal Giant bend down, uprooting a tree in each hand.


    And without pause, the Metal Giant threw the two trees it grabbed toward the wall. Both gigantic trees, despite their size, flew like a pebble thrown by an adult human.


    Diwata Danaya immediately strengthened her almost broken barrier. The warriors and [Sylphs] that came with her also created a barrier of their own to support the one the [Diwata] created. A wall of wind was erected behind the [Diwata''s] barrier.


    They all moved in a familiar fashion. It was as if they had done this kind of defensive measure repeatedly.


    THOOOOM!


    The first tree collided with the barrier quickly, and the deafening sound ensued once again. And when the second tree crashed unto Diwata Danaya''s barrier, it finally broke. However, the barrier did enough to weaken the momentum of the second tree. It allowed the wall of wind to stop it.


    Mark and Spera watched the situation. Although they volunteered to follow here, the [Diwata] never asked for their help yet. It was not their ce to just blindly interfere with another ce''s business.


    And from here, the two expected the battle to escte.


    But then...


    <strong>THUMP! THUMP!</strong>


    The giant''s footsteps were heard... fading away.


    Mark frowned at that sight. The Metal Giant turned around and left.


    It was such an odd behavior for either an [Infected] or a [Mechid]. Mark had yet to confirm which of the two the Metal Giant was, but for some reason, its appearance fits both enemies'' descriptions. It had a metallic body that could pass up as a [Mechid]. However, its humanoid body was more akin to a [Infected] than that of the alien robots.


    Still... why would it leave?


    Diwata Danayanded on the rampart, looking straight at the back of the leaving enemy. Her warriors were the same, looking relieved as they lowered their weapons.


    "What is going on?"


    Mark asked Diwata Danaya.


    Diwata Danaya turned to Mark, looking weakened.


    "That monster appeared five days ago."


    Five days ago. That was two days after thest time Berrak paid this ce a visit. No wonder Berrak never reported anything about this, and Odelina had no idea either.


    ording to Diwata Danaya, the Metal Giant appeared with only the thumping of its gigantic feet as a warning.


    The inhabitants of the Stone Fortress readied to confront it even if they had to sacrifice their lives. However, the giant never approached the fortress. All it did was hurl things unto the fortress, whether trees or boulders, as Mark and Spera had just witnessed. One time, it even hurled arge clump of mud, causing a huge mess in and out of the fortress.


    Its attacks had no particr schedule either. The Metal Giant could attack once a day or even twice or trice. The time of the attack was erratic, either. Its distance from the walls also varied in each attack.


    It was an extremely strange behavior.


    However, that erratic behavior brought ringing bells inside Mark''s mind.


    An odd behavior that was done repeatedly, using different items or angles and timing. It was akin to an experiment.


    "Have you tried to attack it head-on?"


    Mark asked the [Diwata].


    "I led a few brave warriors to intercept it twice," Diwata Danaya said with a dismayed expression. "It ignored us most of the encounter. We attacked it with all our might. However, we barely left a scratch. It was where it was given the name Metal Giant. Its metallic body is invincible."


    Mark tapped his chin.


    Diwata Danaya was also weakened because of the [Fusion of Dimensions]. In the first ce, [Diwatas] were not fighter types, making them weak in terms of attack capabilities. Their affinityy on defense, as Diwata Danaya''s barrier had shown. Even Diwata Iraya in Catanduanes showed as such.


    Still, to barely leave a scratch... That Metal Giant''s body was kind of amazing.


    But what was the Metal Giant''s goal?


    It woulde at random times, hurl random things at the Stone Fortress, refuse to borate, and then leave... It did not make any sense.


    If what it wanted was to kill, its already invincible body was more than enough to demolish the ce. Yet, it was leaving after every instance.


    Oddly enough, it gave the feeling that what it wanted was to harass the inhabitants of the Stone Fortress and nothing else.


    Or did it have a deeper reason for showing such erratic behavior?


    "Have you sent anyone to follow it when it leaves?"


    Mark asked Diwata Danaya another question.


    The question made Diwata Danaya show a bitter expression.


    "We did try," Diwata Danaya said with a sigh. "The brave warriors never came back alive. The next time we saw some of them, they were corpses hurled by the Metal Giant, crumpled within clumps of dirt and mud."


    That should have been a traumatic sight, Mark surmised. After those kinds of events, it would be harder to send people to tail the giant.


    Diwata Danaya could probably go. However, as the pir of this ce, she must not go anywhere due to various reasons.


    Mark nced at the worried Diwata. No wonder she did not hesitate to personally wee Mark at his arrival despite being the most important person in this ce. Diwata Danaya might try to ask a favor to Mark. After all, he was far stronger than she was.


    Diwata Danaya spent another few minutes atop the walls. It seemed there was an instance where the Metal Giant pretended to leave and went back after they put their guards down.


    The reinforcements also came in this time span. Although it seemed that it was unnecessary, it was better for them to take action just in case.


    After about ten minutes, Diwata Danaya finally released a relieved sigh.


    "My apologies for such a wee," Diwata Danaya apologized to Mark. "Should we return?"


    Mark had no problems and nodded. Only then they finally made their way into the remaining intact areas of the Stone Fortress.


    Returning to the courtyard filled with refugees, Mark and Spera, along with Char, were still the center of attention.


    But for some reason, Mark was gathering the most attention. Not in a good way, however, as the newer residents cast doubts about him.


    Those doubts, however, made Mark nod in satisfaction.


    This meant that Mark did something right.


    Demon races were categorized as Demons, not because their auras were the same. It was more like because their auras were different from Elementals, Spirits, and nature itself. It was how Demons were differentiated from the magical creatures of nature.


    However, after Mark received the [Blessing of Death''s Aura], the aura that caused people to immediately see him as part of the Demon race was now obscured. Only those with enough strength, such as the [Diwatas], could see through this guise.


    As such, since the rumors about Mark centered on him being a member of the [Blood Demons], the doubts came when they could not determine his aura. And this was something that was only seen in regr, weak humans.


    To be able to utilize this ability to disguise his aura, Mark needed more practice. Still, it was only effective since only Chalfar was with Mark and its appearance was demonic-looking enough.


    If Mark wanted to reveal his lineage less, he needed to know how to mask this aura without the aid of his blessing. It was the same for his family.


    This was something within Mark''s list of things to do before they set off on the next journey. After all, letting everyone capable to know they were Demons on the first meeting was definitely not a good idea.

 Chapter 948 A Pure Negotiation, Sincerely Asking For Help And An Interesting Reward

    <strong>Day 263 - 9:48 AM - Private Room, Stone Fortress, Eastern Mountains, General Nakar, Province of Quezon</strong>


    Leaving the scrutinizing eyes and entering what remained of the Stone Fortress, Mark and Spera were led to a room different from what they had expected.


    Thest time they were here, all wees and meetings were more or less done within the throne room. This time, Mark and Spera were brought to a rather unfamiliar room. The room looked more or less simple. Something that one could see in castle fortresses made of stone. Nheless, it looked a bit more elegant due to the furniture that decorated itpared to the rest of the fortress, with the throne room as an exception.


    What stood out the most in this room was the types of furniture that were neither carved nor built. There were several examples. One was a flower growing at the center of the ceiling. Though the sunlight shined through the window, the flower above their heads was the brightest light source in the room. Even the bed was not normal, as it was made of bright green vines.


    "Please, stand guard outside," Diwata Danaya said to her escorts. "Also, call for the princess and her entourage."


    In this scenario, one would think that the [Diwata''s] escorts would blurt out lines of disagreement. After all, they knew Mark was a Demon. A pure-blood at that. However, contrary to expectations, the escorts respectfully bowed their heads and retreated without a word.


    "They are pretty agreeable, aren''t they?"


    Spera voiced out without holding back.


    Mark had the same thought. However, he had more control over his mouth.


    "They obey all my words without question after the world changed. [Fusion of Dimensions] was it? I heard from the princess," Diwata Danaya bitterly exined. "All the leaders of the other tribes were either weakened or dead. Right now, I am the only lifeline of this refuge. As such, they were afraid to cause me any displeasure even more than in the past."


    Mark nodded in understanding after hearing Diwata Danaya''s exnation.


    As Diwata Danaya had mentioned. The leaders of the tribes that Mark met before were either weakened or dead. That was how harsh the effects of the [Fusion of Dimensions] were to the inhabitants of the Spirit Dimension. After all, they did not receive the protection of the [Eyes]. The king and queen of the [Brown Duendes], also the leaders of this fortress, were in a weakened state. That was why their children were now leading the restoration of the fortress. They received as much authority as their parents.


    "Before everything else," Diwata Danaya interrupted Mark''s thoughts. "Wee to my humble abode."


    That was right. This room was Diwata Danaya''s bedroom. While it might sound inappropriate to bring guests directly to one''s bedroom, it was not like they had much choice. Her room was the most suitable ce to receive important people in the current state of the fortress. There were other ces to receive guests, but Mark was this important as the leader of another base nearby.


    Diwata Danaya waved her hand. The vines that decorated the room grew and moved, creating a set of tables and chairs. She then guided her two guests to take a seat.


    "So, should we start with the reason for your sudden visit?"


    Diwata Danaya asked Mark.


    It was not an unreasonable opening question. Mark and Spera came here without warning, after all.


    "There''s no important reason, really," Mark honestly replied. "I just decided to take a look around the settlements and refuge we consider allies before I stay put in my ce for a while."


    When Diwata Danaya heard that Mark considered this ce their ally, she had a pleasant expression. In the current state of the world, it was something nice and amazing if one could make it on their own. Nheless, there were dangers that one needed help as going alone was more of a suicide than trying to survive.


    "And rather than me needing something," Mark continued. "It''s more like you are the ones needing help."


    Diwata Danaya sighed. It was true, after all.


    At this time, a knock was heard on the door.


    "Come in."


    Diwata Danaya spoke.


    Invited by the [Diwata], the person outside the room opened the door and came in.


    Mark looked at the familiar face he had not seen for a while.


    It was Felenia. The first wife of Teremillio and the princess of the Stone Fortress. As a [Brown Duende], she was usually her original small stature. However, she came here in human size. Regr [Duendes] might not have this ability, but someone of royal blood like her did.


    The moment Felenia entered, she looked at the three people inside. She looked a bit baffled as she looked at Mark.


    On the other hand, Spera was also confused. Felenia was alone. She expected Teremillio and his harem toe with her.


    "You''re alone?"


    Spera could not help but ask. It caused Felenia to have a bitter expression.


    "Hold back, will you. Let the princess take a seat first."


    Mark said, flicking Spera''s forehead, making her cover her forehead while ring at him. On the other hand, Mark''s mention of Felenia''s status made her aware that he was aware of what was happening.


    "This is also about that giant, yes?"


    Mark ignored Spera''s re and asked Felenia after she sat down.


    In response to his question, Felenia lowered her head.


    "As the Princess of the Stone Fortress, I would like to ask your help."


    Felenia asked Mark, not as a member of his base but as the princess of her homnd.


    It was something that she did not have to do, really.


    Teremillio and everyone in the tribe he led before was already members of Mark''s base. Of course, Felenia was among them as Teremilio''s first wife. If she asked Mark for help, it was not wrong to say that Mark had a bit of responsibility to help. After all, she was one of his people, and he was not a tyrant.


    Yet, Felenia asked Mark as the princess. She did not want to take advantage of Mark and put a crack in their rtionship. Not to mention that it was a problem that her home should handle on its own.


    This was a fair trade. And if not a pledge of allegiance, it was an establishment of a formal alliance.


    "Then, if you two asked me like this, I reckon the price is already prepared."


    Mark asked.


    At this time, a presence was felt appearing within the room.


    Mark looked at the empty space beside Diwata Danaya as an invisible figure emerged before their eyes.


    Immediately, both Diwata Danaya and Felenia stood from their seats and kneeled down in respect.


    Spera grabbed Mark''s arm, a bit tense due to the unusual scene.


    And Mark stared at the apparition that hated Demons to the core. He felt neither the necessity to kneel nor do anything.


    The apparition fully emerged. It was the imprint of Diwata Luwalhati. She was the very same imprint that guarded the sealed room within the depths of the fortress.


    Diwata Luwalhati was ring at Mark like thest time they met. Nheless, the intensity of the re was much weaker. She then turned her head towards the two women kneeling before her.


    "Rise, the two of thou." Diwata Luwalhati spoke. "Is this demon forsooth trustworthy as thou imply?"


    Diwata Danaya and Felenia raised their heads but did not leave their kneeling posture.


    "Yes," Felenia replied. "I will wager my body and soul."


    In Felenia''s eyes, Mark was not a blindly good person. However, he was trustworthy to his allies and would not cause them any harm unless they were the ones to betray him first. It was what Felenia learned about him after living in the base he had built for some time.


    "What is this about?"


    Mark interjected. Since the imprint appeared when he mentioned payment, it must have something to do with it.


    Diwata Danaya turned to Mark.


    "We had already nned to establish contact with you, or at least, your base, to ask for help. Even if you did note here, we might havee there or sent a message through the man named Berrak. And in exchange for your help, we decided to use the item sealed beneath the fortress. Thest time... We remember that you are quite interested in it."


    The item being sealed beneath the fortress... It was the ming orb floating in the middle of nine magical pirs. The very reason why the Demons targeted this fortress previously.


    "Well, that''s surprising..." Mark said, realizing something. "There''s something more to this, right?"


    Both Diwata Danaya and Felenia had bitter expressions.


    "We don''t intend to hide it," Diwata Danaya exined. "The [Fusion of Dimensions] caused the sealing pirs to be damaged. None of us can fix it as it was an ancient contraption. Although we don''t know how long it willst, the seal will be broken after some time. Since we don''t have any way to reseal it, we figured we might as well use it as payment for your help. It was coveted by the Demons, so it might have some use. And since you seem to have a lot of absurd knowledge, you might figure something to use it for."


    "Why is that thing even sealed here?" Mark asked. "And what will happen if the seal breaks?"


    Mark turned to the imprint for the exnation, but it was clear that she did not want to talk to Mark, who was a Demon. That was why Diwata Danaya bitterly answered Mark''s question.


    "It is the core of a [me Demon Deity]. A Deity that was even able to escape the pursuit of several Gods. Sealing it was the most viable option since destroying it would cause massive destruction of the surroundings," Diwata Danaya nced at the imprint of Diwata Luwalhati. "The Ancestor sacrificed herself to seal it since its power might even destroy a huge chunk of the northern regions of this country. That was how powerful it was. Although there''s no immediately repercussions when the seal breaks, it would still be unstable."


    Basically... It was more or less a nuclear bomb if it was destroyed.


    A Deity-level [me Demon]. It caused Mark to remember Gar''m, who was of the same race. Although using a different method, that guy was also sealed, separating his soul from his body. And when the seal of his body got broken, Taal Volcano and its surroundings became a hellishndscape inhabited by a gigantic Lava Infected that swallowed the body by coincidence.


    Mark turned to Diwata Danaya and Felenia. Although it sounded like an interesting payment, it did not erase the fact that it felt like they were passing their responsibility of keeping the core to Mark. In a business negotiation, Diwata Danaya''s exnation was unnecessary.


    Even so, Mark would notin.


    Scam or not, it was a good trade if both parties were satisfied in the end.


    Mark did not mind them passing the responsibility over the core to him. Instead, he was rather eager to get a new toy. Besides, he was the perfect person to get that core since energy explosions would be the least of his worry due to his [Miasma].


    "Is it bad?" Felenia anxiously asked. "If not, we will prepare other things."


    Not only Felenia. Even Diwata Danaya was anxiously waiting for Mark''s reply.


    Mark scratched his head. These two were too pure for these kinds of negotiations.


    Then, Mark stood up to the confusion of everyone in the room.


    "Ready the core," Mark said. "Spera, stay here for a bit."


    "Where are you going?"


    Spera asked.


    "Well, this is a business trade. I need to fulfill my end first before getting paid."


    Those words from Mark made the eyes of Diwata Danaya and Felenia light up in glee.


    "Do you need any assistance?" Diwata Danaya asked Mark. "We will provide assistance if needed."


    "No need," Mark shook his head. "I don''t think this will take too long."


    And in front of everyone, Mark vanished into a surge of mist.

 Chapter 949 The Trampled Path, Finding Out The True Cause Of The Problem

    <strong>Day 263 - 10:02 AM - Stone Fortress, Eastern Mountains, General Nakar, Province of Quezon</strong>


    Leaving Spera grumbling about his sudden decisions, Mark departed from the Stone Fortress.


    Unfortunately, Mark did not want to waste much time, even if the request was too sudden. After visiting this ce today, he had other engagements from tomorrow onwards. Thus, he only had today to finish this job.


    And well... The fact that Mark was interested in the core was also a factor in the eagerness he disyed. Not like he knew what to do with it. Nheless, a game hoarder like him would not pass any quest to get a pretty rare item. Besides, if the problem was the core''s energy, his [Miasma] should be able to handle it.


    If the core was truly as powerful as Diwata Danaya exined, even if Mark could not find any use for it, absorbing its energy would be a huge help.


    After all, Mark''s [Miasma] was still way far from its peak strengthpared to before they fought Sinogo.


    Mark moved as a surge of ck mist flying through the shadows. He made it out of the fortress and appeared far above its tallest tower. Upon the emergence of his body from the mist, Mark immediately began to descend. It was then his three pairs of wings emerged behind his back, and he soared far after a single p.


    A few keen-eyed people below noticed something amiss in the sky. However, Mark''s altitude and speed made them see nothing but a blurry shadow.


    Mark flew towards the north. This direction was his only clue about the [Metal Giant]. Normally, one would ask for more details about a mission they were given. However, Mark knew that it was unnecessary in this situation. Diwata Danaya and Felenia were also in the dark. The things they mentioned in the conversation earlier should be everything they had.


    In any case, Mark did not have to struggle to look for traces. That giant was huge. Each step it had taken on its path should leave a footprint behind. Even trees and the terrain on their way should be damaged.


    After all, even humans leave traces after stepping on the grass, and the trace was clearer the more the grass was trampled. Given that the Metal Giant had repeated its harassment for the past five days, its traces could not be hidden.


    Mark zoomed down to the northern base of the mountain. As he expected, there was a huge clearing visible even from afar. It was not a clearing devoid of flora. And rather, all the flora in that clearing was trampled by gigantic footsteps. Most were already buried in the ground.


    As hended his feet on the mushy ground, Mark''s eyes were set on the trampled path to the north.


    Not making any unnecessary pause, Mark kicked the ground and soared through the trampled path before him.


    It might be far easier to follow the path from the sky. However, Mark wanted to check on another thing.


    From the things that Mark heard earlier from Diwata Danaya and Felenia, the warriors tasked to tail the Metal Giant were killed, and pieces of their bodies were thrown back to the fortress.


    That information was crucial but a hard-to-spot detail.


    Mark followed the trail. Due to the uneven mountain-filled terrain, it looked like the giant made a few twists and turns while retreating. He followed the turns while cycling through the conjectures in his mind.


    The Metal Giant had more than enough strength to fling a boulder about two kilometers away, and it still almost destroyed Diwata Danaya''s full-strength barrier. The warriors that the Stone Fortress had might be stronger than regr humans. However, it did not mean that all of them would be able to avoid bing meat paste after getting hit by that giant with the strength it had.


    Mark frowned.


    It was awfully suspicious that the Metal Giant had bodies to throw back to the Stone Fortress. Not that it was impossible. However, to instill fear in the residents of the fortress to the point of trauma, that attack should have contained more than enough bodies to instill that effect.


    If that were the case, there should be some hidden factors at y in that particr event.


    And that factor was...


    <strong>SWOOSH!</strong>


    After about five minutes of full-speed flight, Mark suddenly spun midair as something fast-moving jumped unto him. He sessfully evaded the ambush and immediately took a proper look at the attacker.


    The frown on Mark''s forehead went deeper.


    It was something unexpected. The attacker was an [Evolved Animal]. An [Evolved Canine], to be exact. Due to the strange characteristics it now disyed, it was hard to determine what kind of dog it was.


    But its breed was not what made Mark frown. The familiar awful smell entered his nose, along with some unexpected characteristics of the attacker.


    "GRRRRR!"


    Letting out a growl as itnded, the ambusher turned into a blur as it jumped towards Mark once again. It was impressive that the [Evolved Canine] was able to keep up with Mark''s flight speed with just a single pounce.


    Mark suddenly elerated and flew upwards. Following the maneuver with a back flip midair, Mark''s feet were now a few inches above the head of the enemy.


    <strong>BAM!</strong>


    Mark''s feet struck the [Evolved Canine''s] head with a midair stomp. The attack not only smashed the animal''s head to the ground, but their speed made it slide a few meters forward before stopping on a crushed tree trunk.


    It was a one-hit kill. The [Evolved Canine''s] neck was bent at an angle it was not supposed to.


    <strong>SWOOSH!</strong>


    However, Mark could not rx. He suddenly bent his body backward as another blur passed an inch before his body. Mark then jumped back to avoid another blurry figure that whipped its tail at him.


    Another two [Evolved Animals]. One was a feline, and one was a rodent. Both evolved into bigger bodies.


    Two? No.


    Mark took a deep breath. He was surrounded at all angles. Different kinds of insects and animals slowly emerged from the trees at the side of the trampled path. Some of them were flying. There were also those who crawled on the ground.


    There was no doubt that it was these animals that killed the warriors that followed the Metal Giant.


    Looking around, Mark had no idea how many there were.


    A strange sight? Yes, it was.


    [Evolved Animals] did start forming packs and territories. However, it was never this diverse in terms of species.


    And most importantly, Mark, an [Empath], was ambushed without being able to detect them all.


    Yes... All these animals were dead.


    Not the [Infected] kind, however. These animals were literally dead.


    Mark''s eyes panned further on his surroundings. Each animal had a metallic apparatus attached to different parts of their heads. Some even upied the entire brain area of the animal. Those apparatus also had wires and tubes that connected to the different parts of the animal''s body.


    This sight made Mark remember that the Metal Giant had a simr different colored metal on its head. While Mark was unable to see it since it was far, the Metal Giant might also have those wires and tubes.


    Other people might not understand what was happening. However, these creatures made Mark remember...


    The very first [Mechid] that Mark fought outside the Mountain Base. The one he called the [Latcher]. A [Mechid] that took root on an [Evolved Dog''s] head and upied its brain, controlling the dead body.


    It just meant that all these animals, and possibly the Metal Giant too, were an entire colony of [Latchers].


    Thinking about it, the [Latcher] that Mark caught was rather baffling. It was the only [Latcher] that Mark had seen until now in the area.


    And right now, a saying shed into Mark''s mind.


    If there was one, expect more.


    Mark did not encounter [Latchers] in other ces. It was because their numbers were concentrated in an area nearby.


    <strong>THUMP! THUMP!</strong>


    The thumping sounds ofrge footsteps were heard. The earth visibly shook due to the close proximity of the footsteps. Some of the animals stumbled and fell due to the shaking. However, they just stood up afterward like it was nothing.


    On the other hand, Mark was unaffected by the tremors since he was hovering in midair.


    Those tremors clearly indicated that the Metal Giant wasing.


    Unfortunately, this was not an action movie. The minions would not wait for their boss to appear before starting the assault.


    As such, Mark, who was surrounded by enemies, was suddenly barraged with attacks. They did not care whether the ground was shaking or not. Their goal was to kill Mark as soon as possible.


    Mark immediately took evasive maneuvers. Blurry figures pounced at him continuously from below while flying enemies swooped at him from above. Spikes from some animals flew from different directions. There were also acidic spits the poisonous creatures.


    Attacks rained on Mark.


    It was a rain of death.


    Not to mention that all the attacks were perfectly calcted. There was not a single instance that friendly fire urred among the enemies. It was something one could expect from these highly advanced alien robots.


    If the warriors from the Stone Fortress faced this kind of ambush, no wonder they all died without being able to escape.


    Mark''s figure blurred as he evaded the rain of attacks. Of course, he did not forget to slip in a few counterattacks.


    Each attack Mark slipped in was aimed at the [Latchers] on the heads of the enemies. It was not easy. Everything was moving fast, and hitting one specific part of the enemies'' heads required speed, skills, and concentration. Not to mention that the parts that needed to be hit were different for every creature.


    If not for the fact that the [Latchers] stood out in contrast to the bodies theytched unto, things would be far harder.


    Mark began to contemte. It would not be hard for him to destroy these enemies in one go. A single powerful st of [Miasmic Lightning] would clear all these animals in one go. Since Mark did not want to waste time, it was the easiest thing to do.


    However, Mark was somehow hesitant. He did not know why but he felt that it was not the right time to end this mess in such a way.


    As such, Mark focused on his current situation. He evaded and counterattacked, eliminating the enemies one by one.


    Mark was not enjoying it. He was not that much of a battle junkie.


    <strong>THOOOM!</strong>


    The loud thumping sound vibrated into Mark''s ears.


    It was the Metal Giant. It finally arrived.


    The gigantic shadow loomed on Mark. Now that the Metal Giant was in front of him, Mark could not help but feel small.


    About thirty meters tall, Mark''s height was just up the giant''s ankle.


    <strong>BOOOM!</strong>


    The wind exploded. The swarm of animals suddenly retreated as the Metal Giant swung its right leg at Mark for a devastating kick. It was as if it was kicking a ser ball aiming for a goal.


    Mark knew. Stupidly receiving this attack would cause him more than just broken bones.


    And evading it was what Mark did.


    Mark''s wings exhibited the familiar red glow. His flight speed dramatically rose as he flew up to the sky. He evaded not only the kick but the encirclement of the flying enemies from above.


    After evading everything below, Mark did not stop flying until he reached the same height as the giant''s face.


    A question floated inside Mark''s head after seeing the [Latchers] on the animals'' heads. Was the oddly colored metal on the giant''s head also a [Latcher]? Was it possible that there was a [Latcher] that could cover half of the head of a thirty-meter-tall giant?


    Mark was finally going to see the answer.


    And Mark''s eyebrows immediately gave a disgusted frown as his head began to itch psychologically.


    Finding an answer to that question was a mistake.


    The oddly colored part of the Metal Giant''s head was indeed a [Latcher]. Well... A colony of [Latchers]. Latched on the giant''s head like a gigantic cluster of disgustingly ced insects.

 Chapter 950 [Latchers], The Parasitic Pathogen-Hacked Alien Robots

    <strong>Day 263 - 10:14 AM - Coastal Mountain Range, General Nakar, Province of Quezon</strong>


    The emotionless Mark received emotional damage as he saw the scene before him. Unfortunately, this damage stemmed from the roots of human DNA. It was disgust to an instinctual level.


    Mark could not help but open his clenched fists. ck sparks of electricity crackled from his palm as the urge to destroy the scene before him appeared in his mind.


    However, Mark closed his fists once again, calming himself as he dodged the parasitized birds charging at him with their spear-like beaks.


    "It''s not the right time."


    Mark murmured.


    While the urge to defeat the enemy and immediately end this disgusting mess appeared in his mind, his intuition also told him that it was not the right time. That something was amiss.


    Furthermore, given that these things were found near his base, Mark should also take the opportunity to observe them closely. To deduce the capability of these [Latchers] and see how they work. At least until the urge holding him back was gone.


    Mark waved his arms forward. A hole in space opened in front of his right hand that wore the [Spatial Ring]. Two sword handles appeared from the hole, which Mark pulled quickly.


    Two whip-des stretched out with full force as they were pulled out of the hole, just in time to bisect two birds charging at Mark in half. ck goo sttered in the air as the [Latchers] on the birds'' heads were sliced through.


    Several more birds shot toward Mark, their beaks wanting to bore deadly holes into his body. With how big these [Evolved Birds] were, their beaks could punch a hole the size of an American football with the smallest bird.


    Mark spun his body, making the metal-stretched des dance with his moves. With the movements of the whip-des, more enemies fell, and more ck goo sttered to the ground.


    While he fought, Mark observed the enemies. It was even to the point of purposelynding to be attacked by the enemies on the ground.


    As Marknded on the ground, the fierce beasts immediately besieged him from all directions. At this point, Mark saw a subtle difference in the movements of the enemies.


    When Mark reached this area and was attacked by the first few enemies, they felt more controlled, holding back as he saw. They were aiming to kill him, yes, however, not with the current level of aggression.


    At this moment, the aggression was on a whole new level. All the enemies, the [Latched Evolved Animals] or the parasitized Metal Giant, were now clearly wanting to tear Mark into pieces.


    It was such a mystifying behavior. [Mechids] were smarter than the [Infected]. They were as aggressive, but like the rare types of [Infected], they could disy odd behaviors.


    However, those odd behaviors mostly had a reason. It was due to the fact that despite the [Mechids] being hacked by the [Mechid Pathogen], making them aggressive, they still use calctions and actions programmed into them.


    The examples of these odd behaviors were the changing aggression level and the fact that these [Mechids] were throwing random stuff at the Stone Fortress and retreating.


    As these thoughts passed through Mark''s mind, he realized the reason he was holding back by instinct.


    Mark wanted to know the reason why these [Mechids] were behaving this way. And there was possibly another thing.


    As he realized what was holding him back, Mark began to take the fight a bit more seriously.


    Mark''s pupils glowed purple. The movements of everything around him were now projected into his eyes a second into the future. His actions became more precise, and the number of enemies attacking him decreased faster.


    Nheless, Mark did not make anyrge moves to kill enemies more than he should have. Although he continued to decrease their numbers consistently, he did it one by one.


    While on his killing spree, Mark continued to observe the enemies. Not only the way they attack but how the [Latchers] behaved.


    Mark even tried a few times where he only aimed to destroy the parasitized body and left the [Latcher] intact. However, the [Latchers] that lost their hosts only had one thing in mind. It was the same as the first [Latcher] he encountered and caught.


    The [Latchers] tend to run away after losing their host. Of course, Mark did not let them escape. While he fended against the other enemies, Mark "identally" stomped or waved his sword at them.


    Why was Mark acting? It was to make sure that the [Latchers] would not calcte that they had no chance of winning against Mark. As these pesky mechanical parasites had the tendency to run away, it was possible for them to opt for escape if they deemed that it was impossible to win against him.


    A wide acid spit rained upon Mark. He could only jump away, only to find himself under the arm swing of the Metal Giant.


    Mark gave a quick shrug as he "stumbled" away from the giant''s attack. The ground shook, making many parasitized animals stumble.


    The smart [Latchers] took advantage of their enemy stumbling. The unaffected ones, especially the birds and flying insects, immediately swarmed at Mark.


    However, Mark managed to evade their attacks, taking down more of them as he did so.


    Mark sneakily smiled. The enemies'' aggression continued to increase the longer Marksted. The acid spit and the Metal Giant''s arm swing, for example, actually caused coteral damage to their own. It was something that did not happen earlier because of the [Latchers''] almost perfect coordination despite their numbers.


    At this time, Mark was already finished with his observations. There were barely any changes and details worth paying attention to.


    Still, Mark observed a few amazing things. It was like how the [Latchers] had full control of their hosts. It was as if they were originally part of the host. They could perfectly utilize the natural strength and speed of the host and even use their host''s abilities. And in Mark''s assumption, it was also possible that these [Latchers] were utilizing their hosts even better than when the hosts were still alive.


    What made these [Latchers] a bit terrifying was the possibility of them having amunicationwork. If not, how could anyone exin their seamless teamwork and coordination? This factor alone could be the reason why none of the warriors that tailed the Metal Giant managed to escape. Of course, the number of parasitized animals was a factor too.


    Mark decided. While these [Latchers] did look disgusting when clumped together, he would still catch a dozen to take home. If they did have amunicationwork, it would be nice if Mark could find a way to utilize it. It would be best if he could hijack thatwork, although it was the most impossible thing to do.


    <strong>TING!</strong>


    Mark''s eyes opened wide. The urge to hold back suddenly vanished.<novelnext>  </novelnext>


    It was then Mark spun his body midair as he felt danger from behind him.


    A sneak attack. These damn alien robot parasites were not only capable of ambushes but also mid-battle sneak attacks.


    But then, Mark''s eyes fell on the weapon that passed just over his right shoulder. It was a primitive stone spear. Seeing that weapon, he knew that what he was waiting for finally came.


    Marknded on the ground, facing where the spear came flying from.


    Another group of parasitized enemies came. It looked like these [Latchers] could also call for backup.


    However, it was not just ordinary backup. The backup was unlike the animal hosts Mark was fighting until now. And it was possibly why the Metal Giant kept harassing the Stone Fortress but not attacking head-on.


    "These parasites were baiting people toe after them, huh..."


    Mark surmised.


    The new enemies before Mark were a few of the warriors that tailed the Metal Giant. Right now, they were all dead, with the top of their heads reced by these alien robot parasites.


    Joining the fray, the new enemies attacked Mark. They carried weapons like spears and bolo knives. Most importantly, they were utilizing the warrior''s racial traits perfectly.


    Among the warriors of Stone Fortress, and possibly the whole Philippines, the fastest runners were the [Tikbngs]. Two of the parasitized warriors were of this race. The two turned into blurs and zoomed toward Mark with their spears.


    Mark was ready for the attack. However, the speed was still unexpected. It was better to say that they were faster than the usual [Tikbngs].


    The spears pierced through Mark''s body... Well, his afterimage. Mark moved faster than the [Tikbngs] and avoided the iing attacks.


    At this time, Mark''s urge to hold back was all gone. It meant that his intuition was telling him that it was okay to go all out.


    But why? Why now?


    Mark flew to the sky, creating a trail of falling dead bodies of birds and insects. His eyes fell on the parasitized warriors. They arrived just now, which meant that they were somewhere else. If Mark had eliminated all the enemies before these reinforcements came, there was a huge possibility that they would not go here and fled instead.


    But since Mark was acting, holding back, and giving the enemies some leeway, the [Latchers] probably calcted that Mark would be defeated using the reinforcements.


    Mark was d that his intuition had kicked in. However, why and how? Was it a bonus after he got the blessing? Or was his [Future Sight] on the verge of upgrading too? Mark could not fathom why.


    But mulling over the reason was forter. Mark should begin cleaning up since all the yers were now on the field.


    Mark''s eyes moved around, searching the attackers he was mowing down one by one. He then picked [Latchers] that fully upied their host''s brain area, ripped them off their hosts, and tossed them inside his [Spatial Ring].


    It seemed that the [Latchers] noticed what Mark was doing, and they became even more aggressive.


    But their aggressiveness did not matter anymore. Mark was finished acting.


    With a single wave of his whip-des, several [Latchers] were destroyed. The des moved on their own, seeking the parasitestched on the dead hosts and destroying them.


    The sudden increase of deaths among their kind seemed to have made the [Latchers] frantic. The Metal Giant rushed toward''s Mark, trying to swat him with its gigantic hands.


    Unfortunately, Mark evaded the giant''s attacks with ease while ck-colored sparks began to crackle on his hands.


    Mark was finished collecting a dozen different [Latchers].


    And then, as another swat from the Metal Giant came, Mark flew at it and gave the giant an electrifying high-five.


    <strong>BOOM!</strong>


    [Miasmic Lightning] exploded into the Metal Giant''s body. Given that its skin was metallic, it made it easier for the lightning to travel all over its body. The Metal Giant began to exude smoke from its body and orifices, and the disgusting clump of [Latchers] on its head exploded one after another.


    The [Latchers] on the ground froze. Seemingly recalcting the unexpected seen and the damage they incurred.


    And then, seeing Mark as a critical-level threat, the enemies began to disperse.


    However, Mark already anticipated this move as it was nothing new.


    Using the body of the Metal Giant as a pir and conductor, Mark spread out the [Miasmic Lightning] from the top of the giant''s head and a few feet under the ground from the giant''s foot that sunk unto the ground. The maic field created by the cage kept the Metal Giant from falling and making it the pir of the deadly cage.


    A thirty-meter tall cage of ck-colored lightning was created, preventing the escape of the [Latchers] that swarmed Mark earlier.


    Many [Latchers] tried to jump through the lightning cage. After all, lightning was not solid. It was not blocking anyone from going in and out. However, as the [Latchers] touched the ominous lightning, all their systems died. Not to mention the ck goo inside their hardware getting erased from existence.


    The remaining [Latchers] stopped in their tracks, seemingly looking at the death of their kind before their eyes.


    Mark smiled as he looked down from the sky. The hunter and the prey switched just like that, inside an inescapable cage.


    Now, it was time to finish his work here while getting a few more [Latchers]. He also chose to get a few of the "dead" [Latchers] that touched the cage. After all, it would not hurt to bring a few more specimens for experiments and scientific studies.

 Chapter 951 Return And Report, The Youngs Doubts And The Olds Experience

    <strong>Day 263 - 10:29 AM - Stone Fortress, Eastern Coastal Mountain, General Nakar, Province of Quezon</strong>


    Diwata Danaya left Felenia to entertain Spera as their guest. She went to the roof of the fortress and stood while staring at the mountains to the north.


    The young [Diwata] was waiting for Mark''s triumphant return.


    There was no need for Diwata Danaya toe out while waiting. She could stay inside her abode. However, a few things were lingering and troubling her mind.


    "There is no need to be perturbed."


    An apparition appeared beside Diwata Danaya. Of course, it was no one else but the imprint of Diwata Luwalhati.


    "Ancestor..." Diwata Danaya spoke, keeping her eyes on the mountains to the north. "How can I be helpless at times like this? I am the current protector, the Deity of this mountain. But I can''t do anything but wait. We are lucky that we have someone to ask for help... And right now... The only thing we can give in exchange is the most important thing we had."


    Diwata Danaya''s voice was full of doubt as she continued.


    "Although we decided to offer the core because of the broken seal, it also meant that the Ancestor''s existence would reach its end."


    Diwata Luwalhati floated to Diwata Danaya''s side and looked at the same mountains to the north.


    "Mine existence is nought but borrowed." The apparition replied. "I am not thy true Ancestor. I am just a remembrance. A piece of remembrance left to guard the core. May it be now or the unseen future, mine existence would fade."


    Diwata Luwalhati turned to the scene below the fortress.


    "I yet have other doubts about Demons. If giving them refuge would be a wise decision... Or... If that Pure-blood Demon by the name Mark could warrant our trust. Unfortunately, an imprint like me, molded with hate towards Demons, had no ability to gauge trust in that ursed race. That is why I had chosen thou and that princess of the soil to decide. If the path thee had chosen was correct, it would be a perfect end of mine duties as the guardian of the seal."


    Diwata Luwalhati then turned to Diwata Danaya.


    "Andstly, do not belittle thyself."


    Those words made Diwata Danaya turn to her Ancestor as the imprint of Diwata Luwalhati continued.


    "Us, beings one with nature, excel at protection and not aggression. The first of our race was created by Bath to protect the sacrednds. After the predecessor ended their duty, a new protector would be born anew. In the past, I... No, the true Luwalhati protected this mountain and the expanse of nature around it. Then came thy predecessor. And now, thou. Thyself was doing far better than Luwalhati at thy age. The young Luwalhati frolicked in these mountains without care or responsibility, doted by the creatures around her. Only when the ursed Demons attacked, killing her beloved subjects, she woke up to her duties as the sacrednd''s protector."


    "Thou had no need for such stimulus," The imprint smiled. "Thou grew attentive, responsible, cautious, but with a kind heart and a good judgment. Thou is far better than Luwalhati and your predecessor, Mya."


    Diwata Danaya was quite teary after hearing thepliment from Diwata Luwalhati. The one before her might just be an imprint left by her true Ancestor. Nheless, it did not make thepliment lighter or shallow, as the imprint shared the same outlook as the original.


    At this time, the two were interrupted by a sudden wave of magical energy. It was not only the two. Everyone that was sensitive enough to magical fluctuations within the Stone Fortress was perturbed by the sudden outburst of magical energy.


    While everyone that noticed the fluctuations felt afraid and confused, the two [Diwatas] faced the direction where it wasing from, realizing who the energy might have belonged. It made them wonder what was going on with Mark for him to cause such a strong magical fluctuation.


    The magical fluctuations from the north stopped after a minute or so. This was the sign of either Mark finishing his work or getting defeated. Of course, Diwata Danaya believed that it was quite impossible for thetter scenario to happen.


    However, there was nothing butplete silence after the fluctuation stopped. This made Diwata Danaya pretty nervous about the oue.


    An hour passed. Only then did the two [Diwatas] spot a silhouette flying towards the Stone Fortress from the mountains north of the Stone Fortress.


    It was the first time for Diwata Danaya to see the current wings that Mark had. And for the imprint of Diwata Luwalhati, it would be the first time she would see Mark with his wings. And despite the different circumstances of the two, they were both shocked.


    The reason was not Mark''s wings having a different appearance. It was because the two could tell the concentrated aura of death that those wings contained. In the first ce, since Mark was purposedly hiding it, the two did not realize that Mark had obtained a blessing connected to the powers of death. And now that it was exposed, it was no surprise that the two showed such reactions.


    But most importantly, Mark was flying while dragging a pair of baggage midair. Tightly tied by the chains Mark was holding, two spheres dangled. To be precise, these two spheres were gigantic eyes.


    Mark was not in a hurry as he flew towards the Stone Fortress. As such, more creatures within the vicinity of the fortress saw Mark. Some looked in awe, while some stared in horror. The eyes he carried might be eye-catching, but for the magical creatures, his wings took more attention.


    Three pairs of wings, pitch ck and emanated a sinister aura. It was the proof of a [Pure Blood Demon]. A monarch or royal blood within his race.


    While to the non-Demons, these wings signified terror and danger, to the Demons, it was akin tomoners seeing a king of a foreign kingdom. That was the reason for their awe as they gazed at the man flying in the sky.


    Amidst themotion of the people below, Mark spotted the two [Diwatas] at the top of the fortress. It was hard to miss them as their long white dress stood out with the stone background around them. He then carefully dropped the eyeballs outside the walls. The fear stemming from Mark''s presence made the guards up the walls extremely wary of Mark. Some of them recognized him. Nheless, their instinctual fear got ahead of them as they aimed their bows.


    "Halt. Put down your weapons."


    The voice of Diwata Danaya echoed into the guards'' ears. That voice carried a soothing aura that calmed the scared guards.


    It was then that Diwata Danaya could be seen while floating in Mark''s direction.


    Diwata Danaya''s eyes were focused on the eyeballs that Mark brought back. The eyeballs tied with chains were actuallyrger than them.


    "These are..."


    Diwata Danaya voiced out in awe.


    "The giant''s eyeballs," Mark spoke before Diwata Danaya could finish her question. "I thought I should bring back some evidence that I finished the work properly."


    The eyeballs of the Metal Giant. There was no other proof that would best these enormously-sized items.<novelnext>  </novelnext>


    Diwata Danaya had a lot of questions. However, as she looked at the surroundings...


    "This is not a proper ce for a conversation. We should return to my abode."


    Diwata Danaya said to Mark, to which he agreed.


    The young [Diwata] led Mark over the wall while not forgetting to set up people to guard the eyeballs outside.


    ***


    Back within the abode of Diwata Danaya, Mark answered the questions posed to him. What happened after Mark set off, the actual cause of this mess, the possible reasons for the giant''s behavior, and why it took Mark another hour to return.


    "So, these things are the reason..."


    Felenia said while staring at the [Latcher] that Markid on the floor to show to them.


    After all, who would not feel disgusted after Mark iterated everything he saw. A parasitic [Mechid], capable of clustering on a host''s head. It was such a disgusting scene to imagine.


    "That aside... you sure took your time looting..."


    Spera questioned Mark. She was left alone in here, after all.


    The battle Mark against the [Latchers] ended far before he lifted the barrier of [Miasmic Lightning]. It meant that when the fluctuation of energy vanished, Mark could have just gone back to inform everyone of the good news. However, Mark did not and spent another hour scouring the battlefield for possible loot and stuff.


    "We can''t just waste these kinds of stuff," Mark replied. "And if that giant isn''t too big, I want to carry it home."


    The Metal Giant''s skin was an impressive material. It managed to cause problems to the Stone Fortress just because of its impossibly tough skin. Mark had no problems killing it because of his [Miasmic Lightning], bypassing the skin and damaging the rest of its body. If Mark had anything topare to that metallic skin, it was the body of therger [Mechids]. A body strong enough to endure high-end explosives and even tank shells.


    It just meant that it was a material close, if not on par, with the metals that made up [Mechids]. Fortunately, this giant was here and not in Catanduanes. If the Metal Giant or something simr were present in Catanduanes, it would have been a disaster due to the [Mechid Factory].


    Sadly, Mark''s [Spatial Ring] only had around a five-meter cube area. There was no way he would be able to fit a giant about thirty meters tall inside its storage. Furthermore, since Mark retrieved as many [Latchers] as he could, his storage was already filled up. He did not even manage to get all the still intact [Latchers] and decided to destroy the remaining ones instead.


    As for the corpse of the Metal Giant, Mark had no choice but to leave it behind after talking out its eyes as proof. It could be carefully dismantled, but the process might take a few days because of how big and heavy it was, not to mention the toughness of its skin.


    Nheless, Mark was not that carefree. He made sure to damage the insides of the Metal Giant so that if there were [Latchers] that remained in the area, they would not be able to use the Metal Giant''s body.


    "Do you want the body to be retrieved?" Diwata Danaya suddenly offered. "We could likely send people to move it where we can keep an eye on it."


    Now that the threat of the Metal Giant was gone, Diwata Danaya could give such suggestions.


    "It would be nice if you could," Mark had no reason not to ept the offer. "Just be careful of the [Latchers]. Although I killed all that I could find, we don''t know if there are still [Latchers] in the area."


    "I will make sure to inform our people," Diwata Danaya nodded and continued. "Then, would you want to receive the core?"


    Diwata Danaya already steeled herself. She gave the imprint a serious look and received a nod in return.


    The imprint of Diwata Luwalhati was ready to end her duties today.


    ***


    Mark and Spera were brought to the deepest parts of the Stone Fortress. Along the way, they met Teremillio and his harem. The curious group also followed to the sealed chambers and looked at the interior of the chamber in awe.


    "Wait," Diwata Luwalhati said as they approached the vicinity of the sealing pirs. "I will put a temporary seal on the core to prevent its temperature from rising."


    The core of a Deity-level [me Demon] was extremely hot. The sealing pirs were preventing the temperature from rising, but it would be a different matter once the core left the seal.


    "There''s no need for that."


    Mark said as he took a step into the sealing formation.


    Diwata Luwalhati was annoyed, but she did not stop Mark, wanting to see how he would handle the core.


    Mark grabbed the core with his bare right hand. Despite still being sealed, the surface of the crystal-like core was as hot asva. Mark''s palm actually smoked as it touched the surface of the core.


    But to Mark, such heat or burn did not matter. His hand released a cloud of [Miasma], which enveloped the core while his palm began to heal on its own. Mark then gave the core a tug and pulled it out of the sealing formation. The [Miasma] kept the energy and temperature in check, allowing Mark to sessfully retrieve the core.


    Diwata Luwalhati was still annoyed, but she was also impressed.


    It was when Mark gave the imprint a few words that made her freeze.


    "Use your remaining energy to spend time with Danaya."


    Those actions from Mark made Diwata Luwalhati give out a bitter expression. If Mark allowed her to put a temporary seal on the core, her existence would end in the spot as it would consume thest energy the sealing formation had. Since Mark intervened, it still would take some time before the seal finally drained of its energy.


    Who would have thought that, in the end, a Demon would be the one to give her such consideration?

 Chapter 952 Marks Hectic Schedule, Work To Be Done And Promises To Fulfill

    <strong>Day 263 - 5:21 PM - Mountain Base, Mount Mbito, General Nakar, Province of Quezon</strong>


    After receiving the core, Mark surrounded it with [Miasma] and stored it inside a metal case he created from [Blood Metal]. Only then did he put it inside a backpack he took out of his [Spatial Ring].


    Why not put the core inside his ring? It was not like he did not try to. But apparently, he could not.


    Mark could not put the core inside with his [Miasma] covering it. His [Miasma] could enter the ring. However, the inside of the ring was an entirely different enclosed sub-space, and he would lose control of his [Miasma] inside it. After all, [Miasma] was neither a solid nor a stable energy. It may run amok inside his ring and destroy it.


    And unfortunately, the core alone could not enter his ring either. Mark tried it too. Since the core was extremely hot to affect the surroundings, he tried to put the core into his ring while slowly receding the [Miasma] he covered it with. However, the spatial pocket began shaking when the core touched the entrance.


    Mark immediately halted the attempt. While he was unsure if the core would actually break the ring, his ring was too rare and precious to take the risk. That was why Mark had no choice but to put the core within the case he prepared while keeping it encased within a cover of [Miasma].


    The [Spatial Ring''s] inability to store the core was unexpected. However, it made sense. It was a Deity-level Demon''s core. It was powerful but unstable. A ring with a small space would not be able to handle its energy.


    Mark and Spera spent the next few hours with Teremillio and his harem as they had a tour around the Stone Fortress. There were a lot of things still far from being rebuilt. At the least, the walls around the fortress were already finished.


    Aside from the Metal Giant and a few random attacks, there was not much danger to face in the Stone Fortress. The illusion created using the forest by the foot of the mountain was still there, not allowing both the [Infected] and [Feral Animals] to pose much danger. Only [Mechids] were the ones who posed trouble as they could pass through the illusion without problems.


    It was the same issue that the Mountain Base had since illusions that would affect the mind of organic beings were ineffective against mechanical enemies. Enemies also needed to enter the forest cast with the illusion to be effective, rendering it useless against flying enemies or enemies taller than the trees.


    From this perspective, Mark realized why the [Latchers] used the baiting tactic against the Stone Fortress. Not all the [Latchers] fully upied the brains of the hosts. Most of them only had control over the brain of the host while still relying on it for most of the host''s body functions.


    Those hosts of [Latchers] with intact brains were being affected by the illusions that were cast on the forest while the others were not. Such anomaly might have caused confusion among the [Latchers] since they couldmunicate with each other but receive inconsistent information between hosts. It might be the reason they could not orchestrate a full-on assault on the fortress, causing them to rely on such tactics.


    Of course, it was just Mark''s spections.


    Following Felenia and Teremillio as their guides, Mark and Spera also went to speak a little with the remaining leaders of the tribes that Mark''s group met before. Of course, only those that left a positive image on Mark. For example, the royals of the Stone Fortress, the Chieftess of the [Anggitays], and the royals of the [Sylphs].


    The meeting with the leaders did not take much time. In fact, Mark was just checking on them to gather some information. After all, the [Spirit Dimension] had already fused with Earth. All the treasures and resources that existed in that dimension should still be around, hidden in these new mountains.


    Right now, Mark needed materials, especially magical ones. He wanted to make things and do experiments. Thus, getting information from these magical creatures was a must. And due to Mark''s deeds before and now, they dly shared what they knew. The information Mark got should keep him busy for the next week or so.


    After Mark and Spera spent the next few hours around the Stone Fortress, the only thing left to do was go home.


    Going home, Mark and Spera did not have to ride on Char''s back all the way. They only took off from the Stone Fortress, and after gaining enough altitude, Spera opened a portal where the three vanished into mid-air.


    Before entering the portal, Mark looked at Diwata Luwalhati. Mark did not know how much time she had left, but this would be thest time he would see the grumpy imprint. Surely, they did not see each other on a good note. However, as Mark witnessed when the imprint joined the others to see his group off, the imprint had a bit of a change of heart.


    The imprint of Diwata Luwalhati might still hate Demons to the core. In the least, Mark had taken his name off the list.


    ***


    Mark and Spera returned tired. Not because they had to walk around the Stone Fortress the rest of the day. They were tired because of all the social interaction they had to do. The two did not want to, but they had to, unfortunately. No, only Mark had to. Spera was just dragged along for the most part of it.


    Fortunately, Mark and Spera now had a warm home to go back to... A nice home they could peacefully rx and get a good rest... unlike before the outbreak.


    ***


    In the following days, Mark was busy.


    First, Mark had to go back to Corregidor Ind. Fortunately, there was Spera''s portal to go there almost instantly. He had to fulfill the promise and brought General Faustino with Jones Galley, General Bautista, and a few important officers.


    General Miguel Perez, now the leader of Corregidor Settlement, was both surprised and happy about the sudden unexpected visit.


    The close friendship between General Perez and General Faustino was well-known within the military. In fact, General Faustino was once General Perez''s superior before he was promoted to the current position. And the happy reunion between the two was witnessed by many people, soldiers or not.


    These kinds of events gave people more hope. Humans, while scattered, were still striving to survive. Still, seeing the old General''s current state, many soldiers that looked up to him felt disheartened. After all, the brave and righteous Military General was now sitting in a wheelchair with a missing leg. Well, while dismayed, many saw this as something better. After all, death was something that could be found in every corner of the current times.<novelnext>  </novelnext>


    This sudden visit caused an immediate information exchange witnessed by the officials of the Corregidor Settlement. While the Infanta''s side was led by General Faustino, General Bautista led the exchange. While General Bautista was promoted as the new leader of the Infanta Settlement, his status as a General was still unofficial. As such, he was the right person to serve as General Faustino''s assistant.


    Unfortunately, Mark had to join in on the information exchange as he was the only person with concrete information about what happened in two settlements that the military organized when the apocalypse came. The first was the Codon Settlement in the province of Catanduanes, and the other was the Liloan Settlement in the province of Cebu.


    The events in Liloan Settlement and its fall caused some dismay, while the aftermath and where its survivors ended up lifted up the atmosphere a bit. However, what happened to Codon Settlement sparked a debate.


    Some of the officers present were politicians. The newly reced president was also present, albeit not holding any authority over the meeting. A few of them were among the faction of the perpetrators in Codon Settlement. As such, a few usations came flying. The notion of removing the politicians from themanding scene was also pushed. After all, Codon Settlement''s destruction was attributed to the meddling of the politicians that could not let go of their greed for power.


    Unfortunately, that greed was also true in most of the politicians present. Some of them were those that abandoned the president at thest minute. Although they received sanctions, they refused to let go of their current positions. Unfortunately, getting new people to rece them would also take time. As such, some of them were still in the position.


    The information exchange turned into a heated fight between military officials and greedy politicians. Thus, the information exchange was postponed due to the heated up arguments.


    Mark was annoyed. His time was being wasted by these greedy pigs, after all. If not for General Perez giving a heartfelt apology, he might have just left them already.


    The postponement of the information exchange gave the visitors some time to see what the Corregidor Settlement looked like.


    Seeing it for himself, General Faustino understood why Mark was not supportive of the Infanta Settlement joining the Corregidor Settlement.


    The facilities of the inner circle of Corregidor Settlement were good. They had an intactboratory, a running weapon facility, and other things that Infanta Settlement lost due to the disasters they faced.


    However, it had a problem with living space, a steep differentiation with status, not to mention that annoying sh between the military and the remains of the government. Not to mention that the current leadership of General Perez was not fully established yet.


    If General Faustino decided to move the people of Infanta Settlement to Corregidor Settlement in its current state, they would face more problems. Not to mention that the security was only good within the walls, where only the powerful could live. Most of Infanta''s refugees were just regr people. As such, they would all end up in the slums around the inner walls.


    Furthermore, there were not enough soldiers to protect the whole Corregidor Settlement due to its size and poption. Even if Infanta''s soldiers joined the soldiers in Corregidor, it would not be enough. There was also the problem of people needing to adjust to the new environment. The people of Infanta had already adjusted to their current living conditions. They were now slowly thriving. If they moved, the people needed to readjust once again, not only the difference in the environment but also the kinds of danger present in Corregidor.


    Thus, while not fully trashing the thought, General Faustino and General Bautista also postponed the intention to join therger settlement. Though the two Generals agreed that it would be better if the scientists in Infanta moved to Corregidor as it had the facilities they needed for research.


    The work in Corregidor took a few days to finish. It was the typical government stuff, taking a lot more time than it was supposed to. Fortunately, Mark could just go back and forth without problems.


    At this time, Mark''s friends wanted to see the ce he now lives, the Mountain Base. Mark was not too supportive of their intentions, but he still agreed. It would be good for the residents of the Mountain Base to see new faces from time to time, although Mark wondered if the resolve of his friends would waver after seeing the ce he founded.


    The visitors came, and they all had the same shock and surprise as the first people that saw the Mountain Base.


    Fortunately, while the visitors did waver, none of them pushed to stay in the Mountain Base. They had their own duties and responsibilities to fulfill, after all.


    Of course, they asked Mark to fetch them from time to time so they could visit. Mark had no problems with that as long as it was not too frequent.


    ***


    Mark had a lot of work even after those already tiring days. Picking up the remaining spoils left in the Stone Fortress, gathering some strange information from the other settlements, and of course, things Mark wanted to do.


    After all the work outside, Mark stayed within the Mountain Base. He could be found either within his workshop or inside the subspace of Chiyo, the [Night Everred Pure Spirit Tree]. Of course, he was working with things, experimenting, and studying.


    Mark was doing many things to the point that Mei and the little girls had to drag him away from his work from time to time.


    It was not that Mark became a workaholic. He was the same Otaku before the outbreak. It was just... his Otaku tendencies found something new to focus on. Of course, aside from Japanese entertainment stuff and Video Games, Mark still spent time on during his breaks.


    ***


    And just like that, another month and a half passed in a sh.


    <strong>-Volume 15 END-</strong>

 Chapter 953 The Center Of Otakudom, A Walk In The Ruined Streets Of Akihabara

    Day 313 - 7:25 AM - Chiyoda City, Tokyo, Japan


    Chiyoda City. A special ward in the central Tokyo Prefecture. It centered on one of the most historical sites in Japan and was one of the well-known ces in Tokyo to a certain demographics of people.


    One of those demographics was, of course, Otakus. Some of them outside Japan might not be familiar with the name Chiyoda, but it was impossible that they had not heard of Akihabara, the so-called Capital of Otakudom.


    For anything Otaku-rted, Akihabara was the best destination to find it. From figurines, posters, costumes, and even anime-themed cafes, all those could be found in Akihabara. This ce was also the home of one of the most popr Japanese idol groups. It was the Otaku''s heaven, as some said.


    Although right now, Akihabara... No, the entirety of the metropolitan area in eastern Japan had be a mishmash of ruins and forests.


    The [Fusion of Dimensions] caused thends on both dimensions to fuse, causing most knownnd on Earth to be altered or swallowed under the unalterednds within the Spirit Dimension.


    However, it was impossible for the Spirit Dimension to hide the gigantic skyscrapers that could be found in thriving cities on Earth. And in many metropolitan areas around the world, like Tokyo, such gigantic man-made structures wererge in number.


    Thus, it created a near-perfect depiction of an apocalyptic scene where nature seemed to have reimed the human-inhabitednd. A scene where dpidated buildings, half-buried under the soil, surrounded by trees and nts growing through their windows and cracks. It was a scene of destruction bearing the hidden beauty of the apocalypse.


    Well, it sure was beautiful. If the shambling [Infected] was taken out of the scene, that was.


    Since more parts of the human civilization were preserved, the casualties among the [Infected] during the [Fusion of Dimensions] also decreased significantly.


    Due to these factors, there were fewer [Mechids] in the past metropolitan areas. Most of these locations were still dominated by the [Infected], aside from ces where fragments from space had crashed.


    ***


    SPLAT!


    The sound of blood sttering unto the cracked walls of a ruined building echoed across the empty, destroyed street.


    "Be careful with your steps. There''s quite a bad amount of broken ss in the area."


    Unexpectedly, the voices of people could be heard in the supposedly destroyed and abandoned streets of Akihabara.


    The first one was a voice of a man.


    "Yes~!"


    It was followed by an enthusiastic voice of a child.


    These voices were unexpected in many ways. First, very few people would wander in these dangerous areas. Second, no sane person would bring a child to this ce in this apocalypse. And another thing... If ever people went here for some reason, they would not make that much noise.


    Just the voice of that child answering would probably be enough to wake up a horde sleeping in the surrounding ruins.


    "Shh..." Another childish but a bit older-sounding voice could be heard. "Not too loud."


    "Yes..."


    The child from before replied with a hushed voice.


    That interaction was then followed by the growls of the [Infected] attracted by the sounds the children made. However, those growls did notst and vanished after the sounds of metal swinging through the air and the sound of sttering blood.


    One would think that the growling stopped because the [Infected] lost things to growl at as the careless group of people was ughtered. But it was theplete opposite as the musky smell of [Infected] blood mixed into the air.


    The voices of the group could still be heard while they left the area, leaving nothing but traces of the small [Infected] horde with their heads either destroyed or decapitated.


    ***


    "Oh, I found one."


    The same man''s voice couldter be heard in another ruined building. It was not only him. His whole group was looking around the building on the verge of falling apart and screamed, "dangerous," no matter where one would have looked at it.


    And what did the man find?


    A dented box of an anime figurine.


    After all, the ruins they were looking around were a collector''s shop before the apocalypse.


    ***


    Of course, this seemingly daredevil group was no other than Mark''s family, with Emika, Spera, and Amihan tagging along.


    "What''s the point of looking around this ce?"


    Spera asked Mark, tired of walking.


    "Just having a nice tour?" Mark replied while brushing off the dirt on the precious box he dug out of the ground within the ruined store. "I said before you could just wait in the camp, but you insisted oning with us."


    Spera did not reply and just pouted. Yes, she could have just waited where they camped the previous night. However, everyone else wanted to go with Mark, and Spera did not want to be left alone.


    "I found one~!"


    Miracle''s gleeful voice entered Mark''s ears as he saw the little girl, now looking like four to five years old, running towards him with another figurine box in her hand.


    After a month of rest, Miracle received a proper education. She was now more articte with her words and could now convey things better. However, while she was fast at learning things, her childish demeanor became more apparent. And among Mark''s three adopted daughters, Miracle''s current behavior was pretty much wee since her two older sisters behave more like adults.


    "Sshhh..." The older girl before hushed the little one again. "Don''t shout too much."


    "It''s fine, Emika. Just let her have fun," Mark said to the green-haired girl that now apanied his group. "It''s not like we can''t handle a few shamblers."


    "If you say so..."


    Emika sighed.


    While Mark was cleaning the box Miracle found, he felt a tug on his sleeve.


    "I also found one."


    Abbygale said, showing Mark another figurine box.


    "Thank you."


    Mark smiled and patted the little catgirl''s head.


    Looking at the box Abbygale handed him, Mark was a bit surprised.


    What Mark and Miracle found were characters he was not familiar with. On the other hand, Abbygale found a prettyrge box containing an Ains Ooal Gown figurine. A good ssic.


    "Gege, there''s a few here, but they are all broken."


    Mei, who was with Amihan and I, called out unto Mark, looking around a fallen wall of the building. Given that it was near the wall, their finds were not surprising. After all, most intact disy shelves were arranged near walls where the wall did not fall.


    Unfortunately, while the disy cases were intact, the disyed items did not. Most items were broken during the earthquake, leaving only a few intact.


    Mark approached the three. As they said, a good number of boxes was there not buried under the soil. However, most of them were crushed under the rubble.<novelnext>  </novelnext>


    The group spent a few more minutes looking around. Unfortunately, there was only a handful of intact items in this store. There could have been a storage area, but it seemed to be not within the essible area of the store.


    They looked around onest time. The storage area should be under the seven-story ruined building behind the remains of the ruined store. There was no way they would dig through that.


    ***


    "Are those toys really that important?"


    Spera questioned Mark, who was diligently cleaning and fixing the dents on the Ains Ooal Gown box.


    "In the survival sense, not really," Mark replied. "But finding these kinda makes me happy, I think? Besides, these things might not have value now, but they are extremely expensive for me to buy back then. And after the apocalypse began, these toys became more like historical relics. They had no use but disys, but you''ll never find them anywhere else anymore."


    It sounded like twisted Otaku logic, but it was not wrong. These toys might be everywhere before the outbreak, but now, there''s no one to make or care about these things anymore. After some time, people would forget about these things and be items of the past.


    Jokingly enough, people of the future might find these toys buried within ruins of buildings. Then think that these toys were some sort of godly idols that people of the past worshiped.


    Mark''s group walked around like tourists to the apocalyptic world. The sights were not as good as it was in the past. However, it was not like they could do something about it.


    And while walking around randomly, killing any [Infected] they encountered along the way, Mark''s eyes fell on a certain ruined building at the southeast corner of an intersection.


    Mark paused on his feet with his eyes raised on the half-destroyed advertisement sign atop some destroyed first-floor shops.


    Everyone looked at Mark in confusion as he approached the destroyed tarpaulin hanging on the advertisement sign and stretched it open. It revealed a barely recognizable but simple-looking advertisement with a girl wearing a red, frilly skirt posing with Japanese letters behind her. Mei and the others, except Emika, could not read Japanese, and Spera could only speak a little. On the other hand, Mark could not read the Kanji perfectly, although he could speak basic Japanese. Emika, a half-Japanese, also had basic Kanji studies but stopped when they moved to the Philippines.


    Still, looking at the torn left side of the tarp, they could make out the letters KB4 just behind the girl.


    While the girls were confused about what the torn tarpaulin was trying to advertise, they could see Mark looking at the building nostalgically.


    Unfortunately, the building all copsed, leaving a few metal foundations and walls barely intact.


    "Gege, what is this ce?"


    Mei asked, both worried and interested about Mark''s current state as he looked at the ruins before them.


    "Akiba Ind," Mark replied without looking at Mei. "You can say this is one of the few ces I dreamed of going to when I was in college."


    Mark then unearthed a broken purple-colored board where the girls could make out the words since it was written in English.


    "AKB 48 Theater Since 2..."


    Mei read the words, although she could not finish them due to thest part was already broken off.


    "Oooh!" Emika remembered something. "The idol group isn''t it?!"


    Spera also had an inkling of an idea about it. After all, she lived here while working under the [Auraboros] for a few years. She then turned to Mark.


    "Are you a creep or something?"


    Spera mercilessly asked Mark.


    Well, there was a such issue. After all, most idol group members were within the age range of teens to mid-twenties. Then the fans were men of all ages.


    "What are you talking about?" Mark flicked Spera''s forehead. "I said when I was in college. Most idols I watched at that time were around my age or just a few years younger. Some are even older than me. What''s to be creepy about that?"


    "And that''s also just at that time," Mark continued. "I kinda lost interest when the generation I liked all graduated, and I got busy struggling with my daily life."


    The girls could barely understand some of the terminologies and other stuff Mark was saying.


    Mei stared at the girl in the advertisement. She did remember that Mark''sptop had a few music videos with female artists with simr-looking skirts. She did not think about it too much since it was Japanese music kind of stuff. Mark had a lot of different kinds of those saved.


    "Who are your favorites?"


    Emika suddenly asked Mark, who immediately answered.


    "AKB? han and Mayuyu."


    "Wow, no hesitation, huh."


    Emika said, staring at Mark.


    "Well, let''s go," Mark said with a shrug. "There''s nothing much to see here."


    Mark did feel nostalgic. It reminded him of the time he still had dreams he wanted to pursue. The dreams he lost after the reality hit him like a speeding truck years after.


    With Mark urging everyone, they left the location and continued to wander around.


    But Mei was awfully quiet.


    "What''s wrong?"


    Mark asked. He could tell she was thinking about something, but he could not read what it was.


    "Gege, do you still like idols?"


    Mei asked back.


    "Kinda? Why?"


    It was Mark''s turn to be confused.


    "Well, I can practice. Then, sing and dance for you if you want to."


    Mei''s words made Mark stare at her nkly.


    Yep... Mei was a bit jealous that Mark had some girls he would not hesitate to say were his favorites.


    Mark found it quite tempting. However...


    "Nah, there''s no need to," Mark ruffled Mei''s head. "Empty your head and focus. There''s no need to be jealous when my only interest now is you."


    "You two... Go get a room," Spera chimed in, annoyed. "Don''t forget we have children around."


    "I''m not doing anything bad."


    Mark said while Mei kept silent. Her face was red. But, at least she stopped thinking about useless stuff.


    The group went on, looking around some more, stopping by barely recognizable tourist spots, and killing different kinds of enemies along the way.


    And before sunset, they all returned to camp.


    That night, Mark stood guard, watching Japan''s night sky while reminiscing their journey here.

 Chapter 954 Under Japans Night Sky, Their Journey Before And Plans Within The Land Of The Rising Sun

    Day 313 - 8:12 PM - Meiji Seimei Kan, Marunouchi, Chiyoda City, Tokyo


    The Meiji Seimei Kan. It was a historical structure built around the end of the Edo Period and was finished in the March of 1934. It was a kind of odd-looking structure styled after Greek Revival Architecture. This historical building survived many important events in Japan''s history, including the second World War, where it was taken over by the Allied Powers.


    Unfortunately, the apocalypse was not so kind to the amazing historical structure.


    Right now, the Meiji Seimei Kan was nothing but a ruined structure. The greek-styled pirs in its facade now littered the broken streets along with most of its walls.


    However, pretty much like many ruined structures, some parts of the building managed to remain intact. In the case of Meiji Seimei Kan, a good chunk of the southwest corner of the structure managed to survive the copse, leaving up to the fifth floor.


    And right now, a slight sliver of light wasing from the fifth floor''s covered windows.


    This historical building within Chiyoda City was where Mark''s group took camp ever since they arrived in the area a few days ago.


    Mark''s group returned before sunset. Since they toured the ce for the whole day while digging through ruins and fighting the [Infected], everyone was tired. They all fell asleep after dinner, even Miracle, who did not really need to sleep.


    It left Mark to stand guard. Although he let out their golems to do the job, Mark did not leave it entirely to them. And the reason? He wanted to check the items they found within the ruins of Akihabara.


    As Mark sat on the floor with different kinds of items in front of him, he looked like an Otaku that had just gotten home, wanting to check his loot after spending a tedious day at a convention.


    Unfortunately, despite the few stores they had been to, there was barely anything left intact. Mark only had a handful of undamaged figurines, while about a dozen with an eptable amount of damage. Worse, there were only five of the figurines Mark liked, as he did not know which anime the others came from.


    Even the most anime-addicted Otaku would not remember every anime and character, especially if they were outside their alley.


    The group also found some posters. Of course, each of them was damaged. Leaving a printed product in the open almost a year after the apocalypse was definitely a bad idea. Mark still brought a few, though. He chose posters that were a bit washed out but only had damage at the corners and sides.


    Among all the times, Mark''s favorite find, aside from the Ains Ooal Gown figure, was the set of ¦Ì''s figurine keychains. The keychains were locked within some sort of special metal case. Due to being buried under the dirt, the case was severely damaged. However, the keychains were left sealed and intact.


    Lastly, a few damaged boxes of Gundam model kits. Most of the ones they found had broken contents. However, these model kits were made with the possibility of building and customizing robots from different kits. As such, even if some contents were damaged, the undamaged ones could still be used.


    And as Mark took tonight''s guard duty, he used this opportunity to organize his loot. He took some figurines out of their crumbling boxes and wiped them clean. He also appraised the damage and began to think of a way to fix them. Of course, restoring the damaged figures would be for another time.


    While working, Mark ended up ncing around. He was working on an area outside an intact room, and Mark had a good view of the surroundings.


    Who would have thought that Mark would still have the opportunity to fulfill one of his dreams when he was younger? The setting might be different from what he originally envisioned. Nheless, he did take a step into thend where the animation medium called "Anime" had originated.


    If there were another two dreams apanying this, it was to either make his own anime or publish his own manga. However, these two were not possible in an apocalyptic world. Thus, Mark was already pretty content with what he had achieved now.


    Mark looked at the sky. The moonlight obscured parts of the sky. Nheless, the stars still shined bright, while most constetions were different. After all, the Philippines and Japan were on different hemispheres.


    Closing his eyes for a bit, Mark remembered their journey after leaving the Mountain Base.


    ***


    Mark''s asked Ilia and Chimetrice for a ride. After all, it would be stupid to travel the distance between Japan and the Philippines on the back of Char.


    Were there scuffles during the journey? Of course, there were.


    In the Spirit Dimension, countries were divided into territories. The territories were separated by a chasm in the ocean and spatial turbulence in the sky. It was to separate magical creations of the past gods and iste them within suitable territories. This could be the reason why some mythological and legendary creatures from almost every country were different.


    With the two dimensions fusing, these dividing factors also carried onto the new world. Without proper methods and strength, traversing country borders would be impossible.


    Mark''s group did not struggle much, however. Spera''s natural talent with space-rted abilities far exceeded the strength of the spatial turbulence, allowing her to create a stable portal through the unstable spatial wall.


    Another problem was enemy attacks. Aggressive seabirds, literal flying fish, and even underwater snipers, there was quite an amazing variety of enemies within the wide ocean.


    Seeing the birds were not that strange. However, a school of flying fish literally flying in the sky was surprising.


    The most dangerous oceanic enemy along the way was what Mark named underwater snipers. They seemed to be some specie of mutated or evolved fish. However, they had the ability to shoot projectiles underwater. Most importantly, their projectiles could shoot up to a kilometer in the sky, gaining them the sniper name from Mark.<novelnext>  </novelnext>


    If Mark''s group were flying on Char''s back and a school of underwater snipers attacked, the situation would be extremely dangerous. Fortunately, the [Mini Cube] could just shrug off the projectiles. As expected of a vessel that even lower Gods would have a hard time destroying.


    And the most annoying problem Mark''s group faced on their journey... It was the weather anomalies in the middle of the ocean.


    Considering the borders of countries became spatial turbulence, magical chasms, and other strange stuff, it was not that surprising that more strange things could happen. But since the ocean was a vast, open space, more anomalies could appear there, like how tropical storms always start from the ocean.


    In the case of Mark''s group, they waved through strong air turbulence causing the travel to be extremely ufortable. Another was a maic lightning storm. Although it did not really affect the [Mini Cube] because of its unique structure, one of Mark''s backupptops got fried. It happened while they were watching a movie to relived boredom.


    And the further into the ocean they traveled, the more they encountered the annoying stuff. As such, they had to curb their original path of flying straight from the Philippines to Japan and decided to take a path through the East China Sea. They even flew close to Taiwan before following the inds of Okinawa to reach Japan''s main ind, Honshu, after several hours of tedious travel.


    It then took them several more hours to get to Tokyo''s vicinity, where they alighted from the [Mini Cube] and sent it home through the portal. Ilia and Chimetrice were not really that interested in traveling to Japan. And in Mark''s mind, it was also better if the two were to stay at the base and protect it while he was gone.


    With Chimetrice staying there, Mark would not worry even if the guy called "The Great One" appeared to cause trouble once again.


    Following Mark''s initial objective as to why he needed to travel overseas, their first stop should be the [Auraboros''] Japan Branch. After all, they should have the guy named Shin, one of the [Inheritors] and Spera''s former teammate. Furthermore, they also offered Mark an alliance back when the Chinese Branch caused them trouble. Most importantly, Spera should know where the base of the Japan Branch was, or at least the entrance to the base.


    However, Mark decided against it. He would go there, but not immediately.


    While one of the reasons was what they had done in the past few days, touring the ce and having a fun time, his main reason was he did not trust the words of the envoy they had met before. The envoy was not lying. However, it did not mean that the one that sent the envoy was the same. Thus, storming that ce without concrete information would be an idiotic action.


    Thus, they were here, finding a good opportunity to gather information.


    Mark''s eyes turned towards the southeast. He could not see anything but ruins covered in darkness in the immediate vicinity. But far on the horizon, he could see a lighted-up sky.


    A sign of a brightly lit ce in the middle of the night. With the light emitted, it was not just one building but an entire city.


    Mark was not just fooling around in the past few days. He noticed that light on their first night here and went to check alone. As such, he had an inkling of what ce that was.


    Japan''sst line of defense, as they dubbed it. The reimed city of Koto.


    It was a massivendfill area in Tokyo Bay that was developed into amercial infrastructure containing many businesses, factories, condominiums, and many other things.


    Now, the entirendfill area seemed to have been turned into a giant settlement cityposed of several inds.


    Unfortunately, Mark had yet to learn of the specifics of the ce, and he did not dare wander into the area illegally. Knowing that the world now had many odd things lurking anywhere, it would not be surprising if Koto City had some surveince mechanism or people capable of detection and stuff. As such, Mark did not want to cause trouble if they had to stay here for a prolonged time.


    That was why Mark''s group was camping here. Not too close to the vicinity of Koto City but also not that far. He was waiting for the opportunity to enter the ce legally while not being too suspicious.


    Mark''s group could have camped closer to Koto City. It would give them more opportunities for what Mark had in mind. However, it would actually be unnatural.


    It was because while Koto City might be a safe ce, the entire ruined surroundings around Koto were brimming with [Infected]. Even during today''s walk, Mark already lost count of how many [Infected] they killed just around Akihabara. If they camped closer, it would be really suspicious.


    Thus, they could only wait.


    With those thoughts in mind, Mark continued working on his loot, struggling to wipe stains out of the posters while making sure not to damage them further.


    Across the night, some [Infected] stragglers noticed Mark sitting on the exposed side of the building. These were mutated ones that Mark called [Ruin Stalkers]. These [Mutated Infected] had slim bodies, strong ligaments and limbs, and spiky hands and feet. Mark gave them this name due to how they use the city ruins to ambush and attack their prey.


    However, while the [Ruin Stalkers] could perfectly use the ruins to their advantage, they struggled to jump and use trees, getting stuck on branches and leaves. Thus, where the prefix "Ruin" came from.


    Mark did not even need to move. The Valkyrie-maid Golem, Brynhildr, took care of the [Infected] without problems. Mark had to clean her clothes afterward, though. Bryhildr''s maid uniform could easily get stained by blood, after all.


    The group continued their current tourist life for another two days. They explored more of Akihabara the next day, getting more loot and stuff.


    Ending their tour in Akihabara, they then visited Shibuya the following day. They found the ruins of Hachiko''s Memorial Statue on the most famous crossroad in Japan. Lastly, they also explored the ruins of malls around Shibuya while gathering supplies buried in the rubble.


    And the next day after their Shibuya our, the opportunity Mark was looking for finally arrived.

 Chapter 1006 The Baffling Person, Overloading The Brain Of A Patient Just With His Identity

    ?


    Day 335 - 2:21 PM - Infirmary, Mountain Base, Mount Mbito, General Nakar, Province of Quezon, Philippines


    Ren stared at the pendant with the now missing gemstone.


    Just before the ck Lotus Group left for the expedition, Mako gave it to Ren. No. It was more like Mako forced it onto her.


    Ren knew this pendant was from her grandfather and was given to Mako long ago. It was really nothing too notable aside from being a little expensive-looking. Furthermore, her grandfather would give things to her and their trainees from time to time.


    For the longest time, the ninjas following Ren knew that Mako had lost the gem of the pendant somewhere during one of her missions. And from then, the pendant remained without a centerpiece. But, strange enough, Mako did not seem to make any efforts to fix it.


    Ren was quite surprised when Mako tried to give it to her. Furthermore, the pendant was already fixed, looking far different from when it was missing a centerpiece despite not having too many changes from its actual appearance.


    The pendant was fixed, and Mako tried to give it to Ren without much exnation. Of course, knowing that it was an important item, Ren was more inclined to decline. But as Mako did not back down, theypromised that Ren would keep it for now and return itter.


    And for some strange reason, Mako agreed on the premise that Ren would always keep it in her possession.


    Who would have thought Ren would not have any chance to return it to her?


    The sentimental thoughts aside, Ren was baffled.


    "What does this pendant have to do with my survival and Mako''s decision?"


    Ren asked her two friends in front of her.


    And Tadashi exined what he knew.


    "The pendant Mako received from the Grandmaster is an artifact. Furthermore, it is a life-saving artifact. When someone in possession of this pendant is fatally wounded, the gemstone will shatter and channel life energy to the owner. The person will be saved, and until the energy channeled to the owner is exhausted, they will exhibit unnatural healing abilities."


    The exnation surprised Ren. It would probably be a bigger surprise to her than the attempted assassination by her family. Artifacts that were only known through myths and legends. Furthermore, an even rarer life-saving artifact. This single piece might be enough to spark a small between countries if this information was to spread.


    Who would have thought that the one in possession of such a valuable item was Mako all along?


    And thinking about it, Mako''s regenerative abilities seemed to have shined after she "broke" the pendant. The circumstances around Mako seemed to be what Tadashi had just exined.


    "Wait... If the gemstone shattered, can it be reced?"


    Ren asked.


    "It seems so," Tadashi answered. "But it seems that the gemstone on the pendant is far rarer than the artifact itself. It was near impossible to rece."


    "But..." Ren was even more surprised. "Didn''t Mako give this to me with a gemstone?"


    "Mako just got lucky," Tadashi sighed. "And it seemed she was in a massive debt just to get the artifact repaired."


    "Debt..." Ren muttered, looking at the pendant and then back at Tadashi. "Did you know all of this all along? You too, Keiko?"


    Mako kept everything a secret. Yet, Tadashi was able to exin everything to her. By the looks of it, Keiko also knew of it, as she did not show much reaction to Tadashi''s exnation.


    But before the two could answer...


    "They didn''t know anything. I''m the one who told them."


    A familiar voice that Ren did not expect to hear entered her ears. As she immediately turned to the door, the surprise on her face could not be concealed.


    "Wh-why are you here?"


    That was what Ren asked as she saw the person.


    "Why can''t I? This is my ce."


    Mark replied with a slight tilt of his head as he entered the door.


    "This room?"


    Ren asked, turning her head around the ce.


    But the one to answer the previous question was not Mark but Tadashi.


    "Ojou-sama. Not only this room or this building. The entire fortress you can see outside the window is his. Mark-sama is the owner of this entire base."


    "He is also the person who saved us."


    Keiko chimed in with a bitter smile. Unlike Ren, Mako, and Tadashi, Keiko did not know Mark that much. She only knew him personally after the unfortunate events two days ago.


    "Before everything," Mark spoke and showed what he was carrying. "Your food is ready."


    "Ah! Please, give it to me."


    Tadashi immediately received the bowl of rice porridge on a tray from Mark. Good food for a patient who has not eaten for two days.


    But Ren''s attention was not on the food. She was focused on Mark and the unexpected things she heard just now.


    Mark was the one who saved them, and this entire ce was his.


    The person that Ren and the others thought they saved from the ruins in Tokyo. The person with many uncertain factors.


    That person turned out to be their savior.


    Questions upon questions piled up inside Ren''s mind, and she did not know where to start.


    "Leave the questions in your mind forter," Mark suddenly spoke. "We still have a few days to discuss things."<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    "A few days... No," Ren remembered something. "The Alliance Meeting! What happened to it?"


    One of the reasons the ck Lotus Group was returning at that time was because of the Alliance Meeting supposedly scheduled the next day. It was an important thing to everyone in the Reimed City since the representative of the Auraboros Japan Brance would visit.


    "You''re concerned about that, huh," Unexpectedly, Mark gave a small smile as he responded. "Don''t worry. As I said, we still have a few days. The Alliance Meeting got dyed and rescheduled for another five days."


    "Wha-why?"


    Ren asked in shock. And by the looks of it, it was the first time for Tadashi and Keiko to hear about this too. The two were worried about their own circumstances, after all.


    And to that shocked question, Mark''s answer was...


    "Because I said so?"


    Ren became speechless.


    "Are you joking? That meeting is important to the Reimed City... They won''t just reschedule it because you said so."


    "You think I''m joking?" Mark sneered. "Consider that the Empress invited me to attend that meeting. Then I told them to move the schedule a bit. Don''t worry. I also informed the Priestess. She understood the situation and agreed. There were some people angry about the schedule being moved, though."


    "Just... Who are you really?"


    Ren asked. Among all things, that was what she really wanted to know right now. If he was serious about the things he said just now, it meant that he had enough power and connections to influence the flow and fate of the Reimed City, no, what remained of her country.


    "Me? I''m just Mark," Mark shrugged. "It''s just that I happened to have the same status as your Priestess. I think? I don''t know who''s stronger between us, though."


    The three members ck Lotus Group stared at Mark with mouths open in shock. Just Mark? Definitely not. If he was at the same status as the Priestess, he was basically at the level of being a leader of a nation.


    And... what the three had in mind was not wrong in a sense. After all, all main settlements currently in a good state in the Philippines were within Mark''s circle of influence. He even pushed the President down from his position and pulled another person to be the leader.


    But Mark was not thinking of himself being such a thing.


    "Anyway, as I''m saying, you don''t have to worry. We have time." Mark said, ignoring their silence. "Besides, it''s not like I just forced them to dy it. There''s another reason."


    "And that reason is?"


    Ren shook her shock away and asked.


    "Because the enemies are also waiting for the Alliance Meeting," Mark exined. "Don''t you think the timing of your family''s cooperation with the Demons is strange? They aimed for your life while taking that seal thing from your hand just before the meeting happened. They wanted to induce chaos right during the day of the Alliance Meeting."


    "They will then attack during the meeting. And because of the chaos, there''s less time to prepare to defend."


    Ren chimed in her assumption.


    "Correct," Mark nodded. "At the same time, the traitors inside the meeting will also make their move. They n to take down the Priestess and the Empress in one full sweep. Although the Priestess and the Empress might be strong, the Demons have strong people too. It will be quite a party, and anyone not strong enough will end up dead."


    "Haah..." Mark continued with a sigh. "If not for this fact, I would have straight up attacked Shin that time. I had a hard time controlling myself, you know?"


    Mark went to rescue Ren and the others immediately after taking the girls back home. He then went with Mei and Spera on Char''s back. And after a little bit of searching and with the reports of Ignis and Crimson, Mark found the three just in time for Mako''s betrayal.


    When Mark saw Shin, he really wanted to kill the guy and get what he went to Japan for. The ability to sh space.


    However, Mark held himself back. While attacking Shin at that exact time might finish his main quest in Japan, the side quests would end up in disarray afterward. Mark chose to hold back and keep things predictable rather than make themplicated. After all, Shin was not his only enemy in Japan. Gar''m, a [Deity Level me Demon], was also there.


    Mark would rather not leave loose ends.


    Hearing Mark''s mutterings, Ren remembered that Mark was searching for Shin for some unknown reason. And that very guy was there when Ren was almost killed.


    Ren really had a lot to ask. But it seemed that Mark''s existence was straying Ren from the initial topic.


    "You said you told them about Mako and this artifact."


    Ren went back to the topic when Mark entered the room.


    "Yep. I did," Mark replied without hesitation. "Mako told me some things about her and that artifact."


    "But why would she tell you?"


    Another question was posed by Ren to confirm things. And the answer gave her another surprise.


    "She had no choice but to tell me the story, or I won''t be able to properly fix that," Mark pointed at the pendant. "Yeah, I fixed that. I''m also the one she owed a debt to for fixing that."


    Ren began to have a bit of a headache. The more she asked things about Mark, the deeper his character became for her toprehend.


    First, he was a refugee, who turned out to be someone searching for Shin, who ended up being someone who knew the Priestess, then someone who could influence the Alliance Meeting, and then a person at the same status as the Priestess.


    Now, he was a person who could fix artifacts. A person who should not exist among mortals.


    What was next? Was he going to be a Demon Deity on his way to bing a God of Chaos?


    Ren did not know anymore. Her brain, which had just woken up after almost dying, could not handle every baffling information Mark was trying to feed her.


    "I''ll shut up, I guess?" Mark shrugged. "Just start eating your food. It might help clear up your head."


    Mark went quiet, but he did not leave the room. He was waiting for Ren to finish her food to discuss some milder things.


    Well... Not exactly milder.


    After all... The Mitsui n trying to take over the territory of the ck Lotus Group was not exactly a mild thing. It might be something mild for Mark, but definitely not for the members of the ck Lotus.

 Chapter 956 Act And Rescue, Finally Leaving The Ruins Of Chiyoda City

    Day 317 - 5:21 PM - Meiji Seimei Kan, Marunouchi, Chiyoda City, Tokyo


    Another day was about to end. After searching the ruins of nearby stores and restaurants, Mark''s group went back to camp pretty early.


    Spera was watching Mark closely. His recent actions had been bothering her.


    Fighting was restricted, and Mark would leave on his own at random intervals. If that was not enough, Mark also gathered old dusty nkets, mattresses, cooking utensils, and pots into his ring earlier. Then, using those old items, Mark decorated their camp within the historic building.


    Now, their camp smelled like dust. Well... Considering it was a ruin of a building, it had always been a dusty ce since they arrived. It was just that what Mark did made it worse.


    "Gege... I don''t think we will be able to sleep with these."


    Mei told Mark with a worried expression while looking at the current state of their camp. It was not like Mei and the girls were being picky. It was just the dust, this time, was too much.


    "It''s fine," Mark replied with a shrug. "It''s very likely we won''t be sleeping here tonight."


    Those words from Mark made the girls realize. It looks like the strange things Mark had done in the past few days were in preparation to leave.


    However, why though? There was no need to do such things if they were leaving.


    But before the girls got their answer, the silence of the ruined city was disturbed.


    Usually, it would be the sound of growling [Infected] or the howls of [Feral Evolved Fauna]. But it was different this time.


    RRRRRRMMMM!!!


    It was the echoing sound of multiple vehicles. The sound was not that loud. It was just that the ruined city was too silent that the sound of the vehicles could be heard from far away.


    "Cars?"


    Emika blurted in surprise as she tried to run out of the room. However, Mark caught her arm.


    "Don''t be too careless."


    Mark said to the green-haired girl with a sigh.


    "Ah..."


    Emika realized that she was about to do something stupid. After all, who would know if those vehicle sounds were enemies or possible allies?


    Mark patted Emika''s head, telling her it was alright and she only had to be careful in the future. Unfortunately, it would be hard for Emika to not repeat this kind of blunder. It was because of her [Mutator Trait] that she was like this. Her unnecessary and excessive [Cheerfulness] would cause her toy her guard down from time to time.


    On the contrary, this trait of Emika would allow her to keep her mentality on top condition, even in the direst situations. While she could still feel emotions, extreme ones would be far away from her.


    And despair... would never be within Emika''s vocabry.


    "Just stay inside."


    Mark said to the girls as he took out a weapon.


    What weapon? Instead of the new weapons that he developed within the past month, what Mark took out was a .38 five-cylinder double-action revolver. It was a New Nambu M60. The standard issue firearm carried byw enforcement officers in Japan. It was a pretty neat gun, but definitely ipatible with fighting hordes of [Infected].


    The gun on Mark''s hand looked pretty beat up, with scratches all over its body. It was not surprising since Mark got it from a nearby destroyed police station.


    Seeing Mark take out a nearly broken gun, Spera sighed. Even now, Mark was behaving weirdly.


    Mark made his way out into the open part of the floor. He then saw several vehiclesing from the southeast direction of the main road in front of the Meiji Seimei Kan.


    There were two military trucks and a military jeep driving through the road. They were evading road blockades and debris as if they were used to driving through the ruined streets.


    Seeing the three vehicles, Mark stealthily nced at the building southeast of their direction, just on the opposite side of the road. Mark''s eyes then shed a satisfied glint as a slight smile crept up on his lips.


    "All ording to n, I guess," Mark murmured. "Let''s just wish these people were decent. If not, don''t me me. But so far, they do behave decently. Except for one, though. Why is that person showering me with hate for no reason."


    Mark then turned his eyes back on the iing vehicles while keeping his attention on the four individuals posted in different buildings around the Meiji Seimei Kan.


    From the start, Mark''s actions were pretty much calcted. Why Mark chose this building to camp in? Why his actions were weird in the past few days. All of these factorse in together to get this oue.


    ***


    Day 317 - 5:32 PM - Route 406, Marunouchi, Chiyoda City, Tokyo


    Mitsui Ren and a few designated group members drove through the ruins of Tokyo.


    Normally, the roads of the current Tokyo were impassable due to debris and changes in ground elevation and geography. However, there was no way the government and its people would trap themselves within the Reimed City.


    What if it fell? How would they escape?


    That was why several main roads in Tokyo were cleared of debris. Not that they were entirely unblocked, but at least it allowed vehicles to pass through. And this process, of course, took quite a good amount of lives sacrificed to pull off.


    Nheless, it gave the residents of the Reimed City a way out if things went further south.


    And to further ensure that these escape routes would be usable in case of emergency, assigned groups would check these roads at timed schedules. It was how the scouts of ck Lotus found the survivors staying in Meiji Seimei Kan.<novelnext></novelnext>


    Mitsui Ren looked outside the window of the military jeep she was riding. They were getting close to the location.


    The vehicles stopped in front of the Meiji Seimei Kan.


    Of course, with several [Infected] on their tail. The members of the group stepped out of the vehicles first to deal with the enemies chasing them.


    On the other hand, Mitsui Ren waited until her door was opened. Only then she stepped out of the military jeep. As the leader of the group, there was no need for her to step forward to deal with a few enemies.


    Ren looked up to the remains of the fifth floor. It was when they heard a man''s voice shouting at them.


    "Who are you, people?!"


    The cautious shout of the man from the report entered Ren''s ears.


    From the report, it was already spected that the group here were not locals and were foreigners. Hearing the man''s voice and sentence made them conclude that the spection was true. It was because while the man''s sentence had proper grammar, it sounded a bit awkward. It was a traitmon to people who were not that used to speaking a differentnguage from what they usually used.


    One of Ren''s subordinates was about to reply to the man. However...


    "I''ll handle this."


    Ren stepped forward and shouted to the man.


    "We are not enemies! We are the ck Lotus group from the Reimed City! We are tasked by the government to find survivors in this area and bring them to safety."


    "Really?" The man shouted back. "Can you provide proof?"


    Ren expected this to happen. It was not the first time, after all. Besides, not being cautious about the people you meet in the current times was just asking for trouble.


    "I can show you my identification card," Ren suggested."Can I climb up?"


    "There''s no stairs. Use thedder behind the wall in front of you."


    The man answered.


    Ren turned to her subordinates and signaled them to stand down and stay. Of course, they were against their leader going up alone. However, none of them voiced theirints. Their leader was not just the leader in name. She was among the strongest ones in their group.


    "There''s no need for thedders. Please stand away from the edge."


    Ren shouted as she used the remains of the ruins to jump up to the fifth-floor ledge where the man was taking cover.


    The act that Ren showed disyed the fact that she had the strength to fight but would not use violence toward the group. Hopefully, this could add to the fact that they were genuine rescuers.


    Arriving on the fifth floor, Ren immediately raised her hands. The man was pointing a gun at her.


    "Where''s the I.D.?"


    The man asked, to which Ren responded by opening her hand.


    This I.D. was an official one. Each ability-holder that entered the Reimed City was examined and assessed. Then, they were given an I.D., which also served as a license.


    Ren slowly stretched her hand that held her I.D., and the man snatched it to take a close look. Finally, it seemed that the man believed her as he lowered his gun and apologized for his aggressiveness.


    Of course, Ren did not mind. She had a fiery personality, but she had enough understanding of the possible circumstances.


    And here, things went smoothly.


    Ren signaled her subordinates to help with escorting the survivors. She supervised her subordinates closely, making sure that they showed hospitality to these poor survivors.


    On the other hand, Ren was pretty surprised at the group. Although she had already received the report, seeing it in person still had a different impact.


    For example, the [Sylph]. From what Ren knew, [Sylphs] should have greenish-blonde hair and emerald-colored eyes. However, the [Sylph] apanying the survivors actually had ck hair and dark eyes. She looked strange and out of the norm, but legends and myths had variations, and such unexpected things were possible.


    The [Sylph] aside, Ren and her subordinates were mesmerized by the older woman within the group. The messy report did say unparalleled beauty, but the truth was several million times better. Ren was confident with her looks, but she immediately conceded in front of the woman.


    Unfortunately, there seemed to be some issues with the woman. She did not want to approach any men other than the man in their group. Ren immediately caught on and tasked the women of the ck Lotus to be the people to mainly assist the group''s rescue.


    The green-haired girl was also eye-catching. Furthermore, her cheery attitude made it easy for Ren and her subordinates to smile around her.


    There were also the other three girls and the teenage girl. And although they were using a differentnguage, Ren and the others immediately realized that the little girls, the beautiful woman, and the man were a family. The teenage girl seemed to be the beautiful woman''s younger sister. It was hard to determine the rtionship between the green-haired girl and the rest of the group, but they did hear her call the man "uncle."


    After retrieving the important items in the camp, the survivors were escorted to the military truck.


    Ren was supposed to ride on the military jeep on the way back. However, she decided to apany the survivors in the truck. Ren wanted to interact with the group more, especially the man. After all, she was really interested in the [Sylph], who seemed to be contracted with the man. Of course, it was also a way for her to gather information about the survivors they rescued.


    Since Ren was used to dealing with people, she tried to not make things too awkward. After all, it was bad to suddenly overwhelm the survivors. Within the truck, she learned of their names and observed their personalities.


    However, Ren found a wall in trying to interact with the group. Language wall, that was. Aside from the man and the green-haired girl, the rest of their group could not speak Japanese. They could understand a few words, but definitely not at a conversation level.


    The fact that there was anguage barrier was quite troublesome. After all, the group''s statements were needed to gather information and verify their identities. If the rest could not speak, the amount of information they could gather would be limited to what the man and the green-haired girl would say.


    But at this point, Ren did not feel too pressured about gathering information. As she interacted more with them, Ren felt that it was impossible for these survivors to be spies sent by the enemies.

 Chapter 957 Kachidoki Area, Entering The Reclaimed City With The Help Of The Black Lotus Group

    Day 317 - 6:21 PM - Kachidoki Bridge, Kachidoki, Chuo City, Tokyo


    Three military vehicles traversed through the ruined Tokyo. It was not afortable ride. While the roads the vehicles passed through were clear enough to allow passage, there were many unmovable debris and bumps along the way. Traveling through an unpaved rural road in the mountains would have probably been a smoother ride than this.


    Furthermore, the loud sounds the vehicles made attracted quite a bit of unwanted attention from the [Infected]. From time to time, the road would get blocked, and the members of the ck Lotus would deal with the enemies.


    The three vehicles drove across the road in a line. Mark''s group sat on the military truck in the middle.


    Mark was in the middle of conversing with the woman that spoke to him at the camp. He had his calctions done in the past week of camping. Within the possible encounters with people from the Reimed City, Mark assumed that it could be scavengers or the military who woulde to "rescue" them.


    However, from the information that the woman, Mitsui Ren, shared, the ck Lotus was a private group hired by the current government to guard the northwest area of the Reimed City. By the looks of it, the remaining Japanese government gave privileges to some powerful groups to manage areas of the Reimed City.


    It was likely to be a mock application of a feudal system. These groups were still under their own leadership. However, they still had to answer to the government to keep their privileges.


    This situation was kind of simr to the state of the outer areas of Corregidor Settlement. The only difference was that the territorial groups here in the Reimed City were legitimately hired private personnel by the government. They were not just some unrestrained gangs controlled by politicians in the dark.


    One more thing outside Mark''s ns was Mitsui Ren''s status. She was actually the leader of ck Lotus. In the current system that the Reimed City had, she was more or less at the status of andlord or a vassal.


    Mark noticed how Mitsui Ren was ncing at Amihan from time to time. He realized that letting Amihan in the open might have been too much of a bait to use in his ns.


    While talking with Mitsui Ren, Mark was observing the members of the ck Lotus that was present. Surprisingly, half of the twenty-four members present were regr humans. He could not tell whether they were [Evolvers] since that was something that was hard to determine with his [Empath] abilities. However, each of these members was powerful.


    Mark saw a few of them fight the [Infected] from the back of the truck. Despite being regr humans, their strength and speed were on par with the average [Mutators]. This made Mark think if these people were professionally trained soldiers or members of the secret elite forces.


    Mitsui Ren was also asking questions about Mark and his group. Mark knew that she was gathering information about his group. It was not with ill intent, though. It might be needed for proper entry procedures. Not to mention that enemies were everywhere in the apocalypse. Asking questions to remove suspicions was necessary.


    Mark did not hesitate to answer the questions given to him. It was expected that he would be the one to be asked questions since the rest of the group could not speak Japanese, with the exception of Emika.


    And the more Mark answered the questions confidently, the more Emika''s stare bore holes in him. After all, she could understand the conversation. And she could tell that more than seventy percent of Mark''s answers were pure bullsh*t. Worse, more than half of that bullsh*t was made on the spot.


    Of course, Mark already told everyone what story they would have as they posed as regr survivors. But most of what wasing out of Mark''s mouth right now was not within the story they discussed.


    Mark was taking full advantage of the fact that only he and Emika could converse with the locals. Mei and Spera would be able to converse using English. However, it was well known that English literacy in Japan was quite on the low side.


    Of course, there would still be the chance for someone English proficient to go and ask them questions after arriving at the Reimed City.


    However, did that really matter?


    Not really.


    Mark was only doing this stuff to make a legitimate entry to the Reimed City. After all, it would make things easier for him and his group to gather the information they wanted that way.


    But if it was not possible or something made it hard to do so...


    Mark was willing to drop the idea as soon as things had gone south.


    Soon enough, the convoy of ck Lotus reached the Kachidoki Bridge. Of course, it was destroyed by the earthquake during the [Fusion of Dimensions].


    When the convoy arrived, a barge was waiting for them at the Sumida River with more members of the ck Lotus aboard. The barge was docked at a newly built dock on the northwest side of the river. With the help of a ramp, the three vehicles drove up the barge. It then left the dock and floated to the other side of the river, following a pair of steel lines extending to both sides of the river as a guide.


    All the while they were traversing the river, all members of the ck Lotus were on high alert. It was clear that traversing the river was not that safe.


    Mark also noticed. There were creatures underwater. However, it seemed that the creatures underwater were not [Infected]. They were likely to be [Evolved Fishes] that turned to eat humans that fell into the river.


    Unfortunately for these hungry fishes, Mark would not let these fishes disturb their way to the Reimed City. The [Evolved Fishes] was about to attack when Mark closed his eyes. Covered by his closed eyes, his pupils turned red. A sudden feeling of danger made the school of fish swimming underwater freeze. Sensing a predator nearby, the school of [Evolved Fish] immediately turned their tail and scurried away in fear.


    The barge made it to the other side of the river safely. And it was to the confusion of members of ck Lotus. Before, there were at least a few shakes of the barge due to the creatures in the water. It was rather strange for the way back over the river to be this smooth.


    "Is something wrong?"


    Mitsui Ren noticed Mark''s eyes closed.


    Mark opened his eyes, with his pupils turning back to normal. Well, at least the normal eyes he had now since his other eye still had a purplish tint. It was not that noticeable under the shade, but its purple tint was visible under bright light.


    "There''s nothing wrong, Mitsui-san," Mark replied. "I''m just feeling a bit tired."


    It was not just Mark. The girls were also getting sleepy. It had been a long time since they had ridden a car. And considering the bumpy and ufortable ride, it was much more tiring than walking.


    "Please endure it a little more," Ren replied. "We''re almost there."


    The vehicles left the dock and drove up the slope. In front of them was the Kachidoki Gate of the Reimed City.


    After entering the gate, the vehicles drove into apound right beside the gate. It was where Mark''s group alighted the military truck and finally had a chance to freely look around.


    Thepound was only separated by a chainlink fence to the outside. It allowed Mark to see the immediate surroundings and the familiar scenery outside. After all, while Mark did not enter the Reimed City, he did some reconnaissance.


    And to say, this area was quite a seedy ce.


    After all, the Kachidoki Area, while pretty peaceful, was one of the most poor-looking areas in the Reimed City.


    In fact, Mark already saw that the areas of the Reimed City were divided by ss. The northern areas, while having a moderate amount of security, were the poorest areas. As the areas went south, the richer and more secure they became. It was easy to assume that the most important people were in the central areas, while the southern areas were where the important facilities were located.


    "Miss!"<novelnext></novelnext>


    As Mitsui Ren jumped out of the military truck, people within thepound immediately greeted her with respect.


    "Is the special housing ready?"


    Mitsui Ren asked one of her subordinates.


    "Special housing?"


    Mark interjected and asked.


    "It is an empty house in ourpound reserved for important people."


    Mitsui Ren answered honestly.


    "I don''t really think that we''re important people."


    Mark humbly denied it. Of course, another stare from Emika pierced his back because of his tant lie.


    "That could be the case, but..."


    Mitsui Ren turned her eyes to Amihan, that was sitting on Mark''s shoulder, before also turning to Emika.


    "I see..." Mark shrugged as he red at the woman before him. "You''re not going to force us into handing them over, are you?"


    The sudden re caused the members of ck Lotus to take out their weapons.


    "What are you idiots doing?!" Mitsui Ren noticed her subordinates and was startled. "Put your weapons away!"


    "B-But Miss-!"


    One of the subordinates was about to say something but was met with Ren''s re. Knowing their Miss'' fiery personality, the subordinates reluctantly put their weapons in confusion.


    Why were they confused? Well, they themselves were unsure why they took out their weapons.


    "My apologies about my subordinates," Mitsui Ren sighed as she turned back to Mark. "Forcing anyone isn''t my intention, although I have some proposition for you. But since it is alreadyte, let us postpone the talk to tomorrow. We also need you to undergo registration and some medical examinations tomorrow morning. This process is mandatory. Everyone entering the Reimed City had to undergo that."


    Mark looked at the members of the ck Lotus warily before turning back to Ren and asking.


    "There''s no need to immediately check for bites or something?"


    "Oh," Ren understood why Mark asked that question. "We did that initially. But now, it didn''t really matter much. We have a few sensitive people around. It is easy to determine who is bitten or not since people bitten would immediately start showing symptoms a few seconds after getting bitten. Your group doesn''t seem to show the symptoms."


    Mark nodded, understanding the exnation. It was true, after all. While the time to turn could vary depending on the part of the body that was bitten, the person''s immune system, or their health state, they would immediately show symptoms like fever soon after getting bit.


    "Follow me," Ren then urged the group to follow her. "I will bring you to where your group can stay for the night."


    Those words from Ren caused some reactions from the subordinates, although none of them voiced anything. It seemed that their Miss treating the neers in such a manner was quite a big deal.


    Following Ren, Mark''s group was brought to a house beside the central building within thepound of the ck Lotus. The buildings in thepound were new, but this house looked like something that was built recently.


    The house was not that spacious and was not divided into rooms either. It was just a dwelling that was built to be spacious enough for a group of people to sleep with some leeway for important baggage and some renovation.


    "You can rest here," Ren said as they entered the house. "Sorry, but while the door won''t be locked, your group will be restricted from going around without an escort. The ces you can go within thepound will also be limited. So please, if possible, do not go out until tomorrow when we finish the procedures. We will also deliver food, so please wait for the dinner schedule."


    After that, Ren left Mark''s group inside the house while two members of the ck Lotus stood guard outside the door.


    Inside, Emika sat on the bed and spoke to Mark. Not in Japanese but in Tagalog.


    "Hey, Uncle. Isn''t that Onee-chan awfully polite? She looks interested in me and Amihan. But still..."


    "Hmm? It''s more like she''s experienced in her job."


    Mark replied.


    "What do you mean?"


    Spera, who was patiently silent all this while, interjected.


    "Well, they might be people working to rescue survivors when they spotted one. However, the survivors they rescue would probably be untrusting and agitated. Her polite manner of talking would make her sound more trustworthy, allowing the rescued people to feel safe and make them calm down to some extent. It could prevent many idents and outbursts from unstable survivors. Although, in our case, her interest also contributed to how she spoke to us."


    "Oooh..."


    Emika said, amazed by the logic behind that simple behavior.


    "Anyway," Mark said, looking around the house. "Looks like they prepared this house specifically for us."


    Everyone could only agree with what Mark said. After all, why were there exactly seven beds inside the house? Well, the beds could be a coincidence.


    However... what about that basket with a small bedsheet and pillow atop the side table? Was it still a coincidence that Amihan could fit in that basket?

 Chapter 958 Assumptions, A Conversation Between The Leader And The Right-Hand Of The Black Lotus

    Day 317 - 7:21 PM - Main Office, ck Lotus Compound, Kachidoki, Chuo City, Tokyo


    Mitsui Ren sat on her chair in contemtion. As the leader of the Kachidoki Area within the Reimed City, she had a lot of duties to fulfill. However, her mind was preupied with the thoughts about the group of survivors they rescued today.


    The leader of the ck Lotus was also recording the details she got from the leader of the survivors. It could be seen a page of the notebook on top of her desk was now filled. While most of the page''s contents were the information she acquired, it also contained her notes and spections.


    At this time, a knock came from the other side of the door to her office.


    "Enter."


    Ren said as she put down the pen in her hand.


    Responding to the permission given by Ren, the person behind the door entered the door and respectfully saluted.


    The person who entered was a man in his mid-forties. He had a moderately muscr build, wearing the ck Lotus uniform. His hair was undercut, and his posture was firm as if he belonged to the military. If Mark and his group were here, they would recognize this man since he was with them inside the military truck. This man sat at the back end of the truck to guard it in case of emergency.


    "Miss."


    The man greeted.


    "Tadashi..." Ren nced at her notes as she uttered the man''s name. "What do you think about that group we rescued? Don''t hold anything back."


    Tadashi closed his eyes for a second, organizing his thoughts to answer the question.


    "They are no ordinary survivors."


    Tadashi answered.


    "Of course, they are far from average survivors. They survived outside until now. It would be strange if they were ordinary."


    Ren retorted.


    "That is not what I meant, Miss," Tadashi shook his head. "While traversing a city filled with the [Infected], they were awfully calm. Although we were in a vehicle, most people would not be as calm as they were. It was more apparent to the children. Other children would be shaking in fear, hugging their parents or guardians along the way. But the children in that group did not show any sign of fear."


    "Next is the beautiful girl," Tadashi continued. "It would be hard to see since her body is slender, but her arms had the muscle form of someone who held a sword and had extensive training with it. Furthermore, someone with an appearance like her would notst long in the current world if she did not have enough strength and skill."


    "Andstly, that man," Tadashi had a second of a pause before continuing. "I cannot get a read on him. This entire time, even when he was having the conversation with you, Miss, aside from his facial expressions, his pulse, posture, and tone didn''t show much change to indicate lies. No, not just lies. I could not make out anything at all."


    "I also noticed that," Ren said, staring at Tadashi. "He did have facial expressions while talking. However, the expressions felt empty. And his statements and posture were too perfectly in sync in forming an image of an experienced but a person quitecking skills in the apocalypse."


    Mitsui Ren had a degree in Psychology and was on top of her ss. She was not able to finish her doctorate degree because of the apocalypse. Nheless, making such observations was within her field.


    "And earlier..." Ren tapped her temple. "Our members drew their weapons just because of a re."


    "Yes," Tadashi nodded. "Although that man did not exhibit any threatening actions, our sensitive members sensed danger. One being oversensitive could be a coincidence, but all of them should not be."


    "The chances of them being spies got higher, isn''t it?"


    Ren said with a frown.


    "The chance of them being spies did rise, although we still can''t be sure," Tadashi replied with a slight shrug of his shoulders. "But we can rule out the suspicion that the children were just being used for the farce. It was only during his interaction with his group members. That man''s pulse and posture showed changes. Although their blood rtion is questionable, we can conclude that they treat each other as family. Most notable spies don''t have families or any sort of such rtionships due to their work. It is even more unlikely for them to bring family members in missions."


    "But it also makes a perfect guise due to how contradicting it is."


    Ren voiced out, making Tadashi silent in agreement.


    Then, the chance of the survivors they rescued being spies sent by the enemy was fifty over fifty.


    In other words, Ren and Tadashi were stuck in the middle. There was no particr factor within the information they gathered that could tip the bnce to one side at all.


    "For now, let''s just observe them closely," Ren decided. "Tadashi, I''ll put you in charge of their amodation together with Mako. The woman named Mei seemed to have fear towards men, so I can''t just leave it to you alone."


    "Yes, something must have happened to her before involving males. Her pulse rose when our men''s attention was on her," Tadashi voiced his observation about Mei. "And considering how she could find safety behind that man just showed how tightly bound their rtionship is."<novelnext></novelnext>


    "True," Ren smiled. "It won''t be easy to make a woman with a scarred heart rely on another man. He must have been really good on her if they reached this far. Although that man, Mark-san, will be subject to envy everywhere they go. Their appearance as individuals was on both ends of the ruler, after all."


    Ren then looked at her notes, picking up her pen and tapping on the names of the members of Mark''s group on the page.


    "Let''s just wish they were not spies, even if they were hiding their skills," Ren sighed. " We can really use some help right now. I won''t force them to join us. At the least, we can possibly get better and morepetent allies."


    Saying that the Reimed City was peaceful was a farfetched idea. Given its current ruling system, it was bound to more conflict andpetition between forces that ruled areas within the Reimed City. Resources, manpower, there were many things topete with. Thus, espionage, sabotage, and bribery could happen in any part of the city, especially when one group wanted something from the other. However, they could not get it in legitimate ways.


    The ck Lotus was not a particrlyrge group. However, they were a group of highly skilled people. That was why they were given the whole Kachidoki area to manage. A moderately sized territory within the Reimed City. And, of course, they were subject to the envy of other groups.


    And the inside conflicts aside, there were also other forces that could send spies and agents to the Reimed City. Hostile forces outside included bandits, underground groups, and, most importantly, Demons. Ever since the world changed and magical creatures that were only heard in stories, myths, and legends appeared, Demonic creatures became a problem.


    It was no news that many creatures of Japanese folklore were violent ones. Creatures that saw humans as livestock and individuals to prey upon. Many of them were intelligent enough to use humans or even disguise as one in order to infiltrate human habitats and induce havoc.


    There was even the suspicion that some people within the Reimed City were now working with the enemies. Unfortunately, there was no concrete evidence to find out who those people were.


    "Did they request anything?"


    Putting away the unrted thoughts, for now, Ren asked Tadashi.


    "Aside from asking permission to move around the beds to their liking, they didn''t ask for anything else," Tadashi answered. "They took and ate the food they were given withoutints either, though they took out some snacks of their own to add to their dinner."


    "Snacks, huh," Ren bitterly smiled. "Some people within our area would treat a bag of potato chips as precious dinner. Mark-san''s group would just add snacks to their dinner as dessert. Just what kind of people are they?"


    "Haaah," Ren was tired of all the thinking. "Let''s just leave this for now. Any news on our petition? Did Akari report anything?"


    "Akari had not reported anything yet. I doubt our petition could be approved soon," Tadashi reported, showing a bit of frustration. "The opposition on our petition is tough. Some of them might even have the backing of some government officials."


    "Haah... Damn it." Ren gripped her fists. "Our current food supply won''tst too long if this situation continues. To think that they would use our agendas to their advantage... They really are keen on driving us into the corner."


    "Should we prepare for another expedition?"


    Tadashi suggested.


    "I don''t know," Ren replied with uncertainty. "We can''t go on long expeditions frequently due to our limited fuel supply. It might be what our enemies are aiming for and ambush the expedition once they get far enough for any reinforcements to make it in time."


    "Then, we should consider things further. We should find other groups that would go on expeditions and join them. That way, we might be able to lessen the chances of an ambush."


    Ren nodded in agreement. After all, if two or more groups joined in an expedition, the enemies might reconsider relying on an ambush just in case they began making multiple enemies at once.


    The leader of the ck Lotus and her right-hand man continued to discuss their ns. This night would be quite long for the two.


    ***


    Within the house they were brought to stay for the night, Marky on the bed with Mei. He then opened his eyes, clearly far from being asleep.


    Opening his right hand, a crystal with a greenish orb inside flew out. It then went into the [PsyCrystal] embedded on the back of his right wrist. From the looks of it, he stealthily activated the [Wind Maniption Mental Crystal], using the wind to gather information.


    Mark was listening to the entirety of the conversation between Ren and Tadashi as the wind he controlled brought their voices into his ear. He let out a sigh, knowing that his act barely worked at all. Both Ren and Tadashi were sharp people with their own ways of discerning things. Who would have thought that the leader of ck Lotus majored in Psychology? She looked more like a businesswoman with her aura and appearance. And that Tadashi, he was not just some regr fighter. To be able to discern people''s expertise using their pulse and muscles, he should be an expert among experts.


    There was one thing that Mark became sure of, however. ck Lotus was a righteous group. It was pretty lucky it was the ck Lotus group that found Mark and his group. If not, bloodshed might be unavoidable, considering the current state of the ck Lotus being driven into a corner by otherrger groups.


    But then, it might not be just luck. After all, only people as righteous as the ck Lotus would bother rescuing a small group of survivors despite the danger. Others might not bother, even if they saw Emika and Amihan.


    "?"


    Mark detected something. It looks like someone was observing thepound quite a distance away. Worse, someone from the ck Lotus stealthily went out of thepound and made contact with the suspicious person.


    "Haah..." Mark sighed and thought. ''Looks like we''ll be getting dragged into this political strife between the groups here.''


    Mark would take it lying down, however. It would be expected that some odd people would make contact with him soon to invite his group. Unfortunately for them, unless they were far more righteous than ck Lotus, he would be inclined to help the people who let them inside the Reimed City than a group of scheming bastards.

 Chapter 959 Spies And Leaks, A New Annoyance And Planning In The Morning

    Day 318 - 12:05 AM - Red Lion Troupe Compound, Tsukuda, Chuo City, Tokyo


    Tsukuda. It was the northernmost area of the Reimed City. In terms of size, Tsukuda was not any less than Kachidoki. However, it was not the most fitting ce in terms of security against outside dangers.


    Three sides of Tsukuda faced the river and ruined Tokyo beyond due to its irregr triangr shape, with its southwest side connected to the Tsukushima Area.


    This territory was mostly managed by the Chishishi-Dan, or Blood Lion Troupe, with a few smaller groups under theirmand.


    Blood Lion Troupe was known to be a group with a high and mighty attitude. It was due to the fact that their members were highly powerful [Ability Holders]. Furthermore, they racked up quite an amount of reputation and merits by being on the frontlines of battles during the worst events of the apocalypse.


    However, despite how powerful they were, the Blood Lion Troupe was quite a hated group by most refugees. It was due to the fact that while they were fearless to go in the front lines and face powerful [Infected], they see nothing but strength as a focus of a person''s value.


    The members of the Blood Lion Troupe treated themselves as Gods above men, while regr people were nothing but ants in their eyes. And within their territory, violence was prevalent. If one wanted to have a stable position within Tsukuda, one needed strength. And in that regard, if one had enough strength, they could have what they wanted as long as they followed the orders of the Blood Lion Troupe.


    This kind of ruling was quite problematic. However, the current government left them be, allowing them to do what they wanted in their territory. It was due to the fact that just their existence was a great help to fight off iing dangers.


    In fact, due to their survival of the fittest rule, many power-greedy people flocked to their group. This caused their group to only keep rising in terms of power, making Tsukuda one of the safest locations in the Reimed City, despite its uncanny location.


    Of course, despite Tsukuda being safe, there were fewer people wanting to live in a jungle filled with beasts. Its residents were mostly [Ability Holders].


    Unfortunately, despite being one of the stronger groups, the leader of the Blood Lion Troupe was still unsatisfied. He wanted more. If possible, he wanted all other powerful individuals in the Reimed City to be under hismand. Of course, that was not possible. However, it did not mean that he could not get others.


    The greedy leader of the Blood Lion Troupe went by the alias "Mane."


    And now, inside his bedroom, the leader of the Blood Lion Troup was pretty annoyed as he read the paper in his hand. His annoyance was reasonable since the messenger urgently knocked on his door just a few minutes after midnight when he was in the middle of his sleep.


    "Are you sure about this?"


    Mane asked the messenger with a frown.


    "It is as you read, Sir. The ck Lotus found some survivors, and they had what seemed to be a [Sylph] with them. They also had an [Ability Holder]. A girl around thirteen to fourteen years old."


    "Three younger children, two women, and a man who is their leader. Nothing much notable about them aside from the older of the two women being a beauty and the man being the possible contractor..." Mane continued to read the report under the light of amp. "And the [Ability Holder''s] power isn''t known yet?"


    "Yes." The messenger replied. "They were rescuedte in the day. It seemed they would be examined and registered in the morning."


    "Good," Mane smiled. "You''re dismissed. But before you go, call Horn and Scythe."


    "Yes, Sir."


    The messenger retreated and left Mane''s bedroom.


    It was when a seductive female voice entered Mane''s ears.


    "Looks like you''re in a good mood."


    It was a gorgeous woman lying down naked on Mane''s bed, with her body covered by the nket.


    "Asami," Mane snickered. "The birthday of that brat priestess ising soon. I''ve been thinking of what to give as a present that will gain us some favor. If we can get our hands on that [Sylph], there is no way that brat will be able to decline."


    "But don''t think that will be easy," The woman named Asami said as she sexily stretched her body as she had just woken up. "The owner handing over such a pet would be unlikely even if you try to buy it."


    "Heh," Mane shook his head. "If they want to stay here for long, they better hand it over while I''m still being nice."


    ***


    From the leak of information to a few witnesses, the news of the ck Lotus Group rescuing some unique individuals spread to certain people. Some were nonchnt about it. There were others intrigued about it. Unfortunately, quite a few nefarious individuals were interested.


    The existence of magical creatures was not new to those at the top, even before the apocalypse began. Of course, having these creatures in captivity was another thing, even today. As such, the existence of a magical creature apanying a human was an interesting thing. It was due to the fact that, except for individuals of certain lineages, these creatures would stay away from humans and their habitats out of fear or hate.


    And for this same reason, no magical creature could be seen in the Reimed City. A least not on the surface. There were probably some lurking around, disguised as humans. Of course, with the exception of magical creatures captured for entertainment.


    In the first ce, many creatures of Japanese folklore were utterly hostile to humans. This alone could make these creatures either stay away from the Reimed City or immediately start a bloody massacre as they arrive.


    ***


    Day 318 - 7:21 AM - ck Lotus Compound, Kachidoki, Chuo City, Tokyo


    Morning came, and Mark''s group woke up pretty early. Sleeping upte in the morning was not really a good thing in ces a person was unfamiliar with. It was the same for Mark''s group. They woke up early because Mark and the rest felt pretty unfamiliar with the new surroundings.


    Mark''s group started to prepare as they woke up. It was because Mark was already told what they would need to do early today. They would go to the central area of the Reimed City to be examined and registered.<novelnext></novelnext>


    The examination was not for bites or the like. It was more of an interview to see what they were capable of doing, along with a few practical tests. It was a method for the higher-ups to distribute the workforce to the entire city. The strength of [Ability Holders] was also tested with this process.


    After the examination, all results would be added to the registration process. Here, the person''s dwelling, job allocations, and other important things in living in the Reimed City were designated based on the results of the examination.


    With this information in hand, Mark already briefed the members of his group. The children would be fine since they would not be given such job allocations unless they volunteered to help their guardians. However, this also meant that Mark, Mei, and Spera could be sent to different jobs. These job allocations werepulsory, and that would not do.


    Anyone could call it being overprotective, but Mark would not let Mei and the girls out of his sight in this unfamiliar ce.


    Fortunately, were some ways to be excused from thepulsory job allocations. One was to be a member of a group like the ck Lotus. It was a job in itself, after all. They also receive orders from above, which they had to fulfill.


    Another way was to be what they called a [Frencer]. It was a job akin to Hunters or Adventurers in fiction. They could take requests, rise in ranks, and receive rewards depending on the work they fulfilled. In fact, groups like ck Lotus were also considered [Frencer Guilds].


    When Mark heard it yesterday from Ren, he was quite looking forward to it. It was such a cliche-sounding system. However, the government and the military of the Reimed City had quite a number of things that needed to be done but forcing people to do it would not do. Through this system, they could issue the work as a request, and people would do it voluntarily for rewards and to rise in rank. It could keep the workforce going without sacrificing the trust and satisfaction of people toward the government and the military.


    And during the registration, Mark, Mei, and Spera would register as [Frencers]. In this process, they had to show a bit of what they could do.


    TOK! TOK!


    While preparing, a knock on the door was heard.


    Although Mark was amidsting I''s hair, he had no choice but to leave her for a bit to open the door.


    When Mark opened the door, the familiar man with a slightly muscr build stood outside.


    "Good morning, Mark-san."


    The man greeted Mark.


    "Good morning," Of course, Mark replied back in turn. "You are the guy in the same truck as us yesterday, right?"


    "You remembered. I''m Yamamoto Tadashi. Just call me Tadashi," The man had a pleasant look on his face as he stepped to the side to introduce another person. "This is Amamiya Mako. She and I were tasked to tend to your group this morning."


    The woman named Amamiya Mako nodded at Mark as a greeting. She seemed to be the serious silent type of person. Right now, she was pushing a cart containing the meal for Mark''s group for breakfast.


    And the food? It was rice gruel with oats and bits of corn. It was not surprising considering the current supply of the ck Lotus, which they still had to distribute to those refugees incapable of work that relied on their rations. It was already nice that aside from the rice gruel, each member of Mark''s group had a boiled as a side dish.


    "I''m sorry, but we don''t know what [Sylphs] would eat," Tadashi apologized since the breakfast did not include Amihan. "If you can tell us, we might be able to get some."


    But to their surprise, Mark pointed at Amihan.


    "Her kind only eats fruits, apparently. But there''s no need. She''s already eating."


    Tadashi and Mako looked at Amihan, who sat inside the prepared basket with bedding. She was already eating some dried wild berries, which totally confused the two. After all, where did Mark''s group get fruits in this ce?


    "She''s a picky eater," Mark said as he took out a Tupperware container from his bag containing dried wild berries. "We had some preparation for her. She preferred fresh fruits, but there''s nothing much we can do about it."


    The two might have received orders from Ren. Nheless, they also held some interest in the magical creature they luckily came across. With Mark exining things, they learned something new.


    Mark began to distribute the breakfast to the girls. It was when Tadashi took the opportunity to speak.


    "After breakfast, please prepare for the registration. We will escort you to the Central Office. Miss Ren will alsoe with us, along with a group of escorts."


    "Did something happen?"


    Mark asked, noticing the change in ns. Last night, it was supposed to be only Ren that would apany them. Probably with another one or two members, but definitely not a group.


    "Information about your [Sylph] somehow spread out," Tadashi exined without hesitation. "Our Miss n on recruiting you. Or at least working with your group. With the information leak happening, we can expect other groups to have the same agenda."


    "So, your miss wanted to gatekeep us from the other groups, is it?"


    Mark asked.


    "I would not deny it," Tadashi honestly replied. "We would not force anyone, no matter what situation. However, not all groups would have simr thoughts. Furthermore, the leak happened while your group was under our protection. We should at least take responsibility for your safety."


    Mark shrugged as he listened. It was a reasonable action for the ck Lotus, but Tadashi also made quite a sales pitch here.


    Well, Ren was not a bad person, so Mark would not deny cooperation with her. Joining the ck Lotus was another thing, though.

 Chapter 960 Lotus Scent, Annoyance Outside The Registration And Management Building

    Day 318 - 9:25 AM - Reimei Bridge Exit, Harumi, Chuo City, Tokyo


    Traveling over the Reimei Bridge, it was a ck Monocorps Van. A white-outlined decal of a ck-colored lotus decorated the vehicle''s body. To anyone along the way, they knew that the Monocorps Van belonged to the ck Lotus Group.


    Riding the vehicle, it was no other than Mark''s group. The pair of Tadashi and Mako, along with three more members of ck Lotus, apanied the group. And, of course, the leader of the ck Lotus, Ren, was also present.


    Along the way, Mark''s group could not help but look outside the window. Why? It was because of the scenery outside the vehicle.


    The stark contrast between the inside and the outside of the Reimed City was something one would immediately notice.


    Outside the Reimed City, all one could see was the ruins of Tokyo going on for miles. The very image of the apocalypse. However, inside the Reimed City, almost everything looked more or less the same before the apocalypse started.


    It waspletely different from the state of Corregidor Settlement in the Philippines. In the Corregidor Settlement, they rebuilt almost everything using stockpiles of resources bought from the CNC. And while they already had a few high buildings, the settlement was far from fully recovering its state before the [Fusion of Dimensions].


    On the other hand, the Reimed had most of its old buildings still standing. It was not like the buildings were in perfect state. The tall skyscrapers had their windows newly reced after the earthquake broke most ss windows. Many buildings still had cracks they received after the catastrophe, which were still unrepaired. However, for the whole Reimed City to be mostly intact after the world-changing earthquake, it could not be any short of a miracle.


    Even the bridges with the Reimed City were intact, although all bridges leading to the maind had fallen.


    It meant that whatever caused this miracle was limited to the vicinity of the Reimed City.


    And if one had to ask, people present in the Reimed City during the [Fusion of Dimensions] would only have one answer.


    Mark also asked earlier after finally seeing the Reimed City under the brightness of the daylight. And Ren answered Mark with one sentence.


    "It was because of the Priestess'' Miracle."


    No one knew how the Priestess did it. However, when things began falling from outer space and a barrier appeared to protect the Reimed City, a beam of light was seen as it pierced the skying from the Priestess'' Temple. That light spread throughout the Reimed City and protected it from utter destruction.


    The Priestess already had quite a following before since she was a religious leader. However, the events that unfolded during the [Fusion of Dimensions] further elevated her status. Some hardcore fanatics even began to treat her as a saint that would bring everyone salvation. Of course, these hardcore fanatics were thwarted by the Priestess, but they never stopped.


    While inside the vehicle, Ren was telling them stories about the Priestess. It seemed that Ren respected the Priestess a whole lot. Fortunately, she was not one of those fanatics. It was just that it seemed that Ren personally knew the Priestess even before the apocalypse.


    Mark listened to Ren''s stories while also paying attention to the scenery outside. Since the members of Mark''s group could not even understand Ren''s words, they were doing the same as Mark.


    There were a lot of people outside. They walked across the streets in a fashion one would see back before the apocalypse began. Given the environment that the Reimed City provided its residents, they could live a life quite simr to what they had in the past.


    Wake up early in the morning, go to work, happily interact with their colleagues, and do their after-work activities. A typical life before the apocalypse, just minus the television and inte.


    Mark could see groups of people wearing simr uniforms,ughing as they went to work together. There were others walking alone, hurrying because they were runningte.


    In that scene, Mark scoffed at those people. Not all, but quite a few of them.


    "Is something wrong?"


    Mako, sitting behind Mark by the side door, noticed his reaction. She found it strange that he would have that kind of reaction to such a peaceful scene.


    Mark nced at the woman. Mako was around the same age as Mei. Thus, he understood that she probablycked experience reading people and did not understand his reaction.


    "You think all those people are fine, right? They could live a simr life they had before the apocalypse. That''s fine, but..."


    "But?"


    Mako looked out the window, looking at the same scene as Mark.


    "Many of them are taking advantage of this fact and are using it to escape from reality. They won''t look at the reality beyond their safe zone."


    Mark then pointed at a few individuals.


    "Look at those people."


    Mako followed where his finger pointed and noticed.


    "They''re all looking down?"


    Now that Mako realized it, she noticed that there were not just a few. Some wereughing with their colleagues. However, they were avoiding the scene away from the bridge, either only looking down or away from the ruins beyond the waters.


    "They were already trapped within their own illusory bubble. Their current world only circles around the Reimed City, erasing the fact that it''s all ruins outside its vicinity."


    "Is it a bad thing?"


    Mako asked with a frown.


    "Maybe, maybe not," Mark shrugged. "That way of thinking allows them to concentrate on their current life, work, and stuff. But if there''s an instance these people were to be taken out of their safe bubble or something dangerous attacked the Reimed City, these people will be the first ones to put themselves or other people in danger. Their clouded minds will be unable to keep up with the situation. The only thing they will do is panic and scream."


    "Not that I can me them," Mark added. "Some of them might be unable to ept the reality. However, many of these people might be coping with the loss of their loved ones after all."


    Mako turned from Mark back to the scene outside. Now realizing the situation, she felt pity for these people.


    After Mark''s words, there was a bit of silence inside the van. Ren and Tadashi were also listening to the short conversation between Mark and Mako. Unfortunately, the two could not deny what Mark had just said.


    Soon enough, the van arrived at its destination.


    The location was within Toyosu, one of the central areas of the Reimed City, including Shinonome and Ariake.


    Everyone stepped out of the van, aside from Tadashi, who needed to park the van somewhere else.


    Mark looked at the building, seeing the series of kanji letters near the top of the building, which he could not read. After asking Ren, he learned that it was the Shibaura Institute of Technology Junior and Senior High School. Well, former high school.


    The school was now being used as a registration and management office. Behind the school were other buildings currently used by the Japanese government and other influential figures.


    It was also where [Frencer] jobs were being assigned. Basically, it was either the Adventurer''s Guild or Hunter Association. That was if it was a manga or manhwa of a different genre.


    And due to this fact, there were quite a number of people around. Most of them were groups fully equipped withbat gear, with some even wearing uniforms.


    Mark''s group obviously gathered attention. Not only were they brought here using a personal vehicle of the ck Lotus Group, but the leader of ck Lotus was also apanying them.


    And when some people spotted Amihan on Mark''s shoulder, their unsure emotions spiked one-eighty.<novelnext></novelnext>


    "Follow me closely."


    Ren also noticed the troublesome people that were present due to the information leak that happened. Thus, she had to take responsibility for escorting Mark''s group safely. It did not matter to her if she could recruit Mark''s group. After all, these troublesome people were here due to their group''s fault.


    "Whoa, Lotus, you''re here?"


    A pretty loud voice could be heard, which immediately made Ren frown.


    "Let''s go."


    Ren ignored the voice and spoke to Mark''s group in an urgent tone.


    "You''re really ignoring me?"


    As if it would be that easy to ignore annoying people. After all, they were annoying for a reason.


    A man with a pretty muscr build, reddish-tinted hair, and an annoyingly confident smile stepped in front of Ren. He was not alone and was apanied by a seductive-looking woman.


    "Get out of the way."


    Mako stepped in front of Ren and warned the other party. The other three members of the ck Lotus Group also stepped forward.


    "F*ck off, pipsqueak," The man huffed the cigarette he was holding. "I''m talking to your leader."


    However, neither Mako nor the other members budged to the man''s provocation. On the other hand, Ren only stood there, giving the man a dead stare.


    "Haah, never mind. I''m not here for you anyway," The man rolled his eyes and turned to Mark. "Oi, how much for that thing on your shoulder? Name your price."


    However, just like Ren, Mark did not pay attention to the man. Instead, he spoke to Ren.


    "Aren''t we going?"


    Everyone present was quite surprised. Ren ignoring the man was one thing. However, the unknown man with the [Sylph] did not hesitate to do the same.


    It was a straight-up provocation.


    "You! Can''t you hear me, you f*cker?!"


    The man tried to charge towards Mark and grab him. However, he paused in surprise.


    Unfortunately, the cause of the man''s surprise was the woman beside Mark. Of course, it was Mei.


    Since the focus of the people present was on Amihan, and she was walking behind Mark, Mei was not noticed immediately. But now that she was noticed, the spotlight immediately went to her.


    Mei immediately grabbed Mark''s hand and hid behind him. She could have worn a veil just like before. However, she was currently in the process of fighting her trauma. It was also her decision not to wear a veil. Unfortunately, thescivious stare of the annoying man was still too much for her.


    "Haah."


    Mark sighed, as there was no way he would allow this. Mei was just beginning to ovee her fear, and here came this bastard.


    But before Mark could do anything, Ren finally stepped forward, blocking Mark and Mei from the bastard''s stare.


    "What are you doing, staring at someone''s wife, like that? Wipe off your drool, you dog bastard."


    Ren said as a flowery scent began to drift around her.


    Noticing the scent, the man immediately jumped back while covering his nose. It was the same for everyone in the close vicinity.


    Ren was ready to fight now. She was hesitant before since her ability would not distinguish between enemies and allies. However, if the man was getting closer instead, it would be much easier for her to use her ability at close range without getting her allies affected.


    On the other hand, Mark inhaled a bit of the scent on purpose. He felt a bit dizzy, and his eyesight shifted with the little sniff he took.


    At this time, Mark spoke, which everyone heard but could not understand.


    "Amihan, wind barrier."


    Amihan nodded as a gust of wind enveloped the group, including the members of the ck Lotus.


    Of course, it surprised everyone, including the members of the ck Lotus.


    And to everyone''s horror, Mark spoke to Ren in Japanese.


    "Go all out if you want."


    Ren had a fiery personality, and she was holding back due to the drawbacks of her ability. But now?


    "Hahaha!"


    Renughed as the scent around her thickened to the point that the air appeared foggy.


    "SH*T!"


    The man immediately retreated. This was not a joke. The only reason he had the guts to provoke Ren face-to-face was that the drawbacks of her ability were well known. She could not use it with her allies around her. But with just a single action from the [Sylph], the drawback of her ability was erased.


    Not only the man. Everyone in the vicinity retreated in fear.


    Ren lowered her body. She was ready to charge toward the man and envelop him in her poisonous scent.


    However, a voice entered everyone''s ears.


    "You should leave it there, Mitsui-sama."


    Everyone turned to the bear-like man that came out of the high school building.

 Chapter 961 A Demons Facade, The Lotus, The Bear, And Humiliation Of That Bastard

    Day 213 - 9:32 AM - Registration and Management Bureau, Shibaura Institute of Technology Junior and Senior High School, Toyosu, Koto City, Tokyo


    Due to Mitsui Ren using her ability, the circle of spectators grew wider. However, it also caused more people to gather after noticing the ongoingmotion in front of the Registration and Management Building.


    Of course, no one tried to get too close. The ck Lotus was well known as the current leader of the Kachidoki Area. As such, it was no news to many people, especially [Ability Holders], that Mitsui Ren''s ability was to release a poisonous scent from her body. Furthermore, she was a master of de arts despite her age of only twenty-five. She was also known to be on par with 8th-dan Kendo practitioners, and she could have gotten the same title if not for the fact that her young age did not fit the requirements for higher Kendo titles.


    And, although unconfirmed, there was a rumor that Mitsui Ren hailed from an ancient family that was still active behind the scenes of the Japanese Government. The only thing known on the surface was that Mitsui Ren was the granddaughter of a sessful businessman.


    Unfortunately, Mitsui Ren''s past and current status made her subject to the antagonistic actions of many people. For example, the leader of Blood Lion Troupe would not hesitate to offend her in front of everyone. It was pretty much what was happening at this moment. All due to envy and other conflicts, the groups had.


    The leader of the Blood Lion Troupe, Mane, used this opportunity to provoke Ren as he tried to buy off the rumored [Sylph]. He knew she could not use her ability close to her allies and innocent people while he could overpower her in terms of raw strength.


    However, the owner of the [Sylph] interfered, causing the situation to shift. It was clear that Mane was in a bit of a fickle this time.


    But then, a man came out of the building''s front door. His body was huge, and describing him as a bear was reasonable. He even had to lower his body as he passed through the door that should be able to fit even the taller people from the west.


    "You should leave it there, Mitsui-sama," The huge man''s deep voice entered everyone''s ears, making them turn in his direction. "The military might get involved if this continued further and put civilians in danger."


    ***


    "Whoa, huge..."


    Emika could not help but say as she saw the bear-like man. Nheless, no one in Mark''s group disagreed with her.


    "Tsk." Ren clicked her tongue. "If you are going to interfere, why wait until now?"


    As Ren said those words, the scent around her changed, and the foggy visage of the scent she had released before slowly vanished. Just like how she could release poison around her, she could neutralize it. The only problem was that she could only neutralize poison lingering in the air. If a person got poisoned by Ren, they could only wait until it lost efficacy on its own.


    Ren''s poison was not really lethal in small amounts. It was a poison that could make people dizzy. However,rge amounts of it could lead to euphoria and hallucinations. Since the poison would go straight to the victim''s brain, the detoxification would not work after the victim was already affected.


    The scary thing about Ren''s poison was the hallucination. It entirely depended on the victim''s mind, which could result in safe events like the victim falling asleep to worst events like the victim going berserk. And if the people in the vicinity fell victim torge amounts of this poison, this area might immediately turn into a battlefield.


    The bear-like man did not reply to Ren''s words. Instead, he turned to stare at the annoying man emotionlessly.


    "What the f*ck are you looking at?" Mane snarled at the bear-like man before turning to his femalepanion. "Tsk, we''re leaving."


    Mane and Asami walked away from the entrance and passed by Mark''s group. Of course, the annoying man had a smirk on his face as he tried to give Mei another indecent stare.


    Unfortunately, it ended with only a try.


    The annoying man''s eyes widened along with everyone''s when Mark pulled a gun straight at the annoying man''s forehead.


    "One more stare. I''ll drill a hole in your head."


    Mark''s voice entered everyone''s ears. It was a voice thatcked emotion. A voice ready to take someone''s life.


    Of course, this surprised the members of ck Lotus. It was theplete opposite of Mark''s disy so far. When Mark was interacting with them, he appeared to be a bit detached, but he looked like nothing else but a man trying to protect his family. Right now? He appeared to be a man with no sign of empathy for anyone else''s life.


    "Neer, put your gun down," The bear-like man said with a frown. "You should not brand your group''s arrival here with blood. The children are also watching."


    Mark turned to the bear. His eyes were void of emotion. It was when Mark slowly put his arm down, to everyone''s relief, especially Mane, who was at the end of the gun. After all, he might be powerful, but the gun was basically touching his forehead.


    BANG!


    Everyone''s heart jumped. Some people immediately ducked by reflex. Mane jumped back in fear, even knocking Asami to the ground.


    On the ground, a smoking bullet hole could be seen. Mark fired the gun on the pavement, fortunately. Nevertheless, it was more than enough to make people have a heart attack.


    "You..."


    The bear-like man red at Mark. However, Mark scoffed at it and spoke.


    "I''ll repeat a few of Ren-san''s words. If you''re going to interfere, why wait? It''s that bastard who you should be stopping from asking to die."


    The bear-like man turned to Mane, who was already gripping his own gun.


    "LEAVE!"


    The annoying man froze as he removed his hand from the gun on his waist. He turned around to leave. But, of course, he tried to retaliate as he spat at Mark and turned around to leave.


    However, everyone watched as Mane''s saliva stopped mid-air before spraying all over his red-tinted hair with a strong gust of the wind.


    Mane froze on his steps once again, touching the liquid dripping from his head, and smelled it.


    "F*******************CK!"


    Mane roared as he rushed off, leaving Asami behind. Of course, with the humiliation her partner received, there was no way Asami would want to stay. She stood up and followed Mane, ignoring the fact that she seemed to have sprained her right ankle when she fell.


    Further adding salt to the insult, muffledughter could be heard in the background, making the annoying man shake in anger as he left.


    Many people witnessed the scene. And sure enough, many of them were happy to see the man humiliated like this.


    "Wow... You''re actually something, aren''t you?"


    Ren said to Mark, amazed by his disy. She did not care if his previous disy was just a facade and was just more than happy to have some retaliation against that annoying man.


    "Is everyone alright?"


    A voice entered everyone''s ears. It was Tadashi, finally returning after parking the vehicle.


    "Why are you only back just now?"<novelnext></novelnext>


    Makoined to Tadashi.


    "You know the parking is on the other side of the highway, right? It''s quite some distance away."


    Tadashi shrugged.


    Mark paid attention to Tadashi. The guy was clearly lying. He was already here long ago, just blending with the crowd and ready to ambush the enemies if things went wrong.


    "Just enter already if you have business here," The bear-like man spoke, interrupting the group. "Stop blocking the pathway."


    "And you people," The bear turned to the gallery. "The show is over. Disperse!"


    Everyone became quiet and went on their ways. The audience dispersed, except those who initially were here for Mark''s group. Well, for Amihan, to be specific.


    "Let''s go."


    Ren led the group into the building, feeling refreshed. She just nced at the bear and passed through the door.


    On the other hand, the bear watched them silently as they entered.


    "Who is that huge guy?"


    Emika asked, whispering at Mako.


    "No one knows his name. Everyone calls him Okii-san since he''s huge, and he doesn''t really bother correcting anyone. He''s the one stopping troublemakers in this area. His job is pretty much what he did just now. Just think of him as the Registration and Management Bureau''s guard dog."


    "More like a guard bear."


    Mark chimed him, choking everyone in the ck Lotus. They were forcefully stopping themselves fromughing in front of the so-called guard bear.


    The group walked into the lobby of the building. It was quite arge building, and the first floor had a few reception desks.


    "Mitsui-sama," A female receptionist behind the nearby desk greeted Ren respectfully. "Looks like your group encountered some annoyance outside."


    "Tell me about it," Ren shrugged. "That lion bastard just won''t stop bothering us."


    "But it looked like he got taught a lesson this time. It''s a pity I can''t leave my post and watch," The receptionist smiled. "Just be careful since that man might scheme something to get revenge."


    "As if I''m afraid of him."


    Ren smugly dered.


    "Then, what is your business here today?"


    The receptionist asked.


    "These guys," Ren said, pointing at Mark''s group and passing a few papers. "Neers to register. And there''s the initial information. Only two of them can speak Japanese, so use those as a reference to make it easy to record."


    "I see they are foreigners. Stranded tourists, maybe? Mitsui-sama came prepared, thankfully. It''s really hard to personally record information from foreigners."


    The receptionist had a relieved face seeing that she only had to check on the information given by Ren. There was no way that Mark''s group was the only foreigners here, given that Japan had many tourists yearly, especially during holidays when the outbreak started. And since they were recording information from all people living here, it must have been quite a hassle. Not everyone here was proficient in English, after all. And for those that could, their work would have been hectic at that time.


    Without further ado, the receptionist began working. They had workingputers where they stored information. Mark''s group was also asked to provide signatures and fingerprints, both digital and on a document. Their photos were also taken.


    And when the registration was done, they were asked to wait in the waiting area. Apparently, they were being issued identification cards.


    Sitting in the waiting area, Mark spoke.


    "It''s nice they''re not asking for birth certificates, official IDs, and stuff. No one had the time to gather those things when everyone was trying to eat you."


    "That''s true," Ren replied. "That''s why they don''t ask for those things anymore. Here, everyone is free to live a new life. You can even give fake information, and it would not matter much. Well, it''s unless you created some trouble and got caught faking it, of course."


    "So, you can give fake information. But it''s still not okay, right?"


    Mark asked, receiving an immediate answer from Ren.


    "Right. Fraud is a crime, after all. It''s not like anyone can get caught if there''s no evidence. This rule mostly applied to well-known people, especially notorious criminals. If your face was on TV for a crime in the past, someone is bound to recognize you."


    Ren then turned to Mark and asked.


    "Who are you, really? You made yourself appear to be some regr survivor. But your actions earlier... You''re more than just a survivor, right? Your bloodlust earlier, that''s not something you acquire just by killing the [Infected]."


    Then, Ren turned to the members of Mark''s group, looking at them strangely.


    "And these girls... They didn''t even flinch when you fired that gun. Everyone had a normal reaction earlier, aside from your group."


    Mark shrugged. Because of that annoying guy earlier, the facade was now exposed.


    "You''re asking that now? You''re not afraid we''re going to suddenly attack after being exposed?"


    "No?" Ren smirked. "I don''t think you guys are bad people, especially when you didn''t hesitate to drop the act when your wife was being harassed."


    "I don''t care what you guys are," Ren added. "As long as you''re not a threat to my people or the Reimed City, my arms are open to wee your group."


    Mark nced at Ren before looking back at the reception.


    "Don''t worry," Mark replied. "I treat others how they treat us. The ck Lotus had been nice, so there''s no reason for me to be a threat to your people. Besides, it''s not like we had some bad agenda here. We just want to have a decent ce to stay other than a ruined building in the middle of nowhere."


    Ren had some more things to say. However, the reception had called for Mark''s group to give their identification cards. She could only stop here, for now, understanding there was no chance these people would join the ck Lotus.

 Chapter 962 Shocking The Audience, The [Freelancer] Registrations Combat Examination

    Day 218 - 10:26 AM - Testing Area, Registration and Management Bureau, Shibaura Institute of Technology Junior and Senior High School, Toyosu, Koto City, Tokyo


    There was a decently sized multipurpose sports field beside the former high school building. This multipurpose sports field was used by high school students for their physical education sses and sports activities before the outbreak.


    Now, however, this multipurpose sports field had be a ce for the Registration and Management Bureau to test thebat capabilities of [Frencer] applicants and to train those that aspired to be one but had yet to pass the requirements.


    The criterion for bing a [Frencer] was not that strict. One only needed to show enoughbat capability to prove they could fight the [Infected] and return alive. There was no minimum age either. However, children below fifteen could not take a mission alone and needed to be apanied by a guardian who was also a [Frencer]. The guardian should also have enough positive records for this to be allowed.


    Why was the age limit not that strict? It wasmon sense that parents would not allow their children to fight the monsters outside the safe zone, and most children would not have enoughbat abilities to pass the criterion. And, of course, there were a few exceptions. Children that became [Ability Holders].


    The Japanese Government and the people behind the Reimed City assigned identification and rank to abilities that humans acquired after the apocalypse began.


    Of course, due to the disabledmunication between countries, these identifications and ranks differed from country to country. It was just like how Japan had different terminologiespared to what was used in the Philippines.


    In Japan, [Evolvers] and [Mutators] were joined into one term, [Ability Holders]. Under it was a separation determined by the abilities acquired. [Natural] for abilities naturally acquired and [Mutant] for abilities of those who were bitten by the [Infected] but did not be one of them.


    And under [Natural] and [Mutant], abilities were ranked from one to five, with one being the weakest.


    With the use of the identifications and rankings of abilities, specific rules would also be applied to applicants even if they passed thebat ability test. For example, just like children, people with rank one and two abilities needed to be in a group to be allowed to ept missions. Only people strong enough with a higher-ranked ability were allowed alone on missions. And, of course, not everyone would go alone in this apocalypse despite being allowed to.


    The requirements seemed loose, but it was not easy to pass. Not to mention the number of rules to be followed. It was not unreasonable, however. The [Frencer] concept was created to lessen the burden on the military while allowing capable and brave people to earn privileges. And the bureau expected these brave people to return alive and not send them to their deaths.


    Since the bureau also provided training for aspiring applicants as [Frencers] and even military soldiers, the sports field always had a lot of people. Most of them were trainees, while registered [Frencers] were also present to scout prospective members for their groups.


    But at this time, the audience was more than usual.


    One reason was that the people currently taking the examination were escorted by the ck Lotus. The other was the absurdity of the ongoing fight, which attracted passersby and even the staff of the bureau.


    "Just what in the world..." Ren voiced out, watching a nine-year-old girl fighting a forty-year-oldbat expert. "Tadashi... I''m pretty sure this also isn''t mentioned in the report?"


    Tadashi could not reply. It was clear that he was speechless. There should be nothing wrong with the report, aside from the fact that the one that wrote it kind of envied Mark because of Mei.


    Mark''s group was observed for two days. Yet, there was not a single mention of anything else notable aside from the [Sylph] and the green-haired girl named Emika.


    But right now, the little girl named Abbygale was running around her opponent, taking advantage of her speed topensate for herck of strength. Her speed was definitely above amon adult athlete, not to mention her keen reflexes and instinct, allowing her to dodge Expert''s attacks.


    While the Expert might be holding back a little due to the fact that his opponent was just a child, the speed of his attacks was not something yourmon people would be able to dodge easily. Yet, he was unable to catch the little girl while she nted kicks on his body every now and then.


    Tadashi nced at Mark''s group, who were all gathered at the side of the sports field. By the looks of it, the scouts of ck Lotus had been had. Mark''s group were not just lucky survivors.


    After the residency registration, Mark asked to register as [Frencers]. And to everyone''s surprise, it was not only him and his wife. He asked if everyone in his group could register.


    Most people present that heard Mark earlier would think that it was stupid. However, no one stopped him since it was not against the rules. The receptionist in the register did give him warnings, but he did not change his mind.


    As for the people around, they were not really keen on interfering. More than anything else, it was also a form of entertainment and would be a subject of ridiculing talks to brand Mark as a stupid parent.


    And while it was indeed not against the rules to register even a one-year-old baby, it was up to the registrar and examiner to not let them pass. In the case that the parent stupidly allowed their children, the evaluation would be harsh. After all, it was for the children''s safety.


    Now, no one would be able to ridicule Mark. His nine-year-old daughter was more than capable.


    The battle between Abbygale and the examiner ended soon. There was no need to defeat the examiner as the examination would only gauge a person''sbat ability. It was just a timed challenge where the examinee needed tost a minute unless the examiner was defeated.


    Everyone''s eyes were on the girl, who looked sullen as she received her father''s head pats. It seemed that she wanted to defeat the examiner. However, the one-minute time limit was too short.


    It was not surprising that the girl was unable to defeat the examiner. The examiner was someone pretty well known nowadays. The former militarybat instructor, Ishioka Kenji. He retired early as an instructor after receiving a permanent injury several years ago. However, he became an [Ability Holder] when the apocalypse began. It did not only cure his injury but also made him more or less a superhuman. Now, he was working as an instructor and examiner for the bureau.


    "Next!"


    Kenji''s voice echoed. While he did not expect a nine-year-old girl to have such ability, he was quite excited to see new blooming talents. A mindset of a true teacher.


    Everyone watching saw the youngest girl, who seemed to be only around four or five, step forward in excitement.


    TING!


    The bell signaling the start of the timer rang.


    To everyone''s disappointment, the girl ran towards the examiner. Her speed was fast for her age but not that noteworthy. The earlier girl was fast, and the [Infected] should not be able to easily catch her.


    The youngest sister would easily get caught and bitten if she faced one.


    Kenji was a bit disappointed. He did not want to hurt the little girl, but he had to be a bit harsh. In his mind, the little girl had already failed. Even so, he decided to continue, and he would at least try to receive one attack from the little girl.


    The little girl jumped and punched mid-air. The punch would likely connect with Kenji''s abdomen or chest.<novelnext></novelnext>


    Kenji already decided to ept this attack. But at thest moment, his sense of danger kicked in. His body moved by reflex as he avoided the punch and jumped back several meters.


    Everyone was surprised by Kenji''s sudden action, and the person himself was the same, confused as to why he would suddenly feel danger.


    Missing the target for her attack, the little girl fell from her jump, unleashing her punch to the ground instead.


    BOOOM!


    A loud boom shocked everyone. The people nearest to Kenji and Miracle almost fell down.


    Everyone was shocked. The ground in front of the girl turned into a two-meter-wide crater. It was definitely due to the punch that Kenji had avoided.


    Miracle stood up, displeased, as she turned to the examiner.


    The examiner was sweating as he stood a few meters away from the little girl. That punch just now might not kill him, but it would definitely break dozens of bones in his body.


    But before the examiner could feel relieved, the little girl made a punching motion. Her punch should not be able to hit him because he was standing a few meters away.


    However, Kenji''s sense of danger kicked in once again as he jumped to the side by reflex.


    BANG!


    The metal pole outside the field behind Kenji emitted a loud bang before it was blown away to the audience, causing panic.


    Those watching from the side were shocked once again. Those in front of Miracle could not see it, but those at the side saw her stretch several meters. Her punch shot forward like a cannon and retracted like rubber almost instantly.


    Seeing that she missed again, Abbygale immediately released another mid-ranged punch, instantly stretching and retracting her right arm several meters away. The punch missed the desperate examiner. It then ended up destroying the fence dividing the examination area and the training area.


    The examiner was still not hit. Miracle was about to press on.


    "STOP! STOP! YOU PASS!


    The examiner yelled.


    However, there was a problem.


    Miracle could not understand Japanese. Without the sound of the bell signaling that one minute was over, she would continue her offensive.


    The little girl was about to unleash another punch, to everyone''s horror. However, she was unable to after she lost her footing.


    "Alright, that''s enough."


    Mark spoke as he picked the Miracle up, patting off the dust on her head.


    "I lost?"


    Miracle asked.


    "Nope, you won. Look, the old man is scared."


    Mark replied, pointing at the examiner, who was about to have a heart attack.


    "Yay!"


    Miracle cheered. On the other hand, Abbygale was sulking.


    Mark sighed as he brought the little girl to the side.


    On the other side of the examination area, the examiner was also sighing, looking at the destruction the little girl had caused.


    And after the initial shock, the audience boomed into cheers. After all, it was an amazing disy of strength.


    The examination continued with Emika following Miracle. Of course, she passed. Her ability to turn her hair intorge vines was overpowered on its own. Even if she had no hand-to-handbat abilities, no one would be able to get close to her with her ability unless it was a stealth attack.


    Next was Spera, who picked up a wooden sword. Since he was practicing with Mei and Feng Zhiruo this past month, she learned a few sword techniques. Her disy of skill was above average too. While it wascklusterpared to the disy of the little girls, she still passed.


    As for Mei and I, their examination was different. The two registered themselves as ranged fighters. Mei was a sniper, and I was a gunner. Being a sniper was expected for Mei as it was her main weapon. As for I, she was the same as Spera, training a new skill this past month. Since I was a defensive ability user and was always behind her little sisters when fighting, ranged weapons were the best for her. In this case, double pistols would fit her young hands.


    Since Mei and I''s examination was different, only one person was left for thebat examination.


    Ren and Tadashi had serious expressions as they watched Mark take the field.

 Chapter 963 The Erratic Flow, Marks Newly Created Combat Style And An Unexpected Accident

    Day 318 - 10:42 AM - Testing Area, Registration and Management Bureau, Shibaura Institute of Technology Junior and Senior High School, Toyosu, Koto City, Tokyo


    Finally getting his turn, Mark stepped in front of the weapon rack and picked up the weapon of his choice.


    The rack only contained wooden melee weapons. However, the weapon rack had quite a variety of weapon types, like spears, swords, daggers, and a few othermon weapons, and each type of weapon had at least one variety. Spears, for example, there was a short spear, long spear, javelin, and even a naginata.


    There were only wooden weapons since it was just for examination. The variety of weapons was there to ensure that the examinees would not be hindered and could choose the most suitable fighting style for the test.


    Mark had already taken a good look at the weapons while the girls had their tests. That was why he only took a few seconds before stepping into the field with the weapons he had chosen from the avable selection.


    The audience around the sports field was paying close attention to Mark. After all, he was clearly the leader of this abnormal group of examinees.


    Still, the audience was surprised when Mark took the field, holding a wooden katana in his right hand and a wooden tanto in his left.


    Dual-wielding was quite a shy style ofbat. However, it was more than just being shy. It was a style that favored offense over defense and was pretty difficult to pull off perfectly. One could not just pick two weapons on each hand, waving both weapons around, and call it dual-wielding.


    In actualbat, dual-wielding needed bnce, skill, concentration, and coordination.


    Skill was quite an obvious requirement. One needed enough skill and experience to utilize a weapon and double to make use of two weapons at the same time.


    Without bnce, one weapon would likely end up dominating the other. The dominant weapon would be used more than the other, with the non-dominant weapon being just a burden due to additional weight and fewer defense capabilities. In these cases, when the personcked bnce, it was far more suitable for the non-dominant weapon to be reced with a one-handed shield instead.


    Concentration was a rather important requirement. With a single weapon, a person''s attention was only split between the enemy and the weapon the user was holding. It did not matter whether the weapon was one-handed or two-handed. It only needed enough attention for one weapon. But with dual-wielding, that concentration that the weapon should have was split into two. Since the weapon size, distance, and weapon utilization were factors the user needed to pay attention to, having to pay attention to another weapon makes it harder to concentrate. With a singlepse of concentration, one of the two weapons could be rendered ineffective, also leading to the effects of a person not having the bnce to utilize two weapons at the same time.


    Lastly, coordination. Not everyone could coordinate the movements of both arms, making it even more difficult to coordinate both weapons.


    There were also other factors to wielding two weapons on both hands but most of those involved the types of weapons being used.


    Mark was fully aware of these factors. In fact, he had more characteristics that would make him unsuitable for this style. First, his body was ill-proportioned. The right side of his body wasrger than the left, making his right side the dominant part. However, Mark''s eyes were theplete opposite, with his left beingrger than the right, and his dominant eye was his left one.


    Cross-dominant. That was what described Mark''s condition. It was the reason that Mark was not that effective as a sniper, not to mention being ipatible with many types of sports.


    However, Mark''s current choice of weapons to dual-wield would make proper use of this unusual body trait.


    The tanto, which was shorter and with less weight, could be utilized with his non-dominant arm. And with hisrger dominant eye being the left one, he would have a wider view on the left side, allowing him to utilize the tanto more effectively.


    On the other hand, Mark''s dominant arm had the heavier katana. It would be his main weapon for attacking, which would be supported by the tanto.


    "Are you the father of those little girls?"


    Kenji asked Mark, looking at Abbygale and Miracle in the waiting area.


    "Yeah."


    Mark replied, adjusting his grip on the weapons he was holding.


    "Then, I guess I should look forward to this match."


    Kenji smiled with expectations as he picked up a weapon of his own. It was a wooden dagger. He was not using any weapon earlier when fighting the younger girls. However, fighting the adult Mark was different.


    "Ready!"


    A woman''s voice was heard. It was the same receptionist that registered Mark''s group earlier. She was also the person overseeing the examination.


    "Start!"


    At the starting signal, Mark kicked the ground. He immediately rushed towards the examiner on the other side of the field.


    Mark''s speed was fast. It was not as fast as Abbygale. However, his speed was much faster than an Olympic athlete.


    But Mark''s running posture was odd. It was not your typical running posture. Those that were familiar with it would call it either Ninja run or Naruto run.


    Mark''s upper body lowered as he ran. His left arm holding the tanto in a reverse grip was bent over half his face. On the other hand, the right arm holding the katana was extended behind his body.


    That was what the audience was seeing. However, the examiner, Kenji, immediately took an alert stance.


    Kenji was standing in front of Mark. With Mark''s running posture, the examiner already lost track of the katana behind him.


    Mark twisted his right hand, angling the katana''s de outward. As he reached the examiner, he unleashed a horizontal sh. The examiner was a bitte to respond, but he still managed to parry Mark''s first attack. However, Mark reversed his grip on the tanto with a spin and stabbed it, aiming at the examiner''s right shoulder with the hand that was holding the dagger.


    Kenji immediately deflected the katana while evading the tanto. At the same time, heunched a punch at Mark with his left fist that was free.


    Mark jumped back to evade, causing the examiner''s attack to miss, before continuing on the offensive. He was met with Kenji''s dagger, but Mark reversed the tanto once again and used it to block and redirect the iing de. The examiner''s attack was pretty heavy, but Mark managed to push it away using the outer side of his wrist as support to the back of the tanto''s de.


    The audience watched in silence as the two men in the field exchanged blows. Mark showed an agile fighting style, while Kenji stood firm, deflecting and evading the iing attacks. How long had it been since they had seen such an exciting battle here in the [Frencer] examination?


    "We had been fooled, weren''t we?"


    Ren voiced to the other members of the ck Lotus, who could only shrug in silence. She then asked Tadashi.<novelnext></novelnext>


    "What do you think? Can you identify Mark''sbat style?"


    Tadashi kept silent as he watched Mark fight for a few more seconds. In the end, he slightly shook his head.


    For practitioners ofbat and martial arts, the fighting style could tell a lot of things. A person belonging to a n or dojo would tend to share the same fundamentals and style when they fight. It was the same for trained soldiers of different countries or private organizations.


    "It is hard to tell if he belonged to any martial style. From what I see, he is using several styles at the same time. The flow of his attacks is interchanging after every attack he had let out."


    "I thought the same," Ren said with a frown. "It feels like a self-learned street-stylebat technique. But..."


    "Each move set is connecting smoothly to one another, isn''t it, Miss?" Tadashii replied. "Worse, his flow is changing a lot to the point that it''s disrupting Kenji-san''s flow."


    The flow. Its meaning varied depending on the subject. In this case, it was how the fighter could connect the techniques through attack and defense while fighting an opponent. The smoother the flow, the more the fighter was in control of the battle. And depending on the fighter''sbat style, the flow could be different.


    For example, the flow of Kenji''sbat style was firm. He would not move around too much, relying on his arm and hand techniques to attack, defend, and even disarm and subdue the opponent.


    On the other hand, Mark''s flow was erratic as he changed hisbat style after every attack he pulled off.


    To win a fight with an almost equal contest, one needed to control the flow to be able to render the opponent''s attacks useless. But in this case...


    "Kenji-san is slowly being pushed back..."


    Mako''s words echoed into the ears of everyone around her.


    Kenji was having a hard time reading Mark''s flow. It was due to Mark''s attacks being tricky and erratic.


    On the other hand, Mark was somehow reading Kenji''s flow. Mark was taking advantage of his erratic attacks and disrupting the opponent''s flow in the process.


    Tadashii and Ren were right on point in their assumption. Mark''s currentbat style was abination of different styles. Where did Mark acquire thesebat styles? Well, inside his head, of course.


    To be exact, from the memories that Mark obtained after absorbing a few souls.


    First was the [Standard Royal Dagger Style] from the memories of Freed. It was a militarized close-quartersbat style of soldiers from Eriellis.


    The second was the [Azure Dragon Sword Style] from Feng Zhiruo''s elder. Although Markcked the [Qi Energy] to fully utilize the powerful techniques, he could at least use the basic ones.


    The third one was the [Ancient Filipino Combat Style]. It was actually a style with no name. A style used by ancient Filipino tribesmen during the ancient times. It came from the memories of the [Deity of Bloodshed].


    Andstly, while not actually a battle style, it served a great purpose whilebining the other three styles. It was the knowledge of the human body. A memory he acquired from the [Blood Infected] he absorbed in the University of Perpetual Help Hospital. It was the nurse that became a [Mutated Infected] that helped Mark enhance his abilities after he absorbed her.


    It was not easy to incorporate these four aspects into one. It was one thing Mark spent time creating this past month, aside from other things he was doing. It was not perfected yet, but it was enough to use in these kinds of fights.


    The fight between Mark and Kenji continued. Mark was clearly overwhelming the examiner with the number of attacks they unleashed. After every six to seven attacks from Mark, Kenji could only retaliate once.


    It was a fast-paced battle. Barely a minute had passed. Yet, too many things had already happened.


    And by the looks of it, Kenji was losing.


    In thest ten seconds, Mark pushed the offensive. It was to the point that Kenji began to ept getting hit with Mark''s attacks in favor of evading the stronger attacks.


    But then, something unexpected happened.


    As Kenji tried to do a counterpunch against Mark''s tanto stab, he stepped on a prettyrge piece of stone.


    Kenji lost bnce due to the unexpected event, and his punch lost control. The punch elerated beyond the strength and speed he was supposed to use during the examination.


    "SH*T! WATCH OUT!"


    Kenji yelled out in panic.


    The eyes of those that realized what was happening at that moment widened.


    Kenji was known as the [Human Tank] in the Reimed City. His true strength was far beyond what he was showing during the examination. After all, the examination did not need his full strength to test some beginner warriors.


    That was why some of the audience knew that the punch Mark was facing was something that could puncture a tank''s armor.


    Mark was caught off guard too. After all, if Kenji did not expect the ident, would he?


    The punch, moving as fast as a tank projectile, shot toward Mark''s chest.


    Using it as hisst resort, Mark canceled his stab and jumped back. He then let go of both his weapons and crossed his arms in front of his chest.


    BAM!


    Everyone watched in shock as Mark was flung from one side of the field to the other before crashing to the walls of the field entrance.

 Chapter 964 Causing A Buzz, The Aftermath Of The Accident

    Day 318 - 10:44 AM - Testing Area, Registration and Management Bureau, Shibaura Institute of Technology Junior and Senior High School, Toyosu, Koto City, Tokyo


    Unexpected suspense filled the fewst seconds of the Combat Examination.


    In the most unexpected event, the examiner, the "Human Tank" Kenji, made an amateurish blunder. Kenji was well known for his strength, but his control over it was the most impressive thing about him.


    Although some might attribute it to the stone that made Kenji lose bnce and control of his swing, it was not the case for the experts watching. He had worse circumstances before, but something like Kenji losing control did not happen.


    Yet, he lost control this time and identally unleashed his full-strength punch on an examinee.


    "Papa!"


    The youngest girl''s worried shout woke up everyone from their stupor.


    Mark''s group immediately rushed to his location. Of course, the first one to arrive was Abbygale, followed closely by Amihan. Then Mei and the rest arrived soon after.


    Ren and Mako also rushed into the field to check Mark''s condition. They had dismayed looks on their faces as they knew that this could be a fatal ident. Even if Mark survived, it was very likely that he would be crippled.


    "Quick! Call an ambnce!"


    The receptionist''s voice echoed as she hurriedly shouted to the staff. However, Kenji''s voice interrupted the woman.


    "Don''t rush with the ambnce. First, call a medic or the nurse in the management''s clinic."


    Those words from the examiner kind of ticked off the receptionist.


    "Are you not aware of the situation? We are on an emergency here." The receptionistshed out. "Damn it, Dad. How can you even lose control of your punch just because you tripped on a rock? It''s so unlike you."


    The receptionist, who was actually Kenji''s daughter, looked at the pulverized rock near Kenji''s feet. Although it managed to trip Kenji, it still did not stand a chance and was turned into powder. And where in the world did this piece of rocke from? It definitely came from the side of the field that now had a crater. In fact, it was not the only piece of smashed concrete around. However, it was the biggest one.


    Kenji was not being irresponsible, however. As he clenched his left hand that identally punched the examinee several times, he knew something was unusual.


    "Just the clinic nurse is fine, Rinka," Kenji said to his daughter while watching the staff run to the building. "Though, I think... I also need some medical attention."


    The receptionist, Rinka, finally noticed her father clenching his left hand painfully. His entire left arm was turning red because of muscle strain, probably due to a few muscles tearing.


    Kenji did not just let the ident happen without doing anything. The piece of concrete he tripped on turned to dust because he forcefully tried to regain his footing. At thest moment, he also attempted to pull his already unleashed punch, even if it meant tearing a few muscles. Unfortunately, stopping a punch at the speed and strength of a tank shell would not be easy, even if it was his own.


    And despite Kenji trying to stop his punch, it still connected to Mark as a devastating blow. Think of a force of a speeding truck concentrated on a single point.


    However, Kenji was positive that the examinee did not receive a fatal injury, unlike most witnesses around believed. He did not know how the examinee did it, but his punch felt like itnded on a sturdy metal sheet. Although the punch felt like it broke the metallic feel, Kenji was more worried about the examinee''s spine after hitting the wall at that velocity.


    "Let''s go check."


    Rinka sighed as she left her father''s side and followed the crowd that gathered around Mark.


    And when Rinka arrived, she was devastated. She thought she would finally have a good group of [Frencers] she could be assigned as their personal receptionist. But it was shattered as she saw Mark''s hands dangling, broken right at the center of the forearm. That was not an injury one could fully recover from. Fortunately, he was alive. Her father''s punch could easily kill a person, after all.


    Worse, to Rinka''s shock, the examinee''s wife began lifting his broken right arm.


    "What are you doing? Don''t move the-"


    Rinka was unable to finish her sentence. The punch and the crash on the wall sure caused many wounds on the examinee''s body, especially his arms. However, her eyes widened as she noticed the wounds thatcked any sign of blood began to close by themselves.


    A stronger shock came, not only to Rinka but also to those that rushed to Mark''s rescue. They saw the arm that the beautiful wife held in ce had begun to realign. In just a few seconds, the examinee was already moving his right arm as if it was never broken.


    The nurse that hurried with the staff paused in shock after arriving amidst the examinee realigning his left arm on his own.


    Those around the group of examinees could hear them talking. Unfortunately, the Japanese crowd could not understand the group. Not a single word. As such, they could only silently watch as they witnessed an unfathomable scene unfold before their eyes.


    "[Rank 5]..." The nurse began to excitedly whisper. "A [Rank 5 Regeneration] Ability..."


    Everyone who heard the nurse''s murmurs felt their hearts shake.


    A [Rank 5] ability was not unheard of. In fact, Kenji, today''s examiner, had [Rank 5 Body Strengthening] ability. However, a [Rank 5 Regeneration] ability holder was nonexistent. That was until now.


    The current examination was only the measurement of thebat abilities of the examinees. And while it was not required, the examinees could have their abilities measured to increase their initial ranks as [Frencers].


    Was it quite odd that ability tests came after thebat examination? It was done on purpose. During thebat examination, thebatants would be able to disy their abilities voluntarily or involuntarily. After all, while [Ability Holders] were not required to disclose their abilities, the government wanted the opposite. However, they could not force it either. Thus, the lineup of examinations was done purposely to reveal the abilities of [Ability Holders].


    And this n was pretty much doing its intended purpose, even now. It might have been an ident, but it revealed a [Rank 5 Regeneration] [Ability Holder], especially since he did not specify this ability during his registration.


    Mark''s regenerative abilities, estimated as rank five, received no negative response from those around. The nurse present was also the assistant examiner for medical-rted abilities and was a pretty well-trusted person. She was present in almost all medical ability examinations and was always in attendance in terms of regenerative abilities due to some personal reasons. That was why her estimate of Mark''s ability was pretty much as important as the medical examiner''s words.<novelnext></novelnext>


    At this time, everyone saw Mark twisting his body and tapping his chest. It was clear that his chest and back were injured during the impact, and he was making sure that his body was regenerating properly.


    "Ah, my back..." Mark spoke in Japanese as he stood up. "That''s not a good experience. Receiving a tank shell at point-nk distance sure is a bad idea..."


    The rest of the people stared at Mark nkly. After all, he did not look like the type to joke around, especially on an almost fatal ident.


    "This is unbelievable. Are you really okay? We can send you to the hospital free of charge if you want."


    Rinka, the receptionist, asked Mark. This ident was the responsibility of the bureau since it happened during the examination. Injuries were not new due to the nature of thebat examination, and the bureau always shouldered the bills for injuries during the examination.


    However, it was different this time. The injury was caused by the examiner losing control of their strength. It was not only the bills, but they might need to offerpensation. And, of course, the people involved in the ident might receive some sanctions.


    "Hmm? I''m fine," Mark replied to the receptionist before turning to the examiner. "I failed, didn''t I?"


    "What are you saying?"


    Kenji asked.


    "I mean, I got knocked down before the timer ran out. Right?"


    Mark said, making everyone freeze.


    Like Mark had said, the ident happened a few seconds before the one-minute mark ended. He was flung out of the field and received injuries that required him a little more than half a minute to recover. Following the rules, he failed the examination.


    "Haaah..." Kenji sighed. "No, you passed. That punch you received doesn''t count since it''s far above the strength I should use during the examination. If we failed you because of that, the bureau should better start revoking the ny percent of the licenses of [Frencers] just by the fact that none of them can receive an unrestrained punch from me."


    What Kenji had said was just the in truth. What happened to Mark might just be an ident, but he lived through it. The other ny percent of [Frencers] would definitely die or be crippled within the same circumstances.


    "Then, that''s good." Mark shrugged while patting the dust stuck on his pants after sitting on the ground. "Can we continue the examinations? We want to finish it quickly. We don''t have a ce to stay yet after this."


    Those words from Mark made Rinka turn to Ren and the members of the ck Lotus.


    "You''re kicking them out after they formed their own group? If that is the case, I''ll be taking them in."


    Rinka asked Ren.


    "Wait, Mark," Ren ignored the receptionist and spoke to Mark. "Your family is wee to stay with us until you find another ce to stay. So, don''t worry. We won''t be kicking you out just because your family is not going to join us. And even if you don''t want to, there are temporary shelters near ourpound. We can lend for free for a while."


    Ren might be a bit unsure because of how Mark managed to trick their scouts. However, with the abilities that his group had shown so far, it was stupid to just let them go. Even if they would not join the ck Lotus, having them as allies were more than enough.


    "Is that so? Then thanks," Mark said with a shrug. "Still, I want to finish it quickly. All the attention we are getting is already getting on my nerves, you see."


    Mark was not making excuses. Audible murmurs could already be heard all over the ce. After all, many unbelievable things happened in just a short amount of time on this hectic morning.


    "Excuse me," At this time, the nurse, that had nothing to do after being called, spoke to Mark. "If you are done with yourbat examination, we can proceed with testing your [Regeneration] ability."


    Mark turned to the nurse. He had rather cold eyes, but no one noticed.


    "I''m not going to test it."


    "But-"


    Before the nurse could protest, Mark interjected.


    "There''s no rule that said the abilities we had needed to be tested, right? Only if they wanted it to be tested, right? I''m pretty sure I didn''t put it in the registration paper. It''s because I don''t want it to be tested. If not for the ident, no one would even know about it. My secret card was justid bare to the public without my intention."


    The nurse turned to Rinka, asking if Mark did not put it in his registration paper. And since the receptionist had the papers with her, it took no time to show that he really did not.


    "Are you sure about this?" The nurse asked, seemingly disheartened. "If you didn''t get your [Regeneration] ability tested, it won''t reflect in your final ranking."


    "I''m sure," Mark replied coldly. "I don''t need it. I believe mybat examination is already enough to give me a good ranking. So, don''t ask again. My group still has members that needed to get tested."


    With that exchange, the tests went on in an unusual atmosphere. Both Mei and I passed the rangebat tests without problems. After that, a medical check-up followed. Everyone had to undergo physical fitness tests, while a few members of Mark''s group went under a few personal ability tests.


    Miracle went for the strength test, Abbygale for the Agility Test, and Mei for an Eye Test. The three disyed those abilities in thebat tests while also having them registered in their registration papers. Lastly, Emika faced a few sets of tests while using her [Mutator Ability].


    The tests soon finished, although it was already past noon when they ended.


    And after they received their licenses, in the form of metal tags, to be attached to their residential identification cards, the Registration and Management Building was already in quite an annoying buzz.

 Chapter 965 Lunch In Toyosu, The Commercial Area Of The Reclaimed City

    Day 318 - 1:28 PM - The Rainbow Farm, Toyosu, Koto City, Tokyo


    The test and examinations within the Registration and Management Building were quite hectic. However, the most troublesome thing was trying to get out of the building peacefully.


    Since thebat examinations were done outside, an annoyinglyrge audience gathered and watched. It sure attracted quite an amount of attention. Maybe because it was rare for new [Frencer] registrants to appear nowadays, or due to how the members of Mark''s group went through thebat examinations like a breeze. Another thing was how Mark was barely scathed after the ident with the examiner. Furthermore, he recovered to top shape in seconds.


    The medical and physical tests were done in private, so it was kind of peaceful. However, it was quite annoying for Mark since he was being pestered by the staff to test his [Regeneration].


    Mark was the first possible [Rank 5 Regeneration Holder] after all.


    How was Mark the first [Rank 5] in the first ce? How was the nurse able to conclude it at a nce?


    Apparently, the actual ranking of abilities was only set to four ranks. The [Rank 4], which should be highest, were abilities with powerful effects but had quite a number of bearers before the ranking was established. In short terms, [Rank 5] was a rather impossible ranking that only a few people could get into.


    For example, [Strengthening] was a rathermon ability, with even multiple partial and full variants. There were people who only had their arms or legs strengthened, while there were some who had their whole bodies getting stronger. Some had strengthened muscles for offense, and some were for defense.


    And for Kenji to be a [Rank 5 Strength Ability Holder], it meant his ability far surpassedmon sense. His strength was enough to punch a hole through a tank while not injuring himself in the process.


    On the other hand, [Regeneration Ability Holders] were not only quite rare, but the [Rank 4] ones would not heal as fast as Mark. From test results, [Rank 4 Regeneration] allowed the healing of broken bones, but it would take at least an hour to fully recover a broken arm. Furthermore, only if it was broken neatly and not splintered. Splintered bones would hinder the healing, and the user would need to go under surgery to remove the splinters and heal properly.


    But Mark? It only took a few seconds to heal his two arms and possibly his ribs and spine too. It was definitely above the established [Rank 4].


    Unfortunately, the medical staff could only watch Mark in dismay as he left the testing area without getting his [Regeneration] tested.


    After receiving their [Frencer Tags], Mark''s group went through the mission board. It was pretty much like an adventurer''s guild in fiction, where missions were posted on a huge bulletin board at the center of the building.


    It was not their intention to immediately pick a mission. They were just curious.


    And looking at the posted missions, there was quite a variety.


    [Collection Missions] were quitemon. Most of these missions were given by the Japanese government to collect research samples of specific kinds of [Mutated Infected]. There were also cliche missions where mncholic survivors wanted to get something from their ruined homes. It was pretty much searching for mementos of their families.


    Another was [Bounty Missions], where certain targets needed to be killed. Apparently, there were unique [Mutated Infected] that earned quite a notorious name. Under this mission, there was the continuous [Kill the Infected] mission where the [Frencers] only needed to show proof of their kills to be rewarded.


    Next, the [Escort Missions]. There was only a handful, and all of it involved government scientists. They needed to be escorted to specific areas with some soldiers to obtain research materials and stuff. It was a group mission and was definitely reserved for thoserge groups with enough strength.


    Lastly, [Expedition Missions]. If needed, the military would work with the [Frencers] to go or attack a particr ce. For example, [Infected Nests]. There were no missions avable for this currently. Its location on the board was vacant.


    While looking at the mission board, Mark''s sleeve was pulled by Abbygale. It was already past noon. Of course, the girls were hungry.


    Getting out of the building was stupidly annoying. Groups who heard about thebat exam came to try and recruit Mark and his group members. They even ignored the fact that the members and leader of ck Lotus were with them.


    Fortunately, the big guy guarding the building appeared to stop themotion. And without a doubt, his presence this time was valuable since almost everyone was practically afraid of him. At this opportunity, Mark told everyone to not bother them since they were already a group.


    The members of the ck Lotus were quite surprised as Mark spoke in an arrogant manner. It was totally different from when he spoke with their members. His haughty disy would definitely offend people, and most people immediately backed off, turned off by that kind of attitude. Of course, not everyone.


    With Mark''s deration and arrogant disy, the group left the building with less resistance.


    After leaving the noisy Registration and Management Building, Mark''s group was supposed to go home to eat lunch. That was the idea. However, instead of getting picked up by the vehicle, Ren led Mark''s group and walked a block away, right on the opposite side of the road.


    The group walked as they looked around. It seemed there were still a good amount of people following Mark''s group. Thepetition between [Survivor Groups] and [Frencer Groups] was quite fierce. As such, smaller and weaker groups were desperate to get new talented members. Fortunately, the ones following behind were not too courageous to interfere with the ck Lotus around. They should give up after being ignored long enough.


    Still, Mark''s group was getting attention along the way. Not only was the ck Lotus one of the strongest groups around, but Mei''s appearance was truly attention-turning. If not for the fact that she was walking while holding Mark''s right hand, some idiots would surely be approaching her considering the number of people around the area.


    It did not take long, and the group reached their destination.


    Surprisingly, it was a tentpound divided into different areas with different themes. Each tent had outdoor tables and chairs for food. It seemed to be a wide outdoor barbeque venue.


    "We''re going to eat here. My treat," Ren said to Mark, which also perked up the ears of her members. "But in exchange, you owe me some exnations."


    "There''s no problem with that, I guess," Mark shrugged. "In any case, you don''t have to worry. We don''t have no intention to harm anyone unless they were the ones that tried to do us harm first. Since your bunch isn''t bad, I can talk a bit more, but that''s probably forter."


    "Later. There are too many ears here," Ren said with a sigh. "Still, I can''t believe that we got used just like that."


    Ren, who had a troubled heart, led the group as they entered the venue. They were then led to a vacant area with several tables enclosed by dividers by a waitress. It had four tables, with each pair side by side, with more than enough seating for everyone. The best thing was that the area was the northernmost one that oversees the sceneries past the water channel between Toyosu and Harumi.


    "It''s unexpected that there are still eateries in business."


    Mei told Mark while she looked around.


    The ce had different tents and divided areas, while there were several food stalls to choose from.


    "What me to ask them?"


    Mark told Mei in which she nodded because she was kind of curious. Well, not because she was from a business-oriented family, but because she was curious about the food being served. She had been into cooking as ofte, and her curiosity for genuine foreign cuisine was expected.<novelnext></novelnext>


    Since it was an earnest request from his wife, Mark asked about the food stalls and how it was possible to still conduct business like this.


    Apparently, these food stalls were owned by active [Survivor Groups] in the Reimed City. They were groups specialized in hunting [Evolved Animals], locally called [Evolved Beasts], and gathering wild vegetables and fruits. Some groups did start this business to earn credits to fund their equipment and other necessities, while others just because of their interest in it.


    "There are other high-end restaurants too on the other side," Mako interjected, pointing in the northwest direction where the rich side of Toyosu was located. "But the prices are off the roof. It''s basically a scam."


    Restaurants were mostly owned by corporate groups that hired their own [Frencer Groups] to hunt for them.


    Soon, the waitress brought them several menus. Apparently, these food servers were jointly hired by the food stalls to serve customers. That was why although there were different stalls, the waitress brought menus from all those businesses.


    They waited a few more minutes, and the food was served. The food stalls only served street food and quick meals, but it was way better than the food rationed freely.


    When all the food was served, the waitress presented several food bills and brought a few gadgets that looked like credit card terminals.


    Mark carefully watched Ren as she checked if the prices on the food bills and the gadgets matched. She then took out her registration card and swiped its right side on the gadgets.


    The registration card, called the [Citizen Ship] card, also served as a bank card of sorts. It was also how [Frencers] receive their payments in terms of credit currency. This was also how workers received their pay since money before the apocalypse was basically worthless now. Carrying bills might still work but carrying tons of coins was pretty much suicide. Well, paper bills could still give warmth and light after being burned.


    "What do you want to do after lunch?" Ren asked Mark. "Do you want to visit ces? We can give you a tour since we are free today."


    "What ces are there to visit?"


    Mark asked back.


    "There''s a lot," Ren replied. "There are shops, the casino, there''s also the PIT right on the other block where people find entertainment. They have performers, singers, and stuff. But in your case, I''ll rmend the wholesale market. Groups set up stalls there to sell things they find and gather outside. There are also workshops there where you can find equipment."


    Mark turned to his group and tranted Ren''s suggestion. And in a unanimous decision, they decided to visit the wholesale market.


    And as decided, the group went to the wholesale market after lunch.


    Back before the outbreak, the Toyosu wholesale market was the entire southwest district of Toyosu. Each kind of product had its own location within the district.


    Now, the market was reduced to the fruits and vegetables building, where everything was being sold. The other parts of the district were now used for other facilities.


    As expected, the members of the ck Lotus took quite an attention after their entry. Not only were they well known across the Reimed City, but their ck-colored uniforms were pretty eye-catching.


    "Well, this is something."


    Mark voiced out.


    The ce was pretty remarkable. It was lively and noisy as vendors tried to take the attention of possible customers to buy their wares.


    "The workshops are on the north side," Ren voiced out. "Let me bring you guys where we in ck Lotus get our equipment."


    Mark and the rest followed Ren while looking at the stalls they passed by. It did not take long, and they reached a stall at the corner of the building with weapons and armor lying around on disy.


    "Ey, Gramps!" Ren called out to the bulky old man on the stall. "We brought some potential customers!"


    "How many times do I have to tell you not to call me that?"


    The bulky old man with white hair and a wide forehead, wearing overalls, retorted.


    Still, aside from how Ren called him, he was kind of happy that she brought customers.


    The old man turned to Mark''s group. They were easy to spot as the customers Ren had brought since they were not wearing the ck Lotus uniform.


    However, when the old man saw Mark, he frowned.


    "You there. Can youe here a little closer?"


    Ren and the rest were surprised. This was quite unusual for the grumpy old man.


    Mark did not sense any malice in the old man. Instead, he looked pretty curious. That was why Mark just went with the flow and approached the man.


    The old man unceremoniously grabbed Mark''s hands and began rubbing his palm and fingers. Looking at this scene, one would think that the stall owner was going senile or having some hand fetish.


    But when the old man opened his mouth, the misunderstanding was cleared. Instead, it showed his expertise and the uracy of his eyes.


    "Are you a cksmith or a crafter? Can you show me things you made before?"


    In one nce, the old man knew...


    Mark was in the same field as he was.

 Chapter 966 Family Dispute, An Interruption In Front Of The Weapon Stall

    Day 318 - 3:14 PM - Toyosu Wholesale Market, Toyosu, Koto City, Tokyo


    Mark was suddenly asked such a request out of the blue.


    The old man in front of Mark was, without a doubt, an expert. In one nce, he had a hunch. And just by feeling the person''s hands, the old man knew that Mark could be either a cksmith or a crafter.


    Knowing that he encountered an expert, Mark actually had the urge to take out the weapons he made.


    Mark never had any professional training in creating things. All he had in hand were self-taught knowledge developed by watching tutorials on the inte. In order to make his creations with his own hands, there were no tutorials to follow. He had to be innovative in things, far from perfecting any technique.


    That was why Mark had no intention of branding himself as an expert. If Mark was to answer what level he was, he was still an amateur.


    As a self-taught amateur, Mark wanted his creations to be evaluated by an expert. This was a good opportunity. However, it also meant that he had to reveal one of his cards prematurely in front of many people.


    While thinking, Mark decided to answer the old man''s question first. It was whether he was a cksmith or a crafter.


    But before Mark could utter a sound, someone''s voice ovepped the movement of his lips. It stopped Mark from talking as everyone''s attention was taken by the owner of the voice.


    "Hey! The heroic flowers are here!" The owner of the voice said in a brat-like manner. "What are you doing here? Buying equipment?"


    Mark turned to the owner of the voice, who appeared to be a young man in histe teens with red-colored spiky hair. He had two pairs of ring-shaped earrings and another on the right side of his lips while wearing a leader jacket adorned with metallic trinkets.


    At a single nce, this young man was clearly a delinquent.


    "Wha..." The delinquent noticed Mei. "What a beaut!"


    However, it was unlike during the encounter with the leader of the Blood Lion Troupe. Mei did not shiver due to the delinquent''s stare, although it did not stop her from hiding behind Mark. The young man might be a delinquent, but he appreciated Mei''s beauty without even a tiny shred of indecency.


    And it was not the delinquent who was the problem.


    "Ishii, stop being disrespectful."


    It was the people together with the delinquent.


    The delinquent seemed to be called Ishii. The person who reprimanded him was standing behind him together with a couple more people.


    Looking at the group, Mark thought it was weird.


    The delinquent on the front was followed by a group of men in suits. The man that reprimanded the delinquent stood at the center, clearly indicating that he was the boss of the group.


    Long stern face, rectangle sses, an expensive suit and tie, and even brushed-up hair, the boss of the other group was clearly a representation of apany executive, if not the CEO.


    Mark immediately had a hunch as he saw the group. It was a gang led by a rich man walking with his security guards. Of course, minus the delinquent, who looked out of ce.


    No, there was another odd one out. A man wearing a work jumpsuit stood just a step behind the boss.


    Still, for this group of people to stop by, there was something going on. The delinquent was clueless, but the boss clearly approached for a reason.


    And that reason? While it was clear that one of the reasons was Mark''s group, apparently, there was another.


    "What is your business here, Keiji-onii-sama?"


    Ren asked with a re as she stepped in front of Mark''s group. The members of ck Lotus stood closely behind their leader in the same fashion as the suited guards of the other group.


    That was right. The rich stern-looking man leading the opposite group was Mitsui Ren''s older brother.


    The two were siblings, but the contrast between them was like the opposite poles of the ma. One was a free soul that escaped her chains, while the other was someone who chose to be bound by it.


    "I believe you do not have the qualification to ask me that question, but I''ll let it pass today," Ren''s brother, Keiji, stared down at his sister. "Apparently, you are involved in some noise in the bureau this morning. They said you picked up some unusual strays. Is that them?"


    Keiji looked through the members of the ck Lotus and stared at Mark''s group. It was clear that he was sizing them up.


    "Why don''t you gift them to the family? The elders might forgive you and let you return."


    "The same as always, Keiji-onii-sama. Wake up and stop dreaming," Ren snarled. "Who would want to return to a family of assholes? Does none of you still understand that I''m never going back? As if I''ll let myself be a tool to those geezers under a bullsh*t pretense. All of it is for the sake of the family? What a joke."


    "Miss, calm down a bit," Tadashi whispered to Ren. "Do not get too riled up."


    Ren''s hate for her family was clear in her words. Thankfully, her trusted people were beside her to either support her or hold her back.


    Keiji silently stared at her younger sister without showing any expression, though that stare felt more offensive to Ren than anything.


    "Say what you will," Keiji fixed his sses. "But you will never be able to deny your roots. Sooner orter, you will be back."


    Ren was really infuriated by the words of her older brother. However, before she could say anything, Keiji already began to ignore her.


    "You are Mark-san, right?" Keiji called Mark. "My apologies. I have to use your first name on the first meeting since your surname is hard on our tongue."


    The members of the ck Lotus still stood in front of Mark''s group. Yet, Keiji spoke as if there was no one standing between him and Mark.


    "May I have the chance to talk privately?"


    Keiji spoke as if Mark would have no choice but to agree. He exuded a professional attitude and aura which would make mostmon people feel coerced.


    However, Keiji''s coercion had no effect on his current target. It was clear because...


    "Not interested."


    Mark said as he turned back to the old man, who stood at the side watching the scene y before him.


    "I-is that so?"


    Keiji''sposure was broken for a second. However, he had other cards to y.


    "It seems that you wanted equipment for your group. If you ept my invitation, we can have you get discounts on expensive goods." Keiji then introduced the jumpsuit-wearing man beside him. "This man is Yoshihara Kamui. One of the best cksmiths here."


    "Expensive, huh..."


    Mark murmured as he nced at the old man, who was currently hiding a sneer. He then turned to the so-called one of the best cksmiths, who was looking smug after being introduced by Keiji.<novelnext></novelnext>


    "That''s right!" Kamui said with his gruff voice. "My creations are expensive, but many clients buy them because of their high quality."


    Keiji, on the other hand, was hiding a smile. He thought that he was beginning to hook the man called Mark. People would not be able to resist the word expensive, after all.


    "Mark-san..."


    Ren was about to stop Mark, but he noticed that his actions were different from what she was thinking.


    And here, Mark suddenly asked.


    "One of the best-san. What do you think of me?"


    It was such a weird question. It was definitely not a question you would ask someone you had just met.


    "What are you talking about?"


    Kamui asked back with a frown.


    And there, all interest left Mark''s eyes as he turned to Keiji.


    "Yep, not interested."


    And from there, Mark paid no attention to the other group and began talking with the old man. There was no excuse, no sorry, or even a goodbye. He just stopped any interaction to the point that everyone paying attention felt the hot stinging p on Keiji''s face.


    Keiji''s eyebrows were twitching. It was already amazing that he managed to keep his poker face.


    "Give this to him," Keiji handed a card to his guard to give to Mark. "We''re leaving."


    The delinquent followed his boss. It was the same for the guards, except for the one that took the card. They were all silent, knowing their boss was furious inside.


    And the guard approached Mark.


    "Hey, take this."


    The guard was bulky and tall. He was actually a head taller than Mark.


    But Mark was not fazed as he looked at the guard, took the card, and put the card inside the guard''s breast pocket.


    "Not interested."


    Mark repeated his words.


    The guard was annoyed, but he had already finished his task. Mark took the card from his hand, and it did not matter what Mark did with it. They were already humiliated enough, and the guard did not want to stay any longer.


    Everyone around, along with the members of the ck Lotus, watched Keiji''s entourage walk away in humiliation.


    Ren''s anger was washed away as she turned to Mark with a lighter heart.


    Mark was already conversing with the old man. In the first ce, they were in the middle of the conversation when the delinquent butted in.


    "That''s a nice one, kid. Those pricks needed to face a setback every now and then to know their ce," The old man said with a heartyugh, tapping strongly on Mark''s shoulder. "So, you''re a crafter?"


    "Yeah, I am," Mark replied as he raised his palms. "Are the hands of cksmiths and crafters simr?"


    "In the past, it would be easier to differentiate since the hands of cksmiths were more exposed to fire and heat," The old man exined. "As modern technology became more and more involved in cksmithing, the hands of the new generation crafters and cksmiths became more and more simr."


    "Before anything else, I''m Mori Yasuo," The old man introduced himself. "You can call me gramps if you want."


    "Wait!" Ren interjected. "You let him call you gramps, but I can''t?!"


    "You can''t, you troublesome brat."


    Yasuo red at Ren.


    "Why?!"


    Ren felt devastated.


    The hostile atmosphere due to the sudden appearance of Ren''s older brother was gone. It might be the effect of two people who could tantly ignore things, but the atmosphere was back to normal. It was as if the encounter just now never happened.


    While Mark, Ren, and Yasuo had their own conversation, Mako sneaked beside Emika.


    "Are you girls feeling okay? Are you not scared?"


    Mako asked the green-haired girl. She was not overreacting or anything. After all, Ren''s older brother had a strange aura that would make less courageous people feel weak.


    "We are okay," Emika smiled. "Ren-san''s brother feels scary, but he''s not as scary as the monsters we saw before."


    "Is that so?" Mako sighed in relief. "It''s good that you girls had a brave mentality. And me? I can''t even look at the miss'' brother straight in the eye."


    Mako then turned serious.


    "Just in case, be careful, alright? The miss'' brother got humiliated this time. Who knows what he would do."


    Emika turned to Mako.


    "Don''t worry about us. Ren-san''s brother won''t be able to do anything to us."


    Mako and the rest of ck Lotus felt weirded by Emika''s words. They could not understand where her confidence wasing from. Maybe, because she was still young?


    On the other hand, Mark finally decided on the old man''s request to show his creation. However, instead of showing hisplicated weapon masterpieces, he took out a rather simple one.


    Unlike most of Mark''s weapons which were made with [Blood Metal], what he took out was made by his own hands and equipment inside his workshop.


    And when Mark handed it to Yasuo, the old man looked at it with enthusiasm.

 Chapter 967 A Hidden Expert, The Unappreciated Wares Of Yasuo The Blacksmith

    Day 318 - 3:18 PM - Four Squares Equipment Shop, Toyosu Wholesale Market, Toyosu, Koto City, Tokyo


    "Hoh... A knife? Hmm... No, it''s a dagger, huh."


    The cksmith, Yasuo, stared at the weapon Mark handed him with interest.


    What Mark gave the old cksmith was a strange-looking dagger.


    How strange-looking? It was an eight-inch dagger with a five-inch de. The dagger had a general size and shape of a regr kitchen knife. However, while the tip and de were thin, its spine was thick.


    A knife was for slicing and shing. However, even though what Mark showed Yasuo was shaped like a knife and a one-sided de, the sharp edge curved nicely at the tip, epassing the end part of the spine. That curved edge showed that it could be used for stabbing, as a dagger was primarily used.


    However...


    "But... I can also serve as a minified axe, huh."


    Yasuo surmised, seeing the thickened part of the dagger.


    The increasingly thickened spine towards the bolster of the dagger would cause anything it sliced or stabbed to split apart, allowing it to cause more damage than one would normally expect.


    "But since it''s small and light, it will be hard to use to split open things... Its stabbing and shing functions are also hindered by the thickness since axes split things by relying on weight... Unless it''s used by someone with really good arm strength."


    Mark stood in front of Yasuo, blinking in silence. He had yet to say anything about the dagger. However, the old cksmith already stated all the functions and details of the weapon he made.


    It was something one could expect from a true expert.


    "The metal is just regr steel, and it''s not made through traditional cksmithing. Did you use oxy-acetylene torches to heat and shape it?"


    Even the material and possible crafting procedure wasid bare.


    "The de is simple without decoration and has proper finishing and coating. The weight is centered near the bolster, which stabbing daggers should not have. But considering it can be used for splitting, the unbnced de weight is justified. However, it did not suit forward stabs due to its weight and shape. It''s more suitable to use with reverse-hand stabs. For shes, only outward and downward."


    Yasuo even analyzed the supposed limitations and best usage of the dagger.


    Ren stared at the old cksmith, feeling strange. She had never seen this grumpy guy talk too much without being aggressive or sarcastic. Yet, he was doing that just now.


    "It''s a good dagger. But I''m sure... Let''s leave it for another time."


    Yasuo returned the dagger to Mark and was about to say something. However, he stopped as he nced at the members of the ck Lotus.


    Mark received the dagger, not showing any emotion on his face. It was better not to since the old cksmith definitely knew. The dagger in his hand was not his best creation.


    However, Yasuo also realized that Mark did not want to show anything excessive in front of other people and stopped trying to inquire about it.


    "Look around the shop. Tell me if you or these youngdies are interested in something."


    Yasuo said with a grin. He was definitely pleased with Mark to the point that it extended to the rest of his group.


    "I''ll dly take your offer, but we only arrived here yesterday. In terms of credit points, we have none."


    Mark said.


    "Is that so?" Yasuo said before turning to Ren. "Then let that brat pay for it. She''s the one who brought you here, after all."


    "Hey!" Ren protested. "That''s why I said potential customers, right? I just brought them to take a look. Why is the payment on me now?"


    "Don''t be stingy, you brat," Yasuo said as he picked his ear with his pinky. "Money would be a problem to others, but definitely not you."


    "This old codger," Ren sighed. "I also have money problems, alright? I have to feed several hundred people with my own money. You don''t remember?"


    Still, Ren turned to Mark''s group. It might be a bit forced, but the old cksmith just gave her the perfect opportunity to make them owe her a little. Considering the prowess they showed during the examination, having their favor would not hurt.


    "Haah." Ren gave another sigh. "Loan. I can give them a loan. They only have two sword users, anyway. And these metal armors don''t suit them either."


    "Two?"


    Yasuo asked in confusion.


    It also caused Ren to be confused. She knew that this old cksmith had good eyes for cksmiths and crafters, just like what happened with Mark. However, he was also good at looking at physical weapon users, especially those who held the sword. So, the old cksmith asking a confirmation was very uncharacteristic.


    "Yeah, they have two. This guy and her."


    Ren said, pointing at Mark and Spera.


    But then, a confusion-inducing question to the members of ck Lotus came out of the old cksmith''s mouth.


    "What about her?" Yasuo looked at Mei. "I''m sure this beautiful miss held a sword longer than this little gal."


    Yasuo definitely had a good eye. He knew that Spera had just picked up a sword recently while Mei had been using one for months.


    "But... She''s a sniper?" Ren voiced out before realizing. "Wait, gramps. Are you sure?"


    Yasuo was a bit taken aback and looked at Mark, who was shrugging.


    "Is that supposed to be a secret?"


    Yasuo asked Mark.


    The members of the ck Lotus were now looking at Mei strangely. This beautiful and delicate-looking woman showed great prowess during her Range Combat Examination. She confidently held the sniper rifle and shot the target with the given five rounds. But on the target, only three holes were seen. It was because all three of the five bullets she shot hit the straight center of the target, leaving only one hole to count.


    And now, this expert sniper was actually a sword user? And if Yasuo actually mentioned her, it was clear that she passed in his eyes for him to ask if she also wanted a sword.<novelnext></novelnext>


    One of the secrets of Mark''s group was suddenly revealed in an unexpected way. It was not like it was a crucial secret. However, it was better for her to have this card hidden.


    "Haah..."


    Mark sighed, looking at Yasuo.


    "I''ll give you a little discount. I can''t be too much since I also have to make a living."


    Yasuo had no choice but topromise.


    "Don''t worry about the discount. Ren-san said earlier. We are only here now to take a look." Mark said as he looked straight at Yasuo. "Instead, can Imission you to make a few things for me next time?"


    "A few things? Custom weapons and armor?"


    Yasuo asked.


    "No," Mark shook his head. "I wanted to make some things. But Icked suitable metal parts."


    "I only make weapons and armor... is what I want to say. But I do owe you for being a bbermouth," Yasuo grinned. "You still have to shoulder the pay for thebor and material costs. And..."


    "And?"


    Mark asked since Yasuo cut his words.


    The old cksmith then whispered.


    "Show me another of your works. That dagger is nice and all. However, my guts are telling me you can show me something better. I don''t know why you are trying to hide it, but I know a good craftsman when I see one."


    "Deal?"


    Yasuo asked as he held out his hand.


    "Deal."


    Mark epted and shook the old cksmith''s rough hands.


    There was no need to say that Mark liked this old cksmith. He might be a kinda rough guy. Nheless, he was true to his work.


    "What deal is that? What are you two whispering there..."


    Ren interjected, looking disheartened.


    Mark had just rejected her offer to loan them money, and he was getting along well with the old cksmith she had known for years. And that same cksmith was still rough with her.


    Ren looked at Mark. He sure was a strange person. Just how many secrets did he and his group have? In the first ce, who were they, really?


    While Ren had those thoughts, Mark was aware of her curiosity. Even so, he had no ns of satisfying it.


    As for Mark, he felt lucky to meet an expert this time. Not to mention actually getting a deal with him. There were still things he wanted to make. However, while [Blood Metal] was easy to shape and sturdier than regr steel, it had its own limitations.


    Two of the things he wanted to make was a weapon that could heat up or conduct electricity. It did not matter if he wanted to use [Magic Circuits] or pure technology to make those weapons. However, [Blood Metal] was not a good conductor of magical energy. And worse, it was way worse than steel in conducting electricity or heat. While it was possible to forcefully mutate some of the remaining unmutated [Blood Children] into suitable mutations, [Blood Metal] from mutated [Blood Children] could not be controlled.


    For example, the [Glowing Blood Child], , could create [Luminous Blood Meta]. This metal would glow, and its glow could not be turned off by any means. So, if one of the unmutated [Blood Children] mutated to a fire variant, the [Blood Metal] they would produce would possibly be forever on mes or hot. While such metal would be suitable for many things, it would not be a good weapon at all.


    Imagine a sword always on fire. If you brought it with you, you have no other choice but to always hold it since you could not sheat it without the sheath getting scalding hot or burning. It would be the same for electricity, either. It was extremely dangerous to have uncontroble weapons.


    As such, having Yasuo agree to make the parts Mark wanted was a really good score. Furthermore, Yasuo looked like a guy who knew how to keep a secret. As for Mei''s circumstance, it was really no one''s fault. Yet, the old cksmith still agreed to reciprocate the idental mistake.


    If that were the case, maybe, Mark could ask him to make things using unusual materials. For example, alien metals. It would not be surprising if the Japanese government had already made efforts to use [Mechids] as a resource. As for Mark, he had already seeded in melting harvested metal from [Mechids]. The only problem was the proper process of turning the space metal into a weapon.


    Mark had no cksmithing skills at all. And now, he got a cksmith to utilize.


    The group looked around the cksmith''s stall. However, Mark noticed something odd.


    While the weapons and equipment on disy were high-quality, they all felt off.


    "Gramps, these things aren''t for sale, right?"


    Mark asked the old cksmith, causing him to show another satisfied grin.


    "You''re really different from others," Yasuo said rowdily. "Yeah, those aren''t for sale. I think you are the first one to notice. Everyone that came here and looked at the disy would ask the price."


    "The specialty of gramps is making custom weapons and armor that fit the user," Ren interjected. "The items on disy are not really unusable, but people experienced enough would feel off using them."


    "My wares are different from those mass-produced items other workshops provide," Yasuo exined. "I only make weapons and armor perfect for those that use them."


    "It just means that gramps doesn''t just sell things to amateurs," Ren said with a smile. "That''s why his stall is not that popr."


    "You brat," Yasuo grumbled. "It''s not that I''m not selling to amateurs. I only sell to people with the right eye and talent. My wares are to make those who wore them survive and not make idiots suicide."


    Mark looked at Yasuo.


    This old cksmith was really something. He had values and vision. A clear goal that was not greedy. Given his expertise, it would not be hard for him to make a name and sell his wares expensively. Yet, here he was, watching over an unpopr stall, not able to make discounts because he also wanted to make a living.


    In the end, Mark''s group decided not to buy anything from the stall. At least, not now.


    Afterward, Ren led the rest to look around the Wholesale Market. Seeing what was being sold around the stalls was kind of exciting in itself. There weremon items, but there were also strange ones.


    Just walking around the market was such a nice experience. However, it was alreadyte in the afternoon, and the group had to go home.

 Chapter 968 An Unexpected Information, A Meeting With The Leader Of The Black Lotus Group

    Day 318 - 7:11 PM - Temporary House, ck Lotus Compound, Kachidoki, Chuo City, Tokyo


    After almost an entire day of going around different ces, Mark''s group went home.


    Today''s activities were not as tiring if it waspared to fighting the [Infected] and [Mechids]. However, it was just as exhausting. Furthermore, everywhere they went today, they were the center of attention. Worse, they could not do anything about it.


    Mei and Amihan were already eye-catching. They were also escorted by the leader of ck Lotus too, not to mention the circumstances during the Combat Examination.


    Except for Emika and Miracle, everyone in Mark''s group was, technically, introverts. Being the center of attention was too taxing on their mental health.


    The unwanted attention aside, there were other things that bothered the members of Mark''s group.


    While using a brightmp at the center to illuminate the room, the group was currently eating their dinner. At the same time, they were talking about today''s events along with their next ns.


    When the topic of what everyone thought about the Reimed City came, there was one thing that came to their minds.


    "This ce is too peaceful that it''s ufortable."


    That was Spera''s evaluation, where everyone could only agree.


    It was not like there were no conflicts. Competition between "Territorial Groups" like ck Lotus Group and Blood Lion Troupe was prevalent. There were also conflicts between [Frencers]. Not to mention the events in front of the Registration and Management Bureau this morning.


    However, as Mark described a lot of people they saw in the morning along the road, people here were trying to relive their peaceful life before the apocalypse.


    While inevitable changes happened, like the new form of government and the existence of [Frencers], almost everything in the Reimed City was preserved from the pre-apocalypse. It gave the illusion of a peaceful life despite the drastic contrast once they looked past the boundary of the Reimed City.


    The members of Mark''s group, who spent the apocalypse facing struggles and fighting dangerous foes, the Reimed City''s peace was suffocating. It was not like they did not want a peaceful life. It was just that they would want to embrace true peace and not just some illusion that could shatter at any time.


    In fact, due to the peaceful illusion of the Reimed City, themon people would be the ones to suffer. The illusory peace they had dulled their senses. They convinced themselves that they would not step out of the Reimed City.


    ...They convinced themselves that there was no way this peace would shatter.


    And in the event that the illusion of peace was gone, it would be toote for them.


    "Just endure for now," Mark shrugged. "It''s not like we will stay here for too long. After we''re done with our business here, we''ll head to China through Korea. Though we can return here from time to time."


    The illusion of peace in the Reimed City was not that bad. It was only bad when one became drunk with it. It was pretty much like a lot of the people currently trying to relive their pre-apocalypse life in the Reimed City.


    "Gege, what are we going to do next? Are we going to look for a different ce to stay tomorrow, or should we take a mission from the bureau?"


    Mei asked.


    Ren allowed them to stay in this temporary house indefinitely. However, Mark had no intention of overstaying and taking advantage of her generosity. In the first ce, this generosity stemmed from the fact that she wanted Mark''s group to join the ck Lotus. Now that he surely made his intention clear that they would not join the ck Lotus Group, there was no need to stay for too long.


    But there also came the issue of money. Aside from designated refuge areas, there were private properties in each area governed by the "Territorial Groups," like the vacant properties around the ck Lotus Compound.


    These properties could be rented using credits. It was actually a method to increase productivity from the refugees by allowing them to move out of the refuge areas after earning enough credits.


    Back in Bay City, they also employed a simr tactic, which was continued in Corregidor, albeit lessened due to a different leadership in the past.


    "I want to look for a house first, but..."


    Mei added.


    "We don''t have the money they use here."


    Spera chimed in.


    They needed money to rent a house, which was something they did not have since they had just arrived here yesterday. If they wanted to move out, they needed to earn money first.


    Or maybe, get a loan from Ren, which was not what Mark wanted.


    "There are few ways to earn money quickly."


    Mark said with a smile.


    "Hmmm?"


    Spera tilted her head, staring at Mark in askance.


    Mark then took two items out. One was a bar of triangr imported chocte, and the other was a thumb-sized stone, a [Mutagen Stone].


    "We can sell these," Mark exined. "Chocte is a luxury product. Even if we sell these several times the original price, many people will still try to buy them. As for the [Mutagen Stone], you girls probably didn''t notice because it''s written in Japanese, but there''s a sign by the reception saying the bureau is buying these. If it''s these stones, we are notcking them. The same for the chocte since I got a nice amount inside my ring. Oh, right. I also brought a few boxes of imported cigarettes, didn''t I? We can also sell those."


    Mark had a few things inside his ring that he thought he could use when dealing with people. For example, chocte and cigarettes were now high-end luxury products sincemercial production of these items was stopped with no one to make them.


    Selling a few of these luxury items would be more than enough to earn them money to rent a property.


    "The question is, where should we sell the chocte and the cigarette."


    Spera said, tapping her bowl of food with her spoon.


    "We have someone we can sell to."


    Mei responded, making Spera turn to her.


    In response to Spera''s stare, Mei pointed at the building outside the temporary house. The office of the ck Lotus Group.


    "Ah, yeah... Ren is rich, isn''t she?"


    Spera said as she ate a spoonful of her food.


    Earlier, Ren treated them to lunch and also offered a loan if Mark''s group bought some equipment from the old cksmith at the Wholesale Market.


    "That''s what I''m also thinking," Mark agreed with Mei. "Besides, there''s an opportunityter."


    "Then, you should try that first."


    Spera also agreed.


    ***


    Dinner finished, and as Mark expected, Mako knocked on their door because Ren wanted to meet him.


    Following behind Mako, Mark entered the main building of the ck Lotus Compound. It did not take long, and the two stood in front of Ren''s office.


    "Miss, I''ve brought him."


    Mako said after knocking on the door.


    The door was then opened by someone. When Mako and Mark entered the office, Tadashi stood beside the door while Ren sat behind her desk, reading some papers.


    Ren put down the paper she was currently reading and looked at the two who entered the office.


    "Mako," Ren spoke. "You can go back and rest."


    Mako bowed her head and left without questions. She might be usually goofy and lively, but right now, they were working.


    "Please, take a seat."


    Ren said to Mark, pointing to the pair of leather couches beside a coffee table in front of her desk.


    "Do you want tea or coffee?"


    Reb asked Mark after he sat down.


    "It''s fine," Mark declined. "We just finished dinner."


    "Then, we can start," Ren stared straight at Mark. "Just... Who are you?"


    Ren then continued talking.


    "Before meeting our first meeting, our scouts have observed your group for a day and a half. From what they observed that time and the prowess you and your members had shown during the examination, the former details became inconsistent. I reviewed the reports my scouts sent just now, and many details don''t make sense anymore. One is where you went and picked up your two youngest daughters to run away from a small number of [Infected]. Before, it felt like you are running away to survive. But now, it looked more like you are restraining them from showing their physical abilities."


    Without giving Mark time to answer yet, Ren continued further.


    "There are other few circumstances before that made sense, but after the examination today, those things became obscure. It made me realize. It''s all an act. You are aware that you''re being watched, isn''t it?"


    "Yeah, I''m aware," Mark nodded. "It''s hard not to notice, especially if one of them was seething with jealousy while observing."


    Ren and Tadashi''s eyes connected. They were both appalled. The jealous Youngest was one thing, but their scouts were highly skilled in terms of stealth. Even most people in the Reimed City would not notice them too easily.


    It meant that Mark''s strength and abilities far exceeded what he was showing on the surface.


    "Let me ask you straight again. Who are you? What is your true purpose in trying to enter the Reimed City?"


    Ren asked.


    "Well," Mark shrugged. "Think of me as a traveler. I go from ce to ce to fulfill our goals."


    "And that goal is?"


    Ren responded.


    And Mark responded.


    "I''m looking for certain special people. There might be a chance they would appear here in the Reimed City, so I decided to try and enter. As for other things, I don''t have any particr goal aside from being interested in Japan''s final line of defense. It might be strange to say, but I''m an Otaku. That enough should exin a few things, right?"


    Ren blinked nkly after hearing Mark''s description of himself. If that was really the case, he was right that it would exin his interest. It was even bolstered by the fact that he was not a local. Many self-proimed Otakus from foreign countries were not only interested in Japanese entertainment. They were interested in Japanese culture as well.


    "And who are these special people you are talking about?"


    Ren asked, snapping back to the topic at hand.


    And to that question...


    "I don''t know either."


    Mark''s reply made Ren frown.


    "Don''t look at me like that," Mark tilted his head. "I''ll only know those people once I see them. Though there''s one that I know."


    And here, Mark decided to ask.


    Ren was clearly a swordswoman, and Tadashi was an expert in certain martial arts. That was why there was a chance that they knew him.


    "A swordsman named Shin. I wonder if you two know him."


    The name made Ren and Tadashi flinch. They clearly know Shin.


    "Looks like you know him."


    Mark said, making Ren turn to him.


    "What you want from that bastard. Why are you looking for him?"


    Ren asked, with her tone bing a bit aggressive.


    "That guy had something he doesn''t deserve," Mark exined, unaffected by Ren''s tone. "I have to get it back from him."


    In this case, Mark dered. Shin was his enemy. This fact made Ren and Tadashi calm down a bit.


    "In short, Shin is your enemy too?"


    Ren asked.


    "You too?"


    Mark asked back.


    "No, not just me," Ren shook her head. "That bastard is known to be a member of an underground organizationposed of non-humans that hated humanity."


    "The [Auraboros], right?"


    Mark said, making Ren stare at him even more.


    "So, you know, huh..."


    Ren sighed, thinking how deeper Mark''s background could be. After all, the existence of the [Auraboros] was only known to those with high standing in society. Themon people were totally oblivious to their existence.


    "But something must have happened there," Ren continued. "It seemed that he left [Auraboros]. Right now, he is called the [Demonic Swordsman]. A [Demonic Human], traitor of humankind. He is currently working with the Demons living in the north. They are the ones plotting the worst toward the Reimed City. They are our enemy."


    Mark''s eyes lit up. It was quite unexpected, but he was right in his thinking that they might get information here in the Reimed City.


    And now, that information was already in his hand.

 Chapter 969 Shins History, The End Of The Meeting With The Leader Of Black Lotus Group

    Day 318 - 7:22 PM - Leader''s Office, ck Lotus Group Compound, Kachidoki, Chuo City, Tokyo


    The [Demonic Swordsman Shin]. The traitor of humankind that joined the forces of the evil demons. Who would have thought that he was a pitiful boy formerly known as Migami Ichiro?


    Mark did not think too much and was already feeling nice when he unexpectedly got information about Shin. In the first ce, it was not his intention, as he was only here to clear up some things with the leader of the ck Lotus. But before the topic changed, Ren took out a folder under her desk containing information about Shin.


    The folder did not only contain information about many of Shin''s missions under the [Auraboros]. It also had a record of his life before bing Shin.


    Mark could not help but be interested as he began flipping the papers while listening to Ren.


    Migami Ichiro was just your typical undergrad high school student years ago. No, typical was an overstatement.


    Ichiro''s father was a kendo practitioner. The blood of swordsmen ran through their family, and his father inherited their dojo handed through generations of their bloodline.


    However, Ichiro did not show any talent in swordsmanship. And due to this, his father beat him through training on a daily basis.


    Their family only relied on the dojo''s ie and his kind mother''s work as a seamstress. It was not wrong to say that their family was on the border of being poor.


    As time went on, the modern era rendered kendo less and less popr. The dojo lost all its students, and Ichiro''s father became a drunkard. Not just Ichiro but his mother also became subject to his father''s violence.


    It did not take long. Ichiro''s father left them after wandering through the streets drunk and getting hit by a truck. As there were no witnesses, the poor family fell into debt to amodate the funeral.


    After being freed from his father''s violence, Ichiro finally managed to concentrate on his studies. His mother was proud when Ichiro passed a schrship examination, lessening the burden on her mother.


    However, the scars left on his body by his father caused him to be the target of bullying. Ichiro came from a poor family with no father and with a mother who was a humble seamstress. He was the perfect target for bullying. And Ichiro, still filled with mental scars from his father, was afraid to retaliate.


    Those circumstances continued until high school. In a sense, it was amazing that Ichiro managed to endure. Unfortunately, the schrship did not allow him to change schools. And the current school was money driven, causing the teachers and faculty to put a blind eye to Ichiro''s circumstances.


    It was until six years ago. Ichiro''s mother died from overwork.


    Ichiro hid his circumstances at school from his mother. His mother did the same, not telling him the awful treatment she was receiving in her workce. The pay was too low, but his mother had no other option but to increase her workload instead.


    And during his mother''s funeral, Ichiro learned what actually happened.


    The cause of his mother''s death was an extension of his circumstances at school. The owners of his mother''s workce were the parents of one of his bullies. From there, it was easy to deduce what happened.


    A few days after the funeral, a strange thing happened. Ichiro, diligent in his school attendance despite the bullying, was absent for two weeks.


    And after that absence, Ichiro returned with a bang.


    Ichiro entered the school with an unsheathed katana. Everyone that tried to stop him was cut off from living. Everything his sword passed through got sliced through. It did not matter whether it was human flesh or stone.


    His bullies, their aplices, the school''s management, and those thatughed at him were killed by his sword. Since Ichiro''s sword met no resistance, he ended his business and vanished before the authorities arrived.


    But when everyone thought that Ichiro would hide, he appeared again.


    Ichiro attacked his mother''s workce and killed everyone without remorse.


    Andstly, the families of his bullies also met their end under his de.


    In thest encounter, when he was still known as Migami Ichiro, he was actually pursued by the country''s experts. He showed unhuman prowess. It was no surprise that the government would send its unhuman soldiers.


    But they all failed. Ichiro was never untalented with the sword. He was a genius. However, the trauma and violence he received from a young caused him to limit his capabilities.


    And before Ichiro was caught, he vanished once again. The case was strictly masked by the government, and Ichiro''s existence became nothing but a hoax.


    It was until he reemerged yearster as Shin. A contractual mercenary working in the underworld organization, [Auraboros].


    Knowing the true goals of [Auraboros], Shin and any human that joined them werebeled as traitors of humanity.


    ***


    "A few months ago, the branch of [Auraboros] in this country sent a proposal for an armistice." Ren continued to exin. "Many of the upper brass were skeptical, but considering the current state of the world, they could only ept it. Although we can''t let down our guard, it would be nice if we did not have to worry about getting attacked in the back while facing the [Infected]."


    Mark''s attention was taken by that fact. After all, he was also offered an alliance by the Japanese Branch of [Auraboros].


    "The armistice did not sound legitimate," Ren continued. "It was until a month after the world changed that our sources reported that arge number of members from [Auraboros] left and joined the demonic forces that emerged up north. It seemed that they did not like the armistice, and they all left the organization."


    The goal of [Auraboros] was to end humanity, albeit slowly. With the branch leaders proposing truces and alliances, those that hated humanity would not want to stay in the Japanese Branch any longer. This situation concluded that the Japanese Branch of [Auraboros] would less likely stab them in the back after the armistice.


    "So, Shin was among those that left. But what about this [Demonic Human] thing?"


    Mark asked.


    "I don''t know if it happened willingly or not, but the Demons up north don''t ept humans in their ranks," Ren exined. "If a human wanted to join them, they must be one of them. That is how we specte it."


    "Only spection, huh?"


    Mark tapped his chin.<novelnext></novelnext>


    "Unfortunately, the Demon territory is impossible to observe closely. The government lost contact with all spies and scouts sent there."


    Ren sighed.


    "I got information about that Shin, but it looks like a lot of trouble to actually find him, huh."


    Mark frowned.


    "You better not blindly go find that traitor," Ren stared straight at Mark. "The Demon territory is dangerous. We lost a lot of people just going near there. This already hindered one of the ongoing expeditions."


    These expeditions Ren was talking about were the expeditions to remap current Japan. With the world''s geography changing drastically, all previous maps were pretty much rendered useless. To make proper use of the terrain, they needed to remap the whole ce. The entire country, if possible. Unfortunately, no nes could be used anymore, not to mention satellites for urate imaging. Using helicopters was extremely dangerous too. That was why they could only do it on foot while deploying drones and other gadgets to make their work easier.


    "Well, I have no intention of finding that guy yet," Mark shrugged. "I have other things to do, so I''ll see the situation for now."


    Ren felt relieved seeing Mark would not recklessly charge to the Demon Territory. In her eyes, it was suicide to do so.


    ***


    After discussing things about Mark''s goals in this ce and Ren answering his questions, the meeting ended on a good note. And with that, Mako was called to escort Mark back to their temporary dwelling.


    Ren and Tadashi concluded that Mark was not an enemy.


    "But miss, do you think he belongs to another organization we had no clue about?"


    Tadashi asked.


    "I believe he doesn''t belong to any organization," Ren replied. "The things he told us are clearly his own goals. Even if he belonged to one, it would be more likely that he was the leader of that organization instead of being a member."


    Ren''s words made Tadashi think about many things. One of those was the question of where Mark and his group could possiblye from.


    "I wish they could stay with us while they were here," Ren sighed. "Them deciding to move out will cause those wanting to recruit them to flock like flies. Not everyone would try to understand that they would not want to join others and would cause trouble."


    "That is their decision, miss. Besides, I don''t think they would feelfortable staying in the new building. After all, the new building is supposed to be a gathering hall surrounded by a lot of windows," Tadashi voiced his opinion. "If you are still concerned about the girls, we can prepare an abandoned building nearby. There are a few ones unused, although they needed some refurbishing."


    "Let''s do that," Ren agreed to Tadashi''s suggestion. "We can immediately respond to trouble if they are close by. The rent would go to us, anyway. And if they would leave after some time, we can still reuse the building they stayed in."


    Mark already told them that his group would leave after their business here was done. After all, they were only here to search for those specific people that Mark mentioned, Shin, for example.


    "I''ll make the arrangements as soon as possible," Tadashi nodded and turned to the chair that Mark sat on earlier. "What should we do with that bag?"


    On that chair, arge backpack was left by Mark. And its contents were imported chocte bars and packs of cigarettes.


    Ren blinked with a smile as she looked at the bag. She then signaled Tadashi to put the bag on her desk. She then opened it.


    Looking at the bars of chocte inside the backpack, Ren felt shivers.


    "I''ll pay for a fourth... No. Half of the choctes," Ren said as she looked at the choctes she picked up from the backpack. "Put the rest into an auction in the rich district."


    "Understood."


    Tadashi shrugged as he looked at their leader, who was behaving like a kid.


    Ren had a soft spot for choctes due to some circumstances in her childhood. Unfortunately, choctes were hard toe by even in the Reimed City. Even if one bar appeared, its price would be extraordinary.


    However, after the talk, Mark presented this bag to sell for cheap. There was no way Ren would pass it by. And even though she could take full advantage of the cheap chocte, she did not try to hog it all and decided to auction the rest to give Mark a higher ie.


    Tomorrow, the rich district would definitely be in an uproar. Not only choctes but quality cigarettes were in shortage. Given that Japan had arge tobo market before the outbreak, many people would be itching not to be able to smoke for an extended period of time.


    "Next is that, isn''t it?"


    Ren said with a frown.


    "Yes, our member who leaked the information," Tadashi responded with a serious look. "It''s not a coincidence that many people were present in front of the bureau earlier. Someone likely spread it on purpose. The leader of the Blood Lion Troupe would not move without a concrete source either."


    "Immediately conduct an investigation. Haah..." Ren sighed. "I inherited themand of the "Shadows" from my grandfather. Who would have thought that there were still rats left behind?"


    "My apologies, miss," Tadashi heartfully apologized. "I did not expect one of ours would betray us and our loyalty to our grandmaster. I will personally investigate this matter and bestow capital punishment."


    "Do that," Ren shook her head. "I hate to do this to anyone from the "Shadows" since you are all followed by grandfather, but we can''t tolerate traitors. Prioritize this matter."


    "Yes."


    Tadashi said as his body blurred and he disappeared from the office.


    That night, a member of the ck Lotus was witnessed escaping with an unidentified man. The horror on their faces was clear as they separated in the most popted area of Kachidoki, running in different directions. However, nothing was heard about them after the witness ounts. It was as if the two vanished without a trace.

 Chapter 970 Back To The Wholesale Market, A Paper To Shake The Hearts Of Yasuo And Mako

    Day 319 - 8:21 AM - Temporary House, ck Lotus Group Compound, Kachidoki, Chuo City, Tokyo


    Mark''s group ate breakfast early and stepped out of the temporary house they were staying at together.


    Different from the day before, they all wore clothing that was defensive enough butfortable to walk around wearing. These clothes looked casual clothing from before the outbreak. However, these clothes were not your usual ones.


    Instead of the usual textiles used to make clothing, like silk or cotton, these clothes were made from fibers of mutated nts and silk from evolved silkworms.


    The clothes they were now wearing were among the many items produced in the Mountain Base during this past month.


    Why were they wearing casual clothes? It was because the n for today was to go shopping.


    Initially, Mei''s suggestion was to look for a house to rent. However, the financial issue was settled during Mark''s meeting with Ren since she offered a downpayment for the premium items Mark tried to sell to her.


    But still, the n to look for a house was changed. It was due to Ren suggesting to let her look for potential locations instead. Her suggestion might have some underlying things, but Mark had no problems with it.


    It was because there was no way she would trust Mark just like that. It was better to monitor Mark''s group somewhere close, after all. Ren''s intention was not bad, and as long as they would not intrude in the private lives of Mark''s group, he would not mind.


    Besides, being under the surveince and protection of the ck Lotus Group meant that there would be fewer insects invading their home. Mark had things to do, and it would be nice if he needed less time to waste because of pests.


    Due to the previous night''s events, the ns for today had changed. They now have some pocket money and free time to spend.


    As the group walked out of the house, someone was waiting for them.


    "Good morning? Is everyone ready to head out?"


    Mako greeted the group, looking curiously at the clothes the members of Mark''s group wore.


    If Mako''s rtionship with Mark''s group was much closer, she would not hesitate to ask where they got their clothes. After all, the clothes they wore were pretty unusual after the outbreak. And even more strange, Mark''s group looked too clean. She could even smell the scent of soap and shampoo from them.


    And despite the situation being too weird, Mako did not feel that curious. Instead, she was a bit envious.


    Clean water was precious, even in the Reimed City. While they managed to establish a water purification facility, the water it could produce would not be enough to let people indulge in their urge to feel clean. Thergest portion of the purified water was for drinking, while anotherrger part was for medical purposes. And what was left behind was divided into various necessities. As such, people had to find ways to collect water to clean their bodies.


    There was no need to ask about baths. It was already lucky if an ordinary person could wipe themselves with clean water twice within a span of a single week. Even for Mako, although she could wipe herself with a wet cloth every other day, thest time she had properly cleaned herself was five days ago.


    "Mako-nee-san, is something wrong?"


    Emika noticed Mako''s stare and asked.


    "No, nothing."


    Mako could only shrug. But now that her mind was cleared by Emika''s question, it finally entered her mind. How in the world did these people in front of her take a bath?


    Of course, no one would answer the question in Mako''s head. And even if she voiced it out, the people in front of her would likely not answer.


    Mark could read the emotions Mako had. And he had no reason to address it.


    With that slightly awkward start, the group rode the same vehicle they used yesterday and went to their destination.


    This time, Mako was the only one who apanied Mark''s group as their guide. Ren and the others were not always free. It was already lucky that they managed to apany Mark and the rest through their registration process.


    Although there weremotions caused by the events yesterday involving Mark''s group, it was fine even if only Mako was present with them this time. It was because the destination today was the same as yesterday.


    Conflicts could happen every time and everywhere. Due to the side effects in the mentality of many [Ability-holders], fights became even more frequent between these kinds of people.


    However, actual fights were extremely prohibited around Toyosu. It was rtively noticeable yesterday when the leader of Blood Lion Troupe and Ren''s older brother decided to retreat despite the humiliations they received.


    Fights between [Ability-holders] were extremely regted in the government-managed areas in the Reimed City, especially within the area of Toyosu. And the punishment for offenders was something that even Mane and Mitsui Keiji would want to receive.


    What was the punishment? The offenders could choose.


    Absolute obedience to the government, or death. And for free people with power and status, both punishments were uneptable.


    And since the ones overseeing thesews were powerful [Ability-holders], it would be hard to escape the punishment.


    As such, today''s shopping would be only for Mark''s group and Mako. And...


    ...The hidden guards that Ren sent to protect them.


    Mark was not surprised. Many things could unexpectedly happen, and Mako would not be enough to handle everything.


    ***


    Mark''s group reached the Toyosu Wholesale Market. The ce where they could shop freely.


    Yesterday, they saw a few stalls with interesting wares. For example, one stall was selling hard and gigantic shell-like things. They looked like the carapaces of crabs but several timesrger. There was also a stall that sold materials from a variety of evolved animals.


    Just by going around the wholesale market, they could see many interesting things.


    These materials could also be sold to the bureau. After all, these could be used for the research and manufacturing of new weapons and equipment. However, unlike here, where they could sell the materials at their own price, the selling price in the bureau was fixed and much lower. Due to this reason, [Frencers] would try to sell these materials here first and sell the unsold ones to the bureau. Of course, with the exception of items requested within the bureau''s missions.<novelnext></novelnext>


    Mark''s group went from stall to stall while looking at the materials. Of course, they, once again, became the center of unwanted attention. While Mei was the center of admiration, Mark was the center of jealousy. Such a contrast made Mark sigh and also made Mei a bit annoyed.


    Still, they did not try to destroy their happy shopping with the unwanted attention they were gathering.


    Mark would check the materials while asking the girls their opinions from time to time. While Mark already had equipment prepared for everyone, it would not hurt to have spares. Thus, Mark asked the girls for materials they were interested in when he decided to begin making the new ones. It was also nice if they could get materials to upgrade their current weapons and armor.


    With Mako as the guide, Mark easily learned which items were fairly priced, cheap, or overpriced. He did not hesitate to reject the overpriced materials when he could get quality materials for cheap.


    Unfortunately, this shopping was different from what one would expect. The wholesale market was only used by [Frencers] for their wares. As such, no stores here sold clothes, jewelry, or food. Even so, the shopping was pretty enjoyable while discovering items from [Evolved Animals] that they had not seen so far.


    The group walked around. It did not take long, and they ended up standing in front of the Four Squares cksmiths stall.


    "You kids sure took your time."


    The old cksmith, Mori Yasuo, greeted Mark''s group with crossed arms. By the looks of it, Yasuo grumpily waited for Mark''s group toe since they entered the wholesale market. Unfortunately, the group went to other stalls first to shop, making him wait for quite a while.


    "We didn''t really schedule when I should show up here, though?"


    Mark retorted with a shrug.


    Yasuo stared at Mark, eyes half closed. He could not argue back since what Mark had said was true. They did have a deal, but the schedule was not properly established.


    "Anyway, I have something to discuss."


    Mark said, taking out a rolled paper from his bag. He then handed it to the old cksmith.


    Yasuo stared at Mark as he received the paper. He then unrolled it, and only then his stare left Mark. But then, his eyebrows frowned deeply.


    "You... Let''s go to the back. We can''t discuss this here."


    The old cksmith looked really serious as he said those words.


    Mako became too confused at the sudden change in the old cksmith''s expression. Her boss, Ren, and the old cksmith, Yasuo, had known each other for a long time. As such, she was also the same. However, she had not seen this old cksmith show this expression except for one time. It was during the death of their grand master, who was Yasuo''s closest friend.


    What was the content of the paper to make the old cksmith as serious as when his closest friend died?


    "It''s fine to let them in too. Right?"


    Mark asked, tipping his head to the rest of his group.


    It did not take long for the old cksmith to realize that there were pests around that were only waiting for Mark to separate from his group.


    "It''s fine," Yasuo sighed. "But also her?"


    The old cksmith looked at Mako.


    "There shouldn''t be any problem."


    Mark smiled, not caring whether Mako learned the contents of the paper or not.


    Yasuo gave a shrug and led everyone into the room behind his stall.


    The room behind the stall was quite spacious. It should be a storage room before the outbreak. Now, Yasuo was using it as his on-store workshop. cksmith equipment decorated the room, and it was quite hot inside. It was probably due to the furnace, although it was not lit at the moment.


    Yasuo took out some pins and pinned Mark''s paper unto the wooden table at the center of the room.


    The curious Mako did not stop herself and took a peek. What she saw seemed to be a blueprint of sorts with parts drawn meticulously. However, she was confused. The parts drawn looked irrational due to the intricate details it had. She felt that if this was a blueprint of a weapon, those details drawn on the parts were unnecessary.


    But then, Yasuo opened his mouth and asked Mark.


    "Is this design yours?"


    Yasuo asked for confirmation. However, he already had a hunch due to the fact that the paper was rtively new. And so were the drawings on it.


    "Yeah, that''s my own design."


    Mark honestly answered.


    In fact, Mark was also curious as to why this old cksmith reacted that way to his design. Was it tooplicated? If that was the case, he could just reject it and say it was impossible to make.


    But the answer to the questions immediately came as Yasuo asked Mark another question.


    "Just... Who are you?" Yasuo took a deep breath to calmly ask. "Where did you learn to make an artifact?"


    At those words, Mako''s eyes widened in shock. She was a shadow too. A trained warrior with special abilities beyond humans. As such, she knew what artifacts were.


    And artifact creation was a lost art. That was why the hidden societies in the modern world could only rely on blessed items and artifacts of the past. Because no one could create one anymore.


    Yet, a blueprint of an artifact was in front of them right now. And the designer was no other than the mysterious man named Mark.

 Chapter 971 The Blacksmiths Passion, An Agreement To Create An Artifact Before A Disaster Strikes

    Day 319 - 10:15 AM - Storeroom, Four Squares cksmiths Stall, Toyosu Wholesale Market, Toyosu, Koto City, Tokyo


    The storeroom fell into silence. The words that came out of the old cksmith''s mouth caused quite a surprise to Mark and Mako for different reasons.


    What was an artifact that Yasuo mentioned, to begin with?


    In literal meaning, it was a manmade object of historical value. Items that could be found within historical ruins could be an example.


    Of course, this was not what Yasuo was talking about.


    The artifacts Yasuo was pertaining to were items imbued with characteristics beyond the norm. Some had magical properties, while others were technologicallyplex at the time of their creation. There were also more kinds of these objects. However, they all shared one identifying trait.


    These strange artifacts bend thews andmon sense of Earth''s reality.


    Unfortunately, while these artifacts seemed to be present in the past, their existence was almost erased from Earth, and all methods of manufacture and creation were lost for some reason.


    As such, many knowledgeable people pursued the path of rediscovering how artifacts could be made. Of course, without the actual foundation of that knowledge, everything failed.


    The only thing these pursuers of the lost technology were able to create was the so-called [Pseudo-artifacts]. [Blessed Items], for example. They work wonders and miracles, but these items were still far behind the lost artifacts of the past.


    However, not everything was lost, as there were still some artifacts still in existence. Working ones, to be exact. Unfortunately, their existence was only known to a select few and those living within the shadows of the mortal realm.


    There were also some artifacts known to mortals. However, these were clearly broken ones. These artifacts became the root of many mysteries that baffled people. In some cases, these artifacts werebeled as out-of-ce artifacts or OOPArts. Most of these things end up in either museums orboratories. Even so, mortals had no idea what these things were.


    Mako knew of these facts. It was why she was extremely surprised.


    On the other hand, Mark, the creator of the design, was more baffled than surprised. He was just a regr shut-in before the apocalypse. Thus, Mark had no idea what kind of things Yasuo and Mako had in their heads. Mark knew the existence of artifacts because he already came across a few. However, Mark never intended tobel any of his creations as artifacts. After all, he was only cramming whatever his Otaku brain had into creating interesting-looking things he liked. It was the same for this design that Mark presented.


    But thinking about it, Mark could only tilt his head. He was creating somethingposed of things he learned from researching documents and items of the lost era. For example, the broken golem from the Kingdom of ck Duendes and the documents that The Creator, master of Chimetrice and Ilia, had left behind. He was also implementing technologies that originated from the destroyed, Eriellis.


    Using ancient knowledge and alien technology to create weapons that manifest absurd abilities.


    It was not wrong to say that Mark was really creating artifacts.


    And to Yasuo''s question of who Mark was and where he learned to create artifacts, Mark answered.


    "Does that really matter?" Mark stared at Yasuo. "I told you yesterday that I wanted to create something butcked the metal parts. I showed you what I want to do. Will you make it or not?"


    Yasuo returned Mark''s stare. He had a lot of questions. However, Mark thwarted any intention to answer. Unfortunately, he was given a chance in a lifetime to help in the creation of an artifact. Who in their right mind would decline?


    Thus, even though Yasuo was a bit frustrated, he roared.


    "Sh*t! D*mn it! As if I will decline!"


    Yasuo had no choice but to ept. After all, while he did not pursue the recreation of artifacts, his family descended from those kinds of people. His expertise in cksmithing and everything he learned from his family was passed down from generation to generation in hopes that future descendants would be able to reach the goal of their ancestors.


    The goal of being able to create an artifact of their own. Something that they could tell belonged to their family.


    While the Yasuo could not call the design his own, he was already just a few steps away from the dreams of his ancestors. He would not give up this chance even if he had to beg Mark and kiss his shoes.


    "Then, should we begin the discussion?" Mark asked. "The design is still iplete, so I want your opinion on the materials we can use."


    The design was already finished. However, Mark''s concern was the suitable materials to use. Thus, he wanted Yasuo''s opinion in this regard since this expert cksmith was more knowledgeable about metals used in weapons and armor.


    Yasuo looked at the blueprint and nodded. It was not hard for him to understand the notes in the blueprint since, aside from English, it was also tranted into Japanese using letters within Katakana and Hiragana.


    But before they started, Mark asked a question.


    "By the way, how did you conclude this is a blueprint of an artifact?"


    "Because I''ve seen these kinds of symbols before."


    Yasuo said as he turned around to get something.


    The old cksmith found his strange-looking toolbox and inserted a key at its bottom. A hidden bottomyer popped open, revealing extremely old patches of torn paper-like items carefully encased in thin clear protectors.


    "I don''t really show this to anyone, but this is a special case," Yasuo said as heid the three pages in his hand onto the table. "This is the precious treasure of my family''s ancestors."


    Mark refrained from touching the pages since they looked like they would turn to dust with the slightest touch, even within the protector. Even so, he took a close look.


    The pages were torn and smudged to the point that it was mostly iprehensible. This showed how old these pages were. Even so, it was enough to see that it was actually a blueprint to create some sort of sword artifact. A katana, to be exact.


    As Yasuo said, the notes and parts of the drawing showed symbols simr to the symbols within Mark''s blueprint. The symbols were actually different, but it was not wrong to suspect that they might havee from the same origin.


    Mei and the girls also looked at the pages. However, the kids lost interest after seeing the old papers that looked no different from trash.


    "I wonder," Yasuo looked at Mark. "Do you know what these symbols meant?"


    Unfortunately, Mark could only shake his head.


    "It looked simr to mine... but I don''t recognize these symbols. You might think I''m some sort of expert artificer, but I''m just ying with the limited things within my knowledge."


    "I don''t even think that what I''m making is an artifact, to be honest."


    Mark added with a shrug of his shoulders.


    Yasuo looked a bit disappointed. Generations after generations of his family failed to understand the broken blueprint. He thought Mark would be able to answer it, but he was wrong.


    "It''s fine," Yasuo carefully picked up the pages and returned them to the hiddenpartment. "Maybe, if we seed inpleting your design, I might find some enlightenment."


    Yasuo smiled. His eyes were burning with the passion of a cksmith.


    With this, the discussion was next on schedule... or it was supposed to be.


    Mark suddenly turned his head to the west with a slight frown on his eyebrows.<novelnext></novelnext>


    "What is wrong?"


    Yasuo immediately noticed Mark''s odd behavior since the two were standing in front of each other on opposite sides of the table.


    And immediately after that question left Yasuo''s mouth.


    An odd-sound rm rang all across the Wholesale Market.


    Mark''s group was unfamiliar with the rm. However, Yasuo and Mako immediately understood what was happening due to the rm.


    It was the Air Raid Siren. An rm that would sound if a missile was inbound Japan, during terrorist attacks, or, of course, during an Air Raid. And in response to this rm, civilians should take shelter indoors.


    However, there was no way a missile would be inbound during the apocalypse. An air raid was also impossible... unless it was not airnes flying in the sky.


    And Mark, who was looking straight at the wall to the west, knew that the enemies wereing from the sky.


    Mark then turned to Yasuo.


    "Are those the changing rooms?"


    Mark asked, pointing to the doors near the entrance of the storeroom. It was a smithy that also sold armor. There was no way it would not have a changing room.


    "It is," Yasuo nodded. "But why are you asking?"


    "I''ll borrow the room for a bit."


    Mark said as he turned to Mei.


    "Mei''er, change tobat gear with everyone inside that room."


    "Okay."


    Mei nodded and led everyone into the room to the right by Mark''s instructions.


    "What are you nning to do?"


    Mako asked Mark the question that was also in Yasuo''s mind.


    At this time, gunshots began echoing from outside the Wholesale Market. Of course, it was the same for screams of people in the streets trying to run away.


    Mark turned to the two before entering the left room.


    "Unfortunately, we have to join the fight."


    As Mark closed the door...


    CRASH!


    A loud crash and screams of people were heard outside the storeroom.


    It was not hard to deduce what happened. The Wholesale Market was filled withrge ss windows. It was also kept this way to reduce electricity consumption within the building. But now, therge windows became the easy way in for the enemies.


    BUZZ!!!


    The loud buzzing sounds echoed inside the building.


    Mako grabbed a weapon hidden within her uniform and rushed to the door. She then peered outside through the door''s window.


    There, she saw hos about the size of an adult Shiba Inu getting into a skirmish with the brave stall owners. Many of the stall owners were [Frencers] too. As such, it was expected that they had the ability and courage to fight.


    However...


    The hos were unexpectedlyrger in number. And despite their huge size, their speed and craftiness were not reduced but got enhanced instead.


    "What is going on outside?"


    Yasuo asked Mako as he readied his own equipment.


    "Giant Suzumebachis!" Mako replied with a frown. "There''s a lot of them!"


    Suzumebachi, or Giant Japanese Ho. A genus of hos that was known to be thergest of the ho species. But, of course, now, it was wayrger and far more dangerous, even without mentioning its venom.


    The door Mark entered opened once more.


    Mako and Yasuo immediately turned their heads, and their eyes widened in surprise.


    Mark went out of the changing room, still fixing the cor of the clothing he had changed into.


    What Mark wore was a set of ck clothes. ck pants, a hooded jacket outside, and a side-buttoned long sleeve inside. His arms, shoulders, legs, and chest were covered with a set of reddish-ck armor. On his back, a pair of sheathed swords hung nicely. And on his heady a mask that had yet to cover his face.


    While marveling at Mark''s set of clothes and armor, the room where the girls entered also opened, and everyone went out with a set of clothes not that different from what Mark wore. Of course, each of them had different designs that suited their fighting styles, especially with their armor.


    For example, Abbygale had thinner armor on her body, while the metal parts of her shoes were thicker. It was due to her swift fighting style, with kicks as her main attack.


    Aside from clothes, everyone also had their weapons ready. Of course, weapons pertaining to what skills they had shown in the examination.


    The group came out in matching uniforms, both in clothing and armor. And even possibly their weapons.


    But then... the most important question entered Mako''s and Yasuo''s minds.


    Where in the world did they pull those things from?


    From what the two remembered earlier, Mark''s group only came with small backpacks filled with the items they bought from the stalls!

 Chapter 972 A Loud Buzz In The Morning, The Terrifying Swarm Of [Mutated Giant Hornets]

    Day 319 - 10:31 AM - Storeroom, Four Squares cksmith Stall, Toyosu Wholesale Market, Toyosu, Koto City, Tokyo


    It was supposed to be a leisurely day. But, of course, things would not go as nned anyway.


    Such was life.


    But for Mark, the sudden situation became the perfect opportunity. Furthermore, some unexpected factors lined together to back it up.


    The perfect stage for their battle debut in Japan was now created.


    "Well then," Mark said to the two people staring at his group in confusion. "We''re heading out for a bit."


    Mark told Mako and Yasuo in Japanese without waiting for a reply before he turned to speak to the girls in Tagalog.


    "Let''s go."


    Mark then opened the door and headed out with his group fully armed.


    CRASH!


    The sounds of items breaking and the battle outside became louder through the opened door. It snapped Mako and Yasuo out of their confusion. No matter what Mark''s group suddenly came out with, there was a more important matter.


    "SH*T! I need to protect my store!"


    Yasuo yelled as he grabbed his own weapon just near the door, a heavy-looking mace, and rushed outside.


    Mako also realized that she should not stay away from Mark''s group as she was supposed to guard and observe them. But before she could follow them out of the door, themunicator hidden under her uniform sounded.


    "Home to Escort. Home to Escort. Mako, do you read?"


    A woman''s voice, surely unfamiliar to Mark''s group, sounded from themunicator.


    As she hurried to follow Mark''s group outside, Mako took out a single-ear earpiece with an extended mouthpiece and replied.


    "Loud and clear, Aira. I''m in a hurry, so please, keep it short."


    Seemingly knowing the rest of the situation, the woman on the other side of themunicator responded.


    "The Reimed City is under attack by a swarm of [Mutated Giant Hos]. Estimated at least three thousand, and sizes varied. All western areas are under attack at once, but we will prioritize sending rescue and extracting the guests. Take cover and wait in safety. Over."


    But at this point, Mako was already outside the storeroom, staring at the spectacle before her.


    "Negative for rescue. Send reinforcements instead... The guests decided to skirmish. Over."


    There was a short silence on themunicator. It was not only Mako, but the hidden escorts must be rying the same information.


    After all, Mark''s group was already on a rampage for their debut battle.


    ***


    Within the Wholesale Market, the battle between humans and giant hos continued. While the attack of the enemies was quite a surprise, most of the people within the market were [Ability Holders] belonging to [Frencer Groups] and [Territorial Groups]. After all, they were selling materials and other things they gathered outside after fighting monstrous enemies.


    These people werebatants that had already adapted to fighting unexpected enemies.


    Although their goal was only to protect their stall and wares, these [Ability Holders] were able to fight without getting pushed back. The only problem was the annoying number of enemies entering the broken windows. After one was killed, another would take its ce. As such, it would only be a matter of time before they began to tire.


    Fortunately for them, a group of newbies decided to take this situation as the stage for their debut.


    The moment Mark''s group went out of the storeroom, Mark immediately issued orders as if he already knew the situation outside.


    "Formation," Mark yelled loud enough for his members to hear. "Snapping Turtle. We''re heading outside."


    [Formation: Snapping Turtle]. It was one of several formations Mark nned for the group and something they practiced for about a few hours a day for two weeks.


    Before, Mark''s group only moved in fights where the attackers were backed by the defenders and supporters. For example, Abbygale and Miracle had the tendency to rampage around where I would carefully watch over the two from behind and fill in the gaps in their defense. It worked. However, it had many disadvantages than advantages. Furthermore, it drains the supporter physically and mentally.


    As such, Mark created these formations that would be more efficient than their usual scattered fighting style.


    And as said, [Formation: Snapping Turtle] was only one of the few formations created to tackle different situations.


    When Mark gave the order, Abbygale immediately went forward as the lead of the group. Given her speed and aggressiveness on the battlefield, she was the most suitable head of the snapping turtle. She had the swiftness to charge forward and retreat at a moment''s notice.


    On both sides of Abbygale were Miracle and Spera. They were the front legs of the formation. Although, right now, Spera was on the right and Miracle was on the left, their position could change depending on the situation. The two had different functions within the formation. Spera was more inclined to defense, while Miracle was more on the attack. Since the formation was moving south with its left side close to the wall of the building, Spera was on the right side to focus on defending against attackers.


    Right behind the three in front was Mark. He was the neck and the direct offensive support to the entire formation. Although he was positioned at the neck, he was supposed to move around the center. Since he was the most bnced among his group, he was the best person to run around and fill in the gaps needed wherever within the formation.


    And, of course, the center. I. The shell and the overall support of the formation. Although she would not use it immediately and was only using two pistols since they were hiding their cards, she was still the shield and defender of the group.<novelnext></novelnext>


    Amihan left Mark''s shoulder and sat on I''s instead. Together with I, she was at the center of the formation. Her powers to control the wind were versatile, whether the attack, defense, or support. And in this formation, she was a mid-range attacker and secondary defender.


    Moving as the hindlegs, it was Emika. Her ability to control her hair and turn it into giant vines would help more behind the formation. Her reach was not short either, and she could both attack and defend the person behind her.


    And, of course, the tail. Mei, who was the sniper. She might be at the back of the formation, but her attacks could reach further than the head. Besides, it was the most sensical position for a sniper in any group or formation.


    The moment the group appeared, they ran towards the exit of the Wholesale Market. And without stopping, they took down any ho that arrived within the attacking range of their formation.


    Every ho that came within a few meters away from the center of the group fell lifeless.


    Of course, their group, all d in ck clothing and armor and taking down the giant hos like tiny mosquitos, took the attention of the people around them.


    "Wait for me!"


    Mako helplessly shouted as she chased the group.


    A ho was attracted to Mako''s shouts, but the seemingly weak Mako was not weak at all. Her hand shed a dark-colored dagger from her sleeve before her figure blurred as she elerated her footsteps. Her figure became clear as she passed by the ho that froze mid-flight.


    The ho that Mako passed by then fell before sttering into several bisected pieces. She then continued running after Mark''s group, who had already killed a few dozen hos before reaching the entrance of the market.


    Mark''s group rushed out of the Wholesale Market, contrary to the thoughts of most people inside. And just by standing near the door, they had already seen a much worse situation.


    Loud screams filled with fear and terrifying gunshots echoed from every direction. Gun muzzles continuously shed as they spewed bullet after bullet. And the annoying buzzing sounds from the hos were everywhere.


    Just like Mark had said before, the civilians living within their delusions were unable to properly react to the sudden dangerous event and were panicking. It was as if the beginning of the apocalypse was here once again.


    Everything was in chaos.


    It was the perfect stage.


    However, the entrance they went out of was facing the east, opposite where the enemies wereing from. As such, Mark instructed the group to run across the highway to an open space on the other side.


    And in that direction, Mark led the group to a vast circr park.


    One would think it was stupid to go to an open space when fighting enemies from the sky. The most rational tactic was to enter an enclosed space and siphon the enemies through the limited entrance that the enclosed space had.


    However, it would work if the enemies were in small numbers. Too many to fight in an open space but quite too few to fight in an enclosed space. Because if the number was toorge, the fighters would tire first before the battle could end.


    Furthermore, an enclosed space would limit the abilities of the fighter. To Mark''s group, who were more versed in mass battles, enclosed spaces were a no go for the most part.


    The group reached the park, and they all stood at the center. The formation was now facing west, and the turtle was ready to snap.


    After noticing a group of people not running but staying still in an open space, the aggressive hos immediately charged to their new targets. Not one by one. Ten at most was already the least number.


    It would have been a terrifying sight. In fact, some people saw the situation from the building nearby. Many of those people thought that a stupid group of people was standing at the center of the circr park. Furthermore, the witnesses saw they had pitiful children with them, making them think the older members were neglectful guardians.


    But then, the eyes of the witnesses widened.


    It started with the girl at the frontmost of the group.


    The witnesses could only see a blurry figure as Abbygale moved from ce to ce. Her shoes made of metal sttered the bodies of hos in one kick. As if that was not enough, she would use the ones flying lower as footholds to reach the hos flying higher.


    But then, at one point, Abbygale''s kick missed. Some of the hos were smarter than the others and managed to dodge. With her kick missing, she lost bnce mid-air. But when the witnesses thought she would fall on her back, like a cat, she spun mid-fall upright.


    Still, some of the hos were already on her tail, and there was no way she would be able to dodge the iing attacks mid-air.


    It was when a barely audible ck could be heard as she kicked the inner side of her shoes together. Then, the shoes released a noticeable glow at some parts.


    A trail of light was created as Abbygale''s shoes burst forth a force enough to spin her body mid-air without needing a foothold. And using that force, she kicked several iing hos with a wide swing of her right foot before she tall to the ground.


    With a gracefulnding, the head of the snapping turtle moved forward once again, destroying the hos in front of the group.


    At this time, hos from all over the ce seemed to have reacted to something. While most of them continued to attack the civilians and the defending army, a noticeable number of the giant hos flew in a particr direction.


    It was towards the Toyosu Roku-Chome Park. The park where a group of [Ability Holders] were holding out the assault of the giant hos.


    And as more hos came, the fight intensified.


    It was when the other members of the ck-clothed group shined even more.


    Mako stood hiding near the trees outside the park. Her eyes focused on the mysterious group of people before her. She had her doubts at first, but now, it was more of an admiration.


    Mark''s group was no prey. They were the predators.

 Chapter 1025 A Manipulative Haze, Preparing For The Second Round

    ?


    Day 341 - 12:26 PM - Kachidoki Docks, Kachidoki, Reimed City, Ruins of Tokyo


    Mark was pretty bothered about the unusual state of the Demons. Not to mention that sixteen-eyed silhouette he had seen after closely assessing the emotional state of the invading enemies.


    There was something in the background that was beyond the knowledge of Mark. Even the Priestess and the Empress might not know about this either. If they did, or at least suspected to, they would have shared it in order to add it to their ns and schemes for this scenario.


    But, no. The two leaders of the most powerful groups in current Japan clearly had no idea.


    If Mark did not notice something was wrong, they would have been left out in the dark until it was toote.


    Although the army''s arrival did interrupt Mark''s battle with Shin and the n to drag out their fight, it gave Mark the opportunity to grab the [Yuki-Onna] out of the battlefield and investigate something.


    Why the [Yuki-Onna] out of all the Demons? Considering the possibility that this [Yuki-Onna] was the same in the myths, then she would not be entirely hostile to humans. After all, that [Yuki-Onna] married a mortal and even had children with him.


    And even if Mark was wrong and this [Yuki-Onna] was different from the one from the myth, it should not matter. [Yuki-Onnas] should have enough intellect to converse with humans, unlike some Demons who only rely on their instincts and regrets.


    But seeing the current state of the [Yuki-Onna], not only Mark, even Tsubasa noticed that something was wrong.


    After getting captured, the [Yuki-Onna] could havemunicated, begged, or even tried to threaten Mark''s group to free her. But that was not the case.


    The [Yuki-Onna] just struggled to try and free herself from the restraints while growling and snarling like an animal.


    This scene was not how a [Yuki-Onna] was supposed to behave in this situation. Tsubasa knew that much.


    Thus, Mark decided to try something.


    The familiar milky-white glow covered Mark''s right hand. And then, he gently grabbed the head of the struggling [Yuki-Onna].


    At first, the [Yuki-Onna] became even more violent. Unfortunately, she was unable to remove the special restraints constricting her.


    Mark continued to hold her head despite her struggles. The growls and snarls then turned into screeches that were quite painful to the ear. However, Amihan was fast to react and sealed the voice of the [Yuki-Onna].


    After a minute or so, the [Yuki-Onna] fell silent.


    Seeing the change on the [Yuki-Onna], Mark could hear Tsubasa.


    "No way..."


    Tsubasa seemed really surprised for some reason.


    Then, a gray haze was released from the [Yuki-Onna''s] body, making everyone except Mark take a step back.


    Seeing the haze, Mark was surprised. Not because no one expected such a thing to happen, but because Mark felt the haze familiar.


    Without hesitation, Mark used his left hand and waved through the haze, hiding the fact that he was absorbing it with his [Miasma]. The haze was sucked smoothly into his hand. There was no doubt. The haze was a different form of [Miasma].


    It was different from Mark''s [Miasma], which could corrupt and absorb. It seemed to be something that could affect the mental state of those affected. And possibly, even control the affected individuals.


    But most importantly...


    The conversion rate after Mark absorbed the haze was pretty high. By the looks of it, Mark was able to absorb around seventy percent of that [Miasma] into his own.


    Mark was appalled. Did the Demons in this invasion release this haze once they were killed? No, Mark was sure they did not. If the Demons did, he would feel it since many of them died around him during his sh with Shin.


    It meant that it was very likely that this haze would only be released when the Demons were freed from its influence, just like the [Yuki-Onna] in front of Mark.


    After the haze came out of her body, the [Yuki-Onna] became calmer. However, she fell unconscious immediately afterward. As Mark''s eyes glowed with a reddish sheen, he observed the [Yuki-Onna''s] mental fluctuations. The aggression was gone for sure. Unfortunately, it seemed to have taken a huge toll on her mind and spirit.


    Once this [Yuki-Onna] regained her consciousness, they could possibly get some answers about what was happening with the Demons. For now, they should concentrate on repelling the invasion.


    After Mark took his hand away from the [Yuki-Onna], Tsubasa could not help but ask after seeing the results of Mark''s actions.


    "A-are you a [Spirit Healer]? How is this possible?"


    It seemed that Tsubasa was extremely shocked.


    In any case, Tsubasa was partly right. While Mark was not a [Spirit Healer], he did inherit an ability from his ancestor. An ability that could heal the damage that Spirits and Elementals incurred. Of course, it could also stabilize mental state and even affect damaged souls.


    However, Mark could not understand Tsubasa''s shock.


    "Is it a big deal?"


    Mark asked.


    "Of course it is!" Tsubasa eximed. "Magical Healers which could heal physical damage were umon, but there was a significant number of them. However, those who had the ability to heal spiritual damage are basically one in half a billion. They are basically near nonexistent. These people are really rare and important that even a weak [Spirit Healing] ability couldnd a person into a very important position in any secret organization."


    "But you... How?" Tsubasa continued. "Not only your [Spirit Healing] seems powerful, but someone like your kind should not be able to wield that kind of ability."


    Tsubasa had a mix of surprise and confusion as she spoke. She never expected to see such a rare ability from Mark, not to mention that he was a Demon.


    "Hmmm," Mark was not hooked on what Tsubasa was saying. "Well, I know you are surprised, but better leave that forter."


    Mark then pointed at the frozen river.


    BOOOM! BOOOM!


    Explosions echoed loudly. Tanks were bombarding the giant skeleton with shells, but it was not getting much damage. The most the tank shells and explosions could do was hinder it from moving forward.


    The giant skeleton aside, the army was dealing significant damage to the horde of invading Demons with the explosions. However, killing was the least of their intention from what Mark was seeing. It was because most of the explosions kept happening in the same spots instead of targeting the enemies.


    The results of the explosions finally began to appear. The sturdy magical ice covering the river started cracking open. While the cracks were still small, they would spread if the bombardment continued.


    And because Mark had captured the main culprit for the blizzard and freezing the river, the army''s actions should bear fruit soon.


    "Did Shin leave?"


    Mark took out hismunicator and spoke after pressing a specific button on it.


    And there, Mei''s voice replied.


    "He''s still there, on the other side of the river. On top of the ruins beside the bridge."


    The ruins beside the bridge. It was not hard to spot. Unfortunately, it was too far from Mark''s naked eyes or his [Empath] abilities to reach. He could not help but wonder if the other side could see him and his group here.


    Mark turned his head. From their current position, he could see the Bureau''s Chairman, Shigeru, as hemanded the soldiers. It looked like the n to shatter the frozen river was also his idea. It was a more efficient tactic than facing the horde of Demons head-on. If the frozen river was shattered, the Demons would lose mobility, and the only ones left to deal with were the flying ones, those that could swim, and the giant skeleton supposedly called [Gashadokuro].<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    However, would the Demons let that happen? They might have been under some influence, but they were still able to use their abilities. And in Japanese folklore and myths, the [Yuki-Onna] was just one of many Snow Yokais and Demons. Furthermore, there might be other [Yuki-Onnas] in existence.


    And just as Mark had thought, it would not be easy.


    The hole created by the emergence of the [Gashadokuro] and the cracks the explosions left began to reform. The water of the river was bing frozen solid once again.


    "Gege," Mei''s voice echoed from Mark''smunicator. "The ice freezing the river seems to be spreading from a group of Demons on the other side of the river."


    "How do they look like?"


    Mark asked.


    "They..." Mei hesitated as she was unsure of what she was seeing. "They looked like giant heads of old women. They have arms and one leg. But... I don''t see their bodies."


    "Hmmm..." Tsubasa chimed in. "[Yukinbas]. They are not too strong, but it is bad if they are in groups."


    "Shoot them."


    Mark gave Mei the order, and multiple muffled sounds of a sniper gunshot soon followed, swallowed by the sound of explosions and guns from the soldiers.


    Six shots for six [Yukinbas]. Mei made sure to kill the group in one go with her magically enhanced bullets.


    However...


    WOOOOOM! RUMBLE!


    A sudden surge of snow appeared out of nowhere from the other side of the river. It was an oddly controlled avnche, forming a thick wall of snow in front of the [Yukinbas].


    Mei''s bullets were unable to prate through the conjured snow. And failing to kill the group mending the frozen river, it was entirely frozen once more, rendering all efforts to shatter the ice useless.


    Atop the conjured wall of snow in front of the [Yukinbas], an old man in white clothes could be seen standing.


    "No way..." Tsubasa could not believe what she was seeing. "Even a [Yuki Jiji]."


    A [Yuki Jiji]. Another mythological being. Furthermore, he was a powerful creature, capable of conjuring snow and riding avnches. Worse, a [Yuki Jiji] was regarded by ancient Japanese people as an ancient mountain god. While he was not an actual god, the worship he received should have been able to give them stronger power.


    RUMBLE!


    Once again, the sky darkened. Another bout of blizzard winds and snow started. This time, the winds were stronger, and the snow was heavier.


    "This is getting annoying..."


    Mark said, grasping his sword once again.


    "Are we fighting again, Uncle?"


    Emika asked Mark. It was not only her. Even the two youngest were eager to rejoin the fight after a bit of rest.


    "Join the ck Lotus at the docks," Mark told the girls with a smile. "Same strategy. Don''t let any enemy through."


    With the order given, the girls readied to join the battle once more.


    "How nice," Rinka, who was watching them, spoke. "Even the children are fighting. I''m here only watching."


    Unfortunately, even if her father was one of the few [Rank 5 Ability Holders], Rinka was just a regr person. She was trained to hold a pen and not a gun.


    At Rinka''sment, Tsubasa smiled.


    "The thought is enough," Tsubasa said. "There''s a lot of people more powerful than you, but the same thoughts you have never even entered their minds."


    "But you know..." Tsubasa stood in front of Rinka, facing the frozen river filled with Demons. "There is still something you can do."


    "What is it?"


    Rinka asked.


    "Pray," Tsubasa answered. "A prayer not to the gods, but a prayer to send your beliefs to the people fighting. People think that such actions are useless. But to people like us... Such things are the best source of empowerment."


    Mark listened to Tsubasa''s words, and he agreed.


    Beliefs and worship. It was the source of power for those relying on religion and emotions to increase their abilities. It was the source of power for Deities and Gods. Why should it not be able to empower weaker beings? The answer was that it could.


    It was just that mortals had no way to receive and utilize it directly.


    But it was different for Demons and the like.


    Especially for Mark.


    With those thoughts in mind, Mark walked toward the docks with the rest of his group. But as he walked, he took out a talisman simr to what Tsubasa used formunicating with other Onmyojis.


    But the talisman Mark had was different. It could only contact specific people.


    And as the talisman glowed in his hand, Mark spoke.


    "Continue hiding, but send reinforcements to other coastal areas. Powerful Demons are beginning to appear. We''ll handle the ones in Kachidoki, but the other areas will be vulnerable. As for Gar''m, there''s no sign of him yet. It looks like he also had something in store, so we have to be careful."


    "I see..." A familiar voice entered Mark''s mind from the talisman. "We will continue hiding, but I''m going to monitor Toyosu. There''s a concentration of malicious energying from there."


    "Just monitor and don''t interfere if possible," Mark replied. "You''ll understand what is happening if you see it."


    "If you said so," The voice agreed. "But if the damage is too much, I''ll have to step in."


    "Your choice," Mark did not argue through the talisman. "Anyway, I''ll end it here. I still have work to do."


    Mark then deactivated the talisman and took out his swords. But this time, it was different. He stared at the other side of the river.


    Since the Defense Forces were bombarding the river, Mark needed to go further away from the river.


    "To the other side, then."


    Mark said as he finally spread his wings open. And there, he soared to the sky as the surprised soldiers gazed at him in awe.

 Chapter 974 Four Squares Family, One Of The Minds Behind The Reclaimed City

    Day 319 - 10:26 AM - Director''s Suite, Skyz Tower & Garden, Toyosu, Koto City, Tokyo


    Inside a certain VIP Suite near the top floors of this condominiumplex, a group of people silently watched the scene outside through the one-way bulletproof window.


    Despite the chaotic situation outside, the group watched as if it had nothing to do with them. A few hos passed their window from time to time, technically just a few steps away from them. Even so, they remained unperturbed.


    And instead of the supposedly dangerous enemies, their attention was on the group of ck-clothed individuals at the park below.


    "Is that the group from yesterday''s rumors?"


    The middle-aged man with a stern face and slightly grayish hair spoke, staring at the group at the park fighting the swarm of hos. He wore an expensive business suit, and even his wrist was adorned with a gem-decorated watch.


    And the one to reply was no other than Mitsui Keiji, Mitsui Ren''s older brother, who stood behind the man that asked the question.


    "They are," Mitsui Keiji respectfully replied as he called the middle-aged man. "Father."


    The middle-aged man was no other than Mitsui Kinjiro. The father of Mitsui Keiji and Mitsui Ren. But his name was not only known for being the father of the leader of the ck Lotus Group. Instead, one of the factors that made the ck Lotus Group well-known was his name.


    Mitsui Kinjiro. He was the current head of the Mitsui n. An ancient samurai n, and now one of the most sessful families in the business field of Japan.


    Given the Mitsui n''s history and status, it was not surprising that they became one of the foundations of the current Reimed City. And although there were circumstances for the n''s disbandment due to rules imposed on simr families in the past, it did not mean they lost all the legacy and power they had.


    One of the most important things was the Mitsui n''s legacy as a samurai family. Some of their family members inherited the samurai''s path, although it was hidden from the public. Of course, there was supposed to be more that fell into the hands of the current Mitsui n. However, not everything would go as nned.


    As such, it gave birth to the current discontent of their n. Unfortunately, they could not do much about it until some brat returned to the family.


    "From the report, they are just refugees found in the ruins of Meiji Seimi Kan," Kinjiro said, tapping on the papers on the office table just beside him. "But their performance during thebat examination and what they are disying now... And those pieces of equipment... Which part does it show that they are just mere refugees?"


    "Is it possible that they got it from the Elder cksmith? Didn''t they meet him with Onee-same yesterday? They also seemed to havee from the market before this."


    One woman in the room interjected. In one look, she looked simr to Ren and Keiji, albeit a few years younger and far more dolled up. She was Mitsui Sayuri. The youngest of four siblings of the Mitsui n.


    But to the dolled-up woman''s words, Kinjiro nced at his eldest son.


    "Do you also think so, Keiji?"


    And to that question, Keiji replied as he shook his head.


    "That should be impossible. Even if the Elder cksmith did agree to make their equipment, it should still take several days."


    "Correct." Kinjiro nodded. "Someone people might think the same as Sayuri due to the same facts. However, I had known Yasuo since I was just a seedling. He had already reached the limits of his talent long ago. The cksmith stuck in the past would not be able to step into the future."


    As Kinjiro uttered those words, he stared at the weapons of the group below that glowed white and left trails as they ughtered the enemies. That was not a traditional creation. A businessman like him immediately knew it was a product of unprecedented technology. He was clear that Yasuo had no hand in creating those masterpieces.


    "Investigate that group thoroughly," Kinjiro ordered. "Also, try to get their cooperation even if we have to offer parts of our privileges."


    "But n Master!"


    A few people within the room were surprised and tried to object. Offering the family''s privileges meant they would lose the privilege once it was owned by another group of people.


    "I would not tolerate any objection," Kinjiro said with a stern expression as he panned his eyes to the people in the room. "I''m a businessman. I know how to sacrifice things for a better endeavor. In this regard, I haven''t failed so far."


    Everyone could see the shine of greed in the n Master''s eyes. As such, they all meekly shut their mouths.


    BOOM!


    At this time, a sudden explosion of light illuminated the sky. It caused a few dozen hos to fall with their charred remains. There was not only one explosion. It was followed by several more.


    However, there was no sound of a rocket or cannon being fired in the sky. While some people already have the strength to throw explosives up to that height and past it, no one saw any kind of explosives thrown into the sky to cause the explosions.


    In the first ce, no human explosive was supposed to cause a bloom of pure white light.


    And instead of explosives, a few keen-eyed people saw paper cranes flying on their own before each one exploding to a bright bloom. Each of the pieces of rough origami mysteriously caused an explosive ball of light around three meters in diameter.


    "It looks like the White Cloths are here."


    Kinjiro said as he looked at the bright explosion of light in the sky.


    And within his tone, it looked like he had already lost interest in the situation due to the new arrivals.


    ***


    Back at the circr park, the surroundings of Mark''s group were littered with hundreds of corpses of hos.


    It was unknown how but the more they killed, the more hos appeared. With the number of ho corpses here alone, it was clear that the swarm had be wayrger than when it started.


    Mark''s group was still not tired. The formation they maintained kept their stamina usage to a minimum. However, Mei''s and I''s bullets would begin to run out if this continued.


    It was when Mark''s group heard a clear voice of multiple people echo into their ears.


    "Evil be gone."


    The echoing voice made Mark''s family shiver. On the other hand, Spera, Amihan, and Emika were unaffected.


    "Evil be gone."<novelnext></novelnext>


    The voices repeated. The hos began to behave strangely and rushed away from Mark''s group. However, Mark, Mei, and the three girls felt their breaths be heavier.


    "[AT-Energy Shield], activate!"


    Markmanded as he pressed a button hidden on his left forearm armor piece. The girls also did the same. It was the same for the three unaffected ones who were now feeling confused.


    It was one of the functions of their pieces of armor, [AT-Abyss Protector]. This energy shield would create an invisible film of energy around their bodies. This film could protect them from invasive energies while remaining undetectable due to its natural flow.


    Where did this technologye from? It was actually created in Eriellis and was one of the functions of the armor Freed had when Mark met him. Due to the nature of the apocalypse in Eriellis, they had to develop such armors to prevent them from being overwhelmed by the pressure of contradicting [Psychic Energies].


    And, right now, the energy shield was doing its miracle. The echoing voices continued, but Mark''s group was now unaffected by the voices.


    It was when explosions of light urred in the sky. And instead of fleeing, most of the hos flew like moths into the explosions.


    With a frown, Mark concentrated his [Empath Detection]. He immediately found where the voices came from. It was from a group of people that had just arrived at the defense line of the military at the intersection a block away.


    At this time, several vehicles arrived just on the road outside the park. All the vehicles bore the symbol of the ck Lotus.


    "Holy sh*t!"


    Ren uncharacteristically eximed as she jumped out of her vehicle. The first thing that Ren saw was the ughter that Mark''s group created around the park. Her reaction was reasonable, considering the several hundred corpses of hos that now decorated the park.


    "Miss!"


    Mako came out of hiding. Her stealth skills sure were amazing, considering she was hiding behind a tree only a few meters away from Mark''s group, yet she was not attacked by a single ho. It was also clear that she was the one that told Ren''s group where Mark''s group went to.


    "Evil be gone!"


    The sounds continued to Mark''s annoyance. It was the same for the explosions of light in the sky. However, he decided to ignore it. Mark then told his group to leave the formation and meet up with Ren''s group.


    "I know you are all skilled, but this..."


    Ren''s voice trailed off as she noticed the bodies of the members of Mark''s group. Of course, it was the uniform, pieces of armor, and their weapons.


    However, Ren was still tactful and decided to ignore it for now.


    On the other hand, Mark''s eyes were not focused on Ren. Instead, he looked to the north of the road where the intersection was. And there, he could see a group of white-robed men with ck hats.


    Ren noticed Mark''s demeanor and saw what he was looking at.


    "They are priests and Onmyoujis from the Ise Grand Shrine," Ren exined. "If they are already here, the battle should be over."


    "We tried to depart as fast as we could, but we''re alreadyte, huh."


    Ren sighed. It was not surprising, however. Even if they tried to hurry, gathering troops and preparing equipment would still take minutes.


    However, Ren felt relieved instead of getting frustrated because they werete. It was because it meant that the battle ended early, reducing the damage and casualties.


    On the other hand, Mark now knew why the voices of those people made Mark and the girls feel stifled.


    Those people were Onmyoujis. People who fight Demons thru mantras and talismans. The phrases the priests continuously repeated were mantras. It affected the enemies along with the Demons that heard them.


    Mark found it annoying. It was lucky that they wore their armor, or the fact that they were Demons would have been revealed unexpectedly.


    Still, Mark decided not to let his guard down as he turned to Ren.


    "Can we return now?" Mark said and pointed at the mess they left. "We''re tired of fighting all those things. We want to rest."


    Of course, it was just a lie. Mark just wanted to get away from this annoying chanting. Besides, as Ren had said, the battle was already over as the hos threw themselves into the explosions in the sky.


    "That''s..." Ren was hesitant. "Your group did a lot here, so the army might want to meet and reward you. And also, are you just going to leave those?"


    Ren then pointed at the mess. Was she trying to say that Mark''s group should clean it? Well, slightly, in a different meaning, though.


    In fact, the other people that fought the hos were beginning to pick the ones they killed. While these hos might not be edible despite their size, their carapace and wings should be a good material to use for crafting.


    And since the mess in the park was the enemies Mark''s group had killed, it was their im.


    "Can you handle it?" Mark said, realizing her words. "Sell them or other things? Minus thebor, how about 60-40? We''ll take sixty, of course."


    Ren''s eyes glistened. She might have left her family, but she was still descended from a family of businessmen. Furthermore, they were having financial difficulties. What Mark had just said gave her a good leeway from her problems.


    "And about the army..." Mark said, ncing at therge group of armed personnel at the intersection, together with the Onmyoujis. "I''m not really keen on meeting them. Can you handle that too?"


    The other request made Ren look bitter. It was definitely a troublesome matter. Nheless, Ren nodded with a sigh.


    "Alright, I''ll handle it."


    Ren then turned to Mako. But before Ren could say anything, Mako had already raised her hand.


    "I know! I''ll get the car we came in and bring them home! Got it!"


    Mako then ran off, causing the members of the ck Lotus to be baffled. For some reason, she looked too eager to curry favors for Mark''s group.

 Chapter 1027 The Armored Woman, A Secret Ally From The Mitsui Clan

    ?


    Day 341 - 12:29 PM - Toyosu Main Road, Toyosu, Reimed City, Ruins of Tokyo


    A new yer entered the game. And considering the dangerous position Ren currently had in this battle, it was fortunate that the yer was an ally.


    On the other hand, Keiji was infuriated. He lost the opportunity to end this farce, to finally kill his sister. Furthermore, he was actually hurt by the sneak attack even though bullets did nothing to him.


    Apart from appearance, there was something odd about this woman in front of Keiji.


    Ren stared at the armored woman''s back. While she did not recognize this person, she somehow felt she was familiar. What she realized, however, was that her armor was kind of simr to what Mark''s group had. In fact, the pieces of armor Ren was wearing had some resemnce to hers.


    The simrities between the armors meant one thing. This fully armored woman was sent by Mark to help Ren.


    Ren was about to request the woman to take the front for a while. The injury to her nk sure was pretty bad for her to continue a high-speed fight. However, it did not mean that she could not do anything. She could support the battle from behind using her petal des.


    But before Ren could even say anything, she was stunned.


    The armored woman had her left hand behind her back, sending hand signals to Ren to take the support role.


    Ren was not surprised by what the armored woman told her. What surprised her was that the hand signals used by the woman were exclusive to the Ninjas trained by the Mitsui n.


    Was this woman part of the Mitsui n? But who? Someone from the Mitsui n was under Mark''smand?


    Ren was really confused and curious about the armored woman''s identity. However, the only clue she could see was the woman''s height being a bit shorter than Ren''s. And if they were not in the middle of a dangerous battle, she would mull over it even more.


    The silentmunication between the armored woman and Rensted only a few seconds.


    After giving Ren her instructions, the armored woman dashed toward the furious Keiji. It was at the same time that Keiji also made his move.


    However, what Keiji did not expect, was that instead of taking out a close-range weapon to fight, the armored woman swiped her hand forward.


    A familiar weapon flew towards Keiji. It was a Ninja''s kunai. It was a small, ded weapon used for both throwing and as a dagger. However, the kunai looked strange. Considering their expertise, Ninja weapons were often in dark colored, if not just pure ck.


    But the kunai the armored woman threw had strips of white parts that exuded a faint glow even during daytime. It was an unconventional weapon for someone in their field.


    Nheless, Keiji did not care. Or rather, his corroding mind was bing incapable of caring about a trivial weapon. Bullets could not harm him. What could a measly kunai do?


    But it was an awful mistake.


    The kunai elerated as if it was a bullet with a triggered primer.


    And then...


    "What..."


    Keiji''s eyes, both human and serpentine, widened.


    The kunai tore through theyer of the aura surrounding Keiji''s body.


    Following the unexpected pration, the kunai exploded right in front of his face.


    "GACK!"


    Keiji made an unsightly voice as his face caught the brunt of the explosion. He was stopped on his feet and was even pushed a few steps back.


    The pain made Keiji cover his face. As he removed his hand, he noticed the reddish-ck blood that covered his hand, and his sight became limited.


    Keiji was confused, but everyone around saw his state. The blood came from Keiji''s eyes that had yet to transform. That one kunai deprived Keiji of one of his eyes.


    However, the armored woman was not done yet. She threw another kunai at the confused Keiji.


    This time, Keiji''s instincts kicked in. It was a littlete due to his confusion, but he still tried to avoid the next kunai.


    Just like the first one, the second kunai elerated mid-air. However, while it managed to prate the aura enveloping Keiji''s body, he was already out of the kunai''s trajectory.


    But there, an unexpected scene urred. The kunai exploded without hitting any target. The fragments from the kunai hit Keiji''s stomach, causing him more pain and wounds.


    What in the world was going on? That question lingered not only in Keiji''s but everyone''s minds.


    The pain in his stomach staggered Keiji, but its impact was lesser than the direct hit of the first kunai.


    Enraged, Keiji forgot the pain and faced the armored woman.


    But Keiji froze.


    Where was she?


    At that moment, Keiji lost sight of the armored woman. How was that possible? In terms of movement and speed, the armored woman was slower than Ren. Yet, Keiji did not lose sight of Ren even for a second. But the armored woman, who wore something that should stand out in the white snow-covered environment, could escape Keiji''s eyes and senses.


    BOOOM!


    "GAHACK!


    The question in Keiji''s mind was answered with the impact of another explosion on his back.


    Now knowing that the enemy was behind him, Keiji ignored all the pain in his body and whipped his eight tails around with a quick spin. The tails even elongated mid-swing, covering a wider area.


    The armored woman was forced back as Keiji''s attack covered over fight meters around him.


    Keiji finally locked onto the armored woman and controlled his tails to attack from eight different directions.


    However, the armored woman was not fazed. She immediately retaliated with another kunai thrown straight at Keiji.


    With the tails already mid-way, Keiji had no problems swatting the kunai with one of his tails. The kunai was hit to the side and flew away, strangely not exploding.


    But at that moment, Keiji''s serpentine eye widened.


    The armored woman was in front of him just now. But the trajectory of his remaining tails was met with an empty space.


    And then...


    Keiji suddenly shifted his body by reflex. Even so...


    BOOM!


    "ACK!"


    Another explosion urred, impacting the left side of Keiji''s back.


    The armored woman appeared on Keiji''s left side, and he had no idea how in the world that happened.


    However, it was not just Keiji. In fact, everyone watching was in confusion.


    They experienced the same thing as Keiji. They all saw the kunai get swatted by one of Keiji''s tails. And the next thing they knew, the armored woman was gone. They only noticed her again when the next explosion urred.


    How was this possible? Did this armored woman have some ability like teleportation?


    However, Ren knew that it was not. Ren was closer to the scene. She could see the footprints that the armored woman left in the snow as she moved about. It was not teleportation. It was just as if she was vanishing and appearing in everyone''s sight.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    Ren sure forgot that she was supposed to support the armored woman. She was shocked at what was happening.


    The armored woman did not need any support at all!


    Furthermore, Ren was unable to do much to the transformed Keiji. On the other hand, while the armored woman might be relying on her strange weapons, being able to actually hit Keiji with those weapons was something else.


    "RAAAAAHHH!!!"


    Keiji roared in a fit of fury, whipping all his tails toward the armored woman''s direction while spewing fire from his mouth to surround him.


    The armored woman jumped back and threw another kunai at Keiji. Meeting the fire Keiji released, the kunai exploded. But at the same time, just like what happened before, everyone lost sight of the armored woman.


    On the roof of the entrance of the Toyosu Market on the other side of the street, Spera watched the battle between the armored woman and Keiji. She was the one who brought this woman here following Mark''s order.


    Spera knew who the woman was. She was there when Mark thought of this method of fighting. Still, knowing where Mark got this method, Spera could only scratch her head.


    The armored woman was fighting using [Misdirection]. A technique of a certain blue-haired number eleven basketball yer in an anime.


    While an item to guide the enemy and the audience''s attention, the armored woman was taking advantage of her low presence to disappear from everyone''s cognition. They would only notice her the moment she made another move, and following that, she could just repeat the process.


    This kind of movement would be invalidated if the enemy was able to keep his attention to the user.


    And in Keiji''s case, it was hard. The exploding kunai could cause him pain. Thus, he could not ignore them. His attention would gravitate towards the thrown kunai, allowing the armored woman to escape his cognition.


    In another few rounds, Keiji was dealt with repeated explosions. His body became riddled with wounds, and his clothing became far more tattered than an [Infected''s].


    But then, the problem became more apparent.


    The kunai that the armored woman threw could prate the aura on Keiji''s body, and the explosions could cause him pain. However, with the exception of Keiji''s injured eye, the other injuries he received were insignificant.


    It was clear that Keiji''s body continued to transform. His skin was bing sturdier and sturdier before bing covered in ck scales.


    The armored woman''s attacks surely hurt, but it was not enough to kill or even defeat Keiji.


    Keiji began to understand this fact. His expression was bing more confident despite the pain he felt with every attack that prated his aura.


    Furthermore, Keiji began to understand the trick behind the armored woman''s disappearing act. If he was able to endure the pain and kept his eyes on the woman, she would not escape his eyes.


    And just like that, Keiji''s eyes locked onto the woman despite her throwing another kunai straight at his stomach.


    Just like before, the kunai tore through the aura and exploded, but Keiji would not be tricked anymore. The armored woman did not vanish from his sight, and he smiled sinisterly.


    It was until...


    "GACK!"


    A far more intense pain assaulted Keiji''s body. Keiji looked down at his stomach and noticed de marks that prated his skit about an inch deep.


    de wounds?


    Keiji remembered what he had forgotten due to his rage. He turned his head, and at a distance away, Ren already stood up, looking perfectly fine except for her tattered clothes and scratched armor. Behind Ren was the image of a ck lotus with petal des hovering around her.


    Ren shot petal des at Keiji at the same moment and location the kunai prated his aura. It allowed the petal des to pass through the aura''s protection and wound Keiji.


    "Why..." Keiji muttered as he wiped the blood dripping from his stomach. "Why would your pests not just lie down and be ughtered?"


    Keiji felt his injured eye throb. It was painful. It was annoying.


    The people around could tell. Keiji was growing crazier as time went on. Only crazy people would ask such a stupid question. Everyone looked at him like a mental patient.


    Keiji did not care what everyone was thinking. He did not care about their opinions. Would humans care about an insect''s opinion of them? Of course not.


    And for the current Keiji, these humans were just insects that needed to be trampled on.


    Unfortunately, insects could bite.


    And it was annoying.


    Those thoughts swirled inside Keiji''s mind. His corroded mind was bing darker.


    The transformation was taking over once again.


    And this time, two of his aura tails became physical.


    With four tails leaving their ethereal form, the pressure around Keiji increased two-fold.


    The fusion of the aura and Keiji''s body was bing more solid. And there, everyone was frozen as Keiji roared to the sky.


    It caused the magical energy in the surroundings to swirl violently.


    Gusts of wind began to surround Keiji. It forced Ren and the armored woman to retreat.


    But then...


    CRASH!


    Earthen spikes tore through the ground with Keiji at the center.


    The sudden appearance of the spikes from the ground caught Ren off guard. She might look fine, but traces of the injury she received before had yet to heal. As such, she waste to dodge.


    Several spikes shot up the ground under Ren. In a millisecond, those spikes would puncture her body with holes.


    However, something pushed Ren out of the way. Ren turned her head and saw the armored woman getting hit by the earthen spikes.


    BAM!


    The armored woman was thrown away, rolling on the snow-covered ground.


    Fortunately, they were now outside the reach of the spikes surrounding Keiji.


    Ren immediately picked herself up and rushed to the armored woman. Fortunately, her armor protected her from fatal harm. However, bits and pieces of the armor began to fall. It was clear that the full brunt of the earthen spikes was too much for the armor to bear.


    One of thergest bits to fall was actually from the armored woman''s helmet.


    And when Ren saw the woman''s face, she could not help but exim.


    "Sayuri?"


    Ren blurted out.


    Mitsui Sayuri. She was the second youngdy of the Mitsui Family and the youngest sibling of Ren and Keiji. The armored woman was actually their younger sister.


    Ren was overwhelmed with shock after learning the truth.

 Chapter 976 An Earnest Request, A Display Of Loyalty Far More Valuable Than Ones Life

    Day 320 - 12:34 PM - Temporary House, ck Lotus Compound, Kachidoki, Chuo City, Tokyo


    Lunchtime came fast when everyone was ying games on their phones together. And it was when Mako woulde to ask Mark''s group if they would like to have lunch.


    Normally, Mako would only need to give what they had in the kitchen. That was the case whenever they needed to take care of the needs of their guests. It was the apocalypse. There was no time to be luxurious or picky.


    However, Mark''s group became far more than just important than mere guests in the few days of their stay. Thus, the ck Lotus could not treat them like other guests they had in the past. Of course, this treatment was not for all good things. Although Mark had been quite helpful, especially in financial stuff, Ren had yet to fully trust them. Thus, Ren also assigned "Guards" to protect Mark''s group from the shadows. While they really would protect them, it was also their mission to make sure that Mark''s group would not do anything that would harm the Reimed City.


    And as the assigned manager, Mako also had the same duties as the "Guards" aside from making sure Mark''s group wasfortable during their stay.


    However, it seemed that Mako was deliberately not doing some of her duties.


    What duty?


    It was to report everything that Mako witnessed while guiding and following Mark''s group around the ce.


    Then, how did Mark and the girls know that Mako was not doing her duty?


    It was due to the fact that even though a whole day had already passed, Ren had yet to appear in front of them to inquire Mark about his skills to create the so-called "Artifacts." Mako knew what Artifacts were. There was no way that her Master, Ren, would not.


    Yet, not a shadow of the busy Ren, or even Tadashi, was seen by Mark''s group in the past twenty-four hours.


    It only meant one thing.


    Mako, who was the only member of the ck Lotus present during Mark''s conversation with Yasuo, did not report that crucial information to the leader of her group.


    But why? That was the question.


    And this afternoon, aside from serving lunch for Mark''s group, Mako had another agenda.


    Mako seemed to hesitate to ask at the start. But her uneasiness did not escape Mark, who asked what she wanted before she could gather the courage she needed.


    Although Mako was surprised by Mark, it gave her the courage to speak up. But, of course, since her intention had something to do with it, her eyes repeatedly nced at the two unknown objects inside the room.


    "I had something to request."


    Mako said, taking an antique-looking box out of her pocket.


    The box was just the size of a fist. But while the box looked interesting and valuable, the more important thing was inside.


    "Yesterday... Your talk with Yasuo-ojii-san. You have knowledge of ancient artifacts, correct?" Mako continued. "I... I wonder if you can fix this."


    "Can I look at it first?"


    Mark said, kind of interested. After all, it was clear what the content of the antique box was. It was an old artifact. Mark had seen a few ancient manmade artifacts like the broken golem, the [Mini Cube], and even the [Shooting Moon de]. While Ignis was also considered a [Magical Artifact] as a sentient sword, he was more of a naturally urring one.


    Mako hesitantly handed the box to Mark. She might be the one asking the request, but to her, the content of the box was far more valuable than her life. Still, it was a gamble in the first ce. The knowledge about the creation of artifacts was lost thousands of years ago. And now, Mako met Mark. There was a chance to fix her priceless treasure.


    The box was pretty light, as Mark weighted it on his hand. He was about to flip the box open, but it would not budge.


    "Press the four indentions at the upper corners of the front and back of the box at the same time."


    Mako said to Mark.


    Mark did as instructed, using his thumb and index finger on both hands to press on the indentions. And pop, the box opened slowly with a few gear-like clicking sounds.


    Everyone in the room stopped ying games and curiously looked at the item in Mark''s hands.


    The box contained a silver-colored circr pendant. It was a pretty thick one, being around a centimeter thick. It was around five centimeters in radius, and its side was adorned with small colorful jewels. And at its front and back were indentions and carvings that did not make sense aside from looking mystical and elegant. The unique part was the front, where the center had the biggest indention. It was clear that something was affixed on that indent, but it was gone now.


    However, it did not look very Japanese. By design, this pendant was more of a western origin, making Mark, and Otaku, a bit confused.


    One would not think much about the carvings if one saw them aside from feeling that it was an antique masterpiece.


    However, Mark could confirm. These carvings were [Magic Circuits] turned into a jewelry design.


    "Can I take it out?"


    Mark asked Mako, to which she nodded.


    After getting Mako''s permission, which was really not necessary, Mark closely examined the so-called broken artifact.


    Mark was right. The [Magic Circuits] were used as the pendant''s design. And he was sure that the circuits were undamaged. However, no trace of [Magical Energy] remained within the pendant. It was no different from a piece of regr expensive jewelry in this state.


    There was one more thing. Mark was unfamiliar with the [Magic Circuits] carved into the pendant. It was the first time he had seen such circuits, pretty much like how he was unfamiliar with the circuits in the ancient blueprint that Yasuo had shown Mark yesterday.


    The [Magic Circuits] that Mark was familiar with were what he called [Mechanical Magic Circuits]. It was obvious with the name as it was the kind of [Magic Circuits] used in the creation of the golems and what made the [Mini Cube] function. And it was the only kind of [Magic Circuits] that Mark had the opportunity to study properly.<novelnext></novelnext>


    Aside from the [Mechanical Magic Circuits], Mark also managed to get some of what he called [Enchantment Magic Circuits]. It was the kind of [Magic Circuits] present within the [Shooting Moon de] and became the basis of some of Mark''s newly created weapons. Some parts of the [Mini Cube] also contained these circuits, especially being used to convert [Magical Energy] into a power source.


    In fact, Mark suspected that the [Magic Circuits] in Yasuo''s broken blueprint contained old [Enchantment Magic Circuits] since the ones in the blueprint were identical to some of the ones he knew.


    But this pendant... Mark waspletely in the dark.


    "What''s the function of this artifact?"


    Mark asked Mako. Although he was also curious as to where Mako got it, he was not senseless to ask for such private information immediately.


    However, Mako shook her head slightly.


    "I don''t know the exact function," Mako replied. "But it was a life-saving artifact. Without it, I should have died several years ago."


    Then, while avoiding some parts she could not disclose, Mako shared a bit of her story while exining the origin of the artifact.


    Apparently, Mako was an orphan. Not only her but the core members of the ck Lotus and the most loyal ones were the same. All of them were taken under by their Grandmaster when they had nowhere to go. And that Grandmaster was Ren''s grandfather, Mitsui Yoshikage. And this was where the loyalty of the ck Lotus originated towards the person designated as their master.


    These orphans were trained through the arts of fighting within the shadows. They were the protectors and loyal retainers of the Mitsui Family that went by the name [Kuroishikaku], which literally meant ck Squares. They were also known as the Shadow Troops.


    Right now, it was clear that their master was Ren, as opposed to the supposed line of session. After all, Ren''s father was still alive and kicking, and he was supposed to be the next in line to be the master of the Shadow Troops.


    Were these pieces of information safe to share? Well, it was not if not for the fact that the world had changed. While the name [Kuroishikaku] was still unknown, people already knew about the Shadow Troops, or what was now called the ck Lotus.


    The artifact was given to Mako by the Grandmaster. At that time, it gave a lovely luster that would make people feel that it was alive. It was a treasure far more valuable than her life. That was why she kept it in her body the whole time.


    But in one mission, Mako made a misstep. The enemies managed to surround and kill her. Thest thing she remembered at that time was the enemiesughing at her before leaving to catch herpanions.


    However, Mako woke up after an unknown amount of time. Her clothes were stained with her own blood, and the hole in her clothes above her chest signified the knife that stabbed her heart.


    But Mako was alive. She, who supposedly died, was the only survivor of that event.


    It was alreadyte when Mako noticed the artifact she carried had lost its luster, with the main gemstone at its center missing. That was when she realized that the artifact had saved her life. The artifact, since then, had be nothing but a piece of broken jewelry.


    Mako had been looking for a way to restore the artifact to its former luster. It was not because she wanted to reuse it for herself.


    "I want to give it to Ojousama," Mako spoke her reason. "Ever since she became our master, her life had always been in danger."


    As expected, it was a political issue within their family.


    Since Ren''s father was the current head of the n, it was no surprise that he became the next master of the [Kuroishikaku]. However, not to mention the current n head, the new master, was not even the first child.


    Mitsui Ren, who was the third child and the first daughter, was designated as the master of the [Kuroishikaku] by the Grandmaster before his deathbed.


    It sparked issues within the family, especially the fact that when Ren was designated as the [Kuroishikaku''s] master, she had already cut her ties with the family and was working as an independent Psychologist.


    And since then, Ren''s life had always been in danger, and the [Kuroishikaku] protected her.


    Now, the threat to Ren''s life was rising. She became the leader of ck Lotus after the apocalypse began and was raking up aplishments that did not include her family. It would not be a surprise if, any day now, Ren would face a deadly situation.


    As such, when Mako learned that Mark had knowledge about artifacts, she decided to take the gamble. He was her only possible lead in restoring the artifact.


    It might just be once. But the restored artifact would definitely save someone from sudden death.


    And here, Mako dered.


    "I''m not asking to repair it for free. I know how artifacts are invaluable. If the artifact was restored, I''m willing to give everything I have, including myself."


    Mako''s deration kind of surprised Mark and Emika since the two were the only ones who could properly understand her.


    "That''s surprising. You''re showing loyalty to Ren, but you''re acting otherwise."


    Mark replied.


    That was right. Mako intended to save Ren, but she had not disclosed everything that happened yesterday in Yasuo''s workshop and was willing to leave her master''s side in exchange for the restored artifact.


    "I know," Mako desperately smiled. "But my loyalty would not matter if Ojousama was dead, isn''t it?"


    One would say that a loyal warrior would follow their master to their death.


    But it was bull to some people.


    Because to them, loyalty would not even be worth a stain of crap if the master they were loyal to died before their eyes without being able to do anything to prevent it.

 Chapter 977 A Millionaire, The Enormous Income In Only One Day

    Day 320 - 1:03 PM - Temporary House, ck Lotus Compound, Kachidoki, Chuo City, Tokyo


    Half an hour after Mako entered the temporary house, she finally went out to fetch the group''s order for lunch. However, she tightly clutched a sheathed dagger with both hands while cautiously looking around with a hint of hesitation on her face.


    Inside the temporary house, the members of Mark''s group discussed what had just happened. After all, only Mark and Emika could understand the entirety of the conversation, although Spera could also make out some details.


    As the group talked, the antique box could be seen in front of Mark while the silver-colored pendant remained in his hands.


    "So, you had just scammed her... That dagger is just a broken prototype you used before."


    Spera asked Mark, remembering the situation moments earlier.


    "Scam? Not really," Mark denied the usation with a shrug. "Something is only a scam if the other party thinks they are losing out on the situation. I already fixed that dagger. It''s a bit weaker than our current weapons, though. Still, people would think it''s an artifact considering its functions. Besides, I''ve been honest with her."


    Spera''s stare at Mark intensified. The first lines of his reply were something only a scammer would say. She knew since she encountered a good number of those lowlives while working under the [Auraboros].


    Nheless, it was true that Mark was honest for the most part of the conversation.


    After Mako exined the circumstances between her and the pendant, Mark could only have one reply. He was not sure whether he could fix the artifact or not.


    If [Magic Circuits] and [Magical Artifact Creation] were college courses, there was no need to mention being a graduate. Mark was barely even a freshman in this regard. He did not know much and had no idea if he could even discover how the pendant functioned.


    That reply surely made Mako quite disappointed. However, given that Mako had been genuinely nice to his group so far, he would not deceive her.


    And from there, Mark gave her a suggestion.


    While Mark was unsure of being able to fix the pendant, there was still the possibility that he could if he had the time to study it. He asked to leave the artifact in his hands for a few days.


    Of course, while that might be a good suggestion, and Mako had no other choices, she was still hesitant to leave her treasure in the hands of someone she had yet to trust wholeheartedly.


    That was when Mark put the pendant back into its box before standing up and going to the back of the room where their bags were. And while disguising it as if he was taking something out from the bags, Mark took out the dagger Spera mentioned from his ring.


    Mark then disyed what the dagger could do, showing the glowing particle edge and dding the de with mes and high-voltage electricity. Compared to their current weapons, it was weaker. Its power source was also different, causing the weakness. Nheless, it was working by gathering magical energy from the air and storing it inside a rechargeable core within its hilt.


    The most probable reason most of the popce could not recognize and use [Magical Artifacts] was that they had no ability to use [Magical Energy]. It was due to these magical items requiring magical input from the user to disy their might.


    But Mark''s creations were in the category that anyone could use as long as they had the knowledge to use them.


    The dagger was Mark''s prototype creation and the original basis of their current weapons. However, in the eyes of Mako, it was another invaluable treasure.


    And there, Mark exchanged the broken pendant with the prototype dagger for a few days. It lessened Mako''s hesitation in leaving the broken artifact in Mark''s hands. Still, while she finally agreed, she had some reluctance. It was not surprising. While the dagger was working, the broken pendant had more sentimental value to her.


    Even so, Mako agreed to Mark''s suggestion. And that brought them back to the current discussion after Mako had left with the dagger tightly in her hands.


    "That''s still a scam, you know?"


    Spera argued.


    "What?" Mark shrugged. "Did you get scammed before or something to be reacting like that?"


    Spera froze and pouted. She got caught with her past experiences. She got definitely got scammed several times when she was still working under the [Auraboros].


    Mako returned a few minutester, bringing the lunch of their choice. It made the girls feel a bit relieved that they could eat a different kind of food for lunch.


    It was rice, tempura, and stir-fried veggies. Without a doubt, it was an expensive meal in the apocalypse. After all, the prices of meat and veggies hade to aplete turnaround in the apocalypse, where fewer vegetables and fruits could be seen, and more meat was avable in the market.


    The same could be said for shrimps that were now asrge as an adult''s wrist. It was rare to get shrimps nowadays, and the ones they were eating must have been cultivated within the Reimed City and sold at unbelievable prices.


    But given the ck Lotus'' ie the day before due to Mark and his group, they were entitled to such avish meal.


    And here, the girls learned something new about Mark.


    Mark could eat shrimp, but he was not really fond of the taste. It was not like he was allergic to it. It was just the taste. While he tried to hide it, it was noticeable when he ate more veggies than the deliciously fried and coated shrimp.


    Well, it did not really matter much. Everyone had likes and dislikes when it came to food. It was just unexpected to learn about Mark''s food preferences now.


    After Mako returned once again to collect the empty dishes, the group returned to their original n for today. It was to y games all day and avoid the impatient eyes waiting outside the ck Lotus Compound.


    ***


    Day 320 - 6:22 PM - Leader''s Office, ck Lotus Compound, Kachidoki, Chuo City, Tokyo


    Early in the evening of the same day, Mark was called and brought to Ren''s office once more.


    Mark finally met Ren and Tadashi after more than a day had passed since the [Mutated Giant Ho] attack.


    And after the greetings, a ck-colored card and what seemed to be a bank book were presented in front of Mark.


    "That''s a VIP Card, and that''s its Transaction Book," Ren exined. "It contained the earnings for the corpses of the hos as well as the earnings at the auction."


    Mark picked up the two items and opened the Transaction Book. It was no different from a Bank Book. What he immediately noticed was the transactions recorded in the book. It recorded two times where an amount was deposited before a portion was withdrawn.


    And Mark noticed what was going on, and it was Ren''s sincerity.


    It seemed that Ren deposited the whole amount to the VIP ount first before withdrawing the share they were supposed to get making everything recorded properly through the Transaction Book.<novelnext></novelnext>


    Here, Ren congratted Mark on something he would not expect in his lifetime.


    "Congrattions on bing a millionaire."


    Ren''s smile went unnoticed by Mark, however. He was fixated on the amount recorded in the Transaction Book.


    In the Transaction Book, the remaining amount was exactly two million credits. By the looks of it, Ren reduced their share a little and just took the extra amount to make the bnce exactly as that. It was Ren''s loss, but she was already fine with the share they managed to get without much effort.


    Given that a single credit''s value was higher than Yen, two million credits would be worth way more than being just a regr millionaire in Japan. Of course, having just a few million Yen in Japan would not make you a rich person. Still, that was a lot of money for Mark, who was financially struggling before the apocalypse.


    Mark frowned a bit. He was pretty skeptical.


    The first transaction on the card should be the payment for the ho corpses. However, it did not even reach a third of the second transaction.


    It meant that...


    "The auctionted this much?"


    Mark asked. It was just chocte and cigarettes. How in the world would it reach millions of credits?


    Looking at Mark''s genuine reaction, Ren understood what was going on. After she left her family, she also had times she had to financially struggle before her grandfather passed away. Mark''s reaction was clearly showing how he was unable to understand the life of the rich.


    "It looks like you''re looking down on how much the rich could waste money." Ren snickered. "Rich people would not hesitate to throw away millions on anything with the "Luxury" tag on it."


    Ren was also rich once. She understood the lifestyle of the rich firsthand.


    And in the Reimed City, the status of the rich and poor sses remained. In fact, the difference even grew further between the two sses.


    It was not that different from the ruined Bay City or Corregidor Ind in the Philippines, where the rich were privileged. Even the old Infanta Settlement did the same. It was just that the scale in the Reimed City here in Japan was far bigger.


    "We could have earned far bigger if there''s expensive liquor and stuff."


    Ren added.


    "Something like this one?"


    Mark suddenly spoke, holding a bottle of Domaine Leroy Musigny Grand Cru out of nowhere.


    No, it was not out of nowhere. Ren and Tadashi had just seen Mark open a hole in space in a split second and take out a bottle of the most expensive wine in the world.


    "I knew it..."


    Ren was speechless as she stared at Mark. He was not blinded by money or anything. It was just that he did not care showing it to Ren and Tadashi that he had a [Storage Artifact].


    In the first ce, it was absurd not to suspect as such. Mark''s group barely had anything when Ren picked them up and brought them here. Yet, he brought a bag of luxury items out of nowhere, not to mention where his group got their weapons and equipment the other day.


    While some idiots thought that Yasuo managed to create new products and swarmed his workshop, Ren and Tadashi were not the same. They had known Yasuo since they were young. There was no way they would not know if he had such kind of products in store.


    Still, confirming such a mystery firsthand was quite a surprise.


    This situation made Ren and Tadashi''s minds create more misconceptions about Mark''s origin. After all, [Storage Artifacts] was too rare and expensive that such items would not even appear in the international underground market. And if one appeared, it would not be a surprise if the price could buy a small country.


    After all, even a [Storage Artifact] capable of storing just a bag-size of items would already have a lot of use, whether the usage was for good or evil. It could even change the tide of war if used properly.


    Yet Mark was here, disying such an item without care.


    Noticing the stare of the two, Mark was nonchnt. It did not really matter since the two already strongly suspected it. Besides, he was not afraid that it would get stolen. Anyone that had the idea would immediately get caught by him. Besides, the [Spatial Rings] was not just some regr artifacts. The [Spatial Stones] came from a God of Creation, and only Mark and Mei could use them.


    Mark only chose to hide the rings because things would be troublesome if used in public. And here, it would not matter. Ren and Tadashi were pretty good people.


    And ignoring the situation, Mark spoke.


    "Can you also sell this?"


    And Ren could only sigh.


    "I want to, but it''s better not to... At least not now. We already caused quite amotion. Creating another one would make people even more suspicious. And such a rare and expensive item would definitely not only cause a small one."


    "Well, true," Mark agreed. "We can''t be greedy."


    And then, Mark pushed the bottle of wine toward Ren.


    "You can have it then."


    Mark said, causing Ren to be flustered.


    "W-what? You''re joking, right?"


    Of course, it was right to be flustered. Even before the apocalypse, the price of this wine was sky-high for poor people.


    "No?" Mark shrugged. "I have more bottles of that. Giving out one doesn''t really matter. And... I really don''t like alcohol."


    Mark looked at the bottle of wine. The glint in his eyes showed how he could not understand what people liked about it.

 Chapter 978 The New House, Finally Finding A New Base In Reclaimed City

    Day 321 - 9:25 AM - Temporary House, ck Lotus Compound, Kachidoki, Chuo City, Tokyo


    After more than an entire day of hiding, Mark''s group finally went out once more.


    And the people in hiding wanting to gather information about Mark''s group... Well... They were still frustrated.


    While the people behind these stalkers nned to establish contact with Mark''s group at the right time, they still needed information. That was why these hidden people were sent to observe the group and gather information.


    However, what information could they gather and report to their superiors if the targets were not even taking a single step out of the house they were staying at. They saw a glimpse of Mark at night, but he was just going back and forth to the office just a few steps away.


    Some of them were even getting criticized by their superiors, and they could not do anything about it. These poor people could only sigh in frustration as they waited for the opportunity to gather information.


    And now, they finally saw a clear sight of Mark''s group... only to get more frustrated.


    Ever since they arrived in the Reimed City, Mark''s group never left the confines of the ck Lotus Compound without any escort. Worse for the information gatherers, if the escort was not the [Dancing Lotus] herself, it would be either the [Blood Shade] or the [Undying Assasinatrix]. These three were among the upper management of the ck Lotus Group. And, of course, among their strongest.


    What were these absurd names? If one became famous, especially due to their prowess inbat, it would not be a surprise if one title or two would get stuck under their name. And while the titles that stuck to Ren, Tadashi, and Mako sounded pretty embarrassing, those titles directly represented their abilities and styles inbat.


    With these three always around Mark''s group, there was no way these information gatherers could do their job efficiently.


    Unfortunately, there was no option for them to just leave. They could only try to lurk as close as possible, but just close enough that it would not look like a sign of aggression.


    When the group stepped out of thepound, Mark could only sigh.


    This time, Mark''s group was with Ren, Tadashi, and Mako, along with a small group of guards. Was this number of people unnecessary? It was quite a bit. However, Ren wanted to personally guide Mark''s group to potential home locations, and the members of the ck Lotus would not let her roam around without guards.


    And different from the previous days when they used vehicles to travel around, the group would walk around on foot since the potential home locations were not that far from thepound, with the nearest location right beside thepound.


    And due to this, the group was literally exposed to the eyes of the curious people they passed by as if the stalkers were not enough.


    "Too many prying eyes..."


    Those words escaped Mark''s lips.


    "That is your fault, I believe."


    Ren responded to Mark''s sigh.


    The interest in the [Sylph] was natural, while the events during the Combat Examination could not be helped. However, the performance of Mark''s group during the ho attack, while helping minimize the casualties, was deemed unnecessary if Mark did not want to get attention. They even revealed those mysterious pieces of equipment and showed their outstanding prowess inbat in a ce where many people could see.


    Ren could not fathom why Mark would risk that when he did not seem like the person to want attention.


    Mark could only shrug in silence. He had ns, after all. It was just the response he wanted had yet to appear.


    The group left thepound and set off to the first location.


    Mark did not have strict requirements for the ce he wanted to move to. It was just that the ce should be manageable for their small group and secure enough. While it would be nice if it had a yard or free space around that was surrounded by walls, that kind of ce was hard to find here in the Reimed City. After all, the vicinity epassed by Reimed City was originally aimed atmercial establishments. Most of the structures, big or small, were within the road vicinity.


    And the first one came into their sight after a few steps out of the southern area of thepound.


    It was a small two-floor building at the corner of an intersection. Right at the opposite southwest corner of thepound. A former grocer. It was a boring-looking building, just the typical style for a small store. Security-wise, it was good since it was just the opposite of the road from the ck Lotus Compound. However, no one within Mark''s group had positive feedback about the building, not to mention that the northern wall had some damages yet to be fixed. These damages were the traces left of the tragedy that happened to the building that previously stood where the ck Lotus Compound was currently located.


    Since it was a pass, the group immediately faced north, where they could see the next location at the end of the road.<novelnext></novelnext>


    The building was a bigger one than the previous one. It had four floors and twice thend area too. Security was better too. The building was exactly beside the ck Lotus Compound, even without a road separating the two. It was also aesthetically better. However, the issue now was the former purpose of the building. It was a ceremony hall. The ce where funerals were held. This was also the main reason why it was left unused. Given the religious beliefs and traditions of the Japanese, any sane person would not live in ces where the dead lingered. Furthermore, it was also damaged like the first one, although it was the eastern walls this time.


    And like the first one, it was also a pass. Mark had no problem with it. He actually liked how serene-looking the building was. However, the girls disliked the idea of living in a ceremony hall, which was understandable.


    The group had a few more jumps and stops around Kachidoki. They exhausted all the empty locations near thepound and a block away from it.


    Of course, Ren was quite disappointed. Whether it was to protect Mark''s group or just to monitor them closely, it was better for the location to be near theirpound. However, there were very few empty locations nearby, and none of them were up to the taste of Mark''s group. There were a few close calls, but Mark''s group only put those locations in mind in case they did not see anything perfect for their eyes.


    And then... they found it after getting back to the main road connecting the north and south entry and exits of Kachidoki. At the corner of the road a few blocks south of the ck Lotus Compound, there was an abandoned gyudon restaurant.


    The restaurant had a wide space in front, away from the main road. The building was big enough, housing the restaurant on the first floor and other home necessities for the owner on the second floor. It even had a three-vehicle parking space at the back. It was not too far from thepound either since the ride would not even take a minute unless the pre-apocalypse road rules were to be followed, which would make it around five to seven minutes. Of course, the road rules were useless now, with barely any vehicle using the roads.


    The interest in the ce finally set in. They then entered the empty building. However, the ce did not look abandoned but was pretty lived in. It was as if someone was living in this ce not long ago. There were even belongings left in the rooms on the second floor.


    Mark looked at Ren, who looked a bit sad, for an exnation.


    And there, the sad story was unveiled.


    Just before Mark''s group arrived in the Reimed City, a group of [Frencers] called the [Asterisk] used this restaurant as their base. It exined some of the spoils-looking stuff lying around. There were even weapons and vehicle maintenance equipment present on the first floor.


    Just like what other [Frencers] do, they go out to hunt things to eat or sell.


    But after setting out a week ago, the group of nine people never returned. It was until another [Frencer Group] located the vehicle used by the [Asterisk] by chance. The vehicle was trashed beyond recognition without any sign of the owners. It was not hard to imagine what had happened to them. It was the apocalypse, after all.


    Now, the restaurant was left empty. It was not like it could not be used by someone else. However, since the previous owners faced an uncanny fate just recently, nobody had moved in yet.


    Was it already certain that the previous owners died? Unfortunately, the answer was yes in the eyes of the people of the Reimed City. The trashed vehicle was found far east, and it was already a whole week since they went missing. Within the ruins of Tokyo, a week would already warrant a zero chance of survival. If there was anyone left alive, they should have returned by now.


    Mark discussed it with the girls. The decision was unanimous. They wanted this ce.


    That decision made Ren feel relieved. It was a nice location with easy ess, after all. She was afraid that Mark''s group would choose a location far and hidden which was luckily not the case.


    And there, the group decided to immediately move in. After all, they needed to clean the ce up. Furthermore, it was a ce where someone lived before. The necessary furniture and items were already present, and even security measures were already installed. For example, the windows were already steel barred on both the first and second floors. The doors had multiple locks, but, of course, the locks needed to be reced. It even had some sr cells on the roof, and the battery was fully charged to use for lighting.


    There was no doubt. Mark and the girls would be busy sprucing this ce up to their liking. It would be no problem, fortunately. Mark was a lot of money now, after all.


    Of course, they still had to return to fetch their things back at the ck Lotus Compound. Mark also had to sign some papers with Ren since she was thendlord of thergest part of Kachidoki.


    And there, Mark''s group officially left the ck Lotus Compound to a new ce of their own. There were still things to renovate and adjust. Nheless, they could do things their way here.


    After getting their things and signing thend contract, Mark''s group went back to the restaurant with a vehicle. Ren dropped Mark''s group before going somewhere else. Mako was also left with Mark''s group to help prepare things if needed.


    Mei and the girls were happy to prepare the new house. And the first thing they cleaned was the kitchen, of course. And Mark, not taking any chances, told the girls to gather the previous owners'' personal belongings into one of the rooms upstairs. After all, while therger furniture was one thing, it was better not to use other people''s belongings, especially people deemed dead.


    While the girls worked inside, Mark worked outside to see if there were things to fix in the building exterior. Although it was the main reason, it was Mark just feeding the curiosity of the people nearby. Mark being outside to fix things showed that there were new owners living in the building while stopping them from approaching due to Mark''s natural unapproachable aura and demeanor.


    And the ones happy with this development were not only Mark''s group. The information gatherers were the same. With the group now living outside the ck Lotus Compound, their work was expected to be easier.


    But then, it actually ended up being the right move for Mark''s group following their performance during the ho incident.


    It was because once the sun had set that day, a pair of ck and white foxes appeared inside the living room without any sign or warning.

 Chapter 979 Two Foxes, An Evening Visit By The Anticipated Guests

    Day 321 - 7:21 PM - Evernight Base, Kachidoki, Chuo City, Tokyo


    As they finally have a house of their own here in Japan, Mei and the girls were quite eager to spruce the ce up. Cleaning the kitchen first and then the rooms. Those were the priorities. Although it was not long since it was abandoned, the dust was already quite thick. It was unsurprising since the Reimed City was surrounded by the ruins of Tokyo, where pretty much everything was covered in dust. One strong blow of the wind would bring these dust particles into the Reimed City and umte quickly within locations not frequently inhabited.


    It was lucky that the restaurant had not been abandoned for long. Compared to some of the previous locations they visited, the things to clean here were much lesser.


    Still, while they cleaned up the ce for about half a day, they barely cleaned half of the restaurant. Post-apocalypse dust sure sticks well to surfaces. Even so, they managed to clean the kitchen and the rooms to sleep in. The restaurant part of the first floor was also cleaned enough to be used as the living room.


    Mako, who stayed behind to assist Mark''s group, diligently helped with the chores. It would definitely feel strange if the people of the Reimed City knew that one of the strongest fighters of the ck Lotus was cleaning someone else''s house.


    Of course, Mako took the opportunity to ask Mark a few questions. She had no ulterior motives and was just curious. Thus, Mark did not mind answering some simple questions while avoiding a few he did not want to disclose. She also had the urge to ask Mark about the progress of her artifact. However, she was sensible enough to know that asking about it would not really speed up the process. Thus, she refrained from asking.


    Mark could feel her thoughts. He could not help but appreciate that Mako was both sincere and sensible.


    But Mako could not help but feel stupefied by the fact that Mei and Mark had [Spatial Storage Artifacts] with them. Just like with Ren and Tadashi, Mark did not bother hiding it from Mako either. In fact, it was not wrong to say that Mark trusted Mako more than the other two. In the first ce, they did not really intend to hide the rings. It was just too troublesome if many people knew. If the trouble of hiding it exceeded the trouble of exposing the rings, they would not hesitate to use it in public.


    Although Mako had seen a few items that Mark''s group had, she could not help but feel amazed. The group before her sure was mysterious. It was fortunate they were not hostile to Ren or the Reimed City. At least, that was what Mako had observed so far. Who would know what things Mark''s group had in hand once hostilities arose? Mako would not dare imagine.


    The day continued, busier than the past few days.


    It was the same for the neighbors. Well... They were not supposed to care much about the new people who moved into the abandoned restaurant. After all, life in the apocalypse was already hard for them to poke their noses in other people''s business. However, the sounds of a vacuum cleanering from the restaurant could not help but get their attention. At first, they ignored it. Vacuum cleaners were pretty muchmon in Japanese households, after all. But then, they realized. Electricity in the Reimed City was limitedly distributed, and the abandoned restaurant should not have electricity.


    Then what were the neighbors hearing? Were they hallucinating? Some of them thought they were going crazy.


    Life must be too hard if they questioned their own sanity first before thinking that it was their new neighbors who were strange.


    ***


    Night time came, and Mark''s group finally had a nice dinner after a while. Unfortunately, Mako left before sunset when Ren''s group passed by once again to check on Mark and the girls.


    After cleaning a part of the first floor, which was the former restaurant dining area, they also used it as the chairs and tables were already ready to use.


    But then, a pair of foxes appeared inside, just by the entrance of the restaurant. The two foxes had contrasting colors. One was ck, and the other was white. A white fox was not that strange, but a ck fox was definitely unusual. Furthermore, the two both had multiple tails.


    With Mark''s group having dinner just in the further section of the same room, they all saw when the two foxes appeared as if they jumped out of the shadow on the ground.


    And then, the awkward staredownmenced.


    As it seemed, the two foxes did not expect Mark''s group to be there. It was not their fault, though. To avoid having too many prying eyes, Mark covered the windows on the lower floor of the building. Furthermore, since they mostly talk about things and topics that strangers should not hear when eating, a wind barrier to contain sound was erected to surround them as per usual.


    Thus, the two unsuspecting visitors faced this awkward situation.


    The two foxes stared at Mark''s group. As if wanting to add to the awkward atmosphere, Mark''s group was not even doing anything threatening to the intruders and went back to eating.


    "Want to join?"


    And Mark even told the two foxes to join them for dinner, pushing the awkwardness even further.


    Unable to hold it in, the white fox glowed.


    Mark''s group could only squint at the bright light that onlysted an instant.


    "You all are expecting us toe?"


    The white fox, no, the white foxdy shrugged in helplessness.


    A woman with the same white hair, fox ears, and multiple tails reced the white fox. She could only stare at Mark, who was just as mysterious as thest time she saw him.


    Following the white fox, the ck fox also glowed, turning into another woman with simr unusual features to the first one, albeit having ck hair, ears, and tails but a little bit younger-looking.


    "Yukine-sama, is he really the same person you encountered in the Philippines?"


    The ck [Kitsune] asked the white [Kitsune].


    "There is no doubt," Yukine replied. "He is the owner of the newly born [Pure Spirit Tree] in the Philippines."


    The white [Kitsune] was Yukine. She was the leader of the intelligence group, [Yuki Kitsune], directly under the Empress, the leader of the Japanese Brance of [Auraboros]. The very same fox woman that Mark''s group had met after the fight with the invaders from the Chinese Branch.


    At that time, Yukine proposed an alliance with Mark with the goal of trading resources from the [Spirit Dimension] through his [Pure Spirit Tree]. However, Mark refused without a second thought.


    With the world changing and the resources of the Spirit Dimension now avable on Earth, the alliance became unnecessary whether Mark epted it or not.


    Still, Mark had shownplete hostility to the organization. And his sudden appearance here in the Reimed City was nothing but bad news for the Japanese Branch.


    But now, Yukine was rather confused. There was no need to mention hostility. She could not feel much from Mark at all.


    Did his hostility subside over time? Or was it that he did not see the organization as something worth his time?


    Yukine could not understand. However, there was something that she knew.


    The spectacles andmotion that Mark''s group had caused in these past few days were to tell the Japanese Branch that he had arrived in this country.


    It was now clear that Mark was waiting for the [Auraboros] to be the ones to establish contact first.


    And this was a good thing.<novelnext></novelnext>


    If one''s goal was a ughter, there was no need for the announcement of their arrival.


    Mark''s actions had shown that there was a chance for negotiation or, at the least,munication.


    Considering Mark''s initial hostilities with the organization, Yukine decided to go straight to the point.


    "What is your reason for luring us to meet you?"


    Yukine voiced out.


    But instead of answering the question, Mark replied with his own question.


    "Do you still call yourselves a branch of [Auraboros]?"


    That question gave Yukine the chills.


    Back when they first met, Mark gave the threat that he would destroy the [Auraboros]. And if the Japanese Branch was still under the organization at that time, he would not mind destroying it along with the entire organization.


    Normally, one would think that it was nothing but a delusion. But Yukine knew that Mark was nothing normal. A Pureblood Demon of an unknown origin could be anything but normal.


    But unexpectedly, Yukine replied with eyes looking straight at Mark.


    "The name [Auraboros] is now nothing but leverage to our branch."


    "Yukine-sama!"


    The ck [Kitsune] was surprised after Yukine shared such crucial information.


    "It''s fine, Kuroe," Yukine nced at herpanion. "There is no point in hiding it. If anything, it''s better to avoid conflict. Unnecessary conflict is thest thing the Empress would want in our current situation."


    Yukine turned back to Mark, who was seemingly waiting for further information.


    "I wonder how you managed to get here? The entirety of Japan was currently surrounded by spatial distortions. It is basically cut off from the rest of the world."


    Mark understood the meaning behind Yukine''s words.


    Japan was cut off from the rest of the world due to the spatial distortions that appeared after the [Fusion of Dimensions]. It basically meant that the Japanese Branch of [Auraboros] could not be part of anythingrger whether they wanted it or not. And, right now, they were only using the organization''s name due to its notoriety.


    Ignoring the question, Mark spoke.


    "Being cut off doesn''t mean anything. I''m pretty sure you understand the meaning of my question, right?"


    ''Are you my enemy or not?''


    Yukine clearly understood Mark''s question.


    Kuroe, behind Yukine, finally realized Mark''s hostility. She was about to reach the dagger on her waist, but a shake of Yukine''s head stopped her.


    And then, Yukine replied to Mark''s question.


    "I can only apologize then," Yukine bowed her head at Mark to Kuroe''s shock. "The Empress had yet to convey anything about that notion. We have been facing difficulties at this moment. Either way, whether it is you, or the Demons in the north, we can''t avoid bloodshed if we are unable to act properly."


    "Is it possible to answer that question another time?"


    Yukine added.


    "What a sly move."


    Mark stared at the bowing white [Kitsune]. She was basically asking Mark to wait until they resolved their current situation. Only then that their Empress would be able to focus on that part.


    But at that time, if the Empress chose to stick to the side of the organization, she could have all the preparation she could make to fight against Mark.


    "You really think that I will wait that long?"


    Mark added.


    "Twelve days," Yukine spoke. "The Empress will visit the Reimed City in the next full moon to discuss an alliance with the Priestess. At that time, you can receive an answer from her directly. Since the location would be here, there would be no danger of any schemes from us."


    Yukine was getting a bit desperate. She did not want to fight Mark at all due to the dangers he could bring. Thus, she could only rely on this piece of information.


    Mark gave Yukine a short silence before shrugging.


    "Twelve days. Nothing more, nothing less."


    Those words made Yukine feel relieved... until Mark opened his mouth once again.


    "Then, the next one. What happened with Shin?"


    Yukine could only show a bitter smile.


    One of Mark''s previous demands was to hand Shin to him. It was no surprise. Shin and his group did meddle in Mark''s business, after all. And if not for them, Mark''s hostility to the Japanese Branch would have been less.


    And now, what could Yukine say to answer that question?

 Chapter 980 A Defection, The Split Of A Faction And The Spread Of Information

    Day 321 - 7:39 PM - Evernight Base, Kachidoki, Chuo City, Tokyo


    The circumstances around the swordsman named Shin. It was among the thorns in the throat of the remaining members of Auraboros. And that was why Yukine was unable to respond quickly to Mark''s question.


    And since Yukine gave a pause instead of answering, Mark continued speaking.


    "I already know about him joining the Demons in the north. So, what happened?"


    Mark''s question was a curious one. However, it also implied one thing in Yukine''s understanding.


    It was along the thoughts that negotiation might be easier if his demand to hand over Shin was fulfilled. But that was impossible now since the Japanese Branch let Shin leave.


    In the first ce, aside from originating within the same organization, the Japanese Branch should be able to escape Mark''s hatred. However, Shin''s group meddled in his fight. While it was due to a business contract and the mission to save a client, it still caused their side to be involved in this mess.


    Yukine then gave out a clear sigh.


    "If you already knew that much, it would be easier to exin the situation."


    And there, Yukine unwillingly shared the circumstances of Shin''s defection.


    ***


    It was no news that the organization of Auraboros wasposed of a mix of human and inhuman members. However, there was one thingmon to most of them. It was their hatred for humanity. That was why they were messing with humans in the shadows, hidden away from the grasp of themon people.


    The organization''s main mission was to slowly take over human civilization. Gaining dominion over humans and the world. Well, while that was a mission that the lower members knew, who would know what the higher ones had in mind?


    However, contrary to thatmon mindset within Auraboros, the leader of the Japanese Branch, the Empress, decided to take an uncanny path.


    It was to ally with the humans. To be specific, the humans of the Reimed City.


    The decision of the Empress was a rational one. With themon enemy in sight, it was better to avoid unnecessary conflict. Then, if possible, face the otherworldly enemies together.


    In the first ce, while both the Japanese Branch of Auraboros and the Reimed City managed to resist the immediate effects of the world''s drastic change, it never meant that both managed to be scot-free from the cmity.


    And, to no surprise, most members of the Japanese Branch hated that notion.


    Still, it should have been fine. After all, the members should not be able to go against the Empress. Not only she had the authority, but she was stronger against the other members as one of the founders of the Auraboros.


    They had no choice but to obey her.


    But a single factor turned the tide.


    A mighty being at the same status as the Empress. While he had yet to reim his original strength, it was true that he was one of the founders of the organization.


    The [Demonic Deity of mes]. Gar''m.


    While Gar''m''s arrival at the Japanese Branch was nothing but a coincidence, there was no way they would chase away one of the founders that shared the same status in the organization as the Empress.


    And that turned out to be the worst decision.


    Gar''m was among the founders that looked down on humans the most. It was impossible for him to agree and ally himself with the insects he could trample under his feet.


    With the instigation of Gar''m, Shin and those who were against the Empress'' decision deserted and headed north. They joined the Demons that had already set up base there.


    And as far as they knew, Gar''m became the leader of the Demons, and Shin was transformed into a [Demonic Human] under his blessing as a Deity.


    Everything else about Shin was the information Mark had already heard from Ren.


    ***


    Mark and the rest listened to Yukine''s exnation. It was both amazing and annoying.


    However, Mark could only shrug. It looked like the end of his goals here in Japan would end with a reunion with his past adversaries.


    Mark smiled. He could not help but look forward to it. It was different now than before.


    "You look like a psycho right now." Spera''s voice entered Mark''s ear. "What is there to smile about?"


    "Don''t you find the situation interesting?" Mark replied. "The central figures during the Bay City''s incident will get a bloody reunion. And that also includes you."


    "I''m not interested at all."


    Spera argued.


    At this time, Yukine spoke to Spera.


    "Spera, you really have no intention to return? If you do, you can likely be an officer or a group leader."


    The sudden invitation to return made Spera look at Yukine. If it was her in the past, those positions might feel attractive. But now?


    "This is the second time you asked. And my answer is no," Spera shook her head. "I already found my ce."


    Yukine stared at Spera. The silent Spera, who became extremely expressive thest time she saw her, was now a girl brimming with courage and confidence.


    With that answer, Yukine could only back down. And deep down, she knew. This would be thest time she would ask Spera this question.


    Yukine turned to Mark, who was staring at her. His stare was clearly asking her what she was trying to do, trying to take away his people.


    In this regard, Yukine actually had the right. After all, Spera was one of their members, and it was Mark who took her away. However, Yukine shut her mouth about this and decided not to reason. Because if this started, it would still end up with that very fact that Shin''s group appeared in front of Mark to meddle with his business.


    Putting those thoughts aside, Yukine asked Mark.<novelnext></novelnext>


    "Is there anything else? If none, it is better that we should go. Your ce had a lot of prying eyes all over the ce. It would not do neither of us any good if we got found out."


    "I have nothing else," Mark answered. "You can go. We''ll meet again in twelve days."


    Yukine was pretty surprised by Mark''s words. However, he was right. Yukine would be one of the Empress'' escorts at that time.


    "Kuroe, let''s go."


    Yukine turned around and called to Kuroe, who was staring at Mark''s group with a mix of curiosity, anger, and confusion.


    Kuroe immediately followed Yukine, and the two of them were enveloped in white light, turning back into foxes. They then jumped into the ground, melding into the shadows.


    And just like that, the two foxdies visited and left Mark''s ce without getting detected by the eyes observing outside.


    "She''s pretty smart, didn''t she?"


    Mark voiced out, looking at the now empty entrance.


    "She can''t be the leader of the intelligence group if she''s not."


    Spera said, putting down her spoon after finally finishing her dinner.


    "What I meant is that she probably realized that you''re why we can pass through the space distortion. That''s why she took the chance to ask you again even if the chance you are going to say yes is near impossible."


    Mark exined.


    "How are you sure that I will not say yes?"


    Spera asked Mark...


    Only to be replied with another question.


    "Will you?"


    Spera fell silent while Mei and Emika were smiling at her funny reaction.


    And from there, the night proceeded peacefully, although the new environment should have made it harder for them to sleepfortably if not for Mark doing his work.


    ***


    While Mark''s group was asleep, the information about them finally leaving the ck Lotus'' cradle spread to those people with varying intentions towards them.


    When they were still staying inside the ck Lotus Compound, most of those people interested in them were reluctant to make contact. After all, there was a possibility that they were undisclosed members of the ck Lotus, and not everyone was powerful and courageous enough to sh with the lord of Kachidoki.


    But now, Mark''s group moving out pretty much confirmed that they were not members of ck Lotus. They were avable for recruitment as an independent group. And given their performances during the previous days, it was no surprise that quite a number of people were eager to put Mark''s group under their wing.


    Of course, it was not all just them wanting to recruit Mark''s group. There were a few individuals with different mindsets. And it was to join Mark''s group instead.


    Andstly, there were those who were instead wary of the group for various reasons. Those people were trying to gather information about Mark''s group forpletely different goals. There were two prevalent reasons for their cautiousness. One was because Mark''s group was suspicious, and the other was because Mark''s group was not Japanese. The second reason was not surprising. In every country, there were such people. Some of them had deep and strong reasons, while some were just hating people for no particr reason.


    Among the people interested in the group, there were three factions that were the most powerful.


    The Mitsui n, the Government, and the Temple.


    An ancient Samurai Family and now the leader of a Conglomerate empire. That was the Mitsui n. It was no surprise they were interested in Mark''s group. They were among the witnesses of the fight during the ho attack.


    The Government... There was nothing much to say. It was the remains of the Japanese government under the rule of a new Prime Minister. As the Prime Minister had just stepped into position after the Reimed City was established, he needed to establish a strong foundation and connections. He was seeking powerful and talented people to recruit under him.


    Andstly, the Temple. It was the most important faction in the Reimed City. Led by the Priestess, it was the current religious pir in this ce. And without the Priestess, the Reimed City would have crumbled to the effects of the world''s changes. Even if both the government and the Mitsui n vanished, it would only weaken the Reimed City''s offensive and defensive forces. Without the Temple, it would be destroyed.


    Fortunately for the smaller groups interested in Mark''s group, the three giants were still taking the observer stance. They were still in the process of gathering information and would not make direct contact too soon. The smaller groups and individuals still had time to try.


    Well... Not knowing that it was impossible in the first ce.


    There was no way Mark would join other groups or let people join his. Unless there was a special reason, of course.


    Still, it was clear that the next following days would not be peaceful for Mark''s group. And since ardent recruitments did not happen before, Mark underestimated the people''s fervor.


    Mark should expect an increased number of knocks on his door in the next few days.


    ***


    And while the information about Mark''s group was spreading in the Reimed City...


    "That is all, your Majesty."


    Yukine said as she kneeled down before a screen with the shadow of a woman behind it. She had just finished rying the things that happened during her meeting with Mark and his group.


    "The leader of another faction and the owner of the red-colored [Pure Spirit Tree]. We did not expect that it was possible for them to enter this country despite the situation at the borders. If We knew this would happen, We should have imprisoned that Shin instead."


    The shadow of the Empress could be seen making a slight shrug.


    Shin would have been a valuable asset because of his unpolished but powerful ability. But as a deserter, Shin''s value in the Empress'' eyes was dragged down the fecal drain. If she could reach an agreement with a powerful individual by sacrificing a traitor, she would dlyply with the request. Unfortunately, Shin was already in the north, protected by Gar''m and his forces.


    "We appreciate your work, Yukine," The Empressplemented her right-hand woman. "Make adjustments to the schedule twelve days from now and prepare gifts. In the current situation, we do not want to enter unnecessary conflicts. It would be worth it if we could strike more than one alliance instead."


    And there, the preparation for the meetup in twelve days from now onmenced.

 Chapter 981 Uninvited Visitors, The Annoying Consequences Of Fame

    Day 323 - 9:21 AM - Evernight Base, Kachidoki, Chuo City, Tokyo


    After the group moved to their new base, an entire day passed pretty quickly.


    Mark returned to the breakfast table after chasing away people knocking on their door.


    "Those people just won''t stoping."


    Mei said with a frown.


    "Yeah," Mark shrugged. "We overdid it, I guess."


    The effect of the poprity of Mark''s group was much worse than they had thought.


    Yesterday, most of the day was spent cleaning and renovating the new base. And, well... Chasing away uninvited visitors.


    Through their performances and rumors, it seemed that many [Frencer Groups] and private groups had be interested in taking Mark''s group under their wing. And since they were now outside the immediate protection of the ck Lotus Group, many of those interested took the opportunity to approach them.


    And thus, constant knocking sounds were heard from the door of the restaurant throughout the entire day, which continued even now.


    There were quite a variety of these uninvited visitors. There were some who tried sales talk, others were elevating themselves, there were also those who were full of themselves, and, of course, the extremely rude ones.


    The offers also varied in incentives. Their goals also varied.


    Some were interested in Mark''s group as a whole. Some were only interested in Mei and the girls for obvious reasons. There were also those who were interested in the equipment that Mark''s group disyed during the ho attack.


    And as the visitors varied, Mark also had a variety of responses.


    Mark politely declined those who were nicely talking to Mark. It was the same for those with business attitudes but not unreasonable. As for those that were arrogant and full of themselves, Mark was a bit more aggressive in chasing them away. At times, he would close the door in front of their faces.


    And for those unreasonable and extremely rude ones, especially those with malicious and threatening attitudes, Mark did not hesitate at all. He pulled a gun on their faces, causing them to freeze in fear. It seemed that some of them forgot, but with the muzzle of the gun on their faces, they remembered that one of the first things that Mark did upon their arrival was put a gun on the face of the leader of the Blood Lion Troupe. He even fired the gun despite the presence of Okii-san in front of the Bureau.


    Mark showed the rude ones he had no fear and did not care much about the Reimed City''s rules. Continue to pester and threaten them, and the offenders would receive a bullet in their forehead.


    And as if that was not enough, Mark actually fired a few shots at the most annoying ones. Especially those with third-rate viin dialogues when they were clearly running away.


    Mark''s group did not care what the neighbors would think about the situation. After Mark fired those shots, the neighbors began to avoid the restaurant as much as possible. It would be nice if the uninvited visitors did the same.


    And due to Mark''s violent response, it seemed that thendlords received someints. Ren visited the restaurant in the afternoon. While she did not try to stop Mark from violently chasing the rude ones away, she asked Mark not to shoot guns as it was scaring people. She clearly understood the circumstances, but she wanted to also address the worry of the people under her care.


    Unfortunately, it was impossible for Ren to hold back all the groups that wanted to meet Mark''s group. As such, she could only tell Mark to do it in moderation.


    After gunshots were banned for chasing away rude people, Mark decided to use a crossbow instead. The explosive sounds that guns emit were one of the reasons it was scary to people. On the other hand, the crossbow barely makes sounds when fired. Nheless, the lethality was not that different.


    And if the crossbow or a revolver was not scary enough, Mark could pull out a grenade. Not like he was going to use it, but it was far scarier. Fortunately, there was no need to show a grenade so far.


    But for sure, more kinds of rumors about the group named [Evernight] would pop out in the Reimed City because of this.


    "Seriously, I want to go somewhere today, but if this doesn''t stop, I can''t leave."


    Mark said, clearly annoyed by the situation. However, there was no one to me here but himself.


    And then, with a sigh, Mark finished his breakfast and went around the house, trying to find a wide piece of plyboard. Luckily, there was some plyboard among the old stuff in the restaurant they stored in one of the rooms upstairs. It was a bit broken, but it was good enough for what Mark wanted to do.


    Without any hesitation, Mark controlled his blood and wrote a notice on the plywood.


    "We are not interested in joining anyone. We are also not recruiting new members. We are not entertaining uninvited guests. Leave." Spera read what Mark wrote on it. "Will that work?"


    "If not, I''ll end up not using my blood on the next sign."


    Mark answered before hanging the sign in front of the door.


    It was a sign written with blood. It would surely scare people less brave people. But its effectiveness on blockheads, arrogant, and dense people was questionable. In that case, Mark would not hesitate to beat people up, considering there was already a sign on the door.


    And the sign seemed to have worked. In the next hour, not a single knock on the door came, even though some strangers stopped in front of the restaurant and read the sign before leaving.


    But soon enough...


    TOK! TOK!


    A rather heavy knock on the door sounded to Mark''s annoyance.


    And unlike the previous ones, Mark''s eyes seemed to carry killing intent which was noticed by Mei and Spera as he went to answer the door.


    Mark opened the door and stepped out, looking at the bastards outside.


    It was a group of men with rather bulky builds. There were ten of them. Looking at them, Mark immediately noticed their demeanor and the tattoos hidden under their coats.


    Members of the Yakuza. Furthermore, they were not the disciplined kind but the unruly ones.


    Mark looked at his feet. It was the reason why his eyes contained killing intent. Right in front of the door, pieces of scrap wood could be seen. The sign he made... was destroyed by these bastards.


    Without waiting for Mark to talk, the man in front with a white coat and chain ne spoke.


    "Are you the leader here?" The white coat man said in his deep threatening voice. "Follow us. Our boss wants to meet you."


    Mark met the eye of the white coat man.


    "You didn''t read the sign before you destroyed it?"


    "What sign are you talking about? I didn''t see one." The white coat man answered with a sneer. "Just follow us if you don''t want any trouble."


    "No. That''s my answer."


    Mark replied with a re before turning around to go back inside.


    But arge hand grabbed Mark''s right shoulder before he could take a step.


    "Look here," The white coat man said threateningly. "You think we are asking you? This is an order."


    Mark took a deep breath. He was trying to endure it, but he was already fed up.


    Without saying anything else, Mark grabbed the hand on his shoulder.


    And then...


    CRACK!<novelnext></novelnext>


    "AAAAAAHHH!!!"


    A painful cry resonated in the area, making everyone watching the situation shiver.


    The white coat man took a few steps backward before falling on his bottom in the middle of the sidewalk. His right arm twisted in a literal sense. The bones were not only broken. They were crushed with his muscles spun into a spiral. Just a little more twist and his whole right arm would have been torn off.


    "Who said you can touch me?"


    Mark said, his eyes on the verge of turning red.


    "Aniki!"


    The other men cried as they came to the white coat man''s rescue.


    "F*ck! Kill him!"


    The white coat man had lost his reason due to pain and issued an order he was not supposed to. However, his members followed without hesitation, swallowed by the rage after they saw the white coat man with his arm crippled.


    Nine members took out their handguns of different models. And in a few moments, they were ready to fire.


    Most of the people watching in the surroundings began to run away. If a gunfight ensued, they might get caught in it.


    However...


    The wind in the surroundings suddenly picked up. des of wind formed and shed the arms of the members, causing them to drop their weapons.


    These Yakuza members forgot one important thing.


    The very first reason why Mark''s group gathered attention. They had a [Sylph] with them. While these [Wind Elementals] were weak, they still had some capabilities. And to them, making an enemy drop their weapons was quite easy. Their legs were also shed by the wind des, causing them to fall to the ground.


    Without the weapons and with their arms and legs wounded, the situation came to aplete turnaround. However, the Yakuza members had yet to give up. They wanted to avenge the white coat man.


    But Mark, without any shred of fear, stepped forward. He picked up a gun that was dropped in front of him and pointed it at the white coat man.


    "Kill, you said?"


    Mark said with a creepy smile.


    And here, the Yakuza members realized. What they were dealing with here was much worse than a gang member.


    Mark''s killing intent was overflowing. It had really been a while since he disposed of any trash. The bloodlust of the [Deity of Bloodshed] was getting thicker after all this time.


    But as Mark was about to pull the trigger, a noticeable presence walked near them.


    Mark nced at the owner of the presence.


    A man with white clothes and a ck hat. A Shinto Priest.


    The priest then spoke.


    "Please, put the weapons down and stop thismotion."


    Mark, unfazed by the priest''s presence, asked.


    "Are you with these dregs?"


    "Me?" The priest nced at the Yakuza members before turning back to Mark. "Please, don''t associate a priest like me with these individuals. It is just themotion is affecting the poor people, and they had nothing to do with the problems of the people with power."


    "And besides..." The priest continued. "It is not worth it to dirty your hands further with the blood of these individuals. The wounds you inflicted should be enough of a punishment for their offense."


    Mark stared at the priest as he lowered his gun. His bloodlust had yet to dissipate, and he really wanted to at least cripple this group of injured trash. However, it was not the best time to sh with the Temple and its priests. These priests were far more troublesome than this group of Yakuza members.


    But Mark did not want to end it just like that either.


    "Hey, you," Mark called out to the white coat man. "Take off your coat."


    "What are you..."


    The white coat man tried to argue, but the pain from his arm stopped him from talking.


    "Just take off your coat before I really tear off that arm of yours."


    Mark said with his bloodthirsty re.


    The man already realized that if the priest did not appear, he was already dead. He had no choice but toply here. Since his right arm was twisted, he could only ask his members to help him take off his coat.


    But instead of receiving the coat, Markid the coat t on the pavement in front of the injured Yakuza members.


    Mark then ordered.


    "Write what''s written in the sign you dregs destroyed into the coat."


    The confused members could onlyply, but they had one question.


    "What should we write with?"


    And Mark looked at them like idiots before pointing at their wounds.


    Mark was telling them to write with their blood. They were hesitant, but as Mark began raising the gun in his hand again, they could only scramble to do it.


    It was much incoherent since the people who wrote it were injured, but it was readable enough. Mark then picked up a coat with blood written on it and hung it in front of the restaurant door, with wet blood still dripping from the written letters.


    "Scram."


    Mark told Yakuza members to leave, in which they dragged their injured bodies and hurriedly left Mark''s sight.


    The priest watched the scene with interest. But then, without saying another word to him, Mark opened the restaurant door and was about to enter.


    "Wait!"


    The priest called out to Mark.


    However, Mark only pointed at the coat he hung in front of the door and shut it in front of the bbergasted priest.


    Mark had no reason to pick a fight with the Temple, but it did not mean that he was willing to entertain them either.

 Chapter 1035 Determination And Responsibilities, The Secret Weapons Of The Reclaimed Citys Goverment

    ?


    Day 341 - 1:01 PM - Technical Laboratory, Tokyo Port, Ariake, Reimed City, Ruins of Tokyo


    The people of the Reimed City rushed to evacuate. Helped by the soldiers and respective members of the ck Lotus, leaving the premises of Kachidoki went smoother than expected.


    Well... It was smooth enough, considering everyone was under the unrestrained powerful pressureing from a godly being. Although not as heavy as everyone at the riverbank felt during its appearance, anyone within a several-kilometer radius could feel the fear creeping up their backs as their arms and legs shiver uncontrobly. The faintest of hearts had already fallen unconcious.


    Those who were on the open streets of Kachidoki and Tsukuda could even see the Serpent God on the other side of the Sumida River. That was how gigantic the Serpent God was as it raised its eight necks up to the sky while spewing mes and summoning tornadoes from some of its mouths.


    It was a horrifying sight for the mortals.


    If there was something keeping the people up, it was the will to survive and escape the misty-goo-like creatures spawning from underground.


    So far, the [Miasmic Residues] only appeared inside underground shelters and sealed-off subways. It would have been a fortunate thing if not for the fact that their sudden appearance caused deaths among the refugees within the underground shelters. And worse, they also began to appear in areas near the water surrounding the different manmade inds of the Reimed City. The residues still faced the coastal barriers and walled banks, slowing them down. However, it was only a matter of time.


    If there was a leeway, it was the taller buildings as these locations were less prone to the attacks of the [Miasmic Residues] in the meantime.


    The good news was that only the northern parts of the Reimed City were prone to the spawning of the [Miasmic Residues]. The closer the location was to the riverside northwest of Kachidoki, the more the residues spawned. It also meant that as long as everyone evacuated to the southern parts of the Reimed City, the safer they became.


    Unfortunately, it would be questionable if the government would allow the evacuees to the southernmost parts of the Reimed City.


    Everything south of Toyosu would be the industrial area. It was where the government constructed new factories and farms for the consumption of the Reimed City. Normally, only workers were allowed in those areas to prevent thieves. But in case of emergency, exceptions could be made, although it came with a few risks.


    However, the southernmost part of the Reimed City, the Tokyo Docks, was off-limits to unauthorized personnel. One reason was that it was the most dangerous coastal area facing Tokyo Bay. The other, more important, reason was that it was where the Japanese government built theirboratories and research facilities.


    These facilities were off-limits for obvious reasons. Not only it contained the ssified results of the government''s research, but it also housed some dangerous specimens.


    In any case, the industrial area should be fine to house the evacuees. Unless something worse had happened, there should be no necessity for the evacuees to take shelter within the research facilities andboratories.


    And currently, outside one of such research facilities, an armored vehicle arrived apanied by armed guards. It was a research facility by the docks, which was previously used as a maintenance dock for cargo ships before the apocalypse.


    In the current days of the apocalypse, only the government had the knowledge of what was happening within this facility and the ones around it.


    The people in the armored vehicle came out. They were led by the current Prime Minister, followed by the representatives who did not defect to the side of the traitors.


    There was one particr reason why the Prime Minister was spared, even though he knew some information about the Mitsui n''s betrayal. It was not because he did not totally fall to the side of the traitors. It was due to the fact that he was the first prime minister of the Reimed City.


    Although the previous government was already in shambles due to the apocalypse, government positions still held some meaning. Most importantly, authority.


    As the Prime Minister, he led most of the Reimed City''s development after it was established. Along with that, he gained authority above many things, including the results of the research the scientists conducted.


    Was the Prime Minister the highest position in Japan? Of course, not. The Royal Family should be above him.


    Unfortunately, the apocalypse would spare no one, even those with the highest status. Just like the previous Prime Minister who prematurely retired, most of the royal family fell victim to the apocalypse. There was still a direct heir to be enthroned, but he was still too young to be the head of the country.


    That was why the current Prime Minister held the highest position in the Reimed City.


    Enduring the innate fear trying to overwhelm his body, the Prime Minister took quick strides into the facility.


    Along the way, he was met with the Head Scientist of this facility.


    "How are the preparations?"


    The Prime Minister asked the Head Scientist.


    "Nowhere ready." The Head Scientist bluntly responded. "You know the units are still experimental. The power consumption is huge, and the operation time is short."


    "How long is the current operation time?"


    The Prime Minister asked as he continuously walked towards the inner facilities with everyone.


    "Ten minutes for normal operation. Fifteen at maximum. And that''s if we are ready to abandon the unit on the spot after losing power. Raising the operation time is currently impossible."


    "That should be enough," The Prime Minister sternly said. "The units are not our priority but our survival. If the experimental units can help the ones fighting for us even a little, then there is no need to hesitate."


    "Haahh..." The Head Scientist sighed. "If you said so. I''ll authorize the deployment immediately."


    At this time, the group reached the docks. It was a gigantic facility that could house severalrge sea vessels. And what weed them was the sight of two newly built warships.


    To be specific, two Kongo-ss warships.


    The two warships were simr in size. However, there were distinct differences between the two.


    One was pure white in color. It was mostly armed with cannons and deployable sea traps. It seemed less bulky as if its design aimed for more mobility than usual.


    The other was a ck warship with yellow ents. Its color seemed to imply a streak of lightning amidst the darkness. It was also armed with cannons, but instead of having deployable sea traps, it was equipped with missileunchers.


    But the physical looks aside, these warships were the products of the new technological advancements that the apocalypse brought. Their hull was made from newly discoveredpound alloy, and their weapons were far from ordinary.


    As the Prime Minister looked at the two warships. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath, remembering the sight of the gigantic eight-headed enemy.


    "It is as if it is destiny, isn''t it?"


    The Prime Minister said as he opened his eyes.


    Those words sounded odd, but no one around actually disagreed.


    It was because everyone here knew the names of these warships.


    The white one was Amaterasu. The guiding light and humanity''s hope. It was more of a transport vessel that could fight dangers and destroy its pursuers.


    And the ck one was Susanoo. Portraying the powerful hero who could destroy his enemies by raining lightning from the sky. It was an attack vessel that could rain missiles from long distances.


    The names might be peculiar, but it was what humanity needed at this moment, names that could bring hope and inspiration.


    "Weapon checks are done! Susanoo is ready to go!"


    A shout came from the personnel making final checks on the vessel.


    "Are we letting it sail to the battlefield?" The Head Scientist asked. "We already sent drones to monitor the situation from both air and underwater. Those ck formless creatures were mostly appearing from underwater. Sailing to the affected area could pose a threat to the personnel inside the ship."


    The Prime Minister instead turned to one of the representatives, who was wearing a maritime soldier''s uniform. He was the current Admiral of the Maritime Self-Defense Forces.


    And at that signal, the Admiral Spoke.


    "We don''t need to sail too close. It was already questionable whether our cannons would work on that monster. We can only rely on missiles, which we canunch from here. Although we should at least leave the docks since the shipyard equipment might end up bing obstacles."


    It was a sound n. Safe for the most part, but it should at least help even a little.


    Just because there were brave warriors fighting for their safety did not mean they would justy low and hide.


    The Prime Minister and the representatives immediately went to the control room of the docks. As these warships were their current final trump cards, the exit of the docks was blocked, and high-tech locking mechanisms held the ships in ce.


    In order to disengage the locks, the controls were locked with keys held by the Prime Minister and a few loyal representatives.


    The only thing left to do was to insert the key and press the button.


    And soon, the sound of a warship''s engine echoed from the docks.


    ***


    Day 341 - 1:02 PM - North Riverbank, Sumida River, Ruins of Tokyo


    While the Prime Minister was leading the preparations to help, the fight in the Sumida River was already intensifying.


    BOOM!


    Another explosion urred as Gar''m threw a basketball-sized fireball at Mark. However, it missed and fell into the river, causing the ice to melt and cause a steam explosion as the fireball submerged into the icy river.


    Just like with Mark''s attacks, getting stronger as he d his sword in [Miasma], Gar''m''s fireballs were getting bigger and hotter. Right now, the temperature of Gar''m''s attacks was even higher than the mes Shin could release in his attacks.


    Before, Mark could make small movements to dodge the fireballs from Gar''m. He could even try to sh them with his sword. But now,rger strides were needed to evade since the heat from Gar''ms attacks was not only causing Mark physical damage. They also brought mental and emotional damage.


    The weather was as cold as winter, and Gar''m''s attacks were as hot asva. It was not surprising that the continuous temperature change around Mark would weigh him down mentally.


    It was already like this when Mark''s body was covered in temperature-regting armor. What if he did not have this armor? This situation would have been worse.


    And as if the threat that Gar''m brought Mark was not enough, the Serpent God would chime in from time, with each attack being different from before.


    First was mes, then Mark was almost blown away by a wind spiral next. Then, getting showered with boulders and shot with a water cannon. And those were not the end of it.


    As the next sh between Mark''s sword and Gar''m''s fist blew him away another time, Mark knew he was not getting anywhere.


    Mark was trying to conserve energy while fighting Gar''m since they would still have to deal with the resurrected fragment of Yamata-no-Orochi.


    But it looked like Mark underestimated the extent of Gar''m''s recovery.


    The current Gar''m, despite still far from full recovery of his strength, was two to three times stronger than the [Infected] Sinogo.


    As Marknded at the frozen river after the previous sh, he finally decided.


    There was no need to hold back, as he was the weaker one in the first ce.


    Mark''s aura suddenly exploded, causing the other battles to halt shortly. The sudden surge of his energy was surprising since everyone barely felt anything from him all this time.


    And there, Mark''s Demon Form began to emerge.


    Mark''s transformation caused both surprise and curiosity among both enemies and allies.


    After all, Mark''s Demon Form was a form of a Pure Blood Demon Monarch.

 Chapter 983 Hired Assassins, Falling Into An Otherworldly Trap

    Day 323 - 11:21 PM - White Swan Club, Shinonome, Koto City, Tokyo


    It was almost midnight. While most of the Reimed City was dead asleep, Shinonome was at its liveliest.


    Shinonome now served as the Reimed City''s nighttime entertainment district. Clubs, casinos, and even brothels, Shinonome had it all. It was not surprising since it was a district managed by the Yakuza group, Dawn.


    Given that even more people wanted to release stress in the current times, these uncanny businesses were still earning an exceptional amount of ie. Most of it was due to many [Frencer Groups] visiting these establishments after a mission outside the Reimed City.


    And within one of the most popr nightclubs, the White Swan Club, a kind of hostile atmosphere in the owner''s suite.


    The owner of the White Swan Club was a muscr man in a ck leather coat called the alias Tulip. Was it quite an odd alias? That was not surprising for people that knew him... no, her.


    There was no secret to those the frequent Shinonome what kind of ce the White Swan Club was. It was where the ugly ducklings would be beautiful swans at night. Yes, it was a Gay Club.


    And Tulip was an Okama. A woman in a man''s body or a man with a maiden''s heart, these descriptions fit her. Either way, she was an unusual existence in the world of Yakuza, heavily driven by extreme males. However, she had the strength, wits, and connections. As such, Tulip managed to keep a good standing among her followers.


    Unfortunately, the ursed apocalypse tore down her group. And now, Tulip was nothing but one of the lowest-standing leaders of Dawn. It would have bothered her that much. After all, her gender orientation was pretty much scorned in this field. However, what made things worse was the fact that the current leader of Dawn was her younger brother. A younger brother who looked down and ignored her.


    Dawn was ignoring Tulip''s existence and was looking down on her.


    That was where Tulip''s current frustration came from. Her faction shrunk, and her influence plummeted.


    Tulip needed to do something. Something that would stand out over the other groups that made up Dawn.


    And that was when the attack of the [Mutated Hos] happened.


    Inside her suite, Tulip impatiently sat on her chair. The followers she sent to fetch some people went back injured. Her right-hand man turned into a cripple. She knew that what she was doing could bite her back. However, the desperation weighed far heavier than her reasoning.


    Impatiently tapping her right foot on the floor, Tulip looked at the carapace on the table in front of her. Many people would be familiar with this carapace. It was the carapace of a [Mutated Ho]. It had near-metal flexibility and durability. Lower caliber bullets could not even prate it.


    However, Tulip saw it clearly when that rumored group cut through the bodies of the [Mutated Hos] as if they were cutting through tofu.


    Tulip wanted those weapons and equipment. With those things, the other groups within Dawn would have no other choice but to acknowledge her.


    At first, Tulip thought it was the crafts of the cksmith the ck Lotus Group alwaysmissioned. They tried to contact the cksmith, who was already dealing with the same misconception from others that witnessed the happenings during the attack.


    That was the reason why Tulip could only act now, a few dayste after the same group moved out of the ck Lotus Group''s cradle.


    And as it turned out, it would not be easy to order that group around as they were fearless, unintimidated by Tulip''s henchmen.


    And as such, Tulip sent assassins. Not to kill but to kidnap. She needed to know where those weapons and equipment came from. As such, she needed something to hold onto to threaten that man who almost killed her followers. She needed to know where those weapons and equipment came from.


    ***


    ? Day 324 - 12:01 AM - Evernight Base, Kachidoki, Chuo City, Tokyo


    At exactly midnight, a group of assassins ran through the alley behind the new base of the rumored group called Evernight.


    Professionals in their field of work, these assassins knew what they were jumping into.


    The group called Evernight was being watched by a handful of powerful people. However, none of them had made any crucial move so far. Thus, these people would be d to see others test the waters and not interfere.


    It might not be a good feeling to be the ones testing the waters, but they could not disobey the orders they were given and paid for.


    With their noiseless footsteps, the assassins carefully approached the back door. To no surprise, the door was riddled with multiple locks from the inside. Fortunately, such locks were nothing challenging to people in their field of work.


    Although it took a bit of time, the locks were dismantled, allowing the assassins to open the door.


    But then, the leader of the assassins raised his hand. Not tomand his group to enter but to stop.


    The assassins looked past the door. The scene inside was strangely dark.


    "Boss, isn''t it too dark inside?"


    One of the assassins asked the leader.


    But before the leader could say anything, another assassin whispered.


    "It must be because the ones living here covered every door and window on the first floor."


    The assassins recalled that fact. All windows and doors on the first floor were covered and barricaded, disabling anyone from peering through and looking at what was inside. It was a logical thought. However, the leader could not shake the eerie feeling.


    Shaking away the unnecessary thoughts, the leader raised his hand again.


    And from there, all of them entered the darkened hallway within the restaurant.


    The group carefully moved. The tasks within their minds echoed, checking the surroundings and the corners.


    Well, what surroundings? What corners?


    After the assassins entered the door, they all froze on their toes.


    The assassins could not see anything.


    They tried to look behind them. However, there was only darkness. The door they had just entered, they could not see it.


    Without a doubt, this darkness was not ordinary. The assassins all lost their sense of direction. It was an awful mistake. They should not have turned their bodies around to find the door. They should have just stepped backward and retraced their steps.<novelnext></novelnext>


    The moment they turned around, they lost their sense of direction because they could not see anything.


    One of the assassins had a good idea. It was to immediately reach for the walls. Since the hallway was small, it should allow them to make out the surroundings they could not see.


    However, before that assassin could touch the wall, they all lost footing. They suddenly felt like falling. The darkness and the sudden fall. Even the best assassins should not be able to resist and scream in fear.


    Unexpectedly, the fall did notst. It was just around a few meters drop. Some of them fell into unsightly positions, but none of them were heavily injured.


    But when the assassins finally saw their surroundings, their eyes dted.


    They were nowhere in a restaurant or any kind of house at all.


    Three stone walls, a cold stone floor, an unfamiliar ceiling, and a row of ck-colored metal bars on one side.


    The assassins found themselves inside a dungeon cell, to their horror. They had no idea how in the world they got here.


    Then, they heard footsteps, making the assassins reflexively take their daggers out.


    And there, the assassins saw two people walking outside the dungeon cell.


    "Wee, intruders."


    The man outside greeted the assassins.


    Seeing the man''s appearance made the assassins recognize him immediately. It was the leader of the rumored group, Evernight. The leader of their targets. Beside him was one of his members. She was the woman that used a sword during thebat examination.


    It finally registered in the assassin''s minds. They walked into a trap. An unfathomable trap far beyond their understanding.


    ***


    Mark stared at the group of assassins. They all wore robes that covered their entire bodies and cloth masks that covered their faces. While these assassins were already inside the cell, they were still dangerous. Who would know what they were hiding within those baggy robes of theirs?


    "Seven people, huh..." Mark murmured before calling out to the captives. "Hey, who sent you people. Just fess up so we can end this quickly."


    "You think these people will speak?" Spera voiced out her thoughts beside Mark. "Assassins are usually trained to maintain silence."


    As Spera had said, Mark was met with silence. And then, one of the assassins suddenly spat something out of his mouth toward Spera. Was it ast-minute retaliation?


    Mark immediately extended his hand and grabbed the projectile that the assassin spat out. Seeing Mark''s actions, the assassin''s eyes gleamed a bit as if he had seeded in something.


    What the assassin spat out was a poisonous needle. There was no need for the needle to pierce. The poison could affect anyone through touch. In fact, as Mark opened his hand, the skin on his palm began to corrode. It was quite a powerful venom.


    However, Mark only sneered at it. His regeneration kicked in. In a few seconds, the damage was repaired. The poison was rendered useless, causing the assassins to grimace in shock. There was a rumor that Mark had [Rank 5 Regeneration], but no one had thought that it was this powerful.


    The assassins nced at each other. It was their decision and farewell. At the same time, all seven assassins crushed something within their mouths and fell to the ground, lifeless.


    Mark and Spera stared at the corpses inside the cell. Both of them were not concerned about what had happened at all.


    "You going to try that now?"


    Spera asked Mark.


    Mark did not reply. Instead, he entered the cell and closed the door. Standing within the cell, surrounded by the corpses, Mark began.


    Closing his eyes, Mark''s [Aura of Death] immediately enveloped the dungeon cell.


    Spera stepped back. It was not the first time Spera was seeing this, but the [Aura of Death] was really eerie up close.


    Inside the dungeon cell, Mark took out seven cylindrical containers. Each was about the size of arge sardine can, only with a metal lid at both ends and a transparent ss body.


    Both his hands enveloped with the [Aura of Death], Mark reached out to the empty space around him. It was as if catching something.


    And within his hands, a white orb with a somewhat ethereal appearance akin to a me could be seen.


    Mark smirked as he stuffed that white orb into one of the cylinder containers. He repeated the action six more times with a cruel glint in his eyes, filling all the containers with white orbs of different sizes.


    In the middle of it, Mark saw the first orb shiver. It was akin to someone unconscious waking up. The orb floated, confused until it saw Mark and what he was doing.


    The white orb finally realized what was happening. It began to shiver in fear as it tried to fly around its container, trying to shatter the ss that confined it.


    "It''s no use," Mark said to the orb. "I already told you guys to fess up so we can end this quickly. You didn''t listen. So... Let''s take it the long way, shall we?"


    The white orb inside the cylinder began to panic. Like a loose rubber ball, it began to bounce around its container. However, while it was able to touch the walls of its container, its hits had no force behind them.


    Mark soon retracted his aura and went out of the dungeon cell. In his hand was a chain linking seven containers containing panicked white orbs that had yet to sumb to their fates.


    "Looks like it worked nicely," Spera said, staring at the orbs inside the cylinders. "I thought it could fail. It''s the first time we tried this on a sentient being."


    "Yeah, it''s kinda different," Mark replied. "Their souls are more intact and easier to gather than animals and insects."


    "Is that so?" Spera was intrigued. "Anyway, I feel pity for the animals and the insects, but I don''t feel anything for these guys, somehow."


    "These guys are enemies, after all," Mark shrugged. "There''s no need to feel pity on people that tried to bring us harm. These pricks picked the wrong people to offend."


    Those words made the white orbs... No... The souls of the assassins shiver. They picked the wrong job. And now, they were captured by unfathomable beings where death would not be the end of their suffering.

 Chapter 984 Another Source Of Rumor, The Supposedly Noisy Night Enveloped In Dead Silence

    Day 323 - 11:10 PM - Underground Dungeon, Cliff House Laboratory, Mountain Base, Mount Mbito, General Nakar, Province of Quezon, Philippines


    With the cylinders in hand, Mark turned to the dungeon cell, or what he called [Soul Preserving Cell]. The unfathomable thing he did just now was only possible due to this room, specifically, the runes and magical circuits carved and hidden within the walls and bars of the dungeon cell.


    To the minds of themon people, death was already a grave punishment to people, even to unforgivable criminals. It was too grave that the death penalty was removed for criminal acts in many countries for many reasons.


    There were also those that viewed death as a light punishment since the used was freed from a lifetime loss of freedom and suffering. Of course, with all the corruption and stuff, a life sentence was nothing but a vacation to the most infamous criminals.


    And for Mark... he had always been the type that saw death as a release than a punishment. It could be seen in his actions a couple of times before. If there was a possibility, Mark would leave the sinners alive in a state worse than death.


    Now, Mark learned more things about the world that science had yet to prove. The existence of souls and the afterlife, for example.


    If one''s death would lead them to the afterlife, then death for sinners was not the best punishment. It was even more so since Mark was unsure if the concept of heaven and hell actually existed in this realm. And within Mark''s acquired knowledge, dead souls were just being cleansed, processed, and reused to fill in the number of souls the world needed for the following generations.


    And Mark would not consider such circumstances as a punishment.


    When Mark was working with the equipment and experiments this past month, that thought entered his mind at some point. That was when he wished he had some way to conduct punishments on his enemies without actually making them pass to the afterlife. It was such an aggressive and psychotic thought, but considering the enemies, Mark had fought so far, many of them did not really deserve the sweet release of death. It was even more so for the enemies he had to fight in the future and those that would target his loved ones.


    If someone tried to harm Mei or his daughters, they deserved to be tormented for eternity. That was what Mark had in mind.


    It made Mark remember a certain popr fantasy role-ying game series. The games in that series had spells and enchantments to trap the souls of defeated creatures into gems that could be used for crafting or just for collection. Mark remembered a time years ago when he yed the third installment of the series and trapped the souls of named enemies and bosses for collection. Unfortunately, he could not do the same for the next installments since the gems in the following installments remained unnamed even after trapping a soul inside them.


    Mark wondered if he could do something like that. And fortunately, he had someone to ask.


    "Oh, it looked like you finally tried it on humans."


    These words from a familiar voice reverberated inside Mark''s head.


    Speak of the devil... No, the otherworldly Goddess of the Underworld.


    Mark asked Magwayen about it. And to his surprise, she gave him a positive reply.


    And it resorted to the current situation where Mark was finally able to capture the souls of the dead using a specialized room and containers.


    All of it was thanks to the help of Magwayen, who did not hesitate to teach Mark her knowledge about souls. In fact, Magwayen was happy to impart her knowledge to the only person that received her blessing.


    After hearing the voice that he had not heard for about half a month, Mark asked in his head.


    "It''s been a while. You''re finally busy with something?"


    It was no secret to Mark that Magwayen''s world was having problems, and she was busy from time to time. However, it was moremon that she had nothing to do and was watching Mark''s domain through Mark and the artifact of the [Tamawos] to relieve boredom.


    "I am busy," Magwayen replied. "A newly abandoned realm passed near ours. I am taking this opportunity to transfer souls from that realm to ours."


    It looked like Magwayen was doing the same job as she did back when she was still on Earth. To bring souls from other realms back to her world since her world had a severe deficiency in the number of souls as one of its main problems.


    "Those souls, what stupid thing did they do?"


    Magwayen asked Mark.


    "Assassins," Mark replied. "I haven''t interrogated them yet since they immediately killed themselves. I''m just about to start asking them."


    "I see," Magwayen replied, seemingly nodding on her side. "Remember. Do not attempt the taboo."


    "I know."


    Mark shrugged.


    The taboo when dealing with souls. Entrapping or imprisoning souls was not a good thing. However, it was not a forbidden thing either. In fact, sealing powerful souls was within the acts of Gods in myths if they were unable or incapable of erasing their enemies entirely.


    But as a mortal, there was one taboo that Mark should not cross while dealing with souls. It was to never erase the souls of mortals.


    The souls of mortals were bound to the world through destiny. Haphazardly erasing mortal souls could result in unfathomable things like sudden shifts in fate or even changing the predicted future entirely. The effects might vary from a speck of dust being misced to the entire world suddenly ending. The scale was toorge and unpredictable that one better not try their luck.


    Fortunately, indefinitely imprisoning the souls was still within the possible eptable actions. It was due to the fact that the important thing was the existence of the soul and not where it was. As long as the soul existed, the role it had in the world could be shifted, unlike when erasing it, leaving that role to be permanently empty and causing damage to the pages of the book called fate.


    On the contrary, the souls of those not bound to the world were fine to erase. For example, the Deities, Gods, their direct creations, and the candidates for Godhood. Since the connection of these beings to the mortal world was already nonexistent, the erasure of their souls would not impact the world''s fate.


    It was odd, considering that these beings had the power to affect the world on arge scale. But then again, they could affect the world while they were alive and not when they were dead. Furthermore, the soul of these transcendent beings would not go back to the cycle of reincarnation unless they wanted to.


    "By the way," Mark spoke in his mind. "I want to ask about something."


    "What is it?"


    Magwayen responded.


    "I managed to get my hand on a broken artifact. I''m not sure about its effects, but it seemed to either heal a person or bring back a dying person to life."


    "Hmmm," Magwayen seemed to be thinking. "I''m not that knowledgeable about Artifacts. But I can try and look at it."<novelnext></novelnext>


    As Mark heard the positive reply, he closed his eyes and recreated the image of the artifact that Mako asked him to repair in his mind. It was like Mark was sending a picture to Magwayen through a messenger app. This was also how Magwayen taught Mark her knowledge, and it was only possible due to Mark''s highpatibility with the blessing he received.


    "I saw it," Magwayen confirmed. "I am not entirely sure, but I will try to ask a few other Gods I know."


    "Please," Mark was relieved. "I only have a week for this one. I need to repair it."


    "What''s going on? Why did you stop?"


    At this time, Spera''s voice made Mark''s eyes open. After all, he wasmunicating with Magwayen in his head. There was no way Spera would hear it.


    "Magwayen noticed I used her blessing," Mark answered Spera''s question. "It''s been a while, so I''m asking her a few things."


    "O-okay."


    Spera said and went quiet. It was obvious, but Spera was not reallyfortable with all this God stuff. It was the same for the [Eyes].


    It was the normal reaction for a mortal. After all, these Godly beings exude auras that mortals find unbearable. It was Mark who was weird for being able tomunicate with them as if he was just talking to a neighbor.


    Mark and Spera went out of the dungeon. Outside, Odelina and Aephelia were waiting for them. The two returned to the Mountain Base without warning, but it was amazing that the two maids were already there, ready to serve. Even if it was something one could expect from two professional servants, it was still amazing. Furthermore, it was in the middle of the night.


    "Aephelia," Mark called to Freed''s loyal maid. "There are seven corpses inside the cell. Dispose of them. Just be careful since they ingested poison."


    "I''ll take care of it immediately."


    Aephelia replied. She was the best one to dispose of corpses since she couldmand the [Infected] to do it for her.


    "Odel," Mark turned to Odelina. "Bring these to the soundproof room and squeeze as much information from them. These are assassins sent to harm us, so you know what to ask them."


    Mark then handed the cylinders, or what he called [Soul Canisters], to Odelina.


    "As you wish."


    Odelina epted the order and received the [Soul Canisters]. She was also the best for this job since, while she imed that she only came from a family of servants, it was clear that she had a hidden background.


    "We have to return to Japan immediately," Mark told the two maids. "I don''t really have the n to return if not for those pricks. We''ll return in the morning, so Odel, I need you to get the information before I return."


    "I''ll get it done immediately," Odelina replied. "Please, be safe out there."


    "Take care."


    Aephelia also said her farewell.


    Mark then nodded to the two maids in response, then to Spera. Spera then opened a portal that the two of them immediately entered.


    ***


    Day 324 - 12:22 AM - Evernight Base, Kachidoki, Chuo City, Tokyo


    The portal returned Mark and Spera to the second floor of the restaurant. And here, everyone was awake. It was not surprising. They just had some intruders. It would be more surprising if they were able to sleep after that.


    But the reason why Mark and Spera returned immediately...


    Mark and Spera went down to the first floor. The two saw Mei and the girls having coffee and midnight snacks with a few visitors in the restaurant area.


    And the visitors? It was no other than the core members of the ck Lotus Group, who immediately responded to help after learning that someone sent assassins to Mark''s group.


    But when Ren''s group arrived, they saw nothing but the rest of Mark''s group watching a movie.


    There were no assassins, to their confusion. But then, Ren knew that her people would not joke about this. And even stranger, Mark was not present when they arrived.


    When Ren saw Mark and Spera, she stared at the two. But no matter how much she stared, she could not understand what was going on.


    Ren clearly wanted to ask Mark. But she decided not to for some reason. She might be being considerate of Mark''s group... Or she did not want to pry deeply into things she should not know.


    In any case, they were already having a midnight snake and a movie to watch. It instead became a kind of awkward midnight gathering.


    ***


    Of course, it was not only Ren''s group who were confused about the situation.


    Everyone watching in the surroundings was anticipating a battle of sorts to happen. They needed information, and those assassins should be the ones to test the waters first.


    However, they were met with nothing but silence. The reinforcements from the ck Lotus Group even came, and nothing came out of the situation.


    And this unfathomable situation became an addition to the rumors surrounding the mysterious group called Evernight.

 Chapter 985 A Different Visitor, The Day After The Encounter With Assassins

    Day 324 - 11:21 AM - Four Squares Smithy, Toyosu Wholesale Market, Toyosu, Koto City, Tokyo


    Within Yasuo''s instore-workshop, Mark was present, discussing his blueprint with the cksmith.


    After a few days filled with annoying circumstances, Mark finally had time to visit Yasuo for hismission. And the moment he arrived at Yasuo''s stall, he was bombarded withints from the old cksmith.


    Their previous conversation was cut short because of the [Mutated Hos] attacking the Reimed City. That could not be helped since it was an emergency situation. But after that, Mark''s group immediately went home, and Yasuo''s stall was bombarded with inquiries about the equipment and weapons Mark''s group used. Two days after the incident, Yasuo''s throat was already dry from exining to people over and over that he had no hand in the items they were inquiring about.


    It would have been fine if all the idiots visiting Yasuo''s stall epted his exnation and left without a fuss. However, there were absolute idiots that thought that he was just being biased towards Mark''s group and inquired repeatedly. He even had to pick up his hammer to chase away some pests.


    And Mark, the likely cause of all the mess, did not meet Yasuo until a few dayster. It was no surprise that the old cksmithined.


    Of course, Mark did not ept all of Yasuo''sints. Those people that bothered the old cksmith were Mark''s fault, but theirte meeting was not.


    Nheless, Yasuo still ranted about it. He knew that not everything was Mark''s fault. It was just his nature to grumble about stuff.


    When Yasuo finally calmed down, they finally started discussing the blueprint. After all, it was the main reason for the two meeting up like this.


    It was fortunate that only Mark was here while discussing things with Yasuo. After all, they were only talking about crafting and cksmithing. The talk was primarily about materials, methods, techniques, and tools needed to create the weapon drawn in Mark''s blueprint. These things were clearly not something the rest of Mark''s group would be too interested in.


    Yasuo was still pretty grumpy about the several days'' of annoyance he also went through. Nheless, his passion for his work was clear as he exined things to Mark. On the other hand, Mark was intent on listening as many of the thingsing out of Yasuo''s mouth were things he did not know about. He was learning stuff from the old cksmith that would benefit his creations in the future.


    All in all, Mark was quite relieved to finally get some progress on this project.


    Due to yesterday''s encounter with the Dawn members outside his door, the number of uninvited visitors drastically decreased. Furthermore, it seemed that someone deliberately spread the fact that assassins infiltrated Mark''s home and vanished without a trace. Although it was all hearsay and had no evidence, it still made people really wary of Mark''s group.


    And with the guards promised by Ren, Mei and the girls were pretty safe now while they renovated their home here in the Reimed City. It was not like Mark believed that the girls would be unable to defend themselves if he was not around. It was just that he was not taking chances as much as possible. After all, since the apocalypse began, a randommon-looking person one could pass by could actually be someone powerful. If that were the case,rge organizations would have more of those kinds of people.


    A few guards probably would be unable to stop powerful people if they made a move. Nheless, it was not the guards'' strength that was important here but who they belonged to.


    The guards from the ck Lotus Group were pretty much a scarecrow towards uninvited and rude visitors.


    Mark and Yasuo talked for hours. The two did not even have a proper lunch and just ate a few slices of sandwich Yasuo ordered from somewhere. The only times the two paused their talk was when customers appeared in Yasuo''s stall to either order equipment or drop one for repair or maintenance.


    And after grumpily dealing with the customers, Yasuo would go back to discussing themission with Mark.


    Initially, Mark only thought of allowing Yasuo to make the important internal parts of the weapon. After all, he already had ns for the other parts that did not require the material''s properties. However, after talking with Yasuo, Mark decided to allow the old cksmith to make more parts than he initially thought.


    A professional like Yasuo sure had more experience and insight than Mark. And as such, he could only allow the eager old cksmith to participate more in creating this "Artifact" he had in mind.


    In fact, Yasuo was eager to work on this project. While his dream of creating the artifact that his ancestors pursued to make was still far, the experience of helping Mark create one was extremely valuable. Mark was learning from him, but he was also learning from Mark. In fact, what he was learning from Mark was far more valuable than something he could give. Mark could learn cksmithing from other people, but it was very likely that he could only learn even only the basics of artifact-making from Mark.


    After a long back and forth and learning from each other, Mark and Yasuo finally decided to call it a day.


    Well, they had no choice but to end the talk. It was alreadyte in the afternoon by the time they noticed. Spending time with activities one was interested in sure made time feel like it passed too quickly.


    Unfortunately, while Mark was eager to continue, he had other things to do.


    As for Yasuo, it seemed that he would immediately start working on some of the parts of the project. Luckily, it seemed that he would not neglect his work. He would not gamble the lives of his customers for a shoddy piece of work just because he was eager to make a different one.


    ***


    "Wee home."


    Mei greeted Mark with a smile after he arrived home.


    "Wee home!"


    Miracle mimicked Mei and ran to Mark to get a hug.


    "Yeah, I''m back."


    Mark replied as he picked the little girl with quite a baffled look in his eyes.


    "What''s wrong?"


    Of course, Mei noticed that.


    "No, it''s nothing," Mark shrugged. "It''s just that we looked like the nice anime scenes when a father went home from work to his loving family."


    "Oh, we do look like that, I guess."


    Mei smiled even more. She looked lovely.


    "By the way..." Mark said as he looked at the ceiling. "Did that appear again?"


    Mei also looked up and remembered.


    "It did. Amihan managed to catch it. She''s guarding it with Gale and I."


    What was it?


    Aside from those annoying people, the members of Dawn, and the assassins, their new home had another kind of visitor that appeared since they moved to the restaurant.


    And... It was not human in nature.


    Of course, Mark noticed it. However, he did not care much as long as it had no ill intent.


    However, it did some annoying stuff.


    On the first day, it left a pile of ash on the first floor before leaving footprints or ash everywhere.


    The previous night, after the attack of the assassins, it made some noise on the second floor while everyone gathered on the first floor to watch a movie. In fact, the event was witnessed by Ren''s group too. The thought that it could be the previous people living in the restaurant entered the mind of the guests because of that.


    Unfortunately, the intruder did not realize it had entered a den of Demons that could capture it whenever they wanted to. Today, it seemed to make the mistake of appearing during the day and getting caught by Amihan.


    "Did you prepare it for lunch?"<novelnext></novelnext>


    Mark asked Mei.


    "The red beans rice? I prepared it, but Gege didn''t go home for lunch." This time, Mei had a rather ming look in her eyes. "Why red bean rice, anyway? We even bought some special rice from Miss Ren."


    "Prepare a small bowl, then a big te for meter. I''m kinda hungry." Mark said. "Just prepare the small bowl first."


    It did not take Mei long to prepare the small bowl of red bean rice. Of course, she was still confused about what Mark wanted to do with it. He even put a pair of small chopsticks on it. And after Mark received the small bowl, he told Mei to follow behind him.


    On the second floor, Abbygale, I, Emika, Amihan, and Spera gathered in the bedroom to y a board game. But aside from the members of Mark''s group, someone else was inside.


    Trapped inside the circling wall of wind at the corner of the room, a scared little girl sat while hugging her knees. She was looking at the members of Mark''s group, confused as to what they wanted with her.


    "Papa!"


    Abbygale greeted Mark and also asked for a hug. The rest of the group also followed in greeting Mark.


    And then, Mark spoke to Amihan as shended on his shoulder.


    "Lift the wall."


    "Okay."


    Amihan immediately lifted the wall of wind imprisoning the girl.


    The girl did not move, however. It was a chance to escape, but it seemed that she knew that she could not. She was surrounded here.


    But then, Mark handed the bowl of red bean rice to the girl. She seemed to have noticed it and lifted her head, showing her reddish skin and bob-cut hair. She was also wearing a red Japanese dress.


    It was already surprising for her that the people in the house she went through could capture her, but to actually receive an offering in an unexpected manner.


    "Here, take this," Mark spoke to the girl. "You''re wee in this house, but don''t do pranks any more."


    The girl with her deep pupils stared at Mark as she slowly received the bowl.


    "You can go."


    Mark added after the girl received the food and stepped aside to open a path to the door.


    The little girl immediately took off. She ran as fast as she could to the door. And then, she stopped, looking at Mark and tilting her head before she ran out.


    When the girl was out of everyone''s sight, she vanished before she could even step down the stairs.


    "Is she a ghost?"


    Mei asked. The rest had the same question.


    "It feels like she''s more simr to me, though."


    Amihan chimed in.


    "Let''s not dwell on her," Mark shrugged. "I doubt she''ll even be back after getting caught once. But it''s strange one of her kind actually visited other people''s houses."


    It was an unexpected encounter with a strange visitor. In any case, her existence was not as surprising as Mark''s past encounters.


    "Spera," Mark turned to Spera, who was about to roll the dice for her turn. "We''ll go back to the base after I eat. Don''t forget."


    "I know."


    Spera grumbled as she moved her marker after rolling the dice.


    After all that, Mark ate histe lunch as Mei began preparing dishes for dinner. She really liked cooking, especially if she was cooking for her family.


    ***


    Day 234 - 5:21 PM - Cliff House, Mountain Base, Mount Mbito, General Nakar, Province of Quezon, Philippines


    A portal appeared within the living room of the cliff house. It was on a designated spot on the northern side of the living room. Although it had not happened so far, Spera''s portal could cause idents if opened just anywhere inside the house. What if someone identally entered it after it was opened in the house while they were fleeing from something? It could be dangerous.


    As such, Mark ced certain locations in the house and in the base as designated portal spots. This way, portal idents would not ever happen.


    Through the portal, Mark appeared. This time, it was only him, as it was not necessary to bring Spera as long as she kept the portal open from the other side. Well, it was more like Spera did not want to leave the board game since she wanted to win after losing against the little girls multiple times.


    When Mark arrived, it happened that Hannah was passing by.


    "Master."


    Hannah greeted Mark. Her demeanor sure was different from when they found her in New Jersey. She was taking the teachings of her Aunt Odelina seriously.


    "Where''s Odel?"


    Mark asked.


    "Aunt is with Seig and Odette at the training area. Should I call them?"


    Hannah replied.


    "No, it''s fine," Mark shook his head. "I''ll head there instead. You continue your work."


    "Yes."


    Hannah replied as she watched Mark head out of the living room.


    Mark''s sudden return was a surprise to those people that saw him on the way. Nheless, they were happy to see that their leader was alive and kicking even in the foreignnds.


    The training area was just outside the cliff house, so it did not take Mark too long, and he found Odelina and her children having a heated bonding time with their weapons drawn.

 Chapter 986 [Soul Prison], A Twisted Punishment For The Souls Of The Enemies

    Day 324 - 5:25 PM - Training Area, Mountain Base, Mount Mbito, General Nakar, Province of Quezon, Philippines


    With a bit of a surprise, the passing residents greeted Mark as he approached the training area. Huey also came to greet Mark in a hurry after noticing his arrival.


    Huey''s greatest strength was his enhanced senses. As such, he could detect any movement and noise within a covered distance. However, voices aside, he could not differentiate the things he could find using his senses unless they had something peculiarpared to others.


    But there was no way Huey would not be able to detect Mark. There was only a handful of people with barely audible footsteps among the people of the Mountain Base. And the ones with the most silent feet were only Odelina and Mark. As such, Huey was able to find Mark in no time if he appeared within the base.


    With Huey closely in tow, Mark arrived at the Training Area where Odelina and her two children, Siegfried and Odette. The family was in the middle of a heated bonding time. It was a pretty serious sparring session.


    The moment Mark arrived, Odelina immediately noticed him. However, she did not pause or stop and greet him. While she was a maid under Mark, she was currently thebat instructor of her two children.


    Mark found a ce to sit down as he watched the three.


    Siegfried was wielding a pretty big two-handed sword. It was smaller than the real one because it was for a child''s use, but it was a Great Sword with its shape and thickness. It looked like a double-edged sword, but it was actually a single-edged sword since its back edge was made dull.


    On the other hand, Odette wielded a thin sword. A Rapier, in other words. While a regr rapier was oriented towards thrusting, the one in her hand could also be used for shing without much difference in effectiveness.


    The two children fought their mother, who wielded a pair of daggers. It was just a regr dagger, although it was made of [Blood Metal]. And with enough care and skills, she was evading, parrying, and counterattacking against the attacks of her children. Of course, it was all while she was making sure they would not get hurt.


    "There are no problems while we''re gone?"


    While watching, Mark asked Huey, who was standing behind him.


    "We got several animals wandering nearby this past week, but they could not pass beyond the illusion. The only ones that got near the outer walls were the [Mechids]. We had three encounters while Boss wasn''t here. Fortunately, the [Mechids] were the same kinds we encountered before. They got taken care of in no time. The remains are already stored in the designated storage."


    Huey reported as briefly as possible and continued.


    "The tree from Mikio''s ability bore fruits, and we harvested it the other day. Should we pack some for you, Boss?"


    Mikio''s ability, the tree that bore golden-colored fruits. It was the first instance of a fruit that could affect humans through [Mutagen''s] properties. The effect also varied if consumed as an [Evolver] or a [Mutator]. While it enhances the vitality of regr humans, it could strengthen the abilities of [Evolvers] and [Mutators] to a certain degree. The weaker the ability, the more significant the effect of the fruits. It sure was a valuable fruit.


    Unfortunately, there were some circumstances that made it impossible to exploit the fruit''s effects.


    First, only the first fruit eaten by the individual would guarantee the best effect. The next fruits eaten would result in less efficacy. And while it had not been experienced yet, it was estimated that continuous consumption would result in immunity to the fruit''s effects. It meant that people could not be infinitely stronger through this means.


    Second, the number of fruits was limited. One to three fruits within the span of a week and a half. It was not a lot. Worse, the three would not bore fruits unless it was given the right nourishment. In this case, dead bodies of the [Infected]. The Mountain Base was safe due to its location. But in the case of the Golden Fruit Tree, the safe location was more of a problem. The number of [Infected] in the mountains was really small. It was unlike the ces near cities.


    Worse, the effect of the golden fruits was nice, but many could not stomach the thought that they were eating something from the nutrients of the dead [Infected].


    In any case, it was just in time.


    "We still have nine in storage, right?" Mark replied. "Store the recent harvest and get me the same number from the storage. I might have some use with that."


    "Alright, Boss."


    Huey nodded in response.


    At this time, Odelina''s sparring with her children came to an end, with Siegfried and Odette lying on the ground, panting. Of course, the children were defeated. It might sound harsh, but Odelina had no ns of being lenient during training. She was teaching her children how to fight for survival, and being too soft would not do it.


    "Master."


    Odelina greeted Mark after wiping off the sweat from her face with a towel hung over her shoulders.


    "How''s the task I gave youst night?"


    Mark asked after acknowledging her greeting.


    "I have it recorded."


    Odelina said as she picked up her bag from a nearby chair. She then took out a voice recorder and a small notebook.


    "I also have it written if you prefer this one," Odelina added. "The recording isn''t pleasant to listen to."


    As the professional maid she was, Odelina prepared two ways to fulfill her task. And, of course, the recording would not be pleasant to hear. After all, it was the wailing of souls suffering under the punishment and torture of their souls being torn and fixed.<novelnext></novelnext>


    Since the training was finished, everyone went their separate ways. Mark and Odelina went to the underground prison. Seigfried and Odette would wash up after getting beaten by their mother. Lastly, Huey would need to prepare the Golden Fruits that Mark would bring with him.


    Inside the underground prison, just beside theboratory, Mark and Odelina arrived at a room different from the [Soul Preserving Cell]. It was not a prison cell but more like a secured storage room with a lot of shelving. And on the immediate shelf were seven cylinders with whitish orbs floating inside.


    When the souls of the assassins detected Mark and Odelina, they all shivered. It was not fear. They were in despair. Instead of trying to move as far away as possible from the two, the souls floated near, rubbing their ghostly bodies on their prison while begging to be freed.


    The soul of a living being could not be harmed by physical means. But as games portrayed, they were magically vulnerable.


    And Mark put that thought when making those cylinders that trapped the souls he captured. Those cylinders, which he called [Soul Prison], had five basic functions. Those five were trapping souls, absorbing any energy from inside and outside except the soul, nourishing souls, emitting the soul''s voices, and, most importantly, tearing souls apart.


    The first two functions of the [Soul Prison] would make souls powerless once imprisoned inside it. Furthermore, the second function makes it a self-sustaining magical device. The third function allowed it to heal damage on the imprisoned soul. For the fourth, souls could not talk directly to people unless it was someone highly sensitive to the paranormal, and this function allowed the souls to speak if turned on. Andstly, being able to tear the souls apart was self-exnatory.


    Why did Mark put two contradicting functions on the [Soul Prison]? It was due to twisted reasons.


    Souls would deteriorate over time if they did not pass to the afterlife. It was the cause where earthbound souls be evil spirits after a very long time of being tied to the mortal realm. And Mark could not have that. The souls inside the [Soul Prison] would be in a perfect state.


    The souls would not deteriorate and stay sane for the span they were imprisoned. They would be perfectly sane and aware as they were imprisoned for eternity unless they were freed or if the cylinder broke, which would still take centuries to ur naturally considering the materials it was made from.


    And to bnce the nourishment, there was the actual punishment. A soul being damaged would hurt a hundred times more than the physical pain it could have brought. A small ant bite tear that would damage a soul would have the same feeling as if their limb had been torn off. And their entire soul, being torn apart, would feel as if their bodies were being turned inside out a hundred times in a second.


    A soul would have gone insane with that amount of pain. But because of the soul nourishment, they were perfectly sane and conscious while they felt the unfathomable pain that even the Gods would fear.


    And afterward, all damages would be healed over time due to the nourishment, making them able to go another round of tearing without their souls being erased.


    Mark created the scariest punishment that even immortals could not likely bring upon their enemies.


    The souls of the assassins floated and rubbed their bodies to the wall of the [Soul Prisons] they were in. They begged and begged. The pain they felt as Odelina interrogated them was more than enough for them to want their existence to face an end. They all regretted the bad things they had done in their entire lives that resulted in the current situation.


    And most importantly... The assassins hated the man that hired them and brought them into this mess. The amount they were paid was nowhere enough for the suffering and pain they experienced.


    Mark put down the report in his hands after he finished reading and turned to the souls begging to be freed.


    "Do you want me to free you?"


    Mark asked the souls, and they all bounced inside their prisons frantically.


    "Then, I have a task for you seven."


    Mark said as he released his [Aura of Death], exercising his authority over the seven souls as the blessed one of the Goddess of the Underworld.


    ***


    Day 324 - 9:21 PM - White Swan Club, Shinonome, Koto City, Tokyo


    The redlight district in Shinonome was as lively as usual. However, one thing was different from the previous days.


    To the dismay of its patrons, White Swan Club was closed for business. There was no warning or announcement. It was just closed today for some reason.


    And that reason...


    Inside the owner''s suite, Tulip sat on her chair, slumped with her right hand on her forehead. The assassins she sent to kidnap a member of that rumored group had vanished without a trace. She would have thought that they bolted with the money she paid them if not for the fact that a rumor about a group of assassins entering that group''s house and vanishing did not spread. Furthermore, while the source of the rumor was unconfirmed, it spread out from the higher-ups first before the lower people could learn about it. The likelihood of it being true was extremely high.


    Tulip and her subordinates felt weirdly scared. The assassins vanished, and no one could ever exin what happened. No one would dare ask questions about the source of the rumor, especially when they were the ones that sent the assassins.


    Normally, Tulip would feel calm about this. Those assassins were professionals and would never spill the beans alive. But their mysterious disappearance left a strange mark on her heart and mind.


    As they said, the man feared the unknown.


    What if that mysterious group found out and retaliated? Would they also vanish without a trace?


    And unknown to Tulip and her entourage holed up inside the White Swan Club, their fears were on point.


    Especially when the seven assassins returned as ghosts filled with hatred and vengeance.

 Chapter 987 A Ghostly Retaliation, The End Of The Desperate Faction Of Dawn

    Day 234 - 925 PM - Red Light District, Shinonome, Koto City, Tokyo


    As usual, the Red Light District was bustling with nighttime activities. [Frencers] that returned from a dangerous hunt, the skimpily clothed beautiful women, and even those rich people that only wanted to have a good time, many kinds of people littered the streets whether to afford the district''s services or only to look around.


    However, there were a few things different within the district this night.


    First was the strange sudden inactivity within the only gay club in the Reimed City. This was the first time this situation urred, which was very unlikely since the club was doing quite well. And it was all despite its uncanny reputation among themon popce. In fact, it was Tulip''s greatest asset, supporting her activities as one of the Sub-leaders of Dawn, another reason why it was strange to see it closed without warning.


    The second strange thing was...


    It was Mark standing atop a building overlooking the central areas of Shinonome.


    This was the first time Mark had seen a real Red Light District. There was no doubt that he was initially interested. After all, this kind of night district was something an Otaku would see in many anime settings. But now that Mark was near such a ce, he regretted it.


    An [Empath] like Mark should never go to ces like this where he would feel like he downed an entire bottle of a potent aphrodisiac.


    If not for Mark''s [Mutator Trait] turning the absorbed emotions into nothingness, it might have been dangerous. Not for Mark, but well... he had a wife. He might be able to endure it in the opposite case, but it would still be an unpleasant situation.


    "Let''s just end this quickly..."


    Mark murmured with his eyes red, sending seven humanoid silhouettes into the closed gay club.


    And from here, the bustling Red Light District was disturbed by the sudden violentmotion.


    Gunshots suddenly echoed from the closed White Swan Club. It was not just a single shot. It was as if an entire gang fight suddenly ensued from within the club without any sort of warning.


    Mark sat on the ledge of the building with a nk expression, watching the chaos ensue below.


    People began running to a safe distance from the club. Not all of them left the area but stayed to watch themotion. The people''sck of self-preservation was nothing new in these cases. Even if the authorities chased these kinds of people away because it was dangerous, they would still stay and watch. And if something went wrong and the uninvited audience was harmed, it was the authorities'' fault for not handling the situation properly. It was a stupid thing to see.


    And it was much worse now that some people had superhuman abilities. They did not even feel any shred of fear in their minds as they watched the situation, confident that they could protect themselves from danger.


    ***


    A few minutes earlier...


    Tulip walked back and forth within her suite. The strange and dangerous feeling was somehow getting stronger. She even had her guns ready in her hands, flinching at any unexpected disturbance.


    That behavior that Tulip showed made the underlings and the staff of the White Swan Club extremely confused. Nheless, they were all geared up, following the orders of their boss.


    In the minds of Tulip''s subordinates, there was no way that anyone would cause trouble within Shinonome, considering it was the territory of the unified Yakuza group, Dawn.


    At this time, Tulip paused and shivered as if a cold chill attacked her spine.


    "Boss? Are you alright?"


    One of Tulip''s subordinates asked her.


    "I am alright," Tulip replied with sunken eyes. "Just keep your eyes peeled. Go to the hall and guard there."


    The subordinate could only turn around and scratch his head. Like the others, he could not understand what was going on with their boss. Did Tulip hit some drugs or something? That was even stranger since Tulip hated such substances despite being a part of the Yakuza.


    But then, the subordinate stopped on his steps. He stood in front of the door without opening it.


    The other members present in the suite watched in silence. At first, they thought that the subordinate had something he had forgotten.


    And a sudden chill enveloped the suite... No... The unusual coldness enveloped the entire club.


    The subordinate by the door slowly turned around to face Tulip. His eyes were bloodshot in a literal sense as he raised the pistol in his right hand.


    BANG!


    And the subordinate fired his gun at Tulip.


    Luckily, Tulip''s sense of danger kicked in as she jumped out of the bullet''s trajectory.


    However, the subordinate did not stop at one shot and began shooting indiscriminately at everyone inside the suite.


    They immediately took cover to avoid getting shot, although two others received wounds from the indiscriminate firing.


    The subordinate fired his gun until it ran out of bullets. It was when the other subordinates took the opportunity to pin the man down to the ground.


    "Touma, you bastard! What the f*ck is wrong with you!"


    Another subordinate screamed at the man, who was pinned down.


    However, they did not receive any reply as the man named Touma began having seizures while being pinned down.


    "F*ck! I knew something was wrong!" Tulip eximed. "Get these two some medical help!"


    Tulip ordered the others to help her two subordinates that got shot as they focused on Touma, who was still in the middle of his seizures.


    But then...


    BANG!


    Another gunshot echoed, making everyone pause in disbelief. Tulip and the others turned their heads to see the subordinate trying to help the two that got shot fall to the ground, staining the floor with his own blood.


    Just like Touma, the two injured subordinates now had bloodshot eyes as they raised their guns at every living person in the room.


    Tulip and the others managed to take cover using the furniture in the room. But Touma was killed in the process as there was no one to help the guy who first turned strange.


    "What the f*ck is going on?!" Tulip roared in confusion towards her hostile subordinates. "Are you bastards out of your minds?!


    Of course, Tulip''s roars received no reply, and gunshots were the response instead.


    Something truly strange was happening. Tulip and her other subordinates could only give a violent retaliation as they fired their own gunshots at their attackers.


    The assants were taken down. However, a few more subordinates were injured.


    Considering the previous circumstances, the uninjured became wary of those who received wounds from the gunfight.


    But as they were waiting cautiously, gunshots echoed from outside the suite.


    A shootout began among Tulip''s other subordinates and the staff of the White Swan Club. The Yakuza members were one thing, but most of the staff were not well-versed in fighting.


    Tulip and her subordinates inside the suite rushed out to find the dead staff and members of her entourage. And the people responsible were no one else but other staff and members of Tulip''s faction.


    With the same bloodshot eyes that looked as if glowing in the dark, they indiscriminately attacked everyone living they came across.


    It was as if they were an [Infected].<novelnext></novelnext>


    However, that was definitely not the case. The dumb [Infected] could not use guns for the most part, and none of Tulip''s people were bitten.


    And more importantly... What was this chill that everyone was feeling? In fact, the entire interior of the club seemed to be a bit foggy.


    But then, a moan entered everyone''s ears.


    "Diiiieeee...."


    Tulip and those who heard the moan turned to the center of the club''s main hall. Their eyes dted as they saw a silhouette of a robed man who looked almost transparent. And as if waiting for their horrified reaction, six more silhouettes appeared around the hall as the crazed people fell to the ground in extreme seizures.


    "G-ghost!"


    One of the Yakuza members screamed in horror.


    But Tulip stared at the first silhouette.


    "Saizo?"


    Tulip called out, causing the silhouette to raise its head. Despite how transparent his body was, his face was the same leader of the assassins that Tulip paid to kidnap a member of the Evernight group.


    "Saizo! What is this? What is happening?!"


    Tulip questioned the ghostly apparition in the center of the hall. However, the only response that she received was...


    "Diiieee..."


    Saizo moaned as he vanished.


    All of a sudden, the subordinate beside Tulip raised his gun and fired at Tulip.


    Tulip managed to dodge the surprise attack. However, her other subordinates did not, as the other six apparitions vanished, with another six of Tulip''s subordinates turning hostile.


    At this time, Tulip finally understood what was happening.


    The assassins died due to the mission. And for some reason, they turned into vengeful ghosts trying to kill Tulip and her underlings.


    ***


    Outside, the people were watching the closed club in wonder. It also seemed that some people had already called the authorities. Well, the members of Dawn in this case.


    At this point...


    BAM! CRASH!


    The ss double doors of the White Swan Club mmed open, even crashing the ss due to the impact.


    To the shock of the gallery outside, they saw the owner of the White Swan Club, Tulip, trying to run out of the club with blood staining her face and body.


    Tulip looked extremely horrified as she tried to escape.


    However, just as she took that one step out of the door, something caught Tulip''s right foot. A hand grabbed it as the audience saw.


    Tulip tried to pull her foot. But as she tried to do so, a gunshot echoed, making everyone flinch.


    The boss of the White Swan Club fell to the ground as her left leg was pierced by a bullet.


    "Help me!"


    Tulip cried as she tried to crawl her way to escape.


    A few people in the gallery tried to step forward to help, only to freeze as they watched the assant unsteadily step out of the door.


    With bloodshot eyes, it was Tulip''s subordinate with the crushed arm. He was covered in blood, easily seen due to his white coat. The man raised his uninjured hand with a gun in it and, without hesitation, fired it at the crawling Tulip several times, ensuring her death.


    The audience gasped in shock at the scene of the murder they had just witnessed.


    There was no doubt that something was wrong. Some people immediately retreated while some prepared to subdue the assant.


    But then, to add more shock to the witnesses, the assant pointed the gun at his own head and...


    BANG!


    Took his own life.


    The members of Dawn finally arrived, only to see the results of everything that happened inside the White Swan Club.


    It was a total massacre. Everyone within Tulip''s faction present inside the club died, including the leader herself. They immediately tried to investigate, but the initial results only revealed infighting with no known cause.


    And atop the building, Mark scoffed at the people below. The gallery was there only to watch. They were too shocked about the unexpected events in front of them and were unable to give a proper response to the critical incident. If they had responded faster, some people might have been able to save Tulip. Unfortunately, or fortunately for Mark, that did not happen.


    "Good work," Mark said as seven humanoid silhouettes appeared behind him. "As I promised, you seven are free to go."


    Mark''s eyes turned red, removing the things he did to the souls of the seven assassins. With the vengeful curse lifted from them, the souls vanished, headed to the afterlife.


    While feeling the souls of the seven go where they were supposed to, a familiar voice entered Mark''s ears.


    "Isn''t that too much? They might have done something to offend you, but killing their entire faction might be quite overboard."


    Mark nced over his left shoulder. There, he saw the familiar person.


    With traditional white clothes and a tall ck hat, this person was the Shinto Priest present during his first encounter with the members of Dawn.


    Mark did not say anything, but this guy was already here before he even started his revenge against Tulip. This person appeared and watched just as Mark arrived at this rooftop.


    "Overboard or not, they deserve it," Mark nonchntly replied. "They shouldn''t have tried to mess with us in the first ce."


    "You are pretty fiery, aren''t you?"


    The Shinto Priest said with an interested expression in his eyes.


    If any other man showed Mark that expression, he would have goosebumps. However...


    "So, what do you want from me, Sir Priest?" Mark asked as he turned to face the man... "Or should I say otherwise? You''re not a man in the first ce."


    The priest seemed to be surprised because of Mark''s remark before he showed a feminine, yful smile. His figure blurred and shrunk.


    And to Mark''s surprise, the tall priest turned into a teenage-looking girl adorned with expensive traditional jewelry and a shrine maiden''s clothing.

 Chapter 988 The Priestess, A Powerful Being Under The Guise Of A Young Girl

    Day 234- 9:38 PM - Red Light District, Shinonome, Koto City, Tokyo


    Mark remained sitting on the ledge of the building overlooking the Red Light District of Shinonome, although his attention was now focused on his unexpected stalker as he stared at her.


    Since the first time Mark saw this person, he already felt suspicious. During Mark''s encounter with the members of Dawn outside the restaurant, she appeared as that Shito Priest. At that time, it felt like she appeared out of nowhere, as his detection could barely detect her at all. That was more the reason he closed his doors on her without hesitation, aside from the fact that he had no intentions of interacting with the Temple. At least, not too early.


    But as Mark saw that Shinto Priest as she transformed into a teenage-looking girl, together with her extremely expensive clothing and essories, Mark began to have thoughts about who this stalker was.


    It was no surprise Mark could barely detect her. This girl''s aura and energy enveloped the entire Reimed City.


    The Reimed City was this young-looking girl''s territory.


    "So, what does the Priestess want with me?"


    Mark asked, voicing his assumption.


    And seeing that Mark recognized her despite this time being their first meeting with her true appearance, the girl, no, the Priestess bloomed with a childlike smile.


    The Priestess. She was a mysterious entity in the eyes of themon people within the Reimed City. She was a symbol of worship and was rumored to be a magical entity even before the outbreak. But since she barely interacted with anyone in public, almost no one knew her outside the Temple.


    However, it was no secret that the Priestess was responsible for the Reimed City''s safety during the recent catastrophe. She was the pir of Japan''sst line of defense. Even if all kinds of schemes and troubles happened within the Reimed City, no one would try to offend her or the Temple she led.


    It was known to those with enough status that the Priestess was recuperating. Protecting the Reimed City was said to have weakened Priestess'' strength. That was how the information circted.


    Mark continued to stare as he waited for her answer. As he could see, this girl was in no state that needed recuperation. Was it false information so she couldy low while roaming around in disguise?


    "You are really asking me?" The Priestess responded with a question as she tilted her head and bent her shoulders sideways in a cutesy manner. "You and your people stirred up the ho''s nest the moment you arrived. Everyone is focusing their attention on your group. There is no way I can ignore it, can I?"


    And then, the Priestess vanished from Mark''s eyes as the continuation of her words entered his ears.


    "Especially when it turned out to be someone powerful. Furthermore, a Demon."


    As those words echoed in Mark''s ears, he stared at where the Priestess initially was, although he already knew she was standing on the ledge he sat on just a step behind him.


    "A [Shukuchi], huh?"


    Mark murmured as he nonchntly turned to face the Priestess as she looked at the situation below.


    "It''s unexpected to see a Demon capable of utilizing dead souls. You really did them nasty."


    The Priestess said with augh while watching themotion below.


    At this point, Mark could only look at the Priestess with a strange expression in his eyes.


    The Priestess, the protector of the Reimed City, wasughing at the murder of the people living inside it. It was strange, not to mention that her behavior so far was way different from what one would expect from someone called a Shrine Priestess and the head of a religious temple.


    It felt more like Mark was talking with a bratty delinquent.


    "I just killed people inside your territory, and you''re actuallyughing." Mark could not help but ask in curiosity. "Aren''t you supposed to protect the city?"


    The Priestess turned to Mark with that cutesy tilt of her head that would make one question how the heavy ornaments on her head had not fallen yet.


    And then, the Priestess replied.


    "I am protecting the city. But not the ruffians living in it."


    Due to the Priestess'' posture while replying, Mark''s eyes locked stares with hers. And from those eyes, Mark could feel a state of serenity. She was calm. There was no anger or hate from her towards him even though he killed people in front of her.


    Those eyes told Mark that the Priestess cared for the city and those who were living peacefully inside it. However, those who had no respect for the peace and protection she had brought had no right to expect anything from her.


    The Priestess was like the sun for good people, while she was the darkness for evildoers.


    ? "Amaterasu..." A sudden shocked voice inside Mark''s head made him snap. "Be careful about the person in front of you. She carried the aura of a Goddess."


    Mark listened to the warning inside his head. It seemed that Magwayen had checked on him only to see the current situation. Still, it was quite a surprise.


    "Is she an incarnation?"


    Mark asked Magwayen inside his head.


    "No, her soul is of a human," Magwayen immediately replied. "But it seemed that her bloodline carried a direct connection with that country''s gods."


    It was another surprise. The Priestess was likely the same as Mark, having a bloodline directly connected to a God of the past. However, unlike Mark, who was connected to an unknown evil god, it seemed that the Priestess carried the bloodline connected to a major Deity of the Shinto Religion.


    "What''s wrong? Why are you silent? Is there something on my face? Do I look cute? Did you fall for me, perhaps?"


    Mark''s sudden silence caused the Priestess to barrage him with questions, some being utter nonsense.


    This girl... She was annoying.


    Mark did not respond to her stupid questions. Instead, he continued the previous conversation.


    "You didn''t mind me killing those pricks. You don''t really seem to care that I''m a Demon, either. Then what are you here for?"


    "Hmmm..." The Priestess tapped her chin. "Yep, I don''t care if you''re a Demon. Anyone is wee to enter the city if they don''t desire to create evil within. Demons, Spirits, everyone is wee as long as they bring peace. But it is far rarer to find Demons who want peace. You and your people might be causing waves, but you haven''t done any evil. Your group also helped during the previous ho attack. It prevented many casualties and circted materials needed by the people. So far, you haven''t done any evil."


    "I just killed people."


    Mark retorted.


    "Killing evildoers might be wrong, but that is not evil. If you ask me, you are contributing to the peace of thisnd by removing the roots of evil. It might stir some chaos. A storm among the people. But it is just like nature. After the violent storm, the saplings will begin to grow."<novelnext></novelnext>


    "If it''s peace you wanted, can''t you just deal with guys like those?" Mark asked. "You have the power and status. Yet, there''s the Blood Lion Troupe, Dawn, and those businessmen and politicians scheming around."


    The Priestess turned at Mark with puffed cheeks. That expression told Mark she wanted to do that but could not.


    "The Temple is forbidden to be involved in such trifle matters involving humans. That had been the rule since ancient times."


    The Priestess said.


    "And you''re trying to get involved with me since I''m not human."


    Mark stated the intent with the Priestess'' words.


    "You got my meaning. Good!"


    The Priestess seemed to be delighted. However, there was more reason why she better not interact with humans, although there was no reason for her to share it with Mark, whom she had just met.


    As some novels had described, the top was lonely. Being the strongest would make one stand on that peak alone. It was the same for the Priestess.


    Being a member of the Temple and as the core, she was forbidden to meet anyone without authorization. She could not involve herself with most humans as they only saw her as a stepping stone to pull their ranks upward. A connection with her meant a great deal to these people. It was very rare for her to meet people, much less get someone she could call a friend.


    It was already a fortunate thing that the Priestess had a good old friend, although he died several years ago due to old age. He left his grandaughter, however. And that girl was more or less her grandchild, too. It was a pity that the Priestess could not meet that girl recently now that she was all grown up.


    "So, you only want to have someone to talk to?"


    Mark was appalled by the Priestess'' reason for meeting him.


    "That is just a part of it?" The Priestess tilted her head again. "I actually wanted to request something..."


    The Priestess jumped forward closer to Mark. And there, she uttered two words.


    "Fight me."


    Mark could not help but stare even more at the Priestess after hearing her request. One would think that she was trying to pull something off. However, Mark could not detect any kind of hostility or ill intent behind her childish face. There was no facade. She just wanted to fight.


    One might assume that the Priestess was a battle junkie. But it did not seem to be the case.


    "I said it before. I know you''re powerful." The Priestess continued to speak. "I don''t know how powerful, but you might be far more powerful than any other person in my city, human or not."


    "That is why I want to test how strong you are and how far I have gone."


    In other words, the Priestess had no other people to test her strength. It might be because of the restrictions ced upon her due to her status or just that she never met anyone else within her level of strength. And now that she met Mark, who she deemed strong and not a human, she decided to take the opportunity to measure Mark and her strength.


    Mark stared at her for a bit before slightly shaking his head.


    "Not interested," Mark answered her request. "There is no merit for me to do so."


    It was not like Mark was not really interested. However, he would not reveal his strength to someone he met for the first time unless it was a crucial fight. Furthermore, he would not get anything out of it, and his strength would end up getting measured instead.


    Not to mention that the Priestess carried the aura of Amaterasu. Magwayen was sure about it. It could end up being an annoying fight.


    "What if I gave you a merit?" The Priestess began to make a proposal for Mark to fight her. "I''ll give the Temple''s protection to your group. It should stop those ruffians from trying to mess with you and your people. And..."


    The Priestess began tapping her clothes, looking for something. And she found it soon. It was a small ornate box about the size of a ring box.


    "I''ll also give you this. This should be of use for your [Sylph]."


    The Priestess opened the ornate box, revealing its content. A small marble-sized crystal with a greenish color.


    Mark was appalled. This girl sure gave him a lot of surprises in the short time they talked.


    What was that crystal inside the ornate box? It was a [Wind Elemental Energy Crystal], a small crystal that contained wind-attributed magical energy.


    And what was surprising about this?


    Well...


    Mark raised his right hand without saying a word. Between his fingers, four crystals, the same as what the ornate box contained, showed their luster in the darkness of the night.


    The Priestess'' jaws fell. She sure showed funny expressions.


    "I''m pretty sure that also came from me."


    Mark said as he pointed at the crystal in the Priestess'' hands. He was quite sure that it was one of the three crystals he sold to Val Flora in exchange for information. It was quite a surprise that it ended up in the hands of someone who would try to offer it back to him.


    The Priestess retracted her hands.


    "I made a mistake. Not this one." The Priestess then took another box of a simr size from her clothing. "This."


    The next box contained a not-so-good-looking gemstone. It was not polished, its shape was irregr, and its color was even cloudy.


    Mark was not interested.


    But at this time, Magwayen''s voice echoed inside Mark''s head.


    "ept her request. You will need that gemstone."


    Mark was confused. However, Magwayen had been helpful to him so far and would not say anything without a proper reason.

 Chapter 989 On The Ruins Of The Tokyo Skytree, The Fight Between The Priestess And The Demon

    Day 234 - 9:58 PM - Tokyo Skytree Ruins, Oshiage, Sumida City, Tokyo


    The Tokyo Skytree. Also known as the tallest structure in Japan. It gained that title way back in 2010 and had a height of 634 meters upon itspletion in March 2011.


    And roughly eight years after it gained prestige, it became one with the ruins that littered the entirety of Tokyo.


    Its existence was not erased entirely. As it stood tall over other structures around it, its destruction led it to fall atop its neighboring ruins. Now,rge pieces of it could still be seen from afar as ity over the ruins of other buildings.


    Since the apocalypse began, barely anyone alive had been to this location and its neighboring areas. As a tourist attraction, more people went to visit the location during the holidays. And arge part of that poption contributed to the massive number of [Infected] in the area.


    It was one of the ces the Japanese army would not dare enter despite its location being not too far from the Reimed City.


    The area around the Tokyo Skytree was dered a Dead Zone. No one should enter it as their rate of survival would be near zero. And the unique [Mutated Infected] in the vicinity added to such an oue. The only saving grace was the fact that these unique creatures were highly territorial and would not wander too far from the Skytree for whatever reason. As such, the army decided to leave these creatures until they amassed enough firepower to deal with the threat.


    Unfortunately for the army, two troublemakers entered the Dead Zone in the dead of night. Furthermore, the two did not just enter the vicinity but went straight to the center.


    At each end of a huge part of the Skytree that bridged over two tall ruined buildings, Mark and the Priestess stood.


    "Is this really a good ce?" Mark''s voice echoed through the ambient noises of the night. "This ce seemed close to the Reimed City."


    The two of them left the Reimed City. Mark followed the Priestess to this location, jumping and running over the ruins they passed by.


    "This ce is fine," The Priestess eagerly replied as she looked around her. "This ce is a Dead Zone. People avoid this ce like the gue. Even entering just the outskirts is almost a guaranteed death. Of course, not to the likes of us."


    "And if some of the dangers get caught in the crossfire, it would be good for the Reimed City, right?"


    Mark asked.


    "Bingo."


    The Priestess replied energetically.


    It was really unexpected that the respected Priestess of the Reimed City had such a character. What made it worse was the fact that Mark knew this girl was probably around Amihan''s age, around or above two hundred years old. The Priestess was at the age where Mark could call her great-grandmother, yet she behaved like a bored kid.


    The Priestess'' behavior was simr to Amihan''s in this way. Old but childish. However, Amihan was a [Sylph], and her current age was still a childpared to a [Sylph''s] lifespan. On the other hand, the Priestess was a human. Despite her strangely young appearance, she was clearly an old hag.


    Still, it was quite baffling that someone like her was living among humans. A powerful being with an entire religion behind her. She might not be their god, but she was that god''s representative, as her title and status as the Priestess had implied.


    "Time is passing. We should get started."


    The Priestess said eagerly.


    "Are you fine with that clothing?"


    Mark could not help but ask. After all, the Priestess was still wearing her usual clothes. She even had that heavy ornament on her head. As for Mark, he was already wearing his old armor before he started to attack the ck Swan Club. There was no need for him to change.


    "It''s fine," The Priestess replied as she moved around, emphasizing her clothes. "This is made of silk from the web of a high-rank [Tsuchigumo]. Even a bazooka would barely damage it."


    So, her clothing did not only look gaudy. It was actually made of extremely rare, expensive, and strong material.


    "Okay, then."


    Mark shrugged as he agreed to start.


    At this time, the Priestess waved her right hand, and a human-shaped paper flew out of her sleeve. Mark readied at the same time. This was not an attack yet but the signal for the two to start.


    It was apetitive fight without any ill feelings. This would be the first for Mark outside the spars he had with his members and people. And since the Priestess requested it, she would need to give Mark the unpolished gemstone whether he won or lost.


    However, it did not mean that Mark would want to lose either. Since he already epted it, he might as well try to win.


    The Priestess folded the fingers on her left hand with the index and middle stretched out as she ced that hand in front of her chest. The paper doll, or the so-called [Shikigami], burst into mes and turned into a ball of fire before flying off to the sky.


    BOOM!


    The [Shikigami] bloomed like fireworks. The light in the sky seemed pretty due to the darkness of the apocalypse. However, the two people below it had no time to admire such a scene.


    CRACK! BAM!


    The concrete below Mark''s feet cracked and broke as he kicked his legs backward. In an instant, Mark appeared in front of the Priestess with a punch.


    As an Otaku, Mark had a hunch on how a Priestess like her could possibly fight, especially when she used a [Shikigami] as a starting signal.


    In response, the Priestess stomped her right foot backward and raised her left arm forward.


    BAM!


    Marknded on the ground a few steps back as his attack was repelled.


    In front of him was the Priestess with her left hand stretched forward, holding a paper fan. The paper fan was all white, except for the symbols on it that glowed yellow after repelling Mark''s preemptive attack.


    "Aiming for a woman''s face as soon as we started. That''s not gentlemanly of you."


    The Priestessined at the trajectory of Mark''s punch.


    "We are in an equal contest," Mark said as he whisked his right hand in the air, feeling the impact reflected on the back of his hand. "An attack to the face isn''t a cowardly blow, no matter what gender you are."<novelnext></novelnext>


    That response made the Priestess smile. Mark was really different from the people she had fought before.


    In any case, Mark would not pause that long. He immediately jumped forward for another punch. Different from his initial attack, Mark did not go straight facing the Priestess. He also took a step sideward, attacking from her nk. He also added more force to it.


    The Priestess noticed the difference between Mark''s first and second attacks. It was faster and heavier. If his first attack was to probe, the second attack was to do actual damage.


    In response, the Priestess did not receive the second punch using her fan directly. As she blocked Mark''s fist with the fan, she twisted her hand at the moment of impact and tilted the fan in a way that the force and weight of Mark''s punch would be sent in a different direction, weakening the impact drastically.


    And the Priestess would not remain on the defensive. As the swing of Mark''s redirected punch flew past her, she closed the fan and swung it at Mark, attacking his right shoulder.


    Mark''s posture looked awkward due to his missed attack. It would be hard to defend against the iing fan. This showed how the Priestess was well-versed and experienced in physicalbat despite how she looked like. She created an opening for an attack that would be hard to defend against.


    But to the Priestess'' surprise...


    CLANG!


    A metallic spike shot out of Mark''s shoulder, stopping the fan from going further. And as if that was not enough, the spike grew longer with a jelly-like base and actually flicked away the fan.


    The two immediately jumped backward after the failed exchange of attacks.


    While Mark was impressed by the Priestess'' closebat skills, thetter was surprised as to how Mark defended against her sure-hit attack. Her eyes were fixated on the metallic spike on Mark''s shoulder as it retreated back into his body.


    "You can control and transform your blood..."


    The Priestess saw through what had just happened with only a cycle of thought.


    "Yep."


    Mark shrugged without the intention of hiding something the Priestess had already found out. At the same time, Mark let out four [Blood Whips] from his back before turning into metallic spider-like appendages.


    "It''s been a while since I used his, huh..."


    Mark could not help but murmur.


    "You''re not some demon spider, are you?"


    The Priestess could not help but ask after seeing the appendages on Mark''s back. And thinking about it, the Priestess was not the first one to think that the appendages looked like a spider''s. Back in New Jersey, he became the target to be Snow''s mate due to the [Queen Spider]tched onto her.


    "I''m pretty sure I''m not."


    Mark replied as he began his attack once more.


    And this time, the Priestess took out another fan for her opposite hand and also charged forwards.


    The two exchanged blows between the crumbling piece of the Skytree bridged over the ruins. They moved incredibly fast that even blurs could be barely seen in the darkness of the night.


    But since Mark made clever use of his [Blood Maniption], the Priestess began to struggle. She might have two magical weapons, but Mark now had eight limbs to attack with.


    On the other hand, Mark was having a hard time too. The fans on the Priestess'' hands had some kind of repelling effect that direct attacks hitting it would bounce off. Every attack that Mark unleashed that hit the fans would be pushed back.


    BAM!


    Mark attacked twice from different directions, and the fans blocked the attacks at the same time. Both Mark and the Priestess were blown away by the joint impact of their attacks.


    The Priestess made the sudden impact and separation into an opportunity. Before she couldnd after being blown away, she waved her sleeve, letting out three paper dolls flying straight at Mark.


    Mark frowned. It was what kind of battle style he had expected earlier from the Priestess. The fighting style of [Onmyodo].


    While it was more prevalent in Anime, Fantasy Manga, and Novels, folklore also suggested that practitioners of [Onmyodo] used talismans and [Shikigamis] that contained magical properties to attack. It was mostly practiced against [Youkais], evil spirits, and Demons.


    And considering that Mark was also a Demon, the Priestess'' [Shikigamis] could effectively make an impact on Mark.


    Midway, the three [Shikigamis] flying toward Mark burned and turned into balls of me shooting toward him. It was not even a straight shot. The balls of me were curving in trajectory as they flew at Mark.


    Twisting his body a bit, Mark let the three balls of me fly past him. It was because those three were more or less just a distraction. As he looked forwards, the Priestess had already finished some chant while holding a rectangr talisman which she threw at him.


    Just like the three [Shikigamis], the talisman burned mid-flight. However, it did not turn into a ball of me but quickly shot toward Mark with a loud crackle. It was a lightning talisman, shooting at Mark at high speeds. And as if it was not enough, Mark noticed the heat behind him. The three balls of me he evaded did have homing capabilities and flew back at him.


    Mark was sandwiched by attacks from the front and back due to thepse in his judgment. He was impressed at the Priestess who was able to make this kind of scheme.


    BOOM!


    Mark was engulfed by the attacks, creating a big explosion.


    "Wha- did I overdo it?"


    The Priestess did not think that it would actually work this well. Still, the effect was pretty strong, although she had no intention of killing Mark.


    But then, the smoke from the explosion was blown away, making the Priestess wide-eyed.


    The smoke cleared, and Mark was revealed with his six wings protecting his body. This might not mean much to the eyes of regr people, but a Priestess should know that...


    A Demon with multiple wings emitting strong magical energy was the sign of a Noble Pureblood.

 Chapter 990 The [Inyo], Light And Dark, Purification And Corruption

    Day 234 - 9:51 PM - Tokyo Skytree Ruins, Forbidden Zone, Oshiage, Sumida City, Ruins of Tokyo


    After seeing Mark emerge from the explosion of her attacks, the Priestess could not hide the surprise she felt. Her opponent had six wings shaped like a bat''s. However, the wings'' exact appearance was hard to determine due to the ck, hazy film covering them. She could not even be sure if that film was a cover or if they were part of the wings.


    Nheless, the Priestess was not new to such a mysterious scene. Such unexinable things were prevalent among the side of the world thatmon humans could not perceive. Besides, it was not the most important part of what the Priestess was currently seeing.


    For humans, having more than a normal quantity of something in their bodies warranted scorn from a lot of people. An extra finger, an underdeveloped extra limb, or even just having unnatural extra height. A few would voice their amazement, but more wouldugh at those people and call them freaks.


    But to non-humans, having more of something would mean they were unique. It would even be respected since, to some races, having more of certain body parts was a symbol of that individual''s strength and, most importantly, bloodline.


    To some magical creatures, it could be limbs, heads, and even tails. There were also Demon races who praised those with more horns and eyes.


    And there was a unique race known to humankind that also exhibited such qualities.


    [Angels].


    The most powerful [Angels] had more of various things. In fact, the beautiful humanoid [Angels] were the lowest and weakest kinds as the caste increased, the more of an abomination they would be. Of course, there were exceptions, but there were not that many of them.


    Seeing Mark''s multiple wings, the Priestess immediately knew he was a Pureblood Demon. It was not the first time she encountered one. In fact, she fought one around a hundred years ago. Of course, in the current era, sealed by the protector of the world, it was almost impossible for anyone to encounter a Pureblood Demon in the mortal realm. The Priestess was just unlucky during that time, and she almost got killed in the process.


    Furthermore, the Priestess determined something that even Mark might not have known. But that was not important for now as the Priestess'' surprise turned into a smile.


    The Priestess encountered a Pureblood Demon back then and almost got killed. But now, it was different. She was far stronger than in the past, and the current fight was not to the death. She had fought many unusual things over the years, but it would be the first time she would be able to test her current strength against a Pureblood Demon.


    Without waiting for Mark to recover, the Priestess immediately shot three talismans each from both her hands. The six talismans burst into mes, shooting toward Mark in a curved erratic flight.


    On the other hand, Mark raised his head as his wings stretched open. He faced the iing barrage of fireballs with a spin of his body, erasing the attacks with his wings.


    The Priestess did not know, but anyone who knew Mark might notice it. His wings were quite different from a month ago. Although his wings had a drastic change once the [Blessing of Death''s Aura] activated during his fight with the [Mechids] in Catanduanes, they still underwent a few changes over the past month.


    Among the changes, the most noticeable was the ck haze which now covered his wings. It was not like he did anything special to achieve these changes. In fact, it was more like his body''s natural response as it adjusted to the things happening within his body.


    During the fight with Sinogo, he had to use one of his unused crystals and acquired the ability of the [Earth Demon] to manifest magical energy physically.


    In Catanduanes, he received Maguayen''s blessing and acquired the ability to manifest and control the [Aura of Death].


    Those new powersbined with his [Miasma], [Mutative Physique], and bloodline as a Pureblood [Blood Demon] resulted in these wings. At least, that was how Mark hypothesized it. There was no other exnation that Mark managed to find, and Magwayen also agreed with Mark''s guesses.


    And even now, these wings of his were still undergoing this slow growth.


    Nheless, Mark was able to utilize its new properties. Just like how he blocked the Priestess'' elemental attacks, the ck haze actually contained the ability to negate magical energy and absorb it. At a nce, it seemed simr to [Miasma]. However, it did not have [Miasma''s] corruptive properties. In fact, this haze could only affect things with magical properties and was untouchable by anything physical. If one was to try and touch Mark''s wings, they would not affect the haze and would end up touching his wings directly instead.


    Due to these reasons, Mark''s new wings could be a great defense against magical attacks but would not be able to stop bullets on their own.


    Mark pped his wings. He jumped and flew toward the Priestess.


    As Mark flew to her, the Priestess released a barrage of talismans in an attempt to stop or stall her opponent in his tracks. However, Mark''s wings gave him wider options for evasion while they also protected him from the elemental attacks he could not evade.


    Seeing that her elemental attacks were not working, the Priestess also stepped up her game.


    BAM!


    Mark tried tond an axe kick toward the Priestess from above. However, the Priestess turned into a blur as she evaded, vanishing in her original location and appearing several meters away. It caused Mark''s kick tond straight on the ruins, causing arge explosion of dust and debris.


    The bridging ruins of the Skytree shook as if it was going to fall apart. Nheless, while Mark''s kick was powerful, it was not enough to bring down the crumbling ruins.


    Mark pped his wings strongly. The cloud of dust scattered away immediately. However, the moment the dust stopped blocking his view, six beams of light shot toward him.


    It was just in an instant, but Mark felt these beams were differentpared to the previous attacks that the Priestess released. Instead of blocking the beams with his wings, Mark made a quick decision to evade. However, the beams were quick, and he was caught in a surprise attack due to the explosion of dust he had caused. Two of the six beams managed to graze the haze on his wings and actually tore through it.


    The six beams were not elemental attacks. They were spiritual attacks with purification properties.


    Mark should not have forgotten. The practitioners of [Onmyodo] were Demon exterminators. They had many ways to fight Demons and negate the natural and magical corruptions of the world.


    But those beams of light were not actually attacks aimed to defeat Mark but to stall for a little more time.


    After Mark evaded the beams of light, the darkness of the night was disturbed by a source of light brighter than the attacks the Priestess had used so far.


    Mark turned to the Priestess, who was the cause of the disturbance. She could be barely seen as the light covered her body.


    In an instant, the light settled down. It revealed markings on the Priestess'' face releasing a bright sheen. And more importantly, there was a bright golden halo that appeared behind her head. The halo was not a simple one that angels could be seen within media, but an intricate-looking one that looked more like a magical crest than an angelic halo.


    If Mark had his wings as the symbol of his bloodline, the Priestess had this crest as her own.


    Mark saw the markings and the halo on the Priestess. It looked vaguely familiar. He then remembered that ancient depictions of Amaterasu showed a bright halo around her head. And those markings were quite the same as his, although also far different.


    Other than the halo and the markings, Mark could feel the magical energy around the Priestess skyrocket.


    The Priestess looked at Mark. She had a bright smile on her lips. Her excitement was going through the roof as she spoke.


    "Let''s contin- Whoa!"


    Those excited words from the Priestess were interrupted as she took a step back.


    A shadow passed by her front, which her halo illuminated.


    BAM!


    The shadow, no, the [Mutated Infected], received an angry kick on its face, flying back to where it came from, below the bridging ruins of the Skytree.


    "That darn [Infected], interrupting me when I''m talking!"


    The Priestess'' excitement over the fight was doused a little bit due to the sudden interruption.


    But as she turned to Mark once more, he was not paying attention. Only then she noticed as she gave out an annoyed sigh.


    "I shouldn''t have chosen this ce..."


    The Priestess grumbled in regret as she looked around.


    It was her idea to fight here. But now, she was the one annoyed by her own decision as dozens of shadowy figures surrounded the ruins of the Skytree. Many of them stood on the ruins in the surroundings, while most climbed up the steep ruined walls with their w-covered limbs.


    "[Ruin Stalkers], huh. Deal with them first or continue?"


    Mark''s voice entered the Priestess'' ears.


    That was right. These [Infected] was the kind of [Mutated Infected] that Mark called [Ruin Stalkers]. They were the kind prevalent around the ruins of Tokyo.


    And to Mark''s question, the Priestess'' answer was...


    "Both!"


    The Priestess yelled as she released a barrage of talismans flying everywhere. A good number of that barrage actually went straight toward Mark.


    This barrage was also different from the Priestess'' previous attacks. The ones before would burn the talismans after she let go, turning them into forms of attack like fireballs, lightning bolts, and beams. This time, the talismans flew on their own without turning into any elemental attack.


    Mark could evade the talismans, but the same could not be said for the uninvited guests of the battle. The talismans hit the bodies of the [Ruin Stalkers]. On hitting the targets, the talismans released a slight glow before turning into the same elemental attacks the talismans had turned so far. It was an attack that activated on impact, releasing the concentrated elemental attack on the enemy.


    BOOOM!


    Several explosions ensued as the talismans obliterated a lot of the uninvited guests.


    On the other hand, Mark felt a bitpetitive.


    Mark waved his hand, also releasing a barrage of magical attacks. It was not only toward the [Infected] but also toward the Priestess.


    ck-colored balls of mes rained around the ruins. The painful cries of the [Ruin Stalkers] as their bodies burned to a crisp echoed loudly.


    As for the Priestess, while she had a bit of a surprise, she did not falter as she evaded a ball of me at her every step.


    Mark could not help but admire her movements a little. The way she evaded was beautiful and impactful as if she was dancing. It was the result of trained footwork and skills gained as a Priestess.


    On the other hand, the Priestess was wary of Mark''s ck mes. While science exined that white and blue mes were the hottest, ck mes were not that different. It was just that everyone could perceive the color of mes due to the energy and light they were exuding. On the contrary, ck mes were ck because they did not exude any light, preserving their concentrated energy within without wasting or leaking it.


    Light and Dark. The [Inyo]. Two contrasting forces, equally powerful and driving the world forward. The bnce, as they had said.


    The two continued to rain attacks on each other and the uninvited guests that kept appearing to interfere with their fight. It did not take long. The central areas of the Death Zone of Oshiage turned into a hell of contrasting mes and dead corpses.


    There were already a few hundred deaths among the [Infected]. And all of them were mutated. This showed how dangerous this ce was for themon people, [Ability Holder] or not.


    But it seemed that the massive death count among the [Infected] triggered something.


    KRYIIIIEAKKKKKK!!!!


    A deafening cry was heard within the ruins, stopping Mark and the Priestess in their tracks as the ruins began to shake.

 Chapter 991 The [Boss Of Oshiage], A [Patient Zero] Out Of Nowhere

    Day 234 - 10:02 PM - Tokyo Skytree Ruins, Forbidden Zone, Oshiage, Sumida City, Ruins of Tokyo


    KRYIIIIEAKKKKKK!!!!


    A powerful shriek echoed throughout the ruins. Calling it powerful was not irrelevant. It caused the ruins in the immediate surroundings to shake, pulverizing the remaining intact pieces of ss in a wider range, and Mark and the Priestess, two powerful beings, had their ears deafened and ringing.


    It seemed like the boss of this Death Zone had graced Mark and the Priestess with its unusual presence.


    THUMP! THUMP!


    Loud thumping could be heard as arge fast moving creature made its way toward the location of the two.


    In this kind of scene, the protagonists would have time to face and prepare for the arrival of a unique foe. However, Mark and the Priestess could not have such a luxury.


    The moment that shriek was heard throughout the ruins, the [Ruin Stakers] went berserk. Although most of the [Infected] only relied on instinct and were always aggressive to the living, saying they had gone berserk was clearly on another level.


    All the [Ruin Stalkers] in the vicinity began throwing themselves towards Mark and the Priestess to the point that they could not attack each other anymore. Furthermore, these [Infected] threw away their instinct of trying to bite and infect the living and began to charge at their targets with the sole goal of killing.


    And if the [Ruin Stalkers] were not enough, the other [Infected] within the Oshiage ruins began to arrive.


    Mark''s eyes glistened. The number of [Infected] gathering in the area was the secondrgest gathering he had seen so far, with thergest one back in Pennsylvania.


    Although the human poption in Tokyo alone was huge, such arge congregation of [Human Infected] was still a surprising scene to witness after the [Fusion of Dimensions]. Furthermore, this zone was just a few kilometers from the Reimed City.


    Fending off the crazed [Ruin Stalkers], Mark finally took out a weapon. However, unlike his old armor, Mark took out the same new sword he used against the [Mutated Hos], the [AT-Divicer]. It was not like his old weapons would be ineffective against the enemies. The number of enemies was prettyrge, but Mark had yet to see them as an immediate threat. If there was a threat here, it was the Priestess who was still able to sneak talismans flying his way despite being in the same situation as his. In any case, Mark had to make fast work of these enemies, and this new sword was far more efficient in this scenario.


    To retaliate to the Priestess'' attacks, Mark fired his own fireballs at her. She managed to dodge it, of course. It seemed that the Priestess realized that she should not block his magical attacks with her paper fans unless she wanted its enchantments to weaken drastically. Still, it was unusual to see a Shrine Priestess fighting a crazed horde of mutated creatures by pping them with her paper fans and swinging kicks every now and then.


    "Hup!"


    Mark let out such a voice as he hurriedly jumped away from his initial position.


    SPLAT! SIZZLE!


    Where Mark stood before was suddenly covered in foul-smelling greenish goo. The sizzling of the goo as it tried to melt everything it covered could be heard loudly despite the constant growls of the crazed [Infected] and the sound of fighting. Even some of the [Ruin Stalkers] attacking Mark were sttered with the goo and immediately sumbed to its acidic properties.


    And not wanting another of such an attack to suddenlye after him, Mark shot one of his fireballs at a long-necked, wide-mouthed [Mutated Infected] on the streets. In this regard, it was quite amazing that an [Infected] managed to shoot its acidic goo from a few dozen meters away.


    With a painful shriek, the acid-shooting [Infected] sumbed to Mark''s me.


    However, it was just one of the deaths among hundreds to thousands of [Infected] gathering in the area.


    Mark''s eyes observed his surroundings as much as he could. Aside from the [Ruin Stalkers] attacking him and the Priestess fighting on the other side of the ruined Skytree, Mark was paying attention to the [Infected] below.


    Since Mark and the Priestess were atop the ruins, the [Infected] were trying to get to the two as fast as they could. However, most of the [Infected] was incapable of climbing up the ruins even if the walls were on a slight incline. However, just like the [Ruin Stalkers], all the [Infected] below the ruins were in a crazed state. Those that managed to get to the walls started wing on the concrete, and those who were not were grabbing and dragging other [Infected], enabling them to climb up another. Some of the clumps of the [Infected] horde were even beginning to pyramid up the inclined walls.


    Worse, the stronger types of [Mutated Infected] began to trash around, destroying everything they could, no matter what it was. While it was helpful that these types were causing the pyramids of [Infected] to copse, they were also making the ruins crumble even more.


    And as Mark and the Priestess exchanged another volley of attacks while trashing the [Ruin Stalkers] around them, the awaited boss of the zone finally arrived with its loud thumping footsteps.


    The boss immediately took Mark''s attention. Why? It was because it was the first time he had seen such a unique [Infected].


    All [Mutated Infected] were technically unique on their own. After all, each individual would not have the exact same appearance even if they had the same catalyst for mutation. The only thing identical between them were their abilities, capabilities, and, of course, the distinguishable traits of their mutation.


    For example, the [Ruin Stalkers]. The [Ruin Stalkers] were good at traversing the ruins, climbing steep concrete walls, and leaping overrge distances while being unable to effectively traverse forests and natural terrain. They also had distinguishable and simr-looking ws and armor-like growths on their bodies. However, just like humans, they had varying looks and appearances, making each and every one unique.


    But in terms of said abilities and distinguishable, the [Ruin Stalkers] was a kind ofmon mutation of the [Infected] to adapt to the terrain that the ruined Tokyo provided.


    On the other hand, Mark had never seen any simr [Infected]parable to the boss in front of him.


    It was a female [Infected], without a doubt. It might be hard to distinguish using the boss'' other body parts, but the two exposed mounds on her chest clearly indicated her gender.


    Why would her gender be hard to distinguish aside from that part? It was because the entirety of her body was covered in mutated, crystal-like armor with a dark sheen.


    The [Infected] boss'' upper body was humanoid, but her lower body right below her pelvis had mutated into an insect-like appearance. Mark might have called this [Infected] an [Arachne] if not for the fact that her lower body was nowhere spider-like.


    Her lower body had an abdomen akin to a beetle''s. She had six thickly-armored legs, with the front legs looking like giant shields.


    While she luckily did not have wings, that beetle-like abdomen was protected by a metallic carcass no less thick than the two shield-like forelimbs.


    The carapace extended right up to the abdomen of her upper body, only leaving parts of her humanoid body exposed. Her arms were also mutated, looking like giant des, evenrger than her entire upper body.


    Her head was also covered in that mutated armor up to her neck and upper shoulders. However, it left her oddly-numbered eyes exposed through the helmet. It seemed that her mutation caused her face to distort as her left eye was an ergedpound insect eye while the right side of her face had three separate ocelli-looking eyes.


    And the most distinguishable trait of the boss was her size. Saying that she wasrge was an understatement. The boss of this zone was HUGE! She was around five meters in height from her head to the tip of her front legs. If she was measured in length, from her head to tail, it would sound like she was evenrger.


    As he observed the new enemy, Mark had a few huge questions in his mind. This [Mutated Infected] was clearly not a [Monarch Type] as she did not show a human-like level of intelligence. Furthermore, Mark could not detect any newborn consciousness from her, unlike the [Monarch Type Infected] he had encountered before.


    However, the feeling that this zone boss exuded, the level of danger and strength, was not that weaker than a [Monarch Type Infected].


    Then, there was only one possibility.


    This gigantic [Infected] leading the Oshiage Forbidden Zone was a [Patient Zero].


    A [Patient Zero] would usually refer to the first carrier of amunicable disease and the origin of its spread. However, it was a bit differently defined in terms of the [Mutagen] outbreak. Since the [Mutagen] rained down to Earth through the explosion of meteorites in the atmosphere, there were multiple [Patient Zeros]. There were hundreds if not thousands.


    These [Patient Zeros] were people who were first exposed to the concentrated amount of [Mutagen] upon its entry on Earth. For example, passengers of airnes in flight during the entry.


    And these [Patient Zeros] had one thing to distinguish them from the rest of the [Infected] in the world.


    It was their advanced and unique mutations that other [Infected], even [Monarch Types], could notpare to. It was not like all of the so-called [Patient Zeros] turned out this way, but only they had the possibility of bing one so far.


    But even if the boss of Oshiage was a [Patient Zero], it was not like it was the first time Mark had seen one.


    When Mark first arrived in Quezon Province, he saw one of the crashed airnes. There, a [Patient Zero] conducted her revenge in a crazed state as she tried to revive her trampled daughter. It was Miracle''s mother and the person who created the [Blood Children]. Her mutation was totally unique as Mark had never seen any other [Infected], or even [Mutators], who had a simr ability.


    Unique existences among those changed by [Mutagen]. That was the [Patient Zeros].


    And that was where another question wasing from.


    There were no crashed nes in this area, from what Mark knew. How was it possible that there was a [Patient Zero] lurking in this ce? Was it the Skytree? That was a bit too farfetched. The Skytree did not even reach a kilometer in height, after all.


    KRYIIIIEAKKKKKK!!!!


    Mark''s thoughts were interrupted by the same powerful shriek. It caused the ruins to shake again. And this time, it actually caused some ces damaged by the rampaging [Infected] to copse.


    It was when Mark realized that the shriek was not just some shout. It was actually a soundwave attack, as Mark felt disoriented after getting directly affected by it.


    Since Mark and the Priestess took the brunt of that shriek up front, both of them had the same state. It became harder to fight the [Ruin Stalkers] as the two were thrown into the defensive.


    And if that was not enough, the [Boss of Oshiage] began her preparations. She lowered her body and positioned her legs.


    THUMP! THUMP! THUMP! BAM!


    With several quick steps in session, the [Boss of Oshiage] charged and rammed her side unto the bridging ruins of the Skytree.


    CRUMBLE!


    Mark and the Priestess began to lose footing as the ruins of the Skytree shook violently. And unable to resist the attack of the [Boss of Oshiage], the ruins began to copse.


    Still dizzy from the soundwave attack, Mark forced himself to take flight. On the other hand, the Priestess used her [Shukuchi] to retreat to a different ruin further away.


    Mark shook his head. The effects of the soundwave began to disappear. Unfortunately, he had no time to rest as several homing fireballs flew in his direction before converging into arge explosion in his location.


    Of course, Mark managed to evade the attack. However, he could only sigh.


    "That cheeky old hag."


    Mark murmured as he looked at the Priestess far away. She was also recovering from the soundwave attack, but the Priestess did not forget to send some talismans on his way.

 Chapter 992 [Five Element Flames], Drowning The Enemies In Extreme Flames Of Purification

    Day 234 - 10:05 PM - Trampled Ruins, Forbidden Zone, Oshiage, Sumida City, Ruins of Tokyo


    A thick cloud of dust covered the ruined streets of Oshiage as the ruins of the Tokyo Skytree turned into a more unrecognizable pile of debris.


    The bridging ruins of the Skytree might be far more fragile and unstablepared to its past state. However, it was still intact and stable enough tost longer without crumbling to pieces. Even explosives should take some time to copse the ruins. Yet, the [Boss of Oshiage] instantly trampled the same ruins along with the nearby buildings in a single charge. It was a concrete testament to her strength.


    Nheless, the [Infected], whose vision was unaffected by the cloud of dust, could only stare in confusion as Mark took flight. The [Night Stalkers] and other agile and high-jumping [Infected] tried to jump and reach Mark from the tallest ruin they could climb. However, none of them could reach him. Mark pped his wings, overlooking the ants below him. Yet, he could not have a moment of rest.


    Mark waved his hand, sending out several ck fireballs, intercepting the same number of talisman-conjured fireballs from the Priestess.


    Arge horde of [Infected] had already gathered, and, unlike Mark, the Priestess was still being besieged by the [Ruin Stalkers]. However, despite all this, she was stillmitted to her contest of strength and skills against Mark.


    Was this trait of the Priestess a good thing? Maybe. But definitely not in this situation.


    In the first ce, Mark was not too interested in this contest. If not for that strange unpolished stone that the Priestess had offered, he would rather go home and rest. And with the situation bing too troublesome, his interest waned even more.


    If there was something that was giving Mark any sort of interest now, it was the [Boss of Oshiage]. So far, only one kind of [Infected] could give Mark a filled [Physical Crystal]. It was an [Infected] with intelligence. However, Mark had a feeling that a [Patient Zero] could give him one too.


    Miracle''s mother gave Mark a crystal that gave Miracle her current humanoid body instead of her original blood-like appearance. But technically, Miracle''s mother was a [Mutator] than an [Infected]. It was the same for Miracle''s aunt, who gave Oracle, the [Clear Blood Child], her crystal clear appearance.


    As for [Monarch Types], Mark had a feeling that he could get one from them too. However, Mark had not really killed any [Monarch Type] so far. Even the one that mutated due to his [Miasma] back in Bay City was still kept alive in his base for studies.


    SHOOOM!


    Mark''s thoughts were interrupted by a bolt of lightning that passed over his shoulder and singed his armor a little bit.


    "Haah... Let''s just finish this..."


    Mark murmured. While his interest in continuing the fight had waned, it did not mean he would concede.


    Just as another volley of talismans turned into homing fireballs hurled at him, Mark pped his wings.


    BOOM!


    A shockwave was created behind Mark as his figure turned into a blur, leaving a trail of reddish light.


    Mark tore straight through the volley of elemental mes. He appeared just above the Priestess, swinging his sword down at her.


    The Priestess seemed pretty surprised at Mark''s sudden eleration. Furthermore, she was still surrounded by the [Ruin Stalkers] that chased after her. Defending was not an option for her in this situation. With a tap of her wooden sandals, the Priestess vanished from her initial location.


    Mark''s sword did not hit the Priestess as hended in the middle of the confused [Ruin Stalkers]. But he suddenly swung his sword around and kicked the ground mid-swing.


    With an even more surprised expression, the Priestess hurriedly used her right-hand paper fan to block Mark''s sword that appeared in front of her.


    BAM!


    The repelling force from the fan and the impact from the sword caused a loud sound and a shockwave that rattled the surroundings. This exchange made the two separate instantly due to the force of the sh.


    However, Mark was not letting the first attack he exchanged with the Priestess go to waste. Immediately after getting separated by the sh, he kicked the ground and charged toward her.


    The surprise the Priestess had just now immediately turned into a smile as she did the same, charging towards Mark with the paper fans in her hands.


    BAM!


    Not letting themselves get pushed away by the impact once more, the two crossed their weapons into a steady deadlock. Instead, everything around them, debris, dust, and even some of the [Infected], flew away unceremoniously.


    "Finally taking it seriously?"


    The Priestess asked Mark with a childish smile.


    "I just want to end it already."


    Mark said with an uninterested tone which made the Priestess pout a little.


    Still, since Mark wanted to end it while not wanting to concede, the only choice he had to end the fight was to get a little bit serious. That was more than enough for the Priestess, who only wanted to test Mark and her own strength.


    BOOM!


    In the middle of the two''s exchange, a giant w tore through the ruins they stood on and shot upwards between the two.


    Anotherrge ruin of a building copsed almost instantly, covering an even wider area with dust. Mark and the Priestess were forced away from each other once again. At the same time, a gigantic shadow tore through the cloud of dust as the [Boss of Oshiage] jumped out of the copsing building.


    At this moment, both Mark and the Priestess had the same idea as they both threw fireballs at the [Boss of Oshiage] from opposite sides.


    And to the sudden attacks it was about to receive, the [Boss of Oshiage] had an unexpected response that surprised Mark and the Priestess.


    The [Boss of Oshiage] lowered its upper body and positioned its shield-like right leg to face the fireballs from the Priestess. The fireballs from the talismans hit the foreleg, but its thick armor-like carapace only received a few scorch marks.


    That action should have left it vulnerable to Mark''s ck-colored fireballs. But as the fireballs were a meter away from hitting the Boss'' lowered body, it suddenly stomped all of its left legs, causing dust and debris to fly and block the fireballs for it.


    The [Boss of Oshiage''s] intelligence might becking, but its instincts were outstanding.


    Although the magical attacks that Mark and the Priestess had used so far seemed to be equal, it was not exactly the case. It was more like their opposing natural attributes were canceling out each other.


    The Priestess'' natural attribute was light and purification due to her training as a Shinto Priestess and her bloodline carrying the aura of Amaterasu.


    On the other hand, Mark''s natural attributes were darkness, corruption, and chaos. It was all due to his [Miasma] and his bloodline as a Demon Race that originated from the blood of an Evil God.


    As those attributes get carried by their magical attacks, the attacks would end up canceling each other upon contact.


    But if the scenario was changed, the [Boss of Oshiage] receiving the attacks, for example, it was clear that Mark''s ck-colored fireballs would create more damage.


    And by the looks of it, the [Boss of Oshiage''s] instincts sensed that difference and acted ordingly.


    Seeing that the [Boss of Oshiage] was not afraid of her attacks but wary of Mark''s, the Priestess could not help but frown a little. It was clear that it was her loss in this regard, but she was not one to ept it easily.


    The Priestess waved her arms with her fans, and five talismans flew out of her sleeves. The five talismans floated in front of her for a second, forming the corners of a star pentagram.


    "Moku Ka Do Kin Sui!"


    The Priestess chanted, causing the talismans to glow different colors.


    With the pentagram facing outward from the Priestess, the talismans glowed with the chant. Greenish-sky blue for the top corner, reddish-orange for the left corner, brownish-yellow for the bottom-left corner, metallic-white for the bottom-right corner, and bluish-ck for the right corner.


    Each talisman and color represented the five elements of Onmyodo. Wood, Fire, Earth, Metal, and Water.


    It was clear that the Priestess was preparing for a more powerful attack.


    "Imbue and kindle thy mes!"


    With this line, the glow of four of the talismans began to diffuse one by one, starting from the Earth Talisman and moving clockwise. As each glow vanished, the next one glowed brighter. The Talismans also burned to ashes at the same time as the glow vanished. In the end, as the Wood Talisman turned to ashes, the Fire Talisman glowed brightly.


    The [Boss of Oshiage] noticed what the Priestess was doing and targeted her.


    However, the process of preparation only took three to four seconds. It was alreadyte when the [Boss of Oshiage] made its move, not to mention that the Priestess was quite a distance away.


    "Burn mine adversary!"


    The Priestess roared, causing the blinding glow of the Fire Talisman to vanish as it burned into ashes.


    And...


    THOOOOOMMMM!!!


    Like a dam opened up after a heavy rainfall, a massive surge of mes shot out from the center of the imaginary pentagram that the talismans formed.


    The [Boss of Oshiage] could only stop in its tracks as a massive sea of mes enveloped it. That was not all, as the sea of mes swallowed several buildings, a whole street, and a massive chunk of the [Infected] Horde poption gathering in the area.


    mes surged, dyeing the darkness of the night with a range of red to yellow colors. The mes were too massive that they could be seen from blocks away.


    In the sky, Mark blinked his eyes without expression while he stared at the hell below that the Priestess conjured.


    The ruins began to crumble even more as the metal foundations that kept them intact melted from the extreme temperature of the magical mes. Many [Infected] died instantly, and many more were still burning to death.


    And the culprit...


    "Try to block this then!"


    The Priestess was shouting in glee like a mentally-challenged arsonist.


    But then...


    "UWA!"


    The Priestess hurriedly retreated, canceling her continuous attack.


    It was due to a massive de that swung unto her from the sea of mes she conjured.


    "KRRRRRRIEEEEEEEE!!!!"


    The loud cry was heard once again. It caused a shockwave that extinguished most of the mes in the immediate vicinity of the source.


    There, with her humanoid upper body showing varying degrees of burns, the [Boss of Oshiage] stared at the Priestess with rage.


    "Huh?"


    Mark showed a hint of surprise.


    Yes, the [Boss of Oshiage], who was still just an empty husk relying on instinct until just now, showed signs of emotion.


    Rage.


    Furthermore, its carapace looked different too. It might be due to heat or something else, but parts of the carapace of the Boss'' lower body were showing a yellowish glow akin to metal reaching melting point.


    "This b*tch!"


    The Priestess yelled as she sent another quick volley ofrger fireballs to the [Boss of Oshiage].


    "Uwa... She''s cursing... So much for being a Priestess..."


    Mark murmured at the amusing scene before him.


    The extra-sized fireballs hit the Boss before exploding. The explosion was quite strong as the [Boss of Oshiage] was forced a few steps back.


    But those fireballs were clearly ineffective against the already scorched enemy. Instead, the [Boss of Oshiage] had her full attention of the Priestess.


    BAM!


    With a kick of her powerful insect-like legs, the [Boss of Oshiage] moved towards the Priestess, swinging her ws in a berserk frenzy.


    Mark observed the two like a bystander. He could not help but notice that the [Boss of Oshiage] moved faster than before. In fact, it was slightly keeping up with the Priestess'' rapid use of [Sukuchi].


    Unfortunately for the [Boss of Oshiage], the Priestess was still far more agile, not to mention her small size. The frenzied attacks were unable to hit the Priestess at all.


    And then, the Boss made another unexpected move after it was stopped again by a bunch of explosions.


    It...


    BOOOM!


    The back of the [Boss of Oshiage''s] insect-like abdomen exploded open.


    Was it hurt? Apparently, no.


    The [Boss of Oshiage] reached another level of mutation as its body became d in mes.

 Chapter 993 Elemental Conjuration, The Arts Of Elemental Destruction

    Day 234 - 10:15 PM - Trampled Ruins, Forbidden Zone, Oshiage, Sumida City, Ruins of Tokyo


    mes raged on the back of the [Boss of Oshiage]. Parts of its carapace glowed with an amber-like hue. The charring on her humanoid upper body slowly thickened, forming anotheryer of armor to protect her naked breast and stomach. Andstly, the gigantic des that made up her arms glowed bright orange, indicating the high temperatures it had.


    Furthermore, the transformations were still at the beginning stage.


    Although a bit slower, minute changes could be observed on her body as the [Boss of Oshiage] continued to attack the Priestess.


    SHING! CRASH!


    The swinging of its gigantic des echoed as it sliced through the air and everything else on its way.


    "GAH! Why are you only chasing after me?!" The Priestess yelled in frustration before turning in a certain direction. "And you! Why are you just watching?!"


    The person in question, Mark, was currently sitting on the rooftop ledge of a slightly intact but inclined ruined building. Since the [Boss of Oshiage] was not giving the Priestess any leeway to cheekily shoot talismans at him, Mark had a little bit of free time.


    This was one disadvantage of a three-way fight. If two of the three got into a heated exchange, the remaining one would have a nice free time to watch and rx. It was pretty much what was happening right now. While it was not exactly a three-way fight, since there were more than a thousand participants in the horde, only three people were at the center of the battle, and the others were more or less just a nuisance.


    What about the [Ruin Stalkers]? Those fast-moving ruin-dwelling [Infected] would definitely not leave Mark alone, right?


    Well, the Priestess'' sea of mes killed a huge poption of the [Infected] horde in the area. And among those kills were the entire poption of the [Ruin Stalkers] and other fast-moving [Mutated Infected].


    That result was not surprising. Since the [Ruin Stalkers], [Predator Types], and [Agility Types] moved faster than other [Infected], their kinds were the closest to the fight. And, of course, they were within the scope of the Priestess'' area of effect attack.


    It was not like there were no other [Infected] left. It was just that most of the remaining [Infected] was not that agile to bother Mark from where he was watching.


    And if some of the [Infected] could annoy Mark...


    BOOM!


    Mark would nonchntly throw a ck fireball at them, killing them immediately.


    Most of the remaining annoyances were the [Spitter Types]. After all, whatever they could spit from their bodies would reach quite far away.


    And it was not like Mark was getting bored or anything. He was actually watching the [Boss of Oshiage] quite intently. After all, she was showing pretty strange behavior.


    The [Boss of Oshiage] developed a slight emotional fluctuation. She also mutated amidst the terrifying attack that the Priestess unleashed.


    Most importantly, an [Infected''s] mutation process was not something one would be able to see every day, not to mention a [Patient Zero], which was a special existence even among the [Infected].


    Mark was not just engraving the scene into his mind, either. He actually took out a video camera to record the asion. It might not be that good to record a video during the night, but thanks to the Priestess'' mes and her bright halo, Mark had free lighting to record the subject as clearly as possible. The camera he had was pretty expensive too. It was something that he would not dream of being capable of buying before the apocalypse.


    Seeing that Mark was ignoring her, the Priestess frowned. She wanted to fight Mark, but this monster chasing after her was not giving her a break. Worse, her fireballs stopped working on the mutating [Boss of Oshiage]. They would at least leave scorch marks before, but now, the fireballs would not even leave anything on the me-covered body of the enemy. Even her lightning talismans were barely working.


    And that forced the Priestess to change tactics.


    With a wave of her arms, another barrage of talismans flew towards the [Boss of Oshiage]. However, instead of burning to ashes, the talismans dissolved into pieces as jetstreams of water shot out of them.


    The [Boss of Oshiage] could only stop on its tracts as it faced the water jets from the Priestess.


    Compared to fire and lightning, water element attacks had less destructive power. However, it had heavier force, flexibility, and, most importantly, water was fire''s weakness in the practice of [Onmyodo].


    And even if not within the practice, water attacks would be far more suitable to fight the current state of the [Boss of Oshiage].


    The [Boss of Oshiage] was stopped, but the Priestess was done fighting this unwanted enemy.


    As the Priestess retreated a significant distance, the Priestess began conjuring another pentagram with her talismans.


    "Moku Ka Don Kin Sui!"


    The Priestess chanted the same opening line.


    However, this time, the disintegration of the talismans started with the Wood Element Talisman, with thest being the Water Element Talisman.


    "Source of life, umte and gather." The Priestess red as she yelled. "Swallow mine adversary!"


    A huge amount of elemental energy surged from the imaginary pentagram the Priestess conjured as water gushed out of the formation. And in the blink of an eye, a six-meter tsunami swallowed everything in front of the Priestess.


    Mark had no choice but to abandon his position. The tidal wave that the Priestess conjured was far taller than the building ruins he was sitting at.


    The gigantic wave spread forward, swallowing everything in its path. Not only the [Boss of Oshiage] and the remaining [Infected], but even the taller buildings that the mes were unable to reach were submerged.


    Unlike the mes, which only covered a particr area, the water spread out through everything it could pass. Many debris and [Infected] were pushed out as the water even flowed past outside the Forbidden Zone.


    After being covered in hellish mes, the Forbidden Zone now turned into a submerged ruin.


    The sudden change in temperature copsed even more buildings. Many [Infected] died, while more were thrown out of their territory.


    And as for the [Boss of Oshiage], the sudden change in the temperature of its body caused it to harden, creating a five-meter statue in the middle of the Forbidden Zone.


    Mark pped his wings as he flew over the disaster the Priestess created. And from what he could tell, the [Boss of Oshiage] was now dead.


    It was an unexpected and anti-climatic death. The [Boss of Oshiage] sure mutated and gained more strength. It was very likely that she managed to gain power using the Priestess'' mes as the catalyst. Unfortunately, that was both lucky and unlucky since the Priestess'' powers were not limited to fire and lightning. With the boss having a body of mes, it became too vulnerable to water. While a meager amount of water would not be able to stop its rampage, a tsunami-like amount of water definitely could.


    And at this scene, Mark looked a little disappointed. He was a little interested to see what the final form the [Boss of Oshiage] would take after its mutation finished its final stages.


    "Haah..."


    Mark shrugged as he immediately flew out of the way.


    Without warning, a huge tree root shot from below Mark. And even though he already flew out of the way, it twisted and turned, following his movements.


    BOOOM! BOOOM! BOOOM!<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    Mark flew out of range of the first root, but a few more appeared on his path. A few even tore through the ruins, while others squashed the [Infected] instead ofing after Mark.


    And the culprit for these tree roots...


    "Hmmp!"


    The slightly angry Priestess stood above another ruined building that was slightly above the water that had yet to drain fully.


    With another wave of her sleeves, several talismans flew. However, instead of shooting toward Mark, these talismans flew to the ground below Mark''s location. The talismans submerged under the water before conjuring the gigantic tree roots, which attacked Mark and the [Infected] in the area.


    It was now time to continue the fight. With this thought, Mark stored the video camera back into his [Spatial Ring]. He then flew towards the Priestess, all while evading the gigantic tree roots swinging at him.


    The Priestess had decades of experience using her abilities. While it did not seem like she was thinking about it, she was actually putting many details around her into her mind when using her abilities.


    Although it looked as if the Priestess was just hurling fireballs and lightning bolts at Mark repeatedly to no avail, it was more or less to gauge Mark''s initial capabilities.


    When the [Boss of Oshiage] blocked her fireballs, although the Priestess looked frustrated, she used that massive amount of mes and heat to try and measure how much the boss could endure. Of course, it went out of control as the mes seemed to have caused the boss to mutate. But as soon as she got the chance, she ended the boss with a single attack, taking advantage of the weakness the boss now had.


    And now, using the effects of the tsunami she used to kill the [Boss of Oshiage], the Priestess was now conjuring those dozens of meters long roots. Without the water in the surroundings, these roots would be weaker and could only reach half the length of what it was showing now to attack Mark. It was as if defeating the boss and creating an advantageous field for her were both added to her calctions.


    BOOOM!


    After evading the gigantic tree roots, Mark and the Priestess were once again engaged in close-quartersbat.


    At this point, the Priestess was getting more and more frustrated.


    Yes, Mark was pushing the fight more than before. However, the Priestess could tell he was not taking it as seriously as she wanted.


    Then, there was only one thing that the Priestess could do.


    It was to make Mark serious.


    BAM!


    Mark got pushed away as the Priestess took advantage of the repelling enchantments of her fans. And before Mark could evennd, the Priestess already threw a barrage of talismans at him.


    Fireballs flew and twisted around Mark, lightning bolts shot at him at lightspeed, strong streams of water burst forth to block his path, and tree roots grew from the ground to restrict his movements.


    And if that was not enough, one of the talismans shot under the flood water below Mark. Then...


    BAM!


    An earthen pir suddenly shot out of the water. The earthen pir actually reached Mark, who was flying around eight meters from the ground.


    Mark managed to evade at thest second. But if he was hit by the pir, he would definitely break dozens of bones on his body.


    Looking at the barrage of attacks, Mark was sure the Priestess was trying to force him to get serious.


    However, this was not enough. Mark still had some leeway in dodging the attacks.


    And the Priestess could see that fact as she immediately prepared for another powerful attack.


    "Moku Ka Do Kin Sui!"


    The Priestess began to chant as she formed another talisman pentagram.


    "Nature, absorb thy essence!"


    The Priestess yelled, and the talismans withered, starting from the fire talisman and ending with the wood talisman.


    "Restrict this opponent of mine!"


    RUMBLE!


    As the elemental energy from the Priestess converged, the entirety of Oshiage rumbled.


    BOOOM!


    More buildings copsed, and the already ruined streets were torn to pieces. Gigantic roots tore everything in their paths as they grew out of the flooded ground. In the blink of an eye, the Forbidden Zone became a nt apocalypse upied by living roots.


    And all of those roots were aiming for a single target.


    Mark, besieged by hundred of roots varying in size and length, could only attempt to fly as high as he could. In this scenario, it was the most rational move, as there should be a limit on how long these roots could grow.


    But as said before, the Priestess was putting these details into her mind. The roots were a trap, forcing Mark to fly to the sky.


    WOOOOM!


    Mark''s eyes frowned as she felt a strong fluctuation of concentrated energy. It was different from the energy that the Priestess had used so far. And as he turned to look at her, Mark saw that the halo on the Priestess'' back was brightly glowing as she conjured another pentagram made by her talismans.


    But this time around, there was no chant, and the talismans did not turn into pieces.


    SHOOOOOM!


    Slightly imbued with the aura of Goddess Amaterasu, the Priestess shot a powerful beam of light at Mark. It was not only powerful, but it was fast and massive.


    Evasion was impossible.


    Mark smirked. The Priestess indeed managed to force his hands as he encased his body in a shell of [Miasma].


    And there, a tower of light shot to the sky witnessed for several hundreds of kilometers away.

 Chapter 994 End Of Challenge, Purifying Light Against Corruptive Darkness

    Day 234 - 10:19 PM - Flooded Forest Ruin, Forbidden Zone, Oshiage, Sumida City, Ruins of Tokyo


    The gigantic pir of light tore through the darkness of the night. It illuminated everything even outside the already erged boundaries of the ruined Tokyo and was witnessed even far beyond it illuminated. The pir of light was as bright as the sunlight but as gentle as the moonlight. It was such a bizarre and terrifying sight.


    All [Infected] that witnessed the pir growled in utter confusion. And with the growls from their blood-covered mouths, their legs moved toward the pir of light, attracted by something they could not fathom.


    Same as the [Infected], the [Mechids], rarely seen within the ruins of Tokyo, began to approach the pir of light.


    ***


    Day 234 - 10:19 PM - Demon''s Dominion, Inawashiro, Fukushima Prefecture


    The town of Inawashiro. It was a rural town centered on agriculture, mainly rice. It must have been a nice rural town, although now, it was the center of the Demon''s Dominion.


    It became a hellish ce filled with conflict. Knowing how aggressive and violent the Demons of Japan were, this oue was not surprising.


    Yet, on this night, the Demons all went silent as they gazed at the southern sky. Even at this distance, they could feel the power of purification that their kind extremely feared.


    With hostile hearts and minds, they made an oath.


    The time to eradicate the humans in this country woulde soon.


    ***


    Day 234 - 10:19 PM - Auraboros Japan Branch, Aokigahara, Narusawa, Fujikawaguchiko, Minamitsuru District, Yamanashi


    While the north was disturbed, the west was in a state of confusion.


    The members of Auraboros stared at the eastern sky, looking at the very same pir of light.


    They had no idea what was happening. As such, the Empress immediately sent people to gather information about what was happening.


    The Empress looked at that pir of light.


    If the Reimed City was currently facing a crisis, it would be a good opportunity to gain the upper hand in the iing alliance meeting.


    ***


    Day 234 - 10:19 PM - Reimed City, Tokyo Bay, Ruins of Tokyo


    The north was disturbed, and the west was confused.


    As for the residents of the Reimed City, they felt fear.


    Those who were awake stared at the sky. Those asleep were woken by the ones awake. They all stared in fear due to the unfathomable scene before them.


    The pir of light that turned nighttime into daytime was not far from the Reimed City. With such a fact, their fear was not unreasonable.


    With the sudden situation, the army was immediately mobilized. At the same time, the Territorial Groups managing the different districts in the Reimed City also prepared.


    But out of all things, what confused the people of the Reimed City the most was the sudden mobilization of the Shinto Priests from the Temple.


    Themon people would not usually see the Shinto Priests outside the Temple except for a few special asions and emergencies. It was even rarer to see the most powerful ones who wereparable to [Ability Holders].


    But this night, themon people could see a few groups of Shinto Priests jumping from building to building and running through the streets, with their bodies emitting a faint glow.


    The sudden mobilization of the Shinto Priests made the people believe whatever was happening was a serious issue.


    Unknown to everyone, it was not just the Shinto Priests, the Territorial Groups, and the Army who were preparing.


    At the base of the Evernight Group, Mei was already changing into her armor. It was alreadyte, and Mark had yet to return. When the pir of light appeared, she tried contacting him through the rings that Bath gave them, but it did not seem to being through.


    Mei was getting worried. She could tell that Mark was in the same direction as the pir of light.


    As such, Mei decided to find him. And using Spera''s portal, she nned to start the search outside the Reimed City.


    ***


    Day 234 - 10:20 PM - Flooded Forest Ruin, Forbidden Zone, Oshiage, Sumida City, Ruins of Tokyo


    Within the ruins of Oshiage, the pir of light dissipated as fast as it tore through the night sky.


    And seeing Mark still flying in the sky, unscathed, the eyes of the Priestess glittered.


    That pir of light was one of the most powerful attacks the Priestess had in hand. Most Demons she encountered in the past would not be able to receive the attack and remain with an intact body. The Priestess was convinced that Mark would be able to survive it. That was why she used it without hesitation. However, she never expected him to receive the full brunt of the attack and remain unaffected.


    And if there was something that fascinated the Priestess even more, it was the fact that she felt the presence of [Miasma] just before her attack hit Mark.


    Was Mark able to wield [Miasma] of his own volition? The Priestess knew that it was nonsense and that any being with a physical body should not be able to touch [Miasma] without being affected by its corruptive properties.


    However, what else would exin what happened just now?


    Rather than denying the fact, the Priestess was more inclined to believe that the person she was fighting right now was a unique existence.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    On the other side, Mark sighed. With his [Empath] abilities, he could tell from the Priestess'' emotional fluctuations that she noticed Mark''s use of [Miasma]. But this fact confirmed one thing about the Priestess. She had quite a unique mindset. [Miasma] was something feared by many, and it would not be a surprise that a Shinto Priestess like her would begin thinking of eliminating him as a threat. However, that was clearly not the case. The Priestess did not care. She only wanted Mark to fight seriously.


    SHOOOM!


    At this time, the Priestess began her next attacks. It started with a group of talismans that immediately turned into a barrage of light beams shooting at Mark.


    Mark immediately moved, evading the beams as fast as he could. These beams were different from the fireballs and lightning bolts before as these beams carried the same properties as the pir of light just now. He knew that these beams could not be blocked by his wings, and he would get wounded if he got hit by these attacks.


    Unfortunately, the light beams were pretty fast. They shot at lightspeed, after all. Mark had no way of evading all of them.


    And as such, with a wave of his hand, a surge of [Miasma] formed a wall in front of him, which blocked and absorbed the beams of light.


    The barrage of light beams ended, and Mark immediately retaliated.


    Mark stretched out both his arms. Small surges of [Miasma] formed and shot towards the Priestess.


    The Priestess saw Mark''s retaliation and immediately went for defense. With hermand, the tree roots that now littered Oshiage moved to block and swat the surges of [Miasma] that rained from Mark.


    Due to the sheer quantity of the roots, Mark''s attacks were blocked, not even reaching the ground. However, each root that managed to block Mark''s [Miasma] immediately withered, turning into dried roots, which soon crumbled to pieces that rained to the flooded ground.


    Not waiting for the Priestess to release another barrage of dangerous attacks, Mark''s wings showed a reddish glow. His speed elerated even more as he charged at the Priestess.


    With a smile and an excited glint in her eyes, the Priestess waved her arms, and the hundreds of remaining tree roots moved to block Mark''s path.


    At this time, Mark''s eyes glowed with a purplish sheen. He then disyed unexpected movements, in which he actually evaded the hundreds of roots attacking him.


    The Priestess was surprised by that scene. She realized that Mark''s movements were strange. He was not responding to the attacks and evading them. It felt more like he was already evading the attack before it even came.


    As time passed and the Priestess fought Mark more, her view of him became more and more unfathomable.


    While it was true that it was expected for a Pureblood Demon to have some uncanny abilities, what Mark had shown her was already beyond what a normal Pureblood Demon was supposed to be capable of. Furthermore, his move sets did not make sense. In the first ce, how was he able to wield [Miasma]? And if he was able to wield [Miasma], how was he capable of other magical attacks?


    [Miasma] was a greedy energy. [Formless Demons], which weremonly known to wield it, were incapable of any other things aside from using [Miasma]. Yet, Mark, who had a physical body and was able to shoot fireballs, was also using [Miasma].


    The Priestess was excited about her unique opponent. Yet, she was also utterly confused.


    With a serious look in her eyes, the Priestess waved her fans downward. The halo behind her glowed brighter, and the roots around Mark moved differently and began to make unpredictable movements.


    At that sudden change in pattern, it was Mark''s turn to be surprised. The Priestess imbued her aura to the roots as she controlled them. And Mark''s [Future Sight] suddenly became less effective.


    The gears in Mark''s head spun as he evaded the roots to his full abilities. And he arrived at a single answer.


    Gods were outside the influence of fate. The Priestess'' aura, containing the powers of the Goddess of the Sun, Amaterasu, had some resistance against abilities that read the future.


    Mark was stopped on his flight, surrounded by the tree roots under the Priestess'' control. And with a deep breath, Mark shouted.


    "HAH!"


    [Miasma] exploded from his body in all directions. The roots surrounding Mark were enveloped by the expanding surge of [Miasma], immediately withering and crumbling.


    Mark tore through the roots and continued his charge towards the Priestess. Wielding his swords, Mark shed at the Priestess. It was a serious attack, and the Priestess would definitely get injured if she could not defend herself.


    However, the Priestess was already preparing when Mark was surrounded by the roots. A pentagram of talismans was already in front of her, with the talismans already getting shed to pieces. And with the Metal Talisman as thest to crumble, a magical barrier with a metallic sheen formed in front of her.


    BAM!


    The sword in Mark''s hand and the metallic barrier of the Priestess collided with a powerful impact that rattled the surroundings.


    It was a deadlock once again, with the Priestess on defense and Mark on the offensive.


    With her arms outstretched in front of her, the Priestess was reinforcing the barrier. On the other side, Mark''s wings pped stronger and stronger as he tried to sh through the barrier.


    The power the two were emitting was already off the charts as the force between their struggle was transmitted to the surroundings.


    It was clear that this would be the final bout. If Mark could sh through the barrier, he would win this fight. Otherwise, the Priestess would win if she was able to defend herself against Mark''s attack.


    But as the struggle intensified, a barrage of fireballs suddenly shot at Mark.


    Mark was caught a little off guard. It was not because he let his guard down against the Priestess. It was because the fireballs came from apletely different direction.


    As it was too sudden, Mark had no time to use his wings to defend against the fireballs. He would either need to receive the brunt of the attack as he continued his sh to try to break the metallic barrier or abandon it and retreat.


    Most of all, the Priestess was also surprised by the fireballs. It was clear that it did note from her.


    But as the fireballs were about to make Marke to a decision, several muffled gunshots were heard. The fireballs were shot through, causing them to dissipate into nothingness.


    At this time, both Mark and the Priestess looked at each other and came to an understanding.


    ""Let''s end this here.""


    The two said at the same time as they both lowered their weapons.

 Chapter 995 Luck And Connections, Ending The Chaotic Night

    Day 324 - 10:23 PM - Flooded Forest Ruins, Forbidden Zone, Oshiage, Sumida City, Ruins of Tokyo


    With the sudden interruption, Mark and the Priestess decided there was no point in continuing the fight.


    SHOOOM!


    Another barrage of talismans flew toward Mark before turning into different elemental attacks.


    BANG! BANG! BANG!


    At the same time, the gunshots also came. The bullets flew from somewhere, hitting the elemental attacks and destroying them. With half of the elemental attacks destroyed, Mark could retreat safely without needing to block them with his wings.


    Mark flew and retreated quite a distance away as he felt the group of people approaching the ce.


    "Priestess!"


    Someone called out while seven people in traditional Shinto clothing, four men and three women, appeared around the Priestess out of thin air. They immediately surrounded the Priestess, facing Mark, in an attempt to protect their leader.


    At the same time, with a bright sh of light, Mei appeared behind Mark with her crystal-like rainbow wings and her sniper rifle in her hands.


    Mark had no particr reaction to the arrival of the Onmyoujis, but the same could not be said about the Priestess, who was surprised by the female Demon that appeared behind her opponent.


    As the Priestess of the Temple and protector of the Reimed City, she did not expect to see two Pureblood Demons lurking nearby undetected. What was stranger was that the female Demon''s aura was pure. It was something that should not belong to a Demon at all.


    "Everyone! Get ready to purge the evil!"


    The Shinto Priest with a pair of sharp eyes, who seemed to be the leader of the seven, yelled as he prepared more talismans in his hands.


    However...


    "OW!"


    The same Priest flinched and yelled in pain as something hit the back of his head.


    "Who!" The Priest aggressively turned around only to fall speechless. "P-Priestess, why did you?"


    The Priestess, using her fan that was now closed, hit the leader of the group on the back of his head. The hit was not that powerful. However, it was painful enough to take anyone''s attention.


    "Stand down, all of you. Put your talismans away."


    The Priestess said with a dignified demeanor. She behaved differentlypared to her childish and annoying act while talking and fighting with Mark. It was as if she was apletely different person.


    Due to the order they received, the Onmyoujis became confused. Only the Shrine Maiden standing beside the Priestess seemed to have caught on as she silently made a dismayed face with her hand on top of her forehead. She only shook her head with a sigh as she stared at the back of the Priestess.


    "All of you, say here," The Priestess said before turning to that dismayed Shrine Maiden. "Tsubasa, follow me."


    The Priestess then left the protection of the group and walked forward.


    "But Priestess!"


    The leader of the group tried to protest. However, all he received was the Priestess'' silent stare.


    Receiving the Priestess'' order, the Shrine Maiden named Tsubasa followed closely behind the Priestess. She had her hands inside her sleeves to take out a talisman, just in case. But as she looked at the Priestess'' back, she seemed to realize that it was unnecessary.


    In the sky, Mark looked at Mei. But before he could say anything, she spoke.


    "You''rete. And you''re not responding."


    Mei then pointed at her ring, making Mark''s ring vibrate as it reacted to hers.


    This made Mark confused. He was wearing his ring, after all. Yet, he was sure he did not receive any contact from Mei while fighting the Priestess.


    "Sorry for worrying you, but let''s talk about the detailster," Mark shrugged as he patted her head. "Follow me for now."


    And with those words, Mark flew down towards the Priestess and the Shrine Maiden. He flew down at a slower pace, with Mei following closely behind him.


    The six Onmyoujis could only feel a little nervous as the Priestess and who they perceived as the enemy approached each other. But since the Priestess ordered them strictly, they could only obey.


    The Priestess and Mark soon stood in front of each other.


    Mark stretched out his right hand forward with his palm facing the sky. And there, everyone heard him.


    "We''re done here. So, pay up."


    The Priestess could only pout a little as she took out the item she promised to give Mark.


    As their Priestess responded to Mark''s words by giving him something, the reactions of the six Onmyoujis were priceless.


    "I''m not really satisfied with the oue," The Priestess said in a low voice. "But it can''t be helped. I''m the one who chose this location."


    "Yeah, it''s your fault."


    Mark unceremoniously med the Priestess. Thetter could only stare at Mark in silence.


    By the looks of it, the Priestess was keeping a facade in front of her followers. If these people were not present here, she sure would have been yelling at Mark already for not taking the fight seriously until thest moments.


    "Oh, by the way," Mark seemed to remember something. "Can I have her head?"


    Mark then pointed somewhere.


    The Priestess followed Mark''s finger in confusion, and he was pointing at the half-submerged petrified corpse of the [Boss of Oshiage].


    "I don''t really mind. It''s just an [Infected] corpse."


    The Priestess said.


    "I''ll take the head then."


    Mark said as he signaled Mei to follow him.


    Without waiting for any more words from the Priestess, Mark flew towards the corpse of the [Boss of Oshiage] and lopped its head off.


    "We''ll be going. Don''t forget what you said before."


    Mark yelled at the Priestess as he grabbed Mei by her waist. And then, the two vanished in front of everyone left in the area.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    The Priestess and her underlings stared at the ce where the two Demons vanished. The Onmyoujis seemed perturbed by the fact that the two just went and disappeared without a trace. They could not even sense where they went.


    And in that sense, the Onmyoujis also felt terrified. Just how powerful were the Demons the Priestess was fighting?


    "Prieste- Grandmother..." Tsubasa whispered beside the Priestess. "You''re getting yourself into trouble again... To think you would pay a Demon to fight you..."


    "What is wrong with that?" The Priestess replied, hiding her expression from the rest of the group. "It''s not easy to find someone who can take on my [Light of Purification] directly ande out unscathed. It''s been a long time since thest time I managed to properly stretch my arms and legs."


    "That''s..."


    Tsubasa could not believe what she had just heard from the Priestess. The Demon that left just now was unaffected by that pir of light? How? Just how powerful was that Demon?


    "Those Demons are not enemies?"


    Tsubasa carefully asked.


    "If they are enemies, you and those kids back there would be dead, and I''m not sure if I''ll be able to do anything. You all are lucky. Why are kids here anyway?"


    The Priestess grumpily whispered.


    "Of course, to protect you! The other Priests and Maidens are also on the way."


    Tsubasa reasoned with the Priestess.


    "Hmmph," The Priestess harrumphed. "You kids are too stupid. How are you kids going protect me from something I can''t defeat?"


    "But!"


    Tsubasa wanted to argue, but she could not refute the Priestess.


    "Next time, if you kids witnessed me using my most powerful attacks, don''t bothering. It could be that the fight is ending... Or I''m fighting something you kids can''t handle. Don''t go rushing to your deaths."


    The Priestess warned Tsubasa. After all, her great great granddaughter, on her younger brother''s side, was one of her most precious family members.


    "It''s Grandmother''s fault. If you keep sneaking out like that, who wouldn''t worry? It is really odd how the members of the Temple can only see your dignified side and not the real you."


    "Can you me me? The Temple is boring. I had already been stuck with the same scene for about two hundred years. Give me a break."


    The Priestess sighed.


    The Grandmother and the Granddaughter kept whispering to each other until the rest of the Temple arrived. Only then the Priestess decided to go home, as there was nothing else to do in this ce.


    It was no doubt that the Priestess was unsatisfied with the ending. Maybe, she could find another time to challenge Mark. Well, if she could convince him to join her shenanigans.


    ***


    On the other side, Mark and Mei returned to the restaurant without anyone outside noticing.


    When the two arrived, Mei sure was in a better mood than when she left worried about Mark. It looked like pulling her close by grabbing her waist when they left the ruins did the trick. She was definitely not an easy woman, but she was pretty weak with intimate physical contact with Mark.


    Besides, the problem with the rings was no one''s fault. If there was, it could be the Priestess'' fault. After all, she was the biggest factor that could affect the rings given by a God. After all, Amaterasu was a powerful Goddess, and the Priestess carried her aura.


    It was just spection, but it kind of made sense.


    Mark and Mei had been wearing these rings since they received them from Bath. Mark used [Miasma] around it, and it was unaffected. This was the first time that it malfunctioned, and the only change was the presence of the Priestess.


    When Mark exined why he was fighting with the Priestess and what possibly happened with the rings, Mei epted it. Of course, Mark still got a little scolding. After all, he did not notice the ring malfunctioning because he forgot to contact Mei and tell her he would bete.


    Mark just smiled at her scolding, though. Mei was not scary. She just looked cute doing that.


    And while all that was happening, Spera was just watching while drinking coffee. It was alreadyte, after all.


    When Mark and Mei finished talking, only then Spera chimed in.


    "What is this anyway?"


    That was what Spera first asked as she looked at the unpolished stone Mark put on the table.


    "Something to repair this with." That was Mark''s answer as he took out Mako''s broken artifact. "At least, that''s what Magwayen said."


    As it turned out, the unpolished stone that the Priestess offered Mark was a simr kind of gemstone that the artifact had before it was used up by Mako.


    Unfortunately, the stone was unprocessed. Mark would need to do the processing himself. Luckily, Magwayen found some help in understanding the markings inside and outside the artifact, and Mark should be able to fix it in time.


    But as the three were talking, a visitor came.


    Peeking from the kitchen door... It was the bob-haircut girl with a red waistcoat.


    The Zashiki-Warashi seemed to be less wary as she put an empty bowl on the floor in front of the door while the three were watching. She still hid as much as she could behind the door, though.


    "Do we still have red bean rice?"


    Mark asked the two girls.


    "We have, but uncooked."


    Mei replied.


    "Can you cook a bowl for her?"


    Mark asked Mei, which she agreed to.


    "Is it fine to give it food every time it appears here?"


    Spera asked Mark while watching the girl behind the door.


    "Yeah, it''s fine," Mark said without hesitation. "They say that Zashiki-Warashis bring good luck. She might be the reason how I got this stone out of nowhere, after all."


    Mark pointed at the unpolished stone. It was really something unexpected and lucky. Out of anything that the Priestess could have and possibly offer to him, she had this one. An item that Mark actually needed.


    If it was luck due to the Zashiki-Warashi, then there was no need to deny it. He would like to have more luck.


    And thinking about it now, as someone unbound by fate and destiny, luck was unexpectedly a valuable factor.

 Chapter 996 Peaceful Time, A Few Days After The Earthshaking Night

    Day 235 - 9:05 AM - Evernight Base, Kachidoki, Reimed City, Tokyo Bay, Ruins of Tokyo


    The previous night, several terrifying things happened inside and outside of the Reimed City. It caused a restless morning toe upon its inhabitants.


    In Shinonome, a scary incident happened in a well-known nighttime entertainment business. It was not well-known because of its service but because of its target customers. And the incident that happened within its walls immediately spread out into all corners of the city.


    The sudden death of an entire faction of the Yakuza Group, Dawn, was a piece of big news for everyone. Furthermore, it happened too suddenly, and the current assumptions were not making much sense.


    This incident should have been the biggest one for a long while. However, the following incident buried it under the mud.


    Much bigger than murder within a nightclub, a pir of light appeared outside the Reimed City. A pir of light that almost turned night into day.


    And unlike the incident in Shinonome, the pir of light had no exnation the people of the Reimed City could think of. This fact made it even scarier.


    The fear of the unknown was deep-seated within humanity''s existence. And even if a light was associated with good and hope most of the time, people still feared it. It did not matter whether the light was a giant pir or just a dot in the darkness of the night. If it had no exnation, it was something to be feared.


    Of course, the sheer scale and visual impact of that pir of light that appeared only left people with nothing but fear.


    Due to these events, everyone in the Reimed City barely had any sleep and was restless even after the morning of the next day came.


    And as if the events of the previous evening were not enough, the Temple made a statement regarding that pir of light.


    "It was the Priestess who finally recovered after several months of recuperation. As a celebration for it, she decided to vanquish a dangerous threat and free the nearby forbidden zone from its control."


    The negativity of the people''s restlessness diminished due to that statemate from the Temple.


    One of the worries of the people of the Reimed City since the world changed was the Priestess'' health. It was no secret that she expended her energy and became weakened after she protected Japan''s humanity''sst defense from having the same fate as most of the rest of the world.


    Now that the people learned their worshipped Priestess had finally recovered, their hearts felt relief. Unfortunately, it was not all because they felt thankful for what the Priestess had done for them. Part of it was the fact that the Reimed City would be much safer now from all threats from outside.


    Most importantly, the Forbidden Zone in Oshiage suddenly became essible due to the Priestess'' actions. It was still far from being a safe ce. No ce was safe on Earth right now, after all. Even settlements were not that safe of a ce to stay inside. Nheless, the unkible [Boss of Oshiage] was now killed. Its corpse was even retrieved by the Temple. With the most dangerous enemy gone, the army and the [Freers] could slowly clear it up, making it a less dangerous ce than it was now.


    However, it was not the only statement that the Temple released. There were two.


    The first statement was released to the public, exining the circumstances around that pir of light. It was to appease the public, although some smart people were suspicious of it.


    On the other hand, the second statement was only spread among those with statues within the Reimed city. And it left all those who heard of it baffled.


    "The [Frencer Group] named Evernight is now under the Temple''s protection."


    This single sentence caused turmoil among those above themon people. In the first ce, that group was already under the high interest of various powers and factions in the Reimed City. And, all of a sudden, that group of interest was under the Temple''s protection.


    Being under the Temple''s protection meant that the other factions keeping an eye on that group should cease their agendas. Any attempt to put spies to observe that group would be tantamount to offending the Temple. Worse, the agents of the Temple, their Shinto Priests and Shrine Maidens, had uncanny abilities. They would easily find hidden spies. Due to this, those keeping eyes on the Evernight group immediately pulled out their information gatherers as soon as they heard the statement. They might not see this favorably, but they had no choice unless they wanted the Temple to be on their tail.


    ***


    "So, what did you people do?"


    Early in the morning, this question was posed by Mitsui Ren to Mark and his group over breakfast.


    And Mark''s answer was...


    "Ask the Priestess. You''re close with her, right?"


    Ren mentioned this fact before. She had a close rtionship with the Priestess, although it was unclear what their rtionship was exactly.


    "I wish I could..." Ren frowned. "Unfortunately, the Temple is pretty strict when ites to meeting the Priestess. That is why I''m asking what you did to receive such a favor from her? The Temple doesn''t just go taking people under their protection, not to mention an entire group of unrted people. Moreover, you''re a group of foreigners. This action from the Priestess was far more unthinkable due to that."


    And Ren stared straight at Mark.


    "And that incident in Shinonome. Is it your doing? We already investigated things, and that same faction of Dawn is the one that caused trouble at your doorstep and the one that sent those missing assassins. It''s too much of a coincidence."


    Mark had his morning coffee with those questions aimed at him. And as an initial response, he only gave the guest before him a shrug.


    "What''s the result of the investigation?"


    Mark asked Ren back.


    "It''s infighting, they said."<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    Ren replied.


    "Then, why would I have something to do with it? I''m pretty sure the guards you posted around us didn''t see us going out in the middle of the night."


    Mark continued to feign ignorance.


    However, it was clear that Ren was not convinced, although she stopped asking questions. She realized that she would not get any answer from Mark. And as she panned her eyes at the other members of Mark''s group, she could only sigh. It was useless asking questions here.


    In the first ce, although Ren''s thoughts made sense, there was no concrete evidence. Besides, she was not an official investigator. She was just curious.


    Nheless, it did deepen the mysteriousness of Mark''s group.


    ***


    Mark did not expect the Priestess to fulfill her promise this way. However, it did solve the problem.


    Without any eyes lurking around and people causing trouble, Mark had more time to focus on more important matters. Mark carefully managed his schedule for the next few days.


    One was working and learning things with the elder cksmith, Yasuo. Mark learned cksmithing from the old cksmith while working on the weapon he wanted to create. It was the same for Yasuo, learning things about magic circuits and the basics of creating an artifact.


    Another was the artifact that Mako left in Mark''s care. With the unpolished gem in his hand, he was one step away from fixing the thing. There was also the information that Magwayen gathered in her realm, which helped Mark learn about the actual function of the artifact.


    That pendant that Mako had was called a [Life Channeller]. It was a protective artifact that would heal anyone from fatal injuries that had the artifact in their person. Furthermore, it would give the person high restorative abilities as long as the energy within the artifact was circting within their bodies.


    Unfortunately, the [Life Channeller] was a semi-single-use artifact. The pendant itself could be used repeatedly. However, upon usage, it would consume the embedded gem and should be reced. The gem called [Life Essence] was extremely rare. Using the artifact repeatedly was pretty much impossible.


    And that exact gem, although unpolished, came into Mark''s hand due to some lucky circumstances.


    After careful processing of the unpolished gem, Mark should be able to fix the artifact.


    That was what exactly transpired after a few days. The [Life Chaneller] was fixed, giving it a luster as if it was given life. It was not glowing, and its markings remained the same. However, unlike when it was missing the gem, it looked more valuable, literally and metaphorically.


    Mako''s eyes almost teared up, seeing the luster of the artifact that she had not seen for years. And as promised, she was giving everything in exchange for the repair of the artifact, including herself.


    Mark was actually interested in having Mako under hismand. The members of the ck Lotus were ninjas, without a doubt. Such exined their adept stealth skills and information gathering. And that was what Mark wanted exactly. A person who could gather information for him on his call. He had Crimson as his eye, but the [Miasma Bloodchild] had limited intelligence as a non-human being and a literal baby. There was more Crimson could not do than he could.


    And Mark, who had a knack for collecting things, was pretty much interested in having people with a variety of specialized skills, withbat and support, to be in his group. A ninja would definitely be a fine addition to his entourage.


    Unfortunately, Mako had onest request before following Mark.


    In a few days, Ren would be leaving on an expedition. The gathering of supplies was not going well for the ck Lotus Group. The supplies they were able to collect were far less than what they needed for the people in Kachidoki. As such, they had no choice but to outsource the supplies they needed before things went downhill.


    With the expedition scheduled in the future, Mako would apany Ren and the ck Lotus Group. And upon their safe return, Mako promised to leave the ck Lotus Group and join Mark''s instead.


    Mark had no problems with her request. Mako was loyal to Ren, after all. Still, Mark had something in mind when he epted that deal.


    A few days passed, and the weapon Mark wanted to create andmissioned Yasuo to create parts with was finished. Its creation was finished on the same day the ck Lotus Group left on their expedition.


    Knowing that the ck Lotus Group was moving out for the sake of the people in Kachidoki, many people saw them off and prayed for their safety. The ck Lotus Group sure had the heart of the people in their territory.


    Most of these people were permanently injured, old people, orphans, and those outcasted by most people. These people, who could not support themselves in the new life within the Reimed City, relied on the help and care of the ck Lotus Group.


    And in return, these people were ready to support the ck Lotus Group wholeheartedly. What they could do might be limited, but they were all ready to stand in front and sacrifice themselves for the ck Lotus Group, just like how the ck Lotus Group were ready to plunge themselves into danger in order to support their lives.


    Mark''s group was also present when the members of the ck Lotus Group crossed the Sumida River into the dangerous ruins of Tokyo.


    But while watching them leave, Mark stared at them with a sharp stare. His eyes had a purplish glow, seeing past whaty before him.


    This day was a memorable day in ways more than one.


    It was a day when the ck Lotus Group were charging into danger for their people.


    But in Mark''s purplish eyes...


    It was also the day when the people of Kachidokist saw the backs of the people they relied on for survival.


    "Talk about a scam..." Mark murmured. "In exchange for fixing that artifact... All that I will get is a corpse of a ninja, huh..."

 Chapter 997 A Special Day In Contrasts, A Fun Night And A Dangerous Night

    Day 325 - 6:21 PM - Mountain Base, Mount Mbito, General Nakar, Province of Quezon, Philippines


    The same day the ck Lotus Group left for the expedition, Mark''s group did something different from what they had done since they arrived in the Reimed City.


    It was to ept amission from the bureau.


    For the first time, Mark''s group took amission, which was registered by the same receptionist they met the first time they went here.


    Sure enough, they took a lot of attention by doing so. However, due to the Temple, no one approached Mark''s group for whatever intention they had in mind.


    And just before lunch, a rather odd time to choose, the Evernight Group left the confines of the Reimed City into the ruins.


    ***


    Well... All of it was just a guise. After all, it would be odd if the restaurant suddenly had no one in it.


    After leaving the Reimed City and making sure they were not being followed, they entered a portal opened by Spera.


    And the portal''s destination was nowhere else but home. The Mountain Base.


    What was the reason?


    "Happy Birthday!"


    Everyone inside the Cliff House''s living room yelled as Mark blew out the candles of the cake before him. All the while, he sighed with a bitter expression as his closest people congratted him.


    That was right. The asion was Mark''s birthday.


    Mark was not really keen on having a party, but the girls would not let it be like that. And by majority vote, here they were.


    Just like Abbygale''s birthday, the residents of the Mountain Base also had a scrumptious dinner party outside. Of course, the main party was inside the Cliff House since being in the middle of the crowd would be ufortable for Mark, and making him ufortable at his own birthday party was not something everyone here would want. They basically forced him to have his birthday party, after all.


    Mark was thankful for the sentiments. In fact, he could feel their genuine emotions as they greeted him. Unfortunately, Mark was a hardcore introvert, and social parties were one of his banes. Well, if it was a blood fest, he might join willingly.


    "Papa, here!"


    Miracle said as she gave Mark the gift she had made together with her two sisters.


    A gift shared by the three girls. It was a birthday card that the girls created together while Mark was busy going outside.


    "Thank you."


    Mark epted the card with a rather nostalgic smile. He remembered when he was a child. He and his siblings would also give handmade cards to their parents on these kinds of asions.


    It was a simple card with a few intricate cutouts and drawings. These cutouts and drawings might be the work of I, while the uneven coloring of the drawings should be the work of Abbygale and Miracle.


    A two-sentence message was written inside.


    It said...


    "Happy Birthday, Papa! We love you!"


    And at the bottom of the card.


    "From Miracle, Gale, & I."


    It was a simple message, but it made Mark show a smile, a smile that made everyone watching surprised.


    The reason being... None of them had seen Mark show such a genuine smile. It was clear that it was different from his fake smiles to the point that those who did not know his emotional restraints could still tell.


    Unfortunately, that smile vanished a secondter as Mark noticed that everyone was staring at him.


    "Elder Brother! Here''s my gift!"


    Elise hurriedly chimed in.


    And here, Mark received various gifts from everyone. Given the current circumstances of the world, gifts during asions were not really a necessity to have. Even so, the people close to him still made time to have small gifts for him.


    These little trinkets would surely be part of his collection of things.


    After that, it was a party filled withughter, food, and... drinking. Although Mark hated participating in activities involving liquor, he got dragged into it. Soon enough, it turned into apetition involving the heavy drinkers and Mark.


    And... Mark sighed as he looked around at his knocked-down opponents.


    Mark might hate liquor, but he could hold his liquor extremely well. It was a pity since many liquor lovers did not have such heavy capacity.


    "Gege, here."


    Mei gave Mark a bowl of hangover soup after the contest. It was not that he extremely needed it, but it was definitely a nice thing to get the awful taste and smell of liquor out of his mouth.


    "Thish is unfair. Why are youu still okay~? Youu don''t evenn drinkk..."


    Amazingly, although she was already wasted, Karlene could stillin about Mark''s high alcohol tolerance.


    "Not my fault."


    Mark replied with a shrug.


    The party continued far past midnight. Although after the drinking contest, everyone stayed away from more liquor.


    As for the little girls, they went to bed earlier. Today might be Mark''s birthday party, but they still had a long day tomorrow.


    And while Mark''s group was celebrating his birthday...


    ***


    Day 326 - 01:12 AM - ck Lotus Camp, Sayama Park, Tamakocho, Higashimurayama, Ruins of Tokyo


    An entire day had passed since the ck Lotus Group left the Reimed City. And after the painstaking journey, they reached one of the few prospective ces where they could possibly hunt animals for meat.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    Sayama Park was situated beside the water reservoir called Tama Lake. Due to this, and the fact that the drastic changes of the world caused the areas around theke to be covered with flora, it was a good location for Earth''s new animals to gather.


    Unfortunately, it was extremely exhausting to reach this ce with Tokyo''s current state of the road.


    Before the apocalypse, this park was just about an hour''s drive from Kachidoki. Now, an entire day was not even enough. It was already dark when they managed to find a suitable ce to camp, and the safety of the ce was not even a hundred percent guaranteed.


    Fortunately, the ck Lotus Group was not just a ragtag group of people. It was a powerful group of ninjas trained to serve the Mitsui Family in the shadows. And it was the very same reason why the Mitsui Family despised Ren for being the sessor of this much power despite the head of the family still alive.


    Although the road here was dangerous, not a single casualty urred among the members of the expedition. The vehicles received some damage, though. However, most of the damage was due to the bad terrain than the actual battles they faced on the way.


    Whether it be the [Infected], [Mechids], or even Demons, the ck Lotus would not easily fall. Even if they were besieged by a ratherrge horde of such things, they would not falter.


    Of course, all of it had a limit. Even the ck Lotus Group did not have enough strength to take down something like the [Boss of Oshiage]. If they could, Oshiage had already been removed from the list of Forbidden Zones long ago.


    Speaking of Forbidden Zones, the ck Lotus Group had to make a few detours to avoid such locations. There were quite a few locations along the way, such as Yahatacho, Midoricho, and a few more.


    There was also the Ogawahigashicho just southeast of Sayama Park. Fortunately, it was far enough to not be much of a threat to the expedition.


    Discovering these dangerous locations took a lot of sacrifices. Thankfully, the information the brave people gathered was now being used for the safety of people.


    Still, avoiding such locations caused the expedition to take more time on the road than it should have.


    It was already past midnight. However, a third of the members of the expedition were awake to fulfill their duties. Some were the lookouts, others were doing a survey of the immediate surroundings, while inside thergest tent, Ren and her associates were nning their move after dawn arrived.


    "What animals are seen in the area so far?"


    Ren asked the subordinates that returned after a short survey.


    And from the report, it seemed that Ren''s subordinates found traces of deer and other animals. However, the most prominent ones were birds, which was expected of this ce even before the apocalypse.


    The initial results of the survey were good. Birds, which were harder to hunt, were a much better source of meat than hunting mutated household pets. Although it was not really the time to be picky, many people were still not weing the idea of eating dog and cat meat even if they had already mutated.


    And since it was ake, fish would be good too.


    Since the Reimed City was surrounded by water, one would think that they could just catch fish and other seafood there. Unfortunately, it was also a bad idea.


    Many rivers flow through Tokyo and end up in the waters around the Reimed City. It meant that the creatures in these waters were a hundred percent human-eaters.


    Thus, a closed water reservoir like Tama Lake was a much better choice for a location to fish. It was not like it was a hundred percent clean, but the idea was there.


    CRASH!


    A loud sound from outside was heard, taking the attention of those in the meeting.


    "Tadashi, check out what is happening outside."


    Ren ordered.


    "Yes, miss."


    Tadashi replied before vanishing into thin air. It did not take long, and he reappeared in the same manner.


    "A [Mutated Owl] attacked one of our lookouts," Tadashi reported. "It managed to knock down one of our tents, causing the sound just now, but it had already been dealt with."


    "Good," Ren nodded. "Fortunately, food ising to us without us needing to hunt them."


    To others, getting attacked at night would be something to fear. But for the ck Lotus Group, getting attacked by these mutated animals would be a blessing instead.


    The night lookout changed to another group soon. Well, after facing a few more attacks from nocturnal animals like bats. The most unfavorable event was an attack from a group of crickets, with each being the size of an adult dog before the apocalypse.


    It was arge quantity of cricket meat... But well... It was definitely not an appetizing thought. Some other countries would definitely like it, though.


    It looked like the ck Lotus Group''s expedition was going smoothly... So far...


    ***


    "Do we really have to be this far? We can''t even see them."


    Atop a ruined hotel northeast of Tama Lake, a few voices could be heard talking.


    "Our task is to monitor their location," A feminine voice replied. "Don''t underestimate them and go closer than necessary. Those people are monsters in their own right. They can easily find us if we mistakenly go into their range of detection."


    "Yeah, yeah... I know." The first voice replied snarkily. "Who do you think my employers are? Of course, I know what the ck Lotus Group is."


    "Haah..." The woman sighed. "Why do I have to pair with you? Our parties have an alliance, but it did not mean we have to coborate in missions like this."


    "Don''t ask me." The snarky man replied. "I''m only following the orders of my boss."


    And after seeing that, the snarky man nced behind him. There in the back, a silhouette of a man holding a sword could be seen sitting silently.


    "Aren''t you bored?" The snarky man talked to the swordsman. "Wanna chat?"


    However, there was no reply to the snarky man''s invitation.


    "Geez, at least reply..." The snarky manined before murmuring. "This is why I hate traitors. They are so edgy."


    But as the snarky man uttered those words, he froze, seeing a slit in space just in front of his neck. He could only step back in a cold sweat.


    "Alright, alright! Sorry, I''ll shut up."


    The snarky man backed down, and the slit in space vanished.


    "That''s right, shut up." The woman said with a frown. "Focus your eyes on the targets instead of causing trouble."


    And with that, the three went silent... for a bit... before the snarky man started talking again.

 Chapter 998 A Day For The Allies, The Hunt In Sayama Park And The Conversation Within The Temple

    Day 326 - 11:21 AM - Sayama Park, Tamakocho, Higashimurayama, Ruins of Tokyo


    "Ren-sama, the herd of deers ising at ETA seven seconds."


    The voice of one of the ck Lotus scouts echoed within Ren''s earpiece, informing her of the targets of their current hunt.


    Ren stood in the middle of a narrow cliff created by the geographical shifts after Earth changed. In a second, she could hear the hooves of the herd of deers clop with the ground. Seven seconds was quite short, and the herd was still far. However, their speed as [Evolved Animals] was much faster than a speeding racecar.


    As the herd entered Ren''s sight, her eyes narrowed. The herd wasposed of only five deers, but the smallest was the size of a golf cart, and thergest was a small truck. Their terrifying horns branched like clustered vines filled with thorns instead of looking like tree branches.


    And that herd was rushing in Ren''s direction. Ren was alone, and the herd was not afraid of her.


    However, the herd failed to notice the thick scent in the area, making the surroundings look misty and blurry. And all of it centered on the human before them.


    THUD! THUD!


    One after another, the members of the deer herd fell to the ground, causing their bodies to slide across the dirt, scattering a cloud of dust and torn grass.


    The first one to fall was the smallest one, and the other three followed, leaving thergest one to stagger. It tried to resist, but its body slowed down before falling unconscious in front of Ren.


    It might have taken longer due to the size, but thergest deer still fell due to Ren''s poisonous scent.


    After the herd was subdued, Ren stopped releasing the scent from her body. However, it would still take a while before the scent she released in the surroundings to dissipatepletely, making it unsafe to immediately retrieve the game they hunted.


    But as the misty scent finally vanished, all that was left was Ren and the five unconscious [Evolved Deers]. The other members of the ck Lotus immediately approached the ce to check.


    The game was still alive as the hunters intended.


    Since they would be here in a few days, it would be nice if they could transfer the hunted animals as fresh as possible. As such, capturing the animals alive in the first few days was necessary. It was also the reason why Ren''s presence in this expedition was the key to this hunt.


    Meat from animals that changed after due to Mutagen was not as perishable as animal meat from the past. Even if they killed everything they hunted, the meat should still be fine after a few days without refrigeration. Nheless, fresher meat still tasted better.


    Ren prepared for the next hunt as her subordinates captured the unconscious deers and tied them with thick chains. These animals would be transported alive if possible.


    "Ren-sama, here."


    Mako approached Ren with her weapons. It was a ck-colored katana, and its craftsmanship was something to behold.


    "Let''s go."


    Ren epted her weapon andmanded.


    "I''ll take point."


    At this time, another member of the ck Lotus Group volunteered.


    It was a woman with a rather voluptuous body. However, her loose clothing covered that charm of hers. Furthermore, she had quite a tomboyish demeanor in her body movements.


    "If you want to. Just be careful, Keiko," Ren replied. "Seriously, you just returned from Kanagawa. You should have taken a break like the others."


    "Don''t worry, Ren-sama," Keiko smiled as she flexed her arm like a bodybuilder. "I''m not that weak."


    The expedition from Kanagawa returned two days before the hunting expedition of the ck Lotus Group kicked off. And sure enough, it was a tough fight for the members. Many soldiers from the army died in the process.


    Fortunately, no death was incurred among the members of the ck Lotus Group, although some of their members received some serious but non-fatal injuries.


    Among the leaders of the ck Lotus Group participants of the Kanagawa expedition was Keiko. And as said, instead of resting like the rest of the members of the expedition, Keiko jumped in to join the hunt.


    And as she had said, Keiko was not weak. In fact, despite her gorgeous feminine physique, she was the strongest in the ck Lotus Group in terms of physical strength.


    "Just don''t overdo it."


    At this time, Tadashi chimed in, telling Keiko to be careful.


    "I know, I know," Keiko shrugged. "Don''t act like my dad or something."


    Keiko then walked forward to lead the hunt.


    Everyone looked at Tadashi, who was seen sighing. It was not wrong to treat Tadashi as the father figure of the ck Lotus Group. After all, he was already old enough to be a father when most current members of the ck Lotus were still tottering in their training as children.


    With Keiko in the lead, the members of the ck Lotus Group continued the hunt.


    ***


    Day 326 - 11:30 AM - The Sanctuary, Toyosu Center Building, Toyosu, Reimed City, Ruins of Tokyo


    "Priestess."


    A ninja-looking man knocked at the doors of the Priestess'' room.


    "Come in."


    The Priestess responded, making the ninja enter her room.


    Inside the room, the Priestess sat on her bed in a meditative position. She had her eyes closed as if she was in the middle of meditation.


    Aside from the Priestess, her rtive, Tsubasa, was also inside the room.


    Knowing the rtionship between the Priestess and Tsubasa, the ninja knelt down and proceeded with a report.


    "The members of Evernight had returned. We still have no clue as to where they went after losing their tail yesterday."


    But the report made the Priestess open her eyes with a frown. Even so, she looked dignified despite her annoyed expression.


    "What is the meaning of this?" The Priestess asked. "I am sure that I ordered you all to stop trying to spy on them. Who ordered you to do this?"


    The ninja was a bit nervous. But as the Priestess had asked, the ninja was obligated to answer.


    "Priestess, it was the Head Priest Akio. He instructed us to continue. He was also the one to instruct me to report to the Priestess about our findings."


    "And the reason?"


    The Priestess asked.


    "My apologies, but I have no idea."<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    The ninja respectfully replied.


    With a deep breath, the Priestess ordered the ninja.


    "Once again, I order you all to stop any interaction with the members of Evernight. They are under my protection, not as followers but as equal allies. Break my order one more time. And you all will have to answer my wrath. Understand?"


    "Y-yes, Priestess." The ninja replied hesitantly and asked. "But what about the Head Priest?"


    "Whose order takes priority here? Tell me?"


    The Priestess asked in an imposing tone.


    "It''s the Priestess."


    The ninja replied.


    "Since you know the answer, then follow it. You may go."


    The Priestessmanded, and the ninja hurriedly left the room and closed the door.


    "Seriously, that Akio is at it again. Can''t he just sit still? What an idiot."


    With the unwanted guest gone, the Priestess was done pretending. As her real color came out, Tsubasa could only sigh.


    "The Head Priest was just looking after you, grandmother," Tsubasa spoke. "Anyone would think that that Evernight group is suspicious, given you suddenly put them under your protection after that event a few days ago."


    "Does he take me for an idiot?" The Priestess harrumphed. "His grandfather wasn''t even born when I became the Priestess. How dare he disregard my order and continue investigating the people under my protection?"


    "Tell me, grandmother," Tsubasa sincerely spoke. "What is special with that group? Is that group perhaps..."


    "Well, they wore masks that night, so you won''t recognize them, but the Evernight is a group centered around a family of Demons. The two Demons that night are the leader of Evernight and his wife."


    "But... Isn''t that strange?" Tsubasa was surprised as she tried to analyze things. "The Head Priest sent out people to spy on them but didn''t find out they were Demons?"


    But as Tsubasa said those words, the Priestess gave her great-great-granddaughter a question of her own to contemte.


    "Try to recall. Did you even feel those two were Demons, to begin with?"


    And there, Tsubasa froze.


    That night when the Priestess fought the Demon, they only identified him and his wife as Demons because they had those wings. But...


    Tsubasa never felt their presence as Demons.


    "That group is using some unique method to conceal their demonic presence. If you don''t have enough strength and perception, you won''t find them strange unless they purposely reveal they are Demons. That itself is proof of their strength. One of the reasons I would rather not make them our enemies."


    "But that Akio..." The Priestess continued. "What he is doing is unnecessarily provoking them. If the Evernight turned on us due to Akio''s stupid actions, I will dly offer him to take all the me."


    "Grandmother, you can''t say that," Tsubasa sighed. "He just respects you too much."


    "If he really respects me, he better listen properly."


    The Priestess was really annoyed.


    At this time, a presence appeared inside the room. In a second, Tsubasa felt suffocated, although the feeling vanished almost immediately.


    "You girls seemed to be having something exciting talking about! Can I join in?!"


    The Priestess could only sigh as she turned to a little girl in a priestess robe. The girl had a so-called hime haircut. She looked all normal, aside from the fact that if she opened her eyes widely, one could see three pupils in each eye.


    This girl was not just some human, Demon, or even a ghost. She was a godly being and a guardian of this world.


    An [Eye]. Sixteenth, the [Eye of Excitement].


    "Sixteenth..." The Priestess spoke. "What is the reason for you to appear this time?"


    "Do I have a reason not to?" Sixteenth replied. "You are my candidate. Of course, I''ll check on you from time to time. It''s good that you are doing pretty well. Now, what are two talking about?"


    The Priestess shrugged as her sigh turned into a smile. She and Sixteenth had pretty simr personalities. It was not wrong to say that they clicked on each other. Two girls in temple clothing, always looking for excitement.


    "Hey, speak," Sixteenth turned to Tsubasa. "What are you two talking about?"


    With a bit of difficulty, Tsubasa shared what happened in the past few days. All while Sixteenth was sitting on the Priestess'' bed.


    "Heeh," Sixteenth was amused as she looked at the Priestess. "A Demon withstood your attack? Say, Hikari, what''s that Demon''s name?"


    Hikari, the Priestess, answered the Sixteenth''s question.


    From what we know, he called himself Mark in the registration.


    At that point, Sixteenth froze a bit.


    "Say..." Sixteenth seemed to hesitate. "Does that Demon have three pairs of wings? And his wife having rainbow ones?"


    "What? How did you know?"


    It was the Priestess'' turn to be surprised. It was definitely surprising if an [Eye] could recognize a person, especially a Demon.


    "Wahh..."


    Sixteenth was definitely taken aback.


    "I have something to do. I''m going."


    Sixteenth then jumped off the bed and ran to the window, where she vanished in the blink of an eye.


    "W-what is that all about? Do you have any idea, grandmother?"


    Tsubasa was totally confused. She was already used to the presence of an [Eye], although she was still a bit nervous. Even so, Sixteenth''s reaction just now was clearly unexpected.


    "It seemed that Mark is not just some Demon," The Priestess replied. "For the eyes to recognize him, it could only be one of the two. He''s a Demon hunted by the [Eyes], or Mark is someone they were observing."


    Unfortunately, the Priestess was wrong on both guesses. She would never expect that Mark was also a candidate under another [Eye]. After all, she had no idea that the [Pureblood Demon] she fought the other day was a former human.

 Chapter 1055 A Short Confrontation, Temporarily Ceasing Hostilities For A Possible Bigger Threat

    ?


    Day 341 - 2:11 - Ruins of Harumi, Reimed City, Ruins of Tokyo


    ROOOARR!!!


    The deafening roar of the Serpent God echoed throughout Tokyo. However, this roar was different from the previous ones it let out.


    Before, it roared in arrogance while it fought together with Gar''m. Its roar contained pain and anger as it faced the retaliation of the people of the Reimed City.


    But now, the roar of the Serpent God was different. It was far different.


    There was no arrogance, no anger, and no pain.


    All its roar had at this time was its struggle to break free and survive.


    Break free from what?


    ROOOARR!!!


    The Serpent God roared again while releasing a barrage of attacks around it. Its target was the endless surge of jelly-like tentacles trying to grab its body. Each attack would destroy dozens of these tentacles. It showed how fragile these tentacles were. However, as these tentacles coiled around the Serpent God''s body, it also showed how strong these tentacles could be, especially when arge amount of them gathered together.


    After all, these very same fragile-looking tentacles were the ones that dragged the Serpent God from the sky to the ground.


    ROOOAR!!!


    The Serpent God tried to fly up. It was dangerous to remain on the ground, surrounded by the inky waters of the giant blob. But as it lifted its head, it suddenly froze, and its body got violently pulled back to the ground.


    Each time the Serpent God shifted its attention, the tentacles would immediately take the opportunity to grab onto the Serpent God''s body. Seeing the tentacles tightening around its tail, the Serpent God immediately unleashed its elemental breath and destroyed everything it touched.


    But like before, new tentacles reced the destroyed ones, which would try to grab onto the Serpent God''s body again.


    There was no escape unless the Serpent God destroyed the enemy before its eyes. The Serpent God knew of that fact. However, how would it defeat an enemy that could eat its direct attacks?


    The Serpent God was finally in peril. It was clearly unhappy with such development.


    ROOOOARRR!!!


    The Serpent God let out another roar, aiming its breath at the ground. As the breath poured down, it spread to the surroundings, destroying as many tentacles as it could, and its attack spread out, reaching the barrier around Ariake.


    ***


    Day 341 - 11:12 PM - Ariake, Reimed City, Ruins of Tokyo


    While the Serpent God and Mark faced each other in their gargantuan battle, another confrontation was happening within Ariake.


    The barriers shed as the Serpent God''s attacks hit them, but the barriers showed no sign of damage.


    The cause of the barrier''s sudden capability to deflect the Serpent God''s attack was the sudden appearance of an otherworldly being.


    It was the sudden appearance of Ancient Japan''s Goddess of Light, Amaterasu.


    As the Priestess and the residents of the Reimed City faced possible extinction, the Goddess of Light had no choice but to take the reins in protecting everyone.


    However, as a Goddess from another realm, an outsider, Earth''s protectors were not happy with her interference.


    The two powerful beings involved in the Priestess'' life stood face to face. And it was clear that the Priestess could not understand what was happening between the two.


    Or maybe the Priestess had no idea about the exact happenings at the end of the Lost Era.


    "Do I have to repeat myself?" Sixteenth aggressively asked Amaterasu. "What do you think you are doing?"


    Sixteenth''s aura red, and that Godly aura began to suffocate everyone present.


    "We already sent away the annoying outsides through a fair deal. We had already gotten rid of those who could take advantage of the current state of this world. Yet, why are you outsiders interfering now? GO BACK TO YOUR WORLDS!"


    The [Eye of Amusement] was definitely not amused by the interference of otherworldly Gods on Earth.


    However, despite the [Eye of Amusement''s] outrage, the Goddess of Light gave a silent stare before she lowered her body and touched the staff the Priestess was holding. The moment she did, all the suffocating pressure that everyone felt vanished as if it never existed.


    After the pressure vanished, Amaterasu finally spoke.


    "You want us to go back?" Amaterasu asked calmly. "Then what will you do afterward? Watch the people here die?"


    Sixteenth''s eyes frowned upon the questioning of the Otherworld Goddess of Light.


    "Bound by your creator''s rules, you can''t do anything but watch," Amaterasu continued. "I would not dare put the life of my seamstress into the hands of the unreliable protectors of this world."


    "This is supposed to be their -"


    Sixteenth tried to argue, but Amaterasu cut her off.


    "Trial, am I correct?" Amaterasu said with a sigh. "A trial, a culling, those are what you protectors of this world say as an excuse for your ipetence,pletely neglecting the fact that you cannot do anything but watch. I would not go out of my way if the cause is natural causes. But there is nothing natural about the incarnation of a monster that my brother had in long ago. And yet, because of the rules left by the creator of this realm, you protectors could not do anything to protect the mortals you are supposed to protect."


    Amaterasu then turned to the ongoing battle outside the barrier.


    "The legend passed down was exaggerated. It might be because of the witnesses'' distortion of the truth or because my brother did not want to show any weakness. But I knew. My brother struggled to fight that monster. There is no way his arrogance would make him treasure a sword from the tail of a weak creature." Amaterasu then turned back to Sixteenth. "And you are saying that a creature like that was the trial these mortals needed to face? It might just be an incarnation, but even if that snake there is five times weaker, there is no way these mortals would survive against it."


    "This is no trial. It is you, protectors, driving these mortals to their demise. Stop with your delusions in trying to justify your realm''s crooked rules."


    Amaterasu added.


    "And besides, what are you angry for?" Amaterasu asked the seething Sixteenth. "I obeyed your realm''s crooked rules. I did not manifest any of my power to interfere with this so-called trial."


    "What are you talking about?!" Sixteenth could not believe what Amaterasu was saying. "Did you already forget what you had just done?"


    But before Amaterasu could say another word, someone else appeared.


    "It is unfortunate, but she is right, Sixteenth. And you should cease your aggression. You will be subject to punishment if your aggressiveness ends up harming anyone here present."


    Another [Eye] appeared and spoke. She was someone that some of the members of Evernight were familiar with.


    She was the [Eye of Interest], Neenth, who came out of the door that opened in empty space. And she was not alone as the [Eye of Excitement], Thirteenth, followed behind her.


    "What are you saying, Neenth?" Sixteenth frowned. "We should eliminate this intruder at once."


    At those words, Neenth sighed.


    "I know where you areing from. However, you know that the intruder in front of you is nothing but an avatar, right? Dealing with them would just be a waste of time as they coulde back as long as the carrier of her blessing is still alive." Neenth then turned to Magwayen. "And it is the same for her."


    The Amaterasu and Magwayen present were just avatars channeled to this world through their blessed ones. If the [Eyes] wanted to oust them and cut their connection to this world, they needed to destroy their blessings. And that also meant killing the bearers of the blessings.


    And killing anyone born of this world would definitely be against their rules, subjecting them to punishment from the world itself.


    While the [Eyes] could destroy these avatars, it was just a waste of time and energy, especially now when the [Eyes] had limited energy due to the limited number of remaining humans on Earth.


    But that was not the only reason at this time.


    "We also have no time for them right now," Neenth continued. "An unexpected event happened, and we needed to prepare in case the worst happened."


    And as Neenth said those words, her eyes focused on the gigantic blob currently fighting the Serpent God.


    Realizing that it was useless to argue in this situation, Sixteenth sighed and followed Neenth''s words.


    "I thought three protectors came to wee me, but it seemed not to be the case," Amaterasu turned her head, also staring at the giant blob. "But, I guess it would not be so surprising for someone like that man to be under the observation of this world''s protectors."


    This time, Thirteenth turned to Mei.


    "Mark''s wife," Thirteenth called. "Is that ring working?"


    What Thirteenth was talking about was the ring Mei was currently caressing. It was the ring on her finger she received from Bath, the ring which should be connecting her to the other pair Mark was wearing.


    But with a worried expression, Mei shook her head.


    Seeing Mei''s reply, Thirteenth reluctantly turned to Magwayen. And knowing what the [Eye of Excitement] wanted to inquire, Magwayen spoke.


    "I also lost my connection with him. It seemed that Mark became isted by his current state from any interference from outside."


    "Aplete istion," Neenth shook her head while holding her book. "This would be a problem. Even I was unable to see through him. We could not tell whether he was conscious, lost control, or if he got taken over."


    "So far, his attention is only focused on the enemy. We can only wait."


    Neenth added.


    But to the surprise of the [Eyes], Mei spoke.


    "He is still fine."


    "Are you sure?"


    Thirteenth asked.


    "Yes. I can feel it."


    It seemed that Mei was only relying on her instinct. As such, the [Eyes] could not take her words for granted. In any case, they wished she was right. After all, they could not afford to fight the Evil God right now while in their weakened states.


    With the attention of the [Eyes] shifting to Mark, Amaterasu lowered her body and helped the Priestess up.


    "The fight is not over yet. I tapped into the inner core of the barrier, but it would notst too long. I need you to learn how to use it yourself, my seamstress."


    Amaterasu said to the Priestess.


    The Priestess stood up with Tsubasa behind her. However, the two, no, not only them. The Prime Minister, the Bureau Chief, and the Empress were also confused due to the sudden, unexpected development.


    However, the two representatives of the Government felt their knees weaken due to the presence of the Godly Beings, unable to ask any questions. On the other hand, the Empress decided to stay silent, not wanting to garner the attention of these beings, especially the [Eyes].


    In the end, it would be up to the Priestess to ask.


    "My Goddess, just what is going on?" The Priestess also turned to the [Eye of Amusement]. "You too, Sixteenth. Can you exin what is happening?"


    As Sixteenth received the question from her candidate, she turned to Neenth. Thetter then nodded, giving permission for Sixteenth to answer.


    And there, the Priestess felt appalled, finally learning that Mark was the same as her, a candidate to lead humanity to survival. But then afterward, confusion came. Why was he a candidate for human survival? Mark was a Demon, after all.


    As the Priestess asked that question, the [Eyes] conveyed the truth that Mark was also a human just a few months ago. But as more information became avable for everyone awake about Mark''s bloodline and the coincidence where nted a Pure Spirt Tree, causing that bloodline to awaken and turn him into a Pureblood Demon, things began to make sense.


    No wonder Mark was able to enter the partial state of [Manifestation] prematurely. He had the bloodline of an Evil God and had the possibility to be a vessel of that God''s reincarnation.


    These truths allowed Mark to be both an opportunity for humanity''s survival and a threat giving way to humanity''s extinction.


    And that was also the cause of the [Eyes''] current wariness to the current situation.


    Now, they could only wait while they watched Mark''s fight with the Serpent God.

 Chapter 1000 [Flora Type Infected], Turning A Botanical Garden Into A Sea Of Flames

    Day 333 - 2:21 PM - Koishikawa Botanical Garden, Hakusan, Bunkyo City, Ruins of Tokyo


    Another two days went by. It was already three days since the ck Lotus Group left for their supply-gathering expedition.


    And within the former Koishikawa Botanical Garden, about seven kilometers northwest of the Reimed City, amotion could be heard.


    "Emika! Focus on blocking the human and animal [Infected]. Only kill them if there''s no other choice."


    "Got it!"


    "Gale! Miracle! Remain inside I''s barrier as much as possible while destroying the roots. I, you protect your sisters."


    "..."


    "Yes~!"


    "Understood."


    "Amihan! The branches! Mei''er, the fruits are yours! Spera, support Mei''er."


    "Okay!"


    "Yes."


    "On it!"


    "As for me... I''ll deal with the main body!"


    Mark''s voice echoed through theirmunicators as he gave orders to the members of his group, and their replies came shortly after.


    And their current enemy...


    It was a [Flora Type Named Infected] given the title [Flesh-Eating Tree].


    nts and trees that became [Infected] or generally called [Flora Type Infected] were not new to the apocalypse. ording to conducted research, any kind or type of living creature could turn into an [Infected] as long as they were able to carry the [Unstable Strain] of [Mutagen] within their bodies and withstand its effects. This included nts, trees, fungi, and, by theory, even bacteria and viruses. However, no ounts of [Infected] microorganisms had been observed and recorded, which was clearly a good thing.


    As for [Infected Flora], while these abominations existed, they were pretty rare. After all, the main source of the [Unstable Strain] was the saliva of an [Infected]. And for clear reasons, there was no way that [Infected] humans or animals would go biting nts and trees all of a sudden.


    Thus, any kind of flora could only be an [Infected] creature by chance. For example, an [Infected] ended up dying under a tree, and a good concentration of its saliva was spilled on the tree''s roots. There were quite a number of possibilities that could cause it, but it was clearly rare.


    The worst part was that [Flora Type Infected] was rather vicious in terms of unpredictability and growth.


    Unlike [Infected] humans and animals, nts had no saliva and could not propagate through bites. And fortunately, there were no ounts of the sap of [Flora Type Infected] having the same properties as [Infected] saliva. Most of them could also not bear fertile seeds due to the fact that most nts and trees needed pollen from the same species of nts to pollinate.


    In exchange, [Flora Type Infected] were prone to immediate mutations, even if no strange catalyst was found on their bodies. Due to this, pollination was basically impossible for them due to the fact that a mutated [Flora Type Infected] was a new unique species of its own.


    Nheless, their mutations were always unpredictable, making them even more dangerous from a whole lot of known [Infected] mutations.


    The current target, the [Flesh-Eating Tree], was a Cherry Blossom Tree that mutated, spreading its roots all over its territory. It turned the entire area of the botanical garden into a forest consisting of nothing but its roots and branches. And that area was constantly expanding.


    Its threat level was pretty high, and the actual time the mission would be posted was shorter than normal. Unfortunately, its threat level could have been lower if not for the fact that it was just discovered recently.


    The discovery waste, and it had already grown to a level that no one would probably try to challenge it.


    But then came the Evernight Group.


    In the past few days, the Evernight Group had been actively epting Bounty Missions to hunt the notorious [Named Infected]. This [Flora Type Infected] would be their fifth mission since they started epting them from the bureau.


    And despite the notoriety of these [Named Infected], the Evernight Group did not fail a single mission, always bringing back irrefutable proof of the hunt.


    The fame of the Evernight Group was rising even more.


    In general, the Evernight Group sessfully fulfilling these bounty missions was an extremely good thing. The threat around the Reimed City was going down while the army was able to save their workforce, supplies, and equipment.


    But it also brought forth some negative effects.


    Idiots exist everywhere. And among the [Frencers], there were some arrogant ones. Thinking that the fame and sess of the Evernight Group were exaggerated and they were lucky to find weak bounty targets, some of those arrogant groups took bounty missions. The receptionists warned them thoroughly, but their skulls were hard to crack.


    In the end, disaster hit those people brutally.


    Many managed to luckily return with minor to severe injuries. But two groups lost more than half of their members, while one group never returned.


    With these results, everyone was reminded once again that the most dangerous missions were the Bounty Missions. Only those with enough strength and experience should try these high-pay, high-risk missions.


    Some of these idiotic groups wanted to put the me on the Evernight Group for their loss. It was an idiotic thought process, but in the least, they knew not to cross people protected by the Temple.


    BANG! BANG! BOOM!


    Loud sounds of fighting continuously echoed inside the botanical garden.


    Mei urately shot the fruits falling from the [Flesh-Eating Tree] while Spera did the same. Its red fruits mutated to be extremely sticky and acidic, which the tree used to catch its prey and defend its trunk.


    On the other hand, the tree could move the ends of its roots and branches to some extent, using them to attack enemies. These roots were currently being held off by the little girl crew with their inhuman strength and barriers, while the branches were being cut by the wind des created by Amihan.


    As for Emika, she was using her vines to block the enemies from outside attracted by the battle without killing them as much as possible. At least until the [Flesh-Eating Tree] was killed. From the information provided, the tree could regenerate itself faster by eating flesh. However, it would not attack other [Infected] but only consume corpses. That was why it was better not to gather arge number of corpses while fighting the target.


    BAM!


    Mark jumped to his right as a root farrger than his body mmed at where he was previously running at.


    The tree was clearly trying to prevent Mark from approaching its base.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    A tree, the gigantic towering tree, was mming its roots and branches violently, trying to kill the intruders that entered its territory.


    It was such a strange scene. The tree should have no actual eyes, but it was able to detect its enemies without problems. Mutated creatures sure were strange in this regard.


    With a faint purplish glow in his eyes, Mark evaded hundreds of roots and branches attacking him as he charged at the giant tree.


    There was no denying it. The [Flesh-Eating Tree] was the most dangerous [Infected] Mark''s group faced so far in Japan. Of course, there was the [Boss of Oshiage]. Nheless, that one did not count as he did not really fight it.


    Mark''s group could probably easily deal with this enemy if they just went and used about a fourth of their true strength and abilities. However, they had someone tailing them and currently watching the fight. Mark let the audience see I using her shield, but that was it. He was not willing to show more.


    Besides, while it was harder than usual, the [Flesh-Eating Tree] was not strong enough to make Mark and the girls retreat.


    And to kill it, Mark only needed to reach the base of the tree while carrying arge gas can on his back.


    As anyone would expect, the weakness of [Flora Type Infected] was fire. In fact, if the [Flesh-Eating Tree] was discovered sooner, a small group of fighters was more than enough to kill it just by dousing it in kerosene and lighting it on fire. However, it became extremely hard to do because the main tree was now inside the root and branch-covered botanical garden. One would need to destroy or evade hundreds of roots and branches. The only option for most people was to attack from outside using long-range attacks.


    The discoverers of this tree and the previous [Frencers] that took the mission actually tried to set fire from outside. However, it did not work as the tree had enough intelligence to put out the mes from its roots and branches.


    Now, Mark reached the base of the tree. As the tree tried to wack Mark away using its gigantic roots, the ground around the [Flesh-Eating Tree] could only rumble violently.


    Mark remained unfazed as he uncapped the gas can and ran around the base, pouring the kerosene around its trunk.


    CLANG!


    Mark threw the emptied gas can and evaded another root mming in front of him.


    Then, Mark grabbed several grenades from inside the bag hanging on his side. Evading another barrage of roots, Mark threw all the grenades to one single point on the tree''s trunk.


    BOOOM!


    Mark retreated quickly as the explosion took a good chunk off the [Flesh-Eating Tree''s] trunk. At the same time, the explosion ignited the kerosene around the tree''s base.


    RUMBLE!


    The mes enveloped the base of the [Flesh-Eating Tree].


    There was one awful w for [Mutated Flora]. In exchange for being able to move their branches and roots, the wood within their bodies became lesspact. While some had bark that could resist fire, their insides could easily light aze without resistance.


    That fact was what Mark was aiming for. The explosions from the grenades exposed the tree''s insides, and it immediately set on fire from the inside.


    "Quick! Retreat!"


    Mark spoke on hismunicator, ordering his members to start retreating.


    Mei and the girls immediately heeded his order and made their way out. Compared to the entry to the botanical garden, the retreat was much easier as the tree had lost control due to its trunk getting set on fire.


    While the girls retreated, Mark remained around the tree, making sure it was burning nicely. He did not mind the heat as the mes grew. It was more important to finish the mission.


    And Mark was right for not leaving immediately. The tree''s wound started to regenerate despite the mes raging inside. It was probably an attempt to stop the mes from outside from entering its body even more. And if it seeded, the mes inside might also get extinguished due tock of oxygen.


    But Mark, with another set of grenades, made sure that it would not happen.


    The ground shook more violently as the mes inside its body burned stronger. With another set of grenades, the resistance of the tree began to weaken. And another few more minutes, the mes from inside the tree began to tear the tree apart from inside, making charred holes in its body.


    Those mes began to burn the gigantic tree from inside out and top to bottom. The mes also began spreading throughout the botanical garden, and Mark was finally forced to retreat.


    After a few hours, the entire botanical garden turned into a garden with nothing but charcoal and ashes. The [Flesh-Eating Tree] that stood there before was now nothing but a pile of charcoal.


    Of course, Mark''s group did not leave the area. After the mes died down, Mark searched the area. Unexpectedly, he found a fist-sized [Mutagen Stone] in the ashes. This should be the secondrgest stone Mark found from the [Infected].


    With this, Mark was sure that the mission was now a sess. But as they were about to leave, Mark''s eyes suddenly glowed purple as scenes shed in his eyes.


    ***


    Day 333 - 4:10 PM - Honcho Higashimurayama, Ruins of Tokyo


    Within the suburbs in Honcho, the ck Lotus Group should be on their way home after a sessful hunt.


    However...


    "HOLD THE LINE! We need to protect the trucks until we rece the busted wheel!"


    Ren shouted as shemanded her subordinates.


    One of the wheels of the truck that carried the hunted animals was punctured by something and needed to be reced. However, they were suddenly besieged by a horde of [Infected] the moment the convoy stopped for the repair.


    But as if it was not enough...


    ROOOOOARRRR!!!


    A loud roar was heard, making Ren''s back covered in a cold sweat.


    And with loud rumbles, the members of the ck Lotus Group could only stare in confusion.


    "What in the world is the [Abomination of Thousand Corpses] doing here..."


    Ren uttered those words as she stared at the gigantic abomination of walking crumpled corpses.

 Chapter 1057 Reconstruction, The Reclaimed City Dealing With The Urgent Factors

    Day 342 8:21 AM - Laboratory, Ariake Docks, Ariake, Reimed City


    A day after the attack. The restoration efforts for the Reimed City began.


    Soldiers ran around with construction materials on their shoulders. The experimental [Vanguard] armors intended forbat now functioned as heavy construction machinery. And the soldiers aside, many [Frencers] and nonbatants began helping with the restoration efforts.


    The first and most urgent projects were the bridges and proper dwellings.


    All bridges connecting the Reimed City''sndfill inds fell due to the battle. The ind the territories of Ariake and Shinonome shared was now isted from the rest of the inds and even the maind.


    As for the dwellings, the current shelters were not enough tofortably amodate everyone. These shelters were supposed to amodate only workers in Ariake, military andboratory affiliates, and certain important people. These were not shelters designed for public use. As such, with the influx of survivors from the other parts of the Reimed City, these shelters were full to the brim.


    Assigning the dwellings could be worked on immediately. Converting some factories and facilities for temporary shelters was possible. However, the same was not possible for the bridges.


    Rebuilding bridges in the current state of the Reimed City would not be easy. Foundations, machinery, materials, and many other factors, there was a whole lot to consider and n if they wanted to connect Ariake and Shinonome to other parts of the city and to the maind.


    However, despite how hard it was, building bridges would be one of the priorities. The remaining people of the Reimed City could not remain isted from the rest of the country for too long. With therge part of the Reimed City pulverized to ttened ground, the supplies they had left and saved were too little to support therge poption. This catastrophe might have reduced the city''s poption to less than a third of it initially was. Nheless, that third was still near forty thousand people. The reserves would notst long to support them all.


    The remains of the government and the military needed to gather as many supplies as possible in order to support everyone. They also need more materials for the reconstruction. As such, building new bridges was crucial.


    Without any bridges, the military could only rely on the boats and the Amaterasu Warship to traverse the waters separating Ariake from the maind. This option, too, was not viable in the long run due to the limited supply of fuel they had left.


    Barges would be a temporary solution, too. However, it also came with more dangers.


    Fortunately, there was a temporary option left that they could use, although it also meant another debt to the group that came to their rescue.


    It was to ask the Evernight Group, specifically Louis Morgan, to raise another seabed wall to connect Ariake and Toyosu.


    And that was something they did. The Prime Minister personally asked Mark for the favor. And Mark, taking the opportunity, requested a copy of all the development blueprints of the [Vanguard Armors].


    Normally, the Prime Minister would not agree to such a request. The [Vanguard Armors] were their trump cards. A research that was only supposed to belong to their country.


    However, a sturdy bridge they could use to hasten the reconstruction in exchange for a far-from-finished experimental product was quite a good deal. Thus, the Prime Minister epted, although the scientists working on the project were not too happy about it.


    With that deal done, Louis received the task from Mark to build a two-hundred-meter rampart across the channel between Ariake and Toyosu. It was wide enough to be traversed by two heavy-duty vehicles and strong enough to allow tanks on it without breaking.


    Because of the bridge Louis created, the reconstruction immediately started.


    But if there was one unexpected thing, it was that Toyosu ended up with a single building intact.


    It was the TEPCO Building, which vanished due to the machinations the Mitsui Family tried to pull.


    The vanished building reappeared at dusk while the soldiers were surveying the ttened Toyosu. After it reappeared, the soldiers immediately surrounded it and scouted its premises. After all, it was where the traitors from the Mitsui n were left.


    Unfortunately, what the soldiers found inside were the cold bodies of the elders and the n head after they killed themselves. It was unknown why they killed themselves. However, people spected that they failed the entrapment of the Priestess and the Empress, and the only way to escape the shame and consequences was to end their own lives.


    As for the Mitsui n, only four people remained. First and second were Ren and Sayuri, who participated greatly in the battle. Their family might have been traitors, but no one med the two for the things they had done for the city during the crisis. As for the remaining two, it was unexpectedly the mistress of the Mitsui n and the second young master.


    Same with Sayuri, the two were not really tied tightly with the n. They were following the n since they had no other choice, and the n Head also left them out during the nning of the betrayal. Unfortunately, unlike the sisters, the two had to remain hidden from the public. They still had yet to prove their innocence, after all.


    After the battle, the ck Lotus became the prospect to be the most influential group in the Reimed City. Not only their contribution to the battle was pretty high, but there was also a clear increase in the strength of their members upon their return. Many people witnessed their new prowess as they fought the Demons and saved people from [Miasmic Residues].


    Unexpectedly, there was another territorial group that remained. It was the Yakuza Group, Dawn. It seemed that all other territorial groups got roped in by the betrayal of the Mitsui n. On the other hand, Dawn never received any proposal from the Mitsui n head. In the first ce, Dawn''s leader and the Mitsui n head were at odds with each other. Due to these circumstances, Dawn would be one of the pirs of the Reimed City in the near future.


    Aside from reconstruction and supplies, there was a third goal the people of the Reimed City had to work on. It was to secure the immediate area around the city. It was the task of territorial groups before. It was to patrol the streets of the surrounding ruins in the maind and keep the immediate areas as free from the [Infected] and [Mechids] as possible.


    But right now, there were no ruins to secure. There was nothing but nds devoid of anything. The effects of the magical storm the Serpent God created seemed to have spanned over a few kilometers, creating a barren wastnd centered around the Reimed City.


    The effects of the magical storm were both a bad and a good thing.


    Without any ruins to block the view, any threat entering the wastnd could be seen from afar without hindrance. On the other hand, it was the same for the Reimed City, which could now be visible from far away without needing to travel near the coastal areas.


    The problem was that while the current barrier the Priestess created blocked the [Infected] and [Mechids] from being attracted to the presence of humans in the city, many of them still gathered because of the battle and the lingering strong magical energy in the surroundings.


    Not only were these [Infected] and [Mechids] dangerous to leave alone, but if the [Infected] were to hang around exposed to the lingering magical energy, the chances of them acquiring magical mutations would be higher.


    Thus, the task of clearing these dangerous enemies fell into the hands of the ck Lotus and the Temple. It was unexpected since the Temple''s duty was always to protect defensively and not to attack. Such a task supposedly belonged to territorial groups, and Dawn should be the one taking it. However, unlike the ck Lotus, arge number of members of Dawn were either dead or injured as they tried to protect their territory from the [Mechids''] invasion. While the Dawn group remained, they were not in the right state to fulfill all their supposed duties.


    Speaking of the Temple, which was one of the driving forces in yesterday''s battle, the other two forces with the same contribution were nowhere to be seen.


    It was because most of the members from the Auraboros Japan Branch and Evernight had already returned to their respective homes.


    The Empress had left as soon as her subordinates regained consciousness after the battle. Though to say, she looked more like she was fleeing. Well, with two Goddesses and three [Eyes] present, the Empress would rather get away from the Reimed City and hide inside her pce. However, she seemed to have ns to return to the Reimed City once things had settled down.


    As for Evernight, there was really no need for them to stay for a prolonged period of time. Their members only arrived due to the urgency of the situation. Now that the crisis ended, they had to go back to their own duties left at home. Some of them thought to go sightseeing, but considering everything was already in ruins, there was nothing to sightsee. Thus, they returned without much fuss.


    The only ones left of the Evernight were the initial group.


    And right now, the said group was spending their free time in a dedicated suite in Ariake. It was not exactly a hotel suite or something simr. It was actually a workshop within theboratory, hastily renovated to amodate their stay. After all, their base in Kachidoki became part of the crater Gar''m''s explosion created.


    ***


    Mark stared at the white ceiling. The fluorescent light was bright but not painful to the eye. He was lying down motionless. Considering everything that happened yesterday, he really did not want to move around today.


    During the battle against Shin, Gar''m, and the Yamata-no-Orochi, Mark sure gained some valuable knowledge and experience. But to say, he really did not expect those experiences to include getting knocked out in the middle of the battle and then getting out of control and bing a blob monster.


    That was right. Mark had lost control of himself during the fight. He barely even remembered turning into a giant blob. At that time, all he had was hunger and the will to devour the enemy in front of him.


    Fortunately, all that hunger diminished after he defeated the Serpent God. Finally, Mark turned around menacingly at thest minute before wobbling toward Ariake. It was because Mark could barely remain conscious and had no idea how to return back to normal. Fortunately, Mei picked him up at that moment. Her presence caused him to calm down, which automatically dispelled his transformation.


    When the [Eyes] arrived, Mark did not even have the energy to talk to them. However, they only came to ensure Mark did not get taken over by the malicious entity they were expecting. After they confirmed that Mark was still Mark, they seemed relieved. Neenth immediately bid farewell, while Sixteenth returned to apany her candidate.


    As for Thirteenth, she was still here.


    THUG.


    Mark felt a rather strong tug on his hair as hey down motionlessly.


    "Can you do it gently? The younger girls are doing better than you."


    Mark said, ncing at Thirteenth as she held a few strands of Mark''s hair.


    "I''m not used to this, you know? But unexpectedly, this is pretty fun."


    Thirteenth replied with a child-like smile.


    What was Thirteenth doing? Well, she was rather bored. That was why she decided to join Abbygale and Miracle as they yed with Mark''s hair, putting hair ties and hair decorations on Mark while he rested on his bed.


    Seeing an [Eye] ying like a little girl sure was quite a surreal sight. But well, it was no problem since it coincided with her current mission. It was to monitor Mark. After all, weird things clearly happened to him during the battle.


    Mark fell silent with a short sigh. He only wanted to rest, and his hair became a toy for the little girls to y on. It was not bad, really. Well, only if not for the slight pain on his scalp when they strongly pull on his hair.


    The rest of the girls were also present. However, I and Emika were just watching, but Mei and Amihan were ying along while teaching the little girls how to do braids and stuff. Yes, Mark had turned into their practice dummy.


    Well, this was not a bad way to spend time while resting. After all, they had many things to do after this.


    For example, to search for Shin, who managed to escape.

 Chapter 1002 Black Lotus In Peril, The Attack Of The Most Dangerous [Infected]

    Day 333 - 5:19 PM - Maesawa, Higashikurume, Ruins of Tokyo


    After recing the busted wheel and fleeing from the [Abomination of Thousand Corpses], the ck Lotus Group traveled for another hour. They carefully took the same route they used a few days ago.


    The world had changed. Trees and deformedndscapes were everywhere, and everything else was in ruins. It was not surprising that there were very few routes they could take with theirrge vehicles. This very reason was one of the factors that made their journey much longer a couple of days ago. They had to find suitable routes, map out the surroundings, and avoid known Forbidden Zones, all while fighting the [Infected] along the way.


    When the ck Lotus Group thought that the way back would be easier as they had already mapped out their route, they soon proved that they were wrong in their assumptions.


    The road had more [Infected] than the previous time they passed by. It was not to the point that the route was unusable, but they had no choice but to stop every now and then just to remove dangerous-looking [Infected] from the middle of the ruined road.


    And in each stop, it was expected that the members of the ck Lotus Group would end up besieged by the surrounding [Infected].


    Despite already an hour having passed after they fixed the busted wheel, the distance they traveled was far shorter than one would expect.


    However, there was nothing suspicious with these [Infected]. Considering that the ck Lotus Group passed by this same route before, these [Infected] might be the ones that got attracted by the noise of their vehicles and fighting. Unfortunately, due to ack of other prey and stable geography, these [Infected] got stuck on this route, wandering aimlessly these past few days.


    But then, as the ck Lotus Group reached a choke point of the debris-filled road where they knew there were no closer alternative routes, they were stopped by a blockade of debris. A ruined building by the side of the highway copsedpletely into the middle of the road.


    The convoy stopped a distance away from the blockade. However, the experienced members of the ck Lotus Group did not get out of their vehicles.


    Although the copse of the building might be natural, it was not wrong to be suspicious. Sudden blockades might be a ploy to make people stop their vehicles and get out, only to be ambushed by the plot of those that blocked the road. These kinds of ploys were not new to the members of the ck Lotus Group.


    "Stay inside the vehicles," Ren ordered through theirmunicator just to be sure. "Quickly withdraw from this location and find a road to reroute."


    With those orders, the convoy immediately made a U-turn and drove back to the road they had just passed. Finding a new route might be a bit difficult in this area, and thus, the ck Lotus Group needed to backtrack almost fifteen minutes of their travel.


    Unfortunately, among the ruins and transformedndscape they passed by, the only route everyone in the ck Lotus Group remembered was a path through a forested area.


    However, taking that path was not something they would risk. Although by the fall of the highway during the earthquake, taking a path through the middle of a forest was always a bad idea in an apocalypse of mutated creatures.


    But as they thought of finding another safer route...


    ROOOOAAARRR!!!


    Another roar, different from the [Abomination of Thousand Corpses] but had the same intensity, echoed into everyone''s ears.


    Everyone''s sense of danger was loudly ringing as they tried to find out what in the world had caused that intimidating roar.


    And the moment they saw the creature, their sense of urgency immediately rose to the maximum.


    "Man the machine guns! Repel it!"


    Tadashimanded as the vehicle he was on was the closest to the creature.


    One of the members behind Tadashi immediately climbed to the machine gun mounted on their Komatsu Light Armored Vehicle. On the other hand, Tadashi opened the door to his side enough to be able to shoot at the enemy.


    And their enemy?


    It was an [Infected Beast]. Worse, it was another [Infected] creature well known as a Boss of a Forbidden Zone.


    A four-legged beast about three meters in height and more than seven meters in length. It had the features of a Japanese Wolf, except for having a saber tooth and its muscled tiger-like limbs. The most distinguishing feature of this [Infected] creature was its metallic fur and mace-like tail. Its fur was strong enough to withstand high explosives andpletely repel bullets.


    Tadashi knew these facts as he saw the [Armored Liger-Wolf]. However, they had no choice. Even if they could drive their vehicles at maximum speed, it was still no match to the speed of this creature.


    The only thing Tadashi relied on by his decision was the information that while the [Armored Liger-Wolf] was immune to direct injuries, it could still be hurt by the impacts of the attacks it received.


    RATATATATAT!!


    As soon as the gunner was in position, Tadashi immediately ordered him to open fire. It was the same for Tadashi and the other members in his vehicle.


    The [Armored Liger-Wolf] chased after the convoy when the barrage of bullets weed its existence. As expected, the gunshots did not damage the beast, although they managed to temporarily stop the [Armored Liger-Wolf] from chasing after them.


    "Tadashi!" At this time, Ren''s voice echoed in everyone''smunicators. "We can''t fight that beast! We''re entering the forest!"


    Everyone was reluctant, but there was no choice.


    Although smaller in size, the [Armored Tiger-Wolf] was not weaker than the [Abomination of Thousand Corpses]. Furthermore, the beast had the speed and ferocity that the giant clump of corpses did not.


    Furthermore, while smaller animals would be able to traverse the forest quickly and had the advantage, it was different for gigantic creatures, especially the dumb [Infected]. The giant beast would have no ce to run in the forest aside from the road, limiting its movements and ability to use its speed to its advantage.


    Unexpectedly, aside from the rough road and the [Infected] that the vehicles mowed down easily, the path through the forest was not as they had expected. The [Armored Tiger-Wolf] was still on their tail, but the constant gunfire it was receiving was hindering it from catching up to the convoy.


    When Ren took the reigns and used her ability to hinder the [Armored Liger-Wolf], only then they finally lost its tail.


    And in two minutes, the convoy reached the other side of the forest, driving along the road of the ruins of Tokyo once more.


    But then...


    SCREEEEEEEEECHHH!!!


    A deafening screech echoed within a kilometer radius. It was an extremely loud screech that made the ears of some of the members of the ck Lotus Group bleed.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    BAM! SCREECH!


    The wheels of the vehicles made their own screech as the drivers mmed on their brakes. Everyone was feeling disoriented. Some even fell unconscious. Worse, one of the trucks crashed into the ruins as the driver became disoriented due to the deafening screech.


    With their sight blurry and their heads feeling like splitting, those still conscious stepped out of their vehicles. It was a dangerous move. However, with the current situation, the first thing they needed to do was to regroup and assess the damage and situation.


    Most importantly... Where that screech came from. That screech did not only cause this mess. It would definitely attract the [Infected] from a wide radius into this area.


    "Damn it! Just what the f*ck is happening?!"


    The gorgeous but a bit foul-mouthed Keiko cursed as she held her head in pain. Her ears were bleeding too. But it was not as much as their weaker members.


    Keiko''s frustrations were justified. They got a busted wheel, causing them to encounter the [Abomination of Thousand Corpses]. Next, the road was blocked, and as they backtracked their route, they came across the [Armored Liger-Wolf]. And now, this.


    After Keiko''s sight returned faster than everyone due to her enhanced physical strength and resistance, she immediately looked for the source of that screech.


    And then, Keiko''s eyes widened as she looked at the tall, ruined building not far from their location.


    "Well, sh*t. You gotta be f*cking kidding me..." Keiko cursed at their bad luck. "What in the f*cking hell is the [Siren of Death] doing here..."


    The [Siren of Death]. She was another Boss creature of a different Forbidden Zone. She was a woman around two meters tall with an appearance as if she was wearing a long dress made of human flesh and skin. She received that title due to her abilities that involved sounds. While the [Abomination of Thousand Corpses] was feared due to its size and being one giant horde, and the [Armored Liger-Wolf] had its armored body and speed, the [Siren of Death] was known for its ability to attract hordes of [Infected] and the ability to support those [Infected] to swarm their targets.


    And what made Keiko curse out loud was the clear fact that the [Siren of Death] was one of the problems she faced in her previous expedition. Most of the deaths in that expedition were caused by the b*tch she was looking at right now.


    "Ugh..."


    The familiar voice snapped Keiko from reality as she turned her head around.


    "Ren-sama!"


    Keiko yelled in worry as she saw Ren stagger out of her vehicle and fall to the ground.


    Ren''s ears were bleeding profusely, and she was clearly in a disoriented state. And before Keiko could get to her, she had already fallen unconscious.


    While Keiko immediately ran to Ren to help, Mako, who was in the same vehicle as Ren, also staggered out of the door. Unlike Ren, however, she was in a better state, and her enhanced self-recovery was already kicking.


    "Ren-sama."


    Mako was still dizzy, but she tried to approach Ren and Keiko.


    At this time...


    RATATATATA!


    The sounds of the machine gun mounted on Tadashi''s vehicle sounded.


    When Keiko and Mako looked, they saw Tadashi operating the mounted gun. He was shooting at the exit of the forest they had just passed through, disregarding the fact that his ears and eyes were bleeding.


    ROOOOARRR!!!


    The loud roar soon followed.


    It was when Keiko and Mako realized that the [Armored Liger-Wolf] already managed to catch up. And likely due to the [Siren of Death], it managed to immediately find their location.


    "Mako! Keiko!" Tadashi yelled out loud as he continued to shoot. "Take Ren-sama out of this ce! Quick!"


    The two women looked around. All their members were not in shape to fight, except for the three of them. And with Tadashi volunteering to hold the enemies back, only Mako and Keiko could protect their master.


    Ren was their only priority. With the order in ce, the two women immediately looked around for a route to drive through their vehicle.


    Then, they noticed. It was a dead end. The end of the forest path was a dead end.


    There were ruins everywhere and no road where a vehicle could pass through.


    The only route they could take was through the forest once more. However, it was currently being blocked by the [Armored Liger-Wolf].


    "Mako, help me."


    Keiko said as she presented her back, urging Mako to put Ren on her back. There was only one thing the two women could do.


    Mako nodded, and after Ren was on her back, the two of them ran off with their master.


    The other conscious members also began to recover from the effects of that screech. And as they saw Keiko and Mako running away with their master in tow, they only had one thing in mind.


    "Hold the line! We''re not letting these monsters past us!"


    One member picked up his weapons and readied to fight.


    And around them, hundreds of enraged [Infected] were alreadying in waves, attracted by the [Siren of Death''s] screech.

 Chapter 1003 Wasted Efforts, Prioritizing Lives Over Things They Spent Energy And Timeto Gather

    Day 333 - 5:31 PM - Tenjincho, Kodaira, Ruins of Tokyo


    "Gather the unconscious into one ce! Prioritize your safety! The supplies we gathered aren''t important right now!"


    Tadashiimanded loudly. He was making sure that he conveyed his orders loud enough for everyone to hear, despite their ears being clogged by blood.


    And with orders of the ck Lotus Group''s second inmand, the barely conscious members moved to retrieve their unconsciousrades. As for those that had already recovered from the ambush, they picked up their weapons and readied to fight.


    The horde wasing.


    Tadashi wiped the blood from his eyes and turned his head to the direction where Keiko and Mako fled while carrying Ren.


    Getting their master into safety was their highest priority. It was the unspoken rule within the order of ninjas under the Mitsui Family. Ren might hate it, but there was no choice. This ce was currently dangerous for her to stay.


    Of course, it was dangerous for everyone in the ck Lotus Group. Fleeing was their best option. However, that means abandoning their unconscious members.


    Tadashi would not want such a heartless action.


    Private ninjas should be raised ruthlessly. Compassion should be thest thing in their vocabry. That was the stereotype imnted in everyone because of the Sengoku Era.


    But the members of the ck Lotus Group were different. No. It was the ninjas raised by thete Mitsui n Head that was different.


    All of them were orphans given a new family and a way to live.


    They were raised with a rule that no one should sacrifice the other but sacrifice themselves for the other instead. These ninjas were one whole family.


    That was why while Tadashi couldmand Keiko and Mako to bring their master to safety, he would stay behind to hold the enemy. They could not just leave the rest of their unconscious members just because they wanted to live.


    TAT! CLICK! CLICK!


    "Sh*t!"


    Tadashi cursed as the machine gun in his hand fired itsst bullet in the box. Usually, another member would hand over another cartridge box from inside the vehicle when this happened. However, he was the only one still conscious in this vehicle. He could go in and take another cartridge, but it would mean taking his eyes off the extremely fast enemy.


    ROOOAR!


    The [Armored Liger-Wolf] roared as the barrage of bullets hindering it had finally stopped. It turned to Tadashi, who was the cause of its pain just now.


    "Haahh..."


    Tadashi took a deep breath as he returned the re.


    The giant beast and the subleader of the ck Lotus Group turned into blurry figures at the same time.


    There was barely anything to be seen as the [Armored Liger-Wolf] and Tadashi shed in a battle to the death.


    CLANG!


    The beast missed its attack, while Tadashi''s knife made contact with the beast''s neck. However, only that metallic sound was heard as the knife barely left a mark on the beast''s metallic fur.


    Nheless, Tadashi managed to get the entire attention of the arrogant [Infected Beast]. Being a highly mutated creature and a boss of an [Infected Territory], the [Armored Liger-Wolf] had an instinct-driven intelligence. Seeing that its speed was equal, if not less, to Tadashi, its instinct immediately switched to trying to eliminate the greatest threat in front of it.


    The sh of speed, ws, and knives began. It was all amidst the chaos that ensued by the iing horde.


    And while Tadashi took the attention of the nearest and fastest threat, the conscious members of the ck Lotus Group began to hold the line until the unconscious were gathered in one vehicle.


    The goal here was not to kill everything around them. It was to get enough time to rescue their unconscious members and create an opening to retreat.


    But, of course, it was not a guaranteed sess. In any case that it failed... They failed... At the least, their precious master, Lady Mitsui Ren, made it to safety.


    The defense line was in formation, and the [Armored Liger-Wolf] was distracted. The next thing to prioritize was the [Siren of Death].


    But the question was...


    Where did the [Siren of Death] go?


    When everyone was distracted, the [Siren of Death] seemed to have left its initial location atop one of the ruins southwest of their location.


    Five members of the ck Lotus Group formed a small team. They bypassed the defense line and the horde. Jumping from ruin to ruin, they aimed to deal with the [Siren of Death]. Killing it might be unlikely since even a full JSDF battalion failed to kill it.


    The JSDF failed not because the [Siren of Death] was incredibly tough or agile. It was because she was a tricky creature. Her screech could incapacitate her pursuers, and after she attracted other [Infected] to her enemies, she would immediately flee from the scene of carnage.


    Being trained ninjas, the members aiming for the [Siren of Death] quickly reached the top of the ruins. But as expected, they found nothing there.


    Strange enough, they found traces of blood and charred flesh in the ruin. Most people might not notice these details, but the members of the ck Lotus Group were trained to pay attention to minimal details in strange and suspicious scenarios.


    And to say... Everyone in the ck Lotus Group already knew that something strange was happening.


    In just two hours, they encountered three Boss Level creatures, and all of these dangerous beings were outside their territories.


    If this situation was not suspicious, what else could be considered one?


    "Divide into groups of two and search! We can''t let that siren let out another screech, or we''re all dead!"


    The leader of the group to pursue the [Siren of Death] ordered. Their main goal was not to kill it but prevent it from letting out another screech. The screech''s capability to attract the [Infected] was the least of their concern. Most of them were barely recovered by the first screech. Another one would spell their deaths as it would impair their senses while being besieged by hundreds of [Infected].


    But to the confusion of the search party, not a single trace of the [Siren of Death] was found. They could only return to the convoy in preparation to flee the scene.


    The unconscious was gathered into one vehicle. Fortunately, some of the unconscious members woke up soon enough to join the defense. However, fleeing in their vehicles was not possible anymore. The [Infected] swarmed in hundreds, and Tadashi barely damaged the [Armored Liger-Wolf] even with the help of some grenades.


    Minutes passed. Time was against them as more and more [Infected] stormed the ce. The only fortunate thing so far was that no further interference came from the [Siren of Death]. While it was a strange circumstance, it was a wee one. Nheless, whether the [Siren of Death] interfered or not, the situation was getting worse.


    Everyone was growing tired, and creating an opening in the sea of [Infected] was impossible.


    And to make things much worse...


    ROOOOARRR!!!


    The loud roar that was apanied by hundreds of wails echoed. It might still be far, but the [Abomination of Thousand Corpses] wasing.


    At this point, there was no other choice but to move on.


    Tadashi, paying attention to the surroundings, threw another throwable item at his enemy. Experiencing the grenades before, the [Armored Liger-Wolf] jumped back, staring at the thrown weapon.


    BANG!<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    ROOOOAAARRR!!!


    The [Armored Liger-Wolf] roared in pain and panic as its sight was suddenly stolen from it after a sudden bright explosion. It was not a frag grenade that Tadashi threw. It was a stun grenade.


    As for Tadashi, he had already turned his back and was retreating to hisrades, jumping and stomping over the heads of the [Infected] blocking his way.


    Tadashi immediately signaled for retreat. The defense line immediately divided into two, with half maintaining the defense as they retreated while the other half tended to those still incapable of fighting.


    They retreated, giving onest look at the vehicles they used.


    All the efforts of the ck Lotus Group these past few days had gone to waste. However, their lives mattered more in this situation. The more they stayed, the more dangerous it became. More importantly, their stamina and ammunition had a limit. If they were stupid enough to let everything run out before attempting a retreat, it would be better to slit their throats already.


    Keeping enough ammunition and energy was an important factor in a sessful retreat.


    Now that everyone gathered in a single ce and the unconscious members were retrieved, it was now time to catch up to their master.


    But as Tadashi led hisrades to the ruins that Keiko and Mako ran through, they were stopped.


    Tadashi could only stare in bewilderment and shock as he stared at those who blocked their way.


    ***


    Day 333 - 5:42 PM - Hanakoganei, Kodaira, Ruins of Tokyo


    "Hah... Hah... Hah..."


    Keiko panted quite heavily as she carefully let Ren down from her back. She might be strong, but running on the streets and fighting the [Infected] all while carrying another person on her back was extremely tiring.


    Mako then assisted Keiko as they put Ren on a bed. She also looked tired. It was not surprising since she tanked most of the [Infected] along the way to keep Ren as safe as possible.


    Reny on the bed, still unconscious. The bed was still dirty even after Mako had dusted it as much as she could. There was nothing more they could do, unfortunately. It was already lucky that they managed to find an intact room in a ruined building, far up from the streets now brimming with [Infected]. Wanting for anything better was just being greedy, considering the situation they were currently facing.


    "Ren-sama''s senses are the highest among us since we were all training under the Grandmaster," Keiko looked at Ren with a sigh. "In this situation, those heightened senses became her weakness."


    It seemed that the members of the ck Lotus Group were not surprised that Ren was this affected by the [Siren of Death''s] sound attack.


    Keiko''s eyes then left Ren as she turned to Mako, who was peering through the room''s broken window. As silent as possible to not make any noise that could be heard outside, Keiko moved and stood beside Mako.


    Outside, the street was like a scene from a festival. The only difference was that all the people they could see below were ravaging [Infected]. Some were running, some were crawling, and most were shambling. But no matter what speed, they were all going in a single direction.


    It was the direction where the ck Lotus Group faced the ambush of the [Siren of Death].


    "You think they will be fine?"


    Mako nkly voiced out, making Keiko frown a bit.


    "They will be fine. Tadashi is leading everyone," Keiko answered the question. "Tadashi is our eldest. He is more experienced and the most suitable leader in these kinds of situations."


    "I wish they would be."


    Mako replied, looking tired.


    Keiko was surprised by that unoptimistic reply. However, who could de Mako? No matter how optimistic one tried to think, the situation was extremely dangerous.


    ***


    After half an hour passed...


    "Urgh!"


    Ren let out a pained voice as she opened her eyes in a disoriented state. She felt someone help her sit down, and as her vision slowly cleared up, she saw Mako and Keiko on her both sides and the unfamiliar dirty room they were inside.


    It was when the memories of before Ren fell unconscious shed into her mind. However, she did not panic. She closed her eyes to recover more of her senses and calmness and assessed the possible situation.


    "Did Tadashi prioritize my safety again?"


    Ren weakly asked the two, and both of them replied with silence. She immediately knew she was right.


    "Where are we?"


    Ren asked as she looked around.


    "It should be a ruined building in Hanakoganei in Kodaira."


    Mako replied.


    "Hmmm?" Keiko interjected as she stared at Mako. "How did you know?"


    "We passed by some road signs in the street," Mako replied with a sigh. "I tried to pay as much attention to the surroundings so we won''t get lost."


    "And the state of the situation?"


    Ren ignored the two''s banter and asked.


    "Unoptimal, unfortunately."


    Mako reported.


    That reply made Ren silent. She was trying to keep her calm. However, she was shivering in the turmoil of her emotions.


    "Help me up."


    Ren asked the two, and they obeyed. With their help, Ren walked to the window to look at the situation outside and assess it.


    And below the streets, a whole lot of shambling [Infected] could be seen moving in a single direction.


    "The numbers had already thinned, but there''s still too many," Keiko spoke. "When we arrived at this ce, there''s about twice or twice the number."


    Those words made Ren despair even more. It meant that their remaining members were besieged by such a number of [Infected]ing from all directions. And much worse, there were possibly two or more [Boss Level Infected] among the enemies.


    The chance of survival, even if they were ninjas, were extremely slim.

 Chapter 1004 Betrayal, The Blood Of The Lotus Spilling Under The Moonlight

    Day 333 - 6:01 PM - Hanakoganei, Kodaira, Ruins of Tokyo


    Around fifteen went and passed since Ren came to.


    The tide of the [Infected] in the streets had yet to subside. Ren was still far from top shape. Andstly, the sun was going down.


    Considering the danger of the situation, the three women decided to stay put and wait, even though that decision had put them in dismay.


    There was no need to ask and confirm. The worry and nervousness were clear on the faces of the three women.


    As long as the three of them stayed put and tried their best not to get any unwanted attention from the [Infected] outside, they should be fine.


    "Lead1 to Lead2. Lead1 to Lead2. Tadashi, do you read?"


    Using hermunicator, Ren tried to contact the members that stayed behind. She had been trying to contact them for the past fifteen ten minutes, hoping that it would connect once Tadashi and the rest managed to catch up. Unfortunately, no connection had been established, no matter how much Ren tried. The best she could get was static noise which did not mean anything either.


    Sighing, Ren turned to Keiko and Mako. While Ren was sitting on the dirty bed to recover her strength, Keiko was on guard by the nearly broken door, and Mako was guarding the window. Their vignce was clear. With how dpidated this room was, a single regr [Infected] could definitely bust down the door without problems.


    "Can you two still move around?"


    Ren asked the two.


    "I''m okay," Keiko immediately answered. "I''m not too sensitive against sound and mental attacks, and I''m the toughest among us. My ears bled a little, but not enough to hinder me."


    "How about you, Mako?"


    Ren asked Mako, who seemed a little out of it.


    "I''m fine, too."


    Mako meekly answered.


    "You don''t look okay to me," Keiko interjected. "Looks like the siren affected you more than you thought."


    "Don''t worry. I can shake it off just fine."


    Mako tried to assure the two. However, they did not seem too convinced.


    Unfortunately, there was not much choice.


    "We''ll move out once it''spletely dark."


    Ren said, to which the two nodded.


    Ninjas were warriors in the shadows. The night''s darkness was their yground.


    ***


    Dusk came and passed. The darkness of the night enveloped the surroundings. And within the ruins of Kodaira, three silhouettes could be seen jumping and running from ce to ce.


    The three were none other than Ren, Mako, and Keiko. After having some rest, they decided to leave the safety of that secluded room and run back to where the ck Lotus Group was ambushed by the [Siren of Death].


    There was no doubt that they had lostmunication with Tadashi in the rest. No matter how Ren tried, there was no response from theirmunicator. And considering the time that psed, the worst could be hypothesized since Tadashi and the remaining members of the ck Lotus Group had yet to catch up to the three.


    Since Ren only knew of what happened before she fell unconscious, she did not know what the scene was afterward. But as Keiko described the situation when she and Mako left to prioritize Ren''s safety, Ren felt more and more perturbed. If not for the fact that Ren could barely stand when she woke up, she would have run back immediately.


    The situation was clear. It was not optimal. Even if Tadashi and the others tried to escape, casualties would be very likely. And the worst situation would be a wipeout.


    Although the ck Lotus Group were ninjas with strength and abilities far beyond ordinary humans, that meant nothing in the face of the [Infected]. Even Tadashi might be able to fight a [Boss Level Infected] toe to toe, but winning waspletely another topic. One mistake could still cost him his life. And with two, maybe three, [Boss Level Infected] around, Tadashi might not make it either.


    However, there was no way Ren would just go and ept that conclusion. If she had to ept the situation, Ren must first see it with her own eyes.


    The three traversed the dark ruined streets with Mako in the lead. While everyone in the ck Lotus Group was trained simrly, Mako''s expertise was in reconnaissance and information gathering. Considering her expertise, it was not surprising that she remembered the exact direction they had to traverse.


    As for Keiko, she was more of abat ninja. And while Keiko was carrying the unconscious Ren earlier, she had less time to focus on the surroundings while avoiding the [Infected].


    The three women moved quickly. It was far from their top speed. However, it was still faster than your regr athlete.


    But as the three reached what seemed to be a ruin of an elementary school...


    CLANG! BAM!


    Keiko was attacked by something. She managed to defend it with her metal gauntlets, but the impact threw her off the ruined building they were jumping on. Keiko then unceremoniouslynded at what seemed to be the school ground, making Ren and Mako follow her in absolute vignce.


    "Keiko, you okay?"


    Ren asked as she checked on Keiko.


    "I''m fine," Keiko shook her painful arm and raised her eyes to where she was attacked. "But..."


    There, a silhouette of a man could be seen while holding a metal baseball bat. And when the man stepped out of the shadow, allowing the moonlight to fall unto him...


    "Ishii..."


    Ren voiced out as she recognized the man with a delinquent look.


    The man titled [The Deliquent]. Ikuta Ishii, the left-hand man of Ren''s oldest brother. And despite his looks, he was, in fact, within the order of ninjas serving the Mitsui n. However, different from the orphans of ck Lotus, Ishii came from a secret vassal family under the Mitsui n.


    "It''s been a while, Ojou-sama," Ishii greeted Ren, putting his heavy bat over his right shoulder. "I guess I don''t have to exin why I, no, we are here, right?"


    And as Ishii said those words, five more silhouettes of people appeared from the surrounding buildings.


    As the moonlight illuminated the silhouettes, the three women could only frown. All of them were familiar figures from the Reimed City. However, among them here, there were two prominent figures.


    The first one was the vice-leader of the Blood Lion Troupe and Mane''s lover, Asami.


    As for the other, it was someone that should not appear with this bunch. The traitor of humanity, Shin. If this guy was working with these people here, it meant that these familiar people were already in cahoots with the Demons.


    And sadly enough, to Ren''s dismay, her family, the Mitsui n, was among the traitors.


    "Ishii..." Ren mustered her courage. "I understand that the n finally decided to get rid of me... But why are you people cooperating with Demons?"


    "Let me answer that."<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    A different but familiar voice responded to Ren''s question. A man came out of the ruins and walked in front of the three women. And seeing the man, Ren''s eyes dted.


    "Keiji-onii-sama... No... Keiji... Why are you here?"


    Ren voiced out.


    The man standing in front of Ren was none other than her oldest brother, Mitsui Keiji. Even though Ishii was here, Ren did not expect her brother to be present here as well.


    "I figured I might as well see you onest time," Keiji responded. "As for your question, everyone here, except for Shin, is under themand of our n. And since the n decided to take a different path to the future, everyone here could only follow the orders."


    Ren finally understood.


    The Blood Lion Troupe and its associates, the rivalry between the troupe and the ck Lotus, and many other things that hindered her...


    All of it was orchestrated by her own family.


    And a different path? It was most likely the greed of the current head and elders of the Mitsui n. The Mitusi n was one of the most powerful families existing in Japan. However, it never actually had the reign beneath the surface. Something that the family had always wanted.


    In order to acquire the future and authority the family wanted the most, they decided to cooperate with the Demons.


    "Do you really think the Demons will help the family reach the top?" Ren asked her brother. "Demons cannot be trusted!"


    "Hmmph..." At this time, Shin chimed in. "So as humans, woman. Look. A family willing to wash their hands with the blood of their descendants just to fulfill their greed. So trustworthy, isn''t it?"


    "Tch."


    Keiji could not help but click his tongue. After all, Shin just tantly ridiculed his family. However, that was the most he could do. After all, Shin was working with the n, not under the n.


    Most importantly, the most powerful being here was no other than the traitor of humankind, Shin.


    As for Ren, she could not refute what Shin had just said. Demons might not be trustworthy, but so as humans.


    At this time, Ren also realized. If they were waiting for her here, then it meant one thing.


    "Are you also the ones responsible for the [Boss Level Infected] outside their territories?"


    Ren asked, her eyes panning to the people surrounding her.


    "We were," Asami replied. "It''s a pain in the ass to devise such a trap. Good thing it worked splendidly. Your poor members might be dead by now in the middle of all those [Infected]. Ugh. I can''t imagine myself standing in the middle of that."


    Hearing those words, Ren and Keiko felt the swirl of their emotions. They wanted to refute it, but considering these people were the ones who caused everything, the chances of survival were extremely nil.


    "Let''s get this to the point," Keiji spoke. "The [n Seal] that grandfather handed to you. You have it, right? Hand it over. At least, I can give you a peaceful farewell if you do."


    "So, in the end, it''s about this damn thing, huh."


    Ren said, showing a gold stamp on her hand. A golden stamp iid with gems, to be precise.


    And putting the stamp back in her pocket, Ren drew her sword.


    "Take it if you can."


    Ren readied for the final fight of her life.


    "I see..." Keiji shook his head. "That''s your choice."


    Keiji then raised his hand and pulled it down as he took a step back.


    It was the signal for a final struggle of the remaining members of the ck Lotus against the most powerful humans under the Mitsui n.


    BAM!


    Ishii came at Ren first with his baseball bat. And as Ren dodged the attack, it hit the cemented ground, causing a one-meter-wide crater. Ishii''s aesthetic was not just for show. And his weapon, it was no ordinary baseball bat either. It was more than just a titanium bat in terms of sturdiness and weight.


    Asami also joined the fray. On her hand was a barbed whip which she was able to control wlessly. Her target was Mako.


    As for Keiko, she was immediately besieged by the two well-known martial artists of the Reimed City.


    Shin stood back, not joining the battle. He was here to cooperate with other things. He was not interested in joining a family feud.


    Still, even without Keiji and Shin, the battle was still five against three. And worst, the three were not in their top condition due to the events earlier.


    The three women were putting up a good fight despite being outnumbered. However, it seemed that the chance of them surviving was none.


    "Ren-sama," Keiko whispered as she retreated beside Ren. "You should run away. Leave this to us."


    "But..."


    Ren was reluctant to agree.


    "Ren-sama. Don''t let the sacrifice of Tadashi and the others go to waste. Your safety is the most important thing to us."


    BAM!


    The two were separated as they evaded another barrage of attacks from their enemies. But before they could stand back to back once again, Ren decided with a sigh.


    "No. I won''t leave you two here." Ren said with resolution. "If everyone is gone, I''ll face my death here with you two."


    Keiko saw Ren''s face and knew that she would not change her mind. epting the decision of their princess, Keiko nodded as she prepared everything she could muster in this fight.


    But as Keiko was about to unleash her strongest attack at the enemy she was facing...


    "Agh... Why..."


    Ren''s voice made Keiko freeze and look back.


    "I''m sorry."


    Those words were heard as Mako pulled her dagger out of Ren''s chest.

 Chapter 1005 Momentary Death, Waking Up After A Deadly Betrayal

    ?


    Day 333 - 6:21 PM - Kodaira 5th Elementary School Ruins, Hanakoganei, Kodaira, Ruins of Tokyo


    Once the truth about what happened today was revealed, Ren knew this could be her final stand.


    The tree of schemes nted by her family, no, the Mitsui n, started to grow. And now, they were uprooting the weeds that could hinder the growth of the tree.


    One of the thickest weeds was the ck Lotus, especially Ren, who had the seal.


    There was little to no chance of survival. But Ren decided not to go down without a fight. And there was only one way to do it. It was to kill her own brother.


    Ren might not have the advantage of fighting Ishii and the others together. However, Keiji was different. Keiji might have been trained in the same martial arts as her, but he never excelled as he had more talent in business and schemes.


    But killing her own brother? Could Ren do something like this?


    And the answer was...


    Why not?


    Ren was kind and virtuous. However, Ren was also raised by herte Grandfather with the idea of an eye for an eye. Her family was trying to kill her. Then why could she not kill them? It might be heavy for her heart, but it was the way she was raised and lived since she was young.


    But as Ren began to make her move, in the most unexpected moment, a dagger pierced her chest.


    It was not a dagger from their enemies. Ren could only stare in shock and confusion as her trusted subordinate and friend, Mako, pulled the dagger out of her chest.


    After a moan of pain, Ren could only let out a single-word question from her mouth by instinct.


    "Why?"


    Ren had yet toprehend what was happening, and the pain in her chest was preventing her from realizing what was happening.


    And when Ren heard the reply...


    "I''m sorry..."


    Ren felt a pain far worse than the bleeding wound on her chest.


    Betrayal.


    In thest moment, Mako betrayed Ren... No... She betrayed the entire ck Lotus and everyone relying on them.


    And as Ren lost all strength in her body, Mako gently let her down to the ground while taking something out of Ren''s pocket.


    "Ren-sama!"


    Ren could faintly hear Keiko''s worried shout. And as she mustered herst strength to slightly turn her head to Keiko, Ren saw her lying on the ground with blood dripping from the wounds on her body.


    Keiko, shocked due to the sudden betrayal of Mako, ended up getting distracted, receiving the enemies'' attacks without defense. Keiko might have a more resilient body than Ren, but with thebined attacks of enemies of equal might, even Keiko would fall.


    Both Ren and Keiko could only lie on the ground as they watched Mako walk unhindered toward Keiji. In her hand was the [n Seal] that the Mitsui n wanted to get their hands on.


    Unfortunately for Ren, her eyes started to be blurry, and her hearing was getting muffled. But that blurry sight of hers cleared up onest time as she saw Mako getting stabbed by her older brother after he got his hand on the [n Seal].


    Should she feel happy that Mako was betrayed the same way? Ren did not know. Mako''s betrayal was emotionally and physically painful. However, Ren did not have any more time to muddle over these thoughts as she closed her eyes.


    And after that, Ren finally cked out as she embraced the cold feeling of death.


    ***


    "..."


    Ren, with great difficulty, opened her eyes. The first thing she saw was the odd, reddish-ck colored ceiling.


    To see such an ominous-colored ceiling while half awake, Ren thought she had ended up in hell or something. But her consciousness fully returned, she realized.


    She was alive.


    As Ren slowly tried to lift her weakened body up from the bed, she began to realize how surreal the situation was. Ren unfastened the buttons on her unfamiliar clothing and touched her chest. There was neither a wound nor a scar. It was as if the scene where Mako stabbed her heart never happened.


    It was as if everything was just a dream.


    But no. The emotional and physical pain was still fresh in Ren''s mind.


    With a sigh, Ren looked around her surroundings. The oddly-colored walls and ceiling aside, it looked no less than some kind of private hospital room, minus the high-tech hospital apparatus that was not present anywhere around her. She even had an IV drip attached to her arm.


    Using the IV stand as a clutch, Ren raised her unstable body off the bed towards the only window in the room.


    And there, looking at the view outside, Ren was stunned as a plethora of emotions overcame her.


    Was it amazement? Confusion? Maybe both and more. These emotions stirred her heart as she looked outside. It was a view of an ominously colored fortress centered by a gigantic tree with red, glowing leaves. It was a scene out of this world. It was a scene that made Ren wonder if she was still on Earth.


    Ren stared at the view, distracted enough to not notice the door opening.


    "Ren-sama..."


    Only when Ren heard the familiar voice that she had finally noticed someone had entered the room.


    The teary-eyed Keiko approached Ren. It was rare for Ren to see the tomboyish Keiko with tears in her eyes. However, that was not what Ren focused on. It was the fact that Keiko was in a wheelchair.


    "That''s..."


    Ren could not muster what to ask. Everything she had seen so far was confusing and surreal. And now? She saw Keiko in a wheelchair. Furthermore, her legs were both casted.


    Keiko could only bitterly smile as she noticed what Ren was staring at.


    And then, there was a short silence between the two.


    Ren still felt the situation to be unreal. On the other hand, Keiko did not know how she should start the conversation. If Keiko began exining what happened to her legs, it meant recalling the unpleasant things that previously happened.


    As Ren looked outside the window and everything finally sunk into her mind, she finally asked.


    "Where are we?"


    And the answer bolstered Ren''s confusion even further.


    "The Philippines."


    "...Are we really alive? We''re not dead?"


    Ren voiced out in utter disbelief.


    They died in Japan and woke up in the Philippines. Who would believe such bullsh*t? It might even be more rational if they died there and reincarnated here instead.


    But no.


    The feeling in her body... Ren was sure she was alive.


    "Ren-sama," Keiko called out with a bitter smile. "I know you have questions, but you should rest first since you just woke up. Do you want something to eat? I''ll ask someone to bring something."


    Ren finally felt the hunger as she was reminded of it. Still...


    "How long was I out?"<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    Ren asked as she slowly sat down on her bed.


    "About a little more than two days," Keiko answered. "Today should be the third day if Ren-sama didn''t wake up."


    "Is that so..."


    Ren said with a weakened sigh.


    "Ren-sama, just stay here. I''ll ask for food."


    Keiko then went out of the door. As she moved around using the wheel, she was already used to her wheelchair.


    Ren sat in the room in silence. It was until Keiko returned a few minutester.


    "Ren-sama, the food is still being prepared. We have to wait a little more."


    Keiko said as she entered.


    However, Keiko was not alone. As Ren saw who entered with Keiko, her eyes wavered in happiness.


    "Ren-sama. It''s good to see that you''re already awake."


    Tadashi greeted Ren as he kneeled down in front of her.


    "Tadashi... You''re alive. How is everyone?"


    Ren tried to stand up as she asked those questions, but Keiko and Tadashi told her not to force herself too much. As she sat back on the bed, Tadashi answered.


    "There were some serious injuries. But fortunately, we''re all alive."


    That was the best thing Ren had heard in a long while. Considering that everything was a scheme by Keiji and hisckeys to lure [Boss Level Infected] to deal with the ck Lotus, she had already expected the entire group to meet an unfortunate fate.


    But to mark Ren wrong, everyone in the expedition made it alive.


    And now, the question.


    "How did we survive?"


    Ren asked in an unsure mutter.


    And there, both Keiko and Tadashi revealed the stories that unfolded.


    ***


    "Not long after we gathered the unconscious, we immediately tried to retreat, abandoning the vehicles and everything else. But it isn''t easy to pave a way through all of those [Infected]."


    Tadashi began to recall what happened.


    The members of the ck Lotus Group tried to flee the sea of [Infected] encroaching on them. But as Tadashi said, it was not easy. Not only the number of enemies was overwhelming, but the number of mutated ones far outnumbered the [Common Infected].


    "But in the worst moment, we were saved."


    Tadashi continued.


    "By who?"


    Ren asked.


    "Not who but what," Tadashi bitterly smiled. "An old western sword came flying in front of us, using ck mes to burn the [Infected and gave us a way to retreat. It even led us to some intact ruins where we were able to rest as the sword guarded the way in. It sounded absurd, wasn''t it? We got saved by a suspicious sentient sword, and we had no choice but to ept its grace."


    Tadashi and the other members of the ck Lotus Group stayed within the ruins for a while. It was until they were rescued there.


    "When we were brought here, Ojou-sama and Keiko were already here under treatment," Tadashi then heaved a sigh. "I''ll take this chance to apologize for being unable to protect you at that time."


    "There''s no need for you to apologize," Ren slightly shook her head. "The situation is outside our grasp."


    "But I''m surprised," Ren continued. "Did Oniisama not leave people to make sure all of our members are dead? That is strange."


    "Yes, it is strange," Tadashi agreed, with Keiko nodding at the side. "That is if they really wanted us dead."


    Ren was the leader of the ck Lotus Group for a reason. And she immediately what Tadashi implied.


    "Whether the ck Lotus is actually wiped out or not did not matter. They only wanted me dead, and the rest is just an afterthought."


    "That is just one reason," Tadashi added. "If we all died, then it is good. If not, we will end up trying to look for Ojousama and would likely find your [Infected] selves, or worse, half-eaten bodies. At that time, the surviving members would be the ones to bring the unfortunate news to the Reimed City."


    "It is also likely the reason they did not outright kill us."


    Keiko chimed in.


    "What do you mean?"


    Ren asked Keiko.


    "When Ren-sama fell unconscious, Keiji-sama ordered Ishii to break my legs. It''s all so that I can''t escape. And..." Keiko took a deep breath. "And Mako made something unnecessary."


    ording to what Keiko witnessed, Keiji''s n was only to cripple Ren and Keiko and leave them for the dead to deal with. It was all to erase all their involvement in the incident. However, Mako stabbed Ren in her heart, likely killing her, which was not the n at all. In any likelihood that the stab wound was found, suspicions would rise.


    "Before I passed out, I saw Oniisama stabbing Mako. Is it because she didn''t follow the n?"


    Ren was bitter about Mako''s betrayal, and there was a slightly lower tone when she mentioned Mako''s name.


    "No... From what I witnessed..." Keiko shook her head. "Keiji-sama nned to kill her since the start. However, in order to mask your stab wound, he used your sword to stab Mako, making it as if you two had a falling out instead."


    "That''s..."


    Ren was speechless... But then, it was her scheming brother, alright.


    "And Mako... What about her?"


    Ren asked, but she was immediately met with dark expressions from the two.


    "Mako is dead. She didn''t make it."


    Tadashi broke the news.


    Ren was stunned. Mako did betray her, but she had yet toe to the feeling of whether she should be angry at her.


    "But... How did she die?" Ren realized a discrepancy. "Her ability is to heal herself. She even received fatal wounds many times and lived. That is why she''s called the [Undying Assassinatrix]."


    "It''s probably because... She might have betrayed us. But in the end," Keiko pointed at the side table beside Ren''s bed. "She put Ren-sama''s life before hers."


    Ren looked at the side table. There was a small case there that she did not pay attention to earlier. And when Ren opened the box, she saw a familiar pendant.


    A pendant without a gem.


    Ren remembered. It had a gem before. She would not forget it since Mako gave it to her at the start of the expedition.

 Chapter 1006 The Baffling Person, Overloading The Brain Of A Patient Just With His Identity

    ?


    Day 335 - 2:21 PM - Infirmary, Mountain Base, Mount Mbito, General Nakar, Province of Quezon, Philippines


    Ren stared at the pendant with the now missing gemstone.


    Just before the ck Lotus Group left for the expedition, Mako gave it to Ren. No. It was more like Mako forced it onto her.


    Ren knew this pendant was from her grandfather and was given to Mako long ago. It was really nothing too notable aside from being a little expensive-looking. Furthermore, her grandfather would give things to her and their trainees from time to time.


    For the longest time, the ninjas following Ren knew that Mako had lost the gem of the pendant somewhere during one of her missions. And from then, the pendant remained without a centerpiece. But, strange enough, Mako did not seem to make any efforts to fix it.


    Ren was quite surprised when Mako tried to give it to her. Furthermore, the pendant was already fixed, looking far different from when it was missing a centerpiece despite not having too many changes from its actual appearance.


    The pendant was fixed, and Mako tried to give it to Ren without much exnation. Of course, knowing that it was an important item, Ren was more inclined to decline. But as Mako did not back down, theypromised that Ren would keep it for now and return itter.


    And for some strange reason, Mako agreed on the premise that Ren would always keep it in her possession.


    Who would have thought Ren would not have any chance to return it to her?


    The sentimental thoughts aside, Ren was baffled.


    "What does this pendant have to do with my survival and Mako''s decision?"


    Ren asked her two friends in front of her.


    And Tadashi exined what he knew.


    "The pendant Mako received from the Grandmaster is an artifact. Furthermore, it is a life-saving artifact. When someone in possession of this pendant is fatally wounded, the gemstone will shatter and channel life energy to the owner. The person will be saved, and until the energy channeled to the owner is exhausted, they will exhibit unnatural healing abilities."


    The exnation surprised Ren. It would probably be a bigger surprise to her than the attempted assassination by her family. Artifacts that were only known through myths and legends. Furthermore, an even rarer life-saving artifact. This single piece might be enough to spark a small between countries if this information was to spread.


    Who would have thought that the one in possession of such a valuable item was Mako all along?


    And thinking about it, Mako''s regenerative abilities seemed to have shined after she "broke" the pendant. The circumstances around Mako seemed to be what Tadashi had just exined.


    "Wait... If the gemstone shattered, can it be reced?"


    Ren asked.


    "It seems so," Tadashi answered. "But it seems that the gemstone on the pendant is far rarer than the artifact itself. It was near impossible to rece."


    "But..." Ren was even more surprised. "Didn''t Mako give this to me with a gemstone?"


    "Mako just got lucky," Tadashi sighed. "And it seemed she was in a massive debt just to get the artifact repaired."


    "Debt..." Ren muttered, looking at the pendant and then back at Tadashi. "Did you know all of this all along? You too, Keiko?"


    Mako kept everything a secret. Yet, Tadashi was able to exin everything to her. By the looks of it, Keiko also knew of it, as she did not show much reaction to Tadashi''s exnation.


    But before the two could answer...


    "They didn''t know anything. I''m the one who told them."


    A familiar voice that Ren did not expect to hear entered her ears. As she immediately turned to the door, the surprise on her face could not be concealed.


    "Wh-why are you here?"


    That was what Ren asked as she saw the person.


    "Why can''t I? This is my ce."


    Mark replied with a slight tilt of his head as he entered the door.


    "This room?"


    Ren asked, turning her head around the ce.


    But the one to answer the previous question was not Mark but Tadashi.


    "Ojou-sama. Not only this room or this building. The entire fortress you can see outside the window is his. Mark-sama is the owner of this entire base."


    "He is also the person who saved us."


    Keiko chimed in with a bitter smile. Unlike Ren, Mako, and Tadashi, Keiko did not know Mark that much. She only knew him personally after the unfortunate events two days ago.


    "Before everything," Mark spoke and showed what he was carrying. "Your food is ready."


    "Ah! Please, give it to me."


    Tadashi immediately received the bowl of rice porridge on a tray from Mark. Good food for a patient who has not eaten for two days.


    But Ren''s attention was not on the food. She was focused on Mark and the unexpected things she heard just now.


    Mark was the one who saved them, and this entire ce was his.


    The person that Ren and the others thought they saved from the ruins in Tokyo. The person with many uncertain factors.


    That person turned out to be their savior.


    Questions upon questions piled up inside Ren''s mind, and she did not know where to start.


    "Leave the questions in your mind forter," Mark suddenly spoke. "We still have a few days to discuss things."<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    "A few days... No," Ren remembered something. "The Alliance Meeting! What happened to it?"


    One of the reasons the ck Lotus Group was returning at that time was because of the Alliance Meeting supposedly scheduled the next day. It was an important thing to everyone in the Reimed City since the representative of the Auraboros Japan Brance would visit.


    "You''re concerned about that, huh," Unexpectedly, Mark gave a small smile as he responded. "Don''t worry. As I said, we still have a few days. The Alliance Meeting got dyed and rescheduled for another five days."


    "Wha-why?"


    Ren asked in shock. And by the looks of it, it was the first time for Tadashi and Keiko to hear about this too. The two were worried about their own circumstances, after all.


    And to that shocked question, Mark''s answer was...


    "Because I said so?"


    Ren became speechless.


    "Are you joking? That meeting is important to the Reimed City... They won''t just reschedule it because you said so."


    "You think I''m joking?" Mark sneered. "Consider that the Empress invited me to attend that meeting. Then I told them to move the schedule a bit. Don''t worry. I also informed the Priestess. She understood the situation and agreed. There were some people angry about the schedule being moved, though."


    "Just... Who are you really?"


    Ren asked. Among all things, that was what she really wanted to know right now. If he was serious about the things he said just now, it meant that he had enough power and connections to influence the flow and fate of the Reimed City, no, what remained of her country.


    "Me? I''m just Mark," Mark shrugged. "It''s just that I happened to have the same status as your Priestess. I think? I don''t know who''s stronger between us, though."


    The three members ck Lotus Group stared at Mark with mouths open in shock. Just Mark? Definitely not. If he was at the same status as the Priestess, he was basically at the level of being a leader of a nation.


    And... what the three had in mind was not wrong in a sense. After all, all main settlements currently in a good state in the Philippines were within Mark''s circle of influence. He even pushed the President down from his position and pulled another person to be the leader.


    But Mark was not thinking of himself being such a thing.


    "Anyway, as I''m saying, you don''t have to worry. We have time." Mark said, ignoring their silence. "Besides, it''s not like I just forced them to dy it. There''s another reason."


    "And that reason is?"


    Ren shook her shock away and asked.


    "Because the enemies are also waiting for the Alliance Meeting," Mark exined. "Don''t you think the timing of your family''s cooperation with the Demons is strange? They aimed for your life while taking that seal thing from your hand just before the meeting happened. They wanted to induce chaos right during the day of the Alliance Meeting."


    "They will then attack during the meeting. And because of the chaos, there''s less time to prepare to defend."


    Ren chimed in her assumption.


    "Correct," Mark nodded. "At the same time, the traitors inside the meeting will also make their move. They n to take down the Priestess and the Empress in one full sweep. Although the Priestess and the Empress might be strong, the Demons have strong people too. It will be quite a party, and anyone not strong enough will end up dead."


    "Haah..." Mark continued with a sigh. "If not for this fact, I would have straight up attacked Shin that time. I had a hard time controlling myself, you know?"


    Mark went to rescue Ren and the others immediately after taking the girls back home. He then went with Mei and Spera on Char''s back. And after a little bit of searching and with the reports of Ignis and Crimson, Mark found the three just in time for Mako''s betrayal.


    When Mark saw Shin, he really wanted to kill the guy and get what he went to Japan for. The ability to sh space.


    However, Mark held himself back. While attacking Shin at that exact time might finish his main quest in Japan, the side quests would end up in disarray afterward. Mark chose to hold back and keep things predictable rather than make themplicated. After all, Shin was not his only enemy in Japan. Gar''m, a [Deity Level me Demon], was also there.


    Mark would rather not leave loose ends.


    Hearing Mark''s mutterings, Ren remembered that Mark was searching for Shin for some unknown reason. And that very guy was there when Ren was almost killed.


    Ren really had a lot to ask. But it seemed that Mark''s existence was straying Ren from the initial topic.


    "You said you told them about Mako and this artifact."


    Ren went back to the topic when Mark entered the room.


    "Yep. I did," Mark replied without hesitation. "Mako told me some things about her and that artifact."


    "But why would she tell you?"


    Another question was posed by Ren to confirm things. And the answer gave her another surprise.


    "She had no choice but to tell me the story, or I won''t be able to properly fix that," Mark pointed at the pendant. "Yeah, I fixed that. I''m also the one she owed a debt to for fixing that."


    Ren began to have a bit of a headache. The more she asked things about Mark, the deeper his character became for her toprehend.


    First, he was a refugee, who turned out to be someone searching for Shin, who ended up being someone who knew the Priestess, then someone who could influence the Alliance Meeting, and then a person at the same status as the Priestess.


    Now, he was a person who could fix artifacts. A person who should not exist among mortals.


    What was next? Was he going to be a Demon Deity on his way to bing a God of Chaos?


    Ren did not know anymore. Her brain, which had just woken up after almost dying, could not handle every baffling information Mark was trying to feed her.


    "I''ll shut up, I guess?" Mark shrugged. "Just start eating your food. It might help clear up your head."


    Mark went quiet, but he did not leave the room. He was waiting for Ren to finish her food to discuss some milder things.


    Well... Not exactly milder.


    After all... The Mitsui n trying to take over the territory of the ck Lotus Group was not exactly a mild thing. It might be something mild for Mark, but definitely not for the members of the ck Lotus.

 Chapter 1007 The Mitsui Clan Meeting, The Hindered Plans And Their Secret Ancestry

    ?


    Day 335 - 7:21 PM - Director''s Suite, Skyz Tower & Garden, Toyosu, Koto City, Tokyo


    Within the Mitsui n''s n hall, there was an ongoing meeting between the n''s highest figures.


    The current topic of the discussion was...


    "Has anyone figured out why the Alliance Meeting was suddenly postponed?"


    One of the elders asked.


    And to that question, the only answer was...


    "ording to the information currently circting within the Temple, it seemed there was a sudden influx of both [Infected] and robots in the route the representatives of the Auraboros were supposed to take. Due to the massive number, their opted to wait for the tide of [Infected] to disperse before attempting to pass through it again."


    As the leaked report was heard by the n Head and the elders, all their eyes fell on Keiji, who could only grip his fist tightly in silence.


    The sudden influx of [Infected] in that route might have been the result of the scheme that Keiji cooked up to deal with Ren and the ck Lotus.


    Keiji might have seeded in weeding out one of the thickest patches of weeds within their garden. He even retrieved the n Seal from the hands of his sister. However, no one thought it would be the reason why the Alliance Meeting was postponed.


    "No, this shouldn''t be the real reason," The n Head, Mitsui Kinjiro, spoke. "If it is the [Infected] they are worried about, they could just take another route. They are not humans. They should be capable of that much."


    All those present in the meeting agreed with the n Head. They were not stupid to believe things easily. Nheless, it was still a fact that the results of Keiji''s actions became a factor that messed up their current ns.


    The Mitsui n had been among the leading ns in Japan. They owned one of Japan''s richest conglomerates, handling business in a wide variety ofmercial fields. The n also had a rich history through different Japanese eras.


    During the era of samurais and conflict in Japan, while not among the most powerful ones, the Mitsui n was a Samurai n. One of their n ancestors was a Samurai Commander in the Shiga Prefecture.


    However, it was not the start of the n''s legacy. There was a secret that only a few in the n knew. It was the origin of the n''s ambition and envy and why the Mitsui n somehow had an unbreakable fate with the n that harbored the Priests and Priestesses of the Ise Shrine.


    It all originated in the lost era. The era when the Gods walked the Earth.


    One of the maiden ancestors of the Mitsui n was recorded as one of Amaterasu''s servants.


    However, within the myths still being passed on up to this day, there was not a single mention of their ancestor. On the other hand, everyone that knew of the myths knew about the Ise n''s maiden ancestor.


    Amaterasu''s seamstress. The victim of Susanoo''s rampage. And one of the reasons Amaterasu retreated to the cave, plunging Japan into a state of darkness.


    And as it was something done in secret, the myths did not contain such detail. However, the family of that seamstress waspensated with a blessing passed down through their family and descendants.


    That blessing created an opportunity and strength for the Ise n. And as the blessing was passed down, the deeper the roots of the Ise n''s influence on the country became.


    This influence was even enough to make the Prime Ministers obey since, in the time of cmity, it was the inheritor of the blessing who would protect the country.


    The current holder of that blessing was Ise Hikari. The current Priestess of the Temple. And as prophesized, she protected the Reimed City when the cmity of the world''s change struck the Earth.


    On the other hand, the Mitsui n, whose ancestor was one of Amaterasu''s high priestesses, was never mentioned. Not even once. While she lived the incident, she did not give any kind of good opportunity for her n and descendants.


    It was the root of the Mitsui n''s envy. It was the very root of their ambition to surpass the Ise n.


    And because the Mitsui n also needed to rely on the protection the Ise n could give, they never managed to have the opportunity to overthrow their hated rival.


    But now...


    The Mitsui n gained a new backer. A Deity of the past, the Demon Deity of mes, Gar''m.


    With the cooperation of Gar''m and the Demons, the Mitsui n would gain control of Japan''s final line of defense. After all, it was the humans that the Demons hated, specifically those who could fight them. Specifically, the Temple and its priests. And if the Temple was destroyed and Reimed City was ruled by an ally, the Demons would not care much and would focus on their other enemy. The current Japan Branch of Auraboros.


    However, due to the sudden rescheduling of the Alliance Meeting, a whole lot of the ns the Mitsui n and the Demons prepared turned into a mess.


    The Demons, already waiting to attack the Reimed City, had to return. Even the things the n had already prepared had to be held back.


    And worse, the Mitsui n had no concrete idea of what had happened.


    "It seemed we had nothing we coulde up with regarding the issue of the Alliance Meeting. We can only prepare until the next five days."


    Another elder said, in which everyone, even the n Head, could only agree. The issue of the Alliance Meeting was far beyond their grasp.


    "Then, let''s move to the next topic."


    Mitsui Kinjiro said as he waved his hand to one of his servants.


    The servant then walked to the center of the room, where everyone could see her and what she held in her hands.


    Raising her hands forward, she held an antique-looking rectangr box. It was not just an antique, but the box actually felt alive. On the lid of the box was an indention of letters depicting the name and symbol of the Mitsui n. And by the looks of it, it was locked, despite not having any kind of locks outside.


    That box was an artifact. An artifact that the n had kept for thousands of years.


    Mitsui Kinjiro then turned to his son, and Keiji nodded before stepping forward.


    Within Keiji''s hand was the n Seal.


    Keiji and the servant cooperated as Keiji stamped the seal right on the indention of letters. The symbols under the seal and the indention matched as the seal locked with a click on the lid of the box.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    And there, the lid loosened, sending a strong aura around the room. Amazingly enough, the aura was contained within the room, not leaking out for anyone outside to feel it.


    This strong aura did note from the box but from what it contained.


    Keiji lifted the box, and it revealed the Mitsui n''s precious treasure.


    A treasure that could likely cause another world war if its existence was known to people.


    It was a katana with a bluish-green ss de that emitted a powerful aura.


    The mythological sword, [Kusanagi-no-Tsurugi]. It was the sword made from the tail of the eight-headed dragon, Yamata no Orochi. It was said to be given to Amaterasu by Susanoo as a sign of reconciliation. And afterward, Amaterasu gave to a young prince rted to one of her highest priestesses.


    It was a sword that was supposed to be lost during the Battle of Dan-no-Ura. Yet, as if fate dictated it, the sword ended up in the hands of the descendants of one of Amaterasu''s mortal servants.


    However, instead of handing it back to the shrine that harbored most of Amaterasu''s belongings, now managed by the Ise n, the Mitsui n kept the sword and made it their treasure.


    Unfortunately, since the [Kusanagi-no-Tsurugi] was a mythological artifact, none of the Mitsui n''s members was able to wield it. Thus, every generation, the n would conduct a ceremony for the heirs of the n to try and wield the sword. But that tradition was not performed immediately during this generation.


    It was due to the fact that the previous n Head handed the n Seal to Ren instead of her father.


    And now, they were performing the ceremony as they attempted to see if Keiji could wield the sword.


    Everyone watched in anticipation as Keiji tried to grab the sword''s hilt.


    However...


    CRACKLE!


    Keiji could only pull his hand back as the sword fiercely rejected his attempt. He grasped his right hand with his left as he felt the pain with his palm left with scorched patches due to the sword''s retaliation.


    The n Head frowned while the elders sighed. It would have been nice if Keiji could wield the sword. It would help a lot in the uing revolution they were nning.


    s, it was not meant to be.


    It looked like they could only rely on the previous preparations.


    "Keiji, get your hand healed," Mitsui Kinjiro told his son before turning to the servant holding the box. "Store the treasure as secure as possible."


    The servant bowed as she brought the box away while leaving the n Seal in the hands of the n Head.


    "It seemed that the de isn''t meant to be in the hands of our n."


    An elder voiced out to the annoyance of everyone else in the room. But the elder was unperturbed as he continued talking.


    "What if Ren managed to try to hold the de? Will she be able to do it?"


    It was a good question to ask. Unfortunately, Ren left the n a long time ago. And worst, she was now dead, supposedly gnawed out by the [Infected].


    Such a pity that someone like Ren, someone with genuine talent with the sword, had a personality not fit for the n and its ambitions.


    "The Alliance Meeting was postponed, Keiji failed to wield the treasured de... And the acquisition of Kachidoki was being proactively hindered by the Temple... We are having such bad luck this time around."


    Another one of the elders voiced his concerns. And the others could not refute what he was saying.


    Many strange things were happening. In the first ce, it was not the Temple''s behavior to dabble with the division and management of the Reimed City''s territories. Yet, they were joining the fray.


    Was it because of Ren? It was no secret that thete n Head had a close friendship with the current Priestess. And due to that connection, Ren came to know the Priestess and became personally close to her.


    Mitsui Kinjiro tapped his forehead. The only possible reason he could see from the Temple''s interference was the Priestess'' close rtionship with his daughter.


    However, Mitsui Kinjiro was feeling something odd. Was there was another factor in y?


    Unfortunately, Mitsui Kinjiro could not pinpoint the odd feeling he had. Theycked clues and information.


    At this time, Mitsui Kijiro could only frown.


    Things would have been different if Ren carried the same interest as the n. Killing a prodigy like her was such a waste. But it was clear that she would be an obstacle if she was not eliminated from the chessboard.


    "Prepare someone to contact Shin," Mitsui Kinjiro shook his head and moved on to the next topic. "We need to ry the information we had to them in order to make our nse to fruition."


    ***


    The Mitsui n was scheming. However, the Demons were also annoyed by the situation.


    And as Shin received the message from the Mitsui n, he immediately opted for the Demons to temporarily retreat. There was no point in waiting as the Alliance Meeting was postponed for another week. Two days had already passed since it was postponed. There should be another five days to wait.


    At that time, Shin will lead the Demons to battle. And behind them would be their Deity, Gar''m.


    Shin looked at the silhouette of the Reimed City from the ruins outside.


    "Another five days... Just wait another five days..."

 Chapter 1008 Rens Melancholy, An Early Night Of Thoughts And Plans

    ?


    Day 337 - 8:21 PM - Mountain Base, Mount Mbito, General Nakar, Province of Quezon, Philippines


    Ren sat on a bench under the gigantic tree in the middle of the Mountain Base. It was already two days since he woke up after she was almost killed by her family''s schemes. Although she hadpletely recovered from the physical effects of that event, her emotional recovery was stillgging behind.


    Mako''s "betrayal" was still in Ren''s mind. To Ren, Mako was one of her most trusted people, her childhood friend, and more of a family member than her actual family. Yet, Mako was the one to drive a dagger through her chest and heart.


    Although Mako had done something that kept Ren alive, it could not be denied that Mako betrayed them. The [n Seal] was taken away, and the efforts of the ck Lotus for the people of their territory had gone to waste.


    But why?


    Why did Mako betray them? Whatpelled her to follow Keiji''s words, disregarding the years of friendship she had with the members of the ck Lotus?


    Ren spent a lot of time these past two days mulling over the possible reasons. However, she could not think of one at all. Mako definitely left them all in the dark.


    All the thinking aside, Ren was fascinated with this ce she woke up in.


    Ren looked up at the gigantic tree in front of her. It looked far more majestic than the Sacred Trees she had seen in temples back in her country. And from asking Mark, she learned that this tree in front of her was actually a fabled Spirit Tree. Furthermore, it was an even higher-tiered Spirit Tree that only those who knew the deep truth about the world would know about.


    The tree at the center of this ce was another thing that could spark a war between countries. Something that was not very likely to exist in the mortal realm.


    And the most fascinating thing about the tree... It was providing vitality to everyone in this ce.


    Every day, people here woke up refreshed. Their fatigue from the previous day was gone through their sleep. And most importantly, this tree was able to provide everyone with faster healing from their injuries.


    Both of Keiko''s legs were broken by Ishii. That kind of injury would require months to years of recovery, followed by rehabilitation. However, after four days of staying here, along with proper treatment and newly developed medicine, Keiko''s legs began to heal swiftly. It was now estimated that if Keiko continued her current treatment, her legs would heal in one month.


    It was such good news for Ren and the other members of the ck Lotus.


    "Mountain Base, huh..."


    Ren muttered.


    It was such a simple name, but it was a ce far from being simple.


    "Ren-sama."


    At this time, Keiko arrived, moving her wheelchair on her own.


    Ren did not look at Keiko but at the children passing by,ughing carefreely.


    "This ce is amazing, isn''t it," Ren spoke. "Everyone is happy and united. They are all moving forward together. They might be small in number, but they can live here without worry."


    Keiko could sense the emotions in Ren''s words. The yearning she had for a ce like this one.


    A ce where everyone could live through the apocalypse safely.


    Unfortunately, while the Reimed City was deemed safe, it was far from a ce Ren wanted.


    The Reimed City was not built for the people. It was built for those who wanted to keep their status and trample over the people beneath their feet.


    Inside the Reimed City, all those in power kept contesting against one another. They did not care about the people below them. They only cared about the fact that they had people to rule over.


    Ren suspected that the fact that they failed to gather supplies despite the money they had was also the result of this contest. To be exact, it was her family, the Mitsui n. They were hindering her people from gaining more reputation and power.


    And it might also be because of Ren and that [n Seal].


    The people of Kachidoki would end up starving just because of these schemes.


    Ren was tired of all of it.


    If Ren was capable enough, she would build her own settlement. A ce like this, where everyone inside could live safe and happy.


    Unfortunately, the strength of the ck Lotus alone would not be enough. And theycked not only strength but also resources.


    Keiko knew Ren was still feeling down. So, she decided to change the topic.


    "Ren-sama. Want to watch the sparring? That Chinese Cultivator and Tadashi will have a spar soon."


    "?" Ren was a little surprised. "Again?"


    It was not the first time. Since the day Ren woke up, she heard that Tadashi and the Chinese Cultivator, named Feng Zhiruo, would spar in every free time they could get.


    The fact that Mark had a Chinese Cultivator at hismand was already amazing, but the fact that that young female Cultivator could equally fight Tadashi was unexpected.


    Tadashi was the most skilled Ninja within the ck Lotus. Ren might be a genius and had more power, but Tadashi could win against her just with experience alone.


    Yet, the High-ranked Ninja known as the [Blood Shade] was having battles ending up in a draw against a young girl.


    As Keiko urged Ren, the two ended up going to the training grounds to watch. And by the time they arrived, a gallery had already gathered to watch.


    Here in the Mountain Base, the residents were provided with entertainment. However, it did not mean that it would be enough. With the repeated sparring between Tadashi and Feng Zhiruo these past few days, it already became a good source of entertainment for everyone.


    And just in time, as Ren and Keiko joined the other members of the ck Lotus to watch, the sparring began.


    Tadashi wore his ck Lotus uniform on the southern side of the ground. On the opposite side to the north, Feng Zhiruo stood, also wearing the uniform of her sect.


    Just by their clothing, the two were clearly taking their spars seriously.


    The spar began as a speck of glow from the Pure Spirit Tree fell at the center of the training field. It was as if the tree was also watching the two.


    And the two moved, running to the center of the field at inhuman speeds.


    Tadashi utilized his [Chakra], while Feng Zhiruo utilized her [Qi]. Both were life energies with many simrities but practiced and cultivated in different ways.


    The two strengthened their bodies, and their weapons shed at the center of the field with a loud ng. In just the first sh, the intensity of the battle could be felt by everyone watching.


    Fortunately, the spar was just a physical fight. If Feng Zhiruo and Tadashi fought using their other inhuman techniques, everyone could be in danger.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    Still, a physical fight between the two was still something to watch. As the two exchanged swings of their weapons, kicks, and punches, cheers could be heard from the crowd.


    Themon people were just enjoying the show. On the other hand, those experienced analyzed the fight between the two.


    It was amazing that none of the two was gaining any advantage. If this continued, it would be just like the previous spars. They ended up just falling to the ground at the same time due to fatigue.


    "They''re at it again, huh..."


    Someone spoke. Everyone that heard the voice immediately turned to try and greet the person.


    Mark just waved his hand, signaling to just sit down and watch. He then walked to where the bunch of the ck Lotus members were and sat down beside Ren and Keiko.


    The members of the ck Lotus immediately made way for Mark. Everyone knew they were alive, thanks to him. Of course, they were still protective of Ren. After all, he was a man. And from what they had seen, he was always surrounded by women and girls.


    Of course, that would spark some odd spections. Not that Mark would go and exin things to them.


    "Is Kachidoki okay?"


    That was the first thing that Ren asked Mark. After all, Mark was not here during the day because he was in the Reimed City, monitoring the ce and doing his own things.


    "It''s fine for now," Mark replied. "I went and "donated" supplies to the people you left there. But it won''tst too long."


    The ck Lotus Group was not staying idle. With Spera''s portals, they could go to other ces to hunt animals. Then, Mark would go "donate" the food to members of the ck Lotus left to manage Kachidoki.


    "At least the Priestess managed to stop your family from taking control of the territory," Mark continued. "And she seemed to be a little pissed off. She''s utilizing her priests and even attempted forcing the army for a search and rescue. Looks like you''re really important to her."


    "That''s..."


    Ren was touched by the Priestess'' actions. The two had known each other since she was young. After all, the Priestess was her grandfather''s close friend. And the rtionship between the two was like sisters. If not for the difference in their families and status, the two would be seen with each other most of the time.


    However, just by the Priestess'' actions, it was clear that Mark did not inform her about Ren''s survival.


    "Hah... We can''t tell her, right."


    Ren sighed. She wanted to ask Mark to tell the Priestess that she was alive. However...


    "Yep, we can''t," Mark shrugged. "She''s being monitored closely by your family and other powers in the city. Even if she tried to act after she knew you were alive, there would be people to notice even the slight change. And from what I see, that young-looking hag isn''t really good at acting."


    "If other people heard you while badmouthing the Priestess, you''re in for a grand scolding. But yes, she can''t act. She''s far more childish than me that her age bes questionable."


    Ren giggled. Nheless, she did not deny that the Priestess was someone old despite her appearance.


    eaglesnov?1,§ão§® "Let''s move to a more important topic," Mark said, making Ren show a serious expression. "The Demons retreated temporarily due to the Alliance Meeting getting rescheduled. But now, some of them are moving back into position."


    "They are already preparing..." Ren murmured. "I remember you only told the Priestess about the Demons, but not the betrayal of my family, right? Will that be enough?"


    "That''s right," Mark nodded. "We can''t risk informing her, after all. There''s also the ount that there''s also a spy within the Temple. But it shouldn''t be a problem if your family or that spy tries to cause a problem during the meeting. I''ll be there, and so as the Empress."


    "The only problem will be the Demons invading the city during the meeting. We still don''t know how they will invade, exactly."


    Mark added.


    "I see..." Ren took a deep breath. "Then, it''s very likely that they will invade through the territories of the people who betrayed the city."


    "That''s also what I thought," Mark agreed. "However, there''s also another angle I''m looking into."


    "What is it?"


    Ren asked.


    "The subway systems," Mark replied. "Everything outside the Priestess'' barrier got destroyed by the earthquake, but everything inside is intact, right? It looks like the Demons are digging in the ruins to try and ess the intact subways."


    "That''s..."


    Ren realized. Since the subways were blocked outside the barrier, no one really paid much attention to them. The entrances were blocked shut, but if the Demons managed to ess the subway tunnels, they could just bust down the barricades built there.


    The Reimed City was in grave danger. It was, without a doubt.


    It would have been better if Ren and the members of the ck Lotus could return early and prepare.


    Unfortunately, Mark did not allow them to return, and Ren understood why.


    The absence of Ren and the important members of the ck Lotus was causing the events to move in a way Mark predicted. Ren''s return did not guarantee a sessful ending either since it would just turn the movements of the enemies erratic and unpredictable.


    Thus, Ren could only endure.


    Mark could feel the turmoil in Ren''s heart. However, it was not like Mark had no ns for them.


    It was hard to admit for Mark, who was an introvert, but human connections were crucial, whether it be in the past or now.


    And this time, Mark decided to invest a little bit in his connection to Ren and her group. What could he give them?


    [Mutator] and [Evolver] abilities, of course.


    That would give them something to get used to for the next few days.


    As the two talked, the sparring in front of them came to an end in another draw.


    ***


    And just like that, the five-day deadline ended.


    The day of the Alliance Meeting finally came.

 Chapter 1009 An Unusual Parade, The Arrival Of The Delegation From Auraboros

    ?


    Day 340 - 12:10 PM - Evernight Base, Kachidoki, Reimed City, Ruins of Tokyo


    The cold wind blew as the temperature of the surroundings dropped. Outside, a soft rain of fluffy ice could be seen as the first snow of the season fell, marking the arrival of winter.


    Many people watched the snowfall, not with any glee for its beauty. The people of the Reimed City had already prepared for this season as much as they could. Unfortunately, the preparations they could get were limited.


    Without the expensive gas or with electricity limitedly rationed, regr people could not use electric heaters in their homes and tents. The poor refugees could only rely on the old metal barrels they could use to burn anything that could serve as a heat source.


    And food would be even more limited. There would be fewer animals for the hunters to hunt during winter, and only the crops within the Reimed City''s controlled environment would grow.


    It would be nice if the farmers could grow winter crops, but it would be even better if the government managed to find or sessfully modify some mutated veggies and fruits that could thrive in the winter snow. However, the likelihood of such things was quite low considering the current unstable state of the world.


    The arrival of winter was both a good and bad thing.


    While the people would struggle with food and the weather''s temperature drop, the enemies outside the Reimed City were not impervious to these effects either.


    Demons might have a body stronger than humans. However, not all of them would thrive in a snowy environment. Worse, there were Demons that were weakened during these seasons. Of course, there were also Demons strengthened during winter.


    And the Demons aside, while the effects of winter on the alien robots were still uncertain, its effects on the [Infected] were already experienced by the people of the Reimed City.


    The apocalypse started just about a week or so before winter started in Japan. Thus, they saw how the freezing temperature slowed down most of the [Infected]. Most of the runners died to the freezing temperatures before turning into the slower [Infected] variants. It was not wrong to say that the majority of the [Infected] currently present in Japan were [Biter] variants in Mark''s terminologies.


    Of course, the winter season was not all bad for the [Infected]. [Mutated Infected] attuned to the snowy and freezing environments appeared soon after, making the lives of the survivors even harder.


    In any case, it was not wrong to say that Japan''s extreme seasons contributed to the survival of many people in the Reimed City.


    Theing of this year''s winter aside, another asion was currently being observed in the Reimed City.


    It was theing of the so-called "Delegation" from one of humanity''s supposed enemies, the underground magical association, Auraboros.


    Themon folk had no inkling of an idea about the existence of the Auraboros. It was until the apocalypse began that their existence was revealed to the public.


    In the Philippines, the existence of Auraboros was revealed due to their failed attempt to take over Bay City in the shadows. It was although they managed to unseal and resurrect the [me Demon Deity], Gar''m.


    The circumstances in Japan were a tad bit different.


    It was no secret that the majority of Demons and Yokais of Japan were known for their violent tendencies. And as the apocalypse arrived, the Demons of Auraboros became uncontrobly violent to the point that their existence was revealed to the humans too early.


    And, of course, the hate of the humans towards the Demons and Auraboros began at the same time.


    Damage control was done by the higher members of the Auraboros, but the branch was split into two parties. The ones under the Empress following her orders and those that wanted to go wild in eliminating the humans.


    Although the Empress had a different agenda and way of ruling, it could not be helped that the hate from humans was pointed at Auraboros as a whole. Besides, the organization was built with hate towards humans and the guardians of this world as the foundation.


    Both parties hating each other was no surprise.


    But despite that hate from both parties, the leaders had something else in mind.


    Cooperation between the Reimed City and the Auraboros against the hostile Demons of the north and the other enemies lurking around the entirety of the world.


    Individuals from both sides had split opinions over this alliance. And due to some "unforeseen" circumstances, the talks had been dyed.


    But now, just in time, the delegation from Auraboros rode the barge to the docks of Kachidoki.


    The ce to wee the delegation was actually quite a contest for the territories. After all, even if the people''s opinion was split, the delegation was still the Priestess'' precious guests. Weing the delegation within their territory meant that the attention of the Temple would be theirs, even if it was just a short period of time.


    Aside from the territory of the Blood Lion Troupe, other northern and western territories of the Reimed City were contesting this.


    But to everyone''s dismay, the chosen territory, out of all ces, was the currently leaderless Kachidoki.


    A week ago, all members of the ck Lotus Group who departed for the expedition failed to return. After the Priestess sent people to investigate, all those people found were abandoned vehicles in the middle of an extremelyrge horde. Worse, not a trace of any member of the expedition was found.


    The members of the ck Lotus Group in the expedition were all dered M.I.A. However, most people already epted their deaths.


    The territory of the ck Lotus Group was left without a leader since then. Due to Mitsui Ren''s supposed rtionship with the Mitsui n, they tried to take Kachidoki as their own. Unfortunately for the greedy n, the Priestess came first and maintained the ruling of Kachidoki in the hands of the remaining members of the ck Lotus Group.


    And now, once again, the center of attention was the territory of the ck Lotus Group, and all those envious people on the sidelines could not do anything about it.


    On the docks, the barge arrived, bearing the delegation.


    The people watching looked in awe as the carriage pulled by giant wolves moved from the barge into the docks. It was surrounded by a group of warriors wielding different kinds of weapons. This scene was not surprising when the leader of the delegation was no other than the Empress herself.


    And the group to wee the delegation wasposed of Priests and Maidens from the Temple, led by the Priestess'' Grand Niece, Ise Tsubasa, and the Head Priest, Hirata Akio.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    The wee was just a disy of formalities. Both Tsubasa and Akio gave their greetings, while the Empress received their greetings while remaining inside the carriage.


    This might sound disrespectful since the Empress was not even showing her face to the ones weing her group. However, considering the difference in status, the weing party could only swallow theirints.


    The only person that could receive an equally respectful reply from the Empress was only the Priestess, after all. They were both people of the same standing.


    Aside from the weing group from the Temple, soldiers were also present to ensure the safety of the delegation. Of course, it was just a facade. These soldiers were here to make sure that their guests would behave.


    Among the soldiers present, the examiner from the Bureau, Ishioka Kenji, was also there. He might have been a retired veteran, but his strength was more than enough to qualify him as one of the escorts in this event.


    The weing group, the military escorts, and the guests left the docks together, traveling at a leisurely pace along the main road of Kachidoki. They were not in a hurry since the starting meeting was officially scheduled for tomorrow morning. For today, a weing party was scheduled in the evening. It was in hopes of making rtionships and connections stronger. Most importantly, a sessful alliance for tomorrow.


    With the nned schedule, it should be expected that there would be more than one meeting. After all, peace talks would not just end in a single discussion.


    If something of that importance could end in just one meet-up, the world would have been a better ce. Unfortunately, such an urrence was more of fiction than reality.


    The convoy continued on the street.


    It was like a parade since many people on the streets stopped to watch. They were especially fascinated by the carriage pulled by giant wolves.


    On the other hand, the Empress and her entourage were observing the surroundings they were passing by.


    For both sides, the other side was like an animal in a zoo they had seen for the first time.


    The humans were interested in their guests, while the Demons were interested in the current lives of humans during the apocalypse.


    As they traveled down the street, the convoy moved as everyone would have expected.


    But the weing groups became filled with confusion along with the onlookers at the streetside when the carriage stopped at a certain location.


    Their utter confusion was understandable. It was because the delegation stopped in front of an old restaurant. It would have been unsurprising if the restaurant was still in operation, but it was not and had long been turned into bases for several groups of [Frencers] a few times.


    The most important thing was that the very same restaurant had been the center of attention of the entire Reimed City in the past few weeks due to the inhabitants currently residing there.


    Unfortunately for the weing party from the Temple and the Army, there was nothing wrong with this situation. It was not like they could force the guests to continue on the road. Furthermore, the guests were not really causing trouble.


    But as if the confusion they currently had was not enough, the leader of the delegation from the Auraboros stepped out of her carriage for the first time.


    An ethereal beauty capable of capturing the hearts of all genders. That was what the witnesses described the Empress. She had an innate allure to her,plimented by her gorgeous gold-trimmed clothing, jeweled crown, golden jewelry, and natural-looking makeup.


    The Empress had rather crafty-looking eyes and a beautifully shaped face.


    If there was anyone who could contest the Empress'' "foxy" looks, it would have been the rumored woman currently living in that very same restaurant.


    And under everyone''s watch, ignoring the weing escorts from the Temple and the Army, the Empress walked towards the restaurant with a pair of her female servants.


    With a nod from the Priestess, one of two servants approached the door and knocked.


    It was such an unexpected gesture from people who ignored the members of the Temple. What would the Empress want in this old restaurant and its current inhabitants? Did the information about the Evernight Group''s mysterious equipment reach the ears of Auraboros already? Or were the members of the Evernight working for the Auraboros in the first ce?


    And then, a person opened the door of the restaurant.


    To push everyone''s surprise even more, the person that opened the door was unfamiliar to those who knew of the Evernight group. It was never reported that the Evernight group had a new member either. Furthermore, that unfamiliar person was a girl in maid''s clothing.


    The existence of that maid also seemed to surprise the Empress and her servants. It was not only because they did not expect something like here. It was the fact that the maid in front of them was not a living creature.


    With some voiceless but respectful gestures, the maid opened the way for the Empress and her servants. The Empress raised her right hand to signal the rest of her entourage to wait here. On the other hand, she asked another servant to ry her words to the escorts from the Temple and the Army.


    Of course, the other parties would not just let this happen. In the first ce, they were supposed to guide, no, keep an eye on the Empress and her entourage.


    The Empress then sent her servant to ask something from the people inside the restaurant. And in apromise, the two leaders from the Temple and a pair of representatives from the Army were allowed to follow the Empress inside the restaurant.


    It was apromise the escorts could only ept. But most importantly, they deduced something.


    The Empress, who could tantly ignore the Temple and the Army, had to ask for permission. It was such a shocking thing to see even more for both of the ignored parties.


    It meant that whoever was inside the restaurant was either someone stronger or of equal standing to the Empress.


    But how? The social standing of the members of the rumored Evernight group was actually greater than they had thought?


    And as the representatives entered the restaurant, the one waiting for them... No... ying on his phone on the sofa was the leader of the Evernight, Mark.

 Chapter 1010 An Uncanny Lunch, The Three Powerful Beings Surrounding A Single Table

    ?


    Day 340 - 12:31 PM - Evernight Base, Kachidoki, Reimed City, Ruins of Tokyo


    With the guidance of the strange maid, the Empress entered the restaurant with her two guards walking in front and behind her for her safety. Behind the three, the pairs of leaders from the Temple and the Japanese Army followed the Empress and her guards closely.


    The representatives from the army maintained their neutral posture and expression, looking as professional as possible. However, their eyes would dart around, looking as curious as other people about the [Frencer Group] named Evernight.


    On the other hand, the two from the Temple were more unrestrained with their curiosity. It was not unreasonable considering the circumstances. Tsubasa knew that the leader of the Evernight was the one that fought her Grandmother that night. As for Akio, he had a stern expression as he observed the restaurant. On his side, he could still not figure out why the Priestess took this group under the Temple''s protection.


    So far as the four representatives were concerned, it should be the first time someone who did not belong to Evernight or ck Lotus managed to enter this ce.


    Well... Were they really the first ones?


    The guests'' attention fell on a little girl in a red dress


    running at the back with a bowl of meat-topped rice in her hand. When the girl noticed the guests staring at her, she ran faster to the back of the restaurant and vanished. They could only see the sunlight from the backdoor as it was opened and closed immediately after the girl ran off.


    The two from the army were skeptical about the girl, but the two were sure that girl was also not part of the information the government had about the Evernight.


    At the same time, they could smell the scent of homecooked food wafting around the restaurant. It was lunchtime, after all. It would not be surprising if the members of Evernight had yet to eat lunch.


    It was when Mark opened his mouth without even looking at his guests.


    "Just take a seat wherever you like. Let me finish this first."


    Mark was really ying with his phone, disregarding his guests. It was a tantly disrespectful act which made the four representatives worried it might anger the Empress and her two guards.


    But to the surprise of the four, the Empress and the guards did notin. The Empress even took the liberty to take a seat on the chair in front of Mark while looking around the ce.


    As for the Empress'' two guards, one looked at Mark with hostile eyes, while the other could only sigh.


    This surely made the four representatives make more assumptions. At first, they suspected that Mark might be a spy working for the Empress. But with this tant disregard for the Empress'' status, it became clear he was not. Unless it was just an act.


    The four representatives did not know what to do now. However, the very same maid ushered them to the empty seats around the former restaurant.


    And disregarding Mark''s unweing attitude, the Empress spoke.


    "I had thought about asking why someone like you would live in a small ce like this. But with a Household Spirit actively interacting with the residents, I should say I felt envious instead."


    "She''s not really living here," Mark replied without looking at the one talking. "She just begs for food every now and then."


    "But that is enough for this household to be blessed with her luck, is it not?" The Empress said, now staring at Mark. "Although it is quite a surprise to see a Household Spirit holding a bowl of rice and meat slices instead of their usual epted offering."


    The Empress was sincerely envious of this. She was a powerful being, at a level reaching Deities, but even for her, making a Household Spirit obey was impossible. Household Spirits like the [Zashiki-Warashi] were weak beings, but their unique existences could influence the luck of their surroundings. Forcing them to obey was tantamount to tempting fate. Even the powerful Empress would not take her chance.


    At this time, Mark finally finished whatever he was ying since he lowered his phone to the table.


    Mark then looked straight at the Empress, unperturbed by the presence she had. A presence that would make anyone below her not look straight at her face for a long time. He also nced at the two guards of the Empress, who were both familiar to him. He had already met Yukine several times and only once for the other fox-woman, Kuroe.


    "So, what''s the agenda?" Mark asked. "Although Yukine said we could meet when you arrive here in the Reimed City, I didn''t expect you wille unannounced."


    "Well... We''ve known of each other''s existence for a while now, but we haven''t actually met. I want to take this opportunity to see you first, the being who wanted to erase Auraboros."


    Those words from the Empress rmed the four representatives.


    Mark was neither ackey nor an ally of the Auraboros. He was the organization''s enemy. Furthermore, if the Empress gave him this much attention, the likelihood of Mark being able to threaten their existence was rather high.


    "In any case, I just stopped by to give greetings," The Empress continued. "There is no way we could discuss things with outsiders around."


    Mark tapped his fingers on the table as he saw what the Empress was doing. She was unnecessarily giving hits to the Temple and the army''s representatives.


    "Furthermore..." The Empress was not done talking yet, turning her eyes to the divider behind the restaurant area. "It would be nice if you stopped eavesdropping."


    The four representatives and the two guards of the Empress were surprised. Being powerful beings, they could at least be able to sense presences who had direct intentions for them. However, none of them could feel anyone behind the divider aside from the Empress.


    And when the person in question revealed herself, the four representatives were shocked to the point of their mouths gaping.


    "Is there a problem for me to be here, Tamamo?"


    The person asked the Empress.


    "There should be none, but you cannot deny that eavesdropping is distasteful, is it not, Hikari?"


    The Empress replied to the eavesdropper, observing thetter''s gaudy ornaments and white robe.


    There was no doubt about those ornaments and the white clothing. The other uninvited person unexpected to see in this location was the Priestess.


    With this, the two most important people for the Alliance Meeting gathered in the most uncanny location.


    "W-why is the Priestess..."


    Akio, who admired the Priestess the most among the members of the Temple, could not fathom why she was in another person''s house.


    "Grandmother... What are you doing here?"


    Tsubasa stood up and spoke with a kind of reprimanding tone.


    "Tamamo came to this ce. Why can''t I?"


    The Priestess replied to her grandniece.


    But then, Mark spoke.


    "The food at the Temple is too tasteless, so she had been crashing food at our ce for a few days now."


    "HEY!"


    The Priestess'' elegant facade was instantly broken. As she realized, she made a fake cough as she tried to brush it off.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    As for the Akio and the two representatives from the army, they could only stare at the Priestess for the antics supposedly beyond her public image.


    "Humans and their facade never change, do they?"


    The Empress remarked.


    "Isn''t it the same for you foxes and your schemes?"


    The Priestess argued.


    Mark watched the uncharacteristic argument between the two leaders.


    "You two seemed to have some history, huh?"


    Mark voiced out, turning the argument into a silent staredown between women.


    He was not wrong, however.


    Given that the Empress was a [Kitsune] while the Priestess was an [Onmyoji], it would be expected that the two had some encounters in the past. Hostile encounters, to be exact. And since both of them were leaders of opposing factions, the rivalry might have run deep.


    Furthermore, the two represented different sides of the same coin. The Empress was a schemer, while the Priestess was straightforward. The moon and the sun, the yin and yang.


    Still, even with that contrast between the two, they were willing topromise and start an alliance. It showed how much of a threat the Demons in the North were.


    At this time, someone else entered the restaurant area. Wearing an apron while carrying a tray of food, that woman''s beauty surely took everyone''s attention.


    Even the Empress, an ethereal beauty herself, was entranced by the woman who entered. And she noticed, remembering the information about Mark.


    "No wonder that greedy guy wanted this woman..."


    The Empress murmured, mentioning the so-called "The Great One," who Mark had fought before.


    This woman beside Mark had the [Body of Void]. A very precious existence to be in the hands of a human. Well... Former human.


    The Empress turned to Mark. Unfortunately, she could not tell how strong he was now for some strange reason.


    Without saying anything, the beautiful wife of Mark served everyone tea and snacks while putting the lunch of Mark and the Priestess on the table.


    Seeing that lunch was ready, the Priestess stopped all her hostile antics and silently sat beside Mark.


    Everyone watched the Priestess in amusement. Just who was this adorable hungry girl? Even the Empress was a little taken aback.


    Then, the beautiful woman spoke with Mark using anguage not everyone in the room could understand. Only Yukine could, as she had been to the Philippines before and studied theirnguage.


    As Yukine ryed the conversation between Mark and Mei to the Empress, the Empress took Mark''s attention.


    "You two are going to eat in front of your hungry guests?"


    The Empress questioned Mark and the Priestess.


    "This isn''t a restaurant... Well... technically, it was, but it''s not anymore." Mark answered. "Besides, don''t expect food when you just came unannounced."


    "It doesn''t matter," The Empress frowned. "Give me whatever Hikari is having. Just treat it as something you have over the negotiations."


    "Your Majesty!"


    Both Yukine and Kuroe were against what the Empress was saying. Furthermore, Mark had yet to be their ally and more of an enemy. He could poison the food and get done with it. Furthermore... the negotiations...


    Unfortunately for them, their Empress did not care.


    "There''s a wee banquetter. Eat there."


    Even the Priestess chimed in.


    "It doesn''t matter," The Empress was not changing her mind and was behaving like a stubborn kid. "Give me some of that too."


    Mark gave the Empress a frown. However, he still told Mei to prepare some food for the guests, especially the Empress. She had no problems with it and took the maid on standby with her to prepare extra helpings of food.


    The first one to be given food was the impatient Empress. As for the others, they had to wait for a bit.


    "What food is this?"


    The Priestess asked Mark. On the other side of the table, the Empress ate elegantly. However, she was also curious. Looking at the two, it was the first time they had eaten this kind of dish that went really suitable with rice.


    "Menudo. It''s a local cuisine from our country," Mark replied. "We managed to get a nice harvest of veggies the other day so those ended up at this dish."


    "I see... No wonder it''s the first time I''ve seen this dish."


    The Priestess said, having another spoonful of potatoes, carrots, and rice.


    With this, the three leaders shared food on a single table. No hostilities, no schemes, just a peaceful time. It was not wrong to say that even the high and mighty Empress was enjoying the food.


    And while the three leaders were having a nice time, the two guards and the representatives were having a dilemma apanied by a great headache.


    These people were too carefree! Did they even understand that the fate of the people in this country was within their hands? And here they were, eating food together at some uncanny ce!


    But then... the six people could not voice anything much. Compared to the food outside,cking in taste due to a poor to nonexistent supply of spices, the food they currently have on the table was way better.


    And while the people inside were having their lunch, they had forgotten...


    The rest of the delegation and the weing groups were still waiting outside...


    ...Under the cold first snow of winter with near empty stomachs.

 Chapter 1011 The Failing Banquet, The Snowy Night To Plan Against The Schemes Of The Enemies

    ?


    Day 340 - 6:21 PM - Renovated Reception Area, BAYZ Tower & Garden, Toyosu, Reimed City, Ruins of Tokyo


    After the unscheduled stop in the afternoon that caused a bit of dy, the weing of the delegation from Auraboros proceeded as nned. They were brought to where they would stay during their time in the Reimed City.


    Everything that happened the previous afternoon was reported to the higher-ups by the witnesses. It was the case for the two representatives of the army who managed to follow the Empress into the base of the Evernight group, shedding some light on their mysterious existence.


    The leader of Evernight, Mark, was acknowledged by the leader of the Japan Branch of Auraboros, The Empress, as a threat. Although there were currently no hostile interactions between the two groups or, possibly, organizations, Evernight was more of an enemy to Auraboros than an ally.


    To think that the Empress would deem Evernight to be more of a threat when she did not even put the Japanese Government into her eyes. It was a clear testament to Evernight''s strength and identity.


    A notion to be allied with Evernight and proceeding with immediate amicable interactions erupted within the higher management of the Reimed City''s Government. With the acknowledgment of the Empress and the unknown technology they had in their hands, there were more benefits than deficits for the government and the army to ally with this mysterious group.


    The Evernight faced some problems after the [Mutated Ho] incident. However, their stay in the Reimed City should be mostly positive so far. If they start trying to get to their positive side now, it should be possible for the government and the army to get the group an ally.


    Just imagine the soldiers being equipped with those amazing weapons. Even the Science Bureau would be able to research that unknown technology.


    Unfortunately for the officials, their imaginations were doused with reality before they could even delve deeper.


    There was the fact that the only reason the members of Evernight got their peace was because of the Temple''s interference. Furthermore, one of the causes of the trouble was them, who wanted to get hold of that technology through various means possible.


    Furthermore, the Temple had a confirmed close friendship with the group, testified by the fact that the Priestess would sneak out of the Temple only to have lunch with them. People who would hear this information would think it was bull. However, it was witnessed by the two representatives from the army, and even the Empress was there.


    And while the politicians were arguing about what to do, the new Prime Minister could only sigh with something deep inside his mind. He looked at the ceiling, not minding the noisy meeting room. He still had a choice to make with a deadline for tomorrow.


    The messy meeting of the government officials continued for a while. But without enough time, the meeting was adjourned for the time being.


    After all, there was still a wee banquet for the guests in the early evening.


    Soon enough, the wee banquet began. Aside from the guests and the Empress, the main stars of the banquet were the representatives of the involved parties. The new Prime Minister, Hirokawa Isamu, represented the government and the army. On the other hand, it was clearly the Priestess, Ise Hikari, for the Temple.


    There were also representatives from the Ancient Japanese ns and Business ns. These people held high amounts of influence over the Reimed City''s citizens. However, it was still farfetched to line them with the leaders of the main yers of the alliance.


    This wee banquet was nned despite the Reimed City''s overall situation. Winter finally came creating a risk of food shortage for the whole Reimed City. However, to try to make the alliance work nicely, the banquet was hosted to solidify rtionships and support the iing alliance meeting.


    But then... For those supporting the alliance, a dilemma immediately appeared as soon as the banquet started.


    It was due to the fact that humans hated Demons, and Demons looked down on these vulgar humans.


    Although it was not shown frankly, the banquet hall was currently being divided into three groups. The supporters, the anti-Demons, and the guests. These divisions created a clear wall between said groups, with the supporters of the alliance having the hardest time.


    And the worst thing of all...


    Both the Priestess and Empress were not cooperating.


    Every time the Priestess was out in public, interaction with her was always limited. The Priests and Maidens from the Temple were always around her, making the needed interactions for her.


    By the looks of it, it was the same for the Empress. The Empress already appeared to be an unapproachable existence to humans, and the number of guards surrounding her was not helping. Furthermore, although the Empress looked human enough, she was the exact same [Kitsune] supposedly killed in the legends. With her historical background, those who knew of it would not dare approach her at all.


    The supporters of the alliance could onlyment this situation. There was already a lot of threat to humanity, and the human poption had decreased to a small percentage of what it was before. Even if the alliance only consisted of a peace treaty, it was way better as it would drastically decrease the threat the people of the Reimed City could face outside its boundaries.


    And as if the trouble for the supporters was not enough, the biggest supporter of the alliance, the new Prime Minister, was behaving oddly. His status was enough for him to be able to interact with the Priestess and the Empress. Yet, he was not doing anything as if his mind was floating elsewhere.


    The silent cries of the Pro-alliance faction were left unheard as they tried to do their best to keep it from moving positively.


    ***


    Day 340 - 7:02 PM - Evernight Base, Kachidoki, Reimed City, Ruins of Tokyo


    Inside the restaurant area of the Evernight Base, Mark sat with the girls while ying another session on their phones. The girls surely caught Mark''s hobby of ying video games as they enjoyed ying together on a certain decade-year-old block game.


    Since there were a lot of things happening in the Reimed City, along with the first snow of winter, it was time for Mark''s group to take a break from missions in the Bureau.


    The girls also frolicked in the snow for a bit right after the visitors left. Well, they soon got tired of it. Emika was used to this scene as she was half-Japanese. Amihan was a [Sylph], so she did not like the freezing temperature too much. The three daughters of Mark were not too fond of the snow either for some reason. Maybe, because it was just boringpared to killing the [Infected]. Besides, they could do snowball fights within video games, and no one would get too cold and drenched by the melted snow afterward.


    And the rest of the day passed with everyone just spending some quality time together at home.


    But now that night time came...


    "Time to sleep."


    Mark told the girls as he urged Mei to bring them up with Spera and Amihan.


    The three girls obeyed without problems, but Emika protested a little bit. In the end, all the girls went up to the second floor, leaving Mark alone.


    It was when Mark stood up with a shrug as he opened the back door. There outside the door, five people, divided into two groups, stood waiting.


    "Don''t you people have a banquet to attend?"


    Mark greeted the uninvited guests with a question.


    The uninvited guests were no other than the Priestess apanied by her grandniece and the Empress apanied by Yukine and Kuroe.


    "Enter."<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    Mark said with a nudge of his head, not waiting for the guests to answer.


    The five women followed Mark inside to be seated. They then took the same seats they had this afternoon. The only difference was the Priestess'' grandniece, who took the seat beside the Priestess instead.


    Since the temperature outside was quite cold, Mark already had hot water prepared, which he nned to brew coffee with. But as some guests appeared, he asked them.


    "Any of you want to drink? I only have instant coffee and tea, though."


    The Empress and her escorts only stared at Mark. It was clear that they were not too interested.


    "Give me coffee. We always drink tea in the Temple. It''s nice to have something different."


    And, obviously, it was the Priestess who said it while now being stared at by her grandniece.


    The Priestess grandniece also declined the offer. But she declined politely, unlike the other three.


    Mark had no problems and gave a cup of coffee to the Priestess while having his own cup. He then sat at a different chair, facing the two groups.


    "Where should we start?"


    Mark muttered.


    "Then, I''ll introduce myself..."


    The Priestess grandniece spoke. However, Mark raised his hand.


    "There''s no need to. You''re Ise Tsubasa, right? Granddaughter of her younger brother."


    Mark said, pointing at the Priestess.


    "How did you know?"


    Tsubasa was, of course, surprised.


    "She mentions you from time to time," Mark replied to Tsubasa while his eyes stared at the Priestess, "...saying that you nag her too much."


    Tsubasa fell silent, staring at her grandaunt with a stern expression.


    "Anyway, I''m nning to contact you two after the banquet. I didn''t expect you two to appear before it ended."


    Mark moved into the topic.


    "I have no problem with that," The Priestess spoke after taking a sip of coffee. "I don''t really appear too much in those kinds of sham events. In those times, a double would take my ce. It is a safety measure since many people want to get rid of someone like me. It is easy since not many people know of my appearance. I always appear in those kinds of events with a veil to cover my face."


    Hearing the Priestess reason, Mark turned to the silent Empress, forcing her to exin.


    "I am using one of my tails to create a clone," The Empress said. "It is a way for me to be able to appear in the ces I did not want to be."


    "And like her," The Empress continued as she turned to the Priestess, "It is also a safety measure. Have you heard of the myths formed with my involvement with the emperor in the past?"


    "That myth where you got killed and turned to stone?"


    Mark replied, to which the Empress made a slight nod.


    "The one that got killed and turned to stone is one of the clones," The Empress exined. "That is why I am here despite the knowledge that I am supposed to be dead. Having my clones in dangerous ces instead of going there myself had saved my life countless times."


    It was a perfect safety measure. In that case, the Empress, no, Tamamo-no-Mae, managed to stay alive andy low after those events due to her magical clones.


    As for the humans, they rejoiced in her death, not knowing that what they managed to kill was nothing but a clone. But there was probably something more to it since the Empress said she used her tail to create a clone. If that was the case, the Tamamo-no-Mae that was killed and sealed in that stone was probably not just some simple clone.


    "So, the ones I fought before were your clones?"


    The Priestess asked.


    "Precisely."


    The Empress replied with a beautiful but infuriating smile.


    "Tsk... No wonder you just won''t die..."


    The Priestess pouted.


    "Let us just move to the main topic, shall we?"


    The Empress then asked Mark and the Priestess, to which both agreed.


    Tomorrow would be the alliance meeting and the likely time the enemies would try something.


    Then, it was time to discuss things between the three factions. Perfect cooperation might still be far, but, at the least, they would be able to move on their own without hindering the other.


    And on this dark snowy night of winter''s beginning, the schemes were cooked between the three leaders to face the possible threat for tomorrow.

 Chapter 1012 The Second Day Of Winter, The Day Of The Impending Invasion

    ?


    Day 341 - 8:21 AM - Toyosu, Reimed City, Ruins of Tokyo


    The morning sky was clear and bright, in contrast to yesterday''s snowy visage. A perfect day for work, even though the weather''s temperature was way lower than the previous days and the white snow nketing the majority of things outside.


    At longst, the alliance meeting between Auraboros and the Reimed City began.


    Although the ongoing meeting did not seem to affect the citizens of the Reimed City as much as one would think, the people who passed by the former TEPCO Toyosu Building would turn their heads to look at it for a few seconds before continuing.


    Even if the people seemed to be currently unaffected, they knew that the results of the meeting would greatly impact their tomorrow. This fact made the people passing by kind of nervous as they passed by the former corporate office building now used for government business.


    If the meeting gave results immediately, the people would be less nervous. Unfortunately, that was unlikely to happen. It should take a few more hours if not days.


    An alliance between two equal parties was not as simple as being friends because of having the same enemy. It was a negotiation where both parties strictly measured the cost and benefit of the alliance. Even if the main reason for the alliance was the Demons in the North, there was no reason not to push some benefits into it.


    Within the heavily guarded conference room on the third floor of the government building, the intense discussion between the parties involved in the alliance was still ongoing.


    The current topic of the discussion was the second in importance following the alliance.


    Trade.


    Both the Reimed City and the Auraboros had needs that could only be obtained through the other party.


    Although the Magical Creatures from the Auraboros might hate to admit it, guns and bullets were far more reliable than magic when dealing with the [Infected]. Furthermore, the extensive use of magic within areas highly frequented by the [Infected] would cause unfathomable mutations. Unfortunately, gun manufacturing knowledge was something that the Magical Creatures, who were against such weapons in the past,cked. As such, if the Auraboros wanted human weapons, they could only rely on the humans of the Reimed City.


    On the other hand, the humans were theplete opposite. Not only Magical Creatures but even magical things that did not exist on Earth before the previous world-changing catastrophe began popping up. However, humanscked the knowledge and capabilities to utilize these new resources. And, of course, it was something that the Auraboros had.


    Aside from those two things, proposals involving information and supply trades were also in discussion.


    And now, the discussion was progressing on how trades would be implemented within the Alliance Treaty. After all, between former enemies and new allies, boundaries and conditions must be established.


    Within the alliance meeting, the three leaders watched the discussion of their subordinates as they proceeded with the negotiations. They might be the leaders of each faction, but it did not mean that everything would be left in their hands.


    Leaders might have the final say in things, but it never meant they would have to do all the work. In the worst cases, they would not do any work at all while hogging all the achievements.


    In this case, the leaders had already prepared for possible contents of the discussion with their trusted subordinates. The only remaining thing to do was to find leverage with the other party, leaving the negotiation to the subordinates.


    Besides, it was not the time for the Empress and the Priestess to focus on the negotiations. While they feigned to properly listen, their attention was on something else entirely.


    Among the high-ranking individuals present, there was one, no, a group of people who barely had any participation.


    The camp of the Mitsui Conglomerate, headed by the Mitsui n head, Mitsui Kinjiro, along with a few elders of their family.


    A business-oriented family was barely participating in the discussion about trade. It was a suspicious thing on its own. However, the other participants in the meeting from other smaller business ns did not bother thinking about these things. If the Mitsui n was not interested, it would be a good opportunity for them.


    How nice it was to be oblivious to the nefarious schemes about to envelop the ce. All they could think of was profit when they might end up with nowhere to go the next day... Or they might even be in the afterlife already.


    Unknown to these opportunistic individuals, they were nothing but prancing clowns in the eyes of the members of the Mitsui n.


    The Alliance Meeting proceeded for hours as expected. The back and forth between negotiations, rejection, adjustment of conditions, and agreement repeated for each use they wanted to add to the alliance.


    And as time slowly passed, the skies slowly darkened. The clear early morning was reced by a cloudy afternoon. No, there might even be a heavy fall of snow, considering how dark and heavy the clouds in the sky were.


    ***


    Outside the busy building in the center of Toyosu, Mark smoothly blended with the crowd of people passing by.


    Looking around the ce, the building where the Alliance Meeting was urring was heavily guarded, which was not surprising at all. But Mark was not just looking around. He was using his [Empath] abilities to detect anything strange.


    And as Mark had expected. Among the guards, quite a number were with either unstable emotions or emotions that carried ill will, emotions quite strange for people with important duties.


    Furthermore, some of those ill-willed guards were grouped up at certain locations, equally distant from each other. Those groups seemed to have circled around the entire building. It was unclear what they were up to, but it was no doubt something dubious.


    Furthermore, it was not only those guards. Ill-willed individuals dotted the entire ce in concealed locations.


    Mark briefly closed his eyes and continued walking along with the crowd. He blended with the people like certain hooded assassins, evading the suspicious eyes of anyone who could possibly pay attention to him.


    The initial n was for Mark to participate in the meeting, invited by both the Empress and the Priestess. Involving him in the alliance would actually be beneficial for both the Reimed City and the Japan Branch of Auraboros. But after changing information the previous night, Mark opted out of the Alliance Meeting, and the two agreed.


    Since the traitors nned a trap for the Priestess and the Empress during the meeting, it was better for Mark, someone of the same strength as them, to be outside if some things went unexpected.


    This allowed Mark to move around while the meeting was ongoing. And while at it, observe the possible machinations the traitors had prepared.


    "It looks like they are nning to iste the entire building, huh... Then... It must be that thing."


    Mark murmured.


    That "Thing" Mark mentioned was something he heard from the Empress the previous night.


    A huge portion of the Demons now following Gar''m were once the Empress'' subordinates. And when they left, a hefty amount of tools and treasures the Japan Branch had were stolen. One of the most important items was a so-called [Istion Core]. It was an artifact to create a barrier to iste a ce. The very same artifact used on Auraboros branches to iste their bases from human cognition and prevent anyone unauthorized by the controller of the artifact from being able to pass through the barrier.


    The [Istion Core] was limited in number, but all Auraboros branches had one or two extra of these artifacts. It was to ensure that they could keep their bases from being exposed even if the already activated core got broken or destroyed.


    This artifact even kept the base of the Japan Branch still isted and safe from the [Infected] and the alien robots.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    But the only extra core the Auraboros Japan Branch had was stolen. Although it was mostly used to iste ces, it had other uses.


    For example...


    Confining people inside the istion barrier.


    There was no way that mortals, even if they were members of the Mitsui n, would be able to ambush and win against the Empress and the Priestess. The only way was to utilize such artifacts, but the chance of winning was still close to none.


    Unless the goal of the Mitsui n was not to kill the two but bide for time.


    Mark and the Priestess received such information from the Empress, which was highly the probable oue.


    That conjecture actually got the agreement of the Priestess. They might be enemies, but having the same powerful enemy had already made them temporarily allied.


    And the Priestess agreed because of the fact that her barrier, the one she cast to protect the Reimed City, allowed her to detect entry of Demons. It was the reason she managed to figure out the true identities of Mark and his group despite the method they used to hide their Demonic presence.


    So far, only Mark''s group were the active Demons within the barrier that was not affiliated with either Auraboros or the Temple.


    Then, there were no Demons that could possibly ambush the Alliance Meeting.


    It meant that the Demons would most likelye from outside while the Priestess and the Empress were unable to move freely.


    And where would theye from?


    Mark looked to the northwest, the direction he was walking to.


    Kachidoki, the territory that lost its leader. Without the actual strength of the ck Lotus, the territory was the perfect ce to start an invasion.


    Mark smirked.


    "It is good that Ren''s older brother bbered a lot to her. He probably thought that she won''t survive it at all. Look at how it is going now..."


    And without noticing Mark at all, he vanished, turning into an invisible surge of mist.


    ***


    Day 341 - 11:24 AM - Sumida River, Chuo City, Ruins of Tokyo


    On the northwest coast of the Sumida River, silhouettes of different creatures littered the ruins.


    The invasion was about tomence in full force. Amazingly, neither [Infected] nor [Mechids] was in sight. The ruins had nothing but Demons of all sizes and shapes. It was such an absurd sight.


    From the sky, a surge of barely visible ck mist flew, watching the movements of the unknowing creatures below. The ck mist in the sky transmitted everything it saw to its father, informing him of the iing attack.


    And it was not only on the northwest border of the Reimed City. In all directions facing the coastal borders, Demons were in hiding, waiting for the nned time.


    Each individual was itching to fight. The humans they hated so much... They were just a river away.


    Once the humans of this city were killed and enved, this country would be the Demons'' paradise.


    ...A country for themselves...


    ...A country devoid of greedy and deceitful humans...


    Who would not feel excited?


    ***


    The sky began to darken even more...


    The wind began to pick up...


    A blizzard wasing. A blizzard on the second day of winter.


    It was strange but not impossible to happen. And considering the current unstable state of Earth, it was even more likely for anomalous weather phenomena to happen.


    But as the snow began to fall... It became clear that it was no ordinary blizzard.


    Alluring songs began to echo within the ruins of Tokyo. The signal of the invasion was finally heard.


    As the songs echoed, the temperature of the surroundings began to freeze faster than it should.


    Slowly, from the outer coast, the rivers froze. The river froze as if the ice was crawling over the river''s surface.


    The people near the coast began to feel strange. As the songs entered their ears, they felt like they were floating with the clouds. It did not take long, and everyone by the coast lost hold of their consciousness.


    Just like that, the coastal areas became open to anything and everything.


    And with the rivers freezing entirely, the preparations for the invasion were finished.


    The songs within the ruins reached an abrupt stop, dering the start of the invasion.

 Chapter 1013 Staring The Demon Invasion, The Battle Of Sumida River

    ?


    Day 341 - 11:42 PM - Reimed City, Ruins of Tokyo


    The strong winds blew, carrying the heavy fall of snow.


    A sudden blizzard.


    It took many citizens of the Reimed City off guard as those in the streets rushed into any possible shelter they could find. The sudden strong wind and chilling cold were too much, even if the citizens were already wearing winter clothes.


    Early noon, people should be preparing their meal stubs while heading to food stations to receive their lunch. However, the streets were now mostly empty, with only a few to risk braving through a strong blizzard.


    And with this empty street and the unconscious victims of the strange hymn, no one should be able to witness the army of Demons crossing the frozen bodies of water around the Reimed City.


    It was an amazing scheme, a supposedly foolproof n. By the time the citizens noticed the Demons invading, the invaders were already within the city.


    Even if the Priestess detected the invading Demons through her barrier, there was no way she would be able to immediately respond. It was the same for the Empress and her entourage.


    In one full sweep, Japan''sst line of defense was broken down, and all that was left was to eliminate the remaining dangers within the city. Even if some managed to luckily escape, it did not matter.


    The Reimed City would be no more.


    That was how it was supposed to go.


    However...


    "Wow... that''s a lot..."


    Someone sat on the rooftop of a building near Kachidoki''s coast. Everyone in that area should have fallen to the song.


    Yet, there was one... no...


    Aside from that man on the rooftop, a few other people could be seen with him. Furthermore, silhouettes d in white robes could be seen hiding in fixed intervals all over the coastal areas of the Reimed City facing the ruins of Tokyo.


    Mark sat on the ledge of the rooftop, swinging his feet like a child. Behind him were the members of his group, with Miracle sitting on hisp while watching the army of Demons marching below.


    The blizzard was raging on. Yet, as the members of Evernight were all adorned with their special armor, the cold was not a concern.


    "That number... They look pretty intimidating. Right, Uncle?"


    Emika said as she leaned forward on the ledge. Although she said that, she did not look intimidated at all. A little nervous, maybe. However, her subconscious [Mutator Trait], [Cheerfulness], prevented her from being afraid despite the horrific scene before her.


    Mei, I, Spera, and even Amihan were quite concerned. Emika was right, after all. How many Demons were there? It was several tens of times more than the number of Demons they fought in Catanduanes.


    Furthermore, unlike the [Infected] or the [Mechids], these Demons had magical abilities which were less predictable.


    As for the little catgirl, Abbygale, she was more concerned about the fact that Miracle snatched Mark''sp than the enemies they were seeing.


    At this time, a woman in Shrine Maiden clothing appeared behind Mark''s group.


    Mark nced behind him. The woman was Ise Tsubasa, the Priestess'' Grandniece.


    "The evacuation of the unconscious is nearly finished," Tsubasa informed Mark. "Our defensive forces are all in position."


    Tsubasa''s voice was quite tense. This was the first time she had seen this many Demons in one ce. She did not know whether their preparations would be enough. ncing at the frozen river, she saw the Demons marching at fixed pacing.


    That sight was amazing in a sense. Knowing how Demons behaved, they were never a unified bunch. Even in a group, each member would move on their own intentions. Yet, none of such natural behavior could be seen at this time.


    The Demons, in varying sizes and appearance, marched like an army. An army under a supreme leader.


    Following the march of the Demons over the river, a division of Demons capable of flight took off from the ruins. In an instant, the sky grew darker due to the number of Demons flying above the ruins of Tokyo.


    "I hate to say this..." Tsubasa voiced out as she saw the Demons in the sky. "We should have informed the Defense Forces."


    Tsubasa then nced at Mark.


    What was happening right now was the machinations of Mark, the Priestess, and the Empress. A n that did not involve informing anyone who was unnecessary to the n, especially the army.


    And in this n, instead of the army, the Priests and Maidens of the Temple would y a crucial role in defending the Reimed City from the invasion of the Demons.


    Tsubasa could not understand what was going on within the heads of the leaders of this alliance. But then again, the humans could not be trusted at this time. After all, the most important factor in the n of the Demons was likely the traitorous members of the Mitsui n.


    Without answering Tsubasa, Mark continued to watch the marching Demons. They were now walking past half of the river. Yet, the number of those moving from the ruins into the frozen river had yet to end.


    "This scene makes me remember the Great Yokai War... The movie is kinda average, but it''s pretty interesting. I should have downloaded a copy..."


    Mark rambled on something definitely outside the supposed topic at hand. This made Tsubasa a little frustrated. Demons sure were hard to talk to.


    Worse, the flying Demons were now overtaking the ones marching on the river. These flying Demons would arrive first, invading the city as soon as they entered.


    And at this time...


    WOOOOOONG!


    The air trembled. The powerful individuals like Mark''s group and the members of the Temple felt it. And although the residents of the Reimed City did not feel the fluctuation of magical energy directly, they sensed something was wrong.


    As for those who were near the center of Toyosu, their eyes opened wide as they gazed through the strong blizzard.


    The TEPCO Toyosu Building, a gigantic building in the face of Toyosu, vanished without a trace.


    Many people were too shocked they rushed out of their shelters to check if they were not hallucinating.


    Unfortunately, they were not. The entire building vanished without a trace, leaving nothing but a gigantic circr crater in the ce where it was supposed to be. And worse... all the leaders of the Reimed City... All the participants of the Alliance Meeting, especially the Priestess, vanished along with the building.


    The situation did not immediately register in the minds of the people that witnessed the disappearance.


    But to douse their befuddled minds...


    WOOOOOO! WOOOOOO! WOOOOOO!


    The sound alerts echoed all over the Reimed City. As the rhythm of the rm entered everyone''s ears, they understood what it implied.


    Everyone began to move. Many panicked, while most people felt fear creep into their hearts.


    The rm they were hearing implied arge-scale attack on the Reimed City.


    Without needing any directives from the authorities, the citizens of the Reimed City immediately looked for safe shelters. Some rushed to their homes, taking their families to a better ce to evacuate.


    The blizzard did not matter. What mattered was the people and their family''s safety.


    And with the rm sounding, the army also began to mobilize. But then, a big problem urred for them. Theirmanders were among those who vanished together with the TEPCO building. And with such a dilemma, their mobilization was drastically slowed.


    But then, the people closest to the coast saw the flock of winged creatures in the snow-hindered sky. But before panic ensued, visible barriers of light suddenly shot high into the sky, encircling the entire Reimed City.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    The creatures hit the barrier with great ferociousness. The barrier''s glow flickered at every hit. It was clear that the barrier was taking damage. However, it was still holding on, for now.


    Back at the tall building in Kachidoki, Tsubasa used a talisman tomunicate with the other Priests and Shrine Maidens as they erected the defensive barrier. Different from the Priestess'' barrier that protected thend and its safety, this barrier was more akin to a gigantic ss shield.


    Mark looked at the Demons.


    The Demons were also surprised by the sudden sound of the rms. This was not supposed to happen, after all. Since the people in the coastal areas were supposed to be unconcious, there should be no one to sound the rm.


    Yet, the rm warning about the attack sounded in a timely fashion. Furthermore, just as the flying Demons were about to enter the Reimed City, the barriers appeared, causing the flying Demons toedically crash headfirst onto the barriers, heavily injuring the leading ones in the process. With great injuries on their bodies, they fell from the sky, crashing onto the frozen river. And to some, crashing to their demise.


    The first casualties of the invasion were from the Demons. Worse, it was due to a collision ident. Not from the actual battle.


    But before mulling over those deaths, the Demons became more concerned about something else.


    Many Demons were smart, but most of them were simpletons. They followed the march, strictly following the directives of a foolproof n. But now that something had gone ways away from what they knew, confusion arose among their ranks.


    "A little more push..."


    Mark whispered as his eyes emitted a reddish glow.


    The Demons became agitated. Most of the Demons left their tidy and intimidating ranks and rushed towards the Reimed City.


    Due to the broken ranks, the number of Demons rushing to the Reimed City at a single moment was drastically reduced with wide intervals.


    It was an opportunity.


    "Attack!"


    Tsubasa issued hermands through her [Communcation Talisman]. She did not know what exactly had happened. But she heard Mark''s whisper. He clearly had done something.


    Receiving themand, Onmyojis revealed themselves and rushed out of the barrier that only stopped Demons. With talismans in hand and bravery in their hearts, they began to intercept the agitated Demons.


    With this situation, the war between the Demons of the North and the Reimed City officially began.


    The Onmyojis threw their talismans, summoning purifying mes and lightning at the Demons. In an instant, a few dozen weak Demons were obliterated by the Onmyojis.


    But, of course, the Demons would not just let the Onmyojis ughter their kind.


    In retaliation to the mes of the Onmyojis, arm-sized icicles were shot from the ranks of the Demons.


    The icicles were clearly deadly as they flew at the speed of a bullet despite their sizes.


    Throwing a set of talismans in front of him, the Onmyoji, facing the icicles, erected a barrier in front of him.


    It was a stupid decision.


    CRASH!


    The icicles instantly tore through his barrier. The Onmyoji tried to evade at thest moment. However...


    "AGH!"


    The Onmyoji cried in pain.


    These icicles had no eyes, had no mercy. One of them tore through the Onmyoji''s arm, decapitating it in a way that destroyed the arm right between the elbow and the shoulder. Even if there was a way to reattach a sliced-off arm, this was definitely not the case for this Onmyoji.


    And it was not all.


    The icicle that tore through that Onmyoji''s arm flew continuously with the other icicles.


    CRACK! CRACK!


    The icicles hit the barrier. While the icicles did not break the barrier, they created cracks on its surface.


    It was such a powerful attack.


    The Priest behind that area of the barrier immediately patched up the barrier. Nheless, they already saw the danger. A continuous barrage of those icicles might likely break a part of the barrier and allow Demons toe through.


    "Find the one that shot those icicles!"


    An Onmyoji shouted.


    But another Onmyojis near the previous guy spoke.


    "There''s no need to."


    And the Onmyojis saw the perpetrator of those icicles.


    A beautiful pale-skinned woman with long ck hair, bluish lips, and snow-white kimono. The freezing temperature around her caused a hazy visage of freezing fog. And above her shoulders, another set of icicles could be seen forming.


    The woman stretched her right arm forward. Another barrage of icicles shot toward the Onmyojis.


    It was dangerous. The Onmyojis could dodge the icicles. However, it meant that the icicles would hit the barrier.


    But as the Onmyojis were in a tight spot, a woman appeared before them, facing the iing icicles.


    With a wave of her hands, severalyers of barriers were created by sets of talismans.


    In a blink of an eye, the barriers and the icicles shed with a loud sound of ss breaking.


    Both the barriers and the icicles shattered, creating a draw.


    "Tsubasa-sama!"


    The Onmyojis called out their savior''s name. However, Tsubasa did not turn to look at them as she spoke.


    "Go deal with the other Demons!"


    "Y-yes!"


    The Onmyojis rushed to deal with the other Demons, leaving Tsubasa facing the pale-skinned woman.


    However, the pale-skinned woman tried to ignore Tsubasa to chase after the Onmyojis. But as she tried to move, a bolt of lightning struck nearby her feet, making her step back.


    The woman turned to Tsubasa with a grim look in her eyes.


    Tsubasa stared back at the woman and spoke.


    "Your opponent is me, [Yuki-Onna]."

 Chapter 1014 Beliefs And Demons, Facing The Stuff Of Legends

    ?


    Day 341 - 11:46 AM - Sumida River, Ruins of Tokyo


    The invading Demons and the brave Onmyojis shed in a heated battle of life and death. This scene on the frozen river was such a rare sight that one would not even see in anime and movies. In fact, Mark was pretty sure he had not seen any of this kind in any existing media.


    And looking at the festival-like scene below, the movie titled The Great Yokai War that Mark mentioned earlier was the closest, although it did not involve Onmyojis. As for actual battles between Demons and Exorcists, it could barely be called a war. Most of the time, there was only one powerful Demon. Even if there was an army of Demons, the Exorcists fighting them were either a single person or just a group of student Exorcists.


    As for a full-blown war, Mark had never seen such.


    Added the strong cold winds and harsh snow, monster-like Demons hitting the barrier, and Onmyojis with fluttering robes fighting the enemies with their prided abilities. It was quite a sight.


    That was why it was not wrong to say that he was enjoying the show, although it was a little blurry due to the harsh weather.


    It was very Demon-like of Mark, considering that most of the Reimed City were now enveloped in chaos and fear for the same things he was currently enjoying watching. The worst part for the residents of the Reimed City was that due to the ns the three leaders concocted and the song that rendered any innocent people around the coast fall unconscious, everyone not involved in the n had no idea what exactly was happening.


    On the good side of the events currently unveiling, the traitors plotting within the Reimed City were in the very exact same confusion as the other innocent people in the city.


    The n during the invasion was supposed to be wless. All the actors needed to do was follow the script strictly to every word.


    But now, following the script meant nothing. And there was no chance to adlib since everything just went straight to chaos.


    ***


    On the frozen river, the Onmyojis shed with the Demons. In terms of numbers, the Demons were at a huge advantage. However, even though their numbers were huge, most of the Demons were weak individually. Many of them were in the category of simple Yokai born from inanimate things. These kinds were tricky opponents for regr humans but a piece of cake for the experienced exorcists.


    On the waterfront of Kachidoki''s docks, Tsubasa and the [Yuki-Onna] fought fiercely.


    As both were masters of manipting their respective elements, the two did not exchange kicks and punches. Instead, their battlefield was a torrential storm of lightning and ice.


    [Yuki-Onna] was an iconic Yokai in myths and legends, even passed on to modern media. As a Yokai, a [Yuki-Onna], or Snow Woman, was within the boundary of an Elemental Spirit and a Demon by human beliefs. An Elemental Spirit of ice and blizzards living in snowy mountains, but also a Demon sucking vitality from her male victims.


    The myths portrayed [Yuki-Onna''s] encounter with a man. She let go of him in exchange for a promise not to tell anyone of her existence. However, after the man married and had children, he broke the promise and told his wife. And by a twist of fate, that wife was actually the very same [Yuki-Onna] in disguise. Fortunately, for the sake of their children, she did not kill the man.


    And here, different iterations branched from culture to culture.


    A story said that the [Yuki-Onna] returned to the mountains. Another story told that she melted in front of the man and died.


    Then... Was this [Yuki-Onna] in front of Tsubasa the same one in the myths?


    Unexpectedly, the likelihood was very high.


    It was because,pared to most of the Demons in this invasion, she clearly stood out. Her attacks were powerful, and her presence alone made it hard to ignore her.


    TEKE! TEKE! TEKE!


    As if the [Yuki-Onna] was not enough, the sticky sound of a pair of bloodied hands being used to walk echoed despite the strong blizzard wind.


    CRASH!


    The barrier of another Onmyoji shattered like ss as the owner of the bloodied steps attacked. Fortunately, the Onmyoji managed to dodge. And the enemy that attacked him was a teenage female with only the upper half of her body.


    A [Teke Teke].


    The same as the [Yuki-Onna], this [Teketeke] carried a formidable presence. Although she could only pounce and use her w-like nails to attack, her attacks were strong, and her speed was outstanding.


    Two other Onmyojis joined the one fighting the [Teketeke]. Yet, they could only put the fight to a draw despite the three''s good coordination and teamwork in fighting the half-bodied girl before them.


    It looked like Gar''m found some powerful subordinates. Furthermore, they were literally the stuff of legends.


    And that was why they were powerful.


    If there was one trait that was simr between Demons and Gods, it was the fact that belief and worship empower them.


    Both the [Yuki-Onna] and the [Teketeke] were legendary figures whose stories were passed a very for a long time. And since they had also been the stuff of modern entertainment, the belief was spread further than just their origin country.


    That belief in the two''s existence made them far more powerful than they used to be. And now that they came out to fight, they could finally unleash the powers that no one had been able to see before.


    The defensive battle over the frozen river was slowly heating up, thawing the cold wind and snow of the blizzard.


    But then...


    VRRROOOOM!!!


    Amidst the strong winds, the sounds of vehicles braving the blizzard could be heard. A convoy of eight armored cars was heading straight to the docks of Kachidoki.


    Almost the entire coastline facing the ruins of Tokyo was under attack. But out of all ces, these vehicles headed straight to Kachidoki. And it was not the Defense Forces. In this case, there was only one group who could possibly own those vehicles.


    On the top of the building where Mark''s group watched, they had a clear view of the coast and Kachidoki''s docks. As such, they could see when the familiar appearance of Mitsui Keiji alighted from one of the vehicles. Following Keiji, everyone in the cars also stepped out, armed to the teeth with both guns and swords.


    They prepared to deploy to the battle, taking out their weapons from thepartments of their vehicles. At the same time, Keiji was already looking around the scene. It was unexpected, but his expression was clear. He looked like a brave hero jumping into the fray to protect his home.


    While watching Keiji, Mark squinted his eyes with a frown and a shrug.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    "What an actor."


    Mark murmured.


    Keiji looked perfectly fine on the outside. However, his head was currently in utter chaos as multitudes of thoughts stampeded like wild horses. As their nefarious n did not include an unexpected intervention like this, he was trying to find a way to mend things up without getting too suspicious.


    Done with their preparations, Keiji grabbed his precious sword and led his team. They reached the docks and saw the priest maintaining the barrier on this segment.


    And there, an unexpected sentence came out of Keiji''s mouth.


    "We''re here to help!"


    Keiji called out to the priest.


    And behind Keiji, his group had half of them surprised while the rest seemed eager.


    Mark monitored everyone''s mental fluctuations. And there, Mark could not help butmend how scheming and ruthless Keiji was.


    Within the group that Keiji led to the docks, only half were traitors. The other half were people who genuinely wanted to help defend their homes. But Keiji clearly did not need those people. In this case, these people were bound to be doomed as they were deemed as a necessary sacrifice for the traitors.


    Furthermore, the eagerness of the innocent half would overshadow the uncertainty of the traitors in the eyes of those who would see them. The likelihood of them being suspicious in this regard was drastically lowered.


    But still... What was Keiji nning?


    Keiji could have killed that priest maintaining that segment of the barrier and let the Demons through. Although it would definitely be noticed by the other members of the Temple present in the area, it would bete for them to respond.


    Why would Keiji call out instead?


    "Move out!"


    Keiji did not wait for the priest''s reply and urged his team to move. He then jumped through the barrier as if knowing it would not stop humans at all. Although baffled, his men followed closely behind him.


    The priest was taken by surprise due to Keiji and his group''s actions. Unfortunately, there was nothing much he could do to stop them since he was maintaining this segment of the barrier. The only thing the priest could do was to inform those outside that someone hade to help.


    Yes, the priest had no idea he let a traitor pass through. He could not be med, though. While the members of the Temple were informed about the iing invasion, the inner workings of the invasion were only known to those above. As such, lower-ranked priests and maidens were clueless about the ongoing schemes behind the invasion. The only thing they were informed of was to keep the barrier up and protect the Reimed City.


    Tsubasa received the information about Keiji and his group through her [Comunication Talisman]. She could not help but get a little distracted, almost getting her stomach punctured by another icicle attack from the [Yuki-Onna]. And since she was fighting just straight away from the docks, it did not take long before she saw Keiji and his group charging into battle.


    But surpassing the expectations, Keiji engaged in an actual battle against the Demons. Showing his skills with the Katana, he swung his sword and killed a small Demon in front of him.


    And following Keiji''s kill, his team charged in guns zing. Guns were not exactly effective against many kinds of Demons. However, it did not mean that guns could not hurt them.


    The guns would serve as a good distraction in this battle while the Onmyojis finished the Demons using their exorcism techniques.


    Well, only if the entire team that Keiji brought knew how to properly follow orders.


    Unfortunately, no. Worse, the innocent members that Keiji brought were prone to having heroplexes.


    One of them saw the three Onmyojis struggling to fight the [Teketeke].


    "I''ll help!"


    The man shouted as he charged with his gun into the battle of the four.


    And, of course...


    "Don''t get close! Fall back!"


    One of the Onmyojis shouted.


    In response to the warning, the hard-headed idiot began shooting at the half-bodied woman. There, the [Teketeke''s] attention shifted to the idiot.


    And before he knew something could do anything more than the volley of bullets he fired, he felt something was off.


    The half-bodied woman vanished before his eyes, and his sight seemed to have sunk all of a sudden. No, his sight did not sink. His body was falling down the frozen river. His upper body, to be exact.


    As the man fell to the ice, he finally noticed that he lost the feeling of his legs. And then, with a thud, he saw his own waistnd in front of his face.


    Only then the man realized. His body was sliced into two, by his waist, just like how the body of the [Teketeke] was only her upper half.


    Coldness enveloped the man''s body as he bathed in his own warm blood and guts.


    The first death of the humans in this battle did note from the Onmyojis but was a hard-headed extra that Keiji brought with him.


    Those innocent members of Keiji''s group stared in shock as they saw the sudden death of theirrade.


    As for Keiji, he stared at the dead body with a frown. He was notmenting about the fact that one of his members died. He wasmenting that he died too early before anyone else could witness their "sacrifice" in this battle.

 Chapter 1015 [Evolved Psycast], Shins Arrival Onto The Frozen River Of Slaugther

    ?


    Day 341 - 11:57 AM - Sumida River, Kachidoki Docks, Kachidoki, Reimed City, Ruins of Tokyo


    The first unfortunate death on the human side finally urred. Compared to the number of deaths that already urred among the Demons, it looked negligible. However, the number of people fighting the Demons in this battle was smaller in the first ce. Even a single death was quite a significant number.


    Worse, despite the deaths among the Demons, their number barely thinned at all.


    The death of their teammate prompted the other "inevitable sacrifices" that Keiji brought to strictly work together. They stopped relying solely on their guns and swords and used their [Mutator] and [Evolver] abilities. All of them were [Ability Holders] that the Mitsui n hired to be under their wing. They were unlike the other "teammates" raised by the n using their own methods.


    Of course, the [Teketeke] immediately pounced her way to try and kill the new humans before her. But since the humans were already aware of the danger she posed, she failed to make another immediate kill. Making it worse for her, several of the Onmyojis focused solely on her to stop her rampage.


    Seeing that no one else died too soon, Keiji had a bit of relief inside him. He could not have them getting killed too soon. At least wait for the army to arrive. And when his eyes fell on the dead body of the victim of the [Teketeke], his eyes had a sh of emotionlessness. It was as if he was looking at a useless piece of trash.


    "What a ruthless guy."


    Mark made another murmur as he sensed Keiji''s inner emotions. But then again, it was not surprising. After all, he was the same person who tried to end his own sister''s life without remorse.


    Putting thements of the spectators aside, Keiji held his sword. It was an average-sized katana, although it was clearly not an average sword. The katana in Keiji''s hands was a weapon that could harm Demons, a [Blessed Weapon].


    Mark remembered encountering those things when he fought the elite special soldiers of his country. It was not surprising to see one here, especially in the hand of a sessor of a family deep in both financial and historical riches.


    And as Keiji waved his sword, his elite-trained movements showed a beautiful flow as he began the ughter of the iing Demons. He was a powerful swordsman in his own right but also a skillful Ninja on the other hand.


    Keiji, however, was not focused on the killing. He might be fighting, but he avoided shing with the powerful Demons, and those same Demons seemed to be avoiding him too. His eyes wandered around, looking for things that went wrong with the n, and what he observed would make him decide what to do and report to the n.


    And the most pressing issue that Keiji found was the barrier and a specific individual. Keiji''s eyes fell on the Maiden fighting the powerful [Yuki-Onna] on the same footing.


    Ise Tsubasa, the current prodigy of the Ise n. She was the Grandniece and Direct Disciple of the Priestess. And, of course, one of the greatest thorns in the neck of the Mitsui n.


    Keiji continued to look around and observe while his hands were dyed with the blood and dust of the Demons he killed. The other Onmyojis were not that noteworthy. In his observation, Ise Tsubasa and the barrier were only hindrances to the n''s n for it to proceed forward.


    And at the right moment...


    "They''re here..."


    Mark made anotherment as someone familiar entered his detection range.


    The sea of Demons made way like how Moses parted the Red Sea. The strange scene gathered everyone''s attention except those tightly bound to the fight while facing a powerful enemy.


    And in walking in that path that the Demons made was a group of three people.


    Looking through her binocrs, Spera flinched a bit as she saw the group.


    It was Shin, together with the two familiar women. The [Siren] sisters, Yoko and Tsukiko. The three of them were all members of Spera''s previous group.


    The members of Mark''s group also watched the epic scene of Demons parting to make way for their powerful allies. It was like a movie scene to introduce the viins.


    But then, Mark had a thought. The sisters were [Sirens]. Creatures of the Greek Myths. Yet, they were here in Japan and even had Japanese names. To magical creatures, names had an important meaning. As such, their names should not be fake. It made Mark curious how the two of them became creatures from another country born in Japan.


    Well, it should not be that surprising. Mark had already encountered a few misced creatures. One of Teremillio''s wives was a [Koropokkuru]. Another was one of Diwata Hiraya''s Generals who was a [Living Armor]. Since a few creatures from other countries were found in his country, it should not be surprising if the same thing happened to others.


    With the appearance of the three, the battle would finally tilt to the side of the Demons.


    And here, Keiji sighed as he lowered his sword. This was the time for him to decide what to do. Would he continue with the initial n, or should he join forces with Shin directly?


    Such an important decision was in Keiji''s hands. After all, it would dictate the reputation of his n.


    The initial n was to let the Demons invade, kill a good amount of the inferior ss along with the powerful hindrances, and the Mitsui n would sweep in to be the new heroes and rulers of the Reimed City. It was all while eliminating the Temple and the members of Auraboros. It was such an ideal n.


    But now, it was clear that something was not right. Keiji could feel the eyes of the Onmyojis being wary of him and his group. It was as if they knew that he and his n sided with the Demons.


    Nheless, Keiji did not want to go to that conclusion immediately. After all, both the Priestess and the Empress walked into the trap they set up. If they knew that something would happen and the Mitsui n sided with the Demons, they would not stupidly walk into the trap. And now, both the Priestess and the Empress were missing. Once they returned, the two would only see the sea of Demons and the ruined Reimed City.


    And at that time, Gar''m would be here too to end the two''s lives.


    If Shin appeared here ahead of time, it meant that the Demons already noticed something wrong. And Shin would not hesitate to ask Keiji what was happening. In this case, pretending to be on the Reimed City''s side was out of the question.


    Seeing the familiar appearance of Shin, the nearby four Onmyojis sent a barrage of attacks immediately. All of them knew Shin, the Traitor of Mankind. A [Humanoid Demon], who received his demonization directly from a [Demon Deity].


    Shin had already killed quite a number of Onmyojis ever since he became what he currently was. There was no doubt that he was hated by the members of the Temple.


    Unfortunately for the Onmyojis attacking Shin, with a flick of his hand, the space in front of him was torn. The iing attacks were invalidated before they even reached the target.


    At that scene, Mark''s eyes lit up. The ability [Space sher] had clearly evolved.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    [Psycast Abilities] could change after being transferred to their [Inheritors]. Mark had already experienced this one. However, although far rarer than an individual surviving the apocalypse alone, [Psycast Abilities] could evolve through specific and obscure conditions.


    And as the name implied, [Space sher] allowed its user to channel the ability through a sword and sh through space. But just now, Shin clearly tore the space before him with just a flick of his finger.


    Rather than [Space sher], it might be more appropriate to now call it [Space Tear] instead. And now, it had be a far more troublesome ability.


    [Space sher] was a powerful ability. One direct hit and a sh could tear an opponent apart instantly. However, it had a great drawback. Its distance was reliant on the length of the user''s sword. All the way back in Eriellis, General Eigrid used a greatsword, and that was how far he could sh through space. Another drawback was that since the ability relied on sword shes, a smart enough enemy could just avoid the trajectory.


    However, the current evolved ability Shin acquired seemed to have its previous limitations released. It became an absurdly powerful and troublesome ability.


    But rather than being afraid, Mark was excited. During the entire time, Freed survived Eriellis'' apocalypse, he had only seen five [Psycasts] who evolved their abilities. It was only five among thousands of surviving [Psycasts]. Once Mark retrieved the ability from its unworthy sessor, it meant that Mark would have an [Evolved Psycast Ability] to utilize.


    Mark became eager to jump into the fray. However, Mark still held back. It was not the right time.


    So, for now, Mark would let the residents of this country settle their scores first.


    Mark nced at several hidden parts of the docks. The Priests that maintained the barrier aside, there were other yers still hiding in the dark.


    Back at the frozen river, the Onmyojis focused their attacks on Shin. Bolts of lightning shed, fireballs flew, and wind des shed. However, none of those attacks reached their target, as all were torn apart by the tearing of space created by Shin at every flick of his finger.


    Shin continued walking and, after getting annoyed by the flimsy attacks barraging his way, Shin made a nce towards the women on both sides.


    "La,,~"


    "Na, na, na~"


    The two sped their hands to their chests and sang a hymn.


    As the hymn entered the ears of the opposing Onmyojis, their eyes dted as their bodies froze where they stood. They tried to resist, but the more they did, the more their heads felt bursting.


    And at this opportune moment, the weaker Demons swarmed the incapacitated Onmyojis, biting and tearing the poor Exorcists with their teeth and ws.


    In that instant, four elite Onmyojis fell victim to the ferociousness of the Demons of Japan. They could not even utter their final screams as their bodies were torn to shreds while still alive.


    The other nearby Onmyojis wanted to help those foolish four, but Tsubasa was entangled with the [Yuki-Onna], and the others were facing the ferocious [Teketeke]. None of them could turn their backs on their opponents, as doing so would risk their deaths.


    While Keiji was still contemting what to do, he noticed Shin staring at him. With that, Keiji shrugged as he gave up trying to follow any other n. Shin would clearly ask him what was happening, and everything they were hiding would be revealed with such a question.


    Well... If the n could not rule through heroism, they could rule through fear. Keiji was the current sessor of the Mitsui n. His words and decisions were the n''s words and decisions.


    If anyone disagreed, Keiji could just make them follow his sister.


    Without any further resistance, Shin reached Keiji. But to the surprise of Keiji''s innocent followers and teammates, Keiji was not raising his sword to face the enemy.


    "What is happening here?" Finally, the expected question from Shin entered Keiji''s ears. "This isn''t part of the n."


    Shin looked around, his eyes falling on the nearby Onmyojis and the new barrier blocking the Demons'' advance.


    With a nonchnt attitude, Keiji replied.


    "This isn''t part of our calctions, either. It seemed that there are other hands, something outside our influence at work in the shadows."


    "Which means you have no idea what is happening, either."


    Shin understood what Keiji''s convoluted reply meant.


    "Indeed, unfortunately. I am also here to seek those uncertain factors."


    Keiji nodded.


    At this time, a shout entered Keiji''s ears.


    "Keiji-sama! What is the meaning of this? You''re colluding with the enemies?"


    That shout came from one of Keiji''s "inevitable sacrifices." It held the question that the others also had after seeing Keiji converse with Shin.


    And in response to that betrayed question, Keiji removed his sses and wiped the lens with a handkerchief. The moment he put the sses back on, all he saw were the dead sacrifices killed by his other subordinates.


    "There''s no use for them to be alive any longer," Keiji turned his back to his dead underlings. "We need to get the hindrances out and conquer the city."


    And here, with Keiji and Shin in the lead, the Demons began the second wave of their invasion, starting with the elimination of the members of the Temple.

 Chapter 1016 Cloaked Figures, The Reemergence Of The Black Lotus

    ?


    Day 341 - 12:07 PM - Sumida River, Kachidoki Docks, Kachidoki, Reimed City, Ruins of Tokyo


    The cruel decisiveness Keiji had shown sure was something.


    Although the Mitsui n had invested in many things to reach its current standing in the Reimed City, an influence even more powerful than the government, Keiji decisively threw it all away when that good standing they built up held less value than the cooperation of the Demons.


    At the current moment, the only thing that Keiji had in his mind was to bring his n to greater heights, far greater than what the Ise n had. Something that their ancestors had ultimately failed to do.


    In the lost era, their ancestors were disregarded. Forgotten from the myths passed on.


    During the following eras, their n failed to leave a mark on history.


    In the midst of the Sengoku Period, the n was nothing but a vassal that failed to protect its territory.


    And in modern times, they finally came close. Bing one of the richest conglomerates in Japan''s history.


    But the apocalypse came. Most of what the n had was lost. And in the Reimed City, they were still left far from the actual rulers.


    Keiji tapped his snow-covered shoulder. It removed the snow on his dark silver-colored armor made from prototype organic alloy was a bit hard to see in the harsh snowstorm if not for the ck fittings it had. It was technology their n had reached due to their money and power, and something they aplished after [Mutagen] created new substances for humans to use in their research.


    As Keiji raised the katana in his hand, his eyes showed disdain and resolution.


    Right now, Keiji was not just the heir of the Mitsui n. He was the embodiment of its centuriessting ambition.


    "Finally... I''m tired of all this pretense."


    Ishii, Keiji''s handyman, said as he whisked off the blood from his customized bat after killing one of their former teammates with it.


    Seeing Keiji''s group throw away all the facade, Tsubasa and the members of the Temple frowned. This meant that the traitors would not stop trying to hide and openly fight those trying to protect the Reimed City.


    "It''s annoying needing toe out this early," Shin shook his shoulders. "Looks like you people inside messed up, and our movements leaked to them."


    The Demons had their own ns. However, the unexpected resistance from the Temple caused a few discrepancies. They would have expected this kind of thing if not for the fact they already made the steps to reduce the resistance as much as possible. Especially the members of the Temple. They should be focused on the Alliance Meeting to protect their Priestesss instead of being here guarding the coastal areas.


    Keiji was unable to argue with Shin''s words. It would be impossible for the leak toe from the Demons. The only ones that could possibly cause the Temple to know about the invasion would be their own people.


    "We need to eliminate these white-clothed people first," Keiji changed the topic. "The JSDF is runningte, as expected. The only hindrance is these dogs of the Temple and their barrier."


    "Deal with the Onmyojis," Shin spoke in an uninterested tone. "I''ll deal with the barrier."


    And with a wave of his fingers, Keiji sent his remaining men after the Onmyojis in the area.


    Unfortunately for the Onmyojis, their hands were already full with the number of Demons. Adding the traitors into the mix, they were bound to be defeated.


    As for Keiji, his eyes fell on Tsubasa. The two of them were both heirs of the two contesting ns. As such, it was natural for Keiji to fight her.


    And while the traitors charged toward their chosen opponents, Shin and the two [Sirens] made their way to Kachidoki''s docks.


    However, before Keiji began his attack, he fired a re into the sky, lighting up a ball of mes. The re did notst long and got swept away by the blizzard''s strong wind. But the only thing that mattered was that it was fired in the sky to be seen by many.


    BOOM!


    All of a sudden, a loud explosion urred in the northern area, clearly past the territory of Kachidoki. It was from the docks of Tsukuda, the Territory of Blood Lion Troupe.


    Keiji scoffed at that explosion. He did note here unprepared. He had already sent some of the traitors to other parts docks after they sensed something was amiss far from the n.


    And as they received his signal, they should have started their attacks.


    Keiji was not stupid to not prepare any fail safes.


    That explosion pushed the pressure on the members of the Temple even stronger. Theirmunication talismans sounded. All of their forces in other territories were under attack by the traitors.


    Throwing away the res he fired, Keiji had nothing else to pay attention to but Tsubasa.


    Keiji ran towards Tsubasa, who was in the middle of facing the powerful [Yuki-Onna]. He then took out two ck des from his back pocket, bothced with some sort of small talisman.


    With a flick of his left arm, the two des shot toward Tsubasa. But just a moment before he released the des, the talisman strung on the des ignited at their far corners.


    On the other side, Tsubasa was already expecting the iing attack. However, she was still in an awkward position since the [Yuki-Onna] also fired her own icicle attacks at her.


    Tsubasa threw talismans in two directions, creating barriers for both iing attacks. Not all members of the Temple could do such since activating and maintaining two or more barriers in different directions was far more taxing than activating a fewyers facing one direction. It showed how much stronger and more talented Tsubasa waspared to most of its other members.


    The barriers blocked the icicles and the des. The icicles shattered, but as the des lost momentum and began falling, Tsubasa noticed the talismans on the des that had already burned to thest bit.


    BOOOM!


    An explosion urred, engulfing Tsubasa in the process. And amidst the smoke of the explosions, Tsubasa''s silhouette dashed off, retreating with charred spots all over her white clothing. Tsubasa let out some coughs, clearing her throat of the smoke she inhaled from the surprise attack.


    However, the moment Tsubasa was distracted by the explosion, Keiji had already closed unto her. And behind Keiji, the [Yuki-Onna] fired another barrage of icicles.


    Keiji clicked his tongue. He and the [Yuki-Onna] were clearly not in cooperation. If Keiji was notpetent enough, these very same icicles aimed at Tsubasa could also impale him.


    But Keiji''s thoughts were just momentary as he maneuvered around while running, making the icicles fly past him. Now, he had another distraction to rely on in order to connect an attack on the tricky Tsubasa.


    Tsubasa immediately created a barrier in front of her. However, due to the explosion and her coughing, her barrier was kind of unstable.


    CRASH!


    The icicles shattered the barrier, forcing Tsubasa to jump away. But that gave an opening for Keiji to attack.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    Keiji''s sword was swung, aiming at the left side of Tsubasa''s waist. Instead of aiming for Tsubasa''s neck, which was further away due to her jump, he aimed for her waist. It was a calcted sure-hit attack.


    However, focused on Tsubasa and dodging the uncooperative [Yuki-Onna''s] attacks, Keiji failed to notice somethinging, moving through the river of Demons in a few blurry jumps.


    CLANG!


    A cloaked figure appeared between Tsubasa and Keiji, blocking Keiji''s katana.


    Taken by surprise, Keiji was unable to resist as the figure pushed him away with a sh of the figure''s own katana.


    Keiji jumped back and stabilized himself after a few steps back. He stared at the enemy that suddenly appeared. However, he did not utter such a cliche dialogue asking who the intruder was. After all, who it was did not matter. If it was an enemy, it should die.


    "Look at her go..."


    Markmented as the blurry figure dashed through the frozen river and the army of Demons toe to Tsubasa''s aid. He clearly knew who the cloaked figure was. Still, it seemed that the person came dashed out without waiting for the signal.


    "Haah... Nevermind."


    Mark shrugged as he pointed his finger out to the river filled with the advancing Demons.


    RUMBLE! CRASH!


    ck lighting tore through the sky and into the center of the army Demons, turning a whole lot of them into ashes and corpses. It sure shocked all the witnesses, making them wary of a powerful opponent.


    However, as the thunder apanying the lighting was heard throughout the Reimed City, cloaked figures jumped out of hiding around Kachidoki''s riverside and joined the fight against the Demons.


    Wearing the same cloak as the one that blocked Keiji, all these people sure were from the same group. And much more, they all jumped through the barrier without interference, indicating that none of them were Demons.


    Yet...


    BOOOM!


    The moment the cloaked figures joined the fray, the line of Demons in front was immediately pushed back. The cloaked figures showed inhuman abilities with varying strength, speed, and defense.


    "Let''s go," Mark turned to the members of his group. "We should already have enough... And Shin''s already here. The only thing left is to drag the ringleader out."


    Mark put Miracle down from hisp, and the group left the rooftop. It was now time to join the fray.


    Back at the river, Keiji''s team was also taken aback by the sudden intervention. And much worse was the fact that the cloaked figures almost immediately overpowered them.


    "Sh*t!"


    Ishi cursed out loud as the cloaked figure that came after him straight up blew him away with a single punch. Ishi was not fatally injured. He did not get any broken bones, either. However, even though he managed to block the punch from the attacker with his modified bat, he was still blown away. His pride was the one damaged here.


    Tsubasanded safely. She just got saved by the cloaked figure standing in front of her. Thankful, she faced the [Yuki-Onna].


    "I''ll leave that bastard to you."


    Tsubasa said as she ran towards the [Yuki-Onna], sending another barrage of elemental attacks at her.


    Keiji frowned. From how Tsubasa spoke, she was clearly acquainted with this cloaked figure. However, he never heard of such a person.


    In any case, Keiji needed to get rid of this new enemy before he could get to Tsubasa.


    There, Keiji and the cloaked figure began fighting. Their katanas shed with shes of their des. Sparks urred as the cloaked figure''s de would sh with Keiji''s armor from time to time. On the other hand, nicks and tears would appear on the cloaked figure''s cloak as Keiji slipped in a few attacks.


    Was the two equal in strength? No. Keiji was actually slowly stepping back as the two of them exchanged attacks. Although subtle, Keiji was losing.


    CLANG!


    Keiji suddenly stepped back and...


    BOOM!


    He threw three bomb-like balls into the frozen river.


    In an instant, the surroundings of Keiji and the cloaked figure were covered in smoke. However, Keiji had his eyes opened wide. The smoke was of no effect as his eyes let out a yellowish glow.


    It was a technique from the Mitsui n Arts which allowed them to see through a specially concocted smoke bomb. The smoke bomb was not for escaping but to deprive the opponent of their sight.


    Unfortunately, using a smoke bomb in this scenario was not optimal. The blizzard was still blowing strong, and the wind would sweep the smoke soon enough.


    But that short moment was enough. Being deprived of one''s sight in a high-speed battle was a fatal thing.


    Keiji ran around and shed his katana, aiming for his opponent''s back of the neck. But to Keiji''s surprise, the cloaked figure nudged its head forward, only letting Keiji hit the neckline of the cloak.


    Following the unexpected dodge, the cloaked figure turned around, and Keiji''s eyes grew wide as he saw his opponent''s eyes. That pair of eyes glowed yellow, just like his.


    The cloaked figure shed their katana, prompting Keiji to jump back and dodge.


    WOOOOSH!


    The wind blew away the smoke, revealing Keiji and his opponent. And here, the hood of the cloak was cut off by Keiji''s attack, revealing who his opponent was.


    "How..."


    That was the only word that came out of Keiji''s mouth as he gazed upon the figure of his supposedly dead sister.

 Chapter 1017 Hostile Reunions, The Battles On The Frozen River

    ?


    Day 341 - 12:10 PM - Sumida River, Kachidoki Docks, Kachidoki, Reimed City, Ruins of Tokyo


    Keiji was in total shock after finally seeing who was under the cloak of the enemy he was fighting. He had never felt such a numbing shock in his entire life.


    There was no mistaking it. The enemy before Keiji was his supposedly dead sister, using their n''sbat arts and swordsmanship.


    But how was it possible? Keiji was sure there was no way for Ren, who was stabbed through her heart by Mako, to survive. There might be some chance for Keiko, who was left alive after getting her legs crippled. But there was definitely no chance for Ren, who was left bathing in her own blood.


    "Impossible."


    Keiji uttered as those thoughts passed through his mind.


    Of course, Ren heard what he had just said and stared straight at him.


    "You see how the world is now. Nothing is impossible."


    Ren said as she charged and unleashed another barrage of attacks on Keiji.


    Keiji, rattled by the unexpected truth, was unable to properly defend against Ren''s attacks. While he desperately defended and counterattacked, more wounds appeared on his body, and nicks and scratches decorated his armor.


    Ren was the genius of the current generation of the Mitsui n. Keiji had no way of overpowering Ren in a face-to-face battle despite being older and having more fighting experience.


    Some people believed that experience could beat a genius, but it would not be the case for Keiji. After being discouraged because of Ren''s disy of talent, he focused more on being the heir of the Mitsui n''s conglomerate. He had more experience. However, it was severelycking to ovee his genius younger sister.


    Keiji had the chance to ovee his sister. However, hecked effort andmitment. And now, it came biting him.


    While the siblings fought to their deaths, the other battles urred simultaneously.


    Tsubasa continued her battle against the [Yuki-Onna]. However, the two were on the same level of strength. None of the two could overpower the other as they exchanged attacks without stopping. Well... The two were actually hindered by other things as they fought.


    Without a doubt, the blizzard was being maintained by the [Yuki-Onna]. She was keeping the blizzard going while battling against Tsubasa. On the other hand, Tsubasa''s enemy was not only the [Yuki-Onna] but also the other Demons trying to attack her at every chance they could get.


    With the Tsubasa and the [Yuki-Onna] having their own hindrances, they could not have the right chance to overpower the other and defeat their opponent.


    At the side, the [Teketeke] was still on its rampage. The Onmyojis fighting the rampaging, half-bodied evil spirit was having a hard time. There was no need to ask about defeating their enemy. They were already struggling to try to defend against her and the attacks of other Demons.


    During the start of the battle, the Onmyojis were clearly the ones with the advantage despite their smaller number. But after the powerful Demons appeared, the tide of the battle began tilting against the Reimed City''s side.


    When Keiji and his group revealed their true colors and joined the Demons, the Onmyojis thought that they would begin losing the defensive battle.


    Fortunately, the cloaked figures came out, bncing the tide of the battle.


    BOOOM!


    Another explosion urred to the north. The battle within the area of Tsukuda was also intensifying.


    At another area, Keiko removed the hood of his cloak, showing her face to the one she was fighting, Ishii.


    "No f*cking way!"


    Ishii became agitated. After all, he was the one who smashed the legs of the woman before him.


    "You know what time it is now?" Keiko smirked. "It''s payback time."


    Then Keiko, with her new gauntlets, charged at Ishii with a punch. She attacked with strength and speed, far from what she had in the past.


    In an instant, Keiko covered the distance between her and Ishii in a single jump.


    Ishii was taken aback by her sudden explosive speed. However, as Keiji''s handyman, he had his own strength. Instead of panicking, he swung his customized bat toward Keiko like a professional baseball yer. The swing he unleashed would definitely sh with Keiko''s iing punch.


    BAM!


    Keiko''s gauntlet and Ishii''s bat shed with an explosive impact.


    But Ishii''s expression changed as he felt the bones on his hands on the verge of breaking, leaving him without any other choice. He let go of his weapon in that instant.


    CLANG!


    The bat created a loud sound as it struck the ground a few steps away from Ishii''s feet. When he turned to his weapon while enduring the pain in his hands, he saw the bat severely bent and distorted, stuck halfway through the frozen river''s surface.


    On the other hand, the impact forced Keiko several steps backward. However, she was all fine. Her new gauntlets absorbed all the impact to her hand and arms, leaving her without any injury, unlike Ishii.


    "Sh*t."


    Ishii voiced out as she saw the oue of his sh with Keiko. He knew he was screwed.


    Nheless, Ishii was still a Ninja trained by the Mitsui n. With or without a weapon, he would not go down without a fight.


    But between all the ongoing fights, a group of three was left confused.


    "Are we being ignored?"


    Yoko voiced out, noticing that no one came to block their path at all.


    The cloaked figures appeared and fought Keiji''s men and the Demons, but not a single figure came to fight them. It made no sense. It was not wrong to say that their group was the most threatening people to the safety of the Reimed City. Yet, no one came to stop them.


    "If they had no n to stop us, let''s just get over with it."


    Shin said to which Tsukiko silently nodded. Yoko also agreed as this was the best thing, albeit the situation was a little disappointing.


    Since the three were not in too much hurry, they took their time as they walked across the battlefield. They ignored the flow of the Demons from behind them attacking the defenders of the Reimed City. On the other hand, the Onmyojis also ignored them as if they did not have any more hands to spare to stop the iing threat.


    In about two minutes, Shin''s trio arrived at the docks with the barrier standing just a few meters before them. They could see Demons that slipped through the defense of the Onmyojis and the cloaked people but were unable to pass through the barrier.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    The barriers flickered as they received the attacks of the Demons. However, the barriers stood still, far from breaking.


    A few Onmyojis with a group of around fifty cloaked humans could not block the Demons alone. Then, the only problem was this barrier.


    Shin looked around. The Demons were attacking the barrier, both from the river and from the sky. And while the Demons were blocked by it, the Priests and Maidens behind the barrier were taking the opportunity to attack behind the barrier''s safety.


    Even so, the Demons were still swarming outside. They might not be able to pass through the barrier, but there were too many of them to be pushed further.


    Shin stared at the barrier blocking the Demons from the docks. It was the easiest ce to enter the Reimed Citypared to the other areas with coastal walls.


    Then, this ce should be the one.


    Shin thought of that as he stretched out his right arm towards the docks. And there, a massive amount of energy shed with the barrier as the space around it was torn apart.


    And in an instant...


    CRASH!


    Three segments of the barrier that blocked the docks of Kachidoki shattered.


    The Priests and Shrine Maidens maintaining those segments fell to their knees. Their mouths spewed out blood as the bacsh from the destroyed barrier overwhelmed them.


    There was a moment of silence between the two sides fighting.


    Then, the silence was immediately reced by ferocious roars and raged shouts from the Demons as they began swarming toward the direction of the broken barriers.


    The Onmyojis tried to retreat to block the swarming Demons. However, they were unable to. The Demons rushed like a raging tide. It could sweep away the Onmyojis, and they would be attacked behind their backs.


    Over the frozen river and the blizzard-covered sky, the Demons charged towards the opening to the Reimed City.


    Nothing could stop them now. That was what they had thought.


    But as the first Demon, a [Jorogumo], a female humanoid with eight limbsmanding an army of Demonic Spiders, stepped into the docks...


    SHOOOOM!


    A gigantic beam of light swallowed the [Jorogumo], her spiders, and all the Demons rushing through the destroyed barrier. Many tried to stop, but the other Demons behind them pushed them into the beam. And as if destroying the Demons on the ground was not enough, the beam moved up, tearing away a line between the army of Demons before swallowing the flying Demons in the sky.


    The beam killed hundreds of Demons and tore through the clouds in the sky before vanishing. It even caused the blizzard to lessen in ferocity.


    Silence permeated across the battlefield. The swarming Demons finally stopped on their feet, and those in front even tried to retreat.


    The only thing left in the trajectory of the beam was Shin and his two nervouspanions standing behind arge tear in space that prevented them from disintegrating like the others.


    ROOOAARR!!!


    A loud roar broke the silence. A gigantic shadow flew in the sky through the gap in the barrier. However, it did not fly in but out of the Reimed City. A ck, winged lizard. It was a Western Dragon with an ominous appearance.


    SCREECH!


    A painful screech was heard as the Dragon spewed mes on a nearby Demon in the sky, causing it to plummet in a ball of mes.


    GRRR!


    Following the Dragon, a three-meter Golden Wolf rushed out of the docks, immediately trashing the Demons in its path.


    Then, humanoid silhouettes followed the two beasts as they stepped out into the docks. Surprisingly, the witnesses saw only a single adult in the group, and the rest were clearly children.


    The sight of human children ignited the instincts of many of the Demons. A lot of them feed on human flesh, especially children. Many of the Demons began drooling at the sight of those childrening out of the Reimed City.


    Unfortunately for them, fear overwhelmed them more. Many of them might be dumb, but they still understood that there was an unknown danger before them.


    But the ones most affected among the Demons were Shin and his twopanions behind him. Their eyes focused on the man standing in front of the children.


    That familiar face. There was no way they would forget him.


    And in response to their stares, the below-average-looking man in sci-fi-looking armor shrugged and opened his mouth.


    "Long time no see, you three."


    Mark greeted Shin and the two [Sirens].


    Usually, Mark wore a mask or a helmet when entering battles like this. This time was an exception. He wanted to see the reaction of the three when they saw his familiar face. Considering the oue of their previous encounter, there was no way they would easily forget him.


    And Mark was right.


    Shin''s emotions boiled at the sight of Mark. The dangerous enemy they fought in Bay City and the one that made them suffer the most in their lives as members of the Auraboros.


    They only came to Bay City to rescue someone. The businessman named Dopp. But they encountered Mark there. They did not only suffer injuries. They failed their mission, gained nothing from all the effort, lost their means of travel, and worse, they had to travel hundreds of kilometers in the middle of the outbreak just to return to the base of Auraboros.


    It took them months of hardships before they were able to return.


    And all of it was because of the person currently standing before them.


    Shin did not care how or why he was here. His surroundings trembled as his appearance transformed into his Demonic form.


    There was only one thing Shin had in his mind at this moment.


    Revenge.


    Shin wanted revenge.

 Chapter 1018 The Rematch, Beginning The Second Fight Between Mark And Shin

    ?


    Day 341 - 12:12 PM - Sumida River, Kachidoki Docks, Kachidoki, Reimed City, Ruins of Tokyo


    "Wow, he looks really angry..."


    Emika voiced out by Mark''s side.


    Even from a distance they were at, she could see Shin''s furious face and feel his overwhelming anger.


    "Yeah," Mark agreed. "He''s so angry he''s starting the fight at phase two."


    Mark was kind of joking, but he was partly not.


    It was because Shin began transforming the moment Mark''s appearance entered his eyes. There was no confusion. No Questions. Just pure anger.


    On the other hand, Mark had a bitter smile on his lips as he detected the reaction of the [Siren] sisters. Inplete contrary to Shin''s anger, Yoko and Tsukiko were in utter fear after they saw Mark. He could feel their trauma which nted extreme fear inside their hearts. The previous encounter between Mark and this group sure left a deep scar in their hearts and minds.


    Mark then turned to the girls beside him and Amihan on his shoulder.


    "Emika, I. I''ll leave the guarding duties to you two. Also, look after Gale and Miracle so they don''t get too deep into the enemies. Amihan. Don''t do too much. Just stop the enemies from crossing the docks. But focus on supporting the little girls."


    Then, Mark patted the heads of the youngest two.


    "Listen to your older sisters. I''m going to ask themter if you two behaved."


    "Yes~"


    "Yes."


    The two girls replied.


    After Mark finished giving hisst instructions to the children, he turned to face his waiting enemies.


    Shin, who already finished his transformation, stood waiting. He also gave his instructions to the two [Sirens], telling them to retreat. They had already seen the effects of their song on Mark, and there was no need to repeat that mistake.


    And for Shin, he might be furious and thirsting for revenge, but he was not blinded by it. He patiently waited for Mark to step onto the battlefield, not aiming for the children with him.


    After all, among everyone here, Shin was the person who best knew what a monster could do after their family members were harmed. He was the same. That was his starting history. And he did not want to be the same kind as the people that harmed his family.


    Shin''s enemy here was Mark.


    Mark alone.


    ROOAR!


    GRRR!!


    The roars of the dragon could be heard from the sky, and the growls of the golden wolf sounded on the ground.


    But in the middle of the loud sounds emitted by the terrifying animals, Mark calmly walked forward, heading towards Shin.


    While walking, Mark observed Shin''s transformation.


    Shin''s ck hair had turned reddish-orange. The color carried a gleam as if it was flowingva. On his forehead, two red horns could be seen protruding. Compared to scheming Demons with smaller and fatter horns, Shin''s horns were slim and about four inches long, indicating his blessing that was oriented more toward fighting.


    All over his body, Demonic markings could be seen. These markings looked like threads of mes tattooed on Shin''s body. Each strand of thread had an otherworldly and intimidating gleam. The markings were different from Mark''s but carried the same meaning. The extent of their powers as Demons and their status within their species.


    Unfortunately, Shin''s Demonification ended with just those things. Shin was a human that became a Demon after receiving a blessing from Gar''m. On the other hand, Mark was a human that became a Demon due to the Demonic Blood from his ancestry sleeping within his veins.


    Thus, as Demons, it was clear that Mark''s status was much higher. Unfortunately...


    Shin had no idea that Mark also became a Demon. Thest time Mark and Shin fought, Mark had yet to awaken his sleeping bloodline. And Mark, using the [Blessing of Death''s Aura], could mask his own Demonic presence.


    Thus, although Shin had no idea how Mark and his group appeared in this country, he was more assured that the oue of this encounter would be different from the previous one.


    As Mark walked closer and closer to Shin, a few Demons thought of attacking him. But Mark just turned his eyes on those Demons. His red glowing eyes gave the Demons shivers. Many Demons feed on fear and emotions. As such, they were more sensitive to it. And Mark''s [Empath] abilities were surely far more effective on those kinds of Demons.


    The Demons stepped back, making way for Mark to reach Shin.


    "You waited patiently."


    Mark said as he stepped a few meters in front of Shin.


    And as the two stood face to face, the Demons in the surrounding felt that they should stay away. It left the two alone in an empty circle in the middle of a battlefield filled with Demons.


    "Did Spera bring you here?"


    Shin replied with a question.


    "Not exactly," Mark answered with a shrug of his shoulders. "Her portals were unusable after the world changed. She can only connect to ces she had a clear image of, after all."


    "So, she really is still alive," Shin grunted. "Looks like she also defected."


    "Rather than defecting, it''s more like she''s tired of being passed around as a tool," Mark exined. "Of course, if someone gave her a better living condition and a ce where she is treated as a human, she will never return."


    Those words made Shinugh at himself. Mark was right. Spera was only treated as a convenient tool for travel, whether it was the Auraboros itself or even Shin. Still, he could not imagine the ever-silent Speraining about such things.


    SPLAT!


    A body suddenly fell between Mark and Shin. It was a flying Demon shot to death and turned to ash in front of the two.


    "Should we start?"


    Mark asked.


    Shin did not reply and just drew the katana hanging on his waist. As Mark looked at the katana, which had the same aura as Shin, he could not help but blurt out.


    "Did you just use your horns to make that?"


    Shin did not reply, making Mark shrug. He then took out his helmet from his ring and wore it before taking out his new weapon.


    That weapon made Shin shiver a little. It was arge sword with two handles. And as Mark grasped the handle in each hand, the sword separated, giving Mark two smaller swords.


    Shin did not let himself feel intimidated. He posed his stance, the sword stance that was taught to him by his father.


    Mark also readied his pose. It was a more rxed pose, making him look unpredictable as he wielded his two swords in both hands.


    With the two prepared for battle, silence ensued between the two. No one moved, but the circle of Demons around the two widened.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    Mark and Shin stood still, but the pressure around them was too strong that the Demons nearby felt extremely frightened.


    And then...


    SPLAT!


    A Winged Demon fell between the two. The moment that Demon fell to the ground and started turning to dust, the figure of Shin and Mark had already vanished.


    BOOOM!


    With a loud boom in the middle of the battlefield, a shockwave urred, trashing everything near its epicenter.


    Dozens of Demons turned to dust in that instant as the shockwave carried waves ofva-temperature mes. The Demons enveloped by the waves felt like drowning in flowingva before their deaths.


    And at the center of it, Mark and Shin appeared as Mark blocked Shin''s katana, now enveloped in mes, with both his swords crossed above his head.


    No wonder why Shin made the two [Sirens] retreat. His powers as a Demon were fatal to both enemies and allies alike.


    But who cared about the cannon fodders of the Demon army? Definitely not Shin.


    There was a sudden silence on the battlefield. Soon enough, whether it was the Onmyojis, the members of ck Lotus, or the Demons, they all tried to flee from the effects of the battle between Mark and Shin.


    CLANG!


    The two exchanged attacks with their swords. In the beginning, it was nothing but a battle between two swordsmen of inhuman caliber.


    Waves of mes scattered in the surroundings in every attack the two exchanged. The Demons were dying from those waves, and it was in the middle of a cold blizzard. What about Mark? How was he able to stand in front of those deadly attacks?


    None of the witnesses could fathom how Mark could stand straight under the extreme heat of Shin''s sword. But Mark was really not bothered by the heat. The heat was just a form of energy. And his [Miasma] absorbs and converts energy.


    Bathing in Shin''s mes was actually giving Mark a growth in power, albeit just a little.


    However, Shin was not the only one with an elemental weapon.


    Mark parried another sh from Shin using his left sword, sending the mes to a nearby group of horrified Demons. And as Mark parried with one sword, he swung the other.


    Shin avoided getting carried away by Mark''s parry and jumped back to avoid Mark''s counterattack.


    But then, the crystal embedded in that sword glowed.


    CRACKLE!


    A shot of blinding lightning was released from the sword Mark swung. The bolt of lightning crackled as it headed toward Shin.


    Shin was taken aback at the unexpected attack. But he was calm enough to sh his sword at the iing lightning bolt and tear it to nothingness by tearing the space in its path.


    Not wanting to give any opening, Shin stepped to the side and passed the tear in space he created. And with a reddish blur, Shin appeared by Mark''s left side and swung his katana.


    Mark had just parried with his left sword and attacked with his right. His left nk was open wide for any quick attacks.


    The attack shed Mark''s waist into two. Until his body vanished.


    What Shin attacked was just an afterimage of Mark, who had already jumped back with a reddish glow on his body.


    It was another surprise for Shin. Mark clearly did not have such an ability thest time they fought.


    Shin grasped his katana tighter. He became stronger, but, of course, Mark was the same.


    On the other side, Mark patted the left side of his waist. There was a nick on his armor which Shin actually managed to hit. It was clear that Shin currently had an advantage in the fight due to the difference in physical prowess.


    It was not surprising. Shin had already [Demonized] while Mark was still in his usual form, which was stronger against regr humans but far weaker than a high-level Demon.


    That was right. Shin was a high-level Demon. After receiving a blessing directly from a Demon Deity, his strength was on par with mid-level Pureblood Demons.


    But Mark was still not willing to transform. Until the right moment, he could not transform.


    Mark''s mind drifted. He wondered how long he needed to keep this up like this. In any case, he needed to overpower Shin without transforming. And Mark just had the right things to use.


    Shin vanished and moved with nothing but a blurry trail. He made another attack on Mark, which thetter avoided acrobatically by somersaulting sideways.


    Marknded and shed at Shin. This time, using the sword in his left hand.


    And the same as what happened with the right-hand sword, the crystal embedded in the sword Mark swung released a bright glow.


    Shin jumped back and tore the space in front of him in advance. But as the attack was released from Mark''s sword, Shin froze on the spot.


    The sword released a wave of mes that flew at Shin before it got torn by the tear in space Shin created.


    Using a fire attack on someone blessed by the Demon Deity of mes. Stupid? It looked like it.


    Fire would not damage Shin at all due to his blessing.


    However, the attack affected Shin mentally. After all, his mes and the mes Mark released came from the same origin.


    As the tear in space vanished, Shin stood staring at Mark and the sword that released those mes.


    Just how was it possible? How was Mark able to use Gar''m''s mes?


    Those questions filled Shin''s mind, not realizing that only he was not the one baffled.


    The origin of Shin''s mes and the owner of the mes Mark released, Gar''m, felt it.


    Gar''m, who was busy with something else, stood facing the direction of the Reimed City.


    The Demon Deity of mes felt his own mes from somewhere else. His mes, something that was only his.


    And there, a thought entered Gar''m''s mind as he measured the possibilities.


    Gripping his fists, Gar''m began hurrying up what he was doing.


    Gar''m needed to know.


    Who was it that managed to steal his remaining powers from his missing body.

 Chapter 1019 Their Own Battles, The Genius Of The Modern Ninjas

    ?


    Day 341 - 12:17 PM - Sumida River, Kachidoki Docks, Kachidoki, Reimed City, Ruins of Tokyo


    Tsubasa ran around as the army of Demons fled the waves of mes from the battle between Mark and Shin. It was the same for her opponent, the [Yuki-Onna]. The two continued exchanging attacks in a tied fight between two Elementalists.


    Still, whenever Tsubasa could, she would take short nces at the broken segment of the barrier in the docks of Kachidoki. And witnessing what was happening around her, Tsubasa had only onement.


    "Monsters..."


    That was what Tsubasa murmured as she saw how the members of Mark''s group fought.


    Tsubasa had noments about Mark. She was not surprised to see him hold back Shin with ease since she had already witnessed Mark fighting face to face with her Great Grandaunt.


    However, it was the first time Tsubasa had seen how the rest of Mark''s group would perform in arge-scale battle like this. In fact, she had no expectations in letting children handle monsters that even adults feared.


    Yet, it seemed that Tsubasa was severely mistaken. The monsters were not the Demons. It was the members of Mark''s group.


    Four children with the oldest, who was around fourteen to fifteen, and the youngest, around four to five, were preventing most of the Demons from entering the docks.


    The older of the four, the green-haired girl, created a wall of thorn-covered vines in front of the docks, preventing any Demon from slipping through. Any Demon that got close to the wall of vines would end up getting constricted to death by the girl.


    In front of the docks, the two youngest girls fought the iing Demons. One had her kicks as sharp as a sword, while the other had punches as strong as a wrecking ball. In each of their attacks, a Demon would fall and turn to dust. Following the two were two strange animals. One was a giant kicking rabbit, while the other was a quadrupedal animal that was hard to discern whether it was a felina or a canine.


    Supporting the rather reckless way of fighting the two youngest disyed, the eldest of the three sisters stood not too far behind them. With her good aim, she supported the two using her peculiar-looking handguns. And standing beside the eldest daughter of Mark was the familiar maid, using swords embedded in her arms to slice off any iing enemy.


    It was not just the children. A dragon flew around the sky above them, and the golden wolf rampaged among the enemies. Both monster-like creatures were from Mark''s group. Tsubasa could feel that the dragon was a Demon, but the wolf was definitely not. In any case, the two were doing a great job eliminating enemies that could be a danger to the four girls in the docks.


    And if the two monsters were not enough...


    AWRK!


    A cry of death entered Tsubasa''s ears.


    It was a [Jinmenken], a Yokai with a dog''s body and a man''s face. In a crazed attempt, it ran as fast as it could, trying to attack the children. However, from out of nowhere, a bullet pierced through its head. As it uttered itsst cry, it fell and turned to ash as other Demons stepped on its dissipating body.


    That [Jinmenken] was just one of the many victims of the bullets raining from afar. Demons, especially the fast-moving ones, had their speed and strength rendered useless against the sniper shooting with bulletsing from within the Reimed City''s boundaries.


    Tsubasa, no, everyone that saw this had a renewed view of Mark''s group. They were not just a group of survivors. Their small group with children should be considered more as an army.


    The members of Mark''s group were one thing, but Tsubasa was also curious about the helpers that joined in the middle of the battle. The rumored dead members of the ck Lotus.


    Since Tsubasa was already involved in the n, she knew that those that were reported dead from the expedition of ck Lotus were alive. She knew that they would join the fight at the right time.


    However, Tsubasa did not expect something.


    It was the current strength of these members.


    Tsubasa knew that the ck Lotus was founded with the Ninjas loyal to Ren, who left the Mitsui n early. However, unlike what was spread through the mainstream media, especially anime, Ninjas were not frontline warriors. Real Ninjas were more oriented on infiltration, ambush, and assassination. Their effectiveness in battle on the frontlines was expected to be limited.


    But the ck Lotus overturned that fact. The returning members of the ck Lotus showed increased strength, speed, and endurance far higher than before they disappeared.


    Most importantly, Ren.


    In fact, it was no news that Ren was stronger than Keiji in battle. However, before, there was no way that Ren would be able to overpower Keiji while being besieged by countless Demons at the same time. Yet, Keiji was unable to do anything to his younger sister even while she was killing Demons left and right.


    Ren had definitely gotten stronger. Far stronger.


    It was the same for Keijo and Tadashi, who were now trashing theckeys Keiji brought here.


    "Stop..."


    The pleading voice could be heard.


    Those who could, like Tsubasa, turned their heads.


    It was Ishii. Keiji''s right-hand man was now sprawled surface of the frozen river.


    Keiko stood by Ishii, brandishing her fists with a murderous face. However, Keiko did not give the finishing blow. She knelt down and adjusted her right shoulder.


    BAM!


    "ACK!"


    Ishii''s cry was heard as Keiko broke his remaining leg. As for the first one? It was already broken, bent several times at wrong angles, along with Ishii''s two arms. In fact, the punch just now was the finishing punch as Keijo broke the remaining intact limb of Ishii.


    "You... F*cker..."


    Ishii still managed to utter insults even in the extreme pain he was now feeling.


    "Like the feeling now?"


    Keiko asked Ishii as she grabbed his neck and lifted his limp body.


    Ishii choked in her tight grip, but his reply was surprising.


    "PTUI!"


    The bastard spat on Keiko''s face.


    Infuriated, Keiko mmed Ishii down into the frozen river. Blood spat out of his mouth as he lost all feeling in his lower body due to his now broken spine. How strongly had Keiko mmed him? The frozen river on his back formed a cracked crater.


    The cracks on the river copsed. Ishii fell into the freezing river.


    As he felt hisst moments, Ishii smiled as his mouth moved as he stared at Keiko, saying...


    "F*ck you."


    Ishii chose his death there, sinking in the frozen river. His body might be broken, but it was intact.


    But before he sank, a hand grabbed his neck, pulling him out of the water.


    Ishii tried to resist, but he had already lost all strength. And in thest moment of Ishii''s consciousness, he heard Keiko''s voice.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    "I''ll be the one to choose how you will die."


    And then, Ishii felt a strong, tugging force on his neck, forcing his eyes open. The tugging was reced by the feeling of falling as Keiko let go.


    Ishii''s eyes opened wider. Keiko threw his body like a ragdoll. And the destination was the two monsters fighting in the middle of the frozen river.


    Waves of mes scattered as the two monsters exchanged the impact of the des of their swords.


    Thest moment Ishii saw was the wave of mes enveloping his body. Just like the Demons the mes swallowed, Ishii turned to ash in that instant before his ashes were blown away by the strong wind of the blizzard.


    Keiko watched Ishii''s death in satisfaction. She could never forget the feeling when that bastard battered her legs before leaving her and Ren to die. And this time, she got revenge. Unfortunately, it was not the right time to celebrate. Demons were still everywhere. And the other members of Ishii''s group were still alive and kicking while resisting the attacks of the other members of ck Lotus like desperate mice.


    "Tsk!"


    Keiji saw the death of his loyal subordinate. Unfortunately, there was nothing Ishii could do as he was also in a desperate situation.


    The barrage of attacks from Ren was increasing. Keiji''s arms were beginning to feel numb from the number and strength of attacks he had to defend against.


    Keiji stared at his younger sister.


    How? Just how had she gotten this strong?


    Keiji had nothing but remorse at this moment. Not because he did not bring more effort into his sword but because he decided not to bring more people into this fray. Keiji might not have much talent with the sword, but he had more talent in bringing people to his side.


    CLANG!


    The sound of another sh between the sibling''s des echoed within the winds of the blizzard. But this time, Keiji lost grip of his sword, sending it flying, flipping in the air above Keiji.


    Keiji followed the trajectory of his sword in shock, forgetting that Ren had already swung another sh.


    This should be the end.


    CLANG!


    However, Ren was suddenly blown away as another sword appeared to deflect her sh.


    Ren slid through the surface of the ice before the spikes under her shoes took a proper grip. She raised her head with frowned eyebrows, looking at who interfered with her fight.


    There, a man in ck robes stood. His white hair and beard showed his age, and his stern face and unwavering eyes showed his experience. As he lowered the sword in his wrinkled hand, he faced Ren.


    "Greetings, Oujosama."


    The old man greeted Ren.


    And Ren stared at him with a hostile re.


    "Master."


    Master... Ishikawa Hideo. The old man was the person that taught Ren and every warrior within the Mitsui n, including the founding members of the ck Lotus. Albeit not carrying the n''s name, he was a direct member and an elder of the Mitsui n.


    "Get out of the way, Master."


    Ren said with her sights not on the old man but at Keiji behind him.


    "Don''t you think this is enough, Ojousama?" Hideo asked. "Your brother had already lost, and his men were all dying. It should be enough, isn''t it?"


    Ren finally turned her eyes toward the old man. And there, she replied.


    "Get out of the way, you old hypocrite. This is myst warning."


    "Hah..." The old man sighed and turned to Keiji. "Unfortunately, I can''t let the heir of the n die here."


    The old man then tried to lift Keiji, but the idiot resisted and yelled.


    "What are you doing?! Kill her!"


    However, the old man''s reply was to smack the daylights out of Keiji. He then lifted Keiji''s unconscious body.


    Holding a katana in his right hand and Keiji on his left shoulder, the old man looked at Ren.


    "I shall take my leave here."


    "Put him down."


    However, her reply was heard as Ren brandished her sword. Her katana released a faint glow which froze the old man in his tracks after seeing it.


    "You..."


    The old man sure was surprised as he felt an aura surging out of Ren''s body. And if it was not enough, Ren began transforming.


    Ren''s pupils turned into yellow slits, her canine teeth turned into fangs, and an insect-like carapace began forming all over her body, giving form to anotheryer of armor.


    Then, Ren''s face became covered with a carapace helmet, and her mouth was tucked behind what seemed to be insect mandibles.


    Behind Ren, her aura began to form, and an image of a ck-colored lotus could be seen.


    "I said..." Ren spoke, and the mandibles also moved along with her mouth. "Put him down!"


    Ren shed her sword forward, and everyone nearby trembled.


    The image of the lotus bloomed, and its petals made of Chakra shot toward the old man.


    In defense, the old man''s sword also glowed. However, it was way more unstable and could only be used to defend against the deadly petals that Ren shot forward.


    Still, in that one attack, the old man was left in tatters. There were forty-eight petals, and the old man barely managed to defend himself. Some of the petals hit him, leaving shallow wounds and shes on his clothes. Nheless, Keiji was left untouched by the petals due to the old master.


    Hideo stared at Ren. The old man was reminded of how Ren was a genius of the sword.


    At a young age, Ren disyed the lost art of Ninjas. The physical manifestation of Chakra. It was something that even Hideo. No. Not a single living Ninja in modern times... could replicate it.

 Chapter 1020 Twists, Finding The Unexpected Things Happening In The Background

    ?


    Day 341 - 12:20 PM - Sumida River, Kachidoki Docks, Kachidoki, Reimed City, Ruins of Tokyo


    Old Master Hideo looked at Ren, not minding his wounds. The woman before his eyes would be the new hope for the Ninjas, who had already lost prestige.


    Ancient Japan had its own deep roots. After the Gods and Deities of the Lost Era, they had Samurais, who fought bravely, and Ninjas, who wielded tricks and techniques of assassination and infiltration. However, in modern recorded history, there was something deliberately left out.


    Among those Samurais and Ninjas, there were individuals who wielded powers beyond norms. Samurais that could fight armies alone and Ninjas who could run above water were just a few of their feats.


    Unfortunately, not only were they left unrecorded in history and turned into myths, but all their arts and techniques got lost over time.


    During the era when Samurais and Ninjas were overpowering the war, a certain individual epted the influence of the West. The person gave power to the weak with the help of exploding powder and metal marbles. A power that even the most skilled Samurais and Ninjas could not resist.


    The war got overturned. And after that era, the weak ruled the country, and the powerful and skilled became suppressed. The weak took away the swords from the hands of the powerful. It became the start of the decline, and the arts and techniques of the powerful and skilled became lost in time.


    And if that was not enough, the weak started their own war. They overturned the powerful. They thought they could do the same to others.


    The result became recorded in history. It was a massive defeat with huge losses. And the consequences led to the country''s treasures bing lost away from their homnd.


    Very few managed to resist the decline. One such was the Isu n. Their strength was needed to fight the vicious Demons that could appear at any time. And it was also one of the sources of the Mitsui n''s envy since their Ninjas and Samurais had declined to the point of no return.


    Now, Hideo was witnessing the rebirth of the lost art of Ninjas. Unfortunately, it was the young miss of the n, the one that resisted the n''s methods.


    The one who turned her back on the n, which was filled with jealousy and greed.


    In the eyes of Hideo, it was such a pity.


    If the n did not cause Ren to leave, would not this achievement also belong to them? The revitalization of the declining Ninjas and the revival of the lost art.


    However, it was impossible now. The n tried to kill Ren. There was no chance of her returning even if he did give up on Keijii.


    "Such a pity."


    Hideo sighed as he repeated the words in his mind.


    And with a shake of the old master''s head, he decided to finish what he came here for.


    All of a sudden, the old master''s clothing inted like a balloon. And the sight of that caused Ren''s eyes to open wide. She immediately increased the output of her Chakra and sent another barrage of petal des at the old master.


    However, Ren''s [Lotus Bloom] was far from perfect. She might be able to fire one volley due to her strong emotions, but firing consecutive volleys would be hard. It was clear that her next volley would be weaker than the first one, and its activation was slower too.


    As such, the Hideounched his move faster than Ren. And following the intion of his clothes, thick smoke came out of his clothing. The smoke began spreading, covering arge area. The fact that his clothes were torn by Ren''s petal des just caused the smoke to be released faster and thicker.


    What was much worse was that the strong winds of the blizzard were unable to blow the heavy smoke away and helped spread it consistently instead.


    In just a few seconds that psed, a huge part of the battlefield was covered in blinding smoke. Both sides of the battle were affected, snatching their sight and sense of direction. The smoke covered half of the distance between the river''s shores, even covering arge part of the docks.


    Ren jumped back and stood outside the vicinity of the smoke. She had her sword lowered with a face filled with anger and dismay.


    "Damn... it..."


    Ren murmured while gripping her sword tighter.


    It was clear that she knew that Hideo had already escaped while carrying Keiji.


    Was there something Ren could do? Unfortunately, no.


    One thing that Ninjas were good at was escaping danger and fleeing from enemies. That was why one should not chase after a Ninja but ambush them instead.


    And Ren... Although she could already overpower her former master in a face-to-face fight, she was still far from reaching the full potential that Hideo had already achieved.


    After failing to get her revenge, Ren sighed and turned to face the Reimed City.


    "This isn''t over, you old bastards."


    Ren said, hoping to curse the hateful members of the family she had forsaken.


    It was not wrong that Ren wanted to chase after the old master. Furthermore, even if he hid while fleeing, they would ultimatelynd at a single destination. After all, the people could run, but not the house.


    However, besides her revenge, Ren had other important things to do. For example...


    Ren turned her head as she watched the dissipating smoke.


    The horde of Demons still trying to step into the Reimed City''s grounds.


    Ren brandished her sword once more. This time, it was aimed at the invaders.


    On the other side of the battlefield, all of Keiji''s followers had been dealt with by the members of the ck Lotus. Some tried to surrender, losing their will to fight after seeing the death of theirrades. However, the members of the ck Lotus were unforgiving ones.


    Following Ren''s steps, the members of the ck Lotus supported the good and absolutely detested the evil.


    No prisoners were taken among Keiji''sckeys. Despite their pleas and surrender, they were still traitors who sided with Demons to invade their homes. These traitors were not deserving of any chance to live.


    After killing thest of Keiji''s followers, the ck Lotus stood strong as they faced the Demon horde to their heart''s content, trying to protect their homes behind their backs.


    The defensive battle continued. Many among the Onmyojis had already fallen. However,pared to the thousands of Demons who had already died, the sacrifice of these brave souls was worth it.


    In the center of it all, the waves of mes continued.


    Mark and Shin exchanged swords in a deadlock of a battle. And in this situation, it was Shin who was the most perplexed.


    At first, Shin did not believe it. However, as Mark spewed the very same [Demonic mes] from one of his swords, Shin became certain of it.


    "How are you able to use Gar''m''s mes?!"


    Shin finally bellowed as he stared at Mark in a fit of confused anger.


    Not only was Mark able to fight face-to-face with Shin, who had already transformed. He also used the same mes. Of course, anyone would find it unbearable if they were in the same shoes as Shin.


    "Are you seriously asking me?" Mark frowned. "Do you really think I''ll answer?"


    There was ridicule in Mark''s tone. However, he was actually relieved to see Shin stop his attacks and ask such a question. It gave Mark a slight chance to pay attention to the other events happening on the battlefield.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    In fact, the sudden appearance of the elder that took Keiji away made Mark a little perplexed. It was because that elder was not here when the battle started. He just appeared suddenly and vanished just as fast. Mark could barely detect the elder''s movements, even with his [Empath] abilities.


    But then, the elder''s sudden interference meant one thing. The Mitsui n somehow managed to find out something was wrong with their ns and decided to retreat from the front lines.


    This made Mark wonder what the traitors would do. Would they flee from the Reimed City, or would they do something stupid. Mark wanted to know.


    But dealing with the Mitsui n would be forter. At this moment, Mark should focus on fighting Shin while waiting for the right time to push things forward.


    Mark was also keeping his attention to check on the girls constantly, monitoring the danger around them. Fortunately, they were fine. They were holding the defensive line on the docks pretty well.


    But as Mark continued to monitor the battlefield, he finally realized something odd. No, if this battlested this long and someone paid close attention to it, they would notice.


    Even if the Demons numbered around tens of thousands, a few thousand had already fallen in just about half an hour. Furthermore, not a single one of them was even able to set one foot on the docks.


    Then...


    Why were these Demons still running towards the Reimed City without hesitation? They would avoid immediate danger and fight to their deaths, but they would still continue toward the Reimed City. Furthermore, among these Demons, only about a third had actualbat prowess. Therge majority of them were Demons who could not even withstand a punch from Abbygale, who specialized in kicking.


    If that was the case, what were they doing? What drove them to attack the Reimed City without any regard for their lives?


    CLANG!


    Mark exchanged another bout of sword shes with the furious Shin. However, his attention was on something else.


    Due to therge number of Demons, he had been avoiding doing this. Since he was in the middle of the army of Demons, he had been sensing their emotions non-stop. He could feel their anger, their excitement, and their hunger. Nheless, Mark had yet to probe deeper into the source of these emotions.


    Mark''s [Empath] abilities began working to the maximum. He began probing the emotions of the army of Demons around him.


    And there, Mark shivered.


    Mark was expecting to feel stronger emotional fluctuations.


    But what was this?


    Mark''s eyes opened wide as he saw the blurry image of a giant creature. It was too blurry to make out any concrete details. In the least, Mark saw sixteen red eyes from it.


    The image of the monster loomed over the entire battlefield, connected to each Demon attacking the Reimed City.


    "What are you looking at?!"


    Shin''s furious yell snapped Mark from reality.


    The moment Mark came to, he saw Shin''s swords shing downward, forcing Mark to cross his swords and block the attack before pushing Shin back with force, causing his arms to glow red.


    Shin was taken aback by Mark''s sudden burst of strength. He was easily pushed away by Mark, who seemed to be out of it.


    ''What is going on?''


    Mark thought deeply.


    The n was to stall time and wait for Gar''m to interfere with the losing fight. However, Mark did not expect to see something like that.


    Mark slowly came to a conclusion.


    This invasion was not just driven by the hostility between humans and the other races. It was not just Gar''m''s ploy.


    There was somethingrger at y. Something more sinister.


    At this time...


    BOOM! BOOOM! BOOOM!


    Explosions suddenly urred amidst the army of Demons.


    "Their Defense Force is here!"


    Amihan''s voice, carried by the wind, entered Mark''s ear.


    As the center of the Demon army became engulfed in mes and explosions, Mark and Shin were forced to retreat.


    Within the coastal banks of Kachidoki and even Tsukuda, tanks and soldiers of the Defense Forces began forming their defense lines. They might bete. But at least they showed the power of modern weapons against Demons.


    ...Which was not very effective.


    The explosions managed to cause good damage, but many of the Demons could resist the bullets from guns of lower calibers.


    Nheless, the army arriving was quite a bit of help in dying the Demons while those who were capable finished the enemies.


    ***


    On the other hand...


    Hideo jumped from building to building, carrying the unconscious young master of the Mitsui n on his shoulder.


    "GASP!"


    A gasp was heard from his back, making Hideo know that the young master had regained consciousness.


    Hideo immediately found a safe rooftop where he could put the young master down.


    "Master... cough! Why did you?"


    Keiji coughed due to the pain in the back of his neck since the elder knocked him unconscious. Analyzing the surroundings, he already knew that they fled the battlefield. Still, Keiji was angry about what the elder did.


    "I''m sorry, but we do not have much time," Hideo sighed as he exined. "Something went wrong with the ns. The n Head is dead. Hemitted suicide to send us the message through the istion barrier."


    Keiji''s eyes opened wide.


    The n Head, Keiji''s father, was already dead.

 Chapter 1021 In The Isolated Space, A Scheme In Front Of Another Scheme

    ?


    Day 341 - 11:51 AM - Isted Space, Toyosu, Reimed City, Ruins of Tokyo


    Inside an empty void, the TEPCO Toyosu Building steadily stood.


    With the machinations of the traitors, the massive building and its immediate vicinity were engulfed inside the isted space. The building remained intact. However, everything outside was nothing but an empty void.


    Inside the isted space, there was no sun. There was no light.


    There was only darkness.


    The electricity was cut off. The building''s staff, still confused, hurried to the basement with the flimsy light sources in their hands in order to return the light within the building.


    Inside the conference room where the Alliance Meeting was ongoing, the representatives of the Reimed City were in utter panic. Their private guards and escorts immediately jumped to secure their bosses. However, due to the sudden darkness, it was questionable if they would be able to do anything if something bad did happen.


    Everyone in the meeting waited in silence as instructed by their guards and escorts.


    And then...


    BAM!


    The lights returned. Unfortunately, powering up the whole building with a few generators would be impossible. At least, lights returned within the important areas of the building.


    One such area was the conference room.


    Once the lights returned, the voices of the representatives also returned.


    And when the staff of the building arrived at the conference room, they were immediately bombarded with questions.


    "Why did the lights go off?"


    One of the questions was such.


    But to the confusion of the representatives, the staff was unable to give a direct reply.


    There was one thing that everyone inside this room did not manage to see.


    The conference room chosen for the alliance meeting was one without a window. It was not surprising. Everyone inside this room was just as important as the agenda of the meeting. This room was chosen to ensure that no attacks from outside could endanger the representatives.


    And since it was far more secure inside this room during the sudden power outage, none of the representatives had gone out at all until everything was deemed safe.


    But due to this same fact, everyone inside failed to notice the happenings outside.


    After failing to answer the question imposed on them, the staff told the representatives to go out and see what was going on outside.


    And just as they stepped out of the conference room, the ss wall in the hallway already disyed the void surrounding the building.


    "What is happening?"


    That question came out of the mouth of one of the representatives. A question filled with fear and uncertainty.


    But then, an answer unexpectedly came.


    "It''s an isted space," The Mitsui n Head, Mitsui Kinjiro, spoke as he turned to the Empress. "Tamamo-no-Mae knew more to this, I believe."


    It was an inquiry without an ounce of respect. Mitsui Kinjiro even called the Empress by her name.


    At those words from the Mitsui n Head, the Empress let out a frown on her beautiful face. Even so, she answered.


    "It is an isted space created using an artifact in order to confine something within that space."


    As the Empress exined, the faces of the representatives slowly became suspicious of her. All of this suddenly happened, and she knew the reason. And given that Auraboros was a hostile organization, it was not wrong to suspect that the alliance was just a ploy in order to gather the people with the highest authority in the Reimed City and confine them.


    However, before the suspicions took a deep root in their hearts, the Priestess spoke.


    "This is unexpected, Kinjiro," The Priestess spoke as if she was talking down to a child. "Howe you knew of that information?"


    The Priestess turned to the Empress.


    "That is top secret information, am I right?"


    "Yes," The Empress nodded. "It is top secret information that barely a handful of people knew, even within our organization. To know of such information is impossible unless someone of the same position as I do, told him. So far, I never told him about that. And there is only one other person in this country where he could get that information."


    The Empress looked straight at Mitsui Kinjiro.


    "It is Gar''m. The leader of the Demons of the North."


    When the Demons of the North were mentioned, everyone''s eyes immediately shifted to the group from the Mitsui n.


    Every representative here knew the main reasons for this alliance between the Reimed City and the Auraboros Japan Branch. First was because of the current state of the country overrun by the [Infected] and Alien Robots. The second was the Demons that gathered in the North led by the faction of Auraboros, who were against the alliance and wanted to eradicate the humans in this country.


    The leader of that hostile faction of Demons was Gar''m.


    It meant that the Mitsui n had contact with Gar''m or his associates, where they could have possibly learned of this information.


    But... The suspicions rose.


    The Mitsui n had contact with the Demons in the North. Rather than just information, it became more likely that they were the ones responsible for this isted space.


    And to their suspicions, Kinjiro...


    "Hahaha. That''s right. It''s our work."


    Mitsui Kinjiro did not deny it and admitted it immediately.


    "What are you saying?!" One of the representatives shouted. "You and your n are betraying the country? Why? What''s your reason?"


    "Reason? It''s something you had nothing to do about."


    Kinjiro shook his head.


    "You..."


    That representative seemed to be seething with anger and anxiety. They had no idea what in the world the Mitsui n was nning.


    And then, Kinjiro turned to a certain person.


    "Prime Minister, you''ve been awfully quiet. Your answer had been long overdue."


    At those words, the representatives turned to the Prime Minister, who was gripping his fists tightly.


    "Prime Minister..." One of the representatives looked appalled. "You''re in cahoots with the traitors..."


    "I''m not!" The Prime Minister immediately denied it. "They... They tried to win me over."


    "Prime Minister..."


    That voice from one of the representatives sounded like they had lost trust in the new Prime Minister.


    The Prime Minister then sighed.


    "I knew of their betrayal... And I''ve been indecisive about it... I didn''t do anything... I''m sorry."


    As Mitsui Kinjiro had said, the Prime Minister''s answer had been long overdue. The Prime Minister did not give in to their temptation. However, he was also afraid and did not do anything.


    At this time, everyone was now sure of the Mitsui n''s collusion with the Demons.


    "Guards! What are you doing? Capture them immediately!"


    One of the politicians present ordered the guards to capture the traitors.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    However...


    "What are you doing?!"


    The politician shouted as the guards he ordered began restraining him.


    "Shut up."


    The guard that grabbed the politician spoke as he pointed a pistol at the politician''s head.


    "W-what..."


    The politician shivered as he felt the cold barrel of the pistol too close to his forehead.


    And it was not just the guard. One after another, the private guards the representatives brought with them began restraining the people they were supposed to protect.


    Of course, these people would not take it lying that easily. They began arguing with the guards and even tried to threaten them.


    Amidst their protests and defiance toply...


    BANG!


    A single gunshot to the head of one of the representatives was more than enough to shut the rest up intopliance.


    That representativey on the ground as blood flowed out of the gunshot wound on his forehead.


    The representatives and the politicians were restrained without a hitch. The only ones left were the groups of the Priestess and the Empress.


    "I believe you two know where this is going."


    "Are you going to kill us?"


    The Empress said with a tone of ridicule.


    However, Mitsui Kinjiro and the elders were unaffected by her provocation.


    "I know we are no match for you two. However, it''s better if you two shut up and cooperate."


    Then, Kinjiro opened his coat, revealing a strange vest underneath it.


    "Because you two can''t kill me either."


    There, the vest had vials attached to an explosive detonator. Inside the vials, a strange thick ckish smoke could be seen churning.


    "[Miasmic Poison]..."


    The Empress recognized the smoke inside the vials. It was a form of [Miasma]. However, unlike the [Corruptive Miasma] that would convert almost anything and grow uncontrobly, [Miasmic Poison] would make the magical energy of people it touched berserk. The higher the magical energy of an individual, the more damage it could cause. And to humans who barely had any magical energy, it was more or less a deadly poison.


    This type of [Miasma] would likely not kill the Empress and the Priestess. However, since their magical energies were immense, it would cause irreparable damage to them.


    "The moment my heart stops, this will explode."


    Kinjiro said with a smile.


    "What do you want us to do?"


    The Priestess asked with a frown.


    "Order all your people inside this building to stop any resistance. Then, go back inside the conference hall and stay put."


    Mitsui Kinjiro only needed to confine these two until the Demons conquered the Reimed City. After that, everything about the Empress and the Priestess would be left to the Demons. Still, Kinjiro and the elders were expecting some resistance from the two powerful women.


    However...


    "Is that all? There is no problem then," The Priestess readilyplied as she turned to the Empress. "Do you have any problems?"


    The Priestess then shook her head. And without saying anything out loud, she contacted her subordinates toply with the Mitsui n''s demands.


    At the same time, the Priestess took out a talisman. It made the members of the Mitsui n raise their weapons. However, it was just amunication talisman. Due to the isted barrier, she could only contact her people inside the building. Nheless, Kinjiro and the elders still took their stance.


    Nheless, what the Priestess did was nothing but instruct the members of the Temple inside the building not to resist.


    It did not take long, and Kinjiro received a report from his subordinates within the building. All of the people under the Priestess and the Empress surrendered without resistance. The two women, with the representatives and politicians, were also confined within the conference room.


    The elders signed in relief. The targets were cooperative, and the ns were going smoothly.


    However, it was going too smoothly that it was appalling.


    Both the Priestess and the Empress were willing toply just like that? It was too good to be true.


    At this time, Kinjiro looked at the dead body left outside the conference room.


    "Get rid of this trash. Throw it outside."


    Kinjiro ordered one of his men.


    The body was dragged out and thrown inside a dumpster behind the building. Thrown away like trash.


    This time, no one realized. After the dumpster was closed by the disgusted grunt that threw the body away, the corpse turned into a piece of paper cut in a humanoid shape. The paper had a hole through its head part, reflecting the gunshot that killed the representative.


    Fifteen minutes passed after the confinement. Kinjiro would personally check on the prisoners inside the conference room.


    And the prisoners were strangelypliant. Nheless, nothing else seemed weird. The representatives seemed to be afraid, which could be the reason. But the Priestess and the Empress just sat on their chairs in silence.


    After checking on the prisoners, Kinjiro tapped on his chest, feeling the vest underneath his suit. He was prepared to die to fulfill this mission. Nheless, he would not want to if he did not have to.


    Still, Kinjiro kept feeling that something was not right. As he was a person who would not trust people unconditionally, he personally began checking ces that could be the source of his strange feeling.


    First was the boundaries of the portal outside the building. Kinjir also went to check the core of the artifact that was nted and hidden inside the basement. He also checked the people guarding the vital parts of the artifact''s formation.


    However, Kinjiro saw nothing wrong. Maybe, he was just being anxious. And to erase this feeling, he chose to smoke one stick of luxury cigarette he managed to get hold of the other day in an auction.


    Kinjiro finished the cigarette as he reached the back of the building without seeing anything wrong. Not finding any trashcan to throw the cigarette into, his eyesnded on the dumpster.


    The subordinate reported throwing the dead representative in the only dumpster behind the building. Kinjiro was unwilling to open it, but there was no other ce to throw the cigarette away without littering.


    As such, Kinjiro opened the dumpster. He should just close it immediately after throwing his trash.


    However, Kinjiro''s eyes opened wide as he did not see any trace of a corpse inside the dumpster. The first thing he thought was that it could be a different dumpster. But the report he received clearly said that there was only one dumpster here.


    And then, his eyes grew wider. Kinjiro reached into the dumpster. Something he never knew he would do.


    Kinjiro took out a piece of paper cut into a humanoid shape with a torn hole through its head from inside. Remembering the same area where the representative was shot, it was the same part where the hole on the humanoid paper was.


    The odd feeling Kinjiro had intensified.


    Without further ado, Kinjiro ran into the building and into where the building staff was being held.


    And to the surprise of his subordinates, Kinjiro rushed into a staff member and beheaded the poor guy with a single swing of a katana.


    But when everyone watching expected a corpse, the headless staff member suddenly disintegrated, leaving a piece of human-shaped paper with a cut neck. The staff member''s head also turned into paper.


    "Kill them all!"


    Kinjiro ordered his men, and all the staff members of the building were beheaded while trying to resist.


    However, all of them turned into beheaded pieces of human-shaped paper.

 Chapter 1080 A Quick Transaction, Casting the Bait to Lure the General

    Chapter 1080 A Quick Transaction, Casting the Bait to Lure the General


    Day 359 - 12:19 PM - Kudus, Kudus Regency, Central Java, Indonesia


    Mark watched the situation silently while pulling the rest of his group behind Luna and the others. He did it to observe the situation first before making his move. And what he would do would depend on the people the military sent.


    In the first ce, Mark did not have any n to make Luna and her group take responsibility for who killed the [Fog Crawler]. While letting them take the glory would raise the Moon Chaser''s reputation, it would also put them in a difficult situation. If it came to a point where the [Fog Crawlers] began attacking the fortress, the people would bring the Moon Chasers to the front lines. There, Luna and her group would only face death in their current state.


    Letting the Moon Chasers take the me or glory for what the Evernight did was not a good thing from the start. In the first ce, Mark only gave the remains to Luna''s group but never told them to cover for his group.


    Mark looked at Luna''s back.


    ***


    Luna had a few ns in mind, for sure. She wanted to take the responsibility for bringing back the remains of the [Fog Crawler].


    However, it was not because she wanted glory. Luna had already discussed it with her friends. The Moon Chasers had already experienced a lot in this ce and knew many things. Given the abilities and capabilities Mark''s group had shown, they would surely be the target of the snakes lying in wait. They wanted to shield Mark''s group from the eyes of those snakes.


    Luna had already prepared a few lies and excuses to say about the death of the [Fog Crawler]. Although these lies would notst, everything would be fine as long as they had already sold the remains.


    What was outside Luna''s calctions was this crazy scientist. His behavior and appearance might look crazy, but none of his deductions were wrong.


    Due to the crazy scientist, Luna was unable to proceed with the lies she prepared beforehand.


    "It''s us. We killed it," When Luna was at a loss for words, Mark''s voice echoed in everyone''s ears. "We just don''t have a use for it, so we gave it to them, but it''s us who killed it."


    Everyone turned to Mark as he grabbed everyone''s attention. He then walked forward with every one of the Moon Chasers making way for him.


    "And you are?"


    General Wijaya asked as he stared at Mark while racking his memory. However, he was sure that Mark was unfamiliar to him.


    But then, Captain Timur stepped closer to the General and spoke.


    "He is from that group," Captain Timur then looked at Mark''s group, who wore simr-looking robes. "They seem to be from outside. They arrived earlier together with everyone here."


    Captain Timur''s words surprised General Wijaya and those listening around them.


    ''There were still people living outside the fortress?''


    Everyone had the same question in their minds.


    Given the situation within Indonesia, everyone was sure all the remaining people in the country were within this fortress. Although they were still unsure about the situation on other inds, at least, this was the fact in Java.


    But now, a group of people from outside came. And it was not just a simple group. It was a group of people with beasts amidst their ranks and imed to be the ones to bring down the nightmare known as the [Fog Crawler].


    General Wijaya tried sizing up Mark and his members. What surprised him even more was that the opposing group wasposed mostly of females with even four children with them. This kind of group lived outside. They even brought down something the military could not. It felt unlikely.


    But as General Wijaya focused his attention on Mark, he felt the same feeling as Captain Timur.


    This person was no mere survivor. This stranger was a dangerous individual. Why could they say so? Could it be because General Wijaya and Captain Timur could feel something strange about him? No, it was the exact opposite. It was because they could not feel anything from him at all. Looking at this person was like staring at a predator stalking his unknowing prey.


    If this person was like this, then it was even more likely that there was no lie in his words.


    Mark could feel the General''s probing stare as he walked forward. However, he did not mind. This General was quite good. It reminded Mark of General Perez in Corregidor Ind.


    But, all of a sudden, a face blocked Mark''s sight.


    Mark stopped on his steps. The face of the crazy scientist was just an inch away from his. If one did not know any better, one would think the crazy scientist was trying to kiss Mark.


    "Are you alive? You''re not dead, right?"


    The crazy scientist asked Mark as he slightly backed away, to everyone''s shock.


    Mark looked at the crazy guy. This crazy scientist might behave weirdly, but he seemed to have an outstanding intuition.


    The [Blessing of Death''s Aura] would make Mark look weird to regr people, but those with a high enough level of intuition would question whether he was a living person.


    It was the first time someone asked Mark such a question. Even the Demon Diety of mes, Gar''m, did not notice this fact. If Gar''m did, he would not be as careless in front of Mark.


    "Take this idiot away."


    General Wijaya could only massage his forehead as he ordered his men to pull away the troublemaker.


    "HEY! MY QUESTION IS NOT ANSWERED YET!"


    The crazy scientist screamed as the soldiers dragged him into one of the trucks. Funny enough, he was notining about being dragged away but about his question being left unanswered.


    "My apologies about that idiot."


    General Wijaya said to Mark with an exasperated sigh.


    Then, the General extended his hand towards Mark.


    "Sus Wijaya."


    General Wijaya humbly introduced himself without his title as a soldier.


    "Mark. Just Mark."


    Mark returned the gesture and shook hands with the General.


    The General did not mind Mark just stating his name. Many people had already thrown away their surnames, while some even went further, like giving themselves different names and aliases.


    After the initial introductions, the General went straight to the point.


    "Is what you are saying true? You killed the [Fog Crawler]?"


    However, Mark shook his head.


    "Not me, we," Mark emphasized that this was not the work of a single person but his group. "We just have the means to do so. However, I won''t go into details here."


    General Wijaya observed Mark as he spoke. However, Mark did not show any hesitation or change of expression as he said those words. That aside, the General also understood what Mark was saying. Mark could say they killed it, but going into detail in public was just asking for trouble.


    "Do you have time? We can talk privately."


    General Wijaya offered. He was quite suspicious of Mark, but he was already at least eighty percent sure that the [Fog Crawler] fell by the hands of Mark and his group. The evidence was open for everyone to see, after all. The [Fog Crawler''s] head was here.


    And since it was very likely the truth, General Wijaya wanted to secure the information first before anyone else. Mark''s methods might greatly help the military and its people, but it would be bad if they fell into the hands of those who bear evil thoughts.


    However, Mark had a different idea.


    "Can we do thister? We just arrived here, and we''re tired. We only stopped by for Miss Luna to sell the stuff. If not, we would have already headed straight to their settlement."


    Mark spoke without being overbearing or disrespectful. What he said was the truth. Besides, it was not like Mark declined. He just said that they could discuss this stuff at ater date.


    General Wijaya looked at Mark and then at Luna. He then nodded. It looked like the Moon Chasers found a powerful ally this time. And it was a good thing.


    If Mark had not chosen to follow Luna and her group, General Wijaya would have asked Mark and his group to apany him instead and prepare dwellings for them. However, the 38th Settlement, a settlement prejudiced by a lot of people at the top, was one of the most honorable and powerful settlements in this ce.


    Many antagonistic parties wanted to erase the 38th Settlement and its allies. However, it was hard to do so because of their strength, not just as a group but as individuals.


    "Then, we can arrange a meeting some other day. I will send someone to inform you."


    General Wijaya decided.


    "That''s fine. I''ll tell the details at that time," Mark then spoke in a lower voice, which only General Wijaya could hear. "I''ll also answer questions you might want to know about the fog."


    General Wijaya froze as his eyes widened in disbelief.


    Even the scientists they had here in the fortress were unable to pinpoint the cause of that strange fog and why it could not affect Mount Muria in the slightest. Did this mysterious person know something about the fog?


    The questions inside General Wijaya''s mind started to pile up.


    General Wijaya snapped out of his stupor and wanted to ask Mark immediately, but thetter had already turned around with a yful grin.


    "Please settle the transaction with Miss Luna first," Mark said as he started walking. "Your questions will find answerster."


    lights¦­¦Ïvel Everyone watched as Mark said those words while returning to his group. They were all in disbelief as to how Mark could speak to the General on equal terms. After all, the position itself warranted fear from the masses. However, it seemed that General Wijaya''s position did not matter to Mark at all.


    Some felt strange, while some admired Mark''s demeanor. After all, many people would not feelfortable talking to people in high positions, especially armed soldiers.


    General Wijaya gave Mark onest nce before turning to Luna.


    "Miss Luna, how do you want to settle this transaction?"


    Hearing her name getting called, Luna immediately stepped forward.


    "We want to exchange this for an equal value of goods and equipment, if possible."


    "Alright," General Wijaya nodded and turned to his subordinates. "Quickly assess the price of the goods."


    The soldiers from the logistics and someb personnel came forward and began inspecting the [Fog Crawler''s] parts. Normally, these kinds of transactions would have fixed suggested pricing on the traded goods. It was especially the case formon creatures like the [Vine D''holes] and other mutated insect carcasses.


    But this time, it was different.


    It was the first time these people dealt with a [Fog Crawler]. Aside from the research value, they also had to assess the usability of its parts, especially the carapace.


    After a few minutes, the logistics came out with a negotiable estimate of the price. Normally, it would be the logistics who would handle the negotiation. However, General Wijaya stepped in. He raised the price higher than the estimate and offered it to Luna.


    Seeing the price that was higher than expected, Luna and her friends felt dizzy. This was the first time they had a transaction as expensive as this. With the amount given to them by General Wijaya, they could probably buy enough food to feed their settlement for half a month without needing to risk themselves to go out and hunt.


    "Is the price fine?"


    General Wijaya asked.


    "It''s fine! No problems!"


    Luna excitedly replied.


    Seeing Luna and her friends excited like little children, General Wijaya showed a faint smile.


    "Then, we''ll finish the exchange at ater date in the center," General Wijaya said as he took out a metal badge. "Use this to im the goods. That way, no one can steal it."


    This time, it was not just Luna and her friends. Even the soldiers felt the intensity of the situation.


    What General Wijaya had in his hand was his personal badge. It meant no one could im the goods in this transaction unless they had his badge.


    Luna was hesitant, but she was happy as she epted the badge. There were some incidents of im theft before. Even they became a victim of it twice. But now, it was impossible to fall victim to it.


    "General, is this okay? People might think you are giving preferential treatment."


    Captain Timur whispered to General Wijaya.


    "It''s fine," General Wijaya replied with a serious expression. "The [Fog Crawler]... It isn''t something our soldiers can handle. You know what this meant, right?"


    Captain Timur looked at Mark and his group, sitting silently with their ferocious-looking pets.


    The General was correct. This time, it was not the these people who needed to curry favors with the military and the government. It was military who needed to curry favors with people who could kill a [Fog Crawler].

 Chapter 1023 Possession, Resonation Of Evil Desires

    ?


    Day 341 - 12:27 PM - Mitsui n Ancestral Hall, Skyz Towers & Gardens, Toyosu, Reimed City, Ruins of Tokyo


    Within the few floors of the Skyz Towers & Gardens that the Mitsui n owned, the members of the n were in utter chaos. The fact that the n Head had died had already spread to the members.


    And within the room dedicated as the new ancestral hall, Keiji and a few elders stood. Within the center of the room in front of them, two jade figurines stood on an altar.


    These antique jade figurines forming a pair of an adult and a child were no regr items. Although these items might have a different appearance, enthusiasts of Chinese Novels should know about them.


    [Life Jades]. These figurines were artifacts known as such. A [Life Jade] connected to a person''s life force would show that person''s state whether they were in a dangerous predicament, still living, or if that person had died. Lower grades of these jades would shatter upon the death of the person linked to it. However, the [Life Jades] the Mitsui n had was a little different as it could be passed down and change owners.


    In fact, these [Life Jades] were acquired from China during the Second World War andnded in the hands of the Mitsui n afterward. Such artifacts did not exist in Ancient Japan, after all.


    The two [Life Jades] were extremely precious, and there was no way simr artifacts would be in cirction. It led to a decision that these jades would be passed down to the n Head and the current Heir. In the current n''s generation, the adult [Life Jade] was connected to the n Head''s, Mitsui Kinjiro, life, while the child [Life Jade] was connected to the current Heir, Keiji. The luster of the jades signified the strength of the life force of the two.


    But right now, the adult [Life Jade]cked any kind of luster. And aside from itscking appearance, there was a darker line on the adult jade''s neck, indicating the cause of the n Head''s death.


    The n Head was beheaded. And looking at the weirdly perfected nted cut that connected the chin and the nape, it was a coded message that could only be done by either being killed voluntarily or by suicide.


    And that message was...


    The Mitsui n must evacuate immediately due to danger that could cause its members to be utterly wiped out.


    Keiji gripped his fist tightly. He was raised as the embodiment of the Mitsui n''s ambitions. The ns they had prepared for so long had ws. However, the ws were negligible enough if everything was executed perfectly.


    So far, they followed everything step by step. Things should have been in their favor.


    The cooperation with the Demons was just the start. Trapping the Priestess and Empress at the right time, the Demons should not have faced any resistance due to the sudden invasion while everyone was focused on forming the alliance. The blizzard kept everyone from the streets, and an invasion that happened before lunch kept everyone''s stomach empty and made resistance even lesser, if there was any.


    Yet, instead of protecting the Priestess, the Onmyojis, Priests, and Maidens of the Temple appeared by the coast to deter the invaders. It was as if they knew from the beginning that an attack would happen. The ck Lotus, which should have been irreparably crippled as a Territorial Group, made aeback with their supposedly dead members returning alive and stronger.


    Ren, who Keiji was sure had died, returned in a way he could not fathom. He was sure she was dead. She was stabbed through her heart by Mako. Yet, the Master could only flee after being overpowered by the current Ren.


    What was happening? Keiji could not fathom where things went wrong. Generations of umtion of wealth and power were lost when the Apocalypse began. Once again, months of preparation to take over the Reimed City were for naught.


    Keiji trembled as an awful thought surfaced in his mind. He immediately turned around, leaving everyone in the ancestral hall.


    "Oniisama, where are you going?"


    A man, who looked like a younger version of Keiji, called out.


    Keiji turned his head. He looked at his younger brother, Mitsui Kenji. Kenji was not as involved in the ns, but he had his own capabilities in other fields.


    "Take the family away from this ce. I have something else to do."


    Keiji said to his younger brother as everyone watched, including their mother, Minamoto Akiko, the youngest sister, Sayuri, and the elders of the n.


    "What are you going to do?"


    Akiko asked her son, who had a grim look on his face.


    However, Keiji did not reply. Some people tried to follow him and persuade him to leave immediately with the others. Nheless, he was having none of it. Everyone could only stop after Keiji showed no hesitation as he pointed his katana at the servants and elders.


    At this time, the old Master, Hideo, spoke to the others.


    "All of you, just get ready to leave. I''ll apany the Young Master."


    Everyone left to prepare as Hideo followed silently behind Keiji.


    Keiji walked to the office of the n Head. Only he, the n Head, and another two elders could open the lock to this room. And that two elders were with the n Head, leaving this room untouched after all the chaos.


    And on a table at the south side of the room, a long case could be seen lying on an antique table.


    Keiji then opened the drawers in the n Head''s desk and found the box containing the [n Seal] inside. Taking the seal, he approached the long case and used the seal to open it.


    Hideo watched the Young Master in shock. There was no doubt what Keiji was nning. However, Hideo knew that this was for naught. No one in the Mitsui n had ever wielded that sword, and even Keiji initially failed to do so.


    The [Kusanagi-no-Tsurugi] was revealed from the case. A sword that had never been held for hundreds of years.


    Keiji held out his hand to the sword. The fact that he had been rejected by it before did not enter his mind. And, just like before, sparks of electricity were emitted from the sword. But Keiji was unwilling to pull back. He continued to try and hold the sword, and the sparks finally reached his hand.


    But a surprising thing happened. The sparks did not hurt Keiji. In fact, it attracted his hand like a ma.


    Hideo''s shock exploded when he saw the Young Master hold the legendary sword in his hand. The first thing he thought was that the Mitsui n still had hope.


    However, that hope was shattered as Hideo heard the words that came out of Keiji''s mouth.


    "If the n can''t have it, no one else can."


    Keiji''s eyes showed a darker hue. It was as if ck smoke was swirling within his pupils.


    And with those words, the sword resonated.


    The sword from the tail of the legendary serpent was not looking for a wielder. It was looking for a resonator.


    It did not want the Mitsui n''s ambition.


    It did not want the righteousness of the heroes that wielded it before.


    ...someone that had the same goals and ideals as its origin.


    It was looking for someone to cause chaos, just like its origin.


    It was looking for someone like the current Keiji.


    Strength surged within Keiji''s body. He then looked at his shocked Master.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    "Escape with everyone. I''ll create an opening."


    And without waiting for Hideo''s reply, Keiji ran towards the window. It was a bulletproof window, and this room was on the fortieth floor. Yet, Keiji shed through the bulletproof window and jumped off.


    Hideo rushed to the window and looked down to find the Young Master.


    BOOOM!


    A loud boom was heard even from the upper floors of the building.


    Unexpectedly, Keiji fell through that height faster than one would expect. And as the Hideo saw the Young Master, it was as if Keiji had manifested eight tails made of aura, which helped himnd safely.


    And there...


    Chaos ensued.


    Many people were evacuated in the streets. Not minding the snow, they were trying to get to the designated shelters due to the current emergency.


    But due to bad luck, some of them witnessed Keiji''s fall. That was thest thing they remembered as waves of energy tore their bodies apart. Their blood and flesh tainted the white snow by the streetside.


    "AHHHH!"


    Many people screamed in horror as they saw the people in front of them suddenly get torn to pieces of flesh.


    But those screams did not make Keiji stop. Those screams fed his desire to destroy everything in his path.


    Women? Men? It did not matter. No matter the gender, age, or even if it was human or not, Keiji began to reap every life his eyes fell onto. And the more life he reaped, the more the aura tails behind him take a solid, serpentine appearance.


    In just a few moments, more than a hundred lives were taken. One of Keiji''s eight tails had already turned physical. His right eye looked like a snake''s, and scales appeared over his right arm, which held the legendary sword.


    However, this was not enough.


    "NOT ENOUGH!"


    Keiji roared as soldiers in a nearby shelter responded to the ongoing chaos.


    "OPEN FIRE!"


    The soldiers immediately opened fire. What they were currently seeing was not the heir of the Mitsui n but a monster in the middle of the city.


    But to the shock of the soldiers, the ethereal serpentine tails protected the monster from the bullets. And as the monster waved its arm holding the sword, the air in front of them was torn apart, following the bisection of the soldiers in front.


    The soldiers shivered in shock and fear as they saw theirrades die without warning.


    On the other hand, the captain of the soldiers took a calmer stance.


    "Take cover! Weapons free!" The captain shouted. "Call the HQ for explosives!"


    Bullets were ineffective against Keiji. The only option left was explosives.


    But to the captain''s dismay, the RTO received a negative reply.


    "Sir! Most of the explosives are being transported to the docks because of the Demons! They approved to send explosives, but it will take fifteen minutes at the shortest because of the blizzard!"


    "F*ck..."


    The captain cursed. They were only here for the rescue of the civilians to the shelter. They were not equipped enough to fight a monster like this.


    It was a predicament for the soldiers and the people in the nearby shelter.


    "Men!" The captain shouted. "We''re holding the ground! We need to dy this bastard as long as possible! Our families are relying on us!"


    The soldiers were afraid. However, their captain was right. In the shelter nearby, some of their families were hiding. Falling back was not an option.


    "Brave..." Keiji sneered as he heard the shouts from the soldiers. "But bravery isn''t enough. Power... Strength... That''s what all matters!"


    Keiji roared. The soldiers felt the air shiver stronger than the blizzard''s wind.


    But as Keiji roared, a hole in space opened in front of the soldiers. Of course, the soldiers froze, stepping back and pointing their guns at the hole.


    However, the soldiers were surprised as a familiar figure came out of the hole. There was no way they would not know her.


    The supposedly dead leader of the ck Lotus.


    It was not only Mitsui Ren. A shorter girl came out of the hole.


    There, the soldiers heard the two girls speak.


    "I''ll leave you here," The short girl spoke to Ren. "I''ll be watching nearby, so I''ll pick you up if things get dangerous. Your brother turned into a monster, after all."


    "Got it."


    Ren said, gripping her sword and staring at her brother.


    The short girl then entered the hole in space before it vanished, leaving Ren standing between the soldiers and Keiji.


    "Onisama," Ren opened her mouth while facing the surprised Keiji. "You unexpectedly turned as hideous as your heart."


    "Y-you B*tch! RAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!!"


    Keiji roared as anger filled his heart.


    The second round between siblings began within the Reimed City.

 Chapter 1024 Disturbances, A Short Rest After The Arrival Of The Soldiers

    ?


    Day 341 - 12:23 PM - Kachidoki Docks, Kachidoki, Reimed City, Ruins of Tokyo


    Going back to when the soldiers arrived and joined the battle...


    Along Kachidoki''s coastline, the battle between the invading Demons and the JSDF ensued. Tank cannon shots roared, followed by explosions in the middle of the enemy army. Heavy caliber weapons were deployed as lower caliber guns could be resisted by the Demons.


    The fiery retaliation of the soldiers made up for their tardiness.


    However, there was one stupid problem.


    "I''m really sorry!"


    One of themanding officers was currently bowing his head in front of Mark.


    Why?


    The soldiers began their bombardment while Mark was in the middle of the enemies while fighting Shin.


    It was no secret that the Temple and the Government did not get along too well. As such, themunication between the two parties was quitecking.


    And thatck ofmunication and thepetitive nature of the soldierste to their supposed duty caused that ident.


    In the first ce, no one would expect a single ally to be in the middle of the Demon army. Nheless, there was no mistake that they attacked an ally due to neglect of propermunication.


    In any case, due to the arrival of the JSDF, Mark and his group got a bit of a leeway to rest. Even some of the Onmyojis retreated, dragging their injured bodies. The ck Lotus also retreated to the docks, recing Mark''s group in preventing the Demons from infiltrating. Ren also joined Mark''s group after receiving his signal.


    And now, Mark was receiving the officer''s apology after Tsubasained about the problem to the soldiers.


    "Haah," Mark replied to the officer with a stern stare and a sigh. "We have our ns, but I didn''t expect them to be ruined by you people."


    "And those ns are?"


    At this time, four people approached Mark and his group.


    Three of them were familiar to Mark. One was the receptionist that registered them in the bureau, Ishioka Rinka, and the other was the examiner and Rinka''s father, Ishioka Kenji. Thest one was the bear guy who guarded the bureau called Okii-san.


    The one in the center, the middle-aged man who asked Mark, was the one who was unfamiliar. He exuded an aura of someone with authority. He might not be abatant, but he must be some sort of a leader.


    "Sir!"


    The officer apologizing to Mark saluted the middle-aged man.


    However, Mark only stared at the middle-aged man without answering. It was when the man realized that Mark had no idea who he was.


    "Oh, pardon myte introductions. I am Kageyama Shigeru. The current Chief of the Bureau. And right now, acting asmander of these soldiers. And back to the topic. Those ns are?"


    "Chief,mander, or whatever, we have no reason to say anything."


    Mark said, not shrinking to the authoritative aura of Shigeru.


    "This would be a problem," Shigeru was not offended by Mark''s words and tried to reason. "If we are left out, how would the soldiers be able to cooperate? You had already said it. Your ns were ruined because we had no idea what it was."


    The n only involved the Auraboros, the Temple, and the Evernight. It was centered between the three leaders of the said groups. The ck Lotus was also involved, although they were more of an affiliated group.


    And this time, Ren, who was presumed dead by the people of the Reimed City, stepped forward.


    "The ns could have been shared if not for the fact that there are traitors lurking inside the city. There is no point in sharing it, only to spread it to the enemies."


    Shigeru had a point, but Ren had a stronger point. And even Shigeru had nothing to argue with that.


    "Mitsui-sama, you''re alive!"


    Rinka voiced out after seeing Ren.


    "Fortunately..." Ren smiled bitterly. "We almost got killed by my brother and the traitors in cahoots with them."


    Ren said it lightheartedly, but her words made the people in front of her freeze. She had just named her brother and n as traitors.


    Shigeru frowned after hearing the fact. He was about to confirm the details from Ren when his radio began acting up.


    "Evacuation to Command! Evacuation to Command! We have an urgent situation!"


    The voice from the radio echoed.


    "What is the situation?"


    Shigeru answered the radio.


    "A monster is rampaging in Toyosu! Presumably, the heir of the Mitsui Group! There were already casualties among the civilians, and the number is increasing. We are about to engage!"


    The message from the radio made everyone frown. It just confirmed what Ren had just said. Furthermore, Mitsui Keiji turned into a monster? The first thing that came into their minds was [Demonification]. The same thing that Shin had gone to.


    But before Shigeru could say anything, he could hear the panic on the other side of the radio as bullets were rendered ineffective against the monster Keiji.


    "We need to send reinforcements."


    Rinka said, and her father also agreed.


    "I''ll go," But Ren interjected. "We siblings still have a business to finish."


    Then, Ren turned to Mark.


    "Can I?"


    "Your choice," Mark said as he then turned to Spera. "Bring her to the location and support her. You know what to do next."


    "No problem."


    Spera nodded, finally getting into her own action.


    And before everyone''s shocked eyes, Spera opened the space in front of her and urged Ren to enter first.


    "W-what?!"


    Rinka was the most expressive among the shocked audience. Unfortunately, there was no time to lose. Soon after Ren, Spera jumped into the portal, and it immediately closed.


    Shigeru''s entourage looked at Mark''s group. The more time spent with them, the more they be mysterious.


    "Is she a [Esper] with portal ability?"


    Shigeru asked, looking at the empty space where the portal was before.


    However, Mark shook his head.


    "Not an [Esper]. A [Psycast]."


    Of course, Mark''s words did not make sense. In the first ce, what in the world was a [Psycast]?


    Unfortunately for the confused group, Mark''s most annoying trait kicked in. He did not try to exin anything further, leaving them utterly confused and annoyed.


    In any case, Shigeru radioed in for reinforcements for the soldiers in Toyosu. He did not know whether Ren could stop Keiji. It was better to be prepared.


    At this time, Tsubasa chimed in.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    "What are you going to do with this?"


    Tsubasa pointed at a restrained individual that Mark grabbed while retreating from the explosions.


    Sitting behind them was the [Yuki-Onna] Tsubasa was fighting before, currently struggling with the bidings on her body.


    Actually, Tsubasa was a little perplexed by Mark. She was having a hard time fighting this [Yuki-Onna]. However, Mark just grabbed the enemy without having much trouble. Just what were her struggles for?


    However, Mark answered by pointing at the sky.


    It was when everyone noticed that the sky was slowly beginning to clear up. The wind from the blizzard was getting weaker, and the snow was beginning to stop.


    This meant that the cause of the blizzard was this [Yuki-Onna]. And now that Mark restrained her, the blizzard began to stop.


    But still... Tsubasa could not see any reason to capture her. Immediately killing her was far more efficient.


    However, Mark could not exin immediately. From hismunicator, Spera''s voice could be heard.


    "Spera, you two arrived?"


    Mark spoke through hismunicator.


    Thatmunicator took the attention of Shigeru and his entourage. It was because Mark''smunicator was far from being a phone or a radio. Themunicator in his hand was just a thin credit card-sized object. It was about a centimeter thick, but the item in his hand was still small enough to perfectly fit in a pocket.


    Mark did not bother with the guests as he listened to Spera.


    "We arrived. I dropped Ren off in front of her brother and retreated to a safer distance. But something isn''t right."


    "What is?"


    Mark asked.


    "I don''t think Ren''s brother is turned into a Demon. This is something else."


    Spera then began exining what she could see at Mark''s orders.


    And from what they were hearing, it was as if Keiji had turned into something that was neither human nor Demon. Spera had been with Demons and non-human beings since she obtained her powers. It made her a little familiar with the auras and magical energy of such creatures if she was able to feel it. And from her statement, she had never felt anything simr to the aura Keiji was currently emitting.


    But then, Spera dropped a bomb.


    "If there''s something closer to what Keiji is right now, it would be Chimetrice."


    Unfortunately, Spera could not give any further exnation as to what she was feeling. After all, she was not an expert in that topic. It was all her gut feeling.


    "Is Ren okay?"


    Mark asked.


    "She''s still fine, but..." Spera replied. "I don''t think she will win this round."


    The second round between the siblings seemed to be a turnaround.


    "Make sure to help her in a pinch, alright? We can''t have her dying."


    Mark reminded Spera.


    But then, when Mark was talking with Spera, someone suddenly appeared, surprising Shigeru and his entourage.


    A woman appeared out of nowhere, and none of them noticed where she came from. But the guests confirmed something. The woman wore the same kind of armor that the Evernight was wearing. She had a differently styled armor that seemed to be specialized in mobility. Unfortunately, there was no way to recognize her since her face was also covered with a mask.


    And without the woman saying anything, Mark spoke.


    "You want to help?"


    And the woman nodded.


    Mark shrugged and gave Spera another order. It was to open a portal to let the woman reach Spera''s current location.


    Mark then spoke to the woman.


    "Be careful there. You''re already one of my people. You can''t die without my orders."


    The woman nodded at Mark''s words and entered the portal.


    Shigeru and the other people around watched Mark''s group. Their group sure was unfathomable.


    This time, probably getting fed up with Shigeru''s stares, Mark spoke to Shigeru.


    "Don''t you have an army to lead, actingmander?"


    Shigeru nced at the battlefield.


    "The current situation can be handled by the officers. Unless there''s a major change in the flow of the battle, my meddling would be unnecessary."


    Shigeru was not just shirking his duties. It was true that while it was a bit tough, the soldiers already managed to stabilize the frontlines.


    But as if mocking Shigeru''s words...


    ROOOOOARR!!!


    A loud roar was heard in the middle of the frozen river.


    No... It was not in the middle...


    It was under the frozen river.


    CRASH!


    The frozen surface of the river shattered, creating arge hole.


    And from that hole, a skeleton towering about ten meters surfaced slowly. It was not just a giant skeleton. All its bones were actually umtions of tightly packed skulls belonging to different creatures.


    "Looks like they will need yourmands now."


    Mark said to Shigeru, hoping that this guy would leave already.


    Maybe, because of the giant skeleton and because Mark was clearly not weing him, Shigeru left tomand the soldiers.


    However, while Ishioka Kenji and Okii-san followed Shigeru, Rinka stayed behind. There was no particr reason why. It was just that she was unneeded from where her father was going.


    Ignoring Rinka, Mark was also not intending to idle around.


    Mark had another reason to bring this [Yuki-Onna] here. It was because all the Demons in this battle were behaving strangely.


    In fact, this [Yuki-Onna] continued to struggle, trying to free herself from her restraints. It was to the point that her pale skin was already getting bloody marks from the bindings on her arms and legs.


    The [Yuki-Onna] was clearly not in the right mind. She may be a Demon, but behaving like a rabid animal was really strange. In fact, it would not be strange if she began talking to Mark, who restrained her. But, so far, all that Mark heard were growls.


    As such, Mark decided to try something.


    Mark then held out his right hand, covering it with a milky-white glow.

 Chapter 1025 A Manipulative Haze, Preparing For The Second Round

    ?


    Day 341 - 12:26 PM - Kachidoki Docks, Kachidoki, Reimed City, Ruins of Tokyo


    Mark was pretty bothered about the unusual state of the Demons. Not to mention that sixteen-eyed silhouette he had seen after closely assessing the emotional state of the invading enemies.


    There was something in the background that was beyond the knowledge of Mark. Even the Priestess and the Empress might not know about this either. If they did, or at least suspected to, they would have shared it in order to add it to their ns and schemes for this scenario.


    But, no. The two leaders of the most powerful groups in current Japan clearly had no idea.


    If Mark did not notice something was wrong, they would have been left out in the dark until it was toote.


    Although the army''s arrival did interrupt Mark''s battle with Shin and the n to drag out their fight, it gave Mark the opportunity to grab the [Yuki-Onna] out of the battlefield and investigate something.


    Why the [Yuki-Onna] out of all the Demons? Considering the possibility that this [Yuki-Onna] was the same in the myths, then she would not be entirely hostile to humans. After all, that [Yuki-Onna] married a mortal and even had children with him.


    And even if Mark was wrong and this [Yuki-Onna] was different from the one from the myth, it should not matter. [Yuki-Onnas] should have enough intellect to converse with humans, unlike some Demons who only rely on their instincts and regrets.


    But seeing the current state of the [Yuki-Onna], not only Mark, even Tsubasa noticed that something was wrong.


    After getting captured, the [Yuki-Onna] could havemunicated, begged, or even tried to threaten Mark''s group to free her. But that was not the case.


    The [Yuki-Onna] just struggled to try and free herself from the restraints while growling and snarling like an animal.


    This scene was not how a [Yuki-Onna] was supposed to behave in this situation. Tsubasa knew that much.


    Thus, Mark decided to try something.


    The familiar milky-white glow covered Mark''s right hand. And then, he gently grabbed the head of the struggling [Yuki-Onna].


    At first, the [Yuki-Onna] became even more violent. Unfortunately, she was unable to remove the special restraints constricting her.


    Mark continued to hold her head despite her struggles. The growls and snarls then turned into screeches that were quite painful to the ear. However, Amihan was fast to react and sealed the voice of the [Yuki-Onna].


    After a minute or so, the [Yuki-Onna] fell silent.


    Seeing the change on the [Yuki-Onna], Mark could hear Tsubasa.


    "No way..."


    Tsubasa seemed really surprised for some reason.


    Then, a gray haze was released from the [Yuki-Onna''s] body, making everyone except Mark take a step back.


    Seeing the haze, Mark was surprised. Not because no one expected such a thing to happen, but because Mark felt the haze familiar.


    Without hesitation, Mark used his left hand and waved through the haze, hiding the fact that he was absorbing it with his [Miasma]. The haze was sucked smoothly into his hand. There was no doubt. The haze was a different form of [Miasma].


    It was different from Mark''s [Miasma], which could corrupt and absorb. It seemed to be something that could affect the mental state of those affected. And possibly, even control the affected individuals.


    But most importantly...


    The conversion rate after Mark absorbed the haze was pretty high. By the looks of it, Mark was able to absorb around seventy percent of that [Miasma] into his own.


    Mark was appalled. Did the Demons in this invasion release this haze once they were killed? No, Mark was sure they did not. If the Demons did, he would feel it since many of them died around him during his sh with Shin.


    It meant that it was very likely that this haze would only be released when the Demons were freed from its influence, just like the [Yuki-Onna] in front of Mark.


    After the haze came out of her body, the [Yuki-Onna] became calmer. However, she fell unconscious immediately afterward. As Mark''s eyes glowed with a reddish sheen, he observed the [Yuki-Onna''s] mental fluctuations. The aggression was gone for sure. Unfortunately, it seemed to have taken a huge toll on her mind and spirit.


    Once this [Yuki-Onna] regained her consciousness, they could possibly get some answers about what was happening with the Demons. For now, they should concentrate on repelling the invasion.


    After Mark took his hand away from the [Yuki-Onna], Tsubasa could not help but ask after seeing the results of Mark''s actions.


    "A-are you a [Spirit Healer]? How is this possible?"


    It seemed that Tsubasa was extremely shocked.


    In any case, Tsubasa was partly right. While Mark was not a [Spirit Healer], he did inherit an ability from his ancestor. An ability that could heal the damage that Spirits and Elementals incurred. Of course, it could also stabilize mental state and even affect damaged souls.


    However, Mark could not understand Tsubasa''s shock.


    "Is it a big deal?"


    Mark asked.


    "Of course it is!" Tsubasa eximed. "Magical Healers which could heal physical damage were umon, but there was a significant number of them. However, those who had the ability to heal spiritual damage are basically one in half a billion. They are basically near nonexistent. These people are really rare and important that even a weak [Spirit Healing] ability couldnd a person into a very important position in any secret organization."


    "But you... How?" Tsubasa continued. "Not only your [Spirit Healing] seems powerful, but someone like your kind should not be able to wield that kind of ability."


    Tsubasa had a mix of surprise and confusion as she spoke. She never expected to see such a rare ability from Mark, not to mention that he was a Demon.


    "Hmmm," Mark was not hooked on what Tsubasa was saying. "Well, I know you are surprised, but better leave that forter."


    Mark then pointed at the frozen river.


    BOOOM! BOOOM!


    Explosions echoed loudly. Tanks were bombarding the giant skeleton with shells, but it was not getting much damage. The most the tank shells and explosions could do was hinder it from moving forward.


    The giant skeleton aside, the army was dealing significant damage to the horde of invading Demons with the explosions. However, killing was the least of their intention from what Mark was seeing. It was because most of the explosions kept happening in the same spots instead of targeting the enemies.


    The results of the explosions finally began to appear. The sturdy magical ice covering the river started cracking open. While the cracks were still small, they would spread if the bombardment continued.


    And because Mark had captured the main culprit for the blizzard and freezing the river, the army''s actions should bear fruit soon.


    "Did Shin leave?"


    Mark took out hismunicator and spoke after pressing a specific button on it.


    And there, Mei''s voice replied.


    "He''s still there, on the other side of the river. On top of the ruins beside the bridge."


    The ruins beside the bridge. It was not hard to spot. Unfortunately, it was too far from Mark''s naked eyes or his [Empath] abilities to reach. He could not help but wonder if the other side could see him and his group here.


    Mark turned his head. From their current position, he could see the Bureau''s Chairman, Shigeru, as hemanded the soldiers. It looked like the n to shatter the frozen river was also his idea. It was a more efficient tactic than facing the horde of Demons head-on. If the frozen river was shattered, the Demons would lose mobility, and the only ones left to deal with were the flying ones, those that could swim, and the giant skeleton supposedly called [Gashadokuro].<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    However, would the Demons let that happen? They might have been under some influence, but they were still able to use their abilities. And in Japanese folklore and myths, the [Yuki-Onna] was just one of many Snow Yokais and Demons. Furthermore, there might be other [Yuki-Onnas] in existence.


    And just as Mark had thought, it would not be easy.


    The hole created by the emergence of the [Gashadokuro] and the cracks the explosions left began to reform. The water of the river was bing frozen solid once again.


    "Gege," Mei''s voice echoed from Mark''smunicator. "The ice freezing the river seems to be spreading from a group of Demons on the other side of the river."


    "How do they look like?"


    Mark asked.


    "They..." Mei hesitated as she was unsure of what she was seeing. "They looked like giant heads of old women. They have arms and one leg. But... I don''t see their bodies."


    "Hmmm..." Tsubasa chimed in. "[Yukinbas]. They are not too strong, but it is bad if they are in groups."


    "Shoot them."


    Mark gave Mei the order, and multiple muffled sounds of a sniper gunshot soon followed, swallowed by the sound of explosions and guns from the soldiers.


    Six shots for six [Yukinbas]. Mei made sure to kill the group in one go with her magically enhanced bullets.


    However...


    WOOOOOM! RUMBLE!


    A sudden surge of snow appeared out of nowhere from the other side of the river. It was an oddly controlled avnche, forming a thick wall of snow in front of the [Yukinbas].


    Mei''s bullets were unable to prate through the conjured snow. And failing to kill the group mending the frozen river, it was entirely frozen once more, rendering all efforts to shatter the ice useless.


    Atop the conjured wall of snow in front of the [Yukinbas], an old man in white clothes could be seen standing.


    "No way..." Tsubasa could not believe what she was seeing. "Even a [Yuki Jiji]."


    A [Yuki Jiji]. Another mythological being. Furthermore, he was a powerful creature, capable of conjuring snow and riding avnches. Worse, a [Yuki Jiji] was regarded by ancient Japanese people as an ancient mountain god. While he was not an actual god, the worship he received should have been able to give them stronger power.


    RUMBLE!


    Once again, the sky darkened. Another bout of blizzard winds and snow started. This time, the winds were stronger, and the snow was heavier.


    "This is getting annoying..."


    Mark said, grasping his sword once again.


    "Are we fighting again, Uncle?"


    Emika asked Mark. It was not only her. Even the two youngest were eager to rejoin the fight after a bit of rest.


    "Join the ck Lotus at the docks," Mark told the girls with a smile. "Same strategy. Don''t let any enemy through."


    With the order given, the girls readied to join the battle once more.


    "How nice," Rinka, who was watching them, spoke. "Even the children are fighting. I''m here only watching."


    Unfortunately, even if her father was one of the few [Rank 5 Ability Holders], Rinka was just a regr person. She was trained to hold a pen and not a gun.


    At Rinka''sment, Tsubasa smiled.


    "The thought is enough," Tsubasa said. "There''s a lot of people more powerful than you, but the same thoughts you have never even entered their minds."


    "But you know..." Tsubasa stood in front of Rinka, facing the frozen river filled with Demons. "There is still something you can do."


    "What is it?"


    Rinka asked.


    "Pray," Tsubasa answered. "A prayer not to the gods, but a prayer to send your beliefs to the people fighting. People think that such actions are useless. But to people like us... Such things are the best source of empowerment."


    Mark listened to Tsubasa''s words, and he agreed.


    Beliefs and worship. It was the source of power for those relying on religion and emotions to increase their abilities. It was the source of power for Deities and Gods. Why should it not be able to empower weaker beings? The answer was that it could.


    It was just that mortals had no way to receive and utilize it directly.


    But it was different for Demons and the like.


    Especially for Mark.


    With those thoughts in mind, Mark walked toward the docks with the rest of his group. But as he walked, he took out a talisman simr to what Tsubasa used formunicating with other Onmyojis.


    But the talisman Mark had was different. It could only contact specific people.


    And as the talisman glowed in his hand, Mark spoke.


    "Continue hiding, but send reinforcements to other coastal areas. Powerful Demons are beginning to appear. We''ll handle the ones in Kachidoki, but the other areas will be vulnerable. As for Gar''m, there''s no sign of him yet. It looks like he also had something in store, so we have to be careful."


    "I see..." A familiar voice entered Mark''s mind from the talisman. "We will continue hiding, but I''m going to monitor Toyosu. There''s a concentration of malicious energying from there."


    "Just monitor and don''t interfere if possible," Mark replied. "You''ll understand what is happening if you see it."


    "If you said so," The voice agreed. "But if the damage is too much, I''ll have to step in."


    "Your choice," Mark did not argue through the talisman. "Anyway, I''ll end it here. I still have work to do."


    Mark then deactivated the talisman and took out his swords. But this time, it was different. He stared at the other side of the river.


    Since the Defense Forces were bombarding the river, Mark needed to go further away from the river.


    "To the other side, then."


    Mark said as he finally spread his wings open. And there, he soared to the sky as the surprised soldiers gazed at him in awe.

 Chapter 1026 Corroding Mind, The Steps Of Keijis Malicious Transformation

    ?


    Day 341 - 12:3 PM - Toyosu Main Road, Toyosu, Reimed City, Ruins of Tokyo


    In the middle of Toyosu, the cold and snow did not stop the life and death battle between the siblings of the Mitsui n.


    The soldiers had be the audience while keeping the civilians away from the fight. It was the only thing they could do to help, as bullets were ineffective against the current Keiji. Explosives were an option, but if it was possible, the soldiers would rather not detonate explosives in the middle of Toyosu.


    That was why the soldiers were hoping that Ren could confront this danger.


    Unfortunately, Ren was actually in quite a difficult situation.


    Ren''s attacks were not causing any damage to Keiji.


    "Wah?"


    The soldiers voiced out their surprise and amazement as they saw arge ck-colored lotus manifest behind Ren.


    For the third time today, Ren used her most powerful technique.


    Ren charged at Keiji. At the same time, the forty-eight petals of the ck lotus behind her turned into des that began flying at her brother.


    The [Dance of the ck Lotus]. It was the name given to her current action. Attacking with her sword while petal desplemented her movements to attack her opponent.


    Even Hideo, the master of Ren and Keiji, had a hard time defending against Ren''s barrage of attacks supported by the petal des.


    However, Keiji, who was supposed to be weaker than Ren and their master, was able to defend himself against Ren''s attacks continuously.


    It was unlike what one would expect, though.


    Keiji was defending against Ren''s attacks neither with swordsmanship nor Ninja Techniques. It was...


    THWACK!


    The tails made out of the malicious aura surrounding Keiji''s body kept swatting away the petal des as if the des were just a bunch of annoying insects. It was while the Keiji shed with Ren''s katana using the strange sword in his hand.


    Ren had her petal des, while Keiji had his aura tails. One would think that it could be a draw.


    BAM!


    But it was far from the actual happenings. Just now. Ren was pushed away by Keiji after a brief lock between their des. It sent Ren somersaulting through the air beforending on her feet several meters away.


    In terms of technique, and agility, Ren was far above Keiji. Yet, he was pushing her back through sheer strength and absurd defense.


    As Rennded, she immediately shot her remaining petal des. They all flew towards Keiji while curving from different directions.


    But it was futile. Keiji swatted all of the remaining petal des. Not a single petal even hit his body.


    Ren panted. Trying to curve each petal was strenuous for her without any practice.


    Seeing that Ren could not get any advantage in their exchanges this time, Keiji was ted. And...


    "Ha... Hahahahaha!"


    Keijiughed out loud, causing the air around him to tremble.


    "Amazing! This is amazing! This power! Absolute power! More! I want more!"


    "MORE!"


    Keiji roared. The surroundings began to tremble.\


    "WHOOAH!"


    The soldiers cried out as they almost lost bnce. It was as if Keiji''s roar caused a strong earthquake within the immediate vicinity.


    Following the roar, the eight aura tails of Keiji became more and more physical in appearance. The serpentine scales that now covered his right arm, shoulder, and right cheek continued to spread.


    Keiji''s transformation was bing more and more solid. And at the same time, his mental state was bing more and more corroded.


    BOOOM!


    Keiji kicked the ground. Now that Keiji began to understand the new power surging in his body, he knew that Ren could not do anything to him anymore.


    It was time for Keiji to go on the offensive.


    However...


    "Die, you pests!"


    Keiji''s target was not Ren but the soldiers and the civilians hurrying to evacuate.


    The two siblings had different standings in this battle.


    Ren wanted to get her revenge while protecting the people. Although Ren wanted to kill Keiji, she could not disregard the people. This ce was now everyone''s home. If she had the power to protect it, she would, even if she had to temporarily halt her revenge.


    On the other hand, Keiji was theplete opposite. He carried the ambition of his n, and now their ns had failed. There was nothing for Keiji to value in this ce. For all he cared, everything would be better destroyed.


    Keiji did not need to fight Ren to defeat her. He did not need to attack her. While his strength increased, he realized Ren was still faster. She would definitely be able to dodge most of his attacks, prolonging this fight.


    If that was the case, then Keiji only had to make sure that Ren would have no choice but to receive his attacks.


    All these factors resulted in Keiji''s current actions.


    Was it an honorless action? Forcing his opponent by attacking innocent people? Keiji did not care about that. He was raised in the highest levels of the business industry. The level where trust and honor were thrown aside for the sake of nothing but profit.


    Even the slight thought of honor did not enter Keiji''s corroded mind as he charged at the soldiers with all his strength.


    Keiji''s action immediately received retaliation from the panicked soldiers. None of them expected Keiji to ignore Ren ande for them. As such, their attempt to defend themselves was quite a mess.


    But there was one thing that the soldiers did not do as they panicked. It was to leave their positions. Behind them were civilians and the evacuation center. They could not leave their post even a single step.


    Unfortunately, just like before, the soldiers'' bullets were ineffective against Keiji.


    "What do you think you are doing? Your opponent is here!"


    Ren appeared, running beside Keiji.


    "I know! Hahaha!"


    Keiji replied with a sinisterugh as he spun his body without slowing down, shing at Ren.


    "Urgh!


    Ren jumped to the side while parrying Keiji''s sword. She struggled to deflect the brunt of Keiji''s sh. It was clear how much his strength increased. However...


    "ACK!"


    Something hit Ren''s left nk, causing her to fly like a ragdoll.


    Ren was unable to see the attack as it came from her blind spot. However, the soldiers saw what had happened. Keiji spun his body, shing at Ren. But after she parried the sh and Keiji continued rotating his body, his tails bunched up together and hit Ren''s side like a giant whip.


    Keiji finally stopped in his tracks, watching Ren fall and roll, leaving a trail mark on the snow that nketed the ground.


    The snow cushioned Ren''s fall. It lessened the damage as she fell and rolled uncontrobly due to the impact of Keiji''s attack.


    Nheless...


    "KACK!"


    Ren coughed out as she stood up, staining the white snow with red blood.


    The single attack Ren received with her body rattled her organs. It probably was how it felt to be hit by a cannonball.


    Fortunately, Ren''s body was far sturdier than before. If she received this kind of attack before she almost died, she would definitely die on the spot.


    On the other hand, Keiji was displeased to see Ren stand up after receiving hisbined tail whip. It was not wrong to say that he was still getting used to his current state, and it was the best idea he coulde up with in the spur of the moment. Yet, it was unable to finish off Ren.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    Not believing how Ren was able to survive it, Keiji bundled his eight tails and smashed them on the ground.


    CRASH!


    The snow was immediately sttered everywhere, and the cement below was exposed with a basketball-sized crater. The attack clearly had destructive strength enough to kill a person in one hit. Yet, Ren lived through it and was still able to stand.


    Keiji charged at Ren, jumping and shing from above.


    However, Ren forced herself to dodge.


    BAM!


    Keiji''s sword mmed to the ground. It left a deep mark on the asphalt road, but it left the sword unscathed. Then, Keiji turned to Ren, who was still clutching her side.


    "Why..." Keiji spoke. "WHY ARE YOU STILL ALIVE!"


    Keiji charged at Ren once again.


    "We already killed you before! Why can''t you just stay dead!"


    After several attacks, Ren was still able to defend and dodge, but her movements were bing sluggish due to the umted damage.


    And finally...


    CLANG!


    Ren tried to parry another of Keiji''s attacks and direct its momentum away.


    But...


    CRACK! BAM!


    Ren''s sword was finally unable to hold Keiji''s strength and shattered.


    The semi-artifact weapon Ren received from Mark had finally sumbed to the opponent''s overwhelming strength.


    If Ren''s opponent only wielded a regr weapon or even something at the same level, her weapon would not end up like this. However, the sword in Keiji''s hand was not just some random weapon. It was a legendary sword, an artifact from the Lost Era.


    It was a sword obtained by a God from the body of another God.


    A weapon Ren received from Mark would not be able to withstand a true artifact''s strength.


    And Ren''s weapon shattering gave an opening for her opponent to attack.


    "HAHAHAH! DIE!"


    Keiji hystericallyughed as he tried to give Ren the finishing blow.


    However...


    A scent entered Keiji''s nose. It made his body feel sluggish, and his attack slowed down.


    This gave Ren the opportunity to jump back and avoid the next attack.


    "URG!"


    Keiji noticed something wrong as his eyes followed Ren.


    Right now, Ren''s body was beginning to be foggy, and a flowery scent could be smelled from it.


    It was Ren''s original [Mutator] ability. The [Lotus Scent]. A scent capable of paralyzing those that smelled it.


    Ren was unable to use it earlier. It was due to the fact that the strong winds from the blizzard would blow the scent away without control, which could possibly end up affecting both enemies and allies.


    But now...


    The wind began to let up, and the clouds in the sky were thinning.


    "This b*tch."


    Keiji realized what was going on and cursed.


    "This b*tch... THis b*tch... THIS b*tch... THIS B*TCH!!!"


    Keiji repeatedly cursed as fast as he could breathe.


    And as Keiji roared, another bout of transformation urred on his body. This time, he felt his lungs burning. This tongue turned forked and elongated, and the serpentine scales began covering another third of his face.


    "RAHHHH!!!"


    Keiji roared at Ren. And to everyone''s surprise, Keiji began spewing mes.


    It forced Ren to retreat as fast as she could, but Keiji did not care and spewed mes all over the ce to erase any trace of Ren''s scent.


    Ren''s scent was immediately rendered ineffective against Keiji.


    There was no doubt that Ren was running out of options.


    Ren began circting her energy inside her. It could at least ease the pain on her left nk.


    As Ren took out her spare tanto, she prepared for another sh.


    Ren would not retreat here. And she just needed to buy a bit more time. Her body was unlike before. She could heal the injury she received from Keiji in just a couple of minutes.


    Of course, that was if she had a few minutes to buy. Getting assaulted by a barrage of attacks by Keiji would not really help, even with her new healing capabilities.


    Only if someone would appear to buy time...


    BOOOM!


    All of a sudden, explosions urred around Keiji.


    Ren was surprised by the explosions as much as the soldiers nearby.


    And, of course...


    "WHAT?!"


    Keiji was also unprepared for such a surprise attack.


    The aura around Keiji managed to defend him from the explosions. However, it seemed that some of the fragments from the explosives tore through his defensive aura and left him with painful bruises all over his body.


    "WHO?!"


    Keiji roared as his instinct kicked in. He stabbed through the smoke left by the explosion.


    CLANG!


    A clear sound of weapons shing was heard there. But as Keiji followed up with another sh, the enemy already vanished within the smoke.


    "F*CK OFF!!!"


    Infuriated by the smoke, Reiji roared.


    The air trembled, and the smoke was blown away.


    And there, everyone saw a figure appear.


    A woman in full high-tech armor. She was armored from head to toe, disabling anyone from recognizing her.


    However, no one cared about her identity.


    At this moment, it was more than enough to know that she was clearly on Ren''s side to fight Keiji.

 Chapter 1027 The Armored Woman, A Secret Ally From The Mitsui Clan

    ?


    Day 341 - 12:29 PM - Toyosu Main Road, Toyosu, Reimed City, Ruins of Tokyo


    A new yer entered the game. And considering the dangerous position Ren currently had in this battle, it was fortunate that the yer was an ally.


    On the other hand, Keiji was infuriated. He lost the opportunity to end this farce, to finally kill his sister. Furthermore, he was actually hurt by the sneak attack even though bullets did nothing to him.


    Apart from appearance, there was something odd about this woman in front of Keiji.


    Ren stared at the armored woman''s back. While she did not recognize this person, she somehow felt she was familiar. What she realized, however, was that her armor was kind of simr to what Mark''s group had. In fact, the pieces of armor Ren was wearing had some resemnce to hers.


    The simrities between the armors meant one thing. This fully armored woman was sent by Mark to help Ren.


    Ren was about to request the woman to take the front for a while. The injury to her nk sure was pretty bad for her to continue a high-speed fight. However, it did not mean that she could not do anything. She could support the battle from behind using her petal des.


    But before Ren could even say anything, she was stunned.


    The armored woman had her left hand behind her back, sending hand signals to Ren to take the support role.


    Ren was not surprised by what the armored woman told her. What surprised her was that the hand signals used by the woman were exclusive to the Ninjas trained by the Mitsui n.


    Was this woman part of the Mitsui n? But who? Someone from the Mitsui n was under Mark''smand?


    Ren was really confused and curious about the armored woman''s identity. However, the only clue she could see was the woman''s height being a bit shorter than Ren''s. And if they were not in the middle of a dangerous battle, she would mull over it even more.


    The silentmunication between the armored woman and Rensted only a few seconds.


    After giving Ren her instructions, the armored woman dashed toward the furious Keiji. It was at the same time that Keiji also made his move.


    However, what Keiji did not expect, was that instead of taking out a close-range weapon to fight, the armored woman swiped her hand forward.


    A familiar weapon flew towards Keiji. It was a Ninja''s kunai. It was a small, ded weapon used for both throwing and as a dagger. However, the kunai looked strange. Considering their expertise, Ninja weapons were often in dark colored, if not just pure ck.


    But the kunai the armored woman threw had strips of white parts that exuded a faint glow even during daytime. It was an unconventional weapon for someone in their field.


    Nheless, Keiji did not care. Or rather, his corroding mind was bing incapable of caring about a trivial weapon. Bullets could not harm him. What could a measly kunai do?


    But it was an awful mistake.


    The kunai elerated as if it was a bullet with a triggered primer.


    And then...


    "What..."


    Keiji''s eyes, both human and serpentine, widened.


    The kunai tore through theyer of the aura surrounding Keiji''s body.


    Following the unexpected pration, the kunai exploded right in front of his face.


    "GACK!"


    Keiji made an unsightly voice as his face caught the brunt of the explosion. He was stopped on his feet and was even pushed a few steps back.


    The pain made Keiji cover his face. As he removed his hand, he noticed the reddish-ck blood that covered his hand, and his sight became limited.


    Keiji was confused, but everyone around saw his state. The blood came from Keiji''s eyes that had yet to transform. That one kunai deprived Keiji of one of his eyes.


    However, the armored woman was not done yet. She threw another kunai at the confused Keiji.


    This time, Keiji''s instincts kicked in. It was a littlete due to his confusion, but he still tried to avoid the next kunai.


    Just like the first one, the second kunai elerated mid-air. However, while it managed to prate the aura enveloping Keiji''s body, he was already out of the kunai''s trajectory.


    But there, an unexpected scene urred. The kunai exploded without hitting any target. The fragments from the kunai hit Keiji''s stomach, causing him more pain and wounds.


    What in the world was going on? That question lingered not only in Keiji''s but everyone''s minds.


    The pain in his stomach staggered Keiji, but its impact was lesser than the direct hit of the first kunai.


    Enraged, Keiji forgot the pain and faced the armored woman.


    But Keiji froze.


    Where was she?


    At that moment, Keiji lost sight of the armored woman. How was that possible? In terms of movement and speed, the armored woman was slower than Ren. Yet, Keiji did not lose sight of Ren even for a second. But the armored woman, who wore something that should stand out in the white snow-covered environment, could escape Keiji''s eyes and senses.


    BOOOM!


    "GAHACK!


    The question in Keiji''s mind was answered with the impact of another explosion on his back.


    Now knowing that the enemy was behind him, Keiji ignored all the pain in his body and whipped his eight tails around with a quick spin. The tails even elongated mid-swing, covering a wider area.


    The armored woman was forced back as Keiji''s attack covered over fight meters around him.


    Keiji finally locked onto the armored woman and controlled his tails to attack from eight different directions.


    However, the armored woman was not fazed. She immediately retaliated with another kunai thrown straight at Keiji.


    With the tails already mid-way, Keiji had no problems swatting the kunai with one of his tails. The kunai was hit to the side and flew away, strangely not exploding.


    But at that moment, Keiji''s serpentine eye widened.


    The armored woman was in front of him just now. But the trajectory of his remaining tails was met with an empty space.


    And then...


    Keiji suddenly shifted his body by reflex. Even so...


    BOOM!


    "ACK!"


    Another explosion urred, impacting the left side of Keiji''s back.


    The armored woman appeared on Keiji''s left side, and he had no idea how in the world that happened.


    However, it was not just Keiji. In fact, everyone watching was in confusion.


    They experienced the same thing as Keiji. They all saw the kunai get swatted by one of Keiji''s tails. And the next thing they knew, the armored woman was gone. They only noticed her again when the next explosion urred.


    How was this possible? Did this armored woman have some ability like teleportation?


    However, Ren knew that it was not. Ren was closer to the scene. She could see the footprints that the armored woman left in the snow as she moved about. It was not teleportation. It was just as if she was vanishing and appearing in everyone''s sight.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    Ren sure forgot that she was supposed to support the armored woman. She was shocked at what was happening.


    The armored woman did not need any support at all!


    Furthermore, Ren was unable to do much to the transformed Keiji. On the other hand, while the armored woman might be relying on her strange weapons, being able to actually hit Keiji with those weapons was something else.


    "RAAAAAHHH!!!"


    Keiji roared in a fit of fury, whipping all his tails toward the armored woman''s direction while spewing fire from his mouth to surround him.


    The armored woman jumped back and threw another kunai at Keiji. Meeting the fire Keiji released, the kunai exploded. But at the same time, just like what happened before, everyone lost sight of the armored woman.


    On the roof of the entrance of the Toyosu Market on the other side of the street, Spera watched the battle between the armored woman and Keiji. She was the one who brought this woman here following Mark''s order.


    Spera knew who the woman was. She was there when Mark thought of this method of fighting. Still, knowing where Mark got this method, Spera could only scratch her head.


    The armored woman was fighting using [Misdirection]. A technique of a certain blue-haired number eleven basketball yer in an anime.


    While an item to guide the enemy and the audience''s attention, the armored woman was taking advantage of her low presence to disappear from everyone''s cognition. They would only notice her the moment she made another move, and following that, she could just repeat the process.


    This kind of movement would be invalidated if the enemy was able to keep his attention to the user.


    And in Keiji''s case, it was hard. The exploding kunai could cause him pain. Thus, he could not ignore them. His attention would gravitate towards the thrown kunai, allowing the armored woman to escape his cognition.


    In another few rounds, Keiji was dealt with repeated explosions. His body became riddled with wounds, and his clothing became far more tattered than an [Infected''s].


    But then, the problem became more apparent.


    The kunai that the armored woman threw could prate the aura on Keiji''s body, and the explosions could cause him pain. However, with the exception of Keiji''s injured eye, the other injuries he received were insignificant.


    It was clear that Keiji''s body continued to transform. His skin was bing sturdier and sturdier before bing covered in ck scales.


    The armored woman''s attacks surely hurt, but it was not enough to kill or even defeat Keiji.


    Keiji began to understand this fact. His expression was bing more confident despite the pain he felt with every attack that prated his aura.


    Furthermore, Keiji began to understand the trick behind the armored woman''s disappearing act. If he was able to endure the pain and kept his eyes on the woman, she would not escape his eyes.


    And just like that, Keiji''s eyes locked onto the woman despite her throwing another kunai straight at his stomach.


    Just like before, the kunai tore through the aura and exploded, but Keiji would not be tricked anymore. The armored woman did not vanish from his sight, and he smiled sinisterly.


    It was until...


    "GACK!"


    A far more intense pain assaulted Keiji''s body. Keiji looked down at his stomach and noticed de marks that prated his skit about an inch deep.


    de wounds?


    Keiji remembered what he had forgotten due to his rage. He turned his head, and at a distance away, Ren already stood up, looking perfectly fine except for her tattered clothes and scratched armor. Behind Ren was the image of a ck lotus with petal des hovering around her.


    Ren shot petal des at Keiji at the same moment and location the kunai prated his aura. It allowed the petal des to pass through the aura''s protection and wound Keiji.


    "Why..." Keiji muttered as he wiped the blood dripping from his stomach. "Why would your pests not just lie down and be ughtered?"


    Keiji felt his injured eye throb. It was painful. It was annoying.


    The people around could tell. Keiji was growing crazier as time went on. Only crazy people would ask such a stupid question. Everyone looked at him like a mental patient.


    Keiji did not care what everyone was thinking. He did not care about their opinions. Would humans care about an insect''s opinion of them? Of course not.


    And for the current Keiji, these humans were just insects that needed to be trampled on.


    Unfortunately, insects could bite.


    And it was annoying.


    Those thoughts swirled inside Keiji''s mind. His corroded mind was bing darker.


    The transformation was taking over once again.


    And this time, two of his aura tails became physical.


    With four tails leaving their ethereal form, the pressure around Keiji increased two-fold.


    The fusion of the aura and Keiji''s body was bing more solid. And there, everyone was frozen as Keiji roared to the sky.


    It caused the magical energy in the surroundings to swirl violently.


    Gusts of wind began to surround Keiji. It forced Ren and the armored woman to retreat.


    But then...


    CRASH!


    Earthen spikes tore through the ground with Keiji at the center.


    The sudden appearance of the spikes from the ground caught Ren off guard. She might look fine, but traces of the injury she received before had yet to heal. As such, she waste to dodge.


    Several spikes shot up the ground under Ren. In a millisecond, those spikes would puncture her body with holes.


    However, something pushed Ren out of the way. Ren turned her head and saw the armored woman getting hit by the earthen spikes.


    BAM!


    The armored woman was thrown away, rolling on the snow-covered ground.


    Fortunately, they were now outside the reach of the spikes surrounding Keiji.


    Ren immediately picked herself up and rushed to the armored woman. Fortunately, her armor protected her from fatal harm. However, bits and pieces of the armor began to fall. It was clear that the full brunt of the earthen spikes was too much for the armor to bear.


    One of thergest bits to fall was actually from the armored woman''s helmet.


    And when Ren saw the woman''s face, she could not help but exim.


    "Sayuri?"


    Ren blurted out.


    Mitsui Sayuri. She was the second youngdy of the Mitsui Family and the youngest sibling of Ren and Keiji. The armored woman was actually their younger sister.


    Ren was overwhelmed with shock after learning the truth.

 Chapter 1028 Siblings And Enemies, An Ill Surprise From The Frustrated Doll Of The Mitsui Clan

    ?


    Day 341 - 12:31 PM - Toyosu Main Road, Toyosu, Reimed City, Ruins of Tokyo


    Strong winds roared, and the earthen spikes destroyed the road. Keiji stared at his opponents, his remaining eye wide open, as he stood in the middle of the malicious magical turbulence.


    Keiji''s mind might be corroding, but it was clear that he was as shocked as Ren after the identity of the armored woman was revealed. None of the siblings expected that the intervention would be their youngest sibling.


    "How?" Keiji voiced out with great difficulty. "Aren''t you..."


    "Aren''t I with the family?"


    For the first time after arriving, the armored woman spoke. Her voice. There was no doubt that she was the youngest sibling they knew.


    Sayuri stood up. Her armor cracked here and there, while the front of her helmet wasrgely broken. Since the helmet would be in the way instead of help, she removed it as she spoke.


    "Funny, isn''t it?" Sayuri''s tone was full of sarcasm, different from her usual demeanor as the dolled-up mascot of the n. "My role in the n is so insignificant that none of you noticed you have been living with my double all this time."


    "I left the n since Onee-sama''s death was announced," Sayui nced at Ren. "None of you really noticed? Or none actually bothered to notice?"


    It was clear in Sayuri''s tone that she was unhappy with the n, its elders, and its members... No, she held contempt against them.


    And Sayuri especially hated their father and Keiji.


    "You think I didn''t know?" Sayuri took out a kunai and spun it in her hand, "After the Demons seeded in taking over this ce and the n became the ruler of the Reimed City, Otosama and the elders nned to arrange my marriage with a Demon? A political marriage to solidify the n''s connections with the Demons with my life as a bargain."


    Sayuri then sighed.


    "Otosama and those stupid old bastards never learned their lesson. Isn''t that the same reason why Oneesama left? Do they really think what happened with Oneesama won''t happen again just because they limited my privileges and reduced my training? I''m just waiting. And when I managed to get the chance, I immediately grabbed it, even if it meant I would be someone else''s underling."


    "And now, I''m here," Sayuri grabbed the spinning kunai in her hand and shrugged, "How is it? My pent-up frustrations?"


    And there, Sayuri threw the kunai toward Keiji.


    "Tch."


    Sayuki clicked her tongue as she saw the wind surrounding Keiji blocking the kunai. She already knew that it was unlikely to work. However, she still tried.


    Ren and Keiji listened to Sayuri''s words. The two were still appalled by the situation.


    However, they now understood the situation. Just like Ren, Sayuri left the n. And by the looks of it, she joined forces with someone. That someone was clearly Mark.


    On the other hand, it was a partly sad thing. The n only cared about the elders, the n head, and the heir. Everything else besides them was just tools to be exploited.


    The foundation of the Mitsui n was drowned in their desires, and the members of the n suffered because of it.


    At this time, Sayuri showed a bitter smile.


    "Otosama is dead, right? My double had some ways to contact me. It seemed that the information I stole in his office really helped Boss root out the traitors. They deserved it."


    That revtion caused another wave of shock to Ren and Keiji.


    And here, Keiji''s rage soared.


    "YOU!" Keiji roared. "IT IS ALL BECAUSE OF YOU?! EVERYTHING FAILED, AND OTOSAMA IS DEAD BECAUSE OF YOU?!!!"


    And in response to Keiji''s enraged question, Sayuri tilted her head.


    "Yep. Partly." Sayuri admitted. "Don''t me everything on me, though. I only provided the list of traitors. I have no exact idea what your ns are. The n kept me in the dark as always, right?"


    Sayuri was not entirely at fault. In fact, Keiji was. The main reason the Mitsui n''s ns to betray the Reimed City were leaked was because of their attempt to kill Ren and most of the ck Lotus. It was the start of everything.


    Of course, there was no way Keiji would ept such a thing, even if he knew. Well, there was no way for him to understand now. He was not even listening to Sayuri''s words.


    In Keiji''s mind, it was all Sayuri''s fault.


    "RAAAAHH!!"


    Keiji roared and stomped his left leg, creating a crater under his foot.


    RUMBLE!


    The ground shook. And as if something was crawling underground, earthen spikes quickly traveled through the ground from Keiji''s foot toward his sisters. It moved as fast as a speeding bullet while carrying the force of a cannonball at every spike that protruded from the ground. In every spike that shot out, the size grewrger andrger.


    Ren and Sayuri dodged in opposite directions. The two managed to evade the earthen spikes, allowing the spikes to pass between the two.


    And, this time, it was Keiji''s turn to shock everyone around.


    It was because his attacks did not stop at the two women but continued through the road, striking the building at the northwest corner of the intersection. In an instant, the building copsed as thest spike, which had a length of four meters, pierced through the building and destroyed its foundations.


    And that was not enough for the enraged Keiji.


    Keiji whipped his left hand horizontally. Everyone nearby saw nothing but heard a sharp whistling sound.


    Ren felt danger as she rushed to Sayuri, jumping over the earthen spikes, and pushed her sister down. Together, theyy down on the snow.


    A sharp gust of wind passed over the heads of the sisters. It was followed by the sound of ss shattering as every window in the surrounding buildings shattered.


    And it was apanied by...


    "AHHH!"


    ...Screams of people as many of the soldiers maintaining the defense perimeter of the evacuation were torn to shreds by the invisible attack.


    Ren and Sayuri''s hearts were loudly beating as they turned their heads and saw the rain of flesh and limbs caused by Keiji''s attack.


    What in the world was that?


    That was what the sisters and soldiers that survived had in mind. Fortunately, the attack did not reach the evacuating civilians. Even so, the lives of the soldiers were gone just like that.


    All of a sudden, the sisters felt the ground shaking once again. They immediately separated as earthen spikes punctured the ground where theyy.


    FOOOM!


    Then, it was followed by a wall of mes as Keiji spewed fire in the direction of the sisters.


    The sisters could only dodge in desperation as they faced the barrage of attacks from their enraged brother.


    Keiji roared as he attacked. The scales on his body continued to spread. The fourth tail became physical, and at the same time, Keiji stretched his right arm forward with his fingers in a flicking posture.


    The molten snow from Keiji''s attack began to vibrate and float, forming needles made of droplets of water.


    And there, Keiji released his flick. The water needles shot at his sisters one after another like a machine gun.


    The sisters ran as the impact of the needles followed behind them. At the same time, the two tried attacking. Sayuri with her kunai and Ren with her petal des.


    However, the attacks were rendered useless. The kunai was blocked by the wind surging around Keiji. On the other hand, the petal de passed through the wind barrier and hit Keiji''s body. However, as the purplish-ck scales spread on his body, his resilience began rising at the same time.


    The everyone''s dismay, Keiji was turning into an uncontroble monster. The situation had already reached a level Ren could not take responsibility for.


    But at this moment...


    "BRAT!"


    A familiar voice echoed into Ren''s ear. She turned towards the voice and saw the grumpy old cksmith, Yasuo, standing by the door of the Toyosu Market on the other side of the street.


    It was dangerous here. That was what Ren wanted to shout.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    But the old cksmith clearly knew this fact. He was not stupid. Then, what was he doing here?


    As the two''s gazes locked, the old cksmith shouted.


    "USE THIS!"


    The old cksmith threw something big covered in cloth toward Ren.


    What could it possibly be?


    Keiji''s mind was already gone. The only thing left was his rage toward the sisters standing before him. He did not care about the cksmith at all, but he saw the item he threw in the air. No matter what the reason was, Keiji attacked it with a st of wind.


    The cloth covering the item was torn to shreds, revealing a ck-colored katana with a de that shone with a reddish hue.


    Surprisingly, the cloth covering the weapon was destroyed, but the sword was not flung away by the force of the st. It continued toward its trajectory, and its handle was caught by Ren''s hand.


    The moment Ren''s hand touched the handle, her body shivered. The katana felt connected to her in every way. It was as if the katana was an extension of her being.


    "CUT THAT B*STARD TO DEATH!"


    The old cksmith bellowed.


    Yasuo was shouting out loud despite the dangerous situation. It caused the people hiding inside the market to drag the old cksmith back into hiding.


    However, Yasuo would not relent. He tightly held unto the doorsill.


    It was the first battle of his best creation. He wanted to watch it with his very own eyes.


    Ren nodded. She did not know why, but she felt that, with this katana, she could somehow do something against Keiji.


    "RAAAAHH!!"


    Keiji roared.


    Ren felt the same danger when Keiji unleashed that invisible wind attack.


    But instead of pushing Sayuri down to avoid the attack, Ren stood in front of her sister.


    Ren knew she could do it.


    SLASH!


    The reddish gleam made a vertical slice in front of Ren. And the invisible wind attack dissipated.


    Keiji''s eyes dted. It was the same for Sayuri, the people watching, and even Ren. The only one who had a confident grin was the old cksmith, now pinned down by the people trying to pull him inside to no avail.


    "GO!"


    Yasuo shouted with augh.


    Ren began running toward Keiji.


    And, of course, Keiji began an absurd amount of attacks on Ren. Water needles, wind sts, and earthen spikes were shot at her.


    However, none of them reached Ren. Taking advantage of her agility, she dodged the attacks. It was when Keiji spewed a wall of fire on her.


    But Ren did not stop. She waved her katana. The wall of mes dissipated.


    It was not visible the first time since wind attacks could not be seen clearly. But it was seen with the mes. As the katana touched the wall of mes, a vortex appeared around its de, sucking something out of the mes and causing it to dissipate.


    Keiji began stepping backward. He was not retreating or being afraid. He was making some distance in order to send more attacks at Ren before she reached him.


    But as he took his fifth step.


    BOOOM!


    An explosion urred by Keiji''s feet. It caused him to stagger. Only then everyone noticed that Sayuri was already behind Keiji. Using Ren as the distraction, she used [Misdirection] to sneak behind him.


    However, Keiji was still being protected by the surging wind. It was impossible for Sayuri to throw her kunai toward him. Yet...


    BOOOM!


    Another explosion was triggered after Keiji took a step to stabilize his body from staggering.


    It was when the truth was revealed. Sayuri was not throwing her kunai. She spread a few on the ground after she saw Keiji stepping backward. Several kunais were on the ground, barely affected by the gust of wind. And as it made contact with the ck aura surrounding Keiji''s body, it exploded.


    Keiji''s attacks were disrupted. It gave an opening for Ren to charge forward.


    In a little bit of panic despite his mental state, Keiji stopped his feet, causing the ground to shake. He tried to remove the weapons lying by his feet. However, it was a stupid attempt. As the kunais were thrown into the air by the stomp, it made contact with Keiji''s aura.


    BOOOM!


    It caused a chain explosion, causing Keiji to lose bnce.


    The next thing Keiji saw was Ren slicing through the surging wind surrounding him before her katana also sliced through the aura enveloping his body.


    SHING!


    The katana made contact with Keiji''s scale-covered neck, but the katana struggled to cut through.


    There, Ren muttered.


    "[Crimson Blossom]."


    Ren recited the katana, no, the [Artifact''s] name, the name engraved on its de.


    Its de glowed red, and its sharpness heightened.


    Ren passed by Keiji''s body andnded a few meters away.


    Blood sttered behind her as Keiji''s head was flung through the air.


    The onlookers rejoiced. The feeling was stronger to Yasuo, who created the katana.


    Everyone felt ted as the crisis within the city was averted.


    But someone then asked.


    "Is he dead?"


    Everyone that heard it shivered.


    No, everyone was actually shivering whether they heard that question or not.


    The sense of danger was strong that even those who were dense felt it.


    Ren and Sayuri immediately looked at Keiji, readying their weapons once more.


    Keiji''s head never touched the ground. It hovered in the air, connected to his body through the ck, malicious aura.


    Then, the aura sprouted seven more necks, each with a ghostly serpentine heads.


    Keiji''s head and the serpentine heads bent their necks. They all stared at Ren. It was a horrific scene as the severed head of their brother stared at Ren with unparalleled rage.

 Chapter 1029 The Eye Of The Truthseeker, The Undying Assassinatrix Reason And Revenge

    ?


    Day 341 - 12:35 PM - Sumida River, Chuo City, Ruins of Tokyo


    Above the frozen river, the fierce battle between the forces of the Reimed City and the Demons continued.


    BOOM!


    RUMBLE!


    The explosions from the bombardment of the soldiers continued. Under themand of the bureau chief, they primarily concentrated on trying to take down the [Gashadokuro], the giant skeleton. All the Demons were a threat to the Reimed City, but the [Gashadokuro] was the most terrifying in the current situation.


    Due to the continuous bombardment of the tanks, the [Gashadokuro] had a hard time advancing despite its size. That and the fact most of the attacks it received were aimed at its legs.


    And finally...


    CRASH!


    The [Gashadokuro] fell down.


    Its legs were unable to endure the bombardment and finally crumbled. The [Gashadouro''s] gigantic body fell down without resistance. It crashed into the frozen river, killing everything underneath it. Its heavy body also left deep cracks in the ice.


    Unfortunately, the [Gashadokuro] was still far from dying. Nheless, it became a huge obstacle for the advance of the Demons. Furthermore, it seemed unable to mend its broken leg and could only try to crawl over the slippery ice. And given that its body was made of bones without the proper ability to grip through the ice, it could not properly advance while crawling.


    Seeing the giant skeleton fall, crushing dozens of Demons under it, everyone defending the Reimed City felt ted. Seeing a threatening enemy fall like that caused a great boost to everyone''s morale.


    But, of course, the fight was far from over. The Demons were still relentlessly trying to invade the Reimed City. Many people even began thinking that the number of enemies was endless.


    Just how many Demons and Yokais were there? The entire coastline surrounding the Reimed City was surrounded by the enemies. And no matter how many were killed, their numbers did not seem to be dwindling.


    The only good thing was that, unlike a few minutes ago, the enemies were now hindered by a few things. One was the copsed [Gashadokuro], and the other was the rampage of a certain individual in the middle of the enemies.


    ***


    "GRAAR!"


    A wolf-like Demon pounced on Mark. It attempted to bite his neck off. Of course, it ended up as nothing but an attempt as a hand grabbed its neck instead.


    "Are there creatures like this in Japanese folklore?" Mark murmured as he stared at the struggling wolf creature he grabbed. "Oh, right. There''s one, isn''t it? [Okuri-inu], was it?"


    While having those thoughts, Mark''s left hand grabbing the wolf was enveloped in a milky-white glow. It was not just this dog, but Mark had already done this to a number of Demons he chose in the middle of the enemy army.


    It was clear what Mark was doing here.


    And just like with the [Yuki-Onna], a ck haze came out of the [Okuri-inu''s] body. And with a slight thought, he absorbed the haze into his body before throwing the unconcious [Okuri-Inu] away.


    But as the [Okuri-Inu''s] bodynded on the ice, the nearby Demons immediately began to attack it. The poor Demon was torn to shreds by the aggressive Demons that surrounded it.


    Mark did not have much reaction as he saw that happen. It was not the first one, after all. Still, it was strange to see how much these Demons were affected by the haze. It did not matter if the target was a former ally or even their own kind. Anything alive not influenced by the haze was attacked indiscriminately.


    "Hey! Are you listening?"


    Spera''s voice entered Mark''s ears through themunicator.


    "I''m listening."


    Mark replied.


    While Mark was fighting the Demons and absorbing the [Miasma], he was listening to Spera''s reports of what was happening in Toyosu.


    First was the revtion of the armored woman''s identity. Mark shrugged after hearing it.


    Even for Mark, pointing out specific traitors would be hard. That was why when the members of the ck Lotus were rescued, he moved to secure information. One way was to infiltrate the base of the Mitsui n. Given that they were a business-oriented family, it would not be a surprise if they were keeping proper records of everything.


    That was when Mark encountered Sayuri. It was just by ident, but he overheard her cursing their elders, older brother, and father. It was when she learned about the n''s ns involving her marriage. He took the opportunity to meet her and recruit her under his wing. To Mark''s surprise, Sayuri did not hesitate even a single bit. She agreed to Mark''s terms as long as she could finally leave her greedy family. It seemed that she wanted to leave a very long time ago. However, shecked the ability and chance to do so.


    Sayuri knew that Mark was her only chance to leave the family before it faced its demise. And she was one of the people that made sure that the Mitsui n would never seed with their ns.


    And after making a copy of her n''s restricted documents, Sayuri joined Mark''s group that very same evening.


    Those documents really helped fish the traitors among the higher-ups of the government and the management of the entire Reimed City. If Mark had to do it alone, those things would take a lot of effort. Worse, traitors would likely be able to slip out of the.


    And all that led to the current Sayuri, different from her dolled-up persona, trained with her true talents.


    Sayuri aside, what was more concerning was the current state of Keiji.


    There was no doubt that Keiji and Ren were siblings. They just would not die even if you killed them.


    However, Keiji''s case was different. After hearing the situation, Mark really wanted to check on that guy. However, he had more important things to do.


    In any case, the situation in Toyosu was getting dangerous. If Keiji was now able to use magical abilities, then Ren and Sayuri would not be able to deal with the situation on their own.


    "How is the situation now?"


    Mark asked Spera as he grabbed another Demon.


    "I don''t think the sisters willst any longer," Spera''s reply immediately came. "Also, the attacks from their brother are getting more out of hand. He shed at Ren just now, and it tore the entire entrance of the market."


    At this time, someone else''s voice came through Spera''smunicator.


    "The ce is getting dismantled by the minute. I won''t tolerate more deaths among innocent people. I''ll take action even if you don''t have a solution to this."


    It was the Priestess'' voice. It seemed that she reached Spera''s location and was watching the situation.


    Mark thought about it as he threw another Demon into the death pit of its own army.


    If possible, Mark did not want the Empress and the Priestess to take action prematurely. They needed to make the enemies think the two were trapped within the isted space the Mitsui n created.


    And to keep this n up, Mark also went with a few more other arrangements. If the Priestess acted now, things might spiral far more than Mark expected.


    Mark sighed andmunicated with someone through his mind.


    "Ignis, how is the situation there?"


    Mark contacted his [Demon Sword], the mberge, Ignis.


    And where was Ignis?<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    ***


    "AGH! GLURG!"


    An elder of the Mitsui n voiced out as he sped his throat, severely bleeding through a sharp cut. The elder was already gurgling his own blood as he sumbed to the cold feeling of death.


    With a thud, the elder fell, and all life was snuffed out from his eyes.


    In front of the elder''s dead body, another armored woman stood. In her hand was a Western sword with a wavy de.


    The Mitsui n was supposed to be in the middle of their preparations to escape. However, an interruption came to their dismay.


    BAM!


    The door to the dead elder''s room was sted open.


    There, another elder entered in a fit of urgency. It was a familiar elder that everyone in the ck Lotus should recognize.


    "What... Who are you?"


    The elder, Hideo, unsheathed his sword as he looked around the room he forced open. He saw the elder''s dead body, along with the elder''s seven guards. All these guards had high skills and expertise. They were all trained by Hideo, just like the others. But now, they all fell at the hands of a single person.


    Hideo stared at the armored woman, not receiving any reply. Instead, she shed her sword. It was a strange move since Hideo was clearly outside the rage of the woman''s sword.


    However, Hideo''s instincts kicked in. He jumped away from the door by reflex. And what he saw next was a wave of ck mes flying through the doorway and hitting the wall of the hallway.


    A grave feeling of danger overwhelmed Hideo. He rushed here after the elders and their guards were runningte. It was not just the elder in this room, but some other people from further rooms on this floor. Were they all dead?


    The armored woman cautiously walked out of the door. She looked at Hideo, who was now ready for a sh. The old master was feeling danger, but he was not the type to chicken out unless necessary.


    But to Hideo''s surprise, the woman suddenly made a familiar rhythm using her footsteps. And then, she vanished, even if he was clearly staring at her just now.


    All of a sudden, Hideo shed to his left side, immediately receiving an impact of an attack. Following the first sh, he turned around and blocked an attacking from behind.


    Hideo was fighting against an enemy he could not see. However, he was still able to block and even counterattack.


    Then, the feeling of danger was felt again, making Hideo jump backward.


    ck mes immediately covered the area where he stood just now.


    And, finally, the armored woman''s figure emerged once again.


    Now, Hideo had a clear idea of his opponent.


    "So, you''re also alive," Hideo spoke and called the armored woman''s name. "Mako."


    Among the trained children within the Mitsui n, only one girl reached such an exquisite level of stealth. But by the looks of it, her abilities had grown beyond human after her supposed death.


    "This is unexpected," Mako finally spoke. "I didn''t expect that you would recognize me this easily. I guess it''s hard to hide things from the person who taught us everything."


    "Are you here for revenge?"


    Hideo asked Mako withplicated emotions.


    "Are there other reasons?" Mako answered, with her voice tinged with anger. "I was promised to see my real family. That is why I agreed to cooperate even if it betrayed the young miss. But I realized that''s just a lie. That is why I made my own preparations to screw things up. If that was the end and I still survived, I might have just stayed quiet somewhere."


    "But what did I learn afterward?" Mako continued. "The reason I became an orphan. It was because my family got a sh of interests with the n. And they were silently dealt with. I was the sole survivor of that family. My family was killed by the n that adopted and raised me. No wonder the grandmaster gave me a special gift. He should have known and was guilty about it. But I''ll apologize to him in the afterlife. I''ll have to cut off the roots of those that mercilessly eliminated my family just for a few pennies."


    "Still, you are our teacher. And one of the few upright people in the n." Mako added. "Step aside, and I''ll not bother you."


    Hideo''s expression turned ugly. There was no turning back now. They were now surrounded by threats and dangers.


    "Unfortunately, I can''t do that." Hideo tightened the grip on his katana. "I''m still the n''s protector. I can''t do much about the n head or the young master, but I still have to stand up to protect the others and let the n continue."


    "I see," Mako nodded. "Then, I won''t hold back, master."


    Mako let go of the mberge, which surprisingly hovered midair. She then took a different weapon. A dagger with a seemingly high-tech appearance. She then took a pose.


    And now, Hideo''s eyes opened wide in shock.


    The ck mes from the sword were already shocking. But now, Hideo could see traces of Chakra manifesting around Mako. It was not only Ren. Mako also reached a level he was not able to despite his old age.


    However, different from Ren, who manifested a ck Lotus, the figure behind Mako looked eerie.


    It was a closed eye, seemingly tearing up with blood.


    And then, the eye opened. Hideo was frozen.


    It was not because the eye had paralyzing properties. It was because his throat was already shed open.


    Hideo fell to his knees as his body began to lose strength. However, instead of fear, a smile floated on his face. Being the n''s protector was a heavy responsibility he could not escape even if the n veered to an evil path. And now, he was finally liberated from it.


    Mako was already behind Hideo as he fell. She did not look at their master''s body as she urged the mberge back to her hand. She still had more people to end.


    The Mitsui n should not escape. Only a few people, a few exceptions, were allowed.


    ***


    Mark heard the report from Ignis, who was currently being used by Mako. He shrugged. He was thinking of sending Mako to help Ren and Sayuri, but she was still not done with her business.


    In that case, there was no choice.


    "Spera, bring the prick to the other side of the bridge in Kachidoki. Can you do that?"


    "Hmmm..." Spera was thinking on the other side. "It''s tricky, but I think I can do it. It might be impossible if he''s still in the right mind, but the current him looked really stupid. We just have to bait him a little."


    "Okay, I''ll leave that to you," Mark replied. "I''ll wait here. The bridge is just a few dozen meters away from me."


    And almost half a minuteter, three portals appeared on the riverside of the Sumida River. Following the portals, a monster and three women appeared.


    Confused and feeling threatened, the monster with eight heads roared.


    It was a roar that shook the entire battlefield.

 Chapter 1030 The Flame Demon Deity, The Arrival Of GarVlam And The Revival Of True Mastermind

    ?


    Day 341 - 12:33 PM - Semi-copsed Building, Sumida River, Chuo City, Ruins of Tokyo


    On top of the rooftop of the almost copsed building near the opposite side of the Kachidoki Bridge, several figures could be seen. They seemed to talk as they watched the ongoing battle between the Demons and Yokais under theirmand and the defensive forces of the Reimed City.


    Among these figures were Shin and the twin sirens. Gripping his fists tightly, Shin could not help but watch his enemy, who was rampaging in the middle of their army.


    Shin fought with Mark earlier. And while it ended up getting interrupted, they did fight a drawn battle against each other. However, Shin was sure that it was his loss. The opponent was clearly taking it easy, while Shin had already used more than half of his capabilities.


    The three still remembered when they first encountered Mark. It was a nightmare for them. No matter what they did, he would not sumb to it and just ended up getting fiercer as the fight went on.


    All they felt at that time was helplessness as they retreated in a hurry. They did not even seed with their mission, and they ended up needing to traverse cities filled with undead to return home.


    Now that Shin had managed to clear his head, he could feel the utter difference between his strength and Mark''s. He could not even force Mark to use the abilities he showed back then. Mark received Shin''s attacks while he was in his demon form with just pure skill and physical strength.


    But... How? How could a human grow that strong in just the span of a few months?


    Shin was taught swordsmanship by his father since he was young. He then spent six years as a mercenary under Auraboros. And now, he threw his humanity and became a Demon.


    Yet, all those years of experience became useless in front of a man who did not seem to have any proper swordsmanship training a few months ago.


    But then again, in front of absolute strength, everything was useless. That was what life taught Shin after all his experiences.


    "What is he doing?"


    One of the [Sirens], Yoko, voiced out while watching Mark.


    The three could see Mark grabbing Demons on their heads one after another. And strange enough, the Demons would start attacking the one he held after he let go of them.


    What was going on? Was the enemy doing something to the Demons he grabbed?


    Tsukiko and Shin remained silent. There was no way to know what Mark was doing in the middle of the Demon army. One thing was for sure, however. Whatever Mark was doing there was not good for the invading Demons.


    "Is that the person who defeated you three before?" At this time, a rather arrogant and loud voice entered the ears of the three. "I don''t sense anything peculiar about him. I can''t believe you three are getting cold feet just because of a mere human."


    Shin only frowned without saying anything as he nced at the tall figure that now stood beside him.


    It was an eight-foot-tall man with a heavily muscr body. One could think of him as a tall bodybuilder if not for the horns on his forehead and his blue-colored skin.


    The man was a blue variant of the legendary [Oni] race of Demons. And the arrogance he was showing was a trait of their aggressive race.


    "You sure are a simpleton, Aobo."


    A woman''s voice immediately tried to ridicule the [Blue Oni]. The woman stood in the shadows of the ruined building. But as she stepped forward, it was clear that he was no simple being either, with spider limbs sticking out of her back.


    "Are you looking for a fight, Renea?"


    The [Blue Oni], Aobo, retorted.


    "That''s what I meant by you being a simpleton," Renea was not backing down, although she did not turn to look at Aobo but gazed at the enemy from afar. "You said you don''t feel anything special. You didn''t even realize the fact that you can''t feel anything from that man."


    Everyone on the rooftop frowned. None of these creatures realized that fact until Renea mentioned it.


    It was the most shocking for Shin. It seemed his anger led him to not pay attention to that fact.


    All of them were Demons or magical creatures. They should at least be able to sense something from other creatures. For example, their magical energy or how strong their life force was. It was also what allowed them to differentiate creatures from one another.


    Elementals, Spirits, and some Yokais were naturally born of nature. That was why their bodies carried a natural flow of energy.


    Demons, Cryptids, and other Yokais were not born from nature. Many of them were products of malignant forces or even created by Gods as minions. As such, they carried a different air to those who were born naturally.


    And,stly, the mortals, whichcked the energy of the creatures belonging to the previous categories.


    This was how magical creatures could differentiate from one another.


    Yet...


    Everyone around Shin could only agree. They could not feel anything from Mark.


    It was as if Mark did not exist at all. Or as if he was already dead.


    Even the [Infected] would still have their energy and life force. But Mark definitely felt he had nothing of sorts.


    "Hey," Renea turned to Shin. "Are you sure that man there is human?"


    That question froze Shin on the spot.


    Was Mark human? Given the previous events and Mark''s unexinable strength and growth, Shin was unable to answer Renea''s question.


    Shin was unsure now.


    Was the man Shin was fighting really human. If he was not, then it exined everything.


    But then, another question was left.


    If that man was not human, what was he?


    This fact was far scarier. So, Shin was fighting an unknown entity all this time.


    The group of powerful creatures was about to continue their discussion. But all of a sudden...


    ROOOOAAARRR!!!


    The ovepping roar of eight beasts echoed throughout the battlefield. It shook everything in the surroundings, freezing the weaker Demons on their feet and even copsing some of the nearby ruins.


    Even Shin and the rest of his group felt shivers through their spines as they heard the roar.


    Shin''s entourage immediately ran to the eastern side of the roof. The roar came quite near to their location.


    And as they looked down at the broken Kachidoki Bridge, they saw four figures standing on its remaining tform.


    As Shin and the two [Sirens] saw one of the figures on the bridge, their eyes widened.


    "Spera."


    Tsukiko voiced out with a frown.


    And as if sensing their stares, Spera turned her head towards them. Her eyes locked onto the stares of the three, but she only reacted to them with a frown.


    Spera then jumped back, and a portal appeared behind her as she pulled away the other two women with her. The three entered the portal, leaving the source of those beastly roars alone on the bridge.


    Seeing that its enemies suddenly disappeared, the beast roared even more before jumping off the bridge into the army of Demons.


    And there, it began its massacre.


    "Isn''t that our coborator?"


    Renea voiced out, recognizing the human head floating among the ethereal heads.


    Shin also recognized Keiji, as the two were together when executing the n to eliminate the majority of the ck Lotus.


    But what happened to that guy?


    Shin was baffled.


    "I''ll stop that bastard," Aoba spoke. "Not only did they not deliver on their words, but he''s now attacking our soldiers."


    Aoba was right in this regard. The Mitsui n was supposed toy the foundations to make the invasion wless. However, it was clear that the Mitsui n either failed or did not do anything they promised.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    And now, Keiji just appeared, looking like a monster, attacking everything in his sight like a berserk beast.


    But as the other was about to agree to deal with the monster, they all froze and kneeled.


    "There''s no need to waste your energy on that person," Someone flew onto the rooftop and spoke. "This might have been unexpected, but it was a better surprise."


    The generals of the Demon army knelt down in servitude as the person walked in front of them.


    It was a handsome man with a neatly muscr body. His skin was riddled with tattoos of scorching mes. And those mes felt real despite being just a mark on his body.


    The man walked to the edge of the rooftop and stood there, overlooking everything below as if he was a divine being.


    Specifically, the man gazed at another man in the middle of the army of Demons.


    ***


    Mark continued capturing Demons and absorbing the [Miasma] in their bodies. He also paid attention as he ordered Spera to retreat with Ren and Sayuri.


    It led to Keiji''s current act of killing everything in his sight.


    This was what Mark thought to do when Spera said that Keiji had lost his sanity. It was quite a sess as Keiji failed to recognize allies and foes.


    If this continued, even if Mark did not do anything to Keiji, he would be overwhelmed by the sheer number of enemies.


    But at this time, Mark felt a hot gaze. It was not hot in a passionate way. It was a searing gaze. It felt like something was trying to light him on fire.


    Mark immediately turned to the building where Shin was supposed to be watching.


    And there, Mark saw an unfamiliar man standing as if he owned the world.


    Mark focused his detection on the building. And as his detection reached the building, Mark frowned. However, his mouth revealed a subtle smile.


    "You''re finally here, huh..."


    Mark murmured.


    "Gar''m."


    At this time, a voice echoed inside Mark''s head.


    "I didn''t expect to see you here. No wonder the fate of this ce had gone unpredictable."


    Mark frowned. The voice was clearly Gar''m''s. However, he was not speaking through telepathy. It was through the crystal Mark had, which contained the power from Gar''m''s former body.


    "If it was the original fate, we would not have any difficulties taking over this puny city of humans. But it was a different story if a God Candidate like you stepped into the fray."


    Mark was not perturbed as Gar''m''s voice was transmitted into his head. He waved his sword, decapitating iing Demons, before he spoke back.


    "This is all just a coincidence. All I''m here for is Shin''s [Spatial sher] and tying some loose ends. I didn''t expect to step into anyone''s schemes."


    "But that loose end includes me, is it not?"


    Gar''m asked.


    "Unfortunately, yes." Mark shrugged. "After all, one of your future goals is definitely to get back at me, yes?"


    "It looked like we had the same process of thought," Gar''mughed. "It could have been better if someone like you became my follower instead."


    Mark showed some surprise at the unexpected words, but he only tilted his head.


    "How about no? I have no intention of working with anyone fine with sacrificing innocents, you see? And definitely not under someone who fled with tails between their legs thest time."


    Gar''m''s eyebrows twitched due to the tant provocation. However, he did not fall for it.


    "It would be nice to end just this between us," Gar''m spoke with a smile. "But this invasion was never my sole stage."


    ROOOOAR!!


    At this time, a shadow loomed over Gar''m, as Keiji spotted his new target.


    Keiji, using his tails and other heads, climbed the wall of the ruined building and attacked the bastard standing above arrogantly.


    But Gar''m only smiled. He raised his hand, and mes surrounded Keiji, forming chains that suspended Keiji in mid-air.


    ROOOOARRR!!!


    Keiji roared in fury and insanity. However, no matter how he struggled, he failed to break free from the chains.


    And to make Keiji even more furious, one of the chains took the legendary sword out of his hand and gave it to the arrogant-looking man.


    Gar''m''s eyes had a fierce gleam as he held the legendary sword in his hands.


    There, Gar''m raised the sword and roared to the sky.


    "IT IS THE STAGE OF UTTER CHAOS!"


    Mark''s eyes widened as he saw Gar''m stab Keiji with the sword through his heart.


    It was quite an ironic scene since Ren and Mako almost died the same way.


    But it was not the problem.


    ROOOOOARRRR!!!


    Keiji roared fiercer instead of dying.


    At the same time, Mark''s vision blurred, and his head felt shaky.


    Mark did not realize immediately that his eyes were already glowing. One red and the other purple. Both his [Empath] and [irvoyance] abilities were activated without his control.


    And...


    ROOOOARRR!!!!


    The thousands of Demons on the battlefield roared at the same time. The earthshaking roars were heard from miles away. However, it was not the roar of fury, but the roar of pain, as they all contorted their bodies to endure it.


    As for Mark, he stared at the scenery around him with both his abilities activated.


    Mark could see the [Miasma] inside the Demons trying to break free from their bodies, flying to Keiji.


    And as Mark''s purple eyes glowed brighter, Mark finally saw the gigantic figure he had seen before. Sixteen fierce eyes ovepped with Keiji''s eight heads.


    ROOOARRR!!!


    Keiji released another roar.


    The roar was apanied by a shockwaveparable to a nuclear bomb detonating.


    Mark, even though he was trying to resist with all his might, was blown away by the shockwave, crashing heavily on Kachidoki''s riverbank.


    The Demons on the battlefield were turned to dust. The barriers surrounding the docks were all destroyed.


    But as Mark endured the pain of being blown away, he gazed in Keiji''s direction.


    There was no Keiji there. What he saw was a silhouette of a mountain.

 Chapter 1031 The Mountainous Silhouette, An Unexpected Resurrection Of A Godly Monster

    ?


    Day 341 - 12:42 PM - Riverbanks, Sumida River, Kachidoki, Reimed City, Ruins of Tokyo


    The shockwaveparable to a nuclear bomb''s explosion was felt throughout the entirety of the Reimed City.


    It was a shockwave that caused the ground to shake violently. Everyone who was unable to brace themselves or hold unto something fell down. Many buildings outside the Reimed City copsed, and it could have been the same inside if not for the Priestess'' barrier holding everything up.


    Even so, many of the people inside the shelters were injured due to their unceremonious fall. And, of course, it caused their worries to grow further. The people in the shelter had no idea of what was happening outside. All these people could do was wait until the people fighting the enemies told them the danger was averted.


    But with this earthquake-like shaking, there was no surprise the evacuees were worried. What if no one came back from outside? What if, when they came out, everything they had left was gone?


    Such anxiety-provoking thoughts filled the minds of the poor evacuees. Unfortunately, they could not do much. They were inside the shelter for a reason. It was because they were weak, both in mind and body.


    The only thing the evacuees could do was to wish and pray. Pray that the danger ended sooner. A wish that they still had a ce to return.


    These people were lucky.


    It was because they had no idea what was happening outside.


    If they were outside, would they still be able to pray? Or would they sumb to hopelessness?


    It was because that situation was what exactly was happening right now, even among the brave soldiers.


    ***


    "What in the world is that?"


    The head of the bureau, Shigeru, voiced out in shock.


    The clouds in the sky were gone, and the blizzard came to an utter stop. The shockwave blew away many things. All that was left was the eerie haze, but it did not stop everyone from seeing the mountainous thing on the other side of the river.


    It was not only Shigeru who was rooted on his feet. All the soldiers in hismand, his tworades, and even the Onmyojis, Priests, and Maidens from the Temple. All of them had the same reaction as the mountainous figure appeared out of nowhere after the shockwave pushed them all into disarray.


    The shockwave crushed all the newly erected barriers by the members of the Temple. The many tanks of the army were blown to the side of the road. Some unlucky ones were even turned over, just like most of the vehicles they brought.


    Many soldiers were injured. Some unfortunate ones even broke their bones. The only leeway the soldiers luckily had was the protection of the shattered barrier, which prevented instant deaths within their ranks. Even so, the situation turned more than half of their forces unsuitable forbat and plummeted everyone''s already low morale.


    On the other side, at Kachidoki''s docks...


    The members of the ck Lotus and Evernight were all in fighting condition. In fact, they were all unscathed, along with a few Priests and Maidens nearby. The members of the ck Lotus thought the shockwave would still harm them even with their armor borrowed from Mark.


    But to their surprise, someone stepped, no, and flew in front of everyone.


    Just as the shockwave arrived, Amihan flew forward, unleashing her strongest wind wall to protect everyone behind her. A power that a [Sylph] like her was not supposed to have. This could have been more shocking if not for the giant silhouette that appeared after the shockwave.


    How gigantic was the silhouette? It was like a hill-shape shadow, towering over even the giant skeleton from earlier. About ten meters? No, it was more than that. It might be even higher than fifteen meters, but it was hard to pinpoint the exact measurement.


    Not to mention that everyone could not see it clearly because of the eerie haze.


    SPLASH!


    Everyone flinched.


    Only then everyone noticed the frozen river beginning to defrost. It seemed that the shockwave did not only affect those on the ground and in the sky. Even the underground and underwater were affected.


    On the further west of the riverbank...


    "Gege!"


    Mei''s voice echoed as she rushed towards Mark''s direction. She saw it clearly when Mark was thrown away by the shockwave for several dozen meters before crashing into the riverbank. And among everyone here, he was the closest to the center of the shockwave''s source. It would not be a surprise if he got injured.


    As Mei hurried, she saw him stepping out of the crater created by his impact. Mark''s attention was on the mountainous silhouette.


    "Gege, are you okay?"


    Mei asked in worry as shended beside Mark.


    Mark finally turned his attention away from the silhouette and looked at his body.


    "Still intact, I guess?" Mark replied. "My back kinda hurts, but it should be fine since nothing is broken."


    Mark moved his body a little and twisted his waist a bit. His body was truly fine, protected by his armor. If Mark was not wearing his newly upgraded armor, he would probably have several broken bones toin about.


    "How''s everyone?"


    Mark asked, hiding the worry he had. He was thrown like this by the shockwave. How could the girls by the docks fare against this? Although they also wore simr armor, it did not mean they were invincible.


    "They are fine," Mei replied in relief. "Amihan blocked the shockwave for them. But the Defense Forces and the people from the Temple are not in good condition."


    "Let''s join the others," Mark suggested as he paid another nce at the silhouette. "Looks like got some miscalctions. And whatever that thing is, it doesn''t seem to be moving for now."


    Mei nodded, and the two opened their wings and flew toward the docks.


    When the two arrived at the docks, there were already some familiar people present who were not there before.


    But this was just the right timing. Mark needed to talk to two of those people.


    Mark and Meinded. His eyes immediately scanned the members of his group. He was relieved that they were unharmed. Mark patted the heads of the two little girls that weed his return as he turned his attention to the two most important people that arrived.


    The Priestess and the Empress.


    But Mark noticed that Priestess seemed to be catching her breath, and trickles of sweat could be seen on her forehead.


    "What happened to you?"


    Mark asked the Priestess straight, to the surprise of those around them. After all, not everyone knew about Mark''s rtions to the Priestess.


    But what surprised them more was how the Priestess replied.


    "What do you think?" The Priestess replied with a scowl, disregarding her dignity, stature, andmonly known image. "I had to protect the city. Whatever happened was enough to destroy everything from the northwest to the center of the Reimed City. I had to put more effort into this than before since it happened without warning."


    "We decided toe since we felt Gar''m''s presence," The Empress chimed in. "Did he cause this mess? And that thing?"


    The Empress was frowning as she looked at that towering silhouette.


    It was not only the Empress. The Priestess had the same reaction as she gazed at that thing.


    And Mei, who had seen Mark''s frown before, realized that the three had the same reaction. No, it was not only the three. As Amihannded on Mark''s shoulder, she had the same reaction as them.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    "Gege... There''s a huge problem with that one, doesn''t it?"


    Given that Mark did not react this way to an army of Demons numbering thousands, it meant that whatever that huge thing was was way more threatening.


    Furthermore...


    ¡¤?¦Èm "What''s with your eyes?"


    Spera suddenly asked Mark, noticing that his eyes were still glowing strangely. It drew everyone''s attention to him as they realized the glow in his eyes through the helmet he was currently wearing.


    Mark removed his helmet, and everyone saw the different colored glow in both his eyes. It looked cool but felt really eerie. What was stranger was that Mark tried to rub his eyes as if trying to deactivate whatever was causing it, to no avail.


    "Damn it..."


    Mark said with a click of his tongue. It was not that he did not realize his eyes were glowing, but it was not deactivating at all for some reason.


    And every time Mark gazed at that silhouette, all he could see was an evenrger silhouette of a monster with eight heads and sixteen glowing eyes.


    Mark could not understand. It seemed that his abilities were hinting at something.


    There was a miscalction. There was something that none of the people present, not Mark, not the Priestess, nor the Empress, knew that caused all this to happen.


    But one thing was for sure. Mark messed up with something. And that something was telling Spera to bring Keiji somewhere closer here.


    Mark should have suspected it since the start. There should be many ns, groups, or just individuals who would want to put the Reimed City under their control. Yet, the Demons cooperated with the Mitsui n.


    While it was unknown whether the Mitsui n or the Demons reached out first, there was barely any reason for the Demons to cooperate if they could pull this kind of stuff.


    Then why?


    Mark had no idea.


    In any case, it led to the current situation. If there was something suspicious, it should be that strange sword and Keiji''s uncanny transformation.


    "Should we attack that thing?"


    Someone suggested, pointing at the silhouette. However, neither Mark, the Priestess, nor the Empress replied as they kept their frowns on that huge thing.


    At this time, Mark suddenly froze as a few scenes shed in his eyes.


    "Everyone! Get ready!"


    Mark yelled, making everyone flinch as they readied to fight.


    However, there were no enemies in sight, nor was the silhouette making any move.


    But they were wrong.


    Slowly, figures began sweeping out of the cracks left on the frozen river. The figures seemed ethereal and formless until they showed elongated shapes. One would think they were shaped like serpents if not for each different figure having an uncanny body part. One example was a humanoid upper body with a serpent lower body. Another was an entire serpent shape with a human head. However, no features could be distinguished from the figures. Just their shapes and their dark, murky-colored bodies.


    As the figures rose from the water into the icy surface of the river, everyone felt chills on their backs.


    And if their eerie appearances were not enough, the figures began shambling like decayed monsters as they made their way toward the river bank of Kachidoki.


    "What the hell are those?"


    Sayuri voiced out while rubbing her arms to fight the eerie chill. It was not working, though. She was wearing armor, after all.


    At this time, the Priestess stepped forward.


    "The [Miasma] is forming... It''s the echoes of the Demons that died just now. They are the residue of a bloody sacrifice. And since their life force was snuffed out, they will try to siphon the life force of the living."


    The Priestess then formed an elemental pentagram in the air before her.


    "Don''t fight these things in closebat if you understand what I said just now."


    And then, the Priestess mumbled her prayer, ending up with a circle of light appearing under her feet and spreading across the riverbank.


    "Those who can''t fight should stay inside the light. Those who can, step we better deal with the situation immediately."


    The Priestess then stepped into the frozen river.


    To the side, Ren immediately sent one of her members to spread the word to the soldiers. The [Miasmic Residues] were all over theke, and it would be bad if the soldiers tried to fight without knowing what was happening.


    With a signal from the Priestess'' hand, the members of the Temple who were still able to fight charged forward. With a wave of their hands, they released talismans which shot through the residues and tore them apart.


    However, to everyone''s dismay, more and more figures slowly formed from the cracks of the ice.


    But with thebined effort of the remaining members of the Temple, none of the [Miasmic Residues] were able to take a step on Kachidoki''s grounds.


    On the other hand, Mark sat on the docks, staring at the mountainous silhouette. He was trying to figure it out while stealthily sending a trail of [Miasma] underwater, trying to find and absorb the source of the [Miasmic Residues].


    Mark managed to stop many residues from forming above water. He also gained a nice amount of [Miasma] to absorb.


    But at this time, the silhouette finally made some movements.


    Everyone''s eyes dted as a pair of glowing red eyes opened from the. It was then followed by another pair of red eyes.


    Then another pair...


    And another...


    Just like with the hazy figure that Mark''s eyes saw, there were sixteen eyes. Eight pairs of eyes, to be exact.


    And parts of the figure finally rose upward, revealing its eight serpentine necks and eight serpentine tails.


    In Japanese myths and history, only one creature had such a unique appearance.


    "Yeah, right... We''re into one big dang mess here..."


    Mark said, which woke everyone from their stupor.


    All witnesses felt chills far greater than before as they all watched the shadow of the eight heads staring at them.

 Chapter 1032 Primordial Fear, The Awakening Of The Serpent God And The Chaos In The Reclaimed City

    ?


    Day 341 - 12:47 PM - Sumida River, Kachidoki Docks, Kachidoki, Reimed City, Ruins of Tokyo


    The shadow of the eight heads rose high, staring down on the mortals gazing upon its otherworldly visage.


    Its eight tails rose from behind, waving a hypnotic dance.


    Those mortals stared at the silhouette with emotions they could never put into words.


    It was majestic and otherworldly. But there was no admiration. There was only fear.


    ...A fear nowhere superficial.


    ...A primordial fear stemming from their DNA.


    The Lost Era might have been sealed and forgotten. However, the natives'' bloodlines clearly remembered.


    The embodiment of Chaos. The monster from the myths.


    The godly monster, in by the God of Thunder, Susanoo.


    Yamata-no-Orochi. The eight-headed serpent god of the Lost Era.


    ***


    Since the apocalypse began, the people of the Reimed City had already seen many unexpected things. The dead came back to life, mutated monsters, alien robots, and even the true face of the Ise Shrine. But none of these people would have ever expected to see a resurrection of a godly being.


    The unexinable feeling of fear, a loss of hope, and the urge to bow down to its mighty figure. No one felt this mixed plethora of emotions even after one had been surrounded by the undead with no escape.


    But now, the unexinable feeling originating from their veins would be forever etched into their minds.


    "Well, this is troublesome..."


    Mark murmured, ncing at the people around him.


    The main members of his group were fine. First of all, they were not locals. Their blood carried no Japanese origin. It caused them to be unaffected by the fear induced by the Serpent God through the natives'' bloodline. And second, it would not be the first time his group encountered a Godly being.


    Mark and his group chatted and even fought beings from the myths. While the Serpent God still imposed a distinct aura that caused all those below it to shiver, they already had some immunity against it.


    Unfortunately, the members of the ck Lotus were utterly affected by Serpent God''s stare alone. And the soldiers and members of the Temple were in an even worse state. It was the same for the Demons under Auraboros, who had just arrived.


    The only ones that could move at this moment among the members of the Temple were the Priestess, the Priestess Grandniece, Tsubasa, and the Head Priest, Akio.


    As for Auraboros. It was the Empress, the leader of Yuki Kitsune, Yukine, and the second inmand under the Empress, a Tengu they called Kouki.


    "No wonder Gar''m suddenly had the idea to attack," The Empress voiced out with a frown. "It looked like he found a pretty strong backing."


    Gar''m''s invasion attempt on the Reimed City was unexpected because it was pretty early. Only a few months had passed after the Spirit Dimension fused with the mortal realm, which caused the return of magical energy to Earth. It was not enough time for Gar''m to fully recover his strength and invade the Reimed City, even if he gathered a lot of Demons and Yokais. The happenings earlier were the proof of that, where the Demons were unable to take a single step into the Reimed City.


    But it looked like the invasion was not the true motive. It was to gather sacrifices to resurrect something.


    If the invasion of the Demons was to seed, the sacrifice would be the Reimed City''s residence. But as the tide turned against them, the Demons became the sacrifice instead.


    "Fight or flee?"


    Mark asked, to the surprise of everyone around him. However, they understood why.


    Normally, Mark would fight. However, it was a different scenario than his past fights.


    Sinogo was an evident threat to him as it was in his country. It was the same for the [Mechid Factory].


    But this time, while Mark admired Japan as an Otaku, it was not enough for him to sacrifice things.


    Taking back Shin''s ability could wait. However, he was unsure if he could take on a literal God at this moment.


    "You can."


    As those thoughts shed inside Mark''s head, a familiar woman''s voice contradicted him.


    "What do you mean?"


    Mark asked Magwayen inside his head.


    "That snake is not a resurrection. It is not even a reincarnation. It''s just a fragment of a soul, just like Amihan. An incarnation."


    Magwayen replied, which surprised Mark a bit.


    "But it feels different and stronger?" Mark asked with a frown. "If it''s any stronger, I''d say it''s close to your avatar or even Bath''s weakened state."


    "That''s true," Magwayen replied with acknowledgment. "But it is only due to the fact that we came from a lower realm than theirs. And you, at this moment, in your full potential, could likely hold your ground alone against that snake. Defeating it alone would be unlikely, but you are not alone."


    "But that guy is not alone, either."


    Mark said, turning his attention to the other side of the river. In front of the base of the Serpent God''s body, he could feel Gar''m and his entourage lying in wait.


    "So, you will retreat just because of those?" Magwayen replied with a slightly provocative tone. "I don''t remember the mortal I blessed to have such a personality. I already told you. Your chance of winning isn''t zero. The only thing left for you is to grab that chance."


    "Hey! What is happening to you? Are you listening?"


    An annoyed voice pulled Mark back to reality as he turned to the annoyed Priestess.


    "Did you say something?"


    Mark asked.


    "I knew it. You''re not listening, even though you''re the one who asked the question," The Priestessined. "I said, you can retreat with your people if you want to. I won''t me you. After all, it is very likely that we are going to fight a God, and it would be dangerous even for me. There''s no incentive for you to fight a losing battle."


    The Priestess was ready to be abandoned. This would be a fight to the death. And as the protector of the Reimed City, she could only stand her ground.


    But to her surprise...


    "Nah, we''re staying."


    Mark smirked.


    "You..."


    The Priestess was appalled by Mark''s reply. He could even show a careless smirk at this time.


    "Our chance of winning against that isn''t zero," Mark stared back at the giant snake on the other side of the river. "Someone told me."


    "Who?"


    The Priestess was surprised. The Empress and the others around were the same.


    "Someone annoying."


    Mark did not intend to borate.


    "Anyway," Mark changed the topic. "That thing is going to make a move soon, isn''t it?"


    Both the Priestess and the Empress frowned and nodded. They could feel the aura of the Serpent God starting to stabilize.


    "We should evacuate everyone if possible."


    Tsubasa chimed in, giving a rational suggestion.


    It was not safe to remain here. Whether it was the members of the Temple or the Army. The entire northwest of the Reimed City might not even be safe.


    "But their state..."


    Tsubasa turned around. Most members of the Temple and the soldiers from the Army had already copsed in fear and despair. Those that remained standing were unable to even take a single step. It was already good that, while struggling, the members of the ck Lotus could still move around.


    But this time, Mark shrugged and spoke to Tsubasa and Akio.


    "Can you two handle the evacuation?"


    The two turned to the Priestess, asking if she had the same thought, and she nodded.


    Tsubasa and Akio epted the task, but it would be hard considering the people''s current state.


    "Just do it," Mark urged the two. "I''ll do something to help."


    After saying those words, Mark''s eyes began glowing red, even overwhelming the already purplish color of Mark''s left eye. And there, everyone around felt a surge of energy spreading from Mark. A positive energy that raised everyone''s morale and reduced their fear.


    "Wow..." Sayuri voiced out as she was freed from her bloodline''s fear. "You can also do that, Boss?"


    Mark nced at Sayuri. He kinda disliked that this girl was an extrovert who could easily voice her thoughts. Nheless, she was a useful one, so he could only reply.


    "I can do this, but the effect is limited. It''s easier for me to spread negative moods or make people bleed from their orifices."


    That reply made Sayuri step back. Even the Priestess was speechless. Nheless, they could see the people affected by the Serpent God began to recover.


    Seeing the results of his ability, Mark turned it off. [Emotion Induction]. It was Mark''s first [Empath] ability. He never thought that he would need to use it like this at this time. After all, he only used it on people the same way the Serpent God was staring at everyone.


    Mark then felt a piercing stare and turned his head to see the gigantic eyes of the Serpent God staring at him.


    And finally... It began to unravel its body from its original position.


    While Mark managed to negate the innate fear everyone felt, they were all still appalled by the sheer size of the Serpent God.


    As it stretched its body, the already copsed ruins on the other side of the river were ttened further.


    It began to slither around, and just a fourth of its length was able to wrap around two to threerge buildings.


    By estimate, the Serpent God''s current length might be equal to or even longer than Kachidoki''s entire riverbank facing the Sumida River. Not to mention the thickness of its body, which was higher than a single-story house.


    Everyone readied for the next round. But it was then everyone was disturbed by something.


    "AHHHHHHHH!!!"


    Screams of people erupted from behind them. No, it was screams from the shelter within Kachidoki.


    Mark nced at Mei, and she immediately sprung into action. She could fly, and her sight could probably see further than everyone here. Her skills were the best to see what was happening at this moment.


    Mei flew up high toward''s Kachidoki. She saw the evacuees rushing out of the shelters. Specifically, underground shelters.


    And it was not only happening in Kachidoki. It was the same situation for the entire Reimed City.


    Using her [Psycast] ability, Mei flew at the speed of light and rushed into one of the closest shelters where evacuees were rushing out of.


    And inside, it was carnage.


    The [Miasmic Residues] were everywhere. Many people were already killed as the [Miasmic Residues] infiltrated from underground.


    "Damn it!" The Priestess bellowed after Mei reported her findings to Mark through themunicator. "The barriers underground might have been broken by the shockwave earlier."


    "It looks like the evacuation should be done on arger scale."


    The Empress said as she turned to her subordinates. Her thoughts were obvious.


    "Drag the soldiers too to help evacuate people," The Priestess grumbled. "They will be of no help here. They will just be baggage."


    Tsubasa and Akio nodded at the Priestess'' words.


    And Mark turned to Spera and the girls.


    "Spera, you hide and stand by. Emika, take my daughters with you and help the ck Lotus."


    "Alright." "Got it!"


    Spera and Emika replied, respectively.


    And with a few words, I, Abbygale, and Miracle joined Ren and the ck Lotus to return and evacuate the residents. Mei would join themter when she returned after her reconnaissance.


    Now, all the ones left at the docks were Mark, Amihan, Hikari, Tamamo, Yukine, and Kouki.


    The other four were confused as to why a [Sylph] was left with them. After all, [Sylphs] were never known to be powerful creatures.


    However, the answer to that question immediately came.


    The Serpent God finally made the first move as it spewed a gigantic burst of mes from one of its heads, intending to burn the entirety of the docks.


    Everyone was ready to disperse as soon as the light of the mes appeared on the Serpent God''s mouth.


    However, Mark spoke.


    "Amihan."


    Amihan then flew in front of everyone, to their surprise.


    And then, they were appalled, as a Godly pressure emerged from the small body of the [Sylph].


    WHOOOMMM!!!


    The wind suddenly gathered as fast as the mes surged towards them. And in the blink of an eye and dance of the [Sylph''s] hands, a tornado appeared at the center of the river, sucking all the mes the Serpent God spewed. And as it also tore the frozen surface and sucked the river''s water, the Serpent God''s mes were utterly extinguished.


    And as Amihan separated her hands, the tornado was ripped apart to nothingness, leaving only a cold rain of river water.


    There was no doubt that it was not only Mark''s allies but also the enemies who were taken by surprise.


    After all, Amihan was also an incarnation of a Goddess.

 Chapter 1091 A Battle In The Southside Peak, The Little Cat Girl Versus The Giant Impostor

    Chapter 1091 A Battle In The Southside Peak, The Little Cat Girl Versus The Giant Impostor


    Day 360 - 3:15 PM - Market Area, Southside Peak, Muria Sacred Fortress, Mount Muria, Central Java, Indonesia


    The loud screech echoed throughout the hospital and the surrounding areas. It rmed everyone affected. It was, after all, a screech that seemed to affect their very soul.


    Many people felt numbed as the screech entered their ears. Those with stronger bodies managed to endure, but even those people felt their legs bing shaky.


    At the parking area in front of the hospital, the waiting members of the Moon Chasers were also affected by the soul-affecting screech. Knowing that something bad could be happening, they tried to respond. However, being parked too close to the hospital did not do them good, as it also rendered most of them numb.


    Before Edge and the others could even recover, they had already seen soldiers from theboratory rushing into the hospital. Strange enough, Edge also saw the stout doctor who should be in charge of Luna''s niece.


    Seeing the soldiers respond, Edge made his team wait and recover. There was no need to rush, and there would be barely anything they could do in their current state.


    But a few momentster, Edge and the others were stupified as they saw the window at a room on the second floor burst into pieces, with the familiar figure of the stout doctor jumping through it.


    It was not only the members of the Moon Chasers who were stupefied by the scene. There were also other people who began gathering around, curious as to what happened and what the screech was.


    The gallery could barely react as they watched the stout doctor run faster than his body should allow.


    But before everyone could even talk about the strange situation, two blurry figures rushed out of the same window, chasing after the fleeing doctor.


    Edge''s eyes focused and saw that one of the two blurry figures was actually Bajing.


    There was no need to ask about the situation. Edge immediately separated the waiting group into three. One group would apany him to inquire about the situation inside. Another would chase after Bajing and aid her, while thest group would continue guarding the vehicles.


    The members of the Moon Chasers moved to follow the orders they received as the gallery watched in confusion.


    ***


    On the other side, Bajing rushed after the fleeing doctor as he entered the market area. It was unexpected that a stout and unfit-looking man could run this fast. However, Bajing could not help but pay attention to the figure running along with her. The second oldest of Mark''s three daughters was actually keeping up with her.


    Furthermore, Abbygale''s expression showed she was not even exerting effort running this fast.


    Bajing''s eyes suddenly locked onto the target. The bastard was actually trying to rush into therge group of people in the market to lose his pursuers.


    Without waiting for that to happen, Bajing increased her speed. She then jumped, moving through the air even faster than her running.


    "Stop! Stop resisting and surrender yourself!"


    Bajing shouted, causing the surrounding area to look at the situation.


    The doctor did not reply. Instead, he looked around swiftly, even behind him.


    Behind the doctor, another figure stopped to block his way.


    But seeing that the person blocking the way behind was a measly little girl around eight or nine years of age, the doctor immediately turned around.


    After all, what could a little girl do against a stout, almost six-foot-tall man.


    However, the doctor was mistaken.


    If he charged at Bajing instead, he might have more chances of escaping. Running towards the little girl was more of a suicide.


    The doctor rushed to Abbygale. His hands stretched out as if he wanted to grab her. In this situation, it was clear that keeping a hostage would make it easier for him to escape.


    But when his hands were about to grab the little girl, the little girl''s right leg blurred.


    CRACK! CRACK!


    All of a sudden, cracking sounds were heard as both the doctor''s arms folded backward. His forward-stretched arms were now stretched backward.


    Everyone watching could not help but feel the pain in their shoulder joints as they saw the scene.


    The situation was the most absurd to the doctor. He was supposed to grab the girl and escape, but he suddenly lost the feeling of his arms.


    "ARRRGG!!!"


    The pain finally crept in as the doctor let out a loud wail.


    However, instead of falling to the ground because of the pain, the doctor''s body began to expand.


    The skin mask on his face was ripped to pieces as his whole body started growing.


    Bajing rushed in Abbygale''s direction, grabbing the little girl and running away from the strange doctor.


    Everyone also fled the area. The stall owners tried to save as much of their wares as possible before running away.


    Unfortunately, several stalls turned into scraps as the doctor''s gigantic body grew past the width of the street.


    Those who could look back could only see the doctor''s body be at least four meters tall.


    Strange enough, the giant''s current appearance had no resemnce to his appearance as the doctor. He now had charcoal-colored skin and was wearing some sort of orange-colored tribal vest and pants.


    "Ukhubutnakhubmeynem!"


    The giant shouted as if he was chanting.


    To everyone''s surprise, his backward-folded arms were suddenly covered in a ck haze as they moved back to their original ce.


    BOOOM!


    The first thing the giant did was smash a stall nearby and grab arge wooden pole. He then swung the wooden pole at Bajing and Abbygale.


    BOOOM!


    Another loud sound echoed as the wooden pole mmed to the ground with great force.


    However, even if the wooden pole broke while creating a small crater on the pavement, the figure of the two targets was nowhere to be seen.


    BAM!


    Instead, the giant felt a strong blow behind its head as Bajing''s figure appeared with a ruthless kick.


    Unfortunately, the giant barely felt anything from Bajing''s attack. He did not even stagger a little. Instead, he quickly rotated his body, swinging his entire left arm at Bajing, who was still in midair.


    Bajing had no way of dodging this attack.


    But all of a sudden, the small figure of Abbygale appeared between Bajing in the giant''s swinging arm. Everyone watching gasped, expecting the little girl to turn into meat paste in another second.


    However, the little girl kicked the air, and her body miraculously moved despite seemingly not having any foothold in midair. The little girl spun like a horizontal top. The robe she wore quickly fluttered as she spun.


    And then, with a burst of lighting from her shoes, she kicked downward.


    The girl''s foot and the giant''s arm made contact. However, the thing the audience expected did not happen.


    CRACK!


    "GUUAAAAHHH!!!"


    The giant yelled an ear-pierce wail as his arm got broken for the second time. And this time, it was not just getting folded wrongly at the shoulder joints. The giant''s left forearm literally snapped into two.


    Bajing and Abbygalended safely on the ground and retreated, not risking another attack at the abnormal enemy.


    At this time, familiar voices entered Bajing''s ears.


    "Ma''am! We''re here to support!"


    It was the group Edge tasked to support Bajing. It was a group with four members.


    "Everyone! Fire! Fire!"


    The assigned group leader gave his orders, and they opened fire on the giant.


    With the sounds of the assault rifles roaring, dozens of bullets hit the giant''s body.


    However...


    "F*CK OFF!"


    The giant cursed as he grabbed a nearby stall and threw it at the four reinforcements.


    "Damn! The bullets don''t work!"


    The leader realized.


    Everyone could see the bullets hitting and getting embedded in the giant''s skin. However, the bullets soon fell out as the giant''s body immediately healed.


    At this time, groups of soldiers appeared. It seemed that the headquarters was finally rmed.


    "Secure the area! Move the civilians out of this ce!"


    Themanding officer shouted as the soldiers began securing the perimeter and surrounding the giant.


    "F*CKING HUMANS!"


    The giant cursed as he saw more ants begin gathering to kill him.


    BAM!


    The giant picked up another stall and threw it at the soldiers.


    "EVADE!"


    One of the soldiers yelled in time. Although the wood splinters and debris hit them, there were no fatal injuries.


    "OPEN FIRE!"


    Themander shouted, and the rain of bullets ensued.


    "Magolhubut!"


    The giant did not care about its broken arm anymore and chanted with a violent glint in his eyes.


    CLANG! CLANG!


    "AGH!"


    "GAH!"


    "AH!"


    Sounds of metal followed the giant''s chant, and those sounds were followed by the painful wails of the surrounding soldiers.


    "HOLD YOUR FIRE! HOLD YOUR FIRE!"


    Themanding officer frantically ordered. The bullets they fired began to ricochet after hitting the giant''s body, and the bullets hit their ownrades instead.


    "Sh*t! Don''t you dare die before me!"


    A soldier shouted. The other soldier beside him was punctured by a bullet through his neck.


    "Why is a monster like this in the middle of the fortress?"


    Themanding officer said as he stared at the giant.


    Gripping his fist, themanding officer picked up his radio to call the headquarters. If bullets were not working, then they would try rockets and explosives.


    However, before themander could make the call, a figure of a little girl suddenly appeared by the nape of the giant.


    The girl then kicked the air, spinning her body faster than before. And with another burst of light from her shoe, she kicked the giant''s nape.


    BAM!


    The giant did not expect the attack. His body was still strengthened, causing the kick to fail to snap his neck. However, the hammering pain was still transmitted into the giant''s body. Without resistance, the force from the kick made the giant fall forward, with his face getting nted to the ground.


    Seeing the giant fall, everyone watching could not help but rejoice.


    However, they saw the girlnd on the ground,ically jumping with one foot.


    "Are you okay?"


    Bajing rushed to Abbygale''s side. Kicking something that could resist hundreds of bullets would have been painful to kick.


    However, the little girl did not respond to Bajing''s question. Instead, Bajing heard the little girl say.


    "Not enough..."


    Abbygale was right. The kick she unleashed just now was not enough.


    "F*CK!"


    The giant cursed out loud as he used his right arm to prop himself up.


    Seeing the giant try to stand, Bajing immediately tried to grab Abbygale to retreat again.


    However, Bajing froze as she saw Abbygale begin to transform.


    The little girl turned into a snow-white cat girl.


    And before the giant could lift himself up, the figure of Abbygale was already in midair above him.


    Abbygale kicked the air again, and again, and again. She increased her spinning momentum far stronger than before. The audience could even see red vein-like lights appear on her neck and face. The speed she was umting was about to tear her robes apart.


    And then, with onest kick and another burst of light on her foot, Abbygale mmed another kick on the giant''s nape.


    BOOOOM!!!


    The explosive sound of metal exploding echoed as the giant''s defenses got prated.


    Abbygale''s kick, like a giant axe, hacked through the giant''s neck, brutally beheading the giant.


    The giant''s eyes opened wide as he realized what happened. His defenses were broken, and his head was now falling away from his body.


    "Damn it... Everything should be working as nned..."


    The giant let out hisst murmur as his voice trailed off in his death.


    SWOOOSH!


    As the giant closed his eyes, his body began to disintegrate.


    In an instant, everyone saw the giant''s body turn to ash in the middle of the destroyed market street.


    However, the giant had no regrets. In his death, the secrets and ns he knew had no way of spreading as no one could question him after he died.


    Unfortunately...


    "Heh, too bad, that won''t happen."


    An unfamiliar voice echoed into the giant''s ears.


    Wait, the giant was dead. How could he still hear?


    The giant opened his eyes. What he saw was a ss wall propped with metal fittings. It was a prison that was being held by someone.


    As he looked up, the giant was horrified.


    The giant was dead. That was without a doubt. However, the man inside that hospital room before was now holding his prison. His soul''s prison.


    With this man around...


    Death was not an escape. It was another round of torture.

 Chapter 1034 The Battle Of Sumida River, A Fight Between Beings Of Myths And Legends

    ?


    Day 341 - 12:59 PM - Sumida River, Ruins of Tokyo


    Mark was the first to arrive at the enemy camp and attack. Unfortunately, he was also the first to get hit by an attack.


    In a split second that Mark took the initiative to attack, Gar''m blocked Mark''s sword and counterattacked with a quick jab to his stomach. It was a simple jab. However, it was too fast that a blur of Gar''m''s fist was barely even seen. And most importantly, its explosive impact sent Mark flying.


    Mark got thrown back to the center of the frozen river. His body drew a letter C as the impact of Gar''m''s punch carried his whole body away.


    It was a perfect and powerful counterattack. That would have been the thoughts of anyone to see what happened just now.


    However, Gar''m would say otherwise. He had a strange look on his face as he stared at his fist and Mark far away. The impact Gar''m felt on his hand was strange. He had no way to describe it, but something was definitely wrong.


    And Gar''m was not mistaken.


    Marknded upright and slid through the frozen river. His boots left marks on the ice as spikes protruded under the soles of the boots to stop his slide.


    And the moment he stopped...


    PSHHHHHH...


    Slots appeared at the sides of Mark''s armor. All of which faced backward as they released what seemed to be steam.


    As Mark raised his head to look at Gar''m, a cloud of steam covered his background.


    Mark stood up, tapping his slightly dented armor. It got dented by Gar''m''s fist, but it was not broken in the least. And it could likely still hold after another two or three of the same attacks.


    Incorporating Erielli''s anti-impact technology used on their spaceships in his armor sure was a good investment. It was the most important function of the [AbyssTech] armors that Mark made. It was to absorb kic energy, redirect it, and release it afterward. This would lessen the damage received while ensuring the armor would not break too fast.


    This function would not be possible with Earth''s materials. However, using [Mechid''s] bodies as the main material andbining them with specific magic circles did not trick.


    Mark took a deep breath as hebined his two swords into one. The Gar''m he was fighting this time was different from thest time. Although he managed to overpower Gar''m when he was newly awakened, Gar''m now had recovered his original powers to a great extent. Thus, he had to try a lot of things to see which approach would be effective.


    HOOOOOOO!


    Agitated sounds entered Mark''s ears.


    The moment Marknded, he already got the attention of the [Miasmic Residues] and began to approach him.


    Unfortunately for them...


    BOOOM!


    Mark''s legs emitted a reddish glow. And as he kicked the ice below his feet, he catapulted himself away, leaving the explosion of ice and water behind him.


    Once again, Mark flew towards Gar''m, and the [Miasmic Residues] that tried to surround Mark fell into the ice-cold water of the river.


    On the other side, Gar''m stretched his right arm forward, with his palm facing Mark.


    WHOOOM!


    Like a machine gun, Gar''m fired dozens of fist-sized fireballs in session.


    Mark''s charge was met with hundreds of fireballs mid-way. However, his body appeared and disappeared, turning into ck mist when a fireball was about to hit him. He flew in an erratic fashion to evade the iing attacks without losing speed and momentum.


    And in a blink of an eye, Mark was in front of Gar''m once more.


    This time, Mark disappeared and appeared behind Gar''m in an instant. He then unleashed a side sh at the enemy''s right nk.


    However, Gar''m saw through Mark''s movements. Without even looking, he conjured a me barrier to protect his back.


    Mark showed a smirk as he saw Gar''m''s arrogance.


    Sure, Gar''m managed to anticipate Mark''s attack trajectory. But without looking?


    Gar''m needed to at least turn his head to see that Mark''s sword was already covered in ck mist.


    WHOOSH!


    Mark''s sword and the barrier connected, but the me barrier barely stopped the sword before its energy was absorbed by something. The sword then passed through the weakened barrier and connected with Gar''m''s body.


    Gar''m immediately shed away as he felt a stinging pain in his back. As he appeared a few meters away, he knew that Mark''s sword wounded him.


    "I was careless..."


    The me Demon Deity muttered as he saw Mark''s sword d in [Miasma].


    While the wound Mark''s sword inflicted Gar''m was actually small, it was infected with [Miasma], which would continuously eat Gar''m''s energy if left alone.


    BOOOM!


    Gar''m''s energy exploded. It caused the [Miasma] on his wound to dissipate as the wound on his back closed without hindrance.


    The appearance that Gar''m had right now might look human. However, just like Amihan, his body was constructed with elemental energy. As long as he had enough energy, wounds would pose no problems. Of course, a good amount of energy was wasted to heal the wound. Even for a Deity, it would be better not to rely on this kind of thing.


    Gar''m had no time to mull over his carelessness, however. Mark was already on his next attack.


    The two began exchanging attacks afterward. The [Miasma] that d Mark''s sword disabled Gar''m''s me barriers and forced the me Demon Deity to retreat several times. As Gar''m was being more careful, Mark was unable to get another hit.


    However, Gar''m was the same. He tried to counterattack several times, but Mark was already wary of his quick and explosive attacks and would retreat a few steps back or disappear once Gar''m tried to.


    It looked like the exchange of attack and defense between the two would take some time. At the least, Mark was able to fight head-to-head with a Deity near its prime.


    ***


    On the other hand, the separated battles began on other sides.


    Gar''m was using his head when he sent his subordinates to fight specific individuals on purpose.


    The [Blue Oni] was giving the Priestess quite a fight. The [Oni] race was known for its outstanding constitution and strength, but its race was also known for having outstanding sorcerers.


    And the [Blue Oni], Aoba, had all those qualities to a great extent. Too great that it would not be surprising if he was the current king of his race.


    BAM! CRACKLE!


    Using her talismans, the Priestess attacked with both explosions and lightning bolts.


    However, the attacks did not even faze Aoba as he met them head-on with his body. And if he deemed an attack to pose even a little threat, he would wave his club with a barely visible speed and destroy the attack without reaching him at all.


    The Priestess could only frown. This [Blue Oni] was a bad matchup for her. It seemed that she would need to call upon more powerful attacks. However, she had already expended a great amount of her strength to protect the Reimed City from the shockwave earlier. She was trying to conserve her energy to fight the Serpent God, but it looked like she would not have any other choice.


    BAM! BAM! BAM!


    On another side, the Empress was fighting the [Jorogumo], Renea.


    Fighting was not really the Empress'' forte. She could fight, but not to the extent that she could say she excelled in it. Instead, she relied on her magic and illusions.


    Light-blue ghostly mes appeared around the Empress, which all flew at her enemy. mes would be the best against spiders, as they said. Well, if it was an ordinary spider.


    Renea screeched. The sound was not loud to envelop the entire battlefield. However, its power came from the vibrations it created, which could even distort light and the scenery around it.


    The collision of the [Fox mes] and the vibration resulted in an explosion that canceled each other.


    But as the explosions nketed the surroundings, silhouettes of several figures emerged to surround Renea.


    And the silhouettes were all the Empress after she conjured her clones.


    All of the eight clones conjured [Fox mes], attacking Renea from all directions.


    SCREECH!


    But the [Fox mes] were again met with the vibrations from that screech and exploded.


    At the same time, Renea went on the offensive, casting webs around her from her three sets of arms.


    The Empress'' clones were called back and could only retreat.


    As the nine bodies of the Empress stood away, thend several meters in diameter around Renea were nketed with webs strong and sticky enough to entrap elephants.


    For the Empress, who relied on her clones for offensive attacks, Renea was also a bad matchup. A [Jorogumo] was known for deception and trapping their prey. It was not wrong to say that they were a master of crowd control to restrict enemies and devour them.


    On the final side of the battlefield, it was the team battles. The [White Kitsune], Yukine, and the [Tengu], Kouki, against the team of the [Demonic Human], Shin, and the twin [Sirens], Yoko and Tsukiko.


    Unexpectedly, it was the most lively battle.


    Shin and Kouki were already in a fierce exchange of attacks. The [Tengu], with speed and strength, was attacking Shin in a quick barrage of attacks. However, Shin was able to hold on without problems. In fact, Kouki was struggling because all of Shin''s attacks were all area-of-effect, as each of his sword''s shes would spew des of mes.


    Furthermore, the twin [Sirens] would attack with soundwaves from behind, which would cause Kouki to be momentarily disoriented from time to time.


    To counteract the hypnotic soundwaves, Yukine became Kouki''s support. Since she was the Empress'' right hand, Yukine had a simr skill set with her illusions.


    However, illusions were not only used in disorienting enemies. It could also be used to counteract illusions and mental effects affecting allies.


    The twin [Siren''s] song should have given Kouki blindness. However, Yukine prevented it by casting an illusion on Kouki''s mind, showing him what he was supposed to see in front of him.


    But the most important fact was that Yukine''s main job was not being an illusionist.


    It was...


    "ACK!"


    Tsukiko''s song stopped as her voice echoed into the ears of her twin and Shin.


    The other two did not notice. However, the Yukine behind Kouki was nothing but an illusion.


    After all, Yukine''s main job was as a Spy and an Assassin.


    "Sister!"


    Yoko screeched at Yukine, who was holding the unconscious Tsukiko.


    Those soundwaves from Yoko should have burst Yukine''s eardrums. Unfortunately for Yoko, explosions urred as Yukine retreated. The soundwave from the screech was dispersed, and Yukine vanished from the spot, dragging Tsukiko away.


    "Where are you looking at?"


    Kouki''s voice entered Shin''s ears at his momentary distraction.


    BAM!


    Shin tried to defend, but he was flung away by an impact on a fist on his stomach.


    CRASH!


    Shinnded beside Yoko, crashing into theyers of snow on the riverbank.


    Yukine appeared near Kouki. The unconscious Tsukiko was carried over her shoulders.


    And by Yukine''s will, one of her three tails vanished, turning into a clone.


    "Bring her away."


    Yukine passed Tsukiko to the clone as it ran towards the Reimed City.


    "Where are you going!"


    Shin roared as the snow he crashed into exploded. He tried to retrieve Tsukiko from the fleeing clone of Yukine.


    "Your enemy is here."


    Kouki said with a stern tone as he appeared in front of Shin and unleashed another punch.


    Once again, Shin created another pit in the snow on the riverbank as he crashed.


    "How disgraceful..." Kouki''s voice entered Shin''s and Yoko''s ears. "Do not tell me you three participated in this battle and expect nothing to happen to any of you? This is a battlefield where everyone is staking their lives into. Not a yground for you children."


    Kouki''s words stung the hearts of Shin and Yoko. That was right. The three participated in this fight unprepared for any loss between the three of them.


    Was it overconfidence?


    No. Unfortunately no.


    They were all young and inexperienced. It was no surprise that they took things for granted. And now, they would learn their lessons the hard way.

 Chapter 1035 Determination And Responsibilities, The Secret Weapons Of The Reclaimed Citys Goverment

    ?


    Day 341 - 1:01 PM - Technical Laboratory, Tokyo Port, Ariake, Reimed City, Ruins of Tokyo


    The people of the Reimed City rushed to evacuate. Helped by the soldiers and respective members of the ck Lotus, leaving the premises of Kachidoki went smoother than expected.


    Well... It was smooth enough, considering everyone was under the unrestrained powerful pressureing from a godly being. Although not as heavy as everyone at the riverbank felt during its appearance, anyone within a several-kilometer radius could feel the fear creeping up their backs as their arms and legs shiver uncontrobly. The faintest of hearts had already fallen unconcious.


    Those who were on the open streets of Kachidoki and Tsukuda could even see the Serpent God on the other side of the Sumida River. That was how gigantic the Serpent God was as it raised its eight necks up to the sky while spewing mes and summoning tornadoes from some of its mouths.


    It was a horrifying sight for the mortals.


    If there was something keeping the people up, it was the will to survive and escape the misty-goo-like creatures spawning from underground.


    So far, the [Miasmic Residues] only appeared inside underground shelters and sealed-off subways. It would have been a fortunate thing if not for the fact that their sudden appearance caused deaths among the refugees within the underground shelters. And worse, they also began to appear in areas near the water surrounding the different manmade inds of the Reimed City. The residues still faced the coastal barriers and walled banks, slowing them down. However, it was only a matter of time.


    If there was a leeway, it was the taller buildings as these locations were less prone to the attacks of the [Miasmic Residues] in the meantime.


    The good news was that only the northern parts of the Reimed City were prone to the spawning of the [Miasmic Residues]. The closer the location was to the riverside northwest of Kachidoki, the more the residues spawned. It also meant that as long as everyone evacuated to the southern parts of the Reimed City, the safer they became.


    Unfortunately, it would be questionable if the government would allow the evacuees to the southernmost parts of the Reimed City.


    Everything south of Toyosu would be the industrial area. It was where the government constructed new factories and farms for the consumption of the Reimed City. Normally, only workers were allowed in those areas to prevent thieves. But in case of emergency, exceptions could be made, although it came with a few risks.


    However, the southernmost part of the Reimed City, the Tokyo Docks, was off-limits to unauthorized personnel. One reason was that it was the most dangerous coastal area facing Tokyo Bay. The other, more important, reason was that it was where the Japanese government built theirboratories and research facilities.


    These facilities were off-limits for obvious reasons. Not only it contained the ssified results of the government''s research, but it also housed some dangerous specimens.


    In any case, the industrial area should be fine to house the evacuees. Unless something worse had happened, there should be no necessity for the evacuees to take shelter within the research facilities andboratories.


    And currently, outside one of such research facilities, an armored vehicle arrived apanied by armed guards. It was a research facility by the docks, which was previously used as a maintenance dock for cargo ships before the apocalypse.


    In the current days of the apocalypse, only the government had the knowledge of what was happening within this facility and the ones around it.


    The people in the armored vehicle came out. They were led by the current Prime Minister, followed by the representatives who did not defect to the side of the traitors.


    There was one particr reason why the Prime Minister was spared, even though he knew some information about the Mitsui n''s betrayal. It was not because he did not totally fall to the side of the traitors. It was due to the fact that he was the first prime minister of the Reimed City.


    Although the previous government was already in shambles due to the apocalypse, government positions still held some meaning. Most importantly, authority.


    As the Prime Minister, he led most of the Reimed City''s development after it was established. Along with that, he gained authority above many things, including the results of the research the scientists conducted.


    Was the Prime Minister the highest position in Japan? Of course, not. The Royal Family should be above him.


    Unfortunately, the apocalypse would spare no one, even those with the highest status. Just like the previous Prime Minister who prematurely retired, most of the royal family fell victim to the apocalypse. There was still a direct heir to be enthroned, but he was still too young to be the head of the country.


    That was why the current Prime Minister held the highest position in the Reimed City.


    Enduring the innate fear trying to overwhelm his body, the Prime Minister took quick strides into the facility.


    Along the way, he was met with the Head Scientist of this facility.


    "How are the preparations?"


    The Prime Minister asked the Head Scientist.


    "Nowhere ready." The Head Scientist bluntly responded. "You know the units are still experimental. The power consumption is huge, and the operation time is short."


    "How long is the current operation time?"


    The Prime Minister asked as he continuously walked towards the inner facilities with everyone.


    "Ten minutes for normal operation. Fifteen at maximum. And that''s if we are ready to abandon the unit on the spot after losing power. Raising the operation time is currently impossible."


    "That should be enough," The Prime Minister sternly said. "The units are not our priority but our survival. If the experimental units can help the ones fighting for us even a little, then there is no need to hesitate."


    "Haahh..." The Head Scientist sighed. "If you said so. I''ll authorize the deployment immediately."


    At this time, the group reached the docks. It was a gigantic facility that could house severalrge sea vessels. And what weed them was the sight of two newly built warships.


    To be specific, two Kongo-ss warships.


    The two warships were simr in size. However, there were distinct differences between the two.


    One was pure white in color. It was mostly armed with cannons and deployable sea traps. It seemed less bulky as if its design aimed for more mobility than usual.


    The other was a ck warship with yellow ents. Its color seemed to imply a streak of lightning amidst the darkness. It was also armed with cannons, but instead of having deployable sea traps, it was equipped with missileunchers.


    But the physical looks aside, these warships were the products of the new technological advancements that the apocalypse brought. Their hull was made from newly discoveredpound alloy, and their weapons were far from ordinary.


    As the Prime Minister looked at the two warships. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath, remembering the sight of the gigantic eight-headed enemy.


    "It is as if it is destiny, isn''t it?"


    The Prime Minister said as he opened his eyes.


    Those words sounded odd, but no one around actually disagreed.


    It was because everyone here knew the names of these warships.


    The white one was Amaterasu. The guiding light and humanity''s hope. It was more of a transport vessel that could fight dangers and destroy its pursuers.


    And the ck one was Susanoo. Portraying the powerful hero who could destroy his enemies by raining lightning from the sky. It was an attack vessel that could rain missiles from long distances.


    The names might be peculiar, but it was what humanity needed at this moment, names that could bring hope and inspiration.


    "Weapon checks are done! Susanoo is ready to go!"


    A shout came from the personnel making final checks on the vessel.


    "Are we letting it sail to the battlefield?" The Head Scientist asked. "We already sent drones to monitor the situation from both air and underwater. Those ck formless creatures were mostly appearing from underwater. Sailing to the affected area could pose a threat to the personnel inside the ship."


    The Prime Minister instead turned to one of the representatives, who was wearing a maritime soldier''s uniform. He was the current Admiral of the Maritime Self-Defense Forces.


    And at that signal, the Admiral Spoke.


    "We don''t need to sail too close. It was already questionable whether our cannons would work on that monster. We can only rely on missiles, which we canunch from here. Although we should at least leave the docks since the shipyard equipment might end up bing obstacles."


    It was a sound n. Safe for the most part, but it should at least help even a little.


    Just because there were brave warriors fighting for their safety did not mean they would justy low and hide.


    The Prime Minister and the representatives immediately went to the control room of the docks. As these warships were their current final trump cards, the exit of the docks was blocked, and high-tech locking mechanisms held the ships in ce.


    In order to disengage the locks, the controls were locked with keys held by the Prime Minister and a few loyal representatives.


    The only thing left to do was to insert the key and press the button.


    And soon, the sound of a warship''s engine echoed from the docks.


    ***


    Day 341 - 1:02 PM - North Riverbank, Sumida River, Ruins of Tokyo


    While the Prime Minister was leading the preparations to help, the fight in the Sumida River was already intensifying.


    BOOM!


    Another explosion urred as Gar''m threw a basketball-sized fireball at Mark. However, it missed and fell into the river, causing the ice to melt and cause a steam explosion as the fireball submerged into the icy river.


    Just like with Mark''s attacks, getting stronger as he d his sword in [Miasma], Gar''m''s fireballs were getting bigger and hotter. Right now, the temperature of Gar''m''s attacks was even higher than the mes Shin could release in his attacks.


    Before, Mark could make small movements to dodge the fireballs from Gar''m. He could even try to sh them with his sword. But now,rger strides were needed to evade since the heat from Gar''ms attacks was not only causing Mark physical damage. They also brought mental and emotional damage.


    The weather was as cold as winter, and Gar''m''s attacks were as hot asva. It was not surprising that the continuous temperature change around Mark would weigh him down mentally.


    It was already like this when Mark''s body was covered in temperature-regting armor. What if he did not have this armor? This situation would have been worse.


    And as if the threat that Gar''m brought Mark was not enough, the Serpent God would chime in from time, with each attack being different from before.


    First was mes, then Mark was almost blown away by a wind spiral next. Then, getting showered with boulders and shot with a water cannon. And those were not the end of it.


    As the next sh between Mark''s sword and Gar''m''s fist blew him away another time, Mark knew he was not getting anywhere.


    Mark was trying to conserve energy while fighting Gar''m since they would still have to deal with the resurrected fragment of Yamata-no-Orochi.


    But it looked like Mark underestimated the extent of Gar''m''s recovery.


    The current Gar''m, despite still far from full recovery of his strength, was two to three times stronger than the [Infected] Sinogo.


    As Marknded at the frozen river after the previous sh, he finally decided.


    There was no need to hold back, as he was the weaker one in the first ce.


    Mark''s aura suddenly exploded, causing the other battles to halt shortly. The sudden surge of his energy was surprising since everyone barely felt anything from him all this time.


    And there, Mark''s Demon Form began to emerge.


    Mark''s transformation caused both surprise and curiosity among both enemies and allies.


    After all, Mark''s Demon Form was a form of a Pure Blood Demon Monarch.

 Chapter 1036 Pushing The Limits, The Battle Betwen A Pure Blood Demon And A Demon Deity

    ?


    Day 341 - 1:07 PM - Frozen Sumida River, Kachidoki, Reimed City, Ruins of Tokyo


    Mark finally decided to transform, stepping up the fight to the next phase. But was it not reckless? While the changes in his body were not too much, he would grow horns, fangs, and his hair would be longer in the process. To transform with his helmet on, would that not break it from the inside?


    However, it was one of the things Mark paid attention to when making his armor. And as if following his will, the helmet adapted to his transformation.


    There were slots on the helmet at the exact spot where Mark''s horns would grow. These slots could only open by getting pushed from the inside. And while it allowed Mark''s horns to grow unhindered, it also served as a switch that controlled the back part of his helmet.


    When Mark''s horns grew while pushing the slots on the forehead of the helmet open, the back part of the helmet opened in the middle and retracted to the sides. This opening allowed Mark''s hair to grow freely to its desired size during the transformation, making it flow outside with his surging aura.


    Gar''m could not help but frown as he felt the surge of Mark''s aura. His blood could not help but boil irritatingly.


    As a Demon Deity, Gar''m should be the one standing over most of the Demons. He was the one who the weak should look up to. However, to everything in the world, Earth or not, exceptions to the rules could always exist.


    And to Demons, it was the purity of bloodline.


    Demons were unnatural beings of the world. Those born in the lost era were formed by the residues of the corrupted presence of the gods. The ones born afterward were from corrupted residues of the creatures living on this.


    But among Demons, there were those who were born directly from the influence of Gods of the Lost Era.


    Those were the Pure Bloods.


    And those Pure Bloods carried a natural bloodline that could suppress other Demons.


    However, even in the past, before the purge of magical beings from Earth happened, Pure Bloods were not easy to encounter. It was because the Pure Bloods were born from the corrupted intention of Evil Gods. They became the target of killing for righteous Gods.


    And since the Pure Blood Demons were born smarter than other Demon Races, they learned how to hide instead of foolishly confronting enemies they could not defeat.


    Gar''m was born in thete Lost Era and became a Deity. Even then, Gar''m had only seen a true Pure Blood a few times until he was sealed. While one reason was that Gar''m avoided known territories of Pure Blood Demons, Gar''m never really encountered one face-to-face in the wild.


    In the current era of Earth, the Pure Bloods were even harder to find among the already rare Demon races. Their bloodline declined over the ages that passed, not to mention the inevitable mixing among the races of Demons and living creatures, causing the decline to be faster.


    Mark definitely was the first Pure Blood Demon Gar''m faced in a hostile environment. And that was why Gar''m could feel the full extent of the effects of the suppression of the bloodline between him and Mark.


    Gar''m was a Deity. But even so, he could not escape his inferior bloodline.


    The blood within Gar''m''s new body, which flowed and boiled like magma, was disturbed to the point of erupting.


    Irritating.


    Gar''m felt irritated as he gazed upon the lowly human that became a Pure Blood Demon for no apparent reason.


    Only someone like him, a Demon Deity, should have such an opportunity. Not a lowly human.


    Why could it not be him?


    Why this human?


    Gar''m felt very agitated. Jealousy and anger began creeping up inside his mind.


    Unable to watch the irritating transformation of his opponent, Gar''mmitted the most criminal thing a viin could do within Tokusatsu Shows. It was to attack the protagonists in the middle of their transformation sequence.


    Gar''m raised his left hand, facing Mark''s direction. And there, dozens of fist-sized fireballs manifested. Like torrential rain, those fireballs flew toward Mark''s location.


    But who said that Mark could not move during his transformation?


    In response to Gar''m''s attack, Mark also raised his left hand.


    And a swirl of ominous mist flowed out of Mark''s hand, forming a wall that swallowed the fireballs into nothingness.


    Seeing that familiar mist, Gar''m immediately stopped the rain of fireballs.


    Gar''m had already witnessed Mark harness [Miasma] before. And he was not stupid to feed Mark his magical energy.


    This just proved how much of a tricky opponent Mark was, even for a Demon Deity like Gar''m. Mark could already use [Miasma], which could protect him from magical and even a lot of physical attacks, and now, he could even harness the bloodline suppression of a Pure Blood Demon.


    Gar''m heaved a deep breath. Something unthinkable for him to do in most situations. However, he was feeling irritated at this moment due to Mark''s existence.


    The irritation was growing. Gar''m felt the urge to end it soon.


    That was why, for the first time in this battle, Gar''m went on the full offensive.


    Gar''m jumped off the riverbank with literal explosive force. Everything around his original position was enveloped with a burst of mes.


    With a trail of mes behind him, Gar''m appeared in front of Mark, unleashing a me-enveloped kick.


    But unlike the first punch that Gar''m unleashed, his kick missed.


    Mark''s eyes left a bluish trail inside his helmet as he jumped backward.


    Gar''m''s kicknded on the frozen river, making the ice beneath his foot crack before shattering. And with the high-temperature mes on Gar''m''s foot, the missed kick resulted in another steam explosion.


    Water and steam blocked Gar''m''s view. But it was never a problem. There was no way he would lose the opponent with all the aura he was releasing...


    Gar''m''s eyes widened in an instant.


    Just like before Mark transformed, his presence and aura vanished.


    Did Mark release his transformation?


    Gar''m did not have the time to ask or think.


    The de of a great sword d in [Miasma] sliced through the mist from Gar''m''s back.


    Gar''m immediately reacted to the movement behind him. He turned around and blocked the sword with a me barrier while he counterattacked by firing a barrage of fireballs in the sword''s direction.


    As Gar''m counterattacked, the sword retreated, hiding behind the steam. He was about to follow through and escape the poor visibility he was experiencing, but he felt a stinging pain behind his back.


    The feeling on Gar''m''s back was absurdly painful. He even felt his energy getting drained.


    Without overthinking anything, Gar''m released a burst of mes around his body before making it explode without letting the mes enter the water beneath his feet. The steam around him was blown away by the explosion. But most importantly, it blew away whatevertched on his back just now.


    Gar''m flew up and inspected his back with a quick nce over his shoulder. His physical body was damaged, with his back looking corroded. He then looked in front, feeling Mark''s aura soar once again.


    Mark stood on the ice, unscathed. He held hisbined sword with a sort of carefree posture.


    Gar''m frowned. He wanted to know what expression Mark had behind his helmet. Was Mark mocking him for getting caught off guard? Or was he still taking it east? Gar''m really wanted to know that it was making him even more irritated.


    And Mark?


    Mark had a small smile hidden behind his helmet. If only Gar''m could see the bright red glow of his right eye, the Demon Deity would sense something was wrong. Furthermore, holding back his [Aura of Death], which masked his presence and aura, was quite a trick as well. After all, it caused Gar''m to be caught off guard just now.


    And Mark was pretty sure Gar''m was still confused about what was going on at this moment. After all, Gar''m was attacked with [Miasma] from a different direction. Furthermore, there was no way anyone here would understand how his aura and presence seemed to turn on and off at his behest.


    Mark then shrugged as he looked at Gar''m, giving a bit more of a provocation.


    But Gar''m was not insane enough to fall into that. The steam explosion had already gotten him in a precarious position just now. There was no way he would go close to the surface of the frozen river anytime soon.


    That was why, with a fierce look in his eyes, Gar''m raised both of his hands.


    In an instant, a gigantic ball of mes formed above Gar''m''s hands. How big? How about double a size of a city bus?


    That gigantic fireball would burn anything it hit without even leaving any spec of ash.


    And as soon as it grewrge enough, Gar''m threw it at Mark.


    One would think that an attack of that size would fly slowly. However, it flew at Mark as fast as an F1 racecar at full speed. Only a blur could be seen before it caused a massive impact at where Mark stood just now.


    And, just like the previous instances, it caused a steam explosion. However, this time was massive, as it even brought the river water several dozen meters into the air.


    Within that explosion, Mark''s presence vanished once again.


    Gar''m then conjured smaller fireballs on both hands. He did not take his sight away from the explosion, which scattered steam below. He was sure the tricky Mark would not get done in by his attack just like that. The moment Mark emerged from the steam blocking the view, he would be ready to attack.


    Nheless, what Gar''m did not expect was...


    BAM!


    A heavy impact on his back.


    Gar''m was thrown into the river like a cannonball. The frozen surface did nothing at all to cushion his crash and shattered without resistance due to the strength of the impact.


    In the air, where Gar''m hovered just now, Mark''s figure slowly emerged from stealth. [Optical Illusion], it had been a while since Mark used this. There were very few instances it was necessary, just like now.


    However, unlike the usual, the [Photokinesis Mental Crystal] was nowhere to be seen. It was neither hovering around Mark''s wrist nor inside his hands.


    But if one was to look closely, one could see crystals embedded in Mark''s right gauntlet. On the inner side of the wrist, to be exact.


    It let Mark have the crystals ready to use without getting too conspicuous.


    And as the weakness of fire was water, Mark used all his strength on his kick, along with the momentum of a high-speed flight, and sent Gar''m crashing into the river.


    But Mark was not finished. The attack he made would not kill Gar''m.


    As such...


    Mark stretched his left arm, facing the water where Gar''m crashed into. His right hand formed a w, which he slowly clenched into a fist.


    Under the water, Gar''m was utterly furious. He could not believe that Mark sent him flying just like that.


    Gar''m''s anger even caused the water around him to start boiling.


    But as he looked up, about to fly out of the water, Gar''m''s eyes dted.


    Where was the exit?


    No... Why was it dark underwater in the first ce?


    Gar''m had an ominous feeling.


    It was not that the underwater was dark. Who knew how it happened, but the water around Gar''m was filled with a terrifying amount of [Miasma].


    And all these [Miasma] began closing unto Gar''m as if trying to trap and devour him.


    Gar''m''s anger finally entered the level of rage. It was not just rage about the situation he had now. It was rage fueled by jealousy and a plethora of uncertain emotions.


    But even though Gar''m had some uncertainty, there was one thing he was sure of.


    Even if Mark''s current strength was far from being able to fight Gar''m in a head-on fight, he was tricky enough to be a threat.


    Gar''m should not hold back and underestimate the enemy. Treat Mark as a being that could threaten Deities or even Lower Gods.


    With those thoughts, Gar''m''s magical energy surged.


    And in the air above the river, Mark felt the tremor in the air. The [Miasma] he was controlling just now vanished into nothingness.


    BOOOM!


    Another steam explosion urred, evenrger than Gar''m''s previous attack.


    Mark immediately retreated, but not without his eyes showing surprise.


    It was because the Gar''m that emerged from the water was a giant humanoid with a magma-like body d in yellowish-white mes.

 Chapter 1037 The Avatar Of Flames, A Magma-Like Shell Of Destruction

    ?


    Day 341 - 1:10 PM - Sumida River, Kachidoki Riverbank, Kachidoki, Reimed City, Ruins of Tokyo


    A body akin to flowing magma, enveloped in yellow mes. Such a giant standing over seven meters emerged from the river in Gar''m''s ce.


    The emergence of Gar''m in this form caused the freezing water to begin boiling. The ice that covered the surface of the Sumida River due to the blizzard began to thaw at an rming rate.


    Within the area, a few hundred meters around Gar''m. The coldness of winter snow was reced with the sizzling temperature of a heatwave.


    Comparing the heat of Shin''s mes to Gar''m''s, it was akin to a candle me beingpared to a wildfire.


    It was as one would expect from the me Demon Deity.


    The me giant turned his head, facing Mark. Thetter could not help but cold sweat on his back.


    Mark could feel the pressure created by Gar''m''s presence. It might not be as strong as the presence of the Gods. And even ifpared to the [Eyes] and Sinogo, Gar''m''s pressure was weaker. However, it was filled with unrestrained hostility against Mark, making it stronger than it was supposed to be.


    Gar''m floated over the boiling river. Without a word, or maybe, he could not speak in this form, Gar''m stretched out his right hand at Mark.


    And with a higher surge of temperature, a fireball, three timesrger than Mark''s height, formed in an instant.


    "Well... Damn..."


    Those were Mark''s words as he saw the giant fireball fly in his direction.


    Mark''s wings pped as hard as he could as he flew near the surface of the river. Compared to his flight speed, the fireball was much slower. Nheless, Mark did not dare to be careless. As soon as the fireball made contact with the river water, Mark used his [Shadow Mist Movement], turning into a surge of ck mist and flying faster than before.


    And Mark was right with his actions. The moment the fireball made contact with the water, with its temperature higher than the fireballs before, caused a far stronger explosion of steam. But that was the least of everyone''s concerns. It was because the fireball exploded into a surge of mes spreading out in every direction.


    Without regard for whether it was allies or foes, the surge of mes enveloped the entire area with a shockwave of melting temperatures.


    The Serpent God and Amihan were still exchanging horrifying attacks. And the two remained unfazed by the spreading mes. Yamata-No-Orochi''s body was far sturdier to be fazed by such mes. On the other hand, Amihan could use her abilities to block the mes and diver it away from her.


    Unfortunately, it was not the case for everyone else.


    Mark immediately flew to the sky to escape the surge below. Even if he turned into mist, there would be no escape if he remained near the water.


    As for the others, their respective fights locked in stalemate were interrupted.


    The Priestess and the Empress managed to retreat using their own methods.


    Using [Sukuchi], the Priestess vanished and appeared in every step she took over the surface of the water. In no time at all, she reached a distance she could easily defend against the wave mes.


    The Empress used a different method. She gracefully jumped and stepped over the surface of the water, retreating while encasing her body inside a hollow bluish fireball. While the wave of mes caught up with the Empress before she reached a safe distance, her [Fox mes] negated any damage she should have received.


    On the other hand, the enemies of the two were not in too good of a situation.


    Aoba was much slower than everyone. He could not retreat in time and was swallowed by the wave of mes. Fortunately, his prided, sturdy body managed to resist the mes. His entire body was singed, but he was still in a shape to continue fighting.


    Renea was unfortunate, however. Spiders and mes would not mix well together. Her web traps that hindered the Empress in their battle were all burned to nothingness. And the person herself received no light injuries as the wave of mes caught her. While she managed to retreat far enough not to die, she was in no condition to continue fighting.


    The two were angered by Gar''m''s actions. However, they could only swallow the insults and curses they wanted to throw toward the me Demon Deity. What could they do? They were just subordinates who could not deny the orders given to them. If they defied Gar''m, it would not be surprising if they turned into food for the Serpent God on the spot.


    While the effect of Gar''m''s attack turned out for the better for the Priestess and the Empress, it was the exact opposite on the other side of the fight.


    Since Yukine caught Tsukiko and fled, she was lucky to be away for the moment.


    Kouki managed to stall the fight with Shin and Yoko alone. The powerful [Tengu] would not have such a problem standing against a [Demonized Human] and a barely capable Siren. Unfortunately, he was unable to gain the advantage, either. It became dangerous for him since Shin began using his [Space Tears] to try and rupture Kouki into pieces.


    And then, the explosion of Gar''m''s attack happened after the emergence of his me body.


    Kouki was unable to flee immediately. The reason was not because he was slower than the wave of mes. It was because Shin was unaffected by the mes and continued attacking Kouki in one hand and protecting Yoko in the other.


    The hindered escape caused Kouki to nearly lose one of his wings, burning its feathers and causing instability in his flight. He barely managed to reach the riverbank on the side of Kachidoki. But, by the looks of it, it was better for him to not continue the fight.


    As for Shin and Yoko, they were unscathed. Shin''s blessing that Gar''m gave him allowed Shin to be unaffected by the mes. He even managed to shield Yoko from it.


    The two were able to continue fighting. However, Shin had a different idea.


    It might feel bad for them, but Shin grabbed Yoko and took the opportunity to escape. Yoko seemed to be against it since Tsukiko was captured. However, there was nothing much they could do. Once Yukine returned, Yoko would end up in danger. At the least, they knew that Tsukiko was captured alive. If Tsukiko was alive, they could try to retrieve her next time.


    Just not now. Not when there were monsters protecting the Reimed City.


    As Shin escaped with Yoko, Gar''m took a quick nce at them. However, Gar''m did not show any intention to stop Shin. For Gar''m, it was better for Shin to leave this ce. It was one less distraction for him.


    BOOM!


    A sudden explosion caused Gar''m''s gigantic body to shake a little.


    Gar''m faced forward. His eyes, made of burning mes, stared at Mark. It seemed that while Gar''m was distracted, Mark tried something which caused the explosion.


    However, Gar''m felt nothing but a little shake.


    And worse, it just made Gar''m even angrier for some reason.


    Gar''m raised his hand once again. He was about to conjure another attack. This time, it was a few fireballs about a fourth of the size of the previous one. The one before wasrge and powerful. However, its size caused the speed to lessen. Sacrificing size and power, Gar''m created fireballs with more speed.


    Strange enough, Mark flew down as soon as Gar''m raised his hand. Mark then flew as fast as he could, circling around Gar''m while keeping around two meters distance above the surface of the water.


    Gar''m followed Mark, aiming his hand at him.


    Finally, Gar''m began his barrage of fireballs. Each fireball, over two meters in size, createdrge sshes on the river. It was as if Mark was being chased by artillery bombardment.


    While dodging the fireballs, Mark finally flew higher.


    The enormous fireballs continued to rain in Mark''s direction. As Mark did his best to dodge, the fireballs missed, continuing on their trajectory,ying waste to the already ruined Tokyo.


    ***


    Mark felt a bit relieved as Gar''m followed his flight.


    One giant Serpent God was already a problem. Fortunately, Amihan was still holding her ground against it. And now, Gar''m turned into another giant. While The me Demon Deity was not even around a quarter of the Serpent God''s size, a seven-meter giant was still enormous.


    Worse, Gar''m''s attacks couldy waste to anything without mercy or control.


    That was why Mark could only bait Gar''m. Mark flew lower, diverting Gar''m''s attention from the background, which was the Reimed City. As Gar''m could only see Mark and the river below him, Gar''m failed to notice what Mark was doing.


    Mark made Gar''m turn his back on the Reimed City. This way, any missed attacks on Mark would noty waste on the Reimed City and fall into the already destroyed ruins of Tokyo instead.


    And now, Mark could exchange attacks with Gar''m to his heart''s content.


    Mark tightened his hands on the weapons he was carrying. However, it was not thebined swords.


    In each of Mark''s hands, he was holding unto a spherical item. Each item was about the size of a bowling ball.


    As Mark evaded another fireball, he spun his body and threw one of the items.


    BOOOM!


    The item made contact with the mes of Gar''m''s body and exploded.


    One of these items caused Gar''m''s body to shake earlier after Shin''s escape.


    And the same happened now.


    Gar''m''s body shook. However, it was not because of the impact of the explosion. It was because the explosion actually took out a good chunk on the magma-like body of Gar''m.


    There was no doubt whatever Mark was doing was inflicting damage on Gar''m.


    Unfortunately, the damage would notst long. The damage done by the explosion would end up getting covered by the flowing magma afterward. There seemed to be no point at all in what Mark was currently doing.


    However, Mark had a smile inside his helmet.


    Mark threw the other sphere in his hand at Gar''m. It ended with the same result.


    But the only thing that Mark said about such a result was...


    "Hmm... It''s doable..."


    Mark then fetched another pair of those spheres from his [Spatial Ring]. He was ready for another round of bombardment.


    At this time, themunication talisman that Mark received from the Priestess glowed inside his armor.


    "You need help?"


    The Priestess'' voice echoed into Mark''s ears.


    At this moment, the Priestess and the Empress were watching Mark''s fight with Gar''m. The two were freed from their fights after the river thawed due to Gar''m.


    Without the ice covering the surface of the river, there was no foothold for any ground battle to happen. Unfortunately, both the two women had limited capabilities in terms of flight and overwater battles.


    The same went for Aoba and Renea, stuck on the opposite side of the river.


    It seemed that no one on both sides expected Gar''m to affect the battle this much.


    Now, the Priestess and the Empress were contemting supporting Mark in his fight with Gar''m. The two did not jump into action, realizing that Mark seemed to have ns in case they ended up ruining it.


    And Mark''s reply?


    "Then, can you block his fireballs?"


    Mark asked as he continued to dodge the endless fireballsing his way.


    "Want us to protect you?"


    The Priestess asked.


    "No," Mark replied. "Protect the city. I need to turn this guy facing the Reimed City, but his fireballs are dangerous."


    "Why turn him around?"


    The Priestess was confused.


    "No time to exin," Mark answered. "Can you do it or not?"


    "Alright..." The Priestess sighed. "I''ll trust you and do my best."


    And there, the Priestess erected a new barrier. However, since her current capabilities were limited, the barrier only covered the wide area around the docks of Kachidoki.


    However, that was more than enough.


    Mark immediately flew down to the surface of the river before going around Gar''m.


    Gar''m floated forward and tried to either grab Mark or smash him with his fists. However, hisrge frame made it harder to catch the tricky Mark.


    Mark also flew further when Gar''m tried to get close. Flying close to Gar''m would probably stop him from firing his destructive attacks. However, Mark could not do it since Mark could feel his armor heating up when flying too close to the me Demon Deity.


    Gar''m was now facing the Reimed City, shooting fireballs at Mark like a machine gun. If it was before, the missed attacks would haveid waste to the Reimed City. However, the barrier the Priestess erected managed to hold on against the barrage of attacks.


    Unfortunately, it would notst long. The barrier was draining the Priestess for every attack it was receiving.


    As such, Mark finally made his move, as he charged as close as possible to the center of Gar''m''s chest and threw the metal spheres in his hands right in the center.


    BOOOM! BOOOM!


    Two explosions urred simultaneously, creating a gaping hole in Gar''m''s magma-like body.


    But Mark was not stopping as he immediately took another pair and threw it before the hole in Gar''m''s body regenerated.


    BOOOM! BOOOM!


    And another pair.


    BOOOM! BOOOM!


    After six simultaneous explosions which caused Gar''m to stagger, the gaping hole in his chest, which reached the center of his body, revealed something unexpected.


    Gar''m''s true body was there, suspended inside the magma-like body.


    It seemed that Gar''m was also surprised. He never expected Mark to see through this ability.


    But as Gar''m tried to retaliate after his body was exposed, a beam of light shot from one of Kachidoki''s buildings. That familiar beam of light, but thinner and had more prating power, shone from that building and through Gar''m''s chest.


    Gar''m''s eyes widened as his magma-like shell began to fall apart. He looked down. A hole could be seen in his chest, which obliterated the core of this body of his.

 Chapter 1038 The Death Of Deity, Transforming Everything Into A Hellish Wasteland

    ?


    Day 341 - 1:12 PM - Boiling Sumida River, Kachidoki, Reimed City, Ruins of Tokyo


    Everyone watched in surprise as the beam of light prated Gar''m''s chest. The hole began spewing mes uncontrobly. That sight made those knowledgeable conclude that the beam of light shattered the core of Gar''m''s current body.


    But how did ite to this? There was a reason why Gar''m was utterly shocked as he watched his newly acquired body go out of control.


    It all started when Mark saw Gar''m emerge from under the river in that giant form.


    ''He transformed? That''s his real form?''


    Those words were uttered by Mark in his mind.


    What Mark did not expect was to receive an answer to those questions.


    "That is not right," Magwayen''s voice suddenly echoed inside his mind. "That is not a transformation. That Demon had a human-like body for a reason. It is due to him sacrificing humans to gain that body. However, that limits his capabilities. Transforming the body, for example. It is impossible for him with that body. It would not withstand the transformation, and he will lose it the moment he did."


    ''Then, what is that?''


    Mark asked.


    "[Manifestation]. That is what that is," Magwayen generously exined. "He manifested his full power to take its raw form. This will remove some of the limits of his current body. It would allow him to unleash attacks more powerful than previously."


    "And... Be careful of that one."


    Magwayen warned.


    "Well... damn..."


    Those words were uttered as Gar''m unleashed the giant ball of mes at Mark, causing chaos to the entire battlefield.


    ''I don''t think I have a way to defeat it easily like this.''


    Mark spoke in his mind as he began dodging the next barrage of fireballs. While it might look simple, each fireball that Mark dodged could easily take his life. He was fighting a literal life-or-death situation at that moment.


    However, Magwayen would not let her blessed one die easily.


    "No. It is easier to kill that me Demon now since he did this," Magwayen exined. "Manifesting his power outward to create that giant meant form his body became unprotected inside. Chip away that shell and find his body. Then strike a quick fatal blow. You can do it since that giant body should not be able to feel the damage it received. It is supposed to be near indestructible. It should be since it should recover its damage due to being constructed with nothing but energy. But you have your [Miasma]. It might drain arge amount, but you should be able to at least poke a hole through it."


    Magwayen supported Mark with tips and clues. This would have made Mark feel grateful. If not for Magwayen being one of the reasons why Mark was still fighting in this dangerous battle.


    In any case, Mark could do it with his [Miasma]. However, Mark nced at the giant eight-headed serpent that Amihan was defending against. He could not waste his [Miasma] here.


    "Let''s try something first."


    That was Mark''s decision as he took out one of his experimental inventions.


    It was the bowling ball-sized spheres. To be exact, Mark called these [Particle Erasure Bombs]. He used the sphere [Mechids] as the base and took advantage of their ability to self-destruct. It resulted in these bulky bombs, which would destroy almost everything within its radius.


    Mark took one out and threw it at the giant Gar''m''s stomach. The explosion caused Gar''m to shake. But as Magwayen mentioned, Gar''m could not feel the chunk of his body swallowed by the explosion and was now missing on his stomach. The chunk regenerated fast before Gar''m could even notice it. But it gave Mark the result he wanted.


    These bombs created from [Mechids] could destroy solid matter. Why would it not work on something that was not solid in the first ce?


    Furthermore, now that Mark was aware, he noticed that he could detect Gar''m''s emotions. Not from the giant entirely but from the chest of the giant.


    And these factors gave Mark the chance to kill Gar''m.


    The only other thing Mark needed was the element of surprise while preventing Gar''m from destroying the surroundings even more. After all, Gar''m kept firing thoserge fireballs where each could demolish an entire building. Letting those fireballsnd in Kachidoki with the ongoing evacuation would make the reason they stalled the enemies pretty much worthless.


    But then...


    "Gege'' we''re back. We rejoined Spera," Mark''smunicator sounded just in time, with Mei''s voice on the other side. "The evacuation is nearly done. Miss Ren and the ck Lotus were already making their final rounds to look for refugees."


    And that was how the n began. Mark told the Priestess to block the fireballs from falling into Kachidoki while he made Gar''m face the Reimed City.


    Then, he threw the bulky bombs in session, creating an opening in the manifestation''s chest.


    And through that opening, Mei used her new sniper rifle''s enhancement and shot a beam of light through the chest of Gar''m''s current body.


    Mei''s regr bullet would not do. Worse, the [Crystal Converter''s] beam was not onlyrge but wouldck both stealth prating power. And that came the new enhancement.


    Mark enhanced Mei''s [Shooting Moon de] using [Abyss Tech] into the new [AT-Etherbloom]. And this, what Mark called [Concentrated Shot], was an energy shot thatbined six [Empty Mental Crystals] into one tiny energy beam. It had both stealth and prating power and was strong enough to prate through the annoyingly sturdy bodies of the [Mechids] that Mark''s group fought around the [Mechid Factory].


    And with Gar''m''s human-like body being vulnerable during the manifestation, there was not a single chance for him to defend himself against the surprise attack.


    With the core of his new body shattered, Gar''m was unable to keep it stable any longer.


    mes spewed out of Gar''ms wound and orifices. The giant manifestation began to uncontrobly shake as it started to deform. Slowly, the manifestation began to bloat.


    And as Mark began to feel danger, Magwayen''s voice echoed inside his mind once again.


    "Right, I forgot. Killing the real body with the manifestation active will cause all the energy to be out of control. Depending on the manifestation, the result will vary. But looking at that, it will probably explode. Good luck."


    "Oh, you piece of f-"


    Mark almost cursed the Goddes as he turned around and fled with all his might.


    While fleeing, Mark took out all hismunicator and even the [Communication Talisman].


    "Retreat!" Mark roared before turning to the talisman. "Priestess! Strengthen your barrier and retreat!"


    Everyone who heard Mark''s frantic roar immediately knew something dangerous was happening. Mei and the rest of the group immediately retreated from their position. The Priestess followed Mark''s instruction even if she had to exert her powers more before retreating.


    On the other hand, the Empress rejoined Yukine, who retrieved the injured Kouki before fleeing.


    Mark swept down and grabbed Amihan, ignoring the Serpent God, who was angered by his intervention. He also did not forget to dip his hand into the water, pulling a massive amount of ck mist into his body.


    Lastly, Mark''s instructions were passed on by the Ren to the rest of the ck Lotus, and they also retreated from Kachidoki as fast as they could.


    As they all did what they could, the manifestation bloated and expanded. The humanoid giant became a giant ball of mes in a matter of seconds.


    And then...


    BOOOM!


    The manifestation exploded. All the unrestrained might of the me Demon Deity was unleashed into the mortal realm.


    A towering burst of mes swept through everything. The Priestess'' barrier by the docks of Kachidoki held for a moment before shattering like ss.


    Everything around five hundred meters from the center of the explosion turned intorge crater in an instant. The immense heat burned and trashed everything within it. Even the Sumida River dried up from the surface to the riverbed.


    But the worse had yet to pass.


    Reuniting together, Mark''s group, the ck Lotus, the Priestess and her entourage, and the Empress and her subordinates fled from Kachidoki as fast as they could.


    However, after the explosion, the shockwave carrying high-temperature mes chased after the group.


    The Priestess, Tsubasa, and the Priests and Maides erected barriers behind them as they fled. It hindered the shockwave but failed to fully stop the mes chasing after them.


    Not everyone was capable of running fast enough. It would take a few more moments, and the wall of mes behind them would catch up.


    The only way for some to survive was to leave those who were slower. That was what entered the minds of the Priests, Maidens, and some members of the ck Lotus. It was even the same for the Demons under the Empress.


    They were ready to give up. The barriers behind would not stop the wall of mes at all.


    Their hearts sank even more as they saw the dome of mes engulfing everything behind them.


    But at thest moment, Mark pulled a sigh as he stopped everyone as they stepped into the familiar roads of Toyosu. There was no point in running. The wall of mes was much faster.


    And there, Mark nodded to Amihan, telling her to raise a dome-shaped barrier of wind to protect everyone here. He did not ck either as he used his [Wind Maniption Mental Crystal] to assist Amihan, creating anotheryer of the wind barrier.


    The wall of mes arrived, and the wind barrier managed to protect them. Everyone watched as their view of the surroundings changed from the buildings of Toyosu into nothing but a scene from hell.


    Unfortunately, the mes from a dying deity would not just be stopped by a wind barrier. The mes did not manage to enter the barrier, but the temperature inside was rising rapidly. Even though Mark and Amihan were trying to regte the temperature inside, it was not enough.


    Giving another sigh, Mark raised his left hand. The ominous [Miasma] was released from his body and made anotheryer of barrier. However, it also darkened everything within the barrier.


    Mark then gave the orders he did not want to do as the mes raged violently outside.


    ***


    The explosion of Gar''m obliterated more than half of the Reimed City. A five-hundred-meter crater destroyed the majority of Kachidoki and a quarter of the neighboring territory of Tsukishima.


    Following the explosion, the shockwave of mes turned the territories of Tsukuda, Toyomi, and Harumi into a burning wastnd. It also engulfed arge area of Toyosu,ying waste to buildings within the business areas to burn into ruins.


    A quarter of the entire Reimed City wasid waste by the death of a Demon Deity.


    Within the raging mes, a woman in a gradient ck dress walked with a smile. It was as if the mes of a dying Deity could not affect her in any way. Instead, she had a look of enjoyment, as if watching an exciting adventure movie unfold in front of her eyes.


    But the woman in the gradient ck dress was not alone as another woman, one d in grandiose traditional Japanese clothing and golden ornaments all over her body.


    The ck-dressed woman felt the presence behind her but did not care. Both of them would not be able to do anything much in this world as mere avatars.


    And the first one to speak was the woman in Japanese dress.


    "As I had thought, there is a presence of another blessed one near mine. Is that blessed one yours, perchance?"


    Finally, the ck-dressed woman, no, Magwayen, looked behind her,ying her eyes on another God for a long while.


    "Then, that Priestess is yours, is it? I did not expect this country''s Goddess of Light to be still in contact with this world."


    The woman in white stared at Magwayen''s unfamiliar visage. Unfortunately, unlike thetter, she could not recognize this ominous-looking goddess.


    "Fret not. There is no way for a Goddess of a higher ne to recognize one from below," Magwayen said, not ashamed about the difference in their status. "In any case, we are just Gods foreign from this world. We could not do anything but watch the show."


    The avatar of the Goddess of Light, Amaterasu, frowned but did not say anything more. It was true. Those from the higher ne barely cared about those in the lower ones. But even with this difference in status, both of them were just visitors in this world at this moment.


    There was only one thing they could do. That was to watch the scenes before them as they unfold.


    After all, the show was far from over.


    Both Goddesses looked up to the sky.


    ROOOOAAARRRRR!!!


    The unscathed Serpent God rose to the sky with a deafening roar, threatening the already ruined city.

 Chapter 1098 A Sudden Meeting, Findings and Events Regarding the [Face Wearers]

    Chapter 1098 A Sudden Meeting, Findings and Events Regarding the [Face Wearers]


    Day 364 - 6:02 PM - Meeting Room, 38th Satellite Settlement, Muria Sacred Fortress, Mount Muria, Kudus Regency, Central Java, Indonesia


    Several hours after the unexpected event in the training grounds, everyone still felt livid. Limab, who returnedte, and even General Wijaya, who came for various reasons, learned about what happened in detail.


    And now, everyone closely involved in the current events gathered in the meeting room of the Moon Chasers for an early dinner meeting.


    Among the leading figures of the Moon Chasers, Luna, Limab, Edge, and Nelia were present. Mark was the only person present for his group. As for the military, the representatives were General Wijaya and a female soldier to serve as his secretary to record information discussed in the meeting.


    The representatives of the groups aside, there was another person, or maybe an item, present in the meeting.


    Although the food was already served to everyone, only Mark was eating properly. It was because their attention gathered on Melfiss, who was also having her dinner with everyone.


    It was quite unbelievable that Luna''s precious weapon turned into a little girl and was even having dinner with them. No one would probably believe it if not for the little girl in question being present in front of everyone.


    Luna was the most surprised about Melfiss'' existence. Luna picked up the strange keris by coincidence and used it for most battles she had since then.


    The silver keris back then already disyed some strange things.


    First was that only Luna feltfortable using it. Other members of the Moon Chasers had tried to use the silver keris. However, no one feltfortable using it. Even Bajing, who used daggers as her main weapon, felt the same.


    Second, Luna never had to give maintenance to the silver keris. No matter how she used it, it never went dull. It never got dirty, either.


    Lastly, Luna felt the urge to always keep the silver keris by her side. It did not matter where or when. She kept it around her. It was a strange behavior that caused Luna to be reprimanded by her friends several times.


    Now, everyone knew the reason.


    The silver keris was not just a strange weapon. It was actually a cursed one.


    Cursed Divine Keris, Melfiss. That was the name of the silver keris... no... It was not just silver anymore after Melfiss awakened. Although the de remained silver in color, its handle and hand guard already turned deep brown with golden ents. It was just like the colors that Melfiss had on her body.


    Melfiss ate her food mannerly. If one did not know that she was a weapon that turned into a girl, one would think she was just a girl with a decent upbringing.


    "Ahem," Luna made a fake cough. "Should we start?"


    Melfiss'' existence might be causing a lot of questions. However, she was not the only focus of this meeting. After all, General Wijaya was also here even though the sun had already set. There were other important matters to discuss.


    "General," Luna turned to General Wijaya. "Please start."


    General Wijaya nodded and turned to Mark afterward.


    "First of all, because of Sir Mark, the threat we are facing due to the [Face Wearers] has decreased significantly," General Wijaya thanked Mark. "Since we began the distribution of the badges in the past few days, we recorded more than five hundred cases of confirmed [Face Wearers]. Unfortunately, capture was impossible as they turned to ash even after being tranquilized."


    It was a problem General Wijaya faced as they tried to capture the [Face Wearers]. These impostors would not hesitate to kill themselves if escape was deemed impossible. Worse, there was not even a body left to examine since they all turned to ash upon death, leaving only the skin mask they wore.


    General Wijaya continued to exin.


    If there was something significant that the military found out, it was that the ash left from the bodies of the [Face Wearers] had simr properties to ash released from volcanoes.


    "Volcanic ash, huh..."


    Limab murmured with a frown. Those words seemed to tick something in her head, but she could not figure out what.


    "Is something wrong?"


    Edge noticed Limab''s frown.


    "No, it''s nothing."


    Limab shook her head, only to notice Mark looking at her.


    "A fourth of those numbers is thanks to Ms. Astria''s father," General Wijaya also turned to Limab. "Their distribution might be at a smaller scale, but they contributed no small number."


    Limab''s father was given a batch of medals to distribute. However, it was not for free, unlike General Wijaya''s approach.


    General Wijaya focused on distributing the badges to the popce. It was because, unlike the more powerful people in the fortress, the weaker people were far more vulnerable to the threat of the [Face Wearers]. However, this approach gained more ire from the people in the position, especially those already hostile to General Wijaya in the first ce.


    And that was where Limab''s father came in. It was to sell badges to people who wanted to be prioritized. Of course, it also gained some negative attention. However, in the end, they had no choice but to buy. It was because their only other option was to wait for General Wijaya, for who knows when he would distribute the badges to them.


    The badges sold by Limab''s father would be the ie used to further develop the 38th Satellite Settlement.


    As for General Wijaya''s side, there was barely any incentive to gain aside from extra materials and direct support of General Wijaya. However, the fully equipped workshop and that support alone was more than enough of a payment for the cooperation. After all, not all survivor groups in the Muria Sacred Fortress could gain the direct support of one of the leading figures within the fortress.


    "But reporting the progress isn''t why you are here, right?"


    Mark asked.


    "Unfortunately, yes," General Wijaya nodded and took a deep breath. "We managed to eliminate those more than five hundred. However, as of this afternoon, there was already a confirmed more than two thousand cases of sudden disappearance in the past two days."


    "Huh?"


    That was everyone''s reaction to the bomb that General Wijaya dropped.


    "Since the other day," General Wijaya continued. "We began receiving reports of missing individuals. It started to increase further when we increased the distribution of the badges."


    "That''s..."


    Luna was speechless as the thought of the worst-case scenario came into her mind.


    "It probably is what you are thinking, Miss Luna," General Wijaya said in all seriousness. "All those missing cases were likely [Face Wearers] who began withdrawing from the fortress."


    While it may not look like it since the poption of people within the Muria Sacred Fortress was spread out across the mountain, there were around thirty thousand people here. It may sound like arge number, but it was already all the remaining people on the ind of Java.


    But all of a sudden, arge chunk went missing, with the possibility of them all being [Face Wearers].


    "And that''s only the number of reported cases, correct?"


    Mark asked.


    And in response, General Wijaya nodded.


    "We suspect there might already be three thousand or more cases. In the worst case scenario, around four or five thousand."


    The words from General Wijaya made the leaders of Moon Chasers take a deep breath.


    "And thatrge number went missing without even a single witness?"


    Edge asked.


    "That is the strange part," General Wijaya answered. "After the first day, we already had suspicions. I am sure you all noticed, but we also increased patrols around the walls under the guise of distributing some medals to settlement leaders."


    Luna and her friends looked at each other. They did notice but did not think too much of it.


    "Even with the increased patrols and even adding mutants with detection abilities, we failed to find any escapees. Yet, the number only increased." General Wijaya began to show a bit of frustration with the current situation. "It felt like they just vanished without a trace."


    Everyone began mulling over everything General Wijaya presented. However, none of them coulde up with a concrete answer.


    Mark even began thinking of teleportation abilities. However, if these [Face Wearers] had that kind of ability, there would be no need to wear disguises just to cause trouble to the people in the fortress.


    In the first ce, what did the [Face Wearers] want? Why were they causing trouble and leading humans to their deaths?


    Unless they could capture one and question it, the important questions would not get answered.


    Then, Nelia turned to Mark.


    "Sir Mark... What about the one you captured?"


    Nelia''s question made everyone look at her and Mark.


    "Wait, Nelia? What are you talking about?"


    Luna asked the question that even Edge and Limab had in mind.


    "Well... I saw it," Nelia exined. "When Abbygale, Sir Mark''s daughter, defeated Dr. Murni''s impostor, he rushed out and shot some rods surrounding the impostor. Then, he took out a cylinder before retrieving the rods. I don''t know what he really did, so I didn''t say anything, but I remembered that the cylinder he held at that time was simr to the one he used to capture the creature eating Shasha''s soul. So, I thought he might have caught something rted to the impostor, if not the impostor itself."


    Nelia''s exnation made everyone focus on Mark.


    With a shrug, he opened his bag and took out the familiar cylinder Luna and Nelia had seen before. However, everyone could see something floating inside the cylinder.


    "I''m surprised you managed to see all that," Mark praised Nelia. "I''m pretty sure I did everything fast enough to conceal it from everyone."


    "I''m not exactly good at fighting," Nelia replied with a smile. "But my eyes are really good at noticing movements."


    "What is inside?" Luna asked. "It''s different from the ck thing you caught from Shasha."


    Everyone focused on the contents of the cylinder. Even the two confused soldiers were the same.


    What was inside the cylinder looked like some orb of energy. It had fizzes like me, but the color was murky reddish ck.


    "It''s a soul," Mark answered. "The soul of that giant [Face Wearer], to be exact."


    "Huh?"


    Everyone was bbergasted at Mark''s words.


    "Wait, wait..." Edge made everyone quiet. "You are saying you captured someone''s soul? Is that right?"


    "I captured a ghost-like creature that is eating the soul of Luna''s niece," Mark replied. "Why is it surprising that I captured something''s soul?"


    Luna''s group fell silent. That was right. No, it was wrong. Well, the four were confused.


    "Wait..." General Wijaya spoke. "Can anyone please exin to me what is going on?"


    General Wijaya and his secretary could only keep up with the conversation anymore. After all, most of the things that happened in the hospital''s private room were only known to the leaders of the Moon Chasers.


    With the General''s requestion, Luna''s side began to exin. The General and his secretary were surely surprised after learning the truth of the things that happened there.


    After the exnation, their focus was back on Mark and his imprisoned soul.


    "Is that really a [Face Wearer''s] soul?"


    General Wijaya asked Mark.


    "Yeah, there''s no doubt about it."


    Mark confirmed onest time.


    "Is it possible to even converse with it?"


    Limab asked next.


    "Yep, it''s possible," Mark nodded. "Of course, only if the soul is willing to talk."


    "Then that one is not talking, is it?"


    Luna asked, noticing the issue.


    "Yeah, this prick is too tight-lipped," Mark voiced his frustration. "Maybe because it''s not a human soul. Human souls aren''t this mentally resilient."


    "Mentally resilient..." Luna repeated Mark''s words. "What do you mean?"


    "I mean spiritual torture," Mark bluntly replied. "Souls can feel more than a hundred times more pain than their physical body. After all, souls don''t have the pain limiters their living bodies have. Because of that, the souls I tried this before immediately confessed after a few seconds of torture. This prick had already been cooked for several days, yet it''s not talking."


    Mark was just exining some things that should be important for everyone listening to know. However, they could not help but feel shivers creep up their spines as they learned things they were not supposed to know normally.


    And for sure, they had just seen what cruel fate Mark''s enemies would face after crossing paths with him.

 Chapter 1040 Deadlock, The Attempt to Push the Danger While

    Chapter 1040 Deadlock, The Attempt to Push the Danger While


    Desperately Searching for Their Final Hope


    Day 341 - 1:18 PM - Final Defense Line, Ariake Banks, Ariake, Reimed City, Ruins of Tokyo, Japan


    Everyone watched as the fireball that was once a helicopter crashed to the ground. No matter whether it was the soldiers or the refugees, their hearts sunk in dismay. Each explosion and death among the soldiers would be one or more steps back away from salvation.


    But it was no time for mourning. Letting sadness and despair take over in these times meant giving up on any possible hope they could still have.


    ROOOOARRR!!!


    The terrifying roar repeatedly entered everyone''s ears. Each roar felt like a nail was getting driven into their hearts, pushing them further into despair.


    And as if the eight-headed monster was not enough, the other dangers the Reimed City was facing arrived slowly.


    "The Goo Creatures are here!"


    A sharp-sighted [Ability Holder] shouted while keeping watch near the bridge.


    Goo Creatures. It was what the refugees called the [Miasmic Residues]. They got the name due to the scene of these creatures seeping out of the ground like goo before forming their unstable humanoid forms.


    Nheless, what the people called these creatures was not the problem right now. It was the fact that these creatures were now closing into Ariake.


    Everyone now knew it was dangerous to fight these creatures upfront. Many of them learned it the hard way, watching the victims of these creatures dry up like raisins after getting caught by their goo-like arms.


    But if they learned the danger, they also learned ways to defend themselves.


    "Ready the explosives! Those fighting in close quarters, use longer weapons!"


    The Field Commander shouted.


    And following the arrival of the [Miasmic Residues], the [Vanguard Units] also began making their move.


    It was not easy to kill the [Miasmic Residues]. Physical attacks like shes or stabs would barely make any impact on their goo-like bodies. The damage done by such attacks would regenerate soon enough. However, umting damage faster than they could regenerate would cause them to dissipate for good. In this case, using explosives was one of the two best methods. And the other?


    WOOOOM!


    mes blew out of the arms of several [Vanguard Armors] as they tested their weapons before sortie.


    methrowers. mes could dissolve the [Miasmic Residues]. It was a slow process, and the effectiveness versus fuel consumption was bad. Nheless, it worked better than explosives that bore randomized results.


    The Yamata-no-Orochi in the sky and the [Miasmic Residues] on the ground and underwater, everyone participating in the defense had their hands busy.


    But inside theboratory, the Prime Minister and everyone inside were watching through the monitors. Their main focus was not the monitor showing the ongoing battle outside but the monitors which showed a scene within Toyosu.


    After setting up a few new surveince drones, the drones were immediately sent for a specific mission. It was to search for people swallowed by the mes.


    To search for their hope.


    "Sir! We found some movements on the east side!"


    An operator controlling one of the drones yelled. The scenes captured on his monitor were immediately cast on the main monitor. And as he said, there were movements captured by the drone.


    The operator immediately controlled the drone to fly closer to the location. Those watching wished it was what they were looking for.


    However, it was not what they wanted to see, but an unexpected situation nheless.


    What did the drone capture?


    It was the scene of an armored woman wearing simr armor to what the Evernight Group wore, together with a giant golden dog and a dragon, escorting a group of "Send rescue helicopters quick!"


    survivors from Toyosu.


    It was a group of survivors from Toyosu. This scene was something very unexpected to find, considering the damage done by the explosion.


    They were fighting through a pack of Goo Creatures. The golden dog and the dragon carried survivors on their backs while the armored woman tried to fend against the growing horde of Goo-Creatures. The dragon also spewed mes in random intervals to help the woman, but by the looks of it, the dragon was already running on fumes. It might also be the reason why the dragon was moving onnd instead of flying out of danger.


    "Send rescue helicopters quick!"


    The Prime Minister immediately ordered, and everyone went to work.


    Seeing survivors from such a catastrophe was a good thing. However, by the looks of it, the armored woman and the two giant animals were struggling because they had to protect the survivors. If the three were on their own, it would likely be easier for them to get out of that situation.


    Everyone in theboratory watched in suspense. The number of [Miasmic Residues] surrounding the group was getting thicker as time went on.


    But the woman was not giving up. She held the strange sword in her hand and shed out with arge de made of ck mes. It cleaved through the thick number of enemies, letting the group move further.


    The Prime Minister turned his head to the other drone operators.


    "Are they not found yet?"


    The Prime Minister asked.


    However, no one could answer the question. The operators had yet to see anything out of the ordinary within the affected parts of Toyosu.


    BOOOOOM!


    A sh of explosion was seen on the monitor showing the battle outside. Another helicopter exploded after getting hit by the monster''s counterattack.


    And worse, the eight-headed monster was learning how to cope with the situation.


    The barrage of tank cannons and artillery targetted the monster''s heads. It only needed to get its head into a position the attacks could not target.


    With a few wild squirms in the sky, the giant monster rotated its body, with its back facing the barrage of attacks from the Defense Forces.


    Usually, it would be suicide to turn one''s back facing the enemies. But in this situation, the monster''s back was one of the hardest parts of its body, which the attacks from the defense forces could not damage.


    But the defense forces would not just let that happen.


    When the eight-headed monster turned on its back, the Susannounched another pair of its specialized shells.


    The monster''s back was way wider than any of its eight heads. It was an easier target. The explosion of the specialized shells was seen as the shells made contact with the monster''s back without missing.


    ROOOOARR!!!


    The monster roared in pain as the specialized shells discharged high-voltage electricity, which easily spread throughout the monster''s body.


    Angered, it roared, facing the warship. But that exposed its heads once again and were immediately met with another barrage of attacks.


    The monster was unable to attack effectively or even move forward due to the attacks of the Defense Forces. However, it was clear that the attacks it received could not leave any substantial damage. Yes, the cannons and artillery managed to hurt it, but no expected injuries could be seen on the monster.


    It was a deadlock. And any wrong move would cause the Defense Forces to lose this battle immediately.


    The Prime Minister nervously clenched his fists.


    ''Did they really die?''


    That question filled his mind as the scene where their hopes were swallowed by the mes of that explosion.


    ***


    Day 341 - 12:12 PM - Mountain Base, Mount Mbito, General Nakar, Province of Quezon, Philippines


    Several minutes earlier, when the explosion caused by Gar''m''s death swallowed everything in its path.


    The alliance of the Temple, Auraboros, Evernight, and the ck Lotus was swallowed by the wave of mes. But as Mark decided to do something he did not want to do, they escaped in time.


    It was to bring everyone to the Mountain Base.


    A portal opened at the training grounds of the Mountain Base. Everyone in the alliance present stepped out of the portal.


    And forgetting the life-and-death situation they had just experienced, they raised their heads, staring at the spectacr sight before them.


    "Wow..."


    The Priestess could not help but show her childish side as she gazed upon the beauty of the gigantic three with red glowing leaves.


    "This ce... It is your ce, isn''t it?"


    The Empress turned to Mark. Considering Yukine was present during the attack of the Chinese Branch of Auraboros on the Mountain Base, it was not surprising that she knew the details and clues to guess where they were currently.


    "Uncle, is it okay to bring them here?" Emika fearlessly asked, ncing at the Empress and the members of Auraboros. "I don''t think most of everyone here will wee them."


    The question was unsurprising. Auraboros had brought trouble to Mark and the base many times. And all of those instances were pretty much life-and-death situations. It would be surprising if the people in the Mountain Base were weing towards the members of Auraboros.


    "It''s fine," Mark shrugged. "It''s not like we are on a tour. We''re only here to escape the situation for a bit. We have to return immediately soon."


    The Empress could hear Emika''s question, but she was not really affected. She knew the bad things the Auraboros did to many ces and people. She was in no ce to ask to be weed by anyone.


    Mark then turned to everyone.


    "We''ll rest for a few minutes! Take your breaths before we return."


    Mark''s yell snapped those in a trance back to reality.


    The members of the ck Lotus were not surprised by the sights within the Mountain Base. They were here before the battle started, after all. What surprised Ren was the fact that Sayuri was also familiar with the base.


    After asking Sayuri, only then Ren and the others learned that she was also here during the stay of the members of the ck Lotus. However, since her appearance was different and her presence was so thin, they did not realize it at all.


    The training grounds had seats for the audience. It was not hard for everyone to find somece to sit and rest.


    But there was a reason Mark decided to bring them here, aside from trying to escape from the explosion.


    "This is amazing."


    Tsubasa said as she sat beside the Priestess. Thetter was also in agreement. It was because they could feel their fatigue recovering fast. And best of all, they could feel their magical reserves rapidly replenishing.


    It was not only Tsubasa and the Priestess. It was the same for the members of the Temple and the Auraboros. As they were all magical creatures, they were more sensitive to magical energy. And they could tell that they were recovering due to the giant red tree that towered over them.


    The Empress and the Priestess turned to Mark. This situation was clearly the reason why he decided to bring them here. It was to replenish their reserves for the final fight.


    Everyone needed to recover. The Priestess needed it the most here. Since the start of the battle, it was the Priestess who used up the most magical energy to protect the reimed city. The energy deficiency caused her to be less effective during the battle. And now, she was recovering it at a fast rate.


    "Master."


    A maid came to the training grounds to greet Mark and his group. This scene caused the guests to look at Mark strangely. After all, it was uncanny to have someone in a maid uniform to serve him during the apocalypse. Now that they had seen it, there was another one. The guests looked at the younger maid, who was following behind the eldest daughter.


    The guests could hear Mark talking to the maid. Unfortunately, not everyone could understand what they were talking about.


    But it was just Mark telling Odelina that there was no need to wee the guests he had brought since they would leave immediately.


    That aside, someone entered the training grounds. It was an uncanny couple.


    Unexpectedly, it was a pair of an [Elder Subus] and...


    The Empress and the Priestess felt shivers and cold sweat on their backs. The two could feel an unfathomable pressure from the man that entered with the [Elder Subus].


    This man in front of them was just as dangerous as the Serpent God. That was what their instincts were telling them.


    And looking at the interaction between the two, there was no doubt that while the man was not Mark''s subordinate, he respected thetter''s words.


    The realization made the two turn to Mark. Just who was Mark to have someone like that man follow him? Furthermore, there was also the [Sylph].


    Anyone trying to attack this ce would just be courting death since two Godly beings were guarding it.


    The Empress rubbed her head. This uncharacteristic behavior of the Empress just showed how the stupid other branches that offended Mark were basically done for.

 Chapter 1041 A Four-Way Chaos, The Arrival of Deadly Forces in the Battlefield of the Reclaimed City

    Chapter 1041 A Four-Way Chaos, The Arrival of Deadly Forces in the Battlefield of the Reimed City


    Day 341 - 1:21 PM - Technical Laboratory, Ariake, Reimed City, Ruins of Tokyo


    The deadlock between the forces of the Reimed City and the eight-headed serpent continued for several minutes of struggle. Unfortunately, while the intention of the Defense Forces was to defeat the enemy and survive this deadly situation, all they could do was dy the enemy''s advance. And worse, for every passing second in this fight, their chance of survival was getting lower.


    Missiles, cannons, explosives, and bullets, every weapon the Defense Forces had in hand were finite in number. In every passing second, the battle was consuming hundreds of such. Once the Defense Forces ran out of weapons tobat the enemies, the end of the Reimed City and its people would inevitablye.


    But what could the Defense forces do? They were using everything they had. It was not their fault that their weapons were ineffective against the current enemy.


    With how the battle was progressing, it was unsurprising that the Prime Minister and the representatives began to think of evacuating everyone. But even if they decided on that action, the chance of survival was extremely nil.


    "The retrieval of the survivors is a sess!" The operator monitoring the ongoing fight on the eastern side of Toyosu reported. "But we have a problem, Sir!"


    Everyone turned to the monitor showing the evacuation. As reported, the transport helicopters sessfully retrieved the survivors. However, the armored woman, with the dragon and the golden dog, stayed behind.


    It was not surprising. Considering that the transport helicopters would have no way of transporting giant creatures, the armored woman would have no choice but to stay with her monsterpanions.


    But would it not be dangerous? As the two rescue helicopters flew away, the three stood with their backs facing the coast, surrounded by the Goo Creatures. There was no escaping the Goo Creatures at this point.


    It was when everyone realized their naive thinking.


    The armored woman stood in front of the two monsters, facing the horde of Goo Creatures. She then raised the strange wavy-ded sword in her hands, igniting it with ck mes.


    And then, she shed horizontally.


    The ck mes surged in a terrifying scene. It engulfed the surroundings, dissolving each Goo Creature it touched. In just a single sh, she broke the encirclement.


    However, there were still a lot of Goo Creaturesing. That terrifying sh was not enough to stop them all.


    Nheless, the armored woman showed that she and the two monsters could survive on their own. It also proved they struggled earlier since they had to protect the survivors. That terrifying sh could actually harm the survivors if they were close by. Now that the baggage was gone, the three could go further, eliminating enemies along the way.


    After escaping the encirclement, the three began to move along the southern coast of Toyosu. It seemed that they intended to move to Ariake while reducing the number of Goo Creatures along the way.


    Seeing the scenes on the monitor, the Prime Minister gave further instructions.


    "Inform the frontlines about them. They should be part of the Evernight''s forces. We can''t have our people identally harming them."


    "Yes, Sir!"


    The operator in charge ofmunication answered before immediately following the order.


    The Evernight. Before, it was just a name that caused curiosity among the people of the Reimed City. It was a group of foreigners rescued by the ck Lotus and ended up bing a group of powerful [Frencers].


    Who would have thought that a small group of seemingly mysterious people were a group from a faction that the Temple and the Auraboros had to treat as equals?


    It was such a terrifying thought, realizing that a group mainlyposed of seemingly harmless women and children had enough power to turn the tide of this battle.


    But in that regard, the Prime Minister was also thankful. Such a powerful faction that did not have strong ties with the Reimed City stepped up to foil the betrayal of the There was another sh of an explosion on the main monitor. Another one of the 00:21


    attack helicopters exploded, impaled by a giant nail made of stone. Only two of the Mitsui n and fight the invasion of the Demons.


    It was just, where were they now? Several surveince drones scoured the burning Harumi and Toyosu, but not even a shadow of the group could be seen. It was the same for the forces belonging to the ck Lotus, Auraboros, and the Temple.


    Were they all dead? Did that explosion swallow them and the remaining hope of the Reimed City?


    The Prime Minister wallowed inside. However, he still kept a strong front.


    BOOOM!


    There was another sh of an explosion on the main monitor. Another one of the attack helicopters exploded, impaled by a giant nail made of stone. Only two of the attack helicopters remained. They had already used up their missiles, only using an ineffective machine gun against the giant eight-headed serpent. However, the two attack helicopters were not retreating.


    It was not under the order of the Prime Minister. It was their own choice. Even with only their machine guns, they kept the monster distracted, allowing the Defense Forces to keep attacking in safety. If the attack helicopters were not there, it would not be a surprise if the monster''s retaliations targeted Ariake and the Defense Forces.


    A little time. Even just a little time. The pilots and soldiers aboard the attack helicopters wanted to stall the enemy. It was even if it resulted in their ends.


    Unfortunately, or maybe fortunately, the dilemma in this situation was intensifying.


    "Movements detected from the west, northwest!"


    An operator of one of the surveince drones shouted.


    However, it caused some confusion to everyone that heard it. It was because west of Ariake and Toyosu was nothing but water. Even if they ounted for further distance, all they would find was the ruins of Tokyo on the other side of the river.


    But despite the initial confusion, they all turned to the monitor showing the camera view of the surveince drone of that operator. And everyone''s heart sank further.


    A giant creature was moving through the ruins toward the direction of the Reimed City. Most of the people here had seen that creature for the first time. However, everyone was familiar with it.


    It was a giant creature on all fours. Moving slowly, it shambled over the ruins along its path. However, it showed the grotesque body everyone knew, a bodyposed of the dead and the living.


    While it was unexpected to see iting, there was no doubt it was the named [Infected] everyone had heard about.


    It was the named [Infected], [Abomination of Thousand Corpses].


    Furthermore, it was not alone.


    As the surveince drone flew closer to the new danger, everyone saw the horde of [Infected] moving forward. There were all sorts of [Infected]. There were flying ones, animal types, there were even parasitic types.


    But most importantly, another named [Infected] could be seen standing atop the abomination''s head.


    It was a woman with a dress of flesh.


    The [Siren of Death].


    "What are these doing outside their territories?"


    Someone within theboratory voiced out after seeing the horrifying scene on the monitor.


    But as if the sudden presence of the [Infected] was not enough, another operator yelled.


    "Movements on the northeast side!"


    Everyone turned to that operator''s monitor, kind of expecting a different horde of [Infected].


    However, they were wrong.


    "The alien robots!"


    A representative eximed.


    The monitor showed a scene of arge group of [Mechids] moving across the ruins. The group was much smaller than the horde of [Infected] on the west side, but it was not any less threatening.


    Tworge groups of terrifying creatures were closing in toward the Reimed City. These groups were not present when the invasion of the Demons began. It was very likely that the Demons had done something to bait them away and iste them from the battle.


    However, the invasion had already failed. The allied forces, especially Mark of the Evernight, had already eliminated the Demons. The only one left of the invasion was the eight-headed serpent.


    And that was where this problem came from. Whatever the Demons did had lost its effect. Thus, the battle and the presence of the eight-headed serpent began attracting unwanted attention from other enemies.


    The Yamata-no-Orochi, the horde of [Infected] led by named ones, and the group of [Mechids], each of them could trample over the Reimed City in its current state.


    There was no hope.


    And as if to remind everyone that they were right, two consecutive explosions urred on the main monitor.


    The Yamata-no-Orochi sessfully eliminated the two flies distracting it.


    BOOM! BOOM!


    The Defense Forces continued to bombard the eight-headed serpent in the sky. However, it already learned to use some of its head to defend the others. And those defended heads turned their eyes toward Ariake.


    Three heads opened their mouths. One began gathering a ball of electricity, one began to raise a pir of stone from the ruins below it, and the third caused the wind to swirl in front of it. It was charging three powerful attacks at the same time. Just one of those attacks could easily trample the Defense Forces, not to mention three at the same time.


    However, it seemed that the magical fluctuation the Yamata-no-Orochi was releasing caused some agitation in the iing horde of [Infected].


    SCREEEEEECH!


    A loud screech echoed throughout the Reimed City. It was not a threatening screech but one of excitement.


    Following the screech from the [Siren of Death], all flying [Infected[ from the horde excitedly rushed toward the Yamata-no-Orochi. It was a horde with hundreds of the flying [Infected] in various sizes and forms. All of them flew like a colony of bees, ready to sting their enemy.


    The Yamata-no-Orochi detected the iing pests. The attack helicopters'' distraction had already pissed it off. It would not be weing to any other flying pest trying to buzz around it.


    Without hesitation, the Yamata-no-Orochi faced the iing flying [Infected] with the attacks it was charging.


    ROOOARR!!


    The Yamata-no-Orochiunched its attacks with a loud roar.


    The st of lightning pulverized everything in its path.


    The nail of stone pierced through anything it flew towards.


    The spiral of wind shredded everything caught within its vacuum.


    In just that attack, the hundreds of flying [Infected] turned into just a few dozen. It was a relentless attack that could have killed more Ariake was the receiver of that attack.


    Nheless, every people watching in the Reimed City heaved in relief as they saw another crisis averted.


    Facing the remaining pests of the flying horde, another head of the Yamata-no-Orochi opened its mouth. It began spewing mes, turning anything that entered its heat into ash.


    SCREEEECH!


    The flying horde of [Infected] got eliminated just like that. It was rather unsurprising that the [Siren of Death] was unhappy as it screeched out loud.


    But that screech caused another level of agitation within the horde. Every single [Infected] began moving faster. Even the [Abomination of Thousand Corpses], known for being slow despite its size, was rushing forward.


    However, there was water separating the Reimed City to the west side of Tokyo Bay. There was no way this horde would be able to traverse it.


    But to everyone''s surprise, the [Abomination of Thousand Corpses] began scooping parts of the horde with its right hand. And with a swing of its gigantic right arm, the [Infected] rained on still burning Harumi and Toyosu.


    On the other side, the [Mechids] also began amotion. However, their enemy was not the eighth-headed serpent or the Defense Forces. There was morendmass on the east side of the Reimed City. It meant more ces where the [Miasmic Residues] could spread.


    As both mindless creatures saw each other as enemies, a fight began between the [Mechids] and the [Miasmic Residues].


    The people of the Reimed City watched the chaos in fear. Different threatening forces were invading the remains of the Reimed City. No matter which side took advantage, the survival of the people of the Reimed City would be at stake.


    But then, everyone noticed something on the main monitor. It was the monitor showing the Yamata-no-Orochi and its battle with the Defense Forces.


    However, there was something odd on the screen. There was a ck hole that suddenly appeared in the Sky over Toyosu.


    And then, a giant cube came out of it. As the ck hole closed, the cube was left hovering in the sky.


    That scene caused confusion. And then, fear. No one here knew what that unidentified flying object was. If it was another enemy, it was clear that it would be the end of the Reimed City. No, it would be the end of Japan as the Reimed City was the final stronghold of humanity within this country.


    "YES!"


    However, the operator of the surveince drone nearest to the flying cube stood up and yelled excitedly, to everyone''s surprise.


    Seeing the despair-filled stares directed at him, the operator switched the main monitor to what his drone was seeing.


    And everyone''s eyes widened. The despair soon turned into hope and excitement.


    It was because on top of the hovering cube, the Priestess, the Empress, and the couple from Evernight, along with people both familiar and not, stood watching the chaos before them.


    And it was not all as a report came from the Defense Line. A ck hole opened, with the members of ck Lotus, the Temple, and the Auraboros, along with a few helpers, arriving to join the final battle.

 Chapter 1042 A Speech Of Hope, The Beginning Of The Battle For Japans Future

    ?


    Day 341 - 1:20 PM - Ariake, Reimed City, Ruins of Tokyo


    Everyone stared at the sky, not at the monster threatening everyone''s survival but at the hole in space that appeared out of nowhere and the strange giant flying object that came out of it.


    The witnesses were terrified. Another wave of despair came to envelop their hearts. It was the fear of the unknown and the uncertainties it could bring in an already losing battle.


    And before their hearts could calm down, another hole in space, much smaller than the previous one, right at the entrance of the bridge by the frontlines.


    The soldiers immediately readied their guns. The [Vanguard Soldiers] were the same.


    However, what came out of the hole were not monsters but a group of ck-clothed and armored people with very familiar emblems on their chests.


    And as soldiers, there was no way they would not recognize one of the territorial groups of the Reimed City.


    The soldiers immediately reported what they were currently seeing to the headquarters. It was all while more people came out of the hole in space.


    But soon after the soldiers sent the report, everyone''s radio,municators, and even the speakers installed around the restricted ind sounded.


    It was the voice of the Prime Minister.


    "Everyone, my countrymen. We have escaped the undead. We resisted the mutants. And we survived the world''s change. We have made this ce, the Reimed City, our new home. We survived."


    The people turned their heads at the speakers, listening intently.


    "But now, as everyone knows, we are facing another crisis, a worse threat to our survival. We have lost our new homes. We have lost more of our loved ones. All of us here, me, you, the soldiers, everyone listening to this speech, are the only ones left of this city."


    The people grasped their fists tight. Out of the hundred thousand people living in the Reimed City, all that was left were a few ten thousand that could fit into tworge inds.


    "We are at our final line of defense. We have no other ce to go. We have no ce to escape. Our defeat here would dere the fall of this country."


    Everyone''s hearts sank.


    "The evil creatures and their machinations. They manipted our own people and conjured a monster from the past. And against a monster that was the stuff of legends, we, nothing but mere humans, had no chance of winning."


    Their hearts sunk even more. Despair was looming over everyone as they lowered their heads.


    "But it did not mean that we should wallow in despair. We have nothing more to lose. That is why we should grasp onto hope tighter. We have yet to lose. We still have hope."


    Once again, everyone raised their heads, waiting for the Prime Minister to continue.


    "The Reimed City''s Protector, Priestess Ise Hikari. She had now returned to the spearhead for the final stretch of this battle."


    Murmurs echoed among the people.


    "Atop that vessel in the sky, together with our foreign guests and new allies, the Priestess is about to face the monster we struggled to fight."


    People stared at the sky, finally realizing what the floating cube that came out of the hole in space might be. Those inside the shelters were a little confused, but those brave went out to see what was in the sky.


    "Our honorable soldiers and brave warriors, who are still fighting in the frontlines, hang on tight. It would not be easy, but everyone behind you was counting on your bravery. And my fellow countrymen, I beseech your prayers to support them. Your prayers would help them fight this terrifying battle."


    The people gripped their fists once again, but not because of fear and despair. Their hearts began thumping loudly.


    "We might not know the result of this fight. But we have yet to lose."


    "There is still hope."


    ***


    "RAAAAAAAHHH!!!"


    The soldiers on the frontlines roared. They steeled their hearts. It was the final stretch of this fight.


    Everyone in the frontline readied once again. The soldiers, the [Frencers], there were also the members of territorial groups and even some Priests and Maidens of the Temple. There was also the addition of the ck Lotus and the guests they had brought. They all readied to defend the final bridges from the iing enemies.


    The Yamata-no-Orochi in the sky, the [Miasmic Residues] in front and below the water, the [Infected] to the west, and the [Mechids] to the east. All these enemies might not be working together, but all of them posed a threat to what remained of Japan.


    And everyone on the frontline needed to defend against all these threats at once.


    It would not be an easy fight.


    But as the Prime Minister had said.


    "There is still hope."


    ***


    "What a speech..."


    Mark said atop The Cube.


    The speakers in Ariake were in full volume. That was why Mark and the others who were flying above Toyosu could still hear it clearly.


    Such a loud volume should not be advisable in a zombie apocalypse due to obvious reasons. However, the louder the speech, the greater its impact on the hearts of the listeners.


    And using the Priestess as the pir, the Prime Minister managed to raise everyone''s morale to the maximum.


    While the Prime Minister''s speech was ongoing, Mark and the rest were observing the situation. Atop The Cube, there was Mark, Mei, Spera, Amihan, the Priestess, and the Empress. They all looked around and observed the surroundings in the few moments they had free.


    And there was only one word to describe what was happening before them.


    It was chaos.


    The [Infected] was attacking the Yamata-no-Orochi in any way they possibly could. Whether it be flying or just throwing their kind high up, they were trying to reach the serpent in the sky.


    On the other hand, the [Miasmic Residues] had fully conquered the rest of the remaining areas north of Ariake. It caused the arrival of the [Mechids] to be halted by these goo-like creatures, resulting in another ensuing battle.


    The chaos allowed The Cube and everyone on it to look around safely, ignored by the enemies. And to say, it was not really a pleasant sight.


    They all saw the effect of Gar''m''s death, erasing arge chunk of Kachidoki and setting fire to the majority of the Reimed City.


    While watching the mes below, arge shadow flew from the ming ruins of Toyosu to The Cube. It was Char with the shrunk Laps and Mako on his back.


    Therge lizardnded atop The Cube. It was amazing that its weight barely shook the hovering vessel.


    "You three okay?"


    Mark asked as Mako and Laps jumped off Char''s back.


    "We are still okay, but your dragon could barely fly."


    Mako replied, a little worried about Char.


    The two animals met up with Mako during the evacuation. But they ended up getting stuck at the southwest edge of Toyosu when the wave of mes happened. Fighting the [Miasmic Residues] while protecting survivors drained the hell out of the three, but Chalfar had it the worst since he had been flying around since the start of the invasion.


    Looking at his two pets, Mark patted their heads.


    "Good work, you two."


    Mark then turned to Spera.


    "Spera, send them back to base. They needed rest."


    "Please, send me there instead," Mako interjected, pointing at Ariake. "I''ll do my best until this ends."


    Mark gave Mako a straight look and shrugged. It looked like Mako wanted to help the defense while hiding in the shadows.


    "Just don''t die. We had a deal."


    "I know."


    Mako nodded. Then, Spera sent the three to their respective destinations.


    After the portal closed, the Priestess asked Mark.


    "That is Ren-chan''s assistant, am I right? I thought she was dead?"


    It looked like that, despite the armor and helmet covering her appearance, the Priestess still recognized Mako. The Priestess should be wondering why the truth was hidden from Ren and the rest of the ck Lotus.


    But then again, Mako betrayed the ck Lotus. Even if a few things she did save Ren from true death, it would not cover that fact. There was no ce for a traitor back in their former group.


    "We have a deal, so I can''t just let her die." Mark gave another shrug. "Anyway, chat times over. We''ve finally been noticed."


    Mark turned his head at the Serpent God. The Serpent God was still receiving attacks from both the [Infected] and the Defense Forces, but its attention was already on The Cube.


    And it was not only the Serpent God who was paying attention to The Cube. The [Siren of Death] was looking at it too, and it also attracted the attention of some [Mechids].


    "We should start. Let''s take the initi-."


    Mark tried to say, but there was no initiative to be taken.


    ROOOARR!!!


    The Serpent God managed to defend one of its heads and attack The Cube. It spewed a burst of mes. It was not just a fireball but a full-blown breath attack that covered the entirety of The Cube.


    Amihan immediately flew forward. Her ck hair shone with a green sheen, and the markings on her body glowed emerald green.


    A thick wall of wind surged in front of The Cube. It blocked the fire breath attack, not letting it anywhere near the floating vessel.


    The Priestess also moved forward. She threw talismans in front of her, creating an elemental pentagram mid-air.


    An encantation came out of the Priestess'' mouth. It was a familiar one to Mark, although with different phrases at the end.


    As the talisman for the water element dissolved, the Priestess shouted.


    "Water, the giver of life! Douse these evil mes!"


    However, nothing happened in front of the pentagram. It just vanished without a trace.


    But that was when everyone heard a roaring sounding from below.


    Everyone in Ariake felt the ground tremble. Their eyes opened wide when the water between the man-made inds of the Reimed City began to rise into a giant wall.


    The wall of water continued to rise, towering several dozen meters like a deadly tidal wave.


    It was a scene both mystifying and terrifying.


    Then, the Priestess turned to Mark.


    "Are there really no survivors left in the northern parts?"


    It was a question that Mark replied with an unfortunate nod. The Priestess let out a sad sigh as she finished her attack.


    The walls of water shot up to the sky. Onerge part shot towards the Serpent God and stopped its ming breath, while the rest of the wall surged into the northern parts of the Reimed City like a tsunami.


    What the Priestess said was to douse the evil mes. It was not only the attack from the Serpent God but every me that devastated the Reimed City.


    The Priestess called forth a new miracle.


    Those walls of water surged across the burning ruins, extinguishing every remaining fire and washing away the [Miasmic Residues] roaming the streets.


    "Hmmm..." The Empress smiled. "I can''t let myself get buried just like this."


    And the Empress jumped off from The Cube.


    It was no suicide attempt, however.


    As the Empress fell, bluish mes enveloped her body. The bluish mes then became green, then yellow, andstly, golden. With every change of color, its size grew.


    When the mesnded on the grounds of Toyosu, now submerged in water, it was already the size of a small building.


    The golden mes exploded with intensity and began moving back to the sky.


    And there, the golden mes died down, revealing a giant figure of a nine-tailed fox with golden fur.


    It was the [Manifestation] of the Empress, a form conjured and created by her raw power.


    "HMP! FOOO!"


    The Empress opened her mouth as she ran in the air. She then retaliated with her own breath of mes, hotter than the Serpent God''s.


    Mark intently watched the Empress perform her [Manifestation]. It was a power of a Deity.


    It was something he should be able to do soon.

 Chapter 1103 The Other Enemies, Intercepting the Infiltration of the [Face Wearers]

    Chapter 1103 The Other Enemies, Intercepting the Infiltration of the [Face Wearers]


    Day 364 - 6:45 PM - Northwest Fields, 38th Satellite Settlement, Muria Sacred Fortress, Mount Muria, Kudus Regency, Central Java, Indonesia


    A few minutes before.


    "Hmmm..." Mark nodded as they watched the battle from the base''s balcony. "Looks like Ellie figured it out. The others didn''t even check the weapons yet. I guess they''re pretty nervous about the unexpected situation if they brought unchecked weapons to the battle. Minus a few points, I guess."


    Everyone could hear Mark''s mumbles. The members of his group understood what he was saying as they were involved in the creation of the weapons Mark gave the leaders of the Moon Chasers. On the other hand, General Wijaya and his Secretary could only look at him in askance.


    The weapons Mark gave Edge and the others were more or less imitation magic weapons. These weapons needed to be bound by blood to activate, attuning the weapons to the blood and magical energy the owner had. With this method, the weapon would be able to freely function using both an internal power source and the owner''s magical energy. Well, the magical energy of the leaders of the Moon Chasers was practically nil. However, it did not mean that they did not have any, and there was also the possibility for them to increase their magical capacity in this new apocalyptic world.


    Furthermore, the new weapons had experimental functions. These were [Knowledge Impartment], [Telepathic Recording], [Magic Enhancement], [Voice Command], and [Elemental Enchantment Switch].


    [Knowledge Impartment] was just what it meant. It was to instantly channel information about the basic functions of the weapon to its owner. It worked alongside [Telepathic Recording], where Mark asked Mei and the girls to record the non-basic instructions that would be telepathically transmitted to the owner of the magic weapon after it activated. These two functions would allow Edge and the others to be able to use the new weapons without the need to practice.


    [Magic Enhancement] was another new thing Mark was testing. It was to enhance the weapon wielder''s physical abilities when the weapon was activated. A buff of sorts in game terms. What it buffs varies on each weapon. Edge would have enhanced strength and endurance, Ellie would gain strength and agility, Nelia and Limab would have higher eye reflexes and enhanced eyesight, and Bajing would gain higher body reflexes and speed.


    Of course, [Magic Enhancement] was not an almightly thing. It only buffs to a certain degree above the wielder''s original abilities to prevent overfatigue and other over-exertion-rted injuries. It would also have other mild effects as magical energy had to flow through their bodies.


    [Voice Command] was something Mark was focused on,pared to the other things. Just like in anime, it would be cool to be able to shout attacks. It would not be practical in most fights, but Mark was an Otaku in the first ce. Besides, it could be used in other things if Mark seeded in perfecting the function.


    Lastly, [Elemental Enchantment Switch]. It was to channel magical energy into different elements. It would allow different elemental enchantments on the weapons. Not only that, but also multiple enchantments on single attacks. It was not something the weapons of Mark''s group currently had. Their weapons are mostly single-enchanted, aside from the weapon Mark made with the Elder cksmith in Japan.


    All these new functions were not perfected yet. They were usable in battles, but there was still a lot to work on. In any case, Mark giving these functions to the weapons of the Moon Chasers allowed him to experiment while enhancing his craftsmanship.


    "Hah..." Mark sighed. Unfortunately, he could not watch the Moon Chasers use their weapons. It would definitely serve as a good reference.


    Without warning, Mark opened his storage space once again. This time, he took out aptop he personally customized and a [Mechid]-like toy.


    Seeing the items, Mark''s daughters immediately approached. They knew what these items would be used for together.


    "I''ll make it fly!"


    Miracle immediately volunteered.


    "Sorry, but I will do it this time," Mark patted Miracle''s head and turned to I. "I need to get a good recording of the battle. You''re the best in this one."


    "Okay. I''ll do it."


    I nodded as Mark handed theptop to her.


    Of course, the other two were sulking, although they could only follow I as they set up at the nearby table. They also did not forget to get Amisha with them, who had sparkling eyes as she looked at the items.


    The little girls did not notice, but Mark taking out the [Mechid Drone] to record the battle meant he could not watch it personally.


    "Enemies?"


    Mei asked Mark.


    "Three groups. All [Face Wearers] at the same strength or higher as the one Miracle fought in the market," Mark nodded and exined. "Three on the north, four on the south, and six outside the gates." Mark then turned to everyone to assign the tasks.


    "I''ll handle the ones on the gates. Feng Zhiruo, you handle the four to the south," Unexpectedly, Mark turned to Hannah and Annica. "You two handle the three to the north."


    "Brother? Just the two of us?"


    Annica was suddenly nervous.


    "What''s your ability again?" Mark flicked the girl''s forehead. "Take all the pets with you and connect with them. You only need tomand them from the back like a Pokemon trainer."


    Annica covered her painful forehead as she nodded. What Mark said meant he was lending him the pets, including Char. With the dragon alone, they would be invincible.


    "Don''t be too careless. That''s why Hannah needed toe with you. The [Face Wearers] you will face might have uncanny abilities." Mark then turned to Hannah from Annica. "Your job is mostly protecting her, but you should support when you can."


    "Yes."


    Hannah nodded withoutints or questions. Just like her Aunt Odelina, Hannah was from the lineage of servants who would not question their masters.


    "Feng Zhiruo," Mark turned to the Chinese Cultivator. "Just kill them all and be careful."


    "No problem."


    Feng Zhiruo nodded. Taking the lives of monsters would not be hard for a Cultivator like her, especially now. n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om


    "Mei''er," Mark then turned to his wife. "Just in case, fly up to the sky. If something unexpected happens, give support."


    Mei nodded without a word. She knew her job as the sniper.


    "As for the rest, just stay here and protect the ce."


    Mark turned to the rest of the group.


    Emika was a little disappointed that she could not join the fun, but protecting the ce was not a bad job for her. Spera was used to being on standby, so she had no problem with the task. As for Amihan, she wanted toe with Mark. However, he told her to protect the little girls instead, especially Amisha.


    It was because at least one of the three groups would clearly aim for her.


    "Sir Mark," At this time, General Wijaya stepped up. "We could be of assistance."


    The General could not just stand by watching.


    However, Mark shook his head.


    "Stay here with the initial arrangement. Support the Moon Chasers if they needed," Mark said before mentioning the harsh truth. "Besides, I doubt the fifty soldiers you have right now would be of help against the stronger [Face Wearers]."


    General Wijaya sighed. He was a little disappointed by the truth. Looking at Mark, he could only nod. He might be a high-ranking soldier, but in this battle, he could only wait for other''s instructions.


    With the arrangement done, the members of Mark''s group moved.


    The guard left to guard the settlement and could only stand surprised as the members of Mark''s group jumped out of the settlement walls. The most surprising would be Annica and Hannah, who both came out while being escorted by Char, the [Ground Hunter], and Laps.


    Seeing them try to jump out, the guard tried to stop them, knowing it was dangerous outside in the current situation. However, the guards found out their legs would not move at all. They could only watch in confusion and fear as Feng Zhiruo, Annica, and Hannah left for their respective destinations.


    The only one who did not leave the walls was Mark, who stood atop the walls above the entrance gate of the 38th Sattelite Settlement.


    Contrary to the guards who saw the other three, the guards near Mark were properly informed of the iing enemies. To the three women, having the guards follow them would be nothing but a nuisance. Annica and Hannah had no way to protect them, while Feng Zhiruo was alone handling four enemies.


    As for Mark''s side, there was a wall for the guards to hide behind, and Mark had the strength to protect them if needed.


    Standing on the walls, Mark and the guards waited. All of a sudden, a clump of ck mist formed atop Mark before plopping on his head.


    "You''ve been out for almost a week. Did you have fun? And what did you eat? You became much bigger."


    Mark said in a reprimanding tone as he poked Crimson on his head.


    That was right. Crimson finally returned after several days of absence after tailing the impostor of the man named Wahyu. If not for his connection with the [Blood Child], Mark would think something bad happened to him. However, Crimson was fine and returned now.


    Why did Crimson return now?


    Mark''s eyes focused on the iing silhouettes from the distance. Among the six silhouettes, one was familiar.


    It was the very same impostor of Wahyu. However, unlike their previous encounter, this [Face Wearer] was much stronger now.


    The enemies also noticed Mark and the guards atop the walls. There was no doubt they were frustrated to see the infiltration fail before it could even start.


    Without waiting for the enemies to get closer to the gate, Mark jumped off the wall and walked closer to them.


    Six enemies. Mark stared at them intently.


    All of them shared the coal-like skin color, with tribal garments adorned with gold ornaments. They wore golden crowns of different shapes and patterns.


    The leader of the group was a muscr-looking [Face Wearer]. Next to him was a fat one. Two had a thin body. The next one was extremely skinny to the point of skin and bones. Then, there was Wahyu''s impostor, who appeared to be the most normal-looking among them.


    "Hey, it''s been a while!"


    Mark waved at Wahyu''s impostor in a friendly manner.


    That interaction made the rest of the enemies turn to Wahyu''s impostor in suspicion.


    "Don''t look at me like that," Wahyu''s impostor responded to the stares. "That''s the man who saw through my disguise."


    Hearing those words, the leader of the group turned to Mark.


    "The unknown variable," The leader said. Then, things became easier for us."


    "KILL!"


    The leader roared.


    Mark heard the shout. He nodded as he recorded the mental fluctuation that meant anger.


    With a smile, Mark stretched his hand to the side. Ignis appeared out of his private space and let Mark grab his handle.


    The sudden emergence of the sword surprised the attacking [Face Wearers]. This emotional fluctuation was recorded by Mark, too.


    Despite the surprise they had from seeing Mark''s weapon, the [Face Wearers] did not stop their attack.


    The leader charged at the center. The two thin ones ran on opposite sides, faster than everyone else. Wahyu''s impostor charged behind the leader. On the other hand, the fat one and the skinny one stood behind everyone.


    The group ran so fast that their figures turned into blurs. In the darkness of the night, their skin color basically made them invisible.


    The guards atop the walls only saw four of the enemies vanish. None of them could keep up with the speed of the [Face Wearers].


    However...


    CLANG!


    Mark moved Ignis above his right shoulder. In that move, he blocked the arm of the thin one charging to his right. The arm turned into a long spear that tried to stab his head off. However, the attack was to no avail.


    Without any sign of effort, Mark moved Ignis, causing the first attacker to stagger backward. He then moved Ignis to his left nk, blocking an attack from the other thin one.


    The leader came next, with his arms inted with muscles, trying to punch Mark into meatpaste.


    However, after blocking the second attack, Mark pulled Ignis backward, causing the handle to block the iing punch. The second punch arrived. Mark moved, spinning counter-clockwise to his right, causing the first punch to collide with the other.


    In that set of moves Mark performed, he caused the leader to stagger as he ran past Mark before falling to the ground.


    Seeing the three fail their attacks, Wahyu''s impostor slowed down and hesitated.


    It was when a ball of acid flew over Wahyu''s impostor, followed by a bone spear. Both of which were aimed at Mark.


    However, Mark raised Ignis'' de in front of his face, causing the oriental-looking sword to release a faint greenish glow.


    Then, Mark waved the sword at the iing ball of acid and bone spear. A de of wind shot forward, obliterating the two attacks instantly. The ball of acid exploded and rained to the ground while the half-cut bone spear fell as it lost momentum.


    Silence.


    Mark stood in the middle of the enemies, barely moving from his initial position.


    The [Face Wearers] realized faster than most Chinese novel viins. The man before them was no mere nobody.

 Chapter 1044 A Deteriorating Situation, Ariake Getting Besieged by Enemies

    Chapter 1044 A Deteriorating Situation, Ariake Getting Besieged by Enemies


    Day 341 - 1:23 PM - Ariake, Reimed City, Ruins of Tokyo


    "GROAR!!!"


    Shambling roars echoed over the other side of the bridge connecting Toyosu and Ariake. In a few seconds, the scene of the [Mutated Infected] rushing from Toyosu to Ariake entered everyone''s eyes.


    The horde thrown from the Western Coast into the Reimed City finally arrived at the bridge. Without a doubt, the ones on the lead would be the fast-moving types of [Infected]. Most of them were [Mutated Infected Animals]. The worst part, the ones in front of the horde were most likely the most powerful ones among the horde.


    After getting thrown by the [Abomination of Thousand Corpses] from one side of the river to the other, not all of the [Infected] would make it. Some fell into the water, and many did not even make it halfway. Those that made it into Toyosu did not have a good fall either. The target of the throws was not exactly the Reimed City but the Serpent God in the sky.


    Many of the [Infected] fell to their deaths into the burning grounds. It may be by the mes of the dead deity or just by the impact of their huge fall.


    Those who survived the fall were either the nimble or the strong-bodied [Infected]. Either way, the surviving [Infected] was surely a threat at the same level as [Mechids] and the [Miasmic Residues]. No, they were probably more threatening. The [Miasmic Residues] would drain the living''s life force while the [Mechids] would kill any living they encountered. On both enemies, their victims ended up dead. The [Infected], on the other hand, would cause the living to join their ranks.


    "Here theye! Get in position! Fire at will!"


    The Field Commander yelled as the [Mutated Infected] rushed across the bridge at full speed. Most of the [Infected] in front were animals, mostly mutated dogs and cats. There were also some deer-like ones. The most surprising was the humanoid ones keeping up with the fast-footed animal [Infected].


    As the [Infected] arrived within range, the sounds of guns firing began. The first ones were the snipers, who started shooting just as the [Infected] took a few steps into the bridge. Unfortunately, the number of [Infected] was not small. The snipers alone could not eliminate them before they came into the range of the Defense Line.


    Even so, the snipers managed to pick off a lot of the fastest-running [Infected], slowing the horde''s advance. Even so, they would cross the bridge in less than a minute.


    When the [Infected] crossed the bridge halfway, the defensive assault of the Defense Forces began. One after another, the [Infected] staggered before they came falling to the ground.


    CLANG! CLANG! CLANG!


    The Field Commander carefully assessed the situation in the Defense Line. It was when a spotter with the snipers spoke through the radio.


    "Multiple [Armored Infected] had been spotted. Gray Quadruped ones. Caution advised, over."


    Upon hearing that, the Field Commander took a pair of binocrs and found a suitable position to look at the other parts of the bridge. As the spotter had said, multiple [Armored Infected] was currently running within the horde. He could even see sparks from their bodies as their armor repelled the bullets from the snipers.


    "Vanguards! Ready the [Reactive Cannons]! Rockets, standby!"


    As themand came, the [Vanguard Soldiers] that whore the experimental armors stepped forward. They began deploying cannons equipped over their shoulders and aimed them at the bridge using precise calctions. Their target was not the [Infected] but the path before them.


    The [Vanguard Soldiers] waited for themand while the Field Commander tasked a spotter for the right timing.


    And then, as they finished calcting the speed of the [Armored Infected] and the target location, themand came.


    "Everyone! Brace your eyes! Vanguards! Fire!"


    The Field Commander yelled.


    A bright sh of light enveloped the Defense Line as the Vanguard Soldiers shot their cannons.


    These cannons were not like the usual military equipment. These cannons, named [Electric Field Cannons], were experimental weapons that did not use explosion as the projectile propent. Instead, it used electricity and maic pulses. One reason for its creation was the limited avability of gunpowder, while the other reason was its effectiveness against the [Infected], especially against armored ones.


    In fact, these cannons were made along with the Warship Susanoo''s main weapon, sharing simr properties.


    The cannons shot a glowing shell that had drawn a bright curve into the bridge. And when the shells hit the target, the impact caused it to explode, releasing a high-voltage electric field in the immediate vicinity.


    As the Vanguard Soldiers released the shells at a precise time, they exploded on the bridge just as the [Armored Infected] entered the target location.


    The moment the [Armored Infected] got enveloped in high-voltage electricity, no, not only them but every [Infected] within the electric field stopped on their steps, showed spasms on their bodies, and fell to the ground with a disgusting toasted smell. After a few seconds, the electric field vanished after achieving its purpose.


    "Noted targets eliminated."


    The spotter reported that none of the initial [Armored Infected] survived the attack.


    Without a doubt, these experimental weapons were effective. If these could be used as main weapons for the Defense Forces, the [Infected] would not be much of a threat as long as they did not go on the offensive. Unfortunately, because of the current limitations of the [Vanguard Armors] and their experimental weapons, such things were impossible at the moment.


    The group of [Armored Infected] was no more. A good number of [Infected] also died with them. However, the number of [Infected] was increasing instead of decreasing. More and more of them were arriving at the other side of the bridge to cross toward Ariake.


    And the problem was not the horde before the Defense Line. It was actually the [Abomination of Thousand Corpses] and the [Siren of Death].


    It was well known that territorial bosses among the [Infected] had higher levels of intelligence that the [Infected]monly encountered could notpare. But, at this moment, the pair of territorial bosses were showing an even higher level of intelligence than expected.


    As more [Infected] arrived, attracted to the Reimed City because of the ongoing battle, the [Siren of Death] did not stop screeching as if she was repeatedly calling upon their brethren. And as more and more [Infected] gathered around them, more and more were thrown by the [Abomination of Thousand Corpses] into the Reimed City.


    Would it be easier to destroy the bridge instead? If no bridge were in sight, the stream of [Infected] would not have any path to get to Ariake. It was unless they traveled underwater or through the air.


    Unfortunately, destroying the bridge was not an option. That was thest thing those inmand wanted to do at the moment. After all, it was the only bridge left that connected Ariake and its neighboring areas to Toyosu. Once this bridge was down, the southern areas would bepletely cut off from the northern parts of the Reimed City.


    That would be a bad thing since the only indication that an area was within the Reimed City was a bridge connecting to it. It was necessary in many ways, especially for safe transport between the inds. Once the bridge was down, they were effectively shrinking the Reimed City even more right after the explosion turned the northernmost territories into a huge crater.


    Unless there was no other choice, preserving the bridge was necessary.


    In that case, there was one thing they needed to do first.


    "We needed to eliminate those two first, or this would not end!"


    Someone yelled.


    The Defense Forces needed to eliminate the [Infected Bosses] to stop the horde froming.


    They had artilleries that could reach the distance of the two [Infected Bosses]. However, calcting the trajectory and moving the artillery to the right position would take some time. And doing that would effectively reduce the fire support to suppress the eight-headed serpent in the sky.


    But the Prime Minister''s voice came through the radio.


    "Adjust three artilleries. With the Empress and the Priestess taking the attention of the monster, we should at least be able to move a few. And we don''t need to kill those two. We only need them to stop what they are doing right now."


    "Yes, Sir."


    The Field Commander received the order. He then immediately assigned personnel to move the artilleries.


    But in the middle of moving the artillery, the spotter''s voice, once again, echoed through the radio.


    "Hover Transports spotted at two o''clock. The robots are preparing to cross the water."


    Hover Transport. It was something that Mark or any of his group had seen so far among the [Mechids].


    The Field Commander immediately left the artillery personnel and took out his binocrs. In the aforementioned direction, at the southeastern riverbank of Toyosu, severalrge boat-like vehicles could be seen. However, it was not floating on water but hovering a few inches above it.


    The Hover Transports were amidst loading several robots aboard, ready to cross the water.


    "Rockets to two o''clock! Intercept the transport!"


    The heavy soldiers began to move, carrying their rockets as ordered. They readied their rocket-propelled guns over their shoulders after checking their behind.


    Currently, the Hover Transports was still outside the RPGs'' effective range. But once the enemies entered the effective range of the weapons, the heavy soldiers were ready to fire.


    The [Mechids] moved faster than the [Infected]. Thus, the Hover Transports were filled quickly and departed to their target. But as they crossed halfway through the distance, rockets rained onto them from above.


    "Hit confirmed!"


    The heavy soldiers reported, confirming that their rockets intercepted the targets.


    However, that report immediately became useless.


    Through the water ssh created by the explosions, several silhouettes pushed through.


    The Hover Transports were unharmed. That was unexpected, considering the rocket barrage.


    "Shields! They have shields!"


    A sharp-eyed [Frencer] shouted as he saw what went wrong.


    It was hard to see, but once they squinted enough, they could see the droplets of water from the explosions getting repelled by something invisible around the Hover Transports.


    Worse, the Hover Transports were elerating. In a few seconds, they would reach Ariake.


    "The [Infected] reached the first blockade! Our firepower in the bridge isn''t enough!"


    Fortunately, the monster was being distracted, allowing the artillery to be adjusted.


    THOOM! THOOM! THOOM!


    A soldier reported as the first [Infected] shed with the summoned golems.


    "The artillery is ready!"


    The personnel adjusting the artillery reported.


    With many things going on at once, the Field Commander was having quite a hard timemanding the Defense Line alone.


    But since the artillery was ready, there was no need to hesitate.


    "Fire the artillery at once! We need to stop the [Infected Bosses] immediately!"


    The Field Commander yelled before turning his head to the monster in the sky. Fortunately, the monster was being distracted, allowing the artillery to be adjusted.


    THOOM! THOOM! THOOM!


    The three artilleries fired at once. Three shells of destruction flew in the direction of the two [Infected Bosses].


    BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!


    Three explosions urred at their location simultaneously.


    ROOOOARR!!!!


    A loud roar, a symphony of pain, echoed as hundreds of corpses wailed in unison after the bombardment hit the [Abomination of Thousand Corpses].


    The giant,posed of hundreds of smaller bodies, stumbled and crashed into nearby ruins. Due to the damage done to its body, one could see the corpses fall from its body even from afar.


    However, while the bombardment hit the [Abomination of Thousand Corpses], the other managed to go unscathed.


    SCREEEEEEEEEEECH!!!


    An angry screech rattled everyone''s ears. At the same time, the intensity of attacks of the horde on the bridge began to intensify. The golems managed to hold the enemies back, but it would not be long until they were overwhelmed by numbers.


    At the same time, the west side was in panic.


    "Fire the rockets! We can''t let them pass!"


    A heavy soldier yelled, aiming his newly reloaded rocket at the iing Hover Transports.


    But to their dismay, the shields of the [Mechids] stayed strong.


    And if the urgent situation was not enough, another problem urred.


    "Huh? Aren''t those our forces in Shinonome? And the members of Dawn?"


    Someone spoke, seeing arge number of people running towards the Defense Line from the east side.


    "Sh*t..."


    The Field Commander could not help but curse after seeing those people.


    East of Ariake was Shinonome, the territory of the Yakuza Group, Dawn. Another division of soldiers should be cooperating with the members of Dawn to defend the east side, which was their territory.


    But if these people were now retreating here, it meant that something had happened in Shinonome.


    The Serpent God''s attention was diverted away from Ariake. However, their situation was still getting worse.


    And at this moment, one of the Hover Transports arrived, elerating through the water and jumping from the water below and over the seabed wall.


    In this jump, the [Mechids] effectively entered Ariake, or so they thought.


    "HA!"


    A yell came from the green-haired girl of Evernight as she waved her head, violently swaying her hair. And to everyone''s shock, her hair grew into thick vines moving at high velocity, swatting away the Hover Transport.


    It might have a shield, but the Hover Transport was still thrown back into the water, making all of its passengers fall into the water.


    The Hover Transport that resisted rockets and entered Ariake with a high leap was by a thirteen-year-old girl''s hair.


    At the same time, the rest of the members of Evernight also moved, intercepting the iing Hover Transports as they took a leap of fate into Ariake.

 Chapter 1045 The Evernights Prowess, The Intensifying Battles in Ariake

    Chapter 1045 The Evernight''s Prowess, The Intensifying Battles in Ariake


    Day 341 - 1:25 PM - Final Defense Line, Ariake, Reimed City, Ruins of Tokyo


    [Infected] through the bridge and [Mechids] over the water. Enemies wereing closer to Ariake at every second. And the first ones to attempt to take the first step behind the Defense Line were the [Mechids].


    Hover Transports with energy shields. It was something the forces of the Reimed City were unprepared for. As the first enemy vessels jumped over the miraculous seabed wall and past the coastal barrier, the soldiers and volunteers prepared for a dangerous close-quarters fight against the alien robots. But what the people around did not expect was the move of a seemingly harmless girl with green hair.


    Emika moved her head in a circr manner, making her hair create a powerful spinning momentum. And as she reached the fastest speed she could go, Emika released her [Mutator Ability], turning her hair into thick vines, whipping andtching onto the Hover Transport mid-air. The barrier around the Hover Transport prevented direct impact with the vines, but that did not matter, as the vinestched swiftly around the barrier before throwing the vessel back to where it jumped from, outside the seabed wall.


    The barrier protected the Hover Transport from any attacks it received. However, there was little it could do to protect its cargo from falling after its bnce got thrown off by the vines in did not manage to tear through.


    Without resistance, [Mechids], unsuited for underwater functions, fell into the water. While it would be questionable if this would break them, considering these robots could resist the vacuum of space. But without specific underwater functions, it would be extremely difficult for most of them to return to battle.


    Ignoring the fact that the first Hover Transport got repelled, or maybe they did not have time to calcte and react to the unexpected situation, the other Hover Transports still jumped over the seabed wall.


    Unfortunately, unlike the first Hover Transport that managed to jump past the coastal wall, the following Hover Transports failed to jump even just over the seabed wall. The thick wall of vines shot toward them with the same momentum as before, swatting every Hover Transport mid-air like flies.


    The crowd cheered in pleasant surprise. It was the same for the people watching through the monitors inside theboratory.


    Emika protected Ariake from the initial attack of the [Mechids]. A little girl, barely a teen, could do such. Why could not the adults do the same? While ability could be an issue, they could at least have the same bravery as this young female warrior.


    As the fighting morale increased further, the intensity of the fight surged. Even so, the agitated [Infected] was still a problem at the bridge, while there was also the issue with the forces from Shinonome retreating from their posts.


    At this time, a radio call from the retreating forces entered themunication line.


    "Dawn Defense Troops to Ariake Defense Line. Field Commander, Sir. Do you read?"


    The Field Commander was pretty surprised. After all, he could already see the retreating forces of the Defense Troops from Shinonome, and they were only contacting through the radio at this moment.


    "We can already see the retreating troops from Shinonome. Why is the contact onlying right now?"


    But the reply shook the hearts of those who heard it.


    "Sorry, Sir, but I am not within the retreating forces. We failed to establish contact since there was amunication jam until now. The Defense Line in the Shinonome border had fallen. A few of us stayed behind to cover the retreat of the troops you could now see. Please, do not send rescue or reinforcements and establish a secondary Defense Line toward Shinonome."


    "Sh*t! Group up! They''re here!"


    The soldier on the other side of the radio was interrupted by the shouting of other soldiers on their side. And in a hurry, the soldier said a fewst words. Sir, please tell our families we love t-."


    Themunication got cut off, leaving nothing but static. It seemed that themunication jap happened again.


    And then, everyone turned their heads in the direction of Shinonome.


    It was because a pir of ck mes exploded over the buildings after themunication got cut off.


    Those mes caused the soldiers and other people to panic. However, it was theplete opposite for the members of Evernight, as they were familiar with those ck mes.


    At this time, Berrak''s shouts echoed towards the other members of Evernight.


    "Hey! Look at the wall! Below the water!"


    Berrak''s shouts pushed Odelina to take point. And as she did, a four-legged spider-like [Mechid] jumped over the wall in front of her. It seemed that some of the passengers of the Hover Transports managed to traverse the short distance to the wall and climb up.


    The spider-like [Mechid] twice Odelina''s size immediately raised its right front leg to pierce the human in front of it. Everyone eximed. It was dangerous, after all. And because Odelina stood in front of the [Mechid], the soldiers could not shoot.


    Everyone expected a disaster.


    Unfortunately for everyone''s expectations and that [Mechid], it showed up in front of Evernight''s head maid and third inmand.


    Odelina raised her left arm against the trajectory of the leg. The two limbs of different sizes shed. The [Mechid] was unable to pierce through, even if its gears began to creak and its wires exuded sparks due to the force it was trying to give out. And then, Odelina calmly raised her other hand and punched out.


    BAM!


    Everyone had another wave of shock as they saw the [Mechid] lose its bnce and fall to the water with a gaping hole in its body. After the [Mechid] fell out of sight, the only one left for everyone to look at was the maid clenching her fist with a strange bone-line armor around her wrists.


    The Field Commander saw the prowess of the members of Evernight. He was surprised and relieved at the same time. He then began issuing orders to support the retreating forces from Shinonome and to begin forming a new Defense Line to the East.


    ROOOAR!


    A roar echoed at the bridge. The Defense Forces and Berrak''s summons were holding on tightly. No [Infected] could pass through the living barricade the summoned monsters established.


    But as the slower [Infected] began to catch up, more powerful [Infected] began to flood the bridge.


    The roar just now came from a five-meter [Infected] with a rock-like body. Did the [Abomination of Thousand Corpses] throw this giant too? While that was a legitimate question, no one had the time to answer it. The giant was moving straight forward, rushing like a tank. It did not care whether it had to push its own allies off the bridge. It only wanted to attack the humans on the other side.


    Knowing that it was an [Armor and Tank Type Infected], the [Vanguard Soldiers] readied their special cannons for another volley. But to everyone''s surprise, the giant grabbed a few [Infected] in front of it and threw it against the trajectory of the special shells the soldiers fired, causing one of the shells to explode mid-air and cause a chain reaction.


    The giant [Infected] was a highly intelligent one, it seemed.


    Fortunately, the [Vanguard Soldiers] were ready for these kinds of situations. Not all of them fired their cannons. It was a multiple-volley defense. Even if reloading the cannons would take twenty to thirty seconds, they were ready to fire another volley if the first one failed.


    The next volley shot forward, and the giant [Infected] tried to block it with the same tactic. However, the gap between the shells this time was wider. Even if a few special shells exploded mid-air, not all would get caught in a chain reaction.


    And this time, the electric field covered the giant [Infected''s] body and the path before it.


    But to everyone''s dismay, the giant [Infected] only stopped for a few seconds. It then roared in rage and elerated its advance.


    The giant [Infected] ran forward with loud thumps of its legs. It put its right arm forward, charging at everything in front of it. As it ran, its speed increased. If no one stopped it, even the golems blocking the bridge would not withstand its charge.


    But at the opportune moment, a ck hole appeared in front of it. Without being able to stop its steps, it involuntarily entered the hole in space. The next thing everyone noticed after that was the same ck hole appearing hundreds of meters above the Serpent God. And there, the same giant [Infected] iling in the sky at it fell on top of one of the heads of the Serpent God.


    ROOOOOOOARRR!!!


    The Serpent God roared in pain and saw the culprit. The head that got hit opened its mouth immediately and caught the giant [Infected], crushing its stone-like body into pieces with its teeth before spitting the corpse out.


    And that amazing fiasco, a smaller hole appeared in front of the bridge, and the familiar member of Evernight Group came out.


    As she arrived, Spera ignored the stares of the unfamiliar people and faced Odelina and Ren.


    "Mark told me to help here instead."


    Spera said.


    Ren sighed in relief. Spera''s portals could really be of help here. And if the worst came, she could probably help transport the people here to somewhere safer.


    SCREEEEEEEEECH!!!


    At this time, another screech came out of the [Siren of Death''s] mouth, seeing that her forces were unable to push through the human''s defenses.


    But this time, it would be different.


    SHOOOOM!!!


    From the flying vessel in the sky, a beam of light shot toward the annoying [Siren of Death]. The attack came very unexpectedly. Still, the [Abomination of Thousand Corpses] actually attempted to raise its right arm to protect the [Siren of Death].


    Unfortunately for the two named [Infected], that beam could melt through a blockade of cars, not to mention a blockade of corpses.


    The beam tore through the abomination''s arm and swallowed the siren''s entirety. And as the [Siren of Death''s] entire body melted due to the extreme heat, she gave her dying screech.


    Unlike the previous ones, this screech was extremely loud, to the point of making everyone''s ears hurt.


    At first, everyone thought that it was just a screech of pain until all the [Infected] within a few kilometers roared and growled in unison. It was like when a horde had Even the [Abomination of Thousand Corpses] began to move forward. With its gigantic body, it would be able to cross the waters without problems.


    been alerted in a certain popr game several years ago.


    And then, all the [Infected] within the range of the screech had their eyes exude a reddish glow.


    The previous screeches of the [Siren of Death] caused agitation among the [Infected]. But now, all of them were straight-up berserk.


    Even the [Abomination of Thousand Corpses] began to move forward. With its gigantic body, it would be able to cross the waters without problems.


    Following the abomination''s charge, everyone could see thousands of [Infected] on the other coast throwing themselves into the water in an attempt to cross it. And in the sky, thousands of shadows appeared, all with eyes glowing bright red under the cloudy winter daylight.


    "Everyone, get ready," Odelina tookmand over the members of Evernight. "Master hasn''t fought yet because he''s watching over us. We should show that he can leave this ce to us."


    The members of Evernight nodded. After spending time within the base, while Mark was mostly emotionless and cold, he could be a worrywart toward his own people. Although Mark gave the same treatment to the NPC units that he controlled in the games he yed. But at least he would give more emphasis on his real followers because you could not reload reality if something went wrong.


    With Odelina''s orders, everyone prepared for the berserk retaliation of the [Infected]. And seeing the members of Evernight going into action, the present members of the Temple and ck Lotus also followed suit.


    But as everyone''s preparations seemed simple and straightforward, the Evernight Group, once again, caught the attention of people around them.


    It was because the girl before opened another portal at the request of one of the maids, in which they called upon an orange-armored monster with a mouth on its stomach. The maid then jumped onto the monster''s shoulder, ready to fight.


    On the other hand, their three youngest members showed something more eye-catching. The two had pets beside them, while the oldest of the three had a younger-looking maid.


    And the three girls uttered.


    "Cavall..."


    "Inaba..."


    "Brunhildr..."


    """...Valkyrie Mode!"""


    To everyone''s shock, the bodies of the pets and maid began transforming in a mechanical way, showing pieces of machinery inside their bodies before they became equipment to be worn by the three girls.


    The [Vanguard Soldiers] that saw that could not help butin inside their hearts. They thought their [Vaguard Armors] were already cool. But what could be cooler than what they had just seen? In any case, they could only keep theirments within their hearts. It was not the time for anything else but the intent to fight.


    ROOOOAR!!!


    It was because not only more of the enemies wereing. The [Abomination of Thousand Corpses] was already on its way.

 Chapter 1046 The Attempt To Protect, The White And Red Lights In The Sky

    ?


    Day 341 - 1:27 PM - Toyosu Air Space, Toyosu, Reimed City, Ruins of Tokyo


    The situation was getting more and more difficult for the people of the Reimed City. However, it was still far from utter destruction.


    As the [Mechids] infiltrated Shinonome and the defenses there copsed, the Defense Forces immediately moved a division of their troops to create another defense line on the eastern border of Ariake. On the other hand, the medical team received the people who retreated from Shinonome, checking for wounds and other injuries.


    When the new team began moving to Shinonome, the members of ck Lotus decided to join them. The members of Evernight had already backed up the northern Defense Line. In this case, it was better for the ck Lotus to join the defense measures in other areas and properly distribute the firepower.


    As for the Northern Front, quite a number of [Infected] had now filled the bridge to Toyosu. The golems managed to hold the front along with newly created barricades using tanks and vehicles. However, the speed the Defense Forces could manage to kill the [Infected] horde was slowerpared to the speed the [Infected] were gathering. It was all due to the current hordeposed of mostly [Armor Type Infected] that survived the fall from the throw of the [Abomination of Thousand Corpses].


    And while the [Infected] horde on the bridge was a bad match-up against guns, the Defense Forces could not use powerful explosives that could possibly take out the bridge. If the bridge copsed, there was no doubt that everyone would be stuck in Ariake for quite an ufortable and dangerous while, leaving them with no escape if things escted in an unwanted direction.


    It was when the members of Evernight fully took the reins on the ongoing battle over the bridge. But instead of maintaining the Defense Line, they chose a different option.


    The members of Evernight began pushing forward.


    With Odelina onmand, the others followed her instructions. Aephelia took the lead on Logan, the [Gluttony Infected''s] shoulder. With Logan''srge hands, he grabbed any [Infected] that came his way, stuffing them all inside his stomach as if they were nothing but snacks. Then came the three little girls, exhibiting the abilities of their [Valkyrie Armors].


    With the help of Cavall and Inaba, Miracle''s punches and Abbygale''s kicks were disgustingly enhanced to the point that they could demolish their way through the seemingly invincible horde. Of course, while also keeping on the advance, I kept the supporting role, keeping her little sisters from any danger from their blind spots.


    Not every one of the Evernight joined the forward forces. Berrak, Emika, and Louis, for example. Berrak had to keep the blockade behind the forward forces in case a few managed to slip. He could also use his other summons to help with other dangers they were facing. After all, the [Mechids] were trying to climb the seabed wall, not to mention the horde of [Infected] trying to swim the waters.


    Emika used her hair, turning each strand into vines as blockades over the coastal and seabed wall. Louis also began manipting the seabed wall he created to push away those trying to climb the wall back into the water below.


    And against the [Mechids] trying to climb the wall, Hannah was the most effective. Hannah''s talent was throwing things, knives, and bombs, for example. Among the members of the Evernight, she had the most ess to Mark''s experimental bombs using the technology stolen from [Mechids]. Now, she was using those experimental explosives, eliminating at least one [Mechid] in every throw.


    BOOOM!


    Another explosion urred in Shinonome, and everyone could see the wave of ck mes. It was when everyone noticed that the [Mechids] that had supposedly invaded Shinonome was somehowgging in their chase, even if some of the soldiers tried to hold them back. It must be because of those explosions and ck mes. There was someone or something fighting the [Mechids] and intercepting their advance.


    ***


    In the sky atop [The Cube], Mark observed what was happening in the surroundings. The struggle in the Defense Line, the movement of the [Infected], the advance of the [Mechids], the ongoing battle in Shinonome, he keenly observed everything.


    One reason was to n the next moves. The other was to ensure the safety of the people under him.


    After all, Mark brought them here to help, not to die.


    And by the looks of it, Mark''s worries were quite unnecessary. As he watched Odelina take themand, it was clear that she was doing this job quite well. It would really make one wonder what kind of family of servants she came from.


    Mark looked at his daughters leading the charge. He could not help but shrug his shoulders a little. Initially, while they had transformation capabilities, both Inaba and Cavall did not have a [Valkyrie Mode]. Only Brynhildr had that function. But the two younger girls requested Mark to give their golems a simr function, and Mark could not reject their request. Unfortunately, he did not have enough time and material to make the function at the same level as Brynhildr, but it was enough to pass for the two children.


    And now, they were using the [Valkyrie Mode] to fight, overpowering the [Infected] and even the proud armors the soldiers of the Defense Forces had.


    Well, those three were intelligent [Abysstech Golems]. Experimental robotic armors had no match for them.


    Mark then turned his eyes to Shinonome. The waves of ck mes continued flying everywhere as the battle theremenced. Of course, Mark knew what those were. It was Mako, using Ignis, as the two fended against the [Mechids] that reached Shinonome. She even managed to save the brave soldiers who tried to sacrifice themselves to bide time for the others'' escape. And now, all of them were fighting together, holding the line against the [Mechids].


    And with the Defense Forces establishing another Defense Line and the ck Lotus joining the interception in Shinonome, Mako should be fine. In any case, Ignis would not let her die there as per Mark''s order.


    BOOM! BOOOM! BOOOOOM!


    Explosions echoed one after another.


    Mark turned his head and saw the Serpent God raining meteor-like fireballs at the Empress. She flew down, evading the attacks, but it caused the gigantic fireballs to cause more devastation to the already ruined surroundings.


    To be able to give out counterattacks consistently, the Serpent God was slowly adapting to the barrage of attacks it was receiving.


    Slowly but surely, the attacksing from the Defense Forces and that high-tech battleship would end up losing their effects against the Serpent God.


    The time they had to deal with this mess was getting shorter by the minute.


    However, Mark could not make his move yet.


    There was a reason Mark had yet to join the fight and why it was only the Empress who was fighting the Serpent God.


    Mark turned his eyes to the side. The Priestess entered his sight.


    After extinguishing the mes caused by Gar''m''s death and making a counterattack against the Serpent God, the Priestess immediately began her next move.


    But, if anyone were to look at her right now, they would only see her standing there silently with her eyes closed.


    Mark and the Empress knew what the Priestess was doing, so none of them wouldin.


    It was Mark''s current task. He needed to protect the Priestess while she did what she was best at.


    The Priestess was trying to create a new barrier. It was a barrier simr to what she created to protect the Reimed City during the [Fusion of Dimensions].


    And as one would expect, the Priestess needed some time to erect such a barrier properly. In fact, the Priestess had a few weeks preparing when she created the previous barrier. But now, the Priestess did not have the luxury to prepare that long. She had no choice but to do her best as much as she could.h


    But why should the Priestess erect the barrier at this moment? Just like the previous one, the Serpent God could also destroy it.


    However, it was still necessary. The barrier was there not only to provide stability to the territory inside it. The Priestess specifically created that barrier to deter the [Infected]. It would not make the [Infected] fear or hate the barrier and leave, but it prevented the [Infected] from detecting humans within the barrier. After all, whether the [Infected] knew or not, they would start lingering around areas where humans frequented.


    The barrier kept the Reimed City from sieges from the [Infected]. And due to the [Mechids] having the same origin, the alien robots were also affected by the deterrence.


    And now that the barrier was gone, everyone could see the effect. While the battle and the Serpent God attracted the hordes of both enemies, the moment the enemies detected the humans, they began charging at them.


    In this situation, the Priestess needed to create a simr barrier. However, since only Ariake and the southern areas had to be protected, it did not have to be asrge as the previous one. Nheless, she also had to make it stronger. It needed to be strong enough to block the ongoing siege from the [Infected] and the [Mechids].


    Mark stared at the Priestess. Since he had [Miasma], he was more sensitive to magical energy than everyone here. And right now, he could feel the strong magical fluctuations gathering around the Priestess. But different from others where their magical energy would cause disturbance to their surroundings, the Priestess'' magical energy was calm without ripples.


    It was gathering steadily, but barely anyone would be able to feel its intensity.


    The Priestess was not the Priestess for nothing.


    BANG! BANG!


    If there was any disturbance around Mark, it was actually Mei''s gunshots.


    They were floating in the sky, up where everyone could see. It was to no surprise that some [Infected] would try to attack them. And that was the task they gave Mei.


    On the other hand, that attack that killed the [Siren of Death] was not Mei''s task but something Mark ordered on a whim. After all, leaving themander of the [Infected] alive too long would not be a good idea. While the [Siren of Death''s] death caused some annoying stuff, it was better than letting it do things who knew it could possibly do.


    At this time, the magical energy around the Priestess began to intensify. And as it reached its peak, the Priestess opened her eyes.


    "I''m starting!"


    The Priestess bellowed, telling Mark, Amihan, and Mei to be ready to protect her.


    With the cue, the three readied to intercept anything that could possibly interrupt the Priesstess at this crucial time. It was not only the [Infected] or the [Mechids]. They were also ready to jump forward if the Serpent God''s attention shifted away from the Empress.


    The Priestess began chanting. Her voice echoed in everyone''s ears. But no matter how clear her voice could be heard, no one could understand what she was saying.


    Akin to a voice from the heavens, the Priestess'' words echoed like a revtion to mankind.


    And at the sky above her, light began to gather. The strands of light from the heaves danced, weaving an image brighter than sunlight.


    Just as expected, the Serpent God''s attention shifted away from the Empress. The Serpent God looked at the sky. It could not feel any threat from the lights in the sky. However, as it stupidly stared at the lights far brighter than the blinding sun, its eyes felt hurt.


    Feeling the pain in its eyes, it tried to retaliate.


    It opened its mouth. It was the head capable of breathing mes.


    This situation could be dangerous. Among all the attacks the Serpent God had shown so far, the only things that could heavily disrupt the Priestess would be Darkness, Lightning, and Fire.


    Amihan might be able to use her attacks to block the fire breath. However, it would not be a reliable countermeasure. It was the same for the Empress and her golden mes.


    In the end, the best way to avoid the disruption was to prevent the attack from happening.


    The Priestess turned to Mark, about to ask him to do something.


    However, she saw no Mark nearby. Mei and Amihan were still there, but the leader had totally vanished.


    But then, the Priestess felt a violent gust of wind from above. She tried raising her head, but all she saw was a red trail of light which suddenly fell from the sky.


    And then, with a bright red trail of light and a loud BAM, Mark crashed like a meteor onto the Serpent God''s fire-breathing head''s snout, forcing its mouth shut and even causing the Serpent God to almost fall from the sky.

 Chapter 1047 Against A Godly Beast, Marks Turn To Fight The Incarnation Of The Yamata-No-Orochi

    ?


    Day 341 - 1:29 PM - Toyosu Air Space, Toyosu, Reimed City, Ruins of Tokyo


    The magic circle in the sky shone brightly. It was too bright to the point that the surroundings felt darker. But as that light intensified, so did the morale of the people of the Reimed City. They were all familiar with that light. It was the very same light that protected the Reimed City during the catastrophe that changed Earth entirely.


    With that magic circle in the sky, the Defense Forces fought fiercer against the enemies. While the barrier that this light would form would not stop the iing horde, it would deter further enemies from following the current enemies'' steps. Once that barrier stabilized, the only thing left was to kill the enemies present.


    Of course, it included the giant eight-headed serpent in the sky.


    And right now, that serpent received an attack it did not expect as it tried to interfere with the barrier the Priestess was attempting to erect.


    Akin to a red meteor falling from the sky, Mark crashed onto the Serpent God''s Fire-Breathing head.


    The impact of the crash was strong, to the point that everyone sensed the air shaking even from afar. The witnesses even saw the Serpent God momentarily losing its bnce mid-flight.


    ROOOAR!!!


    The Serpent God immediately stabilized its body in the sky. Using its other heads, it tried to chomp onto the enemy that crashed on one of its heads.


    Unfortunately for the Serpent God, another artillery barrage of the Defense Forces came at this moment. Its body and eight heads rattled unstably by the explosions and failed to enact revenge on the attacker. And then, as it stared at the attacker as he jumped off, it was met with golden mes from the giant fox swiftly jumping around in the air.


    ROOOOOARRRR!!!


    Besieged by attacks from three sides, the Serpent God roared in rage. It was not able to give out a proper counterattack because of all the attacks it continuously received. The Serpent God was angry. It was a powerful being. However, pests who could not ept their fate to get eaten and die continuously hindered its path.


    The Serpent God struggled. Anger began filling its roars. As it tried to find a way to attack its enemies, it noticed the metal vessel below, its weapons lighting up, ready to unleash another of those lightning explosions.


    But then, the Serpent God''s eyes fell on a certain individual. Not the Demon in front of it, not the giant fox, and definitely not the white-dressed human. Its eyes focused on the smallest creature on the battlefield. It focused on a [Sylph].


    The Serpent God then gave out another roar while it protected one of its heads from the iing attacks. Explosions continued as the artillery and the golden mes hit its body. But as the metal vessel on the water shot its pair of lightning explosives, the protected head of the Serpent God roared fiercely.


    And the next thing everyone felt was the storm-like gust of wind enveloping the surroundings.


    ***


    The artillery barrage continued, and the special shells from the Warship Susanoo were unleashed. These attacks exploded in the sky like before. But everyone noticed immediately. The explosion did not ur on the Serpent God''s body.


    Those explosions happened in front of it.


    ROOOOAR!


    A gloating roar echoed in everyone''s ears. It was just a simple roar like before, but everyone could feel the emotions it carried.


    And in front of the Serpent God, there was a wall made of spiraling wind. The very same kind of wind wall that Amihan used to counter the Serpent God''s attacks.


    ***


    "Well, this isn''t good."


    Mark murmured as he saw what the Serpent God did.


    The Serpent God was learning. It might be just a beastly incarnation of the true Yamata-no-Orochi, but it was still of a Godly origin. Compared to the usual beasts, it was as intelligent as a human. It might havecked knowledge andmon sense as it had only woken up, but it did not mean it could not learn in the middle of the battle.


    And the Serpent God learned a very valuable thing. It was to use its elements to make a wall to protect itself.


    Allowing the Serpent God to grow mentally was not something anyone would want at this moment.


    As such, while the Priestess was in the middle of her work, Mark should not just draw the Serpent God''s attention. He should also attempt to defeat it whether he could or not.


    Mark briefly closed his eyes under his helmet and took a deep breath. When he opened them again, purplish light shone in both his eyes. This glow indicated that Mark decided to rely more on his [Future Sight] than his [Empath] abilities in this situation. Because in this situation, there was no way Mark''s [Emotion Induction] could do anything against a Godly Beast''s instincts.


    With a few movements of his new sword, a few slides and clicks, the sword changed its appearance. It was first a pair of swords, whichbined into a greatsword. Now, it became a double-edged sword with a strange gap in the middle that ran from the tip to the middle section of the de.


    And as Mark gave it a final swing, the gap suddenly became filled with chains made of electricity. It was as if there was a strong electric field within the gap of the sword. And the electric field was not all, as the des became engulfed in ominous ck mes.


    Mark''s entire body glowed red. He activated the full potential of his [Blood Enhancement] while in his Demon Form.


    And with a single p of Mark''s wings, a sonic boom echoed behind him.


    As swift as a fighter jet at full speed, Mark suddenly appeared in front of the Serpent God''s head that manipted wind. He swung his sword right at its forehead. Mark shed his sword downwards with all his might.


    BOOOM!


    The sword and the Serpent God''s Wind Attribute head shed, resulting in a massive explosion of magical energy.


    That sh shook the sky, blowing away what remained of the clouds above. It was a powerful sh that even overshadowed the artillery barrage from the Defense Forces.


    The Serpent God''s Wind Attribute Head shook violently at the sh. The wind wall it created waned in might. Another barrage of artillery attacks would surely make it copse.


    Unfortunately, the Serpent God did not only have one head. The head Mark attacked might have been stopped momentarily, but the other heads were clearly unaffected. And the other heads were angry as they faced Mark, unleashing seven attacks of different attributes.


    Mark immediately lifted his sword and kicked the head in front of him to elerate his movements. Just in time, he evaded a wall of mes as the Fire Attribute head spewed fire at him.


    The next came the stone spikes conjured by the Earth Attribute head. Each stone spike was the size of a bus, numbered around thirty, and all those spikes shot at Mark without mercy.


    Mark flew swiftly, leaving a trail of red light as he evaded the spikes. And as he did so, he did it with a smile while positioning himself mid-air with an intention in mind.


    CRASH!


    The stone spikes missed Mark and crashed to the ground. And each of those spikes killed at least a dozen [Infected] at the western side of the river.


    Following the stone spikes, the Serpent God''s Lightning Attribute head opened its mouth and fired a lightning bolt. Who would know how strong that attack was? It was simr to a lightning strike during a thunderstorm, which was a few thousand volts strong.


    At the same time, the Water Attribute head bellowed, making a pir of water from the river shot at Mark from below.


    The Light Attribute head opened its mouth and shot a beam from above.


    To the left, the Dark Attribute head released a dark smog-like veil.


    And to the right, the Poison Attribute head spewed out a greenish cloud of poison.


    Due to the difference in attributes, while the heads released those attacks at the same moment, the speed of the attacks heavily varied.


    The light beam and the lightning bolt came almost immediately. However, Mark was unfazed as he faced these two attacks. These attacks might be fast. However, their trajectories could not be changed easily.


    Mark shifted his body with the strong p of his wings. The beam of light missed its target with that move. And that very same beam of light melted through quite a number of [Infected] on the ground.


    The lightning bolt was trickier as it would follow a path leading to a conductor. And Mark was wearing armor, which would likely attract it. But at the same time, that was the weakness of this attack. As Mark took out a sword and threw it at the lightning bolt, its trajectory shifted away. The lightning bolt still disintegrated the sword. Nheless, it missed its original target before it fell to the ground, eliminating an unlucky group of [Mutated Infected].


    Finally, the pir of water came, trying to drown Mark in the sky. However, while the pir of water was fast, it was still slower than Mark, who evaded it swiftly.


    And finally, the two cloud-like attacks, which should have been a deadly pair for mortals.


    To counter these attacks, Mark waved his sword. The ck mes vanished and were reced by bright magma-like mes.


    And Mark swung his sword, releasing the magma-like mes into des that shot at the dark smog and poison cloud.


    Both attacks disintegrated. Those might be deadly attacks, but the mes from a me Deity were more than enough to counter them.


    The Serpent God was dumbfounded.


    Mark flew unscathed despite the barrage of attacks the Serpent God released.


    The Serpent God was huge, and Mark was just like a fly to it.


    But as mortals knew, it was not easy to kill a fly, even if one had an assault rifle in their hands.


    And the worst part, Mark used the Serpent God''s attacks to reduce the horde of [Infected] below.


    Mark was hitting two- no, dozens of [Infected] with a few stones.


    And seeing his work, Mark felt a little bit confident to fight the Serpent God. He raised his head at the enemy flying higher than him. He then got into posture and pped his wings, leaving a sonic boom behind.


    Seeing its enemy on the move again, the Serpent God opened its mouths. It was ready to intercept. However, Mark''s presence suddenly vanished, and what followed suit was the disappearance of his figure.


    It was a strange feeling.


    One vanishing from sight before hiding their presence was one thing. However, Mark''s presence disappeared first before he entered stealth. It was quite a baffling sight to everyone who would witness it.


    The Serpent God frantically looked around. But what it saw was the iing barrage of Golden mes from the Empress.


    Receiving another barrage of attacks, the Serpent God was in pain despite remaining unscathed. Several of its heads faced the Empress while the rest continued to be on guard against the missing Mark.


    However, the Serpent God would not expect Mark to have only one target at this moment.


    Among the eight heads, only one showed the adaptability and capability to learn.


    It was the Wind Attribute head of the Serpent God, which continued to maintain the wind wall to block the attacks from the Defense Forces.


    But even if Mark tried to attack it, the Serpent God would not sustain any damage. Its scales were strong enough to ignore the Empress'' golden mes and even survive the explosion of Gar''m.


    That was if Mark did not have a n.


    And as Mark''s figure appeared, he was already charging forward a certain point.


    GHSK!


    The sound of flesh being prated entered Mark''s ears as he drove the entire one-and-a-half meter de of his sword into the right eye of the Serpent God''s Wind Attribute head.


    ROOOOOOARRRR!!!!


    The Serpent God roared loudly. It was far different from the previous ones, as it was a roar filled with extreme pain.


    And akin to an earthworm poured with salt, the Serpent God began flying erratically in the sky. It was especially wilder with the Wind Attribute head as it tried to shake Mark and his sword off from its right eye.


    But Mark was not letting go even if he felt like he was a piece of wood swirling inside an F5 tornado.


    It was because Mark was not done yet.


    Mark emptied the [Fire Maniption Crystal] with all of its remaining energy. And then, with a full burst of mes, released inside the Serpent God''s eye.


    BOOOOM!!!


    Gar''m''s mes exploded from within the Wind Attribute head''s eye socket. It caused the Serpent God to roar even louder. It was so loud that everyone in the Reimed City had to cover their ears in pain.


    And as a final retaliation, the Wind Attribute head opened its mouth. Not to release another attack from it but to make the air around its body explode outward.


    That outburst caused everything nearby to be crushed by the force. The Empress was also thrown away. And if Amihan was not protecting The Cube, it might have been thrown off from the sky.


    And the worst part, it threw Mark off the Wind Attribute head''s right eye, flinging him off like a missile out of control, crashing at one of the above-ground shelters in Ariake.

 Chapter 1048 Changes In A Minute, Waking Up Under The Collapsed Rubble

    ?


    Day 341 - 1:31 PM - Copsed Shelter Storage, Ariake, Reimed City, Ruins of Tokyo


    Mark opened his eyes, groaning in excruciating pain. Barely able to hold his head because of the tightened feeling surrounding him, he looked around. He could almost not see anything nor move a muscle. And the mixed smell of concrete and metal wafted into his nose.


    Realizing Mark had no idea where he was right now, he concluded something.


    "Did I pass out?"


    Mark asked in his mind, or maybe he said it out loud. He also realized he could barely hear anything at all.


    And the answer to his question came almost immediately.


    "You lost consciousness for about a minute."


    Magwayen''s voice echoed in his mind.


    Mark felt a little surprised. It was extremely rare for him to suddenly fall unconscious. This should be the third time in his entire life. The first time was when he became a [Mutator], and the second time was his first fight against Shin''s group. And that second one would not really count, considering it was an intended effect of the song of the [Siren] sisters.


    But then again, his surprise was unnecessary. What they were currently fighting was an incarnation of a powerful God. It would even be more of a surprise if something unexpected did not happen.


    "What you did ismendably brave. But it is risky. If you are at least half weaker than you are now, you could have died, torn to shreds. That armor of yours also helped a lot, or you would not end up with just a minute of unconsciousness." Magwayen shared her opinion of Mark''s risky actions. "But despite the risks, I cannot deny its effectivity. You attacked its eyes, a possible weakness. Furthermore, you burned it using the mes of that me Demon. Even if this snake''s body has absurd recovery, regenerating a body part burned by a Deity''s mes would be impossible to recover from immediately."


    "For the duration of this fight, you took one of the enemy''s sixteen eyes. You have fifteen more to go."


    Magwayen continued, making Mark''s eyebrows twitch. He could not tell whether she was encouraging him or was being sarcastic.


    But then again, Maywayen said something good. Mark managed to seed in blinding one of the Serpent God''s eyes. A feat that no mortal should be capable of, considering even the bombardment it was receiving aimed at its heads could not even damage its eyes.


    Mark took a deep breath. It felt painful, but he could tell his body was already healing with his absurd regenerative capabilities. And the question came into his mind.


    "Where am I anyway?"


    Mark tried moving his body. However, it felt as if something heavy was pressing on him, stopping him from moving.


    "You are under a copsed building. You crashed into it and got buried in its debris."


    Magwayen answered.


    "I see," Mark squinted his eyes. "I can''t really tell. I can barely see, and I can''t hear anything. Oh, I can''t seem to move my body either."


    "Not surprising," Magwayen replied. "You received the brunt of that snake''s retaliation. Your eyes and ears might have been damaged. And your body is currently stuck under a copsed structure. No wonder you are not answering your wife. She had been calling you repeatedly from yourmunicator."


    "She is?" Mark sighed. "She must be really worried. But I don''t know if I can answer properly. I can''t even tell if I''m speaking out loud or just inside my head."


    Mark really wanted to reply to Mei now that he knew she was worried. However, he could not tell anything in his current situation. It was as if he was covered in eternal darkness. No sound, no sight, only the smell of metal and concrete.


    The feeling of being stuck was also stuffy.


    And as Mark closed his eyes, he could only rely on his [Empath] abilities to attempt to monitor his surroundings.


    Then, Mark was surprised.


    Mark was currently surrounded by people. Just a few meters away from him. Not just the side but also above. Most of them were unfamiliar to him, but somehow, all of them were worriedly searching for him under the debris.


    As Mark monitored the emotions of the unfamiliar people, he could not help but feel weird.


    The people outside were not looking for him because it was their duty. And not because Mark''s death would mean fewer chances of survival for them, either.


    Instead, they were looking for Mark because they wanted to. They wanted to help. They did not want the brave person who fought the monster in the sky to die just like this.


    These strangers were genuinely worried about Mark''s safety.


    It was something that Mark never expected to receive from strangers.


    That was why he could not help but feel weird.


    Was this how it felt like to be valued by the people? Mark was clearly valued by the people around him, the new family he created, and the people of the Mountain Base. However, it was different this time. These people were strangers. Yet, they were frantically trying to search for him under the debris.


    Feeling a stinging pain in his eyes as dust entered it, Mark could only close it by reflex. It did not matter whether it was open or closed anyway since he could not see anything in the dark and the damage it received.


    But all of a sudden, a serene feeling overcame Mark''s entirety. He felt calm and rxed as darkness embraced him.


    And all of a sudden...


    "You''ve witnessed the power of beings beyond mortals. Don''t you feel envious?"


    A voice echoed inside Mark''s mind. It was not Magwayen, but Mark felt the voice was familiar.


    It was a voice Mark heard several times before. It was a voice that joined his dangerous battles in the past.


    No, Mark realized. It was a voice that had been with him since he was born. It was a voiceing from beyond his recognition but had always been with him.


    It was just that Mark never had the chance to hear this voice clearly until now.


    The voice avoided the detection of the [Eyes] and other godly beings, the voice that stemmed from Mark''s bloodline.


    And as the question entered his mind, Mark gave a smile.


    "Why should I be envious? Those powers aren''t mine. They acquired those powers through their own means and grabbing chances, which had nothing to do with me. They only had time longer than me. But now, I''m pretty sure I''m in the same starting point as them. And time is not something I''mcking. I have plenty more of it now. So, I don''t need anyone''s help. I''ll grasp the same strength on my own."


    After Mark gave his answer, there was a long silence. Did Mark hallucinate the voice and the question? But before he thought so, the voice came once again.


    "So be it. But we will be waiting to see what you will show us."


    And there, the voice vanished, and the serene feeling Mark had disappeared.


    "Are you fine?" Magwayen''s voice echoed inside his mind once again. "You seemed to lose consciousness once again. You might have received injuries far graver than we expected."


    "You didn''t hear it?"


    Mark probed.


    "What should I hear? You just fell silent."


    Magwayen replied, clearly had not heard the voice just now.


    "No, nothing," Mark slightly nodded, realizing that the voice was no one else but for him to perceive. "Anyway, I''m fine. It''s still dark, but I can see my surroundings now. I can also hear the noises outside. And I can move now, too."


    "As expected, you''re an absurd mortal," Magwayen scoffed. "It might just be an incarnation, but to heal too fast from injuries received from a Beastly God, your healing capabilities are already beyond mortal."


    Magwayen might have thought that way, but Mark had a different thought. What happened to him might not be because of the injuries he received but because he was under the influence of something.


    "Anyway, there''s no point in staying here now that I can see my surroundings."


    Mark said as he tried to leave using [Shadow Mist Movement].


    But then, Magwayen spoke.


    "Before leaving, grab that thing in your right hand and leave with it. Then give it to that white-robed woman protecting this human settlement."


    Mark was a little confused. But as he closed his right hand, he felt grabbing a tube-like thing.


    "What is this?"


    Mark asked in confusion.


    "I don''t know either. It''s not a request from me but someone else. Just do what I said."


    Magwayen answered, which made Mark want toin. But now was not the time for that.


    After grabbing the item, Mark''s body turned into a ball of mist that surged out of the tiniest gaps within the pile of concrete debris.


    ***


    "Remove thatrge one! Be careful not to make the ones below crumble!"


    Such shouts could be heard as the people tried to remove the pile of debris from the location where Mark had fallen.


    "Ka! Cut that bent metal there! I''ll hold the concrete steady!"


    It was not only unfamiliar people. Karlene and Ka were also present since they were the closest to the location of the crash. There were also the members Mark brought here. However, since it would be dangerous for everyone to just try and dig through the debris, only a few of them were around.


    The most important was Mei, who could urately pinpoint where Mark was under the debris.


    With the abilities of Karlene and Ka, they could swiftly cut pieces of concrete and metal to be moved away. They should be able to dig through the copsed building in no time.


    But then...


    "Wait!"


    Mei shouted, making Karlene and Ka pause, followed by those people who could not understand what she had just said.


    To everyone''s surprise, a surge of ck mist seeped out of the debris. The unknowing on-lookers immediately retreated. After all, the [Miasmic Residues] also came about in the same manner.


    But Mei did the opposite.


    As the mist showed a humanoid form and someone''s figure emerged, Mei already had the person in her worried embrace.


    "Gege!"


    Mei cried out. Her helmet was off, so everyone could see her teary eyes as her hair fluttered due to the surging wind.


    "Sorry to worry you. I was out for a bit."


    Mark apologized as he tried to caress Mei''s head, only to stop his hand midway.


    It was because Mark saw that his gauntlet, no, his entire armor was actually mangled to shreds and barely hanging onto his body.


    "Papa!"


    The three daughters also arrived, and the two youngest joined their adoptive mother to show their worry. Amihan also followed suit,nding on his shoulder.


    Everyone was here, even the Priestess and the Empress. He could also feel Chimetrice and Ilia inside The Cube, now floating above Ariake.


    But then, the question came.


    Why was everyone here? Even if he got knocked out, there was no reason for everyone to stop fighting.


    WHOOOSH!


    Mark squinted his eyes as he noticed the surging wind. And as he raised his head, he realized what was going on.


    The remaining areas of the Reimed City barely stood due to the barrier the Priestess sessfully erected. But everything outside the barrier was now turned intoplete ruins.


    Even the bridge the soldiers tried hard not to destroy was now nothing but barely standing foundations.


    Furthermore, no [Infected] nor [Mechids] were in sight outside the barrier. They had all been obliterated, if not blown over somewhere else.


    And the culprit was there in the sky.


    It flew around aggressively, not attacking the Reimed City but aimlessly iling around its whole body. It was hurt, that was without a doubt.


    But aside from receiving a grave injury, it seemed that Mark''s suicidal attack caused it to be berserk. And now, it was releasing massive amounts of magical energy, creating a destructive, magical storm outside the barrier.


    And if not for the Priestess'' barrier, everyone and everything inside would have been swept away by the tsunami-like torrents of magical energy outside.

 Chapter 1049 Inside The Barrier, Interactions Before The Final Battle Of Ariake

    ?


    Day 341 - 1:32 PM - Final Defense Line, Ariake, Reimed City, Ruins of Tokyo


    Everyone could only stare at the sky, enduring the deafening roars while watching the tyrannical storm.


    The wind blew strongly, the waters waved violently, and the ground shook from time to time. All of these were effects of the Serpent God''s rampage in the sky.


    There was no doubt that the Serpent God had gone berserk. However, this fury of the Serpent God had no recipient. It flew around in the sky, struggling with something. It moved violently but unstably at the same time. Sometimes, it would fly straight up to the sky. Another time, it would crash onto the ground.


    "AHHHH!!!"


    Some people screamed in fright as the Serpent God flew too close, and one of its tails hit the barrier. While the tail was unable to damage the barrier too much, the collision caused a shockwave, which pushed some people to the ground.


    The Serpent God then flew away, circling unstably before crashing down to the ruins of Tsukuda.


    As the Serpent God flew away, the people who fell stood up, thankful to the barrier. If not for this barrier, all of them would have died already.


    It was the barrier created by the Priestess at thest moment. It was what kept them alive now. And it was their only lifeline left.


    Mark looked at the rampaging Serpent God. When it passed by just now, Mark felt its emotions. And surprisingly, there was nothing in its eight minds but pain. It was all because of unbearable pain.


    That discovery left a small smirk at the corner of Mark''s mouth. The situation might have gone to a dangerous turn, but it also meant that his risky move was not for naught.


    And considering Mark was also a victim of a simr incident during his first encounter with Sinogo, he had an idea of what was going on.


    Using the [Fire Maniption Mental Crystal], which contained Gar''m''s original power, Mark burned and destroyed one of the Serpent God''s eyes with the Demon Diety''s mes. Burs were the worst injury for beings with stupidly high regeneration rates, especially ones that left charred remains in their system. Not only would it hinder the healing, but it could cause other unsightly aftereffects.


    For example, the situation the Serpent God was currently in.


    After Mark used Gar''m''s mes to burn its eyeball from the inside, possibly also burning other things inside its head, it would surely leave charred tissues and residues. As the Serpent God''s healing abilities kicked in, it was unable to remove those charred residues, causing the residues to get stuck within its body.


    The Serpent God''s regenerating eyeball must have felt like there were stones and sticks lodged inside it. It was definitely a painful feeling.


    But what probably made it worse and caused the Serpent God to be berserk was the fact that it had eight heads.


    To living creatures, magical or not, the brain was the organ that would perceive pain. But to have multiple heads and multiple brains. It meant the creature would perceive a single instance of pain multiple times.


    The Serpent God had eight heads. It meant that it would perceive a single source of pain eight times. This situation could be the likely reason why it reacted exaggeratedly to pain, even at attacks that could not even injure its scales.


    And for Mark, he made the Serpent God feel the sensation of burning eyeballs on each head, causing its current berserk state.


    While Mark was keeping his attention to the situation outside the barrier, the Priestess and the Empress approached with their entourage.


    "It is good you are okay," The Priestess spoke. "Everyone got worried when you got sent flying more than a kilometer away before getting buried under an entire building-"


    The Priestess'' words abruptly stopped as her eyes fell on the item Mark held in his right hand.


    "What''s wrong with you?"


    Mark asked.


    "That."


    The Priestess pointed at what Mark was holding.


    And Mark''s eyes fell on the item he held for the first time. He could not see it under the debris and only knew he was holding onto something like a pipe.


    But what Mark did not expect was the item was actually a one-and-a-half meter long golden staff. On the tip of it was a golden ornament resembling a sphere with several rays around it affixed with several rings around it. Furthermore, it had a gorgeous appearance, as if it were a treasure beyond this world.


    "A [Divine Artifact]!" The Empress chimed in while in shock. "Why would you suddenly have something out of this world in your hand!"


    The Empress was pretty agitated. [Divine Artifacts] were items of the Gods of the Lost Era. It was far different from regr [Magical Artifacts] as these items contained the breath of the Gods that created them.


    Without a doubt, the golden staff in Mark''s hand was clearly exuding an aura far beyond a Deity like the Empress.


    But how would something like this appear in Mark''s hand? The Empress'' surprise had a reason. It was because [Divine Artifacts] all disappeared when the Lost Era concluded.


    As for Mark, he just nced at the staff.


    And then, he threw it to the Priestess.


    "WAH!" The Priestess was surprised as she frantically caught the staff. "What are you doing!"


    The Priestess also seemed to know the value of the staff, which was a [Divine Artifact]. She immediately examined the staff. She was trying to confirm if she caught it properly and did not scratch it.


    But Mark''s words the Empress and the Priestess even more.


    "That''s yours," Mark said to the Priestess, which made her froze. "Someone asked me to give it to you."


    "Who?"


    The Priestess asked.


    "Sorry, but I can''t answer that." Mark shrugged the question off. "Anyway, why don''t you channel your magical energy into that? That might answer your question."


    The Priestess still could not believe what was going on. All of a sudden, Mark just gave him a [Divine Artifact] out of nowhere. The shock she felt overwhelmed her far more than the danger before them caused by the Serpent God.


    Even so, the Priestess injected her magical energy into the staff.


    The next thing was that everyone around had to close their eyes as the Priestess became enveloped in blinding light.


    "What is happening here?!"


    The Prime Minister asked as he arrived. While covering his eyes from the blinding light and surrounded by guards, they made their way towards where the main forces gathered.


    When the blinding light dimmed down, everyone looked in front of them in shock. Not only them, but the Priestess was also beyond bewilderment as she looked at her body.


    The Priestess was wearing different clothing than before. Her usual white robes with golden ornaments were gaudy. Compared to the usual one, her current clothing looked simpler in design. However, its materials looked otherworldly, as if she was wearing a material woven from divine energy. Furthermore, there was a golden crown on her head, which seemed to resemble the sun. The center of her forehead also had a new marking, a golden sun.


    But those features were not the most eye-catching. It was the floating shawl behind the Priestess, with ends circled around both her arms.


    "No way... Not only a [Divine Artifact] but also a set of [Divine Vestments]."


    The Empress muttered in shock with a little hint of envy. She then looked at Mark, seeking answers.


    "These items... They are resonating with my blessing," The Priestess muttered. "This staff... It is for me and no one else."


    The Priestess then turned to Mark.


    "With this, I''ll be able to protect everyone. I don''t know how you got this, but thank you."


    Mark just shrugged it. After all, it was his task to give it to the Priestess. It was not from him at all. But then again, Mark had his suspicions. Magwayen might be the one who asked him to give it to the Priestess, but it definitely did note from Magwayen. Considering the shock of the Priestess and the Empress, it was impossible for such a divine item to be lying around in some random building for him to find.


    Furthermore, the building that Mark crashed into was the food storage. One more reason not to find a divine item there.


    Even so, Mark did not bother to try and ask Magwayen. It was clear she would not just answer.


    In any case, they got one new card they could use in this fight. It was, without a doubt, a good thing.


    "Priestess."


    The Prime Minister stepped forward.


    "You''re here," The Priestess turned around. "You won''t stay inside your safe ce anymore?"


    The Priestess seemed to hold some contempt for the Prime Minister. It was not surprising, however. Part of the responsibilities in this messy on the Prime Minister.


    With the clear contempt pointed his way, the Prime Minister could only sigh and ept it.


    "I''ll personally takemand of the soldiers," The Prime Minister replied. "There''s no point in hiding anymore. If we fail here, it will be the end. And I want to see that end."


    That was right. It was the very final stretch. Worse, the rampage caused the Warship Susannoo to the west side of Ariake. It was not out ofmission, but it sure sustained damages.


    "Then, do your best."


    The Priestess said as she turned to look at the rampaging Serpent God.


    On the other hand, Mark took a seat nearby to remove his armor. Due to his crash, the armor was mostly in shambles. Even his helmet lost half of its front. That was why dust managed to enter his eyes while he was under the debris.


    As Mark looked at his mangled armor, he could only sigh. He had a recement, but the extra he had were the prototypes that had less function and effectiveness.


    Mark looked at the Serpent God. He doubted the prototype armor would do any good to fight that beast.


    But at this time, Mark felt a tug on his clothes to his left side.


    Mark looked and saw a group of children, possibly from the shelter he crashed into. Three boys and two girls. Their ages seemed to be around seven to ten. They all took a brave stance to approach the frontline and tug on Mark''s clothes.


    "Do you kids need something?"


    Mark asked, looking favorably at the five brave children.


    "Mina," The boy that tugged on Mark''s clothes spoke. "Mina said Uncle is a good person. So please, keep this."


    Mark was confused. The name Mina did not ring a bell at all. But his heart suddenly went heavy as he saw what the boy put in his hand.


    It was a red sash with the size to tie a child''s kimono.


    But if other people would see it as such, Mark knew differently. The sash was something familiar.


    It was the sash of the [Zashiki-Warashi] who asked for food every now and then.


    Mina seemed to be the name of that [Zashiki-Warashi].


    "Where is Mina?"


    Mark asked, which actually caused the children to tear up.


    The sniffles of the children caused the people in the surroundings to look at them and Mark.


    Mark sighed, knowing the answer.


    "Mina. She protected us when those ck creatures appeared in the shelter. She let us run away," The boy said. "I tried toe back to find her but only found this."


    "We knew uncle is one that gave Mina food she always shared with us," The older girl of the group spoke. "That is why we wanted Uncle to take this sash. It''s because Mina was very thankful to Uncle. But she never managed to say it."


    Mark let out a bitter smile as he epted the sash. So, that uninvited guest of theirs was already gone. And she also went bravely, just as brave as these children.


    Normally, [Spirits] would thoroughly vanish when they died. But of the sash to remain, it seemed that Mina also wanted to leave a mark of her existence behind.


    And now, that sash fell on Mark''s hands as a symbol of her gratitude.


    At the side, Mei and the girls also noticed the familiarity of the sash. Unfortunately, only Emika and Spera understood what the children were saying, and the two felt heavy-hearted.


    As Mark grasped the sash to say thank you to the children, the boy asked him first.


    "Uncle. Are we going to die here?"


    The boy asked the question while looking at the Serpent God outside the barrier.


    Mark then patted the boy''s head.


    "You all won''t die here. We will defeat that monster, after all."


    "We want to fight too!"


    The youngest boy of the five said.


    "You kids are still small, so you can''t."


    Mark replied.


    "But them."


    The youngest boy looked at Mark''s daughters.


    "They are special, you see? They are my daughters, and their father is strong."


    "Wish my father is strong too."


    The younger girl said.


    "Where are your parents?"


    Emika chimed in and asked something she should not have.


    "We don''t have parents. The zombies killed them."


    As the oldest boy answered, Emika could only shut her meddling mouth.


    "Anyway," Mark changed the topic. "You kids don''t have to fight. If you want to help, why not cheer or sing a song for us?"


    "Sing? Do you all know how to sing?" The third boy muttered and asked the other four kids. "All I know are Kamen Rider songs."


    And as Mark heard the boy, his eyes lit up.


    "Why not a Kamen Rider song then? If not possible, an anime song will do too."


    Mark asked. Clearly, he was just requesting stuff from the children.


    But hearing that a Kamen Rider song would do, the third boy happily agreed and began singing.


    Everyone around listened to it.


    It was not the best, and it was just the short TV version of the song. But it was more than enough to encourage everyone around to continue fighting.


    "Good job." Mark patted the boy''s head. "Then, let me show you something."


    Mark then stood up.


    "Uncle? What are you doing?"


    Emika asked.


    "Just having some fun? And I''m going to change my armor anyway."


    As Mark finished talking, Mark began showing the kids a few arm and leg movements. The adults around watched in interest on what Mark was about to show the kids.


    And then, Mark shouted.


    "HENSHIN!"


    And then, his body was covered in ck mist, to the children''s and the audience''s surprise.


    When the mist exploded to nothingness, what came out was a fully armored Mark.


    The children were appalled and amazed, staring at Mark with wide eyes.


    What Mark did just now was usually an embarrassing action. But seeing the reaction of the children and the civilians watching as Mark lifted their spirits up, his act was nothing embarrassing at all.


    In fact, Mark''s interaction with the children raised the moral of the audience.


    It was not the time to lose hope yet.


    After all, they still had heroes fighting with them.

 Chapter 1050 A Hint, Turning Danger Into An Opportunity

    ?


    Day 341 - 1:35 PM - Frontlines, Ariake, Reimed City, Ruins of Tokyo


    The interactions between Mark and the children gave a lighter atmosphere for everyone around to raise their morale. Unfortunately, it got cut quite short.


    ROAR!


    The roar louder than before entered their ears. It was the rampaging Serpent God getting too close to the barrier again.


    Everyone flinched as they saw the gigantic body of the Serpent God closing in like a road-roller''s steel drum. And it was not just a small steel drum but a size of arge building. Imagine a small group of mice in front of the steel drum to scale.


    Even with the barrier the Priestess erected present, everyone could not help but feel scared.


    BAM!


    The gigantic body of the Serpent God violently crashed against the barrier. Fortunately, the barrier stood strong. Despite the impact and weight of the Serpent God, it could not destroy the barrier easily.


    The unfortunate thing was that despite the barrier withstanding the impact, it still gave aftereffects.


    "Brace yourselves!"


    The Temple Priest, Akio, shouted to everyone near the point of impact.


    One of the aftereffects was the shockwave created after each impact. Although the barrier could block attacks from outside, especially magical attacks, the shockwave created by the impact within the barrier was different. The barrier had no way of blocking something created from within.


    The soldiers tried their best to keep standing on their posts, but many still fell to the ground. It was worse for the [Ability Holders] as many of them could not resist the shockwave and sustained some injuries.


    On the other hand, those who were there right in front of where the Serpent God collided with the barrier stood safely. It was because the three people who fought face-to-face with the Serpent God would not let their members be victims of the shockwave. And in turn, those around unaffiliated with the three got caught inside their protection.


    Mark, for example, did not only stand in front of his family and members but also protected the five brave children behind him.


    And just like before, after causing a little bit of chaos, the Serpent God erratically flew away before crashing into the already ttened area of Toyosu.


    By the looks of it, the Serpent God would not calm down anytime soon. Or probably, it would not for a long time until its eye could heal without hindrance.


    And the possibility of that was highly unlikely. The only way it would be able to heal its eyes was to take it out and let a new one regenerate. Unfortunately, even if the current Serpent God was a fragment of the Legendary Yamato-no-Orochi, it had nothing but beastly instincts. The level of intelligence that the Serpent God had was not enough for its mind to consider something not meant to happen with its biological nature.


    After seeing the Serpent God continue its rampage somewhere else, Mark lowered his guard a bit. It was time to n how to end this chaos.


    But first, Mark turned behind him.


    "You kids okay?"


    Mark asked the five children.


    "We," The oldest boy looked at his friends. "We''re okay."


    Like the boy said, they seemed fine. Well, they were a little shaken up, but that was it.


    "Good," Mark patted the boy''s head. "You kids should go back inside the shelter. Mina will be sad if you kids get hurt here."


    Hearing what Mark said, the kids nodded and left. The nearby shelter might be full of people, but it was safer there than outside.


    "I didn''t expect you to be that nice to children."


    As Mark watched the five children return to the shelter, the Priestess approached and remarked.


    "I don''t mind being nice to good children," Mark replied. "But I also won''t hesitate to p egoistical, ill-mannered brats who think they are the center of the world."


    "Isn''t that too specific?"


    The Priestess was rather speechless. It made her think that Mark had some bad experiences with those kinds of children.


    "Well, just don''t expect me to deal with bad children in general."


    Mark said before he started looking around.


    "You lookin'' for this?"


    A familiar voice entered Mark''s ear, making him turn his head.


    It was the Elder cksmith, Yasuo. And in his hands was Mark''s treasured sword.


    "This fell right before you crashed," Yasuo exined. "Figured I might as well do a quick maintenance."


    It was a sword that Mark and Yasuo made together. As such, Yasuo could perform proper maintenance to the sword even if it was an artifact.


    Still, it seemed that Yasuo was not even a tiny bit concerned when Mark crashed into that building and got buried under the debris. It was hard to say whether Yasuo did not care or if he was confident about Mark''s abilities.


    Yasuo handed Mark''s sword back. It sure looked cleaner and sharper than before.


    "The red crystal is all dim. Is that okay?"


    Yasuo asked, talking about the [me Maniption Mental Crystal].


    "It''s only out of energy," Mark replied. "Although I sure can''t use it right now."


    Mark said as he moved the fixing around the crystal, and with a few clicks, the crystal popped out of the sword.


    "Let''s use this one this time."


    Mark said, recing the red crystal with a greenish one. It was one of the features of Mark''s new sword. Not only could it utilize the crystals, but the crystals were easily receable. This feature made the sword also an all-purpose tool.


    With the crystal reced and Mark armored up, he was ready for the next bout.


    But the problem now was how.


    The Serpent God''s rampage was causing a raging magical storm outside the barrier. One step outside and injury would be imminent if one did not get obliterated immediately.


    Mark turned to the Priestess and the Empress.


    "You two got any n to deal with that thing outside?"


    Unfortunately, the two had no concrete answer to Mark''s question.


    "I wish I had an answer, but even if you gave me this staff, I barely have any idea what it could do. In the least, I can ensure everyone''s safety for a longer period of time, but attacking it from here would be difficult."


    The Priestess said. She then created a ball of fire on her hand before throwing it out of the barrier. The moment the fireball flew out, it instantly vanished.


    As if trying to convince Mark, the Priestess conjured different elemental attacks and shot them out of the barrier. But all of them either vanished or turned to dust after leaving the protection of the barrier.


    It was not like the violent magical storm was like des of energy, but the pressure the magical energy was creating seemed to be crushing everything that entered its area of effect.


    "My [Manifestation] barelysted inside the storm," The Empress chimed in. "A minute and a half. That is how long I canst in my manifested state if I were to use everything I have."


    The Priestess then turned to the soldiers.


    "They also tried attacking with artillery and the cannons of the warship. But all turned to nothing once they left the barrier."


    It seemed that while Mark was unconscious, the Defense Forces tried various means to stop the rampaging monster. However, in the face of raw Godly power, everything was just dust.


    "Should I step in?"


    At this time, another voice entered Mark''s ear. The same voice made both the Empress and the Priestess a little wary.


    It was because the person was the most powerful person present here. It was the inhuman being from the lost era.


    The [Humanoid Chimera], Chimetrice.


    Mark turned to Chimetrice, who flew down from The Cube hovering above them. If it was Chimetrice, the magical storm would not have much effect.


    However, there was a reason why Chimetrice was not going all out in the previous battles, even after he recovered his strength. While one was because he was letting Mark grow, the other was because of a possible deadly threat.


    Chimetrice''s younger brother, the other [Humanoid Chimera] created by their Creator, was still a mystery. It was possible that if Chimetrice were to use his full strength, it would cause their abrupt reunion. And his younger brother was definitely not a friendly being. While the possibility was low, it was not entirely none.


    This was why Chimetrice''s participation would be the veryst option, even if more sacrifices had to be made.


    Mark closed his eyes and took a deep breath. He then answered Chimetrice''s question.


    "I still have a few things to try. If it fails, we''ll have to gamble with you."


    "Good."


    Chimetrice agreed without question and took a step back.


    The Empress and the Priestess were confused. However, they did not voice any objections either. If such a powerful being had to hold himself back, there should be an important reason.


    Mark then faced the Empress and the Priestess. Right now, only the two of them could help Mark fight the Serpent God.


    As such, Mark ryed some of his ideas, although they would need to be tested first.


    And there, everyone began their preparations for thest attempt to kill the Serpent God.


    The Empress and the Priestess rejoined their respective groups for their preparations.


    On the other hand, Mark looked at the people he brought with him.


    "You all really want to see this through?"


    Mark asked as all of them refused to return home through Spera''s portal.


    "Master, we are already here. We might as well see it to the end."


    Odelina ryed everyone''s thoughts at the moment. Yes, they could not do anything to fight the Serpent God directly, but as people who followed Mark and his unusual encounters, they learned of a few important things.


    One was that Mark and Mei had the possibility to be Gods in the future. And because of that fact, the pair had another thing that could give them power, albeit only a tiny bit. It was the power of faith, the source of the power of the Gods of the past.


    And Mark would definitely need it at this moment.


    Mark did not try to convince them anymore and just gave a small smile as he turned to face the rampaging Serpent God.


    Within Mark''s mind, multitudes of thoughts echoed as if trying to find something. It was not to defeat the Serpent God but to why the voice appeared with such an enticing offer at this moment.


    [Manifestation], enticement, ability, Deities. Seemingly random thoughts shed inside Mark''s mind.


    Mark then looked at his hand. He was still holding onto the Mina''s sash that the kids gave him.


    At this moment, Mark knew he really needed the luck that a [Zashiki-Warashi] could bring. Wishing for such a miracle, Mark wore the sash as a scarf around his neck.


    Then, Mark carefully stretched out his right hand, letting the tip of his index nail out of the barrier for a second. It instantly got trimmed, turning the tip to dust.


    Mark''s body would not be able to handle the magical storm.


    But as Mark felt the magical storm through his finger, his eyes opened wider.


    As they said in Chinese Cultivation fiction, turn an adversary into an opportunity.


    And right now, Mark identally found out something.


    Mark stretched out his other hand, letting the other index fingernail out of the barrier. But different from before, the nail was d in ck mist, in [Miasma].


    The nail was intact, not even scratched by the magical storm. In fact, the [Miasma] managed to absorb the magical energy that tried to crush it.


    This was when Mark realized.


    The [Yamata-no-Orochi] might be a Godly creature, but it was no Divine being. Its energy, from the start, did not have much purity. All it had were elemental attributes and raw strength.


    This situation was different from Sinogo''s, who was a messenger of a Supreme God. Sinogo''s magical energy was pure because of the God that created him.


    And the [Yamata-no-Orochi] was no pure being.


    Finally getting a hint, Mark''s aura red. It alerted everyone who could sense the change in the surroundings.


    The Priestess and the Empress tried running to Mark as quickly as they could to ask what was happening.


    However, everyone could only freeze in their tracks.


    It was because from where Mark stood, a surge of ck mist began spreading out fast. It was so fast that it formed a cloud in a few seconds and a wall soon after.


    Everyone stared as the ck mist began blocking their view of everything outside the barrier.


    And the culprit, Mark, stood there with his hands outside the barrier. He had a fierce smile on his lips and a joyful re in his eyes.


    It was as if the luck of the [Zashiki-Warashi] manifested at Mark''s behest, turning the dangerous situation into the greatest opportunity.

 Chapter 1112: Old and Young, The Confrontation Between Military Factions

    Day 365 - 9:21 AM - Southside Peak, Muria Sacred Fortress, Mount Muria, Central Java, Indonesia


    The 365th day of the apocalypse finally came. It was thest day of the first year of the apocalypse.


    It was already a year. Was it something people should celebrate, or was it something people shouldment? Everyone still alive might have survived the difficult and dangerous year. It was something they could celebrate. Nheless, it was also the anniversary of everyone losing almost everything.


    How people would view this day would likely be up to each individual and the things they experienced.


    And on this day, a new rumor was spreading across the Muria Sacred Fortress.


    ***


    "Have you heard? A horde attacked the 38th."


    "Is that the cause of the gunshotsst night? It sounded pretty far, but it kept me awake all night."


    "But some people are saying something strange."


    "What is it?"


    "They said the attack came from inside. Not outside."


    "That''s stupid. How did that even happen? You believe that?"


    "Nah. I also think it''s stupid. It''s already hard surviving, and some people are still trying to spread fear for no reason."


    Simr exchanges could be heard all over the Muria Sacred Fortress after the vague events of the previous night.


    Some brave ones went and asked soldiers on patrol for confirmation. However, the soldiers were either clueless, would answer with an obvious pre-practiced business reply, or just bluntly refused to answer.


    Confusion was slowly creeping up into the hearts of the people in addition to the fear still lingering because of the [Face Wearers].


    Nheless, confusion was still better than panic and chaos.


    But when the people of the Southside Peak thought that things would still be more or less the usual...


    VRROOOOM!


    They saw vehicles of soldiers under General Wijaya passing by. With how the vehicles and the soldiers were kitted out, it was clear that something unusual was bound to happen today.


    People along the road watched as military jeeps and trucks filled with armed soldiers drove through. There was no prior announced military activity. The scene caused more confusion and spection among the popce.


    Most importantly, it caused confusion to soldiers who were not under General Wijaya''s authority. Many of these soldiers immediately reported to their military superiors about what they had witnessed. Unfortunately, those military superiors who received the reports were far more bbergasted by General Wijaya''s unannounced action.


    They immediately tried to contact the spies they ced within General Wijaya''s forces.


    To the surprise of these faction leaders, they received no response from their spies. It was as if they all vanished.


    ...Just like the missing victims of the [Face Wearers].


    ***


    Eight military vehicles drove out of General Wijaya''s camp. Five huNovelFireees and three military trucks. All soldiers were armed to the teeth. It would be their most crucial mission after a long time of being suppressed by the other military factions.


    Nheless, the soldiers were quite in disbelief.


    The briefing happened in a hurry, and so was their mobilization. It all began after General Wijaya returned near sunrise along with the soldiers who escorted him while visiting the 38th Satellite Settlement.


    Immediately after theirte return, everyone was informed about the sudden mobilization. Everyone was quite confused at first. Furthermore, the gunshots echoing early the previous night throughout the mountain kept many of them awake. But when the briefing started, the information was shared, and the soldiers realized how important this mission would be.


    The missing victims returned as [Infected]. The horde that attacked the 38th Satellite Settlement were those victims. Worse, the [Infected] came from inside the fortress, inside their current home.


    Not only were the [Face Wearers] kidnapping residents and stealing their identities, these monsters turned people into [Infected].


    And now, the soldiers epted that they had to do this. They had to remove the threat called the [Face Wearers].


    The main base of operations of the [Face Wearers] was briefed to the soldiers. It was understandable that they were all shocked. The questions that passed through their minds before resurfaced. All of which pointed to the dubious existence and rise of the Muria Religion.


    This briefing answered a lot of those questions. The hesitation about the sudden mission became almost nonexistent.


    Inside the vehicles, the soldiers rested. No one had the time to joke around to ease the tension. Instead, they focused on the mission they currently had.


    In the middle of the convoy, the Humvee at the center had General Wijaya as its most important passenger.


    Normally, Generals would leave most missions to their soldiers and would just stay behind the lines. But General Wijaya was the opposite. He was still not used to being a general and was ufortable with the privileges of his current position. As such, he was joining the mission as itsmander. While other generals think it might be foolish, the soldiers under General Wijaya thought otherwise.


    Having their leader supporting them in the field was one of the things that increased the soldiers'' morale the most.


    Aside from General Wijaya, his secretary, and the driver, their Humvee had one more unusual passenger.


    "I didn''t think there''s a road connecting the two sides of the peak."


    Markmented as he looked outside the window.


    Compared to the seriousness and tenseness of the soldiers, Mark looked like he was just on his usual stroll.


    "This road is new," General Wijaya replied. "We had to build a road to connect the two ces for a quick response if anything happened to any of the peaks. It also allows us to travel faster to the northern settlements. There''s another road before, but most of it was reimed by the fast-growing flora that it was better to make a new one instead of clearing the old road."


    The road was not cemented. It was just a ttened side of a mountain slope. Unfortunately, digging through the peak was impossible without the proper heavy machinery to create even a dirt road. This road connecting the two sides of Mount Muria''s peak was still going around the peak.


    Reaching the other side of the peak would still take another hour or two, even with vehicles.


    After a long, bumpy ride, the military convoy reached a checkpoint.


    Since the mission was unannounced, the soldiers at the checkpoint were surprised to see a fully armed military convoy. It was not a surprise if the convoy was stopped in front of the checkpoint.


    However, the checkpoint soldiers could only salute as they saw General Wijayae out of one of the vehicles. His presence in the convoy created a different oue.


    Mark watched from inside the Humvee as General Wijaya exchanged words with the now sweaty and nervous soldiers at the checkpoint.


    It did not take long, and General Wijaya returned. The convoy was allowed to pass through the checkpoint without problems.


    "Being a general sure had some merits, huh."


    Markmented, making General Wijaya sigh.


    "I''m not really fond of these so-called merits."


    General Wijaya replied.


    However, Mark was not paying attention to General Wijaya anymore. Instead, his attention was on one of the soldiers at the checkpoint, who sneaked away after the convoy passed through.


    Unfortunately for that soldier, whatever he was nning to do, he would not be able to. After the soldier sneaked out and was hidden away from everyone''s sight, he felt an impact behind his neck. He was not even able to check as he fell and lost consciousness.


    Seeing his work, the culprit bobbed his body happily before vanishing into a surge of ck mist before vanishing without a trace.


    Mark nodded as his little spy did his job. It was Crimson who was actively participating in this mission, following Mark''s instructions.


    It was why the spies nted all over the ce were unable to report anything to their superiors. Mark had been finding the spies while Crimsom would knock them out without anyone noticing.


    The long ride continued after the checkpoint. Soon, Mark could see the Northside Peak from the distance. Since the road was on a higher elevation, it was possible to see the entirety of the Northside Peak, where the Government officials, VIPs, and other important and rich people resided.


    However, the convoy would not be entering the Northside Peak. They turned north at the branching road, avoiding the road leading to the Northside Peak.


    It was the road leading to the church. The mysterious church of the Muria Religion.


    The convoy arrived by the smallke near a spring. After passing through the thin forest by the roadside, General Wijaya''s soldiers could see the church on the other side of theke.


    However, they could also see another military convoy surrounding it.


    Defensive positions were already established around the perimeter of the church. It was to block General Wijaya and his soldiers away from the church. That was the clear look of the blockade.


    As the convoy stopped on the road, the doors of the vehicles opened slightly while the soldiers inside the trucks gripped their guns.


    General Wijaya stepped out of the vehicle. It was a bold move, considering the situation.


    However, General Wijaya''s attention was not on the danger. It was the familiar person who walked in front of the blockade.


    A man with a rather tall figure. He might look old because of his silver-colored hair and beard, but his physique looked no different than a bulky-looking soldier. He had an air filled with pride and confidence.


    "Wijaya. What is the meaning of this?" The person asked. "You know that there''s punishment to mobilization without authorization. Pastws might not be applicable anymore, but to mobilize armed soldiers in this fortress, you need to pass a majority vote."


    A majority vote. It was a rule established in the Muria Sacred Fortress regarding the general mobilization of anything military or government-rted. This was especially the case for armed military missions and deployment. Unfortunately, it was also the way how the others oppressed General Wijaya and his supporters.


    "Piliang..." General Wijaya red at the man leading the opposing force. "You should know the threat the [Face Wearers] brought to us and the people. To think that a prideful person like you would be siding with those monsters."


    "That''s a serious allegation you have there," General Piliang shook his head. "You can''t pin a crime on anyone without serious evidence. It was the same for raiding a ce with excessive force, like bringing all your armed soldiers to raid a ce of worship. This church had been a pir many of our people had been leaning to at the time of need.


    You should know that attacking this ce is tantamount to betraying the hopes of the majority of our people."


    "Your words are full of nothing but sophistry," General Wijaya sighed. "I won''t justify my actions now. I am fine epting the me if I am mistaken. Now, get out of the way and let us investigate."


    "That can''t be done," General Pilliang shrugged. "I won''t aid you in your crimes."


    It was clear in each word the older general uttered. He was adamant about pinning crimes on General Wijaya and stopping them from moving closer to their goal.


    But at this time, Mark stepped out of the vehicle to join the charade.


    "Hey, old man," Mark shouted. "Are you sure you want to do this? If you had nothing to hide, why are you stopping us? What''s inside that church that you are adamant to protect?"


    "And who are you?"


    General Piliang frowned at the unfamiliar and disrespectful man.


    "Hmm... That''s odd," Mark tilted his head. "You sent some idiots to kidnap my people, but you don''t know who you are targetting?"


    General Piliang frowned even more as his stare at Mark became sharper.


    "Another baseless usation," General Piliang replied as he shifted his attention back to General Wijaya. "Wijaya. Just give up and surrender. We will bring this to trial. This way, no blood needed to be shed in this ce."


    "Unfortunately, we can''t do that," General Wijaya red. "After everything that already happened, we can''t back out anymore."


    After saying that, General Wijaya stepped back. Once he retreated to cover, it would be the start of this battle.


    General Piliang watched as General Wijaya began to step back. However, instead of doing the same, General Pin suddenly nodded his head with a slight tilt.


    BANG!


    A gunshot came out of nowhere, and an impact sounded into the ears of everyone.


    General Wijaya fell to the ground. He was still fine, but he could only watch the person who pushed him out of the way fall to the ground.


    "SIR MARK!"


    General Wijaya shouted.


    Mark pushed General Wijaya out of the way after a sniper shot, taking the bullet meant for the general.


    "Open fire!"


    General Wijaya yelled as he grabbed Mark and dragged him into cover.


    After themand was given, although some hesitated, Mark''s sudden fall caused General Wijaya''s soldiers to throw the hesitation out of the window.


    A barrage of bullets flew towards General Piliang, who did not take cover.


    But General Piliang stood unfazed. Despite the barrage of bullets, he stood unmoving.


    In front of General Piliang, the bullets aimed at him hovered freely. And as the gunshots stopped due to confusion, the hovering bullets fell to the ground.

 Chapter 1052 The Hammer Of Decay, Trampling The Serpent God From The Sky To The Ground

    ?


    Day 341 - 2:04 PM - Toyosu Ruins, Reimed City, Ruins of Tokyo


    GRROOOAARRR!!!


    The berserk roar of the Serpent God echoed throughout the Reimed City as Mark pierced another of its eyes with his sword.


    As it felt the pain in its eye, it tried to pull its head back by reflex. But Mark would not easily let go. His wings pped with a ck surge of aura as he drove his sword deeper into the Serpent God''s Fire Attribute Head''s right eye.


    And then, Mark uttered.


    "re Ignis."


    WHOOOM!


    At Mark''smand, ck mes ignited from Ignis'' de before it bloomed into a massive explosion inside the Serpent God''s eye socket.


    It was a simr attack that Mark had used before, but also different.


    Gar''m''s mes that Mark acquired were weaker but still had enough temperature to burn the eye of the beastly god. The Demon Deity''s mes burned and charred the eye, preventing it from healing and dealing as much pain as it could. However, since it was an ability stored within a crystal, those mes had limited effectiveness and amount.


    On the other hand, Ignis had mes transformed by its master. It might not have the devastating temperature, but what it had was the properties of [Miasma]. Furthermore, the amount of mes Ignis could release was proportional to the magical energy it stored within itself and the amount its wielder could provide.


    And right now, Mark''s [Miasma] had almost no limit. As the [Miasma] flowed into the des of Ignis and fused with its mes, the [Miasmic] mes grew stronger and stronger.


    BOOOM!


    The ck mes exploded a second time, now taking out the other eye of the me Attribute head of the Serpent God.


    Two eyes in one attack. Mark managed to pull it off.


    GRRRRROAAAARR!!!


    The Serpent God let out an ear-piercing roar. Different from the once before, which contained pain and anger, this one contained nothing but pure agony.


    One of its eyes had yet to heal, and now, Mark took out a pair. The Serpent God could roar that way as it received such grave injuries.


    And much worse, Mark''s attack just now was no normal mes. It was [Miasmic mes]. It was mes that would not only burn but also decay. It meant that the injuries the Serpent God received from those ck mes would only get worse if the Serpent God could not extinguish the ck mes remaining inside its eye sockets.


    GRYAAAAAA!!!


    The head that lost its sense of sight began violently whipping its head and neck, forcing Mark away. Furthermore, it began spewing mes everywhere as it iled around.


    But what Mark did not expect when he retreated was that the other six uninjured heads of the Serpent God faced him with absolute hostility. It was not like they had already recovered from pain. It seemed more like their anger for the injuries they incurred reached a threshold way past the pain.


    The Serpent God was still in extreme pain, and its heads were unstable. But despite all that, the Serpent God was now resolute on killing Mark even if it injured itself further.


    Doing its best to ignore the pain it was feeling, all six heads opened their mouths as the Serpent God tried to deal a killing blow on Mark.


    However, the Serpent God totally forgot that Mark was not its only enemy.


    BOOOM!


    Mark''s hair fluttered as explosions enveloped his surroundings. A barrage of attacks from the defense forces hit the six heads, halting their attempt to kill the enemy before them.


    The attack was far from perfect. Many of the artillery shells and magic attacks missed the targets and flew off to the horizon. Nheless, the timing was impable.


    "Nice timing."


    Mark said as he tightened both his hands while holding the grip of his sword.


    The [Wind Maniption Mental Crystal] shined brightly on Mark''s sword as he pointed it downward. And then, a strong gust of wind propelled him upward.


    Mark soared up to the sky like aunched space shuttle, with his wings leaving ck trails.


    While the barrage of attacks from the Defense Forces hindered the Serpent God, Mark opted to bring it down from the sky. After all, it was harder for the Defense Forces to target an enemy in the sky than an enemy on the ground.


    Reaching the altitude where the disintegrated clouds were before, Mark hovered and looked below. He could feel the cold temperature of the winter, but his body felt burning like summer.


    Mark reached out to his storage space. His hand took out a familiar book. His eyes turned ck, and the markings on his body seemed toe to life.


    The [Miasma] began to re from Mark''s body into a growing vortex in the sky.


    And there, Mark chanted. It was a chant that echoed not in everyone''s ear but through everyone''s fears.


    "Oh, Substance of corruption, the matter of destruction."


    "The causality of decay. The creator of dismay."


    "With your greed to absorb, the gluttony to devour."


    "EAT. Turn the power of this beastly god into your own."


    The space began to tremble, and the vortex in the sky started to absorb the magical storm.


    In a few seconds, the vortex began to form what seemed to be a tornado made of [Miasma].


    Everyone watched in awe and fear as they continued attacking the Serpent God. They had seen the Prietess'' miracles before, but this was the first time they had witnessed what seemed to be an eternal curse.


    And there, Mark raised his sword into the tip of the forming tornado.


    "Absorb! Gather! Concentrate! Shrink! Form!"


    The vortex began to move, getting sucked into a gigantic ball hovering by the tip of Mark''s sword. Then, it began to form what seemed to be a gigantic hammer made of ck haze.


    And thest word,bining the chant and the ability of the [Earth Demon Deity], Mark shouted.


    "[MATERIALIZE]!"


    The hammer made of formless [Miasma] began to solidify, turning into a giant hammer half the size of Tokyo Tower.


    "FALL! ABYSSAL HAMMER!"


    Mark shed his sword downward as ifmanding the giant hammer.


    The materialized [Miasma] began to fall from the sky. It carried an eerie sensation as it fell down like a meteorite.


    It might be their inner thoughts. Or it may be their fear from what they were currently witnessing, but everyone fell silent as the hammer swooped down toward the Serpent God.


    And as the volley of attacks from the Defense Forces ended, it was already toote for the Serpent God to feel the attacking from the sky.


    BOOOM!


    The Serpent God felt a heavy blow on its back. Its body bent downward without control. And the next thing it knew was the extreme pain in its back and the increasing velocity of its uncontroble fall.


    BOOOOM!


    Another boom entered everyone''s ears, followed by a nuclear bomb-like shockwave. This time, it was the sound of the gigantic body of the Serpent God crashing into the ruins of Harumi and Toyosu.


    ROOOOARR!!!


    However, the crash was not the end of it, as the gigantic hammer tried to crush the body of the Serpent God, making it cry in pain and suffering.


    The Serpent God frantically struggled, but the hammer continued to pin it to the ground. No, it was not only pinning the Serpent God. The hammer was actually trying to decay the Serpent God''s body with its corruptive properties.


    The hammer''s corruptive properties were working better due to Mark''s decisions.


    One would think it would be cool to form a sword or a spear in Mark''s situation. However, Mark was no Susanoo. He had no ability to sh a God with a sword or pierce the Serpent God''s invulnerable scales with a spear. And if there was something that an Otaku like Mark learned from war-rted media, it was that ded weapons were not the best to use against fully armored monsters.


    It was maces and hammers. These weapons were not for slicing or piercing but for crushing. And even if these weapons could not crush the armor, there was still a high chance of damaging what was behind the armor.


    And now, Mark created a hammer using [Miasma] and the magical storm it absorbed.


    As a result, the heavy hammer made the Serpent God fall, damaged its scales, and began decaying the scales or even the flesh behind the damaged scales.


    ROOOOOAAARRR!!!


    The Serpent God began iling its whole body like a salted eartworm. Because of itsrge body, it ttened the already ruined Toyosu and Harumi even more.


    However, no matter how much the Serpent God iled its body, the giant hammer would not budge. Worse, the hammer continued to push further and further, to the point that it already created a crater under the Serpent God''s body.


    "Weapons free!!! Fire! Fire! Also, Fire the Susannoo''s cannons!"


    The Prime Ministermanded the soldiers.


    Now, Mark managed to pin the Serpent God down to the ground. This situation was the best opportunity to attack with all their might.


    The Serpent God roared. Its six uninjured heads began attacking the hammer that pinned it down, but its attacks were ineffective. In fact, the more it attacked, the heavier the hammer became. And now, the attacks from the Defense Forces came, causing the Serpent God a huge amount of pain.


    Unfortunately, the attacks of human weapons could only scratch the scales at most.


    However, the Empress opened her mouth. She began spewing golden fireballs, which flew straight at the Serpent God.


    BOOM!


    The mes engulfed the Serpent God, causing it to il even more in agony. However, it was useless. The Serpent God was unable to flee from the weight of the giant hammer.


    Furthermore, the golden fireballs seemed to be feeding the hammer even more, causing it to grow heavier and heavier.


    CRACK!


    Suddenly, everyone heard a loud crack.


    CRACK!


    Another one.


    ROOOOAAARRR!!!


    The Serpent God became even more frantic. It was because its scales under the hammer began cracking one after another.


    And then, from the sky, a red meteorite fell.


    It was Mark who charged from the sky. Using his flight speed and the momentum of his fall, Mark crashed atop the giant hammer.


    CRASH!


    This time, it was not just a crack. It was like a metal or ss smashed to pieces, the scales of the Serpent God under the hammer shattered.


    GRYAAAAAAAAA!!!


    This time, the Serpent God, who had nothing but anger filling its instincts, felt fear for the first time.


    The Serpent God''s pride was its indestructible scales. No one had ever been able to pierce or sh through its scales aside from one specific person, the God of Sea and Storms, Susanoo.


    The current Serpent God might only be an incarnation, a fragment of the original [Yamata-no-Orochi], but its scales should be invincible in the modern world.


    But now, for the second time in its multiple lives, the Serpent God''s scales became nothing but shattered shells.


    GRYAAAAAA!!!


    The Serpent God roared. This time, it used all of its magical energy to try and break free.


    BOOOOM!!!


    The Serpent God''s struggle caused a massive explosion of raw magical energy. Bright light engulfed everything. Not a single shadow was present in such a massive explosion.


    Everyone braced themselves as the shockwave came from the explosion. Fortunately, the Priestess'' enhanced barrier blocked most of the impact.


    Following the explosion, the bright light immediately died down.


    "Priestess!"


    The Priests and Maidens yelled in worry, causing everyone to turn around.


    Unfortunately, the burden of blocking that explosion was too much for the Priestess to handle. She fell to the ground on her knees, with her nose dripping with blood.


    "I am fine." The Priestess used her staff to prop her body up. "It is not the end yet."


    The Priestess then looked forward. Everyone did the same.


    And there, the Serpent God hovered high above the ground. It looked banged up, and the injuries it received were visible for everyone to see. Unfortunately, it really managed to free itself from the hammer.


    But now, everyone looked around with a question in their minds.


    "Where is Mark?"


    Mark was there above the hammer when the explosion happened. He was at ground zero.


    As everyone looked around, the hammer was gone. And so was Mark.


    Unknown to them. No, only Mei probably knew.


    Mark was currently underwater, looking up to the sky and the Serpent God that managed to break free.


    At this moment, Mark had already realized.


    This current state of his was not enough.


    Mark needed to do something more.


    "I needed to surpass the limits I currently have."


    Mark thought as the enticing voice from before still lingered in his mind.

 Chapter 1053 Epiphany, The Awakening Of Hunger

    ?


    Day 341 - 2:07 PM - Destroyed Toyosu, Reimed City, Ruins of Tokyo


    Emotions. It was one of the roots of every living being''s existence.


    Humans, animals, magical creatures, and even nts had emotions. A living being without emotion was no different from a non-living item. In human terms, someone without emotions was alwayspared to a doll or a puppet, a non-living creation.


    But that said, each creature had a threshold for each emotion.


    Once certain emotions went past the limit of its threshold, surprising results would appear unexpectedly.


    An eight-month-pregnant woman trapped in a fire, afraid of dying, would be able to break down wooden walls with bare fists and run faster than a track athlete.


    An unfit man could be able to run faster than a rabid dog chasing after him.


    A warrior protecting hisnd could endure all the pain in his body and take down an entire army of sword-wielding soldiers.


    Some may attribute it to adrenaline. But then again, emotions and stress were the ones responsible for the adrenaline rush to trigger.


    And depending on the situation and the person''s personality, the results would also be different.


    A prideful person would try to fight and struggle.


    A weak person would immediately choose to flee.


    And this time, the Serpent God was undergoing such an episode.


    The Serpent God was a prideful being. Afraid of death, it struggled to break free. Now that it escaped imminent death, all it had in its mind was to eliminate the source of its humiliation.


    It had forgotten all the pain, focusing on its mind on killing.


    The Serpent God wanted to kill these measly insects trying to kill it.


    With all the anger that suppressed its pain, the six unscathed heads of the [Yamata-no-Orochi] opened their mouths, facing the remaining territory of the Reimed City.


    The magical storm began to grow stronger. Six forms of energy began forming in front of the Serpent God''s six mouths.


    One mouth began to form a stone sphere. Piece by piece, fragments of the earth began floating from all directions, converging into that sphere.


    Another head had a ball of water. The water from Tokyo Bay began showing violent waves as pirs of water surged out of the bay into the ball in the sky.


    The third head conjured dark clouds in the sky. Lightning bolts poured down from the clouds, creating a cracking sphere of lightning in front of its mouth.


    Fourth was a green sphere of smog. Deadly fragments in the surroundings flew into the green sphere, creating probably the most poisonous and radioactive smog.


    The fifth and sixth heads were the most mysterious. As both heads gathered energy, one created a blinding ball of light while the other created an ominous sphere of darkness.


    In Ariake, the Defense Forces felt terrified. Whether they could feel magical energy or not, the hair on their bodies stood on end as they felt the extreme danger of the situation.


    "FIRE! FIRE! FIRE AT WILL! STOP IT FROM ATTACKING!"


    The Prime Minister ordered the soldiers.


    At the center of the formation, with unwiped blood in the corner of her mouth, the Priestess began dancing to a different tune. The ground around her grew brighter, and the barrier showed a bright sheen as the Priestess and the members of the Temple tried their best to strengthen it.


    Behind the formation, the Empress and the Demons began chanting an unintelligible chant. The chanting began conjuring a blood-red magic circle below their feet, temporarily raising the Empress'' powers. It was clear that it was a forbidden magic as the eyes of the Empress in her Golden Fox Form showed a bright red glow, and streaks of her magical fur showed the same color.


    BOOOM!


    The unified attack of the Defense Forces hit the Serpent God, causingrge explosions.


    Unfortunately, with the dulled sense of pain, as the Serpent God''s anger went past its threshold, the attacks from the soldiers only shook the Serpent God''s body a little. It continued to form its elemental spheres, making them grow to a terrifying degree.


    Space was shaking. It was the true anger of a Godly Creature.


    And right now, the mortals were trying to resist such rage. It was their fight to survive. There was no stepping back.


    The Priestess steeled herself. She brought out all her power as she danced. It would likely be herst dance. There was no need to hold anything back.


    It was the same for the Empress. Slowly, her golden fur turned red. Sparks of magic began emitting from it. And below her, the Demons fell to the ground one after another, drained of their magical energy.


    At the side, the members of the Evernight were not watching idly.


    In fact, they had their own preparations with Spera at the center of it.


    Spera sat atop The Cube. She was sitting in the middle of a magical tform. Around her were dozens of [Empty Mental Crystals], connected to her through the tform.


    It was the final card if all hope went down the drain.


    Hopefully, there would be no need to use it.


    Spera aside, Mei was also preparing something with the little girls. Her [AT-Etherbloom] as the main body, theybined all their [Abyss Tech] weapons with arge cannon. It was one of the features of the weapons Mark created. Furthermore, it was not just the weapons but also the three Golems joining the docking.


    Amihan was also amidst her preparation. The green markings on her body glowed brightly. She would do what she could to intercept the godly attack. Even so, she was unsure it would work. After all, while she was also an incarnation of a Goddess, she was weaker than the Serpent God.


    Underwater, Mark felt the turbulent stream around him. He was still looking at the sky, at the blurry visage of the Serpent God through the water.


    Mark could feel the space tearing as the three powerful beings above began to gather their powers.


    Unexpectedly, Mark closed his eyes.


    Mark conjured the hammer with the help of the [Butterfly of Wisdom], and the [Crystal Staff] now merged to his sword with Ignis. He materialized it with an enormous amount of [Miasma] and the ability of a Demon Deity.


    Yet, in a single relentless blow from the Serpent God, the hammer got destroyed, barely doing its intended purpose.


    Mark closed his eyes. The words of the voice filled his mind. It tried to tempt him. It was to reach the level of the Deities.


    That power, that [Manifestation]. The ability to let the power of the Deities free to take its shape.


    It sure sounded easy. But it was moreplicated than one would think.


    Even if Magwayen gave Mark some exnations before, he was unsure about it.


    Unbeknownst to Mark, he had fallen into a trance, unaware of many things happening in his surroundings.


    ROOOOOOAR!!!


    The Serpent God roared. The elemental spheres exploded into a stream of elemental energy surging toward Ariake.


    "BRACE FOR IMPACT!"


    The Prime Minister shouted as the humans immediately took cover, even taking out shields to protect the formation.


    BOOOM!!!


    The stream of elemental energy crashed onto the barrier.


    "Cough!"


    The Priestess let out a muffled cough. Blood filled her throat and mouth, but she did not stop dancing as her barrier resisted the Serpent God''s attack. The other members of the Temple were in the same circumstances, with some of them falling unconscious. Nheless, none of them left their post.


    "ROAR!"


    The Empress roared, and the magic circle below her bloomed with bright red light. And from her mouth, a stream of reddish-golden magical mes burst out toward the Serpent God''s attack.


    BOOM!


    The mes shed with the elemental stream. It alleviated the burden on the barrier and the Priestess but also caused a huge burden on the Empress and the Demons supporting her.


    At the same time, surging wind blew as Amihan conjured her magical energy to create a tornado to support the mes and the barrier.


    The space continued to shake, and the sh of magical energies caused the entire country to feel its waves.


    ***


    Mark saw the beams of light above the water. In his trance, he failed to recognize the lights produced by the sh of magical energies. Thousands of thoughts were shing in his mind right now.


    In his trance, Mark raised his hand towards the lights. And right now, what he was feeling was hunger.


    Hunger? Why was Mark hungry? It was not the right time to be hungry. Furthermore, he had a few snacks during the preparation.


    But no. It was not the hunger of the body. It was the hunger stemming from somewhere else.


    "¨ƒ¨ƒ¨ƒ¨ƒ¨ƒ¨ƒ~"


    Suddenly, Mark began hearing something.


    "~¨ƒ¨ƒ¨ƒ...~"


    What was it?


    "A song?"


    Mark murmured as he realized the rhythm. Furthermore, it was the voice of someone familiar.


    It was the voice of that kid who sang in front of Mark earlier.


    Vaguely, Mark tried to detect where the song wasing from.


    The song wasing from the shelter. He was singing to fight the fear they were feeling.


    And inspired by the kid, other people began joining. As the singer changed, so was the song,


    It was a song Mark was familiar with. It was an anime song. It was a song in an anime where the female main characters sing while supporting the fights of the mecha pilots protecting them.


    In an instant, everyone''s singing filled the shelter.


    It was unity through a song.


    And as Mark listened to the song and its effects, a thought entered his mind.


    It was a phrase Mark read from some martial arts films and literature from China.


    "Return to Origin."


    It was a phrase that woulde out when someone wanted to grow past their limit.


    Sometimes, it meant to return to basics. At other times, it was to look back at the past and seek inspiration. There were also times it meant to look back at one''s original aspirations.


    But right now, Mark was reminded of something. The songs reminded him of something, to be exact.


    Way before the outbreak started.


    Way before Mark was able to get ahold of his abilities as an [Empath].


    And definitely before Mark became an [Evolver], a [Mutator], and a Demon.


    Mark''s very first ability. It was to manually trigger his adrenaline by manipting emotions that hecked. And to manipte those emotions, Mark used music, anime music.


    At this time, Mark remembered. It had been a while since he had a nice long sound trip.


    Mark listened to the songsing from inside the shelter, remembering the past.


    The songs made Mark remember the anime he watched as a child, which made his heart pound.


    Mark had dreams back then. Those dreams got lost in the flow of time and the harsh reality.


    Hungry.


    Mark felt the hunger for the aspirations he was never able to achieve.


    BADUMP!


    The songs continued, and Mark''s heart started to pound. His blood felt boiling.


    Mark opened his eyes. What he saw was his childhood. Afraid of everything, unable to do anything. A prisoner to the strict rules of his parents. He only found freedom through anime and songs.


    That was why Mark became an Otaku.


    Return to Origin. Return to what you really were.


    And as Mark looked at his childhood. What he had the most was hunger.


    Hunger for affection. Hunger for freedom.


    And.


    The hunger for power. Mark wanted the power to allow himself to do more than be tied to the shackles.


    Power.


    Mark opened his eyes. That power was right in front of his eyes.


    ***


    "Hold on! We can do it!"


    The Priestess yelled as she continued her dance despite stumbling several times.


    Resisting a Godly Beast''s full attack was hard, even if the Priestess had a [Divine Artifact] in her hands. And if not for this artifact, they might have gotten obliterated instantly.


    As for the Empress, the reddish glow on her body began to vanish. All of the Demons around her had already fallen unconscious. Among the forces of Auraboros, only the Empress was the one left standing, not wanting to give up.


    Amihan was also struggling. The glow of the green markings on her body had begun to dim, indicating that she had almost used up all her power.


    On the other hand, the Serpent God did not even seem to weaken. It continued to pour its attacks toward the Reimed City, trying to erase it once and for all.


    Finally, the Priestess stumbled onest time. The Priests and Maidens around her had already fallen.


    The Empress had used up all her power. She then reverted back to her humanoid form before falling to the ground, kneeling.


    Amihan''s wind vortices got torn.


    But the Priestess was not giving up. Using the staff to prop herself up, she was unwilling to give up.


    The barrier and the attacks of the Serpent God shed once again. The barrier was clearly on the verge of breaking.


    But no one noticed. The water of Tokyo Bay had all gotten dark and murky.


    When the barrier cracked, on the verge of breaking, a gigantic ck shadow soared from the murky water. It was a giant creature without form, A giant blob with only its red-glowing eyes and mouth being distinguishable.


    It soared straight at the Serpent God''s attack.


    And then.


    CHOMP!


    The giant blob''s mouth opened wide, devouring the elemental spheres of the Serpent God.

 Chapter 1054 The Giant Blob, A Impossible State Of Partial [Manifestation]

    ?


    Day 341 - 2:10 PM - Toyosu Ruins, Reimed City, Ruins of Tokyo


    A giant blob rose from the waters, eating the Serpent God''s elemental spheres. This scene caused turmoil to everyone who witnessed it.


    Furthermore, describing the blob with nothing but the word "giant" would be an understatement.


    The Serpent God was flying more than a hundred meters in the sky as it spewed its most powerful attack at Ariake.


    Yet, the blob outstretched itself out of the water, elongating its body more than a hundred meters to the sky before swallowing the Serpent God''s attack. If its body only elongated as thin as possible to reach that height, it would not be as terrifying, but from the water to the sky, its elongated body did not stretch any thinner than the Serpent God''s body.


    The blob was more than just gigantic. Whatever this blob was, it was much, much, muchrger than the Serpent God.


    And not only its size but the fact that it swallowed the Serpent God''s attack made it much more terrifying. A hundred Demons, Priests and Shrine Maidens, a Divine Blessed Priestess, a Nine-tailed Demon Fox, and an Incarnation of a Wind Goddess barely resisted the attack of the Serpent God. Yet, to the blob, it seemed nothing but a snack.


    Shaken by the blob''s sudden appearance, the Serpent God took a swift retreat. It spiraled its body away before facing the mysterious blob once again.


    On the other hand, the blob swayed its unstable body, seemingly chewing on the snack it swallowed. But despite its unstable actions, its red eyes stared intently at the Serpent God.


    There was a few seconds of silence, with the two gargantuan creatures staring at each other.


    But the one with the least patience was the Serpent God. Seeing that the blob was unmoving and the fact that it interrupted the Serpent God''s attack, the Serpent God immediately considered it as an enemy.


    Opening the same six mouths as before, the Serpent God let out several elemental attacks in unison.


    ROOOOOARRR!!!


    All of the Serpent God''s attacks poured straight onto the giant blob.


    But in response, the blob opened its salivating mouth and received the magical attacks into it.


    The Serpent God finally noticed something wrong. Its attacks were dealing no damage to the blob at all. It could only end its futile attack.


    Furthermore, as the Serpent God''s attack ended, the blob closed its mouth, chewing on the food it had just received.


    And all this time, its red glowing eyes stared at the Serpent God.


    The red pair of eyes then shone a bright glow. It was the time the blob began to move.


    It moved its head towards the Serpent God. The blob''s mouth was wide open, seemingly trying to eat its target.


    The Serpent God was startled. It took an immediate retreat. Fortunately, its movements were far faster than the blob, and it should have no problem escaping the attack.


    Well, that was not the case.


    From all over the ce, hundreds of tentacles rose from the waters, shooting out at the sky from all directions. Each tentacle was around three meters in thickness and more than a hundred meters in length from the water to the sky.


    The Serpent God''s remaining eyes went wide.


    A single tentacle or even a doze might not pose a threat. But it was a different story with hundreds of them.


    In an instant, the sky darkened with the tentacles shooting into the sky before curving toward the Serpent God.


    The Serpent God began firing its magic in all directions. Unlike the main body, the tentacles did not stand a chance against the Serpent God''s attacks. A whole lot of the tentacles got torn and destroyed by the Serpent God''s retaliation.


    But that was where the horror dug deeper.


    With each tentacle destroyed, another one would rise from the ink-colored water. As such, the Serpent God was not under siege by an endless barrage of tentacles.


    In Ariake, everyone was in shock. They stared at the towering blob, thinking that another dangerous creature might have appeared. The soldiers began to ready their weapons despite the questionable effectiveness these weapons had against a blob-like creature.


    However, those with magical experience knew the creature was not an enemy. That ck body and ominous aura, there was no doubt that the blob came to be using [Miasma].


    And among everyone here, there was only one person who had the possible capability to do so.


    It was no one else but Mark.


    "Did Mark create that?"


    The Priestess stood, using the [Divine Staff] to prop her unstable and tired body up. But as she looked at the Empress, the Priestess realized something might be wrong.


    "What is wrong?"


    The Priestess approached the Empress with Tsubasa''s help.


    Looking at the Empress, there was no doubt she was at the end of her powers. She looked ragged and spent. There was very little of the beautiful and elegant Empress to see.


    It might just be an alliance. Or maybe for the Empress and the Demon''s survival, but the Empress and her people from Auraboros did their best in this battle.


    And right now, the Empress stared wide-eyed at the blob while it fought the Serpent God. She was clearly in utter disbelief.


    "This is impossible."


    That was what came out of the Empress'' mouth.


    "What are you talking about?"


    The Priestess asked.


    That question made the Empress nce at the Priestess before giving out a frustrated sigh.


    "Mark is in a state of partial [Manifestation] at this moment."


    "That''s..." The Priestess was confused because of the Empress'' reaction. "Isn''t that a good thing? He''s even able to fight toe to toe with that snake."


    The Priestess was right. At this moment, the blob, no, Mark''s partial [Manifestation], was able to fight face-to-face with the Serpent God. And by the looks of it, the Serpent God was even struggling with the dozens of tentacles besieging it.


    But the Priestess'' question just made the Empress frown even more.


    "That is the issue," The Priestess answered. "[Manifestation], partial or full, should only happen within certain levels, beings at the level of Deities and above. Furthermore, it is not something you would be able to do just because you wanted to. There were Deities and Gods who devoted their lives to creating their [Manifestation] and reached the end of their lifespan without manifesting any. But that Mark. Not only was he able to enter the [Manifestation] state, but also while being below the level of Deity. This situation should be impossible."


    Here, the Priestess realized the gravity of the situation.


    As a powerful being, the Priestess knew that there could be consequences to using a power beyond one''s capacity and capabilities.


    And if what the Empress had said was true, Mark was clearly using a power beyond what he should be able to use and control.


    ROOOOOOOOARRR!!!


    BOOOM!


    The Serpent God''s distressed roar echoed as a few dozen tentacles managed to tangle themselves to several of its tails. And then, the tentacles pulled down, hurling the Serpent God crashing to the ground.


    As the Serpent God roared in pain, more tentacles surged out of the water, trying to pin the Serpent God down. But, of course, the Serpent God retaliated with all its might.


    The Serpent God spewed attacks at the tentacles, destroying most of them. However, some of the attacks continued flying toward Ariake.


    Seeing the iing attack, the Priestess immediately raised her hand and imbued more of her magical energy to the barrier to resist the attack.


    "PUFF!"


    The action caused the Priestess to cough out blood. Her magical energy was already running out. Pushing it more would cause her injuries.


    However, it was not like the Priestess could give up.


    And as if mocking the Priestess'' resolve, another attack, several lightning bolts, from the Serpent God tore through the tentacles and went straight for the barrier.


    Amihan tried to help, but against lightning attacks, her wind maniption barely did anything. In the end, the lightning bolts flew straight to the barrier.


    The Priestess could only raise her hand and try to reinforce the barrier again.


    Unfortunately, as the Priestess tried to, she felt her connection to the barrier vanish. The barrier was still there, but it seemed that Priestess did not have any magical energy left to continue reinforcing it.


    And this was not a good situation. Furthermore, Mark seemed to be oblivious to the attacks reaching the barrier. Something was definitely wrong, just like what the Empress suspected.


    But when the Priestess thought that barrier would shatter, something happened.


    A magic circle appeared on the barrier, which did not only replenish its energy but also enhanced it several times.


    The attacks that reached the barrier did not even shake it this time.


    "What is happening?"


    The Priestess was bbergasted. Many people around were looking at her, thinking it was her doing, but the Priestess was sure it was not her.


    But it was then that something else happened.


    THUD! THUD!


    One after another, the soldiers, the still conscious Priests and Demons, and everyone else with the defense forces, with the exception of the members of Evernight, fell to the ground unconscious.


    The only ones left standing in extreme bafflement were the Priestess, Tsubasa, the Empress, the members of Evernight, and surprisingly, the Prime Minister and the Bureau Chief.


    "What is going on?! Are you okay?!"


    The Prime Minister yelled as he tried to wake up the Field Commander. However, there was no effect at all, even if he gave the poor soldier a few ps.


    "What is happening?"


    The Priestess sighed in relief as she checked a few nearby unconscious Priests. Everyone was just asleep, and there seemed to be no harm that befell over them.


    "Do no fret. Everyone is just asleep."


    A voice echoed into everyone''s ears. And the voice surprisingly came in front, where the barrier was.


    As everyone turned their heads to the owner of the voice they heard just now, they saw a white-robed woman with a golden crown and essories. Everyone felt her clothes were familiar, and they realized that the clothes were simr to the [Divine Vestments] the Priestess was currently wearing. The woman was touching the barrier, causing the magic circle to glow and strengthen the barrier even more.


    Then, the woman walked towards everyone. It was rather hard to gaze at her straight. Her visage gave the feeling of divinity. She was definitely a being above everyone.


    The Priestess gazed at the woman. Her eyes, for some strange reason, were filled with longing. She realized her eyes began to let out tears, and it confused the Priestess even more.


    "It seemed that you might not be able to recognize me, but your soul did, my beloved seamstress."


    The woman spoke as she stood in front of the Priestess after a few strange strides. She traversed a wide distance in a few steps despite seemingly walking at a normal pace.


    But what the woman had said baffled everyone here.


    The woman called the Priestess her seamstress. What was going on?


    Everyone else had zero idea what was happening. However, the members of Evernight had quite a familiar sensation as they gazed at the woman in white robes.


    But then, the answer came as a figure appeared near them.


    "She is the same as me but from a higher realm."


    Magwayen dered as the members of Evernight looked at her.


    The woman in white robes was the avatar of the Goddess of Light, Amaterasu.


    With Amaterasu''s beloved follower in danger, she decided to reveal herself and help out.


    But as if the presence of two Goddesses were not enough, pressure began spreading from another source.


    "Just what do you think you are doing?"


    A familiar voice entered the Priestess'' ears.


    "Sixteenth?"


    The Priestess voiced out in surprise. After all, the [Eye of Amusement] never really tried to appear in public. Yet, here she was with all the witnesses around.


    Unfortunately, Sixteenth was not in the mood to speak to the Priestess. After all, she was here to criticize the involvement of an outsider in this world they managed.

 Chapter 1055 A Short Confrontation, Temporarily Ceasing Hostilities For A Possible Bigger Threat

    ?


    Day 341 - 2:11 - Ruins of Harumi, Reimed City, Ruins of Tokyo


    ROOOARR!!!


    The deafening roar of the Serpent God echoed throughout Tokyo. However, this roar was different from the previous ones it let out.


    Before, it roared in arrogance while it fought together with Gar''m. Its roar contained pain and anger as it faced the retaliation of the people of the Reimed City.


    But now, the roar of the Serpent God was different. It was far different.


    There was no arrogance, no anger, and no pain.


    All its roar had at this time was its struggle to break free and survive.


    Break free from what?


    ROOOARR!!!


    The Serpent God roared again while releasing a barrage of attacks around it. Its target was the endless surge of jelly-like tentacles trying to grab its body. Each attack would destroy dozens of these tentacles. It showed how fragile these tentacles were. However, as these tentacles coiled around the Serpent God''s body, it also showed how strong these tentacles could be, especially when arge amount of them gathered together.


    After all, these very same fragile-looking tentacles were the ones that dragged the Serpent God from the sky to the ground.


    ROOOAR!!!


    The Serpent God tried to fly up. It was dangerous to remain on the ground, surrounded by the inky waters of the giant blob. But as it lifted its head, it suddenly froze, and its body got violently pulled back to the ground.


    Each time the Serpent God shifted its attention, the tentacles would immediately take the opportunity to grab onto the Serpent God''s body. Seeing the tentacles tightening around its tail, the Serpent God immediately unleashed its elemental breath and destroyed everything it touched.


    But like before, new tentacles reced the destroyed ones, which would try to grab onto the Serpent God''s body again.


    There was no escape unless the Serpent God destroyed the enemy before its eyes. The Serpent God knew of that fact. However, how would it defeat an enemy that could eat its direct attacks?


    The Serpent God was finally in peril. It was clearly unhappy with such development.


    ROOOOARRR!!!


    The Serpent God let out another roar, aiming its breath at the ground. As the breath poured down, it spread to the surroundings, destroying as many tentacles as it could, and its attack spread out, reaching the barrier around Ariake.


    ***


    Day 341 - 11:12 PM - Ariake, Reimed City, Ruins of Tokyo


    While the Serpent God and Mark faced each other in their gargantuan battle, another confrontation was happening within Ariake.


    The barriers shed as the Serpent God''s attacks hit them, but the barriers showed no sign of damage.


    The cause of the barrier''s sudden capability to deflect the Serpent God''s attack was the sudden appearance of an otherworldly being.


    It was the sudden appearance of Ancient Japan''s Goddess of Light, Amaterasu.


    As the Priestess and the residents of the Reimed City faced possible extinction, the Goddess of Light had no choice but to take the reins in protecting everyone.


    However, as a Goddess from another realm, an outsider, Earth''s protectors were not happy with her interference.


    The two powerful beings involved in the Priestess'' life stood face to face. And it was clear that the Priestess could not understand what was happening between the two.


    Or maybe the Priestess had no idea about the exact happenings at the end of the Lost Era.


    "Do I have to repeat myself?" Sixteenth aggressively asked Amaterasu. "What do you think you are doing?"


    Sixteenth''s aura red, and that Godly aura began to suffocate everyone present.


    "We already sent away the annoying outsides through a fair deal. We had already gotten rid of those who could take advantage of the current state of this world. Yet, why are you outsiders interfering now? GO BACK TO YOUR WORLDS!"


    The [Eye of Amusement] was definitely not amused by the interference of otherworldly Gods on Earth.


    However, despite the [Eye of Amusement''s] outrage, the Goddess of Light gave a silent stare before she lowered her body and touched the staff the Priestess was holding. The moment she did, all the suffocating pressure that everyone felt vanished as if it never existed.


    After the pressure vanished, Amaterasu finally spoke.


    "You want us to go back?" Amaterasu asked calmly. "Then what will you do afterward? Watch the people here die?"


    Sixteenth''s eyes frowned upon the questioning of the Otherworld Goddess of Light.


    "Bound by your creator''s rules, you can''t do anything but watch," Amaterasu continued. "I would not dare put the life of my seamstress into the hands of the unreliable protectors of this world."


    "This is supposed to be their -"


    Sixteenth tried to argue, but Amaterasu cut her off.


    "Trial, am I correct?" Amaterasu said with a sigh. "A trial, a culling, those are what you protectors of this world say as an excuse for your ipetence,pletely neglecting the fact that you cannot do anything but watch. I would not go out of my way if the cause is natural causes. But there is nothing natural about the incarnation of a monster that my brother had in long ago. And yet, because of the rules left by the creator of this realm, you protectors could not do anything to protect the mortals you are supposed to protect."


    Amaterasu then turned to the ongoing battle outside the barrier.


    "The legend passed down was exaggerated. It might be because of the witnesses'' distortion of the truth or because my brother did not want to show any weakness. But I knew. My brother struggled to fight that monster. There is no way his arrogance would make him treasure a sword from the tail of a weak creature." Amaterasu then turned back to Sixteenth. "And you are saying that a creature like that was the trial these mortals needed to face? It might just be an incarnation, but even if that snake there is five times weaker, there is no way these mortals would survive against it."


    "This is no trial. It is you, protectors, driving these mortals to their demise. Stop with your delusions in trying to justify your realm''s crooked rules."


    Amaterasu added.


    "And besides, what are you angry for?" Amaterasu asked the seething Sixteenth. "I obeyed your realm''s crooked rules. I did not manifest any of my power to interfere with this so-called trial."


    "What are you talking about?!" Sixteenth could not believe what Amaterasu was saying. "Did you already forget what you had just done?"


    But before Amaterasu could say another word, someone else appeared.


    "It is unfortunate, but she is right, Sixteenth. And you should cease your aggression. You will be subject to punishment if your aggressiveness ends up harming anyone here present."


    Another [Eye] appeared and spoke. She was someone that some of the members of Evernight were familiar with.


    She was the [Eye of Interest], Neenth, who came out of the door that opened in empty space. And she was not alone as the [Eye of Excitement], Thirteenth, followed behind her.


    "What are you saying, Neenth?" Sixteenth frowned. "We should eliminate this intruder at once."


    At those words, Neenth sighed.


    "I know where you areing from. However, you know that the intruder in front of you is nothing but an avatar, right? Dealing with them would just be a waste of time as they coulde back as long as the carrier of her blessing is still alive." Neenth then turned to Magwayen. "And it is the same for her."


    The Amaterasu and Magwayen present were just avatars channeled to this world through their blessed ones. If the [Eyes] wanted to oust them and cut their connection to this world, they needed to destroy their blessings. And that also meant killing the bearers of the blessings.


    And killing anyone born of this world would definitely be against their rules, subjecting them to punishment from the world itself.


    While the [Eyes] could destroy these avatars, it was just a waste of time and energy, especially now when the [Eyes] had limited energy due to the limited number of remaining humans on Earth.


    But that was not the only reason at this time.


    "We also have no time for them right now," Neenth continued. "An unexpected event happened, and we needed to prepare in case the worst happened."


    And as Neenth said those words, her eyes focused on the gigantic blob currently fighting the Serpent God.


    Realizing that it was useless to argue in this situation, Sixteenth sighed and followed Neenth''s words.


    "I thought three protectors came to wee me, but it seemed not to be the case," Amaterasu turned her head, also staring at the giant blob. "But, I guess it would not be so surprising for someone like that man to be under the observation of this world''s protectors."


    This time, Thirteenth turned to Mei.


    "Mark''s wife," Thirteenth called. "Is that ring working?"


    What Thirteenth was talking about was the ring Mei was currently caressing. It was the ring on her finger she received from Bath, the ring which should be connecting her to the other pair Mark was wearing.


    But with a worried expression, Mei shook her head.


    Seeing Mei''s reply, Thirteenth reluctantly turned to Magwayen. And knowing what the [Eye of Excitement] wanted to inquire, Magwayen spoke.


    "I also lost my connection with him. It seemed that Mark became isted by his current state from any interference from outside."


    "Aplete istion," Neenth shook her head while holding her book. "This would be a problem. Even I was unable to see through him. We could not tell whether he was conscious, lost control, or if he got taken over."


    "So far, his attention is only focused on the enemy. We can only wait."


    Neenth added.


    But to the surprise of the [Eyes], Mei spoke.


    "He is still fine."


    "Are you sure?"


    Thirteenth asked.


    "Yes. I can feel it."


    It seemed that Mei was only relying on her instinct. As such, the [Eyes] could not take her words for granted. In any case, they wished she was right. After all, they could not afford to fight the Evil God right now while in their weakened states.


    With the attention of the [Eyes] shifting to Mark, Amaterasu lowered her body and helped the Priestess up.


    "The fight is not over yet. I tapped into the inner core of the barrier, but it would notst too long. I need you to learn how to use it yourself, my seamstress."


    Amaterasu said to the Priestess.


    The Priestess stood up with Tsubasa behind her. However, the two, no, not only them. The Prime Minister, the Bureau Chief, and the Empress were also confused due to the sudden, unexpected development.


    However, the two representatives of the Government felt their knees weaken due to the presence of the Godly Beings, unable to ask any questions. On the other hand, the Empress decided to stay silent, not wanting to garner the attention of these beings, especially the [Eyes].


    In the end, it would be up to the Priestess to ask.


    "My Goddess, just what is going on?" The Priestess also turned to the [Eye of Amusement]. "You too, Sixteenth. Can you exin what is happening?"


    As Sixteenth received the question from her candidate, she turned to Neenth. Thetter then nodded, giving permission for Sixteenth to answer.


    And there, the Priestess felt appalled, finally learning that Mark was the same as her, a candidate to lead humanity to survival. But then afterward, confusion came. Why was he a candidate for human survival? Mark was a Demon, after all.


    As the Priestess asked that question, the [Eyes] conveyed the truth that Mark was also a human just a few months ago. But as more information became avable for everyone awake about Mark''s bloodline and the coincidence where nted a Pure Spirt Tree, causing that bloodline to awaken and turn him into a Pureblood Demon, things began to make sense.


    No wonder Mark was able to enter the partial state of [Manifestation] prematurely. He had the bloodline of an Evil God and had the possibility to be a vessel of that God''s reincarnation.


    These truths allowed Mark to be both an opportunity for humanity''s survival and a threat giving way to humanity''s extinction.


    And that was also the cause of the [Eyes''] current wariness to the current situation.


    Now, they could only wait while they watched Mark''s fight with the Serpent God.

 Chapter 1056 Heads And Tails, The Brutal Death Of The Incarnation Of The Yamata-No-Orochi

    ?


    Day 341 - 2:13 PM - Ruins of Harumi, Reimed City, Ruins of Tokyo


    With the hostilities temporarily ceased, everyone watched the scene outside the barrier unfold.


    It might not be the best situation for those who have fallen unconscious due to the presence of the Godly beings that appeared. After all, they were all lying there in the open. However, for the same reason they fell asleep, they were safe. With their arrival, the likelihood of Ariake facing demise in the current situation lowered drastically.


    And now, everyone could only stand alert while they watched Mark fight the Serpent God in an otherworldly battle.


    ***


    Outside the barrier, the world was shaking violently.


    ROOOOOARRRR!!!


    Filled with anger and urgency, the Serpent God roared another stream of elemental attacks against its persistent enemy. It decimated more than half of the tentacles trying to besiege it. A beam of light even tore through the main body of the Giant Blob.


    However, the Giant Blob showed no reaction. Its red eyes and drooling mouth faced the Serpent God without any change in expression.


    Worse, new tentacles reced the destroyed ones, shooting from the tainted waters toward the sky and the Serpent God.


    Once again, the Serpent God faced hundreds of tentacles around it.


    ROOOOAARRR!!!


    The Serpent God let out another roar. The magical storm surged violently.


    With the increased ferocity of the magical storm, its blowing winds felt like countless swords swirling all around the battlefield.


    Ariake''s barrier flickered as it shed with the stronger force from the empowered magical storm. With Amaterasu''s instructions, the Priestess, with her remaining powers, enhanced the barrier far more efficiently than before.


    Despite the Priestess'' dwindling magical energy, the barrier stabilized as it shielded everyone from the de-like winds from outside.


    But the same could not be said for the Giant Blob.


    The enhanced magical storm cut its tentacles to pieces. Here and there, the Giant Blob''s main body slowly chipped apart.


    However, the Giant Blob showed no change in its expression. The magical storm tore its mouth and cut off one of its eyes, but it only wobbled there, staring at the Serpent God.


    Its eyes were on nothing else but the Serpent God.


    The Serpent God was feeling more and more distraught. As a ferocious beast itself, it knew one rule that animals in any universe and realm would know by instinct.


    A predator would never take its eyes away from its prey.


    Right now, the Serpent God was no predator. In the eyes of the Giant Blob, it was the prey.


    The Serpent God stared back at the Giant Blob in anger.


    As a Godly Being and a predatory beast, it could not ept being the prey.


    ROOOOARR!!!


    The Serpent God soared in the sky, finally free from the siege of the tentacles. It immediately flew in a spiral before its heads, even the injured ones, opened their mouths at a certain point in front of them.


    Eight elemental energies converged at one point, creating a white ball of energy that flickered with vibrant colors. Its creation began affecting the world itself as auroras appeared in the sky while violent waves covered the waters.


    As the energies gathered, the world began shaking violently. It was not only Japan. Even the nearby countries began to feel the effects of the Serpent God''s wrath.


    The white sphere flickered with vibrant lights. It was beautiful. However, no one should underestimate its destructiveness.


    Inside the barrier, Amaterasu frowned. The iing attack was nowhere near something the current barrier should be able to defend against. They need to further enhance the barrier at this moment. However, the Priestess was already reaching the bottom of her magical energy reserves.


    But as everyone worried about the situation, something unexpected happened.


    BOOOM!


    The Giant Blob exploded into a cloud-like mist and vanished. Its sudden disappearance immediately emptied the tainted waters around the Reimed City, causing water from other sources, such as Sumida River''s upstream and Tokyo Bay''s outer areas, to violently flood in.


    High volumes of water surged while struggling against the magical storm. It also caused the ground around Tokyo Bay to shake.


    However, the surging water was the least of the current concerns. It was because the sky suddenly darkened a few moments after the blob''s disappearance.


    The Serpent God''s eyes widened as the attack it was preparing suddenly lost its target. Confused, it began looking around, slowing down the process of the preparation of its attack. When the Serpent God finally noticed the sudden change in lighting, it raised several of its heads and looked up in the sky.


    ck mist was gathering in the sky. It was the same ck mist that the Giant Blob exploded into.


    The Serpent God suddenly felt danger. It shifted its body, aiming the attack it was preparing to the sky.


    However, it was a little toote.


    The mist turned to liquid, forming a giant nket of slime in the sky. By the time the Serpent God shifted its aim, the nket of goo was already falling in its direction.


    ROOOARRR!!!


    Caught off-guard and unprepared, the Serpent God roared. It had no choice but to fire its attack prematurely onto the slime-like nket in the sky.


    The giant goo-like nket was falling, and the aurora-like sphere shot into the sky.


    At the midpoint, everyone expected a powerful collision.


    But just before the collision, the goo-like nket sprouted the red pair of eyes from before, before its drooling mouth formed right in front of the magical sphere of destruction.


    And then, the two collided.


    CHOMP!


    And the Giant Blob swallowed the bright sphere into its mouth.


    BOOOM!


    A powerful explosion urred inside the Giant Blob''s body, tearing it apart and sttering its goo all over the ce.


    Stick rain covered all of Reimed City. Many droplets sttered over the barrier in Ariake. Some fell back into the water, while some droplets fell into the ttened areas around the city. Some even fell onto the Serpent God''s body. Lastly, the de-like winds obliterated most of the smaller droplets, erasing them to nothingness.


    The Serpent God''s eyes lit up in excitement while the eyes of witnesses in Ariake shook in grief.


    Was this the end? Did Mark face his demise at this point?


    However, among the witnesses, the person who was supposed to be the most worried was calm.


    Unlike everyone here, Mei could feel something else.


    And all of a sudden, the world shook once again.


    It was not an earthquake. It was not the magical storm either.


    ROOOOOOAARRRRR!!!


    The source of the earthquake was the Serpent God and its sudden wail of misery.


    It was already feeling triumphant. The Serpent God knew it destroyed the enemy it felt fear from.


    But all of a sudden, the Serpent God was enveloped in excruciating pain.


    Its majestic, triumphant pose in the sky vanished in an instant as it fell to the ground without any sign of resistance.


    The Serpent God fell on the ruins of Kachidoki, with half of its body to its tail falling into the crater created by Gar''m''s explosion.


    And after its unceremonious fall, the Serpent God began to il around. It was worse than before. It looked like a lizard''s tail suddenly cut off.


    ROOOOARRR!!!


    The Serpent God continued iling. Everything around it became ttened ground. Its roars continued as it struggled with an enemy no one could see.


    It was when ck goo started emerging from the Serpent God''s body. From under its scales, from between its tails, the joints on its necks, and even from the destroyed eye sockets, ck goo emerged like sweat.


    The Serpent God was oblivious, but the witnesses saw the drops of exploded slime from the Giant Blob scattered around. The drops began moving.


    These drops disgustingly squirmed like slugs at first before they floated into small balls of goo and shot toward the Serpent God.


    Ignoring the intensity of the magical storm, the balls of goo shot from all over the ce, falling like a torrent of rain onto the Serpent God.


    The balls of goo began merging while they slowly covered the Serpent God''s body.


    Seeing what was happening, the Serpent God thrashed its body even more, trying to remove the painful goo trying to cover its body. It was when the goo suddenly sprouted dozens of tentacles that wrapped straight around the Serpent God''s body.


    Around its necks, between its tails, under and above its scales, and even around its mouths, the tentacles that sprouted violently wrapped around the Serpent God''s body.


    RRRRRRRRR!!!


    The Serpent God tried to fight back. However, it was no longer able to roar its struggles.


    And there, arger part of the blob emerged at the nape of the Serpent God. That part formed the Giant Blob''s eyes and drooling mouth.


    The Serpent God saw the menacing predator. It immediately squirmed violently. However, it was to no avail.


    CHOMP!


    The Giant Blob bit onto the back of the neck of the Light-Attribute Head of the Serpent God.


    As it felt the bite, the Serpent God panicked. However, aside from the pain it was already feeling, it did not feel anything from the bite at all. After all, not only did the Giant Blob''s mouth have no teeth, but the scales of the Serpent God were still sturdy.


    The Serpent God began squirming again. It was trying to break free as it thought the Giant Blob''s bites could not do anything to it.


    But then, the Serpent God felt an excruciating pain it never felt before.


    The pain came from the neck the Giant Blob was currently nibbling into.


    It looked like the Serpent God had already forgotten something. Or maybe it did not recognize the fact that the blob was a manifestation of [Miasma].


    That same [Miasma] managed to corrode the scales on the Serpent God''s back before. Now that the [Miasma] transformed into a more powerful and condensed form, it had more strength to corrode the Serpent God''s body.


    The Giant Blob nibbled on the Serpent God''s neck as it struggled in pain. The sturdy scales it was proud of began to chip and crack before its pieces fell off its body.


    CRRRRRRRRRYYYYYYYYYYYYAAAAAAAAAAKKK!!!


    The pain was so much that the Serpent God''s mouths managed to break free from their restraints, only to get restrained by more tentacles.


    And then, the shocking thing happened.


    SNAP!


    RRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!!!!!!!


    The muffled roars of the Serpent God could not even convey the pain, fear, and struggle as the Giant Blob snapped and tore off the Serpent God''s Light-Attribute head.


    RRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!!!!!


    The Serpent God''s blood sttered. It squirmed and rolled around. But all its actions were to no avail as the Giant Blob spat out the decapitated head somewhere before biting onto the next head.


    Everyone watched withplicated expressions as they witnessed the brutality of the Giant Blob.


    One after another, it bit, corroded, snapped, and tore the Serpent God''s remaining seven heads. And if that was not enough, the Giant Blob''s tentacles also made work of the Serpent God''s tails in the same manner.


    After one head, it was one tail. The incarnation Serpent God felt pain far worse than its true self in the Lost Era.


    Back in the Lost Era, it died after being shed in half by the God of Sea and Storms. It was a swift and momentary death after a fierce battle.


    But right now, the incarnation was slowly being torn to pieces.


    At the start, the Serpent God resisted as much as it could. But as the Giant Blob tore more of its tails and heads, its resistance weakened over time.


    It did not take long. The Serpent God in the ruins of Kachidoki, motionless, with only a long stump left of its body, still restrained by the Giant Blob.


    And marking its death, the body of the Serpent God slowly turned to dust before disintegrating into nothingness.


    With the source gone, the magical storm came to an abrupt halt. Strong magical energy still lingered in the surroundings, but it was nothing as harmful as before.


    And in the ce where the Serpent God died, all it left was the Giant Blob wobbling in ce.


    Slowly, the Giant Blob turned its body. Its menacing red eyes turned toward Ariake.


    "Get ready for the worst."


    Neenth voiced out, feeling the dangerous stare from the Giant Blob.


    But to everyone''s surprise, someone dashed out of the barrier.


    With her wings covered in a rainbow sheen, Mei used her [Psycast] ability, [sh Step], which turned her into a bright light, moving swiftly in a straight line.


    At the same time, the Giant Blob moved toward Ariake.


    Right at the northern part of the ruins of Toyosu, Mei hovered in front of the Giant Blob.


    And there, Mei opened her arms in front of the Giant Blob.


    In response, the Giant Blob opened its mouth before swallowing Mei whole.


    Everyone panicked. What was Mei thinking by doing that?


    The [Eyes] immediately rushed over. Even the Priestess and the Empress mustered their remaining energy to chase after the [Eyes]. The Goddesses also followed with less urgency in their faces.


    But unexpectedly, the Members of Evernight, who should be the most worried, only sighed in resignation.


    All of them trusted their leaders. There might be some unexpected factors, but there was one thing they were sure of. Mei might be in deep love, but she was not stupid.


    And for some reason, the connection of the two was far stronger than these Gods would expect.


    The Members of Evernight watched as their trust and belief showed its proof.


    POOOF!!!


    The Giant Blob vanished into an explosion of ck mist before converging into one point.


    And at that converging point, there was Mei, with the barely conscious Mark in her embrace.

 Chapter 1057 Reconstruction, The Reclaimed City Dealing With The Urgent Factors

    Day 342 8:21 AM - Laboratory, Ariake Docks, Ariake, Reimed City


    A day after the attack. The restoration efforts for the Reimed City began.


    Soldiers ran around with construction materials on their shoulders. The experimental [Vanguard] armors intended forbat now functioned as heavy construction machinery. And the soldiers aside, many [Frencers] and nonbatants began helping with the restoration efforts.


    The first and most urgent projects were the bridges and proper dwellings.


    All bridges connecting the Reimed City''sndfill inds fell due to the battle. The ind the territories of Ariake and Shinonome shared was now isted from the rest of the inds and even the maind.


    As for the dwellings, the current shelters were not enough tofortably amodate everyone. These shelters were supposed to amodate only workers in Ariake, military andboratory affiliates, and certain important people. These were not shelters designed for public use. As such, with the influx of survivors from the other parts of the Reimed City, these shelters were full to the brim.


    Assigning the dwellings could be worked on immediately. Converting some factories and facilities for temporary shelters was possible. However, the same was not possible for the bridges.


    Rebuilding bridges in the current state of the Reimed City would not be easy. Foundations, machinery, materials, and many other factors, there was a whole lot to consider and n if they wanted to connect Ariake and Shinonome to other parts of the city and to the maind.


    However, despite how hard it was, building bridges would be one of the priorities. The remaining people of the Reimed City could not remain isted from the rest of the country for too long. With therge part of the Reimed City pulverized to ttened ground, the supplies they had left and saved were too little to support therge poption. This catastrophe might have reduced the city''s poption to less than a third of it initially was. Nheless, that third was still near forty thousand people. The reserves would notst long to support them all.


    The remains of the government and the military needed to gather as many supplies as possible in order to support everyone. They also need more materials for the reconstruction. As such, building new bridges was crucial.


    Without any bridges, the military could only rely on the boats and the Amaterasu Warship to traverse the waters separating Ariake from the maind. This option, too, was not viable in the long run due to the limited supply of fuel they had left.


    Barges would be a temporary solution, too. However, it also came with more dangers.


    Fortunately, there was a temporary option left that they could use, although it also meant another debt to the group that came to their rescue.


    It was to ask the Evernight Group, specifically Louis Morgan, to raise another seabed wall to connect Ariake and Toyosu.


    And that was something they did. The Prime Minister personally asked Mark for the favor. And Mark, taking the opportunity, requested a copy of all the development blueprints of the [Vanguard Armors].


    Normally, the Prime Minister would not agree to such a request. The [Vanguard Armors] were their trump cards. A research that was only supposed to belong to their country.


    However, a sturdy bridge they could use to hasten the reconstruction in exchange for a far-from-finished experimental product was quite a good deal. Thus, the Prime Minister epted, although the scientists working on the project were not too happy about it.


    With that deal done, Louis received the task from Mark to build a two-hundred-meter rampart across the channel between Ariake and Toyosu. It was wide enough to be traversed by two heavy-duty vehicles and strong enough to allow tanks on it without breaking.


    Because of the bridge Louis created, the reconstruction immediately started.


    But if there was one unexpected thing, it was that Toyosu ended up with a single building intact.


    It was the TEPCO Building, which vanished due to the machinations the Mitsui Family tried to pull.


    The vanished building reappeared at dusk while the soldiers were surveying the ttened Toyosu. After it reappeared, the soldiers immediately surrounded it and scouted its premises. After all, it was where the traitors from the Mitsui n were left.


    Unfortunately, what the soldiers found inside were the cold bodies of the elders and the n head after they killed themselves. It was unknown why they killed themselves. However, people spected that they failed the entrapment of the Priestess and the Empress, and the only way to escape the shame and consequences was to end their own lives.


    As for the Mitsui n, only four people remained. First and second were Ren and Sayuri, who participated greatly in the battle. Their family might have been traitors, but no one med the two for the things they had done for the city during the crisis. As for the remaining two, it was unexpectedly the mistress of the Mitsui n and the second young master.


    Same with Sayuri, the two were not really tied tightly with the n. They were following the n since they had no other choice, and the n Head also left them out during the nning of the betrayal. Unfortunately, unlike the sisters, the two had to remain hidden from the public. They still had yet to prove their innocence, after all.


    After the battle, the ck Lotus became the prospect to be the most influential group in the Reimed City. Not only their contribution to the battle was pretty high, but there was also a clear increase in the strength of their members upon their return. Many people witnessed their new prowess as they fought the Demons and saved people from [Miasmic Residues].


    Unexpectedly, there was another territorial group that remained. It was the Yakuza Group, Dawn. It seemed that all other territorial groups got roped in by the betrayal of the Mitsui n. On the other hand, Dawn never received any proposal from the Mitsui n head. In the first ce, Dawn''s leader and the Mitsui n head were at odds with each other. Due to these circumstances, Dawn would be one of the pirs of the Reimed City in the near future.


    Aside from reconstruction and supplies, there was a third goal the people of the Reimed City had to work on. It was to secure the immediate area around the city. It was the task of territorial groups before. It was to patrol the streets of the surrounding ruins in the maind and keep the immediate areas as free from the [Infected] and [Mechids] as possible.


    But right now, there were no ruins to secure. There was nothing but nds devoid of anything. The effects of the magical storm the Serpent God created seemed to have spanned over a few kilometers, creating a barren wastnd centered around the Reimed City.


    The effects of the magical storm were both a bad and a good thing.


    Without any ruins to block the view, any threat entering the wastnd could be seen from afar without hindrance. On the other hand, it was the same for the Reimed City, which could now be visible from far away without needing to travel near the coastal areas.


    The problem was that while the current barrier the Priestess created blocked the [Infected] and [Mechids] from being attracted to the presence of humans in the city, many of them still gathered because of the battle and the lingering strong magical energy in the surroundings.


    Not only were these [Infected] and [Mechids] dangerous to leave alone, but if the [Infected] were to hang around exposed to the lingering magical energy, the chances of them acquiring magical mutations would be higher.


    Thus, the task of clearing these dangerous enemies fell into the hands of the ck Lotus and the Temple. It was unexpected since the Temple''s duty was always to protect defensively and not to attack. Such a task supposedly belonged to territorial groups, and Dawn should be the one taking it. However, unlike the ck Lotus, arge number of members of Dawn were either dead or injured as they tried to protect their territory from the [Mechids''] invasion. While the Dawn group remained, they were not in the right state to fulfill all their supposed duties.


    Speaking of the Temple, which was one of the driving forces in yesterday''s battle, the other two forces with the same contribution were nowhere to be seen.


    It was because most of the members from the Auraboros Japan Branch and Evernight had already returned to their respective homes.


    The Empress had left as soon as her subordinates regained consciousness after the battle. Though to say, she looked more like she was fleeing. Well, with two Goddesses and three [Eyes] present, the Empress would rather get away from the Reimed City and hide inside her pce. However, she seemed to have ns to return to the Reimed City once things had settled down.


    As for Evernight, there was really no need for them to stay for a prolonged period of time. Their members only arrived due to the urgency of the situation. Now that the crisis ended, they had to go back to their own duties left at home. Some of them thought to go sightseeing, but considering everything was already in ruins, there was nothing to sightsee. Thus, they returned without much fuss.


    The only ones left of the Evernight were the initial group.


    And right now, the said group was spending their free time in a dedicated suite in Ariake. It was not exactly a hotel suite or something simr. It was actually a workshop within theboratory, hastily renovated to amodate their stay. After all, their base in Kachidoki became part of the crater Gar''m''s explosion created.


    ***


    Mark stared at the white ceiling. The fluorescent light was bright but not painful to the eye. He was lying down motionless. Considering everything that happened yesterday, he really did not want to move around today.


    During the battle against Shin, Gar''m, and the Yamata-no-Orochi, Mark sure gained some valuable knowledge and experience. But to say, he really did not expect those experiences to include getting knocked out in the middle of the battle and then getting out of control and bing a blob monster.


    That was right. Mark had lost control of himself during the fight. He barely even remembered turning into a giant blob. At that time, all he had was hunger and the will to devour the enemy in front of him.


    Fortunately, all that hunger diminished after he defeated the Serpent God. Finally, Mark turned around menacingly at thest minute before wobbling toward Ariake. It was because Mark could barely remain conscious and had no idea how to return back to normal. Fortunately, Mei picked him up at that moment. Her presence caused him to calm down, which automatically dispelled his transformation.


    When the [Eyes] arrived, Mark did not even have the energy to talk to them. However, they only came to ensure Mark did not get taken over by the malicious entity they were expecting. After they confirmed that Mark was still Mark, they seemed relieved. Neenth immediately bid farewell, while Sixteenth returned to apany her candidate.


    As for Thirteenth, she was still here.


    THUG.


    Mark felt a rather strong tug on his hair as hey down motionlessly.


    "Can you do it gently? The younger girls are doing better than you."


    Mark said, ncing at Thirteenth as she held a few strands of Mark''s hair.


    "I''m not used to this, you know? But unexpectedly, this is pretty fun."


    Thirteenth replied with a child-like smile.


    What was Thirteenth doing? Well, she was rather bored. That was why she decided to join Abbygale and Miracle as they yed with Mark''s hair, putting hair ties and hair decorations on Mark while he rested on his bed.


    Seeing an [Eye] ying like a little girl sure was quite a surreal sight. But well, it was no problem since it coincided with her current mission. It was to monitor Mark. After all, weird things clearly happened to him during the battle.


    Mark fell silent with a short sigh. He only wanted to rest, and his hair became a toy for the little girls to y on. It was not bad, really. Well, only if not for the slight pain on his scalp when they strongly pull on his hair.


    The rest of the girls were also present. However, I and Emika were just watching, but Mei and Amihan were ying along while teaching the little girls how to do braids and stuff. Yes, Mark had turned into their practice dummy.


    Well, this was not a bad way to spend time while resting. After all, they had many things to do after this.


    For example, to search for Shin, who managed to escape.

 Chapter 1058 Losses And Gains, Going Out For The Loot Acquired After The Battle

    ?


    Day 342 - 1:20 PM - Kachidoki Crater, Reimed City, Ruins of Tokyo


    It was a cloudy early afternoon, and the cold winter breeze blew all over Japan.


    However, such cold air was absent around the crater left in Kachidoki as armed soldiers and select people investigated the area.


    "It''s really hot around here. It feels like summer."


    Keiko voiced out as she removed the scarf around her neck.


    "Stopining and look around silently," Ren sighed. "Maybe we can at least find some scrap to collect."


    "Is there even anything to find here?" Keiko replied. "Everything got ttened to the ground."


    Ren led her group from the ck Lotus to investigate the aftermath in Kachidoki. It was originally the territory of the ck Lotus Group. Their group leading the investigation in Kachidoki had concrete justification.


    And to say. The members of the ck Lotus werepletely dismayed by the current appearance of the previously bustling Kachidoki.


    Gar''m''s explosion razed the ground and bathed everything in mes. Then the Magical Storm pulverized everything else still standing.


    Now, Kachidoki, no, every territory within the Reimed City and the surrounding areas in the maind became a vast wastnd devoid of anything. If not for the barrier the Priestess created, even Ariake and the remaining parts of Shinonome would have suffered the same fate.


    Ren carefully approached the edge of the crater. Water from the Tokyo Bay had already filled the crater. However, the water inside boiled in high temperatures, a testament to Gar''m''s magical energy still lingering within the crater.


    While Ren''s eyes panned across the crater and in the northern direction, she gave out another sigh of dismay.


    The location Ren was looking at was where the base of the ck Lotus stood before. Now, it was nothing but a sunken part of the crater.


    Ren raised her head, looking at the cloudy winter sky.


    "First, zombies. Then, a catastrophe changed Earth, bringing down robotic invaders from space. Hostile Demons also continued to cause problems. And now, Deities and Gods. This world is not giving us humans any leeway to survive peacefully."


    Ren said in a tone filled with uncertainty.


    In her entire life, Ren had seen many things. Being a member of the Mitsui n, a warrior n that produced both Samurais and Ninjas, she knew many things that normal people thought to be things of fiction and fantasy. Yet, true Deities and Gods still shook her beliefs as a human.


    "We are fortunate this time around."


    Tadashi spoke as hisdy stared into the sky in contemtion.


    "Yes, we truly are."


    Ren agreed with her subordinate''s statement.


    Considering the things that happened in the past few weeks, the ck Lotus sure was blessed bydy luck. What could have happened if their group were not the ones who met Mark''s group in the ruins of Tokyo? What if it were the other territorial groups instead?


    If ck Lotus did not find them first, then there would be no ck Lotus now. The machinations of the Mitsui n had almost killed them, and the ones that saved the ck Lotus were Mark''s group. Mark even helped them grow stronger with various means to return the kindness Ren''s group gave to Mark and his members.


    Ren looked at her hand. It began transforming, showing a sturdy carapace that even bullets could not prate. Mark did not tell her anything as he gave her this ability, but she knew. It was the same ability as the [Named Infected] in Oshiage.


    It meant that Mark did not only have the ability to turn people into [Ability Holders] but also transfer the abilities of powerful [Infected] into other humans. This ability was clearly the reason why Mark''s group had many powerful people. It was because they did not have to gamble with their lives in order to be [Ability Holders]. Furthermore, he could also give [Ability Holders] more abilities, which should be impossible.


    With Mark, it was possible. Both Ren and Keiko were good examples of this. The two were already powerful [Ability Holders]. Yet, the two of them were given new abilities by Mark.


    And thinking about these things, Ren realized.


    "We are the ones who had a debt to pay, aren''t we?"


    Ren said with a bitter smile and received no response but the same kind of smile from those around her.


    It was true, after all.


    While the ck Lotus group was having such a discussion, the center of their conversation unexpectedly appeared.


    Swooping down to the ground from the sky, Marknded near the crater with a creepy-looking child following beside him.


    Well, the child''s appearance was not that scary. After all, there were all kinds of [Ability Holders] that had grown things that a regr human body did not have. And for this child, it was only an extra number of eyes. Yet, everyone felt scared and suffocated whenever their eyes fell on the child. Furthermore, the child could fly without wings and follow Mark. She was definitely no mere child.


    "What are you doing here? Are you good to move around already? I heard you overexerted yourself."


    Ren asked Mark. She had seen most of the things that happened during the battle, although she also fell unconscious before it all ended. They all knew that Mark was their savior and that his body took quite a toll to win that battle.


    In fact, many people wanted to pay Mark a visit and convey their gratitude for saving the remaining people of the Reimed City. However, they all stopped the notion to do so when they learned he was recuperating.


    "I''m fine. Well, mostly," Mark answered. "My whole body feels sore, and my muscles are aching badly. But I don''t feel the need to rest somehow. That''s why I went out a bit for a walk."


    Mark did not feel the need to rest. It was most likely because his entire body was brimming with power it was not used to. In fact, it might also be the actual reason his body feels sore and aching. It was because his body might be turning into something that could handle that new power.


    The pain in his body Mark was currently feeling was quite simr to when he consumed a crystal with a stored mutation.


    "I see."


    Ren nodded. She had gone through rigorous training even when she was a child. That kind of training also made her feel sore a lot of times, but it also made her move around more despite the pain.


    "But why here?" Keiko chimed in with a shrug. "There''s nothing to see here any more."


    "Yeah, the only thing left is that crater."


    Mark replied as his eyes looked in a certain direction. His eyes then showed a genuine hint of frustration that even Ren and the others noticed.


    "Is something wrong?"


    Ren could not help but ask, although she was not really expecting an answer.


    However, it seemed Mark really was frustrated that he did not care and let out his thoughts.


    "My base," Mark replied with a slightly angry tone. "I finally managed to buy my own house. Now, not even the lot remained."


    Mark was poor. He might have a house to stay, but he was barely scraping by on everything else. It was not surprising that even if he did not show it, being able to buy his own property was a great aplishment for him.


    But, unfortunately, the house he bought was destroyed. Not even the empty lot remained as it became part of the crater.


    "It really makes me want to capture that bastard''s soul and tear it to pieces eternally."


    Mark mumbled.


    "Did you say something?"


    Ren asked, not hearing his mumbles clearly.


    "Nothing."


    Mark shook his head.


    "Sir," Tadashi spoke. "If you really want another property, you can ask the government. You should also be able to ask them to build a building of your choice. I doubt they will deny you the privilege. No, they might even be eager to give you the favor."


    Tadashi''s suggestion was right. Not only would it lessen their debt of gratitude to Marka and his group, but also strengthen their ties to the city. If there was something that the Reimed City needed the most right now, it was powerful people like Mark.


    "I know that," Mark replied. "But the firsts still weigh heavier."


    Understanding what Mark was saying, everyone could only sigh in their hearts.


    "Anyway, I have another reason toe here."


    Mark said, taking everyone''s attention.


    "And that is?"


    Ren asked.


    "There," Mark pointed at the bottom of the water-filled crater. "I doubt the residual energy in the surroundings can make the crater boil. There should be something inside."


    Ren and the others were surprised. But then again, they were no experts in magical arts to realize the fact.


    "I''ll jump in."


    Mark jumped into the crater, followed by Thirteenth, before anyone could react. They tried to watch Mark and the girl, but none of them could not stay too close for a long time due to the high temperature and the steam.


    As for Mark, he soared into the steam-filled crater with Thirteenth. Thirteenth was unaffected by the temperature. On the other hand, Mark had ayer of [Miasma] on his body to offset the heat.


    The two reached the center of the crater. The temperature was several times hotter than the edge. It was clear that there was really something underwater.


    Thus, after creating a barrier of wind around him using the [Wind Maniption Mental Crystal], Mark flew into the water at the center of the crater.


    Suddenly, Mark felt a tug on his right wrist. One might think Thirteenth was trying to get his attention, but she was following to his left. As Mark looked at his wrist, he saw the [Fire Maniption Mental Crystal] popping out of the [PsyCrystal]. It then began flying in a specific direction.


    Mark had seen this behavior from the crystals before. It was also how he found the Mermaid, Mirielle. The [Fire Maniption Mental Crystal] was definitely getting attracted to something of the same origin.


    That origin should be Gar''m''s power.


    Mark followed the crystal to the bottom of the crater, which was a few dozen meters deep underwater. And as they got closer, Mark began to see something glowing in the distance.


    Flying closer, Mark realized what it was. It was not the first time he had seen one of these.


    It was the core of a [Caorthannach]. It was the same kind of Demonic Creature who fought with Diwata Danaya''s predecessor in the Eastern Mountains of Quezon.


    Seeing the glowing core before his eyes, Mark realized. It was Gar''m''s core, and the me Demon Deity was originally a [Caorthannach].


    The [me Maniption Mental Crystal] hovered above the core and began recharging itself with the magical energy the core emanated. Mark did not realize that this was possible. It seemed that the [Mental Crystals] could actually recharge themselves faster using magical energy from the same source.


    Mark ordered the [me Maniption Mental Crystal] to fly back into its storage. He then created a bubble of [Miasma] to encase the core and confine its energy.


    With this, Mark managed to snag another extremely valuable treasure. It could also be considered to be Gar''m''s payment for all the problems he caused Mark.


    But, well, it was not enough of a payment. Mark definitely valued his first-bought house more than this carcass of a dead bastard.


    And now, Mark had two cores. At the least, he could use Gar''m''s core to recharge the crystal, but he had yet to find actual use for these cores aside from being a heater.


    With the core retrieved, the temperature of the crater began to lower. It might still take a while, but the water should reach normal temperatures after some time.


    Mark easily got one of the things he came outside for. After retrieving the core, Mark bid his farewell to the members of the ck Lotus before flying away.


    Under the cloudy sky, Mark flew north and out of the zone affected by yesterday''s battle.


    Mark wanted to test something else.


    Since Mark''s ring could not store the cores for some reason, he put it down somewhere safe.


    Mark then took something out of his ring while Thirteenth watched him. It was a sword with a Western-style de and an Eastern-style hilt and ornaments, currently covered with rather ominous aura.


    It was the first item Mark acquired in the battle against the Yamata-no-Orochi.


    The legendary sword, [Kusanagi-no-Tsurugi]. It was the sword that Susanoo found in one of the tails of the Yamata-no-Orochi. It was also the same sword that became the catalyst for the birth of its incarnation.


    With the incarnation of the [Yamata-no-Orochi] dead, the sword fell into Mark''s hands.


    And Marks''s goal in going out to this deste ce was to make this sword submit.


    It was because of a specific reason.


    ROOOOOARRR!!!


    Just like Ignis, a Demon Sword. The legendary sword of the past seemed to contain quite the aggressive soul of a beast inside.

 Chapter 1059 Three Choices, Trying To Subdue The Sword From The Myths Of Japan

    ?


    Day 342 - 1:32 PM - Aftermath Zone, Chuo City, Ruins of Tokyo


    ROOOOOARRR!!!


    A ferocious roar echoed inside Mark''s head while the sword he held in its hands shook violently.


    Mark could not help but frown. That roar echoing inside his head brought a worse feeling than having dogs bark loudly beside both his ears at the same time.


    "Shut up."


    Mark grumbled as his eyes glowed red, sending his suppressing thoughts onto the resisting sword.


    ROOOOOOARR!!!


    However, instead of going quiet after Mark''s words, the sword roared even louder as it resisted Mark''s suppression.


    "This is one tough worm, isn''t it?"


    Mark said, insulting the sword and riling it up even more.


    "Are you sure you want to do this now?" Thirteenth asked Mark. "You had just experienced what it is like to be influenced by something and almost lose control. Now, you''re trying to subdue a sword with an aggressive consciousness. I think you are pushing yourself too much. Don''t me me if you actually lose control of yourself."


    "This one''s fine," Mark replied, knocking his left hand on the handguard of the Kusanagi-no-Tsurugi. "I''m notpletely sure, but the problem before might be because I absorbed the soul of that Sealed Demon Deity. It caused me to be more vulnerable to the residue of his soul and the nature of [Miasma], which came from him. I also absorbed too much [Miasma]. If I keep it in check, I should be fine."


    It was not wrong to say that Mark let his guard down. He entered a state of epiphany in the middle of the battle and let the true nature of [Miasma] take over.


    The difference this time was that the spirit inside the sword, while being just a fragment, was intact. If it tried to possess Mark''s body, they would end up in a standoff inside Mark''s own subconscious world. In that case, it would be Mark''s automatic win. After all, a Sealed Demon Deity and an Elder Cultivator all lost against Mark in the same circumstances.


    Even Ignis could only submit to Mark after experiencing the same thing.


    And now, Mark was trying to make the Kusanagi-no-Tsurugi submit and be his sword.


    Though Mark really had no confidence in this one. Ignis was easy since his spirit was born from human resentment, thus creating a humanoid spirit capable of human thoughts and emotions. On the other hand, the spirit inside the Kusanagi-no-Tsurigi was of a beast''s spirit, not to mention it was a fragment from a Godly Beast. It had the arrogance and pride of a Godly Being while having the ferociousness and instincts of a beast. Unfortunately, it did not seem to inherit an intellect on the level of a human''s. It was likely because it was just a fragment, and a fragment clearly did not have everything of its original soul.


    In any case, Mark wanted to try.


    "Stand back a bit," Mark told Thirteenth. "I''m going to force this worm, so it might go wild."


    "No, don''t mind me," Thirteenth replied mockingly, with her eyes staring at the Kusanagi-no-Tsurugi. "I''m not weak to be thrown away by the futile resistance of a worm."


    It looked like Thirteenth caught on to what Mark was doing and decided to jump in.


    And it was working.


    RUMBLE!


    Being mocked by lower beings was definitely not something an arrogant God would endure. The Kusanagi-no-Tsurugi began shaking even more. Furthermore, it was not only the sword but the surroundings too. It was like there was a mini-earthquake centered around Mark.


    But to the anger of the sword, Mark scoffed. His eyes continued to glow, applying pressure to the spirit inside the sword.


    Ignis, hanging on Mark''s back, shivered in fear. It knew what Mark was doing. If Ignis did not submit to Mark, he might also have experienced this kind of thing. And the past Ignis would definitely get its spirit destroyed by this much pressure.


    ROOOOOARRR!!!


    The spirit of the Kusanagi-no-Tsurugi was struggling in pain. However, submitting was thest in its thoughts as it continued to resist.


    As the contention between Mark and the sword continued, the magical pressure around them produced by their fight increased. It was to the point that those with heightened senses felt something was happening somewhere.


    Mark red at the Kusanagi-no-Tsurugi in his hand. He was waiting for it to try to possess him. However, it was not doing so for some reason.


    "This is annoying," Mark grumbled, not minding the violent shaking around him. "If it''s resisting this much, how did that guy Amaterasu give this to manage to use it?"


    Mark''s question was on point. Several people owned this sword in the past. The two first owners might be Gods, but thest to use this sword''s power was human.


    "Because in that past, the spirit in this sword is sealed."


    A familiar voice answered Mark''s question.


    When Mark nced to the side, there was a woman with a white robe and golden ornaments.


    With a Godly glow around her visage, it was clear who it was.


    "So, the seal got broken?"


    Mark asked.


    "It dissipated, to be exact," Amaterasu replied. "After all, it had been a very long time since the seal was applied to this sword. Furthermore, it did not seem to be stored within the scabbard we made to make sure its seal would not easily be undone. It was to no surprise for the seal to finally lose its effectiveness."


    Nothingsts forever, as they had said. Even something created by a Godly Being would vanish someday. It just happened to be just the right time for the seal on the Kusanagi-no-Tsurugi to dissipate, bringing forth such a devastating amount of destruction.


    "Can you seal this again?"


    Mark asked Amaterasu.


    However, the Goddess of Light could only shake her head.


    "There is very little I could do with this avatar, and resealing that sword is not one of those."


    Just like Magwayen, who was also using an avatar to exist in this foreign world, Amaterasu was the same.


    "What about the Priestess?"


    Mark asked. After all, the Priestess should have some sealing techniques since she was an Onmyouji.


    "There is no point in letting her try," Amaterasu stopped Mark. "A Godly Creature can only be sealed by another Godly Creature. It is unless you want to resort to sacrificing lives to create the seal. And even if you do, you will still need an appropriate sealing method. That is something outside my expertise."


    The kind Goddess of Light. It was no surprise that she barely had any knowledge of brutal methods to do things.


    But then, Mark turned his eyes to Thirteenth.


    "Don''t look at me," Thirteenth grumbled. "You know there is no way I can do that even if I know how to. Unless you want me to destroy it, I can if that is the case."


    The [Eyes] had such restrictions, after all. Of course, destroying the sword was possible for Thirteenth. After all, it was their job to rid this world of such influence left by foreign Gods of the past.


    Well, Mark would not let her destroy it.


    "What can we do then?" It was Mark''s turn to grumble. "I have another method, only if this tries to possess me, but it''s not trying to."


    Amaterasu seemed curious about Mark''s methods. However, as she opened her mouth, she decided not to ask. Instead, she exined the answer.


    "It can''t possess you."


    That statement made Mark turn his head.


    "The spirit in this sword had the ability to amplify anger. It will amplify that anger to the point the user gets drowned in it. Only then will it be able to possess its user and turn it into a beastly being."


    Mark remembered Spera''s reports while Ren and Sayuri fought Keiji. It was clearly the same symptoms.


    And here, Amaterasu stared straight at Mark.


    "But a [Broken Empath] like you had no such emotions. And even if there is, it is too little to be amplified."


    A [Broken Empath]. It was an [Empath] who had lost his own emotions due to the influence of the absorbed emotions umting over the years. Mark might have ovee the chance of bing crazy and possibly became the strongest [Empath] on Earth. However, he was still left with such side effects, and now, such a title.


    Mark''s eyes fell on the Kusanagi-no-Tsurugi. So, this was why the sword was not trying to possess him.


    "This sword is a lost cause, isn''t it?"


    Mark frowned. The spirit inside the sword was resisting too much. Unless Mark wanted to destroy the spirit, there was no way he would be able to use this sword. And if the spirit got destroyed, it was likely that this sword would be an ordinary sword.


    But this time, a different voice entered their ears.


    "Why don''t you let your Demon Sword eat it then?"


    It was a woman with a bluish-ck gradient dress, the Visayan Goddess of the Underworld, Magwayen.


    "They just keep popping out everywhere."


    Thirteenth said in a hostile grumble.


    Not paying attention to Thirteenth, Mark asked Magwayen.


    "What do you mean?"


    "I meant just exactly what I had said. Let your Demon Sword eat this sword. Don''t lump these swords with logic from normal swords. The swords you have on your back and in your hand are not just swords. They are also living beings. Furthermore, your Demon Sword held some of the abilities from your [Miasma]. If it is your Demon Sword, it should be possible."


    "Is that really possible?" Amaterasu asked. "A Demon Sword''s spirit should have no strength to absorb a spirit within a sword from a God''s body."


    "It surely won''t," Magwayen agreed. "But only if the Demon Sword''s owner did not interfere."


    This time, everyone''s eyes fell on Mark, who was confused.


    Here, Magwayen continued.


    "You wanted that sword''s spirit to enter your subconscious, but it would not due to the circumstances exined before. On the other hand, your Demon Sword''s spirit can enter and exit at yourmand. Then, as the two spirits began to absorb each other, why don''t you make your Demon Sword''s spirit drag the enemy into your subconscious? That will work while they are in the middle of absorbing each other."


    Amaterasu and Thirteenth were looking at Magwayen. What she was saying was just unbelievable and beyond the knowledge of the two. Was it really possible?


    "Oh, and with this method, you can''t stop the fusion. So, can''t really have two swords."


    Magwayen added, knowing what Mark really wanted when he tried subduing the Kusanagi-no-Tsurugi.


    The shaking in the surroundings continued. Mark was still putting pressure on the sword''s spirit, but the stalemate did not change at all. Subduing the Kusagi-no-Tsurugi was impossible. In this case, Mark only had three options.


    First, keep the sword for now. However, it came with the risk of someone bing influenced by it before turning into another disaster.


    Second, it was to destroy the sword, as Thirteenth had said.


    Andstly, what Magwayen suggested. Mark would lose the Kusanagi-no-Tsurugi, but Ignis would get a power-up.


    Then, there was only one thing Mark would choose.


    "Ignis, are you up to the task?"


    Mark asked, causing the sword on his back to fly out of its scabbard and hover in front of him.


    Inside Mark''s mind, Ignis answered.


    "I don''t really know, Master. But if you want to, I have no choice."


    That was right. Ignis had no other choice but to obey Mark.


    Ignis looked at Mark''s eyes and could only sigh.


    Mark then turned to Magwayen.


    "How should I start?"


    Seeing Mark ept her suggestion, Magwayen smiled as she instructed Mark how to do it.


    After receiving the instructions, Mark held Ignis in his right hand and the resisting Kusanagi-no-Tsurugi in his left.


    Then, Mark began to slowly cross the des of the two swords.


    Mark could move Ignis without problems. However, the other sword was doing its best to resist.


    Without hesitation, Mark put more pressure on the spirit of the Kusanagi-no-Tsurugi and more strength into his hands.


    However, it was not enough.


    Thus, Mark began to transform into his demonic form, unleashing more of his power.


    The ground shook even more. It was the same for the space around Mark, making Thirteenth and the two Goddesses take a few steps back.


    Finally, the des of the two swords in Mark''s hands crossed. At the same time, the spirits of the two swords shed as they tried to devour each other.


    Mark''s eyes focused. It was time to drag this battle into his own world.

 Chapter 1060 [Divine Demon Sword], The Rebirth Of Ignis From A Western Sword Into An Oriental Sword

    ?


    Day 342 - 1:45 PM - Aftermath Zone, Chuo City, Ruins of Tokyo


    A dome of energy spread out with Mark at its center. Violent winds surged inside the dome, seen from the rapid movement of dust forced out from within.


    The inside of the dome of energy was like a weaker energy storm, simr to what the Yamata-no-Orochi caused during its rampage. Only this time, the energy storm was smaller as it only came from the Kusanagi-no-Tsurugi Mark held.


    Of course, the dome was not only created by the Divine Sword. Mark''s Demonic energy and Ignis'' aura also caused it to form.


    Outside, the dome of energy might look harmless. However, anyone stepping inside it would be riddled with wounds from the sharp and violent winds. It could even be deadly for those without resistance.


    Nheless, Mark stood still within that surging wind. His eyes did not even blink once as he focused on the two swords in his hands.


    And then, a strong surge of wind spread out of the dome, making Thirteenth''s hair flutter strongly. As for the two Goddesses, they remained unaffected since the bodies of their avatars were ethereal.


    After the surge of wind, Mark stood still within the dome of energy with both swords'' des crossed tightly. However, his eyes were out of focus. And while violent energies continued to surge out of the swords, the spirits they had seemed to have vanished.


    "I can''t believe this."


    Amaterasu voiced out in eptance as she saw Mark''s current state.


    While Magwayen did mention the method earlier, Amaterasu was still quite unconvinced.


    Even among Gods, very few could open a world within their subconscious. And those few had the highest potential to be Gods of Creation. Yet, Amaterasu witnessed such a rare thing on a mere mortal.


    Now that Amaterasu witnessed the fact in action, she could not help but feel a little interested in the strange Demon before her eyes.


    "Don''t you dare try."


    Magwayen suddenly said, not caring about the difference in her status to a Goddess of Light from a higher realm.


    "I am merely interested. I am not a person who would distastefully steal someone else''s blessed one."


    Amaterasu gave out a kind but also bitter smile. She did not expect the Visayan Goddess of the Underworld to be too protective of her person.


    To the side, Thirteenth could only shrug. She wished she could just kick these annoying outsiders out of this world. In the end, she decided to ignore the two and focus on Mark.


    However, it seemed that what Mark was doing caught some attention.


    A familiar figure shed from ce to ce. The person stepped on the river, causing the water under her feet to momentarily turn to ice as she vanished as soon as she took the step.


    Amaterasu looked at the approaching figure. Her eyes showed kindness as she weed the figure of her seamstress.


    "You have arrived."


    Amaterasu greeted the surprised Priestess with a kind smile.


    "My Goddess... I came because I felt something, but what is happening here?"


    Ise Hikaru, the Priestess, respectfully asked Amaterasu before panning her eyes on the otherworldly cast gathered in this ce.


    "He is sorting his loot," Magwayen spoke. "At least, that is what he had in mind."


    The Priestess stared at the familiar yet unfamiliar Goddess of the Underworld. Then, she looked at Mark and the swords he held before noticing that Mark''s eyes seemed to be out of focus.


    But before the Priestess could say anything more, Magwayen asked her.


    "Can you protect him for a little bit? Although it might not be necessary, there is still a low chance of any disturbance disrupting everything."


    Although the Priestess had some questions, she did not mind epting the request. Compared to Mark''s help to the Reimed City, protecting him for a short period was a small task. However, considering the powerful dome of energy surrounding him, protection might not be necessary at all. It was just his Goddess being a little too overprotective.


    But then, it seemed that Mark indeed needed some protection. It was because some shambling figures showed up at the border of the aftermath zone from the ruins beyond. It was no surprise that what Mark was doing attracted some attention.


    In any case, there was nothing much the Priestess needed to do. She just erected a smaller barrier simr to what she used to protect Ariake. Because of Mark, the effect of hiding presences did not seem to work properly. However, the barrier still stopped the uninvited guests from moving closer.


    And with this, the only thing left to do was to wait.


    ***


    Mark opened his eyes, looking at the scene in front of him that felt both familiar and unfamiliar.


    No, it was definitely familiar.


    As he looked at the surroundings, it seemed that Mark''s subconscious world had taken the shape of the ce he always dreamed of. It was not a ce he desired but a ce that kept popping up in his dreams in the past.


    It was a ce where he would always stand by the roadside and see a single sparrow perched on a stick of dead tall grass in the middle of a vacant grassy field.


    But, of course. There was no sparrow here at the moment.


    Instead, a giant eight-headed snake was there, threateningly staring at Mark.


    Aside from Mark, there was another figure beside him, a little boy floating by his right side.


    The boy seemed a little tired. But it was expected. After all, the boy had to drag that giant snake into this world.


    "Master, can I leave the rest to you?"


    Ignis asked Mark.


    "Yeah, it''s fine," Mark replied. "Just take a rest in the back until I finish this."


    After receiving the permission, Ignis floated to the back, hiding behind a hill on the other side of the road.


    The eight-headed snake stared at Mark while also paying attention to the unfamiliar surroundings. It could not even understand how in the world it got to this ce.


    Mark took a step forward into the grassy vacant lot.


    ROOOARR!!!


    The giant eight-headed snake immediately let out a threatening roar.


    But Mark did not even flinch from the deafening roar. Instead, he let out a smile on his lips.


    "This is the second time we''re fighting, right?"


    Mark raised his eyes, staring at a particr head of the eight-headed snake.


    "You seem to look smaller than before. And your other heads don''t feel alive at all."


    The prideful spirit of the Kusanagi-no-Tsurugi flinched as Mark pointed out its weakened state.


    This spirit was just a fragment of the Beastly God of Chaos. This eight-headed snake was its true form, and the one that caused the destruction of the Reimed City was an empowered form due to the ritual and sacrifices it received.


    The one before was a true incarnation, while the one in front of Mark right now was the fragment.


    Not wanting to show weakness, the eight-headed snake opened its eight mouths. However, only a sign of one element seemed to form.


    All eight heads spewed a wind surge at Mark, creating a tornado-like attack. If Mark received this kind of attack in the real world, he could die while being torn to shreds.


    But this ce was not the real world.


    Mark raised his right hand.


    SNAP!


    With a single snap of his finger, the tornado dissipated in an instant.


    The eight-headed serpent became muddled by the scene it witnessed. What was going on? Why was this mortal still alive? Such questions clearly appeared in the serpent''s mind from the expression it had in its eyes.


    "Hahh..." Mark sighed. "You don''t seem to realize. In this ce, we''re standing on different podiums. I am the God in this ce, and you''re nothing but a mere beast here."


    ROOOARR!!!


    The serpent roared, offended by Mark''s words. It was clearly unwilling to ept such a reality.


    Mark frowned with indignation. Those words he said were thest attempt to try and subdue this spirit.


    "No, there is still onest thing to try."


    Mark said as he conjured a sword by his side.


    With amand from Mark, the sword flew straight to stab the serpent''s body.


    CLANG!


    However, to Mark''s surprise, the serpent''s tough scales actually repelled the sword.


    No, Mark should not be surprised by this as he shook his head. Even the Deity of Bloodshed managed to carry some of his abilities into this world. A God''s fragment should be able to do the same.


    Then, Mark could only brute force it.


    Mark raised his right hand to the sky. The intrusive thoughts of his inner Otaku came calling.


    One after another, giant hammers formed in the sky from the countless ck ripples in space. How many were there? Even Mark did not know.


    The serpent looked at the sky and saw the ck hammers. Its terrified eyes showed it remembered when Mark smashed a giant hammer on its body in the previous battle and crushed its scales.


    "Unlimited Hammer Works."


    Mark dered in a yful tone as the hammers rained from the sky.


    BOOOOM!!!


    The space shook as the hammers as three-meter-long hammers rained endlessly onto the giant serpent.


    ROOOARR!!!


    The giant serpent tried to retaliate as it spewed a tornado stronger than the strongest recorded in human history. However, the tornado served no effect on the hammers as they all mmed on the serpent''s body.


    ROOOOARR!!!


    The roar of anger soon turned into anger of pain. However, the spirit''s mentality remained unyielding.


    Mark stared at the suffering serpent spirit. Its scales scattered, crushed by the hammers. Its body distorted as its flesh deformed. However, its eyes remained resolute.


    The spirit of the Kusanagi-no-Tsurugi would rather die than be enved by a lowly being.


    Mark continued the rain of hammers, creating new ones after the others vanished. But the serpent remained unyielding.


    At the back, Ignis looked at the suffering serpent. It was etched in his heart not to make Mark angry in any circumstances. On the other hand, it showed a little sympathy for a fellow sword spirit.


    In any case, it was an enemy until it submitted, which was clearly unlikely.


    The hammers continued to rain for some time. Mark did not show any mercy. Or rather, he should be incapable of such towards enemies.


    And now, the rain of hammers stopped. It was not because the serpent finally yielded. It was because there was no serpent to see anymore.


    After countless pummeling of hammers, the serpent spirit was unable to maintain its existence anymore. All that was left was a surge of raw energy that did not have any semnce of sentience.


    It really never submitted even until thest breath.


    "Ignis."


    Mark called Ignis, and thetter knew what to do.


    Ignis flew towards the formless clump of energy and opened his mouth. With one suck, it swallowed all of it into his mouth.


    And there, Ignis began shining. His body slowly lost its shape and turned into a ball of light hovering in space.


    Mark approached Ignis. As he tapped on the ball of light, he knew Ignis had fallen into a deep sleep.


    Since Mark had already seded, it was time to get out.


    ***


    Outside, a tornado formed around Mark. It was seen from kilometers away as it almost reached the sky.


    However, the source of the tornado was not Mark. It was the two swords in his hands.


    As the tornado surged, the two swords left Mark''s hands. The two swords floated up above with their des crossed.


    The focus returned to Mark''s eyes as he raised his head. The two swords began glowing into a ball of light, just like Ignis.


    But it did not take long, and the ball of light began to deform. It soon took the shape of a sword, but its features remained to be unseen as a bright light covered its entirety.


    And then, an explosion urred. The explosion ripped apart the tornado, and a surge of strong wind spread out for kilometers in every direction. At the same time, the bright light shattered, and the new appearance of Ignisid bare for everyone around to see.


    Ignis floated down into Mark''s arms. However, the sword showed no sign of movement.


    Mark could tell that Ignis was still in a deep sleep. Nheless, Ignis had already taken a new elegant form.


    Ignis was a mberge. Its signature feature was its wavy de. But now, the waviness on Ignis'' de was too minimal that it was barely noticeable. It might as well be a straight oriental sword.


    Yes, Ignis was an oriental sword now.


    As Ignis fused with a higher-level sword, the features of the Divine Sword became more prevalent. Furthermore, the end of his hilt had a serpent head, and the handguard had carvings of the Yamata-no-Orochi.


    And the powerful pressure that wasing from Ignis. It was far different from before.


    At this time, Magwayen''s voice entered Mark''s ear.


    "Congrattions on the creation of your [Divine Demon Sword]."


    A [Divine Demon Sword]. It was a set of words that felt contradicting, simr to the words holy and demonic.


    And that was right. Something like this should not exist on Earth. After all, there was no way a mere Demon Sword could consume a Divine Sword.


    It was only possible because Mark was the master of the Demon Sword.

 Chapter 1061 The Next Stop, The Fate Of The [Siren] Sisters.

    ?


    Day 342 - 2:21 PM - Laboratory, Ariake, Reimed City, Ruins of Tokyo


    After finishing his business outside, Mark made his way back to Ariake. Thirteenth followed closely behind him, and the Priestess tagged along. As for the two Goddesses, they vanished like usual after the entertainment concluded.


    While flying in the sky, Mark looked around.


    On the northeast coast of Toyosu, soldiers gathered in a defense line as they fended against a small horde of [Infected]. From the looks of it, a supply-gathering crew returned safely but with some enemies in tow.


    Fortunately, the Defense Forces already installed defensive barriers on the outer coast near Toyosu and Shinonome. They installed the defensive barriers due to the ongoing reconstruction efforts creating too much noise, attracting all kinds of uninvited guests. Even the Priestess'' barrier could not avoid such enemy encounters.


    As Mark passed by Toyosu, he saw some familiar faces among the Defense Forces. It was the head of the Bureau, Shigeru, and the examiner, Kenji. The two took the reins to lead the Defense Forces through field operations. It was due to the currentck of manpower and security issues. With the two around, the defense lines would be much safer.


    The Defense Forces were dealing with the threat nicely. There was no need to step into the fray. Thus, Mark and the Priestess did not bother to disturb them.


    After arriving at theboratory, Mark and the Priestess made their way into the designated living quarters. Just like Mark''s group, the Priestess and the remaining members of the Temple had to live here temporarily. There was no choice. Toyosu, where the Temple''s shrine was, turned into a ttened wastnd. They also lost their home because of the attack.


    The Priestess received the people''s greetings as they passed by while they only bowed at Mark. This difference in treatment was not surprising. The Priestess had always been popr among the people of the Reimed City. On the other hand, while Mark was the one who finished the fight against the Yamata-no-Orochi, he was less known. Furthermore, a lot of people who watched everything would associate him more as a monster than a person.


    At the least, there was no hostility, and they were grateful for what Mark had done for them.


    Mark arrived in front of the room where his group was staying. The door opened before he even touched it, showing Mei already knew he was back.


    The Priestess could only give a baffled look at that fact. It was the same when Mei charged out of safety to receive Mark after the battle when everyone else was wary of the worst oue.


    Mei also saw the Priestess. She did not speak but bowed her head in greeting.


    "Your wife sure is polite, unlike someone."


    The Priestess remarked, giving a meaningful nce at Mark.


    Of course, Mark did not pay her any mind. He was not in the mood to ride along her yfulness.


    "Anyway, I''ll head off now."


    The Priestess said as she walked away toward her quarters. Mark watched her disappear as she turned around the nearby corner of the hallway.


    "A new sword?"


    Mei asked Mark as she saw the unfamiliar sword Mark was holding. She also looked confused since Mark went out to subdue a different sword.


    "New sword?"


    Miracle turned her head and asked.


    Mei''s words seemed to have attracted the attention of Miracle and the other girls in the room.


    "It''s not new," Mark said as he carefullyid the sword down on the coffee table in front of the couch. "It''s Ignis. He more or less evolved."


    The girls looked at the unmoving sword. It did not feel like Ignis at all since the sword had a different presence, and Ignis liked to fly around.


    Mark told everyone what happened and that Ignis was currently in a state of deep sleep. It might take a while before Ignis returned to his usual nature.


    ***


    With Mark''s return, there was nothing much to do afterward. It was a rest day, after all. Mark also needed to rest since he was not in his best state.


    Thus, Mark could only y with Emika and his daughters. It was a nice way to pass time while Thirteenth also joined along.


    But as the sun began to set, someone knocked on the door.


    Mark answered the door, knowing who was outside. It was the Priestess'' Grandniece, Tsubasa.


    "Good afternoon."


    Tsubasa greeted Mark.


    "What''s going on?"


    Mark asked. After all, Tsubasa would not go and meet his group without a reason.


    "The Empress'' subordinates returned," Tsubasa exined. "They caught the remaining [Siren]."


    The remaining [Siren]. Those words perked up Mark''s attention.


    Mark turned to Mei and his daughters.


    "I''ll go out for a bit."


    "Be back for dinner."


    Mei said to Mark, making him smile.


    "What about you, Spera?"


    Mark asked Spera. After all, the current business was about her former teammates.


    "Not interested," Spera scoffed. "I''ll just stay here."


    "If you say so."


    Mark said as he went out with Thirteenth also running out of the room.


    "You''re still following me, huh?"


    Mark asked as Thirteenth followed closely behind him.


    "It''s my current task. You''re under surveince."


    Thirteenth shrugged.


    Leaving Thirteenth to her task, Mark asked Tsubasa.


    "Just the [Siren]? What about Shin?"


    "They already asked her, and the [Siren] seemed cooperative. But unfortunately, the news isn''t good."


    ***


    Mark arrived at the high-security area of theboratory. Inside one of the cells with one-way windows, the newly captured [Siren] sat on her chair. If Mark remembered correctly, this [Siren] was named Yoko. She was the lively one of the sisters. But as she sat down nkly on her chair, she did not look lively at all.


    As Mark turned to the other people in the room, he saw the Priestess and the familiar white-haired fox, Yukine, and her partner, Kuroe. It seemed that the subordinates Tsubasa mentioned were Yukine and Kuroe.


    "What happened to her?"


    Mark immediately asked as he entered the observation area.


    "She was already like that when we found her."


    Yukine answered Mark''s question.


    Mark realized something strange. Yukine said they "found" her and not "caught" her.


    It clearly meant that Yoko did not show any resistance after the search party from the Auraboros found her. It might also be possible that Yoko did not even attempt to hide.


    "She did not show any resistance and cooperated smoothly," Yukine reported to Mark. "Here are her answers to our questions."


    Yukine then handed Mark a few pieces of paper where they recorded questions and answers in both full and summarized format. It also included the report about where and how they found Yoko. And nicely enough, they wrote the report in Katakana and Hiragana, knowing that Mark was not a local and could possibly be unable to read Kanji letters.


    And as Mark read the report, his frown went deeper and deeper.


    Yukine''s group found Yoko traversing the streets in Suginami City, about ten kilometers west-northwest of the Reimed City. And she was alone.


    Since the priority target was Shin, Yukine immediately posed questions to Yoko in order to find the target.


    However, asking Yoko about Shin''s whereabouts resulted in a fit of anger.


    By the looks of it, Shin and Yoko had fallen out of each other due to Tsukiko''s capture during the fight. Yoko wanted to rescue her sister, but Shin chose to abandon Tsukiko. They had an argument for a while until they fled further away due to the danger of the battle happening in the Reimed City.


    However, the disagreement between Shin and Yoko was not the reason she was left alone.


    "That bastard isn''t really going to leave us alone, huh?"


    Mark gritted his teeth.


    It was because of a single name in the report.


    "The Great One appeared and took Shin away."


    It seemed that another possessed avatar of The Great One came to strike a deal with Shin. And Shin did not hesitate to ept the deal even if he had to abandon Yoko alone.


    Shin and the avatar vanished in front of Yoko. She tried to stop him, but he ignored her pleas as he left her in the middle of the ruined streets.


    The betrayal from Shin took a heavy toll on Yoko, who had romantic feelings for him.


    With her sister captured and her beloved betraying her, Yoko became despondent and broke down.


    "The two scums teamed up, huh?"


    Mark said as he turned to Yukine.


    "Unfortunately, yes," Yukine nodded. "We are also surprised by this development. And it might not be just The Great One, as he did not have teleportation abilities and such. Someone else must be helping him."


    First was The Great One. Then Shin. And now, a mysterious enemy.


    Mark''s future suddenly became a roller coaster.


    "Shin is the only reason I came to this country, and that failed spectacrly."


    Mark grumbled.


    "We are sorry about that."


    Yukine wholeheartedly apologized. They were partly at fault with this, after all.


    Mark already gave his conditions before, but they did not pay much importance to it. Now, they learned that Mark was not someone they would want to have as an enemy. But it was toote.


    "Hahhh," Mark sighed as he returned the report to Yukine. "This is annoying."


    As they saw Mark''s clear irritation, everyone around went silent. It was not his usual fake emotions. He was really irritated.


    "What''s the n for the sisters?"


    Mark asked.


    "There is no n so far," It was the Priestess who answered. "For now, we can only detain them separately."


    "If that is the case, I''ll take them."


    Mark said, making everyone turn to him in surprise.


    "What do you n to do with them?"


    Yukine asked.


    "I''ll have them work to the bone for the troubles they caused with Shin and Gar''m," Mark said without a hint of sympathy in his eyes as he stared at the depressed Yoko. "It will be quite a scene. [Sirens] cleaning livestock pens."


    "That''s quite a punishment."


    Yukine said with her eyebrows twitching. It seemed that Yukine did not want to go under a simr punishment.


    "But the question is, will they even obey you."


    The Priestess asked.


    "I have some people who can handle that kind of stuff. Those people usemand seals to restrain and punish criminals."


    "A ve seal, isn''t it?"


    Yukine asked, seemingly not fond of the idea.


    "Yep. Only for guilty creatures, though. It''s a type that won''t work for innocent souls, apparently."


    Mark replied, not hiding anything.


    "Normally, I won''t agree to this kind of thing," The Priestess spoke. "But if it will appease you, then they''re yours. I''ll also take care of the paperwork. They are also offenders in our eyes, after all. They needed to receive a fitting punishment."


    And with that, the fate of the [Siren] sisters, Yoko and Tsukiko, was set in stone.


    The Priestess and Yukine would handle the proceedings. Thus, Mark left as there was nothing left for him to do there.


    While Mark walked along the hallway back to their quarters, he nced at the girl following him.


    "How long are you going to follow me?" Mark asked. "Is your other candidate already okay for you to leave them?"


    Thirteenth looked at Mark with the seven eyes on her face. She could only sigh.


    "She is doing better but still far from good," Thirteenth replied. "If I''m not tasked to keep an eye on you right now, I would have been there already. Lucky Sixteenth. She had already gone to her other candidate in Korea since the situation here already stabilized. And here I am, stuck here. I won''t be surprised if I end up with only one candidate after this."


    Mark looked at Thirteenth. The candidates were important for humanity to continue on. If she was this worried, the situation there might really be bad at the moment.


    "Where is that candidate anyway?"


    Mark asked.


    "Indonesia."


    Thirteenth answered.


    Mark tapped his chin.


    "We already lost Shin, so there''s no reason to stay here further. Our next destination should be South Korea, but I think it''s fine if we take a bit of a detour."


    Hearing Mark''s words, Thirteenth''s eyes widened in pleasant surprise.


    "Are you saying..."


    Thirteenth tried to ask, but Mark interrupted her.


    "Yeah, let''s go to Indonesia."


    -VOLUME 16 END-

 Chapter 1062 A Green Hell, Preparing For The Next Journey And An Unexpected Addition To The Team

    ?


    Day 350 - 9:21 AM - Jakarta, Java, Indonesia


    Indonesia. It was thergest ind nation in Southeast Asia and Oceania, sharing bothnd and sea borders with several countries. Its capital city, Jakarta, was also the second most popted city in the region. It also shared thergest ind ecosystem in the continent, the ind of Borneo, with Mysia and Brunei.


    The Republic of Indonesia had an almost entirely tropical climate. This weather system contributed to the natural creation of the thirdrgest rainforest area in the world, following the Amazon and Africa''s Congo Basin.


    And such a factor ended up affecting almost the entirety of the country after the apocalypse.


    Just like the Philippines, Indonesia was a country separated into thousands of inds. The Philippine''s around seven thousand inds was nothingpared to Indonesia''s eighteen thousand.


    This separation between the inds caused some diversity among the effects caused by the apocalypse.


    The diversity was mostly observed in the variants of [Infected] and [Mutated Creatures].


    In the Philippines, this diversity was barely noticeable. The diversity was consistent in most of its inds, making it feel natural instead. But if there was something that could possibly stand out from the [Infected] in the Philippinespared to other countries, it was their absurd geographical adaptability.


    The Philippines had arger water territory thannd. It might have been the factor that gave the [Infected] in the Philippines the ability to adjust their mutations to both water andnd.


    It was just like what happened in Catanduanes. After getting stimted by the magical energy on the ind, the [Infected], which traveled underwater, adapted fast and reached the ind. T


    The Reimed City in Japan, given therge poption of the [Infected] in Tokyo, did not have problems with humanoid [Infected] turning aquatic. Yet, hundreds of [Infected] in the Philippines went under simr mutations in such a situation.


    It was not just the [Infected] roaming thend. There were also those mutated sea creatures that gained the ability to walk onnd. For example, the [Infected Storm Whale].


    On the other hand, while the [Infected] in Japan did not have an absurd geographical adaptability, they leaned more toward bing highly territorial.


    This [Territorial Trait] was something a [Leader Type Infected] would mostly have. [Leader Types] tend to gather hordes of [Infected] before they either start roaming around or stay in the same area, thus iming territory.


    It could also be the same with some [Monarch Types] who had the ability to rally the [Infected].


    But this [Territorial Trait] was not limited to [Leader Types] or [Monarch Types] in Japan. The [Siren of Death] was ssified as an [Instigator Type] while the [Abomination of Thousand Corpses] belonged to a new type called [Cluster Type]. None of the two were [Leader Types] and did not have [Infected] followers. Yet, both had territories they wandered around without stepping out of it for no reason.


    It was geographical adaptability for the [Infected] in the Philippines and [Territorial Trait] for the ones in Japan.


    For Indonesia, the majority of the [Infected] and [Mutated Creatures] also followed a certain trait.


    It was the [Floral Trait].


    Most of the [Infected] gained nt-like mutations and abilities. It was the same for [Mutated Creatures]. On the other hand, it increased the mutation adaptability of the flora and the size and strength of insect creatures all over the country.


    With all those factorsing together, it turned seventy-five percent of the whole of Indonesia into a Green Hell.


    And if that was not enough, the situation within the territorial borders was much worse.


    Unlike the Philippines and Japan, Indonesia directly shared borders with other countries. It caused the factors and traits to mix within the borders, making these areas much more dangerous than most parts of the country.


    And then, there was Australia. Through the Torres Strait and its inds between Australia and Papua New Guinea, [Mutated Insects] from Australia, both [Infected] and not, managed to migrate. These insects soon took over the southern areas of Papua New Guinea.


    And since Indonesia shared the eastern borders with Papua New Guinea, its southeastern inds also became infested with those insects, which grew even stronger because of the natural effects of the apocalypse on the country.


    Those insects were actually the first causes of humans getting wiped out in some inds in Indonesia. Even the [Infected] could not do such a quick job.


    However, the mixed traits in the borders and the migrated insects in the south were not the most pressing danger in Indonesia.


    ***


    Malls, schools, housing units, hotels, parks, and many more. Such ces were not a rare sight on Earth. Most human-inhabited ces, specifically capital cities, had a lot of them.


    But after the [Fusion of Dimensions], thosemon sceneries became not somon.


    However, that was not the case for a certain ce in Indonesia.


    Jakarta, Indonesia''s capital city. And right now, it might be one of the few, if not the only remaining intact uninhabited city, in the world.


    Yes, intact. At least, the most of it.


    Cracks could be seen on the walls of structures. Some even had copsed areas. Butpared to Tokyo, which was nothing but a collection of copsed structures reimed by nature, more than fifty percent of Jakarta remained standing and explorable.


    But the reason was not like one would think.


    The only ces that survived the earthquake during the [Fusion of Dimensions] were ces inhabited by humans. The protection of the [Eyes] made it that way.


    But as said before, Jakarta was uninhabited. It had long been abandoned due to the sheer number of [Infected] in the area. Only those brave and desperate would take a step into the city.


    ***


    Day 350 - 10:02 AM - Living Room, Cliff House, Mountain Base, General Nakar, Province of Quezon, Philippines


    "Hey, why did you stop?"


    Mark asked Thirteenth, who suddenly paused while giving Mark information.


    Sitting on the sofa in the living room, Mark was reading a book while he listened to Thirteenth.


    "I got told off," Thirteenth grumbled. "Neenth said I can''t tell any more than this."


    Mark could only frown. Thirteenth was about to tell Mark about the danger in Jakarta, but she was cut off.


    Thirteenth sat on the chair beside Mark with a sigh.


    "I can tell the background stuff. But I can''t say specific things. If I did, it would be considered as direct intervention," Thirteenth exined. "I might get punished doing that unless it''s Master''s instructions."


    It looked like Thirteenth really wanted to tell Mark more. But being an [Eye] also meant she had rules to follow.


    In any case, Mark learned a few things.


    Indonesiannd borders were dangerous. It was the same for the southeastern inds. Jakarta had something lurking in it that could affect almost the entire city.


    With that bit of information, Mark could do a lot of things. But, for now, Mark had something else to focus on.


    FLAP!


    Mark turned the page of the book he was reading.


    "You''re really something, aren''t you? You''re already halfway through that tattered book."


    Thirteenth said, looking at Mark''s book.


    Well, it was not a storybook or textbook. It was a tranted dictionary that Mark luckily acquired aftermissioning some people in Corregidor.


    It was a dictionary. An English to Bahasa Indonesia dictionary, to be exact.


    This was the seventh book Mark had read this past few days after leaving Japan. All of which were rted to the Indonesiannguage. He could have read more, but books were extremely hard to find, especially after the [Fusion of Dimensions]. It was already fortunate that Mark managed to find some after scouring a few ruins in Man andmissioning some people in Corregidor.


    Even the dictionary in Mark''s hands was almost turned into tinder for a campfire. It was even missing a few pages after being torn off.


    Since Mark decided to go to Indonesia, he at least had to learn the basics of thenguage. Of course, it should not be an issue even if Mark spoke English there, as it was a widely spokennguage in Indonesia. Even so, it would not hurt to learn the basics.


    "You say I''m something, but you [Eyes] don''t even have to learn thenguage."


    Mark replied.


    Yes, the [Eyes] did not have to learn anynguage. As long as it was anguage that humans use, the [Eyes] could speak it fluently. It was a perk of being born from human emotions and being a protector of Earth.


    Mark continued to flip the pages after a minute of skimming through two pages. He really did not have to read everything thoroughly. The only thing he needed to do was to read things once to make it easier for him to recall them. It was the best use of his ess to his subconscious memories.


    Of course, reading was not the only thing Mark had to do. First and foremost, he had to repair his armor. The best armor Mark had was broken during the battle against the Yamata-no-Orochi. All he had right now was the old armor before he developed the [Abyss Tech]. There was also his new sword. Since one of its features was to dock Ignis, the current form of Ignis would not fit into it. Mark needed to remodel the sword a little bit and give it a fitting name, too.


    And now that Mark knew they would be going to a Green Hell, he also began thinking of making some improvements with the weapons of the girls. Fire-based weapons would be the best against nt enemies, but since it would be a forest-like terrain, it would also be the worst thing to use. In that case, Mark would need more than one upgrade for each of their weapons.


    "Hmm, hmm..."


    Mark began humming an anime song. His eyes were reading while a part of his mind was already making blueprints. The level of multi-tasking Mark was able to do was rising. If it was before the apocalypse, it was something he could not do at all.


    Seeing Mark busying himself in his work, Thirteenth stood up. She then gave onest nce at Mark before taking a step around the corner of the sofa. And like a ghost, she vanished without a trace.


    Mark was under surveince by Thirteenth since the battle against the Yamata-no-Orochi ended. But seeing no severe behavioral change happened to Mark in the past few days, the surveince became less strict, and Thirteenth was allowed to leave Mark''s side from time to time to check on her other candidate.


    Considering Thirteenth was not too concerned with her other candidate recently, it seemed their situation had be better than previously. Of course, the other candidate''s situation was still in no optimal condition. This was shown by the fact that Thirteenth could leave Mark and his people without surveince while being more attentive to her other candidate.


    Mark noticed Thirteenth''s departure but did not pay much attention. She was like this for a few days now, and there was no problem with it.


    If there was a problem, it was Mark and Ignis.


    Ignis had yet to wake up. On the other hand, Mark''s body was still in the middle of its adjustments to his newfound strength. He already got used to the muscle pains, though. Some might find it odd since it was taking days, but considering that Mark took a whole month before waking up as a [Mutator], eight days was still short.


    All of a sudden, Mark''s attention perked up. It seemed that something happened. He put down the dictionary on the side table and made his way out.


    Mei, who came from outside, immediately found him as he stepped out.


    "Gege!" Mei seemed to be a little excited. "The dragonfly egg hatched!"


    Mark was also surprised. It had been months since Mei received that egg in New Jersey. He was ready to give up on the egg hatching if not for the fact that he could still sense the life inside the egg.


    But then again, a dragonfly egg would take around one to five weeks to hatch. It should not be surprising for an egg of a giant mutated dragonfly to take this long.


    And now, the day for the nymph toe out of its egg had finally arrived.

 Chapter 1063 A New Family Member, The Hatching Of The [Evolved Dragonfly Nymph]

    ?


    Day 350 - 10:02 AM - Central Pond, Mountain Base, Mount Mbito, General Nakar, Province of Quezon


    It should be a normal day for everyone. As for Mark''s crew, it was another day to prepare for their next journey.


    However, just as unexpected as the apocalypse came, the egg of the [Evolved Dragonfly] Mei received in New Jersey showed signs of hatching.


    It had been several months. And given the dragonfly''s eggying behaviors, they left the egg at the pond they created around the [Night Everred Pure Spirit Tree]. The one tasked to take care of the egg was Milielle, the [Mermaid] Princess, who chose to live in that same pond.


    Milielle was also the first to notice the signs and immediately asked someone to call for Mei and Mark, who happened to be present at the base.


    And now, a small group of people gathered, with Mark and Mei at the center, waiting for the egg''s cracks as they widen.


    It was not the first egg to hatch nor the first baby animal born in the Mountain Base.


    The [Evolved Greebes] Mark caught before already had a dozen chicks expected to provide a consistent egg supply for the base in the near future. Even the [Evolved Cows] had already given birth to a calf. There were also other animals and insects in the base that already had an offspring or two.


    However, it would be the first time for most people to see a newly hatched dragonfly. Furthermore, most people did not even know what hatches from a dragonfly''s egg or their life cycle.


    With an [Evolved Dragonfly] egg hatching, many people in the base, especially children, would feel interested. In fact, the morning ss for the children got cut early for the students to watch a dragonfly egg hatch.


    The dragonfly eggy in the middle of a nest-shaped clump of water lily leaves mostly submerged in water. They ced it at the deepest part of the pond usually, but Milliel moved it to a shallower part after she noticed its hatching. It was not something rmended when hatching insects, but they needed to do it. This egg was not a usual dragonfly but a highly mutated one. It could turn out to be dangerous if left alone unguarded.


    "Ooohhh, it''s cracking!"


    One of the children loudly eximed, only to be hushed by everyone around him.


    Slowly, the cracks of the egg spread out to the top of the egg. It was quite a strange way to hatch. One would expect it to be at the side of the egg instead.


    SNAP!


    A snapping sound followed the cracking of the egg''s hard shell. The nymph inside the egg seemed to be pushing therge part on top of the shell off.


    SNAP!


    Another snap echoed as the top part of the egg''s shell came off.


    It was one leg at first. Then, the mandibles and head.


    A clear-white nymph peeked out of the opened shell.


    "Everyone, step back first," Odelina warned the onlookers. "Don''t get too close. We don''t know if it will be aggressive or not."


    Everyoneplied. It was better to be safe than sorry, especially in the world''s current circumstances.


    The only ones left near the pond were the members of Mark''s usual crew, with the addition of Annica and Berrak. Of course, Milliell was also there, watching inside the pond.


    One leg after another, the nymph came out of the egg. And with a ssh, it plopped into the water. However, it did not sing or swim. It floated motionlessly, seemingly dead.


    "What happened?"


    Annica asked, worried that the new pet had some problems.


    "Just watch," Mark answered. "It just hatched. It''s still weak, and its body is still too soft. Wait until its body gets some color."


    "How did you know, Uncle?" Emika chimed in. "Another of your Otaku knowledge?"


    "Not really," Mark denied. "We have a creek near our house where we nted river spinach when I was little. There are a lot of dragonflies there, and I lost count of how many times I raised one of these."


    "Oooh."


    Emika and the others who heard Mark were impressed.


    "And this one in front of us is not just idling around," Mark continued. "It''s impressively intelligent."


    "What? Why?"


    Annica asked for further exnation.


    "It''s observing its surroundings, especially us," Mark exined. "I''m pretty sure that''s not a usual behavior for newly hatched insects."


    "Maybe it''s imprinting?" Berrak spoke. "A lot of baby animals do that, even magical ones. Though, I don''t know about this one. Maybe not."


    But to everyone''s surprise, Mark agreed with Berrak.


    "I think you''re not wrong," Mark nodded. "The nymph had been focusing on Mei''er since earlier. I wonder if it recognizes her since she received the egg and was the first one to hold it."


    On the other hand, Mei seemed to only focus on the nymph. She also wanted a pet of her own. And now, it would be fulfilled. However, it was rather unusual for a woman to have an insect as her personal pet. Then again, it was Mei. She did not even care much about getting carried by Fein, the coward beetle, and flying in the sky.


    After two minutes, the nymph gained some color. Its skin showed a yellower color. It was quite fast, in Mark''s opinion.


    As the nymph''s body solidified, it began its first paddles of its legs. Soon, it moved its abdomen and began to swim. It thentched on the rocks at the side of the pond before staring at Mark''s group while tilting its head.


    At this point, everyone was on guard. Not everyone here could tell how the nymph would behave.


    But Mark stared at the nymph. Then, he scratched his head.


    "Try approaching it."


    Mark helplessly said with a pat on Mei''s head.


    "Is it okay?"


    Mei asked. Although she was rather excited, she was also wary. It was a mutated insect, after all.


    "I don''t think it sees you as its mother. At the least, it''s not aggressive. Just take it slow and don''t startle it. It looks confused about something." Mark exined. "Also, try this first."


    Mark then took out a piece of raw mutated lizard meat from his [Spatial Ring] and handed it to Mei on a tter.


    "Why do you have something like that inside your ring?"


    Spera asked Mark, seeing the odd thing he was carrying inside his storage.


    "I didn''t have it earlier," Mark replied. "I took it from the kitchen when Mei called me."


    "Ah," Spera understood. "You already expected this since you raised some before."


    "Not exactly, but close."


    Mark shrugged. He had no idea if that would work. After all, nymphs and dragonflies feed on other insects. On the other hand, the mother of this nymph fed on [Infected] corpses. In that case, it should be capable of eating animal flesh.


    Everyone watched as Mei carefully approached the nymph. The nymph did not show much movement. However, it continued to stare at Mei as she moved closer.


    When the two were just a few steps apart, Mei ced the meat just a foot away in front of the nymph.


    The nymph looked at Mei. And then, on the meat. Finally, the nymph moved, stepping closer to the tter.


    As the nymph reached the meat, it began chomping on it. Was it hungry already? It was continuously biting pieces of meat off the tter.


    While the nymph ate, Mei took advantage of the situation and slowly reached out. Finally, Mei''s right hand touched the hardened shell on the head of the nymph. Mei looked at Mark with an excited smile.


    Mark smiled back, and he was relieved. The nymph clearly saw Mei. However, it did not care. In fact, it also showed some excitement when she touched it.


    It looked like there would be no problems raising this nymph, at least for now.


    Nheless, it was quite a strange sight. It was a scene of a beautiful woman touching an adult cat-sized insect.


    "Can I touch it too?"


    Miracle tugged on Mark''s clothes, asking for her father''s permission.


    "Later," Mark patted her head. "It still needs to get used to your Mama before we can y with it. If it gets startled now, it might bite."


    "Okay."


    Miracle nodded. She was a little disappointed. However, she was understanding enough to follow Mark''s instructions and be patient.


    It took another minute, which passed rather quickly for everyone. At that time, the nymph finished its meal. After all, it was just a small cut of meat. Even if the nymph only took a little in each bite, it bit rather quickly.


    After eating, the nymph quickly walked to Mei''s foot. However, instead of rubbing its body on her leg as one would expect a docile animal would do, it began stretching its legs.


    And then, everyone gasped. The nymph jumped onto Mei.


    Unfortunately for the nymph, it ended up nowhere. A hand appeared out of nowhere and grabbed it on its back. It could only il its legs in protest, but there was no way it would be able to escape the hand grasping it.


    It was Mark. He could only shrug as he held onto therge insect.


    "You okay?"


    Mark asked Mei. She was also surprised. It seemed that she let her guard down after the docile disy of the insect.


    "I''m okay," Mei replied and asked. "Did it turn aggressive?"


    "No, it didn''t," Mark replied. "It''s just, it is intelligent for an insect, but its intelligence is just on the level of a cat. It wanted to climb on your shoulder, I think. But it didn''t regard its ws hurting you."


    Mark pointed at the ws of the iling insect. It had sharp hooks that could likely slice through human skin easily.


    "We need to train strictly before letting it run around," Mark said before turning his head to someone. "Annica, your turn."


    Annica stepped forward and nodded. Among the people in the base, she was one of the most important people because of her ability. It was to tame evolved and mutated animals that gained a certain level of intelligence. Furthermore, she couldmunicate with them clearly.


    However, the most important thing about Annica''s ability was her capability to transfer her "connection" to her tamed animals to other people. It might have a limit of one animal per person. However, it also meant clearmunication between the animal and the owner.


    Everyone watched as the process went through. Mark restrained the iling insect while Annica held its head to tame it. Annica closed her eyes as she formed a connection with the insect. When the connection formed, the nymph''s resistance became weaker.


    It was then Annica grabbed Mei''s hand before she closed her eyes again.


    Mei felt a little dizzy and could not help but close her eyes. She could feel something strange forming inside her mind. Nheless, it was a familiar sensation for her. It was something she was already used to.


    "Huh?"


    Annica opened her eyes in surprise.


    "What''s wrong?"


    Mark asked.


    "There''s nothing wrong," Annica said while looking at Mei. "Rather, it went so well that it surprised me."


    Forming a connection to a tamed animal was like forming a new organ that could sense the animal''s thoughts. Annica was already used to it, but people who would experience it for the first time would feel extremely nauseous. Sometimes, they would even fall unconscious.


    As Emika transferred the connection to Mei, Mark was already preparing to catch Mei if that happened. However, Mei remained standing, although her thoughts were a little fuzzy.


    Mei opened her eyes. She then looked at the nymph while thetter looked at her.


    All of a sudden, the nymph went limp as if it became dejected about something.


    "Wow," Annica eximed. "Sister can already send her thoughts. Other people needed a few days to get used to it and some more time to sendmands. It''s just been a few seconds!"


    There sure was something strange going on with Mei. It could be a good or bad thing. Nheless, it looked like they properly put the nymph under control. The only thing left was to train it slowly while raising it to be a magnificent ruler of the sky.

 Chapter 1064 The Muria Sacred Fortress, The Humanitys Largest Bastion In Indonesia

    ?


    Day 351 - 5:40 PM - 39th Satelite Settlement, Benteng Suci Muria, Gunung Muria, Central Java, Indonesia


    Vibrant colors filled the sky as sunset came on this day. It was only fourteen days before the marking of the first year after the apocalypse began.


    Half of Mount Muria could see the vibrant colors of the sunset. Shadows of the iing night already covered the other half.


    But as night came and darkness enveloped thend, it was time for lights from torches and campfires to appear across the mountain.


    Gunung Muria, or Mount Muria internationally. It was a dormant volcano situation on the northern coast of Central Java. To a lot of people, it was just another mountain. But to the locals, Mount Muria was a Sacred Mountain with heavy importance to the history of their religion.


    When the apocalypse came, people became divided. Some tried to stay within their homes and fend for themselves, while others aimed to seek the protection of the military.


    And there were the third kind of people, who fled to rural ces and avoided cities brimming with the [Infected].


    One of the many ces where people fled from the chaos was Mount Muria.


    People fled to this mountain, thinking it was a sacred ce. It was an arduous journey prone to many dangers. But as it turned out, it was one of the best ces to be in the case of a zombie apocalypse.


    It became the start of how this Sacred Mountain has be one of the remaining few bastions of humanity within the country of Indonesia.


    There were several viges around the mountain, with two situated north and south of Mount Muria''s peak. The steep mountain slopes protected both viges. Furthermore, turning them into self-sustaining settlements was possible due to crop terraces built on the mountain slopes and natural water sources.


    As the factors coincided, these two viges became a safe sanctuary for refugees in the first few weeks of the apocalypse. There was food, water, and dwelling. Survivors could find necessities for survival within the viges and the forests.


    But, of course, it was not smooth sailing.


    While [Infected] encounters within Mount Muria were nearly non-existent in the early stages of the apocalypse, [Evolved Animals] were proven to be a threat.


    There were countless times members of the survivors died, or their walls and houses copsed because of these animals. But as they fought on, along with those who managed to evolve and mutate, those dangerous animals became part of their supplies.


    Unfortunately, as the people in Mount Muria thrived, those outside copsed one after another.


    Military camps and settlements would be prey to the increasing strength and number of the [Infected]. People lost their new homes and had to find a new ce to settle.


    Soon, some of those people ended up in Mount Muria, joining the thrivingmunity.


    Unfortunately, as themunity up the mountains grew bigger, the rumors among survivors outside spread faster.


    The government and military encampments soon copsed. But the greediest of them had a vile idea.


    Those survivors from the government and the military went to seek shelter in the Sacred Mountain. The unsuspecting residents weed everyone, especially the military. After all, the military could provide protection with their level of training and weapons.


    It was the worst decision they took after the apocalypse began.


    Slowly, the leadership of the settlement shifted. The government soon took control of it.


    As more and more military settlements and encampments fell, the survivors from those ces gathered in the Sacred Mountain.


    After taking control of the location, the government and the military began to develop it to the fullest.


    Using most of the resources they gathered, including the materials from a mysterious source, the government and the military built a wall halfway around the mountain. They also built New houses and manufacturing facilities. And the food and water became properly processed.


    But such development also came with devious changes and division between the status of people.


    The two viges around the peak became the ce for the rich, the strong, and the privileged. Those who did not belong there could only live outside the outer ring around the mountainous peaks.


    Those with the lowest status could only stay within the settlements created along the walls surrounding the mountain. These settlements were not under the military''s direct control. Different survivor groups hired by the military and the government manage these settlements.


    Walls were not enough to protect from dangers. These walls also needed to be guarded. However, while they managed to build a wall around the mountain, it was toorge to be guarded by the military alone. Thus, it resulted in the creation of these settlements, the so-called Satelite Settlements.


    There were around a hundred of these Satelite Settlements around the mountain. The duty of these settlements was to guard the walls against attacksing from outside. In return for their service, they would receive a fixed amount of weapons and supplies, and the survivor groups leading these settlements were free to do what they wanted to do within their settlement. Sessful defense against attacks also resulted in bonuses when they allocated the supplies.


    Constant support and freedom in exchange for what they could do the best, killing enemies, was quite a good deal for most of these survivor groups. Furthermore, they could stay within the safety of the walls. Thus, many survivor groups epted the task.


    But, of course, while leaving the guarding to survivor groups was a good method to ease theck of personnel, having this many groups for the same task also caused quite an amount of problems.


    The bonuses became a spark for the survivor groups topete with each other.


    Sometimes, attacks could happen right at the center of the allocated span of the wall between two Satelite Settlements. It would cause those two groups to contend on who would intercept the attack. Sometimes, it could get so heated that they would take on each other first before dealing with the enemies outside the walls.


    Rivalries formed in these interactions. And sometimes, these rivalries became deep-seated to the point of sabotaging each other.


    Furthermore, as natural as human nature, everyone has some differences. Some Satelite Settlements had good people managing them, while some were either bad or ignorant. When a good settlement flourished, the people of the worst settlements would get jealous, not even thinking about what was wrong with their management.


    Unfortunately, the upper management did not care about the scuffles between the Satelite Settlements. As long as these survivor groups could do their job, the government and the military would not intervene with the Satelite Settlements.


    And if a Satelite Settlement got destroyed or its people died from an attack, there were other survivor groups waiting to take that position. It was not a problem for those in the upper management.


    It was the awful truth that the people of the Muria Sacred Fortress had to live through day after day.


    ***


    "Luna, it''s almost time to change shifts~!"


    Inside the bedroom of the Moon Chasers group, the loud voice of a lively woman echoed.


    The loud voice caused the person sleeping inside to open her eyes slowly as her drowsiness slipped away.


    As the woman lifted her body up, her purple hair shined even within the darkness of the room.


    "Bajing, I always told you. You don''t need to shout."


    Lunained to her lively member.


    "Ah... I forgot."


    Bajing scratched her head with a giddy smile.


    Luna could only sigh. This member of hers never really learned.


    "I''ll get ready," Luna sat on her bed, ready to stand. "You wait outside."


    "Yes~!"


    Bajing finally left.


    Luna swiped the curtains of the closed windows open. She looked at the sunset sky outside. The first stars began toe out, and before long, the moon woulde and illuminate the dark night.


    Just like her current name, Luna, they were the strongest during the night.


    After donning her armor and picking up her weapon, Luna went out of her bedroom. Bajing was there, waiting not far away. The two then made their way out of the house they built up a high slope. This house could oversee the entirety of the 39th Satelite Settlement, situated at the southeast of the wall surrounding Mount Muria.


    Looking over the settlement, Lune could see many people. It might be a good sign as a settlement. However, therge number of people just made it harder for their group to manage this ce.


    In fact, in terms of supplies, the 39th Satelite Settlement was barely scraping by.


    How many times had it been that Luna and her group almost faced death to feed all these people? It was not like having more people would mean more supplies from the upper management. Unfortunately, it was not like Luna could abandon or extort these people. After all, most of them were nonbatants, children, and permanently injured.


    It was not wrong to say that the 39th Satelite Settlement was where the garbage of the apocalypse gathered. It was a pretty bad name to call these people, but to most people in the apocalypse, people who could not do anything to contribute might as well be better dead.


    The people in the 39th Satelite Settlement were not cking either. They were trying their best, even the children. But unlike regr people, they sure had more incapabilities than capabilities.


    "It''s been a while since Limab visited us, isn''t it?"


    Bajing voiced out while looking up the mountain.


    "Her family is pretty strict. She got caught when she slipped outst time. It will be a while before she can meet us again."


    Luna sighed, thinking of their friend who luckily ended up in the upper district because of her rich family.


    But then again, it was better for Limab. They should not meet for a while. After all, someone had been targeting the Moon Chasers for a while now.


    It was unnatural that every time the Moon Chasers went for a supply run, they would end up encountering hordes of [Infected]. Furthermore, it was a different horde every single time. Although they had no evidence, it was clear that someone was luring those hordes to their position.


    Now, the members of the Moon Chasers could onlyy low and stay within the settlement. But with their supplies running out, they would need to do another supply run sooner orter.


    While walking along the street, Luna received greetings from almost everyone they passed by. Everyone here really appreciated Luna and her group due to their kindness and hard work. Other groups would abandon these people, but the Moon Chasers did not. While these people could not do much, they could at least convey their gratitude.


    Soon, Luna and Bajing reached the lookout post by the wall.


    "Luna, Bajing! Goodevening."


    A man at the outpost greeted the two. Then, the greetings of the five members present in the lookout followed.


    "Edge, I''ll leave the lookout to you," Luna waved to return the greeting. "Me and Bajing will patrol today."


    "You''re not going to stay on the lookout?"


    Edge asked.


    "I want to take a little walk today."


    Luna answered.


    "Okay, leave the lookout to me."


    Edge said, thumping his chest with his fist.


    "Hey, we''re also here!"


    One of the five other members chimed in, causing a fit ofughter from everyone.


    After a few more exchanges, Luna and Bajing left to patrol the walls outside the settlement.


    But as the two got quite a distance away from the settlement, someone startled Bajing.


    "Uwa~" Bajing took a step back. "Oh, it''s you."


    However, Bajing immediately recovered after seeing who it was.


    "Thirteenth, good evening."


    Luna politely greeted the girl with numerous eyes in front of her.


    "You''re not going out tonight?"


    Thirteenth asked Luna.


    "Yeah," Luna bitterly smiled. "We almost died during the previous supply run. Everyone isughing it off, but I know everyone is afraid right now."


    "I see," Thirteenth shrugged. "It''s good to take a good rest. Don''t push yourself too much."


    "Are you going to apany us tonight?"


    Luna asked Thirteenth.


    "Hmm... I think I can. I''m free until midnight."


    Thirteenth replied, dly taking the offer.


    "You seem to be in a good mood."


    Bajing chimed in, asking Thirteenth.


    However, Thirteenth did not reply to the lively woman.


    "Hey~! Don''t ignore me~!"


    Bajingined.


    "Bajiing, leave it at that," Luna intervened. "You already know she only talks to me."


    "Booo~ It''s unfair."


    Bajing continued toin, and Luna could only shrug her shoulders.


    However, it was clear that Thirteenth was in a pleasant mood. After all, the help that Luna needed would being soon.

 Chapter 1065 A Display Of Skill, Luna And Bajing Against Mutated Predators

    ?


    Day 351 - 8:21 PM - Northern Side, 39th Satelite Settlement, Muria Sacred Fortress, Mount Muria, Central Java, Indonesia


    Luna and Bajing patrolled the northern vicinity of the 39th Satelite Settlement. It was a task to keep their citizens safe, and the two were doing it diligently.


    The two carefully checked the surroundings, searching for suspicious things and movements. In this apocalypse, especially in this country, the enemies were not only the [Infected] and the [Mechids]. Sometimes, it was the environment.


    Since this fortress stood on a mountain, trees and vegetation covered its entirety. It was a good source of construction materials and food. However, the nature of the [Mutagen] in Indonesia caused flora to mutate into monsters. It was a rare urrence, but could happen randomly. Fortunately, it seemed that the instances of nts and trees turning into man-eating monsters decreased further the more humans and fauna gathered in an area.


    ording to the researchers in the fortress, it was because humans, animals, and insects absorb more [Mutagen] than most species of flora. With humans within the fortress, it became hard for stagnant [Mutagen] to umte to be slowly absorbed by the trees and nts.


    That was why even if trees and nts covered the fortress and its vicinity, it was rtively safe from mutations of nts and trees within.


    But even so, mutations could still happen randomly. It caused the military and the government to attempt to cut all trees and unnecessary nts inside the fortress. Unfortunately, that n never came to fruition.


    After all, even in the apocalypse, radical religious groups exist. Turning the sacred mountain into a fortress had already tainted it. They were against the further desecration of the sacrednd.


    The far more unfortunate thing was that many people supported these religious groups to the point that it was the most influential force in the fortress, just behind the government and the military. That influence fumbled ns to clear the fortress of unnecessary fauna for a rather stupid reason. It was just that for some people trying to assert their dominance, a sacred ce was more important than the safety of the people living inside it.


    In the end, the responsibility to monitor these uncut trees and vegetation fell to the military and the Satelite Settlements.


    "Looks like we''re clear for now."


    Bajing said as she saw a unique part of the wall with a foundation post.


    It was the post marking the border of the area they were responsible for. Reaching this area meant they could patrol back to their settlement.


    "Let''s return," Luna agreed with Bajing, but she noticed something. "Thirteenth?"


    Thirteenth stopped on steps, looking in a certain direction.


    After being called by Luna, Thirteenth gave Luna a short nce before turning her head back.


    Luna immediately realized what was going on and turned to Bajing.


    "Bajing, investigate that direction."


    Luna ordered.


    "Yes, ma''am~!"


    Bajing did not question the order and immediatelyplied.


    Quick on her feet, Bajing kicked the ground and rushed up a nearby tall tree. She really lived up to her current name. Bajing meant squirrel, and her abilities gave her the most advantage in forested areas.


    Bajing reached the top of the tree in a few seconds. Despite her weight as an adult person, she had no problems bncing on the thin branches atop the tree. Her brown pupils turned beady ck as she focused her eyes on the direction Thirteenth faced.


    But instead of reporting to Luna, Bajing shouted.


    "GET READY FOR BATTLE!"


    As Bajing shouted those words, arge shadow jumped over the walls. As itnded on the ground, it jumped again, attempting to reach the tree Bajing stood at. The figure was fast and strong. It did not struggle as its jump instantly reached the top of the tree.


    However, the top of the tree was Bajing''s territory. She evaded the enemy while swinging around the thin branches. As she spun her body around a horizontal branch, she delivered a kick to the enemy''s abdomen, causing it to fall.


    Despite the kick and the fall, the enemynded on the ground on its four paws.


    As the moon shined on the enemy, who stood still in front of them for the first time, its appearance became apparent.


    "A [Vine Dhole]."


    Bajing smiled as she assessed the enemy below her.


    A [Vine Dhole]. It was an erged mutated Dhole or Asian Wild Dog. Its fur had mixed colors of green, orange, and ck. It was well known for its attacks involving vines, which gave it its current name.


    GRUA!


    The [Vine Dhole] opened its mouth. A dozen vines shot out of its throat, aiming at Bajing up the tree.


    "Woops~!"


    Bajing immediately evaded, jumping off from the tree she was on onto another. However, as if the vines had consciousness, the vines chased after her.


    Unfortunately for the [Vine Dhole], Bajing was extremely agile above the trees. It was easier for the vines to get tangled between the branches than to catch her.


    Furthermore, the [Vine Dhole] focused too much on the prey it saw first, neglecting the purple-haired maiden not far behind it.


    While Bajing took the attention of the enemy, Luna unsheathed her weapon. It was a Keris or Kris, a dagger with a wavy de. And the Keris Luna held was made with silver.


    The de reflected the moonlight along with the glittering shine on Luna''s purple hair.


    And as Luna flicked her arm into position, she vanished.


    In the blink of an eye, Luna stood past the enemy as its head got lopped off, and its body fell to the side.


    However, instead of rxing, Luna tightened her grip on her weapon and looked up.


    There was not only one enemy. [Vine Dholes] moved in groups. If one appeared, there should be a few more arriving.


    Luna was right. Just as she looked up, several [Vine Dholes] had already jumped over the wall. The wall was not low by any means. It was just that [Vine Dholes] were tricky creatures with various means of traversing different kinds of terrain.


    "Five more!"


    Bajing shouted as she suddenlynded on the back of one of the five [Vine Dholes] in midair. She then kicked the Dhole she stepped on, and with an agile flip, she kicked and delivered a drop of her heel on the head of that poor enemy.


    "Four!"


    Bajing shouted as the head of the Dhole she kicked burst into chunks of flesh and brain matter before it fell to the ground, lifeless.


    The other four Dholesnded safely, filled with aggression. They thought they had found prey, but two of their group died helplessly.


    Looking at Luna, the Dholes opened their mouths, shooting more than a dozen vines at the purple-haireddy.


    The vines might not be as fast as a bullet, but the speed they shoot should still kill people easily if hit. Even if the hit failed to kill, these vines would go and constrict their victims to death.


    But facing those fast-moving vines, Luna kept calm.


    The Silver Keris in Luna''s hand danced as she switched to a reverse grip. And then, she moved forward.


    Her eyes in full focus, Luna dodged the vines by a hair''s breadth. It was not perfect, but she tried not to waste too much energy by dodging too far. It also allowed her to charge towards her opponents.


    [Vine Dholes] could shoot vines from their throats. The vines would catch the prey, and the Dholes would swallow the prey hole. It was their most lethal weapon.


    But it was also the [Vine Dhole''s] weakness. The [Vine Dholes] could not see in front of them while they kept their mouths open when attacking using vines. It was not an exposed weakness since most prey would try to evade the vines by going to the side, keeping the prey within the view of the [Vine Dhole].


    Very few creatures and individuals would be able to face these vines, after all.


    Unfortunately, Luna was one of those individuals.


    In no time, Luna reached the first enemy. The [Vine Dholes] was three-fourths the size of an adult cow. They were not extremelyrge but were stillrgepared to a human.


    Turning the size disadvantage into an advantage, Luna slid under the neck of one of the [Vine Dholes] and spun her body vertically.


    With that, another [Vine Dhole] fell with its head lopped off by Luna''s dagger.


    Sensing the death of another of their own, the remaining three [Vine Dholes] tried to retract their vines and controlled them to chase after Luna.


    But Bajing came falling once again, spinning midair before dropping her heel on another head of one of the enemies.


    Surprised by another death, the remaining two [Vine Dholes] became ovee with fear. They tried to retreat and flee.


    However, turning their backs on these two dangerousdies was not a good choice either.


    In the end, the group of six predatory [Vine Dholes] became the prey instead by the hands of these powerfuldies.


    Luna stood by the corpses of the intruders. She wiped the blood from her weapon before taking out a radio from her belt bag.


    "Edge, can you hear me?"


    Luna called the guy she left in charge of the lookout at the settlement.


    There was a short pause before a fumbling voice replied.


    "I''m here. Did something happen?"


    Edge''s voice echoed through the radio.


    "Nothing much," Luna replied. "I need people to transport six [Vine Dholes]. Send them immediately."


    There was no immediate reply. It seemed that Edge immediately called for people before replying.


    "Did those Dholes manage to jump over the wall again?"


    Edge finally replied with a question.


    "Yeah," Luna answered with a frown. "We''re lucky these Dholes jumped while I and Bajing are patrolling."


    "Yep," Edge agreed. "Those Dholes slipped through 40th a week ago. They got some casualties, too."


    "Alright, just get the transport ready. When these arrive, butcher these corpses immediately. We can add them to our food supply."


    Luna urged.


    "Yes, ma''am," Edge replied. "Six [Vine Dholes]. We''ll eat good for a few days at least."


    While Luna talked on the radio, Bajing already lined up the corpses of the six [Vine Dholes]. These animals were not [Infected]. They were animals that evolved due to the influence of the environment. As such, [Vine Dholes] were edible.


    However, there was a little downside.


    "Are we going to eat nothing but these for a while?" Bajing asked. "I know they''re animals, but their meat tastes like spinach."


    "It''s not like we have much choice," Luna shrugged. "At least we have something edible to eat."


    Bajing could not refute Luna''s words, but she was not fond of spinach-tasting meat.


    "Hey~ Thank you~"


    Leaving the taste of the meat aside, Bajing spoke to Thirteenth, who stood nearby.


    "You also have my gratitude for helping us again."


    Luna also chimed in.


    Thirteenth did not reply to Bajing, but she spoke to Luna.


    "I did nothing of such."


    Thirteenth replied, making the two shrug their shoulders. It was not the first time, after all.


    The [Eyes] could not directly intervene under normal circumstances. It was their rule. However, indirect actions could be done to some extent. Just like what Thirteenth did just now. She neither said anything nor participated in the fight. The only thing she did was to gaze nkly in a certain direction. Then, it was up to Luna and Bajing''s interpretation.


    But while talking, Thirteenth suddenly vanished in front of Luna and Bajing.


    It was when the two heard rustling in the opposite direction of their wall.


    "Huh?"


    A voice entered the ears of the two as a group of armed people arrived in the area.


    It was a group from the 38th Satelite Settlement who should be patrolling the rest of the wall to the north.


    The group of seven people saw Luna and Bajing. As they were familiar with the leader of the 39th Satelite Settlement, the group from the 38th Satelite Settlement greeted the two.


    "Good evening," An armored man led the greeting before turning his eyes on the dead [Vine Dholes]. "Miss Luna sure is lucky."


    "I won''t really consider it lucky," Luna replied. "Anyone could die after getting attacked by a pack of these."


    "I see," The man replied. "We will get going then. We came because we heard someone shouting. We thought someone needed help."


    "You''re already here," Luna spoke. "Why not take one?"


    "Are you sure, Miss?"


    The man asked with a smile.


    "It''s fine," Luna replied with a pretentious smile. "It''s just one, anyway."


    "We will ept your generosity, then," The man said before turning to his members. "You lot. Carry one of these."


    And without any sense of shame, the man picked the biggest of the six animal corpses.


    Bajing looked at the group, displeased. However, Luna just stared without any expression.


    "Thank you for this. We''ll owe this favor."


    The man thanked Luna as they carried the animal corpse away.


    When the group was nowhere in sight anymore, Bajing finally exploded.


    "What a bunch of shameless, pretentious hooligans. They are clearly trying to get our sympathy by saying they came to help. Are we really letting them off just like that?"


    "Just leave it be," Luna said, keeping her nk expression. "Just think that it''s a small thing in exchange for them to leave us alone for a while."


    "Still, grr."


    Bajing heaved a breath of anger.


    Luna stared at the ce where that group had left. She was willing to do this kind of exchange. But if those thought that Luna could be exploited like this again, they would be mistaken.


    The next time those people thought they could repeat this kind of thing, Luna would not hesitate to let those people be swallowed by the darkness of the night.

 Chapter 1066 Events In Five Days, The Arrival Of The Tourists In Indonesia

    ?


    Day 356 - 8:21 AM - 39th Satelite Base, Muria Sacred Fortress, Mount Muria, Central Java, Indonesia


    Five days went and passed by without muchmotion. The residents of the Muria Sacred Fortress continued on with their daily lives.


    From time to time, pieces of news and information would circte among the residents.


    Four days ago, the 92nd Satelite Settlement suffered an attack from a horde of [Mutated Infected]. A [Hybrid Tank Type] led the horde, causing a breach through their defenses and a few deaths amongbatants and civilians. The government sent construction supplies to reconstruct the destroyed gate and walls as fast as possible.


    Three days ago, the main forces of the 47th Satelite Settlement returned after their ten-day expedition. They lost a fourth of their forces but returned with a warehouse full of supplies, both food and necessities one could not acquire anymore during the apocalypse. Cheap soap and shampoo before the apocalypse became luxuries that only the rich and influential could afford currently. And now, the public market outside the upper district had be flooded with such products.


    Two days ago, the expedition of the forces of the 21st Satelite Settlement ended in failure. More than half of thebatants who participated did not return, and those who did came back with grave injuries. While it did not cripple thebat capabilities of the group entirely, it was still a big loss for them. Apparently, a horde of highly mutated [Infected] ambushed the expedition before they could even reach their destination. The leader of the horde even showed signs of intelligence. This situation resulted in the military nning to mobilize. If there was something that should not be left alone, it was those [Infected] with intelligence.


    Yesterday, the scouting troops from the military returned after two weeks of reconnaissance. Most of the information they brought back did not circte much due to being ssified military information. However, the military did announce some information.


    This reconnaissance party scouted the perimeter of the abandoned capital, Jakarta. ording to the reports, there was a significant increase in [Infected] activity in the city. This report also caused the military to reconsider its previous ns. While there were no concrete ns yet, the military should announce something soon in regard to the current [Infected] activity in Jakarta.


    Today, a new piece of information spread out. It was the 39th Satelite Settlement setting off on a new expedition.


    The 39th Satelite Settlement was not "prosperous"pared to most of the other Satelite Settlements. In fact, it was on the poorer side and among the smaller settlements. Simr to other settlements with the same level of status, the 39th Satelite Settlement should not be making quakes that would affect others. However, despite the small settlement size and having abat force consisting of only a hundred and twenty-three people, the 39th Satelite Settlement was one of the well-known settlements in the Muria Sacred Fortress.


    It was due to their group being the original inhabitants of Mount Muria before the military and the government took over. It was not wrong to say that they were in a hostile rtionship with the current management of the Muria Sacred Fortress.


    Furthermore, despite their small number, no one would belittle the group called Moon Chasers. Theirbat prowess was no less than thergest survivor group. Luna and Bajing alone were equal to thebat force of fifty regr [Mutators] in terms of strength and abilities. That was why many Satelite Settlements were wary of them instead. Worse, there were those who wanted to whittle the current strength of the Moon Chasers.


    Due to the circumstances surrounding the 39th Satelite Settlement and the Moon Chasers, many forces had their eyes on them.


    And now, around half of the Moon Chasers embarked on another dangerous journey.


    In this journey, some heinous people waited for the opportunity.


    But unknown to all these people, a world-changing tide was about to arrive in their country.


    It was a tide that would push the Moon Chasers forward.


    ***


    Day 356 - 1:01 PM - Makassar Strait, Indonesia


    The Makassar Strait. It was the body of water connecting the Celebes Sea and the Java Sea while also separating the inds of Kalimantan and Swesi.


    As thend mass increased after the [Fusion of Dimensions], the Makassar Strait became narrower than before. However, it was still arge body of water, having a minimum width of around hundred and fifty kilometers.


    The apocalypse left the airspace of the strait empty, with the asional birds flying from one ind to another. But there was a difference at this moment.


    It was because of arge cube flying through the sky.


    The Evernight group was already in the midst of their new journey. Their destination was the ind of Java.


    At this moment, the [Mini Cube] flew, following the Makassar Straight. It would have been faster if they flew in a straight line from Cebu to their destination, flying over Borneo in the process. However, saying that it would be faster could be wrong. While it would not be consistent, that route would expose the [Mini Cube] to attacks from various kinds of enemies. And while Mark had a general idea of what kinds of mutations appeared in Indonesia, it was still better to be cautious.


    After all, flora had something extremely dangerous that even Mark had to be wary of. It was poison.


    There were a lot of [Mutated Infected] who gained poison-type abilities. Many nts had that natural characteristics. If those nts mutated, they would be undoubtedly dangerous.


    Mark could purge poison from his body since he could control his own blood. However, the members of his group could not. It was better not to expose them to such kinds of attacks.


    Thus, Mark decided to follow a safer route. And, while observing the ces they passed by, he knew it was the correct decision.


    "Those trees are like skyscrapers."


    Markmented while looking at the absurd junglendscape of Borneo.


    Chiyo, the Night Everred Pure Spirit Tree, was surely arge tree. Its branches epassed the majority of the area of the Mountain Base, and it could be seen clearly from the foot of the mountain.


    However, Chiyo was nothingpared to the sizes of the trees Mark was currently looking at. It was a forest of gigantic treesrger and taller than Chiyo. Calling it Green Hell was definitely not exaggerated.


    Mark picked up a pair of binocrs. He noticed something moving on the branches of one of the trees. Then, Mark frowned. What he saw was something simr to a cabbage looper. And it was probably the same size as the anaconda in the movies. It wriggled its body as it traversed the gigantic branches of the enormous trees.


    That cabbage looper was just arva. Just howrge would its adult moth form be?


    "What are you looking at?"


    Mei asked Mark after seeing him frown.


    "You probably don''t want to know."


    Mark replied as he rxed his back andid down straight on Mei''sp.


    The couple sat on the roof of the [Mini Cube]. It was so they could easily thwart any danger they could possiblye across. However, the current weather was also so good that they could rx when there were no enemies in sight.


    Mei replied with a smile. She realized he likely saw something he thought would be too disgusting for her to see. While it might not be something that Mei would find disgusting, there was no harm in it.


    Mark closed his eyes. He monitored everyone inside the floating vessel.


    Chimetrice and Ilia were doing their job, piloting the [Mini Cube].


    Amihan, I, Abbygale, Miracle, and Amihan were ying a board game. They had been at it since lunch. It was good they had something to pass the time with since it was a long journey, even with the [Mini Cube].


    Spera seemed to be asleep. The lunch was to her taste, so she ate quite a lot and ended up like this.


    These members were also the ones with Mark in Japan, with the exception of Ilia and Chimetrice, who were only here to pilot the floating vessel. Once they reach the destination, the two would return to the Mountain Base using Spera''s portal.


    But different fromst time, there were two additional members this time.


    First was Annica. She was the daughter of the leader of the now-destroyed East Port Settlement in Quezon. After her family joined Mark''s base, she was in charge of animals in the base due to her innate abilities, both as a [Psychic] and a [Mutator]. Considering the current state of Indonesia, Mark expected her abilities to be of great use against giant insects and evolved animals.


    The other new members were Hannah and Feng Zhiruo.


    Hannah, Odelina''s niece whom Mark rescued in New Jersey, was tasked by her aunt to join Mark''s group this time. It was for her to gain bothbat experience and experience as a servant.


    On the other hand, Feng Zhiruo, the [Chinese Cultivator] Mark brought back during the events in New Jersey, wanted to do some field training. Apparently, she achieved a breakthrough with her cultivation, reaching thete stage of human-level cultivation. In this journey, she wanted to consolidate her foundations before trying to proceed to the next level. She sure bumped up her cultivation ever since she became part of the Mountain Base.


    With this crew, Mark expected a nicer but challenging adventure in Indonesia.


    But what was Mark''s exact goal aside from helping Thirteenth''s other candidate? After all, there should be no advantages for him aside from increasing his friendship level with Thirteenth.


    Mark actually had some things in mind. Although he already knew how the [Eyes] chose their candidates, Mark was sure there was something they did not mention.


    For example, both Mark and the Priestess, Ise Hikaru, had a connection with the Gods of the Lost Era. For Mark, it was the Unnamed Evil God, while Hikaru had a connection with Amaterasu. What if this was the hidden condition? It might be possible that the candidate in Indonesia also had a connection with another God.


    If Mark was correct, he expected an interesting encounter in this event.


    Aside from confirming his suspicions, Mark also had other motives.


    One of those motives was to collect materials for his future projects. Mark actually acquired some interesting things in Japan. Some were new materials from the [Infected]. There was also the core of Gar''m and, of course, the initial blueprint of the [Vanguard Armors].


    If Mark could get simr rewards in Indonesia, traveling here would be worth it.


    "Gege."


    Mei called Mark, causing him to open his eyes. He then looked at where Mei was pointing and saw something strange.


    People on the ground could not see more than three miles into the horizon. That distance would vary depending on the observer''s elevation and the height of the object on the horizon. That was why people on the ground could still see skyscrapers past the three-mile distance.


    And since the [Mini Cube] was flying in the sky, Mark and Mei could see farther.


    Mark realized they already exited the Makassar Strait. And towards the west, they would find their destination, Jakarta.


    However, in the same direction, Mark and Mei could see something blurry on the horizon.


    It was far. Too far that its image was too blurry. However, despite the distance, the two could see it.


    Mark squinted. He was sure it was a tree.


    However, it was farrger than any tree they had seen until now.


    Looking at that scene, Mark wondered if it was some kind of mirage while they traveled along the sea.


    However, as the [Mini Cube] flew closer to their destination, the image they could see on the horizon became clearer.


    The giant tree was no illusion.


    It was a tree with a trunk wider than a city and tall enough for the leaves on top to reach the lowest clouds.

 Chapter 1129: A Gigantic Encounter, The Symbiotic Horde and Marks Magical Experiment

    Day 367 - 11:24 AM - Kajen, Pati Regency, Central Java, Indonesia


    Luna shouted for everyone to get ready for battle.


    But then, she realized. How in the world were they going to fight that gigantic creature?


    Although they could already feel the ground tremble from the giant''s footsteps, it was clear that it was still far away from the group. Unfortunately, considering how massive that thing was, trying to gauge the distance became too difficult without high-tech equipment.


    The giant might be just one creature. But it was the size of a small mountain. The peak of its forest-covered back should be between three to four hundred meters from the ground. And from where everyone was looking, its width should be over half a kilometer.


    It was the first time everyone here had seen such arge creature.


    Well, except for several members of one group present, that was.


    "That''s huge..." Speramented. "It''s bigger than that golden crocodile, isn''t it?"


    "Hmmm... I don''t think so," Mark replied. "Sinogo might be lower in height, but he''s longer. If that''s another mutated turtle, its body can''t be that long."


    "Uncle," Emika chimed in. "Is that a [Evolved Animal] or a [Mutated Infected]?"


    "[Infected], without a doubt," Mark shrugged. "I don''t think any sane animal will move in the direction of an erupting volcano for any reason."


    Mark then observed the mountain-like shell of the [Mutated Infected Turtle]. A stupid but possibly brilliant idea entered his mind.


    "Spera," Mark nced at Spera as he called her name. "Go home for a bit."


    Those words made Mei and his other members look at him. But then, he gave his order.


    "Call Aephelia."


    Now, everyone understood what Mark was nning to do.


    Aephelia. The loyal made of Freed from Eriellis and the only living survivor of their. Now, being the fourth inmand in the Mountain Base, behind Mark, Mei, and Odelina, she became one of its pirs due to her ability to control the [Infected].


    Although Aephelia''s ability had limits, and she could not control all kinds of [Infected], there was no reason not to try.


    "I''m going," Spera nodded. "I''ll be quick."


    "Be faster than the quick you are thinking," Mark suddenly spoke as Spera was about to leave. "Looks like the turtle isn''t alone."


    Gasps could be heard as the intensity of the danger in front of them suddenly rose.


    If it was just the giant turtle, there might be a chance. They could just run away if they could not fight it.


    But now, hundreds of shadows flew from the forest-covered mountain on the giant turtle''s back.


    "Birds?"


    Someone voiced out, looking at the shadows in the sky pping theirrge pairs of wings.


    "No way..." Nelia, who had the best eyes among the Moon Chasers, felt fear. "[Infected Birds]! They are all [Infected Birds]!"


    Nelia could not help but shiver as the clear view of seemingly rotting, boil-covered birds entered her eyes. It was surprising that these birds could still fly with the condition of their bodies. While their flight was unstable, no one could deny these birds were flying.


    With the appearance of the [Infected Birds] from the mountain-like shell, running away was not an option anymore.Andbeingin the middle of the burnt wastnd, there was no ce to hide.


    "Don''t panic!" General Wijaya shouted. "Gather around! As close as possible! Then crouch as low as you can! It will be easier for us to protect you all if youall gatheredin one ce!"


    General Wijaya''s orders were the only option they had right now.


    But in the worst case...


    General Wijaya turned to Mark''s group, only to feel confused.


    Where did the girl with portals go?


    General Wijaya wanted to ask Mark.However, themembers of Evernight were on the opposite side of the crowd.


    "General! The enemies entered the firing distance!"


    The soldiers were already in position.It was the same forthe members ofthe Moon Chasers, Fire Fighters, 3rd Wave, and deshifters.The soldiers and those with guns would attack the [Infected Birds] in the air while the others would protect the nonbatants when the [Infected Birds] tried to sweep down to attack.


    But before the first shot fired at the enemies, everyone froze.


    A familiar voice entered everyone''s ears.


    "Leave this to us."


    Everyone could not help but turn their heads to theowner of the voice.


    Mark was already walking to the front. On his shoulder was the prettypoprfairy.


    "Are you sure? Can you really do it?"


    Luna asked as she approached Mark with her friends in tow.


    But a sh of light appeared as Luna''s Keris transformed, and Melfiss appeared without warning.


    "If this guy decided to make a move, then you can rest assured."


    Melfiss said to Luna.


    "This is unexpected."


    Mark said, looking at Melfiss. But thetter did not say anything more andjustran behind Luna to hide from him.


    "This isn''t the time to chit-chat!" A soldier shouted before turning to their General. "General, your orders!"


    But General Wijaya did not say anything and only shook his head. In fact, General Wijaya was unsure if they would survive this encounter on their own. Even if they did, the sacrifices would be immense. Even if the entire surviving army were here, it would be questionable to defeat the current enemy.


    KRAAAAOAAK!!!


    The broken screeches of the [Infected Birds] echoed as the horde flew closer.


    With the enemies getting closer, everyone gripped their weapons tighter. The nonbatants began cowering as the broken screeches entered their ears. For obvious reasons, the sounds these [Infected Birds] made were far more scarypared to [Infected Human] moans and groans.


    The horde of [Infected Birds] was now close enough for everyone to see their disgusting appearances clearly. Any closer and the soldiers would start firing by reflex.


    "Amihan."


    Mark faced the horde and spoke. Amihan, sitting on his shoulder, waved her hand as if she was swatting something quickly away from her.


    Then, the scene before them became painted with a mixture of the brownish color of feathers, the red color of blood, the greenish-ck color of rotting flesh, and the yellowish-green color of sttered pus.


    The hundreds of [Infected Birds] flying in the sky just now fell to the ground.The [Infected Birds] were not just killed. They all turned into minced meat in the blink of an eye.


    "This..."


    The soldiers were beyond speechless as they saw the unbelievable scene before their eyes.


    "YES!"


    "WHOOO!!!"


    On the other hand, the others rejoiced.


    But to their surprise, Mark continued to walk forward, leaving the vicinity of the group.


    ROOOARR!!!


    The threat was not over. There was still the mountainous turtle.


    But unexpectedly, the turtle suddenly began shaking its gigantic body. At first, it was a confusing scene to look at. After all, why would it do that instead of continuing to move forward to its targets?


    It did notlongfor everyone to see the answer for themselves.


    One after another, silhouettes of different creatures fell from the back of the giant turtle. The small mountain on its back did not only carry [Infected Birds] but all sorts of [Infected] creatures.


    "NO WAY! Did these [Infected] develop symbiotic rtionships?"


    The loud voice of Dr. Willis entered their ears after he blurted out his assumption.


    It was not rare for the [Infected] to form groups or hordes. Some horde hadleaderswhile others just gathered and traveled together.


    However, it was definitely differentpared to the giant turtle and the riders on its back.


    After the [Infected] fell from the back of the giant turtle, they stood up as soon as they could.It seemed thatmany of the [Infected]gotinjured from the fall, but injuries did not matter much to the [Infected].As long as they could move, they would move.


    The horde sure was quite an assortment. A few examples were dogs, cats, snakes, birds with broken wings, giant rats, pigs, cows, and even humans.The majorityof them were mutated, only having a few characteristics to distinguish them from their past appearances. It sure was a threatening lineup.


    With their feet or hands touching the ground, the horde ran forward. In their eyes, there was nothing but the group of fresh food in front of them. Most of themeasilyran past the giant turtle. Thegiantturtle was not fast on its own. It was only because of its size that it could traverserge distances atitsevery step. Butpared to the full sprint of the other [Infected], it was slower.


    "Just how many are there?"


    Bajing voicedoutas the scene before them was nothing but [Infected] rushing towards them.


    "There really is a lot, huh."


    Mark said as he stared at the second wave of enemies. It was likely that this turtle carried more [Infected]pared to the number they fought in the destroyed Bay City after the [Fusion of Dimensions].


    "Ignis."


    Mark called out his [Demon Sword], which appeared out of nowhere and flew into his right hand. He then nced at Amihan sitting on his right shoulder.


    "I want to try something."


    Mark asked Amihan and began to whisper to her.


    "Huh?" Amihan tilted her head. "But Master, will that work?"


    "Well, if it doesn''t work, we canjustdo something else."


    Mark replied.


    "If you want to."


    Amihan nodded and left his shoulder. Shethenhovered in front of his left shoulder as Mark took out something from his [Spatial Ring] and held it up with his left hand.


    Mark raised the item so that Amihan could also touch it.


    It was the [Butterfly of Knowledge]. The powerful item Mark caught which could enhance magical powers when held.


    But this time, Mark and Amihan held the bookat the same time.It was a mysteryif it would work or notsince they had never really tried it before, and it was something Mark thought of while tinkering the previous night.


    When they held the book together, nothing felt unusual. Well, they had yet to use any magic, after all.


    "Alright, I''ll start."


    Mark said as he pointed Ignis toward the iing enemies and began visualizing the magic he wanted inside his mind.


    There was a reason Mark was trying to do it this way.


    Mark could not use [Wind Magic] without the help of the [Wind Maniption Mental Crystal]. However, the [Mental Crystals] and the [Butterfly of Knowledge] would not work together. For the butterfly to work, the energy needed toe from the person holding the book.


    The goal of this experiment wasto try using Amihan as the energy source while casting magic through Ignis as the medium and Markservingas the channel.


    And as Mark began visualizing and Amihanbegan releasingher energy, their eyes lost focus. It was the sign of the butterfly channeling theincantationinto their heads.


    There, the two of them began chanting iprehensible words in unison. Words that only they could understand at the time it wasbeing chanted.


    "From the Goddes of the Wind of a faraway world to the God of Chaos, the king of otherworldly beasts..."


    "The channel through different worlds connected by this enigma..."


    "To the de of the beast''s tail, the elemental winds conjured..."


    "Swift, strong, condensed, sharpened..."


    "The fusion of three worlds... Creation of the sharpest unseen de..."


    "[Wind Maiden''s Beastial de: Dimension Tempest]..."


    Everyone watched with mouths agape as the wind picked up in the surroundings. A silhouette of an eight-headed serpent flew out of Mark''s sword before each head stretched out and shot toward the iing enemies. Then, the eight heads exploded into nothingness.


    And the next thing they saw was all the enemies, except the giant turtle, all turning to dust astheir bodies were cutinto countless pieces.


    Nothing remained of the horde with more than a thousand [Infected]. It did not matter what species they were or what mutation they had. They all vanished without a trace.


    "Wow... what''s that?"


    Spera''s voice echoed in the silence. It seemed that she returned in time to see the spectacle. However, everyone''s eyeswere focusedon the woman standing beside her instead. It was because an unfamiliar maid suddenly appeared.

 Chapter 1068 Following The Trail, Encountering An Unexpected Strange Situation

    Day 357 - 11:16 AM - Jalur Lohbener-Cirebon, Balongan, Indramayu, West Java, Indonesia


    For the entire morning, Mark and his group carefully followed the trail.


    The trail was not easy to trace. Although the people who left the trail passed by just a few days ago, it got broken and hidden here and there due to the fast-growing fauna in the area.


    Fortunately, even if some parts of the trail were untraceable, the people who left it were going in a specific direction. These people were heading east.


    While following the trail, Mark could not help but notice that they seemed to be following a rather odd path. The trail was not going straight east but had weird turns here and there.


    But as Mark''s group followed it through and observed the surroundings thoroughly, it became apparent why the trail was going through with different turns instead of a straight line.


    Mark pulled out his phone and looked at his offline map. It may not have all the specific details, but it should at least have some important general information. And he was right. The trail seemed to be following a national road for some reason. The evidence was not only the trail, but they also found bits and pieces of ruined asphalt road here and there.


    The reason why the trail followed the road was still unknown. However, Mark''s group could only follow it to find out the reason why.


    Unfortunately, Mark''s group could not go any faster without exerting themselves too much in this kind of terrain.


    Mark and the girls tried riding on the backs of Char and Laps. Char''s body wasrge enough to be ridden by several people, while Laps could transform into a three-meter-tall golden wolf. However, after a ten-minute ride on the backs of the two giants, Mark''s group decided against riding on them.


    The reason was mostly because of the terrain. Because of the terrain filled with trees, roots, and vines, not to mention the natural terrain of the fused Spirit Dimension, the ground was terribly uneven. Both Char and Laps could not run to their fullest. And worst, the terrain made the two extremely shaky when running. One could not put shock absorbers on living creatures, unfortunately. Thus, riding on the back of the two while traversing this forested terrain was far more tedious and tiring than walking.


    Furthermore, two running giants made much more noise than just carefully walking. In that ten-minute ride, they encountered three attacks from creatures and [Infected] attracted by the noiseing from their footsteps.


    Flying was a no-go, too. It was far harder to follow the trail from the sky because of therge trees that blocked the view. Furthermore, a visible target in the sky would attract more enemies than staying low on the ground and hidden between the trees.


    Thus, the group could only take it slow. Being slow and careful in an unfamiliar environment would be better than being fast and reckless.


    "Oh, it''s another clearing."


    Annica voiced out as they arrived at another clearing that intersected with the trail.


    It was not the first clearing they passed through. Looking at the surroundings, it was not that the clearing existed before the trail. It was more like these clearings between the trees came to be at the same time as the trail.


    And the reason?


    Mark and the group looked around. Everyone could see the trees and fauna trampled in every direction.


    These clearings were the result of a big battle.


    Mark paused on his feet and lowered his body to the ground. He then picked up something before noticing more of the item he picked up on the ground.


    "There''s also bullet casings here."


    Mei noticed the item Mark picked up. And it was not only around Mark. There were bullet casings here and there all over the clearing.


    "ARF!"


    Laps called everyone''s attention. The golden dog was in front of a fallen tree.


    Mark and the girls approached the fallen tree. They noticed the dried blood stains sttered on the trunk as if someone or something heavily bleeding got thrown on it. There was no corpse to find, though.


    "It''s human blood."


    Mark surmised. Blood was the medium of his main [Mutator] ability. Mark recognizing human blood was a given.


    "There''s also some there."


    Hannah called out, pointing at an underhanging section of arge rock nearby.


    This scene made everyone wonder if the people who left these blood trails managed to survive. Still, only two blood trails left in such arge clearing? It was clear that these people encountered either a giant evolved animal or even a pack of animals. But if they got two casualties, they should be skilled people.


    However, Mark shook his head to those thoughts. The number of bullet casings on the ground and the damage that created the clearing were not proportional if only two blood trails were left. There should also be blood from whatever they encountered.


    "There''s no other blood marks. Not even the thing they encountered," Feng Zhiruo said after looking around and pointing to arge monster-like footprint left on the ground. "Did the blood get washed off by rain or something?"


    Rain? Mark looked at the surroundings. It would need a heavy downpour to erase blood markspletely. However, the soil was not muddy enough to say that it rained hard a few days ago.


    But then, Mark remembered. It was the greatest struggle when they left the camp.


    Thick morning fog covered the forest in the morning, leavingrge amounts of dew on everything. Mark and the girls even got slightly wet because of the dew. If that amount of dew was consistent every morning, it might be why the blood marks in the clearings were nowhere to be found aside from a few specific locations where morning dew would have a hard time gathering.


    The group searched the area for a bit. The problem with these clearings was that it made it harder to find the continuation of the trail if nts had already covered it.


    "I found the trail!" Mark called out to the girls. "Let''s go."


    The group gathered once more and continued on their journey.


    However, after moving not too far from the clearing, the group encountered the next horde of enemies.


    Yes, it was a horde. It was because the enemies were a group of [Mutated Infected].


    "It''s them again, huh."


    Mark murmured with a frown.


    It was not the first time they encountered this kind of [Mutated Infected] since this morning.


    These were [Humanoid Infected] that gained themon mutation in this kind of forested environment. They had skinny limbs, light body, and skin with greenish pigmentation. If one looked closely, these [Mutated Infected] kind of resembled the [Ruin Stalkers] in Japan. However, inplete opposite to the [Ruin Stalkers], who could only function the best within ruins, these green-skinned [Infected] could only disy their best abilities within forested areas.


    Mark decided to call these [Forest Stalkers]. There was no need to oveplicate the name. It was better to give it a simr name to the [Ruin Stalkers] due to their simr behavior while giving an indicator of the difference in their habitat. Mark''s naming sense kind of followed the same pattern and rules of giving scientific names minus theplicated Latin stuff.


    "Same strategy! Watch out for attacks from above!"


    Mark yelled as everyone moved into position.


    Like Mark had said, these [Forest Stalkers] preferred attacking from above. They jump from tree to tree and try to pounce on their victim from tree branches and leaves. These [Mutated Infected] were fast-moving, and the green pigmentation on their skin made it easier for them to camouge themselves in nt-covered environments.


    Unfortunately for this horde of [Forest Stalkers], they picked the wrong opponent this time.


    There were fifteen [Forest Stalkers]. In amon scenario, this number would be fatal for many small survivor groups, not to mention it was the perfect environment for these [Mutated Infected]. However, Mark''s group was not onlyposed of humans and Demons. They also had two animals and three golems.


    Laps in her small body could outrun these fast [Infected] and even counterattack. As for Char, he did not even need to dodge. The poor [Forest Stalkers] that attacked him tried to bite, but their rotten teeth could not even leave a scratch on the dragon''s scales.


    The horde of [Forest Stalkers] turned into corpses in three minutes. It could have taken less time if not for the trees, which ended up blocking most of the attacks of Mark''s group.


    It was not wrong to say that Mark''s group had yet to be ustomed to fighting in a forest as thick as the ones currently in Indonesia. Even the forest around the Mountain Base was not as thick as this. Nheless, they were getting used to it.


    "Only three, huh."


    Markined as he used the [PsyCrystal] to suck out the [Mutagen Stones] from the corpses of the [Forest Stalkers].


    By the looks of it, these [Forest Stalkers], albeit mutated, were not too different frommon [Infected]. It was the same for [Ruin Stalkers] too. Despite being mutated variants, finding [Mutagen Stones] from their bodies was as umon as finding stones on nonmutated [Infected].


    This situation made Mark consider differentiating [Mutated Infected] into two categories. One was the [Natural Mutated] and the [Catalyst Mutated].


    [Natural Mutated] were like [Ruin Stalkers] and [Forest Stakers], which mutated as they naturally adapted to their natural surroundings and geography.


    On the other hand, [Catalyst Mutated] were the ones who mutated due to unnatural factors. Furthermore, these ones had a higher chance of having [Mutagen Stones].


    In any case, Mark had yet to adapt this differentiation fully within his records. After all, Mark had only seen two kinds of [Infected] that he would consider as [Natural Mutated]. If he managed to find more, then he probably would finalize it.


    After dealing with the [Forest Stalkers], Mark''s group hastily left the area. The battle and the blood would definitely attract some unwanted attention. Furthermore, the dead corpses would also serve as bait to lure away any nearby enemy instead of making them follow Mark''s group.


    The group continued moving, following the broken trail. They did not even stop for lunch and ate food on the go.


    But as they reached a certain area, everyone noticed something odd.


    "Is it just me, or is the surroundings getting foggy?"


    Emika spoke.


    It was not only Emika. Everyone had already noticed the fog rolling in the surroundings.


    "Should we move to the coastal areas?" Feng Zhiruo asked. "The fog seemed to being from ind."


    The coastal areas should be north, while the fog seemed to be thickening from the south.


    "Yeah, let''s go."


    Mark nodded, and everyone moved faster than before. They even began running while still being careful of the uneven footing.


    Having their sense of sight taken away was the worst scenario in a heavily forested area. And it could also be a poisonous fog. It was better to avoid it.


    Unfortunately, their speed was not enough. The fog spread out faster than the speed at which they could run.


    "Spera! Open a portal!"


    Mark issued hismand and made Spera open a portal to escape. The target location was not important as long as it was outside the scope of the fog.


    However, they were in for an unpleasant surprise.


    "Wah!" Spera eximed. "The portal is not opening!"


    Everyone was shocked by the unexpected development. It was clearly not Spera''s fault. She had already gotten better at his ability, and opening a portal, even in this situation, should be a piece of cake for her.


    Then, if there was nothing wrong with Spera, then it was something else.


    It was the fog.


    "Amihan! Blow the fog away!"


    Markmanded, and Amihan began to control the wind around her.


    However, as the wind made contact with the fog, Amihan lost control of it. And yet, the fog did not show any kind of reaction.


    "It''s not working!"


    Amihan yelled in shock.


    Mark also tried using the [Wind Maniption Mental Crystal], but just like Spera and Amihan, the crystal failed to work properly.


    Unfortunately, the fog caught up to them, encasing them all in a world where they could barely see anything.


    "Is everyone okay?!"


    Mark yelled. Fortunately, he received a positive response from everyone.


    However, Mark was frowning. Usually, he did not need to ask. He could just detect them using his [Empath] abilities to see if they were okay.


    But Mark realized that, within the fog, even his [Empath] abilities became restricted.


    It was no ordinary fog. An ordinary fog should not affect magical abilities.


    And as Mark was getting annoyed by the situation, an answer unexpectedly came. Of course, it was from no one else but the Visayan Goddess of the Underworld.

 Chapter 1069 [Magic Overflow], A New Natural Phenomenon On Earth

    ?


    Day 357 - 12:11 PM - Jalur Lohbener-Cirebon, Balongan, Indramayu, West Java, Indonesia


    The thick fog rolled in and deprived everyone of their sense of sight. But that was not all. It prevented any magical ability within. As Mark tried to assess the situation, he noticed that not only their sense of sight but also their sense of direction became greatly hampered.


    It was unsurprising to feel lost in any ce where the visibility was low. Sometimes, direction-finding devices such aspasses would help in this scenario.


    However, Mark could only frown as he saw both his analog and digitalpasses had gone haywire. The hand of the analogpass was just erratically spinning, and the digitalpass just kept blinking and pointing in different directions at every blink.


    "Everyone, stay close."


    Mark said out loud as he noticed that the fog also affected their sense of hearing.


    Wary of what was happening, the members of Mark''s groupplied immediately.


    At least the fog did not seem poisonous...


    Or so they thought.


    THUD!


    Everyone heard the muffled thud as someone fell. It caused Mark and the girls to turn their heads, where they found Hannah barely conscious on the ground.


    Mark immediately checked on Hannah. Fortunately, it seems his [Empath] abilities still worked through touch. He noticed that Hannah was not in pain or anything of the sort. However, she began showing signs simr to altitude sickness.


    But that was impossible. Mark''s group was not at any high altitude.


    It meant that what was happening to Hannah should be the effect of the fog. But as Mark looked at the rest of his group, they seemed fine. Even Laps, Char, and Crystal were normal. Only Hannah showed the symptoms.


    Although Mark and the girls did not know why, Hannah might be the only one in danger.


    Mark looked up. It might be best if he could bring Hannah out of the fog first. Odelina would be extremely saddened if something bad happened to her niece.


    The shortest way to leave the fog should be the sky. Mark thought of flying out of the fog with Hannah in his arms.


    But before Mark could even let his wings out, a voice in his mind paused in his tracks.


    "I advise against doing what you are trying to do," Magwayen''s voice echoed in Mark''s mind. "If you want to help her, just hand her one of your empty magical crystals. And while at it, give each of your members one to keep in their hands or pockets."


    Mark immediately moved after hearing Magwayen''s instructions. He did not know why she wanted to distribute the empty [Mental Crystals], but at the least, he knew she would not jeopardize their safety in situations like this.


    Surprisingly, handing Hannah a crystal in her hand reduced her symptoms immediately. However, as her suffering eased, Hannah fell unconscious.


    Mark also handed everyone an empty crystal. He even made a [Blood Metal] ne to hold the crystal for the three pets to wear on their necks. Crystal seemed to be a little irritated with something foreign hanging on its neck, but the other two did not mind.


    After everyone received a crystal, something unexpected happened. The crystals seemed to begin absorbing something as their color became hazy. It was simr to what would happen when Mark used the crystals to absorb magical energy from [Infected] magical creatures. And after just a few seconds, everyone noticed the visibility of their surroundings became much better. The fog was still there, but they could at least see up to around five meters around them before the fog could affect the visibility again.


    "This is much better."


    Mark voiced out, and everyone could only agree.


    However, despite the better visibility, Mark was quite sure their sense of direction was still skewed.


    "Now, can you tell me what is going on?"


    Mark spoke in his mind.


    Right now, Magwayen was clearly watching the situation around Mark. And as such, her reply came immediately.


    "It''s a [Magic Overflow]."


    Magwayen then exined.


    [Magic Overflow] was a phenomenon that could happen in worlds with magical energy. It would happen when magical energy became concentrated in one area without a proper flow cycle. The magical energy would be stale after a prolonged stagnancy. After a longer period without a flow, the stagnant magical energy would either start materializing or turn into natural [Miasma].


    The [Magical Fog] was the mostmon result of stagnant magical energy. It was mostly harmless. However, it had the tendency to affect the mentality of living beings within it. Furthermore, higher concentrations of this kind of fog could cause nausea, shortness of breath, and other effects on creatures with low magical resistance. On the other hand, such effects could be resisted by creatures with magical energy within their bodies or those with high magical resistance.


    But the [Magical Fog] itself would not cause a [Magic Overflow]. Despite turning into fog or [Miasma], the stagnant magical energy should remain stagnant.


    A [Magic Overflow] was quite a rare phenomenon. Even in magic-oriented worlds that existed, this phenomenon would not happen easily unless a few strict factors were fulfilled. In the first ce, there were very few ces where magical energy could be stagnant. And even if magical energy started gathering in some ces, there were magical creatures that would absorb them before turning into a disaster.


    However, such factors could still happen. One of the few ces where magical energy could gather and be stagnant was the central areas of a thick, lush forest. Another was a mountainous valley. Deep caves were also an example.


    Although magical creatures could stop magical energy from bing stagnant, if the magical energy gathered faster than the speed magical creatures could absorb it, it would still end up umting.


    A [Magic Overflow] could happen if the location where the stagnant magical energy gathered could not hold the magical energy anymore. And like a dam that far reached its threshold, it would overflow and spread out in the surroundings.


    The [Magical Overflow] was not deadly in the outer areas. However, it was the opposite in the central areas where the stagnant magical energy gathered. Once the stagnant magical energy reached an overflow, the central areas would likely be deadly to creatures with low magical resistance.


    Mark listened to Magwayen''s exnation while he told his group to set up a resting area for Hannah. It was better to stay put in this fog than aimlessly wander around before knowing more about the situation.


    While listening to the factors that could cause the phenomenon, things became clear.


    Indonesia had turned into arge forest-covered country. And not just any regr forest, either. The trees here were mutated, gigantic, and fast-growing. It was extremely likely for magical energy to be stagnant in these ces.


    Furthermore, Earth was originally a magic-less world. The number of magical creatures on this was far lower, and there was no way for them to stop the magical energy in these forests from bing stagnant. In the first ce, Mark''s group had yet to see any magical creature or signs of them since they stepped into this country. They might not even exist in this ce due to the highly mutated [Infected].


    With all those factors in ce, the [Magic Overflow] happened. And unfortunately, Mark''s group just happened to be in the area when it happened.


    "How long would this take?"


    Mark asked Magwayen.


    "Unfortunately, that is something I had no answer to," Magwayen answered. "A [Magic Overflow''s] duration depended on the density of the stagnant magical energy. However, there is no way of telling its density without going to the central area. And trying to find the central area while the [Magic Overflow] is already happening would be dependent on luck."


    "But can we get out of this ce? Will flying work?"


    Mark asked, wanting to get out of this dangerous situation.


    "As I had said before, do not resort to flight. The only reason that allowed you to tell which direction is up and down in this situation is because your feet are touching the ground. Once you lose touch or sight of the ground, you will never know whether you are flying up or down because of the fog. Rather than escaping, you will end up getting lost faster than walking."


    Magwayen exined thoroughly.


    "Then, we can only try walking."


    Mark followed with another question.


    "Yes, you can," Magwayen agreed. "However, just like trying to go to the central area, it would be dependent solely on luck."


    "I see."


    Mark nodded.


    Finally getting enough information, Mark approached the girls who were tending to the unconscious Hannah.


    "Let''s have lunch first," Mark said. "After Hannah regained consciousness, we will set off."


    "Are we continuing forward?"


    Mei asked Mark.


    "No," Mark shook his head. "We''ll retrace our steps north first. Our priority right now is to leave these areas affected covered in fog."


    Mark''s thoughts were correct. They would at least be familiar with the areas they already passed by, and give them more chance of leaving. While the visibility was still low, they at least had a few meters of visibility they could use to find familiarndmarks.


    While thinking, Mark held the crystal in his hand. The crystals were helping by absorbing the magical energy that formed the fog.


    If the fog was caused by magical energy, it meant that Mark could absorb it using [Miasma].


    However, Mark would only resort to that if the situation went on a desperate turn. It was because while Mark already recovered physically, Mark had yet to recover magically.


    During the battle with the Yamata-no-Orochi, Mark absorbed too much magical energy than he could control. Even right now, Mark had yet to fully control therge amount of new [Miasma] inside his body. If he had the correct estimate, he could barely control a third of it. If he blindly absorbed more in this situation, he might turn into that aggressive blob once again, and that would not be a good thing in this situation.


    With Mark''s arrangements, the group ate lunch while Mark exined the information from Magwayen to his members. In the middle of it, Hannah woke up. Sadly, her first words were apologies for her blunder, even though it was not her fault in any way.


    After lunch, the group set off on their way. Carefully, they searched the area to retrace their steps back and head north. As said, the group did not try to leave anyone outside the area visible to them. It was really easy to get lost when none of them could even realize the direction where they were going.


    The pace of their group was much slower than before. Still, they were making consistent progress. Unfortunately, this progress was limited until the sharp turn before the trail following the current road. As said before, the trail had some turns as if following something. And the turn at the end of this road would be going in the opposite direction they were trying to go.


    Once Mark''s group reached that turn, they would need to gamble. Nheless, it was a better option.


    The group continued to move. But at the current pace, it was clear that nighttime woulde way before they could leave the vicinity of the fog.


    Soon, the group reached a familiar area filled with ruins. It was the capital of the province.


    "Let''s look for a ce to spend the night here."


    Mark told the group. They also agreed that it would be far more dangerous than usual to travel under this thick fog during the night.


    The group carefully searched the ruins. However, as one would expect, there was barely anything intact. When it came to a shove, the group decided to clear an area and camp.


    Soon, the foggy environment began to darken. The night wasing.


    But as the group searched onest area, an unexpected thing happened.


    The group entered an area unaffected by the fog.


    And within that area, a group led by a woman with oddly purple hair stared at Mark''s group in obvious shock.

 Chapter 1070 Cautiousness To Friendliness, An Unexpected Meeting Through The Fog

    ?


    Day 357 - 6:02 PM - Museum Bandar Cimanuk, Lemahabang, Indramayu, Indramayu Regency, West Java, Indonesia


    It was a sudden encounter between two groups amidst the thick fog. Both groups might have been expecting to face monsters but definitely not meeting other people. And this was why both parties showed a hint of surprise due to this unexpected situation.


    "Who are you people?"


    The people in the area clear of the fog were the ones to first jump into action, specifically, a man who appeared rather extremely wary of the strangers in front of him and his group.


    With that man in the lead, his voice prompted the other members of his group to pick their weapons up in case of an attack.


    "Put your weapons down!"


    However, the woman with the purple hair had a different order.


    "Luna?"


    The man questioned the woman''s order, but another woman stood beside him and gently pushed the gun in his hands to point to the ground. He could only look at the woman beside him, only to see her pointing at something.


    Everyone soon realized why Luna told them to stand down. It was because the other group they were pointing their guns at had children with them.


    While the group might be wary, pointing their guns at children would be something they did not want to do.


    "UWAA!!!"


    But a cry from another member caused everyone to raise their guns again as they stepped back in fear.


    It was because, following behind the group in front of them, a giant ck lizard emerged from the fog.


    None of them had ever seen a creature like that. Not only was the lizard huge, but its appearance alone was intimidating.


    Unfortunately, the fear of the unknown creature caused one of the armed men to trip as he stepped back. And along with his idental fall, he pulled the trigger of his pistol.


    In everyone''s shock, the gun fired straight at the man in front of the unfamiliar group.


    However, the man did not flinch at all. The next thing they knew, the man already had hisrge sword blocking in front of him. The sword''s de made a loud ng as it blocked the bulletpletely. And with a muffled clink, the bullet fell to the ground.


    On the receiving end of the stray bullet, Mark frowned as his eyes peeked over the de of his sword. He, who always relied on his [Empath] abilities for detecting the surroundings, was also taken off guard in this sudden encounter.


    It was an encounter without any preparations. Furthermore, while the crystals gave Mark''s group some extended visibility, the effect of the fog on their magical abilities was still there. Thus, Mark could not get an on-point evaluation of the people in front of him.


    Nheless, Mark could at least tell they were not bandits after seeing their reactions when they saw his daughters. They might not be hostile either but were just wary of strangers.


    However, while these people were in the clear in Mark''s eyes, his members thought otherwise. Mark got shot just now. They would not let that slide easily. Mei and the girls were ready to reap some lives already.


    Mark stared at the opposite group. By the looks of it, the purple-haired woman wanted to reprimand their idiotic member that misfired his gun. However, she noticed the killing intent released by Mark''s members after he received the bullet. As such, she could not help but feel wary of the situation. She also noticed that Char was part of his group, considering that there was a weakened Hannah riding on Char''s back.


    That purple-haired woman, Luna, was open-minded enough to realize the possibility of having tamed creatures. Or maybe they had seen some simr circumstances before. Still, her mind was clear enough, not letting fear swallow her thoughts in the instance of a strange and unexpected encounter.


    Unfortunately, the same was not the case for the other members of her group. Looking at their group, only she and the other two women were of the same caliber. The man who was the first to react was behind the three, while the others were far behind the four.


    Knowing that his members were ready to attack at hismand, Mark raised his left hand as a signal. The girls seemed displeased, but they obeyed and stood down.


    Luna did not show much emotion, but she was relieved that the other group did not attack in retaliation. She did not know whether they could win against the people in front of her in a fight, but she knew that they had no way of defeating that dragon-like monster.


    Mark gave onest nce at the wary group. He then turned to his own group and gave his instructions.


    On the other side, Luna and her members were already ready for confrontation. Sure, it was their side''s fault here, but they had no idea what the other group''s purpose was.


    But Luna and the members of the Moon Chasers were surprised as the other group began to turn around and leave.


    Luna could only sigh in relief after seeing that the other group did not want to fight. But before everyone could even settle down, someone spoke.


    "Hey! Are you looking for a ce to camp?"


    The members of the Moon Chasers were all bbergasted as one of their own shouted at the group who was about to leave.


    "Limab! What are you trying to do?!"


    Bajing eximed in a low voice as she saw their friend making a risky move.


    "Don''t worry!" Limab smiled. "Just trust me!"


    The members of the Moon Chasers could only wonder where Limab''s confidence came from. Thus, they could only look at their leader.


    Unfortunately for the wary members, Luna only stared at Limab without stopping her. Luna was looking at Limab''s unique trait at times like this. It was the bluish-purple glint in her eye whenever she did something drastic and ended up getting things right.


    On the other hand, Mark and his group could only turn their heads after hearing the question.


    And with a rather broken Indonesian grammar, Mark asked.


    "Can you speak English? I''m still not that proficient in Indonesian."


    Those words became a surprise for the members of the Moon Chasers. Mark''s words were right, but his ent and pronunciation sure needed work. It was a clear indication of a self-taught foreigner.


    And in apocalyptic Indonesia, foreigners were pretty rare.


    Fortunately, most members of Moon Chasers, especially the higher positions, were pretty proficient with the internationalnguage.


    Limab repeated her question in English. And Mark confirmed they were looking for a ce to camp for the night.


    "Then just stay here. It''s arge ce, anyway," Limab suggested before turning to Luna. "It''s fine, right?"


    Luna stared at her friend in exasperation. And with a shrug, Luna spoke.


    "Just in the yard. Keep some distance away from the building."<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>


    "Hear that?" Limab asked Mark. "Just stay here until the fog lifts. Just in the corner of the yard, though."


    Mark thought about it a little. While these people looked wary, they did not seem aggressively hostile. He was still unsure about the purpose of this lively woman, though. Nheless, there was no reason to refuse the offer.


    However, without saying another word to Limab, Mark made his group follow to a far corner of the clear area. There, they began setting up camp.


    Was it rude to not say another word? In a way, yes. However, considering that one of them fired a gun at the other group even by ident, they pretty much deserved this amount of rudeness.


    In any case, they managed to avoid a direct conflict. The first encounter might not be pleasant, but in the least, there were no clear hostilities.


    Inside the structure in the middle of the clear area, the four higher-ups of the Moon Chasers had a meeting with a few members.


    "Limab. What is that out there? What are you trying to do?"


    The man fastest to react earlier, Edge, questioned Limab and her erratic actions.


    This question was not surprising at all. Everyone in the group also wanted to know the reason.


    Unfortunately, only Luna and Bajing knew of Limab''s peculiarities. The other members had no idea. They could only ask for exnations.


    "Instinct?" Limab gave a yful reply. "We needed help with many things. I feel like they were just what we needed."


    The members listening could only frown at that answer. They could not believe that Limab was pushing everyone into danger just because of a gut feeling.


    "Luna, what do you think about this?"


    Edge asked Luna. In the end, she was their leader.


    However, Luna chose Limab''s side.


    "Things are already done. We can only keep our guards up."


    It meant that the group could and should do nothing in the current situation but look after themselves.


    Soon, the night rolled in, and the tension among the Moon Chasers was pretty high because of the strangers outside. It was an unknown group of foreigners with a dragon-like creature and a few more animals. Furthermore, the Moon Chasers were often the target of other survivor groups for some reason. They could not help but think that the strangers outside might be some hidden forces of those enemy groups.


    However, contrary to the cautious thoughts of their other members, Limab dragged her two close friends to meet the strangers outside during dinner.


    "Um, hello? Again?"


    Limab greeted the strange group, not showing fear, only friendliness.


    On the other hand, Mark and the girls could only stare at the friendly girl in askance. The right reaction was what their other members had. This friendly girl was an odd one.


    And in the apocalypse, true friendliness was hard toe by. Most often, someone showing this amount of friendliness had an ulterior motive.


    Unfortunately, Mark could not tell. The fog still hampered his [Empath] abilities. He could not read the emotions of the friendly girl trying to talk to him and his group.


    "Do you need something?"


    Mark asked, neither friendly nor hostile.


    "We would like to apologize for the ident earlier. It was fortunate that you are skilled, or that could have turned into a disaster."


    The friendly woman apologized and bowed her head slightly. She then pushed her two friends to do the same.


    Mark was pretty confused. He was pretty sure that Indonesia had no bowing tradition for apologies like Japan and Korea. Was it a mistake? Or maybe it was a mannerism these three women picked up.


    And Mark had a singlement about this.


    "Weebs?"


    Mark uttered a question in front of the three.


    And as a response to Mark''sment, the three blushed in embarrassment.


    The three women were caught off-guard and could not answer in time, but their reaction by reflex was more than enough to answer the question.


    At the least, these three women knew what it meant, unlike most of the disillusioned ones in themunity. Furthermore, they were aware they belonged to the category.


    "Y-you too?"


    The friendly girl asked.


    But Mark shook his head.


    "I''m no Japanophile. I''m just a nerd. So, I categorize as an Otaku more than a Weeb."


    Mark replied.


    The three women looked at Mark with surprised reactions. It seemed they did not expect to meet someone in the same circle during this point in the apocalypse.


    Weebs and Otakus might have differences, but they also had simrities, making both getting dumped into the samemunities. Nheless, most of their interests started with Anime, causing both categories to often mix together.


    And for the three Weebs to meet an Otaku in the middle of this thick fog, it might be fate.


    This fortunate exchange caused the wariness to lessen even more. Well, Limab did not show any wariness in the first ce. It was as if she was sure Mark''s group would not be a threat to them as long as they did not start fanning the mes first.


    And with Limab''s friends finally warming up, Limab asked to sit down to ask some questions while offering to answer some questions, too.


    The information exchange began as Mark offered the three women some warm soup for dinner.

 Chapter 1071 Bowl of Soup and Information, Chatting Around the Campfire Over Dinner

    Chapter 1071 Bowl of Soup and Information, Chatting Around the Campfire Over Dinner


    Day 357 - 7:21 PM - Museum Bandar Cimanuk, Lemahabang, Indramayu, Indramayu Regency, West Java, Indonesia


    The first friendly contact between the two groups became established. It was all due to Limab''s proactiveness.


    No one expected Mark and the three women to be from the same circle. However, it made it easier for the four to interact. Of course, it did not mean that the three women, no, two, had already lowered their guards. Limab, for some reason, never had her guard up against Mark and his group.


    The introductions came right after the initial greeting. Unlike in Japan, Mark and Emika did not have to do all the talking. The three women of the Moon Chasers were quite proficient in English, allowing Mei and the rest of the members of Evernight to introduce themselves.


    At first, after hearing Markbeling himself as an Otaku, Luna and Bajing felt a little concerned. An Otaku surrounded by girls of different ages usually meant somethingmon in anime and novels but quite unpleasant in the modern age. To be exact, a harem.


    However, the thoughts of Luna and Bajing changed a little after Mark and the rest introduced themselves while emphasizing their roles in their group and their rtionships. It was as if they were introducing themselves as an adventurer party in a game-like setting.


    The only person who introduced herself as Mark''s wife and lover with an embarrassed tone was the girl wearing a veil on her face who named herself Mei. Furthermore, Mark and Mei had three daughters.


    As the three women saw the healthy children happily eating with their parents, their opinion of the group was rising. It could mean that even during the apocalypse, these children had enough food to eat.


    Still, while Emika, Annica, and Spera''s introductions still felt normal, the following introductions became weirder and weirder.


    One was a swordswoman, and there were two maids. There were several pets, too.


    What surprised the three women the most was Amihan. Unfortunately, Amihan was the one who could not speak English. As such, she was silent while hiding on Mark''s shoulder.


    Luna and Bajing could not help but feel the peculiarity of this group. At the least, they did not seem to be bad people. The Moon Chasers had a fair share of bad encounters with other groups. Encountering this group was a breath of fresh air for them.


    When the three introduced themselves, Mark asked a question.


    "Those aren''t your real names, right?"


    That was a reasonable question. Luna, although not an Indonesian name, was still a possible real name. However, the names Limab, which would literally trante to the number fifteen, and Bajing, which would trante to Squirrel, were definitely not something any parent sane parent would name their children.


    "Yes," Luna answered. "Most of us already left our past names and used aliases instead. Many of us use it because it''s cool, but more do the same to cope with the current state of the world."


    Mark nodded. What Luna said was not wrong. One good way to adapt to the new world was to forget their previous identities. It would reduce the tendency to remember their peaceful past and be far more ustomed to the present using their new identities. While it would not work on all people, it was an act that would at least help in many ways.


    The three women looked at Mark while thinking that he would ask for their real names. However, he never did. He was considerate enough not to pry too deep, especially when they had just met today.


    It was already nighttime. At this time, some people already finished eating dinner, others were in the middle of it, while the unlucky ones would likely not have one at all.


    When the three women approached Mark''s group, they were in the middle of cooking vegetable and dried meat soup for dinner. Due to the friendly attitude of the three women, everyone was fine letting them join in.


    Luna and Bajing hesitantly received their bowls of soup, while Limab did not mind and dug in. The two knew how hard it was to gather food in the apocalypse. Furthermore, the bowl of soup in their hands had far more ingredients than everything they had eaten in the past two days. The three of them eating this rich soup while leaving their other members to eat nothing but the awful-tasting dried [Vine Dhole] meat felt bad for the two.


    At times like this, Luna and Bajing felt envious of Limab, who had no hesitation in her actions. Limab also led the two to this pleasant meeting.


    "Wow, this is good."


    Limabplimented the soup that Hannah cooked. Then, she could not help but look at Mei.


    "Isn''t it hard to eat with that on?"


    Just like everyone, Mei was eating soup. However, she was wearing the veil she refused to remove with strangers around.


    Mark looked around. It seemed that these three women sneaked out to meet them. Even though their other members already found out, those members only decided to watch outside the house in the middle of the area that was clear of fog.


    "The others are far away. You can take it off."


    Mark said to Mei.


    After looking at Mark and nodding, Mei revealed her face, which surprised the three women for various reasons. First, she was beautiful. Second, she looked really young to have a child I''s age.


    And the third reason only belonged to Limab.


    "Huh? Xiao Mei? The Princess of Xiao Industries?"


    Limab blurted out.


    Those words from Limab became a surprise for everyone listening, especially the person in question.


    "You know her?"


    Luna asked her friend.


    "Uh-huh," Limab nodded. "I saw her at the previous ASEAN Business Conference in Mysia. She''s too beautiful and popr to forget. But she really looked listless at that time."


    Limab then looked straight at Mei.


    "Now, you looked way better. Good for you."


    Those words surprised Mei in the most pleasant way. She never expected someone to recognize her here, not to mention realizing the difference between her past and present state. Furthermore, it was an acknowledgment of the positive changes Mei had gone through, which made her happy.


    "Um, can I ask a question?" Bajing chimed in. "I heard about Xiao Industries, too. It''s a constructionpany based in the Philippines, right?"


    "Now that Bajing mentioned it," Luna also realized something. "Where did your groupe from? There is no way we would not know of your group, especially if you have a dragon. News easily travels around the fortress, after all."


    Mark looked at Luna. She had just given him a good piece of information.


    "What is this fortress you are talking about?"


    Mark asked.


    "So, I am right," Luna stared at Mark and his group. "You guys aren''t from the fortress."


    Luna then proceeded to answer Mark''s question. This exchange gave Mark the information he needed. It was the ce where he needed to go and meet the other candidate. That fortress was also where Luna and her group came from. She did not hesitate to share the information since it was supposed to be well-known. It was Mark''s group who were strange since they did not know about the supposedst bastion of humankind in Indonesia.


    "So, where did your groupe-" Luna was about to ask where Mark''s group came from. However, she stopped while shaking her head. "No, forget it. If you didn''te from the fortress, never tell anyone from the fortress the location of your home. Not everyone is a good person there."


    Luna then warned Mark. It seemed that there were a few incidents where groups from that said fortress raided some settlements outside. However, there was no evidence left of who did it, and no one received any punishment for the incidents.


    Mark could only give a subtle smile. Although his [Empath] abilities were still unusable, he could still tell that these three women were good people from their actions.


    "Don''t worry about us," Mark spoke. "Just consider us as tourists. We don''t have any fixed ce in this country, after all."


    Those words sparked surprise and curiosity in the three women.


    "You don''t have any ce to go?"


    Luna asked.


    "Yep," Mark replied. "Since you mentioned that fortress, we might as well try going there."


    "Then!" Limab eximed. "Why note with us? Let''s go together. We''re about to head home after this fog lifted anyway."


    "You''re not trying to recruit us or anything, right?"


    Mark asked.


    "No," Limab shook her head. "It would be nice if that happened, but we don''t recruit like this."


    Mark looked at his members. Hemunicated with the girls through their eyes. In the end, they left the decision to him.


    "Then, it will be our pleasure if your group can guide us."


    Mark decided to go along with the three women.


    The three women smiled. There was nothing bad with going together. In fact, things might be safer this way. If what Mark said was true and they were traveling the forest in their small group safely, they should be strong.


    "By the way," Mark remembered something. "Is this ce your group''s? Why is it not covered in fog?"


    Mark could not help but ask. This ce was clear of the fog with that small house at the center. It made him curious.


    The question made the women showplicated expressions.


    "We don''t really know," Luna exined. "We found this ce by chance during the third time this fog thing happened, and we got caught in it. So when it happened again today, we rushed to this ce since it was nearby where we were."


    Mark only probed a little. Although his question did not get answered, he got a good piece of information.


    It was not the first time the [Magic Overflow] happened in this country. There were at least three times in the past, with the current one possibly being the fourth or fifth time.


    Using this information, he deduced that magical energy was somehow umting too fast in this ce, which caused the overflow to happen pretty frequently.


    Mark began trying to think if he could utilize this fact to his advantage. After all, not only Mark''s [Miasma] would grow using magical energy, but the [PsyCrystal] could only absorb some of it to create more [Empty Mental Crystals] faster.


    After seeing how cooperative the three were, Mark decided to ask questions about the fortress, this ce, and even the surroundings. Although Mark already had the general idea from Thirteenth, getting information from the mouth of a local was worth the trouble.


    Fortunately, the three women did not hesitate to exin the current state and history of the Muria Sacred Fortress. Their answers gave Mark a good amount of information he could use and consider.


    It would have been nice if Thirteenth just gave Mark some urate information. However, every information she gave him was vague in many ways.


    Now, with the help of these three women, Mark now knew where he could start finding the other candidate.


    The dinner continued with a light chat. Due to Limab''s openness and friendliness, it became easier for the two parties to interact with each other. The three also did not hesitate to share information as long as it was not something that would jeopardize the safety of the Moon Chasers. Fortunately, Mark did not ask for personal stuff either.


    But all of a sudden, the lively chatting came to an abrupt halt.


    And the source of the odd silence was Mark and Limab.


    The two suddenly froze, staring at the empty space in front of them. They had the look of someone with scenes and memories shing in front of their eyes.


    And when the two finally moved their heads, Mark and Limab locked stares for a second.


    Mark''s eyes glowed dark purple, while Limab''s eyes showed a bright, bluish-purple glow.


    The colors might be a bit different, but it was clear that Limab was a [irvoyant].


    And just now, both Mark and Limab saw shes of the future at the same time.


    All of a sudden, Limab put down her bowl.


    "Luna! Get everyone ready for battle!"


    Limab warned Luna.


    On the other hand, Mark''s group members were already preparing without the need to be informed.


    Both groups prepared immediately. Unfortunately, they all barely had a minute to do said preparation.


    It was because the ground began shaking. Loud clicks entered their ears.


    Following the direction of the sound, everyone looked up.


    Despite the fog and the darkness of the night, they could see a pair of gigantic red eyes glowing outside the area clear of fog.


    As everyone raised their heads to stare at those red glows, they realized something.


    Whatever the enemy was, it should be massive in size for its eyes to be four meters above the ground.

 Chapter 1072 The [Fogcrawler], Killing A Giant Denizen of the Magical Fog

    Chapter 1072 The [Fogcrawler], Killing A Giant Denizen of the Magical Fog


    Day 357 - 7:38 PM - Museum Bandar Cimanuk, Lemahabang, Indramayu, Indramayu Regency, West Java, Indonesia


    The friendly dinner chat with the guests faced a sudden and dangerous interruption.


    Gigantic red eyes glowed from beyond the fog while the ground continued to shake. The shaking was not strong enough to make everyone fall, as it only felt like the faint shaking of the ground during a bull run in Pamplona. However, that faint shaking felt more concerning, as it also felt like it wasing not from only one or two pairs of legs but dozens.


    Limab already issued a warning to her teammates. It made Luna and Bajing spring into action as they ran to group up with the others in the building. She then turned to Mark, and thetter also gave her a nce. The simrly colored glow in their eyes vanished before she gave a knowing nod and followed her two friends.


    Mark stared at Limab''s back as she left. He did not expect to meet a fellow [irvoyant] in a ce like this. Furthermore, it seemed that the fog also hindered their [irvoyance]. The sudden sh of scenes depicting the dangerous premonition appeared, but the enemy was already on their doorstep. On the other hand, Mark was also surprised the [Future Sight] worked at all in this fog.


    But as Mark thought of some questions in his mind, Magwayen spoke in his head.


    "The fog from the [Magic Overflow] affects magical abilities that need to manifest outside the most. Abilities that manifest inside the user''s body are less affected by the fog, although with reduced effectiveness."


    "I see."


    Mark replied with a nod after hearing the exnation.


    The Moon Chasers were getting ready for battle as they went out of the building with weapons drawn. Mark looked at his group. They had already finished cleaning up the food and were ready for any confrontation.


    With the robes they wore all day, which hid their armor beneath, they went to join the Moon Chasers.


    The members of the Moon Chasers looked warily at Mark''s group, especially Char. However, it was not the time for any argument or fighting between themselves. There was a farrger enemy ahead of everyone.


    "This is bad," Mark heard Luna speak to her teammates. "Why is the [Fogcrawler] here of all ces?"


    "[Fogcrawler]?"


    Mark asked as he approached.


    "It''s a monster lurking in this fog," Limab answered Mark''s question. "It''s first spotted during the second time the fog appeared, and it almost wiped out a hundred-people team, only leaving a few survivors to spread the tale. It appeared a few more times when the fog spread."


    "What kind of monster is it?"


    Mark posed another question.


    "No one really knows," Limab replied. "It always lurks in the fog, so no one was able to see its actual appearance. The only identification we had of it was its giant red eyes and the odd number of sounds it makes with its legs."


    "But it always appeared in the southern areas. Why is it here in the north?"


    Bajing''s voice echoed as if asking fate itself.


    A monster spotted several times in the south was now in this ce. Was it a coincidence?


    "It''s reasonable that it appeared here," Mark answered Bajing''s question. "It appeared several times in the south, which meant the people from the fortress started avoiding those areas. It meant that there were no humans there for it to hunt. I can only move somewhere where humans are."


    Mark''s answer gave insight to everyone who heard it. The [Fogcrawler] was here because there were humans here for it to hunt.


    "Isn''t it strange?" Luna suddenly spoke. "It''s not attacking."


    Mark also noticed this fact. Everyone could feel the hundreds of legs moving in the surroundings. However, the pair of giant red eyes only kept swaying inside the fog. It was as if it was curiously looking at something.


    "So, that''s it."


    Mark voiced out.


    "Did you figure out something?"


    Limab asked Mark.


    "It is probably confused," Mark answered. "It''s a creature that only lurks within the fog. It probably hasn''te across anything like this ce which the fog could not cover."


    Mark''s exnations felt on point. In fact, everyone could see the giant eyes in the mist circling the area unaffected by the fog.


    "Will it just go away if we don''t engage with it?"


    Someone from the Moon Chasers asked. That question, however, made Luna turn to Limab. Then, Limab unexpectedly turned to Mark before both of them gave each other a nod.


    "Prepare for battle, like I said before," Limab dered. "This fight is inevitable."


    The members of the Moon Chasers felt indignant. It was understandable, as no one would want to fight such a dangerous creature. It wiped out several groupsrger than the current group of Moon Chasers. Even if the strange group joined, the number was still far smaller.


    In this expedition, the Moon Chasers only had fifty members. It was only half of the number of the first victims of the [Fogcrawler]. And in terms of equipment and preparedness, this group was far inferior. Yet, they had to face such a dangerous creature within its ying field.


    "I got the rockets ready," The man named Edge came out of the building carrying a pair of RPGs. "We only have four rockets we''re saving in case of emergencies, but it''s better used here than never."


    "Thanks, Edge," Luna thanked the man before turning to her members. "Everyone, get into defensive positions. We don''t know if we will get through this without casualties or if any of us will survive at all. But remember. We all are in this together."


    But then, Mark made a sudden request.


    "Can you guys give us the preemptive attack?"


    Mark asked.


    "Huh?" Edge did not find Mark''s request favorable. "This a life or death situation for us here. What are you trying to do?"


    However, before Luna could intervene, Limab stopped Edge.


    "Let them, Edge."


    Limab spoke.


    "What?"


    Edge asked with agitation.


    "I said, let them," Limab repeated her words. "It doesn''t matter who gives the first attack, anyway. You think our rockets can kill something that killedrger and richer groups than us easily?"


    Edge was unable to reply to that question. Limab was right, after all. There was no way thatrger and richer groups did not have more rockets and explosives than they had. Yet, they all died.


    Still, howe Limab was siding with the strangers? What was the reason? Luna and Bajing were also confused. Even the people in question, Mark and his group, were unsure why Limab was doing this.


    Nheless, the questions about Limab''s intentions would be forter.


    Dealing with the [Fogcrawler] shoulde first.


    The [Fogcrawler] was certainly confused. It already circled around the area unaffected by the fog without trying to attack the prey inside. However, it was also clear that it was about to lose patience. Its movements were bing increasingly chaotic as it tried to make another circle around the area.


    Mark watched those pair of red eyes closely. The [Fogcrawler] would attack any moment now.


    "Mei''er," Mark patted Mei''s shoulder. "Shoot. Full charge."


    Mei looked at Mark with initial askance before nodding. She then left Mark''s side and leaped onto the roof of the building.


    Everyone watched Mei''s agile movements. It was when they saw her begin aiming with her weapon.


    The members of the Moon Chasers saw her odd-looking sniper rifle. It looked like a toy modeled from something that woulde out of a Sci-fi movie. Some members, like Edge, could not help but frown. What could a toy-like gun do? Shooting with the rockets would be far more damaging.


    But then, everyone''s eyes widened with their mouths agape.


    Mei''s sniper rifle began extending out, transforming into something like a railgun. White circles of light began spinning within its dismantled barrel, with beams of light gathering at its center.


    The five [Empty Mental Crystals] fed into Mei''s [AT-Etherbloom] and turned to dust. The light emitted from the gun began to hurt the eyes of the audience.


    However, Mei did not fire immediately. She circled around the roof, aiming at the pair of red eyes darting around within the fog.


    Finally, the patience of the monster ran out.


    SCREEECH!


    With a loud, snappy screech, the true appearance of the [Fogcrawler] appeared in front of everyone.


    From the wall of thick fog, the head of a gigantic centipede poked out, charging into the group of prey it spotted in the middle of the fogless area. As an insect, it also felt attracted to the bright light in front of it despite being a creature of the fog.


    The [Fogcrawler] charged without any hint of stopping. Its giant body could easily trample over everyone here.


    And then, the light bloomed.


    Mei pulled the trigger. The full charge of the [AT-Etherbloom] weed the iing giant.


    The giant centipede now faced the same amount of power that pierced through a Deity''s manifestation.


    It was only then that the [Fogcrawler] realized the danger. It tried to avert its head away from the trajectory of the beam of light. However, the momentum of its impatient charge made it fail to do so.


    THOOOOOOOM!


    The beam of light tore the giant centipede''s neck, separating its head away from its body. The beam did not stop as it pierced through the fog, leaving a trail of empty space after it ended.


    With a loud crash, the [Fogcrawler]''s head fell to the side of the building. Its body also crashed in a separate direction, dragged by the weight of its own.


    The members of the Moon Chasers stared in utter shock as the unbelievable scene unfolded before their eyes.


    "Don''t just stare," Mark''s voice entered everyone''s ears. "It''s not over yet. You guys better put your all to dodging."


    And as Mark had just said, the unbelievable scene was not the end of the battle.


    The headless body of the [Fogcrawler] began running around.


    It ran and rolled, carrying the will it had before it was beheaded.


    The [Fogcrawler] continued to hunt its prey despite its dying state.


    Furthermore, while it became devoid of its sense of sight, it still had its sense of touch and smell. It was still able to track its prey.


    And just like Mark had said, everyone must put their all into dodging the headless body of the giant centipede.


    Unfortunately, the dodging part was mostly for the members of the Moon Chasers. It was because the members of Evernight had already jumped onto Char''s back and flew as high as it could within the fogless area.


    CRASH!


    The building at the center of the area crumbled as the giant centipede crashed into it.


    When they saw the demolished building, the members of the Moon Chasers had their hearts thumping loudly. The building was in the middle of the fogless area, which must be the reason there was no fog there. What if the fog enveloped the area after it copsed?


    However, the worst did not happen. Despite the building''s copse, the area remained clear of the fog.


    Nheless, the fog was the least of the problems at this moment. For the Moon Chasers, the problem was the giant headless centipede still chasing after them.


    BOOOM!


    Edge fired a rocket. The rocket hit the exposed innards of the centipede, causing it to pause from the damage.


    "ON MORE!"


    Edge yelled as he was about to fire another shot.


    However, Mark''s voice entered his ear.


    "There''s no need for that."


    Mark said as another beam of light shot from the sky, moving across the stretched-out body of the [Fogcrawler].


    The beam of light almost split the body in half vertically. However, the beam was not able to as it was just barely a half-charged shot using two crystals. Furthermore, the goal of the beam was not to pierce but to destroy the heart of the centipede, which was a tubr organ stretched out across the centipede''s body.


    With its heart majorly destroyed, the headless body of the [Fogcrawler] finally stopped moving.


    The members of the Moon Chasers stared at the strange group as theynded from the sky.


    But before anyone else could voice a single word, Limab''s voice entered everyone''s ear.


    "Amazing! As expected of the people who came here to help us!"


    Limab eximed to the confusion of the other members of her group.


    On the other hand, Mark stared at the strangely friendly woman. He was also a little surprised, but more than that, he realized the meaning of her words.


    Mark and his group came here to help Thirteenth''s other candidate. Then, Limab said that his group came here to help them.


    It only meant something.


    Thirteenth''s other candidate was among these people.


    Mark''s eyes fell on a certain individual. The candidate was supposed to be a leader just like Mark and the Priestess, Ise Hikari. Then, the candidate Mark was looking for was no other than the purple-haired woman, Luna.

 Chapter 1137: An Inhuman Fight, The Silhouettes of Darkness and Flames

    Day 368 - 5:42 PM - Balong, Pucakwangi, Pati Regency, Central Java, Indonesia


    While Mark''s battle had just begun, the people left behind on Mountain Back were in utter confusion.


    It was because the soldiers who went to search for survivors from the main camp returned in such a peculiar manner. They were in such a hurry that they did not feel like trained soldiers but panicking civilians.


    Those who approached the soldiers who had already returned immediately asked what happened. However, the answers were vague as they only replied with the sky turning night and a sudden attack from men who hovered in the sky.


    But as General Wijaya and Spera finally returned, they immediately closed the portal.


    It immediately urred to them that someone was missing.


    "Spera. Where''s Master?"


    Aephelia asked Spera, who could only sigh after receiving such a question.


    The members of Mark''s group also approached with the same question in mind.


    However, the person who should be the one to ask the question first was not around. When Spera looked around the surroundings, she found the person in question.


    Mei, however, was not anywhere near Spera and the others. She was quite a distance away, looking at the western horizon with sped hands on her chest. It seemed that she already received a message from Mark through their rings.


    Seeing Mei''s behavior, Spera finally answered.


    "The Deity and the Goddess before appeared. They are still fighting, so I don''t think they would be the problem."


    General Wijaya also had the same answer to the leaders of the survivor groups with them. However, unlike the General, Spera had more information.


    "Shin also appeared along with someone else."


    Spera added.


    "Shin?" Emika could not help but exim. "If it''s just Shin, there should be no problem, right?"


    "If it''s Shin, yes," Spera showed a conflicted expression. "But the Shin now isn''t the Shin we know. It''s... It''s The Great One."


    Silence befell the group after Spera''s words.


    Hannah, Elise, Felicia, and Louis were not yet members of Mark''s base when the fight against The Great One urred. However, after arriving at the Mountain Base, they had no choice but to know the story after seeing the aftermath of the battle. After hearing Spera mention that infamous name, they could not help but feel the seriousness of the situation.


    "Hey? Who is that with the arrogant-sounding name?"


    The childish voice of Kana, the bubbly, blue-haired girl from the 3rd Wave, entered the ears of the members of Evernight. Instead of joining her groupmates to ask General Wijaya, she joined this crowd for some reason.


    However, no one questioned her odd behavior due to the situation.


    "Another Deity," Spera frankly answered. "Someone stronger and more violent than the one we met in that underground cathedral."


    "Hueh?!"


    Kana was shocked, speechless. It seemed that despite her bubbliness, she understood the danger.


    "Then Mark left there with those dangerous people?"


    Kana asked, and everyone could only disy the look of dismay.


    "Shoul-Should I go there and help?"


    Amihan voiced out.


    However, the one to answer her question was Mei, who finally walked to join the crowd.


    "Stay here, Amihan. Gege said that you need to protect this ce."


    It seemed that Mei was also against Mark''s orders since Amihan would be helpful in his current situation. However, she decided to follow his words.


    "Then, what are we going to do? Are we just going to wait?"


    Elise voiced out, worried about her Elder Brother.


    "If we can only see what was happening there..."


    Hannah murmured loud enough for everyone to hear.


    "THAT''S IT!"


    Emika eximed, surprising everyone.


    "SIS!," Emika turned to Mei. "THE DRONE! THE DRONE FROM BEFORE! YOU HAVE IT RIGHT? We can watch through that! "


    "I do, but..."


    Mei answered as she raised her hand, showing her [Spatial Ring].


    "Are we going to fly the drone from here to there? That will not work. That''s too far."


    Spera voiced out.


    However, Emika turned to Spera with a "What are you talking about?" kind of look.


    "You have portals! Open a small portal! Put the video receiver on the other side and stick out the antenna from the controller! Then control it from here, and we can also watch through theptop!"


    Emika exined her absurd idea.


    However, there was a short silence as Mei and Spera immediately made their moves. As absurd as it might sound like, Emika''s idea might actually work.


    Emika''s shouting and the odd actions of the members of Evernight confused the Indonesian survivors even more.


    Not minding the confused stares, the members of Evernight began making a makeshift viewing area. It was because, aside from the drone and theptop, Mei actually took out a projector with the other gadgets.


    "Why do you have a projector?"


    Spera could not help but ask.


    "Don''t ask me why..." Mei bitterly replied. "Gege is the one who brought it. I''m just carrying it."


    "Still..." Mei looked at the drone in front of them. "It''s been a while since we used this."


    Mei could not help but have a nostalgic smile as she gazed at the drone. It was the drone Mark got way back in City Mall in Bacoor. It could be counted as one of Mark''s oldest gadgets since the outbreak started.


    "Spera."


    Mei said, making Spera nod. Since everything was set up shortly, it was now time for Spera to participate. After Spera opened a small portal, they moved the drone and the necessary equipment to the other side, leaving a few wires through the open portal and connected to theptop and projector.


    The other survivors gathered, confused and interested as to what the members of Evernight were doing.


    Soon enough, the video feed from the drone was projected on the sheet of cloth set up in front of the projector.


    What was projected was a scene filled with ruins and trees. It was a familiar scene to General Wijaya and the soldiers that apanied him.


    "Semarang?"


    General Wijaya voiced out in askance. However, no one bothered to answer him.


    The video was pretty dark. It was as if it was being taken deep in the night, although there should still be some sunlight at this time of day. This was not surprising since the appearance of the Night Goddess in the area was reported. Nheless, the expensive drone''s camera allowed them to see enough details of the surroundings.


    Using the video feed as guidance, Mei controlled the drone to slowly take off.


    After nearly a minute of revving up and taking off, the drone flew over the ruins, and everything else blocking its view vanished.


    Even so, the surroundings became darker as they could only see the sky in the video.


    But as if showing them what was going on, bright meteor-like mes bloomed like gigantic flowers in the sky. It illuminated a figure of a man hovering in the sky, extending one of his hands toward another silhouette with a sword and tainted-ck wings.


    The giant meteor flew toward the winged silhouette.


    However, the winged silhouette charged towards the meteor instead of dodging. And with a sh of his sword, the meteor was horizontally cut. The cut pieces flew past the winged silhouette before exploding.


    Without looking at the explosion behind him, the winged silhouette flew straight towards the man who conjured the meteor.


    In response to the charging winged silhouette, the hovering man stretched his arms outwards like a T-pose. And from his hands, dozens, if not hundreds, of shimmering marble-sized mes appeared.


    Then, the marble-sized mes moved at bullet speeds, flying while leaving curved trails of light, converging at the winged silhouette amidst his charge.


    As he faced the iing barrage, the winged silhouette became d in mist-like darkness, nearly invisible in the night-like surroundings. However, that dark mist could be seen illuminated by the mes as it erratically swerved between trails of light.


    Missing the target, the trails of light fell to the ground. Each impact shook the earth as they exploded into pirs of mes around three meters tall.


    But then, the impacts on the ground stopped. The other trails of light that missed the dark mist began sharply curving as they turned around, chasing after their target.


    Now, the dark mist was besieged by the marble-sized mes from all directions.


    However, when the dark mist was about to get hit by attacks from all directions, it stopped moving.


    Then, in the blink of an eye, there was only darkness. The dark mist formed a sphererger than the meteor before. All the mes that entered the mist sphere vanished without a trace as if the mes were being eaten by the mist.


    The mist sphere then expanded, more than quadruple in size, even forcing the hovering man to retreat. In the blink of an eye, all the lights in the area vanished as if they never existed. The marble-sized mes and the traces of fire spread by the explosions disappeared.


    And as if it reached its maximum expansion, the mist sphere began to contract. It unstably shrunk and expanded. It was like a raging force of nature trying to break out after being forcefully put under control.


    The mist sphere then vanished, revealing the winged silhouette once again.


    After exchanging that terrifying round, the two silhouettes hovered in the air, seemingly staring at each other.


    "What are we even watching..."


    Estia of the 3rd Wave could not help but voice out after seeing the inhuman battle happening in the video. It was not only her thoughts, as everyone watching was the same.


    Among the Indonesian spectators, three people had a different reaction.


    Dr. Willis was really excited by what they were watching. It was not surprising, considering his profession and personality.


    The other one was Devon, who watched the video feed with interest. He sure was quite interested in Val''Flora''s client.


    Last was Limab. She stared at the two silhouettes in the video, remembering her prophetic visions. The figures of darkness and mes in her visions were perfectly ovepping with the ones she was currently watching.


    It was clear to Limab that the realization of her visions wasing closer and closer. And it was not a good thing.


    The worst thing for Limab was the fact that her visions stopped after thest one during the time they were still spreading the badges to unmask the [Face Wearers]. It was as if the future had been cut off for her... for everyone.


    Limab could not understand what was happening. It was making her more and more uneasy and unstable about the current situation.


    "Limab, are you okay?" The timid Livia asked Limab in worry. "You look really pale right now."


    "You should rest..." Nelia also chimed in. "You''ve been taking care of Luna without proper sleep."


    Bajing and Edge also agreed with Nelia''s suggestion.


    However, Limab shook her head.


    "I''m fine. Don''t worry."


    "You''re clearly not," Nelia sighed. "But if you insist... Just don''t say we did not warn you if you suddenly copsed."


    Limab gave he friends a nod and focused on the video feed once again. It was because some change was happening amidst the battle.


    Without warning, the video suddenly brightened. The night-like darkness vanished, reced by the light of the sky amidst sunset.


    Looking at that scene, it was clear what happened.


    The Night Goddess fled once again. And all that was left were four silhouettes in the sky, with one facing the other three.


    Was it a good thing that the Night Goddes escaped? After all, the Deity of Soul Sacrifice failed to catch his creation once again. And if they wanted to catch the Night Goddess, they had to chase after her.


    The enemies might choose to just leave.


    But when everyone thought that the fight could end here...


    "WHA-?!!"


    "What!"


    "NO WAY!"


    Amotion broke out among everyone watching the battle.


    It was because everything suddenly went dark. It was still sunset. But all of a sudden, it became night.


    With their legs shaking, the survivors tried to deny the reality before their eyes.


    However, the members of Evernight had already begun retrieving the drone and their equipment.


    CRASH!


    With a loud sound, something crashed not too far from them.


    "Get ready for battle!"


    It was the first time they all heard Mei shout and take the leadership of the group.

 Chapter 1074 A Kindle of Flame, Finding the Faster Route Back to the Fortress

    Chapter 1074 A Kindle of me, Finding the Faster Route Back to the Fortress


    Day 358 -6:21 PM - Ex Pueblo La Noria, Pozo Almonte, Tarapac¨¢, Chile


    In a very uncanny ce in Chile, a mysterious location of a haunted abandoned mine. South America had been devastated thoroughly without the help of the missing [Eye]. However, this haunted location somehow survived the Fusion of Dimensions intact.


    Now, it was a ce where Demons gathered. It was a ce where the ominous beings of the past began to form their schemes.


    In this abandoned town, an ominous tower appeared out of nowhere. It became the central location of this ce. It was where the rulers of these Demons lived.


    "Have you found them yet?"


    A deep and haunting voice from a robed man echoed within the highest chambers of the tower. His body exuded a dark aura as he moved around his newfound toy.


    "Do not rush me," The blond and beautiful man replied while looking at his golden hand mirror. "Chasing after anyone with the ability to travel through space would be a hard task. Even you would not be able to chase after me in a frontal confrontation. Here, we are trying to chase a group of mortals on the other side of the world."


    "Even Gods are not omnipotent in this, not to mention lower beings like us."


    "Stop that. It is annoying," The robed man turned his head to the blonde man. "Howe you are humble with everything else but as arrogant as Zeus when ites to your appearance."


    "Why should I be humble about my appearance?" The blonde man smirked. "Which man can be as beautiful as me?"


    The robed figure stared in silence. If not for the fact that this blond man had useful abilities, he would not ept this alliance.


    "It would have been easy if we could just infiltrate their base of operations using one of your toys," The blonde man said. "But we could not do such because of theyers of defenses they had. Their poption is also small. Infiltration with an unfamiliar face would be useless. And the worst thing is that a being with an aura not any weaker than us is now guarding the ce as if an [Eye] is not enough. Out of all the creatures in this world, you had to pick the most annoying kind of enemy."


    "Hah," The robed man sighed. "Just hurry up and find where they went this time. The previous puppet might be an [Eye], but it became greatly weakened because of theck of emotions it needed due to the apocalypse. The new puppet should be morepetent to defeat that bastard who damaged my spirit."


    The robed man then turned at his new toy.


    However, it was not any toy that a child would y. It was a human with red markings on his body, with eyes opened wide and pupils filled with mes.


    It was a living being. It was before its soul got stripped away, leaving an empty body.


    This puppet received a fitting fate for a person drowning in jealousy and revenge, a toy for a corrupted being of the Lost Era.


    ***


    Day 358 - 8:21 AM - PT Pertamina Persero Terminal BBM Balongan, Balongan, Indramayu, Indramayu Regency, West Java, Indonesia


    The next day, after encountering the [Fogcrawler], the joint groups of Evernight and Moon Chasers started their journey.


    "This is really convenient. We can continue moving despite the fog."


    Luna said as she adjusted her backpack.


    "It''s convenient but also scary."


    Bajingmented while staring at the same backpack.


    As Luna had just said, the [Magic Overflow] had yet to end. The thick fog still obstructed the view of the surroundings. However, due to Mark finding a hidden item inside the ruins of the museum, they could now safely navigate through the fog.


    The clear area was just around forty meters around Luna, who carried the item. However, the differencepared to not seeing a thing in this fog was like night and day. It also diminished the effect of fog on everyone''s senses.


    However, there was one problem. The item was a box stuck with arge number of paper seals, tied with a blood-red string. Anyone who would look at it would think that it was a cursed item at first nce. Even Mark warned them not to remove the seals or open the box since none of them knew what could be inside it.


    In any case, the sealed box was helpful in the current situation despite its ominous appearance. And considering that the [Magic Overflow] could continue happening in the future in this country, having an item like this would be a great advantage.


    While Luna and Bajing were chatting at the center of the formation, Limab walked with Mark''s group at the back.


    "Sorry, and thanks about this, really," Limab said to Mark while looking at Char. "You already gave the rest of the [Fogcrawler] to us, but we still had your pet carry it."


    "Your leader already said the same thing before," Mark replied. "You don''t have to repeat it."


    Char had arge wagon attached to its body as it walked behind everyone. The wagon created with barely processed wood along with [Metal Blood] fixings and wheels carried therge head of the [Fogcrawler] and a few of its body parts.


    The wagon was Mark''s creation. The Moon Chasers saw Mark cutting the wood from the surroundings to make it but were confused as to where he got the fixings and the wheels. Nheless, no one questioned it. They already saw his wife fire an absurd, high-tech-looking gun. These fixings and wheels were far too primitive inparison.


    It was Mark''s decision to help the Moon Chasers carry their share of the [Fogcrawler]. After all, they already got the item that created the fogless areas. There was no need to leave their items inside the ruined museum''s basement.


    With everything packed up, they left early in the morning after a short breakfast and preparation.


    Many of the members of the Moon Chasers did not have enough sleep after taking turns to dismantle the [Fogcrawler]. However, they still decided to leave since they already had the means to traverse the fog.


    They followed the trail that Mark''s group was following yesterday. However, after reaching the ruins of the natural gaspany in Balongan,the Moon Chasers began clearing the path south instead of following the trail.


    "Where are we going?"


    Mark approached the center and asked the man who called himself Edge.


    "We''re making a shortcut," Edge replied. "This trail, which followed the national road, is only used during emergency situations. The military was thest to use it a few days ago. We have an already cleared road frequently used by groups in the fortress when exploring the areas near here. We could use the previous route we took before going to the museum, but it also meant going deeper into the direction where the fog came from."


    Edge was still wary of Mark and his group. However, he did not answer Mark''s question with any hostile attitude. While Edge was yet to trust Mark''s group, he was not against cooperation.


    The journey south took a whole day. It was already fast since Mark and Feng Zhiruo also helped in cuttingrge trees on the way, to the amazement of the members of the Moon Chasers. The more the groups spend time on this journey, the more the members of Moon Chasers find Mark''s group to be a group of monstrous people.


    Along the way, they encountered enemies from time to time. However, the number of enemies during each encounter would only be one or two at most. Even the [Infected] and the mutated creatures could not traverse the fog that hindered everyone''s senses and ended up wandering away from their groups. The only exception for that so far was the [Fogcrawler].


    When they reached the road Edge mentioned, it was already sunset. However, reaching the cleared road meant that their journey tomorrow would be much faster.


    Unfortunately, the fog had yet to disperse. Even after everyone finished setting up camp at the side of the cleared road, the fog showed no changes.


    The change appeared past midnight. After covering everything in its veil for more than two days, the fog finally began to disperse.


    At three in the morning, everyone could finally see the sky once again. Those awake had to wake up the ones sleeping to see the beautiful starry sky. It was a happy asion. The fog had passed, and everyone here survived.


    But as the fog alighted, trouble came.


    Without the fog''s effects on the [Infected] and mutated creatures, they regained their senses, including the ability to sense high concentrations of human presence.


    For the rest of the night, the campsite turned into a constant battlefield with an annoying number of hostile encounters. The number of enemies in each instance was not high. After all, the fog had just dispersed, and the enemies had yet to gather once again. However, it also meant that each lost enemy could attack the campsite one after another. The fact that the fog scattered enemies all over the ce did not help either.


    One or two enemies would not be a problem for a group of more than fifty people. However, everyone became jumpy after the apocalypse began. Every instance of battle was more than enough to wake them up. As such, the poor members of Moon Chasers never lost a good amount of time to rest.


    It was different for the members of Evernight, though. They managed to sleep through the night. The golems were in charge of the lookout and also helped to dispatch enemies. Mark only had to jump in a few times. With their side of the camp having a sound barrier using Amihan''s magic, the noise was the least of their problems.


    ***


    Day 359 - 7:21 AM - Cleared Road, Jengkok, Kertasemaya, Indramayu Regency, West Java, Indonesia


    The next morning came.


    Most members of the Moon Chasers were tired, opposite of the Evernight''s refreshed state.


    Since the members of the Moon Chasers did not know about the noise barrier, they could only wonder how the members of Evernight could sleep through all themotion. Moreover, they also wondered how the two pets and the younger maid could fight all day without rest.


    After another breakfast on the road, everyone continued their journey.


    Following the cleared road was much easier than following the trail before. If Mark knew of this beforehand, they would have gone west faster. But then again, if that happened, they would have missed the encounter with this group, and worse, they could have died due to the [Fogcrawler''s] attack.


    Sometimes, fate would y its tricks on people, even on those unbound by its strings.


    Mark observed the surroundings as they continued on. After seeing some metal debris sticking out of the ground on the cleared road, he realized they were following a former train track. No wonder it became a cleared road. Even if the world changed, the changes on the ground brought by heavy train cabins passing every day would be hard to revert to an untouched state.


    Following the cleared road, although enemy attacks urred at a high rate, it was way faster. Just in a half-day journey till noon, they had already traveled more distance than a whole day following the overgrown trail. If they continued this pace, they would reach their destination soon enough.


    Another few hours passed, and another night was about toe in another hour or two. And as they came closer to the fortress, it was time for something inevitable to happen.


    It was an encounter with other humans.


    "Hey."


    Mark approached Luna''s group while they were searching for a good ce to camp.


    "What''s the matter?"


    Luna asked Mark.


    "Want to get some recognition?"


    Mark asked back.


    It was a strange question. What did Mark mean by recognition?


    Then, Mark exined.


    "There''s a group under attack a few hundred meters south. And they seem to be surrounded, with many of them heavily injured. They might be from the same fortress. You guys understand what I mean?"


    The members of Moon Chasers looked at Mark. They could not fathom how Mark knew this stuff. When did he do some scouting? However, they understood what he was saying.


    If they saved those people in trouble, their good deeds would likely spread within the fortress. The group they helped would be in debt, too.


    However, Luna and her friends had a different thought in mind.


    "Straight south?"


    Luna asked Mark.


    "A little bit southeast."


    Mark answered.


    Luna and Bajing then locked eyes before thetter wordlessly rushed into the forest. The former then began to organize her people.


    Mark smiled as he saw the reaction of Luna and her close friends.


    Recognition or not, they were willing to help people in trouble. They were not even taking advantage of Mark and his group.


    Mark could only shrug. If the other candidate and her group were this kind of people, he would not mind helping even if he did not promise Thirteenth.

 Chapter 1075 A Quick Rescue, Helping a Dying Group Surrounded by Giant Lizards

    Chapter 1075 A Quick Rescue, Helping a Dying Group Surrounded by Giant Lizards


    Day 358 - 5:42 PM - Podorejo,Ngaliyan,Semarang City, Central Java, Indonesia


    Running from branch to branch, rushing from tree to tree, and swinging from vine to vine, Bajing''s silhouette traversed the forest with exceptional speed. She moved atop the trees like a squirrel, as implied by her current name.


    Soon enough, Bajing''s ear picked up on the sounds of an ongoing battle.


    Bajing lowered her speed, carefully jumping on branches with barely any noise. She then arrived at a slightly wider area under the cover of the tall trees.


    The ongoing bloody battle entered Bajing''s sight.


    It was a group of mostly injured people besieged by a pack of monsters. These monsters were a lounge of Evolved Komodo Dragons now called [Ground Hunters].


    The Komodo Dragons before the apocalypse were solitary creatures. It was very rare to see them in pairs, not to mention groups. However, when the apocalypse began, the Komodo Dragons turned from predator to prey because of their solitary behaviors. Even if they evolved and mutated, a single Komodo Dragon would not survive against a horde of [Infected] and groups of other creatures. Thus, as these animals experienced increased evolution speed, their solitary behavior changed to adapt to the danger.


    Nowadays, these Komodo Dragons, no, [Ground Hunters], hunt in groups, ambushing their targeted prey together. And, this time, their prey was a group of humans.


    Bajing assessed the situation and took a good look at the surrounding people. The Moon Chasers might be good people, but they were not naive and stupid. They would not gamble themselves for their enemies.


    But immediately after Bajing confirmed the individuals surrounded by the enemies, she took out her radio.


    ***


    "Luna, can you hear me?"


    Luna''s radio sounded as Bajing established contact.


    "I can, what''s the status?"


    Luna replied.


    "I found the location. It''s Farel from 41st and his group. Surrounded by ten [Ground Hunters], probably more. More than half of their group of thirty are injured, only eightbatants are left, and ten are out ofmission. The situation is dire. I''ll need to jump in immediately."


    "Okay, be careful," Luna gave a go. "We''re already on the way. We will arrive shortly."


    "Roger."


    Bajing gave onest response before themunication cut off.


    Luna turned to herrades. They were already running towards the battle with Mark as their guide. Including Luna, there were twenty-one members of Moon Chasers present. As for the Evernight, it was only Mark and his daughters, Abbygale and Miracle. The remaining members stayed behind by the side of the cleared road to prepare the camp. It was an urgent situation. Thus, Luna could only pick the fastest members to participate. Besides, it was not an extermination but a rescue mission. They did not need strong firepower. What they needed was the skills to make an opening and retreat.


    What Luna could not understand was why he let his two daughterse with them. The situation could be dangerous, after all. Still, Luna and her members were pretty impressed with how a little girl like Abbygale could run along with them at their current speed.


    Mark could sense the thoughts of Luna and her members. However, he could only shrug. Since they started traveling with the Moon Chasers, the little girls did not have enough share of action. I might be fine, but both Abbygale and Miracle had some innate bloodthirstiness due to their mutations. Thus, Abbygale begged her father toe along this time, and Miracle tagged along. The older of the two ran by herself, while Mark had to carry Miracle since they needed to hurry this time.


    With this small group, they would attempt a dangerous rescue mission.


    ***


    "Tsk! These persistent bastards."


    The leader of the 41st Settlement, Farel, cursed their damned luck.


    It was not the first time they encountered this group of [Ground Hunters]. These lizards had been chasing them even before the fog spread a few days ago. Even then, they already incurred a lot of injuries. The fog helped Farel and his members escape the predators, but it seemed that the lizards did not give up. When the fog dispersed, the very same group of lizards ambushed them.


    Farel was sure it was the same group of lizards. It was because of the presence of thatrger grayish-red colored [Ground Hunter] leading the others.


    "SH*T! DIAH!"


    Another member shouted as the remaining standing woman of the group got hit by the mace-like tail of one of the [Ground Hunters].


    Farel saw what had just happened in the corner of his eye. However, he could not let his attention wander with the leader of the [Ground Hunters] eyeing him.


    As he tightened his grip on his spear, Farel began weighing the remaining options. He could sacrifice himself to let the few of his group run, or all of them fight to the death. It would have been nice if they had rockets with them or even grenades. But as one of the poorest groups, they had limited of those, and they already used those weapons during the first encounter.


    Farel''s mind began to wander. He was tired. Probably, he was the most tired of them all here. But he could not falter. His stamina began to fail, but he would not leave his position open.


    HISS!


    The leader [Ground Hunter] hissed at Farel, initiating its charge. It was not extremely fast, but each step of the lizard,rger than a pickup truck, could make the ground tremble slightly. Not to mention, its intimidating appearance and bullet-proof scales would make most people shake in fear.


    However, Farel stood his ground, protecting the injured teammates behind him.


    "RAAHHHH!!!"


    Farel screamed as he received the charge with his spear, making his feet leave a long trail on the grass-covered soil. Nheless, Farel stopped the charge of therge creature.


    "Farel! Watch out!"


    A cry entered Farel''s ear. As he made a nce to his left, another [Ground Hunter] was already mid-pounce, with its mouth opened wide to devour him.


    Farel tried to push the leader [Ground Hunter] and take a step back to fend against the iing attack. It was when he felt a tug in his hand. To Farel''s horror, the leader [Ground Hunter] bit onto his spear, making it stuck. He could let go of his weapon, but he would not be able to fend against the other [Ground Hunter] with his bare hands. While Farel was able to stop therger lizard''s charge, the [Ground Hunters] were not known for their charges but their bites that could chew off a tank.


    It was the end. That was what Farel thought.


    However, a woman suddenly fell between Farel and the pouncing [Ground Hunter]. The woman suddenly kicked the ground with her right foot and swung her right leg upwards.


    BAM! SNAP!


    The foot hit the pouncing [Ground Hunter''s] chin, forcing its mouth to close with a loud and painful snap. That kick even forced the [Ground Hunter] to divert the direction of its pounce, hitting the leader [Ground Hunter''s] body instead.


    Without pause, the woman drew out her MP5, aiming at the leader [Ground Hunter]. Surely, the low-caliber bullets of the submachinegun would not be able to kill the giant lizard. But if aimed at the right location, like the eyes, it would still do severe damage.


    Sensing the danger, the leader [Ground Hunter] suddenly retreated, even using the body of its subordinate to shield its face from the bullets.


    Unfortunately for the giant lizard, it was a feint. The woman just aimed the gun at its eye for it to let go of Farel''s weapon.


    "You are!" Farel recognized the woman. "Bajing!"


    Bajing nodded in acknowledgment. However, she did not let her attention wander away from the surrounding lizards.


    "I already informed Luna about the situation," Bajing spoke. "Just hold on till the reinforcements arrive."


    Those words from Bajing were like a tunnel of light in the world of darkness for the members of the 41st Settlement.


    "You guys heard that?!" Farel eximed to his teammates. "Just hold on a little longer!"


    The morale of the group rose despite their exhaustion.


    On the other hand, seeing their disheartened prey gain vitality made the [Ground Hunters] falter.


    HISS!!!


    The leader [Ground Hunter] hissed,manding the next attack on the group of humans. However, the humans did better this round. And with the help of Bajing, they even managed to take two [Ground Hunters] down by attacking through their eyes and mouth.


    The leader [Ground Hunter] red at the humans and their temporarily renewed strength. It then looked at the sky.


    HHHHASSSSSSSS!!!


    A loud and differently pitched hiss echoed into everyone''s ears.


    Then, one after another, twenty more [Ground Hunters] came out of hiding.


    It was a hopeless struggle from the start. The leader [Ground Hunter] was not just moving on instinct. It was smart enough to keep reserve troops to ambush the enemy.


    But as Farel''s group was about to lose hope once again, a small figure suddenly rushed out of the forest.


    BAM!


    That small figure collided with the leader [Ground Hunter''s] face. And to everyone''s surprise, therge lizard went flying beforepletely crushing the trunk of a meter-wide tree and causing the tree to copse onto another three [Ground Hunters].


    But what surprised them even more was the true appearance of the small figure.


    Their jaws dropped as they saw it was a little girl with a pair of oddly glowing shoes.


    PSHH!


    The girl''s right shoe suddenly released some steam. But before they knew it, her figure blurred and vanished, running toward another lizard.


    One [Ground Hunter] saw the small girl causing themotion and tried to charge. But it suddenly paused before taking a single step forward. It did not want to stop. It is just, for some reason, unable to move forward.


    And then, the lizard felt its body lose bnce, along with a painful sensation on its tail. Its body uncontrobly began to spin before it flew onto another of its allies.


    What was left where the lizard originally was was another little girl,ughing after throwing the car-sized lizard with her bare hands.


    Luna and her member''s arrival soon followed. The prowess of the two girls surprised them, but they still went with a swift ambush. They grouped in two or three, ganging up on the lizards closest to the members of the 41st Settlement.


    The arrival of the reinforcements ended not only with a rescue, but they managed to eliminate all of the lizards. Even Luna and her members felt the confusion due to the unexpected oue. When was killing a group of [Ground Hunters] this easy?


    Everyone felt that something was wrong. Luna was pretty sure they saw some of the lizards suddenly pause midway through their attacks and ended up getting killed instead. It was strange.


    Luna felt suspicious. She stared at Mark, who was checking on his daughters. All this time, he just watched, not showing even a shred of emotion. If there was something, she was sure she saw his eyes shine red a few times while he watched at the sidelines.


    While Luna was staring, Mark suddenly stared back. He then gave her a shrug of his shoulder before he turned his head away.


    That gesture made Luna even more suspicious of him.


    But all of a sudden, Mark called Luna.


    "Hey! Can we have this one?"


    Mark pointed at the leader [Ground Hunter].


    Luna did not mind. However, she still looked at Farel.


    "Don''t look at me," Farel said with a wry smile. "We weren''t able to do anything. The corpse belongs to those who killed it."


    In short, the corpse of the leader [Ground Hunter] belonged to Abbygale, who killed it in one kick.


    However, Mark suddenly spoke.


    "It''s not dead, though? It''s just unconscious."


    Those words made everyone vignt.


    Luna approached. She saw that the leader [Ground Hunter]y on its back motionlessly, but the slight movements of its chest showed that it was still breathing.


    "What are you nning with it?"


    Luna asked. She was sure it would be dangerous to leave a creature like this alive.


    But before Mark could answer, it dawned on Luna.


    "Don''t tell me you want to turn this into a pet."


    Luna remembered Mark''s group. They had several unusual pets. It gave her the clue she needed to realize Mark''s n.


    Mark did not answer. He just gave her a slight, knowing smile.

 Chapter 1076 A Demons Miracle, Saving the Dying and Calling the Dead

    Chapter 1076 A Demon''s Miracle, Saving the Dying and Calling the Dead


    Day 358 - 5:58 PM - Podorejo,Ngaliyan,Semarang City, Central Java, Indonesia


    Luna began to wonder after realizing Mark''s intention. How in the world was Mark''s group able to make these seemingly ferocious animals do their bidding?


    With those thoughts in mind, Luna gave Mark and his daughters onest nce before turning back to the group they helped.


    Farel and his group did not have much time to pay more attention to their saviors. It was because an urgent situation came up.


    "COUGH!"


    The woman named Diah coughed out blood from her mouth. She began to convulse so violently that Farel and the others had to hold her down to prevent her injuries from worsening. However, even if they did so, they had no way of treating her.


    "Remove her armor!"


    Farel ordered.


    Diah wore light steel armor around her chest. Due to the attack she received, the armor became dented, pushing into her ribs. But after removing it, they realized it was not only the armor. Her lower left chest had sunk down.


    "Her ribs are broken! It must be piercing through her lungs!"


    The man who checked shouted in dismay. Diah''splexion started to turn blue. With her lungs punctured by her ribs and blood filling up her lungs and airways, she began to suffocate. With this situation, there was no doubt. They were also going to lose Diah.


    "God dammit!"


    Farel cursed as he pierced the body of the nearby dead [Ground Hunter] with his spear in anger.


    The 41st Settlement had already lost several of their people before this encounter due to the same enemies. And now, they were bound to lose another friend.


    Luna watched the scene with her heart tightening. She knew them for a long time, and they were an honorable bunch of people. And if this kind of thing happened to her close friends, Luna would never know what to do.


    The scene hurts even more than seeing someone die instantly. Once dead, that was it. The only thing left was sadness. However, seeing someone important slowly die without being able to do anything, the pain was definitely on a different level.


    Most of the current survivors went through this kind of pain. At the start of the apocalypse, many people could only watch their bitten loved ones as they slowly turned into cannibalistic monsters. In this regard, the current situation with Diah was much better. There was no risk of her turning into an [Infected], and there was no need to kill her for the second time.


    Luna and Bajing stood together, watching the situation while making sure there were no other dangers in the surroundings. On the other hand, their other members helped tend to the injured.


    It was when Mark approached the two leading individuals of the Moon Chasers.


    "Are they important people?" Mark asked consecutively. "Allies?"


    Luna and Bajing gave Mark a nce before Luna answered.


    "Allies. They are one of the two only settlements we are allied with and one of the few honorable groups in the fortress."


    "Good," Mark replied. "Because I won''t give additional service to non-allied parties."


    "What are you-?"


    Luna was about to ask what Mark was saying, but he interrupted her words.


    "You two, make them give space for me. Then help me a little."


    "What are you going to do?"


    Bajing asked.


    "What else? Saving her, of course."


    Mark replied as he began walking to the dying Diah.


    The two women were surprised. However, the word "saving" prevented them from spacing out. They immediately followed Mark and did what he asked.


    "Make way! Make way! You guys, continue holding her down!"


    Luna and Bajing said to the members of the 41st Settlement surrounding Diah.


    "What are you trying to do?"


    Farel asked the two women.


    "Saving her."


    Bajing replied, making Farel stunned for a bit. But then, he immediately approached.


    "What do you need?"


    Farel was eager to help.


    "Just a little space. And do not interrupt whatever I will do."


    It was Mark who answered Farel''s question in broken Indonesian.


    Mark''s words confused everyone. They realized he was not a local, although he had a face of one. However, what did he mean by "whatever he would do?"


    It was when they saw Mark block Diah''s mouth with his right hand while he ced his other hand atop the dented part of Diah''s chest.


    Diah''s body began convulsing even more as she tried to resist something. This reaction made Farel and his members doubt Mark''s actions.


    "Help to hold her tightly. Don''t let her move too much."


    Mark instructed Luna and Bajing.


    Farel was about to ask Luna about the odd method of treatment, but Luna, who realized his intention, spoke first.


    "I don''t know what he is doing either. But let''s just wait a bit. He had no reason to make the situation worse."


    After Luna said those words, Farel nodded slightly. He also instructed his members to wait in silence and not distract Mark.


    On the other hand, the person in question was already in extreme focus to the point he could not hear the conversation between Faren and Luna.


    Mark was not just stuffing his hands on Diah''s mouth. The others could not see it, but he was already controlling several [Blood Whips] through his palm and into the dying woman''s airways. Mark was removing the clogged blood by converting the blood inside the woman''s lungs and throat. He could do this efficiently because while the woman was an [Evolver], she was no [Mutator]. Mark would have no problems absorbing her blood into his body.


    While Mark''s right hand was dealing with the blood, Mark''s other hand, ced on the woman''s chest, did a different work. He pierced several [Blood Whips] into her chest and slowly moved her broken ribs back into ce. It was a risky and painful procedure without anesthesia. That was why the woman''s body violently reacted even when she was already unconcious.


    Mark''s eyes focused even more as he found the punctured areas of Diah''s lungs. He then turned to Luna and Bajing.


    "Take a vial on my belt and pour it on the spot when I tell you two."


    Luna immediately did what Mark told them. She told Farel to rece her position in holding down Diah and looked at Mark''s belt. She then found two test tube-sized vials hanging on the right side of his belt and took one.


    "Where should I pour it? What spot?"


    Luna asked.


    "Wait a sec."


    Mark replied, and everyone watched.


    And then, to their surprise, a tentacle-like thing pierced out of Diah''s lower chest before forming something like a metallic tube and solidifying.


    "Pour it inside. Quick."


    Luna was also stunned by the scene. Nheless, she still did her work and poured the vial into the odd tube that sprouted out of Diah''s chest.


    The contents of the vial flowed into the metal tube and spread out around the torn muscles of Diah''s chest and around the holes of her punctured lung.


    Everyone noticed the change. Diah looked like she was still in pain, but it was clear that she was already breathing freely. However, Mark did not remove his hands on her immediately. He supported the damaged parts of her chest in ce, even joining the broken ribs with a thin film of [Blood Metal].


    As a minute of Mark not moving passed by, they all saw the odd metal tube dissolve into a liquid form before retracting into Diah''s body. What surprised them even more was the hole in her chest made by the tube began to close up on its own.


    Mark''s eyes closed as he felt around Diah''s lungs and ribs. The [Regeneration Medicine] was working nicely. When the injuries healed to a certain extent, he began retracting his [Blood Whips] out of her body.


    It did not take long, and Mark removed his hands from Diah''s mouth and chest. At the same time, Diah had already calmed down. She still had a painful frown and was pale due to blood loss, but her violent spasms already vanished.


    There was no doubt in this scene. Diah was not dying anymore.


    Farel checked Diah''s pulse and breathing. The breathing was still ragged, but her pulse was almost back to normal.


    "Thank God."


    Farel powerlessly fell onto his butt after the feeling of relief overwhelmed him.


    "Thank you! Thank you!"


    Farel and the other members thanked Mark.


    "Don''t thank me. It won''t be free."


    Mark definitely had the talent to ruin the mood, as his words made everyone speechless.


    But then again, that medicine, whatever it was, should be extremely expensive. Farel and the others were not idiots to not realize that Diah''s oddly fast recovery was because of that medicine.


    "He''s not a new member of yours, is he?"


    Farel asked Luna and Bajing, and the two could only smile wryly.


    On this asion, everyone was celebrating Diah''s survival. After all, it was a miracle.


    It was when Mark felt a tug on his clothes.


    "Do you still have that medicine? I''ll pay with all I have. You can turn me into a ve if you wish. Just help Mal."


    It was a woman who also had injuries after fighting the [Ground Hunters]. She was among the injured members protected by Farel and the others. However, she was not asking for herself. She was asking for help from a man on the back.


    "Yulia, what are you saying?!"


    Farel jumped in. He would not tolerate any of his members wanting to be anyone''s ves.


    "But Mal! He''s not moving!"


    Yulia shouted.


    Farel turned to the members of Moon Chasers, who checked on the man named Mal. Their response was to shake their heads in dismay.


    "I can''t," Mark told Yulia, patting the vial remaining on his belt. "This medicine only works on the living."


    Yulia fell powerlessly as the truth began to sink into her mind.


    Diah was in the middle of dying. She had the opportunity for survival.


    On the other hand, Mal was already dead even before the reinforcements, the Moon Chasers, arrived.


    Farel and the others looked at Yulia in dismay. The pain would have been less if Yulia and Mal were lovers. However, that was not the case. The two were cousins who grew up together. And Mal was herst family member, with the rest gone at the beginning of the apocalypse.


    "Just cry, Yulia," Luna embraced Yulia. "It will make you feel better."


    "It''s my fault," Yulia cried out. "It''s because he had to protect me!"


    Mark looked at Yulia, who was bawling her eyes out and kneeling in front of him. He then gave a shrug as he stealthily took something out of his [Spatial Ring].


    "Hold this."


    Mark suddenly spoke, extending out his left hand in front of Farel. In his palm, he had something like a wooden medallion with a foggy crystal in the middle and inscriptions surrounding the crystal.


    Farel was confused. However, he extended his hand to take the strange medallion.


    SLAP!


    Mark pped Farel''s hand away from the medallion.


    "Not you," Mark said to Farel before facing an empty space. "You, hold this. Yeah, I can see you. Just hold this immediately. You don''t have much time."


    Everyone became utterly confused by what seemed to be Mark''s solo stand-upedy.


    "WAHH!"


    And they could only scream in shock as they saw the medallion float midair on its own.


    Then, slowly, a hazy but familiar visage began to form in front of everyone.


    "Yulia, don''t me yourself. It''s an ident. And I''m happy to see that I managed to protect you."


    .c¦Ïm The hazy visage spoke with his voice eerily echoing inside everyone''s ears.


    Yulia looked up, tears still flowing out of her eyes.


    "MAL!"


    Yulia cried out as she saw the visage. As she left Luna''s embrace, she tried to hug the visage. However, she ended up passing through.


    "What..."


    Yulia was in despair.


    "Mark! What is that?"


    On the other hand, Luna and everyone around was utterly bbergasted.


    "Just a little trinket. It won''tst long, but it should allow those two to say goodbyes, at least."


    Mark replied.


    Everyone had questions. Some wanted to talk to Mal to confirm if the Mal before them was real. However, Mark already said it. It would notst long. Real or not, it would be better not to disturb him and Yulia in hisst moments.


    But then, Mark spoke and told everyone something they did not expect.


    "Besides, that Mal guy is wrong. It''s not an ident. Right?"


    Mark said as he threw a knife at a seemingly injured and unconscious member of Farel''s group.


    Feeling the danger, the man suddenly sprung up to the surprise of the people tending to his injuries.


    Everyone realized all of his injuries were superficial, and the man faked his unconcious state.


    "Wahyu! What is the meaning of this?"


    Farel shouted in anger.


    There was no need for that guy to fake his injuries. If he was helping, more people could have survived. But no. In the first encounter, Wahyu became injured and was barely conscious. Who would have thought it was all an act? The way he avoided Mark''s knife was definitely not movements an injured person could pull.


    "Tsk, I got busted by some weird person."


    Unfortunately, that was the first thing Wahyu said.


    There was no denying it. The bastard was the cause of all of this.

 Chapter 1077 An Impostor, The Troubles and Death Brought By a Heinous Scheme

    Chapter 1077 An Impostor, The Troubles and Death Brought By a Heinous Scheme


    Day 358 - 6:05 PM - Podorejo,Ngaliyan,Semarang City, Central Java, Indonesia


    "Wahyu, you bastard! You caused all of this?!"


    Another member of Farel''s group yelled in fury.


    "Kekeke."


    However, the only response the member received was a mockingugh from Wahyu.


    Nheless, thatugh made Farel notice something.


    "You''re not Wahyu. Who are you, bastard?!"


    Farel shouted, immediately wielding his spear and pointing it at the enemy.


    "Why don''t you find out?"


    Wahyu mockingly replied, seemingly provoking a fight.


    "You realized, huh," Mark said to Farel. "I also don''t think that thing is your friend."


    "Thing?"


    Farel asked. That was not a word to portray a person.


    "Yep. Thing."


    Mark said as he threw something at the mocking figure of Wahyu.


    It was another knife. However, Wahyu was aware this time and decided to swat the thrown knife as it was flying weaker than the first one.


    Unfortunately for the impostor, that weak throw had an underlying scheme.


    CLANG!


    Wahyu swatted the thrown knife with his hand with a mocking expression. And even though it was parried with bare hands, it made the sound of shing metal.


    But as the hand and the knife made contact, the knife exploded in a sh of light. The sh of light was not strong enough to make everyone cover their eyes. It was like a sh of a summer sparkle stick.


    However, the effect was different for the impostor.


    "GAH!"


    .c¦Ïm An audible gasp came out of the impostor''s mouth as he stepped back unstably.


    And then, the impostor''s face fell to the ground, literally. It was a skin mask.


    It revealed a charcoal-colored face with tribal paint. As the mask fell off, the impostor''s disguise also began to dissipate, revealing a tribal-looking garment, loincloth, and crown with gaudy and luxurious colors of gold and orange.


    Everyone felt shocked as the true appearance of the impostory before their eyes.


    "F*CK! DON''T THINK THIS WILL BE THE END! I WILL REMEMBER YOU!"


    The creature shouted at Mark while flexing his muscles and puffing his cheeks.


    "Everyone! Be careful!"


    Luna shouted and readied for battle.


    However, it was not a battle that came. The impostor blew out his puffed cheeks, releasing ck smoke into the surroundings. It was like a squid spitting ink. It was not to fight but to flee from the enemies.


    The smoke spread fast, robbing everyone in the near vicinity of their sight. This ck smoke was even far thicker than the fog during the [Magic Overflow]. However, the only thing the smoke robbed from those affected by it was their sense of sight.


    "Is everyone okay?"


    Luna''s voice echoed. It was the same for the other people, both Farel''s members and the Moon Chasers.


    Under the veil of the smoke, no one heard or saw Mark whisper.


    "Crimson," Mark called. "Follow that creature."


    And with thatmand, an invisible ck haze flew through the smoke and chased after the creature.


    As fast as it spread, the smoke dissipated. Everyone looked fine, but the impostor was already gone.


    "That bastard escaped."


    Farel spoke, seeing that the impostor had already vanished from their sight.


    "Looks like everyone is okay. Luckily, the smoke isn''t poisonous."


    Luna said after assessing the situation.


    "But what is that guy?"


    Bajing voiced a question everyone had.


    "What about Wahyu?" Farel also had his question. "Where the hell is he?"


    And the unfortunate answer came from Mark with a single word from his mouth.


    "Dead."


    Mark then picked up the skin mask left on the ground with only two fingers as if he was picking up something disgusting. He then threw the mask at Farel, who could only catch it by reflex.


    And with the same reflex, Farel threw the mask on the ground.


    "What the f*ck!"


    Farel felt an uncanny sensation when he held the mask. It was not made of stic or any synthetic material. The skin mask was made of literal human skin.


    "Isn''t this copy of Wahyu''s face? A disguise mask?"


    Luna asked and was about to pick it up.


    "Don''t pick it up," Farel immediately stopped Luna. "That''s not a fake mask. That''s Wahyu''s real face."


    Those words from Farel made everyone shiver. The mask on the ground was a skin mask made from their friend''s literal face.


    "Your friend should have been dead long ago or probably a few days before your group left your settlement. A skin mask like this can''t be made in just a few hours."


    Mark exined.


    It dawned on everyone. The Wahyu they were interacting with all this time was an impostor, and none of them realized.


    "Sh*t!"


    Farel cursed as he gathered the courage to pick up the skin mask. This mask could probably be thest remains of their friend they could see. It should not be left on the ground.


    The gloomy and dark emotions enveloped the members of the 41st Settlement. They lost a lot in this attempt things for the well-being of their people.


    And to further destroy everyone''s mood, Mark spoke.


    "Looks like someone or something is targeting you people. You guys should be careful."


    That was the truth of things. Everyone knew that. However, they could not fathom why those enemies would go to this extent.


    At this time, a pair approached Mark.


    "Sir, thank you for giving me the chance to say goodbye. I wish I could do something in return."


    It was Mal and Yulia, finally done with their final farewells.


    "No, Mal," Yulia interjected while wiping her tears. "You''re already leaving. I''ll do it for you."


    "Don''t bother," It was Mark''s turn to stop the two. "I did it on a whim. Besides, that trinket is a prototype, and I had nothing to test it on. Just think of that as the payment."


    The cousins were surprised but still thanked Mark wholeheartedly.


    Then, Mal turned to Farel and the others.


    "Guys, I''ll leave Yulia to all of you. Please, take care of her."


    "Don''t worry. We will do our best."


    Farel assured Mal. Nothing was set in stone for the future, but Farel and the others would do their best for the worst to not happen.


    After sending thest farewell to the rest of the group, Mal vanished, and the medallion Mark lent them fell to the ground. The crystal at the center of the trinket was already devoid of its shine, indicating that it lost itsst shred of energy.


    Mark looked at Mal even though everyone else could not see him anymore. Mal gave another thankful smile at Mark before his existence traversed out of the mortal realm.


    At this time, Mark felt a gaze. The gaze was just short, but he felt how familiar it was. It was the same gaze he felt back in Catanduanes after the fight with the [Mechid Factory]. It was the gaze of Death. Not his end, or anyone here, but Death itself.


    And after Mal left, so was the gaze.


    Yulia burst into another fit of tears, and everyone tried to console her. She gave a brave front before Mal departed, but it should still be painful for Yulia to see thest of her family go.


    FLAP! FLAP!


    All of a sudden, the serene atmosphere was once again disturbed. The loud p of the wings closing from the sky indicated arge creature flying toward their location.


    Farel and his group were in dismay. They were ragged, tired, and injured. If the current situation became dangerous again, they could only rely on the Moon Chasers.


    "Don''t worry," Mark spoke. "I told them toe here."


    Those words from Mark made the members of the Moon Chasers realize what it was. Of course, Farel and his group were still confused.


    It only took a few seconds, and the reddish-ck dragonnded from the sky with two girls on its back.


    Mark approached them, and they happily greeted him in return as he assisted them off the back of the dragon.


    "L-Luna," Farel stuttered as he asked Luna. "What in the world is that?"


    Luna, Bajing, and their other members looked at the reaction of Farel and his group. They could onlyugh inside, knowing they had the same feelings during their first encounter with Mark''s group.


    Even Yulia, who was in the middle of grieving, could only stare at the magnificent but terrifying beast in front of her.


    "Mama!"


    The voice of two little girls called unto one of the girls riding the dragon.


    And the two little girls in question? They were sitting on the back of the leader [Ground Hunter]. The [Ground Hunter] was already conscious. However, it did not dare move an inch. It knew that the girls on her back could turn her into a pile of minced meat in seconds.


    Mark helped Mei and Annica get down from Char''s back. He called them here because of the leader [Ground Hunter].


    "Woooah!"


    Annica felt excited after seeing the catch. She immediately knew that it had enough intelligence for her to tame.


    "Can you tame it?"


    Mark asked Annica.


    "Yeah! No problem!" Annica smiled. "And it''s too scared it''s less likely to reject."


    "Then, proceed with it," Mark gave the go. "We need to ask it why it attacked and chased after that group."


    "Okay, give me a minute."


    Annica nodded as she put her two hands on the head of the lizard, which was a few timesrger than her.


    On the side of the people from Indonesia, they watched Mark''s group while they continued tending to the injured.


    "What are they doing?"


    Farel, in curiousity, asked Luna.


    "I don''t know. Don''t ask me."


    Luna replied.


    "Same here."


    Bajing said after Farel''s eyes switched on her.


    "Aren''t those people your members?"


    Farel asked.


    "When did we say that?" Luna sighed. "When you asked earlier, we didn''t answer."


    "That''s..."


    Farel was speechless. However, it meant they were being helped by some mysterious group even the Moon Chasers barely knew.


    After a minute, Mark''s group approached the two other groups. Farel and the others could only flinch as they saw the leader [Ground Hunter] freely walking behind Mark''s group.


    "Don''t worry, she won''t attack anyone here anymore," Mark said. "More importantly, it seemed that these lizards attacked and chased after you because their nest got raided, and you guys had the strong smell of their broken eggs."


    "What?" Farel and his group members were shocked. "We never approached any [Ground Hunter] nest."


    "That''s the point," Mark replied. "It seemed that the creature that took your friend''s identity used this to get your group into trouble. You better check your belongings if there''s something odd."


    With Mark''s words, Farel and his members rounded their belongings and checked. To their horror, most of their bags had pieces of broken eggshells inside. And when the leader [Ground Hunter] saw those eggshells, it could not help but roar in anger.


    "Calm down," Annica knocked on the [Ground Hunter''s] head. "It''s not them who did this. There''s another enemy who did, and they are victims."


    The [Ground Hunter] calmed down as if it understood Annica. This scene was a surprise to everyone watching.


    Mark''s group was not just strong. They had the ability to instantly turn monsters into their allies.


    "We should prepare to leave."


    After a short talk, Luna suggested.


    "We also want to," Farel agreed. "But are you just going to leave these behind?"


    Farel was talking about the corpses of the dead [Ground Hunters]. The leather of [Ground Hunters] was sturdy enough to turn to light armor, while the meat of even one could feed a family for several days.


    "We already had our hands full, you see?" Luna shrugged. "And it might not feel right since they just turned a [Ground Hunter] into a pet.


    Everyone agreed on where Luna wasing from. However, Mark had a different say.


    "She doesn''t mind, though?" Mark interjected. "They are a group, but they are still solitary animals. It''s a survival of the fittest, even in their group. Sometimes, when one dies, the others cannibalize the dead. So it''s fine if you harvest the dead ones for resources."


    Luna looked at Farel''s group. The Moon Chasers really had their hands full because of the remains of the [Fog Crawler]. However, the members of the 41st Settlement needed to bring something home, even if it was not enough to recoup their loss.


    "Let''s head to the camp first so the injured can rest," Luna suggested. "Then, we can go back to get things we can bring home."


    No one disagreed with Luna''s suggestion. Everyone returned to camp. With the help of both the Char and the leader [Ground Hunter], it became easier to carry the injured.


    Everything became stable until they returned to camp. Farel and his members could not help but feel another wave of shock after seeing the gigantic head of the rumored [Fog Crawler] being transported by the Moon Chasers.

 Chapter 1078 Moving Forward, The Stop at Kudus Military Outpost

    Chapter 1078 Moving Forward, The Stop at Kudus Military Outpost


    Day 359 - 11:21 AM - Kudus, Kudus Regency, Central Java, Indonesia


    After rescuing the group from the 41st Settlement, a rather eventful night passed by.


    Luna and the others brought Farel''s group to the camp to let their injured people rest. In the end, Farel asked Mark for his second vial of [Regeneration Medicine] and promised to make it up for him in the future.


    Mark did not have any reason to refuse. The people who saw the effects of the medicine might think it was something extremely valuable. However, to those who knew its main ingredients, its value was the exact opposite. It was just a refined mixture of [Mutagen Stones] and blood from an evolver with regeneration ability mixed with some chemicalpounds. Even the Mountain Base had already started producing it, although at a smaller scalepared to Corregidor Ind.


    Besides, it was clear that the Moon Chasers and the 41st Settlement were close allies. Since it would help the Moon Chasers, it gave Mark another reason to help.


    In the first ce, Mark had two on his belt, but he had twenty more vials inside his [Storage Ring]. And it was not only Mark, as Mei also had another twenty inside her ring.


    The vial Farel received was equally divided among the injured members of the 41st Settlement. A small vial would not be enough to fully heal everyone, especially those unconscious. However, it still managed to stabilize their conditions.


    After settling the injured, Luna and Farel, together with some members of the Moon Chasers, went back to where they left the corpses of the [Ground Hunters]. It was to dismantle the corpses and bring back as much resource as they could. In the end, they managed to get a good amount to at least cover their losses to a good extent. Furthermore, since Farel''s people were mostly injured, Mark tasked the newly tamed [Ground Hunter] to carry their loot as he made another wagon out of nowhere.


    Sure enough, a lot of things Mark and his group disyed were a total surprise for the locals. The Moon Chasers were beginning to get used to it, though. There was a limit to how much they could feel shocked about an absurd and mysterious group.


    Just in time for dinner, an unconcious member of Farel''s group woke up. It did not take long, and they woke up one after another, although the interval was inconsistent due to their varying injuries. Some even did not wake up until midnight, with thest unconcious person waking up at dawn.


    The [Regeneration Medicine] sure served its job even if it had to be divided into smaller portions.


    Unfortunately, the newly woken-up members of Farel''s group had to face the reality of the situation. They had twenty-five members when they left their settlement. Now, they only had neen left. Five died during the constant attack of the [Ground Hunters], and the sixth was Wahyu, who turned out to be an impostor and the cause of everything that happened. Some of them felt surprised seeing the tamed animals of Mark''s group, but they also could not help but re at the leader [Ground Hunter] with hostility. Nheless, Farel made sure none of them would create trouble, especially since they were indebted to Mark in various ways.


    The worst trouble they had to face during the night was the constant attack of predators. It was the consequence of trying to bring homerge amounts of meat from the [Ground Hunters] and other prey they came across. The smell ofrge amounts of meat was attracting predators from all over the ce. Even if they already covered the wagons with thick cloth covers, the smell still leaked out. And the most attractive to them were the remains of the [Fog Crawler] for obvious reasons.


    There was no doubt that the [Fog Crawler] was a highly evolved creature, and the other animals knew by instinct that eating its flesh would increase their strength. In fact, Char and the leader [Ground Hunter] preferred the [Fog Crawler''s] flesh, too, for the same reason.


    Unfortunately for the tempted predators, there was no way they could win against thisrge group of humans. As these animals fell to the temptations, they ended up as additional trophies for the humans to bring home.


    Early in the morning, despite the injuries the members of Farel''s group had, they had to set off. Going home as fast as possible would be the best for everyone here.


    After half a day of continuous travel along the cleared road, they reached a curve north where they could see Mount Muria clearly. And, of course, the encounters with people increased, with most instances ending up staring at thebination of the Moon Chasers, the 41st Settlement, and the unfamiliar robed people. Of course, the thing most of the people they passed by reacted to were the giant lizards with the group pulling the wagons of dismantled creatures. If not for the lizards calmly walking at the center of the formation, the people seeing them would think they were dangerous wild creatures.


    Soon, they reached Kudus. It was where the satellite military outpost was located. It was a strategic location where the national road intersected with the other roads circling the mountain. While the roads were nothing but ruins now, it was still chosen for the same reason.


    The function of this outpost was mostly to alert the military in advance in case something happened. It was also where survivor groups could ask for assistance in certain situations.


    This time, it was also the initial destination of the Moon Chasers.


    "Stop!"


    Soldiers armed with their assault rifles stopped the group. T


    Considering that the other passing groups were not stopped by these soldiers, the reason was, without a doubt, the creatures the group had in tow.


    The soldiers stared at the giant lizards with cautiousness. It was until someone stepped out of the outpost gate. It was a middle-aged man, likely around his early forties.


    "So, it''s the missus from the 39th and Farel, huh. I believe your groups went out on different days. Did you join up on the way back?"


    The soldier casually spoke as he saw Luna and Farel. It was clear that he was familiar with them.


    "Captain Timur, greetings. We met up by coincidence."


    Luna replied.


    "Met up is making light of it," Farel disagreed with Luna as he spoke to the Captain. "We owe this girl''s group our lives. We got into a pinch, and they saved us in time."


    "Is that so?"


    Captain Timur asked as he scanned Farel''s group. He could not help but show a bitter frown as she saw some of Farel''s members missing.


    Knowing what the Captain had in mind, Farel spoke.


    "The others got done in. We can''t even retrieve their bodies. We only had Mal''s body here."


    The Captain heaved a heavy sigh after hearing the result of Farel and his group''s scavenging run.


    On the other hand, Luna and her group looked fine. It gave the Captain a sense of relief.


    "And what are these?"


    The Captain asked, looking at the creatures with the group. A [Ground Hunter], a Dragon-like creature, a giant rabbit, a canine-feline, and even a golden dog.


    "They are tamed creatures," Luna exined. "We met these people during the fog. It seems they are survivors from outside who managed to tame these creatures for survival."


    Luna told those things as Mark asked her to say beforehand. There were no lies in those words, anyway.


    Still, it surprised the Captain and the people who heard Luna. A group of survivors from outside the fortress who managed to tame creatures, who would not feel interested?


    Captain Timor looked at the group with simr-looking robes. Although they were not wearing anything to cover their faces, nothing could be seen about everything else. No person could likely tell what they were hiding under those robes.


    Stepping forward, the Captain approached Mark.


    "I''m Captain Timur Guntur. Officer-in-Charge of Kudus Outpost."


    Captain Timur Guntur extended his hand forward to Mark.


    "Mark, just call me Mark."


    Mark epted the handshake. He had done this many times already, but he was still ufortable with such gestures.


    That aside, Captain Timur was no ordinary person. While it was obvious that Mark would be the leader due to their positioning and being the only male of the group, the Captain also spoke in English, showing that he realized that the members of Mark''s group were not locals.


    But then, Captain Timur asked an uncanny question.


    "So, how many people have you killed so far?"


    It was a question that startled everyone who heard it.


    However, Mark smiled as he met the Captain eye to eye.


    "I''ve lost count," Mark answered. "You can''t really count how many ruffians you killed when your attention is only focused on protecting the people behind you."


    The answer Mark gave was not false, but not the entire truth, either. Counting how many lives he ended? Mark had ess to his subconscious memories. He could count it if he wanted to.


    Captain Timur stared at Mark as he continued to grip thetter''s hand. He then let go, seemingly satisfied with the answer.


    "Is that a test or something?"


    Mark asked.


    "Sort of," Captain Timur nodded. "My guts have never failed me. I can tell your answer is not all of it, but at least I can''t sense you lying."


    Then, Captain Timur turned to Luna.


    "A temporary pass for them, right? Are you going to vouch for them?"


    .c¦Ïm "Yes, no problem."


    Luna nodded.


    The Captain then signaled his soldiers to be at ease and called the registrar for a temporary registration.


    Mark''s group were then asked their names and age, and that was it, to their surprise. But then again, only their names and ages would matter in a temporary registration. Other things like abilities and significant stuff would probably fall into the actual registration process.


    "By the way, Captain Timur," Luna called the Captain''s attention. "Can you call for the logistics? We want to sell some stuff."


    "Hmm? And what is it?"


    Captain Timur asked.


    Then, Luna pointed at the cloth-covered thing on the wagon Char was pulling. Bajing and Limab then pulled the cover, revealing the horrific head of a giant centipede.


    "The head of the [Fog Crawler]. I believe the military will be interested."


    Luna''s announcement rang loudly in the ears of everyone nearby. Even Captain Timur''s eyes widened in disbelief.


    "Don''t joke around, Miss Luna."


    Captain Timur warned.


    "You think I''m joking around?" Luna challenged the Captain and his gut feeling. "If you''re still not convinced, then take a look at this."


    Luna then unpacked something from therge backpack she was carrying. Covered in cloth, Luna unwrapped it to reveal a half-meter-long segment of the [Fog Crawler''s] front legs.


    "Look at this, especially this part," Luna pointed at the jagged but sharp, knife-like tip of the [Fog Crawler''s] leg. "Looks familiar, right?"


    Captain Timur could only frown as he did not sense any lie in Luna''s tone. But as he examined the insect leg in her hands, Captain Timur could not help but be convinced.


    "This familiar jagged pattern," Captain Timur spoke. "There''s no doubt it''s a simr pattern to the injuries left on the bodies of the victims."


    "How did you people kill it?"


    Captain Timur asked.


    "We''re lucky."


    Luna smiled bitterly with her reply. Unfortunately, she had no reason to tell everything.


    Captain Timur was still suspicious. Nheless, he knew that Luna was not someone to lie. In the first ce, lying to sell something to the military would not end up good if it was discovered.


    "I''ll call for the logistics. But the negotiations about the price will still fall on you."


    Captain Timur warned.


    "Don''t worry, I know."


    Luna nodded.


    But before Captain Timur went to themunications room, he turned to Limab.


    "Before I forget, Miss Astria, your father is pretty pissed. You better think of your excuses early on."


    Everyone looked at Limab, who was now shrinking in embarrassment.


    "Limab," Bajing called out with a questioning stare. "You said you got permission toe with us, right?"


    Limab did not answer and just gave a smile.


    "Yeah, I gave myself permission."


    The Moon Chasers looked at Limab while pping their foreheads inside.

 Chapter 1079 Inside Kudus Outpost, Assessing the Authenticity of the [Fog Crawlers] Remains

    Chapter 1079 Inside Kudus Outpost, Assessing the Authenticity of the [Fog Crawler''s] Remains


    Day 359 - 12:02 PM - Kudus, Kudus Regency, Central Java, Indonesia


    After Captain Timur informed the Logistics of the situation in Kudus Outpost, he asked Luna''srge group of people to move into the drill grounds of the outpost. It was a necessary action. Thebination of Moon Chasers, 41st Settlement, and Evernight was more than enough to block the checkpoint through the outpost, not to mention the tworge lizards pullingrge wagons with them.


    Furthermore, while not a lot, quite a number of people passing by heard Luna''s deration and saw the severed head of the [Fog Crawler]. It would not take long for the information to circte and for more people to gather to see it. It might just be a severed head, but it was better not to forget that it was the severed head of a creature that had already killed hundreds of people.


    The group moved withoutints. And now, all they needed to do was wait.


    It was already lunchtime, anyway. This waiting time would not be wasted. The group then asked permission from Captain Timur to use the drill grounds for cooking lunch.


    Considering the situation, Captain Timur agreed. There was no harm in letting them cook there as long as they would clean up afterward.


    Soon enough, the appetizing aroma spread throughout the outpost, torturing the soldiers and all those passing by.


    Using [Ground Hunter] meat as the main ingredient with wild vegetables, herbs, and spices, topped on white rice, the members of both the Moon Chasers and the 41st Settlement relished a lunch they could not imagine eating after the civilization fell.


    The meat was obvious where it came from. As for the vegetables and herbs, these were collected along the way. The only odd ones out were the spices. Without ntations and factories to produce them, rich spices became a rare luxury item that not just anyone could enjoy.


    However, ever since the Moon Chasers met Mark''s group, their food has greatly improved. It was because Mark did not mind sharing the good amount of spices and seasonings they had during meals. The 41st Settlement group also enjoyed this luxurious food after they were rescued.


    The drill grounds were just beside the road through the outpost. Everyone passing by could only drool while they enviously looked at the groups enjoying their lunch.


    "You people are causing quite a ruckus already," Captain Timur returned after he left to check on something. "It''s not even the ruckus about the [Fog Crawler]."


    "What ruckus?" Farel asked with a bitter expression. "We''re just having lunch."


    "What''s the matter?" Captain Timur noticed Farel''s expression. "You''re eating good, but, Farel, you look like someone who lost everything."


    Those words from Captain Timur caused a chain reaction among the members of the 41st Settlement.


    "Did I say something bad?"


    The Captain could not help but ask as he realized he triggered something.


    And there, Farel told Captain Timur what happened, minus the details about the impostor. Why not tell everything? It was Mark who suggested it for various reasons.


    "So, that''s what happened."


    Captain Timur could only tap Farel''s shoulder after hearing the events that happened to the group from the 41st Settlement.


    "Cecile, Ral, Shale, we can''t even retrieve their bodies," Farel said with a sad tone. "We only had Mal''s body there at the wagon. Still, we n to make a grave for everyone in the Settlement once we return."


    "Don''t let it overwhelm you," Captain Timur consoled Farel. "They might have died, but you guys are still alive. And you all need to be alive to remember the dead."


    "Enough with the sad talk~" Bajing chimed in. "Just eat! Delicious food will lift your spirits."


    Farel and Captain Timur looked at each other and shook their heads with a bitter smile. Bajing was not wrong, however.


    "You want some, too, Captain Timur?"


    Limab asked the Captain.


    "I''m tempted, but I''ll decline. My subordinates will probably nag me for the rest of the day if I ept your offer. Haha. I''ll just eat our nd rationster."


    Captain Timurughed while ncing at his soldiers atop the watch towers. Many soldiers and passersby kept looking enviously at this group before him due to their food.


    VROOOOM!


    In the middle of lunch, the sounds of vehicles echoed from the direction of the mountain.


    "Looks like they''re here."


    Captain Timur said, looking in the direction of Mount Muria.


    Silently, Mark concentrated his hearing on the sounds of the iing vehicles. The rumbling sounds made him sure it was around five or more military trucks.


    The number was quite strange. If it was just the logistics personnel and the transport team, one to three trucks was enough to assess and carry the head of the [Fog Crawler]. There was no way a decent soldier as Captain Timur did not tell them the specific details.


    Another minute passed, and the military convoy arrived. There were eight military trucks in total.


    BAM!


    The front passenger door of one of the trucks opened violently. A man in a whiteb coat jumped out like a crazy maniac.


    "WHERE IS IT? WHERE''S THE [FOG CRAWLER''S] REMAINS?"


    Theb coat-wearing man said in a loud, almost shouting voice.


    Mark could only squint his eyes. There it was, the kind of scientist hardest to deal with. It was the crazy type of scientist who would not care about anything else aside from their research.


    "WOW! WHY ARE THERE MUTATED CREATURES HERE? WHY ARE THEY DOCILE?"


    The crazyb coat guy eximed when his eyes fell onto the strange creatures before him.


    "Hold your horses there, you crazy bastard. This is why I didn''t want to bring you here."


    The crazy scientist was about to charge toward the dragon-like creature he set his eyes on when his shoulder got tugged back by a soldier in his early forties.


    This soldier also came out of one of the military trucks. He was quite young for his status. Looking at the badge and uniform this soldier wore, this soldier in his early forties was a Brigadier General. With the usual ages for this rank being aroundte forties and above, this soldier sure was young.


    "You guys, hold this idiot."


    The General ordered some of the soldiers to restrain the crazy scientist despite his protests.


    "General Wijaya."


    Captain Timur and the nearby outpost soldiers gave their salutes to the Brigadier General.


    "Good afternoon."


    General Wijaya gave his own salute and greeted them.


    "Why are you here? It''s only supposed to be the logistics."


    The Captain asked.


    "That is for normal circumstances. Anything about the [Fog Crawler] is nowhere normal."


    General Wijaya replied.


    That was right. Considering the dangers and things caused by the notorious [Fog Crawler], it was something far from anything normal.


    "So, where is it?"


    The General inquired.


    After hearing that question, Captain Timur nodded at Luna. The Moon Chasers then removed the cloth cover on the severed head of the [Fog Crawler].


    "WOAH!"


    The crazy scientist loudly eximed while being restrained by the General''s subordinates.


    The soldiers who arrived with General Wijaya looked stunned at the severed head. It was the head of a ferocious-looking giant centipede. Nheless, the General kept a calm demeanor. He turned to one of his soldiers.


    "Let the guy out."


    The General ordered.


    Captain Timur and the others were the ones confused this time. Who was the guy


    The soldier opened the only remaining military truck with a closed passenger door. He then escorted a man who seemed to be in an unstable state of mind. The man looked panicked as he frantically looked around the surroundings.


    But then, the man''s eyes fell on the severed head on the wagon.


    "U-U-UWAAAAAA!!!"


    The man pushed away the soldier escorting him and ran away in extreme panic. The surrounding soldiers immediately restrained him. A doctor who came with the General approached the restrained man and injected something in his neck, causing the man to slowly slip out of consciousness.


    "General, could we not do this in the future?" The doctor turned to the General toin. "It is not good for the mental health of the patient."


    "I don''t want to do this either," General Wijaya sighed. "But in his state, we can''t get any concrete information about the [Fog Crawler]. Even just a single sketch would be fine, but he would have panic attacks every time the image of the [Fog Crawler]es into his mind."


    "Even so."


    The doctor was not convinced.


    "Don''t worry, this will be the first andst. We now know what the [Fog Crawler] actually looked like."


    The General said, looking at the severed centipede head.


    "True. I guess."


    The doctor partially agreed since the patient showed a far greater intensity of panic after seeing the severed head in front of them. The only thing that could trigger such a reaction would be the source of the patient''s trauma.


    It meant that the giant centipede head in front of them was the genuine article.


    "General, is that?"


    Luna approached the General and was about to ask about the panicked man.


    "That''s right, he''s someone who saw the actual appearance of a [Fog Crawler]."


    The General exined.


    "But, from what we heard, there shouldn''t be any survivors of [Fog Crawler] attacks who had seen its true appearance before we left a few days ago."


    Luna spoke in confusion.


    "He''s from the recent attack. During the fog a few days ago, the [Fog Crawler] attacked his team. He is the only survivor. He also managed to see the [Fog Crawler] upfront. Of course, at the expense of seeing it ughter his entire team."


    The General answered without withholding information as it was already known to many.


    "When were they attacked and where?"


    Luna asked.


    "South, in Gambaran. By the remains we found, and ording to the little bit he could answer, it seemed they were attacked on the second day of the fog."


    It was the doctor who answered Luna''s question.


    "Huh?"


    .c¦Ïm Luna and the rest of the Moon Chasers were confused.


    It was when the crazy scientist''s voice entered everyone''s ears.


    "That''s strange. The smell of its flesh and this firmness, it''s been dead for several days. It''s very likely that this thing had been killed on the first day of the fog."


    The crazy scientist stated as he pinched the flesh of the [Fog Crawler] with his bare hands.


    "Who let him go?" The General questioned his soldiers, only to see them confused while holding the crazy scientist''s emptyb coat. "This slippery bastard."


    After cussing a little, the General sighed and went back to the more important topic.


    "Is what he had just said the truth?" The General asked Luna. "Where is this killed?"


    "That''s right," Luna nced at Mark and Mei before answering. "This [Fog Crawler] was killed after sunset on the first day. This was killed in Indramayu."


    Now, everyone noticed the inconsistency. It would not be strange if the attack happened first before it was killed, but it was the exact opposite.


    "This is bad, isn''t it?" Limab chimed in. "There''s two [Fog Crawlers] lurking about. And if there''s two, it won''t be strange if there''s more."


    Limab spoke what everyone feared.


    Even the military was unsure if they could kill the [Fog Crawlers] without casualties. A single one of them could wipe out a battalion or two, not to mention if there were more of these monsters.


    At that thought, a crucial question entered everyone''s minds.


    "How did you manage to kill it?"


    General Wijaya asked Luna.


    It was the first instance of a [Fog Crawler] being killed. It meant that the [Fog Crawler] was not an invincible creature.


    Then, the crazy scientist chimed in to answer the question.


    "It''s aser or some sort of high-concentrated energy beam," The crazy scientist then pointed at the bisected part of the [Fog Crawler''s] head. "The entire section beyond the head was melted. It even solidified the flesh along with the sturdy, metal-like chitin."


    The scientist then looked at Luna with sparkling eyes.


    "WHERE DID YOU PEOPLE GET SUCH A HIGH-TECH WEAPON?"


    Luna fell silent. She was unsure how to answer that question.


    As crazy as the scientist was, he was still an expert. With a few clues and hints, he managed to deduce many things.


    And as Luna was unsure how to answer the question, someone raised his hand.


    "It''s us. We killed it." Mark admitted. "We just have no use for it, so we gave it to them, but it''s us who killed it."


    Those words turned everyone''s attention to Mark and his robed mysterious group.

 Chapter 1080 A Quick Transaction, Casting the Bait to Lure the General

    Chapter 1080 A Quick Transaction, Casting the Bait to Lure the General


    Day 359 - 12:19 PM - Kudus, Kudus Regency, Central Java, Indonesia


    Mark watched the situation silently while pulling the rest of his group behind Luna and the others. He did it to observe the situation first before making his move. And what he would do would depend on the people the military sent.


    In the first ce, Mark did not have any n to make Luna and her group take responsibility for who killed the [Fog Crawler]. While letting them take the glory would raise the Moon Chaser''s reputation, it would also put them in a difficult situation. If it came to a point where the [Fog Crawlers] began attacking the fortress, the people would bring the Moon Chasers to the front lines. There, Luna and her group would only face death in their current state.


    Letting the Moon Chasers take the me or glory for what the Evernight did was not a good thing from the start. In the first ce, Mark only gave the remains to Luna''s group but never told them to cover for his group.


    Mark looked at Luna''s back.


    ***


    Luna had a few ns in mind, for sure. She wanted to take the responsibility for bringing back the remains of the [Fog Crawler].


    However, it was not because she wanted glory. Luna had already discussed it with her friends. The Moon Chasers had already experienced a lot in this ce and knew many things. Given the abilities and capabilities Mark''s group had shown, they would surely be the target of the snakes lying in wait. They wanted to shield Mark''s group from the eyes of those snakes.


    Luna had already prepared a few lies and excuses to say about the death of the [Fog Crawler]. Although these lies would notst, everything would be fine as long as they had already sold the remains.


    What was outside Luna''s calctions was this crazy scientist. His behavior and appearance might look crazy, but none of his deductions were wrong.


    Due to the crazy scientist, Luna was unable to proceed with the lies she prepared beforehand.


    "It''s us. We killed it," When Luna was at a loss for words, Mark''s voice echoed in everyone''s ears. "We just don''t have a use for it, so we gave it to them, but it''s us who killed it."


    Everyone turned to Mark as he grabbed everyone''s attention. He then walked forward with every one of the Moon Chasers making way for him.


    "And you are?"


    General Wijaya asked as he stared at Mark while racking his memory. However, he was sure that Mark was unfamiliar to him.


    But then, Captain Timur stepped closer to the General and spoke.


    "He is from that group," Captain Timur then looked at Mark''s group, who wore simr-looking robes. "They seem to be from outside. They arrived earlier together with everyone here."


    Captain Timur''s words surprised General Wijaya and those listening around them.


    ''There were still people living outside the fortress?''


    Everyone had the same question in their minds.


    Given the situation within Indonesia, everyone was sure all the remaining people in the country were within this fortress. Although they were still unsure about the situation on other inds, at least, this was the fact in Java.


    But now, a group of people from outside came. And it was not just a simple group. It was a group of people with beasts amidst their ranks and imed to be the ones to bring down the nightmare known as the [Fog Crawler].


    General Wijaya tried sizing up Mark and his members. What surprised him even more was that the opposing group wasposed mostly of females with even four children with them. This kind of group lived outside. They even brought down something the military could not. It felt unlikely.


    But as General Wijaya focused his attention on Mark, he felt the same feeling as Captain Timur.


    This person was no mere survivor. This stranger was a dangerous individual. Why could they say so? Could it be because General Wijaya and Captain Timur could feel something strange about him? No, it was the exact opposite. It was because they could not feel anything from him at all. Looking at this person was like staring at a predator stalking his unknowing prey.


    If this person was like this, then it was even more likely that there was no lie in his words.


    Mark could feel the General''s probing stare as he walked forward. However, he did not mind. This General was quite good. It reminded Mark of General Perez in Corregidor Ind.


    But, all of a sudden, a face blocked Mark''s sight.


    Mark stopped on his steps. The face of the crazy scientist was just an inch away from his. If one did not know any better, one would think the crazy scientist was trying to kiss Mark.


    "Are you alive? You''re not dead, right?"


    The crazy scientist asked Mark as he slightly backed away, to everyone''s shock.


    Mark looked at the crazy guy. This crazy scientist might behave weirdly, but he seemed to have an outstanding intuition.


    The [Blessing of Death''s Aura] would make Mark look weird to regr people, but those with a high enough level of intuition would question whether he was a living person.


    It was the first time someone asked Mark such a question. Even the Demon Diety of mes, Gar''m, did not notice this fact. If Gar''m did, he would not be as careless in front of Mark.


    "Take this idiot away."


    General Wijaya could only massage his forehead as he ordered his men to pull away the troublemaker.


    "HEY! MY QUESTION IS NOT ANSWERED YET!"


    The crazy scientist screamed as the soldiers dragged him into one of the trucks. Funny enough, he was notining about being dragged away but about his question being left unanswered.


    "My apologies about that idiot."


    General Wijaya said to Mark with an exasperated sigh.


    Then, the General extended his hand towards Mark.


    "Sus Wijaya."


    General Wijaya humbly introduced himself without his title as a soldier.


    "Mark. Just Mark."


    Mark returned the gesture and shook hands with the General.


    The General did not mind Mark just stating his name. Many people had already thrown away their surnames, while some even went further, like giving themselves different names and aliases.


    After the initial introductions, the General went straight to the point.


    "Is what you are saying true? You killed the [Fog Crawler]?"


    However, Mark shook his head.


    "Not me, we," Mark emphasized that this was not the work of a single person but his group. "We just have the means to do so. However, I won''t go into details here."


    General Wijaya observed Mark as he spoke. However, Mark did not show any hesitation or change of expression as he said those words. That aside, the General also understood what Mark was saying. Mark could say they killed it, but going into detail in public was just asking for trouble.


    "Do you have time? We can talk privately."


    General Wijaya offered. He was quite suspicious of Mark, but he was already at least eighty percent sure that the [Fog Crawler] fell by the hands of Mark and his group. The evidence was open for everyone to see, after all. The [Fog Crawler''s] head was here.


    And since it was very likely the truth, General Wijaya wanted to secure the information first before anyone else. Mark''s methods might greatly help the military and its people, but it would be bad if they fell into the hands of those who bear evil thoughts.


    However, Mark had a different idea.


    "Can we do thister? We just arrived here, and we''re tired. We only stopped by for Miss Luna to sell the stuff. If not, we would have already headed straight to their settlement."


    Mark spoke without being overbearing or disrespectful. What he said was the truth. Besides, it was not like Mark declined. He just said that they could discuss this stuff at ater date.


    General Wijaya looked at Mark and then at Luna. He then nodded. It looked like the Moon Chasers found a powerful ally this time. And it was a good thing.


    If Mark had not chosen to follow Luna and her group, General Wijaya would have asked Mark and his group to apany him instead and prepare dwellings for them. However, the 38th Settlement, a settlement prejudiced by a lot of people at the top, was one of the most honorable and powerful settlements in this ce.


    Many antagonistic parties wanted to erase the 38th Settlement and its allies. However, it was hard to do so because of their strength, not just as a group but as individuals.


    "Then, we can arrange a meeting some other day. I will send someone to inform you."


    General Wijaya decided.


    "That''s fine. I''ll tell the details at that time," Mark then spoke in a lower voice, which only General Wijaya could hear. "I''ll also answer questions you might want to know about the fog."


    General Wijaya froze as his eyes widened in disbelief.


    Even the scientists they had here in the fortress were unable to pinpoint the cause of that strange fog and why it could not affect Mount Muria in the slightest. Did this mysterious person know something about the fog?


    The questions inside General Wijaya''s mind started to pile up.


    General Wijaya snapped out of his stupor and wanted to ask Mark immediately, but thetter had already turned around with a yful grin.


    "Please settle the transaction with Miss Luna first," Mark said as he started walking. "Your questions will find answerster."


    lights¦­¦Ïvel Everyone watched as Mark said those words while returning to his group. They were all in disbelief as to how Mark could speak to the General on equal terms. After all, the position itself warranted fear from the masses. However, it seemed that General Wijaya''s position did not matter to Mark at all.


    Some felt strange, while some admired Mark''s demeanor. After all, many people would not feelfortable talking to people in high positions, especially armed soldiers.


    General Wijaya gave Mark onest nce before turning to Luna.


    "Miss Luna, how do you want to settle this transaction?"


    Hearing her name getting called, Luna immediately stepped forward.


    "We want to exchange this for an equal value of goods and equipment, if possible."


    "Alright," General Wijaya nodded and turned to his subordinates. "Quickly assess the price of the goods."


    The soldiers from the logistics and someb personnel came forward and began inspecting the [Fog Crawler''s] parts. Normally, these kinds of transactions would have fixed suggested pricing on the traded goods. It was especially the case formon creatures like the [Vine D''holes] and other mutated insect carcasses.


    But this time, it was different.


    It was the first time these people dealt with a [Fog Crawler]. Aside from the research value, they also had to assess the usability of its parts, especially the carapace.


    After a few minutes, the logistics came out with a negotiable estimate of the price. Normally, it would be the logistics who would handle the negotiation. However, General Wijaya stepped in. He raised the price higher than the estimate and offered it to Luna.


    Seeing the price that was higher than expected, Luna and her friends felt dizzy. This was the first time they had a transaction as expensive as this. With the amount given to them by General Wijaya, they could probably buy enough food to feed their settlement for half a month without needing to risk themselves to go out and hunt.


    "Is the price fine?"


    General Wijaya asked.


    "It''s fine! No problems!"


    Luna excitedly replied.


    Seeing Luna and her friends excited like little children, General Wijaya showed a faint smile.


    "Then, we''ll finish the exchange at ater date in the center," General Wijaya said as he took out a metal badge. "Use this to im the goods. That way, no one can steal it."


    This time, it was not just Luna and her friends. Even the soldiers felt the intensity of the situation.


    What General Wijaya had in his hand was his personal badge. It meant no one could im the goods in this transaction unless they had his badge.


    Luna was hesitant, but she was happy as she epted the badge. There were some incidents of im theft before. Even they became a victim of it twice. But now, it was impossible to fall victim to it.


    "General, is this okay? People might think you are giving preferential treatment."


    Captain Timur whispered to General Wijaya.


    "It''s fine," General Wijaya replied with a serious expression. "The [Fog Crawler]... It isn''t something our soldiers can handle. You know what this meant, right?"


    Captain Timur looked at Mark and his group, sitting silently with their ferocious-looking pets.


    The General was correct. This time, it was not the these people who needed to curry favors with the military and the government. It was military who needed to curry favors with people who could kill a [Fog Crawler].

 Chapter 1081 A Sorrowful Return, Bringing Farel and His Group Back to the 41st Settlement

    Chapter 1081 A Sorrowful Return, Bringing Farel and His Group Back to the 41st Settlement


    Day 359 - 1:32 PM - Kudus Military Outpost, Kudus, Kudus Regency, Central Java, Indonesia


    The assessment and transaction were done, and the next thing left was to im the itemster. There was no need to hang around in the outpost any longer.


    After the head of the [Fog Crawler] was painstakingly loaded onto the cargo of a military truck, it was time for the different parties to depart to their destinations.


    The crazy scientist tried several times to escape and speak to Mark. However, General Wijaya made sure his soldiers would stop the guy.


    General Wijaya gave onest nce at this group of people who brought back the [Fog Crawler''s] head. Compared to therger groups who were drowning in their high egos, these groups were the only hope of humanity in his eyes. He could only sigh.


    Indonesia was in the top fifty countries in terms of corruption worldwide before the apocalypse began. Now that the government had mostly fallen, all that was left was corruption and a power struggle. There were barely any people who could be called honorable left in position, even among the military.


    And those greedy pigs wanted to wipe out those who remained human in their hearts.


    Influence and connections. These factors were what made the current system of Mount Muria Fortress. Those who did not have these connections and did not want to be under this system became isted.


    Among those people was the 38th Settlement of the Moon Chasers, led by Luna, and the 41st Settlement of the Fire Fighters, led by Farel.


    Captain Timur had already reported the summary of what happened to the Fire Fighters. Their main group faced a dilemma and got killed. Even the members present clearly had injuries. It would be a big blow to these honorable people.


    General Wijaya prayed that the Fire Fighters could keep on despite this sad setback.


    There was also the mysterious group. General Wijaya picked up on the hints of Mark in the few words they exchanged. Mark had knowledge that everyone here did not know. And by his words, he would likely share the information with General Wijaya. However, only General Wijaya and no one else.


    By the looks of it, Mark was not only mysterious. He seemed to have some ability to discern people and their personalities.


    It might sound like bragging or narcissism, but General Wijaya knew he might be the only remaining General in the Fortress not bought up by the pigs. He was the most decent and responsible among them.


    Yes, General Wijaya was the most responsible. The fact could be seen since he was the only General who came to see the situation about the [Fog Crawler].


    How many Generals were currently managing the military and security of the fortress? There were seven. Yet, the other six thought that it was nothing but fraud. After all, the military could not do anything against the [Fog Crawler]. What could a flimsy group without backing do?


    The other six Generals took the news as a joke and did not even bothering. Yet, General Wijaya came even for just a little bit of possibility.


    The mysterious Mark could have picked up on that fact and decided he could trust the General.


    General Wijaya was looking forward to the time he would talk with Mark privately.


    With those thoughts in mind, General Wijaya boarded the military truck, and the convoy left with the [Fog Crawler''s] head in tow.


    The Moon Chasers and the Fire Fighters finished their preparations. Since the wagon being pulled by Char was not empty, Mark told the most injured members of Farel''s group to ride on it. It would not be the best ride due to the rough road, but it was way better than enduring all the pain in their wounds as they walked.


    Farel thanked Mark for the consideration even though there was no need to. The groups would be going in the same direction, after all. And before reaching the 38th Settlement, they would pass by the 41st Settlement first.


    Therge group followed the cleared trail outside the wall surrounding the mountain. The outside was mostly cleared of trees. It was not only to be used as a path but also to reveal any dangers closing in. Without any obstacles, any attacker had nothing to hide behind.


    From time to time, the group would pass by some entrances with guards. However, it was not a ce they could not pass through easily or even just enter.


    These highly guarded entrances were the outer gates of the Satelite Settlements. Each gate meant a single settlement ruled by a group. But to enter, one must be a member of that group or living in their settlement. If not, they needed to pay a toll to pass through. The toll varied from settlement to settlement, and it was not low at all.


    That was why it was better to just skirt along the wall and enter through their own settlements'' outer gates.


    On the other hand, the group caused amotion at each gate they passed by. Why? Who would not be alerted to see arge group of people with beasts along their side? The tworgest were even ferocious-looking lizards. And those two were pulling wagons.


    The guards at the gates could not believe what they were seeing. They could only report to their superiors in a hurry.


    Soon enough, this rumor would spread across the entire fortress. After all, there were various witnesses, from the many passersby at the outpost to the military they had transactions with.


    There were many attempts at domesticating [Evolved Animals] in the fortress. However, aside from a few livestock animals that got some minor changes, all other efforts faced failure. That was why it was a huge thing to see a group of humans actuallymanding these ferocious animals.


    Soon, knocks and inquiries would be flooding the groups involved about these animals.


    At four in the afternoon, the group reached the 41st Settlement. Seeing Farel and his group, the guards by the gates became excited. The fog happened while they were out, after all. However, the guards also noticed the decreased number of members and their current state.


    Although the beasts with the group were eye-catching, the guards paid attention more to Farel and the other members of the Fire Fighters. All of them valued each of their members.


    "Sir Farel, what happened?"


    lights¦­¦Ïvel One of the guards asked Farel. His eyes even fell on the only corpse the group managed to bring back, which was closely guarded by Yulia. There was no need to ask whose corpse it was.


    "I''ll tell everyer," Farel patted the guard''s shoulder. "For now, let all of us enter. And call some people to help move the stuff loaded on the wagon behind the [Ground Hunter]."


    As the guard''s attention finally fell on therge lizards, he asked Farel.


    "These monsters won''t attack, right? They are not ours, right?"


    "No, they won''t as long as we don''t attack first," Farel answered. "And they are not ours. They are pets of our benefactors."


    The guard was stunned by Farel''s words. However, he was not stupid. He understood the situation and felt nervous. It meant that Farel''s group faced a deadly situation and were saved in time. If not, he could not imagine the situation.


    As the realization hit, the guard looked at the Moon Chasers and the unfamiliar people with eyes filled with gratitude. After all, they brought their leader back alive. Farel was the foundation of this Settlement. Without him, it would fall.


    The entire group entered the 41st Settlement. It was not the most pleasant ce. While each structure inside was strong, it did not look any better than a squatter''spound. The houses built with scraps were crammed together, and the smell of rust was in the air. Nheless, the people living in it were in a good state.


    When the news of the Fire Fighter''s return reached their ears, every person in the settlement came out to wee them home. However, seeing the current state of the members that came out, the joy did notst long.


    Some people came out to look at the members. Others realized some were missing.


    One woman approached Farel.


    "Farel, where''s Irma?"


    The woman asked Farel.


    However, Farel only looked at the ground in dismay as he replied.


    "I''m sorry."


    The woman fell to her knees as the realization hit. Irma, one of the founding members of the Fire Fighters, her beloved daughter, did not make it.


    Soon, the families of some of the missing members also came and received the unfortunate news. They could only cry as the sorrow overwhelmed their hearts.


    However, no one med Farel or the other members. Theirmunity was tightly knit, and everyone knew each other. All of them knew the members of the Fire Fighters would do their best to keep each other alive. If someone perished among them, it meant that it was inevitable.


    Unfortunately, no matter how inevitable it was, the sorrow of losing a loved one was not something they could just put aside.


    The atmosphere in the 41st Settlement turned sour immediately. The Fire Fighter''s return should have been a joyous asion. But now, it has be a funeral.


    In this situation, the worst part was meeting Wahyu''s wife and two children. After all, the perpetrator that caused this event was Wahyu. No, it was the impostor of Wahyu.


    Farel turned to Mark. He wanted to tell the truth to Wahyu''s family. They had the right to know. However, Mark told Farel and the rest to hide it for the time being. After all, there should be other people who fell victim to the impersonating creatures. Wahyu could only be one of them. In that case, it was better not to rm them before getting to the root of it.


    Mark had already sent Crimson to chase after the fake Wahyu. It was just a matter of time to find where they came from.


    But as Farel looked at Mark, thetter could only sigh.


    Fortunately, all the residents of the 41st Settlement were present.


    With a shrug, Mark''s figure suddenly blurred out of existence.


    Everyone was surprised to see Mark suddenly vanish before their eyes. What happened? Where did he go?


    What happened next shocked everyone. One after another, residents of the 41st Settlement were thrown in the middle of the za in front of everyone. The peopleined in pain, and their family members shouted in shock and horror.


    But as Mark''s figure appeared while holding a struggling child, only then they realized that it was Mark who did the atrocious thing.


    Six people were thrown in the middle of the road. Mark did not hold back and even mercilessly threw the child to the ground.


    "What the f*ck are you doing to my wife?!"


    A man shouted in anger. His wife was among the six people.


    Simrints echoed. They wanted to charge at Mark and beat him to a pulp. The man whoined just now even grabbed a machete and ran at Mark.


    However, Mark did not show any change in expression. His eyes glowed red, and he spoke.


    "Shut up."


    Those two words vibrated within the hearts and minds of the disturbed people. They all swallowed theirints and anger as they realized they could not move their bodies in fear. The six people on the ground were the same.


    Farel and Luna were stunned at the situation. It was the same for their members. None of them were as affected by Mark''s words, but his words felt like they carried a power that resonated with their emotions. It was even more incredulous to see people freeze on their feet.


    "Farel."


    Mark called Farel.


    "Don''t tell me..."


    Farel realized what Mark had done. It was the same for the members of Fire Fighters and Moon Chasers.


    Mark looked at the guy with the machete and then grabbed his wife, who was kneeling on the ground, by his neck.


    "Is this your wife?"


    Mark asked as he peeled off the skin mask from the woman''s face.


    Everyone looked in horror as the woman''s face came off easily. The woman was most scared as her true charcoal-colored face was revealed. Then, as if the light suddenly distorted, the body of the woman changed into a woman with charcoal skin and tribal-looking clothing.


    "I''ll ask again," Mark spoke. "Is this your wife?"


    The man looked in horror.


    "Who? Who the f*ck? Where is my wife?"


    "Sir Mark," Farel stepped forward. "Are these six really..."


    "Yes," Mark nodded. "Even this kid."


    The kid''s mother looked in horror as Mark lowered his body and peeled off the young boy''s face. And just like the woman, the boy''s body blurred before turning into a child with charcoal skin and tribal clothing.


    It was clear that they were busted. The impostors did not even nce at each other as they opened their mouths. Their mouths opened in a way and size impossible for humans.


    There was no doubt what the impostors were trying to do.


    However, the six impostors froze in shock.


    Mark sneered.


    "Don''t bother. I let one escape on purpose before. I only need one to escape."


    Those words carried many meanings.


    The six impostors tried hard. However, no smoke came out of their mouths. They seemed to try other means. Unfortunately, they could only drown in shock to learn that none of their powers were working.

 Chapter 1082 No Way Out, The Impostors Choosing the Only Option Left

    Chapter 1082 No Way Out, The Impostors Choosing the Only Option Left


    Day 359 - 4:17 PM - Central za, 41st Settlement, Outer Wall, Sacred Muria Fortress, Mount Muria, Jepara Regency, Central Java, Indonesia


    A plethora of intense emotions overwhelmed all the residents of the 41st Settlement.


    Joy. They felt this emotion as they learned of Farel and his group''s return.


    Sorrow. Learning the untimely death of their loved ones, the families of Farel''s deceased members cried out loud.


    Bewilderment. Mark''s sudden disy of his abilities caused the witnesses to feel bewildered. However, it was reced soon after.


    Anger. The bewilderment Mark caused was reced by anger as the residents saw him gather six of their members and violently throw them into the center of the za.


    Shock. After the revtion of the truth, everyone felt the shock of their life.


    The six people Mark gathered at the center of the za were not the same people they knew. These six were impostors wearing the faces of their loved ones.


    There was a lot to swallow in this unexpected event. The situation hardly sunk into the minds of the loved ones of the six. It was the same for all the people watching.


    With the eyes gathered at them and the truth utterly revealed, the six impostors had no other choice left.


    All of a sudden, the bodies of the six became frozen stiff.


    Mark, who was still holding the impostor woman by her neck, noticed something was not right. He immediately threw her to the ground, not holding back in the slightest.


    But before the impostor woman even hit the ground, her body turned to ash. It was the same for the other five impostors.


    Everyone watched in confusion. Now, all that was left was six piles of ashes in front of Mark.


    With a frown, the red glow in Mark''s eyes dimmed. At the same time, everyone felt the pressure on them vanish.


    Now able to move, the families and rtives of the victims of the impostors approached. However, all they saw was the pile of ashes and four skin masks. As for the two, the woman and the child, their masks were in Mark''s hand.


    The man with the machete stood by the pile of ashes of his wife''s impostor. The wife he knew was definitely not this pile of ashes.


    Mark then approached the man and handed him the skin mask. The man nkly received the skin mask and noticed. The familiar texture of the skin mask. It was the familiar feeling of touching the face of the wife he loved.


    The man''s grip on his machete loosened as he realized the truth. With a ng and a thud, the machete fell to the ground as the man fell on his knees.


    "FAREL! WHAT IS HAPPENING? MY WIFE! My wife..."


    Mark also handed the other skin mask to the mother and father of the child. As for the remaining four, seeing the two skin masks Mark gave, they picked the skin mask that belonged to their loved ones.


    Initially, they thought the skin mask would be something made of stic or some artificial material. But as they touched the mask that felt like real skin, the families of the victims of the impostors froze. One even almost dropped the skin mask. After all, the sudden feeling of human skin on an item that was supposedly not would make anyone shiver.


    At this point, Mark handed the duty of exnation to Farel.


    Farel then told what had happened.


    Wahyu''s wife could not hide her shock when she learned that the Wahyu that left with Farel and his group was not the real Wahyu. She wanted to deny it. After all, who would want to ept it?


    However, just like the six, Wahyu''s impostor left something. It was the skin mask made with Wahyu''s face. Seeing the skin mask, Wahyu''s wife immediately fainted. She was not in the best of health, both physically and mentally. Wahyu''s wife was unable to handle her husband''s likely death.


    No, if it was just death, Wahyu''s wife might be able to ept it. The real Wahyu was a valiant person. He was the type of person to die to protect others. However, that was not the case. Wahyu was killed and was reced by an impostor.


    Not to mention that Wahyu''s impostor caused the disaster Farel''s group had gone through. The deaths of the members of Fire Fighters were caused by Wahyu''s impostor. That was the thing Wahyu''s wife could not ept the most.


    Furthermore, if Wahyu''s impostor was not found, it might have implicated the Moon Chasers, too, after they saved the survivors of Farel''s group.


    Farel and the others managed to find the impostor because of a certain person. It was Mark.


    Soon, the gathering finished with an awful atmosphere.


    Finding out that some of them might be an impostor would make everyone restless. Fortunately, Mark took the time to announce that, aside from the six he captured, there were no other impostors inside the 41st Settlement. At least, there was no more, for now.


    No one questioned Mark. After all, there was no doubt he could find the impostors. No one knew how he did it. However, the evidence was clear for them to doubt.


    Work began. The members of Fire Fighters began to transport the meat of [Ground Hunters] into their warehouse. With this amount of meat, they would have no worries about food for a week or two. Unfortunately, with how the events were unveiled this afternoon, no one really had the appetite for dinner.


    Mal''s corpse was also transported. They nned to do a funeral tomorrow for Mal and their other dead members. It was unfortunate that except for Mal, the other graves would have no bodies inside them.


    With the things in the 41st Settlement done, the Moon Chasers and Evernight began to prepare to leave.


    Before leaving, Mark told Farel to investigate some things, specifically the simrities between the victims of the impostors. If there were simrities to be found, it would be easier to know when and how they were reced.


    Luna also decided to do some investigations on her side just in case and invited Farel to discuss thingster. They also decided to call their other ally for this discussion.


    As the guests walked out of the 41st Settlement, Farel thanked Mark. It was the right of the victims of the impostors to know the truth, and Mark made it happen.


    Mark did not say anything and just patted Farel''s shoulder before leaving. Farel was several years older than Mark, but it looked like thetter was the older person in this scene.


    ***


    At almost six in the evening, they reached the 38th Settlement.


    It was the base of the Moon Chasers.


    The Moon Chasers returned triumphantly. Their group did not incur any deaths. None were even badly injured. The best of all was that they brought back a lot of things they scavenged, along with some cases of canned beer they unearthed before meeting Mark and his group.


    And after Luna announced they would have more suppliesing in the next few days, everyone rejoiced even more.


    Luna gathered everyone for the announcement. She made sure everyone was present. And all this time, she was ncing at Mark. It was not only her but also the other members of the Moon Chasers who had just returned from their expedition.


    And to everyone''s surprise and relief, Mark raised his thumb and stood to the side without moving.


    What did it mean?


    The 38th Settlement did not have impostors among the settlers.


    It was a good piece of news. Nheless, it was baffling at the same time.


    Mark closed his eyes and mulled over what he had gathered so far.


    The 41st Settlement had six, no, seven including Wahyu''s impostor.


    There were two in Kudus Outpost, one among General Wijaya''s entourage, ten among the people they encountered along the way, and five among the guards of gates they passed by.


    Mark did not tell anyone, but there were a lot of impostors, and more likely scattered across the whole fortress.


    But, strange enough, there was none in the 38th Settlement. Not even one in the Moon Chasers. What was going on? If Mark did not know any better, he would suspect that the Moon Chasers would be the perpetrators behind the impostors.


    Fortunately, that was not the case.


    So, what was going on?


    Mark suddenly opened his eyes. He detected someone familiar.


    Raising his head, Mark looked at a house with a second-story balcony. A child around eight years old stood on the balcony, looking back at Mark.


    Mark shrugged as he looked at the familiar figure.


    It was Thirteenth.


    The 38th Settlement was the right destination, and Luna was, without a doubt, the candidate.


    Night came, and the 38th Settlement was really lively. Despite their difficulties, everyone in this settlement was happy. Luna and the Moon Chasers were clearly doing a good job managing the settlement.


    There was a wee celebration. It was just a simple party, and the food was notvish at all.


    The members of the Moon Chasers who had juste back were not really in the mood for a party. After all, they had just experienced the heartwrenching circumstances in the 41st Settlement. Nheless, they joined. It was not for them but for the sake of the settlers of the 38th Settlement. The Moon Chasers could not let their mood affect their people.


    It took until nearly midnight before everyone went home. The party was fun, but the Moon Chasers also needed to rest after several days of traveling outside.


    However, this was not the case for Luna and her friends.


    Inside the meeting room of the Moon Chasers, Luna, Bajing, and Limab sat on one side of the table. On the other side were Mark and Mei, along with their three children and Amihan, although Abbygale sat down on Mei''sp, already asleep. Amihan was the same, although she was slumped on Mark''s shoulder. Miracle sat on Mark''sp without a sliver of sleepiness while I sat beside Mark.


    "You could just leave your daughters in your room and let them sleep."


    It was Luna''s opening conversation. She was more concerned about the little girls staying upte than the actual topic of this conversation.


    "It''s fine. The girls wanted toe," Mark patted Miracle''s head, causing her to squint happily. "They might wake up in a bad mood tomorrow if we just left them in an unfamiliar ce."


    Seeing how Mark pampered his daughters, Luna and the other two began viewing Mark as a doting father. It was apletely different imagepared to how empowering he was when he was exposing the impostors in the 41st Settlement.


    "Then, should we start with the actual topic?"


    Luna proposed.


    "Isn''t that why we are here?"


    Mark agreed.


    But first...


    "So, when are you showing yourself?"


    Mark suddenly blurted out.


    "Bah, your existence is something, but your personality isn''t exciting at all."


    Thirteenth appeared out of nowhere, looking at Mark with a hint of displeasure.


    "Yeah, yeah. It''s not something new."


    Mark nonchntly replied.


    Luna and her friends watched the banter between Mark and Thirteenth. The three looked at each other with bitter but relieved smiles. Although Mark said Thirteenth''s name before, they could not be sure until the truth was revealed. As they saw how Mark and Thirteenth interacted, they became sure the two knew each other closely.


    At the side, Limab''s eyes had a mysterious sparkle as she looked at Mark.


    Limab knew Mark''s group was here to help them. That was what her visions showed her. She was unsure what help it was as not everything could be seen clearly through her [irvoyance], but she saw Mark''s figure standing in front of them, protecting them, in one of her visions. That was why she was happy to see them back in Indramayu.


    In that vision she saw, Limab saw herself barely conscious, looking at Mark''s back. Luna was conscious, but her body was bleeding in various ces. Bajing was also there, but she had already fainted beside her.


    Unfortunately, irvoyant visions were often fragmented. Limab saw that scene, but she never knew how everything ended up like that. She also did not know whether it woulde true or not.


    However, what made Limab scared was a different vision of the same scenario with different circumstances. In the alternate vision, Limab was barely conscious, looking at Luna''s back as she fell with something piercing through her heart. In this vision, Bajing was not only unconscious. It was because Bajing''s head was not attached to her body anymore. Also, Limab was barely conscious within this alternate vision for a different reason. It was because her arms and legs were cut off, and she was bleeding to death.


    The worst thing was that the bad vision was the original one. It was the nightmare Limab repeatedly visited since the apocalypse began. The vision only began to change for the better recently.


    Two visions. One was survival, while the other was clear death. And the only difference was Mark''s existence.


    In Limab''s eyes, Mark was here to help them.


    Mark was here to save them.

 Chapter 1083 Lunas Story, The Start of the Apocalypse in Indonesia

    Chapter 1083 Luna''s Story, The Start of the Apocalypse in Indonesia


    Day 359 - 11:47 PM - Meeting Room, 38th Settlement, Muria Sacred Fortress, Mount Muria, Kudus Regency, Central Java, Indonesia


    THUMP! THUMP!


    The yful banter between Mark and Thirteenth ended when two knocks on the door echoed. It was not like the two did not expect other people toe, but it was just that the mood to argue had already vanished.


    Bajing went to the door and let the people outside enter. Two women entered, curiously looking at Mark''s group, especially the sleeping Amihan slumped on his shoulder.


    It was not surprising. No matter who it was, people would be curious about magical beings. This curiosity was even stronger toward fairy-like beings due to stories circting among humans, specifically legends and fairytales.


    Seeing that Thirteenth did not react at the entry of the two women, Mark understood they were among the few who knew of Luna''s circumstances.


    Instead, the two women were the ones surprised to see Mark interacting with Thirteenth.


    "Let me introduce these two," Luna spoke as the two strangers stood beside her. "These are Nelia and Livia."


    Ne was a rather tall woman with tinum-colored,vender-tinted hair. Like Luna, her hair color was the result of her mutation. Her body proportions made her look like a professional model. She seemed to be a serious-looking person, but Mark could tell she was just keeping a facade. Ne had the heart of a soft persimmon. Nheless, she had to show a strong front to protect her friends.


    "I''m Nelia. Please address me as such," Nelia introduced herself. "I heard about the circumstances from Luna and our members who set out with her. We owe you our gratitude for bringing them home safely."


    Right, Nelia sure was a serious person. Mark was mistaken as this was not a simple facade. She really did take the safety of everyone seriously.


    On the other hand, Livia was theplete opposite of Nelia. She could not look at the guests straight at all, with her hands fidgeting in nervousness. Livia was a shy girl with no facade, and her slightly below-average height made her look like a small animal needing protection. Her hair had a reddish tint, making her hair look a little simr to Mark''s.


    "L-Livia. Nice to meet everywan-"


    Livia bit her tongue due to overwhelming nervousness. She could not help but redden as she squatted down and hid herself from the eyes of guests using the table.


    "Hah..." Luna sighed. "Sorry about that. Livia is, as you see, extremely shy."


    Mark and Mei did not mind Livia''s behavior. Rather, Mark was looking at her through the table for a different reason.


    "That''s not all to her, is it?"


    Mark asked, surprising the members of the other four women with Livia.


    And as if Livia perceived that as the cue, she suddenly stood up.


    However, she looked different. Her hair had theplete opposite color. It became crimson-colored with ck tints. Furthermore, her nervous expression was now gone, reced with a rather chaotically lively one.


    "WOO! You realized? I''m ELLIE! Nice to meet''cha~!"


    That was right. Livia did not introduce herself as Livia but as Ellie.


    Ellie was about to begin babbling when Nelia grabbed her and covered her mouth closed. Ellie tried to struggle free, but Nelia''s grasp was not something she could free herself from.


    "UGH! HELP!" Ellie managed to slip her mouth free. "THIS PEACOCK IS STRANGLING ME~!"


    "PEAHEN! I''M A PEAHEN!"


    "BUT PEAHENS ARE BROWN! YOU''RE TOO GAUDY-LOOKING!"


    "SHUT UP!"


    Nelia argued as she pulled Ellie away to the back.


    "Sorry about that." Luna held her head, troubled about the scene Livia, no, Ellie created. "As you can see, Livia has a split personality. When Livia''s emotions be too much for her to handle, the annoying Ellie pops out to rece her."


    "Who''s annoyi-!"


    "Shut up."


    Ellie and Nelia were still fighting in the back.


    "Did she turn that way after getting bitten?"


    Mark asked, surprising the women even more.


    "How did you know?"


    Luna asked.


    "Just like how I can find the impostors, I have my methods."


    Mark answered.


    "I see," Luna understood that Mark did not want to show his cards too early. "All of us here and Edge were attending a Christmas Anime Expo when the apocalypse began. All of us, except Limab and Edge, got bitten. Surprisingly, all of us four did not turn into one of them but ended up bing mutants."


    "Simply mutants, huh. Where we came from, we call people with the same circumstances as [Mutators]."


    Mark said after realizing that the people in this country simply called [Mutators] as mutants.


    "[Mutators?]" Limab reacted. "That has a better ring on it. It sounds cooler, and calling them mutants just gives the impression of having four arms and more than necessary body parts."


    Limab''s opinion made the other four nod in agreement. Getting called mutants by people gave a negative vibe to the ears of those who heard it.


    "Why don''t you share your story with them?"


    Thirteenth suddenly suggested to Luna.


    "But..."


    Luna was hesitant.


    "It''s better if you do," Thirteenth insisted as she pointed at Mark. "It''s this man''s idea toe here and help you. It would be easier if he knew the details."


    "I see."


    Luna was thinking.


    Behind Luna, Nelia talked to Bajing while keeping Ellie in her grasp.


    "Is he like Luna? That candidate thing?"


    Nelia asked Bajing.


    "Seems like it," Bajing nodded. "Thirteenth don''t really pay attention to us, unlike Luna. But Sir Mark seems to be getting a better treatment from her. There''s nothing to doubt about this."


    Nelia observed Mark. It was the first meeting for the two. Putting her trust in him immediately was unlikely. Nelia''s gratitude was different from putting her guard down.


    In front of the table, Luna epted Thirteenth''s suggestion.


    Mark also paid attention. He was curious about the details of another candidate chosen by Thirteenth.


    ***


    As Luna had said before, the apocalypse began during a local Christmas Anime Expo. It was a small convention held in Semarang for the first time.


    Apparently, the leading people of the Moon Chasers were all Otakus and Weebs from the same Indonesian Online group that always gathered together during Anime conventions.


    There was the same gathering during the Expo. But it quickly turned into a nightmare before the mall could even open.


    It was quite amon sight to see attendees of an Anima Conventioning hours before the event. It was the same that time with Luna and many members of their group gathering and waiting outside the mall several hours before it opened.


    At the time, they already felt weird. The atmosphere was odd that morning, and many of their usual members werete, which was unusual. The constant sounds of firefighters and ambnces made the feeling even worse.


    Then, the first wave of [Infected] came. The worst thing was the mall being closed and their group waiting in the open.


    There was no ce to immediately hide.


    As the wave of panicking people arrived, the whole group got dragged into the wave. At first, they were confused. It took them the death of a person in front of them to realize it was not a prank.


    The panic made the situation worse. People pushed each other, blocked each other, and worse, some resorted to violence to get rid of those blocking their way.


    With the chaos unfolding, the [Infected] reached them with barely any resistance.


    It was near Christmas when everything started. The number of people in the central areas of Semarang was higher than usual. It also caused the number of [Infected] to drastically increase in the first few minutes.


    Luna''s group got separated from the chaos. A lot of them barely managed to stick together.


    And within that chaos, Luna''s leadership shined. Shemanded those who managed to stick together to safety, not losing her calm in the dangerous situation. She even managed to save Livia, who was about to be a victim of a stampede after she tripped.


    However, getting everyone to safety did not mean everyone was safe exactly.


    During the chaos, many members of them got injured. Some got bitten.


    Luna, who protected Livia, got bitten on her arm while Livia was bitten on her foot. While running, Bajing fought the iing [Infected] with her kicks. However, one managed to catch her foot and bit her on the thigh. The worst one at that time was Nelia, who got bitten just under her right shoulder.


    Many of their members got bitten and turned into monsters in a few seconds.


    Otakus and Weebs should already be wary of bites. It was the main way of transmission in many forms of media. Unfortunately, even with the fact that some people turned into [Infected] before their eyes, some of their members hid their bites and pretended nothing would happen.


    After all, they did not turn in a few seconds like the others.


    The worst happened after they finally got into a safe ce to hide.


    Two people who hid their bites turned and immediately attacked the others.


    It became a wake-up call. Those who were bitten would turn even if those people did not be [Infected] immediately.


    At that moment, Luna, Bajing, Nelia, and Livia were chased out of the ce Luna found first. Because they were bitten, everyone looked at them like monsters.


    The only different ones were Limab and Edge, who apanied the four out, away from the ungrateful bastards. Luna understood Edge. He had been courting Luna for some time, after all. What made Luna and the others confused was Limab. They were bitten. It would not be a surprise for Limab to prioritize her safety.


    Luna asked Limab why she also went out at that time. Luna clearly remembered her answer.


    "Because you four will not die here. Trust me."


    It was a mysterious answer. But the reason for that came clear the night after.


    After finding another safe ce to hide, the four bitten women decided to iste themselves from the other two. Limab did not mind at that time, although Edge initially rejected it. However, it was not just for the safety of the two but also for the peace of mind of the four.


    The next day came. The four went through a painful night. The thoughts of killing themselves before turning into a monster even entered their minds. Fortunately, the pain they were feeling at that time disabled them from doing anything harmful to themselves. They only wallowed in despair as they thought they would be one of the monsters.


    Yet, the four did not turn. The four gained inhuman abilities instead. Their appearances even changed a little.


    Limab''s words were right. They did not die.


    After Luna and the others recovered the strength they spent enduring the painful night, they set off to find rescue and supplies to survive.


    The streets were filled with the [Infected]. Even a day after everything copsed, people could still be seen fleeing the ce, only to be devoured by the [Infected].


    It was the same for their group. The moment the [Infected] caught sight of them, they would attack. However, the powered-up girls gave the [Infected] a good fight.


    While searching for supplies, they identally passed by the ce whereLuna and the others were chased away like monsters by people they treated as friends.


    The ce was filled with nothing but [Infected]. Those [Infected] were the same people who chased them away the day before.


    Karma was a b*tch, as they said.


    Fighting the [Infected] within the city was hard. The poption was high, after all. They had to flee the city and carefully managed to do it while gathering food and water for the dangerous journey.


    The group decided to find their way home. They wanted to see their families.


    Fortunately, although Semarang was arge city, it was not too far from the countryside. The home of Luna''s married brother should be nearby. That was their first location to go.


    Unfortunately, after a few days of arduous fights for survival, Luna and the group arrived there to find the corpses of her brother and his family members.


    It was not done by the [Infected]. It was humans.

 Chapter 1084 Lunas Rage, The First Settlement In Mount Muria

    Chapter 1084 Luna''s Rage, The First Settlement In Mount Muria


    Day 359 - 12:34 AM - Meeting Room, 38th Settlement, Muria Sacred Fortress, Mount Muria, Kudus Regency, Central Java, Indonesia


    Mark, Mei, and I continued to listen to Luna''s story. At this point, even without being an [Empath] like Mark, they could feel the sadness in her voice.


    At that time, Luna''s group safely reached the countryside town where Luna''s brother married and lived with his family. The number of [Infected] was considerably lower, too, making them feel a higher chance of survival for her brother and his family.


    But when they reached the house of Luna''s brother, all they found were corpses. Luna''s brother and wife were dead, and even her brother-inw, the wife''s older brother, was killed with them.


    It was not the work of the [Infected]. Everyone was pretty sure the undead could not fire a gun.


    Luna was devastated at that time.


    It was one thing to be killed by the [Infected]. Being killed by a human was another.


    After fighting for several days, Luna''s group learned many things about the [Infected].


    Dying to an [Infected] was akin to dying to a natural disaster. It was sorrowful but easier to ept. No one could stop the anger of nature.


    However, a death caused by another human, specifically due to evil intentions, was not easy to ept.


    "Luna''s tears uncontrobly fell at that time."


    Ellie chimed in before getting silenced by Nelia once more.


    At that time, Luna''s fear indeed fell. It was not because of sorrow but the uncontroble anger roaring within her.


    The rest of the girls described their opinions on this part of the story.


    It seemed that Luna''s anger was transmitted to everyone. Her hair even flowed as if there was a strong wind, even indoors.


    Luna was losing control of herself due to the deaths of her brother and his family.


    It wasn''t until Limab put her back in control. It was by finally revealing her ability to them.


    That time was the first time they saw Limab''s ability as a [irvoyant] in action.


    Using Limab''s [irvoyance], she tried to view fragments of the past through her vision.


    What shocked Luna was Limab''s description of the killer.


    Luna''s anger rose once more, but it also had the hints of askance to control it.


    The killer was a person Luna knew.


    Furthermore, after killing her brother, his wife, and the brother-inw, the killer kidnapped Luna''s niece.


    Why?


    Luna could not help but ask the wind.


    In a timely manner, someone appeared outside the house.


    "Luna? Is that you?"


    The person outside asked Luna as he saw her go out of the house.


    When Luna saw the person, her anger boiled.


    It was the killer. The thick-faced killer was pretending to talk to Luna as if he knew nothing.


    The killer was actually her brother''s best friend. It was the very same person who brought her brother and sister-inw together.


    Why did you kill them?


    That was what came out of Luna''s mouth at that time.


    However, the killer tried to pretend not to know what Luna was talking about. He even asked her to stop joking around since he had just arrived to check on Luna''s brother.


    But as Luna''s re intensified after each lie, the killer realized he was busted.


    With an insane demeanor, the killerughed as he revealed his reasons. Luna''s brother and his wife were not brought together by this guy. The killer introduced the woman to Luna''s brother as someone he was courting. But after a few days after introducing the two, the woman dumped him, saying she felt love at first sight on Luna''s brother. She did not beat around the bush as she did not want to hurt his feelings further. In the first ce, they were not in a rtionship yet. She was just being considerate in her own way.


    That was the cause of it all. The man had to bear the feelings of anger, jealousy, and betrayal of that event. But he persevered. He wanted to forget. However, he was unable to. Despite the smiles he had around Luna''s brother, his heart was boiling in anger.


    The only thing stopping the man from stepping over the line was being afraid of thew.


    However, the apocalypse brought something else rather than just the [Infected]. It was chaos unbound byw.


    Without any reason to be afraid, the man picked up a pistol and made his way to kill Luna''s brother. Once the woman became a widow, he would take care of her and her daughter.


    But the killer did not expect the woman to jump between him and Luna''s brother, taking the first shot of his gun through her chest.


    It drove his insanity further as the killer unloaded ten bullets on the body of Luna''s brother, even after killing everyone in the house except the daughter.


    When Luna asked where the killer brought her niece, the manughed as he said he gave the noisy kid to the gang members now ruling the area. The bastard even smiled as he began narrating the likely fate the girl had in the hands of the gang members.


    Luna snapped at that time.


    At this point, Luna stopped her story, letting her friends continue since Luna barely had any recollection of this part.


    It was the first time Luna lost control. The purple hair Luna gained after bing a [Mutator] started turning silver.


    The killer felt the danger Luna was exuding. The killer knew that Luna was a cosyer, giving reason to her purple hair. But as her hair began changing color on its own, he could only take out his gun to shoot her.


    But the killer was unable to do so. It was because a sh of light passed by his wrist holding the gun, and it started falling to the ground.


    The pain of getting his wrist cut off made the man roll on the ground while wailing in pain.


    But Luna, being out of control, waved her hand. shes of light passed by the killer''s body. His limbs began falling off one after another.


    The killer wailed further, but he could not roll around anymore. However, he was not dying due to blood loss. The wounds caused by the shes of light were immediately cauterized. There was no bleeding at all.


    Everyone felt a little afraid of the Luna at that time. She had been calmly leading the group all this time, and Luna never lost her calm, even in dangerous situations.


    It was really the first time Luna lost control. It was also the first time she showed that unknown power.


    At first, everyone thought Luna would question the killer where the gang members were. However, she did not, as she kicked his body, which turned into a limbless stump, into the group of [Infected] attracted by themotion.


    The killer became the horde''s meal in no time.


    Luna then left the area alone, forcing the rest of the group to follow her. They did not know where she was going, but she was not saying anything at all as they tried to talk to her.


    At the end of it, Luna arrived at the local elementary school. Armed people roamed the ce, with wails of help and an aura of despair looming around it.


    Even without knowing what the ce was, the rest of the group knew it was the ce where the gang members the killer mentioned resided.


    The rest of the group felt afraid. There were only six of them, and the gang members were all equipped with guns.


    But Luna did not stop. She walked to the gate, causing the guards to look at her with eyes filled with lust. Luna was a beautiful woman, and Luna''s silver hair at that time gave her appearance a boost of allure.


    The guards let their defenses down. Their head fell off without resistance.


    Luna then walked into the schoolpound, eliminating all ill intent in the surroundings.


    Against the overwhelming power, the armed gang members could not resist. Even the fleeing and surrendering gang members were not spared. That was how merciless the silver-haired Luna was.


    Luna only snapped back after finding her niece. However, it was alreadyte. With a battered body and sexual injuries that would make one question how the girl was still alive, Luna''s niecey in the corner of a room devoid of consciousness, as if she were a doll thrown away.


    With tears in her eyes, Luna picked up the unconscious girl. She decided to take care of her and bring her back to health. She would not let the six-year-old girl die. If the girl woke up with mental trauma, Luna promised she would not leave the girl alone and protect her.


    After reuniting with the rest of the group and learning of the situation, they left the school to be infested by the [Infected]. The members of the gang deserved not to leave any parts of their bodies intact after death.


    At the same time, the group escorted the poor victims and hostages out of the school. Luna''s niece was just one of the victims. There were fifty more women and children caught up in this mess. There were even more, but those who were not around were the ones who did not make it due to the abuse of the members of the gang.


    Unfortunately, these women and children had nowhere to go. Their families were killed by the gang, and the entire ce would soon be swarmed by the [Infected].


    It was the time the group beganying its foundations after taking in the victims.


    Luna''s group decided to build a base to house the victims. It was also for Luna to have a ce to let her niece recuperate. They could not just carry the girl in aa while searching for their families.


    It was when they decided to base in the safest ce they could see.


    The ce where they decided to build a base was Mount Muria. It was nearby, and the mountain should already have a settlement ready to secure at the top.


    Climbing the mountain was not easy. It seemed other survivors had the same idea as Luna''s group but brought the [Infected] along with them. As they reached the vige settlement atop the mountain, there was nothing but [Infected] and a few mutated animals feasting on the corpse. After clearing the ce, the settlement, along with the supplies the survivors that came before them brought, became theirs.


    After a week of securing the ce, Luna''s group decided to separate.


    Luna had to stay behind to protect the people they brought here and take care of her niece. On the other hand, the other five decided to search for their families.


    Two months passed. It was how long it took the other five to return. Unfortunately, while everyone found their families, most of them were already dead. Bajing''s and Edge''s families were all gone. Nelia only had a sister left, and Livia only had her younger brother. As for Limab, they did not search for her family. With her [irvoyance], she knew her family was alive. They did not have to search for them.


    With the original members returning and the people they brought back, the settlement became stronger and more self-sufficient.


    Several months passed, and the settlement was doing better than before. Unfortunately, even though Limab and the others brought back a doctor and medical supplies, Luna''s niece never woke up.


    Still, the ce was safe and peaceful, with powerful people protecting it.


    It was a good ce until the military and the remains of the government arrived.


    The military began exerting force. They began turning the members of the settlement against Luna and the others.


    Fortunately for them, the military and the government were also afraid of Luna''s group for some unknown reason. They did not resort to direct violence.


    Nheless, Luna and the others were not going down without a fight. It was a ce they created.


    Unfortunately, Luna had her own needs. No, her niece''s needs.


    Offered with the most high-tech medical facility for her niece, Luna finally wavered. And the others supported her in this decision, as they finally handed the settlement at the top of the mountain to the military.

 Chapter 1085 The Meddlesome [Eye], A Conversation to Find the Crux of the Issue

    Chapter 1085 The Meddlesome [Eye], A Conversation to Find the Crux of the Issue


    Day 359 - 12:49 AM - Meeting Room, 38th Settlement, Muria Sacred Fortress, Mount Muria, Kudus Regency, Central Java, Indonesia


    The part of the story about Luna''s niece made Mei ufortable. Luna''s friends had simr reactions, but the source of Mei''s difort was her own unpleasant experience.


    On the other hand, Mark could not help but nce at I. It was not wrong to say that I and Luna''s niece had the same experiences. They were both caught by a gang and were treated as toys for amusement to the point of dying.


    Butparing the experiences of the two girls, it was hard to say who had it worse. I was literally dying when Mark took her. On the other hand, while Luna''s niece lived, the little girl had yet to wake up after several months ofa.


    Sensing Mark''s nce, I turned to her father while rubbing her sleepy eyes. As Mark saw how I was fighting her sleepiness, Mark adjusted his arm, wrapped it around I''s shoulder, and let herfortably lean to his side.


    Soon, I could not fight her sleepiness any longer and fell asleep.


    That act between Mark and I made the atmosphere in the room a little warmer, especially for the leaders of the Moon Chasers. The five women had already realized the truth. The three little girls around Mark and Mei were not their blood-rted children.


    Limab knew Mei even before the apocalypse began. Of course, she knew how old the princess of Xiao Industries was. At the moment, Mei should be neen years old. There was no way for Mei to have an eleven or twelve-year-old daughter like I unless she gave birth at nine. Even having the youngest, Miracle, who looked like five years old, would be unlikely.


    It meant Mark and Mei adopted these three little girls, and all of it happened after the apocalypse began. Yet, they treat each other as a genuine family, probably even better than most blood-rted families.


    Mark turned back to Luna as she finished the summary of how the Moon Chasers ended up in this Sattelite Settlement despite being the first settlers in Mount Muria.


    It seemed that Luna and her group were pushed to this state due to a series of unfavorable circumstances.


    "You gave up on searching for your family?"


    Mark asked as he analyzed a few parts of her story.


    "It''s not that I want to give up on them," Luna bitterly replied. "When my friends left, they also searched for me. I want to go searching, too, but my niece''s state isn''t something I can just leave to anyone."


    Luna did not mention it, but a part of her reason was the betrayal of her brother''s best friend, causing her to not put much trust in people she barely knew. And this behavior of hers got even worse after their settlers got bought by the government and turned against them.


    If not for the fact that Limab vouched for Mark and his group through her [irvoyant] visions, they would also be subjected to arge amount of distrust from Luna, although she would not show it openly.


    Luna''s distrust was also one of the reasons why the 38th Settlement had very few allies.


    "We reached their house, but we found no one," Limab spoke their side of the story. "It seemed that they managed to evacuate at the start. But after the remaining military forces and refugee camps joined, we''re not able to find any clues about them. As far as we know, all remaining military forces are now here. But we never found any member of Luna''s family."


    Military camps and outposts could fall at any time. It could be caused by attacks from the [Infected] and [Evolved Animals]. Maybe even attacks from fellow humans. Even if Luna''s family managed to evacuate during the initial outbreak, it would not be surprising if the evacuation camp they went to ended up falling.


    Luna had a bitter expression as Limab exined their findings. Nheless, she had already gotten over this fact. She had to in order to move forward.


    At this time, Luna stared straight at Mark.


    "Say," Luna spoke with a hesitant voice. "Do you still have some of those potion-like liquids you used on Farel''s group? I''ll exchange items for it. If we don''t have what you want, I''ll try to find those items."


    Mark stared back at Luna, especially her purplish eyes. She was offering an exchange, but she had no intention of using the points she received by selling the [Fog Crawler''s] head. It would not be fine for her to use the points Mark technically gave to them to exchange for his item. Luna intended to get the payment straight from her pocket despite the fact that she was struggling herself.


    And seeing Luna''s sincere request, Mark smirked as he nced at Mei.


    "Take out the small set."


    Mark told Mei, and she nodded.


    The five women were confused at first, but their eyes then widened in utter surprise. It was because Mei stretched her right hand forward, and a hole in space opened out of nowhere. She then took out a six-slot test tube rack with six test tubes in it. Each test tube contained that familiar reddish liquid that healed Farel''s group.


    But at this time, the [Regeneration Medicine] was not the focus of their shock.


    "Wha-How?"


    Luna almost yelled loudly, but she managed to force herself not to disturb the sleep of Mark''s daughters and the [Sylph] on his shoulder.


    On the other hand, Ellie was literally screaming in the background. Fortunately, Nelia was covering Ellie''s mouth tightly despite being shocked herself.


    "You girls are weebs," Mark shrugged. "You girls know of spatial storage, right?"


    The five women understood what Mark was saying. However, they could not recover easily. After all, it was definitely magic.


    "Anyway, take this," Mark nced at the test tube rack. "Six vials of [Regeneration Medicine]. You don''t have to pay. Use these in times of emergency. And don''t use it on your niece."


    Mark''s words snapped everyone out of shock. They all turned to face him. Not asking for payment was one thing, but he told Luna to not use the healing item on her niece.


    "Why?"


    Luna could not help but ask. Did this medicine have bad side effects?


    "This medicine only helps with wounds and injuries," Mark answered. "Do I have to tell you more?"


    Luna fell silent. She and her friends immediately realized the answer.


    It was already nearly a year. Luna''s niece had already been healed of all her physical injuries. Furthermore, it was already confirmed that her niece developed a regenerative ability, healing her injuries even faster than regr people.


    But despite her body returning back to health, Luna''s niece was not waking up from hera.


    It was clear that the issue was not just physical anymore. Making Luna''s niece drink a vial would only be a waste of time and precious medicine.


    Luna fell silent.


    Seeing Luna''s defeated expression, Mark asked.


    "When are you visiting your niece? I''ll apany you. I won''t be able to do much about physical injuries. But if the problem is mental and emotional, I might be able to do something."


    "What do you mean?"


    Luna asked.


    But before Mark could answer, Thirteenth, who was silent all this time, spoke.


    "This guy is an [Empath]. He''s currently the strongest [Empath] alive. He can a hundred percent wake your niece up."


    Mark turned to Thirteenth with a frown. He was unsure that he would be of help at all, so it was a good thing Thirteenth confirmed this face. However, it was rude to just go and reveal his information to others without consent.


    Nheless, hearing Thirteenth''s confirmation made Luna and her friends excited. After all, Luna''s struggles would finally be fruitful.


    However, after giving Luna some hope, Thirteenth poured dirty water to calm them down.


    "Don''t get too excited. I''ve been waiting for you to realize this, but what will you do after your niece wakes up? You know? After all that happened to her."


    Luna''s excitement vanished. Thirteenth was right. After the things that happened to her niece, how would the little girl live with all that mental trauma?


    "Let''s wake your niece up first," Mark suggested, making Luna lift her head up to him. "We don''t know the effects of trauma on her unless she wakes up. You can just adjust things after that. Furthermore, she''s just six, right? There''s still a chance for her to outgrow and forget the unpleasant memories. But that will be up to you and the people around her."


    Thirteenth smiled upon hearing Mark''s words. If there was one weakness Luna had, it was her indecisiveness when it came to the circumstances around her niece. That was why she gave Luna something to heavily ponder, knowing Mark might have something to say that would make Luna have only one choice.


    Mark suspiciously nced at Thirteenth.


    "You''re expecting me to say all this stuff, didn''t you?" Mark questioned the [Eye]. "And why are you suddenly sharing my information?"


    "If I didn''t, you''ll just beat around the bush, making this talk even longer, right?"


    Thirteenth argued, but Mark was unable to refute this one.


    "See? You can''t say anything back."


    Seeing that Mark could not refute her words, Thirteenth gloated.


    "An [Eye] directly meddling between a conversation of mortals," Mark spoke. "It should be reported."


    "WHA-Hey!"


    Thirteenth did not expect Mark to say those words.


    But then, another voice entered everyone''s ears.


    "There is no need to report."


    Out of nowhere, a door of light appeared in the room, with a woman stepping out of it.


    "GEH!"


    Thirteenth behaved like she was a mouse caught in a trap.


    But before Thirteenth could make an attempt to escape, the woman already grabbed her cor and began dragging her into the door.


    Thirteenth was screaming something. However, her voice was noting out.


    "My apologies for the disturbance."


    The woman said before the door of light vanished.


    "Wh-who?"


    Luna and her friends were bbergasted by the sudden intruder who dragged Thirteenth away and vanished.


    "Neenth. She''s Thirteenth''s superior of sorts. Except for some specific circumstances, the [Eyes] should not meddle with the mortals directly. Thirteenth clearly vited that rule earlier. She''s likely to get some punishment."


    Luna and her friends hadplicated expressions. They did not know that a godly being like Thirteenth could be punished by someone. No wonder Thirteenth never spoke about dangers directly but just gave them signs.


    "Besides, I realized one of the problems why your group is struggling now."


    Mark said with a sigh.


    "What problem?"


    Luna could not help but ask.


    "Thirteenth is babysitting you too much," Mark shrugged. "You kept relying on Thirteenth, right? Your growth is being slowed down by your reliance on her. If not, you might have been far stronger now."


    "But... Thirteenth saved us several times with her help. If not, many of us would have died already. Is that bad?"


    Luna tried to defend Thirteenth.


    "I''m not saying that it''s a bad thing. However, those situations Thirteenth helped you with might have been a trigger or stimnt for your growth." Mark exined. "In your story earlier, you lost control and showed some strange power when saving your niece. Have you been able to control that power? You never mentioned it in the rest of your story."


    Luna fell silent. So were her friends. That was right. After saving her niece, they never saw Luna wield that power. Not even once until now.


    It caused Luna to feel down once again. This night had been quite a roller coaster for her emotions.


    "There''s no need to feel down," Mark continued. "In any case, we are here to help you since Thirteenth said you have been facing a lot of dangertely. So, tell me everything I need to know so I will know what we need to do to help."


    Mark''s words made Luna and her friends cooperate. They answered Mark''s questions and even gave the concrete information they had.


    And after hearing the whole story, Mark could not help but frown.


    By the looks of it, increasing the strength of the Moon Chasers was not the most important thing they needed to do.


    Instead, they needed to know why Luna and the Moon Chasers were being targeted.

 Chapter 1086 Marks Thoughts, Early Morning in the 38th Settlement

    Chapter 1086 Mark''s Thoughts, Early Morning in the 38th Settlement


    Day 360 - 7:31 AM - 38th Settlement, Muria Sacred Fortress, Mount Muria, Kudus Regency, Central Java, Indonesia


    It was already past two in the evening when the group decided to continue the talk at ater time. Carrying the sleeping girls, Mark and Mei went to their temporary rooms to rest for the night.


    The rooms were literally temporary. Instead of the houses around the settlement, Mark''s group had to stay inside a barely finished underground bunker the Moon Chasers were painstakingly building. The outeryout of the bunker was all done and could be used to house the entire settlement in case of emergency. However, its facilities inside still needed to be worked on. Some of the rooms in the inner areas were barely cemented due to ack of construction materials.


    Thisck of construction materials was the main reason why the Moon Chasers were out when they met Mark''s group. They were to find construction supplies or anything they could use to exchange with the military for said items. It was also what Luna mostly chose to exchange when they sold the head of the [Fog Crawler].


    Since the 38th Settlement had already faced many attacks, they decided to make preparations on their own in case the worst happened.


    After entering the bunker, Mark saw Feng Zhiruo peeking from inside the room the rest of the group was designated. When she saw it was Mark and Mei, she gave Mark a slight nod before closing the door. It was good that Feng Zhiruo was being careful, especially in this unfamiliar environment. Unfortunately, the rest of the group was not. Emika, Hannah, and Annica were already deep asleep in the same room Feng Zhiruo was in. It looked like the toll of walking continuously for several days had finally caught up to them.


    Within the other room, Mark and Meiid I and Abbygale on their beds, and Miracle joined her sisters, shutting down her body functions and entering a state of pseudo-sleep. Mark then put Amihan on a pillow of her own near his daughters.


    Mark and Mei smiled at each other as they watched the sleeping girls. They then slept together on their bed, with Mark turning into Mei''s anti-nightmare body pillow.


    Soon, Mei also fell asleep. On the other hand, Mark just stared at the ceiling through the darkness of the bunker.


    Mark kept mulling over the things they talked about earlier. He was trying to pick up the information he gathered piece by piece.


    First in Mark''s thoughts were the main problems of this settlement.


    ording to Luna and her friends, the frequency of attacks the 38th Settlement faced was much higher than most Satellite Settlements around Mount Muria. Furthermore, most of the time, the Moon Chasers were bound to attacks and some strange encounters when they went out to scavenge.


    Getting attacked while outside was not really strange. However, getting attacked by groups of assorted kinds of creatures or even finding creatures not usually found in the area were clearly strange things to happen too frequently.


    Those strange encounters would clearly lead to the conclusion that someone was targeting them. However, as far as Luna''s group was concerned, they did not know anyone or, at least, heard about anyone being able to control wild beasts around the fortress. In fact, Mark''s group was the first people they saw being able to tame monstrous beasts.


    Someone hiding their abilities to control animals was also possible. However, this possibility was even harder to confirm.


    Then, Mark thought of what happened to Farel and his group. An impostor of their group lured the [Ground Hunters] using eggshells to attempt to destroy their group. But Mark immediately scrapped the idea. He already confirmed that the 38th Settlement and the Moon Chasers were a hundred percent free of impostors.


    And that fact was strange itself.


    Then, howe there was not a single impostor in the 38th Settlement? Mark detected quite a number of those impostors here and there. It was very likely that those creatures already infiltrated all settlements around Mount Muria. And, for sure, even the higher military and government positions had impostors in their ranks.


    Mark tried to mull over it but soon gave up. There was not enough information for him to analyze.


    Another thing was Luna''s strange power. It only activated once, so there was barely any information about it. The only clue Mark had was the fact that Luna was consumed by anger when she released that unknown power.


    Was it a power triggered by extreme emotions? Was it possible for Mark to use his [Empath] abilities to force its activation?


    Mark began listing things he could try inside his mind. It was because Luna''s current strength was one of the problems.


    Luna was a strong [Mutator]. Apparently, her [Mutator] ability was to absorb certain light frequencies and use the energy from the light she absorbed to strengthen her body temporarily. And by the looks of it, the light frequency she could absorb the most was the light from the moon. It would give her the strongest boosts of strength during the night, especially during nights of the full moon. Unfortunately, this also meant she was the weakest during the nights of the new moon.


    Compared to most [Mutators], Luna was really strong. Her [Mutator] ability would allow her to gain super strength, but it was not all. It also allowed her to continuously fight without needing food, water, and rest, as long as there was adequate moonlight.


    However, Luna was strong, only as a [Mutator].


    As a Candidate, Luna was extremely weak. She could not bepared to both Mark and Hikari, the Priestess, at all. If Luna had to undergo the same challenges that Mark and Hikari had gone through, Luna would surely die at her current level of strength.


    Mark nned to improve Luna''s strength and powers. No, not only Luna. Luna''s friends also had to be stronger.


    And since Mark''s goal here was to help Luna, he would not hold back on this one.


    Next was the issue with Luna''s niece.


    Due to Thirteenth''s meddling, they now knew that Mark could wake the poor little girl. However, dealing with the girl''s trauma after she woke up could be a huge problem. Mark began thinking he could use his powers to help the little girl even a little, but he was not really keen on the possibility of suddenly picking up another daughter.


    It already happened thrice. The possibility of it happening again was not low at all.


    Should Mark suppress the little girl''s emotions when the possibility bes apparent? He had been doing the same for women who began developing romantic feelings for him. However, it might have a negative effect on the mentality of the poor girl, who was already overwhelmed by her trauma to the point of not wanting to wake up from hera.


    While thinking about Luna''s niece, Mark frowned a little. The problem with the little girl was moreplicated for him than he thought.


    In the end, Mark chose not to do something that could possibly make the girl''s situation worse. He could wake her up and immediately withdraw from any other interactions.


    Mark gave a silent sigh. He knew he was overthinking things. Unfortunately, he could not help but do so.


    Leaving his previous thoughts for now, he decided to focus on something he could do without much consequences on his part.


    It was to strengthen the overall power of the Moon Chasers and the 38th Settlement.


    Mark already had some preparations on this one since he came here to help the other candidate. Although the items were limited, the things Mark prepared would, at least, give Luna and her friends a significant boost to their [Mutator] abilities.


    There was also the brave guy who was not a [Mutator]. The only male leading figure of the Moon Chasers. The man who called himself Edge.


    Aside from helping them with their [Mutator] abilities, Mark could also provide them with his weapons. Although hot weapons would be a no-go, Mark could at least give out cold weapons with minimal [Abyss Tech] functions. In that case, he should request a workshop and some smithing equipment.


    Although it would be easier for Mark to just make Spera open a portal home and use his workshop there, he was not keen on doing it unless there was no other choice. Just like why he decided against relying on the [Mini Cube] and just flew through the journey, Mark did not want to rely on Spera''s portals just for convenience. Sure, it would be easier. However, there was also no thrill in doing it.


    Besides, giving out weapons to Luna and the others too easily would undermine the value of the deed. He wanted to show Luna and her friends the possibly arduous process of getting precious weapons. Mark would not want his creations to be devalued, too.


    If the Elder cksmith knew that Mark had these thoughts, he would smile and say that Mark had already woken up his heart of a cksmith.


    While mulling over things, Mark realized that the sun was already rising on the horizon. Since the 38th Settlement was on the southeast side of Mount Muria, its mornings came earlier than the areas west of the mountain. Of course, it also meant that the evenings were early, too.


    Not keen on sleeping, Mark carefully slipped out of Mei''s embrace. Normally, she would wake up when Mark did this, but Mei was sleeping soundly. It seemed she was just as tired as the rest of the group after a long journey on foot.


    After caressing Mei''s head a little, Mark went out into the bunker''s main hall. Their group was the only people in the bunker, so it was no surprise that the only ones he found outside the room were the three golems on guard.


    However, as Brynhildr saw Marking out, she unexpectedly came forward. The three golems were programmed to mimic their roles, but aside from that, they would usually just stay in ce unless ordered. And since their duty was to protect Mark''s three daughters, there were only a few instances they would do some rare actions.


    Mark then watched as Brynhildr grabbed the hem of his shirt and tugged on it. This action meant that there was something wrong with her body, and she needed some check-ups and maintenance.


    When Mark went out of bed, he was unsure what he would do to pass the time. Now, he had something to do.


    With the maid golem behind him, Mark went out of the bunker. If he was going to check Brynhildr''s body, he better go somewhere where the noise would not disturb anyone.


    Mark remembered seeing a garage outside the main quarters of the Moon Chasers. Maybe he could ask their members if he could go there.


    While walking, Mark encountered a familiar member. He was among the members they met during the first day of the fog. He introduced himself as Arrik. Of course, it was an alias. Mark told the guy he wanted to work on something in the garage, and the guy guided him without problems.


    Arriving at the garage, Mark could hear some noiseing through the open garage gates. Someone was already there working on something.


    Mark knew who it was and shrugged.


    It was quite a coincidence.


    The person inside the garage was no other than the person he wanted to help.


    "Sir Edge."


    The guy guiding Mark greeted Edge, who was working on a broken vehicle inside the garage.


    "What''s going on?"


    Edge asked as he saw Mark and Brynhildr behind Arrik.


    "Sir Mark said he had something to work on and wanted to borrow the garage and some tools."


    Arrik exined.


    "Is that so?" Edge nodded as he had no problems with it. "The garage is wide enough. There are also extra tools on the rack and cabs. Use anything you want."


    Arrik left after Mark entered the garage and began looking for the tools he needed. On the other hand, Edge continued working on the vehicle.


    Edge was minding his own business. He was concentrating on working on the vehicle, although he was ncing at Mark, curious about what he would need the tools for. After all, Mark and Brynhildr came without anything in their hands.


    But then, Edge froze, almost letting go of the wrench he was holding.


    It was because Edge saw the maid girl stripping her top in front of Mark.

 Chapter 1087 In the Garage, Lunas Impulsive Actions

    Chapter 1087 In the Garage, Luna''s Impulsive Actions


    Day 360 - 8:01 AM - 38th Settlement, Muria Sacred Fortress, Mount Muria, Kudus Regency, Central Java, Indonesia


    "Good morning, Luna."


    "Good morning."


    Polite greetings could be heard here and there as Luna passed by.


    "Good morning."


    Luna greeted back with a smile as she continued walking along the way.


    The main force of the Moon Chasers had just returned yesterday after a several-day journey. However, while the others were resting and sleeping through the rest of the night, Luna stayed away and made a short patrol instead.


    Luna''s [Mutator] ability allowed her to reduce her bodily needs, if not remove them entirely. She could eat less, drink less, and sleep less without any problem as long as she could absorb enough of a specific light frequency.


    To Luna, sleep was less of a necessity and more of a luxury. She would only sleep if she wanted to rx and only take short naps most of the time.


    However, this time, it was a little different. Luna also wanted to sleep even a little after a long journey. However, the conversation with Markst night gave her many things to ponder. In the end, she decided to take a two-hour patrol around the walls and the settlement while mulling over her thoughts.


    Mark''smentsst night were straight off the truth. They encountered many dangers before. However, Luna and her friends were saved most of the time due to Thirteenth''s "indirect" instructions. The Moon Chasers were a strong group despite their small number. They could contend against groups twice their size. However, from Mark''s words, their true potential remained untapped.


    Luna remembered the time she was consumed by anger. It was not like she could remember everything, but she could recall parts of it during the start and the end. That unknown power Luna disyed at that time, she wanted to know where it came from and how to harness it.


    Aside from Mark''sments, the other reason that made Luna sleepless was that there was now a hundred percent chance for her niece to wake up. Finally, the poor girl could have the opportunity to start a new life. Of course, they still had to deal with her possible trauma.


    Returning from the patrol, Luna passed by the unfinished bunker. She heard faint soundsing from the door, which made her curious. As Luna approached the door, she realized it was the sound of something ripping through the air at fast speeds.


    Luna peeked at the slightly opened door. The main doors of the bunker were left open most of the time. It was to allow easy ess in times of emergency. This also allowed Luna to peek through the door undetected this time.


    There, Luna saw a familiar figure. It was the swordswoman of Mark''s group. Luna remembered she was a Chinese woman named Feng Zhiruo.


    Luna''s thoughts were suddenly interrupted as she saw Feng Zhiruo practice her swordsmanship.


    It was a beautiful routine where the de of Feng Zhiruo''s sword left trails of light as it danced around.


    In thest wave, Feng Zhiro extended her sword forward, causing a strong gust of wind to blow against the bunker walls. As she retracted her arm, she turned to the door.


    "Does Miss Luna need something?"


    Feng Zhiruo asked her uninvited audience.


    Luna stopped hiding and entered through the door, looking a little embarrassed.


    "I''m just passing by and heard the sounds from your sword. I don''t know much about swordsmanship, but I think your routine looked beautiful. I can''t help but watch you."


    Luna said, praising what she saw.


    Feng Zhiruo smiled, pleased with Luna''s honest opinion. And her smile looked beautiful.


    When Feng Zhiruo was captured by Mark, her appearance and physique were just a little above average despite being a Cultivator. She was among the lower disciples, after all. Furthermore, she was just an errand girl who barely received any teachings from the elder.


    But due to Mark''s help, the influence of the Night Everred Pure Spirit Tree''s energy, Mutagen, and a suitable environment, Feng Zhiruo grew far from what she was before.


    After all the improvements, Feng Zhiruo''s skin had a healthy whitish color, and her physique had improved greatly. In all of the people around Mark, her beauty could be ranked third, only below Mei and Illia.


    Feng Zhiruo''s smile just now was like a blossoming lotus in Luna''s eyes.


    On the other hand, Feng Zhiruo was observing Luna. She knew that Mark was a candidate under Thirteenth and Luna was the same. And the reason Mark went to this ce was to help Luna.


    Then, Feng Zhiruo would offer her help, just like how Mark helped her improve her swordsmanship.


    "Do you want to learn?"


    Feng Zhiruo asked Luna.


    Luna was surprised by the sudden offer. However, there was no need for her to think.


    "Can you teach me?"


    Luna asked in return.


    "If Boss is okay with it, I can teach you some moves."


    Feng Zhiruo nodded and answered. It was not like Mark would not allow this, but they still needed to ask permission properly.


    At this time, the door to one of the rooms opened. It was Mei. It seemed she had just woken up.


    "Good morning."


    Feng Zhiruo greeted first. Her status was below Mei''s. It was just right for her to greet first.


    "Good morning."


    Luna also greeted Mei.


    "Good morning."


    Mei greeted back while covering her cute yawn.


    Luna watched Mei. It was absurd that Mei looked beautiful no matter what her state was. Most women would look horrendous when waking up, especially because of their catastrophic bed hair. However, that was not clearly the case for Mei.


    The realization made Luna a little dejected. Her appearance was also above average, and many people praised her beauty. However, in front of Mei and Feng Zhiruo, she might as well call herself average.


    "Is Boss still sleeping?"


    Feng Zhiruo asked Mei. After knowing Mark for a few months, she knew he barely slept at all. If Mei was already awake, he should also woke up.


    "Gege isn''t here," Mei replied with a shake of her head. "He probably went out earlier while we were sleeping."


    "He went out unannounced again, huh."


    Feng Zhiruo said, already used to Mark''s sudden disappearances.


    Luna listened to the two and was a little surprised that Mark went out instead of resting.


    But then, Luna saw Mei staring nkly at the wall facing east.


    "Gege should be straight east," Mei said as she turned to Luna. "Probably at your HQ."


    Luna was surprised. Mei could actually pinpoint Mark''s location out of nowhere. But the more shocking thing was Mark was at their headquarters for some reason.


    "Are you two going look for Gege?" Mei asked. "Wait a bit. I''ming too. I''ll just change clothes."


    Soon, the three women came out of the bunker. Most people they passed by could not help but look in their direction. No matter what era it was, beauty begets attention.


    The three arrived outside the Moon Chaser''s headquarters. It was the same building where they had the conversation just a few hours prior.


    Luna wondered where Mark was. It was when she realized the garage door was slightly open. She remembered Edge would likely be there, tinkering with his broken vehicle.


    It made Luna remember the past. Unlike the rest of their group, Edge was not a simple weeb. He was a real Otaku who was a little obsessed with cars and stuff about vehicles. Edge''s dream was to build his own car, and he was working a few jobs while in college to umte funds for his dream.


    "If I finish building my car, I''ll take you all for a ride."


    That was the promise Edge told everyone in their Cosy Group.


    Unfortunately, that dream fell through when the apocalypse came. And to make it worse, the parts Edge painstakingly umted over several years were stolen from their house when he arrived there.


    Even so, Edge did not stop. The broken vehicle inside the garage was something Edge was slowly building using parts he gathered when they were going out.


    It was one of the qualities the Moon Chasers liked about Edge. He was not someone to give up on his dreams, even at the end of the world.


    "Wow... Amazing..."


    Suddenly, Luna''s ears picked up some soundsing from the garage. She recognized it was Edge''s voice. However, she was confused as to what would make Edge say those words in a rather enthusiastic tone.


    At this time, Mei looked at Feng Zhiruo and Luna.


    "Gege is inside the garage."


    Those words made Luna realize that Edge was not alone in the garage. He was with Mark.


    However, what were they doing?


    Curious, Luna sped up her steps and peeked through the garage door.


    Then, Luna''s eyes widened.


    Luna saw the familiar figure of the young maid of Mark''s group. What made her feel incredulous was the fact that she could see the topless back of the girl facing her. In front of the girl, she could see Mark''s silhouette doing something on her chest while Edge stood behind Mark, enthusiastically watching.


    Without further ado, Luna stormed in. She could not care much about what Mark was doing, although it made her lose some respect for him. What angered Luna the most was the fact that Edge was joining in the scandalous act.


    "Ouch! Ouch! Don''t pull my ears!"


    Edgeined as his left ear was pulled away suddenly by Luna.


    "What the hell are you two doing? How can you two do this to a little girl..."


    Luna was angry, speaking in a rather loud voice, especially at Edge. However, she turned to Mark mid-sentence, and the sight before her eyes made her words trail off. Her eyes widened in shock.


    "Done with theedy skit?"


    Mark asked Luna, snapping her out of stupor.


    Luna''s face began to turn red as she realized how impure her thoughts were. Still, who would expect this?


    Looking at the maid girl''s chest, Luna could not believe what she was seeing.


    The maid girl was not human! Luna could see the openpartment on the girl''s chest and the absurd machinery inside it.


    Mei and Feng Zhiruo also entered the garage. They looked at Luna with smiles while holding back their giggles. Their reactions made Luna turn redder.


    Turning away from Luna, Mei asked Mark.


    "Is something wrong with Hildr?"


    Mark would do some maintenance on the three golems from time to time. However, Mark doing maintenance on Brynhildr at this time was rather untimely.


    "Yeah."


    Mark replied. He then carefully pulled something long out of Brynhildr''s chest.


    Everyone watched as Mari pulled a foot-long vine out of Brynhidr''s chest. They looked at the vine in Mark''s hand. It was thin, and its leaves looked pretty new.


    However, a few seconds after Mark pulled its root off Brynhildr''s circuits, it began to shrivel up and died.


    "What in the world is that?"


    Feng Zhiruo voiced out. It was the first time she saw something like this.


    "It''s probably just a normal vine seed that got into Hildr''s system while we were in the forest," Mark said as he ripped off the dead vine''s still intact cotyledon. "It might have mutated when it began growing after getting in contact with Hildr''s circuits."


    Mark looked at the nt closely. He knew it was a nt variant that mutated into something that would grow using magical energy instead of nutrients in the soil.


    It was both a curious and dangerous specimen.


    If this nt was left to grow for too long, it might have taken over Brynhildr''s body and caused irreparable damage. Luckily, Brynhildr noticed something was wrong with her body for Mark to immediately eliminate the cause.


    Mark then turned to Mei and Feng Zhiruo.


    "I think we should gather Cavall and Inaba. Also all our equipment. I''ll spend the morning doing maintenance just in case there are more of this vine."


    Mei and Feng Zhiruo nodded in agreement. There would be nothing worse than their equipment breaking at the wrong time because of a vine.


    With this, Mark established his schedule for the rest of the morning.


    But before everything else, Edge''s voice echoed as he asked Luna.


    "Can you let go of my ear now?"

 Chapter 1088 Maintenance, Laying the Future Plans Within the Garage

    Chapter 1088 Maintenance, Laying the Future ns Within the Garage


    Day 360 - 10:17 AM - Garage, 38th Settlement, Muria Sacred Fortress, Mount Muria, Kudus Regency, Central Java, Indonesia


    Just like what Mark said, he spent the entire morning doing maintenance on the three golems and his team''s weapons and equipment.


    The difference this time was that it was not only Mark and Edge who were in the garage. After Luna arrived, she stayed with Edge. Then, the rest of the leading members of the Moon Chasers also came, interested in what Mark was doing.


    As for Mei and Feng Zhiruo, the two went back already. Mei had to prepare their sleeping daughters for the activities in the afternoon. As for Feng Zhiruo, she only wanted to ask Mark about what she had in mind. After Mark agreed for her to teach Luna, she had no reason to stay. The two left after bringing Mark the rest of the equipment for him to manage.


    Furthermore, it was not just Luna. Mark also added Edge. In the following days, the two would be learning swordsmanship from Feng Zhiruo.


    Back to the present, Luna and her friends were having ate breakfast while watching Mark work. The six were Weebs and Otakus. Being interested in Mark''s otherworldly items was not an unsurprising thing if it was them.


    Still, the six were unable to get over the fact that the younger maid, the giant rabbit, and the canine-feline creature in Mark''s group were actually artificial creatures. They looked no less than a living being and even moved like they were. However, the insides of the three were not biological organs but lumps of different kinds of metal.


    What made things even more incredulous was that these three artificial beings were not robots. If Mark said they were robots, it would have been more eptable. There were already all kinds of robots in development before the apocalypse, and some advanced robotic creatures appeared after the earthquake. If the three were a product of research involving such robots, it would not be surprising for the three to exist.


    However, this was not the case. Mark did not hide the truth from Luna and her friends and told them that Brynhildr, Inaba, and Cavall were magical golems. He even showed them Brynhildr''s core. It was an item that could not be created even with any kind of advanced scientific technology in existence.


    Being privy to technological things, Edge also noticed that Brynhildr''s insides had no robotic circuitry. Instead, it had some sort of glowing symbols and magic circles. It was what caused his amazement before Luna arrived.


    "Can I touch it?"


    In the end, Limab could not stop her curiosity.


    "Just the armor pieces," Mark did not mind too much. "The weapons had functions that can cause idents if you didn''t know how to use them. As for the golems, the insides are intricate, so no touching those."


    "It''s fine. Thanks."


    Limab thanked Mark as she picked up a chest piece in front of Mark that had yet to be checked. Limab was extremely curious, but she still maintained themon sense not to mess with the items Mark already finished checking and cleaning.


    With Limab in the lead, Luna and the other four followed suit. The shy Livia was thest to move, but even her shyness could not hold back her curiosity. However, despite her curiosity, he remained calm as she carefully looked at the pieces that interested her, doing her best not to break anything or even scratch the items. It made Mark really appreciate her conduct.


    Luna and the others already knew Mark was a craftsman. Part of their curiosity this time was their interest in the things Mark created. They wanted to see his creations and try to understand them.


    Unfortunately for the group, the more they looked at Mark''s creations, the more they became confused. Mark''s creations were not based on any modern technology on Earth but abination of magical and alien technologies. To normal people, everything in Mark''s creations did not make sense.


    In the end, after giving up on understanding Mark''s creations, Luna asked a question.


    "Can you make us simr equipment?" Luna asked, putting down the chest te that belonged to Mei. "I''m not asking for free. If we can afford the price, we''ll pay. Otherwise, we won''t bother you."


    Luna could not understand how Mark''s equipment worked. However, she had already seen what his creations could do in the past few days.


    Mei''s gun which could kill a [Fog Crawler] in one shot. Miracle''s pair of gauntlets that could glow and cause heavy impact in her every punch. And even the pair of pistols I, which could shoot elemental bullets. All of these items were now in front of Mark for maintenance.


    Mark''s creations were out of this world. If Luna could have Mark make some for them, even just a few weapons, she was sure that it would make it easier for her and her friends to protect their home.


    Unfortunately, Mark shook his head.


    "Is it about the price?"


    Luna asked as she saw Mark''s initial response. In any case, she would not me Mark. Equipment like these would be priceless, even in front of the government and the military.


    "It''s not," Mark replied. "These items use a unique energy source only I can make. I believe you can make out the rest from my answer."


    Mark did not bother exining further. His answer already exined what he needed to say.


    And, except for Bajing and Livia, who needed more exnation, Luna and the rest understood what Mark meant.


    The items in front of Mark right now needed a unique energy source only Mark could provide. Unfortunately, Mark was only here to help Luna for a limited period of time. Mark''s group would not stay here forever. And when they left, there would be no way for Luna''s group to get the energy source from Mark anymore. At that time, the equipment would be rendered useless.


    While Luna and her friends were mulling over his words, Mark gave them a nce. Mark sure gave them such a reply, which would surely result in such thoughts. However, in truth, Mark was just beingzy.


    Mark could continue making the [AT Cells] that gave power to most of the functions of his [Abyss Tech] creations and sell them to Luna''s group at fixed intervals. However, since he was the only one who could make these items, it meant that making these items continuously at arger scale would steal more of his time for researching more things and even take the time he could y video games or watch anime with his daughters. That was a big no.


    "Forget it then," Luna said dejectedly. "Sorry for asking something ridiculous."


    "It''s not ridiculous. You just wanted to expand your options, right?" Mark spoke. "Besides, it''s not like I can''t make anything else. I just said that I can''t make the same as these for your team, but I can make other things."


    [Abyss Tech] was the fusion of [Alien Tech] and [Magi Tech]. These items were difficult to distribute because of their energy source. After all, its energy source was mainly based on [Alien Tech] fused from technologies from Eriellis and the [Mechids]. However, if [Alien Tech] was removed from [Abyss Tech], all that was left was [Magi Tech]. [Magi Tech] was technology based on magic and things from the Lost Era. And now, Earth was filled with magical energy.


    If Mark only used [Magi Tech], it would be possible to make items with simr functions for Luna and her group. The functions and strengths would be inferiorpared to [Abyss Tech] items, but the issue with the power source would be eliminated.


    After all, magical energy was already in the air. All that was needed was to make something to gather the energy and turn it into a power source.


    After hearing what Mark said, Luna''s eyes widened in excitement.


    "Are you sure? It doesn''t have to be simr. As long as we can have better weapons and equipment than what we have now, it would be the best."


    "I already saidst night I would help your group," Mark told Luna with a shrug. "I''ll make it cheap but not free. Also, you need to gather the materials and provide me with a workshop. Can you do that?"


    Luna turned to her friends in askance. However, there was no need to ask. They were all in agreement.


    "What would you need?" Luna asked. "Since we are going out in the afternoon, we can start gathering what you need."


    It was the n for today. Since Luna''s group and Mark''s family spent almost the entire night awake, the morning would be spent resting. In the afternoon, they would go to the southern area of Mount Muria''s peak.


    There were two areas in the central Muria Sacred Fortress. It was the Northside Peak and the Southside Peak.


    The Northside Peak, or northern area, was for the government and those people and families with high standing. With high walls and natural steep mountain terrain, it was the safest area of the Muria Sacred Fortress.


    On the other hand, the Southside Peak, or southern area, was governed mainly by the military. It was where the refugees and most unaffiliated groups gathered. Most importantly, it was where the military hospital was located. It also had a market where groups tended to barter items.


    The destination for the afternoon was the military hospital. It was where Luna''s niece was admitted and was being taken care of. That aside, they would also need to stop by the military exchange office to get their payment. Since the exchange office and the market were in the same ce, it would be better to take care of things in one go.


    Mark stopped his work for a bit and began listing what he needed for the workshop. Half of the items were traditional cksmithing equipment, while the other half was electrical equipment.


    The list made Luna a little worried.


    "About the electric equipment, should we also exchange gas for the generator?"


    The 38th Settlement had a single generator. However, the generator was only being used during emergencies since gasoline was extremely expensive.


    "Don''t worry about the gas," Mark said with a smile. "I can take care of the power on my own."


    Luna and her friends were confused. They could not understand how Mark was going to do it. However, they did not ask questions. The person already said he would deal with the problem on his own. They only needed to thank him for it.


    Soon, even with the little disturbance the curious group made, Mark finished the maintenance of the three golems and their equipment. Fortunately, aside from finding another strand of a newly grown vine inside Inaba''s leg, nothing else seemed to have problems. Mark only needed to clean the blood-stained armor and melee weapons.


    The blood seeping into the gaps of the equipment was the most troublesome to clean. Mark could understand why most battle equipment was made as sleek and simple as possible. Intricate-looking weapons and armor sure looked cool, but those kinds of things were a pain to maintain.


    It was already near lunch when Mark finished. As Mark gathered the equipment, the three golems helped carry the items back to the bunker. Mark and his family would be apanying Luna, Edge, Bajing, and Nelia to the Southside Peak. As such, they would need to wear the equipment just in case.


    Although Mark was already in the so-called safe zone, it was not exactly safe. It was better to take precautions.


    Amihan would also apany Mark as usual. However, Emika and Feng Zhiruo would stay behind. There was no need for everyone to go, after all. Besides, it was the first time for Annica and Hannah to be on a long journey. The two were really tired. They would need protection while resting. It would be left to the Emika and Feng Zhiruo. Char, Laps, and the [Ground Hunter] were also there to protect them.


    And with that arrangement, lunch ended. After resting and digesting the food, the group set off to the Central Areas of Muria Sacred Fortress.

 Chapter 1089 The Southside Peak, A Refugee Area Governed by the Military

    <h4>Chapter 1089 The Southside Peak, A Refugee Area Governed by the Military</h4>


    Day 360 - 1:28 PM - Muria Sacred Fortress, Mount Muria, Kudus Regency, Central Java, Indonesia


    After lunch, the group heading to the Southside Peak departed. The people of the 38th Settlement saw them off as they left.


    Fortunately, the group would not be going on foot. They rode on three of the four vehicles the Moon Chasers owned.


    The first and main vehicle was a refitted family van. It was also the first vehicle they acquired from the gang Luna destroyed. There were other vehicles the gang owned, which the group took. However, only this refitted van managed to survive the apocalypse till now.


    Two of the three vehicles were both reinforced delivery trucks. These trucks were what the Moon Chasers used to transport materials and equipment up the mountain.


    As for the fourth vehicle the Moon Chasers had, it was Edge''s broken custom car. For obvious reasons, it would not be able to apany the team.


    Before the earthquake and the arrival of the [Mechids], the Moon Chasers used vehicles to drive around and gather supplies in the nearby areas. It was the same for the military and other survivor groups.


    However, when the terrain of the world changed, along with mutated flora taking over most of the country, the vehicles they owned became unusable to traverse the terrain outside. Now, these vehicles could only be used around the fortress or, if possible, within the cleared areas around the mountain.


    Still, while these vehicles now had limited use, they were a big help when trading things with the military.


    The group drove through the road, passing by different Satellite Settlements. In the end, they would use the road connected to the Kudus Outpost up the Southside Peak.


    Along the way, Mark managed to observe the inner side of the outer walls surrounding the mountain. It also showed Mark the general sceneries that other settlements had.


    It was up to the survivor groups how they would build the Satellite Settlement they managed. This fact was shown by how differently each settlement looked from the other. It also showed which survivor groups were richer or had more knowledge in properly building their settlement.


    Some Satellite Settlements looked properly nned. There were those who built structures as organized as possible and those who tried to minimize thend used to make the settlement easier to protect.


    However, there were also those settlements that looked like a squatter''spound. There was no organization, and things were built willy-nilly. It was highly questionable how they were able to keep their settlements intact.


    The scenes outside quickly passed as they rode their vehicles. After a little bit more than an hour of a slightly bumpy ride, they arrived outside the Southside Peak of the Muria Sacred Fortress.


    Mark looked at the tall walls incorporated between the tall, steep peaks of Mount Muria. It was the inner walls of the southern side.


    Although the group had already arrived, they still had to wait another ten minutes. Unlike the outer walls, the inner walls were far more strict in terms of entry. Since it was where most of the refugees of the fortress lived, it would be a bad thing if any [Infected] slipped in. As it was the area where the military conducted business, many groups wereing in and out, needing more strict measures for passage.


    Soon, the vehicles reached the checkpoint. Everyone had to go out of the vehicles for individual checks.


    It was nothing tooplicated. First, everyone''s temperature and eyes were checked. Anyone bitten and turning [Infected] would have higher temperatures and a bloody discoloration behind their eyelids. It was the easiest thing to check. Everyone lined up as a female soldier passed by them.


    Mark''s group was a little confused about the second step. After all, the female soldier was not really doing anything more than just walking past them.


    However, if there was one thing Mark was sure, the female soldier was a [Mutator]. Maybe her ability had something to do with detecting the [Infected] that could not be detected by the first check. After all, with how the [Infected] mutate into different kinds of creatures, it would not be surprising if there were bitten people that showed different symptoms than usual.


    But then, something unexpected happened.


    The female soldier stopped in front of Mark and his family. She stared at Mark, and Mark also stared at her. He could see her nose move as if she was sniffing them. It seemed that her abilities had something to do with smell.


    "Is something wrong? Are they infected?"


    The female soldier''s superior asked. After all, it was strange that she stopped in front of Mark''s group.


    "Ah! No, they are not. They''re good."


    The female soldier snapped back to reality and replied to her superior.


    With that remark, the group received clearance to enter.


    As Mark helped the girls back into the van, he was paying attention to the female soldier earlier. She was currently being questioned by her superior.


    "Is there something wrong with them? This is the first time you showed that kind of reaction."


    The superior asked the female soldier while ncing at Mark''s group.


    "I don''t think there''s wrong with them. It''s just..."


    The female soldier answered with hesitation.


    "It''s just what?"


    The superior pushed for her answer.


    "Among the people I checked so far, they had the thickest smell of blood. Those people, they probably killed a lot, both [Infected] and not."


    The female soldier answered.


    The superior was a little skeptical. However, there was no smoke if there was no fire. Just in case, the superior decided to put the unfamiliar group on the list of people to observe.


    Mark entered the van. He clearly heard the exchange of the two soldiers. Even the intention of the superior did not escape him. However, they intended no harm, and the two soldiers were just doing their duties. Mark decided to disregard them.


    Within the confines of the Southside Peak, the entire t area of the mountain was utilized. The road was pretty wide, and facilities and buildings were neatly organized.


    However, it was clear that life here was not as good despite how safe it was.


    When the vehicles passed through the main road, everyone could see the pitiful scene outside.


    The unaffiliated refugees could only count on the government and the military for rations. As such, it was not surprising to see how emaciated most of them were. The roadside had a lot of beggars, mostly children. They extended their hands toward passing vehicles. Fortunately, none of them were recklessly approaching the vehicles. It would not be surprising if they did, though. It was very likely that something bad happened to reckless beggars in the past, resulting in this situation.


    Mark suddenly took a deep breath. Emotions containing lust invaded his mind.


    It looked like they passed by the red light district, where women sell their bodies for meager amounts of food.


    To Mark, this feeling was pretty unpleasant. He would be fine if it was his own lust. However, this was not the case. It was a really bad feeling to have second-hand lust from other people.


    "Gege, are you okay?"


    Mei asked Mark, making him turn to her.


    However, as he saw her beautiful face, Mark closed his eyes and took another deep breath.


    "I''m fine."


    Mark smiled as his [Mutator] trait kicked in and flushed out the unwanted second-hand emotions.


    Mei looked even more concerned. She could not help but look outside the window on Mark''s side and saw the street where skimpily clothed women were attracting male customers. Mei knew Mark''s abilities and realized what could possibly cause Mark''s strange state. And as she looked at Mark with his eyes closed, she could not help but blush.


    Luna and her friends noticed the interaction between Mark and Mei. They could not help but smile at how the two looked.


    Mark continued to close his eyes as he felt the emotionsing from Luna and her friends. He could only shake his head slightly. Women really liked these kinds of interactions.


    After another ten minutes of driving, the vehicles finally stopped.


    "We''re here."


    Luna said as everyone went out of the vehicles.


    Mark looked around. It was arge vacant area being used as parking space. In front of them was a three-story building which seemed to be built recently.


    "It''s the hospital," Luna told Mark. "It''s amazing how they managed to build thisrge building in just a few months."


    "If this country could focus on more important things, they can be amazing," Limab chimed in. "But, you know. All they focus on is stuffing their pockets full of people''s tax money."


    It was clear what Limab was saying. As a princess of a rich business family, she had seen a lot of dirt under the rags of the people she was talking about.


    Mark stared at the hospital. Although it looked like that, he was actually probing the hospital and the surroundings. He noticed something strange.


    "Go already. We''ll wait here outside. Just be fast since we still need to go to the exchange office."


    Edge urged Luna and Mark to enter the hospital. There was no need for everyone to enter. Just Luna and her female friends would go. Of course, along with Mark and his family.


    "Is that aboratory?"


    Mark noticed the detached building beside the hospital. He could not help but think it was a bad idea to have the militaryboratory beside the hospital unless it was medicines they were researching. And, for sure, thatboratory was not just for medical research.


    "It looks dangerous, isn''t it?" Luna also knew the problem. "However, it was built this way because most doctors working in the hospital were also researchers in theb. It''s to make it easier for the doctors to respond to emergencies even while in the middle of their research."


    Mark nodded. It was not the best solution, but it was probably the only thing the military could do at the moment.


    The group entered the hospital under the stares of everyone they passed by. The group was pretty eye-catching, after all. A group of beautiful women and cute girls apanied a mob-looking man. The contrast was so strong that Mark looked like a stuck-out sore thumb. Not to mention that Luna''s group was already pretty well-known due to various reasons. Before the group could even leave the hospital lobby, the gossip among the witnesses was already growing.


    Furthermore, Mei was really gathering some attention, making her grab Mark''s arm tighter.


    "It looks like your veil isn''t really helping."


    Limab said to Mei.


    Mei had a veil covering half her face, from her nose down. But as Limab said, it was not helping.


    "Just ignore them," Luna said. "It''s always like this here. Everyone is bored, and anything interesting to their eyes turns into entertainment."


    After checking in at the front desk, Luna led everyone to the second floor.


    Mark already knew Luna''s niece was on the second floor. He already detected the girl from far away. Still, there was something bothering Mark as he observed the surroundings.


    It was really strange.


    Soon, the group arrived at a particr room. It was a private room only reserved for Luna''s niece. It seemed that the military and the government properly kept their side of the deal when they took control of the mountain from Luna''s group.


    "Shasha, I''m back."


    Luna greeted the unconscious girl while caressing her hair. Unfortunately, there was no reply to her affectionate words.


    "Sir Mark."


    Luna turned to Mark and called. Thetter nodded as he stepped forward.


    "I''ll check on her first before trying anything, okay?"


    Mark told Luna, and thetter agreed.


    However, as Mark put his right hand on the little girl''s forehead, he froze.


    All of a sudden, Mark''s right hand began glowing. Then, he put his left hand on the little girl''s chest, and it began releasing an eerie ck aura.


    Everyone was surprised at Mark''s sudden actions.


    "S-Sir Mark?" Luna immediately became worried. "What are you doing? What is going on?"


    Was Mark really here to help? But he had Thirteenth''s guarantee. Luna''s trust was wavering.


    It was when Mark nced at Luna and spoke.


    "You''re really lucky I decided toe here to help you. I''m still unsure who the enemies targeting your group are, but I now know they are not just some average Joe."


    Mark then turned to the little girl as the contrasting colors enveloping his hands grew.


    "Damn," Mark cursed. "Especially if they can nt something that can gnaw on someone''s soul."

 Chapter 1090 The Poor Girls Trouble, Removing the Cause from the Little Girls Body

    Chapter 1090 The Poor Girl''s Trouble, Removing the Cause from the Little Girl''s Body


    Day 360 - 2:58 PM - Private Room, Military Hospital, Southside Peak, Muria Sacred Fortress, Mount Muria, Kudus Regency, Central Java, Indonesia


    All of a sudden, the atmosphere inside the private room turned intense.


    Luna and her friends could barely understand what Mark was saying. The concept of souls was something unexplored by science. And even though it was a conceptrgely affiliated with religion, the concept had no concrete exnation.


    Still, Luna understood one thing from what Mark said. Something bad was happening with her niece.


    "Can you exin what is going on?"


    Luna decided to stay calm as she asked Mark.


    Since Mark was concentrating on Luna''s niece, he did not look at Luna. However, he still exined.


    "The concept of souls is prettyplicated, so I won''t exin that part. Just in case, you understand the concept that souls are the source of life, right?"


    Mark said, and Luna responded with a nod.


    "Good. Then, what I''m saying is someone or something nted a harmful thing inside your niece''s body. It is slowly eating away her soul and absorbing her life energy. I don''t know how long had it been going on, but your niece''s soul already had more than a year-long damage."


    "W-what?!"


    Luna was still trying to act calm, but her words were already stuttering due to nervousness.


    "What do you mean by year-long damage?"


    Nelia asked Mark, trying to get a more specific exnation.


    "It''s more like a lifespan damage," Mark answered. "Just think of this. When any living thing is born, it only has a small soul. But as they grow older, their souls also grow bigger. The thing gnawing on this girl''s soul already took off a year''s worth of growth of her soul. That''s what I''m saying."


    Luna and her friends could not help but frown. The little girl''s soul already had that much damage, and no one noticed.


    "What would happen if her soul got eaten entirely?"


    Bajing asked in worry. She already had a hunch on the answer, but Bajing still wanted to confirm.


    However, they did not expect Mark''s answer as he shook his head.


    "There''s no such thing. If the damage reaches half of the soul, it will already detach from the body. Depending on the state of the body, it could die or continue living, but the soul will either pass on or turn into a wandering soul. The worst thing to happen is for the soul to be an evil spirit while the still living body could be taken over by a malevolent entity."


    Mark''s words sounded unbelievable. It was as if he was narrating some sort of script from an ult movie. However, as they could see what was happening before their eyes, they could not deny the truth in his words.


    All of a sudden, the motionless girl began to twitch. It was a horrifying sight as if it was literally taken from a horror movie.


    "Shasha!"


    Luna called out in worry.


    "Help me hold her down!" Mark shouted. "Don''t let her slip out under my hands!"


    Everyone in the room, except Amihan and the little girls, took action. They surrounded the bed and held the unconscious little girl. However, instead of making her stop moving, her twitching began to turn more and more violent.


    Even with five women holding the little girl down, it was hard to pin her.


    Then, the women holding the girl felt scared as the little girl''s body began emitting ck smoke. It was not just one part of the body. It was the girl''s whole body.


    It was as if there was a film of ck smoke covering the girl''s body.


    "No matter what, don''t let go."


    Mark told everyone firmly. They were confused as to why he was reminding them again. But it was then they suddenly felt their bodies shiver. It felt cold. It was as if they were suddenly in a freezer.


    However, the women noticed that Mark''s daughters and Amihan looked the same. They just stood there watching.


    It meant that the cold feeling they had was caused by the ck smoke.


    "UGH!"


    The women felt the urge to let go. The unbearable cold made them feel like freezing to death.


    However, Luna did not waver. So were her friends. They could now confirm that Mark was not ying around. As for Mei, she looked calm. As a [Blood Demon], she could bear more of this cold than Luna and her friends.


    Soon, the smoke began to move strangely. As Mark kept his hands on the girl, the more the smoke seemed to struggle.


    Then, the ck smoke began to surge out of the girl''s body, gathering and swirling above her chest.


    And then...


    SCREEEEEECH!!!


    A loud screech was heard throughout the entire hospital and the surrounding building.


    Everyone within several dozen meters around staggered as the painful screech entered their ears.


    Now, Bajing, Nelia, and Limab could not hold on anymore and covered their ears by reflex. It was not surprising. The people further away staggered on their feet after hearing the screech. The feeling would be worse for everyone in this room since the source of it was right in front of them.


    Luna and Mei kept holding on. They nodded at each other and quickly changed position to pin down the violently twitching girl.


    Finally, after a few minutes that felt like an eternity, the smoke stoppeding out of the girl''s body, forming what seemed to be a distorted face of a woman above the girl''s chest. It was just the size of a fist. However, it lookedrger because of the smoke spreading out of its body.


    The distorted face red at Mark and tried to float away. Whatever it was, it clearly had some level of sentience. It was even confident of escaping.


    It was a soul-like creature. Normal humans would not be able to touch it at all, let alone catch it.


    Unfortunately for it...


    "No, you don''t."


    Mark''s voice echoed as he mped the ghostly shut inside some sort of canister.


    With a loud clunk of metal, Mark closed the canister with the ghostly entity inside.


    The entity did not seem to care as it tried to escape the canister. However, it realized that it could not pass through the ss body of the canister.


    Realizing it was caught, the entity began swirling inside the canister. However, all its efforts were in vain. It could not escape.


    Mark looked at his catch with interest. He then felt something and could not help but give out a sinister smile.


    Luna looked at the canister in Mark''s hands and at her niece. After that ck smoke left the girl, all her violent twitches stopped instantly.


    Now, the little girl was back to being unconscious. It was as if she was sleeping with nothing else happening.


    "Is Shasha fine now?"


    Luna asked in worry.


    But before Mark could reply...


    "Aunty?"


    A hoarse voice of a little girl entered everyone''s ears.


    Luna turned her head by reflex. She saw her niece, who already opened her eyes.


    The little girl still looked a little out of it. She was confused. She tried to move her body and look at the surroundings but was unable to with her weakened body.


    "Shasha!"


    Luna could not stop her tears as she hugged the confused little girl.


    Seeing the miraculous scene before them, Luna''s three friends could not help but shed tears. The struggles of their precious friend and leader were finally rewarded.


    "The scream came from here!"


    All of a sudden, amotion could be heard from outside the room.


    BAM!


    The door was kicked open.


    "Don''t move!"


    Several soldiers came in with rifles drawn.


    This situation was expected. With the screech affecting a wide area, the soldiers near the vicinity would immediately respond. Not to mention that the militaryboratory was just beside the hospital. This ce was always guarded by arge group of soldiers.


    With the guns pointed at them, no one in the room made any fast movements.


    However, Mark'' still with his vicious smile, stared at a particr stout man who was with the soldiers.


    Luna and her friends also noticed the person. They all knew the stout man wearing ab coat. It was the doctor in charge of taking care of Luna''s niece.


    However, the doctor showed shock at the scene in the private room. The little girl was already awake, which was a surprise. However, his attention was focused more on Mark and the canister in his hands.


    The doctor saw Mark staring at him with that vicious smile.


    The soldiers expected the doctor to enter. It was the room of the patient he was in charge of, after all.


    But to everyone''s surprise, the doctor, a stout man who should have a heavy body, ran away as fast as an olympiad. He rushed into the opposite room of the private room, shocking the patients inside before the doctor jumped and crashed through the window.


    Everyone''s mouth fell open at the unexpected scene. This was the third floor, after all.


    "Quick! Check what happened to him!"


    The soldier leading the group ordered his subordinates. However, before they could even move, the blurred silhouettes of two individuals zoomed past them and jumped through the very same window.


    The soldiers were surprised once more as they turned their eyes inside the private room. Now, a woman and a child were missing in the room, and the soldiers did not even have the time to react.


    Without further ado, several soldiers moved. A pair looked out of the broken window while a smaller group ran into the lower floors.


    Scanning everyone in the room, the leading soldier realized whose room it was. He told his remaining soldiers to stand down.


    "Miss Luna, what is happening here? Please exin."


    The leading soldier asked, seeing the teary Luna hugging her supposedlyatose niece.


    Luna looked at the soldier and realized it was someone they knew.


    "Sir Randy," Luna greeted. "As you can see, my niece finally woke up. As it turned out, someone deliberately prolonged heratose state."


    The leading soldier, Sir Randy, was surprised to hear those words. But then, it suddenly clicked. Sir Randy and his soldiers were no fools. The doctor who was supposed to lead them here suddenly ran away for no reason. The doctor was so scared to be caught that he even jumped out of the third-floor window.


    There was still a lot to question, but the main points were already clear.


    Without hesitation, Sir Randy took out his radio.


    "To all patrol units. Dr. Murni was caught to havemitted a crime and is now on the run. He''sst seen escaping the hospital. Capture on sight is in effect."


    With just several sentences, the soldier named Randy mobilized the entire patrol troops of the military.


    "Please wait here until we capture Dr. Murni. We will get to the bottom of this."


    Sir Randy told Luna and the rest.


    There was no doubt Sir Randy understood the severity of the situation. He was also aware of the deal between Luna and the government when she handed everything to them. It was to admit Luna''satose niece and treat her until she woke up. However, who would have thought that someone was deliberately keeping the poor girl in aatose state all this time?


    It would be no surprise if Luna''s group decided to sabotage everything due to this error. And if the Moon Chasers did that, the damage would be immense, even if they were just a single group.


    But as Sir Randy said those words, the man standing with Luna''s group spoke.


    "Sir officer, it''s better if you all go already and capture that guy."


    "What are you sa-"


    Sir Randy was about to ask Mark what he meant.


    However...


    BOOOM!


    A loud, explosion-like sound echoed in everyone''s ears. The sound came from outside the hospital. It was then followed by horrified screams.


    "Looks like they started..." Mark voiced out while fiddling with the canister he was holding. "That doctor isn''t human, you know?"


    Those words from Mark gave everyone a bad premonition.


    BOOOM!


    Another loud sound echoed. Sir Randy could not help it anymore and ran to the opposite room where the patients were already peeking out of the window with horrified faces.


    There, Sir Randy''s eyes widened.


    There was a four-meter-tall, stout humanoid in the nearby market area. It was wreaking havoc while fighting a woman and a little girl.

 Chapter 1091 A Battle In The Southside Peak, The Little Cat Girl Versus The Giant Impostor

    Chapter 1091 A Battle In The Southside Peak, The Little Cat Girl Versus The Giant Impostor


    Day 360 - 3:15 PM - Market Area, Southside Peak, Muria Sacred Fortress, Mount Muria, Central Java, Indonesia


    The loud screech echoed throughout the hospital and the surrounding areas. It rmed everyone affected. It was, after all, a screech that seemed to affect their very soul.


    Many people felt numbed as the screech entered their ears. Those with stronger bodies managed to endure, but even those people felt their legs bing shaky.


    At the parking area in front of the hospital, the waiting members of the Moon Chasers were also affected by the soul-affecting screech. Knowing that something bad could be happening, they tried to respond. However, being parked too close to the hospital did not do them good, as it also rendered most of them numb.


    Before Edge and the others could even recover, they had already seen soldiers from theboratory rushing into the hospital. Strange enough, Edge also saw the stout doctor who should be in charge of Luna''s niece.


    Seeing the soldiers respond, Edge made his team wait and recover. There was no need to rush, and there would be barely anything they could do in their current state.


    But a few momentster, Edge and the others were stupified as they saw the window at a room on the second floor burst into pieces, with the familiar figure of the stout doctor jumping through it.


    It was not only the members of the Moon Chasers who were stupefied by the scene. There were also other people who began gathering around, curious as to what happened and what the screech was.


    The gallery could barely react as they watched the stout doctor run faster than his body should allow.


    But before everyone could even talk about the strange situation, two blurry figures rushed out of the same window, chasing after the fleeing doctor.


    Edge''s eyes focused and saw that one of the two blurry figures was actually Bajing.


    There was no need to ask about the situation. Edge immediately separated the waiting group into three. One group would apany him to inquire about the situation inside. Another would chase after Bajing and aid her, while thest group would continue guarding the vehicles.


    The members of the Moon Chasers moved to follow the orders they received as the gallery watched in confusion.


    ***


    On the other side, Bajing rushed after the fleeing doctor as he entered the market area. It was unexpected that a stout and unfit-looking man could run this fast. However, Bajing could not help but pay attention to the figure running along with her. The second oldest of Mark''s three daughters was actually keeping up with her.


    Furthermore, Abbygale''s expression showed she was not even exerting effort running this fast.


    Bajing''s eyes suddenly locked onto the target. The bastard was actually trying to rush into therge group of people in the market to lose his pursuers.


    Without waiting for that to happen, Bajing increased her speed. She then jumped, moving through the air even faster than her running.


    "Stop! Stop resisting and surrender yourself!"


    Bajing shouted, causing the surrounding area to look at the situation.


    The doctor did not reply. Instead, he looked around swiftly, even behind him.


    Behind the doctor, another figure stopped to block his way.


    But seeing that the person blocking the way behind was a measly little girl around eight or nine years of age, the doctor immediately turned around.


    After all, what could a little girl do against a stout, almost six-foot-tall man.


    However, the doctor was mistaken.


    If he charged at Bajing instead, he might have more chances of escaping. Running towards the little girl was more of a suicide.


    The doctor rushed to Abbygale. His hands stretched out as if he wanted to grab her. In this situation, it was clear that keeping a hostage would make it easier for him to escape.


    But when his hands were about to grab the little girl, the little girl''s right leg blurred.


    CRACK! CRACK!


    All of a sudden, cracking sounds were heard as both the doctor''s arms folded backward. His forward-stretched arms were now stretched backward.


    Everyone watching could not help but feel the pain in their shoulder joints as they saw the scene.


    The situation was the most absurd to the doctor. He was supposed to grab the girl and escape, but he suddenly lost the feeling of his arms.


    "ARRRGG!!!"


    The pain finally crept in as the doctor let out a loud wail.


    However, instead of falling to the ground because of the pain, the doctor''s body began to expand.


    The skin mask on his face was ripped to pieces as his whole body started growing.


    Bajing rushed in Abbygale''s direction, grabbing the little girl and running away from the strange doctor.


    Everyone also fled the area. The stall owners tried to save as much of their wares as possible before running away.


    Unfortunately, several stalls turned into scraps as the doctor''s gigantic body grew past the width of the street.


    Those who could look back could only see the doctor''s body be at least four meters tall.


    Strange enough, the giant''s current appearance had no resemnce to his appearance as the doctor. He now had charcoal-colored skin and was wearing some sort of orange-colored tribal vest and pants.


    "Ukhubutnakhubmeynem!"


    The giant shouted as if he was chanting.


    To everyone''s surprise, his backward-folded arms were suddenly covered in a ck haze as they moved back to their original ce.


    BOOOM!


    The first thing the giant did was smash a stall nearby and grab arge wooden pole. He then swung the wooden pole at Bajing and Abbygale.


    BOOOM!


    Another loud sound echoed as the wooden pole mmed to the ground with great force.


    However, even if the wooden pole broke while creating a small crater on the pavement, the figure of the two targets was nowhere to be seen.


    BAM!


    Instead, the giant felt a strong blow behind its head as Bajing''s figure appeared with a ruthless kick.


    Unfortunately, the giant barely felt anything from Bajing''s attack. He did not even stagger a little. Instead, he quickly rotated his body, swinging his entire left arm at Bajing, who was still in midair.


    Bajing had no way of dodging this attack.


    But all of a sudden, the small figure of Abbygale appeared between Bajing in the giant''s swinging arm. Everyone watching gasped, expecting the little girl to turn into meat paste in another second.


    However, the little girl kicked the air, and her body miraculously moved despite seemingly not having any foothold in midair. The little girl spun like a horizontal top. The robe she wore quickly fluttered as she spun.


    And then, with a burst of lighting from her shoes, she kicked downward.


    The girl''s foot and the giant''s arm made contact. However, the thing the audience expected did not happen.


    CRACK!


    "GUUAAAAHHH!!!"


    The giant yelled an ear-pierce wail as his arm got broken for the second time. And this time, it was not just getting folded wrongly at the shoulder joints. The giant''s left forearm literally snapped into two.


    Bajing and Abbygalended safely on the ground and retreated, not risking another attack at the abnormal enemy.


    At this time, familiar voices entered Bajing''s ears.


    "Ma''am! We''re here to support!"


    It was the group Edge tasked to support Bajing. It was a group with four members.


    "Everyone! Fire! Fire!"


    The assigned group leader gave his orders, and they opened fire on the giant.


    With the sounds of the assault rifles roaring, dozens of bullets hit the giant''s body.


    However...


    "F*CK OFF!"


    The giant cursed as he grabbed a nearby stall and threw it at the four reinforcements.


    "Damn! The bullets don''t work!"


    The leader realized.


    Everyone could see the bullets hitting and getting embedded in the giant''s skin. However, the bullets soon fell out as the giant''s body immediately healed.


    At this time, groups of soldiers appeared. It seemed that the headquarters was finally rmed.


    "Secure the area! Move the civilians out of this ce!"


    Themanding officer shouted as the soldiers began securing the perimeter and surrounding the giant.


    "F*CKING HUMANS!"


    The giant cursed as he saw more ants begin gathering to kill him.


    BAM!


    The giant picked up another stall and threw it at the soldiers.


    "EVADE!"


    One of the soldiers yelled in time. Although the wood splinters and debris hit them, there were no fatal injuries.


    "OPEN FIRE!"


    Themander shouted, and the rain of bullets ensued.


    "Magolhubut!"


    The giant did not care about its broken arm anymore and chanted with a violent glint in his eyes.


    CLANG! CLANG!


    "AGH!"


    "GAH!"


    "AH!"


    Sounds of metal followed the giant''s chant, and those sounds were followed by the painful wails of the surrounding soldiers.


    "HOLD YOUR FIRE! HOLD YOUR FIRE!"


    Themanding officer frantically ordered. The bullets they fired began to ricochet after hitting the giant''s body, and the bullets hit their ownrades instead.


    "Sh*t! Don''t you dare die before me!"


    A soldier shouted. The other soldier beside him was punctured by a bullet through his neck.


    "Why is a monster like this in the middle of the fortress?"


    Themanding officer said as he stared at the giant.


    Gripping his fist, themanding officer picked up his radio to call the headquarters. If bullets were not working, then they would try rockets and explosives.


    However, before themander could make the call, a figure of a little girl suddenly appeared by the nape of the giant.


    The girl then kicked the air, spinning her body faster than before. And with another burst of light from her shoe, she kicked the giant''s nape.


    BAM!


    The giant did not expect the attack. His body was still strengthened, causing the kick to fail to snap his neck. However, the hammering pain was still transmitted into the giant''s body. Without resistance, the force from the kick made the giant fall forward, with his face getting nted to the ground.


    Seeing the giant fall, everyone watching could not help but rejoice.


    However, they saw the girlnd on the ground,ically jumping with one foot.


    "Are you okay?"


    Bajing rushed to Abbygale''s side. Kicking something that could resist hundreds of bullets would have been painful to kick.


    However, the little girl did not respond to Bajing''s question. Instead, Bajing heard the little girl say.


    "Not enough..."


    Abbygale was right. The kick she unleashed just now was not enough.


    "F*CK!"


    The giant cursed out loud as he used his right arm to prop himself up.


    Seeing the giant try to stand, Bajing immediately tried to grab Abbygale to retreat again.


    However, Bajing froze as she saw Abbygale begin to transform.


    The little girl turned into a snow-white cat girl.


    And before the giant could lift himself up, the figure of Abbygale was already in midair above him.


    Abbygale kicked the air again, and again, and again. She increased her spinning momentum far stronger than before. The audience could even see red vein-like lights appear on her neck and face. The speed she was umting was about to tear her robes apart.


    And then, with onest kick and another burst of light on her foot, Abbygale mmed another kick on the giant''s nape.


    BOOOOM!!!


    The explosive sound of metal exploding echoed as the giant''s defenses got prated.


    Abbygale''s kick, like a giant axe, hacked through the giant''s neck, brutally beheading the giant.


    The giant''s eyes opened wide as he realized what happened. His defenses were broken, and his head was now falling away from his body.


    "Damn it... Everything should be working as nned..."


    The giant let out hisst murmur as his voice trailed off in his death.


    SWOOOSH!


    As the giant closed his eyes, his body began to disintegrate.


    In an instant, everyone saw the giant''s body turn to ash in the middle of the destroyed market street.


    However, the giant had no regrets. In his death, the secrets and ns he knew had no way of spreading as no one could question him after he died.


    Unfortunately...


    "Heh, too bad, that won''t happen."


    An unfamiliar voice echoed into the giant''s ears.


    Wait, the giant was dead. How could he still hear?


    The giant opened his eyes. What he saw was a ss wall propped with metal fittings. It was a prison that was being held by someone.


    As he looked up, the giant was horrified.


    The giant was dead. That was without a doubt. However, the man inside that hospital room before was now holding his prison. His soul''s prison.


    With this man around...


    Death was not an escape. It was another round of torture.

 Chapter 1092 Back to the Hospital, The Events After Fight with the Giant Impostor

    Chapter 1092 Back to the Hospital, The Events After Fight with the Giant Impostor


    Day 360 - 3:26 PM - Market Area, Southside Peak, Muria Sacred Fortress, Mount Muria, Central Java, Indonesia


    Everyone around the market could not believe what they had just seen. A little girl killed the rampaging giant that the soldiers could not even damage with their guns.


    And as the giant turned to dust, no one noticed the figure that jumped in the sky until hended beside the little girl.


    The man then raised his right hand and clenched it. Then, six pikes, each around twelve inches in length, with intricate designs, flew into his hand from six directions of the destroyed area of the market. No, the pikes did not fly. The pikes were pulled with a thin string, showing that the man might have erected those pikes around the area without anyone noticing.


    After retrieving the pikes, the man lowered his body and checked the little girl''s leg.


    "Does it hurt?"


    The people heard the man ask the girl in anguage they could not understand.


    "A little."


    The little girl answered.


    There was no doubt the little girl''s feat was something unbelievable. It would be no surprise if she incurred some injuries from the bacsh of her own attack.


    On the side, the soldiers were confused about the man who appeared out of nowhere. However, they knew that the man was with the little girl, considering the actions they showed. Furthermore, the two of them conversed using the samenguage the locals could not understand.


    "Check the injured and count the casualties!"


    The leading officer shouted at the still-able soldiers after confirming that the battle ended.


    After giving his orders, the leading officer approached the man and the little girl, who was now with someone familiar to them. It was Bajing, the third inmand among the Moon Chasers of the 38th Settlement.


    "Excuse me," The leading officer called to the three. "I want to inquire about the situation."


    The leading officer was clearly being polite. He was unsure about the strange man, but he clearly saw the little girl''s strength during the fight. This girl might be powerful enough topete with many powerful people in the fortress, and that strength was more than enough to warrant respect despite being young.


    But before the leading officer could get a reply from the three, a voice interrupted him.


    "There is no need to ask them. I''m already informed of the entire situation."


    The leading soldier turned his head and saw the owner of the voice. He immediately stood and saluted.


    "Captain Wahid, Sir, what did you mean?"


    Captain Randy Wahid. He was the leader of the soldiers tasked to guard theboratory. He was also inmand of the patrol troops, to which the leading officer belonged.


    "Literally what I said," Captain Randy said with a stern tone, clearly in a bad mood. "A monster snuck into the fortress and took Dr. Murni''s identity. This giant that turned to ash is that impostor."


    "Sir, you mean the rumors..."


    The leading officer voiced out.


    "The rumor that started from the 41st Settlement turned out to be no mere rumor. It said that a man figured out and captured the impostors. That very man in the rumors is the one before us."


    The leading officer followed Captain Randy''s eyes, focused on the man beside the little girl.


    At this time, arge number of military vehicles began to arrive. However, as Captain Randy looked at the emblems on the vehicles, he could not help but frown.


    "What is happening here?! Why is the market destroyed?!"


    A rather stout, middle-aged man in a military uniform came out of one of the vehicles and shouted.


    "Out of all people, he''s the one who arrived first."


    The leading officer also did not have a positive opinion about the new arrivals.


    "Take care of our soldiers. Also, let them go. There''s no need to question them on site," Captain Randy said to the leading officer while looking at the little girl who killed the giant. "I''ll take care of that pig- I mean, I''ll take care of General Hadi."


    The leading officer nodded. He did not want to approach the fat General, either.


    "Thank you for stopping the giant," The leading officer thanked the little girl before turning to the man and Bajing. "You can go. Just go before General Hadi notices you three. We might have more questionster, but we can just contact Miss Bajing. Or, maybe, Miss Luna, correct?"


    "You can do that," Bajing agreed. "They are with us, anyway."


    After that exchange, the man picked up the little girl, and they immediately slipped out. The eyes of the gallery were still on them. But, at least no one tried to block the way of the girl who beheaded the giant with a single kick.


    ***


    Mark kept silent while observing the surroundings.


    That fat General seemed to be deeply scorned by their own soldiers. He must be something notorious within the fortress.


    In that case, did not want to be entangled with that guy either. Besides, his [Empath] abilities were already warning him of how shallow that General was as a person. He did not even pay attention to the soldiers who were transporting the injured passing right in front of him.


    After leaving the market, Mark, Abbygale, and Bajing regrouped with the members of the Moon Chasers, who tried to support the battle. The four were looking at Abbygale with reverence. They were surely amazed at how the little girl destroyed the giant alone.


    On the other hand, Bajing walked with them in deep contemtion. It was not wrong that she and Abbygale had simr abilities that relied on their speed and leg strength. The only difference was that Abbygale solely relied on her kicks, while Bajing had enough arm strength to use a dagger.


    Bajing knew she was much weakerpared to the little girl. She did not even do anything in this fight.


    However, Bajing gripped her fists. She was not disheartened. Taking the little girl as her inspiration, she would grow stronger from now on.


    When the group returned to the hospital lobby, it was almost empty, with only the staff left behind.


    Instead, they saw Luna and the rest in front of the front desk. Furthermore, Luna was already carrying her niece.


    It was clear what Luna was trying to do.


    "Is it already fine to check her out of the hospital?"


    Bajing asked Mark who treated the little girl.


    "The only problem with her is that she won''t wake up, right?" Mark replied. "Since that''s the case, aside from a few implications forying on the bed for too long, she should be fine. Well, I''m no doctor. If there are other physical problems, I can''t give a concrete answer for that."


    With that conversation, Mark and Bajing arrived at the front desk.


    "You okay, Bajing?"


    Limab asked her friend.


    "I''m fine. Though, I almost got hit by a stray bullet. Luckily, I managed to dodge."


    "Then, it''s good," Limab nodded and sighed. "We saw what happened from the window upstairs. I can''t believe that the kind Dr. Murni is one of those charcoal-skinned pricks. He must have been having fun tricking us all this time."


    "There''s no one to me among us," Nelia chimed in. "I admit, I only partly believed what I heard from you girlsst night. But seeing what happened now, I can''t doubt it anymore. And we don''t know when Dr. Murni was reced."


    The three fell silent. The day they first met Dr. Murni was still fresh in their mind. The doctor was a kind and diligent person. He even treats injured children for free in his free time. The kind doctor did exist before he was reced by a monster.


    "Is there still no answer? How long are we going to wait?"


    Luna''s voice was bing louder, making the nurses at the front desk feel the pressure.


    "We already sent someone to contact the director. Please wait a little more. He might be in the middle of an experiment."


    The nurse nervously answered.


    "They can''t check her out?"


    Mark asked Luna.


    "They should be able to, but they don''t want to."


    Luna replied with a deep tone of displeasure.


    "We are happy that your niece finally regained consciousness, but there are still proper procedures if you want to check her out of the hospital," The nurse exined. "Furthermore, she had just woken up, and her body was still weak. She still needs to undergo rehabilitation after beingatose for too long. Bringing her out of the hospital immediately would not rmended for her health."


    "Staying in this hospital is not rmended for my niece''s health, should I say," Luna frowned even more. "The doctor in charge of her was the one who prolonged hera. Should I wait for her to just mysteriously die inside your unsecured hospital?"


    "I''m sorry, but we also have our orders to follow."


    The nurse did not witness what happened outside, although they heard themotion. Thus, she did not believe what Luna was saying. However, instead of arguing back, she was trying to handle the situation professionally.


    At this point, Luna began gritting her teeth. She was getting angrier by the second.


    The members of the Moon Chasers became concerned. The calm Luna bing angry was definitely not a good sign.


    But then, a hand grabbed her shoulder.


    "Calm down."


    Mark said as he channeled his [Spirit Healing] through his hand. No one noticed, but his eyes were focused on the tips of Luna''s hair, which already had a silver tinge.


    In an instant, Luna''s anger died down to the point that even she was surprised.


    "What did you do?"


    Luna could not help but ask.


    "Just calm down," Mark did not answer her question. "Your niece is already getting scared."


    Luna looked at her niece she was carrying. The little girl was awake, but since she was still weakened, she was just silent and was barely moving.


    "Sorry, Shasha, did I scare you?"


    Luna''s eyes turned affectionate as she asked the little girl.


    Seeing Luna calm down, everyone around sighed in relief. Even the nurses looked at Mark in gratitude after the pressure of Luna''s anger on them vanished.


    "Alright, we will wait," Luna said to the nurses. "But don''t try to convince me to let my niece stay in this ce longer."


    The nurses felt relieved as they saw Luna''s group leave the front desk and take seats in the waiting area.


    Still, the nurses were confused, too. What was causing the director to take too long?


    After five minutes of waiting, the noisesing from the footsteps of several people were heard from the hospital''s entrance.


    The nurses looked, thinking it was the director.


    Luna and the rest also looked at the entrance.


    However, what entered was a familiar person from the military.


    "General Wijaya?"


    Luna voiced out.


    It was not just General Wijaya. Patrol Captain Randy Wahid from earlier was also present.


    General Wijaya looked at Luna''s group, specifically her niece, and nodded in greeting. He then turned and walked toward the front desk.


    "Good afternoon, General. What can we do for you?"


    The nurses respectfully greeted the General.


    "Allow the little girl''s discharge."


    General Wijaya said, pointing his thumb over his shoulder in Luna''s direction.


    "Sorry, General. But without the director''s permission, we can''t issue her discharge."


    The nurse apologized. The discharge might be easier for other patients, but it was different for Luna''s niece due to various reasons, but the main reason was the deal between Luna and the government.


    But to the nurses'' surprise, General Wijaya''s expression grew solemn.


    "There was no need for that bastard''s permission. Director Agung. No. The bastard probably impersonating him suddenly disappeared after Dr. Murni''s impostor was killed in the earliermotion."


    "What?!"


    The nurses were rmed. They might not believe Luna''s words, but it was different if the words came from General Wijaya.


    "Just discharge the girl," General Wijaya repeated. "If anything goes wrong, I''ll take responsibility."


    "Y-yes. We''ll handle it immediately."


    The nurses finally began working.


    Then, General Wijaya and his entourage approached Luna''s group, although the General was looking straight at Mark and Abbygale sitting on hisp.


    With the Captain around, it was clear that the whole situation had been ryed to General Wijaya.


    "Miss Luna, I''m sorry about the unfortunate situation."


    General Wijaya gave Luna a heartfelt apology.


    "You don''t need to apologize, General. It''s not your fault."


    Luna said sincerely.


    "Thank you," General Wijaya thanked Luna for her words before turning to Mark. "And Sir, Can we have the promised conversation sooner? Your exploits are already circting together with the rumors about the impostors you caught at the 41st Settlement. Many witnessed what happened in the market. Some knew the doctor and saw him turn into that giant. Now, the hospital director also vanished. I know things are already serious. We urgently need more information and handle the situation before the situation spirals out of control."


    Mark looked at Luna''s group before turning back to the General.


    "Alright. After leaving the hospital, Luna''s group will be iming the items they traded with you yesterday, so we will have time to talk until they finish loading everything into the vehicles."


    Hearing Mark''s words, General Wijaya agreed. As long as he could get even a few concrete answers, he was fine agreeing with Mark''s decisions.

 Chapter 1093 Outside the Exchange Center, Hitting Several Birds with One Stone

    Chapter 1093 Outside the Exchange Center, Hitting Several Birds with One Stone


    Day 360 - 4:11 PM - Exchange Center, Military Compound, Southside Peak, Muria Sacred Fortress, Mount Muria, Central Java, Indonesia


    First, it was just a rumoring from the 41st Satellite Settlement. Then, a battle urred in the market area as a giant appeared out of nowhere. However, ording to the witnesses, the giant was said to be a doctor who ran to escape from the hospital. There were also witnesses who saw the mask on his face peel off and break when he transformed. That mask was clearly simr to the details regarding the previous rumor.


    The fight in the market caused the rumors to spread even further. And these rumors were not good for both the people of the fortress and the impostors.


    These rumors would hinder the movements of the impostors for whatever goal they might have. On the other hand, knowing that the people in the fortress might not be the people they thought to be would cause distrust among the popce to blossom. Worse, this distrust could even turn families into strangers.


    Nheless, while many people began to worry about the rumors, there were also those who did not seem to care. After all, rumors were just rumors until it was absolutely proven. A few coincidences could not turn a rumor into an absolute truth.


    Instead, those who did not believe the rumors focused on a different thing.


    Those people turned their eyes towards the little girl who ended the trouble in the market area. The little girl''s speed and power were something many people would covet. She might even be better to have than a dozen or two armed soldiers.


    Of course, there was no one trying to just go and abduct the little girl. They might as well try tomit suicide to do that crime within the territory of the military. The only way to get the girl into their ranks was to approach her guardians.


    However, these people suddenly felt that getting the girl was a task far greater than attacking an [Infected] nest.


    The little girl''s likely guardians or parents were easy to spot. The girl''s guardians were the man who appeared at the end of the battle in the market and the woman wearing a veil currently with the girl.


    Unfortunately, although they were in public to see, approaching them was one hell of a task. The woman was together with the leaders of the Moon Chasers, chatting with them in a friendly manner. On the other hand, the man was just sitting in the nearby waiting area. However, he was having a conversation with General Wijaya with a few high-ranking officers surrounding the vicinity.


    There was no way to approach them at this time withoutpromising and sacrificing things.


    ***


    "Look at those people. They are itching to approach but can''t do it."


    Edge remarked as he noticed representatives of various survivor groups lurking in the area despite having no business in the exchange center.


    "It will take an extremely thick skin if they want to do it right now," Nelia shrugged. "They are probably thinking Sir Mark''s group are our members, so they can''t just march blindly and offer invitations while we are here."


    "It will be different if those bastards from the north are present, though."


    Edge said with a rather aggressive tone.


    "Right, those people won''t care. They won''t even hesitate to insult people right at their faces."


    Nelia agreed.


    "They had the backing of another General, so they won''t even feel afraid with General Wijaya present."


    Limab chimed in.


    Fortunately, they had yet to see any members of those people Edge called bastards from the north.


    "Still, Sir Mark''s pretty cunning, isn''t he?"


    Limab suddenly added, getting the attention of the other members around her.


    "What do you mean?"


    Bajing asked.


    However, Bajing''s question was not answered by Limab but by Nelia, who spoke while counting on her fingers.


    "He could pick any other location to have a talk with the General, but he chose something where the people in the Exchange Center could see them. He also made sure to show them that the General came along with us. And, also because of the General, those having ulterior motives can''t approach at all."


    "Mark is hitting several birds with one stone, and we''re benefiting from it."


    Luna said as she nced at the frantic people in the Exchange Center.


    Trading in the Exchange Center was never easy for the Moon Chasers or any other survivor groups without strong backing. Corruption was strong in this division. Sometimes, exchanged items would be imed by thieves and other times, people within the center would nick items traded by the survivor groups. There were even those adding unlisted fees and stuff.


    Given howrge the trade Luna''s group was about to im, they were already prepared to argue. After all, they had the General''s token to im the items in the trade he personally oversaw.


    However, not to mention arguing and illegal fees, the people in the Exchange Center were frantically moving the items to the trucks on their own.


    The Moon Chasers never experienced this kind of VIP treatment from these corrupt individuals.


    "Look at those idiots," Edge said, stealthily pointing at the division head and officials in charge of the Exchange Center. "They look like someone fed them bugs."


    Edge''s words were not wrong. The current trade the Moon Chasers established with General Wijaya was ratherrge. It was the value they received in exchange for the important research material, the [Fog Crawler''s] head. With thisrge number of items, the corrupt soldiers could charge a higher "fee" and even steal things, and the Moon Chasers could not do about it.


    But General Wijiaya was just there outside the Exchange Center. These corrupt soldiers would not dare do anything scandalous in front of the General.


    "Well, let''s take advantage of this," Limab gave a yful smirk as she took the list of items Mark wanted from Luna. "Might as well ask them about these items. They should have some of these, and we''ll save a bit of time while getting back at these pricks."


    Limab then approached the counter with the list in hand.


    Everyone watched Limab''s back. No one in the group even had the slightest intention of wanting to stop her.


    ***


    Within the waiting area, Mark and General Wijaya sat in front of each other with a wooden table separating them.


    There were soldiers surrounding the area, but all of them had their backs facing the two. The only other soldier facing Mark was Captain Randy Wahid, who was standing behind the General.


    At this time, Mark was listening to the General.


    From the General''s words, there had been reports of strange urrences within the fortress for a while now. It was not strange in a way that it was impossible or unbelievable. It was just that no suspects had been found for these urrences.


    There were a few instances of break-ins within the military facilities. There were also some instances of missing people. The worst was instances of sabotage of military equipment. Some of these sabotages actually caused some deaths and failures in a few missions.


    At first, one would think there was no connection between the military incidents and the missing people. However, there was one ring simrity among these incidents.


    All possible witnesses had no idea of the incident. It was as if their memories were manipted en masse.


    The investigators began thinking that the perpetrators caused mass delirium among the witnesses, causing them to be confused and forget anything they had seen.


    "But the rumors that circted brought in another possibility, correct?"


    Mark asked the General.


    "Yes."


    General Wijaya nodded.


    "At first, none of us believed the rumors," General Wijaya exined further. "However, this morning, when the rumors began circting, one of our investigators who was in the middle of questioning a witness tried to jokingly grab the witness'' face. The rumors said that the impostors were wearing skin masks. That was what sparked the investigator''s action."


    "But something happened?"


    Mark asked, and General Wijaya gave another nod.


    "The witness began acting strange. It was as if he did not want his face to be grabbed in the way the investigator did. Normal people would not have that reaction unless they were wearing something on their face, like makeup or masks. The witness was clearly not wearing any of such. The investigators grew suspicious and attempted again. The second time was not just a joke. The witness then began spewing smoke from his mouth and attempted to flee the room."


    Mark remembered the impostor of Wahyu from the Fire Fighters. That one also spewed smoke from his mouth before escaping.


    "Capturing the witness was impossible barehanded. Our soldiers had to tranquilize him," General Wijaya continued. "However, when he was incapacitated by the tranquilizer, he froze and turned to ash. It was just like the rumors. After that, our soldiers began to check the witnesses in our protection and tracked the witnesses from previous incidents we let go."


    "The ones in our protection were gone from their rooms. The only thing found in their rooms were piles of ashes on the floor and masks made of human skin. We also failed to track the witnesses from previous cases. It was as if they just vanished without a trace."


    "We learned that the rumors were true. The worst thing is that this might have already been a problem for a long while, and no one noticed," General Wijaya then stared straight at Mark. "That was until you came."


    "We already questioned Farel and his group after the incident with the witnesses happened," General Wijaya continued. "We learned what happened to their group and the impostor of the man named Wahyu. It was the very first instance of these "creatures" being revealed."


    "So, you need my help? I thought this conversation would be about the fog."


    Mark asked.


    "The fog is also a problem. I also want to hear the information about it," General Wijaya replied. "However, the problem with these creatures pretending to be people is far more urgent. Even if we learned anything about the fog, we won''t be able to do much while knowing any one of us might be just another creature in disguise."


    "So, you want me to check all the people in the fortress one by one or something?"


    Mark asked another question.


    "Although that would be a usible action, it would not be efficient," General Wijaya answered. "If possible, we want to know how you are able to distinguish them and teach these methods to our soldiers."


    However, hearing what the General wanted, Mark shook his head.


    "It''s not possible," Mark said, continuing before General Wijaya could respond. "It''s not about the reward or if I wanted something from you."


    The General was surprised. He could not but look at Mark because he answered the question that he could not even ask.


    It was as if Mark could read his mind.


    "I can''t read your mind," Mark shrugged, surprising the General even more. "What I can read are emotions. The energies emotions had, to be exact. This is also what allows me to find the impostors because emotional fluctuations differ greatly from humans."


    "So, you''re a [Psychic]," The General was surprised. "Then, you really can''t teach us that method."


    General Wijaya epted Mark''s reason without further questions. Although he was surprised, Mark was not the first [Psychic] he had seen, and he knew that being a [Psychic] was a characteristic that could not be passed on unless it was inherited.


    "But I didn''t mean that I can''t help," Mark suddenly said, surprising the General. "I''m not talking about checking everyone one by one."


    Mark then took out a dagger and ced it on the table.


    "What is this?"


    General Wijaya asked.


    "This is a dagger with a [Dispel] enchantment. If you guys asked Farel before, then you must have heard about it."


    The General then realized. The dagger Mark took out must be the item that forced Wahyu''s impostor out of his disguise.


    "But... Enchantment?"


    The General asked. He had a suspicion. As a General, he was pretty young. He knew some fantasy terms because he would y some games with his children in the past.


    "Yes, it''s a magical item. The [Dispel] enchantment can force the impostors out of their disguise because what they used to disguise themselves was some kind of magical spell."


    What Mark was saying would sound bogus if it was before the apocalypse. But now, rather than doubt, General Wijaya and Captain Wahid were just amazed to see a magical item before their eyes.


    "How many of these daggers do you have?"


    General Wijaya asked. He heard that Mark threw this dagger and dispelled the impostor''s disguise despite getting parried. If they could arm a few soldiers with these daggers, a simple touch by these daggers would reveal the impostors.


    "It''s just a prototype, so there''s only one."


    Mark replied.


    The General was about to feel dejected. A single dagger would not change a lot of things. But he realized something from Mark''s words.


    "A prototype, you say?" General Wijaya asked. "Then..."


    "Yes, I made this one," Mark admitted. "Unfortunately, we had just arrived in this ce. If I had the materials and equipment, I could make more, and probably in different forms as needed."


    General Wijaya understood what Mark meant.


    "What materials and equipment do you need?"


    General Wijaya asked, making Mark smile.


    Mark knew that Luna''s group would not be able to get all the items and equipment he needed to make a workshop. If that was the case, the rest of the missing items would be handled by General Wijaya.


    Just like Luna had said before, Mark was hitting several birds with one stone. And each bird was a bullseye, so far.

 Chapter 1095 Night at Northside Peak, The Drastic Change in Limabelas Visions

    Chapter 1095 Night at Northside Peak, The Drastic Change in Limab''s Visions


    D¨ƒy ¨ƒ¨ƒ¨ƒ - ¨ƒ¨ƒ:¨ƒ2 ¨ƒM - Tr¨ƒ¨ƒ ¨ƒf H¨ƒ¨ƒ¨ƒ¨ƒn, ¨ƒk¨ƒ¨ƒ¨ƒa, ¨ƒ¨ƒnt¨ƒ¨ƒl ¨ƒa¨ƒ¨ƒ, I¨ƒdo¨ƒ¨ƒes¨ƒ¨ƒa


    "Ugh."


    With a numbing pain in her arms, Limab opened her eyes.


    Confused, Limab looked around, only to find herself waking up inside an unfamiliar ditch.


    Limeb lifted her painful body up. She could not remember anything. Where was this ce? Why was she here? Limab was utterly in the dark.


    The first thing she did was climb up the ditch she fell in. It was she noticed her arms covered in a pair of unfamiliar gauntlets with a familiar glow and sheen. Limab could not recall where she had seen this kind of glow before. It just felt familiar.


    After noticing the gauntlets, Limab also noticed she was wearing a light protective armor that paired with the gauntlets in terms of appearance. She also wore a matching pair of boots.


    It was really strange as Limab had never seen such armor before. She also noticed that her armor was severely scratched and damaged. Some parts were even falling off as she moved around.


    BOOM!


    Limab''s attention shifted from her armor to the soundsing from outside the ditch. That was right. There was no time to wonder about what she was wearing. She must know where she was and what was happening.


    Although the ditch covered the view of the outside, it was not high enough to be impossible to climb.


    And when Limab looked around after leaving the ditch, she felt a severe headache. Strange enough, everything looked blurred in her eyes.


    Despite the pain in her head and blurry surroundings, Limab continued to observe her surroundings. She looked around until she noticed something. It was a hill, a very familiar hill.


    And the hill did not look blurry in her eyes.


    BOOM!


    An explosion urred in the sky. Limab could not help but look, causing the pain in her head to intensify. However, she insisted on looking at it and saw the blurry figures of two entities battling to death in the sky. One figure seemed d in mes, while the other appeared to be darkness itself.


    The two shed, and the space shook. That scene made Limab shudder. It was as if she was watching a battle beyond mortals.


    A battle of Deities and Gods.


    Limab felt weaker. She was unable to hold on watching the godly entities in the sky.


    Still, Limab moved. She followed the direction of the familiar hill.


    BOOM!


    On the hill, a surge of energy exploded.


    That surge of energy made Limab''s eyes widen.


    That surge of energy was the most familiar thing to her in this blurry world.


    That surge of energy was something Limab had seen countless times.


    "LUNA!"


    Limab shouted in reflex.


    On that very hill, Luna and Bajing should be there.


    And Limab should also be there at this moment.


    However, Limab was not there but here.


    Limab was bing overwhelmed with worry and confusion.


    The surge of energy bloomed. The top of the hill became submerged within that energy.


    It was the sign that Luna, Bajing, and Limab would die. That surge of energy would leave not a single trace of them.


    But...


    Limab was not on the hill.


    "UGH!"


    Limab fell to her knees as the pain in her head intensified further.


    But all of a sudden, Limab felt another surge of energy. A familiar energy she had felt before.


    Another attempt, Limab raised her head. She looked straight at the hill.


    Then, Limab saw two figures soar in the air. She was too far to recognize the two figures, but she could not be mistaken about one of them.


    It was a woman with silver hair. That familiar silver hair.


    CRASH!


    All of a sudden, everything froze. A sound of ss cracking echoed inside Limab''s ears.


    And then, all went ck.


    ***


    "HA! HU! HA! HU!"


    Limab took rapid, deep breaths as she suddenly woke up from her sleep. Her clothes felt sticky. It reeked of sweat.


    Feeling ufortable to continue lying on the bed, Limab slowly got up.


    Limab felt a little sluggish as she stood up. However, it was not the first time. She was already a little ustomed to this feeling. However, she would never getpletely used to it.


    The night was dark. Everyone had to save candles and oil fornterns. Nheless, Limab had no problem moving through her room.


    Limab moved to the window and opened it slightly. With the help of the moonlight, she could see a little bit outside. However, the view was not something she really liked to see. It was the view created by greed and corruption. It was the view only seen in the Northside Peak.


    That was right. Limab was currently away from the 38th Settlement, returning to where her family was currently living. Well, although it said family, it was just her father. Her mother had long left them due to an illness years ago. On the other hand, her younger brother, the same as her, who longed for freedom, had already left the family, joining a different survivor group.


    "I should change clothes..."


    Limab muttered as she closed the window again.


    While changing clothes, Limab could not help but stare nkly in the air.


    Once more, Limab was given a vision through her dream. However, the vision this time was extremely different from the ones before.


    Before, the visions would always be quite short. Furthermore, it was stuck to only one scene. It was the scene where Limab, Bajing, and Luna were atop that very same hill, about to face death.


    The first visions showed Bajing dead and Limab''s body mangled. All that was left struggling was Luna, who could barely stand in front of Limab. Then, as the light bloomed and energy surged, all of them died, and the vision would end.


    Since Limab saw those visions, she had been trying ways to change them. And her decisions did show some changes, albeit small.


    But the better end of the vision came when Mark''s figure appeared in that scene. There was no warning. None of them knew of him either. As he stood in front of the three, it was the first time the vision ended with the three of them alive.


    Now, however... It was the second time there was a drastic change in the vision. And this was the first vision she was not utterly incapacitated.


    Nheless, she was also separated from Luna and Bajing.


    The worst thing about this vision was that Limab could not see anything that was happening atop the hill. All her visions had been in first person. Her own perspective at the time of the vision. If she were to be separated from the others in the vision, it would be impossible for Limab to help and take action.


    But what caused the sudden change in future events? It was like when Mark''s figure just appeared with no warning or anything at all.


    A sudden change.


    It was as if there were things the visions could not predict and had to change drastically and ordingly.


    Limab''s eyes widened. She remembered the two figures in the sky. One d in mes and one d in darkness.


    Godly beings. Beings unbound by fate, beings that could overturn destiny.


    "Beings that could drastically affect the future..."


    Limab murmured as she reced her sweaty underwear.


    Shaking her head, Limab quickly finished changing her clothes. She had to investigate what was going on. Although she was unsure that she would arrive at the answers. However, a few little clues would at least help her change the visions.


    After changing clothes, Limab tried to return to bed and sleep. However, the scenes in the vision became stuck in her head. Unable to go back to sleep, Limab justid on her bead, nkly staring at the ceiling.


    ***


    Day 264 - 8:11 AM - Astria Manor, Northside Peak, Muria Sacred Fortress, Mount Muria, Central Java, Indonesia


    Morning came, and Limab never fell back to sleep. Now, shecked several hours of rest, but Limab tried to shake it off as she smiled before the dining table.


    However, a voice entered her ear, clearly knowing herck of sleep.


    "You didn''t sleep properly again?"


    The voice asked as Limab looked across the table.


    There was a middle-aged man sitting in front of her. It was her father and the head of Astria Enterprises, Baskoro Astria.


    "It''s the usual."


    Limab replied.


    "The usual, huh. You mean your usual visions that you don''t want to tell me."


    Baskoro said, staring at his daughter.


    "It''s really nothing," Limab smiled. "I''ll tell you if it''s bad."


    Baskoro continued staring at his hard-headed daughter. He could only sigh.


    "You already know that the words you said just now are the same words your mother told me before leaving us."


    "You already said that many times, too," Limabined. "It''s really nothing."


    At this time, a maid entered the dining room, pushing a cart with food.


    "Thank you."


    Limab thanked the maid as she ced food in front of her.


    The maid smiled and retreated.


    "By the way, Dad," Limab turned back to her father. "I''m going back to our base today."


    Baskoro red at Limab but did not say anything. He then chewed and swallowed the food in his mouth before talking.


    "Don''t go alone. Go there with our transport. Our men will be heading there with the materials, anyway."


    "You''re not stopping me this time, huh?"


    Limab was a little surprised. Usually, he would be against her going with her friends.


    "I want to stop you, but you''ll just slip out, anyway," Baskoro sighed. "You''re really the split image of your mother. Not just abilities, but also personality."


    "Is that apliment?"


    Limab asked.


    "It''s not."


    Baskoro wanted to smack his daughter''s senses back.


    However, there was one reason why Baskoro was not against Limab going out this time. There was a current threat of the [Face Wearers] in the fortress. And the safest ce in the fortress against these [Face Wearers] was the 38th Satellite Settlement, where the maker of the badges resided.


    With those thoughts, Baskoro could not help but nce at the badge on his chest. When Limab returned, she came back with these badges, which were supposed to be exclusive to the soldiers of General Wijaya. He was a little happy. It meant that these badges would protect the family from those [Face Wearers]. Limab even brought extra badges for their servants, making everyone happy.


    Against [Face Wearers], the 38th Satellite Settlement would be the safest. However, Baskoro could not help but worry a little. The [Face Wearers] would not be the only danger the Moon Chasers would face. Those badges would make other people target them, too.


    That was why Baskoro decided to send some guards for Limab in the guise of bringing materials there to trade.


    Baskoro could only wish nothing bad would happen to his daughter. It was good that even in the apocalypse, he had some influence. In the least, the greedy bastards would hesitate to provoke him by harming his daughter.


    "By the way, Dad," Limab took back her father''s attention. "Any news about brother?"


    "Your brother''s group just finished dealing with the monsters that came out of the sea. If not for the [Face Wearers], they would be the topic of the news around the fortress."


    "Is that so? Good for them." Limab tapped her ce with her spoon. "Should I send some badges to brother? I don''t know if we had enough materials, though."


    "It would be good if you can," Baskoro supported his daughter''s idea. "The materials would not be a problem. We can also ask your brother to provide extra funds to trade for the badges."


    "If that''s the case, I''ll ask Sir Mark."


    Limab replied with a nod.


    However, hearing a man''s nameing from his daughter''s lips made Baskoro a little ufortable, especially since Limab looked enthusiastic.


    "That face again," Limab pouted. "Don''t worry. Sir Mark''s already married."


    "I didn''t say anything."


    Baskoro spoke.


    "You really don''t have to say anything if what you are thinking is obvious on your face."


    Limab argued.


    The father and daughter continued their banter over the course of their breakfast.


    In the middle of the apocalypse, many people would be envious of such a scene.

 Chapter 1096 A New Workshop, The Current Happenings in the 38th Satellite Settlement

    Chapter 1096 A New Workshop, The Current Happenings in the 38th Satellite Settlement


    Day 364 - 1:21 PM - Workshop, 38th Satellite Settlement, Muria Sacred Fortress, Mount Muria, Kudus Regency, Central Java, Indonesia


    The 38th Satellite Settlement was among the most powerful of the Muria Sacred Fortress, although they were also among the less regarded. While it was not well known to everyone, this ce was governed by the previous original settlers of Mount Muria after the apocalypse came.


    Although the Moon Chasers were powerful, they barely let anyone into their tight-knit group, making them one of the lesser candidates when one would want to join a survivor group.


    Furthermore, there was an obvious bias against the Moon Chasers from the government for some reason. It was also the same with a few military factions, and, most importantly, the same could be said for the religious group residing in the fortress.


    It was something that even the Moon Chasers could not understand. However, they could only persevere against the harassment they were receiving.


    But now, everything... No, mostly everything. The disregard and other stuff pointed at them turned around a hundred and eighty degrees for the Moon Chasers.


    In the past few days that passed by, the Moon Chasers had been racking out achievements and rumors. The return with the head of a [Fog Crawler], traveling with ferocious beasts, saving the members of the 41st Satellite Settlement, and even the battle in the market had something to do with them. And although the initial discovery of the [Face Wearers] barely had to do anything with them, the fact that the man who could detect the impostors was with them added to the positive rumors.


    After General Wijaya began acting against the [Face Wearers], the source of the badges and the detecting equipment was quickly traced back to the Moon Chasers.


    Since then, the 38th Satellite Settlement turned into the central hub for eliminating the hidden threat within the fortress.


    Right after the fact became known, people began visiting the 38th Satellite Settlement to inquire about the badges, the so-called [Disguise Dispelling Badges].


    Unfortunately for those people, they could onlye back home without sess. The badges were limited in number, and the person making the badges also had limits in manufacturing the badges. Not to mention the limits of materials needed to make the items.


    Some "intelligent" people also offered "help" with the manufacturing and stuff. However, their goals were way too obvious for everyone to see that it was far harder to ept their offer than to decline them bluntly.


    In any case, the main distribution of the badges was already in General Wijaya''s management through an agreement. That reason alone was more than enough to chase people away. But, just in case, the Moon Chasers also took a rather corporate decision. It was to allow the selling of a smaller number of badges at fixed intervals. This would make it easier for the badges to circte while not infringing too much on the deal with General Wijaya.


    The lucky group chosen to sell the badges was the Astria Corporation. And it was to everyone else''s jealousy.


    Right now, the people distributing the badges have the authority because of the threat caused by the [Face Wearers]. Those who had this opportunity would umte more influence and power within the fortress, even after the threat had already been solved.


    It was why many factions, and even survivor groups, wanted a share of this authority. Unfortunately, the Moon Chasers had always been a tough nut to crack.


    ***


    CLANG! CLANG! CLANG!


    Noises of shing metal echoed loudly within a house in the 38th Satellite Settlement.


    This house built near the center of the 38th Satellite Settlement was not here a few days ago. It was recently built, and it was built rather too fast. This house became Mark''s workshop, and it was built with the help of General Wijaya.


    Even though this workshop was managed by Mark and owned by the Moon Chasers, none of them had to spend anything for it. While the Moon Chasers did search for some of the equipment inside, most of this necessary equipment was also brought by General Wijaya and his soldiers.


    CLANG! CLANG! CLANG!


    The sounds of metal being worked on continued.


    However, as loud as the sounds inside might be, barely any noise from inside could be heard outside.


    Luna looked at the workshop, looking a bit tired, although she looked happy. She entered the workshop and felt the sudden change in ambiance and temperature. It was as if the inside and outside of the workshop belonged to different worlds.


    Looking around, Luna saw a few men hammering some metal molds into ce. These people were volunteers from the settlement, working on the few mechanisms that Mark built himself.


    Luna had no idea how Mark built these things in one night. However, due to these mechanisms, making the badges became easier even inrger numbers.


    "Something wrong?"


    Some asked Luna. She turned her head and saw Marking out of the inner room where he worked alone.


    "Just visiting before more annoying people arrive."


    Luna said in exasperation.


    It was good that their group and settlement were bing more important to the people of the fortress. However, Luna was not fond of the annoyances it brought.


    "So, they won''t just stop, huh?" Mark shrugged. "Well, it''s something we already expected, though."


    "It''s eptable if all of them were new peopleing here for the first time, but more than half of them are ones we already declined before. Is it hard to understand we don''t want to cooperate with them?"


    "You should expect that to happen," A female voice echoed, alsoing out from the same room Mark was just now. "I was also in the same situation before until I began chasing everyone with a hammer."


    The woman was on the tall side, wearing work clothes. Although she looked thin, one could see that she was on the muscr side, especially with her well-defined arms and upper body.


    "K," Luna smiled. "What are you doing with Sir. Mark inside?"


    "The usual," K shrugged with a little hint of disappointment. "I''m asking him to be my master, but he won''t budge."


    "The usual, huh."


    Luna bitterly smiled. It had been like this for two days now.


    K was neither a member of the Moon Chasers nor a resident of the 38th Sattelite Settlement. She was from the 43rd Satellite Settlement and the third inmand of the group that called themselves Aqua Terra.


    Within the fortress, K was the only professional craftswoman. All the others were male. Furthermore, she was the only crafter in the southeast quadrant of the fortress.


    Due to her skills, many asked to have their equipment and weapons made by her. However, her approval was rather hard to receive. Most of the time, she would only take requests from friends and allies. Because of these reasons, the 41st and 38th Satellite Settlements were able to get cheaper and better equipment.


    The Aqua Terra was one of the few female-led groups in the fortress and was one of the two in the southeast quadrant. It was also one of the two only allies the Moon Chasers had.


    K''s works were in demand as they were proven to be better than most.


    And now, that professional craftswoman was asking to be Mark''s pupil.


    If other people saw this, they would think K had gone mad. However, while K was talented, she was mostly self-taught. And most of her knowledge was built up to make props for cosys and stuff.


    Yes, K was in the same field of work as Mark before the apocalypse. However, even she admired Mark''s works as she learned from Luna about some props of a popr cosyer in the Philippines to be his masterpieces.


    Since the badges were released, there was no way Luna would not give some to their allies. As such, Luna contacted the leaders of Fire Fighters and Aqua Terra to visit that very same day General Wijaya distributed the badges.


    And then, K saw Mark working in this workshop during their visit.


    Compared to K''s superficial knowledge, Mark was definitely someone who was taught the right ways of cksmithing. Since then, she had been asking Mark to be her master.


    K had yet to seed in that, although she was allowed to watch Mark with his current works. And she was specifically told to steal anything she could steal from Mark''s skills.


    Mark might not ept pupils, but K was free to learn by watching.


    "Oh, by the way," Mark suddenly spoke to Luna. "I''m working only your equipment, but you said you don''t need a new melee weapon, right?"


    "Right," Luna nodded as she tapped the sheathed Silver Keris hanging on her waist. "I already have this one. It served me quite well since I found it months ago."


    "Can I have a look, if you don''t mind?"


    Mark asked.


    "Sure."


    Luna did not hesitate, taking the Silver Keris from its sheath and carefully handing it to Mark.


    Mark received the Kekis. He had been curious about Luna''s unusual weapon for a while now. However, he did not have the time to ask to take a look at it. Besides, it would be just in rude to ask someone for their weapon until enough trust was built between them.


    "Hmmm..."


    Mark carefully observed the Silver Keris.


    "I took a look at that weapon before, too," K spoke. "It''s pretty well made. It might be antique since Luna said she found it in a museum."


    "It''s the same ce we met before," Luna added. "I found it there when we first found that ce."


    Mark remembered it. It was the small building in the middle of nowhere where they found the box that could push away the fog from the [Magical Overflow].


    It made Mark suspicious.


    No, Mark was already suspicious since the start.


    Everywhere Luna went, Mark could detect two mental fluctuations from her, although the second one was so thin that it was easy for him to neglect.


    Mark had said before that his [Empath Detection] had less effect on children because of their simple mindset and shallow emotional fluctuations.


    However, the other fluctuation from Luna was even thinner than that. At first, Mark thought it was her hidden ability after he heard what happened to Luna after she became consumed by her overwhelming anger.


    But now, Mark was sure. It was not from Luna or her hidden ability.


    Mark frowned as he finalized his theory.


    "Is there something wrong with my weapon?"


    Luna nervously asked. Mark was a rather emotionless kind of person, but it was the first time she saw him behaving this seriously.


    "Let''s get out for a bit," Mark told Luna before turning to the men working on the badges. "Continue your work. I''m going out for some time."


    "Leave this to us, Boss!"


    "Yeah, we got this!"


    The men enthusiastically replied.


    Mark then beckoned Luna to follow.


    "Hey, wait for me! I''ming too!"


    K shouted after almost getting left behind.


    The three walked around the nearby building and ended up in the training area behind the Moon Chaser''s base.


    There, Mark saw Feng Zhiruo teaching some basic swordsmanship to the members of the Moon Chasers. Luna should be there too, if not for the annoying visitors she had to meet.


    "What are we doing here? Are you going to test it or something?"


    Luna asked in confusion.


    "I''m going to try something, so I needed a wider space," Mark replied. "And just in case, get ready to back away if something strange happens."


    Luna and K were confused. What would Mark need to do that required them to back away?


    However, as the two wondered, Mark sat on the ground and closed his eyes. Both his hands were holding on the hilt of the Silver Keris.


    Mark''s metal fluctuations soared. And all of a sudden, an Oriental Sword appeared out of nowhere and floated beside him.


    Now, everyone in the training area was looking at Mark and whatever he was doing.


    However, something that everyone never expected was for the Silver Keris to suddenly surge with bright light.

 Chapter 1097 The Silver Keris, Awakening the Spiritual Being Within the Sleeping Weapon

    Chapter 1097 The Silver Keris, Awakening the Spiritual Being Within the Sleeping Weapon


    Day 364 - 1:42 PM - Training Area, 38th Satellite Settlement, Muria Sacred Fortress, Mount Muria, Kudus Regency, Central Java, Indonesia


    "Luna... What is happening?" K could not help but ask the woman beside her because of the events she was seeing. "I know something''s up with him and his group after a few days I spent here, but this just looks... absurd..."


    "I don''t know, either."


    It was the only answer Luna could give at the moment. She never expected something like this either. Furthermore, Luna''s attention was focused on her weapon in Mark''s hands. She already suspected that it might have some hidden secrets as an antique item, but she did not think it would be of magical origin.


    That was right. It was magic. Luna could feel magical fluctuations from the Silver Keris after it began glowing.


    How was Luna able to sense magical energy now? It was one of the few things Mark pushed Luna and the others to learn after the day Luna''s niece woke up. This skill was something they would definitely need in the current world, but there was no one to teach them until now. Among the members of the Moon Chasers, Luna, Limab, and, unexpectedly, Edge had good talent in this.


    Now that the little bit of training paid off, Luna could slightly understand that whatever was currently happening before her was of magical origin.


    It seemed that the magical fluctuations attracted some attention. The members of Mark''s group hastily arrived to see the situation. However, they could only sigh when they saw it was Mark who was at the center of it.


    "Uncle is doing something absurd again..."


    Emika remarked.


    "Yeah," Spera agreed. "He''s just doing whatever he wants without warning. I thought there were enemies."


    "You two had gotten used to this, huh?"


    Annica chimed in. It was her first journey with Mark and the rest. As such, the current happenings were still new to her.


    And it was the same for Hannah, who stared intently at Mark, watching what miracle was about to happen.


    Mei and their daughters arrivedter than the others. Since Mei had the ability to locate Mark''s location in the immediate vicinity, she knew that the magical fluctuation was urring with Mark at the center. Then, there was no need to hurry, unlike the others.


    ***


    And while all themotion outside was happening, Mark opened his eyes inside his [Subconscious World].


    Looking around, Mark could see the vast scene he created in this ce before. A forest-like scenery by the seaside. It was the very same scene when Mark first met Ignis.


    Although Mark was already informed by Magwayen about being able to mold this [Subconscious World] into any image he could imagine, he had yet to do much here. It was possible to mold this illusory world, but everything would still be affected and molded based on his knowledge and memories. Then, umting more knowledge and experiences before molding this world would be better for Mark.


    For now, Mark had to focus on something else.


    "Master."


    A calm voice entered Mark''s ear, making him turn to his right.


    There, a familiar figure appeared. It was Ignis. However, it was not the five-year-old appearance he had before. Right now, Ignis looks like a handsome ancient Japanese teenager. He was even wearing a nice-looking oriental outfit. Furthermore, his fiery demeanor was dampened, and he now looked calmer, like a true warrior and not an unruly ughterer.


    Ignis fell asleep after fusing with the Japanese legendary sword, Kusanagi-no-Tsurugi. That state of dormancysted about a week, and he woke up just the day before Mark''s group set off to Indonesia.


    However, Ignis was still in need of stabilization. Even for a [Cursed Sword] like him who evolved into a [Demon Sword], taking in the powers of a sword that was once the tail of a god would need some time. That was why Ignis opened a rift in space and hid inside while following Mark.


    What was this rift in space? Apparently, it was something a lot of Gods could do. It was why the [Eyes] had a hard time tracking the hidden Gods still remaining in this world even after putting it back in control. It seemed that fusing with the Kusanagi-no-Tsurugi allowed him to create a small rift to rest in. Unfortunately, it was nothingparable to the rifts real Gods could create since it was just a ck rift, not a small world where he could invite others to enter.


    But now, Ignis felt something. He came out of the rift and joined Mark in whatever he was trying to do without being called out.


    "You came out in time. Did you feel it, too?"


    Mark asked.


    "Yes. An existence simr to me."


    Ignis nodded.


    An existence simr to Ignis. It was, without a doubt, the Silver Keris Mark borrowed from Luna.


    The two looked forward. There was no need to look anywhere else. It was because in the [Subconscious World] that Mark barely touched, a new structure appeared.


    Mark and Ignis approached. The structure was like an open altar of Western origin. There was a wide set of stares up front, and there was what seemed to be an elevated sacrificial tform up the stairs. The tform atop the stairs was surrounded by tall, ivory-colored pirs with distinct carvings.


    Without further waiting, Mark and Ignis scaled the stairs and stepped onto the tform.


    The first thing they saw was a little girl sleeping atop the altar at the center of the tform. As if sensing someone''s arrival, the little girl opened her eyes and slowly got up while stretching her sleepy body.


    After finishing driving off the sleepiness she had, the little girl looked straight at the two visitors. No, she was only looking at Mark as if she already knew what Ignis was.


    "Who are you? Why are you disturbing my sleep?"


    The little girl asked in a slightlymanding tone.


    Mark did not reply immediately and observed the little girl. She was not exactly a little girl. While she was smaller than Spera, she had the appearance of someone of Mei''s age. Her hair had a color gradient of brown at the base, turning gold at the ends. Oddly enough, she was not wearing anything fully based on the silver color. Even her clothes looked like a gothic ck dress with white ribbons and golden ents instead.


    But despite her nice dress, the little girl was barefooted, though.


    "What is with your silence?" The little girl asked. "Are you perhaps infatuated with my beautiful appearance?"


    The little girl sure had a yful side, as she even made an alluring pose with her fingers touching her chin.


    And, for the first time, the little girl received a reply from Mark.


    "Nah. My wife is far more beautiful than you."


    Mark replied with a shrug, making the little puff her cheeks in disappointment.


    However, it seemed that the little girl did not believe Mark.


    "Have you looked at yourself in the mirror? To think you would lie to have a wife more beautiful than I?"


    But before the little girl could sneer along with her arrogant words, an image floated in midair after a snap of Mark''s finger.


    "That''s my wife. Look."


    Mark said to the already gawking little girl.


    There was no need to deny it. The woman in the image was beautiful, and the little girl''s appearance could not bepared to her.


    "Lies!"


    That was the only thing the little girl could retort with due to the unexpected image.


    "Why would I need to lie?" Mark sneered. "You can meet her outside if you want to."


    The little girl froze. That was right. She could confirm if the man was lying. Without waiting, the little girl made a circle in the air with her index fingers. As soon as the circle was drawn, it showed the scene outside. Immediately, the little girl spotted Mei. The man before him was definitely not lying.


    Mark and Ignis were surprised to see that. They were inside Mark''s [Subconscious World]. Yet, the little girl was able to project the scenes outside without Mark''s permission. In the first ce, the creation of this sacrificial tform was already outside Mark''s control.


    It meant that the little girl could affect Mark''s subconscious world more than anything he invited here before.


    Without minding Mark and Ignis, the little girl began to look around with that circle she made. She then suddenly stopped at the image of a purple-haired woman.


    "Hey?" The little girl turned to Mark. "Is this woman my current owner?"


    "So, you''re not just sleeping all this time?"


    Mark could not help but ask.


    "What are you saying? I just woke up." The little girl denied Mark''s question. "It''s been a long time since thest time I woke up, and she''s definitely not my owner back then. I just felt a connection with that woman."


    "But from your words," The little girl continued. "She really is my current owner. That''s good. Maybe it''s fate."


    The little girl suddenly showed a nostalgic smile.


    "Then... Who are you? And more importantly, WHAT are you?" The little girl asked Mark once more. "Why am I in your hands and not my current owner?"


    Mark gave the little girl a shrug.


    "Mark. That''s my name. As for what I am, you can see it for yourself."


    Mark then showed his [Blood Demon Transformation] and also disabled the aura that prevents anyone from detecting his Demonic origins.


    The little girl''s eyes widened. There was no doubt that she felt a little frightened after Mark removed the aura.


    "You..." The little girl pointed at Mark with a shaking finger. "You''re worse than a Chimera."


    "Are you here to devour me or something?"


    It seemed that the little girl was really intimidated. She did not expect that the man talking to her just now was not only a Pureblood Demon but someone who controlled both the [Aura of Death] and [Miasma].


    "Well, the question here is, are you an enemy or not?" Mark asked as he tilted his head. "Because I don''t give an inch of mercy towards my enemies."


    Mark then turned to the image still showing Luna.


    "Besides, that woman''s an ally of mine. Although most of my reason is just my curiosity, I also want you to wake up. If you can wake up and properly help her, the situation would be better. "


    "I... I also want to wake up," The little girl sighed. "But my energy is mostly depleted. That is why I''ve been lying dormant until now. It seems the world outside has changed, and magical energy has now begun to thicken. However, even with this, it would still need several years for me to properly regain enough power to properly aid my current owner."


    "So, if you had enough power, you can wake up, right?"


    Mark asked as he reverted back to his usual appearance, easing the little girl''s fear.


    "That is right. Unfortunately, it will still..."


    The little girl tried replying to Mark''s question, but her body suddenly jolted. She immediately panned the image circle outside and saw two crystals floating around her original form before dissolving into thick and pure magical energy, which began entering her body.


    There was no time for the little girl to reply. Her body began to twitch uncontrobly asrge amounts of pure magical energy began to enter her body.


    It took a few minutes before the little girl calmed down. She fell to the ground and looked up at Mark. She looked tired but much more powerful than before.


    "You... Is this your doing?"


    The little girl asked. She looked embarrassed after showing Mark an unsightly scene.


    "Is that enough? I can give you a few more if you need it."


    Mark nonchntly asked.


    "N-no!" The little girl panicked. "This is enough! I can wake up with this much! I will need to digest it first! Any more, and I''ll explode!"


    And more than anything, the little girl did not want to show more of her unsightly twitching appearance to Mark. It was embarrassing, no matter which angle one would look at it.


    Enduring her shaking body, the little girl faced Mark and showed a curtsy. Although the results were rather embarrassing, Mark did help her this time.


    "I apologize for thete introduction. You have my gratitude this time. I am Melfiss, the Cursed Divine Keris."


    And immediately after the introduction, everything copsed.


    Mark opened his eyes to the real world, surprised that he was suddenly kicked out of his own [Subconscious World].


    And then, with a blinding sh of light, Mark felt his hand lighten. As he squinted his eyes, he saw the Silver Keris float out of his grasp and begin to change its appearance.


    The Silver Keris was not purely silver anymore. It now had the brown, ck, and gold ents that the little girl, Melfiss, had in her appearance.


    And then...


    POOF!


    The blinding light vanished, and everyone immediately turned to see the result.


    However, everyone''s eyes widened.


    Instead of a dagger, they saw a barefooted girl in a gothic costume jump out of the light, who then came running to hide behind Luna''s back while peeking at Mark.


    Luna and everyone were surprised. Who was this little girl?


    And more importantly, why did it look like she was afraid of Mark?

 Chapter 1098 A Sudden Meeting, Findings and Events Regarding the [Face Wearers]

    Chapter 1098 A Sudden Meeting, Findings and Events Regarding the [Face Wearers]


    Day 364 - 6:02 PM - Meeting Room, 38th Satellite Settlement, Muria Sacred Fortress, Mount Muria, Kudus Regency, Central Java, Indonesia


    Several hours after the unexpected event in the training grounds, everyone still felt livid. Limab, who returnedte, and even General Wijaya, who came for various reasons, learned about what happened in detail.


    And now, everyone closely involved in the current events gathered in the meeting room of the Moon Chasers for an early dinner meeting.


    Among the leading figures of the Moon Chasers, Luna, Limab, Edge, and Nelia were present. Mark was the only person present for his group. As for the military, the representatives were General Wijaya and a female soldier to serve as his secretary to record information discussed in the meeting.


    The representatives of the groups aside, there was another person, or maybe an item, present in the meeting.


    Although the food was already served to everyone, only Mark was eating properly. It was because their attention gathered on Melfiss, who was also having her dinner with everyone.


    It was quite unbelievable that Luna''s precious weapon turned into a little girl and was even having dinner with them. No one would probably believe it if not for the little girl in question being present in front of everyone.


    Luna was the most surprised about Melfiss'' existence. Luna picked up the strange keris by coincidence and used it for most battles she had since then.


    The silver keris back then already disyed some strange things.


    First was that only Luna feltfortable using it. Other members of the Moon Chasers had tried to use the silver keris. However, no one feltfortable using it. Even Bajing, who used daggers as her main weapon, felt the same.


    Second, Luna never had to give maintenance to the silver keris. No matter how she used it, it never went dull. It never got dirty, either.


    Lastly, Luna felt the urge to always keep the silver keris by her side. It did not matter where or when. She kept it around her. It was a strange behavior that caused Luna to be reprimanded by her friends several times.


    Now, everyone knew the reason.


    The silver keris was not just a strange weapon. It was actually a cursed one.


    Cursed Divine Keris, Melfiss. That was the name of the silver keris... no... It was not just silver anymore after Melfiss awakened. Although the de remained silver in color, its handle and hand guard already turned deep brown with golden ents. It was just like the colors that Melfiss had on her body.


    Melfiss ate her food mannerly. If one did not know that she was a weapon that turned into a girl, one would think she was just a girl with a decent upbringing.


    "Ahem," Luna made a fake cough. "Should we start?"


    Melfiss'' existence might be causing a lot of questions. However, she was not the only focus of this meeting. After all, General Wijaya was also here even though the sun had already set. There were other important matters to discuss.


    "General," Luna turned to General Wijaya. "Please start."


    General Wijaya nodded and turned to Mark afterward.


    "First of all, because of Sir Mark, the threat we are facing due to the [Face Wearers] has decreased significantly," General Wijaya thanked Mark. "Since we began the distribution of the badges in the past few days, we recorded more than five hundred cases of confirmed [Face Wearers]. Unfortunately, capture was impossible as they turned to ash even after being tranquilized."


    It was a problem General Wijaya faced as they tried to capture the [Face Wearers]. These impostors would not hesitate to kill themselves if escape was deemed impossible. Worse, there was not even a body left to examine since they all turned to ash upon death, leaving only the skin mask they wore.


    General Wijaya continued to exin.


    If there was something significant that the military found out, it was that the ash left from the bodies of the [Face Wearers] had simr properties to ash released from volcanoes.


    "Volcanic ash, huh..."


    Limab murmured with a frown. Those words seemed to tick something in her head, but she could not figure out what.


    "Is something wrong?"


    Edge noticed Limab''s frown.


    "No, it''s nothing."


    Limab shook her head, only to notice Mark looking at her.


    "A fourth of those numbers is thanks to Ms. Astria''s father," General Wijaya also turned to Limab. "Their distribution might be at a smaller scale, but they contributed no small number."


    Limab''s father was given a batch of medals to distribute. However, it was not for free, unlike General Wijaya''s approach.


    General Wijaya focused on distributing the badges to the popce. It was because, unlike the more powerful people in the fortress, the weaker people were far more vulnerable to the threat of the [Face Wearers]. However, this approach gained more ire from the people in the position, especially those already hostile to General Wijaya in the first ce.


    And that was where Limab''s father came in. It was to sell badges to people who wanted to be prioritized. Of course, it also gained some negative attention. However, in the end, they had no choice but to buy. It was because their only other option was to wait for General Wijaya, for who knows when he would distribute the badges to them.


    The badges sold by Limab''s father would be the ie used to further develop the 38th Satellite Settlement.


    As for General Wijaya''s side, there was barely any incentive to gain aside from extra materials and direct support of General Wijaya. However, the fully equipped workshop and that support alone was more than enough of a payment for the cooperation. After all, not all survivor groups in the Muria Sacred Fortress could gain the direct support of one of the leading figures within the fortress.


    "But reporting the progress isn''t why you are here, right?"


    Mark asked.


    "Unfortunately, yes," General Wijaya nodded and took a deep breath. "We managed to eliminate those more than five hundred. However, as of this afternoon, there was already a confirmed more than two thousand cases of sudden disappearance in the past two days."


    "Huh?"


    That was everyone''s reaction to the bomb that General Wijaya dropped.


    "Since the other day," General Wijaya continued. "We began receiving reports of missing individuals. It started to increase further when we increased the distribution of the badges."


    "That''s..."


    Luna was speechless as the thought of the worst-case scenario came into her mind.


    "It probably is what you are thinking, Miss Luna," General Wijaya said in all seriousness. "All those missing cases were likely [Face Wearers] who began withdrawing from the fortress."


    While it may not look like it since the poption of people within the Muria Sacred Fortress was spread out across the mountain, there were around thirty thousand people here. It may sound like arge number, but it was already all the remaining people on the ind of Java.


    But all of a sudden, arge chunk went missing, with the possibility of them all being [Face Wearers].


    "And that''s only the number of reported cases, correct?"


    Mark asked.


    And in response, General Wijaya nodded.


    "We suspect there might already be three thousand or more cases. In the worst case scenario, around four or five thousand."


    The words from General Wijaya made the leaders of Moon Chasers take a deep breath.


    "And thatrge number went missing without even a single witness?"


    Edge asked.


    "That is the strange part," General Wijaya answered. "After the first day, we already had suspicions. I am sure you all noticed, but we also increased patrols around the walls under the guise of distributing some medals to settlement leaders."


    Luna and her friends looked at each other. They did notice but did not think too much of it.


    "Even with the increased patrols and even adding mutants with detection abilities, we failed to find any escapees. Yet, the number only increased." General Wijaya began to show a bit of frustration with the current situation. "It felt like they just vanished without a trace."


    Everyone began mulling over everything General Wijaya presented. However, none of them coulde up with a concrete answer.


    Mark even began thinking of teleportation abilities. However, if these [Face Wearers] had that kind of ability, there would be no need to wear disguises just to cause trouble to the people in the fortress.


    In the first ce, what did the [Face Wearers] want? Why were they causing trouble and leading humans to their deaths?


    Unless they could capture one and question it, the important questions would not get answered.


    Then, Nelia turned to Mark.


    "Sir Mark... What about the one you captured?"


    Nelia''s question made everyone look at her and Mark.


    "Wait, Nelia? What are you talking about?"


    Luna asked the question that even Edge and Limab had in mind.


    "Well... I saw it," Nelia exined. "When Abbygale, Sir Mark''s daughter, defeated Dr. Murni''s impostor, he rushed out and shot some rods surrounding the impostor. Then, he took out a cylinder before retrieving the rods. I don''t know what he really did, so I didn''t say anything, but I remembered that the cylinder he held at that time was simr to the one he used to capture the creature eating Shasha''s soul. So, I thought he might have caught something rted to the impostor, if not the impostor itself."


    Nelia''s exnation made everyone focus on Mark.


    With a shrug, he opened his bag and took out the familiar cylinder Luna and Nelia had seen before. However, everyone could see something floating inside the cylinder.


    "I''m surprised you managed to see all that," Mark praised Nelia. "I''m pretty sure I did everything fast enough to conceal it from everyone."


    "I''m not exactly good at fighting," Nelia replied with a smile. "But my eyes are really good at noticing movements."


    "What is inside?" Luna asked. "It''s different from the ck thing you caught from Shasha."


    Everyone focused on the contents of the cylinder. Even the two confused soldiers were the same.


    What was inside the cylinder looked like some orb of energy. It had fizzes like me, but the color was murky reddish ck.


    "It''s a soul," Mark answered. "The soul of that giant [Face Wearer], to be exact."


    "Huh?"


    Everyone was bbergasted at Mark''s words.


    "Wait, wait..." Edge made everyone quiet. "You are saying you captured someone''s soul? Is that right?"


    "I captured a ghost-like creature that is eating the soul of Luna''s niece," Mark replied. "Why is it surprising that I captured something''s soul?"


    Luna''s group fell silent. That was right. No, it was wrong. Well, the four were confused.


    "Wait..." General Wijaya spoke. "Can anyone please exin to me what is going on?"


    General Wijaya and his secretary could only keep up with the conversation anymore. After all, most of the things that happened in the hospital''s private room were only known to the leaders of the Moon Chasers.


    With the General''s requestion, Luna''s side began to exin. The General and his secretary were surely surprised after learning the truth of the things that happened there.


    After the exnation, their focus was back on Mark and his imprisoned soul.


    "Is that really a [Face Wearer''s] soul?"


    General Wijaya asked Mark.


    "Yeah, there''s no doubt about it."


    Mark confirmed onest time.


    "Is it possible to even converse with it?"


    Limab asked next.


    "Yep, it''s possible," Mark nodded. "Of course, only if the soul is willing to talk."


    "Then that one is not talking, is it?"


    Luna asked, noticing the issue.


    "Yeah, this prick is too tight-lipped," Mark voiced his frustration. "Maybe because it''s not a human soul. Human souls aren''t this mentally resilient."


    "Mentally resilient..." Luna repeated Mark''s words. "What do you mean?"


    "I mean spiritual torture," Mark bluntly replied. "Souls can feel more than a hundred times more pain than their physical body. After all, souls don''t have the pain limiters their living bodies have. Because of that, the souls I tried this before immediately confessed after a few seconds of torture. This prick had already been cooked for several days, yet it''s not talking."


    Mark was just exining some things that should be important for everyone listening to know. However, they could not help but feel shivers creep up their spines as they learned things they were not supposed to know normally.


    And for sure, they had just seen what cruel fate Mark''s enemies would face after crossing paths with him.

 Chapter 1099 Proof and Conjectures, The Pleas for Salvation from a Criminal Soul

    <h4>Chapter 1099 Proof and Conjectures, The Pleas for Salvation from a Criminal Soul</h4>


    Day 364 - 6:28 PM - Meeting Room, 38th Satellite Settlement, Muria Sacred Fortress, Mount Muria, Kudus Regency, Central Java, Indonesia


    Silence permeated within the meeting room as everyone tried to digest the unimaginable things Mark spoke about. Capturing souls and torturing them to get information, none of them thought something like that would be possible.


    "Um, excuse me?" General Wijaya''s current secretary, Staff Sergeant Intan Cahya, raised her hand. "I don''t mean to be offensive, but this talk about capturing souls just sounds too absurd to me. Is that really a soul inside that thing?"


    General Wijaya had the same thought. However, he did not have the courage to ask since he did not want to offend Mark, whom they needed cooperation from.


    However, the secretary could not hold it back anymore. From the serious conversation about the sudden disappearances turning into a talk about souls and capturing them, Intan could not help but voice out her opinion.


    "Intan..."


    General Wijaya could only re at his secretary.


    "It''s fine, General. I know you also have your doubts," Mark shrugged. "Most people won''t believe these things either. In the least, it''s not hard for me to prove it."


    As Mark said those words, he suddenly put another canister onto the table out of nowhere.


    Compared to the previous one, the "soul" inside it was rather pale bluish-green in color and seemed to be wavering out of existence. It was slightly flickering like a me that was about to die out.


    However, as if something flicked the me, it began to re up and began pushing itself against the ss of the canister.


    "Look at this bug," Mark showed a devilish smile as he saw the soul struggling all of a sudden. "Don''t think you will be saved just because General Wijaya is here."


    Suddenly getting his name mentioned, General Wijaya could not help but speak out.


    "W-what does it have to do with me?"


    "This guy is one of your fortress'' soldiers. Elite forces, to be exact."


    Mark said nonchntly, making everyone surprised and confused as to why he would have a soldier''s soul.


    But then, Luna''s group realized why.


    "Is it one of the intruders?" Luna asked. "Wait. Didn''t we catch all of them?"


    After the badges began cirction, these past few nights were nowhere peaceful. Several instances of break-ins were detected, and the intruders were all captured. In fact, one of the reasons why General Wijaya was here was to transport the captured criminals to their prisons, where they would ve away and be part of the forced workforce to atone for their crimes.


    But as it turned out, not all the intruders were captured alive.


    "The ones you caught are the thieves. Their aim is our equipment to create the badges or even just the knowledge of how to make them. That''s why I let them be caught alive," Mark exined. "But there is no way I''ll leave people aiming to kidnap members of my group alone."


    Mark then tapped on the top of the canister containing the wavering soul.


    "Why don''t we hear it from this guy?"


    As Mark tapped the canister, a ghastly voice permeated into everyone''s ears.


    "General! General! Please! Can you hear me? Please, help me! Please! I beg you! Please, hear me! Please!"


    It was a desperate cry for help. It was too ghastly and horrible to hear that it instantly gave everyone shivers up everyone''s spine.


    "Do I know you?"


    General Wijaya gathered his wits and asked.


    "Yes! Yes! I''m Pratam Ningrum from the Tontaipur Forces. Our teams worked together in an anti-terrorism exercise years ago. You''re a member of the Kopassus at that time."


    General Wijaya was surprised to hear those familiar terms. Before he was promoted to his current position, he was a member of the Kopassus, one of the army''s special forces and counter-terrorism units. It was impossible for him to remember the names of all soldiers, especially someone who did not have any direct contact with him. However, the name the soul introduced itself with did ring a bell in his mind.


    "A soldier like you, a member of the Special Forces, tried to kidnap people?"


    The General''s secretary could not help but chime in. As a soldier, she admired those from the Special Forces who were able to endure rigorous training and enter the ranks of the elites. However, a member of those strong people she admired was now nothing but the soul of a criminal caught inside a ss container.


    "I regret it! I truly regret it! If I knew what we were dealing with... I would not feel tempted by the offer."


    "Listen to this bastard," Mark suddenly spoke. "He regrets taking a stupid job and not the job itself. Looks like he needs to be simmered for another few seconds."


    "NO! NO! NO! PLEASE NO!" The soul suddenly cried out, flying erratically within the canister. "I ALREADY TOLD YOU EVERYTHING! PLEASE LET ME PASS ON!"


    The soul then turned to General Wijaya.


    "GENERAL PLEASE! HELP ME! PLEASE!"


    The soul was clearly bawling out in desperation. Unfortunately, to the living, all they could see in front of them was a ball of misty mes flying erratically within the canister.


    Nheless, the tone of desperation in its voice was more than enough how it feared Mark and his words.


    "See how fragile a human''s soul is?" Mark spoke as if he was a teacher showing an example. "This [Face Wearer''s] soul here refuses to talk despite experiencing several times more pain than this soldier''s soul. I just said to simmer for a few seconds, and this guy is already freaking out. Remember what I said before? I cooked this other soul here for several days."


    No one was able to reply to Mark. There was no need for them to experience it. Just seeing how the captured soul of Pratam freaks out and begs was more than enough for them to realize the meaning of Mark''s words.


    "Who ordered you to do it?"


    General Wijaya asked with a sigh.


    "It''s General Piliang! It''s General Piliang! He ordered us to do this! He ordered us to capture anyone important to the creator of the badges! He wanted to use the victim as a hostage to threaten the person who created the badges!"


    The soul immediately answered any question he could answer, wishing that he would be freed if he did.


    Unfortunately, even these intruders had no idea what was the true goal of that General Piliang for wanting to threaten the creator of the badges. Was it for him to take over the distribution of the badges? Or maybe he was in cahoots with the [Face Wearers] and wanted to stop the distribution of the badges?


    There was nothing to confirm the suspicions, however.


    "I figured," General Wijaya said with a frown. "General Piliang had control of most of the remaining Special Forces. He is also in a good rtionship with the notorious General Guntur. I already suspected they would make a move on me, but to think they would skip me and go straight here."


    There was already a problem with the [Face Wearers] and the mysterious disappearances. Yet, the corrupt did not want to cooperate at all.


    "I answered all the questions! Please! Please release me! Let me pass on! Plea-"


    The voice of a pleading soul was suddenly cut off as Mark tapped on the canister.


    "Sir Mark..."


    General Wijaya was about to say something.


    "Nope." But Mark immediately replied. "I want to do some experimentster on, but I don''t really want to capture innocent souls, you know? It''s nice some bugs brought themselves to me."


    The way Mark talked right now was making everyone creep out. It looked like he had a screw or two loose. But it also showed how Mark was as merciless to his enemies as he was kind to his allies.


    "General..."


    The General''s secretary felt pity for the captured soldier''s soul. However, General Wijaya could only shake his head slightly.


    "It''s already out of our jurisdiction," General Wijaya decided not to save the pleading soul. "Even I won''t tolerate soldiers who stray far from their sworn duty. Consider them as rightful sacrifices for the greater good. We still need Sir Mark''s help in our more pressing situation."


    It was a hero-like response from General Wijaya. Those may have been soldiers when they were alive, but they were nothing but souls of criminals now. If it would appease Mark and secure his cooperation, General Wijaya would not say anything against it. After all, the fight against the [Face Wearers] was not being led by General Wijaya and his soldiers but by Mark and the Moon Chasers.


    Hearing the response of General Wijaya, Mark was also pleased. Of course, he would not mind if the General showed pity to the former soldiers, but it did not mean Mark wouldply.


    "Are you also going after General Piliang?" Luna suddenly asked Mark. "I know you might be angry, but going against him and the part of the military he controls would be a bad idea."


    "I have the same thought," General Wijaya agreed with Luna. "General Piliang had thergest fraction of soldiers in the fortress under him."


    But to those concerns, Mark simply showed a simple smile.


    "General, I have a question."


    Mark replied.


    "What is it?"


    General Wijaya replied in confusion.


    "Can that Piliang and all his soldiers under him kill a [Fog Crawler]?"


    Then, there was silence in the room.


    That question alone made everyone realize it.


    Mark''s group may have more power than this fortress'' entire military forces.


    General Wijaya and the secretary might have doubts. It was the same for Nelia.


    However, Luna, Edge, and Limab had seen that beam of light Mei shot, which tore through the neck and body of the [Fog Crawler]. A single shot of that could probably obliterate the entire Southside Peak.


    A single shot of that beam could impair the fortess'' military forces.


    The three shivered at the thought.


    "I guess I don''t have to borate further."


    Mark said as he stored the second canister on the table. The soul of the soldier began to frantically fly around its canister. Unfortunately, no one could help it in its doomed fate.


    "So, even if Sir Mark captured a soul of those [Face Wearers], we still have no concrete information about them."


    Nelia voiced out, going back to the crux of the issue.


    There was no doubt that the [Face Wearers] and the sudden disappearances were tied together. However, there was no other information than that.


    "You all sure are thinking too much."


    All of a sudden, Melfiss, who was silent all this time, spoke.


    "What do you mean?"


    Luna asked the little girl.


    "I''ve been listening to you all. So far, these you call [Face Wearers] are creatures who wear the skin of someone''s face and pretend to be humans, correct?"


    Melfiss asked, and Luna nodded.


    "Then, this soldier here said before that the ash they leave after they die is the same as volcanic ash."


    Melfiss then asked General Wijaya, and he also gave her a nod.


    "Then why are you all thinking further away from those clues? If their bodies are made of volcanic ash, then it''s clear where they came from!"


    Melfiss said in an exasperated tone.


    At this time, Mark spoke.


    "I have the same thoughts. The [Face Wearers] didn''te from somewhere else. That''s why no one witnessed them escaping out of the fortress."


    "What? Then they are all still inside here?"


    Edge was surprised.


    "Yep," Mark nodded. "As Melfiss said, volcanic ash is the clue. It seems you all didn''t know, but Mount Muria is a dormant volcano."


    Everyone but Mark and Melfiss looked at each other. None of them were locals, and none of them stepped on this mountain before the apocalypse. It was not surprising that they did not know.


    "Are they some sort of supernatural original residents of this mountain?"


    Luna voiced out a question.


    "What are you talking about?" Melfiss frowned at her owner''s question. "This ce had no such thing. What do you call this ce again? Muria Sacred Fortress? Bah. What is sacred about this ce? It is but an old grave for sinners. Sinners are buried in this ce, so the mes of the volcano will punish and cleanse their souls. What is sacred about that?"


    Melfiss, the oldest one in this group, began to blurt out what she knew about this mountain and, possibly, the origin of the [Face Wearers].


    "That''s the first time I heard of that," Mark looked interested. "They said this mountain is associated with the origins of Im. That''s why they called this mountain Sacred."


    It was the turn for Melfiss to look bbergasted.


    Further discussion and brainstorming were clearly needed in this situation.


    Unfortunately...


    CLANG! CLANG! CLANG! CLANG!


    Everyone in the meeting room stood up. The sounds of the rm bells of the 38th Satellite Settlement were nging frantically.


    BAM!


    The door of the meeting room swung open.


    "Luna! There''s [Infected]! An [Infected] Horde!"


    Bajing yelled in a hurry.


    Just with those words, Luna''s group immediately left their seats.


    "Get everyone to the walls! Prepare to defend!"


    "NO! Not the walls!" Bajing immediately spoke. "The [Infected] Horde ising from the mountain, not outside! There''s at least a thousand of them!"


    "What?!"


    This time, it was not just Luna''s group. Even General Wijaya and his secretary could not believe what they were hearing.


    "Why would the [Infected]e from within the fortress?!" General Wijaya voiced out. "Did a breach happen? No! That shouldn''t be. If that was the case, the rm at the top of the mountain should be roaring by now!"


    "General," Mark stepped forward and shrugged. "Like Melfiss said, there''s no need to think too much."


    Mark then continued.


    "How many people were suddenly missing again? If those were all [Face Wearers], what about the bodies of the victims? And just like what Melfiss mentioned just now. The [Face Wearers] might originally be from this mountain. This sudden attack just proves her conjecture."


    Those words from Mark gave the meeting participants the most awful kind of enlightenment.


    The enemies were within the fortress. That was the worst kind of thing for them to hear.

 Chapter 1100 A Sudden Horde, Beginning the Defense of the 38th Satellite Settlement

    Chapter 1100 A Sudden Horde, Beginning the Defense of the 38th Satellite Settlement


    Day 364 - 6:42 PM - 38th Satellite Settlement, Muria Sacred Fortress, Mount Muria, Kudus Regency, Central Java, Indonesia


    The rm sounded, and everyone in the 38th Satellite Settlement was alerted. Without needing anyone to guide them, the nonbatants of the settlement packed up their important belongings and ran out of their shelters.


    With the meeting postponed, everyone in the meeting room stepped out of the balcony overseeing the settlement. Outside, many members of the Moon Chasers were already on standby, waiting for the orders of their leader.


    Luna looked at her members. They already formed lines to represent their designated teams. Just like there were six leading figures above the ranks of the Moon Chasers, their members were also divided into five teams led by each leader. All teams had their designated jobs and specializations.


    However, although calling them specialized teams sounded grand, each team had no more than ten members. Some even had less.


    All members of the four teams already lined up in front of the Moon Chaser''s base, with the third team, Bajing''s team, and the sixth team, Edge''s Defense Team, only having half their members lined up.


    Edge''s team was in charge of guard duty around the settlement, except for roaming patrol duties. Patrol duties were usually assigned to Bajing and her team. The defense team only had half its members since the others were still on duty, not leaving their posts until orders were given.


    As for Bajing''s team, it was clear that their members were already on the enemy lines, buying time to dy the iing horde.


    "Auntie!"


    Luna''s niece, Amisha, came running towards her, scared. Since the day she woke up, it would be the first time she would experience this kind of situation.


    "Don''t be scared, Shasha," Luna consoled her niece. "Just stay with your friends, okay?"


    Luna then nced at the girls who came with Amisha. They were the children of Mark''s group, who easily befriended the little girl.


    "Uuu... Yeas..."


    Amisha reluctantly let go of her aunt and joined the other girls.


    Luna faced their members and began issuing orders.


    "An [Infected] horde ising down the mountain! I know everyone is confused, but we don''t have time! Team One to Three and Team Six! Establish a defense perimeter behind the fields! Our fields might be destroyed, but we can''t risk fighting inside the forest! Team Five! Prioritize helping the nonbatants and gather them inside the bunker! Join the defense as soon as everyone is inside! And Team Four! Take over the guard duties from Team Six! We know we are in a dangerous situation, but we can''t leave other parts of our home unguarded!"


    "Now move and wait for your leaders'' orders!"


    With those words, the members of the Moon Chasers began to move. Picking up their weapons and equipment, they ran towards their designations.


    BOOOM!


    An explosion urred, making everyone turn northwest. From the balcony, Luna and the others could see the grayish smokeing from the forest. It seemed that Bajing''s members began using explosives to hinder the horde.


    "General, we should also help."


    Intan, General Wijaya''s secretary, spoke.


    General Wijaya was in the same thought as Intan, but in this situation, he could only help if the leader of the 38th Satellite Settlement, Luna, asked for it.


    Everything within the Satellite Settlements was managed by their own rulers. Even the Military barely had any authority within the Satellite Settlements. It was something that built the foundations of the fortress, making the survivor groups willing to be the protectors of the fortress.


    General Wijaya was silently watching Luna. He was waiting for her to ask. Even just a word and General Wijaya would not hesitate to help.


    But before everything else, Mark spoke.


    "I''m saying just in case, but me and my group won''t be helping this time. If you guys fail here, I might consider leaving, alright? So you guys better not."


    Those words made everyone turn to Mark. The leaders of the Moon Chasers already knew. Mark and his group were powerful. Even this situation might be a cakewalk for them.


    But then, Luna understood what Mark was saying. In the first ce, this was not Mark''s fight. It was hers.


    Luna looked straight at Mark and saw his subtle smile.


    "Show me what you got."


    It was what that smile implied.


    Mark''s group also gathered. However, no one questioned his decision. The inaugural upload of this chapter took ce via N0v3l-B1n.


    "Alright," Luna nodded and turned to General Wijaya. "General, we''ll try to handle it first. If we are bound to lose, please help us at that time."


    "Alright."


    General Wijaya agreed. It would be best if she had asked for help immediately, but it was still better than nothing.


    "Okay, let''s-" "Wait."


    Luna was about to tell Edge, Bajing, Limab, and Nelia to go. However, Mark''s voice interrupted her.


    "Take these before leaving."


    Mark said as he stretched out his hand, opening the familiar hole in space in front of him.


    Then, one after another, he took out some stuff and threw them to Luna and her friends.


    "These are..."


    Edge was surprised as he caught a big item with both hands. It was pretty heavy, making him almost stumble. But when he looked at it, he saw it was a tower shield that also served as a sheath for arge sword. The sword''s de was even as long as the shield.


    Bajing got a pair of daggers. The daggers looked exquisite, albeit a bitckluster in color. One was in ck, and the other was in white. Both daggers had a curved shape that made it look like it would form a broken circle when put side-by-side at their handles.


    Limab hastily caught hers. It was a pair of gun des. The gun part had the shape of a machine pistol, but a pair of des protruded in front of the muzzle. The first thing she noticed was a button above the grip, and she could not help but push it. As the button was pushed, the grip shifted position, turning its shape into a dagger.


    Nelia also got arge one, which she caught by hugging it. It was a sniper rifle with quite an odd design. It had everything that a regr sniper rifle had except one thing. It did not have a magazine slot. Instead, it had ten small marble-like crystals embedded in its body.


    And, all of a sudden, Mark threw the next item towards the stairs.


    "WHA- What is this? Is it finished?"


    Ellie''s amazed voice was heard as she ran up the stairs, excitedly holding a two-handed war hammer. It looked disproportional to the short-bodied Ellie, but she did not seem to have a problem waving it around. In fact, among the six leaders of the Moon Chasers, the shortest Ellie had the strongest physical strength. She had a rather wild fighting style, making her bad at using precise weapons like des and guns, but it also made her best at using blunt weapons.


    "Those are the prototype builds of the weapons you guys requested. They''re not finished yet and still need to be adjusted, but they can be used already. Try discovering the hidden functions while fighting, and tell me what you guys thinkter."


    Mark exined.


    Luna looked at her friends with a little jealousy in her eyes. Why did she not request a weapon before?


    "What, you don''t want to wield me anymore?"


    That was when Melfiss spoke beside Luna.


    "That''s..."


    Luna did not know what to say.


    "Don''t be jealous," Melfiss spoke in a narcissistic tone. "I''m far better than those soulless imitations."


    And with those words, light enveloped Melfiss'' body as her silhouette shrunk, turning back to her form as a Keris. She then flew into Luna''s hand, showing her owner her true and elegant form.


    BANG! BANG!


    The sounds of gunshots echoed.


    "We have to go!"


    Luna yelled, and they all left, leaving Mark''s group and the pair of bbergasted soldiers who were looking at Mark as he closed the hole in space.


    "Don''t think too much," Mark remarked to General Wijaya and his secretary. "There''s a whole lot of mysterious things hidden in our world."


    Mark then stepped closer to the edge of the balcony. From here, they could see the defense perimeter the Moon Chasers established at the northern side of the settlement.


    ***N?v(el)B\\jnn


    The Moon Chasers moved fast. After receiving orders, they carried movable barricades they had prepared long ago to the border of the crop fields outside the settlement. These wooden barricades were simr to those used during medieval times, called cheval de frise, used to stop cavalry charges.


    These wooden barricades would not pose as much of an obstacle to certain types of [Mutated Infected]. However, it could stop more types of [Infected] than it could not. At least for a certain amount of time until it breaks.


    RRRRRRRRRRRR!!!


    The sounds of generators began to whirl. Spotlights turned on, pointing at the crop field and the forest. The Moon Chasers had no choice but to use their saved-up gasoline.


    BOOM!


    Another explosion urred. This time, it was closer to the clearing bordering the crop fields.


    Soon, the members of Team Three under Bajing ran out of the forest while shooting their pistols and throwing another set of grenades.


    The explosion urred, and everyone finally saw some body parts getting thrown above the threes.


    ROOOOOOARR!!!


    The frenzied roars of the [Infected] entered everyone''s ears. Everyone readied their weapons with tense expressions.


    Seeing the defense perimeter established, the members of Team Three rushed across the crop fields.


    However, before the members of Team Three were even halfway through the fields, the tide of [Infected] had alreadye flooding out of the forest.


    "HOLD YOUR FIRE!" Luna yelled as she arrived with her friends. "We can''t risk hitting the members of Team Three!"


    The members of Team Two, under Limab, and Team Six, under Edge, held guns aimed at the iing horde. But as Luna said, they patiently held their urge to start firing.


    CRUNCH! CRUNCH!


    The sounds of the knee-high crops in the field being trampled made everyone''s hearts ache. It took them several months to see the crops blooming, only to be trashed and trampled by these bastards.


    Edge watched the scene with a frown. The shield and greatsword given to him by Mark hung on his back as he aimed a K3 Light Machine Gun at the iing enemies. He also participated in nting crops in this specific field. As such, the pain of seeing the fruits of theirbor being wasted weighed heavily on him.


    The [Infected Horde] was already a third across the field, and the members of Team Three were yet to arrive behind the defense line. It seemed that the sight of arge number of humans made the [Infected] rush faster as soon as they stepped out of the forest.


    At this point, everyone saw the faces of the [Infected]. They could not help but notice the detail as it was present on every single [Infected] within the iing horde.


    All the [Infected] had bare, fleshy faces without skin. It did not matter whether it was the regr [Infected] or the mutated ones. None of them had skin on their faces, making their crazed expressions even scarier than normal.


    As if the sheer number of the [Infected] was not scary enough.


    Finally, the members of the Team Three stepped behind the firing line.


    "FIRE!"


    Luna shouted, and a barrage of bullets rained upon the iing enemies.


    The fastest [Infected] in front of the horde immediately fell due to the barrage of bullets. The uracy might be low, especially in a darkened environment with only a few spotlights to illuminate the ce. However, with more than thirty machine guns and assault rifles firing at the same time, uracy was the least of concern as long as they had enough bullets.


    Sadly enough, all the bullets the Moon Chasers got for trading the [Fog Crawler''s] head would likely be used up in this battle if this continued.


    ROOOOARR!!!


    BOOM! BOOM!


    Roars and rumbles were heard amidst the gunfire. A three-meter tall [Tank Type Infected] came running out of the forest, ignoring all the bullets hitting its hard-ted body.


    Edge immediately dropped his K3 Light Machine Gun and picked up his favorite weapon.


    BOOOM!


    A rocket from an RPG flew across the field, and the rain of bullets. Edge''s aim with the RPG was on point as the rocket exploded in the face of the [Tank Type Infected]. With a head exploded to pieces, the [Tank Type Infected] crashed to the ground. The shrapnel from the rocket even took out a few nearby smaller [Infected].


    The Moon Chasers were showing a good fight. However, despite the rain of bullets and some explosions, the [Infected] horde still advanced and kept gaining ground. It would not be long before they reached the barricades, and the Moon Chasers would be forced to a melee.


    ***


    Mark watched the battle while nodding. No wonder otherrger groups would not be able to belittle the Moon Chasers despite being on the smaller side. They had enough wits and courage to face the enemy.


    There would be some struggles, but the Moon Chasers would likely win if they kept this momentum.


    But then, as Mark watched, he sighed.


    "Should I say as expected?"


    Mark then turned towards the gate leading outside the fortress. Then his eyes panned north and south.


    "Three groups, huh," Mark shrugged. "Looks like we got a few powerful ones this time."


    Mark then turned to his group. His eyes clearly showed he was enjoying the futility of the enemies'' actions.

 Chapter 1102 Elemental Guns, The Power of the New Weapons Amidst the Seemingly Never Ending Horde

    Chapter 1102 Elemental Guns, The Power of the New Weapons Amidst the Seemingly Never Ending Horde


    Day 364 - 6:53 PM - Northwest Fields, 38th Satellite Settlement, Muria Sacred Fortress, Mount Muria, Kudus Regency, Central Java, Indonesia


    A disy of unfathomable power.


    First was Ellie. Then Edge followed right after.


    Ellie always had that kind of strength. It was the power she gained as a mutant. However, it was still absurd for her to stop the initial charge of the ball-like [Infected].


    It was even more strange when Edge showed an amount of strength nearly equal to Ellie''s. The dented-ball-like [Infected] might not have the same power after Ellie attacked it, but it was still something that could not be blocked easily. Yet, Edge stood his ground, blocking the attack with his tower shield, and bisected the entire thing into two with his greatsword.


    How did the two get that strength? What changed about them?


    No, the question was unnecessary.


    There was only one possible source of that strength. It was the weapons they currently wielded in their hands.


    However, it was also strange as to how the two were suddenly able to use the functions of their weapons without any instruction given by Mark.


    "Leave the defense on me!" Edge yelled out. "Just shoot your guns!"


    The morale began to rise. All the nervous members began to gain confidence to continue the fight.


    All the amazement and questions should be forter. For now, everyone should concentrate on fighting.


    Edge and Ellie were all set to fight the next round. On the other hand, Bajing, Limab, and Nelia were all looking at their weapons.


    From Ellie''s words, apartment and a needle. It was not hard to find them now that the three knew what to look for.


    Unfortunately, Bajing and Limab were given a pair of weapons. It meant that they needed to prick two needles with their thumbs. Edge was also given a pair, a tower shield, and a greatsword. However, it seemed that the two counted as one since Edge only needed to prick his thumb on the needle on the sword.


    Limable and Bajing looked at each other, then turned to Nelia, who was also looking at them atop the roof of a nearby house. The three then turned to the weapons of Edge and Ellie, which now looked even more magnificent and powerful after getting activated.


    "What am I even hesitating for?"


    Bajing murmured as she pressed her thumb at needles on both bottoms of her dagger''s handles.


    Limab followed suit. The needles on her pistols were just above the handle.


    Lastly was Nelia, who found the needle on her sniper rifle right in front of the trigger.


    After the momentary sting on their thumbs, the three entered a few seconds daze just like Edge.


    The mystery of Ellie''s and Edge''s sudden knowledge about their weapons'' functions was revealed before the three.


    As she exited her dazed state, Limab spoke.


    "Was that Ms. Mei''s voice?"


    "Huh?" Bajing was confused as she looked at Limab. "I heard Ms. Hannah''s voice, though."


    Limeb turned to Nelia and shouted.


    "Nelia! Whose voice did you hear?"


    "I... I think it''s Ms. Annica!"


    Nelia promptly yelled back.


    "What are you three talking about?"


    Luna asked, confused as to what the three were on about.


    "We heard voices on our heads after we pricked our thumbs on our weapons..."


    Limab''s voice trailed off as she looked at the pistols she was holding on both hands.


    Since the three were in a daze, they did not immediately realize how their weapons changed.


    Limab''s pistols seemed to have expanded a little. Just like an armor with locks released, slits and grooves on its body appeared, and each one was releasing a faint glow.


    Bajing''s daggers were the same. The des slightly split in half, simr to how Edge''s greatsword expanded.


    On the other hand, Nelia''s sniper rifle began to show glowing streamline slits on its body, giving it a sci-fi look.


    The activated appearance aside, the three felt a sudden rise in confidence. The bodies of the three also felt lighter, as if they suddenly gained some borrowed power from somewhere.


    "Are you three okay?"


    Luna asked in worry. Her friends are behaving oddly, after all.


    "I think I''m fine?" Limab said as she looked around her surroundings. "It''s just strange to be able to see this clearly, even in a dark environment."


    Hearing those words, Luna became even more worried.


    Luna was about to inquire to her friends further while keeping an eye on the [Infected]. However, a sudden beam of light tore through the darkness of the night.


    That beam of light, apanied by a spinning gust of wind, tore a line through the [Infected] horde, around a dozen [Infected] before vanishing.


    Everyone turned to where the beam came from and saw the smiling Nelia still aiming with her magical sniper rifle.


    But before everyone could recover their surprise, Limab walked past Luna and went to the frontline while spouting an iprehensiblebination of words. Strange enough, she seemed to be talking to the glowing pistols she was holding.


    "LOAD: FIRE. PINPOINT."


    Limab''s pistols glowed red as she aimed at the horde. And then, she pulled the trigger.


    However, there was no sound of a gun firing at all. All the witnesses could see after Limab fired her pistols were two trails of marble-sized reddish spheres shooting out of the pistols, flying like bullets. The spheres were particrly eye-catching in the dark than regr bullets.


    One bullet hit an [Infected] on its shoulder, while another hit the head of a different [Infected].


    The bullets drilled into the bodies of the [Infected]. It appeared to be nothing but normal bullets. It was until the bodies of the [Infected] hit suddenly burst into mes, staring from the wounds caused by the reddish spheres.


    But it was not enough.


    "LOAD: SPARK. SCATTER."


    Limab spoke, causing the color of the glow of her pistols to turn bright yellow. She then fired about a pair of bullets. This time, the bullets were bright yellow spheres of the same size.


    However, as the bullets hit the [Infected], a strong surge of electricity burst from the bodies of the [Infected] hit by the bullets, spreading out to other [Infected] in the immediate vicinity of the first victims.


    Seven [Infected] fell with twitching bodies in that shot.


    Seeing Nelia and Limab try out their weapons, Bajing gripped her daggers tightly, wanting to try hers.


    "No. Stay here!" Luna grabbed Bajing''s shoulders, keeping her in ce. "You can''t just rush through ongoing gunfire!"


    Luna was truly perturbed now. Her friends were acting weirdly.


    "But..."


    Bajing tried to speak.


    "No buts!" Luna red. "Even Edge and Ellie are not charging carelessly! Wait until we had no choice but to fight in close quarters!"


    Bajing sighed and nodded. However, Luna never let Bajing away from her side.


    "What is happening with these people..." Luna sighed. "Don''t tell me Sir. Mark''s weapons did something wrong to them..."


    "You''re not wrong."


    Melfiss'' voice suddenly echoed inside Luna''s head.


    Hearing a voice in her head surprised Luna, but she kept calm as she asked the keris in her hand.


    "What? Did Sir Mark intend to do something bad through the weapons?"


    "Not exactly..." Melfiss replied. "It''s just those weapons he gave were imbued with magical functions that would connect the weapons to their owners. They even had functions to enhance their physical abilities to some extent and boost their morale from what I can see. However, it is the first time for your friends, normal humans, to be subjected to such a highly concentrated amount of magical energy. As such, it showed some effects on their mental state."


    "In other words..." Luna turned to Bajing. "They''re drunk."


    "Exactly."


    Melfiss confidently answered.


    "But what about Limab?" Luna turned to Limab, who already joined the gunner teams. "Isn''t her [irvoyance] a type of magic skill?"


    "Hmm? She''s a [irvoyant]?" Melfiss spoke as if she was looking at Limab. "It isn''t a magic skill, so as [Seers] and [Oracles]. There is no magic that could tap into the cause and effect and view the future and the past. Those are either [Psychic] or [Divine] Abilities. People with those abilities are either [Espers] or [Blessed Ones]. In any case, it''s different from magic."


    Luna listened to Melfiss. She needed to understand her friends if she wanted to protect them.


    Fortunately, although her friends were under the side effects of magical energy drunkness, they were not uncontroble.


    Edge and Ellie were still leading their groups, while Limab and Nelia were attacking at a safer distance.


    Luna only had to keep an eye on Bajing, who was itching to sh something with her new daggers.


    Still, although the morale increased for the Moon Chasers, victory was still far off.


    Luna observed the battlefield. The [Infected] horde was still gaining ground. Fortunately, their advance slowed down due to the number of corpses that now littered their path. Many [Infected] even began to slip and fall due to the blood and bodies they stepped on.


    Nheless, the smell of blood began to seep into everyone''s nose. The Moon Chasers had already experiencedrge fights before, but nothing asrge as this.


    In these few minutes that passed, there were already more than half a thousand corpses lying dead on the crop field. Yet, the numbers of [Infected] rushing out of the forest had yet to dwindle.


    "Huh? GET READY! A STRANGE ONE IS COMING!"


    A sniper shouted from the rooftop after shooting his sniper rifle a few times at the target.


    And as the guy said, a strange-looking [Infected] was now rushing across the crop field, unhindered by everything on its path.


    As the [Infected] came closer, a nauseating stench assaulted everyone''s noses. However, it was not poison. It was the thick stench of rotting corpses.


    Bullets rained on its body. However, it received not a single injury.


    The strange [Infected] entered the reach of the spotlights. It ran on all fours with its sludge-covered body. The sludge was abination of different kinds of decaying matter, giving it the look and smell it had.


    "Why the hell is something like that here!" Luna yelled. "It''s a [Corpse Devourer]! Light it up with fire!"


    Just like its name, it was a kind of [Infected] that would eat corpses. But that was what made it scarier. In a ce where there were lots of corpses, it could absorb corpses into its sludge-covered body and grow more dangerous and harder to kill. n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om


    And right now, the [Corpse Devourer] was clearly aiming for the corpses in the front of the horde.


    This enemy would have been a problem in normal circumstances. Not everyone would have fire weapons ready at all times.


    But now, Limab and Nelia had the weapons Mark gave to them.


    "LOAD: FIRE. BURST."


    Limab prepared her shot.


    "ENCHANT: FIRE. FUSE: WIND."


    Nelia also prepared hers.


    And at nearly the same time, the two shot their weapons.


    Limab''s bullets pierced through the sludge-covered body of the [Corpse Devourer]. And then, the bullets exploded in mes from inside the sludge, scattering parts of its sludge all over the ce.


    Then, Nelia''s shot followed. A strong gust of wind spiraled around her bullet, destroying the head and chest of the [Corpse Devourer] before the bullet burst into mes, spread out by the same gust of wind.


    The [Corpse Devourer] fell while covered in mes,ing part of the pile of corpses on the crop field. The me on its body even began to spread to other [Infected] that passed over its sludge.


    It was amazing how such a difficult creature to kill was felled in just two shots.


    The weapons Luna''s friends received from Mark were awfully overpowered.


    But unexpectedly, after killing the [Corpse Devourer], Limab returned to Luna''s side.


    "What''s wrong?"


    Luna asked.


    "I want to fire more, but the guns don''t have infinite energy. I already used up half its charge, so I''ll reserve it until needed."


    Limab replied, pointing at what seemed to be an energy gauge on her pistols.


    Luna nodded. It seemed that Mark''s weapons might be powerful, but they still had limits.


    And while the fight continued, the [Infected] finally reached the melee range. The firepower could not keep up anymore as the horde continued to pour out of the forest.


    But as everyone was getting ready for the melee fight...


    BOOOM!


    An earthshaking explosion made everyone''s body rattle.


    And to everyone''s surprise, the source of the explosion was far behind them and not on the battlefield.

 Chapter 1103 The Other Enemies, Intercepting the Infiltration of the [Face Wearers]

    Chapter 1103 The Other Enemies, Intercepting the Infiltration of the [Face Wearers]


    Day 364 - 6:45 PM - Northwest Fields, 38th Satellite Settlement, Muria Sacred Fortress, Mount Muria, Kudus Regency, Central Java, Indonesia


    A few minutes before.


    "Hmmm..." Mark nodded as they watched the battle from the base''s balcony. "Looks like Ellie figured it out. The others didn''t even check the weapons yet. I guess they''re pretty nervous about the unexpected situation if they brought unchecked weapons to the battle. Minus a few points, I guess."


    Everyone could hear Mark''s mumbles. The members of his group understood what he was saying as they were involved in the creation of the weapons Mark gave the leaders of the Moon Chasers. On the other hand, General Wijaya and his Secretary could only look at him in askance.


    The weapons Mark gave Edge and the others were more or less imitation magic weapons. These weapons needed to be bound by blood to activate, attuning the weapons to the blood and magical energy the owner had. With this method, the weapon would be able to freely function using both an internal power source and the owner''s magical energy. Well, the magical energy of the leaders of the Moon Chasers was practically nil. However, it did not mean that they did not have any, and there was also the possibility for them to increase their magical capacity in this new apocalyptic world.


    Furthermore, the new weapons had experimental functions. These were [Knowledge Impartment], [Telepathic Recording], [Magic Enhancement], [Voice Command], and [Elemental Enchantment Switch].


    [Knowledge Impartment] was just what it meant. It was to instantly channel information about the basic functions of the weapon to its owner. It worked alongside [Telepathic Recording], where Mark asked Mei and the girls to record the non-basic instructions that would be telepathically transmitted to the owner of the magic weapon after it activated. These two functions would allow Edge and the others to be able to use the new weapons without the need to practice.


    [Magic Enhancement] was another new thing Mark was testing. It was to enhance the weapon wielder''s physical abilities when the weapon was activated. A buff of sorts in game terms. What it buffs varies on each weapon. Edge would have enhanced strength and endurance, Ellie would gain strength and agility, Nelia and Limab would have higher eye reflexes and enhanced eyesight, and Bajing would gain higher body reflexes and speed.


    Of course, [Magic Enhancement] was not an almightly thing. It only buffs to a certain degree above the wielder''s original abilities to prevent overfatigue and other over-exertion-rted injuries. It would also have other mild effects as magical energy had to flow through their bodies.


    [Voice Command] was something Mark was focused on,pared to the other things. Just like in anime, it would be cool to be able to shout attacks. It would not be practical in most fights, but Mark was an Otaku in the first ce. Besides, it could be used in other things if Mark seeded in perfecting the function.


    Lastly, [Elemental Enchantment Switch]. It was to channel magical energy into different elements. It would allow different elemental enchantments on the weapons. Not only that, but also multiple enchantments on single attacks. It was not something the weapons of Mark''s group currently had. Their weapons are mostly single-enchanted, aside from the weapon Mark made with the Elder cksmith in Japan.


    All these new functions were not perfected yet. They were usable in battles, but there was still a lot to work on. In any case, Mark giving these functions to the weapons of the Moon Chasers allowed him to experiment while enhancing his craftsmanship.


    "Hah..." Mark sighed. Unfortunately, he could not watch the Moon Chasers use their weapons. It would definitely serve as a good reference.


    Without warning, Mark opened his storage space once again. This time, he took out aptop he personally customized and a [Mechid]-like toy.


    Seeing the items, Mark''s daughters immediately approached. They knew what these items would be used for together.


    "I''ll make it fly!"


    Miracle immediately volunteered.


    "Sorry, but I will do it this time," Mark patted Miracle''s head and turned to I. "I need to get a good recording of the battle. You''re the best in this one."


    "Okay. I''ll do it."


    I nodded as Mark handed theptop to her.


    Of course, the other two were sulking, although they could only follow I as they set up at the nearby table. They also did not forget to get Amisha with them, who had sparkling eyes as she looked at the items.


    The little girls did not notice, but Mark taking out the [Mechid Drone] to record the battle meant he could not watch it personally.


    "Enemies?"


    Mei asked Mark.


    "Three groups. All [Face Wearers] at the same strength or higher as the one Miracle fought in the market," Mark nodded and exined. "Three on the north, four on the south, and six outside the gates." Mark then turned to everyone to assign the tasks.


    "I''ll handle the ones on the gates. Feng Zhiruo, you handle the four to the south," Unexpectedly, Mark turned to Hannah and Annica. "You two handle the three to the north."


    "Brother? Just the two of us?"


    Annica was suddenly nervous.


    "What''s your ability again?" Mark flicked the girl''s forehead. "Take all the pets with you and connect with them. You only need tomand them from the back like a Pokemon trainer."


    Annica covered her painful forehead as she nodded. What Mark said meant he was lending him the pets, including Char. With the dragon alone, they would be invincible.


    "Don''t be too careless. That''s why Hannah needed toe with you. The [Face Wearers] you will face might have uncanny abilities." Mark then turned to Hannah from Annica. "Your job is mostly protecting her, but you should support when you can."


    "Yes."


    Hannah nodded withoutints or questions. Just like her Aunt Odelina, Hannah was from the lineage of servants who would not question their masters.


    "Feng Zhiruo," Mark turned to the Chinese Cultivator. "Just kill them all and be careful."


    "No problem."


    Feng Zhiruo nodded. Taking the lives of monsters would not be hard for a Cultivator like her, especially now.


    "Mei''er," Mark then turned to his wife. "Just in case, fly up to the sky. If something unexpected happens, give support."


    Mei nodded without a word. She knew her job as the sniper.


    "As for the rest, just stay here and protect the ce."


    Mark turned to the rest of the group.


    Emika was a little disappointed that she could not join the fun, but protecting the ce was not a bad job for her. Spera was used to being on standby, so she had no problem with the task. As for Amihan, she wanted toe with Mark. However, he told her to protect the little girls instead, especially Amisha.


    It was because at least one of the three groups would clearly aim for her.


    "Sir Mark," At this time, General Wijaya stepped up. "We could be of assistance."


    The General could not just stand by watching.


    However, Mark shook his head.


    "Stay here with the initial arrangement. Support the Moon Chasers if they needed," Mark said before mentioning the harsh truth. "Besides, I doubt the fifty soldiers you have right now would be of help against the stronger [Face Wearers]."


    General Wijaya sighed. He was a little disappointed by the truth. Looking at Mark, he could only nod. He might be a high-ranking soldier, but in this battle, he could only wait for other''s instructions.


    With the arrangement done, the members of Mark''s group moved.


    The guard left to guard the settlement and could only stand surprised as the members of Mark''s group jumped out of the settlement walls. The most surprising would be Annica and Hannah, who both came out while being escorted by Char, the [Ground Hunter], and Laps.


    Seeing them try to jump out, the guard tried to stop them, knowing it was dangerous outside in the current situation. However, the guards found out their legs would not move at all. They could only watch in confusion and fear as Feng Zhiruo, Annica, and Hannah left for their respective destinations.


    The only one who did not leave the walls was Mark, who stood atop the walls above the entrance gate of the 38th Sattelite Settlement.


    Contrary to the guards who saw the other three, the guards near Mark were properly informed of the iing enemies. To the three women, having the guards follow them would be nothing but a nuisance. Annica and Hannah had no way to protect them, while Feng Zhiruo was alone handling four enemies.


    As for Mark''s side, there was a wall for the guards to hide behind, and Mark had the strength to protect them if needed.


    Standing on the walls, Mark and the guards waited. All of a sudden, a clump of ck mist formed atop Mark before plopping on his head.


    "You''ve been out for almost a week. Did you have fun? And what did you eat? You became much bigger."


    Mark said in a reprimanding tone as he poked Crimson on his head.


    That was right. Crimson finally returned after several days of absence after tailing the impostor of the man named Wahyu. If not for his connection with the [Blood Child], Mark would think something bad happened to him. However, Crimson was fine and returned now.


    Why did Crimson return now?


    Mark''s eyes focused on the iing silhouettes from the distance. Among the six silhouettes, one was familiar. n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om


    It was the very same impostor of Wahyu. However, unlike their previous encounter, this [Face Wearer] was much stronger now.


    The enemies also noticed Mark and the guards atop the walls. There was no doubt they were frustrated to see the infiltration fail before it could even start.


    Without waiting for the enemies to get closer to the gate, Mark jumped off the wall and walked closer to them.


    Six enemies. Mark stared at them intently.


    All of them shared the coal-like skin color, with tribal garments adorned with gold ornaments. They wore golden crowns of different shapes and patterns.


    The leader of the group was a muscr-looking [Face Wearer]. Next to him was a fat one. Two had a thin body. The next one was extremely skinny to the point of skin and bones. Then, there was Wahyu''s impostor, who appeared to be the most normal-looking among them.


    "Hey, it''s been a while!"


    Mark waved at Wahyu''s impostor in a friendly manner.


    That interaction made the rest of the enemies turn to Wahyu''s impostor in suspicion.


    "Don''t look at me like that," Wahyu''s impostor responded to the stares. "That''s the man who saw through my disguise."


    Hearing those words, the leader of the group turned to Mark.


    "The unknown variable," The leader said. Then, things became easier for us."


    "KILL!"


    The leader roared.


    Mark heard the shout. He nodded as he recorded the mental fluctuation that meant anger.


    With a smile, Mark stretched his hand to the side. Ignis appeared out of his private space and let Mark grab his handle.


    The sudden emergence of the sword surprised the attacking [Face Wearers]. This emotional fluctuation was recorded by Mark, too.


    Despite the surprise they had from seeing Mark''s weapon, the [Face Wearers] did not stop their attack.


    The leader charged at the center. The two thin ones ran on opposite sides, faster than everyone else. Wahyu''s impostor charged behind the leader. On the other hand, the fat one and the skinny one stood behind everyone.


    The group ran so fast that their figures turned into blurs. In the darkness of the night, their skin color basically made them invisible.


    The guards atop the walls only saw four of the enemies vanish. None of them could keep up with the speed of the [Face Wearers].


    However...


    CLANG!


    Mark moved Ignis above his right shoulder. In that move, he blocked the arm of the thin one charging to his right. The arm turned into a long spear that tried to stab his head off. However, the attack was to no avail.


    Without any sign of effort, Mark moved Ignis, causing the first attacker to stagger backward. He then moved Ignis to his left nk, blocking an attack from the other thin one.


    The leader came next, with his arms inted with muscles, trying to punch Mark into meatpaste.


    However, after blocking the second attack, Mark pulled Ignis backward, causing the handle to block the iing punch. The second punch arrived. Mark moved, spinning counter-clockwise to his right, causing the first punch to collide with the other.


    In that set of moves Mark performed, he caused the leader to stagger as he ran past Mark before falling to the ground.


    Seeing the three fail their attacks, Wahyu''s impostor slowed down and hesitated.


    It was when a ball of acid flew over Wahyu''s impostor, followed by a bone spear. Both of which were aimed at Mark.


    However, Mark raised Ignis'' de in front of his face, causing the oriental-looking sword to release a faint greenish glow.


    Then, Mark waved the sword at the iing ball of acid and bone spear. A de of wind shot forward, obliterating the two attacks instantly. The ball of acid exploded and rained to the ground while the half-cut bone spear fell as it lost momentum.


    Silence.


    Mark stood in the middle of the enemies, barely moving from his initial position.


    The [Face Wearers] realized faster than most Chinese novel viins. The man before them was no mere nobody.

 Chapter 1104: [Face Wearer Assassins], The Battle At the Northern Clearings

    Day 364 - 6:48 PM - North Area, 38th Satellite Settlement, Muria Sacred Fortress, Mount Muria, Kudus Regency, Central Java, Indonesia


    Hiding within the forest north of the 38th Settlement, a group of three so-called [Face Wearers] began to move.


    The three infiltrating groups of [Face Wearers] had orders and ns to follow, and the start of their ns was when the Moon Chasers began the full-blown defense against the [Infected] they released.


    Each of the teams of [Face Wearers] had a different mission.


    As for this group...


    "It''s time."


    The leader of this group of three said as the defensive battle of the Moon Chasers grew intense.


    In this group, all of the members were [Face Wearers] with a thin body. To their species, the shape of their bodies showed the physical power they had.


    This particr group of thin [Face Wearers] were the fast-moving ones capable of turning their arms into sharp des. They were the assassins of their kind, melding into the darkness as they killed their victims.


    "The only target is that General. Slip into that ce, kill, and leave. No unnecessary business. This ce is not somewhere we should linger for too long."


    The leaders briefed their orders onest time before they began to move.


    There was a reason why there was no [Face Wearers] in the 38th Settlement. It was because it was a ce too repulsive for them to stay.


    For the more powerful [Face Wearers], their repulsion to the 38th Satellite Settlement could still be tolerated. As for the normal ones, however... Living in this ce might literally kill them.


    That was why not a single [Face Wearer] would want to take residence in this ce. They also avoided disguising themselves as anyone directly affiliated with this ce as much as possible.


    As for what reason the 38th Satellite Settlement had such an effect on them, it was not actually the ce itself, but something... or someone else''s involuntary work.


    The three [Face Wearers] moved to the border of the forest to the clearing bordering the north side of the 38th Satellite Settlement. It was one of the nned farming fields of the Moon Chasers but was stopped due to being close to the walls. From time to time, some [Evolved Animals] would jump over the walls.


    If something was nted in this field, it would suffer damages over and over without proper results.


    Passing through this clearing, this group of [Face Wearers] would only need to slip through a few guards left guarding the 38th Satellite Settlement''s flimsy walls. Then, go to where General Wijaya was, who was on the balcony of the Moon Chaser''s base.


    How did they know where the General was? If one were to see the eyes of the leader of this group, his had a different color than the others. He could also see differently, as his eyes could show the life force of people, even through walls. As such, he could see the familiar appearance of General Wijaya''s life force, who was together with all the people watching the battle with him.


    But with a frown, the Thin Leader could not help but notice three distinct life forces around the General. They seemed to be children, but their life force was clearly different from humans.


    "Remember, do not linger longer than necessary."


    The leader said to his two members once more, insisting on the danger of their mission.


    But all of a sudden, the leader noticed several life forces jumping over the wall. It was not long, and the other two also saw who the figures were.


    Two young women and three of the rumored beasts that recently appeared in the 38th Satellite Settlement. A dragon, a [Ground Hunter], and a golden dog. It was unexpected, but even the dragon shared a simr life force to the three children near the General, making the Thin Leader even more confused about this peculiarity.


    The group of [Face Wearers] were unsure why the group before them appeared. Were they discovered?


    But it did not matter.


    The three [Face Wearers] stepped out of the forest, and their bodies melded into the shadows. They were literally invisible in this darkness of the night. Bypassing this uncanny group should be a piece of cake. Besides, the two women did not seem to know what they were looking for at all.


    As expected, the three [Face Wearers] remained undetected even after arriving just a few meters past the group of beasts. They could go around, but the group of assassins were quite confident about their stealth that even [Evolved Animals] would have a hard time detecting them.


    Following the lead of the Thin Leader, the three ran past the group of two young women and three beasts.


    But the situation the three did not expect was that they would be unable to run past the group at all.


    Just as they were about to run past the group, they were greeted by a pair ofrge tails swinging unto their faces.


    The Thin Leader managed to jump backward and retreat, avoiding the tail sweep of the [Ground Hunter]. On the other hand, the two members were unfortunate, receiving the brunt of the more powerful tail sweep of the dragon.


    Nheless, it would take far more than a tail sweep to end these [Face Wearer] assassins. The two got thrown by the impact of the attack they received, but they stillnded on their feet and regrouped with their leader.


    Only then did they notice that the younger one of the two women was staring at them, even though they should not be visible in the dark.


    ***


    "Sorry, there''s no entry on this side!"


    Annica dered loudly, trying to fight her nervousness. This would be the first time she would lead a battle. Her nervousness was reasonable.


    "Annica..." Hannah sighed. "I know you''re nervous, but they won''t understand anything if you speak Tagalog. At least, use English."


    "Huh? Uhhh..."


    It seemed that Annica did not realize it herself.


    Unfortunately, there was no time for chit-chat. Whether the enemy understood or not, they had already begun to move and eliminate the threat.


    Annica stood behind the three beasts. Her eyes could not see the enemies in a normal sense of sight. However, her ability was far more than just being able to connect with intelligent animals.


    "Queen!"


    At Annica''smand, the [Ground Hunter], whom she named Queen, began following the invisible enemies'' movements.


    Queen''s and other [Ground Hunters''] eyes had a mutated thermal vision. While the [Face Weaers] could mask their appearance, noise, and smell, changing their temperature was definitely not in their skill set. And everything Queen was seeing was being transmitted to Annica in real-time.


    However, that was not all of it for Annica.


    Just as Queen and Annica followed the movements of the invisible enemies, Char and Laps began to do the same. Through her established mental connections, Annica was rying the same sight to the other two beasts.


    The three enemies moved separately. But to their surprise, they ended up facing the dragon and the golden dog.


    "Alright!" Annica yelled. "Attack!"


    At Annica''smand, Laps faced one enemy, while Char faced the other member and the leader. Queen, who was maintaining their thermal vision, was staying still, standing in front of Annica and Hannah.


    Laps, at the current regr dog size, was not too threatening. She made her enemy angry since it looked like he was being looked down on. What could a small dog do, anyway?


    As such, Laps'' enemy just charged forward as he changed his arms into des, aiming to end it instantly by beheading the gaudy-looking dog.


    CLANG!


    To the [Face Wearer''s] surprise, Laps blocked his attack using her horn. The sharp des they were proud of could not sh through the small horn of a mutated dog.


    The assassin shed with his other arm, but Laps suddenly jumped and kicked his body with all her four paws, causing him to slide several meters across the clearing.


    And if that was not enough, Annica yelled.


    "Laps! Supersize!"


    At thatmand, the [Face Wearer] could only stare incredulously as the small dog in front of him turned into a three-meter-tall monster.


    On the other side, Char was doing better.


    Char was no mere winged lizard. It was not even just a lizard that mutated into a dragon-like creature.


    The reddish-ck scaled Char was a [Blood Demon Dragon]. A kin and pet of the only remaining noble blood of [Blood Demons].


    All the attacks of the enemies could barely scratch Char''s scales. Worse, Char was fighting at an equal speed while using the [Blood Demon''s] racial ability they inherited from Mark, [Blood Enhancement]. Everyone could see veins under Char''s scales glowing as it moved faster than one would expect from a creature of his size.


    "We can''t use mes. So..." Annica muttered before yelling. "Char! Sky Toss!"


    Hannah shrugged as she watched Annica. Mark did say to fight like a pocket monster trainer, and she was fighting like so. Furthermore, she was pretty sure Annica did not teach the moves she was yelling right now. If not for her connection with them, this kind of fighting style would not work as well as it was.


    Annica''s connection with the beasts allowed [Sense Sharing] and [Mental Communication]. There was no need to shout since Annica could share her thoughts with the animals she was connected to, and they would understand it. However, she was really nervous to do such with high concentration. As such, using vocal cues allowed her to have a much clearer visualization of her mentalmands.


    And following Annica''smand, Char followed.


    Char tried to grab onto the Thin Leader with his mouth. Unfortunately, the leader was faster at dodging. However, it caused the other member to be caught off guard and was grabbed instead.


    And with a loud p of wings and a strong gust of wind, Char took flight with the enemy held in its mouth. The enemy clearly felt scared as he lost his invisibility while madly trying to pierce Char''s scales with his de arms.


    Unfortunately to the enemy, all his struggles were in vain as Char flew up to the sky to the point that the people below were dots before charging downwards.


    BOOM!


    The explosion of air sounded as Char broke through the sound barrier.


    The speed of descent made the enemy feel his bones cracking. He was unable to continue his struggle as he faced the overwhelming wind resistance.


    And just beforending, Chalfar whipped his neck and released the enemy from his hold. The dragon then did a swing by and avoided crashing to the ground before trying to swoop onto the leader. The leader who was about to attack Annica and Hannah could only evade, unable to continue with his attack.


    As for the member Char tossed?


    BOOOM!


    With an explosion-like sound, the enemy crashed into the ground. Dust and soil scattered, engulfing the enemy in its violent embrace.


    Char''s swing by as he tried attacking the leader again created a gust of wind to blow away the dust and soil. However, all that was left there was a small crater and a figure in the middle of turning into ash.


    One down.


    No.


    Two down.


    The Thin Leader could only watch as the giant golden dog toyed with his other member before crushing him with her giant paws.


    Speed-wise, the assassins should be winning. However, even if they turn invisible or into a blur, the beasts know where they moved. It was as if they had a full 360-degree view of their surroundings, which was impossible.


    Unless...


    The leader turned to Annica. She was the one issuingmands to the beasts. It must be her entire fault.


    Safety and stealth were not of his concern anymore. The Thin Leader focused all of his might on this attempt.


    The Thin Leader''s figure suddenly disappeared. It was not through invisibility and stealth but pure speed. Even Queen could not keep up with the leader''s speed anymore. And without Queen''s sight, Annical could not do anything either.


    Annica felt danger.


    But then, Annica heard a sigh.


    Annica then turned to her side and looked at Hannah.


    Annica was surprised and could not help but step back as the Thin Leader fell dead behind her with a slit through his neck.


    "This is what assassins are good for. Ambushes." Hannah said as she retracted her left arm, with her hand holding a sci-fi-looking de. "If you get caught in a stealth mission, it''s over. And worse, don''t show your intent to enemies. Because assassins, even with cards in hand, only had one goal. That goal is pretty easy to predict onepromised, after all.


    Especially in front of another assassin."


    Hannah then turned to Annica with a smile.


    "That''s what Aunt Odelina taught me."


    "I understand what you are saying, but you''re being scary right now," Annica said as she nced at the enemy by her foot, who had already begun turning to ash. "But I guess we''re done here?"


    "Yes," Hannah nodded. "There was a bit of danger in the end, but we won."


    "Alright! Let''s go back!" Annica said as she suddenly fell to her knees. "Please carry me. Now it''s over... I suddenly lost my strength."


    Hannah almostughed as she helped Annica onto the back of Char before they returned to the settlement.

 Chapter 1105: [Face Wearer Crushers], The Fight at the Southern Clearings

    Day 364 - 6:48 PM - South Area, 38th Satellite Settlement, Muria Sacred Fortress, Mount Muria, Kudus Regency, Central Java, Indonesia


    At the same time, when the enemies in the north began to move, the group of [Face Wearers] lurking in the south did the same.


    Different from the other two groups, all members of this group of [Face Wearers] had tall, bulky, and muscr bodies. They haverge forearms and fists not proportional to the size of their bodies. It was not wrong to say they looked a little simr to the enraged green mutated hero from the West.


    The members of the group of [Face Wearers] in the north specialized in assassination with their stealth and high movement speeds. At the gates, the enemy group was in a more bnced category, with its members having a variety of roles they specialized in.


    Different from the two, the group of [Face Wearers] in the south specialized in destroying things.


    Looking at how the groups were structured, the goals of the groups to the north and south would be more apparent to the investigative eye.


    The group to the north was tasked with assassinating someone. A person or maybe two.


    On the other hand, the group to the south was tasked with destroying something.


    "Move."


    The leader of the group said as the defensive battle of the Moon Chasers intensified.


    There was a distinct characteristic disyed with the members of this muscr group. They did not talk much. With just a single word from their leader, they began to act and follow the order.


    It may be because their intelligence was sub-par? The way these [Face Wearers] moved seemed simplistic and calm. They were not in a hurry like the others. They moved at their own pace, confident with their own strength.


    However, the leader suddenly stretched out his right arm to stop his members behind him. The three members were confused at first until they saw what their leader was staring at.


    In the middle of the south clearing between the forest and the vicinity of the settlement, a woman stood alone.


    A frail-looking woman standing before them in the middle of the night. Would these [Face Wearers] get the hint?


    "Kill."


    The leader only stared at the woman for a few seconds and gave his order. Their simplicity was not only in their behavior but also in their thought process.


    At the leader''s givenmand, all three members began charging towards the woman. At the least, they were not going one after another. They were not that stupid to think that there would be no danger.


    No. It was not right.


    The three attacked without cooperation. It was more like these [Face Wearers] were contesting who would turn the woman into meatpaste the fastest.


    However, the speed of the three were roughly the same. They were slightly slower than a weaker [Face Wearer], but their movements were still faster than a regr human would be able to react to. The three arrived at the same time before the woman, and they all threw their punches at her.


    BOOM!


    The fists of the three collided before mming to the ground with a loud sound. But to their confusion, there was neither the sound nor sensation of a human body being sttered into their fists.


    It was when the three realized that the woman was now standing a step away from their collided fists. Did they miss? All three of them? They were confused. However, it did not matter. In their eyes, the woman must have been scared silly to stand there without moving.


    With their other fist, the three gave the woman another punch.


    BOOOM!


    Another collision of fists made the surroundings tremble. A shockwave even spread out as they all attacked stronger than before.


    But to their surprise, the woman was still not hit. Worse, the woman was now standing above their collided fists.


    The leader was also bbergasted by this oue. It was time they finally noticed something was not right with the woman.


    ***


    Feng Zhiruo stood on the fists in silence. And if one was to look closely, she actually had her eyes closed all this time.


    "No. It''s not right."


    Feng Zhiruo muttered inaudibly.


    Ever since the time Feng Zhiruo failed the [Trial of Regrets] imposed by Magwayen, she had been pursuing things she thought she wascking.


    The [Trial of Regrets] made Feng Zhiruo remember something. The world was the yground for the rich and the powerful.


    Feng Zhiruo came from a small vige in the mountains in China. But her vige was ughtered, and her family were all killed. She was the only survivor of the massacre.


    In the [Trial of Regrets], Feng Zhiruo was made to relive the fun life she would likely have had if the nightmare never happened. She failed the trial as she was indulged in its illusion.


    Feng Zhiruo then knew. She was not strong enough to face reality. Or, at the least, the anger in her heart was not as strong as she believed to counter the illusion.


    If there was one thing Feng Zhiruo realized after the trial, it was that she hated herself.


    The massacre of her vige never came to the public. Everyone who knew it and would likely speak about it was silenced. In the first ce, the cause of the massacre came from the failure of Cultivators to fulfill their duties. And the Cultivators were also the ones who perpetuated the cover-up in cahoots with the government.


    But Feng Zhiruo, the survivor of that ordeal, became a Cultivator following a sect. No wonder she came to hate herself deep inside her heart and mind.


    Maybe it was because of fear or just straight-up trauma, but Feng Zhiruo had been lying to herself all this time. Feng Zhiruo made herself think that, by being a Cultivator, she would gain the strength she needed to protect herself and her loved ones.


    Feng Zhiruo was picked up by a sect and grew up in it. However, she was never able to step out of being a lower disciple, no different from an errand girl.


    Feng Zhiruo and everyone thought she did not have much talent in her. That was why she was stuck in the same position and cultivation for years.


    But after the trial and realizing the hate she had for herself, Feng Zhiruo finally understood why she stagnated.


    It was clear that Feng Zhiruo''s cultivation had a massive boost after Mark took her. At first, she thought it was because of Mark''s guidance and the energy of the Night Everred Pure Spirit Tree. But while those might have a significance, it was not the core.


    Within her heart, Feng Zhiruo became relieved that she was not following her sect anymore. The anger within herself lessened, allowing her to grow further.


    A free Cultivator, unbound by any sect''s rules and traditions.


    Feng Zhiruo did not hate cultivation. She hated herself for being a Cultivator of a sect that likely caused her problems.


    But now, Feng Zhiruo felt the shackles once more. If there were several chains tying her down in the past, only a few had been unbound. It was the reason why Feng Zhiruo went with Mark''s group on their journeys. She wanted to find how to unbound the chains remaining in her heart.


    Feng Zhiruo felt the shift of her hate. It was not towards herself anymore. It was towards the cultivation she was using.


    That was why Feng Zhiruo was in contemtion, especially in the face of the enemies.


    Feng Zhiruo wanted to feel what was wrong. She wanted to know what to change.


    WHOOSH!


    A loud whipping of the wind entered Feng Zhiruo''s ears as a giant arm was swung at her.


    Feng Zhiruo, eyes still closed, fell backward, making the arm pass above her. She then kicked the fist she was standing on and spun backward beforending on her feet a few meters away.


    At this time, Feng Zhiruo finally opened her eyes. A giant fist was alreadying straight at her.


    Feng Zhiruo stepped to the side, leaving an afterimage. The fist of the [Face Wearer] passed in front of her. Another fist followed, and she swung to the opposite side to avoid it.


    It was an amazing sight as Feng Zhiruo effortlessly dodged the punches of three violent brutes. Each of her movements left an afterimage like an illusion.


    Feng Zhiruo finally gripped her sword. There was a slight pause as she hesitated to use a technique she learned from the sect.


    CLANG!


    Feng Zhiruo drew her sword, shing at the arm of one of the [Face Wearers]. Unexpectedly, her sword was unable to slice through it, causing a metallic sound instead.


    The enemies were surprised to see her counterattack, especially her sword''s speed. However, their faces showed an expression of mockery as her sword failed to even scratch their skin.


    Another flurry of blows followed suit. Feng Zhiruo could only dodge before retreating.


    "As I thought, I need to use a technique."


    Feng Zhiruo sighed as she steeled herself.


    Turning her gaze straight, Feng Zhiruo began to move her sword like a wave.


    The waving actions of Feng Zhiruo''s sword made the leader of the [Face Wearers] freeze as he felt his sense of danger fluctuating.


    On the other hand, the more simplistic three failed to notice the danger. The three all charged at Feng Zhiruo without regard for anything.


    "[Heavenly Dragon Wave]."


    Feng Zhiruo uttered as her de shone blue before releasing a flurry of shes, which turned into an illusory image of an eastern dragon.


    The three [Face Weares] did not even have time to stop their charge as the blue illusory dragon rushed through their bodies.


    After passing through, the dragon vanished like a mirage, leaving the three [Face Wearers] frozen in ce. And without their bodies falling to the ground, they straight-up turned to ash.


    Feng Zhiruo finished three enemies in one attack. However, she did not look a tiny bit pleased. Her hand was shaking, not due to fatigue but due to repulsion. At this stage, the more Feng Zhiruo used techniques of her sect, the more she found it repulsive and disgusting to use.


    Unfortunately, the Cultivation and Sword Techniques of the Heavenly Blue Dragon Sect were the only things she had. That was why Feng Zhiruo was struggling.


    While Feng Zhiruo was in another stupor, the leader of the [Face Wearers] was now in utter shock. His subordinates had just been killed in front of him.


    The woman before them was dangerous. That was what the leader had in mind.


    That was why...


    The leader decided to run away.


    These muscr [Face Wearers] were simple. There was no need to struggle. The enemy was strong, and it was reasonable to flee. In the first ce, wasn''t that their nature? The [Face Wearers] had escape first in their minds. It was very rare for them to fight up front and face their enemies.


    Unfortunately, the simplistic mind of the muscr [Face Wearer] did not ount for something important. It was to never let his back face the enemy.


    WHOOOM!


    The leader felt an impact on his back and pain passing through his chest. He then saw an image of the familiar blue dragon appear and fly through his body. At that moment, he lost control of his body as a gaping hole was punctured through it.


    Just like his subordinates, the leader turned to ash while standing. Their deaths were so instant that their bodies made of ash could not even hold onto their shape.


    The group of [Face Wearers] failed. Feng Zhiruo did not even struggle to fight them.


    However, that was the least of her concerns at the moment.


    With her arm and sword still outstretched in front of her, Feng Zhiruo nkly stared in front in surprise.


    For some reason, there was no repulsion and disgust after using that attack just now.


    "What is going on?"


    Feng Zhiruo muttered as she looked at her sword in askance.

 Chapter 1106: The Northwest Defense, A Sudden Spike In Danger After the Shorth Sense of Relief

    Day 364 - 6:54 PM - Northwest Area, 38th Satellite Settlement, Muria Sacred Fortress, Mount Muria, Kudus Regency, Central Java, Indonesia


    "What is that loud sound? Where''s the radio? Ask them what is happening?"


    Luna shouted to her members after hearing the explosion-like sound from behind.


    Unfortunately, due to the urgency of the situation, no one brought the handheld radio. In the first ce, the defense line was onlyposed of less than fifty people and was just outside the wall. Communication and orders could easily be delivered among the members. Even if there was a need to contact the remaining assigned guards, sending a messenger would suffice to ry information.


    Now that they realized they had forgotten the radio, a messenger was immediately dispatched. However, before the messenger could leave, a member of Team Four, assigned as one of the guards, arrived to report.


    Enemies appeared from three directions away from the defense line. It was the worst thing to happen. It was clear that the horde was orchestrated to divert the defenses and personnel of the 38th Satellite Settlement and allow enemies to infiltrate the base easily.


    But the dismaysted only a few seconds as the guard continued his report.


    The guests moved to intercept the enemies, and the explosion-like sound they heard wasing from their battle.


    "Hah..."


    A sigh of relief escaped Luna''s mouth.


    Fortunately, although Mark did say the horde was for the Moon Chasers to deal with, it did not mean his group would not help with other dangers.


    "Then, we can concentrate on the horde."


    Luna said with a frown. Even though they could now concentrate on defending against the horde, it did not make the situation any easier.


    A group of Fifty against a few thousand [Infected]. If not for their reserved ammo and equipment they recently acquired, along with the skills of every member, they would have already failed to face the horde. Furthermore, the weapons Mark gave them were proving their quality and strength.


    "Sh*t..." Luna heard Edge curse as he turned to her. "We only have four rockets left."


    Edge''s words meant one thing. If more armored [Mutated Infected] appeared, things would be harder. They might need to rely on throwable explosives or even just the sheer might of their weapons from Mark. Either way, it would be dangerous.


    "We have to make do with what we have," Luna said to Edge before turning to their other members. "Check the ammo! How much is left?"


    "Boss! We''ve run through a little more than a third of our supply so far."


    A member shouted back.


    The ammo supply was already a little less than two-thirds left. It was hard to say if it would be enough.


    Looking at the dark silhouettes of corpses that littered the field, they probably killed more than a thousand already. Even though they could not see much clearly due to the darkness of the night despite the few spotlights they had, the thick iron-like stench could tell them how much blood had already been spilled before them.


    And, of course, the number of corpses would only increase as the horde continued to charge at them.


    "It''s getting harder to shoot," Limabined as their field of view started to shrink. "The corpses from therger [Mutated Infected] are blocking our sight."


    It was amon problem during battles againstrge hordes. When corpses began to pile up, the shooters'' field of view would begin to narrow. This would not be much of a problem for shooters in higher elevations, but the Moon Chasers were currently facing the direction of the mountain and a thick forest.


    The ground might not be steep, but the slight slope was just as bad while positioned on the lower side of the elevation.


    "It should be fine," Luna spoke. "It also shrinks the path the [Infected] can pass through. Just concentrate fire on the gaps between the giant corpses."


    Luna was right. Therge corpses might be blocking their sight but also shrunk the path of the [Infected], slowing the enemies'' advance.


    And most importantly...


    "Luna!" Nelia shouted from her position on the atop the roof of a house. "The horde is slowing down! We finally got past the initial wave!"


    Hordes might be a group of [Infected]. But inrger hordes, it was clear that not everyone would have the same capabilities. And the initial wave was the first part of the horde anyone would encounter after it was aggroed. It was the part of the horde where the fastest belonged.


    Due to the difference in speed, they would be charging faster toward their targets while leaving the rest of the horde behind. It was also seemingly the most dangerous part of the horde for obvious reasons.


    And finally, the Moon Chasers survived the initial wave.


    The slower members of the horde would be easier to deal with as long as they were not careless.


    It should be fine now. The slower group could have armored enemies and evenrge-bodied ones, but they should be able to manage.


    The Moon Chasers should be fine, and the 38th Sattelite Settlement would suffer no damage. They were doing well so far, after all.


    Right?


    WOOSH!


    All of a sudden. A loud sound of wind being whipped faintly echoed across the continuous gunfire. Not many heard the sudden strange sound. Only those with keen hearing heard it.


    And what followed the sound of the wind was a faint silhouette of somethingrge spinning in the air.


    BOOOM!


    Therge spinning thing crashed behind the defense line.


    "NELIA!"


    Luna could not help but shout in shock. That spinning thing crashed directly onto the house Nelia was shooting from.


    "I''m fine!"


    Nelia immediately shouted back. She managed to jump off in time due to her heightened eyesight, which managed to catch the fast movement in the dark.


    Luna and the others felt relieved to see Nelia unscathed. But what in the world happened.


    WOOSH!


    Another faint sound of the wind being whipped was heard.


    "Watch out! Another one is iing!"


    Limab shouted with her eyes glowing light blue. It seemed her [irvoayance] finally activated. This also meant that the danger they were facing suddenly increased.


    BAM!


    Anotherrge thing crashed. This time, it was just at the front of the defense line.


    Several barricades were broken. Splinters of wood from the barricades even hurt the nearby members.


    But finally, everyone saw what the spinning thing was now that it crashed before them.


    It was an entire tree. It was not something toorge, but it was definitely a tree, with its leaves and roots still mostly intact.


    If a tree of this size hit a human, death would be the least of their problems.


    "Everyone alert! Trees are getting thrown at us!"


    Luna ordered as she realized the situation.


    Without a doubt, an [Infected] within the horde was doing this. It was not the first time something like this was encountered by the survivors of the fortress.


    That particr [Infected] was as notorious as the [Corpse Devourer]. It was called the [Catapult Giant].


    BOOM! BOOM!


    The heavy footsteps finally entered everyone''s ears.


    "SPOTLIGHTS!"


    Luna shouted, prompting some of the spotlights to focus on the direction where the footsteps wereing from.


    Just in time, as the spotlight shined on the forest, the silhouette of therge figure emerged.


    And everyone froze.


    It was a giant past three meters tall. It had a bulky body with muscles too erged that it seemed like it might pop like a balloon. However, the muscles were covered with stone-like growth on its skin, especially the forearms and the legs, causing it to move slowly. It walked out carrying another newly uprooted tree in its hands.


    But that was not what caused the moon chasers to freeze. It was the fact that the giant had a visible tattoo on its exposed biceps. The tattoo was stretched out because of the giant''s mutation and growth, but it was still recognizable.


    "Wahyu..."


    Edge murmured a name everyone had in mind.


    The [Catapult Giant] standing before their eyes was the missing member of the Fire Fighters of the 41st Satellite Settlement. He was the man who was reced by a [Face Wearer] who caused a disaster for their group.


    And now, the poor missing guy, stripped of his face and identity, became a mindless, item-hurling [Infected].


    The [Infected] Wahyu heavily stomped on the ground as he began swinging his right arm, which held the uprooted tree.


    "GET READY TO DODGE!"


    Luna shouted, prompting everyone to get on their feet.


    Just like the first two trees, the tree Wahyu held was hurled towards the Moon Chasers.


    The Moon Chasers, along the trajectory of the hurled tree, immediately ran away to escape. Fortunately, they promptly reacted, and no one was hurt. However, the wall behind them that surrounded the settlement and the house behind it was turned into debris. The spread-out branches and leaves of the tree even made it harder to reform the defense life.


    "Damn..." Edge cursed as he saw the damage. "We need to deal with him quick!"


    Edge immediately switched his weapon to his RPG. After checking that no one stood behind him, he fired.


    Wahyu might be someone familiar to them. But at this moment, their safety was far more important. Besides, they had already gone through simr circumstances before. There was only one right thing to do. It was to not let their [Infected] friend cause some damage they would have regretted doing when they were still alive.


    However, the next thing that happened surprised everyone.


    As the rocket flew with the trail of mes and smoke behind it, Wahyu lowered his body. Then, with a grab and a swing, Wahyu tossed several [Infected] forward, creating a screen of meatshields in front of the rocket.


    BOOOM!


    The rocket exploded, obliterating several [Infected] it collided with.


    And Wahyu? He stood behind the horde unscathed.


    Wahyu then began grabbing nearby trees. It was clear what he wanted to do.


    The danger really spiked hard when they thought they got past the most dangerous part.


    Wahyu, the [Catapult Giant], was not just some regr [Mutated Infected]. He seemed to be a [Mutated Infected] who developed more defined instincts and intelligence.


    It was the worst kind of [Infected] to encounter.


    GROOOARR!!!


    Wahyu roared loudly. The slow [Infected] suddenly perked up. As they all turned their heads towards Wahyu, they began to change direction and charged at him. And then, after effortlessly uprooting the tree held onto, he picked another couple of smaller [Infected] with his erged right hand.


    "You got to be kidding me."


    Luna voiced out the thought everyone currently had.


    Just a [Catapult Giant]? As far as they knew, a [Catapult Giant] did not have such abilities tomand and gather the [Infected].


    "Shoot him! Don''t let him get another throw!"


    Edge shouted, ordering concentrated fire on Wahyu. However, the bullets could not do anything to the stone-like skin covering parts of Wahyu''s body, and he showed no reaction to the bullets that actually punctured through his muscles.


    GRAAA!


    Wahyu roared as he swung his arm, which held the [Infected]. The [Infected] he held were thrown over the field and onto the defense line. The aim was not perfect, and the [Infected] scattered midair. Some of them would clearly fall inside the settlement.


    "Prioritize the [Infected] falling inside!" Lunamanded before turning to Bajing. "Bajing! We''re heading out!"


    "Edge!" Luna shouted. "I''m heading out with Bajing to intercept Wahyu and get his attention or he will keep throwing things at us! I''ll leave themand here to you!"


    Edge looked at Luna, seemingly wanting to say something with hesitation. However, he shook his head.


    "Leave this to me. Just be careful, you two. Nelia will probably support you, but don''t be careless."


    Edge reminded them as he switched to his greatsword and cut down a [Infected] falling in his direction.


    Luna gave Edge a serious nod and rushed out, with Bajing following closely behind her. The two women rushed to the side, away from the line of fire.


    While running, Luna closed her eyes. Her purple hair began to glitter.


    With the danger Wahyu posed, Luna had no choice but to go all out at the start.

 Chapter 1107: The Last Group of [Face Wearers], Facing the Result of Naivety and Underestimation

    Day 364 - 6:54 PM - Gates, 38th Satellite Settlement, Muria Sacred Fortress, Mount Muria, Kudus Regency, Central Java, Indonesia


    Quite a distance outside the gates, the silhouette of a man holding a sword surrounded by six inhuman beings could be seen.


    At a nce within the darkness, one would think that the man was in a predicament. But the situation was quite the opposite, especially for those guards atop the walls who could vaguely watch the ongoing fight.


    Mark calmly stood in ce. With Ignis in his hand, who turned closer into an oriental sword from his original form of a mberge, he looked like a samurai from Japanese myths facing evil beings with his sword.


    As for the six [Face Wearers], their expressions looked ugly.


    It had been several minutes since the fight started. Although they were not the strongest of their kind, these six [Face Wearers] were far stronger than theirmon folk.


    Yet, these six [Face Wearers] could not even touch the hem of the cloak the man standing before them was wearing.


    And their mission was to kill this man, the creator of the badges that hindered the goals of their kind.


    Kill this man? What were they thinking when they thought of such?


    This man was no mere human. They underestimated him as nothing but a mere human.


    Why would someone like him appear in this ce all of a sudden? This question was what the leader of this group of [Face Wearers] had in mind.


    "Say..." Mark spoke. "You guys aren''t going to run away? I''m pretty sure that''s what you guys are best at, right?"


    It was a mocking question. However, it was something the [Face Wearers] could not refute, either. Not all of their kind were suited for fighting. In fact, while they had some uncanny abilities that defied themon sense of humans, only a few of them were gifted the ability to fight.


    There was nothing wrong with calling the [Face Wearers] a cowardly race. Or else, why would they settle with disguising as humans and slowly whitling their ranks instead of outright fighting them face to face despite their abilities?


    And it was going well so far. The [Face Wearers] managed to rece a huge chunk of the human poption in this mountain while causing trouble in the dark to reduce their numbers.


    It was going well so far, and the humans had no idea at all. After all, the [Face Wearers] could not only disguise but also perfectly copy the personality and habits of the person they disguised after.


    If there was something the [Face Wearers] could not copy, it was the uncanny abilities mutants had. That was why these mutants were the second in the list to be eliminated from this mountain.


    Thetest kills would have been aplete wipeout as the members of the 41st Satellite Settlement faced an unescapable setback.


    However, this man before them appeared without warning, discovering the fake Wahyu and revealing the existence of [Face Wearers] to the unknowing humans of the fortress.


    Worse, this man began to support the humans their kind hated the most. The 38th Satellite Settlement, specifically, those that carried the ancient bloodline.


    Not only did their kind get revealed, but the n to slowly kill one of the three people first on their list failed. The little girl should have died after some time, turning her soul into nourishment for their kind.


    To create a more powerful being among their rank.


    Yet, the girl survived, and the creature they reared to harvest the girl''s soul somehow did not escape.


    The several months of work were all for naught. All of their kind that infiltrated the humans had to escape back to where they came from. They were back to zero for everything.


    That was why they had no other choice but to release the specimens as a distraction. It was to draw the bearers of ancient blood away and destroy the cause of their failure.


    How naive of them to think they would easily seed.


    "No reply?" Mark asked. "If none of you are going to talk, there''s no need to prolong this farce any further. I already got what I want, anyway."


    Those words made the six [Face Wearers] flinch.


    For several minutes, the six [Face Wearers] relentlessly attacked Mark to no avail. Nheless, they were also unscathed all this time.


    Now, thinking about it, the man before them never attacked all this time. He only dodged and parried while defending against the ranged attacks from time to time.


    They were unscathed, not because they were skilled.


    It was because the man wanted something from them.


    And, by the looks of it, he already achieved what he wanted.


    "¨‚¨‚¨‚¨‚¨‚," The leader of the [Face Wearers] spoke some iprehensible words. "¨‚¨‚¨‚¨‚¨‚¨‚¨‚¨‚¨‚¨‚¨‚¨‚"


    Mark frowned. It seemed that the [Face Wearers] also had their ownnguage aside from the localnguage used in this country. But then again, it should not be surprising at all.


    A different race having their ownnguage should be expected.


    The [Face Wearers] were no mere brainless monsters. They were a race of sentient creatures.


    But whatnguage they did not matter. If there was something Mark had to gain from ying with these guys, it was a clear understanding of their mental and emotional fluctuations.


    There was something Mark realized when he caught the soul of Dr. Murni''s impostor Abbygale defeated. While the [Face Wearers] could be affected by his [Empath] abilities, their emotional fluctuations differed greatly from humans, animals, and other magical creatures. It caused Mark to gain nothing from "interrogating" the tightly-lipped soul he captured.


    Now, while still not perfect, Mark managed to gain some insights into reading the emotional fluctuations of these creatures.


    That was why he could stop ying now.


    After the leader of the [Face Wearers] spoke that unrecognizablenguage, the group went into formation.


    A suicide formation.


    The [Face Wearers] were beings who had "escape" as their nature. However, it was not like they feared death, considering their first action upon capture was to kill themselves.


    If they were given no way out, they were always ready to kill themselves. And if they were given a chance, they would kill themselves with their enemies.


    Oddly enough, Wahyu''s impostor was not included in the formation. He was a melee fighter so far as this battle went. Yet, he positioned behind the two ranged members of the group, the acid spitter and the bone shooter.


    "You guys want him to escape, huh," Mark shrugged. "For what? To inform your leader?"


    Those words from Mark greatly shocked the group of [Face Wearers]. After all, how would he know that? This group realized Mark was not someone they could defeat, but they failed to realize they were ying over his palm all this time.


    The very moment Crimson returned earlier, Mark gained so much information these [Face Wearers] would not imagine. While the baby mind of a [Blood Child] like Crimson could not understand everything he saw, he could at least ry everything he saw to Mark, who would understand it.


    Crimson was not away for several days for nothing. The diligent [Blood Child] followed Wahyu''s impostor around to the point of almost getting caught.


    In the images Crimson brought back, Mark saw the true leader of the [Face Wearers]. And that person was someone an Otaku like Mark would expect to be involved in this mess. After all, it was amon plot in fantasy and isekai stories. But this would be forter.


    Mark tilted his head to the right. Then, he raised his left arm.


    SWOOOSH! CLANG!


    A bone projectile wooshed beside Mark''s cheek, and a de arm shed with his left gauntlet.


    The [Face Wearers] attacked without warning. They were adamant to get Mark''s full attention. They wanted to seed in their final order. An order to exchange their life for.


    Just as the sh between the de arm and the gauntlet happened, the thin [Face Wearer] that attacked Mark immediately retreated. It was because a nket of acid was already on its way to rain on Mark.


    At the same time, the other thin [Face Wearer] and the one who had just shed with Mark attacked behind him from different sides.


    Last was the leader, who charged behind the nket of acid.


    It was a greatbo of attacks. It would not only get Mark''s attention, but the nket of acid blocked his line of sight in front.


    When all of that was happening, Wahyu''s impostor began his escape, running back to the woods they came out of. Furthermore, he did not run straight but at a slight angle to prevent lucky shots from behind the nket of acid.


    Looking at the iing nket of acid, Mark gave another shrug. The attacks behind him were alsoing. If these attacks hit Mark, he would be forced closer to the acid before it rained on him.


    But as the two de arms were about to touch Mark''s back...


    PUFF!


    Mark vanished into a puff of ck mist.


    The eyes of the two thin [Face Wearers] widened in shock and dismay as they failed their attack and were enveloped in the nket of acid from their ally.


    With the intensity of the acid, the two thin [Face Wearers] dissolved before all of the acid fell to the ground with a foul-smelling sizzle.


    The leader did not stop his charge. He jumped over the puddle of acid on the ground and lunged at the figure of Mark, who had just appeared.


    Without regard for his safety, the leader made a leap of fate.


    Mark did not even have to move much. He only raised Ignis in front of him, and the leader impaled himself. But instead of stopping, the leadernded on the puddle of acid and kicked the ground to impale himself deeper.


    Ignis was locked in ce, clutched within the muscles and bones of the leader as he grabbed Mark within his two muscr arms.


    Then, arm-sized bone spears shot from the skinny [Face Wearer] as his arms welt limp. The ability of the skinny [Face Wearer] to shoot out his bones was not infinite. While his bones could regenerate fast to create small projectiles,unchingrger attacks would need a sacrifice. In this case, the bones in both his arms.


    The bone spears prated the leader''s body...


    CLANG!


    ...Straight into Mark''s armor.


    Surprisingly, the bone spears made of arm bones bent at the joints, clutching around Mark''s waist as they fixed Mark tighter in ce.


    Then, a fat silhouette could be seen looming over Mark and the leader. The fat [Face Wearer] also charged and jumped up high as if to tten the two.


    And then...


    BOOM!


    The fat [Face Wearer''s] body exploded as he made his sacrifice, turning his whole body into a massive amount of highly corrosive acid.


    SIZZLE!


    The massive amount of acid rained on Mark and the leader. The foul stench of the acid spread out as it melted almost everything it touched, even the surface of the ground.


    As the skinny [Face Wearer] watched that scene with his limp, boneless arms, he was overwhelmed by emotions. This sacrifice should be worth it. Wahyu''s impostor should have gotten away already.


    It was because they failed to kill the target.


    The leader sure was melted into the puddle of acid. However, the figure of their target was still there, unscathed, even when he was supposed to be drenched with that acid.


    "You must be feeling relieved, right?" Mark suddenly spoke to the remaining survivors of the enemies. "But do you know? That guy escaped the first time, not because he can."


    AHHHH!!!"


    A faint scream was heard from the woods. It was definitely the voice of Wahyu''s impostor.


    "It''s because I let him," Mark smirked. "Only once is enough."


    The skinny [Face Wearer] looked at Mark. In his eyes, this was no human anymore. He was a Devil.


    They failed. They utterly failed.


    With those thoughts, the skinny [Face Wearer] manipted his neck bones and beheaded himself, turning into ash.


    "Welp, I''m done here."


    Mark said as a surge of mist came out of the woods before materializing into Crimson and plopping on his head.


    Looking at the surroundings and trace left of the [Face Wearers], Mark felt a bit of pity. Not because he pitied the enemies, of course.


    "I really want to capture all their souls... But I only have a few canisters. I haven''t gotten enough materials to make new ones. I need to leave them vacant for more important souls."


    Mark then shrugged as he stretched out his hand, and several mall pylons returned to his grasp.


    "I guess you''ll do."


    Mark said as he raised a different canister with a new soul.


    The soul of the leader shivered. He never expected something like this to happen.


    "Well then," Mark looked in the northwest direction. "I think I''ll still make it to watch the climax."


    Mark then turned into a surge of ck mist, vanishing from outside the gates.

 Chapter 1108: Reinforcements, Luna And Bajing Against The Strongest Infected They Had Ever Fought

    Day 364 - 7:01 PM - 38th Satellite Settlement, Muria Sacred Fortress, Mount Muria, Kudus Regency, Central Java, Indonesia


    After finishing the job outside, Mark went back to the 38th Satellite Settlement through the gates. Of course, he did not forget to warn the guards who watched the fight to be wary of the location. It was because of the acid puddle still sizzling in front of the gates.


    As Mark left the gates, he looked up. Mei could be seen descending from the sky after finishing her duty.


    "Nothing bad happened, right?"


    Mark asked Mei.


    "No, fortunately," Mei replied with a smile. "Annica still needed more experience, but Hannah supported her nicely when needed."


    "Annica''s ability is far more than just taming. Unfortunately, her family sheltered her too much for her to learn to use it to its full potential."


    Mark shrugged.


    "I still remember her dad being too reluctant to let here with us."


    Mei had the same sentiment.


    "Let''s hurry back," Mark held out his hand to Mei. "I want to watch the rest of their battle."


    Mei nodded as she held Mark''s hand. The two then turned into a puff of ck mist, flying towards the headquarters of the Moon Chasers.


    Along the way, the two saw General Wijaya''s soldiers gathered outside the headquarters. They then appeared at the corner of the balcony where everyone gathered.


    Feng Zhiruo, Annica, and Hannah already returned after their battles. Markgged behind in the speed of dispatching his enemies because he had to confirm a few things.


    "Uncle! Aunt! You''re bothte," Emika noticed the arrival of the two. "Some troublesome [Infected] appeared."


    Everyone''s attention turned to Mark and Mei as they approached. By the looks of it, they all gathered around theptop and were watching through the drone''s camera. The General''s secretary was not here, however. She might be the one who was organizing the soldiers outside, as Mark could detect her with them.


    At this moment, the giant [Infected] throwing its minions at the Moon Chasers could be seen on theptop''s screen. And beside the still charging horde, the figures of a purple, glittering-haired woman and a blurry silhouette could be seen running towards the giant.


    "So, that''s Luna''s ability at work, huh."


    Mark could not help butment.


    Looking at the two women through the screen, Bajing, an agility-type fighter, ran at full speed. Yet, Luna, who was supposed to be slower, ran at the same pace.


    The horde noticed the two. It was impossible to miss Luna''s hair glittering under the moonlight. However, the poor [Infected] could not catch up to them. The [Spitter Types] missed their ranged attacks, too. Although there were still some asional faster-moving [Infected], they were not as fast as the initial wave of the horde to be a hindrance to the two women.


    "Sir Mark," General Wijaya called out. "Did you figure out something from the enemies?"


    Mark turned to General Wijaya. It seemed this man knew Mark went out not just to fight but also to gather information.


    "Let''s talk about itter," Mark replied as he nodded. "I do think I should tell you some of the things I learned from them. Our meeting isn''t done, anyway."


    That was right. The meeting was not done yet. It was only interrupted by the sudden horde and the intruders.


    "General," General Wijaya''s secretary returned. "I exined the situation to our soldiers. They had now calmed down and were waiting for orders."


    Hearing the words of the secretary, it seemed that some of the soldiers began making a fuss and asking about the situation. Who would not be when the gunfire outside the settlement had yet to stop.


    "Good. It''s yet to be our position to step forward."


    General Wijaya responded to his secretary''s report. He then gave Mark a nce as if wanting to ask something. However, he decided not to with a slight shake of his head. ''Not now''. That was what could be read from his actions.


    "Hey! There are people!"


    Annica eximed, taking everyone''s attention back to the screen. As she had said, a group of people could be seen as they arrived riding on vehicles.


    General Wijaya''s eyes lightened up as he saw the familiar vehicles. Even Mark showed a nod of approval.


    "They sure are good allies."


    Markmented.


    ***


    In the defense line, five vehicles arrived at the settlement entrance. Seeing these vehicles, the members of the Moon Chasers rejoiced in their hearts as their morale rose explosively.


    "Edge! What is happening here!"


    Someone jumped out of one of the vehicles. Judging by the person''s voice, it was a woman.


    A short girl with bubbly blue hair. She just jumped out of the vehicle''s roof window without minding that it was still moving.


    "KANA! DON''T JUST JUMP OUT OF A MOVING VEHICLE!"


    A familiar voice shouted from the same vehicle the blue-haired girl jumped from.


    The vehicles stopped shortly. The owner of the angry voice rushed out and grabbed the short girl by the hood of her jacket.


    "Let me go, KELA!"


    The blue-haired girl, Kana, protested to no avail.


    "What is happening here? Why are the [Infected]ing from the mountain?"


    A feminine voice sounded over the two as another woman, one who had gray-colored hair, stepped out of the same vehicle.


    "Estia! K! Kana! You three came!"


    Ellie shouted, waving his giant hammer. The scene gave the new people who arrived quite a surprise.


    Estia and Kana. These two were K''s friends who led the 40th Satellite Settlement together with her.


    "We''re here too," A familiar male voice interrupted. "No wee for us?"


    It was Farel and his group from Fire Fighters who led the 41st Satellite Settlement.


    The only two groups allied with the Moon Chasers came to provide reinforcements.


    "Farel!"


    Edge called out with a pleasant surprise on his face.


    "We have to return the favor, somehow," Farel nodded at Edge''s greeting. "But what in the world is happening here?"


    Farel''s question was what everyone among the reinforcements that came had in mind.


    "Questionster, please!" Limab interjected. "There''s another batch of [Infected] getting thrown at us!"


    As Limeb had said, several [Infected] were thrown onto the defense line. One evennded in front of Estia.


    However, before the [Infected] could even recover, the [Infected''s] neck was cut. Estia dealt with the enemy swiftly with a sword now in her hand.


    "Alright, questionster!" Kana shouted as she bobbed her body while running to the front of the defense line. "Then! BOOM!"


    Kana stretched out both her arms with her hands still hidden within her oversized sleeves. And then, water gushed out of her sleeves like a cannon, pushing away any nearby [Infected].


    Farel and his group also followed suit. They might not be as powerful as the others, but they made up with their experience and expertise.


    The defense line was sure to stabilize soon. The only thing left was to deal with thest boss.


    "Wahyu?"


    Farel also noticed the current figure of their missingrade. Who would have thought that he would end up like this?


    ***


    "Luna! Look!"


    Bajing eximed while running with Luna past the horde.


    Luna also looked behind at the defense line as her eyes lit up in delight.


    "Reinforcements!" Luna smiled. "We don''t have to worry about them now! Let''s concentrate on Wahyu!"


    "Okay!"


    Bajing also gained more courage.


    ROOOOAR!


    Wahyu noticed the two women charging at him. As the two ignored the minions and came straight at the boss, he seemed to be infuriated.


    SWOOSH!


    With a wave of his left hand, Wahyu threw the entire tree he held at the two women.


    The tree flew like a boomerang, spinning violently and obliterating everything it hit. Several [Infected] were hit by the branches and had their heads exploded in an instant. The throw and spin were that strong.


    Bajing bent her knees as shended her next step. And like a loosened spring, she jumped over four meters to the sky, totally evading the area affected by the thrown tree.


    On the other hand, Luna took a different approach. Strange enough, she had a slight pause. She then hesitatingly waved her keris right at the tree. A brighter glitter appeared on Luna''s hair as the keris emitted a strange glow. The glow then extended outward almost instantly, cutting the trunk in half, causing both parts to deviate from its path and avoid hitting Luna.


    Luna showed a surprised look on her face as she hurried to catch up with the simrly surprised Bajing.


    "How did you do that?!"


    Bajing could not help but question.


    "It''s not just me!" Luna replied. "It''s Melfiss! She told me to do that!"


    "Then, that''s great!" Bajing shouted in glee. "It''s not only us who got a powerful weapon upgrade!"


    ROOOAR!


    The angry Wahyu just got angrier. Evading the tree he had thrown was one thing, but what provoked him more was the fact that Luna cut the tree in half.


    ROOOAR!


    Wahyu grabbed several [Infected] gathering around his feet. He then threw them at Luna and Bajing.


    However, the two women were far too agile for these slow [Infected] to be a threat to them. At their current speed, they would reach Wahyu in a few seconds.


    Soon, after evading several more [Infected] thrown at them, Luna and Bajing arrived at a distance where they could attack Wahyu.


    Bajing immediately jumped forward. They could not let Wahyu throw more things around.


    Doing the opposite, Luna circled around Wahyu, readying her keris to cut through Wahyu''s leg tendons and immobilize the giant.


    However, Wahyu suddenly raised both his hands.


    "Watch out!"


    Luna immediately responded to the unusual action and jumped back.


    Bajing also retreated without hesitation after hearing Luna''s voice.


    BOOM!


    Wahyu smashed his gigantic fists on the ground. It turned some [Infected] into pulp, but most importantly, it caused the ground to crumble and dust to spread out.


    A smoke screen and a shockwave. Wahyu sure was a difficult enemy to fight in both long and close range.


    BOOM!


    A loud sound came from the cloud of dust as the silhouette of Wahyu could be vaguely seen swinging his arms.


    Bajing''s ears picked up a sound in front of her, and she immediately jumped to the side. A severed head flying at the speed of a cannonball passed by her previous position.


    On Luna''s side, she also had to evade as a headless body came flying in her direction.


    It was not just whole [Infected] and trees. Wahyu was even making use of the corpses that littered the ground to attack.


    "HMPH!" Bajing snorted. "HASTE!"


    All of sudden, Bajing''s speed had an explosive increase. At the same time, the daggers Mark gave her began to glow.


    SWOOSH!


    Bajing shot through the cloud of dust and attacked Wahyu.


    CLANG! CLANG! CLANG!


    A metallic sound echoed as Bajing''s daggers and Wahyu''s armored arms shed violently. In just a couple of seconds, Bajing exchanged several shes with the enemy within that cloud of dust.


    The amazing thing here was not Bajing, however. Instead, it was Wahyu, an [Infected], who actually moved to defend himself from the attacks and seeded.


    BAM!


    Wahyu smashed the ground again.


    Bajing could only retreat out of the dust cloud.


    "Geez! Is this guy really an [Infected]?"


    Bajing could not help but voice her frustration. It was the first time they fought this kind of [Infected].


    The current Wahyu was too smart to be an [Infected].


    WOOOM!


    Another body was thrown at them through the dust cloud.


    "It doesn''t help that he could see us through all this dust screen he made."


    Luna alsoined. It was not just visibility that the dust cloud affected. One wrong move and the dust could get into their eyes and steal their sense of sight.


    "Huh?" Luna suddenly muttered. "Are you sure?"


    "Luna, what are you talking about?"


    Bajing asked in confusion, thinking that Luna was talking to her.


    "No, not you," Luna immediately replied to Bajing. "It''s Melfiss. She said she wanted me to try something, so jump back a sec."


    Bajing was a little confused. However, she did as she told and jumped a little behind Luna.


    Luna then bent her right arm, cing her keris over her shoulder. Then, there was another intense glitter on her hair. It was too bright that it made her hair look silver-colored.


    At the same time, the keris, Melfiss, also showed the same glow.


    SLASH!


    Luna then shed.


    And with a blinding sh of light, the cloud of dust in front of them vanished instantly and revealing the enemy within.

 Chapter 1110: Figures In the Shadows, Continuing the Meeting With New People in Attendance

    Day 364 - 7:30 PM - 38th Satellite Settlement, Muria Sacred Fortress, Mount Muria, Kudus Regency, Central Java, Indonesia


    The fight against the horde ended. Corpses littered the crop fields as the smell of blood, flesh, and even stomach acid continued to permeate into the surroundings.


    Several thousand corpses. With thisrge number, the Moon Chasers needed to start the cleanup as soon as possible.


    Of course, they had to be careful. There might still be a few [Infected] alive within the pile, just incapacitated or waiting for victims toe closer.


    Fortunately, the cleanup after the battle would not be solely worked on by the members of the Moon Chasers. The members of the Fire Fighters of the 41st Satellite Settlement, the members of the 3rd Wave of the 40th Satellite Settlement, and the soldiers under General Wijaya would be helping.


    And while the members began their work, the leading members of each group now gathered within the meeting room of the Moon Chaser''s main base.


    "Now that we are all here, what exactly is happening?" Estia, the leader of the 3rd Wave, asked for an exnation. "Why is there arge [Infected] horde inside the walls? Is there a wall breach somewhere?"


    "Ironically, it might have been easier to exin if there''s an actual breach."


    Edge shrugged in dismay.


    "What do you mean?"


    Farel could not help but ask a follow-up question.


    Now that some questions were asked, Luna turned to Mark and General Wijaya.


    "Sir Mark, General, can we include them and share the information we had, along with the details of the earlier discussion?"


    Luna was not one-sidedly deciding things. She respectfully asked for permission from the people involved.


    "I have no issues with it."


    General Wijaya nodded.


    On the other hand...


    "Just the necessary parts."


    Mark replied.


    General Wijaya, Luna, and the others present before understood what Mark was saying. After all, he did show them some absurd things earlier. Those were things not really necessary to share just with anybody.


    With the permission given by the two, the necessary information was ryed to the people who joined the meeting.


    And now, the information they received put them in a sense of loss.


    "All... All those [Infected] were the victims of the [Face Wearers]?" K could not believe what they had just learned. "It sounds unbelievable."


    "It would be unbelievable, really..." Farel should have the same opinion. "But... that giant... It''s Wahyu."


    Unfortunately, there were things that were hard to deny.


    "Also, if you look at that horde, all of them had their faces stripped away."


    Nelia added, further proving the fact.


    "Then, the horde is a nned attack," Estia folded her arms to her chest as she analyzed the situation. "The fact that [Face Wearers] tried to sneak into the settlement while the horde was attacking just proves it."


    "But why?" The bubbly Kana suddenly spoke, with her blue hair bobbing as she moved. "They used a horde to distract the Moon Chasers for what reason?"


    "Maybe to reduce the number of enemies to encounter? To lessen the security?"


    Livia timidly answered.


    But at this moment, Mark, the guest, spoke.


    "Livia is both right and wrong."


    "In what part?"


    Nelia asked for further exnation.


    "Livia is correct with reducing the security of the settlement," Mark answered while raising his right index finger. "But that''s just one reason, and it''s not even the main one."


    Then, Mark noticeably turned to Luna, who was lulling her sleepy niece back to sleep. It made everyone turn to the two.


    "Wh-what?"


    Luna was tired from the battle. As everyone''s attention suddenly shifted to her, she could not help but feel flustered.


    And Mark finally revealed the likely reason.


    "The [Face Wearers] could not stand being around Luna and Amisha."


    "What?" Luna was even more flustered. "Why? What do you mean?"


    "Unfortunately, that''s also a question for me," Mark shrugged. "But the evidence is there."


    Mark then exined.


    Among all the ces in Muria Sacred Fortress that Mark had been to, only the 38th Satellite Settlement was devoid of [Face Wearers]. Furthermore, other settlements nearer to the 38th Satellite Settlement had far fewer cases of [Face Wearers] than others.


    General Wijaya froze at this fact. He immediately told his secretary to fetch the copy of the records they brought. And the records further proved Mark''s words.


    It was a surprise for everyone.


    Mark then continued his exnation, asking General Wijaya about confirmed cases affiliated with the military hospital where Amisha was previously being treated.


    ording to the reports, fifteen [Face Wearers] among the staff were caught after the badges and detection equipment were deployed.


    But Mark revealed that, aside from Dr. Murni''s impostor, there were no other [Face Wearers] within that hospital when they went to visit Amisha.


    It meant that the hospital staff only got reced after Amisha left the hospital after waking up from hera.


    With the evidence gathered, it was not hard to conclude that Luna and Amisha had something that the [Face Wearers] either feared or hated.


    But what was it? This was the question.


    While everyone mulled over the nonexistent possibilities, Mark had a hunch.


    The [Face Wearers] were creatures akin to Demons or even Devils. If there was something these creatures were afraid of, it was the presence of something rted to Gods and Divine Energy, if not the Gods themselves.


    It would sound like an absurd thing to think of.


    However, there was one factor Mark included in his thoughts.


    It was the fact that Luna was an [Eye''s] candidate. Luna should be like Mark, the candidate of the Philippines, and Ise Hikari, the candidate of Japan.


    If one quality a candidate should have could be their ties to a God, then Luna and Amisha should likely have this quality, too, since the two shared nothing but the same bloodline as rtives.


    ***


    Day 364 - 7:30 PM - Northside Peak, Mount Muria, Kudus Regency, Central Java, Indonesia


    At the same time, in a rather uncanny ce...


    "Silence returned."


    A man spoke as he looked at a fake god statue of a non-existent god they worshiped.


    "It meant your subordinates are ipetent. They are supposed to be here already. Yet, not even a shadow of your subordinates can be seen."


    Another man, sitting on a pew, admonished the man worshipping the fake god statue.


    The man in front of the fake god statue calmly turned around. His eyesy on the surroundings, showing a dark room. The room had gaudy pirs and rows of pews. Arge room seemingly used for worship.


    In this case, a worship of a fake god.


    "Mind your words," The worshipper showed a creepy smile. "Only fools and irresponsible idiots would call their people ipetent, knowing full well of their capabilities. Or are you the type who does not pay attention to your people and admonish them for the things you did not know?"


    The man sitting on the pew frowned. Nheless, he was a smart person who understood the worshipper''s words. Thus, he could not refute it.


    As the man was unable to counter his argument, the worshipper shrugged.


    "I did not send just anyone," The worshipper continued. "I know my creations. I know what they are capable of. They might not be capable of everything, but they are better than humans with the things they can do."


    "If they failed," The worshipper stared at the sitting man. "It meant they encountered something far from human."


    "If we were talking about ipetence," The worshiper just continued on talking. "Is it not you and your people? You let Guntur and Hadi take the me for everything while you did things in the dark. Yet, you had not seeded at all. The humans you sent there never made it back, and you had to rely on me, yes?"


    "You should shut up," The man sternly replied. "I let you run this ce and epted this cooperation because of your offer. Yet, you haven''t made any step forward to fulfill your end of the deal."


    "I know. I did tell you I can make you the new leader of this country. But you also promised me a fitting ce for my experiments. You should know that you''re the one who first failed to fulfill your end."


    "Luna and her people. Wijaya, even. I told you to keep an eye on them and not let them be a hindrance to our deal. But you failed, am I right? Not only did they manage to know about my creations, but they even acted against them. The foundations that we have yet to finish to establish crumbled in one instance."


    "We have to time or chance to start over the same n. We need to change our approach."


    The worshipper added.


    "What are you going to do?"


    The man asked the worshipper.


    "My side will do nothing," The worshipper gave an answer that made the man frown. "I have already recalled my creations. It can still make do with them and use them to create more powerful ones. And as long as the humans could not find a single one of my creations, they would soon forget, especially with the current state of this fake world.


    And with a new iing threat, they would likely forget the things that happened recently."


    "On the other hand," The worshipper red at the man. "You should also fulfill your end of the deal. We can''t just watch that woman and that young general any longer. Find a chance to eliminate them."


    "As if we haven''t been trying," The manined. "I guess I need to step forward myself."


    The man then stood up. Without any farewell or disy of respect, he left the ce.


    Looking at the man who had just left, the worshipper shrugged. He then disyed a menacing, devilish smile.


    "Humans are greedy by nature. They might have been given the gift of intellect, but humans could never put away their instincts as an animal species. To be on top. To seek authority. That was how animals that lived in groups always behaved."


    "The strong and ambitious on top and the weak ones below. Humans structured their society following the instincts they inherited from their ape ancestors."


    "Those humans that inherited arge part of their evolutionary DNA are the easiest to manipte. Give them a promise to put them on the top, and they would easily trample on everything."


    "Unfortunately, not all humans carried such instincts."


    The worshipper continued on his audienceless monologue.


    "The gods of the lost past. They created their own humans to fulfill their needs. Those humans did not carry the instincts and DNA of the authoritarian apes of the past. They had fewer opinions about leadership. They were the ones always seen in the background."


    "As they were made to follow the will of the Gods that created them, they barely had the urge to be the ones demanding instead. Thus, the society built by the apes felt suffocating for these creations of the Gods."


    "Most of them became... What do these modern apes call them? Introverts? Social outcasts? Nerds?"


    "The modern apes would call them names just to get a single step above anyone, proving they inherited the ape DNA of their ancestors."


    "Such a joke, these apes are."


    "They never realized the ones they scrutinized are the freest of all humans. They don''t feel the need for authority. They don''t feel the need for rules. And once the society copsed, they were the ones who adjusted the fastest."


    "In the world filled with destruction. The modern apes are still clinging to the past while the creations of the Gods are already moving onto the future. An absolute flip."


    "It also made the apes easier to manipte. I am grateful for their naivety. They allowed me to create new beings. I am grateful for their sacrifice for my own goals."


    "Unfortunately, it is still far frompletion."


    The worshiper looked at the fake god statue.


    It was a statue of a naked woman. She opened her arms for everyone as her eight charcoal-colored wings spread out behind her.


    "The Gods of the lost past created humans."


    "Why was it wrong to do the opposite?"


    "That was my goal. The reason of my existence."


    "To create a God with my own hands."


    "That was how I, a former human and the Deity of Soul Sacrifice, continued to live on."


    "To Create a God, one needed to see through this world and its truth."


    "Am I right? Unnamed watchers?"


    The worshipper suddenly turned his head, looking at the sky.


    Looking at YOU.


    ...


    ...


    ...


    ...


    ...


    ...


    The ce of worship fell silent.


    As if there was no one here in the first ce.

 Chapter 1111: Brainstorming, Gathering The Information at Hand and Initial Planning

    Day 364 - 7:40 PM - 38th Satellite Settlement, Muria Sacred Fortress, Mount Muria, Kudus Regency, Central Java, Indonesia


    After hearing the possible truth from Mark that she and her niece were being targeted by the [Face Wearers], Luna could not help but feel a strong headache.


    If what Mark said was true, then all the struggles they had and the deaths of their members might be her fault.


    But before Luna could settle in with her harmful thoughts...


    "It''s not your fault, Luna."


    Edge''s voice entered Luna''s ears as she felt his hand patting her shoulder.


    Luna looked up, realizing everyone was looking at her.


    "I... is it obvious?" Luna asked and received affirmative nods from everyone. "Sorry, I can''t help but think it''s my fault."


    "Edge is right," Limab chimed in. "It''s not your fault. If there is anyone to me, it''s those [Face Wearers] or whatever they are called. It''s not like we attacked them first. It''s them who are causing the harm here for no identified reason."


    "But since when have they been targeting Luna? I''m pretty sure we had no problems before. Is it when the other people arrived here?"


    Bajing asked.


    "I think that''s correct," Mark answered Bajing''s question, taking everyone''s attention. "The [Face Wearers] might have been here since the start, but they never caused problems when your group settled here. It''s probably because Luna never left the settlement for a prolonged time while taking care of Amisha."


    "But when the other people arrived, Luna got forced to move around while negotiating with the government," Mark continued to exin and unveiled an unexpected and irrefutable fact. "I mean, isn''t it strange that all of a sudden, the people you all saved suddenly turned against you?"


    "Unless they had been all reced, then it would make sense."


    Mark added.


    And Mark''s words made everyone silent.


    Then Mark added another spection.


    "I wonder where those people are now, the ones that betrayed Luna''s group. I''m betting arge cup of instant ramen that they are all on the list of missing people."


    Mark then turned to General Wijaya and his secretary.


    Understanding the gesture, General Wijaya nodded.


    "We will go confirm it as soon as possible."


    After hearing the truth, the ally leaders could only shake their heads. The details of this meeting were too absurd. Well, except for the bubbly Kana. She was slumped on the table, not paying much attention.


    "So... The [Face Wearers] were not from outside. Then, the missing victims were the [Infected] horde earlier." Estia, the leader of the 41st Satellite Settlement, spoke. "Now that we know that, won''t it be easier for us to find where they came from and where they were hiding?"


    "Right," Farel agreed. "We can retrace the path the [Infected] went through and find where they came out of. What do you think, General?"


    "I agree," General Wijaya nodded with a solemn expression. "The horde that appeared tonight will also give us irrefutable evidence to carry out our future operations with minimal hindrance."


    The settlement leaders understood what General Wijaya had said. It was no secret that General Wijaya''s authority within the fortress was being hindered because of the other military factions. It did not matter whether General Wijaya had evidence. As long as the others could hinder him, they would refute his evidence as much as they could.


    However, it would be different this time.


    Not only did General Wijaya get more support because of the distribution of the anti-disguise equipment, but there would be very little way the opposing factions could deny the appearance of the horde within the fortress.


    "But won''t it also instill panic?" Nelia spoke. "The residents are still afraid of the [Face Wearers]. Now, the missing victims returned as [Infected]. And not from outside, but appeared from inside the fortress."


    It meant that the fortress was no longer safe. No, it was never safe in the fortress in the first ce.


    What would disappear was the illusion of safety everyone fabricated in their minds. The very illusion that served as a stopper to everyone''s fear and panic.


    "Then, there''s no other way," General Wijaya sighed. "We should determine the source before panic ensues. Informing the general public would only slow things down. If we are going to move, we should move immediately."


    "General," General Wijaya''s secretary spoke. "If we n on moving fast, then it would be best for us to avoid interaction with the other factions."


    "Yes," General Wijaya nodded. "Informing them would only give them a chance to hinder us. And who knows if any of them were in cahoots with the enemies."


    A cooperation between humans and the [Face Wearers]. It was not something impossible to happen. In fact, it might be closer to the truth, as absurd as it might sound.


    "You n to attack immediately?"


    Mark suddenly asked General Wijaya.


    "If possible," General Wijaya confirmed. "However, the investigation would likely dy us a bit. We still need to find where the horde came from, and it would not be that easy."


    It was when Mark gave them a bomb to take care of.


    "Then don''t just look for the back exit of the [Infected]. You should also storm the front entrance."


    Those words from Mark caused General Wijaya to almost stand up from his seat.


    It meant that Mark already knew who was the mastermind, or, at least, where these [Face Wearers] came from.


    However, Mark turned to the weebs around the table.


    "In a dark fantasy setting. No, even in most non-dark ones. Who are always the most suspicious organizations?"


    The members of the Moon Chasers were confused as to why Mark suddenly asked that question. Was it even rted to the current topic?


    It was when Livia, who was silent since the continuation of the meeting started, spoke.


    "Religious groups. The church which was actually a devil''s cult. A corrupt church. A church of a non-existent god. Or even just a small spreading cult. They always show their good side before showing their darkness in the end."


    Livia timidly answered.


    Those words from Livia sparked another assumption from everyone.


    The Muria Religion.


    A religion that was more of a cult, springing out of nowhere. One would think the most active religion in the fortress could be either Im or Catholicism. However, it was actually the Muria Religion.


    But how did they even get the following to be recognized as a religion?


    "The [Face Wearers]..."


    General Wijaya said with a painful frown as he rubbed the bridge of his nose.


    Everyone now realized.


    "Sh*t..." Farel cursed. "Wahyu also became a member of that f*cking cult. Is that when he was reced?"


    The initial members of the Muria Religion were likely the first [Face Wearers]. And if they managed to recruit anyone to their cause, that person would be reced by another [Face Wearer].


    That was how the [Face Wearers] operated and kept themselves under the radar.


    It was how the Muria Religion grew as the third strongest faction within the fortress.


    Everyone was busy surviving. That was why no one questioned the existence of the Muria Religion. Even if there were contradictions, it might have been buried under the louder voices of the [Face Wearers].


    But these were still spections. As such, General Wijaya turned to Mark.


    "Is it the Muria Religion?"


    General Wijaya solemnly asked.


    "I don''t know if it''s the Muria Religion," Mark answered. "What I know is the church on the northern side of the mountain peak near the spring."


    It was definitely the Muria Religion. It was the only religion that built a church in the fortress.


    "Wait..." General Wijaya realized something as he turned to his secretary. "When was the Muria Religion''s church built?"


    It was the realization of another mystery. It was not only the General and his secretary. No one in this room knew when the Muria Church was built. It was as if it already existed there before everyone even noticed.


    "Anyway," Mark interrupted their thoughts. "That ce is where they should be abducting the people to steal their identities. If you are going to investigate, start there."


    "But Sir Mark, how did you know about it?"


    K asked.


    "I have a little spy that I sent to tail the [Face Wearer] disguised as the Wahyu guy."


    Mark answered.


    "Is that at that time when that guy escaped?"


    Bajing chimed in, making Mark nod.


    "That guy is among the intruders while you all were fighting the [Infected]. At the same time, my little spy returned to ry what he found."


    Mark did not hesitate to answer, although he kept hiding what his little spy was.


    Nheless, no one pried further. Although Mark and his group had many suspicious points, they had already proven themselves as allies.


    "Now I have more reason why we should move quickly," General Wijaya sighed. "Piliang, that coot... He''s a backer of the Muria Religion."


    Piliang, the one called General Piliang. It was the very same person who sent people to kidnap the members of Mark''s group.


    "That Piliang guy sure is an evil person, isn''t he?"


    Markmented as he remembered the name of the soul he captured mentioned before.


    "That guy is also backing the most annoying survivor groups," Estia also had her ownments. "The northside bastards are arrogant because of him."


    "That person... I also remember him," Luna sighed. "He was also there when the senator was negotiating with me."


    "That guy is everywhere, huh..." Mark could not help butment. "But it also meant that he''s able to manipte things here without hindrance."


    "It looks like we have no other choice but to sh with his soldiers if we had to force the investigation of the source of the [Face Wearers]."


    General Wijaya said with a serious tone, and everyone agreed with him.


    It was a huge problem. Infighting would cause more instability among the people. Furthermore, if a firefight happened, deaths would be inevitable. It would further pull the security of the fortress down a lot.


    "You''re worried about the soldiers fighting each other?" Mark understood the worries of General Wijaya. "Why don''t you hire me to deal with them?"


    All of a sudden, Mark pitched up a mercenary offer.


    "What are you saying?"


    General Wijaya was more confused than epting.


    "What I''m saying... I can stop enemy soldiers from fighting without killing anyone. Well, as long as they are human. That way, you can minimize casualties and quickly proceed with the investigation. Of course, it won''t be free."


    Everyone could only stare at Mark. Sometimes, Mark was really hard to understand.


    "I''m just suggesting," Mark shrugged. "There''s also the option of hiring survivor groups. However, it also meant more possible deaths."


    What Mark was saying was the truth. The enemies here were opposing human forces and unknown forces from the [Face Wearers]. If the infighting could be prevented, they could focus their firepower on the [Face Wearers] instead.


    "I have a question?" Kana suddenly raised her hand. "Is that Piliang not a [Face Wearer]? Why is he supporting the Muria Religion?"


    "As far as I know, he''s not," General Wijaya answered the sudden question. "He is wearing one of the badges. It''s confirmed that he''s human. About the reason... I don''t know about it myself. However, it might be because of his own agendas."


    "Wanting to be the country''s leader, for example," General Wijaya added. "It''s no secret that he wanted to be the next president. However, the support he gathered was still not enough to be one."


    That was a very usible reason. To fill in the support General Piliang needed, the [Face Wearers] would suffice.


    It was an ambition without regard for anything aside from himself.


    "A typical ambitious viin, I guess."


    Markmented with a shrug.


    Unfortunately, that ambition had already caused thousands of deaths. It was an ambition that needed to be stopped as soon as possible.


    And that was why General Wijaya ended up with a decision. It was to utilize as much as he could. They needed to end this farce before more people were sacrificed.

 Chapter 1112: Old and Young, The Confrontation Between Military Factions

    Day 365 - 9:21 AM - Southside Peak, Muria Sacred Fortress, Mount Muria, Central Java, Indonesia


    The 365th day of the apocalypse finally came. It was thest day of the first year of the apocalypse.


    It was already a year. Was it something people should celebrate, or was it something people shouldment? Everyone still alive might have survived the difficult and dangerous year. It was something they could celebrate. Nheless, it was also the anniversary of everyone losing almost everything.


    How people would view this day would likely be up to each individual and the things they experienced.


    And on this day, a new rumor was spreading across the Muria Sacred Fortress.


    ***


    "Have you heard? A horde attacked the 38th."


    "Is that the cause of the gunshotsst night? It sounded pretty far, but it kept me awake all night."


    "But some people are saying something strange."


    "What is it?"


    "They said the attack came from inside. Not outside."


    "That''s stupid. How did that even happen? You believe that?"


    "Nah. I also think it''s stupid. It''s already hard surviving, and some people are still trying to spread fear for no reason."


    Simr exchanges could be heard all over the Muria Sacred Fortress after the vague events of the previous night.


    Some brave ones went and asked soldiers on patrol for confirmation. However, the soldiers were either clueless, would answer with an obvious pre-practiced business reply, or just bluntly refused to answer.


    Confusion was slowly creeping up into the hearts of the people in addition to the fear still lingering because of the [Face Wearers].


    Nheless, confusion was still better than panic and chaos.


    But when the people of the Southside Peak thought that things would still be more or less the usual...


    VRROOOOM!


    They saw vehicles of soldiers under General Wijaya passing by. With how the vehicles and the soldiers were kitted out, it was clear that something unusual was bound to happen today.


    People along the road watched as military jeeps and trucks filled with armed soldiers drove through. There was no prior announced military activity. The scene caused more confusion and spection among the popce.


    Most importantly, it caused confusion to soldiers who were not under General Wijaya''s authority. Many of these soldiers immediately reported to their military superiors about what they had witnessed. Unfortunately, those military superiors who received the reports were far more bbergasted by General Wijaya''s unannounced action.


    They immediately tried to contact the spies they ced within General Wijaya''s forces.


    To the surprise of these faction leaders, they received no response from their spies. It was as if they all vanished.


    ...Just like the missing victims of the [Face Wearers].


    ***


    Eight military vehicles drove out of General Wijaya''s camp. Five huNovelFireees and three military trucks. All soldiers were armed to the teeth. It would be their most crucial mission after a long time of being suppressed by the other military factions.


    Nheless, the soldiers were quite in disbelief.


    The briefing happened in a hurry, and so was their mobilization. It all began after General Wijaya returned near sunrise along with the soldiers who escorted him while visiting the 38th Satellite Settlement.


    Immediately after theirte return, everyone was informed about the sudden mobilization. Everyone was quite confused at first. Furthermore, the gunshots echoing early the previous night throughout the mountain kept many of them awake. But when the briefing started, the information was shared, and the soldiers realized how important this mission would be.


    The missing victims returned as [Infected]. The horde that attacked the 38th Satellite Settlement were those victims. Worse, the [Infected] came from inside the fortress, inside their current home.


    Not only were the [Face Wearers] kidnapping residents and stealing their identities, these monsters turned people into [Infected].


    And now, the soldiers epted that they had to do this. They had to remove the threat called the [Face Wearers].


    The main base of operations of the [Face Wearers] was briefed to the soldiers. It was understandable that they were all shocked. The questions that passed through their minds before resurfaced. All of which pointed to the dubious existence and rise of the Muria Religion.


    This briefing answered a lot of those questions. The hesitation about the sudden mission became almost nonexistent.


    Inside the vehicles, the soldiers rested. No one had the time to joke around to ease the tension. Instead, they focused on the mission they currently had.


    In the middle of the convoy, the Humvee at the center had General Wijaya as its most important passenger.


    Normally, Generals would leave most missions to their soldiers and would just stay behind the lines. But General Wijaya was the opposite. He was still not used to being a general and was ufortable with the privileges of his current position. As such, he was joining the mission as itsmander. While other generals think it might be foolish, the soldiers under General Wijaya thought otherwise.


    Having their leader supporting them in the field was one of the things that increased the soldiers'' morale the most.


    Aside from General Wijaya, his secretary, and the driver, their Humvee had one more unusual passenger.


    "I didn''t think there''s a road connecting the two sides of the peak."


    Markmented as he looked outside the window.


    Compared to the seriousness and tenseness of the soldiers, Mark looked like he was just on his usual stroll.


    "This road is new," General Wijaya replied. "We had to build a road to connect the two ces for a quick response if anything happened to any of the peaks. It also allows us to travel faster to the northern settlements. There''s another road before, but most of it was reimed by the fast-growing flora that it was better to make a new one instead of clearing the old road."


    The road was not cemented. It was just a ttened side of a mountain slope. Unfortunately, digging through the peak was impossible without the proper heavy machinery to create even a dirt road. This road connecting the two sides of Mount Muria''s peak was still going around the peak.


    Reaching the other side of the peak would still take another hour or two, even with vehicles.


    After a long, bumpy ride, the military convoy reached a checkpoint.


    Since the mission was unannounced, the soldiers at the checkpoint were surprised to see a fully armed military convoy. It was not a surprise if the convoy was stopped in front of the checkpoint.


    However, the checkpoint soldiers could only salute as they saw General Wijayae out of one of the vehicles. His presence in the convoy created a different oue.


    Mark watched from inside the Humvee as General Wijaya exchanged words with the now sweaty and nervous soldiers at the checkpoint.


    It did not take long, and General Wijaya returned. The convoy was allowed to pass through the checkpoint without problems.


    "Being a general sure had some merits, huh."


    Markmented, making General Wijaya sigh.


    "I''m not really fond of these so-called merits."


    General Wijaya replied.


    However, Mark was not paying attention to General Wijaya anymore. Instead, his attention was on one of the soldiers at the checkpoint, who sneaked away after the convoy passed through.


    Unfortunately for that soldier, whatever he was nning to do, he would not be able to. After the soldier sneaked out and was hidden away from everyone''s sight, he felt an impact behind his neck. He was not even able to check as he fell and lost consciousness.


    Seeing his work, the culprit bobbed his body happily before vanishing into a surge of ck mist before vanishing without a trace.


    Mark nodded as his little spy did his job. It was Crimson who was actively participating in this mission, following Mark''s instructions.


    It was why the spies nted all over the ce were unable to report anything to their superiors. Mark had been finding the spies while Crimsom would knock them out without anyone noticing.


    The long ride continued after the checkpoint. Soon, Mark could see the Northside Peak from the distance. Since the road was on a higher elevation, it was possible to see the entirety of the Northside Peak, where the Government officials, VIPs, and other important and rich people resided.


    However, the convoy would not be entering the Northside Peak. They turned north at the branching road, avoiding the road leading to the Northside Peak.


    It was the road leading to the church. The mysterious church of the Muria Religion.


    The convoy arrived by the smallke near a spring. After passing through the thin forest by the roadside, General Wijaya''s soldiers could see the church on the other side of theke.


    However, they could also see another military convoy surrounding it.


    Defensive positions were already established around the perimeter of the church. It was to block General Wijaya and his soldiers away from the church. That was the clear look of the blockade.


    As the convoy stopped on the road, the doors of the vehicles opened slightly while the soldiers inside the trucks gripped their guns.


    General Wijaya stepped out of the vehicle. It was a bold move, considering the situation.


    However, General Wijaya''s attention was not on the danger. It was the familiar person who walked in front of the blockade.


    A man with a rather tall figure. He might look old because of his silver-colored hair and beard, but his physique looked no different than a bulky-looking soldier. He had an air filled with pride and confidence.


    "Wijaya. What is the meaning of this?" The person asked. "You know that there''s punishment to mobilization without authorization. Pastws might not be applicable anymore, but to mobilize armed soldiers in this fortress, you need to pass a majority vote."


    A majority vote. It was a rule established in the Muria Sacred Fortress regarding the general mobilization of anything military or government-rted. This was especially the case for armed military missions and deployment. Unfortunately, it was also the way how the others oppressed General Wijaya and his supporters.


    "Piliang..." General Wijaya red at the man leading the opposing force. "You should know the threat the [Face Wearers] brought to us and the people. To think that a prideful person like you would be siding with those monsters."


    "That''s a serious allegation you have there," General Piliang shook his head. "You can''t pin a crime on anyone without serious evidence. It was the same for raiding a ce with excessive force, like bringing all your armed soldiers to raid a ce of worship. This church had been a pir many of our people had been leaning to at the time of need.


    You should know that attacking this ce is tantamount to betraying the hopes of the majority of our people."


    "Your words are full of nothing but sophistry," General Wijaya sighed. "I won''t justify my actions now. I am fine epting the me if I am mistaken. Now, get out of the way and let us investigate."


    "That can''t be done," General Pilliang shrugged. "I won''t aid you in your crimes."


    It was clear in each word the older general uttered. He was adamant about pinning crimes on General Wijaya and stopping them from moving closer to their goal.


    But at this time, Mark stepped out of the vehicle to join the charade.


    "Hey, old man," Mark shouted. "Are you sure you want to do this? If you had nothing to hide, why are you stopping us? What''s inside that church that you are adamant to protect?"


    "And who are you?"


    General Piliang frowned at the unfamiliar and disrespectful man.


    "Hmm... That''s odd," Mark tilted his head. "You sent some idiots to kidnap my people, but you don''t know who you are targetting?"


    General Piliang frowned even more as his stare at Mark became sharper.


    "Another baseless usation," General Piliang replied as he shifted his attention back to General Wijaya. "Wijaya. Just give up and surrender. We will bring this to trial. This way, no blood needed to be shed in this ce."


    "Unfortunately, we can''t do that," General Wijaya red. "After everything that already happened, we can''t back out anymore."


    After saying that, General Wijaya stepped back. Once he retreated to cover, it would be the start of this battle.


    General Piliang watched as General Wijaya began to step back. However, instead of doing the same, General Pin suddenly nodded his head with a slight tilt.


    BANG!


    A gunshot came out of nowhere, and an impact sounded into the ears of everyone.


    General Wijaya fell to the ground. He was still fine, but he could only watch the person who pushed him out of the way fall to the ground.


    "SIR MARK!"


    General Wijaya shouted.


    Mark pushed General Wijaya out of the way after a sniper shot, taking the bullet meant for the general.


    "Open fire!"


    General Wijaya yelled as he grabbed Mark and dragged him into cover.


    After themand was given, although some hesitated, Mark''s sudden fall caused General Wijaya''s soldiers to throw the hesitation out of the window.


    A barrage of bullets flew towards General Piliang, who did not take cover.


    But General Piliang stood unfazed. Despite the barrage of bullets, he stood unmoving.


    In front of General Piliang, the bullets aimed at him hovered freely. And as the gunshots stopped due to confusion, the hovering bullets fell to the ground.

 Chapter 1113: Clash of the Two Generals, The [Titanium Clad General] Against the [Silver Schemer]

    Day 365 - 11:14 AM - Spring Lake, Muria Sacred Fortress, Mount Muria, Central Java, Indonesia


    One gunshot prematurely started the gunfight. No one thought that the prideful General Piliang would steep this low. But then again, this was not a battle for honor and pride.


    Despite both sides being soldiers serving the same country, it was a fight to eliminate the other side.


    It was not for honor or to serve the country.


    It was to pave the way for their own ideals.


    That was why General Piliang set up the sniper. It was because General Wijaya was the worst threat to his ideals.


    However, General Piliang could only frown as the sniper bullet failed to kill its target. Instead, it was the stranger. Someone that he barely considered a threat.


    It was a waste of such a precious bullet. It was no regr bullet but a specialized one. It was given to General Piliang, and there was no way to manufacture one. As such, they only had one specialized bullet to use to kill General Wijaya.


    Yet, the bullet did not even hit the target.


    It was a dismay.


    That was what General Piliang had in mind as he raised his hand to block the bullets shot at him in the other side''s retaliation.


    The air in front of General Piliang rippled as each bullet stopped and hovered motionlessly.


    Seeing the bizarre sight, the soldiers on the other side could not help but stop their shooting in absolute confusion.


    ***


    On the other side, General Wijaya dragged Mark to safety behind the HuNovelFireee with the gunfire as cover. The General''s secretary, Staff Sergeant Cahya, also jumped out of the vehicle, joining the General to check on Mark''s condition.


    "Urk..."


    The two could not help but frown and groan as they saw the hole in Mark''s left temple. Looking at the hole, they could see the butt of the sniper bullet. It seemed that it did not prate too deep. However, they could see that the long bullet tip also damaged Mark''s left eye as it prated downward.


    And to the two''s dismay, Mark''s left eye was open wide, with the eyeball twisted at a supposedly impossible angle.


    Nheless, it should not be fatal. It was the only good thing in this situation. Even so, Mark should be brought away to be treated immediately. Not only blood loss would be a problem, but there could also be other hiddenplications.


    But Staff Sergeant Cahya noticed something odd.


    "General... Why is there no blood?"


    It was only then the General noticed the oddity.


    Considering the possible damage, Mark should be bleeding from the temple and through his left eye.


    Yet, not a single drop of blood had been shed from him.


    "Yeah, bleeding to death is impossible for me unless I wanted to."


    A sudden voice made General Wijaya and Staff Sergeant Cahya flinch. The secretary even took out her pistol and pointed it in the direction of the voice. Pointing it At Mark.


    A frown appeared on Mark''s eyebrows as his right eye looked at the secretary.


    "I already got shot. You want to shoot me again?"


    "Ah!"


    The secretary immediately shifted her pistol away.


    "Sir Mark! Are you okay? Wait! Don''t sit up."


    General Wijaya asked with concern, especially when he saw Mark trying to lift his body up.


    "I''m fine," Mark answered as he lifted his back without problem but ended up twitching his face a bit. "I can''t close my left eye. Did a nerve get hit?"


    Mark was trying to close his left eye as he could feel the wind hitting his damaged eyeball. However, it was not working as his left eye kept open.


    On the other hand, the two around Mark were bbergasted at his actions.


    "A-are you really okay, Sir?"


    Staff Sergeant Cahya asked.


    "Yeah?" Mark replied with his own question. "I mean, I can''t see with my left eye, and it hurts bad. But I''m okay, otherwise. I only fell down because I got a little dizzy from the impact."


    However, Mark did not seem to be in pain at all. It was much more surprising that he only got dizzy from receiving a sniper bullet to his temple.


    "You shouldn''t have done that," General Wijaya reprimanded Mark. "I can step forward and talk with the enemy because I''m not afraid of bullets."


    General Sus Wijaya. He was also known for two titles the people gave him. The [Invincible Soldier] and the [Titanium d General]. It was because of his [Mutator] ability, allowing him to strengthen his skin and muscles stronger than steel. Regr bullets had no effect on him, while armor-piercing bullets could only leave a slight dent in his body.


    Due to this ability, General Wijaya could step in front of his soldiers, not afraid of any sneak attacks and schemes.


    Of course, Mark knew about this, too, since he did some investigation himself. And no one in the Fortress did not know about General Wijaya''s abilities.


    "I know," Mark shrugged. "But it''s no regr bullet, you see."


    Mark said as he suddenly reached for the bullet inside his temple, pulling it with his bare left hand.


    "DON''T!"


    The two reacted, but it waste. With the slight sound of his own flesh being smudged by his fingers, Mark pulled out the long sniper bullet.


    Showing it to General Wijaya, the bullet shape was not different from an ordinary armor-piercing 7.62x51mm bullet. However, at a closer look at the bullet, one could see some strange symbols engraved on it.


    "[Enchanted Bullet]," Mark exined. "It should have other effects than just pration. I disabled it, though."


    General Wijaya and Staff Sergeant Cahya could not care about the bullet anymore. They were far more bbergasted at Mark''s absurd actions.


    It was when they noticed it. The moment the bullet was taken out, the hole in Mark''s temple began to close. Even his eyeball was shifting back into position on its own.


    "Don''t worry about this," Mark pointed at his eye. "This small injury won''tst long."


    The two were surprised at Mark''s inhuman abilities. Nheless, they were relieved he was fine.


    It was when...


    "GENERAL! OUR BULLETS ARE DOING NOTHING!"


    A soldier called out to General Wijaya after General Piliang stopped the bullets in an absurd way.


    Now that he knew Mark was okay, General Wijaya finally paid attention to the other side, only to see the bullets falling to the ground after the gunfire stopped.


    "Looks like I''m not the only one not afraid of bullets."


    General Wijayamented.


    "Looks like it," Mark agreed as he also stood up. "Anyway. Aside from catching this bullet, I don''t think I''m really needed here."


    "What do you mean?"


    General Wijaya asked.


    "I''m here to prevent unnecessary casualties, right?" Mark smirked. "But you guys already fired the guns."


    General Wijaya could only respond with a bitter look. Because of what happened, he ordered to open fire without thinking further.


    "Well, you should just continue shooting," Mark shrugged. "There''s no point in stopping it if only the leader is human on the other side, right?"


    "Huh?"


    General Wijaya was confused at first until Mark''s words sunk into his mind. He immediately turned his head at the enemies. What Mark meant by his words was aside from General Piliang, all the soldiers on the opposite side were not human.


    ***


    General Piliang had a smile when he stopped the bullets. However, his smile turned into a frown upon seeing Mark, who was still fine after getting hit with the specialized bullet meant for General Wijaya.


    ''What is going on? Is it defective?''


    General Piliang began thinking of reasons as to why Mark was still up and about.


    But then, General Piliang shook his head.


    It did not matter. All that mattered was to eliminate the enemies in front of him.


    General Piliang raised his hand. His soldiers finally aimed their guns at the enemy forces.


    And as General Piliang made a chopping motion with his hand, the gunfires ensued.


    ***


    General Wijaya''s troops took cover and returned fire. This time, the aim was not only the supposedly exposed General Piliang. The soldiers on his side also became targets.


    After learning that the soldiers General Piliang wasmanding were not human, there was no need to hesitate anymore. He immediately ryed the information to his troops, and the soldiers became even more eager to eliminate the enemies.


    If the soldiers around General Piliang were not human yet had human appearance, it only meant one thing for them. The enemies were [Face Wearers]. And if these were [Face wearers], they should be annihted.


    General Wijaya clenched his fist. He wanted to punch the hell out of that General Piliang. He was familiar with some of the faces of the soldiers on the enemy''s side. But if those were [Face Wearers], then the original ones might have already been part of the horde the previous night.


    If not for Mark stopping General Wijaya from charging in, he would have already run straight to the enemies, ignoring the crossfire. However, the threat of the [Enchated Bullet] was not zero. Running at the enemies blindly might cause his death.


    "Wait a bit," Mark said to General Wijaya as he took a Sniper Rifle out of nowhere. "Let me get rid of the snipers first."


    Then, Mark began shooting in strange directions.


    And at every shot Mark made, General Piliang''s expression grew more and more unsightly.


    After fifteen shots, Mark eliminated the ten snipers posted around the area. Although Mark killed the first six with single shots, the others noticed what was happening and began moving around, which made Mark need a few more bullets to neutralize them.


    "Yeap," Mark''s right eye left the scope of his sniper rifle. "All down. You''re free to go. Just be careful since we don''t know if their other guns can also fire these [Enchanted Bullets]."


    General Wijaya nodded as his skin slowly showed a metallic sheen. And there... The [Titanium d General] began showing his prowess on the battlefield.


    With General Wijayaing out of the cover, he immediately garnered the attention of the enemy shooters. Several shots were immediately aimed at him.


    CLANG! CLANG!


    General Wijaya slightly covered his face as he walked forward. With his arm bent in front of his eyes and taking a running posture, he began to increase his speed.


    The [Titanium d General] was now running in the middle of the crossfire.


    Bullets pelted General Wijaya''s body. His uniform got torn in many parts, causing his toned body to show its appearance.


    But General Wijaya''s speed only got faster and faster.


    Soon, General Wijaya and General Piliang shed with each other.


    "YOU OLD SCHEMING COOT!"


    With the activation of his skill and umted frustration with the unfair treatment over the past months, General Wijaya erased all pretense and roared.


    General Wijaya raised his arm and punched straight at the old General. With the strength of a [Mutator], the weight of the metallic body, and the speed of the charge, it would not be surprising if General Piliang died after receiving this punch.


    However, General Piliang stood unfazed as he stared at the iing enemy.


    In response to the punch, the old General raised his right hand.


    WONG!


    The strong punch of General Wijaya and the mysterious force from General Piliang''s mystical power shed.


    General Wijaya''s punch froze midswing.


    Surprisingly, General Piliang stopped the powerful punch.


    Ripples in the air could be felt as the strength of the two Generals met.


    Following the block, General Piliang motioned his hands as if he were pushing forward. It caused General Wijaya to fly backward before skidding his feet across the damp grass on the ground.


    But General Wijaya did not let what happened to hinder him as he kicked the ground and charged forward.


    Another punch wasing toward General Piliang.


    With the same motion as before, General Piliang blocked the punch and tried to push his opponent back once again.


    However, before the old General could make the push again, General Wijaya unleashed another punch. The old General could only cancel the push as he blocked the second attack.


    This time, General Piliang''s foot was the one that left skid marks on the ground.


    BOOM!


    The strength of the two collided even more, causing an impact on each other as they both flew backward a few steps.

 Chapter 1114: The Battle By the Lake, The Fight Between the Two Generals and Their Ideals

    Day 365 - 11:19 AM - Spring Lake, Muria Sacred Fortress, Mount Muria, Central Java, Indonesia


    The two generals shed in an unusual battle. It was normal for people of their position to fight while standing behind their armies. They were supposed to bemanding from the back, leading their soldiers using their experience as veteran soldiers.


    However, General Wijaya and General Piliang seemed far from those norms.


    The two generals fought alongside their soldiers when needed. They were not afraid to be the frontline of the frontlines.


    If there were differences between the two, it was their dispositions, experience, and skills.


    General Piliang could shift between being in the front and in the back. He had enough experience and courage to do both things. Unfortunately, he was ambitious and scheming. It was what led to the current happenings.


    On the other hand, General Wijaya was an unripe soldier to befit his current position in the military. However, while he mightck the experience tomand, he had the courage, honor, and ideals to make up for it.


    And now, those two generals were fighting for their ideals.


    "Piliang!" General Wijaya shouted as he threw a punch. "Why are you doing this?! To defend a cult that took the lives of thousands of people. Are you out of your mind?"


    "Out of my mind, huh?" General Piliang replied, seemingly tired of the farce, as he blocked the iing punch with his supernatural ability. "I might be."


    BOOM!


    General Piliang swiftly waved his right hand, with his palm facing General Wijaya''s abdomen. It caused a strong force to erupt, pushing thetter flying several meters away.


    "But, you see... I don''t find anything wrong with purging the weak."


    General Piliang dered as he suddenly made a beckoning motion with his left arm, causing the barely stable General Wijaya to suddenly fly forward.


    As General Wijaya was suspended in the air and struggling in front of him, General Piliang continued.


    "There are all kinds of people. There are those who cannot fight but are pushing forward in their own ways. They are brave. They are strong in their own way."


    "BUT THESE PARASITES!"


    BAM!


    With a strong push, General Wijaya was sent flying in the air.


    BOOM!


    With a forceful pull, General Wijaya crashed into the damp ground, sinking his invincible body half a foot.


    "They can''t move on their own. Rather than step forward, they decided to enter some cult with a non-existent god. They would choose to worship a god they never knew instead of being useful, unlike the others who were fighting to survive."


    "JUST LIKE A BUNCH OF PARASITIC WEAK COWARDS!"


    BAM!


    General Piliang kicked the recovering General Wijaya. The kick, apanied by his supernatural power, caused thetter to fly away and crash towards the HuNovelFireee, which he alighted from.


    "Whether they are alive or not, it did not matter," General Piliang red at General Wijaya. "They contribute nothing to this already crumbling country. And with their absence, we can allocate the freed resources to those who are actually deserving of it."


    "That''s..." General Wijaya stood up from his fall. "That''s no reason to throw away innocent lives!"


    General Wijaya charged forward once more, with a speed faster than before.


    Although General Piliang tried to block the charge, he struggled and could not stop his opponent.


    BOOM!


    Another punch was thrown at the old general. It was blocked again, but he was thrown a few meters away, with his arms feeling numb from the pain. Closely looking at it, blood could be seen trickling from the corner of General Piliang''s mouth.


    Thest punch was able to break through the old general''s supernatural defenses.


    "I understand what you are saying..." General Piliang stood as he wiped off the blood on the corner of his lips. "All lives are important, right?"


    Then, the old general snickered.


    "Who said so? Some political activist? Or maybe your local religious pastor?"


    "If anything... humans are the least deserving to say such a phrase."


    "Because humans killed the most in this world, more than any creatures living."


    "I''m just adhering to that standard. The rules of nature, per se?"


    "And my goal... you asked, right? I want to lead this country forward."


    "WITHOUT ANY USELESS WEIGHTS DRAGGING ME FROM BEHIND!"


    BOOOM!


    The surroundings shook as General Piliang''s energy red violently. His military uniform fluttered, and his short silver hair waved weightlessly.


    And as General Piliang raised his hand, a military car behind him began floating.


    "And I will start with you!"


    General Piliang waved his hand. The floating military car was thrown at General Wijaya with incredible force.


    BAM!


    "UGH!" With a frown and a groan, General Wijaya blocked the iing military car with both hands. "RAAAAAAHHH!!!"


    General Wijaya resisted the impact, but he was being pushed back with his shoes being dragged across the damp ground. Unfortunately, he could not just dodge. If he could not stop this military vehicle, it would clearly crush a few soldiers behind him.


    Nheless, the military car was not stopping. General Piliang continued to push it with full force.


    In the end, General Wijaya could only look behind him.


    "MOVE OUT OF THE WAY!"


    The soldiers fighting against the forces of General Piliang heard the shout and immediately moved. They also dragged the injured soldiers away as fast as possible.


    "GAH!"


    In the end, General Wijaya failed, and the military car slipped away from his hands. It flew towards two military trucks his soldiers used as cover during the shootout.


    Then, the military car pushed the two trucks forward, pushing them off the mountain slope and falling into the cliff at the roadside.


    BAM! CRASH!


    The three cars fell, crashing trees down the cliff and bursting into mes.


    Unfortunately, General Piliang was not finished, as he picked up another vehicle from behind him with his supernatural ability.


    By the looks of it, this battle would be extremely difficult for the [Titanium d General] alone.


    ***


    "Ideals, huh..." Mark murmured as he watched the two. "If he''s not a prideful *sshole and there''s no Luna to think of, I''ll probably side with him in this one."


    "You..."


    The secretary shooting a pistol beside Mark could not help but hear his murmurs.


    Mark only gave the secretary a shrug and did not say anything else. Instead, he took out an assault rifle from his ring.


    "It''s been a while since I fought with a gun."


    Markmented as he started shooting.


    While the two generals were fighting it out, the soldiers and the disguised [Face Wearers] were having their own battle. A shootout, of course.


    Both sides were getting injuries. Fortunately, there were still no casualties from the side of General Wijaya, while there were already a few deaths on General Piliang''s side.


    Why?


    It was a problem with expertise.


    The [Face Wearers] could perfectly copy their target''s appearance, voice, behavior, and probably, memories. However, if one were to look at the records of already confirmed [Face Wearers], there was no case of [Face Wearers] disguised as [Mutators].


    It was clear the [Face Wearers] could not copy mutations. The same could be said for a person''s skills, albeit to a different degree.


    A good example would be a [Face Wearer] disguised as a soldier. They might be able to copy the soldier''s knowledge about guns. However, the experience of actually handling guns would be different.


    The limited effect of the [Face Wearer''s] disguises was shown in this gunfight.


    In fact, Mark knew that the only humans on General Piliang''s side were the snipers. Snipers might just be another gun to regr people, but they require an entirely different level of skill and expertise. It was something that the [Face Wearers] would not be able to handle too soon.


    Well, Mark was keeping quiet about the snipers he killed, however. There was no need to let General Wijaya know that he probably killed ten elite soldiers.


    Because of the limited skills the inexperienced [Face Wearers] had, they were definitely on the losing side in this gunfight despite their higher numbers.


    General Piliang should have realized that now. That was why he began including the soldiers in the range of his attacks.


    "RAHHH!"


    General Wijaya caught another vehicle. As he exerted more power, it turned into a stalemate. But if he let go, it was possible that this vehicle would cause more destruction to his soldiers.


    "I''ll help a little, I guess."


    Mark said as she shifted his aim from the [Face Wearers] to General Piliang.


    RATATAT!


    Mark fired three bullets with a single burst of his M4 Assault Rifle.


    General Piliang felt the danger and immediately moved his right arm to block the iing bullets.


    The bullets hit an invisible force, which caused small ripples in the air. The bullets failed to hit their target but served their purpose.


    "HAH!"


    With the force pushing the vehicle reduced to half, General Wijaya shifted the direction of the vehicle and threw it into theke, possibly away from General Piliang''s control.


    And without stopping, General Wijaya charged at General Piliang once again.


    BOOOM!


    General Piliang blocked the punch by raising one hand. He then tried to use his other hand to push the opponent away.


    However...


    RATATAT!


    There was another audible burst of gunshots, apanied by another surge of killing intent.


    General Piliang immediately stopped his intended actions, and his eyes panned around, trying to find the bullets.


    However, he actually failed to do so.


    "Wher-"


    General Piliang murmured before he felt an impact on his left shoulder while facing a different direction.


    "GAH!"


    General Piliang was sent flying with his shoulder dislocated.


    On the other hand, General Wijaya was surprised as his second punch connected without resistance.


    "DAMN IT!"


    General Piliang roared as he caused a wall of dirt to form and block General Wijaya, who was about to make a follow-up attack.


    With his left shoulder dislocated and possibly broken, General Piliang lost proper control of his left arm. It also caused his strength to drop sharply. It was because his power had certain conditions to activate. Those conditions were the movements of his body should correspond to the action he wanted with his supernatural ability.


    Unfortunately, General Wijaya was no idiot. He was actually aiming for the opponent''s arms and legs all this time. And now, the effort paid off.


    Behind the Humvee, Mark snickered.


    That burst of gunshots was from him, obviously. However, he actually fired the shots at the [Face Wearers] while sending the killing intent to General Piliang.


    Not only did Mark kill two [Face Wearers] in those three shots, but he also effectively disturbed General Piliang''s concentration in his battle.


    "Piliang..." General Wijaya stood in front of General Piliang, who had yet to stand up. "Just surrender."


    Unfortunately, General Wijaya wished not to unnecessarily shed blood. If General Piliang surrendered, he would take him alive.


    Nheless, those words were replied with a re.


    A gale of dirt and wind threw themselves at General Wijaya, causing him to take a few steps back. When he recovered, he noticed General Piliang running away with inhuman speed.


    Seeing the escaping General, Mark fired several shots of his gun. Unfortunately, even with half his power, General Piliang could still block bullets with his ability.


    And with the [Face Wearers] still in the way, General Piliang sessfully retreated into the church of Muria Religion.


    Mark shrugged, unperturbed by what happened. Unlike back in Japan, Mark did not intend anyone to run away anymore. And if General Piliang thought he seeded in escaping, he was mistaken, as there was an invisible surge of ck mist tailing closely behind him as he ran away.


    Besides, it was not like only General Wijaya and his side were on the move.


    It was because there were other people already charging into the other three exits the Muria Religion had.


    "Let''s kill these ones and follow him."


    Mark said as he suddenly appeared behind General Wijaya, who was facing bullets from the [Face Wearers].


    "Are you using me as a shield?"


    General Wijaya could not help but ask Mark.


    "Not really."


    Mark shrugged before moving, charging at the enemies with his gun and shooting on the move.


    Unfortunately for the enemies, even though Mark was charging forward into the crossfire, no bullets were hitting him. And if one were to look at his figure closely, they could see his body flickering in and out of reality.

 Chapter 1115: Entering the Church, The Prelude to Another Catastrophe

    Day 365 - 11:39 AM - Spring Lake, Muria Sacred Fortress, Mount Muria, Central Java, Indonesia


    "Squad 1, we''re storming in. The rest will stay. Secure the area and tend to the injured. Don''t let anyone in or out of this ce."


    "Yes!"


    General Wijaya ordered his soldiers, and they replied without hesitation.


    The gunfight did notst too long after Mark began interfering with the enemies. Of course, no one other than Mark knew of this.


    And as one would expect from the person in cahoots with the [Face Wearers], all the soldiers apanying General Piliant turned to ash upon death.


    Although General Wijaya''s soldiers received some injuries, none of them died. Those who got injuries deemed fatal were helped by Mark with his supply of [Regeneration Medicine]. The soldiers were surprised to see such a miraculous kind of concoction. It was thanks to it that there were no deaths on their side.


    After the battle, General Wijaya and Mark would lead the way into the church with a few select elites. Unfortunately, the saying "the more the merrier" was not always the correct approach in these kinds of missions.


    The next part of the mission would be inside the church and possibly its secret underground locations. Having arge number of people in such a small area would be detrimental in many ways.


    With the situation outside the church handled, General Wijaya and Mark led the elite soldiers into the church.


    Normally, the soldiers would be far more careful and wary while initiating an infiltration mission into unfamiliar territory. However, with Mark in the lead, an [Empath] capable of detecting the living, they could rx more and hurry to chase after the enemy general who fled.


    After entering the church with guns ready, everyone felt strange.


    The church was small and dpidated. It could barely fit a hundred or so people inside. The roof had holes, the walls were on the verge of crumbling, and the pews were barely holding on. Anyone who would enter this ce without knowing anything would think it was just another abandoned location in the middle of nowhere.


    It made them question how no one ever questioned how the Muria Religion managed to conduct their worship and congregations in a ce like this. Why did the military not know of this? More and more questions came about as they delved deeper into the Muria Religion and its connection with the [Face Wearers].


    Surprisingly, while the church was small and dpidated, not even the shadow of General Piliang could be found.


    Just as the soldiers thought of beginning the extensive search of the ce, they saw Mark walking up to the podium.


    Like most religious churches, the podium contained some shrine or altar. In Muria Religion''s case, the altar had a statue of a woman with three sets of wings.


    But as Mark looked at the statue, he could not help but frown.


    "This is surprising. This statue does not seem to depict a true god. However..."


    Magwayen''s voice suddenly spoke into Mark''s head.


    "It contained divinity, right?"


    Mark finished the Goddess'' words, and Magwayen agreed in silence.


    Considering Mark''s encounters since the apocalypse began, Mark became more than just familiar with this presence. It was the presence that would make most mortals feel weak, a presence looking down on beings below them.


    Magwayen had such a presence, especially when Mark first met her. Even the [Eyes] emitted this simr presence. Even Amihan, in her awakening and Sinogo, had simr, albeit weaker, presence.


    However, the presence of divinity, which was simr to godly beings, emanated from the statue of a likely nonexistent god. It was a strange and unsettling thing.


    "Can I absorb this divinity thing with my [Miasma]?"


    Mark asked Magwayen, eager to try if he could.


    Unfortunately, there was a negative reply.


    "You cannot. Divinity isn''t just some magical energy. It is tied to the soul and existence of a higher being. You need to be in contact with that being''s soul and existence to try absorbing it. And even if you could, I would advise against it. Even as a Demon, you are still a being of a mortal ne.


    Taking in divinity without the body and soul at a level of a Deity or higher could result in great repercussions."


    "I see."


    Mark shrugged as he turned away from the statue. He then faced the lectern, which was made of stone.


    With his back facing the six-winged statue and his front facing the lectern, Mark began tapping the floor with his right foot while following a rhythm.


    The taps Mark made echoed loudly within the small church. It did not take long, and Mark stopped, but the sounds of the taps of his foot were reced by the sound of mechanisms moving.


    Alert, the soldiers slowly approached Mark and were surprised to see a stone staircase appear in front of Mark. It was a hidden staircase at the center of the podium, between the lectern and the statue. It could only be opened using a rhythm, which Mark performed just now while stepping on a specific location on the floor.


    Confused and suspicious, the elite soldiers could not help but look at Mark before turning to General Wijaya in askance. After all, how was he able to find and open a supposedly secret passage of the enemies?


    General Wijaya just gave a stare at his soldiers, telling them not to question anything.


    "Let''s go."


    Mark called out to General Wijaya and the soldiers.


    From there, the group carefully entered a winding staircase leading underneath the dpidated church.


    ***


    Day 365 - 11:42 AM - Underground Cathedral, Muria Sacred Fortress, Mount Muria, Central Java, Indonesia


    "Well, well... This is quite the surprise."


    A hooded figure said as he stood in front of the statue of the fake god while watching arge mirror floating before him. Although his expression could not be seen, the tone of his voice depicted his genuine surprise.


    Within the mirror, the scene of Mark opening the secret passage yed clearly. It was something that only the founder of the cult, a few elite creations, and General Piliang knew. Yet, the man named Mark managed to open it in one try while using the perfect code.


    It was unfathomable as to how Mark was able to know of it.


    While the hooded man wondered, hurried steps echoed within the underground cathedral. He did not turn his head to face the sound at all, but he knew who it was.


    "You fled the fight rather quickly."


    The hooded man criticized the person who arrived.


    On the other hand, the person who arrived, General Piliang, walked closer to the man while clutching the right lower area of his chest.


    "It can''t be helped," General Piliang gritted his teeth. "If it''s only Wijaya and his soldiers, I can handle them. But they brought an enigma."


    After hearing the word, the hooded man nodded in agreement. That man named Mark sure was an enigma.


    The hooded man then turned to face General Piliang.


    "You better prepare. The enemies are arriving in a few minutes."


    "Impossible," General Piliang did not take the hooded man''s words seriously. "I will take them a long while to find the passage. And even if they did, it would not open. Even explosives could not break that magically protected door."


    The hooded man did not reply and just showed General Piliang the scene he was watching in its reflection.


    General Piliang''s eyes could not help but widen as he saw General Wijaya''s group already traversing the stairwell.


    "How?"


    General Piliang frowned after seeing the scene.


    But instead of an answer to his question...


    "And they are not the only ones."


    The hooded man spoke as he waved his hand, changing the scene in the mirror.


    After the first scene vanished, it was reced by the scene of arge group of people traversing a cave. That scene made General Piliang even more agitated.


    It was the scene of the leaders of the Moon Chasers, along with their allied leaders, traversing a familiar cave.


    "It seemed that it was not only me who failed."


    General Piliang mocked. His job was only to stop General Wijaya. In the other passages, the hooded man and his minions were the ones supposed to stop intruders.


    "The carriers of ancient blood might have been the bane of my creations, but we already knew of their capabilities. But some unounted variables appeared."


    The hooded man said as the intruders encountered several powerful [Face Wearers].


    General Piliang watched as the group effortlessly eliminated the [Face Wearers]. And he immediately noticed the issue.


    "Where did they get those weapons?"


    General Piliang could only ask, but no one here knew the answer.


    "Those magical weapons were the least of our problems," The hooded man replied. "The keris is a [Cursed Divine Weapon]. There are also the unfamiliar members. And that [Sylph]... fascinating."


    "What are you being fascinated about the enemies?" General Piliang frowned. "It is just arge insect."


    "Arge insect, huh?" The hooded man smirked. "I guess... It''s too much for a mere human like you to understand."


    General Piliang could not help but feel insulted. But before he couldsh out, the hooded man spoke the reason.


    "That thing you called arge insect? She''s an incarnation of a Goddess. A true Goddess. Do you understand now?"


    "Is that a joke?"


    General Piliang felt his IQ was being insulted. As someone who never believed in Gods and religion, he found the hooded man''s statement quite ridiculous.


    The hooded man did not answer and just stared at General Piliang with disdain. It sure was nice to be a stupid and clueless mortal.


    Turning back to the mirror, the hooded man smiled.


    "It would have been better if I can get my hands on that [Sylph]. But that would be impossible..." He murmured with a helpless tone. "The carriers of ancient blood, a female Demon with the [Body of Void], a male Demon surrounded with [Aura of Death], and a Goddess'' Incarnation. It is quite the gathering we have here."


    "It might be premature, but things outside my calctions began happening. There is no other choice."


    "Did you say something?"


    General Piliang picked up on the hooded man''s murmurs but was unable to hear the words clearly.


    But instead of answering, the hooded man took out a vial from his robes and threw it to the injured General.


    "What is this?"


    General Piliang asked after catching the vial with his telekic powers.


    "Drink that to heal your injuries. It will also temporarily increase the power of your psychic ability. You can''t face the enemies in your current state." The hooded man answered. "I''ll be preparing on my side."


    The hooded man then vanished without a trace, leaving General Piliang alone inside the cathedral.


    "That creepy bastard."


    General Piliang remarked, seeing the hooded man was gone in the blink of an eye. Nheless, he did not think too much as he grabbed the vial suspended midair. Even so, he did not drink it immediately. He never trusted that creepy man in the first ce.


    Instead, General Piliang took out a small metal case. Opening it showed a small vial and a syringe. He then injected the contents of the vial into his body, alleviating the pain of his broken ribs. With this, he could still fight without drinking the suspicious vial the hooded man gave him.


    Unknown to General Piliang, his movements were already within the hooded man''s calctions.


    "Unfortunately, you will have no choice but to drink that."


    The hooded manughed, knowing what General Piliang did.


    Then, the hooded man looked in front of him affectionately.


    After vanishing from the underground cathedral, the hooded man, the [Deity of Soul Sacrifice], appeared in the deeper area of the caves under the church.


    In front of the man was a human-sizedboratory tank. It was simr to thoseboratory tanks and chambers in sci-fi movies. However, it was not powered and created by futuristic technology but by lost magic and runes.


    And inside the liquid-filled tank was a woman with six wings, sleeping with her wings covering her body.


    "It is time to wake up, my beautiful creation."


    The [Deity of Soul Sacrifice] said in a maniacal tone.

 Chapter 1116: Inside the Cave, The Long Path Into The Center of Mount Muria

    Day 365 - 11:40 AM - Deep Caves, Muria Sacred Fortress, Mount Muria, Central Java, Indonesia


    "GRA!"


    The wail of a two-meter-tall [Face Wearer] echoed across the cave as it fell to the ground. With the sword stabbed through his neck from the back pulled away, his body crumbled and turned to ash.


    "Last one..."


    Edge said, staring at the remains of his kill. He then turned to the rest of the group, preparing to continue this dangerous adventure.


    While Mark joined General Wijaya''s forces to attack the church, the others had a different mission.


    It was to infiltrate the source of the [Infected] that attacked the previous night. It was an urgent mission as they had no idea if that horde was thest of the [Infected] victims. Knowing that even just a single [Infected] could pop out in the open within the confines of the fortress, there was no way they could leave it alone.


    A single [Infected] causing chaos in a supposedly secure location, this event happened many times more than they could imagine.


    In this mission, the participants were mostly the leaders of the three allied settlements. Edge, Luna, Limab, Bajing, and Ellie for the Moon Chasers, Farel of the Fire Fighters, and the three leaders of the 3rd Wave, Estia, K, and Kana, were the members of Muria Fortress present. And from the Evernight group, it was only Mei, Amihan, and Spera.


    Some of the members not present were waiting outside the cave, while most were left back in the 38th Settlement. More people actually wanted to apany the group to venture into the cave. However, having too many people inside a limited space would be more of a disadvantage than an advantage.


    In this case, the most powerful members of the groups decided to enter the cave. This decision was risky in many ways, but going in with this group was also their best option.


    Was finding the cave easy? Not exactly. If not for the fact that they could trace where the horde came from, it would be hard even to deduce the correct direction.


    Another struggle was the cave being hidden deep within the mountain, taking them more than an hour to reach safely. Far from paths, hidden under a cliff, and seemingly covered in vines, no wonder people did not find it before.


    Did this cave exist before the outbreak, or was it formed during the earthquake? No one knew the answer.


    After preparations, the group entered the cave before ten in the morning.


    The first thirty minutes in the cave were pretty uneventful. It was to the point that they began doubting if they found the right cave. However, as they encountered the first group of [Face Wearers], they knew the group understood they found it.


    Fighting in the cave had both advantages and disadvantages.


    The first and foremost noticeable disadvantage was the darkness of the cave. It was a given since light from outside would not reach the deeper parts of the cave. They had to rely on the light sources they brought, the senses they developed after bing mutants, and the light provided by the new weapons wielded by Luna''s group.


    On the other hand, it seemed that the [Face Wearers] were also having difficulties of their own. The speed that made it difficult to fight them was not suitable in tight spaces, either. There were only two ways to go within the caves. It was forward and back. Both directions were not suitable for evading guns and ranged attacks raining on them.


    Worse,rger-bodied [Face Wearers] struggled to release their strength within the caves. There was barely any space for them to swing theirrge arms, and the uneven walls of the cave system would even make them stuck from time to time.


    Seeing what was happening to the enemies made them wonder how Wahyu, with his gigantic form, managed to pass through this cave.


    The cave system itself was not tooplicated. There were a few small branches here and there, but those were obviously not their destination, considering the narrowness of the branching paths.


    Nheless, it was too farfetched to call the cave system to be simple, either. While there was mostly just a single path, this path had a lot of twists and turns, many blind spots, and pointy rock formations were everywhere. Some of the stgmites were even covered in blood, indicating the [Infected] passing through this area.


    If they were not careful, the terrain would kill them first before the enemies could.


    Unfortunately, there was something they did not expect at all.


    "How long is this cave?" Kana grumbled with her arms dangling in exhaustion. "We''re not lost, right?"


    "We only followed one path," Estia replied. "There''s no way we would be lost."


    "But..." Kana, devoid of her usual bubbly demeanor, continued toin while making the digital clock on her wrist glow. "We''ve been walking for almost two hours already."


    "Already?" Edge was pretty surprised. "It felt like it was just around half an hour since we entered."


    Walking inside an unfamiliar and dark cave devoid of anything but stone walls and asional rock formations, most people would lose their sense of time and direction.


    "We should be fine," Mei interjected after whispering words with Spera. "We''ve been into some strange turns, but the direction we are moving toward is mostly northwest."


    "Northwest..." Luna chimed in. "So, we''re moving towards the center of the mountain?"


    Everyone stiffened after realizing the fact. From the meeting the group had the previous night, aside from Luna and her niece being the target of the [Face Wearers], the group discussed many other important things. One of those things was that Mount Muria was a dormant volcano and was not as sacred as everyone thought.


    It was clear that a cave leading to the center of the volcano would be anything but safe.


    "We''re already here. Let''s push forward," Ellie encouraged everything before turning to Spera. "If something happens, we''re counting on you!"


    Spera nodded in response.


    To motivate everyone for this mission, Mark decided to let Spera show her ability this morning while they were nning things. Unexplored caves might be dangerous, but with Spera''s portals, they could immediately retreat to safety.


    Of course, everyone was surprised that such a convenient ability existed. But to the smarter ones, they now realized why Mark called their group tourists.


    It was not that they were here before the outbreak. If that was the case, Mark''s group was no different than other foreign survivors trapped in this country.


    Mark''s group arrived in this country after the outbreak. That was what they surmised.


    The cave exploring group continued following the cave. The encounters with the [Face Wearers] were far too few in between. It made them question where the supposedly missing few thousand [Face Wearers] were.


    Past twelve in the noon...


    Half past twelve...


    "Everyone, look!"


    K called out, pointing in front.


    At almost an hour past noon, the group finally found a change.


    In front of them seemed to be the end of the cave. They could see a bright lighting from that direction.


    Nheless, no one rejoiced.


    Instead, they gripped their weapons tighter.


    Carefully, the group approached the bright end of the tunnel. It led to arge space that made everyone stop in their steps.


    "What the hell is this ce?"


    Limab voiced out the question everyone currently had.


    Whaty before them was not a cave but a giant, ancient-looking facility.


    The group was currently inside the facility. They could not help but look behind, and they could see the cave they exited from. However, their current surroundings did not feel underground at all.


    In front of them were rows ofboratory-like chambers. There were probably nearly a thousand of these vertical capsule-like things. Each chamber had nothing but yellowish liquid inside, filling it all from bottom to top.


    However, there was one strange thing.


    There was not a single soul inside this strange facility.


    "Don''t touch anything carelessly."


    Farel warned everyone, and no one hadints. Even the lively Ellie and the bubbly Kana knew that it was not the time to y around.


    As the group carefully walked to the center of the facility, everyone took a closer look at the chambers.


    There were quite a number of varieties of chambers. Most were the size of an average human, but there were also some which were either taller or wider. The most eye-catching ones were the threerge chambers at the back, which could probably fit the giant Wahyu. Furthermore, the metal parts of the chambers had glowing runes on them.


    They tried to read the runes, but it was obviously not anguage they knew.


    The group reached the center. Strange enough, there was a statue of a woman with six wings at the center of the facility. In some sci-fi scenarios, the thing at the center should be the power source of the entire facility. However, the facility and the chambers did not have even a single wiring attached. It made them wonder how in the world these things were powered.


    "Do you guys think this is where the horde came from?"


    Estia asked everyone.


    There was actually no need to ask. Everyone had the same thought after seeing the scale of the ce.


    "There''s a door there," Limab pointed in the opposite direction of the cave exit. "Are we going to continue?"


    "Let''s go," Luna replied with resolution. "There''s no one here to answer our questions and nothing but empty chambers to give us information."


    There was no choice for Luna but to push forward. Since she and her niece were the targets of the [Face Wearers], she would not have her peace until this end.


    After deciding on the next step, the group pushed on. They carefully traversed the rest of the facility and reached the door, which turned out to be a metal double door about three meters tall and four meters wide.


    Standing in formation with their weapons ready, Farel and Bajing slowly and carefully pushed the door open from both sides. The door opened without problems. Furthermore, it was actually lighter than the two expected.


    But everyone froze as they saw whaty behind the door.


    Beyond the door was arge cathedral. The entire cathedral was illuminated by several chandeliers with glowing crystals. Under those chandeliers were nearly five hundred to six hundred pews.


    Each and all seats of the pews were currently upied by a person.


    If a single pew could fit around fourteen to fifteen people, then this gigantic underground cathedral should have around eight thousand four hundred to nine thousand people at this very moment.


    One thing was for sure. All of these individuals were [Face Wearers]. They were not even in disguise, as the group could see their charcoal-colored skins and gaudy-looking essories.


    Still...


    Face with such an overwhelming number, the group could not help but feel fear.


    Farel immediately raised his right hand, telling everyone to hold. He then moved his hand downward with an open palm, telling everyone toy low.


    "No one noticed us," Farel whispered. "Or rather, no one really paid attention to the door opening."


    The group observed the [Face Wearers]. All of them sat down in silence, with their heads lowered and eyes closed.


    "Are all of them praying?"


    Bajing asked.


    "Looks like it..."


    Luna thought the same.


    "I don''t think we can handle this much..." Edge voiced out his worry. "Let''s retreat before anyone notices us."


    Everyone was in agreement with Edge''s suggestion. Trying hard not to alert the praying [Face Wearers], they all got up and silently walked back.


    It was supposed to be a silent retreat.


    Unfortunately...


    SLIP!


    Kana identally stepped on a puddle of yellowish liquid, likely leaked from a nearby chamber.


    She slipped and fell.


    Kana tried her best to regain bnce. However, she ended up mming her hands on whatever was in front of her.


    BANG!


    The sound of the metal door banging echoed across the entire cathedral and the facility.


    Everyone in the group froze as they turned their eyes beyond the door once again mmed open.


    Nine thousand pairs of eyes were now staring at them.


    "Oh... Shet..."


    Kana could only voice those words in fear and apology as she slowly backed away.


    But as everyone was about to get ready for battle...


    BOOOM!


    A loud explosion-like sound echoed on the opposite side of the cathedral. It caused the door on that side to fly across the room, crushing everything in its path.


    As the group was in a stupor, just like all the [Face Wearers], they saw figures emerge from the door.


    One was retreating into the cathedral with white skin and two pairs of bat-like wings. The other was a man whose body gleamed with a metallic sheen.


    Seeing the second man, Luna, and the others felt a little relieved.


    As it turned out, the two missions ended up in the same location.


    And the other group arrived just in time.

 Chapter 1117: Inside the Second Church, The Second Round Against the Ambitious General

    Day 365 - 12:03 PM - Underground Passage, Muria Sacred Fortress, Mount Muria, Central Java, Indonesia


    About half an hour ago...


    "How deep is this staircase?"


    An elite soldier following Mark and General Wijaya''s lead could not help but question.


    After entering the hidden passage under the dpidated church, it led them to a winding staircase. The staircase was not exactly built but was carved into the stone floor of the tunnels dug by whoever made this ce.


    And since the staircase was carved in a spiral shape, seeing its end would be impossible.


    However, ten minutes through the staircase brought them somewhere.


    It was another church-like structure, but more grandiose andrger than the one on the surface.


    Guns ready in hand, the group cautiously entered the ce and observed.


    The ce looked double the size of the previous location. It was not wrong to call it a small-sized cathedral. There were also more pews, a chandelier with mysterious lights, and even a carpetid at the center path. Compared to the crumbling walls of the previous one, the smoothed stone walls of this ce looked far better.


    Nheless, there was one thing that did not change.


    It was the statue of the six-winged woman at the podium.


    While looking at the statue, Mark could not help but frown. He could sense a stronger divine presence on the statuepared to the previous one.


    "This ce is empty."


    General Wijaya said after observing the surroundings.


    And as the General had said, there was no one in this ce.


    "Well, no one in sight, at least."


    Mark said as he moved his head sideward.


    A pencil-sized needle shot past his right shoulder, which should have been aimed at the center of his forehead. The needle struck the wall behind Mark, embedding more than half of its pointed body deep into the wall.


    "To think you would even dodge that..."


    A familiar voice echoed as the enemy came out of hiding.


    "Piliang," General Wijaya called out with a frown. "You just won''t give up."


    "Give up?" General Piliang replied with a mocking smile. "It is toote for me just as it is toote for this country."


    "This might be myst struggle," The silver-haired General continued. "It is whether I win and live or lose and die."


    With those words dered, General Piliang raised both his arms.


    It caused General Wijaya and his soldiers to tense up as they saw countless needles start floating all over the cathedral.


    "Seems like you prepared a bit more this time."


    Mark looked expressionless, however.


    "Outsider... You are unfazed despite this..." General Piliang was rather unamazed by Mark''scking reaction. "I know you are not from this country. You are a traveler from a different ce. Why are you sticking your nose into our business? If you didn''t appear...


    Things would move ording to n. But you, your interference, is what ruined everything. Why?"


    "Why? You ask?" Mark shrugged. "Well, I guess it''s fine to answer."


    Mark then stared straight at the old General.


    "It''s because Luna and her group needed help. It literally is why we came to this country. No other reason in particr. Unfortunately, it just happened to be you and your allies who were causing her the problems."


    "Huh?" General Piliang was surprised by Mark''s answer. "That woman? For what reason?"


    It was not just the old General. Even General Wijaya and his soldiers forgot about the floating needles and stared at Mark, waiting for his answer.


    "Hmmm, you see..." Mark decided to bomb everyone with the truth. "Because of the world''s current crisis and humanity being on the verge of extinction, candidates to save, or at least preserve, humanity had been chosen. Unfortunately, the candidate of this country is struggling really hard because the humans she was supposed to lead were the ones oppressing her."


    "Sir Mark..." It was General Wijaya who opened his mouth first. "Are you saying that Luna is..."


    "Yep," Mark nodded. "Luna is the chosen candidate of this country. Not that all countries had one. Your country is just lucky to have her who passed the criterion. And in South East Asia, there are only two candidates. Most countries don''t have one, and their people would definitely go extinct if they don''t get their sh*t together.


    See how lucky you people were?"


    Everyone was speechless as they heard Mark''s words. Whether it was General Wijaya and his soldiers or General Piliang, they could only stare at Mark, trying to digest what he had just said.


    "Why?" General Piliang finally spoke. "Why is it that weird purple-haired brat? It should have been me! I can lead this country better than some cosying brat! Who the f*ck made her the candidate? Who gave her the right?"


    Even if it was not Luna. If the candidate was someone else, there would have been no reason for this enigma of an outsider to interfere with their ns.


    However, answering the old General''s frustrations, Mark pointed his finger at the sky.


    "Some beings above gave the criteria. If you''re not chosen, it means you did not pass. Since you allied with a cult, you should understand it, right? What I meant when I say beings above. You are not destined to lead this ce or this country. It''s better for you to give up."


    General Piliang was unsure but was frozen in ce at the idea. Being above. It could mean Gods and Deities or entities of simr stature.


    Those powerful beings had chosen Luna. That it spiraled to this mess because of that.


    "Destiny..." General Piliang''s voice was shaking. "My ideals lost to destiny."


    "AS IF I WILL JUST SIT DOWN AND ACCEPT THAT!"


    General Piliang roared. The countless needles floating in the air shot at Mark and the soldiers at bullet speed.


    "Take cover!"


    General Wijaya yelled, and the soldiers immediately jumped behind the pews to take cover.


    "ACK!"


    Unfortunately, one of the soldier''s legs got pierced through with a needle.


    Dragging the wounded soldier behind cover, the medic of the group immediately worked on the wound despite the rain of needles.


    General Wijaya tanked the needles with his body while covering for his soldiers. Unfortunately, although he was unscathed by the countless needles pelting his body, he could still feel the pain and force behind each projectile.


    As for Mark...


    Mark just stood there. His body began to flicker as needles passed through his body as if he was a ghost.


    After the barrage of needles, the whole ce became a mess. The walls had needles sticking out, the pews were mostly broken, three soldiers were injured, and General Wijaya was in pain.


    However...


    "How is this possible..."


    General Piliang voiced in uncertainty as he stared at Mark, who did not move away from his original ce.


    "Sorry, but projectiles like this won''t really hit me unless I allow it."


    Mark said with both hands out in gesture.


    Not willing to believe it easily, General Piliang controlled several more needles and shot them at Mark from different directions. Nheless, it was futile. Just like before, Mark''s body became ghostlike, allowing the needles to pass through his body without resistance.


    "Are you a [Psychic]?"


    General Piliang asked, acknowledging Mark''s ability.


    "Sort of," Mark answered without hesitation. "Whether it was [Psychic] or [Esper], I fall into both categories. As for you, you''re an [Esper], right? Your [Telekinesis] isn''t awakened but acquired. Did the cult leader give it to you?"


    Mark was beginning to spew some of his spections.


    [Psychics] and [Espers] were both kinds of people who had paranormal abilities. Most of the time, people use the terms interchangeably. After all, [Espers] can also be considered as [Psychics] following its meaning. However, not all [Psychics] could be called an [Esper].


    The difference between the two could be easily distinguished by one question. How the person got the ability. And there were only two answers. Awakened or aquired.


    [Psychics] pertain to people who have awakened abilities within them. It may be through training or other stimulus. [Empaths] were mostly in this category because most of these people had this ability since birth.


    On the other hand, [Espers] were people who acquired paranormal abilities from outside. [Psycasts] from Eriellis were a good example of this. They acquired abilities using outside interference, a.k.a. the [PsyPathogen].


    Being in both categories, Mark''s sensitivity to magical energy made him realize that General Piliang belonged to the second category.


    Besides, General Piliang''s control of his [Telekic] abilities was far too immature for something he had from the start.


    In this case, where would he get such an ability? There was a great chance that it was something powerful.


    And that would be the leader of the cult, who led the [Face Wearers].


    General Piliang did not answer Mark''s question and just stared.


    And the reply of the old General was to rain more needles at Mark, even though it was to no effect.


    However, General Piliang was just biding for a little more time.


    The old General took out the vial he received from the hooded man and tried to drink it.


    Mark frowned. He did not know what the vial contained and tried to make the old General stop.


    With a fierce re, Mark''s eyes glowed red, and a full power [Emotion Induction] was ced on General Piliang. Normally, it was more than enough to freeze anyone stiff. They would even begin bleeding from their orifices due to the unstable emotions induced in their minds.


    But the old General only froze for a second. Feeling something wrong with his body, he looked at Mark and saw the pair of red glowing eyes on him. With bleeding eyes, nose, and ears, General Piliang made a sneer. The old General let the rest of his body freeze but put all his focus on the arm holding the vial.


    The old General''s mentality focused on his ideals could not be stopped by Mark''s [Empath] abilities.


    And since Mark and General Piliang were standing at opposite ends of the cathedral, Mark would not make it even if he tried to stop the old General physically.


    In the end, General Piliang put the vial in his mouth without even opening it. Then, he chewed on it, letting its contents spill into his mouth.


    GULP!


    General Piliang drank most of the vial''s contents, but some spilled out because of his frozen body.


    Nheless, the amount he drank was more than enough.


    BADUMP!


    General Piliang''s heart began to beat loudly. It was so loud that even Mark and others heard it echoing inside the cathedral.


    BADUMP! BADUMP!


    The heartbeats echoed repeatedly. General Piliang was freed from the influence of Mark''s mental attack.


    "ARGH!!!"


    General Piliang was in extreme pain as he began folding his body forward while clutching his chest. Even so, General Piliang remained standing, unwilling to fall down.


    BADUMP! BADUMP! BADUMP!


    The rhythm of General Piliang''s heartbeat became faster and faster.


    Mark tried to move forward but found out that there was an invisible wall now surrounding the old General. The invisible wall was General Piliang''s [Telekinesis] expanding.


    "How annoying."


    Mark frowned as he began pushing the invisible wall back. It was not fixed to the terrain but centered around General Piliang. It was not something impossible to move.


    And with his veins glowing brightly, Mark pushed.


    RUMBLE!


    As Mark pushed, the entire cathedral began shaking. General Png''s feet began to skid along the floor as Mark started to move the invisible wall.


    But an unexpected scene made Mark freeze as he stared in front of him.


    The tinge of divinity in the statue at the podium began leaking, turning into a ck, murky vapor, losing its divine presence.


    And that disgusting-looking vapor entered General Piliang''s body through the orifices on his head.


    There, changes in the old General''s body urred. His skin turned pale white, his toned body became thin, his pupils turned into red slits, and fangs grew in his mouth. Six bat wings sprouted on his back, having the same number of wings as the statue.


    But most importantly...


    "RAAAAAAAHHH!!!"


    General Piliang roared, causing the whole cathedral to shake violently and pushing Mark several steps back.


    BOOM!


    The cathedral could not hold on. Some pirs and parts of the ceiling fell. It was the same for the chandelier.


    "Sirs! Our exit!"


    One soldier called out, pointing at the door.


    The door was also taken out, getting blocked by rocks and debris that copsed.


    "General," Mark turned to General Wijaya. "I know he''s supposed to be your enemy, but it''s already far from what you can handle. I''ll fight this time."


    "Can you win?"


    General Wijaya epted and asked.


    "I fought many absurd enemies before," Mark answered. "This guy might be troublesome, but still a small frypared to those."


    "I see," General Wijaya saw Mark''s confidence. "Then, our fates are in your hands."


    Mark nodded and summoned Ignis. The soldiers who saw Mark calling a sword out of nowhere felt amazed.


    But as Mark prepared to fight, General Piliang suddenly shouted.


    "WHAT THE FUCK IS THIS?!"


    The old General was clearly bbergasted by the situation. It seemed that even he did not expect the vial to turn him into an abominable monster.

 Chapter 1118: Denial and Consequences, Reaching the Next Stage While Chasing after the Enemy

    Day 365 - 12:08 PM - Underground Passage, Muria Sacred Fortress, Mount Muria, Central Java, Indonesia


    "What the hell is this?!"


    General Piliang''s cry of disbelief echoed across the cathedral.


    With pale white skin, six bat wings, fangs,rge pointy ears, and slit-shaped pupils, the old General had clearly turned into a monster.


    It was when the enemy''s voice entered the old General''s erged ears, making him freeze.


    "You want to defy fate by turning into a monster? You''ve just forfeited your ambitions to rule this country or what''s left of it. There''s no way people will ept a monster as their leader and savior."


    Mark spoke as he walked closer to the invisible wall while holding Ignis.


    "No... No... NO... NO!!!" General Piliang began showing signs of mental instability. "I''m not a monster... I''m not a monster!


    This is a mutation! THAT''S RIGHT! A MUTATION! Just like those who got bitten by the [Infected] and became mutants!"


    General Piliang entered a grave state of denial.


    "Don''t kid yourself," Mark replied. "Whatever you consumed made you into something simr to the [Face Wearers]. Not a demon, not a spirit, and definitely not a human. At most, you are a cryptid. A monster. It''s the ending you chose."


    "NO!"


    General Piliang''s eyes glowed with a reddish hue as he kept denying what he ended up as.


    Apanying General Piliang''s roar, the surroundings shook. The invisible wall began expanding, and pieces of the ceiling began falling.


    The contents of the vial General Piliang consumed did not only turn him into a monster. It did increase his [Telekinesis] severalfold. However, there was no way for the old General to control such overwhelming power, especially in his current state of mind.


    General Piliang might have taken drastic measures to reach his goals. If left alone, he would do more.


    However, General Piliang never wanted to be a monster that no one would follow.


    "RAAAAAAAAA!"


    General Piliang roared in anger. His sanity was waning. The instincts of a monster were taking over his mind.


    "SH*T!"


    Behind Mark, the soldiers kept calm, but it was hard not to panic when pieces of the ceiling began falling onto them. And considering that they were underground, getting buried alive would be something for them to fear.


    As if confirming the fear of the soldiers, a nearby pir fell towards them.


    BAM!


    "I got this!"


    General Wijaya rushed to the falling pir and diverted it to the soldiers.


    RUMBLE!


    The whole ce continued to shake.


    But all of a sudden...


    "Huh?"


    The soldiers were surprised when the whole ce stabilized. Although the shaking caused by General Piliang''s outrage continued, the ce stopped falling apart.


    "I guess this will do."


    Mark''s voice entered their ears. Now, he had some marble-sized crystal with a greenish glow hovering over his right shoulder.


    "Sir Mark, did you do this?"


    General Wijaya asked Mark.


    Mark only gave a slight nod without taking his eyes away from the enemy.


    The enemy was now on his knees, clutching his head.


    General Piliang was struggling. His disbelief from his transformation and the monster-like instinct was taking a heavy toll on his mentality. At the same time, the invisible wall around him continued to expand.


    Mark looked at the ceiling. The invisible wall was scraping the ceiling as it expanded, allowing him to see its border. This expansion of the invisible wall was causing the whole ce to shake violently, as it crushed the integrity of the underground structure.


    As for why the ce stopped crumbling, it was because of the crystal Mark took out. It was the [Wind Maniption Mental Crystal], and Mark used it to make the air surrounding the surfaces of the walls, ground, and ceiling static. Normally, air would not help with structural integrity or the kind unless there was no way for air to exit and there was enough pressure gathered.


    A good example would be a balloon.


    With the ce stabilized by static air, for the most part, Mark could now go ham on the enemy.


    But first...


    CLANG!


    Mark tried shing the invisible wall. However, it felt like shing an unbreakable metal wall. To think that a wall with no substance would be this sturdy.


    "Ignis."


    Mark murmured as the de of Ignis bloomed with bluish mes. Bluish mes would be hotter than regr mes. Nheless, these mes would be of no use if Ignis'' de could not hack through the invisible wall.


    But Mark did not only leave things to Ignis. As Mark took a piercing stance, [Miasma] swirled around his left hand as he used it to touch the surface of the expanding wall.


    As if it was a bunch of termites eating through wood, the [Miasma] made a hole through the surface of the wall.


    But Mark was a bit surprised as he discovered that the wall was not just a few inches within the surface.


    General Piliang''s [Telekinesis] created the entire space between him and the border of the invisible wall into a solidified invisible force.


    What stood before Mark was not just a few inches wall but a few meters thick.


    But it did not matter.


    The [Miasma] released from Mark''s left hand thickened. It made the soldiers afraid of the swirling darkness Mark created.


    Swirling like a drill, the [Miasma] began creating a hole within the invisible wall and digging deeper.


    And at the same time, Mark thrusted Ignis forward. Within the still shallow hole in the invisible created by the [Miasma], the blue mes from Ignis erupted.


    [Telekinesis] was an ability to move things as the user wanted. But if there was something [Telekinesis] could not affect, it was intangible things. Temperature was one of them.


    As [Miasma] bored a hole and Ignis increased the heat, the insides of the invisible wall turned into a giant furnace.


    The temperature increased drastically and further fueled General Piliang''s plunge into insanity.


    Then, General Piliang let go of his head as if all his struggle suddenly vanished. With eyes having a monstrous glint, General Piliang turned to Mark. With a body now unable to perspire, the heat was horridly affecting his body.


    As the monster-like instinct took over, the first thing that entered General Piliang''s mind was to eliminate the cause of his difort.


    General Piliang stretched out his right hand and grabbed the empty space in front of his palm. It caused the hole the [Miasma] dug to start closing.


    "You want a contest of energy, huh."


    Mark smiled, epting the challenge.


    Darkness swirled around Mark. [Miasma] began to pour onto the invisible wall, eating every single bit of energy that created it. Worse, the energy the [Miasma] absorbed increased its speed as it dug through the invisible wall.


    Behind Mark, General Wijaya and the elite soldiers could not believe what they were seeing in front of them. There was nothing but darkness around Mark. The only source of light was the sword that continued releasing bright blue mes.


    General Piliang''s instincts realized that he was losing. The [Miasma] ate through the invisible wall faster than it could repair. With a fierce re that would make people shiver in fear, he raised his other hand, aiming his palm at Mark.


    Then...


    CRUSH!


    Mark felt an invisible force covering his body and crushing his body inward.


    But Mark smirked as the [Miasma] around his body destroyed it instantly. And to retaliate, his eyes glowed red, targeting General Piliang.


    General Piliang froze. He understood something.


    The enemy outside his wall was not something he could win against.


    Those red eyes showed that he was nothing but a toy in the eyes of the true monster.


    That was why General Piliang stood up straight.


    With foreign emotions enveloping his entire being, General Piliang''s instinct dictated only one thing.


    It was to run away.


    "Huh?"


    Mark was a bit surprised as General Piliang turned around and flew towards the door on the far southeast of the cathedral. Without even looking behind, it escaped.


    "What the heck?"


    Mark did not expect this. The emotion he induced in General Piliang was rage. He was supposed to begin raging and go berserk, removing his intent to repair the invisible wall.


    General Piliang was not supposed to flee under the influence of Mark''s [Empath] ability.


    Worse, the invisible wall stayed in ce, hindering Mark and the rest from chasing after General Piliang.


    "He escaped again..."


    General Wijaya voiced out.


    "I''m not blind."


    Markshed out in irritation.


    General Wijaya felt a bit wronged, but he did not mind it. The problem right now was the invisible wall before them.


    But instead of continuing to eat through the invisible wall using his [Miasma], Mark absorbed everything and moved toward the southern wall of the cathedral.


    General Wijaya and the soldiers watched him in confusion. But then, they saw Mark as he thrusted his sword into the wall.


    Then...


    BOOOM!


    The wall exploded, revealing the rocky cave wall that was hidden behind the smoothed and carved cathedral wall.


    Then Mark thrusted his sword into the cave wall.


    BOOOOM!


    Another explosion ensued as the cave wall copsed further.


    Now, General Wijaya and the soldiers understood what Mark was doing. He was digging another tunnel using explosions.


    What the invisible wall covered was only the empty space within the cathedral. It would not scrape on the surface of the ceiling and the walls if it also covered beyond the surface.


    Mark could feel where General Piliang was with his [Empath Detection]. He was not too far. It seemed that the original mind of General Piliang was still struggling with his instincts taking over control of his body.


    Explosion after explosion, the rear part of the cathedral was now filled with dust and debris.


    But still far from the door, Mark suddenly stopped.


    "Is something wrong?"


    General Wijaya asked as he saw Mark tapping his foot while staring at the floor.


    "No. Just step back and take cover. I''ll go with a bigger one."


    Mark said, causing the General and the soldiers to immediately follow his instructions.


    The [Wind Maniption Mental Crystal] hovering on Mark''s shoulder shined brightly. And with hismand, the [me Maniption Mental Crystal] flew out of the [PsyCrystal] to heed his call.


    Then, Mark thrusted Ignis'' de into the floor as the air around him began changing. High concentrations of hydrogen and oxygen began gathering around Mark. It was enough to cause difficulty in the breathing of the soldiers.


    The breathable air in the underground was already thin. Now, most of it was being gathered by Mark in one ce.


    And without warning, Mark ignited Ignis and the [me Maniption Mental Crystal] at the same time.


    BOOOOM!


    A huge explosion urred right under Mark''s feet. The scary explosion nearly copsed the cathedral and shook the underground system up to a few hundred meters.


    "Sir Mark!"


    General Wijaya called out in worry. Mark''s suicidal method of making a way to chase after the enemy sure was worrying.


    However, from within the thick cloud of dust from the explosion, General Wijaya heard Mark''s reply.


    "The way''s open! Let''s go."


    With those words, the dust was suddenly blown away, revealing Mark, safe and sound, and therge hole on the floor.


    "General," A soldier suddenly called General Wijaya. "You two go first. I hate to admit it, but we won''t be much help if our guns don''t work. We''ll catch up after pathing the wounds of the injured."


    General Wijaya was hesitant at first but nodded.


    "Catch up quickly. Be safe."


    "Same to you, General."


    The soldiers saluted as Mark and General Wijaya jumped into the hole.


    TAP! TAP!


    The twonded in an identical spiral staircase. By the looks of it, the ce continued to go downward.


    Without wasting more time, the two ran down the stairs. General Piliang was not too far.


    But as the two went further down, Mark suddenly froze.


    "What''s wrong?"


    General Wijaya could not help but ask.


    "Get ready for a massive fight."


    Mark said as he ran faster. General Wijaya was confused but followed along.


    And then...


    They heard the steps of the fleeing enemy.


    Mark suddenly turned into a clump of mist before General Wijaya''s eyes, which rushed forward.


    BAM!


    Mark appeared in front of General Piliang, unleashing a powerful kick.


    Kicked with full force, General Piliang, filled with disbelief, was thrown back.


    But another impact hit General Piliang as General Wijaya caught up and unleashed his metallic punch on the back of the enemy.


    General Piliang, who received the two attacks from Mark and General Wijaya, did not falter as he used the force of the second attack to propel him forward.


    BOOOM!


    General Piliang rushed through therge stone door at the end of the stairwell, destroying it in the process as Mark and General Wijaya chased after him.


    Behind the door, another farrger cathedral was found, with all 9000 members of the cult.

 Chapter 1119: A Declaration, The Leader of the Auraboros Indonesia Branch

    Day 365 - 12:30 PM - Sacrificial Cathedral, Auraboros Indonesia Branch, Murial Sacred Fortress, Mount Muria, Central Java, Indonesia


    With the door broken through, the 9000 [Face Wearers] popting therger cathedral could be seen.


    There were pews as far as the eye could see. Large pirs supported the beautifully carved ceiling, and a giant red curtain was the backdraft of the heavily decorated podium. The ambiance of the entire ceplemented therge number of [Face Wearers], who had charcoal-colored skin and golden ornaments.


    General Wijaya was surprised as he stopped on his feet. Mark did tell him to prepare for arge battle, but this was toorgepared to what he had expected.


    Butpared to General Wijaya, Mark was rtively calm. And instead of paying attention to the sea of ck and gold before him, his eyes stared straight at the opposite door of the cathedral.


    There, the group tasked to investigate the cave where the [Infected] horde came out of stood after Kana made a blunder.


    The nervousness Mark could feel from them was also obvious in their faces. They might be [Mutators] and powerful individuals, but facing 9000 enemies in one battle would be too much for them, especially without any proper preparations. Not to mention, those enemies were no regr creatures either.


    9000 [Face Wearers]. Just one of them was already a pain in the ass that the military could barely catch. Thisrge number should already be able to overwhelm 75% of the remaining poption of the fortress.


    With this amount of power, it became a huge mystery as to why they would resort to deception when they could likely achieve more through sheer force.


    What was the goal of the [Face Wearers]?


    No one would be able to answer such a question aside from one single person.


    Everyone kept their caution while Mark turned to Mei on the other side and smiled. The only ones keeping their calm demeanor there were Mei, Spera, and Amihan.


    It was to no surprise. The main members of Evernight had gone through far more threatening battles to be intimidated by this one. Even Amihan, the most cowardly of their members, had gained enough confidence and courage after all her past experiences.


    If Amihan was still her past self after being able to contend against the incarnation of Yamata-no-Orochi, Mark would definitely smack her head.


    Now that Mark was here, it looked like the three on the other side were waiting for hismand. However, Mark just tapped on his ring, telling Mei to wait.


    It was because, despite the seeminglyrge number of enemies, there was no feeling of danger at all.


    On the other hand, General Piliang, who turned into a monster, looked around. It seemed that he had no idea what was going on, but his monster-like instincts seemed to recognize the [Face Wearers] as his allies, showing them no aggression.


    But still, General Piliang definitely had no idea about this massive gathering.


    "ARG!"


    General Piliang groaned, clutching his head painfully. His humanity was still contesting against the monstrosity he had be.


    "You... Bastard... What have you... done to... me..."


    Struggling, General Piliang spoke to someone. Looking at him, he was facing the altar of the cathedral.


    Everyone''s attention, even the [Face Wearers], turned in the same direction.


    The guests became wary, but the [Face Wearers] fell to their knees, showing reverence and respect.


    Standing at the center of the podium, a man wearing a hooded robe stood. No one noticed when he appeared, but they were sure he was not there when both groups arrived.


    "Piliang. Isn''t that your choice?"


    The hooded man spoke in an amicable way. His voice made it feel like he was some nice neighbor greeting a passing child.


    "You... turned me... into a... MONSTER!"


    The old General''s human self and monster-like rage began to intertwine while he questioned the hooded man.


    "Piliang..." The hooded man shook his head. "A human like you had a limit to the amount of external power you can put in your hands. If you want more power, you have to stop being human. Only those who aren''t human can surpass a human."


    And as if his kindness turned into mocking, the hooded man continued.


    "Your desires and mindset... To gain the power to control and lead from above. It stemmed from the fact that your genes leaned towards pure humans. Greedy, soceital, and thirsty for power. You wanted to be a silverback of your pack. I only granted your wish and gave you a power a pure human could not have naturally.


    But a pure human had lesser potential for such power, unlike those who carried the created lineages. That was why you have to break out of that stuffy shell."


    "You should be grateful that I granted you such opportunity."


    The hooded man''s eyes could not be seen through the shadows of his hood, but everyone could feel his mocking stare at General Piliang, who turned into a monster.


    That exchange of words surprised the Luna and the leaders of the allied groups. The well-known Silver General was actually the pale-skinned monster that broke through the other door.


    The old General, in thirst for power, became an abominable monster.


    "RAAAAAAAHHH!!!"


    General Piliang roared. He then kicked the ground and charged like a beast towards the hooded man. Bits and pieces of the destroyed stone door floated with him, using them as projectiles to attack his target.


    Unfortunately, General Piliang froze mid-air without reaching the hooded man. Even the debris he controlled fell, some pelting the kneeling [Face Wearers].


    "Piliang, Piliang... You seem to have forgotten. I gave you that power. And I can take it back."


    The hooded stretched out his right hand, pulling General Piliang towards him.


    However, General Piliang''s instincts screamed of danger, causing him to struggle and explode his power outward. It caused the whole ce to shake and even made the hooded man''s grasp of him weaken.


    Taking the first andst opportunity, General Piliang used his rampaging power to propel himself away from the hooded man, causing his body to fly backward like a cannonball.


    General Piliang was angry and in denial. But out of it all, he did not want to die. His instincts were screaming for survival despite turning into a monster.


    BAM! BAM! BAM!


    Losing control of his flight, General Piliang stumbled and bounced across the center path of the cathedral as if he were a skipping stone in the middle of ack.


    "Piliang... Don''t make it harder. After trying to bite the hand that fed you, there is no use for you anymore. Just ept your fate, your destiny."


    "Destiny again... F*CK!"


    General Piliang roared as he lifted himself up. He was being toyed with by destiny, and he would not ept even a little bit of such an oue.


    The old General''s [Telekinesis] red, causing arge invisible force to cover his surroundings. It immediately crushed the [Face Wearers] kneeling near him, turning them to ash. As he caused his powers to rampage, the stone pews andrge pieces of the walls and floors came off, hovering around him.


    "Piliang..." The hooded man sighed. "You should already know. It''s futile."


    The hooded man stretched his right hand forward with a grasping motion. And then, he clenched his hand into a fist.


    "AAAAARRG!"


    General Piliang''s cry echoed as the things he tried to lift with his powers came crushing him. The invisible force covering his body copsed instantly, and his entire body became a mangled mess as he fell to the ground with debris crushing his body.


    Despite his body turning into a formidable monster, he was brought into hisst breaths in an instant. His wings broke and torn, his arms dangling with crushed bones, his legs bent in the wrong direction, and his chest sunk in by the impact.


    There was no doubt. General Piliang had no fighting chance against the hooded man. As the old General felt his life being snuffed out of his mangled body, tears fell from his eyes. He could do more than this. There was no way he would ept such an oue. There was no way he would ept such a destiny.


    But as the dying Generalmented his fate, a voice entered hisrge bat-like ears.


    "Destiny is such an open-ended thing. Everyone is always given a path to choose. You could have chosen a better path with a better oue. Unfortunately, this is the end of the path you chose."


    Someone calmly walked to the middle of the cathedral and approached the dying General, unafraid of all the enemies kneeling around them.


    "F*ck..."


    It was thest curse of the old General as any hint of life escaped his body. The old General died just like that, despite his will and struggle to continue living.


    As he died, the old General stared at the owner of the voice. The reflection of that person could be seen through his open slit pupils.


    Mark stood in front of the dead General Piliang. He then squatted, closing thetter''s eyes, still wet with tears and blood.


    "I did not expect our guest to showpassion to an enemy."


    The hooded man seemingly smiled as he spoke to Mark.


    Mark then stood up and faced the hooded man at the podium.


    "It''s not reallypassion," Mark replied with a shrug. "I just want to approach him, that''s all."


    Everyone was confused with what Mark had said. What was in it for Mark to approach the dying General?


    But Mark could not care for their confusion. Instead, he asked.


    "This is the Indonesia branch of Auraboros, correct? Then you must be the [Deity of Soul Sacrifice]."


    Mark''s question clearly surprised the hooded man. But it was not only him. General Wijaya, who heard the name of a Taboo organization, was shocked.


    The enemy was the notorious organization. Auraboros. Not many knew of this organization, but General Wijaya was in the position to know of such.


    "This is much unexpected," The hooded man''s surprise turned into amusement. "So, you came here knowing that much. Are you an enemy of ours? No wonder you came here with no hesitation. No wonder your group had such unusual members."


    Mark stared at the hooded man. That was a Deity at the same level as Gar''m.


    How did Mark know? With the Japanese branch of Auraboros being allied with Mark''s group to some extent, he was now privy to such information.


    But there was one thing odd about the current situation.


    Compared to other branch leaders of Auraboros, the [Deity of Soul Sacrifice] was far different.


    It was because the Indonesian branch of Auraboros had only one fixed member, and it was this hooded Deity.


    And considering that the [Deity of Soul Sacrifice] was someone obsessed with creation, there was no doubt that all the [Face Wearers] were his creations and not actual members.


    " If you already knew of us," The [Deity of Soul Sacrifice] said gleefully. "Then you are just in time for the birth of my new creation."


    The [Deity of Soul Sacrifice] raised his right hand and formed a fist with it. It caused the red curtain behind him to be torn into pieces, revealing what was behind it.


    WHOOOOOM!


    It seemed that the curtains had magical properties. The moment it was torn apart, a powerful, sealed presence spread throughout the entire cathedral.


    Mark felt goosebumps. Everyone else felt their bodies shiver.


    Standing behind the [Deity of Soul Sacrifice] was a magical capsule filled with white luminescent liquid, surrounded by runes glowing brightly.


    Inside the capsule was a beautiful naked woman, with her six ck wings wrapped around her body, hiding her smooth skin.


    It was the figure represented by the statues Mark and General Wijaya came across earlier.


    "Our guests. Royal Demons, Incarnation of a Lower Goddess, The Mutated, Young General of Humans, and the Bearers of Ancient Blood. I wee you all to witness... THE BIRTH OF A NEW GODDESS."


    Upon saying the greetings, runes began spreading across the entire cathedral. Following the flickers of the runes'' eerie glow, the kneeling [Face Wearers] prostrated.


    "Begin the final sacrifice!"


    The [Deity of Soul Sacrifice] dered.


    There, the [Face Wearers] began voicing an eerie song as they offered their souls to the birth of a new goddess.

 Chapter 1120: Unexpected Actions, Leaving the Sacrificial Ritual Without a Fight

    Day 365 - 12:34 PM - Sacrificial Cathedral, Auraboros Indonesia Branch, Murial Sacred Fortress, Mount Muria, Central Java, Indonesia


    The birth of a new Goddess, those words bore such a bold deration.


    However, the "guests" could feel it was no mere joke.


    Ominous runes lit up the entire underground cathedral. These unrecognizable symbols covered the structure''s walls, ceiling, pirs, and floor.


    The prostrating [Face Wearers] turned to dust one after another. They were sacrificing their lives for the birth of their Goddess.


    Andstly, from the [Face Wearers] that turned to dust, the familiar visage of dark-colored wispy mes emerged, floating up the air and shooting towards the clear chamber at the podium and through the ss, getting absorbed and bing part of the Goddess.


    The [Deity of Soul Sacrifice''s] title was no mere decoration.


    After creating the Goddess'' vessel, thest thing itcked was a soul. And now, the souls of these nine thousand [Face Wearers] would be the foundation for the Goddess'' newborn soul.


    Worship, soul, and a Godly body as a vessel, all the ingredients to create a Goddess were all in ce.


    And now, with honorable guests present, the birth of the new Goddessmenced.


    With both hands raised and an eerie smile, the Deity of Soul Sacrifice led the sacrificial ritual with utter glee.


    Nheless, under that gleeful visage, the Deity of Soul Sacrifice did not let his eyes leave the guests of honor.


    There was no caution, there was no fear. The Deity of Soul Sacrifice just wanted to see the guests'' reaction.


    The reaction from the General, the bearers of Ancient Blood and the Mutants, felt satisfactory for the Deity. They were all either in disbelief, shock, or cautious. However, the Royal Demons and the Incarnation made the Deity frown.


    This group barely showed any reaction, especially the Royal Demon that came with the human General.


    The male Royal Demon looked around, more interested in the runes lighting up the cathedral than the birth of his creation.


    And the most annoying part of it was that the Royal Demons did not even seem to think of the event as something significant.


    ***


    Unfortunately, the Deity of Soul Sacrifice was nearly on point.


    Mark looked around the ce, not paying much attention to the sacrifices or even the Goddess inside the chamber at the podium. However, the reason was not because he found the event insignificant. It was because he was trying to memorize the runes around the ce as much as he could.


    After Mark received the [Blessing of Death''s Aura] from Magwayen, he became more sensitive towards souls and anything rted to them. That was why he managed to create items that affected souls, like the [Soul Canister], the experimental prison, and even the medal he used when they first met Farel''s group.


    Now, Mark was presented with an entire cathedral filled with runes that affect souls. There was no way he would not memorize it thoroughly.


    While Mark was observing the runes and the ritual continued, Mei walked across the cathedral towards Mark, prompting everyone to follow suit. Everyone following Mei was wary of the surroundings as they walked, weapons ready. However, they realized that the prostrating [Face Wearers] showed them not even a tiny bit of reaction.


    "This..."


    Farel voiced out his confusion in one simple word. It was the same for everyone.


    The moment Mei arrived beside Mark, she immediately reached for his face, gently turning his head to the side.


    Mark did not show any resistance, although his eyes still tried to look at the runes as much as he could.


    "Gege got hurt."


    Mei said, gently wiping his left temple and checking his left eye.


    "It''s already healed," Mark replied. "There''s no need to worry."


    "Still."


    Mei could not help but frown.


    "I don''t know if I should be creeped out or amazed," Spera chimed in. "Your regeneration is absurd. None of us would even realize if you got hurt unless you said it. But she...:


    Spera looked at Mei. This beautiful woman had her own peculiarities, especially when it came to Mark.


    "Watch your mouth."


    Mark flicked Spera''s forehead, making her flinch.


    And as Mei finally let go of Mark''s head, Amihannded on his head.


    "Uhm..." Luna suddenly spoke. "You four are toox... We have a situation here, remember?"


    Luna''sint made everyone nod slightly.


    They were currently in the middle of a peculiar and likely dangerous situation. However, it felt like Mark and the three girls treated it lightly.


    "Sir Mark," General Wijaya approached while ncing at the corpse of General Piliang. "Do you have a n?"


    It seemed that General Wijaya developed a bit of reliance on Mark after the things that happened before. The young General knew he could help in regr situations, but the current one was far beyond just normal. Now, he felt that it would be better to listen to Mark in this situation.


    But to everyone''s surprise, Mark gave an unexpected reply.


    "There''s no need to n. It''s time to leave."


    It was not just Mark''s allies, but the Deity of Soul Sacrifice watching them also felt surprised by his words.


    The expected action was to fight, cause as much havoc, attempt to destroy the runes, or try to interfere with the birth of the new Goddess. At the least, try to kill the non-resisting enemies, or even him, the Deity of Soul Sacrifice.


    However, none of that came out of Mark''s mouth.


    Mark''s intention was to leave.


    "Are you sure?"


    Estia stepped forward and asked Mark.


    "You are weebs," Mark looked at the swordwoman. "You should know the scale Gods and Deities fight, right? And remember, where we are right now."


    Those words confused General Wijaya and Farel. However, the rest felt shivers in their spines as they realized the situation.


    Battles between Gods and Deities lead to catastrophic destruction. It was definitely not something to look forward to, especially when they were underground and within a dormant volcano.


    "Besides," Mark continued. "We don''t have much time. Right, Melfiss?"


    Everyone looked at Luna''s Cursed Divine Keris, prompting it to glow and assume her humanoid form.


    "Yes. We don''t have much time," Melfiss confirmed Mark''s words as she red at the Deity of Soul Sacrifice, who was surprised to see her transform. "This sacrificial ritual is draining the seal ced upon this ce. Once the seal is gone, this volcano''s dormancy will also meet its end."


    Melfiss'' words widened everyone''s eyes in shock.


    "He-hey. Don''t joke around..."


    K could not help but voice out, trying to pass those words as a joke.


    "I also wish I was joking."


    Melfiss said with utmost seriousness.


    Everyone now realized a far more urgent problem than the birth of a Goddess.


    "You said the ritual is draining the seal?" Edge asked Melfiss. "What if we stop the ritual... No... that''s just going back to zero."


    Edge thought of an expected suggestion, but he stopped. Trying to stop the ritual meant fighting the Deity of Soul Sacrifice and destroying this ce. It would definitely end with them burying themselves alive in this ce.


    "Head home," Mark told the allied members. "Spera will send you all back to the entrance. Fetch the people there, and she will send you back to your settlements. Immediately prepare to evacuate."


    Mark then turned to Spera, who nodded, understanding what he wanted her to do.


    Spera then opened a portal.


    "Enter quickly."


    Mark urged Luna and the others.


    "What about you all?"


    Luna asked Mark''s group.


    "We''ll go with General Wijaya. We still have to fetch the soldiers at the other entrance. Spera can''t open a portal there yet. We will catch up to your group after."


    "Okay," Luna nodded. "We''ll be waiting."


    The leaders of the allied settlements entered the portal, and Spera enteredst. Spera would then return after sending everyone home.


    Mark and the rest then stayed put, waiting for Spera''s return.


    It was when the Deity of Soul Sacrifice was unable to hold back anymore and spoke.


    "You Royal Demons are quite peculiar. Demons do not pass the opportunity for a good challenge, unleash havoc, or just a pure bloodbath filled with bloodlust. My sacrifices are all prostrated. They can be killed without resistance. But none of you even lifted your weapons to kill one."


    "Because we are not stupid," Mark retorted. "You want us to hasten the process of your ritual by killing the sacrifices, right? And if we use magic, it will give more power to the ritual, too. Yeah, there''s no way that''s happening."


    "This is utmost unexpected," The Deity of Soul Sacrifice seemed to be amused by Mark''s answer. "You sure are quite an Enigma. It seemed that even among Demons, your race must be special."


    Mark did not answer. Even so, that silence was an affirmation.


    At this point, Spera finally returned.


    "Let''s go."


    Mark ordered, and the group began to move, leaving through the destroyed door.


    "Are you guests leaving without making a move?"


    The Deity of Soul Sacrifice asked without receiving a single answer. He watched as the remaining guests left, to his dismay.


    "What a pity, my beloved creation," The Deity of Soul Sacrifice began speaking to the sleeping Goddess. "There is no one who wanted to wee your birth."


    The Deity of Soul Sacrifice then caressed the ss of the chamber as the sacrificial ritual continued.


    Leaving the cathedral, Mark''s group ran back to the staircase they had taken before. Along the way, Mark could not help but notice General Wijaya ncing at him repeatedly.


    "I know you have questions, but save that forter."


    Mark suddenly spoke to General Wijaya. It caused the General to let out a fake cough.


    Unknown to the General, Mark''s eyes were currently glowing red. The Deity of Soul Sacrificed might have asked if he was not going to make a move, and he did not reply. However, he never said that he would not, either.


    Returning was far faster than going. Mark''s group reached the first underground cathedral faster than before. And without needing to take the tunnel Mark dug, they just passed through the door.


    "General!"


    The soldiers who stayed in this ce immediately saluted when they saw General Wijaya.


    Looking at the soldiers, they already managed to tend to the wounded. Unfortunately, not a lot of them would be fit to continue fighting.


    "Did you w--!!"


    The soldiers wanted to ask if Mark''s group returned after winning the fight.


    However...


    RUMBLE!


    The whole ce shook violently. It was not a shaking caused by a fight. It was an earthquake caused by the volcano''s approaching eruption.


    While the earthquake onlysted for a few seconds, it felt frightening.


    "Don''t ask questions and carry the injured. We will leave this ce as soon as possible."


    General Wijaya ordered the soldiers. Sensing the urgency in his tone, they moved even faster.


    The exit of this cathedral copsed because of General Piliang. However, after Mark told Mei to load a small crystal into her sniper rifle and shoot at full power, a new path was melted open through the fallen debris.


    With the path open, everyone rushed out of the underground passage.


    RUMBLE!!!


    Another earthquake urred. This time, it was stronger and longer.


    As time passed by, the situation was bing more and more dangerous.


    "General!"


    The soldiers guarding the dpidated church saluted. This time, no one asked the General if they won or not. Instead, they waited for the General''s instructions. The repeated earthquakes were definitely not a good sign. That was why these soldiers threw their curiosities away.


    "Listen! Prepare to leave!" General Wijaya gave his order. "Mount Muria is about to erupt at any moment! We need to proceed with evacuations immediately!"


    The order made the soldiers frantic. Not everyone knew that Mount Muria was a volcano, and those who knew had known it was an inactive one. Yet, the General suddenly dered it was about to erupt.


    It was hard to make out the situation, but the soldiers knew of the iing danger.


    "Cahya." General Wijaya called his secretary. "You will spit up with several of our soldiers. Your mission is to inform the Northside Peak of the iing danger. Can I leave it to you?"


    "Sir, Yes, Sir!"


    Staff Sergeant Cahya saluted, epting the important task she was given.


    "Still, the crocodiles might behave stubbornly..." General Wijaya said with a frown. "Prioritize informing the Astrias, Miss Limab''s family. They would not think twice about something involving her. As for the rest, just spread the news as much as you can. We need to inform as many people as possible so they can get ready before we sound the rm.


    It might end up bing chaotic, but we had no time or choice."


    After receiving the order, Staff Sergeant Cahya and a few select soldiers immediately left with one of the vehicles. As for the others, they returned to Southside Peak through Spera''s portal.


    And there, the rm sounded throughout the Muria Sacred Fortress amidst the suddenly increasing earthquakes.

 Chapter 1121: A Volcanic Disaster, The Sudden Eruption of Mount Muria

    Day 365 - 1:02 PM - Muria Sacred Fortress, Mount Muria, Central Java, Indonesia


    For the people of Muria Sacred Fortress, it was supposed to be just another day of the apocalypse. There was still the unrest from the fear of the [Face Wearers] and the mysterious gunshots heard at the southeast of the mountain the previous night.


    However, there was a looming uneasiness over the people of the fortress. Most did not feel it, but some felt restless for no apparent reason.


    Now, the restlessness they had turned out to be no mere illusion.


    The entire mountain was shaking.


    While the first tremors were only felt by sensitive mutants, it did not take long for the repeated tremors to be strong enough for everyone to notice.


    And the moment the shaking of the ground was felt by everyone, panic ensued.


    It was not wrong to say that many people received trauma when Earth went through its transition to its current state. At that time, strong earthquakes caused injuries if they did not straight-up kill people.


    The people feared that Earth would go through another transition.


    But then, the emergency rms the military scattered around the mountain began ring their ear-piercing tones. Apanying the rm was a voice informing everyone of the current situation.


    Everyone fell into a stupor as they heard the worst possible scenario they could hear.


    Mount Muria was on the verge of erupting.


    Most people who heard the emergency message were confused. For some, it was because they had no idea that Mount Muria was a volcano. As for those who were aware, it was they were also shocked as Mount Muria had been dormant for over two thousand years.


    And even if Mount Muria were to erupt, it should take some time, with volcanic activity signs intensifying over the span of days, weeks, or even months.


    But the current situation was too sudden. The signs of volcanic activity rose in a span of several minutes.


    RUMBLE!


    The people''s stupor snapped away as another earthquake urred, much stronger than the previous one. Some people lost bnce as they fell to the ground, while some took cover from falling things around them.


    This time, people could now sense the increasing amount of sulphuric gasses in the air.


    There was no doubt anymore that Mount Muria was going to erupt.


    The people''s panic intensified as they questioned the people in charge of their dwellings. Although the military had already issued evacuation, the ones in charge of the actions of the residents of the Satellite Settlements would be their respective survivor groups.


    Fortunately, while they had varying opinions about the situation, the survivor groups who led their settlements decided not to take the gamble of staying and not following the military''s instructions.


    Mass evacuation around Mount Muria happened as soon as they could.


    Many people followed the standard procedure for emergency evacuations. Packing up minimal items, only bringing necessities like food and water, and of course, weapons, since they were now living in the apocalypse. They were sad to leave the already few things they gained after losing almost everything to the apocalypse. However, their lives were far more important than these items.


    Nheless, not everyone had the same principle. Many people packed more than necessary. If they could, they would even bring their entire homes with them. But these stupid people did not even make it to the start of the evacuation and had to leave their things. They totally forgot that there was a very limited number of still functioning vehicles.


    If they wanted to bring unnecessary items, they had to carry those items on foot. While these stupid people realized things andplied soon after, they still caused massive dys in the evacuation process.


    The dys were particrly bad for the Satellite Settlements on the northern half of the fortress. If Mount Muria were to suddenly erupt in the middle of the evacuation and everyone had to abandon the instructions the military gave, the survivors in the southern areas could scatter away from the eruption. The survivors in the northern areas could not do the same.


    There was no ce they could run towards aside from the Java Sea.


    It was the worst for the Northside Peak. The only road they had going down the mountain was towards the north. They could use the road connecting the Northside Peak and the Southside Peak to go south, but it also meant rushing through the possible center of the eruption of Mount Muria.


    The safest ces of the Muria Sacred Fortress against the apocalypse turned out to be the most dangerous ces to live in case Mount Muria erupted.


    Unfortunately, everyone''s fears happened.


    Amidst the evacuation fortress, the strongest earthquake of the day urred,sting several minutes. The rumbling was followed by the observable bloating of the ground around the mountain, concentrated near the peak. Everyone could even hear the audible hissing sounding from the mountain.


    Panic ensured. The Survivors from the northern areas rushed south as fast as they could. At the same time, most residents of the Northside Peak were still barely halfway down the mountain.


    As the ground around the mountain showed signs of the eruption,ndslides began urring around Mount Muria. And to the dismay of some, thendslides blocked their initial evacuation route, causing them to find detours and halting the progress of their evacuation.


    The dys caused them the worst situation.


    RUMBLE!


    Another earthquake happened at the same intensity as the previous one. But the difference this time was the hissing sound from before disappeared, reced by a thunderous rumble echoing throughout the sky.


    Everyone feared the worst as they gazed up Mount Muria.


    Thick dark clouds rose up from the peak of the mountain as the glowing reddish-orangeva spewed out of Mount Muria like a fountain.


    A visible shockwave spread out, felling trees, even the people evacuating.


    Large rocks were lifted to the sky, raining around the mountain.


    Panic spread out further to the popce as they left formation, running as fast as they could from the wave of Mount Muria''s eruption.


    BOOM!


    Another loud explosion urred, another shockwave happened, and more rocks rained from the sky.


    People unable to evade the falling rocks were either injured or ended up dead on the spot.


    Lava began creating rivers as it flowed down Mount Muria. The trees within the fortress began catching fire. Soon, smoke and mes covered arge area of the mountain as theva flowed further and further down Mount Muria.


    The survivors from the northern side of the fortress tried their best to evacuate. But to their dismay, the trail ofva already blocked the road they were passing through.


    One of the several groups facing the dilemma was the residents of the 94th Satellite Settlement, led by the survivor group called the deshifters.


    ***


    "What are we going to do?"


    That question was what everyone in the area had.


    A river ofva already blocked the way. There was no way for the residents of the 94th Satellite Settlement to continue forward.


    There was not only the residents of the 94th Satellite Settlement were present in the area. Soon, the residents of the 95th and the 96th Settlements caught up, with no resident of the 97th Satellite Settlement and above in sight.


    "F*CK!"


    The loud curse was heard from everyone. It was someone from the 96th Satellite Settlement, which was led by an unruly group of cretins who call themselves The Reapers.


    Ignoring the noisy cretins from the 96th, the members of the 94th tried to think of a way.


    "Can we chase the front of thisva flow? Maybe we can pass there?"


    A member suggested.


    However, one guy just pointed in the northwest direction, showing them white smoke rising up into the air from far away.


    Theva had already reached the coast. We''re trapped here.


    COUGH! COUGH!


    Someone had had a coughing fit while they discussed.


    "Sorry."


    The woman coughing apologized. However, she was clearly in a bad state as her skin showed a severe allergic reaction to the volcanic ash in the air.


    "Haah..."


    A young man sighed, gazing toward the mountain.


    "You okay, Silver?"


    Another member of the deshifters asked the sighing man.


    "I''m okay."


    The man named Silver replied with a nod.


    Sadly, although they tried to crumple their brains to find a solution, there was nothing they could possibly do in the current situation.


    "Sh*t! TAKE COVER!"


    Someone shouted as a gigantic boulder from the mountain began rolling down after it loosened due to theva flow.


    The boulder was rolling towards the residents of the 94th Sattelite Settlement.


    "Step back."


    Silver stepped forward, fearlessly facing the rolling boulder. And with a bluish glow in his eyes, he drew his sword and charged at the boulder.


    Twisting his body and adjusting his position, Silver shed the rolling boulder several times.


    The boulder was chipped away one part after another. Its changed shape caused its path to deviate, rolling southward instead. Then, the boulder ran over theva flow, causing it to stop, blocking part of the flow and shifting it in another direction.


    Seeing what Silver did, people could not help but cheer.


    With theva flow shifted, the flow in front of them slowed down. Although it did not give them the path they needed to cross, it gave them more time to think.


    CLAP! CLAP!


    Unexpectedly, a p was heard, taking everyone''s attention.


    Silver could not help but ready his sword. The pping sound was near him.


    It was when they noticed the unfamiliar robed man standing nearby. Who was he, and since when was he there? None of them noticed at all.


    "Who are you?"


    Silver asked, pointing his sword at the unfamiliar man.


    "Lower your sword. I''m not here to fight."


    Of course, those words would not easily convince anyone.


    But as the man continued, Silver wavered.


    "Your sister saw a vision of you in danger. She begged me to help."


    A vision. The others might not understand it, but Silver and the people close to him would.


    "Did Miss Limab send you here?"


    Someone who seemed to be the leader of the deshifters asked the stranger.


    "Kind of," The stranger replied. "But don''t make it sound like I''m her subordinate or something. Just like I said, she begged me toe here."


    Silver did not like what he was hearing. However, he could not feel any hostility from the stranger.


    But before everyone could continue with the conversation...


    "WHAT IS THAT?"


    Someone eximed, pointing at the peak of Mount Muria, which continued to spewva.


    Everyone could see a glowing ball of light, about asrge as a person. The ball of light was small if seen from this distance, but it was bright enough to be seen kilometers away. The ball of light flew erratically.


    BOOM!


    The ball of light crashed onto the mountain peak, causing the peak to copse.


    CRAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!!!!!!!


    A sudden cry of a woman was heard by everyone. It came from the ball of light as it crashed into another area of the mountain.


    "W-what is this..."


    Everyone who heard the cry felt their strength leave their bodies. They fell to their knees, shivering like a cat trapped in a corner by a pack of rabid dogs.


    "Heh."


    That snicker was heard from the stranger. Unexpectedly, the stranger was still standing, unaffected by the strange cry.


    "There''s another one!"


    Aside from the bright ball of light, a darker ball frantically chased after it.


    "He''s definitely not having fun now."


    The stranger murmured as he looked at the darker ball.


    "Do-do you know what those are?"


    The leader of the deshifters gathered his strength and asked.


    "Yeah," The stranger replied. "Those two were the cause of the sudden eruption."


    Everyone froze. No one expected such an answer.


    "Anyway," The stranger turned his eyes away from the balls of light. "It''s best to leave the area as soon as possible."


    "How?" Silver asked. "The road is blocked withva."


    But as the question left his mouth, Silver saw the man release a glowing marble-sized crystal from his hand. The crystal floated around the stranger''s wrist.


    The magical scene surprised everyone, but it was just the beginning.


    Stretching his two hands forward, he moved like Moses parting the Red Sea. And with both hands open, theva flow separated. The road was opened.


    "Hmm... The ground is a bit molten."


    The stranger murmured as another crystal floated around his wrist. Everyone was confused at first since nothing happened next, but the man suddenly stepped on the molten part of the ground. They realized he was floating. He was stepping at something, but they could not see anything.


    Before anyone could fathom anything, the stranger called out.


    "It won''tst too long, so move already. Or else I would leave you all here to die."


    Everyone was still unsure about the stranger in robes. However, in their current situation, none of them could be picky. Even if it was not the stranger but the Devil who held out his hand, they would probably scamper to grab it.


    The residents of the 94th Satellite Settlement readied. The path was open. They only needed to pass through it.


    But before they could move forward, amotion erupted.


    "GET OUT OF THE WAY! WE WILL PASS THROUGH FIRST!"


    Someone shouted with a threatening tone. It was clear who it was as the members of The Reapers shoved everyone out of the way.

 Chapter 1122: The Spheres of Light, The Predicament of the Deity of Soul Sacrifice

    Day 365 - 1:10 - Mount Muria, Central Java, Indonesia


    Dark clouds of volcanic ash nketed the sky as the falling ash fogged all senses of sight.


    Lava continued to spew out of Mount Muria''s mouth. Its melting hot glow could be seen through the ash for miles away.


    Mount Muria''s forests were lit aze. The entire mountain was covered in raging mes.


    As the eruption continued, massive rocks rained from the sky. No one could fathom how many lives these rocks had already taken.


    The people of the fortress frantically evacuated. With heads grayed with ash, they all tried their best to survive. Many followed the military''s instructions, departing through Kudus Outpost and following the cleared railway south.


    Unfortunately, not all reached the evacuation in time. All these poor people could do was run in any direction away from the rampage of the erupting Mount Muria.


    The most unfortunate were the northern side. Trapped by the ocean and the mountain''s flowingva, all these people could do was wait for death.


    As for the greedy residents of Northside Peak, along with the greedy government officials who tightly hung onto their positions even after the apocalypse, there was no need to mention them. With the exception of anyone affiliated with Astira Enterprises, everyone had already perished as they tried to evacuate through the only road heading north.


    There were still a few groups trying to survive despite the dire situations they were in. These were mostly the groups whose settlements were located in the northeast and northwest. The luckiest now would be the residents of the 94th Satellite Settlement, as an unexpected rescue hade for them at the time of their need.


    And while all of these happened around the mountain, an unexpected event was happening at the center of it all.


    ***


    "HOW IS THIS HAPPENING?! WHY IS THIS HAPPENING?! IMPOSSIBLE!!! IMPOSSIBLE!!!


    GRYAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!


    "STOP RESISTING! STOP RESISTING! LISTEN TO ME! I AM YOUR CREATOR!"


    GRYAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!


    Amidst the spewingva and raining volcanic ash, two glowing spheres flew around the raging volcano.


    It was the Deity of Soul Sacrifice and his creation, the Night Goddess.


    However, what was happening was not what the Deity had ever expected.


    "WHAT HAPPENED?!! WHAT WENT WRONG?!! WHY DID IT GO WRONG?!!! IMPOSSIBLE!!! IMPOSSIBLE!!! IT IS IMPOSSIBLE FOR ME TO MAKE A MISTAKE!!!"


    The Deity rambled in utter delirium as he used [Telekinesis] at his own creation to restrain her.


    However, since the Deity of Soul Sacrifice created a being far stronger than his own, stopping her was nearly impossible.


    And just like the Deity''s question, what was happening?


    The Deity remembered things went as nned after the arrival of the honored guests at the ritual. Having witnesses to the birth of his creation was a must. The more important the guests were, the better.


    It would have been a dangerous thing to do. However, the Deity of Soul Sacrifice was never afraid. Inside his territory, he was invincible. In the first ce, the guests were no stupid people. Fighting inside the volcano would put them all in danger.


    And the Deity was right.


    The honored guests left before the ritual ended, noticing the dangers of staying put and starting a stupid fight.


    But it did not matter. It was a pity that the guests left, but the deration had already been made.


    All that was left was to continue the ritual. There were still a few thousand souls to sacrifice to awaken his most powerful creation.


    The remaining part of the ritual proceeded smoothly. Or it should have been.


    At the moment the Night Goddess'' consciousness formed, she woke up.


    It was not supposed to happen until all souls were sacrificed. Yet, the Night Goddess woke up with a few thousand more souls left to sacrifice.


    And the first thing the Night Goddess did was to break free from her chamber.


    Seeing that something went wrong, the Deity of Soul Sacrifice tried to contain his creation. However, his power was not enough. The confining force created by his [Telekinesis] was broken instantly.


    After breaking free, the Night Goddes began her uncontroble rampage.


    From the face of the newly awakened Goddess, fear and anger could be seen. She saw everything around her as enemies. With a wave of her hand, the darkness consumed all the remaining sacrifices, with their souls all extinguished to oblivion, unable to be sacrificed.


    As the Night Goddess destroyed everything, she also attacked her creator without mercy.


    The Night Goddess'' rampage destroyed the entire underground cathedral and the mountain''s seal, elerating the time of its eruption.


    The magma sealed under the mountain to punish the imprisoned sinners rose up and swallowed the underground facilities, the Deity of Soul Sacrifice, and the Night Goddess.


    However, that measly molten rock would not be able to kill a Deity and a Goddess just like that. The two reappeared at the newly opened crater of the volcano, protected by films of energy around their bodies.


    And although both of them were already out, the situation remained the same.


    The Night Goddess continued her uncontroble rampage. All of her attacks concentrated on her creator, who tried his best to subdue her.


    Rays of ck energy shot toward the Deity of Soul Sacrifice. However, the attacks could not hit the target protected by a nearly invincible wall of energy.


    The attacks of the Night Goddess had no effect on her creator. It just fanned the mes of her rage, pushing her deeper into her berserk state.


    On the other hand, the Deity of Soul Sacrifice used his all to capture his creation to no avail. Unfortunately, just like how her attacks had no effect on him, his [Telekinesis] barely showed any effect on her.


    "IMPOSSIBLE!!! IMPOSSIBLE!!!"


    And the agitated state the Deity of Soul Sacrifice had did not help in the slightest.


    The Deity of Soul Sacrifice had studied Gods and magical beings since immemorial. There were barely any magical creatures left in maind Indonesia because he captured and experimented on them all.


    And the reason the Deity of Soul Sacrifice was the sole member of theIndonesia branch of Auraboros was the same.


    The Deity of Soul Sacrifice was an individual drunk with his ambition to create his own Godly being.


    And just when he was about to seed, something happened. There was no way the Deity of Soul Sacrifice would be calm in this situation. His thousands of years of research were wasted, and his creation became more or less an uncontroble beast.


    It was frustrating. It was enraging.


    There was no way the Deity of Soul Sacrifice would ept a failure that was never supposed to happen.


    "THOSE IMPERTINENT BASTARDS!!!" The Deity was led to a single conclusion. "I DO NOT KNOW WHAT!!! I DO NOT KNOW HOW!!! BUT THOSE BASTARDS DID SOMETHING! I KNOW! I KNOW!"


    Then, as he blocked another volley of attack from his creation, the Deity of Soul Sacrifice looked above. Looked at YOU.


    "WATCHERS!!! TELL ME!!! DID THEY DO SOMETHING! HAHAHAHA!!! WHAT AM I THINKING?"


    The Deity knew he would not receive any reply.


    "THEY WILL PAY!!! THEY WILL PAY!!!"


    The Deity of Soul Sacrifice roared. The souls of all living beings within several kilometers away felt their souls tremble.


    Sensing the power of the being before her increasing, the Night Goddess released her beastly cry.


    CRYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!


    Then, the day turned to night. Everything went darker than just the volcanic clouds blocking the sky.


    The sudden darkness emphasized the flowingva and burning forests around Mount Muria. In this darkness, the disaster shined brighter.


    CRYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!


    The Night Goddess cried. The darkness trembled.


    From all directions, tentacle-like energy forms emerged from the darkness, attacking the Deity of Soul Sacrifice.


    But the enraged Deity was already done holding back.


    The only reason the Deity used nothing but [Telekinesis] was in order not to damage his creation.


    Unfortunately, the Deity did not care anymore.


    "You''re nothing but my creation. If you are disobedient, I have no use for you."


    The Deity''s bloodshot eyes made the Night Goddess tremble in fear.


    In terms of power, the Night Goddess was far more powerful than her creator. However, as the ritual never finished, she was a mere iplete being. Her mind was limited to a beastly level. She had no capability to use her full potential.


    On the other hand, the Deity of Soul Sacrifice was someone who lived for thousands of years. He had full control of his abilities and [Authority]. If he were to unleash his all, the current Night Goddess could be subdued at the expense of damaging his creation.


    The Night Goddess looked at her creator. The fear she was born with intensified as her existence faced peril.


    CRYYYYAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!


    And the scared Goddess had only one thing screaming through her beastly instinct.


    "STOP!"


    The Deity of Soul Sacrifice shouted, but he was toote. He never expected this to happen, too.


    Unfortunately, the Night Goddess fled through the darkness she created. In a single blink of an eye, she was gone from everyone''s senses.


    "NO!!!"


    The Deity roared. He could not let his creation, the umtion of thousands of years of knowledge and effort, escape. However, no matter how loud he shouted, the Night Goddess was already gone.


    "It seemed like you are having quite a predicament."


    Out of nowhere, a voice entered the Deity of Soul Sacrifice''s ears.


    Although still enraged, the Deity turned around, recognizing who the owner of the voice was.


    "Are you here to mock me, you narcissist?"


    The Deity of Soul Sacrifice turned and looked at the neer.


    There, a beautiful man with blond hair floated. His hand was still extended through a hole in space.


    "What a horrid ce. It isn''t good for my skin and hair."


    The blond manined as he covered his body with a film of energy, blocking the volcanic ash from falling onto his body.


    Turning back to the Deity of Soul Sacrifice, the blond man smiled with charisma.


    "I am looking for something and finally found it," The blond man exined. "It just happened that you are in the same ce."


    "Still, although we are from different branches, we are from the same organization. It is not bad to say hello, even if the other side is not up to it."


    "It seemed like you nearly seded in creating a God. The ripples of magical energy can be felt even on the other side of the world. But you seemed to have lost control of it. It escaped, right?"


    "Since we are from the same organization, we can offer help. It would be a waste if your new creation was to be lost just like that. But, of course, we also had a favor to ask."


    "What do you say?"


    The Deity of Soul Sacrifice looked at the blond man, who kept yapping without letting the other party talk until he was done. The Deity could not help but frown, but the offer was not that bad.


    "What favor?"


    The Deity of Soul Sacrifice asked.


    "You see," The blond man shrugged his shoulder. "Ol'' Greaty seemed to have interest in someone. We wanted Ol'' Greaty''s new toy and that "someone" to fight without intervention. So, we would need you and your creations to obstruct others from interfering. In exchange, we will help you with your problem with your new creation and other things. Call?"


    The Deity of Soul Sacrifice looked at the blond man with a strange expression. This guy was using a lot of words he learned from the modern era. On the other hand, the Deity was contemting. However, he arrived at an annoying answer.


    There was no other choice. The most efficient way to deal with the problem was to work with the narcissist and the arrogant.


    "It seemed that I had no choice but to ept," The Deity of Soul Sacrifice shook his head in dismay. "But the cooperation is limited to the things you mentioned. Any sudden demands, and you will be the next subject of my experimentations."


    "Wow, scary~" The blond man faked a scared expression. "But I guess there is no way to resist experimenting on my beauty."


    Those words caused the Deity of Soul Sacrifice to frown.


    "Your words are disgusting, Deity of Warped Beauty."


    "My words might be, but you can''t deny my beauty."


    The narcissist made the Deity of Soul Sacrifice question his choices.


    And there, the two vanished from the ce, formting their next ns somewhere else.

 Chapter 1124: Isolated, The Decision of Indonsias Savior Candidate

    Day 365 - 5:49 PM - Demak Ruins, Demak Regency, Central Java, Indonesia


    Around thirty kilometers away southwest of Kudus Outpost and the foot of Mount Muria. A temporary evacuation site had been set up.


    Considering the scale of Mount Muria''s eruption, the ruins of Demak Township were not the safest and most ideal location for an evacuation site. However, it was the nearest ce where everyone could make a swift camp after several hours of panic-filled evacuation. It was already near six in the evening. With the thick ash cloud released from Mount Muria, the night would arrive earlier than usual.


    With everyone tired and exhausted, setting up a temporary camp was the better optionpared to continuing the evacuation in the darkness of the night.


    ***


    In the sky, Mark flew towards the location of the temporary camp, leaving the people he assisted in evacuating to the soldiers who stayed behind.


    Mark observed the surroundings while flying. The damage sure was far more catastrophic than your usual volcanic eruption.


    The ash cloud covered arge area, covering everything with its rain of ash. On the other hand, wildfires caused by theva from Mount Muria had spread far already.


    Indonsia''s greenndscape was quickly turning red, then ck.


    These wildfires would very likely spread throughout the maind. Since there was no human intervention to try and stop the wildfires and the thick flora because of the apocalypse, these mes would likely continue until there was nothing left to burn.


    The ind of Java would likely turn from green to ck. From a green hell to a burnt wastnd.


    And that was the least of the problems, without a doubt.


    [Mutagen] would force the living things in Indonesia to adapt to the new environment, creating more abominations. Fire-based enemies would definitely appear, recing the flora-based creatures that inhabited the overgrown forests.


    Furthermore, themotion caused by the Night Goddess'' awakening and the eruption of Mount Muria was bound to attract attention from all directions. Just like what happened in Catanduanes back then, the [Infected] from all over the country would likely try to reach Mount Muria, attracted to the strong fluctuations of magical energy.


    Even if there were those not attracted to magical energy, they would still likelye following the rumbling sound of Mount Muria''s eruption.


    Soon, the vicinity of Mount Muria would be filled with various creatures, mostly the [Infected].


    In this process, the residents of Muria Sacred Fortress now lost a ce to call home. It might even be possible that there would be no other ce to go for them now.


    From what Mark knew before rescuing Limab''s younger brother, the military nned to use the ruins of Semarang as a temporary refuge site. The ce had been used as a military forward outpost for reconnaissance missions. In that case, it would at least have some facilities the military could use to establish a new base.


    However, Mark thought it was not the best idea. The ruins of the former Semarang City were just around fifty kilometers away from Mount Muria. When the aftermath events of the eruption began, the ruins of Semarang would be susceptible to the threat of the iing creatures.


    It was just too close to Mount Muria. Not to mention that it was a coastal city, and it was actually along the way between Mount Muria and Jakarta. If the events here also affected and attracted the creatures in Jakarta, Semarang would definitelyy on the path of the enemies.


    The best thing to do was to make a temporary base at Semarang before rushing to find an alternative ce to create a permanent one.


    Unfortunately, it was unlikely for any other suitable ce to be nearby, especially after everything got burnt to the ground.


    After flying for a while, Mark flew over a visible border between the burnt ground and a still lush forest. It was clear that Mark reached the evacuation area. The border was due to the wide river running through the regency, disabling the wildfire from spreading across.


    As Marknded, he immediately realized that the ruins of Demak were not really the best ce to camp. Sure, it was safer from the spreading wildfire, but since there were several rivers running through the town, it caused the ground to be wet and unstable after the ce was terraformed after the Fusion of Dimensions.


    If the ground got wetter, this ce would turn into a swamp. Or worse, a bog.


    A heavy rain at this moment would definitely turn things for the worse while staying in this ce.


    After walking a bit, Mark reached the location where he could detect Mei''s ring. The rings Bath gave them sure was a huge help in this situation. Mark could have just used the other function and teleported to Mei''s side, but it would not allow Mark to survey the area during his return.


    But when Mark saw the evacuation area, Mark could not help but frown.


    For some reason, the camp of the Moon Chasers and their allies had been isted from the rest. Their tents were at the furthest northern border, near the riverside. One would think that camping near the river would be the best idea, but it was the apocalypse.


    Camping near the river was one of the stupidest things to do, especially when you would never know what kind of creature could suddenly spring out of the water.


    "Gege!"


    Mei knew Mark arrived and called out with a wave.


    The little girls were not around. Using his [Empath Detection], Mark found his daughters with Emika and Amihan in one of the central tents. It seemed they were apanying Amisha, Luna''s niece.


    Approaching Mei, Mark stared at herp.


    Mei was sitting on a cut log under a tarpauline shelter.


    "I''m not stealing your wife."


    The reason for Mark''s stareined.


    There, Spera was using Mei''sp as a pillow. Since she had to use her portals in session after they fled from the underground cathedral and helped with the evacuation, it was not surprising that Spera was drained in many ways.


    "I didn''t say anything."


    Mark replied.


    "Your stare says it all."


    Spera quipped back.


    Mei could not help but smile at the banter of the two. It was especially because it was one of the rare times Mark would show emotions that he himself was unaware of.


    Mark sat down at the vacant seat on Mei''s right side. He then looked at the people around them, who belonged to three settlements, busy setting up the rest of the campsite.


    "What happened?" Mark asked. "This ce is awfully isted from the main camp."


    Mark then nced over his shoulder, looking in the direction where the main camp was with its few thousand refugees.


    "Some idiot set them up."


    It was Spera who replied.


    Mei and Spera exined what happened after Mark left to save Limab''s younger brother.


    It seemed there were people who saw the mission this morning before they entered the cave. Not to mention the military exercise led by General Wijaya, which Mark joined, was witnessed by the residents of the Southside Peak.


    After piecing fact after fact, they hypothesized that the Moonchasers and their allies, along with General Wijaya and his troops, were the reason for Mount Muria''s unexpected eruption.


    Furthermore, the Moon Chasers and their allies received the least damage among the surviving groups, adding to the suspicion.


    Many people bit the assumption and began to me the used despite theck of evidence. The rage spread out, and the people forced the used out of the main camp.


    "General Wijaya is still there trying to reason with the other military officers," Spera continued to exin. "But I doubt there would be any result from his side."


    Luna and the others might have tried to exin the circumstances, too. However, they ended up not saying much. After all, everything that happened within the underground cathedral sounded more like delusion and fantasy than truth. It was not something the deranged refugees would ept.


    "Sir Mark."


    It seemed that someone told Luna that Mark returned, and she came to greet him with her friends in tow.


    Mark looked at Luna and her friends and nodded in response. They sure looked crestfallen. It was not surprising since they had to take the me, unable to defend themselves.


    "Sir, thank you for your help."


    Limab thanked Mark.


    Having [irvoyance] sure was handy in this situation. Limab already knew her brother was safe and did not need to ask. She only had to convey her gratitude.


    "So," Mark stared at Luna. "What''s your n?"


    It was a short and light question with a heavy meaning.


    Realizing that Mark had already learned the situation, Luna and her friends understood that he was asking what they wanted to do now.


    Would they stay still in this ce while being osted with grudge-filled stares and abuse, or would they go on their own?


    "I have the same question."


    Estia''s voice echoed as she and the two leaders of the 3rd Wave, Kana and K, arrived.


    "We''re all together in this mess already. We might as well stick together. But it depends on Miss Luna."


    Farel was also here, along with a few members of the Firefighters.


    These people were the only ones who knew of the actual circumstances. And since they knew that Luna was the candidate to be the savior of his country, they understood that they should follow her decision from now on.


    "Papa!"


    The children''s voices entered everyone''s ears. It seemed that the gathering of the settlement leaders began to attract the attention of everyone in the camp.


    Mark immediately caught her two younger daughters pouncing on him. Fortunately, he already removed the ash covering his body before arriving here. As usual, Amihan plopped down on top of his head. The remaining members of the Evernight also arrived, adding to the audience present.


    "Auntie?"


    A sweet voice entered Luna''s ears as she felt an embrace enveloping her.


    It seemed that Amisha instinctively noticed the turmoil within Luna''s mind and gave her aunt aforting hug.


    Luna''s eyes fell on Amisha. The memories of the past flowed in her mind. After handing their base in Mount Muria to the government and military, there was only one reason why they did not leave. It was because of Amisha, who was in aa.


    But now, Amisha woke up and was now healthy. There was no reason to stay anymore.


    "I... I want to leave," Luna gave her answer. "There is no reason to stay anymore, especially since we are not wanted here. Are you wall willing to follow me?"


    Everyone nodded. Just like Farel said, they were all in this together.


    "Can we join?"


    Someone chimed in. Everyone looked in the direction of the familiar voice and saw General Wijaya and his soldiers. Even the officers present in Kudus Outpost were here.


    "They didn''t listen, General?"


    Farel asked General Wijaya.


    "Unfortunately..." General Wijaya replied in dismay. "The people already closed their eyes and covered their ears. And the other Generals wanting to get rid of me also took advantage of the situation. Even I and my soldiers had no ce here anymore."


    It was a sad situation.


    General Wijaya, the person personally tasked by thest president to protect the country and its people, had already given up.


    "Then, all of us here are going," Luna looked at everyone with eyes filled with determination. "Since this temporary camp will be dismantled tomorrow, we should also leave at that time."


    "But where are we going?"


    The bubbly Kana chimed in with the most important question.


    If they decided to leave, where was their destination?


    It was when Mark raised his hand.


    "What about Bali?"


    Everyone looked at Mark incredulously. Why Bali, of all ces? Furthermore, from this ce, Bali was halfway the entire ind of Java. That was more than five hundred kilometers journey. Not to mention in the middle of the apocalypse and a spreading wildfire.


    But before everyone could ask, Mark gave his reason.


    "I know it''s far. But the entire Java will be in huge turmoil because of these events. It''s better to get away as far as we can. At least, until everything stabilized."


    It was a strange reasoning. Although Luna and the others had yet to see Mark''s full power, they could already guess he would be enough to handle a lot of danger, even alone. Yet, he was the first one to suggest fleeing the maind.


    The words Mark spoke were a heavy warning for everyone. Things that would happen from now on would be troublesome even for the powerful Mark.

 Chapter 1125: Double Celebration, The First Anniversary of the Apocalypse

    Day 366 - 12:35 AM - Mountain Base, Mount Mbito, General Nakar, Province of Quezon, Philippines


    Situated among the mountain range of Quezon, a mountain lit by the reddish gleam of the Night Everred Pure Spirit Tree stood out the most in the darkness of the night.


    Hidden under the giant tree''s shadey the Mountain Base, one of the very few bastions of safety left within the country.


    Usually, midnight meant rest. Only those people tasked with guard duty would be around at this time, except for those withspecialcircumstances.


    But this night was different.


    There was an asion that needed to be addressed this time.


    It was the first anniversary since the apocalypse began.


    This was an asion bound with different emotions.


    To some people, it was the day they lost everything.


    To others, it was the day they started anew.


    It was the day the modern world copsed, reced by a world filled with dangers and uncertainty.


    But as sad as this asion might have been, people also needed to celebrate it.


    It was because, despite all the dangers and struggles they faced in the past year, they still managed to stay aliveto this day.


    And this night, a celebration urred within the Mountain Base.


    With the best food they could prepare and the drinks they had in stock, the festivities began like Christmas and New Year''s celebrationsbined.


    Although Christmas and New Year''s woulde in a week or so, those did not matter anymore.


    To most people, the clock had been reset. The beginning of the apocalypse was zero, and as midnight passed, the count moved to one.


    A new calendar that started with the apocalypse, devoid of most things everyone celebrated in the past.


    The first anniversary of the apocalypse was a significant one.


    It was the first year of the new world.


    It was the first celebration to honor the dead and celebrate the living.


    It was the first, and one thing on everyone''s checklist was to celebrate more.


    It would be the first and not thest.


    ***


    "Everyone''s pretty lively, aren''t they?"


    Mei said to Mark as they sat around the most decorated table within the base''s central za.


    "Well, it''s better than being gloomy," Mark replied. "Well, some of them are drowning their sadness with liquor, though."


    Mark looked around the table.


    Abbygale and I were eating calmly, focused on their food. On the other hand, Miracle, who was already used to eatingnormalfood, was eating messily because of how wrongly held her spoon.


    "Hold it like this. Remember, alright?"


    Mei spoke to Miracle with a smile as she corrected her grip on the spoon and wiped the mess around the little girl''s mouth.


    Mark watched the interaction between Mei and Miracle before turning to his left.


    "Is something wrong, Elder Brother?"


    Elise noticed his gaze and looked at him while holding her spoonful of food.


    "Nothing," Mark shrugged. "Just eat slowly. No one will take your food away."


    "I have to eat more, or I won''t grow."


    Elise said as she energetically shoved her spoon into her mouth.


    Mark sighed as he watched the girl who was too attached to him. The seat to his left side would usually belong to either Miracle or Abbygale. But this time, Elise jumped to steal it first. His daughters were a bit displeased, but since it was one of the rare times Elise could cling to Mark, they had topromise.


    Elise sure was attached to Mark ever since the events in New Jersey ended. Her rtionship with her family barely improved, however. Even though Elise lost several years of her memories and reverted to the mind of a thirteen-year-old, she was not too keen on interacting with herrealfamilyat all. Elise''s family was sad about this development, but they could not really me anyone.


    They could only watch from another table as Elise showed smiles at Mark, which she would never show them.


    After taking his eyes away from Elise, Mark looked at the center of the table. There, Amihan sat while stuffing her face with fresh fruits. One could never really tell that she was an incarnation of a Goddess at a single nce.


    Mark looked at a different table. Emika was waving at him. There was also Annica on an adjacent table. The two of them were spending the celebration with their families.


    Hannah then passed by. Instead of eating, she was helping her aunt, Odelina, serve the dishes.


    "You keep looking around."


    Someone spoke to Mark. It was Spera, who was sitting in front of him across the table.


    "Can''t help it," Mark replied. "I''m facing them all, unlike you, whose back faced everyone."


    "I''m not the one who arranged the seating, alright?"


    Spera argued.


    "Don''t be rude to Elder Brother."


    Elise chimed in as she berated Spera.


    The two then began ring at each other.


    Mark could not help but look at Mei with eyes containingints about the antics of the two.


    If Elise was the overly attached younger sister, Spera was the one sister who was always grumpy for no reason. Thus, when the two girls were in one ce, thiskind ofsituation was always the result.


    Responding to Mark''s stare, Mei gave a smile and a slight shrug. There was nothing they could do about the two.


    "Master," Odelina passed by. "Do you want more drinks?"


    Mark did not notice since he was not paying attention. He had already emptied his ss while looking around.


    "Another ss of soda, I guess."


    Mark replied, and Odelina refilled Mark''s ss before leaving.


    Taking a sip of his drink, Mark sighed. The soda was slightly t, not having the right amount of kick for a carbonated drink. It was not surprising since these were thest bottles of soda they had, which were already a week past expiration.


    It pushed Mark to think of wanting to make a magic-powered carbonated drink machine next time. It sure was a bit of an out-of-the-way goal.


    ***


    The celebrationsted for several hours. Most of the residents joined the celebration, even including the non-humans. Even the two [Sirens] joined, although they spent their time at the corner of the venue, barely interacting with anyone.


    Milielle, the [Mermaid] was also having a good time since the za was literally beside the pond around the tree she resided in.


    As for the couple who was not present in the celebration, Chimetrice and Ilia, they were inside the [Cube] as usual. Chimetrice was not really up to these kinds of celebrations so Ilia opted to apany Chimetrice instead of leaving him alone.


    A few more not present would be Laps and Char. Well, the two were animals who would not care much about human celebrations. As such, the two remained back in Indonesia to help guard the refugees there. Of course, Mark would bring some nice food for their pets when they get back.


    Soon, the drinkers were already wasted. As for Mark''s group, it was time to go back.


    Bidding goodbye to everyone, they returned to the hellishndscape of Indonesia. Well, not with the same number of people, however.


    Elise, fed up getting left behind, really pushed herself to appeal ande with the group this time. It was not really a problem for Mark and Mei if she wanted toe. However, the issue came from her family. After all, Mark''s adventures were dangerous in many ways. Not to mention that they could not mend their rtionships if she was not around.


    Well, thest argument was waning in strength. Even if Elise stayed behind, there was barely any progress. If they kept holding her back, she might start hating them even more.


    In the end, Elise was allowed toe, although Felicia, her older sister, and Louis Morgan, the [Inheritor] of [Stone Maniption] and now Felicia''s lover, would apany Elise.


    With the three in tow, Mark and his group stepped into Spera''s portal and left the aftermath of the celebration to his trusted subordinates.


    ***


    Day 366 - 3:06 AM - Riverside Campsite, Demak Ruins, Demak Regency, Central Java, Indonesia


    Returning to Indonesia, Mark''s nose was immediately assaulted by thebination of a musty smell and a burnt odor in the air. It was the smell of the damp surroundings and the scattered ash from Mount Muria.


    From their location, Mount Muria''s silhouette could be seen from afar, along with the red gleam on its peak as it continued to spewva out of its crater.


    The horizon to the east looked ominously red, likely due to the wildfire still continuing in that direction.


    Since Spera opened the portal in a slightly hidden area surrounded by trees, the group had to walk out a little back to camp. Sensing some movements, the people guarding the camp grew alert. Luna, Edge, and the others immediately arrived to prepare for any danger. But as they saw Mark and his group, they sighed in relief for several reasons.


    First, it was because they were not enemies. Second, it was quite clear that they had already begun relying on Mark and his group for many things. Since the group said they would be away for a bit and used Spera''s portal to leave, they began overthinking that they would not return, neglecting the fact that the pets were still with them.


    If Mark and his group did not return, things would be way harder for them.


    The return of Mark''s group erased their negative thoughts.


    "You guys are still awake?"


    Mark asked them.


    "There''s no way we can sleep peacefully in this situation, Sir Mark."


    Luna replied with a sigh.


    Although Mark told them to properly rest and leave the guard duty to the pets, there were still a lot of people guarding the ce. The leaders were also all awake even though they should be resting for the journey they would begin tomorrow.


    "Never mind then," Mark said as he looked at Mei, who responded with a nod. "Get those still awake. We brought some food and drinks."


    As Mark told Amihan to create a wind barrier around the central area of the camp, the celebration area for the people here was established.


    And without hiding their capability to store things in a subspace, Mark and Mei took out the food and drinks they brought.


    Seeing the delicious food, liquor, and other drinks, everyone around could not help but feel hungry. The hastily prepared dinner they had sure was trashpared to the food Mark and Mei took out. What took their attention the most was the fresh vegetables and fruits.


    Meat might have been a luxury in the past but it was theplete opposite in the apocalypse when it became harder to grow crops for various reasons.


    Soon, the party for the residents of the 38th, 40th, and 41st Satellite Settlements began. General Wijaya, his soldiers, and their families were also present and allowed to join. Surprisingly, there were refugees from the 94th Satellite Settlement now present too. It looked like Limab''s brother arrived while Mark and the others were gone.


    Considering the situation, it seemed that the younger brother, Silver, decided to join his family in this camp. But it seemed to be not without consequences.


    Aside from Silver, there were only a few members of the deshifters with him and some refugees joining them. It seemed that they broke up with their group due to the rumors spread out to the rest of the refugees by people with evil intentions.


    In that case, it was their loss. The people and refugees that followed Silver were now enjoying food they never thought they would be able to eat in this situation.


    "Sir Mark? Who are they?"


    Nelia asked, finally noticing three unfamiliar people with Mark''s group.


    "They are with us," Mark answered, ncing at Elise who had already fallen asleep while clinging to him. "This one is Elise. She looks up to me as her Elder Brother. This one is Felicia, Elise''s older sister. The guy''s Louis. He and Felicia are lovers.


    They can''t speak Indonesian, so use English if you want to speak to them."


    "Felicia and Louis are pretty powerful too, so they would be a great help to us."


    Mark added.


    Luna and the rest greeted the new people with smiles. The party then continued, bing a bit noisy.


    Unfortunately, the happy atmosphere of the party was not particrly a wee sight to some people on the other side of the evacuation area.

 Chapter 1126: Boys Talk, Setting Edge Towards a Different Path

    Day 366 - 4:21 AM - Riverside Campsite, Demak Ruins, Demak Regency, Central Java, Indonesia


    The first-year celebration of the apocalypse was made short.After everyone got their share of food and drinks, mostof the attendees went backto rest.Only some people were left after volunteering to clean up. The n was already set in stone. By morning, the people of this camp would separate from themaingroup of the survivors of the Muria Sacred Fortress.


    The decision was conveyed to everyone during the party. There were some people who showed uncertainty at first. However, in the end, everyone agreed with it.


    If the other camp did not want them, there was no need to keep following them. And if staying meant epting all the baseless usations and scorn, it was better not to bother.


    ***


    Mark on arge rock by the riverside. On hisp was Abbygale, who was sleeping. As for Mei and the rest, they were in the nearby tents, resting till departure.


    As Mark gazed at the silhouette of Mount Muria from afar, still visible due to its reddish peak, footsteps approached him from behind.


    "Sir Mark, you should rest too," Edge spoke as he sat at a nearby chair. "Leave the guard duty to us."


    "I''m fine," Mark replied without turning his eyes away from the mountain. "You already know. Not only me, but Mei and our daughters are Demons.Sleep isn''t atotalnecessity for us as much as a human, but it isjusthard to get rid of the habit.As for me, I''m used to ying games and doing other things all night. I can go about two to three days without sleep unless I''mreallytired."


    "How about you?" Mark added as he turned to Edge. "You also drank a bit earlier. You''re the one who should rest."


    "Ah, no worries," Edge shrugged. "I''m not a heavy drinker, but just two sses is too little for me to get drunk. Besides, it''s hard for me to rest. I know they did it with good intentions, but it''s not right to throw me and Luna in the same tent when she''s slightly drunk."


    "Yeah, right," Mark snickered. "She''s really under a lot of stress. It''s not surprising she downed a whole bottle after the beer touched her lips."


    "Yeah..."


    Edge''s voice trailed off as he replied.


    "Are you thinking about the things that lunatic Deity said?"


    Mark spoke, sensing what Edge had in mind.


    "Is that you''re [Empathic] abilities at work?" Edge asked and sighed as he admitted. "Haah... Yeah. That Bearer of Ancient Blood thing. I''mprettysure that guy looked at Luna and Kana when he said that. I don''t know what it meant, but it made me wonder.


    The gap between Luna and me still continues to widen."


    "You''re not trying to go and get bitten, right?"


    Mark said jokingly.


    "I''m not stupid, alright?" Edge shrugged. "What happened to Luna and the girls is nearly a miracle. I know how rare it is for bitten people to be mutants instead. If I get bitten, I''ll likelyturn intoan [Infected]. There''s no point then."


    Mark stared at Edge through the corner of his eyes. Compared to a regr person, Edge had higher stamina, strength, and endurance. While part of his abilities came fromthe fact he wasan [Evolver], most of it came from his efforts to catch up with the strength of his beloved.


    But it was clear. Despite Edge''s efforts, he could not catch up to Luna''s current growth. And if Luna really was a Bearer of Ancient Blood, then she would likely be muchstrongerin the future. Edge was also a Weeb. Although he had no idea what a Bearer of Ancient Blood would mean, such a title was only given to individuals with absurd ancestry in anime and manga.


    Those ancestries would awaken at the right time. No. Luna''s Ancient Blood might have woken already, considering the strange power she exhibited when she rescued Amishaback then.


    As for Edge, he had nothing. He was notspecial. He was not even a [Mutator]. And being an [Evolver] was not enough at all.


    Edge felt that he would soon lose the right to stand beside Luna if the gapcontinued to widen.


    Mark shrugged. It wasclearEdge was overthinking things. However, it was not his position to say much about it. There was no point if Edge and Luna would not settlethingsup themselves. Unfortunately, it might take longer, considering the situation.


    WHOMP!


    Everyone who was still awake stopped in their steps. They felt a silent tremor in the air as a part of the sky far west turned pitch ck.


    "They''re still not done, huh?"


    Mark voiced out as he looked at the pitch-ck sky.


    It was not the first one. After the Deity of Soul Sacrifice and his Goddess disappeared above Mount Muria, several fluctuations had been felt by everyone from different directions of Java. By the looks of it, the two were still not done with their game of cat and mouse.


    Since the Night Goddess was still trying to flee, it would keep her creator from directly meddling with the survivors of Muria Sacred Fortress until she was captured.


    And that would not be an easy task.


    "Will we really be okay with thosekinds ofcreatures roaming about?"


    Edge asked with worry in his eyes.


    "It depends," Mark answered. "I already have a fair share of encounters with thosekinds ofbeings. And here I am, still alive."


    "They might be powerful beings," Mark added. "But they are not omnipotent. And definitely not immortal. Although, well... You do need enough power to kill them."


    Edge stared at Mark. His words were not really helping in any way. Nheless, Mark did not seem to be lying.


    "Did you escape? Or did you kill them?"


    Edge could not help but ask.


    "Kill, of course," Mark answered."You know,depending on the circumstances, killing is much easier than escaping.Sure, it''s possible to escape. But escaping won''t end the problem. It will just be dying the inevitable. And because you are busy escaping, you have less time to prepare.


    When the endes, and you''re finally cornered, you might end up with neither a way nor courage to face the problem."


    Mark gave Edge another nce.


    In Edge''s current state, Mark''s words would have different meanings. It might not just be the answer to his question but also to his circumstances.


    "Say... Just curious," Mark decided to change the topic. "What do you want to be? A sword or a shield?"


    "What kind of question is that?"


    Edge was confused by Mark''s sudden question.


    However, Mark did not answer Edge''s question, prompting him to answer the weird question.


    With a shrug, Edge gave his answer.


    "I''d rather be both, honestly. A sword alone has less capability to protect, and the shieldcks the capability to attack. A bnce of both ispletely needed to protect anyone."


    "Hmm..." Mark nodded. "I get you. Even Naofumi''s shield needed to transform so he could attack. A simple shield alone had limited capabilities unless you were skilled and strong enough to use it like a boomerang or bash it against enemies."


    "You really jumped in that direction, huh?"


    Edge stared at Mark.


    "Yep."


    Mark snickered.


    Then, Mark suddenly tossed something at Edge, making himcatch the items by reflex.


    "What?"


    Edge looked at the contents of his hand. It was a pair of two marble-sized crystals.


    "What is this?"


    Edge asked. He wasprettysure Mark would not throw marbles at him to y or something of that sort.


    "Put those in your mouth in the next camp before sleeping," Mark answered. "It would be painful, but I''m sure you will be fine."


    "Wh-what?"


    Edge was utterly confused. But as he was about to question further...


    "Ugh, my head..."


    Luna''s voice entered their ears.


    It looked like Luna woke up with a headache. It was not that of a surprising scene.


    "Hah..." Edge sighed as he sped the crystals in his hand andhebid Mark goodbye. "Later."


    Edge then ran towards the tent where Luna was.


    Mark shrugged as he continued sitting there, being watchful of the surroundings.


    After all, some jealous people had been watching them since the celebration earlier.


    ***


    Morning soon came. There were quite a number of people with varying degrees of hangover. It was not the ideal situation before departure. Nheless, it was not the worst either. After all, these peoplewere able tounwind during the celebration, and most people needed it severely.


    In any case, their hangover would not stop the departure. Not that anyone had a change of heart, either.


    It was not just the isted camp. The main camp was also in the middle of packing up to leave. Their next stop would be Semarang, where they n to set up a more permanent camp with the military outpostthereas its center.


    While helping the others pack up, the people noticed a new addition to their camp.


    "What''s that?"


    Luna asked, pointing at Annica and the pets gathered by the riverside.


    There,aside from the two giant lizards and the golden dog, a moving boulder could be seen.


    No, it was not a boulder. It was a giant tortoise. Since the tortoise was a highly evolved animal, it was hard to determine its original species.


    Its species aside, the giant turtle was there, getting along with Annica.


    "It appeared earlier while youwere strugglingwith your hangover," Mark answered Luna. "It''s just watching by the water and looked intelligent enough to be tamed, so we did."


    Luna could only stare at Mark in silence. Shaking her head, Luna just decided to ept it. Mark and his members were absurd people, after all.


    In any case, it seemed that Mark intended to make the pets pull carts for them.No one knew where or when, butthere were actuallyseveral ck-colored metal carts now waiting for them to load their supplies and equipment.


    Everyone was sure it was Mark''s doing again and began to ept whatever his antics were.


    Soon, everyone was ready to depart. The isted camp actually finished faster than the main camp. Considering the difference in poption, it was not surprising.


    At this time, Mark looked at the direction of the main camp again. His eyes fell on several soldiers seemingly waiting at the border of the main camp. The troublesome General Mark encountered in the market was also there, with another fat man with the same rank as their simr uniforms showed.


    "What are those people doing?"


    General Wijaya noticed what Mark was staring at and voiced out.


    "They were waiting for us."


    Mark said with a rather yful smile.


    "Us?"


    General Wijaya was confused.


    "Yep," Mark replied with a nod. "I mean... No one told them we are going somewhere else, right?"


    "Ah..."


    It was not only General Wijaya who reacted but everyone who heard their conversation.


    That was right. No one informed the main camp of their ns.


    However, that did not exin why those soldiers were waiting there.


    It was when Mark exined.


    "They had someone watching us, you see. So, theydefinitelyknew we had a partyst night and had a lot of food and other supplies. They should be thinking of making demands to let us follow them."


    "But those food came from you."


    General Wijaya was incensed.


    "Well, they don''t know and probably won''t care even if they did."


    Mark replied, and General Wijaya had no way to refute that.


    The young General himself experienced how much of a hoodlum those people were.


    "Just don''t bother with them. What can they do, anyway? Point guns at us? For what? To make use with them? Or to force us to cough up our supplies?


    We still have a long journey ahead of us. Let''s focus on that."


    Mark said, making everyone agree.


    And the preparations were done. The isted camp began to move.


    Thegroup ofsoldiers looked smug as they saw the isted camp begin to move.


    But to their utter disbelief, the isted camp began moving in theplete opposite direction they were.


    "What is going on?"


    A soldier voiced out.


    In the end, the soldiers moved, trying to catch up to the people of the isted camp.

 Chapter 1127: Towards Bali, The First Day of Journey Across Indonesia

    Day 366 - 7:57 AM - Demak Ruins, Demak Regency, Central Java, Indonesia


    "Wijaya, what is the meaning of this?"


    General Hadi angrily asked General Wijaya in a voice as big as his beer belly.


    Since the people following Luna and her allies were moving on foot, it was not hard for the soldiers of the main camp to catch up. In the end, General Wijaya and the leaders of the allied survivor groups faced the angry pair of stout-bodied Generals, General Hadi and General Guntur. The two were apanied by a few of their soldiers.


    Standing not too far from the ongoing confrontation, Mark and his group silently watched the situation. Mark and those who apanied them to the hospital to wake up Amisha were slightly familiar with General Hadi. He was the General who appeared after the battle at the market ended.


    As for General Guntur, he seemed to be one of General Piliang''s close allies. Specifically, one of the people who hated General Wijaya to the core. Though it seemed he had no idea that General Piliang had something to do with the [Face Wearers].


    Facing the aggressive questioning of General Guntur, General Wijaya stood without fear.


    "It is as you can see. We decided to go on our own," General Wijaya answered. "There is no need for all of us to force ourselves somewhere we are not wanted."


    "So, you finally decided to abandon your duties as a soldier. A fitting decision, should I say."


    General Guntur chimed in, not hiding his disdain for the young General, not even in the slightest.


    "You are mistaken, Sir Guntur," General Wijaya snorted. "I can''t leave these people alone. As soldiers, we have our duty to protect them, too. Or are they not citizens to be protected in your eyes?"


    "It sounds like someone else is abandoning their duties."


    At this time, someone spoke behind General Wijaya. With the right timing, the person walked out of the crowd. It was Baskoro Astria, the owner of Astria Enterprises and one of the VIPs of the Northside Peak.


    "Sir Astria... What are you doing here?"


    General Hadi asked with a frown. With all the other VIPs, along with government officials living in the Northside Peak, missing after the eruption, it was not wrong to say Baskoro Astria would be the mostimportantperson still alive in this ce.


    "You seemed to have forgotten. My daughter is a member of the group facing baseless usations and nder from your camp. There would be no reason for me to stay in such a ce with such people."


    Baskoro answered with a solid tone.


    Oddly enough, there was a slight sense of panic on the faces of General Hadi and General Guntur after seeing Baskoro Astria. In fact, there was seemingly no reason for them to show respect to a businessman in this situation. Yet, they seemed to not want to offend Baskoro directly.


    It was really odd.


    Mark monitored the emotional fluctuations of the two Generals. There seemed to be something they were hiding. It was clear that they wanted Baskoro Astria to be dead. Yet, they did not want it to be their doing.


    "If that is your decision, we won''t stop you all."


    General Hadi spoke with a sudden change of tone.


    "Let''s go."


    General Guntur did not speak anymore and just ordered their soldiers to withdraw.


    The sudden change in the situation made everyone confused. General Wijaya and the others were ready for a more aggressive orevenviolent sh against the corrupt Generals and their soldiers.


    But what happened? Why did those two suddenly retreat?


    Everyone could not help but look at Baskoro.


    "Dad?"


    Limab could not help but call out to her father. However, thetter also seemed to not have anyinklingof what was going on.


    In any case, this situation made it easier for their departure.


    The people of the main camp watched as the people of the isted camp vanished from their sight. Some of them wondered if those people were crazy, trying to go back towards the direction of Mount Muria while it was still in the middle of spewingva.


    On the other hand, the people of the isted camp did not care about the main campanymore. They left without even turning their heads to look back.


    ***


    "Sir Mark."


    While walking, Limab suddenly approached Mark''s group and called him.


    "What''s the matter?"


    Mark asked.


    Luna and the members of the allied survivor groups were the vanguard of the entire group. They surrounded the nonbatants while traversing the cleared road to protect them. Although the members decided to guard in shifts, those who were not on guard duty should be positioned where they could respond to threats if needed.


    As for Mark''s group, they were in the center read of the formation because their pets were pulling the carts containing their supplies and equipment.


    In this regard, Limab was clearly not in her position whenshe approachedMark''s group.


    "Do you have an idea why those corrupt pigs just left?"


    Limab asked Mark without beating around the bush.


    "Why would you ask me that? I''m not them."


    Mark stared at Limab with a confused tilt of his head.


    "Well, it felt like you would know. You''re an [Empath], too."


    Limab answered.


    "[Empaths] can only read emotions, not their exact thoughts," Mark shrugged. "Though I did sense something odd."


    "What is it?"


    Limab asked.


    "They want your father dead."


    Mark bluntly answered.


    "That''s..." Limab frowned. "They want to kill Dad?"


    "No," Mark shook his head. "That''s actually one of the odd things. They want your father dead. Not that they want to kill him."


    "That sounds contradicting in a confusing way, isn''t it?"


    Limab''s frown vanished as it wasratherhard to fathom what Mark meant.


    "That''s why it''s odd," Mark shrugged. "There must be a deeper reason for that. But, yep, I have absolutely no idea."


    Wanting someone dead without wanting to get involved. It sure was an odd thoughtto have, especially for two Military Generals.


    "Then, the reason they suddenly changed their tone..."


    Limab realized something.


    "I''m thinking the same," Mark nodded. "They are thinking that it would be easier for your father to die if he left with us."


    "So, basically... They think we are stupid to leave their protection, huh?" Limab sighed as she nced at Mark. "Well, that''s an unsurprising thought if you knew nothing."


    Mark and Luna were chosen candidates as humanity''s saviors.With the two around, this group would be much safer than the other camp despite the supposeddifference in poption and firepower.


    Not to mention that each of Mark''s members was extraordinary. Eachone of themcould probablypare to an entire squad of soldiers against the dangers of the apocalypse.


    If there was anyone closer to death, it would not be this group but the other.


    "Hmm?"


    Mark looked in front. Everyone stopped on their steps.


    Managing thisrge number of people on a long journey would be hard. As such, a few rules were established so the survivor groups could protect the nobatants more easily. They had to establish rules so it would be possible toprotectaround three hundred, mostly nobatant, refugees.


    This sudden stop should be ordered by the members on guard duty. It also meant that they detected some form of danger somewhere.


    Limeb bid goodbye to Mark and the rest as she returned to her position. The sounds of battle could be heard from the front.


    After a few minutes, the group resumed the journey. As they walked, Mark noticed the corpses of [Infected] moved to the side of the path.


    "[Biters], huh," Mark said as he observed the corpses in passing. "Well, these ones should be the first to arrive in thismotion."


    And as Mark turned to the silhouette of the ash-covered Mount Muria, he murmured.


    "It''s just the start."


    It happened before in the Philippines. It would happen again here in Indonesia.


    The awakening of the Night Goddess caused a massive ripple of magical energy. There was also the battle between the berserk Night Goddess and her creator, the Deity of Soul Sacrifice. It releaseda massiveamount of magical energy.


    That amount of magical energy should be felt all over Indonesia. It would rile not only the [Infected] in Java but also the [Infected] in other inds. This was the primary reason Mark suggested leaving Java and moving to Bali.


    And now, the encounters with the [Infected] began.


    It was not the end. It would just get worse in the next few days.


    ***


    "Everything''s burnt."


    Elisemented as she looked at the surroundings. The forest fire sure left the lush mutated forests of Indonesia devastated, turning everything into charcoal and ash. As such, all they could see in the surroundings were ck and gray.


    "I told you, there''s nothing much to see here anymore."


    Mark patted Elise''s head.


    "Hmm, hmm, it''s fine."


    Elise smiled. While one reason she insisted oning was to sightsee, the main reason was to spend time with Mark.


    To the side, Felicia could only sigh as she watched her younger sister smile. It was unfortunate that that smile would never be facing her real family. Worse, none of them couldin about it.


    Felicia felt a consoling hand over her shoulder. It seemed that Louis noticed her emotions.


    ***


    "You guys good?"


    After a while, the guards changed shifts. Luna and Edge went to Mark''s group to check on them.


    "We are fine."


    Mei replied to Luna''s question while pointing at Mark, who was ying with the little girls while gathering unwanted attention from the rest of the people surrounding them.


    Why?


    Apparently, they were ying with smartphones. It was something very odd to see in the apocalypse.


    Not only that each of them have a phone in their hands, but it seemed that they were ying the same game on the same server.


    "This..."


    Even Luna and Edge were at a loss for words as they saw that scene.


    A group of girls riding a giant tortoise while ying on their phones. Mark was also ying with them, but he was walking beside the tortoise and not riding it. It seemed that there was no space left for Mark to sit with them.


    "I wonder if this would be a good influence on Amisha..."


    Luna said as she looked at her niece who was in the middle of the group of girls ying with phones.


    The good thing was that Amisha wasughing happily.


    ***


    The first day of the journey soon came to a stop as the day was gettingte and night would soone.


    There were more than a dozen encounters with the [Infected], which was rather rare before because of the forest filled with mutated beasts. Oddly enough, there were fewer encounters with said beasts instead. Somebatants incurred injuries during battle. Fortunately, no casualties happened so far.


    Although it was not easy, the group covered a good distance. After leaving the cleared railroad, they all headed east, traversing the burnt forest.


    Everyone had to be careful not to step on still-burning charcoal and other remnants of burnt nts and trees. They even encountered areas where the fire was still going strong due to trees with odd traits and properties. Fortunately, there were Kana and Amihan.


    Kana would conjure water from her palms and extinguish mes blocking the way, while Amihan would blow most debris away from the path, making the road even safer for everyone to traverse.


    Even the current campsite was cleared with the help of Kana and Amihan. The existence of the two sure made it easier for everyone despite the harsh environment.


    The camp was being established with tents and cooking areas being prioritized.


    But while establishing the camp, a rather unexpected event urred.


    "GENERAL! WHY WOULD YOU LEAVE ME BEHIND? HOW HEARTLESS!"


    A loud and familiar voice echoed as two people seemed to have followed the group.


    "Professor... What are you doing here?"


    General Wijaya was bewildered by the arrival of the unexpected guest.


    Mark''s and Luna''s groups, even Farel''s group, were also familiar with the guy.


    It was the crazy scientist with General Wijaya back in Kudus Outpost. And it seemed that he and hispanion sneaked away from the main camp to follow this group instead.

 Chapter 1128: An Encounter at the Burnt Fields, The Second Day of the Journey to Bali

    Day 366 - 6:05 PM - Campsite, Larikrejo, Undaan, Kudus Regency, West Java, Indonesia


    Dr. Willis Reagan. It was the name of a biology genius with aratherquirky personality. Yes, he was the crazy scientist who now caught up to the isted group. Willis'' name sure did not sound like a local''s.It was because, althoughhis mother was a pure Indonesian, his father was not.His father was an American biologist. He came to Indonesia to study its ecosystem.


    And Willis followed the steps of histe father.


    "Why are you here? How did you even get to us?" General Wijaya could not help but ask as he stared at Dr. Willis and hispanion. "There''s only two of you?"


    "Hmm???" Dr. Willis turned his head to hispanion andthen made exaggerated gestures as if he were looking for something. "Me... this guy... Hmmm... I don''t see anyone else.


    How many do you want us to be?"


    General Wijaya''s eyebrows began twitching.


    "Alright... There''s only you two," General Wijaya replied. "Then why and how did you get here?"


    Looking at the situation, it wasquiteodd. Given thattheyhad quite several encounters with the [Infected] just today, there was no way Dr. Willis and hispanionwould be able tofollow them,especiallythis quickly. After all, Dr. Willis and his assistant should be just regr people, scientists cooped up with their research.


    "You''re asking why? Then why would you think I will stay there?" Dr. Willis replied with his ownquestion,once again. "I only research what I want and not what others want me to. Do you think Iwill be able todo that if you leave me there? Why would you even leave without telling me?"


    General Wijaya fell silent. There was a reason Dr. Willis stuck to him. It was because he never forced Dr. Willis to research something he did not want to. It was due to the fact that whatever he was trying to research would benefit the people in many ways.


    However, it was not something others would realize, especially if those two pig Generals werethe onesleft to manage the survivors from Mount Muria.


    "Alright, I get it," General Wijaya raised his hands in surrender. "But you know. Even if I informed you, there''s no way they would let you or any valuable personnel leave to follow me."


    "But there''s no need to inform them???" The professor harrumped. "Look at me! I sneaked out on my own! And now I''m here! The problem is, you''re too upright! You''re so upright that you let snakes coil around you easily!"


    Dr. Willis and General Wijaya continued their banter while being watched by everyone. It did not feel like they werejustin a superior and subordinate rtionship.


    "They''re at it again, huh."


    "It is the usual."


    Captain Timur Guntur, the former in-charge of Kudus Outpost, and Staff Sergeant Welinda Cahya, General Wijaya''s secretary,mented to the side.It seemed that this scene wasnot new to them and the General''s other soldiers.


    "Hah..." General Wijaya sighed as he brought Dr. Willis to Luna and the others. "As you can see, this guy will nowe with us."


    "I don''t think anyone would have issues with it," Lunasaid,as she lookedat everyone around. "A scientist is valuable in these times, no matterwhat their expertise is."


    Everyone agreed with Luna''s words, and some even nodded in agreement.


    "See!" Dr. Willis eximed. "At least these young people understand! Those old farts back there can''t even hold a candle to them!"


    Dr. Willisreallyhad abadview of the people back in the main camp.


    Mark and his group had nothing to say in this situation. They just gathered to the side, minding their own business. Of course, Mark was paying attention to what was happening.


    Well, it mightturn out tobe annoying if Dr. Willis began pestering Mark''s group about things. He had a record of doing so back in Kudus during the sale of the [Fog Crawler''s] remains.


    But, rather than Dr. Willis, Mark''s attention was focused on someone else this time.


    Sensing Mark''s stare, the person looked back, nodding at Mark with a polite business smile.


    The person''s emotions were undisturbed. He was the epitome of a businessman''s ideal personality.


    Yet, that guy was introduced as Dr. Willis'' assistant.


    It was odd. Something was odd.


    Mark could feel it but could not pinpoint what it was.


    But if that person felt like a strange businessman, Mark had an inkling of who he could possibly be.


    ***


    Soon, the camp for this night was established. The next thing to do was prepare dinner, and many people worked together to cook the best they could serve for everyone. Fortunately, they had enough food supplies tost everyonefor at leasta week or two, even if they splurged a bit.


    They could also hunt along the way, and edible animals were plenty even though almost everything near Mount Muria had already been burnt to ash.


    Still, everyone could not help but stare north from time to time. There, the silhouette of Mount Muria could be seen, which was more visible at night due to theva it continued to spew.


    Thick volcanic ash continued to rain. It was good that they had the help of Mark and Amihan to at least lessen the ash during the night.


    As the night deepened, everyonewent to sleepinside their tents, leaving the nighttime guards on their shift.


    Of course, Mark was the guard for his group. Feng Zhiruo and Hannah also volunteered. It was the same for Felicia and Louis. However, Mark told them to rest instead. Since Mark wanted to do some tinkering, he could guardat the same time.


    Well, Mark did not end up alone. As he sat on a clean mat while tinkering with some small metal parts, Mei sat beside him after putting their daughters to sleep. She then rested her head on his shoulder, and Markjustlet her do so with a slight smile.


    Inside one of the tents, Elise and Spera were peeking through the tent''s door, watching Mark and Mei.


    "You''re not going to run there and ask for a hug or something?"


    Spera asked Elise, as it was what thetter was usually doing.


    However, Elise gave Spera a sharp stare.


    "I''m not boorish to steal Elder Sister''s time with Elder Brother," Elise''s stare then turned mncholic. "It hurts when people you love get stolen from you. I don''t want to do the same to Elder Sister."


    "You..."


    Spera was surprised by Elise''s remark, making her turn to Elise. However, Elise already turned her back on Spera, trying to sleep.


    Due to that interaction, Spera now felt doubts about Elise. However, she could only sigh before going to sleep.


    ***


    Day 367 - 9:21 AM -Campsite, Larikrejo, Undaan, Kudus Regency, West Java, Indonesia


    Nighttime came and went quickly. It was not an entirely peaceful night since a few small groups of [Infected] tried attacking the camp. The most dangerous ones were near midnight when a group of seven [Predator Type Infected] tried ambushing the camp with their chameleon-like abilities.


    Unfortunately for this group, they were attracted to the magical energy around acertainpart of the camp and attacked there first.


    That part of the camp was where Mark''s group resided. As such, they were not even able to reach the edge of the camp before their headless corpses fell to the burnt ground.


    Morning came. Most people still felt tired, while some barely rested due to the scary sounds of fighting throughout the night. Nheless, they could not justy down even in their current condition.


    After a quick breakfast with a bowl of porridge, everyone continuedon withtheir arduous journey.


    From the current camp in Undaan to the western edges of the Ind of Java, they still needed to traverse justa little bitunder five hundred kilometers. Even before the apocalypse, such a distance would require several days of walking. But in the current state of the world, it would surely take double, or worse, triple, the time needed.


    Normally, no one would want to go through such a long journey, especially with both the [Infected] and [Mutated Creatures] around. But there was no choice for everyone here. There was no ce safe anymore on the ind of Java.


    And since they now had the option to leave the ind, they would take it, even if it was a huge gamble.


    Between a gamble and certain death, there was no need to ask what most people would choose.


    It made some people wonder. What were the people in themaincamp thinking when they decided to go to Semarang? Sure, there was a military outpost in Semarang. But it never meant that it was a safe ce against one of the greatest threats in Java.


    ***


    After leaving the camp, several hours passed without problems. It was not several peaceful hours because there was already half the number of [Infected] encounterspared to yesterday. Nheless, no one was injured, especially with Luna''s groupin the lead ofthe fight.


    The new weapons of the leaders of the Moon Chaserssurelyproved to be of great use against the [Infected].


    Edge''s shield could stop even attacks froma lot ofgigantic [Infected]. Limab and Nelia''s bullets would switch between fire and electricity,being effective against botharmored and unarmored enemies. Livia''s hammer could smash through thick [Infected] armor, while Bajing and Luna''s attacks could pierce through them.


    Almost all who saw them fight could not help but feel fascinated by those weapons. Some even gathered the courage to ask where theweaponscame from, only to receive no direct answers.


    And those who knew could only give the creator of the weapons a nce. Unfortunately for them,trying to askfor the same kind of weapons would be hard. After all, they were not as close as the leaders of the Moon Chasers to the creator of the weapons.


    The journey continued with the Moon Chasers as the protagonist of most battles. It was not like they were trying to show off. It was just that the encounters with the [Infected] were bing more and more dangerous as timewent on.


    While the time difference between encounters with the [Infected] hordes was pretty random, and the scale of the hordes wasquiteon the smaller side, each horde contained high-level [Mutated Infected].


    On Mark''s self-made scale based on the mutations that urred in Freed''s, Eriellis, the levels of [Infected] they were encountering now were around level three to level four. A lot of them were even [Hybrid Types]. These [Infected] were not easy to fight, even with a group of [Mutators] or armed soldiers, especially while protecting arge group of nonbatants.


    As such, they needed to kill these [Infected] as fast as possible to reduce the possibility of the nonbatants getting involved in the battle.


    Unfortunately, only the leaders of the Moon Chasers equipped with powerful weapons could quickly kill these high-level [Infected]. They could only fight despite the increasing number of battles beginning to tire them.


    "Huh?"


    As the journey continued, some people noticed something odd.


    In the distance,there wasa ratherrge group of trees and bushesgrowingatop arge hill.The strange thing was that therge hill appearedto bein the middle of the already burnt area, turned to ash by the wildfire.


    It wastrulyan odd sight, especially when the group got closer since the hill was onthe path they were taking.


    No. It was not justtheirgroup that was getting closer.


    Therge hill was also getting closer to them.


    THUMP! THUMP!


    It did not take long. Everyone felt the ground shaking, and loud thumps entered their ears.


    And therge hill from the distance was actuallrgerthan they thought. It was more or less a small mountain.


    And the mountain actually had gigantic boulder-like legs to the side.


    Then, the giant boulder in front of the mountainbegan to rise, revealing a gigantic frog-like head and snake-like neck.


    "G-GET READY FOR BATTLE!"


    Luna could not help but stutter as the groundheavilyshookwhen she shouted.


    This was not the first time Luna and the others encountered a gigantic creature. The [Fog Crawler] was enormous itself.


    However, whatever the creature in front of them was, it was fargerthan a [Fog Crawler].

 Chapter 1129: A Gigantic Encounter, The Symbiotic Horde and Marks Magical Experiment

    Day 367 - 11:24 AM - Kajen, Pati Regency, Central Java, Indonesia


    Luna shouted for everyone to get ready for battle.


    But then, she realized. How in the world were they going to fight that gigantic creature?


    Although they could already feel the ground tremble from the giant''s footsteps, it was clear that it was still far away from the group. Unfortunately, considering how massive that thing was, trying to gauge the distance became too difficult without high-tech equipment.


    The giant might be just one creature. But it was the size of a small mountain. The peak of its forest-covered back should be between three to four hundred meters from the ground. And from where everyone was looking, its width should be over half a kilometer.


    It was the first time everyone here had seen such arge creature.


    Well, except for several members of one group present, that was.


    "That''s huge..." Speramented. "It''s bigger than that golden crocodile, isn''t it?"


    "Hmmm... I don''t think so," Mark replied. "Sinogo might be lower in height, but he''s longer. If that''s another mutated turtle, its body can''t be that long."


    "Uncle," Emika chimed in. "Is that a [Evolved Animal] or a [Mutated Infected]?"


    "[Infected], without a doubt," Mark shrugged. "I don''t think any sane animal will move in the direction of an erupting volcano for any reason."


    Mark then observed the mountain-like shell of the [Mutated Infected Turtle]. A stupid but possibly brilliant idea entered his mind.


    "Spera," Mark nced at Spera as he called her name. "Go home for a bit."


    Those words made Mei and his other members look at him. But then, he gave his order.


    "Call Aephelia."


    Now, everyone understood what Mark was nning to do.


    Aephelia. The loyal made of Freed from Eriellis and the only living survivor of their. Now, being the fourth inmand in the Mountain Base, behind Mark, Mei, and Odelina, she became one of its pirs due to her ability to control the [Infected].


    Although Aephelia''s ability had limits, and she could not control all kinds of [Infected], there was no reason not to try.


    "I''m going," Spera nodded. "I''ll be quick."


    "Be faster than the quick you are thinking," Mark suddenly spoke as Spera was about to leave. "Looks like the turtle isn''t alone."


    Gasps could be heard as the intensity of the danger in front of them suddenly rose.


    If it was just the giant turtle, there might be a chance. They could just run away if they could not fight it.


    But now, hundreds of shadows flew from the forest-covered mountain on the giant turtle''s back.


    "Birds?"


    Someone voiced out, looking at the shadows in the sky pping theirrge pairs of wings.


    "No way..." Nelia, who had the best eyes among the Moon Chasers, felt fear. "[Infected Birds]! They are all [Infected Birds]!"


    Nelia could not help but shiver as the clear view of seemingly rotting, boil-covered birds entered her eyes. It was surprising that these birds could still fly with the condition of their bodies. While their flight was unstable, no one could deny these birds were flying.


    With the appearance of the [Infected Birds] from the mountain-like shell, running away was not an option anymore.Andbeingin the middle of the burnt wastnd, there was no ce to hide.


    "Don''t panic!" General Wijaya shouted. "Gather around! As close as possible! Then crouch as low as you can! It will be easier for us to protect you all if youall gatheredin one ce!"


    General Wijaya''s orders were the only option they had right now.


    But in the worst case...


    General Wijaya turned to Mark''s group, only to feel confused.


    Where did the girl with portals go?


    General Wijaya wanted to ask Mark.However, themembers of Evernight were on the opposite side of the crowd.


    "General! The enemies entered the firing distance!"


    The soldiers were already in position.It was the same forthe members ofthe Moon Chasers, Fire Fighters, 3rd Wave, and deshifters.The soldiers and those with guns would attack the [Infected Birds] in the air while the others would protect the nonbatants when the [Infected Birds] tried to sweep down to attack.


    But before the first shot fired at the enemies, everyone froze.


    A familiar voice entered everyone''s ears.


    "Leave this to us."


    Everyone could not help but turn their heads to theowner of the voice.


    Mark was already walking to the front. On his shoulder was the prettypoprfairy.


    "Are you sure? Can you really do it?"


    Luna asked as she approached Mark with her friends in tow.


    But a sh of light appeared as Luna''s Keris transformed, and Melfiss appeared without warning.


    "If this guy decided to make a move, then you can rest assured."


    Melfiss said to Luna.


    "This is unexpected."


    Mark said, looking at Melfiss. But thetter did not say anything more andjustran behind Luna to hide from him.


    "This isn''t the time to chit-chat!" A soldier shouted before turning to their General. "General, your orders!"


    But General Wijaya did not say anything and only shook his head. In fact, General Wijaya was unsure if they would survive this encounter on their own. Even if they did, the sacrifices would be immense. Even if the entire surviving army were here, it would be questionable to defeat the current enemy.


    KRAAAAOAAK!!!


    The broken screeches of the [Infected Birds] echoed as the horde flew closer.


    With the enemies getting closer, everyone gripped their weapons tighter. The nonbatants began cowering as the broken screeches entered their ears. For obvious reasons, the sounds these [Infected Birds] made were far more scarypared to [Infected Human] moans and groans.


    The horde of [Infected Birds] was now close enough for everyone to see their disgusting appearances clearly. Any closer and the soldiers would start firing by reflex.


    "Amihan."


    Mark faced the horde and spoke. Amihan, sitting on his shoulder, waved her hand as if she was swatting something quickly away from her.


    Then, the scene before them became painted with a mixture of the brownish color of feathers, the red color of blood, the greenish-ck color of rotting flesh, and the yellowish-green color of sttered pus.


    The hundreds of [Infected Birds] flying in the sky just now fell to the ground.The [Infected Birds] were not just killed. They all turned into minced meat in the blink of an eye.


    "This..."


    The soldiers were beyond speechless as they saw the unbelievable scene before their eyes.


    "YES!"


    "WHOOO!!!"


    On the other hand, the others rejoiced.


    But to their surprise, Mark continued to walk forward, leaving the vicinity of the group.


    ROOOARR!!!


    The threat was not over. There was still the mountainous turtle.


    But unexpectedly, the turtle suddenly began shaking its gigantic body. At first, it was a confusing scene to look at. After all, why would it do that instead of continuing to move forward to its targets?


    It did notlongfor everyone to see the answer for themselves.


    One after another, silhouettes of different creatures fell from the back of the giant turtle. The small mountain on its back did not only carry [Infected Birds] but all sorts of [Infected] creatures.


    "NO WAY! Did these [Infected] develop symbiotic rtionships?"


    The loud voice of Dr. Willis entered their ears after he blurted out his assumption.


    It was not rare for the [Infected] to form groups or hordes. Some horde hadleaderswhile others just gathered and traveled together.


    However, it was definitely differentpared to the giant turtle and the riders on its back.


    After the [Infected] fell from the back of the giant turtle, they stood up as soon as they could.It seemed thatmany of the [Infected]gotinjured from the fall, but injuries did not matter much to the [Infected].As long as they could move, they would move.


    The horde sure was quite an assortment. A few examples were dogs, cats, snakes, birds with broken wings, giant rats, pigs, cows, and even humans.The majorityof them were mutated, only having a few characteristics to distinguish them from their past appearances. It sure was a threatening lineup.


    With their feet or hands touching the ground, the horde ran forward. In their eyes, there was nothing but the group of fresh food in front of them. Most of themeasilyran past the giant turtle. Thegiantturtle was not fast on its own. It was only because of its size that it could traverserge distances atitsevery step. Butpared to the full sprint of the other [Infected], it was slower.


    "Just how many are there?"


    Bajing voicedoutas the scene before them was nothing but [Infected] rushing towards them.


    "There really is a lot, huh."


    Mark said as he stared at the second wave of enemies. It was likely that this turtle carried more [Infected]pared to the number they fought in the destroyed Bay City after the [Fusion of Dimensions].


    "Ignis."


    Mark called out his [Demon Sword], which appeared out of nowhere and flew into his right hand. He then nced at Amihan sitting on his right shoulder.


    "I want to try something."


    Mark asked Amihan and began to whisper to her.


    "Huh?" Amihan tilted her head. "But Master, will that work?"


    "Well, if it doesn''t work, we canjustdo something else."


    Mark replied.


    "If you want to."


    Amihan nodded and left his shoulder. Shethenhovered in front of his left shoulder as Mark took out something from his [Spatial Ring] and held it up with his left hand.


    Mark raised the item so that Amihan could also touch it.


    It was the [Butterfly of Knowledge]. The powerful item Mark caught which could enhance magical powers when held.


    But this time, Mark and Amihan held the bookat the same time.It was a mysteryif it would work or notsince they had never really tried it before, and it was something Mark thought of while tinkering the previous night.


    When they held the book together, nothing felt unusual. Well, they had yet to use any magic, after all.


    "Alright, I''ll start."


    Mark said as he pointed Ignis toward the iing enemies and began visualizing the magic he wanted inside his mind.


    There was a reason Mark was trying to do it this way.


    Mark could not use [Wind Magic] without the help of the [Wind Maniption Mental Crystal]. However, the [Mental Crystals] and the [Butterfly of Knowledge] would not work together. For the butterfly to work, the energy needed toe from the person holding the book.


    The goal of this experiment wasto try using Amihan as the energy source while casting magic through Ignis as the medium and Markservingas the channel.


    And as Mark began visualizing and Amihanbegan releasingher energy, their eyes lost focus. It was the sign of the butterfly channeling theincantationinto their heads.


    There, the two of them began chanting iprehensible words in unison. Words that only they could understand at the time it wasbeing chanted.


    "From the Goddes of the Wind of a faraway world to the God of Chaos, the king of otherworldly beasts..."


    "The channel through different worlds connected by this enigma..."


    "To the de of the beast''s tail, the elemental winds conjured..."


    "Swift, strong, condensed, sharpened..."


    "The fusion of three worlds... Creation of the sharpest unseen de..."


    "[Wind Maiden''s Beastial de: Dimension Tempest]..."


    Everyone watched with mouths agape as the wind picked up in the surroundings. A silhouette of an eight-headed serpent flew out of Mark''s sword before each head stretched out and shot toward the iing enemies. Then, the eight heads exploded into nothingness.


    And the next thing they saw was all the enemies, except the giant turtle, all turning to dust astheir bodies were cutinto countless pieces.


    Nothing remained of the horde with more than a thousand [Infected]. It did not matter what species they were or what mutation they had. They all vanished without a trace.


    "Wow... what''s that?"


    Spera''s voice echoed in the silence. It seemed that she returned in time to see the spectacle. However, everyone''s eyeswere focusedon the woman standing beside her instead. It was because an unfamiliar maid suddenly appeared.

 Chapter 1131: Preparing the Transport, The Odd [Infected Turtle] and the Dilemma of an [Oracle]

    Day 367 - 12:11 PM - Kajen, Pati Regency, Central Java, Indonesia


    The life and death situation passed favorably for everyone heading toward Bali.


    And considering the situation, it was quite a miracle.


    A mountain-sized [Infected Turtle], hundreds of puss-covered and rotting [Infected Birds], and a horde of assorted [Mutated Infected], each of these enemies would warrant total annihtion to most survivor groups.


    The giant turtle might be doable, depending on the situation. While it moved faster than the average walking speed of an adult human, it was far slower than a human running for their dear life. However, it was an [Infected].


    It was not subject to stamina limitations, unlike living creatures.Thus, itwas possible for it tocatch up to the fleeing humans once they expended all of their energy trying to run away.


    But now, the [Infected Birds] got cut into bits and pieces while most of the [Infected] horde were, technically, erased to nothingness.


    And the most unbelievable of all...


    The mountain-like turtle was now brought to their side and would serve as their mount for the rest of the journey.


    It was such a fairytale-like setting.


    Was it possible to control or tame the [Infected]? None of the people of Indonesia present here thought it was possible. However, no one could deny what they werecurrentlyseeing with their own eyes.


    With its body lowered, the mountain-like turtle let the base of the mountain on its shell touch the ground without moving. And everyone was being urged by their leaders to climb such a dangerous mountain.


    "Enter one by one! Don''t rush!"


    Farel shouted as he led the survivors into a portal leading to the tterarea of the mountainnear the peak of the giant turtle''s shell.


    The shape of the [Infected Turtle''s] shell appeared to be simr to a sea turtle''s. While the sides were the steepest, it was tter around the peak. There was no easier way up the tter areas. As such, they could only use adder Mark took out of nowhere to climb up the steeper side.


    While the nonbatants were cautiously making their way up the turtle''s shell, the allied leaders and some of theirbatant members were already scouring the mountain-like shell. They needed tomake sure there wereno other [Infected] left hiddle around the shell. Since the mountain-like shell had small forests and bushes covering it, it was not hard for the [Infected] to hide anywhere.


    If theywere going touse this mountain-like turtle as transport, they needed to clear it of stragglers.


    Fortunately, the search groups had yet to encounter any stragglers.It seemed that the giant turtle neatly shookoff all its riders to fight earlier.


    "Watch your step," General Wijaya assisted another person while waiting on the other side of the portal. "Don''t drag your feet. The ground isn''t entirely soil, so you might get hurt by identally kicking odd-looking things on the ground."


    Odd-looking things. General Wijaya was talking about the greenish-brown bumps on the ground all over the mountain-like shell.


    It wasmon sense that a turtle''s shell would have a fixed shape depending on their species. However, while the base shape of the giant turtle''s shell appeared to be a sea turtle''s, its shell actually had uneven bumpsall over. These bumps were the reason the mountain on its shell was not falling off.


    Looking at it, one would question if the shell gained a mountain because of that shape or if the mountain on its back caused the odd shape of its shell.


    Unfortunately, there was no way for the giant [Infected Turtle] to answer these questions.


    While the survivors of Indonesia were preparing their new mode of transport and temporary dwellings, the cause of such a miracle and his members were looking around the battlefield.


    "Elder Brother, what are you looking for?"


    "Yeah, Uncle... There''s nothing much here. If you''re looking for the remains of the [Infected], you should look at the other side."


    Elise and Emika asked Mark, who was squatting down and observing something on the ground.


    Seeing that Mark was not replying, everyone approached him. They then saw him staring at the dust on the burnt ground. It seemed to be nothing interesting, considering most of the surroundings were covered in burnt ashes of grass and nts. There was also volcanic ash falling from the sky.


    It was not just Mark. Amihan, on his shoulder, was looking at the same spot of dust.


    "It''s better not to use that on the [Infected] even if we mastered it, huh?"


    Mark finally spoke.


    "The attack before, Big Brother?" Annica asked. "It looked cool. So, why not?"


    Mark then turned to Annica and exined.


    "As cool looking as it was, it got a really annoying downside. The enemies all turned to dust, and nothing was left of them. And that''s the problem."


    "Ah."


    Everyone now understood what Mark was mulling over.


    Since there was nothing left of the [Infected] horde, there was nothing to loot or obtain after the battle. While it was not ethical to butcher [Infected Humans], no one would question taking off materials from the carcasses of [Infected Animals]. Shells, scales, ws, and many other things could be stripped from the carcasses and turned into weapons and equipment.


    Most importantly, at rare times, the [Infected] had [Mutagen Stones] inside their heads, which could be used for quite several things.


    The main ingredient of [Regeneration Medicine] was pulverized [Mutagen Stone]. Even Mark''s [Physical Crystals] were created using these stones. There were also otherresults of researchthat used [Mutagen Stones] as ingredients and materials.


    But if Mark and Amihan were to use such existence-erasing magic, nothing would be left from every enemy after every battle.


    That was not a good thing for the loot goblin inside Mark.


    "Hah," Mark sighed. "What''s done is done, I guess. It should be expected to have drawbacks while doing experiments."


    Mark stood up and turned to Aephelia.


    "What about you, Aephelia?" Mark asked. "No problems with taking control of the giant turtle?"


    "Fortunately, no," Aephalia slightly shook her head. "But I did encounter something unexpected."


    "What is it?"


    Mark immediately asked.


    "Just like you, Master, I also expected the giant turtle to take more slots of my control. But it actually took less. Even less than the powerful [Infected] we had at the base, at the moment. It really is unexpected."


    Aephelia exined.


    It meant that taking control of the giant turtle was fareasierthan the [Infected] Aephelia had in her control. This only meant one thing.


    The giant turtle was by no means an advanced [Mutated Infected]. It just mutated intoa gargantuanbody, and that was it. It was not a [Leader Type] or any type of [Infected]at all. Every aspect of its being wasjustthe same as a regr [Infected Animal].


    "This is the first, huh."


    Mark voiced out.


    "Definitely the first."


    Aephelia nodded.


    Most of the time, there was a corrtion between [Infected Mutation Levels] and their sizes. The stronger and more advanced their mutation was, therger their bodies became. Several examples were the [Flesh Infected] in Catanduanes, the [Breeder Infected] back in Philippine General Hospital, and the named territorial [Infected] in Japan also fell in this category.


    Emika''s father was alsoa goodexample since his tree-like body grergeras a [Level 2 Mutated Infected].


    There were some exceptions, but their kinds werevery rare.


    And if one would see this giant turtle, one would immediately think it was an [Infected] with a highly advanced mutation.


    "So, the giant turtle is a giant fraud, huh," Mark said while looking at the dormant turtle. "Not like it''s a bad thing, though."


    "Yes. It is the best oue," Aephelia agreed with Mark. "Controlling thisrge creature would not be a huge burden for me, even while controlling other [Infected]."


    "Well then, Aephelia," Mark shrugged. "Although it''s unnned, you''llbe apanyingus for a while. Is it fine? If you need to prepare a few things, ask Spera to open a portalfor you."


    "It is impossible for it to be not fine, Master," Aephelia smiled. "I always wanted to apany you in your journeys, but it is my duty to manage the [Infected] in the base. I can''t just go with you because of my duties. Now, a more important duty appeared. I can set aside the others for a while, although it would be nice to check on the basefrom time to time."


    Everyone looked at Aephelia. She really looked eager. Seeing her like this, no one would be against her joining the journey mid-way.


    With arrangements with Aephelia decided, she immediately asked Spera to open a portal to return to the base. Since everyone was still getting ready to ride the giant turtle, she still had time to reassign her duties at the base and put the [Infected] in her control in the correct storage areas.


    Aephelia only took fifteen minutes to finish her preparations on the other side. It wasquitefast. She even prepared a bag containing herthings, orthings that would help her serve everyone efficiently as a maid.


    With two maids around, things would be smoother for the rest of the members of Evernight, at least for the chores side.


    Unfortunately, while Aephelia quickly finished her preparations, the other things to do took another hour.


    Laying out temporary dwellings, clearing areas above the shell, and even getting used to the giant turtle''s movement. Not to mention that thrgemountain that was nearly five hundred meters across was not easy to search in just a few hours.


    That was why everyone had to decide against continuing the journey for the rest of the day. It was to prepare the turtle''s back and themselves.


    As for Luna, she was still unconscious. The first tent built on the turtle''s back became hers, as they needed a ce where she could recover.However, she showed no signs of waking up, evenafter several hours.


    No one around knew what was happening to Luna. And those who knew were keeping silent.


    The people were getting worried about Luna. However, waiting was the only thing they could do.


    ***


    And while everyone was doing their own things, someonewas facinga different dilemma.


    "This ce..."


    Limab murmured after wandering aimlessly for about an hour.


    After climbing up the mountain on the giant turtle''s back, Limab felt restless. It was not because Luna was unconscious nor because she was chosen to be the temporary leader while Luna was out.


    The reason was something else.


    And after following her instincts and walking for almost an hour, Limab''s feet led her to the source of her unease.


    "No way... Why..."


    Limabmented. Her legs lost their strength as she slumped to the ground and fell on her butt.


    Before her was a hill-like scenery. A hill with a cliff and a fewyered and uneven areas facing the steep stone wall.


    "I am wrong. Right. I am wrong... This can''t be the ce. There''s no way I am correct. I must be hallucinating."


    Limab began murmuring nonsensical things. However, the familiar scene before her never changed.


    "No..."


    Limab took a deep breath. She realized she was bing unstable. She must not let fear get the best of her.


    "Should I tell them to abandon this turtle..."


    Limab began thinking. However, for what reason? There was no way everyone would want to leave such a convenient situation. With this turtle, the journey would be less tiring and safer. They would reach Bali in the best conditions.


    No one would listen to Limab, especially since there was no way she could tell them the actual reason.


    "Just why would this ce be here..."


    Limab could not help but tear up. The pent-up stress she had for the countless nights filled with deaths began to overflow. While the visionsbecame better, she had seen the worst far more times for the new ones to relieve her.


    "Why... The ce where we died... Why is it on the back of this turtle?"


    Limab asked the heavens.


    The visions might have changed. But it seemed that it was impossible forheralone to bend fate.

 Chapter 1132: Thoughts and Danger, The First Night On the Back of the Mountain Turtle

    Day 367 - 6:21 PM - Mountain Turtle,Kajen, Pati Regency, Central Java, Indonesia


    Nighttime soon came. A few things happened after the survivors heading to Bali climbed the mountain on the giant turtle''s back.


    Searching the mountain for stragglers of the [Infected] horde proved necessary. Although they had yet to scour the whole back of the giant turtle, they at least managed to clear over fifty [Infected] still lurking on the front half of the mountain. It secured the area where they would set camp from hidden dangers.


    However, while everyone was busy on the mountain on the giant turtle''s back, there was already quite amotion below, prompting Aephelia to raise the turtle''s body from the ground.


    It was becausethe blood and corpses from the previous battle had already gathered unwanted attention from nearby [Infected] and [Evolved Animals].It was not surprising thatthe [Infected] appeared since the group had been encountering them since they started their journey.However, it was different for the [Evolved Animals].


    Most animals had already fled due to forest fire caused by the eruption of Mount Muria. It meant that the ones that stayed despite the disaster were [Feral Evolved Animals], which had less survival instinct and were desperate to look for food.


    It caused a skirmish between the two groups below the giant turtle.


    Of course, Mark and the others took advantage of the situation.


    Unless they evolved into poisonous species, even [Feral Evolved Animals] were edible, at least if one was not thinking about the possible diet of these creatures.As for the [Infected] lured to this ce, theywere killed for materials and [Mutagen Stones].


    Unfortunately, the constant fighting between the [Evolved Animals] and the [Infected] caused more and more of them to appear in the area. While it was somehow a wee sight in this situation, it was still annoying.There was a limitas tohow much carcasses the survivors could butcher and meat they could store.As for the [Infected], they were far more unpredictable.


    Since the [Infected] could sense a congregation of living people without needing sight and smell, it was possible for them to get lured to the giant turtle, and some of them could try to climb its back.


    Thus, while it was early, Mark had to order Aephelia to move the turtle more than a kilometer away from the initial position.


    And it was not afortable event.


    Each step of the turtle would cause the entire mountain on its back to shakeas if there wasan earthquake. While it was not too strong, it was still akin to riding a vehicle without shock absorbers, going over speed bumps four times a minute.


    With the giant turtle as their form of transport, the journey to Bali would be faster and safer. However, traveling at night would surely be a bad ideato go with.


    Unfortunately, despite the constant shaking as the giant turtle moved, Luna showed no signs of waking up. It was making everyone worried about her well-being.


    On the other hand, Limab returned from her walk before sunset. She seemedto benot in the best mood, with her eyes a little swollen, and some of her friends noticed and asked her what was wrong. However, Limab only shook her head, even to her father and younger brother, saying she was okay and the air being too dusty caused her irritated eyes.


    Of course, there was no way Limab''s lies would fly over Mark''s [Empath] abilities, and she was aware of it. When her eyes matched Mark''s gaze, she lightly shook her head, telling him not to say anything.


    Mark had no problems with her request. He was not a nosy person to be meddling with someone''s problems. If she told him, he would listen. If not, it was also fine.


    Besides, Mark also had other things to do.


    For example, for now, resting.


    Mark''s experiment with Amihan seemed to have damaged his body more than he thought. He was currently feeling sluggish and sleepy. It was not because he was still injured. It was because his regenerative abilities did their best,and that was whyhe was now experiencing such side effects.


    But Mark was not just resting. He was also mulling over things while staring at the early evening sky. Specifically, Mark was thinking about the clues Ignis identally spoke to Mark after the experiment.


    "Rejection and Compatibility..."


    Mark murmured.


    It was clear that there was a rejection reaction during the experiment. Thinking aboutthe injurieshegot, it was more likely that Amihan''s magical energy was rejecting Mark''s body as it passed through. It was definitely not the other way around since he would not have such injuries if that was the case.


    The conjecture was rather hard to finalize. Mark never thought ofpatibility issues before he tried it. But as it turned out, Mark might not bepatible with Amihan''s magical energy. Or worse, he might not bepatible with wind attribute magic.


    In the first ce, Markwas only able touse wind maniption abilities using the [Wind Maniption Mental Crystal]. He never had the ability in the first ce.


    But then, Mark began thinking.


    Was Markpatible with fire and lightning attributes, then?


    Although in mutated form, Mark could use ck mes and ck lightning. Both came from the [Mental Crystals] he consumed.Was he able toconsumethe crystals and use the abilities because he waspatible? Mark had never felt the sense of rejection from these abilities so far.


    Or...


    Mark was notpatible, but the crystalsthemselvesmade himpatible with these elements.


    Would he bepatible with the wind attribute if Mark swallowed the [Wind Maniption Mental Crystal]?


    As those thoughts entered Mark''s mind, he felt tempted to try. Having a new ability would be helpful in many ways. Mark was not really keen on absorbing these crystals. He could still use theabilitiesinside the [Mental Crystals] as long as he had the [PsyCrystal]. Furthermore, ifheconsumed more, he would undergo another painful experience.


    Worse, he might get a side effect, like his other abilities weakening for some time, or worse, not being able to use themat all.


    It was not a good thing to happen in the current circumstances.


    Mark would need all the abilities at his disposal when the inevitable happened.


    Until they got rid of the mostimportantproblems in this country, Mark would refrain from swallowing another crystal.


    "I guess... I''ll leave it forter," Mark murmured. "But I need to think of another way..."


    ...to get more strength.


    Mark uttered half of his thoughts.


    Memories of the events a few days ago shed in Mark''s mind. While Mark was notshowing much reactionto it, he was actually quite affected by the existence of that created goddess and the Deity of Soul Sacrifice.


    The Deity of Soul Sacrifice was not like The Great One or Gar''m. Gar''m was sealed until recently and was not in his best form, while The Great One was in a soul state when they first faced him. The second encounter with The Great One did not count since it was only a weakened puppet.


    On the other hand, the Deity of Soul Sacrifice was a Deity at his full strength. He evaded the pursuit of the [Eyes] without needing the methods others used or experienced. It was not wrong to say that he might even bestrongerthan Amihan or the Incarnation of Yamata-no-Orochi, considering they were mere soul fragments of the real things.


    And then, there was that created goddess, the Night Goddess.


    The Night Goddess had already carried divinity before her awakening. She was already a Goddess before her soul was formed by the Deity of Soul Sacrifice''s ritual. Mark might have done some tricks to disrupt the ritual, but it did little to lessen the sense of danger Mark felt from her.


    At this stage, the Night Goddess would be thestrongestenemy they could faceso far. Mark wasevenunsure if Chimetrice could stop her if the ritual was finished perfectly.


    Both the Night Goddess and Chimetrice were created for the same goal. It was for a lower being to give birth to a God or, at least, something to contend with them. Nheless, the two were created in different ways, but it seemedthat theywere brought to life by a specific field of ungodly art.


    "Alchemy."


    Mark uttered.


    Chimetrice was a [Chimera] created usinga hodgepodgeof parts from Divine and Demonic beings. On the other hand, the Night Goddess was clearly a [Homonculus]. While Mark was unclear on the specifics, the things Mei and the others saw before reaching the cathedral were a testament to it. The room filled with experimental chambers...


    even the Night Goddess was within an experimental chamber when they saw it.


    To create life using somesort ofmagical or experimental chambers only points Mark to the existence of those folklore beings.


    In this case, Chimetrice was quite a failure of a product. He might have been able to contend against Gods, but he was no God. And the Night Goddess was a near-sessful product. Unfortunately, her creator, the Deity of Soul Sacrifice, was a dolt for letting Mark anywhere near his final ritual.


    One should never invite uncertain elements into important events. Even mortal asions would get ruined by doing so, not to mentionan importantritual such as the awakening of a Goddess.


    By interfering with that ritual, Mark gave himself and everyonesometime to prepare. He was unsure how long will it be, but they, without a doubt, would face the Night Goddess after a while.


    But how did Mark interfere with the ritual? Well... As an [Empath] who could channel emotions to others... There would be no better target than an empty te of a creature. As Mark urged everyone to leave the ritual, the Night Goddesswas already formingher soul using the initial sacrifices.


    That was when Mark induced two intense emotions into her, making it harder for the Deity of Soul Sacrifice to control her. It was deep-seated anger covered by horrifying fear.


    The moment the Night Goddess'' soul was enoughfor herto gain sentience, she immediately woke up due to intense fear that had no source. It caused her to be fearful of everything, even towards her creator.


    Once her fear caused her confusion, and when her creator tried to capture her, the Night Goddess'' response would be the next emotion she had under.It was that anger thatcaused her to go berserk after her attempt to flee was hindered.


    It was quite a fun sight to see when the flustered Deity of Soul Sacrifice did his best to capture his creation, who had gone berserk for reasons he could not understand. It would not just be a failure to him but also a blow to his confidence.


    Unfortunately, no matter how much backtracking the Deity of Soul Sacrifice did, he would never find the error since there was no error aside from the uncertain factor he invited into his ritual due to his arrogance.


    Mark spent the night with a lot of thoughts in his head. Of course, he did not fail to monitor the well-being of everyone. The only ones who were causing problems were Limab, Luna, and Feng Zhiruo.


    Luna''s problem was pretty obvious. However, through the night, Mark and those sensitive to magical energy felt strange fluctuationsing from her whileshe wasunconscious.


    Limab was also out of it too. But she was keeping her problems to herself, unfortunately.


    As for Feng Zhiruo, she spent the whole night training her sword. However, she was having the same feeling of disgust towards the techniques she learned from her sect. It was a confusing problem for her.


    Mark thought that he should help with Feng Zhiruo''s problems. After all, he was already half a master to her. Unfortunately, even Mark had no clue what was the cause of her disgust.


    Hah... Mark sighed as he gazed at the sky outside the tent.


    Mark was filled with thoughts that night passed without him noticing.


    The morning was a usual routine for everyone.However,there was no need forthemto pack up everything, unlike the first two days.


    When everyone was ready to go, Aephelia made the giant turtle start its bumpy ride.


    But when everyone thoughtthat theshaking would be their only problem from now on...


    The scenery from behind showed sudden distortions as fog quickly loomed in.


    Another round of the [Overflow] happened, and it quickly plunged everything within its disorientating fog.

 Chapter 1134: The CNC Agent, The Shady Merchant Pretending to be an Assistant Researcher

    Day 368  2:49 PM - Balong, Pucakwangi, Pati Regency, Central Java, Indonesia


    "The total destruction of all other survivor settlements in Java, Indonesia, had been confirmed. The session of this country''s contract nowy on the hands of you all standing before me."


    Devon''s words made quite a stir in the hearts of the Indonesian survivors. But as the meaning of those words slowly sunk into their understanding, Mark spoke first.


    "So, that''s what it is, huh," Mark stared at Devon. "All that snooping around you did is because of that contract. I didn''t expect CNC''s agent would be posing as a research assistant."


    These past couple of days, Mark had been feeling those stares. It was not only aimed at him but also at everyone present listening to Devon. And it was Devon who was the source of it. Since the stares bore no hostile intent, Mark did not bother much. However, if it did not stop after a while, Mark would confront Devon for snooping around. Unfortunately, Devon had beaten Mark to it.


    "Indeed," Devon replied with a business smile he never showed while acting as Dr. Willis'' assistant. "My apologies for the ufortable circumstances. However, I needed to confirm some things. It is because I do not want to anger Miss Val''Flora for identally offending her precious client."


    "So, you know about me and my group," Mark frowned. "Does information about the clients circte that fast inside your organization? I believe this kind of thing is bad for your business."


    "Oh, no. It does not," Devon shook his head. "Miss Val''Flora is highly protective about her precious client. However, no matter how protective she is, there is no way for her to keep it hidden after you made contact with your country''s [Contract Agent]."


    Mark''s frown became even deeper after hearing Devon''s words. It looked like Val''Flora was quite a trustworthy agent. However, there was no reason for other agents to do the same. And considering the circumstances and changes he brought to Corregidor, it became easier for the agents to single him out as Val''Flora''s client.


    "It won''t cause agents from CNC to bother me, would it?"


    Mark asked.


    "Uh..." Devon could not help but show a short silence. "I can''t guarantee that. Each agent moves by themselves, and your "merchandise" is too good to pass off."


    "Can I kill them?"


    Mark asked in a tone colder than the Eastern Antarctic teau. He already had a lot of things to do. There was no way he would wee annoying merchants. Killing intent began to leak from Mark, causing everyone to feel ufortable.


    "That is..." Even Devon''s calmness and confident look almost gave way after sensing Mark''s displeasure. "Ahem... Even I would prefer not to, but there is no telling what could happen."


    Devon''s answer was neither yes nor no. But it seemed eptable to deal with annoying ones if they crossed the line too much.


    "W-wait a minute!"


    General Wijaya spoke out.


    Finally, after getting woken up by Mark''s killing intent, the others stepped forward to confirm the more important issue for them.


    "What do you mean by total destruction of all other settlements?"


    However, instead of Devon, Mark nced at General Wijaya over his shoulder and answered instead.


    "It literally meant what he said. You saw the scene below, right? How many [Fog Crawlers] do you think there are? Without the protection of Mount Muria, the oue isn''t surprising. Just because Mount Muria erupted, almost everyone forgot about the fog. Those stupid people.


    Just what are they thinking. Chasing away the only people who brought back the corpse of a [Fog Crawler]. They are just asking to die."


    Mark then faced them.


    "That''s..."


    General Wijaya stared at Mark, unable to reply.


    "So, you took all of these into consideration when you suggested going to Bali?"


    Estia asked Mark.


    "Yep."


    Mark answered with a shrug.


    "Are there any survivors? If you know that all settlements were destroyed, then you should be able to tell, right?"


    Farel stepped forward and asked Devon.


    "Unfortunately, that is outside my capabilities," Devon answered with a helpless expression. "And even if I could, that is outside my jurisdiction. I am only here for the details of the contract."


    "Contract? What are you talking about?"


    Nelia asked.


    "[Country Contract]," Devon replied. "This country''s contract to our organization, the Crystallus Notitia Coetus. With the other settlements with eligible contractors gone, I havee to pass the contract to the group with the remaining legible contractors."


    "A contract to your organization? What are you saying?"


    Limab could not help but ask.


    "Right... I have to start from there, huh," Devon sighed while pressing on his temples. "Those greedy ones sure tried to keep the information to themselves. Not that it gave them any advantage."


    "In any case, it will be quite a long exnation," Devon straightened his posture and faced everyone. "For now, let me ask you all survivors of this country. Where did you think the materials used in Muria Fortress'' walls and facilities came from?"


    The Indonesian survivors opened their mouths. However, no one was able to answer the question. Not even General Wijaya.


    "No one could answer," Devon smiled. "It was as if the materials suddenly appeared and were used in building the walls around the entire mountain. Is there any ce you will be able to find such an amount of building materials in the state of the world we are currently in? And if you would, how about the transport? Is there such movement of personnel and transport in the past?"


    Everyone fell silent.


    "The Crystallus Notitia Coetus... We are merchants who could provide any avable product to any ce. Of course, at a proper price."


    Devon bowed.


    Everyone was bewildered by such an introduction. There were a whole lot of questions, and if they could materialize, everyone would haverge question marks popping out over their heads.


    "I''m sorry, but I have no interest in any of your words," General Wijaya suddenly spoke as he turned away from Devon and faced Mark. "Sir Mark, Miss Spera. Can you open a portal to Semarang? I beg you two."


    Everyone turned to General Wijaya. It was obvious what he had in mind with that request.


    However, Mark did not reply immediately.


    "This..."


    Mark had a near-silent murmur as he stared at General Wijaya. As he stared at the serious-looking General, Mark could not help but rub his eyes. However, he could only frown even more as his eyes showed the colors on General Wijaya''s body turned gray.


    "You..."


    Magwayen''s faint, surprised voice snapped Mark back as he answered the General.


    "Spera can only send you back to where she had been before, so she can only send you to the northern part of Semarang where we passed before. Where exactly is the Military outpost there?"


    "Is that so? That''s enough." General Wijaya nodded. "The outpost is in the southernmost of Semarang. Getting there on foot from the northern area should be fine."


    "Haaah..." Devon''s audible sigh entered everyone''s ears. "It looks like we have to dy our business forter. We can''t continue if everyone''s focus is that lost cause of a ce."


    "You..."


    General Wijaya red at Devon.


    "Don''t give me that re," Devon shrugged. "I am a merchant from a shady organization. If there is no value for me, I will not put importance on it."


    For a merchant to admit that he was shady. Devon was quite a blunt merchant.


    And with a snap of Devon''s fingers, the barrier isting everyone vanished.


    "General! Are you okay?"


    The soldiers who came with General Wijaya, armed with their guns, immediately ran between the group and Devon. It seemed that they deemed the merchant from CNC as an enemy after what had happened.


    "I''m okay. Put your weapons down."


    General Wijaya spoke to the soldiers.


    "But General."


    The soldiers were hesitating. After all, Devon did something strange that suddenly separated the leaders from the rest of the survivors.


    "He''s not an enemy. He just talked to us. I''m sure you all saw it."


    General Wijaya exined.


    The barrier might have separated them from everyone and stopped sounds from leaking, but it was pretty much transparent. While the leaders were talking to Devon, the confused and scared survivors were outside, watching.


    "We have a more important thing to do," General Wijaya told his soldiers. "Five minutes. Prepare for a search and rescue."


    The soldiers were confused by the sudden order. However, as they saw their General''s serious expression, they could only salute.


    "Yes, Sir!"


    As the soldiers saluted, Mark stared at them with the very same frown he had while he stared at General Wijaya. He kept staring like that even when they left to prepare.


    "Gege, is something wrong?"


    Of course, Mei noticed Mark''s unusual behavior and asked.


    "I''ll go with them," Mark suddenly said as he turned to Mei. "Can I leave this ce to you?"


    Mei was a little confused. However, knowing Mark would not do confusing things without a reason, she nodded.


    "Alright," Mark patted Mei''s head and turned to Spera. "Get ready. We will go with General Wijaya."


    "I can''t say no, can''t I?"


    Spera shrugged.


    "Elder Brother, can Ie too?"


    Elise asked.


    "Me too."


    Farel chimed in.


    And as Farel voiced his willingness to join General Wijaya, the leaders of the 3rd Wave also said the same.


    However, Mark turned to them. His eyes were flickered with various emotions.


    "No," Mark bluntly replied. "Elise. We need to be quick this time, so just stay. As for you people, you have other people to protect here. Worry about them before worrying about others who basically turned their backs on you."


    "Okay..."


    Elise was a little disappointed. However, she was not pushing her desire.


    As for the others, they could only nod. And looking at Mark, it seemed he would not ept any debate at the moment.


    "I''m staying too?"


    Amihan flew towards Mark and asked.


    "Yeah," Mark nodded. "Without me here, you''re the strongest. So I need you to protect everyone while I''m gone."


    "Okay~"


    Amihan nodded and sat on Mei''s shoulder.


    "Aephelia," Mark called the Royal Maid. "Let Mountain Back stay here for now. It will make it easier for Spera to open a portal when returning."


    "As you wish."


    Aephelia epted the order without question.


    "How about us?"


    Limab suddenly asked Mark. It seemed that the leaders of Moonchasers were all waiting for his orders.


    "Why are you people waiting for me?" Mark sighed. "I''m not your leader, remember?"


    They could not help but show troubled expressions. While all of them were leaders of their group, Luna made most of the decisions. With Luna in aa, they just went to follow Mark by instinct because of how he behaved.


    Mark then turned to Edge, who appeared to be a bit more tired than usual. While Mark did not say anything, he showed a smile before turning away.


    "I''ll be preparing too."


    Mark said as he and his members left the scene.


    Now, all that was left were the confused survivors and Devon, who showed an interested expression.


    ***


    Five minutes t, the soldiers were ready for departure. It seemed that General Wijaya also briefed them on the situation as they lost their confusion and showed resolution.


    Mark and Spera were a minutete, but it did not matter. General Wijaya did not consult them when he decided on that preparation time.


    At the same time, the other survivors were also informed of the situation by their respective leaders. As such, they all gathered when the search and rescue team was about to depart.


    "Oh, General. Before we depart..."


    Mark suddenly spoke to General Wijaya as Spera opened the portal. He then threw a pair of gauntlets to the General.


    Seeing the gauntlets, the leaders of the Moonchasers, the 3rd Wave, and Firefighters were surprised. They were all familiar with the design of the gauntlets.


    Of course, General Wijaya was the most surprised of them all.


    "Just in case," Mark spoke. "It''s still unfinished since it was made with scraps, but it''s functional enough."


    "This..."


    General Wijaya wanted to say something to Mark, but he had already begun walking into the portal.


    Sighing, General Wijaya turned to his soldiers.


    "Depart!"


    General Wijaya ordered as he led the soldiers into the portal.

 Chapter 1135: The Semarang Military Outpost, The Final Military Outpost Now Turned into Bloody Ruins

    Day 368 - 3:06 PM - Lempongsari, Gajahmunkur Subdistrict, Semarang City, Central Java, Indonesia


    Within the mosaic of the past civilization and the takeover of nature, a heavily armed group carefully traversed the dangerous ruined city of Semarang.


    Of course, the group was no other than the soldiers led by General Wijaya, apanied by Mark and Spera.


    While the group was moving cautiously and without running or jogging, their pace sure was faster than regr walking speed.


    "It seems they should have arrived safely at the outpost."


    General Wijaya remarked as he looked at the ground.


    Since the path they were taking was a road diverged from the cleared railroad, it was the very same route the survivors from therger camp took to reach the Semarang military outpost. The fact that the barely erased footprints and wheel tracks on the ground were the evidence to that scenario.


    But while the survivors did reach the outpost safely, the oue was far from ideal.


    "It seems the location is clear so far, Sir," Captain Guntur spoke to General Wijaya. "Still..."


    Captain Guntur panned his gaze at several locations around them. While most of the markings left by the survivors on the ground were still intact despite the volcanic ash umting in the surroundings, a lot had already been erased by muchrger markings that nearly altered the surrounding geography. To be exact, the markings left by [Fog Crawlers] lurking about during the fog.


    "It''s just like what we saw while we were on the back of the giant turtle."


    General Wijaya replied while adjusting the gauntlets, which he received from Mark and was now wearing.


    "Does it fit properly?"


    Mark suddenly asked.


    "It actually fits too perfectly that it''s surprising," General Wijaya responded. "Is it the same as the weapons you gave Edge and the others? How should I use this?"


    Mark sure gave General Wijaya one of his [Prototype Magic Weapons]. However, it was nearly barebones, with fewer functions due to time constraints. As such, it did not have voice instruction or element-infused attacks. However, it had full strengthening functions. For General Wijaya, who had a near imprable body, it was more than enough.


    As service, the gauntlets had weaker impact mitigation, allowing General Wijaya to receive less feedback due to his pain-inducing attacks. While his punches could likely dent a tank''s armor, it did not mean he would not feel pain due to his own attacks.


    "But... Gauntlets, huh?" General Wijaya observed the gauntlets. "Did you notice the weakness of my mutation?"


    "Yeah," Mark nodded. "Your body can be as tough as titanium, but, in exchange, your muscles and joints be stiffer than normal. The side-effect is worse on smaller joints. That''s why you can''t fire guns while transformed because your fingers get stuck on the trigger. It also meant you''re not suitable for any weapon that needed to be held tightly."


    General Wijaya showed a bitter smile since Mark was on point. It was pretty embarrassing that, as a soldier, he could not use guns or other weapons he was trained with at all.


    The group remained at the same pace and continued traveling south. Of course, it was not all safe. Just like when they were traveling east, they encountered a number of [Infected] along the way. However, the number was not as much as the hordes they encountered before, which was not exactly a good thing.


    It was because it meant that the other [Infected] had already been attracted by the catastrophe that befell the military outpost.


    Soon enough, they saw a drastic change in the surroundings. There was more destruction left by the [Fog Crawlers].


    Most importantly, the smell of blood was getting thicker. There were also more and more [Infected] along the way.


    Worse, some of the [Infected] were definitely new ones, with fresh, bloody injuries and missing body parts.


    After seeing the possible remnants of the destroyed military outpost, the soldiers could not help but show serious expressions on their faces.


    As everyone came closer and closer, the gunshots intensified. Even General Wijaya was getting used to his new weapon due to the number of enemies they began to encounter.


    It was not just the [Infected]. There were [Evolved Animals] too. And the two parties were also having battles of their own. It seemed that the animals and the [Infected] were eitherpeting for prey or preying on the opposing side.


    The destroyed walls of the outpost were soon in sight. Of course, it was the same for tents and other things ced outside the walls. Given therge number of refugees from Mount Muria, there was no way the outpost could amodate them all inside the outpost. In the first ce, this outpost was created to gather newly discovered resources from the nearby mountain and not to shelter refugees.


    As such, it was very likely that the majority of the refugees were killed outside the outpost, as everyone could see when they arrived.


    Mark frowned as they entered the vicinity of the camping area outside the outpost. The residual emotions from the dead were still fresh. Their fear and despair were uncontrobly being absorbed by him, to his dismay.


    "This is horrible..."


    One of the soldiers said as he crouched while looking at something. In front of him, lying on the ground, was a bloody severed arm of a child, likely around five or six years old. This child should still be alive just about two hours ago. But now, only his arm was left in this ce.


    It was not just the child''s arm. There were various body parts littered in the area. Of course, many of these body parts were already eaten away by the [Evolved Animals] and the [Infected], but a lot still remained.


    "There were a few thousand survivors from Mount Muria..." Captain Timur sighed. "But there''s not a single survivor left."


    "We still haven''t entered the outpost," General Wijaya tapped the saddened Captain''s shoulder. "The bunker there already survived several instances of the fog. It should still be intact."


    "Will it be?"


    Mark suddenly asked.


    General Wijaya was unable to answer, however. After all, the intensity of the damage from the fog this time was far different from the previous ones.


    "RAAAAA!!!"


    All of a sudden, a [Mutated Infected] attacked the soldiers. It was too fast that soldiers failed to react. Even General Wijaya failed to intercept it, as they could only see a ck blur as it moved.


    However, like mist, Mark appeared before the [Infected] and beheaded it with a single sh of his sword.


    "A cheetah-like mutation, huh?"


    Mark voiced out, seeing the [Infected''s] appearance.


    The [Mutated Infected''s] headless body slumped to the ground, and its head rolled towards General Wijaya''s foot.


    "This guy..."


    General Wijaya could not help but crouch down to have a closer look at the face of the [Mutated Infected].


    "He''s the leader of the 37th Satellite Settlement."


    "The guy harassing Luna and the others?"


    Mark asked, and General Wijaya nodded.


    "From what I heard, this guy also instigated the spread of the rumors, which caused the majority to iste us."


    General Wijaya added.


    "So, this guy is the culprit, huh?"


    Mark said, pulling its hair and picking up the head.


    Before anyone could ask Mark what he was doing, a bright light from Mark''s hand caused them to look away. As their vision returned, they saw Mark throw the head away with enough force that it turned into a bloody mush after hitting the ruined outpost walls.


    While ying with a new crystal between his fingers, Mark closed his eyes. He expanded his [Empath Detection], scanning the immediate surroundings.


    And when Mark opened his eyes with his pupils emitting a reddish glint, he turned to General Wijaya.


    "It looks like there''s no survivors, after all."


    "That''s..."


    General Wijaya''s arms slumped, losing strength in dismay. He already knew parts of Mark''s abilities as an [Empath]. One of them was his detection abilities. If Mark said there were no survivors, that should be the case unless he was lying.


    However, there was no reason for Mark to lie at this point.


    "Is there really none?"


    Captain Timur asked.


    Mark replied with a shake of his head and a shrug.


    It was not like Mark failed to detect anything. However, what he was detecting was not living people but souls who had yet to pass on due to their strong emotions.


    With low morale, the soldiers dragged their feet into the ruined outpost. They immediately located the bunker. As they opened its door, the thick smell of blood assaulted their noses. Blocked by debris, the entire bunker seemed to have copsed, killing everyone inside.


    Shaking their heads, they closed the bunker door.


    The other soldiers did not believe Mark and still tried to call for survivors to no avail.


    While the soldiers were doing all those pointless things, Mark started exploring the outpost, even asking General Wijaya where the storage area could be.


    Understanding what Mark wanted to do, General Wijaya told Captain Timur to lead Mark to the outside storage. It seemed there was another storage area inside the bunker, but it was not essible anymore due to obvious reasons.


    The storage area was a medium-sized warehouse. It was already half-copsed, and the walls were broken through. Everything inside had been thrown across the ce. The destroyed boxes of ammunition scattered bullets everywhere. A lot of equipment and weapons were already crushed by the debris from the copsed roof and destroyed walls.


    Still, Mark took what he could. Even the broken guns could be smelted into metal and used in creating new weapons.


    However, the best stuff Mark found was the collected remains of [Mechids] and the new resources this outpost stored from the nearby mountain.


    What surprised Mark was actually aplete trunk of a [Sprit Tree]. Such a rare material was stored at the corner of the warehouse along with the useless and broken stuff. It made Mark want to curse.


    When Mark walked out of the warehouse, he saw the soldiers also doing the same as him. They were collecting still usable items from the area. It seemed they had already epted that there were no survivors, albeit reluctantly.


    Well, Mark was not really sure if no one actually survived. In the least, no one in this ce. If there were survivors, then those people were not here anymore.


    "Hmmm?"


    Mark was surprised. The soldiers actually found two still-drivable military trucks. There was also half arge tanker of fuel for those vehicles. It seemed the fuel storage was pierced with holes, but half of its contents did not spill out and had yet to evaporate.


    The soldiers immediately looked for containers to pour the contents of the tanker into to prevent it from going bad faster.


    Weapons, ammunition, food, fuel, and even vehicles. It was such a good harvest.


    While looking around, Mark kept his vignce. In his eyes, General Wijaya and the soldiers still showed a gray shade looming over them.


    "Hey, look!"


    Spera, who was currently standing atop a nearly copsed wall, suddenly called Mark in agitation while pointing to the west. Although Spera became a rather emotional girl after joining Mark''s group, it was pretty rare for her to show this amount of agitation.


    Mark immediately jumped to Spera''s side and saw what was going on. And he, too, became somewhat surprised.


    "No way..."


    Mark voiced out as they saw the sky-reaching tree they had seen before begin tilting to the south as it started to copse.


    Before their eyes, the giant tree in Jakarta fell from its majestic visage.


    TOOOOOM!!!


    The sound of the tree''s copse even reached their location in Semarang. Although they could not feel any tremor from its fall, they sure heard it loud and clear.


    "W-what happened?!"


    General Wijaya and the soldiers were bewildered.


    It was when Mark felt danger.


    "General!" Mark called out. "Start packing up! We are leaving!"


    The soldiers were a bit surprised, but no one questioned anything. They had yet to finish transferring the contents of the tanker, but they should prioritize their safety.


    Unfortunately, even though Mark managed to warn everyone early, it was not enough.


    WOOOOM!


    A faint sound entered Mark''s ears as the already cloudy afternoon sky changed into night in the blink of an eye.


    "Spera... Get them to safety."


    Mark ordered Spera while staring at the sky.


    There, four figures could be seen floating.


    Two were still locked in a near-endless battle. However, the other two were staring back at Mark.

 Chapter 1136: An Ill-fated Reunion, Marks Third Encounter With the Being Proclaimed as The Great One

    Day 368 - 5:34 PM - Banyumanik, Banyumanik Subdistrict, Semarang City, Central Java, Indonesia


    The afternoon turned into night as the Deity of Soul Sacrifice''s capture of his creation, the Night Goddess, continued even after several days she escaped.


    Battles between immortals of simr strengths couldst long. It could be days, weeks, months, or even years before their battles concluded. The same applied to even higher beings such as Gods and Deities.


    The only way to end a battle quickly was to have a card to y and overwhelm the opponent. But if such cards did not work, it would lead to a contest of stamina and magical power. And for Gods and Deities, such stat attributes wouldst longer than the lives of their weaker spectators.


    Such was the case in the battle between the Deity of Soul Sacrifice and the Night Goddess. Since both could not overwhelm their opponent, they could only continue fighting until one finally lost.


    And it seemed that the copse of the sky-reaching tree was due to the battle of these two.


    Such a magnificent, fantasy-like tree fell because of a berserk Goddess and her creator.


    Well, it was not like Mark did not share the me. After all, he was the reason why the Night Goddess was like this.


    But the two battling each other aside, Mark''s eyes focused on the other two. It was the second time Mark saw that blond androgynous guy. The first time was during the eruption of Mount Muria when this guy appeared in the middle of the battle between the Deity of Soul Sacrifice and the Night Goddess.


    As for thest person, there was no way Mark would not recognize him.


    "Shin..."


    Mark murmured.


    Shin. One of the [Inheritors] who also became Gar''m''s [Blessed One]. From the testimony of the younger one of the [Siren] sisters, he fell into the temptation of the promise of power and abandoned them.


    But looking at Shin floating beside the androgynous man, Mark had the strong urge to burst outughing.


    "... In the end, you''re just another idiot. That''s Karma for you, huh?"


    Mark gave Shin onest insult. It was because there was no point in insulting the dead further.


    ncing at the soldiers in the middle of evacuating, Mark shrugged. They gathered a lot of things that they became too slow for the current situation.


    WHOOOOOOOM!


    All of a sudden, a wave of surging ze flew towards the soldiers. The soldiers, not used to magical attacks, panicked. Well, even if they did not panic, there was barely anything they could do against such an attack.


    WHOOOSH!


    The surging ze vanished as it collided with a dark surge. The two forces shed without any explosion or impact. The mes vanished as darkness ate it like a pebble swallowed into calm waters.


    Mark appeared in front of the surging ze and blocked it with a considerable amount of [Miasma].


    As the mes and darkness before Mark vanished, he stared at Shin.


    "That''s quite a greeting, don''t you think, The Great One?"


    Mark mocked.


    "You''ve grown stronger."


    Shin... No, The Great One smiled with interest.


    "And you didn''t change at all," Mark responded with a mocking smile. "Still using puppets and subordinates to do your dirty work. Why don''t youe here personally instead of using another toy?"


    Shin was gone. All that was left was an empty husk used by the twisted Deity as a puppet to toy with. Simr to the [Eye] before, The Great One was using Shin''s body as a puppet.


    "Sir Mark! We''re done here!"


    General Wijaya yelled as only he and Spera were left outside the portal.


    "Just go, you two," Mark replied without taking his eyes away from the enemies. "These guys aren''t enemies you can turn your back to."


    "But-!"


    General Wijaya hesitated.


    "Let''s go."


    However, without hesitation, Spera pushed the General into the portal.


    "Don''t die."


    Spera whispered before vanishing, and the portal closed shortly after.


    It seemed Spera closed the portal quickly so that the others on the other side did not have the opportunity to jump in and try to help Mark.


    Spera''s thinking was on point. Right now, any of them would end up getting in the way instead of helping. Amihan could be of help. However, someone as powerful as Amihan needed to protect everyone, considering the enemies they currently had.


    And right now, in front of Mark. There were three Deities and a newly-born Goddess.


    "It is a dangerous situation," Magwayen''s voice echoed in Mark''s mind. "You should not hold anything back if all of them decide to fight you at the same time."


    "Whether there''s only one or four of them, I don''t n on holding back when that annoying one is in the fray."


    Mark replied, staring at Shin, who was now The Great One''s puppet.


    "You are still protecting humans despite being a Demon," The Great One spoke, ignoring the provocation Mark spat out before. "What is there to care about mortals. When they cannot benefit from you any longer, they will only regard you as another monster."


    "Are you speaking from experience?" Mark mocked. "Besides, aren''t Demons known for doing whatever they want without minding consequences and other''s opinions? Just like what I am doing right now."


    As Mark ended his sentence, he let out a deep breath. Ignis then appeared in his right hand.


    ***


    The Great One watched Mark below, who was getting ready to fight. His eyes fell on the sword that appeared in Mark''s hand, which felt familiar, yet unfamiliar. It should be the [Cursed mberge] that was once a member of Auraboros. When it came into Mark''s hands, it had already turned into a [Demonic Weapon].


    But now, it looked far different from thest time he had seen it.


    Worse, it actually exuded a faint Godly aura.


    While The Great One watched Mark, a voice was transmitted into his mind.


    "It truly is unexpected for your target to appear here, but are you really going to fight now? We have yet to capture the Alchemist''s creation. Seriously, who told him to make a Goddess of the night? Out of all things, he picked one with the trickiest abilities in escaping."


    The Great One did not look away from Mark as he replied to the telepathic voice of the narcissist beside him.


    "You can see that the Alchemist did not take the situation into ount. And about fighting... Is there any reason not to?"


    "Can you leave me out of it? I would rather not get close to him. I did not think your target would be thiscking in terms of appearance."


    "There you are again with that useless drivel. Appearance had nothing to do with strength. Just like how you are the weakest among the founders of Auraboros."


    "The other founders aside, I am still the strongest among all the other members."


    "You are a Deity. It would be a disgrace if you were weaker than them." The Great One snorted. "If you are not going to entertain yourself, then just stay silent."


    ***


    Mark frowned, ring at The Great One. Right now, he was just exchanging stares with the enemy, waiting for the other to make the first move.


    But while Mark was staring at the enemy, The Great One suddenly smirked.


    BOOOM!


    An explosion urred where Mark stood.


    mes, smoke, and dust scattered around the ruins of the military outpost. The explosion was strong enough to engulf the entire ruins. If a regr human were to receive that attack, nothing would be left of them.


    ***


    The Great One did not think that he won with that, however. He panned his eyes in the surroundings to find Mark. Oddly enough, he could not feel even the slightest bit of his presence. It was as if Mark had suddenly vanished.


    It was not something Mark was capable of before. After the previous battle, it seemed that Mark had gained unfathomable abilities.


    All of a sudden, a faint whistling of the wind entered The Great One''s ears. However, there was nothing to be seen that could make such a sound.


    Nheless, The Great One suddenly chopped the empty space to his right with his hand while forming a de with the index and middle fingers.


    The space ruptured following the movements of The Great One''s hand. It was apanied by an invisible attack, getting torn by the ruptured space.


    Several whistling sounds appeared from different directions. However, The Great One shed the space with his fingers a few times, blocking all the invisible attacks, which appeared to be sharp des made of wind.


    "This sure is a convenient ability, isn''t it?" The Great One remarked as the ruptured space around him started to return to normal. "It is much more usefulpared to that me Demon''s blessing in this body."


    After making his remarks about the abilities within Shin''s body, The Great One stared at the cloud of smoke and dust that had yet to subside. He then stretched out his left hand towards the ruined military outpost.


    WHOOOM!


    A ball of fire, about the size of a basketball, was conjured in front of The Great One''s left palm. The ball of fire hovered in the air, even after The Great One retracted his arm.


    SNAP!


    The Great One snapped the fingers on his left hand. With that signal, the ball of mes split into dozens of smaller spheres before all of it began to rain on the ruins below.


    Several of the raining spheres made contact with the ruins at the same time.


    BOOOOOM!


    Consecutive explosions covered the ruins as the spheres of mes caused a massive chain reaction.


    The Great One''s eyes then followed the figure of Mark escaping the explosions.


    ***


    Mark had no choice but to stop hiding within the cloud of smoke and dust after the entire ce became a nket of mes and explosions.


    "Tsk."


    Mark could not help but click his tongue. He had just gotten out of hiding, but arge ball of mes was already flying at him.


    Unfortunately, trying to dodge would be futile. There was no way he could, as the attack was already just a few meters away from him, hurled at bullet speeds. The explosions caused by the smaller spheres were already devastating. This big one would definitely cause an explosion far more massive than before.


    Trying to dodge it would make it hit the ground and explode, getting Mark caught in its radius while he tried to evade it.


    That was why...


    SWOOOSH!!


    Mark waved Ingis, facing the iing ball of mes.


    A silent de of wind flew at the ball of mes, splitting it in half.


    BOOOM!


    The ball of mes still exploded. However, the de of the wind was apanied by a strong gust, which forced the direction of the explosion away from Mark.


    "Hoh?"


    The androgynous man could not help but react after seeing what Mark did. He was clearly impressed.


    At the same time, The Great One let out a smile. He was clearly feeling entertained by Mark''s actions.


    Of course, Mark felt their reactions. He could not help but feel annoyed. He was starting to understand what The Great One''s problem was.


    It made Mark remember the first time he met this annoying Deity. At that time, The Great One wanted to im Mei, as she had an extremely rare physique. But now, it was clear that The Great One did not care that much about Mei anymore and was purposely targeting him.


    While Mark did anger The Great One before, it was not the reason why The Great One was targeting him.


    It was because The Great One was bored. Boredom was a problem for long-lived races. Even Gods were portrayed to have such problems in fiction and literature.


    And The Great One, who did not only lived for a long time but was also sealed since the end of the Lost Era, had the same problem.


    Now, he saw Mark as a good source of entertainment and a way to test his puppets.


    Responding to the truth of the matter, Mark smiled.


    Mark just got another reason to kill this arrogant Deity.


    With Mark''s eyes starting to exude a purplish glow, ethereal ck wings opened behind him.


    And then, while holding Ignis in his right hand, Mark took out the sword he originally made in Japan with the Elder cksmith, which was now modified even more.


    Holding the [AT - Elemental de Mk. II] in his left hand, Mark moved Ignis above it, fusing the two swords into onerge greatsword.

 Chapter 1137: An Inhuman Fight, The Silhouettes of Darkness and Flames

    Day 368 - 5:42 PM - Balong, Pucakwangi, Pati Regency, Central Java, Indonesia


    While Mark''s battle had just begun, the people left behind on Mountain Back were in utter confusion.


    It was because the soldiers who went to search for survivors from the main camp returned in such a peculiar manner. They were in such a hurry that they did not feel like trained soldiers but panicking civilians.


    Those who approached the soldiers who had already returned immediately asked what happened. However, the answers were vague as they only replied with the sky turning night and a sudden attack from men who hovered in the sky.


    But as General Wijaya and Spera finally returned, they immediately closed the portal.


    It immediately urred to them that someone was missing.


    "Spera. Where''s Master?"


    Aephelia asked Spera, who could only sigh after receiving such a question.


    The members of Mark''s group also approached with the same question in mind.


    However, the person who should be the one to ask the question first was not around. When Spera looked around the surroundings, she found the person in question.


    Mei, however, was not anywhere near Spera and the others. She was quite a distance away, looking at the western horizon with sped hands on her chest. It seemed that she already received a message from Mark through their rings.


    Seeing Mei''s behavior, Spera finally answered.


    "The Deity and the Goddess before appeared. They are still fighting, so I don''t think they would be the problem."


    General Wijaya also had the same answer to the leaders of the survivor groups with them. However, unlike the General, Spera had more information.


    "Shin also appeared along with someone else."


    Spera added.


    "Shin?" Emika could not help but exim. "If it''s just Shin, there should be no problem, right?"


    "If it''s Shin, yes," Spera showed a conflicted expression. "But the Shin now isn''t the Shin we know. It''s... It''s The Great One."


    Silence befell the group after Spera''s words.


    Hannah, Elise, Felicia, and Louis were not yet members of Mark''s base when the fight against The Great One urred. However, after arriving at the Mountain Base, they had no choice but to know the story after seeing the aftermath of the battle. After hearing Spera mention that infamous name, they could not help but feel the seriousness of the situation.


    "Hey? Who is that with the arrogant-sounding name?"


    The childish voice of Kana, the bubbly, blue-haired girl from the 3rd Wave, entered the ears of the members of Evernight. Instead of joining her groupmates to ask General Wijaya, she joined this crowd for some reason.


    However, no one questioned her odd behavior due to the situation.


    "Another Deity," Spera frankly answered. "Someone stronger and more violent than the one we met in that underground cathedral."


    "Hueh?!"


    Kana was shocked, speechless. It seemed that despite her bubbliness, she understood the danger.


    "Then Mark left there with those dangerous people?"


    Kana asked, and everyone could only disy the look of dismay.


    "Shoul-Should I go there and help?"


    Amihan voiced out.


    However, the one to answer her question was Mei, who finally walked to join the crowd.


    "Stay here, Amihan. Gege said that you need to protect this ce."


    It seemed that Mei was also against Mark''s orders since Amihan would be helpful in his current situation. However, she decided to follow his words.


    "Then, what are we going to do? Are we just going to wait?"


    Elise voiced out, worried about her Elder Brother.


    "If we can only see what was happening there..."


    Hannah murmured loud enough for everyone to hear.


    "THAT''S IT!"


    Emika eximed, surprising everyone.


    "SIS!," Emika turned to Mei. "THE DRONE! THE DRONE FROM BEFORE! YOU HAVE IT RIGHT? We can watch through that! "


    "I do, but..."


    Mei answered as she raised her hand, showing her [Spatial Ring].


    "Are we going to fly the drone from here to there? That will not work. That''s too far."


    Spera voiced out.


    However, Emika turned to Spera with a "What are you talking about?" kind of look.


    "You have portals! Open a small portal! Put the video receiver on the other side and stick out the antenna from the controller! Then control it from here, and we can also watch through theptop!"


    Emika exined her absurd idea.


    However, there was a short silence as Mei and Spera immediately made their moves. As absurd as it might sound like, Emika''s idea might actually work.


    Emika''s shouting and the odd actions of the members of Evernight confused the Indonesian survivors even more.


    Not minding the confused stares, the members of Evernight began making a makeshift viewing area. It was because, aside from the drone and theptop, Mei actually took out a projector with the other gadgets.


    "Why do you have a projector?"


    Spera could not help but ask.


    "Don''t ask me why..." Mei bitterly replied. "Gege is the one who brought it. I''m just carrying it."


    "Still..." Mei looked at the drone in front of them. "It''s been a while since we used this."


    Mei could not help but have a nostalgic smile as she gazed at the drone. It was the drone Mark got way back in City Mall in Bacoor. It could be counted as one of Mark''s oldest gadgets since the outbreak started.


    "Spera."


    Mei said, making Spera nod. Since everything was set up shortly, it was now time for Spera to participate. After Spera opened a small portal, they moved the drone and the necessary equipment to the other side, leaving a few wires through the open portal and connected to theptop and projector.


    The other survivors gathered, confused and interested as to what the members of Evernight were doing.


    Soon enough, the video feed from the drone was projected on the sheet of cloth set up in front of the projector.


    What was projected was a scene filled with ruins and trees. It was a familiar scene to General Wijaya and the soldiers that apanied him.


    "Semarang?"


    General Wijaya voiced out in askance. However, no one bothered to answer him.


    The video was pretty dark. It was as if it was being taken deep in the night, although there should still be some sunlight at this time of day. This was not surprising since the appearance of the Night Goddess in the area was reported. Nheless, the expensive drone''s camera allowed them to see enough details of the surroundings.


    Using the video feed as guidance, Mei controlled the drone to slowly take off.


    After nearly a minute of revving up and taking off, the drone flew over the ruins, and everything else blocking its view vanished.


    Even so, the surroundings became darker as they could only see the sky in the video.


    But as if showing them what was going on, bright meteor-like mes bloomed like gigantic flowers in the sky. It illuminated a figure of a man hovering in the sky, extending one of his hands toward another silhouette with a sword and tainted-ck wings.


    The giant meteor flew toward the winged silhouette.


    However, the winged silhouette charged towards the meteor instead of dodging. And with a sh of his sword, the meteor was horizontally cut. The cut pieces flew past the winged silhouette before exploding.


    Without looking at the explosion behind him, the winged silhouette flew straight towards the man who conjured the meteor.


    In response to the charging winged silhouette, the hovering man stretched his arms outwards like a T-pose. And from his hands, dozens, if not hundreds, of shimmering marble-sized mes appeared.


    Then, the marble-sized mes moved at bullet speeds, flying while leaving curved trails of light, converging at the winged silhouette amidst his charge.


    As he faced the iing barrage, the winged silhouette became d in mist-like darkness, nearly invisible in the night-like surroundings. However, that dark mist could be seen illuminated by the mes as it erratically swerved between trails of light.


    Missing the target, the trails of light fell to the ground. Each impact shook the earth as they exploded into pirs of mes around three meters tall.


    But then, the impacts on the ground stopped. The other trails of light that missed the dark mist began sharply curving as they turned around, chasing after their target.


    Now, the dark mist was besieged by the marble-sized mes from all directions.


    However, when the dark mist was about to get hit by attacks from all directions, it stopped moving.


    Then, in the blink of an eye, there was only darkness. The dark mist formed a sphererger than the meteor before. All the mes that entered the mist sphere vanished without a trace as if the mes were being eaten by the mist.


    The mist sphere then expanded, more than quadruple in size, even forcing the hovering man to retreat. In the blink of an eye, all the lights in the area vanished as if they never existed. The marble-sized mes and the traces of fire spread by the explosions disappeared.


    And as if it reached its maximum expansion, the mist sphere began to contract. It unstably shrunk and expanded. It was like a raging force of nature trying to break out after being forcefully put under control.


    The mist sphere then vanished, revealing the winged silhouette once again.


    After exchanging that terrifying round, the two silhouettes hovered in the air, seemingly staring at each other.


    "What are we even watching..."


    Estia of the 3rd Wave could not help but voice out after seeing the inhuman battle happening in the video. It was not only her thoughts, as everyone watching was the same.


    Among the Indonesian spectators, three people had a different reaction.


    Dr. Willis was really excited by what they were watching. It was not surprising, considering his profession and personality.


    The other one was Devon, who watched the video feed with interest. He sure was quite interested in Val''Flora''s client.


    Last was Limab. She stared at the two silhouettes in the video, remembering her prophetic visions. The figures of darkness and mes in her visions were perfectly ovepping with the ones she was currently watching.


    It was clear to Limab that the realization of her visions wasing closer and closer. And it was not a good thing.


    The worst thing for Limab was the fact that her visions stopped after thest one during the time they were still spreading the badges to unmask the [Face Wearers]. It was as if the future had been cut off for her... for everyone.


    Limab could not understand what was happening. It was making her more and more uneasy and unstable about the current situation.


    "Limab, are you okay?" The timid Livia asked Limab in worry. "You look really pale right now."


    "You should rest..." Nelia also chimed in. "You''ve been taking care of Luna without proper sleep."


    Bajing and Edge also agreed with Nelia''s suggestion.


    However, Limab shook her head.


    "I''m fine. Don''t worry."


    "You''re clearly not," Nelia sighed. "But if you insist... Just don''t say we did not warn you if you suddenly copsed."


    Limab gave he friends a nod and focused on the video feed once again. It was because some change was happening amidst the battle.


    Without warning, the video suddenly brightened. The night-like darkness vanished, reced by the light of the sky amidst sunset.


    Looking at that scene, it was clear what happened.


    The Night Goddess fled once again. And all that was left were four silhouettes in the sky, with one facing the other three.


    Was it a good thing that the Night Goddes escaped? After all, the Deity of Soul Sacrifice failed to catch his creation once again. And if they wanted to catch the Night Goddess, they had to chase after her.


    The enemies might choose to just leave.


    But when everyone thought that the fight could end here...


    "WHA-?!!"


    "What!"


    "NO WAY!"


    Amotion broke out among everyone watching the battle.


    It was because everything suddenly went dark. It was still sunset. But all of a sudden, it became night.


    With their legs shaking, the survivors tried to deny the reality before their eyes.


    However, the members of Evernight had already begun retrieving the drone and their equipment.


    CRASH!


    With a loud sound, something crashed not too far from them.


    "Get ready for battle!"


    It was the first time they all heard Mei shout and take the leadership of the group.

 Chapter 1138: Deities and A Pureblood Demon, A Battle Within the Murky Darkness of Decay

    Day 368 - 5:53 PM -Pudakpajung, Banyumanik, Semarang City, Central Java, Indonesia


    The seemingly countless barrage of homing fireballs vanished after the sphere of [Miasma] absorbed them all. Finishing its purpose, the [Miasma] unstably contracted and vanished into Mark''s body, revealing his silhouette amidst the ominous darkness.


    As Mark emerged, he looked at the sky. His attention was not on The Great One but on someone else. In Mark''s line of sight, there was the weary and panicked Night Goddess.


    Although the Deity of Soul Sacrifice and the Night Goddess were pretty much the same in their level of power, it seemed that the creator still had some advantage over his creation. They might be unable toe to a quick conclusion, but the longer the battle took, the weaker the Night Goddess became.


    But then, Mark''s eyes opened wider. He noticed something while he stared at the Night Goddess. And just before he knew it, she vanished into the darkness.


    Then, the sky turned brighter, back to the sky filled with the colors of the setting sun.


    It had already returned to normal.The emotional fluctuations of the Night Goddess also vanished.


    The Night Goddess made her escape once again.


    "This is getting more troublesome."


    The familiar voice of the Deity of Soul Sacrifice entered Mark''s ears, making him turn and see him calmly approach.


    "Who told you to create something and fail to control it?"


    The androgynous man chirped.


    However, the Deity of Soul Sacrifice did not say anything back and replied with a deadly re.


    Despite the androgynous man''s free-spirited approach, the rtionships between the founders of Auraboros were not exactly friendly. They were only cooperating due to having the same goals.


    And besides, the Deity of Soul Sacrifice was confident about his creation. There should be no mishap that could happen with his hundreds of years of preparation. He already knew that there was an uncertain factor that led to this situation. However, he had yet to pinpoint that factor.


    Unknown to the Deity of Soul Sacrifice, that very factor was right in front of him at this moment.


    Ignoring the re he received, the androgynous man turned towards The Great One and shouted.


    "Hey, Greatie! We need to go and chase after this guy''s lost pet!"


    Now, the androgynous man, the Deity of Warped Beauty, was receiving hostile res from his two allies. Nheless, he behaved as if he was not receiving any. Rather, it seemed that he enjoyed being looked at no matter what the intent was.


    Giving his smile to The Great One, The Deity of Warped Beauty continued.


    "It is better to stop here, for now. We have more pressing matters than your enjoyment."


    And then, the Deity of Warped Beauty turned to Mark while giving a rather disgusted expression.


    "And you too. I would advise you to return to your friends. There is only one reason we coincidentally met here. It is because that lost pet already knew she was still iplete."


    "The only way she canplete herself is to consume the souls of the living," The Deity of Warped Beauty then looked away from Mark and turned to the East. "And by the looks of it, your friends might be the next on the menu."


    Mark gave the Deity of Warped Beauty a nce and looked in the same direction. Just like he said, the sky there had already turned into night.


    However, the Deity of Warped Beauty''s advice was not of kindness or pleasant whim. He just wanted Mark and The Great One to stop fighting and waste their time.


    Nevertheless, there was no need to continue this farce.


    "Alright..."


    Mark murmured.


    "IS WHAT YOU THINK I WOULD SAY, RIGHT!"


    Mark then roared with a crazed smile. The Butterfly of Knowledge was already opened in his hand.


    "O, force of corruption, a power feared by all.


    Spread thy madness. Seize the insolent."


    As Mark began chanting, the space began to tremble. [Miasma] began leaking out of his body like a tsunami, spreading darkness into the surroundings.


    Of course, the three Deities did not just dawdle. They tried to retreat from the spreading [Miasma].


    However, the three Deities found themselves frozen, unable to move. Their bodies stopped for a moment. As powerful beings, they regained their control in the next second. However, that second pause was more than enough for them to be engulfed in the torrent of corrupted energy.


    Without any other choice, the three Deities covered their bodies with their magical energy to resist the malicious power trying to corrode their bodies.


    And within the darkness, Mark''s chant continued.


    "Shape. Fortify. Iste. Imprison my enemies."


    "World of Decay."


    Mark''sst words fell, and the torrent of [Miasma] finally passed.


    The three Deities were unscathed. Even [Miasma] would not easily injure them. However, as they looked around, they found themselves surrounded by darkness.


    This darkness was different from theck of light deep in the night, different from what the Night Goddess could bring. It was murky and closer to gray than pitch ck. From the sky to the ground, several hundred meters across, there was nothing but a wall of murky and mud-like mist, preventing entry and exit for anything inside and outside.


    The [World of Decay], a space surrounded by [Miasma of Corruption]. A world where no one could escape alive.


    It was a perfect stage for a deathmatch.


    And at the center of it all, Mark, already in his Demonic Form, pped his wings, panting heavily.


    "You are overdoing yourself..." Magwayen''s voice echoed inside Mark''s head. "You should have epted their proposal to postpone this fight."


    Mark wiped his face. It transferred the blood flowing from his eyes into his sleeve. That was right. Mark was doing more than he could and should. In order to not let the three Deities escape, he used his [Empathic] abilities to the fullest to stop them even for only a second. While he seeded, it also caused him some damage.


    "I know," Mark replied as he stabilized his breath. "But it''s even more strange that they are actually proposing such. They could probably kill me here, but they would not. It is so they could quickly chase after that Goddess. They are keen on catching that Goddess even though they cannot control her. It might be understandable for the Deity of Soul Sacrifice, and I don''t know about that pervert.


    However, I don''t think The Great One would cooperate with something like that for no reason other than being from the same faction."


    And considering the interactions of the three that Mark had seen, they were not exactly close friends or the like.


    There was something so important that these three had to cooperate in catching the Night Goddess alive.


    "Whatever it is, I shouldn''t be anything good. It''s better to stop them now."


    Mark added as he raised his head, looking at the three hovering in the sky higher than him.


    "Why?" The Deity of Warped Beauty dramatically sighed. "Why would you do something like this? We go different ways for now, and you can save your friends. Yet, you did this."


    "Your friends will die, you know? Are you crazy?"


    The Deity of Warped Beauty exaggeratedly gestured with his right hand, shing his neck.


    However, to the Deity of Warped Beauty''s provocation, Mark actually smiled... no...


    "Hahahahaha!"


    Markughed. He looked like a crazed Demon as heughed because of his current appearance.


    The unexpected reply made the Deity of Warped Beauty quite taken aback.


    "Crazy? Maybe a little bit," Mark circled his left finger around his left temple. "But die? Unfortunately, no. None of them are going to die today."


    Mark''s eyes glowed purple. However, it had a grayish tint that was not visible in the past. Along with that gray tint, the markings created by the [Blessing of Death''s Aura] pulsated. It began taking a new form, sharper and more intricate.


    Watching from her realm, Magwayen was taken aback by the sudden change in the blessing she gave Mark. The blessing had already taken root deeply in Mark''s being to the point that it mutated his [irvoyance] to a degree where he could determine people''s deaths to some degree.


    It was why General Wijaya and his soldiers turned grayish in Mark''s eyes. They were supposed to die here, but Mark prevented it from happening. But other than them, whose fate had already changed, no other people had that same grayish appearance in Mark''s eyes.


    No one among Mark''s allies would die today. He was sure about it.


    It was akin to asking for a miracle. After all, Mei and everyone would be facing an actual Goddess. However, Mark knew he was not mistaken.


    All that was left was to trust them, and he would take care of the other enemies.


    "You are definitely crazy... And that stench of death around you is unsetting..."


    The Deity of Warped Beauty pinched his well-shaped nose.


    Turning to The Great One and the Deity of Soul Sacrifice, the Deity of Warped Beauty spoke.


    "Can you two take care of this? I don''t want to go anywhere near him."


    Of course, that reaction caused a negative response. However, while the Deity of Warped Beauty retreated, the two flew forward.


    It seemed that the three Deities understood that they could not leave this ce unless they killed Mark.


    And to that fact... The Great One, who was controlling Shin''s body, smiled happily.


    BOOOM!


    With a loud explosion, The Great One shot toward Mark like a bullet, with his body d in mes strong enough to instantly melt steel. A red katana d with the same mes appeared in his hands as he shed at Mark.


    CLANG! BOOOM!


    Mark blocked the katana with his fused sword. However, without any foothold or enough force to support his body, Mark was flung to the ground in an explosion of soil and dust.


    Without waiting for Mark to recover or for the dust to subside, The Great One shed his ming katana in the direction Mark crashed into. The sh formed a crescent sh of mesrge enough to raze an entire town. And that force and power shot toward Mark''s direction.


    BOOOOOOM!!!


    A giant spout of mes urred as the attack crashed to the ground, followed by a gigantic explosion that shook the earth.


    The Great One finally stopped his attacks, watching the explosion he created and the result it brought.


    However, the instincts of the three Deities flickered as they felt a sharp gaze.


    Then, wriggling from within the cloud of dust and explosion of mes, tentacle-shaped waves of ck mist surged, swallowing the explosion into nothingness.


    WHOOOM!


    The wind blew, and the dust cleared. It revealed Mark with his outstretched left hand as it began absorbing the [Miasma] he released to swallow the explosion. Embedded in his sword were three marble-sized crystals glowing brightly. One had a green glow, the other had a redish-orange, and thest had a grayish-clear color.


    Those glowing crystals sure took the attention of the Deities as they were even more visible in this murky darkness Mark created. But more than the eye-catching glows, the fluctuation from the reddish-orange and grayish-clear crystals took the attention of The Great One and the Deity of Soul Sacrifice, respectively.


    Mark knew why.


    The [me Maniption Mental Crystal] was from Gar''m''s original body. It was also the same mes that Shin''s body contained.


    On the other hand, the new grayish-clear one was something Mark secretly took from the body of General Piliang. It was the [Telekinesis Mental Crystal] containing the [Telekic] abilities of the old General that the Deity of Soul Sacrifice granted.


    Mark closed his hand. All the [Miasma] he released just now returned into his body. Now, it was his turn.


    Raising his sword, Mark murmured.


    "Enchant: mes. Buff: Wind. Support: Telekinesis. Blood Enhancement Activate. Future Sight On. Shadow Mist: Ready."


    And then, as his sword became enveloped in mes, Mark vanished with a strong gust of wind.


    CLANG!


    All of a sudden, The Great One blocked an attack as Mark appeared before him with a sh.


    BOOOM!


    The collision of magical mes caused an explosion, causing The Great One to be the one pushed back in this round. However, Mark suddenly kicked his feet. And then, there was nothing.


    Mark vanished again, even mid-air.


    SHING!


    The sound of a sword slicing the wind entered everyone''s ears. The Great One immediately turned his body around and raised his katana.


    CLANG! BOOM!


    It was a repeat of what happened earlier. But this time, it was The Great One who crashed into the ground.


    Mark hovered in the air, looking in The Great One''s direction. His eyes continued glowing purple, and the veins in his entire body were glowing red. The crystals embedded in his sword glowed brightly while a tinge of shadowy mist lingered around his being.


    Although Mark was seemingly getting the advantage, it was clear that he was using almost all of his abilities at the same time just for this move alone.

 Chapter 1139: Determination, Despair and Hope as The Darkness Tried to Consume

    Day 368 - 5:55 PM - Balong, Pucakwangi, Pati Regency, Central Java, Indonesia


    "Get ready for battle!"


    Mei shouted as everyone felt the impact of something crashing into the mountain not too far from their location.


    It was the first time the Indonesian survivors heard Mei raise her voice. In fact, it was not that necessary for her to do so since the members of Evernight had already entered theirbat stances the moment the sound of the impact entered their ears.


    Mei was shouting because the Indonesian survivors needed to hear it, especially the nonbatants, who froze in confusion. The situation was so sudden and unexpected that their survival instincts could not keep up. She shouted to snap them out of their stupor and inform them a battle would be happening. It was also to tell them to immediately run to safety if they could not be of help at all.


    As for the leaders of the Indonesian survivors and the soldiers, although a bit slower than the members of Evernight, they, too, had already picked up their weapons.


    Nheless, no matter how ready everyone was to fight, none of them knew whether the only possible enemy before them was something they could fight at all.


    Unfortunately, despite everything they had in hand...


    "KRYAAAAAAAAAA!!!"


    One cry put all of the Indonesian survivors into the depths of despair.


    "W-what...."


    Limab, the one who saw the possible and worst future they had, trembled in dismay as all she could see right now was the soil beneath her.


    It was not just Limab. Almost all the people present were in the same state. They had lost all their strength within their bodies and fell to their knees and hands, prostrating involuntarily on the ground they stood before.


    Confusion, fear, and despair. Such feelings enveloped the survivors as they tried toprehend the situation. But for Limab, her emotions swirled wilder than the others as she felt the same helplessness she had from her earlier prophetic visions.


    "So... it''s this feeling... Again..."


    Limab helplessly voiced out. It was the feeling of being unable to move at all in the face of the enemy while shey dying behind Luna.


    However, unlike in her visions, Limab began to struggle. She began to fight back the helplessness and weakness her body fell into.


    Limab prepared for this day. There was no way she would repeat those visions in reality.


    And unlike within her visions, where she eithery on the ground or sat unmoving while watching...


    ...Limab finally managed to raise her head.


    But Limab''s body trembled as the first thing she saw was the six-winged woman back in the underground cathedral. The so-called Night Goddess. With unsteady steps, she slowly shambled towards them with a maniacal smile. Despite the darkness of the surroundings, the Night Goddess was clear for them to see. She was above the darkness of the night, even if it consumed everything.


    Limab then realized the reason for these emotions and the helplessness they were feeling.


    In the face of Sacred Beings, Deities, and Gods, mere mortals should prostrate in reverence and fear. This sentence was something Limab knew as a Weeb but never really understood it. But now, she knew. These words were never meant to be a voluntary thing for mortals. The presence of these beings would make mortals do so.


    But when Limab was lost in thought, a near-white, rainbow-scaled wing blocked her view.


    "Don''t stare at her. You''ll only lose your sanity even more."


    With a struggling tone, Limab heard Mei''s voice.


    It was only then that Limab noticed. Aside from the Night Goddess, a few figures were still standing.


    Limab raised her head towards the owner of the wing that blocked her view.


    It was Mei. She now sported a pair of these beautiful wings that shined even in the darkest night. Her hair also turned snow white, with red highlights here and there. Another thing noticeable was the pair of pearl-like horns growing out of her forehead as she nced at Limab and the others. In her hands was her sniper rifle, ready to fire her most powerful shots.


    Nheless, although Mei could stand and move, she was not unaffected. Her shoulders could be seen trembling as she resisted the presence of the Goddess before them.


    Flying beside Mei, it was the [Sylph], Amihan. To be able to fly freely despite the pressure that made everyone fall to the ground, she was clearly unaffected by it.


    There were also the figures of two animals and a young maid. It was the three golems standing between the enemy and the daughters of Mark and Mei. They were not mortals. They were not even living creatures. It was not surprising they were unaffected.


    On the other hand, there were two things even more strange.


    One was the maid that controlled the [Infected Giant Turtle], Aephelia. She was actually standing straight, with no strain visible on her face and body. Furthermore, five figures who looked simr to Amihan flew in front of her. However, they looked strange. Unlike Amihan, who was filled with life, the five [Sylphs] looked like stringed puppets.


    And the other?


    "Wh-what?"


    The other strange one voiced out.


    It was Elise, who looked really confused as to why almost everyone suddenly fell to the ground.


    By the looks of it, even Mei, Amihan, and Aephelia were unsure why the little sister heavily attached to Mark was standing with them.


    "H-hey! Are you two okay?"


    Elise asked Spera and Emika, who were beside her, in a fluster.


    "Y-You think we are?"


    Spera struggled to reply, but she still quipped back.


    On the other hand, Emika could not reply. Just like everyone else, she was unable to move her body. Nheless, she was able to reply with some movements of her eyes, unlike most of them, who could only stare nkly on the ground underneath them.


    Furthermore, while the Indonesian survivors were all helpless in this situation, the members of the Evernight showed some struggle. It was most noticeable to the daughters of Mark and Mei, who were actually trying to stand up, although failing to do so.


    However, the members of Evernight never stopped trying, even if their lips and teeth bled from trying.


    ***


    On the other side, the Night Goddess tilted her head, confused as to why there were still insects standing in front of her.


    Then she reaped the souls of the living creatures in that massive obstacle. Those creatures all fell fearful of her and did not show any pointless struggle. She managed to reap souls to try and make her iplete self whole. However, the cursed beings she could not defeat caught up to her, and she had to flee once again.


    She detected life somewhere and flew there while being chased. However, the Night Goddess found herself entangled in battle once again as the prey escaped.


    But now, the cursed beings were entangled with something else. These souls should be free for her taking.


    And yet, insects stood before her, not falling to her presence.


    It was infuriating.


    It was uneptable.


    "KRYAAAAAAAA!"


    The Night Goddess roared in anger.


    ***


    The roar of the Night Goddess made Mei and Elise tremble. On the other hand, Amihan and Aephelia braced themselves for the iing attack.


    SWISH!


    All of a sudden, countless tentacles emerged from the surroundings. The darkness was the Night Goddess'' territory. It was also her weapon. Where the darkness of the night loomed, these tentacles could emerge.


    These tentacles will grab the prey and drag them into the depths of the darkness as she consumes their souls.


    "Cut the tentacles!"


    Mei shouted as she transformed her sniper rifle into a sword and ran around to cut the tentacles that were trying to capture everyone.


    Amihan also began sending wind des towards the closest tentacles. It was the same for the [Infected Sylphs] under Aephelia''s control while she herself took out a pair of daggers and began slicing the tentacles.


    On the other hand, the three golems also moved. Since it was a dangerous situation, their primary directives became prioritized. It was to protect the three girls, their masters. However, in the process of eliminating the danger, they also protected anyone close to the three. Unfortunately, with their primary directives activated, they would not ept any other order.


    "Wha-!!!"


    Elis saw the tentacles surrounding them and could not help but step backward. But as she saw Emika and Spera could not move, she began dragging the two closer to the center of everyone.


    Seeing what Elise was doing, Mei spoke.


    "Elise, can you gather everyone in one ce?"


    "I..."


    Elise could not reply immediately.


    "Ah..."


    Mei sighed. She had forgotten due to the situation. While Elise was in a way better state than before, she was still afraid of people.


    SLAP!


    However, the sound of two ps echoed. Elise, with her reddened cheeks, replied.


    "I-I''ll try!"


    Now was not the time to be afraid. Unlike everyone present, Elise could move freely. She wanted toe with Mark on this adventure not only to spend time with him but also to be helpful and not be another baggage.


    Looking around, Elise began to drag the people furthest from the center. Her priority was the people with the least protection.


    With a bit of hesitation, Elise began to pull people one after another. Getting dragged on the ground by a petit girl might hurt, but it was way better than dying.


    Mei and Aephelia also began gathering everyone they could while chipping away the numbers of the tentacles. On the other hand, Amihan and the [Infected Sylphs] concentrated on repelling the tentacles.


    ***


    On the other side, the Night Goddess watched the struggle of the three females and five bugs as they fought the tentacles and protected the other insects.


    The Night Goddess felt a different emotion for the first time. It was different from fear or anger. It was making her heart beat faster in a different way.


    Unknowingly, the Night Goddess smiled. A genuine smile.


    The Night Goddess was exhrated. It was the first time she had insects stand up to her presence. It was the first time she saw them struggle.


    As such, she was excited to see how long these bugs could prolong their futile resistance.


    "GRRRRR!"


    The Night Goddess let out a growl as more tentacles emerged from the darkness.


    ...From the soil around them.


    ...From the trees surrounding them.


    ...Even from the shadows beneath their feet.


    ...[Tentacles of Darkness] emerged.


    ***


    "WHA!"


    Elise stumbled and fell to her butt, letting go of a soldier he was trying to drag away. On her right leg, a tentacle began to slither from underneath her feet.


    "AH! KNIFE! KNIFE!"


    Elise struggled as she tried to take out a knife Mark gave her for self-defense in panic. She then stabbed the tentacle, turning it to dust. She then saw the soldier she was dragging getting covered in tentacles. She immediately began shing them away and hurriedly dragged him towards the others.


    However, the soldier was too heavy for her to drag quickly. And as Elise looked around, the other people she had yet to pull away were bing covered with tentacles.


    It was the worst for the Indonesian survivors. They could not move. They could not even scream their fear. The only thing they could do was feel the tentacles as these things began to constrict their bodies.


    Soon, the tentacles covered their bodies and blocked their eyes.


    Everything went dark.


    There was only darkness.


    It was time to give up.


    There was no way they would win against a god.


    "Why?! Why?!!!"


    Elise''s voice echoed. She stopped dragging the immobilized survivors away and concentrated on shing the tentacles away from the survivors using her knife.


    The [Sylphs] were already upied. Mei and Aephelia were also struggling. There was no one around to help Elise.


    "Why won''t you all stand up?! I can''t drag you all alone!"


    Elise yelled with tears in the corner of her eyes. She was given a task. However, it was not something she could even finish.


    As such, just like in the past, she could only cry. At that time, she was alone. She could only cry. She could not stand up for herself at all. There was no one to support her at all.


    However, these people... They were together. They had allies with them. They had friends and family who cared for them.


    Yet...


    "Why are all of you giving up?!!! Don''t give up!"


    Elise yelled. Her voice echoed wildly.


    "STAND UP!!!"


    Elise... Commanded...


    All of a sudden, a strong burst of energy spread into the surroundings.


    At the center of it all was Elise.


    With a golden glow covering her body and eyes with a colorful gleam, Elise stood up andmanded.


    "STAND UP!"


    A surge of emotions enveloped everyone. The fear, helplessness, and despair all vanished, reced by courage, motivation, and hope.


    If a 2d flower was present in this situation, he would say...


    "You are filled with determination."


    With Elise''smand, the survivors stood up, one after another. The freed ones began helping the others out from the tentacles. Unfortunately, the tentacles were not something normal weapons could destroy at all.


    However, the weapons Mark gave the leaders of the Moon Chasers could, and they also began the rescue.


    At the sight of it all, the Night Goddess was infuriated.


    ***


    A shack some distance away, tentacles surrounded it violently. However, none of these tentacles could enter the shack at all.


    Inside the shack, Melfiss sat beside a bed. She looked at the tentacles outside the door and turned to the person lying on the bed.


    "Just like Gods and Deities, [Miracles] do exist. They will struggle and fight. However, even [Miracles] have limits. They will notst too long."


    "So..." Melfiss caressed Luna''s purple hair. "How long will you keep dreaming? You should wake up before you lose everything... Do you want to repeat the past? You should wake up. You, who is my creator''s fragment."

 Chapter 1140: Swarm of Shadow Tentacles, The Struggle of Those Targeted as the Night Goddess Prey

    Day 368 - 5:58 PM - Mountain Back, Balong, Pucakwangi, Pati Regency, Central Java, Indonesia


    With the help of an unexpected miracle, the people suppressed by the Night Goddess'' presence could finally stand up. However, it was not the end of the danger they were facing.


    It was just the beginning.


    "AH!"


    A female survivor could not help but yell in surprise as a ck tentacle quickly slithered around her right foot and started to pull her into the shadows.


    SLASH!


    Fortunately, Bajing arrived right before the female survivor''s foot, slicing off the tentacle using her glowing daggers.


    "Gather in one ce as close as possible!" Bajing hurriedly said to the woman and the other people around. "We can''t protect you all properly if all of you are scattered everywhere!"


    It was not only Bajing. Everyone who could fight off the tentaclesmanded the others to hurry up and gather in one ce.


    The tentacles the Night Goddess conjured were ethereal things in a sense. While the tentacles could grab and pull physical things, the opposite could not happen. As such, normal weapons and even bullets would only pass through the tentacles without harming them.


    On the other hand, magical attacks and weapons imbued with magical enchantments worked like a charm. No matter what weapon or how strong its wielder was, the tentacles could easily be cut through like tofu.


    In the current situation, only those who wielded weapons Mark created could fight off the tentacles. The only ones who could fight were the members of Mark''s group, the leaders of Moon Chasers and General Wijaya, who received a pair of gauntlets from Mark just several hours ago.


    As for everyone else, all they could do was to avoid being an obstacle. Of course, this simple task was not easy either since countless tentacles were springing out of everywhere.


    "Hurry! Gather in one ce!"


    Estia, the leader of the 3rd Wave, yelled. While the other group leaders could not help fight off the tentacles, they could at least help gather the panicked survivors in one ce.


    But something unexpected happened.


    "Estia!" K, the second inmand of the 3rd Wave, approached Estia in a fluster. "Kana is missing!"


    "What?"


    Estia, shocked, began looking around. However, there was no sign of their bubbly friend. Although the surroundings were as dark as night because of the Night Goddess, there was no way they would not notice Kana''s blue hair in the crowd of ck-haired people.


    After seeing that their friend was missing, Estia and Kana left the assistance of the other survivors to their team members and ran to the leaders of the Moon Chasers.


    Estia and Kana immediately ryed the problem, only to realize that someone was missing from their side, too.


    "Melfiss also vanished. The merchant earlier, too."


    Nelia said.


    "Did they get caught?"


    Ellie nonchntly voiced out as she smashed a couple of tentacles that were heading her way with her giant hammer. Of course, her ominous remark caused her to receive grave stares.


    "No," Edge chimed in while shing the tentacles before him with his greatsword. "I don''t know about Kana and Devon, but there''s only one ce Melfiss will go to."


    Edge then took in a deep breath.


    "I''m going."


    Without waiting for any reply, Edge charged toward the tentacles. Using his tower shield, he plowed through them and left the formation.


    "Wait!"


    Nelia shouted, but she waste to stop Edge.


    "Just let him go," Limab voiced out. "I also want to go where he is going, but I doubt my pistols can lead me there."


    Where was Edge going? There was only one ce. It was where Luna was. A hut a distance away from the area. The hut where Lunay asleep.


    ***


    "Uwaaa..."


    A bubbly voice murmured her disgust as she watched the countless tentacles surrounding the survivors.


    As she peeked down below, her blue hair drooped over the cliffside she sat on.


    It was no other than the missing Kana, who was now watching everyone from a higher part of the mountain overlooking the camp area.


    "I slipped out without thinking when I felt danger..." Kana sighed as she dangled her feet over the cliff edge. "They''re definitely going to scold meter."


    "They are doing better, thanks to that girl," Kana stared at Elise, whose body was covered in golden light, before turning to the members of Evernight. "And that group is really amazing. That little [Sylph] is doing most of the work, though. Without her, the tentacles could have swarmed them all already."


    Kana then turned to Edge, who was charging out of the area.


    "He''s going to Luna, as expected," Kana shrugged. "There''s no need, though. All of them are in far more danger than Luna, even if she''s unconscious. That Keris girl is also there. We slipped out at the same time, after all."


    Kana then raised her palm in front of her. The vapor in the air began to thicken and gather over her palm, turning into a floating ball of water.


    "Should I help them?" Kana tilted her head. "But that dark hag is scary..."


    "What should I do..." Kana mulled. "I can''t even go at full power because there''s no proper source of water nearby."


    "Uuuuh."


    Kana groaned. She wanted to help, but the fear within her weighed far greater.


    Unknown to Kana, the fear she was feeling was not just from the pressure the Night Goddess emitted. It was straight from within her. Her very soul and bloodline were being pressed into submission due to her unique existence and constitution.


    ***


    On the other side, the Night Goddess tilted her head as she watched the prey before her struggle with all their might. From time to time, she would look around, wary of something. But when she found nothing, her eyes would go back to watching her prey struggle.


    The berserk status of the Night Goddess was going down as time passed by. So was her feral mind. It was the result after she began absorbing the souls of living creatures. As her soul grew, her mind also stabilized. However, due to her starting mentality after waking up and her iplete soul, her nature grew brutal.


    Toying with prey became her source of amusement. It was even if she was not supposed to, considering she was still being chased by her creator.


    Still, the Night Goddess was confused. How were these insects able to stand up? How were they able to resist? Her eyes fell on the girl covered in golden light.


    That light. It was ufortable. Irritating.


    The Night Goddess stretched out her right arm. Her hand formed a w with her palm facing the girl.


    ***


    "!!!"


    While fighting the tentacles with her knife, Elise suddenly felt a chill. By reflex, her eyes turned towards the Night Goddess. To Elise''s horror, the enemy was pointing her hand at her.


    All of a sudden, ck spikes shot out of the ground, trying to mp Elise inside it like a bear trap.


    "Elise!"


    Seeing her sister in danger, Felicia ran as fast as she could. Her cat-like mutations emerged, allowing her to elerate further. And like a blur in the darkness, Felicia grabbed Elise before the spikes could trap her.


    The ck spikes mped close without anything inside.


    "Elise, are you okay?"


    Felicia asked her younger sister. However, Elise just stared at her without answering. Or rather, she had no intention to answer at all. If anything, she looked at her in askance.


    But as Felicianded, simr spikes sprung out beneath her feet, forcing her to jump away in a hurry. After evading the second one, another one appeared where shended to her frustration.


    It was when Louis'' voice called out to Felicia.


    "Felicia, here!"


    Louis shouted. He then moved his left hand as if he were ttening something under it, and the next set of spikes that appeared under Felicia got swallowed by the ground.


    Felicia then ran towards Louis with Elise in tow. It seemed that everyone had finally gathered in one ce.


    However, what was the point of this? Would they just stand like this while under the siege of countless, neverending tentacles? That would not work. This would not stop until the source of the attack, the Night Goddess, was defeated.


    It was when Mei yelled.


    "I!"


    Only then did they realize that at the center of everyone gathered, a lone girl stood. The eldest daughter of Mark was waiting there for everyone to gather.


    With a wave of I''s arms, a near-invisible dome covered everyone. Then, the tentacles began to burn after making contact with the dome. Even the tentacles emerging from their shadows stopped appearing.


    Surprised and relieved, many survivors slumped to the ground as if their energy had been sapped out of their bodies.


    It seemed that they were all safe for the time being. Of course, unless the Night Goddess began sending stronger attacks.


    Even so, a barrier that was almost a hundred meters in diameter. It was something not possible for I in the past. This showed how much she had grown.


    Most of the survivors could not help but look at I and the other members of Evernight. They all were exceptional. Even the animals did their part in this battle. Most of all, Elise. She suddenly showed an unexpected ability, which became the most crucial thing in this situation. Even now, the golden light enveloped Elise as Felicia checked on her.


    CRASH!


    All of a sudden, the dome shook. The tentacles began a stronger attack on the barrier.


    "Spera," Mei called out. "Can you open a barrier? We need to bring everyone away."


    "I''m already trying!" Spera answered in frustration. "But look at this?!"


    Spera then tried to open a portal in front of Mei, only for the portal to immediately distort and vanish.


    "This..."


    Mei frowned. It seemed that escape through the portal was impossible.


    It was when a familiar voice entered the ears of the two.


    "This ce is under her influence."


    "!?"


    Mei and Spera turned to the direction of the voice. There, they the visage of the Goddess of the Underworld they knew.


    It was not just Mei and Spera. Everyone''s attention had already gathered on the unknown visitor.


    "What did you mean?"


    Mei asked Magwayen while paying attention to the tentacles outside I''s barrier.


    "This darkness is not just some effect or ability. It is an establishment of a temporary domain. A territory of sorts. Although it would not affect other abilities too much, it would be difficult for space-rted abilities to ess the outside of the domain. It is due to the difference and distortion of natural rules between the inside and the outside of the affected location."


    "But I did it before!"


    Spera argued. After all, before returning here, Spera did open a portal to bring back the soldiers. The sky was already darkened that time, too. It also happened during the evacuation of Mount Muria. Although the sky turned as dark as night, Spera still managed to bring people to safety using her portals.


    "It is the difference in location," Magwayen answered. "The previous times, you were not even close to the inner fourth of the domain. This time, the domain''s owner is standing right before you. The intensity of the distortion was far different to your previous instances."


    Magwayen then stared at the Night Goddess. Surprisingly, the Night Goddess did the same, albeit in utter confusion.


    "Can''t you do something about this?"


    Spera said without holding back. She did not care if Magwayen was a Goddess. All she wanted was to get out of this dangerous situation.


    "This is nothing but an avatar," Magwayen shrugged. "There is nothing I can do but give pointers."


    "And also a message," Magwayen then turned to Mei. "Your husband is currently entangled with three Deities, so he barely had time to breathe, and sending a message through your ring was not even an option."


    "He said that he will handle the three Deities, so the enemy Goddess will be up to you and these people," Magwayen smiled. "And he asks you to take care of everyone."


    "That''s a heavy message..."


    Spera remarked.


    "There is no need to worry. It was also why I am here. I might not be able to help directly, but I will give advice and instructions to defeat the enemy."


    "And you there, Mark''s self-proimed younger sister," Magwayen suddenly turned to Elise. "We will need your participation. Is that alright?"


    Elise looked at Magwayen and then to Felicia. She then left the reluctant Felicia''s side and approached Magwayen.


    "What should I do?"


    Elise asked with a resolute expression as the rainbow light in her eyes shone strongly.


    Seeing that, Magwayen gave a delightful smile.


    "Just follow my instructions."


    The Goddess of the Underworld answered.

 Chapter 1141: Jealousy, The True Horrors of the Deity of Soul Sacrifice

    Day 368 - 5:58 PM -Pudakpajung, Banyumanik, Semarang City, Central Java, Indonesia


    "HAHAHAHAHA!"


    A loudughter rang from within the cloud of dust The Great One crashed into.


    The cloud of dust began to move strangely. Some of it suddenly disappeared while some particles seemingly melted. It was as if the cloud of dust was under the influence of intense heat.


    As the cloud of dust cleared up, it revealed The Great One,ughing in amusement with right hand sping his forehead while looking up to the sky.


    "This is it! Hahahaha!!!"


    The Great One continued tough. The surroundings around him were getting blurry due to the heat emitted by Shin''s body he controlled.


    And then, with an audible crack of his neck, as he ended hisugh, multitudes of fireballs appeared around The Great One.


    Each fireball was just the size of a fist. However, there should be more than a thousand of these fireballs appearing within an instant.


    Mark stared at The Great One without any emotion in his being. Due to him using all his abilities simultaneously, many of the functions deemed unnecessary for this battle ceased. Even the reflex emotional functions he usually showed vanished.


    At this moment, Mark was nothing but a fighting machine.


    Without a care in the world, The Great One rained his fireballs toward Mark. A destructive rain of fire that could burn entire towns and cities. Each fireball shot at the speed of a bullet, only leaving an instant trail as they flew.


    Mark met the iing attack with his purplish re. The scene before his eyes blurred as it showed the attacksing within an instant into the future. He then began dodging the fireballs with minimal movements. Even so, he could feel the extreme heat each fireball contained as they passed close to his body.


    If it continued like this, even if he dodged all the fireballs, he would still be melted by the heat alone.


    As such, Mark began emitting [Miasma] to cover the surface of his entire body. The [Miasma] came out of his body, slowly creeping to cover it like a symbiote. When the [Miasma] covered the surfaces of his body, armor, and weapon, Mark began looking like a dark creature from the abyss, especially with his eyes glowing purple.


    On the other hand, the two other Deities could only frown. Since The Great One stopped caring about the surroundings, even his supposed allies became invisible in his eyes. As such, the two Deities could only fly away since they were also within the scope of The Great One''s attack.


    ***


    "Barbaric, as always."


    The Deity of Soul Sacrifice remarked as he watched The Great One''s attacks after moving some distance away.


    "That is just the part of his charm, in a way," The Deity of Warped Beauty responded to the other Deity''s remark. "Aren''t you going to join in?"


    "I''d rather not," The Deity of Soul Sacrifice answered. "I am nobatant. I am an [Alchemist]. I would rather chase after my creation that fled."


    "I already told you. This thing surrounding us is preventing me from leaving," The Deity of Warped Beauty shrugged. "If you want to leave early, either you do something about this [Miasma], or you help defeat that kid."


    "Impossible," The alchemist shook his head. "I never thought that a mere Pureblood Demon could trap us Deities. But what is more surprising is that this dome of [Miasma] had traces of [Authority]. It is why we are powerless about it."


    "Oh?" The Deity of Warped Beauty was surprised. "Are you sure?"


    "There is no doubt," The Deity of Soul Sacrifice nodded. "I had to dabble with it while pursuing my goals. I needed the knowledge if I wanted to create a God. I did manage to create an artificial [Authority] for my creation through sacrifices. But I never expect a mere Demon to be able to have his own [Authority]. Even us Deities did not have it."


    "I see," The androgynous Deity hummed in understanding. "Then Greaty is telling the truth, huh?"


    "What truth?"


    The Deity of Soul Sacrifice asked.


    "Well, we did not have the ability to see it," The Deity of Warped Beauty said as he pointed at Mark. "But Greaty said that guy is detached from fate. He has the potential to be a God. And so is his wife. This is the major reason Greaty is interested in them."


    After hearing the words of the Deity of Warped Beauty, the Deity of Soul Sacrifice stared at Mark with indescribable intent.


    Several thousand years. It took the Deity of Soul Sacrifice that long to be a Deity after failing to try and be a God. He then took another several thousand years to the present to create a Goddess, which ended as something wed.


    He sacrificed countless souls, he nearly wiped out all magical creatures and races in this country, and he lost count of all the lives he took in order to reach his goals.


    And now, he learned that a mere Demon at an extremely young age had the potential to be something he could not... It was intolerable.


    "Hoh?" The Deity of Warped Beauty looked at the other Deity. "Is it envy that I sense? Why not join the fight, then? We can ask Greaty to have you study the body."


    "You and your maniptive tactics," The Deity of Soul Sacrifice red. "But let''s say I fell for it this time."


    "Finally."


    The Deity of Warped Beauty muttered as he watched the Deity of Soul Sacrifice fly towards the battle.


    ***


    The countless rain of fireballs seemed to have no end. Worse, The Great One was purposedly doing it to watch how Mark wouldst.


    There was no winning in only dodging. Waiting for the enemy to use up all their energy was not applicable in this situation.


    That was why...


    SWOOOOSH!


    Mark began moving forward.


    Turning into a surge of mist, Mark began swerving across the rain of fireballs.


    Seeing that, The Great One excitedly smiled as he waved his hand, sending a surging burst of mes. A tsunami of fire, to be exact. Even in his mist form, there was no way Mark would be able to dodge that without retreating.


    Mark exited the mist''s subspace to swiftly change his trajectory. It was one of the weaknesses of [Shadow Mist Movement]. While shifting directions was possible in limited angles, abruptly changing to the opposite direction was impossible without exiting the ability.


    But as Mark was about to kick the air and p his wings, Mark''s attention shifted as he detected the Deity of Soul Sacrificeing closer.


    Mark then felt a strong pushing force from behind him. The attack was invisible and near impossible to detect, especially in the current situation where most of his attention was on avoiding the fireballs from The Great One.


    Without any way to immediately defend against the pushing force, Mark was directly plunged into the tsunami of fire.


    "HNNGH!!!"


    Mark gritted his teeth as the heat of the mes prated the film of [Miasma] covering his body. It even tore through some part of the [Miasma], melting his armor and skin. There was no doubt. The Great One''s mes released using Shin''s body were far worse than the attacks the barely recovered Gar''m released in Japan.


    Experiencing the sensation of getting plunged into a volcano, Mark''s [Miasma] surged out, creating another sphere to swallow everything within its wake.


    In the blink of an eye, the tsunami of fire vanished, swallowed by the murky darkness of Mark''s [Miasma].


    And just like before, as if struggling to break free, the sphere unstably shrunk, revealing Mark with his armor melted here and there and parts of his skin scorched ck.


    "Haahhh."


    Mark let out a sigh as blood tentacles began poking out of his skin which sliced off the charred parts one after another, letting his unnatural regeneration speed heal the damage to his body.


    And Marks swiftly turned to the side, ring at the Deity of Soul Sacrifice. The first damage he received was not because of The Great One''s persistent attacks but because he was pushed by something. There was only one here who could do such.


    It was the [Telekinesis] that the Deity of Soul Sacrifice had.


    But before Mark could make a retaliation, The Great One shouted.


    "Why are you interfering?"


    "You are taking too long. Stop ying."


    The Deity of Soul Sacrificeined, hiding his true intentions.


    Mark shrugged. He was not here to hear his enemies banter.


    That was why...


    Wind exploded behind Mark as he kicked his right foot in the air. He immediately appeared behind the Deity of Soul Sacrifice and sliced his sword horizontally.


    CLANG!


    The sword let out a sound as it hit an invisible obstacle.


    "How tactless."


    The Deity of Soul Sacrifice remarked as he nced at Mark over his shoulder.


    "You have no right to say that since you did it first."


    Mark responded before ck mes exploded out of his sword, trying to swallow the Deity in front of its de.


    "Tsk."


    The Deity of Soul Sacrifice retreated. Even his [Telekinesis] would not protect him from such an attack. However, as he retreated, he opened the cloak he wore, revealing a seemingly deep abyss inside.


    And from that abyss, creatures emerged.


    An eyeball with bat wings and octopus tentacles.


    A bird with goat eyes and human lips.


    A dragonfly with an infant''s head, beetle''s limbs, and a lizard''s tail.


    A moth with a monkey face, squid tentacles, and a pregnant human woman''s torso.


    Many such abominations came out of the abyss within the Deity of Soul Sacrifice''s robes. These were the results of his countless experiments throughout his life. The trials and errors before he created the vessel for his goddess. And now, minions that wouldy their lives at his behest.


    It was the true terror of the Alchemist Deity. He was neither a religious leader nor a [Telekic] practitioner. He was the creator of abominations. These were not [Chimeras] born from fusing parts of the bodies of different creatures. These were creatures created by fusing DNA and tweaking it. From their embryo to their adulthood, these creatures had these abominable bodies.


    These were the so-called [Experiemental Homonculus]. Unlike [Chimeras], whose bodies did not seem to blend together, these creatures were different. While having body parts that seemed to havee from different creatures, traits were shared among them.


    The eyeball and its body parts had simr skin texture. The moth''s body was covered in thin hairs. It was the same for the others. They might look like abominations, but at the least, their bodies did not look like forcibly stitched together.


    Even so, it did not make them any less horrifying and disgusting to look at.


    "My creations! Confront the foe before me and attack!"


    With thatmand, the creatures all stared at Mark. The feeling of being stared down by hundreds of these stomach-churning monsters gave Mark quite a chill on his back.


    "Tch!" A tongue''s click was heard on the other side. "I already said not to interfere. Do not say I did not warn you."


    The Great One then flicked his fingers. Countless fireballs emerged around him once more. However, there was something different this time. The fireballs did not look like they were just mes. They had a seemingly near-solid but liquid-like core. It was like they were fireballs made ofva or magma.


    A rain of [Magma Spheres] and an army of [Experimental Homonculi]. Mark found himself in quite a dangerous predicament.


    It seemed that fighting two Deities at the same time was far more difficult than what Mark imagined.


    In contrast, fighting with the weakened Gar''m and the newly awakened Yamata-no-Orochi was far easier. And back then, Mark was not alone. He had others fighting with him.


    Now, Mark had to tackle this situation by himself.


    "I brought this to myself, don''t I?"


    Mark murmured.


    "Are you going to give up?"


    A familiar voice echoed inside Mark''s mind. It was not Magwayen, of course. It was the mysterious voice that would often appear when Mark went all out with his everything.


    This voice never felt unfamiliar to Mark, even though he did not know whose voice it exactly was. But it was not like he had no idea.


    Nheless, it was not the time.


    "Why would I?" Mark answered. "I haven''t lost or anything yet. We''re just beginning."


    Mark took a deep breath. His fighting spirit soared. The markings on his body glowed and expanded. The aura of death loomed around him, surprising even the three Deities.


    It was as if the Grim Reaper himself had arrived.

 Chapter 1142: Magwayens Intervention, Words of A Goddess and the Priestess of the Sea

    Day 368 - 6:00 PM - Mountain Back, Balong, Pucakwangi, Pati Regency, Central Java, Indonesia


    "We have no time to sit and n. That is why. Mei and you, Sylph. You two are the only ones who can confront the enemy. Just do what you can for now," Magwayen spoke. "As for you, Mark''s little sister, I will exin what you can do.


    Stand by me and wait."


    Mei nodded before charging out of the barrier. Amihan followed behind her, not leaving Mei''s side.


    The many of the tentacles outside immediately shifted their target to the two.


    Transforming her sniper rifle into a sword, Mei shed through the tentacles with ease. Amihan also fired off a gust of wind des, tearing not only the tentacles in her immediate vicinity but also sending some of it to the tentacles that were swarming the barrier. It was to ease the pressure on I even a little.


    The two then flew towards the Night Goddess, who seemed surprised that the two decided to leave the safety of the barrier to attack her.


    On the other hand, Elise did as she was told, standing beside Magwayen.


    "You mortals. If you all want to live, do not leave the barrier."


    A voice echoed into the minds of the Indonesian survivors. They were surprised. None of them knew thenguage spoken. Yet, they could understand it and knew that the voice came from the strange woman who appeared before them.


    Even more strange was that the woman looked like a ghost. Her body was slightly transparent, and she gave quite a strong aura of death that even the dull-minded could feel. Furthermore, she gave out a simr presence to the enemy, which made all the Indonesian survivors wary of her.


    "Uhm... Who are you?"


    Ellie asked, not minding the slight pressure Magwayen''s presence emitted.


    "There is no need to speak. I cannot understand yournguage," Magwayen replied through Ellie''s mind. "Just speak your intention within your head."


    "Uhhh, like this!? Does this work!?"


    Ellie unintentionally shouted in her mind without opening her mouth. Surprisingly, everyone could hear her voice through their minds as if they were all linked within a localmunicationwork. And sure enough, they all flinched.


    "There is no need to stress too much," Magwayen frowned. "Just behave like you are speaking normally."


    "Sorry..."


    Unexpectedly, the unruly Ellie did not hesitate to apologize for some reason. It was quite uncanny because apologies were not really her forte. Her other personality, Livia, was the one who governed that area of her mind. Furthermore, it seemed that Ellie was behaving quite like a normal personpared to her usual extreme bipr tendencies and behavior.


    "As for your question," Magwayen did not mind and answered Ellie''s question. "You can consider me as the patron Goddess of Mark and his people."


    "Huh?"


    That response was not only from Ellie but also from the other Indonesian survivors.


    "A Goddess?"


    Limabe voiced through her mind. Unlike Ellie, she was able tomunicate through her mind perfectly. It might be because of her mental abilities or affinity as a [irvoyant].


    "Is it that surprising that a Goddess is standing before you all?" Magwayen seemingly shrugged. "Remember that the enemy is also a Goddess."


    "Ah..."


    Those who knew managed to calm down a little.


    On the other hand, it caused amotion to the others. After all, none of the regr members of the survivor groups knew that the Night Goddess was a literal Goddess. It was no wonder they could not do anything when she arrived.


    Limab stared at Magwayen. In her mind, a thought formed.


    Maybe... Mark''s group became strong because they were under the patronage of a real Goddess.


    "It seems you are heading to a misunderstanding, young irvoyant," Magwayen''s transmitted voice made Limab flinch. "It is the other way around. Before I became their patron, they were already strong. The help I gave them was minimal, and only Mark received my blessing."


    Limab quivered. She did not think that her thoughts would be read. Nheless, it resolved the misunderstanding she was starting to have.


    "How. How did they be so strong?"


    Limab asked.


    "You have the courage to ask me, but it seemed that you did not have the courage to seek the answer by yourself," Magawayen replied. "But I suppose someone afraid of the future like you would have a hard time seeking that answer."


    Limab froze.


    "Why don''t you look at those two," Magwayen continued as she gazed at Mei and Amihan, now entangled in a fight with the Night Goddess. "That [Sylph] is an Incarnation of another Goddess. That is why she is powerful. However, as a mere fragment of a Goddess'' soul that has recently awakened, she is far weaker than the enemy Goddess. It was even worse for Mei.


    While she had special circumstances, the current her was nothing else but a mere Demon with borrowed power."


    "Yet," Magwayen nced at Limab. "They did not hesitate to face the enemy far stronger than them."


    "It is not that they were not afraid, especially that [Sylph]. [Sylphs] are mischievous, but they are also cowards by nature. She is definitely afraid of the enemy. But more than anything, they were afraid to lose everything they valued and loved. Instead of fleeing, they faced their adversaries. They do not fight because they are courageous.


    They fight because they are afraid. And because they chose to face their problems this way, they had no choice but to be stronger. And the adversaries they overcame pushed them further to this level of power."


    "As for you people," Magwayen''s eyes left Limab as if she was losing interest. "How many times have you stood your ground? And how many times have you chosen to flee? While not all situations can be faced with nothing but courage, how many of such opportunities to grow have you people let pass just because of fear? Especially you, young [irvoyant].


    You are too afraid of the future that you let the present pass by in fear."


    From there, Magwayen stopped talking to Limab. There was no need to exin further. In perspective, the start of Mark''s group was not too different from Limab and her friends. No... This group of friends actually had a better start. Four out of six became [Mutators] within the first day of the apocalypse, while one was already a holder of a psychic ability beforehand.


    They had a headstart.


    It was just that... the way the two groups chose to face the apocalypse differed. One had "escape" as a priority, while the other chose "fighting" instead. Of course, the ones who fought grew stronger and gained more opportunities, while the ones who escaped just continued to escape further.


    Limab was crestfallen. So was everyone else listening through the conversation transmitted into their minds.


    "What''s with those faces?" Ellie''s voice interrupted their thoughts. "Since we now know how, then we can just start again."


    "Ellie..."


    Limab muttered while looking at the smiling Ellie.


    "Of course, before everything else!" Ellie shouted as she brandished her hammer that was as tall as her. "We need to get out of this situation first!"


    Shocking everyone, Ellie ran out of the barrier. At the same time, her hammer began glowing, with some parts transforming.


    "Burst: me! Enchant: Wind!" Ellie shouted as she jumped as high as she could with her hammer pulled behind her back. "Special Move: Rocket Stomp!"


    A burst of me exploded from the back of her hammer, pushing her momentum and even causing her to spin twice mid-air. And with thest spin, the hammer made contact with the tentacles now attacking her. However, the tentacles facing the impact of the hammer were crushed, allowing the hammer to hit the ground.


    The moment the hammernded, a shockwave urred, conjuring a wave of surging gale, crushing the tentacles along its path.


    Ellie then looked back at everyone.


    "We can''t just leave everything to them! We need to at least help I protect everyone!"


    "Hah," Nelia sighed and readied to join the fray. "Ellie''s behaving weirdly, but she''s right."


    BANG! BANG!


    Nelia began shooting her sniper rifle, sending explosive enchanted bullets at the tentacles outside the barrier.


    "I''ll take this side."


    Bajing walked to the side opposite from Ellie. She charged out with her daggers, agilely cutting as many tentacles as she could.


    SLAP!


    Limab hit her cheeks with both her palms.


    "I guess I need to also change my outlook, huh..." Limab then looked at Magwayen''s back. "Thank you."


    Limab then drew her pistols and ran to another side of the barrier, covering a different area from her friends.


    General Wijaya also joined the resistance. While he could not do as much as the others with his gauntlets, every single tentacle he destroyed was another lesser burden to I and her barrier.


    Of course, the members of Evernight would not just stand waiting. They were the only ones who could help the most in this situation.


    Inside the barrier, Estia clenched her fists.


    "I hate this..." Estia murmured. "Standing around doing nothing isn''t my thing at all."


    "We can''t help it," K shrugged. "We should have asked Mark for weapons, even unfinished ones like the General''s would do."


    "And that Kana," K added. "Just where is that brat."


    ***


    Kana continued to watch the situation. But when the so-called Goddess appeared to help, her heart could not help but beat faster. For some reason, she felt excited. Her blue hair was waving as if they were alive.


    "Are you not going to help your friends?"


    The voice of the so-called Goddess suddenly spoke inside Kana''s mind. However, Kana did not seem surprised.


    "Are you a Goddess of the Sea?"


    Kana actually asked in anticipation.


    This time, it was Magwayen''s turn to be surprised.


    "I am currently a Goddess of the Underworld, although I formerly held that authority. Interesting. You are not a normal mortal for you to realize this."


    "I''m not, I guess?" Kana cutely tilted her head before bowing. "I''m the current Priestess and Princess of our n, although the n doesn''t exist anymore. We are followers of Goddess Lanjar."


    Kana did not mind introducing her secret identity to Magwayen, who was formerly a Goddess of the Sea. It might be because she was a follower of Dewi Lanjar, who was the Indonesian Sea Goddess.


    "Goddess," Kana sincerely called. "I want to help, but my abilities are severely limited in ces without water. Can you please help?"


    "This is unfortunate," Magwayen replied with a regretful tone. "I had long relinquished my authority over the sea and water. I have no such abilities anymore."


    Compared to how Magwayen talked to Limab, her tone was far more amicable as she spoke to Kana. It might be because Kana was showing the Goddess the amount of respect a Goddess deserved. Unfortunately, there was no way for her, who passed on the role of the Goddess of the Sea to herte daughter, to help Kana, who needed water.


    "However, I might have an alternative. Although you need to wait a little."


    Magwayen had an idea.


    "I am willing to wait."


    Kana sincerely replied with a smile.


    Then, there was silence.


    ***


    Magwayen was giving information to Mei and Amihan while talking to the others. For a Goddess like her, this much was a piece of cake. However, it was not just a three-waymunication. At this time, Magwayen was also talking to Mark, who was fighting on the other side.


    It was when Magwayen turned to I. Feeling the Goddess''s gaze, I immediately looked back.


    "Mark''s eldest," Magwayen spoke through I''s mind. "Your father wants you to recall one of the crystals with him. The [Mermaid''s] one. Then activate it."


    I was a little confused. The crystal Magwayen was talking about was the [Stormcaller Mental Crystal]. That crystal could conjure rain and storms. However, I could not fathom how a storm would help in this situation.


    Nheless, I had no reason to refuse either.


    "Okay."


    I replied.


    Closing her eyes, I began to concentrate. Since the burden on the barrier was reduced because of the others destroying some of the tentacles, the task given to her became easier.


    And as the [Inheritor] of Keeper, the creator and original owner of the [Psycrystal], she could forcefully recall it and the crystals it stored.


    But right now, she only needed that specific crystal.


    I felt the connection and tugged on it.


    And like a blue shooting star flying through the night sky, the [Stormcaller Mental Crystal] arrived before I.


    The scene surprised the witnesses. But ignoring the stares, I activated the crystal.


    In another few seconds, clouds began to gather, and the night sky grew darker. However, shes of lightning began to light up the sky. The wind began to pick up and, drop by drop, the rain started to fall.


    But to everyone''s further surprise, not a drop of rain fell onto them, nor the barrier.


    "YES!"


    A bubbly voice echoed, prompting Estia and K to look at the top of the nearby cliff.


    There, they saw Kana with her bubbly blue hair swaying in the wind.


    "HAAAAAA! GO!"


    Kana shouted as the raindrops turned into needles, raining on the tentacles, decimating hundreds of them into nothingness in a single wave of her arms.

 Chapter 1143: Resonance of Souls, The Sins of the Deity Who Stole and Sacrificed Souls

    Day 368 - 6:05 PM -Pudakpajung, Banyumanik, Semarang City, Central Java, Indonesia


    Sensing the aura Mark suddenly released, the three Deities were quite surprised.


    The aura of death. It was as if Death God himself came down to reap the souls of the departed.


    This situation made The Great One smile. The more Mark showed him, the more entertained he became. While this was a life-or-death battle to others, The Great One would not be bothered, as his current body was of Shin''s and not his own.


    To The Great One, this was nothing but entertainment. The Great One did not care whether he would win or lose. He also had no qualms about whether Mark lived or died. If Mark won and lived, they would see each other again in another fight. But if the opposite happened, it was the extent of Mark''s abilities.


    If Mark died here, it did not matter. The Great One would just go and focus his attention on another person. In this case, it would be Mei and the members of Mark''s group.


    Nheless, since Mark was showing more unexpected things, The Great One could not help but enjoy this battle.


    On the other hand, The Deity of Soul Sacrifice was heavily frowning. As a Deity who dabbled with souls and alchemic creation, stealing souls and recreating them anew, he was defying the aspect of death and itsws. The aspect of death was his worst enemy.


    "Kill him."


    The Deity of Soul Sacrifice''s heavy voice resounded,manding his army of abominations.


    With themand their owner had given, the army of [Experiemental Homonculi] began their attack. Due to therge number of varying species of the [Homonculi], multitudes of different attacks rained upon Mark.


    A sh of purplish light bloomed from Mark''s pupils. He immediately moved and flew sideways. It was followed by a strong vibration of the air in his previous location as a powerful sound attack passed through, fired by around a dozen [Homonculi]. But there was no time for Mark to stay in one ce. He immediately left the new location as a rain of acid fell there.


    CLANG!


    Mark then moved his sword, causing a loud sound of metal shing after a Giant Fly with ded ws appeared like the wind in front of him. Pushing the Giant Fly back, he retreated a step before unleashing an unnecessarily wide horizontal spinning sh at the same enemy. However, it was not as unnecessary as it looked, as several more horrendous creatures suddenly appeared around Mark.


    But before any of them could make a move, they were bisected by the horizontal sh, together with the Giant Fly Mark blocked beforehand.


    But then, Mark noticed something.


    "Noo..."


    Several faint cries entered Mark''s ears as ck hazes escaped from the dead bodies of the [Homonculi] he killed. The ck hazes then flew towards the Deity of Soul Sacrifice, reentering the abyss within the robe of the Deity.


    "I... This is..."


    Mark''s eyes showed a vague trace of emotion. His [Empath] abilities began churning, resonating with the aura of death he was emitting.


    "No! Put it back! Put THAT back! I don''t want to die! I don''t want to die! I DON''T WANT TO DIE!


    PUT IT BACK! AHHHH!"


    Mark''s eyes dted. A scene of a man with his body being opened, his organs being taken out one after another, as he was forced to watch, being kept alive by some unfathomable magical formation.


    "My daughter! What did you do to my daughter?!"


    The scene shed to a different one. It was a mother crying while shackled, staring in horror as her daughter was beheaded before her eyes.


    "Brother! Stop! Brother! NO!!!"


    "I''m sorry!!! I''m sorry!!!"


    The next was a scene of a brother crying in despair, as his body was being controlled by something, being forced to impregnate his own sister, who was desperately resisting.


    "UWAAAA!!! UWAAAA!!!"


    It was thest cry of a newborn infant as his body and soul were separated by someone.


    Countless scenes of horror, pain, sadness, and despair shed before Mark''s eyes in that short moment. The process and the result. All of it.


    Mark returned to reality. Before his eyes was the army of [Homonculi]manded by the Deity of Soul Sacrifice.


    In that instant, Mark''s body stopped. His head propped down, his arms seemingly losing strength.


    "Master! What is happening to you?!"


    Ignis shouted into Mark''s mind. However, there was no response.


    "Why are you dozing around?" The Great One shouted. "Are you giving up? All of a sudden? Then this will be your end!"


    The Great One finally released his attack. One after another, theva-like fireballs shot at Mark at breakneck speeds.


    At the same time, the Deity of Soul Sacrifice also took the opportunity. He immediatelymanded his army to start an all-out attack, even if they had to get caught up in the barrage of fireballs The Great One unleashed.


    It was then that Mark made some movements.


    [Miasma] churned around Mark''s body, also resonating with the aura of death. But instead of spreading out, it began to cover Mark''s body, forming a rather eerie-looking cloak.


    "Hmm?"


    The Great One was pleasantly surprised once again. The fireballs he unleashed hit Mark, but the [Miasma] covering his body swallowed the fireballs that collided with it. On the contrary, the fireballs caused damage to the army of [Homonculi] instead, causing the Deity of Soul Sacrifice to re at The Great One.


    However, the Deity of Soul Sacrifice''s re did notst long. It was due to something he did not expect to happen.


    Mark''s body swayed. His figure vanished. The moment he appeared, a few dozen [Homonculi] were torn to pieces, with the remains of their disgusting bodies falling to the ground. But it was not an unexpected thing. The next thing that happened was.


    Just like before, ck haze came out of the bodies of the dead [Homonculi]. However, the haze did note back to the Deity of Soul Sacrifice.


    Mark extended his left palm in front of him. The ck haze began to gather there instead, forming a ball of ck mist.


    With the ball floating above his palm, Mark finally raised his head.


    "There''s quite a lot of you, huh?" Mark spoke to the ball. "I guess you all will have to wait a little more until I''m done here."


    Mark then shoved the ball of mist into his chest, making it enter his body.


    "My fight will also be your fight," Mark murmured. "This will be your first andst opportunity. Help me beat that bastard to a pulp."


    "What did you do?!" The Deity of Soul Sacrifice roared. "THOSE SOULS ARE MINE!"


    The space itself was shaking. The anger of a Deity was not something to scoff at. A regr human receiving this much force would have died several times without knowing anything.


    But facing the unrestrained anger of the Deity of Soul Sacrifice, Mark only reacted with a re.


    "And so?" Mark scoffed. "You can steal these, but I can''t? Since you did the same first, you have no right toin. If you want them, why not take them back yourself?"


    "You''re pushing your luck."


    The Deity of Soul Sacrifice changed his mind. Instead of trying to turn Mark into a specimen, he decided to destroy him instead.


    At this time, Magwayen''s voice echoed inside Mark''s head. The scenery around Mark suddenly slowed down.


    "You... Seriously. I''m done being surprised," Magwayen sighed. "You are entering a dangerous boundary, letting foreign souls into your body."


    "I know," Mark let out a troubled smile. "But it looks like the evolving [Death''s Aura] and my abilities as an [Empath] is a bit of a badbination."


    "The pain of the dead. They are resonating with me..."


    "Their pain now feels mine..."


    At this time, Magwayen''s voice turned sympathetic.


    "That is just how it is. The ferrymen and those who deal with the underworld undergo such experiences every now and then. You have the makings of an outstanding God of Death, although I doubt that will interest you."


    "Yeah, that won''t interest me at all," Mark shrugged. "It sounds like a pain in many ways."


    "True," Magwayen agreed. "As a Goddess of the Underworld, I would not deny that."


    "Let us end this here. There is a limit to how much I can elerate your perception of time for this conversation," Magwayen continued. "The battle here already started. So far, there are no casualties. But this will be a tough fight for your wife."


    Magwayen then ryed the summary of the situation.


    "I see. Kana can help, but there is no water there. That is why I should use the [Stormcaller Mental Crystal]. But it won''t be too effective there if I use it here," Mark then had a memory sh in his mind. "I will send the crystal there instead. Tell I to call the crystal."


    "Will that work?"


    Magwayen was quite skeptical.


    "The crystals are hers in the first ce. She can do it if needed."


    Mark replied.


    "I see," Magwayen seemingly nodded. "Then, I will focus on this side."


    "Yeah, thanks."


    Mark agreed.


    In a sh, the slowed-down scenery returned to normal.


    Mark immediately took out the [Stormcaller Mental Crystal] and encased it in [Miasma].


    The Deities were confused as to what Mark was doing. However, Mark suddenly threw the crystal encased in [Miasma] out of the barrier of [Miasma]. After the crystal got out, the [Miasma] encasing it vanished, letting the crystal fall to the ground. But before it couldnd, it began floating. It then shot towards the east like a shooting star.


    Inside the [World of Decay], Mark sensed the [Stormcaller Mental Crystal] flying away. He then focused his eyes on the Deity of Soul Sacrifice and his army.


    It seemed that the Deity of Soul Sacrifice was brewing something as he suddenly made his army of [Homonculi] retreat and surround him.


    Of course, Mark would not let the enemy. Turning into a blur, Mark charged at the Deity of Soul Sacrifice while destroying any [Homonculi] within his reach and absorbing their souls.


    "You will pay for your impertinence."


    The Deity of Soul Sacrifice remarked as he opened his robe wide.


    In that instant, the abyss inside the robe of the Deity of Soul Sacrifice expanded wide. It began swallowing the army of [Homonculi] under the Deity''smand.


    And then, the abyss swallowed the Deity himself.


    But the abyss did not vanish. Instead, it expanded further, even making Mark retreat.


    Mark fired a few magical attacks using his sword, but the abyss swallowed it all.


    Five meters... Seven meters... Ten meters...


    The abyss expanded to about fifteen meters high and wide before it stopped.


    And from that abyss, a giant monster emerged.


    It was a monster with unexinable features. A monster fused with countless bodies of different creatures.


    "To see this form is an honor. This is the result of my thousands of years of research and experiments."


    The abomination spoke. It was the true form of the Deity of Soul Sacrifice.


    "A fused [Homonculus], huh?"


    Mark red. Each part of the abomination in front of him had the soul of a pitiful victim. There were countless souls trapped within that body. Their despair was churning Mark''s emotions violently.


    BADUMP!


    Mark''s heart beat loudly. The anger of the souls he stuffed into his body was overflowing.


    Within the body of that abomination, the souls of their loved ones were trapped. They want to free them. They want to avenge them.


    The pupils of Mark''s eyes turned red, and the rest of his eyes turned ck. His ethereal-looking wings expanded. The wings began to look like mes filled with vengeance.


    Sensing another change in Mark, the Deity of Soul Sacrifice tried to interfere. Giant tentacles emerged from his body. Each tentacle was several meters thick and a few hundred meters long. Covered in acid that dripped to the ground, those tentacles shot toward Mark.


    As he faced the gigantic tentacles attacking him, Mark''s body swayed before vanishing. He appeared a few meters away, but the fast tentacles were already charging towards his new location.


    Mark then vanished once again and appeared in another location, only for the tentacles to chase after him like homing missiles.


    "Tsk."


    Mark was feeling impatient.


    SLASH! SLASH! SLASH! SLASH!


    Mark vanished. But this time, he did not dodge. He began shing the tentacles like a madman. Each of his shes left ck mes burning on the remains of the tentacles.


    After getting rid of the few tentacles attacking him, Mark''s vengeful eyes turned to the abomination. With his sword d in ck mes, Mark immediately charged at the giant monster.


    However...


    CLANG!


    "I don''t like being ignored."


    The Great One appeared in front of Mark, attacking with a powerful sh, which Mark had no choice but to block.

 Chapter 1144: An Absurd Intervention, An Event Even the Deities Failed to Prepare for

    Day 368 - 6:08 PM -Pudakpajung, Banyumanik, Semarang City, Central Java, Indonesia


    Eyes filled with darkness and a pair of pupils with a fierce red glow. Enveloped with the violent waves of rage and vengeance that originated from the poor souls he sheltered in his body, Mark fiercely charged at the abomination the Deity of Soul Sacrifice had be.


    But with a loud ng, Mark blocked a sword d in mes as hot as magma waiting to erupt for several thousand years.


    "I don''t like being ignored."


    The Great One spoke, expressing annoyance using Shin''s face.


    That sh returned a bit of sanity in Mark''s eyes. Nheless, he did not back down. As the de of his sword collided with The Great One''s, he tried pushing the Deity back with a violent surge of wind.


    The Great One did not back down. Responding to Mark''s attack, mes erupted from the crimson katana he held, causing it to mix with Mark''s wind and create a violent firestorm around them.


    As the magic attacks of different butpatible attributes collided, Mark and The Great One got pushed away by the collision of the attacks they released.


    Taking advantage of Mark''s plight and the distraction The Great One created, gigantic tentacles swarmed from all directions, attempting to drown Mark within their disgusting might.


    The tentacles of the Deity of Soul Sacrifice, despite their gigantic size and appearance, surrounded Mark in no time. In the battle of beyond-human proportions, size was not always parallel to speed. Therge tentacles of the disgusting Deity might look slow, but if a mortal were to witness them move, they could only see blurs of somethingrge moving at incredible speeds.


    As the tentacles surrounded Mark in all directions, he did falter. Not one bit. He did not even move.


    It was as if he was letting the tentacles move closer to him.


    Suddenly.


    The tentacles were suddenly torn to pieces, not sliced, not cut, but torn.


    ck mist surged out of the pieces of the tentacles. All of the mist quickly flew towards Mark and entered his body, apanied by eerie wails.


    "This can''t be..."


    The deep but baffled voice of the Deity of Soul Sacrifice echoed from the abomination.


    "Tch."


    The Great One and the Deity of Twisted Beauty also reacted.


    Mark did not attack the tentacles. He literally did nothing and let the tentacles swarm him. The tentacles were destroyed on their own.


    The [Authority] of the aspect of death was growing. Mark''s [Blessing of Death''s Aura] was resonating with the souls filled with vengeance.


    While it was involuntary, Mark, who took the souls into his body for temporary shelter, was temporarily given an important task.


    The task of the Ferryman.


    It was to send souls back to the cycle.


    A [Psychopomp] for these poor souls.


    Unfortunately for the Deity of Soul Sacrifice, his current body, powers, and entire existence revolved around corrupting souls and preventing them from reentering the cyclicality of souls.


    The [Authority] Mark received was the bane of the entire existence of the Deity of Soul Sacrifice.


    Now, finding their chance for salvation and vengeance, the souls the Deity of Soul Sacrifice collected began to revolt. Of course, the souls were not strong enough to break free. Their existence, although notcking in number, was far below that of a Deity''s.


    Nheless, the moment the souls entered the influence of Mark''s [Authority], they received enough strength to break free.


    More souls entered Mark''s body. His ethereal wings showed more substance as the aura of death he embittered grew stronger.


    "You.... YOU!!!"


    The Deity of Soul Sacrifice''s anger was reaching its peak. He never expected this to happen. His ambitions and goals. His entire existence. It felt like all of it was being denied at this very point.


    Countless tentacles began squirming violently. The ground beneath them cracked and crumbled. And then, fragments of the ground shot to the sky, gathered andpressed, turned into gigantic spikes as sturdy as metal.


    It was the Deity of Soul Sacfrice''s [Telekinesis] at work.


    Most of the time, people did not understand the difference between [Telekinesis] and [Psychokinesis] as both have simrities, specifically, moving things using an invisible force. However, [Psychokinesis] was the ability to envelop the target with said force and freely control it, while [Telekinesis] allowed the user to push targets using that force.


    [Telekinesis] was not as versitile as [Psychokinesis]. However, in terms of raw destructive power, it could be above thetter, depending on how it was used.


    It was just like what was happening right now. By using [Telekinesis] to push the clumps of earth from all directions, the Deity of Soul Sacrifice managed to replicate something simr to [Earth Magic]. And that magic all pointed to Mark at this very moment.


    At the same time, The Great One waved his katana. Theva-like fireballs appeared around him once more.


    Whether it was nned or not, both Deities unleashed their attacks on Mark in almost the same instant.


    A deadly rain of earthen spikes andva-like fireballs. A barrage of attacks that could decimate towns and cities flew toward Mark.


    And facing the iing attack, Mark''s response was to stupidly tilt his head. He looked as confused as a child.


    "Ehehehe."


    No. Mark did not only look like a confused child. It was because a child-likeughter escaped his mouth.


    And thatughter actually sent a chill through the Deity of Twisted Beauty''s spine.


    The attacks reached Mark just after he let out thatugh. However, before the impact, his wings suddenly enveloped his body.


    Arge explosion ured mid-air. It was an indication that the attacks hit their target, or at least something to trigger that.


    But the smoke and dust did notst long. A surge of wind blew it all away in an instant.


    And what was there was...


    Wings.


    Three pairs of ck wings that resembled raven''s wings formed something like a cocoon, hovering mid-air.


    "You two! Kill that thing! Quick!"


    The Deity of Twisted Beauty yelled.


    Something was wrong. The Deity of Twisted Beauty could feel it.


    In the first ce, it was not a good idea to shelter souls inside one''s body. It was just asking to be possessed. Yet, how many souls did Mark let into his body? It might be different if Mark was a Deity or at least a Demon who was aligned with the aspect of death. But Mark was neither of the two. He might have a blessing rted to that aspect, but it was still different.


    It was not just the Deity of Twisted Beauty. The two other Deities felt the same.


    "Hah..."


    The Great One sighed. He was enjoying ying with this body. However, it was now time to throw away this toy.


    Cracks formed on the skin around the arms of The Great One as he raised his right hand facing Mark.


    A surge of ck sand roared around his palm. It was The Great One''s true and unique ability, [Corrupted Sand]. It was the very same ability he used during his first battle with Mark that he had yet to use in this battle for one very important reason. Unlike the body of the [Eye] that he turned into a puppet, Shin''s body would notst using this ability.


    As for the Deity of Soul Sacrifice, countless eyes appeared all over his body. Each of the eyes on his body glowed brightly. He was preparing one of his most powerful attacks.


    Both Deities attacked at almost the same time once again. One released a tornado of ck sand while the other shot pale-colored mes from his countless eyes.


    The attacks showered Mark with all their might.


    One sandstorm of [Corrupted Sand] that could renderrge cities dead. The other was a barrage of mes that directly attacked souls.


    Yet, Mark remained unmoving within the storm of malice that could devastate half an entire country.


    ***


    "Hmmm?"


    Mark opened his eyes. He was within a familiar ce.


    "Master."


    A voice entered his ear. It was no other than Ignis.


    Mark turned his head to Ignis. What he saw was a young man in histe teens, wearing what seemed to be a Western variant of Japanese traditional clothing in the ancient eras.


    It was the current form of Ignis. After he fused with the Kusanagi-no-Tsurugi, the legendary sword made out of Yamata-no-Orochi''s tail, his spiritual appearance grew and changed. There was also an impact on his demeanor as he was not as bloodthirsty as before.


    But Ignis'' current appearance aside, seeing his spiritual form meant one thing.


    "My [Subconscious World], huh?" Mark murmured. "It''s been a while."


    But why was he suddenly thrown into his [Subsconsious World] all of a sudden? Was he not fighting the enemies this time? What about his body? Was it in danger?


    It was when Mark felt some presence. It was not just him and Ignis who were present here.


    Mark looked around him. What he saw was nothing but darkness. No, it was not darkness. It was the corrupted souls he sheltered in his body. It only looked dark because they were all in the form of ck mist.


    With a sigh, Mark closed his eyes. The moment he opened it again, the scene changed. There was no darkness anymore. Instead, he was surrounded by people and creatures, both confused and surprised, as they looked at their bodies.


    Many of them teared up. Even animals and insects were rejoicing. They had all forgotten how long it had been since they had seen their previous bodies.


    The first ones to calm down were a pair of souls. The two held hands as they approached Mark, who was still sitting on the ground.


    Mark looked at the two. He was familiar with them. At the same time, he felt pity for the two.


    "It''s you two, huh?"


    Mark opened his mouth as he looked at the pair of brother and sister.


    It was the poor siblings forced to copte with each other because of the Deity of Soul Sacrifice''s twisted experiments.


    But what Mark did not expect was for the two to suddenly kneel and kowtow towards him.


    With a sob, the sister spoke in an unknownnguage. Yet, Mark strangely understood it.


    "I would like to express our gratitude to you, our benefactor. And also an apology."


    The sister said with respect and reverence but also with fear and guilt.


    Mark was confused. He understood the other parts, but why guilt and an apology?


    But there was no need for Mark to ask as the sister continued.


    "It seemed that our daughter," The sister nced at her regretful brother who bore the guilt of everything that happened. "Our daughter took control of the benefactor''s body."


    Mark frowned, making the two flinch in fear. Then he turned to Ignis, who was also looking confused.


    There was no anger in Mark''s face. His frown was also of confusion.


    How could a soul suddenly take control of his body when Ignis, a cursed sword, the elder cultivator, and even the Deity of Bloodshed all failed to do so?


    "How is that possible?" Ignis could not hold back and asked. "There is no way a mere human soul can take control of Master''s body."


    Mark observed the two. He noticed something.


    The other souls were all rejoicing, speaking with all sorts of sounds andnguage, but Mark could not understand many of them.


    Yet, Mark could understand the two and some strange-looking souls.


    "You two aren''t humans, despite your appearance."


    Mark spoke.


    "Benefactor is wrong," The sister answered. "We are indeed humans. It was just that we are part [Spirits]. Our mother was human while our father was a [Spirit]. However, our human blood was stronger."


    "It was why we were subjected to such humiliation," The brother, who was silent all this time, finally spoke with a tearful voice. "To create an offspring that was more of a [Spirit], yet having the qualities of a human. That was that monster''s intention when he forced us to do such things."


    "So, he seeded on the first try, huh?"


    Mark spoke with a shrug.


    The siblings shivered as memories of that humiliating event resurfaced.


    But it was actually a good thing that it seeded on the first try. It was because the two were disposed of and were sacrificed after the Deity of Soul Sacrifice achieved his goals for the two. If it did not, then there would be more of that traumatic experience in store for these siblings.


    It was obvious that the child was taken away from the mother right after birth. But considering that the child was also now a soul, the Deity of Soul Sacrifice achieved what he needed and also killed the poor child.


    "Haah..."


    And now, that child that was born from a twisted experimentation took control of his body. It seemed that the child had a strong thirst for revenge and wanted to take things into her own hands.


    "You two can stand," Mark told the siblings. "I don''t mind it that much. But let me knock on that brat''s headter."


    The siblings stood up, happy that their benefactor did not seem angry.


    But with a fluster, Ignis spoke.


    "M-Master... You should look outside..."


    Mark looked at Ignis in confusion. He then made the sky in his [Subconsious World] project what the eyes of his body outside could see.


    It seemed that the daughter possessing Mark began fighting the Deities. But Mark noticed something as he pped his forehead in dismay.


    "I changed my mind. Let me strangle her."


    Mark said to the siblings, who shivered in fear.

 Chapter 1145: A Sacrificed Soul, The Nightmare of the Deity of Soul Sacrifice

    Day 368 - 6:13 PM -Pudakpajung, Banyumanik, Semarang City, Central Java, Indonesia


    The [Half-Spirit] siblings trembled in fear after hearing Mark wanting to strangle their daughter.


    While Mark said it in a joking manner, the people of the Lost Era would not understand it. They immediately thought that Mark wanted to erase their child''s existence.


    "P-please, we apologize. Please spare our child."


    The siblings pleaded despairingly.


    The child might have been a product of a traumatic event, but they did not harbor resentment towards the innocent child. Furthermore, the poor child had it worse than them since she was born from wicked experimentation and had been under the Deity of Soul Sacrifice''s sinister care from then on.


    There was no way that any span of time the poor child spent alive could be identified as "living" at all. She had been under such a life until her body could not hold on anymore and perished.


    Mark nced at the desperate siblings. He felt that they were taking his words too seriously. Nheless, Mark had no notion of correcting it either. After all, he was also pretty annoyed after seeing the projection. Unfortunately, the projection could only show what his eyes outside could see. It was limited.


    "Ignis," Mark voiced out. "Project what you are seeing. Show my current appearance."


    Ignis looked at Mark. Since he had a full view of it, he was a bit reluctant to call it Mark''s appearance at all. Even so, heplied. epting the bit of authority Mark gave him, he opened another projection.


    Mark''s frown grew deeper after seeing it.


    It was because what Mark was seeing was not exactly him. While it had his traits here and there, there were huge discrepancies. The most important part was gender.


    Mark''s possessed body, currently holding Ignis, was a female. And a quite beautiful one at that.


    She still had most of Mark''s Demon Form''s features, such as the horns, reddish-ck hair, the red glowing eyes, and even the growing markings of the blessing of [Death''s Aura].


    However, the smaller build of her body, the oval-shaped face, puffy cheeks, and her small hands grasping Ignis were not Mark''s features.


    And if there was one thing that stood out the most, it was that...


    If all of Mark''s features were removed, the girl''s appearance would be awfully identical to the Night Goddess.


    Noticing that Mark understood very important things. It was the appearance of the [Half-Spirit] sibling''s daughter mixed with Mark''s traits. Most importantly, the appearance of the Night Goddess and possibly her core existence was strictly based on the daughter.


    Still, Mark could not understand how it came to this. Sure, in movies and fiction, possessed individuals would start having changed appearances, although most of the time, it was the side effect of being possessed.


    However, it did not feel like that in Mark''s case.


    All of a sudden, Mark''s thoughts were halted. It was because the fight outside continued.


    ***


    Outside, the three Deities were also surprised and confused. What happened? Where did Mark go? Who was this woman in front of them?


    These questions were reasonable after seeing the girl who appeared after the wings opened. However, those thoughts vanished in an instant. After all, while there were changes, the aura the girl exuded and the equipment she wore was still Mark''s.


    But out of the three Deities, the one who was surprised the most was the Deity of Soul Sacrifice. It was because he recognized the girl''s appearance. There was no way he would not remember the origin of the Night Goddess.


    "This is impossible!" The Deity of Soul Sacrifice eximed. "You should have been extinguished as an ingredient for my newer creations!"


    That was right. In order to create the first and the next generation of [Experimental Homonculi], the soul of the result of his so-called [Pure Spirit Experiement] had been torn to pieces and sprinkled to his future experiments after her inevitable death.


    That was why the soul of the [Spirit Child] should not exist anymore.


    Yet, under these unusual circumstances, that child that was supposed to be gone forever appeared. It was nothing short of a miracle.


    In response to the Deity of Soul Sacrifice''s words, the [Spirit Child] smiled.


    For the first time in several thousand years, the gigantic body of the Deity of Soul Sacrifice shivered. The smile he received...


    It contained all the malice from all his detestable actions.


    The [Spirit Child] had be the embodiment of evil karma that the Deity of Soul Sacrifice created over the span of several thousands of years.


    The [Spirit Child] hade to collect the debt the Deity of Soul Sacrifice owed his victims.


    "No... NO!" The Deity of Soul Sacrifice roared. "You are nothing but an illusion!"


    The Deity of Soul Sacrifice had be unstable. It seemed that the fear that suddenly enveloped him could not be contained and turned into unrestrained agitation. There was only one thing in his mind at this moment. It was to erase the existence of the source of his fear.


    In that moment, the giant body of the Deity of Soul Sacrifice expanded. From a few dozes to hundreds, to thousands, to millions...


    Everything on the side of [World of Decay] that the Deity of Soul Sacrifice became filled with disgusting and wriggling tentacles. It was to the point that some of the tentacles began touching the wall of [Miasma] and started rotting. But the rotting tentacles did not matter. If one rotted, a dozen more sprouted.


    "This bastard."


    The Great One said after some of the tentacles reached his position. He could not help but retreat. The tentacles were not just disgusting. They were coated with all kinds of substances from acids to poisons, giving each tentacle a different color. Even Shin''s body controlled by The Great One would notst long if he was touched by those tentacles.


    "Ugh..."


    On the other hand, the Deity of Twisted Beauty was incredibly disgusted by what he was seeing. He felt like gagging in disgust. Worse, the plethora of disgusting odors from the tentacles entered his nose and made his stomach churn.


    "HEY! GREATY!" The Deity of Twisted Beauty yelled telepathically. "I''M GOING OUT OF HERE! ARE YOU COMING OR NOT?!"


    The Great One turned to the Deity of Twisted Beauty. He then turned to stare at his hands, now cracked and charred. The [Corrupted Sand] sure was more than this body could handle and it was starting to break down on its own.


    Shin''s body was clearly reaching its limits. It was a pity. He quite liked this toy even though it was rather low quality since it was a mortal body. There was no fixing it now. It was time to throw it away.


    "You should go," The Great One replied to his ally. "There is no point keeping a broken toy. I will dispose of it first."


    "I''m out then!"


    The Deity of Twisted Beauty said in a hurry as he could not stand the sight of the Deity of Soul Sacrifice anymore. And with a sh of bright light, he was gone.


    It was not like the Deity of Twisted Beauty could not escape the [World of Decay] Mark created. However, it was clear that he would have to sacrifice a few things to do so. And unlike the previous instances of his [Teleportation], the amount of magical power he needed to use to escape was several times more than normal.


    It would not be a surprise if he would end up incapacitated for some time, unable to use his abilities.


    As for The Great One, he turned to the Deity of Soul Sacrifice, whose body continued to expand.


    "This disgusting bastard."


    The Great One remarked.


    At the same time, the countless tentacles began to move. From all directions, they shot towards the [Spirit Child].


    Looking at the countless tentacles, it looked like rain. However, instead of raindrops, there were only tentacles covered in different kinds of slimy ooze.


    Facing the tentacles, the [Spirit Child] brandished the sword in her hand. It seemed that even if she was just a soul possessing Mark, she understood his skills and abilities.


    Unfortunately, while trying to release wind des from the sword, she realized that she could not. The crystals were not responding to her at all. Realizing that the crystals were not activating, she waved her hand instead, releasing Mark''s [Miasmic mes] towards the tentacles.


    This time, the ck mes scattered like a giant wall, intercepting and burning the tentacles that touched it.


    "Haha."


    The [Spirit Child]ughed. She covered her left hand with ck mes and yed with it.


    Nheless, while the wall of ck mes blocked a lot of the tentacles, it would be useless if the other tentacles changed directions.


    Avoiding the wall of [Miasmic mes], the tentacles turned and charged at her once again.


    "BOO!"


    The [Spirit Child] pouted. The [Miasmic mes] then began spreading from her hand to her entire body, including her raven-like wings. Then, instead of retreating, she flew towards the rain of tentacles.


    Amazingly, she flew like a fish in the water, evading most of the attacksing her way. It was not like she dodged everything, but it seemed that rather than evading all the attacks, she was letting weaker tentacles hit her and let the ck mes burn them to ash.


    The most important thing, the ck mist released by the tentacles kept being absorbed by her as she flew. Some of the tentacles even crumbled before touching her, letting the trapped souls into her body.


    And by the looks of it, she was actually absorbing the souls faster than Mark could. The cloak of [Death''s Aura] covering her body was also stronger than Mark''s.


    BAM!


    An invisible force suddenly hit the [Spirit Child] from the side. The Deity of Soul Sacrifice began using his [Telekinesis] to stop the [Spirit Child]. But while her fight lost stability for a second, it did not stop her from charging forward.


    It was when another invisible force manifested. This time, from her front. If she continued flying at her current speed and collided with that invisible force moving in the opposite direction, it would not be surprising if she turned into meat paste due to the powerful collision.


    But at thest moment, the [Spirit Child] changed course, dodging the invisible telekic force. It happened several more times, but the same happened in every instance.


    "This can''t be... This is absurd!"


    The Deity of Soul Sacrifice could not believe what he was seeing. His usual attacks were useless towards the enemy. Furthermore, he could feel his powers starting to decrease.


    It was now clear that the [Spirit Child] was not just flying around evading the tentacles. She intended to retrieve all the souls the Deity fused with his body and steal his powers.


    "You impertinent whore!"


    The Deity of Soul Sacrifice roared. It caused the entire ce to shake. For the first time in this round of this battle, the [Spirit Child] was forced to stop. He was still a Deity, after all. And his authority lingered over souls as the Deity of Soul Sacrifice.


    Even though the [Spirit Child] seemed powerful, she was nothing but a soul possessing Mark''s body. The authority of the Deity of Soul Sacrifice could still affect her.


    Forced to stop in her tracks, the tentacles swarmed the [Spirit Child]. Although the [Miasmic mes] continued to burn the tentacles, it was unable to keep up with their sheer number and began to wane.


    It was a dangerous situation. The [Spirit Child''s] soul was shaken, and the [Miasmic mes] could barely hold on. The tentacles swarmed her without stopping. It formed a giant ball of disgustingly squirming tentacles in the sky, trying to swallow the [Spirit Child].


    But all of a sudden...


    "BOOM!"


    An explosion urred. It was not around the [Spirit Child]. It was at the gigantic body of the Deity of Soul Sacrifice.


    The Deity of Soul Sacrifice turned his countless eyes in a certain direction.


    "What are you doing, Corrupted Sand."


    The Deity of Soul Sacrifice questioned The Great One.


    "That is my target. You are overstepping your bounds, Alchemist."


    The Great One replied.


    "And what can you do?" The Deity of Soul Sacrifice mocked. "That puppet of yours is crumbling. Get out of the way before I decide to turn you into one of my specimens."


    "You really are out of your mind, Alchemist." The Great One smirked. "Just because this is a crumbling puppet does not mean it can''t do anything."


    And then, The Great One yelled toward the ball of tentacles in the sky.


    "MARK! Better not perish in this ce! You should entertain me more next time! HAHAHA!"


    After thatughter, mes surged out of The Great One''s body.


    "You! YOU BASTARD!"


    The Deity of Soul Sacrifice roared in fury. However, it was already toote for him to stop The Great One.


    Releasing all of the power of the [Demonic Blessing of Fire] bestowed to Shin by Gar''m, The Great One caused an explosion, not too far from the size of the explosion that urred after Gar''m died.


    At this time, the [World of Decay] lit up with mes as hot as magma.

 Chapter 1146: Salvation of Souls, The Birth of a [Spirit] of the [Aspect of Death]

    Day 368 - 6:15 PM -Pudakpajung, Banyumanik, Semarang City, Central Java, Indonesia


    The enormous dome of magma-like fire capable of swallowing arge town vanished as quickly as it appeared. What it left was a crater devoid of almost anything. The ruins of southern Semarang City disappeared along with the trees andndscape. Even the [World of Decay], a dome created with high concentrations of [Miasma], was punctured through, with arge hole on its northeastern side.


    On the northern side of the crater, a wall of burnt flesh started to crumble, revealing the disgustingly squirming insidesposed of all kinds of flesh organs from different creatures. Without the burnt outeryer, the insides began to spill out. Beyond that disgusting scene were the remaining body parts of the Deity of Soul Sacrifice.


    More than half of his gigantic body got destroyed by the explosion, causing irreparable damage to the Deity.


    "That bastard..."


    The Deity of Soul Sacrifice cursed as he began moving the remaining parts of his body. Although the tentacles on the opposite side of the explosion survived with minimal damage, the other sides were gone. It caused the disgusting scene of different body parts, flesh, and organs to rain down on the ground in his attempt to move the remaining parts of his body.


    All over the ce, ck mist only visible to the eye of a select few began to overflow. The corrupted souls the Deity of Soul Sacrifice fused into his body began to escape en mass.


    Without a doubt, the Deity of Soul Sacrifice became severely weakened by the damage he received. It would be the best chance to take him down.


    However...


    In the sky, a ball of [Miasma] slowly dissolved to nothingness, revealing the [Spirit Child], whose entire body became riddled with all sorts of burns on different parts of her body. Her armor and clothes received severe damage, revealing parts of her wless but now injured skin. Even the sword Ignis docked turned into scrap metal, leaving only Ignis intact.


    The explosion did not only damage the Deity of Soul Sacrifice. Even the [Spirit Child] received damage. It would be hard to say if she could continue the fight.


    Even though the [Aura of Death] and Mark''s [Miasma] tried to protect her, an explosion caused by the self-destruction of a Deity''s blessing was too much to handle upfront. The explosion and its heat tore through the barriers that tried to protect her.


    However, the eyes of the [Spirit Child] did not waver. She stared at the enemy while catching her breath and enduring the pain. The pain she experienced in the past was far worse than these burns. There was no way an injury just this severe would stop her.


    As long as it did not kill her, the [Spirit Child] had no intention of stopping. This was her first andst chance for revenge.


    It was not only a revenge for her and her suffering. It was the revenge for all the victims who died at the hands of the Deity of Soul Sacrifice.


    That was why...


    The [Spirit Child] ignored her injuries and opened her arms wide.


    "Come."


    The [Spirit Child] uttered her first words in this world.


    At the [Spirit Child''s] behest, the overflowing mist of corrupted souls began to surge towards her.


    Most of the corrupted souls were broken. Many of them were incapable of thinking and emotions. But all of them shared the same sentiment.


    Revenge.


    The waning aura of death began to re once again. It covered her injured body like clothing.


    At this time, the [Spirit Child''s] widened. The sigh of the owner of the body she possessed echoed in her entire being.


    "Kill that bastard quickly," The voice said. "I''m giving you this chance."


    Then, the ring on her hand suddenly activated, swallowing the broken armor on her body and the melted sword she held. Ignis also got purged from the melted sword before resting his handle in her hand.


    "[Manifest]."


    Mark''s voice echoed once again. And this time, the aura of death enveloping her body reacted. The ethereal aura slowly transformed and turned into tangible material. It then spread out further all over her body, including Ignis.


    With a strong burst of malevolent energy, a battle dress appeared, exuding the aura of death and the authority of the Ferryman. Even Ignis turned into a sinister sword that emanated the aura of the death scythe wielded by the grim reaper.


    The [Spirit Child] was now the embodiment of the end of life and the beginning of the journey to the afterlife.


    Surprised, the [Spirit Child] could not help but look at her current appearance. She was definitely confused but also excited. Even the pain began to subside as the blood in her body began to destroy the burnt scabs, making way for the absurd regeneration of Mark''s body to kick in.


    "Ah, that''s right..." Mark''s voice echoed once again within her mind. "Your parents said they never had the opportunity to name you as they were killed soon after you were born."


    "Your parents wished for me to name you."


    "That is why, from now on, following the name of the [Angel of Death], you will be known as..."


    "The [Death Spirit] Azra."


    Mark dered.


    "Azra..."


    Finally having a name, the [Spirit Child], no, the [Death Spirit], Azra''s eyes lit up as she murmured her name.


    To [Spirits], names were extremely important. Their names were engraved into their very existence. Since [Spirits] were born as parts of aspects of nature, a nameless [Spirit] was nothing but a part of that aspect. It was no different to a creature that did not exist.


    Most importantly, [Spirits] would not easily give their [True Names]. Knowing their [True Names] was equivalent to having a master-servant contract. A person who knew of a [Spirit''s] [True Name] couldmand that [Spirit] unconditionally.


    It was the same for nameless [Spirits] being named. Being nameless was no different from being punished. And to receive a name this way meant being a servant of the one who granted them their name.


    But for Azra, she did not care about the master-servant stuff. She was given a name. She was not just some nameless soul of a poor [Spirit Child] anymore.


    And there was onest important thing for a [Spirit] to have a name. Having a name would allow them to release more of their true potential.


    Amidst her excitement, Azra heard Mark, no, her Master''s voice once again.


    "Rampage, Azra."


    Like a violent tornado, Azra''s strength surged. The corrupted souls in the surroundings roared in excitement as they excitedly flew into Azra''s body.


    And the more souls joined her, the stronger she became.


    With a newfound strength, Azra set her eyes on the enemy.


    "You... insolent bastards..."


    The Deity of Soul Sacrifice grumbled in hatred as his gigantic body staggered due to his severe injuries. Worse, the souls that made up his current form began to escape and joined the enemy.


    "With all my [Authority], as a Deity who created you all, Imand. RETURN!"


    The Deity of Soul Sacrifice chanted and roared. The escaping souls wavered. Themand given by the Deity who corrupted them was not something they could ignore. Then, the souls stopped flying toward Azra, returning to the Deity despite their intentions.


    But then, Azra uttered her second word in this world.


    "Free... dom..."


    And as if responding to her wish, her Master''s [Spatial Ring] opened, and the [Butterfly of Knowledge] appeared. With her Master''s order in her mind, she grabbed it and repeated his words as they appeared on the pages of the magical book.


    "Oh souls of the departed, corrupted by pain and despair... I call..."


    "Do not heed the whispers of the evil, fight the urge... I beseech..."


    "There is no paradise in the abyss, there is no salvation for the tempted... I plead..."


    "Help these poor souls, free them from the grasp of the plunderer... I pray..."


    But then... there was a strange pause.


    It was because the words that appeared on the pages of the [Butterfly of Knowledge] suddenly blurred like ink in the water suddenly stirred together.


    The chant was already done. All that was left was to call upon the power summoned by the chant. However, with the name of the power being blurred, there was no way for Mark to ry the words to Azra, who could not read it.


    But then, the [World of Decay] suddenly shattered. The [Miasma] Mark released to create the [World of Decay] turned into thick mist, which he immediately recalled with all his might since leaving the [Miasma] alone would cause more trouble than this battle.


    It was when they all realized why the [World of Decay] crumbled.


    Everyone turned to the sky, which was supposed to show the cloudy night.


    There was a giant gate in the sky. Everyone trembled at its presence. The Deity of Soul Sacrifice was no exception.


    It was a white gate decorated by gold fittings and a giant pair of ck raven wings.


    Slowly, the gate opened. The pair of wings appeared like a raven about to take flight.


    It was when Azra, in a daze, opened her lips and spoke.


    "[Authority of Death: Gate of Salvation]."


    Those words opened the gate fully, causing a strong suction toe out of the gate. One after another, the souls of the dead on the battlefield flew towards the gate. It did not matter if it was a corrupted soul controlled by the Deity of Soul Sacrifice or the souls of the dead from the destroyed military camp. All of them were pulled into the giant gate floating in the sky.


    Of course, it also included the souls Mark sheltered in his body.


    ***


    "This..."


    Mark was bbergasted. The souls watching the outside world around him were vanishing one after another.


    "Benefactor," The sister of the [Half-Spirit] siblings called out to Mark with a smile. "There is no need to worry. We feel that that gate will finally set us free. This will be our farewell."


    "I see." Mark shrugged. "Don''t get captured by another bastard in your next life."


    "Thank you," The siblings bowed to Mark. "Goodbye. We will leave our daughter in your care."


    "Huh?" Mark froze. "Wait!"


    Unfortunately, the siblings only gave Mark onest smile as they vanished from his [Subconscious World]. Now, only Mark and Ignis were left here, watching the scene outside as he scratched his head in frustration.


    ***


    The giant gate pulled the souls of the departed. It was like a scene from a sci-fi movie with a ck hole sucking everything. The only difference was that it was sucking souls that should not belong to the mortal realm anymore.


    "No! NO! STOP! STOP!"


    The Deity of Souls Sacrifice roared. The remaining parts of his body began to crumble as the souls thatposed his current being left his capture.


    "With my [Authority]! RETURN! RETURN!"


    The Deity of Soul Sacrifice desperately used his [Authority]. However, in the face of the giant gate, his [Authority] was useless.


    It was because this gate was no ordinary gate.


    For some reason, or maybe a miracle, the [Death Spirit], Azra, summoned the gate to the afterlife.


    THOOOM!


    The gates finally closed. Azra gasped air as she snapped out of her daze.


    It was then that the gate vanished as if it never existed.


    Teardrops trickled down from Azra''s eyes. It was because, in her daze, she saw her parents. They apologized to her, thanked her, and bid her farewell.


    There was one reason why these corrupted souls kept their sense of self despite supposedly being under the control of the Deity of Soul Sacrifice. It was because all this time, Azra had protected their existence.


    It was no mere coincidence that Azra was given the title of [Death Spirit]. It was her fate, her destiny. It was her power since she was born in a ce where the nature of death was prevalent.


    A [Spirit] born with the wind was a [Wind Spirit]. A [Spirit] born in the middle of a battle would be a [War Spirit]. As for Azra, born in aboratory filled with death and despair, she was destined to be a [Death Spirit].


    But instead of a [Death Spirit] who harvests souls, Azra decided to be one who saves them. It was all despite the torture she went through under the evil hands of the Deity of Soul Sacrifice.


    That was why all these corrupted souls kept their sense of self. That was why they all bore gratitude to her.


    With Mark''s order, Azra stored the [Butterfly of Knowledge] back into the [Spatial Ring]. She then grasped Ignis and stared below.


    There, with a crazed look, the Deity of Soul Sacrifice red in hatred.


    Wiping her tears, Azra steeled herself as a childish smile emerged on her lips.


    It was now time for the final bout against the detestable Deity.

 Chapter 1147: End of His Role, The Defeat of The Forsaken Alchemist

    Day 368 - 6:17 PM -Pudakpajung, Banyumanik, Semarang City, Central Java, Indonesia


    Azra''s wings pped proudly in the sky, staring at the crazed enemy below.


    However, the [Aura of Death] around Azra''s body was visibly weaker. It was due to the souls empowering the aura leaving for the afterlife. The only aura left on her body was a tiny film covering her entirely, and her battledress manifested through the materialization of the same aura.


    As it seemed, opening the [Gates of Salvation] had consumed her power far more than Mark had expected. It was not wrong to say that it was the consequences of using an [Authority] when they had yet to reach the level of a Deity.


    Well, it was totally outside Mark''s expectations.


    Nheless, even in Azra''s current state, the continuation of the battle was doable.


    It was because the Deity of Soul Sacrifice was no longer a Deity. As the corrupted souls, the source of his power left him, he was stripped of his status. His [Authority] was still there, but it was now useless. Furthermore, even if he returned to his original humanoid appearance, the damage he received as a disgusting gigantic monster made of flesh and tentacles remained.


    The Deity of Soul Sacrifice. No. The Forsaken Alchemist was now at his weakest ever since the time he decided to abandon his true nature.


    "Why... After everything I did, it ended like this... I was still far from my goals."


    The Forsaken Alchemist vanished from his position with a loud sound and an explosion of dust and dirt.


    CLANG!


    The sound of Ignis blocking an attack echoed as the Forsaken Alchemist appeared in front of Azra with a vicious attack.


    With his right arm transforming into the de of a mantis, the Forsaken Alchemist tried to sh Azra. Along with the powerful push of his [Telekinesis], he flew fast without even leaving a blur.


    "Why... Why do you stand before me?! Why are being an obstacle to my goals?!"


    The Forsaken Alchemist roared as he waved his left hand and threw a strong invisible force at Azra, flinging away.


    Although the Forsaken Alchemist had motives for joining the fray, Mark was the one who started this fight. While The Great One had reasons to fight Mark, they had more important goals this time than to fight. It was to capture the Goddess he created. They were supposed to leave but Mark was the one who stopped them from doing so.


    To continue pursuing their original goal, they needed to defeat Mark first. And it ended up in this situation.


    The Deity of Twisted Beauty escaped.


    The Great One blew up his puppet.


    And the Deity of Soul Sacrifice fell from grace.


    It was all because of Mark.


    On the other side, Azra got thrown dozens of meters back before she could stabilize her flight.


    It was when she replied, rying words that Mark told her to speak.


    "No particr reason originally," It was such a mocking reply. "It was just there was no way I''m letting you bastards from Auraboros go freely. I''ll mess with all your ns as much as I can. It just happened that you''re the one here this time."


    "One of my goals in this life is to destroy Auraboros," Azra continued to convey Mark''s words. "You can me that arrogant one for that. He was the one who messed with me and my people first."


    "As for you though," Azra brandished Ignis. "Just think of this as your karma. You had done so much evil that even fate lent us a hand. The world is crying for the end of your pitiful existence."


    Those words opened the Forsaken Alchemist''s eyes. He looked at the night sky, exhausted.


    "My pitiful existence, huh?"


    The Forsaken Alchemist spoke.


    Mark expected the enemy to be even more furious at that remark. However...


    "Hahahaha!" The Forsaken Alchemistughed in agreement. "My existence had always been pitiful. As if I wanted to be born a [Pure Human]."


    "I understand," The Forsaken Alchemist seemed to have sobered up. "I will not justify my means. All of it is for my goals. I may have lost my [Authority], but you have yet to win!"


    With eyes seemingly burning with emotions, the Forsaken Alchemist brandished his mantis scythe and vanished.


    This time, Azra also flew forward, with the wind pushing her wings.


    The two vanished. All that could be heard was the sounds of their shes and the shockwaves those shes resulted in.


    At every bout, the earth shook. The shockwaves and sounds traveled far and wide.


    The two soon appeared, ragged and tattered. Azra''s battle dress showed damage. It was the same for the Forsaken Alchemist, whose body became even more injured.


    There was no doubt that the Forsaken Alchemist was just hanging by the thread. He was nearing his end.


    It was the final sh. The two vanished once again for their final bout.


    And it ended with Azra piercing Ignis through the Forsaken Alchemist''s heart.


    But in that moment, the Forsaken Alchemist smiled.


    In his death, the Forsaken Alchemist''s body slowly dried up. From the tips of his fingers to his limbs, then his head, face, andstly, his heart. It then began to crumble to dust.


    It was when ck mist flew out of the crumbling remains. It was the same image when the corrupted souls flew out of the Forsaken Alchemist''s damaged body before.


    Azra, taken aback, tried to retreat. However, she waste, as the mist entered her body without resistance.


    The Forsaken Alchemist was also the Deity of Soul Sacrifice. His status might have waned in this battle, but he had yet to lose the entirety of his [Authority]. If he had no other souls to control...


    Then he could use his own.


    ***


    Unfortunately, it was the worst final move he could have made.


    "Yow!"


    Mark mockingly waved as he sat down on the ground.


    And the recipient of his greeting was the confused Forsaken Alchemist.


    "You..."


    The Forsaken Alchemist never expected this.


    After all, even Magwayen, a Goddess, was surprised that Mark had ess to his [Subconscious] and had full control of the world within it. Not to mention a mere Deity. None of them would expect this absurdity without seeing it with their own eyes.


    But instead of going berserk, the Forsaken Alchemist stared at Mark.


    "This... this... Hahahahaha!"


    The Forsaken Alchemistughed like crazy.


    "Did your screw fall off or something? Aren''t you going to start your final stand?"


    Mark said as he stood up. He observed the Forsaken Alchemist, a little surprised about his true appearance.


    Outside, the Forsaken Alchemist looked like a pale ghost. His face was quite average, but his skin was as pale as snow. And under his robe, his appearance was even harder to describe.


    But the one who stood before Mark was a young man with a rather native look. No one would mistake his appearance. He looked like someone from an aboriginal tribe. Not to mention the tribal tattoos he had on his face and the feather crown he wore over his head.


    "No," The Forsaken Alchemist shrugged. "It is my defeat. I wanted to take over your body as ast resort even if it would lead to incongruency since our souls and bodies had zero affinity. But I did not expect this. No wonder I had no chance of winning. Even if those two bastards stayed to fight, the oue would be the same."


    "What?"


    Mark was confused. He was pretty sure he was also struggling to fight the two of them at the same time. If that narcissist also joined in, the Deities could have won. At least, that was what Mark thought.


    "To think that you are..."


    The Forsaken Alchemist smiled meaningfully without finishing his sentence. It seemed very important, but he seemed unwilling to tell Mark what he needed to know.


    "This is it, the end of my role," The Forsaken Alchemist continued his monologue. "I feel like I gave a mediocre performance, but it cannot be helped."


    "What in the world are you saying?"


    Mark was already frowning as the supposed enemy continued to speak on his own.


    "Do you know?" The Forsaken Alchemist finally spoke to Mark. "The truth of this world, this realm? Our existence?"


    Mark fell silent, listening to the Forsaken Alchemist.


    "Hahaha!" The Forsaken Alchemistughed in a mocking tone. "As if I am going to tell you. Find out on your own."


    And then, as if he knew that Mark would receive his knowledge and memories by absorbing his soul and existence, the Forsaken Alchemist took the initiative to damage it on purpose.


    There, with a finalugh, the Forsaken Alchemist vanished, with the remaining parts of his existence spreading throughout Mark''s [Subconscious World].


    "That... bastard..."


    Mark stared at the ce where the Forsaken Alchemist vanished. His eyes burning with fury.


    "Master..." Ignis appeared, looking at Mark in confusion. "What is there to be angry about? The enemy is already defeated. We won, and we should rejoice."


    Mark''s angry eyes turned to Ignis, making thetter flinch.


    "My head is aching, since I''m racking the memories he left behind," Mark replied. "But that bastard... He erased everything about what he was about to say... Damn it... All he left are those sick memories of his experiments and some other extras."


    Ignis was still confused about the cause of Mark''s anger. Unfortunately, he had yet to understand.


    Mark was an Otaku. And all Otakus hate cliffhangers.


    But then, Mark''s scenery changed. As he blinked, he realized that he was now looking at the real world. His body was returned to him without warning.


    Mark looked down. He rubbed his eyes, but what he was seeing below did not change.


    BOMPF!


    Mark grabbed the lumps of fat on his chest and weighed them.


    "These are heavy... Is it B? Or maybe C? It''s bigger than Mei''er''s" Markmented. "The chest is heavier, but the crotch is lighter..."


    That was right. Although the control of his body was returned, Mark was still in Azra''s appearance.


    "Master..." Ignis''s voice echoed in his head. "Aren''t you embarrassed?"


    "Not really," Mark replied. "Which Otaku had never thought of turning into the opposite gender even once?"


    "Master is really a weirdo."


    Ignismented.


    "Yep."


    And Mark agreed without hesitation.


    "Hmmm..." Mark hummed, seemingly trying something. "It seems like I can return to my original appearance anytime. But I don''t think I can turn into this one without Azra."


    "That is reasonable," Ignis seemingly nodded. "That appearance is hers, after all. By the way Master, she''s inside your [Subconscious], sleeping. She really looked tired."


    "Is that so," Mark sighed. "Her parents tricked me. They asked me to name her, so they could dump her onto me. But I guess it''s not bad. Her affinity with my blessing from Magwayen is far greater than mine. It will be really helpful."


    "Speaking of your blessing, the Goddess did not appear amidst this mess, huh?"


    Ignis remarked.


    "She only asked me to send the [Stormcaller Mental Crystal] and didn''t contact me anymore," Mark nodded. "The situation on the other side should be really dangerous if she had to focus there."


    And as if agreeing to Mark''s words, the ground began to shake. A powerful wave of energy spread throughout thend,ing from the east.


    "Master, I suggest you go there already," Ignis suggested in worry. "The Night Goddess'' power is spreading."


    Ignis was not mistaken. The sky was actually turning darker and darker and such a scene was spreading throughout thend of Java.


    "I know," Mark shrugged. "I also want to leave and go there already."


    But Mark pped his wings andnded on the ground. He stood at the center of the crater The Great One left.


    The crater was still hot. Even the ground had patches of molten rocks that had yet to fully harden.


    But Mark had no interest in those things. Using his [Miasma], he protected himself from the heat and stretched his right hand towards the sky.


    "There''s still something I need to do before I go there."


    Mark said as the [PsyCrystal] embedded on the back of his right hand shined brightly.

 Chapter 1148: Violent Storms, The Night Goddess Pushed to a Corner

    Day 368 - 6:06 PM - Mountain Back, Balong, Pucakwangi, Pati Regency, Central Java, Indonesia


    At the time it began to rain, Kana immediately joined the fray.


    It was now the Night Goddess against thebined strength of Mei, Amihan, and Kana.


    The clouds in the sky thickened. It was clear that the weak rain was slowly transitioning into a violent storm. Even the wind began to pick up, and natural lightning drew a brilliant sh across the darkness brought by the night sky.


    However, even if sweat trickled on Mei''s skin as she fought, not a single drop of rain touched her body, not on her, not on Amihan, and not on everyone else they were protecting.


    It was because all the raindrops gathered around Kana, forming a giant body of water, moving at her behest. The more it rained, therger it became. And all of the danger it posed was pointed at the single enemy before them.


    "Jump!"


    Kana yelled as she rode a wave she created, letting her go down the cliff without obstacles. As shended in front of the barrier created by I, she raised her hand.


    "Everyone get inside!"


    Kana yelled to the ones still fighting the tentacles outside I''s barrier. Although confused, theyplied, and I let them in quickly.


    "Protection!"


    Kanamanded, and the water she gathered split into two, with one part creating a thin but deadly film of water between I''s barrier and the attacking dark tentacles.


    Not having any sense of preservation, the tentacles still tried to swarm the survivors. However, the film of water surrounding them tore them all apart like soap foam doused in water.


    The other part of the water danced around Kana. She then pointed at the Night Goddess, and the water shot needle-like droplets. Like a heavy rotating machine gun, dozens of those droplets shot per second.


    Seeing Kana''s attack, the Night Goddess waved her hand. The darkness slithered and was given form. A ck wall stood between her and the iing attack.


    The first few dozen droplets were stopped by the ck wall.


    However, as Kana continued to shoot those deadly droplets, the ck wall deformed, losing its existence as it could not endure the consistent damage it received.


    It only took seconds, and the ck wall crumbled, forcing the Night Goddess to jump out of the way.


    But as the Night Goddess evaded, she was suddenly hit with a strong force on her back, sending her flying.


    Amihan, taking advantage of the situation, shot a wind vortex from a different direction. It worked as the Night Goddess did not expect the intensity of Kana''s attack.


    But thebo did not end there.


    As the Night Goddess was sent flying up the sky, she was now heading towards Mei''s direction.


    Not holding anything back, Mei aimed at an angle where her attack would not hit Mountain Back. Then, she fired.


    It was a beam of raw energy, the very same beam that killed Gar''m.


    Although the Night Goddess was seemingly surprised by the unexpected situation she was in, she still noticed Mei and her iing attack. She waved both her hands. The darkness of the night suddenly enveloped her, and she vanished from everyone''s sight. It was not a stealth ability. It was not her intention to hide.


    It was just the side-effect of the darkness forming a barrier around her with the dark sky in the background.


    What the Night Goddess did not expect even more was that Mei''s attack tore through her barrier, piercing her body, before shooting straight to the northwestern horizon.


    "KRYAAAAA!!!"


    The Night Goddess'' cry echoed, making everyone kneel while covering their ears. But that cry was less of pain and more of anger.


    Mei pped her rainbow-scaled wings as she prepared for her next attack. Her ears were ringing and felt like bleeding, but she endured. She would not let the enemy leave her sight alive.


    As for the Night Goddess, she managed to evade Mei''s shot, which was supposed to pierce through her torso. But it was not like she did not receive any damage. The lower part of her left upper wing and the entire right middle wing were gone, destroyed to nothing by Mei''s attack.


    The Night Goddess'' cry carried both pain and anger from her wings being damaged by a creature she saw as prey.


    Mei readied her weapon, putting in new crystals. She reced the previous ones that had already vanished after their energy was consumed fully.


    In her mind, words Magwayen gave when this fight started echoed.


    The Night Goddess was both a Goddess and not. While she had the [Authority] at the level of a Godly entity, her iplete existence still veered her far from being a True Goddess. She could be considered a Demigod at most.


    That was why, although it would be hard, the Night Goddess would not be impossible to defeat.


    It was even more usible since there was Amihan. And Kana also joined the fray.


    The only problem was that the Night Goddess had the most difficult [Authority] to deal with.


    [Authority] implied more than just power over the rules. Powerful beings had [Authority]. It was what made them powerful.


    [Authority] was the ability to ignore rules of the world over aspects of nature andmand them freely. Sometimes, it was granted. Sometimes, it was usurped. Nheless, this ability to change reality itself was what made them Deities and Gods.


    And the Night Goddess had [Authority] over one of the most troublesome aspects of nature. The control over the [Aspect of Night], which was the rule over specific pieces of the [Aspect of Time] and the [Aspect of Darkness]. And both these aspects were powerful ones.


    The Night Goddess might not be able to stop time or give specific rules over it, but turning day into night would result in many things. It was because many things in nature behaved differently during the day and at night.


    And when it was night, there was darkness.


    Darkness was the state of nature without light. Even if everything was gone, darkness would still remain. It was not wrong to say that the [Aspect of Darkness] was just below the [Authority] over [Creation].


    Darkness was intangible and shapeless. It was also an aspect that would rule over arge part of emotions like fear.


    A God''s [Authority] over the [Aspect of Darkness] would allow them to turn the intangible into tangible and the shapeless into any shape they desired.


    Disying the power of her [Authority], darkness crept over the Night Goddess'' body. It then mimicked the shape of her wings, and with a strong release of energy, the damages on the wings of the Night Goddess were repaired instantly.


    It showed that the Night Goddess would not go down unless killed instantly.


    The Night Goddess suddenly jumped away. The ce she stood exploded. A strong gust of wind and a burst of strong-pressure water caused arge amount of earth and mud to scatter. It was thebination of Amihan and Kana''s attacks.


    It seemed that the Night Goddess was bing more and more perceptive of the attacks from her opponents.


    The Night Goddess quickly turned her head, facing Amihan''s direction. She extended her hand and strongly clenched her palm.


    Amihan shivered as she felt danger. She immediately flew with a burst of wind on her back. It was when she noticed therge number of dark tentacles chasing after her out of nowhere.


    Flying with a quick twirl, Amihan conjured a wind de and cut off the tentacles chasing after her. But a tentacle suddenly appeared behind her. And like a whip, it struck her back.


    "AH!"


    Amihan felt the pain as she crashed to the ground.


    But the tentacles did not stop. The darkness around Amihan slithered, trying to swallow her.


    Of course, Amihan would not fall here. She mmed her hand on the ground. A surge of wind picked up around her and destroyed everything. As she did it in a hurry, she had less control over it. It caused everything within five meters around her to be torn to shreds. Fortunately, she was thrown quite a distance away from everyone, or she could have hurt someone by ident.


    Still, the surge of energy seemed to have caught the attention of the Night Goddess. After all, that surge of energy Amihan released was powerful enough like a tornado while concentrated in a small area.


    The Night Goddess'' predator instincts kicked in. If she consumed Amihan''s soul, it would be faster for her to beplete.


    Amihan felt the unsettling gaze upon her. She turned and saw the enemy staring at her. Amihan shivered. She felt scared.


    "Younger sister. Now."


    Magwayen''s voice faintly echoed.


    All of a sudden, all the fear Amihan felt vanished. She felt a different gazeing from the opposite direction.


    Amihan suddenly shot away from the ground. The looming darkness about to consume her lost their target. She then nced through I''s barrier. Inside the barrier, Amihan saw Elise, still covered in a golden glow, nodding at her with eyes filled with determination.


    It was the reason why Elise was crucial in this fight. The power of darkness was just more than materialization. It was because darkness could cause all sorts of illusions. Those illusions could affect emotions. Unstable emotions could be the death of anyone once they were consumed by them in the face of a maniptor of darkness.


    Fighting the Night Goddess was more than just fighting against the darkness she controlled. It was also defending against the illusions that the darkness she had created.


    A sh of light gnawed upon the darkness. Mei suddenly appeared beside the Night Goddess, brandishing her weapon she transformed into a sword.


    The Night Goddess attempted to make a wall of darkness to block the sword but she paused and dodged instead. The Night Goddess was learning. Mei''s previous attack tore through her defense. It was possible to happen again.


    As the Night Goddess evaded in a hurry, she not only retreated a short distance but actually ended up shooting backward. As jumped off the mountain on the turtle''s back, she pped her six wings and flew up to the sky.


    "Now!"


    Magwayen''s signal echoed inside the minds of Amihan, Kana, and Mei.


    Since they were fighting on the back of the [Giant Infected Turtle], any powerful moves would not only affect the enemy but everyone on its back. That was why Mei only fired the beam upwards. It was also the reason why Amihan could not use more powerful moves.


    It was the first thing they needed to do. It was to change the location of the fight. It did not have to be too far. Just not above the shell of Mountain Back.


    This was the moment they were waiting for.


    Amihan moved both her arms as if they were pulling something above.


    At the same time, Kanamanded the waters and pointed at the sky.


    It was when a gigantic vortex formed in the storm clouds and a tornado quickly shot down to the ground.


    And the instant the tornado appeared, a water spout formed from below. The spiraling water torrent shot to the sky.


    In between the two forces of nature was the Night Goddess, who did not expect to receive such powerful attacks before she could stabilize herself in midair.


    The Night Goddess tried to evade at thest moment. But the moment she did, Mei appeared in front of her with a sh of bright light, shooting her sniper rifle and forcing her to retreat.


    But as the Night Goddess retreated from the bullets, it forced her into the trajectory of the tornado and the water spout.


    And finally, the wind and water collided with the Night Goddess at the center of it all.


    "KRYAAAAAAAAAA!!!"


    An earth-shaking screech echoed throughout thend as the body of the Night Goddess started to get torn inside the violent spiraling vortex.


    First were her wings. Then her hair, and clothing. And after all that, it was her skin. Her face lost form, and her body was filled with terrifying gashes.


    It could be the end of the Night Goddess.


    The Night Goddess still tried to fight back. She gathered all her strength and called upon the darkness of the night.


    Darkness was just theck of light. It was everywhere during the night.


    But at this moment, it was as if darkness was alive, as it slithered and crawled on the ground, flew in the air, and sttered like mud toward the Night Goddess.


    Unfortunately, the Night Goddess was already surrounded by violent sword-like winds and terrifying spear-like water. The darkness she controlled could not prate thebined might of the Priestess of the Sea and the Fragment of the Goddess of the Wind.


    This was the end. This was supposed to be the end.


    However, the darkness had gone out of control.


    It was as if the night itself began to fight back. The pressure emitted by the heavens made everyone feel like vomiting.


    Everyone lost sight of the Night Goddess. It was not because she disappeared. It was because her body began to dissolve like mud. It expanded within Amihan and Kana''s attacks. It mixed with the wind and water.


    The darkness then expanded, destroying the attacks from the inside.


    Everyone gritted their teeth. They tried to look for the figure of the enemy.


    They found it easily.


    But it was not the figure of the beautiful six-winged goddess. It was a gigantic shadow looming over everyone.


    It was covered in darkness. They could not see any distinguishing feature.


    But seeing that dark shadowrger than Mountain Back, everyone felt their emotions in chaos.


    "KRYAAAAAAA!!!"


    The giant figure cried. Everyone felt heavy. Most of the survivors fell unconscious. It was the pressure emitted by a Godly being in its raw form.

 Chapter 1149: Unison Spell, An Attack in Resonation with the Will of the World

    Day 368 - 6:08 PM - Mountain Back, Balong, Pucakwangi, Pati Regency, Central Java, Indonesia


    The gigantic figure of darkness towered asrge as the mountain-like [Infected Turtle] they stood on. It shrieked in anger, emitting the raw pressure of a Godly being without any restraint.


    THUD!


    Almost immediately, all the mortal beings unbaptized by the strengthening of magical energy fell to the ground. There was no attempt at resistance as the survivors were robbed of their consciousness as no mortal could face the wrath of a God.


    With most survivors falling victim to the Godly presence, it left the leaders of the Indonesian survivors on their knees, barely hanging on to their consciousness.


    "Ugh!"


    General Wijaya groaned, trying to look around his fellow survivors.


    Among the people remaining conscious, the young General struggled the most. The young General remaining conscious in this situation was already an outstanding feat, considering that the first time his body truly circted magical energy was just a few hours ago after he received the enchanted gauntlets he was wearing from Mark.


    Furthermore, the enchanted gauntlets were still unfinished, giving him minimal cirction of magical enhancementpared to the leaders of the Moon Chasers.


    Yet, General Wijaya refused to lose consciousness out of sheer will and determination.


    Unfortunately, there was no winning with just will and determination, especially against a Godly creature.


    "Everyone..."


    Limab looked around her while barely struggling not to let herself fall by propping her hands to the ground while holding the pistols Mark gave her.


    It was the same for Bajing, Ellie, and Nelia, who all held onto their magical weapons while struggling to prop themselves up. They all knew that the weapons were the only reason they could keep themselves from totally sumbing to the influence of the Night Goddess.


    Nheless, it was all that the four friends could do. They were powerless in this crucial situation.


    "Estia! K!"


    Kana''s worried voice echoed as she looked at her unconscious friends. The Priestess of the Sea struggled to maintain her protection around the unconscious survivors behind her.


    When the Night Goddess transformed, all the dark tentacles surrounding them withdrew into her body. It made Kana want to check on her friends even if she had to abandon the barrier. But Kana saw Magwayen''s stare, telling her not to put her guard down.


    "Eldest Miss!"


    Aephelia''s worried voice entered the ears of those still conscious, making them turn in her direction.


    It was when everyone realized that even the members of the Evernight were struggling, especially I, who still refused to let her barrier go down, even in this situation where she could barely stand.


    The other members of Evernight were nearly in the same state as the leaders of the Moon Chasers. They could barely keep themselves from standing. And even if they kept stood still, that was all they could do.


    Of course, it was still except for Aephelia and the golems. The four appeared to be unaffected, to everyone''s surprise. While it would be easier to exin the circumstances of the golems, why was Aephelia unaffected? Was she also a golem of sorts?


    However, only Magwayen understood why, as she stared at the oldest servant under Mark''smand.


    Aephelia''s body was handcrafted by a God. As a body created by a God of Creation, it would not easily sumb to some minor God''s influence.


    "Sis!"


    When everyone struggled to barely keep themselves from copsing, Elise suddenly cried out.


    BOOM!


    Then, everyone saw Mei crashing in front of them.


    "Ugh!"


    Mei groaned as she felt the pain all over her body. The crash she just experienced was not a light one. There was a noticeable dent on the stomach part of her armor. Even the de of her transformed sniper rifle had a chip on it.


    "Are you okay?!"


    Amihan, after she quickly made a wall of ded wind, rushed to Mei''s aid.


    "I''m okay."


    Mei replied a bit loudly to assure everyone. However, it was obvious that she was not.


    Just like everyone present, Mei also began to struggle against the mere presence of the Night Goddess. It was why she failed to dodge and had to defend directly against one of the Night Goddess'' attacks.


    What kind of attack?


    "Oh shi-..."


    Kana''s improper but childlike curse echoed. She was looking in front, straight at the Night Goddess.


    Around the Night Goddess, there was nothing but darkness. And within that darkness, the space seemed to be warping.


    WHOOOSH!


    That warping space conjured a giant ck tentacle-like mass, and it whipped sideward.


    Amihan''s wind wall got torn instantly.


    BAM!


    And the giant [Infected Turtle] they stood on shook and tilted by the impact.


    The barely standing members of the group immediately fell to the ground as the mountain-like creature nearly crashed from the impact of the Night Goddess'' attack.


    And it was not over.


    Several warping of space appeared around the Night Goddess, and countless tentacles of various sizes and lengths appeared from each warped instance.


    Unlike the smaller tentacles from before, theserge ones were not ethereal. These tentacles manifested entirely, turning into more of a physical than a spiritual or mental threat. But it did not mean that they were easily destructible. Same as how Amihan''s wind wall got instantly broken, it would definitely need serious firepower to bring down even just one of these tentacles.


    "M-Miss Aephelia! Can you make Mountain Back retreat?"


    Kana stuttered as she asked Aephelia in panic.


    However, everyone knew it was an unreasonable question. Even if Aephelia made the giant [Infected Turtle] move, there was no escaping that abomination of darkness in front of them.


    "Tch!"


    Mei clicked her tongue as she loaded two new crystals into her sniper rifle.


    THOOOM!!!


    And Mei fired it at once towards the Night Goddess.


    Seeing the iing beam of light, the giant tentacles moved to block its path. Despite their enormous sizes, they moved fast. They appeared in front of the beam before anyone noticed.


    BOOOOM!


    The beam of light tore through the tentacles in front of it. But it was clear that the damage lessened after every tentacle it destroyed. The beam nearly reached the Night Goddess. However, it vanished, using up all of its energy.


    CRACK! TINK!


    The crystals Mei used as ammunition cracked and crumbled. Yet, the waste of godly resources bore no significant damage to the Night Goddess. Worse, the destroyed tentacles began regenerating.


    "YAH!!"


    Amihan suddenly roared. Another tornado swirled in the sky, causing a giant vortex of clouds.


    "Me too!"


    Kana also joined. As if squeezing the stormy clouds in the sky, the torrents of raindrops gathered into one gigantic ball of water.


    The two brave girls poured as much of their remaining magical energy reserves into this attack. But despite the disaster-ss magic they were using, their sole purpose shined through.


    They did not intend to destroy. What they wanted was to protect. To protect their loved ones from danger, they would do the best they could.


    And as if answering their prayer, the two snapped into a stupor.


    "This..."


    Magwayen was surprised. It was a pleasant surprise. She then turned to Elise, whose eyes and body shined golden, being the catalyst for the two.


    It seemed that Elise''s ability to induce her emotions to others somehow reached a supposedly unreachable existence.


    "The surge of the winds..."


    "The torrents of the waters..."


    "We call upon thee."


    Amihan and Kana began chanting alternately with the third line spoken in unison.


    The tornado and the ball of water in the sky began merging as everyone watched.


    Sensing therge amount of magical energy being released by Amihan and Kana, the tentacles immediately moved, switching their target from Mei to the two.


    Mei, despite struggling under the Night Goddess'' pressure and the injuries he incurred, still jumped in front of Amihan to try and protect her. She took out two of thest four crystals Mark gave her and loaded both into her sniper rifle.


    And facing the attacking tentacles, Mei fired.


    THOOOM!!


    The beam of light tore through the iing tentacles in front of it and flew straight at the Night Goddess.


    Of course, fearing the beam of light that she already experienced several times, the Night Goddess made several tentacles protect her. But unlike before, she only used enough tentacles to block Mei''s attack. On the other hand, therge remaining number continued forward.


    Mei managed to bid time for Amihan. However, Kana was now in danger.


    Wanting to protect the other ally, Mei tried to load thest two crystals into the sniper rifle and take another shot.


    However...


    CRACK!


    It was not the crystals. Mei''s sniper rifle, the [AT-Ethereal Bloom], snapped and crumbled into pieces. After firing several shots that could kill a weakened Deity in session, it finally reached its limit.


    "Kana!"


    The Bajing and the others eximed. The giant tentacles were now shooting towards Kana. With those tentacles that could tip over the giant [Infected Turtle], one hit would turn Kana into an indistinguishable meat paste.


    But as the tentacles neared Kana and while she was unaware she was on the brink of death, a cry of courage roared.


    "AS IF I WILL LET YOU!"


    Spera fell in front of Kana through a portal that appeared overhead.


    And then, Spera loudly sped her hands in front of her chest and moved her arms as if pulling something open.


    There, in front of each tentacle that was about to hit Kana, portals of various sizes opened. And without pause, the tentacles shot into the portals.


    KRYAAAAAAAA!!!


    Everyone winced as they heard the sudden cry of the Night Goddess. Only then did they all realize that the tentacles that entered the portals were not stabbing into the Night Goddess'' body.


    "Haa... Haa... Haa..." Spera panted. "Serves you right!"


    There, Spera fell. Fulfilling thest thing she could do in this situation, she copsed. Considering that they were inside the Night Goddess'' domain which inhibits the use of her portals and being under the unrestrained pressure of a Godly being, Spera did awesomely. As she lost consciousness, her portals closed forcefully, tearing the tentacles apart.


    And, despite Mei losing her weapon and Spera losing consciousness, they bid enough time.


    "The Breath of Life..."


    "The Water of Life..."


    Amihan and Kana continued to chant alternatingly before chanting in unison.


    The tornado and the water ball fused entirely, creating a vortex of destruction in the sky. Furthermore, it started creating sparks of electricity before the sparks grewrger and louder.


    With the magic forming in the sky, the night sky cleared. All of the clouds were swallowed into the vortex, creating more substance and power as it became a violent storm on its own.


    "And the World denies thy existence."


    "A creature born from suffering. A monster bound to destroy. We pray for your demise."


    "[Disaster Torrent]."


    And...


    Touchdown...


    The storm vortex swallowed the Night Goddess. The winds swirled violently in the surroundings, and the air carried a slight discharge of electricity.


    Without needing to be informed, Aepheliamanded Mountain Back to move. Staying in this ce would make them all included in the casualties of such an attack.


    THUD!


    And from the attack, two more fell unconscious.


    It was the two casters, fully drained of their magical energy.


    KRAAAAAA!!!


    The storm vortex continued amidst the cries of the Night Goddess.


    As Mountain Back took distance from the storm vortex, everyone watched hopefully. As these people were influenced by Anime in various degrees, no one said anything considered a bad g and just gathered the unconscious in one ce.


    But then, Magwayen frowned and faced Aephelia.


    "Make it move faster. Take the opportunity to escape."


    Aephelia nodded without question. There was no need to ask why. It seemed even that disaster-like attack was not enough to end this fight.


    KRYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!


    A far louder cry then shook the world.


    Dark tentacles shot out of the storm vortex. And then, the vortex was torn apart in a massive burst of wind and water. The shockwave was felt for kilometers. If not for I''s barrier, the shockwave alone might have killed many people around them.


    The most important thing. The Night Goddess was still alive.


    Nheless, it seemed that the attack bore a significant effect.


    The dark tentacles still emerged from the warped space around the Night Goddess. However, the Night Goddess was no longer covered in pitch-ck darkness, exposing its true visage for everyone to see under the moonlight in the night sky.


    "Urp."


    Everyone felt their stomachs churn. It was because the Night Goddess'' current body was the amalgamation of all life and existences sacrificed to create her.


    The appearance aside, there was a huge problem. They now ran out of anything to fight against the Night Goddess.


    "Wow... You all did well against that..."


    A familiar voice echoed.


    "Sorry if we arete."


    "Mind if we take it from here?"


    Two more familiar voices followed.


    And in the middle of the darkness of the night, moonlight descended.

 Chapter 1150: Spirted Away? The Journey of Unconscious Luna

    Day 368 - 5:57 PM - Mountain Back, Balong, Pucakwangi, Pati Regency, Central Java, Indonesia


    Going several minutes back in time...


    "Sh*t! They''re everywhere!"


    Edge cursed as he ran, cutting off the squirming tentacles attacking him as they came out of the shadows.


    There was only one reason Edge ran away from the group. It was not to save himself but to run to Luna''s aid as thetter was left unconscious without anyone protecting her.


    Luckily for Edge, the sword and shield in his hands proved very effective against these tentacles that could not be touched by mortal means. Once more, their debts towards Mark were growing without him doing anything.


    After a little bit of struggle, Edge reached his destination. He was pretty surprised.


    The hut where Luna was supposed to be waspletely enclosed with some kind of barrier that did not let the tentacles through. No. Not even the darkness brought by the Night Goddess could approach the hut.


    After detecting Edge, the tentacles attacking the barrier changed targets. Now, several hundred tentacles were aiming at him at the same instance.


    But Edge did not falter.


    "Shield Enchant: me. Reflect! Burst!"


    Edge mmed the lower end of his shield into the ground, making three spikes shoot out at the same end. Those spikes affixed the shield to the ground as the tentacles mmed on it without him getting knocked back.


    And as per Edge''smand, the moment the tentacles hit the shield, it reacted. As if reflecting back the intensity of the attack, mes exploded out of the front of the shield. It destroyed dozens of tentacles in one go and damaged the rest.


    Unfortunately, the damage did not stop the remaining tentacles from continuing their attacks.


    "Sword Enchant: me!"


    Edge chanted, and his sword''s de began to burn. With his sword d in mes, he faced the continuous attacks of the tentacles as he ran towards the hut.


    With all his efforts, he reached the barrier while besieged by the tentacles. Edge slowed down his feet before he ended up crashing into the barrier.


    Unfortunately, slowing down at this moment was not the right timing. It caused the closest tentacles to reach Edge''s blind spot.


    But then, as if there was a sudden ringing in his ear, Edge''s body moved first before his thinking caught up afterward. Raising his shield to where he was not supposed to see, he blocked the attack that was supposed to being from his blind spot.


    [Animal Danger Sense]. It was an ability Edge did not have before. It was a [Mutator] ability that did not result in any changes in appearance or physical enhancements. It was nothing but a brain mutation. It was an ability that was useful for weaker individuals but waspletely useless to already powerful people whose senses were already enhanced by their mutations.


    It also seemed to have an awfully short distance to activate. After all, its original owner died helplessly in Mark''s hands. While it could be something useful in a sense, there were other options to pick. For these reasons, it was one of the [Physical Crystals] rotting in Mark''s collection after he got it from one of the criminals he killed back in Quezon.


    And now, that crystal was one of the two that Mark gave to Edge.


    With the [Strengthening] of an [Evolver] and the [Animal Danger Sense] of a [Mutator], Edge was making his steps up the stairs to be a powerful warrior.


    Nheless, Edge still had a long way to go.


    "Ack!"


    Edge managed to block the iing attack. However, he was not in the right posture for blocking and ended up getting thrown away by the impact. It was clear he would end up hitting the barrier with tremendous force.


    "Ahhh!"


    THUD!


    Or he was supposed to.


    "Huh?"


    Edge forgot about the pain for a second in his bafflement. It appeared that he went through the barrier, although it was still preventing the tentacles from entering.


    "What in the world are you doing? Just get inside."


    Melfiss'' familiar bratty voice entered Edge''s ear, making him turn to the door.


    "Why are you staring at me like an idiot?"


    Melfiss left that remark as she turned around and back into the hut.


    Their suspicions were correct. Melfiss did leave to protect Luna.


    Edge gave onest nce at the tentacles behind. The tentacles had gone more violent after losing their prey and began hitting the barrier harder. However, it was to no avail. Seeing that, Edge finally followed Melfiss into the hut.


    The first thing Edge looked for after entering was Luna. Seeing that she was still in the same unconscious state as before, Edge could not help but worry. Nheless, she was fine, and the ongoing battle did not affect her even one little bit.


    "Thank you for protecting her."


    That was the first thing Edge said as he turned to Melfiss, who sat on a chair beside Luna''s bed.


    Melfiss gave Edge a short nce before going back to watching Luna.


    "Protecting her had no need for gratitude. It is a duty of mine," Melfiss replied in words deeper than one would expect from her childish appearance. "Besides, since my arrival here, I have done no protecting."


    "Huh?" Edge was surprised. "Then, the barrier?"


    "Not mine," Melfiss answered. "It''s hers."


    Edge saw that Melfiss'' stare did not leave Luna as she answered.


    It meant that the barrier surrounding the hut was Luna''s.


    "But..."


    Edge was baffled.


    "How?" Melfiss interjected and then smiled. "Because the vessel of the fragment''s soul that went to the past cannot be left without protection."


    "What are you saying?"


    Edge spoke in a firmer tone, pressing for an exnation.


    "Would you like to hear a story? Do not worry. It would be a short one since I am not there to witness everything when it ended."


    Melfiss'' eyes finally left Luna as she gave Edge a serious stare.


    ***


    Day ¨ƒ¨ƒ¨ƒ - ¨ƒ¨ƒ:¨ƒ¨ƒ ¨ƒ¨ƒ - Unknown Location


    "Where am I?"


    Luna could not help but voice out in worry.


    Thest thing she remembered was the disy of Mark and Amihan''s joint attack against the flock of [Infected Birds]. There was nothing she could recall afterward.


    And the moment she woke up, she found herself in this ce.


    As Luna looked around, there was nothing but trees and nts all over the ce. It was clear that she was in a forest. The question was where was this ce and how she got here.


    "Limab! Bajing! Nelia!" Luna called out. "Livia! Melfiss..."


    "Edge... Everyone?!"


    Unfortunately, no matter how loud she shouted, she received no reply. Not even an echo of her voice came back for her to hear.


    "Don''t tell me... Did I get thrown into another world? Like in the Anime?"


    A fan would normally be delighted in this setting. But as Luna thought closer to that hypothesis, she felt downhearted instead.


    There was no way she would be excited in this situation. Earth might be a mess because of the apocalypse, and most people would want to leave it, but not Luna. She had friends to survive with and a niece she had to protect. She would never want to leave them, especially this way.


    "What happened... Did I somehow die?"


    Luna slumped her back on arge tree. She then sat down by its roots, starting to feel depressed.


    It was only that that Luna noticed...


    "What are these clothes?"


    Luna asked as another thing to be confused about entered her attention.


    The clothes Luna wore were not her usual clothes. It was not even something modern people would casually wear.


    It was a long white fluttering gown. It was not a party gown. It was more like a sleepwear. On Luna''s feet, it was a pair of some kind of old-style slippers simr to the ones shown in European illustrations.


    "¨ƒ¨ƒ¨ƒ!"


    But before Luna could mull down over her situation, a panicked voice entered her ear.


    "¨ƒ¨ƒ¨ƒ! ¨ƒ¨ƒ¨ƒ¨ƒ¨ƒ¨ƒ!"


    "¨ƒ¨ƒ¨ƒ¨ƒ¨ƒ!"


    The first voice was followed by other voices.


    Unfortunately, Luna could not understand even the slightest of what they were saying.


    Nheless, there were people. Luna could try to establish contact and at least learn about this ce. That was if she could understand them or find someone she could.


    Luna stood up and ran towards the voices. Of course, she was cautious. It would be stupid to just show up and end up getting killed.


    "¨ƒ¨ƒ¨ƒ¨ƒ¨ƒ¨ƒ¨ƒ¨ƒ!"


    But there, following the panicked voices, ones with vicious tones followed.


    Luna hurried even more. She finally found the first group she heard. But Luna froze after seeing them.


    It was a group of two men, three women, and two children. And all of them barely wore anything on their bodies. Feather crowns, loincloths, leaf skirts, stone spears, and scar-like tattoos. The women did not have anything to cover their tops, and even the children were mostly naked. There was no doubt that this was a group of tribal people. Early tribal people to be exact.


    Luna did not even have time to swallow the scene as the pursuers entered her eyes.


    Simr to the first group, the second group was clearly tribals. The difference was that they wore more animal fangs and bones on their bodies as decoration. They carried bone spears and bone knives too. It was quite a huge differencepared to the stone-tipped spears of the first group.


    "¨ƒ¨ƒ¨ƒ¨ƒ!"


    A young cry echoed, making Luna flinch.


    One of the two children of the first group tripped on a tree root while running. The child clearly hit her chin hard on the ground and was barely conscious. But there was no time for them to waste. One of the two men picked up the child and carried the child on his shoulder.


    The first group continued to run. However, it did not take long for the pursuers to catch up and surround them.


    Left without a choice, the two men wielded their spears. They put the women and children in the center, protecting them.


    But what could two men with stone-tipped spears do against more than ten fully armed warriors?


    The two men were defeated. They were killed and beheaded. The women were then dragged back. And the two children? One, the girl, was brought back with the women. On the other hand, the barely conscious boy...


    "NO!"


    Luna could not hold back anymore.


    This might be some sort of a tribal rivalry. That was why Luna did her best to not interfere. She had nothing to do with it, after all. She could barely make do with her current situation, not to mention she was unarmed. Although her mutation allowed her to strengthen her body, it was not the right time. It was currently in the middle of the day when her mutation was the weakest.


    Luna had no confidence in winning against these armed people.


    But when Luna saw what the vicious men were about to do the the injured child, she could not hold it anymore. It would have been fine if the child were also carried away like the others. But it seemed that these vicious tribals had no need for males.


    One tribal was about to stab the child with his bone spear. Luna rushed out and tried to tackle the merciless man.


    However...


    STAB!


    Blood sttered as the spear pierced the child''s head, which immediately took his life.


    Luna stared in horror at that scene.


    And then,ughing, the vicious tribals left with their trophies, leaving Luna, who was still shocked about what she witnessed.


    Luna approached the corpse of the poor child, still in a stupor. She attempted to touch the corpse.


    However, Luna''s hand passed through the corpse''s body without resistance.


    It was what happened when she tackled the man earlier. She passed through the man''s body, unable to prevent the brutal scene. It also seemed that these people could not see her because the men left without looking at her.


    "What is this..."


    Luna voiced out with a sniffle. The strong and decisive leader of the Moon Chasers was nothing but a poor, helpless girl in this situation.


    In a half-conscious state, Luna began to wander the forest. She found the remains of the tribe where the first group she saw likely came from. It was destroyed, and corpses were everywhere.


    It was when she noticed what seemed to be an altar near the center of the vige. It was thoroughly destroyed, even more than all of the housesbined. The altar had totally been desecrated. It was as if the altar was the main reason for the conflict.


    Luna found herself standing in front of the broken altar. Arge piece of the stone carving on the floor took her attention.


    It was because that piece had one single carving.


    It was a circle.


    But Luna somehow knew.


    It was the carving depicting the full moon.


    THOOOM!


    Luna flinched. It was because her surroundings changed.


    She was no longer in the destroyed vige. Luna was now facing ake in the middle of the night.


    And there, Luna saw her.


    It was at the center of theke.


    Illuminated by the moonlight, a beautiful woman with silver hair danced with her feet barely touching the water.


    And then, when Luna thought that it would just be the same as before...


    The eyes of Luna and the silver-haired woman met.

 Chapter 1152: The Pair of Moonlight, The Reemergence of the Lost Legend

    Day 368 - 6:11 PM - Mountain Back, Balong, Pucakwangi, Pati Regency, Central Java, Indonesia


    Luna opened her eyes to an unfamiliar ceiling. No, there was no ceiling at all. It was, without a doubt, the roof.


    While staring at the roof, Luna felt a little confused. She woke up from her slumber. It was something she immediately realized. Was her meeting with the Goddess of Moonlight a dream? Was the massacre she witnessed the same?


    However, everything was all clear in Luna''s mind. It was not a fleeting memory from a dream of something she experienced firsthand.


    Everything she talked about with the Goddess of Moonlight was fresh in her mind: her sad fate and determination. Everything.


    In Luna''s eyes, it was not just a simple talk. It was as if Anaelldenalia wanted to leave her memories because she knew everything about her would never be passed on to the future after she fulfilled her fate.


    So, instead of leaving it by chance, the Goddess of Moonlight decided to pass on her everything straight to someone from the future, bypassing the horrible passage of time.


    "Wait... I feel like there is something we forgot."


    Luna thought.


    It was when she realized.


    "The fusion she mentioned at the start!"


    Luna blurted out in panic as she abruptly raised her body from the bed.


    That was right. Anaelldenalia said something about Luna''s mortal soul and her fragment not being fused. It was one of the reasons Luna''s soul was destined to travel to the past and meet the Goddess of Moonlight. However, during their chat, the said fusion was never talked about.


    Did Anaelldenalia forgot? That was impossible. She was a Goddess. Nheless, the Goddess of Moonlight did not seem to behave like a Goddess at all. It was indeed possible that she forgot.


    "No way..."


    The utter sense of confusion started to fill Luna''s mind.


    "Luna!"


    "Master!"


    It was when two voices ovepped from the door of the shack.


    Luna turned her head towards the voices and saw Melfiss and Edge.


    "Melfiss? Edge?"


    "Edge..."


    "Ack!"


    The moment Edge''s face registered in Luna''s mind, a different person sharing the same appearance shed in her mind.


    And then, holding her head with both hands, Luna wailed in pain.


    "Luna!"


    "Master! Endure it!"


    The two rushed to Luna''s side. Worry filled Edge''s mind after seeing Luna in extreme pain. On the other hand, it seemed Melfiss understood what Luna was going through.


    And the reason for Luna''s pain was the memories suddenly flooding into her mind.


    Memories that did not belong to Luna. It was memories of Anaelldenalia. It was not the whole memory of the Goddess of Moonlight. It was fragmented, leaving only the important parts. Unfortunately, the fragmented missing parts were what made it even more painful.


    As Luna clutched her head in pain, she understood from the memories in her head. It was not that the Goddess of Moonlight forgot. It was just that the fusion would only happen after her soul returned to her body from the past.


    "Luna, try to lie down properly. It should help a little."


    Edge grabbed Luna''s shoulder and tried to make hery down properly. It was something Edge experienced firsthand. After all, the pain of mutation was excruciating.


    But when Edge grabbed Luna, he froze. It was as if Luna was being electrocuted, and Edge stupidly grabbed her, only to turn into another victim.


    Nheless, instead of electricity, it was memories. Some memories flooding Luna''s mind transferred to Edge for some reason.


    However, the memories entering Edge''s mind were not the memories of the Goddess of Moonlight but someone else''s.


    Seeing the situation of the two, Melfiss sighed and decided to walk out of the shack.


    "The battle on the other side is intensifying."


    Melfiss stared at the sky as the world roared as a warning for its iing disastrous attack. It was an attack that could likely kill Deities and harm Lower Gods.


    "Sadly, that won''t be enough," Melfissmented as the terrifying vortex formed in the sky. "Gods are far more troublesome to kill than cockroaches. Even my first Master and creator managed to slip a fragment of her away from the enemies. If she wished to, she could likely revive herself by taking over the body of the current fragment."


    "But Master isn''t like that. With the kindness and courage she had to march alongside mortals against their adversaries, she would never want to harm others to live once more."


    "That is why... Luna will still be Luna. And her warrior would still be Edge. It was the fate of the two. The bearer of moonlight and her warrior. The forgotten legend will rise once more."


    Melfiss stood guard outside. With the awakening of Luna from her slumber, the barrier protecting them dissipated. It was why the two of them were outside when Luna woke up. Fortunately, the battle on the other side was tilting against the enemy, forcing the shadow tentacles to leave this ce.


    But while the two were in the process of inheriting the necessary memories, Melfiss could not justy her guard down.


    THOOOM!


    Melfiss watched as the [Disaster Vortex] fell onto the enemy. The roaring of thunder, the coldness of the water, and the gust of the wind, all these aspects intermingled, forming a city-wide cmity to destroy the enemy.


    But as Melfiss said, it would not be enough.


    At this moment, a film of firm but gentle energy seeped out of the shack.


    "Looks like they''re finally done. Just in time."


    Melfiss said as the [Disaster Vortex] dissipated, apanied by the Night Goddess'' angry and creepy roar.


    "HA!"


    Melfiss shouted, facing the iing shockwave.


    An invisible force appeared in front of the Giant [Infected Turtle]. It was something that most of the people present might have failed to notice, but Melfiss was the reason the Giant [Infected Turtle] they stood on did not get that much affected by the shockwave.


    Even so, Melfiss could not prevent all of it. As a living weapon, her powers had less effect and efficiency if she was not wielded by her Master.


    "Melfiss." Luna''s voice entered Melfiss'' ears. "Thank you for protecting everyone."


    Melfiss then felt a hand on her head. It made old memories resurface as she felt the familiar touch.


    "Are you copying her?"


    Melfiss nced over her shoulder and asked Luna.


    "Did it feel like that?" Luna answered with a bit of confusion. "It just felt natural. Maybe because of the memories..."


    "Same here," Edge chimed in. "But it is weird that we don''t feel anything weird after all that."


    Edge now understood everything. Not only did Melfiss share the story with him, but the memories now in his head bolstered it all even more.


    Luna nodded in agreement and spoke.


    "The only thing different is the feeling of power flowing inside us now."


    "There is something else."


    Melfiss murmured as she looked at Luna and Edge. The two would not notice it themselves, but other people would. It was the strange change in their demeanor. And, most importantly, the change in how the two looked at each other.


    Did the love between Anaelldenalia and her lover take over the feelings of the two? Fortunately, no. The feelings were already there. The memories they received just bolstered those existing feelings.


    "Edge, Melfiss," Luna spoke. "Let''s go. Our friends need us."


    Edge was a bit surprised but still nodded. It seemed that Luna was aware of the situation, even though she was unconscious all this time.


    "I ryed the information to her while she was asleep," Melfiss exined to Edge. "It''s simr to how I can talk directly to her mind when I''m being wielded by her."


    "But are you okay?" Edge asked Luna onest time. "You''re asleep for a few days. Your body must be feeling sore."


    "Not really," Luna stretched her arms and back. "I''m just a bit hungry. After this, I want to eat something nice."


    Then Luna began to walk forward, ignoring the pressure released by the enemy enveloping the surroundings.


    "What are you two waiting for? Let''s go."


    Luna urged, and the two followed.


    ***


    It led to the current situation, where the three stood in front of everyone who was now in a pinch.


    But...


    "Is that you Luna?"


    Limab asked in utter confusion.


    It was not just Limab. Everyone still conscious had the same sentiment.


    One reason was the change in Luna''s aura. It felt as if the person standing before them was a different one wearing Luna''s face. Another was her hair color. Before, it was just dark purple. But now, her hair had a tinum tinge covering her dark purple hair. It was as if each strand of her hair had been coated with silver to reflect any light shining on it.


    "Edge too."


    Nelia said with uncertainty.


    As a weeb who spent most of his time either ying games or tinkering with things he liked, Edge had some bad habits and posture. But the Edge standing before them right now seemed to have gotten rid of those traits of his. While holding onto his sword and tower shield, he valiantly stood with his back straight.


    What happened?


    It was the question in everyone''s minds.


    On the other hand, Magwayen just stared at Luna. She realized what happened.


    And sensing the gaze of the Goddess of the Underworld, Luna stared back. Then, with a smile, she spoke.


    "Thank you for lending us your help. Both now and in the past."


    "It really is you, huh?"


    Magwayen replied.


    That exchange surprised everyone even more. Howe that Luna and Magwayen somehow knew each other.


    However, Luna did not answer Magwayen''s question and just gave a smile.


    Then, turning her back away from the group, Luna faced the enemy.


    "There''s no time to talk right now, unfortunately," Luna spoke. "In any case, leave the next part to us."


    The rest of the group could not fathom Luna''s n. After all, everything they did already failed and the Night Goddess just would not die.


    But the members of the Moon Chasers could only open their eyes wide in surprise.


    "Melfiss."


    Luna called.


    "Okay~"


    Melfisszily responded as she turned into a ball of light and flew into Luna''s right hand, where she turned back into her original form.


    The silver keris with dark-colored ents begin releasing a particr glow. And that glow slowly spread out to cover Luna''s body.


    And with a sh of light, Luna''s appearance changed. It was why the members of the Moon Chasers were surprised.


    It was the appearance Luna had in one particr instance. It was her appearance when she rescued her niece from the vile clutches of that evil group.


    Luna stood with her white robe fluttering in the wind. Her silver hair waved with the every same breeze. Her pupils also turned golden. And with a slight tap on the ground, she began floating.


    "What the hell is this?"


    General Wijaya could not believe his eyes. He could notprehend what was going on at all.


    "Alright. Me too."


    Edge shrugged.


    Then, for some reason, Edge''s back began emitting a bright glow. Strange enough, the glow began forming visible lines through Edge''s clothes and armor.


    It was as if there was a glowing tattoo on his back. The lines soon formed what seemed to be an emblem or crest. Its intricate patterns had the symbol of a full moon at its center.


    "With the blessings of moonlight, the warrior calls. Come! Gaardenalia!"


    Edge chanted. And then, from the sky, a bright ray of lightnded in front of him.


    That ray of light began to gather and deform. It then turned into a four-legged creature made with bright light beforending on the ground. And with a sh, the creature''s true appearance was revealed.


    It was a white wolf-like creature. While it was a canine creature, it was definitely not a wolf. It was not a dog breed either. It sure was a strange creature.


    Not to mention its size. It was the size of a horse.


    As if waiting for its master for a very long time, the wolf-like creature whined as it affectionately rubbed its head on Edge''s chest.


    "It''s been a long time, partner."


    Edge said as he caressed the wolf-like creature''s head. He then jumped on the creature''s back.


    "All of you just stay here. We''re going."


    Edge said as he and Luna began soaring into the sky.


    Luna floated just like before, while Edge used his mount to traverse the air.


    And basked in the baffled gazes of everyone, the two charged towards the wriggling mass of despair in the distance.

 Chapter 1154: [Flesh Creatures], The Exploded Remains of the Night Goddess

    Day 368 - 6:18 PM - Mountain Back, Balong, Pucakwangi, Pati Regency, Central Java, Indonesia


    "A-amazing."


    General Wijaya could not help but voice out as they all watched the battle between the Night Goddess and the pair of Luna and Edge unfold.


    The mountain-sized abomination that the Night Goddess had be. The very same monster that took Amihan and Kana their all, only to end up shaving off theyer of darkness enveloping it.


    With only Luna and Edge, the Night Goddess turned into a spectacr explosion of flesh and blood.


    "Those two!"


    Ellie shouted in excitement. The extraordinary disy of the two was not only powerful but also beautiful.


    The other leaders of the Moon Chasers were also happy and excited. During the initial phase of this fight, only the members of Evernight were the ones who could keep up against the Night Goddess. But now, Luna and Edge showed simr prowess. It was not like they werepeting. However, this situation showed that there was still hope for them to grow.


    At the side, Limab could only sigh. Ever since she began seeing the vision of their death, she started doing things to prevent it. When the vision changed, and she saw Mark within that vision, she took the chance when they first met.


    Then, the vision changed once more, bing unpredictable. All the preparations and everything Limab did to change the scenario became useless. It caused her to fear the future even more.


    But now, Limab realized. The visions of the future she had were never the fixed oue. They were just warnings of the possible scenarios. And factors could happen to change it. While most of the things Limab did might not be able to change the future she saw, there were things she did that threw off such a future.


    Limab''s fears were unwarranted.


    It was a good thing.


    ...A good thi...


    THOOOOOM!


    Along with the explosion of a mountainous amount of flesh and blood, darkness suddenly expanded with the exploding body at its center.


    "Enter the barrier, and do note out!"


    At the same time, Magwayen''s hurried voice echoed in their minds.


    The leaders of the Moon Chasers immediately rushed into I''s barrier without question. It was the same for General Wijaya and the other members of Mark''s group, who were outside the barrier to have a clearer view of the battle.


    It was just a millisecond left before everyone managed to enter the barrier. In that instant, everything outside the barrier went dark.


    "What is happening?"


    Elise voiced out while looking outside the barrier.


    I''s barrier had fire properties, which also caused it to glow. It allowed everyone within the barrier to not lose sight of themselves. However, everything outside appeared to have been swallowed by darkness. They could not even see an inch outside the barrier.


    And then, a particr sound entered their ears.


    SPLAT! SPLAT SPLAT!


    Arge amount of sttering sound echoed from outside the barrier.


    SPLAT! SIZZLE!


    Some even seemed to hit the barrier outside, which caused a sizzling sound to enter their ears.


    "This is scary."


    Even the lively Emika felt intimidated by the current event.


    And then...


    GWuaaAA... Mwuu...


    Everyone felt goosebumps as eerie moans entered their ears. What was worse was that they could not see anything outside the barrier. They had no way of knowing what was making those eerie moans.


    It was when Luna''s voice entered their ears.


    "[Moonlight Dance: Guidance re]."


    Luna''s echoing voice was then apanied by flickers of light spreading in the darkness. Like fireflies in the dark, the flickers scattered, giving a bit of light within the pitch-ck surroundings.


    GUuuUaAaa... SIZZLE!


    And those flickers of light reached the barrier, allowing everyone to see a little bit of what was happening outside.


    "HIIII!"


    Emika screeched in shock as she scampered away from the edge of the barrier.


    It was not just Emika. Everyone who got a glimpse of the outside of the barrier inched away from it.


    Guuu.... Auaa! SIZZLE!


    The moans and the sizzling sounds now made sense.


    It was because the barrier was now surrounded by what seemed to be moving clumps of flesh with bits and pieces of barely recognizable body parts.


    "What the heck is this?!"


    Nelia shouted, feeling extremely repulsed by the creepy scene before them.


    "Light bloom!"


    Luna''s voice echoed. The flickers of light glowed brighter. The surroundings lit up even more, allowing everyone to see further outside.


    And the scene just made everyone even more creeped out.


    It was not just around the barrier. The trees outside had fleshy creatures clinging around them, moaning and wriggling. Even the cliff walls had fleshy creatures stuck on them, hanging horizontally on those walls.


    SPLAT!


    Something fell atop the barrier.


    "GYAAAA!!!"


    Hannah yelped. The thing that fell was straight above her head, and when she looked up, what she saw was the stretched-out face of a woman being burned by I''s barrier. The woman did not even have a body since all that was around the face was a liquid-like fleshy substance that started to drip around the barrier like honey being poured on a pancake.


    "There!"


    Ellie pointed at the sky.


    There, they were able to see Luna, currently entangled in a battle with flesh-like creatures capable of flight.


    SWOOOSH!


    A sh of light tore through the darkness. It was Edge atop his mount, attacking the fleshy creatures one after another.


    It seemed that the battle they thought was over changed into a far more difficult and bizarre fight.


    "WHA!"


    General Wijaya suddenly eximed. Everyone turned in his direction, only to see him staring out to the southern side of the barrier.


    And everyone froze.


    There, a ten-meter-high tsunami of viscous blood wasing, about to swallow the barrier whole. Although it appeared to be blood, it felt more like a giant slime-like creature.


    Luna and Edge seemed to have realized the predicament the others were facing. However, they were too far away to provide help.


    "TSK!"


    A shadow charged out of the barrier.


    "Zhiruo!"


    Mei called out, but Feng Zhiruo did not look back.


    With her sword drawn, Feng Zhiruo tore a part of the fleshy creature surrounding the barrier before rushing out to face the iing blood creature.


    "UGH!"


    Swallowing the disgust that suddenly filled her throat, Feng Zhiruo made her stance.


    "[Azure Dragon Dance!]"


    Feng Zhiruo shouted to drown the disgust further as her sword burned with azure mes, which began spreading to cover her body. She then jumped to the blood creature and turned into a surge of azure mes, shing and burning the blood creature countless times.


    SPLASH!


    The tsunami of blood stopped in its tracks and poured to the ground with a loud ssh. Even though the blood creature was more in a liquid state, the azure mes continued to burn, trying to erase even thest drop.


    "URP!"


    Feng Zhiruonded on the ground. However, instead of a triumphant appearance, she ended up releasing the pent-up disgust she felt when she used that technique.


    With a sudden feeling of weakness, Feng Zhiruo fell to her knee. Worse, the flesh creatures began to surround her.


    "Inaba." "Cavaal."


    And two young voices echoed.


    ""Valkyrie Mode.""


    Everyone could not help but step back as they saw the Canine-Feline Golem, Cavaal, and the Giant Rabbit Golem, Inaba, begin to transform. At the same time, Miracle and Abbygale jumped toward the golems.


    With a sudden sh of light, the two girls, donning their respective golems as armor, jumped out of the barrier to aid Feng Zhiruo.


    "Wawa-what!?"


    The weebs were bbergasted. Just now, they had seen an actual battlesuit transformation. Furthermore, it was two powerful little girls.


    "Is that fine?"


    Spera asked Mei.


    "It''s fine," Mei smiled. "I''m going out too."


    Mei then clutched the dented part of her armor. It was a bit painful to move with it. Without a choice, she removed the upper armor she wore. And then, she called out.


    "Oracle. Please. [Armorize]."


    The Crystal Clear Bloodchild, Oracle, jumped out of a rectangle case hanging around the waist part of her armor. She then slithered around Mei''s body before forming a crystal armor.


    "What about your weapon?"


    Spera asked Mei.


    "I''ll make do with the prototype handguns."


    Mei replied, about to take the handguns out of her [Spatial Ring].


    "Sadly, I can''t hand over mine," Spera sighed. "I''m not really in the best state to fight with weapons right now."


    "Well, the weapons Gege made for us are for exclusive use, after all," Mei shrugged. "He said he hasn''t found out yet how to make the weapons have multiple owners."


    BOOOM!


    An explosion urred outside the barrier. It seemed that Abbygale used the explosive kick ability of her Valkyrie armor. The two sisters seeded in helping Feng Zhiruo, and the three were now entangled with the flesh creatures.


    "I''m going."


    Mei then rushed out of the barrier, firing her magical handguns at the distorted faces burning into the surface of I''s barrier.


    SWOOOSH!


    A flying flesh creature was about to sweep down towards the barrier. It seemed to be a ratherrge one. If that collided with the barrier while charging from above, the possibility of it damaging or even destroying the barrier would not be zero.


    ROOOAR!!!


    Char suddenly roared, making everyone inside the barrier flinch. The Blooddemon Dragon then opened his wings and soared to the sky. With a burst of ck mes from his mouth, Char confronted the giant flying flesh creature.


    "HAAAHHH..." Ellie let out a loud sigh. "What are we all doing cowering here? Let''s go!"


    THUMP!


    Ellie, shouldering her giant hammer, jumped out with a...


    BANG!


    Ellie turned a flesh creature into a stter meat paste with a swing of her hammer.


    "Let''s go!"


    Nelia urged Bajing and Limab to also join the fight.


    With that, the leaders of the Moon Chasers were now all fighting outside the barrier.


    "Haah..." Magwayen sighed. "I told them not to go out of the barrier, but oh well."


    The situation ended up better than Magwayen expected. It was most likely because of the flickers of light now illuminating the surroundings. Without it, going outside the barrier would be suicide.


    WOOOSH!


    A surge of light suddenly enveloped the surroundings around the barrier. The flesh creatures in the immediate vicinity evaporated without a trace. It was followed by Luna and Edge arriving.


    "Luna! Edge!"


    Ellie shouted in glee, weing the return of the two.


    "Don''t shout," Luna flicked Ellie''s forehead before turning to the barrier, specifically to her niece, Amisha, who had also fallen unconscious. "Is she okay?"


    "There is no need to worry. The girl is fine."


    Aephelia, who was now nursing and guarding the unconscious people, calmly replied.


    Luna did not recognize Aephelia. However, seeing that thetter was wearing a maid uniform simr to Hannah''s, Luna understood that Aephelia must be a member of Mark''s group.


    "I see, thank you."


    Luna thanked Aephelia.


    "Is everyone okay?"


    Edge asked.


    "Not really," Ellie, clutching her forehead, answered Edge. "There''s only a few of us left conscious, you see?"


    "Do you really have to yap like that?"


    Edge sighed.


    "That aside, what are these fleshy things?"


    Limab asked, shooting at a nearby flesh creature hanging upside down a nearby tree.


    "That''s... Those are the pieces of the enemy''s body," Luna said with a bit of hesitation. "Sorry, we didn''t expect the situation to turn like this when we attempted to kill the enemy that way."


    As it turned out, exploding the giant body of the Night Goddess was a bad idea. They thought that it was a giant single body that would stop moving after it was killed. However, it seemed that the corpses thatposed that giant body began moving after they were removed from it. It was the same with the bodies from the tentacles, too.


    The corpses that formed the giant tentacles began moving on their own after the tentacles were severed from the body.


    "What the heck?"


    Ellie voiced out everyone''s reaction after hearing the exnation.


    "Then, are these creatures being controlled by that enemy Goddess?"


    General Wijaya asked.


    "That''s..."


    Unfortunately, even Edge and Luna had no answer to that.


    Magwayen, too, was not saying anything.


    But then, an unexpected answer came from somewhere.


    "Yes and no."


    A woman''s voice entered everyone''s ears. And for some odd reason, the voice sounded familiar.


    Everyone turned to where the voice came from, and by reflex, almost everyone took a battle stance.


    The source of the voicended before them. It was a woman wearing a gothic battledress. Behind her back were six raven wings. And that familiar face was not something they would forget anytime soon.


    Strange. It felt strange.


    Luna and Edge had just mentioned that the flesh creatures were the parts of the Night Goddess'' body.


    Then why?


    Why was the Night Goddess standing before them now?


    Wait...


    Did the Night Goddess speak to them just now? She was like a beast before.


    However, contrary to most of them being surprised and hostile, a few reacted differently.


    "Grau?"


    In the sky, Char growled in confusion.


    "Ruff?"


    The golden dog, Laps, tilted her head for the same reason.


    "..."


    Aephelia stared incredulously.


    "..."


    The three sisters were stunned.


    "That''s..."


    Elise was speechless.


    "Haah..."


    Magwayen sighed as if giving up.


    And the hammer hitting the nail...


    "Gege?"


    Mei called out with a strange expression, not knowing what reaction she should show in this totally unexpected situation.

 Chapter 1157: A Night-long Battle, The Night Goddess Defeat and Dealing with the Aftermath

    Day 368 - 6:30 PM - Mountain Back, Balong, Pucakwangi, Pati Regency, Central Java, Indonesia


    "Finally tired of trying to escape?"


    Mark asked as hended in front of the target.


    Currently, the Night Goddess inhabited a [Flesh Creature], which looked like a disfigured four-legged animal. It had six legs, though, all from different creatures. It included a human arm as its left hind leg. It only had one head, which looked like nothing but a spherical flesh sack with a pair of dragonfly-lookingpound eyes.


    Nheless, if one looked at thepound eyes closely, one could seeyers uponyers of stacked eyes that also came from different creatures.


    Disgusting, just like the other [Flesh Creatures] that littered the surroundings. It was the only proper word to describe the [Flesh Creatures].


    Even so, Mark could not care less about the appearance. It was not any different from a lot of [Mutated Infected] that mutated too far from their original appearance.


    Mark only cared about the Night Goddess, now inhabiting the [Flesh Creature].


    Funny enough for Mark, it seemed the Night Goddess could sense the danger he posed to her. The imposing creation of the Deity of Soul Sacrifice was proud of was now stuck atop the head of the Giant Turtle, unable to think properly because of fear.


    And it seemed that the Night Goddess did not recognize Mark at all. Although brief, Mark had been near the Night Goddess before, after all. Or maybe it was because Mark had a different appearance currently? It should not be the cause, though. After all, appearance should not matter to Gods and Deities who could use various means to recognize their foes.


    But it looked like the case was different for the Night Goddess. Not surprising, though. While looking like a full-grown woman and behaving like a beast, the Night Goddess was only born a few days ago.


    And because of the circumstances of her awakening, the Night Goddess did not get properly educated, or in this case, controlled by her creator.


    The Night Goddess had gone this far, relying only on her instincts and nothing else.


    "If you''re not trying to escape anymore. Then, let''s end this- Whoops."


    Mark jumped back as a ck beam of pure magical energy extended upward from the ground beneath his feet.


    TAP!


    Mark''s right footnded after evading, but he immediately kicked the ground to jump somewhere else. It was because another ck beam tore through the space where he was about tond.


    With a shrug, Mark took another quick jump to evade as another attack came from a different direction.


    Of course, ending this mess would not be easy.


    As some people have said, "Even a frightened mouse would fight back when driven to a corner."


    In this case, the Night Goddess became so frightened that she began attacking the source. As ast resort, or maybe the only thing she could do now, the Night Goddess used the surrounding darkness to fire ck beams from different directions.


    "ck beams, huh?"


    Mark murmured as he evaded another ck beam.


    CRACKLE!


    Mark then observed how dangerous these beams were.


    Beams of light were technically aser. They contained high concentrations of energy and heat, which would cause things they hit to either burn or melt.


    But what about these ck beams?


    As Mark evaded one beam after another, he could not help but notice the massive drop in temperature around him. Most of these ck beams shot upwards, and only a few were from the sideward angles. Those sideward beams hit some obstacles, which were now starting to freeze.


    The trunk of a nearby tree got hit directly. Unlikeser, the beam did not burn through but froze the spot that got hit and crushed through.


    It was not ice magic. It was just that these beams were theplete opposite ofser, robbing the surroundings of energy and temperature.


    Darkness was just the default state without light and energy. Things wrapped in absolute darkness would begin freezing.


    Mark might end up freezing to death if he got hit by these ck beams.


    For Mark, freezing was much worse. Mark had already experienced getting burned or being surrounded by extremely high temperatures several times. As such, his adaptability and [Regeneration] had already given him some resistance to it. Freezing to death, on the other hand, was something Mark had yet to experience.


    "I would rather not get frostbitten here."


    Mark murmured as hended. As the skirt of his battledress followed his movement, it bloomed while ck mes exploded around him.


    The ck beams hit the ck mes, vanishing without being able to do anything.


    Seeing what happened, the Night Goddess shivered.


    The ck mes Mark had were not some cold-temperature fire. While it was correct that the hottest temperatures glowed white, it was because the color represented the amount of energy escaping from its source.


    On the other hand, ck mes could be the coldest kind of me, or it could be something stronger than white mes.


    Colors were just the result of energy discharge. If something was perfectly contained to the point it was not allowed to release or bounce off light, it would appear ck in everyone''s eyes.


    Only those enveloped in Mark''s mes would know how hot they were.


    In an instant, the beams were rendered useless. As the mes spread in the surroundings, the freezing temperatures caused by the ck beams returned to normal.


    "Can we end this already?"


    The ck mes around Mark parted as he walked closer to the Night Goddess. The scene looked majestic because of Mark''s current appearance, but the Night Goddess could not really care about anything while drowning in fear.


    KRYAAA!!!


    A loud cry escaped the Night Goddess as countless ck beams rained onto Mark. But just like before, the ck mes danced around Mark, blocking all the ck beams and rendering them all useless.


    Slowly, Mark continued to walk closer, not minding the countless ck beams attacking him.


    In response, the afraid Night Goddess began to take steps backward.


    And at the end of it, the Night Goddess suddenly lost footing. She did not notice she stepped off the head of the Giant Turtle. Since her current body was of a [Flesh Creature], its wriggly flesh body barely had any bnce or even just the ability to properly distribute its weight. So, as a leg lost footing, the rest of the [Flesh Creature''s] body began slipping off.


    Before the fearful Night Goddess noticed, she was already plummeting to the ground.


    But as the Night Goddess stared at the Night Sky, she saw the enemy who shared a splitting image with her chasing after her.


    In a panic, the Night Goddess fired off ck beams once more. But, of course, it was all useless. The ck mes blocked all her attacks and shot towards her, engulfing her entire body and soul.


    The Night Goddess felt extremely afraid. But the fear aside, the ck mes felt extremely warm.


    It might be the end. But it was not a bad feeling, in the least.


    And with those final thoughts, the artificially induced darkness in the surroundings vanished, indicating the defeat of the Night Goddess.


    ***


    "Okaaay~"


    Marknded on the ground below the Giant Turtle, now surrounded by countless [Flesh Creatures].


    Without hesitation, the [Flesh Creatures] pounced at him for whatever purpose they might have, just like the [Infected].


    TAP!


    Mark tapped his right foot on the ground. ck mes burned around him, spreading for around a dozen meters away. It burned everything that tried to pass through, and no flesh creature, whose bodies were extremely vulnerable to fire, could pass even an inch into the wall of ck mes.


    "Well, now..."


    Mark shrugged as he looked at his hands clutched into his abdomen. As he put his hands near his face and opened it slowly, a ck ethereal ball was inside it, surrounded by the light emitted by his hands.


    "I''ll be taking it back~."


    Mark happily said as he took something back from the ethereal ball. These were the emotions of fear and anger that he bestowed right at the moment she was born.


    The ck ethereal ball was nothing else but the waning soul of the Night Goddess. The things Mark was taking back were the emotions he put in her during the ritual of her awakening. These emotions were the cause of everything that ruined the ns of the Deity of Soul Sacrifice. These were also the causes that made her go berserk.


    With pieces of memories left of the Dieity of Soul Sacrifice, Mark learned many things. One of them was that the Night Goddess was supposed to be created without any ego. A near-perfect puppet God. That was what the Deity of Soul Sacrifice wanted to create. After all, there was no guarantee that a creation with an ego would be loyal to him if he was the weaker one.


    If anything, the only thing that the Night Goddess should have that could be considered as ego was her supposed loyalty to her creator. It was the reason why the final sacrifices to create her soul were the loyal army of [Face Wearers] the Deity of Soul Sacrifice had painstakingly created. It was to carry over their loyalty to the soul of the Night Goddess.


    "Hmmm. Good."


    Mark smiled as he saw the Night Goddess'' soul be dormant after he extracted the unnecessary emotions. The Night Goddess returned to what she was supposed to be. Unfortunately, or maybe fortunately, it would take some time for her to wake up since her fight with everyone nearly drained her of everything.


    In fact, the Night Goddess'' soul was already on the verge of dissipating. It was only because of Mark''s [Spirit Healing] that her existence could be kept like this.


    Hmmm? Was Mark supposed to kill her?


    That was the intention until Mark absorbed the Deity of Soul Sacrifice. But now that Mark had the fragments of the annoying guy''s memories, Mark could put this fragmented knowledge to use.


    Besides, Mark was pretty pissed. He lost his armor and weapon. The battle was annoying. Even the "Arrogant One" and the "Narcicisstic One" managed to escape. Furthermore, the Deity of Soul Sacrifice destroyed his soul on purpose to hide something from Mark. The fragmented knowledge Mark gained would not be enoughpensation for all the trouble in his eyes.


    As such, Mark would be taking this puppet for himself. A Deity-level servant would be nice to have.


    Yes, Deity-level. The current Night Goddess was just Deity-level.


    The original level of the Night Goddess was more or less a DemiGod, or a lower God at most. However, that level was achieved with thebination of her soul and body. Unfortunately, Mark only had the soul in his hands. As for her body, there was nothing much to say about it since it was pretty obvious where it was now.


    The body...


    "Haahhh..."


    Mark sighed as he looked around him and sniffed the disgusting smell left by burning flesh.


    It would be a pain to clean all of these up.


    There should be tens of thousands of [Flesh Creatures] now surrounding them. While Mark already captured the Night Goddess'' soul, and there would be little to no chance of her reviving using the [Flesh Creatures], these disgusting creatures could still develop into something really troublesome if left alone.


    Although these [Flesh Creatures] did not pose much threat individually, they were more or less a Sinogo-level threat when put together. There was also the possibility of them trying to rebuild themselves as one gigantic individual.


    As such, everyone would need to clear all this mess. And, of course, deal with the iing mess too.


    It was because the battle here should have already alerted all possible enemies in the vicinity. It would not be a surprise if hordes of [Infected] arrived here in the next several hours.


    In any case, Mark joined the extermination efforts. First was the enemies on the back of the [Giant Infected Turtle]. And then, the countless [Flesh Creatures] below and in the sky.


    Everyone helped as much as they could. Even the unconscious people helped after they woke up and were briefed on the current situation.


    Nheless, mortals had limits. After a few hours of constant battles, everything ended up being left in the hands of Mark, Amihan, Edge, Luna, and unexpectedly, Kana. Everyone tired took some rest and even slept to recover fatigue. After they rested, they joined the battle once again to be of help even a little.


    In the next several hours, Mark''s thoughts were proven to be correct. Hordes of [Infected] appeared. However, instead of joining the [Flesh Creatures], a war between the [Flesh Creatures] and the [Infected] erupted instead.


    Everyone could not help but watch in amazement as the enemies tried to take care of each other. It also lessened the burden on everyone and gave them some extra time to rest.


    In the end, the sun was already rising when thest enemy was taken care of. Tired from the night-long battle, everyone cleaned up and fell into their beddings soon after.


    Without a choice, Mountain Back stayed in that ce for another day. Not only for everyone to rest but also to observe the ce in case they missed something.

 Chapter 1158: The Fragmented Memories, The Story of a Man Once Named Shirkhratala

    Day 370 - 9:21 AM - Bogorejo Subdistrict, Blora Regency, Central Java, Indonesia


    In the former rice fields of Bogorejo, an enormous turtle carrying a small mountain on its shell was currently resting. It was not because the giant turtle was tired, as [Infected] creatures never showed tiredness, and it was still unknown if they could ever feel it.


    The gigantic turtle only tucked its legs and head into its shell to allow the people staying on the mountain to partake in some on-field activities.


    It was because the Blora Regency had some of the most intact ruins in Central Java. Looking at it, it seemed that the counterpart of this ce within the [Spirit Dimension] was several hectares of tnd with only a few clusters of trees here and there. It caused the ce to receive less damage during the [Fusion of Dimensions]pared to the surrounding mountainous areas.


    Unfortunately, due to the very same fact, this ce had been where most scavengers went during the earlier days when the temperature and radiation of Earth finally stabilized. It was not wrong to assume that these ruins had already been looted thoroughly by the military and the scavengers.


    It was not like the people riding the giant turtle were here to look for food and other supplies. If anything, they wanted the ruins themselves. To be exact, the building materials, especially the metal rebars embedded inside the walls and foundations of the structures. The weathered concrete walls might be unusable, but the rebars could still be melted and reforged into usable ones.


    Mark sat down on a cliff overlooking the nearby ruins of a town. From here, he could watch everyone working to retrieve usable materials from the ruins. As for the others, they were not just busy with gathering materials. They also had to prepare for lunch early since they had many people to cook for.


    It was already a day and a half after the fight against the Deities and the Night Goddess. And, of course, the previous day was not just spent idling around and resting.


    Mark shrugged as he recalled the events after the fight.


    ***


    After defeating the Night Goddess, Mark immediately asked Magwayen to tell everyone. That way, they would have more morale to deal with the next part, eliminating the [Flesh Creatures]. As tiring as it would be, they would need to push through and eliminate all possible remnants of the Night Goddess'' body.


    Unfortunately, the rest of the group could not continue after another few hours of continuous battle, leaving the night-long fight in the hands of Mark, Luna, and Edge.


    Things became more chaotic when the [Infected] hordes came in droves. It was nice that the [Flesh Creatures] and the [Infected] did not see each other as allies and tried to eliminate, or in this case, eat the other side.


    Fortunately, in thest two hours of the night, Amihan and Kana woke up. With the help of the meagerly recovered energy of the two, the fight finished shortly before dawn.


    Once the [Flesh Creatures] and the horde of [Infected] that came after were all cleaned up, Mark returned to everyone after making sure he returned to his usual appearance. He could not return in front of everyone since he would end up stark naked after dispelling the materialization of the [Aura of Death] that made the battle dress he was wearing.


    After all, his armor and clothes were either burned or melted because of the Great One.


    After that, nothing much happened. Everyone gathered, but no one was in the mood to ask questions and stuff. They just all want to rest. Besides, most of their people were still unconscious. The one who woke upst was even asleep until noon the next day.


    That was why questions and other details were left for another day when everyone had fully recovered. It was what everyone decided since it was already confirmed that there would be no urgent issues for now.


    Mark also checked on Azra. However, she was in the same sleeping state she entered after the battle with the Deities. It was not surprising, to say the least. After all, Azra did not only try to defeat the enemy but also liberated the souls that suffered in the enemy''s hands. Opening the gate to the afterlife would definitelye with a great price.


    It was already lucky that Azra only entered this weakened state instead of her soul dissipating as the price.


    The most important thing was Azra''s appearance. While the form Mark had turned into during the possession was the appearance of an adult woman, Azra''s actual appearance was more or less a little girl around five or six years old. Remembering the childlikeughter that urred first in the earlier moments of the possession, it actually made sense.


    Furthermore, as Mark racked into the memory fragments he acquired from the Deity of Soul Sacrifice, Azra''s life ended at the same age after she could not endure the experiments any longer.


    ***


    "Hah..."


    Mark sighed after recalling the memories of the Deity of Soul Sacrifice.


    While Mark was sure he was not a good person, even evil at certain times, he was still miles behind the atrocities the Deity of Soul Sacrificemitted.


    No wonder there was an oddck of magical creatures since they arrived here in Indonesia. It was also strange that the [Face Wearers] could infiltrate the survivors in Mount Muria without suspicion.


    It was because the remaining survivors of Indonesia likely never had any encounter with magical creatures and races, even after the two dimensions had already fused together.


    The reason... It was because all magical creatures and races in Java, Indonesia, had gone extinct long ago.


    With the Deity of Soul Sacrifice''s bloody hands alone, he erased many species of creatures. Through his mad pursuit of his goals, he hunted countless creatures. Whether it was sentient or just a mere beast, as long as they bore magic and magical energy in their bodies, they became the target of the Deity of Soul Sacrifice''s experimentation.


    But why was that? Why was the Deity of Soul Sacrifice targetting such creatures with specific traits?


    It was because...


    Mark shrugged once again.


    Although he reached the level of a Deity, the Deity of Soul Sacrifice, no, the so-called Alchemist Shirkhrat, was simply a [Pure Human].


    ***


    Shirkhrat was among the [Pure Humans] who were born just in time to witness the arrival of Gods in this world. He was there watching the world enter the Lost Era. With eyes shining in fascination and awe, he bore witness to the miracles and magic blessed by the Gods and Deities.


    Furthermore, he had long wished to be chosen by the Gods and receive their blessings. He wanted to go beyond what a human could do and achieve.


    But that fascination turned into envy when the truth came to light. Those humans who received the blessings were people who carried special bloodlines created by the Gods. And a [Pure Human], like Shirkhrat, had no chance of being blessed. It would be impossible for him to experience such miracles.


    Even so, Shirkhrat''s envy at that time was not strong enough to veer him from themon lives of people back then. And even as a [Pure Human], he was smart and innovative enough to lead his tribe as the next chieftain.


    And it came true.


    Shirkhrat led his tribe to prosperity after bing the next chieftain. He might not be as strong as other warriors of their tribe, but he was able to lead them using his wits and creativity. He was respected as the most intelligent chieftain ever since their tribe was formed.


    But just like in most cases, a viin was not born but was created.


    The prosperous tribe Shirkhrat led fell into ruin before his very eyes.


    It should have been impossible. Because of Shirkhrat, his tribe developed weapons, armor, and defenses that far exceeded other tribes. A normal confrontation between tribes should have led them to victory.


    Yet, Shirkhrat could only watch his tribesmen, his wife, and his two children all die before his very eyes.


    It was all because the leader of the enemy tribe that attacked them was a [Blessed One]. That leader was bestowed overwhelming strength to uproot trees and throw boulders with bare hands, and his body could not be pierced with spears and arrows. He might have looked odd with four arms and ckened skin, but it just added to the fear he could inflict on his enemies.


    Worse, there was no reason for the attack but envy. The blessed leader of the other tribe could not make his tribe as prosperous as Shirkhrat. As such, it led him to want to destroy something he could not achieve.


    The result of it was the fall of Shirkhrat''s tribe. There was not even the intent to capture people. Everyone was just killed and left in the middle of a burning vige.


    Even Shirkhrat fell after an arrow pierced his chest.


    But by luck or miracle, Shirkhrat woke up feeling the raindrops falling onto his body.


    With the arrow still lodged in his chest, Shirkhrat walked around his destroyed vige under a strong downpour. With buildings mostly burned and the corpses of his people all over the ce, the eyes of Shirkhrat finally lost their light as he vowed.


    Shirkhrat promised to avenge his people, not only to the bastards that destroyed his vige and killed his people but also to the God that bestowed that bastard his blessing.


    It was the birth of the Alchemist Shirkhrat. A person who, despite being a [Pure Human], achieved Deityhood.


    Unfortunately, it took a long time before he reached that point. And even as a Deity, he would be no match for a God. And to his dismay, the God that bestowed the blessing to that bastard who destroyed his tribe had long been gone to who knows where. Even the blessed bastard had already sumbed to old age and was dead long ago.


    But the missing enemies did not stop the Alchemist Shirkhrat from executing his revenge.


    As the ceremony to his Deityhood, Shirkhrat razed that very same tribe to the ground. He even hunted down every other person or tribe in close ties with the tribe of the blessed bastard.


    And since Shirkhrat had been gone for at least a few hundred years, the number of tribes he razed numbered more than a dozen, and the people he captured went past a thousand.


    The pleas and cries of those people failed to enter his ears. No matter what their gender or age, he gathered them all in one ce.


    That ce was a huge altar. An altar to sacrifice souls.


    On that very day, the Alchemist Shirkhrat formally stepped into Deityhood, soon known as the Deity of Soul Sacrifice.


    The Deity of Soul Sacrifice gobbled up their souls to empower his body and used their bodies for his creations. He wasted nothing in his revenge.


    Unfortunately, the anger never subsided. In the first ce, the mind of the Deity of Soul Sacrifice had already been twisted into an irredeemable degree.


    However, a crazed person would never notice how crazy they were. The Deity of Soul Sacrifice only thought that his anger would only subside if he managed to find that God and kill him.


    Thus, the Deity of Soul Sacrifice decided to aim to be a God.


    Unfortunately, he soon learned that it was impossible. Achieving Deityhood was already a miracle. It was not an issue with the physique. It was a problem due to his bloodline and soul.


    Unable to achieve what he wanted, the Deity of Soul Sacrifice became crazier and crazier. He started hating all Gods and those rted to them.


    And then, the day came when the Deity of Soul Sacrifice began his most borate project. To create a God for him to control. And in the process of this project, he killed and killed and killed. He experimented on his victims, either devoured or sacrificed their souls, and used their bodies to create abominations.


    The Night Goddess project caused the entire species and races of magical creatures in Java, Indonesia. It also caused entire human bloodlines to go extinct as he targeted every living thing that bore magic.


    ***


    A bubbly voice entered Mark''s ears. ncing at the source of the voice, he saw the blue-haired girl with a bubbly personality as she yed tag with the children.


    Kana, the Priestess of the Sea-Dweller Tribe and thest member of their bloodline. Furthermore, she was likely to be a member of a different and hidden branch of the tribe.


    It was because the main branch of the Sea-Dweller Tribe was among the victims of the Deity of Soul Sacrifice.


    If Kana had been born from the main branch, there was no way she would exist now. It was because the Sea-Dweller Tribe was all captured and killed a few hundred years ago.


    Fortunately, it seemed that the traditions and blessings of the tribe were passed on properly and ended up on Kana.


    With those thoughts in mind, Mark stood up and stretched his body. The fragmented memories of the Deity of Soul Sacrifice sure made Mark a bit gloomy. However, there was no point in moping around with these troublesome memories.


    Instead, Mark decided to focus on other things. Specifically, creating his new armor and weapon. After all, the previous battle caused him all that precious stuff. Mei also needed a new gun since her sniper rifle fell apart from overuse during their fight with the Night Goddess.


    "Geez... There''s a lot to do... At least I want to y a video game or watch anime."


    Mark grumbled. Nheless, he did not veer from his initial thought and soon started designing the new weapons and armor in their tent.

 Chapter 1159: Another Meeting, The Circumstances Before and the Plans After

    Day 370 - 7:21 PM - Bogorejo Subdistrict, Blora Regency, Central Java, Indonesia


    Under therge awning hung between the branches and trunks of trees, the predominant members of the Indonesian survivors and Evernight gathered. With all of them physically and mentally recovered from the events that unfolded a few days ago, it was time to have a proper talk about things and their goals for the future.


    Everyone made sure to eat dinner before starting. It was because some topics of the meeting could make them lose their appetite for various reasons.


    For example, the current topic they were discussing.


    "So, everyone is dead? It''s just us left here in this country?"


    Estia, one of the leaders of the 3rd Wave, asked General Wijaya.


    Upon their hasty return and the sudden events that followed, General Wijaya and the soldiers failed to share the information they brought back after trying to search for survivors from Mount Muria they separated from.


    Furthermore, General Wijaya decided to keep the information hidden until this meeting to convey it properly.


    "We can''t be sure about the entire country, but here within maind Java, it might be only us. The [Fog Crawlers] were that vicious. Some people might have survived the [Fog Crawlers], but people likely fell into the hands of the [Infected] since we did encounter familiar mutants who already turned."


    General Wijaya shared the news himself. The things they encountered, the scenes they passed by, and the state of the military outpost.


    There were no survivors. All they could bring back were a good amount of military supplies and equipment the dead would have no use for.


    While General Wijaya recounted the events, Mark said nothing, only nodding in confirmation.


    The news was quite a shock. Among tens of thousands of the survivors gathered in Mount Muria, only a few thousand escaped Mount Muria''s eruption. And that meager fraction further decreased, only leaving about three hundred people.


    "General," Farrel of the Fire Fighters spoke. "It is still not final that we are the only survivors, right?"


    And in reply, General Wijaya nodded.


    "I can''t say that everything we know is definite. Although the other Generals dered before that Mount Muria is the only remaining survivor base in the country, it''s not entirely the truth. We hid this fact to dissuade people from venturing out of Mount Muria to find other settlements. In truth, we lost contact with many bases without confirmation whether they were destroyed or still functioning.


    But with the existence of the [Fog Crawlers], the chances of thetter being the case was rather slim, to be honest."


    "But since the Fog only urs here in Java," General Wijaya continued. "There is a higher chance of finding survivors in other parts of the country."


    "So, there''s a chance we can find survivors in Bali, right?"


    Nelia voiced out, followed by everyone''s agreement.


    "Of course, there is still a question of whether they will be friendly or hostile."


    Limab spoke about the possible scenario, which also received everyone''s agreement.


    There was nothing harmful to being cautious. It would be more dangerous to ept everything as is and fall into a trap or scheme.


    As they continued the ongoing discussion, there was no change in the initial n to travel to Bali. The maind Java was getting more and more dangerous. Although they finally passed far from the immediate affected areas of Mount Muria''s violent eruption, the ashes would still reach the current location if the wind blew in the wrong direction.


    Furthermore, the encounter of [Infected] hordes moving towards the direction of Mount Muria increased as time passed. It seemed that the events in the previous days gathered the attention of every [Infected] within the ind of Java, causing them to move towards the direction of those specific areas.


    The fall of the giant tree in Jakarta was also mentioned. It seemed that the sky-reaching tree was well known to all the Indonesian survivors, and to learn that it fell pretty much surprised them. Unfortunately, there was nothing more to share about the tree''s fall since it was a few hundred kilometers from where Mark witnessed it.


    Finishing the first part of the discussion, they moved to the events of the battle against the Deities and the Night Goddess.


    Mark did not say much about his battle against the Deity of Soul Sacrifice and the Great One. After all, the events of that battle would be difficult to tell with words. Worse, it would sound more like a piece of fiction. Instead, Mark focused on the details everyone witnessed that night, specifically why his appearance during his arrival looked like the Night Goddess.


    The surroundings fell silent as they learned who Azra was, how the Night Goddess was created, and the atrocities the Deity of Soul Sacrificemitted.


    And since there were a few new faces in the surroundings, Mark and those already privy to the information about the [Mechids], the [Fusion of Dimensions], and Luna being Indonesia''s candidate, shared the information they knew.


    "Is that thing about the [Fusion of Dimensions] really true? Is that why the world changed too much?"


    Dr. Willis Reagan, far from his usual crazy demeanor, asked calmly.


    Mark nodded in confirmation and exined its supposed effects and the existence of the Spirit Dimension. He also briefly mentioned the truth about the myths about the Gods and Deities, which also had something to do with the previous events.


    Since the mortal realm and the Spirit Dimension fused, they should have encountered other magical creatures before. However, the fact that they never did, resulting in the unexpectedck of awareness towards the [Face Wearers], also confirmed that the Deity of Soul Sacrifice did make all magical creatures in Java extinct long ago.


    After Mark''s turn, the discussion moved to another.


    This time, the attention turned to Luna and Edge, who appeared closer to each other than before, to no surprise.


    Mark was also interested in Luna''s story. After all, he had some suspicions about the details of the candidates picked by the Eyes. It could be a precise, specific detail that allowed them to be the people chosen.


    And as it turned out, Mark might be right.


    A part of Luna''s soul bore the fragment of Goddess none of the people present knew. It was very likely that the Goddess of Moonlight, Anaelldenalia, was among the earliest Goddesses that appeared during the Lost Era, whose information was buried and forgotten after her defeat.


    The powers Luna exhibited during her uncontrolled outburst in the past and during the fight with the Night Goddess were the powers she inherited from the Goddess. When Luna was unconscious, it appeared that her soul briefly traveled to the past to meet the Goddess.


    As it turned out, Edge was actually the reincarnation of the Warrior who fought by the Goddess of Moonlight''s side and was also her mortal lover. When Luna woke up, she managed to awaken some of the memories of Edge''s past life, allowing him to use some of the sealed power he had.


    Luna and Edge exined with a slight blush of embarrassment that they desperately tried to hide.


    "S-so... That''s why..."


    The timid Livia, who was listening quietly, spoke ambiguously. But she could not help but flinch when everyone turned to her with confused expressions.


    With a bit of a stutter, Livia made her friends recall when Luna and Edge first met at a convention. They all met through a mutual friend at the venue and ate together for lunch at a fast food. But for some reason, Luna and Edge barely ate as the two kept staring at each other without regard to the surroundings. The two ended up getting teased by everyone after that.


    Since then, the two spent a lot of time together, which made everyone think it was love at first sight.


    It turned out to be more than love at first sight. The two might have felt familiar with each other because of their past lives.


    The two blushed even more as they recalled that past. It caused their friends to tease them even more, turning the dark atmosphere a bit livelier.


    Mark watched the two with a stern expression. He might really be correct in his assumption.


    Soon, the teasing was over. Although everyone still needed time to digest the unbelievable fact that Luna was partly a Goddess, they still had to move to the next topic.


    "So, what do you people n about the agent from CNC?"


    Mark asked the Indonesian survivors.


    "n about Devon?" Dr. Willis asked. "That bastard disappeared right after danger arrived, right? Is he still even alive?"


    "That agent is from a mysterious organization," Mark replied. "They had various tricks in their sleeves. Even the agent I''m in contact with could appear in unexpected ces. It isn''t surprising for them to have such abilities."


    "So, Devon is still alive and would appear around us anytime. Is that what you are saying, Sir Mark?"


    General Wijaya asked.


    "That''s right," Mark answered. "In my opinion, you guys should ept the contract."


    "Is that really okay to ept that?"


    Luna asked.


    "It should be fine," Mark nodded. "From what I know, the country contract is already paid by the country every time the leader is changed. However, since the previous leadership ended early, the previous contract should still have leftover funds. It would be a waste not to use that. Furthermore, you people will need enough materials and supplies to establish your future settlement."


    Then, Mark turned to Luna.


    "But Luna, you might be the highest leader of everyone here as the candidate, but you better leave the [Country Contract] in the hands of other people."


    "Why is that?"


    Luna voiced out the question in everyone''s minds.


    "First, while you are a candidate to save humanity in Indonesia, you are not the leader of this country. For now, the only ones legible for that position are either General Wijaya or Limab''s dad. They should be the ones to sign the contract. Another reason is that it''s a contract with the country which could possibly bind you in unexpected ways."


    "Especially now that you know you are a Goddess'' fragment, it''s even more unfitting to be bound to a contract with an uncertain organization. They could end up taking advantage of your abilities, you know."


    Mark added.


    Everyone took Mark''s suggestion seriously. There was nothing wrong with being cautious against a mysterious organization, no matter how they introduced themselves.


    Besides, while Devon was not directly connected to everyone here, the moment he vanished and left potential business partners in the face of danger, it was already minus points for him.


    The meeting continuedte in the night before it finished. Since all of them still had to endure the journey early tomorrow, they could not stay toote or past midnight. It was the same for the other survivors.


    Fortunately, there was no need for any of the survivors or soldiers to guard all night. It could be left to the golems of Mark''s group and their loyal pets to detect danger.


    The morning arrived, and the journey resumed after an early breakfast. As the giant turtle stomped its enormous limbs, everything shook, making it hard to rest during the journey.


    From time to time, they would stop at nearby ruins to check for things to scavenge. Mark also jumped off Mountain Back from time to time when he spotted remains of [Mechids] littered on the burnt ground. To most people, these remains of alien robots were nothing but useless scrap, especially due to the ck goo still stuck within their circuits and parts.


    However, for Mark, these were precious materials he could likely use for his future armor and weapons.


    ***


    Three more days passed pretty fast. In another couple more, they would reach the eastmost coastline of East Java.


    But today, the expected appearance of Devon arrived.


    It seemed that Devon caught up to them from the west. He might have used a method to teleport to a specific ce. That was how he suddenly vanished back then.


    But when Devon arrived, he was not alone.


    Unexpectedly, someone Mark was familiar with was also present.


    Wearing casual clothesfortable enough to travel in and strapped with different weapons, Val''Flora arrived with Devon.

 Chapter 1160: Visitors on the Mountain, A Dilemma of a Creator and the Return of the Cowardly Agent

    Day 373 - 3:21 PM - Lemahkembar Vige Ruins, Sumberasih District, Probolinggo Regency, East Java, Indonesia


    Near the northern coast of East Java, an unfamiliar mountain stood in a ce where it was not supposed to be. Of course, it was Mountain Back, the mountain-sized [Mutated Infected Turtle], which carried the remaining survivors of the Muria Sacred Fortress.


    It was still early to prepare for the night. There was a reason Mountain Back and its passengers stopped here outside the outskirts of Probolinggo City of East Java.


    "Be careful of the vines!"


    General Wijaya''s shout loudly echoed outside the sizable cluster of ruined houses broken down by trees and nts.


    At this moment, the soldiers were slowly clearing out the ruins. It might look like a waste of bullets since the group had [Mutators] on which they could rely. However, the soldiers could not just rely on them every single time. They also should not let their skills get rusty.


    While the soldiers could not be of any help during the fight against the Night Goddess, they could at least be of use whenever they could.


    Fortunately, circumstances simr to those of the Night Goddess should be rare, if not nearly impossible. Of course, if they exclude the fog and the gigantic centipede-like creatures lurking within.


    "[Predator Type] iing at 3:00!"


    A soldier, who also served as the scout, stood at the highest point of a ruined building. As he saw an iing [Mutated Infected], he immediately informed the General and the other soldiers through their hand-held radios.


    One noticeable thing was the term the scout used to describe the iing [Mutated Infected]. [Predator Type]. It was one of the "typings" Mark assigned to the [Infected], specifically to some [Mutated Infected]with specific traits.


    Like the soldiers back in the Philippines, the Indonesian soldiers also began to adapt Mark''s methods of identifying the [Infected], allowing the soldiers to recognize the possible enemy traits and respond faster to the threat.


    The soldiers in the Philippines epted it because Mark''s methods made it easier even for the least knowledgeable to understand. After all, not everyone was a zombie media enthusiast like Mark. It was akin to then taking on an expert stance on the matter.


    Besides, Mark also handed his documentation of the [Infected] they encountered and ways to fight them to General Perez, allowing Mark''s methods to flow freely among the soldiers.


    On the other hand, the Indonesian soldiers should have had a simr approach. However, the method did not sink in properly among the soldiers and the survivors of the Muria Sacred Fortress due to the factional and political disputes among the higher-ups, causing each faction to use their own developed methods instead of a universal one.


    But now that such unnecessary things were out of the way, General Wijaya and his soldiers decided to adapt Mark''s method after identally seeing him writing his documentation using hisptop.


    And since Mark''s methods were easy to understand, it was not just the Indonesian soldiers but also the survivors that adapted to it quickly.


    "Edge, don''t transform, alright? Just stay with your sword and shield."


    While the soldiers dealt with the [Infected] on one side of the ruins, Luna and her friends fought on the other.


    Since they were trying to enter the ruins of a rather sizable city, it was not surprising to find arge number of [Infected] lurking nearby.


    The distance they traveled up to this point was quite slow-paced. It was not because Mountain Back was slow. Although the giant turtle could not run due to its weight and the passengers on its back, its walking speed was still way faster than humans on foot.


    Even so, they had already reached a distance far enough to be left unaffected by the events that happened in the past few days. As they moved further away from Mount Muria, they encountered more and more ruins pretty much untouched by people.


    And, of course, untouched ruins meant more [Infected] lurking within.


    Unfortunately, there was no other choice but to stop by the ruins. It was the reason why the pace of their travel became slow. Still, they had to scour the ruins for supplies, materials, and, if possible, weapons.


    Manyrge cities had military encampments established during the initial wave of the outbreak. Not all the encampments managed to reunite with the main force and establish the Muria Sacred Fortress. Among the unfortunate ces, the military encampment in Probolinggo City was one of the most prominent ones they had lost contact with.


    If they were lucky, they might find military caches in the ruins of the encampment. After all, military-grade containers would not be easy to damage.


    Of course, they still had to go through the influx of iing [Infected] first.


    "Luna, Bajing. Wait a bit."


    Amidst the fight, Nelia stopped Bajing and Luna from charging further. She then aimed her enchanted sniper rifle and fired.


    The magically created bullet whizzed through the horde before an explosion of acidic substance urred behind the horde.


    "Probably a [Spitter Type]. It would be bad if it attacked preemptively."


    Nelia exined.


    After hearing the suspected [Infected Type], the rest of the group nodded in understanding. There was no need for an in-depth exnation. Only hearing the type of the [Infected] made it easy for everyone to understand.


    "It''s really easy to react with this enemy typing thing. Why didn''t we think of this before? It''s also like a game, so it''s fun."


    Livia, no, this time she was Ellie, spoke while wielding the hammer taller than her height.


    "Haah," Limab sighed at Ellie''sment. "We are just too busy trying to survive to think of these things. Well, I agree that things would have been easier if we did. It''s just now that we managed to get rid of some shackles that we gained the leeway to do so."


    "There''s no point crying over spilled milk," K, who joined this team in this operation with the other two leaders of the 3rd wave, spoke. "If anything, I wish we could also get weapons the same as you all."


    "Ask Mark about that."


    Bajing chimed in before charging forward and killing the [Infected] with her magic dagger, not waiting for K''s reply.


    "As if we could do that."


    Estia replied instead of K, wielding her usual sword as she beheaded an [Infected] running at her.


    That was right. The leaders of the Moon Chasers had a special rtionship with Mark and his group. On the other hand, General Wijaya was just lucky to catch Mark''s eyes. As for the others, they did have a close enough rtionship with Mark and his group to ask for such a request.


    Furthermore, Mark was also busy these past few days.


    ***


    Using the opposite end of the pen in his hand, Mark scratched his itchy ear. Even with the feeling that some people were talking about him, his eyes did not veer off from the pieces of paper lined on the table in front of him.


    Mark was currently in a tent on the mountain on Mountain Back''s shell. With a serious expression, he was in full concentration on his work.


    What work? It was designing a few new sets of weapons and armor.


    In the previous tworge battles Mark had been through, both in Japan and here in Indonesia, the old prototype armor he made using [Blood Metal] and the new set he made before going to Japan were all destroyed. Even the sword he made with the Elder cksmith got broken.


    It was the same for Mei''s weapon, which was an artifact they acquired from the enemy [Cultivator] that attacked the Mountain Base together with the forces of the Chinese Branch of Auraboros.


    Mark urgently needed a new set of armor for himself and a proper weapon for Mei. He still had Ignis and the original weapons he had created in the past, so Mark was not too hurried to make a new weapon for himself.


    Mei''s armor also got damaged. However, Mei had Oracle with her to act as her armor when needed, so her armor was also not too urgent.


    Then, what was Mark''s current problem? He had already made these things before. Then, it should be easy to just copy the concept even with a new design, right?


    However, Mark had a different thought as he began making his new designs. There was a huge difference between him in the past and now.


    It was knowledge.


    Mark, who gained parts of the Deity of Soul Sacrifice''s memories wanted to incorporate thetter''s knowledge into his new equipment.


    The Deity of Soul Sacrifice''s main forte might have been dealing with souls. However, where did the experimental apparatus he usede from? Who created the chamber where the body of the Night Goddess was born?


    Everyone was crafted with the hands of the Deity of Soul Sacrifice. He was a genius who umted thousands of years of knowledge before getting to the point of creating a God with his own hands. Experience tales at m-vl-e-mpyr


    And with all the eerie knowledge in hand, Mark wanted to create a suitable weapon and equipment. Not only for himself but also for his people.


    But as Mark was tapping his pen on the table, while in deep thought, he found that he was stuck on a particr point of the design and knowledge in his head.


    "It''s about materials, huh..."


    Mark scratched his temple with his pen as he murmured.


    Originally, Mark thought of using the same technology as his [Abyss-Tech] equipment in the new designs while adding the knowledge of the Deity of Soul Sacrifice into the mix.


    However, the [Abyss-Tech] equipment mainly used materials from the [Mechids], which he now suspected to be ipatible with the technology the Deity of Soul Sacrifice had in his memories. If he had to try and make the twopatible, he needed materials to experiment on. However, where would he get the materials he needed? Should he back down instead?


    It was at this time that the door to the tent swung open.


    "Gege?"


    It was Mei, who looked beautiful as always.


    "Is something wrong?"


    Mark asked Mei as he put down his pen and turned to her.


    "It seems like you''re too focused on that," Mei smiled. "We have visitors."


    Mark''s eyes opened a bit wider. He was genuinely surprised. It seemed that his mind was entirely engrossed with his work to the point that he failed to notice the visitors with his [Empath Detection].


    "Huh?"


    But as he finally noticed the mental fluctuations of the visitors, Mark was a bit more surprised.


    "What is she doing here?"


    Mark voiced out.


    "It might be the work you gave her?"


    Mei asked.


    "But there''s no reason to follow us here, right?"


    Mark said as he began tidying up the designs on the table.


    Mei did not reply as she had no idea either.


    Soon, Mark and Mei went to the central living area of the mountain. It was where thergest cluster of makeshift tents and structures were located on the back of Mountain Back''s shell.


    And there, General Wijaya, Dr. Willis, Luna, Limab, and Limab''s father could be seen in a heated discussion with Devon.


    It seemed that the others returned from the ruins when they heard Devon''s arrival.


    Devon, the agent of the CNC, had finally returned after he vanished during the fight with the Night Goddess. It was no surprise that he was being grilled by General Wijaya and Dr. Willis, though. Devon might have arge organization behind him, but he pretty much lost most of the ground he could step on when he suddenly bailed out of a very important situation.


    Not far behind Devon, a woman patiently waited. Just like the previous times, the woman had a different appearance. She sure was an expert with disguises. No one could rte her to her past personas. This time, instead of a serious military secretary and a crazy beggar, she looked like an apocalypse survivor in her mid-twenties that one could see everywhere.


    When she saw Mark and Mei arrive, she immediately left Devon to his devices and approached the two. With her presence so thin, Devon and the others failed to realize she left them.


    With a slight bow, the woman greeted Mark.


    "It''s been a while."


    Val''Flora smiled. Even the way she spoke was different from before.


    "You look really different every time we meet you, huh?"


    Mark remarked on her disguise. If Mark could not detect her mental fluctuations, he might have mistaken her for another person.


    "It is my specialty," Val''Flora smiled brighter. "Going straight to the point, I have more information about the incident six, no, seven years ago that you asked me to investigate."


    Without hesitation, Val''Flora went straight to the point.

 Chapter 1161: ValFloras Report, A Compiled Information About the Suspected [Inheritors]

    Day 373 - 4:32 PM - Mountain Back, Lemahkembar Vige Ruins, Sumberasih District, Probolinggo Regency, East Java, Indonesia


    After Val''Flora spoke about her intention, Mark could not help but ask.


    "Going straight, huh? Are you still busy or something?"


    "No? Currently, you are my only client. I also finished my othermitments. So, I do have some free time. However, I had to infiltrate a hidden facility recently for the information you wanted. I had to be extremely careful about it since even someone of my caliber wouldn''t be able to ensure my life if there was even just a single slight slip-up.


    That is why I wish to take a short break."


    Val''Flora spoke of her activities without hesitation. Her behavior sure was far different from their previous encounters. Even Mark could not tell whether she was acting or it was her true personality.


    "You''re not fishing forpliments, are you?"


    Mark asked with a stare.


    "Oh, no. There is nothing like that. What I am saying is that you are that important as a client."


    Val''Flora replied.


    Mark could not read Val''Flora''s mind. Well, it was not like he could. In the first ce, the only things Mark could read were people''s emotions. If the person in front of him had perfect control of their emotions, there was nothing he could do to read them properly.


    "Hmmm..." Mark hummed as he nced at Luna and the others before staring back at Val''Flora. "Let''s talk somewhere else."


    "As you wish."


    Val''Flora also gave Devon a short nce as she nodded.


    Mark and Mei then led Val''Flora into the tent, where Mark worked on the designs earlier. Val''Flora silently followed the two while observing the surroundings. In her current persona, she was not hiding her curiosity in the slightest. Even so, Val''Flora did not senselessly ask questions and silently followed the two.


    Inside the ten, Mark offered a folding chair to Val''Flora while he and Mei sat on another two.


    But as Val''Flora sat down, Mark could not help but look at her. The persona she exhibited after arriving was now gone, reced with her serious aura and expression.


    "Then, since I am not in a hurry, I will not only hand these over but also go with a verbal report."


    Val''Flora then took a folder from her backpack. Fastened within the folder were pieces of paper containing her report. The situation was different from the previous one, where Val''Flora only left a piece of paper taken out from between her cleavage.


    But as Mark tried to open the folder, he found out that he could not. It was as if the folder was glued shut.


    Mark stopped for a bit, staring at the folder. Then, from his ring, he took out a feather. He then tapped the stem of the feather on the top opening of the folder and then, like a pen, moved it down to the bottom. With that gesture, the folder loosened open as if a lock had been removed.


    Seeing Mark figure out how to open the folder, Val''Flora nodded as if she had already expected it to happen. After all, Mark did not need any exnation on how to read the previous note that appeared nk without special methods.


    Mark skimmed the papers one after another. These were not just some superficial information about those directly involved in the incident seven years ago. Aside from the first two pages, the following pages were profiles of people. Even Shin''s profile and information were included. It was the same for Louis Morgan and Spera, who were now among Mark''s people. Nia and Allen''s profiles were also included.


    What surprised Mark was thest page.


    It was because it was his. Mark''s profile and some information about himself. However, it was oddly iplete, unlike the other profiles.


    Mei also looked at the folder with a frown. She was also confused as to why Mark''s profile was included there.


    "I assume you are confused as to why your profile is included there," Val''Flora spoke to Mark. "Fortunately, it isn''t like you were being tailed or your information was being gathered in the past seven years. As you can see, it was severelyckingpared to the others. It was because your profile had just been added to the rest of the profiles very recently.


    It seemed they did not find enough time or opportunity to gather more data. The addition was also spective, as you can see."


    "Who?"


    Mark asked Val''Flora with a frown.


    "The US Army," Val''Flora answered. "A research division led by one of their most prominent scientists."


    "That lead scientist is known as Professor Alphfa Alston."


    Professor Alphfa Alston. It was a name Mark did not expect to hear.


    "That grayling..."


    Mark could not help but murmur as he genuinely felt annoyed.


    It was an iplete profile of Mark that had beenpiled by the hands of Alphfa Alston. This could mean that after Mark met that alien creature, it began investigating Mark and his origins. Furthermore, it found out about Mark''s possible involvement with that incident.


    Did it realize that Mark knew about the abilities Louis used in Antic City?


    Mark''s eyes turned away from the paper containing information about him and looked back at Val''Flora.


    "You already knew about our encounter, right? That''s why you mentioned his name without further exnation."


    "Yes," Val''Flora immediately admitted. "Your arrival at the military base monitoring Antic City and other information had beenpiled in their database and reported straight to their main headquarters. The actual records had no mention of your name, but the vague descriptions I dug up reminded me of you.


    Furthermore, the uncannyte addition of your profile into their database was suspicious, so I did more digging into the matter."


    "In fact," Val''Flora added. "I was surprised after I saw this information for the first time. Alphfa Alston was quite well known in our organization. While he was not the only alien client we had, he was the highest in authority among the investigators of his kind who were staying here on Earth. That kind of person would not just go meet anyone and reveal his identity.


    Yet, he divulged it in front of you."


    "But didn''t that grayling already leave this with his kind?"


    Mark asked.


    "So, you also knew about that?" Val''Flora was a bit surprised. "Yes, they left. Furthermore, without an in-depth exnation of the circumstances. He threw all those inmand into disarray because of his sudden departure. All his ongoing research was left unfinished, including the research about the incident you asked me to investigate.


    Luckily, it also allowed me to extract the necessary information with slightly less danger than usual."


    Mark listened to Val''Flora''s exnation with a frown. He was also reading the report he was given. ording to the report, there were eleven reported cases in total, meaning eleven crystals survived intact. It included the [PsyCrystal] Mark got and the crystal now Mei possessed, which likely belonged to a single case in the report.


    However...


    "There are only nine profiles, including mine," Mark spoke as he noticed. "Felicia''s ex-boyfriend was also here. This guy from Japan, who we never found. He''s the one in your previous report, right?"


    "There''s no profile for one who came from here in Indonesia, too."


    Mei chimed in, noticing another missing profile.


    "The discrepancy in the cases and number of profiles is because the missing ones were never identified," Val''Flora exined. "There is also the possibility of unreported cases apart from the eleven reported witness sightings."


    "And my apologies about this one," Val''Flora pointed at the profile of the possible Japanese [Inheritor]. "The previous report was kind of outdated. It seemed that she snuck into another country just before the apocalypse started. She''s currently in South Korea. This information is recorded in the data. It''s also in the profile."


    Val''Flora then pointed at a filled field on the profile. It wasbeled as st witnessed location" where Seoul, South Korea, was written, along with an addendum about attending a KPop Christmas concert.


    "Are you sure about it this time?"


    Mark asked.


    "Yes," Val''Flora answered without hesitation. "I investigated it myself beforeing here. She''s currently in Busan Military Base, where the majority of South Korean survivors can be found. She was pretty well-disliked but is quite a prominent figure among the survivors."


    "Well-disliked... Is it because she''s Japanese?"


    Mark asked.


    "Yes," Val''Flora nodded. "It was not just her. Many locals treat the survivors who came from other countries pretty harshly. They hated her even more because she could stand toe-to-toe with the most prominent figures despite being a mere tourist."


    "Then, I guess it won''t be a problem to find this one," Mark was quite pleased to have some concrete information. "I guess our next destination is decided."


    It looked like Mark had already decided on their next stop after sending the Indonesian survivors to Bali.


    "Is the US military still on this case?"


    Mark asked Val''Flora, waving the report he held.


    "They stopped for now. I can attest to that," Val''Flora confidently answered. "The rifts separating territorial borders are stopping them from gathering overseas information. In the first ce, they could not continue with Alphfa Alston missing."


    "That''s good," Mark nodded. "But there''s still an issue. This one."


    Mark then tapped his finger on one of the profiles.


    "Yes, I agree," Val''Flora agreed with Mark. "The man under US military custody."


    It was the profile of a criminal. It seemed that he used his acquired powers as an [Inheritor] tomit crimes and was caught by the US military. ording to the profile, the bastard was currently held as a research subject.


    "This is good," Markplimented Val''Flora''s work. "Although we still need to find out about the two missing ones."


    At Mark''s words, not only Val'' Flora but Mei was also confused.


    There were three missing profiles. However, Mark was only concerned about two.


    Mark smiled. He said that on purpose.


    "There''s no need to find the Indonesian case," Mark told Val''Flora. "I already found her. You only need to search for the missing two."


    "Is that so?" Val'' Flora nodded. "In that case, I have no issues about it. It will also lighten my work."


    "You''re not going to ask who?"


    Mark asked Val''Flora.


    "There is no need to," Val''Flora stared at Mark. "My job is to give information to my client and not the other way around."


    "I see," Mark smiled. "That''s good work ethic."


    "Anyway, I have a question," Mark suddenly added. "Can you handle gathering materials for me?"


    Val''Flora could not help but tilt her head a little at Mark''s sudden question.


    "My job is only information gathering and espionage. Albeit my connections, handling materials is beyond my specialization."


    Val''Flora answered.


    "Then, can you hook me up with someone who could?" Mark gave his request. "I urgently needed some materials, but there''s no way I can find these lying anywhere nearby. And the price doesn''t matter as long as it''s within reason."


    Mark then put a metal box on the table and opened it in front of Val''Flora, revealing five [Attributed Mental Crystals] of different elements.


    "Is the price of these still the same?"


    Mark then asked.


    Val''Flora''s eyes fell onto the [Mental Crystals]. She then answered Mark, but her eyes never left the crystals.


    Read now on m_vl_em_p_yr


    "I will handle the materials. Leave it to me. It''s outside my expertise, but I should be able to handle it if the material isn''t impossible to find. As for the price... The value of these crystals had been raised by fifty percent."


    "Huh?" Mark tilted his head. "That''s unexpected. I thought the price would go down since magical energy is now circting around the world."


    "That is themon thought about the situation," Val''Flora understood Mark''s assumption. "However, the purity of the magical energy now flowing around the world is too low that clients would rather have purer sources. Just think of stagnant water after someone sshed around the muddy riverbed. That is the current state of the magical energy in the surroundings.


    Just like the muddy water, it will still take time before the mud settles down and for the water to be clear again."


    "I see," Mark hummed. "It works to my favor then. Anyway, I don''t care if you handle it or someone else as long as they''re trustworthy. I want materials in exchange for these crystals."


    "This is the list."


    Mark then took out a nk paper and wrote the names of things without stopping. It was as if he was extremely familiar with the materials, whose names actually did not ring a bell to Mei or Val''Flora. He then handed the list to his agent.


    Val''Flora, reading the list, could not help but frown a little.


    "I''m not familiar with these materials, so I can''t promise to easily gather them. But I will try my best. As for the payment, I''ll take one crystal for now, as both down payment and coteral. The rest of the cost can be calcted after the transaction has been finalized."


    "I''m fine with that."


    Mark had no problems with Val''Flora''s arrangement.


    But as Mark and Val''Flora were about to talk about the other details of their transaction, the door p of the ten swung open.


    It was Luna.


    "Mark, we have a bit of a problem."


    "What is it?"


    Mark asked.


    "The bastards... Those pigs. They squandered the national funds. There''s barely anything left under the national ount overseen by Devon."


    Mark stared at Luna. He could not say that he kind of had the hunch that this would happen. It was corrupt officials they were talking about, after all. If the national funds were left to them during the absence of a president, this kind of thing would likely happen.


    Still, this would not do.


    The Indonesian survivors would need funds if they wanted a higher chance of survival in this damned apocalypse.

 Chapter 1162: Devons Observation, A Shady Merchants Sincere Request

    Day 373 - 4:37 PM - Mountain Back, Lemahkembar Vige Ruins, Sumberasih District, Probolinggo Regency, East Java, Indonesia


    After Luna barged into the tent and stated an unexpected problem, Mark, Mei, and Val''Flora could only change their location.


    Now, with the leaders of the Indonesian survivors, Mark, Mei, Val''Flora, and Devon, they discussed the problem once again.


    It seemed that Luna and the others had followed Mark''s advice when epting the National Contract from Devon, stating conditions and other important things. However, as Devon calmly exined, the budget within Indonesia''s National ount with the CNC was running extremely low.


    ording to Devon, most of the national funds under the contract had been used to build the Muria Sacred Fortress. It was not surprising. A wall epassing the entire circumference of Mount Muria would not be cheap. Even if it were before the apocalypse, such a huge project would cost millions of dors, if not billions.


    And, with the apocalypse going on, there was no way to replenish the used-up funds.


    Not to mention that the country leader had recently died without anyone to rece him.


    The strange thing was that the recement of the country''s leader position should have been one of the important things to consider. After all, someone needed to takemand to keep what remained of the country safe.


    However, the position of the Indonesian president had been left vacant.


    And now that there was no one to stop Devon under the use of the contract, he spoke honestly.


    The Indonesian contract with the CNC was not exclusive to the president alone. The richest families and those in the most influential political and military positions also had authority within the uses of the contract as long as the president was either absent or unable to fulfill his duties.


    That use made the people in power deliberately dy instating a new president. This way, all of them would have equal rights to the contract, allowing them to freely use it through majority votes.


    And it was what they did. They used the funds for either luxuries or to arm themselves. It was all while the rest of the Muria Sacred Fortress endured theck of rations and shelter, leaving the rest of the refugees to the armed survivor groups and the imaginary authority they were given.


    The exnation made General Wijaya rub the bridge of his nose in exasperation. He now understood why there were factions in the military who somehow hated each other but still worked as allies. They were all in cahoots. They stuffed their pockets with the national funds that could have been used to aid the people.


    And now, all those luxuries and wasted budgetsy molten within the volcanic flow of Mount Muria.


    "Then, I believe we should continue gathering building materials on our own, just like what we are already doing. We can allocate the remaining budget mainly on weapons."


    Baskoro Astria, Limab''s father, suggested. As the person who would actually sign the contract and could be considered the next president, he should not just sit in silence. He should also voice out his own suggestions.


    "I agree with Sir. Astria," General Wijaya sighed as he spoke. "Since the remaining funds were small, we should carefully think of how to allocate it. Aside from weapons, we should also secure emergency provisions. We can still rely on hunting along the way, but once we started settling in, food could also be an issue."


    The suggestions of the two were reasonable. If it was building materials they needed, there were a lot of trees to cut down for immediate usage. They could just slowly build upon the wooden foundations as they umted the necessary materials. On the other hand, food could be an issue if not immediately addressed. As for the weapons, it was necessary to have more firepower.


    Primitive and most cold weapons would not work on many [Mutated Infected] and were even less effective against [Mechids].


    While the leaders of the Moon Chasers had the weapons they got from Mark, these were not enough. They also needed to properly arm theirbatants, or they could be useless when it really mattered.


    Most importantly, the ce they were heading was now an unfamiliarnd. Bali was a well-known tourist location in Indonesia before the outbreak. Now, however, it was more or less an unchartednd to the survivors of Muria Sacred Fortress.


    And when going to an unchartednd in the middle of an apocalypse, there was no limit to how much firepower one would need.


    The discussion immediately began among the leaders of the Indonesian survivors. After all, they did not have the capacity to increase the current funding they could use. They could only discuss how it should be allocated.


    Mark and Mei watched them in silence. Val''flora stood behind them like a servant instead of sitting around the same table. Nheless, the three were observing the other group, waiting for their decision. In fact, they could ask Mark for help. He was someone already known to have his own contracted agent within CNC. This meant he could afford it.


    Helping Luna and the others was also not an issue for Mark. After all, that was exactly the reason why he was here. However, it seemed like the Indonesian survivors did not want to owe Mark even more. It was not surprising since they already owe him and his group a whole lot. Unfortunately, they had yet to find a way to repay them.


    On the other hand, Devon''s attention was not on the group he was supposed to be negotiating with. Instead, he was paying attention to the silent trio.


    Luna and the others did not want to put themselves into further debt. Unfortunately, Devon had a different idea.


    As if Devon had finally finisheding up with an important decision, he spoke to Mark.


    "Sir Mark. I have a question."


    "Hmm?" Mark tilted his head. "What?"


    Mark had been monitoring Devon for a while now. While Devon appeared calm and collected during his exnation, he was actually quite troubled inside. Mark was already expecting Devon to do something not very merchant-like. However, he had no idea what it could be. Exclusive tales from m v lem|p-yr


    Devon''s sudden question to Mark caused Luna and the others to fall silent because of the unexpected scenario.


    But what surprised everyone the most was Devon''s question, and Edge was the one who was surprised the most.


    "Can you turn normal people into [Mutants]? Oh, right. Your country calls them [Evolvers] and [Mutators]. Anyway, the question still stands no matter what they are called. Do you have such an ability?"


    Devon asked Mark in a casual manner, but the tone and expression were quite serious.


    But Mark, without any visible change in his expression, asked back.


    "Where did that questione from?"


    "I''lle clean."


    Devon spoke as he raised both hands. His eyes then moved to Val''Flora standing behind Mark.


    "Miss Val''Flora''s mysterious client was quite a hot topic within the organization. Many agents wanted information about the client that could provide such rare and expensive but high-demand items. Myself included. Of course, Miss Val''Flora is strictly tight-lipped, and gathering information in the current state of the world was quite difficult.


    Fortunately, a single instance gave me some valuable clues. As an agent managing a [National Contract], I can meet other agents with a simr designation."


    "Subsinctus," Mark spoke a name, which Devon nodded to. "Is it fine for agents to share this kind of information? I didn''t expect that guy to be a bbermouth."


    "There are confidentiality rules for clients and agents. However, those rules cannot stop other agents from gathering information on their own." Val''Flora chimed in and spoke to Mark. "Unfortunately, there is no such thing as a confidentiality contract between you and Mr. Subsinctus. As long as he did not go over the line drawn by our rules, he could share some clues and information.


    It was especiallymon when other agents paid for the information."


    Mark frowned. One important foundation of a merchant was trust. However, one could never trust a merchant who had no concrete dealings with them.


    "Using the clues from Sir. Subsinctus, I managed to recognize Mr. Mark after your information circted in Mount Muria after you arrived with Miss. Luna''s group."


    "And from then on, you gathered information about us."


    Mark interjected.


    "Yes," Devon did not deny it. "One part was my heart as a merchant. Another part was just pure curiosity. It was then that I found something odd about your group."


    Devon stared at Mark.


    "Your members. There are too many [Type 3 Mutants]."


    "Huh?"


    Mark could not understand. It was not just Mark. Everyone in the tent, aside from Val''Flora, needed an exnation.


    Knowing what they needed, Devon exined.


    "It was public information within the organization. [Type 1 Mutants] are what you call [Evolvers]. People who gained abilities beyond normal without getting bitten. [Type 2 Mutants] are pretty obvious. They were the so-called [Mutators]. People who mutated and gained special abilities after surviving a supposedly fatal bite from an [Infected]."


    "As for the [Type 3 Mutants]. It was thebination of the two. [Evolvers] who became [Mutators]. That should be the easiest exnation. However, the chance of it happening was extremely low. One in a thousand, or maybe 1 in five thousand?


    That was how rare [Type 3 Mutants] are. Even before the Muria Fortress was destroyed, there were only four [Type 3 Mutants] known among them. That was five within tens of thousands of people."


    "But your group." Devon began counting his fingers. "You. Your wife. Your three children. The green-haired girl. And your dragon.


    Your group alone already exceeded the number of [Type 3 Mutants] that the Muria Fortress had. Furthermore..."


    Devon alternated his eyes on Mark and Mei. But for some reason, his nose was also moving as if he was sniffing at something.


    "You and your wife. You two are more than just [Type 3 Mutants]. You two have multiple mutations."


    Those words surprised everyone, including Val''Flora.


    But Devon was not done yet as his eyes suddenly turned to Edge.


    "And then. Mr. Edge, who was only a [Type 1 Mutant], suddenly became a [Type 3 Mutant] in the span of a single night. And not just a normal [Type 3 Mutant]. He was a [Type 3 Mutant] with two mutations. And it all happened after your secret talk, did it not?"


    Now, everyone was looking at Edge, who could only fall silent. He could try denying it, but there was no point in doing so. It was pretty obvious that Devon would not be some normal merchant. He should have some uncanny abilities if he was not straight-up something non-human.


    Mark shrugged. There was no point in denying it. After all, it was pretty much near impossible for [Mutators] to have more than one mutation. Of course, unless they had the [PsyCrystal''s] help.


    "Do you have some abilities to detect mutations and stuff?"


    Mark asked.


    "This," Devon pointed at his nose. "My sense of smell is quite sensitive. I can smell things up to a few kilometers away, depending on the state of the surroundings. But the most important thing is that my sense of smell is also sensitive to the smell of living beings. Their chemicalpositions, mutational changes, hormones, and pheromones. My sense of smell can differentiate all those and more."


    It was Devon''s strength. But at the same time, also his weakness.


    But for Devon toy it all open, it seemed that he was serious about this conversation.


    "What do you want?"


    Mark asked.


    "I want you to turn someone into a proper [Type 2 Mutant]," Devon answered. "I will sign a confidentiality contract whether you ept or not. But if you can do it, I will shoulder all the initial costs that were needed for these people to relocate to Bali."


    Luna and the others frowned. It meant another debt they owed Mark. However, the offer sure was tempting.


    But before Mark could answer, Val''Flora interjected.


    "Is it about your brother? Won''t it be impossible? He was already bitten months ago."


    "Yes, he was bitten... But he hasn''t turned yet. There is still hope for him."


    Devon strongly replied to Val''Flora''s question.

 Chapter 1163: Devons Request, The Circumstances of a Playful Merchant of the CNC

    Day 373 - 4:41 PM - Mountain Back, Lemahkembar Vige Ruins, Sumberasih District, Probolinggo Regency, East Java, Indonesia


    "Don''t tell me..." Val''Flora thought of something after hearing Devon''s reply. "Did you rent one of those?"


    Val''Flora''s tone was a mix of surprise and doubt.


    "The [Temporal Stasis Chamber]. Yes, I did," Devod spoke without hesitation. "It cost around two-thirds of the assets I umted for two hundred years. But it doesn''t matter even if I used all of it for the only family I had left."


    Those words of Devon sure surprised everyone listening, especially the part where he said he had been umting those assets for two hundred years. Then, how old was Devon?


    "You''re more than two hundred years old?"


    Dr. Willis could not help but blurt out the question in his mind. It had not been long since this scientist with a screw loose was involved in the field of paranormal phenomena. It was his first time encountering a magical creature when the [Face Wearers] were discovered in Muria Sacred Fortress.


    "That two hundred is just the span since I started working for the CNC," Devon smirked before turning from Dr. Willis to Mark and then to Val''Flora. "My real age is far more than that. After all, I''m not human. Just like the Demons here and this half breed of a [Dryad] and a [Doppelganger]. Human lifespan does not apply to us."


    That statement caused everyone to turn to Val''Flora. On the other hand, Dr. Willis'' mount was wide open as he learned these unscientific truths.


    "Isn''t that uncalled for?" Val''Florained in irritation. "I do not care about you disclosing information about yourself, but can you leave me and my client out of it? You did not even disclose your own race before ours."


    "That wille. Do not fret."


    Devon replied, not minding Val''Flora''sints, further fueling her irritation.


    "You y too much, even though you were supposed to ask my client for something."


    Val''Flora spoke as her figure suddenly blurred. Then, the roughed-up female survivor was suddenly reced with a woman in a flowery, gothic-styled dress. She had greenish hair adorned by alternating small pink and white flowers. She also sported the looks of a natural beauty simr to the [Diwatas] in the Philippines.


    For the first time, Val''Flora had shown her true self. It was not necessary. However, it seemed that she took advantage of the situation to finally show her true appearance to her client. After all, Devon had already blurted it all anyway.


    Mark gave Val''Flora a curious nce. Now, things in his mind about Val''Flora had been cleared up. Two of these things were Val''Flora''s strange mental fluctuations and how she could perfectly change her personality at will. If it was just an act, then Val''Flora could be an excellent actress. Now that her bloodline as a [Doppelganger] was revealed, Mark''s questions were answered.


    A [Doppelganger] had one very powerful ability. It was to copy a person to a very high degree. Val''Flora did not need to act since the appearance, personality, and mentality of the target would naturally change once she copied them.


    Amidst the amazement of Val''Flora''s reveal, there was someone who was fixated on something else.


    Raising her hand like a student, the bubbly Kana asked.


    Continue the experience at m-vl-em-pyr


    "What does temporal stasis mean?"


    It was a cue to return to the original topic and veer away from the topic of their races. It was a good move from Kana, although unintentional.


    "It meant time stop. Literally," Mark answered Kana before turning back to Devon. "Am I right?"


    "A device to stop time. That is what a [Temporal Stasis Chamber] is," Devon nodded. "It is a chamber where it will stop time for anything put inside. No one totally understands how those work. However, it is said that some mad alchemist made those things to preserve fresh corpses for their experiments. Unfortunately, that alchemist created something that angered the Gods.


    A [Chimera] that even Gods could not destroy. Hisboratory was destroyed, that creation lost its physical body and was sealed, and the devices used by that alchemist were scattered around the world. Then, he vanished. That was all we knew about those chambers. And that is also why it was very expensive to rent even just one of them."


    Mark and Mei nced at each other. They had heard a simr story before, after all. And if their suspicion was correct, then that alchemist Devon mentioned was someone they already knew beforehand.


    "How expensive is it?"


    Kana asked in another bout of childish curiosity.


    And then, as casually as he could, Devon replied with a smile.


    "A rent for a year would be enough to buy the entirety of this country''s capital. That''s how expensive it is."


    Everyone fell silent. It was still hard to imagine how much it was exactly, but it sure was something that none of them could earn in a lifetime of a human.


    "About your brother," Mark finally spoke. "I can''t guarantee that it will go the way you want it to be. After all, I don''t know his exact state. The only thing I''ve tried before is helping a failing [Mutator]. I have no idea what will happen if I forcefully mutate a normal bitten person."


    However, after hearing Mark''s exnation, Devon''s eyes lit up.


    "In that case, you should give it a try! Absolutely! Even if you fail, then it is fine. But hearing what you said, it would likely be a sess."


    Devon was already in the state to celebrate.


    "Is your brother in the middle of a failing mutation when he was put into stasis?"


    Mark could not help but ask.


    "Exactly."


    Devon immediately answered.


    "Even for non-humans, the time frame between being bitten and turning isn''t long. The longest one we observed for someone to turn is about an hour without any help from anything. And that person was a rock humanoid creature. Yet, he still turned. If my brother did not enter a mutation state, he would have turned in about half a minute. Fortunately, he did.


    Although it was a failing mutation with an obviousck of hope to turn into a [Type 2 Mutant], it still gave us time to put him into stasis before he lost control."


    "I see," Mark nodded, knowing it would be a fruitful attempt. "Then, write the contract. Although it would be better if we reached Bali first before leaving."


    "That is fine," Devon nodded with a happy smile. "I still have two months before they eject my brother from stasis. We are not in a hurry."


    It seemed that Devon put hisst hope in Mark. It was very likely that there was no way Devon could extend his rent of the chamber. Whether Mark helped or not, Devon''s brother would be at the end of the line.


    Mark then turned to Luna and the others.


    "I guess the funding issue is solved, right?"


    "Haah," Luna sighed. "And we have one more thing to owe you."


    "Nah, it''s fine," Mark shrugged. "Just think of it as me doing volunteer work. Volunteers don''t expect to be paid, right?"


    And before anyone could say anything more to Mark, he stood up. Then, with Mei and Val''Flora following behind him, they went out of the tent.


    Luna and the Indonesian survivors could only sigh as they thanked Mark within their hearts.


    ***


    "Papa!"


    As Mark''s trio left the tent, Miracle called out.


    Mark''s daughters were ying with Emika and Amisha. The other children of the Indonesian survivors were also present. There were twenty-two children in ce in total, with ages ranging from five to fourteen.


    It was amazing to see these children being able to y together despite the obviousnguage barrier. Well, that was just how children were.


    Of course, with Miracle calling to Mark, all the children turned towards him. Mark only waved at them, especially to his daughters, as he went back to the previous. He also nodded to Hannah, who was looking after the children.


    Back at their personal tent, Val''Flora immediately asked.


    "Can you really turn people into mutants?"


    After hearing the question, Mark turned to Val''Flora, who had already turned back to her disguise as they exited the previous tent.


    And his answer was another question.


    "Do you want to be one?"


    Val''Flora fell silent. There was no need to repeat the question. It was clear that Mark could. His question was not out of sarcasm. If she wanted to, he could. That was what his question implied.


    "That kind of skill sure is a big deal."


    Val''Flora could only remark.


    "It is. It really is," Mark shrugged. "If the world knew of this, I''d be chased till the ends of the Earth."


    That was true. If this ability had been widely known, Mark would need to say goodbye to any peaceful moment in this lifetime.


    "But it''s not like it''s without limitations and side effects, you know?"


    Mark said as he sat down in front of his drafting table.


    "Limits?"


    Val''Flora asked.


    "Yep," Mark nodded. "Personality changes. There are alsopatibility issues. That''s obvious. However, the most pressing constraint is that..."


    Mark shrugged.


    "I can''t create a mutation out of nothing."


    Mark then faced Val''Flora.


    "I can''t turn people into [Mutators]. What I can do is take a mutation from a dead [Mutator] or an intelligent [Mutated Infected] and transfer it to another person."


    Mark then turned back, facing the table.


    "There are fewer constraints if one wanted to turn into an [Evolver], though. You guys from CNC call then [Type 1 Mutants], right? I can turn anyone into a [Type 1 Mutant] as long as I have the materials."


    "Here."


    Mark suddenly said as she chucked something in Val''Flora''s direction.


    "This is..."


    Val''Flora voiced out as she observed the thing she caught by reflex.


    "It looks like an elemental crystal, right? But twice the size and without any magical fluctuation," Mark interrupted. "Put it into your mouth like candy. Then, you will suffer from fever and body pains for several hours. Don''t worry. It''s nothing deadly.


    It''s just the process of the body changing. Unfortunately, unlike mutated abilities, I have no guarantee what kind of enhancement you will receive when you be an [Evolver]."


    "W-wait," Val''Flora, for the first time, was flustered in front of Mark. "Are you giving this to me?"


    "Yup," Mark nced over his shoulder as he replied. "Just think of it as a bribe to keep you silent on the matter, although I don''t really think you are that loose-mouthed. Besides, you''re not a mutant of any kind."


    "Even without this, I''ll keep my silence," Val''Flora replied in all seriousness. "But, I''ll dly ept this. Having more cards to hold would be beneficial for me."


    "So, what are your ns now?"


    Mark asked.


    "I think of leaving immediately to handle the materials you wanted," Val''Flora replied. "But unlike information, I needed a ce to properly deliver the items."


    "That''s true," Mark understood. "Then, deliver it to Bali after Devon established a new waypoint there."


    Upon hearing Mark''s words, Val''Flora''s grew wider.


    "You... How did you know that?"


    Val''Flora could only ask, only to realize her mistake as she saw Mark''s grin.


    "So, it''s a bullseye? I''m not really sure. After all, I just spected it. It became more apparent when Devon disappeared and had to catch up with us. It likely meant that he had some sort of item that would bring him to a stationary location like a waypoint. That''s also how you could appear in Corregidor, right?


    Because Subsinctus is there. So, there should be a waypoint there."


    "You are too perceptive," Val''Flora sighed. "Then, I will deliver the items as you instructed. Give me the feather I gave for a second. Your hand with the mark, too."


    Mark did as requested. Val''Flora then held the feather with her right and Mark''s left hand with her left. The feather and the marking of a CNC''s client glowed as a new contract was established. The information within the contract flowed into Mark''s mind. It made him nod as he saw no problems with it.


    After returning the feather, Val''Flora spoke.


    "Then, I will take my leave."


    "Alright. There''s no hurry, but I need the items as soon as you gather them."


    Mark reminded.


    Val''Flora responded with a bow. Her body then blurred as a crest symbolizing the CNC appeared by her feet. It then rose from the ground as if swallowing her. And with a beam of light, she vanished.


    "That''s pretty handy, huh."


    Markmented on the scene he had just seen.


    "That''s the only thing you can say?"


    Mei giggled at Mark''s lethargic remark.


    "Well, I can''t really feel excited, after all."


    Mark shrugged.


    But then, Mei stopped giggling and sighed. She suddenly hugged Mark from behind.


    "Are you okay?"


    Mei asked Mark something that would confuse anyone if they heard it.


    "I am," Mark answered. "I should be. At least, I think so."


    Unexpectedly, Mark''s answer was hesitant.


    The Novel will be updated first on this website. Come back and


    continue reading tomorrow, everyone!

 Chapter 1164: Nightmare Memories, The Side-effects and Consequences of Marks Actions

    Day 374 - 12:06 AM - Mountain Back, Lemahkembar Vige Ruins, Sumberasih District, Probolinggo Regency, East Java, Indonesia


    The night of the day that everyone reached the ruins of Lemahkembar Vige had arrived. Since they would continue the journey early tomorrow morning, everyone slept on schedule.


    In the darkness of the night, the whole camp was quiet. There were also no guards on the scene. It was because there was no need for everyone to worry about their safety while staying on the back of the giant, mountain-sized turtle.


    It was not like there were no guards or lookouts in a literal sense. After all, the golems of Mark''s group need no sleep. There were also their pets with a keen sense of danger.


    Unfortunately, it was not like everyone was okay.


    Inside the tent where Mark, Mei, and their three daughters were supposed to rest, a vague silhouette could be seen moving.


    There, Mei sat on the bedding with a worried frown hidden by the veil of darkness. Her right hand moved as if she had been gently caressing something, and her eyes only looked down and never anywhere else.


    On where Mei''s eyesnded was Mark, whose head she ced on herp as his pillow. He had a deep frown while asleep. Even though Mei had been caressing his head, it did not seem to have any effect.


    Ever since Mei had met Mark, she knew he had never been a heavy sleeper. Slight movements around him could wake him up, and his uncontroble [Empath] abilities made it worse for his sleep.


    But since a few days ago, Mei found something new about Mark.


    Mark slept deeper when having nightmares.


    The situation was just like what was happening at the moment. Even though Mei woke up, moved near his head, and lifted his head onto herp, Mark did not show any sign of waking up.


    It was because Mark was in a deep sleep due to a nightmare he was currently having.


    And Mei knew what nightmare Mark was likely having. It was because Mark did not hide it from here, or rather, he could not hide the fact that something was happening.


    Unfortunately, there was nothing Mei could do but stay beside him in this situation.


    It was because Mark would not wake up unless he did on his own.


    ***


    "Why? Why are you doing this?!"


    A woman with a nt-like skin asked in despair while being caged in a dark ce.


    ***


    "You monster! Give my family back!"


    A burly man with bull-like horns shouted in anger as he tried to break free from his shackles.


    ***


    "I will kill you! I swear I will kill you!"


    A young man with snow-white skin and pointy ears roared his curses as the doors of his prison closed tightly.


    ***


    The scenes blurred and changed incoherently. Different cries of anger and despair echoed with every scene.


    Yet, the recipient of such words filled with emotions remained unperturbed, if not utterly dissatisfied.


    As he held his tools, he did various things. Dissecting creatures in various states of living, studying their bodypositions, extracting their essence, fiddling with their souls, and countless other nefarious acts.


    Despite the man''s disregard towards other''s lives, or maybe even his own, he was still unsatisfied.


    The man could not reach his goal. He could not find what was missing.


    "This is not enough..."


    The man... no... Mark... murmured.


    "I should get more specimens."


    Mark said as he put down his tools, aiming to go outside hisboratory.


    Then, he soared in the sky by constantly pushing his body using [Telekinesis].


    Days passed like that. Mark was searching for the perfect subject for his experiments.


    It was when he found a tribe of humans. He was not interested in them in the slightest.


    But then, Mark saw a pair of siblings with high purity of [Spirit] bloodline despite being humans.


    It was when Mark knew he found the perfect specimens.


    But as Mark was about to capture the two...


    "STOP!"


    A panicked shout of a child entered his ears as he felt a strong tug on the cloak he was wearing.


    Mark turned his head behind him. There, he saw a strange, ghost-like child. But for some reason, the girl did not get his attention at all. He immediately turned around to continue what he was about to do.


    "I said! STOP! You aren''t that monster! Don''t get consumed!"


    That was what Mark heardst before his body received an impact that was so strong that he fell from the sky like a meteor and created a nuclear bomb-sized crater.


    At the moment of the impact with the ground, the scene blurred.


    And the next thing Mark saw was darkness.


    ***


    "Gege?"


    Mei''s voice entered Mark''s ears as he looked up and saw her face looking at him from above his head,


    "Again, huh..."


    Mark murmured as he tried to get up.


    However, he felt a strong, painful sensation on his back. As Mark touched his back, there was nothing wrong with it. It might just be an imaginary pain that came as a result of suddenly being woken up from a nightmare.


    Mark then nced at his daughters. It seems they were sleeping nicely. Even Miracle, who did not need sleep, had already adapted to a human''s proper lifestyle.


    "Should we take a short walk?"


    Mark asked Mei, and she nodded.


    The two then sneakily went out of the tent to bask in the cold darkness of the night.


    "Are you okay? It looked worse this time."


    Mei grabbed Mark''s hand and asked.


    "Except for a little bit of psychogenic pain, I think I''m fine," Mark replied as he tightened his hand around Mei''s. "Azra''s always asleep, but she''s pretty active when waking me up from those nightmares. But it seems she overdid it a bit this time."


    Mark checked his subconscious world a little. There, Azra was asleep as per usual. Yet, during his nightmares, it was Azra who always woke Mark up.


    "Unfortunately, there''s nothing we can do but wait until it passes," Mark said as he led Mei to a nearby boulder to sit down. "It''s just one of the consequences of my actions."


    Back during the battle against the Deities of Auraboros, Magwayen warned Mark about letting souls into his body. However, Mark did not listen as he sheltered the corrupted souls inside his body to weaken the enemy.


    Now, the lingering emotions and memories of those souls, along with the fragmented memories Mark absorbed from the Deity of Soul Sacrifice, began haunting Mark''s sleep. It began recreating scenarios from the memories and created nightmares where Mark had to relive the experiences of the Deity of Soul Sacrifice.


    It sure was an unpleasant experience. Luckily, just like every nightmare, the memories of the nightmare would be blurry and fade until forgotten. Of course, it was until Mark decided to dig the memories up once again within his subconscious memories.


    Mei leaned on Mark''s shoulder while they sat on the boulder.


    "Gege should stop doing dangerous things. Seriously."


    Mei spoke with a pleading tone. It was not the first time. In most fights they had experienced, Mark would go trying strange and possibly dangerous things. In some of those cases, he experienced unexpected effects. Yet, he failed to learn anything and would always try new and dangerous things.


    "I can''t promise that, unfortunately," Mark replied with a sigh. "There are still other enemies out there where we don''t know if the usual methods will work. In that case, we can only try new things, even with the danger apanying it."


    Mei stared at Mark without responding to Mark''s words. She understood what he was saying. Even so, she could only wish that such things would not happen.


    Tap. Tap. Tap.


    The sounds of sluggish footsteps echoed behind Mark and Mei. As they turned their heads to the source, they saw a girl walking towards them.


    "She''s also outside again..."


    Mei could not help but say.


    It was not the first time this girl was outside in the middle of the night.


    Without saying anything, the girl approached the two before sitting between them and snuggling to the two.


    "At times like this, she behaves like Serea."


    Mark could not help but remark as he patted the half-sleep girl''s head.


    Mei also did not mind and hugged the girl, making her feel warm.


    It was not long after another pair of steps was heard.


    "Uhm... Is she there again?"


    The owner of the voice, the purple-haired leader of the Moon Chasers, Luna, spoke with a sigh.


    Mark and Mei then showed Amisha, now asleep, while snuggling between them like a small animal.


    "Once again, sorry about this."


    Luna apologized. It was not the first time, after all. The previous times, Amisha would go out in the middle of the night and sleep where Mark was, whether it was their tent or the workshop.


    And now that Mark and Mei were sitting on the boulder, Amisha also came there to sleep.


    "There''s no problem."


    Mark shrugged Luna''s apology.


    "Haahh..." Luna sighed as she picked up Amisha and carried the girl into her arms. "Why are you doing this, you brat... Are you looking for your father''s warmth?"


    Those words were asked without receiving an answer. Luna bowed her head slightly as a gesture before leaving with her niece to go back to their tent.


    "Is Amisha really the [Inheritor] here in Indonesia?"


    Mei asked Mark.


    "I can''t be mistaken," Mark answered. "Val''Flora''s first report said that one of the crystals was here, meaning that there were witness ounts of it. However, Alston had no profile of the [Inheritor] of that crystal since no one found out who it was. In that case, it was highly possible that no one witnessed the crystal entering Amisha''s body since it was in the middle of the night.


    Furthermore, since it happened seven years ago, Amisha was too young back then to actually realize it."


    "What made it even harder to determine is the fact that..." Mark added with a sigh... "Serea''s crystal is heavily damaged even back in Eriellis. It''s likely why Amisha wasn''t able to manifest its abilities. Even so, when she''s not aware of it, Amisha is disying some of Serea''s habits."


    "Like snuggling beside you?"


    Mei asked.


    "Yeah," Mark shrugged. "To be exact, snuggling beside Freed. You can say that Freed is her father figure. After all, Erea''s just eleven during the final fight in Eriellis before its destruction. Just like Keeper, Erea had no parents. Freed was the first person to show her what it''s like to have something like a father.


    And that snuggling thing is the result."


    "To reach the final battle... Is her ability strong?"


    Mei asked while ncing at Luna''s tent.


    "Not at all. You can even say that it''s weak without any fighting capabilities. But without Serea... things would have been harder for Freed and hispanions."


    Mark then exined.


    "Serea''s ability is simr to what Elise disyed during your battle a few days ago. It''s also simr to some of my [Empath] abilities."


    "Really?"


    Mei asked, remembering Elise''s manifested ability, which shielded everyone from the psychological effects of the Night Goddess'' presence.


    "Yeah, but not exactly the same," Mark shook his head. "Elise''s ability channels her emotions to people around her. Just like what I had said before, Elise is my [Empath] abilities''plete opposite. But I also had my [Emotion Induction], which allows me to imnt emotions I absorbed onto my targets. On the other hand, Erea''s ability did not require her own emotions.


    She can freely control the emotions of her targets. Her abilities allowed Freed and the others to fight without fear despite the adversity. She''s pretty much the pir that kept thest order of knights mentally intact despite all the absurdities they experienced."


    "That''s pretty amazing, isn''t it?"


    Mei remarked.


    "Yeah," Mark agreed. "But it''s also an ability that is dangerous to fall into the hands of bad people. After all, it''s pretty much direct brainwashing. Even with its limitations where it can only cause positive emotions, it could be used tomand an armed army without fear."


    "I guess that''s true."


    Mei nodded, understanding the dangers of the ability currently sleeping inside Amisha.


    "But since it''s that girl, it should be fine. There''s no need to take it."


    Mark decided.


    After the talk under the night sky, the two went back to their tent. Of course, it was for Mei to take a good rest. As for Mark, he had already lost interest in trying to go back to sleep.


    And the next few nights of Mark and Mei would be spent like this.


    ***


    The next few days were quite uneventful. There were the usual stops to scavenge, but there were no major threats or issues.


    And after a long journey on the back of a mountain-sized turtle, they finally reached the eastern coast.


    From there, across the Bali Sea, they could see the silhouette of the Ind of Bali on the horizon.


    -Volume End-

 Chapter 1165: Arrival to Bali, A Peninsula with a Strange Situation

    Day 376 - 1:52 PM - Gilimanuk Harbour, Gilimanuk, Mya Subdistrict, Jembrana Regency, Bali 82252, Indonesia


    Within the Gilimanuk Harbour, the closest harbor to the Ind of Java, arge group of people moved around quickly as they came in and out of a magical portal.


    "Move that there!" Nelia''s shout echoed as she directed the workers. "Sort out the items properly to make it easy to move thoseter!"


    Following the instructions, the workers carried the materials while marveling at the existence of the so-called portal.


    BRRRRRR...


    The low hum of a truck''s engine entered everyone''s ears as a military truck came out of the portal, carrying more supplies from the other side. It was the military truck the soldiers found in the destroyed military outpost in Semarang. Compared to its condition when they got the vehicle, it now had some exterior damage.


    It seemed it got these new damages during the fight with the Night Goddess when she turned gigantic and tilted Mountain Back with her attack. They even found it rolled over to its side.


    Fortunately, the truck was still in a good enough condition to run. It was a big help transporting the materials and supplies they gathered during their journey.


    The work was hard and quite hectic. However, everyone was in good spirits.


    It was because they finally reached Bali after many days of travel and oveing unfathomable dangers.


    However, it was not the finish line. It was just a new starting line for the survivors of the event they now called the "Fall of Muria."


    Still, reaching Bali did not feel that real. Ever since the apocalypse began, trying to travel around, even just from city to city, would already be called suicide. Yet, they traveled nearly half of the country to reach this ce and survived through it. It might not be with their own skills as they had the help of strong people, yet it was still an achievement.


    But, of course, the Indonesian survivors owed their survival to the mysterious group called the Evernight. Without them, this journey would have been impossible. Let us say that the Indonesian survivors managed to reach the eastern coast of Java on their own. Even if that happened, there was no way for them to cross the waters between Java and Bali.


    Not only were there no boats left intact in the harbor of Ketapan on the Eastern Java coast, but even if there were, they would not know what kinds of monsters might be lurking underwater.


    Fortunately, with the help of the dragon of the Evernight, Char, and the girl named Spera, the impossible became possible. There was no need to travel over the Bali Strait as a portal could connect the two locations directly.


    Unfortunately, there was a limit to the size of the portal. Thergest portal was just five meters in diameter. As such, the giant [Infected Turtle], Mountain Back, had no way of passing through it. That was the reason why everyone had to transport the materials they gathered through the portal connecting the camp on Mountain Back''s back and the Gilimanuk Harbor in Bali.


    And now, they n to start their survival in Bali starting here in this harbor.


    Of course, the harbor had to be cleared up before the portal was opened. There was no surprise the harbor was inhabited by the [Infected]. To safely transport the supplies and make a camp in this ce, the area must be secured and it was Mark who did the honors.


    But why this harbor in particr?


    A harbor was definitely a busy ce before the apocalypse. As such, dangers would be all over the ce. Furthermore, Earth''s geological appearance had drastically changed during the [Fusion of Dimensions]. This harbor and the nearby locations should have been just ruins.


    But that was the strange part.


    The harbor and almost everything in the entirety of the penins of Gilimanuk was nearly intact. Sure, there were copsed houses, damaged structures, and other effects of the apocalypse on the ce. However, it was far from being considered ruins, unlike most of the remnants left of the human civilization they had passed by during their journey.


    And that was why the Indonesian survivors and the members of Evernight were currently divided into four groups. Two groups for guarding the opposite sides of the portal, one group for transporting the materials, and a group for investigation.


    The group for investigation,posed of Mark, Feng Zhiruo, Felicia from the Evernight, Edge from the Moon Chasers, Farrel from the Fire Fighters, General Wijaya of the military, and Kana of the 3rd Wave, were out exploring the strangely intact town of Gilimanuk. Well, Kana was just an addition who insisted on joining the group since she was bored.


    ***


    The members of the investigation group left the harbor after lunch.


    And right after exiting the harbor, it did not take long for the group to encounter their first enemy.


    It was a male [Infected]. Furthermore, it was what Mark and the others would consider as a [Common Infected]. After it saw the group, it immediately sprinted at them, indicating that it was likely a first stage [Biter].


    A weak [Infected] like this did not take long to kill. Felicia stabbed her w through the skull of the [Infected] without it even realizing.


    As the male [Infected] fell to the ground and without signs of moving, they all surrounded it with frowns and confusion on their faces.


    The corpse was definitely an unmutated [Biter]. It was something one wouldmonly see and one of the two types with thergest poption among the [Infected] along with the so-called [Eaters].


    However, the strange thing was that most [Biters] and [Eaters] nowadays looked weathered. After a year since the apocalypse began, the bodies of the [Infected] would experience changes due to the passage of time. They would look dirty, their clothes were deteriorated, and their wounds would look old and festered.


    The usual appearance that a [Biter]monly had at this time was not present in this male [Infected]. This only meant one thing.


    It had not been too long since this man had turned.


    While it might not be too recent, it was definitely not too long, either.


    And it was not the first time Mark noticed this.


    "When you cleared the harbor, the [Infected] were in pretty much a simr condition, correct?"


    General Wijaya asked Mark.


    "You all saw the bodies, too, right?"


    Mark shrugged. After all, while killing the [Infected] in the harbor could be done by Mark alone, clearing the ce of corpses was a different story.


    The near intact town. The recently turned [Infected]. These two things only point to one possible scenario.


    This ce was inhabited by people and the ce even managed to survive the brunt of the [Fusion of Dimensions]. Considering that it was even right beside the coast, it would not be surprising if it was destroyed by a tsunami, but it was not.


    It indicated a pretty strong barrier had been erected in this ce that not only blocked the radiation and temperature but also protected them from physical harm.


    Since the strength of the barriers during the [Fusion of Dimensions] was proportional to the number and unity of the people it protected, the survivors in this ce were not only arge poption, but they were also tightly united.


    Unfortunately, it seemed that their number and unity alone were not able to keep them alive.


    "Let''s go. Let''s thoroughly check the ce. Maybe we can''t find some clues about survivors. Maybe, we can also find supplies."


    Farrel urged the group.


    Clearing the ce could be done next time. For now, they left the corpse in the middle of the street and moved on.


    "If there is a ce where people would gather, where could it be? Maybe we can also search for the ce where they stored their supplies."


    Kana asked while tapping her right index finger on her chin.


    "If we are looking for those ces, then we could start at the school zone. It''s not far from here."


    Mark''s voice unexpectedly answered Kana''s question.


    Of course, it surprised everyone, except for Felicia and Feng Zhiruo. The other four could only turn their heads at Mark, who was walking behind them, only to see him looking at a smartphone in his right hand.


    Since Mark was a foreigner and they all knew it was the first time for every member of his group to be in Indonesia Mark''s answer came to be pretty surprising.


    But his answer and action of looking at his phone immediately clicked into General Wijaya''s mind.


    "Do you perhaps have a map in that phone?"


    General Wijaya could not help but ask.


    Without answering immediately, Mark just showed them the screen of his phone, showing a satellite image of the map of their current location.


    "I have an offline world map with both map and satellite view. Unfortunately, because I didn''t have much time and storage when downloading it before, it only had certainndmarks saved."


    Mark spoke.


    "Landmarks like schools?"


    Farrel asked.


    "Schools, malls, government facilities, police, and military facilities. These are locations I thought would be good to know about when this mess started. Well, I only intended to download the Philippine map, but since I was in a hurry, it pretty much downloaded simr maps of the countries surrounding ours by mistake.


    I didn''t really think I would end up traveling to other countries back then, after all. Well, it turned out to be a fateful mistake."


    "It sure is a fateful mistake."


    General Wijaya could not help but agree in amazement.


    Then, Kana asked a dumb question.


    "Is that real-time?"


    "Why would you think it''s real-time..." Mark tilted his head in confusion. "You think I''ll be able to do that and connect to some satellite in space?"


    "I mean, it''s not farfetched to think so?"


    Kana copied Mark''s tilt and answered with a question that would be hard to refute considering the things that Mark had shown them.


    "I know I have my own absurdities, but what you''re talking about is definitely outside my capabilities."


    Mark shrugged in exasperation.


    "Alright, enough with that," Edge interrupted the banter of the two. "Where''s the school zone you are talking about?"


    Mark then fiddled with his phone before answering.


    "We are currently on the main road, so... The fastest route would be straight this road and the third street to the left."


    "Alright, let''s head there. No opposition?" General Wijaya asked and no one responded. "Good."


    With their destination decided, the group traversed the main road, which would normally be avoided by most survivors. After all, main roads would be where many [Infected] could be encountered among all kinds of roadways.


    And that was right.


    As the group exited the main road''s curve, the straight road before them had quite arge number of [Infected] lurking around.


    And, of course, the conditions of the bodies of the [Infected] were pretty much the same as the previous one. It was all clear that it had not been too long since this ce was overrun.


    Aside from the [Biters] and [Eaters], there were a few [Mutated Infected]. But, like the others, they were in the initial stages of Mutation. They were stronger than themon ones, but not as strong as the current [Mutated Infected] one would encounter inrge ruined cities.


    These weak [Infected] did not pose too much of a threat to this overpowered group. Although it consumed a bit more time, the group easily dealt with the [Infected] attacking them.


    Soon enough, the path of the group had been littered with corpses of the mindless [Infected].


    Ignoring the [Infected] further away on the main road, the group entered the street Mark told them to.


    But as they were in the middle of passing through the second block after they veered off the main road, Mark suddenly paused. Even Felicia''s feline instincts kicked in as she jumped onto the roof of the nearest house and squinted at the direction they were supposed to be going.


    Seeing the reaction of the two, Feng Zhiruo immediately put her hand on the handle of her sword, ready to draw it if needed.


    "What happened to you two?"


    Kana could not help but ask, only noticing Mark and Felicia.


    It was the same for the other three. Who also got their weapons ready just in case.


    Mark then looked and fiddled with his phone, scanning the map. It was when he answered.


    "There are people in the school we are heading to. And they are definitely not in a good condition."


    Mark''s words surprised everyone.


    "There are survivors in this ce?"


    Farrel voiced out.


    But then, Felicia, who had jumped down from the roof chimed in with a bad piece of information.


    "They won''t be survivors anytime soon. The location ahead of us is surrounded by a horde. There are more than two or even three hundred."


    Silence ensued within the group as they all digested the information.


    Nheless, as General Wijaya, Edge, and Farrel looked at each other eye to eye, they all gave a nod.


    "We are going to help them."


    Edge dered.

 Chapter 1166: Trapped, The Survivors of Gilimanuk

    Day 376 - 2:07 PM - MTsN 1 Jembrana, Gilimanuk, Mya Subdistrict, Jembrana Regency, Bali, Indonesia


    "Miss Uli..."


    A young boy around the age of seven wanted to say something to the woman in front of him. But as he looked at the woman''s back and the younger girl she was tucking to sleep, the boy stopped as he rubbed his near-empty stomach.


    "What is it?"


    The woman named Uli heard the boy''s barely audible voice and asked as she turned around to face him.


    "No. Miss Uli. It''s nothing."


    The boy turned and left, joining the other children sitting in front of the wall of the room near the corridor.


    Seeing that sight, Uli could only sigh as she turned towards the girl she was helping fall asleep.


    It was not just the little girl. Several more younger children were sleeping next to her. Unfortunately, it was not because it was nap time for them. It was for these children to forget their hunger and thirst. And, of course, also to keep them from making loud noises, not that they would do so.


    Uli looked at the windows blocked by cardboard boxes and newspapers, with holes poked through to let light in during the day.


    With no electricity and just the holes to let light through, the room was dim, although it was still afternoon. Unfortunately, there was nothing they could do. Wanting more light meant exposing themselves to the dangers outside. Those were the exact dangers that kept them stuck on the second floor of this small school building.


    Uli stood up and approached the window. Using a slightlyrger hole in the cardboard cover, she took a quick peek at the current situation.


    "Take care not to be noticed."


    A man nearby warned Uli.


    "I know."


    Uli replied as she took note of the scene through the hole. Then, she let out a sigh.


    The situation was not getting any better. If anything, it got worse.


    It was not like this before.


    The apocalypse came, and the world descended into chaos as the [Infected] spread terror to the people. But as the survivors began to adapt to the new world, things became better in this town. If they wanted to survive, they should be united. It was the mentality the survivors of this town adopted as they faced the new and dangerous world.


    Furthermore, Bali was a popr tourist destination. Due to this, about a third of the poption of survivors in this town were foreign tourists. The unity they adopted and the difference in mentality and culture allowed them to brainstorm ways to survive from different angles the locals might not have thought. It kept them all alive with minimal casualties as time went by.


    Even after the world changed, they adapted quickly. Theck of knowledge and extreme radiation still caused some casualties. Even so, they persevered through and adapted.


    Whenrge creatures attacked from the coast, they changed the central hub of the town. When the [Infected] from ind grew more powerful, theyid more traps and created more tactics to fight them. And when the robot aliens fell from the sky, they learned more ways to stay alive.


    However, even the strongest pir would crumble when its foundation became damaged. People changed over time. And scary enough, it was hard to notice.


    Everyone did well until now. That was why many of the people in this town feltcent that they could survive everything.


    The pir they made stood solid and unblemished outside. It was why no one noticed it was slowly rusting inside.


    The rust they called emotions. It was the reason why humans would never be truly united.


    Certain emotions might grow and lead people astray. Worse, the person with those emotions would either not notice it or choose to bottle it up and hide it from everyone.


    And soon, it would grow far more intense than the amount the person could handle and burst unexpectedly.


    Unfortunately, the time those intense exploded just happened to be eleven days ago, at the exact moment when arge-scale [Infected] migration somehow urred without warning.


    The bearer of those emotions lost concentration, opening a gap in the supposedly tight defenses of the town. Instead of filling the gap the person made with more effort, the uncontroble emotions led him to run away, leaving everyone in danger.


    With that gap, the town began to fall, unable to handle the surprisinglyrge amount of enemies.


    While thebatants fought, the nonbatants evacuated. It was the usual scenario. With a fewbat personnel guiding them, the nonbatants rushed to the shelter, which happened to be this school.


    With the initial defense line falling, the final line of defense urred around the school perimeter.


    But what would happen if thebatants failed the defense? It led to this very exact situation.


    The nonbatants were left trapped without any path to escape as the [Infected] began swarming the area due to the lingering presence of humans nearby.


    It had been nearly eleven days since Uli and forty-two other people became trapped on the second floor of this school building. Among all of them, only three werebatants. Eleven were children in the range of five to twelve years old. The rest were people either with disabilities or with an abysmalck of senses required forbat.


    Uli was among those with ack of fighting prowess. It was not like she did not try learning at all. But evenpared to the weakest among thebatants, she was still severelycking in talent.


    And there was no need to mention fighting right now. The thought itself was akin tomitting suicide. Even if all these forty-three people united to escape, the chance of escaping the horde outside was near zero.


    It was not just the forty-three of them who evacuated. The other school buildings nearby were being used simrly. However, considering theck ofmunication and the cries for help in the past few days, it would be hard to assume there were still other survivors.


    Uli sighed as she left the window and sat down on the floor. She could only slump lower as she felt her stomach grumble.


    The problem now was theck of food and water. Since the evacuees had more children than expected, they did not manage to bring enough necessities during the evacuation. After all, the children could carry little with them using their young bodies. Although they tried to ration what they had as much as possible, it was already running out. It would have run out sooner if not for the sacrifice of one brave man.


    During the initial evacuation, there were forty-four of them here. There were fourbatants. But after a week of being trapped here with supplies running out, that bravebatant volunteered to find supplies. It was a suicide mission. That was why he insisted on going alone, even though the otherbatants wanted to try to help after he volunteered. If he was alone, it would be harder to detect him. And if he was detected, he could run away freely. In case both failed, he would be the only one dying.


    Surprisingly, the man seeded twice and returned with a decent amount of supplies he could carry. This sess made everyone confident for his third run.


    The man returned for the third time with another good haul on his backpack. But it was also hisst run.


    It was because the man returned with a nasty bite on his arm. He did not have long to live. There was still a chance of mutation. Other people who were bitten ended up alive due to them mutating instead. But with the chance too low, the man did not want to risk everyone''s safety.


    The man left, with everyone expecting not to see him again.


    But then, a surprise, or maybe a miracle, happened.


    The man never left. Even now, they were being protected by that brave man.


    "Endro."


    Uli muttered with a sigh.


    ***


    Day 376 - 2:11 PM - Central Park, Gilimanuk, Mya Subdistrict, Jembrana Regency, Bali , Indonesia


    "Felicia... Your estimate is wrong. There''s nothing near three hundred here."


    Sitting on the roof of a tall house beside the central park, Markined to Felicia.


    "My estimate isn''t wrong if we only counted the ones roaming the park."


    Felicia replied while scratching her head.


    There were not just a few hundred [Infected] in the near vicinity of the school zone. There were likely around two to three thousand [Infected] lurking in the area. Most of them surrounded the school on the northeast side of the park. It was also where the survivors Mark detected were located.


    No wonder the streets they walked through so far were pretty empty, with only a few lurking [Infected]. Most of the [Infected] gathered here. Furthermore, it was not just the people who had turned recently. It seemed that the horde that caused the downfall of this town was also lurking around with the new ones.


    "Hey... They can''t really see us?"


    Kana suddenly tugged on Mark''s sleeve and asked.


    "Yeah, they can''t,"


    Mark replied, opening his left fist with two glowing crystals on his palm.


    "I surrounded us with [Optical Camouge], so no one will see us outside it. I also blocked our smell. But we can''t linger in one ce for too long. They can still detect our presence by instinct."


    "So, what''s the n?"


    Mark then asked the Indonesian members of the scouting group.


    The Indonesian survivors were already trying to reduce their reliance on Mark and his group. Since it would not be long before the Evernight leave, it was good for them to start early.


    However, it was not the best time for that.


    "We have lives to save, so please, we are counting on you."


    General Wijaya replied.


    "Can you open a path for us to take the survivors to safety?"


    "Can''t we just kill the [Infected] with arge attack?"


    Kana chimed in.


    "I''d rather not do that with people trapped in thatrge horde."


    Edge answered Kana''s question.


    "I agree with Edge,"


    General Wijaya nodded.


    "We also have to consider other possibilities. The people trapped there might end in unexpected situations if arge fight suddenly ensued outside their shelter."


    "What situation?"


    Kana tilted her head.


    "For the most likely scenario, they would shout and call for help. Then, attract the [Infected] to their location. Then boom, we have no need to rescue them anymore."


    Mark said jokingly. Of course, no oneughed. It was not like Mark was entirely joking, either. It was a very likely scenario.


    "Then, I''ll be attracting the [Infected] while you all extract the survivors from the area. That''s the n, right?"


    Mark changed the topic.


    "That''s the simple way of saying it,"


    General Wijaya nodded.


    "But we still need to survey the area properly to make the operation as safe as possible."


    General Wijaya was a model soldier. As such, heid out everything to be done before they started.


    One was to determine the exact location of the survivors. Next, they needed to find and choose a route to take as they led the survivors to safety. Of course, if possible, the route should be the opposite of the direction to lure the [Infected].


    As the group moved closely, they neared the building sheltering the survivors.


    But then, when they stopped to observe, Mark noticed something as he pulled out a sniper scope and used it as a telescope.


    "Is something wrong?"


    Edge asked Mark as everyone noticed his sudden behavior.


    "Here,"


    Mark handed Edge the sniper scope.


    "Look at the door of the white building."


    Edge did as he was instructed.


    "Huh?"


    Edge was also surprised by what he saw.


    "What is it?"


    Kana chimed in.


    Then, one after another, they took turns to look at what Mark saw.


    And all of them were a bit confused.


    In front of the only entrance of the building, a man wearingbat gear stood still. Since the man stood outside, surrounded by the horde and without getting attacked, it was clear the man was also an [Infected].


    However, the man never left his position to wander around aimlessly as the others did. Furthermore, whenever another [Infected] tried to approach the door, the man snarled at the [Infected]. And if the approaching [Infected] did not leave, the man pushed the [Infected] away. Since both of them were [Infected], it did not lead to a fight as the pushed [Infected] wandered off, and the man returned to his position in front of the entrance.


    "That''s odd, isn''t it?"


    Markmented, and everyone around him could only agree.

 Chapter 1167: Strange Methods, Deducing the Events and Luring the Infected Away

    Day 376 - 2:21 PM - Gilimanuk, Mya Subdistrict, Jembrana Regency, Bali, Indonesia


    Around a quarter of an hour passed after Mark and the rest located the survivors and the horde infesting the town. As they finished the preparations, it was time to move.


    Mark, folding his ck, eerie wings,nded on the roof of the school building that sheltered the survivors. It was a step that was not in the n, but he thought of doing it first to ensure there would be no stupid moves from the desperate survivors.


    WOOOM!


    An invisible pulse spread toward the survivors below Mark as his eyes glowed red, spreading a particr emotion in their minds.


    [Emotion Induction: Lingering Fear]


    It was what Mark named this specific move. This action will make the survivors inside the building a bit more fearful while not outwardly panicked. It would also increase their cautiousness, preventing them from acting stupidly panicked.


    "This would do, I think."


    Mark murmured as he nced at the others watching him on the roof of a house quite a distance away, confused about what he was doing since it was not in the n.


    Shrugging, he turned his back, opened his wings, and flew due east.


    If it were just him, it would be easier to wipe out the [Infected] horde from atop that building. Although it would take a bit more time since he needed to act without damaging the surroundings, it would be doable.


    However, Mark was following the n for a simple reason. It would benefit the Indonesian survivors more in terms of experience. It was to utilize what cards they had in hand and safely rescue the survivors.


    This time, Mark was the card. And they decided to use this card to get the danger out of the way.


    While flying, Mark''s ring vibrated shortly. It was Mei sending a message. At the same time, a voice echoed from the military radio on his belt.


    "The truck is ready to depart."


    It was the voice of Nelia. A part of the n was contacting the others to send the military truck to transport the survivors. The military truck might be a bit banged up because of the circumstances, but it was still in working condition. Since the survivors Mark detected were weakened, possibly due to starvation, having a vehicle to transport them was necessary.


    "Okay then,"


    Mark flew faster.


    "My part is what will start this party."


    From the sky, Mark could see more of the terrain below. He could have done this when scouting, but it feltckluster when one just wanted to feel the joy of exploration on foot.


    It did not take long before Mark saw the outskirts of the town. Sure enough, the people who lived here put their all into fortifying the vicinity. The entirety of Gilimanuk was actually surrounded by walls made of various things. The most prominent materials making those walls were vehicles turned to their sides, supported by either cement or metal fittings.


    Atop most of the walls were wooden ramparts, surrounded by barbed wires and metal rebars turned into pointy spikes. It was very likely to be where guards patrolled before.


    Outside the walls, a five-meter-wide moat could be seen about a meter away from the foundations. The depths of the moat were hard to measure since it was filled with seawater. This long moat surrounded the maind-facing side of the town and connected the northern and southern coasts.


    The moat was definitely dug manually. However, the flow of seawater altered its appearance, making it look more natural.


    "Hmmm..."


    Mark found the entrance of the town. Since they had a moat, the survivors should have a bridge connecting the penins to the maind. And there it was. It was a steel drawbridge, probably dismantled from one of the vehicle transport ships on the port.


    Unfortunately, the drawbridge was lowered. It was very likely what allowed the entry of most of the [Infected] inside the town. However, it was unlikely that the initial cause of the breakthrough against the town''s defenses would be the gates.


    It was when Mark noticed a particr area on the ramparts at the northern part of the walls.


    There was too much blood in that area.


    Once the defenses had been breached, it wasmon sense to retreat from the frontlines. The defenders would back up and shrink the defense line until they managed to stabilize and push forward again.


    If that were the case, the only ce where there would be too much blood in the defensive area would be where the breach happened initially.


    "Something managed to jump over the moat and onto the walls, huh? Probably a [Predator Type] with strong jumping mutation."


    Mark deduced.


    As Mark''s eyes nced back at the lowered drawbridge, he guessed what likely happened.


    When the breach urred, the defense force failed to stop it. With everyone turning one after another, evacuation began. It caused panic, causing more casualties. But instead of evacuating to the shelters, some people, likely the leaders, chose to leave the town. They managed to lower the drawbridge, but there was no way of raising it after they got out.


    Then, the lowered drawbridge they left caused arger influx of [Infected] entering the town.


    Those people who fled left everyone else in the town to die.


    His deductions made Mark snicker.


    Looking at how the town was preserved through the [Fusion of Dimensions], they must have been pretty united. But one wrong event and all of it went down the drain.


    Or maybe they were never united in the first ce.


    It was just that the people leading them might be adept at making people feel an illusionary sense of unity.


    Mark flew further. He then took out his phone and looked at the map. The map before the apocalypse sure was pretty useless at this point. ording to the map, the area below him should be a bay. However, there was no bay in sight. All he could see was vast nds with a few hills and small forests dotting its vicinity.


    It was probably due to the geographical change after the [Fusion of Dimensions].


    The geographical change probably caused the survivors of Gilimanuk to extend the walls and the moat.


    In any case, Mark could only begin descending. This open area was far suitable for what he was about to do.


    GRRAAORR!!


    As Marknded, growls echoed from a distance. It seemed that his figure attracted some unwanted attention from a few stragglers.


    Roaring loudly, a fast-moving [Infected] ran on all fours as he rushed towards Mark. The way it ran reminded Mark of a notorious [Mutated Infected] from a popr game, which probably caused around eighty to ny percent of the deaths of the characters of its yer base.


    The moment the [Mutated Infected] was close enough, it pounced on Mark.


    Mark, facing such an attack, only stepped aside, causing the attacker to pounce past him.


    The initial attack might have missed, but the moment the [Mutated Infected]nded, it would turn around and pounce at Mark''s back.


    But no such thing happened.


    The moment itnded, it stayed there without moving. It slumped there like a puppet with strings cut. Only when one looked closely would they see a hole punctured through the center of its forehead.


    And the culprit for the hole, Mark, was looking at his hand, specifically at what he was holding.


    Six tentacle-like protrusions extended from Mark''s back. Each tentacle had a pointy de at its tips. Each of them moved at Mark''s behest, with one being the cause of the [Mutated Infected]''s death.


    "It''s been a while since I used these."


    Mark murmured as he began the one-sided fight against the stragglers nearby.


    Since Mark''s weapons and armor were broken, he could only fight using Ignis, the crystals, or his [Blood Maniption].


    And it had really been a long time since Mark fought with nothing but his [Blood Maniption] mutation.


    "Alright, all cleared out. The others should be waiting, so I should start."


    Mark talked to himself as he cleared the area of anything moving to attack him.


    There was no way Mark would forget what he came here for. His role was to lure the [Infected] from the school zone. And since they needed to preserve the town, the rest of the fight should ur outside.


    And thus, Mark began.


    It had already been proven that the [Infected] were attracted to certain factors.


    One was the presence of living things, especially humans. Even without visual or auditory contact, the [Infected] would lurk around areas where living creatures stayed as long as it was nearby.


    The second factor was sound. The [Infected] would flock towards any source of loud sound. It would be even more effective if the sounds were high-pitched tones or a living creature''s voice.


    Third was something peculiar. While not all, some [Infected] would be attracted by familiar figures of living creatures, no matter whether the figure was living or not. For example, just seeing humanoid figures would cause them to attack. While no one really paid attention to it, it was very rare to see an intact mannequin ever since the apocalypse began. If one was even more observant, they would likely see posters of people having indications of being attacked, like bite or scratch marks.


    Fourth was smell. The [Infected] were strongly attracted to the smell of raw flesh and blood of living creatures.


    Andstly, something that only special individuals would notice, the [Infected] were also attracted to magical energy.


    With all those factors in mind, Mark took out the [Wind Maniption Mental Crystal]. He also closed his eyes and began to meditate.


    Mark had a theory. What if the [Infected] was not being attracted to living creatures but being attracted to creatures with souls. Because if it was the former, weren''t trees and nts living creatures too? But flora were being left untouched by the [Infected] for the most part.


    As such, Mark tried. He already had some experience in handling souls. The previous battles were the most of it, though.


    Then, if Mark could imbue a part of his soul to lure the [Infected], would it be more effective?


    It was the cause of Mark''s mediation. And it seemed that he was seeding.


    However, as Mark''s method reached fruition, something, or someone opened its eyes from its deep slumber.


    "???"


    Panicked, a little girl around four or five years old appeared out of nowhere, floating and circling around Mark in utter confusion.


    "It''s good that you''re finally awake, but can you stay in one ce and not disturb me?"


    Mark, without opening his eyes, scolded the little girl.


    A little afraid, the little girl did as she was told, although the confusion and panic did not die down in the slightest as she stared at Mark.


    Finally feeling something, like a gear clicking into its right ce, Mark opened his eyes.


    "HAH!"


    Mark huffed loudly. But at the same time, that huff was filled with a great amount of magical energy and a bit of soul energy Mark managed to draw out. Then, the [Wind Maniption Mental Crystal] glowed at Mark''smand. It did not only spread Mark''s huff but concentrated the vibration of his voice into a high-pitched sound.


    The sound immediately spread out into the areas within two kilometers with Mark at its center.


    ***


    From the roof of the building outside the school zone, the members of the scouting group watched Mark''s silhouette shrink in the distance. They also heard Nelia''s voice on the radio. Now, what was left was to wait.


    The group waited for a while. Somehow, it took longer than expected. However, they all exercised patience and waited silently.


    But then, without warning, everyone flinched as they all covered their ears in panic.


    Everyone''s ears were ringing horribly. Worse, the ringing never stopped, even after covering their ears. They also felt their entire bodies quiver. It was as if the ringing was not only affecting their hearing but also their minds.


    Unknown to Mark, he had given everyone within two kilometers around him a horrible taste of soul-based tinnitus.


    But most importantly...


    ROOOOARRR!!!


    Unrestrained roars echoed all over the ce as all the [Infected] in the area entered an excited state. Without getting distracted by anything else, the entire horde began to move.


    Faster than they could have ever been, the [Infected] raced towards the source of the sound they heard.


    Mark definitely did an outstanding job in luring the [Infected] away from the school zone. However, his method sure was the opposite for the affected humans.

 Chapter 1168: Rescue, The Most Effective Lure and the End of Duty of a Fine Warrior

    Day 376 - 2:23 PM - East ins, Gilimanuk, Mya Subdistrict, Jembrana Regency, Bali, Indonesia


    Mark, with his eyes closed, looked up at the sky. He listened to the terrifying roars that would give average apocalypse survivors a heart attack due to extreme fear.


    The agitated roars that would bring chills to the bone echoed from everywhere. It was clear that Mark''s experimental method to lure the [Infected] worked splendidly. However, he was also sure that the effect was outside his expectations.


    Mark watched as the [Infected] emerged from the nearby hills and forests. They ran like rabid animals who had starved for years, and the first food they saw afterward was their favorite. While the [Infected] sure were an aggressive bunch, this kind of agitation was, without a doubt, abnormal.


    "Haha..."


    Mark snickered. The roars and the [Infected] rabidly running in the distance made him feel like an exmation symbol with the prompt, "Here theye..." appeared before his eyes. The only difference was the number of [Infected] variations present.


    While having all that gamer nonsense in his mind, Mark turned his head, looking straight toward the town. Compared to the [Infected] from other directions already rushing towards him, the ones inside had a bit of a dy. It was not surprising. The [Infected] inside the residential area would need to traverse buildings and structures. Not to mention, the wall and the moat would block their advance.


    Or so what Mark had thought...


    When Mark was about to focus on the [Infected]ing from other directions, humanoid figures rushed over the wall. There were around seventy to a hundred of them, one after another, jumping out of the town''s confines. Around half of them immediately fell into the moat just a meter from the wall. However, the rest, using their powerful limbs, jumped over the deep waters and reached the other side.


    But these feral figures were not the end of it. After them, silhouettes could be seen erratically poking out from behind the wall.


    The [Predator Types] was one thing, but Mark was confused about what was happening on the other side of the wall.


    As such, Mark opened his wings and soared to the sky.


    There, Mark saw an unusual but pretty familiar scene. It was the scene of the [Infected] piling up and climbing over another. Since the other [Infected Types] did not have the agility and limb strength of the [Predator Types], they could only resort to a different method to scale the walls.


    And that was what was unusual.


    The [Infected], aside from some rare individuals,cked intelligence. They could only crowd of locations they could not traverse, but not pile over each other like the ones in that movie said to be a flop. Even if one managed to climb over, it was mostly by ident or if it was a more intelligent [Infected].


    But what was happening right now was outright strange. It was not just one. The [Infected] from inside the town were pulling each other to the ground and using the bodies of the fallen ones as a foothold to climb the wall.


    The [Infected] horde soon reached the point of overflowing outside the wall. Most fell onto the ledge outside the wall and got knocked down by the impact. Some [Infected] ended up slumped onto the ground after another [Infected] fell onto them. On the other hand, some fell straight into the moat.


    "That moat won''t be able to stop all of them."


    Mark murmured.


    If the [Infected] horde behaved like this, they would also end up filling up a part of the moat, creating a bridge made of [Infected] bodies.


    "It''s a good thing, I guess?"


    Mark nodded.


    If the [Infected] were rushing out of the town, then only a tiny percentage of the horde would be left behind to clean up inside.


    Mark then looked below.


    The first ones were about to arrive.


    Since luring the [Infected] away from the school zone was Mark''s role, it would be fine for him to leave now. He already seeded in his part, after all.


    But leaving this ce now was never Mark''s intention.


    Without warning, Mark swooped down to the nearest [Predatore Type] that came from a nearby forest. The [Mutated Infected] did not expect an attack from the sky. As Mark passed above it and spun in the air once, the [Mutated Infected''s] head fell off as inertia threw its lifeless body, tumbling and rolling forward.


    The death of that [Predator Type Infected] was noticed by the others as the strong smell of blood spread out.


    At the same time, Marknded before them.


    The target now shifted to Mark. All the [Infected] close enough came rushing towards him.


    And Mark, with eyes that held no emotion, showed a nk smile.


    It was time to clean this ce of anything moving.


    ***


    On the roof of the building outside the school zone, the rest of the investigation group were getting ready.


    "The horde is gone. Has everyone recovered?"


    Edge asked everyone. With his current abilities awakened, he was the fastest to recover from whatever Mark did.


    "I''m still dizzy..."


    Kanained.


    Fortunately, aside from Kana, everyone pretty much recovered.


    "What is going on?"


    General Wijaya spoke as he held his two-way radio.


    "Sir Mark isn''t answering."


    Knowing it was Mark''s doing, General Wijaya tried to contact him. However, no response came from Mark''s side of the radio.


    "It''s Mark, so he should be fine,"


    Edge replied.


    "We should hurry to rescue the survivors."


    Everyone nodded at Edge''s words. They all rushed off the roof, intending to cautiously make their way to the shelter.


    "I''ll wait for the truck here. You all go ahead."


    Feng Zhiruo said, fulfilling her role in this rescue mission.


    Everyone gave her a nod as they entered the now-empty premises of the school zone.


    The group hurried into the closest building from the entrance. It was where the survivors were holed up. However, one thing stopped them from entering the building.


    "This guy is still here?"


    Kana could not help but blurt out as they all saw who stood in their way.


    It was the very same [Infected] man standing guard in front of the door.


    "GRRRRR..."


    Seeing the people in front of him, the [Infected] man growled as a threat.


    Nheless, it was an [Infected]. There were only two things to do with him. They could either kill or capture the [Infected] man.


    But before any discussion happened about the strange situation, Edge stepped forward.


    "We are here to HELP them. SAVE them. Can you please make way?"


    Edge spoke as if the [Infected] would understand.


    Surprisingly enough, the [Infected] man stopped growling and looked at Edge. It stared at Edge''s eyes for several seconds.


    And to surprise everyone even more, the [Infected] man showed a smile of relief.


    Then, like a puppet with strings cut, the [Infected] man''s body slumped while standing. It was as if he lost all strength.


    However, it was not something to be relieved about. As the [Infected] man abruptly raised its head, it showed a feral ferociousness that everyone was familiar with.


    "GROOARR!!"


    The [Infected] man lunged at the closest person, Edge, trying to bite him.


    "Your mission is finished, huh. You are a fine warrior."


    Edge said with a smile as he poked a hole into the [Infected] man''s head, finally killing him.


    After catching the lifeless body of the [Infected] warrior, Edge carefully put it to the side.


    "Let''s give this guy a proper burial, shall we?"


    Edge asked everyone.


    After seeing what happened, there was no way any of them would disagree with it.


    With the obstacles out of the way, it was time to rescue the survivors.


    ***


    A few minutes ago. Inside the shelter.


    RIIINNNGGGGGGGGG!


    The ringing sounds echoed into everyone''s minds. The survivors could not help but try covering their ears to no avail.


    Uli endured her dizziness as she made her way to the children.


    The sleeping children were woken up by the ringing in everyone''s ears. If that was the case, the children would likely start crying. After all, it was a sudden and frightful event.


    And if the children began crying, the [Infected] horde outside would likely hear them all. It would be the end of them.


    But to Uli''s confusion, the event she feared never happened. The children sure were surprised as they abruptly woke up while holding their ears. However, instead of crying, they looked around, searching for the safest ce to be. Finding Uli, they all rushed to her in silence and huddled around her, filled with vignce in the surroundings.


    It was odd. It was not only the children. Uli also realized that while she was afraid, she was rtively calm and feeling cautious. It was really strange.


    Then, the survivors flinched.


    The agitated roars of the [Infected] filled their surroundings. Almost all the adults could not help but reach for their weapons and silently waited for any iing danger.


    Uli hugged the children around her, making them feel as safe as possible. Still, what was going on? This was the first time they all experienced this.


    But as time went on, they noticed something.


    No attack happened to the shelter. In fact, the agitated roars were getting further and further away.


    Realizing the strangeness of the situation, one of the men carefully approached the covered window and looked outside through one of the holes. The man was utterly surprised.


    "There''s no [Infected] outside,"


    The man whispered.


    "They all went away."


    Unable to believe the man, the other adults began to peek through the holes in the covered window. However, what they saw was what the man had just said.


    There was not a single [Infected] in sight. It was as if the [Infected] all went somewhere else.


    But...


    THUMP! THUMP! THUMP!


    Everyone flinched as they heard a loud thumping sound.


    The thought of the [Infected] trying to break through from the doors below immediately entered their minds.


    It was when...


    "THE SURVIVORS INSIDE! PLEASE OPEN UP! WE ARE HERE TO RESCUE YOU!"


    A shout came from below.


    It was an unfamiliar voice. However, for everyone here who had been holed up for more than a week without hearing anyone''s voice but theirs and the growls of the [Infected] outside, that stranger''s voice sounded heavenly.


    "I will check."


    One of the two onlybatants among the survivors volunteered to check.


    "Be careful."


    The otherbatant said to the other.


    With an assault rifle with a magazine only half-full of bullets, thebatant made his way to the first floor, climbing over the barricade on the stairs.


    Thebatant, a man in his mid-twenties, carefully approached the door, trying to listen to the voices outside. But the man was surprised as the voice outside called out to him.


    "We know you''re behind the door. Please quickly open up so we can evacuate. We don''t know how long the [Infected] would be kept busy."


    Thebatant was not a fool. Those words by the stranger meant that they lured the [Infected] away to rescue them. As such, the man resolved himself and slowly opened the door.


    To his surprise, he saw a group of people. There was even a foreign woman and a blue-haired girl. Most importantly, the oldest of the group was wearing a military uniform. Most of them were armed, but none of them looked ready to start a fight.


    And then, before everyone could start the conversation, the loud sound of a vehicle could be heard approaching the vicinity.


    "Looks like the truck is here."


    The man in military uniform spoke. It was a different voice from the one speaking earlier.


    "The transport is here,"


    The familiar voice came from the man who was standing closest to thebatant.


    "Please call everyone out. We''ll take you all to somewhere safer."


    "Y-yes!"


    Thebatant replied. All of his cautiousness went down the drain as excitement took root in his heart.


    Without uttering another word to the group outside, thebatant rushed inside and climbed the stairs. Without even climbing over the barricade, thebatant shouted to the survivors inside.


    "Everyone! Get ready to leave! Rescue is here!"


    The excited voice echoed not only inside the building but also outside.


    It looked like thebatant was so excited that he had already forgotten to lower his voice.

 Chapter 1169: Mental Instability, The Undesirable Side-Effects of Winning the Fight Against A Deity

    Day 376 - 2:32 PM - East ins, Gilimanuk, Mya Subdistrict, Jembrana Regency, Bali, Indonesia


    A rescue. Although the survivors of Gilimanuk were hopeful, no one expected it to actually happen. Furthermore, the people who rescued them were total strangers. It was unsurprising for them to feel a bit cautious about the situation.


    However, the cautiousness lowered upon seeing the soldiers in uniform escorting the truck. Another thing that reduced it was the blue-haired girl among their rescuers, who appeared too bubbly and innocent tomit anything heinous.


    Unfortunately, a single damaged truck could not transport all of them at once. As such, the children and the weaker adults boarded the vehicle first while the others followed on foot with the escort soldiers.


    While everything went on, the survivors from the school looked around in caution. After all, the ce was swarmed with the [Infected] just earlier. However, not a single [Infected] was left in sight. It was truly unbelievable.


    Another strange thing to see during the rescue was a man with arge shield and a long sword among the rescuers. He also asked for a cart or trolly or anything simr. Fortunately, the school had those since the ce was used to store the town''s supplies.


    What surprised them even more was what the man with the sword and shield intended to transport using the cart.


    It was a corpse.


    Seeing the corpse, the survivors could not help but shed tears.


    It was the brave Endro who protected them even after he turned.


    Everyone inside the shelter knew that Endro never stopped guarding the doors, even after he turned. As such, he was their hero. He was the reason they were still alive.


    Seeing the reaction of the survivors, the man with the shield and sword exined what happened. It made everyone feel even more thankful for the miracle Endro created.


    The respectful gesture towards Endro''s remains was the final nail for the survivors to lower their guards.


    But as the transport began, a question popped up among the survivors of Gilimanuk.


    The survivors expected to be transported out of the town. After all, it was their town. It was obvious to think that the rescuers had a base somewhere else.


    Yet, the survivors were being brought towards the direction of the port.


    As the survivors addressed their concerns, the soldiers did not hesitate to answer with the surprising truth.


    The people who rescued them had just arrived at this ce a few hours ago. And the most surprising fact was that these people came from the other side of the strait. They were survivors from Java.


    How?


    The question entered the survivors'' minds after hearing the fact.


    Since the apocalypse began, all modes of aquatic travel have be far more dangerous than onnd. Monsters under the water had be a thing, and even just a prolonged stay near the coast would be suicidal.


    Yet, this group of people actually traversed the dangerous strait.


    Everyone soon reached the port. The survivors of Gilimanuk were not too familiar with the ce, either. After all, not only was the port area a dangerous location near the waters, but the ce was used as a private area where only the leaders and the trained personnel of the town could enter.


    However, those leaders and personnel were not here. The port area was now upied by a group of strangers from Java.


    But that was not all.


    As the survivors alighted from the truck, they could not help but see thatrge rift in space at the port''s central road. Furthermore, people came and went from that rift, carrying stuff as they went out.


    Amotion also rose among the children from Gilimanuk as they saw another group of children among the people in the port. And they were all ying with several gigantic animals and what seemed to be a fairy.


    A few girls dressed as western maids could also be seen looking after the children.


    It felt like they entered a strange ce.


    But before anything else, the survivors were brought somewhere else. It was a temporary outdoor kitchte. Here, they were free to fill their empty stomachs without worrying about the amount of food they had left.


    ***


    "They really are hungry, aren''t they?"


    Kana remarked with a shrug while the survivors they rescued ate with tears leaking from the corner of their eyes.


    "You can only say that because you never experienced being trapped in a ce without water, food, and hope in sight."


    Nelia responded to Kana''s childish remark.


    "Well, yeah..."


    But instead of being repentant, Kana just epted it. Even her teammates nearby, Estia and K, smiled bitterly. The members of the 3rd Wave might have experienced a bit of hunger before, but they nevercked water because of Kana''s ability.


    "Still, it''s only then who survived, huh?" Edge said with a sigh. "From what I gathered, there were supposed to be people who took shelter in other school buildings. But there''s no sign of life left in the ce except the ones we rescued."


    Everyone fell silent due to Edge''s words. It was simr to what happened in Muria, where only the ones here were left to survive, albeit on a smaller scale.


    "Is there no news about Mark?"


    Luna arrived with a question.


    "He''s not responding,"


    General Wijaya answered while holding his radio.


    "I''ve been trying to contact him all this time."


    "Mei said he''s okay,"


    Luna said, pointing at Mei, who was also watching her daughters.


    "But it seems his responses were minimal. She''s not really worried about his safety. It''s just Mark became a little bit strange after those battles."


    "I kinda felt it, too,"


    Edge nodded.


    "Mark is going through something."


    "Hmmm?"


    Nelia noticed something.


    "It looks like they are going to find Mark."


    Everyone saw Mei jumping onto the back of the ck dragon with Annica and Emika...


    And Kana.


    "Kana?"


    General Wijaya voiced out in confusion as he began looking around them.


    However, Kana was nowhere to be seen. It meant that it was definitely Kana riding on the dragon''s back.


    "When did she?"


    Nelia voiced out, perplexed.


    The girl with the bright blue hair that was supposed to stand out could slip out without anyone noticing. It was not the first time. During the first encounter with the Night Goddess, Kana also vanished.


    Just like her ability, Kana was as slippery as water.


    Everyone watched the dragon soar into the sky. The ones most amazed by the sight were the survivors of Gilimanuk.


    Seeing the direction they flew, they were definitely going to find Mark.


    ***


    The four girls rode on Char''s back. Mei could fly alone, but there was no need to at this moment. It was because the three adventurous girls insisted oning. The suggestion to look for Mark came from them too.


    Annica, Emika, and Kana sure were kindred spirits in this regard.


    The location was not far. Mei''s GPS, which was dedicated to Mark, was going strong.


    And from the sky, they could see the location before they reached it.


    "Huh?"


    Annica could not help but let out a strange voice. Even Emika and Kana had a simr reaction.


    The t area outside the town turned into a grasnd of death. The grass had turned red, covered in blood. Corpses without intact bodies littered the ce.


    And at the center of it all, a figure was sitting down in the only clean location within the bloodbath.


    That figure was definitely Mark.


    But even in this distance, the four girls, even Char, could feel an odd aura surrounding him. It was strange since Mark''s aura could be barely felt after he received the [Blessing of Death''s Aura] from Magwayen.


    Unable to hold herself back, Mei opened her wings and rushed first. Char also hurried after her.


    Afternding, the first thing Mei noticed was a little girl hiding behind arge rock not far from Mark. When the little girl saw Mei, she jumped out of hiding, flew towards Mei, and pushed her towards Mark.


    "Hurry!"


    The girl said something Mei could not understand, but she could feel what she wanted.


    As Chalfarnded, trampling some of the scattered bodies, Mei already approached Mark under the little girl''s urging.


    "Gege?"


    Mei called out from behind.


    Hearing Mei''s voice, Mark visibly flinched. The aura surrounding his body vanished as if it was never there.


    And like a child caught sneaking out of the house to y, Mark slowly turned his head and looked over his shoulder.


    "Mei''er..."


    Mark voiced in a muffled voice.


    It was when Mei saw what Mark was holding.


    "Eek!"


    Annica, the most sheltered of them, could not help but scream a little.


    It seemed that it was not only Mei. The three girls who already jumped off Char''s back also saw it.


    With his hands covered in blood, Mark held what seemed to be a lump ofbined flesh, bones, and blood vessels. It pulsated as if it was alive and breathing.


    "What is that?"


    Mei asked in a reprimanding tone.


    "I just tried doing something... It just ended up like this."


    Mark spoke incoherently.


    "What is that?"


    Mei repeated in a stronger tone.


    "A weapon,"


    Mark finally answered with a sigh.


    "A parasitic weapon, I think."


    As Mark answered, hetched the lump of grossness on his right wrist. The girls saw needles stick out of the lump before piercing Mark''s skin. Then, an eye opened at the center of the lump as its entire structure changed. A long whip-sword created from spinal bones formed and shot out of the lump as its central part began to metalize.


    In the blink of an eye, the lump of grossness turned into a sinister-looking weapon.


    However, instead of amazement, Mei approached Mark with a frown. Without showing disgust, she grabbed the thing on Mark''s wrist and ripped it out despite it causing deep wounds on his wrist. After she threw the thing away, she immediately kneeled and hugged Mark.


    Mark froze in the spot. His hands hung in the air behind Mei as the wounds on his wrist closed quickly.


    Then, Mark''s arms went limp and his head fell onto Mei''s shoulder.


    Mark fell unconscious.


    It was only then that the little girl who pushed Mei rxed.


    "What happened to uncle?"


    Emika asked in worry. It was clear that something was really wrong with Mark''s condition.


    "Let''s go back first,"


    Mei said as she carried Mark''s unconscious body.


    "I''ll bring this back too, just in case."


    Mei grabbed the sinister weapon and stored it inside her [Spatial Ring].


    The four girls rode on Chalfar''s back. This time, with Mark and the unfamiliar little girl in tow.


    It was the same as when they set out, the journey back was also short.


    As Chalfarnded at the port with Mark unconscious, everyone present showed concern.


    Even to the survivors of Gilimanuk, the scene made them think that the unconscious individual was very important to these people.


    Of course, everyone hurried Mark into a ce to rest. He was not injured or anything. In fact, it would have been better if it was a physical injury since his inhuman regeneration could fix it easily.


    Unfortunately, the issue with Mark was on a deeper level.


    "Mei."


    Luna confronted Mei inside the tent. Behind her were the members of Evernight and the core members of the Indonesian survivors.


    "Can you tell us what is happening with him? Please. We want to help."


    With that heartfelt request, Mei began to exin with a sigh.


    As an [Empath], Mark''s mental stability had long been questionable. It was already fortunate that his [Mutator] trait stabilized it. But now, it seemed that the umted disregard for his own well-being began to bite him back.


    Mark''s [Mutator] trait might have been able to lessen the blood thirst of the Deity of Bloodshed, suppress the greed of Feng Zhiruo''s Elder, hold onto the Blood Slime''s wishes, and keep Freed''s mentality.


    However, it seemed that the addition of the Deity of Soul Sacrifice''s craziness and the countless souls'' vengeance caused the trait to begin malfunctioning.


    Taking in all those souls during the battle and absorbing the fragments of the Deity of Soul Sacrifice might be the best move at that time. However, the side effects were not something to be desired.

 Chapter 1170: Concerns and Conferment, Marks Current Mental State and the Sudden Bestowal of Titles

    Day 376 - 3:02 PM - Port of Gilimanuk, Gilimanuk, Mya Subdistrict, Jembrana Regency, Bali, Indonesia


    Mei continued exining further, but only the parts rted to the current situation. From Mark''s abilities and consequences as an [Empath] and his ability to take souls into his body and devour souls that tried to invade it, Mei was quite picky but thorough on the necessary information they needed.


    "Is Mark bing possessed by that guy we saw inside the underground cathedral?"


    Farel could not help but ask after he heard Mei''s exnation.


    It was surprising for some of them who had learned of Mark''s absurd abilities. However, it seemed that they thankfully focused on the issue instead. After all, Mark had already shown them all sorts of ridiculous things that the impact of the current revtion felt minimal.


    Unexpectedly, the answer to Farel''s question came from the most unexpected person.


    "That''s wrong,"


    Kana said while tilting her head and tapping her small chin.


    "Possession only urs when a ghost, a spirit, or a soul tries to control a body not belonging to them. The only ghost here is that girl sitting there, so yeah, that''s wrong. What? Why are you all looking at me like that?"


    Of course, everyone was a bit weirded out. Usually, Kana would be the person asking questions, showing her childlikeck of knowledge or just because of her disinterest before a reason to ask appeared. Her sudden show of this kind of knowledge sure was bound to surprise her friends.


    Then, what Kana had just said sunk into their minds as their gazes moved towards the girl sitting at the chair in the corner of the tent.


    Kana said that the girl was a ghost. Was that little girl who looked around four years old and was wearing what seemed to be a gothic mourning dress a ghost?


    Sensing the people''s stares, the girl felt ufortable. Her body flickered out of existence before appearing behind Mei, hiding from those peering eyes.


    Goosebumps covered the arms of many of them.


    "Humans sure are weird to get riled up on unnecessary stuff."


    Melfiss'' voice entered everyone''s ears as she exasperatedly stared at the humans around her master. It was as if they had not experienced enough weirdness to react like this.


    "Let''s just get back to the topic, shall we?"


    Luna spoke, veering the conversation back on the right track.


    "If it isn''t possession, then what is the problem?"


    General Wijaya asked.


    "It''s the memories that he absorbed. That is the problem."


    Edge answered, to which Luna nodded in agreement.


    As the two showed understanding of Mark''s current condition, everyone turned to the two.


    Without needing to be asked, Edge borated further.


    "All of you already knew what happened to me and Luna. We regained memories of our previous lives and the powers we used to fight that evil Goddess. Since our current personalities barely differ from our regained memories, there are only a few notable changes in our current behavior."


    "But the memories Mark absorbed are different,"


    Edge looked at Mark.


    "It isn''t his past or anything. The memories did not have any direct connection to him in any shape or form. Worse, it might even be memories that greatly differed or theplete opposite of his personality. That is very likely why he is showing strange side effects. It''s because the memories he absorbed might be shing with his own."


    Now that they vaguely understood what was possibly happening, everyone had aplicated expression. They wanted to help. But how? This situation was definitely outside their capabilities.


    But then...


    "It would be easier if the memories were truly shing with each other,"


    A familiar voice to most of the people present echoed into their minds.


    "Unfortunately, that is not what is happening."


    Everyone''s eyes moved beside Mei as a woman who had not been there before suddenly appeared out of thin air.


    The ones present in the tent, the leaders of the Moon Chasers, Kana of the 3rd Wave, General Wijaya, and the members of Evernight recognized the woman. On the other hand, Kana''s two friends, Estia and K, were surprised and confused, along with the scientist, Dr. Willis, who was strangely quiet, and Devon, who was observing the situation from the side.


    "Goddess!"


    Kana immediately vowed in respect. Of course, her behavior warranted some strange stares.


    The Goddess, Magwayen, nodded at Kana before ignoring the rest as her gaze fell onto Mark.


    "This is why I am not amused by what he did at that time. Taking in souls into his body and absorbing a Deity''s memories afterward, it is not something a sane person would do."


    Magwayen sighed.


    "But it''s the only way that time. And it''s not like there is a choice about those memories."


    A voice answered Magwayen. Everyone turned to the bed and saw Mark was already awake.


    Seeing him wake up, Mei did not say anything. Only her grip on his hand tightened, showing her worry.


    "You''re already awake?"


    Luna asked as if it was a strange thing to happen.


    "Won''t it be stranger if a light sleeper like me would stay asleep, considering how noisy all of you are?"


    Mark''s snappy remark gave bitter smiles to some of them.


    Ignoring them, Mark turned to Magwayen.


    "So, is there something I can do about this?"


    Mark asked. He knew something was wrong with him. And now, it was getting out of hand for him to ignore and endure.


    "Unfortunately, there is nothing much you can do about it,"


    Magwayen shook her head.


    "You can only wait."


    "What do you mean?"


    Mark stared at the Goddess of the Underworld.


    "The problem is that the memories you took in far outweigh your own memories by several thousand years. It had yet to stabilize, causing it to overshadow your own, altering your personality in the process. Think of it as having another personality that woulde out without control after certain events triggered it. And just like how it is triggered to appear, certain triggers can also turn you back to normal."


    Then, Magwayen turned to Mei.


    "That is why you should never get your husband out of your sight until the memories stabilize, especially when fighting or anything that involves violence. Just like how it happened earlier, you are the strongest trigger to pull him back safely."


    "So far, he was able to keep things in check since you kept staying by his side after you noticed something was wrong,"


    Magwayen continued talking to Mei.


    "But reflecting on what happened today, letting him face a few thousand enemies alone would not be a good idea."


    The members of the investigation group felt guilty. After all, the job of luring the [Infected] away for the safe rescue of the trapped survivors could only fall on Mark. But it seemed that letting him do that on his own caused the first instance of Mark''s personality to start breaking.


    "A person''s personality is like y,"


    Magwayen suddenly continued but with a gentler tone.


    "The experiences in life create memories which be the mold of that y. But if you suddenly hammered that mold with arge quantity or stronger memories, belonging to you or not, it would dent or even break. And that broken mold will be fixed by the new memories. It would be fixed, but it would never be the same."


    "If you aren''t careful, it will happen to you."


    Magwayen warned Mark.


    Mark wanted to reply that he would not let it happen. But he decided to stay silent. There was no excusing the fact that he fell into a strange trance while fighting the [Infected].


    At that time, the urge to create something and use the knowledge in his head was overwhelming.


    Mark could not guarantee that he would have absolute control of himself.


    "It seems you understand. Good."


    Magwayen smiled. Although she would appear like she was enjoying watching Mark''s shenanigans, it was clear she also worried for her only blessed one.


    At this time, Magwayen suddenly turned to the opposite corner of the tent.


    "Are two you done watching?"


    Magwayen asked the empty space.


    Then, a door out of nowhere opened. Two figures, a girl and a woman, with multiple eyes on their faces appeared through the door.


    With the exception of the members of Evernight and the leaders of the Moon Chasers, everyone present in the tent was surprised. Devon''s eyes even looked as if they would pop out in shock.


    "To call us out abruptly, the Gods of the other realms surecked delicacy."


    The woman berated the Goddess of the Underworld.


    "Says the guardians who can do nothing but watch."


    The Goddess of the Underworld snapped back.


    Just as per usual, the [Eyes] and the otherworldly Gods did not get along with each other.


    "Thirteenth!"


    On the other hand, the five girls of the Moon Chase were happy to see the little [Eye] they had not seen for a while.


    Thirteenth nodded at them as a greeting.


    Well, considering that Thirteenth was not the only one who appeared, Luna and the others did not try to approach carelessly.


    Then, there was silence as the [Eyes] and the Goddess of the Underworld had a staredown. The pressure in the surroundings was slowly rising.


    "If you three are going to fight, can you get out of the tent? There''s someone mentally sick here, alright?"


    An irritated voice broke the silence. Mark, not having any regard for the status of the three, scolded the three.


    Of course, the three could only give Mark someplicated stares.


    As for the other witnesses, they could not help but look at Mark with both fear and reverence. He was the only one who would not hesitate to treat godly beings like they were a nuisance.


    The pressure vanished as the three either shrugged or sighed.


    "So, why are you here, Neenth?"


    Mark ignored the others as he turned to the only person who was unlikely to appear in this scenario.


    "The only times you appear abruptly is when something big is up."


    And without hesitation, Neenth, the [Eye of Interest] went straight to the point.


    "You are right. I am here to bring news and a warning to the two candidates in his ce. The candidates to lead humanity''s survival."


    Neenth said as her multiple eyes eerily looked in two directions. Some at Mark and some at Luna.


    "The Candidate of the Philippines, Mark, and the Candidate of Indonesia, Luna. You two, both under the supervision and guidance of the [Eye of Excitement], have now passed candidacy and are now given the saviors of your respective countries, bearing titles to your names."


    "Mark, the Savior of the Philippines, entitled by the world as the [Chaosbringer], and Luna, the Savior of Indonesia, entitled by the world as the [Moonlightbearer]. Please continue to protect your people."


    As Neenth uttered the titles, two orbs of light were released from her hands. One flew and entered Mark''s body, while the other came to Luna. And then, a crest appeared on their bodies. Mark''s crest, which seemed to be a spiral cog, appeared on his forehead. On the other hand, Luna''s crest, a moon that briefly showed different phases, appeared on her left cheek. After the crests shed several times, they vanished.


    Without paying attention to the reactions of everyone present, Neenth continued.


    "And now that the titles have been conferred, I will now convey a warning. In one month, the division of the territories will soon end, once more joining the world as a whole. Please be prepared as threats imprisoned by the rifts in other territories might appear. Please, do your best to save humanity."


    With thosest few words, Neenth took a step back.


    "As I have finished my duty here, I must leave. If you, Saviors, have questions, please ask your guide. Farewell."


    As she bid goodbye, Neenth reentered the door, and it vanished into thin air, leaving Thirteenth, sighing.


    "What is this about?"


    Mark asked Thirteenth with a serious tone, not paying attention to themotion and confusion the other witnesses had.


    Luna then approached Thirteenth, clearly having the same concerns.


    "I know it''s out of my character, but let''s take it slow. That''s why I''m here. I will exin."


    Thirteenth tried to appease the two.

 Chapter 1171: Dangers and Causes, The Explanation from the [Eye of Excitement]

    Day 376 - 3:29 PM - Port of Gilimanuk, Gilimanuk, Mya Subdistrict, Jembrana Regency, Bali, Indonesia


    One absurdity after another. With the exception of the members of Evernight and Moon Chasers, the rest were baffled by the current situation.


    Who was that goddess?


    Who were those two excessively-eyed females?


    What were they talking about?


    Questions without answers entered the minds of the lost witnesses.


    The worst part was that their existence seemed to poke the craziness of Dr. Willis.


    With eyes that seemed to sparkle in curiosity, Dr. Willis was about to approach the little girl surrounded by the female leaders of the Moon Chasers.


    "Don''t. Don''t be stupid at this time."


    "Stop, you crazy."


    But from behind, Devon grabbed Dr. Willis'' shoulder, and in front, Kana blocked the crazy scientist''s path.


    "Let me go!"


    Of course, Dr. Willis tried to struggle.


    "Hah."


    Devon sighed as he raised his right hand and hit the crazy scientist''s neck, making him fall unconscious.


    "Sir. Farel."


    Devon called out to the leader of the Fire Fighters.


    "Huh? Ah, yes?"


    Farel, who was frozen stiff by the unfathomable situation, awkwardly reacted.


    "You are the most normal among us here, so it would be difficult for you toprehend the current situation. Their presence alone should be suffocating for you. I suggest you return first and bring this idiot with you before he causes a disaster. Also, do not let anyone approach this ce. Not until wee out."


    Hearing what Devon said, Farel looked back at the situation in front. And as the merchant had said, his body felt heavy and suffocated whenever the little girl with many eyes entered his sight.


    "I get it. I''ll return first."


    Farel epted the suggestion and went out of the tent while carrying the unconscious Dr. Willis on his back.


    There were times like this when normal people better not know anything.


    "Who are they?"


    Estia approached Kana, who appeared to know what was happening, as she asked with a soft whisper.


    But in a strangely serious behavior unusual to Kana, she answered Estia''s question.


    "Just listen silently for now, and you might understand. If not, I''ll exinter. Not now."


    "O-okay..."


    A confused reply came since both Estia and K were taken aback by Kana''s unusual behavior.


    Kana''s words also entered General Wijaya''s ears, making him turn to the other person who could know. Devon, receiving and understanding the meaning of the general''s gaze, shrugged and pointed at Kana while nodding, prompting the general to follow what the blue-haired girl had said.


    While the audience was in confusion, Thirteenth began fulfilling her current duty and answering Mark''s question at the same time.


    "The next phase is about to ensue."


    Thirteenth dered.


    Luna''s group and the rest of the audience were surprised and scared by Thirteenth''s deration. The audience might know less, but it was easy to understand what the scary little girl was saying.


    The next phase of the apocalypse was about toe.


    "We just got a problem to face, and a worse one came about."


    Mark grumbled with a frown. His mental problems had just started to intensify, and they had yet to start thinking of a proper solution. And now, the [Eyes] arrive to announce another problem.


    "Just because you have a problem doesn''t mean the world will stop and wait for you to resolve it first."


    Thirteenth snidely remarked. She might not be showing it tantly, but it seemed that she held a bit of a grudge towards Mark. It was pretty obvious where that grudge came from.


    Seeing Mark stare with a frown, Thirteenth smirked as she continued her announcement.


    "The territorial rifts are starting to dissipate. It is expected that, within more or less a month, the territorial borders will open once more."


    The spatial rifts that separated the countries after the Second Wave and the Fusion of Dimensions would soon vanish. Some would think that it was a good sign. After all, other countries would be essible once again, allowing them to escape theirs if they wanted to.


    But in hindsight, it could also be a bad thing.


    "Can I ask a question?"


    Mark interrupted.


    "You can, but whether I can answer it or not depends on the question."


    Thirteenth nodded.


    "What percentage of the human poption before the outbreak is still surviving currently?


    "


    Mark asked.


    Thirteenth paused for a bit. And as if she received permission, she answered.


    "8%."


    The answer made Mark tap his temple before responding.


    "That''s bad..."


    "What''s bad?"


    Luna chimed in to ask.


    With a deep breath, Mark answered.


    "With the rifts gone, ess between countries will be restored. But it also meant that whatever was imprisoned within the countries that had already fallen would be released to the rest of the world."


    That answer made everyone freeze.


    In a month, the [Infected] with unprecedentedly high levels of mutations would start roaming freely.


    Countries that still had humans or any living creatures would be in grave danger.


    With only 8% of the human poption left, just how many countries still had humans in it?


    "That''s also the reason why the rifts are vanishing, right? The poption decline."


    Mark asked Thirteenth.


    "Correct."


    Thirteenth nodded.


    It had already been exined to Mark and the others before. The existence of the rifts that separated countries within the [Spirit Dimension] was caused by humans as they divided territories and shared beliefs about it. But with the human poption nearly gone, territorial boundaries became a thing of the past. Without the belief and humans to support its existence, it should not be surprising if it vanished like this.


    "But before worrying about the dangers behind the rifts, there are more urgent things to focus on."


    Thirteenth interrupted everyone''s thoughts.


    "The dissipation of the territorial rifts will cause the space upied by the rifts to return to normal. The space will stabilize and the chasms will be filled. However, the automatic restoration will cause strong tectonic movements near the affected areas. This would not matter much within ind locations, but considering Luna''s entourage would settle in this coastal area, I believe it will be important to inform you all."


    Thirteenth began spouting one problem after another.


    Strong tectonic movements likely meant earthquakes. Like Thirteenth had said, it would not affect ind locations too much. However, it would mean differently on territorial borders that were epassed by bodies of water.


    Strong tidal waves should be expected in coastal areas.


    It was not just an issue here in Gilimanuk. Anything near the coast would be affected by it. It would be much worse than a normal tidal wave caused by a regr earthquake. There were countries surrounded by water, like the Philippines. Since the tidal wave would originate from the territorial borders, countries surrounded by water would be besieged by tidal waves from all directions.


    Tidal waves also happened during the Fusion of Dimensions. However, at that time, a barrier protected the human settlements from utter destruction.


    Now, however, there was no such barrier.


    "Do we have to move somewhere else?"


    Luna could not help but ask her friends before asking Thirteenth.


    "We''re not getting help this time, right?"


    "Unfortunately,"


    Thirteenth shrugged.


    "This time, your survival will be up to all of your efforts."


    "I see."


    Luna replied, looking determined.


    "But it''s not all bad news,"


    Thirteenth then smiled.


    "Unlike countries that shared borders, countries surrounded by water will have extra preparation time after the territorial rifts are gone."


    "What do you mean?"


    Mark asked.


    "As you surmised, there are monstrous creatures lurking behind some of the rifts,"


    Thirteenth answered.


    "However, while those monsters onnd would just need to walk to cross the borders, it will still take time for the ones underwater toe ashore. While the duration might vary, Mark and Luna, you two will have more time to prepare your countries against those monsters."


    It might not be much, but that sure was better to hear.


    "Singling us like that... Does that have to do with those cringe title thingies Neenth mentioned earlier?"


    Mark could not help but ask.


    "To call those cringe You should be proud to be given such a title, Chaosbringer."


    Thirteenth smugly replied, making Mark''s eyebrows twitch in annoyance.


    "That''s right. What are those titles about? And why are we called Saviors all of a sudden?"


    Luna also had the same question as Mark. After all, she was just called Moonlightbearer earlier.


    "Alright, let me answer."


    Thirteenth''s tone sure was different as she responded to Luna''s question.


    And there, Thirteenth, the [Eye of Excitement], exined.


    Mark and Luna were, obviously, no longer candidates. Both had survived the candidacy period.


    What candidacy period?


    That candidacy period was not just about time but also the survival of other countries. New candidates could appear in countries where one had yet to be chosen. On the other hand, selected candidates could also die within that period.


    The candidacy period ends when all remaining countries with humans have a candidate selected. This could only happen due to two circumstances. It was either a candidate was selected in all of the remaining countries or all other countries without a candidate had already perished.


    ording to Thirteenth, thetter happened. And, as those countries fell, it also triggered the dissipation of the territorial rifts.


    Since the candidacy period ended, Mark and Luna were now recognized as Saviors. They were the expected leaders to lead their countries towards survival. Of course, it did not mean that they had to. It just meant that they were the ones most capable of doing so.


    For now, Mark and Luna were among the best-case scenarios among the Saviors. Both of them were leaders and were recognized by their people.


    When asked about why Mark and Luna were among the best cases, it seemed that there was a candidate without a following in a different country, and there was another candidate who was betrayed and overthrown by the people they led. There was even another who was just a member of amunity and not a leader, giving them almost no authority at all.


    While Thirteenth mentioned those failures, she looked a bit ted. Thirteenth only had two candidates, the least of all the remaining [Eyes], except Neenth. Yet, the Saviors under her supervision were among the best.


    "Then, what about the titles?"


    Mask urged the smug-looking Thirteenth.


    "Actually, it''s not us who chose that,"


    Thirteenth shook her head.


    "Those titles were the result of your affinity, actions, abilities, and achievements during the candidacy period. You should understand why, right, Chaosbringer?"


    It looked like Thirteenth managed to find something to get back at Mark.


    But, then again, Mark was unable to refute.


    Wherever Mark went after the apocalypse, something chaotic would happen. It did not matter whether he created one, but if he did not, someone else would, and he would be involved in it.


    "What the heck..."


    Markined as his eyes turned to Luna, the Moonlightbearer.


    A light in the dark. It sure suited her in many ways.


    "So, what do you think, Moonlightbearer?"


    Mark suddenly asked Luna.


    "Wha-ah-" Luna blushed in embarrassment. "C-can you not call me that? I know I''m a weeb and all, but it''s making my spine shiver!"


    It looked like the two Saviors were not ready to receive their titles.


    "Anyway, that''s all I have to announce. If you two still have questions, ask quickly."


    Thirteenth told her two Saviors.


    "Are you leaving immediately?"


    Luna could not help but ask.


    "Leaving?"


    Thirteenth tilted her head. It would have looked cute if she had a normal number of eyes on her face.


    "I just got released. I would rather stay for a while. I just want to end my work time faster."


    Thirteenth said as she sat on Mark''s bed by his foot. Stay connected via mvl


    "So, you did get punished."


    Markmented, only to receive an annoyed re from the [Eye of Excitement].


    "Now, now. Don''t tease her too much."


    Lunained to Mark as she patted Thirteenth''s hair.


    "And you should stop doing that."


    Thirteenth alsoined, but she did nothing else to stop Luna.


    That sight sure surprised two people. Kana and Devon.


    Kana was surprised, but that was it. It seemed she knew about the [Eyes], but her knowledge was limited.


    On the other hand, Devon had deeper thoughts. The [Eyes] were not beings mortals could easily interact with. Yet, Mark and Luna could tease and argue with them like equals or even friends.


    Devon decided to change his views about Mark and Luna. They might be far more important beings than he initially thought.

 Chapter 1172 Emergency Meeting, Planning the Countermeasures for the Incoming [Third Wave]

    Chapter 1172 Emergency Meeting, nning the Countermeasures for the Iing [Third Wave]


    Day 376 - 6:21 PM - Port of Gilimanuk, Gilimanuk, Mya Subdistrict, Jembrana Regency, Bali, Indonesia


    The announcement from Thirteenth immediately sparked an emergency meeting on the spot.


    They had to call Farel back into the tent, and Limab''s father, Baskuro, was also instructed toe. Fortunately, doctor Willis had yet to regain his consciousness. Since the tent was notrge enough to amodate this many people for an extended period, the rest of Mark''s group volunteered to leave, leaving only Mark, Mei, and Aephelia, as there was no necessity for them to join. However, Mark told Loius to stay along with Spera. The two might not be necessary for the decision-making and nning, but they were among the most important people to be present because of their abilities.


    Aside from those who knew of the [Eyes] beforehand, the others received an exnation of what and who they were. Of course, they were skeptical. After all, there was no mention of the [Eyes] and the [Observer] in any religious literature. Some literature that reced God with some kind of administrator existed, but those were fictional pieces.


    It was until Mark asked them a question.


    The question was if they had heard of the term "Biblically urate Angels."


    Those who had never heard of it were even more confused, like Farel, Baskoro, and General Wijaya. But those who knew, especially Luna and her group, could not help but look at Thirteenth and realize what Mark meant.


    In modern media, Angels were often depicted as having human-like appearances with feathered wings on their back and halos above their heads. However, in some biblical ounts, the descriptions were far different. Those depictions gained some traction on the inte before the apocalypse but were not popr enough for everyone to know.


    One description prominent to those depictions was Angels having multiple of certain body parts. In the case of the [Eyes], it was rather obvious which body part it was.


    Although Mark''s question did not fully clear the topic, it gave the rest a bit of context, at the least. As such, they moved on to the real topic to discuss.


    The so-called [Third Wave] wasing.


    The [First Wave] would be the arrival of [Mutagen], which caused the apocalypse. Affected living creatures became flesh-craving monsters, and within a short span, cities and even countries fell.


    The [Second Wave] centered upon the arrival of [Mechids] and the [Fusion of Dimensions] tobat the massive effects of the arrival of the Infected Alien Robots. It caused the entire world to enter a major geographical shift as two dimensionsbined. It also caused an indefinite division of countries because of spatial rifts around each country''s borders.


    And now, the [Third Wave] would be centered on the dissipation of the spatial rifts. It would create a minor geographical shift but cause tectonic movements enough to generate disastrous tsunamis. But the tsunamis and the earthquakes were the least of the problems. The disappearance of the spatial rifts also meant letting the mutated monsters within fallen countries loose into the rest of the world.


    The [Third Wave] of the apocalypse would create another world-wide catastrophe.


    While the question of how strong those [Mutated Infected] could be was there, their existence would not be the most urgent issue.


    The earthquakes and the tsunami would likely destroy and kill before those [Mutated Infected] could.


    In Mark''s mind, the Mountain Base would not have a problem with the uing tsunami. It was located deep in the mountain ranges of General Nakar. It was also built halfway to the top of Mount Mbito. If Mark and the people in the base never saw even just a drop of seawater from the tsunamis that urred during the [Second Wave], why would they worry about tsunamis of a lesser scale?


    However, it did not mean that Mark had no concerns.


    Sure, the tsunami would not be a problem with the Mountain Base. However, the ally bases in the Philippines would definitely be in danger.


    The Corregidor Military Settlement was on the former ind of Corregidor. It was now a penins due to the extension ofndmass in Man Bay during the second wave. Nheless, its west, south, and eastern sides were still surrounded by water. The tsunamiing from the South China Sea would impact the ce the most.


    It was the same for the Infanta Settlement. They might be more ind ifpared to the former East Port Settlement and Real Military Settlement. However, the settlement had been built beside the Agos River, and the areas to the east going to the eastern coast were pretty much tnd. They were notpletely safe.


    Worse, the two remaining human settlements on the ind of Catanduanes were built near coastal areas. Mark did not care much about the settlement to the south of the ind, but the settlement to the north was where his family was. Although he would not want to live with them anymore, it did not mean he wanted them to perish.


    And now, this ce, the town of Gilimanuk, was in the same dangerous position.


    While the town of Gilimanuk became more groundedpared to being a small penins before the [Fusion of Dimensions], it was still surrounded by water. To its west was the Bali Strait, while the south was facing an opening towards the Indian Ocean.


    As such, the focus of the discussion would be two things. Would they abandon the nearly intact town of Gilimanuk and find a ce to settle further ind, or stay here and take countermeasures instead? If they stayed, what countermeasures would they need to take?


    The most rational option would be the former. Abandoning the town would be a safe option whether the Indonesian Survivors found another ce to settle or not. They would be safer from the tsunami as long as they were further ind.


    However, the hesitation among Luna and the others was clear.


    What was the thing that most survivors in the apocalypse wanted the most? Was it strength to survive? Maybe it was enough supplies tost a lifetime. There were a lot of things to guess as the possible answer. It was different for everyone, after all.


    But if they were given the chance, would they turn back time? Back when the world was peaceful and stable? Most would answer yes, given how hard it was to live in the apocalypse.


    The near-intact town of Gilimanuk gave the Indonesian survivors a nostalgic feeling of the past.


    It was a nostalgic feeling that made them want to stay and preserve the town''s current state.


    Of course, the majority leaned towards leaving. Despite the nostalgia, it was absurd to think that the Indonesian survivors would be able to protect this ce against a tsunami.


    During the discussion, even Kana said it was impossible. Controlling water was one thing, but stopping a raging force of nature was another. Even if Kana had powers, there was a limit to what she could do.


    Unfortunately, even Luna and Edge were helpless in this situation. Even Gods were not omnipotent, not to mention a mere fragment.


    But as the discussion continuously tilted towards leaving, a soldier asked for General Wijaya to report something.


    "General. We finished transporting everything through the portal."


    The soldier informed the General.


    That was when Mark smiled as he finally shared what he had in mind.


    ***


    Dinner was quitetepared to the previous days. Ever since the Muria Sacred Fortress was destroyed, everyone learned to sleep and wake up early for the journey. Thus, even their meals were bound to be the same.


    But now, after a long while, everyone shared ate dinner. The survivors finally left behind the chaos in Java and arrived here in Bali. Of course, the struggle for survival had yet to end. It was just that they managed to aplish something most people would not be able to do in the apocalypse.


    It might not be on their own, but the aplishment was still there.


    That was why this dinner doubled as a celebration.


    The food was not that differentpared to the previous days. However, they did not skimp on ingredients and spices, making the food taste better.


    The wide vacant area near the entrance of the port was also cleaned to use as a venue. Wooden pallets and other makeshift materials were arranged around the center as chairs, making a vacant square at the center.


    In the center, arge bonfire was lit, illuminating the surroundings and minimizing the use ofmps in the necessary areas.


    Among the people present, there was a corner of the open square reserved for the survivors of Gilimanuk. They were still wary of the people who saved them. Nheless, the wariness was subsiding due to the actions of Luna and the others.


    Apparently, the former leaders of Gilimanuk tend to separate neers and quarantine them after their arrival to the town. While it was a necessary procedure to keep the town safe, it sure was a rather unsettling experience for those people.


    But here, not only were the survivors of Gilimanuk allowed to stay together, but everyone who interacted with them was kind to them despite being outsiders to the group.


    The ongoing celebration was also bound to heal the hearts of the poor survivors after enduring a long time trapped in the middle of arge horde.


    It sure was a happy asion. There was plenty of food, and even drinks were prepared. Of course, the drinks were just water with powdered juice. Nheless, a single pack of powder juice was already a luxury item in the apocalypse. It was already luxurious to prepare enough for a few hundred people.


    Unfortunately, there was no liquor this time. It was the only dismay of some of the adults.


    Oddly enough, although it was a celebration, there was a serious atmosphere around the leaders. It was too obvious that many of them could not help but notice.


    It was when the celebration was nearing its end that the leaders took the stage.


    There was an important announcement.


    Of course, it made everyone curious. What was this important announcement that made the leaders unable to enjoy the celebration?


    The words that came out of General Wijaya''s mouth made everyone silent.


    "Another catastrophe is about to happen."


    Those words were simple but, for some reason, became hard to sink into everyone''s minds.


    Then, the audience erupted into murmurs and questions as they understood what General Wijaya had just said.


    General Wijaya stopped speaking, letting everyone pipe down on their own.


    Realizing that the General would not talk if they were noisy, the audience could only shut their mouths and listen.


    Finally, the details about the country''s borders and its likely effects were shared with everyone. Of course, only the necessary information that could be shared was told to them.


    The spatial rifts surrounding the borders were not new to the survivors of Mount Muria. While they had not seen it with their very eyes, the military was quite open with the details about it. The military conducted explorations after the world changed, and findings about the borders came about, albeit limited.


    But now, those spatial rifts were about to disappear, creating another catastrophe.


    Of course, questions about the authenticity of the information came about. However, the strange thing was that the members and families of the Moon Chasers only asked Luna. And after she confirmed it, they all believed it immediately.


    The odd scene of the Moonchasers was noticed by the others, and they were also asked about it. And the answer?


    It was because it would not be the first time. Since Luna was a candidate, she was privy to the information given by Thirteenth. Of course, she would warn her followers about it. While not everyone believed it, it soon happened, causing everyone to behave like what they were doing now.


    If Luna said it would happen, it would happen. They only need to shut up and follow if they want to live.


    The options considered by the leaders were also ryed to everyone. It was no surprise that most of them chose to move ind, although their hesitations to leave the intact Gilimanuk were also apparent.


    But when the audience asked what the leaders were going to do, the leaders, for some reason, nced at Mark.


    "We are going to do both."


    Luna answered.

 Chapter 1174 Divided Tasks, The Important Activities in the Town of Gilimanuk

    Day 377 - 12:42 AM - Port of Gilimanuk, Gilimanuk, Mya Subdistrict, Jembrana Regency, Bali, Indonesia


    The arrival of Mountain Back, the mountain-sized [Infected Tortoise], officially began the busy day in the town of Gilimanuk. Stay tuned with empire


    After a light breakfast, they spent the next few morning hours nning, assigning groupings, allocating resources, and setting up other management-rted arrangements. A few hours of preparation was short, but they had no choice. They had to do more as much as possible.


    The Indonesian survivors, along with a few members of the Evernight, were assigned to several groups.


    The first group divided for the tasks was led by Limab, along with her father and brother. It was also the only group with members of Evernight included. Along with Aephelia, Louis, and Felicia, they would survey the coast south of the town. Their task was to determine the most effective location for Mountainback''s final resting ce. Theyout of the seawall Louis would work on woulde afterward. Devon also volunteered to join them. Since he was the CNC''s agent for the country''s contract, it was not surprising for him to be privy to information and knowledge about geography and territorial nning.


    Then, there was the group led by Edge, going in the opposite direction the first group needed to go. It was a small group of ten [Mutators] and [Evolvers] whose abilities focused on agility. Their task was to scout the mountain areas to the north. What they needed to do was to find a suitable ce to build the outpost and emergency shelter. There was also a mountain to the east, which seemed safer against a tsunami if they were only looking at its geographical location. However, it also had thicker forest areas, making it more dangerous as it could be home to mutated creatures. The mountain to the north, on the other hand, might still be surrounded by coastal areas but was far from the country''s borders.


    Led by General Wijaya, the third group, whose members were mainly soldiers, were tasked was to secure the perimeter of the town. It was supposed to be the task of Mark and the others yesterday. However, the discovery of the survivors, the horde, and Mark''s current state ended it prematurely. Mark did manage to lure out most of the [Infected] from the town. However, quite a number of [Infected] were trapped after they failed to climb the walls.


    Then, there was the group in which the majority of the survivors would participate. They would arrange their current resources and materials while also gathering things they could salvage from the secured areas of the town.


    Last was Luna''s group with Nelia and Estia. The three of them were going to interview the survivors rescued yesterday. It was something Luna and her friends had done with their members before after experiencing the betrayal of their first followers. The goal of the interview was to determine the personality of the strangers and to find what suitable tasks would be best for them to have.


    The Indonesian survivors continued their busy day with every task assigned to their respective groups.


    Then, the only ones left would be the rest of the members of Evernight. Of course, it was not like they had nothing to do.


    Spera had already left with Annica and Char to fulfill the task given to them by Mark. Informing their allies in the Philippines about the iing disaster was an urgent matter, after all.


    On the other hand, Mark was back to his papers, designing the next batch of weapons and equipment. It seemed that he did not only n to create his new armor and Mei''s new weapon. He also wanted to upgrade the equipment of the rest of his group. With new knowledge inside his head, he sure was filled with inspiration.


    Of course, Mark should not be left alone. As such, he had a bunch of pretty-looking guards rotating shifts while watching him. Well, it was Mei and his daughters. Elise, Emika, and Amihan were included too.


    That should have been Mark''s routine for the day. It was until something unexpected happened.


    "Master."


    A familiar voice he had not heard in a while called out to Mark.


    Of course, Mark had already noticed her arrival, along with the unexpected return of the group who should have left earlier.


    "Is something wrong, Odel?"


    Mark turned away from his table and asked Odelina.


    With an exasperated manner, Odelina replied with a sigh.


    "Please, give me aplete briefing of the situation. I will need it to write proper documentation and a letter you need to sign."


    "Is that really necessary?"


    Mark tilted his head.


    "Master, I know you have no experience in this regard, but please understand. I heard the summary from Spera, but it was far toocking in detail. Considering the scale of the event and the risks involved being toorge, a verbal exchange would have less impact and would not be taken seriously. Detailed documentation and a letter rying your thoughts would make the recipients think you mean business."


    Odelina ryed her serious thoughts on the situation.


    Mark could only bitterly smile as he received Odelina''s untimely lecture. He could even feel Luna and her friends peeking from outside, curious about the new older maid and the current situation inside Mark''s tent.


    "Haah..." Mark sighed. "Alright, take a seat first and listen."


    Mark could onlyply. It was not like Mark was entirely wrong for just sending Spera with nothing in hand since she only needed to ry some information. However, Odelina''s point was stronger in this regard. Mark might be stronger if it was just raw power, but otherwise, there was no defying his loyal maid.


    "Who?"


    Outside, Luna could not help but ask Mei who Odelina was, especially seeing how Mark seemed to be defeated by her.


    "She''s Odelina," Mei answered. "She is Gege''s first and most loyal subordinate. She is also Hannah''s Aunt. We leave most of the management of our base to her."


    "Ohhh..."


    Everyone was surprised.


    However, for the person in charge of the base to appear here meant that Spera and Annica were bothcking for the job they were given.


    "Hmph."


    Sensing their stairs, Spera could only turn her back on them.


    ***


    Even with a surprise guest, work could not be postponed.


    Luna''s group began calling the survivors of Gilimanuk into a designated tent one after another. It was like an interrogation where the suspects were being separately questioned, but it was necessary. It would allow them to screen any lie and solidify the truth.


    The only exception to the interview was the children. There was no necessity for them to experience another nerve-wracking situation.


    Interviewing the survivors proceeded smoothly. They were obviously cautious, but they all seemed to be telling the truth so far.


    "Next!"


    Estia called out for the next person outside.


    A woman entered, and the attention of the three immediately gathered on her for some reason.


    "Please, sit."


    Estia pointed at the chair in front of their table.


    The woman timidly sat on the chair.


    "You don''t have to be nervous. We are just going to ask questions."


    Nelia assured the woman with a smile.


    "Y-yes..."


    The woman nervously replied. Her conduct was not that different from the previous ones they had already interviewed.


    "Miss Uli, correct?"


    Luna asked.


    "Y-yes, I''m Uli."


    Uli replied.


    "Are you good with children?" Luna went straight to the point. "I saw the children gathering around you instead of the other adults yesterday."


    "I don''t know if I could call myself good with them," Uli truthfully replied. "It''s just I''ve been taking care of them for a while now. I''m bad with most of the other things, so taking care of the children was the only task they could give me."


    A few more questions and answers were exchanged between Luna''s trio and Uli.


    Apparently, she was not a local of Gilimanuk. She arrived at this ce with another group of survivors. They all joined the town since they had nowhere to go, and the townsfolk were nice. The leader was rather strict in things, but he did not seem maniptive nor did he force people to do things they did not want to do.


    However, while the leader of this town would not go skirt-chasing, he would not hesitate to ept any woman who knocks on his door in exchange for some benefits.


    This side of the conversation led to a question.


    "Is that why you seem wary of Sir Mark?"


    Luna asked.


    "Ah! That''s..."


    Uli froze. It seemed Luna hit the bull''s eye.


    "I saw your reaction this morning, you see. The time you locked gazes with Sir Mark."


    Luna spoke. Of course, it was a lie. She did not see it. It was Mark who told her.


    "Yes... He had a lot of girls around him, just like the leader."


    Uli replied.


    And that reply actually made the three interviewers giggle. They understood Uli. They had the same thought when they first saw Mark and his group, which only had females.


    The three then exined to Uli that she was mistaken. Mark only had one wife while having three adoptive daughters. Of course, it was actually the daughters who adopted him as their father. Then, while not disclosing the specifics, they told her that Mei had bad experiences with men, so the group mostly had girls because of that.


    "Is that so?"


    Uli asked, enlightened to the situation.


    "Yeah," Luna nodded. "Mark might not look like it, but he''s pretty loyal to his wife."


    Unexpectedly, the conversation about Mark slowly lowered Uli''s cautiousness towards the three.


    Sensing that, Nelia decided to push to the next questions.


    "Miss Uli, you said you aren''t a local. Can I ask where is your hometown?"


    Unexpectedly, Uli froze a little as she scratched her chin with a nervous smile.


    "Is it a bad topic to ask? If so, there''s no need to answer."


    Estia chimed in and said so.


    "No, it''s not really a bad topic," Uli answered. "It''s just... I don''t know what to answer."


    "What do you mean?"


    Nelia probed further.


    "I..." Uli hesitated but still answered. "I don''t have memories of my past. They said I have that amnesia or something."


    "Ah..."


    The three had the same reaction upon hearing Uli''s answer.


    "Can you share what happened?"


    Estia, who had been ying as the good one, amicably asked.


    As if sensing the sympathy of the three, Uli slowly shared her story.


    From Uli''s story, it seemed that the group she arrived here with was the people who first found her. They found her under a pile of vehicles involved in a massive car ident a few days after the initial surge of [Infected]. It was very likely that she was among people rushing to the nearby airport to evacuate before getting involved in the ident.


    While the group was scavenging, they found her among the cars underneath the pile. Unexpectedly, she was alive. She was unconcious due to a head injury, which likely caused her amnesia, but that was all.


    It might be because she was in a location that was hard to reach that the [Infected] did not get to her while she was unconscious.


    When she woke up, she had no memories of her past. Worse, she also became a bit linguistically challenged, unable to construct proper sentences although she could understand them. She also had episodes of getting a bit violent. Fortunately, the group did not give up on her. It got better over time and she regained some abilities through diligent practice, but her memory never returned.


    They stayed on the outskirts of therge town far northwest for several months. However, as the [Infected] grew stronger, they had to leave. They wandered about until they encountered a scavenging group from Gilimanuk, which led their group here.


    "Where are the members of your group now?"


    Nelia asked.


    Uli''s expression turned sour as she answered.


    "There were ten of them when they found me. I was the eleventh. Three of us died, which caused us to flee the town. While wandering around, another four left us. We tried to find people to join us, but it became harder and harder to find living people as time went by. The people we managed to find already belonged to groups, and they were not epting new people if we wanted to join."


    "There were only four of us when we arrived here," Uli continued. "Another two left us soon after. One joined a scavenging group, but it was one of the few groups that never returned. Another died after arge-scale attack while finishing the moat. Endro and I were thest members. But Endro... he''s the corpse brought back with us yesterday."


    Luna and her friends could not help but fall silent. It seemed that Uli was channeling the loss of her friends into taking good care of the children.


    With the heavy atmosphere, it was hard to continue the interview. With a few more questions, they allowed Uli to return and interviewed the next survivor with less energy.


    ***


    Soon, the interviews were done and the survivors of Gilimanuk would be allocated to proper workces tomorrow.


    On the other hand, Luna, with the record of Uli''s interview in hand, entered Mark''s tent.


    It seemed that Odelina was still there, writing the document while Mark watched. As Luna entered, he turned to her.


    "Is it done?"


    Mark asked.


    "Yes, we just finished," Luna answered as she handed him the record she was holding. "Here''s Uli''s information."


    Mark then immediately began to read the record with a serious expression.


    "She seemed fine," Luna spoke. "She also had a tragic past. Why do you seem too wary of her?"


    That was right. Mark had a hand in the interview, specifically in Uli''s interview. Some of the questions they asked were from Mark.


    But Mark''s answer made Luna''s eyes grow wider.


    "I think it''s natural to be wary if an [Infected] is living with the [Non-Infected], right?"


    Luna could not believe what she had just heard from Mark.


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